A/N: Hey, here's chapter two!

xXx

Human Like Me
In Too Deep

When Kagome finally made her way down to the police station, with her hair tucked up underneath an old lady's bonnet and Souta's sunglasses (she realized it was the middle of the night but didn't give a hoot), she was struggling to keep the fits of laughter at bay at seeing Sesshoumaru, the almighty dog demon, incarcerated. He looked like a kicked puppy sitting on the farthest bench from the door, promptly ignoring everyone within the jail cell that consisted mainly of drunks. He nursed a glass of water in his hand contemptuously. She noticed that the officers had removed his ancient clothing and armour and had placed him in a white jumpsuit with the number 83 strewn across the center. She thought it did not beseech his title, but found it oddly amusing, and somewhat vindictive.

She reached the front desk and pointed to the sullen taiyoukai in the corner. She ignored the officer's pointed look at her apparel. "I'm here to bail Sesshoumaru out," she snipped. The taiyoukai raised his head to see her for the first time at her statement. He moved to the front of the cell and waited for the guard to release him.

After filling out paperwork and working out as to how to bill her, the guard released Sesshoumaru. He took off right away for the door, speed-walking down the street and out of her sight. Kagome abandoned her paperwork and ignored the warning from the officer. She scrambled to catch up with him, not about to let him go parading around the streets again just to terrorize innocent people.

"Hey, wait! Get back here, I've got to talk to you!"

And just as she thought he ignored her. She easily caught up with him. "Stop ignoring me! You've got to come back to the house."

Sesshoumaru sniffed and turned blindly onto the busy road, staggering Kagome minutely before she took after him. He dodged traffic easily enough, but it worried her that if he got hit he might die. He didn't seem to remember that he was fragile now, whereas she could easily push aside a four ton vehicle with ease if she tried. Much to her relief he crossed unscathed, though he left a trail of honking horns and surly people in his wake. Kagome apologized to each of them as she rushed through, not minding that people were eyeing her questionable garments.

When she was merely three feet behind him she reached out and snatched his one arm. He turned far more quickly than she had anticipated and rolled his hand out of her grasp, pinning her by the throat against a brick building. His eyes, now muddy brown, hadn't lost their intensity when they had been gold.

"You will stop following me this instant," he told her, unaware of the crowd they were gathering.

"You can't go and just walk off." She reasoned, swallowing against his hand. It occurred to her she could easily subdue him, but it would be difficult to not raise suspicions amongst the street, and it was bad enough that they were now stopping to appraise the scene.

"And why not?" he challenged. His grip left her throat and he stood back, waiting for a reasonable answer.

"Because," she said, "if you go now, how do you expect to return your powers?"

This stunned him minutely; she could see the tick in his right eye throbbing and the slight gnashing of his molars together. When she thought she might've snatched him in her trap the taiyoukai began to strut away once more. Kagome decided that going after him would most likely cause the scenario to repeat all over again, but she didn't want to have him thrown in jail—again—and have to bail him out—again. When he was far enough away that she could just see the tip of his head (he severely towered over the rest of the population by at least a foot), she pursued him, mindful to keep him within seeing distance but using the crowd to conceal her presence.

She figured that if he wanted to throw a mini tantrum and blow off some steam, she could at least monitor him, and if need be pull him out of whatever situation he would land in. She followed him for fifteen minutes before he wound up within another scuffle; there was a man who held a sharp blade threateningly above his balding head, angled for Sesshoumaru's chest. Sesshoumaru himself stood indifferently before the angered man as if he still believed himself to be infallible. It took effort on Kagome's part to wait and watch for the outcome, instead of just barreling in and disrupting them. Who knows? Maybe Sesshoumaru would back off dignifiedly.

Or, he could attempt to poison whip the man to death.

Kagome gnashed her teeth together, concentrating on the two voices amongst the crowd that had gathered in spite of the impending brawl. It's like they could smell a fight happening; people were orienting themselves in a cylindrical barrier around the fight.

