#skw:Day1
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Change of Heart (SKW2018d1)
Prompt: Inevitable, mesmerize, memory
Canon Divergence. 1,391 words.
The final battle against Naraku had changed everything.
First, Inuyasha’s unstable hanyou blood had boiled over and he’d turn against her. It hadn’t been the first time Kagome had seen him succumb to the youkai side he had no control over, but it was the time forever seared into her memory.
Because that time, Inuyasha had drawn blood. She’d been unable to bring him back to his senses. And just as she had defiantly shouted to Naraku how Inuyasha would never – he had attacked her and pushed her down deep into the bowels of the amalgamation of youkai Naraku had become.
It was in that moment, suspended in the air seconds before plummeting down, looking back to Inuyasha’s mindless eyes that didn’t recognise her, at his claws stained red with her blood, when her heart cracked.
Kagome had not known where she was when she had come to. Her arm had been throbbing, though that fierce pain had been nothing compared to the crushing ache in her chest.
The first thing she’d seen had been Sesshoumaru’s tall back and the sweep of silver-white hair. He’d stood a few yards from her, had glanced over his shoulder at her as soon as he’d heard her groan.
With a graceful sweep of his arm, his deadly claws had cleaved through the lesser youkai that were lunging towards them.
Sitting there, cradling her bloodied sore arm, Kagome’s world had tilted on its axis.
Just moments ago, Inuyasha had hurt her. And now… Now Sesshoumaru was protecting her.
Ultimately, of course, the day had ended in a victory. They had all defeated Naraku together. Kagome’s wish had destroyed the Shikon no Tama for good.
As for the price they had to pay, well, Kagome had paid it gladly.
After that tremendous battle, she was relieved to return to her own time.
Much as she missed her friends from the Sengoku era, returning to her family was a great comfort. Going back to the familiar routine of school life was oddly soothing. The memories of her adventures in the past were always with her, but being back in the present, it gave her time to think.
About her life. About what she would do from now on. About the well and if it would ever start working again. About Inuyasha.
About Sesshoumaru.
She’d stood side by side with Inuyasha in the end.
But something had changed.
Though she still did care about him, standing in Inuyasha’s arms hadn’t made her heart race, hadn’t brought her the old comfort.
Because already then, making her wish on the jewel, there had been a part of her that no longer trusted in him.
And inevitably on the heels of that thought, as it had done a countless times before, her mind replayed the scene of Sesshoumaru standing before her and protecting her from errant lesser youkai.
Such an unlikely knight in shining armour – but then, looking back, it hadn’t been the first time Sesshoumaru had come to her rescue, either.
Kagome’s contentment lasted until she entered her final year of high school. It was right around the time the university entrance exams started to loom closer that Kagome started to grow restless.
Was she returned here for good? Would the well never work again? Was this where she needed to build her future?
Would she now have to be like any other girl in her class; study hard, pass her entrance exams, graduate and start at a university? Find a job, meet a guy, get married, start a family?
It wouldn’t be a bad life.
But she wasn’t sure it was what she wanted for herself, either. That typical future didn’t send any jolt of excitement through her. It didn’t make her heart flutter.
To begin with, going to university didn’t sound too appealing; hadn’t she suffered through enough schooling?
As for a dream job… Kagome had no such thing.
The closer she was to having to make definite choices about her future, the more she began to long for the past.
She wasn’t sure if she could ever rekindle what she’d once felt for Inuyasha, but he wouldn’t be the only reason why she would wish to return to an era she didn’t belong.
She had friends there. She had a life there. Not much of a one, admittedly… but it had been a happy one, despite all the danger they had faced.
But the well was dead, its magic spent, so Kagome gritted her teeth and dutifully filled out career questionnaires and researched universities.
And soon enough she stood out in the schoolyard clutching her diploma. Wearing her high school uniform for the very last time, saying goodbye to friends and classmates and wondering when – if ever – she was going to see them again.
It was a happy day, yet Kagome felt unsettled deep down.
They said when one door closed, another one would open – but Kagome was trapped in a room that had neither doors nor windows.
At home at the shrine, Kagome stuffed her diploma into a desk drawer and changed out of her uniform. Then, she slipped out of her room, out of the house. Her restless feet brought her to the well house. Down the steps, until she was standing on the dirt floor before the well.
Her fingers were trembling, so she rested them against the brim of the well, the ancient wood cool to touch and smoothed by time.
The well remained stubbornly closed. Kagome looked down into the dark depths, desperation wounding tight around her chest, squeezing out her breath.
