Thirty Days to fall in Love
By: Lady Morganna
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters.
Chapter 1: Day One: The beginning
Everyday was the same in the Feudal Era. Every morning she woke up and listened to Inuyasha rant about how slow they were. Every morning she watched Miroku get a lump on the head from Sango for groping her body. Every day they walked many miles in the stifling heat of the summer sun. Every day she ended up running from some youkai or another who was hungry for power and her Shikon shards. Today was no different from any other day in the past three years; she was once again running blindly from a youkai intent on taking her shards and her innocence. Alone she was nearly defenseless, her errant powers refused to come to her aid until her life was in immediate danger; it was as if they were only interested in seeing to their own survival.
Panting heavily her chest rising and falling quickly, Kagome pushed her through the dense undergrowth of the forest. With every step she took, she felt the hot scalding breathe of the wolf youkai on the nape of her neck. He was gaining on her and soon she would be forced into a battle with him. She had run out of arrows in the clearing, defending her friends, she had no other weapons with her and knew if he caught her she would die. Kagome knew her strengths and they did not lie in hand to hand combat, they probably never would.
Leaping over a fallen log, Kagome felt the sting of razor sharp claws run down hr back. Long bloody painful tracks were left in the wake of the claws. The pain fueled her need to survive and her body sent a rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins enabling her to add a burst of speed to her sprint when she cleared the log. Her mind became a swirling cloud of bright red, with one thought only. Survive, no matter what survive. Her weakened human instincts were screaming at her to run faster and find a place to hide, if only her body was strong enough physically.
Looking behind her to check on the distance between the wolf and herself, Kagome lost her bearings and found herself suspended in mid air for a fraction of a second. The flat stable ground had suddenly ended in a steep sloped hill, ripping itself from under the girl's feet violently. A shrill scream ripped from Kagome's throat as she fell to the ground below her and began to roll down the hill. The wolf watched as he was given a glimpse of the female's dainty legs and the soft white under things she wore under her indecent kimono. Grinning to himself, the wolf began his own controlled descent down the hill after the girl; perhaps he could amuse himself with her after he took the shards.
Kagome tumbled head over feet down the hill and landed with a loud whump at the bottom in a much undignified pose. Thank goodness no one was around to see her body like this or she would have been beyond mortified. She was leaning on her arms with her head bent and her hair spilling around her in a cloud of black ink. Her shirt gaped and revealed the soft swell of her breasts. Perhaps the most embarrassing aspect of her position was the fact that her bottom was raised in the air and her skirt was flipped up revealing her white panties with the small red hearts on them to the entire world. Yes, it was defiantly a good thing no one was around to see her like this. Kagome's eyes fell onto a pair of shiny black boots directly in front of her raising her eyes from the black boots she followed the line of a pair of white clad legs, Kagome's heart fell as her own caramel eyes locked with the amber ones above her. Kagome quickly broke eye contact with the unwavering gaze of the Taiyoukai and flushed a deep blood red. Looking to his left, Kagome saw his human child clutching his leg with laughter in her chocolate eyes at he older girls' expense. Well, there wasn't going to be any help from the child or the taciturn Taiyoukai. So, she had better start thinking of a way out of this mess, now!
Rising up to her knees, Kagome turned her attention back to her attacker. The wolf had made it down the hill, much more gracefully, and was assessing whether the larger youkai would interfere with his hunt or not. Deciding the inu was not going to interfere, the wolf smirked at the girl and began to advance on the little miko. Kagome's eyes grew round with fear and she began to crab walk away from the wolf. Kagome backed up until she ran into the legs of Sesshomaru. Looking up at the youkai through her lashes, Kagome wondered if he would let her die like this. Her heart did a quick flip flop as she realized he would Flashing her eyes to his human child, she wondered if he would let her die in front of the little girl. Sesshomaru interpreted her glance at Rin and knew what the woman was thinking. He did not worry about Rin watching the girl die; she had seen beings die before. The miko's death would trouble her slightly but the child would overcome it as she had overcome the death of her family.
Sesshomaru was unprepared for Rin's quick intake of breath and the scent of her fear. Her little hands tightened in the silky fabric of his clothes. Assessing the environment, Sesshomaru searched for the source of the child's unease. His brilliant eyes swept from the miko to the wolf. The wolf was causing her fear, this would simply not do. If she was frightened, Rin would have nightmares for the next several nights about wolves coming to attack her. Sesshomaru did not want to deal with a crying upset Rin who was babbling incoherently about her night terrors. The wolf raised his and nose and sniffed as the acrid smell of poison filled the air. Sesshomaru raised his hand and quickly brought it down in a slashing motion, sending the wolfs head rolling across the ground. Sesshomaru watches as the two human females had two very different reactions to his actions. Rin loosened her hold on his clothes and beamed up at him, thanking him silently for ending her fear. Kagome screamed in a high pitched shrill voice until the youkai thought his ears were bleeding. As the wolf's head came to a stop against Kagome's legs smearing them with blood, the little miko jumped to her feet and attempted to climb up the Taiyoukai's body. She succeeded in wrapping her arms around the youkai lord's neck and dangling her small form from his much larger one. Kagome buried her face in the Taiyoukai's neck as her body began to feel the effects of coming down off of an adrenaline high. Her petite from was shaking against the body of Sesshomaru and he could feel small salty drops landing on his neck. Sesshomaru presented a stony face to the world; however, the only thing he had difficulty dealing with was crying females. He was at a total loss as to what to do when the fairer sex wept. Rin had learned his weakness early in her travels with the taciturn youkai lord and used it to her benefit whenever she could. Great watering puppy eyes usually ensured the girl forgiveness for whatever she had done wrong and a few well place sniffles usually assured her softer treatment for a few days. Sesshomaru merely looked to the clouds and allowed the girl to hang from his neck. Inuyasha leapt down the slope prepared to save Kagome from the clutches of his vile half brother.
"Sesshomaru let Kagome go." Inuyasha was livid; his brother was man handling Kagome as if he owned her. The hanyou would stand for this; Sesshomaru had to be taught a lesson.
"Perhaps, Inuyasha, you should tell the wench to release me. She is after all, the one who is wrapped around me." Sesshomaru could not resist an opportunity to bait his younger brother. As he watched the younger youkai with a satisfied smirk on his lips, Sesshomaru realized he had made a remarkable point by merely holding out his remaining hand. Even though he had released the girl's waist, Kagome still clung to his neck like a lifeline in a violent storm. He effectively showed the hanyou he was not holding the woman, she was holding him. Inuyasha saw read and pulled his mythical sword from his side preparing for battle with his brother.
As the hanyou made a mad rush at him, Sesshomaru unwound the girl from his neck and deposited her on the ground near Rin. Sesshomaru raised his sword to meet Tetsiagu in a crushing blow between the brothers. Inuyasha fought with a wild abandon to prove to his brother once and for all he was worth something in this life. Sesshomaru merely let the boy swing madly at him and remained on the defensive. Eventually the boy would tire and stop swinging the massive sword.
Kagome was stunned. She had just been wrapped around Sesshomaru and he had not killed her. He had even set her on the ground gently next to Rin. Looking into the smiling chocolate eyes of Rin, Kagome shook her head and focused on the fight in front of her. Inuyasha was preparing to swing the Tetsiagu at his brother again and Sesshomaru was preparing to raise his own sword in defense. Kagome gasped and fixed her eyes on the blade Sesshomaru was using to fight Inuyasha. The Taiyoukai was not using Tojikin the demon blade; he was using the Sword of Heaven, Tensiega.
Rising to her feet, Kagome took everyone in the clearing by surprise "SIT BOY!" Kagome's command sent Inuyasha plummeting to the ground in a shower of small pebbles and leaf litter. Mumbling from his face plant, the irate hanyou attempted to rise and growled when he was unable to. He began to mutter unintelligibly from his crater about damn interfering miko's and their damn bad timing.
"Inuyasha, I am very sorry but I had to do that. You wouldn't have listened to me otherwise. Did you even look at the sword Sesshomaru was using? He was using Tensiega, Inuyasha. He could not have hurt you with that sword." Sesshomaru merely stood and waited for Inuyasha to stand and confront him. The hanyou may have been hot tempered but he would eventually calm down enough to question why his brother was near his group to begin with and fighting him with the sword that could not cut flesh.
