Like Peanut Butter by Yabou

Like Peanut Butter

Inspiration: This is a challenge!fic for Forthright's September Challenge: Aesop's Fables from LiveJournal. In order to participate, you must take the characters from Inuyasha and throw them into a fable written by that old man Aesop. Here is my attempt.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha: The Feudal Fairytale or Aesop's Fable: The Raven and the Swan.

Title: Like Peanut Butter

Pairing: Sess/Kago

Rating: R/NC-17

Genre: Romance/Humor/Drama

Universe: Canon-esque

Warning: I have rewritten the tale of 'The Raven and the Swan' slightly. I had to make it a little longer to fit in with my one-shot (as the actual thing is, like, four lines).

Summary: She was so bad at being human. He wasn't. Then again, he'd had a long time to practice.

- - - - -

Like Peanut Butter

Written By: Yabou

Edited By: Wiccan

Epic One-Shot

- - - - -

There once was a Raven.

- - - - -

"Schedule your next appointment with Miyu at the front desk. I want to see you again before the week's up and don't worry, Yuka, everything will be fine," he placated, rolling his chair back to the small desk in the corner to finish filling out the form before allowing her to go. Signing his name at the bottom, he handed over the paper and led the short, dark-haired woman out into the hall. "Have a nice day."

With a smile on her face, Yuka bid him goodbye and made her way out of the office.

"Sesshoumaru-san," a nurse called out. "You have a consultation next. Here's her folder."

After reading over the statistics, he put the packet under his arm and allowed the female nurse to usher him toward the next room. Sesshoumaru noted the way she flushed slightly when their arms brushed against one another. "Is something wrong, Yuri?"

The nurse blushed and asked, "Would you... like to go out for coffee sometime?"

"I'm sorry, Yuri. I'm not really interested in seeing anyone right now." He gave her an apologetic smile.

"Oh," she waved away his concern. "Don't worry about it. That's okay."

Sighing, Sesshoumaru stepped into the room and looked down at the file again. "So, Mrs.-"

'Kagome Higurashi.' He stopped at the name scribbled across the yellow paper in blue ink.

"Kagome Higurashi," he mumbled underneath his breath. "You," he looked up at the shocked blue-eyed female in front of him. "You're supposed to be dead."

- - - - -

And, there once was a swan.

- - - - -

"What?" Kagome's face was overtaken by a surprised expression. "What are you doing here?"

Raising one perfect eyebrow, he answered, "I'm the doctor."

"You," she stood up, uncomfortable with the idea of sitting in front of an enemy with no weapon close at hand. "You're not... you can't be... I mean..." Stopping her own rant, she stomped one foot and addressed him again. "Why would you be an Ob/Gyn?"

He shrugged. "I've been lots of things. How are you here?"

"I..." she swallowed thickly. "It's a long story."

Opening the door, he gestured for her to exit first and followed her out. After speaking with his secretary, he led her out of the office and into the parking lot.

"Where are we going?" she questioned.

"Lunch."

"So," she started, uncomfortable in the odd silence that settled into the car. "You look... different."

Sesshoumaru nodded, surprised it had taken her so long to comment on the drastic differences.

"You've got blond hair," Kagome remarked. "And, its so short. What happened to that stuff on your face?"

"My markings are a symbol of my strength," he explained – teeth clenched at the way she dismissed such an important part of his heritage as 'stuff.'

Rolling her eyes, Kagome allowed herself to relax a little. If he'd wanted to kill her, her last comment would have had him sinking poison into her neck. "Whatever. What did you do to them?"

"Doctors do not have tattoos," he responded.

Giving him a slightly confused look, she questioned him again. "Says who?"

"Have you ever seen a doctor with a tattoo?" he asked.

"Well, no," Kagome frowned, "but I don't go to many doctors."

Twisting the conversation, he led her away from her current line of thought. "You still haven't told me why you were in my office. You are not pregnant."

"It's not important," Kagome mumbled, turning to look out the window. "And don't think I don't know what you're doing. What did you do with your tattoos?"

Sighing, Sesshoumaru shifted gears and slid into the parking lot of a small diner. "They are made invisible by a fox's talisman and, before you ask, that is also why my hair appears to be blond."

"Oh," Kagome made a sound of understanding. "So, you still have them?"

"Yes," he answered, parking the car. "Come on. I'm hungry."

"What are you going to eat?" Kagome asked, with an owlish look on her face.

With a slight scowl, he got out of the vehicle and made his way into the diner. "A hamburger. They make good ones here."

"You?" She gaped at him. "You're going to eat a hamburger?"

"Yes," he replied smoothly, taking a seat in an open booth. "I am."

Waggling a single finger at him, she spoke quietly. "You can't do that."

Conspiratorially, he leaned in close and whispered back, "Why not?"

"Because you're Sesshoumaru," Kagome explained.

In front of their booth, a waitress cleared her throat. "Hi Sesshoumaru," she cheerfully greeted him. "Are you ready to order?"

"You already know what I want." He smiled.

Kagome nearly choked as she took a breath. Apparently, she had been wrong. There was no way that this look-alike was Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru wouldn't be a doctor. He'd be some sort of secret, undercover assassin for the government. Also, Sesshoumaru did not have blond hair, nor did he eat hamburgers. But, most importantly, Sesshoumaru, scary demon lord, did not - in any way, shape, or form - smile. Unless someone was dying. Which they weren't. So why was he smiling?

"Miss?" The waitress adjusted her black apron. "Are you ready to order, or do you want me to come back?"

Blinking momentarily, Kagome responded without thought. "I'll have whatever he's getting."

After she departed, Sesshoumaru returned his gaze to Kagome. "How are you here?" he asked again.

"I was born here," she said, still wondering if hamburger was a codename for butchered stag.

"And the Feudal Era?"

Kagome gave a half-hearted shrug. "I used to live on a shrine and, on my fifteenth birthday, I fell down a well in the backyard." It was an old story, and she wasn't really fond of telling it any more. One bad memory had the tendency to rot away all the good ones that had any relation to it.

That's what her time in Sengoku Jidai had been reduced to - one bad memory that overwhelmed the rest.

Her melancholy thoughts were interrupted by a slow, rolling chuckle. Kagome's head shot up when she realized that it had erupted from the mouth of her lunch companion. "You- you're laughing at me!"

"Yes," he paused, "I am. Falling down a well... it seems so unusual, and yet, you always were quite clumsy."

"How would you know?" She glared at him.

Leaning back, he crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you remember the day we killed Naraku? You tripped on a rock."

"Hey," she screeched, "I killed him, didn't I?"

"Accidentally," Sesshoumaru joked.

Sticking out her tongue, she grumbled, "So? I still got him, you're just going into technicalities."

"I thought humans were obsessed with the technicalities," he mused.

Huffing, Kagome copied his position in the booth. "Well, maybe I'm not very good at being human."

"No," he gave her a half-smile. "I guess you're not. After all, you were there five hundred years ago so, technically, you should be dead."

At that moment, the waitress reappeared with two plates of hamburgers and fries. "Here you go." She then proceeded to place the dishes, along with two glasses of a deep red concoction, in front of her patrons. "Enjoy."

Watching her leave, Kagome's eyes turned to the tall glass. The liquid inside reminded her more of a Slushie, except for the fact that she could see ice cream floating in between the chunky red pieces. 'Is this...blood? Is this a youkai diner? Are they serving me blood to drink? Does Sesshoumaru drink blood?'

The demon across from her took a long sip. "It's not going to bite you."

"Um," she pushed her glass away. "I don't think I want any."

Shrugging, Sesshoumaru continued sipping his beverage. "Suit yourself. It's not my fault that you don't like strawberries."

'Who drinks blood with ice cream? What kind of sick, twisted mind came up with-?' She paused, temporarily baffled, "Strawberries?"

Her lunch companion gave her a bland look. "It's a strawberry milkshake. What did you think it was?"

At her sudden blush, a slow, demented smile crept up his face. To avoid any question he may have thrust on her, she picked up her hamburger and took a mouth-filling bite. She chewed slowly to give her appearance a chance to fade back into its normal light tan shade. Swallowing the burger, she commented, "Wow. This is really good."

"I told you so," he responded, starting on his own sandwich.

"Yeah," Kagome replied, "but this is really, really good."

Nodding, he agreed. "The best."

Pausing, Kagome allowed a grin to wash over her. She hadn't really thought about it since she first saw him in the office, but this was truly strange. "You've changed," she observed.

Sesshoumaru waved away her comment. "Everybody has to some time."

"Yeah, I guess so." She played with her food. "But, I didn't expect you to be so..." Kagome's voice faded away at her inability to think of a word that would properly describe what she wanted to convey.

"Human?" he finished.

Her eyebrows wrinkled. "Yeah, I guess that's it."

- - - - -

"Will I see you again?" she asked when he dropped her off at her apartment.

He contemplated reasons why he shouldn't, but his mouth begged to differ. "Yes."

Stepping back toward the car, she handed him a small business card. "Call me."

"You're a financial advisor?" he wondered.

Kagome blushed. "Yeah."

"Odd profession for a miko," he commented.

She frowned. "Well, I don't know many youkai who work with babies."

"You'd be surprised." He smirked.

"Right." She bounced on the balls of her feet. "So, are you going to?"

"Am I going to what?" He frowned.

She huffed, "Call me."

"Oh," he nodded, "of course."

And he did.

- - - - -

"You must be a good doctor," she commented, sitting in the all-too-familiar diner nearly seven months after their initial lunch meeting.

His customary hamburger – no lettuce, extra tomatoes – stopped halfway to his mouth. "What makes you say that?"

"Everyone around you is so happy. That's what makes a good doctor," she explained.

Sesshoumaru tilted his head to one side. "I guess you could say that."

"You guess? Well, what do you think?" she inquired, twirling the straw in her strawberry milkshake.

"I'm still making up for all the stuff I did wrong," he answered. "None of my good deeds really count yet."

Kagome eyed the way he bent his head and allowed his slightly overgrown hair to shelter him from her view. "How long have you been paying for your sins, Sesshoumaru?" she whispered.

"Four hundred years."

With nothing more to say, the pair finished their lunch in silence.

- - - - -

A month later, just after they finished their usual meal, Kagome grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the car. "We're going to the park."

"I have to work," he interjected. "I have an afternoon full of appointments. I can't cancel on pregnant women."

"You don't have to," Kagome smiled. "They weren't real. I didn't want you to figure it out, so I had Miyu make a fake schedule."

"You tricked me," he accused.

Giving him a slight bow, she continued down the block toward the small green forest at the end of the street. "And, I did it very well, if I do say so myself."

"Good doctors don't take days off," he informed her.

Kagome frowned and continued to tug on his arm as if it were a leash. "Says who?"

"Have you ever seen a doctor that wasn't working?" Sesshoumaru questioned, pulling her back to walk by his side.

"Why do we always do this?" Kagome asked, smirking.

"Do what?" Sesshoumaru wondered, ignoring the slight tingle her miko powers spread over his palm. It was rather ironic that his reformed arm was being clutched by the one responsible for its original loss.

"I seem to recall several arguments that started this way," she remarked dryly.

Her youkai companion seemed to reflect for a few minutes before answering. "It is human to argue."

Disturbed by his answer, she stopped and gave him a mournful look. "You're very good at being human."

"I am," he agreed.

"Why?"

- - - - -

One day, the Raven saw the Swan and desired to secure for himself the same beautiful plumage.

- - - - -

"Humans," he gestured to the people walking around them, "are so different from youkai. As a youkai, I am free to do as I please. A youkai must only answer to those who are stronger than he."

