This is the last one of the drabbles I've written on Tumblr so far, so that means this is the end of the daily updates.

After this I will be updating this collection as I write the drabbles.

Twenty-two Weeks

Prompt: Secret Admirer

Universe: Post-Canon

Genre: Drama, Romance.

1,000 Words

Kagome had tried. Perhaps for longer than she should have, and to no avail in the end, but she had tried.

Though they had never made any vows, she had still taken it seriously and the words had been echoing in her heart; until death.

But there had come a point where she had to admit – first to herself but eventually, to him as well – that it wasn't working out no matter how much she tried. That they were only making one another unhappy. And although she had made a commitment, if holding true to that promise until death meant living the rest of her life in misery… It wasn't worth keeping.

So she had sat him down and they had had the talk and agreed it would be for the best to give up – the first thing they had agreed on for months.

Kagome hoped that one day they might be friends again, even though for that they would have to learn to be around one another again. But that was something that would hopefully happen eventually; right now they were both still too raw, too spent and torn from all the fighting to even look at one another.

When she discovered the bouquet of flowers, carefully set on the doorstep of her hut, she actually thought it was Inuyasha in some hopeless attempt of reconciliation. She had not seen him since they had decided to separate, he had said he needed time alone and left Edo altogether.

But soon she realised her initial assumption was incorrect. She could not feel any trace of youki on the flowers, and if it was Inuyasha, trying to worm his way back to her good graces, he would have had no reason to hide his aura. Kagome frowned and asked her friends if one of them had left them for her, but only received headshakes and blank looks.

"Maybe it's Kouga," Shippou snickered. "He's heard that you and Inuyasha called it off and is trying to woo you. Though the flowers don't smell like him." Shippou's nose twitched and his face drew into a puzzled scowl. "Actually, they don't smell of anyone. Weird."

The mystery plagued Kagome's mind for a day or two, but unable to solve it, she soon shrugged it off and went on with her life.

Until a week later when she found another bouquet of flowers, together with a small bowl of blueberries as she stepped out of her hut early in the morning. She blinked at the gifts in confusion. Blueberries weren't even in season yet, how…? Kagome did not know what was happening or why, but she took the flowers nonetheless and ate the berries, ripe and sweet.

Another week later, she actually paused at the door, her heartbeat quickening in anticipation.

And sure enough, there was a bouquet of flowers again, innocently sitting on her doorstep – and next to it a scroll. Kagome's heart skipped a beat as she picked it up and unrolled the thick paper to find a poem, a haiku about moonlit nights. She took in each letter written in skilful calligraphy and wondered how long it had taken to write, how many attempts until each brushstroke had been deemed good enough. She held the poem to her chest and bit her lip. The suspicion that had been budding at the back of her mind finally bloomed. It probably wasn't Kouga, but nevertheless Shippou-chan had been right. Someone was trying to win her favour. And though it was sweet, the thought filled her with apprehension. She had only just got out of a long and disastrous relationship. She needed time to heal, she needed to learn to be happy again on her own. She was not in a place where she could open her heart and commit to another person again. Not yet.

But the weeks rolled by and the gifts kept coming, steady like a clockwork. Always flowers, accompanied by something like a lacquered box or a ceramic tea cup, sweets and rice, even a new pair of sandals after her old ones had broken.

And thus the routine was born. Kagome lived one day at a time, working to get over her heartbreak, but allowed and accepted the offerings left for her; the attention was flattering. Her secret admirer showed no signs of going away, but he never pressured her either. He stayed in the shadows and never showed in person, carefully masking both his aura and scent to keep his identity a mystery. His gifts remained small, practical and thoughtful, nothing too lavish or expensive that Kagome would have found hard to accept.

In such a careful balance, the rainy season came and went, followed by the hot sticky days until the summer finally faded.

Until one morning in the early autumn, Kagome woke up to find that Inuyasha had returned to Edo. And she looked at him, into the familiar golden eyes, and realised the while the wounds were still there, they were no longer raw or bleeding. They had scarred over and she was fine.

Ready to move on.

So when five days later was the designated day of her admirer to once again bring her a token of his appreciation, Kagome woke before sunrise. She got up and dressed.

The cool autumn wind stirred her hair as she stood in the doorway of her hut, waiting.

Finally he appeared, a tall silhouette against the treeline, a bouquet of flowers in his arms. Kagome's heart raced in her chest, her silent suspicion confirmed.

She couldn't tell when the thought had first occurred to her, but over the weeks the notion had grown firm in her mind.

Really, it couldn't have been anyone else.

He stopped only a foot away and looked at her, the gold of his eyes glowing softly in the dark as he offered her the flowers.

Kagome accepted them, her hand brushing against his in passing.

She took a deep breath.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru."