Pack by NicoRavenPen
Of Cramps and Comfort
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Inuyasha or any of it’s characters…
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As the blue light enveloped them, Kagome sighed in delight. When they touched down in the bottom of the well, she immediately began to climb the ladder but Sesshomaru grabbed her round the waist and leapt to the top, forgoing the modern convention.
She turned to him, gauging his reaction as she slowly slid the door open. Much to her pride, his eyes merely widened as his nostrils flared minutely.
“Will you be okay with the scents?”
He took a few big whiffs of the air before his calm façade fell into place and he glanced down at her.
“It is foul. But tolerable.”
“Alright. Well,” she took a deep breath before exiting the well house, “let’s go introduce you to the family.”
“Hn.”
They walked in silence but Kagome’s nerves were highly strained as they got closer to the house front. She honestly had no idea how this would all go. When they got to the door they paused for a few minutes and then Kagome turned to him, reaching up a hand, placing it on his cheek and brushing her thumb along a stripe. His eyes closed for a moment as he leaned in to her touch, breathing in her soothing scent. He was unsure if it was for his benefit or her own, but it was comforting none-the-less. When he opened them again there was a faint smile that she almost wondered if she’d imagined. Smiling in return, she let her hand slip down and opened the door.
She stepped in and slid off her getta, slipping on a pair of slippers. She turned to Sesshomaru as he entered behind her.
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you’ll need to remove your shoes. Mama’s very particular about not trailing dirt in.” Nodding, he bent his tall frame down and removed his shoes, setting them aside and glancing to her for direction. She handed him a pair of larger slippers, smiling to herself when he put them on. It was so out of place, but so sweet. Turning, she glanced around, looking for any sign of life.
“Mama! I’m home!” She reached out with her senses and found the house empty.
“Huh. That’s odd. I wonder where they are?” She shrugged and began to head up the stairs. “I’ll be right back! I just have to take care of my little problem quick and I’ll be right back!” She disappeared for a moment and Sesshomaru looked about him, curious. There were so many new things that is was nearly overwhelming. Nearly. But not quite. He noticed, with a slight narrowing of his eyes, that his miko owned a feline pet. It was watching him from the arm of what he assumed was furniture, it’s tail flicking back and forth.
After a few minutes Kagome returned, looking much more pleased with life.
“I see you’ve met Buyo, the house cat.” She wandered over and ruffled the cat’s fur, inducing a low purr from the thing. “Well, come on then, we can wait for them to come home and in the meantime I’ll show you around!” She left the feline and reached over, taking a hold of his hand gently, to guide him. She led him through the entryway and living-room, pointing out things that he might recognize and explaining the purpose of others. When he nodded wordlessly, his eyes taking in every detail, she led him into the kitchen.
“This is where we prepare food and we eat at the table there.” She pointed towards the dining room. He was investigating everything, his gaze intent.
“What is the purpose of these things?”
“Well this is the fridge; it’s where we store food.” She opened the door. “It keeps it cool and fresh for a longer period of time. The top section is the freezer and it keeps everything, well, frozen.” She giggled a little. “Now this here is a microwave and it cooks food quickly, within minutes if not sooner, by producing high amounts of heat.” He glanced at it warily.
“I think I shall leave that device to your expertise.”
“Good idea,” she chuckled. “And this is an electric kettle. It heats up water quickly for tea.” She smiled up at him, noting the semi-pleased expression. “Would you like some?”
“Hn. Tea is the one thing familiar to this one.”
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Five minutes later had them sitting at the dining table across from one another, the sun shining through the window brightly.
“Tea always contents me,” she murmured. “It’s like a warm pelt on a cold day.”
They were silent as they drank, enjoying the warmth of the tea and the sun’s rays. It was beginning to get chilly again, fall coming closer each day.
After tea they set about again, with Kagome showing him where the rooms and the bathroom were and giving great detail to the uses of the toilet, shower, bath and sink. Afterwards she showed him their rooms, allowing him a peak inside before showing him her own room. They stepped inside and Kagome sat on the edge of her bed as he glanced around, slowly meandering about, occasionally prodding or daintily sniffing something.
