Govern Our Conditions

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

A/n: I'll just say this chapter is an interesting one. It's kind of important, yet not much happens action wise. Their might be like subtext or something. But it is mainly so that there can be a turn in where the story will go next. Just read it and let me know.

Chapter 4: Weather Most Things and Thrive in Thin Soil…Silly Presents Every so Often

Sesshomaru took in a deep breath before he opened his eyes. He only ever felt this cold in his eyes. That transfers to what usually is his glare; however, today, he is just cold. Or…there is something in the distance that he is attempting to see. It was red, the first thing he saw. Red that he knew well and saw often. Inuyasha's red. It was his bright red fire-rat haori. Then there was more red. Kikyo's red, which was also Inuyasha's red. But the green. The green was what he finally saw. Green against white. Why the hell would such a thing almost make what could possibly change his frown to a smirk into an actual smile? The cold must have spread to his entire face.

How had her outfit ripped that short? It left her legs bared to the wind, which was cold. Inuyasha had offered to carry her, but she had declined. Not just being short-outfitted, but being outside, she wanted to feel just a bit freer. Having such an outing as she just did, brought her back to a sense of knowing herself. She had actually accomplished something after doing nothing for so long! And thus, screw Sesshomaru! She had not needed him and his permission and his status and his stupid (binding) partnership.

The young, human woman sensed his youki as her and her companions came into sight. If his energy was warmth that lulled you into submission, she was the shot of electricity that jolted you awake and bolted every nerve in your body into attention and awareness. This moment of coming in from the snow suddenly seemed paused, or extended, slow motion. It was anticipation in its truest form. Then she laughed and a whole new moment began. Kinetic energy.

Following Kagome's laugh, the half inu-youkai beside her turned his head away from the conversation. His folded arms relayed that he had already been struggling with remaining a willing partner to the discussion before his friend had smiled so largely. It probably did not help Inuyasha's mood that Kikyo too was chuckling into her hand on the other side of Kagome. So the females were in merry spirits, but the lone male was building up toward a fiery fit for his spirit. The years previous stood testament to how these three could return together in the same set they went out as.

With Inuyasha refusing to look at his companions, and Kikyo still giggling with her eyes closed, the youngest with her wavy black hair was the one to glance forward to make sure that they were not headed off the path leading inside the compound. Instead of a closed gate, Kagome saw the dynamic youkai that appeared to be waiting for her. And when she turned, he saw it, her smile.

Kagome stopped laughing when she spotted Sesshomaru, but her smile still remained. She might even tell him what happened today.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" called out the human to the demon. "We've returned from our trip! Were you waiting for us?" With her boisterous attitude, Kagome was as likely to get a straight answer out f him as Inuyasha was to get an inelegant answer from Kikyo (which only happened when the older sister was righteously furious). However, due to their outing, Kagome's mood would not be dampened. She continued to grin at him through the snow.

He did not reply, but the trio was close enough now that all four of them were able to observe their warm breaths mingle as puffs in the air. Kagome's seemed the biggest. This is where the awkwardness seemingly began. Kagome stood expectant in appearance; she wanted an answer or acknowledgement from Sesshomaru but she was not going to get anything. Kikyo stared ahead to see the path she had yet to walk. Inuyasha seemed to have found his fight with his brother now before him. Sesshomaru never gave anything away; was he want for nothing? There was not an inch budged and the silence stretched itself regardless.

For someone who seemed to like silence so much, Kikyo spoke first.

"If we stand out here any longer, Kagome will freeze. Inuyasha, you will not win this fight, as you have not won any of the others. And I do believe we walked this way to go inside anyway."

"What are you saying?!" exclaimed Inuyasha.

"Well, I'm not that cold, but it would be nice to put some of this stuff away."

"I told you I could still carry my load."

"I'm not carrying it. I'm saving it."

"Inuyasha broke it."

"I did not break your bow, Kikyo! The youkai bastard did that. And I said I'd carry it. Plus I'd carry Kagome so she wouldn't get cold. Stop complainin'! Dad's men can fix the bow and Kagome can get new clothes."

The wavy-haired, cheerful one glimpsed the minuscule tilt to her partner in work's silver eyebrow.

"We could explain it, if you're interested, Sesshomaru."

"This Sesshomaru as no interest in the way in such that your trip outside the gates for flowers turned your weapons even more useless then they already were, and turned your appearance…disordered."

She had humor about it at this point; it was almost all she had left with Sesshomaru. "If you had been listening when I told you what you we were originally out to do, you would have heard 'herbs' instead of flowers. Kikyo needs them for her priestess training. And this is the only time of year, these specific ones bloom."

