He'd just set his bag down beside his chosen seat in the lecture theatre when a voice – a female voice – called his name. The voice was soft and sweet, but it made him wince (mentally, he wasn't going to be so rude as to display his dislike for all the females who were always approaching him) all the same.
"Excuse me, Minamino-san?" the voice asked politely.
He looked up and blinked in surprise. "Higurashi-san," he greeted with a slight, unerringly polite smile.
The girl was, without question, beautiful. Males around the campus whispered about her as much as the females whispered about him, and for exactly the same reason. For reasons unknown to even the rumour-mill, however, Higurashi Kagome never went on a single date – not with anyone. There had been a moment of speculation that she might prefer women when she had turned down five guys in one week for no given reason, but when another girl had approached her Higurashi had turned her away as politely as she had the boys – but with a statement that she didn't like women that way.
"There is an important matter that I need to discuss with you as soon as possible," Higurashi stated, though her tone was still polite. "Would you do me the honour of not vanishing like a spirit when class is concluded?" she asked, a secret little smile on her face.
He couldn't help but blink in surprise again. This really was out of the ordinary. This was not the sort of stammering request for a date that he'd faced so many times before. Indeed, it was entirely possible that she wasn't angling for a date at all, which would be truly refreshing. Still, he would like clarification on that point.
"Not to ask me for a date I hope?" he enquired softly.
A sparkle in Higurashi's eyes danced in a display of amusement. "Of course not, Minamino-san," she answered, then shifted her eyes to fix on the tree just outside the window – right beside his chosen seat – and lowered her voice slightly. "I wouldn't want to offend your shadow. In fact," she said, turning her gaze back to him. "It is a matter best discussed with both of you present, though of course I understand your shadow's reluctance to interact with a mere human."
He felt his eyes go involuntarily wide, just a little, and knew then that whatever she wanted to discuss, he could not refuse her. She knew about Hiei. She knew that Hiei wasn't human. She could very well know that he wasn't human either. She had hinted at just that only a moment ago...
Higurashi smiled and nodded when she saw that he understood what she was so obliquely referring to. "I look forward to our discussion," she said with a slight bow. "I will wait for you by the door," and with that, she smiled once more before she turned and went to find her own seat closer to the middle of the room.
He was tense throughout the lecture. Still attentive to all that was said, but tense with nervous anticipation, and he glanced at the time more often than he usually did. When the lecture finally was over, he watched Higurashi pack away her note pad and her pen, and slowly move towards the door – glancing up at him every now and then, as though to make sure he didn't disappear – where, just as she said, she was waiting for him.
As nervous as he was, Minamino Shuichi was also unerringly polite, and it was not polite to keep a lady waiting. Even one he was wary of meeting with.
She smiled when he reached her, but didn't say anything as she turned to lead the way to wherever she wanted to be to discuss this important matter with him. This turned out to be the tree that Hiei had been sitting in before, being his shadow just as Higurashi-san said. Hiei was still hidden by the foliage of the tree as Kagome removed a few sticks with papers attached and planted them firmly in the ground, about three feet out from the trunk of the tree.
"Come along, Minamino-kun," Higurashi said, gesturing for him to cross her little ward line. "I have no wish to be overheard or spied upon by any of our classmates for the length of this discussion."
He hesitated a moment, but he did step within the circle, and watched as Higurashi then joined each stick to the next with a piece of string, then she knelt, brought her hands together, and spread out her energy. "This will hide us," she said firmly. "No one will see us, no one will hear us. Only those within this circle are aware that even the tree is here for now."
"That is quite the security measure," he said, now very wary. Such knowledge of wards, and furthermore, such ability to actually create and use them, was far from common. Particularly in this modern age where nearly all normal humans had forgotten that demons were more than just legends. "What could you possibly have to discuss with me that requires it?"
Higurashi smiled and – as she could not release her hands from their position without the barrier falling – nodded towards a spot on the grass, silently asking for him to sit. Only when he had done so, did she answer. "In two years time I am going to be called upon to bear a child. In and of itself, this is no great hardship to me. I freely agreed to do so a long time ago," she explained, and there was some sort of private joke there, for her mouth turned upwards in some sort of ironic humour.
