InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Chimera ❯ Dreaming... ( Chapter 1 )

Dreaming…

Kagome awoke to a meadow covered in flowers. Butterflies fluttered around her and one landed on her nose, causing her to giggle. When it fluttered off, the girl noticed someone walking toward her. It was a very tall boy with long silver hair and really golden eyes. He had a blue crescent moon on his forehead and two magenta stripes on each cheek. What really made Kagome notice him, however, was not his pointed ears, deadly claws, or even his strange outfit. It was his white fluffy tail twitching on his shoulder.

"Can I have a tail, too?" Was the first thing she could think of to ask the boy.

His eyebrows lifted for a moment and a corner of his lips rose slightly. "I do not think it is normal for a human to have a tail."

Kagome's face fell. "Oh. Can I touch yours?"

Again, the boy looked almost amused. "Do you know who I am?"

She shook her head. "No, but you're nice. Do you know who I am?"

He sat down cross legged in front of her. "Iie. I am not nice and I do not know who you are. Why are you invading my dream, human-child?"

Kagome giggled. "I think you're nice. My name is Higurashi Kagome. What's yours?"

"Sesshoumaru. I am a vicious taiyoukai who will one day rule the Western Lands." He sniffed at her. "And I do not like humans."

Once again, the little girl laughed and then handed the strange boy a flower. "Your name is Sesshou? What is a taiyoukai? Does that mean you will be the king of the entire west?"

Sesshoumaru looked disdainfully at the white flower before flicking it away. He looked back at the weird human child who had trespassed in his dream. The only reason he hadn't killed her yet is, well, for one thing it was a dream; another, she smelled nice; and though he refused to admit it, she did look kinda kawaii with a butterfly on her nose. Sigh, he hated his weakness for children.

"My name is Sesshoumaru. A taiyoukai is a very powerful youkai. Hai, although we don't use the term `king,' I suppose you could say I am the prince of the entire west."

The human child looked awed. Rightfully so, he thought.

"May I see your tail?"

He glanced at her sharply and rolled his eyes at her sweet smile. Groaning inwardly, he allowed his tail to come off of his shoulder and the girl to examine it. It flicked her hair as it set in her lap and she laughed again. Sesshoumaru, despite himself, found that he liked the sound of her bell like laugh. Cautiously, she began petting his tail and he jerked straight up. Grabbing her wrist, he stopped the stroking.

"I do not like it when someone touches my tail, human-child."

Kagome frowned at him. "Gomen, I didn't know." She snatched back her hand. "My name is Kagome, not human-child. Do you want me to call you youkai-boy?"

Sesshoumaru growled at her and was surprised when she smiled at him. "That's neat. Whenever I try to growl, I sound like I'm gurgling water."

He stopped and looked at her. She was really unusual, that was certain. He poked her shoulder. "How old are you?"

Kagome held up five fingers. "I'm five years old. How old are you?"

"Fifty."

She scratched her head. "How old are you in human years?"

Looking at her sideways, he studied her face a moment. Clearly, there were a scant few humans out there with the ability to grasp intellectual ideas. Apparently, this girl was one of them.

He held up ten claws. "Ten years old. What strange clothes are you wearing?"

Kagome looked down. She was wearing a comfortable set of cotton pajamas. Little white dogs were printed all over the pants and the button up shirt.

"This is my pajamas. I sleep in them. I think what you are wearing is weird."

"It is a sleeping kimono. This is what I sleep in."

She shrugged and caught a grasshopper in her hand. Smiling, she held her hand out to Sesshoumaru to show him the insect.

"Look, Sesshou. It's a grasshopper. Blow on it and you'll have good luck."

The taiyoukai eyed the insect for a moment and watched as it shifted from one foot to the other. Sighing, he leaned forward and blew on the bug. Startled, the bug leapt up and landed on Kagome's face. She shrieked and fell back, brushing at the dodging bug the entire time. Sesshoumaru jumped up and detached the insect, letting it go. Kagome sat up and, to his horror, hugged him.

"Arigato, Sesshou!"

He cringed and gingerly patted her on the back. She released him and he quickly scrambled away from her.

"Did you know that I drowned today?"

Sesshoumaru looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "You couldn't have drowned. You have to still be alive in order for you to be in my dream."

