Well, I was kinda bored today, and decided to submit another chapter. I forgot how time-consuming and tense it was waiting for people to comment, lol... and, since this part is pretty funny to me, it's a bit longer than usual, so be sure to slap your knees at least once, kay??

Deds:

DemonDog113 - You could NEVER bug me! I live to read reviews! I'm glad you liked it, and hey, I couldn't even wait to submit this chap, so... don't ever think you're a bother, cause you rock!!

helenluvsboo - Thanks, again!!

Mystical Hanyou - Well, consider your limb strong enough to hold you up - for now! Lol, your getting warmer, but I think things might go a bit differently, to everyone's surprise, heehee!


Question Existing

Three hours later they were still walking, and Kagome was beginning to get hungry, and restless. The urge to pee was bad and getting worse, and to top it all off, Sesshoumaru hadn't spoken a single word since they'd started.

It's like following an iceberg, only he moves slightly faster.

She remembered suddenly a song from her time, and she soon found it buzzing around inside her head, like a bee in a bottle, just begging to get out. She began to hum.

Making little jumping steps quietly, to tamp down her raging bladder, she began to whisper, "Green Sally up, green Sally down..."

Sesshoumaru could hear everything. She appeared to have some sort of inner torment at first, but suddenly she'd begun humming. It was terribly annoying.

When she started to sing, he drew the line. "We stop here."

"Oh thank Gods," Kagome mumbled and dropped her bag like it was hot, and dashed away into the bushes.

Sesshoumaru allowed himself a small smile at the sound of liquid hitting grass. Her obvious discomfort was small satisfaction compared to the annoying sound of her voice as she sung.

Kagome returned a moment later, looking much better. He raised a brow.

Sitting down near where he leaned, she took out a small yellow bag, crushed it with her hands, and then opened it. Taking out a small packet, she ripped it open and dumped a small amount of yellow powder into the bag, shook it up, then noisily began to eat it.

The scent of meat drifted over to him, and to his embarrassment, his stomach growled. He made a face.

Kagome smiled at him. "Hungry?"

He looked away. "Hardly. Besides, I don't eat what you humans do."

Well, she thought, at least we seem to be giving more than one word answers and commands now.

"And what, exactly, do you eat?"

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, annoyed. She was becoming a bit too presumptuous for his liking.

Deciding he'd spoken to her enough, he replied stiffly, "None of your business, miko."

She made a face and set down her little baggie to hold up her hands in a defensive gesture. "Hey, don't get your undies in a bunch. I was just curious."

He turned to stare at her as if she had two heads. Did she think she had some right to know all about him?

Before he could gather his thoughts and remind her of her station, she rushed on. "It's not like you have to get all emo on me, Sesshoumaru. It's not a crime to be nice, you know. And, if I remember correctly, I answered all of your inane questions this morning, and you didn't see me getting all huffy about it."

He jutted out his jaw and tried to keep his expression blank. She was really something else, this woman.

Giving in for the sake of avoiding anymore questions, he replied, "If you feel you must know, I eat raw meat."

She raised her brows without changing her own blank expression. "Tasty." Her tone was sarcastic.

He felt his youki rise. She was really beginning to get under his skin.

Detecting his anger, Kagome offered him a dazzling smile and said, "If it makes you feel any better, Sesshoumaru, I'm not surprised at your choice in entrees. In fact, I'm fine with it. You worry too much about what other people think."

I also do whatever I please, he thought, and right now I'd like to have your head on a plate. Though his next words totally contradicted his thoughts, he doggedly ignored the fact.

"I have a certain reputation to uphold. I don't keep my land and my title by acting on my impulses. You would be wise to do the same."

She crunched on her lunch and gave him a crooked smile. "Wow. I think that's the longest sentence you've spoken yet. It's much better than the one-word answers earlier."

He glared at her, and she could see why others were afraid of him. Most people would have fainted to be on the receiving end of his wrath, but Kagome was just getting started. She'd met no one like Sesshoumaru before; so reserved, quiet, and cold. He distanced himself from everyone, and seemed to view the world with a detachment that was so unlike a dog demon, or so she thought. Dogs, on the whole, were highly social animals. They tended to congregate in packs in the wild, and when tamed, were very loyal to their masters; in the wild, their loyalty to each other ran deep. Kagome had had a dog once, and he had been the sweetest animal she'd ever owned. He never wanted to be away from her. Which was why she couldn't understand Sesshoumaru's behaviour. He exhibited all the opposite traits that a dog should; obviously he'd cultivated his attitude. Surely no one could be born as emotionally cut-off as he seemed to be?

