Roses and Thorns

Disclaimer: I don’t own Inuyasha or any other part of them…Kami knows I wish I did though, but I don’t wanna get sued, so…

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Aisuru – sweetheart, beloved
Bijin – beautiful woman
Hanasu – release me!
Daijouka – are you okay?
Doushita – what’s wrong?
Damare – be quiet/shut up
Shojo – virgin
Iya – no
Ite – ouch
Jou-chan – little missy
Kowai – scared
Nani Yatten no – what are you doing?
Okari Nasai – welcome home
Amefuri – in the rain
Neko – cat
Arigatou – thank you (informal)
Arigatou Gozaimasu – thank you very much
Gomen Nasai – I’m sorry
Bangohan - dinner


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Aimlessness ~ If you have a Dell laptop at home that was purchased between April 2004 and now, you might want to check to see if the battery is on recall. They could cause fires. I just want to keep everyone safe.

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Sesshoumaru laughed so hard tears were beginning to spring from his eyes. He grabbed onto a corner cabinet with one hand to keep from falling and his stomach with the other. Oh this was grand indeed.

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Kagome was irked that he was laughing at her. If it was possible, you’d see steam coming out from her ears. He was no better than his brother. His brother, Inuyasha…she was a fool to even believe that she had feelings for him. He loved Kikyo, not her. Kagome was deep in thought when a little pair of feet came bursting through the door.

“Kagome-sama!”

She gently smiled.

“Hello little Rin. How was your day? Did you torture Master Jaken again?”

Rin gave a little laugh.

“Of course, I’ve been making up for the both of us.”

She stopped short of wrapping her arms around the lovely lady. Her breath of fresh air happiness seemed to disappear and a quivering lip took its place, the light in her eyes dimming slightly. She wrung her little hands with each sleeve, her head dipped down low.

“What’s wrong little one? Are you hurt?” Kagome immediately reached out to search for the cause of her distress, and any possible scratches or scrapes.

“K-Kagome-sama?” sniffles.

“Hai?” she continued her search.

“D-Did I make you s-sick?”

Kagome stopped and blinked at the saddened girl. Realization swept through her.

“Oh Kami no. Come here sweet child. Your words made me kowai, but it wasn’t you that caused me to become ill.” Kagome gathered her into her arms and ran her fingers through the girl’s hair, trying to soothe the onslaught of tears.

“A-are you sure?” the child cried quietly this time.

“Honey no, it wasn’t you. Something within me made me sick. I-I guess it has to do with my miko powers and this strange transformation. Oh aisuru, it wasn’t you. Tell you what. When it’s just you and me together, you can call me mom or mommy. It will be our little secret, okay?” She rocked the child in her arms. Shushing her quietly. After a few minutes of Kagome alternating shushing and humming to Rin, the little girl was soon fast asleep.

Kagome got up from her chair and took the sleeping child to their bed. She pulled the covers over her little form and gave a little smile. Rin reminded her so much of her adopted son Shippou. How she missed him right now. Hopefully Sango and Miroku were taking care of him.

He normally slept with her in her sleeping bag when they camped outside. Outside, she realized she hadn’t been outside since she came to be in Lord Sesshoumaru’s possession. She would go out tomorrow; tonight she was drained from their earlier interlude. Whether he liked it or not, Sesshoumaru was very much like his half brother. Feisty is one way to put it. Kagome gave an inward laugh.

She was halfway undressed when she felt someone or something watching her. Her breath caught and her fingers froze. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, her miko senses tingling. Something beckoned her through the window. She slowly stepped through the dark silk curtains to the balcony clutching at one to cover herself and searched the skies thinking of the impossibility that Naraku would be so bold as to come this close to Sesshoumaru’s Palace. Alas, there was no one in the skies, but when she began to scan the ground, she thought she could see a reflection of a pair of yellowed eyes as if the moon were making them reflect back to her from the forest. No, that wasn’t possible, who or what would be stupid enough to get this close? Kagome rubbed and blinked her eyes making sure she wasn’t hallucinating. When she looked back, the yellowish eyes were gone.

‘Hn, must’ve been a neko or something.’

When she turned back a flash of a shadow caught her eye.

‘I’ve got to get to bed, my brain is tricking me into seeing things in the dark.’ She shook her head and went back inside.

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Kouga smirked in spite of himself. He knew she saw him. It was only for a brief moment, and oh dear Kami, what a lovely sight she was. Yes, this bijin would be his. Even if he has to take her by force, which might be the way he will have to use. Of course, he would enjoy her fighting, wriggling her body against his, oh it would be heaven.

“Ginta!”

His pack mate ran to him as his name was called.

“Are we ready?”

“Almost Kouga, but…”

“But what?” he snarled.

“You sure you want to do this? I mean, we’ll probably lose over half the pack and all of the humans if we do this.”

Kouga’s eyes swirled with red as he gripped the nearest tree branch, snapping it in two, causing Ginta to step back.

“Of course I do! You of all people know how much I love Kagome. I will not let that mongrel of a demon touch her again! Now go and make sure everyone knows the plan.”

“Hai.”

He sauntered back towards the ever growing encampment. It would be a few more days before they come put Kouga’s plan into action, but he was worried for his comrade. He never got crazy like this before with Kagome. It was always so innocent. Now, he sighed heavily, now it was just downright brutal what he planned. There was no stopping Kouga from him, he would be killed, and that wasn’t an option.

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The next few days went by quickly. Kagome and Sesshoumaru were somewhat civil to each other, earning smiles and sometimes a laugh every now and then from the other. Kagome started to notice it first, Sesshoumaru’s stuck in-between form was getting better, like he was going back to his “normal” self with each passing day. He was still gruff at times but, she thought, she was beginning to see a crack in the surface.

