InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ This Mess We're In ❯ You Looked Me in the Eye ( Chapter 5 )

This Mess We're In

Chapter 5: You Looked Me in the Eye

Disclaimers: I own nothing.

Rating: For now, it's all still PG13. Eventually there will be some adult stuff. I will continue to cut a PG13 or R version for ff.net. NC17 material will be reserved for MediaMiner.org posts, and will be eventually posted at the address in my profile.

Summary: Kagome has gone back where she belongs, but so has someone else. What exactly happened? Sesshou and Kagome don't know yet, but the past is about to collide with the present. Kag/Sess.

Chapter Summary: Kagome comes to an awful realization. Keiko's ghost rises to haunt Sesshou (and us) once more. People faint and pee themselves. Craziness ensues. Revised 3/25/03.

*****

---Present Day---

Finally, she was homeward bound. Kagome had been running around all day, and would have given anything at that moment to put her feet up and raise her middle finger to the world.

"I'm on my last legs," she grumbled wearily. At least she had managed to turn in that lab report this morning. Just thinking about yet another all-night homework session was enough to make her want to die.

To top it all off, she was all sweaty from the walk from the campus to her home.

She decided that she might as well go a few blocks out of her way to stop at the convenience store for a six-pack of something cold, fizzy, and full of sugar. She continued resolutely past the entrance of the shrine complex, now fueled by the promise of something refreshing that would, as an added bonus, make all her teeth fall out.

She passed a construction site. Then Kagome reached the residential blocks, and observed that several people were going about their business outside their homes. At one house, a woman was mucking around in her flowerbed. A couple of houses down, a guy was repairing his shutters with a hammer and nails.

Kagome was, for a moment, attracted by the simple domesticity of such activities.

Then, she returned to her senses, and shook her head with a sigh. Lately, she couldn't even think about sweeping the shrine grounds without becoming prematurely tired.

Finally, she entered the bright and air-conditioned confines of the store. She headed straight to the cooler section, and then stood in perplexity for a moment, transfixed by all the sugary beverages available. Unable to choose between a six-pack of cherry cola or cream soda, she decided just to buy both.

As she stepped back out into the warmth of the early evening, she opened one of the cans for the walk home. he She took a long draught and sighed happily. Her mood underwent a sudden and significant improvement, and as she walked, she looked at the people taking care of their houses with a bit more interest.

As she got a better look at the man who was hammering his shutters, Kagome's newly jaunty step came to a sudden halt. Her brow furrowed in recognition of his pale hair, and his effortless grace, even while performing such a humble task. She stood on the sidewalk for a few seconds, blinking in surprise.

It was stalker-guy! When she'd last seen him, he'd been trying to pry a loud, multicolored barnacle off his arm.

Kagome started to feel a teeny little bit of guilt.

Actually, she felt a massive amount of guilt. Her head hung slightly.

Even if he was some kind of deviant, no one could truly deserve to be subjected to the likes of Keiko. After the other girl's descent, Kagome had only stuck around long enough to observe, point, and laugh at him for a little while. Then she'd realized that she had to get to a study group meeting, and had snuck off, abandoned him to the clutches of the permed velociraptor.

Kagome's eyes snapped wide in horrified realization as the information in her head reconfigured itself in new and mortifying ways.

He'd been walking when she'd run into him outside her house. At school, he'd run into her again between class times. He had tried to tell her that he actually attended the same college. He might have known her name because they had a mutual friend or something.

And, if he lived on this street. . .

Her house just happened to be between his house and their school. He'd just had the bad luck to bump into a hopeless paranoiac twice in one day.

Kagome almost shriveled into the ground in her chagrin. She had wrongly accused him of following her around like a creep, and then gleefully left him with a backcombed piranha-woman.

The joy of her cherry cola faded abruptly. She gave it a baleful glare, but the red can seemed to tell her that there would be no more sugary fun until she had apologized for her awful behaviour.

Kagome approached his fence and cleared her throat. Gods, this was awkward.

"Hi. Um, about earlier. . ." Her nervous words sounded slightly squeaky to her ears.

Sesshou stiffened at the high-pitched sound. Lost in the depths of post-traumatic stress disorder, he came to the conclusion that it was the amazing Technicolor harpy from before. He'd shut her down repeatedly, and she'd followed him home from school to ask him out again!

She was a menace. Remembering how she had looked at him, he suddenly felt exposed in his grey short-sleeved shirt. This was beyond the limits of his patience.

He'd tried not to be mean, but look where that had got him.

"Look, Keiko, I have no interest in you," Sesshou said from between clenched teeth, giving the nail a particularly hard thwack. "I will not be going dancing with you, going home to have a widdle hot-tub party with you," Kagome cringed, "fixing your friends up with my friends, or taking you shopping. Ever!"

Sesshou barked that last word, and another loud bang of the hammer seemed to serve as punctuation. Through his tirade, he hadn't even bothered to turn around.

Kagome felt like her back would break under all the remorse she was carrying. He thought that she was Keiko, and obviously she hadn't even seen the tip of the iceberg of their encounter earlier that day. Had he just said `a widdle hot tub party'?

The poor guy had to be utterly traumatized.

She hesitantly approached, a pained smile on her face. "Hey," Kagome said weakly. "I don't know whether to laugh or be insulted."

Sesshou turned, and looked incredibly relieved that she was wearing a red skirt and black blouse, rather than sporting the entire colour wheel. He sat down on his front step and put his hammer back in the toolkit. "Oh, it's you," he replied, slightly embarrassed by his outburst.

Then, he regained his bearings. "Now who's stalking who?" he asked pointedly.

Okay, fine, thought Kagome. She may have deserved that, but that didn't mean she was going to take it lying down.

"So how'd your date with Keiko go?" she rejoined pertly, taking a seat on the step next to him.

His eyes seemed to spark. "It didn't go. I had better things to do," Sesshou shot back, deadpan. "I mean, I spend all night peering through your windows with a camcorder. In the afternoon, I go through your garbage in the hopes that I'll find an envelope you've licked." Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Once I add that to time spent stealing underwear off your laundry line for my collection, it's a wonder I do anything else," he continued, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"You know, your sarcastic tone is identical to your normal tone," Kagome observed, grinning.

"What sarcastic tone?" Sesshou asked levelly.

Kagome's smile just grew. This was fun. "Oh, stop trying to creep me out. I'm sorry, okay? I was just a bit on edge today."

"On edge?" Sesshou looked affronted. "You publicly accused me of being some kind of pervert, and then just. . . left me with that. . . thing!" He was the picture of outraged dignity.

Kagome started to laugh. "I really am sorry about that," she said amid chuckles. "Truly, sincerely sorry."

Sesshou looked at her with suspicion. She was sputtering now.

"I ap-p-pologize, from the bottom of m-my heart. I-it was j-just. . . oh, you sh-should have just s-seen the look on your face when. . . and then, when she j-jammed your arm into her ch-chest. . ." Kagome was now laughing so hard that it was becoming difficult to breathe. "A-and th-then, she looked l-like she was about to g-g-grab your. . ." she gasped and doubled over, wiping a tear from her eye. "Anyway, I'm s-so sorry!"

His eyes narrowed. "Thanks," he said coolly over her giggles. "Your obviously heartfelt regret touches me deep inside." His voice was devoid of all expression.

Finally, her laughter started to wind down, and she smiled. "You have me at a bit of a disadvantage," Kagome said haltingly as her breathing returned to normal. "What's your name?"

The corners of his mouth rose slightly as he met her cheerful gaze. "Nakamura Sesshou."

Kagome rummaged through her plastic bag. "I'm Higurashi Kagome. Good to meet you." She grinned again.

