I turned and held the sleeping woman close to me. Both her friends looked at me with amusement and I glared.
"If you have something you wish to say then speak it."
"Oh its nothing at all," Sango lied, "I just didn't think you'd show her a lot of attention like this is all."
"Its not business of yours."
"Sesshomaru, why won't you just tell her you like her," Miroku said.
"I've made that clear already."
"What he means is that your falling in love with her."
"Nonsense, why would I love a human? My father was foolish enough to fall for a human and died for the foolish notion of love."
"Your looking at it the wrong way. Your father died protecting what was most dear to him. Its tragic but its not foolish. If Rin were on the brink of death and the only way to save her was to trade your life for hers, would you do it?" I looked at the woman calmly but I will admit that the question shook me.
"You would, wouldn't you. Now when you think of Kagome would you do the same for her?" I looked at Kagome and thought on the question asked. However, when I thought about her dying I felt a small pain in my chest. It was dull but still pain that I shouldn't be able to feel.
Kagome
I woke up to see Sesshomaru looking forward. We were on the move and he was carrying me.
"Go back to sleep," he told me.
"I can walk the rest of the way there."
"I wasn't aware that I was giving you an option, miko." I tried to get down myself but he kept me in a steel grip.
"I can walk perfectly fine!" I heard him chuckle and stopped struggling to look at his smirk.
"Is that mediocre attempt supposed to release my arms from you?" I blushed and crossed my arms. Whats going on? My heart skipped a beat when I saw his smile. I've only ever felt that way with InuYasha! I looked at him once more but this time, the moonlight caught his face perfectly. My heartbeat began to speed up and I felt as if I could breathe. I relaxed in his arms and closed my eyes to calm down but found myself drifting back to sleep listening to his heartbeat.
I woke up and stretched but yelped when I saw InuYasha staring at me while being so close to my face.
"InuYasha, you scared me half to death!"
"Yeah, yeah, look we gotta talk."
"What about," I asked sadly. Before he could speak again Shippo ran towards us yelling my name.
"Kagome! Kagome come quick! Its an emergency!"
"What? Shippo?"
"It's Rin and the twins! They aren't looking to good!"
When I saw the children, Kaede looked puzzled along with Jinenji and Miroku. Sango looked worried out of her mind.
"I've never seen anything like this," Jinenji told Kaede.
"Neither have I." I looked at saw small red bumps on the children.
Sesshomaru went to Rin and examined her skin before looking at me.
"This is the disease that girl had from that village."
"Yeah, I can help them." I gave out orders to Jinenji, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo. When they returned, I treated them just like I did the girl. After an hour I had finished treating them and knew they'd recover quickly.
"Kagome, why can't we scratch it!"
"Yeah, it itches aunt Kagome!"
"I told you that it will only make it worst!"
"This honey is to sticky, aunt Kagome!"
"Honey is sticky but it'll help you recover."
"Thank you Kagome," Sango said, "how do you know so much about this? No one has never seen it before yet you knew what to do instantly."
"She's had it as a child," Sesshomaru said as he came behind me, "and her mother healed her like she healed the girls."
"You remember that," I asked him. His only response was a small, barely noticeable smirk before he walked away.
"Whats gotten into him," I asked out loud.
"You'll figure it out soon."
Later that day, I was watching the sunset alone and in sadness when something droppedover my face.
"What the-" I pulled it off and saw it was a beautifully designed kimono.
"What? what is-"
"Your tired of dressing like the dead shrine maiden," Sesshomaru said from behind me. I turned to face him and saw a small smile on his face. "Am I correct?"
"You didn't have to do this, really!"
He turned me back around and pulled the ribbon from my head.
"This again? Look, I told you that my hair gets in the wa-"
"Hold your tongue and sit still," he said and gathered up my hair. I felt him place something in it and it stayed up, minus my bang.
"I got you these things hoping to make you happy again." He pulled me up and guided my to the river. When I saw our reflection in the water I only saw me. I didn't look like Kikyo, I looked like Kagome! Tears gathered in my eyes and I turned to Sesshomaru and hugged him.
"Thank you, Sesshomaru. You may act indifferent and stuck up but I knew you were sweet!" I let him go and backed away to look at him. His face held suprise but then he looked away from me. I giggled and kisses his cheek before running off to put on my new cloths. I might even burn these cloths of Kikyo's later.
