InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Nowhere to Go But Up/Demon in the Basement ❯ Changes Beyond Imagining and Crisis No. 2 ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

A/N: All Inuyasha characters and references belong to the creator of Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi and published by Shogakukan. Any other characters are more than likely my own creation. If I borrow directly from another story I will do my best to make sure I give credit where credit is due.

****   
W11.18.15 PM
The bell chimed merrily above the door as Kagome entered the market for the second time that day. She was relieved to have made it in time; it was only about 40 minutes to closing. A woman slightly older than middle-age was sweeping by the shelves of canned goods and looked up. Kagome stood there for a moment, staring stupidly before she realized this must be the other woman Mrs. Ishikawa had working for her.
 
She pulled on a friendly smile and thought, ‘Of course I would meet my only other coworker when I’m half out of breath and covered in basement dirt… just perfect.’ With an internal sigh, she made the best of it and bowed her head respectfully. “Konbanwa, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Kagome Higurashi.”

The woman looked surprised, but recovered and took in the young woman’s dusty, disheveled appearance doubtfully before she gave her an uncertain smile and bowed back. “Konbanwa, Kagome. You’re the new girl Mio hired, I suppose?”

Kagome started to answer in the affirmative, but there was the sound of footsteps and Mrs. Ishikawa herself walked into the room. Apparently, she’d come down from her living quarters upstairs, having seen Kagome’s car pull up outside. “Kagome, you’re back-- did you forget something or did you just miss this place already?”

Kagome smiled and shook her head. “No-- emergency grocery run. I’m afraid I have an unexpected house guest.” Her tone might have held a little dismay as she said, half to herself, “he’s not an oatmeal and apple slices kind of guy…so I figured I’d pick up some things.”

Mio nodded and made a quick introduction. “I see, well this is Shizu Konomura. She’s worked here with me for several years now. Shizu, this is the young woman I told you about. She’ll be working mostly the early shifts with me for now. I’m glad you two got to meet each other.”

Shizu didn’t seem terribly interested in Kagome. If anything she looked a little put off, but Kagome had bigger problems at the moment and decided she’d just have to make a better second impression than first, in this instance. It wasn’t as if this was how she’d planned the evening to go. Mio sat down behind the counter with some paperwork while Kagome got a large basket and filled it quickly, not wanting to make Shizu late getting out tonight and cementing a bad reputation in place from the start.

When she began piling everything on the counter Mio raised her eyebrows. “I thought you said you just had one guest-- did he bring a dozen brothers?”

Kagome’s smile was a little strained as she added up what this was going to cost. The kerosene heater was going to have to wait, it seemed. “No,” she said, with a weak laugh. “But he’s one of those guys that has to eat a lot, metabolism like a freight train… you know how it goes.”

Mio nodded and started ringing the items through. “Yes, I had three boys, I know very well. Tam was at my table with them more often than not--they were friends growing up, you see… and I think he could eat as much as all three of mine put together.”

Kagome’s smile became warmer as she remembered how much Shippo had eaten. Growing demon boys need their grub… it was a wonder the kit hadn’t eaten Mio out of house and home if he was there so often. The older woman hadn’t missed the distress in Kagome’s expression as she was totaling the order. When she got to the end the young woman frowned and checked the math. “Mrs. Ishikawa, that can’t be right…”

Mio gave her a conspiratorial smile and said, “yes, it is. You said this was rather unexpected, and I can’t pay you until next week. We’ll give you 20% just this once.” Kagome wanted to deny the kind offer, but she swallowed her pride, knowing she needed it.

“Thank you, really,” she said. “I promise I’ll work a few extra hours off the clock doing some heavier cleaning or something.”

Mio waved her off and said, “don’t worry about it, just be on time and don’t run off back to the city too fast. Go home to your friend. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

****

Kagome squinted, trying to see through the dark as she drove toward the entrance to the driveway. She thought she saw movement at the front door of the house. Sure enough,dingiest version of Sesshomaru she’d ever seen was carefully picking his way down the steps. He still moved like an old man, but at least he was able to move now. Whatever yuck he’d chugged from those bottles seemed to be doing its job. Kagome parked the car and turned off the engine. She called out as she got out, bags of groceries on either arm. “What are you doing?”

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes a little at her question, but this time he answered her. “I’m going to the spring. I will return shortly.” With that, he turned and moved off into the darkness, disappearing around the side of the house.

Kagome stood for a moment, baffled. ‘How did he know there was a spring?’ She worried a little about him being able to get all the way there and back by himself; but despite his limp he seemed to be moving along alright; and surely a soak in the hot mineral water would help. By the time he got back he might surprise her and be his delightful and practically verbose self, she thought with a sarcastic sort of smile.

Once she had the groceries hauled inside she got to work, throwing together a pot of soup with lots of chicken, veggies and rice. While that was set on the hottest part of the grate to simmer, she put five large pieces of fish in her only other large pan with herbs, garlic, butter and potatoes. While that all simmered and cooked she peeked out the window to see if there was any sign of Sesshomaru.

With him still nowhere to be seen, she took the opportunity to give herself a quick sponge bath with cold water at the sink and put on green flannel pajamas. They were old and had a tear in one knee, but they kept her warm enough. She left her hair tied up in a sloppy knot on top of her head, figuring it didn’t really matter. She’d need to wash it in the morning anyway and it wasn’t like she was trying to impress anyone.

She was turned with her back to the door, trying to get a look at the bruise forming on the side of her hip in her little mirror when she heard the front door open. He’d been gone long enough that the fish was nearly ready and she’d started wondering if she’d imagined the insane events of the evening.

****

Sesshomaru paused at the closed kitchen door. The smells of cooking food wafted into the front hall; bringing his ravenous hunger to the fore front again. The bowl of grain mush and fruit she’d left him with was long gone already, his body burning through it in short order as it worked to rebuild torn and atrophied muscles. Realizing suddenly that he was hesitating at his own kitchen entrance, he pulled the door open.

Kagome was there, but in different clothes, and it appeared she’d cleaned up some as well in his absence. The food over the fire held about 99.8 percent of his attention. She was at the stand of shelving next to the counter, pulling out dishes and he realized she was talking.“Can you close that door please? I’m trying to keep the heat in so I don’t freeze later.”

Despite the fact that it was almost uncomfortably hot in the kitchen, he did as she asked. He didn’t care about air temperature. He just wanted to EAT. She turned to him and paused, looking uncertain with a stack of things in her arms. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth thoughtfully, then asked, “is it easier on you to stand at the counter and eat or sit on the bed, or the floor? I’m afraid I don’t have anything better set up yet. I haven’t been here long.”

Her eyes dropped from his face to his chest, half exposed under a plain, long sleeved shirt of undyed cloth. It was clearly old. There were several places where the threads had come apart, but it stayed on his broad shoulders. Kagome realized she’d half expected him to be emaciated, but he wasn’t. He didn’t look as filled out as he had the last time she’d seen him, but what did she know?… It wasn’t like she’d ever seen him without his kimono and armor on. Even when they’d traveled together he’d continued to wear the armor constantly.

Now, seeing him without all the extra layers was strange…maybe interesting? He almost didn’t look like the same person. His body was long and lean like Inuyasha, but he was taller and broader across the shoulders, with a slightly different kind of muscle mass. It couldn’t be doubted that this demon was built for both power and speed. Sesshomaru wore what she assumed to be the same loose black pants, though it appeared he’d attempted to wipe them down. His feet were bare. He dropped the shoes and a stack of dirty cloth she guessed was the robe he’d been wearing in a stack by the door. His long silver mane was clean now and hung loose about his shoulders, the length just the same as ever.

Kagome shook herself free of her semi-fascinated examination when she noticed him staring back at her. For a reason she couldn’t identify, she suddenly felt self-conscious about her dirty hair and her worn pajamas. Cheeks a little warm, she held the dishes up and asked again, “um….well? Floor or counter?”