She went a little further, just to see if he'd blow up. She was reasonably sure he wouldn't kill her, because she could purify him, but he was the most dangerous demon she knew; toying with fire was only the beginning.

"Does it bother you that I am so open about myself, Sesshoumaru?"

He looked back at her, and wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of an answer, but thought better of it. "Does it bother you that I am not?"

She smiled at him, this time in what he was sure she was unaware was a sensual way. "Touche. Now you're playing the game."

Finishing her lunch, she stuffed the empty bag into her pack and picked up her strange-looking bow. "If you don't mind, I'm going to practice my archery. Feel free to watch."

He watched her walk away, inwardly flabbergasted at her audacity. He revised his opinion of her. She is a walking dead woman.

Kagome went a few hundred yards away, picked a target, and loosed one arrow after another, and by the time she was out of arrows, she'd created a smiley face of arrows in the bark of the tree she'd chosen.

"Your marksmanship is much improved," he remarked, right in her ear. She jumped.

"Do you enjoy sneaking up on people?! Because it's rude," she huffed, and he bestowed her with his first smile - ever. She walked away to retrieve her arrows, and he thought lazily, This Sesshoumaru: One. Kagome: Nothing.

Kagome gathered her arrows and came back, her mood improved. So he thought he could play the game, did he? Well, we'll see how you do under a little more pressure, your Highness.

Taking up her position again, she drew the string, then aimed. Before she loosed it, she asked, "Sesshoumaru? You have a very nice smile." The twang! of the string was loud in the quiet clearing, and she turned to smile at him. He only stared at her as if he was attempting to decide whether or not to eat her for dinner.

Upping the ante, she asked, "Do you breath down the neck of every woman you escort?" She was rewarded by the narrowing of his eyes, and to her delight, he leaned closer.

"No. Just you."

Grinning, she slung the bow over her shoulder and flung the quiver of arrows over the other. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked me, Sesshoumaru." Walking past him, she gave him no more of her attention as she scooped up her bag and added it to the load on her back, before speaking without turning around. "Come on, milord. Time's a wastin'."

Pouting his lips in a rare show of anger, he considered leaving her to her own devices, but he refused to let her get away with the last word. He was Sesshoumaru, damn it! He would not be verbally bested by a woman, and a human one at that.

Using his demonic speed to catch up, he lifted the small chunk of hair by her ear and whispered, "Lead the way, Kagome."

Her name on his lips unexpectedly made her knees buckle, and she almost stumbled as she glared at him over her shoulder. So, he thought he could use her attraction to him against her, did he? She thought she'd been hiding it rather well. Since that fact seemed to be out in the open, she decided that all was fair in love, war, and Sesshoumaru.

Almost appalled that he was being so openly playful, she wondered if he wasn't just the stoic monolith of a man he always appeared to be. Perhaps she was right and that was simply a facade; if, indeed, this was his true nature, it was refreshingly frank. She guessed someone of his rank in life would have to be cold to survive amongst demon society, but perhaps she could relieve him of that. Perhaps he was even pleasant underneath all that ice.

"Miko."

She stopped, and turned around. "Yes?"

His eyes moved to look past her, and she followed his gaze. Through the foliage, about two hundred yards away, a buck with a large rack grazed silently.

"It would appear that opportunity has just presented itself."

She swallowed. "Indeed, it has."

Quietly, she removed two arrows from her quiver, and stuck them in the soft earth at her feet. She knelt on one knee, and nocked the first arrow, aiming carefully.

Sesshoumaru knelt next to her, close, but not quite touching her, and reminded her softly, "Watch the target, miko, lest you miss."

She swallowed, trying to ignore the loud pumping of her blood through her ears at his proximity. She'd never noticed it before, but he smelled very nice, despite the heat of the day and what she was sure was her sweaty stench permeating the air. Yet another trait inherent to Mr. Perfect, she thought nastily.

Drawing the string, he watched her fingertips turn white as the blood was forced out of them by the pressure she exerted to hold on. She barely quivered, and let the arrow loose, hitting the deer in its' ribs and sending it dashing away, its' life-force quickly draining from it.

She lowered the bow and smiled to herself. It was going down, and with her first shot! She collected her other arrow and calmly began to track the dying buck.

Sesshoumaru was impressed. He'd thought she'd fold, unable to bring herself to kill another being, even for food, but he had to give her credit. She had more to her than met the eye, definitely.

