InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Midwinter Dream ❯ I Love You ( Chapter 13 )

A/N: Alright, whoever is reading this after reading all of Spring Fever and what there is of Midwinter Dream, you guys are crazy, and I admire you. FYI: those two stories combined, after this chapter, come to over four hundred pages! FOURHUNDRED!! I stopped reading the Harry Potter series because the books were too drawn out, and now I have readers who can read everything I've written in one sitting?? -goes insane- I... I can't even fathom being able to do that. You guys are absolutely amazing. I personally read as quickly as I can speak (which is probably why I speak faster than most people...). Reading my own story would take me days, so when I get news from people on the lines of 'I just read S.F. and what you have of this story, and now I'm going to bed'... I swear, my heart stops for a few seconds. I'm not kidding. Then I begin to laugh insanely, but that's beside the point.

 

Alright. That is all. Enjoy unlucky number thirteen! XD

 

Chapter 13

 

I Love You

 

“Okay,” Kagome began, talking to herself yet again. She was pacing circles and feeling very plagued. “... Okay.”

 

She had thought that, upon arrival at the o-shiro after their fondling session, things would go back to 'I'm a stoic prick' and 'I hate stoic pricks' personalities. Well, the catch to that is she can't hate him if he's not acting the way he usually does...

 

She hadn't been able to erase her blush for hours, and she swore that Fate was having a blast at her expense.

 

“... Okay...”

 

They parted ways just fine a little past midday. He watched her leave, and she knew that because she had glanced back at him, but aside from that visual exchange it was completely normal. An hour later, she caught him coming into the soccer room, as she deemed it since it was used for no other purpose, and he had a conversation with the already present Sheng and watched her. Thanks to the attention divisive vice being right there, she had never been hit with a ball more times in her entire life. She got fed up with that, went over to them, and was offered water. It was really weird to talk to Sheng in front of Sesshomaru, for some highly evasive reason. Probably because she was talking about altered soccer rules and was pink in the face no matter how much she had reclaimed her breath. Her cheery tint left when the newly established Inu no Taisho took his leave.

 

After her daily dose of child tolerance training, she retired for the afternoon and left for her room. Once there, she drank some tea, changed into a yukata for a robe, and was on her way to the baths to scrub off sweat and to have a nice, long, male-less soak. She had been quite relaxed and looking forward to breathing in herbal steam until she saw him. Sesshomaru was walking in the opposite direction and approaching, probably heading for Sheng's temporary residence (wherever the man's permanent residence was...), and he remained in the damned middle of the three-people-wide hall. She stepped to the right and they proceeded to pass one another. Kagome was a tad embarrassed and wanted to look away from him, then something happened and she slowly came to a stop. Her... ... Her hand was fondled so quickly that it seemed imaginary... Save for the fact that her skin was left tingling.

 

“Did you just-?” she began asking with an accusatory tone set. When she had rounded on him he was smirking at her, so she turned and scurried away. That jerk was enjoying making her squirm, wasn't he! Oooh! The nerve! She realized that her recently clasped hand was against her lips, and so yanked it away and made a beeline for the hot waters ahead. The women maintaining the baths had decided that she needed a massage to relax, which left her to go to her room with a very light head and take a nap. She was hesitant upon waking to look around for the possibility of Sesshomaru being in there again. He wasn't been, so she got up and paced.

 

“Okay,” she finished, back to square one and turning to pace in the other direction. In times like these, when she really couldn't think to save her life, she talked to herself. “How am I today?” She talked to herself badly. Like she had a therapist in her head. That woman could get annoying sometimes, too. “I'm fine, thank you! A little nervous, but I think things will work out in the end.” “That's good.” “No, it isn't... I'm lying to myself.” “Now, now, you know you shouldn't do that.” “I know, but it's so hard not to when you have Mr. Smexy stealing kisses from you and smiling all over the place and keeping an eye on you.” “I can understand that... Do you like him?” “What?!” “Okay, I'll ask that later. Do you think he likes you?” She blushed. “Alright, let's phrase it this way instead. DOES he like you?” “I don't know! That's the whole problem!” “Well, why don't you sit down and take a breather then?”

 

She did just that. “That's it, just calm down and think things through.” “Well, I've BEEN thinking for a while, and I can't make sense of anything! I mean, if he were normal, then I'd say yes, to everything, but he's not! He. Is. Not. Normal. He's different from me, and I'm different from him, and... And it just wouldn't work. Well, there's always the thoughts that it could, and the what-ifs, but it's not like that guy's going to melt or anything anytime soon, and I just can't... I can't think.” “Well, that's probably because you're thinking too much on one little part. Did you ever start from the beginning?” “... No, I haven't. Well, I have, but I keep interrupting myself with the present.” “Well, why don't you try again, then get back to me with the results.” “Sounds good. Thanks.”

 

She sighed, jabbed her elbows into her knees, plopped her face into her hands, sighed again and stared at the wall ahead.

 

...

 

...

 

She felt eyes on her back...

 

“You are absolutely insane.”

 

Kagome shrieked, shooting to her feet and turning to see a very humored Sesshomaru leaning against the wall by the door.

 

“YOU!”

 

“Me.”

 

She blinked. “I talk to myself, yes. Only when I can't figure something out!”

 

He had a small smile on his face, as per usual.

 

“How... How much did you overhear?”

 

“Plenty.”

 

She blushed furiously. “... When did you start listening?”

 

“Since you first said 'okay',” he replied. “You fail to be observant when you are troubled.”

 

She was mortified and scrubbed her hands through her still damp hair. “Did you have to listen?! That was a very personal conversation, and YOU weren't invited!”

 

He looked rather smug. “What, exactly, is a 'Mr. Smexy'?”

 

She swore her eyes were so wide that she could look down and they'd fall out of their sockets. “I... Am NOT telling you!”

 

Kagome actually saw his teeth with his next smile, and it did wonders for the breaking stability of both her legs and sanity. Her heart got more exercise being around that man than if she were an athlete.

 

“... Would you mind leaving?”

 

“Not at all,” he replied.

 

She waited. ... Then glared. “Now?”

 

“Eventually,” he replied.

 

She scoffed at him. Fine. If he wanted to play games, then let him. “You enjoy making me miserable, don't you.”

 

“This Sesshomaru takes pleasure where it can be found.”

 

She was so overwhelmed by the memory of their most recent, and quite pleasurable, pastime from earlier that she didn't even snap at him for going into third person.

