AN: Greetings and salutations! Yes, I and my story live! Live, live I say! In any even, sorry for it taking so long, but my muse hates me. I must admit that I'm slightly worried that this chapter didn't turn out as good as the others, seeing as I seem to have become somewhat rusty...yeesh. Anyway, I'm sure you'll let me know!

Disclaimer: Why must you make me hurt myself? Is not the truth punishment enough?

Underestimated

With such a big, wide world and all the varying cultures within it, it is perhaps completely unsurprising that there are a number of marked differences of belief and opinion on a wide range of matters. Everything from religious beliefs to acceptable behaviors to preferred eating utensils seems to differ, entirely dependent upon where in the world and in what culture one happens to reside. The differences and strength held to them being so great that in no few number of circumstances they have led to a number of rather nasty and bloody conflicts.

It is perhaps more surprising that despite all of that there actually are certain things to which people tend to agree, despite their differences. For instance, no one will really argue with the fact that the sun has an unerring tendency to rise in the east and set in the west. Nor will they argue with you if you happen to state that water is, indeed, wet. And while the destination tends to differ depending on who you're talking to, most will agree that there is some form of existence out there beyond the length of this mortal coil.

Finally, save for a few number of people that the rest tend to look down on anyway, who would deny that the sound of a child's laughter is the embodiment of joy and innocence?

It was this last one that was currently giving Sango pause as she looked over at the two youngsters currently involved in some imaginary game or another, peels of laughter regularly ringing out as they amused themselves and each other. For the first time in her life, that laughter seemed to herald not quite such pleasant or innocent thoughts. Instead, they only served as a reminder to the situation they currently found themselves in.

I don't like this…the slayer mused to herself as her brows drew together.

In fact, there were a number of things about this situation Sango didn't like, not the least of which was leaving Kagome behind with someone she had, until very recently, considered a cold blooded, merciless killer. She wasn't sure if she was more or less disturbed by the notion that she was starting to not think of him that way. After all, this wasSesshomaru she was thinking of here. Even before she had joined up with Inuyasha's group she had heard little good about him. Youkai Slayers tended to have a wide repertoire of knowledge of some of the better known and more powerful youkai and Sango was no exception. After all, it was part of their job.

Yes, she'd heard of him before. Actually, he was the one her father had used as an example when he had first warned her of the dangers of higher level youkai, those that were able to take on a more human like appearance. He was, by all reports, a dangerous, powerful, and completely unscrupulous creature who would abuse and kill humans without compunction or conscious. He was the epitome of everything Sango had learned to be wary of when dealing with youkai.

The young woman's eyes drifted over to the human girl Shippo was currently playing with and a thoughtful scowl marred her brow. Apparently the reports weren't entirely accurate. And that bothered Sango to no end.

While the vast majority of humanity tended to try their best to distance themselves as much as possible from the world of youkai, the Slayers actually tried their best to learn more. It was necessary for them to know as much as possible if they were to have to fight against the ones that endangered their race. It wasn't that they hated youkai as a whole, well, most did not. There were several mid-level and more benevolent youkai that they could actually consider themselves on friendly terms with. But the fact of the matter remained that there were many,manymore that were a danger to humanity and would go out of their way to harm them. Those were the ones that Sango and her people had to worry about.

Using many different forms of information gathering, Sango and her people tried their best to learn whatever they could about youkai. It was invaluable in their line of work to know not only the strengths and weakness, but the little details that most others would deem irrelevant. After all, it was the smallest grain that could yield the biggest crop. It made dealing with them much easier on several levels, especially in circumstances that proved to be more complex than originally thought. While the Slayers prided themselves on their fighting abilities, they readily acknowledged that the best way not to loose a fight was not to get in one to begin with. If a potentially dangerous situation could be averted, it was the better course. For instance, if a youkai was harassing a village because it turned out that the villagers had unknowingly disturbed its nesting grounds when they started fishing there, it was usually easier to get the villagers to find another place to fish. To do that, one first had to know just what the youkai considered a nesting ground.