"I have met no one more formidable than myself in many, many years." A far-away look consumed his face. "There was once a girl - a small, human girl - who made me realize that the ways of youkai were distant and lonely, but she was only a mortal child. She died before I was able to learn what she sought to teach me. It took many, many years for me to see her lesson."

Kagome shivered at the sadness in his voice. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who had rotting memories that were best left in Segoku Jidai. "You're not alone," she whispered.

"Is that so?" he asked, and they both knew that his question wasn't really a question at all.

But, she answered him anyway. "It is."

"Says who?" Sesshoumaru smirked.

- - - - -

Kagome stood, flabbergasted by the odd sight. She couldn't believe that this was happening. It had to be impossible. The probability of her current situation ranked somewhere below that of wanting to set her own hair on fire. "You're wearing shorts," she wheezed, gaping.

"Is it against the law for me to wear shorts?" he wondered, a brief smile tugging at his lips.

The miko fidgeted, twisting her hands together before clasping them behind her back. A nervous habit he had noticed and found to be quite endearing. "Well, no," she stumbled over her words, "but, I've never seen you wear them. It just seems... strange."

Sesshoumaru gave her a look of indifference. "You thought the hamburger thing was weird too. You don't now. I don't usually wear shorts because I don't usually tend to do active things, but we are going hiking today. It is necessary to be appropriately clothed."

Kagome shook her head. "I think you enjoy surprising me."

"Maybe," Sesshoumaru responded with a teasing laugh. Starting up the path, he quickly glanced behind them, a look of confusion overshadowing his features. "How did you get up here?"

"I walked." She smirked.

In order to keep from rolling his eyes, he pushed headlong into the next question. "How did you get to the trail?"

"I took the bus." Kagome side stepped a fairly large boulder blocking the entrance to the path and took a few quick strides to catch up with him again.

"Bus?" The demon lord frowned. "You actually ride on that thing?"

"Is there a problem with taking the bus?" Kagome questioned, taking in his appalled expression.

He snorted in disgust. "Have you ever smelled a city bus?"

"Yes," she giggled, "but I don't have your nose."

Sesshoumaru continued, "Still, you have to know what happens on city buses."

"What would happen on a bus?" Kagome wondered, eyes clouding over in thought.

Sighing, the youkai gave up. "You have always been, and always will be, too nave for your own good."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She frowned, digging her gloved hands into the rock facing and pulling her body up onto a low ledge.

Sesshoumaru watched her shimmy her way up the first few feet before choosing a route slightly to her left. "It means that you are far too innocent."

"I'm not innocent," she complained.

"You are," he argued, taking the lead and passing her as she fought to find another hold in the jagged stones.

Narrowing her eyes at his rapid ascension, Kagome blindly wrapped her fingers around the next ledge and yanked with all her might. Before she could secure her footholds, the ridge crumbled in her grasp and she felt herself tumbling backwards, arms pin-wheeling through the air. "Sesshoumaru!" she yelled.

Within the same instant of her scream, the demon lord turned and repelled off the cliffside, sweeping the shaking miko up into his embrace. "Are you all right?" he questioned, landing easily, his skilled fingers already prodding the gash in her hand that was filled with several small pieces from the shattered edge.

Tears leaked out through her tightly clenched eyelids.

"Hey," Sesshoumaru comforted, using a gentle tone. "Everything is going to be okay. You're fine, really. And I can tell you all this because I'm a doctor. I know these things. No permanent damage. You'll be fine in a few days."

"I wa-as so s-scared," she hiccupped, throwing her arms around his shoulders and sobbing into his chest.

Quirking an eyebrow, the demon lord stared at the crown of ebony hair. "You've faced demons without flinching, yet this is what scares you?"

Kagome ignored the fact that he was still holding her bridal-style and huffed. "I can protect myself from demons."

"But you can't land on your feet," Sesshoumaru taunted.

"You're terrible," Kagome scowled, crossing her arms over her chest and wincing when her injured hand came into contact with the fabric of her sleeve.

The demon lord slowly exhaled and allowed her to settle on a small outcropping while he kneeled in front of her. "Let me see."

Holding out her hand, she ignored the light blush she felt staining her cheeks at the soothing way his claws removed the small stones from her damaged skin. "Thank you," she whispered.

"I couldn't let you die," he joked, making sure all of the debris was gone. "I'd have no one to talk to."

Lifting his gaze to give her a teasing grin, his breath caught in his throat at the light pink tinge splashed across her cheeks and the adoring look in her eyes. He had never really paid attention to how beautiful she was. The thought had, occasionally, crossed his mind but, for some reason, he had always dismissed it.

Kagome was a good woman.

Kagome was a... friend.

Still, something in his gut told him that she could be so much more.

Thickly, he swallowed the lump in his throat – his body moving forward of its own free will.

Surprised by the look consuming his face, Kagome felt her heartbeat dance a rapid pattern in her chest. His gentle touch made butterflies swirl in her stomach, and she felt her eyelids grow heavy, drifting closed as his lips neared hers.

In the distance, a gathering of birds ruptured the serenity of the sky. Kagome and Sesshoumaru snapped to attention in a heartbeat, the force of the broken moment causing their foreheads to smack together.

"Ow," Kagome grumbled, rubbing her uninjured hand against her aching head. A dark blush painted her face at the realization of what she had almost done. Chancing a glance at her hiking partner, she took note of the faraway look in his eyes. He had already stood and was assessing the pathway back to the parking lot. "I guess we should go back now," she whispered, wondering at the regret she felt.

"Yes," he agreed, easily lifting her back into his arms and starting toward his car in silence.

Kagome sighed, hopelessly, and rested her cheek against his shoulder. Nothing about her life could be easy.

- - - - -

Supposing that the Swan's splendid white color arose from her washing in the water in which she swam, the Raven left the altars in the neighborhood where he picked up his living, and took up residence in the lakes and pools of the Swan.

- - - - -

Sesshoumaru could not sleep.

Lying awake, staring into the darkness of his inner city apartment, he frowned up at the pale ivory ceiling. Since Kagome had entered his life, nothing had gone as he had expected it to. She was making quite the mess of all of his well laid plans.

Forcing himself to sigh, he felt a little of the confusion lift at the very human action. As a youkai, he never understood the reasoning behind the action, but he had often seen humans make such an exhalation in times of duress or stress. Being the expected reaction, he created the gesture – even though there was no one within the confines of his suite to hear such a noise.

"Kagome," he manipulated her name with his tongue. It was a very savory one, as far as names went. The demon lord could not decide why, but he found his lips caressing those syllables more and more every day.

Rolling onto his side, he watched the lights in the building across the street turn on and off in several different rooms. Fidgeting. Another expected movement when one was in an unsettled state. It was a waste of energy, and it did not calm or soothe him in any way. But, it was an anticipated response, and Sesshoumaru was nothing if not the ideal human male.

After finishing medical school nearly six years ago, he was considered a kind and caring doctor - something to which his former identity would never be linked. His patients trusted him through pregnancy and the birth of their children. To be let into such an event was to be closer than family among youkai; it was as if he had hundreds of small families spread out over the greater part of Tokyo. Many sent him cards and letters during the holidays.

A few select groups even gifted or visited him on special occasions.

Recently, his co-workers had begun to ask him about the young woman he had lunch with every day. Kagome. They were sure that she was his girlfriend and he did not inform them otherwise. He had been out with the young miko more than enough to have formed an intimate relationship, and yet, it seemed that they never asked any real questions nor gave any real answers.

That was one of the things he liked most about Kagome. She had a miko's intuition and she knew when one of her questions would go too far. She never pried. It was a welcome change from the other humans he knew. They were always asking. Always meddling.

Mortals possessed an inquisitive nature from birth. They did not live for thousands of years, so they could not watch many events unfold the way youkai could.

They used speech to make up for the inadequacies of their short lifespans.

Kagome did not. That was why she was so bad at being human. She had been in the presence of youkai during her developmental stages. She learned the ways of youkai. The young miko watched while others asked questions.

Sesshoumaru languidly pushed the hair out of his face and sighed again.

This time it didn't help.

The incident at the cliff wrapped around his mind like a festering wound. He wondered about the consequences of their almost-actions. He forced himself to think, to ponder, what could happen.

After all, that was what a human male would do.

He supposed Kagome was not the worst female he could choose, and he had grown quite fond of her over the months their friendship had developed. Now, he knew that she would be receptive to a more intimate relationship.

It would take much longer to establish a connection strong enough to facilitate marriage, but the demon lord was sure that it could be accomplished. A weary look overshadowed his face in the safety of the dark room. No one would see.

He was old, and he was tired.

Would marrying Kagome be the answer to his problems? He could not see a clear path through his retribution. His sins were innumerable, but his will to overcome was far stronger.

With one more soft exhalation, he closed his eyes and feigned sleep while one thought rolled through his overtaxed brain – would marrying Kagome Higurashi finally allow him to succumb to humanity and forget his past transgressions?

- - - - -

Kagome couldn't sleep.

She had twisted and turned until her lime green sheets were bunched around her waist in a haphazard lump that did nothing to protect her from the slight chill in the air. Blowing the hair out of her face for the fifth time in the past twenty minutes, she huffed and gave the undeserving pillow beneath her head a firm punch. If the collection of feathers and fluff were a little more comfortable, she may have been able to sink into her dreams but, as it was, she was trapped in the world of the living.

If only she had taken a moment to speak with Sesshoumaru before he dropped her off, she might have been able to surrender her soul to a peaceful night's rest. The afternoon had been far too eventful, and now, the miko was unsure where she stood with the formerly stoic taiyoukai.

Sesshoumaru was like a puzzle with missing pieces. She never really knew what he thought about anything. Until today, the specifics of the mysterious creature hadn't really seemed all that important to her. He was there, and he remembered the same things she did. That had been enough.

But now... now she wondered what happened to change the demon lord into the conversationalist she had shared so many lunches with at the quaint diner. She wondered who he really was beneath all of his grins and quirky humor.

She wondered if he would call the next day to schedule their afternoon dining for Monday. She wondered if she should call him if he didn't attempt to contact her. A slight frown marred her normally smooth and happy appearance.

She wondered if he was awake, too, and she wondered if he was thinking about her.

Kagome snorted, and dismissed her train of thought. Behind closed eyes, she remembered the softness of his gaze and decided that he wasn't thinking about her.

He wouldn't think about her at all.

- - - - -

There was a spot on the floor. Sesshoumaru stared at the dirty patch on the tile for a few minutes, willing it to disappear under his disapproving gaze. Most things did. Apparently, the grime did not agree, however. It liked clinging to the corner of the stone floor, soiling the otherwise pristine appearance of his kitchen.

Glancing about for something to remove the offensive spot, he located a sponge resting on the corner of the sink. With practiced movements, he ran the soft, damp material over the smudge only to find that it would not go away.

The demon lord frowned and looked for a sturdier opponent for the stubborn stain. A steel wool scrubbing pad caught his eye, and he quickly knelt on the white marble floor. After scouring away the spot, he observed the rest of the tiles to make sure the cleaning service hadn't forgotten anything else. Mumbling about the incompetence of people in general, Sesshoumaru caught sight of a second dirty mark and bent to clean it as well.

- - - - -

Kagome knocked for the third time. Attempting to settle against the door, she 'oomphed' in surprise when it gave under the slight pressure and swung open. "Oops," she mumbled, standing up and brushing off her skirt. "Sesshoumaru?"

She had never been inside of his apartment before, and she felt as if she was an unwanted intruder. White stone floors flowed from the entryway into the main living space, and walls painted the palest shade of blue were accented by paintings of gray on white. It was light and airy - something she hadn't expected from the taiyoukai. Although the surroundings weren't exactly cheerful, they carried a sort of peaceful calm that instantly soothed her.

