Kagome's slight body had continued to drift through the waters, her breathing had slowed down to the point of sleep. Not that she was necessarily tired, but the warmth of the water, and the unclenching of her muscles was relaxing enough. Her face always seemed to hurt after an entire day and keeping one's emotions hidden. She was soon to awaken, realizing that she had spent long enough in the water.

She would have been standing up, had something not brushed against her mind. She would have snapped her eyes open if she could, but she didn't feel in complete control of herself at the moment. Another demon, but it wasn't any of those that she had encountered during her stay with Sesshomaru. No, this was a different one. His presence slid up against her mental thoughts and she was drowning in the blackness. Naraku had just made her grimace and fidget under his 'evilness', this one however.

Her mind felt under attack as he ravaged through her mind, trying to find pieces of herself. Her memories and her weaknesses. He was trying to size her up, in the most noticeable of ways. Throwing up her miko barriers to try and block him out, she thrashed in the water from the pain of it. She might have become stronger with her powers since Naraku, but no matter how much she progressed, she could not block out the demon that was ripping up all her thoughts.

She stood up in the water as far as she could, gripping at her temples with a growl slipping from her throat. She couldn't use any of her youkai abilities yet to block this intruder out, and he knew it. She slipped up onto the stones of the floor, laying on her stomach. She pulled her head up only enough so that her mouth could have an open airway to scream. Taking a breathe, and remembering the fear that was starting to grip her, she gave out a scream that would remind anyone of the old Kagome.

"SESSHOMARU!!!"

She could hear it boom through the room, and no doubt the sensitive ears of the dog demon would be able to pick up the sound easily. Curling in on herself, she waited for help, mentally fighting a losing battle.

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He had been leaning back at his desk, his eyes had been closed. He was still trying to figure up where the statement of My Kagome, had come from. It was probably in the best regards that he did not say such a thing in front of Jaken, or the toad might just kill over in complete shock. A slight pain had started to nag at his brain, which he quickly extinguished with a flick of his wrist. He did not contribute the pain to the link that had unknowningly been made betwee the miko and himself during her restoration of his arm.

He did not move into action before he heard his name being screamed with enough strength to shake down the very walls of his home. Jerking to his feet, having to hold his hands over his ears from the pain of the noise, he felt his heart stop. There was only one person in the entire estate that would dare say his name without the formalities, and there was only one woman that could now make his heart skitter at the idea of danger.

Kagome. He raced from his study, not caring if the servants that seemed to peek their heads from their rooms at the noise were surprised by their Master's reaction. Only a white blur down the hallways till he quite literally busted down her bedroom door. He threw his gaze around, but he did not sense her heartbeat in this room. Pulling his gaze to the door of her bathing area, that was where her scent was the strongest, and the scent of another.

He barely had enough to contain the rage in him as he pulled open the door. He expected to see some sort of menace standing over Kagome, on the verge of her death, but instead he saw the crumpled body of a wet miko on the floor. Her black hair and tail kept most of her skin from his eyes, but the overwhelming scent of fear and pain was rolling off of her like the ocean. Racing over to her side, he lifted her in his arms, checking over her body to see any signs of injury. He did not take the time to admire whatever it was that he saw. Concentrating on her facial expressions as they flickered from determination, to rage, to pain and then fear.

"Kagome? What is wrong?"

Her eyes flickered open, as she gave a hiss of pain. Just the soft light of afternoon streaking into the room was enough to fry her eyes. She threw her arm over her face, trying to block it all out.

"There's a d-demon ransaking my th-thoughts."