Her hand emerged from the bag holding a bright pink can.

"Want a soda?"

Sesshou looked at the girl next to him and felt the urge to smile. It had been a while since he'd met someone who was completely unintimidated by him. Actually, it had been a while since he'd met anyone, period. He was generally quite aloof, and people didn't initiate conversation with him. Then, if he broke out the chilly voice and the glare, they would usually give up, visibly shrink, and back away.

Kagome, however, was smiling at him and offering him. . . a pink thing?

He took the cold can. After doing fix-up jobs around the house this evening, the icy condensation felt good in his hand. "What on earth is this?" he asked.

"You've never had cream soda before? It might be a bit much for your untrained palate," Kagome supplied in the voice of a connoisseur. "I have cherry coke too, if you'd prefer that." She took her book bag off her shoulder and laid it at her feet, so that she could rummage more freely in the plastic grocery bag. After some rustling sounds, she triumphantly presented him with another can. "Maybe you should start with this." Kagome replaced the pink drink in his hand with a red one.

Sesshou shrugged, popped it open, and then took a swig.

Ah. It was cold, good, and he could practically feel his teeth rotting out of his head.

"That settles it," he said wryly. "You have it in for me. Your first attempt to kill me with Keiko failed, and now you're going for sugar poisoning." He took another gulp.

"I'm a fiend," Kagome said in a scandalized tone. "How can they allow people like me to walk the streets?" He may have been complaining, but the can seemed to be emptying at a rapid rate. She watched him as he tilted his head back for another swallow. His hair seemed to glow in the light of the setting sun. He really was gorgeous, thought Kagome, surprised.

"You know, if this nefarious plan doesn't work, I'll have to call Keiko back in," she continued in a grave voice. "She's my best and most lethal operative."

Sesshou put the empty can down decisively and held his palm out towards Kagome. "In that case, I will succumb peacefully. Can I try the cream soda now?"

Kagome laughed, and handed one over. Sesshou smiled faintly and watched her as he popped it open. She had a nice laugh. It sounded a bit familiar, for some reason. He hadn't really noticed before, but that might have been because she had been laughing at his expense at the time.

"So," Kagome gestured towards the house. "Are you helping your parents out with the repairs and stuff?"

"No, not exactly. They passed away a couple of years ago," he said, taking a sip and grimacing. Could this drink possibly have contained any more sugar? He didn't think so.

"Oh," Kagome said softly. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

Sesshou looked up to see wide brown eyes and a sympathetic expression. "No, really, it's fine," he replied. For some unnameable reason, he wasn't uncomfortable talking to Kagome about this.

"They were pretty old. When they adopted me, they had already been retired for a while. It was just their time." Her face was so expressive, he thought to himself. It was as if her every thought played across her delicate features.

"You were adopted when you were a baby?" Kagome asked curiously.

"I was four," he replied. His expression darkened. It had taken quite some time for him to be chosen by a family. He had been quiet and reserved as a child, and the couples who had come in had wanted happy, hyper children.

Plus, there had been the issue of his name. His adopted parents told him that, from the moment he could talk, he had refused to answer to anything but Sesshou. He smiled faintly. His mother and father had just accepted it, changing his name legally. "Mom and Dad basically treated me like I was a small person."

Kagome nodded. He obviously missed them. "Do you remember your biological parents?" She paused for a few seconds after asking. "I don't really remember my dad," she continued quietly. "He died when I was really young."

Sesshou shook his head. "No, I don't remember anything. I was found as a newborn on someone's doorstep," he answered matter-of-factly. Kagome didn't detect any sadness in his face. "They said I couldn't have been more than a few hours old before I was brought in to the hospital and social services took me in. All I know about it is that my birthday is May 12th."

Kagome was surprised. "Hey, I have the same birthday as you! It's only a month and a half from now. I'll be turning twenty." She shuddered. "I only hope my grandpa doesn't give me anything petrified or mummified," she went on with a grin.

