The day was warm and the sky clear as Kagome sat in the meadow watching the clouds race through the sky. It wasn't often she could just sit and relax like this. As she watched the summer sky she noticed a glowing ball of light steadily coming closer, traveling quickly across the heavens.
The ball of light gave a sudden turn downwards, and landed with a brilliant flash of light at her feet. Sesshoumaru stepped out of the brightness, dressed in his usual attire of white kosode and pants, mokomoko-sama, and metal armor. Kagome noticed he was also carrying his new sword, Bakusaiga.
"You came," she said with a smile, "I almost didn't think you would show up."
"I agreed to meet you here, did I not?" he questioned, giving her an irritated glare.
Kagome chuckled, "Yes, but I thought you might be saying that just to get rid of me."
"Would it have worked?" he asked.
"No, it wouldn't," she replied.
Kagome had spread a large worn blanket out among the grass. A large basket lay to the corner, keeping the wind from carrying it away. She sat on the opposite corner, with what seemed like miles of fabric out before her, obviously reserved for him.
Sesshoumaru began to step towards her, but his eyes were searching towards the horizon, and his nose sniffing for uninvited guests.
"Where is the rest of your pack, miko?" he questioned.
"Well, Miroku, Shippo and Sango took a few days off to return to Sango's village. She needed to do repairs on her weapon, and Miroku just wanted an excuse to be alone with Sango for a while," Kagome chattered.
"And the half-breed?"
Kagome felt a burst of irritation at Sesshoumaru's insistence at calling Inuyasha a half-breed, but she decided to let it go in the name of peace.
"Inuyasha went to Totosai's. Tessaiga is due for some upkeep," Kagome replied.
Sesshoumaru saw the irritation in the miko's eyes, "I gather he was not aware of your plans?"
"No, he wasn't. You know that. He would never leave me alone with you for a second," she said. "He thinks I am home taking a test for school. It's just the two of us, just like I promised."
Kagome kept her eyes down, fingers twisting a lock of her hair. Sesshoumaru stood in the same spot, looking off into the distance. After what seemed like an interminable minute, Kagome decided they needed to get over the rocky start. "Would you like to have a seat, Sesshoumaru?" she said.
He stared at the blanket for a few moments before his eyes flicked down to his armor. Then, they fixed on her, appraising her. She decided to just keep smiling at him, hoping he would finally figure out that she meant him no harm. Soon, to her relief, his stance relaxed with a small sag of the shoulders. Sesshoumaru reached over and pulled Tenseiga, sheath and all, from his obi and knelt down to set it to the side of the blanket. Bakusaiga soon joined Tenseiga.
Kagome could not stop her eyes from locking onto Sesshoumaru's new arm as it reached to his right side, and began to unbuckle the leather straps holding his armor on. Although the arm was perfect in its form, down to the tip of the razor sharp claws, he seemed reluctant, if not uncomfortable, using the arm - almost as if he kept forgetting he had it. The final strap released with a small clink, and the breastplate slid off. It quickly joined his swords.
His kosode was wrinkled where the armor had pressed it in; the outline of where the weight had rested on his hips seemed more worn than the rest of the top. The silk where the breastplate once sat was a little brighter than the rest, as if it had rarely seen the light of day. Her eyes traveled up his rumpled form, and fixed her gaze on his expression. "He looks . . . almost relieved." Kagome thought to herself. The furrow between his brows softened, and his entire face evened out. Even the frown she was so used to seeing him with had seemingly been set to the side, along with his armor.
He smoothed out his attire, and sat down on the blanket next to her. His eyes looked over and met hers. "Is something wrong, miko?" he asked. Kagome started out of her reverie at his question, feeling a blush come to her cheeks.
"Uh, no, nothing's the matter. I just . . . well, I've never seen you without your armor on before," she replied.
"Is it that much of a novelty?" he asked.
"No, it's not a novelty, you just look . . . well, there's something different about you, without it on," she replied, shifting in her discomfort.
Kagome decided to divert his attention from her by pulling out her picnic basket. "Uh, okay! I've brought loads of good things to eat. I hope you like it," she said, pulling assorted containers from the basket and arranging them in between them.
She noticed his gentle sniffing of the food she brought out. "Maybe he'll actually eat something!" she thought. Cracking open the boxes she said, "Okay, don't be shy. Dig in and get whatever you want!"
"Tell me, what did you mean when you said something was different?" he asked, breaking the silence following the meal.
Kagome paused and looked up from the containers she was gathering. "Oh! Well, you just look less imposing. And grumpy," she added. He looked over at her, a mixture of amusement and irritation in his eyes. "I didn't mean that in a bad way, Sesshoumaru. You just looked relaxed, for once." She paused for a long moment, "I like it. You should relax more often," she said with a small smile.
He said nothing, directing his gaze to the clouds, and Kagome went back to her chores. They sat in mutual, almost easy silence as the sun tracked across the sky. Soon, the sun began to set and it was time to part.
Kagome pulled all of her belonging together and stood up to brush the grass off of her skirt. Sesshoumaru stood up as well, and reached down to pull his armor back on. When he pulled the last strap into place, he replaced his swords and turned to face her. Gone was the lightness of his stance, and the customary scowl had returned to his face.
Kagome walked a few steps toward him and put her hand out to briefly touch the armor. It was cold and rough, and its demonic powers lightly cracked against her hand. "It looks so heavy. But I suppose you are used to it by now," she said, looking up to his face.
Sesshoumaru stared at her for a moment before looking away. "It has . . . become heavier . . . since the return of my arm," he said softly.
Kagome looked back to the armor before a glint of determination set on her face. "Well, then. I guess we will just have to do this again, won't we?" she said.
He turned back to her with a hint of surprise in his eyes. "I . . . would like that," he said.
"Good," she replied with a smirk. "It's a date then."