Starcrossed

Sesshoumaru followed the fading scent of ripened pears and flowers, disturbed by the blue tint in her smell that alluded to her less than exuberant feelings. Something else was winding in and out of the scent that he had never smelled on her before. He dismissed the small observation though; it was dissipating the closer he got to where she had run.



He found himself approaching a wing of the mansion that he hardly traversed any more. Down this corridor was Izayoi and his father’s bedroom, and further to the back was InuYasha’s pitiful excuse for accommodations. The boy lacked the elegance and taste that his father had even managed to scrounge up, despite his tacky wife. So, he was very surprised to see, as it were, that her scent lead him to his step-mother’s private sitting room. Very surprised.



Sesshoumaru hesitated for a second, anticipating the headache that communicating with the wench that married his father would give him, before gently knocking for admittance. He heard the graceful unhurried steps of wretched excuse of a gold digger approach the door and suddenly it occurred to him how much he must have shocked Kagome. If not, then she would have come herself, and would have been ready to forgive him of his mistake, as was her nature. For the bearer of the hanyou to come was a bad sign indeed.



Izayoi opened the door, and observed Sesshoumaru quietly. He was surprised at the lack of contempt or hostility on her face, and the way she patiently seemed to wait for him to speak.



“I have come to explain circumstances of importance to Kagome,” he stated, booking no room for any other action than to go retrieve said girl.



The woman of course had to challenge him, as usual…



“I do not warrant Kagome is ready to see you as of-”



“I did not ask,” he said coolly. Sesshoumaru could not explain why, but it was imperative that he explain himself before Izayoi did something drastic and heavy-handed. She had proven herself to be the type to interfere in a problem that did not concern her and pass harsh judgment on those she deemed guilty. Like some twisted God.



“Sesshoumaru, she’s not able to comprehend whatever just happened, and obviously is hurting.”



As the perceptive man he was, it was not very surprising that he picked up on the fact that Kagome had either not gotten a chance to, or had chosen not to tell Izayoi of what happened.



“Woman, you will allow this Sesshoumaru access to the girl or I will go in there and fetch her myself.” How this woman annoyed him in less than ten seconds to the point that he was growling menial threats was remarkable. Like mother, like son.



Surprisingly though, she stood to the side, allowing him admittance. He scanned the room quickly, noticing the clashing shades of pink and yellow that screamed at his eyeballs. Kagome was sitting in a yellow monstrosity that seemed to be attempting to eat her whole, and if it hadn’t been for the expression on her face, he would have been tempted to actually laugh. But she looked so… troubled and vacant. Like she was so busy with an internal dispute that she had forgotten she was a resident of the waking world still.



“Kagome.”



He spoke her name softly, as if she would break if it were spoken too loud.



Her head turned, and the first thing that he noticed was apprehension in her watery sapphire eyes. And then a sea of embarrassment. She immediately, and uncharacteristically, cut eye contact, blushing madly.



He gracefully glided across the hardwood floor, managing somehow to look completely together despite the shirt that was still missing its buttons, and his hair that was slightly crimped from Kagura pulling and lying on it. How she had managed to do that still escaped him. Kagome felt the urge to roll her eyes at his perfection.

The elegant male came to stand in front of her and noticed how she continued to observe his shoes instead of his face. He sought to remedy that.



“Kagome,” he whispered, and when she shrank away from him he spoke her name again, his voice bathed in icy impatience. “Kagome, look at me when I talk to you.”



“I think I've seen enough of you for today,” was the cornered girl's snippy reply, that she immediately regretted with the reverberating sound of his growl.



“Leave us.” Sesshoumaru demanded, turning to InuYasha's mother as she hovered.



“You will NOT kick me out of my own rooms Sesshoumaru! I am not some inferior bitch that you may order about! I am-”



The taiyoukai tuned her out, having been privy to this rant far too many times, and instead roughly grabbed Kagome's arm, and pulled her to her feet then dragged her out the door. He felt no real resistance from her, almost as if showing her appreciation for the loss of an unnecessary pair of ears. He quickly walked into the hallway and turned down several corridors.



Once in a random room that was flooded with sunlight and tapestries, he let go of her appendage and turned to her. “This Sesshoumaru apologizes for what you saw this afternoon. He should have been more diligent and not have lowered himself to rutting in such an exposed manner. But there comes a time, when a pup becomes an adult, that they take a certain interest in the opposite sex. This interest can often turn physical, and will involve things such as kissing and-”



“Woah! Please tell me you are not trying to give me the 'sex talk' Sesshoumaru!” Kagome interrupted, trying to distract herself from the way his voice was suddenly making her blush.



“You aware of the act then?”



She gave him her famous 'duh' look, and informed him that “I am fifteen! I've had the sex talk from my parents three years ago when I got my... yeah”



“Why so young Kagome?”



“Um... you don't know?” she questioned, clearly stalling.



“No. Inform this Sesshoumaru...”



“Ah, maybe later. Didn't you want to talk to me about you're little tryst with the city whore? All I want to know is why you were fucking you're supposed enemy.”



She took note of how Sesshoumaru's eyes widened the smallest fraction when she had let her wide range of vocabulary slip out.



“Firstly, Miss Higurashi-” she knew she was in trouble then “you will refrain from using that language. It is very disappointing to see what you have been picking up from my crass sibling... Secondly, Kagura and I have had a relationship in the past. She sought to rekindle it today, and although I denied, she still offered to...” Sesshoumaru paused, considering how to put this to a child.



“She offered to screw you silly to show you what you were missing out on.”



The tall man pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “In so many words, yes. But I'll thank you to refrain from putting it that way.”



