Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Inuyasha.

A/N: First of all, the A/N is here because I wanted to see if putting it here will be better than at the bottom. :) Okie, chapter 13 here. It's what I would call a filler chapter for upcoming events but it's by far the longest chapter. Think of it as a peace offering for I might be late in uploading the next chapter. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Thank you for the reviews!

To:

LittleFoxDemon - Shippou's just too cute for me to leave him out of this fic. You know what, everytime I see your name, Shippou's image appears in my mind :D

KnockKnock13 - You'll find out where she's going in this chapter :)

LadyYome - Sorry for the long wait, I totally understand what it feels like. Unfortunately, I loads of assignments that needs to be done so ... Well, about the whole sesshoumaru and kagome falling in love thing, it will happen soon, that much I can promise. It's not going to be a love-at-first-sight kinda thing because I don't believe in that ::grins:: Anyway, if you find yourself out of chapters to read, maybe you could, you know, read it again? Hehe, just kidding.

numberoneklutz - I like Shippou too! He's cute!

demon in disguise - Don't worry, I'm not overworking my oh-so devious brain, much, where Miroku is concerned. I reserve that for Naraku ::grins evilly::

Italics denote thoughts.

oOo

The something that had been forgotten the night before and deemed probably not important turned out to be something pretty important. Kagome had the misfortune to discover it the hard way.

Having gone to bed only when it was well past midnight, she set the alarm for 6.30 a.m. without noticing that her otherwise trusty little clock's batteries were dead. Thus she slept blissfully until Sango woke her up. By then it was already 8 o'clock. It didn't help that she had a 3-hour lecture that was scheduled to begin at 8 o'clock. Incidentally, the lecturer for that particular class happened to be Dr. Miyaki who was famous for his punctuality and his low tolerance for tardiness.

The sapphire eyed girl turned up for class at exactly 43 minutes after the lecture began, breathing heavily and slightly disheveled after her run from the ground floor up to the fourth floor. Her appearance in the lecture hall earned her a 15 minute long telling-off on the importance of being punctual from her lecturer in front of all the hundred-odd undergraduates there as well as the assurance that she would have a permanent place in Dr. Miyaki's little black book.

About 5 minutes into Dr Miyaki's personal lecture to her about being a responsible adult, Kagome had him tuned out, nodding at appropriate intervals just to make him think that she was still with him. Only one thought was in her mind then – how could she have forgotten to buy batteries last night? If she had not forgotten all about going to the store last night, the batteries of her alarm wouldn't have died on her, she wouldn't have been late for the lecture and she wouldn't have gotten told off in front of everyone.

Internally, Kagome scowled. She just knew that some of them were sniggering and laughing at her behind her back.

After the little episode in Dr. Miyaki's class, Kagome spent her precious lunch hour dedicated to searching for an important reference book in the library. To her dismay, someone had checked the last available copy out and will only be returning it two weeks later, at the earliest.

Today is just not my day, she sighed.

oOo

Bright green eyes glanced towards the glass door of the shop. Sango had left earlier for class and Kagome had yet to arrive. He spent a good part of the morning scampering around trying to be helpful but as of now, Kaede had ran out of things for him to do. Fortunately for him, Sango's cat, Kirara, happened to be around so he got to play with the cream colored fire-cat while Kaede busied herself with the shop's accounts.

His sharp hearing picked up the sound of a bus arriving so he looked up expectantly. Soon enough the vehicle appeared within his line of sight and came to a stop at the station across Kaede's flower shop. Shippou followed a certain young woman with his eyes as she alighted from the bus and stood fidgeting a little impatiently at the zebra crossing. Amusement lit up his young features as he watched her run across the road the second the light turned green, her long dark hair flying behind her.

"I'm sorry Kaede, the bus came late," she said the minute she burst into the little shop.

"It's alright, child, nothing to worry about. There weren't too many customers today anyway."

