An Off-White Christmas by UnknownRandomness

Tampered Goods Lead To Renewed Efforts

Prompt: Garland

Word Count: 501

Kagome fanned her face with her hand as she gulped down her fourth glass of soya milk, desperately trying to calm the inferno that was currently raging inside her mouth. The liquid slipped down her raw gullet, but it didn't have the desired effect, rather the burning sensation seemed to grow even more intense and the young woman could feel her lips going numb. 

Slamming the now empty glass onto the tabletop, she looked at her mate incredulously. He was calmly watching her as he chomped down his second cookie, seemingly unaffected by the powerful treats. It just didn't make sense. His super-sensitive youkai tastebuds should've been screaming in agony right about now, but she was the only one suffering. It was odd and unfair.

"Sesshoumaru, don't you find the cookies spicy?"

The inuyoukai just shot her a blank look as he finished said foodstuff and picked up another one. 

"Clearly not, otherwise I would not be eating more of them, would I?"

His reaction made her pause. Normally he would be feeling very sympathetic and asking her how he could help, or making her a concoction to ease the pain... But not this time. Now, the inu was completely reactionless as she hurt and moaned. Could he have...? No, that was silly, her mind was clearly just jumping to conclusions. But then again, she hadn't put anything in the cookie mixture that would have caused this; she had used the same ingredients as she normally did so it shouldn't have been because of those... And she had left the bowl unattended for a little while when she'd gone upstairs to find her ringing mobile only to be distracted when her bathroom shelf had suddenly collapsed and tipped all of her bathbombs into the sink.

With a small smirk, Sesshoumaru grabbed a few more cookies from the plate and plucked her bright green garland from its place on top of the cupboard, jauntily draping it around his shoulders before sauntering out of the kitchen, not bothering to ask the stunned miko if she needed anything.

It had to be his doing. That was the only explanation. Kagome couldn't believe that her loving and completely sincere partner would do such a thing- or at least, not to her.

'But doesn't he feel the same about you? And what have you been doing to him for the past few weeks?' Her mind prompted helpfully.

With a scowl that quickly turned into a pained grimace as her tongue throbbed, the woman tried to convince herself that there was no way in hell that Sesshoumaru had poisoned her precious dough. He knew how dear her baked goods were to her. But with each uncomfortable pulse that spread through her tingling mouth, Kagome's resolve quickly warped into suspicion. Within minutes, all faith in the innocence of her mate had vanished. He had done this... And he was going to find out the hard way that she could pay him back double what he was owed.