RIDGE

He shouldn't have bothered to come back.

His mood was already terrible. Despite any youthful ideas of grandeur he might have held, he couldn't imagine that even his younger self would have faulted him for rethinking those aspirations, given what he faced now.

To be fair, he couldn't really be angry with the kit. Logically, he knew that. Or with Myouga. Or even his mother. Or Tamamo no Mai, though the nine-tailed fox's stare was getting on his nerves.

"It's uh… a pleasure, Sesshoumaru… sama…" The voice was muffled against the floor. The kitsune blatantly uncomfortable with the formality, his voice wavering and stuttering on the words. Sesshoumaru would have preferred that he didn't bother, but supposed it was for appearances sake and to please the fox queen more than anything else.

"It is quite good to see you, Sesshoumaru," his mistress was much chattier. Having greeted his mother already, the two old friends trading sly comments about him as if he wasn't standing right beside them. The corridor they'd met in silent except for their blathering.

"You know, I was quite jealous of you for snagging the Inu no Taishou back then, but I think your son might be just as fine… maybe more." Her sly smirk was irritating as she appraised him, emerald eyes glinting in mirth, thick red hair falling neatly down her back to the floor. Of her nine tails, at least four flicked back and forth behind her while the others swished against the floor.

"Oh, he's no good, Mai, a lousy son with no manners!"

"He is still so young, why the last time I saw him he was only a tiny thing, still clinging to your furs…"

Shippou still had his forehead on the floor, unlike the other foxes she'd brought along in her retinue, who had begun to rise and follow after their leader and his mother.

"Get up."

The boy jumped to his feet, blushing and looking sheepish and giving him a nervous smile. He had to crane his neck almost painfully to make eye contact, but he had grown some, the top of his head even with Sesshoumaru's knee. "So, uh, good to see you, too, right? ...been a few weeks, uh, Rin's―"

"One word." Shippou snapped his mouth shut. "About her, or about anything you hear or see here when you return, and I'll have your tongue out."

The smile fell from his face, replaced with a fearful grimace as Shippou swallowed audibly. He gave several vigorous nods of his head before Sesshoumaru turned on his heel; only mildly pleased that the kit still feared him.

"But Kagura―"

"I said no, not tonight."

"You always do this to me!" Momiji hissed, keeping her voice low to not disturb whoever it was she'd been entertaining in the room behind her. Soft candlelight spilled through the shoji and out into the dark corridor they stood in, silhouetting the oni save for her eyes, which glowed furiously.

"Achara can go," Kagura offered, throwing a thumb over her shoulder at the bird who clung to the shadows. "Just not me."

"Fine, but you owe me," she said, quirking a finger to indicate that she wanted her to follow as Momiji slid the door open again, throwing harsh light into the hall. Kagura leaned over to peak around the door frame.

"Yo! Kagura!" At least Hotaru's grinning face was welcome, his kosode tugged open wide to reveal a blindingly pale chest as he waved at her.

She didn't know the others seated around their little circle, but recognized them for what they were. Two full fledged Dai-Tengu and their four ko-tengu attendants, the latter more crow than anything, with their grotesque, wrinkled beaked faces and taloned hands. They blinked at her owlishly when she stepped into the light, while their more human masters watched her curiously with pitch black eyes.

Kagura flicked her fan in front of her face, acknowledged Hotaru's greeting with a nod but kept her gaze on the crows. Gooseflesh slowly made its way across her arms and the back of her neck, the pressure in the room uncomfortable, the aura radiating off the dai-tengu sucking all the heat from the room. Momiji and Hotaru seemed to pay it no mind, if they noticed at all, but when Kagura glanced back into the hall, Achara's face was oddly pale.

"Kagura the wind user, what a pleasure." The one closest got to his feet, pale skinned and black eyed, with hair like an oil slick falling over his shoulders, and great wings folded neatly behind his back.

