Brought Together by Inu-youkai_Ariko

Chapter 1: Collisions Galore

Her heart throbbed and as she ran through the forest tears stung at her nearly closed eyelids. She didn't watch where she was going. Struggling through the clinging underbrush that scratched her bare legs as she went. A sob broke from her partially open mouth. Her breathing ragged as she struggled harder and harder so to reach her destination. Her uniform was tattered. She had been far too careless in choosing her pathway. Preferring to run only in the direction she thought the Bone Eater's Well was in. Hardly knowing she was running in the wrong direction entirely. And now a cramp rose to full force in her right side, making her limp. She sobbed, now her body ached just as her heart did. How could he have said that? 'Inuyasha...will I never be good enough?'

"You are worthless, Kagome! Why the hell do I even waste my time with you when Kikyou could have found more jewel shards by now!"

The words he had spoken tore another sob from her throat, it was the way he had said them that had hurt her so terribly that she sought only to flee. But she was drawn out of her flashback when she was thrown back, rather roughly, upon colliding with a very hard surface... And it was most definitely not a tree as she remembered the silky feel of the barrier which she had crashed into and looked up with wide and teary eyes at the second to last person she would ever have wanted to run into when she was in this condition.

Sesshomaru.

The demon lord turned his head slowly, having not even swayed on his feet when the fool, Inuyasha's wench, had slammed into him out of nowhere. One might admit that he hadn't known she was coming until it was too late to avoid the collision, having been focused on something far more threatening that was nearby. A bear youkai, to be specific. But now that the idiot was sitting there, sobbing and trembling on the forest floor, he supposed the bear youkai would have to wait.

He looked down at the girl with indifference in his eyes, not caring one bit about her condition. Though he supposed Inuyasha was the reason she was in this state. "You stray from Inuyasha, woman. One would be wise to watch where they were going when alone in the forest...One might not know what creatures they might...run into."

Kagome rose to her feet, hardly in the mood for Sesshomaru's icy tone. And shot back at him, "My name is Kagome! Ka-go-me!" After having the fact that Kikyou was superior to herself by Inuyasha,Kagome was notplanning on putting up withbeing treated inferior by the arrogant Taiyoukai.

Of course...she wished she had bit her tongue the moment she found his claws clamped about her throat, slinging her up against a tree, "I will not tolerate atttiude from a weakling such as you, wench." He bit out, manedging to sound very calm while he did so. But the intensity in his eyes was a bit frightening and Kagome was brought back down to earth, realizing she just might have just sealed her fate.

But when that thought passed over her mind Kagome went fairly limp, looking at him with a ghostly look in her eye that took him aback. It was almost as if she were asking him to kill her. As punishment for her impudence... Why was the woman behaving so abnormally? What had happened between her and his brother to make her so tranquil when she faced him with his claws upon the pale skin about her neck.

The lack of resistance ruined it entirely for the demon lord, who released her from his grip. Letting her drop to the forest floor in a heap. She continued to look at him and then closed her eyes, tears squeezing out of the corners. The scent of her tears almost made Sesshomaru wish to ask just what had happened, he had never seen the fiery miko behave this way before... So brokenly. She trembled from her place in the dirt.

Atlast, the Inu Taiyoukai turned, rather disgusted with this new, frail miko. He began off towards the trees, but of course he had forgotten the bear youkaifrom before entirely. And when the giant brown beast hurtled out of the trees he once more failed to notice the new companyand was crashed into for the second time today. But this demon was far heavier and knocked the demon lord right to the ground.

Sesshomaru snarled, not liking to have been caught off guard so easily. The bear youkai standing stiffly, watching him. Foaming dripping from its jaws. A savage expression on its face. The bearhad gone insane, clearly. And so the Lord drew Toukijin. Not even glancing back at the girl when she gasped. Hold still, he willed, the girl just needed to keep the insane bear youkai's attention away from her. The beast would tear her to shreds with his great claws and it would be a pity...such a waste of life. Not that he truely cared.

He levelled Toukijin at the bear youkai and the monstrosity charged at him with unexpected speed. Sesshomaru could do nothing but dodge the wild attack, slicing into the bear's side as it barreled past him. It spun about and Kagome gasped, circling around behind the tree as if to hide from the fight. The Taiyoukai cursed her stupidity as the blood-lusting bear saw the moment and decided the girl was a far easier target. It turned and went for Kagome, who shrieked at seeing the giant brown mass of fur coming at her full speed.

The tree cracked under the weight of the great beast and Kagome just barely manedged to move out of the way in time. Sesshomaru seemed to be considering whether or not to kill the bear. He could just leave and let the mad creature have its meal. But something inside him, a newer part of him, told him that was wrong and so he became a silver blur, sprinting towards the youkai and meaning to attack it while it had its attention on the girl.

Kagome must've seen him coming because she looked towards him and that warned the Bear, who spun about and caught the demon lord completely off guard, shattering his black armor with its massive paw and sending him hurtling backwards into a tree. A feat not many demons could boast of.

Kagome looked at him, wide-eyed and laid low, hoping the savage demon would forget about her... But then...if it didn't come for her then it would go for Sesshomaru! It was her soft heart that made her rise, her fear melting away as she drew the attention of the mad youkai towards her with a strange little jig in place, waving her arms in the air. The bear loped towards her and Kagome, her moment of bravery gone, turned tail and fled. Still she was tired from her running earlier, and she limped. The bear would catch her soon.

That was if Sesshomaru hadn't gotten to the bear first. Toukijin flared and a blast of icy blue light struck the demon in the side. It roared with pain and then broke into particles, that became smaller and smaller until naught was left.

Kagome sat on the ground, her little chest heaving. Staring at the spot where the youkai had just been...but was not anymore.

Sesshomaru swayed on his feet, swiping the bloody Toukijin through the air to sling off the blood, and then slipping it into his sash. His chest ached...and when he looked down there were four giant gashes running jaggedly across his bared chest. He raised his hand slowly to touch the wound and the pain was so great that the Taiyoukai fainted. Collapsing to the ground in a heap.

Kagome heard the 'thud' as the demon lord fell and she turned her head towards him, staring wide eyed at the bloody mess that the bear had made of his kimono front. Was he...dead? She slowly inched forward and he growled in his sleep, making her draw back for a moment, wary. But when he did nothing more she closed in and knelt beside him. He was out...for certain. And he was losing blood fast...

She couldn't leave him here...but she could hardly protect him if a demon came wanting a meal anyways. What to do? She nervously glanced about the clearing. The poor shattered tree, the one that Sesshomaru had crashed into was coated with blood... It was a buffet for demons.

Kagome rose to her feet, looking at him. He didn't growl anymore, just laid there, his breathing shallow. She bit her lip and then decided that she couldn't go back to Kaede's...Inuyasha was there... And she couldn't remain here, nor could he. So that meant she had to take him somewhere...

The well... That was the next thing to pass through her mind.