Disclaimer: I wish on every star that I will someday own InuYasha… that wish has yet to come true.
"Argg… SIT!" the high-pitched roar of an aggravated young miko rang through the forest, scaring many small critters out of their hiding places.
InuYasha was once again forced to kiss the ground against his will.
Sango, Miroku, and Shippo winced in sympathy for their poor hanyou friend, but did nothing to stop his suffering. He had incurred the wrath of the usually generous and kind miko and everyone knew that when Kagome was mad you'd better stay out of her way. Besides, InuYasha deserved every 'sit' he got. Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and even Kilala (a/n: everywhere I go I read Kiara or something like that, hasn't anyone noticed that on the anime it's pronounced Key-la-la? So I'm just gonna spell it Kilala from now on… DEAL WITH IT!!) breathed a collective sigh. InuYasha never learned.
InuYasha sprang up as the subduing spell on the rosary wore off. His face was covered in dirt and crumbled bits of leaves were caught in his hair. He was a spectacle. Shippo couldn't help giggling a bit. InuYasha silenced him quickly with a swift glare. Lucky for InuYasha, the already enraged Kagome hadn't noticed his silent glare-threat directed towards the small kitsune youkai. Had she seen it would have guaranteed the hanyou a string of 'sits.'
Kagome's back was to InuYasha. She strode deeper into the woods and away from her friends.
"Oi, wench! Where are you going?" InuYasha questioned rudely.
Kagome stopped in her tracks.
"I'm going to a waterfall I know isn't far from here. I need to relax for a little while." Kagome's voice was calm but one glance at her tense form and white knuckles told you how hard she was fighting to try not to yell at InuYasha. The oblivious hanyou either didn't notice or chose to ignore these warning signs. That or he had a death wish, either way he made a very bad move.
"You can't rest now! We have jewel shards to find! Did you hear me woman? I said: did you he-" here InuYasha was cut off by an infuriated miko. If InuYasha hadn't known better he would've said that she had come straight from hell.
"I'M GOING TO FUCKIN' REST INUYASHA! I DON'T NEED YOUR DAMN PERMISSION!" then Kagome took a deep breath and… "SIT!" she shrieked. The sound bounced off the mountains and came back to InuYasha's ears long after Kagome had left, taunting him with a cruel and wicked reminder of his blunder.
The miko stomped off the previously mentioned waterfall grumbling along the way about, "stupid, idiotic, oblivious, selfish…" well, you get the point: InuYasha.
Reaching her destination, Kagome sat down huffily on a nearby boulder, still fuming.
Sesshomaru had been patrolling the border of his lands as usual when he heard a strangled cry of "Sit!" Knowing there was only one person in Japan who would have a good reason to yell "sit" in the middle of a youkai infested forest; Sesshomaru quickly came to the conclusion that InuYasha and his pack were nearby.
His suspicions were confirmed when moments later Sesshomaru heard several words that Rin, with her human senses, could not hear. That was soon followed by yet another "sit" only further confirming his hunch.
Silently he broke away from his pack, Rin pouted momentarily before brightening up as she spotted a patch of flowers.
Sesshomaru followed his nose and ears and soon found the miko sitting by a waterfall.
Sesshomaru paused and looked at her. She sat serenely. The waterfall behind her gave off brilliant colors that spilled out like a broken rainbow. Her velvety black hair flowed naturally down her back in waves as her clear, blue eyes stared out into the distance. Her eyes held a thoughtful, far way look. She was obviously in deep contemplation and had not noticed his demonic aura.
Sesshomaru fond himself admiring her form. Startled, her shook himself, mentally cursing said miko for making him think such things.
"The wench is merely a tool on the way to finding my match. It will not do to grow attached." He chided himself.
The girl was still unaware of his presence and did not seem to show any signs of recognizing it anytime soon.
"So I'll just have to reveal myself."
And so he did. Kagome blinked and there he was. He appeared so suddenly she was sure it was a dream. At least until he spoke.
"Something troubles you miko."
Kagome frowned.
"Your little brother was being a dick again." She replied.
