In the first story, Sesshomaru decided to steal the Kagome from Inuyasha, keeping her raw miko power from becoming a weapon for his brother. Using the threat of death over her, Kagome willingly stayed with Sesshomaru, and the two became very close. As a romance formed between the unlikely pair, the clay ghost of Kikyou threatened to end Kagome's life, and Kagura plotted to have the taiyoukai for himself. A battle raged against a puppet of Naraku's, which forced the brothers to work together. And Kagome had to make a choice about her future.

For the record (ahem): I do not own, in whole or in part, any part of the Inuyasha franchise. Nor do I own any of the characters from said franchise that is used forthwith. The following story is solely based on the ramblings of a college student at a boring job and is not to be taken or believed as part of the true Inuyasha saga. That being said, please enjoy my first attempt at fan fiction. Feel free to critique ad nauseum. (Whew!)

Chapter One – The Saga Continues

Inuyasha clapped his hands together, in an attempt to break up the syrupy sweet scene in front of him. I may be the loser in this game, but I'll be damned if I am going to be the spectator. "Okay, okay. That's enough. Break it up."

Kagome released Sesshomaru's neck, but did not step out of his embrace. I feel more at home here than I did these last few days at my actual home. And I thought I would never be comfortable living in an age without television.

Sesshomaru was the one to break the embrace, drawing her to his side and sidling her to him with a strong arm around her waist. "Show me where she lives."

His brother gave him a wary eye. "Why?"

"I must know where I am to stay."

Inuyasha threw up his hands in disgust, a mental image that he never wanted to see was now forever burned into his retinas. "No!" Sesshomaru growled menacingly. "Hey, she said she needed to be apart from you to find the jewels faster. And there is no way in hell I am letting you live in my village."

The taiyoukai took a menacing step closer to his brother. "Your village?"

"Yeah, that's right. My village. We aren't in your lands, Sesshomaru. These here are mine. You are here only by my good graces."

Things certainly never change with these two. It is like watching a farce. "Hey! Break it up. I didn't come back here to watch the two of you rip each other to shreds."

Inuyasha pointed a clawed finger at his brother, who contemplated ripping it off with a swift bite of his poisoned fangs. "You haven't had to live with his mooning for the last three days. He wouldn't leave. He just sat up there, never taking his eyes off of the damned well. I know I would never be able to live with seeing his ugly face day in and day out until we find the shards."

In a flush of excitement, she turned in Sesshomaru's embrace to look at him with glee. "Did you really wait here for me for three days?" Sesshomaru continued to stare menacingly at his brother, the thought of ripping out his tongue now dancing across his mind. When he continued to say nothing, Kagome gave him a great big bear hug. "That is absolutely the sweetest thing I have ever heard!"

Her actions finally made him move. With a withering smile for Inuyasha, Sesshomaru turned and looked down at Kagome. As they continued to stand like that, Inuyasha retreated back to the hut, muttering a string of explicatives. Kagome eventually let go and separated herself from him, which confused Sesshomaru completely. "But you must go now."

"What?" Sesshomaru's expression never changed, but she knew that he was feeling betrayed again..

"He is right. I will never get anything done with you around me. I told you this not five minutes ago."

"No."

"Sesshomaru, I don't like it anymore than you do. But, I have a promise to keep. You wouldn't want me to break a promise, would you?"

He thought about that seriously for a moment. I would not want her to break her word. It seems to be as important to her as it is to me. But I still cannot let her stay in his presence. He says he will stay out of the way, but with him I have no guarantee. "Then you will come with me."

Kagome threw up her hands in frustration. "Sesshomaru..."

"We will find them together. As long as they are found, your honor is not broken."

"They are my friends, Sesshomaru. I cannot just abandon them because I am in love. What will they think of me?"

"I do not care for them."

As much as that sent little ripples of pleasure up her spine, she also knew that that was a casual insult at her friends that she couldn't let pass. Kagome sighed, realizing this was not going to be a fight that would end tonight. "Don't you have friends?"

Sesshomaru said nothing. "Don't you?"

His stoic manner never changed, but she felt his resistance to her question. He doesn't have friends. It took everything she had not to cry in front of him for the pity that was overflowing in her heart for him at that very moment.

"What need have I for friendship? I have allies, and I have you. That is all I require." He could smell the saline of her tears threatening to come from her eyes, and turned away. The last thing he wanted was to look like a halfwit in front of her. And in the span of a few moments, he had been made to look like a lovesick puppy and a lonely little boy. What has happened to me?

He felt her arms sneaking around his waist, and felt her pull in close to lay her head on his back. "That is the best non-answer I have ever heard. And I admire you for your ability to do everything on your own. But, I was not made that way. I thrive in the presence of others. I need them. In a different way than I need you, and not as completely. But I need them all the same."

He put his hand over hers, but made no other move to turn around. "You have Rin. She loves you also." A thick silence began to fill the air. "And there is always Jaken."

The throaty laughter she emitted was absorbed into his skin, intoxicating him even further. "That better have been a joke. I know that toad can barely stand me."

Sesshomaru pressed his hand. "But Rin looks on you like a mother. You cannot abandon her now that she has become accustomed to you."

"I am not abandoning her. Or you. I just need to concentrate on others beside myself right now. That way I can fully be with you when this is over."

At these words, he did turn in her arms. Without breaking their hold, he freed his hand and brought her chin up to look at him. "What about your other home."

She smiled. "What about it?"

"You do realize that there may be the possibility that you may not be able to cross back through time once this jewel is reformed."