"Step out of my way, old man, and I may take pity upon you." Kagome heard Sesshoumaru say tonelessly. She could hear the other man's heated pants as he juggled with the decision to strike or intimidate first.

"You talk as if you got game," the man said. "I do not think you have it in you."

As the taiyoukai prepared for some immediate actions, Kagome felt the bunch of energy within her thighs urge her to run for him. But still she refrained, not until he was in need of her. From the man's right were a few younger looking men who flanked his sides. Her heart dropped when she realized Sesshoumaru was picking a fight with a mob group of some kind. Oh jeesh, she thought, what did he do to get involved with them?

"I advise you to step away this instant, before this Sesshoumaru becomes hostile."

The man guffawed wildly, his buddies rioting along with him. She saw one of them clutch an object at his side protectively. She hoped it wasn't a gun, but then…

"Rano!" The group leader shouted. The man who had been clutching an object at his waist stepped forward with a grin on his face. "How 'bout we take this to somewhere more…private?" the man gestured to the spectators, much like a king would gesture to his army. "Wouldn't want to cause a spectacle, now would we?"

Kagome witnessed Sesshoumaru shrugging indifferently. Maybe he was deciding to back away from the fight, but the cursory glance around the audience gave her a chilled feeling. "Very well," he followed the men out of Kagome's sight. She waited only a moment for the crowd to disperse enough for her to wedge herself through them, catching up with them soon enough. They turned off to an adjacent street way that would lead them all to a mostly abandoned skater's park. Fear coursed through her for Sesshoumaru's sake.

Remaining hidden within the shadows, she followed them to the park. She found herself easily slinking within the dark's cloak, more effortless than she should have. The men ushered Sesshoumaru in the middle of their party, and the leader faced the great taiyoukai with the utmost confidence. She minded the way his buddy fingered the gun at his side almost nonchalantly.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sesshoumaru demanded, attempting to step past the leader. The leader's buddy, Rano, brought his gun out and pointed the barrel at Sesshoumaru. "What is that object?" the taiyoukai questioned aloud.

"Well, that there is a .22, and it should do the trick if Rano can get a good shot at your skull."

She could almost feel the way Sesshoumaru would arch his eyebrow to something he didn't quite understand from her distance. Though Rano held the gun at point-blank range to Sesshoumaru, she couldn't help but notice the flexion in the man's arms, the way his muscles, taut and flexed while handling the gun, were visible through his skin tissue. Even from this distance, and her limited amount of knowledge of guns, she could tell now that it was loaded.

So it was safe to assume that all of them carried loaded guns.

With that threat in mind, Kagome decided it was an apt time to perpetrate the situation. Moving with a strength that bellied her determination, she positioned herself within the center of the gang's circle, hovering slightly in front of the dog demon's left flank. There was a brief moment of stunned silence; the trilling of laughter soon plundered that silence. Here she was, an unassuming young woman defending a fully grown, oddly dressed male. The leader wiped an imaginative tear from his eye, even while his merriment continued to spew from his lips.

"I think we got ourselves a little girlie, Fuka," Rano said deviously to their leader, aiming his gun to Kagome. "You gonna save him, little girl?"

Kagome felt a tremour of fear rock her body, and out of her own accord, there was a thundering growl ripping through her diaphragm that stayed her nervousness. She was aware that Sesshoumaru had yet to speak to her, but she relied on that fact being because he had the situation under control—at least, she hoped.

"We don't want any more trouble," she bargained, trying to orchestrate herself into a reasonable stance. She was aware that seconds ago she had taken up a protective stance she hadn't realized she knew around Sesshoumaru. A swift glance in his direction told her enough to know that he was clearly not amused by her sudden intrusion. "Just let us leave, okay?"

"I don't really think so," Fuka intoned, gripping Rano's gun within his own meaty hand. Kagome could smell the hot sweat pouring from the man's body that was concealed by his impressive suit. "You see, no one messes with me 'n my gang, you clear?"

