Chapter Text
Kagome was so fucking done with bug Youkai.
Don’t get her wrong, she liked most Youkai. How could she not, when the majority of her friends were some flavor of demonic? But of all things she had gone up against over the years, bug Youkai tended to get on her nerves above all others when they showed up looking for a fight.
Unlike most other Youkai, who were usually humanoid variants of whatever animal or object they were based on, bug Youkai were literally just bugs. Only they were typically much bigger, much harder to kill, and only slightly more intelligent than their mundane counterparts.
They were basically like sand. Rough, irritating, and they showed up where you least expected it.
In this particular case, a moth demon the size of a fucking car showed up while she was eating lunch in a meadow with Inuyasha and the rest of their group, and carried her off like it was nothing. Likely in the hopes of stealing the jewel shards in the vial around her neck.
The joke was on him though, because not only was Kagome a Miko capable of purifying the damn thing out of existence with a single blast of Reiki, she had also finally picked up some combat training (thank you, Sesshoumaru!) and was itching to put it to the test. The discount butterfly never stood a chance.
But stabbing at things while airborne was typically not a good idea (especially when you were stabbing at the thing keeping you airbourne). Which was something Kagome ended up learning the hard way, because gutting the thing with a sacred dagger, she was sent plummeting towards the ground.
“CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!”, she screamed as she flailed her arms, trying to do something–-anything—to break her fall as the earth got closer and closer. Thankfully, she saw a way to do just that.
As she got closer to the tree-covered forest, she grabbed onto the branch of a tree she was falling near, thus saving herself from going ‘splat’ on the grass. She used it as leverage to pull herself up, and maneuvered herself to sit on it with heavy pants of breath.
“Note to self, invest in an industrial-sized bug zapper and a big-ass bottle of bug spray. No more being carried off by Mothra for me. No sir.”, Kagome muttered to herself as she tried to calm herself down, which didn’t take long. She’d had so many near-death experiences by now that this was pretty routine.
After taking in her surroundings, she realized she still knew where she was. A few seconds of contemplation later, and she decided to make her way to Kaede’s village instead of staying put and waiting for Inuyasha to find her. It was close enough to walk, and she didn’t fancy being a sitting duck for any other Youkai who might want to cause a repeat incident. Kagome got down off her branch and started marching due north, trying to keep herself aware of her surroundings.
“Stupid moths ruining my lunch… “, she grumbled as she walked, keeping her dagger in her hand (a birthday gift from Miroku, blessed and highly effective against Demons) as she did.
Most girls would be utterly terrified in her situation. And a few months ago, Kagome would have been too. But she had been dealing with Demons and battling Naraku and his minions for nearly a year now. She had pretty much seen and experienced every terrifying thing there was, so she was pretty desensitized to it all by now. The only emotions sudden attacks stirred up in her anymore were annoyance and mild frustration when they interrupted her meals. Like right now for example.
After walking for half an hour, Kagome knew she was getting closer to the village. She decided that since she was making good time, a small break was warranted. She made her way over to the river, the location of which she knew by heart, and kneeled down by the bank. She looked down at the water and winced when she saw her reflection in it.
‘Yeesh, I look like a mess.’, she lamented. She had small cuts on her face from falling through tree branches and small twigs stuck in her messy black hair. Her jeans and blue T-shirt had also been ripped slightly, and her sneakers were caked in dirt.
Kagome had stopped wearing her school uniform nearly two weeks after first arriving in the Feudal Era. Skirts and midriff sailor tops were not suitable clothing for a life of constant traveling, running and fighting. Now she mostly stuck to practical modern clothes or Miko garb. Though she didn’t wear the latter often. She didn’t like how much it made her look like Kikyo, and neither did Inuyasha.
“Speaking of him, where is he? I thought he would have met me halfway by now.”, Kagome whispered to herself as she started to pick the sticks out of her hair, knowing her friend’s nose had yet to fail him when it came to tracking her down, especially when she was in danger.
Her and Inuyasha had been… complicated at first, to say the least. Inuyasha had disliked her because she looked like his ex and shattered the Shikon Jewel (accidentally!) and thus prevented him from using it to fulfill his wish, and Kagome had disliked him for his rude attitude and constant comparisons to her previous incarnation.
Because of those two things, they were a match made in hell. They spent a month constantly bickering with one another as they struggled to dysfunctionally fulfill their duties, until Kagome got sick of his shit and straight-up started brawling with him when he made one too many snide remarks about her lack of fighting skills (which of course she had none of, because no one freaking trained her!).
Now normally, Kagome wouldn’t have been so quick to violence. Her Mama had raised a polite girl, after all. But when it came to Demons and Youkai (and Inuyasha especially), politeness never got through to them. If you wanted them to take you seriously, you had to be assertive and unafraid of a fight. And managing to wail on a Hanyou through sheer force of will, in spite of her lack of training, was how Kagome had learned that lesson.
Getting his nose broken by a well-placed punch got through to Inuyasha better than any ‘sit boy’ ever could. While he was indignant that he had been taken off guard and pummeled by a ‘mere human wench’, he also had enough sense to realize that if Kagome of all people was willing to get so violent with him, then he was taking things too far. So, he swallowed his pride and sincerely apologized for all his bad behavior. Which in turn, made Kagome apologize for beating him up. Which then made them both burst into laughter as they realized the ridiculousness of their situation.
