InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Windows on the West ❯ The Disregard of Timekeeping ( Chapter 11 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer:  I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

A/N:  If anyone knows old rock, the above is the title of an album by Bonham.  It was just appropriate here – and by the way, I do not own Bonham, the album The Disregard of Timekeeping, or Sesshoumaru.  I do own the plot of this ficlet, though.

-oOo-

“You spoke to the wisewoman.”

It wasn't a question, but Kagome nonetheless knew what he was asking with it.  She knew that she had to answer, too – he would not tolerate any evasiveness on her part.

“Yeah,”  she said softly, folding her arms around herself as a cool breeze wafted over her.  They had stopped for a mid-day meal, and, after she had finished eating, Sesshoumaru had approached her.  She had been sort of expecting it, truthfully.

He cocked a brow at her, clearly waiting for her to continue, and she sighed.

“She said I'm pretty much timeless... I have a birth day – but my day of death is much farther out than any other humans.”

For some reason that he was unable to understand, hearing what he had come to suspect confirmed, left him with a feeling of something dangerously close to elation.  Choosing not to look into that too closely, he simply looked out over the meadow they were situated in, pondering on her words.

And then he took in her demeanor.

“Why do you seem uncomfortable?”  he asked, curious.  Would not anyone be pleased to achieve near  immortality?

She shook her head, and sighed.  “I guess it's going to take some time-”  she snorted,  “-no pun intended, to get used to the idea.  Every human knows from childhood that someday they'll die, and so, we're used to that idea.  We all wish a long and happy life, but... I don't think humans were meant for something so close to immortality, really.  I feel... tired even thinking about it.”

He considered her for a moment, then sat down next to her, folding his lean, powerful frame gracefully into a comfortable position.

After a time, he said,  “You can no longer think of time the same way that humans do.  Time is all one piece, miko.  Humans, because of their limited lives, break it down into measurable units – days and years.  Youkai do not, because time is truthfully not that way.  We have a disregard of timekeeping, you might say.  When one has a lifespan almost equal to eternity, there is no need to worry about anything smaller than that.”

Kagome thought about that as she sat there, the wind playing in her locks, intertwining them with Sesshoumaru's.  “How old are you, Sesshoumaru-sama, if it's not impolite to ask?”  She was suddenly rather curious.

“I am approximately three hundred years old, though I cannot tell you exactly.  We are born, and we exist.  Very little turns our attention to years as humans see it.  Though most of us are aware of units of time as humans keep track of, it means little to us.”  He glanced at her.  “And now, to you, as well.”

She sighed, and laid her head on her knees.  “I really wasn't planning to live for so long, though.  So now what?  Once everyone I know has died and left me alone, what will I do?”

He cocked a brow at her, taking note of her rather depressed demeanor.  “Do you not know me?”  he asked, an almost offended note in his voice.

Head jerking up to stare at him, startled, she cast him a confused look.  “Um... yeah... but – what's that got to do with anything?”

“Then everyone you know will not die, and you will not be left alone, miko.  Speak no more of such  foolishness.”

Staring at him, wide-eyed, Kagome was actually stunned almost speechless.  Almost.  “Y-you mean... you'd have me stay with you... for this almost forever I now seem to be stuck with?”  she asked, disbelief thick in her voice.

“If you are near timeless, and I am near timeless, would you not think we would naturally gravitate towards each other, when everyone else passes through life like leaves drifting in the current of a swift river, leaving both of us behind?”

Startled, she just stared at him.  He did not look at her, but his words comforted her in a way nothing else could have done – because he never said anything he didn't mean.

“There is no need for you to fear that you will be alone.  This one will not allow it.”  With that, he stood, and began to walk away.  Pausing in his step, he said,  “Come.  It is time to continue.”  

He started forward again, knowing she would follow.

Kagome stood up, then watched him for a moment as he walked away from her, silver locks glowing in the sunlight with an almost ethereal air, and then she smiled, and ran after him.

It was good to know she would not be alone...

No matter how long she lived, she would always have at least one friend.


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