"Yes," she said, "Perfectly clear. Now let us go, please?"

Their riotous laughter assaulted her sensitive hearing. Unaware, her clawed hands clicked together in a display of derisiveness. This did not escape the taiyoukai's perception; he was slightly intrigued by the prospect of the miko to handle these thugs herself, but reason stayed his curiosity. He could not allow her emotions to bridle her untrained powers, especially now.

Kagome flinched when Sesshoumaru spoke for the first time, his voice heard even above the gang's incessant chattering. "We shall leave here effective immediately," he said gravely. "I shall instruct you as to how to get out of here. But you must follow directions accordingly, and without hesitation, understood?" he spoke in hushed tones that only her sensitive ears could hear. She hummed her assent.

Fuka tilted his gun and approached the two unlikely couple, eyeing Kagome with an air of fascination, one that was not entirely pure. "Maybe if you submit willingly enough, I'll let you tag along, sweetheart." He chortled to himself, oblivious to the silent conversation they carried through his speech. "I could find a great place for you in my gang."

He saw the flicker of something in the woman's eye—a light? Fuka hadn't time to progress these strange findings before the winds whipped crazily about him and his gang, severe enough to nudge them over sideways. He noticed that the winds eddied about them and culminated before the young woman's body, battering against but not budging them from their positions. The man's hair haloed above his in a wild tempest, and soon Kagome's meek bonnet was ripped from her chin, displaying her silvery hair.

Fuka scrambled back as the winds shrieked into his ears, shouting for his teammates to abort. A chill crawled up through his spine and stilled him minutely when he realized the woman's eyes were glowing bloody red. Fuka, in blind panic, lifted his .22 and shot off five bullets that had been in the magazine. Each one connected with the hell-witch woman, but he deemed it time to leave when she didn't collapse from the impacts.

Kagome could feel the weight of all her youki pressing upon her chest, and yet she continued to do as Sesshoumaru instructed. She focused all of her being into one center, just below her feet, and with that it only came naturally; the influx of pure power was an after-shock to her. Hardly aware that a hand now gripped her midsection, she was guided through the basics of Sesshoumaru's conveyance method as the wind whipped wildly about them.

"This will be a challenge at first, but you must prevail. No matter what happens, do not relinquish control over the center of your youki at your feet, or we shall plummet to the ground." He neglected to mention that it would do him great harm, but Kagome had more pressing matters to focus on.

Imprisoning the energy and thinking in her mind that she was trapping it within a sphere, visible signs of the youki leaked through to her senses as it billowed beneath them, slowly at first, but gaining buoyancy and firmness as she concentrated.

She could smell the gunpowder salting the air before she felt the bullets connect with her body. Each one was like a mini explosion, and though she still stood firmly, her concentration was wavering significantly and she swayed slightly on her feet. Returning to her focus, Kagome assessed her wounds as the cowardly mob fled for their life from the 'demon-woman,' as they put it to accurately.

Sesshoumaru gave no sign that he had noticed her fresh injuries, or either just didn't concern himself with it. "Now, we must leave immediately," he pressed, his breath close to her ear. "Maintain this amount of youki and we shall travel fine. Just allow your will to guide us."

Kagome willed herself to return home, and with a minute start they shot up into the air at an alarming rate. Unaccustomed to this height or the impeccable speed, Kagome seized Sesshoumaru's lone arm and barely repressed a squeal in her throat. He was impressed—and a little relieved—that her power did not waver despite her fear. He, of course, was privy to such methods of transportation that it hardly fazed him at all. What did faze him was that the miko was desperate to cling to him, even though she could never fall off of this youki cloud, even if she bade it.

