Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha only my oc

The red sunlight slowly broke through the horizon. Shiori sat peacefully on a high tree branch. She'd been waiting for hours to watch the sunrise. After much anticipation, it proved to be a very disappointing event. She was hopping for something more….extravagant. It wasn't that she'd never seen a sunrise before—she had. She just never took the time to watch one. Everyone always spoke about how beautiful they were. But Shiori wasn't exactly impressed.

"I guess the old saying is true," she said to herself. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

She tilted her head up to catch the morning breeze. It blew a strand of her hair onto her face. Shiori gently tucked it behind her left ear. Her hair was still damp from earlier, when she bathed in the river. How long ago was that? Shiori wasn't entirely sure. She had a lot on her mind.

Her latest encounter with Naraku completely stirred up her emotions. She wasn't sure what to do at this point. She remembered how she felt when Sesshomaru was engulfed in into Naraku's flesh. She felt like something inside her was…..breaking. It was the worst feeling she felt in her entire life. Shiori closed her eyes as she imagined the scene. It truly scared her…she couldn't get the image of Sesshomaru's engulfed body out of her head. Never in her entire life had she felt such…..despair. Not even when surrounded by grieving humans. No, this was much worse…..because it was her own despair. She wasn't being attacked by negative human emotions; she was being attacked by her own.

"This is ridiculous," thought Shiori. "What's wrong with me? I've worked so hard to suppress my emotions….but now they're spiraling out of control. I don't know how long I can keep this up."

She opened her eyes and wrapped her arms around her knees. Shiori stared up at the rising sun. Again, she felt nothing special about it. She tried thinking about something other than Sesshomaru—anything! But nothing seemed to come to mind. No matter what she thought about, her mind always went back to him.

"Speak of the devil…"

It was then that she sensed him….he was coming this way. Shiori felt her heart freeze up. He was searching for her. She knew it was useless to hide from him, but still. Just as she was about to flee, he floated up from below. His amber eyes calmly burned into hers. She had nowhere to run.

"Why have you hidden yourself from me?" he demanded to know.

Shiori blinked, "why do you assume I'm hiding from you?"

"Because you attempted to wash away your scent away by bathing in the river," he said dryly.

"You were spying on me," she accused.

He frowned, "I've no need for such things. I simply followed your scent to the river and figured out what you did. I then picked up on the scent of your sword."

"So he was following me then….yes, that's much better!" she sarcastically thought. "My lord, why must you be such a dog?" she asked turning away from him.

He stared at her. He was unsure if he'd just been insulted or not. He sat down in front of her and continued staring at her. Shiori glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. Why was he still looking at her?

"Lord Sesshomaru," said Shiori slowly. "Not that I don't enjoy your company, but why are you here with me? Shouldn't you be patrolling your lands?"

"Have I upset you, Shiori?" he asked. "Why've you been so hostile towards me lately?"

How could she answer his question? She didn't even have an answer for herself…She had a few different answers….but none seemed to be right. She was completely lost.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

"That doesn't answer my question," he said. "Ever since our battle with Naraku, you've been exhibiting strange behavior."

"I've just had a lot on my mind lately," she said, "Too much actually."

She looked away from him, but still felt her haunting gaze. She tried in vain not to face him. He was doing it again! He was once again trying to drill into her mind. Why did he always do that? It was impossible to please him.

"Why," she began, "on Earth did it take you so long to break free from Naraku's grasp?"

"I was waiting for the right opportunity," he answered flatly.

"A typical male response," she said. "Figures you'd keep us all in suspense."

"Shiori," he said softly. "Did I worry you?"

She stared into his amber eyes. He'd asked her this question once before. It was after he was nearly killed by Inuyasha's windscar for the first time. She searched for him for days. Finally, she found him sitting under a tree…and then he asked the same heart quenching question.

"I've never worried about anything in my entire life," she responded with the same answer she gave before. "Why should I start now?"

She quickly avoided the gaze that soon followed. Once again, he knew she was lying. But what was she suppose to tell him? Did he really expect her to tell him the truth? Shiori looked down and gathered her hands into her lap. What did he want her to say?

"Then why were you so upset with me for being engulfed by Naraku?" he questioned.

"Because you were careless." she said suddenly snapping. "You were almost absorbed by Naraku."

"I already explained that to you. I was waiting for the right opportunity," he said.

"No, you were being careless. Couldn't you sense the demonic aura in the chunks of Naraku's flesh?"

It was true, he could feel the demonic aura emitting from Naraku's chunks of flesh. He just didn't concern himself with such matters. He looked at her tortured expression.

"Couldn't you sense my demonic aura inside of Naraku's flesh?" he casually asked.

"Must you keep throwing my own questions back at me?" she questioned.

"I'm waiting for your answer," he said.

Shiori had been unable to sense Sesshomaru's demonic aura. If she'd stop to concentrate, she may have felt it. But she was so worked up with emotion, that she didn't even notice it. After thinking about it, she felt a little embarrassed for thinking he'd died—again.

"Yes," she lied.

He narrowed his eyes at her, "I don't believe you."

"Naturally he won't believe anything I say,"

"I know you didn't feel my aura," said Sesshomaru confidently. "And I know you were worried."

Shiori was now completely confused. What was he talking about now?

"What makes you think that?" she asked him.

"Because," he said simply. "I heard you."

