See notes in First Chapter. + Yes this will EVENTUALLY be a Sess/Kag
II
As Kagome struggled to escape the cobwebbed depths of deep sleep. Something tingled along her reiki. The shrine grounds were protected by a barrier of energy kept in place by the inherent holy energy that imbued the shrine from past reiki users and reinforced by the current one in residence. It's original purpose had been modified through the years as relations with the non-humans in the area grew more or less peaceful. When Kagome came here, it hadn't been set to repel youkai in decades.
The traditional Seishin-tekina shouheki was generally modified to notify the shrine family of non-human visitors. The relationship between shrine caretakers and visiting youkai, spirits, and kami was vastly different from the general public always had been, but the knowledge of what was in the area still served the same purpose.
Kagome had added a slightly rare modification, beyond the temporary one added last night to keep her shimarisu guests on the property. Hers was designed to keep one specific person out. There was no way she was letting that person in for anything. It had never been tested before, but she was confident the change was both effective and robust.
The continued noise from the shield only proved what she'd already known. Her barrier kept him out. Now if only she could set a time limit on the other characteristics of the Seishin-tekina shouheki. Kagome could really rather do without the wake up call every time some visiting youkai decided daylight hours were too restrictive.
Kagome had every intention of ignoring the tugging at her attention and letting him rot for as long as it took, but her duty to the shrine and his current location indicated he would be a nuisance and an obstruction to regular patron traffic. So, after leaving him to rage and stew for a couple hours while she prepared some food to share with her charges, Kagome headed out in the gray morning light to address the problem. Her problem. She could hear him long before she could see him.
Kagome took a deep breath, trying to settle her nerves, it wouldn't do for the shrine representative to go into a confrontation ready to breath fire. Even if he deserved it. One of them had to attempt to act like an adult. Inuyasha never was very good at managing his temper.
"You let me in!" she heard around an excessive onslaught of vitriol. His vocabulary had seemingly failed to expand with age. Truly, there wasn't much that had changed since she'd last seen him seven years ago. His white hair and pointed ears were still unkempt in a windblown way that was too genuine to be stylized. His amber eyes still burned with his every emotion which ran far too often to passion of every kind. When she was younger she'd admired that passion. Now she just wondered how long it would take for her to burn out trying to keep up with him. It was entirely likely she'd have been left dragged behind him.
"I will not," she countered softly. "This shrine is barred to you and so it will stay." Kagome's grandfather had wanted to bar Inuyasha from the shrine in Tokyo, but her mother had refused to allow it. For some reason, Higurashi Akina had believed Kagome's reaction was over done, that filing a report for the assault that landed her in the hospital was unnecessary. That had been one of the reasons Kagome and her grandfather had decided she needed to leave Tokyo, being at risk of further assault while her own mother tried to talk Kagome into forgiving Inuyasha's violence was not exactly safe or healthy. She had been vulnerable enough without family trying to take advantage of her and advising her to settle for an unfaithful male who had already put her in the hospital.
"Kagome," Inuyasha breathed like he wasn't expecting to see her. His reaction might have made outsiders believe he'd been desperate to find her. That he loved her. That she was connected to him in some intimate eternal way. Kagome wanted to throw a fit. They weren't connected and he didn't love her and he had no reason to search for her even if he hadn't known where she was.
Her relocation seven years ago had been somewhat kept a secret from him. But it wasn't a secret in general. She still communicated with some mutual friends. Formerly mutual friends. Her mail was sent here – to a P.O. Box the next town over. And a brief search of the area would have revealed a Higurashi managed shrine without difficulty. It wasn't impossible to find her if he'd really tried. Not that she wanted him to.
He had no reason to be here. This was not the territory he was responsible for. When his father had opted to delegate some of the responsibility of ruling to his sons, he'd given the Northern territories over to Sesshoumaru's hands and Inuyasha got the south. Even then, Inuyasha was an incredibly hands off kind of daijin, to the benefit of the lands and people stuck under his watch. Inuyasha was too disorganized to handle the job more closely and Kagome understood that their father tended to step in far more often for Inuyasha than he ever had with Sesshoumaru.
