A/N: Ok people some of you might kill me and others might cheer but I'm back with another story. This one is based on a challenge. I've never done one before and decided I might try. Well on to the necessities…

Summary:

Everything was fine. I was juggling my school life and feudal life perfectly. My grades were up. My friends love me, but most importantly the love of my life finally got his act together. But c'mon people I'm Kagome, nothing steady in my life ever stays that way…

Sesshomaru[XKagome

No lemons for me, fluff yes but no lemons, sorry!

And of course…

Disclaimer:

Inuyasha and his characters belong to the one and only Rumiko Takahashi And there WILL be some characters that are SIMILAR in other fanfiction simply for the reason I couldn't think of enough so they also belong to their respectful authors (hopefully I do them justice if you have a problem with them in my story simply tell me and I will somehow think of another and change it there will not be many and most will only have a similar name and in will no way match their personality) but any other characters I claim as my own and rightfully do so!!

Ok now for the challenge information…

Challenge Label: Legerdemain

Author: Aiwendil Amaurea

There is more information about the challenge on the author's page.

Well now that, that's out of the way we're onto the story.

Ulterior Motives

Written By: AristocraticAssassinLover

Chapter 1: Poison

"Oh Inuyasha, I'm so glad we finally have everything worked out. It's so nice to just lay here with you under the stars." Kagome let out a wistful sigh from her position. She had a blanket spread out in the clearing of the bone eater's well, with Inuyasha sitting crossed legged on it and Kagome laying down with her head in his lap.

"Keh." He grunted out but otherwise stayed quiet. The light dusting of pink on his cheeks gave away his real thoughts though.

She looked up at his face, "You do like spending time with me right?" Her eyes narrowed. His answer was immediate but not untruthful, "yeah. Of course."

It was gruff but it was a start. They were definitely headed in the right direction.

They lay like that under the moon for many hours, Kagome having long since fallen asleep. Inuyasha had taken to stroking her soft raven locks while he thought about his life.

It was going better than he could have ever asked for.

He was leader of his own little pack however rag-tag they might be. He was known by many being around Japan, be they demon, human or hanyou. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing because most if not all of them had nice things to say about him, some of them more hesitant to give praise than others.

But that wasn't the point.

He had finally put the whole Kikyo incident behind him. With a little help from all his friends and the support of even those who weren't in his tight nit circle he had decided that what happens in the past, stays in the past. Besides he had found the little loophole in his promise.

He had promised to always protect Kikyo. But Kikyo was dead and living off of Kagome's and possibly hundreds of other young women's souls, so technically Kikyo was Kagome, along with all of the other souls. So if she wasn't really Kikyo then his promise was void.

Not like he was disappointed about that.

The Kikyo he knew now was nothing like the Kikyo he knew years ago. She was cold and unfeeling. But her eyes…they were empty, for the most part. Almost always the only feeling they gave away was pure hatred, for him or someone else he knew not. But that didn't matter either. Nobody had heard or seen Kikyo in well over a year, so for all he knew she could be dead. Not very optimistic but it helped to keep his thoughts focused on Kagome.

On rare occasions he would think about her, but most of the time Kagome occupied all of his thoughts. He wasn't exactly sure what this whole love thing was, but he was pretty sure that he felt something akin to it about Kagome.

And Kagome. Kagome was the most loyal, loving, trusting, dutiful….you get the point. She was prefect in every sense. She was a spitfire always ready to prove you wrong, no matter how trivial the subject might be. But then she was so understanding and knew when to just let thing lie. She was powerful in her own right. Even more so know that she had undergone rigorous training by Kagome and a visiting miko from a village to the North. She had the capabilities to put up barriers that would put Naraku's barriers to shame. Her aim was always dead-on but now she could channel her energy through almost anything.

There was that one time that Shippo was about to be eaten by a boar demon and she had slammed her fist into the ground and all had watched as her powers traveled through the ground and purified the demon before Shippo could even open his mouth to scream.

She was so powerful yet knew when to let him protect her. He wasn't stupid sometimes he knew she might be more adapt at protecting him, but hell would freeze over, melt and then have a freak tundra storm before he would admit that to her. Her abilities rivaled that of Midoriko but he still felt the need to protect and she always let him handle the issues, ready to lend a hand at anytime. It made him feel…useful…

And just to add to all of that, she was breathtakingly beautiful. Over the years she had matured, her young, underdeveloped fifteen year old body, filling out in all the right places into a stunning nineteen year old look. She was still so young but you would never know it by looking at her. Not that she was old…she just had that look, like she was wise beyond her years.

