"Sesshoumaru," Kagome called, "You're sad, aren't you?"

"Don't be foolish, girl." Sesshoumaru replied harshly, "I am not so petty." Kagome merely sighed, shaking her head in disapproval.

"You can deny it all you want, but I can see it written all over you! You're just as stubborn as Inuyasha." She pointed an accusatory finger at the much taller demon, "Just admit it: you're sad because you're going to miss Rin. You're sad because you won't have anyone to protect anymore."

"Don't you dare compare me to Inuyasha!" Sesshoumaru huskily warned, his temper flaring, "Pity I didn't make sure you were dead that first time I intended to kill you." He continued, albeit more cold than heated. He could so easily encircle his claws around her neck, how easily he could end her life.

"Well then, why don't you finish the job right now if you so regret it. Go on, kill me." Kagome challenged, bravely standing her ground. "Well, I'm waiting." She huffed.

Sesshoumaru glared at her, his amber eyes smoldering, but her gaze never wavered. There was a fine line between bravery and stupidity, Sesshoumaru had always believed, and his impudent sister-in-law hovered over that line constantly.

Sesshoumaru raised his claws, but in the end, he turned his back to her, "You're not worth my time." He dismissed, beginning to march away from his half-brother's lover.

"Yeah, sure." Kagome elongated her words sarcastically, "The old Sesshoumaru might have done it, but you can't bring yourself to do it, can you? You can't kill me. And you know why, Sesshoumaru? Because you have a conscience in there, that's why. Because Rin changed something in you, and you do care. And you know that if you killed me or Sango or Miroku or Kaede or any other villager, she wouldn't forgive -."

"Silence!" Sesshoumaru growled.

"No! You need to just admit it – you don't hate us all as much as you claim to! Heck, I think you even care about Inuyasha." Kagome assured, wagging a finger in knowing.

"I said –" But Sesshoumaru didn't finish. As he turned around to rebuke the young woman's preposterous assumptions, he was silenced by the sight he was greeted with. It was Kikyou, the old, whom stared back at him with placid eyes, not the energetic and presumptuous Kagome he had been arguing with before.

"She had the truth of the matter." Kikyou's voice was soft as it reached his ears.

"You're here to haunt my dreams again, woman?"

"You haunt yourself. I am but a manifestation of your troubled mind." Kikyou let herself spare a small smile. "I asked you once what you wanted with the reincarnation."

"And I have your answer: nothing. I want nothing from her." Sesshoumaru responded gruffly.

"That's not what you thought a while ago." Kikyou factually pointed out.

"And how would you know what I think?" Sesshoumaru rebutted.

"I am you, fool. I am the part of you that you refuse to accept." Kikyou's tone changed into one of condescension.

"That's ridiculous."

"And so is believing that I am a ghost haunting your dreams." Kikyou hurled back, a pretty smirk on her face.

"Yeah, and don't forget getting all offended over a book." Kagome chided in, reappearing beside Kikyou.

"You dog demons are all the same." Kikyou added. "Your father, your brother, and you."

"I will not let a human be my downfall!" Sesshoumaru harshly countered, his fangs bared in warning.

"You have already let a human be your downfall." Kikyou replied as Kagome nodded, "First Rin and now…"

"Kikyou!" Kagome giggled, "But come on, Kikyou, neither Rin or future Kikyou should be called 'downfalls'; that's so rude!"

"He does not think they are – not really." Kikyou patiently explained to her reincarnation. "Otherwise he would not want to be with them."

"And he wouldn't have saved either if he totally didn't care." Kagome reasoned, "You should go back to future Kikyou! You want to go back to her, then you can be ha-"

"Enough!" Sesshoumaru snapped, his claws extended, before he could stop himself, he slashed at the two phantoms. They evaporated into the cold, night air.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" A child's voice called out in terror. Sesshoumaru turned on his heel and was met by child Rin's distraught gawk. "How could you?" Her lower lip trembled, her eyes tearful and scared.