Inuyasha's step up to governing had been a relatively new development, though it had been widely prophesied for decades before it happened. Kagome was just glad there hadn't been a reshuffle of powers when it occurred. Kagome chose to go north for a reason.
With a choice between the two, Kagome chose Sesshoumaru who rarely let Inuyasha delve into his territories. If Inuyasha wasn't here in any official capacity, then he was here for a personal reason and he wasn't getting in. She didn't trust him and he was the whole reason she left Tokyo the way she did.
"What are you doing here, Inuyasha-san?" she asked pointedly to move the fiasco forward to conclusion. The last thing she wanted to happen today was to be stuck arguing with him for hours in a stalemate because she wouldn't let him in and he wouldn't leave it at that. She expected a youkai official affiliated with Sesshoumaru and higher up the food chain than Ryoichi to come out and assess her two charges and shrine. Youkai worked fast to solve these types of problems.
"That's your reaction? No 'hello'? No 'How you doing'?" Inuyasha huffed then started to give that boyish grin he applied to smooth over situations. "No 'I missed you and wished you would come and save me from this place.'"
Kagome had grown immune to it when he dumped her at the behest of his other girlfriend, the one she'd known nothing about. "I left Tokyo and pointedly refused to keep in contact with you. I did so willingly, just to get away from you."
"What? Why would you want to get away from me?" Inuyasha seemed genuinely puzzled, his ears dropping with the emotion.
"Don't you remember our last meeting?" Kagome asked. "The one where you dragged me out of the bar I had gone to with my study group after finals. It apparently looked too cheerful and normal for you so soon after you dropped me. Assault is an ugly thing. One would think the complaint I lodged with the authorities about you might have given you a hint." She and her study group had just survived a rather involved exam and were relaxing in a regular student hang out. A number of her fellows had called in their significant others to swell up their numbers. Inuyasha had never been invited because there hadn't been an exam during their short relationship. Besides, he never seemed to take her academic aspirations seriously.
"You're over reacting." Inuyasha scoffed. "Just because Kikyou wouldn't let me date you and her officially anymore didn't mean we weren't together. And I didn't assault you."
"Inuyasha," Kagome wanted to roll her eyes. "I landed in the hospital. You smacked me. You dug your claws into my arm." Her words were clipped in effort to control the emotional reaction bringing it up generally caused. If anything, she was minimizing what he did. "Assault is what it was; what it is. And I would have dumped you when I found out you were dating the both of us at the same time." She didn't know how Kikyou could live with the solution she'd chosen. Dumping the other girl would not have solved things for Kagome. If he would cheat once, he would cheat again, and even if he didn't, the suspicion that he could would always be there. Distrust was an ugly thing to have in a relationship.
"What for, we had a good relationship? You love me," Inuyasha crossed his arms apparently dropping the issue of assault altogether. He often did that. If he didn't like how a subject was going and couldn't think of a solid way to refute it, he pretended it had never been brought up.
Kagome noticed how his words never indicated an actual affection for her. It was always his assumption that she wanted him. From the beginning it was the same way, she just didn't find his unjustified confidence cute.
"Because I do not agree with polyamorous relationships, and you clearly do not share the same principles I do," Kagome answered. "I would not abuse someone I loved. I would not smack an ex for moving on with their life. I would not interfere with their life whether I thought they were moving on too soon or not." Sure, being dumped had hurt. His method had been humiliating and the timing was awful, but it wasn't the end of her world. Even if she lived to the end of her life without finding someone else, she still would have been capable of happiness and fulfillment. Their relationship hadn't been that profound or deep.
"We weren't exes. We still aren't," Inuyasha insisted. Kagome barely refrained from gaping at him. "I just found you so you can come back to Tokyo and we can get back to living our lives the right way." Further proof that she would have ended the relationship eventually. He dumped her quite publicly. There was no way she would have stood for being his secret lover. There was no reason for her to do that.
