AfterShock

Sephiroth jumped, pulled from sinful dreams of a certain demon lord by the shrill scream of his phone. Looking at the display, Sephiroth let out a groan. He couldn't believe it was already early afternoon. When was the last time his sleep had not be disturbed by nightmares in the early morning hours?

Pressing the button on the screen, Sephiroth answered the call, not wanting the person on the other end to feel ignored.

"Good afternoon brother, did we wake you?" Came an overly cheery voice.

"Not really. How are you doing Kadaj?" Sephiroth asked as he threw off the blankets and sat up. Once a week his brothers would call him just to let him know they were aright and enjoying life.

"I'm fine, Loz and Yazoo are doing good too." In the background Sephiroth heard a loud noise followed by hushed voices too soft for his ears to pick up. "Alright, so Loz cut himself earlier when he was making us dinner and he may have made a bit of a girlie noise. So Yazoo has been picking on him about crying." The phone was muffled as Kadaj told them to knock it off.

Sephiroth chuckled when Kadaj let out a deep sigh. His brothers had always fought amongst themselves growing up and Sephiroth was always the one breaking it up. The responsibility annoyed him growing up, but now he missed the drama, the noise filling the house. Leaning forward he rested his elbows on his knees and hung his head while listening to the boys tell him about what they had been doing over the last week.

"Brother?" Yazoo asked quietly, almost fearfully. "Are you going to come visit us sometime soon?"

That was the one question he had hoped the boys would not ask. Grinding his teeth together he fought against the tightness in his chest. "I put in a request to get some time off, but I have not heard back yet." "Okay." Yazoo's defeated voice said in response.

"Ya right." Kadaj nearly snarled, "I'm sure you're having fun yourself. Don't worry about visiting, we are completely fine without your parental presence messing up our life."

"Kadaj! That is not fair." Loz hissed.

"Fine. I'm sorry for being rude. It's just we haven't seen you for so long. We are beginning to think you don't want to see us and would like to forget we even exist." Kadaj said in a petulant voice.

"I'm sorry brother." Sephiroth whispered. How could he explain to them that he had asked many times, had even begged, something he never did before that bastard Itachi entered and destroyed his life. No there was no way Itachi would allow him the time to see his brothers, that was very clear.

"It's okay." Yazoo's quiet voice drifted over the phone.

"I'll ask again, I promise." Sephiroth said with a small smile.

"Well we have to get going. We'll call again." Kadaj said.

"Alright Kadaj," Sephiroth said, "I miss you guys."

"Ya, we miss you too. Bye bro." Kadaj said then ended the call.

Looking at the black screen of his phone, Sephiroth fought to bury his sorrow over hurting his brothers with his lack of presence. Normally he wouldn't feel so horrible about his absence but the events with Sesshomaru tore open his old wounds leaving them raw and bleeding. Standing up, Sephiroth turned to his bathroom to shower and get ready for another long uneventful day. However when his phone rang, Sephiroth knew that was about to change.

"Good afternoon Sephiroth, I hope you slept well." Itachi said with a sadistic purr.

"What do you want?" Sephiroth bit out not wanting to deal with this man so soon after talking to his brothers.

"Oh how rude." Itachi said with mock insult. When Sephiroth didn't say anything the bastard laughed. "How is the situation going with the dog demon?"

"It will take time, but he has yet to say no." Sephiroth answered.

"Good." Itachi said, his voice sharp and crisp, "I have another job for you."

"Another one." Sephiroth answered not expecting Itachi to give him something so soon.

"Oh poor Sephiroth, you didn't think to neglect your duties while you played with the dog." Itachi said as he laughed.

"Who?" Sephiroth growled wanting to crush his phone.

"Vincent Price has taken a large amount of money from Zaraki. We want what he has left back and we want his signature on a flesh deed by this evening. Good luck." The line went dead as the notification tone went off telling him Itachi sent a file about his target. Storming off to his bathroom, Sephiroth hoped a shower would help his dark mood.

