Omg I'm soooo sorry! I don't have any excuse for not writing in almost a year…I've just been so preoccupied with life. Getting myself into college and keeping my grades up high is a hard task for me sometimes. XD Well, even though it is a bit late, I hope you enjoy!

Oh, and don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: Still don't own it.

Chapter 4

Kagome woke the next morning, the sun not even starting to rise. She sighed as she hauled herself out of bed and got dressed for training, also strapping her sword to her side. She knew that Sesshomaru wouldn't be down there yet, because it was way too early for Yumi to even come and get her. Grabbing her IPOD, she walked silently out of the room, making sure as not to tell anyone of her leaving her room.

She walked alone down to the training grounds, and found it to be empty, as she had figured it would be. She put her earphones in her ears and started up the music, making it loud so she could not hear anything but that. Drawing her sword, she began practicing her forms, parries, blocks, and other various things. Of course she never showed Sesshomaru a lot of the stuff she knew, because she figured that he would see it eventually. Her music started, but she did not sing, she listened intently, making her attacks fluent with the music.

Parry, block, dodge, parry, parry, jab, parry, dodge. It was like a dance. Beautifully deadly was all that could describe her movements. When the song changed, so did her motion, and which attack she chose. But one after another, the attacks just flowed together, like water. In the woods, someone watched her movements with interest, and when she turned her back, they decided to make their move.

Kagome felt someone fast approaching behind her, and turned and blocked their attack before their sword could hit. She smirked as she saw the small flash of surprise in Sesshomaru's eyes as they separated and jumped back.

She took the earphones off, and turned her IPOD off, tossing it into the grass on the edge of the dojo. "Hi Sesshomaru." she said to him.

He nodded. "Why is it that you are out here this early? You caused quite a commotion when Yumi could not find you anywhere in the castle, and came running into my bedroom, waking me up, telling me of how you are missing."

Kagome grinned sheepishly. She hadn't realized it would cause that much of a problem. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to come out here and train for a bit by myself. I didn't realize that something like that would happen." she mentioned thoughtfully. He nodded in understanding. "Where did all those forms come from? I have never seen something like that." he asked her with slight curiosity, though he tried not to show it in his voice.

She stared at him for a minute, and then inwardly gasped when she realized that he must've been watching her train to the music. "They weren't a real form really. I made them myself by going to the beat of my music on my IPOD. It helps me train to move to another person's beat and speed. I didn't really pay attention to my exact moves I guess." she said. He looked at her with interest. "Well, you may continue that. I have a few scrolls to look over that I brought with me." she nodded in understanding and went to get her IPOD.

Soon enough, she was continuing her training, with Sesshomaru sitting in the grass reading over the scrolls that never seemed to end. Every once in a while, he would look up and watch her movements. Eventually, the sun was up in the sky, and Sesshomaru stood. Kagome saw the movement, and stopped what she was doing, sheathing her sword.

She waited for him to talk after she took her earphones off. "Training is over for today. You can go take a bath, and then meet Rin and I for breakfast." he said as he started to walk away. Kagome nodded to him and followed him to the castle. She walked to the hot springs, where she found Yumi holding all of her bathing supplies and a fresh kimono. Smiling in appreciation, she took the stuff and placed it on the bench, looking up and finding Yumi gone once again.

"It never fails. Every time I look up, she's gone. It's so scary! I'm a demon and it still creeps me out!" she said exasperatedly. She undressed herself and slid into the steaming water. Washing herself quickly, she leaned against a rock as she went over the many thoughts she had running through her head.

'Did Sesshomaru find that drawing? What did he think of it? Is he mad that I went in there without his permission? Oh god, he's waiting for the right moment to kill me! I'm gonna die!' "I'm such an idiot! What have I doneeeee!?!?" she yelled into the sky.

Unknowingly to her, Sesshomaru sat in the window of his study once more, and heard her yell that. He knew it was her because he recognized her voice. He smirked. 'I wonder what the girl did to make herself say those kinds of things.' he thought of many scenarios, but nothing fit.

