Gambling with Ice and Fire

Kagome grew increasingly uncomfortable as the silence deepened in the room. She could feel his eyes boring into her, seemingly reading her every thought. She looked around, finally settling her gaze on his lips. She couldn't bring herself to look into the taiyoukai's steely eyes.

"Why are you here?" he finally asked.

Kagome bit her bottom lip nervously. "I had things to give to Rin, you said she was here," she half truthfully told him, and she knew that he could tell that it wasn't the only reason. She could feel her knees begin to tremble under his intense stare, and finally she gave in. "I wanted to get to know you!" she blurted out.

No expression or hint of thought passed Sesshoumaru's face. Kagome finally locked her gaze with his, forcing herself to not look away. "I just, I was curious," she said when she could control herself no longer and looked down at her folded hands. "I've seen you around, but I don't really know anything about you, or really Rin for that matter, and even less about Jaken."

The demon quirked an eyebrow at her, the slightest movement of his delicate features.

"I know, curiosity killed the cat," she began, trying to fill the abscence of his responce, but she was cut short.

"What an interesting locution," he said, still staring at her.

Kagome took a deep breath, realizing that in her analogy, she would very well be the cat. She hoped dearly that her companions half-brother wouldn't kill her merely for being curious, but she knew that the daiyoukai had killed borth mortals and demons for lesser reasons.

Sesshoumaru could smell the fear suddenly eminating from the girl across from him, but she still stood her ground, never physically flinching or cowering back from his presence. Intrigued, the lord stood and leaned slightly across to desk towards her, wondering how far he could push her boundaries before she would submit to her instincts.

He was suprised, however, when she challenged him back. She was on the edge of her seat, looking like she was ready to spring for the door at a moments notice, but her upper body leaned in towards him. He could feel her miko aura mixing with his own in a not wholy unpleasant sensation. His eyes fixed to hers, he growled, "do not get in the way of my business here or threaten anyone and you may stay until your companions come to bring you back."

Kagome was stunned. She hadn't thought about the others since they had suddenly dissapeared earlier that day. She guessed that they would likely be there in two days, travelling at the speed they normally did when out searching for shards, possibly a little faster with Inuyasha's prompting. When she regained her composure, Kagome nodded and stood, wishing the taiyoukai goodnight before exiting. Once outside, she ran towards her hut, thankful to be outside in the fresh air.

So, Kagome thought to herself, I have two days to break that ice.

Sesshoumaru watched her run across the courtyard from the window in the library. His nails clicked the wooden frame as he tapped his fingers, lost in his own thoughts.

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Kagome awoke to two dark brown orbs staring down at her. "Good morning!" Rin cheerily sung when she noticed that the older womans eyes were open.

"Good morning Rin," Kagome smiled back, stretching her tired body to consciousness. "What do you want to do today?"

Rin smiled. "I want to go play in the gardens!" she nearly shouted with enthusiasm. Her smiled dropped for a second, "but master Jaken says that we should have breakfast first."

Kagome stood, walking behind the screen to change from her pajamas into her usual clothes, only to find a beautiful silver kimono with purple flowers hanging in place of her school uniform. "Rin? Where are my clothes?"

"Master Sesshoumaru told me to take them to be cleaned, and 'leave a more suitable outfit' in it's place," she giggled as she imitated the taiyoukai. Kagome smiled as the silk caressed her skin. She was almost afraid to put it on, but she knew that she wouldn't be slaying demons or travelling while wearing the fine fabric, so she didn't refuse.

When she stepped out from behind the screen, she noticed that Rin was wearing the kimono that she had given the girl. "Look! We match!" Rin smiled, heading towards the door.

As they stepped outside into the bright morning light, they were greeted by the annoying voice of Jaken. "You'll have to make your own breakfast this morning," he told them, his nose in the air. "The cook was sent on an errand in town."

Kagome smiled and nodded, turning inside to rummage through her bag for a moment before walking towards the dining hall. Rin lead her through another door to show her the cooking area, closing the door behind them so that Jaken wouldn't bother them.

"So what shall we make?" Kagome asked the girl. She looked confused for a little while, not sure what to reply. "How about pancakes?"