She watched, mystified as he familiarized himself with her world. He seemed like a sponge, soaking it all up.
“I know it’s all very strange right now, but you’ll get used to it eventually.”
“Hn. Perhaps with time.” He was looking at the framed pictures on her dresser, a curious light in his eyes.
“Tell me, how is it that you can capture a portrait so clearly?”
“Oh! Photos!” she stood, going to her desk for her digital camera. She held the device up for his inspection, turning it on so that he could see the screen as it moved.
“You just click this button here and it captures a photograph.” She clicked the button from where she stood in front of him, smiling as he flinched at the flash.
“Oh sorry, I forgot to turn off the flash. Here, let me see it.” He handed it back to her and she readjusted it before bringing up the photo he’d just taken. “See, this was the photo the camera just took!”
He glanced down at the smiling face of his intended on the screen and then glanced up at the true one before him.
“How is this done?” He clicked a small button and noticed that a new ‘photo’ was in its’ place.
“Well, it’s really hard to explain, especially with the digital cameras, so I’m afraid this is one thing that you’ll just have to take as is.” She shrugged.
He continued to click the button, intrigued by the images that appeared.
“Did you capture all of these?” They were surprisingly good.
“Yep! I took them all!” She beamed proudly. When his eyebrows rose into his bangs and his jaw slackened minutely, she frowned, walking around him to see what he was looking at.
The picture that she’d taken of him while he was eating his dessert was right there for him to see, his expression one of complete ecstasy, his spoon in his mouth.
She blushed, feeling her face practically burn in embarrassment.
“Kagome, what is this?” His voice was oddly quiet. “I do not remember you taking this one’s photograph.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” she reached for the camera, standing on her tippy-toes when he raised it out of her reach. “Really, I just happened to have my camera handy and well, I’d never seen an expression like that on you before!” She rushed to explain.
He looked down at her, an odd look in his eyes.
“None before have seen an expression such as this on this Sesshomaru. I trust it will not fall into the wrong hands.”
“No, I will not show Inuyasha,” she grumbled, jumping up to snatch at it.
“Do you swear?”
“Yes, yes I swear.”
“Hn. Good.”
He leaned down as if to kiss her, his eyes closing as he neared.
Surprised and still blushing, she slid her eyes closed as well, waiting for his soft lips to press to hers. But then she heard the tell-tale sound of a picture being taken and snapped her eyes open, aghast.
“Sesshomaru!” He grinned as he looked down at his miko in the photo, her cheeks flushed as she waited for his touch. How delicious.
“I wish for a replica of this…photograph.” He held the camera out to her smugly, proud of his mastery of the ‘camera’.
“Like hell,” she muttered, stowing the camera in her desk drawer before turning and frowning up at him cutely.
“Then it seems that you understand my position, Koi.”
“Hn,” she muttered darkly, leaving the room.
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As they sat on the couch watching the ‘TV’ as she’d called it, he allowed himself to relax, having been reassured that her times were much safer in regards to random crime. Kagome was leaning against his shoulder, her arm wrapped through his and her long legs across his knees, a content smile on her face. This TV watching also allowed for time to absorb the sounds and the smells, including Kagome’s. She had dealt with her womanly issues when they returned, and due to this the scent of her blood was indeed much less, though still in the back of his mind at all times. He knew that it was unreasonable to think on it at all, being a natural process for females, but the scent of his future mate’s blood set him in edge. While he knew that she was un-injured, he still could not keep from checking her scent from time to time to ensure that that was still the case.
“Oh stop that,” Kagome scolded, catching him scenting her once more. “You know I’m fine. I’d say something if it was otherwise, now wouldn’t I?”
“Would you? You are an entirely selfless creature, as I have come to find, and I have witnessed self-neglect on your part in the past.”
She leaned back and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before glancing back at him.
“Well I suppose if other people were hurt I would help them first, but that doesn’t mean I’d completely neglect myself.”
They had a stare down, both narrowing their eyes. A rustling outside the door drew their attention though and they both glanced over, Kagome rushing to her feet. She knew the sound of juggling grocery bags.
She threw the door open, a delighted smile on her face as she helped her mother with her bags.
