Author's Note: We are going to ignore that wax seals were a European thing, as I can find no definitive information on how letters were sealed in Feudal Japan. I saw plenty about coded messages and private pony-express style deliveries, but nothing about the letters themselves. If you know the answer though, pop into the comments and I'll update it!

Chapter 9

The week following the sparring match had slipped by like a hazy dream, punctuated only by the conspicuous absence of the demon lord who ruled the castle. Kagome sat at the low table in her room, her fingers drumming the side of her cheek as she stared at the blank page of her diary. The silence in the room felt heavy, broken only by her occasional sigh.

With a sigh, she scratched out a few notes about the day's lessons, but it all felt forced and monotonous. After scrawling a half-hearted description of Shippo's progress and Rin's enthusiasm, she dropped the pen and tossed the diary toward the small shelf, where it landed askew, half on and half off. She flopped back onto the tatami with a huff, eyes tracing the beams above her as if they held the answers she sought.

"What was his problem, anyway?" she wondered, gnawing on her bottom lip. Sesshomaru was still around—she knew that much. He trained with Shippo every morning, and when he wasn't holed up in his study, he would sit with Rin, listening in his stoic way as she chattered on about whatever had caught her fancy. But Kagome? He had been avoiding her like she was a cursed object.

She rolled onto her stomach, propping her head up on her hands as she frowned at the closed shoji screens that led to the engawa. Something had shifted after the match, something subtle but unmistakable. Was it the match itself? She'd been clumsy and caught off guard when he'd saved her from falling, but that was hardly a reason to ignore her. And it was pretty clear he was ignoring her.

Was he angry? Annoyed? Disgusted? None of it made sense. Kagome had replayed that day a hundred times in her mind, trying to pinpoint what had gone wrong. Aside from her bruised ego from losing each round and the mortifying moment he'd caught her—rather gallantly, she grudgingly admitted—she couldn't think of anything that would have set him off.

She rolled back over and scowled at the ceiling. This simply couldn't go on. The kids were picking up on the tension. She remembered how it felt when her own parents argued, that creeping fear that somehow it was her fault. Shippo and Rin didn't deserve that. This was between her and Sesshomaru… whatever this was.

Kagome sat up abruptly, the gears in her mind turning as she stared around her room for inspiration. She needed an excuse to confront him, to break this weird silence, but she wasn't sure how. Her gaze landed on a neatly folded letter she had written to her friends. Of course. She needed his seal to send it.

Decision made, she climbed to her feet and smoothed down her clothes, a pair of loose jeans and a baggy pink cardigan, the plan forming in her mind. This was perfect—totally casual, perfectly legitimate. With the letter clutched in her hand, she took a deep breath and headed for the door, schooling her features to rival Sesshomaru's own stoic gaze.

"Alright, Sesshomaru," she thought as she slid the shoji screen open, her pulse quickening with a mix of determination and nerves. "Let's see you ignore me now."

Sesshomaru sat in his study, eyes fixed on the missives spread across his desk, though their contents blurred into meaningless symbols. The week had been torturously unproductive, despite his self-imposed exile. Meals had come and gone, his sword remained untested by anything beyond morning training with the kit, and the paperwork, meant to distract, piled up like a barricade around him.

Some might have called it hiding, but the demon lord would never admit such weakness, not even to himself. Still, the feeling of retreating was undeniable, a simmering unease he couldn't quite shake. He picked up another letter, his fingers tightening around the delicate parchment. This one was from a spy he'd sent south at Kagome's request. The very thought of her name sent an unwelcome pang through him, and he forced his mind back to the letter.

Nothing. No sightings, no sounds, no scents. It was a dead end, much like everything else this week. Sesshomaru's frown deepened, his golden eyes narrowing as he reached for a blank sheet of paper. He dipped his brush into the ink with precise, almost mechanical movements, though his thoughts were anything but calm.

Images from their sparring match intruded—Kagome, standing firm, determination blazing in her strange eyes as she faced him down, then that brief, foolish moment when he'd caught her. The feel of her warm body pressed against his flashed through his mind, unbidden and unwelcome. Annoyed, he shoved the memory aside.