"I do not understand how this pertains to me," he said. "Unless you ask that I father the child?"
"Not exactly," Higurashi answered. "I am asking you to be the apparent father of my child. In exchange, I will be the person people think you are in a relationship with. Your mother will be happy to see you marry a nice girl, and society will not frown on me for being a single mother."
He frowned. "You seem to be getting more out of this arrangement than me," he said carefully. "If I agree to it, of course."
Higurashi smiled, almost pityingly then. "Minamino-san, you can no more take your boyfriend in the branches home to meet your mother than I can present the father of my child to society – and for much the same reason," she stated with absolute certainty, as she fixed her brown eyes with his green ones and seemed to look into his very soul.
He gasped in shock as her meaning hit him, and he knew that Hiei, who was in the tree above them and watching this meeting very closely, was also struck by her words.
"I have no intention of breaking you up to suit myself," Higurashi said. "This marriage would be an arrangement, one single action to hide a multitude of secrets from the people who must not know because they would not understand."
For a while, he was silent, considering every angle of this proposal. "You said two years. Why approach me now?"
Higurashi raised a single eyebrow. "I thought two years of publicly being a 'couple' would be the least amount of time reasonable before a wedding was to happen. It would also give us plenty of time to actually get to know one another. We haven't spoken prior to this time, Minamino-san, and if you agree, then we will be living together for the foreseeable future. In separate rooms."
He nodded in understanding. It made sense. "What of the father of your child?" he asked delicately. "This plan of yours will not offend him?"
Higurashi shook her head silently. "If you wish to know the full particulars, then I invite you – and your shadow of course – to my home where we may discuss matters more freely, without me having to hold a barrier at the same time."
He looked up into the canopy, seeking Hiei's form among the foliage. The fire demon nodded silently, and when he looked back to Higurashi-san, he repeated the motion.
Higurashi beamed and released her barrier, collecting up the pieces and returning them efficiently to her backpack. "Thank you very much," she said, bowing. "I know that you haven't actually agreed yet, but just that you are willing to consider what I have to say means a great deal to me."
He nodded in acceptance of her thanks, then stood himself and motioned for her to take the lead, since neither of them had any more classes that day.
It was shortly proven that Higurashi lived at a shrine. This at least might explain how she had known such a technique for creating a barrier. When they reached the top of the shrine steps, however, he became aware of several sources of great energy, and suddenly worried that he might be walking into a trap.
"The Goshinboku," Higurashi said, gesturing to one of the sources. "Over there is the Bone Eater's Well," she continued, pointing to a shed where the second source of energy was. Then she smiled as she turned towards her house. "And the demon who I am going to give a child to is visiting us again," she said, a little dreamily.
He snapped around to look at her. She said demon. She really did know. But she was a human, a fragile human female. She should not smile at the thought of a demon in her home.
The front door opened before they reached it, and he didn't doubt Higurashi's words of there being a demon in her house any more. He still wondered at her being happy about it though, even if this demon was beautiful. Honey-gold eyes, white hair down to his knees, pale skin, delicately pointed ears, perfect claws, vivid markings on his face and wrists, an excellent musculature and bone structure... If he weren't so in love with Hiei he might have been tempted himself.
"I'm home, Sesshoumaru-sama," Higurashi said with a smile as she eagerly approached him, stopping to bow low before she straightened and wrapped her arms around his middle.
"Welcome home, Miko," the demon – Sesshoumaru-sama apparently – answered with a slight smile as he stroked her hair once, twice, then stepped out of the human girl's embrace. "You brought visitors."
Higurashi nodded and turned. "Sesshoumaru-sama, this is Minamino Shuichi-san, he is a student at my university. I asked him today for his assistance, as he is also a fox spirit. I cannot introduce you to the shadow hiding in the Goshinboku though, as Minamino-san has not introduced him to me yet."
The tall demon nodded in acceptance of this. "Both of you, come in," he said, and it was an order – a polite order, but still, without question, an order. "And do not mind the miko's grandfather. He both is senile and incorrectly believes that he has spiritual powers," the demon added, turning an re-entering the house.
