One Night... by Ethidda

Chapter One

One Night...

by Ethidda

For a while now, a silent shadow had trailed behind Kagome and the gang. It was a tall shadow even during the middle of the day and twilight always made it seem endless, stretching from where the shadow was to the edge of the horizon. Kagome didn't really understand why Inuyasha hadn't sensed it; he was supposed to have the sensitive youkai nose. Maybe, though, he just didn't want to mention it. She didn't understand why Sango hadn't noticed at all or brought out Hiraikotsu and why Kirara never complained. Shippou's and Miroku's obliviousness were the only ones she could pardon, as Shippou was only a child and Miroku was too focused on Sango. Or rather, Sango's behind.

When Kagome had first sensed the shadow--and for the most part, "shadow" was only an analogy to the edgy, itchy presence of somebody there and not an actual, physical shadow--she had thought that leaves were falling. But it was in the beginning of simmering June and when she had stopped, everything around her had stilled as well. An apple? she had considered, or some other sort of fruit, but the "shadow" had been too... fluttery to be something as dense as a fruit.

A couple hours later, Kagome had already put the incident out of her mind. She had had shards to find, after all, and friends to entertain, and it seemed to be her responsibility to keep Inuyasha and Miroku suitably entertained. The last task was the most difficult.

They had chanced upon some boar demon's lair, a cave unvisited by sunshine, covered in decomposing moss and smelling slightly of damp and decay. They had seen a glitter of pink in all the darkness--which Inuyasha had yelled at Kagome for not noticing--and entered to confront the sleeping boar demon, which had been quite a bit smaller than what Kagome had expected. The boar demon had woken up to the intrusion, growled rather sleepily, and hoarded the pink, glittery thing closer to it.

It had turned out that the "pink, glittery thing" was the glass stone of some girl's lost ring. Or some lost girl's ring. Anyway, it wasn't part of the Shikon no Tama and was useless to them and they had moved on.

When they had exited the boar demon's cave, though, Kagome had felt the faint itch up her spine again, and she had turned in the still, stifling air for the shadow, only to be startled by the nothing-out-of-ordinary-ness, as if the whole world had slipped a few centimeters, but only she had noticed. Then, Inuyasha had shouted at her and Kirara had burst into her large form and Kagome had felt the presence of a real shard and they had become too engaged in chasing this new shard for her to remember to worry about the presence.

But the presence had been worrying. At nightfall, Kagome had sat with her cup of tea, casting sinister shadows from the last rays of summer sunlight, and she had felt the tickle of her "shadow" again. She had mused that Inuyasha still sat sullenly in the tree and that Miroku had been trying to grope Sango as usual. Unsuccessfully, of course.

After a while, Kagome had started thinking that she had imagined her "shadow." The presence never did anything, of course, and after a while, it always became a surreal sort of feeling, like hearing the faint rings of her cell phone when she knew that she had left it at home and there was no way there could be reception in the Sengoku Jidai anyway. So after a while, Kagome had convinced herself that the shadow really was just her imagination or over-sensitive and uncontrolled priestess instincts. She had slept soundly and woken up the next day, ready to make ramen for breakfast as everybody complained about the heat of the summer, again.

But though Kagome had tried to convince herself that nothing was wrong--She had chatted with Inuyasha and had made extra sure that he received the mandatory amount of "sits" to deflate his ego. She had given sweets to Shippou and milk to Kirara. She had commiserated with Sango at the hardship of having somebody in love with her... somebody very touchy-feely, that was, and Sango was completely oblivious to Miroku's honest intentions, what little he could dredge up, which was an honest effort and might even someday be worthy once Sango calmed down about Naraku and gave more than a general thought to Miroku, which Kagome hoped would be soon.

So even though Kagome had tried to convince herself that nothing was wrong and went through all the usual motions of traveling with Inuyasha and company, there was always that niggling presence in the back of her mind. The shadow that was and wasn't. The faint feeling that something was there... but the feeling would fade after a while, and Kagome would wonder if it had been simply because of adrenaline or dehydration.

In the meanwhile, Kagome collected the shards. The shattered pink jewel grew steadily bigger and rounder and prettier as they traveled and found more shards. Most importantly, though, it grew more powerful and Kagome was worried that somebody evil would steal it away from them or worse, that she would be tempted to use it herself.

Sometimes, as days passed into weeks, Kagome had wondered if the shadow was simply a product of the jewel, the remnants of memories shattered long ago, whispering longingly in her ear. But the shadow had felt more like an itch on her shoulder blade, very much present and very much unreachable, not vague at all like she had imagined spirits or memories that old would feel like.

