Author's note : Hi again! Please review and tell me what you think, or provide constructive criticism.

Kagome

I left school in a blur, running down the front steps with the wind whipping my hair around. I ignored the cold, just shivering and pulling my bag higher up my shoulders. My shoes hit the floor with a new urgency as I ran home.

I was totally, and completely confused. And something else…I was scared. I replayed the way Naraku's cold hands had held an iron grip on my arms and looked at me with those eyes in my head. God, I just wanted to pretend it hadn't happened.

By the time I reached my house and pulled out my key, my hands were ice cold and slightly numb. I fumbled with it for a few moments before finally succeeding. Wrapping my cold hand around the handle, I pushed the door open. The warm air that blew to my face was heaven for my red, cold skin. My hair was windblown and messy. I reached up to comb my hair with my fingers and took off my shoes at the same time.

I heard footsteps and lifted my head. My father stood in front of me, running a hand through his hair and looking as if he hadn't slept in a week. His clothes were wrinkled again, and he had a stern expression on his face. I hadn't spoken to him much since he had yelled at me a week ago. He'd been too busy to care.

"Kagome, close the door. It's cold." He said wearily.

Obediently, I reached behind to close the door. I locked it and began walking up the stairs.

"Kagome." He called firmly behind me.

I turned slowly. "Yes?" I asked.

He sighed, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge between them. "Your mother called to say she can't come to see you this weekend." He said finally.

Something cold settled in the pit of my stomach. I missed her. I hadn't seen her since a month before school started. It felt like we were slowly moving farther apart. Her calls were less often, and her emails had gradually stopped coming. "What?" I choked out. "Why?"

"She, uh…didn't specify why. You should call her." He suggested.

"She should call me!" I cried out. Suddenly I didn't feel like going home. I didn't want to be here. I quickly went down the stairs and put my shoes on.

"Where are you going?" He asked, voice raised this time.

I turned to look at him. He looked so much older lately. Not just that…so different. It was like the father I knew had completely disappeared over the last few weeks. "Out." I answered quietly. "Maybe I'll be back later." Then, before he could say anything else, I closed the door and ran.

.

In about twenty minutes I buzzed Inuyasha's front door. It took a while for anyone to answer it. I shivered and rubbed my hands together.

Toushi opened the door, but didn't smile when he saw me. "Oh, Kagome. This really isn't the best time." He said, although he let me in. He seemed troubled.

I was confused. "Why?" I asked, not hearing anything that would convince me that something was wrong.

He seemed to think about that. "I don't think I am in the position to tell you. I suggest you knock before entering Inuyasha's bedroom, though." He said dutifully.

"Oh." I replied, smiling awkwardly. "Alright, then." I walked up the stairs with my hand on the rail and then slowly headed towards his room. The hallway was dark, but there was light spilling out of his room at the end of it. The door was slightly open.

As I neared it, I began to hear voices. I came up to it, and peeked through the crack of the door. I couldn't see much…and then I froze at what I saw. My throat seemed to close up and my heart felt like it had stopped and fallen out of my chest. It was like being slapped, or punched in the gut.

What I saw was two figures huddled under the covers of his bed. They were moving too, in the most intimate way. One was Inuyasha, and he had a hand on the back of the girl's neck, kissing her hungrily. Then she arched her back, and when her head came up I suppressed a gasp.

My legs had all but given out. I took a step back, or rather stumbled back, and hit what nearly felt like a wall. Then Sesshomaru's hands were on my shoulders steadying me. I looked up at him, and he was looking through the door. He'd seen what I'd seen.

I wanted to run away. Nothing could stop the tears that made their way down my face and silently fell to the floor. I didn't reach up to wipe them away. I couldn't feel them anymore. I wanted to be completely numb…and I was. I couldn't feel myself anymore, or make any sound.

I broke out of his arms and flew down the steps, my vision cloudy from the tears that blinded me. I ran out the door and down the cold street before I broke into long, full sobs. My legs gave out and I buried my face in my hands.

I didn't hear the footsteps behind me. I didn't even think he would have followed me.

But then there he was, sweeping me into his long arms and letting me cry into his chest. With his arms around me, I didn't feel cold anymore, or scared, or broken.

If I had cared, I would have noticed that the wind had stopped, and it wasn't nearly so cold. If I had cared, I would have noticed that the sun was setting, casting a glorious blend of colours onto everything in sight. But I didn't care.

I don't know how much time passed before I finally pulled away and he said softly, "Are you okay?"

Was I okay? My heart didn't feel broken. Not entirely. Parts of it felt shredded, but not completely. I slowly nodded, keeping my eyes down. Then he surprised me, by taking my hand. His hand was not at all as cold or hard as I'd suspected it to be when I'd first met him. When he softly laced his fingers through mine, his hand was large and soft, and especially warm. Then he pulled me. "Come on." He said, and I did.

I don't know how far we walked, or ran. I wasn't paying attention. But soon, he pulled me into an open field of grass surrounded my large trees. The last rays of sunlight reached us here, illuminating the entire clearing. It was quiet, and perfect.

He gently pulled me down beside him on the grass, with our backs leaning against the old oak tree. He bent his legs up and pulled my hand across his legs, so that I fell into him. I don't know why I stayed there, with my hand in his, with my head on his shoulder, like that was how it was supposed to be. I just closed my eyes and breathed in his heady scent.

We didn't speak for what felt like hours. He just held my hand and let me lean against him. I stayed like that, with my eyes closed, wondering. It was like without speaking, I'd been pouring my soul to him.

