"Look at him."

"Oh, sweet Jesus, he's gorgeous."

Sesshoumaru groaned quietly into the palm of his hand that was holding his head up and turned his back away from the giggling teenagers. Usually, the library was not a place where silly teenage girls spent their time, which was plenty good enough for him; they were nothing short of an absolute bother. His job, therefore, was one he usually found tolerable if not somewhat enjoyable. Being a librarian wasn't nearly as bad as one might've thought.

"You realize he's intentionally ignoring us, right?"

"Kagome, please, stop raining on our parade. The man is nothing short of a god and you're not even salivating."

"His hair's too much like a girl's."

He couldn't help but let a twitch run from beneath his eye and through his shoulders. "Like a girl's?" The fact that it was long and he used enough conditioner to make it soft as down had nothing to do with it looking like girls' hair.

"What are you talking about? He looks like a medieval prince or something. I think I'm swooning."

"Swoon elsewhere. Is this why you guys came with me? To ogle this guy?"

"Um…duh. Is there any other reason than to come to this…library?"

Sesshoumaru nearly turned around to tell them to get the fuck out of his library. Those little girls obviously hadn't read a book longer than a Dr. Seuss picture book in their entire lives. The…the utter shallowness of them! By now, his shoulders were shaking with suppressed rage and insults.

"The 'godly prince' can hear you, you know?"

"What? How can you tell?"

"He's twitching after everything we say. Look, his shoulders are shaking." There was a pause. "I think he's crying."

Sesshoumaru choked on the air and slammed down his book to turn around to glare at the one girl who was staring at him with a cocked hip, crossed arms and pursed lips. Her eyebrows rose for a moment and her lips pulled back into a grin that reminded him all too much of a cat.

He hated cats.

The other two girls around her shrieked and squealed before running out of the library doors, blushing like mad. She watched them go with an agape mouth before giving Sesshoumaru a hard stare and turning on her heel to walk down one of the book isles.

He relaxed in his seat before returning to his book at hand. Stupid little girls. How old were they? Sixteen? Maybe seventeen? He sighed. Now he couldn't even concentrate on his book.

What the hell did she mean, 'girl's hair?'

Letting out a frustrated growl, he closed his book shut and held a strand of silver hair that was tied back into a ponytail. He really shouldn't be this vain about his hair; he wasn't a particularly vain man, though he did take pride in his appearances to make himself look good. But really…

He did not have girl's hair!

A small shriek echoed through the relatively small library and pulled Sesshoumaru out of his self pity. Getting up, he ventured down the small book isles to find the Cat Girl who was clinging onto the edge of the ladder the librarians use to stack the exceptionally high reaching books.

"There's a reason for the sign that says 'Only For Staff Use.'" Sesshoumaru drawled and leaned against bookshelves with arms crossed across his chest.

She turned to him with wild eyes and squeaked, "Help."

He merely raised an eyebrow. She squawked and clung tighter while screeching painfully loud, "Please! If I break my ankle I will be suing you!"

Rolling his golden eyes, he walked over and placed his hands on her waist to gently pull her down to safety. As soon as she was let go, she brushed herself off and pointed petulantly at a book at the top shelf. "I need that book."

Growling, Sesshoumaru pulled his lips back into a snarl and glared down at her petite form. "You are an incredibly rude girl."

She blinked at him before returning his glare and placing her hands on her hips in a way that Sesshoumaru would only mean an annoying amount of shrill noises would be soon to follow. "Excuse me?"

Sesshoumaru not-so-discreetly plugged an ear and replied, "First, you demand that I help you get down from a ladder that clearly says that it is not for you, and then you demand none too politely that I get you some book, without even thanking me."

Her mouth opened and closed inaudibly before a fleeting look of outrage crossed her face before making way to one of frustrated calm. He amused himself by watching her grit her teeth and nod to herself in what he supposed was an internal debate.

"What are you doing?" He asked and let the amusement he was feeling leak into his voice.

She placed a hand on his shoulder in the well known 'stop' signal and said, "Wait. Stop. Don't talk. Give me a moment."

Snatching her wrist and lifting it off of his shoulder, he did so and fought back the sneer that was urging to take over his lip. Finally, she looked up at him and muttered, "Sorry."

Sesshoumaru found it was his turn to blink as he asked blankly, "What?"

A scowl spread across her face as she repeated, "I'm sorry for being so rude to you. Now will you please help me grab that book off of the shelf?"