Kagome soared higher and higher in the sky until she believed that they were just a speck in the night's sky. She was amazed that everything around her was not coating with thick patches of darkness anymore; her youkai eyes allowed her to amass the necessary remaining light to view the rest of the slumbering city she lived in. Sesshoumaru himself was finding it difficult to adjust in his obtuse senses, and even more was stunned by the amount of huts this village possessed. Were humans the only population within this massive land? Were there no youkai, or were they not far off? He damned his mutinied senses, beguiled that Kagome was now gawking at the scenery so childishly.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she breathed. As if just noticing she released the hold on his remaining arm, and though he did not display it (not that she would have noticed anyway), he was aware that she had broken a few vessels in his forearm. He could feel the tender flesh prick with pain each time he flexed his arm. He also noticed that she was peppered in tiny holes, one on her arm, and several in her midsection. How had she been wounded?

Kagome caught him staring at her stomach, and for the first time she really noticed her injuries. "Oh, no," she moaned. She curiously poked at the open flesh wound, and winced. "This… I should be dead…"

"A youkai's power, especially my own, are impervious to most injuries, although it appears that you are subject to them. You must heal yourself, and not allow for this to happen once more," he gestured to her bullet wounds.

Kagome worried her lip between her teeth, grimacing when one of her fangs pierced the flesh. "Oh, shoot." She assessed her wounds, clueless. "How do I heal myself?"

The dog demon resisted the urge to sigh in her company. "Use the same method of the youki cloud, only center it upon your wounds." He said curtly.

As the miko concentrated her youki, he could feel the crackle of energy slither around his body and pulsate in time with her heart. She may have been used to manipulating her reiki before, but she must have come to the conclusion that the two had similar properties for manipulation. Within a matter of seconds Kagome had a handle on the situation, the place where her stomach had been wounded was sealing itself up flawlessly. When she was finished she smiled upwards at him. He looked away.

When they finally returned home, Kagome descended them from the sky and with ease dissipated the youki from her feet. He could see the exertion distinctly on her face, even though she still wore a countenance of joy.

"That was simply amazing," she said, slightly breathless. She wiped sweat from her brow. "I got shot and lived to tell about it, and I saved your sorry ass." A laugh barked out of her that sounded more of a sigh.

Collecting herself, she regarded Sesshoumaru tactfully. "Will you be staying here from now on? I believe you've gotten your share of trouble for the mere hours you've been here. And I don't really feel like getting shot anymore,"

He did not deign to give her an answer; he began to walk to the Higurashi house with an air of authority about him. It was then, following complacently behind him, that she noticed just how fragile he had become. It certainly did not reveal itself within his demeanor, but physically, he was weak, while she herself was strong, infallible. Idly, she thumbed the markings on her left wrist, surprised that he had held the front door open for her to pass through.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama," she said, and he merely grunted. Her golden eyes lingered on something near the door, but before he could inspect it himself she lightly took his hand in hers and rolled the sleeve up to his elbow. "Oh," she breathed, startled. "I did this to you on the way here, didn't I?"

Sesshoumaru quipped, "It is nothing."

Kagome fumed. "It is something! It looks like I broke your arm!" She began fussing over it even though he told her succinctly not to. He wrenched his arm away, causing her face to fall and her eyes to glimmer with unshed tears.

"I'll prepare the spare bedroom for you, unless you would prefer the couch?"

There was a derisive sniff from the once-was taiyoukai. "I do not require a bedroll, nor sleep. I shall keep vigil,"

"All night?" she challenged. He shrugged. "You can't stay up all night, or you'll become sleep deprived."

"No such thing has ever happened before," he argued.

"But it will now," Kagome urged, sighing when he once again ignored her. He took up his perch beside the kitchen on a chair, looking purposefully away from her. "Fine, be that way. I'll set it up just in case. It's the bedroom right next to mine," just as she was about to leave, a thought crossed her expression. "Oh, by the way," she intoned lightly, "how did you manage to contact me?"

There was a calculated pause to his response, until finally he said, "The shrine's name."

"What?"

"The name of your shrine is Higurashi. I merely spotted it before I had left, and the officer went through some book to find you."

