InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Demon's Night ❯ Collide ( Chapter 2 )

Demon's Night - Chapter Two: Collide

 

 

 

The passing of time had never held any meaning for him, but with each day that passed, Sesshomaru found himself pre-occupied with thoughts of it - every sunset made him more aware that her life was slowly passing by, and if he so much as blinked, she would be gone.

In the forests surrounding his hidden ancestral home, the ancient castle of the Inu-no-Taisho, Sesshomaru walked, seeking a moment's peace from the steady, unrelenting onslaught of his thoughts. Unfortunately, there was no peace to be found. These days it seemed as if it had always been so.

Sesshomaru paused in the midst of his great forest, turning his face to the starry heavens. His troubled eyes reflected the half-moon back on itself as he absently lifted his hand to massage the constant ache in his chest.

There wasn't a demon he couldn't face down if he so chose; and yet he could not defeat his feelings for a mere human girl.

“If I have to wait any longer than a day to see her again, I shall go mad…” he confessed to himself with a low snarl. As the notion assaulted him, Sesshomaru suddenly darted forward through the dense trees, quickly increasing his speed. At the castle, he ripped open the gate and exploded into the courtyard.

His retainer was the first to greet him, as always, but his cheerful, though stilted attempts at conversation quickly died when he caught a glimpse of his lord's eyes.

“Jaken.”

Sesshomaru's voice was quiet, but held the intensity of a shout.

Jaken drew himself erect, holding himself upright against his staff.

“Aye, milord?”

“Collect Rin.” Sesshomaru's golden eyes flashed. “I have business to attend.”

 

 

 

“Oh, no.” Kagome paused in the dense forest as she sneezed repeatedly - again. “Oh, I think I'm getting a cold.” She sneezed again, and smiled her thanks at Shippou, perched on her shoulder, as he helpfully handed her a tissue from her pack.

“Perhaps it's just InuYasha talking about you behind your back,” Sango teased, casting a glance over her shoulder at the hanyou and the monk still moving some distance ahead of them. The two men were involved in some kind of deep discussion, and InuYasha was blushing, shaking his head, clearly becoming frustrated.

“Sango!” Kagome shot a warning look at her friend as she tucked the tissue away.

The demon-slayer merely smothered a giggle and dashed ahead a few steps to escape Kagome's answering strike.

“What was that all about?” Shippou asked from her shoulder, one tiny paw curled into the hair at her nape for balance.

Kagome sighed, and stared down at the lacy ferns spread across the forest floor, easily picking out the soft prints of InuYasha's bare feet among the sandal print's of Sango and Miroku impressed in the dark, rich soil.

Something about these past few days just didn't feel right…the unease in the air had grown steadily, but for some reason she'd been the only one to sense it. As a result, she'd been tense, nearly sleepless - and the strain was beginning to wear on her.

“Kagome? Are you feeling alright?”

Kagome started a little, realizing she hadn't answered Shippou's question. She looked up, noticing the little kitsune had climbed over her front, and now clung to the bodice of her white shirt as he peered at her with concerned, teal-green eyes.

“Oh, Shippou!” Kagome smiled cheerily and reached up to pat his cheek. “I'm fine! Just a little tired, I guess. I'll be better after a good night's sleep.” As if that'll ever happen…

“We'll be stopping soon,” Sango said, looking at the low position of the sun in the sky. “But you do look exhausted, Kagome. I'll tell the men we need to slow down a bit. Why don't you - “

A sudden gigantic crash in the ancient trees ahead cut her off, and they looked up as a huge, four-story slug youkai, dripping poisonous secretions from its filmy gray flesh, burst into the air directly above them, it's bulbous, glittering red eyes fixed on - who else - Kagome…

 

 

 

The campsite had been chosen with care, and the fire skillfully lit as the moon rose in the sapphire skies above.

Kagome sat on a downed log close to the fire, listening with half-an-ear as the others spoke of the slug they'd destroyed earlier. She was afraid the look of disgust on her face was going to become permanent as she looked down at her slime covered clothes and skin, gingerly holding her shirt away from her chest.

Ugh, I reek! she thought to herself, feeling the crust covering her cheeks and arms begin to itch. It was truly disgusting…and totally unfair! Why had it only been her, out of all the others, who had been so thoroughly slimed?

`The same reason as always. Because you were the one carrying the jewel shards, you baka', she told herself, shaking her head. In truth, Sango had said the slug had been coating her with it's bile to ready her for swifter digestion when it swallowed her - gross!

