Chapter 24: Truth or Dare: The Dare

Feudal Era...

"What changed?"

Sesshomaru glanced through the darkness, to where Kagome laid in her sleeping bag on the other side of the camp. Her cerulean eyes stared directly into his, although he knew she couldn't actually see him. Regardless, her gaze never wavered.

"What happened between us, Sesshomaru?" Her voice was a breathless whisper, barbed with confusion and curiosity. "What is it that I'm not remembering?"

Sesshomaru felt reluctant to answer, an unexpected tightness to his throat. He wasn't worried about the others hearing the answer to her question, as the only ones remaining at the camp were himself, Kagome and the children, both of whom were asleep. Regardless of their privacy, the demon lord was reluctant to expose the truth about his years of bitter rage.

Especially, now that he knew how unjustified it had been. So he baited her instead.

"In the years after I came back through the Well," he murmured, watching her face carefully, "I told my mother and father about the many things I had done while in your time. Mother in particular was interested in one of the games we had played..."

Curiosity sparked in her eyes and Sesshomaru felt satisfaction curl through him.

"Oh? Which one?"

Modern Era (Past)...

"WHAT?!"

Kagome's mortified squeak was met with a raised eyebrow and mischevious smirk that only heightened her embarrassment. Ears burning, the young girl ducked her head as she nervously tugged at one of her pigtails, the woman's challenge echoing through her mind like a broken record.

I dare you to kiss him.

"If you truly care for my Sesshomaru, you'll need to prove it to him," a silky voice responded, colored with amusement. "Maybe not right this minute, but the time will come. When it does, I expect you to remember our deal, Kagome-chan."

"I should have asked a better question," Kagome murmured in defeat, shoulders sagging as she continued to fidget with her hair. Glancing at the woman across from her, she frowned. "I guess Sesshomaru gets more than just his looks from you, huh Susumu-sama?"

Golden eyes crinkled at the corners with silent laughter, and the young girl couldn't help but think how human the demoness looked in that moment, even with the cresent moon emblazoned on her forehead.. She still couldn't believe that she was talking to Sesshomaru's mother, who it turned out had been her mother's gynecologist for years...

20 minutes earlier~

A stiff moment passed as the young girl returned the woman's surprised look with one of her own. The aura coming off of the stranger felt oddly familiar to her, and she continued concentrating even as the object of her focus turned her attention elsewhere.

"Good afternoon Higurashi-san! I see you brought a visitor with you today," the woman greeted as she gently closed the door behind her.

"Yes, Suzi-san, this is my daughter. Kagome, I'd like you to meet Doctor Susumu Tukiyo." The mention of her name finally snapped her back to awareness, and sensing that her mother was waiting on her to respond, she gave a short but polite bow, eyes never leaving the doctor's strangely familiar face.

"Well, it's very nice to finally meet you Kagome-chan. I've heard a lot about you," Tukiyo smiled, returning her bow with a slight nod before redirecting the conversation.

"So, what brings you in today, Higurashi-san?" Paper's rustled lightly as the doctor flipped through a chart she'd had under her arm. As Kagome's mother and the doctor began discussing the reason for their visit, she tuned them out in favor of trying to figure out what it was about the lady that made her feel like they had met before. Her appearance itself didn't strike any chords with her: tiny in stature, the doctor wore her graying hair in a pixie cut that framed her round face nicely. Wide, light brown eyes were set above cheeks covered with a smattering of freckles, and a kind smile that seemed permenantly fixed to the woman's face.

Honestly, she didn't look like a single person the young girl knew and yet... there was something still nagging at the back of her mind. Scrunching her face in concentration, she missed the discreet look of amusement sent her way by Dr. Tukiyo as she tried to narrow in on the sensation feathering across her mind. She also completely missed her mother telling her to stay put as she left the room.

'It's almost like that feeling when I play hid and seek with... that's it!' Kagome grinned in delight as she realized what felt familiar.

"Mama, she's a youkai-" her triumphant crow cut off as she realized she was completely alone in the room. Pouting momentarily, she remained seated for all of a heartbeat before hurrying to the door. Gently easing it open, she stuck her head out and looked up and down the narrow hallway. To the left was the door through which they had entered, and a little beyond that sat the receptionist desk. To her right were more doors and hallways, leading further into the maze of the offices. Closing her eyes briefly, Kagome concentrated on the light inside of her just like she did during her games with Sesshomaru. Just as she was beginning to feel the tingling of her power pooling into her small hand, she felt her nose being pinched.

While it didn't hurt, it was enough to startle her, and Kagome fell back into the room with a gasp. Nose wrinkling at the phantom feeling of pressure that remained, she was completely oblivious to the woman still crouched at the door with a small grin on her face.

"Careful, little miko," Dr. Tukiyo admonished softly, eyes twinkling at the look of surprise on the little girls face. "That power of yours could attract trouble, you know."

Kagome blinked owlishly, not understanding what the woman meant. Rather than dwell on it, she instead jumped back to her feet and rushed toward her mother's doctor with a huge smile on her face. Whispering as only a child her age could when imparting a great secret, she placed a hand next to her mouth, "You're a youkai, right Tukiyo-sama?!"

