Glance From Afar by Vixeria Snow

Bitter Flowers

Having foregone breakfast and lunch in favor of getting home earlier, they had all decided to eat an early dinner. Though their dinner was far from a comfortable affair, the efforts made on their part didn't go unnoticed.

Dinner, however, had been a mess. For starters, she hadn't been made aware of the fact that they would have company at the dinner table. Nothing could have prepared her for Sesshomaru's mother, of all people. The entire dinner had felt like a battle of wits; those with the sharper tongue would come out on top.

The older female was entitled, as was, perhaps, her right. It didn't, however, give her the right to be rude to guests. It quickly became fact that she disapproved of every detail, big and small, no matter the subject. The woman's demeanor was offensive and not at all gracious or humbling, and her manners were clearly lacking when it came to her disapproval.

The first comment was of their presence at the dinner table. "Sesshomaru, darling, must you insist on conceding your pets at the dinner table? It is most unbecoming." It really shouldn't have been a surprise that Kagome would run into those who didn't think highly of their quaint little group. What was surprising was to come across an individual of the lady's stature admonishing the Lord of the West. Of course, at that particular moment in time, she had no idea who she even was. What was even more astonishing was the fact that this woman meant everything she said. As if she was actually sincere. "Darling, you become more like your father every day."

That seemed to irk him, and as everyone watched the display between the two of them, lavish dinner plates were set before each person. It was almost as if they were being waited on in a fancy restaurant in the modern era. Sesshomaru said nothing to reprimand the woman for her speech, so Kagome assumed the woman was just on a higher pedestal than even Sesshomaru.

"And you, Miko," she admonished, "where do you hail from?"

"Nihon," was her immediate response, "though, more specifically, I was born in a place called Tokyo, far from here."

The woman seemed to regard her for a moment, "You have gone through training then?" She openly assumed Kagome's history- almost as if analyzing her to determine whether she was even worth her time.

"Not... exactly," Kagome replied, a bit uncomfortable at the subject. "I was mostly self-taught before given the responsibility of the jewel."

"The Shikkon Miko?" The woman inquired, visibly upset and turning to address Sesshomaru once more. "You brought her here?"

"For the record," Kagome said, garnering her attention again, "Inuyasha was against us coming here as well. Though, I'm beginning to understand why." She knew her comment was directly suggesting the woman. She had no idea if her retaliation would get her in trouble, but she supposed she could deal with that later when and if it came.

Food was situated in the very center of the table. It was a magnificent display of meats, fruits, and vegetables, all placed together in a beautiful array across the table. They set what looked to be a mix of raw and cooked foods to accommodate the different species at the table.

"Ah yes, the half breed," she commented. "Why are you even here?" She frowned at him, and Kagome watched as he flinched and flattened his ears atop his head. He glared down at his still-empty plate to avoid the woman's gaze, crossing his arms in mock defiance. "It's bad enough that my son brought home a stray from a common village, but now he's bringing home bastards and other creatures home, too."

Rin seemed somewhat oblivious to the woman's talk. She simply picked up her chopsticks and began placing an assortment of different fruits on her plate. Shippou followed Rin's example, choosing instead to grab some raw meat from the center. He very clearly couldn't reach, so Kagome grabbed a set of chopsticks as well, reaching over to cut him a slice and deposited it right on his plate. It cheered him up almost immediately, and he dug right in without so much as a word.

Kagome stole a glance at Inuyasha and realized he was looking everywhere else except at everything in front of him. It occurred to her then that he, perhaps, he had known who the woman was because of the simple fact that he had yet to retaliate against her. She, herself, had chosen to keep her mouth shut in favor of remaining as respectful as possible. It wasn't her house, after all. She was merely a guest.

Of course, that was immediately thrown right out the door when the woman directed her verbal assault at her son.

"And you," the woman said, addressing Shippou with disdain, "another abandoned pup, I presume?"

Shippou froze in place when his eyes met hers. He visibly shook, scared of the woman. Kagome, having taken notice of this, immediately placed a hand on his small back. She rubbed small, comforting circles on his back, and the gesture seemed to calm him and relax his features. His parents' topic was still a sore subject for the little kit and hadn't gone unnoticed by multiple members of their small, quaint group. It quickly became a topic that no one breeched, not even she as his surrogate mother. Though, she supposed it was probably another conversation that she should have with her adopted son.

"Shippou lost his parents a few years ago," Kagome quipped, her voice gentle but firm. She said nothing else on the matter and waited for Shippou to resume eating before she grabbed a portion for her own plate.

She noticed Inuyasha and Sesshomaru hadn't reached for anything to eat at all and had chosen to only drink their refreshments. However, the woman across from her and the children had decided to also grab her own portion for herself. Though, the woman opted for selecting a little bit of everything from the spread.

