Sorry, I would have posted this on Dokuga much sooner if it wasn't for my terrible internet. :( This is RosieB's holiday present for the Dokuga Gift Exchange and belongs to her. It turned out much longer than I'd anticipated, but I hope you'll like it all the same. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Co. belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
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A happy-go-lucky college girl, a stick-up-the-ass ookami, and an obnoxious ten-year old boy. Leaning uncomfortably against the car door as if doing so would make him that much further away from the insufferable bunch, the mute inuyoukai wondered how on earth he had ended up in a situation like this. Sesshomaru couldn’t quite recall how Kagome had even managed to convince him to come along on this holiday “vacation”…
‘Well, Sesshomaru, I was thinking…’
Kagome thinking. Never a good sign.
‘Since your parents are going to be gone for the holidays like usual – the busy tycoons they are – why don’t you come with me and my family to our cabin this Christmas!?’
‘Hn. Tempting, but I prefer not,’ Sesshomaru had demurred. ‘Besides, didn’t you say something about that wolf-boy of yours tagging along with you?’
She groaned in obvious displeasure. ‘Sesshomaru… I know you don’t like Koga, but really, it’s not like he’ll ruin Christmas for you or anything. He’s not that bad,’ Kagome stated as she tossed her dark raven locks behind one shoulder. She folded her arms, shielding herself from the thin chill of air as they strolled down the sidewalk. ‘At any rate,’ she declared, ‘it’s better than staying at home doing absolutely nothing.’
Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her before taking another sip of his coffee.
Glancing at the impassive dog demon, the lively girl pursed her lips together. ‘Ohh… C’mon, Sesshomaru… It’ll be fun!’
Then, Kagome’s voice shrank a notch into an irresistible tone of ‘innocent’ pleading, which only Sesshomaru seemed to notice.
‘…Please…?’
And, the rest was a bit of a blur.
The next moment he remembered was arriving at Kagome’s house, where the beginning of his unprecedented adventure began.
Ding-dong~
Sesshomaru shrugged the strap of his bag down from his shoulder to his wrist, shoving his hands into his pockets. One o’clock, give or take a few. The air seemed to be becoming colder by the second, but still there was no sign of Kagome, strangely. She usually wasn’t the one to make people wait, but of course, everyone had their firsts.
Diingg-dong~
He pressed the doorbell once more and let out a weary breath, allowing his eyes to narrow. Sesshomaru swore wordlessly to himself with a long sigh; if she were still sleeping…
The inuyoukai pressed the doorbell again, with a little more force than he had intended, but how could he help not to? It was thirty-five degrees and dropping, and he would much rather prefer not to be hacking and sneezing the day away.
Diiiinngg-dong~
Sesshomaru ticked his tongue quietly, deciding she wouldn’t be answering the door any time soon. He ran a hand up through his bangs resignedly before pulling out his phone with a grumble. But just before he pressed call, he heard the dull pad-pad of footsteps approach the door, followed by a short pause. Then…click.
The finished wooden door creaked its way open about half of a foot, enough for Sesshomaru to see the cushioned beige couch and television set. Upon further scrutiny, he saw children’s cartoons running on the TV, oddly enough. Last time he checked, Kagome was not a fan of strangely animated characters adventuring through imaginary lands.
Speaking of whom, he found no Kagome standing at the door; just empty space and the sounds of the cartoons cheering from the television. Just as Sesshomaru was about to push the door open, he stopped, noticing for the first time a short, brown-haired boy peeking up at him through the crack, with an evident frown on his young face. Apparently, he had been the one who answered the door, after ignoring the first couple rings, might he add.
“Uh… May I come in…?” Sesshomaru had asked, somewhat irritated with the child who obstructed his way.
“Depends,” the boy replied with a certain air of childish self-importance, which might have surprised the youkai if he hadn’t been forced to wait in the cold by this same bundle of joy.
“Who are you?” the young one asked, wrinkling his nose slightly as he said it.
“Sesshomaru,” he told him, wondering why in the world he had to answer to this child. “I’m going with Kagome on vacation.”
