Chapter One

I'm Only Human

Author Note: I'm so surprised that some people actually like this! It makes me want to write more. Oh, and one thing: the more I write in a story, it usually gets worse later on (just one of my flaws :P) But yes, here's the first chapter. Thank you all so much!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Rumiko Takahashi's InuYasha. They are hers, not mine.

'It's so… cold…' Kagome thought, willing herself to open her eyes, only then realizing the pain in her shoulder. "Ah…" she gasped, sitting up and clutching the wound. She removed her hand and looked at it, covered in fresh blood. She looked at her shoulder, blood slowly seeping through the bandages on her arm. "Who bandaged…"

"Fool," came a voice from across the room. "You've reopened it."

"Sesshoumaru-sama," she said, looking down at her legs, covered by a thin sheet. She was hoping it was all a dream and none of it had really happened, but being with Sesshoumaru was proof enough. "Where are we?" She was too out of it too notice that her clothing had been discarded and she was sitting before him, nearly naked. "Where are my clothes?" She said carefully, covering herself with her arms.

"They were burnt and bloody, so I had to rid of them. " He said, taking his haori off and draping it over her shoulders, careful to avoid the wounded one. He lifted her arm and undid the bandages slowly, uncovering her wound. With the blood wiped off of it, it did not look half as gruesome, but was still a nasty gash. "My castle." He stated, avoiding her gaze. He took a cloth from beside him and pressed it to the wound, stinging her flesh. "It's just medicine, it won't hurt for long."

"Why are you… taking care of me?" She asked quietly, almost a whisper.

He was quiet, his crisp gold eyes intent on the ministrations he was performing. "Because my brother wished it so."

"InuYasha…" she said the name of who he spoke. "Is he…"

"Dead." Sesshoumaru finished as he tucked the end of the bandage under another strip. "There, now go to sleep." He stood, approaching the doorway.

"Sesshoumaru… is he really dead?"

He hung his head down slightly. It was painful to see her in such denial, he would admit. "Hai." He said before leaving the room and sliding the rice paper door shut once more.

She crawled over to the near window, pulling the haori together to cover her better and rested her good arm on the window sill. The moon was gone this night, only filling her mind with the memories of the hanyou as a human. 'Is that why he lost? Was he weak?' She felt the tears sting her eyes again, but wiped them away with her sleeve. "I'm not going to cry over this anymore…" she sniffled. "It won't bring him back…" she said. She looked out the window again, an owl gliding over the forest and dipping down and hiding in it's depths. "I never even got to know how he felt about me…"

Kagome was up and walking, not that it was too hard, her shoulder being the thing that was wounded and all. She had begun walking around the castle, learning the various pathways and corridors and where they led. "Did he just leave? I wouldn't expect Sesshoumaru to just do that…" She told herself. Even if she thought of something else, her thoughts always led back to InuYasha. And then… was he just laying there? Meat for the birds and other wild animals and demons?

"Ningen," Sesshoumaru said, coming up from behind her. "I don't believe I gave you the order to get up, did I?"

"Sesshoumaru, we have to go and at least give him a proper burial!" She said desperately.

He eyed her carefully. He would definitely have to get her some clothing of her own, his haori was just a little to short for her, and exposed most of her thigh and below. "After we get you some clothing." He stated turning and leaving her standing in the hall.

"He's so…" she did not even bother to finish the sentence. She just hoped that they could get InuYasha's soul to rest in time.

"Madam," came a female's voice. Kagome turned to face a tall female demon, with long white hair, with most of it tied up into a bun. "Come with me so I can find you a kimono." She said, staring Kagome down with her deep blue eyes.

"Umm… alright," Kagome said as she followed the woman down the hall. She was most obviously youkai, with her striking white hair, cat like pupils, her inhumanly deep ocean-blue eyes, and her pointed ears. She was utterly beautiful, as most demons were. "May I ask your name?"

"Ritsu," she replied curtly in what sounded like a throaty growl. "What is your relation with my master?"

"Oh… he's my friends… brother." She managed to choke out.

"Oh?" Ritsu said in a mocking voice, taunting. She had known about the hanyou's death and decided to pester the ningen girl. "And what was his name?"

"Inu…Yasha." Kagome said quietly, her voice strained. Her eyes began to sting with oncoming tears.

"The half demon, correct? Well, I don't see why you're here. Sesshoumaru-sama never cared for any of the hanyou's friends, or the hanyou for that matter." She smirked inwardly at the torment the girl was receiving.

Kagome stayed quiet, watching her feet as she continued walking forward, tightening her grip on Sesshoumaru's haori that cloaked her still. If he truly hated them, why would he be helping her? She had not known that InuYasha had given Sesshoumaru his Tetsusaiga, so was not in on the deal they had made. It suddenly dawned on her that she could still go home. But did he know that?

Sesshoumaru sat in the room that he had claimed as his in the castle, holding the Tetsusaiga in his hand, slightly missing the warmth his haori had provided, his torso clothed only in the thin yukata he had worn beneath. He smiled, amused at the sword. "Not as satisfying since it was just… given to me." he said quietly to himself. 'He said to take care of her, that does not mean I have to like her,' he thought to himself. His thoughts briefly drifted to the girl. 'If she were to find her way home-'

The sword sparked in his hand, causing him to grimace and drop it unexpectedly. "Damn…" he began to say.

'I'm sure if you can take care of her, you'll be able to use it,' he had said.

"So in order to use the sword, I must keep watch over her?" He chuckled, amused at the thought. "It seems your final words have bonded me to the girl, brother. Clever… for you." He went to pick up the sword again, somewhat cautiously. No burn this time. "I suppose her presence may be… durable."

"Always talk to yourself, master?"

"Ritsu, did I give you permission to enter my room and disturb me?" He glared at her through his cold golden eyes, piercing through her.

"No, not quite… thought you might like to know that that girl ran off," she smirked, a fang escaping her closed lips.

"What?!" Sesshoumaru snarled with a flash of his fang s and stood abruptly, running out of the room.

Ritsu stood where she was, with at first a frown painted on her pale face. This turned to a look of pure hatred she turned and slammed her fist into the wall, the splintered wood cut into her hand, blood trickling down her arm and dripping onto the floor. "You weren't supposed to care," she growled, digging one of her fangs into her lower lip and drawing blood, trying to divert her anger.