Chapter 1

A swift breeze cooled down the already hot morning. The sun's gaze was so immense, not even the birds wanted to have a run in with the glowing orb.

A local tree provided shade for three creatures. A girl sat at the base, black hair pulled back, keeping as cool a possible, even under such extremes. A small child, a fox demon, slept beside her, making the brown grass in front of him move back and forth with each breath he took. The eldest, a male half demon, sat up in the lower branches, watching his two companions.

"Inuyasha?" the female's voice called out softly, as to not wake up the small boy next to her.

The half demon softly jumped down from his perch landing in front of the youths. "Yeah?" he questioned back.

The girl, Kagome, draped her arm over her eyes lazily, trying to keep the sun out of them. "I think there's a shard over there," she pointed her other arm to the north-west. "It's not moving, so we don't have to go and get it in this heat." She said the last part suggestively. Kagome was not in the mood to go and get shards, which would most likely lead to a battle, in this weather.

Inuyasha's ears swiveled in the direction. "I hear fighting. We have to go now, or it might not be there." Instantly Kagome thought, 'Liar!' but said nothing except a small grunt. She shook Shippou awake, who just mumbled incoherent things in his sleep. Deciding not to wake up the kit, she quickly grabbed a note pad and a pencil from the large yellow sac that was on the other side of the tree.

Writing a quick note telling the child that they were to be back soon, she folded it over, and wrote his name on one side. Hopefully no one would bother him while they were away.

"Okay, let's go." Kagome said as she got her quiver on her back. "We better hurry" she was tired, and really did not want to fight, but she never wanted to fight, so mainly, she was just tired. The teen climbed onto Inuyasha's back, and almost instantly they were off.

It was two snakes. The one with the jewel looked as if he had drunken muscle enhancing shakes its entire life. It had the pecks of a body builder, kind of creepy on a snake with a man's torso. The other snake looked like the one Inuyasha and Kagome fought right after they met Sango. He was small, but power did radiate off of him. The shard snake was sadly not as powerful, so best bet was to play keep away from the smaller snake.

Kagome got off of Inuyasha as fast as she could, and told him her idea of the child's game. Instantly the half demon went after the snake with the shard, not really caring what Kagome had to say. She would have protested, but he had already charged off.

The small snake, realizing that he was not having any attention drawn onto him, turned to the black-haired girl. Said girl noticed this, and shot an arrow as quick as she could into the shoulder of the scaly creature. The snake lashed his tail toward the priestess, the girl barley dodging the attack, but ended up in some near by bushes. Inuyasha now noticed his fallen friend, and started to attack the small snake. As the two fought, the other snake, the one with the shard, silently slipped away.

Looking up from where she fell, Kagome saw something shine off of the sun's powerful rays. Forgetting about the battle, the girl reached with her hand, feeling around for something unnatural. Her hand struck something hard and leathery. Quickly grabbing it, she could tell it was book of some sort.

As if she just realized there was a battle going on she got up and turned around, watching as Inuyasha called out "Wind Scar!", thus ending the battle. Running over to her he snatched her shoulders and shook them, completely ignoring the book in her hands. "What were you thinking?" He yelled in her face. "You could have gotten yourself killed! I swear your going to be the cause of my death!"

Forgetting about the book in her state of anger, Kagome hit him in the face with it. "Well, if I am going to be the cause of your death, why am I still around?" The priestess marched back the way they came, whether Inuyasha was coming or not.

It mad her so mad how he would insult her for not that much of a reason. 'Was he not the one who told… no demanded me to come with him? I can't believe him!' Unconsensely, she gripped the misplaced book tighter. It was really an odd thing to find. 'Maybe it was a smuggled westerner that brought it here.'

It took an hour by the time Kagome made it back to the village that she and her companions were staying at. Instantly, she was attacked by a small red ball of fluff, which ended up in the dirt. She would have caught him, but the book was in the way. "What's that?" Shippou said pointing to the object.

Kagome continued to walk on toward the inn the three were staying at. "I don't know. Has Inuyasha made in back yet?" She asked as Shippou jumped on her back. He nodded, giving Kagome an odd feeling in her gut. 'I really don't want to mess with him right now. Something's up with lately'. "Shippou, do you know where he is?"

The small demon pointed to the outskirts of the village. "He seemed pretty mad when he came back. Did something happen?" Kagome shook he head, as to wave it off. She finished her walk to the inn, and went right to her room.

The village that they were staying at was a larger one, but not yet a city. A small, welcoming stream was on one side, and a bright, lush forest on the other. It was quite peaceful, but that had nothing to do with why they were there. The trio heard rumors of a jewel shard roaming about in this part of Japan, and was there in just a day.

