As always - "Parenthesis" are spoken words, italics are thoughts, and AAAAAAA are a scene shift.

Shout outs are in bold at the end of the story.

Disclaimer- I don't own Inuyasha or any other original character. I only own the plot, storyline, and all original characters.

Sorry this chapter is so short, but I will make it up to you. Please just be patient with me. I have a lot going on. Love you guys!

AAAAAAAAAAA

A new day began bright and early for Kagome and Shippo. They had waken early to be able to take a nice long soak and spend some time together before the madness of the mating hunt continued on. They hadn't been able to spend as much time together as they had wanted in the days that the celebration had been going on, something they each had regretted.

As they walked hand in hand to breakfast, Kagome had remembered that she was in her ningen form. She gasped as she reached up to the empty space right above her breasts where her amulet should have hung. She looked down at Shippo as her eyes met those filled with concern.

"Shippo, I forgot to put the necklace on. What am I going to do? We are almost at the dining room and I am sure that someone will see me."

Shippo was going to give his answer when he was cut off by the unmistakable silky baritone of a male.

"Why are you here human? Why do you wear the robes of one well above your station and venture out where others will be forced to withstand your presence? You have a death wish perhaps."

While Kagome had frozen in shock and fear, those sentiments slowly melted away as Sesshomaru spoke each word. They were instead replaced by a rapidly growing sense of anger and resentment. She took a moment to gather her thoughts and it occurred to her that this would be the perfect opportunity for him to prove himself. He had spoken sweet words of acceptance to her, now he would show her that it was not all lies.

She turned and bowed to him as she smirked behind her hair. "Good morning, Lord Sesshomaru. I hope you slept well."

"You dare speak to me in such an informal manner. You dare sully my ears with your unworthy ningen voice?"

While those words slipped from his mouth, something so strangely familiar came from this human woman that made him regret even breathing the breath that had allowed it. His beast was rattling in its cage and screaming for him to stop his stupidity, to take the insults back, anything. He didn't understand why he had these feelings of warmness and care towards this weak little human and it angered him more than he could convey. She was of no significance or meaning and should be treated as such.

"I apologize, my Lord." Kagome's anger was reaching new heights as she played yhe submissive role to the arrogant jerk. She could not deal with this. She could not handle the lies of another one of the Inu brothers again. Her voice dripping with all of the malice and sarcasm she could muster, she continued on.

"I have assumed, like a fool, that the words you had spoken the other night had meant something. That they had mattered to you. I guess I was wrong. You shall NEVER be bothered with my lowly and insufferable presence again, as long as you hold the hatred in your heart that you display to me now. This will be the last time you shall be forced to look upon my face, hear the tone of my voice, or feel the warmth of my presence. Remember my words."

Kagome stood and began to walk away still shaking with anger. She stopped suddenly as the tears threatened to fall from her eyes and turned her head to look at him as she sadly spoke her parting words. "I had such hopes for you, Sesshomaru but I guess I was wrong. Good bye. Forever."

Sesshomaru's breath caught in his throat as the human turned her face to look at him. He had been happy to see her walking away. He was not one to be caught within the company of such lowly beings. Now, instead of the joy he expected to feel a stabbing pain in his heart took over. She had locked eyes with him as she spoke and he felt himself the fool for not noticing the similarities before. Those eyes told him everything he needed to know. She had said that he would be given the opportunity to prove himself to her and be placed above all others that sought to become her mate and he had just blown it.

As she spoke, a feeling that he had not felt in a long time came rushing back to him. Regret. He had meant the words he had spoken to her in the garden that day, but now she would never believe them. He could see the sadness, disappointment, and pain reflecting back at him in the eyes that he only wanted to see passion and happiness in and he had been the cause of it. She had offered herself to him and he had shoved it back into her face.

Now the only female that Sesshomaru had even considered taking as a mate in all of his long life was walking away from him with promises that she would never return to his company.

AAAAAAAAAAA

Kagome sent Shippo on to eat breakfast with one of the maids and walked back to her room. She didn't feel like eating after what had transpired in the halls with Sesshomaru. At this point she had to admit to herself that she had started developing feelings for the Demon Lord, but once again her heart had been crushed and thrown to the floor to be trampled on. She was hurt and angry. What she needed was a good sparring match with a worthy opponent.

Kagome quickly changed into more appropriate clothing and remembered to don her necklace before heading out to the dojo.

She had come across Avery on her way and he had agreed to a sparring match. Apparently he had some of his own frustrations that needed working through.

They did some light stretches before beginning and talked while they sparred. They seemed to fall into this routine naturally every time they had been together in the dojo.

As each opponent became more and more interested in working out their emotions on each other, the good natured words turned into insults, grunts, and eventually silence. The match became more intense with every blow that was thrown. If you didn't know the skills that each possessed or that these two had a close relationship with each other, one would assume that this was in reality a match to the death.

Soon more and more gathered to watch them as the fight neared its pinnacle. Among them stood a smirking royal family and a thoroughly confused Sesshomaru. He noticed the Northern rulers watching off to the side with amusement clearly showing on their faces and moved towards them.

"Are you not afraid that your general and daughter will hurt each other? The general surely has more power and skill than the young female."

Aisoka chuckled at the Western ruler. "Of course not. They are only toying with each other. My little one would never let herself slip and actually hurt my most valuable general." Humor shown in the horse youkai's eyes.

Sesshomaru didn't know what to think. Aisoka was not worried about the male hurting the female. Quite to the contrary, he was worried about the small female dealing a massive blow to the mighty general. Did she really possess so much power that this would truly be the case or did the general just do this to boost the confidence of the young one?

Kagome felt him. She knew he was there. How dare he interrupt my sparring? It's entirely his fault that I am here to begin with! That pompous, arrogant, stuck up son of a bitch! Can't he just leave me alone and let me find some semblance of peace?

She couldn't take it anymore. It seemed that wherever she went, he was there and she was tired of it. She let loose a scream of pure rage and pain as her seal holding back the ocean of her powers cracked slightly. It was like a volcanic eruption and everything around her burned and scorched. Everyone in the dojo knew what it meant, they could feel it through their instincts as youkai, but only a few knew why an aura of purity would suddenly appear.

As her true power receded back into her body, Kagome collapsed onto the floor. Her body was weakening and the expelling of even that little amount of her power took its toll on her. Aisoka quickly swept her up and ran with her to her rooms while a shocked Aiyana stood holding Shippo who had jumped into her arms and began to cry. Shippo tugged on his grandmother's arm to get her jump started.

As they walked away, Shippo looked up into the golden eyes of the inu demon and knew that he was the reason his mother was in pain. It may not be written on his face, but he could read it in the depths of his eyes.

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Demonic Vampriss- Thanks for the review. I promise to not give up!

Lara517- Thanks for all the reviews. I hope your confusion and questions get cleared up through the chapters. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

DeadlyWolfQueen- Highly impressed by acrobatics….(standing ovation)…. Pitty is given and writing shall contine. I love you lady!

Just Nine Letters- It is always wonderful to hear from you. I am glad you noticed the slight change in writing. I have decided to up it a notch. I didn't feel like I was doing myself justice and am dedicated to only cranking out the best quality I can give to readers.

Veraozao- Kiss right back!

Loveinthebattlefield- Soon, darling, soon. Sess will realize he is a big, fat moron. (evil cackle inserted here)

TsukiyoTenshi- Sorry, no early reveals, but it will happen. I felt Kags should have her entire soul for what's coming up and that was the most sadistic way I could come up with to kill Kikyo off that hadn't already been done WAY too many times. I don't like that woman.