Candy Fit For a Demon Lord

Okay this is a story I have been considering for a while. It will have a few kinks in it, but I want to test the fist chapter out on you and see how it goes. If you like it and I get five reviews, give or take depending on the reactions, I will continue it, but if it flops I will remove it. This is just a little experimenting on my part. I want to get away from the regular things I put in my stories. Also the title and rating may change if I continue. Rating because I can't make up my mind, and title because I think most of my titles suck so far. Tell me what you think and I am always glad to hear from readers, either happy or disappointed. Keep in mind this is AU.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. All rights go to Rumiko Takahshi. I also don't own Hershey's chocolates or any of the food Rin makes and sells. I don't own the songs that are mentioned and I don't own the idea for the bad baking food fight. Those rights go to the makers of Charlie's Angels the movie, or their respective artists. Please don't sue me for doing terrible things to the characters. I butcher so much.

What in blazes is that god awful racket? Ugh… that better not be Shilulu or I swear I will kill her for interrupting my sleep. I cracked a bleary eye open, and winced at the harsh sun pouring through my curtains. After taking a couple minutes to blink the sleep away, and adjust to the infernal sun, I finally got to look around for the source of the music. I looked around and noticed that there wasn't anyone in my room to make the noise so it had to be… Oh No! I scrambled frantically to my bag and snapped my cell phone open, barely making it before Jason Mraz I'm Your's finished playing. "Moshi, Moshi! This is Rin," I panted smoothing my hair while glancing around the room.

"Wow! Nice save Rin-chan you nearly missed me. Now, get your lazy butt out of bed and open the door for me before I violate the law against breaking and entering a home. I can't wait forever you know," Shilulu chuckled. I sighed nodding silently and hung up, leaving my bedroom and walking across the apartment to the front door. Upon opening the door, I was tightly embraced by my partner in crime, Shilulu.

Shi-chan is the oddest fox demoness you can come across, and I love her for it. She helped me through some rough spots in my life, and only recently have I been able to look back with her and thank her for making me laugh, and just in general, supporting me the whole time. She is a mother hen, and a reckless mess at the same time, with nothing but kindness directed to me. We are very tight friends.

"Dear lord Rin! How long have you been sleeping! We need to spend some time at the studio before we head down to open up the store, and you aren't even dressed! We are running on a tight schedule here, and just because yesterday was the grand opening doesn't mean that you are in the clear. There are rough waters ahead owning your own business, you know that. Go get cleaned up, and I will get everything else ready," She said quickly shoving me in the bathroom. I sighed as I hopped into the shower, knowing she was right.

I have just opened a candy store in an old cafe in the middle of Tokyo. I make almost all the sweets, not just candy but anything with sugar in it, myself hand made. It is an American import shop too, so I make and sell American favorites. It is pretty popular among today's teenagers. I love cooking, and so working with candy all day suits me well. I spent most of last night after the grand opening baking my eyes out, so that everything was made, or at least started, and kept fresh for today. Shi-chan helps me cook and man the customers, switching back and forth every so often. Shilulu owns her own studio for the arts already, so her help is temporary until I find more help, or am comfortable enough to do it on my own. This has been my dream forever and I can't believe it is finally happening. I didn't expect it to happen so soon, much less when I am 29.

I know. I am really young to be able to own prime real-estate in Tokyo and running a shop that is paid for pretty well. Lets just say I can afford it because of some bad situations in the past. I don't ever want to go over that. My college degree is in design, but my dream and passion is in cooking, and more importantly, sweets. I know how to make over 300 different candies, cakes, pastries, chocolates, and basic sugar delights. I also sell big brand names for things I can't make but want to sell. You can pretty much find every type of desert in my store, thank you very much.

It took several more minutes of shampoo and body wash before I bolted out the bathroom to the already closed off bedroom for changing. My bed was made, my backpack/briefcase had been loaded and taken from the room, and there were clothes lying on the bed. See, what did I tell you? She is a complete mother hen.