Kagome raised an eyebrow at him. "No." She returned flatly. She wanted no room for him to misconstrue her words. There was no argument to be had. She refused to be near him, to let him on her shrine, or to subject herself to his clear disrespect of her free agency.
"Come on, wench!" Inuyasha growled. He never was good at taking refusal well. Or using her name, why had she bothered to continue the relationship after that surfaced. "Surely you've gotten over whatever snit you were in."
"Snit?" Kagome repeated in disbelief. "You think dropping everything in Tokyo and moving to the far end of the country from you and any possible chance of running into you was the result of a snit?" Way to minimize the enormity of her actions and motives.
"You always were a moody-"
"Get lost, you Chauvinist, abusive, prig," Kagome shouted angrily. How dare he belittle her in that way. She was not "moody" and even if she was, a "snit" would not have resulted in such dire and long term actions. "I deny you entry to my shrine as you have no reason to be here."
"You can't do that!" Inuyasha hollered back. "Shrines are meant to be open to the public and a place of sanctuary."
"I'm already offering sanctuary to a pair of worthy patrons. You are a danger to them," Kagome replied. She couldn't trust him to control himself any more than she could trust a frustrated toddler. The difference was that when he threw a tantrum, his flailing limbs could kill the kits hiding in her home. "Their claim takes precedence over yours as they were here first. You have no jurisdiction over how they are treated as they are not your citizens. When Sesshoumaru sends a representative or appears himself, entrance will be granted to them. And you will still remain outside the grace of this shrine. When this situation is resolved and they move beyond staying at this shrine, whenever that time comes, you will still be denied entry to this shrine."
Inuyasha looked ready to explode but Kagome stood ready to reinforce her barrier if needed to keep him out. It shouldn't, but in the off chance that he was stronger than the strongest youkai in Japan, Kagome would keep him out.
"This Sesshoumaru has appeared," a deep voice broke in from slightly behind and to the side of their little altercation. A drizzle began to fall mid confrontation, so Kagome's first glimpse of the elder youkai daijin was awash in chilly dampness and gray light. "It is a strange occurrence to find you here little brother, as no access was granted to you or any of your people to appear this deep into my territory. One wonders why you have trespassed so far."
"Keh," Inuyasha snorted before shutting his mouth, unwilling to divulge anything to his elder sibling. Kagome wished he'd react that way to her too. She could live the rest of her life without hearing a single word from the fool again.
"Welcome Sesshoumaru-dono," Kagome bowed in respectful greeting. She was a little embarrassed to be caught shouting at his younger brother. It didn't exactly promote the image of mature, stable, and responsible adult hoping to shelter two young youkai. "I was not expecting to address the subject of my guests with you personally."
"Hn," the stoic inu regarded her briefly. She couldn't tell what his opinion was at this moment. "This situation is markedly unusual and requires a delicate hand to manage it. This Sesshoumaru will insure every viable solution is investigated fully."
Kagome nodded before turning to lead the way into the shrine grounds. She did her best to hide her nerves over his decision or the residual anger she felt toward the hanyou still lingering on the gravel beyond the torii gate.
"Oi!" Inuyasha griped after Sesshoumaru managed to enter the grounds without issue and he was still denied access. "We weren't finished. Get back here! Kagome!"
"I already informed you I wouldn't let you in, Inuyasha-san," Kagome reminded him without turning. She heard the rustle of wet clothing that indicated Sesshoumaru had turned to observe his brother's frustration, but she didn't pause. She wasn't going to gloat. She wasn't going to taunt him. Inuyasha's influence on her life had ended when she filed the police report with human and youkai authorities and fled her home to get away from him.
Some might argue that living up here was evidence of his continuing influence, and in a way, her experience with Inuyasha's perfidy would always color her perception. He as a person would offer no more effect than that ever again.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha called angrily. "Get back here! You're being unreasonable!"
"You know this one's half sibling?" Sesshoumaru observed as they approached her private area on the quieter side of the grounds. Even here, Kagome could hear Inuyasha's continuing tirade and demands for a return of her attention. She didn't need the noise to know his mood. With her departure from his line of sight, the half demon had resumed attacking and testing the Seishin-tekina shouheki.
