Part One: Ghost Stories

"Kagome-" A quiet sniffling from the girl in question made the young inu hesitate, uncertainty clouding his normally confident features.

Sesshomaru visibly wilted as Kagome continued to cower against Goshinboku, shoulders trembling as she cried silently behind the safety of her palms. After a week of anticipation and planning for this mini camping trip, the diminutive youkai couldn't help the small whine that escaped him for ruining everything. Everything had started off well enough- they'd managed to make a small fire pit and start a fire, and laid out their sleeping bags on the far side of the tree from the house where there was a gap in the branches so they could look up at the stars. From there, however, things had gone downhill.

As the last whispers of daylight softened into the sweet murmurs of dusk, Kagome had suggested they tell scary stories. While he had been dubious at first, his ebony-haired companion had insisted that it was a camping tradition to tell "spooky" tales around the campfire. Bowing to her traditions, Sesshomaru had patiently listened while she explained the how-to's of story telling, emphasizing that the entire purpose was to have a frightening ending. She had then proceeded to regale him with a story about a woman whose beauty drove her husband to murder her after splitting his wife's face open ear to ear. The young lordling had listened intently as she recounted how the spirit of the woman approached children with her face covered, asking them if she was beautiful. On the whole, he had been impressed with the dramatic flair with which his friend told the story, but not frightened.

"Why do they respond at all?" Sesshomaru's voice was laced with genuine curiosity.

Kagome huffed, her hands still lifted dramatically above her head from the climax of her tale. Frowning at his impertinence, the small girl retorted sourly, "What do you mean, why? She asked a question, so they have to answer!"

Golden eyes flashed with a look that clearly communicated his disagreement with her logic. Tilting his chin, he countered in a tone dripping with arrogance, "Ridiculous. It is quite obvious that they could simply continue past her without uttering a single word.

"Besides, didn't you tell me it is common practice for the young children of this time to not speak with strangers?"

Sesshomaru was startled by the impressive growl coming from between Kagome's clenched teeth as she glared at him. Crossing her arms petulantly, she glared at him through narrowed eyes. Tossing her obsidian hair over her shoulder, she sniffed indelicately before practically hissing at him, "Fine! Since you know more about what's scary and what's not, I'd like to see you do better!"

The challenge stung his pride, as the inu had merely been pointing out the obvious holes in her story. A tense silence blanketed the small camp, interrupted only but the fierce crackle of their guttering fire. It had been some time since either of them had added a stick to the pile, and the flames had already eagerly eaten through the meager kindling and branches they'd used to build it with. With a final snap of defiance, the blaze collapsed into anxious embers, plunging both stubborn children into darkness. Sesshomaru continued to hold Kagome's indignant gaze, his molten eyes scorching as they captured and reflected the dim glow from the remains of the fire.

Minutes passed, and Kagome began to feel her ire cooling even as a chill breeze swept across her neck. Before she could say anything though, her companions soft, even tones reached her through the darkness surrounding them.

"There was a small village near to where we now sit," Sesshomaru began, settling into his story without the flair for dramatics Kagome had used in her telling. "This village lived in peace for many moons, bountiful in its crops and blessed by the laughter of its many happy, healthy children.

"Then, quite suddenly, the children started disappearing, one by one, each night after the village went to sleep. After the first child had disappeared, the village sent out a search party, hoping that he had simply wandered off in the middle of the night. Yet they returned to the village unsuccessful."

Sesshomaru continued, his steady, quiet voice telling Kagome how, night after night, more and more children simply vanished without a trace. The young miko fell under the story's spell easily, leaning forward as she imagined the fear on the villagers faces when only two children remained in the once prosperous village. A clawed hand used the cover of darkness to pick up a small stone from nearby, palming it carefully for the right moment in the story.

"The only two children left were best friends, a boy and a girl who were never seen outside of each other's company. In the weeks since the village children had gone missing, the mother's of both the boy and girl had decided to share a hut and take turns keeping vigil over their precious young. Throughout the night they would take turns staying awake, eyes never leaving the forms of their sleeping children for fear they would vanish. The women were exhausted, but determined that no one would take their little ones. That night, as the boy's mother was about to wake the other for her shift, she heard something tap against the wall of the hut." Sesshomaru smirked to himself as he watch Kagome scoot even closer, her stormy eyes wide in her pale face as his voice dropped lower, forcing her to strain her ears to hear him.

Readying the stone, the young inu did his best to not allow satisfaction to seep into his voice as he continued, "Her eyes turned away for only a second, towards the sound and away from those they had so carefully guarded. It was only a fraction of a moment, but by the time she had turned back around, her son was gone."

