Note: A reader asked me about Huro. I had neglected in telling you all who he is exactly. He is an ancient õkami youkai who served SesshoMaru as the top head servant in the palace, in short, he is the palace retainer and he takes care of the palace for SesshoMaru. He has grey hair, black and gray peppered tail. He dresses much like Jaken, except he has black hakama and gray top. He appears friendly and is very trusting yet he is ferociously loyal to the Nishitaisho family (SesshoMaru's family) and would defend the family with his life. He served the Nishitaisho since Toga (Sess's father) was young, taught him and SesshoMaru when they were young (he's been around like forever).

There you go, that's Huro. He will be appearing in Water and Fire as well, same character.

Day Five:

Kagome eyes remained close but she knew it was already morning. She was feeling so warm and comfortable and didn't want to wake up, yet her consciousness was awake. She tried to move but found herself restrained. Opening her eyes, she glanced down and saw a clawed hand snaked around her waist, holding her very intimately, the hand was splayed on her lower abdomen, so close to her womanhood. She blushed and felt a strong heartbeat thumping on her back and realized, SesshoMaru was behind her, spooning her body, his warm breath breathing on her neck, causing her to shiver.

The hand gripped her waist tighter, bringing her to his back fully and he whispered in her ears, "Keep up with the thoughts you are having now, I would be forced to take you right here and right now."

Kagome blinked and gave a questioning hum, afraid to open her mouth. He then chuckled into her neck, his voice causing a delicious shiver down her spine and the heat to pool in her belly. "Mmhm," He replied, "Whatever you are thinking, I can smell your arousal and it is rather tempting… I wouldn't want to ruin whatever we started to build." He murmured in her neck, giving her small kisses down her collarbone.

She gasped and went beet red then nearly groaned as his lips were doing wonderful thing to her neck and shoulder. She shivered and suddenly with a flash, SesshoMaru was above her, pinning her down, looking at her with fierce expression that she couldn't decipher for it was the first time she had seen him with such look. The look was making the heat in her belly burn like a hot fire.

SesshoMaru had woken up before Kagome, yet he chose to lie there, enjoying her in his arm, her body flush to his body as they spooned in bed. He could feel her heartbeat increase tempo as she started to waken. It wasn't long that he knew she was fully awake yet had not opened her eyes. She then started to move and he held her in place and he watched her move her head, assuming she was looking at his hand around her waist, sure enough she was. Suddenly, her scent changed, becoming spicier and making his head spin.

He assumed whatever she was thinking was causing her to become aroused. Amused at this, he warned her to stop, yet the scent was getting stronger. He couldn't help but bury his nose into her neck, trailing tiny kisses down to her collarbone and over her delicate shoulder. Her skin tasted so sweet and he wanted more. She shivered under her touch and he couldn't take it any more, with a quick move, he hovered over her, boring his eyes into her ocean eyes. He could smell her arousal become heavier.

Growling softly, "Kagome…" he heard her gasp softly and repeated, "Kagome… I warned you…" He groaned as he dipped her head to rest on her forehead, his breath mingling with hers. "I don't want to take you right here, right now without your lack of knowledge of InuYoukai mating. I know you are not ready for me…"

She reached up and touched his cheek, blushing hotly as she heard him. She saw the desire in his eyes and it made her feel special knowing it was her that caused such emotion in the stoic TaiYoukai. "I can't help it…" She started, whispering. "You're right, I better learn about the mating…" He saw her blush deeper and wondered how much more he could make her blush. "If you don't mind, get off me and let me up for the day." She gave a small laugh.

He crashed his body down upon her, causing her to gasp loudly in his ear. He closed his eyes, knowing such sound she made, he would hear again once he takes her for his own soon. He opened his eyes to meet her eyes. "You are mine…" he whispered and rolled right off her, allowing her free.

She laid there as his weight came free from her body. She never thought she would be in such place when he laid his body upon her. It felt good and she wanted more. She sat up and went over to her wardrobe, pulling open the door to pick the kimono for the day. She recalled the seamstress telling her that she would be wearing her kimono once, perhaps twice if she was lucky. She wonders how ravenous SesshoMaru could get and blushed horribly red. She shook her head and murmured under her breath, "I got to stop blushing."

