Chapter 26 is ready for reading, reviewing, commenting and criticizing! No flaming, please and enjoy.

-Jack Knights

"Pass the salt," Kagome said. When everyone remained quiet at the table, her munching excluded, she looked up, frowning. "Fine, I'll get it myself," she muttered, reaching over Souta's untouched food to get it herself. She continued eating, but her mother and brother remained eerily silent.

"What, why are you staring at me like that?" she said, frustrated.

"Are you sure you're alright, Kagome?" Souta asked, looking at her like she might collapse at any minute.

"Yeah, just hungry, I guess," she lied. Alright, I'm clearly not fine, not when after last night, but I'll deal with it later.

"Kagome…" her mother began.

"Mom, I'm fine, really," she added when her mother gave her a sceptical look. She rolled her eyes and looked at Souta to back her up. He looked away, not wanting to get in the middle of everything.

"Are you sure you don't want to…" her mother tried again.

"Look, you effing screamed your head off last night; are you gonna explain yourself or what?" Souta butted in, deciding to get to the point any way. Kagome calmly continued eating, taking her time to think things through. Putting her fork and knife down, she crossed her arms at the table and looked sternly at the wall behind her mother.

"Get it over with," she muttered.

"What the hell—"

"Souta, please," her mother said sternly. "Kagome, dear, just start off where you want to. What was the dream about?"

"I'd rather not say," she said, feeling her stomach slowly knot itself.

"Then what—" Souta tried again, only to be stopped when his mother raised a hand to quiet him.

"Look, all I'm saying is, it wasn't about Sesshomaru," Kagome began. He wasn't there at all… "It was something stupid and I got scared because I didn't understand it, OK?"

"Alright Kagome, if that's all you want to say," her mother said, huffing out a stilled breath.

"But," Souta tried in vain to speak, "you pushed him away!"

"I know; I was scared and confused and that's what people tend to do when they're disorientated from a nightmare," she said tersely. God dammit, he is getting such an attitude! She stood and took her unfinished plate of food to the sink and walked out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" he shouted after her.

"Outside, to see Sesshomaru," she shouted back, slamming the front door closed behind her.

It was a balmy afternoon, Spring falling into summer earlier than usual. The sun was heading below the trees of the forest behind the shrine and Kagome breathed in the scent of oak and grass with a vengeance. God, I've forgotten how good it smells out here in the afternoon!

She walked out from under the house, stretching as she went. The God Tree to her left was in full bloom and she stood below it to gawk at its splendour. Seems there's a lot I've forgotten about, she thought as she heard the light noise of traffic far below the shrine.

Tends to happen when you collapse in on yourself like I did for three years…

Kagome heard the whistling of a blade in the air somewhere behind her and she turned around to see Sesshomaru, his back to her, striking out an invisible foe as he trained with the Tetsusaiga. She walked closer to get a better view and she marvelled how well his body moved from one position to another. They were fluid, like water, an underlying elegance to his movements she'd never noticed.

Much to her amazement, he was barefoot and wearing only light grey track pants that were tied tightly around his waist to keep them from falling. Kagome made her way to a bench and sat, watching him parry and thrust with his swords. Tetsusaiga transformed suddenly, the demon fang huge and foreboding, the sunlight painting it a deep orange colour.

Surprised by the swirling energies around them, Kagome noticed he was trying to unleash a Backlash Wave, without having to return energy first. She stood and moved to him, but stopped when she noticed the winds die and his back straightened. She studied him as he regarded the sword with a frown, mystified. Chuckling quietly, she called out to him.

"You're not doing it right," she said, raising her voice so he could hear her. He spun around, startled and looked at her, his frown vanishing behind annoyance directed at her.

"What are you doing out here?" he said, sounding utterly serious. Kagome gulped and walked over to him.

"That's not how you produce a Backlash Wave," she said again, trying to change the subject. It worked; he looked down at Tetsusaiga, then back at her.

"Alright then, show me," he said, offering the sword to her.

"Are you crazy? I can't lift that thing up!" she said, shaking her head. "I can tell you how it's done though, if you want me to." He struggled with himself, and she watched in amusement until he nodded.

"Take your stance, both hands on the sword," he did as she said, and Kagome couldn't help but notice how he stood like InuYasha. "Alright now, you can see the swirling energies around you right, the division between them as they collide?"

"Yes, that's how I produce a Wind Scar, by slashing through the winds."

