Chapter 27

Kagome and Sango were simply relaxing in the hot springs; they had decided that this time they would leave the children with the men so that they would be able to talk freely.

"How are things going with you and Miroku?" Kagome asked casually.

"I don't know," Sango said "I haven't gotten much time alone with him lately." She admitted.

"I've noticed something about him." Kagome said. "When we were in that last village he didn't flirt with anyone! And I've been hearing fewer and fewer shouts from you calling him a pervert."

"Yeah, it's great that he's controlling himself." Sango smiled with a far away look on her face as though she were relishing in the idea of not being molested anymore.

"Maybe you should say something. Make sure his efforts don't go unacknowledged." Kagome said kindly. "He looks like he's really been trying to make you happy. And I can tell it kills him when you're in the perfect position for him to grope you and he doesn't."

"Yeah, I guess you're right Kagome. Everyone likes to hear that they're appreciated." Sango agreed. "And I can just picture his face as he's trying to control himself" She said with a giggle. "But what about you and Inuyasha?"

"I don't know what's wrong with us lately." Kagome sighed. "We seem to be fighting more then ever now and I'm afraid how this is going to end if it continues."

"Yeah, I've noticed the fighting increase. But I don't think it's anything serious." Sango said, hoping that it was true for her friends sake. She knew how much Kagome loved Inuyasha, and she could guess how much Inuyasha loved her. She didn't want to see it end over a petty argument.

"I think he's more in love with Kikyou!" Kagome blurted out before slapping her hands over her mouth and looking around with wide eyes.

Sango stared at her friend. "Do you really thing so?" She asked.

Kagome nodded her head miserably.

"Have you spoken to Inuyasha about this?"

"Of course not! Can you picture Inuyasha's reaction to something like that! He would totally flip!" Kagome cried.

"Yes, that's probably true." Sango agreed. "I don't know, he did choose you over her. So I'd give it some more time before making a decision Just wait it out a bit, then talk to Inuyasha later if you still feel the same way."



"Yes, good idea Sango. I think that's what I'll do." Kagome nodded thoughtfully. "Thanks, I really needed someone to talk to. Miroku is a huge help and all, but he's still like best friends with Inuyasha, who knows what's going to go back to him. I'm really glad that you joined our group Sango, I think I would have gone crazy by now without you here."

"No problem, after all, what are friends for?" Sango said. Kagome giggled. "What?" She asked looking very confused.

"Miroku said the very same thing to me." Kagome laughed. "I guess you two have been spending more time together then you thought."

Sango sighed. "If only that were true, we've barely had any time alone since Sesshoumaru's castle. The only time I spend with him is when everyone else is around also."

"What's taking them so long?" Inuyasha shouted in frustration. "They should have been clean forever ago! What are they doing?"

"You know that they have their private talks during their baths Inuyasha." Miroku reminded softly.

"But this is ridiculous!" Inuyasha cried.

"What's ridiculous?" The boys' heads whipped around as they searched their surroundings for the intruding voice.

"Who's there?" Miroku demanded.

"Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The feminine voice giggled, then from out of the shadow of the trees a female silhouette appeared becoming clearer and more distinct until her long red hair that was pulled into two pigtails, her enchanting green eyes and her fur wardrobe were clearly visible. "It's just me." She said with a smile.

"Ayame?" Shippou shouted.

"Who's she?" Rin asked.

"She's Koga's fiancée!" Shippou whispered even though he knew that the demons present would still be able to hear.

"What are you doing here?" Miroku asked, somewhat more relaxed knowing that Ayame was posing no immediate danger. Ayame was not hostile towards the group...especially when Kagome was nowhere to be seen.

"Well I'm just looking for Koga. You haven't seen him anywhere have you?" Ayame asked looking at Inuyasha suspiciously.

"What is that look for? I haven't seen him anywhere." Inuyasha insisted.



"The last place we saw him was at Sesshoumaru's castle. But that was a while ago." Miroku agreed, backing up Inuyasha's statement.

"Ayame?" Ayame whipped her head around to find Kagome and Sango coming into the clearing holding wet towels and strange gooey liquids in strange looking bottles.

"Kagome." She answered indifferently.

"What are you doing here?" Kagome asked.

"I'm looking for Koga, and I thought anywhere near you would be a good place to look." Ayame said, not even trying to hide the bitterness in her voice and the look of anger on her face.

"Please can't we be over with this? Koga has realized that nothing will ever go on between him and me. The last thing that we spoke about is how he was going to go and look for you. And that was quite a while ago. I'm sort of shocked that you haven't seen him yet." Kagome said.

