A knock on the door snapped the woman from her mussing as she sat on the couch petting the kitten. "Oops!" she stood and tucked the little one back in to its carrier in the kitchen and said apologized when the kitten meowed to be let out. "He can't know about you yet Kagome. He'll walk right back out the door." That seemed to satisfy the kitten because she curled up in a black ball of fluff and purred. Another knock snapped the woman from her thoughts on how adorable Kagome was laying there.

"Mother?" came his worried voice.

"I'm coming!" she yelled through the house as she approached the door. She opened it and allowed his tall, lithe frame through. He looked so much like her with his pale blonde hair hanging down to his waist and his pale eyes. Yet the sharp edges of his nose and jaw came from his father. She saw his eyes soften and darken slightly when he finally looked at her, a smile quirking his lips.

She looked at herself puzzled and notice she was wearing her fuzzy blue slippers and apron that said "A mother's work is never done..." He had given it to her years ago as a joke that she happened to like. She looked up at him and grinned, "You know it's true, I'm surprise you didn't bring an overnight bag like you used to." Her voice full of loving warmth as she quickly closed the door. He chuckled and picked her up against his chest for a bear hug that made her bones creak. "Sess!" she gasped, "I'm old son," she muttered as he put her down carefully.

"You're not that old mom," he said with his old boyish grin, one that used to make her melt when she tried to discipline him. She swatted his left shoulder and told him to take of his coat and join her in the living room. He obeyed in a meek form and collapsed on the old beaten leather recliner he loved so much. She admitted that though it clashed with her classic style, it was hard to get rid of cause of how comfortable it was. "So what is this surprise you told me about over the phone?" his eyes were sharp again, on edge due to her last "surprise." She giggled and shook her head at him.

"I'll give it to you after dinner. And don't worry it nothing to be afraid of at all." That made him snort in amusement and her eye narrow at him. "I went through a deal of trouble with this one, and you will like it. I know you will." She stood and led him to the table saying that it should be ready. She disappeared back into the kitchen and checked on Kagome. The kitten lay there content and purring away, but looked up at her for a moment with her blue eyes. She rubber Kagome's ears quickly and returned to the table with dinner simmering in the pot.

'I have to be going crazy,' he thought, 'Mom is never this secretive unless it's something big like last time.' His cheeks warmed telling him he was blushing. He kept telling himself she wouldn't pull that twice. The party with his old college buddies and a couple strippers had been a complete disaster. Just the memories of made him shiver. The girls hadn't been bad looking or anything, but they had sucked and once the guys were drunk. They had done things to the guys he never wanted to see again. He was used to PDAs between all forms of couples, gay or straight. But what happened with those guys freaked him out, badly.

"Sess? Are you all right?" his mother spoke softly over the dinner. She placed a hand on his arms nearest to her, concern filling her almond shaped hazel eyes. He nodded silently and returned to his food and tried to forget that night. "You had me worried for a second there, you looked so pale," her soft voice soothed him deeply.

"It was nothing mother," he said and finished eating, he was anxious to see this surprise. Something told him this was a good one, or well better than the last one. She smiled at him and told him to wait in the living room while she got the surprise. He obeyed, not wanting her to delay this any longer. Her grin gave him pause for a moment, it was her loving grin and yet not. It had a deeper quality to it, almost evil. 'She wouldn't do anything to hurt me,' he thought sitting in his recliner near the dead firer place.

"Close your eyes Sesshoumaru," again he obeyed meekly and felt a light weight placed on his lap. He'd have sworn it was a book but it was warm and moved. He opened his eyes quickly to stare at his lap where a small black kitten sat staring up at him with the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen. "Sesshoumaru meet Kagome, your new pet."

His gaze flipped back and forth between his mother in and the cat for a few minutes in shock before he groaned and collapsed deeper into the chair. "Mother I have no time for a cat, much less a kitten," he paused when her lower lips trembled slightly. "Why a cat mom? You know I don't like them."

The kitten just stared at him and purred; she moved to one of his large hands and nudged it with her small head. He absently stroked its head as he stared at his mother. Her grin made him look down to see the kitten she called Kagome sprawled across his lap purring with her eyes close and head tilted to receive his touch. He was amazed, normally the feline race hated him as much as he hated them. She was an odd one that was for sure.