He smirked and stepped up on the ladder gracefully to pluck said book she requested for. "As you wish."

She took the book and looked up at him with surprise. "You don't strike me as the forgiving type."

"'Forgiving?' Oh, but I'm not. I merely find your internal struggle against your pride quite amusing and am allowing it to slide by." He crossed his arms again and was a little troubled to find how much he enjoyed watching her fight against throwing insults at him.

"Gah." She finally said and pulled at her long dark hair. "Whatever. I'm not about to argue with you. I'm sensing that it wouldn't make too much of a difference anyways, would it?"

"No," He smirked, "Probably not."

"Well, then, I'd like to sign this out if that's the case." She thrust her book back into his arms and ran her fingers through her hair. Sesshoumaru frowned as he noticed that her hair was almost as soft looking as his own. His hair was supposed to be a contestant to no one.

(Especially not a girl's.)

Shrugging, he padded back to the front counter and placed the book down before walking behind the counter to face the computer monitor. Glancing down at the book, he propped his head into his hand and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "A Christopher Moore book? You strike more as a…Twilight type of girl."

He was surprised at the gagging noise that was emitted from the girl's mouth. "You're kidding, right? Well, this is where we learn where first impressions aren't necessarily correct." She continued to move her jaw around as if there was a bad taste left in there. "Please. That phase was left long ago."

"So I assume that you at one point enjoyed the book?"

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the counter. "What girl hasn't? You just get so caught up in the romance and fantasy boys you can't help but fall into hopeless obsession." She extracted a thin library card from her jean pocket and handed it over to him.

"So what was the cause for your sudden distaste for this ever so popular book series…Ms. Kagome Higurashi?" He asked as he flipped the card within his long fingered hands and scanned it with the red laser.

"Well…" She stood on her toes to lean across the counter further and peer at the name plate that rested on his chest. "Sesshoumaru, I do believe it happened a couple of months after reading the book—which, by the way, was way before it was considered 'cool'—and started to realize how much better Harry Potter was. I was absolutely disgusted at how easily I had easily replaced the world's greatest series with…with one that wasn't nearly as well written."

"That's not all, is it?" He gave the computer monitor a quick scan before saying, "You have four dollars and fifty cents in overdue fines to which you may pay at your own convenience."

"I suppose I'll just pay it now." She sighed and pulled out a five dollar bill and two quarters to place on the counter. "And no, that's not all. After another couple months of the craze catching on, I was dead tired of hearing all of my friends talk about how 'dreamy' Edward was. Now, every time I see the book I want to hurl it at the nearest fiery furnace I can see for brainwashing so many poor, innocent, unsuspecting girls."

"So now you hate it." He pulled out the ancient cashier's drawer and deposited the money before ripping off the receipt that had just printed and handing it to her.

"Hate?" She mused and crumpled the piece of paper he passed to her before throwing it into the recycle bin at her feet. "Naw. Hate's such a strong word…I don't hate the book. I hate for what it stands for which is a bunch of girls who would like nothing better for every Cullen boy to be in their pants."

"You're very outspoken about this matter." He said and pushed her book under the scanner.

"Yeah." She blushed. "My friends get mad at me about this all the time."

"I would much rather a person who tells what they like without regard for what others think about it than one who does not, though."

"What, like you?" She grinned at him and rested her head into her hands.

"Yes. Like me." He almost returned the grin. "Your book is due two weeks from now."

"Yes, sir." She glanced at his computer screen and pointed at it. "I need to change my address. I've moved recently."

He watched her as she tried to remember her address and began rambling out random numbers and street names before trying desperately to correct herself. She was a pretty girl, he supposed, one of those girls who dated frequently (only because the relations would last for about a month tops) and had a great many friends.

Finally, she just sighed and admitted, "Okay. I honestly have no idea what my new address is."

"That's quite stupid." He drawled and sat back into his chair where he took up a relaxed pose. He continued watch her and came to the conclusion that her pretty face wasn't one that held blank, shallow emotions, but contrarily was almost entirely too expressive as he could almost hear what she was thinking as the thoughts passed across her face.

Her grey-green eyes would widen or narrow as certain notions would pass by, or her lips would open, lift, or frown with certain deliberation, and her eyebrows would rise, knit together, or move in a mismatched manner. Her nose, surprisingly, he found most expressive as it would crinkle or move in the same direction that her mouth would. Even her body language gave him more of a hint as to what she was thinking than words ever could.

