Author's Note

Your reviews are so appreciated! I'm so excited you are all enjoying the story. I'm really enjoying writing this one; I tend to stick to the more complex, darker stuff, so this somewhat lighter one is a breath of fresh air.

Please enjoy…and review! (shameless, I know)

Lead Me Down the Garden Path

Humidity

When Kagome was nine years old, she learned about ecosystems in school. To complement her in-class education, her teacher took her class on two field trips, one to an animal farm a district over, and the other to a recycling plant. Despite being tall for her age, Kagome had felt so small in comparison to the giant properties and buildings.

Kagome was now positive that Sengoku Manor was bigger than both the farm and recycling plant. She felt miniscule all over again.

Once she learned the ominous history surrounding Inuyasha, she had walked around his property, led by Shippou, uneasily. She focused her eyes on the expansive, floor to ceiling windows on the first floor of the four-storey house, as if she was guarding herself for someone she was expecting to see watching her tour the grounds.

Shippou led the girls up the front driveway towards the house, but then veered off towards the pool house, rounded the tennis court, pointed out the four-car garage, and led them into the backyard sitting area. For some reason, Kagome's mind kept coming back to images she had once seen of grand Louisiana-style plantation manors. The house felt old and had a presence that lingered around the property that was intimidating and powerful. Naturally, Kagome thought, a powerful person had to live here. Even as Shippou spoke, Kagome found her eyes helplessly turning upwards to observe the house that towered over her.

Despite it still being morning, Kagome felt her hair sticking to the back of her neck and a fresh coat of sweat developing on her forehead. It was already so humid.

The house (or as Shippou also called it: manor, castle, property or mansion) had white vinyl siding with black shutters and large cylindrical pillars bookending the front porch. As Shippou guided the tour, Kagome observed that they didn't directly approach the front of the house; Shippou took her and Sango up a side path so Kagome could only see the front of the house from a diagonal view. When Kagome inquired, Shippou said that one of Inuyasha's rule was that no one could be in the front yard if they weren't working.

Kagome turned to appreciate the detailed effort that went into the maintenance of the house's front yard.

Kagome had never been one for horticulture. She suddenly felt very dumb for taking a landscaping/gardening job, and yet she couldn't identify a single flower, bush, or tree on the grounds before her. She was, however, able to appreciate the symmetry of the landscaping. The house had an expansive yard that was crisp and tidy, and a garden that hugged the edge of the house, disappearing where the front stairs appeared and then continued on the other side to round the rest of the house. Long grass and short grass bushes sprouted from the garden, standing guard on either side of the stairs. Red, white, and yellow flowers appeared in bunches here and there. The garden's edge was curved, like the shape of a shallow 's,' and Kagome marveled at how pristinely the edge of the garden was separated from the edge of the lawn. She guessed there was approximately a two-inch gap between where the garden ended and grass began. Mulch beds surrounded the bases of towering trees on the front of the property, and with the humidity rising in the air as the day went on, the smell tickled and pleased Kagome's nose. She noticed that the base of the trees also had that two-inch gap; it separated the mulch from the grass.

Sango called Kagome's name and it drew her out of the trance as she scrutinised the front lawn. The two were disappearing without her, and Kagome skipped into action to not be left behind.

Shippou was very detailed in explaining the amount of work that went into a trim here or a design there. He would also stop and point out mistakes from the original plan. He didn't seem to hide the reasons for those mistakes or name the people who made them. Shippou also didn't hide the fact that those people no longer worked at RTL.

They continued walking.

"So, I know I've mentioned to you guys a couple times that Inuyasha has rules about his house. I, for one, think they are completely ridiculous; but," he sighed, "if you follow them you won't get fired."

"Why would we get fired for not obeying a single rule?" Sango asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Shippou rolled his eyes, "I know it's dumb, Sango. But, Inuyasha has been all over the people who broke his rules. He has even accused me a couple of times of doing it. Thankfully Kouga's been around and he's been able to…" Shippou wanted to say fight with him but he worried the impression that would leave on the girls, so he instead he said, "…talk with him about it. So, I'm still here."

"So, you've seen him then?" Kagome asked.