Still, he was extremely curious as to what she had done. He almost decided to walk down to her location and ask her about it, but then decided against it because he remembered that he told her to bathe, and that was probably where she was.

He laughed as he thought of the look that may have presented itself on her face if he went to the hot springs when she was there. An evil glint showed in his eyes at the thought. 'That would be quite an interesting situation…' 'Yes, it would.' his inner beast replied. He truly hated his inner beast. It always put input into things that should only be in HIS mind. Not in his beast's too. Walking back to his desk in the middle of the room, he sighed as he looked at the sudden lack of scrolls. He had finished the pile this morning when Kagome was training, and therefore had nothing left to do for the day.

'Maybe I should spend the afternoon in the gardens. It's rather relaxing to be there at this time of year.' He inwardly decided that a change in attire was needed. 'Maybe that will get an interesting reaction out of her.'

Walking out of his study, he walked down the spiral staircase, around many halls and corners, and ended up in his room, looking through his wardrobe. The majority of his clothes consisted of the same color and pattern, but on the other side of the closet, there were many that were used for other occasions, like ceremonies and times that he just randomly felt like wearing something different, which was VERY rare. He decided on one in particular, that was black, with a gold crescent moon on the back of the haori, but had scattered golden stars on the left shoulder, and the ends of the sleeves. His obi of choice was not his trademark yellow and blue, but was a solid gold, all except for silver on the ends. But of course, he had on his regular black boots.

Putting the outfit on, he decided against his armor and swords. He really had no reason to be prepared for battle in his own home. Walking out of the room, he turned, and saw Kagome coming out of her room at about the same time. Her hair was still damp looking, which proved that she had just gotten out of the hot springs. He noted that she wore no weapons, clearly feeling safe in the castle. She noticed him, and turned, her eyes widening slightly as she took in his change of dress.

'WOAH! When did that happen?! I didn't know that Sesshomaru WORE other clothes!!' 'Yeah…me either. But I don't mind! He looks hot in black!' 'Where did that come from!?' 'You know you think it, so stop denying it. We both think he is. How could you NOT?!' 'I guess…' And with that last thought, she promptly ignored what she knew to be her inner demon.

"Hello Sesshomaru. How have you been since I last saw you?" she asked quietly and politely. Sesshomaru inwardly smirked. 'She wants us.' 'I doubt it.' 'Did you not see the look on her face when she looked at us?! She liked what she sees! I can tell even if you're too dense to notice!' 'Silence yourself. This Sesshomaru is not dense.' his beast sighed. 'Fine…for now…I'll be back!' and with that, the thoughts stopped.

"I have not been any different than an hour ago. Does it seem like there should be reason for me to be?" he asked her in his normally indifferent voice. It caught her off guard slightly, but shook her head.

"No, I was just being polite and asking." she replied, trying to keep her attitude in check. She wanted nothing more than to bitch that demon lord out for being such an asshole, but thought against it because she did not wish to fight.

Sesshomaru could see the conflict in her eyes, and knew that she wanted to yell at him. Deciding to be a bit nicer, he spoke up once more. "I am only slightly surprised to find that my workload has finally ended, and I am left with nothing to do this afternoon."

Kagome was shocked. She never in a million YEARS expected him to explain himself! She could've died right there! 'I swear…it's like…opposite day today…he's being so…DIFFERENT!' 'HE LIKES US!' 'I doubt that. He would never have interest in a human-gone-demon. Especially since I have miko powers as well.' 'I'm telling you! He likes us! I can see it in his eyes even if you can't!' And with that, her inner demon promptly shut up, and discontinued the fight that Kagome would have never given up on.

"That sounds boring. What are you planning to do this afternoon then?" she asked, curious to see if he was thinking of doing anything with her and Rin.

"I don't really know. I haven't had an afternoon off in a long time." he replied truthfully. 'She's prying. She wants to know if we want to be near her!' 'That's not true. She's just curious. It's in her nature.' 'You're such an idiot sometimes!' and then he went silent once more, waiting to put his two sense in at a later time.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Could we go pick flowers in a pretty field? I want some nice ones to put in my room!" Rin came yelling towards them, running. She skidded to a stop right between the two.