She frowned at him and crossed her arms across her chest. "Hey. You can't accuse me of being incredibly rude when you yourself can't exactly be considered Sir Mannerisms."

He chuckled at this. "Perhaps." His eyes flickered towards the screen. "You could at least give the change of phone number if you remember it."

Grinning, she uncrossed her arms and nodded. "That, good sir, I can do." She gave him the numbers to type in while counting each one off on her fingers.

"Do you plan to be an actress or something?" He asked, and then frowned at his sudden inquisition. Sesshoumaru was not a man of many words; he much preferred the silent type that one required to read to understand rather than the verbal usage that usually resulted in annoyance and headaches on his behalf.

"What? Why?" Her eyebrows knit together as she peered again at the computer monitor.

He merely shrugged and moved the screen for her to see better. "Is it mostly updated?" After an affirmative nod on Kagome's behalf, he continued, "You seem very…dramatic. Loud. Expressive. Something most actors are."

"I'll take those as compliments." She sniffed and tossed back her glossy black hair. Dear gods, he was not getting jealous of this girl's hair. No. His hair was still far more superior. "I'm not though, I'm majoring in history."

"Hm." He snorted, but felt something click as she finished saying this. He held the book he was about to give back to her suspended in the air as he blinked and repeated, "'Majoring?' You're not in high school? You're in college?"

The girl harrumphed and took the liberty of taking the book from his hands with a rough snatch. "Of course I am. How old did you think I was?"

He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Honestly? Sixteen."

A sound of horror echoed from her mouth as she clamped her palm over it. "No. Do I really look that young? I'm eighteen! Nineteen in a few months…"

Almost nineteen? He examined her again, this time taking in the curves that shaped her tiny body and the lack of any form of baby fat across her fair skin. After careful deliberation, Sesshoumaru was willing to believe that she was indeed the age she claimed to be. Perhaps it was merely the way she carried herself in the way that was so full of energy, vitality and charm that she seemed so young.

"Are you checking me out?" She asked with that cat-like grin and held her book to her chest. "Dirty old man."

He rolled his eyes and suddenly remembered why he didn't date younger women. "I am not 'checking you out.'"

"Sure." Her grin widened to a size that Sesshoumaru didn't think was possible. "But that's okay. I suppose I can forgive you after all those comments my friends made while ogling you."

"Ah, yes." He leaned across the counter until his face came mere inches from her own and asked in a low rumble, "And wasn't it you who said I had…what was it? Girl's hair?"

The girl blushed a bright red but made no move to step back. "Oh…right." She scratched her cheek sheepishly before tugging anxiously on a lock of her own dark hair. "I…I didn't mean it. You have really pretty hair." She scrutinized him carefully before saying, "You're all in all a very pretty person."

A scowl crossed his face and she laughed. "In a very manly way, I promise. What did Eri call it? Right, very 'medieval princely.'"

Sesshoumaru smirked and handed her another receipt that had been printed off after scanning her book and her card. "Do have a good day, Ms. Higurashi."

She crinkled her nose and accepted the card before tossing the piece of paper into the recycle been where her pervious one had landed. "You really do sound like a dirty old man when you say, 'Ms. Higurashi.'"

He raised his eyebrow and frowned. "Would you prefer, 'Kagome', then?"

A grin lit up her face, this time not at all cat-like as she said, "Yeah. That would be nice."

"Well, Kagome, have a good day and come back soon." He backed away from the counter with graceful ease and lowered himself into his twirling office chair before picking up his book he had placed down before.

"Oh, I shall, Sesshoumaru." She laughed and waved before exiting through the library's glass doors where she was attacked by her friends who were squealing out questions and gushing out assumptions.

He watched her try to pacify her friends' giddy responses with a frazzled expression and held out her book as if to defend herself. She glanced back quickly to Sesshoumaru and gave a small smile before turning back to her friends and sprinting off down the street, leaving behind two very baffled and indignant looking girls.

He quickly looked down at his book as the girls began to turn their attention towards him and gave a hidden smile.

Yes, being a librarian did have its perks.

---

Turned out much more different than I meant it to be. -Shrugs- Oh, well. I like it this way anyways.

(By the way, Christopher Moore is a hilarious author who writes hilarious books. I do so adore them)

Ciao,

MissLe