I don't own inuyasha.

and, once again - smoking is bad. just don't.

ice cream is good though ^^

'Finally!' Kagome thought to herself. 'A little Rest and Relaxation in the feudal era.' Somehow – the gods alone knew how – she had managed to convince Inuyasha to take a day off, and spend some time at the beach. It was beautiful. The beach in her time was always crowded, cluttered and sometimes littered with garbage and forgotten objects. The beach here… it seemed untouched, as if no one ever came here. Which was probably true; going to the beach was a pastime not usually occurring in the feudal era, if only for the simple reason people here did not have time to pass.

Kagome sighed, opening her food hamper and pulling out some waffle cones. Before they had left Edo, Kagome went back to her time for an hour, coming back with her bag – and the food hamper – full of modern era toys and sweets, as well as some other beach related stuff. Two bathing suits of hers, for Sango and herself, as well as one that used to be Souta's when he was younger for Shippou, and two that used to be her father's, for Miroku and Inuyasha.

It was a good thing her mother could never throw away things.

Filling the cones with ice cream, the best thing to have at the beach, she served them first to Shippou, who was busing himself building the 'largest sandcastle there had ever been', just like she showed him, and then to Sango and Miroku, who were lying together on the big towel she had spread, the monk surprisingly not using the opportunity to act as the hentai he was.

Glancing at the last ice cream in her hand, she sighed again, looking at the thicket of trees not far from there. Inuyasha, clearly disapproving of their idleness, had taken off the moment they had gotten there, going back the way they came. He was probably with Kikyou by now, as much as it hurt her to admit it.

Settling herself on a nearby rock, Kagome looked at her friends. They looked so… modern in this setting. No one would've guessed that they were actually a monk, a youkai slayer, and a kitsune youkai, if shown this image.

A tap on her leg made her aware of her surroundings.

There was a young girl next to her, a small ponytail on one side of her head, and a huge grin.

Kagome looked around, and sure enough, there was Sesshoumaru, with his two-headed dragon and a surprisingly quiet Jaken.

"Hey, Rin-chan! How are you?"

"Rin is good, Kagome-nee-chan!" the girl had replied, looking at the ice cream in Kagome's hands with evident interest. Kagome could not have missed the hint even if she was blind.

"Want some ice cream, Rin-chan?"

The girl nodded happily. They have met before, and Rin had quickly learnt that Kagome always provided the best sweets.

And so Kagome set to make the little girl a cone of ice cream of her own, glad that she had thought to bring more that she knew they could eat.

"Kagome-nee-chan, it's cold!"

"Yes, Rin. This is ice cream, the best treat for a day at the beach. It's supposed to be eaten cold, so don't take too much time, or it will melt and spill, 'kay?"

"Okay, Kagome-nee-chan!" the little girl exclaimed, and off she went to join Shippou and help him with his castle, the latter receiving her with a joyful smile.

"Do you want some ice cream as well, Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked as soon as the two kids resumed their playing.

"Hn," was her reply. Taking that as a yes, Kagome fished another cone, filling it with all the ice cream flavors she brought, minus the chocolate, of course.

"What about the brown?" he had asked when she had given him the cone.

"Oh, that's chocolate. It's a favorite among humans, but dogs are allergic to it. I don't know how dog youkai would react to it, but I'd prefer to keep it safe."

Once again, "hn" was the only response she got. 'He is much less talkative today that he usually is,' she thought. 'Is it because we are not alone?'

They sat there in companionable silence – though she could still not believe that 'Sesshoumaru' and 'companionable' could go together – sometimes exchanging a word or two, mostly about the kids, who had come back for seconds, or about Sango and Miroku, who had migrated into the ocean, and were now playing with the inflatable beach ball Kagome brought, a game that had turned into a water fight soon enough. It was fun, and peaceful, and Kagome found herself glad, for once, that Inuyasha was not there.

She was so shocked over this thought that she gave a start, causing Sesshoumaru to glance at her curiously, not that she noticed. She was too busy trying to figure where the hell that thought had come from. Why wouldn't she want Inuyasha around? She loved the hanyou, after all! She needed to do some heavy thinking, the kind of heavy thinking best done with a cigarette in her hand. Without much thought, she pulled out her package of cigarettes and her lighter from her bag. Only after taking one out, she realized Sesshoumaru was staring at her intently.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Does the smell bother you?" she asked, not really wanting to put it back, yet even more reluctant to offend the Taiyoukai. Said Taiyoukai, though, only continued looking at her cigarette, keeping silent. She decided to venture towards a different direction.

"Do you want one, too?" she asked, and he nodded. A tiny nod, but it was there nonetheless.

Lighting the cigarette, she gave it to him, before taking out another for herself. 'Who would have thought?' she mused, all her earlier thoughts about Inuyasha already forgotten. 'I'm sitting here and smoking with Sesshoumaru!'

He was smoking elegantly, as if he had been doing so for years. But then, he did everything elegantly.

Maybe she should get him a pack of his own, and a lighter, next time she was home.

another adventure for our favourite soon to be addicted Taiyoukai ;)

thank you everyone who had taken the time and reviewed the story! I'm soooo pleased at the responses! (to tell the truth, I thought people would be a little less openminded and say it's unbelievable and too OOC of Sesshoumaru to actually smoke the cigarettes... I'm so glad you guys found it funny :D)

hope you liked this one as well!

tell me what you thought...

Lyla