Chapter Twelve
"Next Step"
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"Kagome, sweetie." Mrs. Higurashi knocked on Kagome's door twice before entering.
Kagome was busy typing away on her laptop but was rudely interrupted by Buyo when he took the opportunity to run into her room and make himself comfy on her keyboard.
A few days after the Winter Games were done, Kagome skipped town and headed back home to start her winter break. As much as she liked her new friends and her new home arrangements, she missed her original home and her family even more and she had to go and spend some time with them.
"Yeah, mom?" She chucked the fat cat to the side and yelped when he retaliated by jumping on her shoulder.
"Is everything okay?" Her mom sat a cup of tea on the nightstand and sat at the foot of her bed. She looked around the tiny room at Kagome's luggage packed for her departure back to Feudal Island.
There was an upcoming snowstorm and Kagome was going to split her two week break between Tokyo and Feudal Island and she didn't want to be stuck in Tokyo with chances of missing any classes when school started again.
"Yeah. Just checking on my flight information."
"Do you have everything you need?"
Kagome did a once-over of her things. "Well, I switched out the last of my summer clothes for more winter ones. That's the important thing. So, I'd say so." She nodded. "My flight is at noon tomorrow."
"Alright. Everyone will be here to see you off."
"Thanks, mom. I wish I could stay longer."
"It's okay. Safety is more important."
There was a bit of silence as Mrs. Higurashi smoothed out her long skirt. "So, did you pass your winter exam?"
Upon Kagome's phone call the morning after the Winter Games, Mrs. Higurashi listened to Kagome list everything she should've done better.
Kagome ended up coming second to Kikyo in the final round of the Games and that really bummed her out. She only felt better after going out to dinner with her friends and promising herself that she'd work harder. Though, her haunting score of 110 to Kikyo's perfect 250 still made her heart sink a little. She had to work extra hard to be prepared for the Soul Games.
Kagome sighed and tucked hair behind her right ear. "Yeah, I got a B-."
"That's not too bad!" Mrs. Higurashi perked up. "No matter what happens, I'll always be proud of you."
This made Kagome smile. "Thanks, mom. That really means a lot."
"I got you something."
"You did?"
Mrs. Higurashi disappeared and came back with a pink box. "Hopefully it'll keep you warm."
Kagome carefully opened the box and there was a white, tailored pea coat with a long green scarf, a green hat to match and black leather gloves. She stood and tried the coat on.
"Wow! Mom, thanks so much! I love it!"
"It fits great. It was the last one and I was lucky to get my hands on it. The holiday shopping rush is no joke."
"It's perfect!" Kagome rushed to hug her mother. "I love you, mom."
"I love you, too, dear."
…
Salt. Warm salty tears were all Sesshomaru could smell all morning and it was starting to become very bothersome while he tried to rest in meditation.
Having enough, he ventured downstairs to the living room, locating the source. "What is the matter with you?"
Ryoko was sitting cross-legged on the couch with a blanket over her lap, crying at a drama she was watching. "This show is just so sad! Why do people make things like this?"
"Why are you watching it?"
"I was bored, okay?" She shouted.
"Why are you crying over something so silly, Ryoko?" Sesshomaru stood and tried to fill out what was going on in the scene. The climax of a failed relationship caused the female character to shed a few tears, but she walked away with a smile, proud of herself for breaking it off with her unfaithful boyfriend. Something completely gag-worthy to him.
"Why are you being so insensitive, Sesshomaru!" She yelled, causing him to huff and growl.
"Yo! We're back!" Inuyasha entered the house, effortlessly holding a large tree with one hand and shopping bags and his sword Tessaiga in the other, Rin running in beside him, dressed in the light orange coat and gloves Sesshomaru got for her on a shopping trip just last week.
"Look, Lord Sesshomaru! I picked out the biggest tree I could find and chose all of the decorations!" She was excited as she dumped out her shopping bags, the decorations falling softly onto the large crème rug that protected a portion of the hardwood floors underneath.
Sesshomaru studied the contents as the human girl spread them out to get a better look at the colorful ornaments, golden garland ties and stockings. "Where is Jaken?"
