It had been several days since his and Kagome's fight, and after a few more awkward apologies, things had finally started falling back into their normal routine. After Kagome came home from school, they would spend the day playing or looking for clues on how to send him back through the well. But with each day, they spent more time playing and less time searching.

'I want to find a way home,' Sesshomaru thought slowly as he made his way towards the house. 'But … doing so would mean leaving Kagome.'

The young prince was torn between homesickness and his friendship with the bright-eyed girl who had become his first friend. Frowning as he stepped into the kitchen, Sesshomaru dismissed the troublesome thoughts from his mind for the time being. Today was a searching day, and they were once again inspecting the well when Kagome had asked for him to run and get them each a juice box.

Eyeing the refrigerator suspiciously, the young demon reluctantly grasped the silver handle and tugged it open. The wash of cold air from the contraption made him flinch every time, raising goose pimples across his flesh as the unnatural chill seeped forth.

'I can understand how such a thing is useful for storing foods,' he thought sourly as he quickly selected two boxes from the many sitting on the lower shelf. 'But the idea of the cold season being locked in a box is... unnerving.'

Firmly closing the refrigerator door once more, he turned and freed the attached plastic straws from the side of each box before stabbing them firmly through the hole in the top like Kagome's mom had shown him. There was so much about this time that was still strange to him, but Sesshomaru had always prided himself o being a quick study, and after having been here for nearly 4 months many things had become habit for him.

Stepping back out, the young inu had barely shut the door back when on the breeze he caught a scent that made his hackles rise. It was true, that the past week had been relatively quiet for them, especially considering how trouble-prone Kagome had turned out to be. But the stench of another male coming from the direction of where he had left his little friend only moments before signaled an end to this tentative peace.

'I can't leave her alone for a second,' the young demon thought to himself as he rushed towards the well-house, determined to protect his claim. While he was a child even by youkai standards, Sesshomaru was still an inu at his core.

And he didn't share.

As he got closer to the small structure, the scent only grew stronger, causing the young lord to bare his fangs angrily. Wanting to assess the situation before he stormed in and possibly started another fight, he paused at the entrance to the well. Peering through the partially opened doors, Sesshomaru felt the fine hairs on his arms standing on end at the sight in front of him. Gold eyes tinted red at the liberties the opposing male was taking with his Kagome, and with a soft snarl the young demon clenched his fists, ignoring the cold splatter of juice trickling through his claws.

Alerted to his presence by the sound, Kagome spun around with her arms still wrapped around the offending mortal in a tender embrace. Oblivious to his upset, her bright sapphire eyes sparkled as she jumped up the stairs toward his stiffening form. Excitedly, she cried with a smile, "Sessho-chan, I want you to meet someone!"

Before he could protest, the angry lordling found himself staring into a set of half-lidded, unimpressed black eyes. He heard his friend telling him something about the intruder, but he was focused on leveling his most intimidating glare at the miscreant currently nose to nose with him. He knew he should be paying attention, but as the moments passed and the male's dead-panned expression never changed, the Sesshomaru felt his rage growing. Scowling, he couldn't help the low, possessive thrum that rumbled from him, unheard by the girl still babbling happily from behind the intruder.

'She's mine,' he growled in inu. 'Back off!'

Golden eyes widened in shock when the tiny creature responded with a loud yowling followed by a bop on the nose. The message was loud and clear, and for a moment he could only stare in outrage and disbelief as he absorbed the flippant and challenging response.

'Not a chance, pup!'

"Isn't he cute!" the young girl squealed in delight, giggling when the stray kitten in her hands started batting at Sesshomaru's nose playfully. "I think I'm going to call him Mamoru..."

Her attention was so focused on the scrawny animal in her hands she didn't notice the dangerous aura thickening around the boy next to her. Fangs clenching at the calculating glint in the tiny, malnourished beast's eyes, Sesshomaru lunged at the kitten, intent on eliminating the dratted thing from the mortal plane. Unfortunately for him, the feline in question chose that exact moment to start purring fiercely, the vibrations causing the small girl to react instantaneously.

