The Treasure Within by BelovedStranger

Crystal Demeanor

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Revised as of 2026

The revisions were more challenging than I anticipated, so took longer than expected. My writing style has greatly changed since first writing this story, but I wanted to retain the short, yet fluffy quality

This story is dedicated to A Seven Treasures Challenge, with lemon-y goodness at the end.

P.S. This story has no benefit of a beta. Apologies for any typos!

Word Prompt: Crystal

Word Count: 1,627

Glossory:

Sama—Lord

Hanyou—Half-daemon

Tenshi—Angel

Miko—Priestess

Youkai—Daemon

Mid-Spring – Edo Japan

WHAT AM I even doing here anymore?  KAGOME wondered silently to herself, forlorn as she sat on the lip of the Bone Eater’s Well.

Stroking the rotten wood near her left hip, she stared down at her trailing fingers, and remembered all the times she’d jumped into its depths, defying time itself as she leapt between her era five hundred years in the future to now in the Feudal Era. She recalled the countless occasions a certain silver haired hanyou had been waiting nearby, impatient for her return, or how he’d seen her off with a gloomy expression as she visited her home in the future.

Where she belonged.

Right?

Kagome lifted her head to gaze across the grassy field around her, knowing Inuyasha wouldn’t come. He couldn’t.

After the final battle with Naraku, Inuyasha had decided to follow Kikyo to hell, unable—unwilling—for his past love to be alone ever again. That had been five years ago.

Her chest tightened thinking about it, but the ache was dull, the passing years having eased the harshness of rejection’s sting.

She took in the green meadows, the rolling hills, and the trees further in the distance, not wishing to forget. Anxiety gripped her. It was suddenly paramount that she imprint this moment to memory. Breathing deep, she tried to memorize not only the peaceful sight, but the very scent of the grass, the wildflowers in bloom, and the utter pureness of the air, so different from the pollution saturating even the smallest breeze in her era.

Long ago, she’d assumed her time in the past would be finite. She just hadn’t known when—until when was now. And perhaps long overdue.

Before melancholy could take firm hold, her senses flared, demanding her attention.

Surprised, Kagome turned, and saw a silhouette standing in the shadows of the distant trees, but the darkness was not so dense that she could not see who had come. She caught herself staring, knowing it would be the last time she gazed upon his perfect, pristine form.

“Why do you hide, Sesshomaru-sama?” she asked after realizing he would not be the first to speak. He seemed content to stay right where he was, watching her.

She’d spoken barely above a whisper but knew he’d heard.

At her words, Sesshomaru stepped clear of the shadows and into the light. His approach was neither slow nor hurried but measured. As always. She stood at his approach, until he stopped closer than expected, forcing her to tilt her chin high to continue staring up at him.

She hadn’t foreseen this.

Him.

Being here.

Now of all times when she was certain it was to be her last. Actually, she hadn’t anticipated anyone.

She felt no fear of attack. He had no reason to harm her, and she sensed no hostility. He stood close without intimidation, staring down at her with a calmness she envied.

His voice was impassive as he corrected her. “This Sesshomaru does not hide.”

Kagome smiled, a small laugh slipping free, her spirits lifting. Worried he might take her lightheartedness as an insult—it was just so good to see someone, she shook her head. “Of course not.”

Their eyes met, and held for long seconds. In the quiet that followed, her heart did the strangest thing by skipping a beat.

“You are leaving, miko.” Whisper soft. Gentle.

Kagome blinked rapidly, caught off-guard by the absence of his usual matter-of-fact tone.

He knew about the well. Had for years. His finding out had been unavoidable. Two years ago, he’d come to the village with Rin in tow. Apparently, she had flowered, which had made him aware that the orphan child he’d allowed to follow after him was becoming a woman. One who needed proper guidance from her own kind. Sesshomaru visited several times a year, checking in on his ward. On one of his visits, he’d approached Kagome, seeking answers after noticing her strange habit of jumping into a dilapidated well and disappearing.

Kagome wouldn’t call them friends, but they were no longer enemies.

At Sesshomaru’s question, she glanced behind her at the well, then off to the side, towards the humble village she could not see but knew to be just beyond the hills, and thought fondly of Kaede, who had offered Kagome a place to live during her stay in the Feudal Era. A home away from home, but one that had been filled with bittersweet memories of an unrequited love.

