An Off-White Christmas by UnknownRandomness

Agony Leads To Quality Family Time

A/N: Please review!

Prompts: Family, Scarf

Word Count: 1,295

The two people sat at the extreme sides of the vehicle, trying their best to keep out of reach of the other. The tension in the air was so intense; a 200-pound body builder wielding an axe wouldn’t have been able to cut it. The driver wondered what had been happening between his employer and the missus to result in such a volatile atmosphere. He just prayed that they would wait until they'd arrived at their destination to drop the bomb.

Kagome sniffed, the disdain she felt for the demon accompanying her evident in that one sound. From the corner of her eye, she noticed him shoot her an acidic glare, but she chose to ignore it. After all, they were going to see her family, and it wouldn't look good if they turned up on the doorstep half murdered. 

Swiftly, the pair vacated the car at the same time, and it sped away, leaving them at the bottom of the many steps that led up to the Higurashi Shrine. Without bothering to see if he was prepared, Kagome began to walk up the stairs, and her lip quivered as she was swamped with memories of the hundreds of times she had traipsed up this path to her waiting family. It had been quite a while since she'd seen them last month, ensconced as she had been in her desire to always be with her mate. How times had changed in just a few short weeks. Now, she couldn't wait to get away from his devious person. 

A sudden breeze rustled her clothes, and when she reached the courtyard, it became apparent that it had been Sesshoumaru using his demonic abilities to scale the staircase, clearly impatient with the speed at which she moved. 
Once again ignoring him, even though he was right by her side, the young woman walked towards her first home, eager to smell the familiar surroundings and hug all of her loved ones.

Getting out her key, she reluctantly let Sesshoumaru in and followed afterwards, taking off her shoes as she called out, “Mum, Grandpa, Souta – I’m home!”

Rustling noises came from the living room and her brother’s messy-haired head appeared, a bright grin on his youthful face.

“Sis! And Sesshoumaru! How’ve you been? I heard that there has been some crazy warfare going on between you two.” Extracting herself from her younger siblings’ warm embrace, the miko shot him a confused look.

“How do you know about it?”

The freckles on the bridge of the male Higurashi’s nose creased as his smile widened into an amused grin.

“Why, Sango and Miroku came over and told us of course! They seemed really concerned that your ‘marital fight’ was serious.” He looked up at the pale demon standing off to the side, watching them, “Of course, there isn’t anything to worry about, right?”

Kagome opened her mouth to appease Souta’s worries when footsteps alerted her to another’s presence and her mother emerged from the kitchen, her usually warm and smiling face a grim mask. Before any of them had time to react, Mrs. Higurashi stormed up to Sesshoumaru and slapped him directly across the cheek. Kagome gasped, completely shocked, barely having time to switch her gaze from the dumbfounded inuyoukai to her mother as the elder woman clamped her daughter’s ear in a vice-like grip, dragging her into the sitting room, where her grandfather was watching the whole thing calmly.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ouch! Mum, what are you doing!?”

At the older woman’s sharp glare, Kagome fell silent. Her mum was really angry. In fact, she couldn’t remember a time when she’d seen her in such a rage, not even after Kouga had stood her up at the cinema. It was quite frightening really.

“Sit down, both of you.” This was directed at Kagome and Sesshoumaru, both of them hurrying to comply with the sharp command.

Mrs. Higurashi eyed them for several tense moments before her expression softened a little, but when she spoke her tone was still sharp and reprimanding.

“What on earth has gotten into you? I am ashamed that my daughter, and the Western Lord could behave in such a ridiculous manner! Not only did you worry your friends and family, but you also invited Shippo to help! You know that boy cannot resist an opportunity to cause mayhem.” The woman sighed, the anger lines on her forehead smoothing out as she seemed to lose the fire that had been fuelling her angry tirade.

“It is Christmas Eve, a time to spend with those you love in a season of joy and goodwill, not putting dye in one another’s hair and shredding people’s clothing.”

The daiyoukai and the young woman winced as they were reminded of the various casualties of their war.

But now that she thought about it, she had made sure that there were dye remover solutions in the bathroom cupboard, hadn’t she? And there had mysteriously been a new set of winter jumpers in her wardrobe a few days after the first set were melted. So… Had this all just been a childish feud? It wasn’t like she hated her mate now. If she were truly honest with herself (as hard as it was being so), Kagome did miss being close to Sesshoumaru.

Glancing at the male beside her, the young woman blushed to see his molten gaze affixed on her face. Abruptly, he opened his mouth and said,

“I am sorry for this one’s atrocious behaviour over this past month. I apologise, Kagome.”

Blinking incredulously, Kagome returned the heartfelt statement, and catching her mother’s happy smile from the corner of her eye, quickly escaped into the garden. She couldn’t take the sudden surge of emotions that had rushed through her at his look.

The sun had almost set during their time in the house, and snow crunched under her boots as she walked towards the Sacred Tree, her feet taking her there out of habit. Cold air bit at her exposed cheeks and the miko coughed lightly, trying to dislodge a tickle that had set in her throat. It was Christmas Eve, and she was with her family and her mate in the one place in the world where she always felt welcome. It was a time to be happy, not arguing.

Stopping, Kagome craned her neck back to survey the wild branches of the ancient tree, its bark covered in a light dusting of snow. Leaning forward, the woman wrapped her arms around Goshinboku and rested her forehead against it, feeling the rough texture leave imprints in her skin. It was so nice to not be worrying about dolls falling on her head. It was calm.

“This is nostalgic.”

At his deep voice, Kagome’s breath caught and she turned around, looking at his ethereal beauty in the pale light from the disappearing sun. He smiled at her and stepped forward, continuing,

“I remember some years ago, when a little girl was having her birthday and she came out from the house towards a demon, her friend, to complain that he hadn’t wished her a Happy Birthday. Who knew that we would be here now?”

Sniffing, Kagome couldn’t repress the small smile that spread across her face at his description of one of her most vivid memories. She really did love him and his smug grin and silver hair with a slightly green-ish tint and loving gaze.

“As I recall, I didn’t call you friend.”

His smile broadened as he undid the scarf that was knotted around his neck and looped it over her head before re-tying it around hers.

“And what did you call me, mate?”

Bumping her nose against his, she closed in for a kiss, but not before saying,

“Angel-sama.”