AN: I do not own Inuyasha

AN 2.0: Hey guys. For anyone that's interested in my story or for anyone that would like updates, related fan fiction, or to ask questions follow my tumblr at grimmwrote I'm going to start posting this story there, as well.

The cold, hard, rain came crashing down on her face like needles as she ran. Her legs were on fire. It felt like she had been running for an eternity. The rain masked her tears but the salty scent could not be hidden from demons in the area. This fact gave her all the motivation she needed to keep running. She tripped over something like a small pebble or twig and fell into a puddle of mud.

Ugh, this is the last thing I need, She thought. She wiped the tears from her face and just lay on the muddy forest floor catching her breath. Maybe he's given up…

"Kagome! Kagome! It's not what you're thinking!" Inuyasha's voice called from the distance.

Shit, I guess not. If I stay here he'll definitely find me. I don't know if I can keep running like this. She tried to pick herself up off of the ground but she fell down again. There was a searing pain in her ankle preventing her from standing. Despite the pain she got back up and attempted to sprint in a direction she was sure that Inuyasha was not.

"Kagome! It really wasn't what you're thinking!"

The hell that wasn't what I thought it was. I know what I saw. I'm done with it. He can have Kikyo! I'm tired of all of the lies. I never want to see his face again.

She stopped by a tree to catch her breath and to put the weight off of her ankle. She paused. She couldn't hear anything. There was nothing to be heard but the sound of the heavy raindrops pelting the leaves in the canopy above.

She closed her eyes and sighed in relief. She was so tired she wished that she could drop right there and take a nap. The relief, unfortunately, was only temporary. Her eyes snapped open upon hearing the snap of a stick. Out of the corner of her eye there was a blur of red. She didn't need any further investigation to start running again. She was off in a flash, away from there as quickly as her injured ankle would allow. However, her growing fatigue from the emotional pain of the situation and her throbbing ankle made her much too slow for her liking. For fear of not running fast enough from her pursuer she glanced behind her to search for any sign of him catching up. Her disorientation and an instant of not looking in the direction that she was going caused her to run into something; something hard. Expecting to fall back to the ground she drew her arms to her chest and braced herself. She felt so week she knew there was no way that she could ever catch herself. So she braced herself for pain and waited for impact but the ground never came. She was so exhausted; she didn't have time to come up with a logical explanation to make sense of the situation. She let her body go limp and her eyes droop. Whatever had been supporting her before continued to keep her from coming in contact with the ground. She didn't care what it was but she was glad it was supporting her.

Everything was a blur now as she was attempting to fight off the sleep that was taking over. She opened her eyes as far as she could. Through blurred vision she could see a mixture of gold, red and mostly white. Exhaustion won and everything went black as she slipped into unconsciousness.

She could not clearly see golden eyes gazing down upon her.

/\/\/\/\

"Jaken," the lord of the west addressed the imp.

"Yes, milord?" Jaken trembled under the towering taiyoukai.

"This Sesshomaru is going to survey the area. Set up camp and see to it that Rin is kept safe," He briefly glanced over at the girl picking some wildflowers in a nearby clearing. "If you should fail, it will be your head, Jaken."

"Y-yes milord," Jaken cowered, "I shall be sure to take care of the human sufficiently." Jaken bowed before his lord.

"Hn." The lord turned to walk away.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin ran up to him and hugged his legs from behind. "Please come back soon." She said with a smile. "Here," Sesshomaru turned to face her, "take this." She held out a small purple wild flower. Shoujou bakama- a dog's tooth violet.

"Insolent human! Lord Sesshomaru does not have need for things such as your weeds. You really must stop bothering Lord Sesshomaru with such trivial matters." Rin looked down. One could almost see her heart sink. Jaken glared at the child and in turn Sesshomaru gave a chilling stare directed toward the foolish imp. Jaken flinched almost being able to feel his lord's deathly stare.

"My most sincere apologies my lord, I did not mean to interrupt." He bowed and backed away slowly from the two.

Rin looked up at her lord with her big, innocent, watery eyes. Sesshomaru closed his own golden one. If the lord of the west were to ever sigh in exasperation, at this moment he would have. He looked at the girl without emotion and put his only hand on her head. He then carefully took the small flower between his thumb and index finger as if to not damage the plant.

"I shall be returning soon, Rin." The little girl smiled up at her lord understanding that he did not agree with Jaken. She had known him long enough to understand his feelings without facial expressions much of the time. She happily skipped away back to the field of wildflowers. Sesshomaru then turned back around and continued on his way to survey the surrounding lands for threats.

It had been several hours since he left their camp. The sky had long since become dark and was beginning to become saturated with clouds. Sesshomaru brought his nose up toward the rising moon to sniff the air around him.

It is likely to rain soon. He thought just before a raindrop kissed his marked forehead. He sniffed the air once more, a demon, he thought. In a snap he whipped around and caught the snake-like attacker by its long neck. The creature did not even have the time to gasp let alone cry out in sweet agony. Sesshomaru snapped its neck as soon as he had seen yellow of its eyes surrounding its black slit of a pupil. He let the demon drop to the forest floor, still twitching. As if the sky was mourning for the pathetic demon that thought it might stand a chance against the great lord, it suddenly begun to down pour. He gazed up at the sky again, the moon now completely hidden by the heavy rain clouds below its luminous glow.

