Author's Note: I'm sorry I didn't update sooner. It's that time of year when everyone has to work through some things. I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you good will and happiness. If you like my story, please review. It would mean a lot to me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. There are no profits being made from my stories. They all belong to Rumiko Takahasi.

Sesshomaru… she couldn't believe he was standing there. One minute she was thinking about him and the next he just appeared. She could feel her heart beating faster and her spirits lifted. For some reason he always had that effect on her. Just like before when he came into the clearing.

A long silence stretched across the expanse. Both Kagome and Sesshomaru wanted to say so much to each other but the words can't seem to come out. Finally Shippo broke the silence. "Aaaammmm… Sesshomaru what are you doing here." He was very nervous when it comes to Sesshomaru. It was something in his Aura and the way he carries himself. In the feudal era it was common knowledge that a lesser powerful being should show respect to the feudal lords. He hoped he didn't overstep his boundaries, because he really wanted to earn Sesshomaru's respect. He had always felt that Sesshomaru should be the one to protect his mamma, not Inuyasha.

"I came here to find out why you're away from your group." Sesshomaru replied. It wasn't a complete lie of course, but he would never tell anyone that he had been watching them for a long time. "Oh" say's shippo. He wasn't really expecting that answer, if any at all. "Inuyasha hurt Kagome's feelings again so she decided to leave." Shippo said. "He was acting really jealous because you came around, and because kagome was look…. "Shippo!!" kagome interrupted him before he could finish what he was saying. Her face was as red as a tomato. She couldn't believe he was about to say that. Shippo didn't know why kagome did that, but he guessed that she didn't want Sesshomaru to know she was looking at him.

Through out this little exchange Sesshomaru was looking as impassive as ever. But on the inside he was trying very hard to hide his amusement. All that the little kit said he already knew, but of course he has to pretend that it was news to him. "Why would Inuyasha concern himself with he miko. It was clear to me that he had already chosen the dead one." Sesshomaru inwardly flinched as he saw the hurt look on the miko's face. He had not intended to hurt her more than she already was, but he comforted himself with the knowledge that it was for the best.

"Inuyasha can go to hell for all I care. I already know he was gonna choose her." While she said all this she refused to make eye contact with anyone. Even she knew that was complete and utter bullshit. What sesshomaru said hurt more than she wanted to admit even though her feelings for Inuyasha had been waning.

Sesshomaru could sense that the miko was lying but he chose to ignore it. He was pissed that she still held some sort of feeling for the filthy half breed even after what he did, but he supposed it could be expected. Women seemed to have a way of holding on to things longer than they should.

"Sesshomaru?" kagome said

"Hn" he replied.

"Do you think that we could travel with your group for a while? It won't be for a long time, just long enough that my kit and I could find a place to live." Sesshomaru pretended to contemplate this for a while. Of course it wasn't a problem. In fact it prevented him from looking for an excuse for her to travel with him. But he had to uphold his image, so he had to pretend to give her something to do.

"What can you possibly contribute to this Sesshomaru in order for me to grant your request?" kagome thought about this for a bit and came up with a brilliant idea. "I could look after to Rin for you. I could teach her how to read and write." Kagome said. "She already knows how to do these things." Sesshomaru stated. He enjoyed watching her squirm.

Kagome felt so stupid after he said that. Of course Rin knew how to do these things. She is Sesshomaru's ward after all. Damn it, now she had to come up with another idea. But before she could thinks of something sesshomaru relieved he of the burden. "Perhaps miko you could stay at my castle. After all you were the one who finally got rid of that disgusting spider, and you make my ward happy."

Kagome was left speechless for a while. She couldn't believe that he just made that offer. She wasn't too sure that this was a good idea. Living with sesshomaru meant seeing him every day and she wasn't sure that she could be around him that long without embarrassing herself. "I don't know about the whole castle thing sesshomaru. I mean, all I want to do is travel with your group until I find a good village that I could stay in."

