"Not at all! What makes you say that? Ha ha."

I managed to calm myself a bit before looking him in the eye. This man is going to give me a heart attack. When I looked at him, he was within arms' reach, and staring into my eyes.

"What made you decide to visit?" I asked him.

"Is it unusual for one to see their mate?"

"No…"

I looked away as Sesshomaru held me in his arms. It isn't every day that we have alone time like we do now. To say the least, I love it when we have these moments to ourselves. I sat quietly as he pulled at my kimono sleeve. Feeling his cold fingers touch the skin on my arms sent shivers down my back as he drew himself closer. I kept my gaze on the wall as I felt his other hand wrap itself on my waist. I blushed heavily as we both fell backwards onto the bed. He then gently took my chin and led my gaze to his face. When his lips met mine, my eyes refused to stay open as I was enveloped into the moment. My arms found their way around Sesshomaru's neck. I wanted to stay in his arms longer, but I knew things would quickly escalate if I did. I let go a couple of minutes later, letting Sesshomaru know that his time was up. It took a lot of tries, but I had managed to get Sesshomaru to settle with what I would give him. He still kept me in his embrace after our little moment, but at least he wasn't trying to get into my pants.

"I will not stop on the night of our mating, no matter how much you plead." He said aloud.

"Don't make it sound so intimidating."

"Be prepared to not sleep that night."

I felt myself getting clammy as he smirked.

"That's not funny…"

"It is not a joke." He said with a straight face. "You have kept me waiting for years…"

I felt his grip on me tighten. My disappearance for those years must have really tortured him. I held onto his arms just as tightly.

"Don't think that the wait didn't kill me as well."

"'Kill you?'"

"The wait was excruciating for me as well." I explained.

There was a moment of silence as he nuzzled my neck. I was content with holding his hands.

"I'm guessing that the day is getting closer." I whispered as the heat slowly crept back onto my face.

"…Why do you believe so?"

"You have yet to nuzzle me like this without trying something else."

"Is that so?"

"Why can you not be direct with me?"

"It is interesting to see your reactions."

"You're going to regret it one day."

"Then I will wait for the day to come."

"I thought you hated waiting."

"I would wait millennia for you."

"What's this? The Lord of the Western Lands is speaking sweet nothings into my ears?"

"Your commentary is aggravating."

"But you love it."

"This Sesshomaru will admit no such thing."

"Then this Kazumi will lead this Sesshomaru to the door." I responded.

He obliged and left my room. Before I closed the door, he placed a kiss on my forehead and caressed my cheek one last time for the night. After softly closing the door, I laid back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Today was eventful, I guess?

Before I knew it, I was asleep. I must have been more tired than I thought. After getting a good night's sleep, I woke up expecting to continue my day to day routine but that thought quickly left my mind when I saw Sesshomaru lying next to me. Didn't I show him out of my room yesterday? I stared at his face as I realized that he was holding onto me as well.

"Umm… Sesshomaru?" I said.

He opened his eyes and stared at me.

"Yes?"

"I kind of have to go and train." I said as I tried to loosen his grip on my body.

"Did you not say that our mating day is approaching?"

"What does that have to do with this?"

"Your training has been suspended until our mating has passed."

"Really?"

"In its stead, you will have longer lessons."

"You hate me, don't you?"

"If I hated you, you would be dead."

"Thanks for being honest."

"Is that not what you wanted?" He asked me as he pulled me into a kiss.

I didn't let him have this one as I finally left his grip.

"Well, I will go attend my lessons seeing that you are so intent on me having taught."

I could tell from his eyes that he was not amused by my joke, making it that much more enjoyable. As I left the room, I was met by a couple of maids leaning toward the door. I stared at them, wondering what they were doing. It wasn't until their cheeks lit up that I realized what they had been waiting for. I blushed as well as I walked away. They should be able to tell that nothing happened from my scent.

I know they're happy that Sesshomaru has finally chosen a mate, but seriously? Well, if Sesshomaru hadn't of stayed in my room without my permission last night, they wouldn't have been that interested. I already said that nothing would happen until we got mated/married, but at this rate, I might not hold out. It is so much harder to resist now that we've gotten so close to each other, and especially after those years of separation. I can't make it past another month. I just pray my hormones don't get all out of whack during that time of the month again. If it does, I'm screwed.

When I arrived at my little "study" area, Teach was lining up rulers to be used.

"You are early." She noted.

"I'm sorry, but some things came up that forced me to be here earlier than usual." I explained.

Once my explanation was done, she immediately smacked my arm with a ruler.

"What have I told you about contracting your words?"

I sighed. "'Contractions are only for heathens, and should never be used by a lady outside of her quarters.'"

She hit me again. "That was for knowing the rule, yet not following it."

"Please lighten up a little. My lessons have not started."

"You are to apply your lessons to daily life. If you cannot even do so before your teacher, you need to be disciplined even more heavily." She replied.

"What you say makes sense, but must you hit me for every mistake I make?" I asked her.

"You are still a child in my eyes. The only way to force children to remember rules of conduct is to engrain the rules into their very being though the system of rewards and chastisement."

"This is going to be a bad day..."