The Times of our Lives by Harlecorn

Prologue

5.5.21 A/N: anyone reading this now, I've gone through and re-edited it to fix a few tense issues I found upon rereading my own story (Idk if it's weird to do that, but I did, cuz I love this story) and a few weird word gaps/typos. So, hopefully this time I've gotten them all. Enjoy!

5/18/21 & 6/5/21: did another check through and edit, I swear if I've missed any typos, I'mma be mad lol

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot.

1562

Kagome sits back on her haunches as she blows out a breath, causing her long bangs to fluff against he sides of her face. Twelve years. It's been twelve years and it's still the same shit. Glancing up at the blue sky, she slowly stands and dusts herself off, adjusting her bow, quiver and tanto. Looking down at the pile of dust in front of her, she scowls. Twelve years, and they haven't learned not to fuck with me.

She turns and begins walking back to the village, trying to force down the bitterness attempting to climb up to the forefront. Twelve years, and I'm the most powerful miko to ever live, cursed by the stupid jewel to live forever, and eight since I was left behind. He couldn't even bother to say goodbye before he disappeared.

She stops, screwing her eyes shut and clenching her fists, feeling her reiki trying to burst from her. Sucking in a deep breath, she counts back from ten before releasing it, the glow dimming as her hands unclench and her eyes open, staring at the blue sky above her. Eight years. Time to let it go. I've got better things to do than wallow. Sango and Miroku have moved on. My turn now.

She continues her journey back to the village, hoping no one will see her before she gets back to her hut, where she can pretend her life hasn't turned into the massive disappointment that it is. She's almost to her door when she hears the light thump of feet landing behind her. A familiar youki brushes her aura, making her close her eyes again, this time in exasperation, before releasing another breath and plastering a friendly smile on her face.

"Hey, Sesshoumaru. What can I do ya for today?" she greets him as genially as she can, not turning around as she walks into her hut.

"Tea would be acceptable, miko." he replies, following her through the door, and settling himself on his usual cushion in the corner.

"Sure thing. Let me just get the fire going again. Another visit to Rin then?" she asks as she puts a teapot over the embers and shoves the flames into action.

"Hn. She has consented to return to the Western Shiro with This One." he states, watching her in seeming boredom.

"Oh? Any particular reason for that?" she probes, blatantly curious. She's only been to his shiro once, and she's been dying to go back again. Maybe he'll be willing to let me go with him. After all, if I'm not aging, I can't really stay with humans. A small sad smile twists her lips before she could stop it.

"Indeed. Tell me, miko, what ails you?" he inquires with a slight head tilt, startling her a bit.

"I... nothing. Sorta. Maybe. Fuck." She bows her head, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes briefly before scrubbing her face and turning to look at him. "Can I be blunt?" she blurts, receiving a slow nod and a raised brow. Looking down at the fire again she takes a deep breath.

"Right. So. To start with, I don't know if you've noticed or not. I'm not aging. The damned jewel did something to me. Not only did it massively multiply my power, to a degree that still sometimes scares me as much as it awes me, but I stopped aging when I wished on the blasted thing." She pauses to look up at his face, smirking slightly when she sees his eyes widen, then start cataloguing her appearance, his nose flaring almost imperceptibly, and his youki barely sliding across her own.

"So, yeah. That's the crux. I'm stuck as a 19 year old girl, when I should be in my 30s. And, people are noticing. I'm alone here aside from Rin now. I'm not only wasted, I'm so... damned..." She stops to breathe deeply again and collect herself, making sure her aura is still restrained- it wouldn't do to singe the guy she's begging to take with him, afterall.

"I want to go with you. To the shiro. I can't stay here any more. I can't stay with humans." She waits again before whispering, "It'll kill me."

The kettle screams it's completion, and she pulls it off the flame to make the tea, placing a cup in front of the stunned daiyoukai, before sitting back on her own cushion and watching as patiently as possible for him to answer.

"You are no longer human." he responds finally, stating more than asking, as he is wont to do.

"I don't know if I'm not human, only that I'm not aging like one. I... well, I've only got theories regarding death and me. It's not something I'm super keen on testing, though. Pain is still pain and I'm not a huge fan of it, so I avoid it if I can." Her lips twist into a wry smirk with a dry chuckle, a small shudder passing through her frame as a memory tries to force its way up.

"Hn. Indeed. For all intents and purposes, however, as far as you are aware, you are immortal."

"Yup." she says, popping obnoxiously on the p, making the inu shoot a glare at her. "Look, I know we're not close or anything, but I'd like to consider us friends of a sort. At the very least, pleasant acquaintances. I need to get out of here. And, if I'm not aging like humans, stands to reason that I should find people who age like me. Namely, youkai." She pins her blue eyes to his own gold ones, expression firm.