Kagome was cleaning up from Rin’s coloring to see Sesshoumaru coming into the room, and gave a little nod in acknowledgement. She stayed silent thinking that he just wanted some peace now that Rin was outside playing with Jaken. Well, she was playing, while Jaken was not. Kagome smiled in spite of herself.

“I’ll be out of here in a moment Sesshoumaru-sama.”

“That will not be necessary.”

“Huh?”

“Miko, stop what you are doing. I-This Sesshoumaru has something to show you.”

That word just grinded her gears. She was beginning to hate it, and he could tell.

“Dammit Sesshoumaru! My name is…”

He stepped forward and placed a single finger upon her rosy red lips.

“Kagome. I know.” His face softening just a bit.

In the few days that he had been changing back to himself, she was growing ever more beautiful. Her hair continued to grow longer, and curl itself into little tendrils at the ends. Her eyes became bluer and clearer. They were breathtaking. Her lips hips and the rest of her body just ever so much more curvier. Her scent was something like heaven. It had changed from something so strong, to something so sweet. Like from natural outdoors to a sweet slip of warming cinnamon.

She also found that her back itched quite a lot. Sometimes it even felt as if something were crawling on her. She examined herself many times in a mirror placed in the cavernous spring that Sesshoumaru had brought in just for her, and upon close examination, she could just barely see two thin lines across her shoulder blades. She couldn’t remember those being there before, but thought it was nothing to worry about.

Kagome noticed he had been staring as if lost in thought, and began to get flustered. This was something she just wasn’t used to. Even Inuyasha didn’t look at her like the way he was just now.

Over the past few days, Inuyasha had become nothing more than a fleeting thought. She may have wondered what he was up to, but there was virtually no flicker there. No spark of hope thinking that he would come to save her. Now that she thought about it, she wondered what she needed saving from. Sesshoumaru had been wonderful to her. Not at first of course, and he was there for her when she was sick. She was grateful to him for that, but they way he went about it, she still had a bone to pick.

“As I said, this Sesshoumaru has something to show you that you may find very valuable.” He removed his finger from her lips, barely brushing them, sending a quivering shake throughout the both of them.

“Follow me.”

Kagome put down the almost full coloring book and crayons she had in her hands. She would need to go home to the future soon. She figured she would save that explanation for a little later. It was going to be a long one and knew he would have questions. For now, she followed him out the door. He led her through several unfamiliar hallways until they came upon one she started to recognize. It was the same one where everything had taken place almost three weeks ago.

She hesitated at the entrance to the room he was about to take her. He was already in when he sensed her reluctance.

“Come, I will not harm you jou-chan.”

Her face became red and she curled her delicate hands into fists.

“I am not…”

Before she could yell at him, with a wave of his hand he had pulled her inside the grand room and shut the door. This was new.

He gave a little smirk seeing the look on her face when he pulled her in. He didn’t always like using his demonic powers, but they did come in handy when he needed amusement.

“Look around you Kagome.”

Before she let a smart aleck remark slip through her lips, she turned and looked around her. It was the library Rin first brought her to, but it was so much larger than she ever thought. Books lined the walls from top to bottom, left to right. Not an inch of wall was missed by books. Small books, large books, novels, history, philosophy, sciences, mathematics, everything literally under the sun was here. Kagome felt her jaw go slack. All she could utter was a small “Wow” that even the great Sesshoumaru had a hard time detecting.

Lord Sesshoumaru was dare he say, happy that she was pleased? Yes, yes he was.

Kagome turned to him and embraced him in a bear hug without first thinking who it was she was grabbing onto.

“Arigatou Sesshoumaru-sama. Arigatou gozaimasu. I love this room.”

Sesshoumaru was needless to say, surprised at the unexpected touch and immediately missed her warmth when she let go.

“Gomen nasai. I-I don’t know what came over me.”

Sesshoumaru cleared his throat and placed his hands behind his back.

“Mi-Kagome, while I have you in a good spirited mood, may I ask you something?”

“Hai.” She was still fascinated by all the books in the room. She could do some serious reading in here. Maybe even teach Rin something, but she wasn’t staying that long…was she?

He cleared his throat again to claim her attention.

“Will you join me for bangohan tonight?”

“Of course Lord Sesshoumaru. I always do every night.”

“No, I mean only me. Not with Rin and Jaken. They will be eating separately tonight.”

A flushing pink bloomed upon her face in recognition.

“Oh.”

“This Sesshoumaru waits for an answer.”

“Um…sure. I guess so.”

He bowed to her. Wait, THE Lord Sesshoumaru bowed to her? Things were changing for sure.

“I also have another gift for you after dinner.”

With that last statement, he left her in the great library. Kagome sat down in one of the large plush futons. Just what was she doing? She found her heart was racing, and placed a delicate hand over it. Well, this is definitely different. Dinner alone with Sesshoumaru? Eh, what could it hurt? She did need a night where she wasn’t playing referee between Rin and Jaken. As old as the little toad was, you’d think he’d act better. And just what was this other "gift" he was going to give her?

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So? What did you guys think? Review!!! Sorry ya’ll had to wait so long…I’m already working on chapter 13, and I hope you’ll like it. I have a few ideas as to what to do in chapter 13, but if you have some suggestions, feel free to let me know. Oh, I know there are a few words up top that have definitions that I didn’t use. I will be using them in the future though. I may repost those at the top of 13. Just FYI, if Roses and Thorns looks like it keeps popping up at the top of the list without new chapters, it is because I’ve been doing some corrections. You know, like editing a few words here and there that I may have missed. Don’t forget, if you’d like to be on a mailing list, you can reach me at:

faerie_demoness@hotmail.com

So enjoy! Please please please REVIEW!!!!!

~Much Love~

Faerie Demoness