Summary: Once Sesshoumaru decides on a course of action he is relentless. Kagome knows that but she never expected that focus to be turned on her.
AN: Some AU-Canon. Kagome fell out of love with InuYasha and she never returns to the past after the final battle.
AN: Written in celebration of Dokuga Moderators Month 2012. Especially dedicated to Synysterstar, who asked for light and fluffy. Something after the series ended and Sesshomaru is trying to woo Kagome. Hope you enjoyed this one Synysterstar! (^_^)
~ooOoo~ooOoo~ooOoo~
Kagome winced. “Can’t you ask Minako?”
The maitre d’ shook his head. “I’m afraid Minako has to leave a little early today, to pick up her daughter. And Yuriko called in sick. You are the most experienced hostess working the closing shift.”
The miko hung her head and sighed, but eventually nodded. No one really liked doing overtime after the closing shift but it allowed Kagome to work earlier day shifts in her other part time jobs. University was a lost cause given her sporadic high school attendance and sub-par marks, but Kagome hoped to get into a good culinary school and she needed every yen she could earn, for herself and her family.
“All right Tenzou-sempai, but you owe me!” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like hosting for late-night parties, especially young businessmen! They get… grabby.”
Tenzou sighed. “Don’t I know it! I just wish Yuriko were here. She’s amazing at making drunk guests behave and stay in line.”
Then both laughed at the vision it conjured, of the middle-aged matronly hostess whose good-cheer masked a formidable will and skill at getting her own way.
~o~
Several hours later Kagome was gritting her teeth and chanting mentally, praying for control and serenity. She’d been pinched and propositioned and felt up way too many times and she was about ready to blow! She had told herself to think of the tips, the overtime pay, the experience. Nothing could compensate for the fright she experienced when jyaki laced fingers stroked her across the ass.
She yelped and spun around, reflexively striking out with her powers. The owner of the wandering hand yelled and jerked back. He was a young sullen looking male with gold eyes and shaggy black hair dressed in what had to be a custom-tailored suit. He flapped his smoking fingers and glared at her.
“Watch what you’re doing bitch!” he snarled, loosening a bit of his aura making even the humans in the room tremble in primal fear. Several of his companions just smirked unaffected, and gave her leering looks. They were also of youkai lineage.
Kagome lost it and let loose her own powers, pink flames dancing between her clenched fingers. They jerked back with wide shocked expressions.
“Watch it yourself you punks!” she growled. “You’re just small fry to others I’ve seen and fought. So behave. Or else!” And then she stalked off satisfied and pretty certain they wouldn’t dare to ever proposition her again.
She hoped.
~o~
After the end of her shift she wished she hadn’t been so free with her powers.
“What?!? You’re firing me?” Tears welled in blue eyes. “I need this job Tenzou-sempai!”
The older man shook his head. “I’m sorry Kagome but one of the guests complained about your behaviour. Usually I would ignore since he was clearly drunk… but he is the third son of the owner’s silent partner. Mikado-san will not want to risk losing the patronage of the Nagasawa family. Even if it is the brat’s fault.”
Kagome brushed away her tears. It was harsh but it was the way of the world. Rich, spoilt brats often got their own way at the expense of hard-working and less-wealthy folk. And it wasn’t like she could tell the restaurant owner, or the police, that the bastard was a hanyou or youkai who tried to overwhelm her with his aura.
“Can I at least get a reference?” she asked hesitantly.
Tenzou thought for a few seconds. “Not from Mikado-san but I will be more than happy to write one for you.”
At least she managed to salvage something. She bowed from the waist gratefully. “Gomen nasai Tenzou-sempai.”
The miko hoped she could stretch the income from her other jobs to help with the shrine expenses. With Souta attending university, money was tight.
~ooOoo~ooOoo~ooOoo~
Nagasawa Sesshoumaru removed his stylish rimless glasses with narrow rose-tinted rectangular lens. He did not really need them but they helped to solidify the illusion that he was an older man. And the coloured glass helped hide the slit pupils when he lost control; which was a regular occurrence in recent decades.
He leaned back against the expensive designer leather couch and tried to clear his thoughts, forget about the spoilt immature whelps that were his youngest sons. It had been a foolish mistake, to allow the courts to manoeuvre him into that fourth breeding match. His male pups from the first three breeding bitches chosen had grown up to be fine examples, Alphas in their own right, forming their own packs in Japan and other parts of the Orient. But the twins from the last unwanted match… Secretly he acknowledged he was a fool to have allowed the breeding bitch to raise them. They were spoilt, useless, disgraces upon his name and lineage. If this were the Feudal Era Sesshoumaru would have killed them himself, before they could further dishonour the pack with their misdemeanours.
