Photograph

The next morning, Kagome got herself up extra early, already assembling her miko clothes Sesshoumaru had suggested she wear. She had normal red hakama pants, a white hoari, a pair of geta shoes with white socks, a tatami mat for her to ly on, and an assortment of charms she borrowed from the older miko, and even took up the liberty of styling her hair up in a loose ponytail for a change. She also brought along her tripod from home, in case he got tired of holding the camera for her. She figured the demon lord would be pleased with her efforts, but she seemed to think that maybe he'd feel more wary around her now that she was dressed in full miko uniform.

'That's just stupid,' she berated herself, gathering up her belongings and making sure her friends were still sound asleep in the hut. 'I can't believe I even thought of something so ridiculous!'

When he said he'd meet her this morning, she figured he must have been referring to the God Tree again, so, hitching up her hakama pants and trying to get used to the unusual shoes, she started the journey to the well, making sure to keep a firm guard. The sun was just beginning to crest over the east hills, while over by the village it was still shaded with darkness. It wouldn't be completely light out until mid-noon, and by then, she would have finished up the photo shoot with the taiyoukai.

The woods were eerily quiet, giving Kagome the sense that something was amiss, but knowing she didn't feel a single entity nearby, discarded the frivolous thought and continued on. The geta shoes were becoming quite a burden for the young miko, for places she never thought could have a blister started to burn and itch. The socks weren't helping her, either, only furthering the process by making the journey uncomfortable. 'Should have brought my normal shoes,' Kagome thought angrily, knowing she was close to her destination anyways.

Five minutes later, she appeared in the thin woods that lead right to the well, and, just as promised, the demon lord was meditating not too far away from it, looking tranquil and undaunted. She knew for sure he knew she was there, but, yet, he didn't stir. Once in a blue moon you could see the normally enigmatic demon lord of the western lands relaxing, so, creeping by, Kagome soaked in as much as she could before being verbally ratted out.

She managed to make it out of the woods when Sesshoumaru decided to rouse from his meditative state. He stood and greeted her, appraising her with his eyes, which, for some reason to her, seemed more intimate than him actually touching her.

"You look like a real miko now," was what his comment was.

Kagome just blinked. "And I didn't before?"

"Not with your foreign clothing and ridiculously short skirts."

"Point," she sulked. She motioned to the clearing. "So, do you want to start now?"

The taiyoukai sniffed. "You want to take pictures here?"

"Yeah, where else?"

Sesshoumaru gave her a peculiar look; started to stalk off.

"Hey!" Kagome cried, scrambling to catch up with him. "Where are you going!?"

He didn't even spare her a glance, or offer to carry her items. "Do a place much more suited than here."

"But--"

"Your boss probably wants something that is new. He has already seen this area, I have one that is a lot better for what we are going to do."

"Oh" was what came out of Kagome's mouth as she followed behind him, curious as to where he was leading her. "So, where are we going?"

"You shall see."

Frowning, the taiyoukai continued to lead her through the thick forest, keeping apart from her about five feet, which she found strange. Normally, the demon lord walked beside her, whether he was guiding her to a destination or not. Him walking in front of her gave her the impression that he wanted to prove his superiority by taking the lead, which she found quite disturbing.

'I wonder what his problem is.' She thought as they passed yet another large clearing. 'And where could he possibly be taking me? I've seen dozens of clearings already, but he hasn't even glanced at one!'

"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome called, hoping he wouldn't ignore her.

"Yes?

Pleased, she tried to catch her breath. "Where are we going?"

"Do you have that object that doesn't require your hold on the camera?"

Miffed he blatantly ignored her question, Kagome said, "You mean the tripod? Sure I have it. Why?"

"You shall see soon enough."

Kagome exhaled, started walking a lot faster so she was directly behind him, his silver hair tickling her face. "Where are we going?" she repeated for the third time.

"Why do you keep insisting that you know?" he asked.

Kagome frowned, kept walking, eyes down. "Stop answering a question with a question."

She could've sworn he smirked. "Would you rather a riddle?"

The miko's cheeks puffed in indignation. "No! Just answer me!"

"The people who normally wait have a tendency to have good things bestowed upon them."

"Yeah, well, those who wait normally have a tendency to not get what they want because someone took it before them."

Sesshoumaru made a small noise in front of her she looks as a laugh. To cover it up, he mentioned something about the location not being too far away, and she simply rolled her eyes and murmured, "Spectacular."

Without her knowing, the taiyoukai smirked and continued on, until, five minutes later, he paused and she bumped into his back. Stumbling, Kagome untangled herself from the silver mess and looked up, questioning silently why he had stopped.