Kagome smiled. "I did drown, but something brought me back. One minute I was looking up at the sun under the water, and the next I was all warm. Someone asked me if I wanted them to save me, I said yes. They pushed me out of the water."

He scratched one of his ears. "My father gave me a sword today."

"Why did he give you a sword?"

"Because I learned how to transform without killing anyone. It's called the Tenseiga. Father said that one day he'll tell me what the real power behind the sword is. Until then, I must train with it like it's an ordinary katana."

Kagome rolled onto her stomach and kicked her feet in the air. "What are you training for?"

"To become the Taiyoukai of the Western Lands. I must be strong to defend my land and my people."

"That's really neat. I bet you're already really strong. What do you change into?"

"An inu youkai."

The little girl blew the fuzzy seeds off of a dandelion. "Can I see you change?"

He stared at her a moment before shrugging and standing up. "Step back."

Kagome stood as well and scurried a distance away. Sesshoumaru's eyes turned red and a bright light surrounded him. When the light was gone, a dog taller than Kagome stood in his place. The girl grinned and walked over to him.

"You're really pretty when you change, Sesshou. You even keep your moon and stripes."

The dog rolled his eyes and changed back into his humanoid form. "You are a strange human."

She giggled. "Well, I am training to be a miko in our family's shrine. Maybe that's why."

Sesshoumaru started and leveled an intense gaze on her. "You do realize that youkai and miko traditionally don't get along, don't you? Isn't there a rule saying you have to try to purify me now?"

Kagome fell over laughing. "You are so funny, Sesshou! It's true our two races don't usually get along, but that's because nobody ever tries to be nice. Sure, if you were a mean youkai, I'd try to zap you, but you're not."

The prince shook his head. This dream got weirder and weirder. "Can you do anything with your miko abilities?"

The little girl's head dropped down and her hair hid her eyes as she suddenly got very solemn. "I'm not supposed to use my powers. Ji-chan, Momma, and Daddy won't let me."

A regal eyebrow rose in question. "Why don't they want you to use your powers?"

She scratched an itch on her arm and looked at a suddenly fascinating ant crawling up a blade of grass. "Because my powers are wrong. I'm not supposed to be able to do some of the things I can do." She sniffled and rubbed her nose. "At school, the other kids make fun of me because one day I fell down and scratched my knee. When I cried, the tears fell to the ground and made flowers. They say I'm a freak."

Sesshoumaru was now thoroughly confused. The other humans in her life were shunning her because she was powerful? It just proved his theories on the stupidity of the Homo sapiens. "They are wrong to suppress your powers. If you don't learn to control them, you could hurt yourself or someone else on accident. Your powers are not wrong."

"That's what I thought, so I practice at night using my powers. It is difficult to grasp the Taikou fire."

"Taikou fire?"

She nodded and stood up. About a hundred yards in front of them was a large tree. Kagome cupped her right hand as her brow took on a look of deep concentration. Slowly, a pink ball of energy appeared in her cupped hand. She opened her blue/grey eyes and threw the ball at the tree. Sparkling pink energy whipped around the tree, forming a shimmering pink web. There was an absence of sound and then the tree exploded in a pink blaze. Kagome flopped back down.

Sesshoumaru was intrigued. He'd never seen a human that powerful, let alone a human-child. If she continued to practice, her power would rival what his would eventually become. Suddenly, the meadow began to flicker and the bright colors began to fade. Kagome turned and grinned at him.

"I think I'm waking up, Sesshou."

"Hai. Perhaps we'll meet again, miko."

She smiled a sweet smile before disappearing in a `poof.' Sesshoumaru looked at the decimated tree before shaking his head and waking up as well.

Fast Forward Seven Years

A now twelve year old Kagome jumped into bed and snuggled down. She had so much to tell Sesshou tonight that she could hardly make herself sleep. She'd dreamed about him every night since she was five and had decided that it didn't matter if he didn't really exist; he was her best friend. Slowly, she nodded off and went to sleep.

Kagome awoke inside a large ball room. The ceiling was elevated a good twelve feet and the hardwood floor shined under her. Spinning around, she took in all of the elaborate carvings and paintings in the room. A huddled figure in the corner caught her eye. Sesshou had his knees bent, with his arms crossed on them and his head buried in his arms. He was sobbing quietly. Kagome was shocked. Sesshou never showed a great deal of emotions. He felt them, she knew, but he never outwardly expressed them. Hastily, she ran to him and put her arm around his shaking shoulders.