"Your sister finishes her training. Why not you?"

"I'm not a priestess. But I am becoming a more capable Fuku Ryoji, taking on more tasks, just you watch. First things first, I'll make you listen.

"Our outing for 'herbs' turned into a youkai battle when Kikyo sensed a snake youkai in the fields. She had her bow, and struck the snake, so Inuyasha joined in with his sword. There was insanity all around. Somehow, my outfit ripped. The snake went after Kikyo, who dropped her bow. Then Inuyasha went for her and her bow. So the snake went for him. He dropped the bow, which the snake trampled over, (how it broke, by the way) but Inuyasha got Kikyo away from the snake. Meanwhile, I was watching this and realized that the snake had a weak spot under its scales. So I grabbed an arrow, and when it went for Inuyasha again, I stabbed it. Right in the gut! I got it, Sesshomaru! My aim was dead on! But Inuyasha's the one who killed it. I guess he had to do it. But did he have to chop off the head that way?

"Sesshomaru! Are you listening to me?"

The dog demon had paused in stillness when she mentioned her part, but as soon as she began on Inuyasha again he up and walked away. But he may have been smiling.

Kagome followed, leaving her rowdy best friend and solemn sister out in the cold.

The blue-eyed young woman stepped into her sister's room with quiet feet to see the older woman lying back, eyes closed. Kagome stood just in the doorway for a bit, waffling over how to approach her older sister. If she would let herself, Kagome could stand there for a full ten minutes debating her next move. Or she could be a bit impulsive. The young woman liked to be on either side of the extreme. But she crept closer and could now hear her sister's heavy breathing.

"What's wrong, Kikyo?" she finally spoke up. "Are you feeling all right?"

Kikyo sighed at her younger sister, if the girl's heart were any bigger, Kikyo might disown her own sister for jealousy.

"Is something wrong? Are you sick? You haven't come out of your room all day, I've noticed. Do you need me to do anything?"

"You certainly like to talk a lot, Kagome."

Kagome shifts and kneels down next to her black-haired beauty of a sister, who suddenly grimaces. It had only been about a week since she had walked away from her sister and the snow.

"Yeah, I do. And you know the only way to get me to stop is if you talk. Please tell me what's going on Kikyo."

Then Kagome sits down on the floor next to Kikyo, ready to listen.

"There is a youkai in this compound, who's youki is conflicting with my spiritual energy. It's causing me to feel a bit run down. And every time I try to stretch my senses to find the source, it is like their energy suddenly splits in two, sometimes even in three, or just drops to the level of a common imp. It is extremely frustrating."

"Is it evil youki? Is that why it is causing you such pain?"

"Because I cannot determine the source, I cannot ascertain its mentality. I will say, whoever they are, they are crafty."

"When did all of this start? And why didn't you tell me until now?"

"It was fairly soon after we arrived here to become Fuku Ryoji. However, the problem was never this bad. Because I used a fair amount of my power so recently, I am weaker than normal. This is only making me that much weaker."

Kagome, still not quite done with her sister, worried more.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No, Kagome. We both know my control and my spiritual powers are better honed than yours. I will have this handled in a day or two."

"What does Inuyasha say?"

Here, Kikyo is even more reluctant to speak as much as her free-talking and emoting younger sibling.

"I…have not told him. It is my burden."

"Well, now it's mine. And I think I might talk to Sesshomaru about this. He should know if there may be an evil youkai within his father and lord's grounds, hoping to cause trouble. Communicating is what a capable Fuku Ryoji should be able to do with her partner. I think I can almost make him listen, listen to me now."

"I see. The only one causing trouble, here, is you, Kagome." Kikyo maintains a straight face for a few seconds, until her smirk catches Kagome off-guard.

Not that he would not have dodged it had it actually been heading towards him, but the flying piece of stone had almost hit him.

After the stone, came the girl who frequently donned the color green.

"Sorry, Sesshomaru-sama. I didn't hit you, did I?"

"This Sesshomaru has reflexes fast enough to avoid such things."

She chuckled in response to that. "I suppose you are right."

"Fuku Ryoji, what are you doing?"

Watching him, he gestured with his eyes towards the room she had just exited.

"Just…looking for supplies."

Her short and seemingly hesitant response made sense. The room was a supply closet. And various supply-type objects were spilling out of it, as if they had just been vigorously looked through.

"What for?" he questioned further.

"Boredom, I suppose."

Not wanting said boredom, not that this particular youkai could easily get bored, to rub off on him, Sesshomaru began to step away.

However, Kagome was now apt at following him. She quickly shoved a few of the supplies from the bottom of the pile into a bag just outside the door. Then she jogged to catch up to Sesshomaru.