InuYasha had sniffed out the scent of water nearby, so now all she had to do was go and find it. When she found the energy, that is.

Kagome sighed, and slumped a little as her tiredness swept over her again.

`Oh, well,' she thought hopefully, `maybe since I'm so worn out I'll actually get some sleep tonight. I'm too whipped to worry about evil portents…or dreams about a naked Sesshomaru…eh - did I really just think that - ?!'

“Kagome!”

“Huh? Wha?” Kagome jumped, saw Miroku and InuYasha staring at her, and turned a vivid pink. She forced a wide smile and looked at them apologetically.

“Oh. Sorry. Were you…saying something, InuYasha?” she asked with an unconsciously shy sweetness, her eyes going soft as they met his.

“Keh!” The hanyou had a faint red flush across his upper cheeks as he turned his nose up at her. Said appendage was wrinkling slightly, as if he'd caught scent of something that was bothering him.

“It almost looks as if Kagome-sama has been entertaining wicked thoughts,” Miroku commented mischievously, one dark eyebrow arching as he gave her faintly seductive glance.

InuYasha glared, his displeasure fiery sparks coming out of the corners of his eyes before he fully turned his head with a snap, and growled at him. “Cut it out, ya' lecher! Can't ya' tell she ain't feelin' well?”

Kagome blinked, coming out of her slump a little. InuYasha had noticed! Did that mean he had been worrying about her, after all? Maybe he wasn't angry with her anymore…

To his credit, Miroku's suggestive smirk dropped instantly. He reached out a warm, gentle hand to tip Kagome's face to the firelight. He narrowed his brilliant, dark violet eyes at her as his gaze traveled over her face, missing nothing. “She is a bit pale. And her eyes are becoming bruised. Is it true? Are you becoming ill, Kagome-sama? Perhaps the slug youkai's poison has begun to affect you?”

Kagome pulled her chin out of his grasp. “I'm fine,” she said sternly, trying to get the attention away from her. “Maybe just a little tired from being dragged all over Mushashi nearly non-stop for the past week!” she settled her eyes pointedly on InuYasha, and then could have kicked herself for saying it. She hadn't meant it! She just wanted everyone to stop focusing solely on her!

Any concern InuYasha might have been exhibiting for her flew right out the window.

“Hey, I don't wanna' hear nuthin' about that, `specially since you're the one who broke the freakin' jewel in the first place!”

“Hey, you!” Kagome shouted right back, feeling defensive. He always had to throw that up in her face, poke at it because he knew it was her sore spot. “It's been, like, years since that happened! Can't you let go of it?! Why do you always hafta' bring that up? There were a lot of factors, y'know - you being a key one of them!””

But he wasn't even listening to her, now. “'Let go of it'?!” InuYasha nearly went cross-eyed at the suggestion. He stood up, standing there with his shoulders hunched, his clawed hands fisted as if he might suddenly tackle her…

Kagome lost her breath at the thought, felt her lower body surge with warmth for a second, and then decided she'd also lost her mind! For a second there she'd almost wanted him to - Geez, what was up with her lately? Was she turning into a - what was it Ayami had teasingly called Yume that time? A…a nymphomaniac? Huh. She still wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but it had to do with thinking about that three-letter `S' word an awful lot - and it wasn't `Sit', either!

“Come on, Kagome,” Sango said abruptly, lifting her with a gentle arm around her shoulder. “Let's go find that water.”

Kagome was so engrossed in paying attention to Sango bustling her off, she didn't even realize InuYasha was taking a moment to stare at her as if in shock, his eyes wide as he sniffed the air around him in disbelief.

At the mention of bathing Miroku was suddenly standing beside them, eyes shaded by his lashes, his serene expression belied by the eagerness of his movements. “Hm. Perhaps I should come with you. There may be more slug youkai in the area, and - “

Sango blithely turned him down. “Forget it. Take a piece of Kagome-chan's advice and `Let go of it'. You're not going anywhere!”

“Whaddya' mean, `let go of it' - !” InuYasha apparently forgot his musings and loudly bit out through his clenched fangs, “You - “

Kagome gritted her teeth. She'd had enough of his ranting. “Sit, boy!”

Whump! InuYasha hit the ground, growling into the dirt. “Bitch!”

“Hmph! I told you, I don't like being called that, InuYasha! Maybe you should sit, and think about it!” Kagome snapped right back.

