Chapter 1
A/N - This is my first time at this in years, can't promise much except that I'll see it through. Looking for a beta, hit me up if you're interested. PLEASE, review and let me know what you think!
UPDATE: HUGE Thank you to Ashkisses for her willingness to Beta for me and so quickly! Here is the newly updated/edited/improved Chapter 1!
Also, I do not own Inuyasha or any of it's characters, nor do I own any other copyrighted thing in this or any other chapter of Road From Perdition. I am not making any profit off of this work, it's just for funsies!
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Walking in and shrugging his trenchcoat off of his shoulders, Sesshoumaru handled it to the doorman and made his way through the restaurant to the private room in the back. Wearing a midnight black Armani suit with the shoes to match, his long silver hair was a stark contrast as it hung down his back in a low ponytail. He sighed, if he was being called to a meeting this late, with his idiot brother no less, something had gone wrong.
"Vodka tonic," Sesshoumaru intoned to the waiter standing by the entrance of the room, sighing again when the man nearly ran him over in his hurry to complete the task.
"Took you long enough, ya prick! I've been here for damn near an hour waiting on you!"
Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, he did not have the time or the patience for this, "Inuyasha, you could have waited until morning for all I care. It's four o'clock in the morning, what could possibly be so important?"
"The wolf." Inuyasha was pacing now, clearly spooked.
Sesshoumaru took his drink from the waiter and nodded to the man, waiting till he scurried away before turning back to his brother. He took a small sip, "What of him?"
"There nearly is no him left! There was a hit at his spot tonight, he lost several men and took a couple hits himself. He's at the hospital now, they are already pointing fingers our way!"
Sesshomaru took another, far longer sip, "The wolf is stupid, but not so much so. He knows that is not our style."
Inuyasha stopped in his pacing to glare, though it left Sesshomaru unaffected, perhaps it would calm his brother down some, "First off, ya arrogant prick, even if that were true, he isn't the problem! He's in intensive care at the moment and barely breathing! In the mean time, a bunch of pissed off cubs are without leadership ready to go off half cocked, with no one to stop them!"
Sesshoumaru paused, he hated to admit it, but his brother had a point.
"Very well, send the kitsune to speak with them."
Inuyasha's eyes widened and he gaped at his brother before laughing loudly, "You really want Rin to kill you?"
Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "I will handle Rin, the kitsune is 3rd, and far more diplomatic than you. Simply have him go, assure them of our uninvolvement, and promise bodies to help carry out retribution to those that did this."
Inuyasha stared for a while longer, before shrugging, "Fine, have it your way, but you're dealing with Rin, not me."
Sesshomaru watched as his brother downed the rest of his beer before storming out, then sighed gently. What a stupid reason to be called out at 4 in the morning. Their restaurant was open 24 hours, but it was only to be used for that in strict emergencies. He would have to speak to his brother about just what warranted an emergency soon.
Though, he did have to admit that the wolf having a hit out on him that was so nearly successful was problematic. Sighing again, he decided he may as well eat before going on with the rest of his day. Sleeping would be pointless at this juncture. Finishing his drink he went out into the main lobby and sat at a small table in the corner.
Glancing around he was pleased to see so many patrons. When they had decided to make their upscale Italian restaurant 24 hours, it had been a risky move. While on the one hand it provided more hours for potential income, making money easier to wash in larger quantities, it also was suspicious in it's own way. However, the location had provided a high end location for people leaving the clubs to come with associates or dates. It disgusted him slightly, but the party scene in this city was so lively that there were always people leaving the clubs at 2 am looking for food.
Sesshomaru glance up as he saw the server arrive, though it wasn't the same man as before. Now, it was a small petite woman with dark raven locks and striking blue eyes.
"Hi there, what can I get you to drink?"
She gave him her best smile and he glanced to her name tag, Kagome, interesting. He had not met or seen her before.
"Iced tea."
"Sure thing!" She continued beaming at him, "And would you like breakfast or dinner this late night, early morning?"
Sesshomaru resisted the urge to shudder at the thought of breakfast food, he abhorred it, "Dinner."
"Alright! Be right back with your iced tea and a menu!"
He watched her bounce away and smirked internally, the girl was far too chipper for four o'clock in the morning.
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"Kagome, oh my god! Why didn't you tell me you'd been sat?! Do you know who that is?!" Miroku was nearly in a fit, and Kagome was confused.
"Um, I'm not the hostess, Ayame is? Why would I tell you I'd been sat? And no, I don't know who he is, why?"
Miroku groaned, Ayame was likely off taking a smoke break, "That's the owner!"
Kagome blanched, she'd only been here a week, but she had heard enough horror stories.
"Oh... well I better hurry back with his drink then!"
Kagome rushed off before Miroku could stop her, but he was close on her heels.
"Here you go, sir! Iced tea and your menu..." Kagome was swiftly interrupted.
"Sir, I'm so sorry, I had no idea you were planning on dining after your meeting with Inuyasha, if you would prefer another server we can arrange it immediately!"
Now Kagome was mad, she knew that she was new, but what the hell was Miroku's problem! She was good at her job! She bit her tongue though, fighting with the boss in front of the big boss was a bad idea.
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at Miroku as he watched Kagome silently fume,"And why, exactly, is it that Kagome is working if she is not adequately prepared to serve?"
Kagome blushed as Miroku spluttered, "No, no! Of course she is prepared, fully trained and all! I just want to be sure you're taken care of to your standards, sir!"
"If any server is unable to take care of a client to my standards, they should not be a server here. Allow Kagome to show me your training capabilities," he turned to Kagome, "How long have you been working?"
