Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, so I don't own Inuyasha…or anything related to the show…yeah go ahead, smirk and laugh…make fun of me…but I warn you, my men are keeping tabs on you all…

A/N: breathes sigh of relief So you guys don't want to kill me. That's always good to hear! GO TO MY PROFILE PAGE, AND READ ALL THE SUMMARIES FOR THE INUYASHA FICS, AND VOTE!!!! And YES you MAY vote once every time that you review, and you may vote for more than one.

Thanks for reviewing: Celestial Fox, lalalala, CrystallineLily, grand admiral chelli, Freestyle, YoukaiLover, ChIbI rIn, Lady Mystic Saria, Iinukamisashi, Pink Sakura, Tori the Hanyou and Aqua Miko.

Celestial Fox: Thanks for voting, and I love Sess/Kag stories too. If only Rumiko Takahashi could see how perfect they are for each other…

CrystallineLily: Your review had me wiping tears from my eyes. It was that funny. Because you flattered me so much ; ) I will let you in on a little secret…the first chapter of 25 Days with Mr. Arrogant has been written…I may have to modify it a bit though…so don't tell anyone! :)

grand admiral chelli: Why, thank you very much! I'm so glad you like Sango/Miroku too.

Iinukamisashi- Thank you for voting! Kagome having a child with Sesshomaru? I'm not sure if that will happen, even though it is an idea…but I was planning on them having children in another one of my fics…

Tori the Hanyou- You really think it's getting better? I felt like it was getting worse… --

Okee…and the voting so far goes like this:

A Tale of Autumn: 3

25 days with Mr. Arrogant: 11

The Doctor is in- love: 2

A Tale of two Dreamers/Just another Love Story: 3 (I have trouble settling on one title for this one….)

The Trade: 3

The Photographer: 1

This means that for your guys' Christmas present, 25 Days with Mr. Arrogant will be posted!!! The first chapter will be up in a day or two.

Chapter 12

Sesshomaru returned to find Kagome sleeping. He quietly set the hunk of venison on the ground. He had even taken care to wrap it in large leaves, and to wash most of the blood off in a river because he knew how squeamish some humans tended to get about blood. Yes, he the mighty lord of all the Western and Northern Lands had gone at such lengths just to please a human.

Sesshomaru silently knelt down, his hand hovering just centimeters from Kagome's cheek. It looked soft, and he wanted to touch it. 'That's all there is to it,' he told himself. But he pulled his hand back. He would not give into such whims. He rather reluctantly withdrew his hand, and settled for watching her.

As he sat and watched her, he tried to figure out why he was so drawn to her…a normal human. His efforts were futile. His thoughts were so jumbled…quite unlike him. 'Her face is comely,' he mused, 'She smells respectable, but she is quite…petite.' Then again, most people were petite compared to Sesshomaru, but Kagome was actually petite. She was hardly taller than Lady Yugi who stood at 5 ft. Kagome was a mere two inches taller, meaning that Sesshomaru was over a foot taller than her.

"She is most likely too weak to bear healthy children," he said out loud, more as if he was trying to convince himself. "Yet, why do I feel…different around her?" he wondered out loud again. "I often feel possessive…is that the side effect of being with humans for too long?"

Sesshomaru sounded exasperated, and at his wits end. He looked at Kagome again, and found his hand reaching for her face once more. It wouldn't hurt if he just touched her once now could it?

Kagome's eyes shot open, and was surprised to find Sesshomaru standing over her with a look of disapproval on his face. "I cannot even leave you alone for a few minutes." he reprimanded. "You humans are incredibly weak, sleeping at every opportune chance. A demon could have devoured you."

"Too bad," Kagome grumbled bitterly. "Too bad some demon didn't come gobble me up because then you would be released from having to escort some worthless human all the way back to the palace, and then you could be there in a fraction of the ti-"

Kagome let out a muffled 'eep' as Sesshomaru closed her mouth with two clawed fingers. He tugged at her until she was forced to stand up or have her lips ripped off. He stared down at her stoically, and then bent down until his face was mere centimeters from hers. He released her lips, but Kagome was too shocked to say anything.