She closed her eyes and willed for a door to open.
She couldn’t spend all her life stuck in that room.
Kagome opened her eyes. Just now… there had been a pulse, rippling through the air.
She stood still and stared down into the well. She was afraid to move, afraid to even blink.
Her mother appeared in the doorway of the well house.
“Kagome? What’s wrong?”
Kagome didn’t turn around. Sadness was crushing her and at the same time elation swelled, bright and bubbly.
“Mama…”
She heard her mother walk down the steps. A moment later, her arm wound around Kagome’s shoulders.
Kagome leaned into her mother’s comforting warmth.
In the bottom of the well, they both could see a blue sky and soft swirling clouds.
Her voice was small when she spoke. “Mama, I need to go.”
Her mother hugged her. They clung to each other for a long moment, then her mother let go.
“Go and be happy,” she told Kagome, brushing away a tear. “I am proud of you.”
“I love you, Mama. Thank you.”
After one last lingering look, Kagome turned toward the well.
Like she’d done a thousand times before, she climbed over the rim and let go, plunging into the currents of time.
Standing at the bottom of the Bone Eater’s Well, Kagome blinked back tears and looked up at the blue sky.
Then, using the vines and roots crawling down the steep stone walls, she started climbing out.
She was nearly at the top when she realised she was not alone.
She noticed the clawed hand at first. The next second, she saw the slender magenta stripes circling his wrist. The sweep of the red and white sleeve of a kimono.
Her breath caught in her throat.
She hadn’t expected him to be here, to be the one waiting for her on the other side.
Yet, she wasn’t surprised either.
In some corner of her soul, it felt right that it should be him.
Her heart hammered against her ribcage. She reached for him and clasped his hand in a firm grip.
She was lifted up and out of the well with ease. Balanced on the rim of the well, she was more or less at an eye-level with him.
And those golden eyes mesmerised her; she’d never seen them filled with such an emotion before.
“Hi,” she stammered in a greeting.
He was still clasping her hand and looking at her intently. Her skin pebbled with gooseflesh.
She had a brief moment to wonder what this all could mean; if she was misreading any signs or carelessly presuming too much and jumping into erroneous conclusions…
Then Sesshoumaru clasped her close to his chest and claimed her lips in a searing kiss.
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Sesskag Week: Day One
Come Find Me
Sesskag Week 2k18 | Day One Prompt: Inevitable, Mesmerize, Memory
It had been a fatal blow, the one dealt to Kikyo. The priestess, brought to life by a witch and living through a bone-clay vessel, did not survive it. She passed on into the next life, words of hope urging on the Shikon Jewel group and guidance of Kohaku passing onto the youkai lord of the West. She passed on to the next life almost a different woman—almost real. She passed on to the next life in Inuyasha’s arms, the hanyou’s tears falling upon her ashen face as she disappeared from his world into the next.
Kagome tried to console him, her heart clenching as she realized the inevitable truth.
“I need time,” he croaked, his voice hoarse from weeping, his claws caked from the dirt of a grave he dug to bury the ashes of a truly dead miko. He begged. “I need time.”
The now sole Shikon miko realized something that day. She’d lost Inuyasha. His heart had gone and fled completely from her grasp. It had joined to fallen priestess in the afterlife, waiting for his soul and body to join with it. He would not love another in his lifetime. While Inuyasha had been her first love, Kagome was not his last love. She would never be.
Kagome was alone.
Following the days of the priestess’ death, the two groups—the Shikon protectors and Sesshomaru’s pack—joined together. The two Inu decided that it would be best to set aside their differences and continue their hunt for Naraku together. Kikyo’s death had made Inuyasha more mature, he’d grown up just a little, and extended his hand in peace to his half-brother for the sake of trying to find the spider hanyou. Vengeance? Sesshomaru, for the sake of Rin’s and Kohaku’s security, agreed. The dynamics shifted.
Inuyasha protected the rear of their group, his eyes constantly scanning ahead and behind to make sure nothing could pick off anymore of his friends. Sesshomaru took point, his strong stoicism and keen senses leading them. And Kagome…she found herself stuck in the middle between the two.
