I don't own Inuyasha
Chapter One
Confusion and Good News
It was a beautiful day and Kagome was so happy to be returning to the past, her friends, and Shippou. Kagome just knew that if she only waited a bit longer that Inuyasha would bound into the clearing demanding why she was so late in getting here. She sat down in the flowers that surrounded the enchanted well and began to weave flowers of many different colors into and wreath to wear on her head. By the time that she had finished she was quite worried and upset that Inuyasha had not shown up yet. She lay the wreath of flowers on the ground and concentrated on Inuyasha's aura and was excited to know that he was just a ways off in the woods to her right. She was in such a hurry to see if she could sneak up on him this time that she did not even notice the second aura that was with Inuyasha. She left the clearing and concentrated on covering her scent. She still had not learned how to cover her aura but that was her next lesson that she was going to learn. By the time that Kagome was a couple of steps away she was grinning broadly because she figured that this time she would actually be able to get him. When she pushed apart the leaves of the bush that she was crouched behind her heart stopped at what she saw before her. Kikyou and Inuyasha were currently in a lip lock and did not look like they would be coming up for air any time soon. What she felt threw her into a state of shock. She stood up and began to walk away. She was not paying attention to anything and was currently trying to situate her feelings. 'I was expecting to feel hurt and anger. What is wrong with me. OH KAMI I DON'T LOVE INUYASHA. Well I mean I love him but I love him like a sister would love a brother. I am actually happy for him that Kikyou does not hate him anymore. When did this happen. I am strangely very relieved.' Kagome had been lost in thought for a while. She was abruptly brought back to reality by the fact that her feet were no longer on solid ground. She looked down and saw how far the ground was from where she dangled. She closed her eyes and let out a blood curdling scream.
Sesshoumaru was traveling through the southern lands to meet with the southern lord to discuss a continued alliance now that the threat of Naraku was gone. Sesshoumaru thought that the southern lord was a good ally to have since the eastern lord was once again threatening to try and take the western lands from Sesshoumaru because Sesshoumaru showed no signs of picking a mate. He suddenly picked up the scent of his half-brother and decided to see what he was up to. Then he caught a whiff of the dead priestess and was about to turn around when he also sensed the strange miko but could not smell her. Only the strongest of mikos could hide their smell and he just could not sense that much power in the little clutz that traveled with his brother. He was only going to see if he could find the hidden power in the blue eyed miko. 'Don't try to lie to yourself Sesshoumaru you know that is not the reason that we are going. We like the miko and just want to make sure that she is in good health. Maybe we should take her with us this time it is clear that she is not claimed by our brother.' Sesshoumaru mentally rolled his eyes at his inner beast he was tired of having the conversation with him. We are not here to take the miko away. We have no feelings for her whatsoever. We are only interested the power that she seems to have hidden away from everyone. 'if that is what you want to believe for now. But I will not wait much longer. We will have her. She is unclaimed and we will take her as our mate. We want her and you can not deny me for I will fight for her.' Sesshoumaru tuned out his beast and watched the miko closely. He saw in her eyes the moment that she realized that Inuyasha was not alone. He saw confusion and something else in her eyes before she calmly turned away and began to walk. Sesshoumaru followed her because he had yet to detect the power that she had to have stored in order to mask her scent for so long. He figured that the sight of his brother and the dead priestess had truly upset her. He knew that the foolish girl thought herself in love with his brother. When he thought about it he felt things that he did not even want to analyze. Sesshoumaru saw that she was approaching a very high cliff and figured that she was coming to look at the view and think about what she had seen. He became uneasy when she just kept walking and did not even slow as she approached the edge. When she walked off before he could even think about it he already had a hold of her wrist as she dangled over the twenty-five foot drop. He had to fight to keep a hold of her when her scream assaulted his sensitive ears. Sesshoumau quickly brought her back over the edge and gently placed her feet back on the ground.
Kagome suddenly found herself back on solid ground and when she opened her eyes she noticed a pair of black boots and white hakamas. Her eyes slowly traveled up the body of her savior and by the time that she got to his chest she knew who had saved her life but did not understand. "Sesshoumaru" his name slipped past her lips on a whisper. The only reason that it was heard was because he was a demon. When she finally got the nerve to look into his eyes he was staring intently back at her.