"We are here," was what he said. Kagome looked about, but found nothing intriguing about being surrounded by millions of trees on a very narrow dirt pathway that looked like it was close to being abandoned.

"Where? I don't see anything."

Sesshoumaru took a hold of her arm gently, and started to tug her along, while Kagome fought to keep the rising butterflies at bay. His hand was surprisingly warm, much to her previous thoughts, where she thought he must be as cold as his personality. But she found her hand scorching from the contact, whether it was from his body heat, or something else all together. They continued further, Sesshoumaru thwacking away branches to clear a path through, making sure he kept a tight grip on the young girl's wrist.

When Kagome emerged from the bushes and stood in the clearing, her mouth was embarrassingly low and her eyes wide. She hadn't expected anything like this! The entire space itself was about as big as three of her houses put together end to end, and, even more exciting, there was a small drop off that lead to a crystal clear pond that flowed in a river, above it, keeping it moist, was a mini waterfall that sparkled in the dim sunlight.

"Wow," she awed, setting down her supplies to venture into the clearing. "This is amazing."

"I thought it would accommodate our needs."

Kagome turned toward him, surprised to see that he hadn't moved from his spot near the woods, and cocked her head. "Why do we need so much space for?"

Something passed between his eyes, that look of mischief that she doubted he was even aware of, and it was then that Kagome knew that the true surprise wasn't the massive clearing at all. He had something else planned, as to what, she was already trying to figure it out.

"Stand where I am, and do not move." He commanded as he started toward her in long strides, encouraging her forward with a light tap on the back as he passed her. Kagome did as bade and clambered to the other side, keeping sure that her supplies were in eyesight, and that they wouldn't be harmed by whatever he had planned. Remembering the tripod, she unfolded it and set the camera on top, facing the clearing, believing he first wanted a picture of himself. She aimed it directly at his form, waited until he stopped directly in the middle to take the picture, but was stopped when his hand came up.

"Not yet, wait."

Curious, Kagome stood upright and watched the taiyoukai, saw the slight indication that he was breathing slow and heavily, and that his eyes were closed. Was he meditating? Mentally preparing for something? What? She was growing quite impatient, when a sudden powerful blast of youki almost had her falling to her feet. He didn't apologize, and the onslaught of energy never ceased, if only seemed to intensify with every second. Kagome fought with the invisible energy, and willed her own miko powers to form a brief shield around herself, that barely kept out the leaking energy but prevented the force of it from slamming into her face and burning her flesh.

Sesshoumaru's youki was metastasizing, so much that she could visibly see it pooled around his feet and ensconcing his form. From the middle of the clearing she saw his face twitch, and then lengthen, into the familiar face of the dog demon he was from a few days ago. His snout continued to grow, silver was his face now, his eyes ruby red, while his form seemed to shudder from the sheer force of his own energy, until the fog of energy erupted into a huge explosion that covered his entire form. Kagome gripped onto the grass and held her shield, though it was started to crack, and waited until the clouds disappeared and he was done his transformation.

As the clouds started to roll away, and the youki dispersed, there stood the mighty taiyoukai of the west, in his full demon form, staring straight at her. Kagome only recalled seeing his true form once, back at the tomb of Inu Taishou, and how impressive he had been. He wasn't any less impressive as of now, just a leg short, and breathing with death and destruction. Not only was she starting to quake at the size, but the way his eyes were fixated on her as if she was a piece of meat unsettled her greatly.

The mighty dog jerked his head, signaling he wanted her closer, and looked at the camera. She took a moment to process it, and figured he wanted her to take a picture of the both of them. Getting to her feet, letting her barrier fade, she adjusted the lens to point away from his body enough that it captured the entirety of him, and set the timer for thirty seconds. Hesitantly, she started to walk forward, remembered she had only a sparse amount of time, and picked up the pace, to stand underneath his jaw and by his paw. Temptation compelled her to run her fingers through the soft looking silver coat, but, remembering the flash of the camera was going to go off soon, fixed her face toward it and gave a toothless smile.

When the camera was finished taking the picture, she started to walk toward it, but a rumble stopped her cold. She turned, smiled nervously. "What?" she asked. Knowing he couldn't speak, she waited for him to commence the charades, but was surprised when he beckoned her over again. Cautiously, she backed up toward him, and saw by the way his eyes were looking at her that he wanted her to place her hand on his paw. She wasn't sure as to how she might have known this, but when she started to trail her fingers through the soft silver tresses, she was shocked to hear his voice.