He seemed to consider it for a moment before he gestured at the floor by the fire. Kagome set the dishes out on the clean wooden floor so that they might sit on the edge of the foam pad. However, Sesshomaru took a seat on the floor, sitting legs crossed with the fire pit on his right side, and her mattress on his left. Kagome considered clarifying that he was welcome to sit on the end of the mattress, but decided at the last moment to keep her mouth shut. This was Sesshomaru, after all, he’d do what he wanted to do.

She went back to the shelves for a ladle and returned to stop in front of him, holding out a package. “I know it won’t be the same as fresh, but I let them sit in a bowl of water by the coals for a few minutes so they’ll be warm. I figured they’d be a good recovery food. You like them raw, right?”

Sesshomaru took the package she offered him, narrowing his eyes as he tried to read the labeling. It turned out he was having a similar issue to that of the real estate agent when she’d tried to comprehend his ledger books, only in reverse. Lucky for Sesshomaru though, the language time-gap was only about a century, instead of six. After a moment, he was able to figure out that what she’d given him was chicken livers, wrapped in some kind of strange, crinkling material.

His eyes found hers and he looked at her for a moment in surprise. For the first time with a clearer head, he wondered how she could be standing here cooking him dinner. It made his brain hurt; but however long it had been, she’d apparently committed his food preferences to permanent memory. Kagome looked a little uncertain as she leaned over and ran her fingertip along the package. “If you run a claw along this side of the plastic, you can save the blood and juice if you want to add it to your soup. I wasn’t sure if you wanted it.”

Sesshomaru looked back down at the squishy container in his hand. Doing as she suggested, he slit the package open, fished one of the small bits of meat out and popped it in his mouth. She was right, it did taste different than what he was used to, but he was starving. After he’d eaten half the package in record time, Kagome busied herself with a pair of tongs, placing a huge helping of potatoes and three pieces of fish on a plate. Sliding that in front of the hungry demon, she put a little food on a plate for herself and sat down next to him on the edge of her sleeping palette.

He didn’t speak. In fact, Kagome suspected he barely paused to breath as he ate what she’d given him, then the last piece of fish, and two more bowls of soup. Finally he paused and set down the chop sticks he’d been using. A glance to his left found Kagome was sitting with her elbows on her knees, watching him. She’d finished eating long before him and was happy for the moment just to sit quietly, trying to sort through her thoughts.

All the time she looked at him, she couldn’t get over how strange it was to have the current part of her life colliding this way with the parts of her she’d been trying so hard to leave behind. It was throwing her for a loop to be sure, snapping her to attention in a way that made her feel as if she too had been sleeping, in a way. Perhaps there really was a part of her that just didn’t belong to modern day Tokyo anymore, and it had been jolted violently awake again with the appearance of someone she’d never expected to see again… let alone find sealed in her basement. She smiled and raised one delicate brow. “Feel better?”

Sesshomaru took stock of himself before he nodded once. “I’m… much improved… Arigato.” His body still felt like he’d been taken apart and then not put back together quite right, but he could move almost as normal now, so that was a relief. His head still ached and strangely, his eyes hurt a little, but he expected that too would disappear before long.

Kagome was glad to hear his voice was back to normal, though he spoke with a slightly different cadence than what she remembered. But then… he’d been around to see and speak with people here at the turn of the century, so she supposed it stood to reason that he spoke as they had spoken then… at least to some degree. “Is there anything else you need immediately?” she asked.

Sesshomaru shook his head. Kagome picked up that strange, rectangular thing she’d had before, only this time when it produced the strange bright light, his eyes were well adjusted to the fire and it didn’t cause him any trouble. “Alright, if you’ll excuse me for just a minute I need to make a quick phone call before I forget. I’ll be right back.”

After she’d stepped into a pair of soft, boot shaped foot coverings and pulled a coat over her pajamas, she left the kitchen. Closing the door behind her, Kagome wandered out to the sitting room and opened one of the doors to the back garden as she called up her mother’s cell number. It was almost nine, later than she liked to call, but not so late Mrs. Higurashi would already be asleep.

“Kagome? Hello, everything okay?” her mother asked immediately.

Kagome smiled, shivering a little in the wind that had kicked up. Deciding against her initial plan to go outside, she closed the door again and wandered back into the front hall, pacing back and forth. “Everything’s fine Mama. Today was just a little more…” She searched for a way to even begin telling her mother what had happened without worrying her too much. It was insane to think about and she expected it would sound even stranger out loud.

“--a more interesting day than I expected,” she said finally.

“Oh?” Mrs. Higurashi said, sensing a problem immediately. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” Kagome told her, thinking to herself, ‘except I bet my hip will turn some crazy colors by tomorrow. Stupid floor.’

“There was a slight…er… issue… with the floor in the dining room today. I just wanted to let you know that it’s probably safer if you and Souta don’t come out to the house here again until I have it looked at and fixed.” Kagome paused again. She intended to tell her mother about Sesshomaru, but she still wasn’t sure how to start that one.

Her mother, using the magical powers all mothers are endowed with said, “but… that’s not all… How did you find out there was a weak spot in the floor? I’m assuming something broke. It wasn’t you, I hope.”

Kagome winced. “No, well yes… the floor broke. I’m okay… but hey—I found the basement.” She ended with a smile and heard her mother sigh, and could almost see her shaking her head. Quickly, she moved on and added, “I found something else too. You’re never going to believe this.” And she gave her mother the toned down highlights of the situation, bit by bit.

Mrs. Higurashi listened, asking questions when Kagome skipped over details without realizing. The woman sounded stunned as she said, “wow… Inuyasha’s brother. You DO find the strangest situations. What are the odds you’d run into him again, of all people? He’s older than Inuyasha you said? By how much?”

“Um… I’m not sure how old he is, actually. I guess I never really thought about it,” Kagome told her, thoughtfully. “I wonder if that’s a rude question for demons.”

Kagome’s mother laughed and asked, “is he anything like Inuyasha? He’s the only demon I’ve met, so I’m afraid I don’t have much to go on.”

Kagome shook her head, forgetting for a moment that her mother couldn’t see her, and she let out a dry laugh. “um…No… not really. They’re very different people, and Inuyasha was half human, remember. Sesshomaru is 100% demon, and then some. They didn’t grow up together. I imagine if you meet him at some point you’ll see. I don’t know what his plans are. The situation’s a bit complicated and we haven’t had a chance to talk. I don’t know anything about anything after the last time I saw him, and that was a REALLY long time ago.”

Mrs. Higurashi sighed and said, “yes, I suppose it was. Perhaps much longer for him than you.”

Kagome blinked for a moment. “Hugh… you’re right. I guess I hadn’t got that far yet.”

She leaned against the wall next to the kitchen door as her mother asked cautiously, “he’s… safe, right? You’re not in any danger?”

Kagome paused to consider the question, not wanting to lie, but also not wanting to scare her mother. Finally she said, “he’s as safe to be around right now as any demon is when they aren’t in top form. I don’t think he’s hurt, but I’m not sure. We just ate and he seems to be doing better now. I know he won’t hurt me, I just thought I’d let you know what’s going on out here. It’s probably better if we have some time to figure out what’s what before anyone else walks into this, just to be safe.”

“Okay,” her mother said, still sounding worried. “But keep in touch, I want to hear from you soon. I love you.”

Kagome smiled and nodded once. “I will, love you too, Mama.” With that she ended the call, running the top of the phone along her cheek for a moment before she sighed and went back into the kitchen. She smiled again as she took off her coat, seeing that while she’d been out he’d filled his soup bowl again. Hopefully, after tonight he wouldn’t need to eat quite like this. She’d be broke in a month flat, even with her discount.

When she sat down on her bed again Sesshomaru was watching her curiously. She raised a brow and teased, “what… do I have something on my face?”

The demon stared at her for a long moment, then asked, “you would lie to the woman you call mother?”

Now Kagome blinked. “What?” she asked, totally confused.

“You told her that you knew I would not hurt you. When you found me you were afraid I would kill you,” he said in a calm, level tone.

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. She’d forgotten what it was like being around a demon in close quarters—how they could tell so much about how you felt and what you were thinking based on scent alone. She sighed again and heaved a shrug, murmuring, “I don’t want to worry her.”