Rin nodded eagerly, thinking of the delicious pancakes the cook made whenever they were at the house and not travelling. Kagome looked through the cupboards in search of the ingredients and supplies. When she finally had the ingredients, she began mixing them all into a bowl. Following Kagome's instruction, Rin had a fire started and the pan heating by the time the main part of the batter was mixed, so she came to watch the preperations.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to the brown chunks that Kagome had been chopping up and was now mixing into the light batter.

"It's chocolate," Kagome replied, handing the girl a piece to try before she dumped the rest of the chunks into the batter. "It's a yummy treat from where I'm from." The girl eyed the chocolate in her fingers wearily before slowly placing it on her tongue. After a few moments, her eyes lit up with glee.

"It's delicious!" she exclaimed, grinning before licking the melted chocolate off her fingers.

"It comes in all kinds," Kagome smiled back at her. "This is milk chocolate, so it's sweeter than regular chocolate, but there's many different types, and ways to eat it," she grinned, thankful that she had brought more for the girl. "When you cook it in pancakes like this, the chocolate gets all gooey and warm."

Rin smiled, her face taking on a dreamy expression at the thought of more of the delicious brown substance. Kagome smiled as she flipped the pancakes, then went in search of a plate. She had already decided to bring some marshmallows and graham crackers back from her time the next time she went for a visit, but she didn't know when that would be so she didn't want to get the child's hopes up, not to mention that she didn't know when she would see the girl next after her friends came to get her.

Suddenly remembering her purpose at the taiyoukai's home, she wondered when she would get a chance to see the demon lord, or if he would hide away until she left. Bringing it up, trying to be casual, Kagome asked Rin what the inuyoukai usually did while he was there.

"He's usually doing stuffy lord stuff," she giggled, sticking her tongue out to show her distaste. "But he's usually watching what's happing around here, takes little breaks to make sure that the servants are doing their jobs," she said, rolling her eyes. "But sometimes he plays with me!" she smiled again, eyeing the chocolate turning to goo in the pan.

Kagome almost choked at the mental image of the stoic lord playing with a human girl. Then, as her imagination wandered even farther, she pictured him as a gigantic puppy, wagging his tail with his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth while the child threw sticks for him to fetch. Undable to contain herself any longer, Kagome burst out into laughter. Rin looked startled at her sudden outburst, so Kagome explained what she had been thinking.

Rin burst into laughter along with her, and soon the two were sitting on the floor, holding their sides with tears streaming down their cheeks. Both stopped, startled, as the door slid open with a bang.

"What's going on in here?" Sesshoumaru asked, looking between the humans. Instead of answering, they both simply started laughing again.

"Stop, it's killing me!" Kagome cried as she collapsed onto her back on the hard wood floor. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at her, silently promising that if the laughter didn't kill her, he would for ignoring him. Rin jumped to her feet, tugging at the youkai's sleeve so she could whisper something into his ear. She continued giggling after he straightened, expressionless. Without saying anything, he turned and walked out the door.

The girls looked at eachother and burst out laughing yet again. A few moments later, Kagome remembered the pancakes. Prying them off the pan, the bottoms darker than she would have liked, Kagome served Rin her first taste of chocolate chip pancakes.

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Sesshoumaru went back to his patrol around the estate, irked that the girls had been laughing at him. He couldn't believe what they had actually had the gall to imagine him doing! He hoped that once the miko had left, Rin would forget all that nonsence and never attempt to make their childish thoughts a reality.

He admitted to himself that he probably would do it, if only to hear the girl's gleeful laughter.

But, he also knew that the girl wasn't a burden, and her joy came easily. He didn't doubt that the girl truly did need human companionship, someone she could talk to. Even another female around would likely make her life with him happier.

He also knew that while he knew a great deal about humans, even a demon lord couldn't teach her the finer aspects of womanhool, once that time came for the girl. He didn't know what her true age was, but he guessed that in a few years, she would be nearing the time when she would be a woman.

Her oblivious devotion to him was something he hadn't expected. He had revived her from death, repaying her kindness while he recuperated from his injuries from the fateful day he lost his arm. He didn't expect her to follow him, nor did he expect that silent girl to blossom into a chatty companion that brought him flowers and obeyed his every command.