"You are a miko-"

"Who can heal youkai." she interrupts, earning another look of surprise. "I can use my reiki to heal not only the humanoid forms, but their true forms, and youki. Though, admittedly, the last one is the hardest and most exhausting." She waves her hand vaguely, tone flippant.

"Show This One." he demands quietly, eyes flashing fleetingly with something she isn't able to discern.

"Uh, okay." She looks around for something to cut him with before landing on his own claws. She stands and moves to kneel next to him. "Give me your hand. Please." she adds at his hard look, before he presents her his hand. Grasping it gently, she reaches for his other arm, pushing back his sleeve before pressing his own claw to his skin and dragging it harshly, making a very deep cut.

"It's a good thing you're you, or I'd be a little concerned with how deep I just made that. You okay?" She flicks her eyes to his face, seeing his eyes locked to the cut, his jaw clenching. "Well, here goes." She lays her hand over the wound, calling her reiki to her palm, and watching it flare lightly before dimming. When she pulls her hand away, she uses a rag to wipe the blood from his arm, showing perfectly smooth and unblemished skin.

"See. Even for you, that cut would've taken at least several hours if you bound it to slow the bleeding. I don't really want to test fixing your youki, though. Like I said, it's kinda exhausting, and to make any dent in your power, I'd have to do a lot. So, you'll just have to take my word for it." she concludes, finishing wiping up the blood and turns to see a very wide eyed inu. It's almost comical seeing such an expression on his normally stoic face.

"So. Can I come? That's my worth right now, and that's not even taking into account that I know what's gunna happen in history from now until 500 ish years into the future." she reminds him off handedly- he'd been told of the well and her time travel when he began travelling with the group on the shard hunt. "I don't plan nor want to be idle. I want to help and learn and grow, and I can't do that here." She tries to keep the pleading tone from her voice, but is only marginally succesful.

His eyes shift to hers finally, studying her as if he is searching her soul, and she represses the urge to squirm, maintaining eye contact the entire time. After what seems like hours, he finally nods, bending to pick up his cup of tea and sip it elegantly.

"You may come. Pack what you need, we leave tonight."

"Oh thank fuck." she says under her breath, eyes closing in relief. When she opens them again, she smiles brightly at Sesshoumaru. "Thank you. So much. I look forward to doing my part and, hopefully, learning much more." She bows low, nearly touching her head to the floor, before standing to sit back on her own cushion, and finish her tea.

~~~~~

Cloud riding is amazing, she decides. She would be a happy girl if she could always fly by cloud. Using her reiki to cloak her from the cold, she stands next Sesshoumaru and Rin, her small bag of the belongings she can't live without on her back- a small photo album from her time with pictures of her family, Kaedes favourite tea cup, and a hair pin she had bought at a festival nearly a decade ago. Looking out across the landscape, she revels in its beauty, soaking up the sense of peace she is feeling.

Rin interrupts her blissful thoughts then. "I'm so excited that you're coming to the shiro with us, Kagome. There's so much to do there, it's going to be so much fun." Her smile is still as beamingly bright as it was twelve years ago when she was 6.

"Well, I'm mostly hoping to learn more about youkai healing and get some decent combat training. Something more than my self taught skills with my bow and three lessons with a tanto." Kagome replies easily, missing the slanted look from the daiyoukai beside her. "What I'd really love to learn is swordplay. At least, until guns become better." she continues, almost as if to herself.

"Really? Lord Sesshoumaru can teach you, can't you?" Rin volunteers, turning slightly to look up at her guardian. "He's a master swordsman, obviously." Her voice takes on a teasing quality.

"Hn. If the miko wishes to learn, instructors will be found." Sesshoumaru responds tonelessly.

"Oh, but Lord Sesshoumaru, she should be learning from the best." Rin tries again.

"It's fine, Rin. He's got a lot to do, I'd be happy to learn from a regular instructor, after all I'd be starting from square one." Kagome interjects, settling the matter. "I would really like to learn though, so if I can, yes. Please."

Sesshoumaru nods, "It will be done."

"Oh, I'm so excited Kagome." The 18 year old girl practically vibrates in her excitement, earning a small smirk from her guardian and a light laugh from the miko.

~~~~~

1563

Kagome is panting, her arms shaking under the weight of the kitsune bearing down on her katana. Gritting her teeth, she steels herself before sliding her back foot to swing under his blade, freeing herself from the deadlock and stumbling back, her hand up.

"I can't, I need a break, Haruto." she gasps out raggedly.

"Sure thing, kid. You did good today." the grinning black kitsune says, sheathing his katana. "We've been at it for hours, you know. I'm surprised you lasted that long. Your stamina has improved tremendously over the last 7 months."