Sesshou looked at her strangely. "I'll be twenty, too."

It seemed as though a lot of odd and coincidental things were happening today, he thought to himself. Earlier, he had been seeing things, like those marks on his arm. Then, there was Keiko. He shuddered. Keiko violated all laws of god and man.

He'd also run into Kagome three times today, not that he really minded. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was staring off into the red sky as the sun disappeared completely, and the fading glow made the pale peach of her skin radiant.

Kagome was unaware of Sesshou's scrutiny. As the last of the day's light was consumed by the city skyline, she sat up with a jolt. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "My mom will be worried about me. I'd better get home, she gets worked up about me walking around after dark."

He nodded, and the two of them rose to their feet.

Kagome looked up at Sesshou. "Anyway, I am sorry about earlier today. You know, the stalker thing," she said hesitantly.

"It's okay." Sesshou said.

"Thanks." She looked down at her shoe briefly, and then looked back up at him. "Well," Kagome smiled, "it was nice to meet you." He inclined his head slightly. Then, she turned, hefting her bag onto her shoulder, and walked off at a brisk pace.

Sesshou watched her departure for a moment, and then turned back to the house to clean everything up. He examined the shutters with a critical eye. At least they didn't look like they were about to fall off anymore, he thought with relief. As he gathered the tools together, he noticed a plastic bag on the step.

Kagome had left her drinks.

She'd only been gone a few minutes. He might as well catch up with her and return it. After all, he reasoned, if he didn't, he might just end up drinking it all. He might even drink it all tonight, and that would be bad. The stuff was addictive.

What exactly was cream soda made of, anyway? He kind of felt funny.

If he had anymore, he would probably make himself sick. Having it around would just be tempting fate. For the sake of his own health, he should go after her.

Yes, he decided, his mood light. He had better return it right away. Sesshou set the toolbox inside and locked the front door before setting out after Kagome with the bag in hand.

He chose not to analyze why the thought of talking to her again was so appealing.

**********

Full night had fallen by the time Kagome reached the construction site. She clutched her arms and shivered. Without the light of the sun to warm her, the air suddenly seemed very cold, and this deserted area was creepy in the dark.

She looked at the site curiously, wondering what the structure would be. Before, the space had been occupied by a couple of small shops. Now, the it was all exposed beams and scaffolding. From the size, she guessed that it would become a commercial development. The thought saddened her.

Lately, it had seemed to her that the modern world had acquired a harshness that she found uncomfortable.

Kagome shivered again, and this time it wasn't from cold. Something wasn't right around here, she realized with alarm. Was someone watching her? She looked around furtively. Her brow furrowed when she heard male voices coming from within the dark, cordoned off construction area. Ducking her head down, she walked faster, hoping to pass them before she attracted their attention.

Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way.

"Hey! Hey, little girl, come over here and say hello," someone shouted, slurring their words together. She groaned inwardly and walked on, ignoring him, but another voice soon joined the first.

"Why are you taking off so fast? Don't you want to come and play with us?" This voice was deeper and twisted with dissipation. She heard many footsteps following her, and then laughter. She sped up even further. How many of them were there?

Suddenly, someone grabbed her around the arm. Kagome shoved away and broke into a run, only to be stopped again by an iron grip.

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. Obviously, bathing was not high on a gangster's priority list, because this guy was definitely a little ripe. "Give me any money you have," the man said, forcefully turning her to face him.

Suddenly, Kagome felt very afraid. There were at least twelve guys facing her, and she could hear other voices from inside the half-erected building. To make it all worse, she didn't even have a wallet with her to give them. She'd spent the little cash she'd carried at the corner store, and all she had were her schoolbooks.

"I - I don't have any money," she said, trying to sound placating as she retreated slowly, searching for an avenue of escape. "I only have my b-biology books-"

As she spoke, she realized that they had gradually turned her around so that she was retreating towards the makeshift fencing of the site. Oh gods, she thought helplessly. This was not good at all. She was cornered. A couple of them blocked her when she tried to move sideways.