She was a mystery among her species, or what he had known of her species.

Inuyasha's mother, Izayoi, had been mortal, and she had caused his father to perish before he himself could kill him to show his dominance. Sesshoumaru, however he disliked her, had visited her from time to time, without her knowledge of course. This woman had been in his fathers last words to him, and he wanted to find just what it was about her that he had cared enough to die for.

He couldn't find that answer from the woman Izayoi, but he found it in a little girl.

"Yes father, I have something to protect," he said, looking out towards the villiage. He turned when his ears picked up the laughter of the women as they headed towards the gardens.

His domain was not impervious to demon attack, just as any other villiage in existance, but the demons who had frequented the area knew of the taiyoukai and knew the boundaries, if one should cross them, even in his absence, they would likely be terminated immediately.

Little known to anyone, the magical working of his home. Many decades of securing his stronghold should war break out, he had aquired several means of defence for his residence. The first being a barrier was placed around the grounds so that no youkai without an encoded magical ring could pass. To guard against human attackers, the barrier also kept out any humans that were not invited in. The guards at the gate could shut the barrier off at the gate, but nowhere else, so that the humans could pass if they had business concerning the villiage the taiyoukai oversaw.

When a demon attacked, he was thrown back by a blast of demonic energy. Humans who tried to enter without coming through the front gates were given the same blast of energy, but to a lesser extent as to not kill them.

When Sesshoumaru had brought Kagome to the manor, he had not used the gate as he seldom did, wanting the servants unknowing of his precence for as long as possible. If they were slacking, he would remove their employ at the residence, taking back the coveted ring to hand to the next servant.

When the miko was in Sesshoumaru's arms, her holy aura withdrawn due to sleep, his jaki could envelop her so that the barrier did not notice her precence. It was a decent defence system, but not his only one. His last means of defence were, of course, the painting, in which only he and those he brought through directly with him could pass. If an invader happened to see them enter, he would walk into hard, stone wall. Should the painting itself be completely destroyed, those inside would still have a means of escape through a secondary painting in another, more secluded home that he kept in the mountains, unknown to anyone but himself as to its existance.

He had been considering updating the painting so that it would allow more than himself and his now deceaced father through the portal, but his efforts to find the artist who had painted it had gone in vain, as the demon who had once resided in the villiage had seemingly vanished.

The taiyoukai was thinking about that demon when he heard a shriek coming from the the gardens, where the two human girls had just run off to. Thinking of a possible demon in the far corners of the gardens, ones that the barrier hadn't protected, the lord quickly bolted into action, slowing to a walk as he saw no demons, but the girls dancing around in an amusing fashion.

"Why are you doing that?" he asked them. Rin ran over brushing at her arms and legs, trying her best not to shriek as she told her master that there were ants crawling around inside their kimonos. Sesshoumaru's eyes softened as he looked down at the girl who was still trying to shake the little bugs out of her dress. He glaced over to the older woman, who looked almost as he thought Rin would in several years time. They were both doing the same actions, dancing around.

"Miko," he instructed. "Hold Rin and flare your aura."

She looked at him, dumbfounded. "I don't know how to do that!" she cried as her hand flew to her back. "Besides, why would my miko powers affect plain old ants?"

Sesshoumaru refrained from rolling his eyes, an action that was beneath his position. "The ants do have a demonic aura, but it's faint. You would have noticed had you not been dancing like an idiot."

Kagome stared at him for a minute, trying to comprehend. "Demon ants? HA!" she laughed, but reahed for Rin. "Let's hope this works," she muttered as Rin writhed in her arms, still trying to brush off the hordes of ants that had come out of nowhere.

"Don't think about it, like you are going to fire an arrow, add your energy to the girl's, but instead of transferring it to a weapon, move it over your joined skin."

Kagome did as he said, trying not to think and swipe at the ants that were tickling her arms.

"If you don't do it before the ants find the right areas of your body, they will begin harvesting your living flesh."

Kagome's eyes flew open in shock, only to see a pink wave rolling overtop of her. Through the haze she could feel the little feet slipping away from her skin, the child in her arms settling down as the irritation dissapeared. She looked to Sesshoumaru who was stepping backwards, away from the ki that was spilling over from Kagome and snaking its way along the ground. Kagome blinked a few times, now trying to think of a way to stop the outpour of energy that threatened to purify everyone around.

