“That was a mistake; I shouldn’t have gone back there. All it did was make me go ballistic for no good reason.”
“I could have told you as much,” Sesshoumaru said coolly.
Kagome glowered. Having mumbled her regrets into his fur, she didn’t think he’d have heard her over the rush of the wind. Or at least that he wouldn’t have felt the need to lord it over her. But she should have known.
“You don’t have to rub it in,” she said, then sighed. “…I’m sorry about your hand.”
He was still favoring it, she could tell. Tessaiga was notoriously temperamental. For all that it looked like an old hunk of junk most of the time, its bite was no joke. Once, Sesshoumaru had told her the reason why it had taken his arm so long to heal was because Tessaiga had severed it with such brutal vehemence.
“Such, I see now, was Chichi-ue’s design: to arm Inuyasha against me. Tessaiga is a mighty weapon, but it is not for me to wield,” Sesshoumaru had said, without an ounce of hard feeling. That had made one of them. “It has never been, nor will it ever be.”
Kagome supposed not. The sword was just hard-wired to spurn him, it seemed.
“Does it still hurt?” she asked him, peering up.
Sesshoumaru glanced down. His eyes were dark amber, as he brought the raw smooth pads of his fingers to her brow, and pushed aside her windswept bangs.
“It’s nothing,” he said.
…
She felt it with an icy jolt, the moment they left the mortal realm behind them. It was like her lungs were burning and freezing all at once, and she couldn’t draw in another breath until they’d passed through to the other side of that shimmering veil. If she had less spiritual strength, her flesh would have flown apart, but as it was, Kagome managed to hold herself together.
The place where they landed was like something out of a dream.
Muted and ethereal—ageless. It was a forest that looked old and new all at once. Gold and ruby leaves drifted down from the slender white boughs of the trees. But the leaves didn’t seem dead, and the lushly foliaged trees didn’t seem to miss them. It was eternally autumn in this wood, Kagome sensed.
As they walked on together up the winding mountain path, Kagome spied the shape of a three-tiered tower, emerging through the trees. It was resplendent, even from this distance. Ivory faced, like the trees, with roof tiles of sparkling emerald-green, but seamless somehow—graceful and perfectly enmeshed with the surrounding woods and misty hills, as if they had all sprung up together as one.
A pale perimeter of boulders surrounded the path. Kagome felt the hum of defensive enchantment, but she and Sesshoumaru passed by unperturbed. Beyond, there was a courtyard of the same pebbled stone, with sculptures whose make and proportions defied anything that human hands could craft. Looking at them filled Kagome with wonder, and a touch of melancholy.
“This place,” she asked, gazing up at the tower’s gleaming façade, “is this your castle?”
“This is a hunting lodge,” Sesshoumaru replied, the corners of his lips rising as if he found her idea of a ‘castle’ hilarious.
“A hunting lodge?” Kagome exclaimed, her eyes riveted on the lovely, fanciful scrollwork of the entrance alone. “That’s it? But, it’s so majestic…”
“If you like it so much,” Sesshoumaru said, the ensorcelled doors opening ahead of him as he led the way, “then it’s yours.”
Not knowing what to say to this, Kagome hesitated at that grand threshold a moment more, before following him inside.
Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi
Holding my breath, char…
<3 <3 <3
THEN ITS YOURS!??? Okay Kags taaake that shit it sounds grand af. i’d sure as hell take the offer 😂
Right?! Here I am wishing I had extra storage space while this broad is being offered a starter chateau. 😭 Take it, Kags (and him too, I suppose)!
XD <3
haha me too! <3
“This is a hunting lodge,” Sesshoumaru replied, the corners of his lips rising as if he found her idea of a ‘castle’ hilarious.–Sesshoumaru over here channeling Louis XIV 😂.
It is interesting that we never really saw a hint of wealth or opulence from Sesshoumaru throughout the series, beyond his fine clothes and manner of speaking. I guess I always assumed he either spurned wealth or held a title but no real lands. Though I suppose that might make it a bit too easy for our star-crossed lovers 😂.
Your interpretation of Tessaiga is interesting. I like the idea of the sword having a mind and will of its own. I suspect that Tessaiga will have a significant part to play in the final arc of this story. (Brace yourself for my trademark wild speculation lol). We learned early on that Tessaiga was influencing Inuyahsa, brooding to him and perhaps feeding into his paranoia. Then we see Totosai’s insistence that the sword was lonely, needed a bearer, and that it “held memories of its own.” Then, we see Hirokin’s insistence on possessing it and unveiling some latent power in it (or so he says–I don’t totally buy that explanation). And why wasn’t it there to protect Inuyasha the when he was beheaded? There has to be more to the story. I know that Tessaiga wasn’t there for That Night, but perhaps it has something to do with Kagome’s memory and behavior? Perhaps because it is the twin of Tessaiga, it shares its brother’s memories. It certainly seems capable of influencing those around it.
Thanks for all of your hard work, Char! This week has been a nightmare for me, but your writing always gives me something to look forward to at the end of the day. 😊
Awesome theories as always, Alex!! I’m kind of obsessed with the sword lore in IY (and other series too 🙂 ) – always fun to play around with when writing fics <3
"It is interesting that we never really saw a hint of wealth or opulence from Sesshoumaru throughout the series, beyond his fine clothes and manner of speaking." - yep I always found this intriguing as well! One of the coolest things about Sess is that he is full of interesting contradictions 🙂 it's like fanfic fuel, exploring these different facets of his character. Personally I like to think that Sess has all sorts of material wealth but doesn't care all that much about it. XD
So sorry last week was rough for you 🙁 Hope you had a restful weekend and that this week kicks off to a much better start <3
so THAT’S what Sesshomaru was up to—while Kagome was having her 2000th breakdown over the sad state of her life, my dude was watching a VHS of Beauty and the Beast when the lightbulb of “me give crush big gift = me (potentially) git sum” went off. What a guy!
(love this baboon.)
You describe the non-mortal places that Sesshomaru takes her to so wonderfully—first the meadow, and now here. It really does bring Disney-style idyll to mind. All that’s left to do is for Kagome to install a waterslide in the backyard 😉
“while Kagome was having her 2000th breakdown over the sad state of her life, my dude was watching a VHS of Beauty and the Beast ” – bahahaha! omg that’s perfect XD
So glad you liked the description of the immortal realm <3 it's fun to imagine! 🙂
This is that moment where you sit back and just hold your breath. This is really happening. They are having a civil and almost loving interaction. *sigh* This is what I’ve been waiting for ☺️ Sesshoumaru just offered her something precious and it’s giving ‘I’m going to mate you’ vibes. Everything in me wants this to happen 😩
“They are having a civil and almost loving interaction. ” XD I know right? 😉
<3