When Sparks Fly by Luna

When Sparks Fly

Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own Inuyasha.

This is written mainly from my own personal experience, so read on and enjoy!

Summary: When sparks fly… and they’re not supposed to. As Kagome struggles through various mishaps, cooking and otherwise, Sesshoumaru, her handyman, is always there to save the day! Written for my online love, Maddie!

Sesshoumaru is OOC, but who the heck cares, this is a pick-me-up!

::winks::

…

When Sparks Fly

By: Luna

…

Kagome stared in dread at the sparks shooting out of her oven, wondering how the hell that had happened. She had felt a little too cold, and since she had her work spread out on the kitchen table as she went over various legal documents, she had turned on the oven and cracked open the door to let the oven heat warm her up instead of starting a fire (it wasn’t as if she knew how to start one in the first place) and since she always used her oven as a makeshift heater, she didn’t think twice about turning it on.

Until sparks started shooting out of it as if she lit a firecracker from inside. Inept though she was, she knew ovens didn’t work that way.

What was she supposed to?! Running to her cell phone, she called the first number on speed dial, panic making her hands sweat a little. “Sesshoumaru!” She cried when he picked up. “My oven’s on fire! What am I supposed to do?”

Sesshoumaru’s voice, cool and calm, didn’t seem too alarmed. “Do you have baking powder?” He asked calmly.

“Er,” she hesitated. “Is that the box of white stuff you left last time?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes, yes I do!” She replied enthusiastically, while jumping out of the sparks trajectory with a yelp.

“Pour it on the flame if it’s not too large.” Sesshoumaru calmly ordered. In the background, she heard elevator music. Thank God; he was coming to her rescue. “Otherwise use the fire extinguisher I left underneath the sink.”

“Um, it’s not flaming, per se.” She edged, holding the phone with her shoulder as she wrapped her arms protectively over her paperwork; it was hours’ worth of work. No spark would take that away from her!

“Explain.” He demanded, and she heard the rattle of his tool box in the background as it slapped against his thighs.

“It’s, er, sparking.” She made little motions with her hands as she tried to describe it, even though he couldn’t see. “Like a friggin’ Roman candle.”

“…”

“Sesshoumaru?” She asked worriedly at his silence.

“Open the door, I’m here.”

Kagome hurried to the front door and slid open the dead bolt and threw open the door. “Thank goodness! All of the paperwork is in danger!”

He actually looked a little irritated at that. “I suppose it never crossed your mind that you might be in danger.”

Kagome blinked, following him on his heels. “Well, I guess so. But the sparks aren’t that big, I guess. But they’re following the coil thingy on the bottom of the oven, and it reminds me of cartoons where they light the gunpowder and it follows a line of sparks, and ending in a big boom. You know what I mean?”

“No.” He retorted, his voice clipped. He set his tool box on the floor with a snap. After a quick assessment of the sparks leaping out of her oven and the faint scorch marks on the floor where they landed, he walked down the hall to where her breaker box was, then flipped a few switches.

Kagome watched in awe as the sparks stopped. “You’re amazing, Sesshoumaru.”

“Hnn,” he replied, his lips pressed together in a small frown.

Kagome ducked her head guiltily; he was mad at her again. “I’m sorry for ruining the oven this time. I know I made a mess of the kitchen and—“

“Do you really think this Sesshoumaru cares about that?” He snapped, walking past her back towards the kitchen to inspect the inside of the oven.

Blinking, Kagome cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Well, what else is there? I mean, I made more work for you and…”

Shaking his head dismissively at her words, Sesshoumaru inspected the bottom of the oven. “Did you try cooking something again?”

Kagome sat back down at the table with a sigh, her eyes already on the document she left off on. “Nope.”

“Why was this on?” His voice was calm, filled with infinite patience, like it always was when he talked with her.

Humming in her throat a little absently, Kagome marked a few corrections. “I was cold.”

“…Come again?” Sesshoumaru asked, his voice deceptively calm.

Kagome shrugged. “I was cold. I thought it was good idea at the time.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes closed as if he was aggrieved, but his actual facial expression never wavered. Not like it mattered even if it had; Kagome wasn’t even looking at him anymore. “And you didn’t think to warm yourself up by the fire?”

At that, she looked up from the documents with an incredulous expression. “You trust me with fire?”

Sesshoumaru was silent for two heart beats before he scowled. “You have a point. However, you also have electrical heat in this condo. Why not use that?”

