A Taste of Humanity

Disclaimer: Sesshomaru and all characters from Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, not me. This story is for entertainment purposes only; I make no profit from it.

A/N: Reviews are appreciated. Enjoy!

Prologue: Not a Good Day

Sesshomaru was upset, very upset in fact. The sun hadn't even reached its zenith and already his day was not going well. His feet hurt and he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his face expressionless and his stride unhindered. Branches that usually were worth no thought were snagging his clothes and scratching his skin. He was also tired, his armor feeling surprisingly heavy as he strode back to his tiny group.

Earlier that morning…

Sesshomaru left his small group of followers with a simple command to Jaken.

"Jaken," he stated, "guard Rin."

He then gracefully leaped off as he sometimes did. It was a nice day, as Rin would say, a 'good cloud day'. He heard Jaken's loud squawks at Rin, who had found a small field of flowers, steadily recede as he increased the distance between them. He caught a scent ahead of him, a human female. Unconcerned, he strode on, catching the scent of a demon nearby. A scream pierced the air and the scent of blood, human blood, reached his sensitive nose.

'Not Rin,' he thought, 'just a pathetic human.'

A large demon leaped into his path, the scent of death clinging to the foul creature. He dispatched it with his poison whip without batting an eye. He continued, but a woman, her clothes shredded and blood-soaked, staggered into his path.

"You," she croaked, "you think you are strong, yet you refuse to help those in need." She lurched forward, waving an accusing finger at him.

"This Sesshomaru does not concern himself with pathetic mortals," he stated coldly even though he thought of his ward as he did so, "move."

She did not remove herself from the path, instead she straightened. Gone was the blood and tattered clothing. She pointed her finger at him.

"You will learn," she stated, her voice suddenly strong and clear, "Seven days you will know mortality, then perhaps, you will not be so quick to dismiss humans as pathetic mortals." With a flash of blinding light, she was gone. Sesshomaru was thrown, his back slamming into a nearby tree. When his vision cleared he noticed something was wrong. His senses seemed gone and his mokomoko was missing. Glancing about himself slowly, though his head throbbed and his was far from calm, he noticed another problem. His hair, his long, silken hair fell into view, but it was no longer silver. Instead, it was pitch black. Startled, reached a hand up to check his ears, hoping to feel the reassuring pointed tips that denoted his demon heritage. His eyes noted the lack of his claws and purple markings, a growing sense of dread filling him. His fingers found only curved, human ears. His mind spun, though he managed to keep his face expressionless. He was no longer a demon.

'That woman,' he decided, 'she did this. What was it she said?' he struggled to remember the woman's words. 'Seven days of mortality she said. I'm stuck as a mere HUMAN for seven days?!?' Getting up as gracefully as his weak human body could manage, he straightened his clothes and began heading back to Rin and the others. This was not turning out to be a good day.