Her eyes remained riveted on his as his eyes searched hers for something. For a moment, Kagome could have sworn she saw a glint of something akin to 'emotions' in his eyes. He leaned down even more until his lips were just grazing hers. Kagome shut her eyes, and waited, but nothing happened. Finally he spoke, his breath warm and silky on her lips, "Shut up."

And she did.

"You may open your eyes now," he informed her.

Kagome slowly opened her eyes, her heart beating fast. She subconsciously placed a finger on her lips…she could still feel his warm breath…for second there she had thought that…Kagome shook her head, and then began laughing.

Kagome's laughter was soon ended when a large and heavy 'package' was tossed to her. "Be quiet and eat."

At the mention of food, Kagome immediately shut her mouth. A soft giggle every now and then escaped from her lips but the volume was immensely lower than her peals of laughter of before. Kagome made a face as she unwrapped the large hunk of just slightly bloody meat. "Umm…Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru didn't reply.

"Sesshomaru-sama?" Kagome tried again.

Sesshomaru still didn't reply.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" Kagome offered.

"Speak."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "I don't eat raw meat," she told him.

"And contrary to popular belief, I do not as well."

"Then why did you bring me a huge chunk of raw meat?" she asked.

"Do you not know how to prepare food?" he asked, annoyed.

"Well…I do, but…"

"Then quickly do so." He commanded.

Kagome didn't reply knowing that it was a hopeless situation. So she gingerly set the 'meat' down, and began searching the area for sticks to start a fire with. She managed to gather a meager pile, and tossed it in front of Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru merely looked up at her. "May I help you?" he asked.

"Actually you can. You could start a nice warm fire for me…" she told him.

"And how do you propose I do that?"

Kagome's reply was pregnant. "Well…you…" she began sputtering. "You could…"

"Perhaps I could breathe fire on your bundle of twigs, and ignite them?" Sesshomaru offered.

"Yes!" Kagome squealed with exaggeration, "I knew you could do that! At least you seem to be mean enough to breathe fire," she said, the last part muttered.

But alas, Kagome did forget that Sesshomaru was an inu-youkai who had excellent hearing. "Around people like you, it is hard to be kind." Sesshomaru bit out, his voice managing to maintain its usual 'cool.'

Kagome wrinkled her nose in an attempt to ignore him. "Mmhmm, so when are you going to breathe fire onto my twigs?" she asked.

"You will not blame me if I kill you," Sesshomaru warned.

"This again? I thought I made it perfectly clear that I wanted you to kill me." Kagome told him with a roll of her eyes.

Sesshomaru growled.

Kagome then giggled much to Sesshomaru's dismay. "You sound a like a dog!" she exclaimed.

An unamused look crossed Sesshomaru's face. "Come here." He commanded Kagome.

Still giggling, Kagome absentmindedly obeyed, and knelt down, and scooted closer to Sesshomaru, almost collapsing from her giggles. "You know," she began, her giggling subsiding slightly as she noticed how close they were to each other. But Kagome never got to finish her sentence.

She watched in surprise and shock as Sesshomaru stared at her. The look in his eyes was…foreign, at least is seemed to be uncharacteristic of Sesshomaru. His eyes looked soft, overflowing with emotions, sad, confused, and full of…longing? He was close…maybe too close. "So close, yet so far…" he whispered, his lips just barely brushing hers.

If she had been closing her eyes, she would have dismissed it as the wind, but her eyes had been open, and she had seen his lips touch hers as he had spoken. His breath had been warm to her cold lips. Sesshomaru brought a finger to her lip, and touched her lower lip. His finger stayed her a little longer than Kagome figured it should be.