Sesshomaru almost looked curious as he asked in all seriousness, “and if I do intend to kill you?”

Kagome thought about that long and hard before she said, “well… it would hardly be the first time.” Then she turned a dry smile on him and added, “but it would be a pretty dishonorable thing to kill someone who just helped out of a hole in the ground to a bath and a big meal… and in their own home. I mean really-- it would be like the worst manners ever.”

Sesshomaru’s eyes narrowed and he countered, “this is my home.”

That caught Kagome off guard for a second, then she remembered the story that Mrs. Ishikawa had shared with her and raised her brows in surprise. “Huh! So the demon was you…” She snorted out a laugh, sounding a bit like his whelp half-brother for a moment. Then she declared, “well, at the moment I have paperwork that says otherwise, so you’re just gonna have to live with it until we figure this out.”

Despite her words, her demeanor was as friendly as ever. Sesshomaru’s eyes narrowed a little more at her nerve, and he studied her carefully before he said, “explain. How is it that my half-breed brother’s human woman is here now, in my house. You are Inuyasha’s Kagome, are you not?”

Something crossed her face in the wake of his words; pain of some kind, perhaps, and she shrugged again-- though this time there was a noticeable curve to her shoulders and she looked away, gathering a few dishes in her hands. As she got to her feet and went to the sink with them, she said, “I’m not Inuyasha’s anything. I’m just Kagome.”

Sesshomaru sensed there was a lot of information to be had there. He’d not returned to the old woman Kaede’s village again for quite some time after their final fight against Naraku, and had always assumed that Kagome had just eventually died, or left. Certainly the only time he’d asked his brother about her whereabouts, the hanyu had been surly and angry-- only telling him she’d gone home. He frowned, trying to puzzle it out.

Kagome was clearing up the dinner dishes now and filled a pan with some water to heat so she could wash them, keeping her hands busy. “Where is the whelp, then?” Sesshomaru asked, assuming that if they weren’t mated, she’d at least know this much. She’d cared deeply for the idiot, despite the way he’d regularly given her nothing but grief. It had never made sense to him.

Her words were a little stilted, and she didn’t look at him as she said, “I don’t know. He sent me back here the day after…” Her heart seemed to have climbed into her throat and she paused, covered it with a cough, then finished roughly, “after we finished the jewel.” A little more evenly, she said, “I haven’t seen him since. I don’t know what happened after that.”

Sesshomaru had not expected this answer, and it only left him more questions. He pondered her words, and the smell of her filled his nose as she came back to sit on her bed, waiting for the wash water to heat. His simple questions had triggered some deeply unhappy emotions in her, and loss and hurt was clear in the lines of her mouth, the tightness of her jaw.

“You long for him?” he asked, almost without meaning to.

Her smile was more than a little sad as she said thoughtfully, “I miss him… if that’s what you mean. I wish I knew that he was alright, wherever he is, or was.”

Sesshomaru frowned again in confusion. “He’s dead?” Had the moron finally gotten himself killed? And he’d been asleep and missed it? Damn.

Pain flashed across her face once more and she cleared her throat all over again. She would not cry-- not in front of Sesshomaru, of all people. “I don’t know,” she repeated. “I hope not. I haven’t seen him since the day after the last fight with Naraku.”

Sesshomaru took a pronounced sniff at her now and she raised a brow. Still frowning slightly, he stated, “you are only human.”

Kagome blinked, her lips curving at the corners in amusement. “Yes, I am. Thanks for reminding me.”

Ignoring her teasing, he asked, “how is it you’ve prolonged your life so? Not even witches’ magic can make a human immortal.”

Human lives could be significantly extended, he knew, but clearly she was not mated to a demon-- or anyone for that matter, the beast in him was quick to inform him. And she didn’t smell of any magic but her own. Miko magic couldn’t do what had apparently been accomplished here.

Realizing the way it looked from his perspective, Kagome clarified, “I’m only 24, hardly immortal.” She grinned and pointed to her own face. “See that little line by my mouth? That wasn’t there a few years ago. I’m aging just fine.”

Sesshomaru studied her face, but saw no such line. She looked to be in very good condition, in fact. Kagome decided to have mercy on him and explained. “There was a sort of tear in time on the shrine where my family lives; I sort of fell through it by accident when I was 15. That’s when I met Inuyasha and that whole business with the jewel started.” Almost unconsciously, her hand went to her hip. There was a blotchy scar left from the place where she’d been injured in Mistress Centipede’s efforts to tear the Shikon no Tama from her body.

She sighed wearily and said, “it’s a long story, and it doesn’t matter anymore, but I was going back and forth from this time to that one during the five years we spent putting the Shikon no Tama back together and hunting Naraku. I came back here-- to this time, every couple of weeks or so, to see my family and try to keep up with school. Between one thing and another that got easier because school wasn’t an issue anymore.”

Sesshomaru looked stunned for a moment, sitting very still as he absorbed this, turning her explanation over and looking at it from every angle. It was strange, to be sure-- but… he supposed it was plausible. If it was possible for the living to forge a path into the realms of the dead-- a thing which both he and Kagome had done in the course of past events, then time travel might be no less likely.

He’d never asked about her origins when they’d traveled together with the others, running Naraku to ground. He hadn’t cared. All that had mattered was their goal. Then he remembered something he had gleaned from the time he’d spent with them. “I see… you are a future incarnation of the priestess Kikyo… but it was much farther in the future than I realized,” he said, working it all out.

“I am, yes,” she said, without inflection. “That was when Naraku made his first grab for the jewel. Kikyo was burned with it after Naraku killed her… the first time. That was her way of making sure it was safe and he couldn’t get his hands on it, until it came back with me.” Her smile was dry as she muttered, “guess I was just lucky.”

Sesshomaru stared at her for a moment as a myriad of pieces fell into place in his head. Thinking out loud, he muttered, “the very definition of a victim of circumstance.” And she’d risen to the challenge well, he thought distractedly; for a human, anyway.

Kagome straightened, surprised at both his words, and the person they were coming from. “I guess… I never really thought about it like that.” She considered the notion, and decided that even if she’d had a choice-- and to some extent, she had, she wouldn’t have done things any differently; even knowing the way it would turn out for her. Straightening, she pushed those thoughts to the side and said, “my turn for a question.” She’d thought about this, and decided to start with something small. “What the heck was that thing you spit out in the basement?”

Sesshomaru’s eyes focused again where he was watching the fire, and it took him a moment to pull his head back to the information she was asking for. “It was part of the working we used when I went to sleep,” he told her. She kept quiet, clearly waiting for more information. Grudgingly, he explained, “I sustained an injury early in the year 1903. I did what was necessary to keep myself alive. That required the services of a witch as well as much of my own power. I expelled a string of stones that had to be lodged in my throat while I was under the magic.”

He had to think harder for a second to remember the details and added, “bloodstone, lepidolite, tourmaline, and fluorite… all aid in grounding magic, energy restriction and the cleansing of toxins.”

Kagome winced. “That sounds really uncomfortable.”

Sesshomaru gave a slight nod of agreement. “It was unpleasant… but the alternative was worse. My wound was poisoned and it would have killed me had I not taken extreme action.”

“But… over 100 years?” she asked, sounding a little incredulous. Then her brow creased with worry and she looked him over, as if searching for the damage he spoke of. “It worked though, right? You’re okay?”

Sesshomaru’s expression went hard. “It was not supposed to last more than 30 years at the most. If the witch I hired was alive today, she would regret the error. But yes, it seems to have worked.”

The way Sesshomaru clenched his jaw, Kagome didn’t doubt the truth of his words. Perhaps it was just as well the witch was dead. Suddenly, a yawn overtook her and the long day hit her all at once. She felt wrung out and exhausted, and she’d have to be up by 6:30 to get a bath and cook breakfast before she left for work. Glancing at the time on her phone, she said, “it’s late, I should try to get some sleep. I have to go to work early tomorrow.”