"Uh-huh. To do a Backlash Wave, you have to wait until the energies come back at you. When they're right in front of you, divide them with a Wind Scar and send them right back the way they came."

"Alright, stand back," he said, and she complied. She watched as the wind's picked up, and the energies became faintly visible around them. They collided and fought with one another, battling for supremacy. When neither won, they came after Sesshomaru, their energies releasing in front of him.

"Now!" Kagome shouted and she watched in wonder as Sesshomaru released a Wind Scar much more powerful than she'd ever seen InuYasha create, hitting the winds head-on, breaking them apart from one another and driving them forward with the force of the demon fang. The energy rent a whole in the every air, dissipating into nothingness in the sky above.

"Whoa… that was amazing," she said for a lack of better words. Kagome walked towards him, watching as a smile crept onto his face slowly. Clearly pleased with himself, he sheathed the sword and turned to face her, his cocky smile wide.

"You know, InuYasha couldn't do that when he wanted to, and you did it on your first try," she said, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course he wouldn't have been able to, he's merely a half-demon."

"That's got nothing to do with it," she said haughtily. "It's got to do with what's in your heart, not in your blood. You can only use the Tetsusaiga to defend humans, that's why you couldn't use it when…" she left the sentence unfinished, not wanting to remember the many times InuYasha defended her from demons, Sesshomaru included.

"I know," he said quietly, breaking the silence. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I was out of place—"

"No you weren't," she said quickly. "Of course power's go something to do with it, you're right that it's because you're a full demon that you could do it on your first try."

"And as you said, it has more to do with what's in my heart than in my blood," he finished. Putting an arm around her shoulder, he guided them to the house. "Now, what's say we get you back inside where it's safe."

"Aw, come on, I just got out here!" she protested, thankful for a change of subject.

"Yes, but I came shower in peace knowing that you're alright, safe in your house, while I am unable to do so," he said with such conviction that she had no choice but to give in. They went into the small building, so distracted by each other that neither of them noticed a red-clad figure hiding in the God Tree.

A magazine open in her lap, Kagome lounged on the sofa, reading about men and makeup. So engrossed was she that she never heard Sesshomaru come down the stairs.

"Hey," he said next to her ear, startling her. The magazine flew clear across the room and she whirled around to face him.

"Holy crap, do you mind not sneaking up on me like!" she exclaimed. He shrugged at her, and went to retrieve the magazine from where it had fallen. He looked at the title, reading it slowly. He handed it back to her, eyebrows raised in surprise. "What?"

"I had no idea you desired to know about male anatomy," he said, gesturing to the cover. Her eyebrows joined in confusion and she looked down at the glossy cover. She groaned in understanding when she read the main article. 6 Ways to Spice Up His Sex Life – Permanently!

"Um…" she said, biting her lip. "That's not why…"

"You could have just asked," he said nonchalantly and she snorted, rolling her eyes at his joke.

"Hey, when did you dye your hair again?" she said, noticing the usual silvery sheen on his hair, now down to the middle of his back in length, was black again.

"I just used another kit of that liquid your mother gave me. She said it would make going out of the house easier when I went with you. And seeing as now I must be at your side at all times, I took the opportunity to save you the trouble."

"Oh…" she said, at a loss for words. "I like your hair when it's silver though."

"Really?" he said, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, it suits you better. I wish you didn't have to hide who you are to the outside world," Kagome said, frowning. "I don't understand why everyone else can't be as understanding."

"It is the nature of humanity; to want to live supreme and to destroy that which cannot be explained," he contested, shrugging.

"Yeah, but still…"

"You are a unique individual, Kagome," he said, crossing his arms. "If everyone in the world was as accepting as you, we would live in peace and wars wouldn't be raged."

"Uh… thanks," she mumbled, unsure whether to take his words as a compliment or as an insult to her species. "Hey wait, you said you dyed your hair so we can go out together?" OK, I didn't mean it like that, but it's not like he knows the concept of modern dating.

"Yes, your mother insists we leave the house for a few hours," he said. "And I believe her exact words were: 'You two have been too high strung for too long; go out and have fun'."

"Huh… so I guess you're gonna be on around the clock surveillance then when we leave?"

"I suppose… Although, I highly doubt that they would show up in a crowded city street."

"InuYasha never did. Well, not really," she admitted. Although there were times when he left the house in that gaudy red outfit and no hat on to cover his ears. "But then again, who knows now that they're demons."

"True," he agreed. "Now, are you ready to leave as you are, or do you need…"

"Give me a few minutes and I'll get ready," she said as she rushed up the stairs. "In the meantime, you can finish up yourself!"

