Alrighty, folks. Just a fair warning, some of the content in this chapter could prove slightly disturbing to some. You have been warned.

A streak of moonlight.

But it isn't moonlight. It's hair. Flowing, long hair tipped with twilight that falls around a figure robed in blue as dark as night. A man. And the man is speaking. I can hear it, a voice of luscious silk, and yet he sounds disturbed. What is he saying, I wonder.

"How pathetic!" a new voice crows. "That a god should be so powerless as to beg a demon!"

The man's tone lowers dangerously. The feminine voice squeals with laughter.

"Your threats are baseless, as weak as you are! You can do nothing! You've already lost! My hold on her soul is nearly complete, and when it is, both your vessel and her jewel shard will be mine!"

Then the man is gone, and I'm staring into amber eyes. A soft hand cups my face, pointed nails threading into the hair behind my ears. I shiver. His hand shifts down to rest on my neck, his other fingers guiding my lips to his. He stops, our lips not quite touching, and I can feel the warmth of his breath ever so slightly ghosting over my lips. Then his eyes flash, and his lips form a devilish smirk.

"Come, Ren."

My eyes snap open. In the darkness of the room, the only sound to be heard other than the crickets outside is the sound of my heavy breaths as I try to remember my dream. The only thing that comes out of the foggy dreamscape is the vivid touch of Sesshomaru's hand against my neck, his lips so close to mine. His words beckoning me. We were so close! Just another inch and…

It's hot!

I throw off the blanket over me, but nothing changes. I sit up and begin fanning myself with the front of my dress, but despite the movement of air, I'm still dreadfully hot! I withhold a distressed moan, and my eyes flicker towards the other shapes in the room. There are two others, smaller ones, but the only one my bleary eyes lock onto is Sesshomaru as he sits against a wall with his head hung. I'm suddenly reminded of how cool his skin has been, the few times we've touched. I bet that would feel so good. So nice, his cool arm wrapped around me, pressed against his cool chest…

I suck on my lip and groggily shake my head. I should go outside. Maybe it'll be cooler if there's a breeze.

When I try to stand, I find the task unexpectedly difficult. It takes a few tries until I'm unsteadily on my feet and shuffling to the door. Pushing aside the drape, I raise my face to the waning moon and breathe in deeply. Then I step out, and giggle at the feeling of grass between my toes. It's kinda ticklish! But I'm still hot!

This time I do groan, and continue to fan myself with the top of my dress as I make my way to the trees. They offer shade from the sun, and that's cooler, so maybe it'll be cooler if they shade from the moon, too? When I reach the edge of the woods, I stagger into a tree, leaning my head against the bark as I continue to pant. Maybe I should go hunting for a sedative herb, to slow my heart or something. It seems to be beating pretty fast. Maybe that'll cool me down.

"Is something wrong, Ren?"

I lift my head at the sound of his soothing voice, smiling weakly. He followed me! He's concerned about me! "Nah, it's just a little hot." Too hot, really. I don't think I'll have time to go looking for a sedative. I need to do something now. I begin to push down the sleeves of my dress, one hand going back to undo the sash.

"What are you doing?"

"I told you, My Lord, it's hot! If I don't cool down soon, I might die!"

With both sleeves off, I decide to leave the bra in favor of using both hands to remove the goddamn sash that just doesn't want to come undone!

Cool fingers close around my left arm and I melt, barely keeping upright as I collapse against the tree. He stares at me, concern in his golden eyes, and I lift a hand to press the back of it against his cheek. "You feel so nice, My Lord. Please touch me more."

"Something is wrong with you."

"Mmyeah." I push off the tree and wrap the arm he isn't holding around his neck. "I need you to touch me. Make it better."

He lets go of my left arm to unhook my right, and I step closer and press my lips to his. Wow, they're so soft! So this is what a kiss feels like!

I fall back, and he begins to push my sleeves back up over my arms, to which I stubbornly struggle against. "No! It's too hot!"

"Ren, you smell like a demon."

I stop struggling. Why'd I stop struggling? It's too hot! I don't want my clothes on! My face turns up to him, though, a grin splitting my lips.

"Yeah? Do I, now?"

Hm? Was that me?

"Who are you?"

"I'm Ren, of course!" My arms once again loop around his neck, my chest pressed to his. Ah, he's like a cold water bottle! "At least, Ren's here. The poor girl didn't know what to do about her feelings, so I'm just here to help. It's a win-win for all of us! I get her body, she gets her desire, and you get this succulent young human to do with as you please. Come on, Sesshomaru, doesn't that sounds fun?"

My desire? To be close to Sesshomaru?

Your desire to be his, and for him to be yours, you naive little girl.

Him...to be mine? I suppose...he's important to me...it would be nice if I were important to him. If I were his top priority like he is to me.

But for him, that's Rin.

The thought is like a jab to the stomach, and I can feel non-audible laughter ringing in my head. His priority is always Rin. He's always looking out for her, ensuring her happiness and safety. That time he bandaged my hand...it was as thanks for taking care of Rin. The reason we came here...wasn't it because Rin wanted to see my art? Wasn't that a reward, a present for her getting better?

