Kagome stared in wonderment at all the vibrant colors around her. The beautiful green of the trees contrasted with the blood-red roses, the sapphire-blue morning glories, the brilliant orange poppies, the deep purple violets, and the sun-yellow daffodils. Small bushes with white flowers the size of a child's fingernails placed in strategic places all over the garden balanced out the bright color. A stone walkway wove around the flower beds, allowing for close inspection of every plant. Cherry trees shaded the path and protected the delicate flowers from the rays of the sun whenever it reached its highest position in the sky.
"It's exquisite, Sesshoumaru-sama," the miko said breathlessly, her eyes trying to take in everything at once. "And there's a tiny pond over there with swans!" She smiled, her overflowing joy apparent on her face.
The black-haired girl began to wander around the garden, taking her time to smell and touch every flower. She spent the longest time at the roses, which smelled like an earthy version of heaven to her. Delicately running a single finger along one of the red blossom's petals, she took a deep breath.
"This flower smells amazing," Kagome commented, turning to look at the dog demon. "And it's so beautiful, too. Your mother's garden is absolutely wonderful." She sighed happily. "I love it here."
"I played here when I was a pup," Sesshoumaru admitted, brushing one of the flowers with a claw.
"It must have been so much fun," she responded, beginning to twirl around like a child. "This place has a magical quality to it."
He nodded his head in agreement, golden eyes sincere. "Yes, it does."
'It is funny that she would describe it the same way Mother did,' the inu youkai thought with a small, almost non-existent smile.
"When I was younger, I played around the God Tree at our shrine," Kagome told him as she ceased her spinning, feeling just a little dizzy. She just giggled at the sensation. "I would pretend all sorts of things under its branches."
She took one last look at her favorite rose, and then she walked off towards the small pond.
Sesshoumaru lingered behind for a moment, his eyes on the rose she seemed to have favored. After a second, he came to a decision. With a quick swipe of claws, he cut the rose blossom from the plant, and then he stripped it of all the thorns.
He easily caught up to Kagome, placing a hand on her shoulder to draw her attention to him. Once she was looking at him, he present the rose to her.
The miko instantly rewarded him with a bright smile. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama. I love it!" She stood on tip-toe and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Then, still smiling for all she was worth, she turned back around and walked onto the bridge.
The dog demon lightly touched his cheek, amazed at the feelings Kagome's small kiss had stirred up inside of him. He felt happy and warm inside.
'What is this warm feeling?' he mentally wondered, his eyes going up to gaze at the blue sky. 'I don't understand it. It makes me feel lightheaded, woozy, and so thrilled that I could jump for joy like a young pup. This makes no sense. What is this feeling?'
Sesshoumaru was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the groaning of wood. He looked down to find Kagome leaning on the railing of the bridge, straining the structure. Without thinking, he rushed up behind her, grabbing her around her waist and pulling her back.
His actions startled the miko, causing her to spin on her heels and trip both her and the dog demon. They collided against the railing, breaking it, and then they fell into the pond.
Kagome resurfaced first, giggling at the panicking swans that they had startled. Her wet hair clung to her head and water streamed down the sides of her face as she treaded water. She began to laugh when Sesshoumaru appeared from out of the depths, a lily pad on top of his head. His silvery-white hair appeared to be a few shades darker when wet, but it didn't look near as nice as when it did when it was dry.
He raised an eyebrow at her, causing her to point at the bit of plant life that he was sporting as a hat. Scowling slightly, he picked the lily pad up off of his head and returned it to the water's surface.
"Are you alright, Kagome?" Sesshoumaru asked once the miko had calmed down enough to answer him.
"Yes, I'm fine," she responded, still smiling. "And so is the rose you gave me." She held up the flower to prove her statement; it was in perfect condition, despite the dunking it had just received.
"Good." He turned his attention to the bridge. "That needs to be rebuilt."
"The wood was rotten," Kagome told the inu youkai. "When was the last time you were here?"
He thought for a moment, slowly treading water. "About five-hundred years or so."
The black-haired girl's eyes became very wide. "Five-hundred years?" she repeated, amazement in her voice. "Then how come the garden is so nice? Someone must have been looking after it."
"Telonomaru must have had a gardener attend to it first thing," Sesshoumaru responded simply.
"Oh. Okay." Then, after tucking the rose behind one of her ears, she gently splashed the dog demon.
Sesshoumaru just stared at her. "What was that for?" he wanted to know, curious.
"Haven't you ever had a water war?" she asked in return. He shook his head, so she decided to explain. "It's fun. You just splash each other." She gave another small demonstration. "See?" He nodded again. "Now, you splash me in return."
The inu youkai looked at the water, then at Kagome, and then back at the water. Quickly coming to a decision, he used one hand to send a wave of water at the girl, drenching her all over again.
