Prompt: Sesshomaru is injured - "I'm gonna kill you." "For what, saving your ass?"

It was one thing to acknowledge her attraction to him. It was another to be reminded of it every few minutes.

Shit shit shit.

Kagome paced the kitchen. Taisho was currently in the bathroom, inspecting her handiwork, no doubt, leaving her alone with her troubling thoughts.

He didn't drink—had never even been drunk. And his first concern when he'd woken up was about her safety.

She was starting to think she didn't know him at all.

Kagome leaned against the sink, groaning in frustration as she chewed on her thumb. It shouldn't bother her—it wasn't like he was a big part of her life in the first place. But the more she thought about it, the more her mind began to race.

She'd prided herself on how well she was able to read people. It came in handy when helping people pick out books at the library, especially when children were pressured into liking specific things by their parents or friends. Kagome needed to know how to convince the little boy that it was okay to be excited about ballerina books or encourage the little girl who was secretly interested in construction vehicles.

Sesshoumaru Taisho had been someone who had been inside a cookie-cutter since the moment she'd met him, but now the shell was breaking, leaving Kagome to second guess every assumption she'd made about him.

She shook her head. There was no mistaking his ire and general distaste for her company during their first few meetings. So, he had a few surprises up his sleeve, but that didn't mean she was completely off-base with—

The bathroom door opened, Taisho's hair rebraided and hanging over one shoulder.

"If you want to change, let me know," she said, eying the gauze on his head as she tore herself out of her musings. "You have to keep anything from rubbing against it. It could tear open again."

He stared at her for a moment, then shrugged. "What I am wearing is sufficient."

"Suit yourself." Kagome returned to the stove, giving the stew one last stir before climbing up on a chair and pulling two bowls out of the cupboard. "How do you feel about eating? Do you need any more painkillers?"

She heard him quickly cross the kitchen, gasping when he grabbed her around the waist and put her on the ground. He took the bowls from her, setting them on the counter, his face pinched into an intense scowl.

"I am going to kill you."

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "For what? Making you food? Or saving your ass?"

"For putting yourself at risk." There he went again, making it seem like he cared. Her stomach churned at the notion, but she bit back her initial retort.

"I'm fine. You're the one with an open wound on his head."

"Which you have seen to," he argued. "But you have your own injuries that must be dealt with."

"I told you, I'm fine—"

"You have not raised your arms above your head since I regained consciousness."

She pursed her lips. The jump from the lift had rattled her, but it was pulling the solid 200 pounds of deadweight back to the cabin and up the front steps that had her muscles screaming in protest after she'd woken up.

"I'm a little sore, that's all. I'll do some stretching later and—what are you doing?" He'd lifted her again, this time off her feet and into the living room, placing her face down on the blanket she'd used as a bed. Kagome immediately pushed herself up, only for Taisho to pin her against the floor.

"Stop fighting," he said, hands sliding under her shirt.

"I will as soon as you tell me what the hell you're doing!" she retorted, glaring at him over her shoulder as she tried to pull away.

"Dealing with your injuries," he said, pressing his thumbs into her shoulder blades. Kagome gasped into the blanket, muscles seizing then yielding under his firm ministrations.

Guess I can add masseuse to his list of hidden talents, she thought, biting her lip as he found a particularly tight knot. Muscles clicked, and she stifled a moan as it finally gave, the tension in her shoulders lessening.

"You should take better care of yourself," he murmured, working his way down her spine.

Kagome snorted. "I'll be sure to mention that to my personal massage therapist when I get home."

"Your sarcasm is unnecessary."

"I know, sorry. I feel a lot better now," she sighed into the blanket. "I get snippy when I'm hungry. And tired."

"I am aware." Something in the soft tone of his voice made her pause, the hairs on the back of her neck going up. It was like when he'd smiled all over again.

"I'm not always hungry and tired around you," she said, grasping at straws, "if that's what you mean."

"And yet your behaviour speaks to the contrary."

She tensed under his hands. "You're as much to blame for that as I am!"

"Perhaps." His response took the wind out of her sails, dousing her ire in one fell swoop. How was she supposed to defend herself if he kept agreeing with her?

Kagome bit her lip as they lapsed into an awkward silence. Serving him food had been a sure-fire way of filling in the gaps in their stilted conversation.

"You always seem well-rested and fed when you are working," he mused, his hands moving to her lower back.

"What, are you spying on me while I work now?" Even as the words left her mouth, Kagome internally groaned. Why did she automatically jump to conclusions every time he opened his mouth?

"My brother speaks highly of you."

This time her groan was audible. Of course, he did. Inuyasha talking about her was the most logical explanation. "Right. Well, I have to be. People have little patience when looking for a specific book."

"The children appreciate it too, I am sure." She shot him an accusatory glare over her shoulder, which he met with a raised eyebrow. "You run a public library, Higurashi. It is not like I have never been there before."

"Why didn't you say anything when you were there?"

"And risk you biting my head off? I think not."

Kagome let out a calming breath, then sat up, Taisho's hands falling to his sides. "Look, I don't know what I did to piss you off initially." She held a hand up to cut off his reply. "And I know I haven't helped things, but can we call a truce? At least until we get out of here? It seems silly to be at each other's throats when we can't actually leave."

He considered her for a moment, Kagome trying not to squirm under his scrutinizing gaze, then held out his hand. "Very well."

She shook his hand, ignoring the way his thumb brushed against her skin. "We can be friends until the storm lets up, right?" He helped her to her feet, both of them heading back into the kitchen.

"I shall endeavour to keep you fed and rested until we leave so as to keep my head attached to my body."

The fact that the joke had come from him had her laughing all that much harder, holding onto the counter to steady herself. "I'm not that bad!"

Taisho scoffed. "I have encountered black widows with less venom than you, Kagome."

She choked on her giggles, heat creeping up the back of her neck as she stared at him. And he'd known full well what he'd done too, gazing at her from his place at the table once he'd sat down. "Friends call each other by their first names, do they not?"

Shit.

Shit shit shit.