Kyoya let out a displeased sigh at the sight of all the steps. His driver waited for the okay before leaving, and he made his way up the stairs one at a time. There was one question that kept bothering him, and he planned on prying open Higurashi's brain to pick at it for the answer.

Unfortunately she wasn't home, but her mother was. Dressed in simple robes, she greeted him just as happily as her daughter had.

"Is Kagome here? She told us a story a few days ago, and I wanted to ask her something."

The woman let out a thoughtful hum. "Well, she's picking up her little brother from his classes, so she should be back soon. Come inside, you could have some tea and wait for her."

Kyoya straightened, eyes shining in interest. "Yes, please."

He was led around to the back of the expansive property to a humble two story home. Taking his shoes off as he entered, Kyoya thanked her for allowing him entry, and again as she handed him a cup of tea.

While Kagome's tea had been a small ceremonial process, complete with her whisking the tea for them all, her mother stuck to the more commonly used teabags. Kyoya wondered at the difference in the two, how and why old fashion tendencies clung tighter to daughter than mother.

Kagome's mother made idle chatter, but it was pleasant. She asked him about his studies, eyes widening in surprise as he told her what school he went to. She continued on, delicately leaving any mention of his money alone, and asked if he liked his classes.

"Math," Kyoya found himself saying. "I enjoy math quite a bit."

"Really?" She hummed thoughtfully. "That was Kagome's least favorite, it's refreshing to see not all students are like that. She liked English."

"Is Kagome not a student any more?"

Kagome's mother startled, then shook her head. "Oh, no. In middle school she had to take too many absences. I tried to get her to think of high school, but she's so comfortable at the shrine…"

Absences?

The front door opened, and two voices bickered in the front. A shout of "Hey! your shoes!" and the answering "Oh, right" had the Higurashi matriarch smiling fondly.

"There they are. Kagome is very dependable about getting home on time, she's a good girl."

She stood from the table, going to greet them in the hall. Kyoya strained his ears to hear, but couldn't discern anything besides a low murmuring. Now free to do so, he turned his tea cup in his hands, noting this one to be of significantly better quality than the last. He almost dropped it as the thought formed.

The sound of footsteps hurriedly making their way to the living room had Kyoya sitting up straighter. The door opened, and Higurashi Kagome stood expectantly.

"Hello, Haruhi's friend, right?"

"Ootori, Kyoya, yes," he smiled charmingly, but the girl only maintained her cheery disposition without a shred of recognition. "I had a few questions for you, I hope you don't mind?"

"Sure! What's on your mind?" Kagome sat across from him, hands casually crossed over one another. "Is it about the demon, or the princess?"

"Neither, actually." Kyoya sat for a moment, chewing on his words. Perhaps a blunt approach would be appropriate. "Miss Higurashi, do you know how much your tea sets are worth?"

She didn't even blink. "I do."

"Then you're aware that these are invaluable. Museum worthy, even."

"They are artisan, handcrafted tea sets from four hundred and fifty years ago," Kagome acknowledged. As an afterthought, she added, "Mint condition."

Smiling at Kyoya, she took his cup. "You are aware of Nobunaga's influence, yes? Instead of land he distributed highly beautiful tea sets to his best warriors, to the point where it became a symbol of political importance and power. This is what ties tea and Japan together so tightly."

Understanding trickled in, ever so slowly. Kyoya tilted his head. "Is that why your mother has the nicer set?"

Kagome raised a brow, impressed at how he had read between the lines. She returned the tea to its rightful place in front of him, and drew her hand back to cradle her cheek.

"Yes," she spoke with a loving conviction. "Above anyone else I respect my mother. She has supported and cared for me my entire life, I can never repay her for her strength."

Kyoya watched the expressions flicker on her face before he humorously asked, "I'm not going to see a news article about these missing sets, am I?"

Kagome covered her mouth when she laughed. It was lovely.

Outside, clouds eventually grew fat with afternoon rain.

"Ah, I've kept you too long yet again." Kagome smiled apologetically. "We have an umbrella, I can walk you down if you're in a hurry."

Kyoya paused. He had decided to let go of the tea set question for now. There was something more interesting to uncover, and both issues would be handled in his own time.

However…

"What if I'm not in a hurry?"

Kagome smiled up at him. "Well, my mother is an excellent cook, and I always have more stories to tell."

They had sat on the front porch to watch the rain fall. Kagome gave Kyoya a full mug of tea, and her mother Kun-Loon had lovingly wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. The mug he held was a handmade one, dotted with paw prints and crooked swirls that were clearly a child's craft.