Kagome waved a dismissive hand over her shoulder without turning around. “Too expensive!”

“And this isn’t?” He asked, frustration making his voice growl slightly.

The slight hunch of her shoulders let him know she read his frustration. “I didn’t think it’d blow up. It’s not my fault, its faulty engineering! Those manufactures should know their oven stuff doesn’t work.”

“It’s the heating coil that went bad,” Sesshoumaru replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Probably from when you tried to roast a marshmallow from a plastic stick, and melted the whole thing.”

Kagome pouted at her paperwork as she marked a few more items. “I didn’t think it would get that hot.”

“It’s an oven, Kagome.” Sesshoumaru said, stressing his words carefully. “An oven. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“No, not really.” Kagome turned from the table, looping her arm over the back of the chair and frowning at him in consternation. “Besides, it’s not as if these things happen that often.”

“What about when you tried baking raw biscuits in the microwave?” Sesshoumaru asked silkily, leaning up against the counter and crossing his arms. Kagome hated it when he used that tone of voice; it meant he was really pissed. “I suppose the microwave brought its own destruction, through no fault of yours.”

“Erm, exactly!”

“So when you tried making popcorn and placed the bag inside incorrectly and it caught on fire, I suppose that rarely happens as well.”

“That was only one time!” Kagome protested. “I don’t even like popcorn!”

“Then why did you try to make it?” Sesshoumaru asked, exasperated. Of course, one who didn’t know him wouldn’t be able to tell; his voice was cool, his face expressionless – but it was the depth of the iciness that let her know he meant business; he was truly angry this time, but she didn’t know why.

“My date that night wanted popcorn with our movie,” Kagome muttered sulkily. “Even though I told him the kernels would get stuck in his teeth.”

Sesshoumaru’s face cooled even more at the mention of her date. “I still do not understand why you insist on doing things that put you at risk.”

Kagome’s eyes widened, and for a moment she couldn’t say anything. Then she snorted out a disbelieving laugh. “Are you mad because you thought I was in danger? Aww, Sesshoumaru, that’s so sweet!”

A snarl actually curled Sesshoumaru’s mouth in anger. Kagome was too startled by its appearance to be bothered by the fact that it was directed at her. “Do not take your health so lightly,” he snarled. “You are not the only occupant in this building. Your actions endanger the lives of your neighbors.”

She was bothered slightly by the fact he grouped her in with the rest of the buildings occupants. “Well, excuse me, it won’t happen again!”

They glared at each other, Kagome still in her suit from work, and Sesshoumaru wearing faded blue coveralls that stretched across his chest, gaping open a little to reveal the crisp white undershirt he wore underneath. Kagome never really noticed the beauty of the man who always came to her rescue; she was always working, and she didn’t have time for a life. She knew he was tall and gorgeous, as well as divorced and a single dad. Other than that, she didn’t really know much about him – and was often too busy to ask anyways.

Occasionally he would bring over food with his daughter Rin, mostly casserole dishes that would last her all week since she hardly had time to take care of herself. Sesshoumaru started bringing dishes over when she revealed to him that she didn’t know how to cook, and that she usually had a pot of coffee for breakfast, an energy bar for lunch since she never left the office, and take out for dinner.

After that, it seemed natural to call him whenever she had a mishap. Whenever she was panicked and didn’t know what to do, Sesshoumaru’s calm reassurance would make her feel safe. His dinners were delicious too; ever since she became independent, she never ate home cooked meals unless she went home to visit her mother.  Sesshoumaru’s presence… soothed her. She wasn’t quite sure how else to explain it.

Sesshoumaru turned away from their glaring contest, calmly placing his tools back into what Kagome called his ‘Mary Poppins Bag’, since everything seemed to fit in there. Kagome frowned at him, and followed him to her front door when he started to leave. “Where are you going?”

“Back to work. Enjoy your evening.”

As the door closed in her face, Kagome stared at it in dismay. That was it? Usually he would stay and keep her company… Walking back to her work, she stared down at the piles of paperwork, suddenly not too keen on finishing it. Pushing it away sulkily, she wondered what she should do. Sesshoumaru never left early – she had almost been glad for her oven turning evil; it gave her an excuse to call him.

An excuse to call him…

Staring at the cupboard that housed her marshmallows, she contemplated it only for a moment before throwing the idea away. It really would be stupid to purposefully start a mishap just so she could see him again… wouldn’t it?

