Disclaimer: Not mine, as per usual.

Summary: Someone must hate her. She truly didn't care about him anymore, but she still...A bath and a strangely kind Lord help Kagome move on. .

Rain

Inuyasha had pushed them hard for the next month and a half, not that Kagome had minded. Sure, she didn't get very many chances at a hot bath, and she was bone-tired, but it made her goal of letting go that much easier. Inuyasha steadily moved down from his adored position in her life to nothing more than Miroku; a dear friend. She felt happier for it, too. No more wondering what Inuyasha was doing whenever he ran off by himself. No more hoping he'd notice all the little things she did for him, and appreciate them. No more worrying over what the others thought.

No more feeling pathetic every time her heart got stomped on. No more feeling pathetic at all, actually.

Kagome smiled at the stars and crescent moon. Tonight was beautiful. She was supposed to be going for her second bath that night, but she had gotten distracted by the night landscape. Diamonds on the deepest blue she had ever seen, with Lord Sesshomaru's symbol silently watching, guarding. She didn't know when she started to associate the half-eaten moon with the demon Lord, but she didn't find herself scolding herself for it. She didn't feel guilty thinking he was an okay guy, even though he still wanted Inuyasha's ears for a coat rack.

She sighed and stood, only to have a hand set heavily on her shoulder to encourage her back to the soft earth. She looked up in confusion, and discovered her half-demon friend looking down at her. Not glaring or leering or sneering, but not smiling either. His face was blank as a freshly washed white board. It was a look only Lord Sesshomaru had perfected.

For the first time, Kagome saw a family resemblance that wasn't based off of appearance.

Inuyasha sat beside her, shifting her bathing kit to move in close. Too close. "Kagome, I need to ask you something."

The human girl shifted away from him and shrugged. "Okay, shoot."

He looked down at his hands, glanced at hers, and decided he should be able to see both sets without shifting his eyeballs in their sokets. He grasped her fingers and rubbed her wrist with his thumb awkwardly. "Would you...will you..."

"What?" he looked up at her, and froze.

Mere seconds passed before he muttered, "Aw, hell," and placed a rough, urgent kiss on her lips. Ice ran through her veins, and she willed herself to move away. Move far away. But she was frozen. Held still by terrified tendons, tense muscles, and a speared heart. The pain was back. The old, energy-draining grip on her heart had returned with no more than a little kiss. Tears touched the back of her eyes. Something wasn't the same anymore.

This pain wasn't over knowing he already had Kikyo. This was over not wanting him, and not wanting to hurt him.

When he tried to deepen the kiss, she ripped her hands free and pushed him away, standing furiously. She grabbed her bathing kit, turned her back on his stunned face, and walked away. "Kagome, what the hell?"

"We're not doing this anymore, Inuyasha." She couldn't help glancing back at him, needing to know if pain filled his eyes just like hers had every time he had run to Kikyo only a month ago. The gold remained sparked with nothing more than confusion. On the inside, her heart sunk down to her stomach. Nothing for us, only for them. "No more."

She moved onward, towards the secluded hotspring they had found by chance and decided to put to use. She really needed this second soak now. The pain in her heart was a familiar, dull throb. Something almost akin to an old friend.

All she wanted was for it to go away and never come back. Never.

Inuyasha didn't follow her, thankfully, sadly. How was it he felt so little for what they could have had, that at one point she had wanted to have? It just wasn't fair! Stupid female emotions. They always tangled her life up. So far, though, this knot wasn't coming undone.

Setting her bathing kit down, she stripped off her short skirt and white blouse, perfectly ready to let the hot water remove all her problems from her mind. Once the less-than-sexy underwear came off, though, a drop of water hit her bare shoulder. And then another, and another, until thousands of tiny droplets pelted down on her in a natural massage. It reminded her of the shower back at home. Gods, how she missed some conveniences!

The rain didn't bother, or surprise her. After that summer snowfall, the weather couldn't do much that would take her off-guard. Anyways, she liked the rain. It was soothing, cleansing. Kagome was a very clean person. And sometimes a very stressed one. She slipped into the small pool of delicious warmth, instantly relaxing, every muscle in her body letting go...even her poor heart gave in to the heat. Hotsprings truly did have healing effects on her.

