Maybe it was her friends' long tirades of "what is he thinking" and "how DARE he"s that ran long into the night. Maybe it was the weight of their sympathetic stares pressing on her back in the dark after they'd all gone to bed. Maybe it was her own troubling thoughts that swirled back and forth in her mind and wouldn't let her calm down.
Whatever the reason, Kagome lay awake through the night, staring at the wall and trying to dig up answers that continued to elude her. She sighed in quiet relief when she saw the first hint of pre-dawn glow creep over the windowsill, and she silently dressed and slipped out before the others could wake and heap more pity on her. They loved her, she knew, but it was hard to keep her composure from cracking under the pinpricks of their kindness. She touched the bags under her eyes with timid fingers as she quickly put distance between herself and the hut. She was already puffy enough from last night; she didn't want to spend the next several days in ugly tears.
She shook her head, clearing away the dreary thoughts. Instead Kagome stopped, realizing as she became aware of her surroundings that she was already on the path to the well.
Force of habit, she thought wistfully, glaring down at her traitorous legs. The well was the last place she wanted to be.
Since Kagome hadn't seen him after their spat the day before, she was sure Inuyasha was perched near the well in what she had dubbed his 'time-out tree', where he always ran when they fought.
Or when he's hiding something, she winced to herself. He– she let out a frustrated groan and slapped her cheeks. NO, Kagome, she chastised herself.No more of that. Focus, focus!
She stared down at the village for a moment, contemplating her options. She knew there was a lake around here somewhere, but if she wandered too far her friends would worry, and she wasn't prepared to confront their concerned faces. Or – even worse – Inuyasha would worry and come looking for her. She was definitely not ready for that conversation just yet.
Then again, maybe he wouldn't. She sighed. Maybe she would just wander aimlessly uphill through the forest. She still couldn't quite make her friends understand the idea of 'walking for fun' (especially Inuyasha, who insisted he should just carry her if she wanted to go somewhere), but the more she thought about it, the more refreshing a long, mind-emptying hike sounded.
"Let's do this," she muttered to herself, veering off the main road and starting towards a tiny dirt path that wound into the woods. She sent out a wave of power before her as she went, sensing to the furthest periphery of her reach and scanning for any demonic aura that would give her trouble.
She smiled as her power was rebuffed by a familiar aura, cutting through it like a boulder in a stream.
Just what the doctor ordered, she thought, making her way through the underbrush with a new spring in her step.
—
"What's it called again?" asked the girl excitedly.
"A braid," Kagome supplied, smiling as her fingers deftly interlaced pieces of Rin's hair around the crown of her head. "Another one," she instructed, and Rin quickly plucked another flower from the massive pile spilling over her lap, handing it over her head to Kagome.
"Can you teach me?" the girl asked, bobbing her toes back and forth to an imaginary tune as she felt the flower being woven into the plait.
"This one's a little difficult for beginners," Kagome replied, earning her a disappointed and comically dog-like whimper from Rin. "But," she continued emphatically, "I could teach you an easier one that you could do on yourself."
"No, no, I want to try it on Lord Sesshomaru!" she corrected.
Kagome let out a loud snort before she could stop herself, almost losing her grip on the girl's hair as she doubled over in fits of laughter.
"Braid…? Sessho….? PFFFFFT-" She couldn't get the question out without dissolving into chuckles. She pictured the Lord of the West turning to look at her over his shoulder with his customary death-glare, only for the movement to be followed by a long silver braid whipping around his body, studded top to bottom with pink and purple wildflowers-
She lost it. She laid her forehead against Rin's back and gave herself completely over to unattractive snorts and bellowing guffaws until her sides ached and she was gasping for breath.
"Oh my gosh, Rin," she said when she'd recovered at last, wiping tears from her face with her elbows and slowly continuing her work. "Thank you. Ahhhh, I nee-" she snickered again, but managed to continue her work. "I needed that."
"What was funny?" Rin asked innocently.
