AN: Hello, y'all! How are you?

Wow, this is the longest wait ever! I'm so, so sorry, guys. Real life can be a real pain sometimes, can't it? Seemingly, real life has decided to replace my muse for stress. I DON'T LIKE IT! D:

Happily, this chapter came a little longer than I had expected (it's NOT a filler chapter, though), and I hope you'll all like it!

This is a bit more "mature", though, and I hope it doesn't offend any of you. It's is actually kinda important that it be that way, and if you all bear with me, you'll understand why.

Tell me what you think. :)

GLOSSARY:

Daiyoukai: Great demon

Hanyou: Half-demon

Inu: Dog

Miko: Priestess

Shikon no Tama: Jewel of the Four Souls

Youkai: Demon

Chapter 12 - Changes

Kagome rose at dawn on the morning after the new moon, just in time to see InuYasha, who was still sound asleep, change back to his hanyou form. There was a slight disturbance in his aura at that moment, when the black locks were replaced by the whitish silver hair; it was something she had never felt before whenever he changed. She let it slip from her thoughts, though, as she sensed the rest of the area. Sure enough, Sesshoumaru was still around, with Jaken and Ah-Un's auras very close to his own.

She removed herself carefully from her sleeping bag, so as not to wake Shippou, and started preparing breakfast. That is, until she felt something tugging at her very soul, and it was quite close… Kikyou.

\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/

Hours later found her quite on edge. InuYasha had been acting odd all day. Kagome had seen him glancing at her from time to time. But it was not his usual, angry or annoyed look. It wasn't even the look he had usually had in the past, that of curiosity and even trust. No, it was something else altogether. And it gave her the creeps, if she was going to be totally honest with herself.

Kikyou was still very close to them. Kagome could feel the pull at her soul. She knew the dead miko had been much too close since before sunset the day before, and yet the hanyou had made no move to go towards her. His nostrils didn't even flare as they usually did when he smelled something. Shippou didn't seem to notice the dead miko's presence either.

Perhaps she was able to mask her scent and aura, just like Sesshoumaru? And why would she want to do it anyway? Wasn't InuYasha the reason why she was always around?

Something put an end to Kagome's thoughts. A feeling, of sorts. When she looked up, Inuyasha was staring at her. He had that look on his face again, the one she couldn't quite put her finger on. The girl tried to put a smile on her face and said small voice, "Yes, 'Yasha?"

"I was wonderin' if we could have a chat tonight. Y'know, just you and me", he answered in a voice as low as hers. Something in the tone he used bothered her, but she decided to ignore it. Maybe this was her chance to fix things. Maybe she could understand him better. Right? She offered him a nod and kept walking.

InuYasha didn't seem to be pushing them all so hard that day, which in itself was a blessing already, and it helped Kagome ignore the strange feeling in her guts as she walked alongside with Sango. The slayer herself seemed relieved, and so they were able to chat as the day went by.

Just before sunset, as Miroku, Shippou and Sango went to gather wood for the fire, Kagome turned to InuYasha, who was looking towards the south, where she could feel Sesshoumaru's aura. He was quite close to them. He didn't express any feelings on the subject. Well, at least that answers one question. But it leaves another, she thought to herself. Why doesn't he know? He used to smell things much farther away. And he can't sense him either!

After a moment's silence, in which the creep on her spine only got worse, she saw him turn around and walk towards her. He didn't say anything at first. Instead, he put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. She held her breath as he put his nose against her neck. "Inuyasha…? What''s going on?", she asked on a weak voice.

"I worry about you, Kags. I really do", he said, his face still buried in her neck and hair.

"Ham… Thanks, 'Yasha", she replied, as she put his hands against his chest to gently push him away. It didn't work, though. "But why are you saying it all of a sudden?" I guess I should've just listened to my instinct.

"'Cause you gotta start doing what I tell you to. Y'know, that's kinda my duty to look after the lot of you, so you gotta trust me, all right?", he finished the sentence with a kiss to her neck. Kagome had never been kissed like that before and she had always expected to feel… good. All it did was put her even more on edge that she already was.

As she felt his fangs graze her skin, she lost it. "InuYasha, what the hell?"

When she pushed him, and this time she tried harder than before, she realized he had locked his arms tightly around her form. "You gotta obey me, Kags, I need you to. And you WILL do it", his voice was different, as she felt it rumble through her throat. His aura changed too, and she panicked. Before she knew, she had pushed him even harder, using her powers. That sent him flying across the clearing.

She heard him growl and prepared to run or fight. Whatever the hell was going on?

\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/

Sesshoumaru bit back a sigh (which, he noted, he had been doing a lot, lately). Jaken had been whining for hours now about how his great Sesshoumaru-sama could do this and do that. Of course, the toad was right: the great inu youkai was extremely powerful. But hearing it all the time was becoming very annoying, especially as the praises seemed to grow empty and meaningless. Besides, his servant's voice itself was annoying to no end, so.

On top of all, it was also getting in the way! He had sensed something strange among his half-brother's pack all day, and hadn't been able to identify what it was. Needled to say, it was an extremely frustrating experience.

Since he, the Killing Perfection, was having difficulties with it, he doubted even the miko would have been able to sense it. So, if it was something dangerous, he was the only one who could keep the Shikon no Tama safe.

That subtle change had been there all day, but now, just before sunset, it had increased a lot, and he had sensed the girl's powers surge. That sent his instincts into a craze. The young lord glared at Jaken, who bowed, and took off to meet the problem.

When the daiyoukai got to the clearing, he saw InuYasha getting back to his feet, growling like mad, and Kagome backing away, her eyes hard and trained on her packmate. He soon realized what he hadn't been able to before: the change was in the hanyou's aura. The pup would attack her, and he was quite annoyed, not to mention confused, that his presence had gone by unnoticed.

"However useless your senses were before, little brother, they seem to be even worse now", he said, aware that it was only going to make the whelp attack him instead of the miko. So be it. I could use a reason to knock him out.

InuYasha turned to face his older brother, his eyes murderous. Sesshoumaru had expected them to be all crimson and purple, but there was only a hint of red. He also had expected him to attack with the Tessaiga. He comes against me with his claws instead. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed dangerously.

He dodged the hanyou's first attack, grabbing his arm and spinning. Once. Twice. He then threw his younger brother to the ground. At the very center of the clearing.

Only after Sesshoumaru was done, was he able to look at Kagome. "He did not hurt you", he stated more than asked. Her eyes were locked in the hanyou, who now lay unconscious. When she did look up to meet the inu lord's gaze, something in him urged him to inspect her further, though, and not one to ignore his instincts, that's what he did.

"His scent over you is stronger now than it has been in a long while, miko", and at the moment he realized InuYasha's saliva covered her neck, he felt the need to beat the whelp even more.

"InuYasha's been acting strange all day. I don't know what's gotten into him, Sesshoumaru-sama", she said. Her voice was not low or shy as he had expected. She was nervous, all right, and maybe afraid, but she spoke with the nerve and heart and spirit that usually marked her every sentence. The daiyoukai had to admit he enjoyed more and more seeing it.

"It seems to be a spell of some sort, though I cannot precise it", he answered. She nodded and became thoughtful. What InuYasha had been about to do was something she did not want to find out. Nor did she want to know what would happen once she found herself alone with him again, and let's face it, traveling together, it was bound to happen sooner or later. But could she just leave him and the others? More than to gather the jewel shards and to defeat Naraku, she had sworn to do so with them.

But with InuYasha's being under some spell… A spell they knew nothing about to begin with! He was the best fighter amongst them, and he best of all knew Naraku. "How can we trust him to lead us?", she asked out loud, forgetting for a moment Sesshoumaru's presence. He hadn't forgotten hers, though. He had watched her closely.

"You have no need to trust him any more, Kagome", he said. He wanted to sigh, to growl and to kill something. Preferably, InuYasha. But he didn't. It was time to take matters into his own hands, and to take up his role of alpha. "From this night forward, until Naraku is killed, I will help you."

Her wide eyes met his decided ones. "Would you do that?" He nodded. She bowed low. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama!"

He could smell her other three packmates coming back. "Tell yours to wait here and watch for the mongrel. I will return shortly." He turned around he went back to retrieve his own pack.

What had he just gotten himself into?