A/N: Enjoy the new chapter and like always let me know what you think!

o.O.o

Chapter Forty-Four, Knotted Feelings

His shadowed gaze lingered on Chiharu Higurashi as she helped the monk set up a strange sort of veil above their sleeping arrangements. Sooty lashes twitched ever so slightly over her cheeks when the monk's hand twitched towards her bottom and he felt his fingers itch in irritation. She reacted quick, catching his wrist and pushing him away, before tying part of the veil around a stick. The construction reminded her strangely of a remote human hut. The humans had grown tired of their long track and they'd collectively decided to set up camp (Sesshōmaru had grown tired of their whining).

The last rays of the sun crept down the horizon, twilight quickly gaining power and Sesshōmaru stood tall. His three swords jutted from the crimson obi at his waist, the wicked points of his shoulder guards catching the red light of the sinking sun and he averted his eyes from his Miko.

"She likes you, yeh know?"

For one muddled instant, Sesshōmaru stiffened. He hadn't even noticed his brother coming near and he clenched his jaw. "Little brother."

"She shouldn't of course." Inuyasha continued, stepping next to Sesshōmaru and he haughtily glared down at the younger male. The Hanyō would probably never reach Sesshōmaru's height.

"Is that jealousy speaking, Inuyasha?" He asked the light taunt sweeping up into the air, but his brother, much to his credit, didn't rise to the bait. It was somewhat unexpected. From his peripheral vision, he watched the barely-dressed-Miko start a fire, while Rin and the Fox kit settled around it, taking turns in throwing some sort of fireworks into the hot orange depths.

"You don't like humans," Inuyasha said, staring at Chiharu Higurashi himself now. "Yet—"

"She was a tool." He shrugged unapologetically and Inuyasha's face flushed. Yet again, he didn't rise to the bait.

"I think we should have this conversation somewhere else. Somewhere we're not interrupted." He whispered hoarsely. The way hurt shone through his eyes reminded Sesshōmaru truly of the boy's mother. So expressive. He hated the woman with all his heart, but, he hated his father more. It wasn't the human woman who had been truly at fault. His father should have known better.

He looked at his Miko again, her dark hair cascading down her back and the sunlight glinting off, giving it a reddish hue. She truly was beautiful and as much as she broke the mould where humans and human nature was considered, she—

"Oi arsehole!"

The Miko and her barely-dressed sister both stared at Sesshōmaru and his Hanyō brother with identical expressions of shock and curiosity. Perhaps taking this conversation somewhere more privet. The irritating child could certainly benefit from a few well-aimed punches to his face and he turned briskly away. His footsteps were soundless, while Inuyasha's feet beat loudly against the frozen ground. They moved in silence until Sesshōmaru was sure his little Miko would no longer be able to eavesdrop on their conversation. The forest floor stretched down in a sloping manner thinning out into a greenish creek. There were no animals to scamper across the shore and Sesshōmaru inhaled slowly. The water was heavily contaminated with Naraku's evil.

Inuyasha seemed to be thinking too hard to realise so and he turned towards him with a slight quirk of his eyebrow.

"Fine, Half-breed, why is this discussion of such importance?"

The hanyō's hackles rose predictably but unpredictably he managed to gain control over his temper. "Chiharu is my—"

"Love interest?" Sesshōmaru finished dryly and couldn't help the quirk of his lips. So that was what this was. He was jealous. He truly had chosen the right girl. Pity for Inuyasha that the Miko did not seem too interested in his brother. Or at least as far as Sesshōmaru was considered the girl seemed more interested in keeping her sister happy and being Inuyasha's friend — his friend really — than pursuing a kinship that would never work anyway. If she would want a yōkai mate she would need someone strong enough to equal the mark she wore or Sesshōmaru himself would have to find a true mate. The latter wasn't going to happen in another few decades as he was still too young to start for a successor. Moreover, mating was for life and he certainly didn't think he'd wanted to be bound to some annoying bint—

"—Think that I fancy her as a love interest? Even Kikyō—" Inuyasha was saying, face tinging pink. Sesshōmaru sat down, legs crossed and face unreadable.