When she did, it nearly appeared as if he drew his steps back just enough so that she was walking one step behind him, practically next to him. At least, she did not feel like she was walking fast enough to be this close to him.

Kagome shouldered her bag.

"You asked me the other day why I don't train to be a priestess, as Kikyo does." She decided to accept his silence as a chance to talk. "It's been that way since we were children. Our grandfather saw a lot of potential in her when she was young, and to him, that meant she had to be trained. I never really exhibited any kind of spiritual energy potential. I know enough to get by, but I normally look to Kikyo for those kinds of things. She also has skills in other things. She was trained to play an instrument, fight, and she can paint too. Anyway, so while she was training, I had extra time on my hands. I went through the basic motions; I can cook, clean, and patch up wounds. But then I began to get distracted and curious. I found some feather, one day, and a couple of Kikyo's used arrows. I spent the next week or so creating special fletching for her. She said they gave her the straightest shot in our village. I made more stuff after that. When Inuyasha came around, I was able to carve him a unique wooden scabbard for his training sword. I like to believe that my skill is to take the little things, work with them, and use them make great things better."

Sesshomaru, who has been striding in silence for their whole journey, interrupts out of the blue.

"So that is why you were looking for supplies."

"Of course. I saved some scales from the snake we defeated; I want to use them to make Kikyo an arm guard. I just need a couple more items."

"If you do not find what you are looking for, you should ask the servants to find them for you."

The human abruptly stopped walking. He was, he was handing her an endorsement. He knew she wanted to search on her own, not demand things be given to her.

"Then we shall see if you are as good as you say you are." Sesshomaru kept walking, eventually disappearing around a corner.

Once Kagome was done being in shock, watching him walk away, she was able to blink and look around her. She was back at the door to her room. Which was directly across from the still open door of the supply closet she had raided earlier. That meant that they had circled back without her noticing. That meant that Sesshomaru had meant to circle back. He had walked her back to her room, taking a route which could not have benefited him in any way, while she had talked. Did he want her company?

"Hmm, you may have just unknowingly challenged me, Sesshomaru-sama. To make even you, better."

Kagome went into her room with thoughts tap, tap, tapping.

"Kikyo, are you in?" younger and louder, Kagome taps the doorframe, but enters without waiting for a reply. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Yes, Kagome. Come in, I am available. Would you like to take a seat?" Though she was offering, her sibling had already made herself comfortable.

Oh. Kagome suddenly felt sheepish. Then she took one blinking look at Kikyo; the older woman was grinning.

"So you are doing better!"

Kikyo chuckled. "Yes, Kagome, I am. Would you like to talk bout it?" She was teasing her sister now.

"Kikyo!" That only made her laugh harder. Kagome crossed her arms in reply. "I'm just glad you're back to yourself. I thought I might have to wait another week."

The cold air seemed to bypass this room in particular. Now that it was warmed by sisterly affection. The two girls passed the next few hours chatting amicably. Kagome dropping in hints here and there about the tool she was currently involved in making for Kikyo. Kikyo discussed the fact that whoever had been causing her ill, must have either left or caught on to what was happening, because she no longer felt their youki as singled out as she did before. They were enjoying this time to catch up on each others' lives; Kagome and Kikyo may live in the same building, but this building belonged to the Lord of the West and his family. They lived in a large building with many twisting paths between them. Also, their separate duties and equally as opposite partners tended to keep them apart day to day. The Higurashi sisters smiled at their growth.

Their moment was only interrupted with an arrival.

"Kikyo! Is Kagome in here?! Shippo's looking for her!"

"Kagome! She's definitely in here. I can sense her. Geez, Inuyasha, could you be anymore useless! Kagome, Kagome!"

Inuyasha, older than Shippo (however, no more mature) entered the room with the fox kit on his shoulder.

"Alright, she's here. Go run to her now."

Shippo did just that, but he stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha as he did so.

"Shippo, were you bothering Inuyasha?" Kagome questioned, now that her young ward was comfortably sitting in her lap.

"No more than usual," he admitted.

"Oh, well, than that's fine."

Inuyasha dropped to Kikyo's side. "You always choose his side."

"No more than usual," said Kagome.

"Che."

"You are the one who chooses to fight with a child, Inuyasha," comments Kikyo.

"Che." The inu-youkai was used to being ganged up upon, but he had lower limits than most.

The girl with the wavy hair sensed they were reaching those limits.

"Shippo, why were you and Inuyasha looking for me?" She looked down at the boy in her lap.

Shippo stared bright-eyed back at her. "Inuyasha and I wanted to tell you about the fortune that some lady gave us at the festival last month."

