WOAH! not even up for a day and already I had 7 story alerts. Only a few commented tho *sad face*

Kouga's older woman: Sorry you had to wait so long!!!

Panchat: Yeah... dunno how I got aladdin into the story, I haven't seen it in years. But it totally was a classic!

Lunamoon12: Thanks!

Gothic Lust: Wow... another Comm theory sufferer! Hahaha! Thanks for the long review... sounded sorta like a thesis at the end there... I think college writing has gotten to you finally. Thanks for the review!

A friend of mine told me to add this randomly

*little Appa... awwwww!*

Ok now that that's done:

Violets are violet unless they're covered in smoke

I don't own the characters, so don't sue me I'm broke

That was just stupid... sorry

Chapter 2: Enter a Sesshomarou!

Kagome slipped back down in the warm waters of the hot spring. She smiled lazily as she stretched out her leg and wiggled her toes.

A lone figure emerged from its cover behind the trees and looked down upon the enigma who sat in the water, paying him no mind. Sesshomarou growled, for some reason distressed by the thought that the woman wasn't paying attention to him.

The growl caused Kagome's head to snap up. She yelped and ducked deeper under the water. "Seshomarou! What are you doing here?! Can't you see I'm sorta... busy?"

The demon lord looked casually down at her. "Still, woman. This Sesshomarou has no intention of harming you."

"I'm not worried about that!" Answered Kagome, her mouth once again running ahead of her brain. "But seriously, Sesshomarou. I'm sorta.... well.... indecent." At this thought, Kagome's temper started to flare. Why hadn't he left yet? Was he seriously stupid? Honestly, she had thought Sesshomarou to be the smarter of the two Taishou brothers. Perhaps she was wrong...

"Hn." Replied the demon lord. "This Sesshomarou has no desire to rut with you either, so still your worries woman. You are far from worthy of this Sesshomarou's attentions. Don't flatter yourself."

Well that did it. "Why you little! How rude! First, you intrude on me WHILE I'M NAKED! Then when I ask you to leave you refuse to and start INSULTING ME?! You JERK!" Kagome screamed. She'd just about had it with the Taishou jerks for today.

Sesshomarou glared down at the now angry woman. Though a part of him was amused by her ire, another part was appalled by the idea that a human wench was yelling at him.

"Silence miko." Sesshomarou snarled, the angry part of him winning the mental battle. "This Sesshomarou has every right to be here, as this is part of my lands. You should be grateful I allow you and your worthless little 'group' to remain in my territory. This Sesshomarou has further shown his grace by allowing you the use of this hot spring. From this point on you shall address me appropriately and show the respect and gratefulness due to such a generous lord."

Kagome, now beyond irate, growled and got quickly to her feet, completely forgetting her current state of undress. She pointed an angry finger at the demon jerk lord and snapped "You pompous little bastard!"

In a second she had found herself pinned to a tree. "You dare to insult this Sesshomarou in such a manner? Miko you had better explain your actions quickly and to my liking, or I shall kill you without a second thought."

Kagome squeaked, squirming where she was held. Logic seemed to kick in and she stilled her own temper and frantically raced to think of a way out of this mess. "Look, I'm sorry Sesshomarou. I've had a really cruddy day, after once again noticing that that jerk of a brother.."

"Half brother" Sesshomarou interjected.

"Half brother of yours went off to rut with Kikyo once again. I walked all day with no sign of a shard, and had to beat Inubaka up just to get him to let us call it quits for the night. I was having a nice bath, taking some time to pretend none of today even happened, when I was startled out of my thoughts by you. Needless to say I just really wanted my privacy and I mean a girl's gotta be modest... I didn't really feel comfortable with you here when I was, you know...." Suddenly, Kagome realized that she was still in the same state of undress that had caused this whole confrontation to begin with. "Um... Sesshomarou.... could you please put me down... I'm sorta.... you know.... not clothed, and kinda cold..."

