Shippo, Kikyou, and Ayame pulled up to the steps of the shrine in a bright red convertible shortly after Shippo's call.
"Where are the other guys?" Kagome asked as she got in the back seat with Ayame.
"They don't like clubs, so anytime we go it's just me and the girls." Shippo turned the vehicle on and they started moving toward what was bound to be an interesting experience. Kikyou turned in her seat to look back at Kagome with a smile.
"So Kagome, how often do you go out?"
"This is actually my first time. I don't really have any present time friends to go out with. Spending years of my life in the feudal era made sure of that." Ayame and Kikyou traded horrified expressions.
"You're telling me that you're in your twenties and you've never been drunk?" Kagome shook her head at the two girls.
"That's ok Kagome we'll fix that tonight." Shippo said as he pulled into a dark parking lot. Kagome got out of the car and looked around the parking lot questioningly. This seemed more like a place to be raped rather than the parking lot to a club. Kagome screamed as an arm was suddenly flung over her shoulder. "Jumpy? Come on Kagome we can't get into the club from here we have to walk a block." Kikyou wrapped her arm around Kagome's and Ayame wrapped hers around Kikyou's.
"You know Kagome people are going to think we're related. So when they ask we're cousins alright?" Kagome nodded dumbly as the group walked down the sidewalk. The longer they walked the worse Kagome felt about the situation. When they rounded the next corner Kagome found herself amazed at the long line of people and the bright lights. She could hear the music from the club from where they were standing and realized that there was a reason she had never gone to such a thing.
"Don't we have to wait in line?" Kagome asked as they led her past the throngs of people and straight to the bouncer.
"Hey there Corry!" Shippo said cheerfully.
"Shippo! Who's the new girl?" The bouncer unhooked the chain and let them pass through.
"Kagome, and she's mine for once." Kagome found herself blushing brightly at Shippo's grin. As soon as the door opened Kagome knew she would regret agreeing to this evening. As soon as they were inside Kikyou and Ayame pulled her away from Shippo and dragged her off to the bar.
"We need three screwdrivers please!" The man looked up at Kikyou and smiled.
"Evening girls. It's been a while since I've seen you two. Might I see you're ID miss?" Kagome pulled her ID out of her back pocket when he turned his attention to her. The man looked from the ID to her before he handed it back to Kagome. "I'll have your drinks out to you ladies shortly. It was nice meeting you Kagome." As promised three glasses we're presented to them. Kikyo shoved one into Kagome's hand.
"This my dear is going to be your first experience drinking!" Kikyou and Ayame clinked their glasses and began drinking. Kagome sniffed the glass curiously, finding the smell of orange juice to be the only thing that met her nose. She sipped it lightly and was surprised when all she could taste was orange juice. The next thing Kagome knew her glass was empty and the girls were dragging her out to the dance floor. A few hours later Kagome found herself begging Shippo to take her away from the god awful place. The room wouldn't stop spinning, the music was too loud, the lights were giving her a headache and she had lost count of how many orange juice concoctions Kikyou had shoved into her hand.
"Alright Kagome we'll go home just let me get the girls. You can go sit out on the sidewalk and wait for us if you want to." Kagome found herself nodding vigorously and as soon as Shippo was out of sight she took off for the front door. She burst into the fresh air happily and sat on the sidewalk like she was told. The music was still to loud where she was sitting so she decided she was going to go find the car and wait there. Kagome went in the direction she thought she was supposed to go. Eventually Kagome started to feel like she had probably gone the wrong way. She didn't think it had taken her that long to walk to the club in the first place. Suddenly Kagome felt her stomach do a flip and she ducked into the nearest ally to lose the contents of her stomach. When Kagome finally pushed herself out of the alley she stood there dumbfounded. For the life of her she couldn't remember which direction she had come from. She couldn't hear the clubs music anymore she couldn't even see the lights from the club flashing in the distance. I swear I'm never letting them take me out to drink again. Kagome patted down her pockets to realize she hadn't brought her phone with her. Well I could keep wandering around looking for the club, possibly getting myself more lost. Or I could wait here and hope they weren't so drunk that they forgot about me. After a long debate Kagome plopped herself down on the sidewalk. They'd be far more likely to find her with their demon senses than she would be to find them.