The boy wrinkled his nose again, a habit Sesshomaru found more annoying by the second, before leaving his post by the door to plop himself back on the couch.
Ten minutes later, Kagome came downstairs, apparently having been taking a shower, Sesshomaru discovered that the contemptible boy, Hayato, was in fact her cousin, coming to stay with them for the holidays. She explained that his parents would arrive at the cabin with her own parents later in the week, in time for Christmas, of course.
“Sorry! I forgot to tell you!” she had laughed nonchalantly.
But of course she had forgotten, knowing full well that if she had remembered this tiny little detail, Sesshomaru probably would have declined with a hearty ‘hell no’. Koga was already enough to make his blood boil as it was. Adding little Hayato into the mix would definitely send him into overdrive.
However, it had been satisfyingly entertaining when Koga had arrived. The look on his face when he met Hayato was priceless.
After Kagome had introduced them to each other, Hayato narrowed his eyes with the same faint wrinkle of his nose. However this time, Sesshomaru found it quite refreshing.
‘So you’re Kagome’s boyfriend?’ he asked Koga, raising an eyebrow at him.
‘Yeah, I am,’ the ookami smirked with a sense of superiority, shooting a subtle glance towards Sesshomaru’s direction.
However, to Koga’s surprise, the boy only shrugged, turning his gaze back to the television set. ‘Oh… Well that’s disappointing – you’re not much,’ he mumbled.
The wolf twitched as he processed Hayato’s words. ‘What’d you just say!?’ Koga exclaimed incredulously, immediately throwing all attempts to impress Kagome with self-controlled tolerance for her young cousin out the window. He clenched his fists tightly, ready to strangle the small kid.
‘Hayato! Don’t say stuff like that!’ Kagome rebuked him as she placed her hands on Koga’s chest frantically, trying to calm him down as well as providing a barrier between her cousin and the wolf demon. She turned her head to Koga with a shaky laugh, ‘I’m sure he didn’t mean that, Koga-’
‘You better take that back kid! I can tear you to pieces!’ Koga persisted heatedly. ‘What the hell do you even mean, ‘not much’!?’
Little Hayato eyed the infuriated wolf for a moment. ‘Yeah… Definitely not much – especially compared to Kagome’s friend,’ Hayato returned, pointing to the very entertained inu, watching amusedly from the sidelines. ‘At least he’s able to control his temper.’
His cheeks reddened with anger. ‘What the hell!’ Koga raged furiously. ‘How old are you anyway!?’ he demanded.
‘Ten. How ‘bout you – five?’ he mercilessly mocked the ookami.
All the while, Sesshomaru found that the boy’s ability to fluster the wolf so easily was… surreptitiously entertaining. However, the shrill reproach of the one and only put an abrupt end to his musings.
‘Cut it out already Hayato! That’s way more than enough!’ Kagome shouted, turning around to push her cousin towards the stairs. ‘Just go and get your stuff,’ she told him, shaking her head in disbelief.
Meanwhile, as she watched her cousin climb the steps grudgingly, the two unattended youkai filled the air with a murderous and foreboding aura.
Koga glared resentfully at Sesshomaru, who towered over him by at least half a foot. ‘What are you looking at, dog?’ he menaced, still riled by the fact that he’d been thought inferior to the inuyoukai.
Sesshomaru chuckled elatedly, ‘Embarrassed in front of Kagome, were we? Can’t say the boy lies…’
‘Can’t say I’ll miss you when I rip that pretty head of yours clean off your shoulders!’ he heatedly barked back.
‘I would like to see you try.’
Fortunately before they could really go at each other, Kagome promptly interceded, however, turned to face Koga, a clear scowl on her lively face.
‘What were you thinking, Koga – using that kind of language in front of Hayato? He’s only ten!’ the young woman said with a frown. ‘Yes, he might have said some pretty uncalled for things, but remember he’s only a kid!’
Koga opted not to answer, choosing instead to shove his hands into his pockets, still aggravated by Hayato’s meticulously aimed insults. In turn, Kagome held her forehead with a groan of frustration.