 

“Well, first off, that wasn't a question, and second off, please stop it,” she requested, her anger quelled under a few other emotions. “I hate being angry at people. And you take all the fun out of it by winning the arguments and enjoying me being mad.”

 

Sesshomaru opened his mouth to speak, that particular 'let's make the miko angry' glint in his eyes, and she interrupted him. “So, do you?”

 

She must admit, she caught him quite off guard. Hell, she caught herself off guard. But now that the topic was up...

 

“Don't give me that look,” she scolded him. Can't back down. Can't do it. Must... Ask... Question... ... “You overheard plenty of my conversation to myself. You know what I'm asking.” Oye... She couldn't ask it... Not if he knew it...

 

He needed a moment to think about it. Realization dawned on his face and dread settled in her as a counterbalance, and for some reason he squared his shoulders to the thought. “On what level?”

 

A feeble grin flickered on her face. Probably disbelief. Yeah, the jerk knew what she was talking about. How could he NOT? The guy could analyze days worth of reading in twenty minutes and give corrections, for kami's sake, of COURSE he knew what she was referring to... She couldn't believe she was initiating and continuing this. “Just, do you like me? At all? Say, 'like me' versus 'hate me'. Which one?”

 

He kept a straight face, which spoke a lot more than some cocky grin she was expecting. “I do not hate you.”

 

She smiled. She didn't know why that sounded so good.

 

“Do not play games,” Sesshomaru told her, giving her cause to regard him again. She didn't notice having looked away. “If you have a specific question, then ask it.”

 

She smiled at him, and shook her head. “I can't. Not yet.”

 

His eyes narrowed slightly.

 

“Here's a different question though,” she perked up. “What the hell are you doing in my room?”

 

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. “I am being interrogated, apparently.”

 

She giggled. “Kagome, the miko who interrogates yÅkai. I like it.”

 

Sighing with resignation, she deemed herself a fool for not having the nerve to ask a guy if he was romantically interested in her, and decided to flop onto the bed belly-up so her head was the closest thing to him. No matter his personality or his status, he was just a guy, and guys could answer simple questions just like girls could ask them.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Thinking,” she stated, currently rubbing her temples the figure out the finer points of how she had just contradicted herself. “Care to join me? The bed's big enough.”

 

A few seconds later she heard the shift of his clothes, then felt the suppression of the mattress. She glanced over, and he was mimicking her position. On his back, hands to his temples, and looking at her. They were like Yin and Yang.

 

For some reason, that was the most hilarious sight on earth. She snorted, trying not to laugh, but ended up giggling so hard that she shook silently with mirth. When she could take a breath it came out as a 'haaaaa-haha' and she looked at him again.

 

Sesshomaru was just watching her, innocent as could be. Damn him.

 

“Hm. You're usually gravely offended when I laugh at you,” she commented.

 

“Indeed,” was his reply. “Such as when you kindly woke me up one morning.”

 

Kagome's mood bloomed in her chest, and she gave a warm hum for it. “You know that was funny.”

 

“It was disgraceful.”

 

“Hence its hilarity,” she clarified while chuckling, making her words choppy. She forced herself to calm down, but she still couldn't erase her smile. “Were you really thinking about that just now?”

He answered with the small uprise of his expression.

 

She was invaded by the spirit of mischief then. “Hm. You remind me of Keiji.”

 

“Really?” he asked.

 

“Yeah. He'd always be there when I wasn't looking, and we'd hang out like this.” Sesshomaru's face returned to its normal composure. “He would also take me out to go eat and would buy me things I liked, but the one reason you sometimes remind me of him is that he's tried hundreds of times to steal a kiss from me. He's never succeeded though. Does that bother you, Sesshy?”

 

He looked a tad displeased. “Not in the least.”

 

She did a damn good job of not laughing at him. She teased him instead. “Haha. You do like me.”

 

“Do I?” he asked testily.

 

“Yes. You do,” she answered him with a smirk. “And unlike with Keiji, I'll let you.”

 

He perked up. She could actually see it in his every so vague expression. Hah, and he probably thought he was getting away with it, too.

 

“After all,” she began anew, now staring at the ceiling so that she could smile at something rather than him, “you deserve at least that for being the only man to ever, ever steal a kiss from me. Multiple times, no less. I still don't know how you do it so damn easily, either. It's rather anno-”

 

She'd have continued, but there was a face hovering over hers. A very pretty, silver framed face with the oddest birthmarks she had ever seen.

 

“It is rather easy to do,” he commented, looking down at her. And just as though they were lifelong lovers he stole her lips briefly for the ump'teenth time. “See?”

 

“You cheat,” she stated up to him. How... How DARE he! And how dare her for letting it happen!

 

“How?”

 

“... You just do...” she sighed, a tad vexed. “So, I'll take it that you do like me?”

 

Her answer was a slow initiation to another grope session, and she was so illogically happy that she didn't even keep her top on for it. Not that she was the one to take it off, the guy had very persuasive hands... The pants stayed though, because he wasn't that persuasive no matter how much he tried. She had struck a bargain with him that she'd keep her pants on if he took his own top off, and everything was simply splendid after that. Especially when she got him to growl. That was fun.

 

Since that night, she was the happiest person on the face of the planet, and everyone knew it, too. She was happy with the children, with strengthening that forsaken seal, even with Jaken returning on Ah-Un and with him demanding to know why the hell she was there. She was pleased with everything in life, and Sheng, in particular, knew it.

 

“Let me guess,” Sheng began when he caught her humming on her way to soccer-hell. “The pants stayed on, right?”

 

She only smiled. “How did you know?”

 

He grinned back. “I got a non-verbal complaint about it.”

 

That one kept her laughing for the rest of the day.

 

She was starting to thing that Sesshomaru was beginning to settle into his age once again, which happened to be a testosterone filled male on the prowl for a good time. Well, she was an estrogen filled female looking for the same thing, so that was perfect. She just didn't want to risk having sex. Anyway, he began visiting her more frequently, which should have been impossible, and by the time the second night before their fight came they were sitting together and chatting again.

 

“So,” she began when their prior conversation reached its natural end, “what are we going to do about the fight to the death?”

 

“You are still welcome to forfeit,” he supplied, taking a drink of tea. It almost seemed like instinct on Jia's behalf to have left two cups that night. And the night before...

 

“As are you,” Kagome replied, grinning at his slight frown. “You're not going to soften me up with a few kisses, Sesshy. I'll fight just as hard as you do, and you damn well better expect no less from me.”