Sesshomaru didn’t look like he was even listening to her, but rather, was somewhere inside his own head. With a sigh, Kagome got up, washed what dishes couldn’t wait for tomorrow and turned back to find him staring into the fire. She dropped another two logs on the blaze and built it up for the night. Then she pondered the problem of sleeping arrangements.

Chewing her lip a moment, she pulled one of the quilts from her bed and her second pillow into her arms and set them down in front of him. Feeling guilty, she asked, “will you be okay on the floor for now? Tomorrow we can talk more about what’s next. Maybe I can pick you up an air mattress in town.”

He looked at her blankly and she remembered two things. He likely didn’t know what an air mattress was, and also, when he’d been traveling with her and Inuyasha, he’d slept very little. When he had rested, it had been sitting up against a tree, or on a branch high up where he could see the surrounding area. That thought made her smile a little. Inuyasha had liked sleeping in trees too-- perhaps they did have some things in common… even if they’d rather tear each other to shreds than admit it.

Sesshomaru watched her climb into her blankets and curl up, shifting a bit until she was comfortable. Her eyes found him again, lids heavy as she murmured, “you should probably stick close to the house until I can tell you more about my time. A lot’s happened in the last century and I don’t…” she stopped, yawning again, her eyes closing as she finished her sentence. “…don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Sesshomaru watched her fall asleep, somewhat taken aback; lost as to how to respond. He knew things changed over time, but he’d seen how it generally happened. And the idea that she cared what did or didn’t happen to him made no sense at all-- even as it made something in his chest feel… tight, maybe. The feeling only lasted a moment, then his thoughts shifted and he better grasped just how long he’d been asleep. From the little he’d seen, his home was in shambles-- what of the rest of his world? What had happened to his land? His business?

He frowned, looking at the dishes on the counter. Only now did it register that she’d purchased all that they’d eaten cleaned and prepared, yet she didn’t look as if she had much in the way of material wealth. Was that how food was handled now? Did she not hunt? A glance around the small room revealed no weapons of any kind, for hunting or for anything else. Did she live here alone with no way to defend herself?

With questions swirling in his head, he got to his feet. For the first time since Rin had left to live in Kaede’s village, he made a point of moving silently, so as not to wake a human woman. He wanted to see the state his home was in, and despite her advice, he had no intention of restricting himself now that he was finally awake. He was well fed and had some energy to burn-- he needed to stretch and move. He would run and fly, and see what time had wrought while he’d been buried beneath the ground.

**** TH11.19.15

Kagome woke to a stiff and aching body when her alarm informed her it was time to get up. She’d had such strange dreams….  It had to be a dream. What were the odds there was a demon lying hidden in her new house, and then that such a demon would turn out to be Lord Sesshomaru—great demon of the west? The whole thing was preposterous. She smiled though, remembering the way he’d looked in the linen shirt. Having never seen the Dai Yokai in such a casual state, she wondered how her mind could have created such a vivid picture. He’d been quite handsome, actually… in a fierce sort of way.

She drifted in and out for a few more minutes before her phone’s alarm went off again, urging her back to the waking world with her own message to herself flashing in white letters across the screen. ‘Get up! You have to take a bath before work! And make breakfast!’

Groaning, she silenced the alarm and rolled to what could roughly be called a vertical position. When she heaved herself to her feet, she couldn’t help the low, “ouuuuch…” hissed under her breath. Her hand flew to her aching hip and she realized she was extremely stiff, her hip and shoulder aching intensely. Frowning, she pulled the elastic band away from her body and studied the black and blue mark creeping towards her waist. Then her eyes moved past it to the quilt and pillow sitting on the floor where she’d left them for Sesshomaru….

Sesshomaru….

Her eyes widened and she looked around the room. She was alone… but the dishes from the night before reinforced the testimony of the bedding. It hadn’t been a dream. So… where was Sesshomaru? Shaking her head, she brushed her hair and teeth, gathered her things and stuck her feet into boots. The morning was chilly, but not as cold as the day before, and she trudged along to the hot spring.

A long, hot bath helped her to feel human again. The evidence of her fall through the floor refused to be ignored, but the stiffness was nearly gone when she got out, dried and dressed in jeans with a cream colored turtle neck sweater. Once she’d slipped her stocking feet into her brown leather boots, she pulled her coat back on and carried her stuff back to the house, wondering if she’d find a silver-haired demon looking for breakfast.

The reheated remains of last night’s soup served for her morning meal and she ate in undisturbed silence. Briefly, she wondered if Sesshomaru had left for good. Would he come back? His boots and the dusty, dirty hooded robe still sat in a pile by the door, some of the little evidence of yesterday’s events. She couldn’t help herself. Before she finished getting ready for work she went to check the dining room. Yep… sure enough, there was still a gaping hole in the floor.

Sighing heavily, she shrugged it off. Before she left she wrote a note for him in case he came back, informing him that he should stay away from the village until she got home that afternoon and they could talk some more. Pictures danced through her head of all the trouble he could get into walking around looking like he did, with very little knowledge of the way the world functioned now. There’d still been no sign of him by the time she pulled out of the driveway, so she said a prayer and hoped for the best.

When she got to work Mrs. Ishikawa was sitting on her stool at the front counter. The old woman smiled and gestured at the door leading to the back of the shop. “Good morning. You’re right on time. The driver just got here with today’s order, hope you’re ready to dig in.”

Kagome hurried to put her things away. She went down the back hall to the receiving room to find a large truck parked outside the big garage door. An older man was unloading crates and boxes with a dolly and he gave her a quick smile and hello before returning to the truck for another load. However, she was taken unaware when the young man stacking the boxes to one side looked up with sharp green eyes and flashed her a grin. “Hey Kagome, good morning!”

She blinked a few times in surprise, her breath fogging a little in the chilly morning. “Tamotsu! Um… hi… What are you doing?”

His soft black ears twitched towards the sound of her voice, black and silver tail swishing once behind him. “I was in the neighborhood, so I stopped to help with freight. I told you, I do that sometimes.”

When she looked uncertain, he raised a brow and said, “I can leave if you’d rather do it all yourself.” He lowered his voice to just above a whisper and added, “if I do that though, Mio will probably come back here and help… which was what I was trying to limit.”

Kagome nodded once and sighed, tearing her eyes away from his tail. Summoning a friendly smile she said, “that’s sweet of you. Thanks.”

He shrugged, looking a little sheepish as he said, “yeah, well, I don’t mind.” He winked at her and grinned again, teasing. “The company’s not bad either. Let’s get to work, hugh slacker?”

Kagome flushed and shook her head at him, but she was still smiling, so he counted it a win. She seemed hesitant to come near him, and started shifting the boxes closest to the hallway first. He stayed on his end, taking the things in from the driver, giving her the space she apparently needed. They worked in a companionable silence until the driver left and they were alone.

Shivering, Kagome decided to close the garage door so no more of the heat would be sucked out the back of the building. Tamotsu had just turned to shift another crate when she reached over her head for the handle on the big door. Without thinking, she’d done it quickly and pulled downwards before her shoulder protested vehemently. Her face went pale for a second and she cried out sharply.

Tamotsu hurried over and reached up to pull the door down the rest of the way before he looked back to be sure she was alright. She’d jumped back away from him, holding her shoulder as if in pain. Brow creasing, he waited until she reluctantly met his eyes and asked, “what happened?

Kagome shrugged, winced, then shook her head and sighed. “Nothing. I’m fine, I just messed up my shoulder a little yesterday and I forgot about it.” She looked a bit annoyed with herself as she said, “it was feeling better until I did that.”

Expression softening a bit, she gave him a rueful smile. “Thanks… for helping with the door.”

“Yeah,” he said, still studying the way she rubbed at her shoulder. “Sure, no problem. I can move the rest of these into the other room if you want to get started taking things out front. It might be easier.”

She shook her head. It was her job, she wasn’t about to hand her work off to someone else; but her smile relaxed a little. “Thanks, but I’ll manage. I guess it’s fine as long as I don’t reach over my head.”

