In the meanwhile to tide you over, here’s a little sneak peek:
~~
Sesshoumaru scowled at her. “I had hoped — in vain, it appears — that you would have managed to grow some sense at last, Miko. But you must be a lost cause.”
“What do you mean?”
“It hasn’t been six weeks since I saved you from the brink of death, yet here you are again. Out and about, late in the evening. Alone.”
The last word had been close to a growl, yet Kagome’s shoulders eased.
“You saved me from the venom,” she acknowledged, “but the snake demon was long dead by the time I realised I’d been bit. I’m not as helpless as you think.”
His words were clipped and haughty as he gave her his verdict. “You are just a human.”
“Not quite.” Kagome smiled, and reached into the basket propped against her hip. “Sure, I’m human. But there’s no just about it. I’m a miko, and I came prepared.”
Reikisurged in the air without a warning. Moonlight gilded the glowing metal as it cleaved the air.
The dagger Kagome had thrown still crackled with the residue of her reikiwhen it sank into the ground, a hairbreadth away from Sesshoumaru’s bare toes. He snatched back his foot when her power leapt out and zapped him.
“My aim is quite good these days,” Kagome told him cheerfully. “I’ve been practising.”
Sesshoumaru stared down at the dagger with narrowed eyes, but when his gaze flicked to her his earlier scowl had disappeared.
“You have made your point, Miko,” he said, his expression carefully blank.
“No, I’m making it now,” Kagome said. “I’m out here, alone, because I came to bathe. It’s not an activity that needs an audience.”
Silence sparked between them, and the recognition from earlier sang in every beat of Kagome’s heart. She met his stare and saw the hunger that lurked within. Her lips quirked.
“But I guess I’ll make an exception for you.”
For an instant, that blank mask on his face turned to shock.
“Have you lost what feeble sanity you have left?” Sesshoumaru said, his voice colder than she’d ever heard him.
Kagome laughed. “No, I feel perfectly fine.”
He stared at her in disbelief, and more laughter bubbled in Kagome’s chest. She felt light and bright and completely herself.
Sesshoumaru, in contrast, seemed to be at a loss, and Kagome couldn’t help but to rattle him further, grinning with mirth and mischief.
“You could join me. I’ll let you wash my back,” she teased.
Sesshoumaru’s hand flexed. “What makes you think I have any desire to do so?”
Kagome laughed. “Oh come on, Sesshoumaru, don’t be coy. I’ve seen the way you look at me.”
This one is a lot of fun. It was my first time writing SessKag, and it was to celebrate the wonderful @ashleys-canvas’s birthday. Kagome the wiley witch enters a battle of wits with Sesshōmaru and they both find their lives changed!
Finally, this was my first commission from the wonderful @sayuri-watanabe. And now a year later, I am so so grateful to have gotten to know her and enjoyed so much of her art talent ♥️
If you haven’t read this fun little one, well, it was such a joy to write and my first foray into the magical world of multishipping. Thanks everyone for having me!
Summary: It’s hard to cope without closure. And even then sometimes we flounder. Kagome is doing her best to just move along when a reunion with an old ally blows it all to hell again. They find some comfort in one another, but soon it is not enough. Kagome must find her way out of the grave she’s dug for herself, but she’s spent so long convincing herself that that’s where she belongs. A SessKag story told in bits and pieces.
“So who is this?” The woman asks, an edge of suggestion to her voice that makes Kagome blush, and Sesshomaru chuckles, nearly knocking her out of her chair.
“This is Kagome. She is my oldest friend.”
“Friend? How interesting. Well, how are you… Ka-Go-Me?”
“I’m… I’m well…” she lies, ignoring the way her skin is prickling and her heart is racing. She looks up at Sesshomaru helplessly.
“Kagome, this is Haruka,” he begins, gesturing to the beautiful woman he’s been sharing a meal with. “She is my granddaughter.”
Summary: It’s hard to cope without closure. And even then sometimes we flounder. Kagome is doing her best to just move along when a reunion with an old ally blows it all to hell again. They find some comfort in one another, but soon it is not enough. Kagome must find her way out of the grave she’s dug for herself, but she’s spent so long convincing herself that that’s where she belongs. A SessKag story told in bits and pieces.
The sun shining over her head doesn’t quite echo the clouds in her soul, but she is thankful for the warmth, anyway.
It makes her walk to lunch pleasant, in any case.
She had no plans today, no meals she couldn’t back out of with coworkers, no visits with her worried and meddlesome mother, and no arrangements with Sesshomaru, who left her apartment the morning before with a soft kiss to her forehead and a promise to call.
He has not called… yet.
But she is breathing in and out and thinking of lots of things and absolutely not counting the hours between last seeing him and next hearing his voice.
She is not.
She is-
He is here, at the cafe she is walking to for lunch.
He is sitting at an outdoor table, casual, comfortable, a soft look on his face as he listens to the woman across from him talk about something she cannot hear, but her heart freezes at the sight.
He is with someone.
He is with another woman.
His eyes are on her now and his brows lift in surprise before his face softens further.
He stands, and she tries to turn away but her feet are rooted the ground.
‘Kagome,’ he is mouthing her name, stepping away from his chair and walking toward her, and she wants so badly to flee.
But then he is in front of her and his hand closes around her arm and his voice is deep and warm, and he’s pulling her toward the table.