Inuyasha crossed the living room and put the tree down, that was otherwise small compared to all of the space they had, as well as the tall ceilings, and grabbed the tree mat and base support from Rin, preparing to stand the tree up. "Don't know. He was right behind me." He shrugged, swatting stray pine from his face as Rin laughed at the few pieces that stuck out of his silver tresses.
Ryoko's senses were on edge and she jumped up in front of Sesshomaru as his front door opened again.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken wailed as he was being carried into the house by the back of his shirt.
"Who are you?" Ryoko demanded of the person in the hallway shadow.
"I believe I should be asking that question." The silver-haired woman responded.
Ryoko flinched in taking in the woman's appearance. She wore a purple and white kimono with a fur pelt wrapped around her chest. Her hair was in two ponytails and her bangs gave way to the very familiar purple crescent moon on her forehead. Her eyes were light gold and light purple marks in the shapes of lightning bolts rested under both of her eyes. She radiated power and royalty.
"Mother. What are you doing here?" Sesshomaru stepped beside Ryoko, who shied behind him, tail popping up with a slow sway.
"I came to inform you of a ceremony I'm holding this weekend." She replied, still curious of Ryoko.
"Good morning, Lady Kimi!" Rin greeted.
Sesshomaru's mother smiled at the girl. "So, you're not going to eat her, I suppose?"
"No, mother. Jaken, help Rin decorate the tree while I get started on her breakfast." Sesshomaru headed into the kitchen with his mother following and Ryoko opting to sit at the bar, facing the two.
"Yes, Mi Lord."
"My, my, you certainly are taking good care of her. I'm impressed." Kimi acknowledged, getting a hum in return. "Sesshomaru, a duchess of relatives of the Eastern Lands is seeking for a suitor and for a date to my ceremony. Everyone knows I've been looking for you a mate for the longest and she seeks your hand. She's quite fond of you and has actually been looking for the day she was mature enough to be able to start courting. She isn't the prettiest of the bunch but she's trained to wait on her mate, hand and foot if that's what you'd like. Her hunting skills are a little impressive. I would love that for my boy. I know you'd be taken well care of."
Ryoko coughed at the subject at hand and Kimi settled back onto her presence.
"I'm not interested. I can take care of myself." Sesshomaru said with his usual zero emotions.
"What is your name, demon?" Kimi asked Ryoko, who suddenly regret not retreating to Sesshomaru's room when she figured out Kimi was his mother.
She wasn't good with meeting parents- anyone's parents. She was too outspoken for most parents and they usually didn't know how to react to her honesty, which made things a little awkward. Sesshomaru's mother intimidated her a little just because of the fact that she was his mother.
"Ryoko." Sesshomaru answered.
Kimi side-eyed him and looked back to Ryoko. "There's so much demonic energy coming from you, yet just a seed of purity. This confuses me. Why do you seem so attached to my son?"
"We're dating, mother." Sesshomaru answered again, gathering the rest of the ingredients for his human's breakfast.
"Dating?! Why was I not informed of this?"
"Because you will just tell everyone and I don't like everyone to know my personal business."
"Nonsense! Everyone should and will know that my handsome prince has found happiness!" She smelled pride radiating from Sesshomaru's aura about Ryoko being his, despite his outer appearance not revealing anything of the sort, and let him know that she knew.
Kimi looked to Ryoko and went and drug her into the kitchen with them.
Ryoko wasn't used to being touched, rather than her touching others, if it wasn't by Sesshomaru, so she wasn't sure what to make of this scenario. Her whole body tensed when Kimi slickly smelled her neck and nuzzled her face into Ryoko's hair as she circled her.
Sesshyyyy, what is she doing? She's touching me. Ryoko whined in her thoughts to him, freaking out.
Sesshomaru threw a quick glance over his shoulder out of curiosity to the look on Ryoko's face and actually wanted to laugh. The few seconds of humor was over just as it had started for him and he went back to focusing on his cooking. Calm down. She is just filling you out. This is the way inuyokai learn of people they feel they can be comfortable around.
Kimi continued to circle Ryoko, this time, with minimal touching as she rose one of Ryoko's arms in the air with her fingertips as if she was the pin-point for a twirling a ballerina. "You're obviously not inuyokai, but your demonic aura is quite impressive. Much powerful than the tramps I've been trying to set my son up with. You seem healthy and your eyes are gorgeous! Remind me of my own and compliments my sons!"