"Sesshoumaru?" she called again, a little louder this time. A low growl reverberated through the hallway off to her right, and she followed the sound.

Turning a corner, she stumbled into the kitchen where Sesshoumaru was down on all fours and briskly assaulting the flooring. A look of surprise registered on the miko's face, both eyebrows sliding upward.

Sesshoumaru, for all appearances, was arguing with the marble tiling. Just then, his tiny weapon of choice came into view, and Kagome clapped both hands over her mouth to keep the laughter from slipping through.

The demon lord mumbled something under his breath again, and Kagome felt her bubbling giggles overflow. Loud, ringing laughter filled the room, forcing Sesshoumaru to look up from his task. "Kagome." He spoke her name, and she choked on the next sound in her throat.

"Hi," she nervously greeted, one hand moving to rub against the back of her neck. "I'm sorry I missed your call on Sunday, but I went out to lunch with my Mom. I tried to call you back, and I didn't get an answer. Then, when I went into your office this morning they said that you had taken the day off." He finally managed to catch her wandering eyes with his and the miko blushed. "You never take a day off, so I came by to see if you were okay."

Sesshoumaru nodded slowly and rose, placing the scrubbing tool on the sink's rim.

"I can go," Kagome blurted. "I mean I... don't really... have to be here... if you don't... you know... want me to." She bowed her head and stared at her clasped hands.

"Kagome," Sesshoumaru frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"Well no," she blushed. "I just didn't know... I mean I didn't... um... well... you know."

The demon lord blinked.

"Can you talk, or something?" she asked harshly.

Sesshoumaru flipped the lever on the sink and proceeded to wash his hands. Not bothering to face her, he asked, "Where would you like to have lunch today, Kagome?"

Kagome sighed in relief and smiled. "Anywhere is good with me."

- - - - -

"Do you have a pen?" Kagome questioned, reading over the financial reports and wanting to make a note in the margin about a profitable stock.

Sesshoumaru smirked over his coffee. "Doctors always have pens."

"They could carry pencils," she retorted, sticking out her tongue.

"No, they couldn't," he argued, handing her one of his pens and returning to the crossword puzzle.

Kagome put down the page and gave him a curious look. "And why is that?"

"Because," he responded while filling in sixteen down. "Doctors don't make mistakes."

A small giggle escaped her delicate mouth, and the male youkai felt a shiver race down his spine. It had been three weeks since the occurrence at the cliff, and he had yet to make a proper move. Kagome was, if anything, completely oblivious to his advances. He had extended their meetings beyond lunch; they had now been to several dinners and out to two movies. Still, she persisted in her ignorance.

It made him want to smash something. The very first notion he'd had to do so in a very long time.

"Of course doctors make mistakes," she returned, unaware of his perusal. "Why do you think there are all those malpractice suits going around?"

"Ah, those are not doctors," he corrected. "Those are merely men trying to become doctors."

Kagome snorted and waved away his answer. "Whatever. Those are bad doctors. Once they get a degree, they're doctors. It's not up to you to determine otherwise."

"Oh, but it is up to me," he replied, smirking at her lightly agitated glower when he snatched the utensil from her hand and forced her to look at him again.

The miko made several attempts to tug the pen from his hand before finally giving up and leaning back into the comfort of the plastic covered booth. Crossing her arms over her chest, Kagome tilted back her head and stared at him down the bridge of her nose. "You know, I think I was wrong before. You do make a very convincing doctor."

"Thank you." Sesshoumaru gave her a smile that bordered on polite and returned to his crossword, still holding the spare pen out of her reach.

Kagome huffed, "Only a doctor would have such an arrogant attitude."

Glancing at her one last time, his grin twisted into a smirk. "Thank you."

- - - - -

"I wonder what would happen if I buried you up to your neck in the dirt," Kagome pondered aloud.

Sesshoumaru paused, chocolate éclair poised moments away from being devoured. "What?"

"I was reading a book about early history," she explained, continuing to dissect her cinnamon roll as if the conversation was nothing of consequence, "and it said people used to believe that, if you buried someone or something in dirt up to their necks and you gave them sacrifices of food that weren't within reach, they would become gods."

"Why would they become gods?" he asked, finally taking a bite of the wondrous French creation.

Kagome shrugged. "I didn't really get that far. To get the food, I guess."

Sesshoumaru shook his head in disagreement. "I could get out."

"Not if the dirt was packed in tight." She toyed with the idea, imagining the great demon lord buried in the sand and chomping wildly at the chocolate morsel he currently consumed while she held it just out of reach. Kagome smiled and shook her head to dispel the senseless thoughts.

After considering it for a minute, Sesshoumaru concluded, "I'm too strong. It would take more pressure than mere dirt could exert to restrain me."

"Huh," Kagome mused. "Well, maybe we should use a dirt youkai for you."

"Possibly," he supplied, finishing off his dessert.

The miko snickered. "You've got éclair on your face."

"Where?" He frowned, swiping the skin of his cheek and completely missing the spot on his nose.

Leaning over the table, Kagome smiled gently and cleaned the offending food away. "There," she breathed, mere inches away from his face.

The light danced in his magically bound hazel eyes, and she felt her mouth go dry. He was staring at her with that look. The one he had given her when he rescued her on the cliffside. Stomach flipping crazily, Kagome could do nothing to restrain herself from the invisible pull.

Leaning forward, Sesshoumaru pressed his lips against hers and felt the smallest flare of her powers warn him away, but he was not one to be easily deterred. His palm caressed the side of her face and settled on the rapidly beating pulse bound beneath the skin covering her delicate neck.

Kagome sighed when he finally pulled away. His kiss had been anything but what she expected. It was gentle and unhurried, as if they had all the time in the world.

"Come on, Kagome," he clasped the hand that was supporting her weight on the table. "I'll walk you home."

The tone he used was one she had not heard before, and it acted like a balm against her soul, beginning to soothe away a few of the emotional wounds she possessed. "All right," she smiled and squeezed his hand.

As they walked side by side in the fading sunlight, Sesshoumaru frowned, surprised by the feeling of her body against his own. It felt strange. Kissing was a commonly human practice, it had never before occurred to him to do so with anyone else. He smiled at the possibilities of following the human woman into uncharted territories.

It would be interesting, to say the very least.

- - - - -

She sighed into the empty jar, eyeing her bare fork and the scrape marks in the bottom. "It's gone."

"You ate the entire jar. I can't believe you did that," Sesshoumaru scolded. "They don't bottle that per serving, you know."

"I don't care." Kagome continued to lament over the empty container, even going so far as to turn it upside down and shake it a few times.

The demon lord raised a brow in question. "Are you trying to punish the plastic? I don't think that's possible. Last time I checked, plastic was still a nonliving substance."

"Huh?" She frowned, having missed his comments while rifling through the cupboards for more of her not-so-secret addiction. "Do you have any more?"

"Why would I have any more?" Sesshoumaru questioned and wrapped an arm around her waist to tug her away from the cabinet. Pulling her against his chest, he lowered his head and breathed into her ear. "We're going out to eat in twenty minutes. Can't you wait?"

Kagome gave an overly dramatic sigh in response. "I guess so, but can we get some more when we go out? We're coming back here afterwards to watch the movie and I'll need more for the popcorn."

"You're obsession with peanut butter is unnerving," he replied, and helped her put on her coat. "Of course, we'll stop by a store on the way back."

Kagome smiled and yanked him down by his lapels. After planting a soft kiss on his lips, she released him and skipped out the door. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru laughed and turned to lock the door behind them.

- - - - -

"I know something you don't know!"

Kagome stared in surprise at the little boy beaming up at her. "I'm sorry, what?"

"The teacher told me a riddle today," he replied. "Do you want to hear it?"

Her eyes softened, gazing at the light brown, curly hair that stuck out of his head in several odd directions. "Sure, I'd love to hear it."

Taking up the free seat on her park bench, the small child attempted to hold a very serious gaze. "How do you start a sentence with 'I' that isn't followed by 'am?' "

Kagome frowned and closed her eyes, trying to think of the appropriate answer.

"Yoshi," a woman gasped, stepping toward the little boy with tears in her eyes. "You shouldn't run away like that." Kneeling beside the bench, she checked him for injuries before turning to Kaogme. "I'm sorry he bothered you. Come on, Yoshi. It's time to go home now."

"No," Yoshi objected and grabbed Kagome's hand. "Mama, she hasn't figured it out yet."

"I don't know. You've stumped me," Kagome smiled. "What's the answer?"

" 'I' is the ninth letter of the alphabet," he announced, beaming.

Kagome felt the tears rolling down her cheeks and gave him a reassuring smile. "That's very good."

"Come on, Yoshi." His mother led him away, and Kagome watched the two disappear around the outer park wall.

"Who was that?" Sesshoumaru's stony gaze followed the invisible pair. "What happened? What did they do to you?"

Kagome released a bitter laugh. "It was nothing, Sesshoumaru. Only memories. Did you bring lunch?"

Taking the seat once occupied by the boy, the youkai male grasped her chin between his forefinger and thumb. "What's wrong, Kagome? I've seen the way you look at them. You always watch the children in the park."

Arms wrapped tightly around her chest, she leaned forward, hiding her face from his view. "I had a little boy once," she whispered.

"Kagome, you've never given birth. I can tell-"

She shook her head. "Not like that, but I did have one once. His name was Shippou. Do you remember him?"

"The kitsune pup," he confirmed, still staring at her with questioning eyes.

"For three years, I sacrificed my life here to live in the Sengoku Jidai. I gave everything I had to save the jewel and, on my eighteenth birthday, we finished it. I was so happy and so confused. Inuyasha and I knew that we couldn't be together, but that didn't make things any easier. I was a memory to him. I was too much like a past that he couldn't have either, and he was a dream to me. I worshipped him. I put him on such a high pedestal that even I couldn't reach him in the end."

She swallowed the cry that threatened to spill from her throat, not wanting to upset the other people enjoying the scenery nearby. "But, I did want Shippou. I knew that I couldn't stay there, so I wanted to bring him here. Everything was set. I made plans and arrangements. We even managed to convince some social workers that I had found him in an alley. Having no memory of who he was, they were ready to create a new name for him. He could hold his own illusions - hide his own body. We were so close."

"Then, on the afternoon I was supposed to go back to get him, we had a party. Everyone was smiling and laughing. I let him play in the rice fields with the other children while I said my goodbyes." Pushing away the soothing arm he attempted to place on her shoulder, she continued with her story, "I left him alone! They were attacked by a bear. A normal bear! It wasn't even a youkai!"

She laughed again and shook her head. "He protected the others. Shippou saved them all, but I lost him. I wasn't there for him! The one time he actually needed me, I wasn't there."

"It wasn't your fault," he mumbled, laying his arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his chest.

Kagome clenched the fabric of his shirt and mourned the death of her son. "That doesn't change a damn thing, Sesshoumaru. If it won't bring him back, then what good is it to me?"

- - - - -

The demon lord was at a loss.

Being a strong, independent woman, Sesshoumaru was surprised at how easily she had crumbled under the weight of the child's loss, but he could sympathize with her feelings of guilt. After all, he had once been in a similar position, and he still carried those moments with him, buried deep inside of his black heart.

Without his knowledge, one of his hands brushed away the hair spilling over her face. Kagome sighed and snuggled into his touch. They had left the park after nearly two hours of silence, returning to her apartment. Barely thirty minutes into the movie she'd selected, Kagome fell asleep on the couch and he decided not to disturb her.

