Okay, this is my first Sesshoumaru-Kagome fanfic, so I hope you like it. Feedback is highly appreciated as well (irresistible puppy eyes here).

As for my other Inuyasha fanfic, Seed of doubt, I'm suffering from a huge author's block, so I'll be leaving it for a while and concentrating on this one instead, but I plan on going on with it when inspiration comes back.

Disclaimer: does it look like I own them? Oh, please, if I did I wouldn't be writing fanfics, but the actual story!

Chapter 1: Secrets

Kagome shifted in her sleep when the sound of soft footsteps nearing her resting spot reached her ears. Subconsciously she wrinkled her nose, sniffing around. When the scent of her adopted son hit her now very sensitive nose she awoke fully.

Shit, it's coming again! She groaned inwardly, noticing that her senses had increased quite a bit. She ran her tongue over her teeth and noticed that her fangs had elongated slightly too, although they weren't long enough to be visible as of yet. We'd better get those shards damn fast, 'cause I've got to get home within two days, be it with or without them!

She quickly murmured a spell in order to mask her scent and aura, so that the youkai and hanyou in the group wouldn't notice the change in them, for they had begun to change as well, and pretended to be asleep when Shippou reached to grab her and began shaking her shoulders.

"Okaa-san, wake up! Inuyasha's already hunting some breakfast and he will start yelling and being mean if he finds you still asleep when he comes back" he said, worry for her mother laced in his high pitched voice.

Kagome smiled and shifted, yawning as she stretched her limbs in order to get the stiffness out of them.

"Ohayo, Shippou-chan. Thank you for waking me, I'll be up in a minute" she smiled again as she ruffled her red hair "Go bring me my backpack and I'll give you some chocolate as a reward" she told him in a secretive tone.

The young kit's eyes shone with joy as he set off beaming all the way.

Kagome watched his retreating form as she combed her slightly clawed hands through her messy raven locks. She had let her hair grow the past five years, now it was as long as Inuyasha's, and it was quite the feat to untangle it every day, but she just loved the feeling of it flowing down her back like a silken midnight cloak.

Breakfast was rather uneventful, only disturbed by the usual Hentai! yelling and the sound of Sango's hand slapping against the houshi's cheek.

After all of them had gotten ready, they set off again, following the path which took them to the West.

The young miko had sensed three Shikon no kakera a few days ago in that direction, and they had been following them since, but the youkai seemed to be moving away so they hadn't been able to get them yet.

Kagome had insisted that she rode on Inuyasha's back, and that Miroku and the taijiya rode on Kirara, so she could be able to go back home in time. Her friends had been more than surprised that she was in such a hurry, as they were used to Inuyasha being the one pushing them to go faster, but when she told them that she had a very important test to take for college, and so she needed to be home in two days' time no matter what, neither of them had pushed the matter further.

All of them assumed that the young miko was going to leave them after their quest was complete, even more so after it had been made crystal clear that she and the inu hanyou weren't meant to be together.

They had given it a try, they really had, but it hadn't worked. Over the years they had spent together their love for each other had grown a lot, only it had been in a brotherly way, instead. It didn't feel right to be together in any other way, and so they decided to remain friends. It had been a wise decision, though it had taken them a while to take it, 'cause it saved both of them a lot of pointless pain.

Inuyasha, however, hadn't gone after Kikyo either, as all of his friends thought he would. He had finally realized that his old love was long gone, and that the clay zombie she had become was not only disgracing her memory, but also preventing her soul from resting and thus endangering its future reincarnation as Kagome. So, he decided to act upon it.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Flashback

Inuyasha was resting, as usual, in the branches of the Goshinboku. Kagome had gone home a few days ago, and they were spending the time resting and training for their next shard hunt until she came back.

The hanyou, of course, was mourning her absence, as he always did when she had to return to her home in the future. It was around midnight when he spotted the undead miko's soul stealers. Following their call he walked into the forest to face the woman he had once known and loved.

She was waiting for him in a clearing, practically lying on a small, low branched tree, her face a mask that showed no expression at all. She spoke to him, without even turning her head to look at him.

"Inuyasha" she whispered "you've come to me"

The hanyou resisted snapping at her, noticing that she was barely 'alive'. When she heard no response from him she went on.

"I can't stay here much longer, Inuyasha, this body made of clay and bones is only temporary, and I'm afraid it has outdone its life span already"

He groaned inwardly, he knew what was coming next.

"I've come to take on your word, and bring you to Hell with me. That way we can be together for all the eternity" she half chocked, her voice failing.

Inuyasha tried his best to remain calm while he spoke. "Kikyo, I've come to say goodbye. I'm not going to Hell with you, dammit, I never promised such a thing!" he regained what little composure he had before he went on "I want you to know that I will avenge your death, Kikyo. I will defeat that bastard Naraku and take revenge for everything he did to us, but I won't accompany you to Hell." He looked at her straight in the eye gathering all the courage he could. "Rest in peace, Kikyo" he whispered. And faster that she could see, he unsheathed Tessaiga and swept it, cutting her chest in two. She immediately turned to dust, the only remnants of her presence being her bow and arrows and her miko attire.