“Gwa-ah!” THUD.

Sango put one fingertip on Miroku's chest and pushed him down beside the hanyou.

“You, too, houshi-sama. Sit…and stay.”

Shippou was cracking up as the girl's left the firelight, rolling on Kagome's sleeping bag as he guffawed.

Miroku closed his eyes, a disgruntled look on his face. “How dare she treat me like a lowly dog,” he muttered beneath his breath.

InuYasha sat up as the spell on the kotodama beads wore off, and was in Miroku's face in an instant. Confused by the abrupt changes in Kagome's scent, and oddly frustrated, he was spoiling for a fight. “Whad'usay…!”

Miroku cracked open one eye and then out-of-nowhere, whacked him on the side of the head with his staff.

“Ow! Watch it, monk! You're askin' for it!” InuYasha rubbed his head and jumped up to his feet, obviously fully intending to follow Kagome and straighten her out on a few things.

Not to be left out of any excuse to see Sango bathing, Miroku stood up, too, but had taken nary a step when InuYasha tripped him, and he hit the ground, face first.

InuYasha smirked down on him.

“Ha! How'd that feel, monk?”

Miroku narrowed his eyes and reached out lightning fast to grab hold of the hanyou's bare ankle. There was a surprised grunt as InuYasha's leg was tugged out from under him, and then another yelp from Miroku as the demon teetered the wrong direction, trying to save himself, and ended up landing on top of him.

Shippou shook his head at the pained groans of the two men as they fought to disentangle themselves, still sniping at each other all along.

“Baka's…”

 

 

 

“I'm heading back to camp, now, Kagome! Will you be alright?”

“I'll be okay, Sango! I'll be right there! Just let me rinse off these suds!”

 

 

 

“Oh, the disgusting human!”

Jaken gaped at the scene before him for the merest instant before quickly turning away and leaving the immediate area with a revolted snort. He retrieved an innocently humming Rin from nearby and they both retreated some distance into the forest.

Sesshomaru knew the demon was just attempting to save face. The sight of the ningen female rising nude from the depths of the spring, clothed only in the spray of the minute waterfall and the iridescent moonlight, would make even an impotent little toad like Jaken hard enough to hammer nails.

It was just as well he'd beaten such a hasty retreat - Sesshomaru would have killed him merely for glimpsing her so, if he didn't care to be bothered to find another servant to watch over Rin.

Kagome. He didn't know if it was a stroke of providence or the cruel joke of some hell-born deity that he had arrived and found her at her bath.

If only she were youkai…he could picture her driven mindless in a mating heat, wearing nothing but the exotic markings of his kind, and he wondered again at the idiocy of his brother in not already having claimed the girl. It obviously did not matter to him that she was human…

His mind was slipping. He was surely delirious, or even mad.

No, he was mad. He, the great Lord of the West, heir of the Inu-no-Taisho, was lingering in the tall reeds on the bank of a pool, watching a female bathe as if he were some lowly, perverted human male, with no honor to speak of…

 

 

 

Kagome finished wringing out her hair before she waded up to the shallows to retrieve her towel from the bank and dry the rest of herself off. She'd just reached out for the soft terrycloth when she came face to face with the red eyes of a large, black bear youkai which had come hunting fish in the shadows at the water's edge.

Kagome froze in terror, her hand still extended for the towel. She'd sensed a presence a few minutes ago, while Sango was still here, but she'd just shrugged it off as being bathing monkeys again. Apparently her exhaustion was messing with her more than she'd thought! How could she have missed the approach of a fifteen-foot demonic bear?!

She stared at the bear as it approached her, it's huge damp nose swinging around, scenting the air. It made a slight snuffling noise as it drew nearer to her, coming out into the moonlight. It's sleek black coat sparkled with a thousand tiny water droplets from the waterfall, and it's breath - Kagome scrunched up her own nose - smelled like rotten fish. She tried to hold her breath as it opened it's jaws, revealing sharp teeth in black gums, coated with deep yellow tartar. She held perfectly still as it sniffed her, and then let her breath out as it finally moved back, seeming as if it might be bored with her, and leave. The bear let out a sudden growl, though and lifted a massive claw to swipe at her, and Kagome remembered the jewel shards glinting around her neck. Of course it wasn't leaving! She couldn't be that lucky - !