She nodded, but he felt her tense just a little. "I know. My mother and I talked about that a lot these past couple days, or I would have been back sooner. But, my heart says that that is a chance we are willing to take."

He bent his head just a little to kiss her. Her arms quickly snaked up to his hair, making sure he stayed there for a while. He pressed his advantage, using his hand to press her small frame to his, letting her feel what she was doing to him. Kagome was not really shocked, but truly excited, and her breasts tingled where they pressed against both her clothes and his. Sesshomaru's lips trailed along her cheek and down to her throat, where he kissed the throbbing pulse there. He drew the skin into his mouth, sucking every so gently. It took every ounce of control not to do what every fiber in him screamed to do. If he couldn't make her his mate now, he would at least leave a mark to remember.

When he was finished, he couldn't let her go, because Kagome's legs had failed her. He chuckled in her ear, his breath sending tiny impulses of delight down her spine to various parts of her anatomy. "Are you sure you want to be parted from me? Your body seems to say otherwise."

"No," she breathed. But, she grabbed a hold of his shoulders and pushed herself up on wobbly legs. "But I have to." She thought about it for a moment. "But it isn't as if I can't see you while I am hunting for the shards. I don't think that I could take being completely separated from you. Not now."

"But I don't want..." he cleared his throat. I am beginning to talk just like her now. "I will help you."

"No! You haven't been listening to a word I have been saying." She stamped her foot in frustration.

"I have listened to every word that has come out of those..." his eyes dropped to her lips, now darkened and swollen. "lips. I did not say I would stay with you. I will help you find the shards so your duty is done." His tone then lowered to a husky whisper, trying one last time to lure back to his embrace. "I do not wish to be parted from you completely, either."

Kagome took a deep, steadying breath at this last admission. She knew how it went against his entire being to say something like that out loud. At least he is accepting that I cannot be with him until my promise is fulfilled. And I won't be completely bereft of him in the meantime. Everything else can wait until later. "Then we have come to an understanding."

He nodded. "I will strike out with you and" he couldn't bring himself to include Inuyasha in this equation just yet "your friends tomorrow morning. But only in the search. Other than that I will give you the distance you need to concentrate."

It was her turn to nod. "Agreed." And she turned in the direction of the village, with Sesshomaru right on her heels.

Inuyasha stalked into Kaede's hut and plopped cross-legged by the fire pit. Kaede looked up from the stew pot, eyeing him suspiciously. "She is back, then?"

"Feh! You bet she is."

Shippo perked up from the corner, where he had been absently stirring his now cold bowl of stew. "Kagome's back? Horray!" He got up and started bouncing towards the door.

"And she chose him?" Kaede knew the answer to the question she asked, simply reading Inuyasha's body language.

A growl was the only answer she received from him. Shippo froze in his tracks, the smile immediately falling from his face. "What?"

"You heard her, runt. Kagome chose Sesshomaru. Over me." Inuyasha ducked his head so that his snowy hair completely covered his face. He knew that the little guy could still sense what Inuyasha was feeling, but knew that Shippo would not take any notice. He needed time to nurse his wounds.

"But she can't leave me. She wouldn't choose him over me...." He started wailing where he stood in front of the door.

Kagome tried to get into the hut, but Shippo's shivering form blocked the door from opening enough to let her through. "I am not leaving you, Shippo. I didn't choose him over you."

Instantly he stopped crying and let her in the door. "But Inuyasha said you chose..."

"She chose Sesshomaru over me, you stinking little fox, not you," he said without looking up.

Kagome tried to fill in the blanks. "My decision does not mean that I am leaving here. At least not anytime soon. We still have a few more jewel shards to find."

Shippo digested the words for a moment, then jumped up into Kagome's waiting arms. "Oh. In that case, great to have you back, Kagome."

Sesshomaru chose that moment to step into the hut. The only one who was surprised to see him was Kaede. A full demon in my hut. What would Kikyou have done if she had allowed this to happen in her day? He bowed his head slightly in reference to the old miko, since it was her hut he was standing in. She nodded in return, and went back to her cooking.

After a few moments more of sulking, Inuyasha pulled himself together and looked his brother in the eye with as much congeniality as he could muster. "So. What did the two of you work out?"

"She will continue to live here in the village until the jewel shards are found. And I will accompany her in the search for the shards."

He stood up at that. "Like hell you will. That is my team, not yours."

"I do not care what you want, Inuyasha. I will not leave her completely in your care. Remember how easy it was for me to take her from you?"

"Why you filthy..." Inuyasha charged at his brother, claws bared.

It was Kagome who stopped him, by standing in between the two brothers. "Stop acting like children. Honestly, the two of you are acting like teenagers." She looked up at Sesshomaru. "Yes, both of you. You needn't have teased him, you know."

"This I know. But look how easy it was."

Inuyasha pushed up the sleeves of his haori at this insult. "Now listen you paper-trained house pet..."

Kagome decided that the best thing was a change of subject. "Where are Miroku and Sango?"

Shippo darted into the fray, picking up on what Kagome was trying to do. "They left for the river a little while ago. Sango said she wanted to take a bath, and Miroku said she shouldn't go alone. You know how the two of you used to go together. She didn't even say anything against it. Just told him to hurry up."

Inuyasha smiled at the unknowing insinuation Shippo had just made and backed down. But his eyes didn't waver from his brother's. They both knew that there was some unfinished business still between them.

Coming Soon – Chapter Two – A Romantic Interloper

Kouga becomes a romantic interloper, until he realizes how serious Sesshomaru is to keep Kagome. He calls the demon lord out to a duel for Kagome's hand. In the heat of the moment, Kagome's life is changed forever.