The Claw Machine by Ikaru

The Claw Machine

Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha, and I don’t make any money from this….

###############################

He knew it was wrong; it was a child’s game for Kami sake, and he was a grown man! He just couldn’t help himself; he would spend hours in front of the machines winning all the little prizes he could from them. He had it down to an art, he had lost count of the times he had won, but the amount of times he had lost once he has mastered his technique he could count on one hand. The amount of coins he had inserted into these blasted machines, if they had been added up, would be worth thousands of dollars. And what is the name of his addiction you may ask? It is the dreaded claw machine. All the prizes seemed to call to him the moment he would pass one, and regardless of what he was would doing, he would stop and clean the machine out, much to the store owner’s dismay. And what did he do with all the prizes you may ask, why he kept them of course!

His mansion was filled with his winnings, and his own personal claw machines were set up in just about every room, and they were refilled almost daily with the winnings he would bring home, then he would go and win them again. The only rooms that didn’t have one of his precious claw machines were the bathrooms, his main study, and the bedrooms where he, his mate, and his guests slept. He had tried unsuccessfully to put one in his bedroom and his study, but his mate had put her foot down and raised hell until he had finally given up on the idea, he supposed she did have a point, he had to have a place where he could sleep and work without the distraction of his addiction staring straight at him. Today he had once again returned home with another huge bag filled with stuffed animals and other such little collectibles that you can win from the claw machines, and his mate was waiting for him looking upset once again.

“Oh Sesshoumaru, not again, where are we supposed to put all of this! Honey I think you need help, this can’t be healthy for you mental state.” Kagome said her upset changing to worry. He would play from the time he got home, most days, till well past midnight, when he would finally come to bed. It was one of the reasons they hadn’t had any children yet. He would be so tired most nights that he would simply grab her, and hold her close before falling asleep. This was going to have to end soon for both of their sakes.

“Nonsense, I am perfectly fine koi. These trinkets merely appeared to have some value, so I acquired them for safe keeping until I see fit to dispose of them for a profit.” Sesshoumaru said without losing any of his composure.

“Gyaaa!!! Fine! It’s pointless arguing with you; I don’t know why I even bother!” Kagome yelled stomping off. They were arguing more and more recently about it, and it was straining their relationship the longer it went on…it was time for action, and Kagome suddenly came up with a plan that was just crazy enough to work and possibly show her irrational mate just how addicted he was to that stupid game.

The next day while her mate was at work, Kagome ran around the mansion making adjustments to all the claw machines they owned. She was adjusting the claws just enough to prevent them from actually being able to pick up the prizes. She had noticed something about her mate when it came to his addiction to this game, while he was an expert on playing it; he was completely helpless when it came to understanding the mechanics of it, and heaven help them should one of the machines malfunction. She felt sorry for the poor repair man her mate had on speed dial and all the midnight malfunctions he had had to come rushing over to fix. However, this was something she had been studying up on, and she planned to use her knowledge to teach her mate a valuable lesson. She had finished with plenty of time to spare; now all she had to do was wait on her mate to get home.

He arrived home at his usual time and with his usual huge bag of prizes. Today instead of arguing with him she simply glared at him and walked away. Not seeing anything unusual, he went and ate the meal she had prepared for him like she always did, he did love her home cooked meals, but because of his addiction he was never there in time to eat them with her. When he was done he left the plate for the servants to clean up then went to the den to feed his addiction once again.

He fed the first coins into the slot, getting a little thrill as the machine came to life and the claw moved to its starting position, this particular machine was filled with stuffed animals. He chose an adorable pink teddy bear as his first target. He lined up the claw to perfection, then hit the button to drop the claw and watched smugly as the claw captured the bear and began to lift it from its resting place among the masses of other stuffed creatures. Then the unthinkable happened, just before it reached the slot that would deliver the bear to him, the bear slipped from the claws grasp! He stared in shock as the claw opened up over the slot before closing and returning to its starting position. Thinking it was just a fluke, he tried again this time going after a cute baby blue penguin, but the result was the same, just before it reached the slot it fell from the claws grasp. Staring at the machine in disbelief, he tried another dozen times with the same result every time. Thinking it was just the machine, he rushed to another machine, then another and another, but the results were the same no matter which machine he went to, even the machines he had kept a secret from his mate had betrayed him, keeping their prizes from him, toying with him.

“This is insane, my luck can’t have run out, I must test this somewhere else.” He thought as he rushed from the house, but no matter which machine he went to in the town the result was the same. The sun was just breaking over the horizon when he finally returned home. He looked horrible, he had a five-o-clock shadow, and his hair and cloths were a mess.

“Sesshoumaru where have you been I’ve been worried sick!”Kagome exclaimed as she rushed down the front stairs in a bathrobe, and ran into his arms.

Sesshoumaru held up his hand to silence her as he pulled out his cell phone, flipped it open and quickly punched in a number.

“This is Sesshoumaru, I will not be in to work the remainder of this week, e-mail anything urgent to my home office.” He ordered as he quickly flipped the phone shut once again, then sagged a little into his mates embrace. “I believe you were right koi, I have a problem, and I am certain beyond a reasonable doubt that I am hopelessly addicted to the claw game.” He said resting his cheek on the top of her head and he held her close.

“Oh my darling, admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery.” Kagome said hugging him tightly. She had been watching him as he rushed from one machine to another the night before, trying desperately to win at one of them. She almost felt bad for rigging them, almost but not quite. She had been worried when he said he had to try it somewhere else then had rushed out of the house. Apparently the Kami were on her side though, as his luck turned sour at all of the other machines he tried. She suddenly pulled out of his embrace and walked into the kitchen. When she walked back out she was holding several pamphlets. “I was hoping you would someday come to realize you had a problem, so I have been preparing for this day for a long time.” She said handing him the pamphlets.

