50He paused, looking up at the mirrored ceiling of the elevator to adjust his tie, making sure everything was just so, just perfect. He nodded, pleased with his appearance. He lowered his gaze, staring intently at the polished steel door. A soft chime sounded, and he stepped out.
Few knew him. He was very quiet; it was rare that he was heard to utter even a single word throughout the day. Everyone here, though, knew of him. The Boss. No one was sure what exactly he did. No one here was sure what exactly anyone else did. They were professionals, the best in business. They all worked on their own secret projects, only grudgingly sharing their work. It was very different from the cooperative attitude in many offices; it was very competitive, very dog-eat-dog. The strong and ruthless flourished and grew wealthy working for the Boss, and the weak were fired. It wouldn't have worked under any other employer, but everyone here honestly believed that the Boss knew everything. There was no shoe-licking, no favor-currying; they were here to make the Boss rich, and they all knew it.
The secretaries held their breath as the Boss walked into his Spartan office. Only an incredibly old and ancient janitor, an employee of the Boss's for longer than any could remember, was ever allowed in the Boss's office. So the secretaries' held their breath as the Boss walked in, as foreboding as ever. He wore the same white suit he wore everyday, the pure snow-white suit that matched the white hair that cascaded down his back. It had a pattern on the left shoulder, of little crimson flowers in hexagons. The same pattern graced the Boss's tie. It was the same color as his eyeliner. No one teased the Boss about his very feminine looks; he was far too fearsome.
Finally, a long white thing was draped over his right shoulder. The secretaries weren't sure what it was; it was like a feathered boa, but thicker and furry. It resembled nothing so much as an extremely long, fluffy tail. The secretaries breathed in again as the door to the Boss's office closed, and their work picked up in pace a little. The Boss, Sesshou-maru, was in the building.
Sesshou-maru glanced through the paperwork, making the necessary marks and signing the necessary signatures. He finished, making the last signature at the middle of the contract. He grimly smiled. Sesshou-maru, through whatever proxies and fronts and illegal means he used, now controlled the production of every weapon in the world. He put the paperwork in the correct file, and set it aside. He would place it on one of the secretaries' desks when he left. Sesshou-maru frowned, and opened the dayplanner on his computer. He compared notes in the planner with the thoughts he dared not share, and decided it would be wise to put more pressure into the Chinese economy. He frowned, mentally reviewing how he planned to start the rioting. His objective was to bring about something akin to Workers' rights; Rin had heard of the plight of the sweatshop laborers and asked if Sesshou-maru could do anything. He had promised to get the laws passed in time for Christmas. She had been very happy, although Sesshou-maru could not understand her attention to the holidays of other cultures.
"Jaken." He stated, a flat demand for attention.
"Yes, m'lord Sesshou-maru?" The ancient janitor looked up, his wrinkled face still ugly through the thick layers of illusion spells. He had indeed worked for Sesshou-maru longer than any other.
"What day is it, Jaken?" Sesshou-maru asked.
"The twenty-third of March, m'lord." Jaken replied hesitantly. He hoped Sesshou-maru had not suddenly developed a sense of humor. Knowing his master, it would be a cruel one.
"Precisely. And what is the significance of this day?"
Jaken frowned, and thought. It was very important if his master would say so many words about it. He hesitated, and responded, "Well, today you fully gain control of oil producti-"
"No, Jaken. It has been precisely 500 years since the day. That is the significance of today, Jaken."
Jaken well remembered. The day his lord's blasted half-brother had blasted Naraku straight out of existence. And committed Seppuku before night fell. It had indeed been auspicious.
Jaken breathed hard, struggling to keep away from the flailing tentacles. Sesshou-maru was flying around somewhere above him, no doubt doing the same thing. Inu-Yasha, though, was screaming mindlessly, eyes bright red.
The fool had gone insane, and was madly hacking at Naraku's perfect form as a full youkai. Without the power of Tetsusaiga, Jaken feared that they would die. He banished such thoughts from his mind. His lord would soon take up Tetsusaiga and end this. But he did not. Inu-Yasha did.
