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paynesgrey_ficsTitle: The Unquiet Winds
Chapter Title: Meeting the Miko
Characters: Sesshoumaru, Kagura's reincarnation (inevitable Kagura/Sesshoumaru), Shippou
Genre: Romance/Supernatural/Suspense
Rating: PG-13 (overall)
Universe: Canon AU/divergence, Modern
Notes: This serial has been completed for
wipbigbang 2020. You can find all the previous chapters HERE and HERE. I recommend you look for the previous chapters at AO3 and FFnet, as those chapters have also been updated with fixes for typos and grammar.Additional Notes: Thank you to
Story Summary: Natsumi dreams of another woman's past, a woman who desperately wants to reunite with the man she loves, even if Natsumi has to suffer in the end.
Links: (RECOMMENDED) FFNet | AO3
Natsumi yawned, and when she looked out her window, she didn’t realize that it was already sunset and she had spent the entire day finishing up reading the library books she’d checked out. A couple of empty snack bags and coffee cans were strewn about her living room floor, but other than that she had not had a proper meal in a couple of days. She had taken too many notes of Kagura and Sesshoumaru, and she felt like she could write her own biography of the inu-youkai, whereas Kagura was still the bit player.
Whatever information she had pieced together of Kagura just wasn’t enough, and she refused to go into her dreams to learn more about the woman. She hadn’t slept properly in many days either, and her sleep was more of exhaustion than anything, and if she had dreamed while passed out, she hadn’t remembered what the dreams entailed.
Natsumi knew that she would find more about the demoness if she let herself just dream of her, but she was too afraid to give any leverage to Kagura. If Kagura had control of her subconscious, how much or little effort would it be for her to completely take over Natsumi’s body? No, Natsumi had to be cautious and she had to keep as much of her control over her body and mind as she could. The idea that she could ultimately lose to Kagura and relinquish control of her own body frightened her to her core. Natsumi would do anything to circumvent the demoness from sinking her claws into her.
She began to idle around her apartment, picking up garbage and organizing books and her notes. She was ready to call it a day, make herself some dinner and sit down to zone out in front of the TV, putting her thoughts of Sesshoumaru and Kagura on hold.
When she was satisfied that her apartment was picked up enough, Natsumi sank into her couch. She clicked on the TV and settled onto a variety show. The moment she put down the remote she instantly fell into sleep, plunging into the darkness and forbidden corners of her mind.
---
Shippou’s meditation didn’t go as well for him as originally intended, and there were moments where he was keen on running away, ditching Sesshoumaru to meet Achika on his own, and completely avoid all interactions with his former girlfriend.
Or was she still his girlfriend? He wasn’t sure, and things were a bit murky since she kicked him out of her shrine and threw a large, heavy caldron at him in anger. (Man, that girl was strong, probably the remnants of her inu-youkai DNA.)
One thing was for sure, they needed her help and she was the only one that could help him. Shippou was well versed in modern Japan’s spiritual community and he knew that there were very few miko that had the kind of spiritual power that could take on true youkai. The more youkai that had died from the disease, the less there were skilled miko that could balance that kind of power. Of course, Shippou had moments where he feared the disease himself, but knowing Achicka and knowing that modern Japanese folks still looked to fox spirits for some kind of luck or fun, he wasn’t as susceptible to it.
He wasn’t that powerful of a youkai, either. He mingled with humans too much, had plenty of human friends, and well, dated Kagome and Inuyasha’s descendants for a long time. He spent a long while with Achika too, who expected something more than just “dating” from him.
Therein was his problem.
He released a sigh as Sesshoumaru’s red Tesla pulled up. The driver was a plain human male with a perfect suit, nondescript sunglasses and closely shorn hair. He parked the car in front of the gate of Shippou’s estate, and Shippou grimaced as his knees began to knock. Well, he couldn’t back out now.
Regardless, he had to help Sesshoumaru as he owed the guy so much for help over the years, mainly to blend into human society and clean up any messes if he accidentally revealed his true nature. He groaned when he thought about all those past moments where Sesshoumaru had come through when he was down on his luck or in a tight spot.
The mundane driver rounded the car and opened one of the passenger doors. Inside the back, Sesshoumaru was comfortably seated and turned to him with a stoic look.
“Fox, you have that look on your face,” Sesshoumaru said bluntly.
Shippou tried to play it off with a grin. “Whatever do you mean?” He jumped into the back seat next to Sesshoumaru and the grin remained on his face.
Sesshoumaru scoffed. “If you dare decide to run away from this because you cannot man up to your romantic problems, I will follow you to hell and drag you to her doorstep. You know this, don’t you?”
Shippou rolled his eyes at the threat, but truthfully, he shuddered inwardly at Sesshoumaru’s words. Not so much that the inu-youkai would drag him from hell and back to get his help, but more so because the idea of being on Achika’s doorstep terrified him.
He cleared his throat. “Not at all. I do owe you many favors after all.”
“This is one favor that you will fulfill, not all of them,” Sesshoumaru said, and Shippou sighed heavily.
He knew that he was to be Sesshoumaru’s slave for the rest of time. He couldn’t even count how many favors he owed him, and Sesshoumaru knew that and liked to rub it in his face.
“Yeah, yeah,” Shippou said. “You know Achika’s address, right?”
“I do, but I do not have the luxury of getting through her shrine’s wards,” Sesshoumaru said.
“Ah, yeah, I’m not sure I will be able to get through either,” Shippou said with an awkward cough.
“Either way, you can text her, fox,” Sesshoumaru said. “Do it, and tell the miko we will be arriving in twenty minutes.” Sesshoumaru’s hard stare bore into him as Shippou’s hand shook holding his phone.
“Alright, alright,” he said, and he almost wished he’d deleted her number. He could never do that of course. He did honestly care for Achika, maybe even loved her. He scrolled through his contact list and found her in his favorites. He opened a new text window and wrote exactly what Sesshoumaru said. He also added that they both needed her help.
Shippou only hoped that Achika would be more apt to help them if he included Sesshoumaru in the message as well.
Of course, there was no immediate answer, so Shippou turned to Sesshoumaru and grinned at him again. “Shall we go?”
Sesshoumaru threw a look to the driver and nodded. Soon, the car was in drive and they were off to their destination. Shippou’s knees began knocking again.