She didn't have an answer.

"How do I turn it off?" she shouted at the taiyoukai who was now hovering above the ground on his cloud, still moving slowly backwards as her ki pushed him away. He could withstand alot of force, but her energy was turning to a brilliant, glowing light of purity that hurt his eyes and burned his skin. As it was, he was within a distance that lesser demons would have been instantly destroyed.

If he did answer her, she didn't hear it. All she could hear was the faint, distant sounding hum as her energy burst forth. She noticed that the child in her arms was safe, but fright was mixed in with her expression of awe. Kagome realized that if she didn't figure out how to stop the outpouring of purity, she would no longer have to worry about a bet with Inuyasha since the demon lord would be killed.

Her vision started to fade through the expanding pink bubble. Panic set in, her eyes darting around. Suddenly, it dawned on her to try to concentrate the energy into one place, like her arrow. Keeping Rin close to her, she closed her eyes and tried to feel beyond herself, reaching out with invisible arms to gather the holy light closer to herself. When at last she opened her eyes what seemed like an eternity later, she saw her ki flowing around them in a tight river, a barrier that rivaled any she had seen.

Sesshoumaru felt the slowing of her spiritual energy and stopped moving away. As he watched, she miraculously pulled the stinging light around herself and the child, creating a rather thick barrier that crackled and flowed around the two humans. He was no longer being burnt by the energy, but he knew better than to get too close to the barrier.

Kagome, looking around herself, saw the taiyoukai once again on his feet, slowly approaching them. "Stay back," she quietly warned. "I don't know if I can hold it."

He complied, knowing that an untrained miko shouldn't even be able to produce such a force, let alone control it. He looked carefully to make sure that his ward was allright before retreating to a safer distance. He watched as the woman slowly closed her eyes, a shudder passing through her body as she sat and focused, trying nearly in vain to control the energy.

She could feel an emptiness, one that she knew should have been filled. It seemed that a hole had been torn through the barrier that held her powers at bay, and she didn't know what to do to repair it. So, without a clue as to what to do, she sat and began to meditate, running through her head everything and nothing all at once. Vague images flashed through her mind, battles they had fought, sitting in class, her brother pretending to be Inuyasha. All rather meaningless snippets of her life that made her smile, and she began to understand.

Slowly she reached out her spiritual arms to pull the energy back into the void. It was resistant, but she could feel that unknown part of her filling slowly as the crackling energy around her slowly dissipated. When the void was full and she could no longer feel the warm tickle on her skin, she sighed and smiled, knowing that everyone was safe.

Then, in pure spiritual exhaustion, her physical body collapsed on the ground.

----------

Kagome mentally groaned at the noise around her. She couldn't make out exactly what the voices were saying, but they seemed to be trying to communicate with her. Trying to shut them out and stay in her peacefull rest, she groaned and shushed them. Hearing their chattering intensify at her little vocal recognition of life, Kagome wearily opened an eye. She saw two figures staring down at her, brown eyes with a joyful gleam, and amazingly blue ones that didn't reveal any of their secrets, though she thought she saw a hint of curiosity there.

"What?" she muttered, trying to sit up.

"You fainted," Sesshoumaru stated matter-of-factly. She sent a deadly glare his direction.

"Obviously," she sneered, forgetting altogether that she was trying to make him more open to her. "What happened before that?"

"You were all pink, and glowing!" Rin chimed in. "It tingled, and it made Master Sesshoumaru back away, but then it went back to you and went away, and you fell on the ground. I was scared you'd hurt yourself," she said sadly before brightening. "But you're okay now!"

Kagome looked at her with an unbelieving stare before shifting her gaze to the taiyoukai. He merely nodded, shifting his hand's position to show her the light burns that adorned his skin. Her eyes grew wide, knowing that she had nearly purified him.

"Oh my Kami, what did I do?" she moaned, laying back on the ground.

"You lost control of your miko power for a little while," Sesshoumaru told her, brushing it aside like an annoying bug rather than a potentially fatal situation for himself.