His brush hovered over the paper as an almost imperceptible sigh slipped past his lips. He couldn't fathom why he was so unsettled. It wasn't like him to be thrown off balance by something so trivial. And yet...

He began writing, his strokes swift and fluid, directing his spies to delve deeper into the south. Kagome was young and inexperienced, but she was no liar. He had seen the haunted look in her eyes when she looked at the bound scrolls in the children's study room. And the conviction in her voice had been... compelling.

Sesshomaru paused, his brush poised over the paper. Why did he care? He breathed out through his nose a little more forcefully than necessary. He signed his name and set the brush aside, reaching for the already warmed wax and his seal, irritation bubbling beneath his carefully composed exterior. It was maddening, this sudden awareness of her, the way her absence gnawed at the edges of his thoughts. What was it about her that made it so difficult to maintain both closeness and distance?

He poured out some wax, pressed his seal, and returned the tools to their respective spots before leaning back and rubbing his eyes, a slow exhale escaping him as he glanced around the dimly lit study. This solitude, once his refuge, now felt suffocating. He had never been one to shy away from his own company, yet this week, it was as if the walls themselves were closing in. Was it her incessant chatter that he missed? Her laugh that seemed to echo through these halls even when she wasn't there? Ridiculous.

Gathering the sealed letters, he set them aside, preparing to tidy his desk when he caught the faintest sound of footsteps approaching. He stilled, every sense sharpening. Kagome.

Her presence, even at a distance, sent a strange thrill through him. It was as if the very air vibrated with her energy. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, his fingers tightening around the edge of the desk. What was this inexplicable reaction? Anger, confusion, something else entirely? He refused to acknowledge the possibility that he might be curious—eager, even—to see her.

No, he told himself firmly. This was nothing more than a momentary lapse, an indulgence in trivial thoughts. But even as he steeled himself, a small, irritating voice in the back of his mind whispered otherwise. And it was this uncertainty, this unsettling, foreign feeling that disturbed him most of all.

The door slid open, and the scent of her—clean and fresh, like a garden after rain—washed over him. Sesshomaru schooled his expression into its usual mask of indifference, but his heart, traitorous thing that it was, gave a single, inexplicable flutter as she stepped into the room.

Kagome entered the study without knocking, a faint prickle of irritation tingling beneath her skin.

"You didn't knock."

Sesshomaru sat, expression unreadable, his golden eyes flicking briefly toward her before returning to the scrolls on his desk. He left his comment to hang in the air—thick and impenetrable.

"You knew it was me," she countered, walking to stand in front of his desk. She stared down at him, eyes practically boring a hole into his head in the hopes he would engage her in conversation.

"Hn," was the disappointing response she got in return.

"Fine, be that way," she thought.

Kagome cleared her throat, forcing herself to relax as she pulled out the letter she had written. "I need your seal," she began, trying to keep her voice a bit more neutral. "To send this to my friends."

Sesshomaru's gaze shifted briefly to the letter in her hand, but he didn't move to take it. His silence stretched on, making the tension in the room even more palpable.

She swallowed, glancing away for a moment before returning her focus to him. "It's important."

Still nothing.

Her grip tightened on the letter. "You know, I thought it was just me at first—maybe I was overthinking things," she said, her tone casual, as though testing the waters. She paused, waiting for a reaction.

His silence, as usual, only deepened the tension. He didn't offer her a reproach or any acknowledgment of her forwardness.

Kagome pressed on, arms crossing over her chest as she took another step forward. "You've been avoiding me."

His brow arched imperceptibly, but he said nothing.

"Don't bother denying it." Her voice softened slightly, but her irritation lingered. "I want to know what happened. Why you've been acting like this."

Sesshomaru's gaze narrowed slightly as he studied her, the faintest hint of tension in his jaw. "Nothing has happened," he said, his voice smooth but clipped. "You are imagining things."

"Oh, come on." Kagome took another step closer, shaking her head in disbelief. "One day, we're sparring, and the next, you vanish like I've got the plague? You won't even look at me. What is going on, Sesshomaru?"