Tamotsu watched her carefully none-the-less, and made a quiet point of getting to all the heavier items before she could. Then he did something he didn’t generally do, and he stayed to help her stock. Mio arched a curious brow and gave him a smile, as if she knew he was up to something.

Okay, he admitted to himself-- his intentions weren’t entirely selfless. He wanted to spend some time with Kagome and see if she’d warm up a little. While he was at it, he took all the items on her cart that went on higher shelves and put them away so she wouldn’t have to stress her shoulder out.

They talked a little, but sometimes she seemed distracted, as if her mind was somewhere else entirely. Tamotsu looked down at the packages of rice crackers he was stocking and asked, “anybody else think these guys on the Bin Bin bags are creepy?”

Mio and Kagome both looked over at the bag in his hand, and the bulbous blue and white cartoon faces with blank, staring eyes. Mio shrugged and said, “doesn’t matter to me. People buy them and they taste good with my tea.”

He arched a brow and looked at Kagome, who pursed her lips on a smile and shrugged. When Mio had gone back to her newspaper she stepped closer to him, pulling another stack of noodle packs from the cart and murmured with a smile, “yeah-- they are a bit creepy.”

His triangular ears twitched at her soft words and for just a second, he thought he saw her eyes shift to the space just atop his head. His heart skipped a beat as the notion hit him that she might have noticed his ears, but she looked away again just as quickly and went back to her work. Tamotsu was quiet for several minutes, waiting for her to turn and demand to know why he had strange fox ears instead of human ones-- or even scarier, ask about his tail. But she couldn’t see them… right?

When she continued to treat him as if he were a normal human being, he started to relax again—but still made a point of taking a quick bathroom break to check his illusion. The small clay disk pressed with characters seemed intact and fully functional where it hung on a leather cord around his neck, and he tucked it beneath his shirt again. Glancing at himself in the mirror, he told the fox demon looking back at him, “you’re losing it, dude. Since when did a pretty girl turn you into a crazy person? Shape up already.” Then he grinned at himself, feeling stupid, and went back out to help finish stocking.

Things went smoothly enough and Mio took her lunch break early to run some errands, leaving the two of them to mind the store. Kagome put down the tray of apples she was stacking into the produce case to tend to the register several minutes later. The man waited impatiently while she fixed a mistake she’d made on his receipt. When he left, he ignored her friendly, “have a nice day,” and stomped off like she’d thoroughly offended him.

Tamotsu raised his brows at her as she came his direction to grab a few more things off the big cart they were stocking from. She rolled her eyes and smiled. “I know I messed up but really, it only cost him maybe 15 seconds of his day. I guess some people just look for a reason to be angry.” Then she winced and muttered as she swerved around the shelf and caught her sore shoulder on the metal corner.”

Tamotsu shook his head, watching her hold her shoulder again. “What happened there, anyway?”

She stopped smiling and her expression closed a little, the easy manner she’d finally adopted slipping away. Quickly, he made an effort to keep things light and added, “unless it’s one of those ‘if I told you, I’d have to kill you,’ sort of things.”

He stage whispered, “You’re actually a secret agent and you had a repelling accident while saving a fluffy injured puppy… I knew it…”

Kagome’s lips twitched into a smile again and she relaxed slightly. “Close,” she said. She was joking, but actually-- now that she thought of it the problem had involved a fall and a dog… sort of. And Sesshomaru was fluffy when he was in dog form, right? That almost made her laugh and she reminded herself never to share this mental image with said dog demon. She didn’t think he’d appreciate being thought of as ‘fluffy’ and he might feel the need to do something drastic just to prove a point.

“I… sort of fell into the basement,” she confessed, deciding it did her no harm to share some of the truth. She’d started to feel safe enough around this particular demon. He was nice, and it was almost like having a real friend again, one that knew about the demon stuff, even if they couldn’t talk about it out loud-- even if he didn’t know that she knew about it. Still, her stomach clenched. What if it was a mistake? What if she slipped and he got angry that she knew what he was and attacked her for it? She didn’t have a band of friends that were capable of providing the kind of backup necessary to pull her butt out of the fire if she ticked off a demon-- not anymore.

She checked out of the corner of her eye to see if his response betrayed anything she ought to be worried about. His brows furrowed, but he only looked concerned. “Fell? Like… down a flight of stairs?”

“No,” she said ruefully. “I managed to find a rotten spot in the old wood floors… and down I went. I’m fine though, just some bruises… and I found some more stuff in storage down there, so who knows? Maybe it will be worth the bumps.” She smiled and shrugged it off. “I’m a klutz, it’s a commonly accepted fact. My friend Inu--” But she stopped and broke off sharply.

Tamotsu waited patiently for her to go on. For a second, she looked stricken, almost like she had the first time he’d met her and she’d had that weird moment over the ramen noodles. Just for an instant a look of turmoil shot though her features, and then it was gone. She’d straightened stiffly, taken a breath and started again, but her smile was tight this time. “I had a friend that used to remind me all the time.”

He raised a brow and crossed his arms over his chest, bending forward to lean on the push handle of the cart. “That you were a klutz? That’s not very nice.”

Kagome’s lips twitched into a rueful smile again and she said, “no, he wasn’t trying to be mean. He just didn’t really have a filter. I’m pretty sure he meant well.”

“Past tense…” Tamotsu commented. “Don’t you see him anymore?” Had this been an old boyfriend? Had he treated her badly? Maybe that’s why she seemed so cautious. Darkly, the thought that she might have been in some kind of abusive relationship passed through his mind and he hoped it wasn’t the case. Earlier, he’d watched her help a single father get his groceries paid for and out to his car while dealing with a fussy baby that didn’t feel well.

She’d handled both father and child with nothing but kindness and a friendly face-- and she’d seemed to enjoy the job. It was easy to see that she was a people person when she wasn’t throwing her guard up like she did with him. She was more cautious with any male her age or older, and that worried him. Even so, he’d noticed that she seemed more hesitant with him than any of the others, and he couldn’t figure it out.

Kagome chewed her lip for a moment and her smile disappeared, those rich brown eyes downcast and focused intensely on a package of dried seaweed in her hands. “No,” She finally said. “I haven’t seen him in several years now.” With a sigh she admitted, “and I don’t expect to.”

Tamotsu waited for more, but she didn’t seem inclined to share. Finally, she glanced up and the tight, sad version of her smile returned. He preferred her real smile; that was a brilliant, warm thing-- this one made his heart hurt. “We were close, went through a lot together, but in the end he decided he didn’t want me around, I guess.” She let out a strained, self-conscious laugh and said, “sorry for being such a downer all of a sudden. Let’s talk about something else.”

Ah-hah. That’s it, he thought. She said it had been a while now, but clearly this seemed to be a big trigger for her. Apparently she’d had an intense relationship of some kind with this guy, and he’d dropped her and left. Tamotsu looked at her and tried to imagine treating a girl like Kagome that way. He couldn’t picture it and it. She pulled her face into a determined smile, as if she refused to be sad and held up the package of seaweed. “What do you think? The character on this one looks angry… can you imagine if he got into a fight with those creepy Bin Bin cracker people? It could be terrifying.”

He cracked a grin and she waved the package. “My money’s on the angry seaweed boy.” Tamotsu laughed and said, “yeah, I’ll take that bet. I had a weird dream about the cracker people once… they are terrifying.”

From that point on, they seemed to settle into a sort of conversational rhythm. It seemed Kagome was able to relax and have some fun as long as they didn’t talk about anything serious, and especially didn’t talk about her. Through careful maneuvering in his comments, he managed to figure out the specific points of shut-down for her seemed to be friends, school, and the shrine she’d grown up on. Getting anywhere near those topics caused her to instantly become nervous and more withdrawn. The jobs she’d had before this one weren’t quite so bad, but that too seemed to be something she didn’t care to talk about.

Alright, he thought. Now he had some foundation to work with. He could handle that.

Finally, they had everything put away and he couldn’t find a reason to stay any longer. In any case, he had some work he knew he should be doing elsewhere, and he gave Kagome a teasing salute. “This was fun. See you on Monday? I’ll come help again if I can.”

