Photograph

Two days later, she purposely wandered off from the group to lead him to her, and by then her shard hunters were already used to her appearances and disappearances, just so long as the demon youkai didn't harm her in any way and that the girl herself knew she was in no danger. Inuyasha was becoming quite callous with the idea of the miko hanging out with his brother and having them get along, but he was being ignored and eventually he had gotten used to it.

Kagome sat in the middle of an open field, taking pictures silently while watching the grass sway in the breeze. This time, she wasn't doing it for her job, rather to wait patiently and enjoy the scenery and the nice weather. The day before it had down poured, and though the ground underneath her was still slightly damp the perfect view of the green grass was almost too tempting to pass up.

As she had anticipated, Sesshoumaru had granted her his presence, walking from the girth of the forest to where she sat. He had taken out his own camera, the one she bought for him, and when he approached her he snapped a photo. As he sat he looked at it, found it mildly disconcerting how he thought she was perfect for the background of the photo.

"I've been thinking of how you were saying about equality in photographs." He said, and had her undivided attention almost instantly. Wordlessly, he snapped another photo. Viewing it, he said, "I think a photograph should also have something that tips it off, so it can stand out more. Equality is much too mundane and should be changed."

"But equality in a photo makes perfect blend. Having something that tips it off would ruin it," she argued.

"Not necessarily," he snapped another photo. He showed her. "You don't belong in this photograph, do you?" Kagome shook her head. "Yet, the appearance is still striking with you being there. You compliment the photograph. You belong in it."

Kagome was at a loss of words. There she was, sitting in the grass, hair a bit disheveled while she was in a white tank and blue skirt, and he thought she belonged there?

She had to disagree with him. "No, no." She took out the photo of him and the moon once again. "See? Remember how I told you it contrasts yet blends in? You are suited for this photo, whereas I am not in this one." She held up both cameras for comparison.

Sesshoumaru took his back, showed her her photo. "You want to know why I belong in your photograph?"

"Yes."

"The reason I belong in yours is because I am that of the moon; so I belong there." He gestured toward the photo of her. "The reason you belong in mine is because you are of the sun; you belong here."

Kagome sucked in a breath. She had to admit, he was complimenting her a lot recently, and for the life of her she didn't know what he meant behind it all.

"Thank you." She said, relieved she didn't stutter.

"Do not thank me," he returned the camera to his lap, "I only speak the truth."

Idly, to break the somewhat encouraging air about them, Kagome aimed her camera at the taiyoukai and snapped her own picture. She viewed it, found it unfair how he even looked celestial in the sunlight and in the middle of grass. He was just absolutely perfect, and she was ordinary and plain. He was the moon, she was the sun. A demon, a human miko. They were total opposites, yet, Kagome wondered why it sounded like such a good thing.

Almost knocking the wind out of her, Sesshoumaru tackled her and pinned her to the ground, the camera in his one arm held high above their heads.

"What are you doing!?" she shrieked, getting flustered by his closeness once again. Was he even aware of what he was doing to her?

"Taking a picture." He stated simply, eyes to the camera, head lowered so that his cheek was just brushing hers, his whole body covering her own small frame. When he pressed the button, and the camera flashed, he didn't move off of her. Kagome wondered what he was doing, what he was thinking, but decided against trying to analyze his brain.

He looked at her then, fiercely. "Are you afraid?"

"Of?"

"Myself."

No hesitation, "No."

He smiled, not a benign smile, not a passionate smile; a sinister one. His hand dropped the camera to the grassy floor, came to gently cup her cheek, and then wrap around her throat, pressing against the small bulge in the middle. Kagome, however, did not scream in terror, try to fight him off, or even appeared remotely terrified. Her expectant brown eyes just searched in his in a way that made it seem intrusive. The thought of her infringement into his being made him uneasy; he pressed down a bit harder.

"Why are you not screaming miko?" he hissed into her ear. "Why are you not fighting me?"

"Because you won't hurt me."

Sesshoumaru scoffed. "And what makes you think that?"

"You haven't tried to in a while, why should you now? You've no reason to. And besides," she moved her hands up to cup his cheeks, and lifted herself up off of the ground, "I belong here."

The demon lord seemed to think she was fooling him, but he found she was quite serious. And he suddenly found he was much too near her, and that her scent was now everywhere, filling his nostrils, and beckoning him further. He moved the hand from her neck, lightly trailed a path to her navel, repeated the motion a second time, and watched as she squirmed beneath him to fight her rising emotions.

He silently grabbed the camera, took another photograph of her writhing form, and set it down. To her surprise, he didn't leave. He sat up enough so that he wasn't leering over her form, and then lay down beside her, so that their shoulders were touching and his silky silver hair pooled around him. Kagome tried frantically to still her rapidly beating heart, and tried to make sense of his previous actions. Was he just getting enjoyment out of watching her discomfort? That was probably it, the sadist.

"Is that all you do?" Sesshoumaru asked beside her, voice uncharacteristically soft for a change.

