It had been a week since Kagome and Sesshomaru had their talk about courting and Kagome thought it was going great. For her, it took a little time to get used to the changes in their relationship although Sesshomaru seemed to have no problem with the transition at all. Kagome was surprised at how affectionate Sesshomaru could be. By his cold demeanor, she thought that she would be the one that had to initiate any form of intimacy but she was wrong. It seemed like as soon as she said yes to him during their talk he used every halfway decent opportunity he could find to touch her. Nothing too out of her comfort zone, it wasn't like he was pulling her behind a tree so they could make out for a while or pushing her further than she was ready for. No, nothing like that, just things she considered sweet, though she'd never say that out loud to him. She was sure he'd stop doing them immediately if she did.

It was a little bit of a learning curve, apparently, Inu demons and humans had different signs of affection. He'd rub his cheek against hers, and lick her neck, which gave her tingles throughout her whole body, and he'd give her his pelt if she even showed the slightest sign of her being cold. It took her a few days to realize that it was him scent marking her. He also always wanted her close and more times than not was touching her in some way, whether it be carrying her when they had to get somewhere fast, or placing her in between his legs while they sat around the fire at the end of the night, even just placing a hand on her while they were walking.

The first time Jaken saw them showing each other affection she feared that he died. He just fell backward and lay on the ground. She thought he wasn't breathing and felt guilty about killing him, she had a feeling he was old but she didn't think he was that old. She swore she even saw his eyes cross. Sesshomaru was about to keep walking and leave him there but he saw Kagome's panic, sighed, walked back to him, and picked him up by his clothes to throw him on Ah-Un. When he woke up there was a lot of squawking that finally ended when a rock hit the side of his head and he was knocked out again. That's how she learned that it was Sesshomaru who kept knocking him unconscious when Jaken got too annoying for him. Ah-Un on the other hand seemed happy with the changes but he actually liked Kagome. That reminded her, when she made it back to her time she was going to go to the pet store and get some treats for reptiles, she wasn't really sure what type of food would be treats for them, but she'd figure it out.

His being so open about his affection for her and their new relationship gave her the courage to show him how humans show affection. He seemed confused the first time she held his hand and intertwined their fingers but after a second he gave her a small smile only for her eyes and kept walking down the road. Or when she gave him a hug for the first time, she wrapped her arms around his middle and he froze for a second before she felt him pat the top of her head a few times. She couldn't help but break out in laughter before grabbing his hands and wrapping them around her. There had been a few kisses too, kagome felt herself blush just thinking about the kiss from the night before.

Sesshomaru growled and her blush grew brighter, she learned that demon's enhanced senses could even smell that, so she quickly turned her mind to other things. Over the last week, they were able to collect a few more shards. Kagome felt good about it, at this rate it'd only take maybe a month or two to find them all. It was almost time for her to have to go home so she could refresh her supplies. She flicked her eyes to Inuyasha, she'd finally told him where she was from but he didn't believe it, she told him if he behaved she'd take him with them when they went. She really wasn't looking forward to telling him it was about time to head back to Edo though because he was so focused on finding the jewel. She doesn't know why he wants it so bad, she's made it clear that she can't let him have it. Unless he's planning on betraying them and stealing it as soon as it's completed. No, she shook her head, he wouldn't do that to them, they're friends. Heck, he and Sesshomaru are family and even though they act like they hate each other, she had seen proof that they both would defend the other in battle if needed. So they have to at least care about each other.

Then again, maybe she was wrong, maybe he does have it in him to betray them. He still hadn't opened up to them about what really happened when he was sealed to the tree. She didn't want to think what the people of the village said was true but he refused to talk about it when she asked. On top of that, he had been in an even worse mood than normal lately. Maybe he felt like the third wheel or the odd one out because it started about the time that she and Sesshomaru started dating, courting, or whatever. Again, she tried to talk about it with him but Inuyasha isn't the type to talk about things like feelings. She didn't really know what to do, she was sad that her friend wasn't happy but she was also on the verge of yelling at him. It's not her fault that he was upset and they didn't deserve to be the one he took his anger out on. She took a quick look over to him and he had on the same annoyed face with his arms crossed that he's had on his face for the last week. She was at the end of her rope, she didn't know what else to do but she didn't like how tense it was around him.

Her stomach let out a loud growl and she blushed. Sesshomaru looked over at her with a quirked brow. She was about to tell him that she was fine to keep going for a while, she had one or two of her energy bars left even though they were the coconut flavor that she hated. He didn't let her though. "We'll rest."

Inuyasha huffed but didn't fight, he just jumped into the closest tree. You know Inuyasha is upset when he doesn't even argue and just goes along with what's said. She huffed too but her annoyance was directed at him. Sesshomaru went over to Ah-un and grabbed her bag, she was very happy the first time Sesshomaru took it off her shoulders and placed it in one of Ah-Un's saddle bags. He handed it to her and she started diffing through it to find something to eat. She decided Ramen would be filling and quick. Once the water was boiling, thanks to Jaken because he used the staff of two heads to help her. He knew better than to say anything against helping her after the first time he tried, let's just say that was one of the longer naps Sesshomaru made him take. She was surprised when Inuyasha jumped down from the tree and she could see his nose sniffing a lot.

"What's that?" He asked gruffly.

"It's ramen noodles, do you want some?"

He crossed his arms and turned away. "Keh, like I need anything from you."

That hurt her feelings a little bit but she ignored it. "Okay, well I'll make a second bowl and you can have some if you want."

She wasn't surprised that after some blustering and pretending he wasn't going to take it, Inuyasha's nose led him to try it. She was however surprised when after one taste he started eating it almost faster than she could see.

"Your time has such strange food. Have your people made it far to other lands? I've seen you use ingredients that I've never seen about the lands before." Sesshomaru asked, he didn't want any but he could see that his half-brother was a fan.

She smiled brightly at him. "Oh yeah, in my time, you can get pretty much anywhere in the world in a day or so. These were made right here though, they were invented for astronauts to take with them into space."

"Into space?"

She could see Sesshomaru's signs of surprise. His eyes were open slightly wider and his mouth was open a little wider. "Oh yeah, we've been to the moon before."

"You've gone into space?" He asked, sounding alarmed. She wanted to laugh when she could see him check her over as if to belatedly make sure she didn't get damaged.

She laughed, "Me? No, you have to go to school and train for a long time to do that. I don't think I'd want to anyway, it seems too dangerous to me."

Sesshomaru nodded, he wouldn't want his miko to do such a thing anyway, and pulled her close. Sesshomaru was enjoying the peace and quiet while having his miko leaning against him when she jumped up and screamed, "AN EYE!"

Sesshomaru thought he was getting pretty good at understanding Kagome but sometimes he had the thought that he'd never understand her. He cut his eyes to the half-breed and noticed he was just as confused. "An eye?"

She jumped up and down excitedly, "Yeah, I figured it out, 'Seeing, but never seen; protected, yet never known to its protector. I think it's in someone's eye but they don't know it's there."

Sesshomaru's whole body stiffened and he quickly cut his eyes to Inuyasha. For Inuyasha, it was the first time he ever remembered feeling like the prey of his brothers. He felt the urge to run but he didn't know why. He opened his mouth and tried to sound confident. "Keh, that's the dumbest thing I ever heard. How would someone put a whole grave in someone's eye?"

Sesshomaru stood up and started to walk over to Inuyasha looking at him intently. All of a sudden, Kagome felt unsure, she didn't know what to think about what was happening in front of her. Part of her thought she probably should have just kept her mouth shut. "His tomb is placed within a black pearl, brother. It is but the size of a small pebble and could easily be hidden in an eye. I think the miko is on to something."

Inuyasha scrambled up trying to take a few steps away from Sesshomaru but after two steps he was already against a tree. "Why are you looking at me like that, ya bastard?"

"Because, dear brother, I am willing to bet that Father dearest chose you, his favorite son to hide it in. Do not worry, it will not hurt, much"

"Ses-Sesshomaru… Maybe I was wrong. I don't want you to accidentally make Inuyasha go blind because you poked his eye out."

"Get him, lord Sesshomaru, show that half-breed who's boss!"

Sesshomaru grabbed Inuyasha's head with one hand and started to bring the claws of his other toward Inuyasha's eye.

Kagome absently put her foot on top of Jaken and stomped down but she didn't take her eyes off the brothers. "Seriously Sesshomaru, we already talked about this, it's not like you even need the sword…." She trailed off because in what seemed like a second, Sesshomaru let go of Inuyasha and was holding a little black thing in his hand the size of a marble. "Wow, that's the black pearl." She said in a mystified voice as she took her foot off Jaken and started to walk over to Sesshomaru.