She dared not say anymore, or the barriers that she withheld would slip and he would have complete control over where and what he went to. She started to shake in the taiyoukai's embrace as she was aware of what the intruder did. He started to rip through her memories, pulling up at first one's that were long ago, before she had even known of Sengoku Jidai. They were normal memories of a child living life. Days she scraped her knee's from running too carelessly. Days that she climbed up into the God Tree, and sent her Gramps into livid fits. The day her brother suddenly appeared. Then, as if knowing that the others were closely guarded, he dug deeper. He started to pull up memories of the silver-haired hanyou, the most specific one's where she had caught him in the company of the dead miko. Her pain and anger was starting to grow as more visions of the two filtered through her brain. She would not allow this intruder to destroy what she had spent so many years building up. More and more images of the hanyou flashed, soon it was all of her friends. Visions of her friends dead, adorning the ground with their blood spilled. These were not real, he was starting to generate his own in order to weaken her defenses. She saw her little Shippou laying on the ground, dead, and pointing a small finger at her in damnation. One more vision, one more image and she snapped.

Her eyes flew open again, and this sight gave Sesshomaru enough motivation to scurry back from the miko, within safe distance, for he knew what was coming now. Her eyes were glowing pure white as her youkai pushed through. But it was the lavender light that was starting to surrond her body that gave him fear. She floated up off the ground, her toes hovering inches over the stones. Her fangs were revealed as if she might snap at the intruder. With one command, the combining light of her miko and youkai exploded out from her body.

"Get out!"

He had to cover his eyes from the vision, but what he did see was a slightly black blur fly from her forehead. He was sure if there had truly been a demon in the room, they would now be nothing more than dust against her attack. As soon as the light was gone, she collapsed onto her knee's. This was Sesshomaru's que to once again enter. Stepping over lightly to the fallen miko, he picked her up once again from where she had fallen. She was no longer wet, as no doubt the immense heat of her anger had dried off the water droplets.

He made his way to her bed, and pulled the sheets back with one hand, while the other supported the miko, somehow between the bathing area and her bed, she had wrapped her arms around his neck, her face pressed tightly against the juncture of his shoulder and neck. Forcing the fact that the miko was naked and in his arms from his thoughts, taking with it the fact that she was nuzzling against one of the most sensitive spots on his body, he tried to lay her on the bed, but did not succeed to stand back up. It did not seem that she was going to let him go anytime soon, not that he could blame her. It was never an easy thing, to have your thoughts ripped apart by an invading demon. It was then he became aware that Kagome was speaking in his direction.

"Please don't leave, not yet. I can't let you leave, I'm so scared..."

He blinked once, then twice. Her defenses were down, her emotions were flooding through. He could smell the tears as they started to track down her face from it. With a simple nod, he pulled the covers up over her nude form before laying down, making sure the blanket kept them seperate, though her arms would not lessen. What more had the demon done to give her such a scare? She mumbled as she buried herself against his chest, her tail laying across his side. He felt a shield of power surrond them, which only made him more curious. As he felt her slip into consciousness, he timidly reached out to touch her mind. He had to see the damage. As he entered, he caught the remnants of an image that the demon had left her to be haunted by.

He could see himself sleeping in his chambers, his face peaceful in sleep. The covers covered only to his waist, leaving his chest bare. A shadow materialized from the corner of his room, slinking over to the bed. Jumping up to straddle his hips, the visionary Sesshomaru awakened with only enough time to see the face of his attacker, before a sword was plunged through his heart. He pulled back from the image, but could feel the despair that had flooded Kagome's heart at the vision. He pulled her closer, if it was possible. She was trying to protect him, from a threat that might not even be real.

She never ceased to amaze him.

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Kikoryo had been shoved from the miko youkai's mind by her eruption of power, but not before he got what he really wanted. He was starting to bore of watching the two of them flicker and dance around each other. He didn't think he could wait as long as it seemed it was going to take. So while he had revealed his presence to the woman and the youkai at her side, he now knew her weaknesses. Her friends were still a sore subject with her, but the two that set her off the most was the little kitsune, and Sesshomaru.

It had been the vision of Sesshomaru's death that had given her the determination to blast him away. It had been that image that had corrupted her calm exterior. Her mask was broken, and he had seen all of her weaknesses. It had been educational indeed, and he would have to use all that he had found to his advantage.