"Kagome!" he cried, launching himself straight into her arms.

Kagome giggled, the way he greeted her made it seem as if he hadn't seen her for ages. The poor kid must have been bored out of his mind with nothing to do in the store and no one to play with. At least it would keep his mind off his father for the moment.

"Shippou-chan, I trust that you did not give trouble to Kaede."

"Of course! I helped Kaede the whole morning before playing with Kirara," he declared proudly.

"That's so nice of you, Shippou."

Setting him down carefully on the countertop, she rummaged through her backpack as Shippou looked on curiously. The first search yielded nothing and she frowned before thrusting her hand deeper inside to search every corner of her bag. I swear it's in here somewhere.

"Ha! There you are!" she exclaimed as her fingers encountered the elusive object.

The little fox's eyes widened as he watch Kagome pull a lollypop out of her bag. Unconsciously, his little pink tongue darted out to lick his lips.

"Here, it is green apple flavored, I hope you like it," she said, handing him the piece of candy.

Just as he was about to reach a paw out to take the sweet, he sensed the presence of another demon in the vicinity. Shippou began trembling. This youkai's aura felt much stronger and way more powerful than his father, who, to his little mind, was the strongest kitsune youkai on earth. He did what his base instincts told him to do – run and hide.

Immediately, he leaped off the counter and made himself invisible. He was well hidden behind a tall vase before either Kagome or Kaede could respond to his actions. With his heart beating at the rate of a hundred miles an hour, he prayed that the demon was only passing by the area and that his invisibility spell would be able to last until the demon was far, far away.

The little bell tinkled as the glass door to the shop was pushed open from the outside.

"Sesshoumaru!"

Tentatively, she added, "What are you doing here?"

Shippou paled and broke out into a cold sweat. It is him, Sesshoumaru, the legendary Taiyoukai of the West. He prayed like he had never prayed before.

The inuyoukai didn't answer the question Kagome asked of him as he looked around the shop, sharp golden eyes narrowed into slits. Something didn't feel right. He felt the aura of another demon even though the only youkai he could see was the two-tailed fire-cat. Sesshoumaru expanded his aura so that it filled the entire place. A smirk graced his lips as his sensitive ears picked up a muffled squeak.

It all happened so quickly. One second, Shippou was still invisible and hidden behind the vase and the next; everyone could see that he was being held up by the back of his t-shirt and dangled in front of a certain demon lord's face, some six feet off the ground.

"Kagome! Help! Save me!" he shouted at the top of his voice while trying unsuccessfully to wriggle out of Sesshoumaru's tight hold.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Kaede gasped.

If she had seen this scene on the television, Kagome was sure she would have found it very funny. Just imagine this, a stoic faced taiyoukai stood holding a fox cub up in one hand. At the same time, said fox cub was trying to free himself but only succeeded in flailing his arms and legs about wildly. It was simply hilarious.

However, at the moment, she didn't find it any amusing and would have given Sesshoumaru a good smack on the head, if Kaede hadn't held her back.

"Sesshoumaru! Let go of him!"

"Do not order this Sesshoumaru around, miko."

"Sesshoumaru! He's just a kid!"

"He's older than you, miko."

"But he's still a very young youkai! Can't you see that he's terrified?" Kagome reasoned.

The inuyoukai disregarded her reasoning and pinned his amber stare on the petrified little demon before him instead.

"Who are you?"

"Sh – Sh – Shippou."

"Whose orders are you under?" Sesshoumaru questioned.

"N-No one -"

"Do not lie to this Sesshoumaru!" he boomed out, giving Shippou a good shake. The kitsune could literally hear his teeth rattling in his little head.

"I am not! Kagome! Save me!" Shippou wailed, his eyes filling up with tears rapidly.

"Sesshoumaru! How could you think of him in such a way?" Kagome scolded.

"Do not interfere, miko. No one harms what is under this Sesshoumaru's protection."