“Hi mom!”
“Oh! Kagome!” She seemed in shock for a moment, the fact that her daughter was home taking a moment to register fully. She handed a bag to Kagome, resting her own on her hips. “You’re home! I was wondering when you’d be back!” The two females brought the bags into the kitchen and out of curiosity he followed, leaning on the door frame of the kitchen. They began putting the items away, what he could only guess were food items, and it took a moment for her mother to realize he was there.
She stopped in her movement, having just bent down to put something on the lower shelf of the fridge, before her eyes glanced up to him, guarded.
When she realized that he posed no threat, she slowly rose back up, her chocolate eyes never leaving his.
“And who is this, Kagome?”
Kagome turned, having just been placing canned goods in a cupboard.
“Oh!” She turned to them, a can still in her hands as she began to ring it nervously. “Umm, Mama, this is…,” she stopped as if to think for a moment, seeming unsure in what to say. “…Sesshomaru-sama.” She turned back again to finish her unloading of the food. He noted that she’d failed to mention that he was her betrothed but he decided to speak to her later about it. No doubt she was still unprepared to speak with her family about it, and he would respect her decision on it. Although he of course would not allow her to hedge around the issue forever.
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That evening after dinner Sesshomaru had been speaking with Kagome’s mother, due to her curiosity about him, when he realized that Kagome was no longer with them. Politely excusing himself he went up the stairs to the bedrooms, aware that she was in the bathroom. From what he could smell her temperature had grown quite hot, causing her to break out into a sweat. Concerned, he rapped a knuckle on the door.
“Kagome, are you well?” A muffled moan sounded from low in the room, and he could only assume that she was on the ground. “I am coming in.” He slowly opened the strange western style door, wary of hitting her with it. When he had sufficient room to enter he did, closing the door behind him.
Kagome was lying on the ground, curled up into a ball on her side and making soft mewling groans. Sweat was clinging to her brow, making her bangs stick to her skin. He brushed a hand along her back, trying to comfort her.
“What ails you?”
She groaned.
“Oh, it’s nothing. The first night I tend to have really bad cramps,” she muttered between clenched teeth. “I’m used to it.” Sesshomaru frowned, feeling slightly awkward and uneasy with it all.
“Why are you lying here? Should you not be in your bed?”
“Mmm,” she murmured. “The cool tiles feel good on my skin though.”
“Is there not something that I can do to assist you?”
She reached up, pointing to the medicine cabinet above the sink.
“Can you check and see if there’s a bottle in there that says Ibuprofen, or Acetaminophen? They usually help, although when it’s this bad they don’t really help as much as I’d like.” As she instructed, he stood and opened the strange cabinet, searching all of the odd items for what she had asked for. He perused the items several times and found nothing like what she’d said.
“There is nothing here.”
She muttered a curse in reply before curling in on herself even more, moaning.
“I will return.” He brushed a quick kiss to her now chilled, exposed cheek before standing and leaving the room. He descended the stairs calmly and composed and re-entered the kitchen where Kagome’s mother was leaning against the counter, a cup of tea in her hands. He cleared his throat when he entered the room, unsure of how to proceed.
She turned, a gentle smile gracing her seemingly ageless face.
“Hello Sesshomaru-sama. Did you find Kagome?”
“Hn. She is feeling ill.”
“Ill? What’s wrong with her?”
“I believe she referred to it as ‘cramps’. I am unfamiliar with the term but I think I understand the implication.”
“Oh, I see.” She frowned a little, trying not to smile at the awkwardness she could feel radiating off of him. “I’ll see what I can find. But for now I will get a hot pad for her. It will warm her body and relax the muscles that are cramping.” She headed out into the living room straight to a cabinet. Reaching into it she pulled out a strange pad of fabric with a sort of rope attached to it, a similarly strange device on the end of it.
She handed it to him, closing the cabinet doors.
“Will you take this to Kagome? She will know what to do with it. Sadly, I don’t think that we have any more pain reliever, so I will have to go to a corner store and fetch some. Will you keep an eye on her for me?”
Realizing that she required a response, he politely nodded his head before replying.
