The silver haired hanyou sat in a tree staring at his dead love. Kikyo stared out into the empty field in a nearly meditative state. She'd been like this more and more often as of late, and Inuyasha therefore kept a keen eye on her. He heard something shift behind him and he recognized the familiar scent of the miko Kagome. He jumped down from his perching spot and landed quietly in front of her, startling the miko.

"Inuyasha!" The now 19 year old shrieked.

It had been the four year mark of her arrival only weeks ago, and it made Inuyasha look at her quite different. She had morphed from a naïve love sick fifteen year old, into a well developed and mature young woman in a short time. The hanyou grinned mischievously at her.

"Did I startle you?" He asked, the grin still plastered on his handsome face.

"Yes." Kagome answered. "What are you doing…? We are all waiting for you."

She had given up trying to change him. She no longer wanted to argue with him or control him. Her love faded over the years, as she began to notice his bad habits and his undying love for Kikyo. He may have cared about her, but it was in is eyes constantly that he didn't desire her as a mate, or anything more than a friend.

Inuyasha's glance shifted over his shoulder into the field. Kagome saw Kikyo standing there staring out at nothing but trees and more grass and grain. Her shoulders slumped and her mouth formed an 'o', and she walked away. He could catch up later, it's not like they were doing anything important…

Kagome took her time walking back to where Sango and Miroku were waiting. It was a small clearing half a mile from a hot spring and a quarter of a mile from the field. It should have been a twenty minute walk, but as Kagome walked, she began thinking and not paying attention to where she was going. She snapped out of her trance and looked around. She was lost, completely lost.

"Okay, I am in the forest; there are NO distinguishing marks because I have NO idea what direction I was walking in…" She sighed and leaned against a tree.

I am the epitome of the stupid humans Sesshoumaru hated so. She thought, extremely frustrated.

There was a rustling behind her, and a frog youkai resembling the one Sesh… oh no, Kagome thought as Jaken began to threaten her. She didn't know what she had done, but she stared down at the imp with a bemused expression. Suddenly there was the young girl Sesshoumaru had with him constantly, Rin. Kagome remembered her well despite the long 6 months it had been since they had last met. The girl shrieked in joy as she chased the youkai around with a stick. She really had been hanging around Sesshoumaru too long.

She felt a presence beside her, she didn't have to look, in her peripheral vision she saw the majestic Western Lord. He stared at Rin and Jaken, stoic as always.

"Aren't you going to stop her?" Kagome asked, curious as to how much torture he would allow Jaken to be subjected to.

"This Sesshoumaru did not intend to."

"She could hurt him…" She attempted.

"Very well then, she can."

"What did he do this time?" Kagome's attempted kindness was wasted on the likes of the Ice Lord.

"Hn." He muttered and walked away, grabbing Rin's shoulder as she ran around him to get the fleeing Jaken. "No more, Rin, even he doesn't deserve this…"

As they began to walk away Kagome yelled.

"WAIT!" Sesshoumaru halted and turned to face Kagome. Even from several yards away, he felt daringly close. "I'm lost, can you help me?"

These days it wasn't typical for the miko to feel embarrassed and weak, but she was lost, and they hadn't had anything to do since they defeated Naraku. Sesshoumaru nodded his understanding, and pointed her in the right direction. . .

Inuyasha's heart leapt when Kikyo turned to face him, and looked him right in the eyes. He stared back at her intently, and she just walked away. It wasn't like she hadn't known he'd been following her, she wasn't stupid by any means. Dead or alive. She just wished Inuyasha would move on, and let her do as she pleased without his watchful eye. He had her reincarnation, he didn't need her.

The angered hanyou let out a small growl and began to head back to where they had camped the night before. He didn't understand why Kagome had been in such a hurry, other than she wanted him to stay away from Kikyo. He leapt from tree to tree with haste, quickly arriving and seeing Miroku and Sango, but no Kagome.

"Where the hell is Kagome you guys?" They both turned and shrugged.

"She went to look for you, we assumed you were talking or she hadn't found you yet." Sango replied.

"She found me… She seemed distracted though… I'm going to look for her."

Inuyasha once again jumped in the trees. Branches hit him in the face with quick but harsh blows; he had a sinking feeling that something was very wrong. He stopped instantly, smelling the mixed scents of Kagome and the wicked taiyoukai. His head swam but as soon as he composed himself, he was running quickly to save Kagome.

He hadn't smelled fear though. He smelled anxiousness and desire. In mere seconds, after going his top speed, he had found Kagome. Sesshoumaru was standing close to twelve feet away from her, pointing in the direction he had just come from.

"Your friends, and that hanyou… Inuyasha, hello." Sesshoumaru said, immediately sensing the presence of his half brother. He turned to stare at the hanyou with a glint of satisfaction in his eye. He had his brothers little miko plaything right in his reach.

"Hello Sesshoumaru, if you don't mind I can take things from here."

Sesshoumaru just grunted and turned, walking away with Rin and Jaken. Kagome heard Rin whisper 'hey, I remember her!' as they walked off. She hoped desperately that she would see them again, but she didn't know why. She glared at Inuyasha.

"He was only giving me directions back. I was thinking and I got lost."

"It's fine wench, lets go." He picked Kagome up and carried her with him so that they could get as far away from the taiyoukai as possible.

a'n: soooooo..

I'm not sure where this is going yet...