Chapter One

Sesshoumaru stood up quickly; not realizing poor Kagome would be dropped to the ground.

"Oomph!" She grunted. Kagome then stood, rubbing her bottom to try and soothe the ache emanating from it. When that didn't work, she just stood there, glaring at the youkai.

"Something wrong Sesshoumaru?" She asked urgently, realizing they may be in some kind of immediate danger.

"Hai." He said, not expanding any further. That was, until his eyes reached Kagome's face, and he realized she wanted to know more. "Inuyasha." He said.

"And what about him?" She inquired, cocking her right eyebrow up.

He started off kind of slow, at first just studying the sky a little more. "He is almost here. Another five minutes, and you, my lady, will be questioned like no other." He says, and this scared Kagome a little.

"Oh, but kind sir… You'll be questioned about standing in a field of roses, so maybe we should change location another mile or so north." She suggested such, and Sesshoumaru took it into high consideration… As he was now grasping her, and flying off to the north.

'No way this Sesshoumaru will be questioned about his manliness.' He tended to talk to himself a lot in his mind, but at least he didn't ever say the wrong thing to anyone, right?

They landed smoothly, as they had before. He held Kagome for just a few more moments, knowing he should treasure her in his arm while he could.

He sighs.

She would return to her group soon. Told crushes would never be crushed with love, nor would they be crushed with hate. They would be thought of, and maybe even regretted.

He hated this.

Kagome was thinking heavily. 'I can't do without him, and apparently he feels for me. Oh, what do I do?' Sesshoumaru could only hold back his laugh right now, as he could tell how concentrated she was.

It was so cute when she concentrated.

Then he figured he would tell her how he felt about her leaving, and she would tell him how she felt about the subject too.

"I do not want us to part!" They said towards each other in unison.

They blinked a little, and then laughed together.

But it was sadly time to do so, and Inuyasha was nearing.

"Kagome, you must act as a hostage. If I hurt you, it is purely an accident, and I shall repay you wonderfully." Sesshoumaru says, finding a nearby rope, and tying her hands behind her back with it.

The group had finally caught up with the two, and they were ready to battle to get Kagome back!

Inuyasha had been yelling for quite some time at Sesshoumaru, and had tried attacking. Of course, this was only to have gotten his attack deflected by some amazing chance.

'Sesshoumaru's not paying attention. And he hasn't said a word! What in the hell is deflecting my attacks?' Inuyasha says to himself in mind.

Miroku would pipe up and tell him, good thing their minds were so much alike. "It's not even a demonic barrier that is protecting him. It is pure, and spiritual. Like Kagome's!" Miroku was stunned. Was this Kagome's doing?

"Kagome couldn't possibly do this for him! She hates him! And, on top of that, she's a hostage! What kinda dumb hostage would protect the person who's holding them?" Just then, he heard the words he had always dreaded.

"Osuwari!" Kagome had yelled from across the field. Inuyasha, as always, face planted into the soil.

Sesshoumaru walked over to her, and knelt down. "Kagome, dear, you can not continue to hold this barrier around us. It will give us away. Put it down, and return to your friends. I will come back for you, do not worry." He whispered as he began to untie the ropes the bound her.

"I will miss you Sesshoumaru. So make sure you come back. I will make sure Inuyasha does not attack as you leave." She whispers back, 'falling' onto his shoulder in exhaustion, and giving his neck an unnoticeable kiss.

Kagome then ran across the field to Inuyasha, and apologized many times for saying the enchantment. "I was scared Inuyasha, what if you had actually killed him, and it hit me?" She asked, rubbing his back as Sesshoumaru fled the scene.

"Kagome, I'm going to find a good place to rest with Miroku, you and Sango stay here." Inuyasha says softly, touching her face, and then walking off with his male friend.

Kagome landed roughly on her bottom side, as she dropped to the ground, and sighed. "What's wrong Kagome?" asked Sango, worried for her friends' sanity.

"Where's shippou?" She asked, looking around. "He went with the guys. I asked him to so we could talk." Sango says, reassuring her that no one was around.

"Oh Sango! I know that Inuyasha loves me, and he wanted to make me his tonight, but I just can't so it!" Kagome sobs, dropping her face onto her friends shoulder.

"And why not? Do you not return the same feelings for Inuyasha?" She asks, worrying about more than just Kagome now.

"I did." She claims, implying, obviously, that she no longer does.

"Ah, well, in which case, do not let him claim you ask his own. It is not right if you don't both love each other equally!" Sango tells her, just as she sees the boys enter the field. "Let's go. It's getting dark." She says, helping Kagome up, and towards the boys.

