InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Past, Present, and Future ❯ Demon's Memory ( Chapter 6 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: SilentTaiyoukai 
Sesshoumaru has a talk with Mrs. Higurashi.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 11.25.2009 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.6K | Visits: 418 | Status: Work In Progress
Sesshoumaru has a talk with Mrs. Higurashi.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 11.25.2009 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.6K | Visits: 418 | Status: Work In Progress
Sesshoumaru looked out the window at Shizuka and Souta, who were out in the yard throwing the baseball around between them. They were joking and laughing like old friends, as if they had known each other their entire lives.
Sesshoumaru turned to face Mrs. Higurashi as she resumed her seat opposite him, a new cup of tea in her hands. Judging by the look in her eye, she had many questions ready to be asked. Whether or not he would have the answers she sought was something else entirely.
“You know, Sesshoumaru, I consider myself to be a rather insightful woman,” said Mrs. Higurashi, sipping her tea.
“I have no doubt that you are,” he said.
They had told her everything, or at least everything they had told Souta. Such was not the complete story, and Sesshoumaru had no doubt that Mrs. Higurashi was quite aware of that fact.
He was surprised how well she had taken everything. Souta was right when he said nothing at all could phase her. She had taken the death of Inuyasha, the loss of her daughter and the arrival of her granddaughter with smiles and hugs. Sesshoumaru had no doubt she would take the whole truth of his relationship with Kagome just as easily.
“I think there was more between you and my daughter than you told Souta and I,” Mrs. Higurashi said.
“There was,” he replied simply.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
“It is not easy for me to discuss,” Sesshoumaru said, his eyes drifting away from her and out the window again. “I saw her die hundreds of years ago, and in this era I could only watch from a distance as she grew and lived her life. And today I had to lose my mate all over again. I had no choice.”
He knew her next question before she even began to ask it, and he was very sure of his answer.
“Did you love her?”
“Yes,” he replied. He could admit his love for Kagome so easily now, although that had not always been the case. “I still do.”
“Did you take good care of my Kagome?” she asked.
“I like to believe I did, yes,” he said. He had tried his best, but Kagome had still been faced with more than her fair share of pain. All of them had. Such was the norm in the Sengoku Jidai.
He was surprised when Mrs. Higurashi laid her hand over one of his.
“I know you did,” she said, giving him a gentle pat. “You’ve taken care of my granddaughter all these years, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”
It was quiet for a few moments. Sesshoumaru watched Shizuka and Souta outside. They had ended their play and were sitting in the grass together, talking about something or other. He watched as Shizuka grabbed Souta by the neck and proceeded to mess up his hair. Souta fought back by ripping off her hat and flicking her ears. He could hear their laughter through the closed window.
“They seem to be getting along nicely,” Mrs. Higurashi remarked.
“Indeed.”
“Can I ask you something?” Mrs. Higurashi asked suddenly.
“Hnn?”
“You’re not going to act like a stranger, are you?”
“I don’t understand,” he said.
“Family is very important to me, Sesshoumaru, and I have so little of it left. Kagome is gone, and my father died a year ago. The only family I have left is right here in this house with me, and that includes you.”
“You…” he began. It was something he had not quite expected, for her to except a man, a demon not of her blood and whom she barely knew, into her family. He may have been her daughter’s mate, but he had not expected such kindness. “You consider me part of your family?”
“Yes,” she said with a laugh, as a such a thing should have been obvious. “I don’t want you to feel like a stranger in this house. If Kagome loved and trusted you enough to be your wife, that makes you a son to me.”
Sesshoumaru could find nothing to say to her. He let his silence speak for him.
“Are you sure you don’t want any tea?” she asked.
“Perhaps I will,” he said, and she bustled away to put the kettle on.
When she set the mug down in front of him, his nose twitched at the pleasant scent of honey and lemon. She sat down next to him with a new cup of her own.
“So, you mentioned that there are two more demons I have yet to meet,” she said.
“Yes, the kitsune and nekomata. They should arrive back in Japan in a few days,” Sesshoumaru said, taking a sip. He raised a sly eyebrow. “Do you have intentions of adopting them into your family as well?”
“I haven’t adopted any of you,” she said with a smile. “All of you have always been my family.”
This woman seemed to insist on tugging at his heartstrings every few minutes. Again he could find no proper response.
“You’ll stay for dinner, won’t you?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, and Mrs. Higurashi got up and opened the window to call outside.
“Souta!” she yelled, “Come to the store with me, I need to get some things for dinner!”
Shizuka and Souta left their gloves in the grass and disappeared for a few moments before reappearing in the kitchen.
