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The Diary	By : Tomosaho Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > Sessh?maru/Kagome > Sessh?maru/Kagome Views: 15843 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
I want to first thank everyone who voted for my story, I�m
extremely honored to have received third place in Best Canon.� Thank you!

This might be the last chapter I put up for a while.� I�m going to be moving back to college for my
final year soon, so I�ll be busy getting settled in and working everything
out.� But if it takes me a while, don�t
fret.� I haven�t forgotten this fic, I�m just very busy!

/////////////////////////////////////////

Disarray

If Sesshoumaru would have ever bothered to describe his
taste in women, he would say that it was� adventurous.� During his adolescence he had never been one
to turn down a lovely lady provided she was up to snuff,
and it would seem in his adulthood that old habits were hard to break.� Like all men, he had thought up a list of
things he liked in a woman, but in general most of the items on that list had
been optional.� It didn�t bother him if a
woman wasn�t particularly beautiful, or even pretty for that matter, provided
she was very fashionable or very witty.� All
in all, his tastes were flexible.� But
there had always been one item on the list, the one on the very top, that was always mandatory.�

Sesshoumaru wasn�t afraid to admit that, like most men he
also gravitated towards one aspect of a woman�s body that he felt was most
desirable and lent a woman a very ravishing air about her.� For his father, he knew it had been a petite
body.� Izayoi
had been quite waiflike, and it had been surprising that she had survived the
pregnancy and birth of her son.� Sesshoumaru
for the most part had never been attracted to a woman who was too small,
although like he said he was adventurous.�

But, there was one thing he felt a woman must have, and that was long, black
hair.��

There was no two ways about it, it was simply a must.� A woman must have long black hair that fell
in disarray across the mats as she fell to the floor, hair that was slick,
thick, and lustrous.� Hair that was like
freshly ground ink, that reflected the moonlight and
just faintly held the musk of camellia oil.�
Hair that fell over his hands, his arms, all about
them both as he had his way throughout the night.� It was de rigueur for a sexy woman, and
Sesshoumaru never could take just one
look at long, sable hair. *�

Which of course was why he had never
bothered taking a second look at Kagome�s hair before.� Nothing turned him off faster than short
hair.� It was such a waste, cropping it
high on the back like that, especially when there had been potential in the
color.� She might as well have prematurely
grayed, it was so unattractive.� Besides,
it had been a little wavy, and he was particularly fond of strait hair.� No, nothing about the style she had worn her
hair in previously had been at all to his liking, which had been a plus in his
quest to rid himself of his scandalous thoughts of her.

�She grew it out, he thought desolately as he once more blew
strands of her inky hair away from his face.�
When did she do that?� He didn�t
recall it being that long during the final battle a year ago� although now that
he thought on it, hadn�t her hair been in a bun?� �How long had she been growing it out,
because it must have taken time for it to reach down to� mid thigh?� Really, quite the
acceptable length� unfortunately.�
And the weight of all that thick hair had pulled out the waves and kinks
so that it fell strait in a very alluring way.�
And if he wasn�t mistaken, and he was quite sure he wasn�t, wasn�t that
wafting about him the subtle scent of� camellia oil��

This is not helping, Sesshoumaru thought once again,
growling at his weakness.�

�Hey!� Don�t growl at
me, I didn�t do anything to you!� Now let
me go!� Kidnapper!�
Kagome shouted, once more banging her fist down upon his armor, right over his backside.� He really wished she would stop doing
that.� She was putting a small amount of
her spiritual power into her fist when she hit him, and it reverberated
throughout his body in a rather painful way.�
His armor wasn�t designed to resist holy power,
it was designed to protect him from a demon�s attack.� That was why Kagome�s arrow had destroyed his
armor so easily years ago, the energy locked into the
projectile had been too powerful.� The
fact that she had been able to fire an arrow at him had been a fluke.� He had just been distracted,
normally he could kill a human opponent before they even made a move for their
weapon.� But that was beside the
point.� Right now, her spiritual powers
were going strait through his armor, hitting his body, and he wanted her to
stop.� His ass was starting to sting.