"The idea of you braiding Sesshomaru's hair," she answered, keeping her giggles in check. "The idea of anyone doing his hair, I guess."
"Eh? Is it weird?"
"Yes," Kagome replied. "Very."
"Why?"
She considered for a moment. "I guess he just seems kind of… untouchable? Sesshomaru is more the type to be covered in blood than flowers."
"Ah, but I put flowers in his hair all the time-" at this Kagome crumbled into soft fits of laughter again, but the girl continued undeterred, "-but usually I have to tie them in by the stems or they fall out," she mused. "This blade thing would be way easier."
"Braid," Kagome corrected warmly, pinning a stray lock of hair away from the girl's face. "I love you, Rin," she said when she finished, kissing the top of the girl's head. "You're like a mini-Kisshōten."
"A quiche-a-wha?"
"Haha, key-show-ten," she repeated slowly. "She's one of the gods of fortune." She absentmindedly tied off the girl's braid, trying to remember if the deity had made the cultural import from the continent in the feudal era yet. "She's the goddess of happiness. And beauty," she continued, imagining how proud her teachers would be that she had somehow managed to retain the information despite her spotty attendance.
And whose fault was that, she remembered, wringing her lips bitterly.
"Ehhhh, that should be you then, Kagome-nee!" Rin piped, rescuing Kagome from her train of thought.
"I what?"
"You're Kissh- Kissh- the Kish lady! You're always protecting everyone and making everyone happy," Rin crooned, "and you're beauuuuutiful," she added, throwing her head slowly back as she elongated the word for emphasis. Kagome giggled and rewarded the girl with another motherly peck on her ear.
"I don't know about that. I think I'd rather be Jurōjin," she said, digging into her pockets.
"Who's that?"
"The god of long life," she answered, ignoring the unbidden thoughts that sprang up in response and snaking an arm around the younger girl. "Here" she said, waving a pocket mirror in front of Rin, inviting to check her handiwork.
"Life? Isn't that Lord Sesshomaru, though?" Rin asked, turn her head back and forth. "He saved my life. Twice!" she insisted, catching the reflection of Kagome's incredulous expression in the mirror. "And yours, too. Don't forget."
"Hmm… I guess I pictured him as more of a Bishamon," she reasoned as the girl in her lap swiveled back and forth, trying to view every angle of her hair and cooing in satisfaction.
"Bishounen?" Rin asked at last, handing back the mirror.
"Bishamon," she corrected with a chuckle, raising her hands ominously over her head. "He's the god… of… WAR!" she cried, attacking the girl's ticklish sides until the pair were rolling on the ground in a pile of flowers and giggles.
"What about Jaken?" the girl asked when she caught her breath.
"I don't know" Kagome mused sarcastically, brows over-furrowed in feigned seriousness. "I can't think of a god of obnoxious condescension."
"WHAT?"
"Uh oh," Kagome said, raising her eyebrows at Rin in mock terror as the imp hurried towards the two. The girl giggled. When he had nearly reached them, Rin stood and called out across the field.
"Master Jaken, what's 'condensation'?"
"AGH! CondeSCENsion," he corrected in a haughty tone, shooting Kagome a distinct this-is-your-doing glare.
"You do realize what a condescending tone you just said that in, right?" she asked in response.
"You-"
"Jaken." The servant jumped at the voice behind them. Kagome had sensed him approaching from a league off. She was puzzled that Jaken hadn't.
The wind kicked up as the demon came to stand in front of them, sending flowers spinning and unfurling his long silver hair around him like a cape. She smiled, instantly reminded of her earlier mental picture, but managed to keep from bursting into laughter by clenching her lips together in a tightly pinched line. She doubted Sesshomaru would be as forgiving of her imagining him in flower crowns as he apparently was of Rin putting them on him.
"Lord Sesshomaru, Lord Sesshomaru, look!" his charge cried, skipping in circles around him and pointing at her head with both hands.
"Stop," he said flatly and she froze in place, then bowed forward to invite a proper inspection.