Eyes closed, happy with where she was and not willing to leave it, Kagome let the real world fade out, and tuned all her dreams and fantasy's out. Pure bliss, just listening to the rain. To the sweet melody it played out on the surface of the spring, on the stones, on the grass and the trees, while it kneaded the tenseness out of her shoulders. Natural therapy.

"Kagome."

The voice broke through her happy little dream scape and she jumped because it wasn't Inuyasha, or any of her friends for that matter. She whirled around, her nakedness completely forgotten, and gasped, "Lord Sesshomaru!"

It was true, the great, silver-haired demon Lord stood behind her, looking down on her exposed skin with a slight curiosity. A mild interest. It was probably the most anyone had ever seen of her, ever. When she realized how all her skin might be offensive to him, her being human and all, she quickly crossed her skinny arms over her breasts and dropped into the water, only visible from her nose up.

After a moments quiet, the demon Lord asked, "Do you often bathe in the rain, Kagome?"

Her brows drew together in confusion and she shook her head; no. The demon Lord nodded his understanding, and then started to remove his own wet clothing, which already clung to his finely tonned chest and shoulders. Her eyes widdened in surprise and she quickly turned her back on him. He was probably prefect under all that cloth, probably hard as a rock due to regular use.

Her mind worded that badly, and she blushed darkly. Bad Kagome! Very, very bad!

Her eyes snapped closed when she felt, as opposed to heard, him slip into the water, probably just as naked as she was. There couldn't have been any more than five inches between them, five inches of flimsy water separating his perfect muscles from her skin. She moved all the way to the other side of the pool, which only offered another two or so inches of space.

"Kagome." Still blushing, Kagome glanced over at the comfortably seated Lord Sesshomaru, who happened to be reading the back of one of her shampoo bottles. "What is this...material?"

The modern toiletry had him confused, and in spite of the tight quarters and overly exposed flesh, Kagome relaxed again. She was in a hotspring that offered her bones some relief, it was raining wonderfully, and Lord Sesshomaru was pondering her shampoo thoughtfully. "Its a liquid used for cleaning hair, where I come from. Scented with fruits and berries. Orange blossoms and jasmine, in this case."

"Hn."

"There's a matching body soap and contitioner, too." she said shyly, earning his gaze. She slipped lower in the water, feeling like a child under his molten eyes.

"Contitioner?"

"Its a second step for washing hair, where I come from." she explained, her little confidence returned. "It makes the hair soft, and easy to brush."

"Hn." He stared at the shampoo bottle for a moment, and then offered her the bottle. "You will demonstrate for this Sesshomaru."

"Ah," she bit her lip, her mind instantly latching onto how she'd have to let her guard on her breasts drop to do as he wanted. "Do I have to?"

"Does it not do as you have said?" he asked, eyes darkening at the possibility of her lying to him.

"No, no, its just..." How exactly do you tell a demon that you're uncomfortable with him seeing you naked? "Well, you see-" He raised an elegant eyebrow, and she broke down, sighing, "Fine, I'll do it."

She dunked her head, making sure her eyes were securely closed, resurface, and took the shampoo from him. Turning her back to him so he could see her waist-long black hair, she proceeded to squirt out some of her shampoo and lather her hair, having to stand up to get the lower reaches of her black lengths.

Sesshomaru was getting a good look at the tiny girls ass, too. For some reason, she thought the water hid that smooth-looking surface from him, but the water's clarity was impeccable. She was finely build for such a tough girl. Slim, well rounded, with breasts that weren't too big for her body, like many demonesses were. The natural disproportion in his people made him angry, and he didn't find it even slightly attractive. And she looked so soft. How many demonesses were soft? Only the ones not worth having! Every single one of them tried to be as powerful as their desired man, creating far too many places packed solid with unneeded muscles. When she sat back down to wash out the "shampoo", as she had called it, he pulled her head closer in the water to run his claws through her wavy locks to aid in the rinsing.