"It's rather attractive on you." She gasped as SesshoMaru suddenly was behind her, whispering in her ear. "Sweet and innocent." He said with such ferocity that caused her to think of the wolf and the red little riding hood. She could imagine herself as that fairy tale girl, facing before the wolf. Then she realized she had thought something rather kinky and groaned, smacking her hand on her head. She heard SesshoMaru chuckle behind her, reaching around her to pull out his clothes for the day. "You've been thinking naughty thoughts since the moment you woke… what brings this on you?" He asked as he withdrew from her back and moved away to dress.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not my fault." She retorted lightly as she took the kimono in her hand and went toward the door that led to the bath. "It's your fault." She said before disappearing into the bath chamber that had adjoined the bed chamber, only separated by thin shoji wall with decorative painting on it, showing the scenery of the lush land and majestic mountains.

He chuckled softly and went on his morning ritual. It wasn't long before they both were ready for the day. He led her silently down the hall to the dining hall and they found Rin already awake and sitting at the table. They ate in silence once again, listening to Rin's chatter about her plan for the day.

Then Rin paused for a moment before asking Kagome, "Can you play with me this afternoon when you are done with your lesson?" She had known about Kagome's lessons with Shinji and didn't like it but knew the importance that Kagome to learn to be a Lady.

"Kagome has no more lessons with Shinji. She may spend her day with you." said SesshoMaru.

Rin cheered, "Yay, oh, Kagome-chan, I want to show you the West Garden. Ooh, we can make flowers…" She went on and on about what they could do, what they should do with Jaken and many other things. Kagome looked to SesshoMaru, smiling at him.

"Why don't we bring some of the scrolls outside and read in the garden?" Kagome turned to Rin and saw the girl nod in excitement. "That way, I can keep up with my study that I've started when I arrived here." She blushed slightly, knowing what she will be reading about later on that day.

When they had finished breakfast, they all headed to his office and he went about pulling several scrolls and handed them to Kagome. He gave her a hint of a sly smile and watched her head out into the garden with Rin. He noticed that she had long stopped blushing, assuming she was getting used to the idea by now.

As Kagome reached the garden, she found a large tall willow tree with branches and leaves draped down, giving a rather nice shade. She went under the tree and found cushions already there. She assumed it was a favorite place to read for someone. She sat down and picked up a scroll. Rin had joined her with a scroll of her own. She started to read and became enthralled with the history of InuYoukai.

She was surprised how far superior the InuYoukai race was, the scroll had documented war and accomplishments that had brought to the Western Land. How they had influenced the mankind without their knowledge and she could actually see how much of the InuYoukai could have been at hand of her future from where she came from.

She looked up to find SesshoMaru standing before her, looking down at her. Rin had gone off some while ago to play. He sat down where Rin had vacated and leaned on his elbow. She felt her heart beat faster as she watched him recline, his face expressionless yet she saw amusement and curiosity in his eyes. He looked like a god just lying on his side, propped up by his elbow, looking at her with such intense eyes.

"Anything interesting?" He asked his voice low. He knew his voice had such effect on her and wondered why he had not used such method from day one, they would have been making faster progress, but no, their stubbornness and pride had to stand in the way.

She lowered her eyes to the scroll she was holding and nodded. "The history is so fascinating. I never realized that the InuYoukai had so much influence in the world, even in the human's history. It's rally sad that they didn't know most of their lives were made by the InuYoukai."

SesshoMaru nodded as he reached out and took the scroll from her hand and scanned where she was at. "Ah, yes. Kami-Sama had originally made us out to rule the world, all creature and such. He favored the dogs, for their loyalty and intelligence."

Kagome rested her head on her hand which was propped by her elbow, "Yeah, but what happened to the original plan, it obviously didn't happen then."

SesshoMaru leaned back and crossed his arms under his head, "That's another story for later. Now, did you read the other scrolls yet?"

Kagome shook her head and saw that there was only one scroll left to read. She picked it up and read it. She went red once again and sighed, "This is the mating scroll." She murmured.

He looked over to her and chuckled softly as he saw the pink tint on her cheeks. "How many times must you blush today alone?" He asked his voice soft and low.

"Stop teasing me. This kind of things is not a subject I tread on often." Kagome replied waspishly and returned to reading. "My, my…" She murmured as she kept on reading. "Not much difference from human mating except for the procedure."

SesshoMaru glanced up through the tree to the sky, watching the birds fly overhead. "Yes." He replied. "That is the only difference. There's grooming, exchange of bloods and giving one another pleasure before finally sealing the deal with the act."

Kagome stared agape at the scroll as it gave very explicit details. "Why is this required?"

SesshoMaru tilted his head to study her feature. "It is required to strengthen the bond between the two. It doesn't happen very often, the Silver Inu is growing less and less each century because the ritual is not followed through. The ritual also helps the female to go into heat to ensure pups."

