Disclaimer Rumiko Takahashi = InuYasha Creator. Viz and Shogagukan = InuYasha publishers. Twiknham does not = Rumiko Takahashi or Viz and Shogagukan. Therefore twiknham does not own any rights to InuYasha. TK also does not own any rights to the ski resorts in Sapporo. Please enjoy this free fanfic. Thank you. - TK
Nobody's Weekly Challenge Prompt: Karma
Fortune Cookie Karma
Kagome didn't believe in Karma. Kagome didn't believe in the horoscope. In fact, Kagome wouldn't have even believed her fortune cookie from dinner last night if it wasn't happening in front of her.
Last night, Kagome and Yumi had arrived at the Niseko Ski Resort in Sapporo. Yumi had won two tickets for a week's stay at the Niseko Kogen Hotel along with ski rentals and lift tickets to the entire United area. However, the package did not include the dinner on the first night so Yumi and Kagome had gone in search of dinner. They had found a nice Chinese restaurant in the downtown area and over a dish of pork egg foo young and moo goo gai pan, they had laughed and carried on in a way they hadn't since they were in high school.
They had both gone on to college and two years ago met back up when Kagome was assigned to fill in as a temp at Yumi's office. They had renewed their friendship and when Yumi's fiancé got sent on a trip to the mainland for business, he had recommended Kagome take his place. Now twenty-seven years exactly from the day she was born, Kagome lay in hip deep snow, remembering what her fortune cookie said and wondering if karma wasn't something to sneeze at after all.
The morning started out so pleasantly. Ski lessons on the bunny slopes made the ladies laugh until they cried. At 5'4", they were the tallest people in the class and by far the oldest. As the little children swooped and darted around them, Yumi and Kagome slowly got comfortable with the long thin planks strapped to their feet. They played on some of the lower slopes, the green circle ones. Then they stopped for lunch. Fortified with bellies full of warm miso soup and fresh sushi, they headed further up the hill to ski the longer green circles and even try the more difficult red square trails.
Both ladies were doing really well considering that this was their first time on skis, but Yumi had fallen hard on the last slope and when they'd gotten to the bottom she asked Kagome to go on the next one without her to give her a few minutes to collect herself. Kagome had wanted to stay behind and care for her friend, but Yumi told her she'd take advantage of the break to call Daisuke and check on him. Agreeing to come back and meet her after the next run, Kagome had headed over to the King Lift and worked her way up the mountain. Getting off at the top of the King Hooded Lift #3, she straightened her shoulders and started out on the Rinkan trail.
This trail led through a small forest and Kagome took her time slowly weaving her way back and forth across the path and enjoying the deep green of the trees around her. They reminded her of one of the journeys she'd made with InuYasha back when she was still young and naive. Smiling, she failed to make the turn properly and inadvertently entered the red square center trail. A young couple yelled something at her from their seat on the lift and she smiled and waved back. Suddenly a blur of white, royal blue and yellow streaked by. Startled, she threw her poles out to balance and glared at the man as he continued to fly down the hill.
He was tall and lanky, he had to be foreign with that build. However, before she could get more than a glimpse, he was over the next hill and out of sight. Sighing to herself, she continued to meander down the hill. In her distraction, she missed the sign marking the entrance to the Kokutai Olympic Course. Suddenly the grade steepened and she found herself going incredibly fast. Using her newly learned snow plow techniques, she slowed down to a more manageable speed and was feeling almost safe when the hill dropped so steeply that she was airborne. Somehow she managed to land on her feet and swooped to the left. Just as Kagome thought she was in the clear, she ran smack into a blue pole with a flag on the top and landed face first in a large snow bank in between two trees.
Righting herself, she watched in horror as three skiers buzzed by her weaving in and out of what was a slalom course. They were moving so quickly that she could see nothing more than blue, black and red blurs as they went by. They were followed almost instantly by ten more skiers. Kagome wasn't sure how it happened, but she was sure that she had managed to find her way to a black diamond course, one that was in the midst of a competition if the numbers pinned to their clothing was any indication.
