A Trick of Fate by PristineUngift

Liberty

Sesshoumaru’s vixen took more liberties with his person after they left Edo, as if his comforting of her by the well had granted her some sort of permission. Or perhaps it was that visiting with her human friends had made her more accepting of her kitsune nature?

Whatever the reason, she no longer hesitated to curl into his side at night, or lay her head upon his shoulder if she simply wanted closeness.

Sesshoumaru found he did not mind. He had grown accustomed to her. It could be very pleasing, to hold her, letting her soft purring send him to sleep as they shared the heat of their bodies.

It was more pleasing still, to have a companion he trusted to keep watch while he rested.

They took their time in returning to the shiro. Kagome begged him to wait while she played in the human villages they passed, her tailstips twitching. He had no objection, for he was loathe to return to the gilded cage that was his palace. The yoke of being a lord. Traveling with Kagome, he could almost imagine that he was free, as inu were meant to be.

So they inspected the borders of the West, crisscrossing between one human village and the next.

 “Why do you let humans live on your lands?” she asked him curiously one night, one of her tails wrapping around his leg as she made herself comfortable in his arms.

He shrugged one shoulder. “Why do I allow deer, or monkeys, or any other creature?”

“Hmm,” was all she said in reply.

“It is good they are here,” he continued. “For if you did not have humans to trick, it is me you would pester.”

“Hey!” she protested, her wild, bright fox-laugh filling the night.

-l-

Kagome was looking into her little round mirror, smiling to herself as she used it to watch her humans. She’d discovered when she’d first stolen the reflective sphere that if someone possessed an object touched with her magic, she could us the mirror to watch them. She and Shippou had spent many happy hours observing the little girl in the first village Kagome had ever played tricks in – the child she had gifted with a living origami fox.

Parting her lips, she exhaled, letting her breath fog up the glass in her hand. When the fog faded, Kagome could see Sango and Miroku. Sango wore the pearl Kagome had forged from fang and fire on a comb, tucked into her black hair.

 “Never have I seen a vixen so vain,” Sesshoumaru said, letting a calf roll from his shoulders to land on the ground with a thump. They would be having beef this night. Kagome hoped he hadn’t taken the animal from a human farm. He was within his rights, of course. As Lord of the Western Lands, everything within its borders was his to do with as he pleased.

Still, it would be far easier for them to find other game than it would be for a farmer to replace the calf. And she never wanted a repeat of what had happened when Rin killed that farmer’s steer. She still had nightmares of watching those arrows strike Sesshoumaru; only in her dreams he was purified, and Kagome became a monster that killed indiscriminately, waking with the taste of blood in her mouth.

Dismissing her troubling thoughts, Kagome huffed at her alpha. “It’s not like I’m looking at my own reflection.”

That gave him pause. With a rush of air, he was behind her, looking over her shoulder.

“Are you not?” he asked at last, sounding confused.

Kagome blinked. “Can’t you see?”

She held up the mirror, filled with the image of Sango sharpening a sword and Miroku singing to his daughter.

“This one sees only the two of us.”

“Huh.” It had never occurred to Kagome that Sesshoumaru couldn’t see what she did in the mirror. After all, she shared the visions with Shippou easily enough.

Suddenly all the times Sesshoumaru had ordered them to put the mirror away made a great deal more sense.

“Maybe if I…” Without asking or waiting for permission, Kagome stood and hopped onto Sesshoumaru’s back, wrapping her arms around his neck. The muscles in his shoulders twitched, but made no move to punish her for her presumption. Kagome was beginning to think that he made allowances for her, because kitsune were expected to be a little wild.

She fully planned on taking advantage of that.

Raising the mirror up to hold it in front of Sesshoumaru’s face, she focused all of her magic on letting him see what she did in the reflective surface.

“How about now?” she asked, her eyes radiant with foxfire, a green haze forming around the two of them as her youki became visible.

Sesshoumaru was silent. Then, “It would seem there are some things only a kitsune may know.”

Kagome giggled at his sullen tone. Poor baby! He hated it when there were things he couldn’t do.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered in his ear, nipping the lobe as she would to a naughty kit. “You’re good at lots of other things.”

He growled at her, but it was halfhearted.

Kagome nipped his ear again.

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OMG you guys, there's already over 90 reviews! T_T I've never had that many before, not on a fic that wasn't already complete. And I want to say a special thank you to those of you who have left long, thoughtful reviews, and I'm so glad everyone is continuing to enjoy the characterization. :3

Also a very special thank you to Cali, who illustrated a scene from one of the earlier chapters. You can see it on her fanart page!