Kagome was a small distance behind him and the moment talking to the young kitsune that always seems to cling to her. Kneeling on one knee, she smiled and patted the kitsune comfortingly. Rin captured her attention as she began tugging on the kitsune's tail. The surprised Shippo yelped causing Kagome and Rin to giggle. Soothing the cub, Kagome introduce the two young ones and admonished Rin gently about pulling on tails. But when the cub and Rin turned away, Sesshoumaru saw the cheerful face slowly fade to be replaced by a worried look as she watched Inuyasha.
Sesshoumaru found himself staring into worried eyes as Kagome raised her eyes to his. Her blue-grey eyes seemed to beg him not to be angry and not to hurt her friends. Sesshoumaru's gaze was cool as he regarded Kagome's eyes. With her gaze fixed on his, Sesshoumaru delved into Kagome's thoughts. He saw the familiar red haze of pain from when he first found her but it was oddly diminished. He focused on the more dominating shade of fear and found he was able to see her thoughts more clearly than the first few times he had touched her mind. Sesshoumaru saw that she feared that he would hurt her friends. Seeking to know more he stumbled over a stray thought. A part of Kagome also feared for Sesshoumaru's safety in addition to the safety of her friends and Inuyasha. Silly human, he thought to himself, this injury is nothing. He saw Kagome's eyes widen slightly and immediately shut off the contact.
Then, without warning, Sesshoumaru was standing beside Kagome, his hand on her shoulder. Surprised by the sudden contact, Kagome found herself staring up at Sesshoumaru. His hold on her was firm but it didn't seem like he wanted to hurt her. Maybe it was from seeing the way Sesshoumaru treated Rin, but Kagome found that she wasn't scared that he would hurt her, not really anyway. It was strange, but a moment ago, she could have sworn she heard Sesshoumaru's voice in her head. Shippo shouted Kagome's name at seeing her situation, bringing Inuyasha out of his daze. Sango and Miroku had already taken battle stances at seeing this sudden development. Kagome began to worry, not about herself, but about Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku. Sesshoumaru would have no problem killing them and she wasn't sure that Inuyasha could defeat the youkai lord. The most likely explanation as to why he had not killed her yet was because Rin liked her. Also, it seemed that Sesshoumaru wanted her to teach him what love was. Kagome blinked, then blushed. Mou, this isn't the time to be thinking about things like that! Especially about a cold-blooded killer. Kagome no baka!
Inuyasha clenched Tetsusaiga tightly, helplessly at seeing Kagome held hostage by Sesshoumaru knowing that the youkai could kill her before he could get near them. Knowing Sesshoumaru, he probably wants Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha shook his head in frustration. I would give Tetsusaiga to Sesshoumaru in exchange for Kagome's life. Resigned, Inuyasha returned Tetsusaiga to its sheath and removed it from his belt, holding it out in front of him. He looked up to find Sesshoumaru with a small, amused smirk on his usually expressionless face.
"For the moment, what I want is not Tetsusaiga."
Inuyasha looked up in shock. Kagome stood in confusion. If Sesshoumaru doesn't want Tetsusaiga what else would he want from Inuyasha? Kagome turned to face Sesshoumaru and the world came to a sudden stop. They all watched in disbelief as Sesshoumaru kissed Kagome.
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