Sesshoumaru had offered up his hair so she could show Rin how to braid. Kgome's hair almost reached her waist now, but it was much easier to teach someone when the hair was in front of you.
"See? You always fold it over the middle piece," she said. Rin's small hands got tangled in the strands, forcing her to pull it out and start again. The girl's tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth when she concentrated, focusing instead on a smaller section. She eventually braided it all the way down, and Kagome used a piece of string to tie it off. "There! You did it."
Rin's face lit up, and she showed it to Sesshoumaru, laying it over his shoulder. "Look! I did it all by myself!"
"Very good, Rin." A little praise went a long way, and soon the girl was running through the field, collecting flowers so she could decorate him further.
Kagome combed her fingers through his hair, doing a similar braid on the other side before clasping the rest together. "Do you mind if I keep going?" His lack of response was all she needed, separating his hair into different sections.
"Yours is different from Rin's," he said after a while.
"There are different kinds of braids. The one I taught her is for beginners." She continued to twist his hair together, weaving in the smaller braids on each side until she ran out of strands. Managing to hold it all together, she wrapped more string around the tips, then leaned back on her heels, admiring her work.
"You will have to let me return the favour," he murmured, draping the braid over his shoulder to inspect it.
She smiled at the thought of his claws in her hair. "That would be nice, but you don't have to. It's not a competition."
The back of his claws brushed against her neck, lethal points teasing her skin. "Grooming is part of the courting process, Kagome."
She flushed. How could she have forgotten?