"Biology?" the leader said softly. He moved closer to her and touched her shoulder, a speculative leer on his greasy face. He chuckled. "I think I know all I need to know about biology, unless you wanna teach me some more."

Kagome recoiled in revulsion as his dirty fingers slid over her collarbone. She could feel his gaze crawling disgustingly over the curves of her body. She backed away reflexively. Then, something hit the back of her leg, causing her to tumble backwards into a pile of debris lying against the fence. Reaching behind her, she managed to find a long piece of pipe that was about an inch and a half in diameter. She grabbed it eagerly, and stood, brandishing it before the man who was now closing in with a lewd gleam in his eye.

"Don't come any c-closer," she threatened unconvincingly. Her voice sounded desperate to her own ears. "Just leave me alone. I d-don't want to hurt you. All I want is to go home."

The man laughed, and reached for her.

**********

As he walked up the dark street, Sesshou's brow furrowed in puzzlement. Where had Kagome gone? He thought that he would have caught up to her by now. Then, he heard voices.

His eyes narrowed at the sight before him.

There was a crowd of at least fifteen men by the construction site. Something told him that they weren't admiring the architecture. Their voices were raised in malicious pleasure, and they seemed to be cornering someone against the fence.

Sesshou felt a sinking sensation in his stomach when he recognized the small figure.

A couple of the guys must have been looking out for any interruptions, because one broke away and approached him with violence in his eyes.

"Hey. Pretty boy," he growled. "You'd better stay out of this if you know what's good for you. We wouldn't want to mess up those looks of yours."

Sesshou was barely listening. He was lost in a sudden influx of sensory information.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Against the backdrop of distant traffic, he heard hearts beating quickly in excitement, and the soft whoosh of lungs reaching for breath.

Suddenly, he could smell everything, though he kind of wished that wasn't the case.

The smell of exhaust was strong, though there were no cars currently on the road. The odour was coloured by the city's oily residue, and the taint of garbage. Also, these guys were obviously strangers to the daily shower.

Inhaling, he detected another, more pleasant scent. Somehow, he knew it. It bloomed on the olfactory landscape, like a blossom in a pile of refuse.

It was Kagome, and she was afraid.

Sesshou dropped the bag he'd been carrying and flashed forward. Somehow, he was moving faster than he'd ever moved in his life, and there was no time to think.

**********

Hiro inspected the white-haired guy in front of him with disdain. He was obviously a wuss. He was pretty enough to be a girl, for god's sake. He'd probably never been in a good fight in his entire life. One solid punch, and he'd be laid out.

Then, maybe the boss would let Hiro have a turn with that hot, curvy little thing in the red skirt. He grinned at the thought. She smelled pretty, and he bet she'd be a screamer.

Then, he noticed something strange.

When had pretty-boy gotten those tattoos on his face? Those were kind of cool. Before Hiro had a chance to comment, the guy's eyes glowed red, and Hiro thought that perhaps he wasn't that pretty after all.

The next thing Hiro knew, there was a blur, and something frighteningly strong had him by the throat. He felt the prick of claws breaking skin. Those strange glowing eyes, now much closer, turned back to yellow as he watched.

Hiro promptly lost control of his bladder, and fainted.

**********

Sesshou dropped the thug as if he'd been burned. Well, he thought. That was anticlimactic. He caught a whiff of the man on the ground and covered his nose. Ugh. Anticlimactic and gross, Sesshou amended mentally. He looked up and saw that some of the other men who had been lying low in the site had noticed a disturbance and were headed over to him.

Kagome, Sesshou thought.

He looked up, searching for her.

All he saw was a whirling, purple glow.

**********

Kagome quaked in her shoes, clutching the pipe and trying to think through her panic.