 

He smirked, his expressions quite warmer of late. Those looks made her happy, and he learned that her being happy opened the door to happy sessions, so he smiled a lot more in front of her. “I would have it no other way.”

 

“Good,” she replied. “I'm glad we've reached an understanding on that. Now, seriously, what are our options for, say, calling off the fight?”

 

He practically scoffed, but made it sound dignified in the way only he could achieve. And maybe his mother. In fact, he probably picked it up from his mother... “They are non-existent, should you remain so hell bent on not forfeiting. Only violated terms can cancel it.”

 

“And what are the terms?”

 

He actually shrugged.

 

“What do you mean 'you don't know'?” she demanded. “How couldn't you know?!”

 

“It is not every day that a fight is interrupted,” he replied. “Normally, people would never intervene in a fight to the death with 'technicalities' of 'cheating'. You cannot cheat in a fight, save for creating a false pretense of there having been a form of cheating.”

 

That reminded her of that brat from kendo lessons... He was giving her a pointed look, and she stuck her tongue out at him. “I was name-calling, not declaring. There should be a difference.”

 

“There is,” he supplied. “Apparently, the council chose to ignore that fact.”

 

... She was shocked. Did they think, that long ago, that she and Sesshomaru liked one another and forced the fight to stop?? That was... That was brilliant, and yet so annoying!! She was going to have a word with Sheng about that.

 

“Well,” she began later on, “I'm not sure what to talk about anymore... Want to do something?” He actually gave her a mischief tainted smile, and it made her giggle. “OTHER than that!”

 

“Your scent says you would not mind.”

 

“My scent is part of my body, which, as I have stated before, can make irrational decisions.”

 

“Ah. It is, however, your conscience which controls the aspects of your scent. Meaning, you do not mind either way you look at it.”

 

She balked. “You are such a manipulative jerk.”

 

“You enjoy it,” he stated.

 

“And why would I?” she asked, crossing her arms defiantly.

 

“Because my being the way I am gives you someone to blame for your taking of pleasure.”

 

... He had a point... And she had a very silly grin. “Prove it.”

 

Kami, he was great at proving certain points... Within thirty seconds he had her on her back and thinking that this was all his fault, despite how much she loved touching his body, and she was shown how very lovely kisses could be when they were placed somewhere other than her face and neck. After a full ten minutes she had to practically shun him away before she allowed things to go any further. He tried to be manipulative again, but she, very eventually, wriggled from him and sloppily put her top back on after reclaiming it from the floor.

 

“Going somewhere?” he asked, smirking at her as she stared from afar at how absolutely gorgeous he was on her bed with the upper portion of his clothes draped around his waist.

 

“To take a plunge in the local pond,” she told him thickly, her blood pounding in her ears. He was so pretty... So unbearably willing to take things further... Kami, she was a fool... A very, non-pregnant fool...

 

He blinked. “It is barely above freezing outside.”

 

“Good,” she stated, closing the door to let him think about it by himself in her room. In reality, she was off to take a bath, despite how many sinful images there were plaguing her mind.

 

“Shall we fetch a man to give you a massage?” one of the bath attendants inquired.

 

“No, thanks,” Kagome replied, now stuck with the thought of a half dressed Sesshomaru massaging her... She didn't know that someone could smell lustful. Then again, why couldn't they? “If your noses hurt, you can just leave me here to soak. I won't need help in relaxing.”

 

For some reason, she had expected Sesshomaru to make an appearance in the bath room with some ridiculous excuse as to why he could be there, such as the o-shiro being his... When he didn't visit her, she found herself to be relieved yet slightly disappointed, which was ridiculous. It was evening when she found herself in bed, trying to get to sleep. She couldn't cease her rolling though, and thoughts plagued her. By what must have been early morning she forced herself out of bed. She had thought that Sesshomaru would visit again, but apparently he had better things to do.

 

That was fine. She'd just go and visit him instead. It would be an appropriate change in routine, anyway.

 

Still, she found herself quite nervous to go see him... Would that be saying too much? ... Of course not. He's been doing it enough for the both of them. If anything, he should expect her to visit him! Yes, exactly. That was her excuse. If he was asleep, that was her line for him. That he should have expected it. ... Not that pushing him out of bed again was entirely forbidden in her opinion

 

After a few minutes though, Kagome breathed in deeply, exhaled slowly, and still couldn't bring herself to open her bedroom door. It was the dead of night -er, morning- and considering how little the man slept she was pretty sure that her worry of waking him up was completely ridiculous, let alone her worry of being caught going to his room...

 

She took another long inhale, stared at the door, and looked away with a scoff at herself.

 

“Alright!” she yelled, rounding on her heel so she faced her obstacle again. “Let's do this.”

 

She touched it, and walked away and jumped into bed. “Yes. Let's do this tomorrow...”

 

She got barely any sleep, and her wakeup call was feeling someone stroking her left side.

 

Before she even thought of anything else there was a 'smack' and she was sitting up and glaring down. Sesshomaru did not look amused.

 

She blinked, then covered her mouth, then laughed. “Did I slap you?!”

 

“Yes. You did,” he informed.

 

“Well, you deserved it,” she told him, yawning. “You don't just go sneaking into someone's bed and begin feeling them up.”

 

“Why not?”

 

She blinked at him, her vision blurry from what she referred to as eye snot. It was a childhood thing... “Because you get slapped for it.”

 

“Always?”

 

“Usually,” she replied. “It depends on how expected it is.”

 

He smirked, propped on his side. “And if you were fully expecting it?”

 

“Then I would have made sure to slap you harder.”

 

He chuckled. She melted. “So there is a zone between being aware and unawares?”

 

“Yeah,” she replied. “You're usually really good at finding it, too.”

 

“It is simply the element of surprise,” he informed.

 

“I'll say,” she commented. Kagome suddenly tensed, sensing the inevitable, and began scooting away. Her waist was caught by one hand -one hand!- and she was brought back to the bed. “I am not surprised!”

 

She was kissed.

 

“Whatever you call it is none of my concern,” he told her.

 

She couldn't help but to smile. This guy... He was so... So him, yet different. “If you were anyone else, I'd have kicked your ass by now.”

 

His rumbled mirth hummed against her chest, and she squirmed. “If you could beat me.”

 

She frowned at him. “I almost did... And it is you who can't beat me, Mr. Let's Melt Her Into Some skulls And See What Happens.”