That was the moment Kagome had earned Inuyasha’s respect. From then on, she and him were the best of friends. They had each other’s back when no one else did. He still called her ‘woman’ and stole her food, she still made him sit and nagged him when he was being stupid, and they still bickered quite a bit. But there was no venom to any of it. There were no more biting insults or Kikyo comparisons, and Kagome liked things that way. They became more like siblings than anything–eager to mess around and tease, but always ready to support each other when the chips were down. Kagome wondered if being friends with Inuyasha would be what having a twin brother was like.
And like twins, they had eventually come to mirror each other personality-wise. When Kagome had first come to the Sengoku era, she was spunky and stubborn, but let years of ingrained politeness and a lack of experience with conflict keep her from standing up for herself a lot. But when she finally had enough of getting pushed around by Inuyasha, she started to act more… well, like Inuyasha.
Kagome slowly began to act more aggressive after she found her footing with her friend. If something bothered her, she was more likely to speak out about it and fix it. She could hold her own in an argument, didn’t give into pressure as easily, and even developed a tendency for snark, as well as an impressive repertoire of curses.
After she used said repertoire to cuss out some rude visitor at the family shrine that was harassing her mother, Souta started teasing her about her personality shift and calling her a tomboy. Kagome couldn’t exactly deny it and just chose to embrace the new label, all while her Grandpa lamented that his sweet granddaughter had turned into a delinquent, her Mama marveled at how fast her little girl was growing into a confident young woman, and her modern friends wondered if she had joined a Sukeban gang with her ‘delinquent boyfriend’. On top of all that, Shippo seemed to like the change too, saying he enjoyed having a ‘sassy Mama’.
All of these changes were partially because people are often a reflection of those closest to them (especially impressionable teenagers like her), but they were also partly done as a defense mechanism. The Feudal Era was a completely new environment for her, full of life-threatening danger and supernatural threats beyond most mortals’ comprehension. When faced with all that, and the fact that she was essentially a living target because of her ties to the Shikon Jewel, could anyone really blame her for becoming a bit more surly?
Now Kagome really understood why Inuyasha was the way he was. Of course he would be an asshole after living the dangerous life of a Hanyou since the day he was born. She would probably be an asshole too.
That wasn’t to say she was the only one being influenced in their friendship. Inuyasha picked up some traits from her as well. Mostly small things like table manners and getting a better handle on his temper, though he had very recently learned the valuable lesson of ‘you don’t have to like someone to accept their help’ when Sesshoumaru surprised them all by coming to them to request a truce between their two parties.
Apparently, the Daiyoukai had realized their fight against Naraku would get nowhere if they kept working in competition with each other, and he was willing to swallow his pride and agree to an alliance if it meant killing ‘the annoying spider’ as he put it. It meant one less problem for them both.
He wouldn’t be traveling with them (he refused to stoop to something so plebian), but he did visit them often, and even agreed to train Kagome in the art of combat in exchange for help with Rin (he felt the girl needed a female influence in her life, and Kagome was more than happy to fill that role, especially when her and Shippo got along so well). Because of all that, she and Sesshoumaru were friendly. Well, the closest to friendly anyone could get with the Youkai Lord. They at least shared a mutual respect for one another, like two parents whose children were friends.
Of course, Kagome and Inuyasha’s close friendship did leave people to assume things about their relationship (usually Kikyo, who seemed to view her as ‘the other woman’ in some imaginary love triangle if the way she spoke about them was any indication). Even their friends thought they had a thing for each other, and would tease them about it mercilessly. But Kagome could never be interested in Inuyasha like that. He was her brother in everything but blood, and he was still working through things with Kikyo (being haunted by his zombie-ex who wants to drag him to Hell could not be good for him).
Besides, even if she was interested in her favorite half-demon in the whole wide world, she knew it would never work out. Kagome would never stop worrying she was a replacement for Kikyo, even if it wasn’t true, and Inuyasha would never stop worrying that he was making her feel that way. The relationship would always be filled with that looming anxiety, and Kagome didn’t want that for herself or Inuyasha. They both deserved better than that.
Kagome stopped her relationship musings as she finished getting the debris out of her hair. Running her hand through the thick black strands to get out any tangles, she then scooped some water out of the river and brought it to her mouth to drink.
‘Oh well. Wherever Inuyasha is, I’m sure I’ll meet up with him eventually. Best to rest up for a little while longer and then finish heading back to the village. Then maybe I can finally eat in peace.’, Kagome thought as she let the cool water soothe her parched throat. One thing she always appreciated about the Feudal Era was how clean the natural water sources were.
But she wasn’t so wrapped up in her drink that she didn’t hear the rustling of the leaves across the river. Knowing it was too loud to be the afternoon breeze, Kagome bolted to her feet and pulled out her dagger, assuming a defensive pose.
“Show yourself. I know you’re there, so don’t bother trying to hide.”, she said with controlled calmness.
There was a chance she was just on edge from the moth demon and being paranoid, but Kagome hadn’t survived this long by disregarding small things like that. Her vigilance was proven warranted when a tall figure came sauntering out of the brush.
“Calling me out with no hesitation, hm? What a brave little human you are… brave, or incredibly foolish.”, the smooth, glib voice of a man said. Kagome took in his appearance, trying to assess his threat level.
