What Number? by Skyisthelimit

What Number?

A/N: Hi all! I hope you had a Happy Holidays! This little Christmas one-shot was written for my dear, dear, wonderful friend Luna. Please check her stories out! She's an amazing writer and a fantastic friend!

Luna, I

Written for: Dokuga's Holdiay Exchange 2011

Prompt: Sesshomaru and Kagome keep meeting under unusual circumstances ;)

Rating: T

Warnings: A little suggestive

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

--

Title: What Number?

Kagome grumbled as she pushed and shoved her way through the hordes of people. Really, was there anyone who didn’t last minute Christmas shop? So irresponsible. Forget the fact that that’s exactly what she was doing at the moment. It’s not like it wasn’t her fault that her sister only just decided what she wanted for Christmas. Kagome had already gotten her a gift by then, but Kikyo had dropped so many hints that she was practically outright begging Kagome to get it for her, just short of actually asking her to.

So here she was, at the mall, the Friday before Christmas, almost literally fighting through the battle zone.

“Excuse me…excuse me…excuse me…sorry, just trying to get something for my sister…for god’s sake what does a woman have to do to get some lingerie around here!” she finally shouted, earning some looks from the people nearby. She blushed, ducked her head, and quickly pushed her way to the other side of the store, where they kept underwear and lingerie…as well as other…well…things of that type.

Quickly, Kagome scanned the racks, praying that they had the baby doll that her sister wanted. She’d already been to five stores. Kikyo had had one before, and it had been her favorite, until Inuyasha had apparently accidentally ripped it off her during one of their…nights.

Kagome gagged at the image and shook her head frantically, trying literally to bruise the image out of her head. Ew.

Resuming her search, she finally found it hanging at the very end of the clearance section of the rack. She sighed in relief. As she reached out for it, though, she was shoved from behind by the crowd, and her hand flailed to catch herself. Grabbing the first thing her hand reached, she gripped tightly to halt her descent, only to rip it from its hanger as she continued to fall forward. A large, warm body caught her, and she sighed in relief. She placed her hands on her savior’s chest to get her feet properly underneath her again. Looking up, she opened her mouth to thank the man, only to leave her jaw hanging open at what she saw.

He was quite possibly the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Angular, but smooth face, with beautiful gold eyes and shimmering silver hair pulled back in a low ponytail. He was over a head taller than her and had nice, broad shoulders, just like she liked. Under her hands, she could feel hard, chiseled muscles that twitched under her warm touch.

Oh lord.

“Are you alright, miss?”

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh lord.

His voice was smooth and deep, sending shivers down her spine right down to between her legs.

“Ah, um, y-yeah. Th-thanks.” She mentally smacked herself at her dumb response.

The man’s brow furrowed. “Are you sure?”

No, actually, my legs feel quite shaky at the moment, no thanks to you.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, stepping back. Her voice grew a little stronger after some distance, “I’m really sorry. Crazy Christmas crowds.”

“Many last minute shoppers, I would think,” the man remarked. “I assume you are also getting some gifts as well?” He looked down at her hand, eyebrow arching for an unexplained reason.

Kagome blushed, realizing she could still feel a garment in her hand. Must be the babydoll. Quickly, she rushed to explain.

“It’s for my sister. She needed another top, and so she kept hinting that she really wanted it as a gift from me. It’s kind of annoying, since I’d already finished shopping, but I don’t mind too much because she and I are the same size and have the same tastes so I can borrow it sometimes too,” she rambled.

The man’s second brow lifted to join the other, disappearing behind his bangs. “I…see. Well, good day, miss. Happy Christmas.” With that, he nodded and practically ran away.

Kagome’s tilted her head in confusion, before finally taking the time to look down at the garment in her hand. Slowly, her face grew horrified. Instead of the innocent babydoll top, she’d grabbed a black, leather corset piece, with various dangling chains and a rolled up whip at the hip. A dominatrix suit.  

Cursing her luck, she quickly tossed it at the rack. She’d scared one of the hottest guys she’d ever met off! It had been so long since her last boyfriend too…her battery powered friends could only do so much. Damn, she needed to get laid.

Grumbling in frustration, she went to grab the right garment, before realizing the top was gone.

Kagome cursed. “Stupid Christmas.”

**^^**^^**^^

Kagome tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for her coffee. It had taken visits to three more stores before she found the babydoll again, only to have her sister call her a few minutes ago to tell her she didn’t need it anymore – Inuyasha had bought her a replacement garment. It wasn’t the same thing, but Kikyo thought it was even better. Kagome had contemplated returning it, but decided against it.

Screw it. It’s mine now. 

She approached the counter when her order was called. Grabbing the coffee she took a long, well-needed sip. As her favorite aroma wafted around her, she calmed enough to let her thoughts wander to that man who had saved her from falling. She sighed, becoming depressed. Such a shame. He was delectable.