On one hand, she couldn’t find herself able to leave her friends’ familiarity and comfort. They had been together for so long. And while she knew she had to move on from Inuyasha—if not for out of respect for his devotion to Kikyo but for her own sanity—she found herself still clinging to his presence to try and prevent any little bit of change she could. She was scared of changing what she’d grown to love so much. But. But, on the other hand…she found herself undeniably drawn to Sesshomaru and his wards. Rin was absolutely sweet, and she found the girl sweet and entertaining to converse with; the child got along quite well with Shippo. Jaken was a bit of a toad, quite literally, but aside from his elitism mentally, he knew quite a bit of information about everything and anything; she took the time to get know as much of this knowledge as she could. However, she didn’t see much of Kohaku, he spent much of his time in the back with Inuyasha, avoiding as much contact with Sango as possible (much to the female demon slayer’s sorrow). Still he respected and even seemed to hold dear the clipped conversations he held with his sister. Kagome noted that with a bit of wistfulness. She missed Souta. And then there was Sesshomaru himself. His personality itself, what once seemed distant, cruel, and honestly just plain cold, now mesmerized her. He didn’t say much. But he listened. At least she thought he did. She talked to him about absolutely every little thing that she could think of. Jii-jii, Mama, Souta, school, her friends, Kagome told the daiyoukai everything she could just to try and occupy her mind from any unnecessary thoughts that would distract her from their mission. Quite to her surprise, it worked.
Who knew it was therapeutic to talk to a brick wall?
Although he was not quite a brick wall. He would huff in annoyance when she would mention Yuka, Eri, and Ayume. His eyes would glitter in something akin to admiration when she would note her frustration at not being able to solve her algebra correctly. His chest would produce a small and almost inaudible hum when she would speak about her home with a watery-eye fondness. In all of her one-sided conversations with him, he never told her off or to cease any mindless talking. He permitted it of her. Why, she hadn’t a clue. But every day, for a good portion of the day, Kagome filled Sesshomaru in on her menial life; and he listened to every word. She was grateful to him.
One early morning, while their groups rested as much as they could before continuing their journey, Kagome found she could not sleep. She had spent much of the night staring at the stars, praying for a rest that never came for her. So as the dawn just barely peeked over the horizon, she slipped away from their hideaway to go search for fresh drinking water. It would be useful of her to fill up all of their water canteens before carrying onward.
As she approached a tame river that ran through the forest, she found Sesshomaru there. He stood with his back to her. His hair wavered back and forth like glittering rays of silver, and she couldn’t help but stare. Until she noticed where his attention was focused. His gaze reached to the opposite shore of the river, his lips drawn back in a tight, pursed line. His hand rested on Tenseiga’s handle, his fingers twitching irritably. He barely cast his attention to her as she drew up beside him, squinting to see to the other side.
A young man stood there, his head covered with a black hat and his shoulder length ebony hair fluttering beneath it. He wore brown priest robes, something that looked more like a hanbok from Korea than a traditional jikitotsu for a Buddhist monk, and his feet were wrapped in cloth boots—more in the style of the continent than Japan. He smiled at them, his cerulean eyes gleaming mischievously from beneath the rim of his hat as he nodded his head at them.
The Inu youkai sniffed the air delicately and almost recoiled at the scent, his eyes were wide in disbelief.
Kagome looked back and forth between the two males, unsure of what to make of the situation. “What is he Sesshomaru?”
“Don’t worry!” The young man called out, his hands cupping around his mouth to project his voice. “You have no need to worry. My name is Katsurou, and I’m just passing through. I just wanted see the sights as I make my way home.”
“Sights? Around here?” Sesshomaru’s voice scoffed, and it startled Kagome. It’d been the first time she’d heard the daiyoukai’s voice in quite some time. Had his speech always been so baritone and soothing? Even with the skepticism in its tone, the Shikon miko found his sound quite pleasing.
The stranger gave a small bow, tipping the rim of his hat down. “I’ve seen everything I’ve wanted to see.”
“Are you sure you’re not lost, Katsurou? This area is dangerous,” Kagome warned, feeling something unspoken deep within her chest when she looked at the stranger.
He grinned and tilted his head to the side. “Both a miko and a daiyoukai seem to protect this area. I feel quite safe.”
Sesshomaru’s brow was furrowed as he continued his silence, simply observing their new comer.
“I’m off. Wish me luck my lord, my lady,” Katsurou chirped, giving them another courteous bow. “And, someday…come find me—please. I will want to meet you both again soon.”
He disappeared then, the morning mist and dew seeming to cloak him and fade him away. There was no scent of his presence. No lingering effect of his brief conversation with them. Nothing, in that quiet place, offered any proof that they had talked to a stranger there. Only the memory of him that both the miko and the Inu committed in their thoughts. He was familiar. The proud tilt of his head, the joyful dazzle of his eyes, the enigma that remained behind him as he departed. Yes, he was oh so familiar.
