Reacquainted With You

The demon lord remained in his seat looking at the fire dancing in the fireplace after the departure of Shippou. Of all the things that he had imagined the kitsune wanted to tell him, he could not have imagined that it was Kagome whom he wished to talk about. For five hundred years, he had never heard her name fall from the kitsune's lips, not even at the request of Rin. So why had the brat decided to tell him now? Sesshoumaru could not deny that the girl did capture his interest with her courage and stubbornness. Not many who stood up to him live to tell about it, and she was one of the exceptions; Inuyasha being another one.

Sesshoumaru shifted his glance upward to the swords that hung above the fireplace. Whenever he thought about Inuyasha, he would always be drawn to look at the tetsusaiga. It seemed that his mind had tied his half brother with the sword ever since Inuyasha came into possession of it. He had gone after the sword for so long and now that the weapon was in his grasp finally, there was no chance to use it. Sesshoumaru shook his head, clearly remembering the circumstances that allowed him to acquire it. How ironic was it that he would receive the sword due to the death of Inuyasha through nature and not by his own hand. He had sworn that he would kill the half breed and take what was rightfully his from him. However, it was death that allowed him access to the sword, and it was given to him. All because of her…

Kagome… the name floated across his memory and a vision of her sprang forth in front of him. The way she had glowed with power at the downfall of Naraku, there was so much power in that mere mortal. He should have hated the human for giving Inuyasha the tetsusaiga, but he was curious as to why the sword his father, as a taiyoukai, commissioned and wield would come to life under her, a mere human. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and allowed another memory of her to float to the surface. Her tear streaked face and her scent laced with sorrow was his last memory of her. Sesshoumaru had been more curious than disgusted as to why she would cry at the thought of leaving the hanyou and the people she traveled together with. He understood that she refused to stand in anyone's way, especially concerning Inuyasha's life. Confirmed by what the old miko told him, Kagome made a wish upon the shikon no tama that allowed both his half brother and Rin's mate a second chance to live out their lives to the fullest.

Of all the scenarios that he had guessed about the circumstance of her disappearance, he never thought that she would be from another time and currently alive. That would have explained her strange manner of dress and behavior. To be honest, he really did not understand the time traveling aspect, but it was the most plausible. There was no trace of her anywhere, no matter how hard he looked.

He growled, frustrated that a mere human girl could mess with his mind like this. It was not that she was unpleasant to look at, on the contrary he found her appearance more appealing than many of the female youkai who schemed to get mate with him, despite her indecent manner of dress. Rin in a way had strove to be like the miko. More than once he had overheard the child talking to the stars asking for the miko's return and found that he, too, desired to see her.

Now five hundred years later, having learned the truth about the miko, Sesshoumaru was annoyed that the miko still occupied much of his mind. Even though the memories he had of her were brief and few, they nonetheless remained in his memory waiting to be acknowledged once again. Sesshoumaru swerved in his chair to look out the large window in his study at the moon. What ever it was the kitsune was hiding, he would find out. As for Kagome, he would have to do a little research about her first before deciding what to do with her.

Jaken came at his master's summons. Whatever it was must have something to do with the kitsune's visit. In the years after his lord's ward's family died out, Sesshoumaru never summoned him at night, preferring to have the time alone in his study. "How may this lowly Jaken serve you, my lord?" asked the toad bowing low to the ground.

"Jaken, I need to search out something for me." came the cold voice. Jaken bowed lower waiting for further instructions as how to carry out the task. "I want you to locate to seek out the animal clinic of the neko youkai, Kilala, that belonged to Rin's family." Sesshoumaru ordered.

Jaken nodded his head and asked, "What would you like me to do once I found the clinic, milord?"

