Chapter 4

Kagome got up, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, got dressed, and started to make breakfast before she realized that it was still dark out. Looking out unto the unknown abyss, the girl noticed a fog grabbed onto everything in its path. 'Why did I have to wake up to this?'

Continuing with making the rice, it only took ten more minuets before most everyone was up and about. "Kagome" turning to the monk, the female smiled. "What could possibly have you up and about this early in the morning?"

Thinking about it for a second, she responded. "I feel excited." 'And nervous.' After her talk with Shinpi last night, Kagome became really happy. This was something she wanted to do. The girl was glad that she agreed to courting the demon. With what was going on with Inuyasha, she would have become depressed, but now she was full of life. All thanks to Shinpi.

The monk gave a sly smile, but left it at that. Sitting down next to his wife, Miroku sighed. He was still tired, and just wanted to go back to sleep, but would not because of Sango. The poor woman, at the verge of puking, sat in the same spot she slept, trying to calm her stomach. It was hard getting used to at first for Kagome, since she had left before morning sickness took place.

Inuyasha got up, and left the hut, not saying a word to anyone. "Miroku" Sango stated, after everyone was sure that the half demon was out of hearing range. "What did you say to Inuyasha?"

The monk was quiet, a serious look about him. It took a while before he stood up and sat next to a still sleeping Kaede. The black haired man gently awoke the elder. She opened her eyes slowly and gave a dry smile. Miroku helped her sit up, noting that she was heavier than she looked.

After both were seated, the monk spoke. "I followed Inuyasha yesterday, and found something quit curious." He gave a pause, thinking about how to tell the information he found out. "I just want you to note that the new moon is not for another week." He paused again. Shippou seemed a little annoyed that Miroku was not getting anywhere fast enough. "I saw him sitting in a tree," there was another silent moment from the monk. The young kit made a coughing noise, trying to speed up the other male. "and he was quite human."

Kagome's breath caught in her throat. 'What's going on with Inuyasha? How is he human when the new moon is not even around?' millions of questions passed thru her mind, and the others as well.

oOo

At first chance he got, Sesshoumaru sent Jaken, with Rin, to gather items on a list that he gave the imp. With no complaining, and lots of bowing, the others were off. A small break was due for the demon anyway.

The demon Lord did not show it, but he was quite pleased with himself. He was going to meet the only female demon that caught his attention. 'Kagome' he thought. 'I wonder who you really are.' He had yet to figure out where he had heard that name before. It was unique, much like his own name, so most likely he had never met her before. And if he had, he did not remember from where. Most unlike him.

Sesshoumaru walked to the southeast, to the place where Kagome had indicated. He knew that he was going into his brother's territory, and even though he did not want to go there, he would do it to meet the woman he was courting. This woman was different from any other he had met. She did not judge anyone by race or looks, something really odd in demons. Sesshoumaru was glad that he agreed to use the book. 'I will have to thank the old man later.'

Continuing on, Sesshoumaru figured that there would only be about four more hours of travel before he made it to Kagome's location.

oOo

The cool spring water was very refreshing on their feet. It splashed about, gently relaxing any body part that dared to enter the water. Though the air was cooling now, it still felt good to those who had tried to avoid the heat from the summer.

All the village women brought out their family's clothes, washing them, and gossiping amongst themselves. Kagome and Sango sat next to each other, cleaning both their clothes, and everyone else's that lived with them. The water was filled with soap from Kagome's era, making the spring look most unnatural.

Shippou, not far from them played with some of the girls close to his age. He was defiantly a woman's man, an odd thought that constantly popped into the girl from the future's mind.

Helping Sango up, the two women headed back to the village. The demon slayer had noticed a major change in her friend from last night, and knew it was not from the information about Inuyasha, that was for sure. The young woman seemed excited, like a child that knew they would eat at a big feast. (Not like she was not like that before, it was just more excitable.) Sango was happy for her friend, but truly wanted to know how the priestess became so happy in just a short amount of time.

When they made it back, Shippou, who had followed them, became stiff. "What's wrong?" Sango asked.

"There's a demon!" The poor kit started to shake uncontrollably. "It's very powerful!" Ever since Inuyasha had started to run off, the young male would freeze up every time a demon came too close for comfort. Inuyasha was Shippou's idol, someone he looked up to, to be brave. With out him, the child was easily scared, and not very helpful. It worried Kagome greatly, for both were very close.

After the child ran off, Kagome looked at her friend. "Sango, you better follow him. You don't need to endanger the child. Just get Miroku, and we will handle it." Nodding, the demon slayer chased after Shippou, trying to get to her husband before the demon made it to Kagome. There was simply no point of arguing with the teen. She was right about not wanting harm to come to the child before it was born. Plain and Simple.

Kagome walked calmly to edge of the forest. Somehow, when Shippou mentioned the demon, she suddenly felt the aura of four sacred jewels. There was a presence that came with the jewels, and she knew that it was familiar.

A few minuets passed, the jewel moving slowly, and Miroku finally making it to where Kagome was. Both nodded in silent agreement as they darted in between the trees, onward to danger!

oOo

When summer turned to fall, everything changed. The leaves died, and fell from the trees. The birds migrate to the south. Insects seem to disappear. Sesshoumaru found someone he was interested in. Yep. Things changed.

The heat had died down considerably, not like the demon Lord noticed that much. He walked on, almost to his destination, but not there yet. He was getting impatient, not really a new feeling, but not a wanted one. He just wanted to meet Kagome. 'I never knew a woman could bring so much trouble.'

Coming to a village, the elegant demon looked around. A simple town, with simple people, who do simple chores. Nothing that would bring any demons, unless they ate either rice or humans. 'Humans. How revolting.' He spat in is head.

