Dying to Live
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Note 1: omiai was referenced earlier in the story, but just in case, it translates directly to "look meet" from Japanese, and refers to the meetings that are arranged for a couple for matchmaking purposes in seeking a marriage partner. It remains a common practice, although modernized, in East Asia into the present era.
Note 2: ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. Artistic and even philosophical strictures guide the practice and mastery of this as an artform.
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PART III: LIVING AND LEARNING
He who neglects to drink of the spring of experience is likely to die of thirst in the desert of ignorance.
-Li Bai
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Sesshomaru walked through the forest. The crunch of mostly desiccated leaves from last fall crunching under his boots here and there was the only sound around him, as he moved through the relative calm of his natural surroundings. As he walked, he kept his hand on the battle sword lashed to his side over his once again clean clothes. A piece of leather he'd found tied back his hair to one side, but as his bangs had grown a bit wild, he found himself pushing them back again and again from his face. It seemed to confirm a growing suspicion he had that there must have been something nigh magical about his hair when he was a youkai - now that he was human, he did not remember it ever being in the way nearly so much in the past.
Despite the distraction, he kept his eyes trained across and to the sides of the informal trail he walked in the mid-morning light. Unlike things recently in his life, as he walked the wilds, he felt a sense of relief: navigating the forest, for all the years he had spent every waking moment of his very long life in it, still came as second nature to him. He missed his full array of senses at every waking moment still it seemed, and bittersweet feelings hit him every few paces. Yet, out between the trees, where the fragrance of the greens and flowers were the strongest, and he could still identify the sights and signs of the workings of the wildlife, it all felt a bit more bearable to him.
The ex-daiyoukai kept going for a while, noticing animal droppings here and there, left by creatures like deer and rabbits - reassurances that small, good game creatures were around in plenty. Carefully knowing what to look for, he occasionally kicked aside debris, snapped twigs or old nettles and watched out for tracks of larger predators like typical, non-youkai wolves and larger cats. He moved through stands of thick trunked trees and noticed none with bark removed or heavy amounts of scat, like bears might leave around the places they liked to make their beds. The most he could find on an two-hour long walk was an old fox run, which didn't appear in use any more based on the way that leaves covered parts of the beaten ridges in the dirt, and a stretch of shedded snake-skin of a non-poisonous species he had become aware of over the years. Otherwise, the immediate area around their new camp appeared calm. That he had not yet attracted the attention of any demon-life around also boded well, and the presence of so much small wildlife indicated a similar lack of supernatural threats.
The sun had moved high in the sky, when Sesshomaru returned to a place in the woods not too far from where they had now come to stay. He had found a nice spot where a large stream passed through the scenery. Where the waterway widened and the banks showed that there was a good amount of leeway even for when the water level increased with rain on occasion, he determined that this was likely where they would go to bathe, wash their clothes, and get the cooking and drinking water. Picking his way along the bank, he noticed as the shadows of decently sized fish went past in the current, another fruitful sign that they had come across a good place to rest for a while. It seemed like a fortunate thing, since he was already predicting they would be there for a while based on their situation…
Finally, the former Lord of the West chose a place a short ways upstream, where the current slowed again and pooled nicely around some large flat stones. It wasn't as easily an accessible spot as the one he'd already staked out for their water. He liked the clusters of tall, thick junipers that stood by the bank in this spot, secluding it a bit. It was perfect for what he had been wanting: slowly he bent his sore legs and thighs and eased himself down to sprawl on one of the large sun-heated stones.
A few minutes went by, and Sesshomaru settled himself quite nicely. The sun seeped through the trees parted by the waterway. Going with what felt natural, the slate-grey haired man found himself taking off and setting aside his boots and heavily travel-worn socks. The heat hit the pale tops of his feet and toes. Something in his chest unclenched slightly at the satisfying sensation. He allowed himself to lean back with his left hand holding him up from behind, while letting his worn out legs stretch out before him on the warm stone. With his scouting through, without aim he watched the water slide by at a sleepy pace in the stream, while his ears tuned to the sounds around. After a few minutes, he found his mind getting bored whereas in the past there was never a dull moment in what he could hear going on for miles around. Sesshomaru sighed. A piece of his dull, slate grey hair fell annoyingly out of the leather tie back past his cheek. Since no one was around to notice but himself, he permitted himself the liberty to blow lazily out the side of his mouth at it, though the strands just fell right back at his cheekbone. Idly the fingers on his right hand found their way to pick at the beginnings of a hole he found forming in the bottom of one his socks where he'd tossed them on the rock.