Besides, when she had returned to the modern era, the shadow had disappeared entirely, only to hit her full force when she climbed out of the well into Sengoku Jidai again. So, she had reasoned, it was something from the era with Inuyasha. Or at least it was something her mind had made up to be in the Sengoku Jidai.

But she was collecting the last shards, besides those which Naraku held, and Naraku's plans were moving forward, too. So they had to focus more and more on strategies and reach further out with their senses to find the last, elusive shards.

This night, though, she couldn't sleep. She had slept in in the morning, because Sango had had awful stomach cramps and everybody had decided to take it easy today before she had even woken up. Even Inuyasha had relented, though he couldn't understand how a mere stomachache--not even from spoiled food or anything--could be so debilitating. And spending so much time in Sango's close proximity meant that it would be only a few days before Kagome's time of the month was coming, too. She didn't get cramps, luckily, but her hormones shifted in all sorts of disoriented directions the days right before.

She couldn't sleep. She felt irritated that she couldn't sleep. She felt betrayed that everybody else was sleeping and disappointed that she should feel that way at all. She wanted a fire and why couldn't she have a fire? And why couldn't she be considerate or understanding at all? Hormones only went so far as an excuse. No wonder Inuyasha was always yelling at her.

Still, a deeply buried, logical part of her brain was able to point out that she wasn't normally like this, she hoped, and it really was just hormones gone awry.

Either way, though, Kagome felt restless and irritated, the stupid shadow presence only compounded the problem. She shifted in her sleeping bag long after nightfall and her companions had begun snoring already. And the presence--the thing which she might or might not have imagined--was there, constant and faint. Every time she almost fell asleep, it would tug at her a little and she would be wide awake again.

Well, she decided as she threw the sleeping bag off of her, there was no time like now.

If she were in a more reasonable mood, she might have considered that confronting an unknown enemy by herself when everybody else was asleep was not the best or the safest idea. But she felt prickly and cross and was in no mood to consider alternatives. At least she brought her bow with her.

She sneaked around in the forest for a bit, trying to be quiet, but the leaves and twigs underneath her seemed intent on crackling. Her friends were not likely to be awoken by these slight noises, and after a bit of deliberation, Kagome decided that the shadow watched them and so probably knew exactly where she was or that the shadow was merely a figment of her imagination and knew exactly where she was.

Her hands tightened on her bow a little as she strayed further away from her friends, but she could feel that she was approaching the presence. She picked her way carefully and lifted her feet up high, so as not to trip over any roots she couldn't see.

And then, she could feel the shadow right next to her. She stopped and stood stiffly. She lifted her head, but found with a knot of apprehension that she had no idea where she was or where she had come from. The presence, though, was right there and she turned to look for it.

Still, it was almost a shock to see the shadow separate from the trees. For all that Kagome had proposed to find the shadow, a part of her had hoped that it was nothing but her weariness and exhaustion. She was so surprised--and surprised by her surprise--that for a moment she could only stare and marvel at how she had thought that the shadow was a shadow at all.

There was something almost incandescent about Sesshoumaru as he stepped out from the shadow of the trees. His long hair glistened under the moonlight, almost as if he were fae. But he was too tall, too well-muscled... too substantial to be something as ethereal as the fae. Still, his white clothes, glistening, silver hair, and his implacable expression--just what did he need an implacable expression for anyways?--made him seem other-worldly. Like a visiting prince. Or a warrior on a sacred mission.

Which, Kagome supposed, both described him quite adeptly. And the mission would be to wrestle the Tessaiga from Inuyasha. Or to steal. And Kagome would not let anybody hurt her friends.

As soon as she realized that, Kagome knocked an arrow and shot an arrow straight through Sesshoumaru's shoulder and pinned him to the tree. It reminded Kagome of Inuyasha, but Sesshoumaru stood straight and his eyes had narrowed with indignation whereas Inuyasha had been slumped and his eyes had blazed. But still, they were alone and Sesshoumaru was a demon with silver hair and golden eyes, and the similarities made Kagome feel something odd and out of place about it, like a dizzying shift to a parallel universe.

"Why are you here?" she asked him.

He turned and looked at her but remained infuriatingly silent.

With a few steps, Kagome stalked up to Sesshoumaru. She gripped Sesshoumaru's forearms tightly--she hoped she would leave bruises--and leaned up to look him in the face. She was not quite tall enough, of course, but it was close enough. "Why are you here?" she hissed at him.