Higurashi smiled. "Yeah," she admitted, a little sheepishly. "But we give him water-soluble gum for his odufas, so if he does manage to get one on you, just peel it off and whatever doesn't come off immediately will come out in the wash."
Hiei appeared at his side then, and Higurashi just smiled brightly again before heading into her house.
They followed her in silently.
A cry of "Demon be gone!" from the lounge room surprised them both.
"Gramps, it's me, Souta. I'm not a demon," a boy's voice answered tiredly. "However much I wish I was some days. And don't slap one on the TV either."
Higurashi was following the tall demon who had greeted her, and they both followed behind her, past various rooms until they reached a shoji screen. Higurashi stepped forward, knelt, and opened the screen for Sesshoumaru, then stayed there until both of them had passed as well. Inside this room was a low table on tatami mats, a weapon stand holding two swords, a monk's staff, and a bow. Around the low table, there were four red cushions for sitting on.
The demon who had welcomed Higurashi at the door sat silently, and closed his eyes as though waiting. They followed his example and sat as well, on the opposite side of the table, though they did not close their eyes – both too tense and wary to let down their guard so much. Higurashi did not enter immediately, but when she joined them she brought with her a teapot and four cups.
It was no tea ceremony, but she set the cups out and poured silently and elegantly before taking her own seat beside the pale demon.
He opened his eyes and began to speak.
"This one is Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, and current Inu no Taisho. This Sesshoumaru met the Tama no Miko in the time when demons still roamed nippon and when houshi and miko were still powerful adversaries for the weaker of our kind. According to the knowledge of the humans, who have become plentiful since that time, I do not exist," the pale demon said.
"I am Higurashi Kagome, a university student, and the Tama no Miko. I met Sesshoumaru-sama when I travelled to the past through the Bone Eater's Well that is located on the grounds of my family shrine. I fought many demons in that time, and cared for others. This pathway to the past has been closed to me for the past three years," Higurashi said, then gestured for them to speak.
"I am Kurama. I was once the spirit fox Yoko Kurama, but I was injured to the point of near death, and sought refuge in the womb of a human. My human mother named me Minamino Shuichi. She does not know of my true nature."
Hiei scowled, but spoke all the same. "I am Hiei, an imiko, a fire demon born of ice apparitions. I possess the Jagan Eye. As far as most humans know, I don't exist either."
Sesshoumaru nodded in acceptance of these introductions and took a sip of his tea before he continued. "Before the Bone Eater's Well ceased to carry the Miko through time, she had agreed to provide me an heir when she reached a certain age. I asked her because she was then and remains now the most powerful female of my acquaintance. Furthermore, she is the only female I trust to carry my offspring. Demon females would attempt to claim me through such means, and no other human female would produce a strong enough child for my satisfaction. However, I would not see the Miko dishonoured among her kind for being seen without a husband by her side when the time comes for this agreement to be fulfilled," he explained.
"No normal human would accept this," Kagome added. It was left unsaid that the reason she had approached Kurama was because she could tell that he was not a normal human.
Kurama turned slightly to look at Hiei, who did not turn, but caught his eye with a glance before looking ahead once more. Hiei tilted his head forward slightly. Kurama then turned back to face their hosts, and he nodded his acceptance as well.
Higurashi smiled brightly and bowed low where she sat. "Thank you very much."
Beside her, Sesshoumaru inclined his head slightly – very slightly – in gratitude.
~oOo~
"Minamino-kun, be my partner for practical?"
"No, be mine!"
"Work with me, Minamino-kun!"
"Ladies, please!" Kurama said, backing away nervously with his hands up as a sort of barrier between himself and them, only to bump into another body. He turned and found, to his relief, that Kagome was the person he'd bumped into, and that she was smiling at him. "Kagome-san, I apologise."
She laughed. "I didn't fall Shuichi-kun," she answered, then leant slightly to the side to look past him at all the girls who were now whispering to each other about how they were being very familiar, using each other's given name like that. "You should be ashamed of yourselves," she scolded them lightly. "Ganging up on Shuichi-kun like that so he barely even as room to breathe."
