Once InuYasha and Kagome arrived at Lady Kaede's hut, they were greeted with the sight of the old woman studying a scroll while Rin was bundling herbs to be hung and dried. Only the younger girl looked up at the entrance,beaming at them briefly before returning to her task.
"Hey, you old bat, you're not even excited to see that Kagome's back?" He strolled in like he owned the place, walking straight toward Kaede and ignoring Rin.
"I'm pleased to see her again. I knew she would visit when she was good and ready." She placed down the scroll she had been studying and her eye met Kagome's. "Have ye been training your powers, child?"
Kagome shook her head. She hadn't even tried to use her powers in the modern era. There were no demons for her to worry about, and the few spirits she had encountered had just needed someone to talk to. Some ways into her first year of high school, that had ended leaving Kagome lost and out of place in her own era. Grandpa tutored her in Japanese history and shinto traditions as he had before, but this time she paid attention and studied the sutras he had wanted her to learn for her whole life. "I learned how to properly craft an ofuda, but otherwise, no. For a long time, I didn't know if I even still had powers." Seeing a glimmer of disappointment on the woman's face broke kagome's heart a bit. "I did learn how to run and maintain a shrine properly though."
Kaede hummed before rising from the floor. She looked over the Shikon Priestess. "We will start soon then. Tonight calls for relaxation."
Kagome glowed and wrapped her in a hug. She seemed frailer than she a had a few years prior, but she was no less spirited. "I missed you, Lady Kaede. My Grandpa is an okay teacher, but nothing compared to you."
Her compliment was waved off. "There is no need for comparisons, child. We each bring our own experiences into our teachings."
Giggling, she said, "I'm barely a child anymore. I'm eighteen now." In the corner of her vision, Kagome saw InuYasha balk a little bit, but he quickly caught himself and settled back into his slightly grouchy resting face. Saying out loud next to him felt a little weird. Back in her home time of the 2000s, she celebrated her new age: she wasn't technically an adult yet who could go out and drink, but it did signify a new level of freedom that she hadn't had before. But it also highlighted just how long she had spent apart from her best friend.
"It is true that you are now of age, but you have yet to have your Seijin no Hi, correct? And never forget, ye will always be that young girl who stumbled into my village," Kaede turned from her pupil to InuYasha. "Would you be so kind as to let the young lady's friends know that we will be gathering for her arrival tomorrow evening?"
He just grunted. "Miroku and Sango are here so I don't see the big deal. Who else would want to be here?"
Rin jumped up from her place on the floor at the mention of a party. She was now by Kaede's side, brown eyes sparkling and a smile brightening her face. "Lord Sesshoumaru would! As would Mr. Jinenji!"
"Keh," The half demon rolled his eyes. "If you want them there, go invite them yourself. I got things to do."
And with that, InuYasha walked out of the hut leaving the women behind. Kagome was so confused. Didn't he want to spend time with her? Wasn't he happy that she was back? Tears started to form in her eyes and Kaede rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Do not be offended. Since your victory over the spider demon, he has become a lonesome creature. I believe he may be coming to terms with living a life without chaos." A life without chaos? If that's what was bugging him, why was he pushing her away? Why did it seem like he was ignoring everyone that cared about him? "Go see what you have missed in his life these past years, I'm sure he would love to tell you. I need to inform Aoi and Hinata of this celebration and get their aide."
"I want to help too!" The young girl was almost shaking with excitement. Kagome wondered when the last time there had been a large party in the village. Hugging both of them goodbye, she dashed out the door to try to catch up to where InuYasha might have run off to. To her surprise, he had stayed right beside the door, leaning with his back to the hut and bangs covering his eyes.
"Whatcha thinking about, InuYasha?"
"Nothing much. Just stuff, I guess." He looked up, catching her eyes with his. "I'm glad you're back."
"I'm glad to be back." She took his hand in her own. His eyes widened and just when she thought he'd pull away from her, his own hand intertwined with hers. With their fingers locked together, they walked back to his forest away from the hustle of the small village. Somewhere where they could be alone.
It was silent on the walk over, but Kagome felt comfortable. It was similar to when they first met and set out on their journey. Walking among the trees, just the two of them. Once all of the huts were out of sight, Kagome let go of his hand to replace it with a hug. InuYasha wrapped his arms around her pulling her close to his chest with his head resting atop hers.
