7 Flowers by Nikki Kiraga

The Marigold

She didn't want to be there. She didn't need to be there. She was there for Sango, she told herself. Nothing more, but she knew she was lying to herself. She was trying to get over him, over what he did to her. What they did to her. Months before her wedding...

She shook her head. She couldn't think that way. He was gone, but he would have wanted her to move on. It had been 3 months...she needed to stop wallowing. Right?

She sat with Sango, her head pounding with the music. When would this torture end? "Sango? Is your friend going to be here soon? Or can I leave?" she spoke softly with a frown, her voice broken from months of doing little but crying.

The brunette turned her head and smiled at the almost-widow. "Kagome, come on. Have some fun!"

She just stared with dull eyes. "Is he coming or not?"

Sango frowned at her friend's expression. "He will, Kagome."

A sigh escaped her lips, but she nodded her head, and decided to just close her eyes and wait until Sango snagged her attention. It wasn't as if she had plans, other than bawling her eyes out for yet another day, then passing out in the corner or on the couch with a tub of ice cream in her arms. It seemed to be all she did anymore.

As she began to nod off, her friend's excited and surprised voice hit her ears. "He's here! Kagome, wake up! He's here!" She was shaken too hard for her liking, but she opened her eyes and sat straight up anyway.

--

He looked around, a scowl on his face. Of course his father would stop him when he was mere seconds from killing that whelp he shamefully called his brother. And then, then he forced him to do just what the whelp was bugging him about!

He huffed. Perhaps he could sneak away. It wouldn't be very hard...

"Sesshoumaru! I'm glad you made it!"

He snarled inwardly. This was not his day.

--

She groaned softly as her friend dragged her through the crowd, not seeming to care who they hit and how many bruises she would have afterwards.

"Sesshoumaru! I'm glad you made it!" Sango excitedly shouted once she got close enough, waving her hand like a mad woman.

Once they got up to him, she couldn't help but stare. This man...he was a...God. Wasn't he? No, he couldn't be. No, she was sure he wasn't...but he might as well have been Jesus, because he sure looked like he descended from a God! Wait, what was she thinking? She was engaged! ...Well, sort of.

"Sesshoumaru, this is Kagome. Kagome, this is Sesshoumaru. He's Inuyasha's brother."

She smiled at the man, trying her best to be polite. And by polite, she meant not humping him right then and there.

"It's nice to meet you, Sesshoumaru." She held her hand out with another smile.

His golden eyes looked at her outstretched hand. "Hn." Then he looked away.

Her hand dropped. She had never felt so insulted in her whole life! "Hn?" she questioned softly.

He gave no response, but then looked at her friend. "My father told me to come here and meet the girl the whelp was talking about. I have met her, now I will go." He turned, and stalked out. He was somewhat surprised with himself for even explaining.

Their jaws fell in unison. "Ooo! Oo! Oooooo!!! Oh! I have never met a more inconsiderate or rude man in my whole life!" Kagome huffed, her foot hitting the floor with foot. She followed after him, walking with a purpose. She was going to teach that jerk a lesson!!

When she followed him to his car, she pushed him, although he only took a small step because of it. "Who do you think you are?!" she shrieked.

He turned to her. The girl had spirit after all, hm? He figured by the half-dead look in her eyes that she had lost it all somehow. "Your friend introduced me. It's senseless to repeat things to those who do not listen."

She was getting red in anger now, glaring right into his gold eyes. "I know your name! I meant, why are you so rude?! You could have at least stayed for more than five full minutes!"

"I already explained myself. Now be gone, girl." And that, he thought, was that.

She didn't.

She scoffed. "You think you can get rid of me by saying 'be gone'?! It's gonna take a whole lot more than that, mister! Now you owe me, and Sango, an apology! NOW!"

"You will not order this Sesshoumaru around," he spoke with a deadly glint in his eye. However, what happened next, he didn't expect at all.

She laughed.

"Y...you did not just call yourself 'this Sesshoumaru'! You talk about yourself in the third person? Wow, your life must be really, really sad." She couldn't help it. It was hilarious!

A growl tore from his throat, causing her to freeze instantly. "My life, girl? Your eyes were more empty than a dead man's!" Wait, was he actually getting angry, and yelling? "Now you will speak to me with respect or I will take your sad little life!!"

She grew serious, staring into his eyes. "You'd be doing me a favor, Sesshoumaru. And you know what? Forget the apology. You're a jerk, I can't change that." She turned, and shook her head as she walked.

Those words absolutely haunted him. For another month, they were in his mind, along with the look in her eyes. The look that...that actually begged him to follow through with his threat. It tortured him, when he was awake, when he was asleep, all the time. It was all he could think of, and before long, he broke down. He used his vast sources to research her. What he found was a surprise to him, and he knew then that he'd be forever annoyed with himself.

---

Sango opened the door, looking at the thin rectangle box in front of it. When she picked it up, she noticed it had no return address, but it was addressed to Kagome Higurashi.

She blinked, but turned and shouted. "Kagome! You've got mail!"

The girl came up from her small basement home, and looked at Sango. "A package?" She began to wonder who would send her something, and without a return address, too.

When she unwrapped the normal mailing packaging, she saw a beautifully wrapped rectangle box with a bow on it. When she unwrapped the box, she found a single long-stemmed orange Marigold inside. Wrapped around the marigold's stem was a piece of paper, stating only, "Marigold: Pain or Grief."