"Well hello there!" Kagome smiled brightly at the grumpy looking and sullen young man who was staring at her as she wrote a sutra for her shrine. She didn't technically need them, but she still kept them up to date and they helped make her job more successful when she placed ofuda for protection from angry people and sutra for belief in the place she spent a majority of her time. "Just give me a second and then if you will tell me how I can help you, I will do my best."
The young man sat down across from her, still staring, but Kagome ignored him in order to finish her sutra. Then she used her ki to dry it fully and stood up, placing it just outside the door in her shrine that – to her and a select few others – led straight to her bedroom in the castle. Once that was done she stepped back outside and gave off her most innocent and sweet smile to the boy. The Labyrinth was in as sullen a mood as this boy was; meaning that she was to properly trick him because he was only Running in order to try to escape punishment for being so selfish, not because he actually wanted whoever he wished away back. Just earlier today she had dealt with a young mother who was the opposite and had – after getting her a little bit lost – helped lead her to where she needed to be. Kagome adored her job, it was versatile and easy to determine which way she should take things – not to mention the Labyrinth was a stunningly gorgeous and highly malleable place and she loved exploring it. She was called "the Lady of the Labyrinth" by the other residents of the Underground, which was really a flattering thing to be called, in all honesty.
She also got lots of more mundane visitors as the Labyrinth was home to many creatures and a travel destination or stop for many more beings and creatures. She had a good business selling various things to those people that regularly braved the extremely mutable labyrinth, including those who lived there, like Inuyasha, the entrance guardian, or the Hag who ran the Dump. "So," she asked the boy. "How may I help you?"
"That should be obvious. I want to finish this stupid maze and get home. God you're stupid."
Wow. Rude much? She smiled sweetly with acid tingeing her smile – this was the sweetness of floral venom, not a genuine sweetness; deceptive and dangerous. "Actually, many people come to me for aid in needing herbal tisanes, poultices, teas, soups, and other remedies, as well as for sutra and ofuda and charms for various things. So, that is a completely reasonable question. If you are injured I can cleanse the wound and bandage it up with herbs to prevent infections. If you just need led somewhere I can do that as well."
To be fair to the teen, he did feel chastised at that, but her empathy was still telling him he was more resentful and sullen over this whole thing and genuinely wished that his – ah his baby cousin – would just disappear. Ugh! Hmph, this boy was going into the Bog for that!
"Well.. I was told that someone around here could lead me out of the hedge maze. I guess that'd be you? Also I'm sorry for being so rude, I'm just frustrated and want to be done."
Oh you'll be done soon. I'm sending you to the BoES for this! The great thing about the Bog of Eternal Stench was that the smell was more psychological than physical after the person dumped into it escaped the Underground. Basically it made everyone around them notice all of their worst qualities unless they actively changed and worked at being a better person. Which made it a fitting punishment – it was their own selves that pushed people away and their own selves that brought them back. "Oh, here, by the way, you might want this! It will make you forget where the hedge maze is so that you can't get lost in it again."
She handed him a sutra of forgetfulness that would do rather more than that. It would completely make him forget anything and everything about her, as a measure of protection from vengeful Runners who managed to find her again the first month or so she had been doing this. Six and a half months in now, she was a complete veteran. Smiling, she placed the sutra on his chest and led him away. Out of the hedge maze, across and through the Fiery Forest – avoiding the local residents this time around just to keep him from being suspicious – through the Green Meadow, and into the Swamplands – a very murky and damp forest that led straight to the Bog… right… here! She pushed him over the ledge and watched as he fell into the BoES, his eyes glazing over and the sutra eventually disintegrating. Daichi and Kuro would help him out of the place and into wherever the Labyrinth wished for him to go next so her job was done.
Kagome smiled vindictively before skipping the entire way back to her comfortable shrine, opening her special door, and shutting it firmly behind her, divesting herself of the miko outfit that she wore for Labyrinth work – especially as it was grimy through her trek through the Swamplands, although her ki usage kept the floors and walls of her shrine pristine aside from the occasional need to sweep and dust. Then she went into her bathroom and sank into the in-ground bathtub with a content moan. Somehow it was always exactly the right temperature for what she needed from her day, and she sighed as intense heat seared her skin and relaxed her muscles. Cerulean eyes, filled with satisfaction at a good day's work, closed as she relaxed into the water, before leisurely soaping herself up, shampooing her hair, and rinsing off. Then she wrapped a towel around her body and used her ki to squeeze out all the moisture from her hair.
After towelling herself off, she dressed in an elegant forest green kimono with patterns of a soft cream cherry blossom petals. She flushed at the sight; even after Sesshōmaru had made his intentions clear to her a month ago, she still wasn't used to being thought so highly of and was worried about being a good Queen… but she had time. Both to fall in love for real – right now she was crushing; severely, but still just crushing – and to learn everything she needed to learn. Apparently he had given her a head start because the most important thing was dealing with Runners and the wished-away and she had been doing that for half a year now.
Sighing, she finished dressing with a cerulean obi that matched her eyes and a comfortable pair of sandals. Then she went to the end of the hall and knocked on Sesshōmaru's door, smiling when it opened to the dining room, as expected. Servants were placing dishes around the table for a late dinner – the rest of the court that didn't work so hard because they weren't interacting with the Runners ate earlier and the same time every day. Kagome, Sōta, and Sesshōmaru ate when they had the time to, breakfast being the only exception and always eaten in the kitchen with the servants because Kagome refused to be the type of person who disrespected those that made her life so much easier to cope with.
Unbeknownst to her, it was simply making all of her potential future subjects adore her even more.
Everybody was in agreement that the five hundred year wait was well worth it when the quality of their future Lady was so perfectly aligned with them.