Find What You Are Looking For
By: Sandreline
Hello everyone! You are probably wondering, “Oh no goodness, she has not done a one-shot in years! What is going on?” This is an idea that popped up in my head. No idea where it came from, but I figured I would get it out of my system quick, before it interferes with my story “A Dog’s Nose Knows” on ff.net. Hope you all enjoy!!!!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own “InuYasha”. It all belongs to the legendary Rumiko Takahashi; she is a genius.
Find What You Are Looking For
Kagome Higurashi hugged her jacket a little tighter around her form. It was late October, and there was more than just a slight chill in the air. Despite the temperature, she was wearing a black mini skirt with leggings and boots, along with a white sweater under her knee-length gray jacket. She wanted to enjoy all of her cute ensembles while she could still fit in them.
The ebony haired woman let out a grateful sigh as she entered the heated atmosphere of the coffee shop. The twenty five year old woman’s face broke out into a bright smile when she was able to walk right up to the counter and place her order without having to wait in line. “One hot chocolate, please.” She asked sweetly.
“Make that two, and it’s on my tab.” A familiar voice added from directly behind her.
“Sango!” Kagome greeted happily as she turned around to face her best friend, giving her a hug before reprimanding her. “You are not paying for my coco.”
“Yes, I am.” The brunette added with a smirk. “I want to get a head start on spoiling my future niece or nephew.”
Kagome smiles softly, but gave in as she absent mindedly covered her still small baby bump. Sango paid for the two drinks, and together the pair walked over to one of the available couches. “So,” Sango began as she sat next to her, “What did the doctor say?” Her brown eyes were eager as she awaited her answer.
Kagome gave a laugh. “What if I don’t want to share yet?” She answered.
Sango pouted. “Kagome,” she whined. “Don’t be such a tease!”
The blue eyes woman laughed again. “Alright, Sango. I do have one condition, though.”
“You mean aside from the free hot chocolate?” The other woman answered. “Name it.”
“You have to promise me not to start his martial arts training until he is at least five.”
Sango squealed, and wrapped her arms around her best friend. “You’re having a boy!”
Kagome laughed. “I’m having a boy!”
After they parted from their hug, Sango pulled a baby magazine out from nowhere, and began flipping through it and marking all sorts of boy-related articles, such as clothing and nursery decorations. Sango did not notice that Kagome was not really paying attention as her mind drifted off.
Kagome was a priestess, and had been raised on a Shrine until she moved out when she was twenty one and graduated with her Antiquities degree, specializing in the Feudal Era. She had immediately started working at the Edo Tokyo Museum. It had always been one of her favorite museums to visit even as a child; visitors enter by crossing over the historic wooden Nihonbashi Bridge that brings you back to Edo in the 1600’s. There are life-size replications, hundreds of artifacts, dioramas of classic scenes, and special shows and events. When she started, she only assisted in cataloging and playing the part of a priestess in replica ceremonies. While she still acted as the priestess in the ceremonies and now also did archery shows, she had moved up to be the Assistant Curator for the artifacts division of the museum.
It was at a fundraiser for the museum four and a half months ago that changed her life. The night had started out wonderfully; the museum had many priceless artifacts on display from the Edo period, and as such she was required to be there to ensure the pieces were properly handled and give a small speech about them during the dinner. She had enjoyed the part where she got to dress up in a floor length blue off-the-shoulder dress that matched her eyes, and she even curled her hair.
The night had begun splendidly. She had been introduced by her boss to several wealthy and loyal contributors to the museum, and had managed to impress them with her passion for history. She was so nervous about giving her speech, not matter how short it was, that she wanted to throw up. Thankfully due to some wine, she had managed to make it through very professionally, and was given many compliments.
One of those compliments had come in passing from the most strikingly handsome male that she had ever seen. It was because she had drank those several glasses of wine to help soothe her nerves that she now could not remember his name. However, she remembered his form with vivid detail; he had been so handsome that his image was burned in her retina. The mogul had approached her, giving a compliment on her care of such treasures which, from the reaction of her boss, was not something this golden gazed male did often. They had ended up striking a conversation about the Edo period that lasted through the fundraiser, sharing several dances that led to light flirting. However, as the night progressed, the light flirting because physical advances, which led to a steamy kiss, which led to her waking up in his hotel room the next morning, alone.