Kagome frowned as she placed the scroll down. "SesshoMaru, I don't understand. Why is it so hard for your race to breed? In the last few days I have been here, I have seen different kind of youkai servants in your household, some are inu youkai, none of them are of your color, the white ones."

SesshoMaru sat up and turned himself to face her. "I am a Silver Inu. You will not find any Silver Inu servants, only the Silver Inu are of royalty. And indeed, there are not many of us left."

"Oh, no wonder." Kagome's eyes went wide. "But why me?" She asked as she tilted her head. "Those three old men said something about taking a Miko as a mate… won't I give you a hanyou child?"

SesshoMaru smirked slightly, "No. You are a Miko, and when we mate, you will give me a full blooded inu pup, a Silver Inu to be precise. The Silver Inu is considered Kami's favorite race, we are the only youkai with pure power, much like the Miko's, making us compatible without harming one another. The elders chose you because you are one of the most powerful Miko alive in this time." He rose from the cushions and held his hand out for Kagome to take.

She took his hand and he helped her up and led her back into the palace, leading her through the hallways until they approached a hallway with shoji wall that had painting on them. Not a single shoji in the palace were blank, all of them had images everywhere, of anything from history to tales and songs. They were all beautiful and precise painting, making the walls unique.

SesshoMaru gestured to the wall, "This is the history of the Silver Inu, of how they came to be in the beginning."

Kagome studied the wall, it was the full hallway. As she walked slowly, taking in the images, she could tell where the story begins and moves on. The painting was amazing in details. It was a backdrop of the Western Land, in its glory from the highest mountain to the lowest valley, covered in lust green forest. She recognized InuYasha forest and the snow capped mountain along the border. She had traveled there herself several time with InuYasha in the search of the Shikon no Tama shards.

As she moved along, she saw images of inu youkai, she figured was the ancestor of SesshoMaru's clan and the former Lords before Inutaisho. Finally, she recognized a figure to be Inutaisho. She touched the image, tracing his outline and whispered, "Your father."

"You recognize him." SesshoMaru stated his voice in slight awe. He was rather surprised that Kagome knew what his father looked like.

She looked up to him and smiled shyly. "I remember what he looked like when he appeared after we sealed So'Unga in hell." She turned and looked at the wall, seeing the story progress, telling how he met a Miko and gave birth to a son, who became SesshoMaru. Then the Miko disappeared from the picture, oddly enough, the entire time, she had no face. Kagome frowned, wondering at this. She noticed a familiar tale where Inutaisho met a human princess and fell in love with her, creating InuYasha then.

The painting showed that he was wounded by battling Ryuukotsusei and confront with young SesshoMaru. Since the images did not show dialogues, she wondered what words were exchanged between them then. Finally, the death of Inutaisho, in the fire locked in battle with Sestuna no Takemaru and Izayoi, the human princess holding an inu-hanyou child. It was the last documented images of Izayoi and InuYasha.

Kagome came to the next part of the wall and saw the image of young SesshoMaru. She guessed it was when he became the next Lord of the Western Land. The painting was almost exact, down to every detail. She reached up and traced SesshoMaru's young face. His face was set in innocent expression yet his eyes held hatred. Her heart went out to him, because she knew how he felt when Inutaisho died, angry that his Father had turned to a human and bore a hanyou. Angry that Takemaru had been the cause of his father's death.

She turned and on the opposite wall, she frowned, trying to figure it out, there was an image of a woman next to the backdrop of scenes, background and many images. She looked like an ancient Miko, dressed in the Miko garb and ancient armors. Kagome studied her face, finding the Miko familiar and it hit her, "That's Midoriko!" She gasped as he came behind her. "Midoriko, the creator of Shikon no Tama?" Kagome asked, looking up to his face.

"Hai, my father felt he should honor her, having this painted and this," He gestured to the mural of stories that she had took her time looking at. "This is the history of the Silver Inu Clan."

Kagome turned to the mural and it started to make sense to her, a little bit. "What happened there?" She pointed to the battle, blood and massacre of the Inu Youkai.

SesshoMaru gave a single nod, figuring she would learn eventually and the time was good. "In the beginning of the time, Silver Inu was a favorite race of the Kami, however, he made us too arrogant, harsh and selfish," He heard her snort and smirked a bit, "You believe this so?" He turned to her.

She glanced up at him, having the gall to look sheepish, "Yeah… you're arrogant and conceited. It makes senses. InuYasha is too, I suppose it's hereditary. Sorry, continue your story." She waved her hand.