"I think Inuyasha has every right to be here as well," Kagome also quipped, referring to her earlier question of Inuyasha. She knew she shouldn't meddle, but what the woman had said earlier bothered her. She was itching to put in her two cents. Besides, she didn't see Inuyasha sticking up for himself to this woman.

"You speak of that which you do not know," the woman said, her eyes narrowing on her. Kagome looked directly into the woman's eyes, refusing to back down. She could see Inuyasha and Sesshomaru looking, exchanging glances from each other to her and the woman as well from the corner of her eyes. Neither tried to stop her nor even comment on anything, so she took it as a sign to proceed. Besides, she was well past, being polite at this point.

"On the contrary," Kagome said, "I've heard enough. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha share a father. That, alone, should warrant his presence in the palace." Her manner of speech surprised herself. She briefly wondered if she had simply spent too much time with Sesshomaru, enough to have picked up on some of his use of vocabulary. That, or at some point during their trip, she had matured- if only somewhat.

"Their father is exactly why the half-breed has been deemed an outcast," the woman replied.

"Their father," Kagome retorted, "also granted you a full-blooded demon, didn't he? It isn't Inuyasha's fault he was born, so I think some people need to get over it." She very clearly knew that she was dancing in unfamiliar territory - and that she was reasonably rude while doing so. But something about the woman fueled her ire, making her want to point out her faults. "Besides, it's not Inuyasha's problem. It was your husband's."

"The half-breed needn't have ever been born," the woman said smugly.

"You can't control matters of the heart," Kagome responded, just as smugly. "Your husband, I'm sure, is the perfect example. And again, that is not neither Inuyasha's fault nor his problem."

"Ha!" The woman responded, throwing her head back, clearly amused, but she said nothing more on the matter.

It was clear to her that woman really didn't like her, Inuyasha, or Shippou. She wondered if she even liked Rin. Though, judging by the way Rin brushed off her comments, it would seem that the little girl was used to it all. She wondered how long Rin had put up with this woman's childish banter and if it had ever affected her. She briefed a glance at Sesshomaru, and she recognized his annoyance. She wondered if it was directed at her, his mother, or possibly both of them.

When dinner had concluded, she decided they needed a break. "Oh, that's right," Kagome commented, pausing midway to their rooms. "Rin, didn't you say you had a garden?" Her mind briefly recalled her mentioning something about a garden while during their travels.

The little girl's face lit immediately. She quickly grabbed both Kagome's and Shippou's hands to make them walk a bit faster. She vaguely registered that Yumi was trailing quietly behind them, ushering them to Rin's supposed garden. Once again, they were upon a large set of doors that led to the outside. Both Kagome and Shippou followed after a very eager Rin as she burst through the doors and onto a stone path. There were flowers of all sorts everywhere. They lined the stone path and covered the expanse from every direction. Rin led them in a zigzagging pattern and directly to the heart of the garden, where a gazebo stood sturdy and covered in vines. It reminded Kagome of a winter wonderland by how much snow blanketed everything in the area. She briefly recalled a conversation with Rin where the little girl explained her "magic flowers" being protected from the harshness of the cold. It was about all she had spoken about while on the trip "back home."

She took a seat on one of the stone benches beneath the gazebo's hood and watched as Rin gathered several flowers in her hands. She brought several mounds of them up to the stone benches with Shippou helping her haul a few of them himself.

"Kagome, do you know how to make a flower crown?" She asked on her final trip back, a big smile on her face.

"No, I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of learning," she said just as enthusiastically as she. "Would you teach me?"

"Absolutely!" The girl replied as she hopped up on the bench. "You start with a couple of flowers, and you start twisting their stems, like this." Kagome watched as Rin began weaving the stems together before reach for another and twisting them in. She caught on fairly quickly with the pattern, and soon enough, the two of them had made their first flower crowns together. Shippou rapidly grew bored and started teasing Rin about being slow at making flower crowns- then being slow at everything. This, of course, fired up the little girl, and soon enough, the two began throwing flowers at each other before chasing each other all over and into the snow beyond the gazebo. While the children played, she picked up another flower and began weaving a bracelet using the method Rin had showed her for the crowns. Then she noticed Yumi to the side, giving everyone space.

"So," Kagome said, addressing Yumi, "Sesshomaru's mother certainly is... bold."

Yumi looked over at Kagome, curious. "The Lady Kimi has always been as such. They say she became that way after her mate's affair."

"They? You mean you didn't witness it first-hand?" Kagome asked, pausing in her weaving.

"My lady," Yumi said, amusement in her voice, "I am human."