"Well he hasn't come to see me!" Ayame snapped. "And it's your fault! You seduced him into forgetting about me!" She said with tears evident in her eyes.

"Oh no, please believe me, I would never do such a thing! That would be terrible. I was nothing more than to see you and Koga together and happy." Kagome said desperately.

"You're lying!!"Ayame screamed, looking angry enough to attack Kagome at any moment.

"I assure you that she is doing no such thing." Sesshoumaru spoke up, stepping between Kagome and Ayame to ask as a shield for Kagome. "I believe it would be best if you left now. As you can see Koga is not here, and as I am sure you can smell, he has been no where near any of us recently."

Ayame looked as thought she was about to argue but she carefully took a few sniffs of the area and a look of humiliation and defeat covered her face.

"I'm sorry; I don't know what came over me. Please forgive me." She sighed before turning on her heals and running away leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in her wake.

Kagome let out a sigh of relief. "Wow, thank you Sesshoumaru. I was sure that I was going to be a goner." She admitted.

"It was nothing." Sesshoumaru said easily which Inuyasha fumed behind him, knowing that he should have been the one to intervene and not Sesshoumaru.

Sango and Miroku exchanged weary glances. Just as Sesshoumaru was beginning to fade into the background once again, he made himself known.

"Inuyasha, are you all right?" Kagome asked, looking concerned as she glanced at Inuyasha's red face.



"Just fine." He growled out. Kagome took a step back. What had she done to deserve such a tone? Sango seemed to notice Kagome's hurt and puzzled expression.

"He didn't mean it Kagome," She whispered "He's just mad that Sesshoumaru protected you that's all."

"Well then why is he taking it out on me!" Kagome huffed, clearly not impressed with Inuyasha's behaviour once again that night. All Sango could do was shrug her shoulders. Inuyasha really needed to think about what he was doing before he did it, or things would end up very badly.

Inuyasha just stood in place, glaring and growling at Sesshoumaru. He was so caught up in his fierceness that he didn't notice that Kagome's scent was beginning to face, but unfortunately for him, Sesshoumaru did. With his demon speed he caught up with her on her walk and seemed to have disappeared from the spot that Inuyasha was glaring at him.

"Are you well?" He asked, seamlessly picking up Kagome's pace.

"I'm fine thanks, I just needed to go for a walk, that's all." Kagome said with a sigh. "I just don't get him sometimes."

"He's quite an imbecile." Sesshoumaru agreed.

"I don't get why he's so snappy. What did I do?" Kagome huffed.

"He is simply upset because he was unable to protect you in a time when you might have been in danger." He explained.

"Why thought? Isn't it supposed to be that he's happy that nothing happened? Not that he's upset that he wasn't the one to stop it!" Kagome sighed. Why was he being so confusing? Why couldn't he just be happy that she was safe like a normal person?

"That is because even if he is only half, he is till a dog demon. And dog demons need to protect the people they care about. By me protecting you today, Inuyasha felt as though he was not doing his job properly." Sesshoumaru explained.

"If you knew that was how he was going to react then why would you step in? Why not let Inuyasha take care of it?" Kagome cried, now confused as to who she should be most angry at.

"Because I am also a dog demon, and I also felt the need to protect the person that I care about." Sesshoumaru said without even the trace of a blush on his face. However, Kagome was completely different. As those words left his mouth Kagome turned a vibrant shade of red and immediately felt awkward and embarrassed.

"Sesshoumaru I...I don't know what to say. That's very flattering." She tried, while in her head she was desperately thinking of something to say.

"Kagome!" Sango's shouts saved Kagome from having to think of something clever to say.



"Oh, that's Sango. We should probably get back to the camp since no one has put the kids to bed yet. I should probably get to work on that." She blabbed before leading the way back to the camp. 'Poor Sesshoumaru, I'm sure that's not the response he was looking for. What should I do? I have feelings for Sesshoumaru; I'm just not sure what they mean yet. And I already know that I love Inuyasha, but even then he's been a pretty big jerk lately. Oh what should I do?' she thought desperately.

Soon they were back at the clearing and Kagome was putting Rin and Shippou to bed. Sesshoumaru watched how Rin hung off of every word that Kagome said, as it was clear that she was telling them a bedtime story.

'How can she still hold feelings for Inuyasha even after I have confessed to caring for her? This may prove to be more difficult then I had originally imagined.' He thought as he glanced at Inuyasha, only to find that Inuyasha was looking right back at him, as though reading his every thought. 'Yes, this may prove to be much more difficult then I had originally imagined.'

Hey everyone. I know you must hate me by now. And I'm so sorry! It's been forever since I've last posted and I feel terrible about it! I'm so sorry. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll try to get the next one up a lot faster this time.