A/N: IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ THIS!!
I'm sorry!! I'm sorry!! I decided to leave out the special surprise until the next chapter. Sorry!! The end of this chapter just seemed like such a good ending! I'm sorry! But I promise, the surprise will definitely be in the next chapter. I promise!! For now, read this, and I'm sorry!!
Kagome sighed and rested her head against the tree. They were sitting around a fire, and they had just finished dinner. They had just left that morning, and Kagome was starting to notice some tension between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru.
Inuyasha glared at Sesshomaru. During the trip, Sesshomaru and Kagome had walked ahead of everyone else, and Inuyasha knew that Sesshomaru was teasing him. He had kissed and hugged Kagome more times than Inuyasha could stand. Inuyasha realized that he could never be Kagome's mate, but he still had feelings for her, and watching Sesshomaru with her made him sick.
Kagome started digging through her backpack. She smiled as she found what she was looking for and pulled it out.
"Here, Inuyasha. You look upset. This should cheer you up." Inuyasha looked at her as Kagome handed him a bag of chips. He smiled and greedily took them. "I have some for you too, Sesshomaru." Kagome pulled out another bag and gave it to Sesshomaru.
"Thank you." Sesshomaru took the bag and began eating. Inuyasha growled and turned his back to the group before eating his chips. Kagome gave another bag to the kids to share before setting her bag aside and sitting by Sesshomaru.
"Sesshomaru, I should tell you, I need to go back home for supplies soon. Those were the last chips I had, and I don't have any other food, except some ramen." Sesshomaru offered her the bag, but Kagome shook her head. "I don't want any. Chips are fattening."
"I'm sure you will still look beautiful if you eat a few." Kagome blushed.
"Anyway, can I go home soon?" Sesshomaru nodded and offered her the chips again. Kagome paused before taking one. "Thanks."
"I'm going to look around for youkai. Be back later." Inuyasha stood and leapt away. Kagome sighed and leaned against Sesshomaru.
"I wish I knew why Inuyasha is acting so weird." Sesshomaru pulled her onto his lap.
"Ignore him. You should go to sleep, and we will head to the well tomorrow." Kagome nodded and curled into him.
oOo
Hatori looked around at the scenery. They were on their way to the well that led to Kagome's home. Shipp and Rin had explained it to him, but unknown to them, Hatori was already aware of it. He knew everything about Kagome, and soon he planned to tell the group who he really was.
Inuyasha stared at Kagome and Sesshomaru. They were walking side by side, and Sesshomaru had his arm around Kagome's waist. Sesshomaru looked back at Inuyasha and growled. He pulled Kagome closer.
Kagome looked at Sesshomaru. Why's he acting so uptight? And why is he growling at Inuyasha? Kagome looked back at Inuyasha. Sesshomaru growled again. Kagome turned her attention back to the path.
"Sesshomaru, why are you and Inuyasha being mean to each other? I know you don't like each other, but you don't need to be so mean." Sesshomaru looked at Kagome.
"I apologize. It is simply instinct. A male must protect his female from other males that seek her attention." Kagome glanced at Inuyasha.
"But Inuyasha knows that he can't be my mate. He's not going to do anything." Sesshomaru tightened his grip on her.
"I am aware of that, but I can tell that my brother still harbors feelings for you, even if he knows he can't be your mate. As long as he has feelings for you, I must make sure that he stays away from you." Sesshomaru smirked. "It is also fun to tease him because I have finally have something he wants but can't have." Kagome playfully punched his arm.
"That's not nice."
Shippo and Rin quietly listened to Kagome and Sesshomaru. Rin leaned in and started whispering to Shippo.
"Lord Sesshomaru is so mich nicer now that he and Kagome love each other. I'm glad." Shippo nodded.
"But, have you noticed something about Hatori? He's been acting weird lately." They looked at Hatori, who was in deep thought. He saw them watching him and smiled.