She was so lost in thought that she stopped looking where she was going. So it was no surprise when her feet tripped over another’s by one of the tables, causing her to tip face first and land draped across someone’s lap, her coffee flying to crash and spill on the floor.

She groaned and cursed some more. “Stupid coffee. Stupid day. Stupid Christmas. Stupid overly distracting, hot male –”

The man whose lap she was currently sprawled across coughed delicately.

Kagome slowly looked up.

Hello stupid, overly distracting, hot male.

“Having a clumsy day, miss?” He arched a brow.

Kagome screwed her eyes shut and prayed for lightning to strike her and put her out of her misery. Or at least her humiliation.

“Miss?”

Dang. Guess it didn’t work.

Sighing, Kagome used the table to lift herself off the man. Brushing herself off, she said, “I’m really sorry. Again. I guess the fates are out to get me today.”

The man looked amused. “Really?”

She blushed. “Yeah, um, you know, I didn’t realize I was holding that when I said…you know when you caught me and all. I thought I’d grabbed this other babydoll top. Which is still lingerie I guess, but you know, more innocent, I mean, like, no whips, I mean, I-I-I-,” By this point, her face was cherry red and her number one Christmas wish was for the floor open under her feet and swallow her up.

Luckily, the guy put her out of her misery. “I understand, miss. You don’t seem the type, in any case.”

“Um, er, thanks, I think,” she blushed harder. “I’m sorry, I tend to ramble a lot. And like I said, I’m having a pretty shitty day today. I had to go to eight stores to get that top and when I finally manage to buy it my sister calls me to tell me she didn’t need it anymore because her husband had gotten her something more ‘fun’ whatever that means. Actually I don’t want to know what that means, because that’s just gross and I’ve already had to deal with the mental image of them two going  at i— Oh crap, you probably don’t want to hear anything about that, and I’m rambling again.” She scowled in frustration.

He smirked. “Why don’t we start with introductions? I’m Sesshomaru Tsukishiro.” He held his hand out.

She shook it. “Kagome Higurashi. Nice to meet you.” Short and sweet. She nodded in her head approvingly.

“Pleasure to meet you as well. Why don’t I buy you another cup of coffee? It sounds like you need one.”

Her blush returned. “I can’t let you do that! It wasn’t your fault I tripped.”

“I insist.” He led her to the line. “Perhaps this can signify the turning of your day.”

Kagome thought about it. A sexy guy offering her coffee? Sexy guy and free coffee. Yeah, her day was already better.

“Thanks. I mean, really. This is the second time you’re helping me out today,” she smiled, much happier than five minutes ago. “I should figure out a way to repay you.”

He shook his head. “There’s no need. It is Christmas, after all.”

“Still, I feel bad. But I don’t know you so I don’t know what you’d like. I don’t even know what you do for living.” Yeah, she admitted to herself, that was a not-so-subtle attempt at trying to get to know him more.

“I’m a businessman,” he said simply, “You?”

“Grad student,” she said simply, “Trying to get my PhD in anthropology and archaeology. But that’s only assuming I actually come up with a thesis proposal at some point.”

“Having trouble coming up with ideas?”

“Well, it’s not exactly that. I’ve just thought of and threw out so many ideas that I don’t know what I have left anymore.”

“Well, my father is a history addict. Perhaps talking to him would help?”

At the mention of ‘history addict,’ the only image that came up in Kagome’s mind was that of her grandpa, squawking various stories about demons and magic.

She smiled politely. “That’s nice, really, but I think it’s just a matter of me sitting down and just getting it done and settled.”

He shrugged. “If you’re sure. What coffee would you like?” They were in front of the register. She quickly ordered and thanked him again as he paid. He waved her off and led them to wait by the counter.

“So do you have any special Christmas plans?”

Sesshomaru shrugged. “My family is having a gathering. Normally I wouldn’t go, but my half brother recently married, and I have yet to meet his wife. So my father is insisting that I attend.”

“You haven’t met your brother’s wife yet?”

“I have been in Japan for the past two years, on business,” he explained.

Kagome’s eyes lit up. “Japan? Really? What’s it like? Did you only visit Tokyo? Or did you go to other cities? Or maybe the country side?”

Sesshomaru gave a small smile at her enthusiasm. “You’ve never been there before?”

She shook her said sadly. “Although I’m Japanese, I was born here, and haven’t had a chance to go. I really want to though. Actually I really want to travel all around the world – it’s part of the reason I want to be an archaeologist.”

“I see. Well, to answer your questions, I also visited Hokkaido and Kyoto during my time there, as well as Tokyo. And I would take occasional visits to the coast too. What would you like to know?”

Kagome launched into her questions, asking one after another and hanging on to his every answer. He was a man of few words, she could tell, but his descriptions were still very effective and thorough. Even after she got her coffee, she kept up her stream of questions, having found out that he’d traveled to quite a few places on business.

They sat together in the café for about an hour, conversation flowing freely. However, much too soon, Kagome’s phone rang. She excused herself, and answered.

“Hello?”

