Thank you for all who have been reviewing.  And please continue!  Y'all make me want to write faster!

-MC

"See this woman, Bono? I love this woman.  I love this woman so much it hurts.  I love her so much…I done run out of ways of loving her."

                                                                                                -Fences

                                                                                                            August Wilson

Kagome sobered quickly.  With so many questions she spouted out the first one that came to mind.

"Did you know…InuYasha…?" Her eyes were so large and innocent Miroku almost kissed her again.

"Kagome, I will explain everything later.  But first please go back home.  I shall meet you there.  And don't go alone.  Sesshomaru is waiting outside.  I need to speak to both of you."

He helped her up and then walked out.  Kagome silently gathered her notes and did the same.  She glanced around and glimpsed a lock of white hair from behind a bookshelf before it entirely disappeared.

"This is going to be fun…" she muttered.

Kagome wasn't quite sure if Sesshomaru would let her find him and an even bigger stretch to talk to him.  So she took a roundabout way, swiftly sneaking up on him from the opposite side. 

He was glancing at her when she snuck around the corner.

So much for surprising him…she thought.

He took a quick glance around and said,

"Oh darling, there you are…you look cold, let me put my jacket around you." As she mutely complied he leaned down and whispered, "We're being watched, just play along…its just acting," he added.

The barb wasn't lost on Kagome but she nodded and put her arms around him while burying her head under his protective arm.  Sesshomaru leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"No isn't that much warmer?" he said smiling as they walked out.  The smile immediately turned into his stoic expression and he picked Kagome up and jogged to the car.  He threw her on the seat and jumped in, revving the car into drive as he tried to blend in with the other cars leaving the parking lot. They wordlessly drove home, but Kagome was still amazed at Sesshomaru's tenderness. 

It was just acting Kagome! She told herself, When he got the opportunity he threw you in the car!

Once in the garage he opened the door for her and then pressed her against the car, his body towering over her own. 

"You will talk to me now.  Who was that man in he room with you?"  He had his teeth clenched and he ground out the question.

Sesshomaru had heard Kagome's shouts in the library but couldn't go to her without giving away his position to the two men who had been watching the door suspiciously close.  When the man with the black hair came out one followed him and the other waited for Kagome.  They obviously knew what she looked like, but it seemed that he, Sesshomaru, was still a wild card.  So he played it to his complete advantage and got Kagome out of there.

Surmising that they probably knew InuYasha he used the fact that from behind he and his brother were similar looking to the fullest extent. He only hoped they hadn't learned of his dear brother's death yet.  And if they did, they still wouldn't know who he was.  Either way, Kagome would be safe for a little while.

Kagome couldn't think clearly from the distraction of Sesshomaru's warm body against hers so perfectly.  She seemed to just simply mould into him.  However, she was saved an answer when Miroku stepped out from the shadows.

"Don't worry, Sesshomaru, she was quite safe with me…"

A little annoyed that the time he was closest to Kagome in a week was interrupted he moved away from her warmth and confronted Miroku.

"Oh, it's you, Monk.  What do you want this time?"  However Sesshomaru gave him a look that clearly read that he wasn't quite sure Kagome was safe in his hands.  Miroku smiled wolfishly before answering.

"You know as well as I that my days as a monk are over.  And as to what I did, you an ask the girl yourself…"

As the men glared daggers at each other, Kagome became infuriated.

"What are you talking about?  You two KNOW each other?  Why didn't you go talk to HIM first, Miroku…"

As she continued Miroku whispered to Sesshomaru

"Watch this…" Miroku abruptly grabbed her and kissed her in the middle of her tirade.  Kagome was quiet once more.

"Now that's the most effective way of silencing her," he said with a sly grin. 

Sesshomaru, to say the least, was not happy.

"She's mine!" He pushed Miroku out of the way and grabbed the stunned Kagome, holding her possessively against him in a manner reminiscent of the first time he declared she was his.

"Tut, tut, now you had a brother…didn't you ever learn to share?" 

"ENOUGH!" Kagome yelled from her prone position in Sess's arms.  Brusquely pushing herself free, Kagome marched to the steps leading up to the house to gain height.  And talking down to the two older men as if they were bad little boys she said…

"You," pointing a finger at Miroku, "will refrain from kissing me.  And you," turning to Sesshomaru, "will stop claiming me as yours.  I belong to no one.  Now lets go into the upstairs living room and talk about what is really important: El Salvador!"

She stomped away to end her statement effectively.  Sesshomaru was about to follow when Miroku glided past.  Over his shoulder he said,

"What a little spitfire we have on our hands.  I bet she is a wildcat in bed.  I hope you haven't mated her yet, Sesshomaru, it would be such a loss…"

Sesshomaru groaned at the thought.

"Yes it was a loss…"

Kagome was sick of men.  She was sick of everything that they stood for.  She was still mourning over her love for InuYasha, her first kiss her first boyfriend.

It wasn't that Kagome was ugly, but she wasn't exactly model material either.  She had big hips and thighs.  She was curvaceous, but not overly so.  Her hair was raven colored with sheen.  She had freckles across her nose and spotting her body.  She was white, pale.  However, the mix of an El Salvadoran mother and a Japanese father gave her an exotic look.  But Kagome's inner radiance and soul was her best attribute.

And Kagome as still entirely confused about Sesshomaru's role in her life.  He was her first lover and even though she confessed no ties it still felt wrong for Miroku to kiss her.  She also hardly understood his possessive behavior towards her.  She knew she was his charge—he was paid to be protective.  But constantly pointing out Kagome was his was kind of overkill, right?

Even during their liaisons he had moaned that she was his.  "Mine," he had said.  Was this something men usually did while making love?  She could hardly tell anymore.  Just thinking about Sesshomaru in that way gave her shivers.  Sess…that was what she had called him.  He didn't seem to mind the intimate nickname either.

Kagome sat don in a huff on the couch.  She hated her overly feminine mind.  It always tried to explain things farther than men really mean.

"For goodness sakes, Kagome, he could have been referring to anything of his.  Who knew what he was thinking about?"

Kagome shivered again.  Something inside her knew he wasn't referring to anything else but her.  And what he made her feel that morning was still vivid in her mind…

"Kagome!" she mentally berated herself.  "There is no reason for you to get all hot and bothered over nothing." 

But as Sesshomaru sauntered in with an interesting look on his face she involuntarily gasped.  Ears alert to the sound, he gave her a questioning look.  When her only response was her rapid breathing Sesshomaru immediately knew what she had been thinking about when he walked in.  And the thought made his blood boil…

Kagome noticed the flash in his eyes but before he could move she whispered,

"Miroku is coming…" distracted, Sess knew she was right.  He gave her a nod and then answered as he sat down,

"We'll finish this later."

"Finish what later?" Miroku said cheerfully.  He had watched the whole exchange and frowned inwardly.

Such a loss, he thought.