Kagome's throat was too tight to let the scream building in it out, so she only whimpered as she threw herself back into the water, as far and as fast as she could move - but the bear was much faster, and simply plunged into the water after her. She didn't have a chance! Her lips opened on a gasp as the bear took another swipe at her, and she felt her heel slip on the damp stone and silt at the bottom of the pond. Just as she was about to go under, and be completely at the bear's mercy, a clawed hand grasped her harshly by the upper arm. Then she was flying through the air at an inhuman speed, and all she could see was a wash of dark blood as the bear youkai was swiftly dealt with. The demon let out an agonized howl as it was defeated, and Kagome closed her eyes against her dizziness as relief sang through her.

InuYasha…thank goodness. She should have known he'd save her…

She gave a shuddering sob as she realized she was standing on the bank, her heart pounding against his side. She was gasping for air as if she couldn't quite get enough of it, and she felt more than a little faint as she finally noticed her bare, wet skin was cold and pressed tightly against InuYasha's side. She kept her eyes closed as she choked slightly and pushed herself away from him. She turned her back and bent over to retrieve her towel as quickly as she could, holding it over her front as she turned back to him. The sight she beheld nearly gave her a heart attack. She began to shake even harder, unsure whether it was fear causing it, or something else altogether.

Kagome felt the dizziness sweep over her again, and sucked in a deep breath - she'd stopped breathing - again!

“Calm yourself. The danger to you…has passed.” As if to completely negate this, his golden eyes flickered over her exposed skin, making her tingle as if they burned where they touched.

She took a few staggering steps back out of self-preservation and clutched at the towel barely covering her front.

Danger passed? Yeah, right!

“S-sesshomaru?”

“Hai. Are you going to faint, miko?” the tai-youkai drawled coolly.

Kagome bit on her tongue - she wouldn't faint. If she did, she was too close to the water, and she'd fall in. Sesshomaru would be the type to let her drown. But if that really was the case, why had he bothered to save her from the bear?

Sesshomaru stepped closer to her. “Miko.”

Kagome looked up at him, startled. He didn't say anything more, but she could tell she'd offended him by not giving him her total attention. She couldn't look away once her fascinated gaze attached itself to him once more.

The way he moved and spoke; that quiet confident voice; he was everything his legend made him out to be. His deceivingly apathetic golden eyes that even while they were showing derision, could still stir the senses.

Kagome shivered. How could his eyes hold so much coldness in their depths when they were such a warm, vivid color? Even when he was being passionate, like in her dreams - eep!

She wasn't going there, not right in front of him!

Flustered, Kagome once again backed away from him, not noticing until it was too late that she was just moving further and further away from her pile of clothing. She paused as she felt the sharp rocks near the drop in the water prick under her feet, and made a face when she saw the demon lord following her, slowly stalking, and he stepped right over her clothes without a care, not stopping until they lay directly behind him. If she didn't know better…she'd have thought he was trying to keep her from them!

“G-geez, Sesshomaru, you could have told me you were st-standing there!” she suddenly blurted, trying to stave off her nervous breakdown by talking. “I thought you were InuYasha, but then I realized you weren't, and - you scared me half-t-to-death!”

Sesshomaru was not sympathetic. Compassion was not in his nature...no, his emotions just then were on the entirely opposite end of the scale. His heavily-lidded eyes dropped to the expanse of her bare skin once again.

“InuYasha often sees you thus?” he rumbled lowly, infuriated by the jealousy sharpening his words.

Kagome's cheeks burned red-hot. “W-what are you doing here, anyway?”

His eyes flared. “My brother's job, apparently. He is a fool to leave you unguarded on a night such as this. There are malevolent forces lingering in this forest. Naraku is near.”

“I can take care of myself - what? Naraku! I…you can feel it, too? Are you sure it's Naraku? Everyone else thinks I'm crazy!”

Sesshomaru took an impatient step forward. The wind had changed, and his brother would scent the demon blood - and himself - in it and soon come running. It was not his intention to waste time speaking of the lowly hanyou, Naraku.

“Why don't you cry?” he abruptly asked, a slight mocking tone to his voice. “Are you not frightened by what almost happened?”

“Huh? Oh, what, with the bear? Hey, I don't cry that easily! Besides, tears do nothing but…but make you feel worse,” she finished faintly.

“My brother taught you this.” It wasn't a question, but a simple statement of fact. Sesshomaru made a faint sound of disgust in his throat. “He belittles you.”

Kagome's jaw fell wide open. “Wha-?”