So for a dirty half-breed he had it pretty damn good.

"mmm…Stop evil quadrilaterals…no match…Inuyasha…." Kagome mumbled in her sleep. Inuyasha recognized it as another nightmare about some kind of test. She usually had them right before she had to go back to her time for another one of those exams or whatever. He wouldn't say anything until she brought it up. He rather liked their little squabbles before she went home. It gave him some kind of excitement seeing her red in the face with those determinded blue eyes with a fierce fire burning in them.

He never truly was set on making her stay here, at least not now. He knew she had a life on the other side and if things didn't work out here she needed somewhere else to turn to. He couldn't destroy her only home if something bad were to ever happen here.

She didn't have to take those tests as often now anyways. She said something about going to 'college' and taking classes that didn't count attendance. She would just get a 'syllabus' and study or something like that. He didn't really understand it and didn't care. She was here most of the time and that's all that mattered.

All of a sudden Kagome shot up, surprised he started back a bit.

"Inuyasha to the East of here, three jewel shards and they're closing in on us." He was up and ready to go as soon as she had said jewel shards.

"Then what are you waiting for, go and tell Sango and the monk to hurry up, they reek of Naraku." She nodded and sprinted towards the village silently giving him encouragement to face whatever demons they were this time. Everytime they came they seemed to get more and more stronger.

But she was worried, her Inuyasha could handle anything.

Three demons burst into the clearing, big, tall, and ugly. The tallest one of the three looked more human than the others. They were all wearing rags that had blood stains all over them. All three of them had dark, dark skin almost black and beady, red eyes, like little incarnations of the devil himself.

"What do you want here demons?" Inuyasha barked out slowly circling away from the well, so that when the fight started it wouldn't be destroyed.

"We are here for the young priestess with the shards of the shikon jewel. Surrender her and you will be spared." The tallest of them spoke, clearly the leader. His voice was dark and reminded him of nightmares he would have when he was little. He gave a little shudder but nothing else gave away that he was even the least bit intimidated by these monsters.

"Like hell I will!" Inuyasha charged at them with his sword raised high ready to release the Kaze no Kizu-1 when Hiraikotsu flew through the air and took one of the smaller demons arms off. With a cry of pain all three of them turned to the fire neko soaring through the air with a monk and a demon slayer perched on top.

Cursing audibly about how stupid humans need to let him take care of monsters he started once again on the three when he heard a scream.

More precisely a scream that sounded exactly like Kagome.

Kagome had been carrying Shippo with her bow and arrows on her back and most recently a sword on her hip, towards the battle. Being sure to stick to the shadows, to make sure that no other demons would follow, they had enough on their hands already.

So preoccupied with getting to Inuyasha she never noticed the snake demon that curled around her ankle and pulled it out from under her.

Screaming more from the habit of being surprised than anything else, she let Shippo go.

"Go to Inuyasha and the others, I can handle him." Shippo knew better than to question and took off. Kicking to try and buck the demon off her legs, she noticed that it too also had a jewel shard at the tip of its tail. She couldn't see well, as it was still dark but the jewel shard was at least four yards away meaning this was a pretty big snake. Pulling an arrow from her quiver disregarding the bow she thrust it into the part closest to her arm.

The snake let of a painful hiss and unwrapped from her. From the faint moonlight shining from the trees she saw parts of it curl in on itself. Remembering from science class the signs of a coiled snake she threw up a barrier just as it launched itself at her neck. She made sure to charge the barrier with holy energy and its head disintegrated the moment it touched the shield of purifying energy. Then like a chain reaction the energy spread from its head all the way to the tip of its tail.

As soon as it was gone she followed the glow of the shard and hurried to pick it up and pocket it in her fighting gear. She had decided to dress much like Sango these days, as it was so much easier to fight without having to bother to keep your legs closed.

Rushing back to the others silently glad that there were no other stragglers she gasped at the mess surrounding her.

She noticed that the fight had moved considerably far from the well which she would kiss Inuyasha later for that, but everyone looked to be fighting with everything they had, although no one was making any progress. The demons although huge, their speed was not impaired at all. They were quick and light on their toes striking at her friends and then pulling out of firing range before anyone had a chance to raise their weapons.