He stiffened. His sharp ears and nose caught traces of Kazama and Soujiro entering the manor. They were inebriated. As usual. He stood and walked to the foyer to ensure they did not cause any damage. The last time they went out celebrating and returned drunk they had recklessly tossed jyaki attacks at each other in the living areas. Luckily none of the blasts had seriously injured any of the household staff.
He frowned, catching traces of a vaguely familiar scent, the sharp ozone tang of power, fresh rain and jasmine. Where had he smelled that before?
Soujiro was laughing wildly. “You did good Kaz! That miko bitch won’t be so haughty without any money. Hey do you think she’ll be taking clients to pay her bills?” He grinned lewdly.
Sesshoumaru’s blood surged. “What did you do?” he asked in a low dangerous voice.
Kazama, the younger twin, shrugged. “Just got a bitch fired from Fuzami.”
“Why?” Sesshoumaru asked patiently.
Kazama scowled. “She zapped me.”
Soujiro chortled. “She was too haughty to accept our favours. Too proud for a ningen, acting higher than her place which is below us.”
The daiyoukai’s blood surged at the whelp’s description, as the haunting aroma struck a chord in old memories.
~ooOoo~
An oddly dressed miko standing defiantly against him, defending his hanyou brother.
Bright blue eyes meeting his unflinchingly without hate or fear or envy.
The same miko demanding he look after his ward more carefully, because ningens were more fragile and prone to illness.
~ooOoo~
The Shikon Miko. She was his one regret. Regret because he never acted on his feelings for her, when he realized what they were. And by the time he was ready to act on them she had vanished, taken back to her own world according to her pack. Decades later the kitsune had confirmed she had travelled into the past from the future.
The daiyoukai had held onto that hope, that she had returned to her own time, that one day he would see her again, get the chance to court her as she deserved, to win her loyalty and love, because he would treasure her like the hanyou never had. Because in all the centuries past he had never met another bitch as strong, loyal, and honourable as the Shikon Miko. But when the time came the powerful, courageous, and beautiful female had been lost to him.
Sesshoumaru stalked into his private study and raised the privacy wards before calling an investigator he had used before.
“I need a thorough background and discreet watch placed on a miko, a real one. Her name is Higurashi Kagome.”
He hung up and stalked towards a spell-sealed wood and glass bookcase at one end. There were several small paintings and sketches, many created by the daiyoukai himself. They were of two ningen women who had greatly influenced his past and present lives.
Rin.
Kagome.
~ooOoo~ooOoo~ooOoo~
Four days later the daiyoukai was skimming through the in-depth reports filed by his investigator. Most of the material was known to him from past agents assigned to guard the Shikon Miko and her family. Some were recent and unknown. A few were intriguing.
She never pursued a post-secondary education due to her sporadic high school attendance and sub-par grades. She had claimed amnesia, from a fall into a dry well, in the weeks right after she had returned from the past. But his investigator had observed her sensitivity to jyaki spikes and defensive reflexes to unseen threats. The kitsune had also witnessed two separate incidents where she actively used her power to heal children, during a ritual blessing. She worked four, no three jobs: the restaurant, a tea shop, a bookstore, and the family shrine. Most of her pay went to her mother, to maintain the family home and pay for her younger brother’s university education. And the selfish whelps had reduced her income for spite.
Sesshoumaru frowned as he closed the file. He had to see her. It was only honourable to try and repay her, for the debt all youkai owed her.
~ooOoo~ooOoo~ooOoo~
Kagome frowned. This was the fifth time she had sensed someone with jyaki around her in the past two days. She looked around, carefully scrutinizing the teahouse clientele, trying to determine the source of the aura. It was none of them.
The doorbell chimed. She forced her lips to curve into a smile ready to say the routine greeting when her senses spiked. The newcomer did not look like he belonged in the tiny teahouse whose primary clientele were high school students, housewives, and new mothers.
Blue eyes narrowed as she examined his suit. His very expensive suit. There was something about his jaw line, the waist-long black hair restrained in a tail.
The miko held her tongue and watched warily, ready to act if he moved against her. He simply approached her station.
“Good afternoon sir. How can I help you?” she said politely, trying not to look at his face too closely. He looked too much like the jerk she had zapped. The one who gotten her fired.
“I wish to apologize for my son.” His voice was beautiful; husky, deep, resonant, and utterly masculine. Kagome managed to keep from gawping by sheer strength of will.
“I’m sorry sir, I have no idea what you mean,” she said blandly.
He growled. She started but managed to keep from backing away. Never a wise action around a predator.
“You know what I am. Miko.”
Her lips turned down at the corners. “Apology accepted youkai-san. Now go away unless you intend to place an order.”