Sesshoumaru frowned. The situation with the woman known as Kagome Higurashi was becoming more difficult by the minute. His own reactions to their recently developed relationship stirred a heat in his cold blood that was wholly unexpected. More and more each day, he found himself doings things, not for the sake of gaining her trust, but because he wanted to do them. And that was something that he never anticipated.

The old lord had become a creature of habit during his years of retribution. Activities and people were no longer to be enjoyed. He did them because it was what he had to do. In the first place, this was the reason why he had decided to take the human woman as his wife. Sesshoumaru believed that she could give him the release from grief he so desperately desired. Instead, Kagome seemed to be washing it all away with her delicate touches and playful kisses.

He sighed into the dark room and noted the lack of relief such mannerisms had provided him lately. Most likely it was another side-effect of the illustrious woman before him, but he still had his doubts.

If the tables did not turn soon, the pale demon determined that reinforcements would become necessary.

"Soon," he whispered into the dark room. Picking up her hand, he ran his thumb along the outer curve of her arm.

Kagome's eyes opened slowly, still drowsy from her nap. "Sesshoumaru?"

"Go back to sleep," he replied, shaking away his own thoughts to comfort her.

She sighed and pulled their joined hands to her cheek. "Thank you for today."

"I didn't do anything," he mumbled, brushing his fingertips over her porcelain skin.

"You listened," she reassured him, "that was enough."

Sesshoumaru nodded and watched as she closed her eyes and let the beginnings of sleep take her into its lazy hold.

"Will you stay here tonight?" she questioned, wide blue eyes staring up at him again. "I just... I don't want to be alone."

Her statement was like an anchor against his chest, and the demon lord knew there was no other choice. "Of course, why don't you go lay down, and I'll sleep out here."

"Please, come with me." She turned her head away and wrapped her arms around her chest, looking much smaller and more vulnerable then he could ever recall.

After a few seconds of internal debate, he consented. "Okay."

Sliding underneath her light green sheets in her bedroom, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his chest. It was a feeling that he was completely unaccustomed to, and the strength of emotion that coursed through his veins was, once again, unanticipated.

He sighed, ruefully accepting that the action was no longer soothing. He would need help soon. Very soon.

- - - - -

"Ow!" Kagome screeched and furiously blew at the bright red welt spreading over the tip of her finger.

Sesshoumaru released a knowing snort and took pity on her, leading her to the sink and running cold water over her hand. "They are hot."

"I know that." She scowled and glanced back to make sure she hadn't accidentally dropped the pan on the floor in her dance of pain.

"You're not supposed to burn yourself. There are warnings for that sort of thing," he teased, removing her hand from the water. "Where is your first aid kit?"

Kagome huffed, "Under the sink in the bathroom. Wait... how did you know I had a first aid kit?"

Sesshoumaru settled a bland look on her wounded appendage. "With your constant injuries, I assumed you would own something since I do not see you in the hospital every five minutes."

A light blush rose on her cheeks as she watched him walk to the bathroom in the back of the apartment. After waking next to him earlier that morning, she had been unable to stifle the urge to giggle like a school girl – resulting in several embarrassing bouts of laughter throughout the day. In the circle of his arms, she felt nearly free of the guilt weighing so heavily on her soul.

Her demonic savior reappeared, a small smirk twisting his lips, and lifted her onto the counter. "Hand," he demanded, checking the appendage for other wayward agitated skin. "You are very clumsy."

"I forgot that it had chocolate chips on the inside," Kagome explained.

A low chuckle escaped his throat. "You were the one who made the brownies, and you forgot what you put in them? Silly woman."

Kagome pouted, ignoring the slow tingle that wound up her spine as he spread the cold cream over her fingertips and wrapped the injury in a light bandage.

- - - - -

"Why don't you ever take it off?" she asked, snuggling into his side on her all-too-comfortable couch.

Without bothering to look in her direction, Sesshoumaru returned her question with one of his own. "Take what off?"

Kagome waved one hand in a circular motion in the general direction of his face. "The concealment – you've never taken it off."

"I'm not that person anymore," he answered. His hand stilled as he stared at the pictures cavorting across the television screen before resuming his channel surfing.

An amused smile danced in her eyes. "How can you be anyone else?"

Exhaling lightly, he handed her the remote. "I can't find anything."

"You just don't know what to look for," she commented, pushing her hair over her shoulder and flipping the channels to find a decent afternoon movie. "Is it hard to take off?"

Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. He had hoped she would forget that line of questioning. "No."

"Will you," she cast a sidelong glance at him, all the while maintaining the steady rotation on the television channels. "I mean... can I see?"

Kagome felt him stiffen at her side and instantly attempted to placate him. "It's all right if you don't want to. You don't have to. It was just a stupid random thought."

Sliding his arm from around her back and ignoring the disappointed look on her face, he loosened the watch on his wrist and tossed it onto the coffee table, allowing his body to shift into his natural form – one he hadn't occupied in nearly one hundred years.

Kagome stared as his face blurred and sharpened again – twin stripes appearing on both cheeks and the bright crescent highlight on his forehead. She had assumed that his movement was from rejection, but it was not so. And now, the unhindered appearance of the former demon lord sat before her in all his glory.

The short, slightly shaggy haircut enhanced the foreign colors on his face, and she smiled at how different he looked from the cold, calculating youkai in her memories. Many times, she had been tempted to ask him to do just this, but fear of rehashing her decayed past always led her to remain silent.

However, Sesshoumaru was not a memory.

He was a reality.

"I like you like this" she admitted, sliding her hands around his neck and placing a light kiss on his cheek. Her fingers weaved their way through his impossibly soft, silver hair, and she ruffled it affectionately. "I wish you would do it more often."

He nodded in consent and returned her gesture with one of his own on her forehead. "Youkai are a thing of the past. I am a creature that should be long forgotten."

Settling against his chest, she wondered at the meaning behind his odd choice of words.

- - - - -

"I heard you have a boyfriend now," Eri admonished. "Don't you know you're supposed to tell your best friend these things?"

"Sorry," Kagome blushed. "There just hasn't been the time. With you still off at university, we haven't been able to get together since Sesshoumaru and I started going out."

Her old friend's eyes widened in shock, "Sesshoumaru Konton? You're dating that Sesshoumaru?"

"Do you know of another one?" Kagome joked, examining the green soup the waiter had placed in front of her and wondering if it was edible. Eri always did have the worst taste in restaurants – unlike Sesshoumaru.

"Kagome," Eri grinned, "you went big, didn't you? Geez, I've done a little residency at his hospital. He's amazing. Nice catch."

"Thank you," the miko commented, prodding the soup with her spoon and making a disgusted face when it bubbled viciously at her in return. There was no way she was eating that.

Eri cut to the chase, her short, curly hair bobbing when she propped her elbows on the table to lean closer. "So how is he?"

"What?" Kagome started, backpedaling in her mind to see if she had missed something.

Her friend merely rolled her eyes. "You know. In bed, how is he?"

The embarrassed woman floundered for a minute before she could force a response. "I wouldn't know."

"You mean," Eri appeared to be flabberghasted, "you mean, you haven't... you haven't had sex?"

"Eri!" Kagome admonished, "we're in a restaurant. Please be quiet!"

Ignoring her concerns, the other woman continued, "How long have you been dating?"

"Six months," the miko responded, going back to her soup after deciding that it was less likely to attack her than her overenthusiastic friend.

"Six months and you haven't given the man any action? Geez, Kagome, we're not in high school anymore."

"I don't see a problem," Kagome argued. "We're taking things slow."

Concerned, Eri asked, "Is there... any spark?"

"Spark?" she echoed.

In a wistful tone, Eri explained, "You know... when you touch, do you feel those... butterflies?"

"I," Kagome frowned, unsure of her answer, "I don't know. Sometimes... I think I feel something, but I never really paid any attention to it."

"Kagome," reaching across the table, Eri clasped her hand. "I know you had a lot of problems back then with that guy. Are you sure that you're not with Sesshoumaru just because its safe?"

Once again rendered incapable of finding a decent response, Kagome remained silent and quietly toyed with her lukewarm soup.

- - - - -

She was watching him.

Even through the thickness of his newspaper, he could feel her eyes boring into his very soul. Filling in one of the answers, he laid the incomplete puzzle on the table. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she replied forlornly. "I'm just thinking."

"Then there is a problem," he observed. "Your peanut butter jar isn't empty, is it?"

Kagome shook her head. "No."

"Then what is wrong?"

"Twenty-seven down," she intoned. "It's tapetum."

"What?" He glanced between the sad woman and his paper.

"Twenty-seven down," she repeated. "The clue was: 'a Zoological term for the reflective layer in the eyes of many animals that causes them to shine in the dark.' The answer is tapetum."

Checking the blank space and the key, he nodded. "So it is, but you did not answer my question."

"And, eighteen across – 'glistening' – is nitid. That's Latin." She continued to speak though her voice hinted that her mind was elsewhere.

"Kagome," Sesshoumaru called, his tone hard and demanding.

Her blue eyes snapped up to his face. "I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

"What is wrong with you?" he nearly growled – still coming off a little harsher than he intended. It was unnerving how her sadness affected him lately.

Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but the words were stuck in her throat. Could there truly be something wrong with her relationship with Sesshoumaru? Her stomach twisted into knots at the mere thought of losing him. But, Eri had been right. There was no real physical connection between them.

They exchanged teasing touches that never amounted to anything serious. She had thought the frequent pass of his lips over her forehead was an endearing thing, but now she wondered if there could ever be anything more than the apparent friendship that they had forced into the idea of something else.

With no way to properly express herself, tears of frustration welled in her eyes. Kagome jumped from her seat to escape his worried gaze and further humiliation.

But, the demon lord's reflexes were far faster than her own and she found herself being stopped by a clawless hand on her shoulder. "Kagome," he spoke her name again, and it nearly broke her heart.

Deciding there was no time like the present, she spun under his hold and threw her arms around his neck, wrenching him down to place a passionate kiss on his stunned mouth.

Kagome trembled in his arms even as she slipped her tongue between his lips and coaxed him into a fevered state. The demon lord felt the urgency – the need – wrapped in her touch and closed his eyes, allowing his body to respond the way it had wanted for so many months. One hand clutched her hip, maneuvering her soft form against his own, while the other caressed her shoulder, attempting to comfort her with his touch.

When she finally backed away, they were both panting from the lack of oxygen. Kagome lost herself in the heady, lustful look consuming his face, then he moved forward, capturing her once more before he allowed his curiosity to get the better of him. "Are you okay?" he asked - his pitch slightly lowered.

Kagome laughed quietly. "I'm fine."

"In the future, if you have any worries that can be cured by such activities, you need only ask." He smirked and enjoyed the way she flushed when his hand traced the sensitive curve of her jaw.

"It was just something silly," she assured him, moving to resume her seat at the small table that occupied one corner of his kitchen.

Sesshoumaru nodded and 'hmmed' in response but stopped a second later to ask, "How did you know the answers to my crossword?"

"You're not the only one who likes them." Kagome smirked, wiping the remnant tears on a napkin. "I just look them over before you and don't fill anything in."

"Ah, then what is the answer to thirty-eight down - 'an exaggerated journalistic style?' "

"Gonzo," Kagome replied easily and scooped out a heaping forkful of peanut butter.

"One of these days," Sesshoumaru stated, inserting her answer into the appropriate blanks, "you're going to tell me why you eat that with a fork."

"Why don't you ask?" she wondered.

Sesshoumaru chuckled. "If I ask everything now, what am I going to ask fifty years from now? You always need a little bit of mystery, Kagome."

And, her heart was warmed by his admission.

- - - - -

Sesshoumaru stood in the jewelry store examining different trinkets, trying to decide which Kagome would prefer. She wasn't an overly glamorous woman. However, every woman loved to have that perfect symbol of affection gracing her finger.

