'Otherside'

Chapter 4-...into the fire

Hey guys, me again! I hope you like chapter 3, but this is chapter 4, and this is where some of that R rating stuff comes in, LOL. Anyways, this one is about finding the first piece of Kyosetsu and afterward Kagome has a peeping tom! How is InuYasha handling all this? Guess you'll have to find out!

DISCLAIMER: I Do not own InuYasha or any of its characters!

WARNING: Some sexual references are in this one (don't worry, it's classy stuff!)

'Into the fire'

Her hands were so chapped; she almost had to wear gloves.

Kagome had developed a bad habit of rubbing her hands together when she was nervous, and it seemed she was nervous quite often these days. Not over attacking demons, or lost jewels as you might expect. No, it was much more dangerous than that. She was nervous because of Sesshomaru.

Morning, afternoon, and evening had all come and gone, and now the night was coming. Kagome knew what that meant...Sesshomaru and her...alone!

Never one to shy away from her feelings, Kagome had accepted his offer, unsure of what it meant.

"Are you ready Kagome?" he asked, hand extended to her.

'Here goes nothing!' she thought. She stretched her hand forward meeting his and almost pulled it back at the touch. His hand was so warm, she had the reaction of touching a hot plate.

"What is it?" he asked gently.

"You're hand! It's so hot!"

Sesshomaru lazily glanced down at his still extended hand.

"Do you think me so cold?"

Kagome felt ashamed, she knew what it was like to be judged so harshly.

"No, it just surprised me, that's all."

Sesshomaru reached forward once again and this time firmly grasped hers, watching her face with interest. Kagome ignored the warm sensation until it went away and flashed Sesshomaru her most dazzling smile.

"Where are we going Sesshomaru?" she asked innocently.

Sesshomaru said nothing, and continued holding Kagome's hand, much to his own surprise. He wasn't usually the holding hands type.

They continued marching through the trees, all the while both of them were silent, minds racing.

'Why is he still holding my hand?' Kagome wondered. It puzzled her, but she couldn't complain. Any attention from this man seemed to please her, more so now that she understood her growing feelings for him.

'He couldn't like me could he?'

Her heart twisted inside of her at the thought. She wondered how she had so quickly come to forget her old feelings for InuYasha, and now was developing even stronger feelings for Sesshomaru. At the same time, she was cautious. Kagome knew she couldn't take another broken heart...

Still it wouldn't hurt to try!

'Why am I still holding her hand?' Sesshomaru asked himself. Never one to fancy human companions, his choices had been strange of late. Rin and now her? He flashed a quick glance at the woman beside him, analyzing her quickly. 'What is this affect she has on me?' One look at her instantly make it understandable why men and demon alike took interest in her. She truly had a very pure beauty.

'Maybe the more time I spend with her, the more my power will grow.'

Tensaiga was glowing again, the second time it had done so.

'Perhaps when I am ruler of these lands, I will make her my queen...in position only. I will not allow myself to have feelings for a human woman. I will not make my father's mistake!' he mentally slapped himself.

'The Lady Kagome is not a pure human...'

'No she is not...' his mind whispered.

After what seemed like forever they reached the edge of a cliff.

Kagome instinctively became nervous.

"Why are we here Sesshomaru?" she asked suspiciously.

"What? Do you honestly think I intend to push you off? My, you are a strange creature."

Sesshomaru pointed down and before Kagome knew it, she was gliding slowly down an invisible bridge towards the ground below, Sesshomaru holding her tightly. When they reached the bottom, Kagome looked around in awe. She was surrounded by a beautiful waterfall and large body of water. Was this what he had wanted to show her?

"Sesshomaru! It's so beautiful!"

Sesshomaru made no facial expressions, but inward he was very pleased. Something inside him made him want to keep this girl happy, but he was not sure why...

His thoughts were interrupted by a tight hug from Kagome, which caught him off guard. He looked down to see her smiling up at him.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed.

"Feh, it was just a convenient place to speak."

Kagome had lost all her fear and nervousness and dashed towards the crystal clear water. She had a plan...

"I'm going to take a bath!" she yelled.

Sesshomaru collected himself and turned away towards the rocks that were slightly higher up. Sitting down and leaning against the largest boulder, he tried to regroup.

Kagome made sure he wasn't looking and stripped. Stepping carefully into the warm water she held her arms over her chest until she was completely submerged from the shoulders down. Not that it helped, the water was as transparent as glass, even in the moonlight.

'If he looks, he likes you!' she told herself. Kagome was quite eager to know if Sesshomaru liked her, or even found her attractive. 'It worked on InuYasha!' But Sesshomaru was more regal, and well mannered; right?

'I will not let this woman spend the entire night bathing!' he scolded himself angrily. Time was running out and he needed to find the Kyosetsu, not romance some priestess!

Sesshomaru stood up, angry at himself for letting her get the best of him. He was just about to make her get out of the water when he reached the edge and looked down at the figure swimming below.

Sesshomaru had to catch himself from falling over the edge. In his attempt to remind himself of his mission, he had accidentally caught a glimpse of a nude Kagome, and what a glimpse it was!

