In the wee hours before dawn, Kagome awoke to the sensation of something warm and fluffy tickling at her cheek. Her eyes shot open as she bolted upright. …Sesshoumaru?! The indignant shout poised on the tip of her tongue fizzled to nothing, as she met her feline friend’s placid red stare. “Ah,” Kagome said, feeling

“Oi, what’s up with toad-face?” Inuyasha asked as he entered the hut, prodding at Jakken with a single clawed toe. Sagged against the doorframe, the near-catatonic imp swayed listlessly, unable to bring himself to utter so much as a ‘Curse you, half-breed!’ Bulbous yellow eyes glazed over with a sheen of oily tears, he continued

“I’ve decided to stay.” Sesshoumaru’s gaze slanted from the heavens down to her. “Stay?” “That’s right,” Kagome said, her lips quirking up at the corners. The doggish pun in all this clearly wasn’t lost on either of them. “Bye-bye, college education. Hello, miko arts.” “So,” he said dryly, “you’re opting for the path of least

Bidding goodbye to Sesshoumaru, who she’d met along the way, Kagome continued on to Kaede’s hut. At least once a day, she checked in with the elder priestess, to see if there was anything that needed doing around the village. But this time, Kaede wasn’t there. As she pushed back the reed curtain, Kagome found

Sesshoumaru didn’t forget. And when Kagome had finished telling her story, he told her one of his own. How, centuries ago, his father had fallen in love with a mortal woman to his peril, how this indiscretion had torn apart not only his demon family but his kingdom as well. How, still young and unproven

Needless to say, Kagome’s whirlwind romantic encounter at the Bone-Eater’s Well left her totally bewildered. Happily so, but bewildered nevertheless. All of her previously-understood notions about her demonic partner were now, once again, in total upheaval. Their lovemaking—and a dreamy expression stole over her each time she referred to it as such in her mind—hadn’t

While he seemed to prefer keeping a lofty distance, occasionally Sesshoumaru ventured to descend among the ranks of mere mortals. There was no rhyme or reason to it that Kagome could figure. She would turn around and there he would be, perched on a rooftop or a fence, standing at the edge of a pool