Kagome finally found the dying buck, lying on its side, its' breathing laboured. It was drowning in its' own blood.

Swiftly, to end the animal's suffering, she picked up a nearby rock and slammed it down on the buck's skull, killing it. Sesshoumaru watched in silence. Slowly, Kagome took out her knife and began the arduous task of dressing the deer.

After a while, she wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her arm, smearing her makeup and adding a long red streak to her skin.

"You know, you should have some of this. I can't possibly eat it all."

He noted the edge in her voice; he pushed himself off the tree he was leaning against and replied, "It will not be wasted. Others watch us even now, awaiting the right opportunity."

She turned to look at him over her shoulder, and sighed in exasperation. "Would it kill you to accept meat, even though a 'weak human' killed it? Honestly."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, but she didn't see it, having turned around again. Stepping closer, he crouched next to her, and gazed into her soft eyes as she turned them on him. He was surprised to see tears gathering there; apparently she was not as immune as he'd thought she was to the messy task at hand.

"Why do you cry?" he asked, curious. Her eyes sparkled when they were wet.

She sniffed loudly and looked away, the fresh tears making wet tracks down her cheeks with the sudden movement. "I'm not. I just don't like killing things, is all."

Such a sentiment was foreign to him. He'd been killing things for as long as he could remember; most of the time it wasn't even to feed himself, but for the pleasure of it; his position in life was very stressful at times, and killing something always released his tension, relaxed him. If something else was having a worse day than he, he felt much better.

Strangely, though, he had expected no less of Kagome. Her nature was gentle; he had known few females in his life who weren't. His mother had been a gentle woman; she had even cried once when he was small after she'd caught him murdering a butterfly in the garden, and had punished him severely. He'd not understood her anger, but looking back on the incident, in hindsight, seemed to make more sense now. Was it this same sentimentality that had caused his mother to berate him so harshly about something that, to him, seemed so trivial?

Kagome sniffled again, and he snapped back to the moment. Her hands, covered in slick blood, drying around the edges, trembled slightly as she worked. Her lips pressed together firmly, and her chin jutted forward. She was obviously distressed, and, thinking of his mother, he thought he knew why.

Kagome was surprised when Sesshoumaru's warm hand touched her back, settling there and staying. She looked back at him again, and he did something then that was quite out of his character: he pulled her toward him in a tight embrace and held her closely.

Letting her surprise pass, she gratefully leaned into him and started to cry all over again.

"I hate death," she stuttered through her sobs, "I hate killing. Why does everything have to die?"

Sesshoumaru was unsure if she was asking him specifically or just the world in general, but he replied anyway.

"That is the way of life, miko." He rubbed her back comfortingly. "Death is simply a part of it."

She pressed her face to his shoulder. "But why? I don't understand." Shocked at herself, she revealed to him the stem of her miseries. "My father was killed when I was very small. He was young, strong, and healthy, Sesshoumaru, and then one day, just like that, he was crushed under a pile of iron girders. He never even had a chance..." she was sobbing uncontrollably now, and his brow furrowed. She was young, too, and every day was a game of wits against death, but she didn't seem to be worried for her own safety; the safety of those around her seemed to trouble her for a reason he couldn't fathom.

"We cannot control our fate, Kagome." He used her name for the second time, and it felt nice. His stomach flipped over, but he staunchly ignored it. "There is a saying: 'Death smiles at us all; all a man can do, is smile back.'"

Wiping her eyes, she pulled away from him so she could see his face better. "What about you? Have you ever 'Smiled at Death'?"

He lowered his gaze to the bloody grass at their feet. "I am very old, Kagome. Old enough to know that death is just another part of life. It's the part that comes afterward."

She looked at his hip. "What about Tensaiga? You could save hundreds, Sesshoumaru; yet you don't. How can you not, knowing that you have the power, and need only to make up your mind to use it?"

He brought his gaze back up to hers. Was she so naive that she thought he, Sesshoumaru, would lower himself to such behaviour? He loathed his heirloom sword. It had its uses, but mostly it was just that; an heirloom, a reminder. A relic of a man whose emotions had ruled his heart and his mind.

Yes, he realised. She thinks of nothing but the welfare of others. Her nature was that of a loving, caring female. He stared at her in almost awe. He had never known anyone as compassionate as she, and it almost scared him.

"I use it when I have to. It is not my business nor concern to go around saving everything I come upon. It is undignified."