The dark haired miko was beyond exasperated. Argh! That stupid, stupid demon! Her fingers twitched and she longed for something that she can use to beat some sense into Sesshoumaru's brain.

"Look at him, Sesshoumaru! He couldn't harm me even if he tried!"

"Then you will explain to this Sesshoumaru why is there suddenly a youkai hanging around you, miko!" snapped the Taiyoukai.

"If you must know, I found him last night and took him in."

The dog demon looked at her, pondering the truth behind her words. Never, in his life had he ever seen a miko protecting a youkai so fiercely. It was simply unheard of. As much as he would like to believe that the fox cub as well as the priestess herself was lying to him, he couldn't, for neither scent suggested it.

They were telling the truth all along? What is the relationship between the miko and the kitsune? She said she found him last night, does that mean they have never met prior to that? But why then is she protecting him so fiercely?

Somehow the thought of the miko taking the kitsune's side against him made him want to growl at something. Unfortunately, that something happened to be the little fox he was holding up. To his satisfaction, the cub began trembling like a leaf in the wind when he heard the low growl he emitted.

A tug on his sleeve brought his attention back to the young woman.

"Sesshoumaru, can you please let Shippou go now?" asked Kagome, her wide blue eyes sending an unspoken plea to him.

Her eyes look just like Rin's except for the difference in color. Without another word, he dropped the young fox demon none too gently into Kagome's arms, much to everyone else's relief. Shippou immediately wrapped his arms around Kagome's neck, as if fearing that Sesshoumaru might take him away again.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru," Kagome said softly.

His eyes widened by a minute fraction before returning to their original size. Thank you? This human woman certainly is odd.

Suddenly recalling the reason he was here in the first place, he said, "Miko, I want a word with you."

"But –"

"Now," came the stern command.

"You –"

Kaede cut her off by saying, "I'm sure it's something very important, Kagome. Don't worry; I can handle the shop by myself for a while."

Shippou tightened his hold around Kagome's neck, reluctant to let her go. He had a bad feeling about the entire thing when Sesshoumaru said he wanted a word with Kagome. After all that Kagome had done for him, he felt that he should at least warn Kagome against being so near the demon lord. However, one glance from the Taiyoukai was enough to send the kitsune scurrying over to where Kaede was.

Under her breath, Kagome mumbled something about youkais who don't know how to ask politely. Sesshoumaru heard every word clearly, but pretended that he didn't. It wouldn't do to slice her into ribbons on the spot. Rin would be very sad if he did.

"Fine," Kagome sighed, "I have something I want to ask you as well."

oOo

Much to Sesshoumaru's displeasure, he found himself sitting in the same loathsome fast food outlet once again. This made it the second time he had visited this place in the span of three days, not that he was keeping count or anything.

Sighing inaudibly, he looked around the place. As usual, teenagers crowded around each and every little square table at the place, chattering incessantly about mindless things. Every once in a while, a girl from one of the neighboring tables would eye him hungrily, like how a predator eyes a prey. Who knew that humans, and female ones at that, could look so predatory? What do they take this Sesshoumaru for? A piece of meat? He wanted more than anything to remove the eyeballs of each and every one of the females who were ogling so openly at him but since he couldn't do just that, not in such a public place anyway, he settled for glaring at them with his trademark bone-chilling stare. It was enough to make them turn their heads away immediately in fear.

Not to mention that they'd probably have nightmares for at least a week, he thought with a smirk.

"What's with the smirk, Sesshoumaru?" asked Kagome as she slid into the empty seat opposite him, a large soda in her hand and all the while blissfully unaware of the many pairs of female eyes glaring daggers at her back.

"It is none of your concern, miko."

The young woman rolled her sapphire eyes at him. "Whatever you say."

"So what is so important that you just couldn't wait to tell me? Or is it just an excuse because you miss me terribly?" she asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Do not flatter yourself, miko."