For the longest time, Kagome had seen Inuyasha everywhere in the village, his ghost plaguing her. Until finally, she no longer caught a glimpse of him, the pain of his choice fading.

Where did that leave her now? What continued to draw her back?

“Yes.” A simple answer to a complicated question.

The finality in her tone caught his attention. She saw it in his eyes when she turned back to him. For one startling moment, a shadow flickered, fleeting, gone before she could grasp its meaning, yet left her heart strangely unsteady.

“You intend to remain.”

There. Not here.

She understood his meaning instinctually. He asked no questions, but Kagome found herself explaining. “Inuyasha is long gone, while Miroku and Sango have built a life together. They have their own home, with children. Shippo’s become like an older brother to them. They’re a family. Even Rin has found her place here.”

Unlike me.

Not that her friends had ever made her feel welcome, but something was missing.

Kagome’s heart panged thinking of her friends. They knew of her plans to return to the future—but not of her intentions to stay. For good.

Wishing to avoid the inevitable argument, she’d taken the coward’s route, but it was the thought of Shippo’s tears that had truly made up her mind to say nothing. She knew her decision would cause them pain, and she was sorry for that, but she no longer had a purpose here. Her duty to the jewel had been completed long ago upon Naraku’s defeat. And with Inuyasha gone…

Her fists clenched, nails biting into her palms as she fought against the mist clouding her vision.

“Do you wish to stay?”

Here. Not there.

Kagome’s eyes widened on Sesshomaru’s face, before intense longing clawed through her. Inexplicably, the urge to bear her heart to this man—this youkai, to one whom she’d never been especially close to—came over her. Too compelling to be denied.

“Where would I stay?”

Sesshomaru remained silent, gazing at her with a thoughtful expression.

She blinked, realizing something was different. His demeanor wasn’t as crystal hard as when they’d first met. Not as icy as it had once been in regards to her. Though still difficult to detect, let alone decipher, he was allowing her to see a glimpse of expression he denied most others. Why? What did it mean? Despite her confusion, her pulse accelerated.

Kagome became drawn to the perfection of his appearance. How he stood so tall and strong. Impossibly solid—real. His features were beyond handsome. Beyond even beauty. And his presence shone so white and pure that the sun’s rays paled in comparison.

How could someone this magnificent—this compelling—be standing before her? Be granting her even a fraction of a second’s regard? There was no one else like him in the Feudal Era, and certainly not in the future. If she hadn’t known his true daemonic nature, she would have thought him a tenshi come down from the heavens.

Out of nowhere, she surprised herself by asking, “Can I stay with you?”

Hearing her ridiculous request echo through her ears, she bit her lip—hard. How utterly foolish could she be? She was not his responsibility.

She would only be in his way, she was certain. But as she stared up at him, she knew she could not go back to the future and be content. Too much had happened to her here. She was different. It was impossible to go back to the way things had been before she’d fallen down the well. How had she thought she could?

There was no one in the future she could share her memories with, not even her own family. There were some things even they should remain ignorant of.

But who would help her keep those memories alive when there would be no one around who’d been there to witness any of them? Would her time here become nothing more than a fantastical dream? All at once, leaving felt wrong. But how could she stay? Where was her place?

Where was home?

Sesshomaru did nothing more than to continue staring down at her. The silence stretched, making her restless. Worried that he meant to deny her.

Not that she blamed him. And yet, she willed him to speak. To let her stay. With him. For just a little while, at least. Then, she’d go.

Wordlessly, Sesshomaru turned his back on her and began striding away.

Kagome felt a cold knot forming in her stomach at his cold rejection. She clasped her hands and bent her head. Tears threatened, when his voice reached her.

“Follow if you so choose.”

Her head shot up quickly, finding that he had stopped just a short distance away. She blinked in stunned silence. When she didn’t immediately respond, he turned his head to gaze back at her from the corner of his eye. A wordless demand for her to make her choice. And quickly.

Kagome blinked back her tears—of joy. Relief. She ran to him, her yellow pack bouncing along her back next to her quiver of arrows, with her bow in hand.

Falling into step behind him, she was smiling as they left the clearing.

Together.