 

“That was a long time ago,” he began, rubbing his cheek to hers and nuzzling her ear. Kami, he was good at this... He wanted some, badly, and she knew that if she ever gave it to him he'd forget about her within the week, if not the day. The ball was in her court so long as her sanity was in her head and not fluffing around through the air to pop the little pink hearts.

 

She shivered, stroking the now familiar slope of his neck. It was odd to think that it was familiar now, when a week or two ago it was absolutely forbidden. ... Well, hell, he started it. “You still tried to kill me back them.”

 

“Merely to rid myself of a nuisance,” he informed.

 

“Is that what I am?” she asked.

 

“No,” he answered honestly, leaning past her face to wrap his soft lips over the opposite side of her neck, under her right ear. She gave a silent gasp and closed her eyes. He... Had NO right... To be this- goodness, she was going to get a hickey first thing in the morning. ... Oh well. She didn't care, she wasn't going to interrupt him. And she had completely forgotten what they had been talking about.

 

“So, we're doing this first thing in the morning now, too?” she asked, trying to at least get into a position which would deny her the fires of his touch. She failed miserably, and he simply got more creative every time she squirmed.

 

“If you insist.”

 

She giggled, and finally got him to stop and look at her. “What do you expect me to think of you after this?”

 

That annoying smile of his... Kami, he was a beautiful man...

 

“This one time in particular?” he asked. She felt the all too familiar tug of the hem of her shirt being gathered, and she put a hand down to keep the fabric from going up.

 

“Not exactly,” she replied, giggling. He really was a teenager... A very regal, royal young man in his sexual prime and oh so good at getting her blood boiling. “Hm. Ah, Sesshomaru? Would you mind trying to not undress me?”

 

“Yes, I would,” he responded, pulling her collar aside to explore another of her more sensitive spots with is mouth.

 

He made it hard to think... “Well, would you pl-Ah!... Please, stop. For sixty seconds, you can even count if you'd like.”

 

He pulled away, waiting for her to say what she needed to.

 

“So,” she began, tingling all over and flushed. “You don't hate me?”

 

He sighed. “We have already established this.”

 

“I know,” she told him. “It's just that... I don't want to feel like you're using me before tomorrow comes...”

 

She was surprised to see him amused. “If I wished to 'use' you, with no regards for your comfort, then I promise that you would not like me in the least.”

 

She swallowed. Alright, she supposed that despite her strength, he was quite strong enough to take advantage of her.

 

“In other words,” he continued, worry penetrating her features, “you have nothing to fear.”

 

Nothing to fear... ... She could live with that... The only actual fear she had at the moment was getting with child, which her dazzled mind considered a small price at certain times these days, but when she was left alone to sleep it off she ended up kicking herself, knowing that no matter how much things looked to be a certain way, they weren't. He'd never be hers, and she'd never be his, and she feared that she was beginning to think otherwise. Pretending was fun though. Besides, she could play now, since she had nothing to fear from him, and if she knew one thing about Sesshomaru, it was that he never lied. That, or he was never caught...

 

She grinned and pulled his face back down to hers. Tomorrow would come, but she was living in the present. She wasn't going to stick herself in the future again after waiting four years to be in the time she was now... Tomorrow would come, and she would have sweet memories of 'yesterday' when it did.

 

A little while later, Sesshomaru pulled away, his ears actually shifting ever so slightly.

 

“What is it?” Kagome asked, abruptly noticing how loose her pants felt. Damn that sneaky man... She couldn't sense anything, and her hearing wasn't nearly as good as hi-

 

“Gotcha!”

 

Her heart stopped as the door ceased opening, and she glanced slowly around Sesshomaru's arm to see Sheng.

 

He waved, a huge smile on his face. He looked so innocent, watching Sesshomaru and her.

 

Kagome shrieked and forced the door shut with her energy. “You dirty old man!” she yelled at him, now sitting up and clutching the blankets to her front. “If you EVER do that again, I'll be sure that you NEVER know the pleasures of a woman EVER again! Do you hear me!!”

 

“He does,” Sesshomaru assured her. She turned her gaze onto him, and for some reason he was smiling...

 

“That wasn't funny!” she informed him. “How DARE that hentai walk in like that!”

 

“Should he have expected something else?” Sesshomaru asked.

 

“He-!” ... She narrowed her eyes at him. Oh yes, Sheng knew what clothing stayed on. “I swear on my life I will never, ever, in my entire existance, EVER have sex with you if you keep talking with him about us!”

 

Sesshomaru seemed to find that quite hilarious, since he laughed.

 

“Stop that!” she yelled, smacking the side of his arm and still clutching the blankets to herself with one hand. “That's it, get out! I need to eat anyway!”

 

“I would rather forget the man and continue,” Sesshomaru stated, taking Kagome's hand from under her and making her fall back down.

 

“No!” she told him firmly, almost like scolding a dog. “You went too far, Sesshomaru. I keep my pants on, remember?” She swore, if she hadn't been so lazy in changing last night then she'd have been wearing some easily pull down pajama bottoms rather than doubly tied hakama, which were loose, that blasted, arrogant, discrete, pretty, handsome, sexy, powerful... She was getting off topic, and badly.

 

“I remember,” he stated. “They are still on.”

 

“The ties are loose!” she snipped at him. That knot wouldn't have been undone with what they were doing.

 

“Indeed,” he replied.

 

“Why?” she prompted, still scolding.

 

He smirked, and tried to drop the matter by continuing where they had left off. She was about to yell at him, but she felt fingers tuck into the liberated gap in the side of her hakama, and they touched the skin of her hip and stroked back for her bottom.

 

She was so very mortified and turned on that she swore something broke in her brain. That was it.

 

With some heavy duty persuasion, he left, and she was free to eat and be beaten up by a soccer ball before she saw Sesshomaru again.

 

“Yes?” she asked, walking up to him. Sheng had wisely avoided her so far that day. How dare the old coot sneak in like that! Even if yÅkai were intimately carefree -and if they were, heaven help her- he had no right to do that, and she was still mad at him. Kagome swore she was going to backhand the ages out of him!

 

Sesshomaru shrugged. She remembered when that little movement of his seemed so inappropriate for him. Now, she usually expected it. “Merely witnessing the finesse a miko may have in handling yÅkai children.”

 

“Why? Think I'll have any one day?” she teased, not expecting an answer. She didn't get it, either. “Does your silence mean 'yes', Sesshy?”