Ryoko relaxed and smirked. Heh, she sure has good taste in women. Like mother like son.
Sesshomaru spun around and Ryoko winked at him and his disapproving expression. Aside from her other colorful traits, he was still getting used to her making snide sexual remarks about anyone other than himself, and he definitely didn't want to hear anything about his mother and her taste in anybody.
"I'm sure your future pups will inherit them, for sure. They have to!" She finally let go of Ryoko's hand and took a step back so she could get a good look at her.
"Pups?" Ryoko gulped. Sure, she loved Sesshomaru and planned to spend the rest of her time with him as time would allow, but the only thing she was focusing on now was graduating college, not baring inuyokai-humanoid hybrid pups.
"Mother, please!" Sesshomaru wanted her to stop talking.
"Silence, Sesshomaru. Anyway, Ryoko, you're a very sexy girl and I look forward to getting to know you more. Who are your parents? When were you born?"
Ryoko's eyes almost turned into hearts. "Sesshy, she-she thinks I'm sexy!" She clasped her hands together.
Sesshomaru grunted and rolled his eyes. "You don't have to answer that, Ryoko."
Kimi shushed her son.
"I was, um, actually created by Choshin Washu and I don't like to talk about my age." Ryoko sweat-dropped.
"Choshin Washu is your mother? Extraordinary!" Kimi was in awe.
"So, you know of her."
"I've heard many things! I would love to meet her."
"Heh, heh, I'm sure that can be arranged."
"I can also guess your age by your information, but I'm going to go with you don't look a day over 200."
"Yeah, let's go with that."
"Dear, you must come with Sesshomaru this weekend. I'd love to show you off and get to know more about you."
Ryoko looked to Sesshomaru for approval, but he kept his back turned towards the two, focusing on his task. He was over it. "Sure, it'll be fun." She settled, her nerves unravelling a bit.
"Sesshomaru." Aoshi quietly entered the kitchen, holding a stack of paper under his arm and holding it up upon his friend turning around to acknowledge him. "The notes you asked for."
"You can sit them there. Thank you."
"Who are you?" Kimi asked.
Aoshi politely bowed to her. "Aoshi Shinomori."
"Pleased to meet you, Aoshi. I'm Lady Kimi. Queen of the Western Lands. Sesshomaru's mother. You're such a cold human. My son's counterpart?" She teased.
"We're best friends." Aoshi confirmed.
Kimi nodded in approval. It astounded her how her son went from despising weak humans to turning around, caring for and befriending them. This was still so new to her. "I can understand why." She adjusted the fur around her arms. "I must get going, now. But, before I do," Kimi paused. "How did you two meet?" She wagged a finger between Sesshomaru and Ryoko.
Sesshomaru looked back at them again. Him and Ryoko's first encounter left him with many scars and bruises. Kimi caught him tending to them while he was home one weekend and he simply brushed it off, not offering much information. She pestered him about it because it was rare for him to accumulate even a tiny scratch during a fight, but she soon let it go.
"School." Sesshomaru and Ryoko both answered, he very blandly and she very nervously.
"You're both lying." She snapped.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" The yokai shot back. He made a mental note to hit Inuyasha later for his eavesdropping and snickers.
"Not until you tell me the truth."
"How unbefitting for you to lie to your mother, Sesshomaru." Aoshi spoke up, pulling all eyes towards him. "They fought the first time they met." He leaned back on a wall and crossed his arms.
Sesshomaru gave him a look that said 'really?' while Ryoko's face turned beet red. She wanted to be in good graces with his mother, not have her hate her on their first meet.
Kimi gasped. "Those cuts and bruises I asked you about were from her?"
"Yes, mother." Annoyed wasn't even the word to describe how he was feeling about this interrogation.
"The one person who's gotten the closest to you in combat and has the possibility to kill you if she wanted to is your girlfriend? I worry about you, young prince. We will discuss this later." Kimi smiled at Ryoko. "Nice to meet you, dear. I'm impressed even more now and I look forward to seeing you again this weekend."
Ryoko nodded. "You as well."
