Disclaimer: Inuyasha is sooo not mine.

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I'm taking so long to update! This chapter isn't really that important, except that it explains about Sesshoumaru's mysterious visits in Kagome's room. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 8

The moment she walked in the front door, Kagome was greeted by Sesshoumaru and rather effusively by Souta. Sesshoumaru waited patiently while Souta hugged his sister. He noted that Souta did not hug her very tightly at all and instantly knew why. Kagome and Souta hadn't seen each other in a few months and despite Sesshoumaru's best efforts to make sure she ate properly, Kagome had managed to drop her weight a few more pounds from her already waifish figure. Then too, she'd been ill and had not be able to keep her food down.

'She must still be ill,' he thought uneasily, for her face was white and strained. He did not get a close look at her eyes, for she kept them averted. Odd, for Hiro would have reported this obvious change in her health to him the second it was noted.

Sesshoumaru frowned a little when it was his turn to embrace her. Kagome was not feverish, thank kami, and in fact, she did not feel very warm at all. Her skin was cool to the touch and he knew something was definitely wrong with her. Perhaps she wasn't ill, after all, for it seemed as if she was terrified of something. Or someone.

That assumption was proven correct during dinner as Sesshoumaru watched her eat, to make sure she ate enough. As usual, Sesshoumaru sat at the head of the table. To his left sat Inuyasha and on his right was Souta while Kagome sat opposite of Sesshoumaru on the other end of the table. During the meal, Sesshoumaru was able to observe Kagome continuously avoiding Inuyasha's eyes, or rather, trying to for the most part. The silly boy had scooted over in her direction in order to be closer to her, his eyes rarely leaving her face.

But Kagome being Kagome, she was polite in replying to Inuyasha's queries, but there was a definite stiffness in her manner that hadn't been present when she answered Sesshoumaru's or Souta's questions. Once, when Inuyasha reached out to touch her hand, Sesshoumaru saw Kagome flinch almost imperceptibly but she did not move away. When his eyes met hers over the table, she quickly dropped her gaze before his. Odd. Kagome never turned her eyes away from his like that.

But the real problem for Sessoumaru was that Kagome did not eat much of her meal, which was something that really upset him. Normally, Kagome would make certain to eat a sizeable portion to please her elder stepbrother, knowing that he would fuss over her like a mother hen until she ate something and plenty of it, but this time she did not hide the fact that she did not want her food. This disturbed Sesshoumaru more than he could say for he knew then without a doubt that something bad had happened to her to make her react like this. Damn...he was going to have to make a visit to Kagome's house tonight.

Later, when Inuyasha began to hint at wishing to be left alone with Kagome, Sesshoumaru was very reluctant to allow that course of action, especially since the young lady in question repeatedly cast pleading glances at the elder Morikawa, conveying the impression that she did not to be left alone with Inuyasha. So naturally, Sesshoumaru heeded her silent pleas to stay, much to Inuyasha's dismay and the four of them gathered together in the living room. Sesshoumaru discussed how he wanted his Kagoshima branch to be run with Inuyasha, who only half-heartedly listened while casting longing glances over at Kagome, who sat beside Souta on the other side of the room and continued to avoid Inuyasha's attempts to make her look at him.

Later when it was time for Kagome to go home, Inuyasha managed to follow her outside when Sesshoumaru wasn't looking and coming up behind her, swept her into his arms, and kissed her gently. "I'm really very sorry, Kagome. Please, won't you think about it? I'll grow up and become the man you need. I'll take care of you, I swear."

Kagome tried hard not to look into those pleading honey-tinted eyes, but failed miserably. As she stared up at him in the dark, she could see love in those eyes... and something else. This something glittered feverishly in his eyes and made her fervently wish that Sesshoumaru was around. When she realized it was lust, she began to panic and the longer she gazed up at him, the more she wished his elder brother would make his appearance.

"Um, Inuyasha," she began, but was cut off when Inuyasha surged forward to kiss her. There was nothing gentle about this kiss and the way he hungrily devoured her mouth shot terror through her. Inuyasha had never been one to take 'no' for an answer.