Kagome figured it was selective hearing and answered. "Do what?"

"Take photographs."

"No. I also play sports, read, fight off demons, and attend school."

"What are sports? And why does a peasant girl attend school?"

Kagome sniffed. "Excuse me, I am not a peasant. And sports, you know, like kick-ball and catch."

"Those stupid games are considered sports?"

"Not where I live, no, they're merely just child games. But we have more, volleyball, soccer, basketball, football, a lot more things, too."

Sesshoumaru seemed to think that all of those names were unsuitable.

"Would you like to learn one?"

The taiyoukai sniffed. "A sport?"

"Yes."

Kagome could have sworn she saw his golden eyes roll. "No, thank you. This Sesshoumaru has better things to do."

The miko edged just a bit closer to the taiyoukai, and smiled. "Like lying here with me?"

"Foolish matters," he snorted, and made an attempt to get to his feet.

Without thinking, Kagome reached for his shoulder to pull him back down, and by the time she realized she made a mistake he was looming over her again, eyes fierce and predatory. Kagome was only startled for a second before her calm facade returned, which drove him a bit crazy. He wanted to see the fear, not the remoteness that signified that she wasn't scared of him. If he hadn't spent so much time with the miko she would be cowering underneath him, not looking up at him, giving him a look that was took as, "Is that all you can do?"

He growled, almost full throated, ripping through parts of his diaphragm, to scare her. She didn't even blink. He inched closer, so that his lips were dangerously close to her open neck, and growled again, pressing his lips against her skin to allow her to feel the vibration going through his torso. If his ears hadn't deceived him, he could have sworn she giggled.

Pulling away sharply, he assessed her, and, indeed, she had a smile on her face with a little giggle escaping them.

"What is so funny miko?" he challenged, feeling inferior by her lack of fear.

Kagome wiped a tear from her eye. "For one, it's Kagome remember." He grumbled his assent half-heartedly. "And two, it tickled."

The demon lord fought to keep his eye from twitching. Tickled? His death growl tickled her? Sesshoumaru gave a barely audible sigh through his nose. 'I just cannot win with this woman,' he thought, exasperated.

"Am I supposed to be frightened?" Kagome asked him, trying but failing to stifle her laughter.

She could have sworn she saw the mighty demon pout. "Yes." He answered cryptically.

Kagome threw her head back and laughed. "Okay, let's try again, this time, with a little more umph!"

She was expecting him to stop straddling her and to walk away, but he loomed over once again, eyes searing red, mouth open to show his fangs in a mock grin. He got closer, till their noses were touching, and then a growl emitted from his mouth that almost had Kagome on the verge of sprinting for her life. The sharp points of his armor just poked into her flesh, but it was hardly a concern. She hadn't been acting either, but she was trying to be conscious of her reactions; widened eyes, frozen stature, breath held. So far, her breathing had halted but she wasn't widening her eyes, and her body seemed to be quaking. The growl intensified, amplified because he decided to become more demonic by allowing his face to become almost completely alienated to resemble his demonic form, where his nose lengthened into half a snout, his eyes turned blood red with tiny green ovals, his teeth becoming sharpened and extended, tongue dangling from his mouth part way.

Kagome was a bit mortified to say the least; a whimper escaped her lips.

Sesshoumaru instantly reverted back to his human form, having been aware that this time, Kagome had been truly scared of him. Why didn't he feel the satisfaction of that? Why did he feel...guilty? Guilty he had frightened her? Where had that come from?

Kagome's lip was quibbling, her eyes had glazed over, and she looked about ready to bolt. Sesshoumaru, softly, took his one hand to rub her moistened cheek, and leaned down to look, what he hoped, apologetic.

"I am sorry for frightening you," he said, his breath fanning her face, momentarily making Kagome forget she had been scared.

Stubbornly, she wiped away the tears. "I wasn't frightened."

Sesshoumaru took both of her hands away from her eyes, clasped them gently in his one, and brought it down to rest on your chest. "I did not mean to really petrify you." He said honestly.

"You...were a bit creepy. I mean, not creepy, but certainly--"

He cut her off by taking his hand and putting a finger over her lips, effectively silencing her on-coming rant.

Without telling her what he was planning, he shifted back to grab something; the camera. He aimed it at her face, her tear-streaked face with big glassy eyes that were still afraid, and snapped the photo.

"Why did you take my picture?" she asked when he started to look at it.

He didn't look up from the photo when he said this, "So I can remind myself never to put that expression on your face again."

She gasped, surprised. 'What is up with him lately? He seems so...different. Not the heartless person I knew...'

Without another word, the mighty lord stood, and began to saunter off without a word of goodbye. This time, Kagome did not hamper his intentions, but continued to lay there, staring up at the pale blue sky, becoming lost in her thoughts. She remembered where he had been previously sitting, and she blushed furiously, and thoughts of how close he was, and how she skipped every opportunity that came her way, and smacked her in the face.

"Wait a minute," she said aloud, pitching forward into a sitting position, "I want to kiss Sesshoumaru?"