"Inuyasha, nice to see you again, little pup."
"You too, Lady Kimi."
"Inuyasha, could you please show Aoshi to the door as well?" Sesshomaru asked, getting a smirk out of his friend. It was very rare that Aoshi would show his humorous side, but he figured today presented the perfect opportunity.
"Very well, Sesshomaru. I'll see to it that your mother makes it out safely." Aoshi joked further.
Sesshomaru's eyes glowed red. "Don't make me kill you on my doorstep."
Inuyasha followed them both to the door just as the bell rang.
A young girl with long blue hair in pigtails and pink eyes stood in the doorway.
"Well, aren't you a cutie." Kimi said, walking by her.
"Thank you." The girl smiled. "Hi, Inuyasha. Sorry I'm late."
Inuyasha made sure Aoshi was okay in helping Kimi into her cloud carriage and watched her float into the cold sky above the grey clouds and Aoshi hopped in his car and drove away. "It's okay, Sasami. Rin was just getting started." He stood aside for Ayeka's little sister to enter.
She greeted everyone and Rin ran to give her a hug. "Ryoko, is everything okay? You look tense." Sasami gave her a half smile.
"I'm fine. Just need to lie down for a while." Ryoko breathed.
"Breakfast is ready." Sesshomaru announced.
"Smells good, Sesshomaru. I wish I could cook as well as you." Sasami complimented.
Sesshomaru silently accepted her compliment.
"Oh, please. You cook way better than him." Inuyasha voiced, trying to pluck a linked sausage from the still hot pan his brother removed from the lowering heat of the stove, only to get whipped on the hand by Sesshomaru's yokai powers. "Ow! Geez!"
"None for you." Sesshomaru said. "Sasami, help yourself. And please, make sure Rin eats all of her food. Ryoko and I will be upstairs. Please try not to disturb us unless absolutely necessary." He unexpectedly picked Ryoko up, an arm supporting her back and an arm under her legs."
"You got it." Sasami playfully saluted him.
"I gotta run. I'll be back later." Inuyasha announced.
…
Kikyo sat silently in the heat of the sauna bath, mind going in too many directions to keep up with. She thought that buying the place out for the better half of the day would soothe her and give her the solidity she sought for. So far, it wasn't really working.
"What is the meaning behind that necklace, Kaede?" After leaving the arena after securing her flawless victory against Kagome, Kikyo went in search of her sister and found her at home.
"What necklace?" Despite Kikyo using such a violent tone, Kaede was not swayed from her meditation session.
"The one you gave to Inuyasha. That Kagome girl told him to sit like he's some dog and it threw him into the ground!" She yelled, filling Kagome's name with so much disgust.
"Do you hear yourself, sister?" Kaede's voice barely echoed off the wooden walls of the dojo they had built in part of their basement. "Inuyasha is exactly that. Do not ignore the demon half of his soul."
Kikyo grunted. "Why is it that that girl was able to do that to him?"
"Kagome's spirit must be aligned with Inuyasha's in some way. I cannot control that."
"And mine is not? This doesn't make any sense! You will get rid of it at once."
Kaede stood from the square pillow she sat on facing the floor to ceiling mirrors. "I cannot do that."
"And just why not?"
"The beads are bound to Inuyasha just as he is bound to them. One day, they will help him stay in line if he ever loses control. They can save his life."
Kikyo watched as Kaede walked towards the door leading back to the main floor of the house. "Then what good are they if I am not the one who holds the power to the word of subjugation?"
"Then maybe ye are not the one who is appropriately connected with him spiritually."
Kikyo's breath caught in her throat. She and Inuyasha may have been on the rocks, but before making any decisions, she at least wanted to try and work things out. Hearing otherwise that he may not even be her soulmate made unfamiliar feelings surface.
"Ye have been displaying feelings of 'want' a lot more than usual, Kikyo. Perhaps ye should meditate and reflect on what's really important."
"Inuyasha is important!"
"He is." Kaede nodded. "He can be as important as you want him to be, but Inuyasha does not determine your destiny."
Kikyo frowned, looking down into the clear water at her crossed legs and the bikini line of her white one-piece bathing suit. She wasn't sure what to make of the situation and her options were slim to none.
"What's wrong, Kikyo?"