“Kagome! You’ve got to get over here quickly!” Her friend sounded extremely panicked.

“Why, Sango? What’s wrong?”

“Dan, being the idiot that he is, deleted the tomorrow’s entire presentation and our notes! And there’s no back up copy! We need to hurry and redo everything.”

“What! We’re going to have to stay up all night!”

“I know,” Sango groaned, “Please, Kagome, come over quickly. I’m about this close to ripping off Dan’s balls.”

If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Kagome would have laughed. “I’m on my way,” she assured, before hanging up. Looking at Sesshomaru, she explained quickly, “I’m sorry, I really have to go. One of my stupid colleagues made a major screw up and I’m going to have to stay up all night because of it. Thanks for the coffee!” She grabbed her bag and ran out before he even had a chance to say anything.

It was only after she was a block away from the café in her car did she realize she’d forgotten to get his number.

She groaned. Today really was a shitty day.

**^^**^^**^^

The next day wasn’t much better. Somehow, they’d made it through the presentation in the morning, but afterwards she had to babysit child-from-hell on one hour of sleep and four cups of coffee. And now she was paying for it.

“Hakudoshi, get back here and untie me this instant!” she yelled from where she was bound to a tree in the park. I guess this is what I get for being dumb enough bring the kid to the park with a jump rope and then falling asleep. “Hakudoshi, come on! I have to get you home in ten minutes!”

She struggled some more, but the darn kid must have been a boy scout or something because those knots were tied tight!

“Do you need some assistance?” a highly amused voice asked.

Kagome closed her eyes, praying, not for the first time, that that wasn’t who she thought it was. When a shadow covered her, she looked up.

No such luck.

“Er, hi, Sesshomaru,” she muttered, blushing furiously. That’s all I seem to be doing around him.

“We meet once again, Kagome, under…interesting circumstances.” He eyed the jump rope, his lip twitching in amusement.

“Er yeah. Um, I’d love to chat, but I need to get out of here and find that brat kid so I can get him home before his OCD mom does. So um, do you think you could help me out again? Please?” she implored.

He was already walking to the back of the tree to undo the knots. “You seem to racking up quite the debt against me, Kagome,” he told her, teasing.

“I know, I know. Seriously, I’ll figure out some way to thank you,” she said as the ropes loosened and she stood up, rubbing her arms. She saw a flash of lavender hair out of the corner of her eye. “Just, excuse me for a moment please.” She took off running, roaring, “Get back here, young man! Just wait until I get my hands on you!” leaving a chuckling man behind.

**^^**^^**^^

She hated rain. She really did.

Or maybe she was just in one of those moods.  Which probably had to do with the fact that she forgot her purse when she went out for a walk today, and consequently had no cell phone, wallet, keys, or umbrella as she stood in front of her house’s door getting soaked. 

It also had to do with the fact that she had once again failed to get Sesshomaru’s number yesterday.

But it mainly had to do with the fact that said Sesshomaru was currently standing in front of her steps, looking obnoxiously pristine and dry under an umbrella as she came closer and closer to resembling a wet cat.

“Kagome.” He was smirking.

“Sesshomaru.” She was pouting.

“May I ask what you’re doing stalking a house?”

“I’m not stalking. This is my house!” she growled, “I went for a walk without my bag, and I forgot that my last house mate was leaving today to go home for the holidays.”

“I see. I must say, Kagome, the holidays have not been kind to you this year,” he was full out grinning now. If she wasn’t so wet, cold, and frustrated, she would have been ogling.

“Tell me about it,” she mumbled.

“Is there any way you can get back in to the house?”

“My sister has a spare key because she used to live here too before she got married. But even if I had my phone, her phone would be off because it’s date night for her and her husband.” Kagome made a face. Turned off phone plus ‘date night’ equaled things Kagome didn’t want to think about. This was why she hated math, too.

“Hnn. Well, you’re welcome to spend the night at my apartment if you wish. You can also use my phone in the morning to call your sister.”

Tempting. Very tempting. But, “How do I know you’re not a serial killer or something? I only met you two days ago, after all.”

“And this is how you treat someone who aided you not once, or twice, but three times? Wonderful manners, Kagome,” he teased.

“Hey, you could have some hidden agenda, purposely doing all that to get me to trust you so that you could lead me to some abandoned alley somewhere and have your wicked way with me.”

His grin turned predatory. “Would you like me to do so?”

Kagome cheeks reddened as she realized what she said. “No!” Yes. Damn, I really need to get laid.

He shrugged. “Well, if you’d rather stay out here in the rain…” He turned to go.

“Wait!” she cried. He paused, and she sighed. “Please?” was all she said.

He was still grinning as he walked up the steps, covered her with his umbrella, and offered his arm.

--

“This is where you live?” she gaped, looking at the sparkling, luxurious, humongous penthouse. “What kind of businessman are you?”

“I do fairly well,” he admitted, shrugging.

‘Fairly well?’ she mouthed, still gawking at the expensive, but tasteful finery.

