Disclaimer: Sorry I do not own Inuyasha T_T.

Growing Curiosity

~*Recap*~

The little toad named Jaken then hopped off Ah-Un and then looked up at Kagome. His buggy yellow eyes looked up at her with irritation and distaste. It seemed to Kagome that the little toad wasn't too happy with the Lords decision to come to her to help Rin with her sickness. Kagome just ignored him and lifted the small sleeping girl off of the twin headed dragon. Carrying the girl into her hut and placing her on an extra futon that she had for guest that needed special treatment. Shippo was inside bouncing up and down near the fire pit getting the large pot of water over the source of heat so she could make the stew faster. Almost instantly the young kit noticed who she was carrying into the hut. "Momma, why do you have Rin?" Right when the kitusune had spoken Sesshomaru had entered into the hut and looked over at him.

~*End of Recap*~

Chapter 2

Shippo locked eyes with the taiyouki. Green eyes were filled with fear and respect. For Shippo was without a doubt afraid of Sesshomaru and with good reason.

The full demon was a power house, and like the meaning of his name, he was a killing perfection.

Once the initial shock had passed the young kit then bowed politely before the Inu as the pot was left to boil over the fire pit.

In return Sesshomaru just glanced at the young fox demon and then moved his golden orbs away from the young male onto an orange silk sheet that covered over an opening to a room of the hut.

In this room he could smell his ward Rin and the wisteria scent of the miko. It was strange for him to smell such a delicate and rare scent from a human.

Golden eyes then scanned the open area of the hut, he was taken aback a bit, he wasn't expecting the hut to be larger than a normal hut. But the cold being never allowed an expression to surface upon that indifferent but handsome face of his.

The Inu quickly took notice of the fire pit that was placed in the center of the room with one red and one white square merged together to form an eight-star pattern around the pit. Eight red cushions of exceptional silk were positioned at each point of the same star. The dog youki was please to note that each cushion was large enough to sit cross legged upon them.

Then nine lanterns then hung off of the ceiling, each were plain white with a gold design on them; although none were lit at the moment.

Then the taiyouki looked a bit to his right to find a small pile of wooden buckets and wood for the fire placed in a neat pile in that corner.

Soft ruffling of silk was created as he turned to inspect the other corner of the hut. There he found a cherry wood table and durable cabinet underneath it according to his nose it held cooking ingredients and medicine.

To the West of the room there were two doors, one covered by a forest green silk cover and the other with a golden silk cover.

The room with the forest green fabric released the scent of the young kit, suggesting that it was the young boy's room. The other room had a variety of smells and so Sesshomaru deduced that it was either a storage room or some kind of lay-about room.

To the North end of the initial room another set of two other doors were sighted by bullion colored eyes. The silver silk cover was the entryway for a room that had the scent of steel, iron, wood, and some gun powder; probably the closest thing to an armory this residence could have.

Then the room next to it had a deep cerulean blue silk cover over the doorway; where the scent of wisteria leaked its way out into the center room. So the seemingly stoic demon assumed that it was the miko's room.

Once again he turned to his right to face the Eastern side of the room, finding another two predictable entryways along the wall. The one closest to the North wall was covered by a pure white silk cover.

The scent of fresh water and soap was the strongest in that room, he presumed that it was the bathing room.

His attention was brought back to the same orange colored silk cover that he encountered while first stepping into the…hut, for the lack of a better word.

Kagome lifted up the orange silk cover, at that exact moment, as it revealed the elegant and beautiful human woman. Kagome's hair was now tied near the arch of her back as she allowed two strands to fall over her shoulders. It was these strands that were tied similarly to her low and loose ponytail but each strand sported two golden bells that chimed soft and sweetly whenever she moved excessivly.

But what the caught inu youki's attention were her azure colored eyes that were full of energy and life as they held contact with his golden ones.

The demon lord also took in her pale skin that gave off a healthy glow, even her smooth and straight ebony colored hair, and the miko attire that seemed to only accent the curves of her form. She was a women gifted with beauty, and many would argue that it wasn't just her appearance that was stunning.

Soon he stopped his inspection of the human and as he continued to look at her with his common plain and cold expression. Kagome gave him a similar expression in return.