Though the surrounding water would create a difficult task to detect smells for many weaker demons, it had not hindered the lord's senses in the least. Still staring at the cloudy sky his powerful taiyoukai senses took in his surroundings. At the moment all that could be heard was the pattering sound of the harsh rain falling on the leaves. But then there was a harsher sound, a pounding on the earth much harsher than even the pattering raindrops.

This sound. Feet. Two sets, one heavier than the other. This sounds as if the heavier is chasing the lighter. A demon chasing a human. He took a deep breath to take in the smells. Correction, a half-breed chasing a human.

"Kagome! Kagome! It's not what you're thinking!" as if to confirm Sesshomaru's inquiry the half-breed shouted out.

Of course, this would solve the mystery as to what the lighter sounds were, as well. The half-breed's wench. He let himself inhale the scents around him once again. Death, earth, filth and …this other scent, so familiar and so strong. Even at such a distance this human's scent...His eyes flashed red for a fraction of a second

"Kagome! It really wasn't what you're thinking!" He completely ignored Inuyasha's outburst and went back to his thoughts.

It is too…not unpleasant to really be a human. This scent seems very familiar as if This Sesshomaru has encountered it once before. Almost as if This Sesshomaru could faintly smell it before her presence became known. His eyes widened the slightest in realization. He pulled out the small purple wildflower that Rin had given him. He had never actually taken the time to smell the flower that the girl had given him, he simply ignored the scent.

He brought the small flower to his nose, closed his eyes ignoring everything around him and inhaled the sweet scent of the flower. Yes, the aroma of this wildflower is...not displeasing. He let the scent flood his senses. Having just ignored the world around him and almost getting caught up in the wonderful smell of his little gift from Rin he just barely noticed when something fairly large slammed into him from the front. His eyes snapped open and looked down on whatever had made impact. A quick glance told him that whatever it was, it was of no threat to him. Out of some sort of strange impulse the lord quickly and somehow carefully placed the small flower into his armor and caught the being with his only arm.

Damnit all! I cannot believe I let this surprise me. Why is it that This Sesshomaru did not detect its coming? Upon a quick assessment of the thing in his arms he came to realize that it was, in fact, Inuyasha's woman. This smell…his eyes widened almost noticeably. Of course…

The lord gazed down at the girl. She let out a small groan and looked as if she was attempting to open her eyes. She was holding herself up but suddenly she went completely limp putting her weight entirely on the lord's lone arm. It still appeared as if she was attempting to fight off the exhaustion, which was apparent in her heavy eyelids, but she finally gave in to it. He could feel her breaths evening out and pulse regulating compared to what felt to be like an adrenaline induced increase in heart rate, along with the apparent running. And so, the girl slept in the arm of the killing perfection.

The lord gazed at the sleeping girl in his arm. The rain had begun to let back and had turned to just a light drizzle compared to the pouring only moments before. Sesshomaru inhaled the sweet scent of petrichor and dog's tooth violet. Now having the time to thoroughly inspect the girl he saw her covered in mud, clothes and face soaking wet, the salty scent of tears and the red puffiness of the area around her eyes made it obvious that she had been crying for whatever reason. Most-likely result of the half-breed's idiocy or emotional abuse, considering the chase. Not that this Sesshomaru would care. She looked a complete mess.

"Kagooomee!" Sesshomaru heard the half-breed cry out.

The nuisance must not be able to smell her in the rain, especially with her covered in filth like this. He turned his back to the hanyou and paused. It appears as though the half-breed is going in the wrong direction. Pity. Seeing how soaked he was himself he decided it would be best to return to his camp. But the girl…He formed his youki cloud beneath him. This Sesshomaru supposes that he might as well bring the girl along. The rain turned into barely a sprinkle. The lord flew low, fast and upwind of the hanyou effectively concealing them and beginning to dry the girl and himself.

By the time they got back to the campsite the rain had completely stopped. Jaken made a fire that was still going strong. Rin and Jaken were already asleep. Sesshomaru set Kagome down against a large tree. He began to walk over to Rin when he heard shuttering coming from the girl behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see the girl shivering. He almost sighed but kept his emotionless mask on. He felt his pelt and thought for a moment. The pelt had become completely dry from the fly there. The girl appeared to be still a bit damp. He took off his pelt and set it gently on the girl. The shivering almost immediately stopped. She snuggled up against the soft pelt and sighed.

"Thank you mama..." She said quietly. He hid his disgusted expression in the shadows of the canopy above.

To think This Sesshomaru honestly let a disgusting human touch what's mine, especially…my pelt. This Sesshomaru is even letting her sleep with it. He tried to brush the thought of the girl snuggling up to his pelt, spreading her wildflower smell on something so precious to him. The scent was mingling with his own on something he so often wore. He suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck start to stand up and his fangs reflexively bore, but only for a moment. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brows as he ran his hand through the silky hair on top of his head grasped it.

He turned back around to check on Rin's condition. He knelt down to the sleeping girl. Her face kept scrunching up and her nose twitched. Her growing bangs were tickling her nose. He gently moved the hair away from her face. Her face then relaxed and reverted to an angelic peaceful face of an innocent child. Sesshomaru lingered there for a moment longer to watch the child sleep. He then left to go sit by his own tree and meditate until the morning. And so, the four remained in peace all through the night until the sun rose in the morning.

~End Chapter 1