It had been a long time since Sesshomaru had been left alone for so long. He had used to spend all his time alone contemplating whatever he liked in the wilds of the forest. Often he would just gaze out over stretches of his territory for hours at a time. Sitting there on the stone, picking at his sock, he still did feel a certain calm washing over him. Yet, his mind was still working. In the quiet, he finally felt able to examine things in his mind. The same questions kept swirling vaguely around his thoughts about one particular topic.
Rin. After their fight in the village, the kitsune had come up to Sesshomaru and offered to treat his leg. The normally chatty fox seemed unusually quiet as he wrapped a length of oddly stretchy, tan material around a bandage he'd placed on Sesshomaru's scratch after he cleaned it with an odd looking spray that came from a foreign looking metal bottle. As he thought about it, Sesshomaru ran his hand over the wrapping still on his leg. It had the same odd look as other medical supplies they had, and he guessed that it and the spray had been provided to them from the miko's homeland.
Sesshomaru did not talk to Rin again before they'd left Harumura. He got his haori back only after finding it stacked on top of their supplies, which Ginta had brought down from one of the out-of-the-way hut roof tops the monk had stowed their belongings on first night after their arrival; while Sesshomaru had not understood that at the time, he now guessed that experience must have taught the monk to do such things when fighting demons in human surroundings. If they had kept the items with them, they would have been lost in the mayhem or destroyed by fire.
The slayer met them in the village square with Hachi who he'd flown in on. All business, the slayer exchanged news with Headman Kuga. It was good to hear that the villagers had been able to pitch in to eliminate the last of the possessed wolves. Likewise, the slayer's group had managed to rescue the wolf demon who had been abducted. Kohaku shared his hopes that by reclaiming their friend, the suspect Inu Daiyoukai might no longer be able to control future waves of possessed wolves. Still, he believed that Harumura Village should be careful should the Daiyoukai come for retribution. Wearing a concerned expression, the headman agreed. Regardless, the men agreed that the slayer and his friends would have to take their leave. Monk Miroku had fallen seriously ill since saving their ally, who would also now require intensive care.
With the Headman's agreement, Kohaku prepared their group to leave. When Shippou mounted Kirara and they were stacking the rest of the supplies up to be placed on Hachi, being that their horses were all dead or gone, Kohaku arranged their travel assignments. He gestured for Sesshomaru to ride with Shippou on the nekomata while he would ride with Hachi, Ginta and the supplies. No sooner was he about to direct Rin, his hand sweeping toward the nekomata than she volunteered a bit too loudly, "I can ride with the supplies. You need enough hands to make sure nothing falls."
"Are you sure? It's gonna take us longer because of everything we have to put on Hachi, you could just ride with-" The slayer started to suggest, but noticeably the girl had already climbed up onto the giant gourd.
It had been awkward to say the least, and Sesshomaru still found himself surprisingly struck by how overtly she would avoid him now in front of them all; whereas it was something that seemed natural enough before, the wedge between them was going to be distinct.
Finally, Kohaku suggested that Sesshomaru and Shippou leave first. Once the slayer turned away again to help hand supplies up onto Hachi, the fox turned to Sesshomaru with a cringe. Clearly, the kitsune also wasn't thrilled that Rin would not take the place to sit between them as intended. "Do you think you can scoot up but also avoid trying to throttle me to death at this distance while we're in the air?" he laughed weakly. It was only partially a joke, as the kit sweated slightly.
"Only if you don't give me anything to throttle you over," Sesshomaru replied in a low voice, not really feeling like giving the kitsune a break. The young youkai may have helped dress his wound, but they were hardly pals either.
They lifted off. Navigating with Kirara's help, the kitsune followed the directions given by the slayer to fly them southwest over miles of trees. The elevation increased gradually, and soon, they were passing over more wooded foothills, as outcrops of stone began to peak through the terrain in patches. At last, they approached the base of a set of cliffs soaring out of the earth and studded with evergreen trees. Covered nicely by more trees was the mouth of a cave where Shippou and Sesshomaru found the others had made their camp.
Stiff from riding for a while after a night full of intense physical exertion in battle, they had dismounted in silence where Kirara touched down between the trees. Returned to her tiny kit form, the Nekomata led them up to the cave mouth, where they were greeted at the entrance by soft, warm light.