“It is unwise to belittle females, be they weak humans or no. Survival knows no rank. Females are, however different, no less important in the scheme of things. They create life, nurture it. Males cannot give of themselves in quite such a manner.”

Kagome was speechless. She couldn't believe she was standing in a spring, near naked with a demon that hated her and her species, and was actually succeeding in both complementing her and insulting her, all at the same time!

“B-but…InuYasha! How can you say that? InuYasha is a great fighter - he's beaten you any number of times, now, hasn't he?” Kagome cringed even as she said the words, awaiting his anger. To her surprise, Sesshomaru only lifted his nose and looked down at her with his glinting, hooded eyes from beneath the soft wave of the white fringe swaying against his marked forehead. The slashing, dark carnelian markings on his lean cheeks made him look even fiercer than usual in inconstant moonlight.

“InuYasha is but a pup. Fifty years pinned to the God Tree have availed him none. His thoughts and reactions are rash. He succeeds in battle simply because he is hungry.”

Kagome was confused, but somehow she understood that. InuYasha did have a `hungry' look about him, and it had nothing to do with ramen - at least, not most of the time.

She looked at the demon lord, standing there by his perfect reflection in the water, watching him watching her with that icy-hot gaze of his.

“And…y-you're not? Hungry, that is?” Kagome almost bit through her tongue - kami, why had she asked that?! `Kagome! Hentai!' she berated herself silently. When had she become so dirty-minded?!

He bridged the distance between them in less than a heartbeat.

Suddenly he stood close by, so close that their breaths mingled. He was gazing down at her with eyes that flared with heat, brightening their color into golden fire.

“I have gone insane, and yet, at this moment, I do not care. I am hungry, miko. I could devour you whole and never suffer a moment's regret,” he rasped lowly in her ear, so lowly she thought she might have imagined him saying it. He pulled back immediately, his eyes once again frigid with cold.

Shock at his words, coupled with exhaustion and the aftereffects of the slime that had gotten to her before she'd washed it off, made her feel dizzy again. She felt herself teeter on the rocks, felt a sizzle of electricity as Sesshomaru reached out to steady her. His fingers wrapped around her arm, and tightened, and she gave a small whimper of protest as he gripped her bruised muscles. He quickly released her from his hold.

“What is this? Have I harmed you?”

Kagome opened her mouth to ask, `Do you care?' in a particularly snotty way, but she drew in a quick breath as the barest touch of his warm fingertip coasted along the soft, sensitive skin of her bare upper arm. She felt the slightest graze of the point of his claw against her skin, too, and shuddered, trying to tell herself it was because she could remember just what kind of damage those poisonous claws were capable of. She stepped back, clutching her towel to her breasts as she dropped her eyes from his to the ground.

She felt her heart slam against her chest, and swallowed, trying to relax. “I-It's nothing. When you grabbed me out of the way of the bear…I-I bruise easily.”

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed slightly. “Hn. Human's are so fragile.”

Kagome frowned back at him. “I don't think I like the way you said that, mister! Just because I'm not immortal doesn't mean you can dismiss me from existence!”

“Would that it could be done so easily,” he murmured softly. Without actually touching her, he inclined his head to breathe in her fragrance. The sudden compulsion clearly bothered him, annoyed him. It showed in the downturn of his lips.

He suddenly took a huge backwards lunge through the air away from her, landing on the opposite side of the bank from her. He'd done it with his usual effortless grace, but she still gaped at his speed.

Sesshomaru tossed his hair back, and regarded her with an almost indignant expression, which was hugely unsettling in and of itself, since Sesshomaru didn't usually have an expression - except maybe angry or irritated…

“Why do you regard me with such awe?”

Still caught within the snare of his powerful presence, Kagome blinked at his words. “What?” Had she been staring again?

“You look at this Sesshomaru as if you've never looked upon a demon before.”

Kagome snapped to attention, realizing she had been staring…and possibly drooling…more like slobbering -

“Hey, you've got a lot of nerve!” she snapped, trying to recover. “Your ego's even bigger than InuYasha's!”

To her amazement, Sesshomaru seemed to find humor in this - he smiled at her! Well, it was really more of a smirk, and he didn't show any of his teeth, but still…

It was amazing, the transformation…and kinda' scary.

Not that he was ugly or anything , when he smiled. In fact, he almost looked…softer. No, that wasn't it. Just….more approachable, maybe? More…human.

But he wasn't human. That was why it was so frightening. He was full-demon. So why - ?