"Hello there." Kagome cringed as she looked behind her to see a man leaning against the wall and smirking at her.
"Goodbye." Kagome said as she quickly pushed herself off the sidewalk. She immediately lost her balance and fell back down onto the side walk. Kagome yelped as the man grabbed her upper arms and yanked her up into a standing position. He clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her back into the alley before he shoved her against the brick wall. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head with one hand and started kissing her forcefully as his other hand groped her. Kagome kicked him forcefully and the man was forced to release her. She tried to take off running but she found herself running into another man.
"You shouldn't take advantage of drunken women." Kagome looked up in shock when Sesshoumaru's voice met her ears.
"Oh yeah what are you going to do about it!" The man slurred out as he pulled a gun from his waist band. Sesshoumaru flicked his wrist lazily and his whip shot out to hit the man's hand. The man dropped the gun and immediately began howling in pain. Sesshoumaru turned Kagome toward his car parked on the sidewalk and helped her get into it without sparing the man another glance.
"How'd you find me?" Sesshoumaru glanced over at her before he pulled the car away from the curb.
"Shippo called us about an hour ago. Saying you were nowhere to be found and that he and Ayame were incapable of sniffing you out."
"I've been wandering around for an hour?" She had felt like it had been a while but she never would have realized it had been a whole hour.
"Yes. I tracked you down since Inuyasha and Koga had their women to tend to. What sort of idiot wanders away from their friends when they're intoxicated?" Kagome blushed deeply and realized that if she had been sober she never would have walked away from her friends in the first place.
"I've never been drunk before."
"Do not give excuses Miko. Except that your actions are your own and learn from the experience." Kagome nodded slowly and focused her eyes outside the window. Sesshoumaru turned on the radio when he was sure she wasn't going to say anything more.
"Hey I like this song! Every other memory, I have of you is good! If I could only rewind time! I hope you know I would!" Sesshoumaru snorted and Kagome made herself shut up. "Sorry Sesshoumaru I forgot how sensitive your ears are." Sesshoumaru allowed a slow smirk to grace his lips as he glanced over at her.
"I thought I told you to call me by my title." Kagome paled as she realized her mistake.
"I'm sorry Lord Sesshoumaru! It won't happen again." His smirk never changed after that until he pulled up to her family shrine. Sesshoumaru opened her door for her and offered her a clawed hand to help her out of the vehicle.
"I must say hearing you speak my title is quite refreshing." Kagome blushed and nodded quickly.
"Yes well, goodnight Lord Sesshoumaru." Kagome nearly ran up the stairs to the shrine.
"Goodnight Miko."
Kagome spent the next day in bed sleeping off the god awful hangover. By that night Kagome found herself completely unable to sleep. She sat on her bed looking around her dark room wishing sleep would come to her since she had to work the next morning.
*Click*
Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin as something tapped against her window. She pushed herself off the bed and looked out the window. Kagome gasped when she saw who was standing beneath her window. Sesshoumaru was standing in the moonlight looking up at her. She opened her window and poked her head out to look down at him.
"What are you doing Sesshoumaru?"
"Miko I cannot sleep. Let's go for a ride." Kagome raised an eyebrow at him before she nodded her head. She took off down the stairs and out the front door. Sesshoumaru stood before the steps at the edge of the shrine with his back turned to her. "Took you long enough, let's go Miko." Kagome followed him down the stairs taking them two at a time to keep up with him.
"Where are we going exactly?" Sesshoumaru opened the door of his convertible and closed it behind her when she was seated inside.
"Do you trust me Miko?"
Kagome made a face at Sesshoumaru when he was seated beside her and didn't hesitate to answer with a flat, "no. Sesshoumaru until the day all your walls shatter around you I'll probably never trust you." Kagome nearly jumped out of the moving car as a loud dark booming sound met her ears. She looked around frantically until her eyes locked on Sesshoumaru and she realized that the ice lord was actually laughing at her. Kagome sat there in complete shock as his laughter slowly died down.
