I do not own Inuyasha, I only enjoy him.

"SESSHOUMARU, HURRY UP!" A frustrated Kagome pounded loudly on the bathroom door. She had been waiting for him to finish for the last thirty minutes. I swear, dog demons and their primping, she thought and laughed. He took longer to get ready than she did. "You know we have to practice before tonight!" She yelled at the closed door, loud enough the neighbors in the next country could have heard her.

A calm, cool voice could be heard from the other side, "Woman, give me my peace. Your inane shouting will not hurry me along." With another impatient sigh, she left him to do whatever it was that dog demons did while in the bathroom. He better not leave more hairballs in the sink. AGAIN. She muttered as she was walking away. He thought that just because he USED to be the Great Lord Sesshoumaru, he found it beneath him to clean. ANYTHING. So, all cleaning, in their apartment, was left to her. And, frankly, the Almighty Great Lord of the Western Lands, was a dog. Why, oh why, did she have to get stuck with Sesshoumaru as a damn roommate? Life just wasn't fair sometimes.

Low and behold, thirty minutes later and after much running of water, he still had yet to leave the bathroom. Muttering curses to herself, she stomped toward the bathroom. She raised her fist to pound on the door when it was violently opened. Surprised, she made an "eep," and stepped back a little. There he stood, tall and regal and very, very wet. Wet silver hair dripping water onto the floor, naked chest and stomach so perfectly muscled that Greek Gods would worship the very ground he walked upon. And one eyebrow, exquisitely shaped, raised in question. Quickly dropping her eyes below his waist, disappointment and relief mixed together. He had on nothing but a towel. A TOWEL. The damn ruler of the Western Lands was standing before her with nothing but a towel on.

Letting her gaze linger longer than she would have liked, she entertained thoughts of removing said towel. In her mind she slowly watched if fall to the floor, revealing all of him. Whoa! No, No! We will not be removing any towel. She snapped back to reality when she heard him chuckle, her cheeks red and flaming. She turned her head from him trying to remember what brought her to the door. "Um…Oh…," Kami, what could she have been thinking? It's not that she hasn't ever seen a well sculpted male before, just that she hadn't ever seen this well sculpted male.

It just took her a little by surprise. That was all. Surprise.

Even though they have lived together for three years, she had never seen him without clothing. The most she's seen is his bare feet. She had to admit that he even had nice feet. "Like what you see, wench?" He crossed his arms with a smug smile on his face. Watching her fluster made him very pleased. He watched her turn away in embarrassment unable to remember what it was she wanted. Not even thirty minutes ago, he couldn't get her to shut up. Now he can't get her to talk. In all the time that he has lived with her he has yet to see her this uncomfortable. Well, to be fair, she hasn't ever seen him almost naked before either. It was finally time that she noticed him. Feeling a little guilty at his indiscretion and her embarrassment, he had to remember that he had done this on purpose.

He heard her stalking toward the door. He knew when she was just about to knock. That was when he thrust open the door like a madman. He wanted her to notice him. Just once, he wanted her to see him. Then, maybe, just maybe, she would finally see him for the man that he was. The man who tried and tried again to tell her how he really felt. Sometimes he felt like he was fighting a losing battle. And he had fought in a lot of battles. But, Sesshoumaru did not give up. Ever. Yes, it might have been easier to come right out and say he cared for her, but he wanted her to see it. He wanted her to feel it with him. He didn't want to put her on the spot with something that she might not return. So, he would set up little ways for her to see. Not his body, but him. But all those times had failed. She had not noticed the torture in his eyes when she didn't see what was in front of her. She had not noticed the longing in his eyes when she was near. She had not noticed that subtle hints that he sent her way. She was always too distracted.

He knew the reason. He could hear her at night when she thought he couldn't. Demons do, after all, have excellent hearing He went to her a couple of times when he heard her. At first, he went to her to get her to shut up. He couldn't stand to hear her incessant sniveling. He finally quit going to her when she said he couldn't comfort something he didn't understand. He was so offended. He, Sesshoumaru, not understand? Of course he understood. At the time he thought he did. Looking back now though, he didn't. No, he didn't understand, but as time passed and they grew closer, he finally understood. Perfectly. She loved Inuyasha. Even after all this time, she wouldn't let go. She cried night after night until sleep overtook her. He would listen to her silent crying wanting to comfort her in some way. Wanting to hold her and soothe away the pain.

Wanting to tell her to forget what she couldn't have, and to hold on to what she could.

But, no, she still loved Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru loved her.

As the time had passed and they lived together and worked together, he started developing feelings for the little human. Slowly, ever so slowly, she worked her way into his icy heart. Sesshoumaru couldn't tell you when it happened or why. Although he did remember a particular day when he felt her the strongest in his heart. One day, about a year ago, he was watching her play with a child they had encountered at the park. They were walking home after their grocery shopping when the girl came out of nowhere and asked them if they would want to play. As she was pushing the little girl back and forth on a swing, she looked up at him and smiled. She just smiled. Nothing more than one of her ordinary smiles. Upon seeing something that he had taken for granted nearly everyday, a piece of that ice cube known as his heart chipped away, and in it's place was her. Just her. Her simplicity, her beauty, her caring, her indiscrimination of him, her laughter, her…everything. And in that one moment his determination to let her know how he felt flared to life. He wanted to be with her more than he wanted anything else in the world. And she didn't even know it.

He wanted her heart to beat for him the way his beat for her.

Kagome screaming something at him brought him back to the present.

