Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha and co. I don't own any of the songs that I put into the story, except on cd's. But I do own Shiori, Miyu & Koshin Hakogami, Kil Kai-another snow demon from feudal times & Aisu-female snow demon from feudal times, they are all mine.

AN: " " is speaking, ' ' is thought

And thanks to those that read & review, especially to Sesshomaru's Angel, thanks for the great reviews. The reviews mean a lot.

Now on with the show.

Glossary:

youkai-demon

inu-youkai-dog demon

ningen-human

ookami-wolf demon

osuwari-sit

aisu-ice

Shiori sighed and then before anyone could think, she grabbed a handful of his haori and kissed the stoic lord.

This surprised not only the Western Lord but everyone in the clearing. It also had the desired effect of calming his youkai rage, but it began to stir other emotions in the taiyoukai.

Chapter 18: Reaction to a Small Kiss

Everyone froze as they watched Shiori walk up to the enraged taiyoukai. Inu Yasha had to grabbed Kagome to keep her from going to her cousin. But nothing prepared the group for what Shiori did when she was almost toe to toe with Sesshomaru.

She had grabbed a handful of Sesshomaru's haori and pulled him into a hard kiss. Everyone held their breath, afraid of what the Ice Prince would do next.

Kagome was afraid that Shiori had made a big mistake and was trying to figure out how to get to her. But she didn't have to worry about any mishaps. The Ice Prince had made no move to hurt Shiori or to push her away.

The kiss did have the desired effect on Sesshomaru's youkai. It took away its rage, but now his youkai was thinking that it liked this little exercise. See, most taiyoukai don't practice kissing. Some found it a stictly human act and some had fangs that were too long for a good kiss. This was Sesshomaru's first kiss. (aawww!!!) The demon lord was stunned beyond belief. And that's putting it mildly. He was one of the taiyoukai that found kissing to be a repulsive human act. But now he was rethinking his opinion on the act of kissing. Though, he'd drop dead first before ever admitting that, even to himself.

Shiori noticed the change in the stoic lord and was going to end the kiss. As she moved to end the kiss, she heard a faint growl vibrate from his chest. This surprised her. She opened her eyes and found that he was staring at her. 'Wait, when did I close my eyes?' she asked herself. She kept her eyes on Sesshomaru and pulled back from the kiss slowly.

He kept his eyes on her, as well, watching her every movement. His youkai was not very happy with the kiss being over, but the stoic lord was back in control. His eyes were turning back to their beautiful, clear amber. But his mind was trying to figure out what just happened. He felt something from that kiss and was trying to figure out what it was.

Shiori saw the wheels turning in his head and cleared her throat. "Well, if you don't mind, I think that I will get back to my friends. I'm pretty sure that they would like to get going this morning," she said softly, a little breathless.

He remained quiet, almost as if he was studying her. He noticed that she had a slight blush to her cheeks and her lips were a little red. He looked up at her eyes and saw that she was as confused as he was about the kiss. He leaned in close and whispered, "I would really like to know why you did that, little guardian. And what kind of spell you are weaving?"

"I'm not weaving any spell, Sesshomaru. I can promise you that," she answered, still a little breathless. They both seemed to notice at the same time that she was still holding a fist full of his haori. She smiled, let go and began to lower her hand.

Sesshomaru quickly caught her hand and brought it up for inspection. He noticed that she had long, blue talons in place of her finger nails. He then looked down at this haori and saw four neat tears.

She followed his gaze. "Oh, I'm sorry about that," she began. She looked up to find herself being studied again. "I change sometimes because of strong emotions. I'm truly sorry about your shirt."

He remained quiet and allowed her to remove her hand from his grasp. "I see. What do you look like in your demon form?" As soon as the question came out, he wanted to take it back. He did not want to act like he had any interest in the girl standing before him.

Shiori backed away from him and took a deep breath. She removed her outer shirt to reveal a light blue tank top. She turned and found Kagome standing beside her. One could see a family resemblance between the two girls.