"You coulda just asked, bastard."

Sesshomaru scoffed, "Are you telling me you'd have said yes?"

Instead of answering, Inuyasha turned his back to his brother and crossed his arms.

Kagome walked over to Inyasha to check him over. "Are you okay?"

Inuyasha wanted to be angry with her but she did try to stop his brother from doing it so he eventually decided to be truthful. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

Kagome smiled at Inuyasha and she knew Sesshomaru didn't like it because she heard him growl. She didn't really care at the minute though because she was mad at him. He should have listened to her worries about hurting Inuyasha.

"Jaken."

"Yes, my lord?"

"The staff." Sesshomaru held his hand out and Jaken ran over to put the staff in his hand. He was able to use it on the pearl so that a portal opened.

Kagome walked up to it. "Woah"

"Come, miko," Sesshomaru said and even though she did what he said, he could tell something was wrong by how stiff she was in his arms. He pulled her even closer and used a growl inu used to calm their pups and mates. She slowly softened in his hold. She decided that she'd forgive him for now but when they stopped for the night she'd talk to him. So, she leaned in closer and watched as he jumped through the portal.

When they made it to the other side Kagome was surprised to see that it was like a whole world inside the pearl there was a sky, clouds, sun, and everything. Thank goodness Sesshomaru could fly otherwise they'd be freefalling. She gasped when she thought about Inuyasha, she turned her head enough to see that he was falling but thankfully this thing that she could only categorize as a skeleton of a pterodactyl caught him.

She breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Sesshomaru when his growl became less comforting and more angry again. 'Is he jealous?' She shook her head, now wasn't the time to worry about that. She went back to looking around and her eyes widened when she saw another skeleton, this time it was huge, the size of a building. "Is that your father?"

"Hn."

She'd seen Sesshomaru in his true form and thought he was huge but from what she could see, compared to his father, he still had some growing to do. Kagome shivered when they went into his skeleton through his skull. It felt wrong but neither Sesshomaru nor Inuyasha seemed to have a problem with it so she didn't say anything. They landed in front of a stand with a sword sticking out of it. Kagome thought it looked weak and on the verge of breaking but she could feel the power radiating off of it.

It seemed that maybe Inuyasha didn't, "Keh, this is what you're after? It looks like a piece of junk."

"You're a fool, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru said simply.

"They say it was forged from the fang of your father's own mouth. Once you possess the blade Tessaiga, you possess his power as well!" Jaken chimed in.

Sesshomaru put Kagome down and walked up to it. He stared at it reverently before reaching his hand to pull it out of the gold stand. Unfortunately, as soon as his hand touched it, he was repelled. Kagome panicked when he pulled his hand away and it was burnt. She ran over to him and grabbed his hand to look it over. She was cursing herself for not grabbing her backpack off of Ah-Un because it had a first aid kit but she had no reason to worry because she watched his hand heal in seconds. "Wow."

"Father has done his work well, the blade is protected."

"What does that mean? Should we leave it here?"

Before Sesshomaru had a chance to answer, Inuyasha walked up, "Just get out of my way, I'll be able to do it. There was a reason it was in my eye, after all."

Sesshomaru had thought over what Kagome and Bokuseno said a lot over the last few weeks. He had already decided that they were right and that he did not need such a sword. He was strong enough on his own and he wouldn't get any stronger by relying on the power of someone else. His goal now was to get the sword and keep it safe and in the family. For some reason, it made him angry thinking that Inuyasha could get it though, maybe it was because over the years Inuyasha had rebuffed every attempt Sesshomaru had made to bring him into the pack, or maybe it was because he was angry at him because Kagome had been so worried about him recently, either way, Inuyasha was the last person he wanted to have control of the sword. So, he was pleased when although he didn't get burned when he tried to take the sword, he couldn't get it out, either.

Kagome sighed when both Sesshomaru and Inuyasha just stared at the sword after they both failed to get it free. "Maybe we're just meant to leave it here. From what I heard about him, your father was smart and thought ahead. I doubt he would have worked so hard to hide it and make it impossible for either of you to grab it if he wanted it out in the world. Maybe he realized it caused too much damage."

Sesshomaru didn't respond to what she said, instead he just replied, "You try it, Kagome."

"M-me? Why do you think I'd be able to do it?"

"Keh, you wouldn't you're just a weak human, the bastard is just grasping at straws and he knows the toad sure as shit won't be able to do it. I'll get it, I just need a better grip." Inuyasha said as he attempted to take the sword out again, and failed again.