It was only interrupted when a small branch fell off a tree beside them, spooking them both apart. Inuyasha scanned the area with darting eyes and twitching ears. Finding nothing to defend against, he sighed in relief and blushed. Kagome laughed, dropping her own fists. "So, I know what I missed with Sango and Miroku, but what about you? What have you been up to? Shippo said you've been a bit… distant."
"Not much other than what I told you earlier. I just protect the village from demons and bandits. Help out with the brats, including Shippo, every now and then," he shrugged. "How's the future?"
She paused thinking it over. To her it felt like a lot had happened, but in the moment it didn't seem like it amounted to much. She really hadn't done much outside of catching up on her studies and practicing priestess stuff with Grandpa. "Well, Mama had gotten a new boyfriend. She met him when she was getting some supplies to fix up the shrine. Souta's in middle school now. Grandpa is still the same. And before I came back, I was about to start university."
"University?"
The confused look he was giving her made her giggle. "It's a school for specific jobs. I was going to train to be a nurse." She realized her mistake once he started blushing. 'Nurse' didn't quite have the same connotation now as it did in her time. "Like a doctor's assistant."
He nodded slowly, his flushed face paling back to its normal hue. They fell back into silence, the sounds of bird calls and rustling leaves surrounding them. "Planned on beating up on dying people the way you beat me?"
Kagome scowled and lightly punched him in the arm. Souta had said nearly the same thing and she didn't understand why they thought that. Especially InuYasha. She healed more injuries of his than she could count. With the day being so beautiful, she laid on the ground, watching the clouds pass through the gaps in the leaves above them. InuYasha followed suit, not saying a thing. It felt nice just being beside him again. There hadn't been a lot of quiet moments like this in their travels, not with the size that their group had grown to, but she slipped into the same sense of ease as she had before.
"How old are you now again?" He was facing her now, hands under his head as a makeshift pillow against the earth.
"Eighteen." Her breath felt stuck in her lungs. Her heart seemed to stop. He just grunted. "And you're two hundred and three now, right?"
He grunted again before answering, "Technically. I'm really just a hundred fifty-three but that stupid tree stopped me from aging. If it hadn't, I'd look just a bit older than you now."
She hummed. "But you would've back then too, right?"
"Yeah."
The silence picked up again, Kagome having no idea what to say. It was a weird feeling seeing that her best friend had literally not changed at all since she had seen him. She had never felt that different from him despite his heritage, but hearing about it was different than actually seeing it.
Beside her, InuYasha sighed, "I can't believe you're back. It feels like a dream or some kind of trick. It felt like it's been a day and an eternity since you left."
He looked at her and it felt like he still had something more to say. An unusual amount of emotion was showing through his eyes and it looked like he was chewing the inside of his cheek. "I thought I had lost you like I lost her."
She sat up suddenly, tears starting to blur her vision. She understood where he was coming from, but when she thought she had lost everyone, she didn't compare it to losing her dad. She gritted her teeth, trying to push her tears back. "I have to go, InuYasha."
"What the hell is your problem?" He was sitting up now, eyebrows furrowed with a matching frown. "I mean, we were just talking and now you're about to cry?"
"I'm going through a lot too right now! Sorry for having feelings of my own! Now I really have to go. Good bye." With that she got up and walked the way back to the village. If she had been paying attention she would've noticed InuYasha watching her leave looking like he was about to cry himself.
The rest of the day was spent bonding with her nieces before retiring to Kaede's hut. The woman was kind enough to loan Kagome a futon and a place to stay in the meantime. InuYasha still refused a home of his own despite the villagers' offer to help build one, and Sango's place was packed. Plus the idea of overhearing anything between her two friends was enough to give her nightmares. Inuyasha didn't make another appearance, and she had to pretend like she didn't notice as she chased around the twins and Shippo.
The first thing Kagome noticed when she woke up was the bright sunshine streaming into the room. It was quiet, the song of birds and the flutter of tree leaves creating a wonderful reminder for how she had finally returned. However, the sun was obviously high in the sky and no one else was in the hut with her. She jumped up from the futon, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and rushed out the door. She didn't have to go far to find the priestess and young girl however.
The two sat on the ground nearby, Kaede sorting through their baskets and Rin tying the various plants into bundles. Rin had a bit of her tongue sticking out as she focused on making the correct knot that would ensure the stalks wouldn't escape the bindings as they shrank in the drying process. Kaede smiled at the young girl and Kagome couldn't help but wonder if her mentor saw Rin as the little girl she had used to be. The little girl who had to grow up too quickly after her sister's death. Despite that though, the woman still had a twinkle in her chestnut eye and smile lines deeply etched her face- she had never allowed her rather tragic life to drag her down the way so many others would have.
