Authors note: Surprise! I've been working on getting this story among To Fight in Love and War and Sorrows Strength ready for posting. This and the other two will be updated on Mondays. Hopefully I can get all my readers back after such a long absence. Please enjoy and review. Your reviews fuel my creativity. If you want an original about a Kitsune and Priest, run over to my Inkitt or Wattpad and check out my new book. The username is KittyCatHugs. I hope all of you enjoy the new updates.

P.S. For any fans of The Ancient Magus Bride. I posted a lemony One-shot the other day. GO Check it out if you want.

Chapter 22

Sesshomaru felt his body change, bones breaking and reforming into his more humanoid form. The taste of blood still lingered in his mouth and only when he wrapped his arms around Kagome did he let go of her hand. The world around them was a swirling pink, something he had never seen before.

And that was saying something. Sesshomaru had been alive for a very long time. Seen many things that others could only dream of. Yet, here was Kagome, once again pulling the rug from under his feet. Just as quickly as the pink appeared, it disappeared, leaving both occupants at the bottom of the well.

Kagome hissed, holding onto her hand, but she sat up, swirling to look at Sesshomaru with wide eyes. First, he saw surprise, and then he saw worry. He didn't want to see either of those emotions. At least not in this context. "Where are we, Koneko?" Did the spell break? If it did, that still didn't explain her jumping into the well, or the influx of magic he had felt just moments before.

"Um… Sesshomaru…" Kagome's head was bowed, her eyes tilted up to look at him. It was as if she dreaded answering his questions. And she did. He had yet to realize exactly what had happened to him. She knew his thoughts on the matter, knew he would be angry. Perhaps even volatile. "Well, I can answer that question, but first…."

"Spit it out." He pushed to his feet, holding out a hand for her. She didn't take it and instead looked at his offered hand, eyes wide and unblinking. Following his gaze, his eyes narrowed when he noticed what she had already seen. He had no claws. Turning over his appendage, he was aghast to see dull human nails. That same hand snapped up to his ears, feeling them rounded off instead of at a point.

Baring his teeth, Kagome scrunched up her face, and he just knew his fangs were gone. He doubted he looked dangerous at all in that moment. Most likely, he appeared more like a deranged fool showing his teeth. "Explain, Miko."

"Now I'm back to being Miko? I think I like Koneko better." Kagome pouted, standing to her feet. Blood still ran down her hand, and she winced in pain. Any movement caused near agony to shoot up her arm. "I don't know what's going on Sesshomaru. I'm the only one that is able to go through the well. You shouldn't be here, let alone human."

Sesshomaru looked up, seeing a roof over the well they were in. it was clearly wood, but shaped in a way he had never seen before. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply, a pitiful growl forming in his chest. His nose. The power of his smell, was gone. There were scents, but they were all muted. Diluted, even. He couldn't discern between one or the other. Kagome's scent was clear, but not as strong. He suspected that he only smelled her because she was standing beside him. He could not smell her blood.

His hearing was much the same, and again he found himself cursing his mother. He suspected this had something to do with the curse. There was no guarantee, but he had no other way to explain the situation he found himself in currently. A human. He was a human. He didn't know what was worse. A mortal Inu, or a filthy human.

A grunt caught his attention and he opened his eyes. Kagome was attempting to climb a ladder one handed. She would be lying if she said she wasn't hurt. She knew how Sesshomaru's mind worked. He was thinking horrible thoughts about being human. Most likely degrading the very species that she was. She wasn't going to sit around and wait for the insults to begin. She dealt with that from InuYasha, she wouldn't let Sesshomaru start on her either.

"Miko-"

"Don't start." She leaned her head against the ladder, hand throbbing. "I know you hate humans, but please don't start belittling me."

Another pitiful growl, and Kagome was suddenly yanked from the ladder and into a hard chest. Sesshomaru grabbed her wrist, squeezing tightly to try and stop the bleeding. Even while he cared for her wound, his eyes gazed into hers, angry. "You think of me like the half-breed?"

"I know what you think of humans. You hate them. You think they are nasty-"

"Yes. The majority of the human population leaves much to be desired. However, there are a few that have proven themselves to be worthy." He ran his nose down her check, his other hand slowly snaking around her waist.

He wouldn't allow her to think he would insult her like InuYasha. He would not stoop so low as to call the one he wanted to mate demeaning names. After all, not all humans were bad. The Taiji and Monk had proven that numerous times. His little Rin showed a purity that nearly rivaled Kagome's. He could not insult an entire race when he had humans that he deemed worthy.

"I am not him, My Little Koneko." His voice was low and deep. He hadn't lost that timbre that did something to her stomach every time he spoke. "InuYasha is a fool. He can not see the worth that you are. Tell me, My Mate, have I done anything to belittle you recently?"

Kagome looked down, her cheeks blushing. She had gotten over InuYasha. She knew he no longer had a hold on her heart. however, he had scarred her so badly that she automatically assumed the worst of Sesshomaru. It wasn't because she thought Sesshomaru that lowly, but because she saw her own worth as nonexistent.