 

His eyes smiled, but nothing else. The public eye was always on him... “It means I am impartial to the topic.”

 

“Oh? Then why are you here?”

 

He laughed silently once. “The last time proved to be quite entertaining. Your evasive skills lack tremendously.”

 

“You were distracting me,” she snipped.

 

“This Sesshomaru did not make more than eye contact with you.”

 

“... Well, you're not human, so you can't understand.”

 

He analyzed her. “That is a cheap excuse and is not accepted.”

 

She shrugged, acting cute and innocent. “Alright. Whatever you say, Lord Sesshy.”

 

He never did like that nickname... Well, he didn't cherish nicknames in general.

 

Doodling with a brush and ink, she glanced up from her wet masterpiece of hazardous strokes to greet Sheng. She'd let him approach, but she was going to bite his head off.

 

“About your impending fight,” he began after sliding open the door and peeking his face in, “it has been canceled.”

 

She blinked, and he pulled away and closed the door.

 

“Wait!” she yelled, scrambling up from the small table and yanking the door back open. “Sheng! Wait a second!”

 

He stopped walking. “Yes?”

 

She finished running up to him. “What do you mean it's been canceled??”

 

A small smile played across the old yÅkai's lips. “A term has been violated. That is all.”

 

She blinked. “A term? What term did I violate??”

 

“It was not done by you,” Sheng supplied.

 

She groaned with frustration. “Will you PLEASE tell me the who, what, when, where, and why so I understand?”

 

Sheng's eyebrows rose slightly, and pursed his lips. “In that order, Sesshomaru violated the terms when you last went to Mount Fuji with him. The why of it I do not know.”

 

She stomped her foot and actually grabbed Sheng's collar. “WHAT did he DO to violate it?!”

 

“Ah, that's an easy answer!” Sheng laughed. Kagome got poked in the right clavicle then. “Did that hurt?”

 

She stared at him. “... No?”

 

“That is what he did then,” Sheng replied, as though that answered everything.

 

She literally growled at him. “Fine, then clarify what the term was!”

 

“It was established that you would not be assisted with healing and left to mend on your own for one month before the fight resumed,” Sheng explained. “Sesshomaru did not heed those words, despite him having been right there to hear them. Though I must admit he was rather angry at the time, with your pretty little hands burnt into his neck and all...”

 

Oh right... She had done that... That brought a smile on her face. Yeah, so was good, and he deserved it. “So, that's it then? No more fight?”

 

“Correct,” he said.

 

“Does Sesshomaru know?”

 

“He should,” Sheng replied. “He is fully capable of remembering such things and abiding by them.”

 

“Right...” Kagome replied, sucking in her lower lip. Sesshomaru didn't know... There was no way they'd have had those conversations if he knew... “Okay then. Thanks for telling me.”

 

Sheng nodded. “Now, if you would kindly remove your hands, I have a fine lady waiting to undress me.”

 

She was shocked, and instantly released his collar. “Alright, have fun then.” He gave her a thumbs up and continued on his way. “By the way!” she yelled. “I'm still annoyed with you for walking in like that!”

 

“Don't be,” Sheng replied, still walking onwards and waving the back of his hand at her. “A visual is nothing compared to the scent the two of you give off!”

 

She swore she died of humiliation, then and there. She had completely forgotten the smell factor... That was a great explanation for why yÅkai weren't embarrassed by intimacy...

 

How embarrassing.

 

That night Sesshomaru failed to visit her again, and she was left to pace between her bed and the door once more. She didn't know why she had this pressing need to see him, or why she was so weak that she would give in to it. Now she had a far better excuse though. She had news for him. And... She had reached a decision. She was going to tell him how she felt, because if he didn't feel the same then she was more than free to leave. She had been kept there for a full month as a means of safeguarding her for the duel. No fight meant no restraints though, so she could steal Ah-Un and leave whenever she liked. It was good to know she had that as an option, and thanks to it she was going to tell him...

 

She finally turned on her heel and grabbed the door of her room.

 

The wood felt heavy in her grasp when she tugged it loose from its resting place. It slid easily open though, and her lead filled legs decided to take themselves for a walk. Good, because she didn't want to turn back around after making it this far. She was off to find Sesshomaru, and she was going to talk to him about things. She wasn't going to be mad or hardheaded about anything. She was going to talk to him in a civil manner, like any mature woman would, and she had a feeling that he was going to talk back. She had a good feeling about that, but something was annoying her. For some reason, that ominous warning twinge was rippling through her. Its timing couldn't be worse, so she did the most illogical thing and just ignored it.

 

Her heart danced nervously in her chest, making it hard to breathe yet setting her blood racing. That combo made her feel light headed, and she wafted almost in a daze forward.

 

After the first thirty feet, when an intersection of hallway presented itself, Kagome decided it would be good to let her senses seek out the daiyÅkai. She found him, and turned down the next corridor.

 

“Kagome?”

 

She flinched and looked back quickly enough to send her hair twirling over her shoulder. She smiled at Sheng, who had just stepped out of a room to greet her. She noted the shadow of a woman lifting herself out of the bed hit the rice paper door when a candle was lit inside, and Sheng looked a tad disheveled, yet still dressed. That lucky man...

 

“Hey,” she smirked, blushing over having seen that.

 

He didn't seem amused, for some reason. A second later though he plastered a smile on his face, and that set Kagome off. “Hello. Where are you off to?”

 

“Um, to talk with Sesshomaru, actually,” she replied. His smile faltered, but not in the way one would expect. The light in his eyes dimmed briefly, and that was all. Kagome caught it though, after more than two months of looking for vague facial expressions, and she felt that something was wrong.

 

“Well, he has retired for the evening,” Sheng supplied, almost nonchalantly. “Care to see him tomorrow? I'm sure he would be far less than pleased with being awoken.”

 

She felt her brows knit closer together. “... Is something wrong?”

 

“Of course not, dear,” he replied. “Why would something be wrong?”

 

Dear? Kagome felt scared. Something was up. She didn't know what it was, but the facts all pointed to Sesshomaru. Her uncertainty, Sheng's distracting, his mild reactions, the second aura she sensed next to Se- ...

 

Kagome felt her jaw drop, and she felt something break deep inside her chest. She lifted a hand, as though it would catch the pieces, but she couldn't pass through skin.

