A/N: Ema - small wooden plaques with inscribed prayers or wishes

Kagura-den - A building within the shrine where sacred dances and music are held/offered

Haiden- Oratory/Worship hall

Heiden- Offertory Hall

*Italicized* are Sesshomaru's thoughts

Italicized bold is flashback

In Deeper Waters

*When did this all begin? I thought, the first time you smiled at me,

The moment you held my hand,

You were already mine…*

When he laid foot on Higurashi Shrine, Sesshomaru had to hold his breath. Hundreds of lanterns had lit up the ancient grounds, decorating the ornate trees around. Even the Goshinboku was not spared. From the river behind the mansion was an unusual curtain of ethereal light. It was firefly season, and the little flickers of light arose from the earth, drifting like a gentle, magical sigh from the ground, offering a soft kiss to the starry laden sky. More people than he had ever seen were milling about.

It was a completely different place, and he had felt, he was transported into another era.

Everyone was in formal kimonos, the sound of getas on the stone pavement, the clacking wood from the numerous Ema and wind-chimes drifted through the air, like distant bells from a faraway land.

And he saw her: she was a completely different person, his little Shrine Girl, as she greeted the guests with a smile and a polite bow.

Her hair was not in her usual messy bun. She was not wearing those rag-colored Yukatas a size too big. And she did not have dirty smears on her cheeks.

Her hair was unbound, spilling in waves like black silk past her waist, her Miko garb crisp and clean, the fiery red hakama tight on her small waist, her haori hiding her hidden curves that only he had felt and known throughout the years.

She held a beautiful red flush on her cheeks from the exhilaration of the evening, and her lips were painted a light pink, as she smiled in warm greeting at the guests.

One of the western visitors with foreign blond hair took her hand and kissed it.

He knew it was a mere tradition in other countries. But then the stranger reached out and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear-

The same ebony hair Sesshomaru had been entangling his hands, and only his hands, playfully between his fingers for the past hundred and forty-seven years.

A fire of jealousy erupted from deep inside his consciousness, so much that it almost blinded him, his vision blurring and teetering, the grounds under his very feet shaking.

And she blushed, and he found his feet moving on its own towards the laughing woman.

"Kagome." He said, and the pair turned around.

"Ah, it's Sesshomaru-sama!" She cried out happily. She closed the gap between them, flinging her arms around his waist, burying her face in his kimono-clad chest.

From above her head he gave the foreigner a hard look, and the grey-eyed young man smiled cordially as he stepped away.

Sesshomaru brought his attention back to the woman in his arms, as she giggled at his presence.

*You were crying that afternoon we parted,

And I think I realize why.

Please, let my suspicions be right…*

"I was expecting you to come earlier," she commented offhandedly, and she went on rambling about something else. But then again, he found himself very distracted.

The scent of her hair, the warmth of her skin,

and the tautness of her flesh on his fingers,

A heat like never before consumed him, and he found his hands wandering the broad of her back, exploring the curves of her waist unashamedly.

"Sesshomaru-sama,"

He stopped. Kagome was looking up at him with a familiar warm expression, as she reached out and cupped his face with her hands. "I was asking you if you are in a formal kimono right now."

He had to take a minute to retrieve himself before he could answer, already too intoxicated in his woman's presence. "Yes."

The Shrine Girl's fingers shyly ran through the hem of his silk collar, "Can you describe to me in detail… the pattern and design?" She looked down and blushed. "I've never seen you in a formal kimono before, and I probably never will. So maybe I can paint a picture of you in my head,"

To her surprise the inuyoukai gently took her hands, she had to tiptoe and lean closer to him, and the heat of their bodies so close made the air around him feel suffocating,

A torture he did not want to get out of.

"My kimono is mostly white silk," he started, running her fingers on the broad of his shoulders, "But on my sleeves and on the collar, are red and white cherry blossoms, our family crest…" He splayed her hands across his chest, and a burning heat immediately spread underneath his skin like wildfire.

"On my waist is a yellow sash with purple smoke-like patterns…" Sesshomaru dragged her palms across the entire length of his upper body, her hands leaving a trail of electricity and fire in its wake. She remained silent the whole time.

He never noticed, but Kagome's breathing was getting shallow, and the Inuyoukai himself was feeling out of breath.

