Introductions

"Here. I would like you to have this." Kagome said as she held out a small item to the Western Lord. It was an omamori, a protective charm (amulet). "It will guard you and keep you safe. It's really useful in my homeland." Kagome explained as she smiled brighlty at Sesshoumaru.

Kagome had come back to the Fedual Era and brought back some snacks for her friends as well as stock up her medical kit. She had already given her friends the usual gifts they wanted from the modern world, plus an omamori for every one, she even prayed one for Jaken, who received it with much tears.

"I have no need for this thing."

"It's rude to reject someone's gift, you know. Inuyasha and the others all had one. I had specially gone to get it for you. Just take it as a gift for the Shikon shard." Kagome said, urging him to accept the gift.

She had tried very hard to think of something to give back to the Western Lord for the Shikon Shard and not knowing what he liked, she decided to pray for an omamori for him too.

"Hn." Sesshoumaru took the protective charm from the miko and examined it for a while. The charm was light blue in color, with the word "safety" sewed on it. "It's beautiful, I'll keep it," Sesshoumaru commented before putting it inside his sleeve.

"Really? Great, I have a hard time choosing a pattern of the charm that suits you. I'm glad you like it," said Kagome, smiling cheerfully at Sesshomaru. "We better go meet up with the others, Inuyasha is complaining about the delay."

"The hanyou never learns," said Sesshoumaru as he prepared himself to walk back to the village.

"True," giggled Kagome as she followed Sesshoumaru back to meet up with the others in the village.

It was nighttime. The group had walked across the Edo roads and streets and was on their way to Kyoto. They were quite tired from the walk and decided to rest for the day. It was time for dinner and Kagome was lighting up a matchstick to ignite a fire for boiling water.

"Wow! Lady Kagome can also perform magic tricks like Shippo," exclaimed Rin when she saw how quickly the matchstick light up with a stroke against the matchbox.

"That is another useful gadget from Kagome's time. It helps to create fire," explained Shippo as he prepared to put the pot over the firewoods.

After a while, the Ramens were cooked and Kagome and Sango helped to pass the Ramen cups to each of the members. Jaken had stubbornly refused to eat it, saying they were trying to poison him. However, upon seeing Rin and the others enjoying the delicious smelling food, he decided to taste a bite. In the end, he took the whole cup and finished it without pausing.

"Where is Sesshoumaru?" asked Kagome who realized that the Inuyoukai had not returned from his so called "walk" around the area.

"Keh! He probably got lost in the woods." Said Inuyasha.

Kagome frowned at his comment but said nothing and it was not long before they started preparing to sleep. Kagome had decided that Rin should sleep in her sleeping bag while she would just lie against the tree like Sango and the others. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she could not get used to the position and remained awake while the others slowly drifted to sleep. She could hear the snoring of her friends and the chirping of crickets in the woods.

He's not back yet.

Since she had nothing else to do, she decided to look for the young missing lord. She carefully stood up and walked away from the camp into the woods. She had brought along her bow and arrows just in case. The wind was cold and she felt lucky that she had put on her sweater.

Where could he be? She wondered as she continued walking deeper inside the forest. There were some fireflies among the trees, lighting up the dark forest. Suddenly, she felt a strong youki and saw a white figure in front of her. No doubt, it was the Inuyoukai she was looking for.

"What are you doing?" asked Sesshoumaru coldly.

"Eh?" Kagome was taken aback by his sudden coldness. "I, er, am looking for you. You have not come back from the camp since evening and I was wondering where you could have been." She finished sincerely, looking back at the western lord timidly.

Sesshoumaru did not spoke for a while and then he said, "Come," before turning around and walking away in the other direction.

Kagome took his cue and followed behind him unquestioningly. They stopped at a river nearby and Sesshoumaru sat down near a tree with his back leaned against one of the oak tree. Kagome sat beside him and looked at the scenery quietly.

"Who is that wolf?" Sesshoumaru broke the silence first.

