While he seemed to prefer keeping a lofty distance, occasionally Sesshoumaru ventured to descend among the ranks of mere mortals. There was no rhyme or reason to it that Kagome could figure. She would turn around and there he would be, perched on a rooftop or a fence, standing at the edge of a pool or before a crowd of skittish chickens in the yard. At times like this, she would smile uncertainly and offer some sort of awkward pleasantry, and he would respond with a remark about Rin, or a question about the Jewel, or sometimes with nothing at all.

It was unnerving.

He was unnerving, with his stoicism, sharp eyes, and staggering youki. Kagome supposed that these close-range visits of his were aimed at irritating Inuyasha, which they certainly did. And so she’d kept her interactions with the daiyoukai to a minimum—the verbal equivalent of skirting past him that preceded the physical act of skirting past him.

Now, in the light of her newfound curiosity toward him, Kagome found herself reconsidering. Could it be, because they were allies, that Sesshoumaru was making an effort to be civil? Maybe he was even starting to reevaluate his old prejudices toward humans altogether? The miko perked, her heart warming at the thought.

If so, she needed to stop avoiding him and put forth her best effort as well.

And so, the next time he surprised her—along with a couple of unsuspecting villagers—by appearing suddenly in the market square, Kagome reined in her instinctive dread of him and continued on her predetermined course. From a hastily-abandoned wheelbarrow, a small avalanche of root vegetables tumbled toward her down the dusty slope. Neatly side-stepping this, she drew to a stop before him near the hilltop well.

“Hi,” she said with a winning smile, fitting the handle of her pail to a hook in the rope.

Sesshoumaru nodded, his eyes flicking to the nekomata at her side. Kagome’s near-constant companion these past dreary days, the firecat bristled as usual in his presence, before distinctly turning her nose up at him and stalking off to curl up warily on a stump nearby. It was a blatant snubbing if the miko had ever seen one. Her smile faltered as she attempted to play it off by busying herself with the rope pull.

“She dislikes me,” the daiyoukai stated flatly.

Kagome tensed, the rope unspooling from her bloodless fingers. With a wince, she heard her pail smack the water far below in a clanging splash.

“N-no!” the miko said to him quickly, waving her hands. “It’s not like that…I think she just, um, feels a little on edge around you?”

“And you?” Sesshoumaru pressed her, his golden eyes so keen and bright she had to fight the irrational urge to blink away. “Do I make you feel ‘on edge’, Kagome?”

‘Kagome’…

Something about the way he said her name sent shivers down her spine.

“Well…” the miko hedged, willing herself to calm—and most of all, not to run away in a fluster. Taking a deep breath, she went out on a limb. “…Honestly, a little. But I know you mean well.”

Sesshoumaru’s gaze narrowed at her. “Do you?”

Sweat pricked at Kagome’s temples, her fingers fumbling for a rope that wasn’t there. “Y-yeah. I mean…I never, um, got the chance before, with all that was happening, but I wanted to thank you—for coming to our aid in that last fight with Naraku.” Ducking her head in a quick bow, she peeked up through her bangs to find him regarding her with the same inscrutably intent expression. “I-I know you didn’t have to, and of course, Inuyasha would never admit it, but your being there made all the difference. It’s what caused Naraku to turn tail and flee in the end, and—and—I guess what I’m trying to say is, well, I owe you one.”

Kagome deflated, groaning inwardly in the wake of this rambling and bluster. It had all sounded so nice and polished in her head…

“Is that right,” Sesshoumaru said at last, still staring her down. With a slight curve to his lips, he turned and began to walk away. “I will remember it.”

Kagome gaped after him. “W-wait…it—it’s more of an expression, really…”

But the daiyoukai didn’t so much as pause. As he disappeared beyond the crest of a hill, Kagome finally snapped shut her hanging jaw, though her eyes continued to gape. That smirk…

Had he been teasing her—about extortion?! Kagome shook her head in vain to clear it.

…What a strange guy.

~

As depressed as she already was, Kagome thought it would be the perfect opportunity to put some hours toward her studies. But not long into the effort, she realized she’d been dead wrong. With a defeated sigh, she let the notebook she was holding aloft flutter down onto her scowling face.

Now she felt frustrated and depressed.

