A/N: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm back! I know, two (almost three) grueling months with no updates, but I'm officially back, madin456 at the ready! Because it's been a while I'm updating two at once, and the next chapter should be up shortly afterwards.

So I survived my medical training! Wee! And let me say this, I WISH I had time to work on this, but there was never a moment in between studying, relentless room inspections, and bar hopping to get it done haha. But here you are. Let the SessKag fluff begin!

xXx

Human Like Me

Long Shot

Sweat dripped from her forehead; her hair stuck to her skin like glue. Her attempt to regain dominance failed miserably when he gained the upper hand, successfully overpowering her and trapping her in a corner. Her eyes flashed in response to his subtle smirk as he lunged for the kill. They grappled, rolling and twisting and gyrating along the ground for the top position. She finally pushed him off of her and scuttled back, bringing her feet underneath her and squaring off once more as he prepared to subdue her again.

As he neared she brought her defenses up. Oh no, he would not win so easily!

The dissatisfying crack of her wooden sword hitting the tiled floor brought about a small, rare smile on his lips.

"I win," he said, sheathing his 'sword' within his obi. Kagome fumed and crossed her arms like a petulant child.

"I almost won," she said haughtily, grabbing her weapon and pointing it in his direction. "Once more."

"Patience, miko," he chided. "This is enough for today. You will not learn more if you drain yourself."

"But I'm not tired!" she protested. "Maybe a little sweaty…but seriously, we can keep going!"

Her enthusiasm towards sword training had taken him by surprise; surely a miko wouldn't need to utilize a weapon in their defense, and as he recalled she was a master with archery. He had noticed the shift in her priorities when he spied on her rummaging through her closet, coming upon his prized swords, Tenseiga and Tokijin, resting against the wall, abandoned. Since then, she had been drilling him to teach her swordsmanship, and he had finally relented. They had been training for well over five consecutive hours, and normally he would be obliged to continue; though, he held another obligation, one that demanded to be heard and obeyed.

"Supper is soon," he stated, crossing the short distance from the courtyard to the Higurashi's house. "We shall continue tomorrow."

She pouted sullenly, but didn't protest further. She collected their wooden swords and returned them to her father's shrine shop before he noticed them missing, hurrying to catch up with the dog demon.

"You learn quickly," he commented lightly. She beamed.

"Really?"

"Hn."

"That's strange," she said, "When I learned to use the bow, I was a lousy shot for a long time. Inuyasha threatened to put me down once or twice because he said I couldn't hit anything even if it was right in front of me. I proved him wrong, right?" When he didn't acknowledge her victory she quickly relapsed back into calm. She had to remember that Sesshoumaru was not an overly enthusiastic person, and the fact that he had complimented her skills was a rarity. She didn't wish to lose her privilege of praises so soon.

"You have a knack for the blade." He told her. "With more training, you should be able to use these skills in real combat."

She didn't know what he was talking about; it had been more than a week since their encounter with the youkai at the hospital, and since she hadn't felt even so much of a hint of another youkai within her city. She had summed it up as a fluke, but Sesshoumaru was still unwilling to believe that youkai existence had been wiped out in merely five centuries. He told her that perhaps it had been a stupid youkai who had foolishly chosen a fight, and he was confident that there were more in hiding, blending in with society, but still living. Kagome didn't share his hope, but she found it admirable of him to put so much faith in his species.

"Um, thank you," she replied, the smell of supper drifting through the air particles and reaching her nose. "Ooh, spaghetti!"

xXx

"There isn't a way that a 'star,' as you say, can tell me about my destiny."

"I'm not saying it can, I'm just saying people believe that astrology and the alignment of stars can predict your future, and tell you who you are."

Sesshoumaru cast a side-long glance at the star-gazing miko. Was this woman as foolish as he thought? "Do you believe in that?" he waggled an accusatory finger toward the sky.

Kagome pursed her lips. "Not entirely. It is nice to have something to believe in, even if it's just an illusion. People don't like the unknown; it scares them."

