Kagome stumbled back with a gasp. Before her, Sesshoumaru stood, the sword in his hand still locked with Toutousai’s hammer and glowing so bright it was almost gold. He stared down at Tessaiga’s true form, an expression of rare surprise showing on his normally stoic face. “Kagome-chan!” Shippou cried as he sprinted toward her, Sango

The next few days passed in utter boredom for Kagome. After reopening her wound, Kaede had made it her personal mission to be on the younger miko’s case about not straining her arm, and so she was forced to idle about and try to amuse herself as best she could without doing any sort of

Days later, Sesshoumaru could still smell her on his skin, feel her phantom touch caressing him beneath his clothes. He was as mad for her as he had ever been, perhaps more. What had sated him in the moment had left him ravaged with want in the wake of it. Restlessly, he prowled his territories,

“So, I’ve been thinking,” Kagome began, setting down her half-empty bowl of stew, “about what our next move should be.” Maybe it was the gravity in her tone, or the fact that she had never been one to pass up a meal, but at her words, the others paused as well, setting their own lunches

Kagome’s wide eyes slid shut as she buried her hands in the long flowing silk of Sesshoumaru’s sleeves, her lips melding eagerly with his. He kissed her fiercely, hungrily, a small sound of pleasure escaping her when his rough tongue broke past the seal of her lips and swept possessively against her own. Shyly, she

Later that night, alone in her hut, Kagome prepared for tomorrow’s trip to Kouga’s mountain stronghold. Though she put on a bold face for Sesshoumaru and her friends, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of anxiety about the journey ahead. It had been quite a while since she’d crossed paths with her would-be suitor.

Clothed in her new miko garb, Kagome set out the next morning toward the appointed meeting place. It was terribly early still, the pink light of dawn just beginning to creep up over the dark horizon. Though the air was far from warm, it was a vast improvement over the chill of the preceding weeks.

The sun gleamed high in the iron sky as they touched down at last upon Kouga’s mountain. Or, at least, what Kagome thought was his mountain… Sliding down from Entei’s warm back, she took the opportunity to stretch out her cramped legs as she walked along the flinty overlook, searching far and near for the

Shaking the mist from her hair, Kagome crossed the threshold into Kouga’s den. Wolves–on two legs and four–scampered about the huge stony cavern, arms and jaws laden with old bones and sake bottles and dusty furs. Shooting her apologetic glances as they bowed and darted past, the youkai cleaned up the den like their lives