"Well excuse me, but if I remember correctly, YOU were the one to tell me to do it," she shot at him, still laying on the ground.

The taiyoukai quirked an eyebrow at her, a slight movement of his delicate features. "I never told you to lose control."

Kagome sat up, instantly annoyed. "You told me to! And besides, I was never trained on how to do that! I only know how to charge a weapon with my power, not use it on its own!" She poked him in the chest, trying to drive her point home. She realized her mistake when a low rumble could faintly be heard coming from deep in his chest.

"I am no mind reader, miko," he growled at her. Rin, sencing that she shouldn't be there for that conversation, took off, chasing butterflies around the garden. Kagome watched her salvation run away, as surely Sesshoumaru wouldn't kill her in front of his ward.

The inuyoukai's lips twitched up at the corners as he senced her fear of him, yet she didn't back down. Testing her resolve, he slowly leaned in, trying to invade her personal space, his stance becoming more dominant that it had been. Kagome held his gaze, and her position. She wasn't sure what to think about him leaning towards her, but she insinctually knew that she was being tested somehow.

Kagome, taking the bait, leaned closer to him. She could vaguely see his lips forming a slight smile, one that terrified his servant, Jaken, so much. Getting a wicked idea in her head as their noses almost touched, she stuck her tongue out and licked the tip of his nose.

That broke him. His body jerked back, swiping at his nose. He glared daggers at her for making him lose his concentration, but realized that with him being the first to look away, it had, in his pack instincts, told her that she was more dominant than himself.

That was perposterous, of course, for he could easily overcome her physically, perhaps even mentally. He quickly decided that it was merely her devices that he had been unprepared for, as much as it pained him to admit that he was unprepared, that had caused her to win the stare-down.

Kagome, happy to be free of his intense gaze and odd actions, bolted from the ground in an attempt to race to Rin's side. She only got a few steps, however, when she could feel herself losing her footing against the muscular frame that turned her around and eased her to the ground, his body on top of hers.

"You will refrain from licking me," he growled down at her. He didn't expect her to burst into giggles at the thought. "What's so funny?" he asked her for the second time that day.

Her faced blushed, a furiously red color that showed her deep embarassment and hesitation to tell him what was on her mind. He merely glared at her, waiting for a reply. So, looking to make sure that Rin was out of earshot, she leaned up and whispered what she had been pictureing in his mind.

Kagome almost smiled as his cheeks redened. He stood, turned, and walked out of the gardens. Rin, seeing his departure, ran over to a still red Kagome. "Why's he leaving?" she asked. Kagome just shook her head and smiled at the child, then went off to look for butterflies.

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After dinner that evening, Kagome found herself sitting alone in her room. She sighed and flopped down on her bed, racking her brain to try to think of a way to make the taiyoukai warm up to her. Watching the lamplight flickering on the ceiling, she silently mused to herself.

He cared for Rin, I know that much. But it doesn't seem that being friendlier with her is making his warm up any, he sure hasn't been overly nice to Jaken in their years together. Hummm. That was odd earlier, when he leaned into me. I can't believe I licked his nose! Kami, I'm lucky to have my head. I'm sure if Rin hadn't been there, I wouldn't be thinking about it now! I am such a baka...

I don't know. I don't think talking to him would be a good way to convince him to warm up to me. He's not very good at making small-talk, and he'd probably try melting me if I barged in on him to talk about something mundane.

Kagome sighed yet again, closing her eyes and rubbing at her temples. Suddenly, she jumped from her spot, reaching for her backpack. After a few moments pawing through candy and ramen supplies, she found the little beaker she was looking for.

"I'd forgotten about this!" she exclaimed to herself, joy overcoming her. Then, she remembered his reaction to Sango's perfume. "I wonder if he'd dislike it? Nah, this is meant for him, not Miroku or Inuyasha! Hopefully he doesn't try to sniff my..." she blushed and stuffed the beaker into the obi of her silver kimono, just in case for later.

For now, she was going to try to talk to him.

Taking a deep breath and rushing across the courtyard before her resolve diminished, Kagome knocked on the door lightly before stepping inside. Peeking around the little room, almost afraid to talk, she eyed the painting at the other side of the desk. "Hello?"