Rising from the ground and dusting himself off, Inuyasha fixed a steady golden glare on his older sibling. "All right, Sesshomaru, why are you here? And don't give me that you were in my way crap either. You could have avoided our fight with the wolves. Why didn't you?"
Sesshomaru flicked a cold glance over his brother. "This Sesshomaru does not answer to you pup." It seemed that was all he was going to say and then with the next breath he graced them with more of an explanation then he had ever given them. "I have come with a proposition for you, Inuyasha. Naraku has become menace to my lands. The hanyou is difficult to deal with because of his number of minions. I have thought about the best way to deal with the hanyou and I have decided that the only way to defeat him is to surprise him. We will join forces and defeat him together." Sesshomaru spoke of a truce with his hated half brother and Naraku as if the two were nothing more then bothersome flies hanging around his regal silvery head.
Inuyasha's eyes were as round as saucers and his jaw dropped open at his brother's speech. "Who are you and where is my sadistic brother?" Was the only response the hanyou could muster. Kagome was not taking Sesshomaru's proposal any better then
Inuyasha. She was standing with her mouth agape and her face strawberry red with disbelief.
Sesshomaru merely looked at them as coolly as ever, as if he did not just propose putting aside their differences to work together. "I assure you Inuyasha I have not been replaced. The hanyou believes us to be enemies; if we work together it will provide him with a surprise. His plans could be thrown off and he will have to adjust his plans."
Inuyasha could see the truth in Sesshomaru's words but he was still having difficulty believing his brother had made the suggestion. Everyone believed the hanyou to be a simpleton, his actions were easily understood. If it attacked you, you kill it even if it was stronger, faster, and smarter then you. Inuyasha knew everyone thought of him as simple and he was not against letting them believe it to be so. It helped him out on more than one occasion. However, what everyone seemed to forget about the inu hanyou was the he had been on his own since he was a small boy and he had to learn to take care of himself. He had to learn to think quickly. Inuyasha, however naïve and obtuse he was about some things, was no simpleton where fighting and living was concerned. He knew his brother had made a good point and he knew they could use their alliance against Naraku. Inuyasha surprised both Sesshomaru and Kagome with his next words.
"Well if we are going to work together, we are going to have some guidelines. You are not going to take over my pack, Sesshomaru. I am the alpha and you are not. I am only agreeing to this because I believe it would be effective." Kagome stood gaping at the hanyou like a fish out of water, while Sesshomaru merely blinked lazily.
Sesshomaru inclined his head toward his brother. "I have no need to overthrow you Inuyasha. I do not need any more followers. Once the hanyou is dead we will go our separate ways."
"Agreed. You protect your pack and I will protect mine." Both brothers glowered at each other. Suddenly the slayer and monk landed gracefully in the clearing on the fire neko. Both were surprised to see the Taiyoukai standing there and were instantly on their guard.
"Kagome-sama are you all right?" Miroku was having a difficult time keeping his eyes off the intimidating Taiyoukai. Worry radiated from his and the slayer's bodies, Sango slipped closer to her friend. Shippo jumped into his surrogate mother's arms and snuggled into her chest seeking the comfort only she could give.
"I'm okay Sango. Sesshomaru actually killed the wolf." Sango's eyes grew wide and then narrowed in suspicion towards the Taiyoukai. Why would he save a human female? He had to have an ulterior motive up his sleeve. Glaring at him, Sango attempted to show the Taiyoukai just what she thought he could do with himself. The thought of him jumping from a very high cliff with his hand tied behind his back and impaling himself on his own demonic sword brought a hellish grin to the slayers face. The grin faded when she saw two chubby little hands gripping pristine white silk until the knuckles turned white and chocolate eyes staring at her with fear. Sango instantly softened and wondered how the girl child could be afraid of her and grip the Killing Perfection as if he was her lifeline. Sango calmed herself for the sake of the child; she did not wish to frighten her anymore then was necessary.
