A clever girl, or how one should be mindful of animals by The peach fluff

Chaper one

Today was THE day. She had been preparing it ever since she had confirmation of what she thought. But she was nervous. So awfully nervous. How would he react? What if she had been wrong? What if it wasn't the reason why....

" Kagome," Sango called, "are you alright?"

Kagome jumped at her friend's voice. They were currently in the cafeteria of their high school, having lunch.

"You seem awfully stressed." her friend went on, "What is it?"

"What is it what?"

"Your problem."

"Me? But I don't have a problem at all! Why do you think that?"

Of course, Sango didn't buy her hurried and silly tone.

"You," she said, leaning forward and pointing a finger at Kagome, "are hiding something from me."

"Me? Ha ha, come on! I would never do that! You know me Sango!"

The other girl narrowed. "Yeah, and that's exactly why I am suspicious! Now spill it!"

Kagome shifted nervously on her chair, trying to avoid the piercing and insisting glare of her friend. "Don't look at me like that," she mumbled.

"You have something in your mind," Sango insisted. "And I dare hope, that it does not involve Who you know."

Kagome widened and blushed deeply, giving Sango the answer she wanted. The older girl sighed. "Kagome, Kagome! Are you stupid? Haven't you seen how he treats every girl that comes near him? Okay, they're annoying and he doesn't like them, okay he talked to you twice – if you call one or two words pronounced "talk" – but he is an asshole! The more handsome, the hotter asshole of this high school, but an asshole nonetheless! He will just glare at you or worse, snort, you'll be heartbroken, and I'll be pissed!"

Kagome lowered her eyes. "I know," she said in a small voice, "but I have to try! I waited three years before finally gathering enough courage!"

"And it will all go to waste!" Sango stammered.

Silence followed. Kagome seemed to have shrunk on her chair, playing nervously with one of her raven locks. Sango was still fuming.

"And anyway," she went on, "you don't really know him and he may not even remember you! How can you love someone you don't know?"

Kagome hesitated. "Well... I am a friend of his brother," she said, still not looking at Sango. "I have come across him quite a few times at their place. We even talked."

Sango raised an eyebrow. "And you never told me that?"

The blush deepened even more – if possible. "I... it was embarrassing! And I didn't think it would matter to you!"

Sango rolled her eyes. "By the gods Kagome! I am your best friend, am I not? You can confess everything you want, whenever you want to me!"

Silence again. "But, do you think it's important?" Kagome asked.

"Well, it does mean that he knows who you are – your name at least _ and that maybe he knows some things about you."

Kagome looked at her hopefully.

"But still," Sango went on, "I can't help but doubt. I don't know if it's a good day to confess. You've seen like everyone how he behave every year on that day."

Silence again. Sango suddenly saw something over Kagome's shoulder and brightened. Kagome raised an eyebrow, then smirked. "Your lecher of a boyfriend I presume?" She said.

Sango blushed slightly. "He is only a pervert with me," she protested.

"It has been two years if I remember well. Didn't you get him by confessing on that very same day?" Kagome teased.

Sango coughed in her fist, embarrassed. "Well, I had better chances of success than you have."

"True," Kagome admitted, "but I can still hope."

He was watching her. Again. He shouldn't, but he could not help it. It was like something in her drew his eyes to her whenever they were in the same room. She didn't know he was there, and somehow he felt relieved. Because then, he wouldn't be caught staring.

She was currently chatting with her friend, who seemed to totally disagree with her. SHE was defending herself weakly and in vain, and once again he wondered what was so special about her. He hated weakness after all.

Unfortunately, he wasn't close enough to hear them, even with the overdeveloped hearing his youkai blood gave him. Mostly because there was so much noise in this room. Not that he was interested in what she was saying of course. Well, maybe he was curious.

He was used to women – human and youkai alike – fanning over him, especially on that day. He hated this day. They knew very well how he reacted every time, but they were too stupid to understand why and never renounced. It was annoying. But Her, she never did it. She was different. And he was somewhat thankful for that. He didn't know how he would react if she did it too. And that slight hesitation bothered him.

He didn't know her that well, after all. She was good friend with his stupid half brother, so of course, he'd seen her at their place quite a lot, along with others. He had even gone as far as to talk to her. She was one of the rare persons he had found could hold an intelligent conversation. She was younger than he was, by two years – she was sixteen – and yet she was in the same grade. She told him sha had skipped two grades because of her advanced level. So indeed, she was different from those mindless girls. And she was pretty, to make it even better.

