Sango skittered her way into the kitchen, setting the bowl of cut up fruit she had spent the last 10 minutes putting together into the center of the table. The wind outside blew against the apartment as Kagome stumbled in, wrapped in a thick scarf, a coat that was probably too thick, a fluffy hat, and boots that would make even a yeti jealous from how warm they were. “Kagome, I don’t quite think it’s that cold,” Miroku chirped, causing for Sango and Kikyo to burst out laughing. “Yea, yea, it’s never that cold to anyone else,” she rolled her eyes as she began to take off her ensemble, eventually coming down to just jeans and a sweater. She made her way over to the table, and just as she sat down, Sesshomaru entered the door, hanging up his jacket on the coat rack. “Nice to see you, asshat,” Inuyasha chirped from his seat in the kitchen, Sesshomaru affectionately sticking his middle finger up at him and drawing laughter from the rest of the group. “You are so mean to him,” Kikyo mumbled and smacked her boyfriend on the back of the neck, Inuyasha grabbing his neck and whining to her about how he was also mean to him. Sesshomaru stepped into the kitchen and claimed a seat beside Kagome, who was warming her cold hands up against a cup of hot chocolate Kikyo had saved her.
“So, what’s the deal with getting all of us together?” Inuyasha asked, propping his arm around Kikyo’s shoulders as she bit into a strawberry.
“Well,” Sango started, sitting next to Miroku, and leaning against his shoulder. “I know we’ve all been busy getting ready for our last semester, so Miro and I were thinking about taking a vacation over winter break. My uncle knows of a snow resort not too far away, we can rent some cabins, and spend a week there. There’s stuff like skiing, a spa, bars, restaurants, all that. We’re all really overwhelmed, and I think…it would be good for us to get out of town and spend some time together.”
Everyone looked over at Sango, some nodding their head and others in silent agreement. “My uncle says he wouldn’t mind going half on everyone’s cabin, so long as you pay your half. How about it?”
“I’m in,” Kagome immediately chirped, causing for a soft chuckle to leave from Sango’s lips. “We’re in, too,” Kikyo added for her and Inuyasha. Everyone’s eyes then darted to Sesshomaru who had been prepared to bite into a piece of kiwi on his fork, eventually looking around the table at all the hopeful eyes. He sighed and rolled his eyes before answering, the fork dangling off to the side as he answered, “Then I guess I am in too.”
Everyone (except Sesshomaru) cheered a happy cheer, before Kagome held up a hand, mainly to inquire about the living situation. “So how are we doing the cabins? A boy’s cabin and a girl’s cabin, yes?”
Sango eyed Miroku and Kikyo eyed Inuyasha, before Miroku let out a sheepish laugh and rubbed the back of his neck, “Ah…we were hoping you wouldn’t mind sharing a cabin with Sesshomaru. I’m sure Kikyo and Inuyasha were going to cabin together, and Sango and I were going to cabin together.”
Kagome sat there, stuck; granted, Sesshomaru was everyone’s friend. A little off-edge and stoic, yes, but he was just as close to them as everyone else was. The initial problem was, she had never been alone with him except a handful times; and even then, they were with other people. Speaking of, he cleared his throat and tilted his head, speaking afterwards, “I’m fine doing that if you’re fine doing that. I would just like to get a cabin with a separate bed, preferably a suite for you and a suite for me.”
Kagome agreed, nodding her head as she swallowed down a few gulps of the warm chocolate in her cup. “That’s fine- “
“Great! I can send everyone some cabins, they’re all within walking distance of one another.” Sango chirped brightly, doing a little happy dance in her chair. Kagome’s eyes temporarily flickered over to Sesshomaru who had finally bit into the kiwi that had been sitting on his fork this entire time; she didn’t think it would be bad to live with him for a week, absolutely not; but Sesshomaru was sometimes kind of…scary to her. They’d had heart to hearts, they’d been there to pick one another up when someone else was too drunk, they’d fixed appliances and partied together until the sun came up, but there was something about the way he always seemed ready to fight that kind of- scared Kagome. At least she’d be safe if a bear decided to attack their cabin, right?