If he noticed, he didn’t show it as he led her down one of the hallways and opened a door that turned out to lead to a bathroom. “Go on and take a shower and warm yourself up. I’ll bring some clothes for you. They’ll be big but at least they’ll be dry.”

“Thank you,” she murmured. He nodded and left.

Once the door closed, she began to take off her clothes, tossing them onto the drying rack. This bathroom, unsurprisingly, was just as luxurious as the rest of the house, containing ivory marble on the floor, dark, rich wooden cabinets, a large Jacuzzi-bathtub, and a frosted glass shower. Did she mention that the shower alone was the size of her powder room?

She shook her head, and stepped into the aforementioned shower, letting the hot water warm her tired, frigid muscles. She washed up quickly, but at some point Sesshomaru must have snuck in to leave her some clothes, though with the fog, the frosted glass and the noise from the shower she hadn’t noticed him come in. She wrapped a towel around herself and went to grab the clothes, which, from what she could tell, was a tee-shirt (it was nice to know that owned at least some normal clothes) and gym shorts. However, when she was about two steps from her goal, her wet foot slipped on the darn marble. She shrieked as she fell, and moaned in pain when she landed hard on her wrist and butt.

“Kagome?” Sesshomaru called through the door. “Are you alright?”

She tried to tell him that she was fine, but as she tried to sit up, she jostled her wrist, sending sharp pains shooting up her arm. “Sonuvabitch that hurts!” she groaned.

At that, Sesshomaru opened the door with a concerned look on his face, only to freeze when he saw her.

Tilting her head in confusion, Kagome looked down, and realized that her towel had slipped, and was this close from flashing her girls to an unsuspecting businessman.

She shrieked and used her non-injured hand to pull the towel up. “Out!”

He quickly turned and left without a word.

Gulping, she shoved her mortification down and gingerly stood up without moving her left wrist as much as she could. Getting dressed was a bit of a problem, but since the clothes were so loose she could get into them with minimal pain, though she couldn’t help but whimper as she forced her left arm through the sleeve. When she was done, she took a deep breath and opened the door, walking to the living room with rosy tint to her cheeks.

It comforted her to see, though, that he also seemed a little embarrassed when he saw her. He coughed and said, “Are you alright?”

“Um, I’m not sure,” she mumbled, lifting her left arm slightly. “My wrist feels pretty bad.”

He motioned her over to the couch and they sat down. He took her left hand and gently probed her wrist. She hissed.

“It’s swelling,” Sesshomaru muttered. “Can you move your fingers?”

She obeyed, though winced at the twinge of pain.

“Hn, it doesn’t look broken. You definitely sprained it at the very least, though.”

“I thought you were a businessman?” she asked skeptically. Maybe doctor made more sense, though. Few businessmen could make this much money.

“I was an EMT in college,” he said by way of explanation, “I needed some volunteer work to get some of the internships I wanted.”

“Oh,” she said dumbly.

“I’ve got a first aid kit in the kitchen. If you’ll wait a moment, I’ll wrap this up for you. I don’t believe we should go to the ER tonight. Since we’ve arrived, it has started raining a great deal harder. You should get that checked out in the morning, though.”

She nodded and he left to go get the kit. When he came back, he took out a gauze roll and gently, but tightly, wrapped her left wrist. When he was done, she could move her arm without pain.

“Wow, it barely hurts anymore,” she remarked incredulously.

He smirked. “That’s because you can’t move your wrist now. You should still go to the hospital in the morning, though, and get some X-rays.”

“Kay. Thanks, again, by the way. Geez, you’ve got to stop doing so much for me. It feels like every time we meet you’re saving me from something or another.”

He grinned again. “I don’t know. I’m rather partial to you being constantly in debt to me.”

She blushed and grumbled. “Jerk.”

He chuckled.

She took a look around. As she had noted before, the decorations were tasteful, but there wasn’t much of a homey feel to the penthouse. She frowned. “No Christmas decorations?”

He shrugged. “I never bothered to buy any.”

“Well that’s no good!” she declared, “Let’s make some now!”

He arched a brow, “Now?”

“Yeah, now! This place needs some Christmas cheer!”

“And what do you suggest we do?”

“Do you have some printer paper and scissors?”

As he went to retrieve some, she found the penthouse’s speaker system and turned on the radio to a Christmas channel. As “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” starting floating through the room, Sesshomaru came back with the requested materials. They sat together by the coffee table, and she showed him how to first make the papers a square, fold them up and cut them so they’d make a circular snowflake. His first few tries were amusingly simple, but he quickly got the hang of it and soon they had an impressive pile. When she felt they had enough, she showed him how to make some origami Christmas trees as well. When they had about a dozen or so, she admitted that they had reached the limit of her handmade decorations expertise. They ended up looking up instructions on how to make Christmas ornaments online and continued to craft. All throughout their activities, they talked, basically picking up where they had left off at the café, though this time, Kagome spoke more about herself, at Sesshomaru’s prodding. She told him about the university, her love for children (the child-from-hell was an exception, she explained, but necessary funds for a poor grad student), her family, and a bunch of random things she found herself going off on a tangent about. He, on the other hand, told her little about his family, saying he wasn’t that close to them, which Kagome found sad. But she noticed he spoke very fondly about his little half sister. He told her about his company, though vaguely. He spoke more about his travels, which he seemed to enjoy very much.