“Of course.”
The woman left the house, closing the door behind her.
He went to the bathroom once more, again knocking before entering.
“Here, your mother gave this to me. She claimed that it would aid you.”
She glanced up miserably, eyeing the item that he carried. Her eyes widened and a tired smile broke out across her face.
“Oh good! I’d forgotten about that!” She took the pad, laying it across her stomach and handing the odd contraption at the end of the rope like thing to him.
“This can be attached to those odd holes in the wall there,” she pointed to the outlet. “It’s called an outlet. It’s where we plug in our electrical items.”
He did as she instructed, matching the odd metal prongs to the small holes in the wall and inserting it.
“Thank you.”
“Hn.”
He turned and sat on the ground beside his miko, back against the wall. Within minutes, she was sighing in what he took to be relief.
“Oh that helps,” she smiled up at him over her shoulder. She crept closer to him, laying her head on his thigh as she tried to relax. Almost immediately his hand went into her hair, running his claws through it gently. In such matters he was very much unpracticed. He was aware of what happened to the female body in such times but had never been in direct contact with a female during those times. It was all very strange. He did know, though, that from him she simply needed comforting.
Eventually, she relaxed enough that she wasn’t moaning in pain every few seconds. Deeming this a good sign, he stood, gently removing her from his leg. Unsure what would happen, he pulled the plug from the socket and reached down and picked her up, cradling her in his arms. She glanced up at him with lidded eyes, half aware of her surroundings.
Entering her room he ascertained where the nearest outlet was, finding one near her bed, and plugged it in once more. Still holding her, he sat on her bed and shifted back against the headboard. She cuddled close to his chest, her head pillowed against his Moko-moko, her arms still wrapped tightly around her middle.
“Rest, Kagome.”
“I’ll try,” came her faint reply.
Nearly a half an hour later her mother returned with a glass of water and some medicinal tablets. When she first entered the room she had stopped, gazing at them with questions in her eyes. She was no doubt confused about their connection, and in all honesty he could understand. No doubt she’d never heard of him before and if she had he doubted it was when he and Kagome were on amicable terms. Since their arrival Kagome had not told her mother anything other than who he was and he’d tried to give her more information on himself, but he still was unsure if that was enough. He respected Kagome’s mother and so he wanted her to trust him, and especially when it pertained to her daughter.
“Is she feeling any better? I’m afraid she usually has a pretty rough time with this,” the woman ventured.
“Hn. I believe so. She has stopped mewling.”
“Mewling?” Her mother asked quietly, mostly to herself.
He didn’t reply and instead continued to run his hand through Kagome’s hair, knowing that her mother would surely understand. Being a ningen of course their terminology would clash at times, but the meanings were still very similar.
She came closer, motioning to the water and tablets.
Understanding the gesture, he leaned down close to Kagome and blew a stream of air directly onto her face, ruffling her eyelashes, and watched as her brows knit together.
“Kagome, you must wake.” He brushed her bangs out of her eyes, listening to her quickening heartbeat. His answer was a gentle mewl. “Wake. Your mother has brought the medicine you require.”
Her eyes opened slowly, blinking as she gazed up at him and then over to her mother. Sesshomaru reached over to her mother and she handed him the tablets, which he in turn gave to Kagome, repeating this with the water. She swallowed them dutifully and then leaned her head back against his pelt, reaching up to rest a hand on his cheek again, her eyes closing. His eyes warmed momentarily before he handed the water glass back to her mother.
“Thank you.”
She said nothing, still observing in silence as she gave a slight nod of the head, leaving them once more.
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As she left the room, she couldn’t help but wonder just what exactly was going on under her nose. She was very trusting of her children, and she knew that Kagome would tell her if something was truly wrong, but she couldn’t help but wonder who this new youkai was. He seemed to be very concerned for her daughter and she supposed that to be a good thing, and so she decided not to worry too much. But she would still keep an eye on them, if only to understand.
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A/N: Well there it is for now! Hope you all like it! ^__^ Poor Kagome…I don’t know if any of you have had cramps that bad, but if you haven’t I can assure you it’s hell! Lol…Anyways, as always, R x R!