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His Past, Her Present, Their Future

Chapter 23 - Fascination

When morning came, Kagome slipped on a much more traditional summer kimono and slippers before they began traveling once again. Sesshoumaru had said they would arrive before noon, and Kagome was eager to get her task over with.

"Hey, Sesshou?"

He growled at the name but did not comment. "Yes?"

"Your mother said it would be a two day journey, but it was hardly more than one. "

"My mother told you in the way she would travel. I have much affection for my mother, and she is very intelligent, but she has never been much for travel or the wilds. She would have stopped every hour and tarried about, examining plant life or resting in the trees."

"Ah, okay then. Well, the sooner we get back the better, huh?"

Sesshoumaru agreed, but he was aware of an ever-growing part of him that was actually enjoying being alone with the girl. No training, no responsibilities… just her. And he found his joy in his companion outweighing his joy for the lack of duties. That was cause for hesitation.

Only a week ago he would have sooner left the girl in the woods alone, but now he found himself actually enjoying her company to the point of craving more of it. When she smiled, he couldn't help smirking back, and when she laughed he felt lighter somehow. And when he had realized he had harmed her, he would have apologized in front of all the palace guards and nobility to make her forgive him. What was this?

Thankfully, the place where he had struck her had not bruised and was only a memory now. She still had a partially healed cut on her jaw and some punctures on her wrists, but a jolt of miko powers had helped them nicely. He was so lost in her thoughts, he did not notice they had arrived at the village until he felt an insistent tugging on his arm.

"Sesshoumaru, is this it?"

"Yes, it is."

Kagome gawked, only having been to one other youkai village in her tenure in the past. It was more advanced than human villages and much cleaner. Youkai of all breeds bustled around, though she noticed the majority of the population were inuyoukai. Seeing as they were so few in the Feudal Era, she marveled at them. She didn't notice the looks she was getting as she followed Sesshoumaru through the bustling town and to a medium sized hut.

"This is the seamstress's home. I will meet you back here for the noontime meal, but for now I have an aunt who would be very sore with me if I did not announce my presence in the village."

Kagome nodded and watched him walk away before entering, her eyes adjusting to the darker area. "Is someone here?"

"What do you need, human?" A proud, golden-haired inuyoukai asked from a table to the right side of the room where she sipped her tea.

She bowed at the waist in a quick movement before straightening. "I come here on the request of Lady Kaori. She needs a new kimono for the Decennial Banquet."

The woman rose and eyed her incredulously. "I would ask if you were her new handmaiden, but you lack the proper demeanor and groveling for that. And a miko, even? Were the rumors true then, is a miko really an honored guest of the Lord and Lady of the West?"

"I am," Kagome nudged the dirt floor with a toe nervously, "My lady asked if I would travel for her to choose her colors, because she could not come so close to the date of the event. And she wishes me to have one as well."

The seamstress stared at her, her golden eyes boring through Kagome. "You are a strange miko to keep the company of youkai."

Kagome laughed a little and smiled at the woman. "I have been told. But I keep the company of many different people… and I guess I just don't see why humans and youkai have to hate each other."

The woman's eyes narrowed before she smiled slightly. "Come, child, and we'll look through what material I have."

The pair walked into the back room, which was piled high with silks of every color and quality. Most of an hour later they had chosen the colors for each woman's kimono and Kagome was measured for her own before she was told to come back in two days time. Kagome thanked her and left the hut to look for Sesshoumaru.

She didn't get far before she noticed the open hostility directed at her, but this was nothing new. She had been receiving it at the castle since her arrival, and though she had befriended a large handful of the servants there, she knew it took time

She didn't see the approaching hebiyoukai guard until he was directly in front of her, his spear aimed at her abdomen. "Miko, what business have you in Futaridori?"

Kagome flinched at the predatory hiss accenting his words but met his glare with one of her own. "I am here for the Lady of these lands. Now, if you would kindly remove your weapon, I have to find someone."

The spear stayed where it was. "And why would our Lady send a human who is obviously not demure enough to be a servant to do her bidding?"

"You would have to ask her, snake, but she told me it was because she held trust in my judgment. Now, remove your weapon."

Kagome was loathe to use any semblance of her power in a demon village, but it couldn't be helped. The youkai was not lowering it and she was getting nervous at having something so pointy so close to her very poke-able stomach. She held out her hand near the spear and her palm was shimmering violet, and she held the snake's gaze, "If you will not remove it, I will make it so that you cannot wield it for several days. Purity burns hurt, I'm told, and they don't heal very easily."

She saw the snake gulp, but it was obviously not going to back down from a human. She hardly had to touch the metal point before the entire staff looked to be afire with violet sparks, and it clattered to the ground moments later. She almost gagged on the stench of burning flesh. The snake's eyes flared from yellow to black and he leapt blindly at her, which she dodged easily. She really, really didn't want to go killing youkai. This was turning out rather badly.

