An Unlikely Mating
Chapter 2: A New and Different Light

5 months earlier

Unexpectedly, InuYasha stopped walking ahead of me; I was grateful for the slight pause to our endless hiking. Since this morning, we pushed through the woods without stopping for even a short break. We were close to a few jewel shards and InuYasha was acting like a slave driver, and I was not, and never would be, anything akin to being his slave. The part of me that looked on the bright side chose to believe he might not even be tired from all the walking—even though we humans felt the effects of the morning. Sometimes I wish he would take a moment to realize that the rest of us were human and that we required rest sometimes.

"What's wrong, InuYasha?" Miroku asked from the back of the group where he chattered with Sango and Shippou. Kirara walked in lazy circles around them, playing a game to entertain Shippou.

"Something is off," he stated suspiciously. He lifted his nose and scented the air, acting much like the dog that everyone knew he could be. He narrowed his eyes and drew his sword with a dramatic flourish.

"Sesshomaru," he cursed quietly. "Kagome get behind me! That bastard is coming! He probably wants to steal the shards or something! Don't worry, I'll take care of him!" he all but yelled.

Rolling my eyes, I stepped away from InuYasha and went to stand by Sango. I crossed my arms and sighed, sick of him treating me like the destitute little miko I used to be so many months ago— no, not months, years; over two years had passed since I started coming to feudal Japan, and somewhere down the line, I had drawn the line. I was sick of him comparing me to Kikyo and complaining that he always had to save me, so I decided to start training with my miko skills. It was astonishing how strong I had grown with just a little amount of training. Not only could I sense Sesshomaru; I could also probably wound him, and pretty severely if I wanted to.

In addition, I sensed Sesshomaru long before InuYasha had, but I wasn't about to tell him that little tidbit. For days now, Sesshomaru seemed to trail behind our little group. Actually, most of the time I could sense Sesshomaru close by; over time I grew used to him and now I just ignored his continual presence. Not only that, but his aura was not emitting the usual "perish, fools" vibe.

"Put down your sword, half breed. I did not come to fight," Sesshomaru said as he— in all of his killing perfection— walked out of the forest and onto the small path our group occupied. He was alone, but I could sense Jaken and Rin waiting farther away.

With both swords resting firmly at his hips, he looked more relaxed than usual. Well, when he wasn't holding his claws to your throat, I guess it'd be easy to feel more at ease around the demon. He still looked like he had an icicle stuck up his butt though, so I guess some things never change.

"Yea, right! If you didn't come here to fight, then what did you come here for?" InuYasha shrieked at the top of his lungs. This only caused me to roll my eyes again. I could feel the headache coming on from the volume of his voice. If my head hurt, I bet Sesshomaru's felt as if it would pop. (I briefly wondered if InuYasha screamed loud enough, if he could give himself a headache.)

With InuYasha, everyone always wanted something from him, that or someone was out to get him in one way or another. Sometimes this ended up being true, but most of the time his paranoia seemed plain ridiculous. Just the other day he almost refused to help an elderly woman because she had "looked at him the wrong way." Sometimes, InuYasha reminded me of one of the many jerks from the future. Most of the time, I just wanted to subdue him to Hades because of this. Then again, the times he lapsed into the gruff softie reminded me he wasn't completely rotten.

Sesshomaru grimaced and opened his mouth, snapping me out of my thoughts. That grimace was pretty much the most emotion that I had ever seen on his face. He always looked bored, even as he drove his claws through your gut.

"To become allies," Sesshomaru announced dryly, as if it was hard to get the words out of his mouth. There an awkward pause ensued and InuYasha almost dropped his sword; everyone else went still. I looked around suspiciously, waiting for something to explode.

"What?" InuYasha asked incredulously. The rest of the group leaned forward eagerly—the same question burning in the forefront of our minds. For once, I felt grateful he always demanded answers from his brother.

"You heard me, and this Sesshomaru does not repeat himself," he intoned, sounding bored. Everyone stared in disbelief; did that mean he hadn't come here ready to test out his swords? The blank looks from my friends let me know all of my friends felt as shocked as I did. Even Kirara let out a surprised, little meow.