Sesshomaru was disappointed that she didn't want to stay in his home. Many females would kill to have the opportunity to talk to this sesshomaru much less be asked by him to reside in his home. So he came up with another idea. "Perhaps it would be in your best interest to listen to me miko. For many human villages are attacked by blood thirsty yokai's and I'm sure that not even the little training that the taija gives you could hold off a whole hoard of them." Sesshomaru smirked at his own comment. Maybe being somewhat civil was not the best approach. Perhaps making her angry would reap a better result.

Kagome felt her anger rise as she heard his comment. How dare he suggest that she can't take care of her self? Only a few minutes ago he was saying that I did a good job against Naraku. She was getting sick and tired of these stupid dogs making her feel like she can't make up her own mind. "Who the hell do you think you are you stupid mutt? I can more than take care of myself thank you very much and I don't need you or anyone to take care of me. You and Inuyasha are more alike than I thought."

Before kagome could realize he mistake she felt he back slam against the tree she was sitting under before. She could see little bright spots before her eyes and her precious oxygen was being blocked by the powerful hand that was holding her by her throat and her feet were dangling above the ground.

"Don't you dare compare me to that filthy half-breed." Sesshomaru stated in a dangerous voice. He had not expected her to say something like that. It hurt him to think that she would compare him to his half brother. He hated the stench of fear that was coming off he, but was a little shocked to detect the faint scent of arousal.

Kagome was gripped with fear. All she could do was looking into the angry blood red eyes of sesshomaru. She couldn't believe she said that to him. She didn't want to die yet. But the more she looked into his eyes the more she felt her fear leaving her. Something about his blood red eyes was pulling her to him. She couldn't help but think that he was sexy when he was angry.

While they were immersed in each other, neither of them could see that the clearing they were in had started to glow. The only one that saw any of this was shippo. He had started to panic when sesshomaru had slammed his mommy into the tree but before he could do something about it a strange scent had started to come off kagome and then the whole clearing started to glow. He was very scared now, because he didn't know what was going on but he had a feeling it had something to do with the grown ups.

Sesshomaru could slowly feel his inner yokai start to take over. Her scent was starting to drive him crazy. Every fiber of his being was telling him to take the willing female that was in front of him. But before he could act on these feelings he detected the shift in his surroundings. He pulled away from kagome and was about to investigate when he noticed that the shift had disappeared.

He didn't know what it was but he was angry that he had let the control that he prided himself on slip. Nothing usually gets pass his superior senses but the moment her could scent her arousal he was lost. He turned to look at kagome. She was flushed and shaking from their little encounter so he doubted that she noticed what happened.

Kagome couldn't believe that they had come so close to kissing. One minute she was scared for her life the next they were about the ravage each other. She had never felt anything like that before in her life. This only further proved that she has no business going to Sesshomaru's castle. If being that close to him make he feel like this then being around him every day was going to drive her crazy. The weird thing was that when they were about to kiss she thought she had sensed a weird energy around them. Oh well, whatever. When she felt she had gotten herself together she looked up at sesshomaru to see him watching her. It pissed her off to see him look like nothing happened, while she was sure her face was a red as Inuyasha's robes. Well if he could pretend that nothing happened then so could she.

"Sesshomaru….. I think that I'm gonna take you up on that offer you made me. I'm also sorry about what I said." Kagome said. "I was pissed that you think that I couldn't defend myself and I wont let any one put me down." she finished. That was for damn sure. She really was sick and tired of everyone thinking that she needed protection all the time.

"I accept your apology miko. But I was only stating that you needed more training. Not all yokai's that attack human villages are weak, and with the training you had from the taija you would not be able to defeat an army of upper level yokai's. they tend to attack human villages that are full of females and use them for their own amusement." sesshomaru stated.

"Oh." Was all kagome had to say about that. He was right about the whole training thing. She hadn't finished her training with Sango. So what he said made sense. "I guess I wouldn't mind more training." she said.

So with them both in agreement, she set about to pack up the few things that she had taken from her bag. With that finished Shippo jumped into her arms and they followed sesshomaru towards the western lands.

AUTHORS NOTE: Please review. It would mean alot to me.