I don't own InuYasha, or any of the characters used in this story.

Progress with the Shikon shards was slowing down. Where they used to get a new shard every week or so, now they could go months without finding one. This meant that Naraku had most, if not all, of the remaining shards, and that they would have to fight him very soon.

Kagome was pleased with this. Not that it was something to look forward to, but it definitely kept her mind occupied and away from…other things.

Winter had come, and brought with it some heavy snowstorms. Because of this, traveling had become almost impossible, and Kagome was spending more time on her side of the well to try and salvage some of her grades. This, of course, did not sit well with InuYasha.

"…stay here! We need you for sensing the shards!"

"InuYasha…"

"What do you need these 'gurades' for anyway? They won't do you any good fighting!"

"InuYasha…"

"That's what you should do! Train yourself! You could use the practice!"

"SIT!"

It wasn't so much the quantity, but the intensity that sent the red-clad boy crashing to the ground and creating a peculiar sort of snow-angel. Kagome took the time it would take him to get up to grab her bag and make a break for the well. Waving goodbye to Sango, Miroku and Shippo, she started up the little hill that led to the forest.

As she reached the top, where the forest began, it started to snow.

Trudging through the already knee-high pack of snow that had fallen earlier in the week, she wrestled her way to the well. They had been so clever to board the opening up so that the snow could not fall into it and tamper with the magic in any way. Kagome had insisted this was completely unnecessary, but Sango and Miroku had stated that they wanted to do something at least, so she should just let them do as they pleased.

Now, however, the wooden board was packed with snow, and too heavy for Kagome to move all at once. On the brink of throwing a terrible hissy fit, Kagome threw her backpack off, rolled up her sleeves and set to work all the snow off.

When she was about halfway, her fingers were about as red as tomatoes, and her mood wasn't getting much better. Huffing and puffing, trying to get some feeling back into her poor digits, she almost missed her miko-senses tingling with the nearing presence of youki.

"Great," Kagome thought miserably, "just what I need."

Grabbing ones bow and notching an arrow on it is easier said than done when ones fingers are completely numb. As she fumbled to get her fingers to cooperate, who else than the great Lord of the West should stroll casually into the clearing.

Kagome gave up trying to get her weapon into position, and simply stared for a moment, perplexed at the unfairness of it all. There he was, looking as pristine as ever, as though he was scaring the snowflakes away from his proximity, and there she was, pants practically frozen from the knees down, fingers not quite turning black from frostbite and snot just barely concealed in her completely ready to run nose.

This was the last straw.

Dropping the bow from her hands and bending down to scoop up a handful of snow, it briefly crossed her mind that she was probably not going to get away with this. Packing the snow into a firm ball, she giggled almost hysterically to herself. Nope, she sure as hell wasn't going to live for very long after this. Weighing the ball in one hand, she decided she couldn't care less on a day like this. Lobbing the ball in his general direction, she called out to him.

"Fetch!"

Sesshoumaru, on his end, was quite stunned. He had watched the miko gather the snow and make a ball of it, but he hadn't even begun to think of the possibility that she might actually throw it. Especially not in his direction. As the little white sphere was quickly gaining ground on him, he pondered what he should do. Avoid it, catch it, melt it with poison or just stand there and let himself get hit? He decided that the puny attempt to mar him was not deserving of an action from him, and that he should just ignore it.

Kagome followed the projectile of her doom as it zoomed closer to Sesshoumaru, and wondered why he wasn't moving or doing anything to disintegrate it. Mortified, she watched as it got closer and closer, until not even Sesshoumaru would have a chance of avoiding it. She squinted her eyes, preparing for the blow that would end her life as the snowball went 'thud' on his left shoulder.

Now, Sesshoumaru faced a different problem. As parts of the ball slid down his shoulder and under his armor, he was finding it quite difficult to keep his composure and not hop around madly to get the cold snow, now almost all water, out of his clothes and away from his person. But, by sheer will power, he managed to ride it out, and as the last of it melted and adjusted to his body temperature, he fixed the miko with a glare that would have chilled her more than the snow. That is, of course, if she had seen it.

Kagome was still standing with her eyes practically shut, waiting for Sesshoumaru to kill her. A few moments went by, and she carefully opened one eye to see what he was doing. Only to find him gone from the clearing. Confused, she opened her other eye as well, quite widely, and looked around to see where he had gone. Not a trace was to be found. Deciding that she should take this happy break, the shoved the rest of the snow off of the lid as fast as she could, gathered her bag, and prepared to jump in. She never saw it coming.

A snowball so hard it was practically a lump of ice hit her in the back of the head, with a force that caused her to lose her balance. As she toppled over the edge of the well and fell towards her home, she heard it.

"Fetch."