Sesshoumaru had issues with humans. First off, they never showed him the respect that he deserved, they smelled of various things that he did not want to mention, they lied (Only lower class demons would do such, and half demons. We can't forget about them. Like Naraku.). As always, there were exceptions to the rules. Rin was one of them. She had a child's mind, and was not afraid to speak it. Even as she grew, she held that child-like incense, which was good because he did not need her hating various things for no reason, which would happen if she lived in a village full of humans. Another reason to not like humans.

Kagome seemed to be an exception to the rules as well. She held that childlikeness about her, most uncommon in demons. Most demons like to spend their time getting stronger, whether it was for protecting something, or gaining power. Kagome seemed content with how life was, and did little questioning. 'She will make a great mate, if not for me, then someone else.' That thoughtmade his chest tighten in some unknown pain.

Sesshoumaru heard fighting. Deciding it was best to see what the commotion was about; he left swiftly towards the noise. Upon arriving, he noticed two humans and a demon. The demon, a snake, had a sense of faux power. It radiated off of him in waves, in a familiar sense. 'The Shikon no Tama' The demon Lord did not like when others would use artificial power to make them seem stronger. They should gain all their power on their own.

The two humans Sesshoumaru had seen before. They were part of his brother's pack. There was the monk, throwing sutras at the huge creature. There were not very effective, but the demon Lord had an odd suspicion that they were not supposed to. Then there was the girl, supposedly a priestess. She was readying an arrow to shoot at the demon. Sesshoumaru decided that he would watch, and see where this would go.

The snake lashed out poison from its fangs, much like Sesshoumaru's own, towards the monk. He had to duck and roll to get out of the way of the toxins, and could not keep his eyes on the demon. The slithering creature saw its chance, and attacked the girl. The priestess was paying too much attention to the bow and arrow to notice anything. The male, noticing this, called to the girl. "Kagome! Watch out!" Instantly the priestess released the shaft, missing her target, but luckily purifying the poison. Not wanting to deal with the humans anymore, the snake ran off.

Sesshoumaru continued his quest to find Kagome. Realization dawned upon the demon. 'My Kagome is the same as Inuyasha's Kagome! My Kagome is human!' anger reached for Sesshoumaru's mind. He was tricked! That little scrap of a girl tricked him, made him think that she was a demon like himself. He would give her a piece of his mind, and maybe afterward he would kill her.

oOo

Kagome sat around the fire with her friends. She was exhausted. After fighting with the same snake from over three weeks ago, she knew something was going to hurt tomorrow. It is not like she did that much, but it was more than she had done for the past week and a half.

Reaching over to her bag, Kagome pulled out a leather bound book, and a pen. Opening up to the last page she wrote on, she began to scribble words. 'Hey Shinpi!' She waited for a second before he would write back. She was surprised that he did not show up today, like he said he would. At one point, Kagome thought it was the snake demon, but crossed that idea immediately. That snake did not seem to have much of a mind. The stupid animal had gained three more shards, but lost three pounds of brain.

The teen was more than shocked at what she found on the paper when she looked back. You lied to me. It was simple and to the point. Just like everything he wrote.

What? What was he talking about? The closest thing to a lie that she had told him was not telling her friends real names, and in fact she did not even give them fake names.

I saw you today. What was so big about that? You are human. Human. Human! Is that what he was so worked up about?

Would you hate me for it? She responded. I never lied to you. What you thought was on your own. She gave a pause to see if he would say anything.

But you never denied being demon. 'What would I have said? Oh, by the way, I'm human. How could I have brought it up in a conversation?'

Nor did I agree. A frustrated look went across her face. Miroku glanced at her thru hooded eyes, and gave a slight smile. It was if he knew what was going on. If you don't want to continue courting I won't stop you, but just to let you know, I was completely honest with you. What difference does it make if I am human? I am still me, and that's what should truly count. Even though I don't know you, I wanted to get to know you, even though you are a demon. I thought that we could at least be friends but I guess I was wrong. She stopped writing, and was not going to keep on fighting for something so stupid. She would not stoop down to his level and keep on doing something pointless.

Kagome closed the book and moved to her sleeping bag in the corner. Lying down, the girl forced herself to sleep before anyone else in that hut. She was not going to see Inuyasha that night, nor would she ever see Shinpi.

oOo

The birds were relentless in trying to wake up the world's inhabitance. Even though there were just a few left in that area, the small winged creatures made up for numbers with sound. Groaning, Kagome woke up from a restless sleep. All night she tossed and turned, trying hard not to get upset, and start to cry. That would not help the situation.

Getting up, Kagome looked around the hut. No one was there. She moved to roll up her sleeping bag, but was stopped by what she saw. Lying on the ground was lotus flower tied to a note. Picking it up, the girl read the note. Forgive me. I should not judge. There were three waved lines following the words, and somehow, deep in her heart, Kagome knew it was from the demon that had haunted her dreams the night before. An unknown signature for an unknown face.

Hello! I finished another chapter. Sorry I was unable to post it up sooner, but I had to help my Grandma move. This is kind of late in the game but I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA! Oh yeah! If anyone wants to use the idea for the Courting Book tell me. I will not hesitate if I find someone who did not ask, to report their story. I don't want to sound mean, but the idea of this story took me months to come up with, and I am protective over it (I even wrote detailed notes!) Some ppl were wondering where I got the idea from. No. I did not get it from Harry Potter. I hate Harry Potter! The song 'Unwritten' Inspired me as well as other things. Hopefully I will have the next chapter up by next weekend, but no promises. I need critiques on how to do better. I would like if ppl would tell me anything besides 'you need to write more'. It is very hard for me to write that much in a short amount of time. I do have a life!