He leapt again, knocking into her, and she threw up her barrier; she then became aware of the large amount of unwanted attention she and the snake had attracted. She gritted her teeth in annoyance and tried not to show the pain it inflicted every time the stupid snake struck her barrier and looked past the group of onlookers to search for Sesshoumaru. Surely he had heard the commotion by now, hadn't he?

Another guard stepped forward, stopping her attacker and turning to her. His uniform told her that he was obviously a higher rank, a Captain perhaps. "How dare you, miko, enter our village? I should allow this fool to kill you where you stand for your stupidity alone."

Kagome glared. "I am here on official business, and your guard attacked me. He is lucky I didn't purify him!"

The Captain, a silver-haired inuyoukai, glowered at her, narrowing his green eyes dangerously. He sniffed the air around her - her barrier wasn't scent-proof - and his eyes flew open as he took a step back. With a precise strike, he had clobbered the hebiyoukai into unconsciousness nd dipped into a short bow. "I apologize for my guard, Lady Miko, he is a new recruit and snakes do not have much of a sense of smell."

"Smell?" Kagome quirked an eyebrow at the sudden reverse in attitude.

"If he did, he would have noticed that you have been in the company of the Western Prince. Again, I apologize."

Kagome smiled and patted his shoulder, and she saw the wish to recoil in the guards eyes. "No, don't worry about it. I deal with rash youkai and humans all the time, I'm rather used to it."

The Captain looked at her curiously and she flashed him a brilliant smile, winning her a small smirk in return. As he turned to walk away Kagome called him back. "Oh, wait! I am sorry to bother you, but do you happen to know where Sesshoumaru is? He said he'd meet me for lunch, and I don't know where he went to. We humans don't have much a sense of smell either."

His eyes widened a little and he nodded, beckoning her to follow him to where the prince's scent through town to the home of his mother's sister. He gestured towards the hut and bowed to Kagome, who smiled again and thanked him.

Kagome rang the hanging brass bell respectfully and fidgeted as she waited at the matted door. There was no response so she took to standing against a tree nearby, not wishing for a repeat of the earlier performance with the guards. She began picking at her fingernails in boredom, cleaning any acquired grime from beneath them and shifting her weight. She wanted food. And a bath. And a nap.

"Where in the heck are you, Sesshou?" she mumbled, closing her eyes to the sky and sighing deeply.

"Why do you smell like a reptile?" A smooth baritone awoke her from her daze moments later, and she snapped up her head to meet with Sesshoumaru's burning golden gaze.

"Some new recruit wouldn't take 'I'm not here to purify you so leave me alone' for an answer."

Sesshoumaru snorted. "You should have waited at Yamesho's hut and you would have avoided the confrontation. You really can't go more than a few minutes without getting in trouble, can you?"

"Well you weren't there yet, so I thought I'd look around a little," said Kagome, pouting a bit.

He rolled his eyes. "Come, my aunt has invited us in for lunch. We will also stay in her home this night."

Kagome nodded and fervently hoped there was a hot spring nearby. She would ask later. She followed after Sesshoumaru, around the back of the hut she had looked for him at minutes before and to a small but perfectly manicured garden. His aunt was obviously on his mother's side, because though her hair was golden her eyes were the same breathtaking lavender of Kaori.

Kagome bowed respectfully to the woman, who looked her over and smiled. "I see, so this is the miko I have heard so much about? Good to meet you dear, I am Neniki, sister to Lady Kaori. Now tell me, I am highly interested to know how a human miko came to be in the company of the lord and lady!"

She didn't need the warning glare from Sesshoumaru to tell her that she could not tell the whole truth. Not only did she not wish to reveal her origins to anyone but Mattaki, Kaori, and Sesshoumaru, but Neniki had the too-interested countenance of a gossip and would likely tell everyone her own version of the truth. Kagome smiled at her. "Mattaki saved me from a slave trader, and we became fast friends, as I did with Kaori and Sesshou here. I probably won't be staying too long, but I enjoy their company immensely." She grinned sweetly at Sesshoumaru, loving the glare from using her shortened version of his name.

Neniki seemed disappointed that it was such a boring story, and Kagome was thankful she wasn't looking for a lie. Kagome had always been a terrible liar. The three of them dined and chatted about menial matters, and darkness quickly chased them down.

Kagome turned in the firefly lit darkness. "Sesshou, is there a hot spring nearby? I haven't bathed since that creek on the way here, and I feel disgusting."

Both youkai's eyebrows disappeared into their hairline and Neniki blinked several times. "Am I to believe you bathe daily?"