"I did once, years ago," Kagome replied with the obvious answer. She was mildly surprised at his question into Inuyasha's past relationships but dismissed it quickly. The regal inu was likely more concerned with her ties than his half brother's. "It was a rather debilitating episode of my life. The consequences are on-going and require constant managing."
"What did the whelp do?" Sesshoumaru demanded. Some might label it as curiosity. Kagome concluded it was really an investigation into her motivations and reactions. As the inu intended to research every solution offered for the care and well-being of her guests, he would be looking into her. Moving across country, uprooting her entire life was a drastic action. Her reason to do so would hold some bearing on his judgment concerning her fitness to nurture the two kits hiding in her shrine.
Kagome had offered to house the pair of chipmunks for the winter. The two were too weak and malnourished to require more than steady food and suitable shelter until the weather warmed up with spring. She could keep them on the grounds with reasonable expectation of preventing their existence from being discovered by visitors. It was a rare patron that visited often in the colder months. When things warmed back up, keeping them would require more effort as they grew more active and healthy.
"He nearly killed me with a tantrum seven years ago," she informed him bluntly. "I was in the hospital for weeks recuperating. Physical therapy followed for years after that." Pausing just behind the partition that separated her yard from the shrine, she held her wrist out to him, showing Sesshoumaru the scars that decorated her wrist like silvery white charms without an attached bracelet. Nobody who looked at it could think she'd done it to herself. The angles were all wrong. "I was lucky I didn't struggle when he grabbed my arm. If I had, the wounds would have been worse and cut across the vein." It would have been a lethal effort to free herself. "His claws were dirty, which isn't surprising."
"Cleanliness was never that one's strong suit," Sesshoumaru offered as he gently studied the remnant of Inuyasha's violence. His thumb stroked over the pulse dancing beside one of the longest sections of scar tissue. It was a miracle Inuyasha's careless grip had missed the vein.
"The wound became infected," Kagome continued with a nod of acknowledgment. "The infection slowed down healing in that wound and -" she trailed off. "He backhanded me. His claws didn't catch in that wound, but he caught my ear enough to pop the membrane." And the flesh over her cheekbone had swelled so much it split the skin. She certainly hadn't been pretty to look at and the infection hadn't helped her heal any.
"The infection effected your healing there too," he guessed.
Kagome soberly nodded again. A human body could only heal so much at one time, even one that collected a surplus of reiki. Her body decided the infected life threatening wound was more important than the quick healing of her ear injury. "I'm not deaf in that ear, but the range was severely affected. It took awhile to relearn how to relate to my environment. The move away from all that I knew helped somewhat." After all, it was easier to learn how to relate to a new environment than to relearn or unlearn how she had always related to an old on. There was always the fear that her hearing would deteriorate with age or various environmental factors living this far north presented. Deafness didn't run in her family, but severe injury could interfere with the gifts of her genetics.
"You filed a report," Sesshoumaru revealed he had eavesdropped before declaring his presence. He was probably surprised that she had, given that the report hadn't seemed to go anywhere after that. Masashi was believed to be hard on interspecies violence. Except as concerned his youngest son.
"I knew nothing would come of it," Kagome shrugged as she slid open the door to her quarters. "Your father, for all the good his rule has done for youkai as a whole, coddles and protects Inuyasha a bit too much. I don't know if anyone has ever been assaulted by him before. I just know that by filing, I gave somebody in the future a bit more weight to throw into their report as well." She sighed as her esteemed visitor removed his shoes before stepping up onto the tatami. "But I can't trust him. Getting angry is allowed, but acting uncontrollably because of that anger cannot be excused. He could have killed me without intending to. He could kill them," she waved to the kotatsu where the pair were intently coloring pages from a book Natsuo had dropped by yesterday. "Intent doesn't matter when you're in the hospital and your family fears you won't live. It doesn't matter when you die and don't get the chance to move on."
"Hn," he responded without obvious judgment.
