Just Say Yes by Dlat

Old Friends in New Places

He was having trouble controlling himself the longer he was in her presence. Twice now, he’d caught himself leaning forward to bury his face in her hair and just barely stopped himself in time. She was here. After all these years, she was finally here. However, in all his thoughts and planning for this moment, he had never once considered this outcome. He wanted to curse his brother for not having more specific details about when she would be finished with her travels. If he had known, he could have saved her years of pain. Her stomach rumbled as they approached the mall and he frowned, immediately steering her towards the food court. 

“You can’t be hungry again,” she said, trying in vain to hide her embarrassment. 

“No, but you are.” She blushed, her unease spiking in intensity as they stood in line at an express ramen shop. When they’d finally taken their seats, he could take it no more. “Miko, why are you so hungry?”

She paused, chopsticks halfway to her mouth, before smiling widely and shrugging her shoulders. “Just one of those days I guess.”

He wasn’t buying it, but let it slide for now. He’d find out eventually. But first things first, he was getting her some decent clothes. It hadn’t escaped him that her clothes hung off her like rags, his keen eyes catching the frayed edges of her blouse and the badly mended sleeve of her jacket. She would fight him, as she had with the car, but he was determined. 

Kami, buying the car had been a nightmare. It had taken four hours and she’d fought him every step of the way, but he’d won in the end, as he knew he would. Her new blue Mazda 6 would be delivered to his office tomorrow afternoon. The sales clerk had advised they could take it then, but he’d insisted they perform a final appraisal of the car for any safety issues. He knew there wasn’t really any need, but he wanted to see where she lived, and this was as good of an excuse as any. 

As he sat watching her slurp her noodles, he steeled himself for the next fight. He was determined to get her some decent clothes. Her appearance worried him. Not because the clothes were frayed, as he knew that was a popular style, but because of the way they hung off her. Had she truly lost that much weight? Or was it merely that she couldn’t afford clothing and had had to accept hand me downs that were the wrong size? Either way, they wouldn’t be leaving this mall until she had enough suitable clothing for his tastes. 

Deciding he might as well get the show started he said, “So, is there anywhere in particular you’d like to go?”

She shrugged, not meeting his eyes as she mumbled a soft, “Not really,” and curled in on herself in an attempt to appear smaller. 

“There’s no need to be nervous. I explained why you will need new clothing. I am merely setting you up for success.”

“Easy for you to say,” she grumbled, pushing the dregs of her remaining noodles around in her bowl. “Besides, it’s not like I can pay you back.”

“We can discuss that later,” he said, waving her excuse off blandly. “Besides, I think you are forgetting something.” She quirked her brow in an admittedly impressive imitation of him and he smirked. “You’re the Shikon Miko.”

She laughed. Her head tilting back as her laughter rang out around them and he resisted the urge to close his eyes and relish the sound. But before he could, the sound died out and her eyes hardened.

“Like that means anything in this day and age.”

“Maybe not. But there are those of us who do remember and know what would have been had you not been there.”

She shuddered, and he wondered which battle she was remembering. There were so many. Too many. 

“Think of this as a five hundred year old IOU. You saved the world. It owes you.”

“But you don’t!” She hissed, reiki spiking out around her as she fought to control her obvious ire. “We weren’t even friends! Why would you do all this? You’ve never once done anything that didn’t specifically benefit you in some way, so what’s in this for you?”

Her entire being screamed with her desire to fight and he reveled in her fire. There was the warrior he’d missed. He was tempted to press her further, to see just how much fight she still possessed, but as he watched her slump back into her seat, a defeated tiredness seeping into her features, he reminded himself now was not the time. 

“Kagome, did my dear brother ever explain pack dynamics to you?”

She didn’t even bother looking up. “Not really.”

“You never questioned why he diverted to you on all decisions?”

“I’m not really one to follow.”

He chuckled. “No, you’re definitely not. Which is why you are our pack’s alpha female.”

“Our?”