The girls all blushed, some with shame, some with fury. Kurama, however, chuckled.
"Would you do me the honour of being my partner for practical today Kagome-hime?" he asked, doing a bit of a bow and offering her hand, a smile on his face as he looked up at her.
Kagome laughed and placed her hand in his. "Of course I will Shuichi-kun," she answered happily.
Kurama's smile grew just a little as he bent over her hand and kissed her knuckles lightly – which made Kagome blush a little.
As much as she was used to being around handsome males, she wasn't used to them displaying this kind of gentle affection. She knew it almost entirely an act for their peer's benefit, but it was still a pleasant change from InuYasha's insults, Miroku's groping, Kouga's kidnapping, Hojo's healthy gifts... it was right up there with Sesshoumaru's quiet appreciation of her person. Except that it was in public affection. Sesshoumaru never went out in public if he could help it, and as much as he appreciated her, even after five hundred years he still didn't totally understand affection. He was getting better though, and she was getting better at reading him as well, which helped.
Kurama didn't release her hand when he straightened, just rearranged the hold he had of it as they walked together to one of the practical stations where they would do that day's assignment.
"Did you see that?"
"...given names..."
"...called her 'hime'..."
"...kissed her hand!"
"...the way she smiled at him?"
"Are they dating and no one told us?"
"They must be!"
"Well, they look good together..."
"Alright everybody," the man in charge of the practical called out over the whispering. "Settle down. Today we'll be making observations of how these are growing. Test the soil, take measurements, and of course make note of which plant you're making these observations of," he said, gesturing to the line of numbered pots. "They've all been treated a little bit differently, so this is you lot making note of how the different treatments are affecting the plants. When you've finished with your first plant, bring it back up here and swap it for another..." he kept on with instructions for a little while, and then one person of every pair went up to collect a pot while the other fetched all the things they would need for making proper measurements of every aspect of the plant out of the cupboards beneath each station, as well as paper and pen for writing all the measurements down on.
Kagome and Kurama worked together easily, small smiles on their faces the whole time that their neighbours didn't fail to notice.
"I told my mother about you last night," Kurama said when the practical was over and everybody was beginning to pack up.
"Oh?" Kagome asked, cocking her head curiously – her long black hair falling thickly from the elastic that held it back during practicals.
"I think she nearly cried, she was so happy to hear I'd found a girl I like," he explained with a slightly sheepish smile. "She would like to meet you."
Kagome smiled back. "I'd be honoured," she answered softly.
Kurama nodded. "I'll pick you up from your house tomorrow night at five then?" he suggested.
"I'll let my family know," she answered with a nod and a smile.
They were both acutely aware of all their classmates staring at them as they left the room together, walking very close to each other.
~oOo~
"You're really alright with this?"
"I am."
"What if they decide they prefer each other to us because of this charade?"
"I know the Miko to be more loyal than that, and I think you do your lover a disservice to doubt him as you do."
"Hn."
Sesshoumaru chuckled softly at the sound from his much shorter companion who was sitting in the branches of the Goshinboku. Sesshoumaru himself was comfortably settled at the base of the tree his younger brother had once been stuck to for half a century.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, I have finished sharpening your blade," announced a teen-aged boy as he emerged from the house, a shining katana held up carefully on cloth-covered hands. "Thank you for the honour of your faith, that I would perform this task well."
Sesshoumaru took the sword in hand and examined it carefully. "You have done well, Souta. This Sesshoumaru thanks you for your diligence at the task."
Souta – Kgaome's little brother – bowed low.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, would you further honour this unworthy human with a lesson in how to correctly use the blade?" the boy asked solemnly.
Sesshoumaru smiled a little. "Fetch the bokken," he instructed. "This one will teach you."
"Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Souta said, a smile lighting up his face as he straightened, turned, and ran inside.
"Why do you humour the boy?" Hiei asked.
"Because not only does he want to learn," Sesshoumaru answered, "but also because the happiness of her family is the happiness of the Miko."