"I leave you with them. If Fujimoto Natsuo finds out I've been out in the rain and didn't immediately change clothes and wash up, she will be insufferable. You need to assess them and the situation before you return to your responsibilities elsewhere. I have to stay here and put up with the attendant concerns attached to mine," she excused herself.
"Higurashi-san," the youkai called before she could step completely out of the room. "This Sesshoumaru will insure the hanyou's departure and continue to deny him access this far north. Your report will also be looked into." He informed her before clearly dismissing her without any further words.
Kagome nodded to herself before continuing on her way. Ryoichi and Natsuo were expected to drop by today and discuss possible solutions with Sesshoumaru's representative. She wasn't expecting Sesshoumaru or his official this early and she doubted the other two had either. Sesshoumaru would have uninterrupted access to the pair of kits during her bath, but she wasn't worried. Kagome planned to be quick, the youkai children were technically his wards, and everything she'd ever heard about Sesshoumaru indicated he had firm control over himself at all times. So long as nobody attacked anybody else, everything should be fine.
Inuyasha continued to bash against the Seishin-tekina shouheki throughout her efforts to change clothes, get clean and warm up. He continued until her mild headache grew claws and fangs and tore across her efforts to soothe it and ignore him. The constant irritation left her surprised to walk into her main living space and find two more youkai occupying the room than she'd left.
"Good morning, Ryoichi-san,Fujimoto-san," she greeted both politely. "Are Yui and Moto attending lessons?"
"It's kitsune strategy games today," Natsuo replied amiably. All kits too young to hold a human facade were taught within the clan. When they were skilled enough to master a passable human guise, they started a round of school transfers to observe human behavior and conceal their non-human nature; fostering with any number of other kitsune families. Mastering a human form didn't mean they had mastered how to age it realistically. "Tasuke will be by later with more food and activities for the kits."
"They've been enjoying the coloring book," Kagome responded politely, continuing the rather inane conversation. Despite her headache and the seriousness of the current situation concerning her young guests, she was still the host.
"I brought some meat for the cubs," Ryoichi declared solidly, setting a paper wrapped package on the low surface of her table. The old bear was clearly proud of his offering and patted the paper firmly after letting go. "There's even enough for you Higurashi-san." That feeding her was an afterthought wasn't offensive. If not for the little chipmunks adding to her grocery needs, the higuma wouldn't have even thought to supplement it.
"Higurashi-sama needs more than just meat," Natsuo scoffed. "The kits require more than just meat as well."
"The cubs will fill up faster with meat and meat is more expensive for Higurashi-san to procure for them," Ryoichi returned.
"My guests are still present regardless of what you want to call them," Kagome cut in before the pair could start an argument over the proper nomenclature and nurturing of young shimarisu on top of belittling each other's contributions to the well-being of their guests. "Thank you Ryoichi-chiji-san for your contribution. I am certain we will find a good use for it in the near future." The last thing any of them needed was a petty fight between her two biggest supports in front of Sesshoumaru and the pair of traumatized young youkai. "And Fujimoto-san, I'm certain we can easily supplement the generous gift to build a nutritious repast for anyone who intends to sup at my table."
"Hn," the regal inu cut in before either of the pair could formulate a full response. Kitsune and higuma tensed considerably as if their usual combativeness had distracted them from the presence of their daijin. It was an unexpected support she was certainly glad of. Once Ryoichi and Natsuo got started it was very difficult to stop them. Such was why Kagome usually tried to keep their visits separate, a habit she'd picked up from her predecessor.
"Excuse us, Sesshoumaru-sama," Ryoichi coughed.
"Yes, excuse him, Sesshoumaru-sama, he never fully accepted that a female who has mothered more than a full brood of children is better at nurturing them than a male who has no personal association with any young at all," Natsuo added sharply.
"Damn, trick-" Ryoichi began and Kagome cut him off.
"Enough," she cried, her patience strained to the limit and the day was hardly begun. Sad that all the adults in her life were more irritating than the children spontaneously thrust into her care. "You can keep your petty arguing to yourself. Oki-chan and Naoki-kun have no need to learn your bad behavior and Sesshoumaru-sama can certainly live without you wasting his time."
