Dawn broke on the Taisho household and the day progressed quickly. The sunrise turned into morning, and threatened to become noon before the occupants of the house had caught a glimpse of the mistress. Kagome, who was suffering from the most extreme embarrassment, had been drowning in misery, content to live out the rest of her life in her chambers.

Sesshomaru had left for one of several meetings early that morning, but Kagome couldn't bring herself to exit her room, even with that knowledge. After her outburst in the middle of the night... it seemed that nothing in the world that could compel her to start her day. However; a little before eleven, a small knock on the door made her throw on a sundress and return to earth.

"Kagome," Rin stood behind the door quietly, "are you feeling okay?"

"Ah," she dashed out of her room and closed the door, as if to hide her embarrassment behind it. "No, no. I'm fine. Don't you worry! A-Okay. Just perfect!"

Her r's rolled as Kagome nervously tried to reassure the little girl. After a hesitant beat, Rin broke a smile and asked for lunch. The girls moved to the kitchen so Kagome could whip up something nice for them.

"You see, even though Jaken said he was very annoyed at you, I knew he was worried. He had this scrunched up look on his face—just like this!" The girl babbled on and twisted her face to try and mimic Sesshomaru's faithful attendant.

Kagome laughed lightly and pulled out the bread and deli so she could make some sandwiches. She was silent as she put together their lunches and waited for Rin to speak.

"But, Kaggie, if you weren't sick, what happened?" Rin tapped her thumb against the table, practicing a song she on the piano.

"Well," she shifted, "I had a bad dream." No, not a dream. A nightmare.

"Oh. I hope you feel better," Rin looked up from where she had been sitting and saw Kagome bringing the sandwiches over to the table.

They began to eat in silence and Kagome tried to keep her eyes off the little girl sitting across the table from her. That little girl… Kagome would give up her life for her. She would protect her the best way she could. And she absolutely would not let her premonition come true.

Her premonition. She'd had no regular nightmare—it had been a warning sent by Kikyo.

That night, once Kagome had become fully conscious and aware of her surroundings, she had fled back to her room. There, within the safe confines of her walls, and trying to distract herself from her random outburst, she had tried to analyze the dream.

It had been so real; impossibly real. And at midnight on a Saturday, crouched behind her bed, huddled together, she came to an understanding. It had been a premonition.

Kikyo's soul had beat against her in confirmation. This premonition was a warning—a threat of a possible life. The future was ever changing; Kagome had understood that from a young age. She knew that her life had many possibilities, and that her decisions dictated the outcome. So if Kagome chose to separate with Sesshomaru, she'd never return to him.

In the present, Kagome watched Rin polish off the last of her ham sandwich. She had made her decision. She would stay with Sesshomaru, and accept her future after that. Whatever future she had with him, she was positive it'd be better than if she didn't. Now, she just had to tell him properly.

There was also the problem with Naraku. She knew Naraku was out for revenge; Sesshomaru had said as much. And if Kikyo knew what she was talking about, then Naraku was out to get the shikon miko—which was her. Kagome wasn't certain his exact reasoning, but she was sure it had to do with how Kikyo, the previous shikon miko, had killed him. It was just a guess.

"Hey, Kagome?" Rin's voice broke Kagome's stream of thought.

"Hmm?"

"Can we go to the park? I really wanna play on that new thinga-ma-doodle!" She beamed and fluttered her eyelashes at Kagome.

Laughing, Kagome agreed and decided to take her mind off her current situation.

The girls arrived home after dinner, having eaten at a nearby ramen shop. From the street, Kagome spotted Sesshomaru's car and took a nervous gulp. She was a grown woman, and she shouldn't be ashamed of the things she said. Except she was, and very much so. Once they had entered the house, she politely excused herself to her rooms and hid from the outside world. She'd deal with her problems later.

After an hour of sitting in her room, though, Kagome found she could not ignore the siren calls of the bathtub. She was exhausted, and the only thing that would help cure her distress would be a long soak in the bath. Gathering up her soaps and towel, she marched straight towards the bathroom.

Their bathroom that contained the bathtub was a traditional Japanese bathroom, where the toilet and sink were separated into a completely different room, and there was a tiled room where the bathtub was and an outer room for laundry and clothing. Kagome waited in the outer room and took off her clothing, but wrapped herself in the towel as she entered the tiled room.

The bathroom was clean, and smelled of fresh soap. She inhaled deeply without opening her eyes and clutched her towel tighter around her body. Exactly what the doctor ordered. I can't believe I was so worked up over yelling at Sesshomaru in the middle of the night. It's not like I'm in love with him. With another inhale of the warm soapy air, she smiled, feeling refreshed. What was his name again? Sesshomaru who?

"If you wished to bathe with me, you need only ask."

She froze, her blood turning to ice in her veins. Her eyes fluttered open and slowly slid over to where he was.

Sitting in the tub, which was full of hot water, was her ailment. Her husband. Sesshomaru.

Releasing a scream, she dashed out of the bathroom and took refuge in the outer room. Hastily throwing anything on her body, she found her heaviest sweats that would cover all of her body except her hands, toes and face. She was still showing too much skin.