Kagome smiled and took the outer shirt from her cousin. She had been standing close enough for a few minutes and just smiled. She stepped back a step to give her cousin room for her wings. She also looked back and noticed that Lord Kil Kai had been watching the two very closely. His expression was a closed one, but there was a spark of interest in his eyes as he too wanted to see Shiori in demon form.

Shiori returned the smile and held up her arms. Just as before, she flowed into the change with ease. Her hair changed to a bright silver with dark blue streaks. Her wings grew in, large, with dark blue feathers that matched the streaks in her hair. Her eyes also changed to an icy blue color, almost white. When she was done, a powerful, graceful youkai stood proudly before Sesshomaru.

Lord Kil Kai was stunned by the beauty that stood in the clearing. He walked around her so he could see her eyes. He had not liked watching her kiss the Western Lord, but he understood. He felt the anger flowing off the lord in waves and thought that there was going to be a huge fight. But he still didn't like her kissing the stoic lord. "You look beautiful, Lady Shiori."

Shiori made eye contact with the Northern Lord. "Thank you, Lord Kil Kai," she said with a smile. "I will admit that I sometimes feel more comfortable like this. Especially when I'm in the air."

Kil Kai smiled, "Yes, there is nothing like the freedom of flight. Maybe we can go flying together sometime."

"Well, I'm not sure if I'll have the time to just go out. We are very busy," she replied smiling, kind.

"Yes, and we should get our things and get going," Kagome added, turning to walk back to the Inu group.

The members of the group were still a little stunned by the whole scene in the clearing. They now knew a little bit about what was going on between Sesshomaru and Shiori, but it was still brave on her part to kiss him. They were sure that he was one who declared himself above such 'petty, human actions.'

Miroku was the first one to snap out of his stupor to add, "Yes, we should get going. We have shards to hunt down and evil demons and humans to stop."

Shippou jumped up on Kagome's shoulder to say, "And besides, we haven't had breakfast yet."

Shiori smiled at the little kitsune. "You're right, and that is just as important."

Kil Kai took Shiori's hand in his and said, "Well, then I will leave you, for now. We will meet again, Lady Shiori." Not waiting for a reply, he spread his impressive, light blue wings and took the air, heading west.

Shiori watched him leave and then lowered her eyes to find Sesshomaru watching her again. "What? I thought that you would be leaving, too."

Sesshomaru took a few steps forward and replied, coolly, yet softly, "I'll leave when I choose to and not before, Little One." He barely stopped the smirk that threatened when he saw her eyes flash with irritation.

"The only ones allowed to call me Little One are my father and the Goddess, herself. I have not given you permission to use it," she gritted out, "So, until I do, don't call me that."

He did let a smirk show on his lips before saying, "I'd like to meet this goddess of yours. Maybe she can tell me how to tame you."

She gave him an evil glare before replying, "I'm sure she would like to meet you, too. And, as for taming me, you can just forget being the one to do it. There is no one that can. And believe me, some have tried." She turned to leave and dismiss him.

He did not like being dismissed, but let it go, because he did not want to debase himself by making a scene. Especially in front of his half-brother's pack. But he did say, "We will meet again, as well, Little One." After saying that, he took to the air on youki cloud, and was gone.

Shiori was seething. "Damned, egotistical, arrogant, dog-demon!" She walked towards the group and said, "Let's get out of here. I'm ready to find something to pummel."

AN: And again, I'm so sorry that I have been slacking on updating. I admit that is was because of a bit of writer's block and because I got so caught up in reading the other wonderful stories on this website. How do you guys like it so far? Please read & review. Or I won't write any more!!! just kidding, please review.

I would like to thank my wonderful editor, ninjawarrior4life, my bro. glad you like it.

And thanks to everyone who has been reading this story from the beginning when I first started posting it. And to those who read and like it.

THX to all my readers.