It had been three years since the well’s magic had run dry and left Kagome stranded in the modern era, separated from those she had come to consider her family. She had heard that each day was supposed to get easier after a loss, but it never had. Every morning, she woke up with the spark of excitement of seeing her friends, only to be replaced soon thereafter with the solemn remembrance of her inability to. Each day felt like she was swimming through a thick haze, living a life without truly living.
She had made up for lost time and managed to graduate from high school, and though she didn’t get accepted into university, she was preparing for her future by signing up for prerequisite classes in the hopes of attaining enough credits to someday attend a four-year university. The pain had never gotten easier, but Kagome did accept that she couldn’t live in a state of limbo for the rest of her life. She knew she had to keep pushing forward as society expected her to; otherwise, she would be left behind by more than just the pull of Time.
About six months after being unable to return to the Feudal Era, Kagome decided that she missed seeing the night sky. So, one night, she opened her bedroom window and balanced precariously on its sill, before carefully lifting herself onto her roof. Her heart thudded loudly in her ears as she looked down at the ground below; though the act wasn’t as dangerous as anything she had done in the past, she had never made that move before. Turning her eyes from the grass and pavement below, she gazed up at the night sky. Many less stars were visible than five hundred years in the past, of course, but seeing the constellations above her brought a quiet sense of comfort to her heart. That first night on the roof, she looked up at the night sky for hours, silently wondering if her friends were looking up into the heavens and thinking of her as well. She only returned to her room once the sun began rising on the horizon, and she could no longer see the stars above her head.
Climbing onto the roof quickly became a habit for the young miko. She was unsure if her family knew of her nightly escapades, but if they did, they never mentioned it to her. The only time she truly felt a sense of peace was when she had the tiled roof to her back and her eyes focused on the stars above.
The lack of youki in modern-day Tokyo was something that always nagged at Kagome from the recesses of her mind. She knew, deep down, that demons still existed in her time – she just had been unable to find them. Because of this, she had slowly begun to push her reiki outwards from herself while she sat atop the roof of her house. The first few times, she was acutely aware of everything she felt, and made sure to categorize what she had sensed. After a week of searching actively, she found herself laying back and gazing at the stars as her aura ebbed and flowed through the streets of Tokyo around the Higurashi shrine. She figured she shouldn’t exhaust herself by focusing so intently.
She reached out with her reiki, from the roof above her room, while gazing at the stars, nightly for nearly two and a half years. The motions calmed her. They gave her hope, when it was so hard to come across.
She never did find any trace of youki.
That is, until dawn broke on the nine-hundred-and-twelfth day of her mindless search.
Kagome’s eyes snapped open. It was barely there, just a whisper of youki against her senses, feather-light and fleeting. But it was there, she was sure of it. And it was familiar. She knew that youki, and all at once it felt as if she were suffocating, being dragged under those waters that she had been trudging through for the past three years.
Swallowing back her initial panicked reaction, the miko sat up slowly and leaned forward on her hands and knees, as if searching the horizon for visual confirmation of the presence she felt. Carefully, she strengthened her aura and pushed back against the blip in her radar, hope swelling in her chest.
When the youki in question strengthened in response, Kagome couldn’t stop the cry that left her throat. Her reiki receded just slightly in response to her emotion, and the opposing force gave chase, seemingly as desperate as she was.
Silent tears slid down her cheeks when she felt the youki advancing on her position, as she did her best not to sob.
Sesshoumaru, have you been alone all this time, too?
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His advance was slow; painfully so. Kagome made sure to keep her reiki palpable, coaxing him closer as time went on. By the time he had reached the bottom of the shrine’s steps, the sun was visible in the sky, warming off the morning chill.
Kagome had been standing at the top, waiting for his arrival. She didn’t bother to change out of her pajamas; she couldn’t risk one moment of distraction, lest he change his mind and decide not to follow her trail of reiki. As she stood at the top of the stairs and he at the bottom, it was as if time stood still.