His gaze was piercing, nerve-wracking. Kagome imagined it would be a hundred times worse without those lenses muting the effect. He gave the modest teashop a once-over.
“It is not right, that one of your skill and power do such menial work.”
Blue eyes narrowed dangerously. “Not all of us can be near-immortal and wealthy to do as we wish youkai-san. Now please go away. Unless you want me to lose this job. Like your son.”
He growled and placed an order for a medium green tea sweetened with honey. Kagome accepted the payment and prepared the hot drink as specified. She watched him accept the waxed paper cup and leave with an internal sigh of relief. Youkai had dealt too many blows on Kagome, her self-esteem, her education, her future, her finances. She did not want to have anything to do with them. Not unless she was in the position of strength.
The remainder of her shift passed quickly. The tea house was always busy in the early evening when school let out. After counting and balancing her take she hurried out to catch the bus. If she missed it the next one was always packed with full-time workers returning home.
She caught it just in time and found an empty seat near the back. She used the relative peace of the bus ride to start on a popular novel. When her stop came she stuffed the book in her tote and stepped out. It was a short walk the base of the stone steps where she came to a complete halt.
Sitting on the third step up was the jerk’s dad. He was wearing a trench coat that protected the material of his expensive suit.
“What are you doing here?” she asked bluntly. She did not want to deal with any youkai. Not after what happened at Fuzami.
“To make amends for what my son has done to you,” he replied just as bluntly.
The miko scowled. “You can make amends by staying away from me,” she said sharply as she began climbing the steps. “I don’t want to see you. Any of you!” she added firmly.
He kept pace beside her. “I cannot. We owe you too much.”
“We? Who is we?” Kagome inquired sardonically.
“Everyone of youkai lineage. Your actions and alliances, to defeat Naraku, they were the precursors to the first Accords that eventually led to youkais and hanyous blending into ningen society and surviving to this time.”
Kagome blinked back tears. “I don’t want to hear this,” she told him repressively. “Just don’t! Just leave me alone!” she begged before running up the last few steps and down the path leading to home and safety.
Once inside she slammed the door shut and fell back against the door, sliding to the floor in a huddle, crying noisily as she buried her face in her knees.
Youkai were alive. They had been alive all along. They had known what and who she was but didn’t do a single thing to help her or her family. This one had only approached her because he felt guilty for something his adult son had done to her. He did not really care about Higurashi Kagome. He only revered the Shikon Miko. She pressed her face against her knees and cried harder. Kagome didn’t want to have anything to do with them. Not after all the years they’d spent ignoring she and hers.
~o~
He could hear her cries, smell the salt of her tears, the stifled sobs and whimpers, and he ached. His hands clenched into tight fists as he struggled with the instinct to tear the door down and haul her into his arms.
She was hurt and sad. She was hurt and sad because of him, something he’d done or said. And Sesshoumaru didn’t know how to undo it. Silently he cursed wishing he had not obeyed the decision of the Youkai Council, to stay away from the Higurashi family, to avoid influencing them and her. Because she had a destiny to fulfill in the past and they could not risk damaging the timeline.
Sesshoumaru had understood the logic and had reluctantly agreed to it. They had so little facts or knowledge of her circumstances, no one had been willing to damaging the past. So he and those who knew her, of her, had stayed away and waited for her travels to be over, for her to return to her birth time from the past, for the last time. Unfortunately the backlash of the magic sealing had caused the well-house to partially collapse, trapping Kagome under the debris. By the time she had been rescued she had lapsed into a coma for three days. When she finally awoke she had been confused and unable to explain why she had been in the well house, or remember anything else.
The youkai healer attending her had diagnosed it as traumatic amnesia that blocked off her memories and her powers. The healer had recommended leaving her alone, to not attempt to awaken or spark her memories because it could be dangerous to the miko and those around her. So the Council had deemed the Higurashi clan off limits.
The kitsune, her kit, had been furious at the edict. He had wanted to become friends with the family, to start a new relationship from scratch but the Council had been reluctant to risk the damage the healer had warned of. He chose to leave Japan a few weeks later, heart-broken. And Sesshoumaru had put away his plans to court the miko. Because this female was not the one had been tested and tried by the Kamis, the one who knew what it was like to face death and fight anyways.
He inhaled sharply as he re-read sections of the report. It seems like the miko had been faking her amnesia, to avoid being put in an asylum. Or perhaps she had begun remembering on her own months later. But whichever way she remembered and recognized the truth of the world, that youkais were real.
If that were the case the Council’s edicts were no longer in force.
A predatory smirk twisted the daiyoukai’s lips as he considered the possibilities.
~ooOoo~ooOoo~ooOoo~
TBC...