He wanted to smile at how carefully Kagome had handed the cup to him. She seemed to value it far above the centuries old treasures she had stowed away in her home.

Kyoya watched her watch the rain fall, peace settling just as warmly as the quilt around his shoulders.

"You know Toga and his second wife's story. But his first woman was a full blooded demon, strong and graceful. She didn't care much for humans but I don't believe she would hold that belief forever. Toga was someone she respected even after they had parted, but she never sought out his other son. I think she had forgotten that his mother only had a few decades longer at most…"

"Sorry." Kagome waved her hand. "This is a story involving Toga's firstborn: Sesshomaru, lord of the western front. Sesshomaru was a ruthless man, but never without grace. Those who heard of him named him the Killing Perfection. Those who saw him never lived to speak of it.

"Apathetic at best, bloodthirsty at the worst. In fact, the Shikon priestess was almost murdered by him the first time they'd met, but they moved past it."

Kyoya held tongue in cheek. The moral of the story was already annoyingly apparent and completely unoriginal. The importance of the priestess was glaringly obvious, they would fall in love and Sesshomaru would gain humanity and compassion. An age old story retold in countless texts, how… dull. For some reason he had expected something more nontraditional.

"In fact, they would have never become allies had it not been for a little girl, Rin."

He blinked. "Rin?" He almost stated the name in his disbelief. "Who is… Rin?"

"Rin was a child who came across Sesshomaru, who happened to be injured at the time, if I recall correctly." Kagome leaned back in her chair, head cocked to the side as if in memory. "Yes, there's no written record of Rin, but I feel as though there should be. She was a village child, the youngest with a few older brothers. Rin's family had been murdered by bandits; she was petrified of humans. Rin was later killed and ripped apart by wolves."

Kyoya felt his blood run cold. For a brief moment, he cursed his previous thought process; Kyoya had wanted entertainment, not the story of a murdered little girl. He couldn't look away from Kagome, too caught up in shock.

"Sesshomaru happened upon her as she died, and afterwards plunged his blade into the stomach of the little girl who tried to heal him."

This was wrong. What kind of story is this? What happened to the formulaic fairy tale? This sounded too convincing!

"Sesshomaru had inherited one of his father's blades; the same blade he had used to save Izayoi and his newborn that night. Because Rin had just died, he was able to use the reviving sword to bring her back to life."

"That little girl already had him wrapped around her finger," Kagome chuckled. "The first thing she saw when the light came back to her big brown eyes was Sesshomaru, and she never wanted to let go of him. Sesshomaru himself admitted that he had no idea why he did it. She followed him everywhere, and he pretended to hate it until he realized what his father had meant to teach him by bestowing him his fang: humans- or rather, Rin- had a rather limited time. She wouldn't be around forever. So Sesshomaru began to tolerate humans- namely Rin and whatever humans InuYasha allied himself with- more and more."

Kun-Loon stuck her head out of the door frame and called them for dinner, Kagome answered, reassuring her mother they'd be right there.

Kagome tilted her head, looking off into the distance. "Huh. I don't know why I didn't just tell you the edited version. Usually I tell everyone the edited version."

Dinner was a lively affair. While Kagome had no idea who he was, it was apparent that the rest of her family did, even her grandfather. But like the mother, Souta and her grandfather hadn't commented on anything in regards to his money and treated Kyoya like any other friend of their relative.

He found himself endeared by the act.

In fact, Kagome was usually the one who would ask the most questions about their discussion.

Kyoya didn't think it was that she was inattentive, because most of the inquiries were innocent and maintained conversation. It was very odd.

Say if an actor's name was mentioned, she would ask if it was the same actor from a movie that premiered years ago.

Or, if her brother brought up a program she had wanted to watch, she would cover her ears and demand he not spoil it. Even if the show had been over past a year now, she simply hadn't caught up.

Kagome was simultaneously behind on things and somehow timeless. Like nothing phased her.

Kyoya nodded his head in thanks when Kun-Loon offered more rice, and held out his bowl to her. The meal was simple, but he couldn't remember the last time he enjoyed a meal so much.

As Souta began regaling the story of his soccer club meeting, the rain began to let up. Kyoya saw Kagome's eyes flicker outside but she said nothing. Kyoya didn't say anything either. She set a cup of fresh- whisked- tea in front of him, and sat back down at his side.

Kyoya stayed for a good hour longer.