Flipping open his cell phone, he dialed a rarely used number and waited for its owner to answer. After the third ring, he heard a brief 'hello' and a short aside to someone else.

"Hello?" the voice repeated.

"We need to meet," Sesshoumaru cut to the chase. There was no reason to prolong the conversation with unnecessary chatter.

Laughing, the voice asked, "So, it's come to this? You know... I heard a few rumors, Sesshoumaru - very disturbing ones."

"What you've heard from anyone else is of no concern," the demon lord hissed, causing the poor bald salesman to shake as he continued to offer more choices.

On the other side of the line, a form tapped its foot lightly in irritation. "Fine. When and where?"

"One week," Sesshoumaru responded. "My apartment. Seven-thirty, Inuyasha, do not be late."

Snapping the device shut, the bristling youkai pointed to an object on the far left of the protective velvet casing. "That one."

"Very good choice, sir," the merchant gushed. "I can have it prepared, per your instructions, by Thursday."

Sesshoumaru nodded and gave the man a credit card. "That will be fine. Thank you."

- - - - -

"Fourteen across is ostracized." Sesshoumaru grinned, dipping his finger into Kagome's coveted peanut butter jar. "And, nineteen across is trenchant."

Kagome frowned and splayed one hand over the incomplete crossword while her other wound around her favorite comfort food. "What was the point of this again?"

"You're doing the crossword," he reminded her.

"Yes," she drawled, "but you won't stop giving me the answers."

"Serves you right." Sesshoumaru snagged the entire jar from her hand and thoroughly enjoyed the offended expression twisting her features.

Kagome huffed. "It wasn't that big of a deal. I don't see why you're still upset!"

Taking a forkful of the sweet concoction, he ignored her outrage and spoke to the nonexistent third person in the room. "She really should know better. Can you believe she threw her food on me?"

"I didn't throw it!" Kagome protested. "I tripped, and you know it!"

"And I was forced to walk all the way home in dirty clothes. Honestly, you'd think she would have better manners," he continued.

"You're impossible." She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Thank you," Sesshoumaru returned, a predatory light gleaming in his molten hazel eyes. "So, how are you going to make it up to me?"

Kagome flushed. There was something about his tone that just oozed with the promise of the unknown. "I don't know," she replied, standing and taking a few unsteady steps backward. "What do you think I should do?"

Caging her against the wall of windows lining the kitchen, he pressed his hands against the tinted glass and lowered his head to her ear. "I am certain an apology is necessary," he assured her. He caught sight of her speeding pulse pounding against the boundary of fragile skin and pressed an open-mouthed kiss against it.

Kagome gasped within the circle of his arms and shuddered. Her head automatically tilted to one side, giving him a more expansive view of the unblemished, ivory flesh. Sesshoumaru traced a path up to her ear and carefully bit delicately curved peak.

Hands fisting in his shirt, she pulled him closer until the upper halves of their bodies were brushing against one another with every gasping breath. "Sesshoumaru," she whispered heatedly.

A low growl escaped his throat, the sound of his name gracing her lips causing an unexpected primal reaction. His hands slid to the curve of her hip and shifted beneath the soft cotton fabric of her shirt. Returning to her lips, he pressed against her and easily swept his tongue into her mouth.

Kagome traced the sinewy lines in his arms down to his wrist and tugged at the watch, blindly manipulating the band until it fell to the floor with a loud, metallic clatter. Opening her eyes, she captured his now amber gaze and smiled. Leaning forward, the miko created a pattern with her mouth from his jaw to the boundary of his sweater.

His rough hands felt like water against her thirsty soul. Drinking in his presence, she allowed him to swallow her with his impassioned touches. Through the silky material of her bra, the demon lord cupped her breast and manipulated the distended peak with two clawed fingers.

Across the room, a loud vibrating noise caught his ear and Sesshoumaru stilled. The air reverberated again with the nearly inaudible noise. Glancing at the clock, he swore loudly, "Damn."

"Huh?" Kagome stopped. "What? What's the matter?"

"The phone," Sesshoumaru growled. "My phone is ringing."

"Oh," she responded, trying to ignore the feeling of loss when he moved to answer it.

"It's eight o'clock," Inuyasha informed him through the electronic device.

"So it is," Sesshoumaru returned.

Inuyasha gave an agitated sigh. "I'm here. Where are you?"

"On my way," the full-blooded youkai responded, cutting off anything else his half-brother may have said. Turning to Kagome, he resisted the urge to curse again. "I have to go. I have a meeting."

"All right," she looked him over, nervously. While their caresses had become more passionate as of late, they had yet to do anything as serious as what she was sure they had been about to do. "That's okay."

Pausing to pick up his almost-forgotten watch, Sesshoumaru clenched his jaw and made a quick decision. "I'll return shortly."

- - - - -

But cleansing his feathers as often as he would...

- - - - -

He was losing his mind. The demon lord revelled in the speed achieved by his black, luxury sports car and turned into the parking lot of his own building. Once again, he had lost himself and his well laid plans as soon as he felt Kagome's eager flesh so easily manipulated beneath his hands. He needed space to examine the situation, but he couldn't stand leaving her alone for more than a few hours at a time.

If left to her own devices, he was afraid that she just might accidentally fall on a knife – or something equally ludicrous. Her clumsiness was quickly becoming the bane of his existence.

Locking his car, he made his way through the familiar corridors to his apartment. "Finally." An exasperated Inuyasha stood just inside the entryway. "What the hell took you so... you've been with Kagome."

Sesshoumaru turned a hardened gaze onto his half-brother. "I'm going to marry her."

"What?" he exclaimed, gaping. "You've got to be joking. There's no way she'd marry you. You're crazy!"

"She will marry me, Inuyasha. You cannot stop her, or have you forgotten your own beloved?" he sneered.

"Of course not! You idiot, this doesn't have anything to do with that! I could never be with Kagome, and you're a moron if that's what you think!" the hanyou argued.

Sesshoumaru remained silent.

"I can't believe she let you kiss her." Inuyasha gagged. "The world is going to hell."

The older youkai rolled his eyes. "Such things occur when vermin are given free rein."

An evil smirk twisted Inuyasha's mouth. "Don't be mad at me. They offered it to you too, you know."

"After you ascended, did you actually believe that I would accept? We could not stand side-by-side as they asked us to. I merely made the decision between us less difficult by choosing this plane of existence," Sesshoumaru responded, his tone lacking its usual malice.

His half-brother shook his head. "They've been asking about you, Sesshoumaru. Everyone wants to know what happened to the Great Demon Lord."

"Enough," he hissed. "I left the traditions of youkai behind many lifetimes ago."

"You're not going to find what you're looking for." Inuyasha gave him a knowing look. "Forgiveness like that doesn't come from the outside."

"Silence," Sesshoumaru's voice boomed through the apartment.

Inuyasha sighed and gave up his argument. "What did you call me for?"

The full-blooded youkai turned away, setting his sights on the view through the large glass windows and the heavy rain now reverberating against the panels. "Will she accept my suit?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't know. When I knew her, she had never kissed anyone, really. It seemed like she liked everybody, but she never loved anybody. Do you love her?"

"Love," Sesshoumaru mused. "What a useless emotion."

In a heartbeat, the hanyou's hand was on his shoulder. "Don't use her, Sesshoumaru. I'll kill you if I have to."

"I will not leave the miko," he replied, repulsed by what the hanyou implied.

"That's not what I mean," Inuyasha clarified. "Kagome's like... she's like the sun. You can't just cover it with clouds and expect everything to be okay."

Satisfied that the hanyou would not prove to be useful, Sesshoumaru moved to exit the apartment. "You spout nonsense, brother."

"She misses you," Inuyasha blurted, spotting his last chance.

The youkai paused in the doorway.

"Rin misses you," he continued.

Lifting his head higher, Sesshoumaru shut the door. "What's done is done. Leave the past behind, Inuyasha."

- - - - -

Sesshoumaru followed Kagome's disappearing scent trail through the rain toward the park. Spotting the nauseatingly bright pink umbrella shielding her form on the bench, he took the seat by her side and ignored the water soaking through his clothes. "Why are you outside? It's raining."

Kagome smiled. "At least I have an umbrella. Didn't you bring one?"

The youkai lord shook his head. "I don't need one."

She laughed. "Of course you don't, how silly of me to think so."

"Marry me," he interjected so quickly that the words stole her breath away.

"What?" She turned her shocked eyes to his. "What did you say?"

Sesshoumaru frowned. He hadn't expected to say it just now, but what was done was done. She was always making him do things he didn't want to do and say things he didn't want to say. "Marry me." He repeated it anyway.

"You can't just..." she paused, confused by his awkward proposal. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Don't you want to?" he questioned.

"I..." She looked away - the sad lines in his face were too much to take. "I never really thought about it."

His frown became a scowl. "Where did you think we were going with this whole dating thing?"

"Honestly, I never knew," she whispered, more to herself than him. He wanted to marry her. It was hard to believe. It would've been a difficult concept to grasp the fact that anyone wanted to marry her, even more so for Sesshoumaru to want it.

Pulling the ring box out of his jacket pocket, he passed it to her. "I wasn't really planning on doing it tonight."

"Then what made you?" she asked, gazing mechanically at the perfect solitaire set in a beautiful platinum band.

He lied. "I don't know." It was definitely not the fact that Inuyasha had mentioned Rin. His heavy heart only knew that Kagome was capable of soothing away the pain that had buried him for so many years.

Kagome threaded her fingers into his. "I want children, Sesshoumaru. Can you give me that, knowing that they will be hanyou?"

"After a few hundred years, the youkai blood will be bred from their veins and only the human will remain," he answered. "It is for the best. We will have children, Kagome."

She knew better than to ask for promises of love. Kagome wasn't even sure that Sesshoumaru would ever understand what love was. That was okay, though, because she wasn't sure that she could ever love him. It was better to be realistic.

He cared for her, that much was obvious, and she hoped that it would be enough. "Okay," she mumbled, an amused smile causing her lips to twitch slightly.

"Okay?" he wondered, confounded.

"I'll marry you, Sesshoumaru." Kagome nodded. "It's not like you would've accepted a no, anyway."

Sesshoumaru chuckled as he slipped the ring onto her finger. "Not likely."

- - - - -

"How was he?" She moved from the darkness, her ethereal form sliding through objects like air over sand.

Inuyasha ran a clawed hand over her face, cupping her cheek. "He's doing okay. I can't believe Kagome's going to marry that bastard."

"He's a good male, Inuyasha," she soothed, her boneless arms winding around his waist and pulling tight. "He'll take good care of her."

The hanyou huffed and threaded his fingers through her straight, black hair. "I know. I just hope you're right with all this woman's intuition crap. If he hurts her, I'll... throw a thunderbolt at him or something."

"What an angry little demi-god you are," she giggled, her spiritual body shining with mirth.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled.

"Did he," she paused and drew her tongue across her lips – a nervous remnant from her earthly life. "Did he ask about me?"

His golden eyes grew sad. "You know why he doesn't come here."

"I'm just a ghost of his past," she mused, a bittersweet smile playing on her mouth.

"It's not you-"

"I know," she interrupted, raising her hand to press against his lips. "I understand, but I followed him for so long. I miss him now. He was the closest thing to a father I ever remember having."

"In a few years," he pacified his nonliving lover, "we'll put you into a body again. When everything is perfect, you'll be able to go and see him for yourself."

- - - - -

Kagome squealed, pouncing on her prey and dragging him down to the couch. "You're the best."

"Of course," he mumbled against her lips as she assaulted his mouth.

