Wow! Two chapters in two days! I must be on a roll. I'm currently sitting here starving, so I thought I'd write another chapter to get my mind off of my ever growing hunger. People seem to be upset that I'm bunching all of my words together. Starting with this chapter I'm going to double space them. I'll go back and do the other chapters later. Sorry about that! Like I said before, this is my first story so I'm just now getting the hang of it. Thank you for bearing with me though. (:

Chapter 13

Kagome walked onward, severe irritation rolling off of her in waves. She knew Sesshomaru was following behind her, but she didn't want to speak to anyone right now. How could he act that way? That damn idiot. Claiming her just like Kouga had. She knew that she was different since she was from the future, and that most women in this time were seen as objects, but she was NOT an object. No one owned her. Maybe now Inuyasha finally understood how she felt about him. She loved him as a friend and nothing more, and Kouga, she was tired of his ever persistent claims. They were annoying and made her extremely uncomfortable. She loved him as a friend as well, but there was a line that could be crossed, and they both had crossed it. Kagome had about had it. She had now stood up to Inuyasha twice, and she decided that she was going to continue doing so. As for Kouga, Sesshomaru was right, as he usually always was. She was going to let him know how she really felt next time she saw him. She was no longer a young naïve girl. She was 19, a grown woman in this time, and she needed to start acting like it. If anyone was going to listen to her, she needed to use her voice, and use it loudly. She knew that the others would think she had changed, but sometimes change is good. 'Right, I can do this. It's just going to take some time.' She thought to herself smiling. If she were honest with herself, she would say that she was excited about this new change forth coming. She wanted people to know that she was no longer an innocent school girl. She had been through too much in her years here; way more than anyone from her time. She had seen death, destruction, sickness, and she had killed many for survival. She had hardened on the inside considerably, but she was still the sweet girl she had always been. The one person to lend a helping hand if need be. And she would still be that person, but she would assert her independence as a woman and not take any more shit from people. That was just the reality of things. It was time for her to take a stand and grow up.

Sesshomaru walked silently behind the fiery miko. He noticed her irritation becoming less as they walked on and being replaced with happiness…and dare he say excitement? 'Whatever could she possibly be excited about?' He wondered to himself as he watched her back. His eyes drifted lower and he watched her hips swing as she walked. Fighting back an urge to growl in arousal, he shifted his eyes so that he was staring over her head. He was still in a foul mood. Inuyasha had, yet again, hurt her feelings, and the confrontation with that wolf hadn't helped either. But something that she said had really resonated with him. "You have always preferred the dead over the living, and I will not stand for it anymore when I have someone living to actually go after even if he will never return my feelings. At least I know that ahead of time instead of being lead on for years at a time!" Her words haunted him. She had feelings for someone, but who? Then she had mentioned that he had honor. He had honor, so could she possibly be talking about him? Whoever it was, she believed he would never return her feelings. He was a very curious demon, and this information was eating away at him begging for an answer. He would get his answer soon. He just had to wait until the proper time to ask her.

Kagome walked a ways further until she found a nice small clearing with a bunch of burnt out wood that once served as a campfire. "Perfect!" She exclaimed happily running over to it and setting her stuff down. It would be dark soon and she wanted to get a quick bath before it became too dark. Sesshomaru walked up behind her and noticed her hesitating. Seeming to understand what she was thinking he answered her quiet thoughts. "Miko, there is a hot spring a little ways to your left. I will start the fire, you go bathe." Kagome smiled widely thanking him and grabbed her pack running in the direction he had pointed out to her. When she reached the hot spring she took out her bathing supplies and an extra pair of clothes and set them down by some rocks. Stripping out of her clothes she stepped into the water when she noticed that her midsection was still bandaged from her encounter with that demon a week ago. She hadn't been able to take a bath in a week, from Inuyasha's relentlessness in not wanting to stop moving, and the only times they had set up camp there hadn't been a hot spring around. She felt absolutely disgusting. Undoing the bandage she noticed that her wound was healing nicely. It still hurt, but it wasn't as painful as it was when she first got it. Her miko powers were also helping it to heal faster, so that was a plus. 'It's going to leave a pretty nasty scar though.' She mused to herself as she threw the bandage on the ground and climbed the rest of the way into the hot spring. She sat for a minute letting the heat from the water soothe her muscles. Reaching up she fingered the tiny bottle around her neck that held most of the jewel. "All of this for a damn jewel. People are so greedy." She said softly to herself. She reached for her shampoo bottle and began lathering it into her hair. "Yes! This is amazing. Now I can finally have clean hair!" She exclaimed to herself happily. She ducked under the water and rinsed her hair out, combing through it to devoid it of any tangles. Resurfacing she sat back and just relaxed in the water. After a few minutes she decided to get out and get dressed; she was feeling rather hungry anyways. Drying off with her towel she debated whether or not to re-bandage her wound. 'It's not bleeding anymore, so I think it'll be okay.' She thought to herself. She went to pick up her clothes to get dressed with she felt it. A powerful demonic aura was near her. She looked around but didn't see anything. Just then a centipede youkai crawled out of the woods in front of her. "Great. Not only do I always seem to be attacked by centipedes, but they choose to do so when I'm done bathing!" She exclaimed furiously to herself. "You possess the jewel, give them to me wench!" The demon said to her moving closer. "Let me guess, and then you're going to devour me? You know you demons always use the same lines. It really is annoying." Kagome said in mild irritation and slight fear to the demon. She wasn't about to let this demon harm her like the last one though. She was capable of taking care of herself, and damnit she would! Breathing in and then letting the air out through her nose, she reached inside of her where her power was. Bringing it the surface she watched as the demon's expression turned from menacing to shock. "You are a priestess? No matter, I will devour you and those shards will be mine!" He said before lunging at her. Kagome lifted her arms up and put her hands in front of her face, facing the oncoming demon and shot out as much power as she could. The blast of her powers sent her flying backwards and she screamed as she landed on her back.