He turned back to the mural, ignoring her underlying insults, finding them amusing. "The male of the Silver Inu became selfish with the female, they were too rough, in the end, and they were all wiped out. The Kami was very upset, he decided to not create any more female Silver Inu, and our lineage was in danger of fading out through cross breeding with other species." He moved to the scene on the mural where a large InuYoukai in his true form was standing next to a human woman, it was obvious that the woman was a Miko for her garb was red and white. "One of my ancestors found that he could keep the lineage pure by mating with a Miko, a powerful one." He turned to Kagome, "thus, it had become our tradition to mate with Miko and breed our lineage, to keep it going, pure and unsullied."

"So, that's why I am here… I'm a Miko and you need an heir." She sighed and closed her eyes, crossing her arms to hug herself, "I'm not from this era, I shouldn't be the one."
"Hai. But it is unfortunate; you are indeed the most powerful Miko in the area, perhaps, since Midoriko. The elders," He turned to the mural, "they are one of the few remaining true Silver Inus from the beginning of the time. They regret what had happened and they made it to their life's sole duty to the Silver Inu Clan to see that we keep our lineage going." His hand dropped from her shoulder.

She felt the warmth disappear, "What happened here?" She pointed to the scene above the inu and the Miko, where there was thunderstorm clouds hovered.

"When the Kami found that the Silver Inu found a way to keep their lineage pure, he cast a curse upon us, only male Inus would be born, no female. The elders believed that only a powerful inu and a powerful Miko would break the spell. How, I'm not quiet sure."

Kagome turned to SesshoMaru, "I see. Then, why is Midoriko is here?"

He looked to his mother's picture. "Midoriko… was my mother."

She gasped, "Your mother?" She grasped the jewel that hung around her neck in her hand. He turned to her and covered her hand over with his own, "Hai. You see why you are chosen to give me an heir?" He asked, searching her blue eyes, he found that he could read her emotions within them.

Kagome nodded, "I understand. I suppose, I'll…" She choked up and he saw the sadness in her eyes, "I'll give you your heir."

He threw the resisting out of the window and gathered her in his arm, he took her close to his body, "You wish to not part with the child, I understand this. I… I do not want my son to grow up without a mother, this is why you must be my mate, and be the mother to my son as he grows up."

Kagome sniffed as tears started to stream down her face, "You, you didn't grow up with a mother?" She looked to the image of Midoriko.

"No. Once she gave birth to me, she left. Inutaisho told me that she had a greater duty…" He drew back from her and took hold of the Shikon no Tama, rolling it between his thumb and finger,"She in the end made this." He sensed sadness in her, "You are sad."

Kagome nodded, "Yes. I… I want love… but in this case, I know it will be a long time before I have love."

SesshoMaru reached up to brush her hair away from her face, "You want love… True, we do not have such word for love in our language; it is simply an emotion that we find as a weakness…" He tilted her chin up. "It will be difficult. We express it differently than human do, and you only know the way humans express it."

Kagome gave a sad smile, "We are of two different worlds."

He gave a nod. "Hai."

"If I learn the way you express love, will you give it to me?" She asked with tiny voice, her eyes welling up with tears.

He stared at her, studying her face and one by one, the tears rolled down her cheeks. He felt stabs of pain in his chest, one for each tears. He realized he wanted her to be happy, make her happy and keep her happy. He didn't like the feeling he have when she was sad or upset. He knew a few days ago that he wanted to protect her and provide for her. He would kill for her; give her whatever she wanted if she ever asked. Is this love? He asked himself and the answer was staring at him in the face. It indeed was. A soft smile graced his lips as he wiped the tears away, he knew, if she ever cry, he would make sure he was there, to wipe each tears away, "You already have it."

AN:

Sorry… (Ducks the oncoming fruits and vegetables.) Had to stop right here at the climax of the chapter and it was getting a bit long. If I kept going, it would have been twice longer. I want to keep the chapters for this story a little over 5 pages long each.

Whoa… I checked the stats of this story and saw there are 73 people who put this story under their alert list. Wow… Here's a challenge from me for you all. Each one of you who put this story on their alert list, please leave a review, just one to answer my questions and you are welcome to leave comments as well. I'd love to hear your comment on this chapter too.

What should I do with InuYasha?

What about Kikyo?

If not Kikyo, who should I pair InuYasha up with?

Should I bring in Kouga? (It's most likely I will)

Should I give you the lemon? (I already have lime planned out; if you consider the beginning of this chapter a Sprite ™… you know what you are getting.)

Let me know.

Love you all! Hugs!