She had laid out my basic work uniform which included jeans, a tee-shirt, and a cotton jacket. The cotton jacket was just a plain see through white, and it usually stayed in my brief case during the day. Today's tee-shirt was white and said "The Sweetest Thing in The World is a Kiss" in pink and on the back was a picture of a Hershey's Kiss and pink lipstick kiss on the tip. We found all these ridiculous candy shirts when I found out that I was going to open the shop, and Shi-chan decided to make matching hair accessories for me. Today's are a pink hair tie with kisses painted on them and matching chopsticks. They're cute but really juvenile in my opinion. Shilulu's come back is that I can't exactly work in a candy shop wearing a business suite. Which is sadly true. I put the clothes on and my leg brace underneath my jeans. The brace is from a supposed accident caused my ex boyfriend, who is not to be discussed. He is one of those rough spots in my life better left forgotten. I finished dressing and put my hair up into a bun using the pink hair stuff, before I hurried out the room to find Shilulu.

I found her in the kitchen cooking breakfast for me, and doing my dishes.

"Shilulu! What are you doing! I can do my own dishes when I get home tonight, and we need to get going. Right," I yelled exasperated. No matter how many times I find her doing my work in anything I never get used to it. I am used to doing everything myself.

"Hold on! I have your food ready and you don't have to worry about eating it here. It is portable, and perfect for eating on the go. We can be a little late to the studio anyway," She said turning away from the counter. She handed me chopsticks and a box with a cover filled with fruit, yogurt, and granola. She picked up my briefcase and keys while walking to the door. After locking my door, we hurried out to the parking lot and jumped onto her lovely motor bike. She loves me and the bike equally, if that is any comfort. The good news about the bike is that it makes morning traffic a breeze to navigate through.

We arrived at Shi-chan's studio and unlocked the doors at around 8:30, and we started cleaning up after the last class, oil painting, before we got down to the business of the paper work for the shop. Shilulu still held some of her morning classes in the morning and the evening, so she could still have the studio open and help me at the same time. We would discuss paper work and such while she did classes in the morning. We opened the store at about eleven, but we get there at ten so we can prepare everything. Monday through Saturday the shop is open from eleven to ten, and Sundays noon to five. I work a lot but it is worth it in the end. Most of the week is slow before noon, but Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are huge selling days. Today would be relatively busy for a Thursday. I love Fridays, so today I will be hyper and perky ready for my favorite day.

I started my paper work in Shilulu's office while she left to teach a spiritual dance class. Don't ask… I never bothered. I was still settling bank loan and deposit slips from last month. So much work went into buying this place that I almost gave up several times. Shilulu was always there to whack me on the butt for being lazy, careless, and angst filled for loosing a dream. She over exaggerates so much. Sorta. There were also papers for a shipping service, involving deals with companies and the local mail carriers. We wanted to be able to ship my products everywhere, but we are starting out small with locals. It just takes one step at a time. All this work kept me busy for the hour, and I didn't even finish it all! The paper work was so aggravating the thought of working in my store was so soothing and comforting right now. I needed to unwind, and get rid of the stress.

I packed up when Shilulu came in toweling her hair dry after her shower, Ahh, the joys of really short hair, suggesting we get a move on before we were behind. We left as abruptly as we came and drove down to the shop finally. We parked in the old cafe's parking lot, and I went to unlock the door while Shi-chan made sure her bike wouldn't be carted off during the day. I got to walk up to the front entrance of my baby, The Chocolate Pallet. It is supposed to be a play on words, but no one ever gets it. When I turned on the lights Shilulu greeted me at the door, and promptly re-locked the door. She is paranoid that someone will break into the shop while we are in the back and shoot us, or something like that. Yet again, proof that she is insane. I just ignore her paranoia and put on gloves, a hair net, and an apron, so I can start cooking in the back. Shilulu just rolled her eyes at my doubt and followed my lead putting on her special gloves, a hair net on her head and fox tail (It's funny to watch!), and her personal apron. With our routines done we were finally able to get to the real part, cooking.

In the back room we have a radio that we listen to and play music for the shop. Shilulu complied clean, candy songs for ambiance, but all it did was serve to annoy her terribly. She said that if she never hears another candy song it will be too soon. I had to start with the toped fruit because that was the desert that had to be freshest. I put on several pots for caramel, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and milk chocolate, while Shilulu took out the dough for sugar and fruit pastries. We both cut up fruit and nuts just making small talk in comfort. We always concentrated more on the food than the entertainment of each other. I would occasionally glance out the window to the street and see people walking past. Once or twice I would make a comment about a person to Shilulu and we would laugh, fume, or shake our heads in disappointment. Everything was just normal for us today. While the toppings were heating up I also started a couple cake orders we had from our regulars to the store. They would come and pick up the cakes later for whatever purpose they would serve, and we would get more recognition. It was all normal for us, and after I got through the first of the morning chores I went to open up shop.

It was nice to get out of the back room because even if I love cooking it's nice to interact with the people. After unlocking the door and propping it I got to take off my apron and hair net. Only gloves were required for behind the counter, thank god! We already had our first customer of the day which was a little odd for 11:23 in the morning.

"Good morning miss, welcome to the Chocolate Pallet. How can I help you this morning," I said in my usual cheery counter voice. She scowled at me, and continued to look around. The shop wasn't all that big and had a landing with steps that walked up to the counter and displays, jars, and containers sweets. Quite frankly it was very hard to ignore me in such a small space. I was very put off, so I tried again.

"Sorry to interrupt, but is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, so butt out. Can't you ravenous workers ever leave people alone," she snapped rudely. I was shocked, but had no choice but to deal with it for the time being. She continued to look around for another five minutes and then brought up a bag of chocolate covered raisins.

"Is that all for today miss," I asked through clenched teeth as I rang up her raisins.

"Yes," she said bitterly glaring at me. Despite my dearest wishes, I could not return that glare back to her overly tan face.

"That will be 585 yen please." (AN: I read in Kamichama Karin that 1.00 US is about equal to 100 yen. If I am wrong in the calculations or the conversion please let me know and I will be glad to fix it.)

"585 yen! That is absurd for a bag of raisins. I refuse to buy such a product for such an outrageously high price," she shouted shrilly.

"I'm sorry miss, but that is the price we marked it for. We have other items that may be less expensive, if you wish to peruse those. We felt it was a fair price when we marked it because of the amount in the bag," I ground out, getting more and more frustrated. There was a lot of raisins in that bag, and everything in the store is pretty cheep for an import shop. We could be charging through the roof for our products and instead we get yelled at for being reasonable. Some people are just so high maintenance today.

"I don't want your other stupid products! I demand to see the manager about this affront," she haughtily demanded.

I grinned and got my revenge," Miss I am sorry to say that I am the manager. You see, I like my shop and how I have priced everything, so if you have a problem you can take it and stick it where the sun don't shine. If you want cheaper goods and someone who will deal with your attitude you best get out of here because I am not going to be that person. With that I threw the raisins back to there display and showed her the door. I hate people who think the world revolves around them, and I am not going to be the one to be pushed around by them. I have already had enough of being a pushover in my lifetime. I decided to take refuge in the back room for a while, already suiting back up.

"Shilulu, you can go man the register for now. I need some time to unwind and bake again," I said stiffly walking back into the kitchen.

"Rough time already, huh? That woman was a total sleaze bag, not all customers are like that so don't fret." I looked at her with an odd expression, but let her go out to the front. I needed to cool down. Recently after my accident, I can just get so worked up over nothing and go ballistic on everyone, even my own friends. Taking time away from people was what I needed for now, until I got used to playing in the outside world again.