Kagome’s fingers hesitantly reached out and gently gripped the empty sleeve of daiyoukai’s kimono. Sensing her uncertainty, Sesshomaru permitted it.
#sesskag-week2018#skw:day1#sesskag#sesshomaru#kagome#sesshomaru x kagome#inuyasha#inuyasha fandom#fanfiction#fanfic#hurt and comfort#comfort#slight romance#reassurance#very very very slow burn#slooooooow#buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurn#sesskag week
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Apparently there is a sesskag week that start today?
So I did a real quick one before work. ♥
#SessKag-Week2017#SKW2017#skw:day1#Sesshoumaru#Kagome#Tanabata#quick color#RinArt#I wanted to spend more time on this#but I need to get to work#and this week will probably all be sketches#but I want to draw for them#because sesskag#I loved drawing Kagome this way#I'm still playing around with coloring
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Spiritus Perpetuum mobile by Natalia
see original @ dokuga
Day 1
Prompt: Tanabata
Canon AU, different end of manga.
Rating T
Spiritus Perpetuum mobile -
The soul that is continuously moving.
I studied Latin a few years, but am nowhere near perfect, this is from what I remember.
Spirit - Soul,
Perpetuum mobile - continuously moving, a steady rhythm that never ends. For this fic I Imagine the wheel of reincarnation of the soul that always moves in Buddhism. (Kyokai Rinne by Takahashi sensei uses the symbolism, in the anime.)
p.s. everything is my own interpretation and understanding, no offense meant to any religion or individuals, so excuse me if something isn’t correct and let me know!
The first time he saw them, he thought that he was hallucinating. Something made him get out of his house and go to the Tanabata festival this year, even though he hated crowds. He abhorred the smells and noise, but a feeling made him go. That’s when he saw a vision of two females, that shouldn’t be alive.
The second time, in the same day, he believed them to be ghosts, figments of his imagination. Even if his heart was stirring inside his chest, his eyes swiped longingly on her smiling face.
Suddenly he felt even more alone and cold.
Feeling melancholic, he gazed at the sky remembering old times. Times when he felt content, and dare he say, happy? Having Rin in his life was a joy. Her smile and positive energy brought peace and light to his life.
He didn’t have a close relationship with his family, his mother being cold and detached, his brother... his half-brother... they had too much bad blood between them. They only learned to get along at the end of the hanyou’s life. But it wasn’t enough. So Rin took the place of his pup and even now, years after her pacing, she had a large place in his heart.
Sometimes he chuckled at the resemblance between his brother and himself. They were both lonely. He, when Rin died and Jaken followed suit, being heart-broken. Inuyasha... Inuyasha wasn’t the same after his second miko disappeared after the battle with Naraku. He spent his life alone and never took a mate. He was a valiant protector of the weak, saying she would want him to be one. He scoffed at the idea. Why cater to the whims of someone who wasn’t even there? Inuyasha usually brash and rude-spoken, didn’t curse that time, but calmly said he hoped he would one day understand. When he will meet her again.
He didn’t realize why, at that time, but now looking at the smiling miko with a little girl attached to her hip, he finally understood. A little girl that looked too much like Rin.
He inhaled deeply, taking in their natural smells and felt his heart skip a beat and vision cloud. It was Rin! The same aura, almost identically the same smell, the same timbre of her voice. Was she a reincarnation? After all this shouldn’t be so unusual. His family had an intimate connection with that. So it wasn’t that strange that Rin was reincarnated as the miko’s daughter.
Kagome though was the same. The same miko that defeated the evil hanyou. But how did she survive? Was she immortal? No, he saw the delicate age lines appearing on her beautiful smile. She seemed in her early thirties. Her figure was more mature, hips wider. She had given birth.
Rin was her natural born daughter. He felt the connection and the slightly similar aroma. If he would be one prone to historical laugh, now would be the time to do so, but as he was a stoic youkai lord even after all this time, he remained quiet. But how to explain her presence? Was it perhaps, time travel? He met a few individuals that could defeat the laws of time, could she be one of them? Now that he remembered her clothes from back there, the idea wasn’t so ludicrous. She dressed as a modern-day high school student. He can admit now that he enjoyed her clothes. She was an attractive, intelligent and caring female. At that time he would’ve scoffed at his admittance, but now he easily acknowledged that he had a sort of crush on her. Her protective, maternal side, hell, her everything called to him. He derailed from his train of thoughts. He shook his head, he was thinking of the possibility of time traveling.