After an hour of sitting there, and preparing every ones ramen, Kagome had eaten hers. She was daydreaming when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Inuyasha.

She hadn't wanted it to be him, but she knew what he was after, and she finished her dinner quickly so they could go somewhere secluded.

Inuyasha had helped her up, and held her hand softly as they walked away from the rest of the group, his and her intentions different.

"Kagome, I will make your dreams come true." Inuyasha says softly into her ear as they sit down beside a hot spring.

As Inuyasha undresses himself in front of her, she thinks about how much she wishes this wasn't happening to her, wishing it wasn't him.

To make him happy, she undressed herself as well, and then slipped into the hot, soothing water.

It was actually quite romantic. There were flowers growing off the edges of rock farther up the wall, and the grass was luscious, and soft. The air smelt so clear, and the area was as secluded as it would ever get. She had to applaud him for trying to make things perfect.

Inuyasha slid close to her, and reached out, touching her face softly, dragging his claws down and around the side of her face and chin. He smiled, letting her know that he couldn't be happier.

She swam close, and hugged him ferociously, her breasts pushing closely upon his chest. She didn't want thing to happen, and this was her was of stopping it, that is, until she felt it.

She hadn't before. This was weird to her…Awkward.

She pulled away, and started to swim around, letting her skin soak in the warmth. She hadn't wanted to get out, she loved baths, but she also didn't want Inuyasha that close.

She had heard some rustling in the trees a bit away from them, and she knew what it was. A voice would come to her in her mind.

'Kagome, why? Why are you bathing with him? Do you want him to claim you, is that what this is?' It asked so many questions.

'Sesshoumaru, it's not my fault. No, I don't want it, but I can't let him down. How do I get to you without him knowing?' Kagome had been sending messages to Inuyasha, so they could plan this out, through their minds for quite some time now. She was good at it.

'Just do not let him take you. I want you Kagome, all to myself, and I will not stand for him having what I want!' Sesshoumaru was angry. She knew this.

Inuyasha had gotten quite a bit closer by now, and trapped her in a small corner of the spring. "Hello beautiful." He said lowly to her.

"Hey… Inuyasha… How's it going?" She asks, wanting to help him in knowing this isn't what she wants.

"Fantastic, but I want something… Now…" He says lustfully. Looking at her with all his wanting.

"Oh Inuyasha, you're so funny!" She says loudly, slapping him on the shoulder.

That was when he got it. He swam about a meter back, and looked at her dead in the eyes.

"You don't want this, do you Kagome?" He asks. "And I want the truth." He adds.

"Not tonight, no. I'm just, so exhausted, and wanting to relax." She answers, looking down into the water, fiddling with her thumbs.

"Why didn't you just tell me? We'll do this some other night. We can make camp here for a while, how's that sound?" He asks.

"Oh… Great." She says, hoping he won't see her lie. "But, um. Can I take a bath?" She asks, wanting him to leave.

"Yeah, uh… I'll see you back at camp?" He asks rhetorically, then walks off, putting his clothes on.

Kagome sat in thought for many moments before noticing someone new was in the hot spring with her. Assuming it was Sango, because they often bathed together, she turned around, not trying to hide anything.

She gasped. "Oh kami! Sesshoumaru!" She screeched, flying in deeper water to attempt hiding her naked body.

"I have already seen you Kagome. I was watching when you, and Inuyasha got in. And, would you keep your voice down please? You will arise attention to us." Sesshoumaru says, understanding that she probably almost had a heart attack a little over ten seconds ago.

"Gomen. What are you doing here?" She asks, worrying of being caught.

"I am here for you, sweet Kagome." Sesshoumaru says. "We have much to talk about… After I let you soak of course." He whispers, getting closer, and closer to her, until he finally brushed up against her. This caused them to understand each other's lust for the other.

"Sesshoumaru…" Kagome whispers, holding him tightly. "Sh. We will go talk now." He says, not pressuring her into anything she wasn't ready for.

She nodded, and then got out and dressed herself, anticipating highly what this talk was to be about.

They walked somewhere remote, after Kagome telling Inuyasha she'd be back sometime during the night, and to not look for her. Of course, she had to threaten going home, and never returning, but it had eventually worked.

They had sat on a hill, far, far away from the place everyone was sleeping at. Kagome was sitting in between Sesshoumaru's legs, and he was holding her, engulfed in her scent, not wanting it to leave him.

The conversation commenced. "Kagome…?"

"Yes, Sesshoumaru?"