"Awwwww! He likes you!"

Tucking the stray kitten under her chin once more, she began cooing at it senselessly while scratching it's nose with a finger. This unknowingly saved the crafty animal from Sesshomaru, who, propelled by his own momentum, landed at the bottom of the well-house steps face first. Groaning into the dirt, he felt Kagome's confused stare on his back.

"What happened, Sessho-chan? Did you trip on something?" There was a touch of concern in her voice, but it didn't ease his irritation in the least. Pushing himself up, he was about to answer when the kitten still cradled in her arms mewled loudly, butting her chin with it's overlarge, misshaped head to get the girl's attention once more.

"Haha, awww! You want me to scratch your nose some more?"

Frowning at the easy dismissal as her focus once more went entirely to the mangy feline, the young lord began brushing himself off, doing his best to ignore the sighs of affection coming from his friend and the cause of them. Claws shaking in anger, he was struggling in his mind to calm down.

'I am not jealous of a cat! I am the heir to the Western Lands and a powerful demon! It's just a... a flea-bitten pet' he thought fiercely, taking slow breaths to calm his temper.

He knew that if he attempted anything on the kitten at the moment, it wouldn't end well for him. It was obvious Kagome had already become unreasonably attached to the scrap of fur, and he honestly didn't want to get into another fight with her. Blocking the sickeningly sweet sounds coming from the girl at the top of the stairs, continued brushing at the lingering dirt clinging to his clothes. Sesshomaru almost had himself under control when Kagome's teasing voice brought all his reasonableness to a stuttering halt.

"It's too bad you're not a cat youkai, Sessho-chan! They always land on their feet!" she giggled absently, too focused on the adorable mewls of agreement coming from the kitten to notice how still he had suddenly become. By the time she was aware that something was wrong, the kitten was missing from her arms and Sesshomaru was nowhere to be found.

As he stalked into the house with the hissing kitten held lightly between his claws, the young inu decided that perhaps he didn't mind the refrigerator so much after all. Tossing the puffed-up ball of fur into the back of the top shelf, he quickly swiped two more juice boxes before shutting it in his opponent's face. Washing his hands of the fur that had stuck to the stickiness left from the ruined juice boxes, he then sat down at the table with the fresh containers to wait for Kagome to come looking for him.

'...and the gnat,' he thought disdainfully. Seemingly hearing his degrading thoughts, an answering yowl sounded from behind him. Muffled by the door, it sounded like little more than a distressed buzzing, further cementing his opinion of the interfering wretch.

"Since I am Kagome's protector, 'Mamoru' doesn't really suit you," he called loudly, wanting the trapped animal to hear him. His amber eyes danced with satisfaction as he continued, "I think 'Buyo' is much more fitting."

A devilish grin split his face at the hiss of protest that reach his ears from beyonf the thick barrier. While he knew he was going to get an earful from Kagome for putting the annoying beast in the refrigerator, Sesshomaru couldn't help the satisfaction running through him while he listened to it's muffled, angry yowls continue. Knowing that she would soon be coddling the filthy animal fairly often, he decide that it was well worth the lecture he was going to get.

'Besides,' he thought mulishly as he listened to her running steps approaching, 'she has never even offered to scratch my nose like that.'

...in which Buyo arrives on the scene, and we discover that Sesshomaru named the ever infamous fat cat!

Awww... Sesshomaru is such a jealous little demon XD The image to go with this chapter will be EPIC ((seriously, everyone picture Sesshomaru getting his nose bopped by a malnourished kitten !))

This chapter is NOT beta'd because I haven't had a chance to ask the awesome Coffee-Fae about it!

As always, feedback and comments are VERY appreciated

ENJOY!

All Characters Belong to Rumiko Takehashi
Plot Bunnies Belong to Me