“Like this, Kagome-chan?”

Kagome glanced down from the set of sparklers she’d been about to light. Beside her Rin stood, trailing her own lit sparkler in a hesitant line before her. Warmly, the miko smiled.

“Yep, just like that, Rin-chan. If you make different motions, you can also see different shapes. Try drawing a circle.” The little girl drew a circle of light with the sparking stick. “Now draw several more, quick in a row.”

The little girl spun the sparkler in rapid succession. Her dark eyes glittered, wide with wonder at the funnel of golden light that formed. Gap-toothed, she beamed, effervescent.

“Oh!” Rin exclaimed, now painting the darkness of evening in radiant waves. “It’s like the light is dancing!”

Kagome beamed back. “That’s exactly what it’s like, Rin-chan. Why don’t you go show Shippo-kun and the others? I’m sure they’d like to see it.”

“Okay!”

Forgotten sparklers in hand, Kagome crossed her arms lightly at the chest, watching with a smile as Rin raced off to where Shippo, Kohaku and a gaggle of the other village children were setting off firecrackers in the rice field—under Sango, Miroku and Kirara’s close supervision, of course. As fearless as Rin was around demons, she still tended to be shy and withdrawn around her own kind, especially in large groups. But in the little girl’s excitement, she’d forgotten her reservations. Kagome was glad to see Rin mingling with the other kids. She felt proud that she’d found a subtle means of encouraging her.

It was difficult, adjusting to a new way of life. Kagome knew that firsthand.

Her eyes strayed unconsciously to the part of the field where Inuyasha stood. Crouched, with his ears flat, he cursed as he struggled to get one of the staked rockets to ignite. The short fuse had already vanished into the body of the rocket, and still no dice.

With his prickly ego in mind, Kagome had charged him with the task of setting off the biggest firecrackers for the main event. The bulk of the village was gathered loosely along the fences to view it. As Inuyasha leapt to his feet and began angrily to stamp, the men sighed, the kids booed and the women shook their heads, shifting cranky babies in their arms—all of them disappointed at the lack of a better show.

Kagome’s smile slipped, in a disappointment all her own. It had been some months now, but the wound still felt a little raw. Not long after she’d returned to Sengoku Jidai, her and Inuyasha’s romantic relationship had fizzled out. Perhaps the heat of constant battle had fanned the flames of their attraction to disproportionate heights. Maybe it was a girlish crush she’d simply outgrown. Maybe it was misplaced infatuation on his part.

Or maybe it was all of the above.

Who knew. Whatever the reason, it was over. Yet Kagome still found herself here, on this side of the well. Sometimes, she had to wonder why. What was holding her here, now that her dream of marrying Inuyasha was gone? Somehow, her heart still felt anchored to this time in a way she couldn’t place.

“Damn piece of junk!”

Lost in her musings, Kagome didn’t realize Inuyasha had ripped the dud rocket up from the ground and sent it flying in his annoyance. This wouldn’t have mattered, except that he’d launched it back toward the crate he’d first dug it out of. This really wouldn’t have mattered, either, except that the crate was still pretty full of unlit firecrackers—

And that the dud rocket apparently wasn’t such a dud after all.

Inuyasha’s face fell as the crate began to smoke. “…Shit.”

Before he could reach it, the contents of the crate went off in a chain-reaction of explosions. Men, women and children ran shouting as firecrackers of all sorts and sizes zipped off glaring and screeching in all directions. Most flew off over the open rice paddies, which was no problem. Kagome had picked this site specifically because of all the standing water about.

Unfortunately, however, more than a few hurtled off toward the village—sped on by the wind which Kagome berated herself for not considering earlier. Unlike the damp fields, the thatched and planked huts of the village were like so much standing tinder. As the firecrackers landed sizzling atop straw and dry wood, the homes started to smoke in record time. Like a wicked bellows, the errant breeze stoked the budding embers quickly to flame.

Hunched with her hands covering her head, Kagome gaped in horror. “Inuyasha!”

“I’m on it!” he shouted back, already ripping off his fireproof haori as he and Kirara streaked away toward the burning village.

Luckily, all the residents were out in the fields. But Kagome’s heart sank as she looked to them. The men stared on in helpless dejection. The women and children wept at the prospect of their homes and all their worldly possessions going up in flames. Inuyasha and Kirara were doing what they could to smother them, but it seemed hopeless. Too little too late.

As Kagome started to despair, a pinpoint of light appeared in the hazy night sky. The pinpoint grew, taking on a form that made Rin cry out in elation. Kagome felt the echo of it, as Sesshoumaru soared into view atop Ah-Un. Lightly, he leapt down into the center of the smoldering village. His eyes shrank to slits as his youki billowed out from him in dark crushing waves, snuffing and dampening the worst of the flames.

“Jaken,” he said, “see to the rest.”

“Hai, milord!”

Rising to her feet, Kagome watched in boneless relief as Jaken and Ah-Un sailed about. The two-headed dragon sprayed water from its twin mouths like a living, breathing firehose, extinguishing the stubborn fires that remained. Shaking the ash from his haori as he donned it, Inuyasha scoffed, glaring toward his elder half-brother.

“Showoff…”

Sesshoumaru ignored him. As Inuyasha bounded away to hound bossily after Jaken, the relieved villagers dispersed to assess the damage—which looked mercifully light thanks to Sesshoumaru’s timely intervention. From the cooling village square, he crossed over to where Kagome lingered by the fence.

“I suppose this was your doing,” he said. “Those fires had a strange scent.”

Strange. Kagome grimaced, his brisk assessment hitting her in a double-whammy of accusation. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Trouble seems to follow you, miko.”

“Well,” she said, twitching a grateful smile, “luckily, you were near.”

“Luck has nothing to do with it.” Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes seemed to glimmer as they trailed her face. “Your cheek is burned.”

“Oh…”

Kagome blinked, raising a hand to her left cheek. The scorch mark from an flyaway firecracker had left a shallow, blistering streak an inch below her eye. Gently, she prodded at the stinging spot. Her breath escaped her in a short hiss of pain—a pain she hadn’t noticed before in her acute distress.

“That’s going to leave a mark,” she muttered, her shoulders sinking in chagrin.

“I think not,” Sesshoumaru said.

Her breath escaped her shortly once more, when he took her lightly by the chin and angled her burned cheek up toward him. His lashes lowered slightly as his smooth lips met her skin. His warm wet tongue traced the wound, salving it over. Kagome went rigid at the numbing sensation, though her heart pounded wildly.

The pair of sparklers still hung unlit in her limp, dangling hand. But all Kagome could feel was fireworks.

---

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Happy 4th of July, y’all! 💕🍧🧨🍹🌴🌭