A hand on her shoulder wasn't what she was expecting. The feeling of the claws lightly grasping her skin though the silk made jump and her heart race. She whirled around to look into the amber eyes of Sesshoumaru.

"Did you require something?" he asked her, glaring down at her. Nervously, she looked at him, then towards the desk.

"Um, can we sit?" she asked. He merely walked past her without reply. "Okay, so, I wanted to talk about something..."

"What do you want, miko?" he growled with impatience.

"It's Rin," she blurted, not sure what she was going to say next. She slipped her hand to her side, ready to release a few drops from the vial when she thought it was time.

"What about her?"

"Well, she's a human girl, you know," Kagome began, her cheeks burning red.

"I realized that."

Kagome mentally rolled her eyes. "I mean, well, how old is she?"

He leaned back in his seat, calculating. "She has been with me four years," he began. "Before that, I do not know how many she lived with humans."

Kagome thought for a minute. "I think she might be around twelve years old," she speculated. Sesshoumaru's slight nod confirmed that he, too, thought as much. "Anyways, it's about that time when young girls, well, change."

Sesshoumaru considered this for a moment. "And tell me, miko, why is her changing any concern of mine?"

Kagome was astonished. "You're her guardian! You should know what she'll be going through so when it happens, she won't be completely freaked out and you'll know how to handle it!"

"I know youkai, miko. I do not concern myself with human bodies."

Kagome fumed. "She has to know what's going to happen so she can be prepared! Imagine, all that stuff happening and not even knowing why!"

Sesshoumaru quirked an eyebrow at her, which she took as interest. "Okay, look. The first thing that'll happen, and it seems that it already has started, is her breasts will start to grow. Like mine!" she emphasized, mindlessly pointing her her own chest. Her cheeks flamed when his eyes glanced towards the tip of the V in her top, but she chose to ignore it. "Just, nevermind. Anyways, that's not it. She'll start growing hair, like, in her private regions."

Sesshoumaru nodded his understanding, trying not to smile as her face continually flamed all shades of red. "Continue."

"Ok, well, her body shape will change, her hips will widen, as well as her breasts growing, and she'll fill out a little more, to, well, look more womanly."

The taiyoukai nodded.

"And, well, she'll start to bleed. You see, once a month, and she'll need some kind of sanitary things to keep it from getting over her clothes. It usually lasts anywhere between two days and seven days, and can be uncomfortable if she gets cramps, or even highly painful, and she might get irritable," Kagome said, recalling her days spent snapping at Inuyasha. "It's not a lot of blood, but it does take awhile to all come out."

Sesshoumaru continued to stare at her when she was finished talking, making her uncomfortable. She realized that she had been fingering the test tube in her belt most of the time she had been talking, and felt around to make sure that the stopper hadn't come unclogged.

Her eyes went wide when she couldn't find the cork. She looked up to see a slight flash of red in Sesshoumaru's eyes, vaguely noticing in the back of her mind that she could see the purple streaks on his cheeks much easier than she could a few minutes ago.

Running her hand down her thigh, she could feel the drops of pheremone running down the outter silk, very slightly soaking into the material. Kagome shut her eyes, sending a silent prayer that she hadn't done something horribly stupid. "So, um, do you have anymore questions?" she asked weakly.

Sesshoumaru blinked a couple times, trying to get his instincts to settle down. He had scented something that he couldn't define, but it was instantly making him aroused. He reminded himself that he was with a human, and they had just been talking about his human ward, but his mind kept straying to, well, he didn't know where it was going.

He shook his head slightly as his body betrayed him, his lips quirking into a slight smile.

Uh Oh, Kagome thought to herself. I'm in for it now, and there's not hotspring for me to go wash in!

**********

Author Notes and Review Responces:

definition for locution: A particular word, phrase, or expression, especially one that is used by a particular person or group

Kawaii_Kirara: Nope! You're not going to ever learn what she was thinking about that made Sesshy blush, but you can bet it's dirty ~_^ *whispers in your ear: licking Sesshoumaru, really!*

So, now the pheremones are in play! Uh oh, what will happen next? She can't get rid of them! Guess you'll just have to wait for chapter 6 to see!