A.N. (sigh) I feel bad about how short these chapters are... but I'm still trying to figure out how to add on to those perfect drop-off moments and then find even better ones. It's proving to be a challenge though. Well, for a note, the first authors note is written first, days before the chapter is posted because I work on two chapters at a time. It's not as confusing as it sounds though. So, let's see how I do! And of course, I love my readers.

Kagome felt strange now that she knew that her little secret wasn't really a secret anymore. Somehow, knowing that someone else knew only elevated her fears for both herself and her child. It was obvious that Sesshomaru only knew because of his sharp nose, pregnancy had to at least change your scent oh so slightly. And for him, the slightest change did not go undetected. But, would that mean when she had to face the day where she found Naraku, would he know as well? Technically, Naraku was hanyo, not yokai as Sesshomaru, and her last... "meeting" with a hanyo had produced not a flicker of notice. But then again, Naraku was Naraku. He was the one always to pull the unexpected twists and turns, surprise you at any moment. And by the time the group could find him, Onigumo, the human of which gave his body and soul to unwillingly created a demon like Naraku, could be long gone.

Maybe that was what she feared the most, Naraku. Was it because he'd torn her soul in so many different ways in was near a point of no return? Or was it because she knew that all of her friends were murdered without mercy, left in the forest to die a slow and painful death? Was it because her past love had been ripped into shreds even after his death, the only whole part left of him probably being the arm that now rest connected to his elder brother's shoulder? But maybe, just maybe, it was because she actually held a true fear of him unlike before. Before, Naraku had been an enemy with slim to no weaknesses, someone to be afraid of only if he had actually gotten the chance to screw with your head. Of course, he had screwed with her head and with her friends', but there had been no real reason to hold an undeniable fear of himYes, if you were ever face to face with the monstrosity, you would indeed feel the adrenaline running through your veins, but not fear. Fear of Naraku was the fear of death, not pain, not injuries, but unmistakable death. And she had never felt that before. All she had wanted was to kill him and move on with her life in her own time, the full reality that she could actually die had never hit full on. That thought, well... was never thought.

But now it was.

Those clouds, off in the distance, were what made her think. It made her realize that he was near. The person that had killed her friends and destroyed her life was almost at her doorstep, about to knock. She thought she was ready for him, but in truth, she wasn't really. The taiyokai that walked not feet in front of her knew it, the small mutant yokai knew it, even Rin knew it. Kagome was too much of an emotional wreck to actually come face to face with Naraku at the moment, she needed time to heal, she needed time to come to earth.

--

Sesshomaru led the group as he always did, walking not two feet in front of his comrades, thinking. Those cloud covered mountains lay directly in front of his vision, irritating his nose at the scent of Naraku's demons...

Not long can you hide from me Naraku, for this Sesshomaru will not allow you to escape once again.

Naraku leaned back against the wall, his black hair falling in silky strands down his chest. His lips were in a small smirk, a plan unveiling in his mind after all this time. Now InuYasha, Sango, and Miroku were out of the way, not to mention the kitsune and Kirara. The only ones left were the three wolf yokai, Sesshomaru, and Kagome, whom to his eyes weren't much of a threat. The only one he gave half a thought to was Sesshomaru of the West, whom now weilded Tetsusaiga with the arm of his half brother. The yokai could produce a threat over time, hell, he already was. But that was the last of Naraku's worries, right now, he had other matters to deal with.

"Naraku," a voice rang out from behind the door of the room, "She is here."

"Let her in." Naraku replied, his voice cold.

The door slid open slowly, a woman clothed in white and red slowly walking over the threshold of the doorway, her eyes half closed. They were blank, the brown color dark and lifeless. Sadness and determination were written deep within them, the feeling radiating off her scent and reaching Naraku's keen senses. The sadness bothered him none, he actally liked it. But then again, anything dark was to his liking. Almost like a goth you'd see in modern days, he loved the darkness and other's pain. He thrived for it.

"Why did you wish to see me, Naraku?" her voice was cold just as his, her black bangs hiding her eyes.

"I would think you could figure it out on your own, hmm?" his voice was mocking, his gaze not even her way.

Her response was in silence, so he continued after a small pause, his voice all the darker,

"Kikyo," his lips curled into a thin smirk, "Kagome killed InuYasha."

Koga stared off into the sky, Sango walking alongside him once again. Ginta and Hakku were lagging behind as they always did, staring off into space in stupidity. The clouds were closer than they were before, and each demon became more irritated than ever with every waking moment. Well, at least when they were paying attention.

