I don't own anything Inuyasha.
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"Wait, he was your dog?"
Kimiko yelled across the small cabin to Kagome, who was currently in the small bedroom alcove rummaging through her half-packed duffle bag for anything that might cover up the very naked and very imposing demon.
"Just... give me a second," she stressed with an overly saccharine plea.
It was only moments before that Sesshoumaru had released Nathan. She had stepped in between the two as if she could stop anything from escalating, begging him with her eyes to stand down, and when it didn't look like he was going to advance again Kagome took a liberty and gently nudged him over to the room. The thick, furry appendage somehow exuding from his shoulder trailed on the floor behind them, almost tripping her.
"I'll explain everything," she promised, guiding Sesshoumaru back away from her friends as she gestured to his… bare form. "Let me take care of this then we can talk."
Kimiko had leveled her a distrusting, anxious glare, but her husband was already patting her arm, grinning like an idiot. As they made it behind the bedroom's curtain, she could hear his raspy whisper, "I can't believe it happened, this is incredible!"
Kagome was still in pajamas as she looked through some still clean clothes. The humidity and layer of cold sweat from earlier made the tank top cling uncomfortably to her back. As she searched, her slept-in hair fell into her eyes and tickled her neck. It still wasn't as irritating as the inuyoukai looking over her shoulder.
Sesshoumaru stared down at her shaky hands as she tossed items out from the bag. Her sour mood and her crashing adrenaline spike wrinkled his nose. "You are disquieted."
"I-" Kagome began, voice thick with sarcasm and exasperation, "did not expect to have to break up a fight already. It really brings back old times." She held out a pair of pajama pants, comparing it to his body, and huffed. "Can't you make your own clothing or something? For some reason I thought you would just be," she waved her hands his way, "Dressed."
His brow knitted together and he looked away, apparently uninterested in answering.
Kagome sighed and turned to check in the small bathroom, commenting, "I thought you would come with all your 'accessories'." When she returned, his dark glower almost stopped her short. She apprehensively offered a light pink bundle of cloth and asked, "Please put this on? We will get something more… appropriate later?"
His golden eyes stared at the garment, making no other comment than, "Hn."
.
It wasn't long after Sesshoumaru had wrapped the threadbare cotton robe around himself that they all were gathered around the small table near the kitchen. The small black puppy, Inunami, yipped around the house before curling up in the fluffy mokomoko, resting her head against the stripes across Sesshoumaru's ankles. He never turned his attention to the dog, but did not dismiss her either.
Kimiko and Nathan knelt on the far end of the low table, close to each other and on the opposite side of Kagome. The inuyoukai chose to remain standing over her right shoulder, the cat-printed robe only reaching his mid thigh, and gave no other reaction than his patented bored yet displeased expression as she tried to explain the whole situation as quickly as possible.
"So," Kimiko said, attempting to shake the dazed looked from her eyes. "When you were fifteen you traveled back in time. Demons are real, but they aren't around anymore except for him," she pointed and Sesshoumaru's eyebrow hitched, "and you're a priestess with powers that brought him back to some sort of 'true form'?"
Kagome nodded, deciding to leave out the fact that past Sesshoumaru had tried to kill her… twice. It would do nothing to ease tensions.
Her friend slumped back in her chair, clearly still trying to get her mind to believe what her eyes saw right in front of her. Then, she swung her attention to Nathan. "This is like something from one of your books."
Her husband smiled, rolling his empty teacup in his hands. "I told you there was magic and unexplained things in the world."
"This is insane," his wife protested. "Kagome, this is crazy! I mean, isn't he dangerous?" She looked Sesshoumaru in the eyes. "Aren't you dangerous?"
Kagome turned to look at him as well, careful not to accidentally peek up the robe. The gold in his eyes heated as he returned Kimiko's stare. A muscle in his jaw tightened and, being so close, she could hear his deeper inhale of breath and saw the expansion of his pupils. Heat seemed to radiate from what she knew were tightly coil muscles, prepared to outmatch any opponent. He stood unnaturally still otherwise, otherworldly yet rooted to the ground as if nothing could move him if he did not desire it. From the silky silver of his hair to the sleek point of his ears to the vibrant markings adorning his skin- labeling him predator- Sesshoumaru was dangerous.