"Rin," Sesshoumaru called. The tears in her eyes and the fretful shaking of her skinny limbs bothered him – she had never given him such a look before. He neared her, his long right talon outstretched in an unthreatening way, but as soon as he was an arm's length away from her, the child bolted away, sobbing all the while in blatant fright. "Rin!" He called out again as he prepared to follow, but modern Kikyou materialized in his path, stunning him enough to drop his pursuit and jump back a few paces.

Oo

Sesshoumaru woke with a start. He rubbed at his temples with one hand in irritation as he reached for his cellphone with the other.

5:16 AM; NOV 12, 2014, his phone displayed, in bold, digital letters. Sesshoumaru swiped his thumb from the top of his phone to the bottom, and the screen changed to display "NO NEW NOTIFICATIONS" in response to his touch. Stubbornly, he checked his texts and emails anyway. The emails had all been opened the night before, and all were business-related. He tucked his disappointment back into the depths of his mind before it even had the chance to surface in his expression. He tucked away any lingering longing to hear word from a certain dark-haired once-priestess.

Sesshoumaru had not heard from Kikyou in a little over two months – two months and four days, if he had to be exact. It was expected, he supposed, as he had been the first to cease contact with her. After he had left Kikyou's apartment the first day they had arrived in Los Angeles, Sesshoumaru had vowed to himself that he would not meet the girl again – that he would sever all ties with her, maybe even go back to Japan or up north to a home he owned in San Francisco, and forget the little reincarnation had ever existed.

But there he remained in Los Angeles, just a few blocks where Kikyou attended school, there Kikyou's phone number remained saved unto his smartphone, and there remained the damn recurring dream that haunted him almost every night he attempted to sleep.

And there he was, still secretly fuming to himself that the arrogant little brat had not bothered to ever call him to ask why he had left. All women he'd ever graced with his presence had all called him repeatedly after the initial meeting, begging to go on further dates and the like, but Kikyou would have no such thing. Sesshoumaru could imagine her, her eyes as aloof as ever, her posture confident, as she went about her day, without him.

And that angered him, because she was not the same as the others whom he had so easily manipulated, and he could not hate her if she was not like them. Not truly.

Sesshoumaru, having had enough of his thoughts, emerged from the rumple of beige silk sheets on his large bed. He stepped over his bed and padded over his light ashen-colored carpet down past his ebony drawer, where the mirror sliding doors led into a walk-in closet. Stripping out of his pajama pants, the demon pulled a plain white t-shirt over his chiseled chest and paired it with a pair of black jogging pants. The modern world did not require strenuous physical activity, but it did encourage it, and while fighting the cream of the crop of the most powerful demons had once been Sesshoumaru's choice way to "exercise", he had learned to make the present-day alternatives suffice to release his pent-up energy. There were no demons he knew that would give him a very satisfying fight, after all. Instead, he found solace in running, especially running through rugged ground. Most humans preferred to exercise in much safer environments, such as neighborhoods or gyms, but the great outdoors was Sesshoumaru's playground. Human exercise equipment, such as dumbbells, punching bags, and treadmills could not handle his Herculean strength or speed, so the demon took to the wilderness, his natural habitat, where he could tread through jagged slopes, maneuver his way around mazes of dense foliage, and lift boulders twice his size. He often thought about fighting actual large animals, like grizzly bears or tigers, just to feel the adrenaline that came with battle, but then he thought twice about it. The great dog demon Sesshoumaru was not a savage. (And even a tiger would be an easy fight for him.)

Fastening his shoelaces, Sesshoumaru made his way out of his beige-schemed bedroom and gracefully made his way down the stairs to reach his front door and then his lush front lawn, where he walked down onto the sidewalk of his well-off neighborhood.

The wilderness was hard to find in Los Angeles, but he knew of a few hiking trails in the surrounding mountains where he could veer off the trail far enough to not be seen by prying human eyes. That's where he was headed anyway, before a very familiar scent intercepted his morning routine. He stopped abruptly at the second waft of lavenders. Sesshoumaru was certain of it: the faint fragrance belonged to Kikyou.

