Kagome sighed. Such a silly memory to revisit. It felt trivial to her now, to think back on those times. It seemed almost like another life to her. Almost like a dream.

She remembered Inuyasha’s reaction when she’d returned to camp that day, after the spider incident.

“Oi, where’ve you been?” he demanded, bounding over to her. 

“Talking to Sesshoumaru,” she replied as he paced around her, sniffing.

“Talking, huh?” Inuyasha’s nose wrinkled. “How come you’re covered in his scent?” As she shrugged, he muttered aside, “That asshole…does this shit just to piss me off…”

“I asked him to team up with us.”

“You what?”

“He probably won’t, but I thought I should make the offer at least.”

“You,” Inuyasha bit out, his features screwing up as he pointed a claw in her face. “Don’t just go around making offers to demons!”

“He’s not some random demon,” Kagome said, planting her hands on her hips. “He’s your brother, and we could use his help.”

“Like hell we could,” Inuyasha scoffed, cramming his fists into his sleeves. “Now go take a bath already. You fucking reek.”

Against all expectation, Sesshoumaru had more or less joined up with them after that. It had never been a formally acknowledged sort of thing, but Kagome remembered him being around in a way he hadn’t before. 

In a way he had ever since, it occurred to her now.

Around her the swirling snow had thickened. The air was so densely white she couldn’t see more than a foot in front of her. The temperature had plummeted. Kagome shivered, stuffing her icy fingers under her arms for warmth.

As she’d been lost in thought, it seemed she’d lost her way through the woods. The ground beneath her soles didn’t feel sandy like she’d expected it should. Kagome came to a halt. How far off course she’d wandered she couldn’t say. As her breath smoked out, ragged and thin, she tried to keep calm and think. 

She turned in a slow circle, searching for something to give her some sort of bearings in this snowy waste. But the world around her was white and formless, palely obscure. The beginnings of panic clawed in her throat. Forget going home—she needed to find shelter, and fast.

If night fell, and she was stranded out here in the open…

Hopelessly disoriented, she took a few steps forward—

And screamed as her leg went out from under her, slicing open on the edge of a rock. 

Her hip slammed to the ground as she twisted to catch herself, scrambling back from that jagged edge that might be a short drop-off or the side of a cliff for all she knew. Her shoulder smacked into a scrubby tree behind her. Curling her legs in toward her, she clung to it like a lifeline as her heart hammered so wildly she feared it’d burst from her chest. 

Within her, the baby’s youki flared as hot as her blazing leg. Kagome’s vision blurred from the pain. She bit her lip hard, struggling not to pass out.

Against that backdrop of white, his outline was so faint at first that she couldn’t trust that he wasn’t just some mirage her bleary eyes had conjured up out of sheer desperation. But then she felt his warmth as he knelt beside her, as he draped his fur around her and gathered her up in his arms.

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Revised 3/7/23