"I notice that you never call her by her name," Hiei noted.
"This Sesshoumaru is not worthy of letting the name of the Miko cross his lips," he answered as he rose from the ground.
"Ha!" Hiei barked derisively.
Sesshoumaru looked up at the smaller demon sharply, and snorted in amusement. "You will learn," he assured the small demon, then walked away to where Souta was waiting in the middle of the courtyard with two bokken – one for himself to use, and the other for Sesshoumaru to use when he would order Souta to try and hit him.
The boy had yet to succeed, in ten such lessons, but that was hardly surprising. Sesshoumaru had centuries of experience on the boy after all, to say nothing of his demonic speed, though he didn't much use it in these lessons with the human boy.
Hiei silently watched the lesson, and for all that this boy had – how did the detective put it that time, when he was recounting his first meeting with Hokushin? – the spiritual presence of pea soup, Hiei allowed himself to be somewhat impressed by how dedicated the boy was to learning the art of the sword. He was infinitely better at it than Kuwabara ever would be, that was certain. The oaf was useless with a sword. No style or finesse. This boy, however, would probably be able to learn how to deflect bullets with just the slightest turn of his sword, if he cared to, his movements were so precise and controlled.
For a human, anyway.
It was still nothing compared to the ability of his instructor – a demon who carried three swords at his side, even here in the peace and quiet of the shrine grounds. Two of the swords radiated strong demon energy, the third – the one the human boy had been sharpening – was a human blade. Strong and handsomely crafted, but unremarkable.
Yet it was the only one that the powerful demon ever removed from its sheath,which was slightly confusing. Hiei could understand not wanting to use a cheap trick of a sword like Shishiwakamaru's Banshee Shriek, but those two swords were powerful. Whole different league. It had Hiei wondering why this demon didn't participate in the Demon World Tournament, claim kingship over all of Demon World. He was powerful enough. What kind of title was Lord of the West, anyway? Apart from an old one?
~oOo~
Minamino Shuichi had been dating Higurashi Kagome for six months before he invited her (and Sesshoumaru-sama as well of course) to meet the other people in his life who knew the truth – who knew that he was really Kurama. They would be going to Genkai's property, since Sesshoumaru didn't fit in among normal people, which really removed Yusuke's ramen stand as an option, as well as the restaurant owned by Keiko's family – neither of which were really big enough to hold as many people as were part of the 'group' anyway.
Kagome and Kurama took the train, while Hiei led Sesshoumaru over the roof-tops at high speed and then through the forests that were part of Genkai's property until they reached the front door of the old woman's great sprawling house.
"Oh, this is wonderful!" Kagome exclaimed as she and Kurama got off the train – as well as a couple of other people, who were heading towards them, but Kagome was much too busy admiring the scenery. "Which way?" she asked Kurama, her eyes sparkling with joy.
Kurama smiled at her enthusiasm, and pointed towards a worn dirt pathway.
Kagome grinned in gratitude and was off like a shot.
"Hey, who was that Kurama?"
"Hello to you too, Kuwabara. I'll introduce you when we reach Genkai's," Kurama answered with a slight smile.
The tall male shrugged. He'd grown even taller since they'd met in their high school years. His shoulders were broad and his musculature still fairly respectable. He didn't go in for street fighting much any more, but he went to the gym a great deal and was always happy to get into a fight with Yusuke.
Speaking of -
"Hey Kurama," the Mazoku greeted.
"Hello Yusuke, Keiko, it's good to see you both again. How is married life suiting you?" he asked, a genuinely curious lilt in his voice now. They'd gotten married while Keiko was still in high school, and though that had been a couple of years ago, there wasn't any sign of children yet.
"Real good," Yusuke answered, smiling happily down at Keiko as he squeezed her a little closer to his side.
Keiko chuckled and kissed his cheek happily.
"Break it up, love birds, we've got stairs to climb," Shizuru quipped from behind them. "Kurama, good to see you."
"You too, Shizuru," Kurama answered with a nod of acknowledgement before he turned to take the same pathway that Kagome had already run off down.