"All right you guys listen up. Sessshomaru and his pack will be traveling with us. We are going to defeat Naraku together, so you will have to find a way to work with him. I would suggest you just ignore him." Inuyasha turned his back on his brother and began to walk away, completely ignoring the Taiyoukai. Shippo began to quiver as the golden gaze of the inu swept over all of them, assessing them and quickly dismissing each and every one of them.
Kagome felt his gaze lock with hers. She made a daring attempt to hold the icy gaze but soon found she could not win the staring contest. After all normal people did have to blink now and then. She dropped her sparkling caramel eyes to the ground and blushed a soft pink. She was going to have to work on not being intimidated by the youkai. She would not let him think he could push her around; everyone else in the world already did that enough. Pushing up her dainty chin and flicking her hair over her shoulder, Kagome strode past the youkai with her back ramrod straight. Sango sidestepped around Sesshomaru to take up her place beside Kagome. Neither female looked back as they walked quickly to catch up to Inuyasha. Miroku hung back beside the Taiyoukai and watched the expressionless face. Miroku watched as Sesshomaru's eyes followed the retreating form of Kagome. Then to the monk's astonishment a smirk spread to the corners of Sesshomaru's lips. Miroku recognized the glint that had formed in the golden depths. Sesshomaru seemed to be mildly interested in the miko. Miroku sighed happily on the inside; his faith had been restored in males. Sesshomaru was not a block of ice, as Miroku had suspected. The youkai was pure male and the all female little miko had gained his interest marginally.
Folding his hands into his voluminous sleeves, Miroku walked after the two females with a lecherous grin on his lips. Today could only get more amusing for him, if he managed the plot toward his will when necessary. Yes, he could definitely get some amusement out of Sesshomaru's presence in their odd little group.
Sesshomaru glanced down at the girl still clutching his clothing.
"Come Rin and bring Jaken with you."
"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama. Jaken-sama, if you don't hurry Sesshomaru-sama will leave you behind." The girl had regained her normal cheerfulness. If Sesshomaru-sama acted normal then everything was okay.
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"Sango, why do you think he is really here? He does not have a very high opinion of Inuyasha or of us, so why would he think we could be of use to him?" Kagome was beyond perplexed at the icy male.
"I think Sesshomaru is a military genius and realizes the more people there are at the final battle the more chance there is of Naraku being killed. Also, if tow opposing groups work together against their common enemy there would be less confusion on the battle field. Instead of three battles going on, there would only be the one." At times Sango could sound as if she was reciting knowledge from memory about youaki and it kind of creeped Kagome out sometimes.
"Okay so it benefits him and his agenda. What will happen to us when we don't benefit his agenda anymore? You don't think he would kill us do you, Sango?" Worry was etched into the young face of the miko.
"Yes, I do." Sango was never one for offering false platitudes, she only offered the truth whether it was wanted or not. Kagome swallowed the bile that had risen to from a lump in her throat and nervously glanced back at the Taiyoukai. He merely looked back at her with an unwavering gaze and a slight smirk on his cool mouth. Kagome turned around so quickly, she stumbled and fell to her knees on the path. Once again she was at the Taiyoukai's feet and he was getting a wonderful view of her white panties with the red hearts on them. Sesshomaru watched as the girl's face flushed a bright red and then grew even more interested as the blush spread down the vee neck of her blouse and lit up her skin like a paper lantern during a festival.
Kagome watched as once again black boots filler her vision as Sesshomaru strode past her.
"You should be more careful in such an indecent kimono woman. The world does not want to see such things. At his words, Kagome's blush deepened and her body temperature raised about twenty degrees. Great, just wonderful! She barely knew the damn man and he had already seen her panties twice in one day! What could she possibly do to make herself appear more like the village idiot to the Tiayoukai? With her flaming red face buried in her hands, Kagome rose to her feet. Sighing deeply Kagome began to walk behind the group.
The miko spent the rest of the day walking behind the group with her head down. All she wanted to do was stay under the Taiyoukai's radar and climb into her sleeping bag and hide for eternity.