“Your travel schedule must be tough on your girlfriend, right?” she asked not-so-slyly.

He gave her another smirk, “I do not currently have a girlfriend. You?”

“No, I’ve never been lesbian, actually, though I considered becoming one very briefly,” she joked.

“As interesting that might prove to be, I’m glad you decided against it.” His eyes glinted in amusement.

She laughed.

After she declared they had enough decorations, to his amusement, she wandered around the penthouse and hunted down a rather large potted fern. Dragging it to the living room, she ordered him to help decorate. They hung a bit of each ornament they made, and some snowflakes. They even wrapped it in paper tinsel they had ‘made’ from linking thin rectangles of paper together. Once she had deemed they had satisfactorily weighed down the poor fern enough, she took the leftover decorations and flitted around the room, hanging them from various windows, cabinets, shelves, and other furniture. By the time she was done, the room looked admittedly more cluttered, but decidedly more cozy.

“There!” She sighed happily. “That’s much better.”

He surveyed the room with her. “Hnn.”

“Oh you like it, admit it!” She elbowed him. He poked her back, causing her to squeal. “Don’t do that! I’m ticklish.” She regretted those words immediately when she saw him stalking predatorily towards her. She backed away. “Sesshomaru…come on…don’t you dare…” He continued to approach slowly, increasing her anxiety. At one point, she cracked. Squeaking, she turned to make a break for it. He pounced, sending them both flying to the couch.

She squealed as he tickled her mercilessly. “Aha- ha- no! St- ahaha-oopp! Ple-hee-hee-ease!” She struggled and kicked out at him. He was relentless though, and by the time he finally stopped, they were both panting as he lay on top of her on the couch.

Breathlessly, they met each other’s eyes, and she broke out into giggles. He chuckled in response, resting his face on the sofa between her neck and shoulder. There was no intensity, no weightiness, like romance books spoke of. Instead, a relaxed, comfortable aura surrounded them as they simply enjoyed each other’s presence.

--

Kagome woke up slowly, at first not recognizing the room around her, until memories from the previous night came flooding back to her. She smiled, feeling very peaceful, and she snuggled into her pillows in the guest room, smelling Sesshomaru’s scent which still lingered in the clothes she was wearing. Eventually, she stretched, yawned, and slowly got out of the oh-so-comfortable bed. Slowly, she padded out to the living room, figuring Sesshomaru was already up. He seemed like one of those early bird types. The living room was empty, though, and her nose scrunched up in confusion before she saw her clothes, dry and folded neatly on the coffee table, and a note on top.

Gone to get some breakfast,

Sesshomaru.

So he was an early bird, Kagome grinned, taking her clothes to the bathroom to change (she didn’t want to risk Sesshomaru coming home at just the wrong moment. It would be just her luck.)

When she came back out, Sesshomaru still had not come back, so she settled herself on the couch to watch some Christmas specials. Flipping to ABC Family, where Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town was playing, she took out Sesshomaru’s laptop, figuring she could check her emails while she waited. She frowned when she saw an email from her sister.

Subj: URGENT! WHERE ARE YOU???!!!

Kagome,

Where are you??!! You won’t answer your phone, and I know all your housemates are home for the holidays. Are you okay?? Please respond!! I’m calling the police at noon!

Kikyo

Quickly, she typed up a reply, giving the short explanation about what happened, and sent it.

Only five minutes later (Santa had just tried for the first time to deliver toys to Sombertown), she got a reply.

Re: URGENT! WHERE ARE YOU???!!!

Get on facebook please!

Kikyo

Kagome rolled her eyes, and logged on to her barely used facebook account. Almost immediately, a chat box popped up.

Kikyo: Kagome! Emergency! I need your help!

Kagome: What? I thought the emergency was that you couldn’t find me…

Kikyo: Well, that was one. And now there’s another!

Kagome rolled her eyes again. Her meticulous sister tended to get a little panicky whenever the slightest thing did not go to plan.

Kagome: What is it now?

Kikyo: One of the elves at the mall didn’t show up today. None of our back-ups can come in today since it’s Christmas eve. Pleaaase can you fill in?

Kagome: You want me to be an ELF?

Kikyo: Pleaaaaaaase?

Kagome: Did you read my email? I’m kind of stranded here right now, until my friend comes back.

She had refrained from telling her sister Sesshomaru’s name, or, more accurately, refrained from telling her her friend was a boy. Kikyo would definitely overreact.

Kikyo: I can come pick you up! You need my key anyway, right?

