Of Gods and Demons by ToWriteLoveOnAPage

Prelude

DISCLAIMER: I will say this once, because it's annoying to repeat it over and over, but I do not own Inuyasha. I simply use its characters and make them do the things that I want...that sounds dirty... Oh well.

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Author Note:

Just to say this right off the bat, Sesshoumaru and Kagome don't actually have any interaction for the first couple of chapters, but they will eventually, and then you'll be so sick of the two you can't even think straight.

Okay, I doubt people could ever get enough of Sesshoumaru, but you get my point.

Anyway, enjoy! It starts off a little slow, but I promise there will be plenty of bloodshed, tears, and plot twists soon. And this story takes place after the end of the television series (the old ones, not the new ones). So, Kagome is around 16-ish.

Well, read on.

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Preface:

Gods do not come to earth very often, but it is said that when they do the world and everyone in it spins just a little faster. Epic wars are fought, valiant heros emerge, and every so often a legend is born. They are stories of impossible battles, of men with strength unrivaled, or shows of courage and cunning the likes of which leave the world in awe.

But the very best legends are not of bloodshed and warriors, nor are they of intellect and power. No, the very best stories are those that that do not end, the tales of two very different beings brought together in the strange, unbreakable bonds of love.

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Kagome Higurashi was happy; far happier than she had ever been whilst covered in dirt and demon blood, and definitely a great deal happier than any normal girl would be in her situation. 

It was a good thing she wasn't a normal girl - at least, she hadn't been for awhile.

There once was a time when she would have been livid over a ruined outfit, yelled at anyone within earshot about how her mother would disown her for destroying yet another uniform, but that time had come and gone about twenty ruined outfits ago. After awhile she just didn't care. Come to think of it, she didn't care about a lot of things anymore, like makeup, or school yard gossip, or prom dates, or the stock market... not that she had ever really cared about that.

To put it lightly, she had found new things to care about.

"Did you see me hit that demon?" the excited school girl said proudly. "Right between the eyes! Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!"

Normally she wasn't one to gloat, but after being chased by an abnormally rank hoard of demons for the past hour, she felt she deserved it. She might have even patted herself on the back, that is, if her hands weren't covered in a mixture of antiseptic and blood. Kagome really didn't want to add another stain to her shirt.

Even though she didn't really care about clean clothes anymore she didn't exactly enjoy being filthy either.

"A most admirable feat, Lady Kagome," Miroku nodded sagely as he watched her bandage the shallow gash on his arm with tender care. He barely even felt her light touch, a skill he appreciated enough to keep his wandering hand from seeking the tempting backside she presented. 

Later, he promised his wayward appendage.

"I told you all you needed was a bit of practice, Kagome-chan," Sango smiled, completely oblivious to the monks lecherous thoughts. She scratched a tired Kirara behind the ears as she knelt down next to the girl to inspect the houshi's wound for herself. He cringed as her fingers grazed over the bandage, but she couldn't help but think that it didn't hurt nearly as much as he led on.

Sango rolled her eyes, thanking the gods that his injury was the only one severe enough to require treatment. The battle was more tiring than anything else. It had been sudden and quick, but had proved draining nonetheless.

"Don't you think it was a good shot, Inuyasha?" Sango asked the petulant hanyou.

"Keh, it was okay," Inuyasha mumbled reluctantly.

The truth was, Kagome had been getting better at this whole demon fighting business, her only problem was her lack of sense. She would go charging into battle, hit a few demons, then tiptoe right up to that line bordering mortal peril and death. And of course he was expected to save her, and for some reason, he always did.

"Now, if only you could stay outta trouble I wouldn't have to keep worryin' about you every damn minute," he groused.

Kagome narrowed her eyes. "Hey! I can't help it if using my powers makes me a little light headed sometimes!" She huffed. It was one thing to summon her powers for a single arrow, but conjuring them in rapid succession was particularly difficult.

But then again, when had her life ever been easy?

When I was fourteen... she sighed inwardly. When I was fourteen things were easy. Sure I was into Hello Kitty just a little more than what was considered strictly sane and had that whole acne thing going on, but at least I never had to wash demon guts out of my hair.

She really wished that demon innards would just stay where they belonged when said demons were slashed to pieces, but things rarely turned out that way. And so, she had resigned herself to watch as Inuyasha killed anything that stepped in his path and hopefully dodge the largest chunks of organic matter that erupted in his wake. She had even managed to become decently adept at exploding a few demons herself... not that this made the whole ordeal any less messy.

This time she had taken down at least five large demons before she ultimately collapsed from exhaustion and Inuyasha had been forced to come to her rescue. She didn't really enjoy passing out and having to be saved, but she hated watching from the side lines when she knew she could help even more.

Kagome sighed as she inspected Miroku's bandage one last time. "It takes a lot out of a girl to fry a demon. Not all of us can have legendary, super-powered swords," she mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha said impatiently, dismissing her irritation with a wave of his hand. "Now come on, if we want to find the bastard that sent those goons after us, we better get goin'."

The group stopped what they were doing to give him a collective glare. Kagome was almost positive she could hear the crickets wake, just to chirp for this moment.

"Inuyasha, it is quite late - do you not think we should make camp and rest awhile?" Sango reasoned. The hanyou answered her with a scowl that clearly showed them all what he thought about 'resting'.

"I believe it is fair to assume that Naraku would not have stayed very long after we defeated his minions," Miroku interjected. "Even if we should attempt to follow him, I believe our efforts will be in vain."

"Yeah, don't you know anything?" Shippou sighed, rolling his eyes. The fox kit shook his head mockingly as Inuyasha twitched in irritation.