"That's not possible..." He squeaked indignantly, right before Inu-Yasha had swung the transformed sword over a hundred times in the space of a breath. The force of the wind being forced sideways had blown Jaken away, and he pulled himself out of the ground in to see Inu-Yasha standing at the edge of a huge, scarred crater. His lord and the two human fools that Inu-Yasha kept about were staring at the raggedly breathing hanyou, eyes still burning red as he held Tetsusaiga before him. Slowly, the eyes dimmed, and the harsh breaths became sobs, as Inu-Yasha regained his sanity. He fell to his knees, swinging the sword down in front of him as he began to blubber. Blood tricked from a hundred wounds, and the blood that had caked on his cheeks tricked down, mixed with tears. Jaken thought it ridiculous that any demon should so degrade himself, and had been about to voice that opinion when Sesshou-maru had sent him a look that chilled his veins. A look that promised a hideous death and no Tensaiga afterwards if he opened his mouth.
Jaken did not speak when Inu-Yasha forced himself to his feet, Tetsusaiga becoming a normal rusty sword in his hands. The hanyou practically dragged himself to where Sesshou-maru stood. He looked up into the Demon Lord's cold, uncaring features. The two humans, hesitant, stepped forward.
"Please, Sesshou-maru." Sessou-maru simply stared at Inu-Yasha, not batting an eye.
Inu-Yasha swallowed, trying to keep his eyes from blurring. "Please, I beg you."
Silently, Sesshou-maru nodded. With that, Inu-Yasha dropped to his knees, and closed his eyes. He raised his blade, and rammed it to the hilt in his stomach. He collapsed, and his breathing slowed, grew quiet, stopped.
The human female gasped and came forward, but the male caught her with his hand. His whole right hand, Jaken was pleased to note. That demon-curse was entirely too much power to be allowed any mortal.
So slowly, carefully, almost tenderly Sesshou-maru had knelt down and lifted Inu-Yasha over his shoulder. Unmindful of the blood, he pulled out the blade and sheathed it at the dead hanyou's side. The humans watched as the demon lord turned away. He stopped, held back by something. He turned his head, and looked at the male. The one that had understood. "Tensaiga," Sesshou-maru had said, and the man nodded, and turned away. The woman came forward, indignant, but once again the man stopped her, held her back.
Jaken hurried over, trying to maintain his dignity and not waddle. He jumped onto Sesshou-maru's enchanted cloud, and the two had flown away, and never seen the two mortals again. Neither had looked back.
Jaken blinked, and wondered what it was all about. He looked up, and saw that his lord was gone, that he had left his office. With an indignant squawk, the toad-youkai set off, following where he supposed his master had been.
The secretary at the right desk gasped when the doors opened. She had never, in the fifteen years of employment here, ever seen the doors open when the Boss was not going in, promptly at 9 o'clock in the morning, or leaving, at exactly 5 o'clock in the afternoon. She checked her clock; it was indeed 11:43 AM. For the first time anyone present could remember, the Boss was leaving early.
A folder thwapped lightly onto her desk, and she shook her self, and began filing. He would be back tomorrow, after all, and he would know if she did not do her job. She smiled a little as she found the paper at the bottom of the file of the day's work. Notification of Salary Increase, for her. About time, she thought.
Sesshou-maru sat quietly, wondering if this was truly the best course of action. His left eyelid twitched slightly. He was irritated and annoyed with himself for actually bothering to go over his course of action once again. He had already decided this would be best. He did not want to meet the girl at home; her brother would be as annoying as Jaken, but in the same manner if he understood correctly. The girl's mother would just be in the way. It was the girl's grandfather that made him hesitant. He did not want to lose his temper and melt the idiot with his poison claws in a moment of anger.
Had Rin been there, she would have asked Sesshou-maru what was so funny, for the muscle over his right cheekbone tightened a little. As it was, Jaken simply gulped as he looked at his master in the rearview mirror. It was not pleasant, whatever was amusing the master. He was probably considering how to kill someone. Finally, Jaken pulled the car over, and hustled to open the door for his lord to step out.
Sesshou-maru straightened his suit a little as he stood on the sidewalk, looking off into the distance. Jaken gulped, and spoke. "Surely, m'lord, will you not reconsider? I could very easily drive you directly to-"
"Jaken." Sesshou-maru interrupted, "Are you afraid I will be beset by thugs and beaten?"
Jaken squawked again. "M'Lord Sesshou-maru! I would never sugge-"
"Then shut up and go away." Sesshou-maru said quietly, wishing he could simply strike the foolish toad. But that would draw eyes, and Sesshou-maru wanted to remain at least somewhat inconspicuous.
Jaken gulped, eyes wide, as he once again jumped in the car and sped away. Sesshou-maru looked around the park, waiting patiently for school to end and for the girl to show up.