His reason told him to keep on track and keep running the opposite way, but the irrational part of his mind argued against his better sense. Follow the scent, his curiosity beckoned; one little peek won't hurt you.

Sesshoumaru ended up succumbing to his curiosity. He would only spare Kikyou a glance, and so with that rationale, he deviated from his path, all the while promising to himself that he would stay obscured and thus would not approach Kikyou, if it was indeed her at the end of the scent rainbow.

Of course, he had been right – a few blocks away from his starting point, nearer to the university, jogged Kikyou on the other side of the street. He watched her from afar, hidden behind a bus stop, where he lurked at the edge of the ivy that threatened to spill over to the sidewalk. Her short hair had grown, it was a little above her shoulders, and it bounced up and down in step with her graceful leaps. She wore a thin white headband to keep her bangs from trickling down into her line of sight and she wore a blue sports jacket zipped up to the top to keep her warmth in the morning chill. Sesshoumaru's eyes trailed down to her lower body, where he noticed she wore form-fitting black workout capris that highlighted the firm curve of her bottom and upper thighs. He stared at her, unabashed

Sesshoumaru regretted having let his curiosity best his rationale. A flare of once buried desire brewed deep within him and he cursed himself for recalling the moment where he had almost succeeded in undressing the prudish Kikyou, seeming to be so long ago. He reluctantly pried his eyes off of Kikyou's jogging silhouette and ran off in the opposite direction, to where he knew the loneliness of the canyon would let him quell his desire to shred, even if it was only the poor vegetation that would feel his infamous poison claws.

The next morning, Sesshoumaru awoke less irritated than the night before, for his dreams had been for the most part, more "historically accurate", as they had been before he had ceased all interaction with Kikyou. But at the last moment, the girl had without fail found time to haunt his otherwise good dream.

Although he managed to take his mind off the solemn reincarnation the night before by immersing himself in an American novel, Kikyou had still been able to infiltrate his sleeping mind. Sesshoumaru thus awoke with a blazing curiosity, and so, without performing his usual ritual of questioning himself, he emerged from his home and decided to drive around the boundaries of the university. The great demon Sesshoumaru, the once-lord of Japan's Western lands, never once doubted his actions – he just did what wanted when he wanted, so Sesshoumaru followed his own example and set about on satisfying his whim.

He navigated the narrow streets of the densely populated neighborhoods near the university campus, where he expertly maneuvered around reckless young drivers, whom had the habit of making abrupt stops or spontaneously pulled out of parallel parking spaces. It was mid-morning when he finally spotted Kikyou come forth from a faded fawn, water-damaged apartment building along with a taller, dark-haired girl around the same age as Kikyou.

"So the utilities bill came in yesterday. We should pay it soon." The girl next to Kikyou spoke, tucking a stray strand of wavy brown hair behind her ear.

"I'll get the money today." Sesshoumaru heard Kikyou's heart rate elevate, despite her composed reply, "Thank you, Elena." Sesshoumaru wondered whether Kikyou had enough money to make ends meet - not that he cared, he assured himself.

"Yeah, no problem. I'll see you later." The taller girl, whom was probably Kikyou's roommate, dismissed herself with a cordial smile.

"Off to the library, then." Kikyou muttered under her breath, hitching her messenger bag securely over her shoulder as she began to trot downhill towards the campus. Her maroon burgundy circle skirt swished at the motion of her steps, her black stockings obscuring the alabaster of her bare legs. She fixed her matching scarf over her neck as she went, completely oblivious to the man staring at her from within the luxury car parked fifty feet away.

The next day, Sesshoumaru found Kikyou on the campus itself, sitting outside the cafeteria courtyard, a bulky textbook splayed open on the heavy metal table she occupied, a girl that Sesshoumaru assumed to be Korean sitting across from her.