As the last one disappeared, she sat up and took stock of everything. Nothing was broken but she was missing one ski and both poles. Looking around, she found the poles but the ski was no where. Wondering if it had slid on down the mountain, she shrugged and tried to figure out what to do. It was while she was sitting there that she remembered her fortune cookie from the previous night.
Yumi had laughed as she cracked open the small treat to find two fortunes inside. She said Kagome must have led a double-life to get two fortunes. Knowing better than to agree and give Yumi ammunition to ask questions, Kagome had laughed and pulled them apart. "You tell me which one to read first. We'll say one is for the current me and one is for the new me, since tomorrow starts a new year for me."
Yumi pulled one out and held it. "You read that one first."
Kagome smiled as she read it to herself first. At Yumi's glare, she shrugged her shoulders. "It says that I will do something unexpected." She looked around the nice restaurant. "I guess since I'm sitting in a Chinese Restaurant in Sapporo on an unexpected ski vacation that it came true."
"Read your new fortune next." Yumi handed her the other one.
"Karma smiles on you. Tomorrow you will meet a handsome man with a past." Kagome laughed. "What a crazy fortune."
"You should know. Doesn't one of the kanji for your name mean ‘Fate'?" Reaching out, she snatched the little piece of paper. "I like this one better than mine." She handed Kagome her fortune.
"True love awaits you." Kagome smiled mischievously. "In bed."
"Kagome!" They both laughed and spent a few minutes discussing Daisuke before they headed back to the hotel.
Now laying in the snow, trying to figure out the best way to get to the bottom considering she had no equipment, Kagome groaned. "All I need now is to meet this handsome man with a past. That would be more than humiliating!" She looked over just as snow sprayed in her face.
Tall and lanky stood in front of her. The same tall and lanky that had almost run her over earlier. "You are in the middle of a competition slalom course. You need to get off of the track before you get hurt." He glared at her through his goggles.
"Yes I know. How did I get here?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I could care less, but you almost made me lose the competition."
Kagome realized he was leading the pack and was impressed by his speed. "You were much faster than anyone else."
"That would not have mattered if you had knocked me down."
Kagome stood and glared at him, putting her hands on her hips for demonstration. "Now you listen here. I read the rules and it clearly states that you are responsible for not hitting me, if I am downhill from you."
"Courses are closed during competitions, idiot." He suddenly skied closer. "You look familiar to me, have we met before?"
A small laugh met his statement. "Let's see...world class skier in Sapporo with an attitude. Oh, I keep a dozen of you around just for giggles." She turned and looked at the tree line again hoping to find a small black ski. "Of course not. I do not normally associate with rude men."
"I see." He turned his head slightly. "Are you sure we have not met?"
Kagome shook her head. "Unless you go by Sesshoumaru, I doubt..." She was unprepared to have her shoulder grabbed and yanked around. Nor was she prepared to have the leather gloved fingers of his other hand grab her chin.
"Hn." He released her abruptly. "You are into historical fantasy?"
Kagome thought about how she paid the bills when she wasn't working part time and wondered if he recognized her from the back cover of one of her books. "I did not take you for the type of person to enjoy those." She looked him up and down. "However, considering your state of dress, it's not as far fetched as expected."
"You are a writer?"
She smiled and bowed slightly. "Higurashi Kagome at your service."
He frowned. "I have read your works, they are too accurate."
"Maybe I have dreams."
"Or maybe..." He suddenly leaned forward and pulled her tight, a warm embrace considering the coldness of the wind around them. "I promised him I would give you this if I ever saw you." He let go. "I thought it was the hallucinogenic rant of a dying old man or else I would never have agreed."
Kagome slumped to the snow. "Oh, I..." She looked up, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "But he lived to be an old man?"
Sesshoumaru glared at her. "Yes." He looked up suddenly and pushed her further into the tree line. "I will lose this race today." He blocked her body as a slew of skiers flew by on their way to the double flags at the bottom. "Your ski is at the bottom of the hill."
She nodded into his warm chest. "Okay, I will walk."
He snorted lightly. "I did pay attention." Turning, he bent down and looked over his shoulder at her. "Are you going to stand there all day? I do have other things on my agenda than to bow in front of the unworthy hanyou's wench."