"Miko, you may not have great control of your power yet but you are powerful. My father made this sword to protect his human mistress and his half-human son. The wielder of the fang needs to have the want to protect humanity. I cannot think of anyone better suited than you."

Kagome ignored Inuyasha's blustering and looked at Sesshomaru for a long time before nodding her head and walking up to the sword. She took a deep breath and put her hand on its grip. She barely had to touch it before it came right out of its stand. "I did it." She sounded as disbelieving as Inuyasha looked.

Kagome looked at it in her hands then looked at the brothers, then back at the sword again. She didn't know what to do, they were both looking at her like they expected her to hand them each the sword. She felt that she should give it to Sesshomaru out of loyalty, he was her boyfriend after all. She internally giggled at thinking of him as a boyfriend, that word really didn't fit for someone like Sesshomaru. Then again, the sword was in Inuyasha's eye, maybe that meant that he wanted Inuyasha to have it. She just didn't know what was right and honestly, she didn't think it was fair that it was put on her to choose. So, she put it under her arm safely and said, "Okay, are we ready to get out of here? I'll be honest, your father seems like a great guy but I'd rather not be standing inside of him any longer than necessary."

Sesshomaru stared at her for a second before nodding, he trusted Kagome to take care of the fang while it was in her care. "Hn, let us depart."

"Uhm, Sesshomaru, I think you have to carry Inuyasha too, I'm not sure how he can get back up to the portal." Both brothers looked equally displeased with the suggestion. Kagome wanted to giggle again when Sesshomaru let out an uncharacteristic sigh before inclining his head to Inuyasha who after a few seconds, sulkuly walked over to the two. Sesshomaru still picked Kagome up even though it became clear that it wasn't necessary after he lifted off on the cloud with Inuyasha not touching the two but still flying with them. Kagome didn't say anything about it because she enjoyed the contact as much as it seemed Sesshomaru did.

It had been a few days since they found the Inu no Tasho's grave and were able to retrieve the sword. Things were going pretty well, Kagome had thought long and hard about it, something inside her told her that she was supposed to give it to Inuyasha. In fact, the night before she had a dream where someone, who she thought might be their father, came to her and told her that Inuyasha needed it and that Sesshomaru was strong enough on his own without it. In her heart she knew it was the right thing to do the only problem was that she didn't want to hurt Sesshomaru or have him think she was playing favorites or choosing Inuyasha over him because that so was not the case. Sesshomaru was quickly becoming one of the most important and special people in her life and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him.

She sighed, there was no other way around it, she just had to talk to him. Thankfully, after dinner, which they just sat down to eat, was when they went away from the camp to train, so she decided that was when she was going to bring it up to him. She was just about to take the first bite of her ramen when it seemed to become dark within a second. This was only their lunch break so Kagome knew it was still a few hours before sunset, well it should have been anyway. She stood up worried.

Sesshomaru felt magic, kitsune magic and if he had to guess, the kit was quite young. He could feel where the magic was emanating from but instead of stopping the kit, he decided to see how this played out.

In the sky, there was a swirl of lights and he could tell that Kagome was worried so he squeezed her arm comfortingly. "You down there, you possess a shard of the sacred Shikon jewel."

"Who's that?" Inuyasha asked his claws out and ready to attack.

"A demon?" Kagome asked.

"It's a kitsune. A kit to be precise."

"Keh, yeah right. Like I'd believe that." Inuyasha blustered.

Just then the swirl of light turned into a big balloon with a face on it who tried to intimidate the pack. "You will give me the jewel or I shall kill you all!"

Inuyasha raised his hand but instead of clawing the balloon, he smacked it instead. It went flying and when it landed it transformed into a little kitsune. Inuyasha became even more annoyed because he felt the 'I told you so' aura radiating off of Sesshomaru. Kagome walked up to the kitsune and couldn't help but swoon a little, he was the cutest little thing and all she wanted to do was squeeze his cheeks. "He's so cute! I wonder what he's doing out here all alone. Are you okay little buddy?"

The kit jumped up and slapped her hand away what was patting his head. "Don't call me cute! Ans-and I'm not your buddy! Give me the jewel!"

"What's wrong, little guy? Why would you want something as dangerous as a jewel shard?" Kagome asked, even though the child seemed to be upset and in no mood to be coddled, Kagome couldn't help herself.