The bell stopped his musings. Sesshoumaru got up and went to his next class.

Now Kagome was really nervous. It was time. According to what she knew, he would be at his locker now. She only hoped she wouldn't see any other girl with him, although said girl would probably be treated as usual.

She almost made a happy dance when she saw him alone. She watched him once again with admiration. He was really handsome, with his long, silky silver hair, those deep golden eyes, his smooth markings, his regal face... he was perfect. Maybe too perfect for her, she thought briefly, swallowing hard.

Kagome banished every negative thought, gathered her courage, and walked towards him.

Sesshoumaru watched with some surprise as Kagome walked towards him. She seemed very nervous, her fingers clutching the handle of her bag. She stopped in front of him, inhaled deeply, and finally looked at him.

He raised an eyebrow at her, questioning her quietly. She licked nervously her lips.

"Well," she began, "I know that you really hate that day and what comes with it, but could you please, listen to me?"

'Oh no! Not her too!' He cringed inwardly. 'Everyone but her! I thought she was smarter than that!'

"I have noticed," she went on, "that every year this day, when girls offered you the traditional chocolate for Valentine's day, that you would either refuse or throw it immediately in the trash. At first, I thought that it was because you were annoyed, because you didn't like chocolate, or because you didn't care... things like that. And as I preferred to avoid that experience, I refrained from going to you."

She made a pause, once more licking her lips. He didn't make any comment, still wary of what she was going to say.

"But then," she went on, "I thought that maybe, there was another reason. And then it hit me. It's funny, how people can be stupid sometimes. Of course you wouldn't accept chocolate, for one good and simple reason: you are a dog youkai. And chocolate is poison for dogs."

An amused smile graced his lips. Maybe he had underestimated her after all. She was clever.

"You are indeed the first one to realize that," he said amusedly. "Congratulations."

She blushed slightly, then continued: "I still had a problem: how was I going to, err, confess to you if I could not rely on Valentine's day to give me courage? You can't eat chocolate, so it would be pointless. And it has to be chocolate for Valentine. So I made some research, and I found the perfect solution : white chocolate. Dogs can eat it without any risks! It wouldn't poison you and it would still be chocolate, even though it's unusual! So – she rummaged through her bag – I made you white chocolate! – she finally took out a wrapped package and hold it out to Sesshoumaru – So here you are, happy Valentine's day with all my love!"

She was blushing and he was dumbfounded. He hadn't even thought of that possibility! White chocolate. Indeed, she was very clever. And now she was waiting for what he would do or say, definitely not looking at him. And, for the first time in his life, he grinned.

"How can I refuse such a delicate attention?" He said in a velvety, amused voice. "My, you are really different from those usual bitches. I understand now what I found interesting about you."

With his left hand, he took the package, and with his right one, he took delicately Kagome's hand, before bringing it to his lips and kissing it softly. Her breath itched and her embarrassment grew, much to his enjoyment. Yup, very different.

"I cannot promise you much right now," he then said, "but I am willing to get to know you better. I am sure I can manage to return a feeling equal to yours if given a few time. Does it satisfy you?"

She looked at him shyly, his hand still holding hers. "Yes, with pleasure!" She said, smiling brightly.

He liked her smile he decided. He would have to make her smile more often.

"Then it's settled." He said. "Meet me here at the end of class and we will begin."

She nodded, and he kissed her hand again before letting go and walking away. A few minutes later she was still staring into space, blushing.

"Oh my.God!" she whispered. "He didn't reject me!"

The back of her hand was still tingling with the feeling of his lips on her skin.

Somewhere else in the school, a taiyoukai was, for the first time in his life – again – eating chocolate. And he was still grinning.

'She is a great cook,' he thought with a purr. 'I can't wait to see what else she can do!'

The end

This idea was floating in my mind since a long time already and I finally decided to write it down. It suddenly hit me one day; Sesshoumaru is a dog youkai. So it would be logical that, like them, he cannot eat chocolate. As for white chocolate not being dangerous for dogs, it's true.

Let me remind you that English isn't my native language and as such, there may be mistakes. If you find any that bother the comprehension of the story, let me know.

Hope that you enjoyed it!