Giggling, she placed light nips over his cheek and down his neck, sighing gently and settling against him when she reached his shoulders. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'd have no peanut butter for your popcorn." He kissed her forehead before wrapping his arms around her waist and adjusting their position on the sofa.

"How did you know I was out?" Kagome asked.

"You always run out on Monday morning," he informed her. "But, you didn't have time to go shopping this afternoon."

"Yeah," she sighed, kicking off her shoes and listening to them fall against the floor with a loud thump. "Today's meeting was a killer. I hate new clients. How was your day?"

"Miyu's going to have her baby any day now," he concluded.

Her fingers slid over his arm and, with a devilish smile, Kagome undid the clasp on his watch. "Mmm, she looked ready to pop when I saw her last week."

"What are you doing?" Sesshoumaru questioned, though they both knew the answer.

Leaning forward, she let her breath brush against the sensitive pointed shell of his ear. "Not a thing, you?"

"You are insatiable," he mused.

"So?" she drawled, enjoying the delicious dog-like shiver tensing the skin of his neck. "You're the one who wants to marry me."

"Do I?" he wondered.

"Mmhmm." Her blunt, human teeth scraped along her point of attack and his eyes closed completely.

She never seemed to realize just how strongly her advances affected him. The playful mood she currently possessed was about to receive a rude awakening if he didn't stop her. Shifting his hands to her hips to push her away, Sesshoumaru froze when he felt her lightly bite the tip of his ear.

A low growl instantly thrummed through his chest.

Turning his head, he captured her lips while his hands worked to separate the layers of her clothing. He found the warm flesh of her stomach and ran his dangerous fingertips over the curve to trace the gentle sloping pattern of her ribcage. Kagome moaned softly, pressing into the fire he created against her skin. A spark of heat slowly sprang to life between her thighs.

Kagome's nails raked over his clothed back and forced a groan out of his own throat. Without thought, he pulled her shirt over her head and threw it on the floor, attacking on her breasts with his mouth through the fabric of her bra. She mewled against him, and her hips pressed the youkai into the couch.

Never before had she felt so unbearably hot. Her body ached for Sesshoumaru in a way she had never known she was capable of.

Kagome attempted to protest when he removed his lips, but she was silenced by the feeling of cold air brushing against her aroused, tightened flesh. Sesshoumaru's tongue traced the underside of one of her breasts while his strong hand easily manipulated the other. Panting against him, her unsteady fingers opened his shirt, giving her the first glimpse of his defined chest.

When he took her nipple into his mouth, Kagome's head was forced backward as her body quaked against him. Lust shot through her veins and swelled into a fixed throbbing in the pit of her stomach. She gasped for the air that seemed to be leaking out of her pores, unable to manage a decent breath or a single conducive thought.

Sesshoumaru's unoccupied hand wandered over her torso, making lazy patterns, until he hit the barrier of terry cloth wrapped around her slender legs. "Kagome," he panted, refraining from breaching a second barrier that night.

Sitting up on his chest, she crossed her arms, hiding her body from view. "Hi," she weakly mumbled, a bright blush staining her cheeks.

"Hi," he reiterated, unable to think of anything better to say and unsure as to why he had stopped their current course of action.

Bright blue eyes stared down at him with unshed tears and he knew that he had done the right thing. No matter the reason. "Thank you," she whispered a little brokenly.

Kagome pulled her shirt back over her head but was unable to find her bra. "Do you... still want to watch a movie?" she asked, finally sliding off of him.

"Of course," he readily agreed - anything to turn the conversation and shake his mind from wondering how it would feel to be with her.

He started to close his shirt only to have her small hands rest against his bare skin. "Could you... leave this?"

Nodding his consent, he smiled into the crown of her hair as she snuggled against him to watch the television. There was just something about her. Being in her presence was almost like... being bathed in the sun.

- - - - -

"Does this match?" she wondered, holding a purse up to her skirt.

"What?" Sesshoumaru straightened his tie.

Kagome huffed and asked again, "Does this match this?"

He gave her a bland look. "Dogs aren't good with colors, you know."

"Huh?" She picked up another handbag and compared the two.

"Dogs are colorblind," he informed her.

She gasped. "You're colorblind?"

"Of course not," he snorted. "I'm youkai."

"But you just said-"

"Yes," the youkai smirked. "Dogs are colorblind."

Confusion lacing her tone, she frowned and considered a third purse. "What does that have to do with choosing one of these?"

"Men are also colorblind," Sesshoumaru enlightened her.

"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed. "We both know that you are Mister Fashion-Forward. You've got a bigger closet than I do."

"You have clothes in my closet," he accused.

"So?" Kagome stood her ground. "I'm female."

"Ah," he grinned and dropped a kiss on her exposed neck. "The universal answer."

"You're infuriating!" she yelled as he exited the bedroom.

A light chuckle resounded through the hall. "Thank you, sweetheart."

"You're welcome, darling." She giggled.

- - - - -

"Close your eyes," his voice rolled over her like a calming balm.

Allowing him to guide her, Kagome couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice, "Where are we going?"

"I can't tell you," he replied, amused. "It would ruin the surprise."

She pouted prettily, sticking out her lower lip to express her displeasure.

"Don't do that," he warned. "I might be convinced to take it off for you."

Her eyebrow lifted, slightly, and Kagome jutted her lip out a little further.

Laughing, Sesshoumaru swooped down to claim a kiss. "You are really something."

"Am I?" the miko mused.

"You are," he returned, kissing her once more and lacing their arms together. "Hold on tight."

Yelping in astonishment, she felt the ground shifting beneath there feet and becoming something altogether less stable. "What's happening?"

"You'll see," he hushed her, "just be patient."

Kagome teased him. "You should know better than to say that to me, Sesshoumaru."

"Patience is a virtue," he joked.

She smiled and retorted, "Only to those who are virtuous."

"Hn," Giving a wordless answer, he finally reached a suitable height. "Open your eyes, Kagome."

The air left her lungs at the beauty surrounding them. As far as she could see, they were encircled by stars. "This is beautiful," the miko whispered, "how did you-" Looking down she caught sight of the youki cloud he had been so fond of in the Feudal Era. "Oh, Sesshoumaru, this is so sweet."

"Happy birthday, Kagome." He tucked a wild hair behind her ear.

"I couldn't have wished for anything better," she told him, her eyes filling with tears. "Why did you do this for me?"

His eyes roamed the endless void of night and the demon lord allowed her to hold a small piece of his heart. "It reminds me of the good things. Seeing all of this, I am able to remember the enjoyable parts of my past."

Kagome nodded and gazed into the blackened skies. "I know what you mean."

- - - - -

Kagome appeared frightened and pale as she returned the phone to the cradle.

"Are you all right?" Sesshoumaru asked, swiftly coming to her side and helping her into a chair.

"No," she whispered, "my mother wants to meet you."

- - - - -

"Kagome," a woman with closely cropped, wavy brown hair attacked them with a furious round of hugs, "I'm so glad you decided to come by."

"Um," the miko smiled warily, "you told me to."

Her mother laughed. "Nonsense. You're a grown woman. I can't make you do anything anymore."

Kagome smiled weakly and returned the woman's show of affection before introducing her. "Mom, this is my boyfriend, Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru, this is my mom."

"Please, call me Suki." She presented him with a slight bow. "Why don't we all have some tea, and you can tell me what's been going on the past few months."

Stepping inside, Kagome reveled in the warm smell of ginger radiating from the kitchen. Her mother, who had disappeared for a moment, returned to the living room with a plate of fresh ginger cookies and a small pot of tea. "How have you been?"

"I'm engaged," she blurted, a light sheen of sweat coating her forehead.

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in surprise. "You didn't tell her?"

"Well, no." Kagome fidgeted.

Suki slowly poured the tea, her response much calmer than that of her daughter's fiance. "You are engaged to Sesshoumaru?"

"Well, yes," she responded.

"How long have the two of you been dating, Lord Sesshoumaru?" Her mother redirected her line of questioning.

The demon lord frowned. "Long enough."

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome scolded, cheeks flushing with outrage, "play nice. We've been together for a little over a year, Mama."

"I see," she directed a smile at the youkai that made the hair stand up on the back of his neck. "And what are your intentions toward my daughter, Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"I plan to marry your daughter." He answered. "I'm not a lord anymore. There's no need to use formalities."

"Will you make her happy?" she wondered, setting aside her cup.

Sesshoumaru looked deep into her dark brown eyes and curtly nodded. "I will do my best."

- - - - -

"Do you love him, Kagome?" Suki asked a few hours later while sweeping the shrine steps.

Kagome blushed. "I want to marry Sesshoumaru."

Suki laughed and shook her head. "You always were such a complicated child. That's not what I asked, Kagome. Do you love him?"

"I..."

"Don't answer that," the older woman looped an arm around her shoulders. "When I married your father, I wasn't in love with him. He and I learned how to love each other eventually, and I miss him very much. But, we argued constantly during those first few years, and I was always running away to stay with my parents. Because of what happened so early on, it took us a very long time to build a lasting relationship, and I can't but wonder what would have happened if we had been in love from the beginning." She smiled and kissed Kagome's cheek. "I think it would have been easier."

"Love isn't always what you think it's supposed to be, Kagome." Suki resumed her war with the dirt on the stone covered ground. "Love is different for everyone. We all love in different ways and, sometimes, you don't even know it."

- - - - -

Walking into the apartment, Kagome paused, staring at how cluttered his previously immaculate space had become. Her own personal belongings were now strewn about, mostly pictures in cute, decorative frames lining his shelves with beaming faces. It was strange, thinking back, how easily their lives molded together.

She smiled as she passed her favorite photograph. The night of her birthday, Kagome had convinced the demon lord to pose while a tourist manipulated the camera Sesshoumaru had presented her with earlier that day. He wasn't really smiling in it, then again, the miko never thought he looked quite right when he did. It just wasn't in his nature.

"Do you want to sleep here tonight?" The aforementioned youkai stood in the doorway to his bedroom.

Framed by moonlight he was so otherworldly, with his tousled silver hair and amber eyes giving him an exotic appearance. Her heart clenched tightly in her chest. Ever since she had expressed a liking for his natural form, he tended to take off his magical bindings before they went to bed.

He was so caring. Definitely not what she had expected. And, he was hers.

She felt her mouth go dry as the realization struck her. She was in love with Sesshoumaru. Nodding her head, she pushed her thoughts away. "Yeah, I want to stay with you."

Kagome washed her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. There was a sparkle in her eyes that she had believed to be dead.

When she entered the bedroom, he had already changed and slipped beneath the covers. She felt a now familiar heat winding through her body at the sight of his bare torso against the dark gray sheets. "Hi," she blushed, making her way to the bed. Usually, she was so exhausted that Sesshoumaru carried her to bed long after she was asleep.

This time it was different.

Kagome was quite awake at the moment.

Sliding in beside him, she leaned against his chest and glanced over the crossword puzzle in his hands. "That's irascible." Kagome pointed out.

"Hn," Sesshoumaru acknowledged her, filling in the appropriate blanks.

Carefully, the miko twisted in his arms to prop against him and placed a light kiss on his neck.

"Are you tired? I can put this away."

"No," Kagome smiled, "that's okay. I like doing the crossword with you... most of the time."

The demon lord grinned. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't," she laughed and lifted up to capture his lips.

Sesshoumaru swept his tongue against hers and stirred the heat in the pit of her stomach. Lifting the miko, he shifted so that she sat in his lap, her legs dangling over his thighs. He could feel her unbound breasts pressing against him through the thin fabric of her loose cotton top. Eagerly, Sesshoumaru's hands worked their way underneath the barrier and splayed over her back to trace a teasing pattern around her spine.