The outlook was bleak. There were so many of them; there was no way she would be able to get out of this just by running.

"I don't w-want to have to hurt you," she repeated, her voice trembling. The leader's hands were now on her waist, and he was dragging her close to him and laughing.

She could feel his breath on her neck.

Suddenly, a flood of strength filled her. Kagome's grip adjusted on the pipe, as the weight and shape of it became familiar in her hands. Operating on instinct alone, she raised her arm and sent a fist flying towards the guy's face. When he released her and dodged, she took advantage of the distance and brought the pipe up swiftly, slamming it into his crotch with an impact that sent shocks through her arm.

He grabbed for her as he fell to the ground in agony, propelled by rage. "You fucking bitch," he gasped, coming at her like a maddened animal. She whirled expertly, using a jab with the end of the pipe to knock him flat onto his back.

Kagome stared at where his inert form lay on the ground, stunned into immobility.

How had she done that?

She could feel energy coursing through her. She looked at the pipe in her hands, and her mouth fell open as she saw that both her body and the pipe were glowing purple.

She looked up, shocked, only to see another man recover from his surprise and charge towards her. Effortlessly, she turned the five-foot-long length of metal in her hand, and planted it firmly on the ground. Then, she vaulted gracefully over him and slammed the end of her weapon into his temple from behind, knocking him out with an audible thud. As the others stood still in shock, Kagome turned and flung the staff out in wide arcs. The momentum of her swing knocked them onto their backs on the cold concrete with a speed and strength that made them quake with fear.

Kagome's eyes darted quickly from side to side, surveying the scene. Most of the men were clumsily regaining their feet and fleeing.

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned to see Sesshou, taking on a whole group of guys who were charging towards him from inside the construction site.

At least, she thought it was Sesshou. He was moving so fast that she couldn't quite tell.

**********

Sesshou, tearing his attention away from the girl who'd just knocked a bunch of men onto their asses in about five seconds, watched as the remaining gang-members approached him.

Tonight was definitely proving to be a bizarre end to an incredibly strange day.

He could feel power moving through his body, as though a wall that had been holding him back had disappeared. He tensed his muscles experimentally. Sesshou was amazed at the strength that had lain dormant in him until tonight.

His dreams had shown him what he could do. In dreams, he had learned the physics of his suddenly unfamiliar body.

In dreams, he had trained.

He shook his head at the peculiarity of it all.

One of the gang members started yelling in what Sesshou assumed was meant to be a threatening fashion. "I bet you wish you hadn't come this way tonight, asshole!"

Sesshou sighed. Couldn't this idiot see his comrade laid out on the ground where he'd pissed himself and passed out?

Really, he thought, somewhat bored. The modern gang could stand to implement some kind of pre-recruitment IQ test. As it was, it seemed that membership was based on glue-sniffing capacity. He doubted that, between all of them, they had even half a brain.

What a pathetic operation.

As soon as he finished that thought, he was in motion. The thugs saw nothing. To their eyes, he had simply disappeared, and then reappeared over five suddenly unconscious bodies. The remaining men finally got a clue. They looked at each other, turned tail, and ran off to follow those who had fled after Kagome had attacked them.

Kagome had seen it all. Still holding the pipe, she walked over as she slung her bag back over her shoulder.

She and Sesshou just stared at one another for what seemed to be an endless moment.

Sesshou broke the silence cautiously. "Um, you forgot your soda." He walked back to where he'd dropped the plastic bag and handed it to her.

She accepted the bag and reached inside. They were still cool.

Casually, she opened one and asked, "You are aware that you had stripes on your face for a while there, right?" She handed the can to him and opened another for herself, drinking deeply.

Apparently, whupping ass made a girl thirsty.

Sesshou nodded. "You were glowing purple."

For some reason, neither of them was all that shocked at the general weirdness of the evening so far.

Kagome seated herself on the kerb. Sesshou joined her.