"Can't say I return the sentiment," she said, dipping her fan and watching him carefully as he stepped up to her. Momiji probably clicked her tongue in reprimand, but went ignored.

The Tengu simply laughed, a dry chuckle that spoke little of humour.

"Unfortunate, but I'm sure that can change," he said, smirking. "Won't you grace us with your company?"

He reached out a hand, his fingers tipped in black talons. Kagura straightened, but didn't back away as he trailed the back of his fingers across her cheek―

She recoiled, sucking in a breath and flinching away from the ice in his touch; her skin buzzed unpleasantly, so deeply she could taste the sickening sensation in the back of her mouth, like something too sweet.

He pulled his hand away, eyes wide, mouth slightly open in shock, but then the corner of his lips quirked.

Hotaru was at her side immediately and Achara's hand gripped her forearm, tugging insistently.

"I have something to take care of," Kagura said, the words felt weak as she let her friend gently pull her away down the hall. She kept the crow's gaze, a burgeoning grin on his face, until they rounded a corner.

"What the fuck was that?!" she hissed once they were out of sight, rubbing furiously at her still tingling cheek with her sleeve.

"The tengu've all got weird powers." Hotaru eyed her curiously, "You know I have a high tolerance for bullshit, but they were giving me the creeps, too."

"They aren't much different than me," Achara said, "holy beings who chose to be corrupted. He'll know."

"No wonder he made my fucking skin crawl." She rubbed the back of her neck. There hadn't been any malice in his expression, it seemed he was just as surprised as she, but that icy touch had been more than unpleasant. It felt like a fog, and she blinked to clear her head. Hotaru took her face in both hands, turning her head back and forth in a mock examination. She shook him off and turned to keep walking. "Remind me to stay the hell away from them."

"I'll be right there with you, don't worry," Achara said, though Kagura barely heard it, as her sense suddenly snapped back to attention when they came to a fork in the hall. A little too late, as she nearly collided with soft fur.

"Oi, watch it!" she hissed, hardly paying him or his stare any mind. She shut her eyes tight against the sharp stab of pain behind her eyes, the rubber band snap of her awareness coming back too quickly. She rubbed at her temple and glanced up at him indignantly. "What's with the―"

"Kagura?!"

A fuzzy red head popped out near Sesshoumaru's knee, followed by the imp wringing his hands together. Shippou stared at her with his mouth hanging wide and his eyes as big as saucers. She squinted at him, trying to remember…

"Oh! The little tanuki!"

"I'm a fox!"

"He's a fox," Hotaru echoed.

Kagura waved a hand dismissively before she leaned over and pointed at him accusingly. "What the fuck are you doing here?" And then, to Sesshoumaru: "What the fuck is he doing here?"

Sesshoumaru's expression didn't change, his stare as blank as before, but before she could say anything else a palm clamped over her mouth and yanked her back, Hotaru muttering something to Sesshoumaru about forgiving his loud mouthed friend. She struggled in his grasp, ready to open her fan before she settled on the next best option.

She bit him.

With a yelp he released her, and she rounded on him with the blunt end of her fan, a good smack to the top of his head and he backed off, moaning and clutching the bruise.

"So what the fuck is he doing here?"

"I was invited!" Shippou growled, jumping in between her and the dog who looked like he was trying not to pop a blood vessel. "I'm high ranked for my age―!"

"...oh, fucking hell, shut up about the damn ranks!" Hotaru hissed behind her.

"―Tamamo no Mai herself asked me to come!" The boy shifted so that he could look around her to growl at Hotaru. "And what rank are you?! Full grown and only got one tail? You might be big and old but I bet you're just a low level fuzz-ball―"

"Enough!" Kagura snatched Shippou by the base of his tail and gave him a shake before Hotaru's fist could make contact with the boy's head. "Aren't you a bit too young to start a pissing contest?"

