Kagome could hardly believe her eyes, the place was so changed.
But there was the village well, its crumbling old stones remortared and its rotting beams replaced. There was the scattering of dilapidated shacks which ringed it—although dilapidated no more. All the wood and thatching was bright, whole and fresh. In front of and around these nice quaint huts, chickens pecked about for bugs, while cats and dogs lounged on porch stoops and oxen lowed from their pens.
The most startling thing of all, of course, were the villagers themselves. Where before this place had been a ghost town, now it bustled with human activity—children laughing and playing, men in straw hats chatting together in the shade, women hanging laundry and going about their daily chores in twos and threes. The smell of cooksmoke wafted in the air, as fragrant as the wildflowers that still sprouted up in the neat fenced yards and peppered the byways.
As Kagome stood staring, Shin tugged on her sleeve. “Kaa-san, what is it?”
She glanced down into his upturned boyish face and smiled. “Nothing, it’s just that I’ve been here before.”
“Oh, okay.” Releasing her, Shin started off toward the young woman, who’d paused by her cart in clear wait. Turning around, he kept walking backwards toward her while calling out to his mother with a grin and a wave, “C’mon, Kaa-san. Mei-chan’s asked us over to her place for dinner. Sounds like fun, huh?”
Kagome arched a brow. “So it’s ‘Mei-chan’ now, is it?”
But Shin just grinned on.
Following along after her son and ‘Mei-chan,’ Kagome shook her head, bemused. She wondered, with the attendant pang that always accompanied such wondering, if Sesshoumaru had acted like this at Shin’s age. For the life of her, she couldn’t see it. She pictured him as a reserved and serious child, devoted to honing his strength and skill, even at that tender age.
Where, then, had Shin gotten this roguishness from? Wherever he had, she felt certain of one thing—he was a lady-killer in the making.
They had a nice hearty yeoman’s dinner with Mei and the rest of her grateful family. From Mei’s one-armed old father—a former captain of the guard—Kagome learned that the villagers were in fact refugees, vagabonds of war who’d found a new home here after fleeing the fiery ruins of their city, leagues to the north. Their only trouble since then had been the occasional bandit, and mostly opportunistic youkai like those oni raiders she and Shin had dispatched.
“When a place has been abandoned for a long time, youkai tend to move in,” Kagome explained.
“Yeah, this place is crawling with kitsune,” Shin piped up.
“Kitsune?” Mei gasped. “You’ve seen them?”
“Sorta…” he hedged, since as Kagome well knew he had smelled them.
Clutching her soup ladle in both hands, Mei’s mother darted a horrified glance around the room, as though a wicked kitsune might be lurking in any shadow. “Where?”
“Listen,” Shin said quickly, putting up his hands for calm, “kitsune are no big deal. They mostly just steal things and play pranks. Besides,” he added, puffing out his small chest, “the moment we showed up, they turned tail and scrammed.”
The family sagged in relief. Kagome smiled.
“I can put some wards in place to keep the usual suspects at bay for now, then reinforce them on our way back through here, in a couple of days. Then you should be all set.”
“Oh, Miko-sama!” Mei said, bowing low at the waist, with the others following suit. “We are forever in your debt!”
Kagome waved. “It’s no trouble, really.”
“Or,” Shin said slyly to her, glancing toward the beaming Mei, “we could just stick around here for a little while longer instead.”
Kagome’s mouth quirked. “But what about Baa-chan and the X-men?”
As Mei’s little brother mouthed ‘X-men?’, Shin flashed her a cool grin. “They can wait.”
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Shin is mac’n at his tender age lol This is so funny. A sucker for a pretty face. Maybe this was a trait from his grandpa on the demon side of the family. 😛
shin might be touga’s boy more than sesshoumaru’s 🤣
“Now it makes sense what Sessh’s mom said in ‘The Lady of the Lake’! If he really takes after him that much, maybe that’s why he’s such a ladies’ man too 🫠😆
P.S. Char, I live for your updates. Every SessKag I’ve read since discovering your work feels subpar. Can you please pick up Absolution???? I beg you 😭
This 8 year old really be latching on to this girl 😭😂
At this age I bet Sess was intense AF, holding himself to impossible standards that his parents would never ask of him when he still has his puppy fat. He’d have every human in this village pissing themselves just by the serious look on his baby face 😅
That boy’s got a little bit of Miroku in him 😂 He’s acting too grown where’s his father at 😂😂
But in all seriousness, too cute! I love that the town has come alive and been built up!
“From Mei’s one-armed old father—a former captain of the guard—Kagome learned that the villagers were in fact refugees, vagabonds of war who’d found a new home here after fleeing the fiery ruins of their city, leagues to the north. Their only trouble since then had been the occasional bandit, and mostly opportunistic youkai like those oni raiders she and Shin had dispatched.”
Ah, right. It’s the Warring States era. Daimyo’s seizing power, homes and people burned down, samurai and ronin collecting bounties by the literal ‘heads’. While Kagome and Shin are on their supernatural husband-hunt the very mortal side of Japan is facing its bloodiest time in history😅 To put this in context, it’s very gangsta for Kagome to say that this where she and Shin belong 😨💀 Kagome, you’re a Demon Lord’s woman, alright!!
I can see glimpses of it, the subtle pushiness in Shin.
He’s continuing the tradition of bullying Kagome into doing whatever these headstrong inuyoukais want 🤣
Oh boy, imagine if she has three of Shin? SessKag in the Transgressions universe must have their work cut out for them, especially when they have to deal with sibling rivalries too.
Right!!! Inuyasha, Sess and Shin – the whole dog demon family turned out to be so bossy! 😂
Inupapa must have been even worse. He encouraged that scribe daughter to seduce Sess… he was practically the reason for his son’s first time 😭
Speaking of kitsune, I saw images of adult Shippo floating about on tumblr and this must be around the time he’s turned into a teenage heartthrob haha
Shin’s oniichan 🫣
How is staying with Mei-chan better than X-Men?? This infant is unbelievable 😂
I blame Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi. They coddled him too much and now he got injected with eight-grader syndrome too early. Next he’ll be squaring up to an adult daiyoukai, fully confident that he has the power of God and Anime on his side.
Now that Inupapa pointed it out, an eight year old choosing girls over superheroes does sound pretty serious 😂
But would he choose girls over chocolate??? That’s the true test. And it is …. ALMOST the season of candy canes, melty hot cocoas, gingersnaps, buche de noel, marzipans, tarte tatins and sugarplum candies hehe 🥰✨️
I know the story will likely make it clearer later on but my nagging brainworm can’t help but wonder if Shin is in elementary school, or his mom just lets him run wild like a mini Tarzan 😂
Like young man, what do you mean stick around a little longer? What about your homework? 🥸
Yo, Shin is such a flirt! Love it
Shin’s so full of life 🥰
Bouncy, fluffy child 💫
He’s a dandelion fuzz meanwhile his dad is big and mean and an epitome of a poisonous demonic beast.
I think Shin takes after his grandfather, 😂😂