He grabbed her by the back of her kosode
and raised her up before letting her fall back on his shoulder.� She shrieked when she began to fall, and he
winced as he locked onto her again.� In
her new position, it was no longer her torso draped over his shoulder but her
hips.� He had his arm firmly wrapped
around her thighs to keep her in place, but the only way she could support her
head instead of letting it bang into his armor was to raise herself up on her
arms.� Considering the jumping he was
doing at that moment to elude Inuyasha it would be hard for her to support
herself with one arm, so she wouldn�t be inclined to keep hitting him.� Even better, her lovely hair wasn�t getting
into his mouth anymore.� He sighed to
himself for a moment, happy at her stillness before one of her legs raised up
and kicked him, sending a wave of burning spiritual power through a very�
sensitive part of his body.

There�s no winning with this woman!� Here he is, trying to do her
a favor and save her life, all out of the generosity of his own heart no less,
and what�s the thanks he gets?� He
growled again, which only prompted her to start shouting.� He was starting to remember why he tried to
kill her back in his father�s tomb.

After a little more time had passed, Sesshoumaru was quite
sure that he had successfully eluded Inuyasha� for the moment.� Eventually he knew the boy would be on his
trail again.� Ah-Un could always find his
master, and Inuyasha would start following the dragon�s trail sooner or later.� But right now, they were alone and that was
all that mattered.� He could explain to
Kagome properly what the situation was, she would understand the danger she was
in, and she would thank him for his consideration� or else.

When he landed in a clearing, he let go of his hold on her
legs so that she tumbled to the ground behind him.� She fell gracelessly into a heap on the dirt,
making a scandalized sound at such treatment.�
He turned around, fully intent on glaring at her for his scandalized
treatment when he saw the state she was in.�
She was gathering her arrows off of the ground which had become
dislodged from their protective cover when she fell.� All around her, slipping over her shoulders, her
arms, her knees to pool on the ground in complete disarray was her beautiful
raven hair.�

Dammit.�

�What is this all about?� Kagome fumed after collecting her
arrows.� She was holding one of them in
her hand and was using it to gesticulate at him.� �Have you lost your mind?�

Probably.�

�The Shikon no
Tama cannot remain in Edo if it is to remain
safe.� He decided that would be the better answer to her question.� Kagome in turn gave him a startled look,
completely taken surprise by the mention of the jewel.� �There is a powerful demon searching for it,
and the man I was fighting earlier was a creation of this demon.� It had been sent on a mission to search for
�a priestess with a powerful amulet�-�

�The rumors!� She exclaimed to
herself, a light going on in her head as she nodded in understanding.� He gave a mental huff, weren�t those scouts
of Yoin�s supposed to be deflecting the rumors in Edo? �Huh, guess he�s a powerful guy if he can make
something like that� but why do you care?�
The jewel will be safe in Edo.� Inuyasha and I can protect it just fine.�

�Doubtful.� He replied, to which she huffed and glared at
him for the perceived slight against her.�
�Your innate powers would suffice against such an enemy provided they
were distracted, but that is not likely to happen again.� Surely you don�t mean to claim you can move so
quickly?� Inuyasha is not fast enough,
nor does he have the proper discipline.�

�You don�t give him enough credit.� If he was just prepared-�

�He would not be.�

�How do you know that?� She asked angrily. �If he sets his
mind to a task, he won�t get distracted.�
Inuyasha would do everything he could to see it through.�

�That is not what is in question.� Undoubtedly he wants to protect you.� His
ability to do so is what will be inadequate.�

�There you go again!�
He�s not as weak as you make him out to be.� Just because he�s not a full demon-�

�It is precisely because he is not a full demon that he
could not protect you.� She made some sort of sound at him that he could only
describe as a human growl.� He didn�t
know they growled�

She turned around and began to leave, waving her arrow in
the air as she gestured wildly in her ire.�
Sesshoumaru could feel his own rising.�
She was being needlessly difficult.�
Why was it turning out this way, she wasn�t supposed to get this
angry!� Why couldn�t she just listen to
reason?� He huffed before gaining on her to
grab her wrist and spin her around.�

�Are you trying to claim that Inuyasha�s skills and senses
are better than my own?� He asked angrily, letting some of his frustration come
through in his voice.� She stared at him
dumbly, as if she had never heard him get angry before.� Vaguely, in some corner of his mind, he
acknowledged that the last time she saw him angry had been in battle. �That
creature you saw earlier snuck within two feet of me without my knowledge.� Even within such close proximity I could only
faintly smell it, and only when I concentrated.�
More than that, it was faster than I.�
The skills that it possessed are more than Inuyasha�s by far.� Are you trying to claim that he would have
faired admirably against such a foe?� How
do you think he would fair against two of them?� He had pulled her arm up so
that it was raised high above her head.�
She could only stand on the tips of her toes and struggled to balance
herself, all the while he had moved close to her so as to surround her. �Well?�

Kagome struggled to regain her balance, holding onto his
armor to support herself as she glared at him.� One of her legs kicked out at his shin, and
if he had been a human her kick would have been enough to fell him but he was
not to be deterred.� She couldn�t take
him down, and he pushed his demonic aura onto her so as to subdue her.� The air began to sizzle as she fought back, but
he had more experience in these matters.��
It would seem that she still heavily relied upon a conduit for her
powers, and was weaker when lacking one.�
Sesshoumaru soon felt her body relax as she turned her angry eyes away
from him in submission.� He lowered her
so she could stand properly, but he did not release his hold on her.�

�What was he, anyway?�
He didn�t have a demonic aura�� She asked quietly as she stared off to
the side, doing her best to avoid looking at the demon that had captured
her.� If she had been anyone else, he
would have forced her to admit her mistakes and humbly apologize for the error
of her ways, but he was feeling generous.�
At least she was listening to him now.

�He is a familiar.� He replied calmly. �But his method of
creation is not normal.� They are made of
natural elements as opposed to something man-made, and the binding method
between their physical state and their mode of power is unknown.� It may be souls, but I am not sure.� Whatever they are made of, it does not seem
to involve demonic or holy forces of any kind, so they do not give off an overt
aura.� Because their bodies are comprised
of natural elements, they blend easily into the background, and it is�
difficult to detect them.� That familiar
just now smelled no different than a tree.�

�How sneaky.� A voice called from
the darkness, and Sesshoumaru pulled Kagome behind him instinctively as she
reached for her bow.� �Now don�t be that way,
I bear good tidings.� A figure began to emerge from the shadows of the forest,
but it never entered the clearing full of sunlight.�

�Yoin.�
Sesshoumaru growled, letting go of Kagome so that she could move to stand next
to him.� �You are over a month late.�

�Be happy I�m here at all.�
Suhoki is pissed at you, and I think he�s on
to the fact that his private quarters are not so private these days.� He�s upped security big time.� She replied.

�And what have I done to earn his ire?� He questioned,
grabbing hold of Kagome when she slowly started inching away from him.� He felt a wave of satisfaction ripple through
him when the girl growled her frustration.

�That little trap you set for him has him all in a
huff.� Over half of his minions were
scouring the Western lands looking for you and Rin-chan, and not only did you
have the gall to be in the East, but you had the gall to be lying.� He wants you dead by yesterday.� Sesshoumaru
could reciprocate. �But anyway, come into the forest so I can tell you what
I�ve learned.� I can�t stand looking at
all of that happy sunshine.�

�Who is she?� Kagome whispered as he led her towards the
shadowed canopy.� �She surprised you,
too.�

�That is a good thing.�
She is my spy.� He replied, and he watched in fascination as her eyes
became wide with curiosity and surprise.�
Maybe he should add brown eyes to his list�

�Ah, that�s better.� I
swear, I don�t know how you can stand it.� Yoin stated when they had joined her in the shade.� Sesshoumaru looked over to Kagome when he
noticed her moving and saw that she was rubbing her eyes.� It did take some practice to be able to look
at Yoin�s shifting form without getting a headache.

�What did you learn in all of your spare time?� Sesshoumaru
inquired, letting her know that he was still peeved at her tardiness.

�Unfortunately, not as much as the first time around.� She
sighed. �He�s very secretive, and I�ve started to hit a lot more walls.� I have gotten farther along in figuring out
how those familiars are made, but Sesshoumaru-sama,
they are brilliant in their simplicity.�
No excess, nothing that can be exploited.� I can�t figure out a way that you�ll be able
to increase your ability to sense them.� I
still can�t figure out the secret ingredient.�
Looks like you�re just going to have to stay on your guard.�

�Is it souls that power them?� He asked.

�No, it�s their haku, the energy that powers the soul.� She replied.

