The young priestess spent her night in a restless wake. Occasionally, distant echoes of moonless howls brought her mind back to the present and turned her attention to her stomach, which was panging from hunger. Kagome curled up into a small bundle, trying to fight off the sharp caress of the cold. She didn't have a blanket, pillow, or any other forms of her usual comforts. Her bed was just a simple bear skin on a pile of prickling hay. Her breaths came out in white puffs, telling her that the temperatures outside were below zero. She shivered with hunger and cold, longing to be back at home.

"Please let this all be just a bad dream," her voice came out thin and strange before she closed her eyes again.

A loud gurgle woke Kagome from her shallow sleep. She cradled her stomach in her hands. Well, if there was a positive to her situation, at least her "belly flops" Inuyasha used to tease her about would be gone after this whole ordeal.

Rays of light crept into her shed from the small opening of animal skins that hung over the entrance of the makeshift door. It didn't prevent the cold from creeping in, she dryly noted. All her muscles were aching and stiff from the bitter night.

Kagome massaged her sore limbs. When she reached her hands up to attend to her neck, her rugged animal-skin jumpsuit gave out a noisy rip. The stitching on the side of the garment had decided it had served enough battles and masters. Kagome's suit had been torn all the way down to her hips.

"Fantastic."

She couldn't find anything in the shed to repair the suit with, so she clutched the animal skin tightly to her chest in an attempt to guard her modesty. Last night, she had noticed that her trusty backpack wasn't in the shed, so she assumed that Toga had left it where she had passed out when they had searched for the well. Hopefully, it would still be there. She had some spare clothing in there, as well as food and drinks. Well, chips and soda anyway.

Kagome crawled out of her temporary accommodation. The ground was still white with humidity that had crystallized on the grass in the frost of the night. It looked like everything was coated with sparkling powdered sugar. A thickening mist hovered above the grass where the spring sun laid out its rays on the icy green canvas, melting the last breath of night away and causing it to vaporize into the air.

The young human girl couldn't see any demons near the campsite, for which she was thankful.

She quietly crept out of the shed and headed back to the place where she thought her backpack would be. She had barely taken a step into the forest when a voice nearby retorted.

"Do you have any understanding where you are heading?"

Kagome stopped in her tracks and sighed heavily.

"You're welcome to join me," she turned around and looked at the source of the voice, "Toga."

The tall silver-headed dog demon emerged from the shadows and came closer to Kagome.

"What are you planning?"

"Actually..." the woman began, "you could help me find my yellow backpack. You know, the one that you left lying in the forest while you dragged my unwilling unconscious body to your demon lair."

Toga's eyebrows knitted together in a manner that suggested he was about to protest, but suddenly his eyes grew wide. He sniffed the air very carefully.

"What..." he was just about to ask something, but a realization cut him short. His nostrils flared, confirming his suspicion. The woman was emitting a faint odor that wasn't there the day before. It was spring, and he realized that the human woman was entering estrus. Spring in the demon world was common for demons to be in that state, albeit it was early.

"What 'what'?" Kagome asked when Toga seemed lost in his own thoughts.

"Nothing. Keep quiet, and I'll take you to your belongings." He curtly answered and walked past her.

'As polite as ever, and so early in the morning, too,' Kagome thought to herself, and followed Toga deeper into the forest.

When they reached the area where Kagome had first lost consciousness, the human girl quickly spotted her yellow backpack under the shade of a grandfather maple tree.

'God, let my Ramune be safe!' she prayed and hurried to her property. She dropped to her knees and tore the zipper open. A single tear almost escaped her eye when she saw everything untouched.

"Thank you, Kami-sama!" she erratically yelped and attacked a bag of chips.

The Taiyoukai stayed behind, settling for observing that strange human rustling a bag of crinkling paper. She was definitely something he had never encountered before. Somewhat annoying and insolent, but he had to admit that she had an air of fearlessness, considering that she was away from home and among a pack of demons.

The priestess was busy stuffing her face with junk food and hadn't noticed that her torn garment had peeled down from her upper body and was slipping lower and lower, which, by all means, had not gone unnoticed by the demon lord.

The fragrance of her fertility mixed with delicious odors of foreign delicacies created unfamiliar sensations within him. His ember gaze swept the contours of her bosom, stomach, and hips. Even his stubborn demon pride was past denying that she was of fine breeding – for a human.

Toga ground his teeth together when the human let out a whimper of pleasure as she downed a bottle of juice. The juice dribbled down her neck and onto her collar bones.

Kagome wiped the delicious nectar from her chin and turned to offer some to Toga for his help. He was keeping his usual distance from her, but Kagome was taken aback by the muted expression he had. His eyes seemed to be fixed on something, and Kagome glanced down.

Her whole upper body was stark naked and in his plain view.

With superhuman speed, Kagome pulled the garment back up and reflexively screamed at Toga. "YOU PERVERTI!"

Toga snapped out of his trance and quickly tossed his chin up.

"Don't flatter yourself! Thinking that I'd be tempted in the least by your repulsive flesh, human."

Kagome could have been offended by his remark, but the faint blush on his cheeks made his words less hurtful. He turned his back on her, and Kagome could see so much of Inuyasha in him. The intimidating future leader of all dog demons was still very much a boy, just like his son.

"Could you please not turn around? I'm going to change my clothes."

Toga's shoulders gave a slight shake as he laughed dryly. "Don't fret, there's nothing that would compel me to do so."

But he could feel the warmth on his face.

After a plentiful meal and a change of clothes, Kagome picked up her backpack and looked at her demon companion with renewed energy.

"Toga, you said that the nearest village is a three-day walk by human standards." She paused. "How long would it take for a demon?"

Toga lifted his eyebrow and musingly answered, "I'd say that it would take a quarter of sunlight. To get there and come back, I mean."

"So, you could take me there and bring me back in three to… howmany hours?"

"That is a foreign unit... Excuse me!" Toga's eyes narrowed, and his voice took on a tone of incredulity mixed with a hint of annoyance. His posture stiffened as he crossed his arms. "Why would I agree to take you there?"

A cunning smile swept across Kagome's face. "I have more of that chocolate for you."

Toga didn't take a second to answer.

"Deal."

A/N: Toga doesn't know what "an hour" is because the measurement system wasn't commonly used until the 14th century (in Europe).

The Japanese adopted the "Western" (actually originally Egyptian) time concept of dividing the day into 24 hours only as late as the 1870s. So that predates this fic by two millenia.

I'm in NO WAY a historian and this fic is riddled with impossible and non-period-appropriate things but it's always been a pet peeve of mine when people pre-14th century speak of hours.

Also a fun trivia: Did you know that the term "ok/okay" was coined in the 1830s? So if you're writing a historical piece predating that era and you enjoy being a stickler for accuracy - avoid using "okay" in dialogue!

[insert here "The More You Know" rainbow]