"Higurashi-san."
"Higurashi-sama!"
"Would you like some tea, Sesshoumaru-dono," Kagome ignored their echoing protest. She didn't know how either could offer honest protest. At least she couldn't see how the kitsune could since Natsuo practically relished in instigating their squabbles. "I feel a desperate need for something soothing."
"Inuyasha remains on the gravel." Sesshoumaru nodded his acceptance. The statement could have been a question, but it wasn't. It was answer and observation to the query the others hadn't bothered to ask. Obviously Kagome needed to be soothed from the continued annoyance of the hanyou.
Kagome scoffed silently but offered a rather bland and falsely cheerful, "Tenacity is Inuyasha's super power." Such words could be considered insulting, but she hoped the daijin she hosted would forgive her the minor disrespect. It had been a hard morning preceded by hard encounters with Inuyasha in the past.
"That was Inuyasha-sama?" Ryoichi and Natsuo growled incredulously. Both finding the unruly fool incongruent with anyone claiming blood ties to the regal inu observing them from the table.
"If I had known that, I would have called all the kits up here to practice on him," Natsuo declared viciously. "They need the practice and he needs the torment."
"He is the younger son of our esteemed ruler and the half brother of Sesshoumaru-sama," Ryoichi scolded the kitsune. Still unable to connect the brash young male beating on the Seishin-tekina shouheki with the great omo. Masashi may have been rumored to be boisterous and lively on occasion with a dry sense of humor, but he was never one to disrespect the shrines like that.
"And he's long over due for a good punishment," Natsuo returned unrepentant. "There's no love lost between our Sesshoumaru-sama and that half breed mistake."
"Fujimoto Natsuo-san!" Kagome thundered at the fox. "You are not judge and jury and you will not talk about Inuyasha-san's heritage in those derogatory terms. He is a brat because of his behavior and not because of the blood his parents gave him. He had no control over his DNA anymore than any of the rest of us."
"But Higurashi-sama-"
"My personal history with him and the engendered animosity created from it have nothing to do with him being half of anything or three quarters of something else. It is based on his actions," Kagome gave a very human growl. "If you cannot separate your enmity for the southern daijin from his blood then I will have to ask you to leave my quarters now. Bigotry can come from any direction and I'll not have it taught to my charges while they are my charges."
Silence collapsed inward over the group as even the pair of chipmunks stared at Kagome in the aftermath of her speech. "Oki-chan can you get the tea things out of the bottom cupboard by the fridge?" Kagome requested calmly, attempting to return to some semblance of civility. The small female nodded and ducked under the table to crawl out the side closest the kitchen cabinets. "Noaki-kun would you dig out the small box of biscuits in the cabinet under the rice cooker?" The male followed the path of his younger sister.
"Did they tell you those names?" Sesshoumaru asked.
"No," Kagome took a deep breath before crouching down to set the teapot on the low table. Oki ran to Kagome with the cups and spoons carefully balanced between her paws. "We jointly decided that names would be beneficial and we managed to land upon names they agreed to respond to. I believe they are content with such names as even Fujimoto-san and her grandchildren couldn't get a name out of them." Kagome smiled as Naoki handed her plates and the box of slightly sweet snacks. Setting a couple on a plate she slid it to rest between the pair as they returned to their coloring. The siblings smiled at her.
Kagome continued to portion out the cookies and pour the steaming tea around. She handled the task without formality, disregarding ritual to achieve the first, desired sip of hot, well-steeped tea. "We are here for a reason. I'd like to avoid keeping Sesshoumaru-dono here longer than necessary. He has many responsibilities and this pair need a solution quickly." She cradled the cup in her hands, absorbing the warmth from the ceramic and inhaling the scent deep into her lungs. Several moments of tense quiet filled with the scraping of crayons on paper passed. "Have you assessed our charges?"
"This Sesshoumaru has," the inu responded concisely. "They seem content with their environment and company. Your proposed solution is satisfactory for now. They would most benefit from a stable environment until recovering greater strength. We will readdress this in spring."