Sango glanced over at Koga, mouth open and about to speak, but then she turned away from him yet again. Not once in two days had he spoken, and Sango was begginning to worry. Still haunted by the thought she had done something wrong, all throught the day she'd been trying to speak to him, but always chickened out at the last second. He hadn't noticed her attempts either, so the whole thing was nearly pointless. But we all know Sango, if she wants to do something she'll do it... eventually.

So she turned her head back his way, and spoke softly, "Koga... what is wrong?"

He didn't answer right away, but rather turned her words over in his head, trying to make up a believable excuse. But when push came to shove, he couldn't find one. So instead, he went with something you would hear your teenager say after a day of school,

"Nothing."

--

Later on in the day, he was talking, but his vocabulary was very limited. "Yes," "no," "whatever," "nothing," "go ahead," "uh-huh," that was all you could get out of him. So, after hours of pestering from our respective idiots, the whole group found themselves silent. But yet again, just as she used to, Sango pressed her questions harder. Except, this time, she was withdrawn when she spoke, only audible to his ears, speaking in something of a pleading voice.

"Please Koga, I've never seen you this way... What's wrong? If it's about... Kagome... I know what you're feeling..."

Koga remained silent once more, but spoke this time in a quiet whisper,

"Sango... it's nothing. Please," he looked her way and smiled with half a heart, "don't worry about me."

But yet, even with this false -- but belivable -- reassuring statement, Sango felt that feeling of worry sneak up into her mind once more, unable to belive him. This feeling stayed with her until the end of the day, where they all sat around the fire as she snuggled close up to Koga in that reassuring state, and it just wouldn't go away. No matter what she willed, no matter what she wished. All she could do was stay warm next to him and lose herself in memories, without the faintest idea that Kagome had been only a few miles away not long ago and Koga hadn't been able to track her down.

--

Koga awoke from a light slumber the next morning in the darkness, yet something in his mind was telling him something wasn't right. He looked up at the sky in curiousity, a revolting scent lingering in his nose. And no doubt, the clouds that had reeked of yokai were above him, telling him one thing. Naraku was near. Too near, too soon. It was the truth that none of them were ready, but it was also truth that they would probably never be ready.

"Koga..." he jumped slightly, previously unaware that Sango had actually been awake as she lay in his arms, "Naraku is near... isn't he?"

He nodded solemnly in request, "We should get going, now."

In response to him Sango got to her feet, plugging her ears for what was about to take place.

"GINTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAKKU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Koga bellowed, annoyed that yelling this loud was the only was these two knuckleheads would get up from their deep, deep slumbers.

The two reponded as violently as they usually did, getting to their feet and emmiting soft yells.

"Time to go."

--

The scents of the millions of demons lurking around were screwing with the yokai's noses by the middle of the day, making it hard to distinguish one scent from another unless you were standing right next to someone. But the three got through the day, that was until a little mishap when they were starting to get hungry. With all the demons lurking about most of the animals had run off, so in truth, the group was shit out of luck. There was no game large or small roaming the woods, only the occassional insect or spider. And along with that the only river nearby was a while off and for some unlucky reason, Sango's arm began to irritate her and soon it was gushing blood. Just their day.

"Ginta, Hakku," Koga ordered from his spot next to Sango as he applyed pressure to her no bleeding arm, "Go to the river and get some fish, and one of you, follow the river to the closest village and get some bandages or herbs or something. And hurry about it. This is only getting worse."

And that was the truth. But now Koga's hand was coated in Sango's blood and her skin was beginning to turn pale. Not a sickly pale, a deathly pale. This bleeding was flowing as fast as a river, and had been like that nonstop for a good ten minutes now. But what was weird about it was how quickly it had came. They were beginning to think Sango could begin to retrain her arm with her weapons soon, but that was being proved wrong oh to well.

Kagome turned on Sesshomaru with sudden distaste, "Well!!?"

With the moon gazing down upon him, Sesshomaru didn't look away from her, only continued to stare. Her scent was filled with anger and confusion, and he was unsure why. Not a moment ago had she been sleeping soundly without a disturbance, what had happened? She began to scream a line of words his way, letting out all her anger in a quick motion, while he payed little attention. He was not going to give her the satisfaction of being acknowledged, but he was going to allow her to finally let out all of her pain. All of these thoughts she'd been running over in her head. She could blame him for whatever she wanted as far as he was concerned, he really didn't give a care in the world. But then she burst out something he never thought he'd hear.