After several moments of silence, Sesshomaru spoke. "Your lips…are dry."

Kagome stared at Sesshomaru in disbelief. What was that???? "Oh…I didn't notice," she said quietly, still staring at Sesshomaru.

"You should take better care of them," Sesshomaru told her, his eyes still riveted on her face. Kagome numbly nodded. Then just the corners of the Sesshomaru's mouth turned upwards, hardly noticeable, but still there nonetheless. "I believe I have found a way to effectively quiet you," he informed her, amusement lighting his eyes.

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed as she gradually came out of her stupor. "And what would that be Lord Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru continued looking at Kagome, his gaze unwavering. Naraku's words rang in his mind. "To be kind to you."

"You are absolutely sure that there is no more mud on my face?" Miroku asked Sango for about the umpteenth time.

"I am positive houshi." Sango snapped, irritated.

Miroku let out a 'hmph' and wiped the water from his face with the sleeve of his robe. "I was thinking Sango," Miroku began as he stood up. "That since we are married, that we should perhaps be on something the lines of a first name basis?" He absentmindedly offered a hand to Sango, "But that was just a thought!" he added just in case Sango was going to egg him on the head.

Sango looked at Miroku's hand in surprise. Was he offering his hand to help her up? 'No, no, can't be!' she told herself. 'Miroku only offers a woman his hand when there's a rump to rub.' Despite her better judgment, she slipped her hand into his, and allowed him to help her up.

Surprisingly enough, she made it onto her feet without being groped. "Consider this Sango, we are going to have to act as a married couple now. People will get suspicious."

"Let them think what they want to. Not all couples are affectionate in public." she replied, her eyes cast down. It was necessary for her to look down at the ground or else Miroku might see the blush that had crept into her cheeks. The mere thought of being affectionate with Miroku made her glow red. But it wasn't like she cared or thought such thoughts often…

"Yes well…" Miroku began.

He never got to finish his sentence for Sango stumbled over a tree root. Sango braced herself for the fall. She was, or at least used to be a demon slayer, and falling was just part of the job. But she never hit the ground. Instead she found herself being embraced…by Miroku.

"You should be more careful of where you step," Miroku told Sango gravely.

"Sorry, wasn't…thinking straight." Sango mumbled as she almost reluctantly pulled herself out of Miroku's grasp.

Miroku's heart fell. It had felt rather nice holding her like that. "It's fine," Miroku replied, "I don't mind catching you." Sango's breath caught in her throat. Had Miroku just said what she thought he just said?

"As a matter of fact Sango, I enjoy being around you…I am honored to be married to you, but it means nothing if there are no feelings involved." Sango stopped in her tracks, eyes wide. "There is more to me than you think Sango. And you could find out…if only would be willing to give me a chance."

Sango slowly turned around, afraid to find out that Miroku was only joking, and that a caress of her rear end would follow not too long after. She looked into his violet eyes, afraid of what she'd find. Miroku took a deep breath, and looked Sango in the eye. "I know that you doubt my words, and you may not believe me Sango, but I'm in love with you."

"You know, you are really, really funny."

"I fail to see how I am amusing."

"You? Being nice to me?!" Kagome lapsed into another fit of giggles.

Sesshomaru looked at Kagome. 'Such a strange creature,' he thought as Kagome fell on her back. 'Quite odd,' he added as Kagome clutched at her stomach, still laughing. "Are you saying that I am lying?" Sesshomaru demanded, his eyes narrowing.

Kagome stopped mid-laugh, and managed to sit up without toppling over from her suppressed giggles again. "No!" she insisted. "It's just…not very believable." she admitted.

"And why would that be?" he asked.

"Well…it's just that well…you haven't exactly been nice to me, but I suppose you treat me nicer than you treat most people, I mean you haven't killed me yet, and that could be a good thing, but you never know! And you seem to hate…well, maybe not hate, but strongly dislike me…but you don't even like humans, except for Rin that is, and I just find it really hard to believe that you would be nice to me."