Their allies had built a fire in the middle of the cave that was large enough to cook and keep warm by at night. Inside the cave, Hakkaku welcomed them wearily but with a smile. Shippou stepped around to talk with the wolf demon, and as the friends looked down at a new lump of furs that Sesshomaru did not recognize, he guessed that they were discussing Kouga's status. Meanwhile, Sesshomaru could see the monk clearly. He had been wrapped up in more unfamiliar pelts, probably provided by the wolves, and was asleep, except for the moments he shifted to cough in his sleep, which seemed frequent as Sesshomaru leaned against the wall watching him.
As they still didn't have their supplies yet, as they were arriving with the slayer's group, Shippou took some food from Hakkaku, pieces of lightly cooked rabbit they had hunted earlier in the day. Sesshomaru was offered some, but the rareness of the meat did not attract him as it may have once done so. The kitsune gazed at Sesshomaru though he didn't accept the meat.
"Hey, was your undershirt white before?" the youth said finally after a bit of staring, and Sesshomaru was relieved to find this was apparently what had prompted it and not something else, since things had been tense between them.
"Yes," he answered, turning back the collar of his haroi to show how the blood was caked on and stained through the undershirt. He wanted to go wash it, but he was surprised to feel his body growing weak. He was beginning to think he would be collapsing into his futon the moment he could get it down from Hachi's back once he arrived.
Sesshomaru had predicted it well. Having lowered himself down to the floor beside the cave wall, Sesshomaru's eyelids were drooping low when their allies came to the mouth of the cave. Being that they had more than the four of them could carry, Sesshomaru and Shippou were asked to go out and grab a few items, while Hakkaku stayed with Kouga and Miroku still. Two trips later Sesshomaru managed to get his bedroll out. Too tired to care, he stripped his filthy haori and undershirt off and threw them on the ground and threw his sheathed dagger with Rin's fabric wrapped dagger, which he still had, between the covers of his bedroll. Under the covers he pulled off his trousers too and put them, also full of blood, on the pile. For once, without a hint of shame or embarrassment for not putting up a tougher front, he passed out cold.
The next thing he noticed were his eyelids languidly sliding back to reveal daylight coming through the cave's entrance. The air on his face was cool and slightly damp as the fire had dwindled the night before. He glanced around and found no one awake to watch as he rose from the covers in his small clothes to put back on the blood stained outer layers.
Yet, he did not find the clothes where he left them. Instead they were piled on his modest travel pack. His eyebrows lifted at spotting the gleam of white of his under kosode where it stuck out from the pile. Someone had cleaned his clothes. After stepping into the hakama and tucking in his white undershirt, he held up and ran his fingers along the fabric of the sleeve where he'd torn it for a piece to put on his wound the day before. The fabric was mottled, uneven, and thinned out looking, but something had remade the frayed edge. Slightly inartfully done though it was, this was repaired by magic according to Sesshomaru's eye.
Sesshomaru looked around the camp, when his eyes landed on a body much smaller than the others. The kitsune slept in his true form, tiny and nested deep down in the blankets so that Sesshomaru could not even spot his face. Sesshomaru was aware that his mother had kept fox demons on her staff precisely because of their artfulness with certain types of useful magics like what had been done with his clothes. Remembering it, Sesshomaru had even fallen smitten with such a one once when he was very young. However the attraction was short lived, only a couple decades, and he never got anywhere with the beautiful nine-tailed fox on his mother's personal staff. This was especially so after adolescent Sesshomaru learned that the demoness turned out to be one of the Lady of the West's "playthings" in addition to her other duties; suffice it to say that it had perturbed him at a young age to find that some his tastes were apparently similar to his mother's. He had not thought of it in quite some time and considered that he probably would not even recognize that demoness if she came out of the woods, tore out his human heart, and ate it still beating in front of him right then…. Such a dark thought, but he still couldn't help but wish to some extent that something like that would happen to him now to set him free...
He sighed and decided that clearly young Shippou was still learning his fox magic, but the clothes would have been hard to salvage from all the heavy staining if the fox demon hadn't helped with them. At last he put on his dark blue haori and placed Rin's bundled up dagger inside the sleeve.
The former Lord of the West lingered a moment longer. No one was awake, but he didn't wish to sleep more, and as they had come to the cave, he found he was not particularly familiar with this area. Determined to change that, he decided he would go out. It wasn't like they kept him chained up or anything. To see them dare to try, hn, he thought to himself rebelliously as he took off, lashing on the old battle sword and his sheathed dagger as he went.
With that, he walked the forest and wound up on this stone where he now sat alone to think.
So I got Rin out of that damned village after all, he finally thought, congratulating himself. He had gotten it together to fight in this new form, even with a viciousness he had not expected to still be able to channel. Now, as he tried to look ahead to the next step in his plans, he was realizing that had been the easy part.
