The Cricket's Cage by RosieB

The Midnight Train

A/N: Written for Dokuga's fic exhange this past Christmas. I was asked to stand in and write for someone that had to drop out - this story went to Aimee_Blue. Her requested prompts were "a midnight meeting on a train", "a doctor advising someone to appreciate the little things in life" or "Sesshoumaru has a lingering childhood fear of snow". I tried to work them all in - it's always difficult for me to write a one-shot with Kagome and Sesshoumaru ending up together within a short period of time, but I rather like this one. I know it's a bit silly though, lol. The recipient was happy, so that's all that I really cared about!

There aren't many overnight trains left in Japan, but one of them goes from Tokyo to Sapporo and is called the Cassiopeia. It's a luxury train, where the ultimate cabin takes up an entire car.

The Midnight Train

Kagome stood on the platform, clutching both her ticket and her overstuffed bag. I should turn straight around and cash this ticket back in, she thought to herself. The amount of the fare - an incredible twenty-one thousand yen for the 'cheapest' seat - was still making her stomach twist. But that was the price of waiting until the last minute to make her travel plans for the holiday. The buses and the planes were booked, as well as the less expensive trains, and the luxury, overnight line was all that remained.

She shook her head clear - this would be her Christmas present to herself, was all. A pleasant train ride, as opposed to the cramped conditions of her everyday commute to work, would be a treat. She would have seventeen hours in which to relax before meeting up with her entire extended family in Sapporo for their annual skiing trip. As much as she loved them all, they could be exhausting. She could only hope that the number of times she was asked about her love life would stay in the double digits.

The announcement for stragglers came over the loudspeaker, and making her decision, Kagome stepped forward and onto the train. Her cabin was towards the front, a small but plush room with two twin-sized beds and a desk in front of the large window in the facing wall. She dumped her bag onto the first bed just as the train gave a lurch and began to move.

Kagome settled into one of the armchairs that sat in front of the desk and watched Tokyo slide by as the sky grew dark. She flipped through a magazine as she listened to people passing by her door, going to and from the dining car or the showers. Only after a few stops of the train at its stations on the main island did she put aside her reading and stand up, stretching. Her stomach gave a tremendous growl, and she glanced at her watch.

It was almost midnight, she realized with a start. No wonder she was hungry. She felt a little lonely too, to be honest. Relaxing as this was, Kagome was not the type to shy away from human contact.

She was surprised to find the dining car completely packed - the holidays seemed to have induced everyone on the train to congregate in a single car for its free-flowing liquor. And given the drunken laughs she heard, they'd been at it for the entire ride so far. She managed to squeeze through the crowd and reach the corner of the bar. "I lost track of time," she said sheepishly. "Is the kitchen still open?"

The waiter paused in opening a bottle of wine. "Of course, miss," he answered, handing over a menu.

She was still deliberating whether she wanted a salad or something far richer and more substantial when the door at the end of the car opened. The jolt of a demonic aura flowed through the cabin in an instant.

Kagome tried to keep her focus on the menu - demons, as a general rule, hated to be stared at - but when she heard the awed whispers, she couldn't help herself. She glanced up just as the demon passed by, clearly intent on crossing to the other end of the car. All she caught was a flash of silver hair in the reflection of the mirror behind the bar as the youkai swept past.

"Are you ready to order, miss?" asked the waiter, a bit distracted - he was staring after the demon that had just disappeared again.

She shook her head. "I guess I'm not hungry," she murmured, passing the menu back.

Without waiting for an answer - and without knowing exactly what she was doing - she crossed the car and opened the door, just in time to see the silver-haired demon pause at the other end.

Kagome swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat and closed the door behind her. He's gorgeous, she thought as the youkai turned to face her. The brilliance of his golden eyes were visible even at this distance, and his thickly braided hair rested on the shoulder of an impeccable suit. Out loud she said, "I'm sorry. You startled me back there, and I had to... check."

