Comments: Waha!! I told you I would start a Sesshoumaru/Kagome fanfic..but in case anybody thinks I stole this idea..i didn't I swear..i thought of this idea five months ago when I my computer broke down so I didn't get it from any other story not written by me..just wanted to get that out. And I didn't type it until now…T_T bad me…

Disclaimer: If..and I say if, I did own Sesshomaru..i wouldn't have time writing fics when it could be spent worshipping the guy's tail.

::thought:: and "speech"

Prologue: Secret Betrayal

"Uhh…Inuyasha?"

"What?!"

"This is awfully high, isn't it?" Kagome muttered, looking down at the long, long drop from the rickety bridge they were about to cross. She could make out the winding of the river if she squinted…barely.

"Feh. You ride on my back all the time. What's so different about the bridge?"

She stared at him as the anger within her began to slowly rise at his impertinent tone. "Well! That's because I happen to feel safer on your..your.." Her voice came to an abrupt halt as she realized what she was going to say. "..your..bridge!" she recovered, wincing at the result. Her cheeks burned at the humiliation she imagined she would have endured if anything had slipped out. Unfortunately, Inuyasha looked very skeptical and he might have blushed. She couldn't tell because his face was slightly shadowed with the sun in back of him.

Quickly, he turned away. "Feh. Then why were you complaining so much?" Apparently not wanting to hear the answer he began crossing the bridge.

For once, relieved at Inuyasha's densenss, she intrepidly toed the wooden bridge. Looking over the sides, she imagined herself, slipping away…slipping and falling…falling, falling for all eternity. Swallowing hard she stared at the invisible snake of water down below.

Suddenly, something red came into her line of vision. Looking over, she saw Inuyasha crouching on the rope arm rail with his back turned toward her. Cocking her head, she silently expressed her confusion.

Noticing nothing happening, Inuyasha looked over his shoulder in annoyance. "Well!? Are you getting on or not!?

Slowly, the implication of what he meant dawned on her and a smile spread across her pretty face and the warmth of her personality shined through the happiness. Blushing at such a special smile aimed at him, he turned back and attempted to regain his manly spuriousness. "Feh, humans."

Strangely, when Kagome climbed onto his back, she was no longer afraid. ::Inuyasha…::

* * * * * * * * * * *

A little while later the whole gang gathered around a small campfire. Inuyasha, as usual, was sitting in a tall tree contemplating tomorrow's quest for more shards. Miroku was indecently close to Sango. Kagome was across the campfire form the three with Shippou snuggled in her lap, watching as she drew on a little sketch pad she had brought from her room.

"Kagome nee-chan? What are you drawing?"

"Hm? Oh…its supposed to be Miroku…but it looks strange, doesn't it." Kagome inspected her work.

"Why does he have such a big head?"

Kagome giggled. "It's a certain style of drawing."

"Oh. Will you draw me?"

"Uh huh. I'm going to draw everybody, just so I can always have something to remember you guys by."

Shippou beamed with pleasure. By the time she finished her sketch, Shippou had bounded over to Miroku to tell him the news. Curious at how he would look, he stopped fondling Sango to walk over and see the sketch. As he leaned over, he was struck by the monstrosity on paper.

"That is NOT me!" he exclaimed in genuine horror. "My head is not that big, and..and..my body!!" he wailed. "That was truly evil, Kagome-san. Think of my pride. Have mercy on this poor soul!" (A/N: I was going to put manhood instead of pride, but then I thought of all those people out there…no…best not give them ideas…)

Kagome giggled again at his over-dramatic horror. "No, no. It isn't what you think. Its what we call a caricature."

"Car-i-ca….chur?"

"Mmmhmm. The head is supposed to be super big. I just saw a couple and I thought it was really funny looking. So I decided to test it out on you guys."

As soon as she had finished talking a gleam suddenly shown in his eyes, and Kagome did not trust it at all. "Are you going to do Sango?" he asked with false indifference.

"Umm…yes…?" she stuttered, unsure if she should have told him.

"Inuyasha?"

"I don't know. I guess if he wants me to."

Miroku turned to where Inuyasha was last seen. "Wai!! Inuyasha…where'd he go?"

Disappointed, Kagome smiled. "It doesn't matter." Kagome told the monk. "Ask him when he gets back."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Time passed and Inuyasha still hadn't returned. Sango and Shippou had already fallen asleep but Miroku still sat across the fast diminishing fire. Feeling Kagome's gaze on him, he looked up.

"I'm going to go look for him."