He was clearly a Youkai. A Kitsune, from the shape of his ears and tail. They were so similar to Shippo’s, the only difference was the color.
‘I wonder if this is what Shippo will look like when he’s older… ‘, Kagome thought fleetingly, but she knew that likely wouldn’t be the case. Apart from them both being Fox Demons’, the man and her adoptive son looked nothing alike. And that was probably a good thing too, otherwise when he was grown, the fox kit would leave every woman he met positively devastated.
Because the stranger was… God, he was pretty. He wore a long, blue and purple layered kimono with simple fire designs along the hem and geta sandals that would have looked understated on anyone else, but on him only served to bring out his best features. He had long silvery hair like Inuyasha’s, only his was even longer and much more well-kept. It went down to his waist, and shined like tinsel in the sun. His eyes were a soft lavender, filled with hard cunning and arrogance. And his features were so regal and androgynous, that if she hadn’t heard his voice, Kagome might have mistaken him for a woman.
She did her best to hide the hitch in her breath caused by the Fox Youkai’s breath-taking looks, but his smile widened slightly and she knew he must have heard. Damn her weakness for pretty men!
“I’d hardly call myself foolish. A foolish person would have never noticed you lurking over there. I prefer to think of myself as pragmatic. Better to call you out now than risk getting too used to your presence and giving you the chance to sneak up on me later.”, Kagome responded as she lowered her weapon and put it back in the holster on her hip, brushing aside her previous moment of weakness.
The man was a Youkai, so if push came to shove she could just purify him. It would take a little more out of her since she didn’t have her bow and arrows (those had been forcefully abandoned along with her lunch), but she could still do it fairly easily. It wasn’t like he was a Daiyoukai or anything. She wasn’t going to make the same mistake she did with the Moth Demon and chance a fight with him just so she could test out her new skills.
The Kitsune scowled at the girl’s casual reply and her relaxed behavior. Normally, any other human in her situation would be running for their lives by now, screaming and crying for help. But not this girl. She was acting like this was a perfectly normal afternoon for her. Like there was nothing to be afraid of. Well, he would give her something to be afraid of.
“Why are you putting your weapon away, girl? Do you not feel threatened by me?”, the Fox Youkai asked with a wicked smile, showing off the sharp canines in his mouth and holding up his hand to reveal his claws. An unseasoned human would have flinched or turned pale. Kagome however, had spent far too much time around her friends to be phased by some teeth and nails. She stared at the Fox with deadpanned blue eyes.
“No actually, I don’t. Now put those away and shoo, I don’t have time to humour your boogyman act. I’ve got places to be, so how about you run along back to wherever you came from so I can get to them, okay?”, Kagome said with a flippant wave as she turned around and slowly started back towards the village.
Was she being petty and a little bit stupid by provoking a strange, possibly powerful Youkai? Probably. Was she too tired and hungry to care? Yes. And besides, it wasn’t like his power level really mattered when it came to her. She had her holy powers, and Inuyasha would probably be there soon. She wasn’t in any real danger.
The Kitsune was in shock. The audacity of this woman! Did she not know who he was?! How dare she speak to him in such a casual manner! Letting out a growl, the Youkai made his way to the other side of the river faster than the speed of light. He blocked the girl’s path with his body, reaching to grab her chin tightly with his fingers. His claws dug into her cheeks, leaving small indents and drawing pin-pricks of blood.
“How stupid are you, human? Do you really think you can talk to me like that and be allowed to live? Do you have a death wish, you idiot–AGH!”, the Fox started to hiss between gritted teeth, but he wasn’t able to finish his sentence, because soon his own chin was being grabbed by fingers that burned like fire and made his flawless alabaster skin sizzle.
“Aw, what’s wrong? Cat got your tongue, Fox?”, Kagome mocked in a saccharine sweet voice as she channeled her Reiki into her hand. The Youkai grabbed at her wrist, trying to force her to let him go, but it was no use. She had a death grip on his face. He fell to his knees as he struggled against her hold, and shock and fear flooded his light eyes as he gazed up at the girl that turned the tables on him so quickly. Kagome smirked down at him in satisfaction.
“Not so cocky now, are we?”, she asked, tightening her hold as she bent down so she could look at him more closely. The Demon let out a louder scream of pain and screwed his eyes shut as the burning intensified, and that was when Kagome decided he’d had enough. She wanted to teach the man a lesson, not torture him. She roughly released him and let him tumble to the ground, watching as the proud Youkai crumbled like a rag doll.
“That was a warning. Touch me like that again and I won’t leave anything for your loved ones to bury. Next time, try to think twice before pissing someone off. Especially when that ‘someone’ can kill you just by touching you.”, Kagome said, the threat in her voice sharp enough to cut steel. The man weakly pushed himself onto his arms and felt his face, opening and closing his mouth like a dying fish when he put his hand on his chin and realized the burns on his face weren’t healing like they should. It took him a moment to put things together.
“You– ! That was Holy Energy! You’re a Miko!”, the Kitsune finally exclaimed after several moments of fish mimicry, pointing an accusing finger at her as he did so. Kagome couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Wow, give the man a prize. Yes, I’m a Miko. And you are one very lucky Fox, because you somehow stumbled across the only one in this country that won’t kill you on sight simply for existing. Congratulations, you live to see another day.”, Kagome said sarcastically. After all that, any awe she had towards his beauty was gone. Now she just regarded him the same way she did any other demon–with annoyance.