"So long as I can manage it, most definitely! Where I come from, it is considered normal, and I really hate the dirty feeling I get after a day without one."

"If only the humans here took after that directive! Where is it that you come from?"

"Oh, it is far, far away, a place called Tokyo… I traveled here many years ago."

"It is on the mainland?"

"Ah, no, even farther," Kagome half-lied. She thought a thousand years was much farther than China.

"Goodness. Well, there is in fact a hot spring only a few minutes into the forest there," Neniki said, pointing. "I suggest my nephew to escort you. A miko anywhere near here is suspicious and a threat, so you could be targeted."

Kagome nodded and looked hopefully up to her friend, who sighed and gave the barest nod to her. With a happy (though annoying to both youkai) squeal she dug through her yellow bag and pulled out her hygiene supplies, skipping along after the pretty, bouncing silver hair of her guide.

The hot spring was small but serviceable and Kagome practically threw herself in once she'd explained the merits of modesty to Sesshoumaru and making him stay turned around. She sighed happily and worked the shampoo into her hair. She could hear Sesshoumaru sniffing. "Your soaps…they do not smell like normal soap. It is not as offensive."

Kagome nodded sagely, knowing he was referring to the usual lye soap of the time and its abrasive and strong smell. "These are from my home… a millennia from now. It comes in many different scents, but InuYasha would always complain it was too strong, so I chose unscented. I am glad it meets to your standards," she said teasingly.

"Though on some humans it would be preferable to have soaps to cover their smell, yours is very pleasant. It would take away from it to cover it."

Kagome blushed prettily and rinsed her hair. Of course, in the future he would tell her the same thing, but it was somehow satisfying to hear it from this younger version of him as well. She smiled at his back and continued her bathing ritual in silence until another few sniffs were heard.

"I will be back shortly, there is something nearby. I will take care of it and return."

Kagome agreed and stepped out to dry herself, toweling her hair in content. As she started on her body, a loud crash resounded nearby and she wrapped the towel around her torso with a loud 'eep!'. She ran to the noise and found Sesshoumaru struggling to right himself after having been thrown into a tree. The youkai was some kind of weasel and darted quickly up to the inuyoukai for another blow, sending him back once again.

"Sesshou, use your youki whip!" she called, wishing she had had enough intelligence to bring her bow.

"No, I did not inherit it from my mother," he grunted, rolling away from a third blow.

"Bull! I have seen you use it a million times!"

Her cheerleading had roused the youkai to her, and it leapt to her partially nude form with a sneer. "What's this? A huan traveling with the Western Heir? I see you have the dogs' softness to mortals, do you not, young Sesshoumaru?"

Kagome glared and raised her now glowing hand. "Stay the hell away from me. And what right do you have to insult the Prince of these lands?"

The weasel struck out at her, knocking her on her back. She tried in vain to recover her stolen breath as it hovered over her prone form. "That bastard Mattaki killed my grandfather, he is not a worthy ruler for these lands! And as for the 'prince' here, just by being seen with a human is enough reason to judge his worthlessness."

During his rant Sesshoumaru had stood, and his anger was pouring off of him. Kagome tried to raise her powers around her, but she had hit hard on the ground and still could hardly suck in a breath. As the youkai rose an arm to strike her, a green flash of light sliced through it's furry body, giving Kagome the need for yet another bath.

"Never turn your back on your opponent, idiot," Sesshoumaru told its corpse.

Kagome, after whining about the weasel guts on her, smiled at him. "See, I told you."

Sesshoumaru looked away from his hand and to her, smiling back. "I thank you. I have been trying to call it for years, but we all just assumed I did not have it. I guess it was hearing that I did, if fact, surely have it that called it to me."

It was then they both took in Kagome's state of undress. She squeaked loudly and Sesshoumaru couldn't look away. The towel barely went to midthigh while standing, but in her propped up position on the ground, one leg was peering through the slit all the way to her hip, and her cleavage was pronounced with the way she was gripping the terrycloth.

Her blush spread from her cheeks and nose all the way down her neck to aforementioned cleavage and she found herself unable to move. Sesshoumaru forgot momentarily to breathe. Sure, she was splattered with youkai blood and was dirty from her meeting with the forest floor, but to him she was stunning. Her hair was still rather damp and clung to her shoulders and arms, and the light of the large moon shone in broken beams on her, giving her the appearance of a tragic heavenly maiden.

At the same time, they came back to themselves and Sesshoumaru turned his back while Kagome struggled to her feet, laughing nervously. "I think I need another bath now, but just a quick one to rinse. Mind reminding me which way I came in here?"

He nodded and passed her without an obvious glance, leading her back to the spring. He stayed nearby again, his back turned, but his heart was still pounding. What was she doing to him?