"Are you afraid?"

Sharply, she looked up, but saw she couldn't quite discern his expression. She shook her head. "No. How can I hear you though?"

"As long as you keep your hand on me, I can communicate with you. My father did it with many of his allies and battle comarades."

"Makes sense," she murmured. "What do you want me to do? Take more pictures?"

He didn't bother to speak, just nodded his massive head. "All right then," Kagome said, and started toward the camera. When she got to it, secretly, she peeked at the last picture, found it quite remarkable, and set the self timer to go off in a minute. Jogging back, she placed her hand on his leg. "What do you suggest we do?"

Sesshoumaru ran his tongue over his teeth, and settled down on the ground. "Climb on top." Was his command. Kagome didn't hesitate this time, and crawled up his leg and onto the curve in his shoulder, gripping his fur for support. "I'm going to get closer. Hang on." He suddenly sprang to his feet, and trotted toward the camera, careful not to let her slip off of him. He perched right in front of the camera, slightly tipped his head down, and told her to pose. Feeling creative, Kagome unlatched one of her hands from his fur and pumped it in the air, and smiled a very genuine one.

The thought that went through her mind the moment the picture was taken was, 'How could I not smile when I'm on top of a giant dog!?'

They spent the entire morning and afternoon taking shots, and, half way through the process, Sesshoumaru had transformed back into his human state to take solitary pictures of her. Kagome was rather shocked to see that each photo he took of her seemed to be on par with a professional. 'Must have gotten it from me,' she joked internally, and saw that he was beginning to pack up as the sun started to reach its zenith above them.

"Done for the day?" she asked from across the clearing, clambering to her feet.

"For today, yes." She could clearly see the strain in his movements from transforming, whether he tried to hide it or not. Fatigue must be a real bummer after being in such a huge body for so long, not to mention how much energy he used just to get there. She remembered he never resorted to that state unless it was absolutely needed, and, just by showing her again for such a trivial matter, meant that he trusted her and was comfortable.

'At least, that's what I'm assuming.' She internally corrected.

She helped him pack up, and both began to return toward her village. She was even surprised to see that he actually carried something. Just coming out of the woods to overlook the village, Kagome turned to him, and stopped him in his tracks. "Thank you for this. I couldn't have had better pictures if it was anyone else." She added a genuine smile, and laughed a bit, maybe at the fact that he looked in pain by her gratefulness or the sight of the village of humans. Either way, it emitted a chuckle from her.

"You are welcome." Came his stiff reply. Hurriedly, he stuffed the items into her hands and turned quickly. Yet, he didn't walk away. Just stood there, back to her, while she tried to decipher what he was up to.

"Is everything all right?" she asked, concern evident. Kagome dropped her belongings and placed a hand on his shoulder. Alarmingly quick, he spun around, captured her hands in his one, and leaned forward, so that their noses were touching, and his lips were dangerously close to hers.

"I can think of a better way to thank me." He said, heat building in her core at the possibilities.

Taking the hint, Kagome went to lean in to thank him, but a very loud, and very pissed off, voice boomed from the hill.

"Kagome! What the hell are you doing!?"

'Inuyasha, I will kill you. I swear it.' Kagome promised, turning around, to shout. "Osuwari!"

The subjugation beads illuminated, and the hanyou was pulled down into the ground. "Sorry about that--" Kagome turned around, found the demon lord gone. 'He...he left...that little coward ran away!' Bristling with righteous anger, Kagome pivoted on her heel back to the grumbling hybrid, and said "Osuwari!" so many times that she lost count. Until she ran out of breath, she felt so angry that she stalked off, supplies forgotten, and stormed to the village and into Kaede's hut, where she promptly ignored the ominous stares from her companions.

"Kagome-san," Miroku began softly, knowing the young miko was in a fragile state. He could hear her shouting clear across the field, and knew that Inuyasha would be picking rocks out of his mouth for years, "would you like to talk about it?"

Kagome gave him a chilling glare he backed away from. "Like how much of a jerk Inuyasha is? How he has horrible timing? And how he can't just get his nose out of my business and just get with Kikyou already!?" The girl took a measured breath. "No, I don't want to talk about it."

Shippou coward behind Sango, who seemed even fazed by the girls outburst, while Miroku shrugged off his curiosity and allowed his friend some space. Kagome was honestly sorry she was dumping this on her friends when they did nothing to impair her relationship with Sesshoumaru, but she couldn't help it -- it was better than going back to sit Inuyasha some more.

No, she'd take care of that later.