She starred at him, wide-eyed with shock and arms going to cover her pretty little breasts instinctively. It only took a moment for the rain to force her eyes shut, so she bit her lip, again, instead. He appeared unconcerned by it, but on the inside he was raving. She had nothing to fear from him. She never had. He didn't kill defenceless human women unless they got in his way.

Granted, she did have a bad habit of getting in the way. He'd have to cure her of that at some point.

Once the suds were gone from her hair he allowed her to leave his careful claws, hardly hearing the little "thank you" she offered in return for his services. Once safely back in her half of the pool, she glanced over at him, offering the "shampoo" to him. "See, harmless."

He nodded, taking the strange, oddly-scented thing from her dainty fingers, and setting it back with her other materials. He didn't bother looking for the "conditioner". Instead, he moved to sit beside her, not liking her instant cower, and carefully sniffed her hair, pretending to be interested in the effects of her cleansing tool. Sure enough, the same, strange smell graced her wet hair, but he could hardly lock onto it due to the wet weather.

Not that he minded. Rain was a time of cleansing, offered by the gods. It was sent to rid the earth of the blood of war, the filth of the sick, and create growth for the hungry. Most demons cherished this weather, using it as a time of prayer, or breeding. Demon fertility was said to spike during the rainfall, after all.

The tiny girl beside him whispered, "Well?"

"It is a strange smell," he offered, not sure of what else could be said about it. He didn't like it, but he didn't hate it. And it was different from normal human perfumes.

Her face seemed to fall. "You don't like it."

"No," he corrected. "It is simply, different."

"Oh." She looked away from him, attempting to shift away from his large frame, again. Ignoring her discomfort, he ran a single claw down her jaw bone, along her neck, halting at her collar bone. She had gone stiff, eyes forced shut.

"You fear me," he stated, removing his finger from her truly soft flesh. She opened one eye to look at him in confusion.

"Shouldn't I?" she asked quietly.

"No," was his simple answer. "One should not fear one's protector."

"Oh." She still lacked the wit she had held the last time he had found her. Last time he had gotten to hold her for his good deed of saving her life. What would it take to receive the same now?

He couldn't figure out an answer to that question, which angered him. He always knew what to do when it came to women. They regularly worshiped the very ground he walked on. But this soft little human wasn't even slightly flustered by his looks, or his commanding nature. She respected his power over life and death. She was thankful for his saving of her life, of his wards life, and of her friends lives. She wanted him to get along with his ignorant half brother simply because it was the right thing to do, according to humans.

She saw him as a Lord, not a man. That had to change. Rin could remain forever innocent. He enjoyed watching her wonder over the smallest of things. But this kind, motherly, soft creature was grown up. Ready for a man; in need of one that could care for her, and see her needs fulfilled.

One that could make Inuyasha disappear from her heart.

With that thought in mind, he leaned in, tilted her head up, and placed his pale lips gently upon her own pink rose-petal ones. The careful touch caused her to relax, melt against the hand on her neck, and the other hand seeking out her tiny waist to bring her closer to himself. He nipped at her lower lip, gently coaxing her to open up to him, to let him taste her.

A tiny hand pressed against his chest, while her lips gave in to him, showing her body's fear, and her hearts need. He'd build on the need, take away from the fear, and hopefully take what he had come looking for. Not her body, not yet. The fear needed to be a distant and forgotten memory for that. But the tasty little house of the heart, there was nothing wrong with bringing that home. His brothers incompetence had finally made him decide the girl needed a stronger man around. One that wouldn't push her to her limits before letting her rest her sweet shape. How could a woman possible care for herself properly under such a whip?

With the girl of his thoughts finally set in his lap, although squirming fearfully against him, he let her lips go, and, using a single hand to hold her head against his chest, he simply held her. She trembled against him, wriggled in weak attempts to be free of his arms and the contact with his more...delicate limb, but he was having none of it. Stuck against an abdomen and a chest that could only be described as godly, Kagome really didn't know what to say, or think, or even do. That kiss had come out of nowhere, and now she was...

The hand attached to the arm around her waist gently rubbed its knuckles against her hip, and she squirmed again. "Sesshomaru-"

His lips against her forehead quieted her instantly. "Be still. You are safe." he told her softly, as comforting as any lover should be to a girl during her first time in a mans embrace. And she was safe, truly. He meant her no harm in any way. He had simply wished to remove the half-breed from her mind. From her heart.

