Disclaimer: I do not own any Inuyasha characters.

Bath

Kagome sighed with relief as she eased herself into the warm pool of water. Rin had explained that there were several different bath houses, but this particular one was for family. The room was sectioned off into areas for washing, and another area for a shallow in ground pool. Kagome had not been expecting a large stone in-ground pool, but rather large basins to sit in and soak.

Rin leaned back against the pool wall next to Kagome. "I told ya, it's pretty something right?"

Kagome looked around her surroundings, fascinated with the whole room. "It's pretty amazing that they have running hot water."

Rin regarded her with one eye open. "I always assumed everything was heated by magic, or perhaps fox fire. Who knows?"

"Really fox fire?" Kagome asked incredulous. All she had ever seen of fox fire had been from Shippou, and his fire was far from impressive.

"Oh yeah, they use it quite a bit throughout the castle. It burns like fire, but without the smoke. You know youkai tricks and all."

They were both silent for a moment, before Rin disrupted the peace.

"When are you going to talk to him?"

Kagome gave an exasperated groan.

"You really need to talk to him considering what you did this morning."

Kagome crossed her arms over her chest. "What?! Why does everyone act like this is my fault? He should talk to me and apologize! Why do I have to go crawling back to him?"

Rin scowled. "Kagome-sama, be reasonable. It is both of your fault, but who is more likely to try and fix the problem?"

Kagome frowned. "Me."

"Exactly, and did you not say you managed to hurt him?"

"Well...yeah I did, but he was getting out of control!"

"You could have stopped it."

Kagome rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

"How do I stop him? I don't have any idea what I'm doing wrong."

Rin put a hand on her shoulder. "You really don't know anything about dog demons do you?"

Kagome threw her hands up, splashing water. "Apparently I don't!"

"I have no experience with using either youki or reiki, but from what you described I can kind of figure out what happened. You see, Sesshoumaru-sama is more than a Lord, he is our Alpha. He is driven by his instincts to always be in control, to be our leader. During your session this morning, you tried to compete with him. You were, in his mind, trying to overpower him. He of course responded in kind."

"It certainly did not take much to threaten him."

"Next time, try this: instead of rising to his level, lower yourself, so that he has to match your energy. When all else fails, act submissive."

Kagome covered her face with her hands. "That's easy for you to say. This is all really confusing."

"It's alright, Kagome-sama. You'll get it eventually." Rin laughed.