Warming Up
SessKag Week 2025, Day 2 — Winter Prompt: Kotatsu Rated G 690 words
Read on AO3
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Kagome packs snow in her hands, moulding it, before carefully adding it to her snow man. Details are important, after all. She concentrates on her work, adding a few more finishing touches before she steps back to run a critical eye over her creation. It’s perfect. She grins and whirls around, her gaze bouncing around the snowy clearing. Three other snowmen are holding watch, but no one else is around. Kagome huffs, her breath misting in the air. Did Rin and the others already go back to the village? When? Did they even tell her they were leaving?
She’s been so absorbed in her creative genius that she didn’t even notice she’d been left behind. And then, all at once, other things she hasn’t noticed are undeniably present. Her hair is wet from the falling snow. Small shivers are running down her spine because it’s colder out than she realised. She flexes her fingers; they are red and raw and she can’t quite feel them.
Kagome closes her eyes and marvels at her own stupidity. She definitely should’ve been wearing mittens, even if they made her clumsy and hindered her artistic process.
Her eyes snap open when her wrist is snatched into a steely grip that pulls her hand up. Taken aback and more than a little confused, she stares at Sesshoumaru. Where did he come from? How come he’s so damn light on his feet? And most importantly, why is he frowning so fiercely at her hand?
“Sesshoumaru?” she asks, her voice trembling only a little.
He doesn’t reply. Instead, he blows on her hand. His warm breath makes the tips of her numb fingers tingle and something flutter in the pit of her stomach.
She must make some involuntary sound, because his hooded eyes turn to her, his sharp stare pinning her down. There’s a look in those secretive golden depths she’s never seen before.
"Come, miko,” he tells her, as imperious and haughty as always.
“Come where?” she asks, though she’s already following after him. For some reason, he’s still holding onto her hand as they head back to the village.
“The others are waiting,” comes his reply.
She watches his back, the way his silver-white hair swings with each step, and wonders just how she’s ended up here. Why Sesshoumaru has her wrist in his firm grasp, why he’s the one who has come to collect her, why she is following him so readily… Why is the beat of her heart suddenly so loud in her ears.
They arrive at Kaede’s hut. Sesshoumaru stops by the door and gestures for her to go in. His hand briefly splays against the small of her back as Kagome steps into her friend’s home. Rin rushes to greet her and help her peel off the winter gear while Kaede fusses and urges her to come sit by the fire. In no time at all, Kagome’s sitting under the peaceful warmth of the makeshift kotatsu she instructed Miroku and Inuyasha to build for Kaede, cradling a cup of tea in her hands, breathing in the fragrant steam.
“Thank you.” She smiles at all of them “I didn’t even realise how cold I was.”
“You need to take better care, miko,” Sesshoumaru admonishes her.
She is all too aware of him and the heat he is radiating along her side—he succumbed to Rin’s persuasion and is sharing the kotatsu with her.
“Sorry,” she mumbles to her tea, avoiding his stare. She can’t quite bear to look at him. Her heart still hasn’t calmed down.
Hidden under the thick blanket of the kotatsu, something heavy and warm settles on her thigh, gives it a squeeze. Something, that feels suspiciously like Sesshoumaru’s claw-tipped hand.
Her breath catches in her throat and liquid heat pools inside. She feels the weight of his attention on her, catches the flicker of a smile curling his lip.
Quivering with a whole world of possibilities suddenly open before her, Kagome sips her tea and hopes that Kaede and Rin do not realise that the cold winter air alone is not responsible for the flush of her cheeks.
