New Mother by Rosalynn

Nightly Visitors

Chapter 2: Nightly Visitors

Kagome had agreed to go with them, but now she wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. She was unnerved by the looks she got. Now as she retired for the night, she didn’t know what to think. She had just fallen asleep when she felt two somethings jump up on the bed. She didn’t have to look to see what, or who, it was. It was Akko and Ryoku, Sesshomaru’s pups. They whined at her and she rolled onto her back. They nudged her arms out and she complied. They each curled into her sides and she placed her arms around them and all three of them drifted into a deep slumber.

Sesshomaru made his way to Akko and Ryoku’s room and was a little alarmed when they were not there, so he went and checked his room. They weren’t there either. He grew worried. He expanded his aura until he felt them. He ran and slowly opened the door and found them fast asleep curled against the miko. He didn’t sense the usual sadness that accompanied them when they slept, but he did sense contentment. It was even coming from the miko. He felt his worry dissipate. He knew the miko wouldn’t let anything happen to them. He started for his own room but stopped. A smiled grew on his face. He hadn’t been getting the best of sleep either. He turned and entered the miko’s room and lay down on the bed. He felt her calming aura wash over him and he fell asleep.

***

Kagome woke the next morning and was a little startled to see Sesshomaru had joined the three of them at some point. She made herself calm down so that she didn’t wake them. She looked around the room and noticed a shelf with actual books on them. She sat up and used her powers to bring one over to her. She opened it and began to read. It was a regular story; one that her mother had told her when she was little, but it looked like this version was more detailed. She smiled at parts of it. She was a quarter of the way through it when she felt Sesshomaru stir and then look at her. “Morning,” she whispered.

Sesshomaru could tell the miko was awake the moment he woke. What he didn’t understand was he heard the turning of pages. He looked at her and his eyes got as wide as saucers. The miko was reading! At least that is what it looked like. He knew that the only ningens that knew how to read were slayers, monks, lords, and scholars. Not mikos. “You can read?”

“Yes. My mother has told me this story, but this book gives a lot more detail than what she ever did.” Kagome chuckled.

“What else can you do?”

Kagome sat the book down. “I write. I know mathematics and I know science. I know how politics work, although I find those to be the epitome of boring, but they are necessary. I can cook and I can heal. I know how to use a variety of weapons and I know how to sew. I also know many foreign languages.” Kagome looked over and saw his expression. “What?”

Sesshomaru was impressed. Not even he could do all that. He knew two languages. Japanese and Chinese. She had said many. That was more than two. She was also the first woman that he had met that knew of what politics were and looked at them the same way he did. He had known she was different, but he hadn’t imagined the magnitude of just how different. He would have to test her. “Would you be willing to help me with some things?”

Kagome chuckled. He was going to test her. “Paperwork?” He nodded. “Sure. First things first though, we have to get them fed.” As if right on cue, they both woke up. The first thing they asked was when breakfast was. Kagome had already known what they would say and from the look on Sesshomaru’s face, she was right. She laughed. “Told you so.”

Sesshomaru wondered if the miko was really an Inu under a spell. “How did you know this, Kagome?”

“Come on, Sesshomaru! It’s common knowledge. The first thing any kid wants when they wake up, especially ones their age is food. Even I was like that.”

First she was educated, then she knew how to fight, then she put his pups at ease, and now she knows what and when children want something. Was there no end to what she knew?

Kagome knew they were hungry, but she also knew one thing about Sesshomaru, he was a clean demon. “How about I take Akko with me and we will wash up?”

Sesshomaru frowned. Now she knew what he liked done in the morning? Kami! “That will be acceptable. Ryoku and I will do the same. There is a hot spring connected to your room. It’s through those doors.” Sesshomaru pointed to some doors in the back of the room. 

Kagome nodded her thanks and watched as Sesshomaru and Ryoku left. She looked to Akko and smiled. Akko gave her a dog version of a smile. They jumped up and bolted to the hot spring. Kagome opened the doors and they rushed inside. Akko leaped into the water and Kagome was not far behind. Kagome washed Akko’s fur and rinsed it. She took her time doing that. She gave Akko a massage that would keep her relaxed for at least a few hours. Then she tended to her own body and her and Akko got out. Kagome saw a kimono laid out on the bed. How was she to play in that? She looked at Akko and the pup nodded at her to put it on.

Akko watched as the miko approached her mother’s kimono. Akko had picked it out for her the night before and had brought it in when she and her brother had come in. She hadn’t even let her father touch it. She even knew that her parents were not mated. She knew that father wanted her, so she was okay with it. The one thing she really wanted though was to find someone to be her mom. Her mom had passed away so she needed a new one, and she was finding that this miko named Kagome would be just the right person. There was a problem with that though, Kagome was human and that meant she had a short life span. She would have to talk to her father about that. Akko snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Kagome say her name. She looked up at the miko. She was very pretty.

Kagome looked down at Akko. “What do you think?” Akko wagged her tail. She let loose her miko powers and dried them off. Kagome looked over at the bedside table and picked up the brush. She quickly brushed her own and braided it, and then went over and took care of Akko’s. “Now that’s better! Let’s get you down to breakfast.” Kagome and Akko exited her room. She giggled nervously. “You might wanna lead the way. I have no idea where I am going.” Akko took the lead and they walked down to the dining room. Kagome had Akko enter and was about to turn around and find a servant to tell her where the library was when Akko grabbed her wrist in her jaw gently and tugged her into the dining room with her. “Akko, I’m fine. Really. I’m not getting out of this am I?” Akko was careful, as she shook her head no. Kagome sighed. She should have known better than to even try. She looked up and saw Sesshomaru’s shocked face at the head of the table. She instantly felt like she had done something wrong. She looked down at Akko once more. “What did I do?”

“How did you get that kimono, Kagome?”

Before Kagome could answer Akko yipped at her father. She told him it was her that had gotten the kimono for her.

“Kagome, what have you done to Akko?”

Kagome gave him a confused look. “I wasn’t aware that I had done anything to her except give her a bath.”

Sesshomaru was impressed. Kagome had only been here one night and Akko already trusted her with her mother’s things. She hadn’t even let him touch anything.