"I knew I picked right," his mom muttered with a big smile and stood to leave for the kitchen again. He sighed deeply, making Kagome look up at him. She meowed and stood. What she did next amazed him even more than her letting him pet her. She carefully climbed up him arm and chest to rest on his shoulder and rub her head against his neck. Again he was shocked the kitten was trying to comfort him. He chuckled softly and whispered, "You sure are affectionate." She meowed at him again and tucked her long tail around herself.

"I see your getting used to each other all ready. I knew you'd like her." his mother said as she walked back in with the bag of food and the carrier. He could see some toys inside of it that were bright and shiny. "She's a lovable little thing, and I know you live alone. She's the last of her litter and the poor man didn't know what to do with her, she wouldn't let herself be bought by anyone." He sighed knowing what was coming next, sure enough his mother gave him her best "puppy dog eyes".

"Very well mother, if it is your wish I guess the place could use a little more life than me and the plants."

'It very well needs a mistress to care for it and you,' she thought looking to Kagome with a smile. 'I hope she warms your heart enough to find the woman of your dreams.' She watched him stand fluidly with the grace of a feline much like the one still resting on his wide shoulder. He picked her up despite the meows of protest and placed her within the carrier.

"I guess this means I need to stop and get a litter box and everything, doesn't it?" She grinned broadly at her son and shook her head a knowing gleam in her eyes. "I already bought the things you'd need and had them sent to your apartment. And yes I checked with your landlord. Animals so long as there is one, are permissible." He sighed deeply again, kissed her cheek and retrieved his coat before the carrier and food. "Now you be good to her and the same goes to you missy," she said to them both. She barely caught him rolling his eye so she let it go. She'd get him next time he pulled that stunt.

"Thank you for the dinner mother, I'll call you later this week to let you know how she's doing."

"Kagome," he nodded not really hearing her and she knew it. "I mean it, she won't like it if you call her anything but that." He nodded again and said fare well while walking out the door. Now it was her turn to sigh as she watched him climb in his car at the end of the walkway and drive off.

'She's so much like the legend,' she thought, 'I'd swear it was true, but it can't be possible.' The older woman shook her head and picked up the book on Japanese lore where she had found the kitten's name. She flipped to another page and found a picture of a demon holding the young miko in his arms. A lover's embrace.

"Lovers all right, forbidden lovers," she had always wondered why it was that she followed her mother's, mother's tradition when naming her first born with a name of Japanese origin. Nor did she know where the name Sesshoumaru came from on that day. "Killing Perfection," she whispered and sat in the old recliner. "Why that mother, why did I name him something like that?" as usual there was no answer.

She had found this book 6 years ago when Sesshoumaru still lived with her and had been startled to find his name in it. Along with a legend of love and betrayal, trust and hatred. She sighed again and set the book down as she decided to clean the kitchen in the morning. It had been a long day and she was tired, sleep sounded so nice.

He sighed deeply as he approached his apartment door, sure enough there was a larger box address to him and sadly the owner's daughter was waiting with it. 'Great,' he thought, 'just what I need, another female.' He ignored her as he open his door and set the carrier just inside the door and the bag of food next to it. Just as he reached for the box the girl spoke up.

"Dad told me you bought a pet, didn't say what kind but just that it was okay." The girl was pleasing to the eye with firm and obvious curves. A sculpted face that any artist would love to paint, but she buried it under ton of makeup and flaunted her body in the tiniest of clothes. He hated her for it, and that he wasn't the slightest bit attracted to her. She had no fire, no will or wit of her own. An obedient doll that sleeps with anything and everything with three legs.

"If you will excuse me, I have to get this little one settled and I have a lot of work to do," he gritted out, trying to be nice. Something about tonight felt different in him. He felt more at peace than he had in a long time and he didn't want her to ruin it. It was scary but maybe his mother was right, maybe he did need a companion other than his work. He shut the door in the girl's face, or well more slammed it shut to prevent her from trying to follow him in.

He muttered under his breath about meddling females and let Kagome out from her cage. He went about setting everything up and she followed him everywhere, somehow she managed to avoid getting under foot. He almost forgot she was there until he sat down at his desk and felt her paws on his ankle. He reached down and picked her up to place her in his lap. She stayed there for a few minutes then crawled back up on his shoulder where she cuddled against his neck again. The two settled in for a long night it was only 9 pm but Sesshoumaru had a tall stack of work on his desk.

These first couple chapters were pretty well built so the clean-up was fairly easy. The next chapter was mainly notes so I'm cleaning it up and putting things together as best I can. I'll probably get it up later today or tomorrow seeing as I've had so much interest in it since I accidently reposted an old chapter.