�But that doesn�t make any sense.� Kagome interjected,
causing them both to look at her in surprise. �When Mouryoumaru
was powered by just haku, he was mindless.� All he could do was take orders from Hakudoshi.� It wasn�t
until he absorbed an actual soul that he became self-aware.� But that familiar seemed cognizant.�

�True.� Yoin replied. �It would
seem that haku alone wouldn�t be enough� but in this
case, it is.� I�m thinking Suhoki� err, the mastermind behind all of this, did
something special to it.� I don�t know
why he would go to that sort of trouble, but I�m guessing that he didn�t want
his minions to be uppity.� Isn�t that the
problem Naraku had with his servants?� The two nodded in response.�

�That may be why they react so violently in death.� I want you to look into that the next time
you return.� Sesshoumaru ordered. �We may be able to use that to our
advantage.�

�If I can get back there and then back to you�� Yoin muttered.� �I
only have a small window in which I can come to this world and get back to his
without him noticing.� It�s during a
change of guard.� I�m going to have to
leave in a few minutes or someone might notice me.�

�Eh, worlds?� Kagome asked in
confusion.

�Suhoki has cloistered himself
away in another world so that his enemies can�t get to him.� I�ve found the passageway to his world, but
because I can let go of my substance it�s easy for me to traverse the
passage.� I don�t think people like
Sesshoumaru and you can do it without a lot of spell-work.� But Suhoki has a
lot of barriers and traps set for anyone trying to do that, so it would be quite
difficult to get even one of you there, let alone a small force.� Besides, all that spell-work isn�t exactly
subtle.�

�Traversing worlds� how nice.�
Kagome muttered to herself, and Sesshoumaru suddenly felt a pang at her
sadness.� It really was a bit cruel to
flaunt Yoin�s abilities right in front of Kagome.

�Have you learned how we may lure him out of his fortress?�
Sesshoumaru asked.

�Sort of.� I�m betting he�ll come out for the Shikon no Tama, but that�s not exactly the safest
bait.� Isn�t the whole point to keep it
from him?� And he wouldn�t come alone
either.� He only has a handful or two of
his familiars here, maybe twenty at the most, but he has loads of them in his
fortress as his personal guard.� They�d
come with him when he comes here.� You
need to get him cornered, and I�m still working on that.� What you can do though is research a couple
ascetics I�ve heard of here that might be able to help with understanding the
passageway.� I know of one to the north
in the province of Mutsu, near the city of Kozukata.�

�Where?� Kagome asked in confusion.

�Near Mount Iwate.�
Sesshoumaru supplied.� �The Kitakami
River runs right through
it.�

�Oh, you mean Morioka
city�� Kagome muttered, causing Sesshoumaru to wonder
at the passage of time between her era and his own, as Yoin
just stared at them like they were fools.

��Yes� I believe he lives on Mount Iwate,
so you should go there.� He might be able
to help.� She stated.� Sesshoumaru
grimaced at that.� They might have to
cross through the eastern lands, which were currently embroiled in a civil war,
and then make their way into the highly volcanic northern lands which was
nothing but a small mishmash of small demonic provinces.� There were many factions there that were of
equal strength, and Sesshoumaru did not want to get involved with them.��

�And what of his world, what have you learned?� Sesshoumaru
asked, putting his mind back on the current task at hand.

�His world is strange.�
It feels strange, and I don�t
know if I like it or not.� Everything
about it is more potent.� It�s hard to
describe, it�s just everything has� more.�
More of what makes this and that this
and that.� It�s� hard to deal with at
times.� The shadows there can be very
consuming, and the sunlight very blinding.�
Even the air is too much at times.�

�How strange.� Kagome muttered.
�Hmmm� maybe that has to do with how he makes these familiars, the different
setting and its potency.�

�That could play a role, I�ll have
to look into it.� I�m still just trying
to find out where he is, but I think
I�m getting close.� I just need a few
more leads and I�m sure I�ll have it.� She cocked her head to side after that,
as if listening or thinking, and sighed. �I have to go back.�

�It was nice meeting you.� Kagome stated politely, somehow
managing a proper bow despite Sesshoumaru�s hold on her. Sesshoumaru wondered
why she couldn�t have been so polite with him.�
The fact that he had kidnapped her was completely ignored as he huffed
indignantly.� Yoin
went through pleasantries as quickly as possible, cooing affectionately over
Kagome the way she would over her own grandchildren.

