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: Almost done! Two more chapters to revise/edit.
This was something she did not miss in the Feudal Era.
Traffic.
Yet, even as irritated as she was at such a petty thing, her mind was thinking of something much different. There was finally a chance for her. A chance to get closure. There was hope—something that she had all but given up on. With so many possibilities entering her thoughts, she wondered how she would go about finding any of her former companions. Clearly, she would not get the information that she needed from things such as textbooks.
Trying to tell herself to focus on the road more, she could not help but continue to wonder about the events that had all happened today. Calmly, she tried to tell herself to not get her hopes up—or be so native and foolish as to think that her former companions were alive all because she had found out that some Youkai lived in her time.
Shaking her head, and letting out a sigh, she looked at the road ahead of her. The storm continued and appeared to have no intent of weakening. All she could see was white snow plummeting to the ground. Something about this time of the year calmed her drastically. While it calmed her, it also made her heart yearn for what she thought would never be possible.
"RED LIGHT!"
That was all she had heard from her friend Eri before her heart sank in dread. Her mind did not have time to process the surroundings and instinctively, Kagome slammed on the breaks. It only took seconds to realize why that had been a horrible mistake. As the tires hit black ice, the car began to spin out of control. Attempting to correct her mistake, she tried to turn the wheel in the direction of the skidding. Even with that, it seemed to do nothing as they continued to spin off the road.
Hearing the few cars that were on road honk at her, Kagome mentally thanked the gods for the almost empty road. As fast as she could, she prepared herself for impact. Seconds later, Kagome felt her head slam into the steering wheel violently and heard the sound of the windows shattering from whatever they had hit. After what seemed like hours, she finally began to stir.
"Kagome?! Kagome, are you okay?" Her friends' voice held urgency and fear. However, the fact that Eri was able to speak implied that she hadn't suffered catastrophic wounds.
"Kagome, Kagome—I can't open the doors. They're stuck. The snow won't let me open the doors!"
The shrill of her friends voice made her own head throb even more. Letting out a groan of pain, she attempted to take in her surroundings. Everything was so blurry. Was that because of the snow storm, or a possible concussion? Raising her hands, Kagome attempted to wipe off whatever was on her face. As her hands reached to wipe off the foreign items off her face, she suddenly became aware of why her face heart like hell. Glass. Tiny bits of glass had cut her skin and remained there. Finally, she managed to fully open her eyes, Kagome turned her head to where the panicked voice was coming from.
"You're bleeding. Oh my god, you're bleeding."
Kagome stared at her friends' panicked and scared face. Slowly taking in everything, she realized just why her friend was so frightened. The car windows were shattered due to hitting two trees and all she could see surrounding them was snow. The white substance seemed to have almost swallowed up the entire car.
Ignoring the pain and pounding in her head, she turned to her side of the car. Seeing no snow on that side, she attempted to open the door. When it didn't open she told herself to stay calm.
"We're in the middle of nowhere!"
Was it because of her injuries that Eris voice was hurting her head so much? Wanting nothing more than to tell her friend to stop screeching, she decided to bit her tongue instead.
"Calm down. Someone will come." She attempted to reassure her friend but was shocked at how her own voice seemed to shake in fear. Eri must had heard it because she silently began to cry.
"I feel sick, Kagome. I feel like I'm going to pass out."
Shocked that she had not even analyzed the entire situation yet, she turned to her friend. From what she could see, there didn't appear to be any wounds on the woman. Lowering her eyes to her feet, she then realized that the dent of the car being pushed in could have easily trapped her friends leg.
What would I do in the Feudal Era? What would I do if I were injured? She asked herself nervously. After all, hadn't the possibility of death appeared several times when she was in the Feudal Era? How had she managed to survive there?
You would call for help. You would call for Inu Yasha and the gang.
Unable to control the tears that began to form in her eyes, Kagome turned in the opposite direction of Eri. The last thing she needed was her friend seeing her fear. Inu Yasha wasn't here to rescue—in the end, he had not even cared about her.
That exact moment, she heard a car pull up in the distance. Before she could even scream for help, her door flew open.
Youaki.
