A Christmas To Remember by Almakaeva

Chapter One

Title: A Christmas to Remember

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha and Co.

Summary: "Tell me Higurashi, did you and the mythological Lord have tea together?" Her teacher asked sarcastically. "No professor, The Lord of the Western lands and I never had tea together, although we did spend Christmas together." was her simple reply. S/K

A/N: Edited a few things here and there. I'm thinking at some point I may need a Beta.

P.S: I'm getting back into writing after taking a loooong break. I have my stories up on FF.Net and am rewritting them :) 

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She sat in class, staring out the large window where the snowflakes fell down in what seemed to be slow motion. One by one, they fell on the ground meeting the rest of the mesh of snow.

How she loved wintertime.

A smile appeared on the woman's face. If one had truly look at it, they would realize that it had not held happiness but instead longing. Longing to be outside. Longing to be anywhere but here.

Instead, she sat crammed up in a classroom listening to her professor lecture about things he knew nothing about. Although to be fair, how could he possibly know of the things that he taught? She had taken this class in hopes of giving her closure, and perhaps, relive her experiences—or at least continue to remember them.

To her complete and utter disappointment, the class was anything but accurate. There had been somethings that had held merit, but not most. With a sliver of hope, she continued to partake in the class in mere hopes that they would touch the subject of the Feudal Era. So far, they had done anything but.

The Mythology class that she had chosen was nothing like she had hoped. She had given it two months, and so far, it had been a complete waste of time. By now, she grown far too tired and disappointed to listen to the professor's ramblings. Instead, she opted to read the textbook while tuning out the ridiculous lecture. That had been exactly what she was doing until she heard the professor call her name.

"Higurashi!"

Crap. Letting out a tired sigh, the woman looked up at her professor with an apologetic expression on her face. Quietly, she responded to the irritated professor.

"Yes, Professor?"

The man held an expression of irritation and annoyance. Feeling slightly guilty, she reminded herself to at least attempt an interest in the course.

"Perhaps you could explain why you've deemed my class unworthy of your attention?"

Because it is not accurate? Kagome knew that response would do no good. Instead, she settled for lowering her head in what he would assume to be guilt.

"I'm sorry professor, it won't happen again."

Yet, even as the words left her mouth, she knew it to be a lie. How could she pay attention when all she wanted to do was inform him of all the discrepancies he spoke about? At this point, she had two options. She could ignore him or correct him. Obviously, she had decided on ignoring the lecture if only to avoid sounding like a lunatic. After all, she did not have a source for her information other than the truthful one that would make her appear to be insane.

Turning her head away from the man, the snowflakes once again caught her attention, as if teasing her in regards to her dilemma. Once more, the professor spoke her name. She silently wondered if he had a radar for her attentiveness.

"Miss. Higurashi. Perhaps you could grace us with your opinion on the matter."

She would have had she known what the topic was. Most would be embarrassed, but she was frustrated more than anything. This had been a waste of time. Her search for anything in regards to the Feudal Era had been a complete and utter disaster. If only to save her grade, she once again responded.

"My opinion on..."

She saw him let out a huff and wanted to respond with one in return. He had known she was not paying attention—so why pretend to be disappointed? Sometimes, she felt that she did not truly understand the people of this time.

"The mythological creature known as The Killing Perfection."

He had said it in a tone that held cockiness—probably because he figured she would be clueless. Yet, the moment he had informed her on the topic, memories flooded back to her.

Memories of wintertime.

She knew her eyes were wide in shock but she did not care.

Surely, he did not mean him.

Yet, she had to be sure.

"The Great Daiyoukai of the West?"

She had somehow managed to choke out the name. She stared at the professor while waiting for confirmation. When his expression turned to that of pleasant surprise, she knew that they were talking about the same person.

This man thought she had read the book or perhaps listened to the lecture. Perhaps he assumed she was finally paying attention. Yet, she had not needed to. While the professor addressed an individual whom he researched, Kagome had known the lord personally.

It was odd, when she had done research on The Lord of Western Lands, no names had come up. To all of modern Japan, he was a legend and went by the name of The Great Demon Lord of the West or the Killing Perfection. Not once was he called Lord Sesshoumaru. She silently wondered what had made the professor address such a topic. For once, she had wished she had payed attention.

"So you were paying attention."

Trying to hide her excitement, she gave a tiny smile. Oh, the professor may not have known it but he had all of her attention now.

"How would you describe his personality, Miss. Higurashi?"

Her tiny smile turned into a smirk. How would she describe such a Youaki? She could think of a million descriptions but decided it would be best to describe him as how a textbook might.

"Strong. Cold. Beautiful. "

The professor nodded enthusiastically while signaling for her to continue.

"His father was the great Inu Daiyoukai whom died protecting the human woman that he fell in love with. However, The Killing Perfectection, in fact, had a Youkai mother."

She heard clapping from the professor but ignored it. Even as she spoke her response, she felt odd. She knew the textbooks would portray him in a light much different from her own. Ironically, had it not been for that winter—she might have agreed with the textbooks.