Suddenly, InuYasha sprang into action. With his weapon at the ready, he leapt across the clearing towards his brother. "That's a lie!" he screamed, aiming his sword at his brother's throat. Clearly, he had a death wish.

"Sit boy!" I shouted at InuYasha, probably saving his life. The spell took effect almost immediately, and he went sailing into the ground. The very sight of my rash friend eating dirt and living another day cheered me up, but only by a small margin.

"Why the hell did ya do that for, wench?" He screamed, still face down, from the inside of his crater. Personally, I thought that he should be thanking me for saving his life. "Answer me!" he screamed.

"Because, InuYasha, you are the biggest idiot on the planet! Just listen to what your brother has to say! I can see why he tries to fight you constantly! If you were such a jerk to me all the time, I might want to beat on you too!" I yelled back, exasperated. I loved him, but dang he could be dense.

"Kikyo would never do this to me!" he shouted.

"I don't really care what Kikyo would or wouldn't do! I am not her! So shut the heck up and get that through your thick head!" I yelled back with equal fervor.

Sometimes, I didn't even know why I put up with the guy. He made me mad more than he made me happy. Moreover, he still loved with Kikyo. It didn't matter that if I loved him or not. When it came down to it, I knew whom he would choose. Not me. Even so, I found myself staying instead of leaving.

I guess you could call it love or even plain old stupidity. To tell you the truth, I wasn't even sure if I loved InuYasha as I once had. He had hurt me so many times, and I refused to trust him with my heart as I once did. Still, every time I saw him with Kikyo, I felt betrayed and a bit heartbroken, so that probably meant something.

I noticed that my friends all stared at me with big eyes, and I snapped out of my musing. Everyone looked shocked and I didn't know why. Then I remembered my outburst; it wasn't often I went around defending InuYasha's hated older brother, so I understood why my actions caught people off guard. Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kirara, and even InuYasha remained, thankfully, silent. They all just stood there and looked at me.

Sesshomaru was the only person that hadn't frozen in terror. Instead, he let out a low chuckle, which was much more terrifying than anything I could ever do. Heck, this scared me more than Naraku at his most powerful.

After Sesshomaru's creepy and very scary chuckle, everyone finally settled down. By that, I mean InuYasha finally shut his big mouth long enough so Sesshomaru could talk. Everyone settled into an uncomfortable silence not knowing what to say to the icy demon lord.

Eventually, I awkwardly motioned for everyone to go off the side of the road and make an impromptu camp. Soon everyone sat down in a wide circle as I made a fire and put some water on to boil for tea. Demons drank tea, right?

"So why do you want to become allies, Lord Sesshomaru?" I finally asked as he sat down on the other side of the blazing fire I managed to get to spring to life. Thankfully, Shippou provided me with a steady stream of wood to feed the flames.

"Naraku has become too powerful. It makes sense joining forces with someone almost as strong as I," he said. I felt as if this was really the first time I'd heard him speak aside from the death threats he issued to InuYasha. Actually, it was the first nice thing that I could ever remember him saying about InuYasha. Maybe people do change, I thought to myself.

"Do ya think I'm gonna join forces with you just cuz you called me strong?" InuYasha barked from his tree. He'd jumped into a tall tree after I'd sat him and chewed him out in front of his brother—the fact that he stopped sulking long enough to answer surprised me.

"You mistake my meaning. I talk of the miko," Sesshomaru answered as I served Miroku and Sango their tea. InuYasha almost fell out of his tree and Miroku spit tea everywhere. Sesshomaru just paid me a compliment, which seemed even more threatening than his laughter.

Miroku made a perverted comment and InuYasha muttered something darkly under his breath. I just blushed like crazy; I could feel every part of my body, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, turning red. I couldn't look Sesshomaru in the eye as I quickly gave him his tea. I swore that I heard him chuckle a second time as he muttered something about innocence under his breath. Now I know I imagined the whole ordeal.

I knew I'd never be able to look at the killing perfection the same way.

A/N: Here's an updated version of this chapter! Those writing classes really paid off, and I'm anxious to show off my improvement! Leave me a review!