Strangely, though, Sesshoumaru remained passive under her. She would have thought that he would struggle against her or at least make a sharp comment, but her only indication that he was really there was the warm, firm flesh under her hands. Even his clothes between the lengths of their bodies distanced them, somehow, and it felt strange that she should find this distance annoying.

"I know why you're here," she told him when he refused to speak and had the distinct satisfaction of seeing his gold eyes widen. "You had made it quite clear that you covet Tessaiga."

There was a low rumble, then, Sesshoumaru's laughter. Kagome squelched it by digging her nails into Sesshoumaru's arms and was surprised--shocked!--that he whimpered. Who would have thought...

And then Sesshoumaru grabbed her and hoisted her up alarmingly, dragging her up against him and causing friction between them. Kagome's breath became quick and shallow and then Sesshoumaru stole it from her altogether by covering her mouth with his sinfully soft ones.

Kagome wondered vaguely what Sesshoumaru was doing, but she also knew that she wanted this, of sorts, and didn't bother wandering why Sesshoumaru, of all people, was kissing her when she had pinned him to the tree. The night, the strangeness, the hormones... something was making her wild and reckless and so she wanted this and she didn't really care. And honestly, which girl could have seen Sesshoumaru and not wanted him?

But his kiss was soft and sweet and Kagome was in no mood for that. With a forceful motion, she pushed so that she could feel him solidly against her, so that their teeth ground against each other and their tongues smashed together. Sesshoumaru's head slammed against the tree and he let out a soft gasp which Kagome swallowed but he didn't complain otherwise, which was good, but Kagome was disinclined to change positions after all.

She gripped his arms tightly, almost as if trying to pull him down, but the angle wasn't right and she shifted--all the while kissing him and keeping him tightly between herself and the tree--so that she could grab his neck. Her hands trailed down to his wide, warm shoulders underneath his clothes and kneaded. Sesshoumaru's arms around her waist kept her up but she didn't trust him and she wrapped her legs around Sesshoumaru's to make sure she wouldn't tumble down to the ground.

Slowly, though, Kagome became frustrated that there was only so much of Sesshoumaru she could touch, and it wasn't right because she wanted all of him. And Sesshoumaru was holding her up so he could hardly do anything at all when she wanted--oh, how she wanted!--those hands on her bare skin. Sesshoumaru agreed when he leaned back and breathed, hard, "I want you."

But Kagome didn't care what Sesshoumaru wanted and bit his tongue to let him know that he had spoken out of turn. Then, with a sharp ripping sound and a deep groan from Sesshoumaru, she tore her arrow away from the tree. She let him take the brunt of the impact and landed neatly on top of him. Kissing. Touching. Undressing him with sweaty, trembling hands.

The undressing was difficult, though, and in a moment of frustrating, she unsheathed his sword to cut through the belt. He moaned when she nicked him in the stomach, and moaned deeper between shallow breaths when she leaned down to lick the sweet, copper blood. And trailed up to his nipples and his supple shoulder and his pretty neck. He tasted like the sea.

"Kagome," he pleaded reverently and turned to be on top of her. But Kagome would have none of them and let their momentum carry them one more turn so that she was on top again. She felt a thrill of satisfaction when he lay passively under her. "Oh, Kagome," Sesshoumaru whispered then and tore her clothes off of her.

Kagome needed those clothes, though, for tomorrow and she was vaguely cross that they were in shreds. She bit Sesshoumaru's neck as punishment, hard. His body stiffened and his breath quickened. She heard him groan, but wasn't sure if it was from pain or pleasure or both, and she didn't quite care as she tasted his sweet, copper blood again.

She didn't wait for him to say or plead anything else, and she had decided earlier that it didn't matter what he wanted. What matter was what she wanted. And she wanted him. With one motion, she sat down on him, the entire length of his cock filling her virgin body. It was slightly painful and cut through her haze a little, just enough for her to notice the rough ground beneath her legs and the contrast between the cool air and his hot body. And then she started moving on top of him and she was satisfied that he was incoherent, making meaningless little noises.

His hands kept moving on her body, though, from her butt to her waist to her breasts, touching, holding, cupping, grasping, as if he couldn't get enough of her, as if he wanted all of her, all at once. It was satisfying. And it was satisfying, too, that he didn't try to top her again.