Miroku just nodded. "Of course."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Damn, damn, damn. Not only has she been wandering around for at least half an hour, but she still couldn't find Inuyasha. Or the campsite. Damn.

Heaving a great sigh, she plopped down on a tree root. What was she going to do now? Look for the North Star. That's what everybody does in the books, when the main character gets lost.

So where was the North Star?

No matter how she searched she couldn't distinguish the North Star from the regular ones. ::They are all bright and twinkly:: she thought as she groaned. Still hopeful she continued to search. Soon she spotted something shining of to her right, but it didn't seem to be stars. There were too many in one group and too close to the ground to be stars. Could it be…?

She took off at a jog toward the glowing orbs. Souls. They were souls. Someone was collection souls? Then a cheery thought popped into her head. ::Maybe Inuyasha'll be there.::

Panting and out of breath, she fervently wished Inuyasha was with her instead of God knows where. She felt safe with him and frankly, the forest darkness was getting kind of spooky. Sparing just enough time to glance up quickly to check if the souls were still there she sped up her jog to a sprint.

As she neared the location where the souls were gathering she finally slowed down to a walk. She began wandering to find the source of the souls and silently wished she had her bow, but she didn't, so Inuyasha had better come quickly. Gently parting some branches from her path, she gently peered through the opening she created. There was nothing there but in the distance, she heard voices. Strange though, one sounded like Inuyasha.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Go away, before I kill you."

Kagome recognized Kikyou's voice. But what was she doing here and fore a second she thought Kikyou had somehow detected her and was warning her, but the source of the next comment put down that idea but wasn't all that surprising.

"Kikyou"

It was Inuyasha again. So, he did arrive before her. Always the coward when it came to him, she decided to back away and hide among the foliage before either of them noticed her.

"Go away, Inuyasha."

"No! I won't until you hear me out."

"Hear what? You say that you love that other me?"

"No. You have it all wrong. I thought I loved the other –Kagome. I came to realize that it was who she represented, you. Don't you understand? She was only a substitute for you!" (A/N: What a bastard, neh?)

"Inuyasha…"

"I don't care if you don't believe me. I love you. Kikyou. Not Kagome."

"Inu…yasha…"

From her hiding spot, Kagome trembled with unshed tears. ::I loved you. I loved you! How…how could you do this to me?! Why? Why did you do this to me…?:: She collapsed onto her knees. ::Please. Tell me this isn't happening…tell me!:: Tears poured down her pale cheeks as she watched Inuyasha and Kikyou embrace. Her heart ached for what was lost. Unable to bear the sight she ran away blindly, sniffling, tears still pouring from her eyes. She cursed him repeatedly. How could he do this? He used her. He used her. How dare he?! He had no right!

Spotting the bridge where Inuyasha had been so gallant, she cried harder. He had completely fooled her. She had thought he at least liked her. Suddenly, she ran into empty air. The bridge! Where had the bridge gone? Falling, she saw that she had been crying too much. She had missing the bridge. She had been tempted to yell for Inuyasha, but then she remembered. She remembered when she was falling what he had said. He didn't deserve her. He killed her.

She hit the water hard and finally she couldn't hold back her cry. She screamed in pain but the scream soon became nothing more than bubbles, and the darkness overwhelmed her. Then she remembered nothing.

* * * * * * * * * * *

He couldn't stand the smell of Rin anymore. She was just too dirty.

"Take a bath." That was all Sesshoumaru had to say. He didn't specify who because Jaken smelled too.

He just said, "Take a bath." And both scrambled to obey. Jaken, because his master said, "Take a bath." And Rin because she felt dirty and her master gave her a chance to clean up.

Now, Sesshoumaru regretted those three words. Not that he showed it. But, he regretted them, nonetheless.

Rin had come running back. "Sesshoumaru-sama!!" At least she regarded him with respect. "Sesshoumaru-sama! There is a girl in the river!" She was probably dead, so go away. "Sesshoumaru-samaaaa!!"" she tugged at his sleeve when he continued to ignore her. Forget about the respect.

"Rin saw a girl in the river. Sesshoumaru-sama save her like he saved Rin?"

He looked down at her pleading face. She hardly ever asks him for anything. Sesshoumaru turned away and walked.

"Thank you! Sesshoumaru-sama!!"

* * * * * * * * * * *

Is this mysterious girl in the river dead? (or not so mysterious if u put two and two together…) What will our sweet, and oh-so-handsome Sesshoumaru-sama do?

(A/N: Ah hah!! Finally had the time to type this up…wonder when I'll have time to type the next one up…)