With a roll of her eyes she tossed him, he hit the ground just near Sesshoumaru's feet, Jaken quick to pounce and berate the boy for being obtuse in his lord's presence. Shippou bounced once and landed on his butt, glaring at Jaken and then growling back up Kagura. He jumped to his feet, as if he might lunge for her, his fangs bared in a tiny snarl.

Bigger, but that didn't account for much, Kagura thought, still a tiny thing.

"I don't need babying, you bitch!"

Apparently time with the hanyou had colored his vocabulary.

"Watch it, you little―"

"Both of you, shut up."

Shippou flinched, and stared up at Sesshoumaru, while Kagura crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"If you insist on arguing, do it somewhere else."

He said it like he was the one with the ghost of a headache tickling him. He went to step past her, Jaken sneering at them both and making an intimidating gesture at Shippou.

"...at least he didn't hit me," the fox muttered, sticking out his tongue in defiance of the imp.

"Do you want me to change that? I can change that."

Shippou glared up at her. "What are you doing here anyway?!"

"What business is it of yours, I―"

"No, go ahead and answer his question, won't you?"

Kagura froze, a dreadful silence falling over the group that had gathered in the crossroads, the realization striking too late in her haze as she turned to face the Lady Mother with a cool stare.

"I do hate to be vain," she said as she stepped out of the shadows, gold eyes glimmering in the low light, a vicious smile pulling at her lips, and her head quirked, "but I can't help the feeling that I know what your answer would be: hiding from me."

Sesshoumaru had stopped, watching the exchange over his shoulder curiously. Kagura knew better than to look at him, she straightened her spine and squared her shoulders but didn't bother with a smile.

"Merely a coincidence that we haven't crossed paths before now," she said, meeting the lady mother's stern gaze.

"Hn, is that so?" His mother tilted her head as she took another step forward to place herself within arms reach. "You know, there is little I despise more than thieves other than liars. It seems you are both." Her cold eyes slid past Kagura coldly. "Where is your rude little friend? I had thought his bones would make a good pick for my fangs."

Kagura kept her voice level, ignoring questioning stares. She hated the words that slipped off her tongue. "Allow me to offer my apologies. I'm sure you can understand why I wasn't able to keep up my end of the bargain―"

"The alternative was your death. Yet here you stand."

"Mother." Sesshoumaru stepped forward and they both looked up at him. His mother raised a brow.

"You know, when you asked about my son, I was curious about your relation, but," she sniffed loudly, "I am glad that my initial assumption seems to have been wrong."

She couldn't rightly blame the old bitch for being snide. Kagura would have been spiteful, too, if someone had gone against their word. But her head still ached and there were too many standing in the hall, crowding her, not enough space to breathe. Achara and Hotaru, as welcome as they were, were too warm against her back; and Sesshoumaru's stare needled her face, an uneasy sort of curiosity radiating off of him in waves.

"What is this about?" he asked, coming back to stand almost between them. Kagura opened her mouth, but his mother was quicker.

"Oh? She didn't tell you?" his mother said, twirling her hand to point one none-too-delicate claw in Kagura's direction. "This one came to me, what was it now? Four years ago in the spring, asking to be granted passage to hell. I graciously allowed it and was promised either a show or a persimmon for my trouble yet I was given neither, even after her companion so rudely insulted me. And I come to find her here lively as can be."

Silence fell save for Jaken's shocked squawk, Achara's hand tugged her sleeve but Kagura shrugged it off, her skin too hot with everyone staring at her. She chanced a look at Sesshoumaru and almost regretted it, a deep crease between his brows and his mouth set into a hard line.

"It's as she says," Kagura said softly, averting her eyes to the floor.

"So then, I'm still owed my due," his mother's smirk was audible, "what shall I take? Your eyes are quite a striking shade―"

"Mother." Sesshoumaru stepped soundly between them, and she could no longer see his face.

Kagura's hand already gripped her fan with white knuckles and Hotaru had grabbed hold of the back of her obi, ready to spring away if necessary. She hardly needed it, but appreciated the gesture.