Even in a cat-themed thin cotton robe he was the most dangerous thing she had ever seen.
Kagome turned back to her human friends, gulping down a wavering hint of the apprehension, then plastered on her best 'everything is fine' smile, "You just startled him, is all."
"Startled!" Kimiko countered. "He nearly killed him!"
Sesshoumaru's scowl must have deepened because Kimiko hunched. Kagome elbowed his shin and said, "Oh, if he was serious you would know."
The implication loomed over them and the couple visibly paled. Kimiko cleared her throat and asked, "... How exactly would we know?"
Kagome began to respond, but then heard Sesshoumaru click his claws together and her mouth shut with a snap. She changed the subject instead. "Um, well, that's not relevant…. Hey, wait," a thought finally occurred to her. "What are you doing here anyways?"
Nathan perked up. "Sota called us, really worried. He said he has been trying to reach you since last night."
Kagome instinctually reached for her pocket, even knowing her phone was not there.
Kimiko continued. "So, when we couldn't reach you either, Nathan said that we had to check on you. He wouldn't tell me why," her harsh glare bore into her husband, who had the sense to look sheepish, "But insisted that you might be in danger. Now, it makes sense. I mean," she chuckled awkwardly, stressing her disbelief, "Nothing about this makes sense."
Still fidgeting with the cup, Nathan asked, "Did you forget your charger?"
Kagome shook her head. She had been a meticulous packer since her year in the feudal era. Trying her best to avoid bumping into Sesshoumaru's bare legs, she clumsily unfolded herself from the floor and rushed to where she had stationed her charger.
Without the miko guard, there was nothing really between the married couple and the imposing demon standing over them. Kimiko averted her eyes, but Nathan's tack had always been lacking. As Kagome reached her phone, she caught Nathan looking over Sesshoumaru from head to toe and heard him quip, "You really went all out on the stripes there, huh?"
Kagome froze and Kimiko smacked her husband's shoulder, hissing, "You are going to get us killed, you know that?"
"Found it!" Kagome announced too loud, holding up her dark, unlit cell and averting all the attention to herself. Even Inunami startled and leapt to her tiny paws. As she hurried back to the table, the phone refused to turn on. "That's weird."
"Is it dead?" the man asked.
The renewed priestess smacked the side of the device a couple times to no avail. "It didn't charge, and now won't even turn on. Maybe the circuit blew?"
Kimiko perked up. "Oh, I couldn't get the lights to turn on either. The kettle was broken as well, so I had to just boil water on the stove."
All the humans looked to Sesshoumaru. The puppy barked, and one silver eyebrow disappeared into his bangs, but that was all the response they received.
Shaking her head, Kagome said, "I'll check the panel later. Can I use your phone? I want to check my voicemail."
Her friend nodded and unlocked her phone before sliding it across the table.
As she punched in her number, Kagome could feel Sesshoumaru looking over her shoulder and his... displeasure? Disapproval? Whatever it was, he was not disinterested. She brought the phone to her ear and offered him a stressed smile. He stared back, waiting.
It finally dawned on her. He had no idea what was in her hand, what a circuit was, or why they thought to blame him. A fading vision of her dream, where she had pulled some dark thing free against the will of the universe, flitted through her mind. Perhaps the battle of energy had killed the electronics like a supernatural EMP. Or, perhaps his final breakthrough transformation did. Not knowing how to even begin explaining this to him, she dumbly offered, "It's a phone," before the automated voice prompted for her pass code.
Sesshoumaru heard the voice and moved like he was going to take the cell out of her hands to inspect it. Again, Kagome got up, this time smacking his hand away, and walked to the other end of the room, covering her other ear to hear the messages better.
"Don't-" Kimiko began to protest Kagome's leaving, but stopped when Sesshoumaru's attention went back to her.
His amber eyes narrowed and she deflated. Nathan put his arm in front, as if to block her from whatever danger the demon might pose, and Sesshoumaru had to laugh. It was a short, stunted, "Hn," and more of an exhalation then actual chuckle, but his indignation was clear. He rolled his eyes away from them and quietly said, "She looks healthy."