"Dammit Sesshomaru! I know you! And I know that you are not stupid!" out of pure amusment and curiousity Sesshomaru turned his gaze to the miko, "There is no way that you haven't caught Sango scent yet! When InuYasha was alive -- dammit, you'd sense him from a few god damn miles away and come to kick his ass in an instant!!! There is just, just... just no way... why don't you just tell me where she is!? Take me to her?! I find her and I'm out of your hair, you won't have to deal with -- with this pathetic miko! I'll be gone and you can return to the life without InuYasha and his companions... forever..."

Swiftly as the anger had came, it left with her last words of outrage, leaving behind the tears that burned trails down her cheeks.

"Miko... Kagome," Sesshomaru said, his full attention towards her with the useage of her name, "There is a hot spring not far from here, I can hear the water. I want you to go there and calm down. I'm not sure what brought this upon you but I do know it had to be said. Now go. Go down the path we traveled today until you hear the sound of water. From there you know what to do. If you don't return in an hour I'm coming after you."

Silence passed slowly without any movement from her, but slowly she began to obey his commmands. And just as she turned to leave, he spoke once more.

"Kagome, you will not be leaving my group any time soon, whether we find your friend or not," he turned his gaze away from her and closed his eyes, "You are carring my neice or nephew, my hanyo brother's daugter or son. And as long as that baby is alive you will remain under my protection, and you cannot and will not have a say in that matter."

--

Sesshomaru walked down the path with an annoyed appearance, going after Kagome. Just as he had said, after an hour he was going to get her, but he wasn't quite happy about it. Yet he still went after her, being true to his previous words. But what he didn't know was what his words had actually done to her.

His word had such a likeliness to what InuYasha had said long ago that it had caused her subconscious to rerun the memories of what had happened the first time she had met Sesshomaru, sending her into the greiving state she had been able to free herself of the last few days. And as she waded in the water, sitting on a rock that was submerged, remembering all these things not only caused her to grieve, but also brought along the feeling of tiredness. And in becoming tired, she drifted off to sleep while still in the water, her head lolling on its side. And that was how Sesshomaru had found her, asleep.

In truth, he wasn't very thrilled about having to fish her out, but in the end he did, the cold air forming goosebumps on her nude form. Not allowing his eyes to linger on her body, he lay her on the ground gently as he scanned the area for her clothes. Finding them, he walked where they lay neatly on the ground, folded and stacked on top of one another. Kneeling down to pick up the first folded garment (the shirt), he stood, leting the clothing unfold in front of his eyes as he held it by the sleeve in his index finger and thumb. He gave it a curious look. He had never seen anything of it's type before. It was like a kimono shirt... without an opening in the front. He gazed down at the rest of her clothing, raising his eyebrow at the next item he saw.

It was pink and quite small. He had no idea what it was, and could not fathom how she put it on, what it was for, and why she even wore it. To his eyes, it looked like to peices of circular fabric held together by more thinner and slimmer fabric. The garment below it looked like... well... something. This one was white, small just as the other, and probably fit around her lower section. His guess as why she wore it was just as clueless as the others. So, deciding he better not try redressing her in her own clothes, he sighed and closed his eyes.

His fingers began to untie his yellow and purple obi (belt), his eyes closed throughout his "undressing." Once the obi fell to the ground in a silky pool, the opening of his shirt came undone, revealing a well toned chest and set of abs. He slid his left arm out first, allowing the shirt to then slide down his left shoulder into what was once his half brother's hand. From a near sight or far sight you could see the skin difference between the shoulder and arm, for InuYasha's skin had been much darker and rougher than his half brother's pale and fair skin. By now the color was beginning to blend with his own skin color, but it would never be exactly the same as was the way it usually went.

With his shirt and obi removed, Sesshomaru went over to Kagome's nude body, looking at nothing but her face. With some difficulty he managed to get her in his shirt, tie the obi around her waist, and balance her against his chest. Because of their size differences his shirt actually fit quite well on her, the ends of the sleeves only a bit past her fingertips and the end of the shirt covering as much as her skirt would regullarly cover. Content with how it fit, Sesshomaru "gently" threw her over his shoulder, her clothes in his other hand as he walked away from the water.

Luckily enough Hakku had retrieved plenty of bandages with a simple threat that day, but the unpleasent part was that the hunt for fish had been a failed attempt. At the least Sango's bleeding had receded, but they were nervous about it starting again. She still hadn't woken from her coma like slumber after hours and hours of recovering, and each demon was becoming more and more nervous. They had all seemed to take a liking to her in since her recent arrival, and they all wanted to protect her at any cost. And with this happening, you couldn't say that you would want to mess with them...

"I'm gonna go get some food, I'm hungry." Hakku announced, beginning to walk out of camp, "Anyone else that's hungry -- get your own food."