To his gratification, she smiled and nodded, seeming happy, rather than uncomfortable with the idea of spending more time with him. Mission accomplished. Kagome went to the breakroom for something and Tamotsu stopped by the front counter to talk to Mrs. Ishikawa before he left. The old woman smiled, eyes glinting with mirth as she teased him. “Had an awful good time working for free today, didn’t you?”

He flushed a little and shrugged, glancing at the door to the back hall. “Yeah well, ya know…”

She nodded, obviously trying not to laugh and he rolled his eyes. “Annnnnyways…” he trailed off pointedly, and then lowered his voice so Kagome wouldn’t hear. “I doubt she’ll say anything, but I just wanted to give you a heads up that she’s messed up her shoulder. She went pretty white when she tried to close the garage door this-morning.”

 Mio glanced at the door to the back hall where Kagome had disappeared, her amusement giving way to concern. “I see. She’s alright though?”

“Yeah,” he said quickly. “I did all the heavy stuff. From the way she was moving I think she just managed to bruise herself pretty good. After some serious extraction efforts she told me she fell through a rotted floor at home.”

Mio shook her head and sighed. “I thought I saw her limping a little earlier. I hope she’s being careful, that old place is too much for a young woman all by herself.”

Tamotsu looked curiously at her and she filled him in a little on what Kagome had told him about the house she’d bought, though she didn’t tell him what house it was or where. She knew she could trust Tamotsu, but she wasn’t going to give Kagome’s personal information out to anyone when the girl was so cautious with every detail. It just wouldn’t be right, and she found she wanted Kagome to feel she could trust her.

****

Kagome stayed an extra hour to help with an afternoon rush before she clocked out and started home. The weather was holding and she was trying to decide if she was too sore to get some more cleaning done-- though she’d stay out of the dining room. That reminded her of the big hole in the floor, and she sighed heavily. She’d need to call the inspector and ask him for some contacts she could call about the repairs. Maybe if she had estimates, she could start budgeting to get the work done as soon as possible.

“Money, money, money…” she hmphed, as she carried a few grocery bags into the kitchen. She set them on the counter and stood quietly for a moment, listening to the quiet house and rush of the wind outside. A search proved her home to be empty-- still no Sesshomaru. She frowned thoughtfully, wondering where he could have gone, and hesitated to consider what kind of trouble he might have gotten himself into. She used a little of the valuable data allowance on her cell phone to check local news sites, but turned it off again after a cursory glance. Surely if a great demon lord had suddenly lost his temper and trashed a section of Tokyo… it would be headline news, but there was nothing like that to be seen.

Wherever Sesshomaru was, she hoped he was alright. He’d been in rough shape the night before and she’d expected him to hang around a little while, recovering, if nothing else. She pondered what little information he’d shared while she made herself an early supper, something with leftovers, just in case he showed up. He’d said this was his house, so why would he just take off? And what exactly had he picked a fight with that had been so nasty as to hurt a demon of his stature that badly? The very thought made her shiver.

After all the excitement of the day before, she decided to spend the remainder of her evening taking some down time. She went for a walk as the sun was setting behind the fields, and returned to climb into her pajamas by the fire with her book. But even as she turned the pages she was distracted, wondering when or if Sesshomaru would turn up.

Glancing at the quilt and pillow on the floor where he’d apparently left them untouched the night before, she almost decided to put them back on her bed. At the last minute, she didn’t, and was a little dismayed to realize that a part of her hoped he was coming back. Why that was, she couldn’t say. It wasn’t like his appearance had made her life easier. Sesshomaru sticking around would only make things more complicated, and would be a constant reminder of all the things she tried not to think about.

Her mind flitted back to her time today with Tamotsu, and while it made her smile, it also plucked at her heart a little. She’d almost started to tell him about Inuyasha. The fox man was so easy to talk to that she might easily get herself into trouble. She’d have to mind her words better in future, but she decided she liked him. It was the first time she’d met such a friendly demon in her own time.

After she’d read the same page in her book three times without any idea what it had said, she admitted her focus was shot and gave up, closing her eyes. She’d rest for a few minutes and try to clear her mind, then maybe try the chapter again.

***  F11.20.15 V E AM

Sesshomaru had spent all night and much of the day high in flight. He’d gathered his power around him in the form of a cloud of fog beneath his feet and peered down at a world that looked very little like the one he remembered. Kagome hadn’t been understating the facts when she’d said much had changed in the last hundred years.

He’d spent some time on the ground, walking the paved sidewalks, but people seemed to find him so worthy of staring at that he’d finally decided it was better for the moment to stay out of sight. When night had fallen again he’d watched the lights of the city flare to life, pushing back the night with a power that impressed even him, and the horde of humanity only seemed to grow more boisterous.

Computerized billboards and luminous shop fronts flashed and shone. Towering behemoths of steel and glass jutted from the earth like giant pillars into the sky. Even high up off the ground his nose was useless, flooded with so much information that none of it meant anything.

He’d watched modern cars speed along the expressways, people laughed, cried, and yelled at one another. He noted demons here and there, but they were outnumbered by at least 50 to one, and none of them seemed all that bothered by it. Despite the strange looks he’d gotten that morning, the humans didn’t seem to notice the demons in their midst, though some of them were obviously extra-normal. The booming night life of Shibuya had utterly confounded him and he’d had a narrow run in with a news helicopter.

The pilot flying the contraption had taken one look at the man floating nearby on a cloud of shifting mist, thick silver mane blowing in the cold wind, predatory eyes of gold glinting in the night…and thought he was losing his mind. Fortunately for Sesshomaru, the pilot had been struggling with severe alcohol addiction and this apparent break with reality sent the man to the landing pad promising himself that tomorrow would be the day he put in for some time off and checked himself into a rehabilitation center.

After a certain point Sesshomaru’s senses were thoroughly overstimulated. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to think. So he started back in a south-westerly direction, into the dark, past the edge of the city and back to the only safe, quiet place he knew in this strange version of his world. It was late by the time he finally found the house in the darkened country side. Even so, he was dismayed by the way the gap between his home and the city had shrunk in the last century.

There was just a flicker of firelight in the windows of the kitchen, and he entered quietly as he could. The kitchen doors creaked a little as he pulled them closed, but the sound didn’t wake Kagome. He stood for a moment, watching the sleeping woman. She was curled into her blankets on her left side, facing the fire. Her thick black hair was loose and spread across the pillow, a book she’d apparently been reading open on its face next to her.

She shivered a little, his entry having let in some of the cold night. Without stopping to think much about the action, he put a few logs and a handful of brush from the pile by the door onto the fading fire, bringing it to roaring life again. He had questions—hell, he was pretty sure his questions had questions, but looking at Kagome now, he decided not to wake her. He’d rest for a while, until she got up in the morning.

That decided, he sat down against the wall in the space between her sleeping pallet and the fire pit. He watched her sleep, sometimes thinking of other things, and sometimes just watching her. The delicate black eyebrows were furrowed, as if she were worried. A curved, soft mouth was a pale pink color. Fair skin was smooth in the fire light with few exceptions. He noted a small line of scar tissue that looked like it had once been a burn, high on her right arm.

Tonight she slept in the same pajama pants as before, but with a form fitting black shirt that didn’t seem to have any sleeves. There were only thin strips of fabric holding it to her shoulders, bearing an indecent amount of her ample chest and slim shoulders. But he couldn’t find it in himself to mind. Absently, he thought that she really wasn’t at all bad looking, as human women went; could perhaps be considered quite beautiful. His brother was an idiot. She’d shown complete devotion, as well as a remarkable willingness to put up with the hanyu’s crap, and he’d apparently sent her away.

**** F11.20.15 E AM

Some few hours later, Sesshomaru opened his eyes. He hadn’t truly been asleep, only dozing. His sensitive ears and nose had picked up a change in his environment. A heart beat that had been slow and steady had accelerated significantly. The scent of raw vanilla and fresh water he was growing used to had become tainted with a sharp, bitter tang of fear and pain.

