A/N: Another drabble. Right on my Monday deadline, though it is a bit late in the evening for me to post... . I blame work in the early morning. Shout out and a clap on the back for madin456 for her beta-ing prowess.

An important note!Recently my USB, which contained all of my chapters of 'HLM' up to 18, which means I am slaving to play catch-up and re-write them all. It's a major pain in the butt, so when it eventually comes to the point where I haven't quite caught back up to posting the chapters on a weekly basis, please note that it is due to the corruption of my flash drive.

Anyways, on that note!

Onward!

xXx

Human Like Me

Lullaby

Three days had passed since she had gone to school with Hojo and had successfully stumped the Lord of the West. Her friends had discovered her silvery hair during a particularly windy day out on the volleyball court, and she had summed it up to premature gray hair that ran in her deceased father's family, and the reason was accepted easily enough. It was most likely due to her younger days, when her grandfather concocted random bouts of illnesses and diseases. They had just come to accept that weird, unusual, unexplainable things happened to her. She made sure to keep her markings concealed at all times, and would skip out on showers in the locker rooms in replacement for a private sink, where she would quickly reapply the makeup and continue on to classes.

Sesshoumaru, she noted, was growing restless with inactivity over the long days and would more often than not be perched somewhere outside. He lounged about on the shrine grounds and watched the days go by. Sometimes he broke the rhythm and trained for endless hours. She felt sorry for him, and wished there might be something more to do to help him out. As it was, the taiyoukai thought it frivolous to interact in games and perform things that were childish in his eyes. House chores were utterly lost on him. Though he would not refuse training her to help hone her new skills in favour of not being eaten alive by a giant dog, there was a faraway look in his eyes he sometimes couldn't help to hide that worried her.

On Friday, the third night they had been stuck in her time , Kagome was again restless in bed. It had started off with being mildly uncomfortable on her mattress the first night they had arrived home, but by the third evening there was physical pain within her chest that wouldn't be gone until she sought out her mother or Sesshoumaru. Her powers sizzled when she was alone for long periods of time, so often throughout the night she would wake to the pulsing of her youki threatening to control her. Sleep wasn't much of an issue to her, but she longed for it anyways, if nothing but to be consistent in her routines.

Sifting through the blankets and trying to lie on her back, she blew the bangs from her eyes and sulked. I can't sleep… it's so painful.

From downstairs she picked up the sound of Sesshoumaru aimlessly pacing about the house, supposedly on 'guard.' She knew he napped throughout the day, often in the afternoon on the hotter peaks, but it concerned her that he thought it appropriate to stay awake all night to protect her family. She should be the one to patrol the grounds, but he always told her the same excuse. "You are but a pup; you require sleep, even if you do not think you need it. You will be unprepared to guard your home."

She had retorted that he was human, and that he needed sleep a thousand times more than she did. He excused her wild approximation. "I am fine. Sleep."

So Kagome had, like a scolded child—or a kicked puppy—retreated to her room and restlessly dozed on and off for the major duration of the evening. Now it was three o'clock and the Sand Man was not paying her a visit. Sesshoumaru was making head-way on the gully he was currently creating in their living room.

Emitting a yawn that seemed to sap all of her strength with its ferocity, she stretched her taut muscles and slid off the bed, her feet meeting the cold hardwood floor. Darkness enveloped her room in multiple shades of blacks and grays, but all of that wasn't apparent to Kagome at the time; navigating through the small space was as simple as it had been earlier in the day. The room had a sort of yellowish tint to the light she could now see courtesy of her youkai vision, so she stealthily made it to her door and down the length of the steps with ease and padded, soft footfalls.

She spotted Sesshoumaru dozing on a kitchen chair directly in front of the living room. His breathing was even and spaced, and his head was slightly inclined to the side, his eyes closed. He must have finally succumbed to fatigue. Not wanting to startle him, Kagome tried to make her presence more aware by not taking precaution to soften her footfalls.

Strangely, her eyes focused upon the slumbering taiyoukai with a needy sensation, and she was almost unable to let her eyes stray anywhere else but him. What was with her errant thoughts all of a sudden? What was it about witnessing him appearing less guarded, more of a person, that churned her stomach and set aflame her burning desire?