Sesshoumaru thought for a moment before answering "I want you to watch the occupants for me." T

he hiki demon bowed low once more before backing out of the room. It was most unusual for Sesshoumaru to take interest in what the neko youkai was doing. He had only known that the neko youkai helped guard the exterminator's family as his lord and the kitsune guarded Rin's. He did not know what or why his lord felt that there was a need to watch the youkai's clinic, surely it was not a threat or else he would not have sent him to do it. But whatever it was not Jaken's place to question his lord's orders and he proceeded to search out the neko youkai's clinic.

Sesshoumaru smirked. He was not going to believe the kitsune completely until he verified the facts for himself first. Although how the kitsune managed to find her in this ever growing population of humans five hundred years later was not his concern. The human who infiltrated his memories and caused him to lose tetsusaiga in the first place, but allowed him to gain it back later was. Sesshoumaru would not allow the kitsune to play him like a puppet and hide things that this Sesshoumaru ought to know.

Kagome opened her eyes to the sunlight seeping through her curtains. She blinked in memory of the dream she was having. She felt that the dream was trying to tell her something but what? Turning her head, she looked at her alarm clock and saw that she had woken up before its call. That in itself was unusual for she could never wake up even with the alarm clock. She turned back to look at the dust dancing in the sun beam and tried to remember the details of the dream. Finding that she couldn't, Kagome rolled out of bed to leisurely prepare for another day at the clinic.

Having to risen before any of her family did, Kagome decided to prepare breakfast and make lunch for herself. Although her mother did the cooking a majority of the time, Mrs. Higurashi had taught Kagome to cook some of her favorite dishes. By the time that she was ready to leave for work, her family had awakened and was enjoying their breakfast. Kagome stepped out of the house and breath in the morning air. She had always love the fresh morning air, and in the Sengoku Jedai, she had gotten her fill of it every day. Letting out a contented sigh, she walked to the bus stop where the bus would take her to Dr. Aki's office. As she stepped off the bus, she sensed that something or someone was watching her. Looking around to find that nothing was amiss, she used the key that Dr. Aki gave her to let herself in. She opened the blinds to let some daylight into the room, and that's when she noticed that a young man with red hair and wearing sunglasses was standing across the street looking right at her. At that moment, a bus drove by and when she looked again, the young man was gone. Kagome couldn't help but think she had seen that young man before.

Kilala looked out into the reception area when she felt Kagome's aura pulsed. She quickly got up and strolled into the front intended on making sure Kagome was alright. She caught a glimpse of red hair and felt Shippou's aura called out to her in greeting, just as a bus went by. She groaned inwardly, that youkai never had any patience when it came to Kagome. She told him that she would reacquaint him with Kagome later the day, but no, Shippou could not wait that long and needed to come and see for himself first. Well she couldn't really blame the kitsune for wanting to see her now, five hundred years was a long time.

Kagome jumped when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Turning around she saw Dr. Aki was looking at her with concern in her eyes. "Are you alright, Kagome? You looked dazed for a minute there."

Kagome put on a bright smile to cover up the sense of déjà vu that she felt seeing the figure across the street. "I'm alright, it's just that I was thinking whether I remembered to feed Buyo this morning." She said weakly. She did not want Dr. Aki think she was crazy and not suitable to work in the clinic.

Fortunately Dr. Aki seemed to buy her excuse and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "Let's get the show on the road then, shall we?" Dr. Aki asked, smiling at her.

'Damn it, Shippou.' Kilala thought 'You just had to scare her like that.' Remembering all the tricks that he, Rin, and Kohaku used to pull scaring Sango and Miroku witless, Kilala gritted her teeth knowing she should be thankful that it wasn't anything big this time.

Time seemed to fly by at the clinic. In no time at all, Kagome was ushering the last of the patients out the door and locking it behind them. Kagome then proceeded to tidy up the reception area when she heard the doorbell ring. Kagome looked and found a young man wearing sunglasses was standing at the door. Kagome pointed to the "closed" sign hanging at the door, but the young man shook his head and mouthed something. Seeing this, Kagome went to the back to get Dr. Aki to see what she should do about it. Dr. Aki heard the doorbell rang and realized that it was probably Shippou coming to take her up on her promise. She met Kagome who was on her way in to inform her about the person at the door. "It's alright Kagome, he's a friend of mine. Please let him in while I wash my hands." and went back into the surgery to wash the scent of disinfectant off her hands.