�I didn�t know you would be so cute.� She sighed.� Yoin then gave a
sidelong glance at Sesshoumaru before smiling evilly.� �And my, how beautiful your long black hair
is!�

She was losing a limb, she could still serve him with only
one arm, Sesshoumaru thought angrily as his poison filled the air.�

�Don�t do that when you�re still holding me!� Kagome
screamed in fear as the elegant perfume of his acid surrounded her.� Sesshoumaru let go of her, and she jumped
away from him to examine her arm for injuries.�
Yoin cackled in the background as she merged
into the shadows, no doubt making her way into the passageway between worlds.

�You were never in any danger, the
poison I released was not strong enough to dissolve flesh.� It was merely a warning.� She didn�t honestly
think he was going to hurt her that badly after spending two months trying to
find her, did she?�

�Then what was the warning for?� She hissed, still checking
her arm surreptitiously.�

Dammit, Sesshoumaru thought.� What was the best lie?��

��She was dallying.� That was terrible, Sesshoumaru
thought.� His father was right, he failed
at lying.�

�Huh� okay.� She replied, still a little confused.� �But don�t do that again!� You nearly gave me a heart attack.�

�Surely my poison does not strike that much fear in your heart?�
Naraku�s miasma was more painful, yet you did
not fear it in battle.� Sesshoumaru�s poison was quite fast-acting, much more
so than Naraku�s weak miasma, so the level of pain it
could inflict on a human was minimal.� They
just dissolved too quickly. ��

�Yeah, I know that.�
But I was never blanketed in Naraku�s miasma,
was I?� Thanks to that little incident, I
can�t stand wisterias anymore.� She then glared at him. �I blame you for taking
away some of my springtime cheer.�

�Duly noted.� He replied dryly, to
which she grimaced at him.� With her
sweet features though, it looked quite a bit like pouting to Sesshoumaru and he
had to resist the urge to laugh.� Kagome
then let her frown leave her face and sighed in exhaustion, running her hand
through her hair.� Sesshoumaru wondered
if she had seen through his lie and was torturing him.

�Gah, it�s too hot,� Sesshoumaru
agreed. �I�m tired of this fighting.� And
I�m already tired of this Suhoki.� It�s going to take a lot of work to defeat
him.� Ugh, I didn�t get a long enough
recovery from all of the work it took to defeat Naraku� And hey, why is it that
your spy, Yoin-sama, is able to get all of this
information on Suhoki but she didn�t do all of this
for Naraku?� It seems like spying on Suhoki would involve much more work.�

�Because I did not call for her to spy
upon Naraku.�

�Why not? �Considering how good she is, you probably
could have routed Naraku out in less than a year.�

�Probably in less time than that.� But Naraku was not nearly worth Yoin�s outrageous cost.� He scoffed,
still mad at how she always managed to take a sizeable chunk out of his
coiffures.�

�Wow, this Suhoki must be really
important to you.� She exclaimed, her eyes wide.�

�No, Suhoki is not worth the cost
either.� He stated, but then instantly regretted it.� That didn�t sound right.� Maybe she didn�t notice�

�Well, then who is
worth the cost?� She asked, and Sesshoumaru cursed in his mind.� He didn�t want to answer that question,
neither to her or himself.� The demon
lord chose to ignore it.

�We should leave now if we are to travel a decent distance
by the end of day.� He stated, grabbing a hold of her and turning in a
northerly direction.� That felt like a
great change of topic to Sesshoumaru.� It
led back to matters at hand.

�Wait, what!� No way, I�m not going anywhere.� Kagome stated
as she tried to extricate herself from his hold. �But thank you so much for
warning me, and for going to the north to talk with that ascetic.� I�m very grateful.� I�m just going to head back to the village
now� �Crap!� Kagome cursed as she was once more slung over his shoulder. ��Stop doing that!� I don�t want to go!�

�I don�t care.�

�Why are my wishes never important?� She screamed to
herself, secretly wondering if all the men in Sesshoumaru�s family were jerks.
�And we can�t just leave!� I have
responsibilities in the village, and there isn�t anyone who could replace me
right on the spot.� What if something
happened to them, and I wasn�t there to help?�
It would be disastrous.� I just can�t
leave them without warning.� Besides, I
don�t even have anything for a journey to the North.� I�m bare bones here.� No food, no water, no extra arrows, my sword
is back there, too, along with extra clothing and sleeping supp-�

�Fine.�
Sesshoumaru ground out.� He forgot how
much women could talk and talk� and talk.
He was starting to wonder what he had signed up for, and he wasn�t at all
looking forward to traveling through the northern mountains with that mouth of
hers in constant motion.� He turned back
to the village and began trekking back at a quick speed.� He wondered if Ah-Un would be confused,
although the beast had an uncanny ability to foresee Sesshoumaru�s
movements.� He might very well have
turned to the village instead of making chase.�
�You will have one hour.�

�To do what?�

�To gather your supplies.�

�But I�m not going!�

�Lying is unbecoming of a woman.� He replied, to which she
groaned and began hitting him again.� Sesshoumaru
had the vague sensation of traveling in circles.

�And just how long is this kidnapping going to take,
anyway?� She ground out as he made good speed for the village.� She had stopped hitting him, and it seemed
she may be on the way to accepting her fate.

�One to three months perhaps� one way.� He replied, thinking
of the time it would take to get to Kozukata, and
which path they should take.� The quickest
and easiest path would be to follow the eastern coast line before moving west
through valleys towards the Kitakami river.� Such a path would only take a month at the
very most.� But that involved going
through many of the most dangerous areas of the Eastern lands where the sons
and brothers of the late Eastern lord were currently embroiled in warfare.� The Kanto region was too far south within the
larger Eastern lands to attract much notice, but farther north Sesshoumaru�s
presence would certainly attract the attention of one if not all of the eastern
lords.� The safer plan would be to head
in a northwestern direction following the great Tone River
towards the western coast line.� It would
take them back into Sesshoumaru�s lands for some time before sneaking into the
Northern lands.� Sesshoumaru�s land also
bordered the most passive of the Northern demonic factions, so they would
attract much less notice there.� But that
plan involved many more mountains� Sesshoumaru wondered how many mountain
ranges he was willing to cross just for this woman.

�That�s too long!� I
can�t stay away for such a long period of time.� She stated. �They�re going to
be so mad.� I�m going to hear so many
complaints.�

�They can bring their complaints to me.� He stated, to which
he could feel Kagome shuddering in fear.�
Good, no complaints then.� A short
while later, Sesshoumaru entered into the field Kagome had specified as her
home, and he saw next to her hut the remnants of the well.� Construction looked to be going at a snail�s
pace, and he wondered how she could stand looking at it everyday.� It must be a cruel taunt to her.�

�Inuyasha hasn�t returned�� She muttered sadly.� No doubt she wanted to talk to him before she
was whisked away, but Sesshoumaru had snuck by Inuyasha a while ago as the boy
continued to search blindly for her.� The
wind had been in Sesshoumaru�s favor during their chase and with his keener
tracking abilities, the demon had been able to lay many fake leads to waylay
the boy.� It would take several hours for
him to get through them all.�

�Sesshoumaru-sama!� Kagome-sama!�
A voice called out, and the two turned to see Rin riding upon Ah-Un as the
dragon lumbered towards them. ��Sesshoumaru�s hunch had been right, and Ah-Un
had been able to predict Sesshoumaru�s movements even before the demon lord had
been aware of them.� It was disturbing to
know that such a simple creature understood him so well.

�An hour.� Sesshoumaru stated as he
sat himself in the shade cast by Kagome�s hut.�
She fumed at him before storming into her home and packing up the things
she would need.�

�Sesshoumaru-sama, what�s going to
happen in an hour?� Rin asked, looking through the doorway to see items flying
across the room in wild trajectories.�

�We will be leaving for another journey.� He stated. ��With
Kagome in tow.�� Rin gasped in surprise,
a smile forming on her face.� Sesshoumaru
didn�t really know what the girl thought of Kagome, they had only met a few
times in the last few years.� Her opinion
couldn�t honestly have been more developed than Sesshoumaru�s, but nonetheless
the girl seemed ecstatic at the idea of traveling with the priestess.�

�Is that why we traveled for so long, just to meet Kagome-sama?� Rin asked� far too loudly.� He looked over at the doorway, wondering if
Kagome had heard, before motioning for Rin to move closer to him.