Smothering a chuckle at her dramatic behavior, the woman instead looked both directions down the hall with exaggerated care before moving fully into the room and closing the door. Still crouched down so that she was face to face with the girl, she put a hand to her own mouth, "You are correct, Kagome-chan."

Excitement burning through her, Kagome squealed in delight as she threw her arms around the woman, taking her by surprise. Before she could recover, the young girl was asking her questions at a mile a minute, wondering what kind of youkai was she; how long had she been alive; were there other youkai, and how many... On and on she rambled, never giving the lady before her a chance to answer, until she once again found her nose being gently tweaked.

"We don't have too long, Kagome-chan. You're okaa-san doesn't know, and for now I need it to stay that way, alright?" Waiting until the young girl in front of her nodded, she continued, "I know you have a lot of questions that I would be happy to answer, so...

...why don't we play a game?"

~Present~

Kagome huffed, her arms crossed in a pout as she recalled being drawn into the truth or dare game by Susumu-sama. They had gone back and forth several times, playing the more simple version of the game for time's sake. The doctor had answered all of her questions truthfully, including the reason why she looked human instead of youkai; but it wasn't until she dared her to drop the illusion that Kagome had finally put it all together.

Upon realizing that the woman was almost certainly related to Sesshomaru, she had both been gleeful and terrified. Happy to know that her best friend would be able to find his family in the present, she was also afraid of losing him. Frightened by the idea that he would be leaving soon, leaving her, she didn't notice how she had suddenly gone pale and clammed up. Susumu-sama, as she had insisted on being called, had noticed, and smiling gently reassured her that she had no intention of making herself known to Sesshomaru. She even went so far as to make her promise not to tell him about their meeting as well.

Confused, and a bit hurt for her friend since she knew how much he missed his family, she agreed reluctantly. Before she could ask the reason for such secrecy, the doctor had told her to carefully consider her next question, either truth or dare, as they were running out of time. Mind blanking, Kagome could only come up with, "How do you know Sessho-chan?" It was then that the demoness had revealed that she was his mother, following the revelation with her unexpected request.

Now, her one-on-one time with Susumu-sama was over, her mother having returned only moments later to the room. After speaking with the doctor shortly and setting up another visit for the following week, her mother had led her out to head home. Only a quick glance over her shoulder, and the image of Sesshomaru's mother holding a finger to her lips reminded her to keep her discoveries a secret from the two people she cared about the most.

Her thoughts were melancholy on the way home, her distress inadvertently removing the lingering scent of Susumu-sama from her, ensuring that she would not let the secret slip by accident. Her mother was worried at her silence, but passed it off as tiredness. Completely distracted for the whole trip home, it wasn't until they were climbing the steps to the shrine that Kagome allowed herself one final unhappy thought.

'What if he doesn't want to kiss me?'

Feudal Era...

A comfortable silence had fallen between them as Kagome laid beneath the night sky and remembered. The longer they were around each other, the more the things he said, the things he did, even the way he smelled to her weak human nose triggered the memories that had been buried for so long. And while she treasured each and every one, it also left her heart aching with more and more questions.

Why had she forgotten it all? Why was she only remembering now? Why had he lashed out at her when he remembered everything? Why was he here now?

But above all else, she wondered why he was avoiding her questions about their shared past.

He seemed determined to wait for her memories to come back to her on their own, yet at the same time distant, as though he couldn't care less one way or another. Since joining up with their group, he had been so kind and gentle with her, but guarded too.

'He obviously wants me to remember, but refuses to tell me anything directly' she thought to herself, again glancing over to where she knew he was still sitting. The twilight was softening into the gentle glow of dawn, and soon she would be able to make out his form against the foliage without trouble, but she knew from the tingle of his youki against her soul that he remained where he had first stationed himself last night.

'If you truly care for my Sesshomaru, you'll need to prove it to him.'

The words whispered through her mind once more, and Kagome frowned. She did care about him, of that she had no doubt, but she was still uncertain about fulfilling her part of the dare. While she had no doubt that he cared about her on some level, that didn't mean he'd welcome that sort of intimacy out of the blue, especially from her. Not after their history together. And that was the crux of her dilemma, as she had only recently discovered that their history went much further back than she had ever remembered; than she even remembered now. Yet something had changed everything between the two of them, something that had shattered the bond they had once shared as children.

'It doesn't matter if he cared back then, or even if he cares now, because at some point he didn-'

Her thoughts stuttered to a halt as the pieces finally fell together. He remembered. He had never forgotten her. He had never stopped caring...she had! Even if she didn't know what had changed, what had happened to make him angry enough at one time that he would try and kill her, his actions only further proved that he cared about her, because such rage could never have bloomed in apathy. And now that her memories were coming back, now that she cared again...

'...prove it to him.'

Authors Note: Long time no see everyone! I know it's been... oh dear, three, four years? Yes, this story is going to be finished, and yes, updates are beginning again, just sporadic for the time being! So enjoy the ride, and thank you so much for sticking with this story! Ya'll rock!