"Why you little -"

"Inuyasha, sit," Kagome said quickly before he could injure the boy. She watched as the subjugation beads around his neck pulled him to the earth with a satisfying thud. It was really too late for all of this bickering - she could have been asleep by now! In fact, collapsing on the ground in exhaustion suddenly didn't seem like such a bad idea if it would put an end to this stupid debate.

"What the hell was that for!" he groaned, spitting a rather impressive clump of earth from his mouth.

"For being a pain," she snapped, trying desperately not to laugh at the piece of grass still stuck to his lip. "You know we aren't going to find Naraku so, we might as well get some rest. Besides, I have another test in a few days, and I need you to take me back to the well tomorrow."

Inuyasha bared his teeth and growled. "No way!" He shouted as he jumped to his feet and glared at the girl in utter outrage. "You can't leave now!"

"I can, and I will," she said sternly, crossing her arms across her chest and giving him a harsh look that had his ears flattening against his skull in no time. Every time she needed to go back to her own era he always had something to say about it, and Kagome was getting tired of asking for permission to go home. He didn't own her, she didn't belong to him, and she could do what she pleased whenever she damn well pleased it! Kagome took a deep breath and realized she may have been ranting to herself.

In a slightly more calm and dignified tone she added, "And if you won't take me, Kirara will."

The fire cat mewed in affirmation even as Inuyasha gave it a murderous stare.

"Keh, fine," he said gruffly. He knew she had a point, she hadn't been home in almost three weeks, but he always hoped she might stay just a few extra days if he put up enough fuss. But he assured himself that it was only because they couldn't find the jewel shards without her. Yes, that was the only reason he hated it when she went back. Obviously.

"But," he said, squinting his eyes at her, "you better make it quick, woman!"

Kagome instantly brightened, "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it!"

"And make sure you change," he added. "You smell like a dead body."

Bright, happy mood gone, Kagome sighed to herself. "Okay, Inuyasha, I will. Now, why don't you SIT down - you look tired."

THUD.

Inuyasha groaned as the satisfied school girl looked down into the hanyou shaped hole he had made and smirked.

***

Jaken was frustrated. Not in a productive way, as one might find themselves when trying to solve a particularly tricky problem, but in a meaningless, headache inducing, pointless sort of way. Like trying to count the stars. Yes, that was a good comparison: one knows they could never possibly count them all, and there was absolutely no reason to undertake such a task, but still they continued counting.

And that was why he was frustrated, because answering a child's questions was just as pointless as counting those blasted, twinkling dots in the night sky. His task was to watch after the girl, not stuff her full of knowledge on anything that captured her interest. Whether or not her questions were answered was irrelevant to her safety, and her safety was the only aspect of the girl he was required to care about.

Why me? he thought sourly.

Once again his lord had left the annoying human girl in his charge, and he couldn't help but feel just a tiny bit fed up with the whole situation. He really wished that his lord would just melt her and get it over with; he didn't know why he hadn't done so already. She was always in the way and constantly getting herself into trouble that required his lord's attention. Attention which his lord did not like to give to anyone... save for her.

She was just so... irritatingly obtuse. What was it about her that had allowed her into the great Lord Sesshoumaru's good graces? He would surely like to know, seeing as he was barely in them himself.

"Master Jaken! Master Jaken!" the little girl, with eyes just a little too wide, yelled. "Master Jaken, where are we going?"

The green toad grumbled under his breath. Those eyes would be the death of him, he decided. Every time she looked up at him with those big, pleading eyes he found himself unable to ignore the pathetic, ningen child. Perhaps that was what made her so endearing: she hypnotized youkai with her puppy-dog eyes.

"Keep quiet, you wretched girl!" he squawked. "Lord Sesshoumaru has ordered me to have you fitted for a new kimono, since you have nearly outgrown this one. And that requires that we find the nearest village with haste. Now hold your tongue!"

Rin frowned. Holding her tongue was a lot harder than it sounded, but she swore that she would try her best. She knew that Jaken cared for her, even if he yelled and called her names, but he could only take so much of her chatter before he would explode into one of his little fits. So, she stared at the ground as they entered the small village in hopes that she would not see anything that would force a question to escape her lips.

But things rarely turned out as expected when it came to this particular girl, and today was no exception.

"Oh, excuse me, little one," a beautiful, pink haired lady chuckled as Rin walked straight into her long legs. Apparently, not paying attention to where you were going was only an acceptable idea when walking through the vacant forest - not a crowded, youkai village.

Rin stumbled backwards, looking up at the woman in a startled daze.

Jaken turned to tell the girl to stay close and found that she was no longer with him. He felt his shriveled heart beat frantically in his chest before spotting the bothersome child and hurrying to retrieve her.

"Apologies, my lady! The girl is more trouble than she is worth," Jaken groveled to the demoness as he grabbed the blushing girl's arm rather harshly, pulling her to his side. "It will not happen again!"

"It is of no consequence," the lady said kindly as she looked at the girl's obviously stunned expression. "Though, I would be more cautious in the future; not everyone in this village will be so inclined to ignore a human girl, even one as adorable as yourself."

And with that, the lady turned away as Jaken pulled Rin after him, scolding her under his breath. Rin didn't hear a word he said, nor did she notice his painfully tightening grip as the predatory glares of several of the villagers began to follow her small, human form.

No, nothing could distract her, because at that moment she was concentrating with all of her might on holding her tongue.

The second Rin laid her eyes on the pink-haired lady's round, protruding belly, she had about a million questions that just screamed to be asked.

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Chapter Notes:

So, that was just the beginning. Both Kagome and Jaken find themselves in rather strange situations in the next chapter, and Sesshoumaru thinks Jaken's predicament is particularly amusing, and hopefully you will too lol.

And reviews are much appreciated.