Once Again with Love

"Don’t do that, Shippo, I've told you about that before," Miroku cried out in annoyance, as Shippo fell over laughing.

~ Where was Kagome when you needed her. ~ He thought as he looked at the mischievous kit that was giggling at them, she was the only one that seemed to be able to control him when he was in this type of mood.

Later that day after travelling for several miles, the group saw a village in the distant, around an hour away on foot.

"We should stop, we can use new supplies." Sango asked Miroku, as she looked into theply ply bag. "We’re out of beard and could also use some dried meat."

Shippo snarled his nose at that, give him fresh meat every time, that dried stuff smelt and tasted funny, he didn’t know how they ate it. And they would make him eat it to. He shuttered.

He would prefer that they hunted, Sango was really good at large game, and he was getting pretty good at bring down rabbits himself, he thought in pride.

Inuyasha would be surprised and hopefully proud to see that, when he had train him he had said that he was to noisy to be a good hunter, that he never been hungry enough to learn to be quiet when pursuing your next meal.

Miroku looked at Sango, "Hum, yes we better. I get us a good meal at the tavern."

"Houshi," Sango said tightly, while looking at him with indignation. "You’ve stopped that remember, we discussed that. You’re going on strastra and and narrow. You're a law abiding monk remember."

But, Sango, this is for a good, to help us get Kagome back." The Houshi replied, with his hand folded in front of him so that you could almost see his halo upheld by horns.

The closer they came to the village the more nervous they became. They had stopped on a hill over looking the village, which was about a half-mile away.

Sango and Miroku looked questioning at one another. You could see in the very air that something was wrong with the village, it was too silent for this time of day.

"Sango, you and Kirara stay her with Shippo, let me go down first." Miroku began to walk towards the village and with each step his feelings of unease grew. He could feel the evil in the air that surrounded him something awful had happened in that village.

*************************************************************

"Jaken watch Rin. Years of faithfully service as a servant to the Great house, first for Toga-Sama and then Sesshoumaru-Sama and what did it get me but turned into a glorified babysitter." Jaken mumbled bitterly as he stomped bad temperly thorough the castle in search of Rin.

Jaken trudged out into the garden, she had to be here somewhere, she was always after her pretty weeds. Why she thought Sesshoumaru would want them he didn’t understand, stupid human.

"Rin, where are you. Come here, you stupid girl." He screeched, maybe she was in the field beyond the waterfall and pond. If Sesshoumaru found out that she was out here alone he would step on him for sure.

**********************************************

~ I give him one simple assignment, all he has to do in watch one young girl, and he can’t even do that correctly. ~ Sesshoumaru thought in exasperation, as he watched through the window of his study as Jaken yelled for Rin.

~ Hmm, Jaken will never get her to the tutor she always ran circle around his little green retainer. ~ He thought with a slight smirk.

He would have to have Jiro, his second-in-command, find her and deliver her to her tutor. Though, he would never admit it, he was secretly proud that the girl could run circles around most of his court.

Knock. Knock. The sounds echo though the room.

"Enter, Abigeru." He turned from the window and gave Abigeru his attention with a nod.

Abigeru glided into the room and waited for his acknowledgment before speaking, "Sesshoumaru, Kagome is ready for dinner. I have instructed Ami-ria and Amiti will bring the dinner in half an hour."

"Very well, Abigeru. Have Jiro find Rin and take her to her tutor," Sesshoumaru instructed her as he walked to the door. "Have him tell Jaken to see to the house accounts for me we’ll go over them tomorrow. Also tell Rin I wish to speak to her tomorrow before lunch, about her study habits."

*******************************************************

Kagome sat on the edge of the bed waiting for Sesshoumaru she felt the building of her anxious as her heart raced with nervousness.

Inuyasha she had understood. He had been an immature child trying to protect himself from pain, a wild animal when she had first meet him, determine to never let the world hurt him again.

While Sesshoumaru… he was scary, no matter how hard she tried to hide it from herself.

Inuyasha had been her age and although they had been born in different centuries, he had been as lacking in judgment as she and had hid his love for her because he was afraid of those emotions. Love and need to him had been weaknesses and weakness was to be avoid at all times or attacked.

She sighed; he had faced such tragedy in his life.

She wasn’t sure how to deal with the information that Abigeru had given her, Sesshoumaru may not have wanted to send Inuyasha away as a child, but he obviously forgot his feeling for his brother as the years had passed.

He attack Inuyasha every change he got… but was I any better than Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru had come out in the open to attack…while I had used the rosary.

The rosary was supposed to be for my protection. I used them as punishment if he upset me, not for its intended use. I also had used the rosary as a joke. Whe was was in a tree and he wouldn’t come down when I asked, I would use them to get him down.

Guilty welled up in Kagome. ~ I was cruel to Inuyasha, he always felt weak during his childhood, and with one word I must have brought that feeling back time after time. I finally realize what I did to him, I didn’t mean to but I did. Why did care for me at all. ~

She wished she she could say that she was sorry for how childish she had acted.

The door opened and Ami-ria and Amita brought in a tray of food. After placing it on the table they both bowed and in their strange, eerie echo they said, "Kagome-Sama, Sesshoumaru-Sama with be here in a few minutes. May we withdraw?"

Her throat felt closed and unable to utter a sound. Kagome took a deep breath and nodded, motioning them out.

Standing, Kagome sighed as she walked to the fireplace and stood staring in it. She wasn’t sure how to deal with a man or in his case a youkai, like Sesshoumaru, he was total out of her experience.

Sesshoumaru was always so authoritative, self-assured, and set on what he wanted. He was Lord of everything he surveyed and use to using the power that gave him.

Abigeru had said to try and change him, but he would never really change because he saw no reason to change. He kept Rin because she was his and now as far as he was concerned so was she he would never let her go willing.

Maybe she should take Abigeru advice and try to get along with him at least at first. Uses the advice her grandfather had once given her, that you gather more flies with honey than with vinegar. She was lightly amused at the thought of Sesshoumaru reaction to being compared to a fly.

Sesshoumaru opened the door to his suite and saw Kagome standing beside the fire, the light benevolently reflected on her. She looked so radiant that it surprised him for a moment, she looked mythical and a creation of magic.

She seemed to be deep in though, her long black hair was hanging down her back, the top section had been braided with white and blue ribbons before joining the bottom section to drop to just below her waist in waves. Her luminescence blue eyes were made even bluer because of the kimono that graced her lovely figure.

From her head to her toes she appeared to be everything that he knew the Lady of the Western Lands should be, elegant, refined to the outside world with fire underneath for him. Kagome reluctantly turned and looked at Sesshoumaru as he moved toward her, his very presents’ was overwhelming.

Kagome shuttered slightly even as the heat of the fire seemed to bath her body, she was for some reason beginning to feel…funny. Not funny in a bad way, just strange, heated.

He took her hand and looked deeply into her eyes, "Come, Kagome, you must be hungry. You have not eaten since this morning and then I am told you ate sparingly. We don’t want you sick."

She knew that she was in the in the company of an unpredictable and deadly predator when his eyes meet hers, and although that frightened her it also stirred a feeling of excitement in her.

He led her to tabltable and helped her take a seat on one of the pillows and took a place beside her, close enough so that every so offend there clothing bushed each other.

He simple sat there and seemed to wait for something.

~ Oh. ~ Kagome thought.

Her hands shook as Kagome reached for the warm sake, Abigeru had told her she must offer to serve him, that he may refuse, but because his station was higher than hers she must make the offer.

"Sake, Sesshoumaru-sama." She asked, her eyes carefully downcast so that he couldn’t read the emotions welling up in her eyes.

"Yes, Kagome, you may call me Sesshoumaru, there is no reason for formality between us." His dark voice whispered across her skin in a velvet caress. She carefully poured the sake into his cup being sure not to spill any and then reached for the tea.

His salty and piney scent filled her with each breath and she wanted something, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what it was.

"Would you like tea as well, Sesshru-sru-sa… Sesshoumaru." Kagome breathed intimately.

Kagome looked at him from the corner of her eye wandering what he was thinking. His expression appeared as expressionless as ever, but that was soon belied when she saw his eyes.

They were aflame, fueled with desire, a scorching hot, pulsating fire, which seemed to jump from him to her, causing her to gasp aloud and almost drop the teapot. Why was he affecting her like this?

She was beginning to feel heated, and wanted to shiver whenever he looked at her. She didn’t like this at all, why was he affecting her like this?

"The sake is fine, my dear." Sesshoumaru replied watching her closely, she looked flushed. He purposely allowed his hand to bush hers causing them both to shiver as electric cracked between them.

She poured the tea into her cup and placed the teapot back on the table between them with the handle in easy reach in case he changed his mind.

~ Wait, why would I care if he changed his mind? ~ She thought almost in a daze.

Shaking her head in hopes of clearing it, Kagome then removed the domes from their meal. The simple meal smelled wonderfully. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she fragrance from it caught her attention.

On the plates were a meat and vegetable dish served with rice. There were also cheeses, fruits and berries, sweets, and small round pieces of bread lying out on the platter.

She started to pick up her chopsticks and was startled when a large hand beat her to them.

"Allow me," her heart fluttered when she hear his darkly sensual voice, a rich smooth voice that stirred her even more.

Her eyes followed the movement of Sesshoumaru’s hand as he slowly used the chopsticks to picked up the meat and vegetables and raise it to her lips his voice silkily, seductive as he said. "Come, open for me."

For some reason Kagome felt she had to obey, and she opened her mouth and closed her lips over the chopsticks. The flavor of the meat was smoky, with a gentle tang also. He very gently pulled the chopsticks out from between her lips.

Sesshoumaru watched her as he slowly feed her, she was acting strange, when he had smelled her scent earlier he could have sworn that her heat was at least two to three week away, but he could smell that she was now close, very close.

Why was she acting like this, he had expected a fight. Something was wrong. He placed the chopsticks down and used his senses on the room.

~ Hmm, a drug. ~ He smelled the scent of the drug and spell now that he was looking for it.

He cast his mind at Abigeru, ‘ Abigeru", he called, he felt her startled surprise when she received the overflow of his heightened desire brought out by Kagome’s heat. "Something has happened to bring her heat on early, a drug of some type has been give to her. Find out how. Have Jiro, lock down the castle and look to the defense, this could be a trap."

That was his last clear thought as he reached for her.

Kagome’s body shook. Desire, uncontrollable desire, started to fill her with an overpowering force that could be likened to the pounding of waves on a shore during a stormy day. All she could think was how warm his arms were when they wrapped around her and how soft his lips were when the claimed hers.