"Are ye going to stand there or finally wish us a good morning?"
A smile broke out on Kagome's face, her worries about her late wake up and messy appearance vanishing. "Good morning! Anything you two want help with?" She noticed how large the pile of finished bundles were compared to what was left in the baskets: the two must've been working for longer than Kagome realized.
Rin carefully set her work down and ran to hug her. "We don't need any help! Lady Kaede says that I'm improving a lot so it only took us a couple of hours to get everything done!" After seeing the look on Kaede's face, Rin pulled away and continued, "Well, we're almost done. Then we'll be helping Ms. Aoi and Ms. Hinata set up everything for tonight."
"Not today, Kagome. Fortunately, no one is ill or needing assistance at the moment. Today we shall be busy with preparations, but maybe you should consider using this free time to reconnect with your powers."
She swallowed the lump in her throat. Yesterday proved without a doubt that she still had some ability left, but how much she was scared to find out. She felt like she barely had a grasp on channeling her powers into her arrows before, especially compared to Kikyo who always managed to be more powerful. "Umm, I can try. I don't know how it'll go though."
Kaede waved off her concerns. "It will be fine. You are strong, and one day this village will need a priestess like you. I am getting too old to fend off demons. I have faith in ye."
Kagome nodded. She noticed that the older woman had grown slower in the past few years, and she felt guilty for not having brought back anything for Kaede's ailments. "Do you think meditating might help?"
Kagome didn't get much in the way of an answer, just a smile before Kaede started to help Rin untie a knot that had somehow formed in the long pierce of twine.
And so, Kagome found herself by the rice paddies. It was still quiet in early April, too early to start planting due to how cold the nights were. The empty fields were yet to be filled with water or plowed to prepare for this year's crops. The sun was still a few degrees shy of being at its peak and the breeze felt cool on Kagome's skin causing her skin to prickle. As she sat on the dry, dark soil, she wished that she had worn something else the day prior. She was used to running around in a skirt, but the dress she had on was far more impractical. Stains had already started to settle into the fabric and the cotton felt heavy with the humidity.
It was hard to meditate. Her mind kept racing, thinking of everything related to the past twenty-four hours. Her family probably had no idea what happened to her- she didn't think to tell anyone about her latest attempt at reuniting with her old friends, it hadn't worked before and she was tired of the looks they would give her when she returned from the well house. There was also something very different about being in the warring states era this go round. She had no purpose anymore. Human wars waged on, all of them involving humans and none involving the small village that became her home away from home. There weren't any jewel shards to hunt, no immediate adventure that required her presence. Her friends had moved on to new sects of life, everything felt so different while being the same. Kagome closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, focusing on that thought.
So many of her friends had changed, but she had too. It wasn't just she had grown older, but she had mellowed out a bit from the hot tempered, oblivious girl she had been. There were more than a few nights where she laid in bed unable to sleep because she recounted all of the stupid fights she got into with InuYasha, fights that she wouldn't give the time of day now. She couldn't even pretend that it was always him that started it. He had been right to be protective of her when it came to Kouga. As much as the wolf demon had become a dear friend to her, that didn't change the fact that they only met because he had kidnapped her. Of course, InuYasha would have that fear. And what did she do? Sat him right into a crater the size of Tokyo.
She exhaled. A sense of peace started to ease the tension that filled her muscles. She may not have a designated journey at the moment, but it didn't make her useless. Her current lack of skills did that, but it wasn't something she couldn't learn. Leaning into that feeling, she shifted her senses to her hands- all of the mikos she had ever met used their powers through them. Kgaome pictured them on her lap, a pink hue glowing from within them. Her fingertips felt like static, fuzzy and undefined, and the sensation traveled down her thin fingers to the palms of her hands where it began to concentrate. It slowly gathered, coming together stitch by stitch. However, it was all undone by the sound of a branch snapping behind her.
Kagome focused, trying to determine her visitor through her senses, but she couldn't make out the aura.
"What the hell are you doin' out here?"
