The second he walked through the door his form shimmered slightly, revealing the markings on his face as soon as his second foot hit the floor. He paused in the doorway, eye's darting to Kagomes.

"I thought your grandfather had no spiritual powers?" he questioned, one eyebrow raised.

"He doesn't. But I do" she whispered, putting a finger to her lips and giving him a cheeky grin and over exaggerated wink. He kept his eyebrow raised at her but found himself forcing back a smile.

"What in the world is going on here?" Kagome's mom whispered to herself as she ushered the two of them through the house, pulling out chairs at their kitchen table for the pair to sit down before sitting across from them.

"BEGONE DEMON!" The screech sounded from down the hall, followed by the sound of two pairs of footsteps running through the house. Kagome's grandfather was practically wheezing as him and Souta rounded the corner into the kitchen. Sesshomaru once again raised an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between Kagome and the sutras her grandfather was fruitlessly throwing at him, the rest of them watching as the pieces of paper hit his skin and flowed peacefully to the floor with no affect.

"Ugh!" Kagome groaned and let herself fall face first into the table "Gramps! Please stop. This is Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's brother, and a very good friend. I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to exorcise him."

"Oh" gramps and Souta both said at the same time, her grandfather pausing with his hand still raised after throwing another sutra at Sesshomaru. A glowing pink light in the corner of her eye caught her attention and Kagome ripped her head up off the table, her gaze landing on Sesshomaru's right arm. One of the sutras had stuck to his skin, slowly burning through the sleeve of his shirt, attaching itself to his skin, still burning. The pink glow getting steadily brighter as it burned through layers of skin.

"Oh my god! Sesshomaru! I'm so sorry!" Kagome cried as she jumped out of her seat and snatched the sutra off his arm, throwing it to the floor before assessing the damage done.

"It is fine, Kagome. Barely a scratch" His hand came up to cover the hand she had placed on his arm over the burn. She blushed at his smile and had to turn away from his bright gold eyes, trying to concentrate as a pink glow spread over their hands. Kagome's mom gasped as she watched the muscles and skin of his arm start slowly knitting back together until there was no visible damaged.

"That's the first time you've let me heal you" She whispered, slightly shocked that he hadn't refused her like all the times in the past. She knew he was a demon and would heal properly in no time, even though it was her priestess energy that had damaged him in the first place. A small sting like that was probably nothing for him.

"Is it?" his eyebrows drew together in thought "I suppose I became so accustomed to you healing me I didn't even think about it." Kagome blinked at him in surprise as he smiled gently at her, his hand still covering hers.

"So, Sesshomaru, I assume you and my daughter get quite close" Her mom brought their attention back to her, leaning over the table slightly with her arms crossed and suspicious look on her face.

"Yes"

"NO!" they answered in tandem. His smirk in her direction at her denial.

"Hmm. I suppose I should be careful of my answers. My fond memories are still the future for you. Very peculiar."

"What?" Kagome was sure she looked like a fish out of the water the way she was staring at him, but she couldn't quite wrap her mind around his words. They get close? Close? How close? Her mind was suddenly filled with the image of his golden eyes and silver hair, his deep voice whispering her name softly in her ear, his hands ghosting down her sides.

"Kagome, are you alright?" her brother's voice startled her out of her thoughts and she felt her face turn beet red as she realized how messed up she was being. She was fantasizing about her friend while staring at him, in front of her entire family! 'what the HELL Kagome! Ugh, duh. He means we're actually friends, just friends!'

"Yeah, yeah Souta. I'm just surprised he actually admitted we were friends! He's just as stubborn as Inuyasha, so I didn't think he'd ever admit it!" she babbled, practically yelling, waving her hands frantically.

"Suuuuuuure. Totally believable. You are so transparent, sis. Go back to staring at your boyfriend" Souta sassed as he turned around and stalked out of the room muttering "gross" under his breath.

"He isn't my boyfriend!" Kagome yelled after him, once again blushing. From somewhere else in the house Kagome could faintly hear Souta singing "Kagome and Sesshomaru sitting in a tree". Sesshomaru's light chuckle just confirmed her suspicions. Kagome immediately knew she had to plan some sort of revenge.

"Excuse me, children. I believe I was supposed to be interrogating our guest here." Kagome's mother brought their attention back to her and neither gramps nor Sesshomaru protested being called 'children', despite both being years older than her.

"Do you promise to keep my daughter safe, always?" She asked Sesshomaru, eyes drilling into his.

"I promise you, I have always done everything in my power to keep your daughter safe." Sesshomaru's tone was reassuring, facial expression not moving an inch, though Kagome could sense the slight edge of distress he was giving off, causing her spine to straighten trying to chase away the chill. Her mom's eyes softened and her grandfather's shoulders sagged slightly in relief, but Kagome couldn't ease the feeling of unease brought on by his words. Their eyes met and though outwardly his expression still hadn't changed, she could see the edge of ice, his expression more closely resembling his past self than anything she'd seen from him in the present. She felt the chill up her spine again, this time followed by more than a small sense of unease, but a full-on sense of dread.