A month had gone by. Kagome didn't cry anymore, at least not outwardly. And nobody had heard or seen from Sesshomaru since that last letter.
The group, secretly, was happy for that fact. Kagome deserved better. If he was just going to send her away on a moment's notice like that, then he shouldn't have her anyway.
But slowly, they were all beginning to realize the truth. He didn't let Kagome go. He sent her away. He knew she would be unhappy without finishing what she started and so he had done what he had to do. Nobody would admit it out loud but they all knew this was the truth.
All except Kagome. She seemed to live in her own little world now. A world which had no Sesshomaru in it. Sango watched her friend silently dying. It was horrible. Somehow she knew that Kagome had found that special someone that InuYasha had told her was out there for her. And yet.. the fairy tale magic didn't happen. Why not?
Why had he done it the way he had? Couldn't he have told her to her face? Or couldn't he have come up with a hundred other ways to still see her? Why did it have to be… goodbye.
It didn't seem right. It wasn't right. Sango grimaced and looked to the west. He had seemed so different than what they all expected. Maybe that's what Kagome saw in the stoic man. The secret person beyond what everyone was given to look at. Could that be what had caused her to be so drawn to him? Perhaps. It sounded too romantic, though.
This wasn't a romance. It was turning into a tragedy.
The Tragedy of Kagome Higurashi. It sounded like one of those novels that her friend enjoyed reading. With a shake of her head she sighed, unsure what to do. Then an idea struck her. The letters!
Rushing up to walk next to Kagome she nudged her a little and watched as she smiled slightly. "Hey, Sango, what are you all excited about?"
She grinned and said slowly. "Oh nothing. I just have this idea in how you can get Sesshomaru back."
Kagome stopped. Completely stopped moving. What? Nobody had mentioned his name until today. Why now? "eh.. What?" Sango grinned and shook her head at the miko. "The letters. Write some to him. Get him to cave in."
She was stunned. What was wrong with Sango? Was she mad? "Cave in?" She asked, dumbly. She was so confused. Did they think that there was some sort of.. thing.. going on that she was missing out on?
As she glanced at the faces of the others in the group she was guessing that was probably accurate. "Am I.. missing.. something?"
InuYasha and Miroku both nodded. Definetly. You're missing it. "Okay. Sango. What do you think I should be doing?" Sango looked exasperated and threw her hands up in the air. "You silly girl! Write him! Tell him how your day is going, but leave a few parts out to make him wonder. And give little hints at how you're feeling. Make him wonder. Make him miss you more!"
Kagome didn't really know what to say. "More?" Okay. She was really being dumb by the looks on their faces. "You think he misses me?" Everyone groaned and turned to walk away from her.
"You're kind of hopeless, Kagome." InuYasha said as she followed behind him. She waited, knowing he would continue. "Sesshomaru is someone who was raised to do duty first. Duty comes before everything, even your personal feelings. You have a duty and he saw that you were neglecting it so he did what he felt needed to be done."
Her brow furrowed as she took this information in and was about to say something but he continued before she could. "What's very ironic about the whole situation is that Sesshomaru is also somebody who does not do things for other people. He does not care if somebody else does not do what is right, only that he does. So he obviously did this for a reason. And I can think of only one reason why somebody as immobile as he would do something so drastic."
She sighed and again went to say something when he stopped her a third time, holding out a hand. "Kagome. Don't be stupid. We know you want to forget because you're hurt but that's no excuse. What did you do the last time he hurt you so badly?"
They kept walking while they talked and she thought, eventually speaking softly. "He had embarrassed me in front of the court. Made it out that I was some sort of whore, though I don't think it was his intention. But it happened. I was angry and I cried for a while before I decided that nobody would humiliate me like that. So I got out the best kimono he had bought me and dressed up, makeup and all. I even found my handheld curler and curled my hair. Then I went back, proud of myself and unashamed. I would demand respect, if nothing else."
InuYasha listened and nodded, so that's why she had been so pretty that night. "So why did you do this, Kagome? You could have just gone back as you were and been proud. What was with the change, who were you trying to impress?"