The demon lord's golden eyes darkened, but his expression remained controlled. He stood from his desk in one fluid motion, towering over her as he crossed his arms. "You presume much, miko."

"I know much," Kagome shot back, her hands planted on her hips. "I know something happened, and I know you're avoiding it. So, unless you want to keep dodging me for the rest of eternity, you're going to have to talk to me."

For a long moment, the air between them was thick with unspoken tension. Sesshomaru's gaze was cold, but Kagome didn't back down. She held his stare, refusing to be intimidated.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Sesshomaru turned his head slightly, breaking their locked gaze. "It is not your concern."

"Well, it sure feels like my concern when I'm the one being ignored." She threw her arms out in exasperation, her frustration spilling out now. "Look, if I did something wrong, tell me. But if you're just going to keep avoiding me without telling me why, then that's not fair."

Sesshomaru paused at that. He looked back to the young woman before him, slightly flushed from the heat of this… disagreement. He could read the tension in her shoulders and the way she gripped her letter. Could smell the salt of tears that were only just forming and hear the pounding of her heartbeat.

She was upset, that much was clear, and Sesshomaru felt a flicker of something—guilt, perhaps, though he quickly smothered it. There was no logic in guilt, not when he was acting for both of their sakes. But the more Kagome pressed, the more that unfamiliar weight settled in his chest. He was used to control, to distance. Why was it so difficult now?

"Perhaps it is because she is not tormented the way you are," a voice whispered in the back of his mind.

Sesshomaru rubbed the bridge of his nose and sat down at his desk once more, retrieving the wax seal she needed. The small object felt heavier in his hand than it should have, as if giving it to her was a form of surrender. He held it out, his face impassive, though his mind churned with unspoken thoughts.

Kagome stared at the seal for a moment before kneeling down and reaching out to take it from him. Their fingers brushed briefly, and Sesshomaru stiffened, though Kagome didn't seem to notice.

She grabbed the container of melted wax without looking at him and poured a small measure onto the folded paper. She was about to press in the seal, when the demon lord decided to speak.

"This Sesshomaru apologizes. Everything will return to as it was."

Kagome paused a moment longer, then pressed the seal into the cooling wax.

"What did I do wrong?" she asked softly, gently placing her letter with the others on the desk and sliding the seal across the desk towards him. She looked at Sesshomaru intently now, searching for… something.

"Nothing," he replied, keeping his face impassive as usual. "There is nothing for you to worry about."

Kagome was far from satisfied with that answer, but it seemed that it was the best she could hope for at the moment. Sighing heavily, she used the desk to push herself off the floor and walked slowly back to the doors separating Sesshomaru's study and the library.

"Thank you for the seal," she added quietly before stepping out and closing the screen behind her.

Sesshomaru listening to her retreating footsteps, feeling an unfamiliar twist in his chest. Could things really return to how they were?

The next morning, Sesshomaru found himself the first to arrive in the family dining room after training. He waited, listening intently for the sounds of the children and the miko. Shin and Shun set out a few basic pieces before he heard the steps and chatter of the children on their way up.

When the sliding door opened, both children were pleased to see him there and immediately rushed to their respective places at the table to start chatting about something or another with him. He nodded his head politely, but most of his attention was on the human woman who came in after.

Kagome did not seem surprised to see him. Had she sensed him with her powers? Had she trusted his words the night before? It would be impossible to know without asking and the answer was…

"Unimportant," he tried to tell himself, although that little voice in the back of his head treacherously supplied the word "liar."

Things would return to normal. That is what he had promised.

"Good morning, Lord Sesshomaru," Kagome greeted politely with a small smile as she knelt down at the low table to his right. It was much the same as any greeting she had given him before. He inclined his head to her and returned his outward attention to the children, but he suddenly felt as though he had lost his appetite.

A sudden, unwelcome thought came to the forefront of his mind: What if he didn't want things to return to normal?

A/N: I struggled with this chapter, particularly the ending. Is the progression ok? Does Sesshomaru seem too OOC? I realize some OOCness is necessary for a non-canon plot to work, but let me know what you think.