"Good to know Miko." After about five minutes of Kagome staring at him and Sesshoumaru staring at the road he finally glanced over at her. "You know in most places it's considered very rude to stare at people." Kagome jumped and looked away as a deep blush overtook her face.
"Sorry."
"What did I do to render you so silent? I seem to remember a time when I wanted nothing more than to shut you up and I never could."
"I've never heard you laugh before. Hell I've never even seen you smile other than the corner of your mouth twitching when Rin did something amusing. I'm a bit shocked to be honest." Sesshoumaru had a bemused expression as he pulled the car onto the interstate.
"Cursing is ill suited to a person of your station Miko. From now on you will refrain from doing so around this Sesshoumaru." Kagome snorted and turned a glare on the demon sitting beside her.
"Don't you pull that 'Holier then thou' tone on me. If you want something from me, ask, because you and I both know I won't follow demands."
A slow smile spread across his face as he muttered, "some things never change."
"You know Sesshoumaru it's really awkward to hear your 'lord voice' after seeing you laugh." Sesshoumaru turned to face her without paying a bit of attention to the road and raised an eyebrow at her.
"My lord voice huh?" He asked sarcastically. "Well Miko times have changed. I don't have land or a title to protect anymore. There are hardly any demons left to care if my emotions are viewed as a weakness. Not to mention after losing Rin and Jaken I reached a point where I no longer care what others think of me. Shame it took losing the ones I was closest to for me to start showing how I felt about them." Kagome found herself frowning at Sesshoumaru. It was obvious that he deeply regretted not telling the little girl how much he cared for her. "We're here Miko." Kagome looked around as she realized that he had parked the car. They had reached an ancient forest that had to have been there since long before the feudal era.
"I didn't think places like this existed anymore." She whispered as she looked around and listened to the sounds of the forest. She could see the stars clearly through the tree tops and the moonlight allowed her to see clearly in the night. It took her back.
"My company puts a lot of money into keeping this area protected from development. This is my little piece of a time when I didn't feel like the world moved faster than I did. Any time you feel like you miss the old days you can feel free to come here. And now Miko, I have a surprise for you." Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru curiously as he opened her door for her.
"What kind of surprise?" Sesshoumaru chose not to answer her as he walked around to the trunk of his car. He tossed her a brown papers wrapped package. Kagome caught it easily and opened it cautiously. She was shocked to find one of her old school uniforms that had been made for her more womanly frame. She looked up from the clothes only to have her eyes widen when she saw what else Sesshoumaru was holding, an old style bow and arrows.
"They'll be waiting for you here at the car. There's a clearing that way, go get changed." Kagome turned almost numbly and walked in the direction she had pointed. She changed quickly when she reached the clearing. While she really didn't think Sesshoumaru would be interested in looking at her he had managed to shock her with changes in his behavior all night. When she was done she moved back to the car only to stop dead in her tracks when she saw Sesshoumaru. He was wearing the same old outfit, armor, swords, and all, that she had always seen him with. When she stood before him Sesshoumaru handed her the bow and arrows and began walking away. "I must say it is refreshing to see that outfit on you again Miko. Now come here." Kagome trotted along behind him, easily falling into her old self feeling as though she was searching for jewel shards all over again. Sesshoumaru stopped at the edge of a cliff that looked out over acres of forest. "Now shoot." Kagome looked at him questioningly for a moment before he clarified. "See how far you can get them to go." Kagome stared at him for a moment longer before she knocked an arrow into place and pulled the bow as taught as she could get it. She smiled as the arrow easily began glowing pink as her Miko power gathered into it. She released the arrow and jumped when Sesshoumaru suddenly disappeared from her side. A moment later he was beside her again holding her arrow out to her. Kagome took it from him slowly and stared at him. For some reason he had chosen to share this paradise with her and at that moment she was more grateful than she had ever been in her life.
"Thank you." Sesshoumaru seemed to understand that she was thanking him for far more than just handing her back the arrow. He nodded once before he held out his hand, encouraging her to shoot again without saying a word. They spent several hours that night with Kagome shooting and Sesshoumaru retrieving. The two gaining a sort of comfort from taking part in something that hadn't occurred in hundreds of years, bonding without saying another word.