In response to that Ginta came up and bonked Hakku on the back of the head, but followed with him to get food anyways. And as they dissapeared into the darkness of the surrounding forest, Koga shifted in his seat next to the demon slayer. He wasn't hungry and he wasn't about to leave her, not like this.

Please Sango, wake up soon...

--

Ginta and Hakku were surprised to find that they were actually lucky tonight with the catching of fish, even if they were soaking wet. And as they both dried of on the shore of the river they chatted idly, trying to forget the despair of Sango's predicament if only for a moment. And with the clouds above them making the scents of others confusing, they didn't know that someone was near, someone they should run to at top speed.

When Kagome awoke, she awoke confused, thinking she had only closed her eyes for a second. But instead she was out of the water and dressed in something unfimiliar, leaned up against the trees in a darkness. She blinked a couple times, looking up at the sky. Those clouds were there and her miko senses were telling her the surrounding area was crawling with yokai. Trying to shrug it off, she blinked again, then looked at her comerads. Rin was sleeping, Jaken was missing, and Sesshomaru was staring off into space... topless.

She felt her mind do a little jump in shock. Why was he topless...? Then she looked down.

I'm... wearing his shirt!?!?! What the-

"Last night," he began, as if answering the question she hadn't even spoken, "you fell asleep in the springs, miko. I had no other choice but to fish you out of the water and dress you. The... easiest way to accomplish that task was to lend you my shirt and obi for the night. And if you would not mind, I would like them back."

Kagome knew, without a doubt, that her face was probably the color of a rose by now because of that last sentence, and she thanked the gods he wasn't looking at her right now. So, she grabbed her clothes that she found lying beside her and stood up with haste, quickly dissapearing into the near forest. She changed as quickly as she could, making sure she didn't dirty his shirt or obi in the process. When she reappeared from the forest she went over to the yokai lord somewhat hesitantly, handing him his clothes, now folded. He stood when she came to him, taking the clothes without a word, holding them in one hand while they unravled in front of him. He put on his shirt casually, closing it, then tying it with the obi in almost a hypnotic state, staring off into space. Kagome hadn't lingered to watch him dress, only returned to her seat. But almost seconds after she had sat, Sesshomaru spoke,

"Wake Rin, we are leaving."

So with a sigh, she stood, quickly going over to Rin and bending down to shake her shoulders. The young one awoke surprisingly fast, unlike Kagome had done at that age. Back then, she'd growl or whine at whomever was unlucky enough to try to get her up, then throw a fit and bury herself under the covers in one fluid motion. Rin also stood up almost automatically, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she chased after Sesshomaru, whom was already walking away from the site. Kagome too chased after him, in no rush to be left behind. Today she actually felt like she could try and return to her normal self, but that would all be thrown out of wack in not a few hours.

And of course, those few hours later, she was totally unaware. She was walking under the cloudy sky, talking to the hyperactive Rin at this point, not really paying attention to anything else but the young child. But Sesshomaru was the one that noticed the two yokai nearby, smelling of wolf and fish, niether posing a real threat to any of them. So at that point he shrugged it off, not wanting any more trouble than what couldn't be avoided. Yet those two demons noticed him as well, but instead of chasing after him blindly like most yokai would, they just tried to spot him out between the trees. Even with the clouds above screwing with their senses, Sesshomaru's scent and aura were to powerful to miss, and to formidable to ignore. When they actually did spot him through the trees and he spotted them, they were frightened by the snarl they got, and almost ran out of their resting area. But then they saw something through the trees as the opposing yokai walked away.

No one else would have... a skirt that incredibly short...

And Kagome had no idea they were watching her, frozen in shock and confusion, just a couple strides away from her. So she continued to walk, not once even glancing at them, unaware of their prescence. But the yokai, as idiotic as they were sometimes, did something that could have been classified as couragious or smart, but running strait into Sesshomaru's group and scaring the crap out of poor little Rin wasn't actually that smart after all. Luckily, Rin hadn't screamed or anything, just jumped and fell backwards onto Kagome's legs. When they had jumped right in front of the young one they had caught Kagome off gaurd as well, so she didn't really register who they were right away.

But when she did she found that she was unable to speak after their sudden entrance, and she found that they couldn't speak out of pure shock.

"Are you asking to die?" Sesshomaru's cold voice rang through the silence with a peircing force, and the fear on the wolf yokai's faces was obvious.

But somehow they managed to keep in their places, and miraculously Ginta learned how to speak,

"Ka... Kagome...?"

A.N. yay! Its finished! Over 4000 words... I hope that's long enough! REVIEW PLEASE! (Happy late Easter!)