As the distance closed between them and she held her breath in her lungs for what seemed like a long time, Sesshoumaru roused and yawned, not quite taking her in right away. His eyes glowed, stopping her, momentarily drawing her in at the sight of his moment vulnerability. She shook off this sudden intense feeling, trading it away.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Kagome whispered.

His eyes, arresting and darkened by the night, snapped to. He fumbled out of the chair and right to his feet, his breathing unusually laboured. The moonlight brought out hues of indigo from his air that was accentuated the alabaster paleness of his face, catching her breath in her throat. Sesshoumaru didn't say anything but there was an untrustworthy look in his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry to bother you," she apologized meekly, kneading a piece of her shirt between her claws. "I'm just not sure what's wrong with me."

He shook his head, as if to banish the drowsiness that wrought against him, and fixed her a scathing look. "What is the matter?"

"I can't sleep," she admitted, a light hue dusting her pale cheeks. He didn't notice, but he was aware of the way she fidgeted and swayed from side to side. She was uncomfortable. But why?

"Explain."

"Well… I noticed that it was difficult to sleep the first night I became a youkai, but now…"

He quirked a brow, "But now…?"

"Now I can't even doze. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Kagome studied him in the darkness, taking in not for the first time the transition that had occurred between him. His human appearance diminished most of his regal features, but his cheekbones and facial built were entirely aristocratic, if even feminine. Without the markings that shaped and defined him it seemed as if the Lord of the West was merely nothing, but Kagome knew better. The lines of his strong, protruding collarbones detected signs of a physically fit body, which drew about a sinister pull below her navel at the mere thought.

"I think I may know what is happening," Sesshoumaru declared. Kagome, snapped out of her strange reverie, perked up a bit.

"What? Do taiyoukai become insomniacs eventually?"

He ignored the unusual term and continued. "As I had justified before, in years you are but a pup. Pups from clans normally sleep together, and the elders who do not require sleep, watch over them. The age I am at—or, technically was at—is old enough for my body to not demand food or sleep. Though you are falling into this category, as it seems."

"But I'm seventeen!" she protested hotly.

"And that is but an adolescent. You would be sleeping with your pack mates up until your seventieth year, and some last longer."

"So…I'm just lonely?"

Sesshoumaru offered an insightful shrug. Oh, he was so forthright with her...

Nibbling on one of her claws, she heaved a great sigh. "Maybe if I get Buyou to sleep with me…" She pouted. As it was, he was avoiding her a lot lately. Recognizing his mistress but smelling the inuyoukai on her, he tried to stay away as much as possible. He was still affectionate, but less so, if not so put off by her intimidating youki that constantly stirred within the air. Unfortunately it had appeared he took an immediate liking to Sesshoumaru, she had noted earlier.

Satisfied that she had been given some sort of insight to her problem, Kagome began heading back toward her room. A hand gripped her forearm. She turned, staring into Sesshoumaru's dark eyes. She hadn't even heard him approach, though she was off in her thoughts.

"W-what're you doing?" she asked, tugging lightly but his hand did not budge.

Sesshoumaru fought to give into the urge to roll his eyes. "Accompanying you,"

Kagome drew into herself, wrenching her arm back forcefully, though his fingers fell away without fight. Her cheeks coloured generously. "Y-you mean…" she looked pointedly to her room up the stairs with abstract horror.

Sesshoumaru managed a curt nod that prominently displayed his displeasure over the idea.

"B-but you can't!" she squeaked, but a hand clamped over her mouth.

"Be quiet, woman," he lectured. "This is part of you now. You can either suffer from sleep deprivation, or follow your instincts." As an afterthought, she received a pointed look. "Which do you think youkai rely on?"

She dreaded this, and yet she had still fallen for it guilelessly. "Well, are you sure? You don't have to, and I know you don't want to." Grumbling, she added, "And I don't either,"

Ignoring her complaints easily, he led the way to her room.

"And my name's Kagome," she inserted, unable to emphasize it convincingly.

She felt just odd about the whole prospect of rooming with Sesshoumaru. Was this really necessary? The pull of her lids was clear enough, and there was a distinctive lethargy to her movements and a hesitance in her actions that told her she was bushed. Maybe we don't have to share the same bed… Just knowing that previous thoughts had been stirring in her mind about the taiyoukai already sent her on edge about sharing the same sleeping quarters. What would Inuyasha do if he found out? Probably smite Sesshoumaru. The image did little to quell her wayward emotions. Surely this arrangment wouldn't be all bad if he just stuck to his side? No, I will not sleep with him!