----
“It’s gorgeous up here,” Kagome spoke, little stars in her eyes as Sesshomaru drove up the path, trailing behind Sango and Miroku, with Kikyo and Inuyasha behind them. “Mm, it is. I think it’s something like the third snow for the year up here,” he answered, the sound of pop music murmuring lowly on the radio. He pulled off to the side so that he could get them to their cabin; it was a tall, brown, wooden cabin, decorated with all sorts of woven flags outside. The snow littered on the steps and the banister; a small note tucked into the mailbox for them to grab on their way in. Sesshomaru grabbed the key from the arm rest, passing it to Kagome, “You go ahead inside while I grab the bags out the trunk- “
“I can help you do that; you know.”
“Kagome, you can’t even lift a watermelon without screaming about how heavy it is. Go inside,” he pointed, Kagome childishly sticking her tongue out at him before hopping out of the car and crunching through the snow to the front door, unlocking it. She was welcomed with a gust of warm air, turning on the lights to find their decorated wooden cabin waiting for them. It was spacious, it smelled of gingerbread and pine, and honestly, if she could help it, Kagome probably would’ve lived here for the rest of her life. As she strolled around the cabin, Sesshomaru rolled their suitcases into the living room by the door and peered over at her; she was always enjoying life. She always looked like she was having the time of her life, even with something as simple as walking around a cabin and smelling the air freshener.
“Having fun?” he asked, Kagome jumping and bursting out laughing afterwards. “It’s not every day you get to look at mountains up close,” she answered, Sesshomaru soon passing her the note that had been tucked in the bends of the mailbox. While she tore it open, he rolled the suitcases to the steps, beginning to read it out loud.
“Hello and thank you for choosing Pine Mountain Cabins. You are about to experience a wonderful combination of Earth’s mountains and modernity that exceeds expectations. Your in-cabin phones are wired to the front desk, so at any time if you need anything, we are here to meet your requests. We hope you enjoy your stay!” She read out loud, wiggling out the two pieces of chocolate that sat undisturbed in the envelope. “Want yours?” she asked, Sesshomaru shaking his head as he bound upstairs with the suitcases, sliding hers by the door and rolling his into his bedroom. She immediately trekked upstairs, pushing the door open to her bedroom, where she was met with the most scenic view of the snow-topped trees, mountaintops covered in a light fog, and a frozen lake that looked perfect for ice skating. A soft ‘wow’ escaped her lips, her eyes looking all over the place as she stood in front of the balcony. A firepit sat in between two chairs, a symbol that maybe her and Sesshomaru could have some chats on the balcony after the next few days of being out and exploring all that the mountains had to offer for them.
“Don’t spend too much time idle-gazing, Kagome,” Sesshomaru’s voice echoed from his suite, adjusting his college-lettered sweatshirt. “We have to go to Sango and Miroku’s cabin in a few.”
“I know, I know,” she answered, adjusting her scarf and her beanie. “We can unpack when we get back,” she spoke as she checked her phone when it buzzed with a text from Sango, telling her to make sure she brought her bathing suit for the hot tub. She fished it out from the bottom of her suitcase, Sesshomaru poking his head in when she grabbed it, “Are you ready to go yet, ma’am?”
“You can’t rush perfection, Sessho,” she chirped, soon folding her bathing suit into a ball in her hand to make for easier transport. She tucked the ball of fabric inside of her coat, soon following Sesshomaru out of the suite and out of the cabin. They padded against the wooden boards dotted through the snow on the way to Sango and Miroku’s cabin, the soft sound of music thudding against the front door when they were close enough. Sango opened the door with an ecstatic look on her face, passing a hug to Sesshomaru and Kagome as they entered. Inuyasha and Miroku sounded like they were arguing about sports and Kikyo was in the kitchen making their infamous ‘Fuck-Up Punch’ for the rest of the week; a combination of too much alcohol, juice, and fruit, it had led to more than one occasion of someone throwing up in the bathroom, lost jewelry, and falling asleep on the couch.
“Hiiii!” Sango spoke, welcoming them inside. Kagome undressed from her jacket and trekked upstairs to put the bathing suit on when Sango mentioned that they had been waiting for her to get there so they could go get into the hot tub. Sesshomaru made his way into the kitchen to see what Miroku and Inuyasha were arguing about as the girls headed outside to the hot tub. They shuffled by the boys, as if they had never seen them in bathing suits before, the red fabric against Kagome’s skin catching Sesshomaru’s eye for a moment. “Mind your eyes,” Inuyasha chirped when he realized what his brother was looking at, Sesshomaru sticking a middle finger up and drawing a laugh from Miroku.