Shippou snorted, "Seen him, talked to him, wanted to punch him. He makes his presence known when he's in the yard. He's taken to the pool house lately because it's been so hot. If you're ever in that area around the afternoon, you'll be likely to see him."

Kagome felt her stomach flip with interest. She desperately wanted to know what this Inuyasha person looked like.

She felt certain that maybe if she saw him the stories would make sense. Her eyes would take him in and she'd go, 'Of course! I know about Inuyasha.'

Sango had often told Kagome she lived somewhat under a rock, and Kagome didn't exactly disagree. After her conversation with Shippou and Sango, Kagome couldn't believe that she had been so oblivious to an event that shook the history of her country. Yes, Kagome wasn't really one for the news. She never read a newspaper, never followed any big newscasters on social media. It wasn't that Kagome didn't believe it was important to know what was happening in the world, it was just that she never really put energy into seeking out that information.

If Sango's timeline was correct, Kagome would have still been pursuing her undergraduate degree when the incident with the Band of Seven and Inuyasha happened. Knowing that, Kagome wasn't completely surprised that the event didn't sound familiar; Kagome had obsessively poured herself into her education.

Becoming a teacher was the best thing to have happened to Kagome. She asserted her independence from her family, becoming the first Higurashi to make something of herself outside of the shrine. She even started to become more familiar with the outside world; she usually heard about what was happening in the world through the school, when a bunch of the teachers would gather for lunch.

Kagome knew she wanted to be a teacher ever since she was in high school. Teachers and family constantly told her she had the personality for working with children, and she liked the idea of being able to have such a monumental effect on someone's life.

Kagome sighed over the thought. She felt like her career had taken a step backwards.

Kagome accepted that she had always been somewhat obsessive with ensuring her life was on track—as the eldest Higurashi child, she had a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. It should have been her job to take over the maintenance of their Shinto shrine when her grandfather eventually passed; however, Kagome had made it clear to her mother that she had other dreams for herself and mentioned her plans of attending university, then teacher's college. The family had been cautious of first accepting Kagome's plans to leave the family home; however, Kagome demonstrated early on that she was going to be successful. She had high standards for herself. She never got into trouble. She wanted to prove to her family that she was making something of herself and that's why she would leave the shrine maintenance to Souta.

Kagome's eyes trailed up the side of the house and rested on a window. Someone had opened the pane slightly and Kagome could see white curtains twirling behind it. The view drew her mind back to her curiosities about Inuyasha.

Having left her bag with her phone in the truck's back seat, she hadn't been able to complete a brief Internet search about Inuyasha. This was something she fully planned to do when she got home.

"Anway," Shippou continued, leading the girls past the large, cloth canopy covered sitting area at the back of the house. "A lot of his rules are pretty stupid, but they're not complicated. Don't bring or leave garbage on his property. Don't be in the front yard unless it's for work. Never be by yourself; always have a buddy with you. You can't use the restrooms in the house. Don't talk to the staff—"

"—How are we supposed to remember all these!?" Sango interrupted, her eyes wide with concern and confusion.

Shippou laughed, "You and Kagome won't be by yourselves for the first little while, so we'll remind you. Either me or Kouga will be around so if you have any concerns, we'll be there."

"We can't use the bathroom?" Kagome squeaked, her eyes wide. "But what if I—"

Her question was interrupted by Shippou's laugh. "You may have missed it, but there's a portable bathroom just outside the gates. We take breaks pretty frequently and we have an hour for lunch usually, so there's always opportunities."

"And why can't we talk to the staff?"

Shippou turned to face Sango, "Inuyasha doesn't want them distracted. Plus," he smirked, "The only person who ever really comes around is Miroku, Inuyasha's personal assistant, and I doubt very much you'll want to talk to him."

"Why? What's wrong with him?" Sango asked.

Shippou smirked again, but didn't say anything. Sango and Kagome exchanged confused glances.

After that, Shippou introduced Kagome and Sango to the blank slate upon which they were going to design and build a new garden. The west side of the property felt cooler as the girls were masked in the house's shadow this early on. Despite the shade, Kagome felt herself dizzying when she bent over too quickly or stood up too fast. Shippou had offered her some water and she accepted it gratefully.

