Thank you to all for following and favoriting, and maybe for reviewing; I had no idea this would be so popular!
Remember, consider the TITLE of the story. It's called The Long Way Home, and no, I didn't name it on a whim. I gave it some thought. It foreshadows how long and difficult the road to redemption will be for the characters in this story.
Just thought I'd toss that out there.
CH 2
Sesshomaru watched the taillights shrink to tiny pinpoints of light in the distance, somehow feeling detached from it all, as if it were all a dream. He had not just hit his own wife. Said wife had not just dashed out of the house.
"Dad?"
He turned around to see Rin in her orange-and-yellow checkered pajamas.
"Rin, go back to bed." His voice was firm and brooked no argument, but still his daughter hesitated.
One foot stepping backwards, she questioned him softly, staring at him with those large doe eyes. "Is she not coming back?"
He closed his eyes, the familiar feeling of his beast struggling to gain control consuming his body. "Of course she is." When he was certain the red would not show in his eyes, he opened them again to see that Rin was staring at him doubtfully.
"You can tell me the truth, you know."
"That is all there is to know, Rin. Your mother is simply upset right now. She is taking a short break."
"Wish she'd take a break forever," muttered his daughter, swiping her mouth with a wand of pale pink lip gloss.
Sesshomaru couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore. "Rin, why is it that you hold such animosity towards your mother?" He had never encouraged such behavior from her. Of course, he had never discouraged it either.
She shrugged, pouting her shiny lips. Sesshomaru was suddenly reminded of the beautiful high society females who chased after him, and he banished the thought, displeased at the notion of his little Rin being anything like those bitches. "I don't know. Hey, I'm going to heat up some milk to have with some honey. Do you want some?"
"Rin. I asked you a question."
"So did I."
He stared at her, and she met his gaze unflinchingly. When had she become so disrespectful? "Rin, tell me. Now," he added. In years past, the word and his tone combined would have guaranteed a prompt response from Rin. Not now.
She blinked coolly. "Look, Dad, I don't really know." Lies. He could detect its stench in the air. "It's getting kind of late, and I really have this homework I need to finish."
Sesshomaru sensed that there was something she wasn't telling him, but gave it up for the moment. He would ask her again some other time, when her guard was down. "If you need any help, do not hesitate to ask me."
"I will, thanks." Flashing a laser-brightened smile, she turned to leave, then looked back. "So you want the milk and honey?"
He frowned, something tugging at his consciousness. Had they missed something of their daily routine? And then he had it. "Don't you want dinner?"
"Nah. Ate a big lunch." His daughter never ate lunch. "If you want, I could make something for you, though. Popcorn maybe?"
He shrugged it off. "No, I'm fine. One missed meal will hardly kill me."
"Okay, then. Two mugs of hot milk. Got it. Any preferences on the spices? We have marshmallows."
Marshmallow a spice? "Just honey." He would have liked some cinnamon, but did not trust Rin to deliver. She would probably have looked for it in the freezer.
"Okay. I'll bring it up to your study."
"Thank you."
"Mm-hmm."
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-oOo-
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It's raining.
The taiyoukai stands at the intersection in his expensive charcoal gray designer suit, dripping wet, waiting for the pedestrian's light to flick on. His thick hair, normally silky and light, has absorbed the rain and is now little better than a drenched blanket hanging from his head. He is on his lunch break. He should have taken the limo from the company, he thinks with a surly twist of his lips. But he always takes the opportunity to walk when he can, spending most of his day cooped up behind a desk. It reminds him of days long past when he used to roam his vast lands. He only wanted to stretch his legs. And now he is paying the price.
The streets are less crowded now, and the majority of the people who populate the pavement are shielded from the downpour by colorful umbrellas. They hurry past him, rainwater splishing and sploshing with their every step. One such splash lands on the cuff of his slacks, and he grits his fangs until he realizes that every inch of him is soaking wet anyways.
The imbecilic traffic light, it seems, is in stasis, and Sesshomaru is considering swallowing his pride and calling for someone from the company to come pick him up when suddenly, the irritating little plips of raindrops on his person cease. He wonders briefly if the rain has stopped, but that cannot be, because all around him, the rain continues to fall. just not on him. He looks up and the top of his head brushes against a brilliant indigo canopy. He turns to see a girl standing beside him, shivering in the cold.