"Kagome. So what is it?" Kagome asked, sipping her soda.

The Taiyoukai was silent for a moment. Come to think of it, how was he supposed to tell the miko that her life is in danger? He could suffer to make some small talk with her and in the process, tell her conversationally that she's in danger. No, that is not how this Sesshoumaru works. He prefers going straight to the point instead of beating around the bush. But, a part of him felt apprehensive of how the miko would take it if he were to spill it to her in just a few words. She would be shocked, to say the least. Then he caught himself. Since when does this Sesshoumaru care for a human's feelings?

"Sesshoumaru, if you're not going to say it then let me ask you something ok?"

That meant more time for him to figure out how to break the news to her. It wasn't as if he cared about her feelings or anything, it was just that he didn't want a hysterical female on his hands especially in such a crowded place. Inwardly, he regretted coming to this fast food restaurant.

Taking his silence as consent, Kagome asked, "Do you know of a fox demon by the name of Takani?"

"He was a general in the Western army under my command."

Sapphire eyes widened. Shippou never mentioned that he was a general's son!

"Then do you know anything of what has happened to him?"

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I believe that he has settled down somewhere in Tokyo after retiring from the army some three centuries ago. Why do you ask of him, miko?"

"I told you that I found the kitsune cub, Shippou, earlier, right? Well, he told me that some demons attacked his home last evening and his father told him to run for it, which was exactly what he did. So right now I want to know what has happened to his father and whether or not he's still alive."

"And you're asking this Sesshoumaru because?" Sesshoumaru asked, his left eyebrow raised slightly.

"Because I think that you would know something about it since you're a demon lord and all," replied Kagome, her tone implying that the inuyoukai before her should have figured that out by himself.

The Taiyoukai looked at the female priestess impassively. "This Sesshoumaru does not concern himself with the affairs of other demons."

"Oh come on! Don't you care about your general, or ex-general? Isn't it odd that someone would attack him even though he used to be a general in the army once? I mean, he must be a pretty strong guy to become a general right? Who in their right mind would want to mess with a demon like that?"

The bored look on Sesshoumaru's face belied the fact that he was thinking about what Kagome just said. He knew Takani; the demon was one of his strongest and most reliable generals, not to mention that the fox was a master of disguises. Hence, if the kitsune youkai told his cub to run when they were attacked suggests that his enemy was more than he can handle. The inuyoukai also knew that the possibility of Takani surviving the attack was very slim, for why else would he order the kit to run away? Takani knew that he would not be able to protect his son and thus sent him away in a bid to preserve his young life.

The miko's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Sesshoumaru, do you think that Shippou's father would still be alive?"

"This Sesshoumaru believes that the cub's father would not have survived."

Kagome felt as if there was something clenching her heart and preventing it from beating properly when Sesshoumaru's words registered in her mind. Hearing about the possibility of Shippou losing his father brought back memories of her own father and how she had lost him. What took her father away from her had been an accident that occurred fourteen years ago when she was only six years old and her younger brother Souta, two.

Lowering her head so that her dark bangs obscured her eyes from Sesshoumaru's gaze, she asked quietly, "Are you sure of that, Sesshoumaru?"

He detected a subtle change in her voice that indicated something akin to intense sadness. Why would she be feeling so was beyond him. It didn't make much sense to him that she felt such grief over the possible death of someone who was practically a stranger to her.

"Hn."

For a few minutes, no words were exchanged between the demon and the human sitting at the little table. The silence between them was even more pronounced amidst the ongoing chatter that floated from the other tables around them. Normally, this wouldn't bother him for he was accustomed to dwell in long periods of silence but today, he felt a need to fill that silent void with words. He supposed that he wanted to do so because the silence made him uncomfortable and Sesshoumaru wasn't one who really enjoyed being in uncomfortable situations.

So he said the first thing that came into his mind.

"Kagome, you are in danger."