Shizuka sat down at the table, but once Mrs. Higurashi and Souta were out the door, in the car and gone, she wandered away from him. Sesshoumaru could hear her footsteps on the stairs, and he waited awhile before following her. He found her upstairs in a room drenched in Kagome’s sweet scent. The room was done in soft pink and yellow colors, bright colors that perfectly echoed the loving woman Kagome had been. Smelling her scent and seeing her name scribbled on papers scattered across her desk made his heart ache.
He missed her more than he could ever admit, even to himself.
Shizuka was sitting with her legs crossed on the bed, a frilly pillow crushed to her chest. A photo album was spread open on the pink bedspread, and Shizuka was staring blankly at a single page. She almost seemed to be frozen in time, barely giving so much as a single blink. Shizuka said nothing as Sesshoumaru sat down on the bed and flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures with her.
There was a younger Kagome in her school uniform, surrounded by her friends. Inuyasha was there too, his ears covered by a checkered cloth. Pictures of a Souta not yet in his teens, of Kagome’s lost grandfather and Mrs. Higurashi herself, a smile always on her face. There were many people he did not know, nameless faces that had once been part of Kagome’s life, people who would never see her again and never know the truth of what happened to her.
The last picture in the album was of Kagome in a floral sundress and sitting beneath Goshinboku. She was smiling and waving at the camera, a much happier girl than the one he had pushed back through the well. She would find that happiness again in the past.
He ran his claws over the photo, his head swimming in her scent. He would never forget the smile captured there in that photo. He pulled himself out of his reminiscing at the smell of tears, and a small sniffle from beside him.
“You cry?”
Shizuka groaned and wiped her eyes on the frilly pink pillow. Her ears drooped miserably down against her head.
“Yeah, what about it?” she said, trying her best to sound annoyed. The result was more a whine than anything else. “I miss her, too, you know. She was my mother.”
“I know,” Sesshoumaru said, and he placed his hand atop her head as she leaned her weight on his shoulder.
“Uncle Sess?” Shizuka said in a small voice.
“Hnn?”
“Thanks for hanging with me all these years. I know I’m a pain in the ass sometimes,” she said, and Sesshoumaru scoffed, tousling her hair.
“Nonsense,” he said, a smirk overtaking his face. “You’re a pain all the time.”
“Hey,” she said in protest, but laughed anyway.
It may have been his brother’s blood running through her veins, but he and Kagome had raised her, and it was he that had cared for her all these years. Though he may hit her in back of the head every now and then, Shizuka was his child. And though he would never say so, he was proud of her.
Sesshoumaru turned to face Mrs. Higurashi as she resumed her seat opposite him, a new cup of tea in her hands. Judging by the look in her eye, she had many questions ready to be asked. Whether or not he would have the answers she sought was something else entirely.
“You know, Sesshoumaru, I consider myself to be a rather insightful woman,” said Mrs. Higurashi, sipping her tea.
“I have no doubt that you are,” he said.
They had told her everything, or at least everything they had told Souta. Such was not the complete story, and Sesshoumaru had no doubt that Mrs. Higurashi was quite aware of that fact.
He was surprised how well she had taken everything. Souta was right when he said nothing at all could phase her. She had taken the death of Inuyasha, the loss of her daughter and the arrival of her granddaughter with smiles and hugs. Sesshoumaru had no doubt she would take the whole truth of his relationship with Kagome just as easily.
“I think there was more between you and my daughter than you told Souta and I,” Mrs. Higurashi said.
“There was,” he replied simply.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
“It is not easy for me to discuss,” Sesshoumaru said, his eyes drifting away from her and out the window again. “I saw her die hundreds of years ago, and in this era I could only watch from a distance as she grew and lived her life. And today I had to lose my mate all over again. I had no choice.”
He knew her next question before she even began to ask it, and he was very sure of his answer.
“Did you love her?”
“Yes,” he replied. He could admit his love for Kagome so easily now, although that had not always been the case. “I still do.”
“Did you take good care of my Kagome?” she asked.
“I like to believe I did, yes,” he said. He had tried his best, but Kagome had still been faced with more than her fair share of pain. All of them had. Such was the norm in the Sengoku Jidai.
He was surprised when Mrs. Higurashi laid her hand over one of his.
“I know you did,” she said, giving him a gentle pat. “You’ve taken care of my granddaughter all these years, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”
It was quiet for a few moments. Sesshoumaru watched Shizuka and Souta outside. They had ended their play and were sitting in the grass together, talking about something or other. He watched as Shizuka grabbed Souta by the neck and proceeded to mess up his hair. Souta fought back by ripping off her hat and flicking her ears. He could hear their laughter through the closed window.