Eventually Kouga made his way over and Shippou left to go find Ayame. Kouga had been pretty curt with Shippou to "hustle his ass," as Ayame was currently going against Inuyasha's rules by being by herself.

"It's an accountability thing," Kouga had offered when he humourously heard Sango say "what the fuck?" to Kagome. "In his opinion," Kouga said with a roll of his eyes, "people are less likely to steal something if they have someone else around to keep them accountable."

"Unless both people want to pilfer his stuff," Sango said with an unamused raised eyebrow. Kouga just laughed and opened his binder.

Kouga spent the next little while outlining the gardenscape that was now Kagome and Sango's responsibility.

Kagome thought the plans were simple enough. Kouga's work was very detailed, containing descriptions, notes in the margins, and pictures of what was expected. In a different coloured pen, he had also identified the tools that would be best for the job, the process the girls should follow, and the expected duration for the completion of the project.

The morning led into lunchtime, where everyone gathered in the truck to eat in silence. Kagome was sweaty and already tired, and she couldn't believe how well-put-together Sango still looked. Remembering the way Kouga looked at her, Kagome felt like her early morning appeal was beginning to melt away with her sweat and fatigue.

She sighed and dismissed the thought by thinking, Oh well, I'm not here for a boyfriend anyway.

The afternoon following lunch had been even hotter and tedious.

Kouga had Kagome and Sango start to build the raised beds for the tiered garden, periodically calling them over to show them how he was tilling and searching for clods in the soil. Kagome felt flustered with information, and she kept gripping the material of her shirt and fanning it outwards to try and circulate the air under her t-shirt. Kagome was sweating profusely.

Kouga was very attentive to Kagome. She didn't fail to notice that he seemed to spend more time explaining to her than he did Sango. He would ask her how she was feeling, offer her water before Sango, and when she was on her knees crouched over Kouga's binder to examine the plan, she could feel his eyes on her.

Kagome would even swear that he had winked at her a couple of times.

When the girls would go back to work on building the tiered portion of the flowerbed, Kagome would ask Sango if she noticed Kouga's behaviour. Sango just smirked and said that Kagome should ignore it.

The day grew hotter and the cicadas chirping became so loud that Kagome sometimes felt she had to shout over to Kouga to ensure he heard her. Kagome felt frustrated with the plans, having never built something from scratch before in her life, and she often had to stop what she was doing to compare her work to the plan.

And she was so sweaty.

Kagome felt her head lighten a few times as she stood up from her crouched position. Frequently, Kagome would try to adjust her body, hoping to alter where the sun was hitting her. Her back was slick with sweat from the sun beating down on her hunched over form.

One time when Kagome stood, her footing faltered a bit and she fell into Kouga's side. He was quick to catch her, placing his one hand on the small of Kagome's back and gripping her bicep with his other. Kagome felt her cheeks flush but she allowed the physical assistance, despite wanting to cower with shame since he would be able to feel how sweaty her back was and probably smell the dirt and perspiration on her skin. Helping her into the shade, Kouga sat her down and offered her a cup of water, telling her to take it easy and rest for a few minutes.

Kagome felt badly for how she was handling herself on her first day. Sango seemed fine. But then again, Sango was used to working hard and Kagome was used to spending her summers in the air-conditioned comfort of her home.

Sango was concerned for her friend. As Kagome sat in the shade and sipped on her water, Sango was distracted. Kagome had drank most of the water in the cooler and Kouga said he would take the trip to the truck to refill it. He told Sango not to work herself too hard and she said she felt fine.

Kagome felt mesmerized watching Kouga's brown ponytail swing back and forth as he dashed away to the truck. Kagome marveled at his speed and then downed the rest of her water.

As Sango continued nailing the boards of the raised bed together, she kept glancing over at her friend. In the absence of attention to her work, Sango hit her thumb with the hammer and gave a small shriek.

Kagome jumped at the sound and turned to see Sango gripping her thumb in her other hand, nursing the wound close to her chest. Concern for Sango the only thing on her mind, Kagome dropped the plastic water cup and shot straight up. She immediately dizzied, her eyesight blackened, and her head felt light. Then she felt herself falling.

Kagome heard her name leave Sango's lips.

Before blackness consumed her, Kagome swore she saw a man with black hair pulled into a small ponytail running towards them from the back of the house.