A Distant Promise – Mini-Chapter # 21
"Here's the plan!"
The kitsune rubbed his hands together gleefully. Honestly, the idea that Sesshoumaru might be willing to participate in one of his mad schemes had been the craziest idea of all, but Shippo did not question his luck. He ran with it. "Since Inuyasha seems reluctant to speak with you," the fox-demon continued enthusiastically, "It is up to me to meet with him and figure out what went wrong in their relationship. So, it will be up to you to talk to Kagome…"
Glazed golden-eyes gazed back at him, and after a few more minutes of instruction, Shippo realized his audience was no longer paying attention. "Sesshoumaru!" chastised the fox-spirit, "Are you even listening? You promised that you would help. Have you changed your mind so soon?"
With a sigh, the taiyoukai focused on his companion again, signaling Shippo to continue. This was for Satoshi. He had to comply with the kitsune's wishes, just this once, in order to push the miko back toward his half-brother and away from his son.
"Right, then." Nodding in affirmation, the red-headed fox persevered. "Inuyasha doesn't want to speak with me about Kagome, so technically I have the harder job, here. All you have to do is listen to her. And maybe reassure her a little bit…"
The taiyoukai glared daggers at his opponent, at this comment, and Shippo quickly backed off. "Okay! Maybe reassurance is asking a little bit too much. Listening, without intimidating her, should be good enough."
And that was how a certain white-haired demon found himself standing at the foot of the shrine steps, with a pen and paper, ready to take notes on human behavior. His list of things to do was very clear-cut: (1) befriend miko, (2) speak with miko about idiotic sibling, (3) write down everything the woman said, and hand the notepad over to Shippo for further research. This was all the stupid fox-child's idea, in the first place.
Unfortunately, his list, while specific and easy to read, was hard to implement. How was he supposed to make friends with a woman he didn't know or particularly like? Shippo claimed that merely showing up at the shrine would do the trick. According to the kitsune, she asked many questions about him, and she would eagerly jump at the chance to get to know him better.
Sesshoumaru didn't feel nearly as certain as the fox, on this issue. It was simple. He didn't like being friendly with others, and others didn't act amicably toward him. Just because the priestess was nosy did not mean that she wanted to become acquainted with him.
Rubbing his temples, Sesshoumaru tried to stave off a headache. Rapid footsteps descending the steps drew his attention toward the shrine. As if on cue, the priestess (Kagome, he reminded himself – he had to remember her name now) looked up in surprise, gradually slowing to a stop, as she stared at him. "Se-Sesshoumaru?" she mouthed in shock, immediately recognizing him despite his human disguise.
He bowed and then realized he had no clue what to say next. 'How have you been' seemed too inane, and 'Tell me about Inuyasha' was too direct. And heaven forbid that he ask her out to dinner, or coffee, or something like that. The woman might think he was interested in her, which he wasn't.
Luckily, the woman took this decision out of his hands. "Are you here to see the shrine?" she asked in puzzlement. "I would show you, but I have to catch the train. This was the last day of my break, you see, and I'm going back to the campus and it is a long trip, so… It's not that I don't want to stay and talk with you, it's just that…"
"I will drive you," he announced curtly. It appeared the kitsune had been right – she had the ability to talk endlessly, given the slightest prompting. Making her nervous only seemed to exacerbate this condition. Perhaps interrogating this priestess would not be as hard as he thought at first.
Ignoring her dumbstruck expression, he turned and waited for her at the base of the shrine.