Kagome's soft gasp urged Sesshomaru onward, his triumphant smirk hidden from her weak human eyes.

"The next night, the mother of the girl was warned by her friend to not take her eyes from her daughter, no matter what sounds she heard. Heeding the warning, she spent the night with moss stuffed into her ears so she couldn't be distracted by any noises. As dawn began peeking on the edges of the horizon, confidence overcame the woman, and she removed her earplugs, convinced that she had succeeded in keeping her daughter safe.

"Leaning forward, she-"

As he spoke, Sesshomaru flicked the stone forcefully, shooting it into the tree behind Kagome. The resounding snap had the desired affect, and obsidian locks swirled as Kagome turned to look over her shoulder, searching the darkness for movement. The young inu used her distraction to vanish, moving with demonic speed to leap silently into Goshinboku's branches. He maneuvered carefully until he was directly above a spot behind Kagome and then waited with bated breath for the right moment.

In the meantime, the young girl had turned back to find Sesshomaru gone, and was looking around herself frantically.

"Sesshomaru?" Her tentative call was barely more than a whisper, pitched with worry for her friend as cold dread froze her in place. She opened her mouth to call for him again, louder, when something grabbed her from behind and pulled. Terrified, Kagome screamed, struggling against the arms wrapped around her. Drawing in breath to scream again, the young girl choked on air when she was quickly spun around to face her arrogantly smirking friend.

"That was a scary story," he stated smugly. When moments passed and no response was forthcoming, Sesshomaru finally noticed the tremors wracking Kagome's small frame, accompanied by the scent of salt.

It had taken her collapsing at his feet, sobbing into her hands for the tiny youkai to realize he might have gone too far. And now here he stood, feeling terrible for allowing his wounded pride to come between him and Kagome. Thoroughly ashamed of himself, Sesshomaru cast aside his doubts and moved forward to kneel in front of his upset friend. Reaching forward, he gently pulled Kagome's tear-soaked hands away from her wane face before carefully brushing away the traces of her sorrow. A clawed hand on either side of her face, the young boy encouraged her to meet his regret filled eyes as he spoke with bone-deep sincerity.

"I'm sorry, Kagome."

Gold eyes widened with shock when Kagome threw her arms around him, her face buried against his shoulder as she hugged him tightly. It was her response, however, that truly startled him. Voice rough with emotion, Kagome confessed, "It wasn't your story that scared me, baka! I thought..."

"You promised... that you'd never let me get lost. But then you were gone... and all I could think was if I stayed near Goshinboku, you'd come back... you'd find me." She took a deep breath before pulling back to look at him, a pleading look in her eyes.

So when I felt someone pulling me away, I-" Kagome cut off, her eyes once more welling up as Sesshomaru nodded in understanding.

"You were afraid I wouldn't be able to find you," he finished, watching as a single drop marred Kagome's soft cheek. Leaning forward slowly, the inuyoukai swept his rough tongue against her skin, capturing the crystalline remnant of her sorrow and whining softly at the bitter tang it left.

Gazing seriously into her now startled indigo orbs, Sesshomaru vowed, "There is no place anyone could take you that I would not follow, Kagome."

His words were rewarded by a small grin, quickly followed by a determined glimmering in her eyes that made him nervous. Before he could react, she slapped both sides of his face smartly, the sound of her palms smacking his flesh a vibrant contrast to the calm from moments before. Falling back while cradling his face, Sesshomaru snapped at her indignantly, "What was that for?!"

Pursing her lips, Kagome set her hands on her hips in the universal sign of feminine displeasure and answered waspishly, "That was for licking me AGAIN!"

Stomping over to her sleeping bag, the young girl muttered to herself about dogs and their need to get their slobber all over everything. Sesshomaru stared at her back unrepentantly, sullen from her rebuke and determined that he would never lick the silly human again...

...no matter how sweet she tasted.

...in which Sesshomaru proves who is the scariest and makes Kagome cry. This sounds oddly familiar...

Yes... this is the first chapter in a three part story arc XD

No, I will not tell you the titles to the next two chapters :p

In the meantime, I apologize for the supremely lame scary story Sesshomaru tells... I'm not good at those kinds of "tales" and couldn't find any that really fit :/ Bleh.

Kagome's story is obviously a common Japanese myth about a slit-faced woman who approaches children to ask them if she's beautiful. If you say no, she kills you, if you say yes, she cuts your face to look like yours. The only safe way to escape known is to say she looks average. This confuses her and you can run away!