Shippou's hands were slick with sweat as he rang the doorbell at Kilala's clinic. He was nervous about seeing Kagome once again. He knew he was going to get it from Kilala later for startling Kagome this morning, but frankly he could not help to come and catch a glimpse of her first. His knees felt like water when he saw Kagome peer through the glass at him, he waved his hands and mouthed he wanted to see Kilala to her until he saw her disappear into the back to get Kilala. He gave himself a little shake before Kagome came back and unlocked the door, inviting him in. He was glad that he had on his sunglasses to hide his eyes for he could not help but stare at the woman he called mother five hundred years ago. He could barely keep his voice from shaking as he thanked her for letting him in. She only smiled and indicated for him to take a seat in the waiting area while she went and got Kilala. Shippou thankfully sat down in the nearest chair, he could not believe how he was acting. Not even meeting with Sesshoumaru caused him to be nervous like this. But then, Sesshoumaru was not Kagome, and he could never ever imagine Sesshoumaru to be anything but a prick.

Shippou looked up when he heard footsteps coming towards him. He saw Kilala strolling towards him with Kagome trailing behind her. Taking off his sunglasses, he grinned at the neko youkai and stood up to give her a hug. "Hi Aki, since you're done I thought I'll pick you for dinner."

Kilala rolled her eyes but played along with him. "You didn't have to come all the way out here, I could have made my way to the restaurant you know." She scolded.

Shippou just grinned at her and shrugged his shoulders. "I thought it would be quicker for me to pick you up." He replied.

Kilala stifled a giggle and beckoned for Kagome to come forward. "Well Kagome, I want you to meet Kito, he's a good friend of mine. And Kito, this is Kagome, my assistant."

Shippou reached out to shake Kagome's hand, "It's nice to meet you, Kagome." As his hand touched hers, he felt Kagome's miko powers reach for his youki. He quickly sent a trickle of youki towards Kagome's power hoping that it would recognize him and not fry him to a crisp. Kilala breathed a sigh of relief inwardly when she felt Kagome's power recognize Shippou's youki and receded back into its mistress.

Kagome felt as if she had been shocked when her hand made contact with Shippou's hand and looked into his eyes. Instead of the tall, red haired man, she saw a small kitsune with green eyes and sporting a pony tail tied with a bow standing in front of her. As suddenly as it appeared, the image disappeared leaving Dr. Aki's friend in front of her. Kagome blinked her eyes, smiled and managed to reply "It's nice to meet you too, Kito." and withdrew her hand. She excused herself to finish her duties leaving the two youkai alone.

Kilala and Shippou exchanged a look and Kilala nodded in understanding. They would need to talk afterwards. Kilala motioned Shippou to take a seat and said "I'll just finish up inside and let Kagome go home." Shippou nodded affirmative and Kilala went to the back to help Kagome finishing tidying up.

Kagome let her mind wander as she automatically cleaned up the surgery. Why is it that the image of Shippou popped up when she shook Kito's hand? She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she did not heard Dr. Aki come in. "I can finish up here Kagome, you should go home. You looked tired." Dr. Aki said. Kagome gave her employer a look of gratitude and nodded. She bid Kito good night and left.

Kilala was glad that Kagome did not put up much of a fight when she told her to go home. "Did she leave yet?" Kilala asked Shippou as he made his way towards her.

"Yeah, I locked the door behind her. You almost done here? I'm starting to get hungry." replied the kitsune, pouting at the neko.

Kilala laughed at Shippou's expression and made a show of washing her hands. "Yup, now I'm done. Let's go, I'm starving too."

The two youkai quickly left the clinic and drove off in Shippou's car. Unnoticed by them, a small form scurried out quickly from the building across the road and jumped into a car that was waiting there and drove off.