"Yet another human nuance which escapes me," sighed the taiyoukai, who shifted from his back onto his side away from her. "What good is knowing your future, when everything is predetermined anyway?" he scoffed.

Kagome let a small puff of breath escape her lips. "So you think us doing a switch-a-roo was all predestined?"

This silenced the dog demon for a considerable amount of time. Kagome suspected he'd fallen asleep. "If it was destined," he said after another long pause, his words articulate and rehearsed, "then the Fates have some sort of twisted sense of humour."

Kagome snorted; Sesshoumaru tried to hide the small smirk on his lips. "I'm sure it's for a reason," Kagome said, folding her arms behind her head. "Ooh, you see that small cluster of stars? Just slightly above it is the scorpion."

"Scorpion?"

The miko turned her head toward Sesshoumaru, staring at his backside. He looked almost... relaxed; there wasn't a bit of tension in his body, and his scent was soothing and controlled. He was content. Not at all ready to strike, like a scorpion. "Yeah, but don't worry about it." She replied softly, returning her eyes back to the glittering ceiling. How could she explain to him the scorpion when all she could think about was how it reminded him of her?

Had he always been like this? The only times where Sesshoumaru had ever appeared even slightly contented was when Rin was in his presence, and even then the guarded expression and attitude remained in place. Sesshoumaru always was ready to strike. Was this another side that Kagome was being privy to this moment? Perhaps attaining enhanced senses toward everything aided her in understanding his demeanor more. It helped to be able to distinguish his moods by his scent, though... his scent said something else his words did, almost always.

Yes, just like a prepared scorpion.

It was silent once more, which Kagome appreciated quietly. It was companionable; something she never truly felt would happen between her and the taiyoukai. For once she didn't have to worry at all about being in his vicinity and having her head cut off. Kagome allowed herself to breathe in deeply the smell of him as the wind shifted slightly in her direction, taking comfort in knowing that it continued to be relaxed and... happy? Was that what the scent of daffodils and sweet grass associated with? Or was her nose broken and she was smelling the grassy plain that surrounded them?

Sometime during Kagome's inner discussion Sesshoumaru had flipped back onto his back. The only indicative thing to have alerted the miko of such movement was when his shoulder brushed against hers and remained there, a constant warmth that comforted her in the oddest way. She felt her cheeks flush. Did he even realize that he was touching her? Kagome thought maybe not, since he hadn't exactly lost his cool demeanor at all.

"What is that shape?" Sesshoumaru broke the silence, nearly startling Kagome. His finger pointed to the Big Dipper.

Oh, now he wanted to know about star clusters? Was he intentionally bothering her about human beliefs? No, possibly not; the demon wished to never affiliate with humans if he didn't have to. So why the shift in interest? Kagome decided to entertain his curiosity.

"Oh, that's what we call the Big Dipper." Kagome supplied. Bravely, without thinking much into it, she took his larger hand in hers and traced another shape with his pointed index finger. Her cheeks were bright red but she thanked the darkness for concealing it, though she was certain he could hear her heart hammer in her chest over the bold move.

Despite her assumptions, Sesshoumaru did not strike or twist out of her grasp. Neutrally he observed as she showed him images within the aligned stars with his hand, first showing him where the Little Dipper was, then the Milky Way, and where the North star was.

Oddly enough, the sensation the taiyoukai received from this simple star-gazing lesson was not one of perturbance; he found himself enjoying the experience, if not delving deep into the intricacies which was Fate. If it was meant for them to be in this situation, what did it mean to have some sort of an attachment toward the miko, who stole his latent powers? He no longer could lie to himself convincingly—another type of bond, albeit less complicated than the one they currently shared, was weaving itself between them. And the worst part was, Sesshoumaru thought himself powerless to tug away the strings. What was it with humans and having an almost uncanny ability to attach themselves to objects and people so easily? More importantly, what was it with human women?

Even Rin had fashioned her own home within his heart.

Would this miko do the same?

xXx

See that box? Yeah, that one right down there. You should click it. Yup. And right something. Something prettiful, and nice, and encouraging. Yup. It's a good idea, my readers. I love all of you!