She is young, fifteen or sixteen if he had to make a guess. She is dry for the most part, but will not be for much longer because her arm is stretched high above her in an effort to shield the much taller person from the rain with her umbrella. Already, droplets cling to the tips of her inky locks, and her lips glisten like rose petals touched with morning dew. She smiles at him with those beautiful lips.
"Hey," she says.
He stares at her, then reaches out and puts his hand over hers, guiding the umbrella back over her head. "Thank you, but you should take care of yourself. Humans are more vulnerable to illness." His voice is impeccably, impersonally polite.
"Well, humans tend to be more vulnerable to compassion, too," the little thing retorts with a lively flash of her mesmerizing blue eyes, and sticks her umbrella back over his head with the air of an obstinate mule, thus welcoming the rain onto her own head.
He narrows his eyes at her and repeats his last action, this time none too gently. "Save your compassion for someone who needs, wants, and appreciates it."
"You're one-thirds of the way there," says the girl, and returns her umbrella to its position over his head.
She is irritating him, but Sesshomaru does not have the patience to argue with her. Not now, while he is soaked to the bone. So he yanks the umbrella from her grasp, ignoring her indignant gasp, but instead of thrusting it into her arms, he moves over so he is almost- -almost- -pressed up against the girl, and maneuvers the contraption until it shields them both. He stares straight ahead, his jaw twitching, refusing to acknowledge the insufferable wench by his side.
"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" says the girl cheerfully. He knows, he knows that she is smiling at him, but he cannot reply because he is a stone wall, a potted plant, incapable of response.
Finally the traffic light changes, and they cross the street. He hates the fact that they look like a couple, but one good thing about the rain is that it dilutes the view of a camera. Even the most dedicated of paparazzi will be foiled by the tears of the heavens, much to his relief. He cannot imagine the shame and humiliation he would have to endure if pictures of him with the girl and allegations of their involvement began to circulate on social media.
Step by step, the street is crossed, and step by step, the strange duo proceed along the streets until they get to a bus stop, which is a bench enclosed on three sides and the top by glass walls. Here the girl makes her exit.
"This is where my bus will come," she says with a beam.
He tries to give her the umbrella, but she waves him away. "You need it more than I do."
He bristles, feeling like a charity case, but she only laughs and directs the indigo umbrella so it is positioned firmly above him.
"Have a good day, mister."
He knows it is pointless to argue, so he walks away without a backwards glance. He decides to stash the umbrella in the company closet upon his return and forget about the strange girl, but as he is folding up the wet thing in the lobby of Takahashi Corp., he notices a tag attached to it. He reads it, and he learns that the girl's name is Kagome Higurashi. He also learns that to return the item if found, he should call a certain number. He ponders it, then commits the digits to memory.
The girl did him a service, after all, and no good deed should go unrewarded.
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-oOo-
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The day he and his wife had met… He remembered it with stunning clarity. Little had he known then that the smiling stranger in the rain would become his smiling bride at the altar.
Sesshomaru sipped at his milk, enjoying the sweet, creamy taste as it slid down his throat, warming his empty stomach.
The fact that his stomach was empty reminded him of his wife's absence. If she had been here, she would have forced him and Rin to sit down and eat dinner. It was a daily occurrence. Rin hated eating dinner because of her obsession with staying skinny, and Sesshomaru was too busy with work to worry about food. He was a youkai, after all, a Taiyoukai at that. He didn't need to eat everyday. Three meals a day was an indulgence, not a necessity. He ate, however, to avoid a long and drawn-out fight. Her cooking wasn't too bad on the palate, either, which was a plus.
Speaking of his wife…
Sesshomaru wondered what she was doing. Where had she gone? He suspected that she had rushed to her best friend's house. She would probably sob out her heart and return in the morning. He snorted delicately. Yes, she would come crawling back with her tail between her legs, begging for another chance. He leaned back leisurely in his chair, smirking at the thought.
Sesshomaru had no clue that he was wrong.
Dead wrong.
-oOo-
Not nearly as angsty as the first chapter, but you can't expect heart-wrenching angst every chapter, can you?
Don't worry, what I have planned for next chapter will make you guys want to un-man Sess... That I can promise. So, on that happy note,
Ciao,
Stardust Miko
p.s. I made a doujinshi (short comic) out of the umbrella scene, and the link is on my profile if you'd like to check it out!