Its been two weeks and everyone had heals. Rin and the girls made a full recovery according to Kohaku. He looked after them and helped Jinenji take care of them back at home. Koga and his men were almost as good as new. Koga even spared with some of his tribe after I said not to. Also in two weeks I've watched InuYasha and Kikyo together every night. She asks about his and my status, sparingly, and he tells her that whenever he tries something happens. It always hurts me to see them but for some reason I'm torturing myself. He noticed my new cloths and said they looked great but it still wasn't enough to get him to come back to me.
"Your hopeless." I turned around and saw Sesshomaru looking down at me with disapproval.
"You always wander off on your own, too careless."
"I'm perfectly fine by myself. I just needed to think is all!" He huffed and stood behind me watching the sunset with me.
I took that time to take in his features.
He has InuYasha's silver hair but thats it. He's totally different.
He looked down at me and I looked over his face. It was as calm as that night I found him sleeping.
"Why do you stare?"
I looked away and watched the sunset but felt like talking.
"Hey Sesshomaru, have you... have you ever loved a woman? Like really loved a woman?"
"Why do you ask me this?"
"You know everything right? About InuYasha and Kikyo. They never fell out of love back then. Maybe I'm just in the way of the two of them, a place holder for whenever they part ways." Sesshomaru remained silent but I felt he wanted to say something.
"What nonsense." I looked up at him now, "InuYasha is a fool. He made to choice of choosing his past. Your a fool for not moving on from him."
"Sesshomaru..."
"I've been around you for a while now, so I've picked up on your mannerisms. I've also watched you follow my foolish little brother as he goes with the shine maiden. I pity you, foolish human. You know you want and deserve better yet you remain stuck like him."
I turned to face him and knew he was right. I looked him in his golden eyes and over his handsome face. He stood before me like a king.
"I asked you this before but, have you ever loved a woman?" A moment of silence pasted between us before he smirked at me.
"You want to know," he asked as he pulled me up by my arms.
"H-hey!" He placed his lips on mine, making my heart beat race. A moment passed before I pushed him away from me.
"What, what was that about."
"I'm answering your question." He kissed me again and I found myself kissing back but pulled away, confused.
"Just hold on a second! I thought you had someone else, like Rin!"
"Rin? Are you implying I do this with a child?"
"No! Thats not-"
"Isn't it? You just said that I had Rin, did you not?"
"I didn't mean-"
"I'm not into that sort of thing," he teased, "until she comes of age I will wait." My heart was sliced by those words and I looked down.
"So you too, then? I'm just a place holder for you as well?" I lifted my head to face him, tears in my eyes blurring my vision.
"Why am I always the replacement? Why can't I just be loved and needed?" I saw the shock on his face and I was a little suprised myself that I yelled like that but I didn't stop.
"I look like Kikyo a lot so InuYasha stayed with me until he saw the real Kikyo on occasions! When she 'died' again I felt only grief for InuYasha but got nothing in return. Now your using me as a placeholder until Rin gets old enough and it's not fair!"
"Miko-"
"I will give you this, though. At least you told me up front about your intentions."
"Miko-"
"I guess I'm only good for being used like a child's toy."
"Kagome!" I felt myself be trapped between him and the ground as he kissed me again. I let him but didn't kiss back. He pulled away and looked me in the eyes.
"I was teasing about Rin," He said and I blushed.
"What?"
"I can never look at Rin like I'm looking at you right now; like my father looked at InuYasha's mother before his death." My eyes grew wide at this revelation.
"What are you saying?"
"I think you know what I'm telling you." He kissed me once more and I found myself kissing him back. It felt different from kissing InuYasha. This felt more right than anything I've felt for InuYasha. It made my senses come alive again, it made my entire being sore, it made me want him. Sesshomaru pulled away and looked down at me again.
"So you can make that kind of face?"
"What? What are you talking about." He caressed the side of my face and brushed my bangs upward.
"The kind of face that makes me want to take you here and now." I felt my entire face warm up, along with other parts of me.
"You- you idiot," I said and pushed him away. I looked away from him madly embarrassed and I heard him chuckle for the second time ever.
"I find you rather attractive with that face. You look rather erotic." He whispers the last sentence in my ear before biting my earlobe softly. I made a sound that I've never heard before and pushed him away.
"Don't tease me so much! Who do you think you are anyways!" He smirked before rising up and walking away.
Did this really just happen or was it a dream?