"Is something wrong?" Rin and Shippo shook their heads. Shippo scratched his head.
"Hatori, do you know your youkai parent?" Hatori shook his head.
"No, I never met my dad. What about you, Shippo? Did you know your parents?" Shippo nodded.
"Mama died when I was little, and Papa was killed. Kagome was nice enough to take care of me, though."
"Lady Kagome is very kind. You told me she's from a different time period, right?" Rin nodded.
"Shippo told me all about it. He said Kagome has all kinds of good food to eat, and fun toys to play with. She used to bring you that stuff, right?" Shippo smiled and nodded.
"Mama doesn't bring me toys anymore because I'm older, but the food she has is delicious, like those chips we had yesterday."
"Those were good! Did you like them, Hatori?" Hatori nodded.
Kagome glanced back at the kids. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. They had been riding Ah-Un the whole way, and Jaken was holding his reins. Inuyasha walked ahead of Ah-Un, but kept his distance from Sesshomaru. Kagome felt bad for him.
"Sesshomaru, can I talk to Inuyasha for a minute?" Sesshomaru glanced at her, and back at Inuyasha. He let her go, but growled a warning to Inuyasha. Kagome slowed down so she was next to him. "I'm sorry you have to stay away from Sesshomaru like this."
"It's fine. I wouldn't want to be near him anyway." Kagome pat his shoulder.
"Don't look so sad. You can have as much instant ramen as you want when we get to my time. Sesshomaru can't . . ." Kagome trailed off as she remembered the shard that Sesshomaru had taken from her. He still had it, which meant he could come to her time.
"I don't care if he comes." Kagome sighed.
"This is going to be stressful." Having the guy I used to like and my future mate together is bad. Especially since they hate each other. Look at the bright side, at least you have a hunky youkai mate all to yourself! Stop being so weird! Just because he's my future mate doesn't mean I can think if him like that. Sure it does! When will you ever get it? Kagome sighed again.
Sesshomaru heard Kagome sighing and sensed the stress that she was feeling. He turned around and pulled back to the front of the group with him.
"You must relax if you are feeling stressed. Would you like me to carry you?" Kagome shook her head.
"No, and why did you pull me away from Inuyasha? He's not the reason I'm stressed. Well, he kind of is, but not really. Anyway, I was trying to talk to him." Sesshomaru moved the hair away from Kagome's eyes.
"I want you to relax and rest. If something is causing you stress, then I will separate you from it." Kagome looked back at Inuyasha, but he looked away. Kagome glared at Sesshomaru.
"It's not polite to pull someone away when they're having a conversation, regardless of how stressed I am. Besides, it's the fact that you and Inuyasha aren't being nice to each other that's making me feel bad. The idea of my future mate and the guy I used to like being near each other makes me worry. I'm fine, and if you don't mind, I want to talk with Inuyasha for a few more minutes." Kagome stopped to wait for Inuyasha, but then looked back at Sesshomaru.
Sesshomaru's pride was a little hurt by Kagome's words. She made it sound like he had done something bad. Kagome walked back to him and kissed his cheek. "I don't mean to sound angry. I just want to talk with Inuyasha since he wasn't around the castle before." Kagome went over to Inuyasha and began talking with him.
Sesshomaru looked ahead and sniffed the air. The well was still far off, and it would be a few days before they reached it. He glanced back at Kagome. If she wishes to talk with my brother, then I will allow her. No! Take her back! She can't be near him! I'm sure she will be fine. Sesshomaru felt a strange pain. Seeing Kagome talk with Inuyasha rather than be with him made him feel unimportant. He growled. Why am I so affected by this? She's only talking with him. I should not feel so possessive.
They continued walking for a few more hours. Things were quiet, and besides the conversations and their footsteps, there was no other noise. Kagome was still talking with Inuyasha, but she was quickly becoming bored. All he could talk about were his adventures with Kikyo before she died.
"I'm sorry I keep talking about Kikyo. It must be annoying." Kagome smiled.
