just plain ol' Kagome

Yokai 1: Do you not understand yet? You are *our* kami, the first of your kind-- perhaps the last, the only, that we shall ever have.

“Tonight, Sumi called no spirit, nor nearby kami— nay, for the first time on this night, Sumi calls upon the deity that she will serve for the rest of her natural life. She rings bells, she sings the incantations, and she moves her body through the dance in ever more complicated twists and arcs that gain speed with each turn of the heel. Sumi does not tire when sweat dampens the fabric bindings across her breasts, nor when it trickles down the length of her back. She does not grow faint nor stumble as her breaths grow shorter and specks dot her vision. Sumi drives on, pushes forward as her turns grow sharper, and the melody higher. The private ceremony grows more frantic with each invocation, the reiki builds and pulses, spiraling higher and higher without end.

Just as she fears the edge of a misstep, of failure… her kami descends.”

Hello!

Just wanted to say, thank you so much for taking a chance on my story! I also apologize if the answer seems roundabout or longwinded!One of the main… problems (or issues, I guess you could say), is that the majority of the story is purely from Kagome’s perspective. You’ve sort of got to work to interpret and pick up a lot of the subtleties in the story that often go unremarked. On top of that, Kagome is using a host of new abilities that she is slowly developing— all without fully understanding what they are, and the effect it has on those around her. Nevermind why it is that she’s coming into *these* abilities over *those* ones (hinthint: think about a kid in their formative years, and the people/places/things that they encounter/experience, that later shapes them).The long and short of it is this; that when Kagome laid hands on Sesshoumaru when he was in the middle of a killing strike— she performed a mammal yokai’s soothing/cradle technique on him. If you can recall, there were a few instances in which she’d used this before (when she was trying to calm Shippou down, and later, more forcibly towards the end of the impromptu surgery with Rin, most notably).

The technique itself is only used by mammal-type yokai moms’ (and fathers, occasionally extended family members). It’s a more direct form of soothing/calming an upset infant/pup/cub/kit/baby/etc. As the child grows, the skill is used with less frequency, and the ability eventually falls dormant once the offspring reaches puberty (and resurfaces w/ each new offspring, but the ability grows weaker each time). It’s performed by the parent injecting a measure of their own youki w/ positive emotions into the offspring through physical contact.

So… if you think about it, Kagome just shunted a whopping fuckton of “you’re okay, everything is fine, you are loved, you are safe, everything will be alright”, right past his youki shields, and all up in his grill.

-some comments about the anti-climactic nature of Sesshoumaru’s response...

Rough notes on determining time and age for Kagome.

Another overseas doodle, the acorn representing Shippou, the squares represent Rin, and the flowers and shawl/scarf... WHO CAN SAY?

SHIPPOU U CUTE FLUFF.