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Sesshomaru winced again as the cleaning service manager shrieked at him through the phone. "I understand ma'am, I will have a talk with the employees to make sure the problem does not happen again."

With a final threat to refuse service to the Aftershock, the woman ended the phone call. Dropping his cell on the table, Sesshomaru felt a boiling rage growing in his gut. Rolling the names of the employees of the Aftershock through his mind he narrowed the list of culprits down to a handful, but he knew they would deny causing the messes the woman had screamed at him about. Seriously did she have any idea who she was shrieking at? He was a fucking demon, damn stupid woman. Grabbing his phone, Sesshomaru called the only person he was sure would tell him the truth.

"Hello." Came a laughing female voice.

"Sakura." Sesshomaru said in greeting.

The laughter died in Sakura's voice as she realized who had called her, "Is something wrong?"

"I need you to answer me honestly." He said sternly. Taking a deep breath he said, "Who had relations in the employee break room last night?"

The line was quiet for a long time, "Sakura." Sesshomaru growled to get a response from the pink haired waitress.

"Well, Lord Sesshomaru. If by relations you mean having sex, that would be Mugen and Jin." She answered as male laughter broke out in the background. Sesshomaru's brows rose as he realized there were two separate tones in the laughter reaching his ears. He knew Sakura was living with their alcohol vender but he had never heard of another man. Did he even know the employees of the Aftershock at all. Even hearing Mugen and Jin were having sex floored him. "Sesshomaru, please be lenient with them. I know it is not allowed to have se.... relations at work, but it is the only way Mugen can let out his pent up ....um.... needs after a fight. Have you ever worked with him when he is frustrated, it's a freaking nightmare."

"Sakura there are rules for a reason." Sesshomaru said, interrupting Sakura's rant.

"I know, but he is your best bouncer. All I ask is you not fire him." Sakura requested drawing a sigh from him.

"Very well. I will not fire them for this." Sesshomaru conceded.

"Besides it's not like their the only ones having relations in the club." She said with a chuckle and hung up as he was about to demand she give him a list of names. Putting down his phone he decided to resign himself to the fact he did not know these people at all. A small smile crossed his face as he realize he too was guilty of breaking the rules now as well. It's a good thing Sakura didn't know or the cleaning lady would be cleaning up a wholly different type of bodily fluid and all of it his.

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Sephiroth stood before his bathroom mirror tying his hair back to keep it out of the way. His eyes drifted over his black cable-knit shirt and his loose fitted black slacks. The one color he knew wouldn't show the blood he was sure to be covered in later today if he could find this Vincent Price. Finishing with his hair, Sephiroth remembered back to a time when he didn't have to deal with the long mass of pale hair. His mother had never let him wear his hair long but the day she died was the last time he had cut it. It was a pain in the ass with his current occupation because getting blood on the pale strands always stained it. So he tied it back whenever he had a job in order to keep blood splatter from marring the light strands. Looking at his blue-green eyes in the mirror he remembered the last time he had to wash blood from his hair, his own blood.

That day Zaraki had been brutal to him in bed. At the time Sephiroth had not understood because Zaraki had finally said he loved him, but the next six hours after the confession had been a nightmare. When Zaraki had finished with him, the man had broken their union and walked away, leaving Sephiroth broken in body and mind. Pushing the horrible memory from his mind, Sephiroth turned from the mirror and left the bathroom. Grabbing his black blazer jacket, Sephiroth left his apartment to complete his assigned task.

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Sesshomaru stood by the door of the Aftershock waiting as patiently as he could for the bushy haired bouncer to walk through the door. It was now two minutes to the start of his shift and the man had yet to arrive. Everyone else was in the club getting ready for the crowd waiting outside the front doors. The door burst open with enough force that Sesshomaru had to put his hand out to catch it before it connected with him. Grinding his teeth he watched Mugen saunter into the club as he reached up and clasped his hands behind his head. "What's up, ya bitches ain’t done gettin this place ready?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him as the door slowly closed. Mugen turned to look over his shoulder and had the decency to look startled at Sesshomaru standing there. "Oh man, didn't see ya there." Was all the dark haired man said.