He settled her hands on his waist, letting her feel his sash, "And I am… wearing a sashinuki hakama…" he trailed off, as he slowly dragged her hands lower, and Kagome's cheeks bloomed into a pretty blush.

Someone cleared their throat from behind, obnoxiously, and Sesshomaru and Kagome sharply turned around. It was an old human woman, glaring at them, all the while shaking her head and muttering, "Kids these days! They just don't know the word self-control!"

Kagome pulled away.

"Ah, thank you for the visual, Sesshomaru-sama!" She stepped back, her heavy blush somehow giving the Inu a sense of relief. "I'm sure you look good in what you're wearing right now… not that you don't always look good… in fact, who am I kidding! You were always beautiful since we were little…" She shook her head nervously, "I mean… enjoy your stay here at the shrine?" She hung her head in defeat, and Sesshomaru felt as if a heavy weight was lifted off him.

*Please, let my suspicions be right…*

She was rambling nonsense again, the way she always did whenever she got flustered with his touch. And seeds of hope bloomed from inside him, fed by the possibility that he might still hold her affections after all.

"How about me?" She suddenly asked, and he brought his gaze back to her. She was looking away, avoiding his face. "What do you think of me?"

Sesshomaru held his tongue. What was he to say? She was beautiful. Always had been beautiful, even with paint on her cheeks and snot on her nose he would have taken her then and there,

But the Inuyoukai realized, his speech was frozen.

He was too ashamed to tell her.

After all these years of seeing her as a little child, he found out he didn't know how to talk to this… woman… who was drowning his thoughts and taking his breath away with every single movement. But she was waiting for an answer, and unwittingly, he reverted back to his usual treatment of her, at loss of what to do.

"Acceptable." He blurted out, and the woman pouted, the blush replaced with a disappointed frown.

"Acceptable?" She fell silent. "I had Kikyo-chan paint my lips and do my hair… Stupid Sesshomaru-sama." She mumbled, and then softly, under her breath, she whispered. "I bet Ayumi-sama was really beautiful, and I am nothing compared to her,"

The Daiyoukai reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Listen," he pulled her closer, "I want to make it clear between both of us. I have already chosen."

In that very instant, Kagome froze. He stood confused, as her unseeing blue eyes darkened, and tears immediately brimmed on the corners. Inevitably her sorrow spilled, down her cheeks, as her lips were parted open in a mix of despair and heartbreak.

She shook her head as she pulled away. "I don't want to hear it," she whimpered, and a crushing feeling descended on the Inuyoukai.

*Were my suspicions wrong?

Is she… rejecting me?*

The crushing feeling slowly flared into a simmering anger, and only when Kagome shook her head again did the simmer spark into a full-blown conflagration. His grip on her grew roughly tight. His fingers dug into her soft skin. "What, Shrine Girl? What is it that you don't want to hear?!"

"Kagome!" An unfamiliar voice called out, and that gave the shrine girl a chance to pull away.

She wiped the tears away from her face, "Gomen nasai. I have to help Kikyo-chan with the shrine." She bowed. His gaze fell on the two newcomers before him, her cousin named Kikyo, and her little brother Souta.

The boy smiled at him cheerily and waved, "Hello, Sesshomaru-sama!" He said, and the Inu nodded his acknowledgment.

Without another word, Kagome started towards them.

"Shrine Girl," he called out, and she paused, not looking back. "Meet me at the flower bed after the festival. We're not done yet."

A long silence passed them both, before she sniffled again, "Hai, Sesshomaru-sama."

He watched her walk away, heartbroken and confused as hell. And he did not know, that the Shrine Girl was feeling the same.

The night was getting deeper, and the people were getting few and far between. The guests had trickled out as the ceremonies had already concluded. He wandered aimlessly on the grounds, too distracted to concentrate on anything. He entered the large Kagura-den, and he found that it was too crowded, at least from what he was used to.

Kagome's unfinished mural was there, a magnificent painting of lifelike sakura trees that ran half the span of the wall, and a group of teens posing for "selfies" was inside.

Sesshomaru fled, past the rows of Ema, past the small auxiliary shrines, through the towering Komainus, and into the Oratory Hall. He had no intentions of praying, but to calm himself down.

