Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and characters. But boy do they own me!

00000

At 8am on a dreary Monday morning, an innocent alarm clock was destroyed.

Kagome flung herself out of bed and trudged to the bathroom, making a mental note to buy another clock on her way home from work. Grimacing at the disheveled creature in the mirror, she went through the motions of her morning routine wearily.

The piercing tone of the telephone cut through her early morning daze. Kagome jumped in mid sip, swearing vehemently as hot coffee splashed out of the mug and onto her shirt. One hand holding the sodden material away from her burnt skin, she wrenched the shrilling phone from its cradle.

"This had better be good."

"Kagome Higurashi, is that any way to talk to your own mother?"

Sighing, Kagome slumped onto the kitchen floor and braced herself for a round of twenty questions. If she had only known the day would begin so horribly she would have called in sick.

"So how did it go? Did they make it? Why didn't you call me yesterday night? When I didn't hear from either you or Kikiyou yesterday I got so worried -"

"Mom-" Kagome tried to edge a word in, but the woman was on a steamroll. She settled for rolling the absurdly long telephone cable around her fingers.

"Did his parents get angry at you? Oh I feel bad for his mother, but I'm just so happy for Kikiyou and Inuyasha! You know, it's your turn now -"

"MOM!" she yelled, before the woman could start her favourite tirade on Kagome's single (and therefore deplorable) status. "I can't tell you what happened unless you Stop. Talking!"

The silence on the line was brief but heavenly nonetheless.

"Well? I'm waiting for details Kagome! I know that you have a demanding job and responsibilities, but would it kill you to call your mother once in a -"

"It went well!" Kagome scrambled her thoughts into order. She was not a morning person and dealing with an overexcitable, pushy, overbearing mother before 11am was tantamount to subjecting herself to cruel and unusual torture. "I collected Inuyasha at the church, delivered him to Kikiyou at the train station, saw them off, and then went straight home to sleep."

"What was Kikiyou wearing? Oh oh! What did my son-in-law wear? I bet he wore a tux. Oh they must have looked so romantic together, reunited at last on the platform- "

Kagome sighed, exasperated beyond words as her mother prattled on and on. Absently following the very one-sided conversation, she changed her shirt, located her shoes, packed a bento and fed her cat, all the while uttering an appropriate 'aa' and 'hm' into the phone.

"Kagome my dear, are you alright?"

She startled at the sudden change of topic and smiled faintly at her mother's concern.

"Yes mom. I've made my peace. They belong together."

"But what about you?"

Kagome frowned, unwilling to open up that can of worms, not after all the effort she had put into closing that damn can in the first place. "Look, mom, I'm a big girl and I'll deal with it. Gotta go to work now, so I'll call you later ok?"

"Alright…I'm always here if you need a listening ear ok Kagome? I love you."

Irritating tendencies aside, her mom really was the best. "Yes mom. I love you too."

"Oh yes before I forget, grandpa would like you to bring him some demon items from work. He's working on a new project. Something about a new confinement um…apparatus?"

Kagome smirked at the thought of her little grandpa tackling evil artefacts like the noh mask into a cardboard box. As one of the senior resident mikos at Shikon Pte Ltd, purifying cursed articles for easy handling and storage were bread and butter jobs in her line of work. She could easily just swipe one of the less vicious talismans from their stockpile at the office. Her boss wouldn't mind. And after all the overtime she had put in the past month alone, Kagura owed her.

"Will do. Give grampus and Souta a kiss for me!"

Hanging up, she glanced at the clock before sprinting out of the apartment. Now she was late for work!

00000

Sesshomaru glared pointedly at the door as it opened, revealing his short, stammering assistant with a sheet of papers to sign. Motioning for the man to leave the towering stack on a side table, Sesshomaru took a sip of his coffee, remembering again why he kept Jaken around. Though a horrendously inept personal assistant, the man made coffee to die for.

Once the door had shut, the youkai relaxed and woke the computer from sleep mode. By his count, he had amassed just enough coins to plant a new crop. Yes. This Sesshomaru harboured a secret appreciation for Farmville. Though he played only sporadically, utilising the private server and remaining anonymous under a pseudo account, the youkai had grown inordinately proud of his flourishing vegetables and livestock.

In between deciding whether to buy seeds for cabbage or tomatoes, Sesshomaru was rudely interrupted by the incessant buzzing of the phone.

Caller ID indicated that the call was from Mr Kōshitsu. The founder and C.E.O of Kōshitsu Enterprises, the leading technological firm of inter youkai and human relations, and also…

His father.

Making a mental note to check his chicken coop for mystery eggs later, Sesshomaru received the call by activating the loudspeaker.

"Son? Are you there? Are you playing that stupid game again?"

Golden eyes narrowed dangerously. How did he know?

"Ah ha, you're probably wondering how I know about your little pastime right? We share the same server son. Can't hide from your old man!"

Sesshomaru bared his fangs in a silent snarl and his claws clenched, marring the mahogany desk with 10 new crescent scars.

Unconcerned with his distress, his father continued. "Don't you growl at me pup! You're a few thousand years too early to be threatening me. Anyway, as long as you pay a visit to my farm, I won't say a word to your brother."

He blinked, anger derailed by surprise, and tried to regain the shreds of his dignity. "Father, what is the purpose of your call?"

"It's about the new site we purchased for the laboratories. And your brother... A bit of both actually."

"Explain."

"You remember our agreement with the Takahashi family?"

"Hn."

"You remember what happened yesterday?"

Sesshomaru snorted derisively. "Unfortunately yes."

"Ah, well due to the conclusion of yesterday's wedding ceremony, our contract for their extensive services has been withdrawn. Which means -"

"You need me to clear out the land -"

"NO!" His father bellowed. "You are vice president, heir to my company, and the future public face Kōshitsu Enterprises. I will not have you jeopardising your image for some simple extermination job. Hire a contractor. No slayers! Well, just make sure they're not affiliated in any way with the Takahashi family."

Biting back a sigh, Sesshomaru inwardly cursed his brother for eloping and leaving behind a mess that he had to clean up. "Is it really necessary to go through such lengths? From what I observed, the Takahashi woman did not seem at all troubled at being left at the altar."

"That is beside the point. Sango is too nice a girl to -"

"In fact, I have it on good authority that she left with the priest."

"I don't give a damn! We are fault in this fiasco of a merger so we have to tread carefully. Now. Find me good contractor by tonight or I'll cancel your Facebook account!"

The line cut off abruptly, leaving the demon seething in ire at the threat to his prized farm. Fixing his mind on completing the aggravating task as soon as possible, Sesshomaru put his brilliant information gathering skills to finding a suitable candidate.

He googled it.

Barely 50 years into its creation and already the 5000 year old youkai could not imagine life without the internet. Scrolling down to a particularly promising link, he opened up a company website that looked quite professional, though one could argue that the pink logo looked nothing like the famed Shikon Jewel the company was named after. Whilst scanning through their services, fees and procedures, Sesshomaru came across the page of employee profiles.

And froze.

There on the screen, a smile apparent on her face even on the tiny photograph, was the deranged wedding crasher.

Kagome Higurashi, Senior Miko. Specialised in performing rituals for blessings, containment, healing, purification and extermination…

Sesshomaru smirked triumphantly.

At 6pm on a dreary Monday evening, a devious plan was born.