"Mugen, to my office now." Sesshomaru barked as he walked by chanting 'go lenient' in his head the whole way. Entering his office, Sesshomaru walked to his desk as Mugen closed the door.

"Dude, who pissed in your kibble." Mugen said as he turned around, the next moment found him pinned to the door of the office by a very pissed off demon. He had grown up around Inutaicho and knew when not to push the mans buttons; it seemed though, he did not know what buttons would send the eldest son over the edge. Sesshomaru's eyes were a bright, familiar burning red as he slid Mugen higher up the wall by his neck. The long fingers tightened around his throat as Sesshomaru's nails dug in. Mugen felt the heavenly feeling of adrenalin flowing through his veins, if it wasn't for the direct order from Inutaicho to never fight with his sons, Mugen would strike out at the demon dangling him above the floor. Wrapping his hands around Sesshomaru's wrist, Mugen fought his violent nature back. Just as black spots began dotting his vision Sesshomaru let go and walked away.

Hitting the floor hard, Mugen gasped for breath as he rubbed his sore throat. Looking up at Sesshomaru he stood up and leaned against the door. The demon stood across the room with his back to him, which pissed Mugen off. How dare Sesshomaru stand there like he wasn't a threat. Just because he was human didn't make him any less powerful. Then the demon turned around, his red eyes now amber as he looked at Mugen then gave him a little bow. "I apologize for my brutish behavior, and I would appreciate it if you would refrain from the stereotypical statements about my demon self."

"Right. No more dog references." Mugen said feeling his anger subside after the apology. "So you needed to speak with me about something."

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Sesshomaru said as he sat in his chair. "The cleaning service manager called me this morning with a complaint, and after a bit of investigating I found that you were the reason behind the rude call."

"Ya, and what did I do to get her dand..... Piss her off." Mugen said correcting his near slip up with the dander word. He really didn't want to be pinned to the wall again.

"It has come to my attention that you and another member of the staff were in the break room last night breaking one of the company rules." Sesshomaru said while staring him down. For the first time in his life Mugen felt a little heat on his cheeks from the blush creeping onto his face. "I would appreciate it if you and Jin would keep those sessions somewhere else and clean up after yourselves from here on out."

"What, your not going to fire us?" Mugen asked completely surprised by Sesshomaru's leniency.

"No. It seems you are not the only ones breaking the rules, but you were the only ones to get caught." Sesshomaru said.

"Got it, more discrete." Mugen said. "That be all?"

When Sesshomaru nodded, he turned and opened the door to Sakura, Ino, and Carmen standing in a way that told him they had their ears to the door. With a smirk he pushed past them, "You girls should know the doors soundproof."

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Sephiroth walked into his apartment and dropped his keys on the side table. The day had been a rather uneventful one. He had found Vincent Price, retrieved nearly half the money the man had stolen, and coerced the man to sign away his life. The whole thing took barely four hours, well three and a half of that was finding the man. The man, upon seeing the great Sephiroth, had wet his pants and ,while on his knees, begged for mercy. The last thirty minutes they spent rounding up the money and taking Mr. Price to Itachi's to begin his knew life as a whore in a brothel. Sephiroth felt a little bad for the man but then again he never should have crossed the people who had the power to destroy your life.

Walking into his room, Sephiroth took off his jacket and threw it on the bed. Now that he was home, he felt a bit restless. When he had left today, he expected to have a fight, but the weak pussy he had encountered did not live up to his expectations. What should he do now? Looking around his room his eyes landed on the alarm clock on the side table as it proudly proclaimed the time as 9:32. Smiling, Sephiroth walked to his closet, he knew exactly where he was going to go. Maybe a confrontation with a demon lord would release his restlessness.