His deep baritone once again stilled the human couple for a moment. He had not spoken since they first entered the cabin, and it proved to be just as jarring now as it had been then.
The inuyoukai sighed. "The pup," he explained. "She is healthy."
Realization dawned on them as Sesshoumaru reached down, the bottom of the robe climbing up dangerously high as he beckoned Inunami. He grabbed the furry dog by the scruff and, supporting her hips, brought its face to his own. He studied her teeth and ears as they watched.
"Is she," Kimiko began to ask. "Is she like you? I mean, will she change?"
He remained silent for another long moment, then extended his arms out to place the puppy in the woman's arms. "No."
'You have 8 New Messages' the computerized voice declared. Kagome balked and felt another hit of adrenaline freeze her veins. The announcement to the first one went achingly slow, but finally she heard Sota's voice.
"Oi, Kagome," he greeted, sounding a little stressed. Despite the tension she felt, she smiled a little. They would always be a little hero worship in her little brother for Inuyasha. "I really wish you would answer your texts or pick up your phone. You picked a hell of a week to take your 'vacation'. Gramps has been complaining about an animal around the shrine, but we didn't think anything of it until last night. I really need you to call me back."
Then, he hung up, without giving anymore information.
Kagome huffed, tapping her foot impatiently as she navigated through to the next message.
"Oi! Why aren't you calling us back? Mama is getting worried about you. Especially with this... thing that keeps popping up. Answer your phone."
Again, he hung up. Kagome growled.
"Okay," Sota had started the next one, his voice anxious. "This has to have something to do with you, cause you are the only one weird enough to... Grandpa! What is-"
Another message ended. She might have thrown the phone had it been hers.
"Kagome," the new voicemail started. Sota sounded older, calmer, and entranced. "I think it's one of them." The way his tone lightened at the word 'them' straightened her posture. Her muscles twitched and lips tilted.
The next message started without her notice as she ran back to the table. Her startled friends quickly stood, Kimiko holding their puppy close to her, but she ignored them. Kagome turned fully to Sesshoumaru and grabbed him by the shoulders.
The contact between them seemed normal and forbidden simultaneously. She didn't care, and he didn't move away from her.
"Sesshoumaru!" she cheered, trapping his eyes with the excitement in her own. She felt his breathing halt as she smiled brightly at him. "There's more!"
It took a moment, but she saw realization dawn in him. His eyes widened and mouth even dropped open a little. He understood.
In the past, Kagome had been involved in a few incidents that had drained the spark from him. When she had freed Tetsusaiga, he was shocked and dismayed. When she had destroyed his armor with her arrow, claiming the next one was aimed for his heart, he had been surprised and angry. Any time she had come across him, actually, the uptight demon lord had left humbled. Except, of course, that one time near the end...
But now, this was the first time she was able to brighten something within him, and to be so close to watch that fire ignite the gold of his eyes, hear the sharp intake of breath, and feel his body react was an experience she did not realize she wanted until now.
Her smile widened, inviting him in. This was unexpected and she wasn't entirely sure more demons in the world was good news or bad news, but the knowledge that Sesshoumaru would not be completely alone warmed her heart. Whatever was to come next, they would face it together.
"Let's go!"
...
END OF PART ONE
...
A/N: The end? Really?
Originally, this was supposed to be the end. It was just going to be this short 10 chapter story, with Kagome finding him, a little fluff of Sesshoumaru as a dog, and a shameless plug of naked taiyoukai. That was it.
But, I had an idea. Kagome and Sesshoumaru use their Healing Spirits (get it) to restore and help the lost youkai, weak hanyou (that had demon blood in them for generations and never knew it), and the newly awakened spiritual users of Japan. Their powers grow together and they are only as strong as each other. There will be a big baddie. All while Sesshoumaru works through learning the new ways of the world, coping with the change of time, and blossoming a romance with Kagome (OF COURSE)... my WIP's are really piling up.
Your support of this story means SO MUCH, especially because it took forever to get even here.
Thanks for welcoming me back to the fandom so warmly.
Stay safe out there and take care of yourselves. The world needs you.