“They seem to be getting along nicely,” Mrs. Higurashi remarked.
“Indeed.”
“Can I ask you something?” Mrs. Higurashi asked suddenly.
“Hnn?”
“You’re not going to act like a stranger, are you?”
“I don’t understand,” he said.
“Family is very important to me, Sesshoumaru, and I have so little of it left. Kagome is gone, and my father died a year ago. The only family I have left is right here in this house with me, and that includes you.”
“You…” he began. It was something he had not quite expected, for her to except a man, a demon not of her blood and whom she barely knew, into her family. He may have been her daughter’s mate, but he had not expected such kindness. “You consider me part of your family?”
“Yes,” she said with a laugh, as a such a thing should have been obvious. “I don’t want you to feel like a stranger in this house. If Kagome loved and trusted you enough to be your wife, that makes you a son to me.”
Sesshoumaru could find nothing to say to her. He let his silence speak for him.
“Are you sure you don’t want any tea?” she asked.
“Perhaps I will,” he said, and she bustled away to put the kettle on.
When she set the mug down in front of him, his nose twitched at the pleasant scent of honey and lemon. She sat down next to him with a new cup of her own.
“So, you mentioned that there are two more demons I have yet to meet,” she said.
“Yes, the kitsune and nekomata. They should arrive back in Japan in a few days,” Sesshoumaru said, taking a sip. He raised a sly eyebrow. “Do you have intentions of adopting them into your family as well?”
“I haven’t adopted any of you,” she said with a smile. “All of you have always been my family.”
This woman seemed to insist on tugging at his heartstrings every few minutes. Again he could find no proper response.
“You’ll stay for dinner, won’t you?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, and Mrs. Higurashi got up and opened the window to call outside.
“Souta!” she yelled, “Come to the store with me, I need to get some things for dinner!”
Shizuka and Souta left their gloves in the grass and disappeared for a few moments before reappearing in the kitchen.
Shizuka sat down at the table, but once Mrs. Higurashi and Souta were out the door, in the car and gone, she wandered away from him. Sesshoumaru could hear her footsteps on the stairs, and he waited awhile before following her. He found her upstairs in a room drenched in Kagome’s sweet scent. The room was done in soft pink and yellow colors, bright colors that perfectly echoed the loving woman Kagome had been. Smelling her scent and seeing her name scribbled on papers scattered across her desk made his heart ache.
He missed her more than he could ever admit, even to himself.
Shizuka was sitting with her legs crossed on the bed, a frilly pillow crushed to her chest. A photo album was spread open on the pink bedspread, and Shizuka was staring blankly at a single page. She almost seemed to be frozen in time, barely giving so much as a single blink. Shizuka said nothing as Sesshoumaru sat down on the bed and flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures with her.
There was a younger Kagome in her school uniform, surrounded by her friends. Inuyasha was there too, his ears covered by a checkered cloth. Pictures of a Souta not yet in his teens, of Kagome’s lost grandfather and Mrs. Higurashi herself, a smile always on her face. There were many people he did not know, nameless faces that had once been part of Kagome’s life, people who would never see her again and never know the truth of what happened to her.
The last picture in the album was of Kagome in a floral sundress and sitting beneath Goshinboku. She was smiling and waving at the camera, a much happier girl than the one he had pushed back through the well. She would find that happiness again in the past.
He ran his claws over the photo, his head swimming in her scent. He would never forget the smile captured there in that photo. He pulled himself out of his reminiscing at the smell of tears, and a small sniffle from beside him.
“You cry?”
Shizuka groaned and wiped her eyes on the frilly pink pillow. Her ears drooped miserably down against her head.
“Yeah, what about it?” she said, trying her best to sound annoyed. The result was more a whine than anything else. “I miss her, too, you know. She was my mother.”
“I know,” Sesshoumaru said, and he placed his hand atop her head as she leaned her weight on his shoulder.
“Uncle Sess?” Shizuka said in a small voice.
“Hnn?”
“Thanks for hanging with me all these years. I know I’m a pain in the ass sometimes,” she said, and Sesshoumaru scoffed, tousling her hair.
“Nonsense,” he said, a smirk overtaking his face. “You’re a pain all the time.”
“Hey,” she said in protest, but laughed anyway.
It may have been his brother’s blood running through her veins, but he and Kagome had raised her, and it was he that had cared for her all these years. Though he may hit her in back of the head every now and then, Shizuka was his child. And though he would never say so, he was proud of her.