Kagome: I don’t know…

Kikyo: Please??? You’ll be paid!

Kagome sighed. She could use the money. She wondered if Sesshomaru would come with her. Or better yet…she laughed at loud at the image of Sesshomaru wearing an elf costume.

Kagome: Fine. You owe me, sis.

Kikyo: Oh thank you! I’ll come pick you up right now! What’s the address?

She gave the address of the building, and bit her lip, hoping Sesshomaru would be back before Kikyo came. However, after ten minutes ticked by, Kikyo had arrived, and there was still no Sesshomaru.

Frowning a bit, Kagome decided to just write him a note. She explained what had happened, and where she was going, inviting him to come and see her there. She meant to write her number at the bottom, but then Kikyo honked from outside, and so that Kagome could hear it even from the top floor of the building, where the penthouse was. She scowled, muttering about impatient sisters, before quickly running out.

**^^**^^*^^

“Miroku…” Kagome growled warningly.

“Did I mention how adorable you look in that elf costume, Kagome?”

“Yeah, yeah, just keep your hands to yourself or Sango will have your head,” she scolded, though playfully.

The young ‘Santa’ chuckled. “I much prefer when she gives me he—”

“Kids, Miroku!” she quickly interrupted, “Kids!”

“Yes yes,” he waved her off, giving a ‘Ho ho ho!’ when the next child came up to him. Kagome smiled softly as she watched her friend make the child giggle and laugh. Pervert he may be, but he was wonderful with children. She knew he and Sango had been trying for a couple months. Kagome prayed for a little Christmas magic on their behalf.

Speaking of Christmas magic, Kagome searched the crowds once again for a certain tall, silver-haired hottie. Still no sign of him. She sighed and cursed herself yet again for forgetting to leave him her number.  

After a couple more kids, Kikyo came over. “Thanks you two. You guys can take a couple minutes for a break, if you’d like.” They thanked her and she left to go talk to the cashiers and other workers. Kagome took another quick look around and sagged in disappointment.

Miroku stood up and stretched. “Ooooh, Santa’s getting a bit stiff.”

“So long as it’s the back kind of stiffness you’re talking about. Kikyo does not want to deal with any sexual harassment or pedophilic suits, got it?” she joked.

“You low expectations of me wound my heart, Kagome.” He covered his heart with his hand, looking as offended as he could.

She shoved him. “Knock it off, you big softie.”

He grabbed her hand, grinning, and kissed the back of it. “If my lady insists.”

She pulled her hand back and whacked him with it, laughing. “You charmer,” she softened, “You’ll be a great father, one day, Miroku.” She reached up and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you, Kagome. You mean a great deal to Sango and I,” he told her sincerely.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Now go take a walk before your back cracks again, old man.”

He shook his head. “So insensitive to my insecurity…” he sighed dramatically.

She shoved him again, laughing. “Go.”

“As my lady wishes,” he winked.

She was still giggling as she turned away. Her mirth became choked in her throat, though, when her eyes connected with golden ones. She felt her heart float as she started to smile widely. He came!

Her face fell, slightly, when she realized something was wrong. His eyes were cold, distant, and he was frowning. Without a word, he crouched to whisper something to a little girl Kagome hadn’t noticed before. She assumed that was his half-sister that he talked of yesterday. The girl pouted in disappointment, but after a few low words, she perked and grabbed her brother’s hand, allowing herself to be led away, leaving Kagome feeling very confused, before she realized what Sesshomaru had just seen.

Kagome groaned as her heart sank. The fates really weren’t cutting her any slack.                                                                                                     

**^^**^^**^^

Kagome sighed gloomily as she downed another cup of eggnog. She hadn’t been able to track down Sesshomaru after he saw her being pretty cozy with Miroku. And without his number she still had no way to contact him. She contemplated googling his name when she got home after this gathering Inuyasha’s parents’ were hosting, wondering if that would be considered stalking. She just wanted his contact information…But she realized that’s what all groupies said.

“I need another eggnog,” She murmured gloomily.

“And what, dear sister, has got you so glum on Christmas?” Kikyo swept in beside her, holding, bless her, two cups of just what the doctor ordered. The doctor being Kagome’s depressed heart, that is.

“The fact that I somehow manage to keep running off quite possibly the hottest, most attractive man I’ve ever met,” the younger sister sighed.

Kikyo’s eyebrows rose high behind her bangs. “Could you repeat that please?”

Kagome proceeded to slowly tell her what had happened the past three days. At one point, Kikyo placed her arm around her little sister, listening quietly as Kagome rambled and sniffled, like they used to do in high school. Kagome sagged against her sister’s comforting presence, ending the story with what happened at the mall with Miroku.

“Kagome…honestly I don’t know what to tell you. I guess you just have to trust that if you’re meant to meet again, you’ll meet again, and you’ll take the opportunity to clear the misunderstanding.”