In the next five hours I stayed in the back most of the time. I did a shift or two when Shi-chan was tired or wanted lunch, or just wanted to cook for a bit, but for the most part she cut me slack. She knew I wasn't used to being around people much after my problems with Akitoki. He had kept me away from socializing with pretty much everyone in the months I was with him. He had excuses like he could provide for the both of us, and I didn't have tons of friends worthy of me at the time, so I took the bait hook line and sinker. I was shut away, and didn't even realize until he made unwelcome advances. I got away from him like a bat out of hell, but in the process, damaged a good portion of my nerves in my left leg. After recuperating with Shilulu, it was the choice to get surgery to restore my leg to its former glory or open the shop, and you see my choice today. I can still walk okay with the brace, I just can't stand on it forever or run very well. I wear pants so no one can see the brace, and I look like everyone else. I survive just fine though, and am happier for my choice.

It was around 4:38 when I was watching my cookies in the oven. I looked out the window at the people walking the streets when I saw something curious. A man, possibly a demon with the height and hair on him, was looking into stores with an odd expression on his face. He was acting so odd that I was terribly curious as to what he was doing. It wasn't uncommon to see demons around here at all, but to see one acting so fidgety was new to me. I just watched him, until I heard hysterical laughter coming from the door. I looked up to see Shilulu in her apron grinning from ear to ear.

"I know people watching is a favorite sport of yours Rin, but making the cookies suffer for it is unfair." I gasped looking down at the oven to see extra dark brown cookies with smoke starting to surround them. I took them out to see if they were salvageable, taking a quick glance outside to see the mysterious man gone. Shilulu continued chuckling while waltzing over to the rapidly cooling pan. She picked up one of the star shaped cookies and brandished it at me.

"This, Rin, is what you get when you don't pay attention to what you are doing. Just because there are hot men walking around outside doesn't mean you should drop everything and drool," she admonished cheekily.

"Oh, shut it you. Do you want to have an oddly shaped cookie shoved in a place that is really uncomfortable," I grinned evilly.

"Hmmm… If I recall correctly shoving things in those places is reserved for hot men that walk around suspiciously with a look of oh my god I must find Rin and f…"

She never got the chance to finish her statement before I took one of the cookies and threw it like a ninja star at her head screaming," Evil Cookie Ninja Star Attack!" Sadly the cookie missed her head when she ducked. At close inspection it had embedded into the wall. We both looked at each other, the at the cookie, then back again, then fell over laughing hysterically. I distantly heard the bell on the shop door ring, but ignored it for a minute or two for a good laugh. I went to take my shift while Shilulu desperately tried to compose herself, or keep from wetting her pants, one of the two. Taking off the apron and hair net, I walked into the shop.

While wiping away my tears of mirth, I called out sweetly," Welcome to the Chocolate Pallet. How can I help you on this glorious afternoon!" Then I actually noticed who I was talking to. The man from earlier, that had caused all the mayhem was standing before me with a delicate eyebrow raised at my state. He was just as tall as I had seen him, but much different up close.

He wore business casual of a black long sleeve shirt, despite the temperatures, and black slacks that were as emasculate as his polished shoes. He was a demon as I guessed earlier with markings covering his wrists, cheeks, eyes, and forehead varying from stripes of red to a blue crescent moon. He had long silver hair that was braided, and went well past his waist. His face was set in a hard cold look and his golden eyes mirrored his expression. The only thing out of place was that eyebrow of his. It made me feel terribly stupid, and all he was doing was looking at me. I coughed lightly and tried again," I'm terribly sorry sir. Welcome to the Painters Pallet, how can I help you?"

"Just browsing," he stated looking around the displays. The way he looked, I wondered why he was in our shop. Such a well off demon wouldn't typically go around candy shops to satisfy a sugar craving. Talk about an odd person. About ten minutes later of browsing from him he spoke up. With a deep sigh he stated," I am in need of a gift for my nephew's birthday." I nearly lit up at what he said. He needed help to find his nephew a gift, and didn't want to ask for help? That is so cute! I smiled and replied," Do you know if he likes chocolate or some other type of candy?"