He saw me! she was screaming in her mind, her thoughts rapidly flashing from one to the next. I saw him, she thought, a bit stunned from the memory. If she closed her eyes she could still see his body, his sculpted muscles and broad chest. She hadn't seen anything in the water but if she'd move and inch closer to the tub she might've…

Jerking her head into a shaking motion, she tried to dispel the thoughts. Focusing a bit more, she assessed her new mortifyingly embarrassing situation. She should've noticed the steam in the bathroom. She should've paid more attention, and noticed how he always bathed at night. There were a thousand clues she could've found, but she'd missed them.

And then there was the fact that she'd screamed like the virgin maiden she was when he'd spoken to her. He'd probably seen a thousand women naked; her body wasn't all that different. So what he'd seen her in the nude… she tried to convince herself it didn't matter, but her incredibly humiliated mind couldn't wrap around the thought.

Another thought set in, and she composed herself. She'd screamed like the virgin she was. It was probably obvious to him, how inexperienced she was in romance, but she didn't want him to know that fact, if he hadn't discovered it already. The fact that she'd somehow turned twenty four this year, gotten married and worked in a lingerie shop but still had yet to pop her metaphorical cherry, was just pathetic. Sure, she'd been waiting for the right guy, but in waiting for him, she'd somehow missed the opportunity completely, and was now married to a demon that wouldn't touch her.

She couldn't let him know. It was too personal.

So, summoning up every last ounce of her courage, she turned around, slid the door to the bathroom open, and took a seat on the tiled floor. She sat as far away from him as she could, dressed in sweats that covered every last inch of her skin, but she'd reentered the bathroom. That was worth some merit of courage.

Dragging her gaze up to meet his amused eyes, she raised her chin and announced, "I have to speak with you."

"That's a shame," his golden eyes were alight with a fire, "I had hoped you were here to bathe."

She bit her lip and endured his teasing. She hadn't even known the demon lord could tease. "Nope. Just to talk."

He nodded but made no move to leave the bath. Fine, then. We'll talk here.

She cleared her throat and tried to approach the situation delicately. "Oh, Kami, I don't know what came over me last night. I'd had this dream, and I wasn't quite awake yet, I really didn't know what I was doing. I'm sorry if I woke you up or made you angry, I really didn't mean it at all!"

She clamped her loose lips together and silently vowed never to speak again.

"I certainly hope you meant what you said." His voice sounded deep and powerful and she traced the pattern in the tile so that she would not be distracted by him. He was naked, gorgeous and sitting five feet away from her. It was fairly obvious why rational thought had escaped her a long time ago.

"What?"

He watched her look idly at the floor. "I told the council that we would not be separating."

Now she jerked her head up, her eyes bewildered. "What?!"

"You gave me your answer. I merely relayed it to my subordinates."

She groaned. "What does that mean?"

"You will be assisting me and the demon council in completing our mission. Then we will return home, and continue living together."

She sighed, not quite understanding, but relieved nonetheless. They would be doing this together.

"When will we leave for this," she frowned, "mission?"

"In a week. I suggest you find lodging for Rin, because she will not be coming with us and Jaken will be returning to his family for a month."

"Okay," it wasn't like she'd have let Jaken take care of Rin even if he'd been staying at the house. That imp couldn't keep track of her at all.

"Now this assignment," she inquired hesitantly after a few silent minutes, "we're trying to get rid of a rouge demon named Naraku, right?"

He raised an eyebrow and admired the quickness of her mind. He had given her very little information on the mission, so if she had already figured out what was happening, he'd underestimated her. "Correct. However, I must ask how you came to know that."

She blinked, and then shrugged. She wouldn't tell him about Kikyo or her being the shikon miko yet; now wasn't a good time. She did, though, have an acceptable excuse. "I was a history minor. I learned a lot about demon and miko battles."

He nodded.

Kagome returned to tracing the tiles and rubbing her lips together. Sesshomaru shifted in the bath, and watched her. She's going to rub her lips off one day, he thought with displeasure.

"Umm… I don't really know what you're trying to find on this trip but… I'd like to be helpful to you," she murmured against her knees, which were drawn up to her chest.

"Do you have the ability to sense other mikos?"

She glanced up at him and grimaced. All mikos could find each other in a crowd, because they could read the power signatures given off by mikos. "Yeah…"

Though all demons had the ability to figure out which humans were mikos and monks, she could still be useful to the council. "Can you figure out a miko's classification?"

Kagome nodded. Such things were simple for her. Mikos were classified into three different types: healing, combat, and shielding. There were, of course, powerful exceptions to the classifications that were skilled in all three areas, but they were rare.

She would be very useful, then, Sesshomaru thought. Someone who could rule out different mikos with a simple glance would be a powerful asset. They were looking for one specific miko: one with an ancient power, who was fluent in each category.

"You're searching for a miko," her question was more of a statement.

"The new shikon miko. She has been reincarnated."

Kagome tried not to think, but if she had been able to, she would've been screaming: that's me!

Hi, all! Hope you liked this chapter, again I apologize for my delay. (I really wish finals would end, but they've barely even started!) So anyways, if you have any questions about the traditional Japanese bathroom, I suggest you google it or watch an anime, because it's very interesting. Their bathrooms are very different from American ones, which is very cool. The Europeans have a similar style (being that they typically have their toilets separated from the room that has their bathtub, but it's still different.)

And yes, I changed a bit around with the miko business. Basically, miko's can sense each other, and they had different skill sets that they can learn, that their power is more in tune with. One miko might have powers that are good for combat, and another might be good at healing. All mikos can heal, conceal their powers and battle with them, but you're usually better at one skill than the others. Hope that helps. ~Gracie

All characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.