They'd just finally reached the bottom of the stairs when they all felt something big. Even Keiko felt it, but then, she had been developing her own awareness since marrying Yusuke. It wasn't much still, but it was definitely getting better. Kurama thought he recognised it, but... it was so much stronger than he'd ever felt it before.
"What is that?!" Kuwabara yelled as he stumbled back, staring up the long flight of stairs.
"Whatever it is, it's powerful, and dangerous, and huge... but not actually threatening..." Shizuru answered, confused herself as she focused on what none of them could actually see. "It feels... playful, even."
"Kurama."
"Hiei," Kurama answered, turning. "What's going on?"
"Nothing dangerous," Hiei promised absently. "The girl is already up there."
"The girl who got off the train with Kurama is up there with a great big demon and you say nothing dangerous is going on?" Kuwabara yelped.
"That's right," Hiei answered.
"This I gotta see," Yusuke said, and started to sprint up the stairs.
What they found when they crested the mountain of stairs was a delicate human woman with thick black hair and a smile on her face being cradled in the paws of a very large white dog, scratching his chin and making his tail thump against the grass happily. It should also be noted that this very large white dog had a blue crescent moon on its brow between its eyes (which were blue on red and really quite disconcerting), two stripes at the corners of its mouth (one stripe going up, the other going down, and joining together at the back)... and one hell of a demonic aura.
It was like the energy blast all of Raizen's old friends had given off when they were 'dusting off their rusty powers to see if they still had it like they used to', combined, coming from this one demon – and he wasn't even trying!
Now that is intimidating.
Not that the fact that the dog's back was four times as high as the highest point in Genkai's roof while he was lying down was helping any.
"Her reaction to seeing him like that was, and I quote: you've grown since that time you tried to kill your brother and me when we first met," Hiei informed them all in a low tone.
Kuwabara and Urameshi both dropped their jaws and their eyes bugged out. Keiko swayed where she stood and had to be supported by Shizuru, who was sucking on her cigarette like it was a life-line while she stared. Kurama resisted the urge to break down into nervous, hysterical laughter.
"You'll catch flies that way," the girl commented with a laugh when she spotted them, and with a last scratch to the chin beneath a mouth full of sharp teeth, she stood.
The dog stood up as well, and took two steps towards them to bend its head and sniff.
Keiko finally fainted in Shizuru's hold.
"Woah, Keiko! Keiko honey, wake up! This is not a place to take a nap!" Shizuru said in a quiet but slightly frantic whisper.
The black-haired girl who had been ensconced in the giant dog's paws laughed. "Jakken always was more terrified of you when you were smiling," she commented, and it seemed to be directed to the dog.
The giant dog wuffed softly in answer, then the power that was making all of them sweat and shake where they stood – even Hiei, though he had been witness to the initial transformation and hid it better than the rest – swirled and compressed. The dog glowed brightly, and shrank down, reforming into a new shape. A shape that looked human. Until the light faded and revealed a figure that looked about as human as Raizen had before he died, though a great deal more elegant in his traditional hakama and haori – both pure white – under armour, swords at his side, his snow-white hair falling smoothly down his back like a waterfall of silk, and a fur that wrapped over his shoulder and trailed behind him.
A fur which was twitching like a gently wagging tail.
"Where'd all that energy go?" Kuwabara asked.
"It didn't go," Shizuru said with a slight growl, "anywhere lil' bro. It just... got more concentrated and shoved into a smaller space."
"Who – or what – are you?" Yusuke demanded loudly.
The elegant male who had been a several-storey tall dog a moment ago raised an elegant silver eyebrow and shifted his golden eyes to fix on the female who had been between his paws and was now coming to stand beside him. When she drew level, he whispered something in her ear which seemed to surprise her and draw her attention to focus on Yusuke. Then she giggled behind her hand and walked up to them.
She headed straight for Keiko and pinched the skin at the corner of one eye. It worked to wake her up like flicking a light-switch.
"Are we waiting on anybody else?" she asked, turning to Kurama.
"Yoo-hoo, we're here!" a female voice called from the sky.
