They met in an abandoned hut, on the far side of Inuyasha’s forest. She had spent the majority of her morning cleaning up the place—sweeping and scrubbing, rebuilding the hearth, laying down fresh floor mats and bedding. By midday, the rundown shack was looking halfway-decent again. Normally, she would have felt a sense of accomplishment

Back and forth, Kagome paced the small length of the hut. Her arms were crossed at her chest. Her nails burrowed in the soft cotton of her sleeves. Red coals smoldered in the dingy hearth. On the scrubbed surface of the room’s one spindly table, a lone candle glowed, casting a circle of muted light

That night passed as restlessly as the last. When the rosy light of dawn seeped through the slatted reed curtain, Kagome rubbed a hand across her red-rimmed eyes and gathered up her things to go. It was half a day’s trek back to Edo village, though she hardly seemed to notice the time. Spinning an

The weeks wore on. With each day that went by, Kagome’s anxiety grew. She dreaded the passing of time almost as much as she anticipated it. Soon—very soon—she would know whether her plan had been a success. Or a failure. She was hard-pressed to say which outcome she feared the most. “You still haven’t started

Kagome made her way through the forest, treading that familiar, dreaded path. She sweltered in the hot, sticky air. Her pack weighed heavy at her back. Sweat beaded between her shoulder blades, wove a sinuous course down her spine. It seemed surreal to her, to be back in this place. But as the trees thinned

In a nearby stream, Kagome scrubbed herself raw with strong-smelling soap. She scoured every inch of her exposed flesh, over and over again. Inuyasha had once remarked sourly, after she had used this particular product, that he couldn’t even smell her through it. Surely, the cleanser’s overpowering floral fragrance would be enough to mask him.

Through the open door, Kagome gazed out at the silvery fall of rain. Against the smooth wooden frame her head leaned listless. An early summer storm had rolled in this afternoon. She’d watched as the roads softened to mud beneath the steady downpour, the smell of wet earth mixing with the clarifying scent of ozone.

For what felt like the millionth time that evening, Kagome’s lips twitched up in a polite, strained smile as yet another guest stepped forward to offer her his sincerest congratulations. After a seemingly endless series of pleasantries and bows, her expression sagged in relief at the end of the exchange. Her hand rose to soothe