A/N: Well, this was supposed to be a one-shot…but I'm kind of having too much fun with it, so it might be a small gathering of fluffiness to enjoy, heh heh~

Kagome stretched contentedly, her arms reaching up towards the darkening sky. Her belly was full of a nice dinner, there was a fire crackling just a few feet away, and her sleeping bag was all rolled out and waiting for her to tuck herself into it for the night. Sighing happily, she leaned back on the grass, breathing in the clean evening air.

Everyone had settled down, the usual chaos of dinner – thanks to a certain half-demon and an impish fox kit – over with for the day, and it was finally quiet. The children were both tired from a long day of walking and the never-to-be-mentioned-again game of tag, so they were already starting to nod off. She looked over at them to check how they were doing, but her mind was already going to that forbidden memory…darn it! Why did she have to think about why the kids had gotten so tired?

Her cheeks reddened, and her blue eyes cut over to where Sesshoumaru was sitting beneath a tree. The demon lord was leaning back against the trunk, his eyes gazing off into the distance, seeming to not even be paying any attention to her at all. Relieved that her little…mishap…had been forgotten about, at least by him, she relaxed again, humming happily under her breath. She'd had to empty her stash of ramen because of what happened, and she was glad that things had calmed down again at last. Inuyasha had spent almost half an hour screaming incomprehensively, his head whipping between them both so quickly that she had been half-afraid that he'd give himself whiplash, and even when she could understand what he had been saying, it hadn't made any sense to her at all. She'd actually ended up having to sit him until he was half-conscious because she had been afraid he'd give himself a stroke! Going that many shades of red and purple couldn't have been good for anyone, even if they were half demon…

At least that seemed to restart his brain a little…

She giggled, quickly covering her mouth with her hands before she started to laugh harder. Sesshoumaru had been so cute, even Inuyasha's reaction couldn't ruin it completely.

Clearing her throat, Kagome stood up, brushing herself off before she turned to speak to the group in general, though her eyes glanced over at the children, her gaze softening when she saw that they were already curled up on her sleeping bag. "I'll be back in a little bit."

Not waiting for a reply, since she'd been doing this every night she could during their peaceful stretches, she wandered away from the camp. She never went far, and she always made sure she was easily within hearing range of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. Ever since the demon lord had joined the group, she'd felt even safer about going off alone for some quiet time for herself since she knew that he could be there in a heartbeat if anything happened to go wrong.

Finding an ancient tree at the edge of the forest, she plopped down, sitting against it to watch the sun finish setting. She tucked her knees up, crossing her arms over them so that she could rest her chin on them, her eyes filled with a warm contentment as she let her mind go blank. This was the best way to meditate, in her opinion. A soothing view, quiet surroundings, a demon lord sitting down beside you…

"EEEK!" Kagome jumped about a foot off the ground, falling over in a heap as she tried to leap away and spin around at the same time, her heart in her throat. Clutching at her chest, she pushed herself up off the grass, her face burning like fire yet again. She'd been worried about Inuyasha, but this seriously couldn't be good for her own heart!

She nearly had a heart attack again when she felt clawed hands gripping her shoulders, gently lifting her up and sitting her upright again as if she had been a doll that had fallen over. Immediately Kagome hid her face in her hands and groaned in embarrassment. This had to be some kind of joke. If she hadn't known that such things were beneath him, she would have sworn that he had snuck up on her on purpose to scare her. And if she hadn't hid her eyes, she would have seen the smirk that ghosted over the demon lord's lips at her reaction.

He hid it immediately, knowing that the little woman was a spitfire who wouldn't treat him any differently than anyone else if her temper got riled up. Now that she was sitting beside him again, he looked out over the small open field, focusing on the sunset as he pretended to ignore the miko he was sitting beside.

Kagome was frozen. This was supposed to be some nice, peaceful time alone, and now she'd nearly had another heart attack, and Lord Perfection himself was sitting so close next to her that she could feel his body heat. She had to bite her tongue to keep a frustrated groan from escaping.

With a huff, she crossed her arms over her chest, ignoring him back as she went back to watching the sunset. Her peace was a lost cause, though, and she grumbled to herself under her breath, speaking too softly for even Him to hear.

But her irritation didn't last long. Sesshoumaru was sitting right beside her, in all his elegance, and her curiosity was eating away at her. That didn't mean her temper had disappeared entirely, though, and she raised her chin, giving him a glare that would have him shaking in his boots. Yeah, right. Bluffing was her best chance at this.

"I'm not going to give you another belly rub, so you can just forget it."

Kagome almost slammed her face into the tree behind her. How could she even think that, let alone say that to him?!

Please don't let me die! She thought, panicked, freezing in place again as she blushed to the roots of her hair, not even daring to look at him. After a moment where she couldn't bring herself to breathe, she tensed, feeling the weight of his gaze upon her.

"Hn." Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow slightly at the woman sitting beside him, then he deliberately turned his attention back onto the sunset. He was the epitome of patience, the ultimate predator, and he had all the time in the world. Simply sitting here next to her was pleasing, her presence and the tumult of emotions coming off of her amusing. A delicate inhalation of the evening air told him that she was starting to calm down, and he waited, a little surprised at how much he was looking forward to seeing what she would do next.