 

Sheng noticed this, and sighed. “Kagome, listen, it's-”

 

“Shut up!” she yelled at the old yÅkai. He was actually shocked when she wheeled around on her heel and began to run for Sesshomaru's room, the sleeves of her haori flapping softly against her sides. She didn't want to see what she suspected, but she needed to. She needed to confirm it before she could acknowledge its possibility, and before she could acknowledge anything else in her life. She needed to solidify this feeling of betrayal before it established all on its own and on uncertain grounds.

 

The hallway blurred slightly from her unbidden tears, but she wasn't sniffling or shaking. She was actually cursing herself for feeling so hurt over such a vague suspicion, especially since there was nothing admittedly real between them. But... Kagome was livid. She was actually too angry to be mad, and she needed to prove to herself that she didn't have any reason to be hurt. None at all...

 

Sesshomaru's bedroom door was far easier to open than hers had been, and she found herself staring unabashed into a moonlit room.

 

The clatter and slamming of the door had Sesshomaru sitting up and looking around, his glowing yellow eyes taking in the sight of her.

 

Kagome gave a weak smile, seeing him with sleep roused hair, and she hurried to remember her excellent excuse for having awoken him. The more she looked, the worse she felt. Slowly, that smile shivered downwards. There were too many things out of place. Sesshomaru was wearing no yukata for the night. In fact, it was strewn carelessly on the ground, and despite his having been asleep his eyes were wide and his body stiff for reasons she barely wanted to know. He didn't look tired at all, he looked... He looked like something bad was about to happen, and he was going to witness it.

 

Kagome's smile strengthened briefly, getting ready to ask something lame like 'is there a ghost behind me'. Something shifted behind him though, catching her eye. Something alive, and feminine. She felt her spirits plunge far lower than her body could allow when night hidden hair slowly shifted to reveal a placid and smooth face.

 

It was Chiro... The woman was smiling.

 

Slamming into a muscular chest was Kagome's first indication that she had turned away, and she looked up to see Sheng. He was concerned.

 

...

 

He had known... Chiro had known... Sesshomaru had known, probably everyone in the o-shiro knew, and all of them... ... Was she that much of a fool? Was she so invaluable to be left in the dark?! Did they have fun watching her develop feelings for a man who would never return them?!

 

Having her chin tilted up by a weathered hand made it far too easy for the tears to leak from the corners of her eyes, and an immensely sympathetic look emerged on Sheng's face.

 

“Kagome,” he began.

 

She balled her fists up, yanked herself away from him, and shrieked at the top of her lungs to the unyielding floor. She let loose any energy she wished, any noise she desired, and any suppressed feeling she never wanted in the first place. They were all freed, and ran wild like loose prisoners in unguarded confinements, destroying anything they wished on their way out. She screamed, long and hard, and when she was done with the single note everything was plunged into silence. She noticed Sheng and Sesshomaru in small barriers, protecting themselves from her energy, and she noticed how very empty she felt.

 

And that was it. She was very spent, and tired, and so very hurt. Being stared at didn't help, and she didn't want to be the center of unwanted attention despite the fact that she was shining like a star from loose and unsuppressed power. She yanked the nearby sliding door open so hard that it flew down the wall and derailed the next ten doors from their places, sending them clattering to the ground and tearing through walls.

 

“Kagome,” came Sesshomaru's voice.

 

She barely heard him, and pretended like she didn't. She couldn't look at that man. She was disgusted, with everything. Mostly with herself though. She knew she was getting her hopes up. She knew they'd be crushed. Yet... She allowed it. She allowed herself to be weak, and for what? Kisses? Her stomach was in knots, and she looked in the opposite direction of the being she had grown too fond of. This was far worse than Inuyasha forsaking her weekly for Kikyo, a dead woman. She could handle that for as long as she did because there had never been anything more than a one sided crush established between the two of them. There weren't any steamy moment together, no feelings of opening up to one another, nothing she can say that came close to the time she spent with Sesshomaru...

 

...

 

The cool night felt very good, and she took its frozen invitation and walked down the icy steps for the outside. It was too cold to cry tonight, so it helped her bottle up the horrible feelings which had just flourished to life. Freeze them like a beauty wart until they'd fall out. Even the snow reaching up the legs of her hakama was okay, because the stinging of her skin was something to focus on rather than her feelings. She walked across the courtyard as a shortcut to her room, gathered her always packed things, turned around, and walked back out.

 

Ah-Un appeared surprised to have an early morning visitor come tromping for him through the snow. Kagome noted Sesshomaru's aura following her, and she stopped two feet from the dragon when her name was called again. Her name... It was like poison thanks to how many fond memories it brought up, though his tone had been thick and husky rather than quick and strict.

 

“Go away,” she seethed, hiding her eyes with her outgrown bangs should any more servants or yÅkai appear, which they were beginning to do. She supposed that flaring her energy wasn't the most discrete of feats in that place.

 

“I will not,” he replied sternly, coming closer. The icy ring of an unsheathing sword had Kagome drawing hers as well and spinning on her heel through the clumped snow, ready to face him. She didn't want her determined expression ruined by her tears, but it was.

 

His face softened every so slightly when she turned on him, her energy fierce and her expression hardened to him. He had led her on false pretenses, and he damn well better have known it. It was truly pathetic how traumatized she was by this, but she would think about that later. Later was always a good time to think...

 

“I will not have you leaving these grounds,” he began, automatically assuming a stance with his sword ready, “without finishing what we've started.”

 

He wanted to fight her. He didn't care about the terms, or the grounds they stood on. He wanted a fight... To the death? Why not? He didn't need her, he had someone already in his bed. Why waste his time with her? That's why he hadn't been visiting, after all. What purpose, as a human miko, did she serve?

 

“Fine,” she bit out, settling into her own stance. “If that's how disposable I am, then FINE!!” She barely noted how her anger mixed with her aura and energy, billowing to life in a form which reached for the sky like a bonfire and lit the whole area like it was day. The funny thing was that her aura abandoned its color. It was see through, like a heatwave, but it glowed.. “Do NOT expect me to go easy on you!”

 

The yÅkai's face was a mask, as unreadable as the stars, and he nodded.

 

Her powers could sense everything on her. Her bow, her clothes, her sword, but especially her arrows, and she sent Sesshomaru dodging by firing them off without the bow. The bare tips of the fletchings remained poking out of the snow when they missed their target, and tiny shock waves rippled across the ground before fading, kicking up dry snow flakes. She was so angry that she was overusing her energy, but she didn't care. She needed to vent.