"Did you go to class yesterday?" The girl sitting opposite inquired of Kikyou, whom was busy scratching notes on a paper.

"I always go to class, Tiffany." Kikyou spoke lowly in her immaculate English - her Japanese accent was completely imperceptible. Kikyou was truly above average in intelligence, Sesshoumaru thought. "Did you need to see my notes?"

"Um, if it's okay with you. Sorry, Kikyou, I forgot to set my alarm." The girl called Tiffany said.

"Just try to be at class every day." Kikyou sternly admonished.

"Okay, mother." The girl seated across rolled her eyes, prompting them both to laugh, Kikyou more softly.

Sesshoumaru had never witnessed the quiet Kikyou interact with her peers, he realized. He had often come under the impression that the girl had no friends, but her ease in interacting with her companion made him think otherwise. Sesshoumaru could only wonder.

Over the course of the next week, Sesshoumaru had kept track of Kikyou's whereabouts. He had followed her after her classes. He followed her as she boarded a bus, riding down into the humbler parts of Los Angeles to tutor elementary school students. He loomed nearby as she walked to the school's gym for archery practice, or when she made the arduous uphill walk to the music hall, where she played the cello in the university orchestra.

"We should go out sometime." Kikyou's closest companion, Tiffany, had said as they walked towards their chemistry class.

"I thought we already did?" Kikyou replied, baffled, "We went to that new restaurant last week."

"No, I meant like, go to a party together!" The Korean girl chirped, the shy American boy walking beside them perking up in attention.

"No." Kikyou turned down the invitation immediately.

"Come on, it will be fun. All you ever do is study! One little night of dancing and maybe drinking won't do you any harm!" The shorter girl gave Kikyou a pleading stare.

"Kikyou doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to." The American youth pronounced on Kikyou's behalf as he pushed his plastic-rimmed glasses further up his nose, "B-but if she goes, I go too!"

Sesshoumaru scoffed – the boy had probably developed feelings for Kikyou. Sesshoumaru could tell by the way his face turned red, the way his voice cracked in her defense. He didn't stand a chance, however. The boy was far from being unattractive, with his mild blue eyes and honey brown hair, but Sesshoumaru saw nothing but weakness in the mild-mannered teenager. He was a subpar human, and he doubted Kikyou would settle for him.

"See! Sean would go too!"

"No, Tiffany, I think I'll stay in." Kikyou rejected the offer again, "We can go somewhere else another time, with Sean." Kikyou turned to the much taller boy to give him an apologetic smile, much to Sesshoumaru's chagrin. But Kikyou's friend continued with her pleads, while the male youth dismissed himself to go to his physics class.

"Kikyou, this party was the perfect opportunity for you and Sean to hook up and you ruined it." Tiffany huffed. Sesshoumaru scowled at the implication, but remained hidden behind his newspaper.

"Hook up?" Kikyou repeated blankly, the slang lost in translation.

"Yes! You know, like making out," The girl reiterated, but at Kikyou's raised eyebrow, she elaborated further, "Hooking up is like kissing and going a little further. For most people, anyway."

"And why should I 'hook up' with Sean?" Kikyou asked pointedly.

"It's so obvious he's into you! He's a good guy and pretty cute. You should go out on a date." Tiffany teased.

"I don't… I'm not looking for a relationship." Kikyou's voice revealed nothing; Sesshoumaru wondered if her face did.

"You can be such a bore. Fine, you can stay home, but I'm going to the party. I'm going to try to to talk to Austin." Tiffany concluded, "If you change your mind, you know how to reach me."

Sesshoumaru tried to tune out Tiffany's chatter, but the girl was so apt to repeat things that it was impossible to not know that Austin was some boy the girl was smitten with. She would repeat his name at every chance, like she was reciting a mantra. But no amount of her incessant begging would get Kikyou to change her stance on the matter, much to the relief of Sesshoumaru, whom tried to deny that he cared what his once-"fling" did with her life.

