A/N: I do not own Inuyasha or Goblin: the Lonely and Great God

Chapter Eight

Silence enveloped Kagome's room as she smiled grandly. So that was the trick, blowing out a flame. She could summon the most powerful youkai in the world with just a flicker of a match and a lighter, and a small gust of breath from her lungs. How exciting. Although she highly doubted that the Inu in front of her would be as thrilled as she was. Looking him up and down, she noticed that his hands were occupied with two grocery bags.

"Since when do you shop, Sesshomaru?" She inquired, tilting her head inquisitively.

"Woman," he sighed, shaking his head. "This one prefers to do his own shopping to prevent any displeasure of ingredients that a servant might bring to me. And since you so promptly interrupted this Sesshomaru's return home for a quiet evening dinner, might I inquire just as to why you bother this one."

Sheesh, as stiff as ever, she huffed, crossing her arms. "I wanted to see how I could summon you."

He frowned and crossed his arms, lifting his brow as the brown bags bumped against his sides gently. That's it?

"I mean you have to admit that's kind of incredible that I can do that," she smirked, raising her finger. "What does that make me? Some kind of fairy with magic powers to summon a mighty Inuyoukai?"

He could feel the annoyance furrowing his brow. "Miko, no one could summon this Inuyoukai even if they wanted. However, this one is no longer a Inu."

Her face blanched and she looked him up and down once more, taking in every inch of his appearance. Sesshomaru seemed more mature in his facial features, especially with the lack of his markings. His hair cut short so that the white wisps curled over the crests of his rounded ears made him seem older too. What threw her completely off balance though was the fact that his pale colored ears, tinged slightly red at the tips from the chilly fall atmosphere, were round. Round. As round as hers were.

When Kagome found her voice again, regained from the initial shock, she egged on hesitantly. "So...what happened?"

"What happened occurred long ago, not much after you abandoned Inuyasha," his voice was sharp and his eyes observed as the miko grew outraged. "Which begs the question, woman, how is that you are here in this time when you are but a mere human?"

The dark energy that pulsed from the young woman surprised Sesshomaru. He watched her as she stood up from her seated position on her bed and stomped her way to be toe to toe from him. A slight lift of his brow marked his expression. Interesting.

"I'll have you know, that I did not abandon Inuyasha," she snapped with a growl at the back of her throat.

With a sudden motion, she grabbed his wrist, her reiki surging through her grip. He cringed at the contact but there was a sense of intensity and urgency in the flow of her powers that positively fascinated him. Moreover, not many interesting things happened to him these days, time blended together with every tick of every second. Besides, if he followed her prompting, he might find some answers. So instead of ripping away from her hold, he gave her a warning snarl, his lip slightly. She paid little heed to him, however, and gave a tug to his arm. With a narrowed gaze, he set down his groceries and allowed her to lead him out of the room.

She was a silent fury, her aura glowing red and grey in dismay. He watched her pull him as he allowed her to, she taking down stairs, through a living room, and out the front door—the miko in socks and he in his shoes. The evening fall air bit and nipped at their skins but she seemed totally absorbed in leading him away. Kagome led them across the courtyard, past Goshinboku, and to the small run down well-house. With a slam, she slid open the door and pulled them both in.

His brow furrowed in displeasure. "If you think it is some sort of joke to try and push this one in and leave him there, this one will tell you—he is not very amused."

"Shush you," she bit back, knowing he would probably make her regret ever having even touch him. "I came to prove to you that I am no traitor to your half-brother."

The corner of Sesshomaru's lip tilted downward in distaste. "Oh, little miko? And how do you plan on proving yourself to this one?"

"Go touch the well," she demanded, releasing her grip on him. "You can sense youki."

A curious ping tugged at his gut, however he refused to let this miko overstep her bounds. While he understood the feminine empowerment, this was positively unacceptable to him. He would not let her forget her place.

"Do not let yourself think that the passage of time would make this Sesshomaru so lenient as to permit you to dare command him," his voice was gravelly, feigning outrage.

"Then if it so pleases Lord Sesshomaru," her voice dripped with sarcasm. "See for yourself what the well holds."

A nerve twitched in his neck and he almost found himself desirous in hitting the foul mooded woman upside the head. However he would not stoop so low as to hit both a miko and a girl. Even he had standards

Shooting her a harsh glance instead, he walked down the three steps that lead into the little alcove where the old well stood. It rested in the dim light of the open door at the front of the well-house, and it almost seemed forlorn. Reaching his hand out, he brushed his fingertips over the worn wood, eyes closing as he searched for anything peculiar. He found himself shocked at the sudden sensation of thousands of ancient youki jarring against his senses. Each presence popped and sizzled against his curse of the Goblin, trying to gain some of his power so that theirs might escape. But thankfully, they were all locked away tight within a barrier of some sort of holy power. But the demonic power was there.

He immediately yanked his hand away and spun around to face the miko. "Explain."

"This is the very same bone eater's well that was in the Inuyasha Forest," Kagome said slowly, making sure he understood each word she told him. "This well, because youkai were buried here after the village killed them, there was a build of some sort of power—presumably youki—that let me travel back and forth from this era, mine, to that era. With the jewel, the manipulator of that youki to send me traveling, there was no need for the gates of time to be open to me. Since we defeated Naraku and destroyed the Shikon no Tama, I have not been able to go back."

He blinked, slowly digesting the information. That would explain quite a few things about her that he once considered odd. It also made sense why she was the reincarnation of the previous jewel bearer so soon after the first's death.

"So I did not abandon Inuyasha," she finished, crossing her arms angrily. "Unlike his brother."

Once Sesshomaru processed the jab, he took it, as he thought relatively well. He stomped back up the steps and flicked her forehead hard. With a sharp yelp, she shuffled back from him, hands flying to the offended spot.

"You will do well to remember your status versus mine, miko," he stated dangerously calm. "Your rudeness frustrates this one. Do not expect me to come back should you summon this Sesshomaru again."

With that he stepped out of the doorway, disappearing with a rush of wind and ribbons of lilac smoke.

Mouth wide open, Kagome watched the spectacle, surprised to find him genuinely gone. Frustration ebbed through her and she stomped her foot. Trudging back outside after closing the well-house behind her, she made her way back to the house. She closed the door behind her, gently shoving past Souta when he asked her if there had been a guest with nothing but an answered grunt. With heavy footsteps, she made it back up the stairs to her room. As she entered, her feet hit something and she fell over, falling onto the floor. With a startled cry, she lifted herself up from the ground and turned her head to glare furiously at whatever tripped her. But her eyes widened when she saw the brown paper bags that Sesshomaru had dropped earlier. Shifting her weight and scooting over to them, she looked inside. Some sort of fancy cuts of meat, apples, raisins, creme, napa cabbage, and carrots…Smirking devilishly, she gathered the bags of food into her arms as if they were her own children.

"Stupid Sesshomaru!" she shouted as loudly as she could, relishing the fact that the youkai could not here her. "I'm going to eat every bit of this food with my family! You won't get a bite of any of this!"

It terrified her brother when he ran up stairs to see why his sister had yelled. Souta backed away from the door slowly. They say fear can be smelled. She's finally lost it!

a/n: well dear readers, did I deliver or did I deliver? I decided to work on this story for NANOWRIMO, so expect daily updates all the way until November (which hopefully by then this will have been very much completed) so we shall see dear friends!

Your support is very much appreciated so please leave a review if you liked or even didn't like^^ constructive criticism is always good!

As always, takk fyrir and arigato!