But with all that had been revealed this afternoon it was becoming readily apparent that Sango did not know nearly as much about Inuyoukai, or Sesshomaru for that matter, than she had thought. And that ignorance greatly disturbed her on both a professional and a personal level.

She had known, of course, about the acute sense of smell. Who didn't know about dogs and their noses? She certainly hadn't realized, however, just how intricately it was tied to their natures. That the mere scent of his blood mingled with Kagome's could cause his instincts to think she was his mate was near mind boggling. But then there was that Vow of Protection. Never, in all her studies had she heard of anything like that. Were the Inuyoukai the only ones with something like that, or did it exist elsewhere as well. It had been hinted that there were different traditions along the different types…but she knew nothing of those either. It was disturbing to think that there might be so much she didn't know.

When the 'Courts' had been alluded to Sango had not felt a quelling of her unease in any sense. Courts? It implied a social structure far beyond anything she had ever know youkai to have. For the most part she had always known youkai as more solitary creatures, protecting their own territory and acting as they would without a sense of law or true justice…but from what Sesshomaru and even Shippo had implied, there was much more to it than that.

Sango bit her lip. How much more was there that she really didn't know? Did it just concern the higher levels like Sesshomaru, himself? Or were all youkai a part of this and the Slayers had no real idea? Granted the only real higher level youkai she had had any kind of regular contact with was Kouga and his pack, and even that was somewhat fleeting. The social structure there could easily be explained by their similarities to actual wolves, since everyone knew that wolves were the more advanced among the animals when it came to such things. But was that really it, or was there something much deeper going on?

"What troubles you, my dear Sango?"

Sango was draw out of her thoughts by the smooth sound of Miroku's voice and turned to look at the monk. He was watching her with concern as she worried her lip between her teeth, one eyebrow slightly lifted. Sango sighed.

"What doesn't trouble me about all this," she replied, her eyes straying over to the two children that scampered along the forest path. "It seems that there is so much I don't know or have mistaken. I don't know what to make of all this."

Miroku hummed thoughtfully, his eyes looking down slightly as they tended to in thought. "Yes. I, myself, find many aspects of this most intriguing. Even to the point of disconcerting."

Well, at least I'm not the only one,she drawled mentally. With Miroku's perpetual calm and Inuyasha's regular huffing it was hard to tell if either male was thinking to long or hard on any of this.

"I was at first quite worried when we supposed that Kagome had been taken by Sesshomaru for some purpose," Miroku continued, his eyes slightly distant as he seemed to work this thoughts over in his head, "but the revelation of the truth has eased that only to leave many more concerns in its wake."

"Do you think we did the right thing, Houshi-sama?" she asked quietly. "Do you think that Kagome is really safe back there with him?"

Miroku blinked as though started out of a thought and turned to look at her. "I believe that there is no safer place for Kagome to be, dear Sango," he said, as though slightly surprised that that was what worried her. When Sango shot him a look he continued.

"I believe that Sesshomaru is not entirely what we thought him to be," he said, his own eyes drifting meaningfully to the young girl. "Quite to the contrary. Our only other contact with him has been through the seeming feud between himself and Inuyasha. I believe we have allowed that to taint our perception of him. Indeed, during our only other contacts with him, now that I look back on it, I cannot say that he has acted very much differently from any other Lord I have come in contact with, be they human or no. True, he may have been rude or condescending, mostly deigning not to even speak to us, but would any other Lord? After all, to most we are little better than peasants."

Sango blinked at that as the truth of his words hit home. She had never really thought of it that way. She knew that Sesshomaru was called the Lord of the Western Lands, and it was more than obvious he carried himself like a noble, but she had never really given it much in the way of credence. Many youkai styled themselves as Lords and whatnot, but mostly it was their own arrogance and superiority talking. And most of them wound up acting in very un-Lordly ways. But Sesshomaru…Sango hand never had much contact with i true /i Lords, at least not really powerful ones. Mostly they dealt with village headmen or minor lords that held smaller areas of lands. But the few she had met…actually they acted very much like Sesshomaru.