She gave the most intelligent one-word answer she could formulate upon hearing that statement.

"Huh?"

"This Sesshoumaru does not repeat himself."

"No, I mean, what do you mean I'm in danger?"

"Exactly what this Sesshoumaru said." Really, and she calls herself a university student.

A frown appeared on her face. She didn't know whether Sesshoumaru was being purposefully difficult or was he naturally difficult. Kagome was ready to bet all of next month's pay that it was the latter.

"Okay then, Sesshoumaru. Why am I in danger?"

"Some demons are out for your life. Didn't you know that, miko?"

Kagome looked at him like he was crazy.

"Look here, Sesshoumaru. The last time I checked I was just a normal student who wants to pass her exams and have enough money ready by the end of each month so that I can pay the bills on time, not some politician who has enemies left, right and center. How on earth would I know that someone wants me dead? Better yet, why would someone want me dead?"

This time it was Sesshoumaru's turn to frown. Hadn't the woman herself told him that she was in danger? True, she said that in his dream, but it counted, right? So it made sense that she should know something about it, right? However, to all appearances, she knew nothing of it. How is this possible? He supposed that the miko was able to see future events, an ability that she herself knew nothing of, just like she didn't know that she had appeared to him in his dreams. She must be doing it subconsciously.

"You, miko, saved Rin from the would-be kidnappers and for that, they want you dead."

He watched as the raven haired young woman very nearly choked on her mouthful of soda. Amber eyes watched as a hundred expressions played on her fair face and he wondered what thoughts ran through her mind. He doubted that someone came to tell her that her life was in danger everyday.

Kagome stared down at the now empty soda cup in her hands, suddenly finding the little round droplets of water that still clung to the sides of the paper cup very interesting. How was she supposed to respond to something like that?

"I don't know how I should react to this," Kagome confessed at last in a quiet voice. "How did you know about it?"

"This Sesshoumaru has his sources."

"I see," she said, looking thoughtful.

Glancing at her watch, she stood up and said, "I must be going now. Thank you for telling me Sesshoumaru."

She made to leave but something seemed to hold her back.

"Sesshoumaru," she began, "can I ask you for a favor?"

"This Sesshoumaru cannot promise anything," he replied, unaware that his voice seemed much gentler than before.

"Can you … find out if Shippou's father is still alive?" she said softly, yet her voice bore the unmistakable trace of hope in it.

"Hn."

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru."

With that she left the noisy fast food restaurant.

oOo

That evening after work, Kagome walked back to her apartment with a half-asleep Shippou perched on her left shoulder and a brand-new pack of batteries tucked safely in her backpack. She really didn't want a repeat of what happened this morning; Kami knows that experiencing it once was humiliating enough as it is. If the entire class didn't know of her existence prior to this, they certainly will now.

Her wandering mind brought her back to what Sesshoumaru told her earlier this evening.

"They want you dead."

Initially, she had been scared but then it gave way to a greater fear. She feared not for her own safety but instead for the safety of the people around her. Would the people that were out to get her ruthless enough to target her friends and family as well? She feared mostly for the safety of her mother, her brother, her grandfather, Sango, Kaede as well as little Shippou. Kagome knew that she could protect herself well enough, but will she be able to protect the people she cared for as well? I don't want them to be hurt because of me.

A low voice to her right brought her out of her thoughts.

"If I were you, little miko, I would pay more attention to my surroundings. Some things might happen when you're distracted."

Kagome whipped around, her heart pounding. Who said that? Her sapphire eyes searched the street for the owner of the voice but with more than one person near her, it was a rather difficult task.

Shippou opened an eye sleepily to look at her.

"Kagome, what is it?"

Taking in a deep breath, she answered, "Nothing, Shippou."

Noticing the sleepy state the kitsune kit was in, she took him in her arms and said softly, "Go to sleep. I'll wake you when we're home."

oOo

A/N: Review please?