Much to his surprise, there seemed to be no one else there. And so he stood still in the silence of the Haiden, swimming in his thoughts. The night was almost over but he felt as if there was a heavy downpour in his mind, and the sting of rejection kept on stabbing him over and over again.

*Am I really too late?*

He sighed deeply, and everything was quiet until he heard the bell softly ring.

Sesshomaru turned to his side. There was a woman with warm eyes and black hair, looking about the physical age of his father, standing not too far away. She was giving him a sidelong glance and she shook her head.

She stepped back. "Such youth… and you sigh as if you are burdening the problems of the whole world." Her gaze drifted back to the structure in front of her. "I am an old woman, and I'm not even complaining of my aching bones," she clucked her tongue.

The Daiyoukai tried to hide his irritation. "Such maturity, and you judge as if you knew someone in one look alone." His golden eyes gave her his own sidelong glance.

"Oh?" The woman smiled. "Well, my bad," she bowed her head, "I'm sorry for the disrespect. So you are youkai then? If you don't mind, may I ask exactly how old you are?"

Sesshomaru brought his glance back to the large donation box, not wanting to engage in useless chatter. His emotions were still running rampant inside him, and he was having a hard time quelling it. The Daiyoukai felt rather guilty for snapping back at the woman. Sesshomaru shifted as he prepared to make his way to the Heiden when the woman began talking again.

"White hair and golden eyes, a constant frown and an arrogant, beautiful face…. might you be Kagome-chan's Sesshomaru?" The woman said, and in that instant, she ensnared his attention. "Congratulations," she continued.

"For what?" He tilted his head, confused.

"For having finally chosen, you said it yourself." She simply answered, and before Sesshomaru could comprehend how the stranger knew about that, the woman sighed. "I've known Kagome-chan since she was a little child. I would always find her here every day. You can probably say… I'm one of her closest friends."

Sesshomaru remained quiet, and the woman took it as a sign to continue.

"Ever since she learned to walk, she would be here in the shrine, praying relentlessly for one single person."

She turned to him. "But what amazes me is how her prayers had evolved from the simple little phrases of a toddler, into the genuine sentiments of a woman who has lived as long as she had…

and how the very essence of her prayer didn't really change, after all those years."

Sesshomaru's hold to his hakama tightened.

"She prays for you." The woman smiled, "Every single day, without fail…for her white-haired, golden-eyed Inu, who is stubborn and oftentimes blunt. She prays that the Kamis keep you safe from harm wherever you are, that they lift your spirits up when you find yourself discouraged.

And she prays for your happiness.

That woman, she never forgets to thank the Kamis every day, for the chance to get to know you in this lifetime… and if there was such a thing as another, she wishes that she may get to know you in the next… and all other lifetimes that will follow."

The woman shook her head.

"Only until last week her prayers had changed. I would find her in tears and heartbroken. Don't get me wrong, she still prays for you, but this time she prays for herself too. She pleads, that she will be able to bear whatever decisions you make,"

Sesshomaru's brows met in confusion,

"Today, just before you came in I found her in here, on her knees and crying again.

She was telling me you had finally chosen, and she was praying that she would have the strength to be happy for you and that woman named Ayumi…"

The Inuyoukai drew back, "I never said I chose that stranger-"

The woman tucked a strand of her black hair that had been displaced by the gentle breeze, "Such a selfless woman, isn't she?" She chuckled, "A heart as pure as hers, they're so hard to come by, ne?" and she turned towards the Inu for confirmation, but she found that he had already started to walk away.

He suddenly paused, and he turned to her. "Thank you," Sesshomaru said, and the woman just raised a brow at him and gave him a knowing smile.

"Anything for my Kagome-chan." She answered. "Whoever her friends are, they're also mine."

"What is your name?" He asked.

The woman held her warm smile. She turned back to the Haiden and closed her eyes. She clapped her hands at the start of a prayer. Without looking back at him, she shook her head as if in annoyance. "Just call me Midoriko."

And Sesshomaru nodded, "Arigatou," he bowed again, and he quickly made his way outside.

He was met by another group of patrons that were headed in. "We're lucky," the man said to his companion, "it's empty."

The daiyoukai paused, as he turned and looked back. The shrine was lonely, the only presence was the numerous paper lanterns dancing softly with the wind. He shrugged and continued his way.