Sesshomaru inwardly sighed. 'There always has to be someone to run in, doesn't there?" Nodding at Rin, which caused a cheer, Sesshomaru closed his eyes to try and drown out the sound with his thoughts. Kagome stared at him, confused at why he bent to Rin's will so much. 'He loves her, I'm sure. He DOES think she's his adopted daughter. It's rather sweet really.' She looked at the demon lord, and smiled at him.

"We can meet at the front gate. Rin, tell a servant to get Ah-Un ready for you." He said, and with that, he walked off, disappearing down one of the hall's many corners. Rin ran after him, intent on reaching a servant that worked with the two headed dragon. Kagome giggled at her enthusiasm, and followed behind them slowly.

She reached the main door, and when they pulled open, even though she knew that no one was pulling them, she went out into the summer day. Sighing happily at the glowing sun. She then remembered she carried no weapon. 'Oh well. Sesshomaru will be there, and he has his sword. He's more than enough.' and she spotted the said demon lord, and his small attachment of a girl standing by the two headed dragon. Kagome sped up her step a little, and stopped right in front of them. At seeing Kagome, Rin mounted the dragon, and flew into the sky, both demons following after.

The trip to the field was short, and Kagome soon found herself sitting under a tree watching Rin run around collecting different types of flowers that grew there. Sesshomaru stood to the left of Kagome, not willing to sit on the ground like her.

Not long after, a messenger came to Sesshomaru, telling of how bandits are attacking a village about a 15 minute run from there. Sesshomaru looked to Kagome, seeing if she was listening. She nodded at him.

"Go Sesshomaru, I can take care of Rin." Sesshomaru nodded, "That is understood. I do not smell danger, and I will get to the village quicker if I ride Ah-Un." As he said that, the two headed dragon walked up to him, and he mounted, quickly taking off into the sky. Kagome looked around for any danger. Seeing none, she closed her eyes for a moment. But, not long after, she was startled by a piercing scream. It was Rin's, and she was surrounded completely by boar demons. 'There's 8 of them I think…'

Instinctively, she stood and grabbed for her sword. Her hand hit empty air. 'Shit! I left it back at the castle…Well, I guess I'm going to have to get my claws dirty.' she flexed the said weapons, cracking them quickly, and then jumped into the air, landing in front of the crying Rin on the ground. Kagome stood in a crouched position in order to protect the girl.

"Oh, another snack!" one of the demons said, his snout moving disgustingly, making Kagome want to puke. She looked at him closely. He was rather unattractive, and had large tusks. The others looked just like him, only with subtle differences. He seemed to be the leader seeing as he was standing directly in front of them.

"I'm not a snack, and neither is she. If you value your lives, you will leave now." she spoke venomously. The leader seemed startled for a quick second, but recovered, and started laughing. "Like a little thing like YOU could do anything to stop us! You know what, I think you're going to be dessert." he said to her, licking his lips. The others started to chuckle evilly, and they all began to move in.

Kagome jumped at the nearest one, slashing it in the face. He began to scream as her poison slowly entered his system, killing him from the inside out. His friends stared at him in horror, and as he dropped dead, they attacked more reverently, determined to kill her or Rin. She did not let them get to the girl though, and instead ended up taking quite a few blows to protect her.

Slowly, one by one, the demons fell and died, and soon, there was none left. Kagome dropped to one knee as she realized that her wounds were more serious than she thought. She had a large slash across her back that reached from hip to shoulder blade, and a deep cut on her left forearm that almost went down to bone. She had various small cuts all over her, and her leg had a large chunk taken out of it. It was then that she noticed that the skin around the wounds were black. 'Great. I'm poisoned. What ELSE could go wrong?!' she yelled to herself. Then, as if the world was laughing at her misfortune, she felt her whole body seize up, and she fell over, and when she attempted to move, there was nothing. 'Great now I'm paralyzed. Just what I need.' 'Damn. You sure screwed yourself over didn't you?' 'Oh shut up.' Kagome looked at her surroundings as best as she could from the ground, and saw a crying Rin next to her.

