A Woman Scorned by nightwoman

Where's Kagome?

"Kami, I really need to quit bringing so much stuff with me," Kagome groaned as she pulled herself out of the well. On her back was a large yellow backpack that was stuffed full of assorted odds and ends she would need for her time in the Feudal Era. Usually, Inu-yasha was there to scold Kagome for taking so long and occasionally help her with her backpack. This time though, there was no one there. Kagome frowned as she started towards Kaede's village, an ominous feeling settling into the pit of her stomach.

About halfway there, Kagome spotted some of Kikyo's soul catchers. With a sick feeling in her stomach, she followed them to a small clearing in the middle of the forest. Quickly ducking behind a tree, Kagome peeked out and watched as the man she loved dallied with the undead Kikyo. It was his words though that broke the young girl's heart for a final time and turned her thoughts to revenge.

"Inu-yasha, why do you stay with my reincarnation? Do you love her as you say you love me?" Kikyo asked softly. She knew that Kagome was nearby, listening and watching. This was her chance to be rid of the troublesome girl once and for all.

"No Kikyo, I don't love her at all. The only reason I stay with her is because she can sense the fragments of the Shikon jewel. Once the jewel is complete, I will have no more use for that weak little girl," Inu-yasha growled. Kagome listened in horror at the sounds of the pair quickly undressing then their soft cries and moans as they rutted in the dirt, unknowing and uncaring whether anyone caught them or not. Kagome ducked back behind the tree, tears pouring down from her devastated brown eyes. She had known that Inu-yasha didn't love her, but to hear that he was only using her as a shard detector was more than she could bear. Moving quietly, she quickly left the clearing and continued to walk on through the woods, moving away from the direction of the village where her friends waited for her. Her thoughts were bitter, consumed with the rage and pain of a woman badly hurt. She would have her revenge on Inu-yasha and the undead bitch if it was the last thing she did. Even if it meant selling her very soul to a certain Inuyouki Lord in the process.

As Kagome determinedly began her journey towards the Western Lands, Inu-yasha was returning to Kaede's village after his tryst with Kikyo. He finished straightening his rumpled clothing before he entered the small hut.

"Where the hell is Kagome?" he yelled after he walked into the small hut and found that she wasn't there. The others just looked at him strangely then went back to what they were doing. In this case, Sango was threatening Miroku if he even thought about trying to grope her and Shippo was chasing Kirara around. In other words, everybody ignored the fuming hanyou who reeked of clay and grave dirt. They all knew where he had been and what he had been doing. They could only hope that their friend Kagome hadn't come upon the disgusting duo.

"Isn't anyone in this damn place going to answer me?" the annoyed hanyou growled. Sango sighed and turned to him, keeping a close eye on a certain perverted monk at the same time.

"She hasn't returned from her time yet. And I would suggest you go and wash that nauseating smell off of you before she returns," the demon exterminator said coldly. Inu-yasha felt his mouth drop open in surprise. One, he didn't realize that they had known who he had been with. Two, Sango had NEVER spoken to him like that! Even as the small group argued, they had no way of knowing that their friend was headed towards the one place they wouldn't think to look for her at.

'What is wrong with me?' Kagome thought sadly as she lay beside the small fire. She felt fresh tears trickling down her cheeks as Inu-yasha's cold and heartless words replayed in her mind. She still had a couple of days of hard walking before she reached Sesshomaru's castle.

'All I want is to be loved. Is there something wrong with that?' the heartbroken girl thought as she sobbed quietly. She knew that Sango and Miroku loved her like a sister and Shippo was her adopted son in all ways. But still, the only person who she wanted love from the most thought that she was nothing but a silly weak schoolgirl! Well, she would show him! With that bitter thought circling through her mind, Kagome eventually fell into a restless sleep, tears still trickling down her face.

While the exhausted young girl cried herself to sleep next to the fire, a pair of strange emotion filled golden eyes watched her from the woods. Sesshomaru had sensed her as he, his ward and his retainer had been walking in the woods back towards the castle. With curt details of what would happen to him if he let anything happen to Rin, Sesshomaru left the human child with Jaken and quickly made his way towards the enigmatic scent that had disturbed him since he had first met her. He watched in puzzlement as she slowly ate a bowl of noodles and then lay down. Soon the smell of her tears had come to his nose, filling him with the strange desire to approach her and try to comfort her.

'Damn! Where is that worthless brother of mine and her friends? She should not be out here alone!' the Taiyoukai Lord thought angrily. The fact that she seemed to be heading towards his castle did not escape his notice. Several minutes later, he noticed that she had apparently cried herself to sleep.

Cautiously, he left the woods and approached the young girl; ready to zip away at top speed should she prove to still be awake after all. He stood over her and stared down at her, noting the dark circles under her eyes and the tears that continued to slowly trickle down her cheeks. He felt a rush of anger that someone had apparently wounded her spirit so much that she fled from everyone and everything that she knew.

'Inu-yasha what did you do to her? I swear that I will kill you for all the pain that you have inflicted on her soul!' Sesshomaru thought in a deadly rage. He had long since given up trying to fight his feelings for the young woman. Instead, he spent his days trailing her and her friends trying to make sure she didn't get hurt. When he was gone back to his castle, thoughts of her cheerful spirit and loving nature haunted him. It shamed him that he, Lord Sesshomaru, was just like his father after all when it came to human females.

Knowing that he dared not leave Rin alone too long with Jaken, Sesshomaru bent down and trailed the hand on his newly regenerated arm gently down her satiny cheeks, softly wiping away her tears. In her sleep, she gave a hiccuppy watery sigh and fell silent again. As he took his leave, he silently vowed to make Kagome his mate and make up for the way that his idiotic half brother had crushed her spirit. Once they were mated, no one would ever dare to harm the fragile spirited young woman again!