“But, I don’t want to just leave it up to fate. Fate hasn’t been to kind to me these past few days, haven’t you been listening? And I’ve never felt a connection with any guy like I did with him. We just…clicked. We’re so different, but it works somehow, you know?” Kagome sniffed again, taking a long draw of eggnog.

Kikyo smiled knowingly. “Actually, I do think I have an idea about what you’re talking about.” She gazed across the room at her husband, who was currently snarfing down some Christmas ham as his mother watched disapprovingly. The two Higurashi sisters could practically hear Iyazoi-san berating her son and reminding him of the manners she’d taught him.

“So, I just…I really want to see him. I want to see Sesshomaru.” Kagome finished miserably, finishing off the eggnog.

Kikyo’s eyes widened again. “Um, what did you say his name was, Kagome?”

“I didn’t. His name is Sesshomaru Tsukishiro.”

Kikyo blinked slowly. Kagome looked at her with some concern. “Um, Kikyo? You okay?”

Kikyo shook her head and smiled. “I believe, little sister, that you might get the chance you’re looking for sooner than you think.”

Kagome looked at her sharply. “What do you mean? Do you know who he is? Can you give me his contact information?”

“I don’t know him personally, Kagome, but you’ll meet him soon. I guarantee it.”

“What are you talking abou—”

Just then, the door opened, letting a cold draft.

“Ah, guess they’re back,” Inuyasha’s father commented. “Rin, pumpkin, did you have fun with your brother?”

A little girl ran into her father’s arms. “Yup! Sesshomaru took me to the park and pushed me on the swings! He pushed me so high I felt like I was flying!” the cute little one declared. Nearly everyone in the room chuckled.

Kagome, however, had froze at the name, and slowly turned to the door. There, in all his handsomeness, stood her Sesshomaru, who was currently looking fondly at the little girl in her father’s arms.

“Oi! Sesshomaru! Welcome back,” Inuyasha approached him and clapped him on the shoulder. So Sesshomaru was Inuyasha’s half brother. Kagome nearly hit herself on the forehead. Why hadn’t she seen it before? Sure, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru’s faces were very different, but their coloring was almost exactly the same. So were their noses.

“Inuyasha…” Sesshomaru grumbled in annoyance.

“Oh, lighten up, will you? It’s Christmas. What’s up with you anyway? You were in a much better mood earlier when you picked Rin up. Did you lodge a stick up your a—”

“Inuyasha, language!” Iyazoi reprimanded.

“Your…butt again?” he finished.

Rin giggled. “Inuyasha said ‘butt,’” she whispered.

Inuyasha ignored her, and Sesshomaru ignored him. “Well anyway,” he continued, “Come meet my wife. Kikyo?” Sesshomaru turned to look where Inuyasha was gesturing, and his eyes widened.

Kikyo squeezed her sister’s arm in reassurance and gently led her to the two men. “It’s nice to meet you, Sesshomaru. I’m Kikyo, and this is my sister –”

“Kagome.” Sesshomaru stated, his voice even and matter of fact.

Inuyasha’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You two know each other?” he asked his brother and sister-in-law.

“Er, yeah,” Kagome fidgeted with her hands nervously. Kikyo gently nudged her with an elbow. “Um, can we talk, Sesshomaru? Somewhere private?”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before nodding slowly. He motioned her to follow, and proceeded to lead her down a hall, leaving the rest of the family behind. Inuyasha was gawking at their backs.

“Oi, what the he—”

His wife gently smacked his shoulder. “Shush. Let’s go play with Rin.”

--

“Um, so…” Kagome started nervously as she stood in the middle of what was evidently his old room, judging by the graduation cap, high school diploma, certificates of merit, various academic awards and medals, kendo trophies, karate trophies…Kagome needed to stop looking around.

Sesshomaru was silent, refusing to begin the conversation himself.

Kagome fidgeted some more. “I didn’t know you were Inuyasha’s brother –”

“Half brother,” he corrected in monotone. His distance hurt her heart.

“Er, yeah. Your last names are different,” she remarked dumbly.

He shrugged. “It’s my mother’s last name.”

“Oh.”

“…”

The silence was heavy, awkward, and damn did Kagome wish there had been more alcohol in that eggnog.

“If that is all…” He turned to go.

“No, wait!” She winced at the volume of her voice. “Please?” she said more softly.

He stopped, but did not turn back around.

“Look,” she told his back, deciding to just blurt it out, “There’s nothing between Miroku and I. He’s married to my best friend. And he himself is one of my close friends. But there has never been anything between us. He’s just an affectionate person.”