She frowned, angry. "Undignified?! How can you say that? What's undignified is that you think it is undignified! Where's your compassion? Your heart? Don't you feel anything at all for those in need?" Her eyes were growing moist again, and her body trembled in anger. He stared into the soft, wet eyes of the small woman before him and for the first time since the death of his mother felt humiliation. Breaking her gaze, he stood and offered her a hand.

"Go wash in the river. I will finish here."

Kagome took his hand, but still seethed with anger at his seemingly callous attitude towards those in need, but refrained from commenting lest she lose her temper completely.

Wandering away, she looked back, and thought for the second time that she hadn't imagined it; he really did look remorseful.

At the river's edge, she stripped off her outfit and stuck a toe in the water; it was freezing! But she was bloodier than a murder victim, so she sucked it up and jumped in.

The shock of the cold was immediate. It seeped into her skin like needles, forcing her to the surface. Kagome shook out her hair and swam around until the water warmed up. Before long, she was having fun.

Getting out half an hour later, she felt reasonably sure Sesshoumaru wouldn't come to fetch her. I'm sure such actions are beneath his Highness, she thought, stretching out on a flat rock with her hands behind her head, to let the sun dry her naked body.

After a while she fell asleep. She dreamed that she was still at the river, and that a noise had frightened her. She turned to see Sesshoumaru in her face, having shed his own clothes and baring his pearl-white skin for her eyes to feast upon.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, his voice husky.

Kagome jolted awake, and an unfamiliar face floated above her, a smirk lifting his lips. She jumped to cover herself and hissed, "Who the hell are you?"

The man chuckled as she rushed to cover what he'd already seen, had been admiring, in fact, for the last hour.

Kagome stared at him, hard. He was a demon, for sure; the pointed ears, teeth, and claws told her that much. He looked remarkably like Kouga, only his hair was red and his body much beefier.

"Name's Raidon. What are you doing out here all alone?"

She frowned. He looked like a wolf, and he looked friendly; his handsome smile was doing little to keep her frown on her face. She wasn't dumb enough, though, to trust him yet. If he was anything like Kouga, he was harmless. But, like men, not all demons were alike. His name meant Thunder God. Was that an omen? She wondered.

"I'm not alone."

His smile widened. "Don't be afraid. I don't eat humans."

She snorted. "I don't care if you eat porcupines. I'm not afraid."

Now he laughed. "I can smell your fear. It's kinda obvious, but unnecessary. Who are you with, then?"

Kagome pondered the wisdom of telling him her escort was Sesshoumaru, Lord of the West, lest she cause some sort of skirmish. So, she simply replied, "That is my business, and none of your concern. If you are quite finished here...?"

Raidon folded his arms. The little wench was attempting to get rid of him, was she? Her face was a delicious shade of pink, and it was beginning to travel downward toward her chest, which she staunchly kept covered. She was wary, but he couldn't fault her for it. Humans were normally terrified of demons; she herself had likely had an unfavourable encounter or two to solidify her attitude on that subject.

"I won't leave a woman alone to fend for herself. Will I be out of line by making sure you get back to wherever you're from safely?" At that point, like a gentleman, he turned his back on her to allow her to dress in private.

Scooting quickly to do just that, Kagome wondered just what kind of demon she'd run into here. He was more considerate than most men she'd ever met, and she hadn't even told him her name.

When she was sufficiently covered, she replied, "If anything goes wrong..." she let the warning hang.

He turned, both hands up where she could see them. "I promise to be on my best behaviour." He smiled reassuringly, and, unable to help herself, she smiled back.

By the time they reached she and Sesshoumaru's campsite, they were talking like old friends. It turned out Raidon was the leader of a local wolf tribe, and was a professed human devotee, because of every one he'd met, he'd made a friend.

"I just can't do it," he was telling her as they entered the clearing where the fresh deer meat was dressed and the carcass removed, "I just can't eat a being that looks and converses like me. Maybe some other demons can, but not me."

Kagome smiled. "You know, I'm friends with several demons, and they've reformed since I met them, but you, you're the only one I've ever met, besides Inuyasha, whom I liked almost instantly. You're really one of a kind, Raidon!"

He grinned, and she laughed. They stopped, and faced each other. "And you, Kagome, are quite a woman. I can certainly see the priestess in you; your powers are strong. With practice, I suspect that soon you'll be nigh untouchable."

She blushed, and turned away. "You flatter me too much, Raidon." She looked around. "Now where did he get to?"

