Holed up in Koshirou’s study, Kagome dined early and light.
Apart from the occasional servant, her only company was the shamisen player Natsuko. Over her slender shoulder, the sleek, dark fall of her pinned hair streamed, more ornamented even than Kagome’s. Natsuko was very beautiful, and very vain.
Of her talents most of all.
Smoking a bit of sweet tobacco after her evening meal, Kagome listened to the lilting notes, wishing idly for sake instead. But she no longer cared for how it fogged her mind. Her want of it was purely nostalgic. Sake and song—the two just seemed to go together.
Drawing delicately from the thin stem of her pipe, Kagome exhaled. The cadence of this piece was like falling rain—a pining sound, full of lament. Kagome didn’t know its name.
Natsuko didn’t, either. Whatever the song may once have been called, its name had been lost to time.
Over the glinting strings, nimble fingers plucked, lithe and lovely. Natsuko’s red lips curved, pursing subtly in concentration. As the notes trailed off into silence, Kagome caught her eye through the haze. Smiling soft and full, Natsuko bowed and withdrew. The ornaments in her hair tinkled faintly with the motion, emitting a silvery music all their own.
For a while Kagome sifted through the last of the scrolls—making replies here and there, tossing some straight into the brazier. A few she set aside for the morning. The candle was burning low, and so was she.
Bracing her head in her hand, she dozed against the desk for some unknown span of minutes, waking at last when the door whisked open on its track. A servant’s head popped in—only to disappear in a flash as Kagome shot him a grumpy look. With a sigh, she picked herself up and went to check on Koshirou.
He was sitting up in bed when she entered, though only recently awakened it seemed. Wanly, he smiled at her, as she knelt beside him and felt for his thready pulse. While she tended to him, she filled him in on the high points of the day. What had been said and done in council, what she had said and done in reply. Koshirou nodded. He made a few remarks, but nothing more than cursory observations.
Kagome was managing things quite well in his stead, and it hadn’t escaped his notice any more than hers. At least he had the decency to look abashed for it.
“Tomorrow,” he said, “I shall feel stronger, I am sure.”
That was what he’d said yesterday, too. But Kagome humored him all the same.
“Of course, my lord,” she said as she started to rise.
Cool thin fingers grasped her own, detaining her. Kagome looked down as he pressed her palm to his lips. His eyes drifted shut.
“…Tomorrow,” he murmured, like a vow.
Kagome waited for his sleep to deepen, then pulled her hand away.
Beyond the outer door, Ikiryou paced, his spine bristling and ears flat. When Kagome called to him, he glanced toward her for a terse moment before resuming his repetitive course. His manner was distracted, irritable even. Grizzled brow furrowed, he kept pausing and looking off toward some point in the distance, occasionally scenting the air in huffs.
He must be feeling pent-up again, Kagome thought, descending the steps to join him in the little yard below. Court was no place for a dog like him. With all the administrative duties she’d been shouldering, Kagome’d had no choice but to leave him to his own devices. He’d gotten sulky over it—even a little snappy at times—but it couldn’t be helped.
This time, though, he seemed particularly agitated. As Kagome reached out to soothe him, he suddenly bolted without warning, shooting off like a grey-white streak through the gathering dark.
“Ikiryou!” she called out, but he just kept on racing ahead toward the gate.
Hitching up her skirt, Kagome hurried after him. What the hell’s gotten into him? she fumed to herself, brushing off the startled guards who hailed her.
Not terribly far from the castle grounds was a stony, forested path that snaked up the hillside. Kagome watched as Ikiryou bounded up the steps two at a time. Shaking her head, she scaled the hill after him. For her, it was much slower going. The steps were pitted and worn, and her geta and tabi weren’t exactly optimal for climbing. After a few precarious steps, Kagome shucked them off altogether in frustration.
She was panting in exertion by the time she reached the top of the hill. A red shinto shrine with sweeping eaves graced the hilltop. Kagome hadn’t visited this shrine—or any other—since her marriage. It was safe to say the building held as little interest for her now as it ever had.
On the gravel path leading up to it, Ikiryou sat back on his haunches, his tongue lolling out. But the moment she alighted, he took off at a trot once again. With a curse, Kagome resumed her haggard pursuit of him, circling around the shrine—only to practically stumble into the heeling dog in shock, at the sight of the one who stood just beyond them.