�Shouting is not ladylike.� He stated to which she blushed
and muttered, completely forgetting the topic of her question.� A sack was soon dropped outside of the door,
the first of the bags Kagome would be bringing with her for such a long
journey.� Sesshoumaru looked through it,
to find that it was full of non-perishable food items like millet, beans,
pasta, spices, bottles of water, and tea leaves, along with some articles of
clothing.� All of the clothing she had
packed was in the style of a priestess, and that bothered Sesshoumaru.� He wanted to be elusive as he traveled, to be
as subtle as possible.� This was already
somewhat difficult for him whenever he ventured outside of his lands, but it
would be even harder to stay unnoticed with a priestess in tow.�

�Hey!� Don�t look
through my things.� Kagome stated as she put another bag down. �And I had it
all carefully packed, too, and you ruined it!�
Men!� She groaned as she set to the task of
refolding everything and putting it all in proper order.� Sesshoumaru in turn ignored her and went
through her next bag to find it was full of medical supplies and bathing
implements, including a little bottle of camellia oil. That seemed in order, so
he set it aside as he reached into her re-packed bag and pulled out her spare
clothing. �Stop doing that!�

�When you go into the village, find the village head or
someone of high status and borrow proper clothing from them.� He commanded as
Kagome began to repack her second bag as well.

�What do you mean, proper clothing?� The clothing I�m wearing is fine.� She
retorted, huffing over her state of affairs.�

�Do not dress as a priestess.� It will attract too much attention.� He
stated, giving the best reason he had.�
The fact that he also wanted to see her in something sexier than
priestess garb was not acknowledged.

�I attract too
much attention?� She retorted, giving his flashy attire a one-over.� Sesshoumaru replied with a glare, and Kagome
sighed in defeat.� �Fine, what do you
want me to wear, something like Rin-chan�s
clothing?�� He nodded in affirmation, and
Kagome looked over at Rin, her eyes softening as she gazed at the young woman.

�You know, I didn�t recognize her at first.� She�s so different from the last time I saw
her.� She really has grown up.� There was
a wistful expression on her face, and Sesshoumaru wondered if he had been
sporting that look for the last two months as he thought of his young
ward.� �She was so cute when she was a
little girl, but she�s become such a lovely young lady now, it�s
startling.� Still, I miss the child
Rin-chan�� Kagome then stood and stretched before making her way towards the
village.� �I don�t know if they�ll have
anything quite as nice as Rin-chan�s clothing, but
I�ll see what I can do.�

�Why are you suddenly so cooperative?� He asked, suspicious
of her.� She was so feisty just a few
hours ago.

�Because I can�t beat you no matter what I try to do.� I can�t convince you to do anything other
than what you want to do, and I certainly couldn�t beat you in a fight.� I learned long ago not to fight these sorts
of things.� Sesshoumaru presumed she was speaking of her previous kidnappings,
and felt his anger rising at how easy it had been to capture her.� �And we both have the same goals in mind, so
it�s easier to just go with the flow.� So
there�s no point in arguing anymore.� Besides,
Inuyasha will be here soon.�

�And you really think he�s capable of rescuing you from me?�
Sesshoumaru spit out, insulted at such an inference.�

�Ehhh� he�ll do something although
I don�t know if it�ll work.� She replied with uncertainty before laughing.
�He�d definitely do something, although I have no clue what he could do.� Probably something
outrageous.��

�As per usual.� Kagome laughed
again before heading into the village to see what she could scrounge up.� Sesshoumaru stretched his senses out to the
maximum as she left, searching for Inuyasha�s diluted demonic aura.� It was faint, barely touching on the
periphery of his senses, meaning that the boy was still searching in entirely
the wrong direction.� The village was
absent of even a faint aura of any kind, even within the shrine, which
Sesshoumaru took to mean the shrine was completely absent of a spiritual guide
and thus a purpose.� There was no demonic
aura, so Sesshoumaru could only guess that the fire cat and fox demon that had
been part of her group before were no longer a part of Kagome�s life.� It was just Kagome and Inuyasha, or at least
it had been before Sesshoumaru threw her life into disarray.��

The shadow he had been sitting in was getting smaller as the
sun moved towards high noon, and Sesshoumaru cursed the heat.� Like most people, he was more tolerant of
cold weather than hot, and like most people he felt that summer was the most
miserable time of year.� A small breeze
that smelled just faintly of the sea blew through his hair, and Sesshoumaru
longed for his cool Western homeland. **�

Screams began to fill the air in the distance and
Sesshoumaru stood as he listened to the sound.�
There was the sound of running, and the villagers were screaming about a
demon.� Sesshoumaru cursed, wondering
what was happening now.� He rushed
towards the village, wondering what had happened to his once peaceful existence.
��

///////////////////////////////////////

Plot- Tomosaho, that was clearly how all
great romances should start, with a good spanking a kick to the balls.

Author- You know what they say, to
hit is to care, to scold is to love.

� �.And the romance begins? ... �

*I wasn�t blowing smoke or being individual by giving
Sesshoumaru a preference for black hair, I was making
him a man of classic Japanese taste at the time.� When most people think of what was considered
the most beautiful and ravishing part of a woman�s body in old Japan they think of the neck� which is true
latter on in Japan.� The nape of the neck will eventually become
what is considered the most erotic part of a woman�s body around the late 1600s
and onwards until Western fashion consumes the Japanese market in the 20^th
century, but the preference for the neck only came about because hairstyles
changed.� During the Edo
period, swept-up hair became a requirement for women in most of the classes,
and the neck came into focus as a result of that.� Before that time, only courtesans wore their
hair up in imitation of Chinese Ming Era styles, and as such the neck was usually
hidden.� So, from the Heian
period to the early-mid Edo period, the most
erotic part of a woman�s body was not her neck but her long hair.� A woman�s hair was her crown and glory, and
it used to be that a crime equal to death for a woman was to have all of her
hair shorn off.� A woman would only willingly
shave her hair off when she joined a Buddhist nunnery, retiring from the world
(�and metaphorically dying?).� In the Heian Period, a woman�s hair was most beautiful when it was
longer than the length of her body and trailed behind her as she walked, but in
the practical military-minded Muromachi period, a
woman�s hair was ideal when it ended somewhere in the leg region.� And hair, of course, had to be black.� The best description of this taste I�ve read
so far was written by Liza Dalby
in her memoir East Wind Melts the Ice-

�A thousand years ago, in Murasaki�s
day, only black was beautiful.� Black
hair, kurokami,
black as a raven�s wing, black as a leopard lily seed, so black it reflected
green- a woman�s long black hair, sleek and straight, without kink, wave, or
hint of brown, was the most erotic aspect of the feminine form.� Forget napes, nipples, ankles, legs, or
d�colletage- even an ugly face could be overlooked provided the hair was long,
thick, and black.� Black hair in disarray
(kurokami no midare)
was the most sensual image of passion.� (Dalby 71) ��

Camellia oil has been a hair product in Japan for about
a thousand years, and is still popular enough to make it onto the shelves in
most Japanese convenience stores.� It is
used to add shine, encourage growth, is healthy for the scalp, and gives great
conditioning for the hair.� I use it on
my own black tresses, and I have to say it gives incredible shine.� Camellia oil is generally scentless, but if
you try hard enough you can pick up a faintly musky scent.�

** In Japanese aesthetics, the two best times of year are spring
and fall while summer and winter are considered climatically the worst times of
year.� This is understandable, as many
cities in Japan
are within basins between the mountains and air there doesn�t move as
easily.� Kyoto
is perhaps the best example of this, and in the Kyoto Basin
cold wet air is trapped in winter which is bone-chillingly cold and in summer hot wet air is trapped to
make for exhaustingly hot and humid weather.�
Between the two worse times of year, summer is considered worse than
winter, and traditional houses are designed with this in mind.� The open layout of a Japanese house, with its
easily removed shoji doors to promote breezes and the floor-level lifestyle
where cool air settles all helps alleviate the heat, but it actually worsens
the cold in winter.� Being cold is just
something everyone has to go through, and secretly I think Japanese people feel
being cold in winter is good for the soul.�
This general feeling is why few homes, including brand new Western style
homes, have central heating in Japan,
instead relying on spot heating units, kotatsu, and
heated toilets (which are so
necessary when the surrounding air is 0˚C).� In response, there are few homes that don�t
have air conditioning.�
- 11
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