The Chair by LoudlySilent

The Chair

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. I wrote my local senator and gave him a petition signed by many many people saying that I should, but he just sent me back a letter that said "HA HA HA HA HA HA!" I thought it was very rude. I am currently plotting his demise . . .

She was sitting there, no one around her, and he couldn't help but think that she looked awfully alone. And so he decided that someone as radiant looking as her should have company, and he knew just the person to provide said company.

Walking closer, he could see that she was staring rather forlornly at the bar top, seemingly mesmerized by the water rings left behind by those that failed to use a coaster, and the bits and pieces of peanut shells that littered its wooden surface. One finger was moving in slow circles following the path of the water rings as they overlapped each other. Stopping right behind her he tried to think of the best way to start a conversation.

"I think you have my chair."

She started, obviously surprised that someone had spoken to her, and when she lifted her head he decided that she had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. They were a stunning blue and grey mix, seemingly unable to decide which color they would rather be. They looked at him in confusion, and he smiled one of his rare smiles.

"This is my chair." He said when she didn't respond to his earlier comment. He thought the blush that spread across her cheeks was very becoming.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know they reserved chairs at the bar." She said hopping off of the stool.

He moved until he was standing within touching distance. "They don't." He sat down in the stool beside the one she had been occupying and gestured for her to sit down again. "But I come here often, and that is where I always sit. This is the first time someone's been sitting there."

"Well then, I don't think I owe the apology I was going to give then."

He lifted an eyebrow and ran his fingers through his silver hair. "Why would you no longer be giving me an apology, and why would you have given one in the first place?"

Mimicking his earlier gestures she raised and eyebrow and ran a hand through her wavy black hair. "I was going to apologize because I thought the seat had been reserved for you, but now, based on what you've said, I know I don't need to."

"And why is that?"

"Because you said this was your seat based on the fact that you always sat here." She said conversationally. "Following that rule, this is my seat."

He propped and elbow up on the bar and put his chin in his palm. "How do you come to that conclusion?"

She smiled and he felt his heart flutter. It made her even more beautiful. "Because I always sit here too. And I have to say this is the first time someone else has claimed this chair."

He leaned a little closer until there elbows were brushing. "So how do we solve the dilemma of whose chair this is?"

Her face scrunched up in thought and he noticed that she had a cute nose. "I suppose ownership could be decided based on who has been sitting at the chair the longest." She nodded her head, apparently agreeing with herself. "Do you accept those terms?"

He smirked, already knowing who the winner was going to be. She looked to be nineteen maybe twenty. He was twenty eight and had been coming here since he started

college at eighteen. This was an easy win. "I accept your terms."

Her eyes narrowed. "You seem awfully confident."

"I have no reason not to be."

"And why is that?"

"Because I know for a fact that I have already won."

"What makes you so sure?" He thought he could see amusement shining in her oddly colored eyes.

"How old are you?" he asked instead.

"Changing the subject?"

"No, just proving how I'm going to win."

She crossed her arms. "Alright. I'll bite. I'm twenty three."

He didn't let the shock show. She aged well. "That is why the chair can not be yours."

"I fail to see your logic."

"I am twenty eight, and have been sitting in that chair since I was eighteen. You have to be at least eighteen to come in here so you could have only been sitting in the chair for five years. I have been sitting in it for ten, therefore the chair is mine."

She smiled a secret and knowing smile, and for a brief moment his confidence in his victory wavered. But only for a moment. "Well then, I guess the chair is yours if you've been sitting in it longer than me."

His head raised in arrogance, but it was quickly put our when she continued. "However, you haven't been sitting here longer than me."

He turned to face her bewildered. "How is that? You are only twenty three."

She smiled that secret smile again. "I've been sitting here for eighteen years."

"But how is that possible?"

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "My dad built this place twenty years ago. I started coming to work with him when I was five. My first day here he put me in this chair to sit and watch him work and this is where I've sat ever since." She turned to face him and he could see the mirth in her eyes. "So you see, this is my chair."

He supposed her story made sense, but one thing bothered him. "So if your dad owns this place, why did you ask if the stool had been reserved? You knew that it wasn't."

She batted her eyelashes. "Well, Lou, that's the bartender, sometimes reserves seats for his friends."

"Your dad lets him do that?"

She smiled in a sad sort of way. "No, my mom does. The bar went to her when my dad passed away six years ago."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. He's in a better place now. One without pain. Lukemia can be a slow and painful torture."

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before he asked, "So do I get to know the name of the person whose chair I was unknowingly claiming as mine for ten years?"

She held out her hand and he noted that she wore no rings. "My name is Higurashi Kagome." Her head tilted to the side in a fashion that he found strangely endearing. "And might I ask the name of the person who was unknowingly sitting in my chair for ten years?"

"Motosuwa Sesshoumaru." He said giving her hand one final shake.

She blushed and released his hand. She turned her head away and sat in silence while she contemplated something, unknowing or uncaring about the fact that he was still looking at her. After a few minutes she turned around and her eyes shined with the accomplishment of having reached a decision. What it was he didn't know, but he figured he would find out soon enough.

"I'll be willing to share the chair with you."

He raised both eyebrows. "There is a but at the end of that statement. On what conditions?"

"Just one. You have to go on a date with me. Is that an acceptable condition?"

"Hmm." He acted as though he needed time to come to a decision. "I suppose that is fair." He gave her a sideways glance before continuing. She had gone back to tracing the water rings in her nervousness. "But I have a better idea."

She turned back to him. "And what is it?"

"I will allow you to have the chair if-"

"You can't allow me to have the chair, it's mine! You-"

"Tsk tsk. Don't interrupt. You won't have to share the chair if . . ."

She leaned closer. "If? . . .?"

"If you'll agree to a kiss and a date with me."

"Hmm." She acted as though she needed time to come to a decision. She smiled and used his words. "I suppose that is fair."

"I do try to be fair." He said. Then he leaned forward and kissed her softly. When they pulled apart he was happy to note that she seemed slightly dazed.

After she regained her bearings she said "I'd say you're very fair." She leaned in close again. "But for me to be fair, I should repay you."

And she did. Until long after the other customers had left and the lights had been turned out.

Sesshoumaru decided that he needed to come up with more ways that she could owe him, so that she could continue to repay him.

Kagome couldn't have agreed more.