"If nothing else," Miroku continued after a moment of thought, himself, "his care and concern for young Rin speaks volumes to how much we may have misjudged his character."

A snort from ahead drew Sango away from any reply she was going to make. Inuyasha shot a look at them back over his shoulder before crossing his arms into his sleeves.

"Don't go lookin' for any deep meaning," he snorted. "Sure, he's a Lord, but Sesshomaru ain't nothin' but a cold hearted killer out for one thing. Power. That's the only thing that matters to someone like him. And he's sneaky. He never does anything without an ulterior motive. Probably he keeps the kid around for some reason of his own, but don't mistake it for kind heartedness. Sesshomaru don't know the meaning of the word 'compassion'."

Before either Sango or Miroku could rebuke him they were cut off by an affronted gasp and squeal, followed by the pattering of little feet. Suddenly Rin was in front of their hanyou friend, one hand on hip and the other pointed up at the much taller male.

"You take that back!" she cried, a scowl on her face Sango assumed was supposed to be fierce, but only made her look that much more adorable.

Inuyasha stopped, since the only way he could continue was if he ran the little girl down, and looked down at her with a snort. "Take what back? The truth?"

"It's not true! Sesshomaru-sama is not a cold hearted killer or sneaky or stupid. He knows more words than Rin does! And Jaken-sama is the sneaky one, but he's not very good at it." The little girl crossed her arms over her own chest, mirroring the pose of the much taller hanyou in front of her was she stared up defiantly. "Inuyasha-sama should not say bad things about Sesshomaru-sama. Sesshomaru-sama is a good Lord, everyone says so. Meiji-san says Sesshomaru-sama is the best Prime they have had in centuries and centuries and he is always very good and kind to Rin and he takes care of Rin and never hits her or yells at her like the mean men in the village and he never leaves her all by herself like Rin was for so long and he always comes back for Rin and never calls Rin bad names or makes Rin be hungry and he gave Rin a pretty kimono and keeps her clean and…."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Inuyasha waved his hands frantically in front of him, trying to stem the flood of increasingly agitated words flowing from the girl's mouth and threatening to drown him. As she reeled herself, Sango wondered if Rin had even paused for breath in all of that. "Okay, okay, geeze! You don't have to get yourself all worked up over it."

Rin huffed and stamped her foot. "Inuyasha-sama should not say mean things about Sesshomaru-sama. Inuyasha-sama should say he is sorry."

Sango watched as a look an incredulous expression found its home on Inuyasha's face as he stared down at the glaring little girl. "And why in the world would I want to do that?"

"Because Inuyasha-sama was mean! Mean people should say they're sorry! Sesshomaru-sama always makes Jaken-sama say he's sorry when he's mean to Rin."

"Look, kid," Inuyasha huffed himself, bending over at the waist to look the girl in the eye, "I don't know what you see in the guy, but I've known Sesshomaru a lot longer than you and believe me when I say, he ain't all mochii and cream. You're just too young to know what the guy's really like. He only treats you different 'cause you're his Ward, but when you're older you'll see what I mean. Sesshomaru is cold and cruel to just about everyone. He ain't some benevolent Lord out for anyone's good but his own."

"Inuyasha!" Sango cried as she saw tears starting to form in the little girl's eyes but before she could do anything there was a swift movement and a yelp of pain from Inuyasha who was just as quickly to be found hopping around, holding his shin.

Sango blinked, looking at the little girl who was still glaring at the hanyou who was still hopping up and down on one leg and turning the air blue.

"Rin?" she asked, a little bemused. "Did you…"

Rin turned and smiled at her, a missing tooth evident in her wide grin. "Rin kicked him in the shin like she does Jaken-sama when he's too mean to her. Sesshomaru-sama says that if others refuse to have manners of their own that manners must be forced upon them."

"Why you little…" Inuyasha growled, quickly cut off by the sound of metal striking stone as Miroku's staff came down calmly on his head.