He took a few steps towards her. "You are a miko," he said.

She nodded. "Not one of those crazy ones that calls for segregation between demons and humans," she assured him. "My family has a tiny shrine on the edge of Tokyo, but I'm not a very good priestess. I didn't sense you until you stepped into the dining car, and I should have. You're the most powerful demon I've ever come across."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Your kind wiped out many of my kind centuries ago. There are few of my status left."

"I'm sorry," she murmured again.

"But you underestimate your own power," he continued, as if she hadn't spoken. "The fact that you sensed me at all is an accomplishment."

"Everyone in there knew that you were a demon," Kagome pointed out.

"They only used their eyes," he replied. "You should be properly trained."

She arched an eyebrow. "You're advocating training for a miko?"

He shrugged. "Talent should not be wasted. The old ways should not die simply because our two species are at peace."

The cabin door closest to Kagome opened, and a hassled-looking mother carried a small boy into the corridor. She paused at the sight of Kagome but spotting the male demon at the other end of the car sent her scrambling back into her room. The distinct sound of the lock turning and frantic voices followed.

"Mostly at peace," Kagome amended. "I guess I should let you get back to your cabin. It's getting late anyway."

"It is," he agreed.

She hesitated. "I'm Kagome Higurashi, by the way. It was nice to meet you..." She trailed off.

He obliged her unspoken request. "Sesshoumaru Taisho."

"Are you going all the way to Sapporo, Taisho-san?"

"Yes, and beyond. I have a winter home outside of Asahikawa," Sesshoumaru replied.

"All the way up there? You must love snow," she said.

He straightened ever so slightly. "Actually, I do not care for it. I value its privacy more than anything."

The door to the cabin next to Kagome opened again and the woman from before scowled out at them. "People are trying to sleep, you know!" she hissed before glancing at Sesshoumaru with thinly veiled contempt. She muttered something indistinct, but clearly rude, and the door snapped shut once more.

Kagome colored. "I really should go." She put a hand on her stomach as it growled again. "I still haven't eaten."

"You are going into that maelstrom?" he asked, nodding towards the dining car.

"What other choice do I have?" she countered with a shrug. "It's not as loud for me as it must be for you, after all."

"I do not eat food prepared on trains, and my assistant packed far more than I require. You may share my dinner, if you would dare to cross a demon's threshold," Sesshoumaru said. His tone challenged her to be different from the rude woman in the neighboring cabin.

Kagome thought of the drunken crowd in the car behind her. "Alright," she decided, moving towards him. "I'm probably safer with you than with them."

He cocked his head. "You are likely the only one that believes so on this train," he said as they stepped into the small compartment that sat between the cars and unlocked the door to the last car.

"It's entirely yours?" she asked.

"I told you that I value my privacy," he replied, allowing her to go through first.

"Wow. No kidding," Kagome murmured, taking in the deluxe suite. If her room was luxurious travel, Sesshoumaru's was nice enough to treat as a permanent home. A private lounge area and dining table were immediately visible, stretching half the length of the car. "This is already larger than my apartment. You have your own bar and everything."

"Stocked, if you wish for a drink."

She smiled and shook her head. "No, thanks. I might accept invitations from strange youkai to go into their rooms at night, but I draw the line at drinking liquor there," she laughed.

Sesshoumaru pulled a large bento box from the refrigerator behind the bar as she made herself comfortable at the table. The last bits of landscape were passing by - soon, they would be going underground to pass underneath the channel that separated the main island from Hokkaido. "So, why do you go so far north when you don't like snow?" she asked. "I'm guessing that you don't ski either, even though Asahikawa is famous for it."

"I was once in a small avalanche when I was young," he said, putting plates out. "I was covered for an hour before my father found me."

Kagome blinked. "That must have been terrifying!"

"It was not pleasant," Sesshoumaru replied. "But I refuse to be mastered by a childhood fear."

