Renascence by Harlecorn

Chapter 1

SAFE Event Submission

Trope: Sex/Touch Compulsion

Rating: T

Word Count: 1988

Renascence(n): the revival of something that has been dormant.

xXx

The spider hanyou stands before us, flanked by his minions and incarnations, gifting them with a long-winded monologue as he holds up his portion of the Shikon no Tama. I glance to the right and see my blood sister and her inuhanyou. To my left, my heart sister clutches tightly to the hand of her monk lover, as her nekomata companion stands firm next to them.

Movement catches my eye, drawing my gaze back to my right as my inu youkai mate steps up beside me, his fingers brushing the back of my hand in a small, last show of affection. Squaring my shoulders, I raise my bow, notch an arrow, inhale, close my eyes, count three heartbeats, and release. My eyes open as the arrow flies true, the sparkling aura of my power as the reincarnation of Midoriko creating a blazing trail as the arrow punches through the spider's shield. Chaos follows.

xXx

Blue eyes blink open as Kagome wakes, sunlight filtering through her curtains in the early hour. Sighing, she sits up and runs a hand over her face.

"Damn dreams again," she mumbles, looking over at her cat laying splayed out on his back, soaking up the warmth of the sun at the end of her bed. "Why do I keep having dreams about her, Bouyo?"

Knowing she won't get an answer from the feline, she stands and starts her morning routine, trying to ignore the anxious jitters in her stomach over the day ahead of her. Her first day at her new job at the museum as the new curator for their mythology section, set to be handling new acquisitions as the apprentice for the current head curator to train until he retires in a few years. She's been dreaming of this day for nearly the last decade, ever since that trip to the very same museum when she was fifteen. A perfect job to marry her love of history and mythology and put to use all the stories and teachings her grandfather had imparted to her during her childhood, growing up on the family shrine.

It's two hours later when she walks into the building and makes her way to the back rooms to find Myouga Kobayashi to start her day with whatever tasks he has for her to begin her official tutelage.

"Ah, Ms Higurashi! Welcome, welcome. I'm so glad you made it. We have a busy few weeks ahead of us. Though thankfully, the shipment doesn't arrive until tomorrow, so we have today to get you settled in." The very man she was looking for waddles up to her, his cheeks flushed around his wide, cheery grin. His wispy white hair fluffs around his balding head as he flutters a hand at her to follow him.

Kagome smiles at him and turns to comply when her eyes lock with the man behind her mentor. Tall, with shoulder-length platinum hair, half tied back to keep it out of his face, with piercing golden hazel eyes. She can feel her breath catching in her throat as she freezes, as the man seems to be in a similar state.

"Oh, of course, how silly of me. Ms Kagome Higurashi, this is Mr Sesshoumaru Taisho. His father is one of our largest donors, and he will be working with us on this next collection." The portly man smiles wide again as the two younger adults snap out of the stupor they'd fallen into.

"Pleased to meet you," Kagome offers as she reaches out a hand. The beautiful man before her lets his eyes slip over her figure quickly before nodding and reaching to grasp Kagome's hand.

It's electric, the zing that flies through her body, lighting a fire in her veins, making her both stiffen and melt simultaneously. Her lips part in shock as she stares into Sesshoumaru's eyes.

"Do I… know you?" she asks cautiously, unable to shake the feeling that this man is important to her but unable to realise why.

Slowly, he draws his hand back, shaking his head slightly. "No. At least, I do not think so." He continues to stare at her, though, the hand he's touched her with flexing at his side as if to work out a kink.

So, he felt it too, then.

"Come along, come along!" Myouga calls from down the hallway, jolting them into following, each with their own contemplative expression as their thoughts whirl.

xXx

Tentacles swarm towards me as I leap above the spider, my sword is drawn tight to my body as I ready my swing. A cry from my left alerts me to my brother's blade's attack being unleashed, and a sparkling trail to my left shows me my mate's arrow. I swing wide, letting Bakusaiga's attack loose before using a tentacle to springboard off of and land back closer to my mate.

A sharp cry rings out just as I land, and time seems to stop as I turn and watch helplessly as tentacles fly towards her. Sprinting over, I reach out, trying desperately to draw her away from them, even as I can hear the howling scream of the spider as our combined attacks destroy him from the source outwards, but not fast enough. The tentacles slam into me and, a split second later, her. I can feel not only the pain of the invasive appendages carving through me but the agony as they rip through her own tender flesh. A piercing shriek echoes the battlefield from behind us as I wrap my beloved in my arms, ignoring my own body as it begins to fail me, focusing only on her.

One of her hands shakes as she lifts it to cup my jaw, blood-soaked fingers tracing the stripes on my cheeks as she smiles. Her other hand grips the newly reformed and purified jewel to her chest, as it slowly disintegrates, finally released from the world.