"Sesshomaru-sama seems to be a wise Lord indeed," the monk said to the little girl who smiled up at him as Inuyasha became reacquainted with the ground. "But tell me, who is Meiji-san and what is a Prime?"

"Oh! Meiji-san is Rin's tutor. He teaches Rin all the things she needs to know to be an informed and accomplished young lady," she recited the last part as though memorized.

"And a Prime?" Miroku asked. Sango found herself leaning forward in interest. She hadn't thought of questioning the little girl to find out the information she was obviously lacking.

"Oh! Rin knows that! That was in one of Meiji-san's lessons!" She scrunched up her face in a way that made Sango want to pinch her cheeks as one finger came to rest on her chin.

"The Inuyoukai are composed of four major Clans," Rin started as though actually reciting a lesson. "There are the Shiro Inu, the Kuro Inu, the Akai Inu, and the Kin Inu. Each Clan in made up of several Packs…or extended family groups. There is the Primary Pack, one's immediate family, and the Extended Pack. That's basically everyone else you're related to. Each Pack is headed by an Alpha, basically the head of the family. Each Clan is headed by the Clan Alpha, the head of the Clan. Kind of like a village headman, only bigger. All four Clans fall under the leadership of the Prime Alpha, or just Prime, who's the boss of all the head Alpha's. Like the boss of all the bosses. Meiji-san says a Prime is like a human Sho-gun, and the Clan Alphas are like human Lords, and the Pack Alphas are like human Samurai." Rin paused for a moment as if going back over all of that in her head before nodding to herself. "Yup. That's it!"

Silence filled the forest, broken only by the sounds of the various birds calling through the canopy. Sango stood, staring at the little girl, struck dumber than a board. She was convinced that lightning could have struck the ground three feet away and she would not have notice, because obviously it had already hit her first. Her only consolation was that Miroku didn't seem to be faring much better and he stood and blinked rapidly like he had been staring at the sun too long.

"Well," Miroku said finally, seeming to come out of his daze a little better than she was managing, herself. "Well…" maybe not.

After a moment he looked down at the still prostrate Inuyasha. "I guess we might as well make camp," he said. "We should be far enough away not to draw attention, but we don't want to be so far that we cannot be within easy reach."

"Okay!" Rin chirped and then ran over to Shippo, who Sango noticed looked far less dazed than herself or Miroku. "Come on, Shippo! Let's go pick some flowers for Inuyasha-sama. Maybe he won't be so grumpy if he has something pretty to smell!"

Sango watched the two children scamper off, seemingly unaware of the befuddlement of their elders before looking over at Miroku. The monk stared back at her with an equally dazed expression.

"Underestimated, indeed."

ooOoo

Shiro Inu—White Dog. Kuro Inu—Black Dog. Akai Inu—Red Dog. Kin Inu—Gold Dog.

ooOoo

Kagome had never truly aspired to be an actress. She'd never taken a drama class, never pretended to accept an Oscar, and never claimed that she could be more believable in some such role than whoever was playing it. Sure, she'd had the occasional flitting thought when she was younger of fame and stardom, but really, what little girl hadn't? It certainly wasn't something she had ever given much thought to and certainly not something she dreamed of. Famous people, in her opinion, were given far too much credence. After all, when you came down to it they were just normal people who happened to have a pretty cool job. Add that to the fact that they never seemed to have a moment's peace and their personal lives were on constant display to the world whether they wanted it or not, and the life of a famous starlet was something Kagome could very well do without.

That was why she utterly shocked that she seemed to be pulling this role of courting female youkai off so well. At least, that was one of the only thoughts her stunned mind could accept as she felt Sesshomaru press his lips against hers…right before her brain turned to complete and utter mush.

Mental Mushdom was a new place for Kagome. She was very familiar with Flusterville, seeing as she was a frequent visitor. She actually owned a timeshare in Embarrassed Town. And she was fairly well known at Frustration Port, more so as the years progressed and her hormones demanded more and more sailing time on the sea of her life. But the place she had been transported this time…she didn't even have a roadmap.