Ami was worried. Three months now Kagome had been really sick. Not pale, but she looked like she didn't sleep much, and she was just so listless, so lacking in energy. So full of despair. Kagome had blown a whole bunch of high-school entry exams, and she just hadn't cared. Ami was certain that Kagome had cried herself to sleep a number of nights over the last three months. Ami exchanged glances with Yuki. It wasn't so fun to try and set Kagome up with Hojo, now, not after she had broken down and cried after their latest attempt. Now she and Yuki and Saishi just hung around Kagome, trying to figure out what was wrong.
Finally Yuki grew angry. "Kagome, what did this guy do that was so horrible?! Haven't you been saying all along that idiot was a good-for-nothing two-timer?! Just get over him all ready!"
Kagome sighed, tears gathering. It still hurt, after three months. It still hurt. "You don't understand..." she whispered, and her mind fell back on that day.
Kagome rode her bike through the woods, finally coming to the well. She hoped that she'd be able to get through without a fight this time. She needed to get back in time for a math test.
No such luck. Inu-Yasha stood on the mouth of the well, legs crossed, arms folded. He scowled. Kagome sighed, and began to talk. "Listen, Inu-Yasha, I need to get back, I have a really big math test coming up-"
"No." He growled. "You are NOT going through the well."
"Please?" She looked up, pleading. "Just TWO days, this time? Please?" Maybe if she conceded, and gave him an extra day, then he'd let her go with less fuss...
"No, Dammit! NO!" Or not.
"Inu-Yasha, come on! We already had this argument back at Kaede's!"
"NO! You're staying here!"
"NO! I need you here to detect jewel shards!"
"Is that ALL I am to you?! A tama-detector?! What about my future!? HUH?!"
"YES! I, WE, need you here to detect shards! And dammit, bitch, Fuck your future- I need you here!"
"WHAT?!" Kagome screamed, too shocked for tears.
"We need you to detect Jewel shards! Now get your weak ass moving!" Kagome had stumbled then, falling away in horror. Inu-Yasha grabbed her by the arm, and lifted her up. Not roughly, but not gentle by any stretch.
"W-Why don't you just get Kikyo to help, you love her!"
"Feh! Crazy bitch is too fucking hell-bent on killing me. Although..." Inu-Yasha trailed off, the possibility one that had never occurred to him. Kagome pushed him away, and screamed 'sit.' She leapt through the well, and didn't start crying until she was in her own time.
Two days later, Kagome had jumped through the well again. She hadn't really slept, and she didn't know what to think. She came out, and found no one. They didn't wait for me, she thought, and she began to cry. They really did go get Kikyo. She pulled out a piece of paper, and penned a little note. She tied it around a bottle, and stuck her jewel shards in. She put the shards by the side of the well, and flung herself back into her own time.
Once there, where she belonged, she had sealed the well. She wasn't sure how, but she knew she had straightened the rift in the fabric of reality, patched it over with magic. And she didn't know how, and she didn't care, either.
"Kagome?! Are you okay?!" Yuki asked, a little worried. Kagome had just totally zoned out.
Kagome looked up, and sniffled a little. She saw the concern in Yuki's eyes, in all their eyes. At least THEY care about me, Kagome thought. The tears came. "Hai." She whispered.
"Excuse me." They all turned, and gaped at the unbelievably pretty man that had practically snuck up behind them. Yuki nearly drooled, and Kagome shivered in fear. The hair, the eyes, even the tail- it was all the same. The clothes were different, but the similarity was noticeable to his old armor. The tears stopped, and Kagome wished she had her bow. The man smiled, and Ami's knees grew weak.
"I see you remember me." He said, looking into Kagome's eyes.
Yuki did a double-take, staring at her friend. "Kagome- you KNOW this guy?!"
"Hai," Kagome said, still staring at Sesshou-maru. What could he want?
"I have come concerning my dear little brother. He regretted the terms he parted you on." Sesshou-maru stated, wondering what her reaction would be. He still appeared neutral, but so much rode on this.
He did not expect anger. "He REGRETTED the terms we parted on?! He threw me aside, like a used tissue!" With hat, she shoved him aside, and ran, tears again streaming from her eyes. Her friends spared him another glance, and followed.
And then Sesshou-maru did something he had not done in many years. So many years, in fact, that he did not even remember when he had last done what he did then. More than eight centuries, at least.
"Fuck," he growled.