"Now see here, Higurashi-san is more than capable of-" Ryoichi began explosively before trailing off. "Eh?"
"He agreed, you idiot," Natsuo muttered to the black bear. "You should listen before trying to argue your point. Clearly there is no need for it."
"I was expecting to have to argue the merit of the plan when I learned Sesshoumaru-sama was planning to address it personally," Ryoichi defended himself. "He is not known for easily accepting the unconventional solutions," he added in a mutter that was cut off by a sharp look from the youkai making the decisions.
"Thank you for your decision, Sesshoumaru-dono," Kagome ignored the side conversation. "It makes me feel more settled to have a decision on this subject, even if it is only until spring. I am more easy knowing that Oki-chan and Naoki-kun will be safe until at least then. This is an unusual situation and will require careful handling, as you said."
"Hn," Was his only reply. "This one will remove the hanyou from his territory on his way to Tokyo. This discussion will be renewed in the spring."
"Until the spring," Kagome agreed as she ushered him from her home.
"You will have to remove those other nuisances on your own, Higurashi-san," Sesshoumaru quietly informed her. It took a moment for her to catch the wry amusement glinting in his eye before she smiled slyly at him.
"At least I have the more possible task between the two of us," Kagome grinned mischievously. "Inuyasha-san can be an immovable rock."
"Only if one worries about preventing injury, This Sesshoumaru has no such cares," he returned before disappearing beyond the wall and Kagome chuckled.
Turning, the sudden cessation of spiritual noise caused her to pause. Inuyasha's disturbance was gone. The tugging on her attention had stopped. Sesshoumaru was true to his word and apparently worked very fast. Kagome sighed in relief. Maybe now her headache could go away.
It wouldn't last. Inuyasha knew where she was now and he clearly refused to believe they had no relationship. She scoffed to herself. While his belief didn't alter reality, it did mean that he would be harassing her in any way he could find.
Her great uncle would calmly tell her to stop borrowing the troubles of tomorrow.
Yes, Inuyasha would likely find some way to harass her regardless of Sesshoumaru's efforts to protect her. She could not anticipate how. It wasn't happening right now and with how stretched her nerves already were, Kagome should relax while he was gone. The shrine was protected. Her charges were safely restricted to the grounds. She was capable of defending herself without causing the nuisance any harm.
Kagome breathed deep of the moist, damp air before stepping back into her quarters to face the quarreling higuma and kitsune. The pair were wonderful and supportive so long as they weren't in the same room. Taking on the care and housing for Oki-chan and Naoki-kun hazed her future full of squabbling meetings between the two youkai whose differing opinions on how to care for her charges weren't precisely at odds, but fuel for petty belittling by the one who didn't think of one thing or another.
Ryoichi's gift of meat was helpful. The kits needed more protein to help them regain a healthy weight and muscle mass. Natsuo was also right in that the shimarisu needed more than just meat to regain their health. Weight and muscle were just one aspect of the pair's unhealthy state. Neither youkai were wrong, but instead of accepting what each offered gracefully, the kitsune and higuma chose to compete instead.
Kagome sighed wearily before carefully clearing her features of any expression beyond a sober calm. It was easier to achieve now that Inuyasha's childish tugging had ceased. Dividing her attention was never a good tactic when trying to handle Ryoichi and Natsuo together. Her tact eroded and her patience frayed quickly with irritation at her obvious seeming subpar ability to properly multitask. Mattaki had always assured her she wasn't any worse at covering more than one task at a time than anyone else, but Kagome found it difficult to accept that assessment.
Kagome quietly reentered her quarters to find the elder youkai once again arguing over petty things of little consequence. Oki's brown eyes bounced back and forth between the two as if watching a tennis match. Words were flung rapid fire across the low table as the elder pair accused each other of inappropriate behavior in front of the now absent Sesshoumaru. Natsuo belittled Ryoichi's intelligence while the old black bear degraded the fox's ancestry.
