Chapter 11

As Inuyasha followed his brother's retainer, his eyes were drawn instead to the gently swaying hips of his brother's ward. Right, then left, then back again. He was well and truly hypnotized by their movement. When they ceased their motion and held before the door to his brother's study, his eyes remained entranced with her form. They moved up past her waist to the proud line of her shoulders and the soft fall of her arms.

So ensorcelled was he that he did not hear the first clearing of his brother's throat. Nor the second. He did feel, however, when his brother chose to speed across the room from behind his desk to the doorway to grasp Inuyasha by the throat and slam him against the far wall. Oh yeah—he was in trouble.

"Enjoying the view, were you?" Sesshoumaru ground out past his tightly clenched jaw.

It wasn't easy answering with a grip like that holding him up by his throat. "What, me? I don't know what you're talking about, asshole."

"You were ogling an innocent!"

"So what if I was, it's not like she's claimed!"

"She is my ward and as such she is under my protection. A circumstance she will remain in until someone worthy presents themselves." If that half-breed even contemplated courting his little Rin… He'd been concerned for awhile at the similarities when she was younger to her dream playmate of whom she had spoken so often—the silver hair and golden eyes, the brash temper, but she had grown out of those dreams, thankfully, so he knew she was not having dreams of her one.

This really was funny. Later, when poison-imbued claws weren't digging into his neck, he'd have a great laugh over his stuffy brother being over-protective of a human girl. "Oh really? And just how long have you had her cooped up in this fortress, far away from the outside world? By your atypical reaction I'd say roughly since puberty."

Sesshoumaru's eyes drifted to the side as his grip on his brother's neck slacked. "Rin is a pure soul. She is especially vulnerable to the evils of the world and as such needs protecting."

"And just how long have you had this pure soul? She's charmed somehow—that scent of hers has lost its bitterness of mortality so I'd say a lot longer than what it appears. That's one hell of a secret you've been keeping, man." He gave his brother a hard, searching look.

Sesshoumaru sighed and found his brother's eyes as his arm fell to his side. "Come inside. There is much I would tell you." He turned and extended his arm to indicate his office.

As Inuyasha turned from his brother and looked to the doorway, he saw the blush staining Rin's cheeks and realized his dream girl had overheard his little tete a tete with his brother.

…

"Tadaima!"

"Okaeri, sweetheart!" Kaneko called from the kitchen. "How was your day?"

"Blessedly free of creepy feelings, calls or texts! I spent hours running errands and buying supplies for my big trip and had a completely stress-free outing." Her gleaming smile showcased just how much had changed in the last few days. It had been months since Kaneko had seen her daughter smile like that.

"Oh, that's wonderful! Now, let's see what you've got!"

Kagome set her bags down on the couch and plopped down with an "oomph!" Kaneko sat at the other end and waited patiently for her daughter to display her finds.

"So, of course, I got toiletries. That's really what most of this is. But…I also got a nice dress for the big meeting and one for just in case!" Kagome rifled around in the plastic, tossing some small bags on the floor until she got to the big bag from a designer clothing store. Except for her traditional wear, she bought all her clothes in the big box stores. Never one into fashion enough to pay the prices, she dressed simply: tees and sweaters, jeans and skirts. What she really enjoyed were shoes, but most of her shoes were sneakers and sandals as she really didn't dress to accommodate dressy shoes except for special occasions. Until today. She rushed into the bathroom to change.

The dress for the meeting was a deep pink number where short cap sleeves framed the draped, asymmetrical neckline that topped a polished gabardine sheath. The wide, inset waistline—centered by a skinny, black patent belt, led into v-shaped stitching in the back. The neckline was square in the back and dipped low, which would showcase her shoulders if she wore her hair up and there was an elegant slit at the conservative just-at-the-knee hem. After she'd shimmied in and slipped on her slightly platformed, black, patent pumps, she left the bathroom to show off.

"Oh, Kagome! You look like such a lady!"

She turned around. "Can you zip me up?" she asked over her shoulder. Kaneko moved to help and then Kagome spun around. "So what do you think? Is it professional enough? I really couldn't see myself in one of those business suit things."

"No, no, no. You're too young and besides, it's not like you're a lawyer or something. So tell me more about this meeting! Will Inuyasha be there?"

"Yep, he'll be there. Here, let me get out of this first so it doesn't get wrinkled. Unzip, please!" She turned, her mother unzipped and Kagome ran back to the bathroom to change and hang up her dress. When she was back to her normal self and the dresses safe hung on the back of the bathroom door, she emerged and plopped back down on the couch with her mama.

"So…where were we, Mama? You know Inuyasha's on a trip right now, but when he comes back he's grabbing me and we're flying to New York. The firm that is publishing my work makes a point of meeting with every new author they sign with so I have a big meeting between Inuyasha, me, and the head of the company, plus some lawyers and stuff that worked on the contract. Inuyasha said he was going to take me out for a real, American dinner afterwards! He said since we managed the impossible—whatever that means—that I can have anything my tummy desires. Isn't that awesome?"

"It's so exciting, isn't it? A big business meeting all the way in New York City! Sweetheart, I really am delighted for you; you truly deserve this. And I know I can rely on him to look out for you and your interests which makes it all the better."

….

"Come inside. There is much I would tell you."

Inuyasha followed his brother into his office, winking cheekily at Rin on the way in, and closed the heavy, solid oak doors behind him. He walked up to one of the brown leather club chairs in front of his brother's massive desk and plopped down into it. He almost kicked his heels up on to that desk, then thought better of it. Yeah, his stiff asshole of a brother would probably leap over the desk and repeat his threatening grip on his throat—not a good idea.

Sesshoumaru rounded his desk and gracefully seated himself in his executive chair and looked down at his half-brother. He had purposely constructed his office to sit on an angle whereby his desk and, specifically, his seat, was higher than the other chairs in the room across from him. Not that he particularly needed it with Inuyasha as he was a good half a head shorter than himself, but it was always a good idea to begin discussions of any kind in a position of authority.

He brought his hands together in front of him to rest on the desk as he rolled his legs under the desk. "I am sure you are wondering why I requested your presence." At Inuyasha's curt nod he continued. "It is a matter of our father's. You see, upon his death he entrusted his swords to me,"

He was interrupted by, "Yeah, yeah. Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga. I'm not so stupid I forgot all those years of training you gave me."

Sesshoumaru had a ready comment for that, but held his tongue. "What I neglected to mention while I was teaching you to master father's swords was that one of them was left to you, Inuyasha. I omitted this knowledge because per our father's wishes you were not ready to take possession of it."

"You mean all this time I had something from dad and you kept it from me?! Why the hell would you do that?"

Exasperation forced a sigh from him. "As I said, you were not yet ready. Father said I would know when you were ready when you could accept your mixed parentage. You have only stopped living as a fighter most recently. In the last few years you have let go of much of your anger and made a real career for yourself, a way for you to live in this world of humans. I know it may be strange to hear this from this Sesshoumaru, however, since this change I have felt a sort of pride in you."

"You've—whoa…you have a funny way of showing it, you know, asshole." He was looking at his brother like he had just declared his preference for lacy, pink undergarments.

…..

A/N: tadaima means "I'm home!" and okaeri means "welcome home!"

…..