The room was dark and dreary, the air hanging heavy with sickness. Sesshoumaru quietly crept forth over the threshold, gingerly setting the goods down on a mirrored dresser made of cherry oak. Upon spying the lumpy figure cloaked by the bed covers, a small, saddened smile overtook his lips.
Striding over to the curtains, he threw them back and opened the window, thus allowing the mood of the room to change drastically. The sunlight warmed the previously cold air and the occasional chirp from a rogue bird that made it's home in the enormous oak cheered the silence.
With absurd amount of gentleness, he cautiously peeled back the covers, revealing the sleeping form of the ill Higurashi Kikyou. Carefully, he laid a heavy hand on her forehead, drawing back looking relieved, for her temperature was down considerably.
At his touch, her eyelids slowly fluttered open, revealing mahogany pools. Her expression brightened immensely as she broke out into a flattered smile. "Sesshoumaru," she spoke his name, as if it were very dear to her, which indeed, it was. "What a pleasant surprise,"
The usually stoic man looked quite sheepish at this. His hands folded behind his back and he looked away politely. "Your sister let me in,"
Nodding in understanding, she patted the chair near her bedside. Sit?" she inquired, quirking a brow.
He returned the nod, making sure to grab the bag off her dresser before sitting down. "I brought you some ice cream," he rumbled. "You complained of a sore throat, did you not?"
She took the package her offered to her and momentarily glanced at it. "Chocolate chip cookie dough?" her smile, if possible, widened. "My favorite,"
Again, the flustered expression returned. "You mentioned it before," he modestly noted.
She chuckled slightly. "And this?" she lavishly motioned around the room. "Some new incense for me to burn," she eyed the rest of the bag's contents, "And some fresh air and sunshine? You spoil me,"
The familiar and all-together arrogant smirk made its presence known at her praise. "Nothing less for you," he replied coolly, before his voice took on a guilty tone. "Besides; it was me who suggested staying the extra couple of hours to watch the moon rise,"
Sesshoumaru's house was not far from a nature reserve; a piece of heaven in the midst of the polluted suburban jungle. Bordering on the edge of the reserve was a particularly grassy hill overlooking a large flower field. Oftentimes Sesshoumaru brought Kikyou and his little sister, Rin, here on picnics and day-trips, for the two females immensely enjoyed the beauty of it all.
"No," she shook her head, unknowingly mimicking his earlier sad smile. "I had already been coming down with something,"
"Then I just made it worse!" Sesshoumaru fretfully insisted. "...Forgive me,"
She laughed, before beginning to eat the ice cream he had been so kind enough to bring for her. "How are your studies going?" she asked, in an effort to break him from the self-loathing mode he was preparing to launch himself into. While Sesshoumaru may seem cold and haughty, he was prone to bouts of depression.
He brightened considerably. "Good," he nearly chirped. "My latest progress report scores have given me nothing but satisfaction. If things keep up until the last report card, I'll be home free,"
She paused mid-bite to look at him. "That is excellent, Sesshoumaru!"
"Really?" he sounded anxious. "I'm worried that I won't be able to keep them that stable for the remainder of the semester,"
"You'll do fine!" she sighed, rolling her eyes.
He took the hint and slowly began to calm himself down. "Better than you?" he finally inquired, a bit of a sly-edge creeping into his voice.
"Maybe not that good," she snickered, finishing up the ice cream. Placing the empty cup and spoon on the nightstand, she laid back on her pillow. "Remember how we got together?" she asked dreamily.
"Could I forget?" he retorted impishly, eliciting yet another sweet smile from Kikyou.
In truth, they had acknowledged each other's presence since the fourth grade. This tolerance turned into a bitter rivalry throughout the years, however, when both began to rise steadily on the academic ladder, matching one another pace for pace.
She always mocked him in front of her friends, he always made her the butt of his not-so-nice jokes. Sadly, this continued well into their high school years. Til one fated day, when one of their teachers did what no other had dared to: assigned them to work together on the same project...as partners.
Oh, how they tried to get out of it. Offering to do double the work if only they could trade teammates with some other classmate. But the teacher had insisted that it would be good for them, so there they had sat on Kikyou's front porch, arguing heatedly over something or another.
It was at the same time that they had both paused to recollect their breath, and a strange glint began making itself known in Sesshoumaru's eye. As Kikyou began to open her mouth to rekindle the debate, he had silenced her with a swift kiss.