What exactly should he do now? In Harumura Village had vowed to himself to try harder for Rin, but now he wondered more in depth about what exactly that should mean.
Ultimately, I have to leave her, that's for certain. Now it was a question of when and where again. They had not come across another "nice" village as he had hoped for since leaving his half-brother's village. Apparently, that plan had gotten carried away like an oar dropped in the river the moment that he got knocked out at Inuyasha's wedding and the monk had started making all their decisions for them. Sesshomaru was never one to beg, but it occurred to him that he should have demanded that Rin be left behind with his half-brother's friends or in-laws.
Sesshomaru considered what if he left that day. Could he really leave her out here, a single young woman alone with five males, three of whom were demons - and that was not even counting the unconscious man or the raccoon dog? Rin was kind and friendly, but when the former Lord of the West thought it through she was not really well acquainted with any of them, and he himself knew them even less than she did. Something about that undeniably unsettled Sesshomaru. It was just not the same as if he had left her with the slayer in a village full of other humans like themselves. This setting was more secluded and isolated.
The man stretched on the rock could not put his finger on it, but he just did not like this situation. Unconsciously he had taken out Rin's fabric wrapped dagger from inside his sleeve, and with the fabric removed, he toyed with the weapon. There was still dried demonic blood on it as he had not had it unwrapped since the prior day. Sesshomaru leaned over and dipped the weapon in the passing stream water until it was clean.
He held up the blade in front of him pensively in order to inspect his washing job. The blade reflected the sunlight in a muted way due to aging, except for the sharpened edge, which had been shaped hastily so that the work wasn't even. That Rin had probably paid some idiot to sharpen the old knife in one of the villages that two of them had traveled through earlier in the year was tell-tale in the slap-dash look of the work. Scoffing that she did not ask him to see about sharpening her dagger for her, he laid the dagger on the folded fabric in front of him. Then again, he had not been too aware that she even had a dagger on her until now. Maybe she thought he would take it from her if he found out? His behavior probably had not provided her any clear indications of how he might react.
And so he worked his jaw unconsciously as he thought, Then there it is - the whole problem if I don't go now but stay.
Sesshomaru certainly could stay until they got to a better locale. He supposed the only rush before had been to get the element of surprise on his brother before he could think twice about cutting Sesshomaru down. Now, timing wise it was starting to matter less and less, except that he didn't really want to go on living this way. However, perhaps that was what he could do when he thought of trying harder for Rin - he could push through a period of continued discomfort to himself to make sure he left her in the safest situation possible.
This seemed simple enough except for the fact that he did not quite know how he could face her again after their last fight.
It shouldn't matter to him, since if she no longer talked to him, it only meant his efforts to repel her were very effective. However he was concerned by how the situation would play out based on two things she had said.
Again, he picked up and weighed the beaten up old dagger in this hand. It was true - he had never bothered to train her in how to defend herself. The thought had never crossed his mind that there would ever be a time he wouldn't be there to exact vengeance on any foe that dared to threaten that which was his, including his followers. What need would she have to fight beings that would be that much stronger than her out in the wild where they had spent so much of their time? Now that he was faced with whether to leave her with their current set of male companions or in human society when they came across it again, he was discomfited that she lacked this basic skillset because the likelihood she could wind up on her own was there. Actually, when he thought of it, life among humans, most of whom were total strangers at best and not to be trusted at all, had already turned out to be far more dangerous than he expected. The attack they experienced outside Yaga was case in point.
Then there was the second thing: had he really not spoken to her after their experience at Yaga? He tried to think back on it. To say that the attack on Rin and him in the dry creekbed by the horse thieves had greatly disconcerted Sesshomaru was putting it very mildly. It was the first time since his transformation that he had come up against the newfound fragility of his mortal body. If he had been honest, from the moment he saw his blood stained eye in the mirror at the Yaga inn, he had felt himself going a little mad. While intellectually he had maybe understood it already, the sense of being so at the mercy of his environment and the beings in it for the first time in hundreds of years was just setting in. It pained him to admit it but that paired with the fact that he was dealing with the struggle of not yet being fully healed of his chest wounds at the time had actually threatened to break him a bit. At the time, Sesshomaru could only think of getting to his half-brother's in order to find a final release from what he was convinced was a warped reality that should never have existed for him. Little did he know, his plans would all fall apart and weeks later he would still be sitting in the same position, possibly accepting his lot in life slightly more in stride because what else was he going to do until he could rightfully bring it to an end?