…

Sesshoumaru threw his bag of tools on top of his work bench, anger coursing through him – at her lack of self-preservation, the fact that she didn’t seem to view him as anything except her handyman, but mostly at himself for falling for such an oblivious woman. Could she really not see that he was attracted to her…?

He sighed, the answer to that simple. No, she really could not. She was so focused on her work that everything else was merely static.

The industrial elevator started rattling, and Sesshoumaru looked over to watch Rin lift up the gate and skip out. He checked the clock hanging above his tool shed and frowned. “You’re here early. What happened with school?”

“It’s Wednesday, we get out an hour early.” Rin skipped to his work bench and hopped up on a seat. “You must have met with Miss Kagome, huh Daddy?”

“What makes you say that?” Sesshoumaru asked, scowling.

“You always act funny when you meet with her.” Rin watched as Sesshoumaru pulled his tool box closer with a frown, meticulously straightening everything. “Is Miss Kagome going to join us for dinner tonight?”

Sesshoumaru carefully put his tool box away and reached for his tool belt, putting it on. “No.”

“Can I watch TV?”

“Yes.”

“Okay!” Rin picked up the remote as Sesshoumaru left through the service elevator.

As soon as the elevator lifted away, the door to the emergency stairs opened, and a pretty woman with raven hair and blue eyes popped her head in. Rin waved in greeting. “Miss Kagome! Wanna watch TV with me?”

“Um, sure.” Kagome edged inside, her eyes sweeping around the room. “Where’s your dad?”

“Working.” Rin waved her over. “He’ll be back soon!”

“Um, Rin,” Kagome smiled a little nervously. “When is your dad going to be back?”

“I dunno.” Rin started clicking through channels.

“Want to… help me with something?” When Rin turned to her with wide inquiring eyes, Kagome started telling the young girl about her plans.

Sesshoumaru was still scowling when he came back an hour later, and froze when the smell of good wafted to him. Candlelight was in the center of his work bench, and the expensive food was carefully placed on fine china amidst his electric drills and screwdrivers. A tremulously smiling Kagome was beside the set up.

Sesshoumaru had never been so moved.

He shouldn’t get ahead of himself. It was an apology, not a date. He unbuckled his belt, then carefully put it away. By the time he turned back to Kagome, she was edging towards the exit. He crossed his arms with a scowl.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

She froze. “Um, back to my house?”

He swept his hands out to encompass the meal. “What’s this? And where’s Rin?”

“Um, Rin said she’s going to Sango’s condo to visit with Kohaku. And this…” She looked a little nervous, a blush spreading across her cheeks. “This is, a, um…”

Sesshoumaru stepped closer. “Yes?”

“A… date?” Kagome’s voice squeaked.

“Why?” Sesshoumaru asked, honestly confused. She had never shown an interest in him before.

“W-well, I know I’m a little slow sometimes,” since she was staring at her toes, she missed Sesshoumaru’s deadpanned expression. “But after you got so angry at the mention of my date, I got to thinking…” She looked up at him with earnest eyes, “Sesshoumaru, you really like me, don’t you?”

When Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and slapped a palm against his forehead, Kagome started babbling. “I mean, of course you don’t, why would you? Oh man, forget this, I never did it, you saw nothing!”

Before she could escape out the door, Sesshoumaru’s arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. “You’re so slow, Kagome.”

Kagome stiffened. “Excuse me?”

He rested his forehead on the crook between her neck and shoulder. “Of course I like you, you idiot. Do you really think I’d do so much for other tenants?”

Kagome considered that. “Well, Sango did say you’re always mean to others. How come?”

“Hmph. Why should I be nice to people I don’t like?” Sesshoumaru slowly turned her around, and her eyes were still huge and full of hope. “Do you like me?”

Kagome’s eyes softened, but then she dropped them shyly from his and stared at the little dip where his collarbone met. “I melted the marshmallow on purpose.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes widened, and he stared down at her in mute horror. “You didn’t.”

“I did.” Kagome confessed. “I couldn’t think of another way to get you to come over.”

Groaning, Sesshoumaru curled his finger underneath her chin. “Kagome, you’re an idiot.”

And then he kissed her.

Only when she was lax against him did he pull back, and pull her towards their cooling meal. “In the future, please don’t ruin things just to get my attention. From now on, this will be your reason for me to see you.”

Kagome couldn’t promise that. She may just do it for his reaction alone.

Smiling, Kagome decided to keep that tidbit to herself.

~FIN~

For my beautiful love, Maddie. I hope this brought a smile to your face, bby!