Authors pre note: I really like this story and I hope you enjoy it too! It's suspenseful and a little bit of romance but hey, that's just how I am. --- Ryoko the Space Pirate

The Scent of spring

By Ryoko the Space Pirate

It was a cool spring day; the forest was calm with the change of spring. Expect one small exception, the great lord of the West, Sesshoumaru was looking for his pathetic half-brother. " Where is that damn hanyou?" he thought. Then, his annoying servant, Jakken then asked, " Sesshoumaru-sama, why must we bring along the human girl?" Sesshoumaru looked down at him with a glare and Jakken whispered his apologies on questioning his lord. Sesshoumaru then smelled something, enticing. He turned his head in the direction of where the scent was coming from and Jakken stopped blabbering about whatever his was talking about and looked up at his lord. " What is the matter my lord?" whispered Jakken. " Someone's in heat, probably a human girl or maybe a demon." He whispered back to Jakken. Jakken then began to mutter about some things about women, especially human women. " Take Rin back to the camp," said Sesshoumaru. " My lord?" said the confused Jakken. " Do it now!" he growled. Jakken nodded and took Rin back to the camp that wasn't too far away. Then, making sure that no one was watching, Sesshoumaru followed the scent, his mind filled with curiosity.

Mean while, Kagome was studying. She was leaned properly against a boulder and tapped her lower lip with her pencil. " If I take a short break, will I still have time to study history?" she thought and shrugged. She closed her notebook with her notes marking her place. She then looked around to only see Inu Yasha sitting in a tree, sleeping. " Where could Sango and Miroku be?" she thought and then she had a short flashback, *******Flash back******** " Kagome, are you sure you'll be okay if Miroku and I check out a shard rumor?" asked a worried Sango. Kagome nodded and said, " I'll be fine Sango. Anyway, if Inu Yasha tries to hurt me all I have to do is say the 's' word!" Sango sighed and said, " All right, we'll be back in a couple hours or so." She then walked off. *******End of Flash back******** She found her self-staring into the fresh green grass and noticed that a shadow was blocking her sunlight. She looked around to see Sesshoumaru looking down at her.

She gasped and scooted back. " INU YASHA!" she screamed. A startled Inu Yasha suddenly woke up and jumped down from the tree. " Sesshoumaru," growled Inu Yasha. He was about to speak but then paused and looked down at Kagome. " She's in heat again, that must be why he's here." He thought and looked back at Sesshoumaru. It burned his nose when he inhaled the scent; he became lustfully dizzy from being so close to her and shook his head. " The hanyou has noticed that the wench is in heat as well. This should be interesting." He thought darkly. " What do you want Sesshoumaru?" growled Inu Yasha. " I noticed that someone was in heat, the scent has led me here. To your damn wench." Replied Sesshoumaru coolly. Inu Yasha bared his teeth and pulled out his sword. " You're not laying a hand on her!" roared Inu Yasha who knew exactly what Sesshoumaru wanted. " Hanyou, I don't care what you think you can do to me. I will have her." Said Sesshoumaru.

" Kagome, run." Whispered Inu Yasha low enough for her to barely hear. She nodded and began to run into the forest. " I see that you want to do this the hard way pathetic brother. I can easily deal with you then have the girl, and the Tetsuiga." Said Sesshoumaru coolly. Sesshoumaru then retracted his claws and waited for Inu Yasha to make the first move. Then, Inu Yasha swung his sword at his brother.

Kagome was running through the forest praying to the gods that Sesshoumaru wouldn't catch her. After a minuet of praying, she came to an open valley. Not the best place to hide from a youkai. " Kuso! I have no place to run!" she thought as she looked at the open valley. She then heard something from behind her and she quickly turned around. She sighed from relief as she saw a rabbit next to a broken branch. " Well, I guess its okay to be on guard especially at this kind of time." She thought.

Mean while, the winner who now was standing over the loser with Tetsuiga, ran to Kagome.

Kagome was now trying to climb in a tree and hide from whatever youkai was coming after her. The moment she quit trying to climb the damned tree, she heard someone breathing heavily behind her. She hesitated to look behind her, but in one second she looked behind her. " Sesshoumaru!" she gasped as she seen the great demon of the west holding the Tetsuiga. She took a step back as he came closer to her.

Meanwhile, Inu Yasha was running to try to find Kagome. Strange what love can do to a person.

Sesshoumaru looked smugly at her and in a flash he had a hold of the collar of her shirt. " Where's Inu Yasha? Why isn't he coming?" she screamed in her mind. He then slammed her into a tree and she screamed. " We can do this the easy way wench, or the hard way. You go willing or I'll just take you by force. So whats your choice?" he growled. She whimpered softly as he pushed her harder against the tree. He growled from her giving her no answer. " Dammit wench," he growled. She couldn't talk she was almost petrified. " Answer me," he growled. Still no answer. " Answer me!" he growled louder.

She prayed to the gods that Sesshoumaru wouldn't rape her. She prayed as hard as she could since she couldn't talk. " Fine, I'll just take you by force. Even though I gave you a choice, I'll just have to go with what I have to," he said examining her small body. Then, Sesshoumaru felt something scratch his back and he looked around to see Inu Yasha, claws at full length glaring at him. " Damn, the hanyou." He thought. " Dammit Sesshoumaru. You can't even control yourself when she's in heat. What kind of lord are you?" said Inu Yasha in a rude manner. He had to get him mad, so that Kagome can run and find shelter. " Quiet hanyou! I'll kill you after I have her!" he said starting to rip the collar of Kagome's shirt. Then, an idea came into Kagome's head.

She pulled from the side to rip the collar. As soon as she heard the fabric rip she made a mad dash towards Kouga and wolf pack. Maybe, just maybe he could help her. It wasn't long before she could hear the two brothers fighting. But, she couldn't forget about Inu Yasha. His bravery, practically killing himself to save her, that's love I guess.

Back with Inu Yasha and Sesshoumaru. Both glaring, preparing to kill, or try to kill the other one. " Tell me Hanyou, why is this girl so much to you?" he asked while looking at him smugly. " Keep your mouth shut!" he yelled getting ready to cut him with his nails. " Stupid fool," though Sesshoumaru and easily dodged his attack. " Why do you defend her? Just let her fall into her fate, which I will have her in the end!" said Sesshoumaru. " Shut up!" yelled Inu Yasha as he tried slashing him again. Sesshoumaru was getting tired of this so, in a flash he hit the back of Inu Yasha knocking him out. " Now that I have him out of the way, time to get what I came here for." He said and walked the other way.

Kagome wasn't too far away from Kouga's wolf pack. She then did something that was both good and bad. She bit her lower lip and screamed out, " KOUGA!" She knew that Sesshoumaru could hear her but she knew that Kouga was faster then Sesshoumaru. Not after one minuet she heard Kouga running from her side and he stopped infront of her. " Kouga-kun! Thank gods you're here! Sesshoumaru is after me and-" she paused to see Kouga looking at her somewhat, differently. " Kouga?" she asked. It then came to her attention that she was in heat and she was asking a wolf demon for help. " This can't be good," she thought. " Kagome are you in.heat?" he asked sniffing around. She hesitated and nodded. " I know why you came here! You didn't want to mate with mutt-face so you came to me! Because you're my woman!" he said cuffing his hands around hers. " Um, no Kouga. Sesshoumaru is after me and I need your help!" she said. He blinked a few times and sighed. " Oh, you can't stay here." He said. " Why not?" she asked starting to get a little mad. " You're in heat and that will send my wolf pack after you. And I will not risk your safety with my wolf pack." He said. " Oh," she said rather plainly. Kouga then looked over her shoulder and she looked behind her as well.

" Sesshoumaru!" she said and Kouga stepped infront of her. " Don't worry Kagome, I'll protect from him. Run to my pack; tell them to come for me. But Kagome," he said. " Yeah Kouga?" she said a little worried. " If they go after you, run and hide. Alright Kagome?" asked Kouga. She nodded and she ran in the other direction. " Damn, the wench has many friends. I can still defeat them all though," thought Sesshoumaru.

Kagome saw a cliff and she knew that meant she was close to Kouga's wolf pack. She knew she had to risk her safety to help Kouga as he was helping her. She hoped that Kouga would be okay and return back home with nothing hurt too badly. She had really no one else to go to, but she could still go home. But the well was so far away. She had to think of an idea before it was too late. As soon as she saw an opening with light creeping out of it she ran faster, ignoring the pain in her sides. " Please let me be close to his wolf pack, please." She prayed.

Back with Kouga, he and Sesshoumaru were both glaring at each other with Kouga's teeth bared. " What do you want from her?" growled Kouga. " She's in heat, why are you protecting her so fiercely wolf?" asked Sesshoumaru. " Because she's my woman and why must you know?" growled Kouga. " Because, I thought she was the hanyou's mate, not yours. Or are you just saying that?" asked Sesshoumaru. " I'm saying this because she is my woman and not mutt faces!" yelled Kouga getting frustrated with all of the lords questions. Kouga couldn't stand just talking so he attacked in a flash. Sesshoumaru dodged and tripped Kouga. Kouga fell to the ground and bared his teeth at Sesshoumaru. " Bastard," he growled. He quickly got up and attacked him again. " Stupid wolf," thought Sesshoumaru then with a swift hit Sesshoumaru knocked out Kagome's last hope.

" Please, let Kouga be okay!" prayed Kagome. It wasn't long before she found Kouga's wolf pack. When they looked at her they sniffed the air. A smile crawled on their lips and they had a look hat made Kagome take a step back. She shook her head and said, " Kouga needs your help! He's in danger and he might be hurt!" The pack then snapped in realization that their leader might need their help. " Hurry before he gets killed!" she said pointing in the direction of where he was. Some got up and began running toward where they could smell Kouga and the other's slowly followed looking back at Kagome.

Kagome sighed of relief and wiped her forehead where there was cold sweat slowly rolling down her brow. " K.Kagome?" said a small voice from behind her. She whipped around to see Inu Yasha leaning against a tree with scratches and dirt covering his face. " Inu Yasha are you okay? My Gods look at those cuts!" she said running over to him. " I'm fine, are you okay?" he quickly lied. " I guess, Sesshoumaru did scare me a little." She said looking at the collar of her shirt. Inu Yasha looked at the collar and back at Kagome. The scent was starting to affect him but he knew better. " Alright Kagome, I'm going to take you back home and Sesshoumaru won't get you there! All you have to do is get to the well and you're fine!" he said. " Yeah Inu Yasha but-" " No 'buts' wench! You're going back home!" snapped Inu Yasha. She sneered at him and was about to say the special 'S' word but decided not to. " Inu Yasha, why haven't you asked me where Kouga is?"