And to say that he hadn't would be a lie. This frightening, new possibility pushed Inuyasha right out of heart and mind. Hell, there was hardly room in both for this Lord of the West!

He stroked her hair, burying his nose in the faintly-scented strands. It really wasn't a bad smell. Not bad at all. And with her still, albeit stiff, in his grip, he had a thoughtless moment to enjoy it, along with every nanometer of her skin against his. She was so perfectly soft, so calmed by gentle touches, simple gestures that she should have been shown a long time ago. Why hadn't he stolen her away in the snow? To know now that he had missed out on this small creature's smooth skin for so long now made him angry at himself. That's what he got for being chivalrous.

But she had appreciated it, so it wasn't a complete loss.

"Sesshomaru-"

He relented, allowing her to slip out of his arms, let her slide away from his protective embrace, let her remove herself from his careful touches. His face still gave away no emotions, but his eyes screamed a tenderness that she never thought she'd see in the Killing Perfection. "As I said before, Kagome. One need not fear one's protector."

A sharp crash of thunder startled her, eliciting a gasp and a wide-eyed look at the stormy heavens. Under the water, a clawed hand was set on her knee, seeking to comfort once again. Kagome liked rain, not thunder. In fact, the storms frightened her a lot more than any demon did. Demons were predictable, for the most part. Storms weren't.

With a second flare of light and sound crossing the sky, Sesshomaru drew the now terrified human back into his arms, hiding her from the loud electricity. "Let me take you somewhere quiet." he murmured in her ear as more angry scars rolled across the sky. She shook under his hands, his offer unheard. "Somewhere quiet and dry. Somewhere safe to rest your eyes, my little human."

She hardly noticed the possessive at the end, nodding into his chest. He carefully lifted her, cold, stormy air striking her warm body. Once out of the hotspring, he picked up his own robe, covering her shivering shape with it to give what warmth could be had, and then dropping a stone from the robes inner confines for Inuyasha to find, a white stone shaped into a crescent moon. He didn't care if the half-breed knew of his humans' whereabouts. Her friends, though, would be her foremost worry once she was thinking straight again. They were welcome to come visit any time they pleased.

He left her things behind, knowing full and well that someone would be looking for her soon, and find the odd materials, her clothes, his symbol. They'd know where she was, and it was easy enough for him to come back to them for any desired items. He placed a kiss against the shaking girls temple, and took to the skies, not bothered in the slightest by his own nakedness, or the brewing storm. Storms were some of the few things in this world that equaled him, after all.

Inuyasha panicked when the first roll of thunder reached his ears. Kagome hated storms almost as much as she hated the fighting between him and his stupid brother. Leaving his other human friends without a word, he ran to give the girl somewhere to hide. But when he reached the hotspring, all he found was her bathing kit, and clothes. No Kagome.

His panic doubled. What sick animal had dragged her off? And only god knew what it was doing to her now!

He dashed to her thinks seeking any hint as to where she was, and discovered a little white stone, gleaming against the green of Kagome's skirt. Sesshomaru, he thought darkly, feeling his eyes bleed red in spite of the blade at his hip. Why that no-good, mother-fucking, cock-sucking-

"I am saying, little brother, care for Kagome properly, or I shall take her from you."

Inuyasha fell back on his butt. The son of a bitch hadn't been kidding around. He had actually stolen his Kagome from him! His mind traced back to her reaction to his kiss, and his heart fell. Okay, not his, but she was still his friend; the reason they had gotten so far, in spite of all his running for Kikyo. She always dealt with all his shit, like any good friend would do.

He'd have to go after her. Sango would murder him if he didn't. And maybe the others could stay for a while too. He and Kikyo could look for the shards on their own for a while. Who knew? Maybe Kagome actually liked the guy? And if not, she'd come back when she got sick of him being such an asshole.

Inuyasha had a lot of confidence in Kagome returning of her own free will. Why wouldn't she, after all? Surely she'd choose her friends over some stuck up ass of a demon. Right?

fin