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Sakura saw Sephiroth enter the bar and look around a moment. Sitting her tray down she stormed towards him. Just as he was about to go towards the bar, she grabbed his arm at the elbow and continued on towards the backrooms of the club. She didn't bother looking back at him as she shoved the swinging door open, startling Ino.

"Billboard bitch." Ino hissed as they came through the door.

"Ino pig." Sakura flung back on her way by.

Sephiroth did not know what he did to piss Sakura off but pissed she was. He didn't say a word as she dragged him to a room adjacent to the small kitchen and storage. Turning she barked, "Sit." as she pointed to a chair by a table. Doing as she requested he watched her turn away and open the fridge.

"What is it Sakura?" He asked almost hesitantly. Even he knew of her legendary temper and preferred not to push her further up the pissed off ladder.

He heard her sigh deeply as she put something into the microwave, "I'm sorry if I seem angry. It's just the other day when you came here you looked so much more thin than I remember. Then when I went to check on you after Sesshomaru left, Inuyasha said you had passed out because you were ill." She said with her back to him, not seeing the blush forming on his cheeks.

When microwave beeped Sakura opened it and pulled out a container, "I've worried about you this whole time. Not knowing if you were okay or not. You may not feel it but I always thought of you as family and when you quit coming around it hurt me. I understand why, but it still hurt." She said turning to him with tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry Sakura." He said about to get up and hug her but she waved at him, then sat the container on the table by him. He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. Sakura was never a good cook and he had always delighted in telling her so.

"Don't worry. I didn't make it. I remembered you never fed yourself well, so I asked Sasuke and Gin to make you something."

Looking down at the delicious smelling stirfry he looked up at Sakura while picking up a fork. "Sasuke? Gin?"

She smiled as she sat down. "Yes, Sasuke Uchiha and Gin Ichimaru." She said with a little laugh as her cheeks turned rosy. "Well, I met Sasuke shortly after coming to work here, he is one of the alcohol venders. He was a bit on the brash side, but I decided he was going to fall in love with me."

"Really? And that worked?" Sephiroth asked.

"Have I ever been wrong before?" Sakura said. Sephiroth chuckled and shook his head. "We have been living together for about six months."

"and Gin?"

"He is a recent addition. Sasuke literally picked him up off the streets." She said laughing. "I really think it will work out with the three of us."

"Those type of relationships are not easy. But I hope you're right. " Sephiroth said taking a bit of the stirfry, "This is really good."

"I'm glad. Gin said he would try to teach me to cook since Sasuke doesn't have the patience." They both laughed.

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Sasuke leaned against the wall in the hallway. When Sakura asked him to help her make a man named Sephiroth some food, Sasuke felt he needed to check it out. Now, seeing the man, he knew he was a member of Zaraki's organization, the very people his brother was a part of. As the conversation kept going on thing was clear. Itachi did not go by their shared surname anymore.

Pushing away form the wall, Sasuke walked down the hall away from Sakura and Sephiroth. Sasuke thought back to better times, to a time when his brother was different. When they were growing up Itachi was a fun and loving brother, someone he looked up to. That all changed the day Sasuke found Itachi standing over his parents as they bled out on the floor of their home. Ever since meeting Sakura he had forgotten his need for vengeance, but now he wondered if he should leave his brother alone. Should he seek out and destroy the man who was now trying to take over the place Sakura had found peace? What should he do? Nearing the entrance to the club Sasuke saw Inuyasha greeting a friend. Stopping he let out a breath. If any harm were to come to this club, the demons would destroy his brother.

"Find what you were after?" Sasuke jumped a bit and turned to see Gin standing behind him.

"You could say that." Sasuke said as he continued on his way to the bar room, Gin keeping pace at his side with that knowing smile on his face. Yes, if Itachi made a move on this club Sesshomaru would tear Itachi apart and Sasuke would help him.