Naoki, bless his valiant heart, focused his attention on the swiftly changing surface of his coloring book. His ears twitched at the continuing verbal melee but he tried to pretend he wasn't paying any attention to the bad behavior of those around him.
Kagome rather thought the conflict frightened both the little chipmunks. Her shrine was meant to be a place of peace and while the arguing was generally harmless, Oki and Naoki were not used to it in the least bit. Their nerves were frazzled perhaps more than her own and the continued dissent was unlikely to relieve any of them any time soon.
"If you both are quite finished with your petty display," Kagome cut in as she resettled herself on the side both of her charges were seated at, "we might perhaps come up with a better plan of how to promote the increased health of my guests before driving them both into a mental break down."
"Sorry, Higurashi-san," Ryoichi quietly apologized. "Has Sesshoumaru-daijin-sama successfully departed?"
"Sesshoumaru-dono has removed from the premises and taken the southern daijin with him," Kagome replied. "He has left Oki-chan and Naoki-kun to our care and I hope any return visit will find them much improved in health and mental well-being."
"Naturally," Fujimoto nodded gravely.
"To that end," Kagome continued quickly before either could express an opinion that could be criticized or contradicted needlessly by the other, "I believe we should set up tasks to be covered by specific individuals to handle." If neither had jurisdiction over the task another carried out, they would have little reason to concern themselves with how it was done. She hoped. Sometimes the cross interests were unavoidable. "Ryoichi-chiji-san, since you have already taken the task upon yourself, I will ask you to continue supplying the necessary meat. Young creatures of all species generally require protein to grow healthy and strong. We should have a schedule of delivery for say, once a week? This way you can keep a steady eye on their progress to report back to Sesshoumaru-dono should he ask about it before spring." The higuma nodded sagely. "This will also allow you time to properly carry out your other duties without too much hardship."
"What hardsh-"
"Fujimoto Natsuo-san," Kagome talked over the needless interruption. "As you and your family live in town and have more easy access to the shrine, you will help me keep a proper eye on my charges. I want them to be healthy, but I do not have intimate knowledge of what that requires. I hope you can be helpful in developing a nutritious diet for them and I hope some of your clan's kits can be induced to make friends and play with Oki-chan and Naoki-kun. The job of children is to grow in myriad of ways and learn how to interact with others. They cannot do this with no one else around. Staying secretly on my shrine will limit who they can spend time with and I do not want them to feel like prisoners. They are not strong now, so quiet pursuits like coloring and board games are enough to entertain them. When they grow stronger, they will need more active amusements to help build up their muscles and senses."
"Moto and Yui expressed eagerness to come back up here and the other small kits have caught their enthusiasm as well. It shouldn't be a problem to find willing companions even if novelty is the only draw," Natsuo replied. "And meals should be easy as well. The shimarisu are similar to humans in their dietary needs though adolescents do need more protein," the kitsune admitted. "Tasuke is most eager to come up here again. I think he will apply for the part time position in the spring when he is apparently of an age to do so."
Kagome smiled, "Then he will be welcome and duly considered when his application comes through." She was starting to wonder if the problem finding a suitable assistant among the young people in Nishi no Mura was due to the lack of youkai applicants. The humans in town lacked compassion for the youkai who shared the world because they had never lived in a time when conflict between species was rampant. Youkai had no problem understanding the shrine purpose as their lives were intimately impacted by them every day. Humans in small towns assumed youkai were either a city problem or relegated just to the woods and wilderness around them. It was always obvious who the country bumpkins were in the city. They were the ones looking around and staring too much at the youkai wandering around. In Tokyo it was a rainy day past time to sit at the train station and try to pick out the small town folks from city natives.
"He will be most appreciative of your fair consideration," the kitsune smiled with mischievous delight. "Until then he will likely be our biggest help arranging a proper plan of care for our long term guests."
Kagome nodded her acceptance as Oki climbed into her lap with her completed work of art. Naoki followed shortly after, leaning against her arm in lieu of her occupied lap. "Such a wonderful job!" she praised the kits enthusiastically. There was no need to hash out a more detailed plan of action just yet. Doing so would prove pointless now.