"Inuyasha, I do not care for your romantical love life. My business is my own and no matter what I plan to do with that girl— It would be in my right."

"It's not in your right, you idiot. You've condemned her to a fate even worse than mine. At least I cannot help being born the way I am, but what do you think will happen to her? She'll live too long to match any human husband and will always have too much of a human side for any yōkai to give her a chance. The least you could do is release her of your stupid bond."

"You little mongrel, do you even understand how you release someone of a bond? Especially one that has been retaliated by both parties?"

"Then why the fuck did you consummate it?"

Sesshōmaru was momentarily stunned and turned to the younger man, staring at his face. He was young but not that young. Even Inuyasha, who Sesshōmaru often thought to be stupid, should know the meaning of sexual intercourse or— "You do understand what consummating means, right?"

"Yes," Inuyasha huffed, "Of course, I know what it means. Myōga said that's what happened for the mark to be balanced out and—"

"Inuyasha, intercourse means sex." He deadpanned and the Hanyō turned a furious sort of red.

"—What? Oh…"

"I find it difficult to believe you have no knowledge of— No, this Sesshōmaru doesn't find it that difficult to believe at all. Of course, you wouldn't understand— The mark, you fool, has never been completed. That can only be done due to intercourse. To put it in words you actually understand; sex."

Sesshōmaru wondered if it was the dead-panned tone he used while discussing intercourse with his younger brother or if it was the subject itself, but Inuyasha's face had tinted almost scarlet, bordering on purple. "Do you understand now, little brother?"

"—I— Shut up, Arsehole. That was not the point. I asked you, didn't I?" Inuyasha spluttered indignantly and Sesshōmaru smirked. He'd no idea how many mind games he could play with the little fool nor how absolutely invigorating it was.

"What was it again, you asked, Little Brother?"

"Do you love her?" He grounded out.

"Love, Little brother, is only a human notion." He told the younger man, claws trailing along with the handle of Tenseiga. "I do not feel it."

Inuyasha opened his mouth, his hands opening and closing uselessly at his sides until his eyes widened: "Oh. You've never known love."

Well, that certainly was not the point he wanted Inuyasha to take out of his comments and he sat stonily as the Hanyō stalked up to him dropping down before him.

"That explains so much."

"You misunderstand. As you so often do."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, arsehole," Inuyasha muttered, but the normally biting tone was off, silver eyebrows furrowed deeply.

The conversation shouldn't have bothered him, but frankly, it did. The Miko girl shouldn't love him. He hardly needed her to moan over him. Especially not, with his mother butting into his business. Inuyasha seemed satisfied that whatever he'd wanted to say had come across and turned on his heel. Twilight was falling and in the distance a storm was brewing. Sesshōmaru remained away from the camp for the rest of the night and when he returned, he kept a close eye on his Miko. She was six and ten, for a yōkai hardly the age to start looking for a prospective bride, but for a human—

A human turned yōkai. Or a Hanyō.

She was not one, yet she was.

Sesshōmaru had hated her when she'd been a human. On principle really, and mostly because apart from being pretty, she was also reasonably smart. She'd piqued his interest even before he'd known she was a— friend to Inuyasha. He'd hated her because for a second he could understand what his father must have been thinking.

Yet, the more he'd learned to know her, the more he'd grown to enjoy her.

She wasn't resentful. Keeping a grudge didn't come naturally to her and it was a refreshing experience. However, enjoying her company, feeling an attraction to her mortal flesh, did not mean he would mate her. She'd never demanded that of him either, but— she did gaze at him with the kind of longing born from what he could only assume was want and love. He'd never noticed it before.

Days passed, yet, the chance to talk to her didn't present itself. Perhaps there was no need for either. If they finally tracked down Naraku all of this could be over. Sesshōmaru had risen with first light, deciding he'd exercise his breathing, sitting cross-legged in a clearing only a few miles away from the campsite. Far away enough their noisy wanderings went a bit unnoticed, yet close enough he could come to their aid when truly necessary. He'd chosen a spot admits the naked oaks and Aleppo pines, the scent of damp mud and early spring heavy in the air.