He entered first, quickly taking in the small space and the even smaller bed in the corner. He moved so she could get in and didn't miss her flushed face as he sat upon the mattress and tested its weight. "Acceptable," he murmured, shifting over on top of the sheets so that he had his back to the wall, creating just enough space for her to squirm in.

She promptly lowered herself onto her floor, cushioning her head on her folded arm. The smell of dust entered her nostrils, and the cold bit into her skin enough to cause some displeasure. A rustling of blankets, some shifting, and Sesshoumaru was hovering over the lip of the mattress. In the darkness his burnished eyes regarded her almost curiously, though it was ruined when his lips formed a scowl.

"Come," he retreated and patted the edge of the mattress invitingly.

Pouting while rising from the ground, she tucked herself under the blankets awkwardly while he simply slept on top of them. Her senses prickled at the proximity of him, and her nose was flooded with his scent. He smelled of apple cider, with a touch of caramel.

Adjusting, she made a point to not touch him, hugging the edge of the bed gladly. Balm to her distress she began to relax into a pile of mush, already accepting the pull of unconsciousness as drowsiness took her under. Sesshoumaru remained frigid, his senses on overdrive as he tried to compensate for his dull human vulnerabilities. He watched as the miko curled up around the edge of the mattress and as her shoulders drooped, her breaths becoming even and lengthened by the second.

"Kagome," he said, voice jarring her from her lull.

"Mrggh," she replied noncommittally. She was too tired to realize he'd addressed her by her name.

"What is a 'movie'?"

A snicker wedged its way from her lips, her sleep addled mind adding to her rising humour at his completely random question.

"I'll show you sometime." She promised, and he heard her breaths evening out once more.

Soon she was sound asleep.

Sesshoumaru battled against his own fatigue, aware that though he napped throughout the day he had not slept more than three consecutive hours. He was aware that humans were more succumbing to sleep than youkai even as infants, but he had no idea that it would have been this frequent. Adjusting so that he was more against the wall, he used it as leverage so that he could fall back and take in his full surroundings.

Kagome shifted and twitched beside him in her sleep, muttering nothings under her breath as she dreamed. Her hand found its way onto her lap, and then her head cocked to the side at a precarious angle. Unaware of what was to come she rolled flat on her belly flush against him, her face buried into the pillow but not stirring as her air intake shortened considerably.

He stilled, not wanting to touch her, but found he was in a predicament when in another hour she was snuggled against him on her side, her head cushioned by the edge of her pillow and his only arm. Frozen, the demon lord could not hold his breath as he waited for her to find a better position that was far away from him. As it was, Kagome liked it just fine, and remained there for a full twenty minutes before she began murmuring under her breath again.

"Smells like…le cider…car-mel… good. Sess-ma… tickling my nose…"

He couldn't quite make sense of her words but soon her fingers fought their way into his hair. She did not pull and she did not play, but unconsciously it was brought to her nose, where she inhaled and sighed satisfactorily.

"Smell good," she sighed, abandoning his lock of hair.

The sounds of her deep breathing relaxed him far more than he was willing them to. Maybe youkai were not the only beings subjected to group sleeping to help them cope.

He tried his best to remain awake and aware, but soon things were becoming distorted and fuzzy as his eyelids drooped and his muscles relaxed. Unbidden, synapses of Kagome's destructive power from the other day flooded his fuzzy mind, conjuring images that would have caused the average person to soil themselves in fear.

He mulled over the possibility that the situation could have gotten much worse than a few shattered pottery items and an upturned garden. It had been a lucky break to find that Tenseiga had been infused with special properties to help tame the volatile nature of the Inu no Taishou's sons. A soft chuckle rose to Sesshoumaru's lips, but it was bereft of actual humour. What had his father tried to convey to him, when he had left scant moments after sealing Ryuukotsutei?

"Have you someone to protect?"

No, Sesshoumaru refused, even when he was barely conscious. But why did you make two swords that share the same purpose?

He fell asleep five minutes later even with all of the effort he was making to unweave his father's complicated message.

xXx

Well, what'd ya think? Please review if you wish to shed some insight on your thoughts of this story so far. I would love to hear feedback. No flaming; just really justified constructive criticism!