She tried to push him off, to squirm out of his smothering and painful embrace, but she was caught between his hard body and the steel body of her car. Her feeble movements only served to make him kiss her harder, and she felt his teeth cut her lip in his eagerness. For one insane moment, she almost bit his tongue in retaliation, but decided against that, for that might enrage him and Sesshoumaru was still nowhere around. Then what would she do when Inuyasha decided to take what he wanted from her anyway? It wasn't as though she could stop him from raping her, which no doubt was going to happen if ---

There was a menacing, growling sound coming somewhere from behind Inuyasha. In an instant, Inuyasha's lips and arms were gone and she could breathe again. When she looked up, she saw a frighteningly pissed off Sesshoumaru had his brother by the back of the neck and was holding him away from her. "Make your escape beloved, while I deal with him. Call me when you get home," he told her, trying very hard to keep the rage from his voice when speaking to her.

"Oi, Kagome!"

"Silence!" snarled the older man, tightening his grip on his flailing brother's neck.

As she watched Sesshoumaru marched a very subdued Inuyasha back into the house, Kagome sank against the side of her car and began to weep silently. A minute later, she was speeding away down the drive way as fast as she could, wiping away the blood from her lip with the back of her hand.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

When she got home, she saw the living room lights on and a strange car parked behind Hiro's. After parking her car in her side of the garage, she went inside the house. A couple of male voices were laughing and talking in the living room.

"Hello? Hiro?" she called, walking into the room where the voices were.

"Kagome, honey! I didn't hear you come in!" Hiro jumped up off the floor with a smile. "How was dinner, darli--? Kagome? What's wrong?" His eyes widened in concern when he saw the tears in her eyes, but froze when he saw her bottom lip. "Oh, my god, what happened to your mouth?"

Ignoring the unseen other man in the room, she threw herself into his arms. "Oh, Hiro!!" she cried into his shirt and wrapped her arms around his waist. "He wants to date me... he said that when he gets back in six months he wants to go out with me! And...and he wanted to be alone with me, but Sesshoumaru wouldn't let him and---!" She burst into tears, burying her face against him. "He kissed me and it hurt!"

Hiro's arms tightened around her trembling figure. "Kagome! Did Sesshoumaru stop him?" She nodded and he sighed with relief, but paused and thought over what she had just said. "Wait a minute. Did you say that Inuyasha will be gone for six months?"

Again she nodded and he grinned down at her. "But, Kagome, sweetheart, this is fantastic news! You'll have six months to find a decent man and--"

"Ahem."

Both Hiro and Kagome started. Hiro gave a nervous chuckle. "Oh yeah. Sorry, Kouga. Forgot you were here for a minute." He stepped back, allowing Kagome to see their visitor.

Kouga glared at Hiro through narrowed eyes then looked at Kagome, who stood very still with a bewildered look on her face. "Hiya, princess. Sorry to come over so late, but I... I just wanted to see you again." He smiled at her then and presented her with a courtly bow.

As Kagome watched him, her worry melted away and she couldn't help but smile back... and as before, she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. Kouga had recently bathed and changed his clothes. His shining black hair was slicked back but one rebellious lock kept falling into his eyes, no matter how often he tucked it behind his ear. When she went to hug him, she could smell the scent of his soap, shampoo and a light yet deliciously masculine cologne which clung to his skin and mingled with the detergent used on his clothes. And just like the night before, the scent he emitted made her mouth water. To her, this man was almost edible.

"Wow, you smell really nice," she murmured appreciatively, her face burning. 'Baka, Kagome! That's the understatement of the year!'

Blushing, Kouga laughed softly and took her hand. "Thank you." Looking over her head, he shot a haughty look at Hiro that said, 'Okay, you may go now.'

Hiro countered with a dark look that replied, 'Okay, I don't fucking think so.'

Kagome's cell phone rang and she ran upstairs to take Sesshoumaru's call and change while the two men glared at each other. Hiro turned on his heel and went to the kitchen, Kouga hot on his heels.

"Hiro? What gives?" Kouga asked, watching Hiro put some water in a tea kettle.

Hiro shot Kouga a look. "Do you seriously think I'm going to let you be alone with her?"

"You were fine with it this afternoon," Kouga pointed out, rummaging through the refrigerator for a snack and retrieved a bowlful of grapes.

"Yeah, that was because it was broad daylight and your buddies were around, too."