Inuyasha was tired of the way the kid was being rude to Kagome so he grabbed him by the tail, "Oi, what are you up to, twerp? You gotta know by now it's dangerous to attack those stronger than you. Haven't you ever heard the saying 'pick on someone your own size'? It works both ways, ya know!…." It was clear Inuyasha was planning on saying more but the fox kit somehow turned into a heavy stone that Inuyasha couldn't help but drop and it just so happened to land on his toe, so he couldn't help but let out a yelp of pain.

"Where'd he go?" Kagome asked, looking to where Sesshomaru was, only he wasn't there anymore. Instead, he was by Ah-Uh with his hand in Kagome's backpack. When he pulled his arm out, it had the kit attached.

"Hey! Were you really trying to steal from me? That's not very nice!"

The kit sagged, which was kinda hard considering he was being held upside down by the tail, "I don't know what else to do! I need something to make me strong, I have to get revenge on those stupid thunder brothers." He paused because he started to cry so Kagome walked over to them and took the kit out of Sesshomaru's hand to comfort him, the kit leaned into the nice lady gratefully. He calmed himself down after a few minutes but was still crying and sniffling a little when he continued talking. "They-they killed my mama and my papa. They weren't doing anything wrong, papa found one of those stupid shards then the brothers must have felt the power because they came. P-papa told me to hide and-and they killed Papa and Mama right in front of me. The b-big one is wearing my papa as a pelt!"

Kagome was tearing up by the end of the distressed kit's story. "Oh Cami, you poor guy, don't you worry, we'll help you." She looked at Sesshomaru with her eyes wide and pleading, he had no chance of resisting her wants at that point. "Right, Sesshomaru?"

The kit froze and then started shaking. He burrowed as deep as he could into Kagome's arms while looking at Sesshomaru as if the young boy's death was imminent, "You're Sesshomaru-sama?"

'At least someone still addresses me properly.' Sesshomaru thought ruefully. "Hn."

"Papa told me our lord was ruthless and a killer."

"Oh, don't worry about Sesshomaru, he's just a big fluffy puppy to his friends, you're safe with us!" Kagome said.

Sesshomaru felt the urge to sigh. He'd have to speak to his miko when they were alone, his reputation was important in more ways than one. He must keep it intact, it helped keep his pack safe and he needed it to stay that way. He also was not fond of being called a big fluffy puppy. If it were anyone other than his intended, they'd have met the wrong end of his claws for that comment. His annoyance at the miko ebbed a little when the kit giggled. He had a soft spot for children that he never let show, he felt bad for the foxling and did not want to bring any more stress to him.

"The miko is partially correct, you have nothing to fear from me as long as you do not attempt to attack my pack again." He put just enough threat in his voice to make sure the young one knew he was serious. When the kit nodded seriously Sesshomaru turned his attention to the matter at hand.

"Oi, you said those brothers have a jewel shard? What are we waiting for, let's go!"

"Patients, half breed. We do not even know where they are, or what we'll be up against."

"Whatever, I'm not a scaredy cat like you, I don't need to know that junk, just point me at the enemy and watch me kill 'em."

"Do not be a fool, Inuyasha. I have heard whisperings of these two about the lands. They are collecting the shards just as we are but they are using them. So they are stronger than they should be. It is not fear that makes me want to learn more about them, it's called strategy."

"Keh, whatever. Sounds like they're exactly who we need to be fighting, it'll get me one step closer to getting the jewel for myself."

Kagome sighed again, when is Inuyasha going to get it? He's not getting the completed jewel for himself.

"And we shall, brother but not without our due diligence."

"M-my house m-might be a good place to start looking for them." The kitsune said, sounding on the verge of tears again.

"Hey, what's your name?" Kagome asked kindly.

"I'm Shippou."

Kagome started digging through her bag. "Here Shippou, I have something I think you might enjoy. It might even make you feel a little better. I'm Kagome, by the way, that's Inuyasha, and you already know Sesshomaru."

"What is it?" He asked, his eyes wide and interested.

"It's from my home, it's called a lollipop." It was one of those big ones that had the colors swirl around each other from the center. She was saving it for herself but she had a feeling Shippou needed it more.

He took an experimental lick and his eyes opened even wider. "Thanks, Kagome, this is great!"

Kagome gave him a fond smile and then they started their journey to Shippou's home and looking for the Thunder Brothers.