"Rin seems to be suffering from an illness that has been spreading around the country as of late. Her throat is swollen a great deal and she is warmer than necessary. I am afraid that the illness is difficult to cure and possibly fatal", spoke the miko with a poised voice.

The youki didn't take his eyes of her and the young woman could see the slight softening of his golden eyes, but the rest of this posture and expression remained the same. He was hiding whatever was really going on in that mind of his.

After he didn't make the attempt to make any kind of response the young miko continued, " It seems that there is a presence of youki in her system. I do not know if a demon had tried to heal her, but it only agitated the illness further", she paused after she had closed her eyes briefly,

"I will be able to use my renti to purify the essence of youki and to pressure the festering sickness to die down. But seeing that she is not a miko I will have to be careful with how much renti I put into her body. It will take some time to fully heal her."

The young woman could feel the once tense atmosphere slowly dissipate into one that was more bearable, as the chilling stare that was directed at the woman had melted down to a acceptable degree.

Kagome had found his almost unnoticeable change of expression rather amusing, in a manner that piqued up her curiosity of the demon.

She was quite certain that the demon lord cared more for that little human girl than what he lead on to everyone, but to her it was as clear as day; Rin was the closest that he had to a full blooded daughter.

She understood his attachment to the young girl; for her own son was not even her own and a full blooded demon to boot.

By the standards of most humans such a thing shouldn't be happening between Kagome and Shippo.

So there was no doubt in the miko's mind that the demons of the land didn't look highly on Sesshomaru's guardianship over the ningen girl, but none really spoke their opinions to him; they would probably just get killed in the process.

The light pull on her red hakama's brought the miko out of her thoughts as her attention was brought to her young kit.

"Mama… Can… I see Rin?", the boy asked. His green eyes shined as they looked almost wet from tears of worry and concern. She patted his head softly, "In time Shippo, for now let her rest."

The small boy's head nodded as her expressed to Kagome that he understood. Brilliant blue eyes then looked back up towards where had last seen the demon lord standing, only to find that he had turned around to walk out of the hut.

His long silver hair flowed behind him so gracefully. Kagome had no idea that someone could be so graceful in their movement, not to mention that such elegance wasn't usually demonstrated by males; at least in that time period.

Strangely she had found herself wanting to call him back into the hut for some supper. But what was odder was the fact that she hoped that he would even consider accepting such an offer by her.

She didn't know why she felt so inclined to do so, nor why she had even felt these emotions. She just assumed that it was out of respect, pity, and maybe even out of her own loneliness.

Sure she had Shippo with her but it was hard to come by those of an older age that wouldn't try to take advantage of her, scold her, or sway her into an arranged marriage.

Despite Inuyasha and Kikyo living in the same village they tended to keep their distance from most of the growing town, as they lived in hut near the Tree of Ages and the Bone Eater's Well. The location was far enough from most of the villagers but close enough to buy any necessary material that was needed in daily life.

Plus she suspected that Kikyo still didn't trust Inuyasha around her, afraid that Kagome and her mate could have lingering feelings left for each other.

Kagome didn't really blame Kikyo for feeling the way that she did, because at times even Kagome suspected that Inuyasha never really did get over of his love for her.

Kagome continuously hoped that Inuyasha had gotten over his feelings for her, because even if he did decide to leave Kikyo behind and ask for her hand she could never accept it; mainly because she just didn't love him that way anymore.

She saw the half-demon no more than a brother, it was just near impossible for her to have any romantic feelings for him now.

She was happy about this development; even Sango and Miroku were even delighted by her change of heart. But the young woman stayed oblivious to the fact that her heart was now slowly allowing another into that healing heart of hers, it was only a matter of time before something blossomed.

Authour's Note

Yay! Finally have this chappie up! Sorry it took so long but I was without internet for sometime thanks to my internet providers... I wasn't happy about it either. Anyways I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. If anyone would like to help me out with the story send a message my way on here :) Mainly I would like someone to help give me some grammar corrections and all that lovely stuff. :) Anyways I am still having a bit of indecisiveness on how to portray Sesshomaru, I want to keep him IC but I want to add some personality to him. Its a bit difficult to find the right balance at the moment but I will *determined look* So hit me up with reviews, CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms, questions, and maybe even ideas if you feel inclined to.

~CrimsonRose~