Kagome intentionally hit him with the poles as she climbed stiffly onto his back. He grabbed the poles from her and wrapped her arms securely around his shoulders. "Do not let go." Standing, he turned towards the course. Using his poles to push him forward, he slid gracefully through two flags and out into the open area beside the slalom. He did not weave side to side and by the time they reached the bottom, Kagome was sure they were both going to die.
She held tight and barely breathed, afraid any movement would disrupt his balance. As they reached the bottom, she saw flashes go off in the crowd. "Did you just become a hero?"
He grunted. "No, you just became my lover."
Kagome pushed off of him, falling to the ground at his feet. "What?"
"No need to bother, it will die down soon enough."
"Why are you so important?"
Before he could answer, a young woman broke from the crowd. "Mr. Niseko, care to share with us the lucky woman's name?"
Sesshoumaru turned towards the building, ignoring the incessant people demanding information. "Come."
Kagome followed as best she could in her ski boots. He entered though a private door held open by a scary looking guard. She glanced at the man as she walked by but got no response. "Where are we?"
They were in a small locker room and she watched in amazed horror as he proceeded to take off his gear and throw on a kimono. He had no care that she saw him naked, and she was more bothered by the rippling muscles of his back as he pulled the robe on than she cared to admit. "I need a shower. Stay or leave, your choice." He gestured at the door. "However, the vultures will pick you apart if you leave."
Yumi suddenly popped into her mind. "I'm here with a friend. She's expecting me at the bottom of the King run at any time."
He turned and looked full at her. "You were not even close to the King run, how did you come to be on the Kokotai?" He watched her face pale as she realized how dangerous her situation had been. "Never mind. Tell me of this friend and I will make sure she is located."
Kagome followed him out of the room as she described Yumi and her location. He snapped his fingers and two shadows disappeared. "She will be brought here."
"Uh, Yumi knows nothing about..." at his arched brow, she continued. "You know, the past."
"Hn. Nor will she learn it from me." He walked into an elevator and pressed a button. "Staying here?" Kagome stepped into the small box with him and waited while it lifted to another level. When the doors opened, she was amazed to find black onyx floors and a giant wall of windows. "I am in need of a shower. Stay here until I return." He waved towards a couch. "If you need anything, just speak it. My servants are here for your use but they are discrete until needed." With no flourish, he disappeared behind a shoji screen.
With nothing else to do, she walked over to the windows and watched the activity down below. Out of curiosity, she decided to find out what she could. "Mr. Niseko does what?"
A small female that Kagome could tell had a lot of rabbit youkai in her stepped out from behind a curtain. "You are looking at his kingdom."
"Oh?" Suddenly Kagome realized she was staying at the Niseko Ski Resort. "Oh!" She turned to thank the woman but she was gone. The water turned off suddenly and Kagome decided to sit on the couch and wait for him to come back out. Just as she sat on the soft leather cushions, she noticed a small piece of white paper curled up in the corner of a wooden bowl. Curious, she reached out and grabbed it, gently straightening it out to read.
Sesshoumaru walked into the room to hear Kagome's tinkling laughter. He closed his eyes at the pleasure the innocent sound brought to his senses. Opening them, he saw what was in her hands. "Yes, it is strange how things work eh?"
Kagome nodded. "Mine last night was very similar." She pulled it close and started to read. "A romantic enigma will return to you." She smiled. "Sounds like you picked the wrong woman up on the slopes today." She turned back to the window. "I apologize for getting in your way."
Strong hands suddenly snaked around her shoulders and pulled her close to his chest. "Make it up to me."
"How?"
"Dinner tonight for starters." He let go and backed away.
"Fine, but only if you promise me that if you meet this other woman you'll send someone to let me know our plans are cancelled."
Sesshoumaru smiled slightly. "I give you my word on that." He walked up beside her and looked out over his kingdom. "Until tonight." He was gone before she could respond.
As one of his guards walked her back to Yumi, she decided she'd never laugh at a fortune cookie again.
A/N: Bon appetite! -TK