Kagome could feel her face flushing. Her reactions to the youkai strengthened every time they experienced a moment of passion. His body temperature was naturally lower than hers, as he did not require the constant pumping of blood throughout his veins to sustain him, and the coolness of his touch evoked a fervent cry from deep in her throat. "Sesshoumaru!"

The demon lord lifted her shirt over her head and quickly deposited on the floor. Grasping her bare shoulders, he released her mouth and trailed a heated row of open-mouthed kisses down the length of her neck to the valley between her breasts. His overly long tongue caused an enjoyable shudder to race through her body as he manipulated her, bending her backward to lean against his raised leg, bent at the knee.

Sesshoumaru stared at her body, bathed in the dim bedside lamp's light, her face awash with passion. There was something about being with her like this that evoked a call in his heart that he had not felt in many years.

She wasn't exactly sure when their encounter stopped being playful and started being dissolute but, as they continued, Kagome felt more and more clothing falling away until she was writhing, naked, beneath him. "Sesshoumaru," she whispered as they both paused in a moment of understanding.

Her words were soft and caring, gentle enough to convey the emotions she felt without ruining them with inapt wording. The demon lord's amber gaze trailed over the planes of her face, memorizing its appearance in that single instance. She was beautiful.

Dipping down, he placed a gentle kiss on her mouth. "There is still time," he mumbled against the skin of her cheek, knowing that she would comprehend his meaning. There was still time to back away. They could stop and go to sleep and, when she woke up tomorrow, they could pretend this never happened.

"No," Kagome held firm, "I want this."

The demon lord positioned himself above her, trembling as she shifted and barely brushed against his swollen flesh. It had been so long since anyone had been this close to him, and never before had he cared so strongly for the reactions of his partner. Every gasp, every moan from her mouth, awakened a part of himself that he believed to be gone, lost to the ravages of time and guilt.

Between her thighs, Kagome felt a weight unlike any other shifting and gliding into her body. A burning whimper tore from her throat at the invasive sensation. Unaccustomed to such a caress, her muscles flexed, unyielding to his intrusion.

Sesshoumaru paused, frozen at the terrified look on her face. Softening his touch, he tangled their fingers together and waited.

Closing her eyes, Kagome shifted her hips, lifting them off of the mattress to envelope a little more. A slow hiss worked its way from the lips of her lover at the tight, unused muscles contracting around him and pulling him deeper into the warmth of her body.

After only a few moments, Kagome lost her grip and fell the few inches back into the coverlet, and Sesshoumaru slid out. A low, ragged moan escaped her as a result of the sensual friction. Catching his hooded gaze, she felt the arousal in her stomach begin to spread. "Please," she breathed.

Before she knew it, they were gasping against one another, twisting and pushing while sweat misted their skin. A tangible force existed within her now. Kagome could feel the wicked tightening winding around her and making her toes tingle in the oddest of ways. Every time he pressed into her the coil grew until she was sure she would die from the intensity of it.

The demon lord nipped and kissed his way over her form, revelling in the salty taste of her skin. Sesshoumaru felt the impending constriction beginning to take over his body and slid a finger between them to speed her release.

With the combination of his strokes and the quick movement of his hand, Kagome trembled beneath him, mewling his name as the youkai emptied himself into her.

They lay together, panting into the silent room.

Kagome smiled and brushed her hand over his silver hair. Leaning in close, she tightened her knees against his waist and whispered, "I'm not sleepy."

Sesshoumaru chuckled lowly in response, "Insatiable."

- - - - -

The taiyoukai lay awake, cradling the naked human woman's body against him and listening to her soothing breath as it caressed the skin of his chest. He had never before felt such a strong connection to any sexual partner he had chosen to take. Several times during their encounter he had felt the need to regress to his basest of forms. The image of what could have been was still so strong in his mind that he could feel his fangs lengthening, red eyes shining into the darkened bedroom.

His journey toward humanity was quickly slipping away, but he found himself unable to drive the cause of his loss out of his grip. Kagome had become as much a part of him as his youki.

Strangely enough, the once lonely demon lord had always thought that love would feel somewhat differently than it did.

- - - - -

There were children in the park again.

Sesshoumaru frowned, wrapping his arm around Kagome as she stared longingly at the laughing people. "Do you want to go home?" he asked, unsure of how to broach such a sensitive subject.

Kagome turned her glassy blue eyes to him and shook her head. "No, I really want to watch... just for a little while."

Nodding his consent, he turned his gaze back toward the crowd and frowned. There had to be some thing he could do for the woman who would be his wife.

- - - - -

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru greeted his brother after raising the cell phone to his ear, "I need a favor."

"What do you want?" the demi-god's voice came through the line with a bit of static.

The demon lord checked Kagome's position in the apartment. Seeing her in the living room, he considered it safe to talk. "I want to give Kagome a wedding present."

"Why would you need me?" Inuyasha asked.

Sesshoumaru growled in return, "Because I do not know where it is."

- - - - -

The Raven could not change the color of his feathers...

- - - - -

Sesshoumaru was beginning to discover the lengths to which he would go to make his little miko happy. She wanted to have children one day. The demon lord could accept that. However, he could not accept the agony she experienced every time she saw the small creatures.

Faintly, he noted that he had been more demon than human as of late.

Upon hearing Kagome enter the apartment, Sesshoumaru took a seat at the kitchen table and waited for her to appear.

"Hey," she smiled brightly, bending down and placing a firm kiss on his mouth. "I had a wonderful day."

"I have a gift for you," his expression remained serious, "if you wish to accept it."

Kagome's gaze caught sight of the black, lacquered box resting on the placemat. "What is it?" A faint pulse of long gone youki echoed from its edges.

"You know." He turned his harsh amber eyes on her.

The breath caught in her throat. A memory from her last day in Segoku Jidai flashed in front of her eyes. She remembered standing on a hillside and watching that same little tomb as it was buried beneath the roots of the Goshinboku, carrying away her dead child. "Why?" she whispered brokenly. "Why do you have this?"

"Because this is the best I could do," he replied, a sudden sorrow filtering into his tone. "You don't deserve the guilt."

"Thank you," she mumbled, leaning forward to wrap her arms around his chest and hug him tightly. "Thank you so much."

And so, he gave Kagome the one thing she thought she could never get back.

Sesshoumaru revived Shippou.

- - - - -

Tenseiga lay, seemingly forgotten again, in his closet. But, for some unknown reason, Sesshoumaru could not forget about it this time. Since reviving the small kitsune a few weeks before, Kagome had radiated pure happiness. It was easy enough to forge a new identity for the pup, but it was not so easy to forget his own past anymore.

Staring at the quizzical kitsune reminded him of days that were better off lost to memory, but still, he could not forget.

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome smiled, carrying the small kit on her shoulder, and gave him a heartwarming kiss. "Shippou wants to go to the park before we go home."

"Kagome," Shippou whined, "do you have to do that in front of me?"

She giggled and tickled his stomach through his t-shirt. "Yes, I do." To prove her point, she stooped down to grab another kiss. "Do you want to come with us?" she asked the taiyoukai.

"I don't think so," he answered, looking out the kitchen window.

She tilted her head. "Are you getting sick? You don't sound so good."

"I'm fine," he returned, trying to ignore memories of a small, laughing girl lost centuries before.

- - - - -

Of all the places he wanted to be, this was not one of them.

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome grinned, tugging him into another useless store, "don't you just love shopping?"

"No," he nearly growled.

She only laughed. "Oh? I couldn't tell. I mean, you're only scaring away everyone in a twenty yard radius. Besides, what's not to like?"

Lifting one eyebrow, he looped his arm around her waist before answering, "Everything."

"Aw," Kagome pouted. "You're no fun."

"Aren't I?" Sesshoumaru returned, leaning down to rake his fangs over her neck.

"Oh," she gasped. "That's not fair."

"Haven't you heard the phrase 'all's fair in love and war?' " He smirked.

A perturbed expression covered her face. "That's such an overused phrase."

"Still," he pointed out, "it's appropriate."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, a red flame sprang to life in front of them. It danced in strange, weaving pattern for a few seconds and then leaped into the nearest rack of clothing – an odd selection of leftover, discount lingerie. Smoke floated up from the singed clothing, and a white-haired demon clad in jeans and a black t-shirt abruptly fell out of it.

Kagome frowned, studying the peculiar creature. There was something absurdly familiar about him.

"Oi," the male grunted and held out one clawed hand, "that trip is always a bitch. Don't just stare, Kagome. Help me out here."

She blinked and glanced warily around the store. Looking back down at the demon tangled in discount bras, Kagome decided that she was going crazy. "Inuyasha?"

"Who else would it be?" He scowled, pushing himself off the floor and disgustedly removing the small pieces of fabric from his person.

"Inuyasha." The miko went pale.

He looked exactly the same - minus the modern clothes and sneakers - and Kagome felt her heart stop.

"Hey," the demi-god granted her with a lopsided smirk, "nice to see you too, bitch."

"Inuyasha!" she shrieked, throwing herself at the hanyou. "You're alive!"

"Duh! If this asshole could make it, then so could I," he groused, watching his half-brother's steely eyes glaring a hole through the middle of his forehead.

"What about-?" Her excitement faded, and she backed away, folding her arms over her chest. "Never mind."

"Keh," Inuyasha poked her in the arm. "Those two idiots are still around too. Don't know why anyone should be happy about that though. Especially that pervert, I don't see how anyone puts up with that fuc-"

"Inuyasha," Kagome admonished.

An evil grin twisted his lips. "You know, they don't let anyone 'osuwari' a demi-god."

"A what?"

He laughed. "After you left, all those bastar... er... gods were so happy with the shit we did they made me a demi-god."

Kagome graced him with a soft smile. "What happened to Sango and Miroku?"

"Now there's a good story. See, the gods gave me this kind of power to tie people together. And well, I kind of did it accidentally the first time," he continued, leading the couple out of the store and into the main corridor.

"Tie people together?" Kagome questioned.

"Yeah," he confirmed, blushing. "I can bind the souls of lovers together so that they stay together. It's really useful for demons with human mates. Let's them live nice long lives. So yeah, I unintentionally bound Kouga and Sango together before I really got the hang of it."

"What?" Her eyes doubled in size.

Inuyasha shrugged nonchalantly. "They're better now, but ,man, that was hell on earth for about two hundred years."

Kagome sputtered, "Sango and Kouga are married?"

"Basically," he answered.

"What about Miroku?"

Inuyasha glanced over the shifting auras in the crowded mall and chuckled at a recently mated couple. Winding up a small bolt of power, he threw it toward their souls, forever tangling the two with one another. "That pervert? He mated Kagura long before Sango got together with Kouga."

The miko was stunned, to say the least. Inuyasha may have looked the same, but he had changed. "Are you, um, mated, Inuyasha?"

"Yeah," he sighed, a soft glow highlighting his unhindered golden eyes, "Rin. We're not really officially bound yet, but now that you and Sesshoumaru have finally done it, I can put her into a decent body. Then it's only a matter of years. Oh yeah, and speaking of people who should be dead," he slanted a glare at his half-brother. "You should've told me you were actually going to resurrect the brat. He was scheduled for reincarnation!"

Ignoring the blush she felt, Kagome shot him a sad look. "Rin won't forget you, will she?"

"Oh, no," Inuyasha laughed. "I'm a demi-god. I'll just sort of drop her soul in somewhere without wiping it first. I wouldn't want to go through all of that shit again."

"Good," Kagome smiled. "How did you and Rin get together, anyway?"

"She was still a little girl when I ascended," he remembered, "but she had a good life. She married a decent guy, and they had a lot of kids. They weren't soul mates, though. They were... good friends who chose to be something else."