“So that is why you do not fear me… “, the Kitsune muttered to himself. Decided to humor the poor shell-shocked man for a moment longer, she stuffed her hands into her jean pockets and shrugged nonchalantly as she answered him.
“Eh, not really. I’ve just kind of been through the wringer when it comes to Youkai. I’ve seen all sorts of batshit insane beings, and fought plenty of them too. So running into a Fox Demon is a pretty normal Tuesday for me. Even if you are strong.”
‘And pretty.’, went unsaid. She was friends with Sesshoumaru. Pretty and strong Demon men weren’t unknown to her.
“Oh? You’re a Warrior Miko?”, the man asked in genuine surprise as he pulled himself back onto his feet, brushing off his kimono as his burns began to heal much slower than he would like.
Warrior Miko, despite the general unrest of the Feudal Era, were fairly rare. Most holy women with actual powers chose to sequester themselves away in temples and shrines as healers, seeing themselves as above the conflicts of man and Youkai. The most conflict they saw was when they ‘defended’ their villages and homes (usually by purifying any Demon they came across, regardless of if they were an actual threat or not). The last true Warrior Miko had been Lady Midoriko back in the Heian era, and she had been dead for over five hundred years.
But not this woman, apparently. No, she acted more like a traveling warrior than a typical Priestess. How odd. And odder still, she had let him live… so far, at least. But the Fox knew that could change.
Oblivious to his confusion, Kagome shrugged again.
“You could say that, I guess. I am a Miko that fights people. Like just a little while earlier, I fought Mothra in freaking mid-air. You should’ve seen it, it was cool.”, she said with a proud grin, but the Kitsune just looked baffled.
“What is a… Mothra?”, he asked, struggling to get the name out. Kagome blinked, puzzled by his reaction, before she snapped her fingers as she remembered the cardinal rule of time travel–pop culture references and past-people did not mix.
“Oh right, the Godzilla franchise doesn’t exist yet. Eh, it doesn’t matter. You’ll get the reference in a few hundred years.”, she told him uninhibitedly, seeing no point in going to lengths to conceal her time traveler status from him. Plus she always found people’s reactions to these sorts of things funny. The Fox Youkai looked completely flabberghasted
“ … What?”, he said weakly, incapable of coming up with a more eloquent response in the face of that. Kagome snickered at the look on his face and waved him off for the second time.
“Don’t worry about it. Anyways~, not to pry or anything, but why are you here? Most Youkai don’t venture into this area unless they’re looking for trouble. Are you looking for trouble, Foxy-Loxy?”, Kagome asked carefully, her smile disappearing like it was never there, replaced with a serious frown and a piercing glare. The Fox tensed under her gaze.
Whether she let the Kitsune go or not would depend on his answer. If he had come looking for the jewel shards or to wreak havoc, then they were gonna have a problem. The man realized this too, so even scoffed at her accusation and glared back at her, he chose his words carefully.
“Hardly. I’m only in this backwater province because I was separated from my companion during a scuffle several days ago. I’m trying to track him down, and my search led me here. I figured if I followed the river long enough I would encounter him eventually, but instead I stumbled across you. Truly, my horrible luck knows no end.”, the Youkai bemoaned as he ran a hand through his (unfairly gorgeous) hair. Kagome resisted the urge to flip him off and placed a hand on her hip with a scowl.
“Hey, you’re no bed of roses either, pal. But if it’s your friend you’re looking for, I can try and sense him for you. Feeling out people’s spiritual energy is part of the whole Priestess gig. If he’s a Demon like you and somewhere in this province, then I can find him easily.”, she proposed, trying to sound casual about it. It was apparently enough to send her company over the deep end.
“You’re… offering to help me? Why?”, the Kitsune asked, completely shocked.
He truly could not believe this girl. First she snubbed him, then she threatened him, and now she was offering him her assistance! It was enough to give him whiplash! The girl narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance.
“Because unlike you, I’m not a dick. Also helping you gets you out my hair sooner, so… “, Kagome trailed off, the Kitsune carefully considered her proposal.
Two sides of an argument were warring in his head. On the one hand, he had no idea where to even begin to look for his friend and had been wandering aimlessly for days now. Despite having traveled the country for decades, he had never been to this particular area, since there had never been anything to see. He had come here with no map or navigation equipment in his panicked rush to find his lost companion, which meant he had been well and truly lost from the get-go. Finding the river had honestly been a last ditch-attempt to orient himself. Without the Miko, he probably didn’t stand a chance of locating his companion. But he also didn’t want to further hurt his pride by accepting assistance from the girl who had put him so firmly on his ass.
Ultimately though, pragmatism won out over pride.
“Fine. If you believe yourself capable, then by all means Priestess. Point me in the right direction.", the Youkai said, making sure to put a healthy amount of skepticism into his voice just to be petty. Kagome rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that afternoon, but managed to keep herself from wasting time snarking back at him and got to work.
She closed her eyes and focused, trying to get a feel for the spiritual energy all around her. Immediately she could sense her own, which she could visualize as a giant aura of pinkish-white light surrounding her person. Then she sensed the Fox’s aura, which was a deep purple, much darker than her own, and slightly smaller. His aura wasn’t nearly as dark as someone like Naraku’s, but the dark color still meant that the Demon probably had quite a bit of blood on his hands.
‘Then again, who in this era doesn’t? ‘, Kagome mused, before returning to the task at hand. She felt around the wider area, trying to pinpoint any irregular spirit energy.
She felt the light blue aura of Kaede, who was back in the village, likely tending to her duties. She felt the moving energies of her friends, which clustered together into a kaleidoscope of blues purples and reds. It seemed they were still looking for her. Nice to know she hadn’t been left for the wolves.
Not sensing anything unfamiliar, she branched out even further, until Kagome finally felt something abnormal. It was a blazing demonic aura, a deep blood-red in color, somewhere in one of the nearby mountain caves. It was flickering with agitation, which meant the owner was probably angry.
“Found him.”, Kagome announced, her eyes shooting open abruptly. The Kitsune blinked at her in surprise.
“That was fast.”, he muttered, and Kagome smirked at him smugly.
“Of course it was, I’m good at my job. Anyways, your friend is in a cave in one of the mountains west of here, likely sheltering so he can lick his wounds from that scuffle you mentioned. Fair warning though, he feels really pissed. I’d recommend treading with caution.”, she told him, and her observations shocked the man further.
“You can sense emotions as well?”, he asked. He had never heard of a Miko capable of doing such things. The girl nodded.
“I can see them in people’s spirit auras, but only very strong ones. So when I say your friend is angry, I mean he’s angry. Handle with care, especially if he’s inclined to get homicidal.”, Kagome warned. She may not necessarily like this guy, but that didn’t mean she wanted to see him get brutally murdered. The man rolled his eyes at her and crossed his arms.
“Yes yes, I heard you. There’s no need for you to stress it. I’m well-versed in my companion’s temper. I can handle him perfectly fine.”, he assured her, wondering why he was even bothering to tell her all this. He didn’t normally give personal information so freely. Kagome raised her hands up in surrender.
“Hey man, just making sure. I’ve met my fair share of crazy-ass demons who will kill anyone over the stupidest things.”, Kagome said, recalling with a shudder that time the Thunder Brothers held her captive, and Hiten killed some poor Demon woman right in front of her simply because he was bored. The Kitsune crossed his arms and sneered at her.
“Well unlike the individuals who fall victim to such fates, I am not weak, so I have no concerns for my safety.”, he retorted. Kagome gave him a dry look and raised an eyebrow.
“Didn’t I have you on the ground and at my mercy like, five minutes ago?”, she pointed out, and upon being reminded of his inability to best her, the Youkai turned away from her and pouted like a child being scolded.
“ … I don’t like you.”, the Kitsune told her bluntly. Kagome rolled her eyes again, unaffected and unamused by his declaration. She had heard far worse from Inuyasha before they became close.
“Oh get over it, you big baby. And your welcome for the help, by the way. Now, if you could please take your pissy friend and fucking leave already, that would be great.”, the girl said, pointing to the mountains in the distance. The Fox bristled and glared at her over his shoulder in irritation.
“Very well, Miko. I shall take my leave.”, he said, biting out the word ‘Miko’ like it was a slur. It rubbed Kagome the wrong way.
“Kagome.”
“What?”
“I said my name is Kagome. Not Miko, or Priestess, or Woman, or Girl, or Wench, or whatever other nicknames you’ve got rattling around in that head of yours. You know it, now please use it.”, Kagome insisted firmly. It was okay when Inuyasha didn’t use her name, but only because they were close. It had pissed her off before they had become friends, and it pissed her off even more when strangers did it. So she wasn’t going to stand there and let some random Fox disrespect her.
To her surprise, the Kitsune didn’t get angry at her demand. He didn’t even scoff or roll his eyes. He just turned back around and stared off into the treeline, his facial expression hidden from her view.
“ … I am Tomoe.”, he said at last, in a tone so quiet Kagome almost thought she was hearing things.
“Huh?”, she asked with a tilt of her head. The Fox (named Tomoe, apparently), turned around and looked at her with a stoic expression.
“You introduced yourself to me. It’s only proper that I give my name in return. You know it, now please use it.”, he answered calmly, smirking mischievously when he threw her own words back at her. Kagome blinked in bewilderment at the surprisingly courteous gesture.
‘The more I talk to this guy, the more he reminds me of Sesshoumaru. Is being a polite asshole a genetic trait tied to white hair or something? Nah, if that were the case, Inuyasha would actually have some goddamned manners.’, Kagome mused dryly, before laughing at his clever wordplay and sparing the Kitsune–Tomoe–a small half-smile. The tension that had existed between them since the start of their meeting began to melt away.
“I’ll remember it, then.”, she replied with the same amount of consideration, seeing the small olive branch for what it was.
Kagome was not one to back down from confrontation, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have the good sense to stop when she was ahead. She wasn’t one to let petty disputes blow up into huge conflicts. So she let the tension dissipate and allowed the bickering to come to a quiet end.
After a few short moments of silence, their brief moment was interrupted by the sound of shouting in the distance. It was the familiar voices of her friends and Shippo were calling out for her. It seemed they had finally managed to track her down.
“Friends of yours?”, Tomoe asked with a raised eyebrow, pointing with his thumb in the direction of the noise. Kagome nodded.
