Work Text:
“Well,” Kagome said, taking her seat across the table from the daiyoukai she had never believed to see again. “I was wondering why an important client would’ve wanted to meet with someone like me, but this explains a fair deal.”
A small smile played on her lips as she met his eyes – darkened to a dull brown by whatever spell or illusion he’d used to hide his demonic features.
His youki pressed against her skin, making her reiki slowly stir in response. The familiar rush of power mixed with aching nostalgia; her reiki had been lying dormant ever since the well had closed ten years ago.
“I thought I was hallucinating when I caught your scent,” Sesshoumaru spoke. “But once I saw your profile I knew I had not imagined it.”
“I’m flattered you still remembered me after all this time,” Kagome replied. A grin tugged at her lips.
Perhaps it was odd, to feel this giddy and relaxed, while sitting across from someone with whom she had never exactly been on friendly terms… But to her, Sesshoumaru was the last remaining link to the friends she had lost to time.
“Trust me, Kagome,” he said wryly, “you left a lasting impression.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she decided out loud – and Sesshoumaru’s lips curved in a smile.
She had never seen him wear such a look of genuine amusement before, and her breath caught. At last it fully hit her: though ten years had felt like a long time to her, she had taken the short-cut; it had taken Sesshoumaru five centuries to reach this restaurant table they were sitting at.
“I always had suspicions,” he murmured now, those dark eyes studying her, “but your friends were very tight-lipped about where you had disappeared to, and they took your secret to their graves.”
Kagome bit her lip as her eyes misted over. She had known, of course, but her heart still sank like a cold stone at the mention of their deaths.
She felt his piercing gaze follow the lone tear rolling down her cheek, and his expression changed, his voice grew softer.
“They remembered you, even at the end. In fact, they may have been hoping for something like this to come to pass.”
Kagome looked up from the napkin she’d used to dry her eyes with. “What do you mean?”
“They gave me letters, addressed to you.”
She gasped softly in surprise and then felt fresh tears welling up, but their waitress finally arrived, and Kagome got a moment to compose herself. She hid behind the offered menu and drew a shuddering breath.
“Feel free to order anything you wish,” Sesshoumaru intoned, seemingly unaffected by her emotional reaction. “I shall be paying.”
“Thank you.”
It didn’t feel like enough, when her heart was swelling with gratitude, but he nodded anyway, and a silence fell between them as they studied the menus and placed their orders.
“I didn’t think I’d see you again,” Kagome said at long last, after the two of them were alone again. “Let alone meet you through an omiai.”
“I should say the same,” Sesshoumaru said, one eyebrow arching. “You never lacked for suitors.”
Kagome blushed. “I’m not actually looking to get married for another few years,” she confessed. “I’d rather work.”
“I saw on your profile that you worked with children,” Sesshoumaru said. “That is very admirable.”
“It is?” Kagome asked, surprised.
“Yes. Something you ought to be well-suited for, besides.”
“Thank you,” she said. His comment had made her feel oddly embarrassed and delighted at the same time, so she promptly changed the subject. “What about you then? Why are you signed up at a matchmaking agency?”
“For the same reason most people are,” Sesshoumaru hummed, his lips twitching. “Parental interference. My mother has been growing increasingly insistent and theatrical during the past decade.”
“Your… mother?” Kagome blinked. She had never before given a single fleeting thought to Sesshoumaru’s mother… but now she found herself wondering just what kind of person she was, to be able to influence Sesshoumaru to such a degree.
“Indeed,” he said with a small sigh. “You should hear her nag. ‘I have let you be for centuries – centuries, Sesshoumaru! I just wish to see you settle down before my time comes, is that truly so much to ask?’ As if she didn’t have another few hundred years left in her, the old hag.”
“Wow.” Kagome giggled nervously. “She seems like… wow.”
“My sentiments exactly.”
And there it was again, that elusive smile. Kagome beamed back at him.
Their food arrived, and everything was delicious. They ate and talked, catching up with one another slowly but surely. She cried a little and laughed a lot as they reminisced about the old days together.
It was weird and fantastic; absolutely surreal whenever she paused enough to think about it: that here she was, having a blind date with Sesshoumaru in an upscale restaurant in modern day Tokyo. And yet she was completely at ease in his company. As peculiar as the circumstances were, spending time with him felt new and familiar all at the same time – and most importantly, it felt right.
“This was fun,” Kagome said, gazing at him from across the table where their empty plates lay forgotten.
“Very enjoyable,” Sesshoumaru agreed. “But I am afraid it is getting late.”
“Yeah.” Kagome let out a reluctant sigh; she didn’t want the night to be over. “I suppose we’ll need to get going.”
Sesshoumaru paid their bill and they left the restaurant.
Kagome looked up to meet his eyes as he opened the door of the taxi he had ordered for her, despite her protests, and could swear she saw the smallest swirl of gold.
“I look forward to our next date,” he told her – and though the words caught her by a surprise, they were nothing compared to the shock of what followed them: the firm and gentle press of his lips against her flushed cheek.