After getting settled in the hot tub, Sango poured the three of them glasses of wine as they got comfortable in the hot tub, Kagome taking a few sips and leaning back against the wall of the hot tub. “Soooo,” Kikyo started as she looked over at her best friend, nudging her arm with a Cheshire grin. Sango sported the same look, Kagome looking up over her glass and raising her eyebrows up high on her forehead. “What?” She asked quite sheepishly, setting the glass down onto the holster on the side of the hot tub. “You know what,” Sango spoke as she took a sip from her glass, raising her eyebrows up on her own forehead.
“No, I don’t. If this is about me hooking up with Sessho…”
“But why noooot?” Kikyo asked as she frowned, Kagome giving her a furrowed brow look. “Even if I do hook up with him, it might end up awkward. Have we, as a collective, forgotten that he is not interested in any woman, except for when it comes to sex?”
“That’s not the point, Kagome,” Sango whined, poking her bottom lip out and playfully splashing water at Kagome, who giggled and splashed water at her in return. “It is! I’m not making a move on him.”
“But anything could happen!” Kikyo whined similarly to Sango, Kagome rolling her eyes and taking a sip of the wine from her glass. She figured there had been a reason as to why they wanted to set the two of them up together, but did she think this was it? Absolutely not. She figured there was something up with the fact that they had paired up like that, but did she think that they were going to plant the seed for the two of them to have sex with one another? No. Absolutely not.
“I’m serious though,” Inuyasha spoke over the table as he tossed a card into the pile, Sesshomaru looking up from his deck of cards in his hands. “Don’t make any moves on her, or I’ll kick your ass.” Sesshomaru made a face of discontent, tossing a card onto the pile. “I don’t know why it matters so much to you, Inu. I feel like you should mind your business, since you’ll probably spend the whole week spent sucking on Kikyo’s tits.”
Miroku damn near fell out of his chair laughing, Sesshomaru catching him before he hit the floor. “That’s so vulgar, my god,” Inuyasha chirped, giving his brother the evil eye from hell before Sesshomaru continued. “Whether we hook up, I make a move on her, or her on me, is none of your business. She’s not your girlfriend, she’s her own person,” he grabbed his beer to take a swig from it, raising his eyebrows up and looking over at his sibling. “You had a chance with her, so what’s it to you if her and I hook up?”
“Because you’re my sibling.”
“And?” He asked with a questionable look, Miroku chiming it, “I agree with Sesshomaru. She’s able to do her own thing and work things out the way she wants to work them out, and if it works out that they hook up in the coat closet or something is none of our business.” He shrugged, popping a few pretzels into his mouth. “It’s messy,” Inuyasha added, frowning.
“What’s messy is you butting your nose in my business in a nonexistent relationship. Butt out,” Sesshomaru warned, a hint of a threat evident in his voice. Just before Inuyasha could question him, the girls came bounding in, shivering, and wrapped in towels, all three of them offering questionable looks. “It got c-cold.” Kagome spoke, Miroku getting up to turn on the heat while laughing as the three of them went upstairs to change.
Hours passed full of playing games and warming up, and eventually Kagome and Sesshomaru were on their way back to the shared cabin. It was a comfortable silence as the dark enveloped the two of them, Kagome staying close by just incase a Yeti decided to pull up on the two of them. He peered down at her with a light grin, soon pulling her a little bit closer and speaking afterwards, “By the way, if you get cold the next few days, you can stay in my room.”
Kagome blinked, lightly pinching his side, and causing for him to frown lightly and suck his teeth when she answered. “Oh, fuck off, nasty. I’ll just grab the floor heater- “
“But why grab the floor heater, when you have me?” He asked as he peered down at her, finagling the key from his pocket, unlocking the door so they could go inside, Kagome waving her hand at him as she took off her coat and hung it on the coat hanger by the door. “Because a floor heater won’t try to fuck me.”
“Who said I wanted to do that?”
“Your eyes when we walked to get into the hot tub. Goodnight, Sessho,” she waved another hand as she headed upstairs; and for once, Sesshomaru stood there without anything smart to say.