"So you surround yourself by it?" she asked. "I don't have any stories close to yours, but I keep to the lodge while my family skis. I much prefer the warm fire and hot chocolate to getting bruises and snow everywhere."

"Such things happen less frequently when you practice, so I am told," the demon said, arching an eyebrow in her direction.

"Details," she said with a laugh as he began to dish out the food. She picked up a piece of sushi with her chopsticks and inspected it. "Hand-done? Your assistant is dedicated. Look at all this food!"

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "He is fastidious, and he has been in my service for a very long time. I do not think he could conceive of deviating from our long-established routines."

"Sounds like you could use a break from your 'long-established routines'," Kagome said.

"Am I incorrect in guessing that this trip for you is an annual tradition?" he countered.

She gave him a small smile. "Okay, I'll give you that one. Still, it sounds like you need to shake things up a bit. Is that why you're going up to your winter place? Or is that something you do every year?"

"My work is demanding. If I do attempt this trip with some regularity, it still provides a respite," he said.

Kagome popped a piece of tempura in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "So, you have a high-stress job and an assistant and this gorgeous room. What do you do? I don't think I've ever met a demon with a so-called 'normal' career. They're all artists or world travelers or writers - things that give them lots of freedom. They hate being tied down."

"Hn. I require more discipline in my life than that," he replied, lifting his chin a bit. She would have thought that he was being a snob if a flash of doubt didn't pass through his eyes a moment later. "I am an investment banker, and that provides enough excitement in my professional life."

She raised a speculative eyebrow. "Sounds like it."

He ignored her sarcasm. "Do you act as your shrine's priestess?"

"When I'm needed," Kagome replied. "But actually, I'm a nurse. Now there's excitement for you, although it's gotten a lot better recently. I used to work in the emergency room, but as interesting as it was, it was also exhausting. A doctor friend of mine suggested that I take some time to enjoy the simpler things in life, so now, I work in the maternity ward."

He gave her an appraising look. "That does not surprise me."

"Everyone says that," she said with a soft sigh. "Apparently, I'm a maternal sort of person."

"I was going to say that you seem like the kind and calm presence that a woman would need when she is in labor," Sesshoumaru said.

Kagome paused in lifting another piece of sushi to her mouth. "Thank you," she said quietly. "That's nice of you to say. It's not like I mind being called maternal, but sometimes, I feel like that's all I'm seen as. I don't even have children, but if I did, I would be more than a mother. That's not the sum total of anyone."

"Most mothers would say the same, I would imagine," he replied.

She smiled broadly. "No doubt. What about yours? Is she or your father joining you up north?"

"No, I will be entirely alone."

Her face fell. "But what fun is that? Private is one thing, but alone?"

He shook his head. "I assure you that I do not require company in order to be content."

"You clearly didn't mind having company tonight," she observed. "That wasn't spurred by an urge to break out of those long-established routines you were talking about?"

The corner of his mouth turned up, ever so slightly. "You followed me. There was no hatred or fear - only curiosity. It was something I have never encountered before with a miko. You intrigued me."

She couldn't stop the blush that spread across her cheeks. "Really?"

"Does the idea embarrass you?" Sesshoumaru asked. "If you wish, you can ascribe it to the fact that we are, by tradition, mortal enemies. And who would sacrifice the chance to learn more about one's opponent?"

Kagome laughed quietly. "No, I won't think about it like that," she said. "I just wish that anyone else - my family, for instance - would see me like you apparently do. They've had years, and they've never given me as much credit as you have in just an hour."

"They think poorly of you?"

"No. No, not at all," she corrected quickly. "They love me, and I love them. But every passing year, I think they pity me a little more. Because I don't have a husband and three kids already, they see me as lonely and sad. To be honest, I didn't even want to make the trip up to Sapporo this year. Last year, I think I got introduced to every single man of marriageable age within the city limits."

"And are you lonely and sad?" he asked.

Kagome hesitated, knowing a demon could smell a lie with ease. "Sometimes. I have friends and even the occasional date, but who isn't lonely on occasion? Besides you, apparently."

