A demon of such a standing should not have to deal with such trivialities as being forced to relive the same kami forsaken day. Over and over, Sesshōmaru continued to wake up and went about his day, walking through the forests by his castle. He had tried many ways to change fate when he rose the next day but couldn't figure out how to break the cycle.
It had started when he accidently (a demon lord does not do anything by accident, however) stepped into what he assumed to be a puddle and fell up to his knees in the murky water, dirtying the hem of his white kimono.
The day had seemed to progress relatively normally after. That was, until he witnessed the death of his sole love, poisoned by an assassin sent from a rival daimyō, envious of his holdings and apparently for the Lady of the House of the West.
Sesshōmaru had walked into the courtyard leading up to the castle proper, where normally after a walk around the perimeter of his lands, Kagome would come up to him with excited smiles and asking about how the lands where doing and what the subjects under his protection were in need of.
Today, however, proved to be the outlier. Instead of his love to greet him, it was one of her maidservants, a weaker fox yōkai that he had specifically requested from his mother's house as the demoness had taken fondly to Kagome. The fox yōkai rushed to Sesshōmaru, her face streaked with tears, enhancing the already crimson hue of her eyes.
"Sesshōmaru-sama, you need to follow me to Kagome-sama immediately. She's fading fast." The panicked tone of her voice caught his attention, and he sped past Kagome's maidservant and up through the castle to their shared room.
There had been a flurry of servants and doctors (both human and yōkai alike) crowding the deceptively large room. A pulse of yōki sent most of the weaker willed ones running out with a scant few of the stronger doctors still lingering.
"What happened here?" He had demanded. Most of the yōkai still in the room kept their eyes averted and directed to the floor.
A quiet and weak sounding cough had pulled Sesshōmaru out of his anger and caused a rush of worry to run through his system. He flash-stepped forward, collapsing by Kagome's sick form on the futon, picking up a very pale hand in his own. Her veins had begun to appear darker as the poison worked through her system.
"My love, what happened?" Sesshōmaru had asked, his voice soft, a tone he only used when dealing with her.
Her answer had come in broken words and phrases. "-attacked. -did not hurt anyone-"
"They hurt you though," he had responded, gently rubbing her hand in a weak attempt at comforting her.
"-'ts fine. –'aybe better -way." She had whispered, the effort an obvious toll on her remaining strength. A shaky breath gave a little more strength and Kagome opened her eyes, searching for the golden ones of her love. It had taken less than a moment, but to Sesshōmaru, it had felt like eons before they connected.
He already could see how far gone she was and knew that there was nothing he could do to change it.
What had occurred after she took her final breath, Sesshōmaru still could not fully recall.
All he remembered was that he woke up the next day and began the whole process once again.
AN: Originally posted to AO3 as a part of my inktober challenge. Possible chance of me expanding this down the road but at present (2/3/2022) that has yet to be realized.