His expression was blank but he heeded her request, eyes moving over the intricately interwoven locks before turning to rest his steady gaze on Kagome. Her smile faded.
"Isn't it pretty, Lord Sesshomaru?" the girl cawed in delight, continuing her laps around the demon lord.
"Hnn," he replied, still staring at Kagome. She wasn't sure if it was an acknowledgement or a snort of subtle disgust. She wasn't even sure if there would be a difference between the two sounds coming from the demon lord.
Unphased by the girl's movement, Sesshomaru continued to stare, tendrils of his aura slowly radiating outwards from where he stood like cream in a coffee cup. Kagome felt a blush of annoyance creep into her cheeks. Was there dirt on her face?
At least he's not touching me, she thought, irked. She remembered their last encounter and suddenly she was grateful for even the slight distance that remained between them.
"You appear even more distastefully mortal than usual," he said at last, coarsely demanding her attention. Her mouth dropped open.
"I- I WHAT?" She was stunned. It was practically the longest speech he'd ever directed at her, and she wasn't sure whether she should be surprised or insulted first. His gaze moved to rest solidly on her red-rimmed eyes.
"You look like you have both feet in the grave today rather than one."
"Dammit, am I still puffy?" she hissed, her fingers automatically reaching to trace the edges of the raised circles before she could stop them. "Just couldn't sleep last night," she half-laughed in explanation, feeling Rin's eyes on her. The wind changed and Sesshomaru looked her quickly up and down, maintaining the same detached expression.
"Hnn," he murmured under his breath, lip twitching fleetingly in what looked like revulsion.
"You got a problem?" she snapped defiantly, sending Jaken into such mortified spasms that he didn't even have time to chastise her before Sesshomaru suddenly took another step forward.
Her heart stopped.
"Your scent is foul," he explained. "Correct it." As if to make his point he turned on his heel in an effortlessly graceful motion and started towards the tree line, shining hair waving unbraided behind him. "Rin," he murmured from a few paces away, not pausing.
"Coming, Lord Sesshomaru!" she piped, jumping up from where she was squatting next to Kagome and hurriedly collecting her flowers.
For his hair? Kagome wondered. Rin turned to go, bear-hugging what blossoms she could to her chest.
"Bye, Kagome!" she chirped, completing her turn and running off after the waving shock of Sesshomaru's silver hair. "Teach me to braid next time, ok?" she cried over her shoulder, breaking into a half-skip.
"It's a promise!" Kagome called in reply.
"W-wait for meeeee, Lord Sesshomaruuuu," came Jaken's plaintive wail as he scuttled after his companions' receding figures.
Kagome smiled and waved at the trio until they vanished from sight, though Sesshomaru's aura continued to pulsate through the air long after.
She was sad to see the girl go, but Kagome was in decidedly better spirits than she had been just a few hours earlier. A dose of Rin's effervescence had been just the self-pity remedy she needed, and no one in Sesshomaru's little troupe would ever threaten to bring her walls of calm crashing down with pointed words of sympathy.
Just the opposite, she smirked to herself in appreciative frustration. Was he trying to pick a fight with me?
But fights she could handle. Hell, a fight would be a welcome release after the emotional tension of the last few days.
But not with Sesshomaru, she shuddered, gathering her bow. There was a fine line to tread with Sesshomaru between frigid tolerance and homicidal anger, and she was never quite sure where that line lay. Most of the time she knew she trampled dangerously close to it – like today – and she didn't want to test what would happen if she ever truly crossed it. There were many demons whose bad sides she could manage; she doubted the Lord of the West was one of them.
Her brows knit together, remembering his remarks. 'Correct it'? As if I can change my scent, she huffed, standing and brushing loose petals from the front of her skirt. Suddenly reminded of him crowned in daisy chains, Kagome finally let out the belly laugh she'd been holding in earlier. Sesshomaru as the god of long life?
As if, she grinned caustically to herself, even if he did save Rin. …twice. Was it twice?
