Rain poured down over the small cottage keeping the occupants very bored and miserable. The torrents took patches of the hay roof off and let some rain into the house. The occupants caught the rain in pans and pots and threw it out the door. The young mother tossed the 15th pail of water out the door, in the last hour. The two children inside the house whimpered as the cold gusted through the open door way.
She closed the door and turned to face the children. Shippo laid next to his sister Rin on the small cot. The children shivered and where huddled under the only other quilt they had. The other one was on the mother's bed. Quickly the woman crossed the small room and put the other cover over the children then turned back to the stove to continue cooking the last of the meat they had. She had four potatoes but there were only three of them. She sighed and stuck all three of them in the hot spot to slowly cook.
Just then there was a loud banging on the door. The children cried out in fright and the young woman turned to them.
"Don't worry, it's probably just the storm." She said in a soothing voice. She still went to the door and opened it. The children peeked from under the quilts at who it could be or what it could be. But when the door was opened, the woman came face to face with a very muddy and tall stranger. The stranger blinked at her with bright amber eyes. She could tell right away that his hair was white though. It hung loose down his back and past his waist.
"Oh dear! Come in! It's so cold out there!" she immediately pulled him in, next to the stove. Both the children sat up under the covers and stared at him.
"What is your name, sir?" the woman questioned.
"Sesshomaru…." He answered in a quiet voice. He glanced down at his appearance. "I apologize for my appearance and for tracking your home with filth. I went on a stroll and did not see the storm coming."
"It's alright, Sesshomaru-sama! Don't worry about tracking dirt!" the woman laughed as she motioned to the dirt floor.
"What is your name?" he asked carefully in a very controlled voice. She didn't seem fazed though by his manner.
"Oh im Kagome! These are my children, Shippo and Rin. Children, do not be impolite. Great our guest, please." She said to the children.
"Kenitchiwa, Sesshomaru-sama." The children said. Now that the fire was going it was growing warmer in the hut and the children's shivering was almost gone. Shippo crawled away from his sister and crossed the room to kagome. The boy clutched his mother's apron in his small hands.
The woman turned from the guest and got started on the supper again.
"Im sorry, Sesshomaru-sama but supper will be very meager. I hope it's alright with you but that's all I can provide…" the woman said over her shoulder. He nodded mutely.
"This se-…I am sorry to have imposed on you." Sesshomaru apologized.
"You aren't imposing sir, you got caught in a bad storm and thus you will need food. Don't feel guilty." Kagome flipped the meat patties she had made and then took the baked potatoes and set them on plates. She laid some seasoning on the potatoes and put the meat over the potatoes. She set the plates on the table.
"Rin, please set the table. Sesshomaru, forgive me quickly but I must go to the well and get some water. I will be only a minute. Shippo stay by the door and get ready to open it for me when I get back okay?" she asked. She grabbed up a clean water jar and headed for the door after wrapping a shawl over her head and shoulders to keep the chill away from her ears and neck. Shippo ran and opened the door for her and she was gone before Sesshomaru could volunteer for the job.
The girl set about the task her mother had set for her and then when finished stood back and kept staring at the strange man.
"Why is your hair white?" she suddenly asked. Sesshomaru just blinked before the boy quickly cut in.
"Rin! You shouldn't ask questions." The boy scolded.
"No, it's alright. This sesshomaru's hair has always been white." He slipped.
"Rin likes your hair! Rin wants hair just like yours!" the girl smiled. Sesshomaru faltered.
"Child, are you mocking this Sesshomaru?" he asked indignantly. The girl tilted her head in confusion.
"No, Sesshomaru-sama. She always talks like that. Ever since mama kagome took her in she always talked like that."
"So you children are not lady Kagome own children? What about you boy?" Sesshomaru asked confused. Rin looked very much like kagome but Shippo could just take after her husband.
"No, mama kagome doesn't have a husband to have any children by. She adopted both of us after our parents where each killed. She used to be a traveling miko but there is another miko that hates her. Anywhere Kagome goes the other miko, kikyo drives her out by spreading rumors. So kagome had to give up being a miko." The boy explained.
"This Sesshomaru understands now. " Sesshomaru nodded his head slightly.
"Why did you try to hide the way you talked?" Shippo asked.
"Personal reasons. This Sesshomaru hears your adoptive mother coming." Sesshomaru wondered if the boy would just let that answer be.
Shippo opened the door quickly and kagome hurried in. she set the pail full of water on a stole nearby as Shippo closed that door. She dipped four mugs into the pail and set them on the table.
"Alrightie! Supper is served." Kagome smiled. The children took their seats and kagome motioned for him to sit in the other chair.
"Where will you sit then madam?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Oh on the cot, don't worry about it. Go ahead and eat!" she laughed and took her plate to the cot. The children dug into the small potatoes covered in meat. Sesshomaru took a small bite of the food and watched the others eat. He felt sort of guilty for taking their precious food. But he told himself he could easily repay them for the hospitality.
"So the boy, Shippo, told me you were a miko." Sesshomaru calmly tried to create a conversation.
"Still am. Sort of anyways. Miko is a type of people." She shrugged.