Well, maybe not alone, she thought as her hand gently rubbed a circle over her small bump.
“Hey,” Sango’s worried tone breaking her out of her thoughts. “Are you ok?”
Kagome gave a brave smile. “Of course.”
Sango frowned. “You were thinking about him, weren’t you?” She asked. “Why not try finding him? Surely the museum keeps records of all of its contributors for tax information and donation inquiries.”
“They do,” she added. “Aside from the fact that I don’t want to run the risk of getting fired over the matter,” Kagome explained, “I don’t think it would matter.”
Sango looked at her with wide blue eyes. “Why?”
Kagome looked down. “He obviously was only looking for a one night stand, which is what I was to him. Granted, I never should have put out in the first place with a man I just met, but having so much wine shut down my brain and let my hormones take control. I don’t want to run the risk of looking like one of those floozy women who get pregnant in order to get a big fat check.” Kagome was frowning by the end of her statement.
Sango looked more than a little irritated. “I do not want to hear you talk that way about yourself,” she ordered. “That was only the second guy you ever slept with!” It was true, too. Kagome had been in a long term relationship with her high school sweetheart Hojo until they graduated college. “You are not a slut, and if you were not carrying my nephew, I would slap you over the head.” Sango threatened. Suddenly, her eyes softened. “What if he finds out?”
Kagome shook her head. “I doubt that he ever will. I’ve been working in that museum for four years, and I only ever saw him once. Besides, he knows I work there. If he wanted to see me, he would have come looking for me.”
Sango watched as her friend drank more of her hot chocolate, a distant look in her blue eyes. She could not help but frown at the very blatant lie she had just been told, but decided to let it slide. For now.
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Sesshomaru Taisho was staring blankly at his computer screen, again. He actually growled in annoyance at having caught himself doing this time. He had developed the horrid habit around four months ago, after a rather impressionable encounter with an ebony haired vixen.
The downside was that he could not remember her name.
They had shared several glasses of wine, an activity that he did not usually partake in. However, once he had set eyes on the stunning female in blue, he discovered something about himself that he never believed possible; he was nervous. The moment he saw her enter, he had wanted to approach her and whisk her away. However, he had noted that she appeared to be rather nervous and would have been much more comfortable as a wall flower. He had been rather impressed with her speech, and her passion for their country’s history had enchanted him so much that he had no choice but to approach her afterwards.
She was not only sweet by nature, but her passion allowed her a level of intellect that he found most stimulating. He had never before met a female so knowledgeable about one of his own interests before, and it took them only moments to engage in conversation that eventually led them to sharing his bed. For the first time in his existence, Sesshomaru believed he may have found a woman worthy of his attention.
Unfortunately, the next morning he had left to surprise her with morning coffee for the two of the, in hopes of discussing the prospect of courting upon his return. He had become frustrated when there was a very long line just to obtain the liquid, and even more so when he returned to find that she had left. He had underestimated how long she would have slept, and that she must have thought his absence a rejection.
Over the course of the past few months he had made several attempts to discover her identity, including visiting the museum multiple times in hopes of catching a glimpse of her. He could not get her out of his mind, except for her damn name! It would have solved so many problems if he could just remember the name of that blasted vixen!
He was reducing himself to a pathetic, love struck boy. Pushing his chair back, the billionaire business tycoon made the decision to visit the museum one last time.
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Kagome was humming to herself as she walked around one of the store rooms that housed some of the artifacts for the museum. The ones that she was currently running the inventory on would soon be cleaned up and some of them sent to the preservation room for checkups before they would be rotated out for display.
“Kagome,” her boss called out. The Director of Antiquities was a vivacious red head with bright green eyes, and who looked magnificently young for a thirty five year old.
“Hello, Ayame,” Kagome greeted. “How are you this morning?”
“Wonderful. How are you and the little one?” Ayame questioned.
“A little tired, but doing well.” She answered. “What can I do for you?”
“We just had a school class go through the museum,” Ayame began, “would you mind running through everything and making sure that nothing was messed with for me?”
“Sure,” Kagome agreed. It was not part of her job as the tour guides were supposed to do that, but she faintly recalled hearing that they were very understaffed today. “Just let me finish going over the armor and I will take care of it.”