"Please don't die Kagome! Please don't! I don't want to lose my mommy again!" she yelled and cried harder, leaning on Kagome's stomach. Tears started to soak Kagome's shirt, and then she felt the world starting to spin, and then noticed that her vision was fading. Rin's voice was getting farther away, and the last thing Kagome thought about was 'Rin…Sesshomaru…' And then she fell unconscious.

Sesshomaru stood on the outskirts of the human village, washing his claws in the river just on the edge of the border. 'That was easy.' It was then that he smelled it. The thick scent of blood, and not the blood he just spilled. He took a deeper breath and his eyes widened slightly. 'Kagome…' And he was off. Ah-Un noticed this and followed closely behind.

Coming upon the clearing, he was hit with the scent of blood everywhere, and as it became visible, he saw 8 boar demons dead on the ground, and in the center, lay Kagome, with a crying Rin lying partially on her.

He heard Rin's pleas, and walked over to the girls swiftly. When he got there, he looked at Kagome's injuries. Noticing that she was obviously poisoned, he bent down, one knee on the ground. Rin looked up, her tearstained eyes piercing him. "Lord Sesshomaru! Boar demons attacked us, and I don't know if Kagome's alive or not!" she yelled, crying more. Sesshomaru could hear her heart beat, though it was incredibly weak and slow, it was there. "She'll be okay Rin. Get on Ah-Un and get to the castle quickly. As fast as you can. When you get there, run to the healer, and have her prepare to extract this poison. Hurry." and with that, Rin was immediately on the dragon's back and gone in the direction of the castle. Sesshomaru looked over the horrible wounds. "You protected her with everything, didn't you?" he asked the unconscious girl, knowing she couldn't respond.

Picking her up carefully, as to not hurt her, he jumped into the sky, speeding off on his cloud toward the castle.

In Kagome's Little Dream World…

'Where am I?' She asked herself. Sighing at the white room, she sorely wished she was in a nice clearing. As though someone heard her thoughts, the white room transformed, turning into a beautiful pasture with many different flowers. 'Woah…' She thought to herself. Suddenly, she saw a person coming near her. It was Midoriko.

"Hello Kagome. It seems we meet once more." She spoke to Kagome. She nodded to the older miko. "It seems so. Could you tell me why I'm here again?" she asked. Midoriko nodded, and then stretched her hands in front of her. A small bowl of water appeared, and Midoriko looked inside. Kagome followed suit, slightly curious, and she gasped slightly as she realized she was looking down on herself, and Sesshomaru as he rushed her to the castle for medical care as smoothly as possible.

"He's worried about me?" Kagome asked herself quietly, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. Midoriko smiled, "Of course Kagome. Everyone cares about you. You made the world a better place, and in turn, everyone wishes your happiness."

Kagome smiled softly, forgetting that she was in the presence of another. 'He cares…' she thought to herself, smiling again. Suddenly, the world, including the bowl, began to spin.

She closed her eyes, and then she felt intense pains, and a slight jostled feeling. She slowly opened her eyes, and she found herself looking up into the focused face of Sesshomaru. "S-Sesshomaru?" she said carefully, learning that her lungs were bruised quite badly by the feel of it. He looked down, but never slowed his pace. "You are foolish. You get yourself hurt instead of running." She glared slightly. She tested out her voice a little more, "They had Rin trapped. I couldn't have run. I wouldn't have left her there…She's my daughter…" she said. Sesshomaru's features softened. "Thank you. Now rest. We are almost there." And when he said that, a spell seemed to be placed on her, and she drifted off once more, this time, remaining in her own dreams.