 

When she ran out of arrows Sesshomaru enveloped himself in his own power and charged her. Their auras clashed with their blades, both of them sparking like mini fireworks. She didn't step back from the blow though, and held his blade at bay.

 

Her energy shifted, and she knew what it was doing. The air around her grew colder, and the power coursing through her heated and seeped from her bones, her muscles, her very blood, and it compressed upon itself and grew hotter.

 

Sesshomaru merely had time to frown before she allowed the swelled energy to explode from her, performing the move she first discovered in front of Sheng. It hit him initially, but unlike the soldiers who first experienced this attack he could solidify his aura into a barrier, and he did that as quickly as possible.

 

When he fell back, she jumped forward, blade ready. She didn't expect his direction to change in midair though, and she watched as his right, sword bearing forearm lifted and collided into her chest above her breasts, sending her backwards. His left hand clasped around her throat before she hit the ground hard enough to sink into the snow.

 

Kagome was restrained, completely pinned, and her sword was at Sesshomaru's neck. They were at an impasse, and no one interrupted.

 

“Why not make your final move?” Sesshomaru asked her, sounding only mildly curious and nothing more.

 

She grimaced at him, her sword feeling heavier by the second with how it remained motionless above her.

 

“You may forfeit,” he offered in a whisper. “And keep your life.”

 

“Why don't you just crawl into bed and die there?” she almost growled at him. She was so sad that she was angry, and her anger with him made her sad. It was a vicious cycle she could never win, and one she couldn't break right now.

 

“If you wanted me dead,” he began, cool as ice, “then I would be.”

 

“I know that,” she admitted, too infuriated and distraught to care about the snow melting into her hair.

 

“I know what you feel for me,” he whispered, merely five inches from her face. “I have known it for a long time. And I will return those feelings, should you allow it.”

 

Now the cold didn't matter. She was crying.

 

“Return them?” she asked, sounding calm but soon off the handle. “RETURN THEM?!”

 

Her powers flared, and he backed off so she could shoot to her feet and storm after him.

 

“HOW can you EVER return something you can NEVER feel?!” Those words ripped at her very soul as they came out. It hurt so much that it was soothing. “You are the walking dead, Sesshomaru! You live to show your father up, you kill anyone who stands in your way, and you have no friends because they're a weakness!” They were back to exchanging sword blows, her taking the lead and him mostly blocking, one handed. “You are so focused on being what you are that you cannot be who you are! You are the most stagnant and emotionally stunted being I have ever met!” She paused in her assault, and she swore that the words leaped from her before she knew what they were. “I should have never allowed myself to fall in love with you!”

 

He stared at her a moment. There was a huge silence in the area, despite the number of bodies which filled it, but her attention was on the daiyÅkai alone.

 

He knew... He knew now, for sure, because she just told him...

 

“Why should I feel anything for you?” she asked him, sword down but ready for anything. This hurt. She didn't want to say that, because it had been admitting her feelings to herself too. Now she had to contradict them. She had to tell herself and him why she shouldn't be hurt by this. “You treat me like an object, free to break because you think you can fix it. You can't fix a living being though, Sesshomaru, no matter your strength and no matter your sword techniques or status or heritage. I have stayed here for a full month, living with the knowledge that you were always nearby, and I hated it! You have abused me physically, mentally, even spiritually, Sesshomaru! How do you expect to EVER turn around and redeem yourself for that?!”

 

He was quiet.

 

She shook her head. She couldn't believe this was happening. It was like a nightmare. She wanted to wake up. She wanted so desperately for this to be over. The weight in her body and the throb of her wounded trust were too real to be a nightmare though.

 

“You don't need to redeem yourself though... I'm nothing in the eyes of a yÅkai. I'm a human miko, which is worse than being a hanyÅ, and you hate your brother. I shouldn't expect anything else from you.” She was pouring her heart out to eyes and ears which didn't care. It was oddly soothing though, no matter how much it made her cry. She wanted to talk. She needed to talk. So she would. “I don't care about how powerful you are,” she resumed, now speaking what came to mind. “I don't care how you carry yourself, how perfect you always look, how rich you are, and I definitely don't care how much land you own or how many forces you command, and all of that is supposed to be some point of value you have in the eyes of others. But, not to me. I may be a female, but I'm different, and I have a mind of my own, and you hate that, don't you?” She sounded deranged in her own ears with the short laugh she gave, and she dropped her sword into the snow and lifted her arms with exasperation. “You know what, Sesshomaru? I'm done. I am so completely done with this bullshit that it's almost funny!” She had a smile on her face now, and didn't know why she still had tears leaking down her cheeks. “Congratulations, Inu no Taisho of the central domain, or whatever it's called. You have finally broken me. I just hope you know that my being broken does not represent anything good for you.”

 

And she was done. She didn't want to fight, and after this there didn't seem much to live for, not while feeling the way she felt now. The thing she had worked to attain for four years and had admitted to herself in the last few days was now gone. Crumpled at her feet like a bird beaten by the storm. Everything she had lived, trained, and worked for was a lie. A lie she persisted in telling herself.

 

Taking a deep breath, she disobeyed Sheng. She didn't care who or what saw it, she needed to do this, or she would fully break. She summoned the crystal-like essence which represented her very soul, and allowed it to grow large enough to completely encase her. It felt so cold... It was usually so warm. She didn't know if it was because of the size, or for looking out of it from within, but instead of its usual blue it was completely clear. She was encased in ice. An ice which would kill her if it was cut.

 

“Finish this stupid battle, Sesshomaru,” she ordered him, standing perfectly still. “Be the man you truly are, and show everyone here the lord you want to be! I forfeit, because I refuse to fight a cheater!”

 

She watched him. She had surrendered in a fight to the death, and waited for the final blow of fate. Despite everything though, fate deemed it appropriate that he sheath his sword and finish her off barehanded, and he stepped closer.

 

This was fine... It was fine, and it was all over. Perhaps her reincarnation would find happiness in life, five hundred years from now. A new miko who is given a clean slate. A new life, and a new beginning.

 

Kagome watched as he stepped to within arm's length, then closer. He passed harmlessly into her spirit without shattering it, without being rejected, and she felt herself pulled in against his chest and his arms fold around her back.

 

Her heart stopped in the reality-wrenching moment. She couldn't even call it a moment. This feeling wasn't bound by time, but by them.

 

“I am sorry.”