‘You’re unbelievable, Koga… I really don’t know what to say to you sometimes,’ she breathed wearily. Lowering her hand, she sighed, ‘Are we really going to start the holidays off like this…?’
Sighing a second time when the room fell into yet another silence, Kagome turned sharply. ‘Oh, never mind! I’m going to get my things,’ she said over one shoulder as she headed towards the adjacent room. ‘Just – just make sure you guys are ready… We’re leaving.’
However, as the unsettled junior disappeared behind the partition, the fickle wolf was soon to follow. Sesshomaru remained where he stood, turning absently to look down at the small table nearby and the woven cloth that adorned it. He could hear their conversation faintly through the open door.
‘Kagome…’ he heard Koga half-speak, half-whine. When she did not reply, he groaned quietly. ‘I’m sorry,’ he apologized, in what almost sounded like an insincere yet pleading sort of manner.
‘For what, Koga?’ Kagome began sarcastically. ‘I mean, you do this all the time; it’s no big deal. I’ve gotten pretty used to it by now, so there’s no need to apologize.’
There was a long, silent pause before he spoke again. Sesshomaru could envision the ookami slowly walking over to Kagome to encircle her in his arms before continuing with a smooth tone of voice. ‘Kagome, I shouldn’t have lost my temper… I’m sorry.’
There was one moment’s hesitation before Kagome responded. ‘…But that still doesn’t change the fact that you’ll keep on doing just that, Koga; lose your temper, then apologize, lose your temper, apologize.’ He heard her sigh lightly. ‘I don’t know – it’s like your “sorry”s don’t mean a thing.’
‘Kagome, you know that’s not true…’ Koga muttered into her hair, however, only silence pursued.
Then finally, the young college student replied, ‘Then promise me that you’ll really try to get along with everyone this week…?’
‘Promise.’
‘And try not to lose your temper…?’
‘Mn,’ he answered in compliance.
She gave out a small, content laugh. ‘Then good,’ she concluded; Sesshomaru could hear the smile in her voice as he pictured her in Koga’s arms, allowing him to place a light kiss on her waiting lips…
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Sesshomaru leaned his head against the glass window of the car, folding his arms as he tried to get more comfortable.
Kagome was his best friend, and had been for eight years, not to mention after she had forced her unbearable sociality upon him. Whether or not he appreciated it at first was irrelevant; their friendship was literally inescapable.
And throughout their years beside each other, he had watched her boyfriends come and go, the majority of whom, caused him to feel quite irritable. In the end, Kagome’s heart had always been left broken, to some extent. Sesshomaru had the slight urge to smile as he recalled the countless times she had arrived at his house, teary-eyed and carrying a bag of her favorite movies and/or ice-cream.
But the longer he thought about it, he couldn’t help but feel this certain burning in his heart, as well as contempt towards her current boyfriend.
Even before she had begun dating Koga, Sesshomaru had never truly liked the wolf demon, or even got along with him for that matter. Koga was an arrogant, self-righteous womanizer, and contrary to what Kagome might think, he believed he always would be. Why did she choose him? Why Koga, of all people?
That guy... It was almost painfully obvious that he wasn’t right for her.
Sesshomaru glanced at the girl in the driver’s seat, half-singing, half mouthing the words to the song playing on the radio, as if without a single care in the world; behind her long lashes, her eyes seemed to twinkle with a subtle joy. To think that wolf could take that away with just a few words…
“And, we’re here, guys!” Kagome announced suddenly as she pulled into a dirt driveway.
“Finally!” Hayato cheered as his cousin turned the engine off. “I was really starting to feel cramped in here.”
As Sesshomaru and Hayato got out of the car, Kagome leaned over the dividing compartment to lightly shake the sleeping ookami awake.
“Koga, wake up – we’re here,” she said softly, but only received a quiet mumble. Hopping out of the car, she went around to the passenger side and opened his door. Sesshomaru watched idly from the open back door as he began to unload all the baggage from the trunk.
“Koga… Come on!” Kagome groaned as she unbuckled his seatbelt for him, beginning to feel frustrated with the dead-asleep wolf demon. “You have to help carry stuff in too!”