Apparently Mushdom involved the complete lack of rational thought. As the Taiyoukai's lips moved over hers she found it completely impossible to form a thought more coherent thanWow, andSoft. Instead, it seemed to be a place where sensation ruled all…sensations that she was eminently aware of.

First and foremost were his lips. They weren't particularly full lips, in fact, she imagined them rather thin in comparison to many she had seen. They didn't feel thin. They felt…damn. It was strange, they were both soft and firm as they moved over hers, sending a foreign tingling sensation from her lips to spread all the way down to her toes…pausing at several points in between.

One of those points was where his hand was resting on her hip, radiating a tingle worthy warmth of its own. She didn't know when it had traveled from her face down to there…what was more, she had no idea when her own hand managed to snake their way up his chest to burry themselves in his hair, hanging on to the nape of his neck like she needed to support. Oh, wait, she did. Somewhere along the way, her knees had decided they wanted nothing to do with this and had withdrawn their support, leaving her practically hanging from the Youkai Lord as he held her to himself.

She could feel the full length of him pressed against her front, warm and solid, and the slight vibration of a moan…right before she spiraled down even farther when his tongue darted out to lick lightly at the line of her lips. If her eyes weren't already closed, they would have crossed. Without even thinking her lips parted and Sesshomaru's tongue slipped between them as his head tilted to deepen the kiss.

Kagome had never been one who thought she would enjoy 'French Kissing'. For some reason the thought of having someone else'stongue in her mouth had never appealed. It just seemed far too gross to contemplate, no matter how her friends raved or dreamed about it. After all, she knew the funk that could develop in her own mouth from meals and what not, she didn't need anyone else's. And the Gods forbid if they drank coffee.

As such she was entirely unprepared for the sensation as Sesshomaru's tongue started to dance with her own. Lightning shot down her spine and the electricity of it pooled somewhere south of her navel. Vaguely she was aware of a higher pitched moaning sound followed by a lower one, but completely failed to realized just where they came from. Instead, she could feel Sesshomaru's hand slip from her hip around to the small of her back, pulling her closer up against him as something warm and furry wrapped around her higher up her back.

She had no idea how long she had stood there, kissing and being kissed, but it was that last move that wound up snapping her back to temporal reality. It was all thanks to Sesshomaru's strange armor. She had worried briefly earlier that morning when Rin had literally flung herself at the Lord that the young girl would impale herself on the strange spikes he seemed to prefer. Somehow, most likely through lots of experience, the girl avoided injury. Kagome wasn't quite so lucky.

As the force on her upper back tried to pull her closer Kagome found up close and personal that spikes on a chest plate made for a very bad wardrobe choice when kissing. As she began to be pressed into them she discovered that they were, in fact, just as pointy as they looked and the sudden, unexpected pain very effectively removed the cloud from her brain.

By all that is holy, she squealed in her mind,I'm kissing Sesshomaru! Act be damned, this is not going to help matters!

She tried to pull back slightly only to have Sesshomaru follow, his tongue still stroking hers as he tried to pull her closer. Of course, while the stroking tongue tried to send her back to her previous habitation of Mushdom, the spike thoroughly evicted her. Kagome squealed slightly and jerked her head back, effectively breaking the kiss.

Instantly she became aware of three things very quickly. One, kissing for a long time makes for a necessity of large amount of air very quickly. Two, Sesshomaru's eyes got very big when he was truly startled. And Three, she could no longer feel Massoumo anywhere nearby.

"Se…Sesshomaru," she breathed as she tried to get the right amount of oxygen to her brain. He blinked at her for a moment, his eyes still wide and completely blank in a whole new way. "Your armor…"

He blinked at her again for a moment before glancing down to see where she was trying to lean her upper body away from the spikes she was being pressed into. He immediately loosened his hold but did not release her. Instead, his eyes closed as his forehead dropped to rest against hers as he seemed to be trying to simultaneously to even out his breathing and shatter his molars.