"It's fine, but I think I'll go back to Sesshomaru now." Kagome jogged up to Sesshomaru and smiled at him. "I'm sorry for leaving for so long. And I'm sorry for yelling earlier. I wasn't trying to be mean."
"It is all right. It was rude of me to take you away when you were talking." Kagome smiled and stroked his fluff. She suddenly heard a noise and looked up. Something was flying in the air above them.
oOo
Sango sighed as they flew through the air on Kirara. Miroku looked around for any sign of a youkai that could have a shard.
"We've been looking for hours. I don't think we'll find anything today."
"Sango, you must have faith. I'm sure we'll be able to help some people, if nothing else." Sango stroked Kirara's ears.
"Kirara, you must be tired. Do you want to stop?" Kirara roared. "Miroku, we should land." Miroku didn't respond. "Miroku?"
"What's that?" Miroku pointed to the ground. Sango leaned over to look. There appeared to be a few moving things, but they were too high to see what they looked like. Kirara roared and began to descend.
"Kirara, what are you doing?" Kirara kept going down. As they went down, Sango and Miroku were able to see the things on the ground. Sango's eyes went wide. "Kagome!"
Kagome paused a moment before smiling and waving.
"Sango! Miroku! It's been so long!" Kagome kept waving until Kirara was a few feet of the ground. She landed and Sango sprung off her back and ran to Kagome. Kagome opened her arms and the girls hugged each other tightly.
"Kagome! I can't believe it!" They pulled away and smiled at each other. "How have you been?"
"Great! How about you? I've been worried that you wouldn't be able to find shards without me." Sango laughed.
"We were lucky. We managed to find a few." Miroku walked over.
"Kagome, it's nice to see you." Miroku hugged Kagome, but he barely had time to try and womanize her before he was on the ground, and looking up at a raging Sesshomaru.
"Monk, you would do well to stay away from Kagome." Miroku stood and backed away.
"I apologize." Kagome tugged Sesshomaru's sleeve.
"Don't hurt him, he's my friend." Sesshomaru growled, but calmed down. Sango was amazed. She pulled Kagome aside and lowered her voice.
"Kagome, what was that?" Kagome blushed.
"Well, you've missed a lot. Why don't we eat lunch together and I'll explain?"
In a few minutes, they had a camp set up and were cooking the last of the ramen that Kagome had, along with a few mushrooms Rin and Shippo had gathered.
"You love him?!" Sango was shocked. Kagome blushed again.
"Yes. He told me during my birthday party at the castle."
"His castle?! Kagome, what the heck has been going on?" Kagome shrugged.
"We just had to stay at the castle for a while, and we had my birthday party while we were there, and Sesshomaru started training me to use my youkai powers. I even have my own sword." Kagome looked at Sesshomaru, who pulled Junsei from his waist and gave it to Kagome. He had agreed to carry it for a few days, but soon Kagome would have to carry it. Sesshomaru had told her that she needed to get used to having a sword at her waist.
Sango gently took the sword from Kagome and inspected it.
"This sword is amazing. It's so lightweight, but so sharp. Where did you get this?" Kagome took the sword back and looked it over.
"Sesshomaru gave it to me. It was forged from his fang by Totosai a long time ago. It's called Junsei. Sesshomaru told me I'm going to have to start carrying it soon so I can get used to having a sword with me."
"May I see it?" Kagome turned to Miroku and nodded. He took the sword and looked it over.
"It's a very finely crafted sword. I wouldn't mind seeing you use it sometime." Miroku gave it back. Kagome gave it to Sesshomaru, who put it back on his waist.
"This is unexpected. We weren't trying to find you or anything. Miroku and I were only looking for shards, or Naraku, if possible."
"Why don't we travel together?" Everyone looked at Kagome. "We might as well. It'll be easier to fight Naraku if we're together, and being together will be more fun." Miroku smiled.