The proud demon impresario, for lord was not an appropriate term for modern times, was not quite sure why he had stalked Kikyou around for that entire week. He had tried not to attach reasons to his actions, for deep down, he was loath to come upon the answer. As he drove his car to park a few hundred feet away from Kikyou's residence, he thought that maybe his attachment stemmed from his desire to hold his past close. After all, she represented all he once was in an era where everything was fleeting; in an era where even he, the great Sesshoumaru, struggled to find his power. He continued with his cogitations as students passed by him on the sidewalk, ignorant of the man nestled in his car. It was not long before the demon nodded off.

XXX

"Speak clearly!" Sesshoumaru awoke to the sound of a reprimand, "Now, where are you?" It was Kikyou's voice, he realized. Surely enough, Kikyou walked down the street, her jean-clad form illuminated by the streetlights, her cellphone pressed up to her face. "I'll be right there." She finalized, hanging up and tucking her cellphone into her faded green military style jacket.

She's going to that 'party', Sesshoumaru's scowl deepened, Why should I care? I don't. He reassured himself as Kikyou passed a group of inebriated, giggling girls dressed in skimpy attire. The girls tripped over their own feet – if Kikyou wanted to stoop to their level, she certainly did not deserve his time. He willingly lost sight of Kikyou's retreating form.

"Hey there, hottie! Why don't you come over and let us get you some drinks?" A fraternity boy's voice bellowed from a porch and was accompanied by a choir of laughter, as well as the clinking of beer bottles. The soft plods of Kikyou's footsteps quickened, and with a sigh, Sesshoumaru exited the black-leathered driver's seat of his Audi. Making use of his stealth, he sauntered many feet behind Kikyou's brisk pace.

Groups of young partygoers often gawked at him as he passed by. The drunker minority of females even had the gall to make flirtatious advances on him, sometimes adding in boisterous propositions. For once, Sesshoumaru was glad for the blaring jumble of electronic, house, and dance music for covering the squeals of the swooning girls, and thus concealing him from Kikyou's astute ears.

Kikyou stopped at a large open-air apartment complex that had a particularly bursting party scene. Seth heard her sigh as she headed in to the building, blending in amongst a large cluster of frenetic freshmen girls. Sesshoumaru, not wanting to cause an uproar by jumping into a group of young adults and being labeled as "creepy", stayed behind, lurking in the front lawn beside a short palm, directly across the street, where he gave stumbling drunkards condescending glares.

It did not take long for Sesshoumaru to lose Kikyou's scent and her steps amid the chaos within. He fought the urge to glide in and drag her out of there.

Ten minutes, fifteen minutes, forty-five minutes, an hour passed. After the clock struck midnight, Sesshoumaru caved in to his "curiosity". He only just wanted to get a peek. He wanted to "see" Kikyou behaving foolishly, not because he was concerned over her well being in an apartment building full of sleazy young men.

Sesshoumaru found himself wondering about whether the American boy had shown up. Perhaps the two were "hooking up", he thought with disgust, and he halted his pace mid-street to reconsider going in there. The boy was no Adonis – no Sesshoumaru – but he was Kikyou's age, and an engineer, perhaps able to match even Kikyou in her intelligence. She could live a normal human life with him. "Sean" would not have to leave her before she began to notice he was not aging, because "Sean" would grow old with her, while Sesshoumaru would look thirty-something for at least two-hundred years. Sesshoumaru was beginning to question his decision to follow Kikyou into the building, but before his doubt could completely change his mind, a very drunk girl bumped into him. Her dyed auburn hair stuck to her round face, drenched in perspiration.

"You. You're Kikyou's friend." Sesshoumaru realized, and the girl's distraught dark eyes fell on him in confusion.

"Help!" She gasped out and steadied her gait by grabbing hold of Sesshoumaru's arms, "My friend is in trouble. Kikyou. And that guy, Help." The Tiffany girl slurred, her eyes unfocused, her face flushed in a combination of intoxication and panic.

