This is my first Sesshoumaru/Kagome fanfiction that I've ever written and, as I am one to take baby steps, I thought that perhaps this would be a good start. Please let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-Yasha or any of its components. I simply own the storyline present in this little one-shot.
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"A good head and a good heart are always formidable."
~Nelson Mendela
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The Great Lord of the West watched the Inu-Tachi impassively. Out of the group of misfits, one individual stood out the most and it was a female no less.
It would be incorrect to say that individuals of little consequence escaped his notice. No, he was aware of his surroundings. He was aware of every blade of grass beneath his feet, the laughter of his charge, the ramblings of his retainer. He was aware of the birds in the distance, the sound of the onsen they were temporarily residing near and he was more than aware of the silent, annoyed growls and mutterings under his half-brother's breath.
He was aware of the monk and the demon slayer exchanging something he could only determine to be odd, human, courtship behavior that (one day) he would have have to explain to Rin.
However, he sincerely doubted that the ultimate goal of the lecherous monk was to be slapped for every lewd, crude, and disgusting remark that escaped his mouth. It never ceased to baffle him how the slayer tolerated the nonsense (though, to be fair, very little truly baffled the Great Lord of the West). Oh, he was more than aware of the mildly annoying overtures the monk drabbled on towards every other female, the slayer included. But the sooner the demon slayer reigned the fool in, the better. Not for him, but for the monk's life.
He was aware of the demon feline and the fox-kit and how both stayed close for the once-not-indecently-dressed priestess that held some measure of control over his foolish brother.
And what was more, he was fully aware of her formidability.
Yes. Kagome Higurashi, Priestess from the future, is formidable.
And he would deny the notion that the thought ever crossed his mind, especially with regards to a human.
He would not deny that the woman was intellegent. She clearly knew how to read, contend with his foolish half-brother's ranting, raving, and irrationality. She understood how to force the monk's cooperation, with little aid from the slayer. She taught what she could to the fox-kit that looked to her as a mother and to his charge, who has done remarkably well coming out of that shell of hers.
Very little worried Sesshoumaru but Rin? Far from a pet human - the child was one that, perhaps in the privacy of his own thoughts, he considered his own daughter.
No, the woman had the sensibility that, he thought grudgingly, rivaled his. There was one difference - while he had little patience for nonsense, she possessed the patience of...well, a comparison escaped him at the moment.
But she did not extend her patience, or her kindness, foolishly.
Sesshoumaru watched her gently correct the kit's penmanship before praising him on his next, improved attempt. A spark of envy and determination flashed across Rin's eye as she attempted to mirror her new-found playmate. Most females, he'd noted, cared little for offspring whom were not their own. A few cared less still. But no, this one. Kagome, as she had firmly, with stressed patience insisted on being called, took it upon herself to care. She certainly made it a point to kep Inu-Yasha in his place without making his hackles raise. She certainly did not use the Osuwari command foolishly (unless her patience had run thin, of course, which in Sesshoumaru's honest opinion took far too long). She even went so far as to treat Jaken kindly, something that made the toad red in the face and leaving him uncertain how to respond to such generous treatment, especially when most humans saw amphibious creatures such as he with disdain and disgust.
Formidable. The word itself left an odd taste in his mouth when used to describe the woman and the dog demon flicked his tongue against his sharp canine tooth in annoyance. If it were not for that mask he always kept in place, then perhaps that foolish half-brother of his and Jaken would have caught sight of it. For the moment, that did not matter.
Sesshoumaru shut his eyes and drowned the incessant ramblings of the toad demon.
A good mind. Yes, the woman did possess so.
A good heart. Yes, she did have a good heart.
But formidable?
That was a question to be answered for another day.
And Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands looked forward understanding Kagome Higurashi, even if it was within his own private thoughts.