Only Youkai could literally rip a door open.
Shivering from the cold, she was surprised at herself for still being conscious. Her entire body throbbed and her vison continued to be somewhat blurry. Ignoring the main, she turned to the man that had rescued her.
Except it wasn't a man.
It was a woman—a demoness to be exact.
"You? What? How-?" Kagome managed to mumble in confusion.
"Wrap your arms around my neck. " the demoness with a face pale as the snow and hair dark as night instructed. When Kagome did not instantly respond, the demoness glared.
"I may not have the strength of a dog or bear, but I'm not weak—now put your hands around my neck" She repeated firmly while standing inches away from her. Nodding nervously, Kagome quickly did as she was told. Within seconds, she was pulled out of the car in a way that a bride would be held by her husband.
"Yukio" The demoness spoke in a firm tone and it took Kagome a second to realize that there was someone else here. Were both of them here? Turning her face in the same direction as the demoness, she suddenly realized all the snow that had surrounded the car was gone. Blinking in confusion, she gasped as the door opened from Eri's side.
How had that happened in mere seconds?!
"Your friend is fine—just unconscious. She may have some mild injuries, but she will be fine." The demoness stated, almost as if reading her mind.
"Yukio, the door" The demoness once more instructed. Suddenly, from Eri's side of the car, the same man she had met in the store appeared in front of her. Almost completely covered in snow, he gave her a wolfish grin. Had it been him that had removed all the snow in that short of a time?
Gazing in confusion, she watched as he opened the door to the car with complete and utter ease. As the demoness set her in the back seat. She began to take off her winter jacket. Handing it to Kagome, she let her annoyance be known with the expression on her face.
"I'm fine" Kagome protested but the demoness raised a brow.
"Thus why you're shivering?" She asked with boredom in her tone. Having had enormous experience with the stubbornness of Youkai, Kagome accepted the coat without another word.
As the door opened from the opposite side that Kagome sat, she watched the Youkai known 'Yukio' place, and seatbelt Eri in place. Before closing the door, he mimicked the demoness action and took his own coat off to put over her friend.
Kagome watched them both get into the car but with Yukiko on the driver's side. As she started up the car, questions began popping up in Kagome's head.
"How did you—"
"My brother followed you." The demoness responded while not even letting her finish.
"But why?"
"Really? You really have no idea why he would want to follow you?" The demoness responded with a slightly upset tone while turning the car on the road.
"My car—"
"Police will get it taken care of. Hospital for a human in your condition is number one priority." Yukio interrupted her in a serious tone.
"I'm not that injured—"
"Says the human with her face covered in blood and bruises all over her body." The demoness snapped back while turning on the heaters.
"I've been through worse." Kagome mumbled to herself while trying to ignore her pounding head. Glancing at her unconscious friend, she silently thanked the gods for all the help.
"Oh? You mean you make a habit out of not knowing how to drive in snow and hitting trees?" As Kagome stared at the demoness that was almost taunting and insulting her at the same time, she tried to keep her emotions in check.
"Yukiko—perhaps we shouldn't upset the miko? You know, the one that could easily purify us? Just an idea. "Yukio told the demoness now known as Yukiko.
"Yukio and Yukiko?" Kagome asked curiously.
"Our parents found the names fitting for artic wolves" Yukio answered with a low chuckle while glancing back and giving her a wink.
"You're wolves? Siblings?"
"So many questions. Should it not be us that have questions for you?" The demoness inquired emotionlessly. Kagome could not help but smile at the demoness. Her personality reminded her so much of Sesshoumaru. Cold and blunt.
"If Sesshoumaru had a sister, you would be it." She whispered to herself with a chuckle. The last thing she expected was the car to come to a complete halt and her already damaged face to hit the back of the driver's seat once more.
"What the-?" She gasped and turned to look at the front of the car. Both of the wolves stared at her with wide eyes and shock written all over their faces.
"What?" She demanded. Both of the wolves exchanged glances and turned around. Almost as if nothing had happened, the demoness continued to drive again. Minutes passed and everyone remained silent in the car.
Suddenly the demoness spoke up.