Kagome swallowed hard, this was a lot this early, or, late, er, whatever it was, "A week."
Sesshoumaru nodded, "Chicken Marsala."
Kagome immediately grinned again, "Sure thing! Pasta or potatoes?"
"Pasta, side salad, caesar."
Kagome nodded before raising an eyebrow at Miroku and heading off to put the order in the system, leaving Miroku with nothing to do but walk away with his head down in embarrassment.
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Two hours later, Kagome watched as Sesshomaru continued to stare out the window. His food was long gone, but he seemed to be in no hurry to leave.
Kagome glanced at the clock, it was time for her to leave, but she was nervous to tell the owner that she would be handing him off to another server. She sighed, nothing to be done about it, she had to leave on time in order to catch the bus, so she approached him.
"Sir? I hate to do this but I have to let another server take over, I'm off now and have to make sure I catch the bus."
Sesshoumaru set his eyes on her for a long moment, before glancing at his watched. He resisted the urge to outwardly show his surprise at the time, what had he been doing for the last two hours? Perhaps he should have gone back to get some rest.
"You may go."
Kagome resisted the urge to huff at him, of course she could go! She was off the clock! She hadn't noticed the evil side to him everyone else had spoken of, but he sure as hell was arrogant!
She nodded and smiled at him, wishing him a good day, but stopped when she heard him clear his throat. Turning back, she saw him holding out some money.
"Oh, sir, I was told not to charge you. You being the owner and all, seems silly to pay for your own food."
He nodded slowly, "It would... but it would also be rude for me not to tip you for your time."
He inwardly smirked at the way her mouth opened into a small 'O', but it ended quickly when she shook her head. He set his jawline firmly and held it out, his eyes brooking no argument. She sighed and accepted it without even looking at the amount, trying to ignore how warm his fingers were.
He watched her walk away, slightly amused, his amusement swiftly vanished as he heard his phone buzz and saw Rin's name on the caller ID.
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Kagome moaned as she looked at her watch, 6:25! The bus came to the stop in five minutes! Damn Ayame, leaving her work undone and making her pick up the slack. She rushed out of the restaurant into the frigid cold air, pulling her coat closer to her as she began jogging toward the bus stop.
She really doubted she could get to it in time, but she damned if she didn't try. She was so lost in thought about it that she barely registered what happened as she ran straight into someones chest, falling backwards only to be caught around the waist by a strong pair of hands. She began apologising before she even looked up, then gasped when she did.
The man's entire face screamed sinister, scraggly beard with long, greasy matted hair and several teeth missing. The man laughed at her face and she fought the urge to cringe at the smell of alcohol and cigarettes.
"Well now, what's this then?" the man's voice was gruff, and he laughed harder as she tried to pull away, "What's your hurry now? You bumped into me, aren't you going to thank me for catching ya?"
"Thank you, now let go." Kagome kept her voice tense as she struggled.
"Why would I do that? It's cold out here, warmer with you so close like. I much prefer it this way." the man shoved his nose into her hair and inhaled deeply. Kagome tried to scream, but found her voice failing her.
Time seemed to slow as the man began fumbling around looking for the zipper of her coat, but as soon as she heard the noise of it unzipping she came back to life. Her struggles increased ten fold as she looked around her frantically. Seeing no one, she took a deep breath, ignoring his grotesque odor, and screamed as loud and long as she could.
The man shoved a gloved hand over her mouth quickly and grabbed her more firmly about the waist, slowly dragging her toward the darker part of the ally. Kagome was torn between the fight to struggle, and the fight not to throw up at the dirty cigarette smelling gloved hand in her mouth.
The man dragged her to the far side of a dumpster at the end of the alley before beginning to lower her and himself. Eyes wide and frantic, she quickly bit down on the hand over her mouth and screamed again as he pulled away in pain.
Even angrier now, the man swiftly backhanded her before working on undoing her pants. He was over even attempting to speak now, only grunting and breathing heavy. Kagome began to feel the fight leaving her as the overwhelming desire to detach took over as she closed her eyes.
The man chuckled to himself again before reaching for his own pants zipper, his hand groping around when suddenly he was not there anymore, and Kagome heard a disgusting thud accompanied by pops and cracks. Opening her eyes she looked across the alley only to see the man who had accosted her in a limp pile against the other wall, she cringed as she noted the way he was head down, his neck at an unnatural angle and his legs bent backwards like an acrobat. Looking back in front of her, she slowly looked up at who was in front of her then gasped.
It was the owner.
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Time seemed to stand still for a moment as she took him in. He was standing there, gazing at her with an unreadable expression and his phone in one hand. Her eyes widened as she realized that he had tossed the man that hard one handed. Another moment passed, then another. Finally, her psyche unable to take anymore she began to laugh hysterically. After a moment though, the laughter turned into soul wrenching sobs.
Sesshoumaru regarded her for a moment as he watched the deterioration, unsure of what to do. Finally, he looked at his phone, sending a quick text to have someone come and deal with the body. Task completed, he pocketed his phone and bent down to pick up the sobbing girl before him.
He was unprepared for her response as she began screaming and flailing in his arms. He sighed, he should have expected such a thing after her ordeal, but he doubted her legs would carry her on her own. It wouldn't do to have her sitting in the cold in this dark, damp, dirty alleyway.
"Be still, woman, I am taking you home." He kept his voice soft, but firm, not allowing any leeway for argument. Internally grateful when she stilled and simply turned her face into his jacket and continued sobbing.
He'd have to change clothes, and likely take his outfit to the dry cleaners, but first he needed to ensure she was home and away from this place.
Not at all how he imagined his day beginning.
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