“Yep. You should get out of here.”, she told him once again, though this time it was motivated more by her wanting to avoid Inuyasha picking a fight than getting him out of her hair. The Kitsune cast his eyes towards the ground.
“Yes, I suppose I should… “, he said, sounding extremely reluctant to leave for someone who had clearly stated he didn’t like her just a few moments ago. But as the shouting drew closer, Tomoe turned around and started towards the mountain.
“Thank you for your assistance, girl. I won’t forget this… or you.”, the Fox vowed solemnly, contrasted with a flippant wave over his shoulder, just like the one she had taunted him with earlier. Though if his words were a threat or a promise, Kagome couldn’t tell. She scowled at his retreating back at his pointed avoidance of her name.
“I told you it’s Kagome, you– ! … and he’s gone. Jackass.”, Kagome said, yelling at the Kitsune agitatedly, before she realized he had vanished in a swirl of leaves. She muttered the last part under her breath and crossed her arms, before stubbornly planting her rear on the ground as she waited for her friends to find her.
‘Stupid Fox. The one thing I ask him to do is to call me by my name, and what does he do? The exact fucking opposite. I swear to every Kami there is, this is the last time I go out of my way to help someone. I don’t care how pretty and witty they are–okay, stopping that train of thought right there.’, Kagome ranted in her head, her cheeks turning red from a mix of flustered and frustration as her feelings of annoyance towards Tomoe warred with the undeniable attraction she felt for him as well.
Kagome didn’t understand why she was so fixated on the Fox Demon. She had seen pretty Demons before (mainly Sesshoumaru). Even with his ethereal, inhuman beauty, Tomoe shouldn’t be holding her attention like this. She was desensitized to everything else about the supernatural, so why was she… ?
“KAGOME!”
Her line of thinking was cut off when Inuyasha came crashing through the treeline with Tessaiga in hand, looking ready for a fight. He had likely smelled the strange Youkai she had been with and assumed he was a threat. Sango, Miroku and Shippo appeared moments later, all on the back of Kirara.
“Finally! Took you long enough! I thought I’d die of starvation out here before you ever found me!”, Kagome called out to them as they rushed over to her, trying to sound as irritated as possible, though the wide smile on her face revealed how pleased she was to see her friends again.
Inuyasha landed loudly on the rocky river bank beside her, kicking up stones in the process… one of which nailed Kagome in the side of the head.
“OW! Son of a Kikyo!”, Kagome cursed as she grabbed her head in pain. Inuyasha didn’t even notice, too busy trying to locate the source of the strange scent.
“Where is he?!”, he demanded roughly. Kagome rolled her eyes for what really had to be the millionth time that day and rubbed her smarming head.
“Yeah, good to see you too, Inuyasha.”, she said sarcastically. Inuyasha whipped his head around to glare at her.
“Now’s not the time for sass, woman! Where’s the Fox?! Don’t lie and say he wasn’t here! I can smell him all over the place!”, the Hanyou yelled. He didn’t even mention the moth, likely because he figured he was so weak Kagome had taken him down with ease… which she had. The girl sighed and stood up, brushing the dirt off her jeans.
“He left right before you got here. But don’t worry, he wasn’t a threat. He was just lost and trying to find his friend, so I pointed him in the right direction. He wasn’t after the jewel shards or anything.”, she explained, and Miroku let out a sigh of relief as he climbed off of Kirara.
“Well that’s a relief. He felt strong. It’s rare that strong Youkai don’t give us any trouble these days.”, the monk said as he graciously helped Sango down from her Nekomata companion. Kagome nodded in agreement, recalling her encounter with the moth just hours ago.
“Yeah, I’ll say.”, she said. Shippo was the last to get off Kirara. He jumped off her back and raced over to her like a child possessed.
“Mama! You’re okay!”, he exclaimed as he tackled her in a hug. Kagome laughed at his enthusiasm and happily embraced him.
“Of course I am! You think discount Mothra could do me in?! Me, the almighty Kagome Higurashi?! Have some more faith in your mother, kiddo!”, she teased as she ruffled Shippo’s unruly hair, causing the boy to let out a giggle. Inuyasha scoffed at the affectionate display.
If you had told Kagome she would be a mother at fifteen she would have laughed in your face. If you had told her she would be a mother to a Fox Demon, she would have asked if you had escaped an asylum and politely requested that you check yourself back in. But Kagome really loved being Shippo’s mother. The Fox kit had latched onto her soon after joining the party, and she had found herself more than willing to fill the void the loss of his father had left. It had been so easy to slip into the role of a parent for him that it had honestly shocked her. She had never considered herself the maternal type, but she guessed years of watching her own mother take care of her and Souta had taught her a thing or two.
“Still, I’m a little skeptical about letting that Youkai go. Who says he won’t change his mind later and come back to try and take the shards?”, Sango said with a frown. Inuyasha nodded.
“Yeah, what she said. Foxes are nothing but trouble. You let one off easy and soon it’s gonna running wild.”, the Hanyou stated. Shippo, who had been affectionately climbing on his mother, perched himself on Kagome’s shoulder and glared at the older boy.
“Hey! I’m right here, ya know!”, the boy said hotly. Inuyasha clicked his tongue but thankfully didn’t antagonize him further. Kagome gently plucked Shippo off her shoulder and held him in her arms.
