Chances by Arella

One

Inuyasha glared at the clearing, sword drawn and ready for what he knew would be an irritating task.

"Shit! Sesshoumaru, what do you want now?" Inuyasha snarled as his brother stepped gracefully into the clearing.

Inuyasha growled and lifted Tetsusaiga for a Kaze no Kizu when he felt a delicate hand wrap around his arm. Glancing back at her, he found Kagome shaking her head at him and followed her gaze over to Sesshoumaru. Looking at him closely, Inuyasha frowned when a small face peeked around to smile at him from behind Sesshoumaru's robes.

Sesshoumaru quirked an eyebrow at the miko beside his brother. She had probably just saved Inuyasha from humiliating himself completely. He watched as she smiled down at his young charge who had not stayed as hidden as he wished.

"Hello again, Rin." Kagome said pleasantly.

Rin giggled happily and would have run to Kagome's embrace if Sesshoumaru hadn't put his hand on her shoulder to pull her back.

"Not yet, Rin." Sesshoumaru said quietly. Rin gazed up at him with adoration and nodded.

"What the hell do you want, Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha said with another growl.

"I've not come here to fight you, brother, don't force me to do something I might not regret."

Kagome stepped forward and bowed slightly despite the pounding of fear in her heart. "Won't you tell us what you want, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Sango frowned and pulled her friend behind Inuyasha, at least she would have if the youkai lord had not motioned for Kagome to sit down. Kagome nodded to Miroku and Sango and they eased down suspiciously. Shippou perched on Kagome's shoulder and rubbed her neck soothingly. Inuyasha, however, had yet to sheath the Tetsusaiga and was wholly opposed to sitting down to a peaceful pow-wow with his cold-blooded brother.

Kagome rolled her eyes at him while she primly sat down across from Sesshoumaru's form. Looking up at Inuyasha, she said, "Sit, boy!"

Inuyasha, as expected, crashed into the ground and let spew a string of obscenities. Sesshoumaru sat down gracefully and looked as if the sight of the small miko subduing the hanyou was quality entertainment. Shippou had crept close to Rin and leaned toward her curiously.

"How come you travel with HIM?" Shippou chirped, gesturing to the youkai lord.

Sesshoumaru bared his fangs briefly, but allowed the girl to answer.

"Rin loves Sesshoumaru-sama!" She grinned.

Shippou looked sick and glanced up at Sesshoumaru, who was calmly studying Inuyasha. The spell had spun itself out and Inuyasha grimly pulled himself into a sitting position, shooting Kagome a look to kill.

"Bitch. What the hell do you want, Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha demanded.

Sesshoumaru's brow lowered slightly at Inuyasha's words, but he restrained himself from backhanding the hanyou.

"You are having a rough time with Naraku." Sesshoumaru stated.

"So? Since when is this news?" Inuyasha bit out.

"You cannot defeat him as you are now."

"What the fuck do you care?"

Sesshoumaru could feel his calm slip slightly, but reined it in when the miko spoke.

"Naraku bit off more than he knows this time, didn't he?" She said to the demon lord.

Sesshoumaru said nothing, but Inuyasha spat, "What the hell are you talking about, wench?"

Kagome was studying the Lord of the Western Lands in front of her, but at Inuyasha's words, she turned angrily to him.

"In your terms, Inuyasha, Naraku has somehow managed to piss your brother off. Sesshoumaru-sama couldn't care less about our fight with Naraku, so Naraku slipped up when he decided to take on Sesshoumaru-sama too. Sesshoumaru-sama can fight Naraku by himself, but not when Naraku has half of the Shikon no Tama. Sesshoumaru-sama is willing to aid up until we kill Naraku."

Sesshoumaru's brow rose at the speech and found himself again gazing at his brother's mate. 'Funny, she doesn't smell like he's mated with her. Maybe the hanyou doesn't know what to do with her.' He almost smiled at the thought. 'She's very observant, and she worded her words as to give me the honor. Interesting.'

Miroku and Sango were sitting beside each other with shell-shocked looks on their faces.

Miroku spoke up. "Kagome-sama, how do you know this?"