The young woman lying on the sleeping pad several feet from him was frowning in her sleep and had kicked the tangled blankets away. They’d landed perilously close to the fire pit, and he used one foot to shove them back against the bed. Kagome had rolled onto her back, one arm over her flat, cotton covered stomach, her breathing more rapid than normal.

He drew the conclusion that she was dreaming… apparently of something unpleasant. He was considering whether or not to make some kind of noise to wake her when she managed it on her own. Her body jerked sharply and she sat up halfway, eyes going to the fire. Then she caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye and jumped again, crying out in surprise.

Sesshomaru sat, silently watching her take stock of the room, regaining consciousness and a sense of reality. “Good grief…,” she said on an exhale. “You scared me.”

He cocked his head a bit and stated categorically, “you were frightened before you knew I was here.” After all, she couldn’t blame him for something inside her own head having alarmed her.

“Yes, I know,” she said, sounding annoyed. “I meant--” but she stopped, sighed, and shook her head. Dark eyes closed and she sighed. “Never mind.”

She rolled to her feet, moving a bit stiffly as her aching hip reminded her that it still didn’t appreciate the landing she’d made on it. The cool wood against her bare feet helped her ground herself, and she padded to the sink. Pouring some water into a glass, she leaned against the counter, looking out the window as she drank it, a little at a time.

She spent a few quiet minutes calming herself down so that when she faced the demon at her back again, she wouldn’t be upset. In her dreams, she’d made a visit to one of many battlefields she’d been a part of during her years fighting with Inuyasha and her friends. It was horrible, but it wasn’t anyone’s problem now except hers. She’d just have to shove it to the back of her mind and try not to think about it. She knew by this point that forgetting wasn’t an option.

This was decidedly odd… Sesshomaru decided. It made him uncomfortable. Kagome was a woman, undoubtedly. Kagome was upset. When women were upset they cried, they talked, the tended to wallow. All of that was generally irritating to him, but when it didn’t seem she intended to say a word, Sesshomaru asked grudgingly, “are you well?”

Kagome turned and glanced at him over her shoulder, placing her empty glass back on the counter before she shrugged, the black and blue mark on her left shoulder shifting as she said, “yes, thank you. I’m fine.”

Well, he thought… that was interesting, and somewhat of a relief, he supposed. Kagome suddenly realized how much bare skin she had showing and her hand came up to cover the small scar on her arm. She bit down on her lip and padded back to her bed, pulling on the long sleeve, button-up top to her flannel pajamas over the camisole. Sesshomaru probably didn’t care, but it made her feel less exposed.

He watched her move about the small kitchen, giving her some time to wake properly. She  busied herself putting water on the fire to make tea, set out a pot and cups, then folded herself into a small space in the middle of her sleeping pad to wait. Sesshomaru had no idea where to start requesting information, and suddenly it was easier to stay silent. Minutes passed them by, and he found a strange comfort in this quiet, in the smell of tea steeping, and so he didn’t say anything for a while.

Kagome poured herself a cup of tea from the antique celadon pot, and looked his direction, clearly offering to share with him. He nodded once, moving to sit a little closer, legs crossed, on the floor. She set the steaming cup on the floorboards in front of him and he took it in hand. She seemed to think of something, then rolled to her feet again, filling a plate with cheese, grapes and several slices of bread. She set the plate down between them, where they could both take from it easily, and made herself comfortable once more. Still silent, she sipped at her tea and ate a little of her late-night/early morning snack.

Kagome was feeling particularly caught between worlds, knowing that she was in the modern age, but sitting in an old house with an even older demon, and with memories hundreds of years past clinging to her, fresh from disturbing dreams. She didn’t know if she wanted to talk, or if she wanted not to talk. She guessed it didn’t really matter. There was no one she could talk to, in any case. Poor Eri wouldn’t know what to do with the things that brought Kagome awake in the dark sometimes. Sesshomaru, for his part, looked as if he had a lot on his mind as well.

She gave him a little more time to initiate conversation, in case he had something specific he wanted to talk about first. Recognizing that same set of the muscles in his jaw she’d seen in his younger brother, she remembered that there had been times when Inuyasha had just had too much in his head and heart. At those moments, he couldn’t be talked to. She’d learned to sit and wait for him to climb out of it on his own.

The difference, she thought, was that Inuyasha would yell or snap, irritated at her for trying to help. However, she got the impression Sesshomaru might just ignore her. So she waited patiently. Mio had given her Friday off this week. She had the time.

Sesshomaru drank his tea, ate a little of the cheese and bread and tried to order his thoughts. He glanced at her occasionally, finding some small interest in her choice to remain silent. Most humans filled any silent moment with noise, killing any peace that might be had. It seemed this human had learned to do otherwise, and it garnered some small respect on his part.

“Arigato, for this…” he said, gesturing vaguely at the tea and food.

Kagome smiled faintly and shrugged, wincing a little at the shift in her shoulder. “You’re welcome. I’ll fix a real meal in a while, don’t worry.”

His silence broken, he seemed more ready for social contact, and she proffered a simple question. “I wondered if you were coming back. Where’d you go?”

Sesshomaru took a long moment to answer, and she wondered if maybe she’d misjudged him. Finally he met her eyes and said, “I went to see what could be seen; things have changed more than I would have guessed while I’ve been… away”

Kagome’s smile was sympathetic, but she knew better than to pity him. He didn’t need it, he wouldn’t want it, and it wouldn’t help anyone-- pity rarely did. Sympathy, on the other hand, was rarely a bad thing. She fiddled with a grape stem in her hands while she sighed and said, “yes, I know. You saw the city?”

He nodded once, and she explained. “After I spent so much time in the feudal era, living in Tokyo was just…” she paused to search for the words she wanted without sounding overdramatic. “It was too much… well… everything. It wasn’t working anymore. So I came looking for a place out here where it’s quieter, and not so expensive. There weren’t many options, but I found this house. It’s in such bad shape no one wanted it… so I was able to get it cheap.”

Sesshomaru frowned and by way of reassurance she said, “we’ll figure out what happened. I assume you left a plan in place?”

“Yes,” he said, his tone taking on a hard edge. “I made arrangements for the property to be cared for by a few I thought could be trusted. Though only one other demon and the witch I employed knew I was here.” His fingers curled into a fist as he added, “it was to be maintained in my absence, not sold.”

Kagome was frowning slightly too now, a few pieces of a picture she couldn’t yet see falling into place. “We’ll find out what happened and straighten it all out. It’s just going to take some time. Things like property law and records have gotten a lot more complex in the last century because there are more people after it, and that means less to go around.”

He found it surreal to be sitting here with his brother’s woman, in a time that-- judging from what she’d said, seemed to belong to neither of them. He’d rarely had much use for any human on a personal level, but he’d never overtly disliked this one. Now, he found her company surprisingly tolerable.

Sesshomaru couldn’t deny that her being there when he’d woken had made things significantly easier than they might have been. That aside, the more he thought about it, the more he suspected that the presence of her magic had likely been what triggered the spells to fall apart after holding him much longer than they’d been designed to do. It was a miracle the magical malfunction itself hadn’t killed him.

The city had grown into a roaring behemoth beyond his imagining and he was starting to realize, much to his discomfort, that he would need her help still to maneuver amid the new faces his culture now wore. Grudgingly, he admitted also that he was in her debt up to a point, though she didn’t seem to expect anything from him.

“So you had yourself sealed in the basement here as a way of hiding away while you took the time you needed to heal,” Kagome said thoughtfully. Now that they’d started the conversation, she couldn’t quite contain her curiosity. “This was your home then? The place you lived in 1903? Everybody in the village thinks it’s haunted.” She smiled as she said it, finding the whole thing a little amusing.

Sesshomaru didn’t comment. The opinion of the local human community didn’t interest him. The next part of what she had to say, however, did catch his attention. “There were two men who bought this house before me and sold it back to the real estate holding company that had possession of it. The agent I spoke with said in both instances they became strangely unwilling to stay. They didn’t take much of anything with them. I think the feeling of your aura down there scared them off. They didn’t know what it was and it freaked them out.”