"Sesshou? What happened?"

Sesshoumaru looked up and found the one person he could tolerate at the moment gazing at him in concern. He closed his eyes and leaned on her, trying to get a hold on his runaway emotions. Distantly, he felt her stroking his hair and murmuring comforting things in his ear. Slowly, his tears stopped.

"She's dead, Kagome."

"Who?"

"My mother. My mother is dead."

He heard her gasp softly and clutch him tighter. She was the only person, besides his mother, allowed to do that-touch him in such a familiar way. But now his mother was gone and Kagome was the only person he had left. It didn't matter if she was a dream he made up, she was a wonderful dream, and he needed her now more than ever.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, but then again, maybe I should."

"Whatever you want. I'll listen quietly, I promise."

Sesshoumaru took a ragged breath. "I hate him, my father." Kagome's hair stroking started up again, comforting and supporting him. "My father was mated to my mother. She was a prestigious inu youkai from the north. Her family was almost royalty and was ecstatic when Father chose her. She loved him enough to move from her homeland all the way to the west. Soon after, I was born. Mother said that when I turned six, in human years, Father stopped coming to her. At night, I mean."

Kagome blushed, but urged him to continue.

"Father began treating her politely, but not affectionately. She didn't discover why until a few months ago. Father had developed an appetite for human women. He'd taken one in particular to be his mistress. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a hanyou, my half brother. Mother discovered that the Hanyou is fifteen, in human years."

"Your father had been sleeping with another woman that long? Your mother must have been devastated."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "She left, but she was attacked and killed. Father should have been there, should have felt her danger through the lifebond."

"He was with the other woman, wasn't he?"

Again, the youkai nodded. "Hai. She was killed this morning. Father buried her and after the burial, he moved his mistress and her son into our house. He would have put her in Mother's room, but I threw a tantrum. He ended up putting her across the hall from his room."

"Kami, Sesshou. What did the mistress say? How did she act?"

His grip on her arm tightened. "She hung on Father like a drape. After he left the room, she even propositioned me. I told the hanyou to keep his mother under control or I would do it for him. I rather think he hates me."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I'll never call him `Father' again. My father is dead with my mother. He will simply be `Lord Inutaisho' from now on. Perhaps I should ask to be sent away. I could train with my mother's brother in the north."

"I'm so sorry, Sesshou. I know what it feels like to lose a parent."

Sesshoumaru looked up at her from his position snuggled into the crook of her neck. "Both of your parents are still alive."

She shook her head. "Iie. My father died three years ago. I was devastated."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Kagome looked away. "It hurt too much to talk about it. I wanted to act normal here because everyone walked on eggshells around me in the real world. I just wanted to have somebody treat me normal. At the funeral, I caused quite a scene."

Sesshoumaru snorted and sat up. "What did you do?"

"I, um, well; my family already thought I was losing it because at the hospital, I saw my dad's rei leave his body. It was this small white komo that just rose up from his chest. I freaked out and started yelling at everyone to help me put it back in. No one would listen to me. At the funeral, I did the whole crying flower growing tears thing, scaring people. Then pink lightening started happening and the next thing I remember, my aunt grabs me slaps me. Apparently, I was frying the people who tried to take me away from my dad. I stopped getting a lot of birthday presents because of that incident."

The taiyoukai smiled slightly. The two friends sat beside each other a long time, just taking comfort in each other's nearness. An idea came to Kagome suddenly.

"Oi, Sesshou?"

"Hai?"

"How come in my dreams, you age just like I do? I mean, you're a youkai; shouldn't you age much slower than that?"

He looked startled for a moment. "I never thought about it."

Kagome bounced a rubber bouncy ball as she tried to think. That was the good thing about dreams-if you wanted a bouncy ball, it magically appeared in your hands.

"And shouldn't you be having a lot more dreams than I have? If you sleep more than I do, then I couldn't be in your dreams every night. You do meet me every night, don't you?"

"Hai, I have since I was ten. Perhaps, somehow, the time where I am is passing faster than where you are. It isn't impossible. There are many spells that alter time. The question would be why, though. Time wouldn't just alter itself to allow us to age at seemingly the same rate."