"Allow me to deal with this, you've only just arrived."

His mother raised a brow curiously. Kagura could only stare at his back, shock and a trickle of trepidation swirling in her belly. His shoulders were set too tense, an edge to his posture she didn't know how to interpret.

"I would say you're being sweet to your mother but I have the feeling that isn't your reason for saying so," she said, running her tongue across her fangs as she considered it. She gave Kagura one long look and then her eyes moved back to her son with a shake of her head. "You're not so wrong, my son. I am terribly weary after my journey, I expect you to deal with her accordingly and regal me with the tale some other time."

His mother waved a hand over her shoulder as she turned, her step bouncing with a characteristic nonchalance and indifference that gave Kagura the feeling the old bitch had only sought to cause a disruption, as if she'd only been upset for appearances sake than a true grudge.

Whatever the case, it hardly mattered, as soon as she'd disappeared from sight Sesshoumaru brushed past her, pausing just long enough to grind out a gruff order for Kagura to follow.

Any other time she might have bristled, but for once thought better of it. She gave her friends one last look, shrugging off their concerned faces with a wave. She cared little for the wide eyed concern of the fox or the grumpy frown of the imp, though she felt both burning holes into her spine as she walked away.

She followed him down the dark corridor, until a set of doors appeared from the darkness. Sesshoumaru slid them open with and stepped inside. A simple room that must have been set aside for someone who had yet to arrive, another set of doors on the opposite wall that led outside onto a veranda, a fact she only knew by the way the breeze brushed against the paper screens.

Kagura paused on the threshold, watching the tense set to his spine, his body like a taut cord ready to snap. She took a breath and stepped inside, closing the door silently behind her back. The little kit had followed them, probably hiding in disguise just outside the door, but if Sesshoumaru noticed it didn't show and Kagura could care less what the little bastard was privy to.

She waited, for a question, for some snide comment, yet he was nothing more than a statue, still as death, frozen in the center of the room. She sighed. Fine.

"I don't need you hiding me from your mother, I can handle myself."

There was a pause. "You think my goal was to protect you?"

The air stilled in her lungs, the wind holding its breath as she watched him. Silhouetted by the moonlight spilling through the paper screens, he turned to face her, golden eyes glowing with―

Rage.

"Explain."

"Explain what?" she hissed, pushing off the door to better see his face in the dim light. His frown deepened, bordering on a scowl. "Sorry, I don't answer to one word orders. How about you ask me a question and then maybe we can have a conversation."

He leveled a cold glare at her, his gaze raking over her face so sternly she had to cross her arms. She felt the need to raise her chin, as if she could look down her nose at him.

"Why did you go to Yomi?"

A question she'd expected, but she couldn't help her snort. She hadn't planned the script for this, having had the full intention to meet his mother in private; though in hindsight, his presence might have done some good. She doubted that having to resort to taking the old bitch's head would have gone over significantly worse than her current predicament.

Kagura ran her tongue over her teeth, rabbit holes of scenarios running through her mind. She could tell him… a version:

"I stole something from a god, and was sent to hell to resurrect one as punishment."

Not a total lie, but far from the whole truth. If he prodded there were too many holes in the story.

Closer to the truth:

"I stole something from a god's shrine without knowing, and was sent to hell because a wind god threatened me to bring his nephew back."

Or, the actual truth:

"I stole something from a god's shrine without knowing, and was sent to hell because a wind god threatened me to bring his nephew back. Turns out I hadn't actually stolen anything and Fuujin is a right bastard. Also, Byakuya is alive because he's who I brought back from hell. You'd think that was a mistake, but it wasn't. And I―"

She shook her head.

The easiest option: Sesshoumaru didn't fucking need to know.

"I had my reasons."

"Kagura." His lip pulled away from his teeth into the beginnings of a snarl.

"I don't owe you an explanation," she hissed, returning his snarl with a grimace of her own.