"Finish… up?" he muttered, looking down at what he was wearing; faded blue jeans and black sleeveless t-shirt. Whatever the hell does she mean 'finish up'? I'm dressed adequately, aren't I?

"Kagome… do we have to be here, with all these… people?" Sesshomaru asked, uncomfortable.

"Hey, my mom made us do this, so suck it up," she said, annoyed he had almost said humans instead of people. "Besides, this is what you go through when you want to go see a movie. You wait in line, buy tickets, get your food and watch a movie in a small dark room with tons of other people."

"That sounds… appalling."

"Oh please," she said, rolling her eyes. The big bad demon is scared of the small dark room? "It'll be fun, you'll see. We're gonna go see an action movie, it's full of explosions and people trying to stay alive." Kinda like us… "All guys like that stuff."

"And what is this one about?" he said, pointing to a poster next to him.

"Oh, uh…" she said. I really wanted to go see that one, but I doubt he'll want to. "It's a love story, but the guy can't have her in the end."

"No explosions? No loud noises?" he asked, sounding bored already.

"Not that I know of," she muttered.

"Alright then," he said simply, brushing away a stray lock of his hair. They got to the ticket counter and Kagome opened her mouth to ask for the man's movie when Sesshomaru butted in and got two for chick flick she told him about. He even paid, which was weird, seeing as he had no money to speak of.

"OK, what the hell?" she said, flabbergasted.

"Excuse me?" he said, sounding amused.

"Um, why did you buy two tickets for… 'My Love's Crush'?" she asked, reading the name off of the ticket.

"I don't think being in a small room, surrounded by human men watching things explode will bide well with me," he said, pushing his way through the crowd.

"Why? I thought guys thrived on that kind of thing."

"Kagome," he began, drawing her aside. "Remember I am a demon; loud noises, in a small room, for several hours straight… now that, that would hurt."

"Oh…" she said, realizing what she should have thought of before. Oddly enough, she could picture him gripping the arm rests, trying to rip the place apart just to get out. At least it's not for another reason… They made their way to the concession stand, where again, Sesshomaru pulled out money for popcorn and drinks.

"Wait a minute, where did you get that money? You don't carry around otherworldly cash on a regular basis, do you?"

"No, I don't" he said, avoiding her original question.

"Then where did you get that? Aren't you as broke as I am?" she asked. He looked at her, confused. "I mean, aren't you… well, aren't you lacking 'funds' for this kinda thing?"

"Don't insult me," he said. "I ruled most of this area in my world. Of course I have funds."

"Yeah, but it's not like you carry them around with you everywhere you go, right?"

"No, of course not," he said, amused.

"Then where. Did. You. Get. Money?" she asked again, pronouncing every word separately.

"If you must know," he said, handing over the tickets at the entrance. "Your mother gave it to me, and I intend to pay her back in full, when I am able access my own finances again."

"Oh…" she said, at a loss for words for what fell like the thousandth time that day. Mom… she set us up? What the hell is the world coming to when my mother sets me up on a date?

OK, technically not a date; she wanted us out of the house and she knew I was strapped for cash so she gave some to Sesshomaru. Problem solved, she tried to convince herself. They got two seats in a corner in the back row. Kagome remained silent most throughout the previews and when Sesshomaru tapped her on the hand, she snapped back, dazed.

"Sorry?" she said when his mouth moved but she heard nothing.

"Erm… popped corn?" he said, offering her the bucket. She took it, but only stared at it, as if wondering what it would be like to be stripped from a plant, then cooked until you explode and eaten by something else.

"Hey, did my mom give you the money, or did you ask for it?" she said.

"She offered it, I took it," he said indifferently. The room darkened further and she lowered her voice.

"Did she tell you to choose this movie, or did you really want to avoid loud noise?" she asked. He sipped on his drink, looking every bit human, except for the almost unnatural paleness of his skin and the amber of his eyes.

"Well," he began, but was immediately shushed by the couple in front of them. "The movie's starting, Kagome. No more talking."

No straight answers this time around, huh? Oh well, you'll just have to bear with me on this one. And it looks like something's brewing in InuYasha's shallow little mind. Wonder what he was doing there in the God Tree? ;)

OMG guys, this is a long ass story, huh? I counted the words so far, (up until #25), and I got around 59,000 of em! O.o I cannot believe how much I've written and I'm not even done yet! XD Thanks for reading!

-Jack Knights