Chapter 4

Night time fell and Kagome really enjoyed her bath. She hadn't taken a hot bath in such a long time. She was lonely but it was peaceful. She didn't have to worry about the boys peaking or a demon attacking. Before the sun had hid behind the mountains, Kagome gathered fire wood and stones to make a warm fire. The night was cold and she didn't exactly have a blanket with her. All she had was her towel but it was soaked. Well maybe not soaked…soaked but damp. All she could do was hold it by the fire to make it dry. Soon enough the sun was gone and the stars took over with the full moon. Kagome shivered throughout the night and could barely get any sleep but eventually she fell asleep. The fire crackled and the smoke rose to the skies.

"Look Lord Sesshoumaru. A camp fire, could it be humans?" Jaken pointed out in the distance.

"Lord Sesshoumaru lets check it out. Maybe they might have food they can give to me" Rin insisted.

"Shut up Rin. We don't have time to stop so that you can stuff yourself with food" Jaken yelled at the defenseless girl.

"Jaken…" Sesshoumaru cried out.

"Yes me lord?" Jaken answered his lord.

"Shut up" Sesshoumaru ordered. "Lets be off" Sesshoumaru directed to the smoke in the distance ahead.

As they grew nearer, they heard moans and the sound of the crackling fire. Rin ran ahead and jumped out of the bushes to find Kagome sleeping against a boulder by the fire. Rin squint her eyes and swore she had seen her before. Sesshoumaru and Jaken caught up and both noticed Kagome as well. Sesshoumaru searched the surroundings to see if Inuyasha was around. Usually Inuyasha and the others would be with Kagome when he would find them. Jaken instantly had an angry expression on his face and was hoping his lord expressed the same. As he looked up at his lord, he noticed Sesshoumaru didn't express anything. Kagome awakened by the movements of the Fluffy gang. Rin gasped and then quickly acted and then hid behind Sesshoumaru. Kagome's face turned pail and her heart began to beat faster. She surely thought Sesshoumaru would slaughter her. Rin came out of hiding and walked over to Kagome to confront her.

"Are you all alone?" Rin asked with kindness.

"Well yeah, why?" Kagome wondered.

"Do you have any food? I'm starving" Rin's stomach rumbled.

"Yeah here. I'm afraid I only have ramen. Let me boil some water for you" Kagome took out a container of noodles and smiled at the little girl.

"Where's that half breed Inuyasha?" Jaken demanded.

"So what if he is a half breed? And I don't know. I sort of ran away and didn't tell him where I was going" Kagome's smile dropped when Jaken became all nasty and demanding.

"Lord Sesshoumaru can we rest here for tonight?" Rin asked her lord.

"Do what you please" Sesshoumaru found a comfortable place to rest.

Jaken couldn't believe his lord, once again he agreed with Rin, the mortal girl. How could his lord care for a mortal girl when all his life he despised all human kind?

"What brings you here? Excuse me but what is you name little girl?" Kagome forgot her manners.

"My name is Rin and I'm just traveling around the region with my lord Sesshoumaru" Rin smiled.

"Oh, my name is Kagome and I travel with Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru's younger brother" Kagome informed Rin.

"Sesshoumaru told me about his brother and how he wants his Tetsusaiga. I think I saw you when Jaken was trying to steal it" Rin was making small talk.

"Yeah I remember that. I think I was the only one who saw you. I was thinking why you were saving Jaken and I couldn't believe that you accompany Sesshoumaru" Kagome smiled again. "Let's go down by the river and get some water" Kagome got up and so did Rin.

"Kagome, why does Sesshoumaru hate his younger brother?" Rin asked something she didn't really understand.

"I don't know exactly but all I know really is that Sesshoumaru doesn't like Inuyasha for being a hanyou and inherited the Tetsusaiga. I guess Sesshoumaru is jealous that he can't wield the sword and Inuyasha can. What I don't understand about Sesshoumaru is that he lets you hang around. He always despised humans and here we are and he's letting you hang around" Kagome and Rin talked on the way to the river.

"He despises humans?" Rin was confused.

"Yeah he does but he surely likes you. How did you two meet anyway?" Kagome wondered.

"I found him in the woods wounded badly and I tried to help him. I tried to feed him but he said he didn't eat people food. The next day I came back to see how he was but he still refused. Later that day I was killed by a pack of wolves and Sesshoumaru brought me back to life. So now I travel with him because I have no where to go" Rin explained to a very shocked Kagome.

"He brought you back to life with the Tenseiga? He revived you but why?" Kagome was still in shock.

"Kagome you look pail. Are you okay?" Rin noticed Kagome's color.

"Yeah I'm okay. Ah…chew!" Kagome sneezed softly. Not loud!

"Hum, you aren't fooling me. You must have gotten a cold from the rain" Rin felt Kagome's forehead and led her back to camp.

"Lord Sesshoumaru do you think it's wise to be with Inuyasha's wench?" Jaken asked.

Sesshoumaru didn't move, blink, or speak when Jaken asked his question. Sesshoumaru just sat there waiting for the return of young Rin and Kagome. Finally the girls were back and Kagome was feeling a bit dizzy. Rin took off the blanket that covered Ah-Un's back and placed it on the ground. She made Kagome lye down and covered her up with the towel she had. Kagome instructed Rin to go through her bag and find her a bottle of Aspirin on the bottom of the bag. Rin did as she was told and Kagome took the medicine. It wasn't much but would take away the pain a little. Rin didn't quite understand what it was and what it was capable of but she just let the questions slide.

"Are you feeling better Kagome?" Rin asked.

"Yeah this medicine should reduce the pain" Kagome weakly said.