"Where is she?" Sesshoumaru shook the petite, but pretty girl.

"Upstairs!" She choked, as if to vomit. "I'll take you there!" The girl said as she ran to the staircase, the crowd pushing her around as she collided into bodies like a pinball. She stumbled her way up the white tile stairs, every once in a while turning back to assure herself that Sesshoumaru still shadowed behind her. "She's in this apartment!" She pointed to a door numbered "206", guarded by two black-shirted makeshift bouncers.

"Whoa, stop right there, man." One of the guards blocked Sesshoumaru's entry.

"Hey, he's with me!" Tiffany complained from the other side of the threshold.

"No guys allowed unless you were invited. Sorry." The other guard negated Tiffany's plead, but Sesshoumaru paid no mind to them as he walked right up to them menacingly.

"Move." Was Sesshoumaru's singular command, but the two youths did not budge. Unbeknownst to them, Sesshoumaru often took to violence when someone stood in his way. He grabbed the two boys by their flimsy necks and slammed them against the wall next to the door, letting them dangle there as he hissed, "Allow me to clarify: move or I'll move you."

"We'll call the police!" One gasped in terror.

"Oh really? You'd have to explain all this underage drinking."

"Alright, man, take it easy. We'll let you through." The taller of the pair surrendered, his bravado from before gone.

"Whoa." Tiffany muttered in awe as Sesshoumaru dropped the two males to the floor. Sesshoumaru dismissed the girl once he passed through the door and let his nose guide him to Kikyou. Despite the tangle of sweaty bodies gyrating against each other in the dim, flashing lights, Sesshoumaru could smell the faint lavender trail left behind by the one and only Kikyou. He wasted no time as he traced the scent to a bedroom door as Kikyou's companion scurried after him.

Sesshoumaru's fury bubbled at the implications of finding Kikyou in a man's bedroom, which he could distinguish from the stench of male musk that emanated from the room. Irate, the demon lord forced open the locked door.

"The hell?!" A copper-headed twenty-something-year-old with an athletic build shot up from his position hovering over a limp body on his bed. "You're paying for that, you son of a bitch." He slumped up, buckling his belt.

"Kikyou!" Tiffany squeaked from behind Sesshoumaru. "Oh my god, Kikyou!" The girl shot from behind Sesshoumaru and ran to Kikyou's limp body strewn about against a plain blue bed sheet. Kikyou whimpered meekly as her friend shook her by the shoulders. "You bastard! You were trying to take advantage of her!" She cried.

"The bitch is drunk. It ain't my fault she's a slu-" but the boy was not allowed to finish, as at that moment, Sesshoumaru let out a very canine growl and encircled his long clawless fingers around the human's neck.

"I want to kill you." Sesshoumaru stated bluntly as his grip tightened over the younger man. Tiffany stared at him wide-eyed, "But unfortunately, that would cause me more of a nuisance than a relief. So listen well, boy." Sesshoumaru lowered the gasping boy to the ground, "If you ever so much as look at Kikyou ever again, I will come find you, and I will snap your neck and end your miserable life. If you think the authorities can save you, they can't. Rapists aren't very well-liked." Sesshoumaru finished by stomping on the frightened red head's hand.

"Yes - I promise! Please!" The sleazy young man yowled in pain.

"Now leave." Sesshoumaru released his foot from the hand, and the scoundrel scampered away.

Kikyou lay wilted on the bed, unconscious, or at least close to it. Her green jacket had been discarded on the floor, and the hem of her white and black striped shirt was pushed up to where her black bra began. Her friend slovenly pulled the shirt back down, concealing the smooth marble skin of Kikyou's abdomen. Wordlessly, Sesshoumaru scooped up Kikyou, her limbs hanging limply where his arms did not support her. Kikyou's friend followed as Sesshoumaru led the way to the exit, where the cool air of the streets awaited them. The trio garnered many quizzical stares.