He had something more important to attend to.

He found her waiting in the lily bed by the stream, her figure silhouetted by the rising fireflies from the river. She turned when she noticed his presence, and her aura had reeked of tears and confusion.

Despite all that, she forced a bitter smile.

"Sesshomaru-sama," she acknowledged, struggling to hold back the tears in her eyes. "How was your evening?"

Without any words, he strode towards her, and reached out and crushed her in his arms. She stiffened at the sudden contact, and she bit her lips.

"Stupid Shrine Girl," he said, and he felt her entire body tremble. "Why would you think I'd choose anyone else above you?" Her shoulders shook as she cried again. And he held her tighter, bracing her in his arms as her knees grew weak.

"I don't want any ridiculous assumptions, no more misunderstandings," Sesshomaru said as she clung to him tighter, her tears soaking his kimono. She nodded her head. "Kagome, I've never taken a lover before. You are my first, and you will be my last.

So if you're having second thoughts, if what you feel is just childish infatuation, I want you to spare us from the pain of being asunder and back out as early as now,"

The Shrine girl gently pulled away, and she lifted her unseeing gaze to him. She reached out and he eagerly received her, as her hands gently trailed the outline of his face, and she rested her palms on his cheeks. "Sesshomaru-sama," she answered, "When someone devotes her entire life, the whole hundred and forty-seven years of it, to one single person… would you still dare to call it infatuation?"

She did not need to speak anymore. The Inuyoukai pulled the woman closer, and he pressed his lips against hers. She sighed at the blissful contact. He felt her legs finally give way as her weight slumped in his arms, but he held her, as he prodded her mouth open, and she invited his tongue in, deepening their kiss.

*When did all of this begin?

I thought you were already mine… but I had been wrong.

I didn't realize I was already at your feet,

It was I who belonged completely to you,

The moment you smiled at me and held my hand,

the day the Maple leaves and Sakura blossoms fell like rain.*

Underneath the dome of a million stars, nestled between the Sakura and fire trees, the flickering lights of the fireflies that rose from the ground were a silent witness, and the wind wrapped around them in a gentle song of happiness, as the two childhood friends who were now lovers shared a sweeter, more intimate side of each other they never thought had existed.

Only three days had passed since that night, and the Inuyoukai found himself standing beside his Shrine Girl by the Torii gates, as they waved goodbye to their fathers and the rest of the council. The heat of the day was sweltering and the sun was at its highest peak in the sky. The elders had to leave in the middle of the day. They were off to another region for an important meet, and they would have to be gone for a whole week.

Kagome darted to her father to give him one last hug.

Kyoshiro looked over her head and directed a burning gaze towards the Inu in silent warning.

Being the daiyoukai that he was, Sesshomaru was the one tasked by the council to watch over the Shrine and its constituents.

"Son, I see the way you have been looking at Kagome-chan… I am aware." Touga had said, the day before their departure. "I want to deny it because it would complicate our relations with the Higurashis. I want to ask you to choose another…

But I can't.

That woman is an impeccable choice. And I am happy for you, for having decided on her. But one thing I ask… wait until my return.

We'll try to help you through this. Kyoshiro-sama is a formidable opponent, I'm sure he won't be pleased, once he finds out."

The council entered their sedans, and they drove off, out of sight. Kagome turned and ran towards him, and she stopped before the Inu, giddy. The breeze was humid, a damp heat hung heavily in the air.

*A whole week with her…*

Sweat was dripping off from her temples, running to the graceful curve of her neck, and she swatted a strand of her black hair that clung to her skin. "Sesshomaru-sama, let's go inside. We have chilled watermelons in the fridge," She said innocuously, but he did not hear a word.

The drops of sweat ran, from her neck to the swell of her chest, disappearing into the cloth that bound her breasts.

And he thought, were they as soft as it looked?

Was the rest of her skin, the parts hidden underneath her yukata, as smooth as her face?

What would it feel… with his bare hands?

*Father…I don't think I can control myself,*

"Sesshomaru-sama, are you alright?" She held his hand and that seemed to snap him back temporarily, and he tried to concentrate on her warmth. When their eyes met, she heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. "Ready?" She tugged him along, towards the large mansion.

"Of course," he answered absently.

*I am.. in deep trouble.*