Chapter 7: Curiosity Killed The Dog-Demon

The afternoon sunlight shined through a window in the Higuarshi shrine, revealing to the world a touching scene. Upon a couch was snoozing a Dog-Demon, his tail surrounding him and another, his arm holding this other person close to him. The light slowly made it's way up the carpet, and began to shine on this person's face. This person, who we now see to be a girl, began to awaken. And we all know that when she does awaken, she'll be in for a great many surprises.

Kagome's eyes opened to find that her face was cuddled into someone's shirt. Confused for a moment, she remembered what had happened that morning. She blushed a bit as she remembered what he had said. " You are mine he said. And he really meant it." She leaned back a bit to look at his face. She felt a warmth in her heart as she saw something on his face that she had never seen before. "I made him smile." She lifted her hand to his face and began to trace the marks on his face. When she pushed a errant strand of hair behind his ear, she was startled when he began to growl. She froze for a moment, waiting for him to open his eyes. When she realized he was still asleep, she let her curiosity get the best of her. She began to rub the skin behind his ear. The growling became more intense, reminding Kagome of a cat purring. "Purring… He's purring!" Kagome realized. A giggle began to bubble up. As desperate as she was to stop, she couldn't. Just the thought of the great emotionless Lord of the West purring was funny, if not hilarious. "What's so amusing?" a familiar voice asked, shutting the giggles off like an axe to a power cord.

He had begun to wake up when she moved her hand, staying in a half-asleep, half-awake state as she started to touch his face. Even when he had started petting behind his ears, he had kept quiet, not wanting her to stop. When she began to giggle though, he had decided to see what was so funny. He was amused when she blushed a deep red when he spoke. "Eh… heh heh… Nothing at all!" Kagome said. He simply raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing her. "Eh… well… you were, well, purring." Kagome said, saying the last word quietly. "And that is funny how?" he said, keeping his cool outside, only a slight smirk playing upon his features. "It's just that, that, you know, you're supposed to be Mr. Stoic and here you are purring." Kagome was obviously holding down the giggles near the end. She stopped as Sesshoumaru got up abruptly, startling her. "I suppose I could always stop "purring" if you believe it to be so unusual," he said, sounding peeved. "No that's not what I mean-" Kagome had begun to say, getting off the couch. She would have finished her sentence too, if Sesshoumaru had not spun around suddenly, locking her into a passionate kiss. When it ended, Sesshoumaru continued to hold her close, his tail wrapped about the two of them. Kagome, her mind still fuzzy, was trying to figure out what had just happened. She rests her head against his chest. "You're purring is nice." She said, referring to the fact that Sesshoumaru was once again doing so. " I'm glad you think so," was his whispered reply, his face buried in her hair, basking in her scent.

Suddenly, Kagome stomach growled loud enough to put any Youki's to shame, shattering the cuddly cute moment. Kagome blushed as Sesshoumaru gave her a look. "What! I haven't eaten since yesterday," she put forth as her defense. Much to her surprise, he started to laugh. Only for a minute mind you, but still, just a chuckle would have been stunning coming from Sesshoumaru. When he stopped, he had a smile on his face, his eyes liquid amber, filled with warmth, instead of the usual cold blank stare. "Are you ok? You're acting just a little odd." Kagome joked, putting her hand on his forehead. Sesshoumaru simply tilted his head slightly to the side, looking coy, before giving her a quick peck on the fore head. "It's just you. I believe your belly requires food, yes?" Kagome's stomach growled again to confirm this. "No argument there. I suppose I can make up some lunch for the two of us." Kagome began to head for the Kitchen, Sesshoumaru close behind.

Kagome quickly discovered that Sesshoumaru, when he wasn't trying to look cold, was not only humorous, but VERY curious when he sees new things. Not only had he narrowly avoided setting his hair ablaze with the stove, he'd also managed to almost electrocute himself with the toaster, amongst many other things. Kagome, desperately wanting to finish making lunch while keeping Sesshoumaru healthy, if not alive, thought of the perfect bribe.

"Sesshoumaru, Close your eyes. And no, I'm not going to do something bad," said Kagome, adding the last part after he gave her an odd look. Finally after quiet sigh, he closed his eyes, preparing for whatever Kagome had waiting for him. He heard her rummage through something, and then the sound of something tearing. Then, he smelled something. Something sweet. "Open your eyes" Kagome finally said. He opened his eyes to find that Kagome was holding something in front of his face. Noticing the questioning look in his eyes, Kagome said, "It's chocolate. It's a very good tasting candy from overseas. You'll like it." Taking it from here, he sniffed the 'chocolate', and after a moment's hesitation, took a small bite. As he chewed, the flavor of the chocolate shot to his head, creating a joyful feeling he had only felt when holding Kagome. Never before had Sesshoumaru had something so sweet, so delicious, so… Perfect.

Sesshoumaru's reaction to the chocolate was, to say the least, amusing. She guided the blissful Sesshoumaru to the couch, sitting him down, and then went back to the kitchen to finish making her lunch. Much to her joy, Sesshoumaru ate the Chocolate bar very slowly, so as to enjoy the taste longer. He finished the chocolate about the same time she finished her lunch. Checking in on him after cleaning her dishes, she found that he was still a bit out of it. She pondered what she would do when he finally came to. "He'll drive me insane if he keeps asking and trying everything in the house. And knowing my luck, he'd probably blow it up somehow. I suppose I'll just have to keep showing him about, and hopefully manage to keep both of healthy, both physically and mentally, in the process. She sat down next to Sesshoumaru, waiting for the chocolate to stop having it's effect on him.

15 minutes later, Sesshoumaru began to come down from his chocolate high, the chocolate having been metabolized by his demon-enhanced body. Only a slight headache remained as a sign of his temporary bliss. He blinked his eyes, trying to figure out how long he had been… preoccupied. As his senses returned to him, he realized that someone was sitting next to him. Looking over, he saw Kagome starring off into space, not really seeing what was in front of her. He noticed the look of sadness in her eyes, worrying him. "Is she thinking… about him?" He moved his tail around her waist, snapping her out of her daze. "Oh, your back to normal." Kagome said. "Is something wrong?" Sesshoumaru asked, getting closer to her. It was now that Kagome saw a different light to his eyes. "He's worried…" This alone brought a smile to her face. She hugged him as she said, "No, but thanks for asking." She buried her face in the front of his clothes, feeling warmer when Sesshoumaru returned the hug.

This lasted for a few moments, until Kagome started to pull away. Sesshoumaru released her, reluctantly, allowing her to stand up. "Now, how about I show you around the house?" Kagome said. Sesshoumaru sat still for moment before standing up and nodding his head. "And whatever you do, don't touch anything that you don't know what it does. I like your hair too much to have it burned off." Kagome said, a big smile on her face. Sesshoumaru sniffed; disgruntled that Kagome had reminded him of the stove incident. He followed her up the stairs, his curiosity beginning to fight its way to the surface of his mind. Clearly, he has never heard the phrase, "Curiosity Killed The Dog-Demon."

Back in the Feudal age, a day had passed since Kagome had gone through the well. Miroku and Sango had arrived to late at the well to hear what Inuyasha had said, and he refused to tell them what had happened. Since then, they had brought Rin and Jaken to the village. Within the day, Rin had befriended everyone she had met, except for Inuyasha. Rin simply tried again and again, but Inuyasha seemed to have some form of immunity against cuteness. We know focus in on Rin, who is standing at the base of the God-Tree, in which a sulky Inuyasha inhabits the highest branches. Rin is currently chattering with a non-responsive Inuyasha, whom is getting irritated by the second. Then, he snapped.

"Will you hush UP! I'm trying to get some sleep! Stupid girl!" Inuyasha yelled down at Rin, turning over and closing his eyes, ignoring the tears that boiling up in Rin's eyes. Rin ran off into the forest, obviously hurt by Inuyasha's words. A few minutes later, he heard a scream. He scrambled up and burst off in the direction he heard it from. As he flew through the foliage, he began to feel regret for what he just did. "I'm just hurting everyone near me aren't I?" Inuyasha thought sarcastically.

Than he reached where Rin was, who was being chased by a wolf-demon. He immediately destroyed it, stopping to check Rin. Not that he needed to, for she had already latched herself to his leg, sobbing and hiccupping. "Rin was scared!" was one of the few things Inuyasha was able to decipher from Rin's sobbing. In a unprecedented move, Inuyasha actually put some effort into calming her down, if not being a tad clumsy at the effort. After taking her into his arms, he began to rock her back and forth, which apparently calmed her down enough to fall asleep. Sighing, Inuyasha took off towards his tree, Rin in his arms. He settled into his branch, Rin still cuddled to his chest. Inuyasha simply shook his head, wondering how he got this soft, before leaning back and falling asleep.