“Thank you so much!” Her boss smiled before returning to her own list of duties.
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Sesshomaru found himself enjoying the relative peace that was the Edo Tokyo Museum as he stood before one of the displays. His hands were casually resting in his front pockets as he took in the details before him, not needing to bother reading the information plaque to his left. He was well aware of the history of the Feudal era.
The soft and familiar scent of cinnamon and vanilla gentle wafted to his nose, and he found himself turning to find the source. To his right, an ebony haired woman was walked away from him, having passed him when entering the room. She was holding a clipboard with a stack of papers, and appeared to be inspecting the different articles in room, her heels clicking on the tile floor as she moved.
His feet were following her before his mind could process the possibility of her identity. Could it really be her? After coming here for so long, did she really just walk by him so nonchalantly?
She had yet to turn around to give him a visual confirmation, but he was sure. It had to be her.
Then it happened. She turned around, holding the clipboard to her as she wrote her observations down, and he was proven correct. It was her.
Then, as if she was aware that he was staring at her, she looked up.
Blue met gold.
She gasped, and dropped her clipboard.
His eyes followed the drop of the object, but they were soon stopped by an observation of his own. Her stomach had an obvious swell that could only mean one thing.
Was she…?
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Kagome felt her heart stop for several moments before its rate became overly rapid. She could hear the pulse in her ears as she stared at the man that had haunted her every sleeping moment for the past four and half months, as well as a majority of her conscious ones.
He was more stunning that she remembered, and the lavish business suit he wore was definitely made specifically for him. Memories of their passionate encounter replayed in her mind, and she felt the blood start to gather in her cheeks. That one night had given her pleasure that she did not know was possible outside of her romance novels, and she had thought that they had had a connection.
Then she noticed that his eyes had returned to her own, because they had targeted on her stomach.
On her baby.
Their baby.
“It’s you,” she whispered.
Sesshomaru approached her slowly, his golden eyes unreadable. He bent down to pick up her discarded clipboard and pen, and slowly rose back up. He towered over her just as much as they both remembered. For several long moments, both parties had completely forgotten they were standing in the middle of the museum as they did nothing but stare.
“You are with child,” he finally stated. He had surprised himself with how collected he sounded, because on the inside it was an entirely different matter. He found himself eager at the prospect of offspring, of having an heir to his corporation and family. Along with that was the conflicting emotion that he may not have ever known about his child, as well as the relief at having found the only woman to have ever turned his head and captured his interest. He so badly wanted to take her lips with his own again, yet he just as badly needed an answer.
“I am,” She whispered, one hand moving to gently cover her bump.
“Is it…” he began, finding himself unable to complete his sentence.
“You disappeared,” Kagome found herself saying as a sudden wave of fear enveloped her. What if this man did not believe her? What if he denied his patronage of their child?
“Merely to step out for a moment,” he defended himself. “It was you who took leave without a means to contact you.”
Kagome shifted on her feat nervously. “I had assumed you wanted me to be nothing but a one night stand,” she replied. “You didn’t leave a note asking me to wait or anything, so I naturally assumed that you wanted nothing more to do with me…”
His eyes lowered. “After the evening that we had shared, it would be dishonorable for this Sesshomaru do behave as such.” He informed her. “It was my full intent to speak with you upon my return to discuss the continuation of such events.”
Blue eyes widened a fraction in surprise. He wanted to date her? “So that’s your name,” she breathed out. “Sesshomaru.”
An eyebrow arched at her words. “You could not remember?”
Kagome blushed and shook her head. “I’m not sure if it was made fuzzy from the wine…”
Sesshomaru made an unknown “Hn,” noise. “I do not recall using our names after we had been introduced,” he remembered. “Perhaps we just did not retain them.”
Kagome smiled softly. “Perhaps.” After a moment, she continued. “My name is Kagome.”
Silence.
“The baby is yours,” Kagome nervously, and rather quietly, admitted.
She did not know what the flash in his eyes meant, but she had seen it. “You are sure?” He questioned.
She looked down, fighting off the anger at his words. After all, she had expected it and couldn’t exactly blame him. “I have only been with one other person in my life, and we were over a couple of years ago.”