"You know Sesshoumaru?"
Kagome's eyes widened. Had that been the reason for the sudden stop of the car? Several questions flew through her head but Kagome settled on the truth.
"I've workedwith him." Kagome worded carefully, not sure how to explain her situation to her newfound saviors.
What she didn't expect was for the demoness to start laughing suddenly.
"Well, then this should be a very interesting conversation then." Came the demonesses amused respond. Beyond confused, Kagome wondered what she was talking about.
"Yukiko, surely she doesn't know him—"The brother spoke up almost in fear. However, the demoness was already pressing buttons in her car and suddenly the sound of a phone ringing filled the car.
Surely she wasn't calling the Sesshoumaru—was she? Her heart began beating faster than she thought possible, and she contemplated on how to handle the situation. What would she say? What would she do? Would he remember her? Was it really him?
Almost immediately, a familiar voice filled the car—a voice she had not heard in years.
"Yukiko, I cannot even begin to imagine why you would think you are allowedto call this number. There are proper channels if you have a problem. You know the rules. Now if I have to remind you of them one more time-" The voice began and Kagome became even more confused. Rules? Channels?
"I do apologize. I am aware of the rules and the chain of command in regards to youkai problem. This is a personal call—"
"I was unaware we were on such personal terms, wolf."
"I have a miko in my car, so yeah, it's kind of personal." The demoness hissed loudly and suddenly the phone and everyone in the car was quiet.
"Speak."
"Are you hiding information from the council? I was unaware of Miko's with power still existing—in fact, I'm pretty sure the council wasn't aware of it as well."
"The lack of respect that you're showing—"
"Lord Sesshoumaru, I do apologize on my sisters behalf. We shouldn't have called." Yukio interrupted while glaring at his sister who was still driving.
"I do not want to hear another word out of her."
"Understood, sir."
"The miko." Sesshoumaru's voice rang throughout the car again and Kagome remained as silent as a mouse. Was she dreaming this? Did she pass out when she got in the accident?
"We found her on the side of the road from a car accident. She needs to go to the hospital—she's hurt." The wolf stated nervously and Kagome couldn't help but wonder why he was withholding the truth. She had been the one to interact with him. She had been the one that had told them what she was—and yet, he was not mentioning any of that.
It was almost as if he was covering for it. But why?
"Why call me when you have an unconscious Miko in your car?" Sesshoumaru asked with something in his voice.
While many probably wouldn't catch the tone he had used, Kagome had. After spending more time with him, she had learned that tone almost all too well. The Inu was sharp, and picked up on everything. He knew something was up and yet, his tone was disguised in what seemed like boredom.
Yukio glanced at Kagome nervously and she understood. He was going to have to tell him the truth. She nodded at the wolf in understanding and permission.
Grimly, he nodded back.
"She's conscious. I believe she called your name. It could have been a mistake—Yukiko was quick to judge" the wolf lied once more leaving Kagome even more baffled. What was going on?
"Miko, speak." His sharp voice rang through the car and Kagome bit her lip. Speak? Speak and say what? Touching her cheek and feeling the glass on her face, she then glanced at Eri.
Taking a deep breath, she began to speak.
"I need a hospital, Sesshoumaru. My friend definitely needs one—"She began and bit her bottom lip that had begun to quiver as tears threatened to come. Instantly, memories of the feudal era flashed through her mind, and emotions she had been trying to hide, began to surface.
"We're hurt. I was stupid. I wasn't paying attention to the road." Kagome began with shaky voice.
What else could she say—other than the truth?
"We took on gods, demons—I mean, we defeated Naraku! Yet, I can't even pick up a Christmas tree, or even drive in Japan without nearly killing myself!" Kagome babbled with tears falling down her face like a waterfall.
Shoving her face in her hands, she continued to cry from shame, embarrassment but most importantly anger. As her body shook from the cold and from current emotional state, she barely heard the last sentence out of Sesshoumaru's mouth
"Get her to a hospital." Sesshoumaru growled over the phone in a tone she had never heard.
She had been so focused on his tone that she didn't even realize when the car doubled its speed towards its destination.
A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!