Sesshoumaru tensed the moment that she figured out who he was. He barely caught his name as it slipped past her barely parted lips and it made things low in his stomach to tighten. He loved the way his name sounded coming from her when she was not shouting at him while trying to defend his dim-witted brother. He simply stared at her when she finally looked into his eyes. He could tell that she was deep in thought. 'See you do like her. Why else would you save her life. Lets take her now before that hanyou shows up. He doesn't know how to take care of her. She is going to be our mate. Let us show her that we are the better man.' I do not like her. The only reason that I saved her was because her death would upset our Rin. And I am curious about her powers. We are not going to make a human our mate so drop it. His beast growled at him and then fell silent.
Kagome didn't know what to think she was completely confused. 'Why did he save my life. What is he doing here anyways? Sesshoumaru saved me did hell freeze over. His eyes are so gorgeous and oh kami he is so handsome. Whoa were did that come from. He has tried to kill me so many times and he is the enemy. He probably has some plan to use this against me.' "Sesshoumaru … I don't understand … why did you …." Kagome stopped abruptly when she noticed the trembling in her voice and that she was stuttering over her words. She took a calming breath and then continued. " Thank you so much for saving me. I was not paying attention to where I was going. I can't believe I just walked off that cliff." She tightened her grip on Sesshoumaru's hand. Then she quickly realized that she was actually clinging to his hand and it made her stomach flutter at the feeling that it gave her. She pushed the feeling away not understanding what it meant and not really wanting to.
Sesshoumaru noticed the direction of her stare and saw that they were holding hands. He had not even realized that he had not let go. Once again things low in his stomach tightened and he quickly took his hand from hers. He did not want to even consider they way that her hand had fit. 'Perfect absolutely perfect' his beast cooed. Sesshoumaru did not even reply he just turned from her trying to leave before his brother showed up or his beast decided to try and take over. Kagome panicked for some unknown reason when he began to walk away.
"Wait" She sighed with relief when he actually stopped at the edge of the forest. " I mean no rudeness but why did you save my life. I don't understand. The last time that we crossed paths you tried to kill me. So why save me now." He stayed silent for so long that she figured that he would not answer so she turned to leave. When she was almost to the other side of the clearing she jumped when she heard his deep velvet voice.
"This Sesshoumaru does not have to explain himself to you human, but Rin would have been upset if I had let you die she has taken a liking to you. And if you think real hard you realize that my fight was never with you and that I never intended to even hurt you. Only tried to get you out of my way so that I could deal with my brother." He suddenly disappeared leaving a very stunned Kagome in the clearing. She was also a little hurt at his answer but did not try to analyze the meaning behind it. She knew that it would only confuse her more. At that moment Inuyasha crashed into the clearing with Kikyou on his back. As soon as he put her down they both drew their weapons to kill whoever had hurt Kagome.
"What happened are you ok. Where are you hurt. Who hurt you." Inuyasha was frantic. Kikyou had just agreed to be his mate when they had heard Kagome scream. He had grabbed Kikyou and taken off the entire time hoping that the girl that he had come to think of as a little sister was ok. It would devastate him if he lost her and he would kill whoever was hurting her ten times over. Kikyou and Inuyasha were confused when it finally registered that the only smell in the clearing was Kagome's and that she only looked a bit shaken. Kagome ran into Inuyasha's arms finally crying and she began muttering into his haori about losing her balance and falling over the edge. She told him that she had grabbed a root and pulled herself back up. Inuyasha's heart stopped when he thought about the fact that he had almost lost her. His arms tightened around her as he soothed her. " It's ok little sister everything will be fine. You are ok and safe now. Come on lets go back to camp." He set her away from him and wiped her tears away.
" I am so sorry that I scared the both of you. I am so clumsy and I just can't seem to stay out of trouble." She smiled weakly as she looked up at them. When she saw the two of them holding hands she broke into a huge grin. "Is there anything that you would like to tell me big brother?" Kagome teased. Kikyou blushed and ducked her head. Inuyasha tighten his grip on her hand and then prepared himself for the fight that he expected from her.
"Kagome Kikyou was accepted to be my mate. She is going to stay by my side from here on out. That means that she will be traveling with us." Inuyasha and Kikyou were both stunned when Kagome quickly enveloped Kikyou in a hug. Kikyou hugged her back smiling and Inuyasha grinned from ear to ear. He knew that if Kagome agreed then the rest would.
