Faith of the Broken

Ch. 1

Expecting the Unexpected

In an open clearing, standing directly under the light of the pale moon, a half-demon boy named Inuyasha embraced a woman with long black hair and dark chocolate eyes, wrapping his red-clothed arms around her stiff body and hugging her close to his chest.

"I love you, Kikyo," he murmured, shutting his eyes as he basked in her presence. Kikyo smelled like she did all those years ago: like fresh herbs and wild spring flowers, but there was more than that this time. This Kikyo, the one who was resurrected by Urasue, also smelled of death, baked clay, and the graveyard soil from Onigumo's death spot within the cave.

The undead priestess smiled as she pressed a pale ear to Inuyasha's warm chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart as it pulsed loudly. "As do I, Inuyasha," she replied, tilting her head up to look at him.

Inuyasha drowned in the deep depths of Kikyo's chocolate eyes, feeling as though there were no other secular being like her. Although her eyes possessed none of the love and warmth they had fifty years ago, she still had a glint of affection twinkling in them, and that was enough to tell Inuyasha that she meant it.

Hiding behind one of the thick trees hemming the clearing was a girl who looked remotely similar to the woman in Inuyasha's arms, but this female wore a short-sleeved black top with two pockets and a semi-short dark purple skirt that was loose and easy to move in. She no longer wore the school uniform she did so long ago because she'd dropped out of the school and changed into more casual clothes, deeming it more fit for the purpose of trekking around the Sengoku Jidai killing demons to regain the shards of the famed Shikon no Tama. Her name? Kagome Higurashi.

She felt no tears well up in her sapphire eyes as she listened to the embracing couple whisper words of love to each other. Instead she smiled sadly. "I always knew he would choose Kikyo over me…" she sighed quietly. "I had no chance." Silently she left her position from behind the tree to appear before them.

Inuyasha was startled when Kagome came forth. "K-Kagome?" he stammered in surprise. "What're you – what're you doing here?"

"Congratulating you," she said simply. She turned to Kikyo. "Take care of him, Kikyo. He's a…a good friend…" She smiled at the undead priestess once before turning away and heading back to Kaede's village.

Inuyasha watched her go. "She accepted this? I thought she would bawl her eyes out," he said, looking at Kikyo with a puzzled expression etched upon his boyish face.

Kikyo was quiet. "She has a kind and pure heart, that Kagome," she said. "I hope she stays untainted like the way she is now." She stood upon her toes to reach her lips to his.

"I love you, Inuyasha," she said, kissing him deeply.

But Kagome actually did not go back to Kaede's village. Her heart still hurt that Inuyasha chose Kikyo over her, even though she had expected him to do what he'd done: choose Kikyo. She just wanted to get away to some place where none of the world's cruelness could reach her.

She broke into a run, uncaring of where she went as long as she could get away from the world, from life itself. She had a stiletto strapped to her left calf, a dirk strapped to her to her right calf, a shrinkable bow that Kikyo had made for her in one of her pockets and a quiver of arrows strapped to her back. She also had honed her miko powers with Kikyo and Kaede's help. What more did she need?

Because Kagome had no idea where she was going, or where she was, she failed to see someone walking in front of her and slammed into the person hard, falling ungracefully to the cold ground. Rubbing her head, she looked up and started to say, "What the hell was that for?" but froze in mid-sentence (after the 'was') when she realized who she had just crashed into.

"Sesshomaru," she whispered.

The regal lord looked down upon the girl with his cold golden gaze. The girl was staring back at him, a glint of something akin to fear flickering across her blue eyes. His eyes traveled down from her eyes to her lush pink lips and settled there.

He moved closer to her. Her eyes widened when he came nearer. "What are you – " she began, but never finished as Sesshomaru's warm lips descended upon her partially open ones, pressing gently against them.

What are you doing?! Inner Kagome screamed at her. You're kissing Sesshomaru, of all people to kiss!

Kagome ignored the voice and closed her eyes, hesitantly responding to Sesshomaru's actions. He delightfully slipped his long pink tongue into her moist mouth and tasted her for the first time. Her scent was overwhelming him in its heaven.

This human smells pleasantly like jasmine and spring rain, Sesshomaru thought, pulling back.

Kagome opened her eyes when she lost her source of warmth. Suddenly she came to her senses and realized what she'd done. I KISSED SESSHOMARU!!

His voice, once so frozen and devoid of emotions, now whispered huskily in her ear, "You're interesting, woman…what's your name?"

If Kagome thought his voice dripped with sex, she would've fallen at his feet immediately. However his spell was not completely ineffective against the young miko. She blushed redder than a tomato and whispered, "Kagome…" before tilting her head up and kissing him once more.

Woman! Inner Kagome screamed. That man is dangerous! Stop it! You're supposed to be in love with that bastard Inuyasha!

Oh shut up, Kagome told her inner part. Silence greeted her, a sign that her inner voice decided to (reluctantly) listen to her and shut up without a further word more.

Sesshomaru once again pulled away first. "I will come again tonight," he promised, turning to walk away.

"Where?" Kagome breathed, still dazed about kissing Sesshomaru.

"A field not to far from that village you stay at often," he replied. "It is near the ancient tree I believe you call the Goshinboku. I will meet you at the tree if you do not know of it."

"Thank you," Kagome said.

He walked away and disappeared into the darkness altogether. She got up and headed back to Kaede's village, with a lot of things to think about. She covered Sesshomaru's scent on her so Inuyasha wouldn't bombard her with a million questions about why she had Sesshomaru's scent on her.

I guess some unexpected things are a pleasant surprise, she thought, running to Kaede's hut with only a certain silver-haired demon lord in her mind.

Hello. I'm BORED so here's a story for anyone who wants to read it. This chapter was like….SHORT, okay, SHORT, but who cares, just read it. And please review if you LIKE it. Constructive criticism is welcome, but if you want to FLAME me unreasonably, click the 'back' button and get the hell out of here, cause I don't tolerate stupid flames.

Thank you.

Alcoholic Apples,

MangaFreak15