"You…..what?"

"When I was fighting Naraku…..you told me to be careful," he answered.

She stared in shock, "I never said that….out loud."

He nodded, "I know. I heard your thoughts. You somehow transmitted them into my mind."

"So I was right, he did hear me. How was I able to transmit my thoughts to him? I never have before….Perhaps I should ask Father about this the next time we meet."

"How did you do it?" he inquired.

"I don't know," she confessed.

"It doesn't seem like you to worry, Shiori," he said brushing it off. "Recently, you haven't been yourself."

"I haven't been myself for a long time," she said tilting her head to the sky. "But I can say the same thing for you as well."

"hmph," he scoffed.

"Well it's true. You're behavior has been….rather strange lately. Which reminds me of something, my lord. Why did you come after me and save me from Reika? Lord Sesshomaru," she paused. "Were you worried about me?"

This time, Sesshomaru was the one at a loss for words. She'd just turned the tables on him. He calmly stared at her smug expression. Why was she being so difficult?

"Absolutely ridiculous," he said sharply.

"I had a feeling you'd say something like that," she said with a satisfied smile.

Sesshomaru and Shiori were alike in so many ways. Both were very strong willed individual. Both of them always gave their all in a battle. And both were completely confused by the other. Neither of them would admit they were worried for the others safety….even though they'd proved it numerous times already.

"I'll have to leave you again," she said.

"And why is that?" he asked her.

"Because, I'm going after Naraku," she said. "This time, he's pushed me to my limits. He's been nothing but a thorn in my side. He has, after all, tried to kill me on 3 separate occasions."

"What about fighting your father's battles? Don't you need to kill the lords of the underworld?" he asked with intrigue.

"That's on my to-do list," she shrugged. "Besides, Father hasn't confirmed that yet. I don't even know how to go about doing that."

"Well, what makes you think you're going after Naraku alone?" he inquired.

"You mean you intended to go after him as well?" she asked a little shocked. "Why?"

She never thought Sesshomaru to join her in her quest to kill Naraku. She thought he'd continue patrolling the lands. But it was something she should have expected him to do. After all, Sesshomaru's honor had been insulted by Naraku.

"Because, he's my prey," said Sesshomaru profoundly.

"Such a dog….." she thought as she smiled.

"What are you smiling about now?" he demanded to know.

"If I told you, you'd just give me a vague look…..just like the one I'm receiving from you right now," she answered.

"You truly are an enigma," he flatly.

"I believe the term is, takes one to know one…my lord."

He looked away from her, "are you going now?"

"There's no need for me to go. You said you also wanted to kill Naraku. We may as well stay together," she said. "I'll remain for now. That is, unless you want me to leave you…."

"That is entirely up to you," he said.

"If I were to leave Rin would just be kidnapped again," she laughed. "Bad things seem to happen to her when I'm not around."

"She cares for you, you know?" he said staring straight into the sky.

"She cares for you as well," said Shiori.

She laid her head back on the tree and glanced at him. She couldn't help but stare at his empty kimono sleeve. There were times when she forgot that Sesshomaru only had 1 arm. Ever since his first encounter with Naraku, he stopped trying to replace his lost limb. He seemed quite adapted to his 1 arm status.

"Hmph," he scoffed. "Humans and their emotions. I'll never be able to understand them."

"At least you don't have to feel them," she thought while glaring at him angrily. "Why did father to tell me to better understand my emotions? I don't want to understand them; I just want to be rid of them. How could I possibly benefit from them?"

She thought about her transmitted thoughts. It was possible that her emotions at the time triggered the transfer. Could that be why she was to learn about them more?

"I've noticed you haven't been running away as much," he said. "you use to always shy from large areas with negative human emotions."

"I have a better understanding for the emotions over others now," she answered in her thoughts. "But at what cost? I'm losing a piece of myself every day."

She folded her hands across her chest, "You've noticed a lot of things about me lately, haven't you?"

"I've noticed you now wear your hair down all the time," he said cutting his eyes at her. "hmm, now why is that?"

Shiori sunk down and hid herself from him, "I like is better this way. Besides, Rin's always playing in my hair. I might as well wear it down."

He appeared to be looking into the core of her very soul. He knew for a fact that she was lying. She was well aware of this.

"Like I said," he said closing his eyes "It suits you."

Another morning breeze came through. Sesshomaru opened his eyes when he caught on to a scent. He stood up on the tree branch and looked down.

"Are you coming?" he asked her.

She sat back up, "coming where?"

"To find Naraku…."

She sighed deeply, "I suppose."

They jumped from the tree branch and landed on the ground simultaneously. Shiori felt Jaken's presence coming closer to them. It would seem that he left Rin behind. What a scumbag. Shiori would be sure to chew him out about that later. They walked in silence, as they usually did. Occasionally, Shiori would catch herself staring at Sesshomaru. Just what did he want from her? She tried not to relive the moment where she thought he died. It was too….painful for her. Why? Why was her life changing so rapidly?

"One things for certain," she thought while eyeballing Sesshomaru. "My thoughts aren't completely safe. Somehow, I transmitted my thoughts into his mind. I don't know how I did it or how to control it. It's best I didn't think about certain things around him. I must contact my father as soon as possible.."

Sorry this chapter's so slow and short. lol but it will definitely pick back up soon :)