Sango along with Miroku had taken to fighting on the ground rather than the air, because Kirara couldn't get out of range fast enough in the sky. Sango was currently fighting off one of the smaller demons with her sword and hidden dagger, no doubt because they had repeatedly dodged Hiraikostu. One seemed to be missing an arm, but other than a steady flow of blood loss he was fighting just fine with his other arm. Miroku was fighting with charged ofudas and his staff as everyone could hear the steady buzzing of the Saimyoushou in the background.

The other smaller demon was ganging up on Inuyasha along with the biggest of the three while he tried to beat them back. They were attacking in intervals so every time he parried one the other was right behind him, and was getting nowhere fast. He couldn't use his Kaze no Kizu because everyone was scattered all over the field and even by mistake he might take one of his allies down along with the enemy.

Deciding that Sango and Miroku had it easier right now she headed over to Inuyasha. Spotting Shippo hiding in a bush on the way by she nodded to him and told him to stay there. She stood on a slightly inclined piece of land and drew her bow. She tried aiming at the smaller of the two but he was too fast so she tried the taller and he was always right behind Inuyasha, like he sensed her and was using him as a barrier.

Cursing under her breath she slung her bow back over her shoulder and drew her sword and ran to Inuyasha.

He was tiring, there was no way he could keep this up for much longer. He couldn't even get away to check on Kagome. He hadn't smelt her blood so he was sure she was ok. He had spotted Sango and Miroku fighting a while earlier and they were doing no better than he was. That one lucky hit by Hiraikostu had put all three on high alert and no one had been able to score a hit since. He couldn't see where they were no so the Kaze no Kizu was out of the question and he still couldn't get away to check on Kagome.

The smaller one charged at him again and right before he could make contact with his sword, which was doing no good since their skin seemed to be as tough as some of the strongest amour there was a holy powered sword was thrust through its head with deadly precision, and he slowly melted into ash and blew away on the wind.

Inuyasha sighed in relief. Now one of them was gone and he knew Kagome was safe.

Standing side by side they stared down the last of the three. The other battling with Miroku and Sango had been distracted by the downfall of his comrade and they had taken every advantage of it. Now beheaded and twitching, Sango searched for the jewel and hid it under her shoulder pad while all turned to the last demon.

Roaring in outrage and the fact that he knew he was doomed he opened his mouth and a thick purple gas started to pour from it.

"Poisonous miasma!" Miroku called out from somewhere. The gas was thick and no one could see more than five inches beyond their face.

Kagome being able to purify without any real effort continued to search for the demon in the hopes of destroying it before the gas could spread to the village.

Without her eyesight she never saw the arm aimed to gut her.

She heard Inuyasha yell, "Kagome!" and turned to the most horrific scene she could ever witness.

Inuyasha had much better vision than any of his human friends and noticed the arm aimed for Kagome, even from the three yard distance separating them.

Without even thinking he jumped in front of the appendage and barely registered the pain as his mind went into shock.

The demon's arm had pierced through his middle section in its haste to kill Kagome.

"Kagome!" He called out before his eyes started to drift shut. He felt a fire burning through his veins.

'Poison.' He thought before he lost complete consciousness.

Kagome beheaded the demon without even thinking before she dropped to her knees in front of Inuyasha.

Pulling his head in her lap she chanted, "Don't die, not now, don't die." Over and over. Her despair grew when he didn't respond and she let out an uncontrolled burst of holy energy with her runaway emotions. All it did was clear the air of the miasma surrounding them.

Fat tears spilled down onto his face smearing some of the blood that had dripped from his mouth. The others hurried over and huddled around him. Miroku knelt beside him and placed his hand over his heart to say a prayer when he felt a slight 'Thump, thump.'

He jumped up, "We must hurry! Go Shippo to the village and get some of the villagers to help carry him to the village." He sliced the arm from its owner careful not to pull it from Inuyasha just yet.

"No, we can't bury him yet!" Kagome cried.

"We're not going to Kagome." He helped her up with a little more force than necessary when the villagers arrived. She looked confused but her face brightened so much with his next words she nearly tackled him with joy.

"He's not dead, his heartbeat is faint but there nonetheless. If we hurry and get medical attention for him now he might make it!"

All present gave a collective sigh of relief.

If there was one thing that Inuyasha was, it was stubborn.