Kagome stayed silent, trying to let him recover from whatever Instinct had overcome him. Her hands were still pressed against his shoulders from where she had tried to push her top away from him and she stayed very still in the hopes of not aggravating his Beast any further than it must already be.

Finally, his arm around her back seemed to loosen slightly, though he still didn't let go. He did manage to draw in a deep breath through his clenched teeth, though.

"Massoumo?" he asked softly, eye squeezed tightly shut.

"Gone," Kagome whispered. Sesshomaru nodded ever so slightly, taking her head with it as they were still pressed together at the brow. If it had been any other situation she would have found it romantic or cute or endearing. As it was, she was just hoping that Sesshomaru could regain control of himself.

"I…uh…," she started slowly, watching as Sesshomaru's golden eyes opened the slightest bit to look at her. "I should probably go make some lunch or something. Over there. Down wind."

Sesshomaru seemed to gulp, a move that seemed completely out of place for the stoic Lord. "That would probably be a very good idea," he managed to strangle out.

Kagome waited for a moment for him to release her so she could do just that...and waited a couple more.

"Um…Sesshomaru," she started. "You're going to have to let go."

Sesshomaru's arm tightened ever so slightly before she could feel him forcibly trying to relax, the muscles so tense they were damn near shaking.

"Believe me," he said through clenched teeth and closed eyes, "this Sesshomaru is trying."

Kagome felt her conscious spring to life and hit her in the gut. Guilt washed through her as she was once more face with just how little control Sesshomaru had over all of this, and that in the end, he was the actual victim here. If only she wasn't so stupid as to have gotten caught in the first place, if only she wasn't so useless that she couldn't have snagged Massoumo herself at the spring…then Sesshomaru would never have been forced into this kind of position. It was her fault…

"I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling the telltale burn of tears forming behind her eyes and her guilt overwhelmed her. She hated to see someone else suffering, and it was ten times worse to know that she was the reason for it.

This, out of everything, seemed to draw Sesshomaru out of whatever place of struggle he'd been residing. His eyes opened, his arm loosened, and he pulled back to look her in the face. For the first time, Kagome saw something akin to confusion flash through the Lord's golden eyes. That only made her feel worse as she dropped her own head just as the first of the tears spilled over her lashes.

The next thing she knew, his hand had left her back and was lifting her face, his thumb brushing away her tears of remorse.

"No, Kagome," he said softly, "no tears. You bear no fault in this, and the loss of control was my own." He snorted so slightly and refined that she somehow felt wrong calling it that before continuing. "You are entirely too alluring, in more than just scent."

It's amazing the power of embarrassment, as it more than managed to dry up her tears of guilt more effectively than Sesshomaru's protestations of her guilt. She felt her cheeks warm…bringing other parts with it, and quickly tamped down on the feeling.

"You don't mean that, Sesshomaru-sama," she said, avoiding his gaze. "It's the spell talking."

With his hand on her face instead of her back she managed to step back a pace before she was drawn up short. Kagome looked down in surprise to find herself wrapped up in the fluffy white fur she had recently discovered was actually Sesshomaru's tail. It appeared to have looped around the both of them sometime during the kiss and while he was no longer pressing her against him, it made it impossible to move further.So that's what that was pulling me forward…

"Forgive me," Sesshomaru said, taking a step back himself as the fur began to unwind itself and settle back around his shoulder. Kagome watched, absolutely fascinated. Sure, she'd seen him use it before as a weapon, but she hadn't really realized it could move on its own. "Mokumoku-sama sometimes has a mind of his own."

Kagome blinked and looked up at the Demon Lord she was now separated from, completely shocked. "You call your tail Mokumoku-sama?" She'd heard of guys naming certain parts…but come on.

If she hadn't been so close to him still she probably wouldn't have seen the slight twitch of his lips that seemed to be fighting a smile. "No, I call Mokumoku-sama my tail."

Kagome blinked, completely confused.Okay…nope. Does not compute.

"Huh?"

This time she could definitely see the twitch of his lips and thought about getting annoyed. If there was one thing Kagome couldn't stand, it was being laughed at.

