Kagome smiled as she put the finishing touches on her card. She wasn’t artistic by any means, but she’d taken extra care to follow the lines this time while cutting and to go easy on the glitter–“easy” being a relative term, of course.

She blew lightly across the shiny red paper, a small sparkling cloud rising up from the card’s heart-shaped surface. Satisfied with her work, she stowed it in the front pocket of her yellow backpack and bounded downstairs.

“Mama, I’m off!” she announced merrily as she passed through the kitchen on her way to the door.

“Have a good time, dear,” her mother called back, beaming as she dried her hands on a dish towel. “And good luck!”

Kagome blushed. She hadn’t mentioned her Valentine’s Day plans, but something in her expression must have given her away. That, or the smudges of ink and confetti on her face.

Ducking her head, she exited her house and skipped over to the shrine. One short journey through time, and she was back in Sengoku Jidai.

A fine sheen of sweat misted her brow as she pulled herself up over the edge of the Bone Eater’s well. Heart pounding, she made her way to Edo village.

“Welcome back, Kagome-chan,” a very-pregnant Sango greeted her as she approached Kaede’s hut, Shippou springing into her arms.

Hugging them both, Kagome looked around, biting her lip. A short distance away, she could see Miroku and Kirara dozing beneath the shade of a tree, Rin and Kohaku playing checkers nearby. Squinting her eyes, she could just make out the shape of their hanyou companion, seated upon a hill outside the village.

Anxious and giddy, she biked over to him, her stomach somersaulting as she laid her bike to rest against the bottom of a grassy knoll. By the time she reached the hilltop, she was puffing for air. But the exertion was more emotional than physical.

“H-hey, Inuyasha!” she said with a wave.

“Oi, wench,” the hanyou returned, a dark brow arching, “what’s with the nervous tic?”

Cringing inwardly, Kagome mustered a smile. “Nervous? Ha ha…whatever do you mean? Anyway–I’ve brought you something!”

“Oh yeah?” Inuyasha’s ears perked up as she slipped the yellow backpack from her shoulders. “Is it a new flavor of ramen?”

“Nope.”

“Pocky?”

“No…”

Silver ears flattened. “Tea?”

“No, Inuyasha,” Kagome sighed. “Trust me, I’ve given up on trying to make you cultured.”

“Then what is it?”

“If you’d stop pestering me for a second, I’ll show you.”

“Keh. Fine.” Inuyasha crossed his arms over his chest. “This had better be good.”

Ignoring him, Kagome slid her hand into the loose outer pocket of her backpack. When her fingers met nothing but empty space, she frowned.

“Well?” Inuyasha groused.

“I…uh. I’ll be back in a minute!”

Turning on her heel, Kagome sprinted for her bike, frantic to retrace her steps. She scanned the ground as she pedaled along, berating herself for not securing her gift better. As she drew closer to Inuyasha’s forest, she began to think that the card must have slipped out during her climb from the well.

Bursting out into the clearing, she skidded to a halt so suddenly that she nearly went over the handlebars. Standing before her with card in hand, was none other than the Lord of the Western Lands.

Kagome’s cheeks flooded as red as the paper held between his elegant claws.

“Miko,” he said, “I read your note.”

“You…you did?” she squeaked in dismay.

“Yes.” His intense gaze dragged across her flustered face. “I was unaware that you harbored such…sentiments for this Sesshoumaru.”

“I…” Kagome choked, feeling faint. “Sesshoumaru…this–let me explain–”

“No more words are necessary,” he said lowly, cutting her off.

Why–why after all that poetic waxing over silver hair and golden eyes and the shape of the moon, hadn’t she at least addressed the card to Inuyasha? With Rin as a notable exception, Sesshoumaru hated humans. From the darkly intent way he was looking at her now, it seemed as if just the idea of a human tainting him with their affection was enough to earn a death sentence.

She closed her eyes as her back hit a tree, praying to the gods that her end would be quick and mostly painless. When the tips of his claws touched her face, she shuddered, her eyes fluttering open in surprise as his fingers slid back and threaded through her hair.

Back when they had fought together against Naraku, she had always admired the daiyoukai from afar. This close to him, she could see the satiny texture of his lips, the fine shadows his long lashes cast on the high bones of his cheeks. The vivid markings on his face stood out so starkly against his ivory skin–not painted or inked-on, as she had speculated, but simply and seamlessly there, like Buyo’s spots.

She traced them wonderingly as he studied her in turn. The gaze that held hers was softer now, though no less arresting than before. For the first time since discovering him there in the clearing, her heart thudded with something other than embarrassment. As he dipped his head and pressed his lips against her own, her eyes flared wide, her hands planting themselves against the hard surface of his armor.

After a moment he broke away, his gaze heavy-lidded. Surprising them both, Kagome pulled him back down again, her fingers brushing past the sharp points of his his ears as they tangled themselves in his long silky hair. Slanting his mouth against hers fully, he pushed her back against the rough bark of the tree, his low growl rumbling through them both as his fangs nipped her lower lip.

Somewhere in the fog of Kagome’s mind, it finally occurred to her to question why he had always kept his distance from her and Inuyasha, why he had never looked too long in her direction, why he had even been shadowing her footsteps today in the first place.

“KAGOME!” Inuyasha’s voice thundered through the forest behind them, making her flinch.

She parted breathlessly from Sesshoumaru as the hanyou burst into view, looking distinctly annoyed. Barely sparing his brother a glance, he turned around and glared at Kagome.

“So,” he said testily, “where’s my snack, wench?”

He glowered as she began to laugh. She loved Inuyasha–truly she did–but right now her schoolgirl crush on him seemed as flimsy and juvenile as the paper heart Sesshoumaru had tucked discreetly away beneath the collar of his haori.

“Gomen, Inuyasha,” she said, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. “I just remembered–I left it with Shippou-chan by mistake.”

“Keh, thanks a lot,” he grumbled, preparing to spring. “Brat’s probably eaten it already.”

As he took off once more through the forest, shouting Shippou’s name this time, Kagome stepped over to Sesshoumaru, smiling a slight, secret smile.

“Now,” she murmured, his arms curving around her waist as she tilted his face down to hers again, “where were we…?”

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Happy Valentine’s! <3

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi