Hello everyone! I just wanted to inform you right off that this story will have multiple endings and depending on the feed back I get it will either turn out one way or another, but I'll leave that for next chapter. Just know that this fanfic is in fact a lemon, so beware sensitive viewers! And I don't own the characters form Inuyasha, boohoo...

Updates once a week!

The smell of blood was heavy in the air, as was it on my claws. The offending beast which had terrorize the tiny village was no more and I was left with the taste of bitter tang of disappointment. Though it was my duty to protect what was mine, being a rambunctious stripling I was itching for a good fight. My teachers were no longer a challenge and anyone with half a brain knew better than challenge me. Though the villagers cheered for me I turned my back on them and slowly walked in the general direction of home.

I was far from the Shiro, on one of my routine excursions around my families lands. Father normally accompanied me, but because of my coming of age, letters of proposed betrothal were suddenly flooding his desk. He was more than confident I could handle myself while he searched for a bride for me. I wasn't sure I wanted to go back to hear his news just yet, so I took my time looking for intruders. That's when I sensed the pull of another demonic aura not far from the village. It smelled of another neighboring land, therefore I was obligated to question the drifter. I dashed off to meet the stationary being and came to the edge of a clearing.

She was an inuyoukai like myself, about the same age, only she was obviously much lower rank than I. She had an orange slash on either cheek as well on her wrists and ankles. She wore a simple summer green yukata with pink blooms scattered about the cloth. Her silvery blue hair was half up in a messy bun held by a beautiful set of gold pins with rubies blossoming at the tips like a pair of roses. Judging by the looks of her they were probably the most expensive item she owned. She was leaning against a tree with her lean legs straight out in front of her so as the bottoms of her feet were in plain sight. One was smooth and creamy white the other blackened with dirt. A finely crafted katana lay innocently in the grass beside her as she worked diligently on the strap of her broken geta. A moist pink tongue peaked out the side of her mouth as she worked.

It appeared as if she were studiously ignoring me. I would not tolerate that so I further approached her.

I got no reaction, so I spoke,"Woman, why do you trespass on these lands."

She glanced up with a jaded look and quirked an eyebrow at me. Then she slowly looked to the left and to the right as if I were speaking to someone else.

"This Sesshomaru speaks to none but you," I said, in case the simple woman needed clarification. She blinked lazily.

I was quickly becoming irate, "If you do not answer this one, your life will be hence forfeit."

She answered with a shrug before going back to her geta. Enraged at being taken so lightly I leeped at her, claws aimed at her jugular. Just as quickly as I had moved she was up and away a good ten feet, sword in one hand shoe in the other. She pouted at me as she shoved the now fixed sandal upon her foot before fitting the weapon in the sash about her waist.

"I warned you, woman," I growled.

She sniffed at me and gave and offended flipped her hair before walking past me. I decided she was deliberately trying to goad me, and it was working. My inner beast was demanding this low born female's submission. I attacked again and she lightly dodged as she had before. She huffed and crouched into a defensive stance, claws at the ready, apparently aware she needed to fight at last.

"A little too confident to fight this one with a sword," I motion to the katana still at her hip.

"Well if you're going to act like a whelp then I'll need to beat you like one too," she smirked, "over my knee, if I can help it."

Red shot through my eyes and a low threatening rumble reverberated in my chest, "You shall eat those words."

A wide feral grin revealed sharp fangs, "Bring it pretty boy."

We shot forward in a deadly and fast pasted dance. To all the world we were two blurs of whirlwind destruction that continuously came together and broke apart. She met my claws blow for blow with her own and seemed to enjoy herself. I had to admit that as our battle dragged on I was slowly becoming impressed. She was very strong, and her demonic aura was fairly impressive. When we finally broke apart we were panting heavily, and I had even managed to work up a sweat. We regarded the other respectfully, each impressed by the others skill, however I was still a little miffed with her earlier discrepancies.

Suddenly we were caught off guard by an angry bear youkai bursting into the clearing with a killing intent. It made a swipe at us and we sprang away. In our intense focus we had lost track of what was going on around us, and now we had this fellow riled up.

I formed my acid whip to rid ourselves of this nuisance, but in mid flick her hand shot out and caught my wrist. I glared at her for interrupting me and daring to lay hands on my person, and she have me a level look. She released me and strode up to the seething mass of fur who attempted to swat at her again. She caught the massive, shaggy paw with her hands. It roared ferociously, sending loose tendrils of her hair to be swept back in the resulting gust of hot air.

She brought a hand up to it's fuzzy muzzle and started to shush is softly," Shh, big guy, shhhhhh. It's okay, no one's going to hurt you."

She started to stroke his great tawny head affectionately and coddle him like a pup. Though I looked on incredulously, the irate bear was beginning to calm and now it was taking up sobbing as it sat back on its haunches. It started to shrink down into a cub with watery doe eyes and a runny nose. She asked him what was wrong and he blubbered about being woken up from his nap because of a lot of loud noise and getting scared when he didn't see his mother around. She told him she'd help him find her and took him by the hand.

She turned to me,"Aren't you going to help? It's your fault as well for waking him up."

I wasn't about to waste my time doing so so I told her, "I must be on my way."

She nodded to me, "Until next time then."

We parted ways and I eventually made it back to the castle. My dam and sire were still preoccupied with sorting through my possible future wives so I was left to my own devices for the most part. I putzed around for about a week and soon found I was bored. I ended up roaming the countryside again, in the general area where I met the Inu girl, though I wasn't looking for her. I most assuredly was NOT looking for her, though I did note that I couldn't track her even if I wanted to. I was a little put out so I returned home which I quickly found out was a huge mistake. Mother had set me up with what she called a courting date with several well to do girls from strong backgrounds. I called it two weeks of living hell.

Each female was worse than the last. They were snotty, greedy, narcissistic, dull, and above all annoying. They had shrill voices with which they whined all the time and too easily got upset. They fawned over me and followed me instantly, getting underfoot and allowing me no reprieve. In groups they gossiped and bickered like a coop of squawking hens. I wanted nothing more to do with them, so I escape at the first chance I got.

I went for a long walk to clear my head and to convince myself not to murder anyone. I walked for about a day when I came upon a slow moving stream that cut through a fair sized clearing. Not sensing another being for many, many miles I deemed it far enough away from civilization to cut loose. I let my youki spill forth and I slashed at the trees in an effort to release my pent up energy, though try as I might it wasn't as fulfilling as a real fight. It was during this time that I felt a flair of energy from behind me. A heads up. I spun around and who should I find there but the girl from before, surveying the damage done to the trees.

She gave a low whistle, "I'm not going to ask what it's about, but it looks like you need a good spar."

Those words were exactly what I needed to hear.

"Hn," I agreed.

She smile lightly, "well your in luck, because I'm not feeling too please today either. How about a friendly round or two, hm?"

We battled against each other till the sun fell from the sky and the moon rose, not because it was too dark to see, but simply because we were too tired to continue. She lit a fire and collapsed beside it in the cool soft grass. I started to lean against a tree, but she beckoned me over to her.

"This one is fine where he is," I told her.

"What, you afraid I'll bite or something," she teased.

I nearly rolled my eyes at her before consenting to lay a polite distance away from her while I grumbled about demanding female in the back of my mind.

"Their beautiful, aren't they," she asked me.

"What are?"

She raised her arms in front of herself as if presenting the sky to me, "Why, the stars of course!"

I let my eyes wander over the inky blackness above peppered with pinholes of sparkling white, "and what of it?"

"Well isn't it awesome," she prompted, "I mean, there's a whole storybook up there pretty much. All you have to do is know where to look."

My eyebrows came together in confusion, "This one does not understand."

She sighed, "The constatations I mean! Look there," she scooted in closer to me so that our elbows touched, I tensed slightly and she use a finger to trace and point out the chain of stars, "The Bear Driver forever chasing The Great Bear, Ursa Major, around the North Star, Polaris, with his pack of dogs hot on his heals." She used a thumb to blot out the other constatation she had pointed out, "And over here the Mitsu Boshi, known to others as Orion's Belt."

She pointed out strings of stars and told me the stories that were linked to the seemingly non cohesive dots. All I saw were twinkling pinpricks, but some how she saw vivid pictures.

We talked all night, though I was mostly listening. I found that I liked her and thought she was engaging and intelligent, something rare in a female. I wanted to stay in contact with her so we agreed to meet at this same spot once every few weeks. And that's how we were for a time, nearly a year. I talked easily with her and considered her, dare I say it, a good friend, though we never divulged into any background information. It was the one unspoken rule. We were there to escape our lives for a moment. Don't ask and don't tell. I could tell she needed it at much as I did. Some days she arrived angry and we immediately fell into a long spar that left us both thrilled and refreshed. Other days she just looked tired and woeful. She'd rest her head on my shoulder while she told me folktales from beyond the sea until she perked up.

After a few months I caught myself wishing she was one of my marital options. I was slightly ashamed to admit it but once the idea was planted, it stuck. I found eyes lingering too long on her body when I thought she wasn't looking. I reveled in any accidental touches or brushes. I found myself going to great lengths to get her to laugh. Oh, how I loved to hear her laugh.

When I went home I was constantly harassed by shrill hussies throwing themselves at me in hopes of catching my eye, all the while waiting to go meet up with her again. When I was away from her I couldn't sleep, I barely ate, and I just felt miserable all the time. My father questioned me on my strange behavior more than once. I just brushed it off as one thing or another, but I could tell he wasn't buying it.

The thought that plagued me most was if she liked me the same way, or if not could she? Then my heart would ache at the thought of never being able to make her mine even if she did. I was a future lord, I wouldn't be allowed to mate a low born woman with so many prominent and willing brides trying their damnedest to court me. I felt so sick. Not in body, but in the head and heart. I swore to the kami that I must be going insane. Too bad I was too far over my head to do anything about it.