“Everything about me is bigger than InuYasha, little miko,” Sesshomaru suddenly stated, the smile gone, but hints of it lingering in his smooth voice.

Kagome gulped, gaping at him like a fish. Huh?

She was innocent, but being around Miroku and his constant innuendos for so long had taken care of a lot of that! She'd have to have been really dumb not to notice what he was insinuating.

Gah! She brought a hand to her throat, trying to ease it's sudden tightening. She was in completely new territory here! Sesshomaru trying to kill her because she annoyed him, she was used to - but Sesshomaru….flirting with her? That was just plain terrifying! Especially if one paid attention to the dreams she'd been having - which she didn't…!

“KAGOME!”

Kagome jumped as she heard InuYasha yelling for her as he crashed through the forest not too far away. Before she could even open her mouth to answer, he was there, behind her, and she automatically turned toward him to hide her bare backside. The hanyou almost dropped his sword as he gaped at her, and then he drew himself up and sneered. “Sesshomaru!”

“Hn. Brother,” she heard the demon lord respond less-than-enthusiastically from behind her. That was when she remembered she was presenting him with a fine view of her rear!

Kagome whimpered hopelessly, whirling around to hide it from him, and heard InuYasha choke - and quite possibly, pant briefly, before she realized he was getting a good view of it, himself, now!

“Oh! I give up!” She took a deep, ragged breath and thrust her chin up into the air. She let the towel drop from her strangling grip, and clenched her teeth against the absolute silence that followed her action. She swallowed, and, refusing to look directly at either one of them, stomped straight toward Sesshomaru, and made a wide circle around him to get to her clothes. Once she had shrugged into her pink and grey jersey nightshirt, and tugged on her black leggings - the nights were becoming cold again - she gave a little grimace over having forgotten her panties, and turned back toward the camp without a word to either brother.

She was at the trees before she stopped, and looked a little back over her shoulder at Sesshomaru - still not quite meeting his eyes. “Thanks for saving me, Sesshomaru. See you back at camp, InuYasha. Try not to kill each other, okay? You're too loud when you fight, and I gotta' get some sleep tonight.” With that, she was gone.

 

 

 

“I ought to kill you for daring to look at her like that!” InuYasha snarled as Kagome disappeared. His sword arm was shaking in reaction to what he'd just seen - not that he'd never seen Kagome naked before - it was just that she'd been smelling so different lately that he'd been almost constantly on edge. Despite his promises to Kikyou, Kagome was soft, and warm, kind, and…alive. And he knew she loved him. He wanted her so badly he couldn't think straight, sometimes.

“InuYasha. When are you going to decide to make this world a better place at last by leaving it?”

InuYasha looked at his brother with unmasked loathing. “What're you doin' here, Sesshomaru? You're at least three days travel away from the west.”

Sesshomaru lifted one eyebrow, looking down on him condescendingly. “Hn. Three days perhaps for you, little brother.”

InuYasha shrugged off the sting of the insult, well-used to it - and much worse - by now.

“Whatever. Just beat it, will ya'? I don't wanna' hafta' kill ya' after you `saved' Kagome,” he said this as if he really doubted Sesshomaru's part in it, despite seeing the carcass of the bear demon nearby. “Killin' you ain't worth havin' her pissed at me all night.”

“InuYasha,” Sesshomaru said his name almost pityingly. “You're her faithful dog, are you not? She tells you to roll over and sit, and you do not hesitate.”

InuYasha's hand tightened on Tetsusaiga. “Oi! I don't roll over for anybody!”

“On the contrary. You would do her bidding most readily, I think, if the miko flipped that obscene skirt of hers for you - as long as she rubbed more than just your belly.”

“Grrr! I'll kill you! How dare you talk about Kagome like that?!”

“Hn. Do not feel too badly, little brother. Even the best are inclined to fall at times - what else could be expected of the worst, such as you?”

InuYasha growled, readying himself to strike - and then he caught just a hint of the scent emanating from his brother. Inu youkai only had that scent when they were intent on mating, and Sesshomaru was trying very hard to mask it. Despite his rising rage at the thought that his brother was thinking about Kagome - his Kagome - in that way, InuYasha smirked at Sesshomaru.

“Keh! I can smell it on you, too, idiot. You're one to talk. Even the best, huh?” He shook his head. “Kagome loves me - she wouldn't even give a cold, stuffy old bastard like you a second glance.”