Kouga snorted as he looked over the fruit. "What? Do you think I'm going run away with her or something? I thought we were bonding pretty well a few minutes ago."

"Yes, we were, but its my job to screen Kagome's possible suitors." Hiro glared at Kouga again and set the kettle on the stove. "From what I know of your past history, I wouldn't put it past you to kidnap my baby girl."

"Man, I told you I wouldn't do something stupid like that. I'm not Yuki." Kouga plucked off one of the grapes and popped it into his mouth. "I really like her," he muttered around a mouthful of grape. "She's different, which is exactly what I need and besides, my boys and I need a good female influence. We're just a buncha ruffians that need a woman's touch." He leaned back against the counter and smiled amicably at his host.

The brown haired man scowled at him. "That depends on what you plan on having her touch, Kouga," Hiro grunted peevishly.

Laughing, Kouga ate another grape. "Damn, what a great sense of humor you have! I never knew you were such a comedian."

"Shut up."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

An hour after Kouga reluctantly decided to take his leave, Kagome was watching television in the living room huddled up in her ultra-soft, fluffy pink housecoat. Hiro was already in bed asleep.

Just as she let out a huge yawn, a soft knock came at the front door. Puzzled, Kagome uncurled herself from the couch and went to the door. Standing on tiptoe, she peered through the peephole and gasped. Swiftly, she unlocked the door and stepped back. "Sesshoumaru! What's happened? Are you okay?" she blurted out, clutching at the door. "Has something happened to Souta?"

Sesshoumaru was standing on the doorstep. He wore street clothes; jeans, t-shirt, boots and a leather jacket. His long, pale hair was pulled up into a ponytail that draped down over one leather-clad shoulder. Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru closed the door and locked it before removing his shoes. "I'm fine Kagome, and Souta is fine."

He took her hand and led her into the living room, sitting her down on the sofa. Continuing to hold her hand, he sat down beside her and fixed her with a steady gaze. She squirmed uncomfortably and turned her face away. Of course, he didn't let that slide and caught her chin with his fingertip, turning her face back to him.

"Kagome," he began quietly, "are you still ill?"

Her eyes opened wide. "Huh? Why do you think that?" Was he completely ignoring what Inuyasha had done to her tonight?

Gentle, molten eyes roamed over her face, studying her intently. "You weren't yourself tonight, little one," he replied sadly. He reached up to brush an errant lock back behind her ear. "You didn't eat very much either. You know I don't like it when you don't eat. Did you at least eat something when you came home?"

She nodded. "Hiro had made some soup earlier and he forced me to eat some of it." She pouted, her lower lip sticking out. "He said he figured that I probably wouldn't eat much, knowing that I would be having dinner with Inuyasha."

Kissing her on the forehead, Sesshoumaru chuckled softly. "That makes sense. You never could eat properly with that one around, could you? Well, I'm thankful that Hiro is so perceptive and that he made you eat. I was rather worried about you, my dear."

"You don't need to, Sesshoumaru, really. Anyway, how are you doing?" It was her turn to do the studying and did not like the worried look in his eyes. "Sesshoumaru! Oh no, did I upset you? I did, didn't I? I'm sorry..."

His arms went around her and he leaned over, eyes closed, to rest his cheek against her head. "Iie. It's fine, Kagome." He tightened his hold on her. "I just wondered... if I may stay with you tonight?" he whispered.

For her answer, she rose to her feet, her hand still in his and guided him up the stairs to her bedroom. Once there, he stripped down to his silk boxers and slid under the sheets beside her. She scooted back against him, reveling in the heat his body radiated and yawned deeply.

"You must have a big day planned tomorrow," she muttered drowsily. She smiled when she felt his lips in her hair.

"Mmm. Big one. Lots of meetings." Sesshoumaru, cuddling her to him, exhaled deeply, his warm breath ruffling her hair. "I'm sorry for what Inuyasha did to you, Kagome. It was unacceptable."

"Don't worry about it--"

"So I added another two months to his sentence and told him he couldn't get in contact with you until two months from now."

Her body stiffened in his embrace. "Eh! But Sesshoumaru! You didn't have to do that!" She squirmed a bit, ineffectively of course, then warily settled back down when his arm refused to budge. "Wasn't he furious?" she asked tentatively.