The demon frowned and clarified, “the property was sold not once, but three times while I slept?”

Kagome nodded in confirmation and his expression darkened. When he found Myoga there would be some dire consequences to bestow. Anything could have happened while this house changed hands. Not only did it jeopardize his personal safety, but there were powerful magic items in his storage chamber that could have done a great deal of damage in the wrong hands. He thought this over and made a mental note to catalogue everything and make sure nothing important was missing. There was much to do, and the growing list made his head throb again unpleasantly. Despite his improved condition, he was not operating at 100 percent just yet.

His train of thought was interrupted when Kagome spoke again, this time half to herself. “I always got the impression you had a palace tucked away somewhere. This house is more… um…” She considered her words carefully. “It’s more modest… than I would have imagined of the Lord Sesshomaru, Inu Dai Yokai of the Western lands.”

His slightly pointed ears twitched once, the sound of his name and title in her mouth catching him a little off-guard. It was strange… but in a way that somehow suited. He wasn’t sure what to do with that information and didn’t answer her for a long time. She thought maybe he didn’t have anything to say about it, he went so still. She pulled one of her quilts up around her shoulders, warding off the night’s remaining chill and held her tea, the glazed clay cup warming her hands. Changing the subject, she asked, “so what about this monster you were fighting when you got hurt? Did you kill it?”

Sesshomaru nodded once, adding, “I fought a challenger for my position here, a manticore demon of sorts--”

Kagome’s brows rose and she looked at him in surprise. “Those are real?”

His golden gaze flickered in a way that nearly reminded her of the flames before them, and then moved away again as he said in a low tone, “yes, on the rare occasion.”

Clearly, he was irritated at her interruption and she pulled an appropriately apologetic face on. “Sorry,” she said softly. “Go on, please.”

“Manticore are poisonous, more so even than I am.” Kagome cringed a little inside, remembering the powerful nature of Sesshomaru’s toxic claws. She’d nearly been a victim of them herself a few times in the early days of her work in the Warring-States era.

“He intended to kill me and take my territory. I offered him my violent refusal. We both knew he could not win, but I underestimated him. I was caught near the end of our confrontation by a stinging barb at the end of his tail. I cut it lose but not before it had deposited a substantial amount of venom.”

She noticed one of his hands twitch, clenching and loosening again as he recounted the memory. After a pause, he took another swallow of his tea before continuing. “I kept the extent of the damage private, and paid well for the services of a witch to create a working that would allow my body to heal without giving way under the effects of the poison in my blood. I made arrangements with a trusted family servant and sealed myself away.” His frown deepened as he added, “the witch either made a mistake in her magic, or was unforgivably inaccurate in her assessment of how long the healing would take.”

“Either is possible, or both,” Kagome commented. Sesshomaru nodded and asked for a confirmation as he lined the details up in his head. “It’s 2000 and 15 years now?”

She nodded, adding, “it is, yes, and the middle of November.”

Sesshomaru sat thinking, and there was something in his eyes that made her think he was tired, or feeling particularly unwell and overwhelmed; though he’d never admit it. She chewed her lip for a moment and got to her feet. The gray light of dawn was beginning to creep into the windows and she said, “I’ll fix something more to eat and you should probably rest for a bit. I may work on some cleaning. You’re welcome to use my bed if you want to, since I’m done with it for the night.”

He didn’t comment, only watched as she fetched some chicken she’d kept wrapped up outside where it would stay cold enough not to spoil, and prepared it with rice and chopped cabbage. They ate together in silence. Her own bowl held only half what his did, and he’d refilled it once already. Kagome told him to eat what he needed to, gathered some old clothes she didn’t mind ruining, and went to the small bathroom nearby to change. It was chilly but the house was slowly warming up as the sunlight rested on it.

Dressed in her torn jeans and an old sweatshirt, she put on socks and shoes and got to work. She’d fished some batteries from her supply and put them into the pocket radio she’d brought. Ear buds meant she could listen to some tunes while she worked and hopefully not bother Sesshomaru if he was managing to get some sleep.

Sesshomaru relented, just a little, and lay her quilt out on the clean floor by the fire. As he stretched out, he listened to an early morning rain shower start up outside. He listened to the sounds of Kagome moving about a few rooms away, and closed his eyes. Trying to relax his body, he inhaled deeply and found her scent particularly strong here, where he lay just next to her sleeping place, combined with the smell of ash and burning wood. This combination was acceptable to him and he found it easier than he’d thought to doze off again, despite the circling questions that needed answers.

****

Kagome sighed as she listened to the weather report during a commercial break on her radio station. More rain today, that was just great. A glance outside showed her the weather was drizzling away with a wet, plodding sort of determination. The sitting room doors were open and she was sweeping the dirt out into the back garden. Looking on the bright side, she decided the damp weather was keeping some of the dust down, at least.

After a final wipe down, she was satisfied with the floor and walls in the front hall, and had moved on. She’d decided this long sitting room would likely become her primary living space, depending on what happened next. It would be wonderful to put a rug down, a couch and a few chairs; maybe add a few bookshelves and her kerosene heater. It could be really comfortable. And it had great light during the day. Once the place had electricity this would definitely be where the television went, though she wasn’t missing having one as much as she’d thought.

She tried to ignore the itching thought that none of this might come to be-- not if Sesshomaru took the place back and gave her the boot. He was the original owner, after all, and it sounded as if the initial sale to the real estate company had been done against his wishes. However, she had heard that the law of possession was written in such a way that if the purchasing party bought the item under contention in the honest belief that the property was being handled legally, they were under no obligation to return it.

Did that make their sale to her legal? Would he try to make her leave? Not that she would fight him if he wanted his home back. She knew she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. All he’d have to do, she thought dryly, was break her neck and bury her in the woods. Problem solved. Kagome shook her head at herself. She was being ridiculous… well okay, maybe not entirely ridiculous. But she didn’t get the feeling he was inclined to hurt her.

Deep in thought and listening to her music, she hadn’t noticed the floor creaking beneath her more and more as she approached the far end of the room. This section was connected to the same large cross-beam as the section on the other side of the house where the trap door had been. Over the years, the moisture that had caused rot and ruin around the trap door had crept along the beam, weakening those boards nearest it. The inspector hadn’t caught the issue because he hadn’t lingered in any one area long. Now, however, the increased rain they’d been having had crept into an old well shaft that had been dry for many years, and the increased humidity had continued to cause damage.

But as Kagome moved back and forth over that quadrant of the room, her weight strained the boards continually until they finally cracked. She found one of her feet falling through the floor, the rough edge of the broken wood gouging her ankle. Crying out in surprise, she stumbled on her other foot and the extra pressure sent it through the floor as well, the planks breaking loose around her. Her headphones were torn from her ears and dangled along her leg as she hung suspended in the hole, tightly gripping the handle of her broom, which she’d turned and caught on either side of the opening.

After she’d caught her breath for a second, she blinked and looked around. This was apparently not just a basement room. There were rough stone walls around her, forming a square about five feet by five feet. Swallowing hard, she glanced down and saw nothing but blackness. How far down was it? She could do another ten foot drop… but there was no floor in sight. What the hell was a bottomless pit doing under the corner of the sitting room?

Her bruised shoulder was complaining loudly, sending new spasms of pain into her neck and down her back as her feet dangled in space. She clung to the broom, barely daring to breath. ‘You’re not dead,’ she thought. ‘You can get out of this. There is no need to panic.’ Not only panic, but terror gripped her as she tried to pull herself up and heard the floor groan beneath the end of the broom on one side. Her shoulder screamed in pain and she realized that either the floor or her own body would give out before she could pull herself up enough to climb out.

She swallowed again, this time pushing her pride down to yell in a shaky voice. “Sesshomaru?” She closed her eyes-- please let him have stayed in the kitchen to rest and not taken off again. Let him be here. Later she would appreciate the irony that a man who tried to kill her more than once was exactly the person she was praying would save her now. She didn’t have the luxury of being choosy at the moment. As both her mother and brother had said, she was out here alone… or she had been until very recently.