He nodded ,"he has a mild reaction to chocolate, so anything else is suitable."

"Inu youkai right? That's fine, if you want I can put together a gift basket that doesn't contain chocolate. How old is he also, I don't want to get kids favorites for an adult or anything," I said hastily.

Looking away from the counter he quietly said, "he is four."

"Oh," I rooted around for a basket under the counter and came up with a nice sand colored wicker one. While I was setting it up with cotton at the bottom and a ribbon on the handle, I heard talking coming from the kitchen. "Dear god! It's stuck in the fucking wall!" I burst out laughing and had to grab the counter for support. I composed myself as quickly as possible which was not very fast. The demon was looking at me with that raised eyebrow again, and it was disconcerting. I got to work on the basket to ignore the feeling.

The next half an hour was spent finding non chocolate candy. I got a huge bag filled with jelly beans of every flavor we had, which was about 25, and a flavor guide. There were marshmallows covered in nuts, peanut butter covered pretzels, lollipops, sugar cookies (not the ones I made earlier), a candy apple covered in sprinkles and caramel, and stuffed it into the basket. I found other various non refrigerated sweets and was able to fit it all in. As a finishing touch I put in a stuffed rabbit holding a lollipop, and made sure everything was secure so he could carry it and not have it all fall out on the ground. I felt really tired after all this for some reason which was odd, but ignored it, and rang up the basket.

"We do personalized gift baskets frequently and it all comes out to 3,500 yen. (AN:$35.00) If you wanted to get something else for your nephew that isn't going to make him hyper try the art supply store down the street. They have a nice kids travel kit that would make him really happy," I hinted. He was so awkward about telling me he needed help that I thought it would be a good idea if he had a little assistance. The kid would love the candy, but I knew that a four year olds parents wouldn't let him have that whole basket. Something else for the kid to have that he can keep would be a good idea, so I intervened.

"Your assistance was appreciated, thank you," he said handing over the money. Wow, that was cold.

"No problem. I love helping out as much as possible. I hope your nephew enjoys his gift. Bring him back some time, I love kids. Oh…by the way, I never caught your name," I babbled incoherently. I was surprised he even bothered answering.

"Sesshomaru, Sesshomaru Takahashi," he seemed hesitant when he replied, almost as if something terrible would happen when he said it.

"It was great meeting you Sesshomaru. Please come anytime were open all week. I'm Rin Omeiya by the way. Sorry if I was rude asking you for your name when you don't know who I am. If you come back let me know how your nephew liked the basket, I need customer feed back when I can get it," I said. I have no idea why I was going on and on to this stranger, but for some reason I wanted him to stay. This was weird for me.

Sesshomaru nodded his head and picked up the basket, and turned to the door. I watched him go and just before he left he stopped.

"Good bye," and with that he left. I was startled that he even bothered to say anything to me. I decided I should better switch off with Shilulu and take a crack at getting that cookie out of the wall. I snickered at the thought.

Upon entering the kitchen, I was greeted by a flustered Shilulu.

"I swear to god that I am putting a plaque up on the wall under the cookie. It will read, In honor of Rin Omeiya, may this cookie stand for all to see how scatter brained she was. May she never pay attention to what she is supposed to be doing, and gawk at all the icicle up their ass, men who pass by the store forever. Her greatness should never be forgotten in how she was able to make such a terrible cookie. Hopefully after going through all the work to put said crappy cookie in the wall, that she at least gets the stupid guy who caused all this. I think that it will make a nice addition to the wall don't you," she said sizing up the wall and using a pencil to make a rectangle where the plaque would go. I walked over to the stove and picked up another one of the cookies that still hadn't been disposed of.

"Oh Shi-chan," I called lightly. As soon as she turned to face me, in rapid succession I threw cookies and pinned her to the wall.

"You were right about one thing Shilulu. After all that trouble I do hope Mr. Lemon Bar comes back. He may be stiff as hell, but you have to admit, he is cute." With that I left a shrieking Shilulu to her own devices.