Chapter 20

***REALLY SUPER AWESOME AUTHOR'S NOTE***

So, turns out I've been nominated for the Dokuga Awards (2 in fact), which is intense and I'm super excited!!! This story has been nominated under best action/adventure and What Kagome's Cooking has been nominated for best one shot. Voting begins on August 9th (THAT'S TODAY SO GET TO IT!). I would be honored if you would vote for me.

Anyway, I just wanted to take this space to thank all of you guys for your support for this story, I remember posting the first couple chapters and only getting like ten reviews, and now it has over 100 and almost 20,000 reads! You guys are my motivation and make writing ten times more enjoyable than it already is. So, to anyone just getting into writing, don't be discouraged if your story isn't getting enough love right away, because things can definitely pick up. You guys rock, this chapter is for you.

Humans were disgusting, disgusting creatures. They had nasty habits and annoying inclinations that Sesshoumaru felt hard pressed to imagine how anyone - even their mates - could put up with.

He had watched a working man scratch his behind without shame as his wife only shook her head with an amused expression on her face. He had seen a child stick his chubby, dirt-covered fingers into his nose and then remove them and place his slimy hand in his mother's to be led home.

Like he said: disgusting.

But Kagome, as it would seem, was unable to disgust him no matter what she did. He had happened upon this significant realization just yesterday when he had been forced, yet again, to stop and rest while the miko slumped to the ground and sniffled with an illness. She had called it an 'allergies' and blamed it on the 'damn pollen', but at that moment he couldn't help but think that she looked on the verge of death.

Her hair was disheveled and her nose was dripping as well as her eyes. Her face was red with heat and she smelled of something unpleasant - like a stagnant pond on a stiflingly hot day. Yet he had knelt beside her without even a sneer and raised her strange water skin to her lips, allowing her to drink in greedy, noisy gulps.

He didn't notice how repulsive he normally would have found this blatant weakness of the human body, nor how abhorrent he should have found her appearance. All he saw was Kagome, and repulsive and abhorrent were two words that he could just not describe her as no matter what she did. Or how she looked. Or what her nose dripped.

To him, her human tendencies were barely noticed at all.

Sometimes she would clear her throat just a little too often as a sort of nervous tick, or pick under her fingernails even though she had cleared out any dirt that had been under them hours ago. She laughed just a little too loud and chewed on her lip just a little too much and had a strange habit of paying more attention to the ends of her hair as she plucked split ends than the world around her.

Not to mention when she ate it was without grace or ceremony. She could go around with a piece of rice on her lip for twenty minutes before she discovered it or accidentally brushed it off.

Had it been anyone else, Sesshoumaru would have detested these things. He would have found them annoying, or bothersome, or pointless, or distasteful, but for her he had none of these thoughts.

The way she cleared her throat simply let him know that she was still there and when she picked at her nails the only thought he could think was how small and delicate her fingers were. Her lips were always flushed a beautiful rose from the abuse her teeth inflicted upon them and the way she plucked at her hair with such a look of concentration almost made him smile that someone could focus so entirely on such a menial task.

Well, almost...if he smiled.

And as for her eating habits: he couldn't care less if she slurped her noodles or was constantly on the verge of dropping her food from her utensils to her lap. He could watch her eat for hours simply to see her small, girlish nose crinkle in frustration as she spilled whatever she happened to be consuming onto her sleeve.

He even begrudgingly admitted to himself that her excessively loud laughter was probably the only sound he would ever take comfort in because that sound meant that she was happy, and when Kagome was happy, he found that he was too.

Though he was positive that this was just because a happy Kagome meant that she wasn't annoying him with trivial questions or yelling at him for whatever offense he had most recently dealt her.

Yes, of course that was why.

And so, it was with this new revelation in mind that Sesshoumaru, almighty taiyoukai of the west, found himself extricating one very grumpy miko from amidst a mound of white fur.

"Miko, I do wish you would close your mouth when you sleep," he said distastefully. "Perhaps then you would not drool like an imbecile."

She grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like orders to jump off the nearest cliff, and collapsed back onto the ground in a pathetic heap.

"Wench," Sesshoumaru warned.

"Go away. Sleeping." she mumbled into the grass.

Remembering that she was still injured, and that kicking her awake was probably ill-advised if he wished her to heal in a timely manner, Sesshoumaru decided to try something different today. Kneeling beside the miko he leaned in so that his mouth was mere millimeters away from her ear and in nothing but a whisper he said, "Kagome, my sweet, it is time to get up."

Satisfied with his work, Sesshoumaru leaned back and watched with amusement as Kagome shot up, horror clear on her face. "W-what did you just say?" She squeaked, clutching his fur pelt to her body as if it would preserve her modesty for all eternity if only she held it tightly enough.

"Ah, now that I have your attention, may I point out the high position of the sun in the sky?" He asked innocently as he rose to his feet and brushed the few pieces of grass from his hakama.

Kagome leveled him a befuddled stare. "Did you...did you just freak-me-out awake?" She asked.

He paused as if trying to decide if that was an accurate description for the brilliant act he had just executed, before shrugging lightly and turning away. "I do not know what you speak of, now, let us get going."

Deciding that ignoring this whole situation was probably the best idea, Kagome changed and packed and they were soon on their way. Sesshoumaru once again shouldered her backpack, which made him look sort of ridiculous, but Kagome wasn't complaining. Her back felt a lot better, but pawning off her heavy gear on someone with superhuman strength was definitely something she could get used to. Inuyasha would never do that for her, so she should bask in the glorious chivalry while she could.

"So, two more days and then we're gonna be there, huh?" Kagome asked more to make conversation than anything.