"We knew this was likely to come to pass. I am just so grateful for the time I had with you."

xXx

Sesshoumaru stands next to Kagome, their hands brushing each other frequently as they work over the large table, identifying, dating, and analysing the scrolls before them. The past three weeks have been both a dream and hell. Working with the wonderfully witty and kind woman beside him has been nothing short of amazing. It's leaving work that's almost painful. He recognises her now, from his dreams. He's been dreaming of her since he was in high school- the woman who defeats the spider hanyou with him before they both die. Those same dreams are what drew him to his profession in the first place, a desire to know more about the old legends of youkai, hanyou, and magic.

He knows it's her, though. He can feel it in his bones. Knows that's why he's compelled to be near her. The need to touch her, in any small way he can, even when he desires so much more.

"So, I don't want to sound presumptuous, but would you like to go out sometime?" Kagome asks him quietly, startling him from his thoughts. Her eyes remain fixed on the parchment before her as a slight blush dusts her cheeks.

"I would love to," he answers quickly, not giving his luck a chance to turn sour, lest she rescinds the offer he's been working up the nerve to make himself.

"Good, that's good. So, would tonight be too soon?" Her brilliant blue eyes flicker to catch his own gilded gaze as she asks, her hands stilling above the table, her fingers just brushing his own.

"I'm free tonight. What did you have in mind?"

"My family shrine is celebrating an old ancestral event. It's irked into a sort of fair, with food and games. The only requirement is traditional kimonos." She turns then to gauge his reaction, preparing for judgement, only to find a soft smile on his lips as his eyes trace the features of her face.

"I would love to come. Just let me know where and what time."

Kagome beams as she fishes out her phone from her pocket and sends him a text with an address. "If you can get there at 6, I'll meet you at the bottom of the steps," she says, happiness radiating from her in nearly tangible waves.

"I will be there," Sesshoumaru replies warmly, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket.

xXx

"You made it!" Kagome exclaims as she jogs over to Sesshoumaru, dressed in a beautiful midnight blue kimono with silver stars embroidered across the shoulders and down the sleeves, the obi a pale purple stitched with golden moons. Her smile falters momentarily when she sees his kimono, her mind coming to a screeching halt as a half-remembered fragment flashes across her mind of someone else wearing a similar white and red kimono with the same purple and gold obi. Shaking her head slightly, she beams again as she reaches for the man's hand and guides him up the steps towards the shrine, where the small statue of her famed ancestor and her husband sits on its pedestal against the back wall, painted with depictions of the last battle the pair fought, giving their lives for the greater good, saving the world.

“Kagome…” Sesshoumaru murmurs as his eyes sweep the painted panels of the room, his brow furrowing slightly. “What was the name of your ancestor?”

"Her name was lost, as was her husband's. But she was supposedly the reincarnation of Mido-"

"Midoriko… and her mate was an inu youkai…" He looks at the woman beside him as her head snaps back towards him, her eyes wide.

"How… that's not…" Her jaw works a few times, but no more sound comes out before she grabs his hand and tows him behind her, intent on finding her grandfather.

She finds him back behind the house, near the old pond, sitting on one of the stone benches under Goshinboku.

"Ah, you have found him. I suppose it is time to give you this," the old man says quietly, with a small smile as his granddaughter approaches. He withdraws a scroll from his sleeve and holds it out for the couple to take, nodding when Sesshoumaru reaches for it. "I will leave you to read it. Come find me if you have questions after."

Kagome stares after him before turning back to Sesshoumaru as he unrolls the ancient scroll. Leaning into his side, she reads along, her brow furrowing the further she goes before she gasps and a hand flies to her mouth.

"We will meet again in the next life, do not worry." Her past self's words echo in her mind, sharp and clear, followed by his response.

"I will find you, my love, always."

Turning away, she looks up at the ancient tree, stepping closer to press a finger against a notch in its naked wood, the bark surrounding it missing.

"InuYasha..." Flashes of her past life blur across her mind as tears fill her eyes. Turning back, her blue eyes meet familiar gold, gold she's always loved. Will always love.

"I told you we'd find each other again," she murmurs with a soft smile, tears now falling.

Sesshoumaru rolls up the scroll, tucking it into his sleeve before he takes his mate's hands in his, using them to gently tug her closer.

"You did. I said I'd always find you." He smiles at her as she comes closer. "Though, you'll forgive me if I'd prefer our names now to what they were before."

"Of course. We aren't those people anymore, and I'd like to know you now. Even though I already love you," Kagome says as she steps into the circle of his arms, meeting him in a kiss.

Electricity zings through them both as the compulsion to touch ebbs from the constant need to a mere desire, one they are both happy to comply with.