 

She stared at the starry sky, and watched as the glass encasing them slowly shrank back into herself. She felt... Warmer. Her emotions began to thaw, no longer numb and ignored, and tears were streaming freely down her cheeks. She bit her lower lip to try and hold them back. Did he truly just apologize? To her? In front of so many people??

 

“Kagome, I need you to pull through this,” he whispered very softly, a hand stroking the back of her head tenderly. “I cannot spend the rest of my days with a broken woman at my side.”

 

...

 

“Stop tormenting me,” she pleaded over his shoulder, choking on her words no matter how serious she wished to sound. “Please... Just stop.”

 

He breathed in deeply, and she felt the weight of his exhale. Was this hard for him? “If love is a form of torment, then I have no choice but to make you suffer. I am sorry for that as well.”

 

She bared her teeth to the sky, biting back sobs. This couldn't be happening. Not now... Why? Who hated her? Why did he have to even rub her back in a soothing fashion? Why?!

 

“Give me until summer,” he requested. “I need your patience to redeem myself. If you give me time, then I will share all of mine with you. Indefinitely.”

 

She blinked, and took her chin off his shoulder to rest the bridge of her nose on it instead. “... I... How can I trust you?”

 

“I do not want you to,” he replied, the two of them still whispering. “Your trust is something I need to earn. I would never expect it from you under such circumstances.” He held her tightly, giving her that insanely safe sensation, telling her that everything was fine though it wasn't. “Allow me to prove myself. I wish to court you, Kagome Higurashi. By summer, if you see me as a decent man and as someone who deserves your love and trust, then when you are ready, I wish to claim you as my mate.”

 

Taking a deep breath, she pulled back enough to look into his face, not leaving the circle of his arms. She probably looked like an utter wreak, but he didn't seem to mind.

 

Sesshomaru was sad... He looked so very sad, and yet hopeful. That hope swelled inside of her, becoming contagious, and daylight broke through her darkened spirits. It was a small and seemingly foreign ray piercing the clouds of her roiling emotions, but it was there. Kami, it was there, and she felt her spirit flee from the storm to sit within that tiny beam.

 

She choked on a sob, covering her mouth with a hand. He lifted his arms, and cupping her face he wiped the tears away with his thumbs.

 

“I'll... think about it,” she squeaked, thinking she sounded pathetic at she stared up at him. She bit her lip and averted her eyes. “I need to go though... I. ... I can't stay here.”

 

He accepted this, and took his hands from her. She stood there for a second, staring at the ground, then grabbed her sword, sheathed it, and walked around him for Ah-Un, who hadn't been phased by the fighting in the least. She glanced over, and saw that the whole o-shiro population out there, more eyes adding themselves to the back of the crowd and heads turning to tell the newcomers what they had missed.

 

How stupid... She secured her things, and mounted the dragon who was apparently quite resilient to the cold. There was probably a difference between dragons and lizards... That was a good thing to think about rather than-

 

“Kagome.”

 

She stiffened. It still hurt to hear him. She saw his leg come to a stand to her right though, and glanced to the side and up at him.

 

“I will find you a few days short of one month from now,” he told her, his face calm but his eyes... They were almost pleading. She was sure that not everyone would have been able to see it, and no one but her could since his back was to them all, but she could. “I will need to know then if you require more time alone.”

 

She nodded. The seal also needed to be strengthened by then.

 

“Ah-Un,” Sesshomaru addressed in a normal voice.

 

“Wait,” she interrupted. She was quiet for a moment. “... I'll see you in two weeks...”

 

She didn't look to see his expression, but the tone of his voice sounded lighter. “Take Kagome to her friends.”

 

The dragon understood, and once he had shaken himself free of clinging snow he charged forward like a bounding puppy and leaped into the air.

 

She was leaving. She was going to see long missed friends, and she was going to be free of his presence. Despite how delightful that sounded, she glanced back before piercing the barrier of the floating o-shiro, and saw him watching her go.

 

The shield enveloped her, and after the typical annoying prickles from passing through it she found herself descending. She was leaving, and for some reason it made her very sad. She bent over to hug one of the great scaly necks, and remained like that even after Inuyasha found them and walked the rest of the way to the village at her side. He was soon firing off questions as to where she's been and who that inu who carried her off from Koga's place was.

 

“Hey, Inuyasha?” she began, voice lighter for being on the brink of tears again. “Can we... Not talk about that?”

 

The hanyÅ studied her face and the fake smile which was plastered on it, and seemed to understand.

 

“Keh!” he replied, crossing his arms and looking straight ahead. “Fine. But I expect to know within the week since Sango will work it out of you by tomorrow.”

 

She smiled a tad more genuinely. “Thanks... You're a really good friend.”

 

“I already know that,” he scoffed.

 

“Hm,” she hummed, sitting up and looking ahead to see the slayers village. Sesshomaru's mate... It sounded so fake, but... He said that. He wouldn't joke about something like that...

 

The little sunbeam of hope widened ever so slightly within her, and she wiped her face for the final time. It was going to be a long two weeks, but she was going to use them wisely. She was going to heal, and she was going to laugh, and she was going to play with Shippo and Rin, Ki and Sada, and bond with her friends again. She was going to live, and she was going to be happy. She promised herself that.

 

(NOT THE END) Dun dun dun!

 

A/N: For those of you wondering, there is indeed a third part. Why? Because this story is becoming open POV, that's why. Yes, you read that correctly, it's becoming normal! -is shocked- I'll bet that not many of you were expecting that ending though, eh? XD

 

Muse: “Yeah, about that...” -brushes off hands and feels accomplished- “That is SO them... I can't WAIT to write the third part!”

 

Logic: T-T

 

Muse: “Oh, come on! I'm the emotion based one, I should be crying!”

 

Logic: “It's so sad...”

 

Me: “It's about damn time...” -claps while sobbing- “I'm so fucking happy for them!”

 

Muse: :D “You're a weird chick...”

 

Anyway, there's a third part! It's called Requiem of Time, and there is not going to be another break in the story. In other words, the next part can be as long as I can stand to write this story. I have no idea how long it will be, but I have a feeling that I'm only halfway done with this story... So, no more sections. This is a three part story, and that's IT.

 

Muse: “Wanna bet?”

 

Me: -slams down a blank check- “Yes! And I'll win! How much money do you have?”

 

Muse: “... I fold.”

 

Okay, I'm done talking. The new story is up right now, so go check it out! :D See ya there! Thanks for reading everyone!

 

-AD