There was the answer - he had not talked to Rin after Yaga. Gazing at the dagger, he thought again of how she had jammed it into the wolf that had jumped at him without any hesitation.
His first assumption had been she had been a perfect idiot to do that. Now as he examined her words though, he realized it was likely not the first she'd stabbed something with it on his behalf. It was just in Yaga that he hadn't witnessed it because of how fast he'd hyperventilated and passed out.
Perhaps Rin had been more brave and less stupid than he'd been willing to acknowledge. He thought of the things he'd said to her in the course of their argument in Harumura. His stomach clenched uncomfortably at the recalled words - how could he possibly go back from what he had said, of that he wasn't sure, since he really had no business trying to ingratiate himself with Rin with the way things were looking.
He took a breath and stretched out his neck realizing that his thoughts had made him tense. He reached down and splashed some of the freshwater on his face and sighed in relief, when suddenly he recalled that it had been days since he last bathed. He was quite certain that a whiff of him would be enough to send people running. It was concerning that apparently he could no longer smell himself.
Untying his hair, he stood up and stripped off the layers of clothing. He could wash down better next time he was out with soap and all, but feeling that any amount of washing would probably help at this point, he stepped down into the gently flowing water. The midmorning water was warming up but still chill to his skin, so he moved quickly into the deeper part of the stream around the middle of the waterway, where the water came up to his waist where he stood. Quickly, he ducked under the water and ran his fingers through his hair, removing blood, dirt and tangles. Emerging, he ran his hands over his limbs and core, rubbing his skin roughly to let the water free any dirt on him. The cool water on his face felt good; he swept droplets from his eyes, and looked down at himself to see if there was anything he had missed.
Sesshomaru's eyes caught on his chest. He had found that despite time spent outdoors since his transformation, his skin was still ridiculously pale compared to that of others. Under his clothes, it was even more noticeable since the skin was hardly ever exposed to sunlight. Therefore, around his sternum and mid-way across his chest, the scars of his chest wounds stood out, a mess of fresh, dark and red scratches carved into his skin. The scars had a texture that looked not too different from boils, being lumpy and pitted in spots on his skin. The marks would be very visible, if he wore his kosode looser which would be the case as the weather warmed up.
The scars alone would not have bothered Sesshomaru as much. He had been marked and scarred before, though generally the wounds did not linger like this. He knew these scars would be staying with him if this is how they still looked after months of healing. However he was more bothered at examining his body.
For what might have been a compliment, "compact" and "tight" would have been good words to describe his physique as he looked at it. But to Sesshomaru, he realized that compared to his old appearance, he had just grown very thin. Running his fingers from the chest scars down, he felt his ribs not far beneath the surface of his flesh. His hands and height had not changed with the transformation, but his arms and legs had noticeably lost mass, giving an appearance of lankiness he frowned upon. He had sort of known it would be the case after all the food that Rin pushed at him, and which he roundly refused. Still, it was hard to look at the change in himself and not feel disturbed.
He sighed and ducked under the water once more before he moved back out of the stream. The air wasn't quite warm enough to be comfortable, but the sun baked stone was warm enough to heat his backside as he boosted himself back up onto it to dry in the sun. He watched with mild curiosity as bumps rose on his skin from the cool air, and asked himself as usual what the point was of such a useless seeming, involuntary reaction. Ironically, just as he was feeling warmed enough by the sun, he realized that his skin had dried. He supposed it was a good thing too, because as he was lashing on his sword and dagger over his re-dressed body, his stomach clenched and gurgled uncomfortably. He tried to remember when he'd last ate, and as his legs felt a bit weak, he realized that it was even a bit too long to go for someone who didn't care about eating…
Sesshomaru walked along the stream bank to the group watering spot he'd singled out. He turned back up the slight slope down the embankment and was just at the crest when a growling sound caused him to look up from studying a set of animal tracks left in now dry mud.
"So, they sent you looking for me, did they?" Sesshomaru spoke to the nekomata kit where she stood with her tail flared in the air and blocking his path with her tiny stiffened body, which shook with her not very imposing cat-like growling. She bared her tiny fangs at him as he approached, as if she expected to have to jump him, and Sesshomaru shook his head. He wasn't sure what was more patronizing: being fetched by the slayer's little feline "pet" or the fact that he was evidently having his leash reined back in now that they had likely woken and discovered him missing. "There's no need for that," he told the cat demon, as he walked toward and around her, despite her agitated snarling, in the direction they both knew the cave was in. Fortunately, the youkai stopped accosting him, but Sesshomaru noticed that she continued to stalk after him warily from several paces back, as if he would cut and run at any moment. As if I'd do it right now, as I'm being watched, he scoffed to himself.