Sesshomaru's temples throbbed. "You are quick to judge Kagome."

Kagome opened her mouth to go off of another long tangent, but she made the mistake of looking at Sesshomaru's eyes again. They were teeming with emotions again despite the look of his face. She couldn't quite make out what he was thinking, but through his eyes, she knew that there was decency in the demon lord. By his eyes you could tell that he possessed what he would call, "weak human emotions." There was no doubt about it…because they were there.

"You should eat soon." Sesshomaru commented, breaking the silence. He looked away from Kagome, leaving Kagome confused, and not quite sure what to think. Was it possible that Sesshomaru wasn't nearly as evil and heartless as everyone believed him to be?

Kagome couldn't hear him. Her head was pounding, probably from the lack of food…thump, thump, thump. Her head pounded with the steady beating of her heart…her vision blurred, and she saw Sesshomaru look at her with what was clearly concern. She passed out then, and the last word on her lips was his name.

"And so it has begun…the demon lord will recognize his feelings for the wench, who will in return fall for him…things happen, and at the opportune moment I will take her away. You are not the one who has the upper hand my poor and misguided Lord Sesshomaru…" a cold and dark cackle echoed throughout a large and quiet phantom castle.

Everything was falling into place so nicely, and he had only made one appearance. And if Sesshomaru proved to be more stubborn than he was worth, and choose to keep his feelings hidden, then there was always Plan B. Yes, no matter what, he would come out to be the victor.

That was all there was to it.

Sesshomaru stared down at Kagome's limp body. Had she just whispered his name? He was now more confused than ever. What was happening? His eyebrows furrowed he rose from the ground, Kagome in his arms. In a matter of seconds, he was well within the borders of the Western Lands.

He found a small village, and finding it suitable, left Kagome there. He smelled some trouble, and knew that some lesser demons had taken advantage of his temporary absence of patrolling to their advantage. As much as he disliked humans, he would not stand to have other demons terrorize those that lived in his territory. Those humans were his. If he wanted to terrorize them, then he would, but it was strictly forbidden for anyone else to.

Of course he had left a large number of soldiers, and a few of his top ranking and more trusted guards still at the palace, so there was no need to worry about that. He was feeling rather flushed, and his stomach felt rather queasy. 'The village reeked of disease,' he rationalized, justifying his queasy stomach on the nasty stench of the villagers. ((A/N: Sorry for interrupting you all, but I just had to say, "Awwww!!! Sesshy's in wwuuuuvvv!!!" Alright, back to the story.))

He came across a small band of spider youkai, and easily eliminated them all. The villagers all bowed down to him, thanking him. It disturbed him slightly, but pleased him nonetheless although he merely took off in flight in reply. He patrolled with only half a heart. He usually enjoyed patrolling, but he couldn't seem to get his mind off of Kagome. The villagers would take good care of her, or else all would pay.

Then Sesshomaru got an idea. He would take Kagome to his palace in the Western Lands. It was much more grandeur than the one of the Northern Lands, and he would show her this supposed 'kindness' there, and show her that she could trust him. He headed towards the palace, and made note to have a message sent to Akeno. He had faith that Akeno could last a few more days as a 'ruler.'

Trying to ignore the fluttery feeling in his stomach, and the quickened beating of his heart, he hurried quicker to his destination. Only one thing on his mind: Kagome.

((A/N: Shorter than usual I suppose, but I am really excited to post the first chapter of 25 Days with Mr. Arrogant. Yeah, I can't wait to see what y'all think. Sorry if this chapter was a bit rushed. My thoughts have been a bit scattered lately. But yes, isn't it cute how Sesshy doesn't know that he's in loooooove? snickers Anyways, love you all, and PLEASE review!))

((By the way, look out for 25 Days with Mr. Arrogant! It'll be up maybe even today or tomorrow.))