Golden eyes fixed upon her, and she held her breath as he murmured, "There are exceptions to every rule, Kagome."

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"Kagome! Oh, I'm so glad you could make it, dear," her mother greeted, rising from the plush sofa in the lodge's great room and gathering her daughter in her arms. "How was the trip up? I hope you got a lot of rest, because your uncles are already talking about how to drag you out onto the slopes this year. I don't know if they'll take 'no' for an answer."

She smiled, thinking of her all-night conversation with Sesshoumaru on the train - she had only gone back to her cabin in the morning to fetch her bag. He'd been nothing but a gentleman, but she was hesitant to say a word about that strange, but lovely, encounter to her own mother. "Yeah, I did. Thanks for the warning though. They're still going to be disappointed."

Her mother pulled back and smiled in understanding. "You should also know that your aunts are scouring the lodge for eligible young men."

"Oh, are they sticking to men below the age of forty this year?" Kagome laughed.

"You're taking the news well," the older woman noted. "I tried talking to them out of it, thinking they would be making you miserable again."

Kagome shrugged. "I don't know. I'm trying not to worry about things like that right now."

"Well, they've already found their first one, so expect him any second. I think they plucked him right out of the lobby after he checked in, the poor man." Her mother sighed and pointed over her shoulder. "And there they are."

"That's a record time," Kagome said as she turned around.

Her three aunts were ushering forward a scrawny little man, who looked like he was ready to bolt at any moment. Her relatives - darling women, save for their habit of interfering with her love life at every available moment - were whispering in the man's ears. Probably giving advice and tips that would ultimately backfire.

"Kagome!" cried her eldest aunt, Chiyo. "Come here and meet Rokuro-kun."

With a reassuring squeeze of the hand from her mother, Kagome dutifully moved forward to meet her aunts and the trembling man. But just as she was about to give her aunts a bit of a speech and secure Rokuro's release from their clutches, she saw a newly familiar figure enter the room. "Sesshoumaru," she called, stepping neatly around her confused relatives.

The demon gave her the half-smile that she had come to recognize over the course of their lengthy conversation. "Already being presented with suitors?" he asked, nodding towards the little group of aunts.

"I wasn't exaggerating," she laughed. "But why are you here? You said that you were going to go straight to your house in Asahikawa."

"I felt compelled to change my plans from the long-established tradition," he said, "in order to help you stop your long-established traditions."

"That was quick," Kagome said, stepping closer to him.

He nodded as he reached out to touch her arm. "When I make a decision, I implement the change as soon as possible."

The aunts suddenly roused themselves. "Kagome," Chiyo broke in, "who is this? Have you forgotten poor Rokuro-kun?" She gestured towards the empty place where the man had once stood, seeming surprised that he had fled. "Wait, where is he?"

"He must have stepped away to attend to something," suggested Kagome's mother, tossing a wink towards her daughter. "You should find him, Chiyo."

The three woman agreed and dispersed, calling out for Rokuro, as Kagome grinned. "Your mother has sense, at least," noted Sesshoumaru, as the elder woman drifted back towards her seat in front of the fire and her book.

"My aunts just want me to be happy," the miko said.

"You seem to have done quite well on your own," he replied.

"You're very vain," she said, trying not to laugh too much. "This is all so crazy. We talked for one night. What about that whole mortal enemies thing?"

Sesshoumaru arched a brow. "Why did you follow me? Why did you trust me despite what we both are?"

She shook her head, remembering that pull of his presence. "I don't know. I felt like... I had to."

"Then, you do understand," he said. "That was my instinct as well, and I am never wrong."

Kagome drew him close, still unsure of how this was possible. But the urge to to trust Sesshoumaru ran deeper than any doubts, and it felt right to give in to that. After all - he wasn't just saving her. She knew that she was saving him as well. "I don't know what the aunts will do with themselves from now on," she laughed right before she kissed him.