Disclaimer: sighs I do not own Inuyasha, Miroku, Sesshoumaru, Kouga... bursts into tears There! Happy now? All my dreams... shattered...

Yo.

Heart of Stone

Part 1

Sesshoumaru sat in his favourite tree, watching. Over 100 human years, he was a demon 'teenager', but this was still his favourite tree. He played in it in his youth, but now, it held a different meaning entirely. It was where he watched her.

He ran clawed fingers through his long, flowing silver hair and sighed. 'Yumi… who'd have thought I would fall in love so soon… with a human, no less.'

He came here every day to watch as Yumi, a girl of the nearby village, worked in the rice fields, tirelessly, every day. It was like a routine he had kept for the past few months. His favourite pastime. But today he would break the routine. Today he would do it. He was going to talk to Yumi, for the first time in his life.

He leapt from the tree, landing gracefully in front of the field. He looked down at the murky water. He really shouldn't get his robes wet, yet at the same time… Wading into the knee-deep water, Sesshoumaru approached the girl, who looked up and gasped. Sesshoumaru smiled at her, something he had grown used to over the past few weeks of watching her.

"Hello."

Yumi screamed, and Sesshoumaru covered his ears in pain, scrunching his eyes up.

"A demon! A demon is attacking me!"

Sesshoumaru looked at the screaming girl with confusion in his golden eyes. Confusion, and hurt. She noticed, and ceased at once.

"What, demon? Aren't you going to attack? Or are you just going to stand… there…" she trailed off, staring into his golden eyes. He slowly shook his head, and turned, walking calmly away, listening to Yumi reassuring the other villagers.

The next days passed in a blur to Sesshoumaru. He gradually began making more contact with Yumi, and was soon telling her all about himself, and her vice versa.

"I am Sesshoumaru. One day, I will inherit the western lands, and become a Lord."

"I live in the village… say, are you really a demon?"

"Yes."

Yumi smiled. "Well I like you anyway. Your tail is so fluffy!"

Sesshoumaru smiled at her as she began to stroke his tail, while casually talking to him.

"So, Sesshoumaru, how old are you?"

"In human years?"

"Of course, what else?"

"One hundred and twenty one."

"…" Yumi stared blankly at him, and then began to laugh. "Oh, you're so funny, Sesshoumaru!"

The youkai, sensing it would be impossible to explain, gave up, and laughed along with her.

Weeks turned into months, then gradually, a year came by. "You know, Sesshoumaru," commented Yumi one sunny afternoon, staring at the sky, "we have known each other for ages now, and you haven't aged a day."

"I know… I'm a demon."

"No you're not. You're my demon."

Sesshoumaru smiled as Yumi sighed and snuggled into Sesshoumaru, looking up at him, her brown eyes sparkling with life. Gradually, ever so gradually, they leaning forwards, into one another, until finally, their lips made contact.

'Yumi is so… perfect. She's bossy, unafraid to speak her mind, and somewhat arrogant… but she suits me perfect. I never want to leave her…'

'Sesshoumaru is so… perfect. He's exactly like me… I hope he never leaves…'

Sesshoumaru smiled into the kiss. Yumi tasted exactly like she smelt. Like a sweet herb. Like a dream.

"Yumi!"

They broke apart, to look around at the source of disturbance. There stood a man, an angry gleam in his eyes.

"Father." Yumi stood at once, and suddenly Sesshoumaru realised how cold it was. He followed suit, and stood beside Yumi, drawing himself up to full height.

"Yumi, what were you doing?"

Yumi looked down at the ground, but Sesshoumaru stared defiantly into the father's eyes. "She was talking to me."

"Oh, from what I saw, it was lot more than talking, young man."

"Father!" Yumi screamed, looking at her father's angry eyes, hers swimming with tears. "I love him!"

Sesshoumaru was dazed for a split second. She… loved him? He shook his head slightly and looked back at the man. He wreaked of anger, yet… fear?

"Yumi, come with me!"

Yumi struggled against her father's grasp and Sesshoumaru watched on in horror.

"Let go of her!"

"No, demon! She will never see you again! Understand? Stay away or we will have to slay you!"

Inside the weeks that passed, Sesshoumaru did everything he could to see Yumi, but she wasn't in the fields. He could smell her in the village, and every so often would try to enter it, only to have around twenty arrows shot at him by the villagers who were sure he would kill them all.. Then, one day, when the guard was down, he got into the village, and began to sniff out Yumi.

He could not sense her presence in the village, but was not alarmed. The villagers had probably gotten a miko to protect her. Not to worry, he could simply follow his nose. He drew in deep breaths of air through his sharp nose, and began following the freshest trail of her scent. Eventually, it stopped, but he could still smell her here, very strongly indeed. He looked down at the ground. Maybe one of her belongings had blown in the wind? But as he looked down, he froze mid-thought. He was standing… in front of a grave.

ok, I dunno what should happen next... this is just gonna be in two parts, ok? Well, this is my theory (more like wishful thinking) as to why Sesshoumaru is so cold towards humans. I think I should get started on the next bit.

You can flame me, I don't care. Of course, you can always tell me it sucks in a nice way...

You can tell I like his hair... can't you?

BANZAI!