"Thanks for helping me, mister. My name's Tiffany." The girl began as she walked by Sesshoumaru's side. Sesshoumaru did not reply – he was too angry. "Don't be mad at Kikyou, whoever you are. It was all my fault." The teenager buried her face in her hands, "I was too drunk and Kikyou came to help me. Oh my god, if I had just…"

"She drank alcohol?"

"No, no, they offered her water. He was my friend, I thought I could trust him." The girl explained. The anger Sesshoumaru had previously directed towards Kikyou dissipated, but the overall wrath still remained – at the naive friend and at the disgusting maggot that had attempted to violate Kikyou. "So, uh, who are you?" The girl suddenly asked, taking her hands away from her face. Sesshoumaru did not deign himself to reply. "Are you a relative? A professor? A friend?"

"Acquaintance." Sesshoumaru acquiesced, if only for the girl to shut up.

"An acquaintance took on three crazy buff guys just to save Kikyou? Yeah, I doubt you're just an acquaintance, but whatever." The girl hiccupped, oblivious to Sesshoumaru's scathing glare.

It did not take long for the three to arrive at Kikyou's apartment. "Elena's gone for the weekend." Tiffany announced as she opened the door. Sesshoumaru said nothing as he showed himself into Kikyou's room and set her gently on her bed, where her black hair, black and white striped shirt, black jeans, and white skin contrasted with the red bedspread.

Kikyou's companion Tiffany, still feeling the effects of alcohol in her system, had found repose on the living room couch, and fell fast asleep in a matter of minutes. Sesshoumaru would rather the girl had left after depositing Kikyou into her apartment, but he supposed that asleep, the girl would not pester him.

"You fool," Sesshoumaru turned his attention to the unconscious Kikyou, wondering how it happened that she was an inadvertent glutton for trouble. Even in her past lives as Kikyou the priestess and Kagome the reincarnation had tended to be prone to danger.

In a rare moment of impulse, Sesshoumaru reached for Kikyou's alabaster cheek and ran his thumb along her chin. The girl's eyelids fluttered open after the contact, and Sesshoumaru rapidly retracted his hand as if he had been burnt.

"Sesshoumaru?" Kikyou murmured, her eyelids droopy. Her eyes did not stay open for long as she fell back asleep. Sesshoumaru took that as his cue to leave, and so it followed that he promptly ushered himself out of the building, away from the apartment, away from Kikyou. He started his car and speeded his way back to his home, not allowing his conflicting thoughts to surface. He shut it all down before the chaotic tide of self-doubt and longing could wash over him.

XXX

Two weeks had passed since Sesshoumaru had last encountered Kikyou. He had fought all of his urges to check upon her.

Sesshoumaru had thought that by submersing himself in actively managing the American branch of his company would keep thoughts of Kikyou at bay, but it had all been in naught. One Wednesday night, Sesshoumaru found himself parked outside of Kikyou's apartment, all rationale thrown out the window. Before he could stop himself, he walked up to Kikyou's door and knocked.

The door creaked open, revealing a lanky, freckled girl who stared up at him shyly. "Yes?" She mumbled, her dark eyes questioning him.

"I'm here for Kikyou." Sesshoumaru's words spilled from his tongue before he could regret them. The wavy-haired girl staggered back as she mouthed an "one moment, please".

"Kikyou!" Sesshoumaru heard Kikyou's roommate perfectly, "There's some older guy at the door asking for you. Holy crap he is handsome!"

"Older guy?" Kikyou's voice was soft – pensive, even.

"Yeah, like late twenties or early thirties. I can't tell."

When the door opened again, it was Kikyou who greeted him, her brown eyes smoldering.

"I was wondering when you'd show." Kikyou spoke none too kindly.

Sesshoumaru did not like Kikyou's tone, but he ignored it. "Come," Was Sesshoumaru's command.

"I'm busy." She rejected her, ready to shut her door on him, but Sesshoumaru intervened and held the door firmly open. "Stop it." She protested.