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Inuyasha stopped for the night in a small clearing surrounded by trees and bordered by a small creek to the west. They would have fresh water and no one would need to leave the camp that night. Watching as his small pack began preparations for the night ahead, Inuyasha was filled with satisfaction with his life. He had close friends and a small pack to care for; he had everything in the world an inu could ask for. Inuyasha was in heaven. Until his eyes fell on his half brother lounging across from him at the base of a tree, then life became one torturous memory after another to the hanyou. Grimacing Inuyasha realized his actions were going to be scrutinized every day. Every day he would be found lacking in the eyes of the Taiyoukai. He would not do anything right until the youkai left.
Kagome became very aware of the differences between the two groups as they prepared for the night. The work was split amongst everyone in Inuyasha's group, Kagome watched as Rin began to prepare her own meal of a few meager vegetables. Kagome knew the girl would not become full off her meal and instantly began to feel sorry for the child. How could she support her growing body with just some vegetables?
As soon as the ramen was done, Kagome picked up an extra bowl and walked toward the child and her protector. Sesshomaru watched the girl warily as she approached with her steaming bowl of noodles. Kneeling down in front of Sesshomaru, Kagome held the bowl in front of him for inspection.
"These are just flavored noodles. I though Rin might enjoy a warm meal tonight. You can try it to make sure it is what I say it is but can I give it to her?" Sesshomarau sniffed delicately at the noodles and determined them to be exactly what the miko said they were. Glancing toward Rin and nodding slightly, Sesshomaru gave his permission to the young girl. Rin came forward with a smile and accepted the bowl from Kagome with a deep bow and a soft arigato. Kagome watched the girl eat daintily out of her bowl. Smiling at her good manners, Kagome returned to her own bowl of ramen noodles.
When Rin had eaten all of the noodles in her bowl, she returned it to Kagome. Smiling at the older girl Rin linked her arm through Kagome's. Kagome returned the little girls smile.
"Thank you Rin. Would you like to color with Shippo before you go to bed?" Rin looked slightly perplexed at the miko. Giggling, Kagome pulled the little girl onto her lap and placed a brightly patterned coloring book on the little girls lap. Rin looked at the book in amazement as Kagome flipped vibrantly colored pages to find an empty one. When she found one she held the book in front of the girl and began to explain the concept of coloring to Rin. Tipping her dark head to the side, Rin listened to Kagome's explanation. The small child looked so much like Sesshomaru with that serious expression on her face that Kagome could not help laughing once again.
"Okay Rin all you do is pick out these colors and then color inside the lines to make the picture pretty." Rin smiled a thousand watt smile at Kagome and wiggled out of her lap to join Shippo at Kagome's feet. The two children colored together for the rest of the night in amiable silence. Neither child was aware of the watchful gaze of their surrogate parents sent toward them. The children were blissfully unaware of the glances the parents threw to the woods every few minutes to ensure the safety of the small ones in troubled times.
While watching the children color, the adults lounged around the fire. Sesshomaru never left his spot under his tree. Inuyasha had leapt to a low hanging tree branch as soon as he had licked his ramen bowl clean. The hanyou appeared to be sleeping. Miroku and Sango had each settled back to clean and polish their respective weapons. Kagome settled down with her hated math book and attempted to force equations into her mind.
When the two children began to drift off to sleep, Kagome put the coloring bookds away and suggested everyone prepare for a goodnights sleep.
As the two groups prepared for sleep, Kagome looked toward Rin to make sure she would be warm. However, she was surprised to find the small girl curled against the Taiyoukai's legs wrapped in his pelt. Sesshomaru remained quietly looking at the moon. He seemed to be lost in thought. Kagome smiled softly to herself as she curled in her sleeping bag with Shippo tucked into her side. Perhaps, Sesshomaru wasn't as bad as he wanted everyone to believe. Perhaps there was hope for the world yet.
Authors Note
Okay I thought I was rushing this story. I did not like the way the story did not seem to flow to me. So I decided to do a little rewriting. Chapter one was originally five pages long, now it is eight pages long. I hope you enjoy the new version of chapter one. Oh and the last paragraph where Rin curls up against Sesshomaru, is not out of character for dogs. The way they sleep sets their status in the pack. The closer a pack member sleeps to the alpha, the higher that animal's rank is. Since Rin sleeps right next to Sesshomaru, she is seen as his pup. I don't think Sesshomaru would let anyone but his mate and children sleep so close to him.
Lady Morganna