She refused to acknowledge his acuity, but rather nodded silently. Her golden eyes settled upon his form more distinctly than before, noting that he had received several minor cuts and lacerations upon his collarbone and arm. He must have attained them during his first scuffle, she thought. It would be best if she did not raise the topic in front of him—it would remind him all the more of his weakness.

She left him then, and he could faintly hear her muted footfalls traveling up the steps and into her bedroom. Was she even aware that she moved with an unspoken grace of a taiyoukai? He squandered to think that she was so delirious to his righteousness, but it did not go unnoted. The miko was many things, and perceptive didn't seem like one of them.

He hunkered down as much as he could on the wooden chair and felt the unbidden weight upon his lids. He stayed off the fatigue and tried to listen to the sounds all around him, coming up with nothing but the slight shifting of the house's structure every now and then. He was bereft of his superior hearing, leaving him vulnerable. He was lost without his keen nose, making him clueless. He had been unwillingly stripped of all his power, and for what; for a miko to inherit his sublime prowess and sully it? It sickened him.

It also irked him that he could not reach out farther to scope out his surroundings with his youki. He felt utterly nothing from this weak human body, no untapped potential, no hidden powers. Oddly, it was a hollowed feeling which scared him the most.

Something was descending the stairs, and he strained his ears to discern who it was. Whoever it was took no heed in walking softly. He turned slightly to see Kagome's younger brother, Souta, head for the kitchen without pause, ransacking the odd white rectangular box with a flourish. He retrieved a bento box and an unusual water canteen from the box, settling himself at the dinner table and helping himself to his meal.

Souta peered up from a bite and eyed Sesshoumaru. "Wanna snack?" the boy offered. Sesshoumaru glanced away indifferently. "You must be hungry, you missed supper. Did Kagome take you out to eat?"

"This Sesshoumaru requires little sustenance," the taiyoukai said.

"But Kagome said you're mortal now. You need food to live,"

"I plan on not being mortal long enough to starve," growled Sesshoumaru. This boy was trying his patience.

Souta brought the soda to his lips and sipped. Shoved another spoonful of rice into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "Kagome said that she took your powers from you. Did you get her priestess powers as well?"

Not inclined to answer forthright, Sesshoumaru delved deep within his consciousness to search for a sign that might detect anything holy. He was awarded with no such thing, and shook his head to Souta. "That's odd," the boy contemplated through a mouthful. "Why did she get yours? Where did her powers go?" he didn't expect an answer, and as such, received none. Souta eyed the dog demon reproachfully. "You won't hurt her, right?"

Sesshoumaru snorted softly. The naïveté. "I could not,"

"Because she could kill you quickly?"

The dog demon's brown eyes slitted dangerously. "Partly," he admitted.

"Do you think you'll ever get them back?"

"I have no distinctive answer,"

A taut silence fell over the two; Souta busied himself with sipping at his drink. "How long do you think you'll be here?"

Sesshoumaru frowned ever so slightly. "The well does not permit us to pass."

"That's strange; it always lets Kagome through."

"This appears to be an exception," the demon supplied.

Souta smiled encouragingly. "I'm sure it'll open up sometime. It can't stay like that forever, right?"

Sesshoumaru had no idea how much time he would stay in this strange village, nor did he know why he had been left with nothing but a weak, mortal shell. He felt tempted to snap the insolent boy's neck for even daring to call him fragile, to be speaking to him so informally. Somehow, he held those temptations away, but there was a slight twitch in the corner of his eye that refused to go away.

"Why didn't Inuyasha come along?" the boy asked.

Sesshoumaru shrugged.

"Does he know you're here?"

Again, he was answered with a shrug.

Souta leaned back in his chair and chugged most of his soda. "Well, he'll be here shortly if sis stays too long. He always fetches her,"

The dog demon chuckled dryly; it was ridiculous that his younger half-brother pine over the miko in such a way, and it was even insulting to their heritage how he doted upon her. If what Souta said was true, then Inuyasha might be the answer for them to finally return to his village. Not that he was particular to his brother, but he no longer wished to be in his current form, or in the strange, foreign place.