"Mokumoku-sama is an embodiment of my youki. It is a symbol of power and my control over it, a traditional manifestation among the Shiro Inu. However, he acts and feels very much like my tail and I have always thought of him as such. I do not know if it is the same for others as it would be far too gouache to ask such a thing, but it is my experience."

Kagome just blinked at him for a moment, having absolutely nothing to say to that.Huh, so much for my conversational skills. She mused idly. Well, at least the tension seemed to be broken somewhat. Then again…she looked at Sesshomaru, who was studiously not looking at her. There was tension in every line of his body. Even his tail…Mokumoku…whatever, seemed to be tense. Perhaps she had better go back to her original plan and give the Taiyoukai a moment to compose himself.

"I'm…ah…I'm going to go see about that lunch thing," she stammered, giving herself a mental head smack for smoothness. Sesshomaru just gave her a jerky nod, still not looking at her anymore. "Yeah…"

Kagome move away quickly, trying not to look like she was fleeing.If this is any indication of what a Courting entails, we are in biiiiigtrouble.

ooOoo

Sesshomaru stood where Kagome had left him, eyes closed, fist clenched, while he fought for the control that had fled him. He was not nearly as composed on the inside as he tried to appear. All things considered, that said quite a lot.

A kiss should not, by any means, have affected him as much as it had. It wasn't even that much of a kiss, at least, not to his standards. It was obvious that Kagome was rather inexperienced when it came to such things. He had felt her surprise as he had deepened it, coaxing her tongue to dance with his. And for some reason he had found that all the more appealing. Whichreally made no sense, considering that he had always preferred more experienced females when it came to such things. He supposed that innocence had its charm, but he had never really desired it since it was usually accompanied with bumbling, bashfulness, and a general tendency to make more of things emotionally than there really was. Far too often the innocent maiden mistook lust for love and that could bring about any number of headaches that were definitely not worth the momentary abandon.

Perhaps it was the spell, perhaps something else he refused to think on, but the moment his lips had touched hers…the world exploded. His blood had raced with fire and his Inu had damn near howled. Even her obvious innocence had set him soaring, the timidity of her tongue thrilling him instead of discouraging. And he hadn't even gotten that far into kissing her, barely beginning to advance the innocent kiss into something more carnal.

Sesshomaru cursed himself. If it hadn't been for his armor…he had no idea where things would have gone. One of the other problems with innocence was that it tended to allow one to be overwhelmed by the sensations. He knew Kagome had gone along with the kiss at first as part of the act to convince Massoumo that they were stuck in his trap. But later…the scent of her arousal was still on the air and it certainly wasn't helping him regain control.

He gritted his teeth as he fought against his instincts. Kagome's response had been totally innocent, completely natural, and it was driving him insane. If she had been appalled at the kiss it would have been easier, his Protection instincts could have taken control and aided him. But as it was…the fact that she had not only be aroused by the kiss but respondedwillingly was making that impossible. In all his thoughts and preparations as to how this rouse would go he had never imagined that she would have shown anywillingness…a completely innocent response, pure and natural, and it was reeking absolute havoc on him.

He stood there, as still as possible, and was about to go out of his mind withneed. He needed her, needed to touch her, to hold her, to feel her move beneath him, feel himself inside her. He needed to growl in her ear and bury his nose in her hair. He needed to hear her moan his name, snuggle into his tail, smile up at him with a soft and contented expression. He needed her soft voice and her warm laugh, needed her sparkling eyes and her daring smile. He needed…

I need to get rid of this tent in my pants, he thought wryly. In the past it wouldn't have been a problem. There were plenty of females more than willing to help, but right now even the thought of thinking about them touching him was completely repulsive. There was only one he could accept at this point. And, joy of joys, she was the one that he could not have. But if he didn't do something soon he was either going to die of the pain or pounce on her.

Something else, I need to think of something else.