She honestly hadn't been aware of the girl's race. "How did you come to work in a demon's palace?" Kagome asked and then realized how rude her question was. She looked apologetically to the young woman but urged her to respond.

"My sister and I are orphans," she said, "the young Lady Rin required human servants for the palace had nothing but demons. Aside from Lady Rin, myself, and Yuki, there are no other humans here in the palace."

Kagome seemed to contemplate this for a little while. "How long have you been working for Sesshomaru?"

"Lord Sesshomaru obtained us four years ago," Kagome jumped and turned around, noticing Yuki on the other side of her. "My apologies, My Lady, I didn't mean to startle you. I came to inform you that all of the preparations for you and your son have been completed."

"Thank you very much, Yuki," Kagome said with gratitude. "I'm certain my son appreciates it just as much as I do."

The three stayed where they were, allowing Rin's and Shippou's playful banter to fill their silence. After a time, Kagome finally spoke, "What were the two of you doing before you were employed?"

"We were daughters of a merchant and a pirate," that seemed to surprise Kagome. She didn't think pirates were really a thing. Go figure. Yumi continued, "Our parents, having died when we were young, we took over our mother's property. She owned a silk shop and had taught us to sew fabrics and how to obtain rarer materials. We took up merchants' position, but our profession was dwindling because of rivalry from other merchants.

"Lord Sesshomaru happened upon us one miserable day and employed us, and we have been here ever since," Yumi stopped her explanation when one of the children cried out, having fallen in a small mound of snow.

After determining the kids okay, Kagome commented once more, "I'm glad the two of you are here to help watch over Rin. Without you, she honestly wouldn't have any human connections here." It was then that Kagome realized why Sesshomaru had left Rin in her care for so long. He was searching for a solution for Rin.

Taking note of the setting sun, Kagome stood and stretched. The kids noticed and brushed themselves off, each taking one of Kagome's hands. The twins escorted the trio back inside the warm palace for the evening. When all had reached their destinations, they said their goodbyes and turned in for the night.

----------

They were at it. Again. She could never have a night of peace. 

The woman from down the hall echoed. Her voice moaned and bounced from wall to wall, skin slapping skin reverberated across her cell bars and rang in her ears. A man's voice grunted and groaned, joining hers in pleasure. She could hear shoes clicking against the bricks of the floor, growing ever nearer to her the entrance of her cell.

A woman stopped in front of her cell, but Kagome gave her no reaction. The woman held a metal tray in her hand. She let it clatter on the floor; the noise made her jump as it revealed the food offered to her outside of the cell. Molding bread rolled from the tray and across the dirty floor outside of her prison. The cup of water that had been on the tray had tipped over, half spilled across the floor, and the other half pooling within the tray. The woman smirked as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the floor.

Kagome finally acknowledged her. She raised her head to look the woman in the eye and, as if in slow motion, her face distorted with recognition. It took her a moment to collect herself before rushing to the edge of her cell. Her body made a dull clang as she slammed herself into the walls of her prison, and she disregarded the ache her actions had caused. She slipped a hand past the metal bars in an attempt to reach the woman, anger fueling her actions. Her hands swung wildly in her futile effort. Her face was practically smashed into the bars that held her just out of the woman's reach. "You bitch," she spat out angrily, unreservedly. Her ire built, her helplessness consumed her being, and it was all she could do to continue her desperate act. She wanted nothing more than to wring the woman's neck- to feel her life slip away with her own hands wrapped around her neck as she thrashed and begged for her life.

The woman's smirk widened, mocking her, disregarding her. She uncrossed her arms and let them fall to her sides. She made no attempt to speak to her at all. She blatantly dismissed Kagome's fit, and instead, she turned away and walked down the hall. Kagome screeched behind her, unleashing her wrath upon the bars and pulling them with all of her might. She had even gone so far as to place her feet up on the metal, having her entire body suspended as she yanked on them. Of course, they didn't budge. Of course, they would be unable to yield to her desire. It made her feel as though she were a child - grounded as she released her temper. She continued her yelling for some time, letting obscenities fly from her mouth and echo down the hall.

When she relented, spent and voice hoarse from overuse, she reached through the bars at her feet to grab hold of the moldy bread and tray. Her fingertips could barely hook onto the edge of it, and she carefully dragged it into her cell. She took a look at her bread, frowning as her raw emotions consumed her again. She squeezed it in her hands... the bread was no longer soft like it should have been. She dusted it off as best she could and took a bite. She didn't want to risk spilling her precious water, so she dipped her head down and drank as if she were an animal.

Somewhere down the hall, a woman's cries of pleasure escalated, shortly followed by a silence that seemed to penetrate her very soul.