"Sesshoumaru, you're not even listening to what I'm saying!" He looked down at her red flustered face. What had she been saying? He wandered only vaguely caring. "What did you say, human?" He knew adding the word 'human' to the end of his question was going to upset her even more. He couldn't count how many times she had gotten angry for calling her that. He loved watching her get mad. Ah, here it comes, 1...2...3.."MY DAMN NAME IS KAGOME. NOT WOMAN, NOT WENCH, AND DEFINITELY NOT HUMAN." Her chest was heaving from the exertion of screaming at him. " If you would listen to me and quit staring off into space, I wouldn't have to repeat myself. I said that we have to practice before tonight. We have not practiced all day." She looked at him expectantly and raised her brows. He usually said something like, "I do not take too kindly to a mere mortal to talk that way to me. Be careful who you talk to like that, woman." But this time he didn't. She would never figure him out. Sighing, she added as an afterthought, "And put some clothes on, will ya?"

He snorted, smirked, and walked away.

Did he just snort at her? When did he resort to snorting? She couldn't believe he didn't say anything. He just walked away. Honestly, he was her best friend. Whether he felt that way about her or not, she didn't know. They fought with each other constantly, but over the years they had become friends. Or so she hoped. Since leaving Inuyasha and the rest of her friends behind, he was the only one she had left. He was also fun to have around. Well, he was fun when no one else was around. If there were other people he would return to his stoic, indifferent ways. Hateful and cold, is what most of their employees thought. She knew it was just a front he put on to separate himself from everyone else. He would be a different person when it was just the two of them at home. He would make jokes, smile(somewhat), and sometimes he would just talk to her. He would talk about his travels and his land. He would tell her of the battles that he had fought in. And, most importantly, he would sing for her and with her. None of her friends in the Feudal would ever know that Sesshoumaru had an amazing voice, and he could sing anything you asked him to. Yes, he was different with her than anyone else they have ever known. Maybe it was because he no one else either.

At the sound of him coming through the hallway, she looked up from the guitar she had been tuning. Whew, she thought, he has on clothes. He had put on a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt."I'm so glad you could finally come to practice with me." She looked up at him, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "We only have an hour before we have to get to work. What song should we do tonight?" He took a seat opposite from her, "I don't know it's your call tonight" She 'hmmd' then said, "How about 'Broken' by Seether and Amy Lee?" He grinned at her. He couldn't have picked a better one himself. They always sung a duet together when they worked. Actually, they owned the bar where they worked. Some people would call her crazy, but she had no other choice. When they were fighting Naraku, Sesshoumaru got hit by one of his tentacles, and he flew through the air only to land in the bone eaters well. Kagome had reacted trying to help him, only to make things worse. Much worse. She jumped in the well to try to help him and the magic of well floated around them and he got sucked into her time.

They tried the well time and time again, only to have it fail each time. He was stuck here. In the future. With her. She didn't know why she couldn't get back through. She just figured that with time it would open back up, but it never did. She didn't know what to do at the time. In the beginning, they had stayed with her family while she taught him the 'new' world he was living in. Since he had traveled with their group for a while before he came here, she was accustomed a little to his presence. Still, she worried that he might think this is her fault and kill her. He never did though. Kill her that is. As far as him blaming her, he did that about every other breath the first six months he was here. "Stupid, human, wench. If you hadn't jumped into the well like an imbecile I wouldn't be stuck here with you." She turned red in the face from anger, sweat dripped off her forehead. He was blaming her? "Oh, forgive me, your highness, for trying to save your ass." He growled low in his throat, "Who said my ass needed to be saved?" She had just screamed in frustration and stomped off out of the well and toward the house. She was screaming something about inconsiderate youkai and their damnable pride.

Getting him accustomed to this world, was, in itself, a battle. Telling him that he couldn't kill every emergency vehicle with a siren had almost gotten her killed. Not to mention all the people who had dogs as pets. Sesshoumaru had grabbed her poor neighbor by the throat threatening his life over the new puppy he had come to show off. She had to pry her fingers from the mans throat and explain to Sesshoumaru that things were different now. It's a wonder the neighbor didn't sue him.

In time though, he adjusted. His 'new' world wasn't so bad. He really missed killing all those demons though. Sometimes his rage built up and he had to head to the nearest gym to beat up a punching bag. Or sometimes he would head out for a really, really long run. Of course he couldn't live by himself. So after they left her family home, they bought a local bar and moved into the apartment above it.

And this is how they had come to living with each other and owning a bar.

Playing a few chords on the guitar, she starts strumming the notes to the song.

He sings the first verse. She's watching him.

I wanted you to know I love the way you laughI wanna hold you high and steal your pain awayI keep your photograph; I know it serves me wellI wanna hold you high and steal your pain

Then they sing together. She closes her eyes.

cause I'm broken when I'm openAnd I don't feel like I am strong enough'cause I'm broken when I'm lonesomeAnd I don't feel right when you're gone away

He's watching her as she sings her part,

The worst is over now and we can breathe againI wanna hold you high, you steal my pain awayThere's so much left to learn, and no one left to fightI wanna hold you high and steal your pain

They both sing. He's still watching her. She still has her eyes closed.

'cause I'm broken when I'm openAnd I don't feel like I am strong enough'cause I'm broken when I'm lonesomeAnd I don't feel right when you're gone away

They both finish. She opens her eyes. He finally looks away.'cause I'm broken when I'm openAnd I don't feel like I am strong enough'cause I'm broken when I'm lonesomeAnd I don't feel right when you're gone away

Nope, Sesshoumaru thought, he couldn't have picked a better song if he tried.

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A/N: Sorry it's a little long I was trying to set it up a little bit. Next chappy will be a little different. Sesshoumaru isn't going to be too much ooc. He will be for Kagome, no one else. I hope I clarified how he got there and etc. if not just let me know I'll fix it. Hope it's not too confusing.