Sesshomaru's mouth twitched upward. He again cursed Kagome for bringing up long buried emotions. His face hardened even further. However, Sesshomaru realized this was not a good tactic. If he ever wanted the miko to open up and tell him about the location of his mate then he would have to make her feel comfortable in his presence. Sesshomaru sighed. Knowing humans and how they were so dependent on emotions he would have to gain her trust by showing his own. With this knowledge Sesshomaru slowly and reluctantly eased his face from an emotionless mask to show amusement and irritation.
"If I'm going to show my emotions I might as well be truthful about them." He thought.
Kagome didn't seem to notice his change at all.
"The girl is either clueless and ignorant or could care less… or perhaps she also hides her emotions." The thought startled him. "Why would she hide her emotions? If she does then she does so very differently than I. Rather than behind an outward appearance of no emotions, like myself, she hides behind a happy exterior." As he pondered this, a thought entered his head that he could not ignore. "Perhaps she has been hurt one too many times. Perhaps she hides behind her own mask to deflect the possibility of being hurt as such again."
Strangely enough Sesshomaru understood this. It seemed to him that he and the miko had more in common than he originally thought. Especially considering that to begin with he had thought they had nothing in common at all.
What Sesshomaru failed to remember while thinking was that he had completely dropped his cool, calm, and collected façade.
Kagome stared up at the momentarily oblivious taiyoukai with, at first, wonder, then, amusement. Sesshomaru was obviously off in his own little world, absorbed in his own thoughts. Kagome watched silently for a moment, observing the different emotions flash onto his face only to be replaced an instant later with yet another.
Sesshomaru, quite suddenly, became keenly aware of the miko's eyes that were watching him with curiosity and amusement.
Sesshomaru flushed pink for an instant before going pale. HE, Sesshomaru, had BLUSHED! He had forgotten about taking off his mask. He looked up quickly, hoping to find that Kagome had not noticed. Unfortunately for the youkai lord, he had just caught a bit of terrible luck: Kagome had seen.
"You know, Sesshomaru, I don't think I've ever seen you like this before." She smiled.
Sesshomaru took a moment before responding.
"I do not show my emotions to enemies. It would distract me and give them an advantage over me in battle." Was his cool answer.
"And I'm not an enemy?" she questioned.
"No. Unless you WANT to be." Sesshomaru flexed his poison claws as he said this.
"No. I'm good!" she replied cheerfully.
She tilted her head in a playful manner.
"So, miko, what did the hanyou do this time?" Sesshomaru asked. You know, not because he was actually interested or anything like that.
Kagome's cheerful expression melted suddenly to be replaced by a fierce scowl.
"He wouldn't let me go home." She pouted.
"Home. The future. You never did tell me exactly how far into the future you were from." Sesshomaru commented.
"Hmm… oh, 500 years or so." She replied, waving her hand about as if it were such a trivial matter.
Sesshomaru eyed Kagome with astonishment.
"A lot can happen in 500 years miko. Surely you could tell me something of the future."
Kagome smiled, she had expected as much. Every person she had come across who she had told her secret had asked for her to tell them one thing about the time in which she was born.
"Well, I live in a shrine built around the sacred tree, the one InuYasha was pinned to for 50 years, with my grandfather, mother, and little brother Sota." She paused to think. "We have many new technologies that assist us in many ways. Oh! And we've been to the moon! Well, not the Japanese specifically, but the Americans have."
Sesshomaru was amazed to say the least. The moon! Humans had been to the moon.
"And what," he wondered, "are Americans?"
By now Kagome was looking at him again, gauging his reaction to the information she had just divulged.
She gave him a questioning look.
"You wish to ask me something, miko?"
"Yes. What is your reason for coming here? I know you didn't come to hear me diss InuYasha. Also you KNOW that I'm not going to tell you the identity of your match just yet. So what is your purpose for coming here?"
Sesshomaru sighed, to think that he had almost forgotten.
"I want you to tell me more about my future mate." He answered her.
Kagome smiled softly.
"Fine, just a little."
a/n: that took forever to type! I don't generally like to type that much so it takes me forever to type up what I need to get done. Plus there is school. (shudders) so go on and review! I need the reviews! Also, please check out my profile. I have written a few oneshots too that some of you may be interested in reading. So REVIEW!!
-OhBrother
p.s. yes, i know that Sesshomaru is a bit OOC in this chapter but just remember that he did drop his mask and showed Kagome his emotions. he just got more than he bargained for!