"So," he asked quietly, after taking a sip. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?" He was fascinated by her strength. Kagome had already intrigued him, and seeing her use all that skill only intensified it.

Kagome shrugged, brow furrowing. She took a delaying swallow of her drink, not really knowing what to say. "Actually," she replied slowly, "I don't know. Weird, huh?"

For a moment, she regretted her candor, but she had the feeling he would understand.

It seemed like neither of them was, at that moment, a poster child for normal.

Sesshou took another long drink from his soda, thinking about how he'd suddenly acquired super speed, strength, and claws.

"I guess it's not that weird," he responded.

Kagome watched him as he looked down at the pavement. He had been so fast, and inhumanly strong. And the markings. . .

"So, what's your story? I mean, the stripes are almost gone now. I saw you fight too, and it was just incredible."

"I wish I knew," Sesshou replied. He still wasn't sure what exactly was happening. First, the dreams had worried him, but he could safely say that they seemed positively comforting compared to recent developments.

"We both had the cherry coke," Kagome rationalized weakly. "We should get in touch with the company, and get them to recall that batch or something. Or maybe we had too much sugar."

Sesshou shook his head, playing along. "I started feeling weird after the cream soda. There's definitely something wrong with it."

Despite themselves, they each shot a suspicious glance at the pink cans in their hands.

Their thoughts were cut off by a weak voice.

"Bitch," someone groaned. The pair turned to see the gang leader slowly crawling over to grab Kagome pathetically by the ankle. With a disgusted look on her face, Kagome quickly knocked him on the head again, laying him out at their feet with remarkable speed.

She looked back up at Sesshou, only to see that his eyes had gone gold, and the stripes she had seen earlier were becoming faintly visible once more. Kagome touched his cheek curiously, and was stunned to see the markings darkening on the warm skin beneath her fingertips.

She snatched her hand back when Sesshou made an odd sound in his throat. She blushed and started to apologize profusely.

"Sorry!" she said. He watched as she got up and dusted herself off. "I didn't mean to be intrusive or anything." Kagome stood awkwardly for a moment. "Um, I guess I'll call the cops and say that I saw some kind of fight happen here."

Sesshou nodded. His fingertips came to rest where hers had traced his markings. The skin there seemed to hum.

"Goodnight, Kagome" he said with a small smile, getting up to leave.

Kagome smiled back. "I'll see you around."

With that, they each turned and walked home.

**********

Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading. Your reviews really keep me going with this story. It's becoming a huge bloated monster. I really appreciate your comments.

EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS go to CX-chan for her invaluable help answering my questions. Without her gracious assistance, this chapter would have taken a lot longer to come out. She rocks my world.

Ch. 4 has been revised, and this chapter has been reworked because I'm not so good with fight scenes.

For those who like to know these things, the title of this story and the chapter titles are from "This Mess We're In" by PJ Harvey.

***What follows is for people whom I have inadvertently confused. IF YOU'RE HAVING NO TROUBLE FOLLOWING THE TWO TIMELINES SO FAR AND WANT TO BE UNSPOILED AS DRIVEN SNOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, SKIP THE REST OF THE NOTE.***

It's come to my attention that there is some confusion about what's going on in this story. Well, I knew there would be confusion, but I don't want to cause any nasty discomfort.

I'll try to explain a little about it here. I'm basically telling two different stories at the same time. One's occurring in the feudal age, and one's occurring in the present, when Kagome is 19 and has apparently stopped going through the well. Many, many things have yet to be explained about Sesshou and Kagome, and also about Sesshoumaru and Kagome (I like to call it suspense, others may call it inspiration to strangle me). At the moment, events in the past and present are unfolding independently of one another.

Obviously, all of this ends up being one story. If you just hang in there, things should become clear as we go along.

I'm sorry if I've been driving anyone crazy with my narrative strategy, but I really couldn't think of any other way to accomplish what I want to. Thanks for your patience!