Title: A Christmas to Remember
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha and Co.
Summary: "Tell me Higurashi, did you and the mythological Lord have tea together?" Her teacher asked sarcastically. "No professor, The Lord of the Western lands and I never had tea together, although we did spend Christmas together." was her simple reply. S/K
A/N: Edited and now this chapter is complete. :)
Flashback
"No! I don't want him in our group!" The Hanyou whined for what seemed like the tenth time in the past few minutes. Letting out a growl of irritation, Kagome wondered how many times she would have to explain the situation to him. She knew he had his moments of stupidity, but this?
"He's helping us. Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, you know—the killing assassin. How do you not understand that we need him as an ally?" Sango whispered angrily at the Hanyou. Mentally, Kagome thanked her best friend for giving her voice a moment of rest.
"Why is it that you cannot comprehend how helpful this will be for the group?" Miroku added in a tone of confusion while staring at the Hanyou that he thought he had known.
"Helpful? Seriously? Both of you? Are you fucking kidding me? He's going to kill us in our sleep!" Inu Yasha growled back.
"Had I the desire to do such a thing, the task would have been completed." A cold and emotionless voice startled all those that had been arguing. They had meant to keep the argument quiet but the frustration had caused voices to be raised.
"I have spoken to the alpha in your group—"Sesshoumaru began but was interrupted once more.
"Like hell you have! I haven't heard a damn thing from you!" Inu Yasha snarled out loudly.
"He was not referring to you." Kagome spoke up this time. Staring at Inu Yasha with impatience, she realized that she had had enough. She had tried to let things sort themselves out—she really had. Yet, the fact that no one could get through to him, had meant that drastic measures were required.
"Sesshoumaru will be joining us. In fact, much like Kikyo did. An event that if I remember correctly, was not discussed with any one other than yourself. Excuse us if we did not consult you." Kagome bit out angrily.
The days of pining had vanished and instead—hostility had begun to form between the Miko and Hanyou.
"Kikyo's different! She's helping put the jewel together! What's this basterd going to do?" Inu Yasha growled once more but this time, Kagome merely sighed.
"Clearly you felt I was inadequate for the position of putting the jewel together—what is to say the same feelings aren't present here? Maybe, we need someone that is adequate at protecting the group and defeating Naraku?"
She was not sure when she had deciding letting such animosity surface was a good idea. Perhaps it was the fact that even though Inu Yasha knew this would keep the group safe—his pride continued to fight it. It had not been just her, in reality; everyone had realized the lack of safety in his hasty decisions recently. She had tried to be understanding and patient—and now time had run out.
She understood the love that he held for the dead miko and even admired his loyalty—in the beginning. Then, his loyalty turned to blindness. That was when issues began to surface. He had invited her into the group and it was not long before Kikyo's manipulation started to affect everyone's safety.
Unlike the Hanyou, she addressed the events with the team. They had all agreed that help was needed and most importantly, from someone that viewed the threat seriously. Kagome had been shocked at first—when Miroku suggested the Lord of the Western Lands. In fact, she vaguely remembered laughing at such a suggestion and informing the group, he would never respond to such an invitation.
Imagine her surprise when he did.
Present
She could tell her was irritated and impatience from multiple cues—for one, the tapping of his fingers on the table and secondly, the glare of death that was currently being given to her.
"Miko, will we be sitting here all day or will your ramblings eventually become informative?" His tone held one of suspicion. Nervously, she realized he knew what she was doing.
Stalling.
She had been tempting to stall and praying he would not notice.
Of course, her luck had been absent ever since she left the Feudal Era—so she wasn't sure why she had expected it now.
"Tell me, what is it that you are avoiding to tell me? Perhaps a story with more intimacy?" He knew what she was doing and that alone made her face turn bright red from both irritation and embarrassment.
"Are you telling me you knew everything I've stated so far?" She had to ask. After all, he seemed to know nearly everything about her—why not this? Raising a brow, she waited for his answer.
"I am not a fool. I realize that you and Sesshoumaru traveled. That is not what I want to know. I wish to be told how it was that a Miko and the Lord of the Western lands became so familiar to celebrate a winter together." The Inu explained causally. The way he emphasized familiar made her chest tightened. She was trying so hard to keep the story of that winter to herself.
"I shall propose an idea. I was be patience and you will be honest" The Inu began but stopped at the glare that Kagome gave him.
"I was—" Kagome began but was quieted instantly.
"Completely transparent of the events during that winter." Shiniji shot back with a smirk.
"Perhaps you could skip the parts that are not important?" he suggested while causing Kagome to once again roll her eyes at the Inu. What was it about dogs and their lack of patience?
"Sesshoumaru joined our team. We traveled. There was a blizzard. We found the rest of the jewel—" She knew she was being a smartass, and judging from the growl of the Inu—he did too.
"The blizzard. Let us address those events." He responded coldly while glaring at her childish behavior. Letting out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding, she accepted defeat.
"That was when it all started." It seemed that no matter how much she procrastinated, the tale that she so desperately wanted to keep a secret would now be told to another. Closing her eyes, she thought back to the event that had changed her view of the Lord of the Western Lands forever.
Flashback
"I sense it!" Kagome suddenly shouted in excitement when she sensed the presence of a shard. It had felt like forever since a shard had made its presence known. Honing in on her Miko powers, she tried to figure out where it was. As her teeth chattered from the frigid cold, she cursed in realization that she would not be able to pin point the location all because of the storm. She wondered silently if Inu Yasha would use such an excuse for why the dead miko was still in their group.
It had not been until the demon lord announced of her shivering that she realized how cold she truly was. Wary looks were given to her from nearly all members of the group except for them. Responding with a reassuring smile, she informed everyone that she was fine.
"Kikyo and Sango aren't complaining about this shit. " She heard him mumble under his breath and yet again, her desire to cut all ties with the Hanyou began to surface. So close. They were so close to completing the jewel and then everything would be different. Ignoring Inu Yasha's comment, Kagome looked at the two opposite paths that were in front of them.
"Split up?" She asked bitterly while eyeing the team warily. That was the last thing that they needed—to split up with two members of the group that despised the rest. Almost as if reading her mind, Sango spoke up.
"We'll go in one group and you guys take the other path? A Miko and Daiyoukai should be able to handle any dangers that come there way. Right?" She had meant to use her statement as an explanation—or even a justification but a low growl from the Daiyoukai informed everyone that it had also been viewed as an insult.
"There are no dangers ahead." An icy voice stated simply and began walking ahead. Kagome wondered if he was speaking in general or if he was implying that there was nothing ahead that could harm him. Either way, she was thankful to get away from the presence of two certain members of the group.
As she glanced at the figure of Sesshoumaru, she began to ponder. They had been traveling for two weeks now and had finally made it to the West a few days ago. When neither Kikyo nor Kagome sensed a jewel shard, he had advised going further into the lands. It was odd, with him in the group—everything felt safer. Somehow, that feeling alone made the journey much more tolerable.
How had it come to this? How had the tables turned around so drastically that she preferred the presence of the Lord of the Western Lands to Inu Yasha? How had everything changed so much? How did a dead woman hold so much power over a group that had never been hers in the first place?
Kagome could not help but release the feeling of anger that had been waiting to come out. All the time she had spent with him, everything she had sacrificed for him and yet here stood his brother—someone who had tried to kill them on more than one occasion, behaving more cordial than Inu Yasha. Kagome let out a choked sigh of sadness. It finally had sunk into her; she had royally screwed up when she had chosen her prince charming. As of recently, it seemed that anyone would have been a better choice than Inu Yasha.
A/N: Chapter 4 is revised! Yay.