Kagome shook her head and threw the ball across the ballroom. They both watched as it ricocheted off the walls.

"We'll probably never know. I guess it's like the same thing that keeps us from telling where we live to each other. You think you're dreaming me, and I think I'm dreaming you. No matter what, if I'm dreaming you, I would want you to deny that I was and vice versa. Therefore, there is no way we can find out if the other is real unless we meet in real life. Apparently, this censorship of our conversations either wants to preserve the idea in my mind that there is a possibility, slim as it is, that you could be real; or it will let us really meet sometime."

Sesshoumaru erupted into laughter. Only Kagome could do this to him. Only this insane ningen could make him go from heart wrenching tears to insane laughter in one conversation. This is what he sought after his atrocious day-Kagome. She was the one person who could make his troubles bearable.

"Nani?" She asked, confused.

He looked at her. "You have the most bizarre way of thinking. You're right, though. I won't believe you're real until I see you in real life."

Kagome smiled and caught the bouncy ball when it rolled back. "Sesshou?"

"Nani?"

"What would you do if I stopped coming?"

His head whipped around to look at her. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

She shook her head. "No. I just wonder sometimes how long we'll be able to do this. You're my best friend."

Sesshoumaru's face softened slightly. "I don't know what I'd do. You're my only friend."

Kagome smiled a sad smile and crawled into his lap. Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her and held her until she said what she was thinking.

"You're the only person who doesn't think I'm a freak, Sesshou. Nobody says anything, but I know by the way they look at me that they're scared of me. I know my mom and Ji-chan and Sota aren't afraid, but they don't know what to do with me. If you leave, I'll be by myself again."

He nuzzled her hair and rested his forehead against hers. "Promise me something."

"Nani?" She asked quietly.

"Promise me that if we do get separated, you'll try to come back. Promise you'll look for me."

Kagome opened her eyes and gazed into his golden orbs. Sesshoumaru cupped the side of her face. "I promise I'll search for you as well. You're the only person who gives a damn about me, Kagome."

The miko's thoughts were awhirl. Sesshoumaru had never been this intimate with her before. Sure, it wasn't a boyfriend/girlfriend kind of thing, but it was close. It was something like two people who cared about each other an awful lot would share. Her friend wasn't emotional, but apparently-like everything else he did-when he set his mind to showing emotions, he was very intense and incredibly good at it.

She swallowed. "I-I promise, Sesshou. Somehow we'll find each other. We'll always be friends."

Sesshoumaru wasn't exactly sure why he needed to hear her promise, but his mind was eased when he had it. He didn't know what it was about the ningen in his lap that made him act so differently. By some means he couldn't fathom, he had come to care a great deal about the young miko. Sometimes she was the only thing keeping him sane. Regardless of her realism, she was his oasis in the storm life forced him to exist in.

His thoughts were derailed when Kagome kissed the tip of his nose and fastened something around his wrist. Looking down, he found she had put a golden bracelet on him. Sesshoumaru looked back at her and quirked an eyebrow in question.

"It-um-it's made from my taikou energy. It will help bind you to me if you wear it. You don't have to if you don't want to."

Kagome fidgeted when he put her off of his lap. Maybe he didn't like the gift? But he reached into his mouth and with a jerk, removed one of his pearly fangs. She watched as he licked away the blood. Slowly, he cupped his hands around the fang and chanted something under his breath. A green glow came from his hands, and when he was done, a small ring lay in his palms. Gently, he took her right hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger. When she looked back up at him, he smiled. Kagome noticed with some astonishment that another fang had already grown in place of the removed one.

"This ring shall bind you to me. Our friendship is now sealed."

"Did you want a ring instead of a bracelet?"

Sesshoumaru looked at her in amusement before shaking his head. "You kill me, Kagome."

Kagome's brows knitted together.

The taiyoukai chuckled and assured her the bracelet was perfectly acceptable. Swifter than lightening, he saw her reach over and wave her hand above the bracelet. When he looked down, it was gone and in place was a ring. He laughed mentally and looked at her.

"I just realized that a bracelet wasn't practical when you're fighting all the time, like you do. It could get ripped off much easier than a ring."