"Not any more," Kurama answered with a smile. "As soon as Botan and Koenma land and we all go inside, anyway."
She nodded and went back to the demon who looked human-ish and had been a massive dog moments ago. Reaching him, she promptly laced her fingers with his.
"Oh yeah! Yukina!" Kuwabara yelled, running past the couple and to the door of Genkai's home – even if Genkai was dead now, it was still Genkai's home.
The door slid open and a small girl with green hair and red eyes greeted the young man with a smile. A young woman with blue hair and pink eyes flew down on an oar, a young man with brown hair and a dummy between his teeth riding behind her. Both hopped off easily to stand beside the small girl.
"Oh my," the blue-haired woman said, blinking as she took in the sight of the two newcomers to their regular group.
"I believe introductions are in order," Kurama said. "This is Urameshi Yusuke -"
"Nice ta meetcha."
"His wife Keiko -"
"How do you do?"
"Kuwabara Kazuma and his sister Kuwabara Shizuru -"
"Hey," greeted Shizuru. Her baby brother was too busy making ga-ga eyes at the small girl.
"Yukina -"
The small girl with the red eyes bowed.
"And Botan and Koenma," Kurama finished.
They waved.
"Pleased to meet you all," the new girl said, a bright smile on her face.
The great white demon simply nodded silently.
Kurama turned then from introducing the old crowd to introducing the newcomers. "Minna-san, this is Sesshoumaru-sama and Higurashi Kagome-sama," Kurama said with a smile.
"Wait... The Lord Inu no Taisho Sesshoumaru-sama and Lady Miko Higurashi Kagome-sama?!" Koenma yelped, falling to the floor where he stood.
"You've heard of us?" Kagome asked, a bright smile on her face. "I didn't think there was anybody still alive today who had!"
"Koenma is the ruler of Spirit World," Kurama explained.
"Yeah," Yusuke added. "We all helped him kick his old man off the throne and everything."
Koenma rearranged himself where he'd fallen to prostrate himself, kow-towing to the demon and his lady. "It is an honour to meet you both," he said sincerely.
"Goodness," Botan said softly, then blinked and hurried to mimic her boss's position on the ground, adding her own voice. "An honour," she said, though she didn't know why. If Koenma was bowing, then she knew she should be too. Koenma wasn't the humble sort after all.
"Yes, well, it wasn't like we could just stand by and not do anything," Kagome huffed, clearly uncomfortable with the display of reverence.
"Accept your due gracefully, Miko," Sesshoumaru instructed. "We thank you, and bid you rise. We have not come to make an imposition of ourselves."
"The entire world owes you a great debt," Koenma said, raising himself to sit up straight, though he didn't stand. "On behalf of all of Spirit World, I thank you."
Sesshoumaru and Kagome both just nodded silently.
"Will you all please come in?" Yukina suggested, aware that questions were hovering unspoken and waiting to be asked, and that they were making the air thick with tension.
"Thank you," Kagome said, bowing slightly to the girl, and tugged Sesshoumaru towards the door, eager to get away from the tension. Or at least be comfortably sat – hopefully with some tea – before the questions started coming.
The first question happened to be, not about Sesshoumaru's massive dog form, nor about Koenma's kow-towing to them, but about Sesshoumaru's swords.
Sesshoumaru lowered his eyes and rested a hand over the collective hilts.
Kagome wrapped both of her hands around his other hand, offering comfort.
"This one," he said, pulling out one sword slightly, though keeping it in its sheath. "Is the Tetsaiga. It was crafted from one of my father's fangs by a demon sword-smith, to be used in the defence of those who could not defend themselves. It is easily capable of breaking any barrier and slaying a thousand enemies with a single stroke, among other things."
"Good thing Sensui didn't know about that a few years ago," Yusuke commented lowly, getting answering nods from several people.
"This one," Sesshoumaru said, pushing back the Tetsaiga and taking hold of the next sword, "is the Tenseiga. Like the Tetsaiga, it was crafted from one of my father's fangs by a demon sword-smith. It is a sword that cannot kill except those who are already dead."