If there was any way that Inuyasha could upset something even something as big as Mother Nature he would find a way. He would make it through this just to brag someday about how he cheated death.

That thought brought a smile to Kagome's face.

(A/N: I should stop here, but it's my first chapter so I'll keep going I expect extra reviews for this though ; ) )
"Uggh…" Inuyasha moaned in pain. He had never felt quite this crappy before.

What happened.

His mind started to fill in the blanks for him and he groaned this time in despair.

"Inu…Inuya…Inuyasha…" He could faintly hear someone calling out his name. He prayed that they would shut up, because it was getting on his nerves. When they continued calling his name he opened his eyes in annoyance, ready to tell them off when he regretted the action immediately. The slight movement sent shockwaves of pain shooting through his body.

Slowly he tried to open his eyes again. This time he succeeded in keeping them open only to stare into the worried face of his Kagome.

He tried to lift his hand to stroke her cheek but it refused to obey.

Distantly he heard Kagome asking him if he felt better, but he couldn't find the strength to answer her. Without even realizing it he had drifted off once again, into a dreamless sleep.

"What's wrong with him? Why isn't he getting any better?! It's been a week now." Kagome screeched.

Miroku had suspected something but decided to see how things played out before he jumped to conclusions.

But his fears came true. While he had been removing the arm from Inuyasha's gut, the arm had black blood still flowing through it. It was a strong poison, maybe stronger than Naraku's miasma. His hands burned every time he came into contact with it. It was a wonder that Inuyasha hadn't died the moment his skin had been pierced.

Half-demon or no.

The poison wasn't spreading but it was preventing him from getting better.

Sharing his suspicions with his friends he was hit from everyone in the room for withholding such information from him.

Sporting four new lumps from two young ladies, and older one and an angered fox demon he hurried to give the rest of his information.

"Ladies calm down please. I think I know of an antidote." Everyone halted in their pursuit to once again bonk him on the head. That could wait until later. They waited expectantly.

"My father had been poisoned once before by a strong demon and Master Moushin-2 had created this antidote, by mixing the Thousand Year Flower-3, with the poison of an even stronger demon. When done right the stronger poison will counterattack the poison that is already infected in the body, and the herb will battle off that poison so it leaves the body clear of all poisons."

"I've also heard it's good for colds too…" He added as an afterthought to try and lighten the mood.

It didn't work. He could tell by the death glares being given to him by all present.

"So you're sure this will work? We have to get this Thousand Year Flower and the poison of a stronger demon and you can make an antidote to cure Inuyasha."

"Hai, I'm positive, but this is some pretty potent poison if Inuyasha hasn't fought it off yet. Where could we find poison stronger than this, and then how would we attain it?"

Everyone thought hard for an answer, Inuyasha soft breathing in the background.

Shippo was the first to supply an answer. "Umm…how about Sesshomaru?"

All eyes turned to Shippo.

It was brilliant.

Sesshomaru poison could kill several bull elephants with just a drop.

But anyone close enough to know that never lived to talk about it.

It would be suicide.

"I will head out tomorrow for the flower and poison." Kagome announced.

All mouths opened, but shut with a click when she said 'alone.'

She needed to do this. Besides if she died than there would be others to take her place. She could handle her own now too.

And everyone knew that.

"The flower is in the mountains near that nice half-demon that cured Kirara poison problems, Jinenji I believe his name was," Kagome nodded to show she understood while she reached for pen and paper so that he could draw a picture of it, "but Kagome how do you plan on acquiring the poison from…him…"

"I don't know but I'll go for the flower first and figure it out on the way." She said determined.

It was crazy...

It was like asking for death.

Too bad death never scared her before.

She couldn't let Inuyasha down.

No.

She wouldn't let Inuyasha down.

1-Kaze no Kizu-Translated "Wind Scar."

2-Master Moushin-Miroku's 'step-father' if you will. After Miroku's father was sucked into the wind tunnel Moushin was his caretaker.

3-Thousand Year Flower-In episode 99 of the series Jaken is poisoned by the Saimyoushou and Rin must go and find the Thousand year flower before Jaken dies.

A/N: Ok people chapter one. It think my writing is much better in this chapter. I love the way this came out. Once again this is a challenge fic, the author is AiwendilAmaurea and the label is Legerdemain.

Well tell me what you think!!

AristocraticAssassinLover

Peace 1