She finally opened her eyes and turned to the familiar voice. Her heart skipped a beat and her earlier tension started to return. She hadn't forgotten what happened yesterday. Despite that, she smiled brightly and waved. "Hi! I'm just trying to meditate and get the hang of my powers." He nodded. "What are you doing out here though? I don't think I've ever seen you here unless you were passing by to go somewhere else."
The hanyou tapped his nose, walking over to peer down at her with a raised eyebrow. "I smelled ya. I was wondering where you were and the old bat wouldn't tell me anything. She thought I'd distract you or something, I guess."
"I think I was starting to get the feel of it, but I don't think there's anything to distract me from. I can feel it now, but I don't know." She gestured for him to sit next to her, but before she knew it, he ran off. Okay, I didn't realize I was that boring, she thought. Kagome closed her eyes again and tried to bring back that feeling in her hands, but the only thing she felt was a sturdy, long branch being placed in her hands.
InuYasha was smirking down at her, a twin branch in his own hands held below his hips. Memories washed over her. All the times he had held Tessaiga in the same way- many times while he was goading whoever he was facing into striking first. "You just need to fight. It always got your powers going."
Kagome's face shifted from a joyous smile to a look of horror. "But I never-"
"First time for everything, Kags. Now get up. Don't think I won't strike you while you sit on your ass."
On shaky legs, she did as she was told. The branch was heavy in her hands and awkward. Moving her hands until the top felt more balanced in her grasp, she attempted to take a stance she saw sword fighters take before battle, but she knew she missed the mark. It felt a little too close to baseball. InuYasha's brow creased as he lunged to strike. Just barely jumping back in time, kagome tightened her grip and moved her feet into a wider position before moving her 'sword' in front of her to block an attack she knew the hanyou would take. He had always been bombarding an enemy, especially without the aid of his father's heirloom. They clashed and the force pushed her back by a few feet. She struggled to maintain her balance while Inuyasha was adjusting his to sweep her off her feet.
Her back hit the ground with a thud. She lost her breath and the splintered end of wood that was at her throat didn't help. InuYasha peered down at her with a grin on his face and amber eyes aglow. "Jerk! That didn't help at all!"
"Giving up already?"
Looking up at his smug face ignited something within Kagome; she wanted nothing more than to wipe that smirk off his face. She swung her sword, aiming to catch him off guard and get a chance to get up, but he was quicker than her. He stopped her with a foot pressed onto her wrist, firm enough to prevent her from moving but not so much as to hurt her. Frustration overwhelmed her as she went over all possible moves that could help her. She didn't want to hurt him by using her powers, and she didn't have the strength to fight him off. Grinding her teeth together, it dawned on her that it was now either give up and accept the defeat that he would never let her forget or hurt him (another thing he would never let go). Dang it.
But then InuYasha's face planted on the ground beside her. A faint groan came from the teen.
Well, that worked out! Who's the klutz now, Inuyasha? The thought made her laugh. He had teased her so many times in the past about her clumsiness, but now he's the one taking nosedives to the ground. She jumped up and put her 'sword' to his neck just as he had done to her.
"I didn't even hear you say 'sit'... Ugh. I didn't miss this."
Kagome furrowed her eyebrows. "I didn't say anything though…" She threw the branch aside and extended her hand to help her friend up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. But I promise, I didn't say anything."
Accepting her hand, InuYasha stood up, his other hand rubbing at his cheek that still looked red from the fall. "Did you at least feel anything that might help ya? Because if you're able to sit my ass without saying a word, you're definitely stronger now than you used to be."
Shaking her head, she said, "It shouldn't even be possible. Kaede said that we'd need a subjugation word for it to do anything."
"Well then, either the old broad was wrong or she underestimated your power. You're welcome by the way." The two met each other's eyes. A moment passed of them just smiling at each other, the awkwardness from earlier gone. The hanyo turned his gaze back to the village and took a deep breath in. "Kikyo used to come out this way to meditate too. I don't know how much it helped, but she always seemed a bit more relaxed after."
Kagome found herself nodding. The late miko had never been her friend, but she did think of her death regularly. It hadn't been fair. Her whole life hadn't been fair honestly- Kikyo was barely ever given a chance to make her own decisions and when she found the chance, Naraku had to come along and take that away from her. Even killing her hadn't been enough for him. Sometimes, Kagome wondered what Kikyo had been like in life, prior to Naraku's manipulation and her resurrection. She must've been a lot kinder if how loved she had been was anything to go off of. Her prior incarnation honestly puzzled her quite a bit, but in the past few years she found peace with their complex relationship. She gave a small smile that InuYasha returned. "Maybe it'll help me too. I'll see you at the party later. I'm gonna give it another try."
