Near the steps of the shrine, Kagome met him. The trailing end of his fur mounded like snowdrifts against the weathered stone. Wintry sunlight wreathed his silver-white form, lending him a particularly ghostly quality as he looked out over the rows of graves. Coming to rest upon her, the lambent glow of his eyes felt eerily warm.

“Have you been waiting for me all this time?” Kagome asked, walking up to him.

As a chill wind ruffled through her hair and clothes, she pulled her shawl a little tighter about her shoulders. The smoky sweet smell of incense rose between them. As if the scent of it were too much for him to bear, Sesshoumaru turned his face aside.

“Yes,” he replied.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Revised 7/7/23