Kagome frowned, Rin's situation sounded uncomfortably familiar. She wondered if that would happen to them. The miko was never really sure how Sesshoumaru felt about her – especially since Shippou's revival. He seemed distant.

"I met her again after she died," Inuyasha went on, unaware of her internal struggle. He shrugged. "It took a while for me to see what was going on between us, but now I wouldn't give it up for anything.

His former traveling companion winced. Kagome knew that it was supposed to be a hint that he wasn't going to go all psycho on her for her relationship with Sesshoumaru, but the reminder that he had someone who loved him while she did not stung a little more than it was supposed to. Attempting to lighten her mood, she turned the tables on the rambling hanyou. "So, you're like... cupid?"

- - - - -

Kagome sighed. Her afternoon with Inuyasha had been productive. However, its outcome was not what she expected. Thankfully, her friends were all alive and well, but Sango was currently residing in Bolivia with Kouga doing some work for the sun goddess, Amaterasu. Miroku was with Kagura taking a yearlong vacation in some unknown island country for their twenty-second honeymoon. Neither were expected to return until the following spring, so she was left to her own thoughts and devices.

She understood the reasoning behind their absence. No one had been allowed to visit her until after her encounters with Sesshoumaru brought about their imminent relationship, under direction of the gods, but the miko missed them.

And, her newly found lover had been more on the silent side of things lately. Kagome huffed. An ache settled into her heart as doubts filled her head. They had yet to say the words. Every night since that first time, they'd had similar encounters, but nothing seemed to be able to wash away the fear that was slowly rising within her.

- - - - -

Sesshoumaru sighed. His relationship with Kagome had destroyed his plans and brought the human world he had built crashing down around his head. The descended demon lord walked through the empty streets as memories of his former life clung to his skin like dried blood, making his hands itch with want to rid himself of it completely.

With his soul in turmoil, he made his way through the throng of humans and a part of him rebelled, questioning why he ever chose to mix his habits with theirs in the first place. Hissing, he halted in the middle of the busy street and clutched at the pounding in his head – being at odds with himself was causing more problems than he expected.

Kagome was supposed to be the perfect human wife. She was supposed to complete the future and allow him to forget his treacherous past, but she had not.

Binding himself to the miko had solved nothing, and now his whole world was in shambles because he couldn't let her go.

- - - - -

"Sesshoumaru," Inuyasha appeared in his hallway, bursting into existence from his small, red flame, "we need to talk."

"I'm busy," the youkai stated, easily walking around him.

Sticking his arm in his half-brother's path, Inuyasha growled, "Damn it, Sesshoumaru. You can't ignore this shit forever! It's been almost five hundred years since you left it all behind. If you don't go back soon, someone else is going to claim it. Why the fuck would you chance losing the Western Territories?"

"They are not my concern," the demon lord hissed, slamming Inuyasha into the wall, "and you are not my keeper. Do not presume to tell me what to do."

"Fuck you, Sesshoumaru. Kagome says she hasn't seen you in nearly a week. You've cooped yourself up in this damn apartment and that stupid job. You're screwing up everything." The anger built in his voice until he was practically screaming at the demon. "Who cares what happened back then. So what if you had an argument with Kagome? Just go back! You're hurting her!"

"She denied my humanity!" the demon lord roared.

Inuyasha gaped, incredulous. "Because you're not a fucking human! You never will be, so stop trying!"

"Kagome could never accept me as I was," the demon lord growled, "and that is all that matters!"

- - - - -

Kagome lay in bed alone and stared blankly at the ceiling, lime green sheet twisted around her hips. A bittersweet smile curved her mouth as she heard Shippou snoring lightly from his spot at her side. Getting up, she made her way into the kitchen and collected a jar of her usual comfort food, only to find it not so comforting when the forkful of peanut butter touched her tongue.

She missed Sesshoumaru.

After he had stormed out of her apartment nearly two weeks before, she had seen neither hide nor hair of the demon lord. Their argument had been strange and frightening. In hopes of teaching Shippou the ways of both youkai and mortals, Kagome went to the taiyoukai to propose that he tell her something about his kind that could be useful to the kit, but Sesshoumaru had denied her. Accepting that he would not give her his help, she'd merely asked that he contact Inuyasha and her demon lover became insane with rage, storming from her apartment all together.

Staring at the brown glop covering her fork, Kagome smiled weakly into the darkness. She had never realized how much Sesshoumaru resembled her beloved peanut butter.

He had often been sweet and, much like with the comfort food, the miko knew peace when in his presence. The color of peanut butter was similar to that of his eyes in human form. Carefully, she rolled the fork in a slow circle to rewind the delicious morsel around her utensil, deciding that Sesshoumaru was slow as well. None of the decisions he made were ever the result of a quick judgment. His life, in essence, was like time in slow motion.

Kagome wondered why he had turned to humanity in the first place. After all, the only time anyone ever reformed their life in such a drastic way was because what they did, or what they were, had gone wrong.

Where had Sesshoumaru gone wrong?

Dropping the forkful of uneaten food in the sink, she sighed at the residual substance on her hands. That was like Sesshoumaru too. Even though he wasn't around, he was still there.

Sesshoumaru had become residual.

- - - - -

And through want of food...

- - - - -

"Kagome," Inuyasha banged on her door, "Kagome, open up!"

"Inuyasha?" She was nearly run over as he made his way into her apartment.

The hanyou shook his head, sending a violent spray of water over her furniture. "There's no time. You've got to go now."

"What's wrong?" she asked, already donning her coat to hold the rain at bay.

"I'll watch Shippou, but you've got to go to the park. It's Sesshoumaru. I think the bastard might actually die."

He didn't get a chance to say anything else.

Because she was already gone.

- - - - -

The Raven perished...

- - - - -

"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome ran across the street and into the park, spotting his magic-bound blond hair at their favorite bench.

He was pale and haggard – nothing like the demon lord she had grown to know and love.

"Sesshoumaru," she whispered it this time, almost afraid that the strength of her breath might break him.

The youkai shook his head. "I've been running from demons for a long time now."

Her hand wrapped around his, lacing their fingers together and she was scared by how cold they were. He was Death, warmed over slightly.

"I had almost forgotten about the past," he continued. "I almost left it all behind, but you showed up."

"What did I do?" Kagome cried and watched her tears mingle with the water streaking through the sky. Sitting next to him on the bench in the rain, the miko was reminded of the night they were engaged. If only this could've been one of their happier moments.

"You're human," Sesshoumaru stated. "But, there's something about you that's not. You're a human that's not quite human. I wanted to be one of those."

"Why?"

"Because it is much easier to be a human who lives for the moment, than a demon who has only the past," he revealed.

Kagome frowned. "You can't change what you are, Sesshoumaru."

He sighed, his breathing labored and uneven. "But I could try."

"Why can't you just accept it? What happened to you?" she mumbled and ran her thumb over the back of his hand. "What was so bad that you gave it all up? Inuyasha came to visit me about a week ago. He told me about the deadline. Don't you want to be a lord anymore?"

"I had a little girl once," he whispered – his story sounding much like her own. "She was a little human girl who grew up to marry a human man. Rin had several children, all of whom had children of their own. Grandchildren. She would bring them all to my home once every season so that I could see how her family had multiplied. During one of her visits, one of the young ones, Tsuki, wandered away from them."

A dreadful knot settled in her stomach. "What happened to her?"

"A vengeful servant of mine killed her and melted her body with his poisons. There was nothing left to be resurrected."

The miko's heart clenched painfully at his numb tone.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," an ethereal voice called out from the darkness. Slowly, an unearthly form walked into view. "Lord Sesshoumaru, they told me it was time to come get you."

"Rin," the demon lord stared at the familiar woman. "Have you come to take me to hell? Surely not, you are an angel. I am afraid the gods are mistaken."

"You always were so hard on yourself," she gave him a sad smile. "Tsuki's journey was over, Lord Sesshoumaru. Even though it was short, she had a much better life than most because of you and the protection you gave to my family. But now, the guilt has rotted away your soul and you have no other choice but to leave this body behind."

"No!" Kagome cried out, wrapping her arms around her demonic lover's neck. "I won't let you take him. Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru, listen to me! You have to stay. What will I do without you?"

Forlornly, Rin shook her head. "I am sorry, Kagome. He has no other choice."

"There is always a choice! You can fight this," Kagome yelled, even as she felt his body going still beside her. "Don't leave me, Sesshoumaru! I love you!"

The taiyoukai's only thought as he succumbed to the black fog seeping into his body was that, if he'd had the strength left to stay by Kagome's side, he would've liked to try.

- - - - -

"A Raven saw a Swan and desired to secure for himself the same beautiful plumage. Supposing that the Swan's splendid white color arose from his washing in the water in which he swam, the Raven left the altars in the neighborhood where he picked up his living, and took up residence in the lakes and pools. But cleansing his feathers as often as he would, he could not change their color, while through want of food he perished." She closed the book and gently set it on the bedside table. "Now, it is time for all good little girls to go to sleep."

"What?" The child frowned, angrily crossing her arms over her chest. "That ending sucks."

"Tsuki!" Kagome admonished. "Where did you hear that word?"

Tsuki giggled, "Uncle Inuyasha."

Her mother sighed. "Of course you did. What was wrong with the ending?"

"The pretty bird died," she pouted, her blue eyes welling with tears.

"Ah," Kagome smiled and pulled the covers up to her neck, gently brushing the light, silvery hair out of her face. "Then how should the story go?"

"The prince always gets the princess in the end," a third voice interrupted their conversation.

"Daddy!" Tsuki squealed, raising her short arms to give him a proper hug. "We weren't talking about princes! We were talking about birds, and Mommy made one of the pretty birdies die!"

"Well, that just won't do, now will it?" he replied, kissing his daughter's forehead and grabbing the book. "Now let's see... But cleansing his feathers as often as he would, he could not change their color, while through want of food... he perished. Well, that is bad, isn't it? Why don't we just say... But cleansing his feathers as often as he would, he could not change their color. The beautiful Swan saw his attempts and asked the poor Raven why he would want to be white when he possessed such a handsome shade of black. And so, the beautiful Swan convinced the handsome Raven that sometimes things were just best left as they were, and they swam together in the lake for the rest of their days. The end."

Tsuki nodded and yawned sleepily. "That's much better."

"I think so too," Kagome agreed, leaning in to give him a kiss. Pointing down to the page she grinned at the tiny words printed underneath the tale, and whispered, "Aesop was a very smart man, look what it says here."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and snapped the book closed, "Don't even say it."

"Oh, but I have to," she laughed, following him into the hall.

Bending down, her husband captured her lips in a kiss that made her toes curl. "You taste like peanut butter." He smirked.

"Don't worry," she giggled. "It's a nonliving substance, so it can't be considered infidelity. Where's Shippou?"

"I know better than to make you choose between me and peanut butter. I don't think my ego could take the blow. He is on a date," the taiyoukai informed her, watching her eyes scrunch up with worry. "He will be fine."

"I know," Kagome sighed. "They just grow up too fast. How was the meeting with the other lords?"

"Productive," he commented, leading her toward their room. "As are several other activities that I can think of at the moment."

His wife mused, "You would think returning from the brink of death would have some sort of effect on your libido."

Shooting her a heated look, the taiyoukai responded, "It did."

The book slipped from her fingertips, and she stooped to pick it up. "This is a really good line."

"Go ahead and say it," Sesshoumaru sighed, running a hand through her long, black hair and pulling her close. "I'll never hear the end of it if you don't."

Grinning like the cat who ate the canary, Kagome left the book on top of a shelf and followed him into the bedroom. "A change of habit cannot alter Nature."

- - - - -

The End