He would attack her sooner then he had originally planned, the Shikon No Tama would be his, and after seeing the miko's powers, he might just have plans for her. If he could keep her under his spell, she could do his bidding. She was powerful in her own right, she would make a great asset to his rise of power. He didn't have to kill her right away, not before she has used up her usefulness.

Brushing himself off from the mental attack, he stood, resting his eyes once again on the home of the taiyoukai and grinned.

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Rin and Shippou had been very aware of what Kikoryo had done to Kagome, for they had been watching from the cloud during the whole thing. Rin was silent in her anger, but poor little Shippou had been furious. Threatening to jump down from his cloud and teach that demon a few lessons, Rin finally had to sit on him to quiet him.

"At least they know of the threat and will have time to prepare now. At least it isn't a surprise attack anymore."

Shippou whined from his position under the small girl, tapping his claws against his chin as he glared at the retreating form of Kikoryo.

"But Rin-Rin! He made Kagome cry! He hurt her! Not only that, but he knows her weaknesses. How come no one fights fair anymore. Naraku would have been so easy if he fought fair!"

Rin petted the kitsune on the head once again, trusting that she could slip off of his back and not have him trying to go after the offending demon in anger anymore.

They sat side by side on the cloud, looking down to the image of Sesshomaru and Kagome curled on the bed. It had the desired effect on the kitsune. He gave a happy sigh, to see that the two was at least close enough to do that.

"Rin believes that everything will be okay. They'll find their way to each other. You'll see Shippou."

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Kagome had awakened to find herself still hopelessly curled around the taiyoukai, having pushed the blanket out of the way, and using her tail for decency. She did not blush, nor gasp and try to cover herself, nor start to babble about being this close to such a man. Instead she slipped out of the bed, glad for her silence as he still slept. Her bathing had been interrupted, and she had never had the actual chance to fully wash herself. Returning the shield over Sesshomaru, she padded over to the bathing area.

Instead of slowly sinking herself into the water, she sort of hopped into the water, and tucked her limbs in so that she might not hit the sides or the bottom. She felt dirty, mentally dirty. Her thoughts were in disarray and her memories had been scattered. Nothing was as it had been before the attack. The images he had presented to her remained at the foremost part of her mind, teasing her with their morbidity. It was true that she did enjoy adventure, but she did not enjoy it when her mind was being ransaked from someone who wished to possess the Shikon No Tama.

Finally pulling her head from the water so that she could breathe, she took the tedious task of washing her hair first as she audibly grumbled.

"How come enemies can't have any decency? He could have just stepped up and said politely that he wished to fight me to the death so that he could have the Shikon No Tama. He didn't have to invade my privacy and such nonsense."

The idea of Naraku doing such a thing, or Kikyou pronoucing she wished to fight for her soul once again, or this new threat doing the same, sent a mental image so obsurd into her thoughts that she instantly giggled from it.

"No, I suppose that would be too much to ask for. They have to maintain their 'evil' image, don't they?"

After pulling up her length of hair and filling it all with suds, she ducked her head back under so that she might wash it all away. Repeating this process with her body, she finally stepped from the waters feeling much more clean and rejuvinated. She wrapped a towel around her body, another was wrapped around her hair, and of course, a smaller towel for her tail. Stepping back into her bedroom, she was greeted by Sesshomaru, he was sitting against the headboard, his legs crossed under him.

"Would you mind to release this shield? I fear for my life if I try to leave the bed."

He gave her such an irritated glare, with his arms crossed over his chest, his head tilted ever so slightly. She wondered how long he had been awake, and how long he had been sitting there, staring at the miko shield with a glaring eye. With a wave of her hand she let it disappear, and broke into laughter as she sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her tail into her hands and slowly starting to dry off the fur.

"Gomen Lord Sesshomaru, I did not think you would awaken before I returned."

When she looked his way again, she was surprised to see his face relaxed and open as he gave a shrug. He yawned, and slipped back down so that his head could be cushioned by a pillow. Keeping his gaze towards her, and for some reason that didn't upset her usual need for modesty.