"And you're only bringing this up now…?

"He forgot about it," Inuyasha contributed.

"So did you!" Shippo shot back.

"Shippo, can you just tell me what's going on? Is the fortune about me?"

"Not really. Actually, it wasn't really a fortune as much as it was a story she told us. A story about an old well that grants wishes.

"It goes, that once there was this little girl who fell into a well. When she fell in, there was nothing but darkness around her. Until she opened her eyes, which were pink. You see, this girl was actually not a girl at all. She was a spirit from the future. Well, when she opened her eyes, everything turned white. She fell and she fell and she fell. All the way down to the bottom of the well, where her spirit was absorbed by the dirt. Afterwards, the well stayed white. A few days later, An old lady with black hair came to the well. She saw that it had turned white since the last time she had visited it, and knew it had some sort of power now. So she made a wish. The old lady with the black hair wished she could have enough power to that of a youkai, so that she could protect her lands. The wish came true, and the old lady with the black hair became the strongest witch in the world.

"Isn't that an interesting story, Kagome? Do you think there is actually a well out there that grants wishes?"

Kagome had remained silent while Shippo told his story, she always liked listening to him. However, this story set her on edge. There was something off about the way it had unfolded; she felt as if the story should have been about the girl and not the well. But Kagome did not wish to share her unease with the young fox youkai.

"That is pretty interesting, Shippo. But you know what they say, you should be careful what you wish for."

"There's no such thing as a magic well," Inuyasha scoffed. "Sounds like a feudal fairy tale."

Kagome's body was stuck in a limbo of both sinking and floating. She kicked out her legs and arms for some sort of purchase, yet that only made the limbo stronger. If she was more lucid, she might say she was under water. The sole thought she could feel was the need to take a breath.

Kagome took a deep breath, of something that was not air. It was slimy and cold. It had been snowing earlier today.

Without warning, she started to choke. After all, she had not brought air into her lungs with that big breath. The cold sliminess turned into a knife that was traveling upwards for her eyes. And now her lungs were filled with fire made of smoke, hot and curling.

Her body needed to wake up before she died.

Someone needed to wake her up before she died.

She had to wake everything about herself up before something killed her.

Soft, pink light shot out of her eyes, and Kagome woke up.

As the nightmare began to fade, the woman who was breathing heavily, was able to see the warm, pink energy that had chased the darkness away. She watched it float toward her door and then drop and fade just as it reached the threshold.

She looked up and Sesshomaru was standing in her doorway.

"D-did I do that?" Kagome whispered in awe.

The competent inu-youkai stepped into her room, shocking her further when he kneeled down near her just sitting up form to make perfect eye contact.

"Yes. It is your power."

"But I don't have a lot of power," she tried to protest, still whispering.

"There have been glimpses of it lately. This Sesshomaru believes you cannot control it. And that it is getting stronger."

"Glimpses?"

"There have been other instances where certain circumstances have brought your power out to manifest itself. Your nightmare just now has brought about the strongest manifestation so far."

"Did you, did you sense me having a nightmare?"

"Yes. This one has been watching you for all of your power leaks."

"You have?" she whispers more to herself that in a direct question to him. This is quickly becoming too much for her to handle in the middle of the night. "W-why?"

"I have not seen power like this before."

Kagome has no reply to the answer she has not been given. Only more questions. Yet Sesshomaru does not linger. He leaves just as quickly as he appeared. The night goes on. Even though Kagome's heartbeat has still not returned to normal.

A couple of days after her nightmare, the blue-eyed young woman feels as if her brain is about to explode. She was able to drag a further truth from Shippo, in that he had seen her power before but decided not to tell her about it when she seemingly forgot the incident. Kikyo believed she had the power inside of her, but not that it was growing, as Sesshomaru had said. Her older sister felt it was simply latent power coming out in random bursts because of Kagome's lack of training and being around so many demons day in and day out. That was their discussion yesterday. Only now did Kagome realize that she had never told Sesshomaru about her first discussion with Kikyo, about the youkai with strange youki.

She may have slightly been avoiding it for the last few days, but this human knew she probably had to go seek out a certain full-bred dog demon for answers.

Kagome found Sesshomaru in a clearing just outside the compound gates.

"Fuku Ryoji, this Sesshomaru does not wish to be bothered in this moment."

"Sesshomaru-sama, please you need to help me understand. Why did you come to my room the other night? What's happening to me? Can you help me?"

So fast, her eyes were not able to track him, Sesshomaru moved to stand before her, imposing.

"Did you not hear me? This one is busy."

"Doing what? You're standing alone, in the middle of a field, Sesshomaru-sama."