The world had narrowed to the two of them and narrowed even more to where they touched each other. Where they were connected. She could feel her body doing something, an almost uncomfortable twisting in her stomach making it difficult to breathe, searching for release, but then she was there and she bit down on his shoulder hard enough to draw blood to hold in her scream.

Beneath her, Sesshoumaru stiffened for a moment and then relaxed again, panting softly. Kagome could feel his chest rise and fall rapidly as she lay on top of him and listened to his hurried heartbeat.

"Kagome," he sighed into the silent night. A prayer? A promise? Kagome felt too languid to think about it and too tired to care.

She lifted her head and looked into his gold eyes. She was tired, a bit, and satiated, mostly, but the strange mood was still riding her."Mine," she growled.

He didn't say anything.

They fell asleep like that, with her sprawled on top of him and him holding her tightly.

Somehow, Kagome awoke before the crack of dawn. She could still feel a strange buzz under her skin. She couldn't quite figure out if she thought it stranger that she had slept with Sesshoumaru or that she had never contemplated sleeping with him before last night. It had felt natural and right and exhilarating.

She picked up his broken kimono and put it over her shoulders. Hers were mere tattered strings of cloths and she figured he owed her clothes for ripping hers apart. Besides, putting on his clothes, being reminded of what they had done, specifically and generally, sent a tingling down her spine.

After a while, false dawn came, lightening up the sky a bit and she found that they weren't very far from the camp after all and picked her way back to Sango and Inuyasha and the rest of her traveling companions.

The first thing she noticed was the smell of gruel. Miroku was stirring the pot over the fire. Sango watched Shippou sleep and Inuyasha sat there, his arms crossed and his eyes pouting. "Where were you," he demanded.

"Now, now," Miroku soothed, still stirring the pot. Kagome hoped it was almost done since she was quite hungry. "You promised you wouldn't give her a hard time."

Sango turned and took in Kagome, her hair in disarray and her borrowed clothes all in one glance. "I think it's quite obvious where she's been. Well, maybe not where, but definitely with whom."

"Was his sword sharp?" Miroku asked cheekily.

Kagome remembered how Tessaiga had nicked Sesshoumaru's skin and how his blood had tasted. She grinned. "Quite sharp. In the right hands."

Inuyasha gave her a look and grumbled, "I don't see why you let him do that to you."

"Well..." Kagome replied. "It was more a matter of why he let me do that to him."

There were a few moments of unidentifiable silence. Then, Miroku said, "Sesshoumaru? Who would've thought?" And Inuyasha muttered, "That bastard." And Sango just sighed and shook her head and pointed to Shippou's sleeping form.

"What?" Kagome asked defensively. "Are you all sexist or something? You were all fine until I said... that."

"You bound him to you," Miroku explained, quite flatly.

"Not literally," Kagome corrected. "I pinned him to a tree and only for the first part."

Inuyasha rolled her eyes at Kagome's misunderstanding. "You bound him to you for life. Using the traditional demon ritual during summer solstice."

Kagome didn't like the non-explanation at all and looked to Miroku.

The monk stared at the thick pot of gruel but answered anyways. "Inuyasha has been ignoring Sesshoumaru, hoping that you will ignore him or he will just go away. If he... was on top... then you are bound for a year, during which time you may or may not have his child. And you would have to listen to him for a year and then you go your separate ways. He could've asked you to get Tessaiga from Inuyasha, for example, and you would've had to.

"But since that you were... top, he's bound to you for life," Miroku finished, a bit lamely, and shifted uncomfortably as he continued stirring, almost like a ritual.

"But I don't get to order him around?" Kagome asked with ill-disguised interest.

"No," Miroku said, much to Kagome's disappointment. "But he can't order you around either and he has to protect you and stay within a certain distance of you for the rest of his life."

"Oh." Kagome shrugged. "I wonder where he is now."

Inuyasha snorted.

It was Sesshoumaru who answered, "I'm here."

Kagome turned and saw that he had put his pants on and tied some makeshift belt around it. He looked all grave and serious standing there.

Kagome grinned at that.

Sango took in Sesshoumaru's appearance. Her eyes lingered on his neck, which Kagome had bitten, and his shoulder, which had been pierced by an arrow and bitten, and his stomach, which still had a pale line from the scratch last night. "You really marked him," she remarked dryly.

Inuyasha scrunched up his nose. "With him? For life?"

Kagome just shrugged again and grinned wider.

A girl could do worse.

Author's Notes: Not too long. Not quite PWP. Done for Natsumi's challenge. Hope you enjoyed it, Natsumi!