Souta made quick work with his mid-night snack, rising with a stretch and a thundering yawn. "Well, I'm hitting the sack. Seriously though, you should sleep, too. You don't need to keep watch,"

Centuries of living within the midst of calamity and danger conditioned the taiyoukai to such deeds, but he did not expect the boy to share his insight. "Hn," he said noncommittally.

Souta bade goodnight and trumped up the stairs just as loudly as he had come. Sesshoumaru resumed his sentinel over the house, fighting off the drowsiness that sapped his strength.

xXx

She was wrestles, tossing between her stomach, back, and her side. It didn't matter which position she was in, there was always a cloying, tugging sensation at her gut that made her physically sick. It was more pronounced than before, when she had been in the bathroom, and thus it intensified and discomforted her at a length. She refused to cry out for her mother like a whimpering child, but the old habit was a hard one to overcome.

She must have been making noises without realizing it; a soft knock came from her door, and she instantly donned a profile of nonchalance when she called her brother in. She knew it was him from the smell before she even realized that was how she identified him. His worried eyes sought her own glowing ones.

"Are you all right?" he asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. It was three in the morning, and it was a Tuesday. A pang of guilt went through her, for she knew he had to get up for school.

She patted the bed and sat up, inclining him to join her. When he sat down she visibly relaxed, as if a great weight had been lifted from her chest. "Yes, I think I'll be fine," she said truthfully. Already the tautness in her muscles and the force that had stolen her breath was dissipating in her brother's company.

Souta looked up at his sister. "Were you having a nightmare?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that. I think it's ju—" suddenly, she gripped her stomach and grimaced in pain. A small whimper escaped her lips.

"Kagome?" Souta probed, lightly shaking his sister's shoulders.

Her cries of pain became more pronounced as the agony intensified within her core, searing through her very being relentlessly. It was akin to having several blades puncture through your skin and explode upon impact. It was worse than the bullet wounds from earlier, and this time she didn't think she could heal this problem so easily.

Upon instinct the miko called forth her reiki, her spiritual powers, to aid her. All that responded was a slithering, writhing evil that dwelled within her core—Sesshoumaru's youki. It was not something to be trifled with, but it was hers, shouldn't she be able to utilize it by now? Attempting to harness the great force and draw out a small amount, her grip slackened and lost its footing when another tremor rocked through her body. Searching for purchase, she held dearly on to this energy as pain consumed her.

Souta called out to his sister so loudly that it stirred the taiyoukai downstairs. He could hear Kagome's pained moans coming from her bedroom as he made his way up the stairs. Sesshoumaru spotted the miko's supine body and her brother, and felt the sizzling of youki that was his through his skin and his hair.

"What's wrong with her?" Souta cried, nudging Kagome's limp shoulder. "Why is she in so much pain?"

Wordlessly, Sesshoumaru crossed the short distance and knelt before the woman, finding it mildly difficult to ignore the buffeting energy against him. "She is losing control," he stated flatly. He tried to nudge Kagome, but she hardly stirred. She was stuck within her own oblivion.

"Can you help her?"

Sesshoumaru glanced at the boy slightly. "Only as much as she can help herself,"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The dog demon crept nearer to the miko, until he was almost nose to nose with her. Had he been a youkai it would have been a simpler process to flush out her demonic energies so that they were not consuming her, but in this case he had to make an exception. If he wasn't careful enough she would transform and destroy the house, rampaging blindly in her dog form.

Sesshoumaru placed a hand on the miko's brow, ignoring the heat which burned his flesh. "Miko," he said. "You must find an outlet to your youki, or else you will transform. I do not think you wish to destroy your hut."

Her eyes slowly opened, golden and glowing intensely within the moonlight. He assumed that she had understood, so he began to instruct. "Do not reign in your youki any longer; that will only allow more than you can handle to leak through your grip. Abandon it completely, before it immerses you."