“Hn.” Kagome had no idea what that meant, and she risked glancing up at him. She was not expecting the soft look in his eyes. “May I?” He asked.
Kagome’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion as she tiled her head slightly to the side in curiosity. May he what? He must have known, because one of his hands placed itself on the hand that she had over her stomach. With a blush, she nodded.
Sesshomaru let his hand slide over her own to rest on her cotton-covered swell. Kagome watched it all with wonder and affection. It was only visible in his gaze that he was showing any emotion whatsoever, but that was all she needed. His hand had only been on her stomach for a few moments when they both gasped.
His hand remained where it was, but his gaze shot up to hers. “Was that…?”
Kagome nodded, slowly smiling. “The first kick!”She cheered.
Both adults lowered their gaze to her stomach once more and waited. It took another minute, but sure enough both felt another jab. Kagome’s eyes were tearing up as she stared at her stomach. Her baby had never done that before! It was a whole new level of awareness to know that her child was, indeed, growing inside her.
Sesshomaru slowly brought his gaze back up to the face of the woman who was carrying his heir, and slowly pulled his hand away. “Why did you not seek out this Sesshomaru upon the discovery of conception?”
Kagome’s joy was brushed under her emotions of fear once more. “I didn’t want to leave the impression that I was trying to get pregnant on purpose, just to collect money.” She stated. “To me, the fact that you had left was a rather blatant goodbye.”
He could not get offended, because the fact of the matter was, she had spoken the truth. Hundreds of women had wanted nothing more than for a chance to dig their claws into his bank account, and would come up with the most asinine plans to do so. Though another fact of the matter was that she was different, and that is what drew him to her from the start. “Kagome,” his deep voice enveloped her, and Kagome felt her body instantly flare in response as memories of him whispering and growling her name flooded her ears.
“Yes?” She answered almost breathlessly.
“This Sesshomaru must admit that I have visited this museum dozens of times since the fundraiser in hopes of finding you.”
“You have?” She asked in bewilderment.
He refused to answer that; he was not one to repeat himself. “I do not wish to be separated from my child.” He informed her. “It is my intention to be very much a part of his or her life.”
Kagome’s eyes widened. “Oh!” She started. “It’s a boy!” His eyes widened. “I found out at my appointment today. It’s a boy.” She explained, and watched for a moment as his eyes filled with a slightly prideful gaze. She smiled at him warmly and continued. “I’m sure that he’d love to have you in his life.”
He nodded, and there was a slight pause before he finished what he had wanted to say. “It is also my intention to continue what we finished.” Sesshomaru’s voice had softened. Her surprised look prompted him to continue. “While I do not believe in becoming married for the sake of a child, it is my belief that we began something that I am very interested in finishing.”
Slowly a smile stretched out over Kagome’s lips. “Do you mean that?”
“I would not have said it otherwise.” He told her, his tone taking on one that he used in his business dealings. “I always finish what I start, and I would very much like to see where the possibility of us may lead.”
Kagome gave him a soft smile. She would not expect a proposal either; after all they had only known each other one night, despite how incredible it was. She offered a small blush as she answered. “I would like that.”
Sesshomaru lifted her hand from the swell of their child, and kissed the back of her hand. They held the gaze of the other as they simply enjoyed finally being in their presence after so long. And Sesshomaru had every intention of making up for lost time.
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Ayame did her best to not squeal as she peeked around the corner, not wishing for the couple to know she was spying on them. “It’s just so sweet,” She whispered to her co-spy.
“What’s so sweet about it?” Kouga frowned. “That’s supposed to be my pup!”
Ayame scowled and punched the back of her partner’s head. “Shut up already and let me enjoy the romance!”
“Sheesh, I was just kidding, babe,” He placated his girlfriend as he rubbed the back of his now sore head.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re so sleeping on the couch tonight.” She mumbled before her eyes turned back to the newly reunited couple. Ayame was happy for her friend and employee; Kagome was far too wonderful to not deserve happiness. With, of all people, Sesshomaru Taisho! It only proved how amazing she was, and now their child would have a family.
She had a feeling that both of them had finally found what they were looking for.
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I know, not the best. But for some reason this idea popped into my head and just would not leave me alone! I hope that you all enjoyed this one shot! : )
~Sandreline