Kikyo looked to the frosted glass door of the steamy room to see Tomoe and Hitomiko coming to join her. They stripped down to their swim suits and dipped into the water.
"Are you mad at Inuyasha again?" Hitomiko followed up with her original question.
"Frustrated. But not so much at him. More with Kaede."
"What did she say about the necklace?" Tomoe asked.
With a sigh, Kikyo shared with them the conversation she and Kaede had just a few days before. Repeating everything sparked the anger she tried to suppress.
"I know Kaede always has her reasoning for things, but why would she do this? To test your relationship? To break you up?" Hitomiko was confused.
Kikyo shook her head.
"Does she not like Inuyasha?"
Kikyo did a quick check through her memory bank of the encounters and conversations between her boyfriend and sister. "As far as I know, Kaede bares no ill will towards him."
"Maybe it is for your own sake." Tomoe caused her friends to look at her.
"How? Her and Inuyasha would never hurt each other."
"It's not that." Hitomiko responded then looked to Kikyo. "You said Kaede mentioned your desire for wanting things has been inclined more than usual. You've always been possessive over him. It's probably gotten worse since Kagome showed up. Maybe he's distracting you from your true purpose. Maybe it's not even Inuyasha."
"Am I not allowed to be with him and still cement my place in life?" Kikyo challenged.
"Maybe. Maybe not. That's something you and Inuyasha will have to sort out." There wasn't anything else Tomoe could give her younger friend advice on, especially regarding her relationship. After all, she was still love sick over Kenshin and hated that it's taking her so long to get over it. Get over him.
Hitomiko broke the silence with a loud sigh. "This bath is way too nice to have our gloomy thoughts dampen the atmosphere. We came to relax. We should do just that." She motioned over to a bath attendant and ordered tea for all three of them.
"I think that you and Inuyasha should try and talk about all of this. Until then, try and relax your mind." Hitomiko leaned back into the nook of her seat and comfortably closed her eyes.
Tomoe followed suit. Kikyo looked to the ceiling at the thick grey clouds through the skylight above them and tried to take the youngers advice to relax. For the first time ever, she couldn't take the silence. She couldn't calm herself enough to try and meditate so she switched on the TV and settled her thoughts onto the news.
…
The sun was shining high in the sky, but its brightness didn't reflect the twenty-degree weather outside.
Kenshin was relieved to set foot inside of one of the four Kamiya Dojo buildings that Kaoru's family owned that doubled as a gym. He bowed at Yahiko, Kaoru's adopted younger brother and hung his coat up on the rack near the front desk.
"How's it going, Yahiko?"
The boy shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Same ol', same ol'." He took notice of a young girl entering the building and got her signed in, telling her which training room was open for use. "So, what's up? You here for the ugly girl?"
Kenshin sweat-dropped. "Is Miss Kaoru teaching today?"
"Not teaching. Just hanging out in the Master Room. You can go on back if you'd like."
"Thank you."
Kenshin made the way to said room and passed by others filled with young, eager students learning swordsmanship and martial arts and others working out to get fit and healthy. He came up to the Master Room and saw Kaoru, Misao, Sango, Miroku and Aoshi talking amongst one another through the window near the door.
"Kenshin, welcome!" Miroku was the first to greet him.
Kenshin slightly bowed and took his shoes off at the door, stepping up onto the wooden floor platform and crossed the length of the room. "Hi, everyone."
"Hi, Kenshin!" Kaoru smiled at him.
"Himura, you're a reasonable guy," Misao sat on her knees facing Kenshin as he sat cross-legged beside his raven-haired crush. "Answer me this,"
"Okay."
"Do you think I would've beaten Sango in the finals if I didn't trip?" The one mistake Misao made was underestimating Sango and her given space.
Dodging Sango with backhand springs gave Misao the illusion that she was far enough away from Sango when Sango was actually moving faster than Misao had anticipated. In an attempt to dodge Sango once more and have a chance to defend herself, Misao tripped on her own foot and fell out of bounds, ultimately missing the kick that would've otherwise finished the job.
"Unfortunately, no."
"Ah, come on!"
"You underestimated distance and speed, that you did. Two crucial features to keep in mind. If you didn't trip, Sango would've kicked you out of bounds."