"Congratulations you two. I was wondering when you were going to work up the courage to ask her to travel with us. It is so dangerous for her to travel on her own and for you to keep sneaking off. Of course I don't have a problem with Kikyou joining us she can work with me to increase our to find the jewel shards better." They all set out to get back to the village before the night fell. They were so engulfed in conversation that they did not notice the taiyoukai that had stayed hidden in the trees to make sure that Kagome made it safely back to the village. He confused and curious as to why the miko had lied to her friends about his rescue. 'we should figure out why she did not tell the truth about our part in the saving of her life. Is she ashamed or is she trying to keep the bad opinion of us spreading?" Sesshoumaru's eyes began to bleed red when his beast became enraged at the very idea that the miko would do such things. He quickly controlled his beast before it caused him to do something stupid. It does not matter why she did not tell. The only reason that we saved her pathetic life is so that we would not upset Rin. 'yes our daughter. We must not upset her. But we do care why the miko lied and we will find out the next time that we see her.' No we will not find out because we do not care. Now be quiet we are going back to camp and forgetting about the miko. 'We will not forget and soon we will see her again to make sure that the worthless brother of ours is taking care of her the way he should.' Sesshoumaru just left it alone and hunted for something to take back for Rin to eat. When he got back to camp gave the rabbit to Jaken to prepare for his ward and then jumped into a tree to keep watch through the night. Regardless of who much he tried to convince himself that he did not care he continually thought about what reasons the miko could possibly have for not telling the truth. Sesshoumaru stared at the crescent moon and remained deep in thought about the human that his beast had claimed as his own.
Miroku, Sango, and Shippou were as upset as Inuyasha had been. They were thinking about the fact that the miko from the future that they had all come to think of as family had almost been lost to them forever. However Sango could tell that something about Kagome's story was amiss. Kagome had averted her eyes many times during the tail and Sango knew that Kagome was leaving things out. She intended to find out the truth as soon as possible. She just knew that whatever it was that she could help the girl she loved like a sister to figure things out. Miroku after the initial shock of Kagome's story noticed that Inuyasha kept looking into the forest and then looking anxiously back at Kagome. He knew that they were in for one more surprise that night.
Kikyou was waiting in the trees for Kagome and Inuyasha to inform the others about her joining the group. She was so scared that they would not accept her. She knew that she had been hateful and done them wrong many times. But she had done it all against her will. Naraku had been controlling her and the day that they had defeated Naraku and lost the shards that he had she had been set free. She had always loved Inuyasha and had hurt inside to see how close that he was to her reincarnation. She had been relieved to find out that they only had sibling affections for one another.
Kagome suddenly went and sat beside Inuyasha. "Guys Inuyasha has something that needs to tell you guys." The group suddenly directed their gazes to Inuyasha and waited for him to inform them of his surprise. Inuyasha ducked his head and began to nervously twist his hands. Kagome saw his nervousness and reached over and took his hand. When he looked up at her she smiled sweetly and he smiled back and squeezed her hand. Every one caught the way they had smiled and how they were holding hands and figured that the hanyou had finally come to his senses and Kagome that he loved her. Inuyasha took deep breath and looked up at the rest of his pack.
"Guys I have asked Kikyou to be my mate and she has accepted me." They all gasped and looked at the smiling Kagome. Inuyasha quickly continued before he lost his nerve. "I would like for you all to accept her as Kagome has and let her travel with our pack." Kagome shook her head yes. No one saw a problem with it as long as Kagome was really alright with it.
"Ok Inuyasha we do not mind at all if Kikyou joins us. Sango and I are happy for you." Miroku replied after getting a nod from Sango that she agreed. Shippou nodded as he jumped into his momma's lap and snuggled close to her. He was getting tired. Kagome lifted him up in her arms and walked into the woods and took Kikyou by the hand and brought her back to the camp. Inuyasha was so happy that these people that were the closest thing he had to a family had accepted the only woman he knew that he would ever love. He stood up and took Kikyou's hand.
"Alright we are going to retire to the hut so that we will be well rested in the morning." Everyone murmured their agreement and followed them to the tent. Kagome with an already asleep Shippou took safely in her arms. They all headed to the largest hut in the village. It had four rooms and then a main receiving room. They all went to their separate rooms and lay down thinking about different things. Sango sighed wondering when Miroku would ever stop being a lech. Inuyasha and Kikyou thought about the day that they would finally become mates in truth while snuggled together. Miroku thought about how much he loved Sango and when he would work up the courage to ask her to become his wife. Kagome was the only one who went to bed that night restlessly. She could not get her encounter with Sesshoumaru out of her head and knew that he was right. He had never tried to kill her. He had many opportunities and had not taken them which only confused her more because he claimed to hate humans. Yet he traveled with one. He had saved her life and she thought that she had caught a fleeting emotion in his eyes when had turned to leave. She finally fell asleep and dreamt wonderfully about a certain silver haired taiyoukai.