Soon enough, Sesshomaru followed by Kirara hiked the way past the evergreens up to the mouth of the cave. The former Lord of the West was surprised not to find the slayer standing there waiting right at the entrance like a parent impatient for the return of an unruly child. But he wasn't, and Sesshomaru soon understood why.
As he stepped inside the cave to get a look at the inside lit by the restoked fire, he looked around and saw Rin up and engaged with the wolf demons. Rin's face was downcast as she wordlessly soaked a rag in a pot they normally cooked in, while Hakkaku appeared to be watching another pot over the fire. Ginta was attempting to pull up and reposition their unconscious but revived friend's body that was undressed from the waist down. It seemed like they were trying to clean the body, but Sesshomaru found himself distracted at being able to see what looked like all of the unconscious man's ribs under his sickly, slack skin. Meanwhile, though Sesshomaru was most interested in what Rin was helping do for the wolves, more distracting was the racket of the monk, now awake and hacking up half his lungs while the slayer pounded his back.
"There, there, let it out," Kohaku said loudly to the monk who was doubled over where he sat in his sleeping sack.
Though not as easily heard, Rin was attempting to direct the wolves over the echoing of the monks coughing: "Ginta, please lift him a little to the side, I can't reach his back," she started to say before her voice jumped up an octave. "Hakkaku! That pot is boiling over! You'll lose all the broth if you don't move the coals aside now."
Sesshomaru frowned and watched the scene in silence. For people who had apparently been looking for him, he had not expected to come back and find them so distracted…
Figuring it was best to get it over with, Sesshomaru cleared his throat a bit louder than necessary, as he resumed making his way into the cave.
"There you are!" the slayer replied anxiously but not moving from where he supported his brother-in-law's back. Miroku's fit had abated for the the moment, but the slayer stayed where he was as he shouted up, sounding unusually short-tempered at Sesshomaru."Where the hell did you go, without saying anything to anybody?"
Sesshomaru stopped a few paces from the slayer and the monk, who had his eyes closed, as he breathed slowly and visibly. The former Lord of the West, settled his face into an impassive expression. "Everyone was asleep, so I headed out first to scout the area."
"So, you should've waited," the slayer's voice came out heavy and panicked sounding, and Sesshomaru's brow lowered, as he noticed the slayer beginning to repeat himself even. "That could've waited until the rest of us were up, you shouldn't be going anywhere without one of us-"
"Kohaku," the monk whispered, silencing the slayer immediately to Sesshomaru's relief. He really didn't have much patience for the boy's lecture the way it had been going. The monk slowly opened his weary grey eyes, rimmed with dark shadows of fatigue. What he said surprised the slayer and Sesshomaru equally, though the latter kept the signs of curiosity off his face. "Take it easy on Sesshomaru a bit. You all haven't had a chance to really review the area yet because you've been taking care of Kouga and me. Maybe you can talk over lunch with the others in a bit about what you found?" the monk rasped, fixing Sesshomaru in his gaze to the slayer's shock.
Sesshomaru looked at the man for a moment wondering if he'd gone delusional in coming to his defense, but the monk's gaze didn't waver. "Hn, " sighed in ascent before passing by to take a look for an item in his travel sack. He did not miss how the slayer cast him a withering glare over the head of his brother-in-law, as Sesshomaru passed.
Rin heaved a sigh again across the way, as she helped recline Kouga's limp body back into his bedroll with the wolves' help. Just then, Sesshomaru made a very clear decision. Sure as her expression was tired and sweat rolled visibly down her brow, Sesshomaru knew that he would not leave Rin alone here with the way things were.
::
Mrs. Higurashi straightened up and turned around to face her daughter's friend where she had been sitting at the long, low dinner table. No sooner had the words "What do you think?" fallen out of her mouth than she heard the very same question echoed in her daughter's voice.
Sango was the first to laugh, leaning over her cup of tea where she sat between the two women standing at opposite ends of the room soliciting her opinion. One of Sango's favorite things about staying with the Higurashis had been getting to know Kagome's mother and getting to see the two of them interact. While Kagome was a bit faster to get excited or frazzled by annoyances, it was clear that many of Rina Higurashi's best qualities, like her kindness, spunky personality, and eagerness to please others had rubbed off on her daughter.
"Who wants to go first?" Sango asked, once the women all stopped giggling to each other.