Kagome resisted to roll her eyes. “Yes, so anyway, I was coming to ask you a question before I was, um, 'side-tracked' by the very inappropriate display of your person”



“Well, what may this Sesshoumaru help you to understand?”



“Um, you see, InuYasha has been acting very weird lately... He's been extremely clingy and has scared the living daylights out of my boyfriend Hojo, well ex-boyfriend now, not that I really care, and has been oddly aggressive to Miroku whenever he, ya know...”



“No, I do not know. An complete the words that you begin to speak Kagome...”



“Well, Miroku is Sango's love interest and Inuyasha's best friend. You've met him, right?”



“I am aware of the boy's existence, but I must ask you to stop stalling. It is extremely unappealing, and cowardly.”



“Well, he has what he calls 'a cursed hand' as an excuse for fondling women that he meets. Well, he did so to me a coupla, I mean a couple of days ago, and InuYasha flipped out and pinned him to the wall, telling him that if he ever touched me again, he 'would rip the damn hand off and shove it down his throat'.”



Sesshoumaru took a moment to observe the girl before asking her a question that meant more to a youkai than he could ever explain to her.



“Kagome. You do realize that you are part of our pack do you not?”



“Yeah I know. We're all the best of friends and have been since I was a kid.”



“I do not think you grasp my meaning Little Bird. Pack is like family. You are family. We all would not hesitate to give our lives for one another, and that now includes you.”



He could tell by the widening of her eyes that the gravity of this information was beginning to weigh on her mind. She let a barely audible 'oh' escape, her sight no longer focused on him.



“But, Sesshoumaru, why aren't you that way with Izayoi? She's pack.”



“As much as I would like to deny that the wench is related to this Sesshoumaru in any way, I would still at the behest of my father, save her from whatever peril she brings upon herself.”



“You know, she's not as bad as you seem to think.” Kagome, always the peacemaker, could not stand to see a rift in a family, especially on that she was beginning to understand was her own.



“Yes, well, that is still left for me to witness. But I sense that you are still in turmoil, no doubt about my cretin half-brother.”



“Never start a sentence with a conjunction Sesshoumaru-san,” she quietly mocked, “However, you are right. I believe that InuYasha may have become... smitten with me, to put it delicately.”



Something about that did not sit well with Sesshoumaru. He decided to dissect his reactions later when the teen no longer needed his advice. “That is doubtful Little Bird. He currently has a love interest that he is trying to keep from my father. I have heard them, conversing. She goes to a different school than you all, although from the picture the imbecile left about, she looks startlingly like you.”



Sesshoumaru had expected quiet tears, raging, anything but the loud sigh of relief she exxhaled.



“Thank god. I thought for a minute there that I was going to have to tell him I was not interested in him in that way. After all, if I would kiss him, then all I would be able to picture is the way he would have been cramming Ramen into his mouth less than ten minutes ago, and how he tastes like really salty chicken.”



Sesshoumaru's lips lifted slightly into a subtle smile as he watched the young miko frown. “This Sesshoumaru can only imagine how unpleasant that would be. However, I believe that he is only acting as a concerned older sibling towards your person Kagome. His reactions as of late, and for the next few years shall be unstable at best. He is reaching his adolescence in demon years, which means that his blood will now become unstable causing him to sometime react more violently than he would before this time.”



“Well, Mr. Encyclopedia, thank you. You have answered all my questions.” Kagome intoned, poking him in the chest knowing that it would bother him, like so many of her other habits.



Sesshoumaru saw the offending digit on its path to his chest and intercepted it, pulling it away to the right. The unexpected move caused Kagome to lose her balance and crash into his chest. Kagome slowly lifted her head to look into his citrus eyes, felling her cheeks heat as she began to remember how beautiful he had looked with Kagura. How he had looked so surreal. And how she had stood there, watching, wishing beyond anything ever prayed for before, that it could have been her.



Sesshoumaru was flooded with her soft scent, wafting right under his nose from her. The familiar pear and flower scent soothed him, but it was being masked by another darker flavor that he could only describe as sensual, or husky, like a woman's deep moan.



Dawning finally crept into his mind, and showed on his face.

Kagome had always been perceptive, and she knew when he had smelled it. She quickly chastised herself and struggled to escape his hold. She couldn't bear to stay for the rejection that was sure to come. The best of which would be that she was too young. That would give her false hope though, and she didn't want that either. So she did the only thing she could think of, and ran.



She ran out of the room, deciding a random direction to just escape another person who didn't really want her, ran from promises of all she could ever want and never have, ran from all the emotions she knew he could never have.



Sesshoumaru stood there, in shock. His Little Bird had flew away, but not before leaving him with his entire mind wiped clean.



“That was unexpected” he whispered aloud to no one. “Very unexpected.” He could now finally place the scent that she had left in the doorway of his office.



Kagome had smelled extremely aroused.

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Thank you Sinful Widow for diligently reviewing! This one's for you! I am so very very unbelievably sorry that this took me for freaking ever to do, but school has been CRAZY! i'm taking a full load again this semester, and I'm ready to see a shrink! Anyway, thank you all my lovely readers, you are amazingly wonderful and I wish I could shower you with money, but alas I am poor, so we must make do with me showering you in thanks. I promise to respond to each of your revies next time, but I'm so tire and I have to be up at an ungodly hour in the morning. So, read rate and review as usual! By the way, Happy April Fool's Day!



Oh, and before you ask, every scent is different, ne? so why would arousal smell the same across the board? It should smell different for every person depending on their own scent, etc. So that is why he would not have recognized it at first, because he had not smelled her "brand", if you will, of arousal before.