"Where did who get to? Your companion?"

Kagome nodded. "He was here when I left..."

Raidon wrinkled his nose a bit. "Did your companion by any chance happen to be of the canine persuasion?"

She turned and smiled at him again. "Yes. Why?"

He shook his head, not wanting to alarm her. "No reason. Well, if you'll be alright from here, I'll mosey on."

She reached out to stop him. "Don't be silly. Stay for dinner."

He looked back at her, his heart speeding up. "Are you sure your friend won't mind?"

"Of course not. Besides, you're my friend, and he doesn't tell me what to do. I insist."

He shrugged, and gave her a grin. "Why not? I am kinda hungry."

"Good! Because my specialty is cooking over a campfire."


Sesshoumaru watched the pair with a growing anger he couldn't control, or reason with. He'd gone to fetch her from the river, but when he'd approached, she'd still been swimming, so he had decided to give her more time. On his second trip, and hour later, he'd been about to rush to her rescue when she and her apparent attacker had started to chat like old friends and walk, side by side, back to camp. He'd frowned, and hadn't stopped since.

Now, as he sat watching them from high in a tree, he began to feel what he thought must be jealousy. He hadn't felt such an emotion in several years, but recognising it was slow and embarrassing. She was human, for Gods' sake! And yet... What she'd said earlier had stirred something in him, something soft, and gentle. Something he'd kept hidden for a long time, and now she'd brought it out and awakened it. He indeed felt ashamed for acting without mercy in the past, but he had been trained to do so; in his world, it was kill or be killed. Too often there was no room for the kindness she cared so passionately about.

The demon she'd found, a wolf from the smell of him, seemed innocent enough. He reminded Sesshoumaru uncannily of Kouga, only the red hair setting them apart, and body size. He felt no misgivings about holding his own against the wolf in a fight, should it come down to that.

On the other hand, though, Kagome was only a ward, for the moment. He couldn't afford to let himself think of her as any more than that, lest he lose himself, and everything he'd worked so hard to defend. He knew his allies did not approve of the small girl he cared for; what would they do if he took on a woman, too?

Sesshoumaru knew exactly what they would say. They would say he had become weak like his father, and they would take them away from him; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, they'd say, and kill them before his very eyes. He couldn't let that happen.

But his heart wasn't listening to his brain. It had plans of its own.


Inuyasha sat outside Kaede's hut, sulking. Sango had informed him of news of a jewel shard to the West, and had only just now told him of it. They had lost so much time!

And Kagome. News of her new plan had thrown him off. Was she that mad at him that she'd risk going off on her own?

After they'd gotten on the road, he was still stewing about it.

"I can't believe you let her leave alone, Sango. How could you do that?" He'd been threatening to go after her all day, but Sango had made him promise to leave Kagome alone.

Sango huffed, exasperated, for the tenth time. "I let her go because I believe in her, Inuyasha. Which is more than I can say for you."

His cheeks flamed and he frowned, looking at the dirt passing below.

Miroku remarked, "I think it will be a good lesson for Kagome. She has learned a lot since she came here. It will do her good to test her skill on her own." He was thinking that she'd likely appreciate more the time to herself she'd have, away from them all. Even he could admit that living with your friends day in and day out could be exhausting, in more ways than one.

"What if she gets hurt? What if she's attacked?" Inuyasha fretted, and Miroku patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"What if she's not, Inuyasha? Have faith in her. She'll be fine."

Inuyasha mumbled, "Easy for you to say."

Miroku grinned. He understood perfectly the hidden meaning behind the mumbled remark. His friend was still too pig-headed to admit that he loved Kagome.

Sango added, "Kagome's a priestess in training. She knows how to defend herself, when it comes right down to it."

Inuyasha sighed. "Still."

Shippo looked at Inuyasha from his shoulder, taking in the hanyou's worried face and drooping ears. "She'll be okay, Inuyasha. Honest."

Inuyasha mustered a small smile for the kit, but inside, he was almost out of his mind with worry. The only thing keeping him from breaking his promise to Sango was fear of retribution, but even that was holding him back by a mere thread.

Nervously, he began to masticate his thumbnail.


Note: Kagome's song is by Moby from Gone in Sixty Seconds, and Sesshoumaru's quote is from Gladiator. Lol, Sessh-pants is gettin' green, heehee! I love tinkering with a character's emotions. Make 'em do whatever they'd never do, hahahaha! (I'm an evil Jim Henson) :D:D:D:D:D