His body was the next to tense up. "Kagome... So, that's what it was about then. Damn it, I should have known better." He shifted and Kagome turned her head over her shoulder to see Sesshoumaru staring down at her.

"Sweetheart, please forgive me. I should have realized that you would be frightened of seeing Inuyasha after I brought this punishment down on him. I'm so sorry, Kagome." He leaned down to kissed her mouth softly, chastely, before settling back into his original position behind her. "If I had thought for one second that he would think to retaliate against you, you know I would never allow him to be in the same room with you."

"I know, Sesshoumaru. But I shouldn't have been afraid at all, not with you around. You're always looking out for me, aren't you?" she asked, feeling sleep beginning to take hold.

Watching her curled up in his arms, Sesshoumaru felt her body grow limp. A moment later, her breathing began to deepen and he couldn't resist placing a light kiss on the side of her neck. "I always will, beloved," he whispered against the warm flesh.

'Damn, I love her so much,' he thought as he felt himself beginning to drift off. In his mind's eye, he could see her when she was the plump little shrine maiden with sweet rosy cheeks and enormous, shining brown eyes that scampered happily about her family's shrine. He loved her from the minute he first laid eyes on her so many years ago... and kept on loving her. That love grew even more so when she went through her darkest hours, when he thought he would lose her forever ... which was started by the devastation his little brother had so thoughtlessly wrought.

Ever since those terrible days when she lay near death in the hospital, his sleep pattern underwent a change. So now that every time he became worried about her health, his normal sleeping habit would be disturbed... in short, he suffered from insomnia. He would spend nights pacing restlessly in his bedroom, his mind in a tizzy from wondering if she would be okay.

But it was right after she had been released from hospital that he experienced the second worst week of his life since she nearly passed away. One sleepless night turned into two sleepless nights...then three...

After having gone without sleep for three days straight, he could take it no longer and he rushed over to her house in the middle of the night, worried out of his mind for her. He let himself into the new house he'd bought for her and went upstairs to check up on her.

She was fast asleep and in the pale moonlight that streamed in through her bedroom window, she looked as pale as death. Her face was so sunken in from malnutrition, so skull-like, that he dropped heavily to his knees beside her bed, pressed his face into the comforter and began to weep.

A tiny, fleeting sensation passed along the top of his head and he looked up. Kagome lay against her pillows, alarmingly waif-like, and was staring back at him, concern filling her large, expressive eyes. "Sesshoumaru? Daijobu?"

He stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. "No. I'm not alright."

Kagome struggled weakly to sit up, but failed. "Why? Do you need anything? Tell me and I will--"

"No!" he cried and jumped to his feet. The effect of being without sleep for so long had taken its toll. Never had he raised his voice to her. Fortunately, this would be the first and last time he would ever do so.

Instead of apologizing for his outburst, he glared down at her, wanting to shake her and tell her not to even think about worrying for another person and to start eating again... "Fine! Do you know what I need, Kagome? Do you know what I truly need, right this second?"

Tears and fright had gathered in those lovely, dark pools and she shook her head weakly. "No, Sesshoumaru-sama. P-please tell me."

Dropping back to his knees, he groaned softly. "Kagome, what I need right now, more than anything in this whole world, is for you to get better. Okay? That's what I need."

She watched him closely, her brows knitting over her confused eyes. "Why?"

That simple question rocked his entire world. Why? She asked him why? Did she not know why? How could she even dare to think that way? "What kind of question is that?" he demanded. "Why do you ask why?"

"Um..."

"Enough!" He whirled around and went to the window to keep his eyes away from her before he said something to add fuel to his smouldering fury. Why was he so damned angry at her?

"We all love you, Kagome, that's why. Souta, me, your friends... and yes, even Inuyasha. He was devastated. We were all devastated when we very nearly lost you. Do you even realize how close you were to leaving us?" He turned back around and faced her angrily, his entire body trembling in his attempt to keep from yelling out of frustration. "Your heart nearly gave out on you, Kagome. They had to recusitate you... Have you any idea how terrified we all were? We could have lost you."