"That's a wonderful idea." Sango hugged Kagome.
"I'm glad we can be together again. But may I ask what Inuyasha is doing here?" Everyone looked at him. Inuyasha growled.
"He asked to come with us, and he apologized. Everything between us is fine. Don't worry." Sango gave Kagome a sympathetic look.
"Are you sure?" Kagome nodded. "Also, who is the youkai boy?" Sango pointed to Hatori.
"Oh, he's a cat hanyou. He asked for my help, and he ended up coming with us too." Hatori smiled. Sango eyed him suspiciously. There was something about him that she didn't like.
After lunch, they started up again. Kagome stayed with Sango and Miroku in order to catch up with them, but Sesshomaru continually glanced back at Miroku, keeping an eye on him.
"Kagome, what happened to the flower petal? Didn't the flower fall apart with just one petal left?" Kagome nodded and reached into her backpack. She pulled out the box and took the petal out.
"I kept it with me. I wanted to make sure it was safe." She put it back, and Sango smiled.
"I'm glad you kept it. May I ask how far into the mating ritual you are?" Kagome blushed.
"Uh . . . right now . . . Sesshomaru and I are in the fourth step." Miroku's eyes went wide.
"Kagome, surely you haven't done anything like that?" Kagome looked away.
"Actually . . . we have." Sango's hand went over her mouth.
"I thought you said you weren't going to do that until you were married, or in this case, until the mating." Kagome's blush deepened.
"It's a part of the mating ritual, so I had to do it sometime. I figured it was better not to put it off." Miroku chuckled.
"That's not true." Kagome raised her eyebrow at him.
"What?" Miroku had to take a breath to stop from laughing.
"I thought Lord Sesshomaru had told you. The fourth step can be skipped." Kagome gasped, and glared at Sesshomaru.
"He never told me that!" Sesshomaru kept his eyes on the path ahead. Kagome ran up to him and tugged his hair. "Why didn't you tell me?" Sesshomaru stopped and pulled Kagome close to him. He leaned in and smirked.
"You think I would have passed up a chance to see your beautiful body?" Kagome's face was completely red. He let her go and continued walking. Kagome stood there for a minute. Sango pat her shoulder, bringing Kagome to her senses. She kept walking with them, thinking about what Sesshomaru had done. I can't believe that jerk! All this time we could've skipped it! Did you want to skip it? Well, I'll admit that it was . . . nice, but he could have told me. Then you wouldn't have done it. Shut up!
oOo
Sesshomaru listened to Kagome's breath as she slept. It was late, and everyone was beginning to settle down. Sango and Miroku were sleeping near each other, and the kids were cuddled up by Ah-Un. Jaken had gone to get firewood. Inuyasha sat up in a tree, and Kagome was in Sesshomaru's lap while Sesshomaru leaned against a tree.
"Hey, how does Kagome feel?" Sesshomaru looked up at Inuyasha.
"Why do you ask something like that? You can clearly see that she's sleeping." Inuyasha jumped down from his tree and sat near Sesshomaru.
"No, I mean, how does she feel about you? Does she reallly love you like she says?" Sesshomaru stroked Kagome's face.
"Of course she does, and I love her. I will protect her with my life and make sure she has everything she wants." Inuyasha scoffed.
"It doesn't seem like you can love anybody." Sesshomaru growled.
"I love Kagome with all my heart."
"In such a short time?" Sesshomaru shifted slightly. "It hasn't been that long since Kagome came to stay with you. I know she can't be mine, but I was with her for years, and I can honestly say that I love her and want to protect her. What about you? You've had barely any time to get to know her. You have no right to claim that you love her." Sesshomaru growled again.
"Maybe it is not a matter of time, but a matter of how in tune to my feelings I am. You were a moron not to realize your love until you couldn't have her. I believe it is you who doesn't have the right to proclaim his love." Inuyasha looked away.