He nodded before disappearing. The ache in her heart that used to be there when he left was absent. Instead she returned to her prior position, a happy grin on her face.
The party had been lovely. It was small and held outside to enjoy the atypically mild weather. InuYasha had stayed true to his word and didn't seek out her other friends that she had spent years missing as well, but now that she was back, she would be sure to make time to see them. It would take a while, but she had already traveled the country several times over in the year she had spent here before. Maybe on the way to Sango's village, she'd be able to convince the woman to go on a detour to see Kouga. Probably not since Sango was several months pregnant and probably eager to get the training she had promised her brother's soldiers done with so that she could return to her family. But for the moment, she was more than happy to see the friends she grew so close to. The young priestess was sitting on the floor, retired to Kaede's hut, a passed out toddler in her lap and another cuddling by her leg. Miroku and Sango had snuck off after a few bottles of sake when they thought no one was watching, so Kagome resigned herself to take care of the girls while they got some alone time. Their little sleeping faces filled Kagome with a sense of peace. It broke her heart that she had missed out on the first two years of their lives, it especially broke not being there during such a vulnerable time for Sango, but she was at ease knowing that she would be there for them for the rest of her life. It wasn't hard to picture them one day, messy haired little girls playing with her own child. She turned her gaze up meeting InuYasha's eyes. He strolled over before taking a seat beside the little cuddle puddle Kagome had going on.
"What are you thinking about over here?" He had a rare smile on. Not a smirk, but a small, sweet smile that made Kagome blush.
"Just the future, y'know? They're so cute."
"Cute enough, I guess. I'm just praying that neither of them got their father's charm." That made Kagome laugh. While she loved the monk and all he had done for her and the group, she had to agree- the lying, stealing, and lecherous life he led for so long wasn't considered ideal. "What do you mean future? You want one of these one day?"
Blinking at his surprised reaction, she asked, "You don't? I've always wanted to be a mom. Not right now of course, but one day."
"Who the hell are you planning doing that with? Because you should know, Kouga is mated to that wolf girl now, and I think she's the jealous type."
Kagome's blush turned into a full on fluster. InuYasha had always been oblivious, but he had to be messing with her. With his half smile showing a bit of fang and his dark brows relaxed to show his beautiful eyes, he looked handsome as ever. But the pull she experienced before as a middle school girl wasn't there anymore. Grounding herself, she managed to squeak out, "Like you don't know."
"Nah, I have no idea. You'd be a good mom though. Kinda like mine was." A silence took over them before he said, "I don't ever want one though. I saw what comes out of them, and you can count me out."
Something red hot came over Kagome. Her stomach seemed to be made out of lead, and she couldn't stand to be near him anymore. "You never want to have kids? Not even with me one day?"
His brows drew close. He stared directly into her eyes and even without being able to sniff out his emotions like he did to her, she could tell that he was confused. His nose twitched a bit before she got tired of feeling the way she did. It was stupid anyways.
She was careful to set the sleeping girl from her lap on the floor by her sister. "Watch them for me please. I need to get some air."
Instinctively, she began to trek towards Goshinboku. The night was alive with the hum of insects, but it was far quieter than her old neighbourhood in Tokyo. The stars that painted the sky above her helped ease her stress. She had made it out of the village, the great tree in her vision. Its branches seemed to reach towards the heavens and the sight of it caused the tension in Kagome's body to fade. As she approached though, she saw a figure a short distance away, deeper into the forest. Even with the distance and her lack of practice, she noticed the strong demonic aura radiating from it.
Her heart raced- she had no way to defend herself aside from her powers that had laid dormant for three years until today. Back then, she barely had any control over them without something to channel them through. And now she had nothing.
She stopped where she stood. The figure was growing closer but was still too far to make out any details other than how white it was among the dark treeline. Kagome couldn't lead it back to the village- everyone was sleeping aside from InuYasha. It could be too dangerous and too destructive. Her friends, and even many of the villagers, could defend themselves, but the children- Sango's children- wouldn't be so lucky. So instead, she picked up a nearby rock and closed her eyes. It began to hum with the reiki she willed into it. Kagome took up a stance she had seen many times on the T.V. back home, ready to pitch as far as she could. But a hand grasped her wrist before she could even move.