Turning her face away from him, she began to cry and Sesshoumaru felt even more of a heel than ever. Resuming his kneeling position beside her bed, he took one of her too-thin hands in his and held it as delicately as he could against his cheek. "Please don't cry, little one," he managed thickly, "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that... how you could think that we wouldn't have cared if you had died? That hurts me to hear you say something like that." He noticed that her sobbing had died down a little and she had cocked an attentive ear towards him. "It would hurt Souta, too, right? Sango and Miroku? How about Hiro?"

He very tactfully left out Inuyasha's name and thankfully, she didn't seem to notice. She turned back to face him and held out her thin arms to him. "I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru! I didn't mean to upset you or anyone else! Please forgive me..."

He was in bed beside her before she could say another word and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "You have nothing to ask forgiveness for, little one," he breathed in her ear. "You've done nothing wrong. Just... just don't let yourself end up like this again, okay? Please. I don't know what I'd do without the little girl who makes me so happy."

Choking back a tiny laugh, she wept a little bit more and he let her, all the while stroking her hair and rocked her gently. Soon, the weeping ceased and she snuggled up against his chest, where she soon fell asleep. As he hugged her emaciated little frame to him, he thanked his stars that he didn't have the courage to tell her that he totally blamed himself for her condition.

He should have seen it coming... but he didn't.

After all she'd been through--- her mother dying, then his father and top of that, working full time to pay for college on top of taking classes full time, then dealing with the aftermath of Inuyasha's cruel insensitivity and Hiro's leaving her for college in another part of the country--- he hadn't once thought to keep a better eye on her, to make sure she was doing okay. Of course, during this time he was learning about his father's company and later on, he'd had to take over following his father's sudden death...

But for all the stress he was under, he still should have taken the time to see how she was doing and through his lack of attentiveness...

He ran an extremely profitable company, making money hand over fist, oversaw thousands of employees and remembered pertinent information about every single one of them and even recalled most of their names. But he couldn't keep tabs on a mere slip of a girl who was working herself to death because he neglected to tell her that his father already had money set aside for her college tuition just so she wouldn't have to work.

He should have known better... he should have watched her more closely.

Because that was what a guardian does right? They watch over and guard the ones they love, keep them from harm. What a pitiful, pathetic job he had done. His father would have been ashamed.

Amazingly, it was not long after this when Sesshoumaru, after three long, sleepless nights, felt the blessed sensation of sleep beginning to weigh down on him.

From then on, if he wished to forgo the sleeping pills his doctor prescribed him whenever she fell ill and he couldn't sleep because of it, Sesshoumaru would go to Kagome and lie in her bed next to her. Her very presence soothed his worried mind and troubled soul, allowing sleep to come to him naturally and often, quickly. He had even gone so far as to call her his 'little cure'.

Right now, the little cure had turned in her sleep and pressed her face into his bare chest. The warm breath that escaped from her nostrils tickled his sensitive skin and he moved her, shifting her up so that she breathed just below his neck instead. He didn't mind that; in fact, he loved it. He enjoyed the feeling of shivers running up and down his spine knowing they were caused by her.

Hiro had once asked him why didn't he just marry Kagome himself? After all, no one loved Kagome more than Sesshoumaru did. No one had ever done so much for her as he had done. So what was the problem?

Sesshoumaru told him that the answer was quite simple. Kagome did not want him or think of him in that way. Yes, she loved him, there was no mistaking that, but she was not in love with him. She just had never shown any interest in him and merely regarded him as a big brother

"If she lets me know she is interested in me in a romantic sense, I would be more than honored and would of course, court her accordingly. But until that time, I will not pursue her, no matter how much I desperately wish to," he told Hiro.

For now, holding her like this would just have to do. He knew that if she chose someone else, he would most likely never marry. His love for her was just too great to share with another woman. To see her marry someone else would be heartwrenchingly painful, but he took some comfort in knowing that she would never agree to be Inuyasha's wife. The boy could take her out all he wanted, but she would never love him. At least, when she was in trouble, it was to her doting guardian that she would turn and that made Sesshoumaru happy, knowing that she still needed him in her life. Perhaps one day, she would allow him to become something more to her... like her husband.

With that wonderful, warming thought, his eyes gave up the struggle to stay open. The last thing he saw before slipping into a deep, healing sleep, was her sweet, angelic face... so close to his.