Sesshomaru had just finished the fire and had caught a small rabbit for Kagome's meal when he heard her scream. Running as fast as his demonic speed would let him, he burst through the clearing and noticed the charred remains of a youkai and Kagome laying on the ground completely unclothed. Kagome opened her eyes and winced in pain. Her back was now killing her! Sitting up she groaned to herself. Looking in front of her she noticed that she had killed the demon that had attacked her and smiled widely. "I did it! Take that Inuyasha!" She exclaimed happily. She noticed a figure standing off to her right and saw Sesshomaru standing there regarding her and was he…checking her out? She eeped and looked down noticing that she had absolutely no clothes on. Covering up as best she could with her arms she stared at him blushing furiously. Sesshomaru was trying his damn best to keep control but with her sitting there completely bare like that it was very difficult. He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose and then reopened them. He looked around and noticed her clothes sitting near some rocks and walked over to get them. Picking them up he strode over to her and noticed that she tried avoiding his gaze. He knelt down in front of her and lifted her chin with one hand. "Are you alright? Did that demon harm you?" He asked mentally noting that she wasn't bleeding anywhere. "N-No I'm alright. I think I did him more harm than he did me." She said blushing even brighter as he smirked. "Indeed." Sesshomaru commented. He handed her, her clothes and then stood up and turned his back to her. "Uh…Sesshomaru are you just going to stand there? I need to get dressed." Kagome said noticing that he had no intention of leaving. "Miko, stand and get dressed. This Sesshomaru will not look at you. I am here to simply stand guard in case another demon decides to attack." He stated crossing his arms. Kagome just sighed in defeat and stood to put on her clothes. Putting on her underwear, she then pulled on her black hakamas and started to pull on her navy blue haori when she noticed that she hadn't brought her bra with her. "Great, just my luck." She muttered to herself. Sesshomaru, upon hearing her turned around and looked at her when he noticed that she was not all the way dressed. Her top was open and barely covering her breasts. He had a hard time fighting from not openly staring at her, but he couldn't quite stop. He had never had this problem before. Kagome's face flushed bright red as he turned around and stared openly at her opened shirt. She went to close it when Sesshomaru used his demonic speed to hold both of her hands in his. "S-Sesshomaru…what are you doing." Kagome asked timidly. She wasn't scared, rather embarrassed. Her stomach however was in knots as he stepped closer to her, his eyes not leaving hers. Her lower stomach began to feel all weird. She didn't understand what she was experiencing and it was driving her insane. Sesshomaru stepped closer to her and let one of her hands go, using his to reach up and trace the opening of her haori. He knuckles traced the skin from her collar bone, between her breasts, and then down her stomach. Kagome's breath hitched when he touched her. Upon noticing her extreme arousal, Sesshomaru brought his head lower and stared into her eyes. "The things that you do to me, little one." He whispered to her barely inches away from her lips. Kagome's eyes began to drift closed as he got closer. Then she felt his mouth on hers. His kiss, like before was soft and gentle, but he did not abruptly stop like he had before either. Instead he deepened the kiss. Using his free hand he reached inside of her opened haori and wound his arm around her waist pulling her against him. Kagome gasped at the contact and Sesshomaru used this as an open invitation as he traced her bottom lip with his tongue. Kagome moaned softly into his mouth as his tongue brushed against her. Sesshomaru's tongue retreated and he nipped softly at her bottom lip before pulling away. Kagome panted softly before opening her eyes and stared up into golden amber orbs. "W-Why…I don't understand." Kagome voiced softly. "It seems I do not either. I am just as lost as you are, little one." Sesshomaru stated gently. He retracted his arm from around her waist and brushed her skin with his fingertips before pulling away completely. "Finish getting dressed and then we will head back to camp so that you may eat." He said smiling at her before turning around and offering her privacy. Kagome just stood there a moment waiting for her mind to stop reeling and to catch up with her. Pulling her haori closed she stepped forward and touched Sesshomaru lightly on the arm. "I'm ready." She said smiling up at him. He walked over to her backpack and picked it up before returning to her offering her his arm. Kagome just looked at it a moment before looping hers with his. He brought his other hand over and placed it gently on top of hers and then began walking back towards camp.