His long hair – it’s black, mused the miko – was pulled into a low ponytail, the ends of the strands swaying lightly in the morning breeze. Surprisingly, he was dressed in casual wear; it looked as if he had been preparing to go to work. His face, bare of any markings, was turned upwards, pointing his intense gaze at the girl before him. Even from a distance, Kagome was able to see that the morning sun bounced off of brown eyes, instead of honeyed gold.
Tears escaped her eyes once more, as they silently stared at each other from opposite ends of the staircase. His countenance betrayed no emotion, but she could feel his youki sparking, filling the space between them. Gently, as if extending her hand in invitation, Kagome reached out with her reiki, gently caressing the edge of his own aura. His youki responded in kind, calming, and pressing against her emanation.
And then he was ascending the stairs, his eyes never leaving hers. Each step was slow, deliberate, as if giving her a chance to back down and change her mind. Of course, she stayed rooted in place, eyes swimming with tears. She wouldn’t leave. Not now. She couldn’t.
It was only when he stood two steps below her that he noticed the dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept in days. Despite her tiredness, however, he was surprised – as surprised as a daiyoukai could be, anyway – when her lips turned upwards into a small smile, and spoke with a soft, wavering voice.
“Would you like some tea?”
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That was how the odd pair found themselves sitting together on a quiet Sunday morning at the top of the steps to Higurashi shrine, with steaming mugs of tea held in their laps.
“This one did not expect to meet with you again, miko,” Sesshoumaru murmured, gaze shifting to the side in order to see her profile.
A smile tugged at Kagome’s lips. “Neither did I. I was starting to think I wouldn’t meet anyone I knew, before.” Her smile waned, and she ducked her head slightly, gaze falling to the tea in her mug. “Every night, I sat on that roof and searched with my reiki for any trace of youki… I was starting to lose hope.” Her voice was soft, and he was only able to hear her due to his sharpened senses and proximity.
“Hn,” he intoned, eyes sliding up to the sky above them, glazing over. “It has been five hundred years, for this one. It has been… a lonely existence.”
She looked at him then, and took in his features in a way she didn’t have time for before. Though his markings were gone, he still held a regal air, and a nearly inhuman beauty. Beyond that, though, she could tell that he had changed; he had aged. He didn’t look older than twenty-five, but telltale lines had begun to settle under his eyes. They were subtle, and didn’t look out of place for most, but they stood out starkly to Kagome. He looked tired. She worried her lower lip with her teeth as she looked at him.
When his attention turned back to her, and he noticed her stare, his eyebrow quirked, and her cheeks heated. But she didn’t look away. She swallowed thickly and asked the question that was on the tip of her tongue in a hushed voice: “Are there others?”
His eyes slid shut and he exhaled slowly before giving one slow nod. When his eyes opened again, he turned his attention to the landscape before him. “Our numbers are few. We have taken to hiding in plain sight. There is little to no communication, unless others are in dire need.”
She realized that her suffering was nothing compared to his. He had seen friends and family die, and lived long enough to need to hide his heritage. She couldn’t imagine his pain, but she could see it hiding behind his eyes, just out of reach.
Kagome shifted, then, gripping her mug a bit tighter, and resting her head on his shoulder. Blue eyes slid closed, as she reached out to him with her reiki once more.
He jumped a bit, and his eyes slid to her form beside him, widening slightly. When he felt her reiki caress his skin, however, he sighed softly and relaxed beside her, his head resting on hers. He let his youki lazily entwine with hers as he allowed himself this brief moment of contentment.
You don’t have to go through it alone, anymore,” she murmured softly, keeping her eyes closed. Her lips turned upward just a bit, his form beside her chasing away what remained of the morning chill.
“Hn,” he vocalized, lifting the mug to his lips and taking a sip of the tea. “I suppose I do not.”
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A/N: Thank you for reading! I wasn't sure to tag this as friendship or romance, because I think it could lean either way! If you liked the story, please leave a review -- I'd love to know what you think!