“Mmn…” he moaned as he opened his eyes a little. “Already here…? And I was having the best dream about you…” Koga said as he lazily caressed the side of her soft face.
Kagome shook her head with a sigh. “Come on, at least get out of the car,” she said, laughing a little as she pulled him out of the passenger seat.
Sesshomaru observed the lover’s scene in near disgust as he saw Koga feign exhaustion as a sad excuse to topple and lean all over Kagome, who was diligently trying to help him up the driveway to the door of the large log cabin.
“You don’t like him either, do you?” Hayato said suddenly as Sesshomaru shut the trunk with a loud slam.
“Hn. And why do you say that?” the inuyoukai replied in a slightly sarcastic tone as he headed for the door after picking up a few bags.
“Heh, well, you know…” Hayato laughed with a slight air of confidence, “…I bet I can get rid of him.”
Sesshomaru nearly rolled his eyes. “Tch,” he scoffed, “What would a kid like you possibly do? Besides, why should I get rid of him? He is Kagome’s boyfriend, after all.”
Hayato gave out a short chuckle. “Do you need a reason? I don’t like him; you don’t like him – what more of a reason would you need?” the young but haughty boy countered. “And for the ‘kid’ comment, for your information, kid’s can be the most dangerous thing if you’re not careful, I’ll have you know!”
“Really now? This Sesshomaru would definitely like to see that in action.”
The two stepped onto the small, wooden porch. “But I’m being serious though; I really don’t like that guy,” Hayato continued, dropping his bag on the ground with an audible plop, “and I definitely don’t want him around for Christmas.”
Sesshomaru stopped at the rust red doormat, staring down at the dark-haired child. “And why are you telling me this?”
“Because,” Hayato answered, “you don’t like him either, and I want you to help me get rid of him.”
Sesshomaru chuckled amusedly, “You sound as if you’re planning to land him in a body bag.”
“Nah, just enough so he’ll want to leave. Plus, it’s something fun to pass the time,” he added. “So how about it?” Hayato looked up at the tall youkai expectantly.
The inuyoukai laughed again. “No way,” Sesshomaru decided. He wasn’t just about to get himself on Kagome’s bad side on Christmas. Besides, Sesshomaru knew how much she liked Koga, and despite his feeling otherwise, a breakup was not the best recipe for holiday spirit, no matter how you looked at it.
“Aw, come on! You’re no fun!” Hayato whined in protest. However, his whining quieted before he paused in thought, beginning to conjure up an improvised plan.
“But you know,” he began slowly, holding his chin as if contemplating the situation further, “I bet Kagome’s boyfriend’s gonna want to spread some ‘holiday cheer’ with her this week, if you know what I’m getting at…”
The corner of the dog demon’s lip twitched as he almost immediately “knew what he was getting at”.
‘What the hell!?’ his mind echoed as he wondered how in the world a little ten year old boy knew how to facilitate the use of innuendos. Shouldn’t kids his age be having burping contests and play Wii bowling? Not thinking about the nocturnal activities of adults.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sesshomaru decided to say, about to open the door and escape the conversation which was getting odder by the second.
But before he could twist the doorknob, the quick witted boy added in, “But I do know they’ll become a lot closer than they were before.” Sesshomaru paused for a moment, allowing Hayato to continue. “And if that happens, well…” Hayato folded his arms, smiling smugly. “Good luck getting rid of him then.”
Sesshomaru eyes narrowed as he let out a low breath. He could foresee the coming of a constant snuggling couple, drooling all over themselves while he sat just feet away with a worse than usual migraine.
Then finally, turning to face the persistent child, he conceded, “Fine – do what you want. However, I’m only going to watch, so do not expect me to participate in your juvenile ploys.”
“Aw, come on – really!? What a–” Hayato started, but Sesshomaru cut him off sharply.
“Don’t push it,” he said before turning to enter the cabin. “Consider yourself lucky that I’m not telling Kagome about this.”
With that, Sesshomaru crossed the threshold, the young, mischievous boy-cousin of Kagome bounding closely after him.
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