"Gomen as well for forcing you to lay beside me. I did not mean to cause you any distress or irritation. I just... feared for mine and your life at the moment."

Another shrug was sent her way, but she saw his lips curl at the corners. It wasn't a big smile, but it was enough incentive to keep her eyes on him.

"I was not forced into anything. I could have easily broken your hold if I so wished. But I wished to keep you as comfortable as you could be at the moment, and if that was for me to stay, then it was of no problem to me. Besides, what is so horrible with sleeping beside a nude youkai?"

She snapped her gaze back to the taiyoukai, as she had taken her gaze from him long enough to see that her tail was once again dry, and she had been in fact rubbing the air with the towel for quite some time. His smile had widened, and laughter was spilling from his mouth. She gave a fake gasp, as she jumped to her feet on the bed. Brandishing the towel as if she would snap it on his leg or arm, she went after him.

"Oh, is that all? Why did you not just take advantage of me then!"

It wasn't as if it was all real. They were both joking on some level, simply releasing nervous energy from earlier. Kagome would never know that Sesshomaru had been speaking the truth about his last statement. Sesshomaru would never know how much Kagome enjoyed the short rest. They chased each other around her room, though Sesshomaru always seemed so much more graceful then she did.

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Sesshomaru would never have admitted to anyone but himself, and maybe the woman that he was now chasing, that he was having fun. Somehow the tables had turned, and he was the one that had the offending towel, threatening to now whip it across her bare legs. Not that was his actual goal was to whip her with the towel, he was just trying to pin her down. Finally giving himself a final push, he happened to wrap his arms around his waist. They both fell to the bed, Sesshomaru keeping her pinned as her legs flailed about.

Finally she subdued, laughing at the situation that they were in. THe towel for her hair had long ago fallen, and her damp locks had fallen down, wetting the bed beneath her, and small droplets hitting Sesshomaru's hand as he braced himself over her. With a smile, he had been close to sitting up, and leaving her to dress. That is, until his nose picked up a very peculiar scent. He could smell the overbearing odor of her soap and shampoo, but something was starting to tickle his nose.

He slowly started to sniff through all the scents. Then suddenly, it was there, blooming under his nose. Thick and musky. He fought with himself then. To pull away from her, or to stay and draw that scent in. She didn't seem to understand that she was in heat, if she had, she wouldn't have continued to walk around him like she had, would she? He wanted to just bury his nose against her neck and just draw it all in, but it was having strange effects on him. His youkai was growling at the edge of his thoughts, sceaming at him the most primal orders. 'Take her! Make her your mate!'He snapped at the voice, only to come back to himself, with his nose planted firmly against the woman's neck, his hands convulsing on her waist.

"Sesshomaru?"

Her voice was confused, disoriented. She sounded so innocent, as if she still wasn't aware of what was happening. How could she still not know? He gave a muffled groan as he pulled himself away from that sweet spot.

"You're in heat Kagome. Are you aware of what that does to youkai males?"

Her eyes widened, but good enough for her, she did not squirm under him, it would have just made it worse, for the both of them. He knew that by now his eyes had bled red, his youkai was screaming out more in his head, but he couldn't just listen to the demon. He wanted to own her, to make her his, and it wasn't just the scent that was telling him to do so. His feelings for her had grown in a large rate since he had seen her again. It wasn't love, not just yet, it couldn't be. But it was something akin to it.

He pushed himself away with a growl, seperating her warm body from his. He shook his head as he tried to calm the youkai again.

"I'm sorry Kagome."

With that he turned and fled from her room. He had to get away, until she was no longer in heat, or she learned to mask it from him, which would be extremely hard to do. He couldn't claim her, not ever, and especially not like that. She would never take him as a mate.

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Authors Note: Thank you to all who reviewed and encouraged me further. I'm sorry if this seems like a small chapter, I hope to have another up by tomorrow!