As she started the mental tally of all the times he'd acted as her protector, the comparison suddenly didn't seem quite as out of place as her gut reaction told her it was.
He does have Tenseiga, she reasoned. I guess that counts for something… White hair instead of a white beard… and a flower crown. She chuckled again, picking her way carefully through the woods. The image was starting to feel uncomfortably right in her mind.
Considering the younger girl's words, Kagome was reminded of a particular save from the Band of Seven for which she was especially grateful.
I never did thank him for that one, she realized. I should…
Her thoughts wandered as she relived what had immediately followed. She paused. Even now she could feel Inuyasha calling out her name, his arms wrapping protectively around her.
"I should have stayed with her!" growled the image in her mind. She leaned against a tree for support as the memory unfolded involuntarily. At least she thought it was a memory. Looking back, it might have just been something that the poison helped her dream up. It certainly didn't sound like Inuyasha.
She sighed.
Or at least not the Inuyasha he's been lately, she realized. She grimaced and set herself on the path back to the village.
They needed to talk.
—
Despite her resolve in the forest, Kagome breathed a sigh of relief that the half demon wasn't perched in his usual branch when she went by, and she was more than a little glad to find he wasn't he wasn't in Kaede's hut when she returned, either.
Way to be avoidant, Kagome, she chastised herself as she crossed the threshold. Come on, girl. Grownup powers: activate!
"Kagome!" came a squeal as Shippo landed feather-light on top of her head. "Where did you go?" he demanded, climbing down to her shoulder. "And what happened last night?" he asked apprehensively, looking down at her ankle.
"How much did Sango and Miroku tell you?" she asked, patting the fox's head automatically.
"Nothing, so I figure it musta been really bad."
"Well," she frowned, "you're not wrong."
"How's your ankle?"
Grateful for the topic change she looked down, lifting her foot and turning it from side to side.
"Fine, actually. I didn't even think about it this morning."
"So it was really, really bad."
"Haha, yeah, I kind of wish I woke up this morning with amnesia," she confessed. "Can I fill you in later? I should probably find Kaede soon for lessons if she's up for it."
"Of course," Shippo said emphatically, sniffing her hair. "Hey, you smell like Rin," he declared, jealousy squeaking into his tone.
"Yeah, sorry. I met up with her kind of on accident," she explained, setting her bag on the floor and heading for her herb bottles.
"You should have invited me anyway."
"You know I always do, but you probably weren't up for hours after I left this time," she chided, giggling.
"NOT TRUE!" he cried, indignant.
"Well, you were definitely sound asleep when I headed out this morning."
"Well… well next time I'll…" He trailed off and the two exchanged a knowing look.
"Were you about to say 'get up early'?"
"Yeah, but then I thought about it," he mumbled bitterly. She laughed.
"At least you're honest," she said, heading for the door. "That should count for something!"
A watering bucket sat just outside the entryway. She paused for a moment, considering, then set her jaw and grabbed it, knocking Shippo off his perch. She headed for the stream, the young demon bounding at her heels. Maybe she could still bring those flowers back from the brink.
It worked for Kikyo, she thought wryly as she slid carefully down the embankment, why not for her grave?
"Careful, Kagome" Shippo called from high on the bank.
"Don't worry, I won't fall in."
"Famous last words," he teased, eyes watching her intently.
"Haha, well even if I did, you know I can swim."
"Still!"
She looked up at the unusually insistent little fox demon and smiled somberly. His kind of worry was the easiest to bear.
"Don't worry, Shippo. I'll be fine," she repeated quietly, smile fading just a touch. "I promise."
—
A/N: I'm still really tired, so I'll write a proper author's note when I upload the next chapter IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS HO HO HO HOOO (this was supposed to be one chapter, but it got really emotional and long, so I broke it up). All the stuff that was making me super sad is in the next chapter haha, so look forward to it. Love you guys, and thanks again for all your support!
xoxox
Mana