He fell to his knees and, for the first time in several decades, he cried. That's how Kagome found him, hours later, when she came back from the other side of the well. She didn't have to ask what had happened, her soul had returned to her, and that was all she needed to know. She crouched down beside him and wrapping her arms around his torso hugged him in silence for as long as he needed.

End of flashback

oooooooooooooooooooo

The sun was setting, and Kagome was starting to get really worried. They were too far away from the well, and she wouldn't make it in time if they didn't set off to the East right then, but she knew that her friends were tired and it was impossible for her to get them to move until next morning. She sighed in defeat. She didn't want to do this, but it was her only option. She really hated lying to them; they were her friends, the ones that had risked their lives to protect hers so many times. Now, after five years of travelling through Feudal Japan, she wasn't the helpless child that had fallen down the well at the tender age of fifteen, but a rather powerful priestess as well as a skilled warrior. Miroku had made sure she was perfectly trained in her holy powers, whereas Inuyasha and Sango had taught her swordsmanship, archery and hand to hand combat. They had given her so much, they were as family, hell, she was mother to the little kitsune!

So it is only fair that I protect them, even if it is from myself. She thought sadly.

That night, after she made sure that everybody was fast asleep. She crept out of her sleeping bag, cautiously moving Shippo aside so he wouldn't wake up, and after kissing his forehead goodbye, she masked her scent and aura and ran into the forest at a speed that shouldn't have been possible for any human to reach.

Next morning in the camp

"OKAA-SAN!!!! OKAA-SAN, WHERE ARE YOU??!"

Inuyasha nearly fell off his branch when Shippou's high pitched voice hit his ears with full force.

"What the fuck!" he jumped down and held the little kitsune by his tail, shaking him mercilessly "What's the yelling for, runt?"

The kit looked at him with teary eyes. "Kagome's gone lost! Her scent says she's been gone for hours and I can't smell which way she's gone" he began crying then, unable to contain himself any longer.

Inuyasha looked around, but could only spot Miroku and Sango, who were now fully awake thanks to Shippou's whining and looked as clueless as him.

"What's going on, Inuyasha?" Sango asked "Where's Kagome?" worry for her sister latched her voice.

"Does it look like I fucking know?" he snapped at her "The wench's disappeared, as has her scent. Hell, it seems like she masked it or something!"

"There's no need to yell at Sango-sama, Inuyasha" Miroku replied in his usual calm voice "From what you say it seems like she ran away on her own." He pointed out "Can you smell any other youkai or anything nearby?"

Inuyasha sniffed the air around the camp again, but found nothing. "No, if something's gotten here it has also masked its scent" he stated plainly

Miroku seemed to be thinking for a minute "Then she might have left willingly, fore whatever reasons there might have been"

"But why would she leave us without a warning, houshi-sama? It could be dangerous!" Sango was getting more worried by the minute, and Shippou's cries weren't helping either.

"I swear it, if she's ran away to take that freakin test of hers next time she comes back I'm gonna tear to pieces the fucking well!!" Inuyasha ranted

"That seems to be the most logical reason for her departure, my dear friend. She probably knew you'd yell at her if she asked you to go back and, kind hearted as she is, decided to save you some sittings" the houshi stated, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Kind hearted my ass!" the hanyou screamed "Get your butt on Kirara, we're going after her!"

"But Inuyasha, we don't know which way she went!" Shippou said.

"Keh! If the bouzo's right then she should be heading to the well, so just shut up and get on" he said.

None of the noticed a pair of golden eyes that stared at them behind the cover of the forest.

Somewhere between there and the well

Kagome was still walking, as she had been all through the night, when she began feeling something that was tugging at the skin of her back.

"Kesu!" she said aloud. Without a second thought she stopped, set her backpack down and began rummaging through it for a while. Finally, she grinned in triumph as she held a pair of scissors in her right hand. She set them on the grass beside her and, stripping of her T-shirt and bra, she cut a slit in the back of the T-shirt that went from the hem to nearly the neck line, just enough for it not to fall apart.

"This should do it" she said, as she put the cut garment back on and shoved the scissors and bra into her backpack. Eying it for a moment, she hooked it on one shoulder and set off again. She had still at least a full day's walk to the well, and despite her current speed and resistance, she would have to rest somewhere in between.

So, here you are, the first chapter. How did you like it? Should I go on with the story? Please, read and review!! Reviews make me happy!! 

Youkai: demon

Hanyou: half demon

Hentai: pervert

Houshi: monk

Miko: priestess

Taijiya: exterminator

Kitsune: fox

Ohayo: good morning

Okaa-san: mother

Goshinboku: god tree

Shikon no kakera: jewell shards

Bouzo: monk (despective)

Kesu: Shit