"I'm sorry." She lifted her head, pressing her lips against his in an apology. After a moment she smiled and leaned back. "I can kiss you even when we are awake." He hummed, kissing again as he to, realized the same thing. There was one other thing she just had to say. Teasing him was a must. "Also, I'm not your mate yet."

"Soon enough." He pecked the corner of her mouth, and then looked to her hand. "We must get you treated. I am human, my saliva will not heal you. I must also insist that you explain our whereabouts."

"Oh!" She smiled sheepishly. In the few seconds of drama, she had forgotten to tell him her secret. "This is my secret. I am from a few hundred years in the future. I can travel from here to the past through the well. InuYasha has been here a few times, but-"

"You let the fool become privy of such powerful knowledge?" Sesshomaru wasn't just being jealous. Anyone that held an idea of how the future would be had a magnificent power in their hands. If they wished, they could change the future to what they desired. They would simple have to change one event that could lead the future on another path entirely.

"InuYasha never put two and two together. He didn't stop long enough to think about what he could do." She blushed, her hand reaching up cup his unmarked cheek. "I'm trusting you not to become the tyrant your known for."

His eyes narrowed, realizing what she was asking. She wanted him to learn of her world, because that was obviously going to happen, and then do nothing with what he learned. He could have the world in the palm of his hands, and she wanted him to let it slip away. And with a sigh, he knew he would. He wanted Kagome as a mate. He knew she wasn't one to rule of anything and asking her to rule over the West was enough. Adding the world to his rule… she would never agree. In that moment it came down to a choice.

The world, or his miko.

He chose wisely and nodded his head. A part of him was still bitter at both being a human and knowing that he would be unable to do anything with the things he was about to learn. But when she smiled up to him, he eyes lighting up, he suddenly wasn't bitter anymore. One last kiss to her lips, which he seemed unable to stop doing, and he looked up to the top of the well.

"Go first. This one will go behind you in case you fall." She did as he said, her hand obviously paining her. He felt bad for causing an injury on her. From the angle they were at, he could see the scars on her neck, and he knew her hand would scar up as well. It settled like a rock in his stomach. He didn't want to mark her body anymore. Not in that way.

When they reached the top, Kagome slid open the door to the well house, and Sesshomaru's eyes widened as he took sight of the new world around him. The air did not smell clean, but he knew it would be far worse if he was his normal demonic self. Kagome took a few minutes to explain certain things. Cars, Planes, and other large things that may make a sound and spook him.

It all amazed him.

"As far as I know, there are no demons in this world." Kagome looked to Sesshomaru, worry on her face. It wasn't that she worried for his reaction. She feared for what happened to the demons. Because if the demons disappeared, so did Sesshomaru and all of her other friends.

"It is unlikely a superior race is eradicated." Kagome deadpanned him, and he raised an eyebrow. "By superior, I mean strength and abilities. Do you think someone like myself or any that carry my blood would bow to that of humans?" He sighed as he realized Kagome was just getting angrier. He wasn't explaining this very well. "I do not think demons are extinct."

He would just leave it at that.

"Come on, oh arrogant one." She couldn't keep the smirk off her face as she entered the house, kicking off her shoes. "Mama!" Kagome's hand was throbbing, and she really wanted to get it taken care off. Sesshomaru followed her lead and wiggled his toes when he saw he had no claws there either.

"In the kitchen dear." Kagome followed the voice of her mother, wincing as the older woman turned around and her eyes landed on her daughters hand. "Kagome! What on earth happened?"

"A dog bit me. He was crazy and I think he had the mange." Sesshomaru snapped his eyes to Kagome, glaring at her. She laughed as Kotomi wrapped her hand in a towel. "Sesshomaru did it by accident. He saw me go into the well and tried to catch me."

"Well, it doesn't look like you will need stitches. Wait here while I go get the first aid kit. Then you can explain more and introduce me to your friend." Kotomi quickly ran to the bathroom, and Kagome watched Sesshomaru walk around the kitchen looking at all of the new technology his time didn't have.

He reached out, flipping the light switch off and hummed before he turned it back on. Kagome chuckled, and he glared at her. "It's called electricity. We have been able to harvest the light from a fire and control it. Every room in the house can turn the lights on and off with a switch."

"Hmm. And yet, you prefer the world without these advances." He looked around once more, walking back up to his female. His hand gently ran up her forearm, stopping just under the bleeding towel. "This Sesshomaru apo-" He stopped his face scrunched up.

The great Sesshomaru did not apologize.

And yet he felt Kagome deserved it. She shook her head, eyeing him with understanding. "You don't have to say it Sesshomaru. I know you didn't mean to. I'm not angry." She kissed him again, having the same thought that for some reason she just couldn't stop.

"I think you have a lot more to explain than I realized." Kotomi stood in the doorway of the kitchen. The first aid kit was in her hands, and a smile on her face.