Yes, that must be the answer, but he couldn’t just go and ask. He will have to find out in a different way. He left the idea for later, instead, he followed them from the shadows, longingly looking at them. They both laughed, ate festival food and had fun. It was easy to hide among the crowd, but once Kagome almost caught him. Her eyes narrowed and she looked around herself in wonder. Only the child’s insistence distracted her from her search, so he escaped her miko radar.
He continued to watch them silently from a distance, how they met friends and family, joked with other children and had fun. He wondered where the husband was, seeing as Kagome sometimes hid a sad smile behind her bangs. He shook his head, it wasn’t his business, he only wanted to make sure the male was a good father for his Rin. Could he still call her his? Yes, it was her soul reincarnated, but she was a different person.
Katarin, her name was Katarin! He heard Kagome calling her and wondered if the miko knew on a deep level or just went on a whim.
“Katarin, sweetheart, let’s tie the wishes,” Kagome nudged her daughter and the child bobbed her head in delight, her bangs shaking in sync with her head.
“Do I look like Orihime mama?” she asked her mother touching the hem of her pink yukata and turning around to make a twirling motion. The red and yellow flowers on the material were matching the one Kagome wore, and Sesshoumaru felt something stir in his chest. They were dressed to match, something that mothers did. The gesture felt very deep for him, and he felt a lump in his throat. The miko had her hair in a simple up-do pinned with a hairpin that had a dragonfly at the end, with wings dangling in the wind. She wore no make-up, only her lips had a little pink shine on them. She looked breathtaking.
“You will always be my hime dear,” indulged her mother, looking at the seven years old daughter and patting her hair that was tied in twin ponytails behind her ears with red ribbons.
Suddenly the girl took a pensive face and asked in a trembling voice, so low that Sesshoumaru almost didn’t hear.
“Can I ask for anything I want mama?”
Sesshoumaru saw the sad look in Kagome’s blue eyes, but she took a deep breath and plastered a fake smile on her lips.
“Of course darling, anything you want!”
The child nodded but took her mother’s hand in her small one and raised shining eyes at her.
“Mama its ok, you don’t have to smile if you are sad,” she assured her mother squeezing her hand again.
“Rin honey...” the miko started but then smiled, this time genuinely and said:
“As long as I have you I can smile any day.”
Rin nodded sagely, it seems his little hime was wise beyond her years in this life as well.
“It's ok to be sad sometimes, don’t hide for my sake, I love you either way,” she assured her and Kagome not caring about the beautiful yukata, kneeled in front of her daughter and swiped her in a thigh hug.
The scene tugged at Sesshoumaru’s heart and he averted his head, the pain in his chest too deep. When he came to his senses, the duo was gone.
He found them after a few minutes, tying their wishes to the bamboo. He waited until they were gone and silently followed them to the Higurashi shrine, that housed the Goshinboku. He should've known it was her house, he visited a few times. The shrine felt peaceful and out of this time. Also, he felt a weird connection to his deceased brother. That it housed the miko... she must’ve married and moved out, that’s why he didn’t see her. But now she and her daughter were counting the stairs. He waited until they both went inside, then stood and looked at their window. Soon she tucked Rin in and approached the window and opened it ajar, eyeing the courtyard. He couldn't believe himself! He almost got caught a second time. He left the shrine, promising himself to find out more about the miko and theirdaughter. Their? Now, where did that came from? He shook his head and instead went to the wishes tied to the bamboo.
The place was deserted. He felt like a thief, but he blamed his curiosity on his canine essence, and his suddenly re-awakened paternal and pack instinct that tugged at his heart. Smelling their distinctive smells, he looked around and seeing no one was there, took both their wishes and disappeared in a hurry.
In the silence and security of his home, he finally took the wishes out and sat down on his favourite couch. He fought with himself for a long while, but in the end, he took the one smelling like Kagome and opened.
I want to meet a friend from the old times that can help make my daughter happy.
He crushed the note in his fist. Her wish was so pure yet so difficult at the same time. She thought of her daughter’s happiness with a hint of herself, a friend of old huh? He will think of this later, he decided, putting the paper aside. The intricacies were too difficult for the moment.
Taking a deep breath of air that felt stale and cold he opened Katarin’s wish, only to feel like a knife twisting in his heart at the innocent words written inside.
Can I please have a daddy that will love me and momma, so that she can smile again?