"Hn." Sesshomarou resisted the urge to frown. "This Sesshomarou will let this incident slide simply because you are just a ridiculous human and prone to folly and foolishness. However, in the future you will be careful to temper your tongue when addressing me. This Sesshomarou had merely come to watch over you, since it was noticed that you were laying vulnerable in the spring with no companion or protector. This, too, was foolish of you." As he spoke, Sesshomarou let Kagome down from the tree and lifted her up into his one arm. Immediately Kagome felt a blush scald her face. She was, after all, still naked. "Uh, Sesshomarou.... I can really walk... it's okay..."

"Would you rather any prying eyes see you in such a state?" Sesshomarou asked amusedly.

"I... but..... "

Sesshomarou chanced to look into the girl's eyes. "Do you not trust this Sesshomarou to keep well to his word? I promised no harm would come to you, that includes by my own hands." The demon lord placed Kagome gently back into the hot spring. Once in the water, Kagome let out a sigh of relief. After a few moments deep in thought, she looked back up at the demon lord, now sitting in a nearby tree. "Ano... Sesshomarou?"

"Hn," came the reply.

"Why did you even come to watch over me in the first place? It's not like this benefits you in any way, and you're not one to do things out of the goodness of your heart or anything."

As Sesshomarou's eyes hardened just a bit, Kagome tried to rescue her conversation. "I mean, I'm pretty much a stranger to you is all, and lords don't normally bother with strangers...."

The demon lord's muscles relaxed just a bit. For some reason, he didn't want this woman thinking him to be cold and heartless to the point of being brutal.

"You, woman, are the one who caused the Shikon to break into pieces in the first place, am I not correct?"

"Well, yeah.... but..." Kagome answered, confused.

"Then it is your duty to collect all of the shards and re-form the jewel. Until such time as you do that, the shards dispersed among the area of my lands continue to cause me undue trouble as minor demons run rampant and ruin the well ordered structure I have worked hard to maintain. Since you are on my lands, it is therefore my duty, should our paths cross, to aid you so that you may achieve the common goal that we both seek to arrive at, which is the completion of the Shikon..."

Kagome was trying valiantly to follow the conversation, but Sesshomarou's long and winding answer proved difficult for her sleep-deprived mind to grasp. Luckily for her, Sesshomarou must have noticed the vacant look on her face, for he let a small sigh escape his lips and then he began his answer once more.

"You broke the jewel. It's your duty to fix the jewel. I want the jewel fixed as much as you do because whenever a demon possessing a shard enters my lands, they usually damage something important, whether it is a farming village, an area used for logging, or simply land that is mine, not theirs. Therefore, if I should cross paths with you while on my lands, it is my duty to help you as I choose so that you may finish your task."

Kagome's only reply to this was a soft "Oh." After a few more minutes, she noticed how low the sun was in the sky. "Oh no! I have to get back or Inuyasha will be mad, and Sango will come looking for me and I don'[t even want to know what kind of a mess we'd all be in if she found you here, or worse, if Inuyasha found you here!" Kagome prepared to stand, but stopped herself just in time. "Ano... Sesshomarou, could you please turn around so that I can get dressed?"

Sesshomarou thought the woman's request was foolish. After all, he had already seen her nude today, it wasn't as if she would be revealing anything new to him. Still, he turned his back to her, making sure to fine tune the rest of his senses so that he could almost picture her in his mind, his mind's eye following her every move as if he were truly seeing it. As soon as she finished dressing, the demon turned around to face her. As he did, he caught a scent on the air and one side of his mouth curled up in an odd smile. "Miko." he called demandingly as she turned to take her leave. "In the immediate future, you would do well not to stray from your group. You are in heat now and the forest is filled with lesser demons who can sense your heat and will wish to take advantage of it, and of you, should you allow yourself to wander unguarded."

Kagome ducked her head to hide her blush as she mumbled a hurried thanks and rushed back to the camp where her friends waited.

**** That's the end of that chappie. Sorry it took so long but I had final exams... which kind of suck the life out of you! Anyway, next chappie may take a while coz I sorta lost the inspirational drive to write so I sorta forget where I wanted to head next with this story. Stupid exams... made my brain dummmm.....

AS ALWAYS, PLEASE HIT THAT LITTLE REVIEW BUTTEN... I MEAN BUTTON.... DUMB EXAMS.... LOVES YAS!!!