"Very useful when facing an army of zombies," Kagome added. "But more importantly, it can bring the recently dead back to life, provided that the one who holds it has compassion enough."
Sesshoumaru of five hundred years ago might have snorted in disgust, but now he simply nodded and pushed it back to sit beside the Tetsaiga.
"The last sword is a normal, ningen creation. Tempered steel and sharp, as there are simply times when it is overkill to use any other weapon," Sesshoumaru finished.
It wasn't the full story of any of the swords. Not by a long shot, but these people didn't need to know the intimate history of each weapon in his arsenal, and there was no reason to relive old pain by explaining that Sesshoumaru had come to be master of his brother's sword by taking it from the frozen, dead fingers of his brother's mutilated corpse some two hundred years after the power of the Bone Eater's Well had been sealed up, with Kagome on this side, and the rest of them missing her on the other.
Didn't need to know that the first thing Sesshoumaru had done with the sword was avenge his brother.
"He's definitely got your sword beat, Kuwabara," Yusuke commented, nudging his friend with his elbow, a grin on his face.
"Nuh-uh! My spirit sword can get longer on command! And it can go around corners!" Kuwabara protested. "And I don't have to worry about carrying it around and keeping it sharp either. Though, it's not like I need to use it much these days anyway," he added in a low grumble that everybody still heard.
A smile, a small one, but a smile all the same, appeared on Sesshoumaru's face then. A small, amused smile – and Kagome saw it. It was beneath his dignity, she knew, to simply ask to see this 'spirit sword' the boy was talking about, at the same time, she knew he would oblige her if she asked for a comparative demonstration.
"I would like to see how your combat styles measure up to Sesshoumaru-sama's," Kagome said, looking from Kuwabara to Yusuke, and even including Hiei and Kurama. After all, she hadn't seen either of them with an obvious weapon either, and no demon went anywhere without something they could use in the event they felt like picking a fight – or crossed paths with someone else who wanted to pick a fight.
"But tea first," Yukina insisted as she set the tea things down on the table.
"So Koenma, what was with the prostration earlier?" Shizuru asked once everybody had a cup of tea in hand.
The answer to that question lasted through several cups of tea, because Koenma went with telling the full and complicated story rather than just summarising the highlights. By the end of it, everybody was ready to go outside and compare fighting prowess. Even Keiko.
Kuwabara was happy to step up first, having apparently forgotten already about the aura of power that had surrounded Sesshoumaru in his true form – an aura that had him shaking where he stood from the shear size of it. A moment of concentration, and a glowing orange sword of pure energy appeared in Kuwabara's hand.
Sesshoumaru raised a delicate eyebrow at it and glanced at Kagome where she sat. "It is hardly elegant," he stated, and stepped up to the boy to examine his weapon. "It is more like a spiked club than a sword." He narrowed his eyes at Kuwabara. "How much effort are you really putting into this?" he asked. "You should be able to manipulate your own energies to some extent, if you are able to manifest them like this. Make it look more like a sword," he ordered, and absently drew Tetsaiga from its sheath and twirled the massive blade with his fingers until it rested against Kuwabara's neck.
"Wow,"Koenma yelped. "So that's what the Tetsaiga looks like when drawn?"
"It certainly is impressive," Kurama agreed.
"It's over-kill and he knows it," Kagome countered with fond exasperation.
"But it gets the point across about fine craftsmanship," Shizuru commented.
"Totosai was a master of his craft," Kagome agreed with a nod. "Even if he was a bit..." she hesitated at finding the right word to describe Totosai. "Odd."
What followed was probably the most fun that Sesshoumaru had gotten to have in a long time – he got to spar with two boys who were about as skilled as InuYasha had been (meaning he got to reminisce) and then he got to compare his prowess with the two demons who were becoming part of the daily routine at the shrine.
"Miko," Sesshoumaru said once the matches were over. "You have chosen well."
Kagome smiled. "Of course I have," she answered him as she got up from where she'd been sitting and walked over to him. "I chose you," she stated, and wrapped her hands happily around one of Sesshoumaru's. The hand he didn't draw his sword with.
~The End~