He looked at the pamphlets; all of them were from the same group, ‘Claw Machine Addicts Anonymous.’ He looked up at his mate with a horrified expression. She just smiled sweetly.

“The CMAA is a wonderful organization; they even have a support group for the spouses of the addicts! Oh Sesshoumaru there are so many wonderful people there, and they have all been waiting patiently for you to come around. Now their group meetings are on Tuesday and Thursday’s, and your one-on-one meetings are on Friday evenings. I’ll have to call them today and let them know you have finally admitted your problem, and then set up some buyers for all of these machines and prizes. Oh so much to do and so little time to do it in!”Kagome exclaimed happily as she rushed off to start making calls.

Sesshoumaru stood there wondering just what the hell he had gotten himself into.

Several days later he was being restrained by four burly demons as the last of his precious claw machines was being removed from his mansion. All of the prizes he had collected over time were either given to orphanages or charity organizations, and what couldn’t be given away was sold by Kagome for a small profit.

Sesshoumaru was furious, he was lashing out at everyone, but when he tried to lash out at Kagome she lashed back.

“Enough Sesshoumaru, this is part of the process you knew that when you agreed to go through the program, now it’s time for you to leave for your group you had better get going or you’ll be late.” Kagome said firmly. Her voice left no room for argument, so he headed off his head hung low as he headed out the door to go and participate in the horrible group therapy…the one-on-one he could handle but the group therapy contradicted his antisocial personality. Unknown to his mate though, while he showed up religiously to his meetings like he was supposed to, he had yet to participate.  He had almost made it to his car when he heard his mate calling him.

“Wait Sesshoumaru, I think I’ll come with you today, you know for moral support.”Kagome said with a smile. He simply nodded and opened the passenger door for her. When they were both buckled in, he drove off toward where the meeting was being held.

Kagome walked in with a big smile on her face, hugging her mates arm. They entered the meeting area and the whole group went silent. He ushered Kagome to where he usually sat in the back. Kagome looked at him with confusion written clearly in her features.

“I have not been able to admit my addiction to them yet, and I may have lashed out a time or two when they tried to coax it out of me.” Sesshoumaru said looking away from his mates gaze. She grabbed him under his chin and made him look at her. He saw kindness and understanding written there.

“Love, I know this is hard for you, but I have faith in you and I know you’ll do whatever you must to beat this. I am so proud of you for getting this far.” She smiled at him, and then gave him a kiss on the forehead, right in the middle of his crescent moon. Just then the group was called to order and everyone took their seats. One by one others stood and revealed their problems, and  the whole time Kagome was holding Sesshoumaru’s hand comfortingly. He decided now was the time, if he couldn’t do it now with the love of his life sitting beside him, lending him her strength, he never would be able to. So as soon as the last member finished for the day and they asked if there was anyone else who would like to share with the group, he gripped her hand slightly tighter and stood up. A few loud gasps erupted from the group before he steeled his resolve and began to speak.

“My name is Sesshoumaru Taishio, and I have an extremely strong addiction to the claw machine. It was controlling every facet of my life, and I believe I was on the edge of losing the most important person in my life to this addiction. If I lost her I do not believe I would have a reason to go on living, so I am fighting my hardest to resist the urge to go back and play the claw machines in town so that I do not run the risk of losing her.” Sesshoumaru’s voice echoed throughout the room, and the leader of the group smiled kindly at him.

“Well it seems Mr. Taishio, you realized the right priorities to focus on in your life. You are blessed to have a loving wife to support you through this difficult time, others aren’t quite as fortunate, I assume that is her beside you, let’s give Mrs. Taishio a hand she deserves it.” The leader said. Kagome blushed slightly as she received a loud applause from the group. After the meeting Kagome was approached by several members who shook her hand and told her how lucky her mate was to have such a strong woman supporting him, and she reciprocated their kindness with her own kind smiles and words of encouragement. The ride home was a quiet one, Kagome simply held his hand, and smiled warmly at him.

Over the next several months Sesshoumaru was finally able to beat his addiction to the claw machine, and with so much time freed up he realized he could use it for other far more pleasurable tasks, like pupping his mate finally.

When Kagome was close to giving birth to their first pup, she just couldn’t keep her secret any longer. The guilt was eating away at her, and she couldn’t stand it, so she went into the study where her mate had been doing most of his work since she had entered the last stage of pregnancy.

“ummm…Sesshoumaru I need to talk to you about something.” She started, waiting for him to look up at her and nod his head for her to continue. She swallowed hard, and then continued. “Koi I have a confession, do you remember that night when you couldn’t win at any of your claw machines in the house?” When he nodded she continued, but more slowly this time. “Well I, umm, kind of rigged them to keep you from winning; the ones in town were just bad luck on your part though I swear!” She shut her eyes as she finished, waiting for him to blow up at her, but it never came. Instead she heard him get up and walk around the desk and then he hugged her to him tightly.

“It doesn’t really matter anymore my love, you had my best interests at heart and it was a very effective dose of reality. While I am happy with your honesty, I truly believe if you hadn’t done what you had we most likely wouldn’t be standing here today with our relationship mended and with a pup on the way, besides I have found something that gives me far more pleasure than that silly childes game ever gave me.” He said in a low husky voice.

“Oh really and what prey tell is that?”Kagome asked, teasingly pulling back from his embrace slightly to look him in the eye.

“Why don’t you allow me to carry you upstairs and I’ll be more than happy to show you exactly what I mean.” He said with a sly, sexy smirk creeping onto his face. She nodded eagerly, and was quickly scooped up into his strong embrace and he spent the rest of the afternoon and well into the night showing her exactly what he meant.

####################################

Hope you all enjoyed this, please leave a review to let me know what you all thought!!