Perhaps so, but that human is a mere child. She can't be with him the way you can, Ren.

My lips press to his neck, sucking lightly, hands coming to rest on his chest. "What do you say, Sesshomaru?"

All of a sudden, he's grasped both of my wrists in his hand, and begins hauling me back towards the village. A surprised gasp escapes my lips, eyes flitting between him and his grip on me.

"What? What is it you're unsatisfied with?" I feel my lips mold into a scowl, my arms straining against his restraint. "She may be a human, but her body is sensual enough! You could surely gain pleasure from it. Are you so proud that you can't lower yourself to even use a damn human?"

He casts a glare over his shoulder so venomous that shock wracks my body. "Do not presume to know my thoughts, you disgusting parasite."

"What have I done to earn this hostility? I handed you pleasure on a silver platter!" I pause for a moment, a sensation of realization bubbling up. "Unless...you care about this human. The Mighty Lord Sesshomaru, son of the Great Dog Demon, is concerned about this human girl."

The grip on my wrists turns bruising, but he keeps looking ahead as he pulls me along.

"Even if it's so, my innocence still stands. If you are concerned about using her because you're worried about her pathetic little feelings, just take her already. The poor girl loves you as if you were the sun to her moon, and I couldn't have possessed her if she felt no physical attraction!"

He doesn't respond, and a seething hiss slips from my tongue. Not a word more passes between us, my body continuing to burn with heat and with anger as he barges into a house without invitation. In the moonlight coming in through the window, I can vaguely see the monk asleep on the floor. Sesshomaru kicks him.

"Get up."

Immediately the monk rolls away from the blow, on his feet and staff in hand in seconds. After another second of letting his eyes adjust to the darkness, he falls out of his defensive stance. "Lord Sesshomaru, Ren! To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"

Sesshomaru yanks me forward, and I find myself growling and pulling back away from the holy man. Miroku is silent for a moment.

"I see. This is indeed worthy of a late night visit."

Sesshomaru and I stand in the middle of the room as the monk lights a fire for light. The man is wearing plain white instead of his usual purple garbs, but prayer beads remain wrapped around his cursed hand. Curiosity piques somewhere inside me at the sight, followed by silent nervous laughter. My eyes train on the monk warily.

Miroku comes close, far too close, and I recoil, although with Sesshomaru holding me in place I hardly put any distance between us. Then Miroku puts a hand before his chest and murmurs a couple words of prayer. When he lowers his hands and opens his eyes, he says, "Forgive me for asking, but the question is relevant to helping her. Did you or anyone else sleep with Ren since she's been possessed?"

I'm suddenly yanked closer to Sesshomaru, and as if I wasn't already burning, my ears go aflame. He sniffs, then returns us to our regular distance. "No."

Miroku lets out a relieved breath. "Good. Demons of lust feed off of such relations. Seeing as the possession's already gone as far as to suppress Ren's personality, if she had indeed slept with someone, the exorcism process would have proven particularly arduous, for both me and for her. Still, as it is, I'll only be able to seal it for now. I would guess it's because of her jewel shard, but this demon seems deeply attached to its host."

"I want it out."

"I understand, but she should be fine with it sealed. When I take her to my master's temple, he and I should be able to exorcise it completely."

Sesshomaru scowls. "I will be the one to kill it."

"Then you're welcome to accompany us," Miroku states, grabbing a sutra and beginning to chant. Curses begin to spill from my mouth as he does, both at him and at Sesshomaru, the foul words hitching abruptly when the monk presses the sutra to my chest. The burning suddenly turns into a distinct searing, and I can only choke in pain as my eyes roll back and my body shudders. And then it stops, as if someone pressed a button, and I collapse to my knees gasping. Sesshomaru comes down to a knee before me, my wrists still in his hands, albeit his grasp much lighter.

"Ren?"

My eyelids flutter, having fallen closed. Gradually, I'm able to open them enough to meet his gaze. I search his eyes, trying to grasp what just happened. What did just happen? It was hot, and I was hot, and I went outside, and...and... My eyebrows draw together in confusion. I...what did I do to him?

"Speak, Ren."

I blink, mouth dry as I stammer, "S-Sorry, I…"

"Hm." We both glance at Miroku. Miroku? Ah, yeah, we came and woke him up, didn't we?

"What is it, monk?"

"Well, my apologies, Lord Sesshomaru. It looks like you won't be able to kill it, after all. What I told you was accurate. All I did was perform a spell to seal it, but somehow...the demon is gone. Unless it was somehow exorcised, and managed to escape without either of us noticing it, the demon is dead."

Well, this is in no way supposed to be a horror story, but somewhere along the way, this happened. Thoughts? I took kind of a risk with this mini-arc because I usually don't deal with sexual themes, and, I mean, possession is kind of a hard thing to write for many reasons, so I'd love to hear from you guys. There's also some pretty significant story content here, too, so this was kind of a big chapter. I need to stop saying kind of. I've said it like, what, six times in the post script? But, anyway, I look forward to your guys' reactions, and I'll see you all again next chapter!