Misao sighed. "Aoshi said the same thing."
"Do you not believe that I am a reasonable guy?" Aoshi was fake offended.
"Heheh, just wanted a second opinion." Misao scratched the back of her head. "At any rate, good fight, Sango. You won't be so lucky next time."
Sango smiled and readjusted her ponytail. "You guys have any holiday plans?"
"No." Everyone answered at once and then laughed at themselves.
"What about Inuyasha and the others?" Miroku asked. "Aoshi, have you heard anything?" He suddenly stretched his arms wide.
"No."
Sango tensed up. "If you wanna make it through the holidays or even the rest of today then you'd better keep your hands to yourself!" Sango smacked Miroku and shoved him from beside her. "I'm leaving, you guys. I'll catch up with you later."
"Sango, dear, will you please bare me children this Christmas?" The foolish monk tried his non-existent luck with her again.
"Get real!" She yelled, storming out of the dojo with him following in behind her.
"He'll never learn." Misao rolled her eyes. "So, Aoshi, you wanna treat me to lunch?" She turned her charm on and hoped that he'd say yes.
"I'd love to."
"Oro?!"
"Huh?" Kaoru's mouth gaped wide open.
Aoshi's tone of voice didn't falter from the usual, so everyone wasn't sure they heard him correctly.
"You-You'd what?" Misao was in awe and just had to double-check his answer.
Aoshi drew a breath and his cheeks flushed ever so slightly. "Don't make me say it again. If you're hungry, let's go." He stood and pulled her up with him.
"Kaoru, Himura, did you hear what he said?" Misao's wide smile almost cracked her face in half. "He said he'd love to! Am I dreaming?" Aoshi threw her over his shoulder and grabbed her shoes. "Is this real life?"
Kaoru burst out laughing and Kenshin caught Aoshi's smirk as he headed out the door.
"I can't believe it. He shows more feelings for her every day." Kaoru stood and started to gather the scattered pillows her friends used and stacked them neatly in a corner. "You okay, Kenshin?"
He hummed his response and put his pillow on top of the pile she made. "Mi-…Kaoru." He caught himself. "Would you like to date me today?"
Kaoru giggled. "Excuse me?"
Kenshin shook his head and chuckled from rattled nerves. "What I meant was," he shoved his hands into his front pockets. "Would you like to go on an all-day date with me?"
"All-day date?" She questioned, pretending to ponder. "That's new. What are we going to do on this all-day date?"
Kaoru had of course already made up her mind to take him up on his offer, she was only dragging this along because it was cute seeing Kenshin this nervous. He was always the shy type and to see him taking initiative to actually ask her out was a milestone for her. She had no idea what Kenshin was like as a boyfriend, but if it was anything like how he was as a friend to her, she was sure she would be in bliss while she was with him.
"Well, first, I'd like to take you to lunch. Afterwards, we can go ice skating and then catch a movie. And if you'd like, we can go to dinner." Kenshin laid out the plans he made for them with hopes she wouldn't turn him down.
Wait a second…Is Kenshin really asking me out? Kaoru realized in the midst of Kenshin talking to her. She covered her cheeks with her hands and felt the sudden heat. Since when had she become so bold to egg him on while he was fiddling with his nerves? Since when did he get such courage to start hugging her intimately in front of everyone and holding her hand so comfortably? What was happening?!
"Um…K-Kaoru?" Dropping the honorifics were going to take some getting used to if he wanted to get closer with her. "Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh," Kaoru snapped out of her thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking. But, yes, Kenshin."
"Yes?" He brightened up.
Kaoru nodded. "Yes, I'd love to go on an all-day date with you." She smiled. "But, I need to go home and change." She looked down at her t-shirt and sweatpants. "If we're going on a date, I have to look date ready!"
"What you have on is fine, that it is." Kaoru glared at him and he threw his hands up in defense. "Uh, but if you want to get even prettier then that's okay with me, too. I can wait around here with Yahiko until you get back." He quickly threw out there.
"Okay," she smiled. "I won't take too long. Promise!"
Kaoru skipped out of the Master Room and Kenshin sighed, putting his shoes on and heading to the lobby of the building, awaiting her return.