Kagome allows herself to collapse in a heap on the floor, careful of her blade, as she swallows lungfuls of air. "Really. No wonder... I feel... like I'm... dying..." Her eyes close, as she wills herself not to pass out.

"Hey, for a human, it's impressive. Hell, even almost youkai would be struggling at this point. Not to mention, your progress in regards to your skills are far surpassing most youkai." he remarks, as he settles much more gracefully next to her. "Now, sit up and stretch. You remember what happens if you don't."

Groaning loudly, she rolls herself to sit up and start stretching out her limbs. Mid way through, a sound from the door catches both of their attentions. Sesshoumaru steps into the dojo, eyeing the two of them.

"Captain." he greets with a nod to Haruto, before turning to Kagome. "Miko, This One would speak with you after lunch." he announces simply before turning and leaving. Kagome turns her eyes to her kitsune friend, who returns the look with a shrug.

"Well, I guess I should go bathe and eat, then see what his highness wants." she teases as she stands and stretches out her spine.

Chuckling, Haruto rises as well. "You're lucky he likes you, or you'd have lost your tongue ages ago."

"It's rather nice being special." she quips, giggling and turning to leave.

After bathing and eating, Kagome makes her way to Sesshoumaru's study. A quiet call to enter reaches her before she even has a chance to knock, making her smirk.

"Hey, sup?" she murmurs, sliding the door shut behind her and making her way to a cushion by his desk.

"I still do not understand your need to say such odd phrases." he huffs quietly.

"Cuz, it annoys you." she declares, sticking her tongue out. "No, really it's just how I speak, and it'll take a while to change that, if it ever does. I can speak properly when it's needed, but when it's just us or my friends, why bother. It could be a lot worse." She shrugs. "So, what'd you wanna talk about?"

"This One would like to utilize you in another fashion than just an extra healer." he begins, resting his elbows on his desk and steepling his fingers.

"Oookay. How?" Kagome prods, brow arching minutely.

"I would like to have to become my secretary. It will not impede your lessons in the morning, you will merely report here in the afternoons." he states, gilded eyes meeting her cerulean ones.

"Um. What would I be doing as your secretary." she asks, hesitating, wondering if it was similar to what they were in the future, or something else.

"Paperwork." he answers plainly, an almost teasing look crossing his face as hers twists into a mild look of disgust and slight horror. So, it is like the future.

"Uh. Is there any particular reason why you're asking me to do it?" she probes warily, not entirely sure he wouldn't do it as some passive aggressive punishment for her cheekiness.

"Several, in fact." he replies, leaning back and resting his forearms on the desk. "Firstly, you are highly educated. You possess the ability to read and write rather well, as well as handle complex mathematics. You are capable of discerning inane from important, and intelligent enough to be able to handle replying for me in matters that do not require my attention."

"I... thank you? I think." she manages to get out over her gaping.

"Secondly. You are trustworthy." he discloses, head tilting as he studies her shocked face. "I do not have to worry that you will lie to me or betray me by taking or using any information you come across. Such implicit trust is rare for me." he finishes, leaning back even further in his seat, back now resting against the wall behind him.

Kagome sits staring at him, mind having stuttered to a full halt at his words and she's having trouble reigniting her engines for several minutes.

"Miko." he prods.

"Shit. I...Sorry. I don't know what to say, really. I'm a little stunned, obviously. I... guess I can give it a whirl." Kagome offers, mind still spiralling.

"Good. You will start now then. There is a small desk there." He points to the left of study, piled high with scrolls. "You may begin with those. Harvest reports may be documented in that ledger." He shifts his finger to a large bound scroll on a shelf next to her new desk. "Military reports should be passed to me, and anything political..." He pauses for a moment, "ask if you come across any. Those will take some time to learn how to read them to discern if they are important or not. Any questions?" he queries, brow raising as he looks at her stock still form staring at the dozens of scrolls on her new workspace.

"Uh. I don't think so. At least, not at the moment. I guess I'll get started and go from there. Be prepared for lots of interruptions." She turns back to him, mischievous smirk on her face.

"Hn." is all he says before he returns his attention back to his own pile of paperwork.

~~~~~

A/N: So, I wrote this entire story in four days... lol. The character list is going to be small, and Kags is going to be pretty OOC, but for good reason. The rest of the characters are going to be as in character as possible, with a few deviations. I'm pretty pleased with how it's turned out.

Also, worth noting, there is some Kog/Kag, but it is ultimately a Sess/Kag story. If you can't stand seeing her with someone other than Sess, this ain't the story for you, but I'd appreciate it if you gave it a chance anyways.