“I don’t think he will. He didn’t seem like the type to lie… at least not about something like that. I’m sure he’ll do what he said he would and leave once he finds his friend. Plus I made sure to show him why he shouldn’t mess with me before he left.”, Kagome insisted with a smirk, recalling how funny it had been to knock the cocky demon off his feet. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow at her.
“Really? What did you do?”, he asked curiously. Kagome’s smirk turned into a full-on grin.
“Nothing he didn’t deserve. He grabbed my face, so I grabbed his… and put some holy energy in it for good measure. He screamed like a girl, and his burns were still healing when he left.”, she recounted, and Inuyasha burst into a fit of cackles.
“Oh, that’s fuckin’ priceless! I bet he ran off with his tail between his legs!”, he roared, and everyone else laughed as well. Even Kirara let out little chuffs of amusement.
“That’ll teach him to mess with my Mama!”, Shippo said as he puffed out his chest, proud that his mother had faced down an adult member of his kind with such ease. Kagome ruffled his hair again.
“Hell yeah it will. Now let’s head back to the village. I wanna eat that lunch I never got to finish.”, Kagome said as she walked towards Kirara, thoughts of bentos and snacks running through her head. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her and his ears perked up.
“Don’t you have something to say to me?”, he asked expectantly. Kagome paused for a moment and wondered what he was talking about, before turning back around to glare at him irately when she managed to put it together.
“No Inuyasha, I’m not gonna call you a ‘good boy’, your rescue was shit! You took forever and left me on my own with an unknown Youkai who was capable of God-knows what! Do better!”, Kagome raged at him with a raised fist, and Inuyasaha’s ears drooped sadly when he realized he wasn’t going to be getting any praise. Shippo snickered behind his hand in his mother’s arms.
“Whipped.”, he muttered. Inuyasha growled at him and snatched him up, roughly pulling him by his cheeks as payback. The kit whimpered and teared up from the pain.
“Shut your mouth you damn brat!”, the older boy barked. Kagome clenched her teeth at Inuyasha’s immature display, and did what she always did when her friend got too rough with Shippo.
“SIT BOY!”, she shouted, and just like that, the Hanyou was magically thrown to the ground with a loud crash, leaving a hole in his wake. Shippo broke out of his hold and promptly went to sit on his mother’s shoulder, sticking his tongue out petulantly at the dog-boy as he did so.
“Stupid mutt!”, he insulted, much more confident now that Inuyasha had been knocked down a peg. The Half-Demon with a pained groan.
“Yeah okay, I think we’re done here. Come on everyone, let’s leave and go eat before Inuyasha drags us into more pointless bickering.”, Kagome said as she climbed onto Kirara’s back, and the party, being very much aware of who was really in charge, swiftly moved to follow her order.
“Of course, Lady Kagome.”, Miroku said brightly as he gingerly helped Kagome onto the cat demon’s back, not even flinching when she smacked away the hand that was drifting lower than was appropriate.
Within minutes, Sango was leading her Youkai companion away with everyone in tow, save for one. Inuyasha was left in the dust on the assumption that he was a big boy and more than capable of making it back to the village on his own.
“Fuck you, wench… “, he muttered weakly as Kirara took off, regretting pissing off Kagome for had to be the millionth time in his life. Shame his stubborn-self never learned from any of it.
As Kirara raced off into the warm, now late afternoon air, Kagome turned and looked back at the mountains where she had felt the red aura. She contemplated the person that had been searching for it, and the last image she had seen of him. His retreating back filled her mind’s eye.
‘I wonder if I’ll ever see him again… ‘, Kagome thought. Whatever she felt towards Tomoe, he had been intriguing. She could honestly picture them being good friends if he stuck around long enough for them to get past the bickering phase.
But that wouldn’t happen. He was gone, and he probably wasn’t coming back. If she ever saw him again, it would be one hell of a coincidence.
‘Still, stranger things have happened… Whose to say? Maybe one day we’ll cross paths again.’
Meanwhile, after flying around the mountain range with his fox fire to get a good look at things, Tomoe had finally found a cave about halfway up the tallest mountain. Thinking that it likely contained what he was looking for, he landed outside the entrance, trying to look through the darkness to see if anyone was inside. He got his answer when a large rock came flying at his head from the abyss.
“There you are! Where the hell have you been?! I’ve been waiting here for three fucking days!”, a familiar, gruff voice shouted. Tomoe dodged the rock with ease and walked into the cave.
‘So this is where he skulked off to lick his wounds… ‘, the silver fox thought, trying not to smirk in amusement at his friend’s childish behavior.
“My apologies. I started looking for you as soon as I got my wits about me, but I got a bit turned around going through Shimoza. That Wind Sorceress flung us farther than I think either of us could have anticipated.”, Tomoe admitted as he approached the figure in the cave. He was sitting on the ground hunched over, shirtless, and covered in bandages. His face concealed by a curtain of long, wild red hair. The only thing that was visible was his mouth. Black-painted lips curled into a snarl, revealing razor-sharp teeth.
“I’ll say. Damn that Kagura woman! She couldn’t beat us fighting head-on so she resorted to stupid tricks! What, did she think separating us would give her a better chance?! LIKE HELL!”, the man screamed, punching the ground beneath his feet in anger. The rocky floor cracked and the cave walls shook under the force of his punch. Tomoe remained completely composed throughout it all.
