Muse by Himura Asami

Muse

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.

…

            Sesshomaru scowled to himself as he looked at the two-ton block of marble in front of him.

            He flexed his claws and brought his hands close to the rock. As soon as his fingers touched the surface of the stone, he pulled his hands away and growled lowly.

            He was having a very hard time getting started. He didn’t normally have this problem, but his muse was being particularly uncooperative.

            Of course, it wasn’t as if she was normally cooperative. Whenever he managed to coerce her in to posing for a portrait, she pouted, and fussed, and put up a fight. But this time, he couldn’t even convince her to pose.

            All he wanted to do was sculpt her, but she refused to pose for him. She had even thrown her bento at him when he had suggested it.

            He shook his head.

            Kagome made things entirely too hard for him.

            Now, he would have to carve the statue from his mind.

            That would make things difficult.

            Shaking his head, Sesshomaru moved to the stone block and picked it up. He maneuvered it so that he was holding it horizontally, and then he placed it on the ground carefully.

            He settled in to a crouch and again flexed his claws.

            He might as well quit procrastinating and begin his work.

…

            Kagome shifted in her seat as she waited for Sesshomaru to enter the room.

            She was there with his sister, his father, and his stepmother, waiting for the unveiling of his newest masterpiece.

            She was looking forward to see what it was. Since she had flat out refused to pose for him, she had thought he would move on to something else, but he had said he was still going to sculpt. She was excited to see one of his works that wasn’t her, since she was always the subject of his art.

            “What do you think it is?” Rin asked, staring intently at the sheet covered statue in the middle of the room.

            Kagome pursed her lips as she examined the object. It was fairly long, but not nearly as tall or wide.

            “Maybe it’s a car?’ she suggested.

            Rin wrinkled her nose. “Do you think so? I hope not. I don’t really like cars.”

            Kagome shrugged. “It was just a guess. I really don’t know what it is.”

            Toga huffed and walked over. “Well, I want to find out. That boy had better hurry up, or I’ll lift the sheet off myself.”

            Izayoi laughed lightly. “Calm down, dear. He needs to clean up. You know how he is.”

            Toga nodded grudgingly.

            The group of four sat around waiting for a little longer, before Sesshomaru finally entered.

            “It’s about time,” Toga muttered.

            Sesshomaru didn’t respond. He stood by the sculpture and stared at them. Without a word, he lifted the sheet in one smooth motion.

            The reaction was instantaneous.

            “Is that-“ Rin began.

            “It is!” Izayoi gasped.

            Toga shook his head dazedly. “Nice job, son.”

            “Sesshomaru Taisho!” Kagome screamed, drowning out everyone else’s words. “WHAT DID YOU DO?”

            He blinked. “I sculpted a statue.”

            “But that’s me!”

            “Indeed.”

            “And I’m naked! Why am I naked? You’ve never seen me naked!” she yelled, her face completely red as she stared at the statue depicting her nude self in a very provocative pose.

            “You knew I was going to do this.”

            “No, I didn’t! I said no! I didn’t pose for you because I didn’t want there to be a nude statue of me!”

            Sesshomaru frowned. “Do you not like it?”

            “No, I don’t like it! How do you even know what I look like naked?”

            “It is accurate?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.

            “Yes!” Kagome shouted, crossing her arms over her chest and puffing out her cheeks.

            Sesshomaru stared at her red face. “Hn. That is good.”

            “Sesshomaru!” Kagome shouted. “Get rid of it!”

            “I will keep it.”

            “You cannot have a nude statue of me.”

            “I can.”

            “No! Destroy it! Melt it! Crush it! Get rid of it!”

            “No.”

            Kagome screamed angrily. “I hate you! I’m never posing for you again! I’m sick of being your muse! Do you hear me, Sesshomaru? I quit!”

            Saying that, Kagome stomped out of the room.

            Sesshomaru frowned, and, after hesitating for only the briefest of moments, took off after her.

            This left Toga, Izayoi, and Rin alone with the statue.

            Toga recovered first, even though that was quite a long while after the revealing of the sculpture.

            He walked over to the statue and leaned forward, placing a hand on his chin.

            “That’s startlingly detailed. How did he do it?”

            Izayoi shook her head and walked up to her husband. “Toga! Stop looking at it!”

            “But, dear! Look at it! It’s so life like. Do you ever wonder if our son is secretly a voyeur?”

            “Toga!”

            “It’s not unreasonable! I mean, how does he know what a naked woman looks like?”

            “I’m not having this conversation with you.”

            “Yeah, Dad!” Rin said, walking up to him. “Kagome’s my best friend. You can’t just look at her naked body like that. It’s weird. And gross.”

            “But, Rin,” Toga whined. “Look at it! You’ve taken a bath with her before. Does she look like this naked?”

            “I don’t look at her naked body carefully!”

            “Just look at it!” Toga ordered.

            Rin frowned, but scrutinized the statue. She blinked as she examined it.     

            “Wow. This does look like her. Mom, look.”

            “I’m not doing this with either of you,” Izayoi said, walking out of the room.

            Rin and Toga ignored her as she left and continued to stare at the statue.

            Soon, Sesshomaru reentered the room.

            Rin and Toga turned to him, both prepared to speak, when they caught sight of his face.

            There was a bright-red handprint on his cheek and he was glowering at everything in his path. He stalked forward, right past them and headed into the kitchen.

            Toga and Rin looked at each other.

            Rin giggled. “I could have told him that would’ve happened.”

            Toga nodded. “Hey! Why don’t you go distract him and I’ll check his room to see if he has any videos or magazines.”

            Rin looked at him incredulously. “You think he has some?”

            “Well how else could he have formed that sculpture so perfectly?”

            Rin shrugged. “You have a point. Good luck searching!”

            With that said, both of them set off to do their designated tasks.

…

         At home in her garage, Kagome cracked her knuckles and hefted a sledgehammer onto her shoulder, all the while cackling maniacally.

…

Woo-hoo!

I had fun writing that.

It wasn’t super funny, but it leaves you pondering many questions:

How does Sesshomaru know what a naked woman looks like– specifically Kagome?

Is Kagome insane?

Will Toga find anything?
Is Kagome going to kill Sesshomaru with that sledgehammer or is she just going to destroy the sculpture?

Hmm…

T.N.T!