“Sesshoumaru!” she gasped out.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
For Feudal Japan, smoking pipes are a bit anachronistic – but so is Kagome lol
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Ohhhh shiiiiiiiittt!!! 🤩
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Is ikiryou a manifestation of inuyasha? Seems possible to me, the way he wants all of kagome’s attention all the time, his restlessness, his suspicious nature, his protectiveness of her, his sensitivity to sesshomaru’s presence or absence, his apparent hostility to sesshomaru…speaking of which, it’s about time he showed up!
Haha glad you’re happy to see him back! <3 Love hearing your theories, theresap - thanks for sharing!!
Ah, so this is what you meant when you said things were coming back round. Glad to see Sess back, but I have no idea what he will do or say. I feel like we’ve missed a big gap of time (like at the beginning of Control) and we have no idea what happened in the interim. Have they seen each other at all? Has Hirokin been go-between? Is this still about her squatting in Western lands?
Also, is Kagome’s marriage a marriage in truth? Was it a marriage of convenience for both parties? Was it ever consummated?
In some ways, it seems like they are right back where they started. Kagome married and Sesshoumaru distant and aloof. Though if Sesshoumaru is waiting for her to be a widow again, it likely won’t take long. Still, it all seems kind of circular and redundant—is there any hope for these two sadomasochistic morons? 🤣
Great questions as always, Alex! Yep, there’s been a bit of a time skip – more about the interim, the nature of the marriage, and Hirokin coming soon 😉
“Still, it all seems kind of circular and redundant—is there any hope for these two sadomasochistic morons? 🤣” – ahaha we shall have to see! <3 The spiral is real...
Thanks so much for sharing your takes!! <3
Two chapters one after other, you don’t have any idea how happy you made me, I was practically dancing around. 🥰
And he’s back!!! 🥳 What a cliffhanger 🤩🤩
Yay! I read this with baited breath, hoping that Sess would finally reappear.
Yep, he’s back!! <3 <3 <3
Aww thank you, Elle! So glad you’ve been enjoying the updates 🙂 And sorry for the cliffy – as usual, I am the worst LOL
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I don’t mind clifs at all, I actually kind of enjoy them, makes me even more excited 🤩🤩
Thank you for spoiling us with updates so often! 🥰
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Oh no please tell me he hasn’t showed up to announce a wedding of his own. We haven’t met a character to serve that purpose yet (have we? And even so—isn’t his big issue that he desperately craves a partner but everyone besides kagome isn’t strong enough to not be teared to shreds by the throes of his passion?..hirokin lied and said something like “she died like all the others” when he found them mated together in the lilies right?).
This is always the fun question reading this story, how low will they keep going trying to twist their knives (deadly limbo—more metaphors!)
. …..Besides of course the real big question… WHEN THEY GONNA FUUCK ALREADY BLERGGG#%,!?|<<.
“hirokin lied and said something like “she died like all the others” when he found them mated together in the lilies right?” – that he did 😉
And yeah lol, the ‘big question’ is still hanging, isn’t it? 🤣 Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Lirazel! Hope you enjoy the rest <3
Sesshoumaru just can’t stay away. All of that smack he was talking about not wanting to even hear her name. And yet, here we are. I wonder what he could possibly want. Yo girl is married bro… AGAIN 😂 He doesn’t give a damn either. Kagome is going to go through 5 marriages and Sesshoumaru is still going to be licking at her vagina when she’s in a drunken stupor. The tragedy 🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣 slayin me as always, Blackberry! ‘Tragedy’ is right hahaha
These two are pretty shameless. XD
Hope you enjoy the next part! <3
Soooooooo Kagome actually did it. Huh. I was totally kidding when I said she would probably get married out of spite but here we are lol. I actually had to double-check the fic title when I started reading chapter 196. I thought I was in another of your fics Char 😂
I do like the idea of Kagome being the beautiful lady now. So far in Control, she’s been a powerful Miko, a tortured widow, a drunken sadist, a prideful head priestess, a wandering Miko for hire, and now a regal lady living in the same palace where it all began. What a transformation. I’m excited to see what Sesshomaru and Kagome’s interaction will look like now. Clearly, he’s here for something. Also, I TOTALLY forgot that the old woman said Kagome would die soon!! Really hope she meant it in a metaphorical way…
Love, love, LOVE all these updates Char. You’re killing it ~
Thank you, Lee!! Yep there was a bit of a jump between 195 & 196! 🙂
Kagome’s had quite the journey, hasn’t she? So glad you’re enjoying this latest phase of hers <3
Thanks again & hope you enjoy the interaction between these two 😉
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