Beneath the Blackthorn Tree by mythicamagic

Chapter 1

AN: if you're looking for an incredibly accurate portrayal of fae lore and rules, then you'll be disappointed here. I just wrote this for fun to play with the concept of Fae King Sesshoumaru, but I hope you like it, regardless.

Don't expect updates right away from this one- I just wanted to post it because I held a poll a while ago about more Monster Sesskag AU's and this concept won, so I wanna reassure people I'm working on it lol.

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"Buyo!"

Kagome huffed, lingering in the threshold of her home. Tightening a fluffy dressing gown around her, she shuddered a little from the chilly night air, closing the door behind her lest too much heat escape.

"Buyooo!" calling out again, she squinted, staring into pitch-black nothingness beyond the safety of their porch light. Silence answered her.

"Damn cat," grabbing her shoes with a string of grumbles, she roughly tugged them on and stepped outside. It was far too chilly to leave her out for the night, and besides, Buyo usually always came running the second they rattled her cat bowl.

The fifteen-year-old shuffled into murky darkness, making encouraging kitty calling noises and continuing to search for her dumb, sweet, dumpling feline.

Kagome shivered, rubbing her arms and glancing behind her. The comforting doorway of their humble house seemed much too far away, despite Kagome having not ventured too far into Higurashi Shrine's open courtyard. Everything lay far too still, quiet.

There were no insects chirping, no distant sounds from the city. It was as though someone had placed a huge dome over their house, sealing off all breezes or noise. It felt stifling; shadows hanging thick in the corners of her vision. Rippling. Expanding. Breathing.

Kagome turned her head slowly, staring into the endless void. Her heartbeat picked up. Quickening breath fanned out as visible plumes of mist. Goosebumps raised on her flesh. She gained the unsettling sense that she was being watched.

"Reow!"

Stiffening, she faced the sound's direction. "Buyo? Here kitty," she called, breathing a sigh of relief. Geeze, she'd gotten worked up for nothing. Stepping forward, Kagome wandered towards a large, lonely tree, guided by moonlight as it finally peeked out from behind thick, rolling clouds. Grandpa respectfully called it 'the sacred tree' but there was no need to heed any words from a guy who sold plastic charms and called them enchanted.

Reaching the Goshinboku, Kagome rounded its side, continuing her noises of encouragement to lure Buyo closer.

A strange luminous glow brightened the tree from within. Where before she'd thought it was moonlight lightening its branches, she stiffened upon realising how its bark radiated a soft blue shine. Power thrummed- pushing through her like a ripple on the tide.

Kagome stopped the second she caught sight of a child.

Their back was turned to her, hair short and snowy white. When they turned- startlingly clear, bright blue eyes immediately connected with hers. The boy shifted to face her, holding Buyo in his arms, who purred contentedly.

"O-oh...hello?" Kagome blinked, eyeing his clothing. What strange white robes. She got the sense he was Japanese, and yet his features were so pale and flawless. Not a hint of sunshine or blemishes touched his cherubic face- so much that he seemed eerily otherworldly. Too perfect. Human children didn't stand so completely still with calculating, predatory gazes, and was it her imagination- or were there tiny stumps peering out from his head? Like small, barely there horns.

The boy, who seemed to be around the age of six, stared at her quietly.

"Are you lost?" she asked, putting his strangeness aside. "I can call your parents to come pick you up if you know their number. If not, we should probably go inside," Kagome forced a smile. "It's chilly, right? You can keep holding Buyo if you want."

He blinked long white lashes, expression unchanging. He shifted closer.

"Kairi."

The boy stopped, glancing towards Goshinboku where a silky, deep voice had resounded from. Magenta stripes curling around the wrist of a pale hand caught Kagome's attention as it appeared from behind the tree, beckoning him with a lazy curl of sharp fingernails.

"Leave her be. That is not your mother," amusement coloured the masculine tone. "At least, not as you know her."

Kairi sighed, pouting. He let Buyo jump down- his necklace swaying from the motion, catching Kagome's eye. It had a strange symbol on it. She got the sense it did not belong to her homeland.

Kairi reached out to the hand, accepting it.

"Wait-!" she called, hurrying closer. "Hang on a second!"

Kairi glanced at her, pretty blue eyes glinting, smiling. The ghostly, long-fingered hand holding his own tugged- causing the boy to disappear behind the tree.

Quickly rounding its side, Kagome stopped. He'd disappeared, leaving not a trace behind. Even the tree's eerie glow had died down.

She sucked in a startled breath, having forgotten to breathe. Buyo padded away towards their house, leaving the high school girl to gawk alone. Sounds started to filter back into her hearing, crickets softly chirping. Humidity settled into previously chilled air, as though warmth had been briefly stolen, and then returned to the night.

Kagome never saw the boy again after that fateful night in the middle of July, nor the pale hand with its striped magenta wrist. Nothing unusual happened with their old tree. Buyo was the only one who knew about the bizarre experience, which was hardly a comfort.

And so Kagome placed it into the furthest reaches of her mind, putting it on a dusty shelf alongside her unused algebra knowledge. For ten years it remained untouched. Unexplored.

Until one day Yuka, one of her close high school friends- was flicking through a magazine. She wanted to hold her wedding in Ireland since her fiance had family there on his mother's side and a change in scenery sounded exotic.

"What do you think of this venue? We decided on holding the wedding in this area yesterday."

Kagome looked up from her wedding duties that consisted of choosing flower arrangements, stiffening.

"C-can I see that for a minute?"

"Hm, sure?" Yuka passed it over, stretching atop her bed and sighing. "You're definitely coming, right? I know it's hours away, but I'm seriously so excited to hold the ceremony somewhere unique. Eri is going to be majorly jealous."

Kagome stared at the familiar symbol carved into a dead-looking blackthorn tree, sitting alone within a forest. It was such a strange, out of place photo amongst the ones trying to sell Ireland to foreigners as part of a holiday package. All sprawling green hillsides, cliff sides and groups of medieval buildings situated on an outcrop of limestone.

"Yeah…" she murmured, an old memory slightly shaking to life. "I'll come."