After a few moments, she had pulled away, wide-eyed and every bit as breathless as she had been before. Composing herself rather quickly, she had managed to sputter, "...Sesshoumaru...?"
He had shrugged, closing his textbook, hastily shoving it in his bag along with the rest of his possessions that he had brought over. Standing, he had dusted himself off, glancing bemusedly down the side of his hooked nose at her. "I must go," he had said simply, taking a step down.
"W-wait!" she remembered crying out for all she was worth. "W-why...?" she had asked weakly, when he'd paused to look over his shoulder at her.
"Because I love you," he had shrugged, ghosting off into the late afternoon before she could utter another strangled word.
Poor Kikyou had tossed and turned that night. For in truth, she had been harboring feelings for the aristocratic-like silver-haired man for several months now. Was he just playing with her? Toying around so that when heartbreak came, her scores would plunge? Or was he...telling the truth?
She had taken a gamble and confessed to him the next day at school. To her delight, he whole-heartedly accepted her, and they had been together for the last three years. Over that course of time, Kikyou had become extremely confident of their love, not doubting it for a single second, and Sesshoumaru was much the same. In their first year of college, they required a lot of emotional support, and were happy to find it in each other.
"How's Inu-Yasha doing?" Kikyou asked lazily, rolling over.
Sesshoumaru stiffened, and thankfully, Kikyou could not see him. The unknowing girl had no idea of Inu-Yasha's large crush on her, a thing that both Senshi brothers had made sure of. While he knew that Kikyou in no way reciprocated the younger sibling's affections, the elder man could not help but feel a tiny pang of jealousy. "...Fine," he muttered.
Kikyou tilted her head to the side best she could. "More fights?" she sounded highly sympathetic, for she knew how close the Senshi brothers had formerly been.
"I suppose," he purposefully did not meet her gaze.
She leaned over and lightly clasped his hand, wishing to offer him some comfort without the risk of contaminating him further. "Band troubles, or what?"
"Yeah, it's the band," he lied. Sesshoumaru managed Inu-Yasha's band even now, but due to all the conflict, practices had been far and few.
Kikyou, understanding that he didn't really want to talk, just nodded and squeezed his hand. "It'll all turn out alright, I'm sure," she gave him the best smile she could manage.
He nodded, and glanced at the clock. "It's six o' clock already," he observed.
Her eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yes. Would you like for me to bring you some dinner?"
"Sure," her eyes twinkled at his thoughtfulness. "If it's not too much of a bother, that is,"
He flashed her a truly genuine smile. "Of course it isn't. Same place?"
She tried to keep a straight face, but ended up laughing in the end. "Same place," she agreed.
"Same thing?" this time he was grinning impishly.
"Same thing," she nodded the affirmative, another chuckle escaping her lips. "Oh, and Sesshoumaru?"
"Hrm?" he turned to look at her on the way out the door.
"Would you be a dear and light some of that lovely incense you brought for me before you go? I'd like to be able to smell my food when I get back," she referred to her stuffy nose.
"Sure thing,"
A/N: Wow. I could have sworn I only wrote half a page. Guess I was more motivated to write this chapter than I first believed. And don't even go whining that I favor Kikyou/Sesshoumaru xD...The chapter was longer than most because they are already in a relationship, buying them extra time for a flashback.
I've grown to trust my audience, but just as a warning: I know Sesshoumaru particularly and perhaps Kikyou seem OOC in this chapter. Being in love can do that sort of thing to you. But I guarantee that except in these little mush-mush scenes, things will be a lot better.
Thanks for waiting somewhat patiently for this update. I'm sure many of you might know that I just started my first year of high school about a week ago. I have plenty of other stories to finish, but I promise that I'll see this fic to the end eventually, no matter what.
For the curious: This may seem like shameless self-advertising, but hey. Why can't I? Anyway, if you enjoy, or are intrigued by the Kikyou/Sesshoumaru pairing, you might want to keep an eye on my other fic, A Midsummer Night's Dream. They are the primary couple in that fic, though there is going to be plenty of Sango/Miroku and Inu-Yasha/Kagome to entice the rest of you out there.
Oh, by the way, Kaede is a little girl in this. I'm tired of always seeing her as the old hag, damn it! She got robbed of a happy childhood, too, you know. Don't you think she deserves a fic where she's young now and again?
Please Review!