She poked him in the shoulder. "Don't go giving it to any of your girlfriends, either."

Sesshoumaru grinned. "Not even the ones who beg? They find the most interesting ways to beg. Why one time, I walked into my room and there was this neko youkai…"

He shut up when Kagome slapped her hand across his mouth. "I really don't need to know that. No, I don't care how much or in what way they beg, the ring will disappear if you take it off. Only you can take it off."

Chuckling, he removed her hand from his mouth. Sighing in mock defeat, he said, "Fine, I'll be mean and deny my admirers' request for the lovely circlet." He stroked his chin a moment and then tugged on the end of her hair gently. "And you, miko, better not give your ring to any of your boyfriends. I won't be held responsible for what happens to them if they put it on."

Kagome pinched him, but not hard. "You know very well, mister, that I don't have a boyfriend."

Sesshoumaru looked at her as she plucked a brush out of the air. She moved around behind him and he allowed her to brush out his long hair. He had only been joking, but it was a thoughtless comment he now realized. He sometimes forgot how sensitive she was about humans her age. Whenever she talked about something that happened at her school to one of her classmates, she always got this sad wistful expression in her eyes. Her power set her apart from her peers and their jealously/fear of her made relationships impossible. As far as he knew, she didn't have a real girl friend to talk to. Her strong aura and gentle temperament made it hard to understand why anyone wouldn't want to be friends with her.

"I think I'm about to wake up," she said as her brush disappeared.

Sesshoumaru turned to face her. "This has been a long dream. We must have over slept."

Kagome nodded. "Hai. It isn't a problem for me; I don't have to go to school today."

"I wish I didn't have to wake up and face reality."

The miko smiled a sad smile and held his hand. "Me too, Sesshou. I'll be here, though when you come back."

Sesshoumaru gave a small squeeze to her tiny hand. "Next time, you get to pick where we are."

She grinned and nodded before she vanished. The taiyoukai rubbed his ring and woke up.

Fast Forward Six Years-Kagome is 18 and Sesshoumaru is 23 in human years. They have continued to dream about each other every night.

Kagome was smiling from her most recent dream as she swept out the well house. Sesshoumaru had been in a particularly sarcastic mood, which meant she had picked up some good insults. When he was in his cynical mood, they never stayed in one place for very long. He kept switching scenery to suite him and Kagome was left to keep up with his mood swings. It used to freak her out, but now she just found it humorous. Whenever she would laugh, he would point out that she was just like that when it was her time of the month. That just made her laugh even harder as she pointed out that he didn't have `that time of the month' like she did. Last night he had just snorted and flopped down beside her.

"No, but male youkai do go into heat," he'd said.

That struck her speechless before the humor had reared its head. The fact that her best friend was in heat was hysterical. All night he'd grumbled about stupid female youkai trying to bed him. He'd said the worst thing about it was that for an entire month out of the year, he was in heat and every female that came close to him looked sexy as Hell.

Flashback to dream

Kagome was grinning evilly at her suffering friend. "So that's why you're wearing such baggy pants."

He looked down at his outfit and blushed. "Yeah. This entire month I have to wear the loosest clothes possible. It's so humiliating. I have to restrain myself from grabbing every female near me and taking her no matter where we are."

Kagome patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. "Well, at least you have the presence of mind to realize what would happen if you ever did bed one of those females in lust."

Sesshoumaru cooked his head to the side. "What would that be?"

The miko held up her pointer finger and a small spark of taikou electricity crackled on the end. "I'd fry her and then I'd fry you for being stupid."

He laughed. "There's an incentive to abstain."

Their location changed to a peaceful beach. Kagome watched as the waves crashed against her feet.

"At any rate, you can get a break from your, ahem, problem when you dream."

Sesshoumaru looked at her sideways. "And what makes you think that?" He said wickedly.

"If you're going to be perverted, I'm going to wake up. Besides, your month of torture ends tomorrow."

He nodded. "Thank Kami. And I wasn't being perverted."

She rolled her eyes at him. "You were thinking about being a hentai. Don't deny it. Every time you're fixing to say or do something perverted, you get this look."

"What look?"

"A look that says `I'm about to be naughty and I'm going to enjoy it.'"

The taiyoukai laughed. "Maybe I like being naughty. I told you once that I wasn't nice."