"Will someone tell me what is wrong with Inuyasha's wench?" Jaken couldn't take being left out.

"She's sick master Jaken" Rin shouted at Jaken.

"You don't have to shout" Jaken stepped closer to Rin.

"Jaken…leave her alone" Sesshoumaru stopped the fight before it got any worse.

"But my lord…" Jaken gave up and pouted like per usual.

Kagome and Rin watched with victory. Kagome smiled at Sesshoumaru and she still couldn't believe him for caring so much for the little girl. Here is Sesshoumaru, fending for a mortal girl, his personality still remains a mystery to Kagome, and all she could do was smile. Sesshoumaru glanced at the smiling miko and gave a deadly look. Kagome's smile dropped once again and returned to talk to Rin. Rin was jolly and humble and think Sesshoumaru could stand that. Jaken still pouted and in his own way was saying he was admitting defeat. Rin fell asleep and Ah-Un accompanied her and Jaken had fallen into a deep slumber. Kagome was still awake and so was Sesshoumaru. Kagome was still terrified and was valuing her life as she spent her moments with the youkai that night.

"Why were you smiling at me before? Weren't you afraid?" Sesshoumaru asked then pail miko.

"You just surprise me Sesshoumaru. Thinking you would never hang around mortals and here you are doing it" Kagome answered weakly and didn't dare to look into the youkai's eyes.

"Hum" Sesshoumaru let out a soft laugh but it was gone before you could gasp in amazement.

"How come you hate Inuyasha so much? You should respect your father's wishes and it's not Inuyasha's fault. He didn't ask to inherit the Tetsusaiga" Kagome asked with a small advice.

"How dare you give me that crap, I don't want to accept my father's wishes. I should be the one that inherited the sword" Sesshoumaru raised his voice.

"Raising your voice isn't going to scare me or mean I'll back off. And you still didn't answer my question" Kagome stood up and fell right back down.

As Kagome continued to fall down, she was falling to her death in the fire. Sesshoumaru quickly acted and caught her before her death row. Kagome opened her eyes to see she was being carried by Sesshoumaru. Kagome was too weak to speak so she just let him do what he pleased. She knew there was no living after her argument. Ah-Un carried both a sleeping Rin and Jaken. Sesshoumaru carried Kagome bridle style and they headed towards Inuyasha's camp site. Inuyasha's scent was close and Sesshoumaru can smell him for miles to come. That's something to have advantage of being a youkai. Kagome couldn't help but wonder where he was taking her so she spoke up.

"Where are you taking me Sesshoumaru?" Kagome weakly asked.

"I'm taking you to Inuyasha" Sesshoumaru replied.

"No don't take me to him. I need to find Kikyo" and with that, Kagome's fever took her out with a fainting spell.

Sesshoumaru stopped walking. He looked down at Kagome's face with curiosity; she didn't want to see his half brother but the dreadful resurrected miko instead.

Jaken woke up and rolled off Ah-Un's back. With a thud, Jaken started to complain about his clumsiness.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! Why in all the hells are you carrying Inuyasha's wench?" Jaken burst out with even more curiosity.

"It appears she doesn't want to go back to my brother yet. She rather seeks that resurrected priestess" Sesshoumaru was still in shock.

"You mean that wench that cast Inuyasha to that tree. The one he fell for and ended up being killed?" Jaken sat down, crossed his legs, and placed the staff of two heads in the dark soil.

"Must you be so tiresome?" Sesshoumaru was getting tired of Jaken's stupidity.

"You find me a burden my lord?" Jaken's eyes began to water. "But why sire?" Jaken's tears made small puddles of salty water on the ground below him.

Silence took over except the night scenery. The crickets were cricking and the owls were hooting loud. The fireflies buzzed and there bottoms glowed gold. The trees rustled in the wind, the wolves howled to the bright full moon, and the river nearby flowed heavily down stream. As they walked on, they crushed the twigs on the forest floor and it added to the dreary night's skem. Jaken was crushed by the hateful words of his lord. All he did for him; he was loyal but was a pain in the neck sometimes. Was his o faithful lord getting bored hanging around him? Was he worthy of his lord anymore? Did he fail the cut? Was he not cut out for the job? So many questions but still no answers. The words echoed in Jaken's head and it haunted him. They had turned away from the direction of Inuyasha continued their way in the opposite direction.

With Sesshoumaru's ability to sniff out about mostly any one, he could smell the foul stench of medicinal herbs, soil, bones, and the dead stench of the resurrected priestess Kikyo in the distance. It was sickening to smell the foul stench of the woman and Sesshoumaru despised it so much. Yet, he admired Kagome's courage against his fierce self and he liked the idea she didn't want to see his brother. Jaken remained quiet and didn't question his lord anymore. All throughout the night, Sesshoumaru carried the weak, sick, young miko in his arms. The night drew near of becoming to the end. Morning was fighting the night and finally won. The sun was rising and the every thing became alive. The flowers bloomed and the animals came out from their slumbers. Kagome woke up still in Sesshoumaru's arms, god knows why, and Kagome wanted to know why. She gazed into the youkai's eyes to find no hatred or any kindness. His expressions were blank and they weren't full of any kind of emotion. Why was he even wasting his time with her? Why was he caring for her? Why is he tagging her along? She surely didn't ask to.

"What is Sesshoumaru doing? Why is he even carrying me in the first place? I don't get it!" Kagome was even asking questions in her thoughts. "Huh!" Kagome led out a small sound to say she was confused.

Sesshoumaru looked down at the woken girl and then looked up. His eyebrows sank down so that they could almost touch. The scent of a demon drew near and Kagome was sensing a jewel shard along with the demon.

To be continued…