Sesshomaru's eyes widened fractionally at the insult, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword. It was a slow, deliberate motion, and made obvious the fact that someone was about to have their ass kicked.

InuYasha only laughed at him.

“If she loves you so much, dear brother, why did she not run from me when I gave her the chance?”

InuYasha's snigger was suddenly cut off. “If I find out you so much as breathed on her - “

“Pathetic fool. You are dragging her down with you and you do not even see. Go mate your cold, undead miko - and leave the mortal to me. When I finish with her, she won't even recall your name,” Sesshomaru taunted with a predatory smirk.

Infuriated, InuYasha snarled, and leapt into the air, bringing down Tetsusaiga with a deafening “Kaze no Kizu!”

He was standing, chest heaving, in the middle of the ruined pond when he saw Sesshomaru floating high in the air above him, unmoved, and apparently, unharmed.

“Come down here and fight me, you bastard! Fucking coward!” he screamed.

Sesshomaru only stared at him, and then moved away over the trees, taking his time as if there wasn't a furious InuYasha waiting to claw his heart out.

InuYasha slumped hen his brother was out of sight, closing his eyes against the mental pictures of Sesshomaru forcing himself on Kagome. The truly scary thing, though, was the thought that, with the way he'd been treating Kagome lately…and the way she'd been smelling…it might not be force.

InuYasha closed his eyes, forcing the images away. He loosened his hold on the sword, allowing it to transform, and he carefully slid it into it's sheath before turning in the opposite direction Sesshomaru had taken, and walking quietly back to the camp.

 

 

 

Sesshomaru stepped out of the air onto the ground of a river bank a bare mile away from where he'd left Kagome and his brother. He could sense that Jaken and Rin were bedding themselves down for the night, nearby, and he could also smell Naraku's insidious evil still pervading the area. He would not leave them alone this night; but he found he was not yet ready to face his followers just yet, either.

Drinking in the light of the blue moon, Sesshomaru knelt by the river, placing his hand on his knee to quiet it's shaking.

Kagome. He'd seen so much of her this night, and yet nowhere near enough. While he wanted her body, he found he also wanted…just to hear her speak. She had such an odd way of speaking, yet she was so heartfelt in her words…she'd warmed him just by talking to him. He'd wanted to drop to his knees, and bury his face in her warm female flesh and beg her to hold him…

Sesshomaru shook his head minutely as he gazed upon his reflection in the water. In the shadows and the moonlight, he almost could have passed for his father.

Hn. His father, a Great Demon, who had also wanted a mortal woman.

The memory of his father's complete surrender to the human princess was almost enough to enrage him again. Just thinking of giving of himself to the little miko was a betrayal to his mighty ancestors.

Great Demons…males of his ilk just weren't used to surrendering to anything…or anyone...and yet he knew he would surrender to her, and willingly, if she wanted him.

He knew now that she did. Maybe she would not love him, as she obviously did InuYasha - but her body had responded to him, even her mind had not.

Back at the spring he'd easily caught the change in her scent, and knowing she was instinctively responding to him in kind had almost driven him over the edge of reason.

No, she may not love him. But he had the feeling he could make her.

Sesshomaru, sick of the confusion, curled his hand into a fist and angrily smashed the reflection in the water with it.

`Miko…Kagome…damn you for bringing me down to this…'

`Father… why didn't you warn me?'

And then, suddenly, he smiled - the rarest, slightest upturn of the corners of his lips.

`Ah, but you did, didn't you? Your warning to me against falling in love, against taking a human to mate…was your own painful, lingering death, was it not? I know now what it means...'

Sesshomaru's long hair fell over his shoulder, veiling his pain and silence as he bowed his proud head in formal surrender.

`This loving a mortal will mean my end.'

 

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

 

(A/N: Hey, many thanks for the reviews! I'm happy to see someone taking a liking to the story, even if some of the plot devices are kinda' - okay, let's be honest, here, a LOT - overused. LOL. Anyway, I appreciate the input, guys. Let me know if you have any more comments! I'm hoping to get a few pieces of fanart for `Demon's Night' up within the next few weeks, so keep an eye out if you're interested. I already have a few examples posted up here under my name `Vanvliet'. By the way, the title and inspiration for this chapter came from Howie Day's song, `Collide'. I heard it for the first time and all this stuff just popped into my head. Guess there was a plot bunny laying in wait, there, somewhere! ^_~ - D.V.)