The wind outside had picked up since he had entered the room, as well as the temperature. He had to guess it was climbing into a smoldering temperature that would cook them if she did not harness control. Through her half-slit eyes he could see her sclera's bleeding red, and on her cheeks the magenta strips were turning bulky and jagged.

"You're not doing this right," gritted Sesshoumaru. "Do not let it over-power you. It is your power now, so subdue it!"

Her face was elongating, her nose turning into a triangular snout, her head swelled as her hair line receded and her ears turned white and furry. He cupped her hand in his own and squeezed as hard as he could, biting back the pain when her talons pierced his flesh as they grew. Her strength burgeoned before his eyes, and for one instant he didn't believe he had the power to quell it. As the room simmered in her enormous power and her body continued its slow metamorphosis, Sesshoumaru went through everything he knew about what his father had done to him when he began to unwillingly transform.

"Miko," he strained once more, hoping that she could at least understand him. She was turning more feral every second. "Stop this right now! You will hurt your family if you do not cease this instant!"

Without folly, Sesshoumaru brought his hand up and slapped her across the face. It appeared to not faze her at first, but then her savage gaze penalized him. Conscious thought returned slowly to her face as her demon markings shrank from her cheekbones and her profile returned to that of a human once more. The youki that had been so prominent within the room abated considerably; Sesshoumaru had forgotten all about the younger boy until he had released a held breath.

Kagome settled into a deep slumber, negligent of her company once more. He watched curiously as her chest rose and fell in deep breaths, and it amazed him how she was now fast asleep. A memory surfaced of himself transforming against his will at one point, and when his father had eventually snapped the younger taiyoukai from his senses, he hadn't felt like sleeping; he felt like he had been torn in two and been fed to the wolves.

Something to his left caught his eye; there was a gleam coming from within her closet that he had not noticed before. He moved the partial door and met Tokijin, the blade which was forged by the hatred of a single powerful demon. It had rejected him before, and wisely so; he would have fallen under its illusion while wearing the guise of a human. He turned slightly to look at the sleeping miko girl. She must have gotten it when he had left, and it was clear it had not influenced her any. Tenseiga rested beside it. He had not realized that she had taken possession of it, and could not find an answer as to how she could have gotten it.

Slowly, the dog demon stood and exited the room, Souta trailing at his heels. He did not wish to console the frightened boy, but he felt an obligation to at least say something so he would cease to distress over his sister. "She is fine," was all he dared to offer, heading down the stairs and returning to his post.

Souta followed him down, much to his chagrin. He approached the taiyoukai cautiously, his eyes never resting on him for more than a few seconds. "Can I, um, ask a favour of you?" the boy dawdled, nervously twiddling his thumbs.

Sesshoumaru arched a delicate brow. Souta took this as an invitation and plundered ahead. "Could you teach my sister how to control her powers? I mean, if anyone could, it would be you, right? I just don't want her to burn the house down, or accidentally hurt someone, because she'd hate that, and Mama would be upset—"

"I will do it." Sesshoumaru cut in.

Souta's eyes brightened in the dim lighting. "You… will?"

Sesshoumaru affirmed this with a nod.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama,"

As the boy left him once again in peace, Sesshoumaru was weak to defend against the call of sleep himself. He refused, however, to submit to this human weakness. He would continue to keep vigil, because if Kagome had been so easily prone to a fit, than he would not know when the next time she would have one. He reminisced on when his father was teaching him about their dog nature, and what it implied. Although this power was securely kept and envied across the lands, it came at a great cost. Every inuyoukai of Sesshoumaru's status knew how to maintain their youki so as not to be overwhelmed by it, or they would surely transform and lose all conscious thought.

He realized now that he had to teach the miko girl, whether he deigned to do it or not. He would be responsible for her if she turned rouge and destroyed everything in her path, and he would not be on the other end of the blame if he could help it. Tomorrow, he decided. That is when I shall teach her.

xXx

Alrighty, chapter two is done! I hope you all enjoy it, because I am.

Please review on your way out!