Chapter 7:

A couple months passed, and winter had come, snow would whiten the fields and stay that way for another month or so.

Katsume loved the snow, even if it was cold.

She sighed as she fell back into the smooth fluff of the snow, moving her arms and legs, making her usual snow angel.

Kaito's head blocked her view, staring down at her, smiling, "Need a hand?"

Katsume giggled, and grabbed his hand, slowly stepping away from her snow angel, staring down at it.

"My mom used to tell me that when you make a snow angel, even when the snow is gone, the angel remains." Katsume said.

Kaito laughed lightly, "Of course it stays." He said facing her.

He ran his hand through her silky black hair, clearing the snowflakes that were stuck in her hair, "You're the angel."

Katsume smiled at him, blushing lightly, "I am anything but an angel."

Kaito grinned, before backing away.

Whe he was at a safe distance, Katsume knelt down, grabbed a handful of snow, and threw it at him, and took off running.

Kaito stood there in shock for a few minutes before saying in a threatening voice, "You are so not getting away with this!"

He took after her, able to run faster in the snow than she could.

Suddenly, Katsume landed on a deep pile of snow, her legs sinking into the white powder.

She quickly turned to Kaito, who had stopped running, carefully creating a snowball in his hand.

Katsume waited until he stood, "No!"

Kaito threw the snowball at her, and she luckily leapt out of the way, climbing out of the deep snow.

She didn't have time to dodge the second snowball that he had made and it hit her side, making a tickling sensation that made her laugh.

"Ha!" Kaito boasted.

Katsume growled as she made a snowball of her own, tossing it at him while he was caught off guard.

It hit him square in the chest, and he stopped laughing, looking down at the powdery snow on his kimono.

"Ha!" Katsume shot back at him.

Kaito soon took off after her, and Katsume ran again, noticing snowflakes falling around her.

Suddenly, Kaito's arms curled around her waist, and they fell to the ground, rolling a couple times before Katsume felt Kaito's body against hers.

Katsume's laugh slowly ceased, breathing heavily, suddenly finding her golden eyes caught in his.

It was silent for a long time, neither of them making a move.

It was just them, in the slowly falling snow.

Kaito's hand gently caressed her cheek, her cheek warm against him.

"K-Kaito..." Katsume whispered, noticing his head slowly lowering to hers, until she could feel his breath against her.

W-what was going on? She had never felt this close to him before.

She gasped as his nose brushed against hers.

His lips were lingering right above hers, barely touching.

Katsume slowly found the strength to speak, "W-we should g-get to the den, it's getting c-colder."

Kaito made no moved immediately, but when he did, Katsume released a deep breath she didn't realize she was holding in.

He held out his hand for her to take.

She took it, and when she stood, she shivered, the temperature was dropping.

Kaito sighed, undoing his mokomoko, draping it around her shoulders.

Katsume stared at him with surprise, but welcomed the warmth.

Kaito led the way, guiding them through the snow, soon finding the den.

Katsume could see that her mom and dad had a fire made in the den.

She looked up at Kaito, smiling. "Thanks, I had fun."

Kaito smiled back at her, but Katsume sensed it wasn't a happy one. Pain maybe?

Katsume returned him the mokomoko and left his side, going into the den.

She glanced back at him one more time, watching him transform, and run off into the fast falling snow.

Sighing, she entered the den, sitting next to her mom, in front of the fire.

"Did you have fun?" Rin asked.

"Yeah. Wish you could have come, then maybe we could have had an official snowball war." Katsume said.

Rin laughed, "Thanks to your demon side, you are more accustomed to this kind of weather."

Katsume giggled, "But Dad shouldn't be sensitive to it."

"I had to stay with Rin, we all need to watch our backs at all times." Sesshomaru said.

Katsume nodded, thinking back to the wolves.

"I'm going to find food, since the lake is frozen." Sesshomaru said, "I will be right back."

He phased after he left the den.

Katsume found it beautiful how true dog forms blend in well with the snow.

Kaito was mindlessly wandering in the snow. He kept thinking back to Katsume, and how devoted he felt towards her. He never thought he'd feel... This close to her. Besides, she was Sesshomaru's daughter!

"Kaito."

Kaito nearly jumped, hearing his voice. "Sesshomaru, what are you doing out here?"

"Hunting. Have you found anything yet?" He asked.

"No. I think all the creatures have head in for winter." Kaito said.

"Kaito." He said again.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Your scent on Katsume is growing stronger." He observed.

Kaito flinched, "Yeah."

"I just hope you know that she is not your little play toy. Your job is to watch her, not put your scent on her like she is Yours." He said.

Kaito stuttered, "I am not doing any of that. I mean of no threat to her. I was just keeping her warm."

Sesshomaru wanted to say more, it was just... When he saw Kat coming to the den with Kaito's mokomoko around her, he sensed something was up.

Dog demons generally never give up anything of theirs to another, unless they were mates, or becoming.

"Yes. I care for her." Kaito admitted.

Sesshomaru glared at him.

"But I would Never hurt her." Kaito promised.

Sesshomaru was silent for a few minutes before nodding, "I trust you with her. Don't make me regret it."

With that, he left, going to find food.

Kaito sighed, a clouded breath escaping his mouth, he couldn't help this feeling he had for her, he's felt it eer since he met her.