"No." Sesshoumaru husked. Kikyou rolled her eyes, but seeing the futility in resistance, she pulled a jacket from the coat hanger at the entrance of her apartment and slipped into it. She tugged on a pair of red canvas sneakers and shut the door behind her. Sesshoumaru was mute as he led the way down the hallway.

"Why are you stalking me?" Kikyou was the first to break the silence, "And don't try to deny it – there's no way you could have known I was at that party unless you were following me!" She accused.

"You should be grateful." Sesshoumaru dodged the question. It was true, he had been stalking, but the word was so unpleasant he could not accept to hear it applied to him. "If I had not been –"

"Shut up." Kikyou's voice resonated in the elevator. And for once in his life, Sesshoumaru complied.

The elevator groaned and rumbled as it descended. When the elevator doors dinged and screeched open, Sesshoumaru, giving into the palpable tension, smashed the "close" button unexpectedly, but did not speak – he could not frame a coherent sentence, could not find the words to express his sentiments, so he merely stood there, his honey eyes locked onto her seething cocoa eyes. The elevator doors grunted to open again, but Sesshoumaru smashed the button once more with his fist and held it there. A few long seconds of stillness passed before Kikyou broke the spell.

Boldly, Kikyou approached Sesshoumaru, stopping her rapid saunter only when her chest was only a hair's width from his chest. "What do you want with me?"

"What is it you want with the reincarnation?" Ancient Kikyou's voice gloomed in his mind.

Sesshoumaru was not sure of the answer – it had not been "nothing", as he had assured in his recurring nightmares. He did not know the answer in its entirety, but he was sure of just one thing that he did want, that he did need. It was Kikyou. He wanted her.

His answer came out as a kiss.

Their liplock exuded Sesshoumaru and Kikyou's previously restrained tension. Kikyou, though initially shocked at first, soon melted into Sesshoumaru's lips, molded them to match his passion. She had struck the match and he had lit the fire.

But their tussle was short-lived as the elevator doors opened and a young man shouted, "Hey, get a room!" He shook his fist. Sesshoumaru cursed the moment his hands had left the "close" button to cradle Kikyou's waist.

Kikyou cleared her throat and stepped out and Sesshoumaru followed suit. No words were expelled from either of them as Sesshoumaru walked back to his car, Kikyou behind him, understanding his silent appeal to follow him.

It was only when the pair arrived at Sesshoumaru's abode that Kikyou once again broke the quiet. "You abruptly stop your contact with me for who knows how long and then you come back out of nowhere. I must be crazy to follow you back to your home."

Sesshoumaru wanted to say that he would not leave again, that he would stay, but he bit down the words. It was weakness, it was madness, it was un-Sesshoumaru.

"But here I am." Kikyou continued before he could reply.

Sesshoumaru neared her, "and here I am." He repeated close to her ear, feeling her shiver.

"And here we are…" Kikyou's voice come out as a gasp as he closed the space between them.

This time, Kikyou did not stop him as he scooped her into his arms and took her to his bedroom. This time, she did not push her hands against his chest when he pulled her sweater over her torso. This time, she did not run away.

xxx

Author's Notes:

So for those of you wondering what Sesshoumaru's big deal about Kikyou being reincarnated from Kagome as opposed to the original Kikyou… It's a pride thing. Kagome was clearly Inuyasha's girl, and while past Kikyou was also Inuyasha's lover, their relationship was never truly consummated. They loved each other at one point, but they weren't a solid relationship, in contrast to Inuyasha/Kagome, whom were implied to have married. Also, Rin indeed did meet Kikyou once. I think I might have fudged that when Rin said that she wished she could have met Kikyou. Woops! But I guess they didn't have a very long conversation, anyway.

I hope this chapter meets everyone's expectations. I've been working on it, adding or editing a bit each day since my last update.

Thank you, dearest readers, for the feedback! It is much appreciated