"I know what I did was stupid. Look, I don't want to argue. I just wanted to tell you that Kagome is an amazing and wonderful person, and you better protect her with your life and love her like there's no tomorrow. She deserves the best. She's always looked out for others, and now it's time she got something in return." Sesshomaru wrapped his arms around her.
"Little brother, I know this. You don't need to tell me." Inuyasha scoffed again and went back into his tree. He looked back down.
"And don't forget that Kagome isn't a possession. Women these days are treated like that, but Kagome is as far from a possession as you can get, and she doesn't deserve to be treated that way." Sesshomaru nodded.
"I am fully aware of that."
oOo
Kagome groaned as Sesshomaru shook her awake.
"Go away." Sesshomaru removed Kagome from his lap and set her on the ground.
"It is time for training." Kagome rubbed her eyes and looked around. It was cold and dark, and everyone was still sleeping. She stood and reached for her backpack.
"I'll be ready in a minute. Find someplace to train." Sesshomaru left the camp. Kagome hid behind a tree and started to put on her training kimono. Since she couldn't take proper baths in the woods, Kagome had resorted to bathing in the nearest river after training. Sesshomaru had finished teaching her the stances for sword battle, and now he was going to show her how to channel her energy into the sword to perform attacks.
When she was done, Kagome sniffed the air and followed Sesshomaru's scent to a clearing. He already had Tokijin out. He tossed Junsei to her, and Kagome caught it easily.
"Start with a basic stance." Kagome positioned herself. "The way to use an attack is to focus your energy into the sword. Because of your miko powers, I'm sure your attacks will be different from a typical youkai. Grip Junsei tightly and imagine your energy pouring into it." Kagome did as she was told.
Kagome was amazed when Junsei began glowing with a light pink aura. She tried to stay focused. The aura flowed around her and made it seem as if there was a light wind around her. "After focusing your energy, you must release it before it becomes too powerful for the attack you are using." Before he said anything else, Kagome tried to release the energy.
To Sesshomaru's surprise, the pink aura increased in size. Kagome closed her eyes. The energy swirled around her, and then moved to the sword. The energy flower around Junsei for a minute. Kagome lifted Junsei above her head.
"Herutsu Strike!" Kagome swung Junsei down, causing the aura to blast across the clearing. Sesshomaru jumped away just in time to see it smash into the forest and tear it apart. He looked back at Kagome, who was panting, but her expression quickly changed from fatigue to surprise when she saw what she did.
The entire clearing and the forest behind it had been turned to a pile of rock and soil. All of the grass and trees were gone. "Not again! Why can't I control my power?!" Sesshomaru put his hand on Kagome's back.
"That was amazing. I didn't expect this much of an attack your first time. Although, I'm starting to believe that I shouldn't underestimate you as much." They heard footsteps and turned to see Sango, Miroku, Kirara, Inuyasha, and the kids coming to see what had happened. They all stared blankly at the area.
"Kagome . . . did you do this?" Kagome smiled at Sango.
"Yeah, I guess it was too much. I was trying to use an attack with my sword, and I got carried away." Hatori ran over to her and grabbed her hand. He looked at it and inspected the other hand.
"Why aren't you wearing the ring I gave you?" Kagome looked at her hand.
"I didn't want to damage it during training. Why?" Hatori sighed.
"That ring is important. If you aren't wearing it, your powers can't be contained."
"What? How can a ring contain my powers? What are you talking about?" Hatori paused.
"I suppose I should tell you now."
-End-
Hey!! Again, I'm sorry the special surprise isn't here, but this seemed like a good place to stop. I hope you liked this chapter! I had fun writing it! Sango and Miroku are back! Yay! I want to thank you all for supporting me!
I bet you're all wondering about Hatori, right? I've got something planned for him! I can't say much for now except . . . review!! Review review review review!! Please review! I love all the reviews I've been getting, and I would love more! Please review! Well, I have to go for now, but I'll update soon, and I promise the surprise will be in the next chapter! Bye-bye!