"Well done. Anything else to add?"

Feelings of guilt began to fill her as she mentally argued whether to give Sesshoumaru the credit he deserved. How would he have felt knowing that the only remains of him were in a textbook, and that even those did not accurately represent him? Biting back a sigh, she decided the correction was required.

"While many believe him to cold, I don't truly believe he was."

The professor appeared to be intrigued but also confused.

"Yet all the reading had pointed to him being a cold blooded murderer, perhaps you would like to explain why you feel he was not?" She nodded. Yes, she could and most definitely—she would.

"I read somewhere" She began with a lie and then continued. "That he actually had a ward, a human ward. Tell me professor, does that sound like someone that is a cold blooded murderer?"

She had been surprised at the sound of passion in her own voice. However, the feeling was quickly diminished with the professors response.

"Perhaps she was a meal? Such a thing was common among Youkai."

The professor had laughed at his statement while not realizing the effect his words had. The mere thought of the Daiyoukai taking care of Rin merely out of appetite disgusted and angered her. Glaring at the instructor, she forgave his ignorance. After all, he had no way of knowing that Lord Sesshoumaru was not such a Youkai.

"He also had a half-brother, and although the legends stated that he hated hanyou's as well as anything human—he let his brother live peacefully. Once again, does that sound like a cold-blooded murderer to you? Having a human ward as part of his pack and letting his half-brother survive. You truly believe them to be coincidences?"

She took a breath and did not let the professor respond. No, she continued. After all, there was no one left to defend the pride of the Daiyoukai—except for her.

"Perhaps he was simply a Daiyoukai that defended those he cared for? Anyone outside of his pack was obviously treated much differently." She added simply. Waiting for a reaction or a response, she stared at the instructor with fire in her eyes.

"His half-brother?" The professor asked curiously while seemingly ignoring the rest of what she had said. However, this time it was her turn to grin. Of course he didn't know.

"Oh, you must have not researched the result of his father falling in love with the human woman. The result was a Hanyou." She could not help but respond with a smirk on her face. This was why she had registered for the course—this was what she had hoped for.

"Miss Higurashi, I don't not believe you have your facts straight. I am not aware of a half-brother." The professor bit out, more than likely irritated at appearing clueless at his own subject.

"Your lack of information does not mean that my statement is false." She shot back.

Finally, the professor huffed with irritation.

"Higurashi, you act as if you knew the Daiyoukai personally. Tell me, did you and the mythological Lord have tea together?" He asked with such sarcasm in his voice that Kagome wanted to yell in frustration. The class seemed to find the comment amusing as she began to hear snickers around the room. Stay calm. With all her strength, she attempted to ignore the rude comment.

Taking her silence as a sign of defeat, the professor once again began to speak.

"With the lecture ending, I would like to announce that we will be having a guest speaker for the last twenty minutes. In fact, he should be here any moment."

She barely made out the announcement while still attempting to remain calm. Behind her, she heard the door to the lecture hall open.

"Ahhh, here he is!" The enthusiasm the professor held for such an individual made Kagome question the credibility of such a guest speaker. Was he as ill informed as the professor? Glarring daggers at her textbook, she did not even bother looking up at said individual.

Then it happened. The individual walked past her row and she felt it.

Something familiar.

Something not human.

Glancing up in shock, the guest speaker had already passed her and all that she was able to make out was his back. Yet, she did not need a face—or even the appearance of the man. She had sensed it. It was faint—but it was there. Her guest speaker was an Inu Youkai.

As the Inu greeted everyone, he began to speak.

"Hello everyone. My name is Shinji Murasaki. I major in Feudal Era Mythology-" She did not let him continue. After all, she could not. This was clearly her chance—and possibly her only one.

"Excuse me." She interrupted and the Inu looked up at her in confusion and alarm.

"May I help you?" He asked politely enough but she shook her head. Turning her eyes to the professor, she began to put her plan to action.

"No, I would just like to tell the professor something."

And with a smirk that spoke a thousand words, she continued.

"I do apologize for interrupting but I just realized I never answered the professors' question. No, professor, The Lord of the Western Lands and I never did have tea together, although we did spend Christmas together."

The confidence that radiated off her body was near impossible to miss but with it was a tad bit of amusement. Yet again, she continued.

"And let me just say, Lord Sesshoumaru is really not a fan of Christmas carols. Although, as anyone knows—anything is allowed for Rin."

The moment those words left her lips, she knew that her plan had worked. For the moment she finished speaking, the guest speaker began to choke on the water he had been sipping. His response had consisted of wide eyes directed at her, and only at her.

It seemed that her theory had been correct. In the beginning, she had thought they had all died off. Yet, the fact that this man had walked into her life with such ease meant several things. One of those things being, if anyone out of her group survived—it would have been the Lord of the Western Lands. Clearly, her next train of thought had consisted of the importance of such a Youaki.

Sure enough, she had been correct.

This Inu Youkai knew Sesshoumaru personally.

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A/N- Hope everyone enjoyed! :)