Kagome looked at him. "One day, Sesshou, one day I'm going to turn the tables on you and say something that will completely catch you off guard. Males aren't the only ones who can play dirty."

He chuckled. "You, Kagome? I seriously doubt you will ever say anything so perverted that I'll be thrown off."

She smiled evilly. "I'm not taking the bait. I'll do it when you least expect it."

With that, she got up and walked down the beach. Sesshoumaru watched her stoop and pick up a seashell. A bucket materialized beside her and the inu youkai watched as the miko collected seashells along the beach. She turned around after a while and began to walk back to him. Sesshoumaru noticed how much she had changed over the years. She was grown, he realized with a start. Kagome wasn't a little girl anymore and she sported the curves to prove it. He groaned inwardly. Why did he have to be in heat when he noticed this? It was obvious that he'd angered some vengeful god in a past life.

In the split second that she'd turned to walk back to him, Kagome had gone from the `best friend' category in his mind, to the `beautiful woman' category. She was both, but he couldn't help but notice the unintentionally sensual sway of her hips that seem to project both a child like innocence and a stimulating arousal. Looking at her raven hair, he thought the only thing needed to make the picture of her walking to him in the setting sun perfect was a gentle breeze blowing her tresses softly away from her face. Before the thought was even finished, he got that breeze. He also got suspiciously tighter pants.

Kagome was right-he was a pervert.

An oblivious Kagome sat down beside Sesshoumaru. "Do you want to see the shells I found?" She asked as she spread them out on the sand.

The taiyoukai was lying on his back and had an arm thrown over his eyes. "No."

She raised an eyebrow at him, but shrugged it off. "'Kay. Thoughts of neko youkai waiting in your bedchambers haunting you?" She asked teasingly.

He groaned, but didn't say anything. Kagome chuckled at his distress and then decided not to taunt him anymore.

"Oi, Sesshou?" She said as she strung the shells together to make a necklace.

Her friend grunted, so she assumed she had his attention.

"Do you think you'll ever fall in love for real? Not just lust or the need to produce an heir?"

Sesshoumaru rolled onto his side and propped his head up with his hand. "Do you?"

She concentrated on a difficult shell for a moment before answering. "No."

He was startled at her answer. Usually, she was all up into the whole romance thing. "Why not?"

Kagome shrugged, not looking at him. "I don't want to talk about it. Your turn."

Batting down his curiosity at her answer, he thought a minute before addressing the question.

"I'm not the same in the real world as I am here."

Turning to listen to him, Kagome put down the shells and paid attention.

"I'm allowed to act how I want here. In the real world, since my mother and taking over the Western Lands, I'm very cold and indifferent. I have to be to survive and keep my land intact. Emotions are usually seen as a weakness to most youkai, so if I'm emotionless, it is less likely that I'll be seriously challenged for my inheritance. I'm afraid I'm almost cruel in reality. I have to be to keep stability."

Kagome handed him a white flower. He took it, reminded of the flower she'd given him when they first met. This time, he didn't flick it away.

"I don't think it is possible to be able to take the time with another youkai to get to know her well enough to lower my guard. So therefore, no, I don't think I'll ever fall in love."

She nodded and watched as the dream sun painted the sky in brilliant colors. "I don't think I'm so very different in the real world than I am here. It's just that no one talks with me long enough for me to know."

He sighed and watched the sun with her. He understood now what she meant when she said `no.' Kagome didn't think anyone would be able to ever get to know her without being afraid of her.

"You don't scare everyone, you know."

Kagome looked at him and blinked. "You don't either."

Sesshoumaru smiled. "Not yet, but I'm working on it."

She laughed. "Who is so foolish not to cower before the Taiyoukai of the Western Lands?"

He grinned and sat up. "A very powerful miko I know. Seems I don't scare her at all."

"A miko, you say? Humm, well that's a horse of a different color! Are you trying to scare her?"

"Perhaps, but she seems to be somewhat immune to my tactics. She even told me once that I was cute when I'm angry. Naturally, I couldn't stay mad at her after that. She effectively deflated my rant."

Kagome tossed her hair over her shoulder and laughed. "Well, she's right; you do look kawaii when you're angry."

"Hai, but you should see her when she's angry."

"Really? Have you ever made her angry?"