Sesshomaru looked down at the injured girl once more before looking ahead. 'Why did she say what she did?' 'Say what? That Rin is her daughter? Maybe it's because she LIKES Rin and wishes to be her real mother?' 'Impossible. That would mean that she accepts the fact that I'm practically Rin's father.' 'Maybe she does.' and he stopped thinking.

Arriving at the castle, he sped straight through all the halls, reaching the healer in record time. He placed Kagome on the raised platform/bed, and the healer immediately got to work extracting the poison. Sesshomaru left the room in order to help the healer move a little faster, and shut the door behind him. He then realized that Rin had been sitting outside the door the entire time, shaking.

"Is Kagome going to be okay Lord Sesshomaru?" she asked quietly. Sesshomaru, in a rare display of love, sat down next to her, and picked her up, placing her on his lap. "Yes Rin. Kagome is strong. I'm sure she'll be okay." he said to her. She smiled brightly and hugged him tightly. He smiled behind her, seeing as she couldn't see his face, and patted her back.

About an hour later, the healer came out of the room, surprised to see Sesshomaru sitting on the floor, with the human girl sleeping in his arms no less! As Sesshomaru stood, Rin still in his arms, the healer cleared his throat and began. "The woman, Kagome, had been poisoned, but I extracted it, and cleaned all her wounds, and she should be fine if she rests until they're completely healed. Since she is a demon like us, she should be healed in a few days. However, there will be scarring from those injuries. The poison marred her skin. But at least I was able to get it out before it harmed all of her organs." he said.

Sesshomaru nodded in understanding. "I will be bringing Rin to bed, and then I will be back to collect Kagome and bring her to her room." The healer nodded in understanding, and watched as the demon lord quickly disappeared and then reappeared moments later. The healer was used to that kind of thing, so he made no point to be surprised. Sesshomaru walked into the room, and moments later, he was gone, along with Kagome.

When he arrived in her room, he placed her on the covers carefully. Yumi stood at the door silently waiting for Sesshomaru's instructions. He turned around and faced the girl to whisper, "Change her clothes and put her under her covers. Do not wake her." and he swept himself out of the room. Yumi nodded and got to work.

Sesshomaru sat at his desk in his room, pondering the scroll that came with her. Sighing to himself, he looked at it once more. "Why is it that I was chosen? What good can this really do?" he asked himself. Sighing once more, he put the scroll down and got up, changing for bed, and falling asleep quickly, strange dreams plaguing him.

-In the Mountains-

The group of demons sat around a fire once more, in the main cave. "I wonder if the plan is going smoothly." one of the men said. One of the women glared. "Of course it is Raiku. Did you expect my plan to fail?" she said annoyed, and a bit angry. The man we now know as Raiku shook his head. "No, but we all know Kagome to be hot-headed and likely to realize what we are doing. Even you should know that she is smart, Ellen." he said. Ellen nodded. "I know. But I do believe that this will work out." Another one of the men laughed. Ellen glared. "What is it Yuko?" he tried to calm down, his shoulders shaking slightly. When he caught his breath, he spoke, "I have a wonderful idea."

They all looked to him curiously. "What is it?" Raiku asked. Yuko laughed a little. "I say we go and have a visit with our little student." he said. They all smiled. "That's a wonderful idea!" the other girl said, slightly hyper. "I know it is Yuriko, after all, I always think of the good ideas." he said. Yuriko laughed. "I know big brother!" she said and jumped to him.

She was the strangest of the six. Usually happy, bouncy, and really hyper. Much like Shippo, only, female and older.

"Isn't it a good idea Daisuke?" she bounced over to another man that had yet to speak. He just nodded, and she smiled.

"Then that's settled. We should leave in about a week. And I think we should send a messenger now, so Sesshomaru has warning." Yuko said. He looked to another man, that was in the corner of the group and hadn't talked yet. "What do you think about this Kaito?" Kaito was obviously the leader. "I think We do need to visit little Kagome. Just to check in on her. After all, she is one of us now." he said quietly. And the rest of the group smiled.

"This is going to be fun."

Well was it any good? Be sure to tell me! The more reviews I get, the quicker I might respond next time!