He'd been almost feeling calm, his breathing even and he hadn't even cared when the drizzle had started; dampening his hair. In the distance, he noticed Barely-dressed-Kagome approaching, but he didn't pay her any mind until she stumbled into his circle of relaxation. Her gasp was loud and disturbed him enough to forget his even breathing. His eyes snapped open seeking out hers and watched in slight amusing as she turned a shade of scarlet that took over all of her face. Her eyes were tracing over his bare chest and he waited exactly three seconds before responding.

"See anything you like, girl?"

She yelped, stumbling away again, almost falling over her own feet he listened to her retreating footsteps. He waited a few minutes before getting to his feet, following the girl's scent. Soon it became mingled with his Miko's scent and for once she was alone. The drizzle had changed into a steady rhythm and he heard their voices. The younger sister was gently goading the older and he intervened quickly, sending the older one scrambling for the safety of their campsite.

Chiharu Higurashi sat up slowly, her basket almost toppling over and filled to the brim with herbs, roots and grasses. Her bi-coloured eyes met his unflinchingly: "I sometimes think you live to annoy me."

He cocked his head. Perhaps he did. It didn't matter. He had questions.

"You know, Miko, I have been wondering." He whispered, closing in on her as she got to her feet. He ducked his head and his mouth slanted over hers, cutting short any reply she might have given. He'd done this before, but this time he made sure to assess her earnestly. It's a deep, open-mouthed kiss, fangs grazing over her lower lip and she made a sort of sound that made his nerves ease slightly. He pushed her harshly against a tree, her breath escaping her in a gasp and dug his fingers around her waist. Her body is deliciously warm and pliant under his hands and he wrenched his mouth away from hers and swept her damp hair from her shoulder and slants his mouth over the mark he'd made almost two years ago. She moaned at that and her fingers pushed his haori of his shoulders unsubtly.

His mind cleared at that, at one hand fisting her haori and kosode off her shoulder, his fangs scraping over her collarbone and he moved away so fast, Chiharu slipped on the wet shoreline and fell in with a splash. Her breathing his harsh and her coughs bring up creak-water, she barely managed to push herself up on the shore, knees staining green.

"What did you that for? You kiss me and then—" she started and he crouched down in front of him again, his muscles flexing.

"You kissed me back," he told her coldly and pressed his index finger beneath her chin, his breath fanning out over her cheek. "Tell me, Miko, do you love me?"

Her face blanched and her eyes widened comically: "What?"

"Do you love me? That human notion— Love. Is that what you feel for me?"

And still flustered from their previous activity, his Miko blankly stared at him, as if she was not understanding the question.

"What?"

He yanked her chin closer, their noses bumping, her wet hair slapping noisily against her shoulders from the sudden movement: "I think you do."

"I'm sure I don't—" she started and then her eyes harden with resolve.

Before Sesshōmaru could reply, she surged forward, pressing her mouth swiftly to his. It was clumsily, her fingers yanking at his hair as he tried to angle her face just right and he sighed in her mouth. This— this was a problem. As sudden as her bravado had come as sudden as it left and she stumbled up and away from him, but her answer had been clear all the same.

"I—" she muttered.

"You are human," he stated and she frowned, a furrow appearing between her eyebrows and he felt the strange urge to press the pad of his thumb against the imperfection.

"I was human," she whispered, head cocking to the side. "I was, but you've seen to that almost two years ago."

"It doesn't matter." He responded coldly. "This cannot happen again."

He couldn't trust her to not take this further. He couldn't have a weakness that liked to get into trouble as this one human did. Ex-human turned Hanyō. Even without the noticeable shifts in her aura, that was what she was and he turned his back on her. A human could never be enough for him.

To be continued…

A/N: I feel a little bit mean, but this man is so stubborn. He needs one more push… And he's getting one soon;). But at least, Inuyasha is a good friend. As for him not knowing what consummating means, I think that's something that would be just like Inuyasha!

I'm sorry for not updating regularly in some time. I'm in the final stages of my thesis (AND I BLOODY HATE IT) and things are not going great. However, I try but expect swifter updates once I can finally turn it in. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you'll think.

Inuyasha does not belong to me but to Rumiko Takahashi