And her head is swimming.
And her heart is struggling.
And the woman has big brown eyes and a wicked smile.
And she laments that the ground won’t open up to swallow her whole.
Summary: It’s hard to cope without closure. And even then sometimes we flounder. Kagome is doing her best to just move along when a reunion with an old ally blows it all to hell again. They find some comfort in one another, but soon it is not enough. Kagome must find her way out of the grave she’s dug for herself, but she’s spent so long convincing herself that that’s where she belongs. A SessKag story told in bits and pieces.
“Well I want to hear about it now.” She says resolutely, and Sesshomaru tilts his head and considers her.
“You are certain Kagome? I do not wish to harm you in any way that I can avoid.”
“No, you won’t. I’m…. Im ready.”
She is surprised to find that.. true. Tentatively true, but true nonetheless.
She has been a terrible… friend.
Friend.
Friend?
“So… a grandpa! Wow, that’s… crazy actually. You definitely don’t look old enough…”
He grins and his eyes flash.
He is silently laughing at her, but there is also pride there, underneath it all, for her attempt to be strong.
She doesn’t deserve it.
“I moisturize.”
The tension is lightened, and she giggles freely, thankful for the way he is handling this.
“I am a grandfather 12 times.”
“WHAT?!”
“I believe that was how many there were at last count…”
“How many children do you have?” Suddenly her heart is twisting at the thought of him living his life with some woman, welcoming children, naming them and cradling them and bringing them up.
She wonders what happened to her.
“Just the one that you already know.”
“That I already… wait…. Rin?”
“Yes.”
“That was Rin’s child? But to still be alive, she’d have to be…”
“She is not part Yokai,” he clarifies, “but her children are.”
Kagome blinks and shakes her head, trying to force her thoughts into some semblance of order around the constant shocks of the afternoon.
“But if she’s human, how is she still alive?”
“She is Rin and Kohaku’s youngest child,” he explains, pausing to allow the waiter to set down Kagome’s order, “and she is mated to One of Shippo’s middle children.”
“Shippo?” Kagome asks, tears swimming across her eyes, hope threatening to swell up and consume her whole.
His hand on hers is so soft, but it’s a tether to the ground that she clings to.
“Forgive me for not telling you sooner, he was adamant we wait until you were well enough to ask for him yourself. Would you like to finally see him?”
Summary: It’s hard to cope without closure. And even then sometimes we flounder. Kagome is doing her best to just move along when a reunion with an old ally blows it all to hell again. They find some comfort in one another, but soon it is not enough. Kagome must find her way out of the grave she’s dug for herself, but she’s spent so long convincing herself that that’s where she belongs. A SessKag story told in bits and pieces.
“So, uh… I had no idea you had… a grandchild.” She starts off, voice much weaker than she likes, but he shrugs one shoulder elegantly and takes a sip of his water before flagging a waiter.
“Perhaps you would like to order your lunch before we have this conversation?”
“I… yeah that’s probably a good idea.” She agrees, even though she can’t think of a single moment in time she has ever felt less hungry in her life.
But a sandwich wouldn’t hurt.
The waiter scribbles her order and snaps his book closed, scurrying off with a smile and leaving them alone, and she notices they’re still sitting on the same side of the little table.
She clears her throat, accepting his offer of his water glass, and then begins.
“So… you’re a grandfather.”
“Hn.”
“Why… didn’t you tell me?”
“You made it rather clear at the beginning of our… arrangement… that the sharing of personal information was too overwhelming.”
She blinks and looks down at her hand on the glass, watching condensation drip down its smooth side and over her fingers.
She imagines a scenario where he did tell her about all the things he’d done over 500 years, centuries where she’d been stuck waiting for her old life to find her as her magic portal ceased to be magic.
Centuries where a boy she’d thought had been living was dying and not making it through.
Summary: It’s hard to cope without closure. And even then sometimes we flounder. Kagome is doing her best to just move along when a reunion with an old ally blows it all to hell again. They find some comfort in one another, but soon it is not enough. Kagome must find her way out of the grave she’s dug for herself, but she’s spent so long convincing herself that that’s where she belongs. A SessKag story told in bits and pieces.
A thud sounds under the table, and Haruka winces, but her previous line of conversation fizzles.
“Haruka is in a similar line of business as you are, Kagome.” Sesshomaru cuts in, and Kagome chooses to place her feet on the familiar ground he’s offered her.
“Oh? That’s… wonderful. Do you enjoy it?”
“It’s alright. Predictable, reliable, stable. I enjoy those things. Mother always said I got that from yougramps, can you believe it?”
“I can.” Sesshomaru says warmly, his eyes going a little distant, a little sad.
“Anyway, I should uh… leave you two to catch up.” Haruka says, waggling her brows, and Kagome blanches.
“Oh no, please don’t. I really, really don’t mean to intrude and run you off. I was coming for lunch on my own, really-“
“Nonsense gramps would love to have your company, wouldn’t you?”
Kagome looks over and almost flees at the tense look on his face. He looks 500 years younger.
500 years angrier.
But then it softens again, and he is smiling at her, and the light in his eyes is so sincere it freezes her.
And maybe she has a few pressing questions.
“Indeed I would,” he says, and Haruka is gone so fast she wonders if she hallucinated the whole thing.
ALT