She stepped forward and softly rested a hand against his rigid back. “I…I really wanted to spend time with you today. I kept looking for you in the lines, hoping you’d come. I, I really like you, Sesshomaru, and want to explore this, our connection, more.” She paused, but he was still stiff under her hand. She sighed. “I guess, if you don’t feel the same, that’s o—”

Abruptly, he whipped around, grabbed her neck, and ducked down to press his lips against hers. She ‘eeped’ in surprise, at first stiff with shock as his other arm snaked around her waist, before melting into his arms, responding to his kiss with fervor. Their lips moved softly against each other, teasing, tasting, exploring. Her hand eventually reached up to twine its fingers into his soft, silver hair. Her other hand, still bound tightly by the bandage he put on, even after her visit to the doctor (he hadn’t lost any of his EMT skills, it turned out), wrapped up and around his back under his jacket, gripping his shoulder from behind. He pressed her closer, and gently touched his tongue to her lower lip, asking permission. She gave it immediately, moaning softly as he explored her moist cavern, directing her head with the hand that had crept up her neck. Eventually, she pushed back with her own tongue to explore him. They battled for dominance, giving and taking, until their lungs had run out of air and they had no choice but to reluctantly break apart to catch their breaths.

He kept his arms around her, hand resting gently one her head as she snuggled her cheek against his chest.

“Wow.”

“Hnn…” Sesshomaru hummed in agreement.

“We need to do that again.”

She felt rather than heard him chuckle.

“I believe our families outside would miss our company.”

“Screw them. It’s Christmas and I deserve some goddamn jolliness.”

He chuckled again, and tilted her chin up to kiss her chastely. “They’ll survive a few more moments,” he agreed.

They stood together comfortably for a few moments, relishing the feel of each other’s bodies pressed intimately against their own.

“So, you kept your mother’s last name?” she asked softly after a couple minutes.

“I had my father’s last name for a time. But when she died, I decided to take her last name, so that I may keep her memory living. She was a remarkable woman.” He smirked. “Similar to, but also vastly different from, you.”

“Oh really? How so?”

“You both are strong willed, pig-headed, and won’t take no for an answer,” he chuckled, “On the other hand, my mother was much more elegant, poised…and definitely not as clumsy.”

She blushed, and became annoyed with herself. She felt like all she did in his presence was blush.

“Hey, I’m not usually that klutzy. It’s just been these past few days, I’m telling you.”

“I’m sure,” he responded, though he didn’t sound it. She pouted up at him, before coming to a realization.

“Wait, Inuyasha’s, I mean, your dad said that his eldest son start his own company in his late mother’s name.”

“Hnn.”

Kagome  called upon the little Japanese knowledge she had, mostly from anime. “Tsukishiro…moon and white…white moon…HOLY CRAP!”

Sesshomaru looked away.

“You started and own White Moon Enterprises?! No wonder you’re loaded!” His company  was the second largest privately-owned company in the world.

He shrugged. “To be honest, I was surprised you never figured it out, even after finding out my name.”

She shrugged. “I was never really into stuff like that. And plus, I didn’t google your name because I didn’t want to seem like a stalker, even though I really wanted to because we somehow managed to keep forgetting to get each other’s number.

He chuckled, before deliberately stepping away to look her straight in the eye.

“Kagome...”

The intensity of his molten gaze surprised her, and tried not to fidget too much. “Um, yes?”

He allowed a long, drawn out pause before opening his mouth, “Will you give me your number?”

**^^**^^**^^

~~One Year Later~~

Kagome stood in the living room of Sesshomaru’s penthouse, frowning. Around her, most of the decorations that they had put up last year hung proudly, mixed in with the new batch they’d made this year with slightly better material. In addition, surfaces were now lined with pictures of them in the various places they’d traveled to  together, as well as, after some cajoling from Kagome, ones of their families.

Kagome was currently shaking a box between her hands. “I thought we were exchanging gifts tomorrow?”

He smirked. “This is for tonight.”

“But, I didn’t get you two things.”

“Don’t worry, Kagome. We’ll simply add this to your list of debts against me. Besides, this gift benefits me as much as it does you.

Now Kagome was very curious. Slowly, she opened the box to reveal a black leather corset outfit similar to the one she’d failed to save herself with a year ago. The only thing it was missing was the whip and a few chains.

He wrapped his arms around her from behind and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Truthfully, the real reason I made a rather hasty exit that time we first met was because I was imagining you in that sinful garment you were innocently holding.”

She turned in his arms to rest her hands, one of which was still holding the outfit, against his chest, smiling. “And what makes you think I’d wear this for you now, you perv?”

He gently swung a foot out to sweep her from under her, making her sag against him. “Are you alright, miss?” His face was straight, but his eyes glinted with mischief.

She batted her lashes coyly. “Um, yeah, thanks.”

“Are you sure?”

She righted herself by twining her arms around his neck and pulling herself right up against him. “Actually, no, I’m not. I think I may need some help getting to my bedroom sir…”

With a growl, he reached down to hook his arm behind her knees and lift her into his arms. She squealed, laughing, as her fiancé carried her hastily to their bedroom.

Some hours later, Kagome rolled over on top of him in bed to place a kiss on his neck. “Thank you so much for your help, sir,” she whispered in a low voice, “Actually I might need your help again sometime. Think I could get your number?”

Yeah, this year’s Christmas was almost as good as last year’s.