The first few drops of rain on my face were what caused me to open my eyes. Sesshomaru still hadn't moved, still holding my hand, and softly stroking it with his thumb. The sun had gone down, but it wasn't too dark. I could still see everything and the sky still a had a little glow to it. It wasn't until the rain began really pouring that I turned to look at Sesshomaru again.

I don't know if it was the rain that was suddenly ripping through his hair and dripping down on his face that made me really become so aware of him. Maybe it was the way he looked back at me. But suddenly, I could see the blue glow against his silver hair, the smoothness of his skin. His eyes still looked to me like the most beautiful golden, and his lips soft and pink. I wanted to reach out a finger to trace his very prominent jawline, his lips…and then I did. He didn't refuse it, didn't flinch. He just lowered his eyes and accepted it.

Now, the rain had tore through my hair and made hit my bare arms. I ignored it as it continued drenching us. He reached out and with the lightest touch, graced my neck with a feather like touch. And then gold help me, I reached forward, a little trembling, to put my hands on both sides of his face. His eyes finally raised back to mine, and then somehow, I leaned forward.

When our lips met, it was like something exploded inside of me, and totally and completely filled me up. His lips really were as soft as they looked, even softer. He gently pulled me closer with a hand on the back of my head. It was an innocent kiss, soft, slow, and extremely gentle. However, it felt like the most intimate of actions, the way my body reacted to it, the way my senses went into overdrive.

Then, ever slowly, he pulled away. I didn't know what emotion registered on my face, and I couldn't read his. It was only when he pulled me to my feet that I realized we were both completely wet, and it was very cold. "Let's go." Was all he said.

When we reached his door, I had a suddenly, unexplainable fear that he would just leave me there to go home. However, he gently pulled me in and led me up the stars. Ignoring the light that was still on in Inuyasha's room, we entered his room. Not turning the light on, he just closed the door behind him as I sat down on his bed, leaning back against the wall.

I could still see his outline from the open windows, and that was all I needed. He closed the distance between us and was soon with me again, bending down to where I sat on his bed to tuck a loop of hair behind my ear and kiss the earlobe he'd tucked it around softly. When his lips met my skin, I forgot everything. He kept a hand around that area of my face as he tilted it towards him and kissed my eyelids. Oh god. I raised a trembling hand to his face and slipped my fingers through his wet hair, pulling him down softly to meet my mouth.

Slowly, the kiss grew more erotic, and the passion had subtly slipped through and had filled him, and perhaps me as well. He softly held a hand to the end of my jaw, using his thumb to hold my face up. Then, not breaking the kiss, he slowly mounted the bed on his knees, slipping off his shoes with his feet. I raised my head higher to reach him, lifting my arms to loosely encircle his neck. He slipped an arm against my back and gently lay me down onto the bed.

He pulled away from the kiss, raising his head just above mine. "Are you sure?" He asked me softly, and I knew what he meant. I looked into his eyes and there I saw everything he promised. The desire, the trust, and the wave of passion. In that moment, I forgot every single reason why it was wrong.

I nodded. He then met my lips again, and kissed me with the passion I'd seen in his eyes. His lips were fire on mine, but I wanted him closer to me. A hand on the back of his head, I pulled him down even closer. His hand on my waist, he fingered the edge of my wet shirt. Then gently he slipped his warm hand under. I'd never had someone touch my naked breasts, and certainly not the way he did. But when he did, I was amazed at the way he made me feel. First he cupped it and caressed it gently, but I wanted him more than that. He cupped, and kneaded, and flattened, and squeezed. Pinching my nipple softly between his fingers gave me feelings I never knew I could experience. It was amazing how those small actions gave me absolute bliss.

Then he slipped his hand out, reached behind him to the edge of his shirt and he pulled it off before resuming the kiss. But I wanted to feel his bare skin against mine. He seemed to feel that and he gently eased it up above my chest, through my arms and over my head. Next, groaning a little, he undid my bra and flung it to the side. Then the heat of his body met mine as he went back on top of me, his bare chest against mine.

He redirected his lips to my throat and I moved my face away for him to fully reach me. A small moan escaped my lips, and he seemed to find that erotic, because he'd undone my pants. I eased them off my legs and kicked them off the bed. Now, he slipped a leg between mine and moved his hand to my thigh, lifting my leg up, and rubbing it against him in circles. This lifted me to him, and it was extraordinary.

I wanted him closer, and I kissed him so passionately, he must have felt it. Soon, he'd kicked off his own pants and used his hands to pull off his underpants. Slipping a hand through my own underwear, he got off me and pulled it off my legs, swinging it around his wrist. Then, he covered me completely with his heat and softly met my lips once more. Now, his hands moved all over me, as if he was trying to see, only by touch, exactly how every part of me looked. Then his hands were on my bottom, squeezing and rubbing in circles. I groaned softly and ran my hands down his bare body.

The heat was nearly unbearable, but somehow, it still wasn't enough. And then suddenly he was driving me crazy with his mouth and his hands and his legs. The passion escalated until I felt like I couldn't hold it anymore. I wanted him closer.

And then suddenly, I felt the sharpest pain between my legs and shrieked, digging my nails into his shoulders. He kissed me gently and softly apologized, promising it would never hurt again. And god, I believed him because in a moment, he was inside of me again, and it didn't hurt. All I could feel was the intense pleasure that overwhelmed me.

And then after kissing me softly a few more times, he just held me in his arms.