“Perhaps, but if that was her intention, her execution was rather poor. Divide and conquer doesn’t exactly work if you don’t conquer.”, the white-haired Kitsune observed. The other man scoffed and stood up.
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter what she wanted to do. If I ever see her again, she’s dead. Her and that Naraku fucker.”, the redhead spat, and Tomoe’s light colored eyes darkened with quiet rage.
“Nice to see we are of one mind in that regard… Akura-Ou.”, Tomoe said sinisterly. His companion turned around and finally showed him his face.
Akura-Ou was a Oni Demon. He was extremely tall and intimidating, with lean muscles, piercing golden eyes accentuated with black makeup, blackened claws, protruding white horns on either side of his head, and long pointed ears like that of an elf. He looked like hell, both metaphorically and literally, given his injuries. The sharp-toothed Youkai gave his oldest friend and partner in crime a cutting look and a malicious smile.
“Of course we are. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you after all these years, Tomoe.”, the Oni said, and Tomoe smirked in return.
“Yes, but where you’re driven by raw anger, I’m driven by frustration at the sheer idiocy of it all. I mean really, did she think that paltry recruitment pitch would ever work on us?”, Tomoe muttered, his smirk turning to a scowl as he recalled the events that had led up to their current situation.
The person responsible for his and Akura-Ou’s separation (and the reason Tomoe had gotten lost) had been a Wind Sorceress named Kagura. She had approached them during one of their regular outings slaughtering local samurai armies and offered them each a shard of some power-granting pink jewel if they would work for her master, some demon they had never heard of named Naraku. Since neither of them fancied working for anyone (and had too much pride to accept any sort of strength they didn’t earn), they both bluntly refused the woman’s offer.
This displeased the sorceress, who had apparently been ordered to secure their loyalty by any means necessary. One thing led to another, and soon they were fighting. They were winning too (albeit with Akura-Ou sustaining several shallow cuts on his back from her wind blades), until the woman sent them flying to either side of the Kanto region with a gust of air from her fan.
Which was why they were now standing in a cave, quietly seething about their circumstances and plotting their revenge. They wouldn’t actively seek the Sorceress or her master out (they had better, more entertaining things to do with their time), but if they came across them, there would be nothing that would save them.
‘What a waste of time this entire debacle has been. Though, if it hadn’t been for the Sorceress, I never would have encountered the Miko… ‘, Tomoe mused, his memories of the girl that had confused him so flooding his brain.
The girl… Kagome… she intrigued him in the same way a frustrating riddle might. A Miko who didn’t kill demons. A human who didn’t fear him. She was such a fascinating contradiction of all the things he had learned about people like her. He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to speak with her again. He couldn’t believe he wanted to hear that smart mouth running off at him again, but he did.
‘I wonder if I’m falling into insanity. Her foul mouth could certainly drive a man to it.’, Tomoe thought dryly as he resisted the urge to scowl.
Honestly, why was he so fixated on a human girl? Because Miko or not, that was still what she was–a human girl. She was no great ruler, no rare beauty (though he couldn’t deny the girl was in fact pretty). She had impressive powers, but plenty of people had that. She was just another drop in the sea of faces he had seen throughout his long lifetime. What made her so special? Was it because she challenged him? Because she didn’t fear him? Or was it for some other reason he had yet to realize?
Tomoe was quickly becoming lost in thought, his mind consumed by thoughts of Kagome. Akura-Ou must have noticed the dazed look in his eyes this brought on, because soon he was looking at him in confusion.
“Tomoe, are you alright? Don’t tell me the bitch poisoned you or something.”, the Oni said, starting to sound concerned as he ran through all the moments in his head when the Wind Sorceress could have possibly used poison. Tomoe plastered on his usual alluring smile and shook his head.
“Not at all. She barely landed a hit. I was just thinking of someone I encountered on my way here.”, he admitted, purposefully giving as little detail as possible. If he told Akura-Ou about his encounter with Kagome, he might seek her out to see if she was as fascinating as he claimed, and potentially kill her if she didn’t live up to his expectations. Tomoe found he didn’t like that idea.
“Oh? Were they interesting?”, Akura-Ou asked with a raised eyebrow. Tomoe looked him in the eye spared him a smirk that masked his unease.
“In a way. They were… very unique.”, he admitted. His companion carefully analyzed his expression, trying to find a hint of information on this mysterious person. When that failed, he gave Tomoe a bemused look.
“Not going to say more than that, huh? Fine, keep your secrets. Doesn’t matter to me what you do anyways.”, the Oni said dismissively, before grinning and slinging his arm over the other man’s shoulders.
“Now come on, what’s say you and I head on over to Osaka? Raise some hell, get drunk. And we’ll be sure to make it rain blood on the way.”, Akura-Ou suggested as his grin turned menacing. Tomoe cocked an eyebrow.
“Aren’t you injured?”, he asked, glancing at the bandages that covered his friend’s form. Akura-Ou waved him off.
“Eh, we’ve both had worse. Give me a day or two on the road. I’ll be fine.”, he insisted, and with his concerns assuaged, Tomoe smirked.
“In that case, you read my mind.”, he said. Akura-Ou let out a delighted cackle and roughly patted his back.
“Hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!”, he exclaimed, excited for them to get back to their usual revelry.
But even with the prospect of alcohol and bloodshed on his mind, Tomoe still couldn’t help but glance back at the river in the distance as they left.