"Mom, that looks really nice," Kagome supplied first, gesturing toward the vase that her mother had placed in the display nook in the furthest wall of the dining area. Her mother had selected and trimmed one of the first sprigs of cherry blossoms to come out in one of the trees on the Shrine property. The celadon colored vase helped the baby pink petals stand out better against the backdrop of the cream painted wall of the nook. "Are you planning the decorations for Souta's omiai next week already?"
"Yes, and I know there will be even more blossoms to choose from next week. But are you girls sure that it doesn't look too - I don't know - amateurish? The girl's parents run the preeminent ikebana school in the area after all…" her mother trailed off, looking back at the vase again.
" I think they might really appreciate the gesture, " Sango replied.
Kagome agreed, "You put a lot of effort into the pruning and arrangement. It seems like a nice nod to their family's interests even if you're not a master in flower arrangement."
"Well thank you, girls," Mrs. Higurashi's face lit up. "I'm hoping it'll be an easygoing meetup, given that I found out that Mayu and Souta already know each other a bit through mutual friends."
"Oh really?" Kagome asked, crossing her arms as she listened for the scoop from her mother. She knew her mother was not very keen on setting up the omiai meetings for Souta, but Grandpa had been anxious to begin preparing Souta to take over the family position as head of the Shrine. Since the announcement of Kagome's own engagement, she had begun to feel a bit bad for her brother as their grandfather started dropping not-subtle hints as to what Souta would be doing about a marriage partner in the coming years. While their grandfather himself had done fine with only his daughter in law's help for quite some time, he was apt to remind it was a job best done by a married couple.
Rina Higurashi nodded. "Yes, it turns out they play some common online games with friends and Mayu is part of the Young Business Leaders association that meets at Souta's high school though she attends the all-girls school. Souta recognized her name and picture last week when we were looking at the profiles together. It seems sort of ideal, but I'm trying not to overthink it since it's the first meeting like this."
Kagome nodded. "Well, it'll be interesting to meet them. I hope our crowd doesn't scare them away!" she half-joked. They family hadn't really discussed how they planned to handle new family members finding out about the Bone Eater's Well and their "Shimojima" family members, but Kagome supposed that would come with time.
"Kagome, what were you going to ask?" Sango said, directing the attention toward her friend. "That outfit you are wearing looks like the kind we see people wearing during 'rush hours'," she noted aptly. Kagome was always amazed at Sango and Inuyasha's ability to remember things she told them about the modern era.
Kagome smiled a little sheepishly, deciding she would start from the beginning with her explanation. "Well, it was kind of weird. I actually got contacted by a job recruiter today who said that they saw my resume posted in an online database - like on the internet," she added for Sango's benefit, since she loosely understood the existence of the internet and that people used it for instantaneous correspondence and research. Seeing her friend understood, she continued on: " But it was strange, since I don't remember putting my resume on the web. I checked out the recruiter and validated the job posting and hiring contact, but the job is a little too good to be true. It's at a small collections museum that - I kid you not - focuses on the Feudal Era. "
"Kagome! That's amazing - maybe it's fate! Who else would have better knowledge of life in the Sengoku period than someone who's actually experienced it first hand?" Sango interjected, unable to contain her excitement for her friend.
"Right?" Kagome smiled, charmed by her friend's enthusiasm. Kagome knew that working for a museum would probably be surreal, and she would have to be a little bit careful not to expose her secret life in the Sengoku Jidai. But then again, who would ever genuinely believe she had been there even if she had an occasional slip of the tongue? The job felt like it was made for her, and the fact that it seemed to be falling into her lap gave her nervous jitters. Sure she had listed on her resume a specialization in history, Japanese culture and art, and archaic language - especially of the Sengoku period - but how they had found her for the job still blew her mind. The Sengoku Jidai was pretty much the only thing Kagome knew like the back of her hand, being that she didn't have a college degree in anything. Therefore, Kagome decided she had better rein in her excitement a bit, so she explained to her mother and friend: "At least I finished the essays portion of the application within the submission deadline - the questions were super specific, and though I was pretty confident in my answers, I feel like it could be a pretty long shot since I don't have a formal degree in the topic or anything."
"Nothing beats experience, dear. You never know what might happen," her mother said with a smile, having sat down at the dining table across from Sango.
"Thanks Mom!" Kagome smiled back at her mother. "But that's why I'm wearing this outfit. I was trying to see what I have for an interview of this caliber. What do you think of the blouse with the jacket and skirt?" On top, her blouse was sleeveless and made of light purple silk. The jacket and skirt were plain, the kind worn by most Japanese salary people her age, although Kagome had liked the scalloped finish of the jacket's cuffs and lapels that made it just slightly unusual. She had put on a thin, modest silver chain necklace she liked and a silver wrist watch Grandpa had given her for Christmas the prior year. So that everyone could get the full effect of the outfit, she dropped her black suede lace up Oxford heels on the floor from her hand and stepped into them just for a moment though it was in the living area of the house where shoes were not worn.
