Chapter 5

Kagome was excited for the Christmas party. She had the pleasure (as Sesshomaru put it) of hand addressing all of the invites to the employees, scheduling the location, caterers, decorators, DJ, and cleanup crew. Honestly, she couldn't wait until the holidays were over so that she could get a break from all the running around she had to do for this god-forsaken party. She planned to get pretty drunk and enjoy herself.

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The night of the company Christmas party, Kagome rushed around the room making last minute tweaks to the center pieces. Lights were strung across the white lattice pieces along the black walls. A large evergreen tree dominated the eastern corner of the ballroom, decorated with blue and white baubles. After fluffing one last centerpiece of fir sprigs & holly branches, Kagome sighed and stood. She smoothed her hands over the front of her black dress shirt. The karaoke DJ had finished setting up his equipment just moments ago and was presently hovering at the bar, chatting with Derek, one of the bartenders. She checked her watch, noting that it was nearly 8pm. Well, let's get this party started, she thought to herself.

Two hours later the ballroom was filled with company employees. Kagome was sitting at one of the tables, enjoying a glass of red wine with Inuyasha and her best friend Kikyo. After nearly 3 months of planning, the Christmas party (or "Holiday Party" as some people were insisting on calling it) had finally come to fruition. Kagome felt better knowing that the DJ, the catering, and the serving staff showed up without a hitch or issue. The hors devours were delicious, the DJ played tasteful yet current music, and the wait staff were polite and very helpful.

"Wow, Kagome, this is really nice," Inuyasha said as he leaned back in his chair, one arm resting on the back of Kikyo's chair while he held a glass of red wine in his other hand. Kagome smiled and took a sip from her glass.

"I agree, 'gome," Kikyo said as she glanced around, "everyone seems to be having a great time."

"Well, not everyone," Inuyasha huffed, nodding his head across the room. Kikyo and Kagome both turned to look where Inuyasha had motioned. Sitting near the front corner of the room opposite of the dance floor & DJ's set up sat Sesshomaru. He clearly looked uncomfortable, slouching only slightly with his arms crossed over his chest. If his face hadn't held a bored, disinterested look one might have thought he was lonely. They watched him for a little while, noting how he wasn't watching anyone or anything but more staring at the centerpiece on the table. A few candles had been scattered among the tables and one flickered in front of him, casting a dim glow across his face.

By now Kagome had gotten used to Sesshomaru's strange looks. When Kikyo had started dating Inuyasha she asked him many questions about being Hanyo and what different markings meant. She had met or seen several demons in her teen years & during college and had seen the myriad of markings and different hair & eye color pairings. Sesshomaru's markings were different though. Most demons she had met had either markings on their forehead or on their cheeks but Sesshomaru was the first she met that had markings in both places. Surely it must signify strength or power or prestige or something along those lines.

"He looks more despondent than usual," Kikyo murmured off handedly. Kagome nodded in agreement. She had noticed Sesshomaru was a more cold and distant than usual the past 3 days at work and wondered what had brought it on. Their current contracts were doing well in negotiations and their 3rd Quarter profits were looking very positive for an economy in a recession. Inuyasha glanced over at his brother and sighed.

"He found out that Nina's seeing someone."

"So? They're divorced; what's it to him if she's seeing someone?" Kikyo asked pitilessly. Inuyasha raised his eyebrows and continued explaining quietly.

"He didn't hear it from Nina, he heard it from Rin. She came home Monday and asked him if she would have two daddies now." Both Kagome and Kikyo cringed at the situation. Rin was Sesshomaru's pride and joy. To hear her say something about having two daddies must have torn him apart. Not only that but Nina was moving on with her life and Sesshomaru was still alone. Kagome's heart went out to her boss.

"Poor guy," Kagome said. "We should at least go sit with him. I think he's scaring everyone." Looking around, they noticed that the party goers were actively avoiding Sesshomaru, giving him a 2-table berth as they mingled and drank. Kagome pushed her chair back and stood, wine glass in hand and waited for Inuyasha & Kikyo to follow suit. Kikyo stood first, lightly tapping Inuyasha's arm.

"I'm gonna stop at the bar first, you two go ahead," he said, already making his way toward Derek at the bar. The two women casually made their way over to Sesshomaru's table. Kagome pulled out a chair next to him and sat down. He didn't look up when they sat down. Instead, he continued to stare blankly at the centerpiece. Kagome glanced at Kikyo who shrugged then cleared her throat.

"Kagome, you did a great job on the party. Everything looks great. Don't you agree, Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru's eyes slanted right to Kikyo then left to Kagome.

"Hn. It is satisfactory" he murmured, his eyes going back to staring blankly at the centerpiece. His vision was obscured when an orange and ruby colored drink was set down in front of him with a thunk.

"Drink up, Sessh," Inuysha said as he himself settled into the chair left between Sesshomaru and Kikyo with an identical drink in hand. Sesshomaru stared at the glass for a moment before reaching for it. He brought the glass to his nose and took a light sniff of the concoction. It smelled sweet, fruity, and a little citric.

"What is it?"

"It's called a Tequila Sunrise," Inuyasha explained as he took a sip from his drink. "Try it, I think you'll like it. It's a little girly but it has tequila in it so it's okay." Sesshomaru shrugged and took a sip. He could taste the orange juice and sweet grenadine but there was an encompassing note of musky liquor throughout. Not typically a guy to drink 'fruity' drinks he figured it wasn't bad since the liquor content tasted pretty high. Besides, if he heard any of his employees talking of him drinking a girly drink he would fire them on the spot.

"Hn."

"See? I knew you'd like it," Inuyasha said as he resumed leaning back in his chair. The four of them sat together in relative silence, attempting to have small talk as time progressed. Inuyasha went to the bar and brought back three more Tequila Sunrises – one for himself and two for Sesshomaru at his quiet insistence. It was Inuyasha's further declaration that Sesshomaru needed to get drunk.

"Seriously though, it's the holidays. It's okay to loosen up. Besides, it's a Friday night and Rin's at her mom's an-." Inuyasha was cut off by a sharp kick to his shin. A pointed glare in his direction from Kikyo reminded him why they had moved to Sesshomaru's table in the first place. Inuyasha cleared his throat sheepishly & ducked his head slightly. Sesshomaru glanced sidelong at Inuyasha and brought his drink to his lips, gulping the contents down in one fluid motion. Kagome sat rigidly in her seat, waiting to see Inuyasha's head roll across the table after Sesshomaru relieved it from his body. However, no such thing happened. Instead, an empty glass was set on the table before the next full glass was consumed & set alongside its brethren. Sesshomaru slowly turned his head toward Inuyasha whose hair, it appeared, was starting to give off a slight halo-like shine.

"Since it is, as you say, the holidays, perhaps you should gift me with another drink or two, little brother. In fact, get the rest of the bottle of Tequila. That bartender doesn't quite mix them strong enough for my tastes." Inuyasha stared wide-eyed at his usually uptight brother before scrambling up from his chair and jogging over to the bar to get yet another Tequila Sunrise for Sesshomaru. Apparently tonight was about to get really interesting!

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I'm going to take my time with this and I'm sorry for that. I just can't write really long chapters.