"It is possible that your humanity prevents you from understanding."

"Not this again! Well then, make me understand. Because I know I can."

"This one does not know that."

"You do not know that you don't know that!" Kagome thought all she had was humor left with Sesshomaru, but her anger was quick to make another appearance. "Ugh! Someday, there will be a day when we actually talk. And you will actually listen. I want to make this better. I want to make us better! Don't you see? Everything has already changed and it's going to keep changing. Ignoring it is not going to make it go away, Sesshomaru. I'm not going away." She huffed.

"Except for right now. Because…you're such a…jerk!"

Kagome stormed off, out of the clearing and back into the Lord of the West's compound. Intent on getting some fresh partner-free air and a fresh perspective.

This last week of the month has been warmer than in previous years. It has also been the longest time Kagome has gone without running into Sesshomaru. Or getting a full night's sleep.

Tonight seems to be no different. Shippo's asleep, on the pillow beside her. And he is likely to stay that way no matter how much noise the young girl makes. He had eaten a lot of sweetened foods before he fell into slumber; the sugar crash would only help him catch deeper z's. Kagome could appreciate it because it meant he was not a witness to her restlessness.

Since she is not sleeping, she gets out of her bed.

Kagome paces around her room a bit.

She almost makes it out to her porch, but turns back around at the last minute.

Her thoughts are far from the room, yet her feet are keeping her inside it.

Just when she has made the decision to get back into her bed, Kagome hears a noise outside her chambers.

Moments go by before she gathers the nerve to investigate. It is not that she is rather frightened of the noise, but once she leaves the room, she will never get her chance to fall asleep tonight. Kagome quietly slides her bedroom door open and goes out into the hallway.

She runs into Sesshomaru there. She blinks at him. And at his hand raised to knock on the very door she just opened. Who was going to speak first?

"Did you need something, Sesshomaru-sama?" she was.

"Were you sleeping?" he asks as a reply. Which, she knows he knows she was not. So his question is actual courtesy.

"No, you did not disturb me," she politely responds.

"Then this Sesshomaru would like you to follow him."

Kagome's curiosity gets the better of her. Her lord and partner is once again visiting her in the middle of the night. At it appears as if this time he has something to show her.

"Alright."

The inu-youkai turns to walk down the hallway. Kagome shuts her bedroom door and follows. The stroll in silence, neither having reason to talk. Sesshomaru had gotten her to follow and Kagome only needed to follow.

It was a handful of turns and a few hallways later when Sesshomaru finally stopped.

The woman with black hair glimpsed the door he had led them to. This was not a room she had been to before. She did not even think she had known of it before this. Though it could be possible she had passed by it, yet not remembered. The house was unfairly large after all.

"Sesshomaru-sama?" she questioned.

In his clawed hand he held two keys. He used one to unlock the door and open it before her. Then Sesshomaru gestured her inside. Kagome stepped in, but he did not follow.

Kagome would have remembered being in this room before. And not just because it was the biggest room she had seen so far. Bigger even than the main hall and the visitor's hall. No, she would have remembered it because of what was in the room. Because of what was neatly sorted, stacked, and strewn about the room.

There were piles on folded cloth taking up one wall. Each fabric more beautiful than the last. One corner contained various different forms of wood in crates for her to go through. Some were rough and some were fine. But there were also stones and gems in boxes and on shelves. They shined in invitation. Rolled up and flattened pieces of papers, with waiting books just beside them. Then other odds and ends for other tricks and tasks. The room was filled with supplies, expensive supplies. Thoughtout supplies.

"You talked of using little things to make big things better. Would this be enough to do such things?" came the voice from just behind her.

Kagome rapidly turned to face him.

"Are you giving me this?"

"This Sesshomaru does listen. And he is not a 'jerk'. He is right."

Suddenly, Kagome's face lit up brighter than whatever pink light she had exhibited before could even hope to become. And she smiled at Sesshomaru.

"I don't even care right now. This is a wonderful gift. Thank you, Sesshomaru."

"It will do then."

"It will more than do. I don't understand you." Shaking her head, the young woman turned back to her gift, taking it all in once more. But then her brain caught up to her eyes, and to her words.

"You, you want to understand me."

A/n: The title for this chapter comes from the quote: A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely. -Pam Brown. So this wraps up the first part of this story. Hopefully somethings garnered your interest. I can say that these few things does mean that there will be some action once again in the next part of the story. The characters are just starting to figure out things, which means I am just starting to figure them out. But as always, if you have questions or concerns, please let me know. (I will work on it, have already started to, hopefully.)

Be seeing you on the other side of the rain (or snow as is being predicted)

-ROMS