"Priestess," the white figure was now right in front of her, close enough to see golden eyes and the menacing spikes of his armor. "I suppose you have returned to this village."
Dropping the rock, Kagome looked up, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "Sesshoumaru!"
"We heard about the potential of your return, but did not expect it to be so soon." The demon lord's face was as blank as ever: eyes focused solely on her without any show of what emotion lay underneath and his regular slight frown hadn't changed since she last saw him.
"I only got back today." His grip remained strong around her wrist. "Kaede and Rin put together a party to celebrate- would you like to come with me?"
Kagome thought she felt his aura soften at the mention of his ward, but it was gone before she could be sure it wasn't her mind playing a trick. Sesshoumaru released his grip, but kept his gaze on the young woman.
"You smell of salt- is the party not to your liking?"
"No, no, nothing like that," she shook her head furiously and the tears that she had been holding back started to spill. "I knew it was going to be different, but I missed so much. And InuYasha-" A sob racked through her body, not allowing her to finish.
Sesshoumaru blinked and nodded his head. "It is understandable to be troubled. My half brother was never one for manners, let alone proper greetings. Let us go."
Wiping the tears from her eyes and taking a deep breath, Kagome ran to catch up to the demon lord who was taking much longer strides than she could ever be capable of. "He wasn't that rude, I don't know why I'm freaking out. I'm sorry, everything between us is just so different now. I don't know what to do." The hanyo hadn't been as rude to her as he had been many times when they were traveling, and she still had the ability to sit him for any comments he may make, but Kagome couldn't find it in her heart to do that to him. Not anymore. Seeing him risk himself for the safety of all of Japan and then have to spend years apart, she just couldn't hurt him. Talking to him used to be so easy and even when they weren't chatting, the silence was comfortable. But today felt… She didn't know how to word it properly.
Beside her, Sesshoumaru scoffed. "Of course it is different, priestess. Once, you and he were both children together. But now you are a woman, and he remains a child as he will stay for another few decades."
"Decades? So I'll be middle aged before he's even an adult?" Kagome's tears were gone and replaced by a wave of anger: both at the situation and at herself. InuYasha was already two hundred when they met, three years wasn't going to put a dent in his age the way it was going to hers. She can't believe that it never occurred to her. Stupid!
"Do not disregard the effect his half demon blood has on him. He is not mortal as you are. You are lucky you did not fall for a full blooded demon such as myself who may not age for centuries."
Kagome nodded, understanding the situation she found herself in. For a moment she wondered if it would've been different if she had fallen for Koga instead- they'd be the same age now, at least in terms of physical appearance and maturity. But the problem would have appeared later down the road anyways so she shamed herself for the thought of it. InuYasha's behavior started to make a lot more sense. The moodiness, the awkwardness, his desire to be alone, Kagome had seen it all before. Her own brother started showing the same things now that he had started adolescence. But then something hit her. "What did you mean that you were expecting me?"
He stopped. If Kagome had been any slower in reacting, she would've bumped into him. She would hate to see what the consequences of that would have been. Sesshoumaru turned and looked her up and down as if she was something foul he stepped in. "An advisor warned us of a great power returning when we least expected it. I refuse to be caught off guard. You are a strong priestess, but you will never become a threat to this one." With that, he started walking again, leaving her behind.
After entering Sango's hut, she saw InuYasha's hurt expression, his small frown pulling at her heartstrings. She shot him a small smile before heading over to him and lifting the sleeping toddler from his lap. "I'm sorry." She felt her eyes starting to tear as she continued to stare into his. His frown hadn't shifted, but with exhaustion finally settling into her, she knew that was an issue she would have to tackle tomorrow. She didn't want to risk angering him and not being able to sleep because she was too busy thinking over their argument. She settled the first girl on the futon before retrieving the second girl who immediately cuddled into her sister. Before finally retiring to Kaede's hut, Kagome hugged InuYasha and wished him a goodnight.
In the old priestess' home, she saw Sesshoumaru sitting a foot away from Rin's futon with his gaze focused on his ward. As she entered, his golden eyes shifted over to her, watching as she settled down. Forgoing pajamas that she hadn't even brought with her, Kagome already felt her muscles relax. She wished that she had the foresight to bring some clothes with her, but when three years of attempts hadn't worked, why should she have been prepared? She felt the great demon staring at her as she removed her jewelry for the night. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his eyes drift up and down on her form once more before he abruptly got up and disappeared from the house without saying a word.