He closed his eyes and starting going over treaties in his head line for line, the same way he had learned them as a pup. When that didn't help he started attempting to calculate the distance to the moon. No good. All it made him do was think of how she would look with a moon symbol upon her neck, which of course led to how that symbol of royalty would get there…and that just made things worse.

By all that is holy… he groaned in his mind.If I cannot find something that will distract me from this soon I am going to have to take matters into my own hand…but with Massoumo wandering around who knows where I can't even leave long enough to do that. Shit. Something, something…surely this Sesshomaru can find…

"Sesshomaru-sama!"

Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open at the sound of Jaken's harsh screech. A moment later he caught the rather putrid, swampy scent of his fanatical servant and then the little imp was in front of him staring up at him with a devotion that bordered on the uncomfortable.

Well, that did it. He almost kissed the imp with relief as he felt himself cool. Ah, Jaken, the eternal mood killer. I knew there was a reason I kept him around.

"O Great Lord Sesshomaru-sama," Jaken intoned as he kneeled before him, "this lowly Jaken has done as his Lord bid and humbly presents the requested item."

Sesshomaru fought the urge to wince and the toad's prostrations as said servant raised an ornately carved, rectangular box above his head with both hands. There were times he seriously wondered why he kept the foul smelling, obsequious creature with him, but the fact of that matter was that he had no more loyal a servant. Normally kappa weren't so faithful, but Jaken's blind obsession with him made many things possible that otherwise would not be. There was no other he knew that would do his bidding so thoroughly and without thought. He knew without a doubt that when he had instructed Jaken to retrieve the box without allowing anyone to know that the toad would do so without fail. The kappa's service was both a blessing and, to his nose, a curse.

Besides, the little imp owed him a life debt, however unintentional, and Sesshomaru wasn't keen too have him die with it unfulfilled. He didn't need the toad's spirit to follow him through an eternity of reincarnations.

"Jaken," he said and immediately the adoring yellow eyes were fixed on him. "Take Ah-Un to Rin and inform my half-brother and his group that Massoumo has already made one appearance. Inuyasha is to go to the hot springs near here and see if he cannot detect some sort of scent or trail."

"Yes, O Lord," Jaken bowed. "And what shall this humble Jaken do then?"

Sesshomaru stared at him, his face unmoving. What did he think he was to do? Dance a jig? "You are to stay with Rin and ensure her safety until you are summoned."

Jaken blinked at him. "But…but my Lord! Cannot this Jaken be of more use to you here? Surely you will be wanting of his aid to keep the treacherous female from overstepping…"

A low growl cut Jaken off before Sesshomaru even knew he was growling. The moment he had started to malign Kagome his Beast had reacted.Control, Sesshomaru. Control.

"Are you questioning me, Jaken?"

Jaken's already bulbous eyes grew to frightening proportions and Sesshomaru repressed the urge to take a step back, least they popped.

"No! Oh my Great Lord, this Jaken would never dare to…"

"Quiet." Jaken gulped and immediately closed his beak. "Go."

With a frightened squeak the toad was off. If only everything in his life was so easy. Sesshomaru heaved a mental sigh and looked down at the box in his hand. Here was the final piece of their deception. His eyes drifted up to the direction Kagome had taken and froze. She was kneeling on the ground in front of a cleared off piece of earth with a ring of stones and unlit fire. That was right, she had mentioned doing something about lunch. But for the life of him, she seemed somehow stymied. The Lord felt the corners of his mouth lift at the adorable little scowl that had settle over her features, her pink lips puckering in thought.

Jaken. I must think of Jaken.he schooled himself as he felt the memory of their kiss start to creep up on him.Who would have ever thought that the Great Sesshomaru would be forced to trade one torture for another. With that he headed down to the stream and his own personal hell.

AN: And that's the end of that chapter. I meant to make it longer, but truthfully...I started to fizzle on the next part. I decided not to make anyone wait any longer and go ahead an post this one. Though I hope it's not as fluffy as it wound up feeling...yeesh. Well, the good news is that it means that I'm already started on the next part. Anyone wanna help me hogtie my muse so he'll stay in one friggin' place? Read and Review!