Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its wondrous characters. I only own this plot and any original characters I may happen to throw in.

Summary: Kagome's nightmares have her screaming at night. Sesshoumaru lives in the apartment next door, and is tired of it, so he decides to pay her a visit one night. AU, modern times.

"talking"

'thinking'

"Mr. Taisho? What do you think?"

Sesshoumaru turned a surprised glance upon his assistant. He hadn't been paying attention and was caught off guard. His eyes narrowed and he mentally berated himself for the lapse in concentration.

Miroku raised his eyebrows at his boss as he waited for a response. He watched as Sesshoumaru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before waving him off with, "Bother me later."

"Is everything alright? I've never seen you so exhausted before, are you sleeping?"

"I'm fine. Bring me the report before you leave," he responded curtly. Miroku only nodded and retreated from his office, puzzled.

'No, I'm not sleeping! And it's all thanks to her.' He growled lowly to himself in frustration, slumping at his desk.

He hadn't properly caught sight of the new neighbor on his floor of his apartment building, but he had definitely caught her scent. A wonderful, pleasing scent that called to him. Traces lingered in the lobby, on the stairs, in the elevator; it was taking over his floor!

What was worse than the scent constantly teasing his senses was the noise. When he had moved in, the adjacent apartment had been blissfully empty. Since she had taken that place a few weeks ago, he had become aware that his bedroom had only a thin wall separating it from what he could discern as her bedroom.

Every night he would hear her. It would start with whimpering, then progress into quiet sobs before blooming into desperate crying and thrashing in her sleep. This would go on for hours before she would start to talk, to plead. Whispers of "no" and "please" escalated until she would abruptly wake with a shout or a cry. Then she would sit and cry to herself for a few more hours, keeping him awake every night despite his best efforts to block out her pain.

His patience was wearing thin with this unknown woman. He had barely even caught glimpses of her, soft hair swishing as she turned a corner, a whirl of ruffled skirt as she raced for the elevator.

He growled to himself again and realized he would get no more work done today. He resigned himself to a day wasted, grabbed his jacket, and walked out.

As he finally walked through his front door, he set his keys on the counter, and glanced at the clock: 3pm. Pulling at his tie, he changed into some black pajama pants and collapsed on his bed.

'Just a short nap.'

The sound of sniffling reached his ears and Sesshoumaru groaned, rolling over, he checked the time. 11pm. He had been asleep for almost 8 hours already, and he was still tired. Sleeping sporadically the past few weeks was catching up to him. Even as a full demon, working a ten hour day running your own business was tiring.

'This has to stop. Now.'

He threw the covers off and padded down the hall to the front door, throwing it open angrily he made his way to her door. He knocked, softly at first, then louder, but heard no movement from inside. He sighed heavily and tried the handle, surprising himself when it opened.

'Stupid woman doesn't even remember to lock her door.'

As he stepped cautiously inside he was assaulted by her sweet scent again, stronger than ever. It set his senses on fire, set his pulse racing and he inhaled deeply, pausing a moment to regain his composure.

He moved carefully toward her room, pushed the door open slowly and realized why she hadn't heard his knocking. She was deep in the throes of a dream, thrashing around with tears slowly streaming down her face.

He took a moment to study her. She had a nice face, he begrudgingly admitted, though it was tense with fear. She had thrown most of her blankets off, and he frowned at the kitten patterned shorts that had ridden up too high, exposing long creamy legs. She whimpered in her sleep and his throat tightened as he reached out to wake her.

He felt her aura rising defensively and growled warningly, but then her eyes flew open as she sat straight up, throwing her hands out in front her she cried out, "Don't touch me!" Before he could dodge, her miko ki from her hands blasted him straight in the chest, sending him across the room and into the far wall.

End Chapter 1