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SessKag Week Day 1 - Tanabata
Star-crossed
Canon Divergence / Drama & Romance / 1,340 words.
Kagome sat on the rim of the well, night wind tugging at her hair.
Her stomach had curled into a hard and tight ball of anxiety. The upcoming battle against Naraku loomed heavy on her shoulders, and on a night like this she couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever have the chance to see her family again.
She gripped the narrow ledge of the well’s rim, her fingernails pushing against the soft wood.
A quiet pulse of youki made her look up. A tall white figure approached her, and with every silent step he took, Kagome’s nervousness melted a little more.
He stopped to stand in front of her, his hooded golden eyes bright in the summer night. He wasn’t wearing his armour or his swords; he looked oddly vulnerable without them.
At the same time, however, her heart swelled, giddy with the knowledge that he felt comfortable enough in her company to show this side of him.
Her head tilted, her gaze locked with his, and her lips curved in a smile.
His face didn’t as much as twitch, but his eyes softened.
He crouched down.
“You are upset.”
It was not phrased as a question, but his deep voice was as soft as a caress.
“I was,” Kagome admitted.
He reached for her, his clawed fingers picking up a lock of her hair and pulling it towards him.
“I’m not anymore,” Kagome added, as Sesshoumaru brought the dark strands to his lips. “Even if I was never able to go home again, I’d still have you.”
“Yes.”
Funny, how such a short and simple word could carry so much weight, become a binding promise.
Warmth flooded Kagome and she leaned towards him.
His eyes flashed, and then his lips were moving against hers – slow and sweet. A surprisingly tender kiss from someone like Sesshoumaru, but a kiss that was becoming increasingly familiar.
When he finally pulled away, fear suddenly gripped at Kagome, its cold claws raking down her spine, chilling her blood. Her hands fisted in the white silk of his kimono.
Somehow, she knew with absolutely certainty that this would be their last stolen moment.
Terror choked her, and a tear slid down her cheek.
Sesshoumaru was fading in front of her eyes, despite her firm grasp of his kimono.
Then, she was clutching at air.
A ragged whisper tore from her throat.
“But you promised….”
Kagome woke from the dream, her pillow spotted by small wet splotches where her tears had fallen. She rubbed at her eyes. They felt crusty and swollen.
But the sadness that squeezed her heart was a million times worse.
She burrowed under the blanket and hugged herself, allowing herself a moment to dwell, to let herself feel the pain before she would be ready to rise and face the day.
Because most of that dream, of her and Sesshoumaru meeting by the well, was no fantastic figment courtesy of her demented subconscious. No, it was much worse than that; it was a memory.
An embellished recollection of an actual event that had taken place two nights before their final confrontation against Naraku.
It had been the last time they had shared such a moment, with just the two of them. Two days later, they had fought side by side deep inside the grotesque spider Naraku had become.
And after they had defeated him and rescued the Shikon jewel, the currents of time had tugged at Kagome and pulled her back to where she had started.
She had sat on the bottom of the well and cried.
It was ironic, really; she’d been so worried she’d never see her family again, but even in her darkest nightmares she’d never imagined she wouldn’t be able to see him.
Kagome breathed through the heartache and then firmly pushed it aside. Enough of dwelling for now.
She got up from bed and headed downstairs for breakfast.
A wry smile touched Kagome’s lips as she stood in her under robe and briefly studied her outfit, hanging on the door of her closet. Then, with practised movements, she pulled on the white kimono and carefully secured it in place. The red hakama came next. She tied the belt with care, adjusted how it cinched on her waist, smoothed down her kimono.
Kagome made her way outside, pausing to slide thronged sandals onto her feet. She supposed she should have tied her hair back, but doing so would have been too strong a reminder of Kikyou. Wearing the miko uniform was bad enough.
She grabbed the broom by the door and set to work, sweeping the shrine yard.
It was the first day of Tanabata so they wanted to make a good impression for anyone who might come and visit the shrine. She’d helped jii-chan to put up the decorations last night. Pristine green bamboo stood under the Goshinboku, ready and waiting. They looked oddly forlorn, without any wishes hanging on their branches.
It reminded her a little of how Sesshoumaru had looked, without his swords and armour.
Kagome’s heart ached, and she looked up to the cloudy July sky.
She had never given much thought to Tanabata before, though she knew the mythology behind it – growing up at the shrine and listening to jii-chan’s stories, she knew a lot of mythology.
But this year, the holiday hit a little too close to home.
This year, she knew too well how Orihime must have felt, being permitted to meet her husband once a year – and even then only if it didn’t rain, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to cross the river.
