Confused Lord

*Unfortunately, I do not own Inuyasha and Company. Rumiko Takahashi does. (Except Koneko, she's mine.)

*Note: This is skipped to when Naraku is defeated. This is where the writing should get better.

Everyone was silent. They held their breath like if they breathed, Naraku would appear out of the bushes. Kagome broke the silence as she turned to Miroku, "Is he gone?"

Miroku slowly unwrapped his cursed hand and stared at it. Nothing sucked him up.

Rin finally spoke up, "Is it over?"

Koneko broke out in a big smile. She didn't care that Sesshoumaru would probably kill her. She scooped up Rin and spun her around. "Yes, it's over! All over!" Rin giggled as everyone else started cheering, even Sesshoumaru seemed a little less grim.

The rejoicing was cut off when Kagome disappeared and Inuyasha followed. Everyone seemed stressed those three days, no one wanted to leave where the well used to be. Sesshoumaru would send Jaken back with food for Rin who wanted to wait too. Kaede would bring food for everyone else. When Inuyasha returned without Kagome, everyone was happy she was ok, yet sad she was gone.

The next three years were hard at times, but mainly happy. Sesshoumaru had talked to Kaede about teaching Rin to control her powers so she lived at the village. Sango and Miroku had twin girls, Misaki and Haruka, and later a son, Junichi. Kohaku went with Kirara to hunt evil demons and when he visited, he would talk to Rin and soon they were close. Shippo would go to the Kitsune School and visit occasionally.

It was hard for Inuyasha, having to see everyone else have a happy ending. He would spend a lot of time at the well. Koneko would try to help him, and he would talk to her sometimes. But most times he was somewhat distant.

When Sesshoumaru brushed off his brother again after visiting Rin, Koneko got mad. She walked over to him, "Sesshoumaru-sama, may I speak to you alone?" He just looked at her for a moment before walking into the forest.

When they were out of hearing distance for demons, he turned towards her, "What do you want?"

Koneko crossed her arms, "I think you know." When he didn't respond, she sighed, "Why do you still act as if you hate him? If you love him, shouldn't you help him right now?"

Sesshoumaru let out a barely audible sigh, "My brother, right now, is not emotionally stable. It would not help if he found out someone he thought hated him his entire life actually didn't."

She asked, "You're doing this for him?" He nodded slightly. Koneko hesitated before continuing, "You were the one who helped him on his human nights, weren't you?"

He did not respond, but he didn't need to. She knew. Koneko leaned against a tree and studied the demon before her. They both stood there for a minute in silence before she straightened again. Koneko smiled, "Thank you for the insight, Sesshoumaru-sama."

She walked away from the baffled demon lord. 'What was it about this girl?' he pondered. 'Why does she attract my attention where female demons have failed?'

'Because she is different,' his beast answered in the back of his head. Shaking the thought away, Sesshoumaru walked back to the village to say goodbye to Rin before leaving.

Koneko spent most of her time in Kaede's village. When she wasn't comforting Inuyasha or training, she would talk with a young man from the village named Aiko. There was nothing special about him besides the fact that he had approached her. Most of the other villagers would avoid the demons in the group. Koneko was so excited when he started speaking with her every day, hoping others would follow his example.

One day, Koneko was walking along when she overheard some men talking about her and Aiko. She stopped to listen.

"Where's Aiko? I need his help with something," the man who was visiting the village asked.

"He's probably with the girl he has a crush on," one of the younger village men replied.

"Who's that?" the visitor wondered.

"Koneko," the young man answered, "they have been seen around each other a lot recently."

"Isn't she the half-miko?" the visitor said. "Why would he have a crush on that creature?"

The young man answered coldly, "You obviously are new here so I'll let that slide, but be careful about what you say."

This left Koneko happy, but confused. She was delighted that the villager had defended her. But what she heard about Aiko having a crush on her… She hoped it wasn't true as she spotted him ahead.

"Koneko!" he cried out. "There you are!"

She smiled at his enthusiasm, "Hi, Aiko! How are you today?"

He grinned back, "Excellent, may I speak with you?" She was slightly worried as he led her a little ways into the forest. When he stopped and turned to look at her, he was nervous. "There's something I want to say to you. We've been talking with each other a lot recently and…" He took a deep breath, "I really like you."

Sesshoumaru had just arrived at the village. Being unable to find Rin there, he tracked down Koneko who always seemed to know where she is. As he got closer, he could smell the human male's presence. He was about to reveal himself when something the boy said made him freeze.

"I really like you." He had stopped in surprise at the anger and jealousy that arose at these words. 'This Sesshoumaru doesn't get jealous!' he mentally growled at himself.

'Until it comes to Koneko,' whispered his beast, who kept reappearing more and more often.

Koneko was really sad, "Aiko, that's really nice, but, to me, we're just friends."

Aiko was about to say something else when Sesshoumaru decided to step forward. Ignoring Aiko, he turned to Koneko, "Where is Rin?" She was angry when Aiko walked away while Sesshoumaru spoke.

"What the hell was that for? I was talking to him!" Koneko yelled at the stoic demon.

He simply raised an eyebrow at her, "It seemed like you were done."

"And what lets you decide that?" Koneko said as she stepped forward and poked a finger at his chest. She continued even as her anger faded. It was just too hard for her to stay mad at him. "He was about to say something!"

"You were obviously uncomfortable," he replied without thinking.

Koneko was touched by this small display of caring and, before she realized it, she reached up and lightly kissed his lips. She smiled as she turned around, "I had to do that at least once. Rin is this way." Sesshoumaru was frozen speechless and was even more confused as the girl walked away.

*Misaki means beautiful blossom, Haruka means spring flower, Junichi means obedient first son, and Aiko means love child