Kagome just laughed and returned the favor with enthusiasm. "There you go!" she said happily when Sesshoumaru splashed her again.
Soon, they were having an all out water war. Both of them were having fun, and even the dog demon laughed when the miko splashed him really good.
While Kagome was trying to swim away from the youkai, she suddenly cried out in pain. The water around her became tinged with red as Sesshoumaru's eyes lit up with alarm. His heart jumped up into his throat, and his stomach clenched tightly.
"Kagome?!" He swam over to her, grabbed her with one of his arms, and quickly got out them both out of the water.
Once the dog demon could clearly see all of Kagome, he noticed that her leg was cut and bleeding. Without a second thought, he removed his white shirt and wrapped it around the wound to hopefully help with the bleeding. Then, he swept her up in his arms and began to carry her inside.
While Sesshoumaru was holding her close to his chest, he noticed the tears in her eyes that she was trying to hold back. She was in pain, but she was trying to keep from crying. Also, he could sense miko magic.
When he glanced at the area around her wound, he noticed a slight aura. The girl was healing herself.
'Of course. I had forgotten about that ability of hers,' he thought with a sigh of relief as his heartbeat returned to normal. No matter how bad the wound had been, it would be much better than it was supposed to be since she could heal herself. He thanked Kami over and over for making Kagome a miko.
Sesshoumaru carried the black-haired girl to his bathroom where he set her down on the counter just to the right of the sink. She sat the quietly, obviously concentrating on her wound. Taking great care, he unwrapped his bloody shirt from around her leg, revealing the healing cut. It was about four inches long and very slowly shrinking.
Frowning, the dog demon took a wash cloth and bottle of hydrogen peroxide out from under the cabinet. After a quick glance at Kagome's face, he poured some of the liquid on the cloth and began to thoroughly clean the wound, doing his best not to hurt her any more than she already was.
The girl whimpered slightly, but that was it. She didn't complain at all, and by the time he was done with the wound, the cut was about three inches long.
"Kagome, how are you doing?" Sesshoumaru asked her, worry in his voice. He didn't like seeing her in pain; it tore at his heart.
She looked up at him, his gray-blue eyes sparkling with a thin layer of silver that indicated her use of magic. "I'll be fine, Sesshoumaru," she responded, accidentally dropping the suffix at the end of his name.
The inu youkai smiled at what she had called him. 'My name sounds better without the suffix than with when it's coming from her lips.' "Do you want me to bandage it?" he inquired, moving to pull some gauze out of the cabinets.
Kagome nodded, her eyes going back to her wound. 'He's taking such good care of me, and he's acting like he's worried about me. In fact... I can sense that he actually is worried about me. I wonder why...'
"Very well," Sesshoumaru responded, gently wrapping the gauze around her leg, fully covering the wound. He taped the gauze down once he was finished. "There you go."
"Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama," the black-haired girl said softly.
The dog demon used a finger to lift her gaze to his. "You can drop the 'sama.' Plain Sesshoumaru will work just fine," he informed her, tone firm but still kind.
"Huh?" She stared at him in confusion.
"Are we not friends?" the inu youkai wanted to know.
Kagome nodded her head. "Yes, we are."
"Then you have no reason to call me 'Sesshoumaru-sama.' Drop the suffix," Sesshoumaru advised.
She blinked and stayed quiet, but she eventually responded. "Okay, Sesshoumaru." She smiled sweetly at him.
The dog demon smiled in return, pleased at her response. "Good. Now, would you like to rest before supper so you can finish healing?"
"Yes, that would be very nice," Kagome answered, surprised that he would think of something like that. She found that question to be a bit unexpected, but she still welcomed it.
The miko moved to push off of the countertop, but the inu youkai stopped her. "No. You're wounded. It would be unwise to try to walk so soon." Before she could protest, he swept her up in his arms bridal style once again.
"I can walk," Kagome insisted firmly as he carried her to her room, her eyes still glazed over with a coat of silver.
"Are you sure?" Sesshoumaru inquired skeptically as he opened her door and walked over to her bed.
"Yes," she replied, sounding very sure of herself as she nodded her head.
"Well, you can walk after you've rested," he assured her with a smug smile and laid her down on the bed.
She frowned. "You distracted me on purpose, didn't you?"
"Yes," the dog demon answered as he pulled the covers over her. "Now, rest." He gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and walked out of the room.
Kagome stared at the door for a few moments after Sesshoumaru had closed it. 'Did he really just do that? Could I have imagined it?' She reached up to run her fingers over the place the youkai's lips had touched. 'Did he actually kiss my forehead?' she mused, considering the question for a moment. 'Yes, he did. There's no doubt about it. It was sweet, but why did he do it? Does he like me?'
For some reason, the thought of the inu taiyoukai liking her made her smile. She liked that idea. She liked that idea a lot.