Chapter 2

He watched the miko as she walked. He had been following her for quite some time now. Actually, he had been following her for at least two moon cycles. He found himself drawn to her. 'She must not be as good as I heard. She should have sensed me ages ago. Pathetic human.' His train of thought was disrupted when the young miko came to a sudden stop.

"Who are you and why have you been following me? I sensed you but continued, hoping you would get that I didn't want to be disturbed, Shesshoumaru."

She turned at the sound of her follower leaving their hiding spot. 'Kami, he's still gorgeous!' Her eyes widened, wondering where that thought had come from. He raised an eye brow at her, bringing her back to reality.

A few feet in front of her stood Shesshoumaru, lord of the western lands.

"Where is my idiotic half-brother, wench?" he asked in an icy yet clam voice.

In an equally calm yet slightly icier tone she responded, "My name is Kagome and I will not respond to anything but my name."

Shocked that she responded the way she did, he glared, showing he was not pleased with her rudeness. He sniffed the air slightly, looking for the sweet scent that her fear gave off in his presence. 'When did this Shesshoumaru start to think Kagome smelled sweet? Did I just call that wench by her name? I must be loosing it.' Shaking himself out of those ridiculous thoughts, he noted that the scent of fear was not found on the girl.

"I will not ask again, Kagome. Where is he?"

A shocked look came across Kagome's face. 'I didn't expect him to actually use my name! It sounded great coming from those divine lips. I wonder what it would be like to kiss him. OH MY GOD! What am I thinking? Actually, it's not a bad idea.'

Growing impatient, Shesshoumaru moved to stand directly in front of Kagome. He was close enough that he could feel her body heat rolling of her in waves. She looked up into those gorgeous eyes, blushing slightly at how close they were.

'She's even more beautiful when she blushes. I wonder what her lips taste like.' The thought alone made him blush, though not visible to the human eyes. 'I don't think it would do me any harm.' He leaned in a little as Kagome rose on her toes. His lips briefly brushed hers, but it was enough to take her breath away. 'Her lips are softer than I imagined. They taste slightly like… rain, a gentle rain that could easily turn to a massive storm.' He wondered why her lips would taste like this.

'Wow. I was just kissed by Shesshoumaru. As brief as it was, it was still amazing. I can't even begin to imagine how great a longer kiss would be.' She stood pondering this for a moment, only to be brought out of her daze by the sound of his voice.

"Where is Inuyasha?"

As she backed away, she whispered "He went with her and left me to die."

A confused expression came across the normally blank face of Shesshoumaru. 'Is she talking about the undead miko? Why would he leave Kagome for her? Where did he go? I have too many questions and not enough answers, a problem I will soon remedy.'

"Explain."

Kagome looked up, knowing she would have to tell him something and there was no point in lying. She moved to sit down, knowing that this may take a while. She motioned for Shesshoumaru to do the same.

"A lot of things happened that night."

He nodded and calmly waited for her to begin. He watched her settle, noticing how much older she had become. 'She changed a lot. She is a woman now, not just some girl. Most of it was over the last few months. I wonder what caused the change.'

"I guess I'll start at the beginning."

FLASHBACK

Kagome gazed up at the night sky. She was kind of lonely. Sango and Miroku had left a while ago, finally admitting their feelings for each other. Shippou had left to find himself a mate since he had finally entered manhood. Inuyasha was no where to be seen. He had left her a few hours ago. He mumbled something about needing to think. He had been doing it a lot recently so she didn't bother questioning him.

'That's weird. My fingers are tingling pretty badly.' She stood to look to see what the cause may have been, and spotted it instantly. 'Kikyou's soul collectors! Oh no. Inuyasha, don't tell me that's what's been going on. I couldn't bear it. I won't go. I can't see them together.' Despite her mind's efforts, her feet still walked after the soul collector. She didn't want to go but some imaginary force was pulling her.

She walked through the trees until she came to a small clearing. Standing behind one of the trees, she watched as Inuyasha passionately kissed Kikyou.

"I will always protect you Kikyou."

"It's not enough Inuyasha. I need more than that."

"Tell me. What do I have to do? You know I would do anything to be with you."

A smile came across Kikyou's face as she held Inuyasha. She knew that she had finally won and that he would belong to her.

"Come with me Inuyasha. Leave with me and we can live happily together, far away from here. Leave her behind."

With that said Inuyasha picked up Kikyou and darted off through the trees. Kagome stood there, but surprisingly she didn't hurt. She felt nothing. She looked up and saw Inuyasha standing there, watching her.

"I thought you were leaving."

"I am, but I knew you were here so I came to say goodbye. I want to be with her, not you. You were nice but never more than a friend. I hope you understand. I love her and won't let anyone come between us. Goodbye Kagome."

He slowly walked towards her. She didn't know what to expect. As he closed the gap between them, he reached his arm out and snatched the completed Jewel from her neck. She made no move to retrieve, but watched as he leapt off with what she spent four years trying to put back together. She slumped to the ground, emotionless.

END FLASHBACK

"I have been wondering around ever since. Without the Jewel, I can no longer get home. I have no place to go."

He looked at her almost sympathetically. As he moved to touch her, her voice made him stop.

"There's more. I saw him not to long ago. I came across him and Kikyou in a village. She… she tried to kill me. She said Inuyasha wanted to be with me and she wanted me dead because of it. I had already discovered my powers by then. When he showed up, my emotions took control and did everything for me. I killed her with one of my sacred arrows. I stopped myself before I could kill him. I ran. He still has the Jewel." She paused here, taking a deep breath to recompose herself enough to continue.

"When he left me to be with her, demons began attacking me all the time. He knew it would happen. News of me being able to see the Jewel spread rather fast. He knew it would happen and he left me. At the time I couldn't protect myself. It's a miracle I'm even alive."

Shesshoumaru gazed at her with utter disbelief. 'How? She would never hurt anyone. I wonder why. And why would he leave her unprotected? He was always trying to save her. Was he really that shallow? Why did she run from him?'

"He killed me in a way, on the inside."

She looked up at him, a scared look on her face. Kagome let all the emotions she had been holding in free.

"I don't regret what I did. I just wish someone would have been there for me. I had to deal with this alone for to long. I had to hide from Inuyasha because of what I did to Kikyou. I lived a scared and horrible life after that. No one even cared enough to put me out of my misery."

Kagome stood there, crying all the tears she had been holding back for so long. After a couple of minutes, two strong arms wrapped themselves around her and the she felt a flying sensation. She looked up with watery eyes and saw Shesshoumaru looking forward. He had formed his cloud and lifted the two into the sky, flying towards a destination Kagome did not know of. She rested her head against his chest, and instantly began to feel tired. 'All those tears really wore me out. At least someone will finally be here for me. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll let me stay with him.' And with that last thought, she drifted into a light slumber.

'She affected me, a task no one before her had succeeded in. She warms me on the inside. But at the same time, I feel bitter like I was feeling her emotions and everything that happened to her had really happened to me. No wonder my father fell for a human. They are quite incredible creatures.' He watched her sleep as he flew to his castle. 'I hope I don't regret this.'