"Why do you insist on staying with that little brother of mine?"

"Because he's my friend…And my other friends from this time are a part of the group."

"You know, you could see and have anything you wanted if you would stay with me."

"I know this."

"Come?"

"Where?"

"Anywhere my Kagome…. Anywhere." Sesshoumaru said lastly, grasping his one and only ningen girl. Oh how he had hoped she would say yes!

"I can't leave them Sesshoumaru."

"Why not?"

"I love them all."

"Ah. I see."

"Yes, and I have no love for me anywhere else." She pleaded with him… But what did she want? His love? Surely not! He was a youkai, he was probably just looking for a good lay or something. He would never love a human girl! No youkai in their right mind would love a human….

Then she thought to herself… 'Well, it does run in the family. That's how Inuyasha came about. But Sesshoumaru despises his father for that. Never him. I'm just crazy.'

"Please?" He was begging now. Something he never did… No matter what.

"Why?"

"I shall show you the world my love."

"When did I adopt such a name?"

"Since I said so."

"But…" She started…

"But what?" He questioned back, daring her to go on.

She accepted. "That's not fair."

"And why not?"

"Because it just isn't."

"Because you refuse to believe anyone else but your dear Inuyasha could have interest in you. Maybe you should look outside the box of hanyou, Kagome. Someone else cares." He says, slightly angered that she was being so difficult.

"It's not that!" She yelled, standing up, and thinking about smacking him, then running away to her home.

"Sit down miko! I will not tolerate this behavior. Sit, and talk with me." He was now raising his voice.

"I don't have to! And I'm not just any ordinary miko! I'm Kagome! And this is why it'd never work!" She yells back, getting in his face, making him withdraw backwards a little.

Women were scary when angered.

"And why is that?" He asks, wondering why she was now throwing around absurd assumptions.

"Because you're mean, and I hate it when people tell me what to do! It's a free world!" She snaps, calming down, realizing that she would probably try to make it work for him.

"I am not mean. If anything, you are being absurd right now. No, it is not a free world. You must answer to whomever owns these lands." He speaks, very truthfully in fact.

"And who owns them? I'll go ask him… Or better yet, his mate, if I can be a free girl!"

"He has no mate."

"I'll go ask him then."

"I have heard he is in the market for one now."

"So a woman can be bought now?" She asks, assuming… Again…

"If she does not love you, what else can you get her with, except pay her father handsomely."

"Men are pigs. What's his name."

"Sesshoumaru." He states simply.

"I didn't know another youkai lord had the same name as you." She says, dumbfounded.

"They do not."

"But… Ohhhhh. It's you!"

"Yes, my love, we are in my territory." He says, smiling proudly over his land.

"Well then, may I be a free girl?" She asks, pride failing her now.

"For a small price." He says with a smirk.

"And what will that be?"

"A kiss." He says.

She gasped. "A what?"

"Kiss. Does it get any simpler than that?" He asks, puzzled.

But then he saw amazement in her eyes. He saw the happiness that engulfed her being. No, forget that, he smelled her happiness. He could live like this forever, making her happy, smelling this glorious scent. He was sure he could, and nothing would stop him.

"Sesshoumaru…"

"Yes?" Never in his life had he asked so many questions. This girl astounded him.

"Why do you want a kiss?" She asks, innocently.

"This youkai has longed for one all day. Ever since the one given to my neck, I have been unable to stop longing for one." He answers, letting it all out. Then he stopped… Because that just wasn't him…

"Really?"

"Affirmative. Now, if you please, I would like one at this moment in time."

Without an answer, without a thought shared, without a lone thought, she leaned down and pressed her lips against his. They both could have sworn that, at that very second, the Earth started quaking, and the heavens started falling down around them. The kiss was so effortless at first, and then it turned into what no one thought it could between those two.

It was no longer lips pressing. It was tongues crashing against each other, warring over dominance. It was the feeling of being so close. It was the touch of their hands on each others body. Last, but not least at all, it was the feeling of satisfaction in each others' presence.

Kagome had never felt that way.

Sesshoumaru hadn't either.

They loved it.

Neither was willing to end the fight, neither was willing to let go of the other. Not now, and likely not ever.

The sun was coming up, and Sesshoumaru would be the first to notice.

"Kagome, you have to get back." He says in a whisper, deciding to end their little battle for now.

"But why?" She asks, not actually wanting to go back.

"They will wonder where you are. Then they will come looking."

"Let them look, you promised to show me the world Sesshoumaru. I intend on seeing it before my life is through." She says, smiling brightly.