With a raspy voice they could all hear her lips part, dry and afraid. "Sesshomaru."
"Rin. Come out of that room right now. You need to eat something." Sesshomaru was getting tired of this. The child had been a pain since Kagome had left. He couldn't blame her entirely but surely she did not blame him!
"Leave me alone! I don't want to talk to you right now! I'll eat later!" He heard her yell towards the door, obviously laying in her futon.
Kagome had come to heal the child of her illness, and heal her she did, but when the woman had left so had a part of the girl and now they had a hateful little shell lying within their home. Nobody, save Jaken, could speak with her. Jaken was probably exempt because he was the one who had brought Kagome here to begin with and that she had been so kind to him. Sesshomaru couldn't help but feel a little jealous.
Stupid toad.
He growled low and thrust the door open only to pull it back closed when a rather expensive crystal vase flew towards him. He heard it shatter on the other side and sighed. "Rin. Why did you do that?"
The little girl's sobs could be heard on the other side and she cried out to him in an angry tone. "Because I hate you! You made her go away! She loved me and you sent her away!"
Sesshomaru had never felt real pain until today. The words Rin said echoed through his heart and he could not understand the pang he felt within his soul. She hated him.
What had he done?
Kagome sat there, looking at the paper with a curious gaze. They had practically forced her to sit and write. Somehow they all felt it would be very therapeutic for her, if nothing else.
She sighed. All she could think of to say ran along the lines of "Dear Sesshomaru. Please go jump off the nearest cliff and land on your precious Tokijin." One sentence.
That was it! That's what she could do to get him back! Jerk! Those stupid one sentenced letters had pissed her to no end. Now it was payback time. Quickly she was inspired and wrote the simple sentence down. She folded the letter and sealed it with a little heart shaped sticker, just to give him a good idea of who it was from.
Smiling she stood and presented the letter to her friends. "There! All done!" They looked at her oddly. Had she said something strange?
Miroku was the first to comment. "You look awfully happy. What did you write?"
She laughed and shook her finger at him. "No way. It's a secret. Only the person whose name is on the front may read the contents. Got it? Now, how to get it there?" She wondered aloud as she sighed, trying to think of some way to get the letter to the western home.
Jaken would have surely taken it for her if he had been there. But he was not and so she was unsure who to request. Suddenly Kirara came forward and took the letter between her teeth, jumping off into the sky before transforming to fly off to the west.
"Thank you, Kirara!" She smiled and then realized something. "Please give the letter to Jaken! He will know what to do with it!" A small grin formed on her face. Payback was so much fun.
Jaken was preparing a meal for Rin when he heard a large commotion in the hall. Rushing out he saw a huge fire cat in the hall, growling slightly but not angrily. She had a letter in her mouth, gripping it firmly until she saw him.
The cat seemed to be pleased that he was there and ran up to him, dropping the letter at his feet before darting back out the window she had came in from. The toad was confused and looked down at it, and then realization dawned on him when he saw his lord's name upon the envelope.
He grimaced but shook his head. Poor Lord Sesshomaru had no idea what he had gotten himself into when he had allowed that woman to worm her way into his heart. With a slow walk he went up to the study and entered, without knocking. He saw the two ladies there again, that Aya was probably begging Sesshomaru to marry her again. A nuisance. He didn't bother to speak or acknowledge anyone. He simply placed the letter upon the desk where he was sure his lord would notice it when he was finished.
Unfortunately for him, Sesshomaru seemed to feel he was finished already and picked up the letter, eyeing it carefully. It did not go unnoticed by the others that it had been sealed with a symbol for love. He turned it, tearing into it with curiosity and then reading the sentence in disbelief.
What?
She wrote him to say.. no, she wouldn't have. There was no mistaking, it was her writing.
I win.
That was all it said. He couldn't help but laugh. She was using his own words against him. He had been so certain that the letter would be flowing with words of her days and her usual banter.. wanting to hear her voice, if only in his mind.
Instead. He heard his own. I win.
The woman was insufferable. He quickly picked up a blank piece of parchment and began to respond. This game was far from over, Kagome Higurashi.