Title: Falling Stars
Author: Celyia (ladycelyia@aol.com)
Genre: Romance
Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns the whole damn empire.
Dedication: To those who enjoy the journey.:-)
Note: Okay, there is only one or two chapters left to this part before the real confusion begins. :-) I'm going to try to get all of that out tonight due to the fact that I really won't have much time to work on it during the week. Hang in there and thanks for sticking with me this long!

By the bye, for those of you interested, I'm a FF.net subscriber which means you can sign up to get notice when I update. :-)

-Cel.



Chapter 5


He crouched down next to her, his long silver hair falling carelessly on her sleeping form. Goose pimples arose along the pallid lengths of her arms and uncovered legs, but the girl showed no other signs of stirring.

Hardening his stare, Sesshoumaru glared unceasingly at the girl's covered head, waiting her reaction as she woke up to discover a shadow hovering over her.

And he waited.

Growling slightly as the girl started snoring softly, Sesshoumaru considered killing her right then and there.

Shaking off the sudden surge of anger that rushed through his body, the youkai lord instead nudged the girl, none too gently, in the ribs.

A slight growl came from her throat, filled with an annoyance that was nearly tangible even as she pulled her legs up to her chest.

Barely restraining the sigh of impatience that tried to escape from his mouth, Sesshoumaru grabbed at the multi-coloured blanket and pulled harshly at it, exposing the nearly indecently clothed body to the chill night air.

He tilted his head, mesmerized momentarily by the way his silver hair fell and merged with her midnight tresses. Frowning as he realized the poetic turn of thought, Sesshoumaru quickly nudged the young woman on her thinly clothed shoulder.

"Girl. Cease that infernal racket this instant and face me," he intoned, his voice strong and authoritative even as he realized she was in too deep of a sleep to respond.

"Girl. I, Sesshoumaru… oh, hell, you cannot hear a word I am saying, can you?" the youkai muttered, his voice taut with the frustration that he was careful to never let anyone hear. "Stupid, useless human."

With an impatient huff, Sesshoumaru examined the girl's face intently. Completely dead to the world. In fact, he was willing to even make a wager that he even if he had brought the incessantly quarrelling Jaken and Rin along, the girl would have still slept through it.

Suddenly uneasy by the amusement deep in his chest that the idea sparked, Sesshoumaru swung his golden eyes away from the slumbering woman to the strange black sack she carried with her everywhere.

He closed his eyes as he inhaled the scent deeply, frowning as he noted his brother's scent marking the cool, worn leather. Curiously, he pressed a claw against the silver latch, only to feel his eyebrows raise of their own accord as the latch clicked open. Dipping a hand into the strangely strapped sack, Sesshoumaru pulled out the item closest to the top.

Frowning as he examined the book with an expert eye, he opened the front cover only to watch a thin piece of paper (formed and cut to a magically consistent precision) fall upon his lap. Quietly, he lifted the paper to his nose and inhaled. Her scent was all over it.

With a curious tilt of the head, he examined the paper carefully, only to bite down no small amusement as he recognized the unwilling subject who had been imprisoned so amateurishly upon the small scroll.

She obviously had a terrible eye for proportions, he decided, feeling oddly better at this proof of her incompetence. But proportions asunder or not, he still had no problem identifying the owner of the furry ears and nearly maniacal glower.

In all his peevishness and attitude, the girl had faultlessly captured Inuyasha's personality.

Overriding the sudden instinct to chuckle by frowning, Sesshoumaru carefully tucked the paper back into the book, only to pause in shock as he finally caught the contents of the book.

Sums? Not merely sums, but advanced sums?

This rather insignificant female was a mistress of sums?

Growling uneasily as he leaned over her, Sesshoumaru searched her face for any sign of advanced intellect or genius but his golden eyes seemed only capable of perceiving that which they always did- a small woman with finely chiseled features that the uneducated may call beautiful if they were unfamiliar with the precepts of taste. Obviously her eyes were too big and her dark eyebrows weren't arched enough, he thought as he examined her face.

Her mouth was unusual, though, Sesshoumaru admitted as his attention seemed to focus on the plump, pink lips that were parted ever so slightly in her sleep. Before the thought had even passed through the thrumming grey matter in his head, his sharp claw was suddenly tracing the outline of her lower lip, the motion slow and gentle. Golden eyes widened almost comically as he realized his folly and the youkai pushed himself back, only to glare angrily at the wench with the bewitching mouth.

His heart pounding so loudly that he would have sworn it was audible, Sesshoumaru pulled himself up to his feet. With a demeanor of angry pride, the youkai slowly extended the claws upon his right hand until a soft, glowing mist of green emanated from the tips.

It was time to end this, he told himself firmly as he stepped towards the girl. Pushing aside the brief flare of regret as he looked upon her innocent face, Sesshoumaru thrust out his chin even as he reached to slash her to shreds.

The sudden noise startled him, the beads of sweat that had seemed to spontaneously form upon the flat of his forehead were sent flaring out into the air as he jumped back away from his senseless victim.

"The child," he muttered as he looked towards the village. The intruder was approaching fast and furious, Sesshoumaru realized as he leapt up into the tree high above the girl's head. Certainly it was one thing to kill the girl, but it was another thing all together to do it in front of the child who loved her.

Unable to restrain the frustrated sigh at the latest interruption, Sesshoumaru peered down through the ungainly leaves to watch the newest scene in this comedy of errors unfold.





Response to Reviews:

Stormlight: Thanks! :-) Hopefully I didn't carry the joke on too long! Hope you liked this chapter!
Steph: You slacker you. :-) j/k. Oh, don't try to make sense out of this BS. You'll end up going insane :-) I mean, according to this story, Kagome's already graduated high school, so why the hell is she still wearing her junior high uniform? There is a lot in here that doesn't make sense. I'll try to fix all that stuff up when I revise but of course, I won't revise til I actually finish the story. :-)
Tegasus: Woo! I hope you still like it. :-) Thanks so much!
Rymsie: I don't think there could possibly be a nicer compliment. I can't tell you how neat it is to receive one of your reviews. You have a way of really making a wannabe fanfic writer's day. Thanks for being so kind. :) Oh, and I'm glad you don't have a problem with me developing things so slowly. I feel a little awkward by continuing this pace, but of course, I'm trying to avoid making any of the romance seem rushed or too forced.
Brooke: Thank you! I wasn't sure about putting the Shippou thing in but in the end, it seemed to work okay. :-) Hope you like the little kitsune because from here on out, he'll be putting in quite a few more appearances.
Lightning: *grin* Thanks. :-) Hmm.. Regarding the formatting, you may want to try uploading in html. If you don't know how to do html, send me an email (my addy is listed in the disclaimer area) and I'll help you. :-)
Megami-sama: Wooooo! Thanks! I'm glad you think so! *bounces around like a maniac* Thanks!
Angry Gen: You are so sweet. :-) Eeek. Hopefully I'm not giving you cavities!! *will try to cut down on the aboundin' cuteness a little* *GRIN* And as for poor Sess, I'm sure he's about as confused as you are. :-)
Embyr: I've made poor Shippou into a really emotionally scarred kid. Poor thing. :-) Oh, well. A little stability *innocent look* in his life may just clear that up. Oh, glad you liked the stars thing. I was worried I let that part go on too long!
Ranma Inverse: You are like my personal cheering section. :-) *grin* Thanks for always making me feel so special, hon. You are the best!

Thanks for your patience, guys!