Chapter 25: Gift
The entire time she was in the future Kagome fretted about what she might get Sesshomaru. He was a demon lord, so what could she possibly get him that would interest him? Eventually she settled on a world map and a book about the causes of human illness and remedies. She figured he would appreciate the knowledge on how to protect Rin from getting sick and how to treat her if she happened to. She knew he promised to keep them together, but without Inuyasha's say so, there was still a chance they might have to part ways and she wanted to keep Rin healthy.
For Rin the gift had been easy. The child didn't have a single toy so Kagome picked out a cute doll that looked very much like Rin and a bright yellow ball. She figured Ah-Un wouldn't be weighed down by the two small items. After that, she made sure to get more paper and crayons for Shippo, Ramen for Inuyasha, Sango's favourite soda and Miroku's favourite chips. Of course, she also had to buy a new backpack as her previous one was still in the past wherever her group of friends were at the moment.
So worried was she about packing the right amount of food and gifts for everyone she completely forgot to pack more outfits for herself. It wasn't until her feet had touched down on the bottom of the well that she remember. She closed her eyes and gave off a soft groan, knowing she would have to climb the well, turn around and jump back in, go back into the house and pack the outfits and then jump back in the well just to climb out again.
Resigned to her fate, she climbed slowly up to the lip of the well. With a soft tug she pulled herself over and planted her feet on solid ground. Only a couple seconds after she found her balance was she suddenly attacked by an overly excited little girl. Tiny arms wrapped themselves around her waist and a small head pressed hard against her abdomen.
"Mama," Rin cried out in joy.
"Hey Rin," Kagome smiled brightly, wrapping her arms around the little girl's shoulders, "I missed you."
"I missed you too," she told her mother eagerly.
Kagome looked up to find Sesshomaru gently reclined against a tree, a thick white cloth on the ground beside him. She gave him a bright smile before turning her attention back to her daughter.
"I'll be right back, Rin," she laughed, "I was so worried about the food and all the gifts I wanted to grab, I completely forgot to grab clothes."
"That will not be necessary," Sesshomaru's deep voice cut in before Rin could begin pleading with Kagome to stay.
"But…"
He gestured to the bundle beside him causing blue eyes to widen. The cloth held kimonos inside it. While she was away he must have took the time to purchase her more.
"Thank you, so much. You really didn't have to, I have no way to repay you."
"There is no need for repayment."
"But…"
"Will you not accept my gift?"
Not wanting to seem ungrateful, she sighed, "of course I will accept it. I just don't think I did anything to deserve it."
"One does not need to do something to receive a gift."
Unable to argue with his logic, she gently detangled herself from Rin and sat her backpack on the ground. She reached in and brought out the doll first.
Rin's eyes light up bright and wide, "is that…"
"For you? Yes," Kagome smiled handing the new toy to her daughter.
"I've never had a doll before," she told her mother honestly.
Kagome forced herself not to frown, "well, now you have one. I know you are getting a bit older, but you still have some years left before adulthood and you should enjoy them!"
She reached back into her pack and pulled out the ball and handed it to Rin. Her eyes growing even wider. Her smile was bright and she squirmed as if she was fighting back a squeal of excitement. Glancing at the silent demon lord, she realized she probably was holding back. Rin exclaimed a joyous thank you before turning to play with her new toys.
Digging back into her bag she grabbed the two things she brought for Sesshomaru and headed over to him. Nervously she held them out to him. He raised an eyebrow and gently accepted the delicate items. She sat down next to him as he set the map on his stomach, bent his right leg at the knee and then pressed the book to it to keep it propped up while he opened it to look inside.
"I figured, if we ever had to part ways," she tried to hide the sadness that creeped into her voice, "that it would come in handy to understand how humans get sick and how to treat it."
"You can read," Sesshomaru implored, he knew she was was educated but he didn't know how far her knowledge went.
"Yeah," she smiled at him, "I can read in English too, it's a foreign language. In high school students are required to learn one."
"What is high school?"
"Oh, well, school is the place we go to learn. When you are really young you go to kindergarten, then you move up to elementary school, then middle school and last you go to high school. And if you really want a good paying job you go to College. Children start going to school at the age of five and they finish high school at eighteen. Eighteen is the age of adulthood where I'm from. College can last from one to eight years, depending on what you want to learn and anyone from the age of eighteen up can go to college at any time."
"Both males and females are allowed to attend?"
"I wouldn't say allowed," she shrugged, "it's mandatory. All children, female or male, have to attend school. Of course, in high school you can drop out and just not go, but you have to at least attend school till the end of middle school."
"Have you finished high school?"
"No," she shook her head, "I'm still in school. Though, I'm not doing very well since I'm almost always in the past. I guess, I'm lucky that Kagura kidnapped me so close to summer break, I didn't miss much."
"You are not eighteen?"
"Almost," she smiled brightly, "I turn eighteen in a couple months."
"Hn."
"I started school late because my birthday was later in the year. So, I'll already be eighteen before I graduate."
He gently closed the book before picking up the folded piece of odd styled paper. He was pleased with her thoughtfulness of the book. Having two human packmates, he would need to know how to care for them and how to treat their illnesses. The last two and a half years or so he had gotten lucky with Rin. She had only gotten sick a small number of times. However, he wasn't willing to bet that it would always be like this. He needed to be prepared just in case.
He opened the odd paper and his eyes widened at the odd coloured patterns that were laid out before him. Kagome sat silently for a moment watching him study his new map.
"I have never see a map this detailed."
Delicately she pointed to the small island on the map, "this here is Nippon," she drew a circle around all the small islands that made up the entire country, "in the future we call it Japan which is what it reads as on the map," she moved her finger to each continent as she named them, "this entire area is referred to as Asia, this one is Europe, this one is Africa, this one is Australia, this one is North America, this one is South America and this one is Antarctica. In each continent there are many countries, many more cities, and many different languages."
"This is the entire world?"
"Yep," she grinned at him, "you aren't suppose to know the entire world just yet, but I figured if you can keep my secret of being from the future, you can keep this map a secret too."
"Hn."
"I know it's daunting to look at. Japan seems huge when you are spending every single day walking across it's surface, but in reality Japan is just a tiny little island. Sometimes just thinking about it makes me feel absolutely small. The universe is huge, and I'm just one plain human girl trying to survive long enough to take down an evil half-demon bent on ruling Japan, if not the world."
He folded the map and placed it inside the book. It was nice to know what the world looked like, and yet, it seemed impossible. Was there really that much land everywhere? Was Nippon truly that small compared to the rest of the world? Kagome was pretty certain that the map was accurate, so he had to assume it was true. And that settled uncomfortably in his chest. Pushing the thought away, he turned back to his now silent companion.
He picked up the bundle he had spent her time away collecting and placed it on her lap. She looked up at him, hesitantly, before folding back the cloth to show a total of ten two layer kimonos inside. Each of them was a unique combination of colours paired with an obi that would stand out brightly against them. They were all very beautiful and she felt guilty that he had spent so much money on her.
"Thank you so much," she smiled at him, "they are amazing."
"They will suit you," he stated, as if that alone meant she had to have them.