"Huh?" Kagome gave him a confused look before she realized whom he was referring to.

It was Koga. They had met with the wolf prince that morning in the middle of the track. As usual, Koga would greet Kagome as his woman with her hands in his but this time Sesshoumaru stood between the wolf prince and the miko before the wolf prince could do anything. Sesshoumaru glared at Koga dangerously and Koga, who was annoyed at the Inuyoukai's action, demanded an explanation of his actions. However, Sesshoumaru just drew out his sword and was ready to fight the Wolf prince when Inuyasha intervened. Inuyasha told Koga it was best to leave them alone now, since his half brother was very much pissed off. Koga too sensed the flow of youki from the Inuyoukai and took his leave, waving back at Kagome as he promised he would come back to visit her another day.

"Oh you mean, Koga kun. He was a wolf prince and a friend of mine." Explained Kagome, looking back at the river.

"A friend?" asked Sesshoumaru.

"Yes. Just a friend." Kagome said firmly as she added with a nod.

"He called you his woman." Stated Sesshoumaru unemotionally, his voice hinting an explanation.

However, the girl's response was not what he expected. She was giggling at him.

"What's so funny?" demanded Sesshoumaru, feeling uncomfortable about not knowing what he had done to amuse her.

"You are jealous," the girl commented as she continued giggling.

"This one is not," said Sesshoumaru defensively.

"I know. Ha-ha," Kagome chuckled, looking at the young lord playfully as she continued. "You must not be mistaken. Koga just had this weird habit of calling me his woman. There is nothing to it at all."

There is nothing to it. Sesshoumaru thought, relieved at her explanations.

"So that's what bothers you?" asked the miko lightheartedly as she looked at him.

The young lord just stared back at the river with this poker face, refusing to answer her.

"Oh well," said Kagome as she put her hands in her sweater pocket. "Aha! I almost forget it. Here, I brought this along to show you." She held out a photograph to show the Western Lord. "It's a photograph of my family. I thought you would like to know them."

Sesshoumaru took the photograph and examined it as the girl continued to explain to her what a photograph was and pointed in the picture to introduce him who's her mother, grandfather and brother, as well as her pet –Buyo the cat.

"Your father?" asked Sesshoumaru.

"He….he's not around anymore," replied Kagome softly. It had been a long time since she mentioned about her father to anyone.

Sesshoumaru did not say anything else and returned the photograph back to Kagome. They sat quietly for a while more and Kagome yawned, covering her mouth.

"You should rest," said Sesshoumaru.

"I guess so too," Kagome replied before letting out another yawn. "Where's the way back to the campsite?" she asked sleepily.

But before she could stand up, she felt Sesshoumaru's hand around her shoulder as he placed her softly on his lap.

"Ah," the girl squeaked and blushed at her new position.

"You will rest here."

"But.." Kagome protested but before she could utter another word, she felt a white thing covering her like a blanket, keeping her from the cold. It was warm and she preferred this position than leaning against the tree.

"Sleep," said the Western Lord but it was not long before he heard the girl's shallow breathing as she fell into deep sleep.

Looking at the sleeping girl now, Sesshoumaru took out the omamori. The golden thread that formed the words "safety" shined faintly under the moonlight. He felt insecure that the girl would also be fighting against Naraku despite her pregnancy now. This was the first time the Inuyoukai felt irresolute. No doubt he would protect the girl from Naraku during the last battle but the problem was could he. Maybe this tiny bag could be of use just like what the miko had said early.

Let her be safe.

Sesshoumaru prayed silently as he put the omamori back inside his sleeve and gently caressed the girl's hair.

Hi guys! Just to clarify something for some of you. In this story, Kagome and Sesshoumaru do not love each other yet. But they would eventually, of course. So, there would not be much romance but much more of affections between them. (Anyway, I feel that Japanese are more conservative, LOL) Yup, sorry if it still confuses you.