"If we are not delayed," Sesshoumaru agreed.

"Will it be...dangerous?" She wondered. "I mean, I know it's not going to be easy, but you can fight this Southern Lord, right? You're the strongest demon ever, it should be easy...right?"

Resisting the urge to smirk at her backhanded flattery, he shrugged. "I have never crossed swords with the Southern Dragon Lord, though I believe it is safe to assume that he will be a worthy adversary if he has the assistance of a god's weaponry."

Kagome frowned. "Oh...I guess you're right," she mumbled. "We could really get hurt, couldn't we? We could even die..."

Sesshoumaru remained silent as though her sudden revelation was old news.

"Wow, I guess I just really didn't think this mission thing would be so dangerous. I mean, up until now it's been kind of fun - horrible flesh wounds aside," she babbled. "But now we're actually going to have to risk our lives."

Raising one high arched brow, Sesshoumaru asked, "you have knowingly entered battles before, were you not risking your life then?"

The miko shrugged. "Not really, I never really did much fighting. There were three other highly trained warriors to help me and save me, not to mention Kirara and Shippou to bring me to safety, but now it's just you and me. I'm just as much apart of this as you are and, I don't know, I guess it's just a little scary to think that I'm one of the warriors now."

"I will not let harm befall you, Kagome," he said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Oh," she said, taken aback by the sudden intensity in his voice. "Okay."

"You should not think such morbid thoughts, miko," he said in his usual aloof tone, as though he hadn't just adamantly declared that he would protect her from any harm. "It does not suit you."

She could only stare at the back of his head and gape. This was very un-Sesshoumaru like behavior and it was freaking her out. First, he was actually modest about how he didn't know if he could easily defeat the other lord. Then, he was all protective over her. Now he was back to being his old, disinterested self.

Kagome shook her head tiredly and decided that life was obviously a lot harder then she had originally thought - and she had thought it was pretty dang difficult to begin with. If only she had never met any of these frustrating dog demons then she could be home, happily drinking tea and watching television like any other girl. Seriously, it was like she attracted canine youkai with extreme personality flaws. Why couldn't she attract something useful? Like hot inuyoukai who had difficulty keeping their shirts on.

Oblivious to Kagome's internal distress, Sesshoumaru was discovering a few problems of his own. For one, his nose was itchy, which was incredibly distracting. Secondly, not only was an itchy nose obnoxious, but it was also a warning, a warning of what was coming, and what was coming was what truly troubled the demon lord.

"Miko," Sesshoumaru sighed; he knew what he was about to reveal would not go over well with his overexcitable companion. "There is a storm approaching."

Kagome shook herself away from her thoughts and decided to rejoin reality. "What?"

And that was when the skies decided to open up.

The rain came pouring down onto the two and Kagome 'eeped' in displeasure, frantically searching for somewhere to hide from the rain.

"Oh, I hate the rain!" She said quite unnecessarily. The way she was trying desperately to cover herself as though the rain was comprised of acid, not water, was proof enough of her distaste.

Sesshoumaru looked around them, searching for any signs of shelter, but as expected there was nothing but the wide, open, grassy plains for miles and miles.

Sesshoumaru had the rare urge to swear.

Suddenly a loud, earthshaking boom of thunder erupted from the heavens and Kagome jumped with fright, grabbing onto his wrist and squeezing. He was surprised at how tight her grip was and even more surprised that he did not entirely mind it. Her warm hand felt strange, but also sort of nice upon his wet skin.

"And I really, really hate thunder storms," she squeaked as another bone-jarring crash of thunder exploded above them. She had faced man-eating youkai, hordes of undead soldiers, and even Naraku himself, but she could not overcome her fear of thunderstorms for the life of her. It was just one of those irrational things, like being terrified of spiders. You knew they couldn't hurt you, yet you'd still scream whenever one shows up in your shower.

But at least Kagome had an excuse for her fear this time, because this thunderstorm was unlike anything she had ever seen. Even Sesshoumaru had to admit that the storm was getting to be increasingly violent: the winds were howling an eery call as rain whipped at his face, and the very air seemed to be charged, prickling at his skin. But it was only when he saw the first bolt of lighting strike the round only a few hundred yards away from them that he felt truly uneasy.

With that lightning strike came the corresponding thunder and Kagome whimpered and tightened her grip on his wrist. He wasn't even sure if she was aware that she was holding onto him, but no matter, it served his purposes. He lowered himself to the ground and then pulled her towards him, wrapping his arm around her shaking form as he settled her into his lap.

She was like a rag doll in his hold, fully surrendering her limp body into his embrace as he hunched over her, protecting her from the worst of the storm. She was so fragile and human, she would surely suffer some sort of ailment if exposed to the elements for too long.

Kagome instinctively latched onto his sopping pelt, fisting her tiny hands in its soggy fur. She buried her face against his chest and waited for it to stop. He was just so warm, and solid, and comforting. And when she listened to his heart she couldn't even really hear the thunder anymore.

Some part of her wondered how long this storm would last and if she would be disappointed or relieved if the answer was 'soon'.

Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru was fighting an internal battle. One he had not fought in quite some time. She was just so warm, and small, and soft. And when he buried his face in her hair to keep the wind from lashing at his face, she smelled so good. The wet silk that she wore, so thin beneath his fingers, clung to her body, and had he been looking, it would have left nothing to the imagination. As it were he could feel her every curve pressed against him, and when she snuggled closer to his chest he nearly groaned.

It was then that Sesshoumaru realized that he may have a problem.

I believe I have formed an...attachment to the miko, he decided reluctantly. This may prove to be rather difficult.

Chapter Note:

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Being nominated is nice

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