As her prospects of passing the university entrance exams dwindled to zero, she pushed the notebook down her chest and gazed up at the sky. It was a particularly warm day for the season. Taking full advantage of the nice weather, Kagome had chosen the open glade outside the Bone-Eater’s Well as the site of her afternoon study session.

Through fine skeins of cloud, softened sunlight bathed her face and neck, the bare skin of her legs. She’d foregone her usual jeans and jacket and donned a skirt and sweater instead. With no one else around, she let her limbs loll out in a rather unladylike fashion, relishing the warmth that kissed the insides of her knees and thighs. Her lids grew heavy as she traced lazy patterns in the clouds. Drowsily content, she was on the verge of closing her eyes altogether—when something slight and smooth pressed to them with a cinch, plunging her abruptly into darkness instead.

Kagome gasped. Bolting upright, she was attempting to tug off the blindfold, before a pair of all-too familiar hands caught her around the arms.

“Y-you!” she exploded, going rigid in his claws. Heat flooded her face as a riot of excitement and anger roiled through her. “You have some nerve, you know, showing up here all of a—”

Her words cut off as his mouth slanted firmly against hers. Behind the blindfold, Kagome’s eyes flared before drifting shut, her fingers burying themselves in the silk of his sleeves. Languorously, he tasted her, the tips of fangs chafing at her lips and tongue. Lost in him, she whimpered and sighed, the sounds dissolving along with the rest of her in the sultry heat of his mouth.

Collecting her limp wrists in one hand, he urged her back to the ground. As her shoulders hit the blanket, he held her pinned, his lips latching onto her neck instead. Rolling her head to the side, Kagome bared as much of herself to him as she could.

“Where were you?” she whispered in dim accusation, trembling with want as he pushed up her sweater and everything beneath it. “…I missed you.”

Kagome’s back arched when he rasped his tongue along her in reply. Unable to see, all her other sensations were heightened, and in her mind she was transported to the cave once again. Each gust of his breath over her dampened skin made her fingers curl a little tighter, her heart pound a little harder. Her thoughts grow more muddled.

“…Why won’t you speak to me like those other women,” she said to him in a sulky murmur, yelping a little when he nipped the underside of her breast. “Fine, whatever…nevermind…”

His lips soothed over her before drawing her in, and Kagome sucked in a breath at the exact same moment, sparks zinging before her covered eyes. And when he moved further down her body, when he reached beneath her skirt and pushed her panties aside, her hands stayed pinned above her of their own accord.

She was lost once again in the heat of his mouth. Hopelessly and unaccountably lost. And when his hips sank into the cradle of her own, when she tasted herself on his tongue and braced for him to join them together, all she knew was the warmth and weight of him above her. Her whole universe condensed into the image of him behind her shuttered eyes, which though formless and indistinct was yet somehow entirely clear.

There was discomfort again, though not as much as before. And then they were moving together, inside and out, and she was crying into him, in need and fleeting relief, and both were so raw and so desperate, so inextricably intertwined that they seemed one and the same until at last they converged in a rush that was so bright it was blinding, and devoid of everything, she collapsed into oblivion.

~

Groggily, Kagome blinked, her lashes seeming to shrug themselves apart rather than simply open.

The sun was hot on her face, but that still didn’t account for how flushed she felt all over. Dead grass and scratchy bits of leaf clung to her hair and clothes as she dragged herself up onto her elbows with a wince, and it all came flooding back in.

Literally.

Breathing hard through the part of her bitten lips, Kagome glanced down at the sprawl of her body. Her clothes had been righted, but there was no mistaking their rumpled appearance, or the tenderness of her flesh beneath them. If that was all the evidence there was, Kagome might have chalked it all up to the collateral damage of taking a nap on the hard lumpy ground, but she was far too wet between the thighs for that…

Blushing furiously, Kagome scrambled to her feet, her eyes darting around the clearing. But she was as alone as she’d ever been. Mingled relief and disappointment eddied through her at this realization.

But mostly relief—pure, giddy relief.

Smiling crookedly, Kagome vaulted the ledge of the Bone-Eater’s Well, setting a course for a cold shower and a fresh change of clothes.

---

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Hitting the booze again with mixed results. Hope y’all are doing well and staying sane <3

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