The broom clattered to the ground. Kagome was moving before the thought fully penetrated her consciousness, stalking towards Goshinboku.
There was a small desk set next to the bamboo, which Kagome would likely man later in the day. On the table was a couple of sets of writing utensils and a wooden box.
She reached into the box and pulled out a slip of paper. She picked up a small brush, dipped it in ink, and paused for just the second, the tip hovering above the paper.
Perhaps she should’ve wished the well to open again. Perhaps she should’ve just wished him well.
But like an echo of the pleas Orihime might have once made to her father, the words flowed from her heart to the tip of her fingers, drawing wobbling characters onto the tanzaku, the black ink a stark contrast against the white paper.
I want to see him
Kagome took tanzaku to the nearest bamboo and hung it there, her throat tight, but her eyes thankfully dry.
She set aside the brush and went back to pick up her broom.
She was not foolish enough to believe that her wish was granted, but at least this year she’d made one from the heart. And the bamboo didn’t look so lonely anymore, either.
She smiled to herself and continued to diligently sweep the yard, hoping that despite the clouds it wouldn’t rain today.
Something dark and familiar uncurled, brushing lightly at Kagome’s awareness. Her head shot up. She squeezed the handle of her broom and held her breath.
Nothing.
She must have imagined it; great, now she was going crazy on top of everything else.
Her heart quivered and a shiver ran down her back.
There it was again. The unmistakable prickle of youki.
Kagome held the broom to her chest and slowly turned around to where she was sensing the dark energy.
He stood silently at the top of the shrine steps, underneath the red torii gate.
Kagome’s breath caught in her throat. The broom fell from her nerveless fingers.
The whole world blurred, as tears flooded her eyes. And when she managed to blink them away, he stood in front of her, his finger gently brushing away the wet trail on her cheek.
“You are upset,” he told her, in that deep voice, just as soft as she remembered.
Laughter bubbled in Kagome’s throat, and she threw her arms around him.
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Sesskag Week: Day One ~Tanabata~
Dandelion Wishes
1372 words, Goblin: the Great and Lonely God AU!
Bright beautiful streamers danced, held in place to awnings over storefronts by colorful decorations. In no way was Tanabata a dull celebration. Good food, cheer, and fantastic fireworks always adorned the day’s activities, and as the centuries had moved on, Sesshomaru had found himself particular to such arrangements of difference to his norm. He had even come to enjoy and join them. Afterall, a cursed deity such as himself—a goblin (funny how one could go from being the most feared daiyokai of the Edo period to an all-powerful, immortal, and oh [most importantly] cursed) to be exact—had needed some form of entertainment.
But now, as he walked among the bamboo that lined the sidewalk and street a block from his house and noticed as the fluttering papers danced in the wind, he found himself almost abhorred at the holiday.
Perhaps it was the Shikon Miko’s fault.
Yes.
It was her fault.
That horrible horrible priestess just had to go and waltz into his life, filling it with things he never knew a heart as frozen as his would allow. She just had to dance her fingers along the strings of his emotions, playing his soul like a violin that had been abandoned for years, begging for attention. She just had to see the sword Bakusaiga buried deep within his just and had to be the one to pull it out, caress his wound, and help him end his curse. Even his brother, his now reincarnated brother—stripped of his status as a grim reaper and returned to the realm of men—had tried to save her. Tried to prevent the Shikon Miko’s leave from his life—the absence almost as abrupt as its entry.
She just had to be the one he chose to give up mortality for just so he could spend the days in the sun with her—holding the soft, feathery skin of her hand; basking in the warm rays of her smile; spinning in circles as they twirled in their own little world, lost to everything outside of it.
Stopping at the block corner where the green walk light buzzed, Sesshomaru gripped his chest, hand over his heart. He bit back a choke. The demon lord who had reined without mercy or emotion would not be so weak as to still be mourning the death of a woman fifty-six years prior to the now. He would not have been mourning period. Yet still, thousands of years could change a person, make them tender. Especially when they had been exposed to the touch of a woman.
Not just any woman, he thought, his gold eyes softening. My woman. My miko…my wi— He ran a shaky hand through the short-cropped hair that just barely stopped above his elfin ears, the tips curling, before his hand slid down the soft bristly hair at the nape of his neck to his shoulders. She used to do that, to calm his thoughts to give him the ability to think.
I’m so sorry, Sesshomaru, but your hair short like this makes you look like an old man!