Shippou could tell that his two friends had a fight. When Inuyasha was mad, it was quite obvious. He was the same during the fight, as he was after, for at least a couple of hours. Kagome would get really upset during the fight, and depending on how bad the fight was, she normally was quiet afterward. Shippou felt sorry for his two buddies. They had been getting into more fights than the used to.

o0o

That humming was on the verge of driving him insane. Ever since late morning the noise had burned his very much sensitive ears. His journey to find the bothering source had led the young man to his father's old study.

Walking inside, the first thing the man noticed was the thick layer of dust that drifted away with each step he took. Piles of scrolls gathered around a low desk, with unfinished writings, and readings. The room looked abandoned for years, and the man was not surprised. The study was in the most forbidden part of the castle.

One certain group of scrolls drew his attention. The noise, now a loud buzz, seemed to be franticly trying to gain his lust of knowledge. Taking four elegant steps towards the scrolls, he stared at them, as if they held some unknown power. They seemed normal, But one never knows.

Lifting his leg, the man gave a small tap with his foot, knocking the items down, dust rising. After the particles settled, an odd object laid where the scrolls used to be. A book. Even thought such oddities were forbidden in Japan, this man knew exactly what the strange object was. It was not a normal book.

The strange sound of a three legged walk of an old man echoed thru the hall, behind the younger man. "I see you found the journal, Lord Sesshoumaru." His voice was very much that of a man his age. Every word he said sounded stressed and dry, but he did not waver any word.

"What is this?" Sesshoumaru asked, picking up the book. Instantly the noise stopped. Besides the two men, it was the only thing not covered in dust.

The older man gave the crackled laugh his kind was known to give. "That," he said, pointing to the object, "is a courting book." The hand that was in the air, he placed onto his other hand, which was on his odd cane. "You heard the noise, did you not?" with the nod of his lord, the old man continued. "Your father used it to meet your mother, did you know that? Instead of meeting her in person, they communicated thru a book just like it. It was to prevent her from finding out who he really was, while getting to know the real him. Confusing? Yes I know, but you will understand."

Sesshoumaru took this info, but it did not explain everything. He was about to say something when the other man spoke. "The noise you heard means that the female you are destined for found the other copy. You two can write to each other, but only she can start the conversations. The female will most likely be able to read and write, so you don't have to worry about that. Every time you hear the noise from before, it means she is writing." The old man took a pause every now and then, but stated everything almost perfectly, Like he had preformed it before.

The old man wobbled his way out of the room. The sound of his walked suddenly stopped, "Oh, and one more thing. You, my lord, cannot lie to her… at least not in that book."

Sesshoumaru watched with his golden eyes so bright, even in the darkness, as the old man left his sight, and eventually, his senses. How particular. At least now, the Great Lord of the West would not have to worry so much about finding a mate, a wife. Whether he showed it or not, Sesshoumaru was worried about the future of his lands.

o0o

A small tweet came in the evening when the sun was setting, creating another piece of art in the sky. The day had cooled down quite a bit, and most of the animals that slept thru the heat were now out, making up for lost time.

Kagome shifted thru her belongings, trying to find her night clothes. All day she had done well hiding from Inuyasha. She felt hurt by what he said, and was not ready to face him just yet. He could be such a jerk. She had been thinking about what he had said to her all day.

Kagome trudged about the small room of the inn, getting ready for bed. It was still hot, so her hair was pulled back still. Shippou was asleep on a futon in the corner. The small fox had been doing that lately, but Kagome thought that it must have been the heat getting to him. This was not the first hot day of the summer. Towards the end was more like it.

The teen had a sudden rush to just do something that challenged her mind more than getting dressed. Looking around, she saw the book from earlier. Surprisingly, Kagome did nothing with it. There was one point where she quickly looked thru it, but that was all. She decided to take a long scan of all the pages. Nothing. Not a word was written. A sigh came from her lips.

An idea popped into Kagome's head. 'If this has nothing in it, I bet it's not sorely missed! I bet if I write in it, it could keep me busy for now!' She was really desperate for something to do, so she thought it was the best way to pass time. Quickly grabbing a pencil from her pack, Kagome turned to the first page of the book.

'What to write? What to write?' The lead touched the odd textured of paper writing the first thought that came to Kagome's mind. Hello. My name is Kagome. She waited for a moment, looking to Shippou, who still slept, thinking of what else to write. 'I should use this as a dairy'. When she looked back to the paper a look of pure horror came across her face.

Right underneath her name was something that she least expected.

Hello Kagome.

------------------------------------------

Okay, that's the first chapter. Hope you like! RaR!