Kagome risked a glance over at the demon lord beside her, oddly reassured by his usual monosyllabic reply. Normally it would annoy her, but with his weird behavior earlier anything normal was just fine in her book.

Her blush deepened as her mind automatically went to the feeling of her hand on his belly, and she shook her head to clear her thoughts, her hair flying around her. Shifting on the ground, she primly folded her legs beneath her, forcing herself to put her hands firmly in her lap. She sighed softly, then watched the sunset again. But no matter how much she tried to ignore the demon sitting next to her, it was like he drew her towards him like a magnet.

Stupid demons…why do they have to be so gorgeous? Even the males, it's totally unfair!

Doing her best not to appear to be looking, she cut her eyes over to him, running them over his form. She took in the elegant markings on his face, the stripes on his cheeks and the crescent moon on his brow, marveling at the natural beauty of them. Even his wrists, what little she could see of them because of his kimono, were marked. Sango had told her once that the more powerful a demon was, the more markings they had. His showed that he was incredibly powerful indeed. And here she was, ogling him.

Smart, Kagome. She nearly sighed again, then the breeze picked up, and she felt something like liquid silk brush against her arm. Blinking, she looked down, her eyes widening when she saw that it was his silver hair. She'd felt it before, always the barest brushes on her skin, but now he was sitting right there, and the wind was continuing its gentle blowing, making his hair dance fluidly.

Her fingers itched, wanting to bury themselves into his thick locks and see if it was actually as soft as it seemed to be. Grimacing, Kagome clenched her fingers into fists, stubbornly looking back out at the sunset, but the temptation was still there, growing stronger each time she felt the brush of his hair against her. All too soon, the sunset was over, and she was left sitting there, the cool moonlight illuminating the demon lord beside her. Another glance at him almost had her sighing in delight. His hair was nearly glowing, silvery white under the light of the moon. It made him look ethereal, beautiful and deadly.

Shifting slightly, she bit her lip, looking over at him from the corner of her eye. He hadn't reacted badly when she had touched him before…maybe she'd be able to get away with it again. They were allies now, and traveling companions. Almost like a pack, in his point of view.

And his hair was just so glorious. Watching him intently now, she lifted a hand, hesitating for a second as she waited to see what he was going to do. He didn't even twitch, his eyes still on the trees where the sun had finally disappeared. She waited another heartbeat, then reached out and lightly ran her fingertips through the silver length.

A swift glance at him revealed no reaction whatsoever, so she figured he was basically granting her permission. Her hesitation disappeared, and she combed her fingers through his hair, reveling at how silky it was. Even when she twined it around her fingers, it didn't tangle or catch, and soon she was running both hands over it. They were sitting close enough together that their legs were almost touching, but he still practically towered over her, so she had to lift her hands above her head to reach his scalp, gently dragging her fingernails over it as she gathered his hair in her hands.

Suddenly she froze when he gave a soft, rumbling growl, her heart starting to pound, but there hadn't been any menace in the sound. Instead, it had sounded incredibly…content, and it continued when she started to move her hands again, her fingers running over his head and through the length of his hair. Licking her lips, she glanced at his face, though she could only really see his profile from where she was. It looked like his eyes were closed, the soft rumble he was making kind of like the purr her cat Buyo would make when he was happy.

Then he wavered where he sat, tilting over onto her, and Kagome's eyes shot open in shock when his head came to rest on the front of her shoulder, his cheek pressed against her. Her hands had frozen in midair, and she blinked, her brain trying to catch up with what had just happened. Glancing down at him, she nearly fainted, blood rushing to her cheeks when she got an up close and personal look at his face. Even mostly hidden by his hair, it was sculpted like a god's, too perfect to be anything human. His silky locks called to her again, and she buried her fingers into it, running her hands over his head gently.

Her fingertips brushed over his pointed ear, and she heard his purring rumble hitch, then he fell all the way over, his head landing in her lap. Soft breathing told her that he had actually fallen asleep, and she almost squealed in delight at how adorable he was. The Killing Perfection, lulled to sleep by petting….she had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling at the image that popped into her head of him in his true form flopped over onto the ground on his back, tongue lolling out.

Then Inuyasha crashed through the trees, yelling at the top of his lungs, and Sesshoumaru leapt to his feet with a snarl. The demon lord was so focused on the intruder that he barely noticed Kagome squeaking and beating a full retreat, her face red as a tomato. When he saw the empty space where she had just been sitting a heartbeat ago, his eyes flashed crimson and he turned his attention onto his half-brother.

Kagome scrambled back into camp, breathing hard and still flushed, and she practically dove into her sleeping bag, throwing her blankets over her face.

Sango blinked, waking up at the commotion coming from the direction the other woman had just come from. It sounded like a warzone, and she frowned in confusion, looking over at the lump that was Kagome. "What happened out there? Was there an attack?"

"Nope! I don't know anything about dogs! Goodnight!" Kagome yelled out, then refused to say another word for the rest of the night.