Over the following weeks, Kagome made it her job to get to know the once Ice Prince better. To say he had melted completely would have been an exaggeration, but he'd thawed a little nonetheless. Where in the past, his face had been nothing but a stoic mask with the occasional angry glare, now there were small changes to his expression that gave much away. Even when he wasn't wearing his charm, Kagome spied regular smirks, frowns and even an eye roll at one time. She wouldn't have believed it if the Kami themselves had told her, but she had seen it with her own two eyes. Furthermore, compared to how sparingly he had talked in the past, now, he was downright talkative. She did have the distinct impression that he was humoring her, though.

He had lived through the years and downfall of his lands and species with relative ease, realizing early on that he would have to condone the human uprising to survive. She discovered he had a small but successful art business, appraising ancient artifacts and loaning his own collection to museums on occasion. It was a fairly passive vocation with odd and irregular hours, and she found it suited him perfectly.

When she had been present for one late afternoon appointment, she witnessed all his old sneers and regality return when a particular client insisted his vase was from the Ming dynasty, when it actually turned out to be Jingdhezhen forgery. After he had ousted the mortified client, Kagome asked him how he had been so sure with only the barest of glances. He told her off-handedly that he was related through his mother to the actual imperials of that time, and would she like some tea now that she was here? Kagome could only stare until a steaming cup was pressed into her hands and decided to just take the information in stride.

After adjusting to her renewed mourning, she informed after InuYasha and Shippou in more detail. He told her he had been with InuYasha in his final moments, that his brother had been the one to tell him all about her future origins. InuYasha had stayed with the village after the final battle, helping Kaede and the other villagers and going on the occasional extermination quest.

Over the course of many cups of coffee and tea, Sesshoumaru told her all InuYasha had told him to tell her and all the things he had heard from Rin and the others in the village.

Shippou, she learned, had grown up to be a fairly powerful kitsune, with five tails the last time Sesshoumaru had seen him. He had traveled all over Japan and parts of the mainland, first together with InuYasha, but later by himself. It was only after the war that Sesshoumaru found out he had been in Hiroshima on the 6th of august 1945.

Kagome was very content with her new connection to the past. Of course she had been crying more often than she had in a long time, but she also found herself smiling, sincerely laughing and sleeping soundly more often since running into Sesshoumaru. She had eked out a spot for herself in his life and, to his credit, he never refused her. Whenever she made her way up to his apartment, he would be ready with tea, coffee or something cold to drink when the weather called for it. If she fell asleep on his couch, she always woke up with a blanket thrown over her, he would be silently guarding her from his armchair, reading a book or simply staring out the window.

When they were alone, he was swift to remove the bracelet and its illusion. She noticed he would run his hand through his hair and still, after all these years, seem to come up short. When she asked him about it, he told her the charm not only hid him from the world, but also dulled his own senses to a point. He never wore it when he was alone, and she knew who he was, so he saw no reason to prolong his suffering. Kagome told him she thought it was more a matter of pride for him than suffering, and he merely 'Hn'-ed before running his hand through his hair and getting started on a latte. She smirked and did not tell him she preferred his original colors. It would only go to his head.

One dreary afternoon, some weeks after first meeting him, Kagome found herself in his living room once more. Gazing at her own balcony from her spot on his couch, she chuckled.

'I still can't believe we've never met until now. We've been living so close to each other!'

He sipped his tea as he followed her gaze.

'It was by design.'

The words had scarcely left his lips before the temperature in the room dropped. She threw him a confused look.

'What do you mean, by design?'

Still concentrating on some colorful flower pots across the street and not fully recognizing his mistake, he answered blithely. 'I made a promise not to initiate contact until now.'

'Not to initi- ,' she stopped abruptly, her confused look giving way to an icy stare. 'How long have you known where I was?'

Only then did he meet her eyes, taken aback by the coldness he found in her normally so warm face. 'There were concerns about the timeline, whether any contact would alter-'

Ice turned to steel as she stood up. 'How long, Sesshoumaru?'

Unwilling to be untruthful with her, he squared his shoulders. 'I have known and followed your whereabouts since your return.'

'And how long have you been living next door?'

His silence on the question was her answer, and she knew he must have moved in shortly after she did.

'Did you see?' Her voice quivered.

He knew instantly what she was referring to, felt the same pit of dread in his stomach that he had felt all those moments when he saw her teetering on the edge of the balcony, toes curling over and tears streaming down her face as she stared into the depths.

'I would have caught you,' he murmured, still holding her gaze.

A myriad of emotions flashed on her face in quick succession, her features finally settling behind a mask that rivaled his from all those years ago.

'But you didn't,' she whispered morosely, before striding out the door and slamming it behind her.

She ran the short way home, hoping that he would follow her, but at the same time hoping he wouldn't. In the discomfort of her own apartment, she blindly janked her curtains shut and banished herself from the balcony for the time being. If he didn't want to save her at her lowest, he didn't need to see her now. She angrily poured herself a drink, the first in a long time, and sat at her diner table.

'Alone again,' she muttered darkly, before taking a big swig of sake.

'Naturally,' her depression supplied. She burst into tears and finished the bottle.