“Hn, that is very insulting considering I’ve lived far longer than you.”
It’s just so funny, I’m so sorry!
He stopped himself there. Sesshomaru had promised himself that he would not have forgotten her. She had promised to come back to him. She promised. But tonight, on the night when Orihime would be able to meet her beloved spouse…
And he would not.
It seemed unfair to dwell on something he so very very much wished for.
With a sigh, he decided it best if he leave for the night. Nothing good would come of him staying in Japan, where painful reminder of a moonlit rendezvous of two love-forbidden lovers was celebrated.
Finding the closest door, a small grocery stop, he opened it and disappeared inside with small wisps of lavender smoke following—leaving the cashier very confused as to why the door opened on its own.
~ ~ ~
Quebec stayed in its silence. Sure, a few tour groups traveled here and there, and yes, practically everywhere. But for him it was silent. No one bothered him, no one asked him for directions, no one even to bother asking him if he was Korean, Chinese, or some sort of other Asian (and yes, he had gotten that question in both English and French). He sat among the gravestones of his aliases and those of his stewards, and yes even the Shikon Miko. In only their solemn, cold company did he remain on the plush grass among the swaying wildflowers and dandelions. Unlike Japan’s loud festivities, Sesshomaru sat in relative piece, on his viewpoint that overlooked the harbor and the grand hotel that he owned.
She had been so excited when she discovered that he had owned that hotel…
Waving his hand back and forth to dispel his troublesome thoughts, the Goblin laid back on the grass, resting his head on the palms of his hands and looked up at the now transitioning sky.
You should be proud of yourself. You’ve grown into a fine Goblin, old man. Oh! And don’t worry, five hundred years from now you’ll have a beautiful bride for yourself.
“Woman, this Sesshomaru will not. Do not exaggerate.”
About which part? Me being beautiful or me being your bride?
“…You are beautiful.”
Hmmm. You hesitated, that means you were reluctant to admit that I’m pretty. Given that it’s you, lord Sesshomaru, that means that one’s the truth. Which means you don’t want me as your bride.
Sesshomaru shut his eyes, the image of the harbor and the sky meeting branded on the back of his eyelids. He could almost imagine the bridge and its arching floor. If he walked upon it, would he meet the brown eyes he wished he could see—at least for a moment.
“I would marry you again in a heartbeat if could, Kagome.”
A sneeze erupted from his throat in a rather unceremonious manner after that. Dandelion fluff pranced around his nose and clung to his hair as if he were their only anchor to the world. He swatted them away, his brow furrowing in annoyance as his gold eyes crossed to make sure he had rid himself of the last bits. Sure that he had, he closed his eyes and relaxed again…only to be disrupted by a wad of clumped dandelion puff landing on his nose. From his chest, a growl almost escaped until he heard someone call out.
“Hey, old man!” a voice chirped way too pleasantly. “I’m running out of weeds here and I am trying to get your attention.”
It wasn’t like how he imagined it. Sesshomaru had imagined something heartfelt and teary. Something romantic, a thing that he had to accumulate to when trying to figure out a young girl’s heart. But instead he sat up, the grass having left a damp spot along the jacket of his suit, and the wetted material wrinkled as he turned around to look at the owner of the voice.
There she stood, holding a stem without any leaves in her hand, outstretched and pointed towards him. Her hair was different, shorter, and her eyes were blue now instead of the brown he had accustomed himself to remembering. But he smiled as he saw her in a uniform, one that reminded him quite a bit of her graduation outfit from high school. All her mannerisms were still there. The hopeful smile yet the worried glance. The way she stood proudly, the way she had when she had carried the jewel. Every bit of her screamed that she was indeed the Shikon Miko.
“Do you know who I am?” she whispered.
To any other man, the words would have fleeted from his capabilities. But he caught them with ease, and he stood. The crescent moon on his forehead shone in the dying light of dusk, and he smiled. He hadn’t thought wishes on Tanabata could come true. In all honesty, he had stopped believing in anything hopeful after he realized the odds had been turned against his favor from the beginning.
But she stood there, real and alive again.
“You are, woman, the first and the last Bride of the Daiyokai Goblin.” Sesshomaru neatly settled one hand in the pocket of his jacket while the other one extended and the smile on his face died down to something tender.
#sesskag-week2017#skw2017#skw:day1#sesskag#fanfiction#drabbles#whooweee#i haven't written fanfic in so long#is it okay?#romance#sesshomaru#kagome#tanabata#goblin the great and lonely god#goblin au#alternate universe
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