He grinned, "Every chance I get."

"Must not be too powerful if she can't even keep her temper in check."

Sesshoumaru pulled a strand of her hair. "She tries, but see, I seem to know all of the right buttons to push."

"How did you come across that bit of knowledge?"

"Years of experience."

"Oh? And just who is this temperamental girl?"

He brushed her hair away from her face and whispered in her ear, "My best friend."

Kagome smiled and hugged him. "I don't care what you say you are, Sesshou. You're decent and honorable and wonderful. Whoever doesn't see that is a baka."

Sesshoumaru held her against him and breathed in her Heavenly scent of honeysuckles and peaches. "I'm afraid you're the only one who shares your opinion. It was nice to hear, though." He felt dampness on his shoulder and pulled back from her to investigate. Kagome was crying.

"Tears, miko? You never cry."

"Something's going to happen, Sesshou, something big. I don't know what it is, but I have a feeling my nice little world is about to be rudely cast aside."

"What do you mean?" He asked, worried.

"I don't know. I feel something coming and whatever storm it is, I'm about to be swept into the middle of it."

Sesshoumaru pulled her into his arms again and stroked her hair, murmuring soft words in her ear. "Don't worry, Kagome, shh, don't cry. Everything will turn out well, you'll see. You still have me, right?"

She nodded her head against the crook of his neck and shoulder. He smiled and brushed away her tears. "So what are you afraid of? You know I'll make it turn out all right. Forcefully."

Kagome gripped the front of his shirt. "Do you love anyone or anything, Sesshou? Not in love, but just love."

"Hai, I love the Western Lands, I loved my mother and even my father before his betrayal."

She smiled.

Sesshoumaru looked down at her. "I love my best friend."

Kagome traced his stripes. "She loves you as well. I'm about to wake up."

He nodded and just gazed at her a moment before kissing her forehead.

"Sesshou?"

"Hai?"

"If you turn out to be real and we meet in real life, are you going to be my friend or the youkai aristocrat?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "I don't know, Kagome, I don't know. I suppose it would depend on the situation and who was around. If we are alone, I can act as I really am. If not, I will probably have to act indifferent."

"I understand why. I'll see you later, `kay?"

"Kagome?"

"Hai?"

He reached down and traced her jaw line before looking into her stormy eyes. "Utskushii," he whispered.

Kagome cupped his face a moment before she woke up. Sesshoumaru was left with an intense sense of confusion swirling in his chest.

~~**~~**~~

End Flashback to Dream

~~**~~**~~

Kagome touched her cheek and sighed happily. Sesshoumaru was the closest thing to a boyfriend she had, so even if he only thought of her as a little sister, he made her have butterflies in her stomach. The miko smiled and danced around the well house using the broom as a partner. She stopped abruptly when she heard a stifled giggle coming from the door. Turning around, she found her younger brother, Sota, trying desperately to hold in his laughter. Kagome grinned and put her hand on her hip.

"And just what is so funny?"

Sota lost it and erupted into giggles. "Onee-san, you are! What were you doing?"

She humfed and ruffled his hair affectionately. "I was just sweeping out the well house and I guess I just got a tiny bit carried away with my happiness."

Her brother finally stopped laughing and looked at his sister as she leaned against the well. "What made you so happy, Kagome?"

He grinned again when a deep blush crept across her face. "Ooo, Kagome has a boyfriend! Kagome has a boyfriend!" The little imp chanted as he danced around the well.

Kagome rolled her eyes at him and swatted him playfully with the broom. "I do not."

"Sure, I believe you."

She shooed Buyo away from the well and smiled as it reminded her of Sesshoumaru's neko youkai problems. Sota noticed the smile and rubbed his hands together menacingly.

"What's his name?"

"Sesshou," she said and then realized she'd been tricked. "Sota!"

He scampered away from her, laughing like a maniac. "Sesshou and Kagome sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

Kagome threw down the broom and took a step toward him in warning. Before she could take another step, she was grabbed from behind and jerked down the well.

"SOTA!!"

Sota watched in horror as his sister was pulled into the well by a monster. He jumped to catch her hand, but just as their fingers brushed, she and the monster disappeared in a blue light. He fell to the ground sobbing. Quickly, he pulled himself together and ran to find Ji-chan.