Kagome stood so that the water up to below her navel so that she could run her fingers through her waist long ebony hair. Her head tilted back and her eyes closed, the effect on Sesshomaru was one he had never experienced. The moonlight reflected off her ivory skin, making the water beads glimmer like diamonds. She truly was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She would someday be his queen, no doubt of that.

Looking away to keep from dishonoring himself, he fought to control his raging emotions-to no avail. This woman was starting to have an effect on him...

Kagome opened her eyes and looked up. Nothing. Maybe he had looked when she had her eyes closed, or maybe not. Irritated with herself for lowering to such a foul level, she splashed the water. She looked down at the crystal clear surface and noticed something out of place. The moon was there, her reflection was there, and another set of eyes were there...and not Sesshomaru's!

"Ahhh!!! Sesshomaru!" Kagome screamed.

Sesshomaru stood up, annoyed.

"I did not me-"he stopped short. There was another creature down there with Kagome, and it did not look friendly...

Kagome stood perfectly still as she watched the menacing set of red eyes creep towards her. It was a demon all right; a snake demon by the looks of it. One thing Kagome was not a fan of was snakes...

"Kagome, don't move," Sesshomaru said calmly.

"Okay," she said weakly.

In one swift movement, Sesshomaru was upon the creature, slicing with his claws, elegantly yet ruthlessly. Kagome could only watch helplessly. Suddenly, something caught her eye. For a moment she thought it was a piece of the Shikon jewel, but she instantly realized it was much darker and shinier. Could it be...it was a piece of Kyosetsu!

"Sesshomaru! I see a piece of Kyosetsu!"

Sesshomaru looked over at her quickly.

"Are you certain?" he asked between blows. This snake demon was more of an adversary than initially thought.

"Yes! It's lodged between it's eyes!"

With one giant strike on the fore head the snake fell to the ground.

"Now Kagome, only you can see it. You must take it!"

Kagome rushed forward through the water towards the snake, forgetting her fear. She reached down and snatched the jewel from its head and the snake shrunk down to the size of a worm.

Looking down at the jewel, Kagome realized these pieces were much larger than that of the Shikon. There might only be about half a dozen pieces!

It was then Kagome also realized she was still naked, and Sesshomaru was standing right in front of her.

Embarrassed from head to toe, Kagome turned and ducked under the water, trying to hide her breasts from his view.

Sesshomaru tilted his head back and laughed, actually laughed! Partly from Kagome's nudity but also from his happiness at finding a piece of Kyosetsu. She was the key!

His laughter only ended when he was splashed in the face. He looked up at the culprit, shocked. Never in his existence had anyone ever had the audacity to do something so bold as to splash him in the face!

Kagome was now laughing, boldly unafraid of him, and of course still stark nude.

It was only then that Sesshomaru rushed up to her and held her in an embrace, locking her lips with his own. The move surprised him as much as it did her. When he finally ended the kiss, they were both out of breath, staring into each other's eyes under the starlit sky.

"Sesshomaru, I-"

"I will not apologize for my actions," he stated nonchalantly.

"I-I don't want an apology."

"Good. Now get dressed, the sun is rising and we must get back to camp."

Kagome walked to the shore and started getting dressed. 'Did that really just happen?' she wondered. She placed a finger to her lips, they were still warm and swollen. It did happen, she had just kissed Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru meanwhile placed the crystal piece into his belt pouch. He seemed cool and collected on the outside, but inside his heart was racing and his mind was spinning.

'You made a fool of yourself!' he lamented.

He was so angry with himself for his actions he could hardly concentrate. He let his feelings take over, something Sesshomaru rarely did. But he had to admit, it felt better than anything in his whole life, and he craved more.

"Come Kagome, we must be on our way."

Kagome stumbled blindly to him, unsure of how to act. Was he mad at her?

Her eyes told him her feelings.

"We are now one step closer to obtaining Kyosetsu," he said.

Kagome nodded her head at him.

"When I have all of Kyosetsu, I will make you my queen."

Kagome looked up at him totally confused. 'Did he really say that?'

"But Sesshomaru I'm just a hu-"

"Come Lady Kagome."

They trudged along back to camp, both with many thoughts filling their heads, unaware that they had been watched...

InuYasha slammed his fist into the ground. He had seen everything from the bathing to the kiss.

"How dare she go to him!" he snarled. Whether he was willing to admit it or not, he knew he had made a mistake in letting her go. He still cared for her, and watching her stand there naked, kissing his hated brother made him insane with jealousy.

He had accidentally stumbled upon them while he was looking for a spot of his own to cool off at. Kikyou had once again left without telling him where she was going, and Sango, Miroku, and even Shippo had left the day he 'dumped' Kagome.

He now understood that Kikyou was no longer the woman he had fallen in love with over 50 years before. Now he wanted Kagome back and she was with his brother.

Sometimes InuYasha had the worst luck.

END OF CHAPTER 4

So, how did you guys like it? I hope you did, it was a hard one to write! I know you guys will be awesome and make me really happy and review it right??? LOL Chapter 5 will be up by Friday, and remember, the more I hear from you guys, the more encouraged I am to keep updating on time! (Hey, 3 chapters in a week ain't bad right?)

Stay tuned for chapter 5...'Non-Domesticated' It goes more into the building relationship between Kagome and Sesshomaru. Also more nudity? Maybe, maybe not! Just have to see!

Love, Sophie