"Oh, Kagome, dear - you look so professional!" her mother exclaimed, praising her look with a nostalgic expression. "I really don't know what the future will hold for all you kids, but I am so proud of the things you are doing!" Mrs. Higurashi said, looking from Sango to Kagome.
"Oh my goodness, Mrs. Higurashi, if you keep including me in all the nice things you say, you're going to have an overly-emotional pregnant woman in tears on your hands!" Sango sniffed.
"Mom, you're the best!" Kagome replied feeling a tad emotional herself at how great her family was. Carefully she took off her shoes and set them aside as she came to sit at the table beside Sango and across from her mother. Kagome was so glad that her mother had effectively accepted Sango like a sister to Kagome so easily. Suddenly a thought grabbed her though. "Oh Mom, I just thought of something - what day is Souta's omiai next week?"
"Oh Friday, sorry I may have forgotten to mention it earlier - why?" her mother asked.
"Darn it, darn it!" Kagome frowned deeply. "Inuyasha's supposed to be at Totosai's from Thursday to Saturday to get what he was making for him! And also the interview time I got with the museum is at 1 pm that day downtown! What bad luck! Not to mention, that'll make it hard for me to help you guys get ready before the Takadas come over in the evening - you're gonna be cooking a lot right?"
"Don't worry, Kagome, I can help your mom cook!" Sango offered up, but just as Kagome was about to counter that her friend should do no such thing in her present state, Mrs Higurashi cut in.
"Sango, dear, you only get to help with whatever you can do sitting down. You need as much rest as you can get. But I'm sure I can put you to work cutting up veggies or such," Rina Higurashi winked, and Sango grinned shyly. Kagome knew her hardworking friend did not like sitting around so much, but there was less and less she should be doing every day as she was now headed steadily into her third trimester with the twins.
"Kagome, you should be able to be back for dinner with Mayu's family at least," her mother considered thoughtfully. "But that is bad news about Inuyasha. You know how Souta's looked up to him for the last few years, and it would have probably been nice for Souta to have his support that night."
"I'm sorry, Mom. Inuyasha will probably be sorry to miss it too, but he went to check on Totosai last week, and he was impatient to find things still weren't finished," Kagome explained before flushing in embarrassment a bit at another admission that followed. "Not to mention that it feels like things keep coming up every time he's scheduled to go check on Miroku with Sesshomaru and the others. He and I have been saying to each other he can't miss it this time."
Her mother was well aware that the topic of Miroku's separation from Sango on Inuyasha's brother's account was still an awkward subject for her daughter and son-in-law. Though Sango seemed to be handling it well enough at this point, Rina knew this wasn't easy for any of them to have Miroku away on such an errand. "Don't worry then, dears," Rina said gazing kindly at her two girls, who both wore matching, somewhat sobered expressions. Rina reached across and grabbed each of their hands warmly with a grin. "Souta will be just fine I'm sure, and the rest of us will be here to make a good turn out for the Takadas. Besides, you two are the ones I really need the opinions of after the omiai - us girls will need to conference about whether we see a future bride for Souta and if the family can measure up to be good in-laws for us wily Higurashi-Hirais! "
With her last statement drawing a genuine smile from each of the young women, Kagome and Sango exchanged warm looks with each other and Mrs. Higurashi again, and each of them knew it was certainly a plan that they would always help each other and their steadily growing family every step of the way.
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Note 3: Hey guys ~ So excited, Part III is officially started!
Inusesshyfan: Thanks for your review on "Chapter 52" with Inukimi! Definitely, getting Sesshomaru's mother on the case is a stroke of luck - her stubborn determination is definitely going to help her gain some progress looking ahead at what's happened with her son… I think it's going to take some pretty significant forces should anyone hope to deter her in her goals, so I can put you at ease a bit!
anime weabo: I appreciate your comments on "Chapter 52" and "Chapter 53". I like how along with Inusesshyfan, you are both trying to take some guesses regarding the big bad and what they'll be up to next. Naraku's involvement is definitely getting closer to being revealed too, but you'll have to wait and see! And certainly, there's no doubt there will be some shock as more people find out what Inuyasha and Sesshomaru have turned into respectively, so we'll have some fun with that.