He stepped closer, she answered by stepping back. He followed until her shoulders bumped against the wall and he towered over her, trying to use his aura to unsettle her. Kagura still had her arms crossed and fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Am I supposed to be intimidated?" she scoffed. "You'll have to try a little harder than that."

"I'm owed an answer, Kagura," he growled, his voice thick and dangerous. She wanted to laugh in his face.

"You're not owed anything," she spat back, "especially not from me."

His aura faltered, just a little, his eyes flickering back and forth between hers. Second guessing himself, maybe. She took some pride in that.

"You're the one who always came to me, asking for aid and offering it where it wasn't needed, yet now you refuse to―"

"Because it has nothing to fucking do with you." He wanted to bring that up? Fine. "I think I'll go deal with your mother rather than whatever half baked interrogation this is. At least she makes things interesting rather than just growling at me."

She dropped her arms and moved to sidestep him, but he only closed the distance between them, crowding her against the wall.

"If Naraku―"

"Stop." She held up a hand to silence him, though it did little, as close as they were, she brushed against his chest with the movement. "If you're assuming what I think you're assuming―"

"And what would I assume? That you, Naraku's incarnation, had reason to go to the land of the dead mere days after his death?"

She felt as if she'd been slapped.

"You think I went to bring him back?" she spat incredulously, "is that what you think?"

His face was still cold but he merely raised a brow and tilted his chin towards her.

"You do." She dropped her arms to her sides and stared at him, flabbergasted. At least that explained the hostility. He really thought that she would have… even after everything? How dare―

"You haven't denied it."

"Why should I? You, more than anyone, should know better!"

"Then what reason did you have to go to Yomi? You who valued your freedom above all else, what reason could you have had to travel to the land of the dead? To take the chance of throwing that all away?" The snarl crept back into his voice and she flinched when he leaned forward.

"You trust me that little?"

The scowl on his face smoothed out just a bit, but he kept his mouth shut.

Kagura scoffed. "Fine. Don't. But it had nothing to do with him."

"Naraku always had elaborate schemes."

"Get the fuck away from me." She moved to step past him, but he just moved along with her. Looking down his nose as if she were nothing more than the tool she'd once been. "Unless you're going to accuse me of something meaningful or make good on your mother's behalf then you should quit while you're ahead, Sesshoumaru."

"Tell me why."

It would be easy to explain, to lay it all bare before him, the truth that would probably be more fantastical than whatever idea his little brain had cooked up. It would simple. But the look on his face, the suspicion and anger there pissed her off more. He'd always held her at arm's length. She didn't owe him anything.

"...before I start questioning your loyalties."

Kagura nearly choked on her own spit.

"My loyalties?! I'm loyal to no one but me and mine. You should fucking know better. Besides, if this was some elaborate scheme, it's always been you who changes his mind whenever it suits him! Even when you had that girl you still―"

She didn't flinch as a poisonous fist collided with the wall beside her head, her expression cold despite the stink of dissolving plaster.

"Do not speak of her here."

There was a pause, silence between them as the plaster sizzled next to her ear. His face didn't change, just as furious, his mouth turned up in a scowl; the silence dragged just a bit too long, long enough for him to realize what he'd done, a sliver of surprise as the scowl fell just a little.

Good.

All it took was a flick of her wrist to call a gust strong enough to make even her ears pop. His eyes went comically wide, the wind precise and targeted at his sternum. She felt the air leave his lungs in one short burst as he was thrown across the room, his shoulders collided with the opposite wall, cracking the plaster and sending dust and debris fluttering down around them as the room trembled.

Stunned, he pulled himself up to watch as she tore open the doors that led outside, throwing harsh moonlight across the floor but leaving him in shadow. She stepped out onto the veranda, her toes gripping the boards, and turned to look at him one last time.

"Next time, aim for my head."

She stepped off, and let the wind cushion her fall.

Oop.