“Yes, ‘our.’ Inuyasha is a member of my pack and by extension, when you and your friends joined him, you became members as well. But you, as the most powerful woman, also attained the additional role of alpha as I, the alpha male, do not have a mate.”

“But you and Inuyasha hate each other. You tried to kill him on several occasions. You’re telling me you were willing to kill one of your pack members?”

“Distant and strained as our relationship was, we were both still members of the House of the West. This one admits, Inuyasha was not aware of this at the time, but he is now.”

She stiffened at the mention of the hanyou’s continued existence and he sighed. “Please Kagome, just let me do this. As the alpha male, it is my duty to see to it that all pack members are taken care of, especially you. So please, no more questions. Just let me make sure my pack is cared for.”

***

“I hate shopping,” Kagome grumbled twenty minutes later as she followed Sesshoumaru into the first store. 

“And I hate whiners, and yet, here we are.”

She glared at him, wanting to hate him, but at the same time absolutely stunned by his kindness. For the first time in months, she was completely full. She had a car, and now she was about to get an entire new wardrobe. 

“I won’t know what I’m supposed to wear,” she said, hoping to make him realize how fruitless this was. 

“Not to worry,” he said, clearly unwilling to be deterred. “An old friend will be helping us.”

“Old friend?” Kagome questioned, her confusion rising more and more by the second. Who could they possibly have as a shared friend? They rounded the corner and Kagome automatically reached for her non existent bow, something she hadn’t done in over a year. Standing before them, was the unmistakable form of…”Kagura!”

“Hello Kagome,” the wind youkai said, bowing respectfully to Sesshoumaru. “Surprised to see me?”

“I...well…”

Kagura laughed. “No need to look so nervous. I promise, I don’t even have a fan on me.” She held up her hands and turned slowly on the spot, smiling as she faced them once more. 

“Sorry,” Kagome said, flushing in embarrassment. 

“Don’t worry about it. It’s only been a couple years for you right?”

She nodded. “You know?”

“Sesshoumaru told me a few years ago. Couldn’t have you accidentally running into someone you thought was an enemy.”

“Haha, yeah,” Kagome said, snorting softly as she imagined what she would have done if she’d seen Kagura before now. “Probably a good idea.”

“Right! Well, Sesshoumaru tells me you’re going to be working for him now?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess so.”

“Well then, you’ve come to the right place! My shop is just through here!”

“Your shop?”

“Yeah,” Kagura said, smirking at the two of them as she led the way into the store. “I figured it was either this or lease myself out as a wind turbine.”

Kagome chuckled nervously and followed her into the shop. She had to admit, she was impressed. It definitely wasn’t a job she would have thought of the wind sorceress, but she had to admit, it fit. Sesshoumaru stood behind them, appearing uninterested as he stared out into the breezeway at the passing shoppers for a moment before advising them that he would wait for them in the dressing room and headed off to sit in one of the chairs at the back of the shop. 

“Men,” Kagura said, rolling her eyes as she looked Kagome over. “They never change.”

Kagome giggled and followed Kagura to a rack of business suits to begin looking for something she could wear to the office. The wind youkai was surprisingly easy to talk to and before she knew it, they were laughing and chatting like they really were old friends. 

“Ok, so I think we’ve got enough to get you started,” Kagura said an hour later when they’d gone through what felt like every outfit in the store. 

“Thank you Kagura,” Kagome said, laughing a moment later and shaking her head. “Gosh that feels weird to say.”

The wind youkai chuckled in response. “I suppose, but I hope you’ll get used to saying it. I always respected you Kagome. Your kindness, especially towards those who’d wronged you, and your willingness to help all in need no matter their species or circumstances was simply unheard of and absolutely inspiring, and was the starting point of uniting youkai and humans. I can only hope that you’ll count me as a friend.”

Noting Sesshoumaru was still out in the breezeway, talking on the phone, she lowered her voice and handed Kagome a glossy business card. “Now, if you need anything, even if it’s just to have a Sesshoumaru free moment, you give me a call ok?” 

The former time traveling miko was shocked and could only nod as she replied, “Th...thank you Kagura. I hope so too.”