Disclaimer: I do not own the Inuyasha fandom or any of its characters. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I only claim my plot line. No money is made from this either.

A/N: I've never really done an actual Kagome/Sesshomaru fic before. But I figured I'd give it a shot. Sesshomaru isn't a character I've had much practice with either so I apologies in advance for any mistakes I've made. I hope you all will enjoy the one shot.

XOXOXO:

The Decision:

The battle had raged for many hours. Despite all of their efforts only one of the hanyou's companions had managed to survive.

Sesshomaru knelt by her prone form and wiped the blood from her pale face. He stared at the unconscious woman on the ground.

‘She fought surprisingly well, for a human.'

His brows knitted at the amount of blood pouring from the wounds she had sustained in combat.

His young ward sat with her knees tucked under her and cradled the woman's hand between her smaller ones. "Lord Sesshomaru, is she going to be alright?" Rin chewed her bottom lip and stared at Kagome with worry in her eyes.

The frown on the child's face spurred him to action.

He sighed. "Only time will tell Rin."  He proceeded to bandage the young miko's wounds with ripped pieces of her priestess clothes.

Rin whimpered and sank her teeth into her lower lip. Her jaw quivered and tears stung her eyes. "Please, save her my lord."

Sesshomaru's brow rose. "She means that much to you?"

The child nodded and tears spilled down her cheeks. She rubbed her cheek against Kagome's hand and whispered. "She has been very kind to me. Much like a mother."

Sesshomaru heaved a heavy sigh. ‘Like a mother, eh?'

"Jaken, take Ahun and Rin and return to the castle. I shall join you shortly."

Jaken scampered over. "But milord - "

 "Now Jaken," Amber eyes narrowed.

The imp's eyes widened and he swallowed. He hurriedly made his way over to the two headed dragon. "Come along now Rin."

Rin climbed onto the dragon's back and took the reins. She stared at her provider. "I know you will do your best. Thank you my lord." She bowed her head to him and snapped the reigns. "Home Ahun."

Jaken held to one of the reigns getting dragged into the air. "Rin, slow down will you? I don't want to fall off." His high pitched squeaky yell was heard as they flew through the sky.

Sesshomaru shook his head. He secured the last binding and blinked.

He gently scooped Kagome into his arms. He stared at her and listened to her shallow breathing. ‘Humans are so fragile.'

His mind replayed the conversation he'd had one night with the miko when he'd found her alone in the woods.

She had gone for a walk to clear her mind and found Rin being picked on by some low level demons. She'd even gone so far as to shoot one of the demons who had dared to try and lay a hand on the frightened child.

He'd watched from behind a tree as the miko braved the demons and defended his young ward.

-Flashback-:

Rin clung to the woman's legs tightly and stared on with tears in her eyes and fear in her voice.  "Please don't let them hurt me." Her tiny body trembled as her arms tightened around the thigh she was holding.

Kagome's voice was warm and certain as she laid one hand on the child's head. "It's okay Rin. Don't worry."

Her head snapped up and she glared at the demons. Her tone turned icy.  "You will not harm this child while I'm around."

The demons chuckled. "What are you going to do priestess?"

Kagome notched her arrow and pulled back the string. "Take one more step and you are going to find out."

The first demon smirked and licked his lips. His gaze locked to the determined miko's.  "That girl has invaded my territory. I demand payment." He grinned. "I will have her and you."

His foot lifted and Kagome's arrow hit the tree behind him.

His eyes widened.

She growled and reached behind her grabbing another arrow. "Nobody move." She stared down the shaft and aimed for the shard in his neck.

Rin shook and closed her eyes. ‘Lord Sesshomaru, please hurry.'

The demon growled. "Get them boys!"

The demons charged forward and were shot one by one.

Sweat dripped down Kagome's back as she repeatedly fired at the demons burning them with her purification powers.

As the last one started to run towards the females, Sesshomaru's poison whip flew through the air chopping the demon in half.

He stepped into the open and snarled. "You dare threaten what belongs to this Sesshomaru?" He bared his fangs and his amber eyes slowly turned red.

--End Flashback--

His lips titled at one corner as he remembered the fire in Kagome's eyes as she proceeded to verbally lay into him about not leaving a child alone especially at night.

‘That was the first time I'd ever let any human live after chastising me.'

He recalled how she had that night convinced him to travel with her and her friends so she could watch the child when he was away on business. Rin had been very enthusiastic about getting to be around the fox kit and miko.

After a long silent debate with himself, Sesshomaru found himself traveling with the miko and her friends. He remembered how amusing it was to watch the feisty miko send the half-breed to the ground with a simple word as well.

His mind flashed back to the fierce battle and how this woman had purposefully put herself in harm's way to aide her friends and protect his ward, without a thought of her own safety time and again.

Naraku had unexpectedly attacked the camp while he had been elsewhere tending to business.

‘Jaken prattled nonstop about the miko and how she protected Rin.'

Sesshomaru found himself reluctant to leave the woman to die. Still the alternative was too horrible to even contemplate. All his life Sesshomaru had despised his father's involvement with the human woman which had lead to the great Tai Youkai's early demise.

He felt great contempt for the human race because of it. Yet here he was not only with a young human ward, but now he had grown fond a miko, whom was currently dying in his arms.

He walked over to the spring and watched the light beginning to fade from her brown eyes. Coldness seeped into his soul at the thought of never seeing her smile or hearing her tinkling laughter again.

Such thoughts did not sit well with him at all.

For the first time in his life the Tai Youkai felt indecisively torn between his options. He could either let the miko die or...

His brows knitted and pulled together as his inner beast's words rang in his mind.

‘There is only one way to save her at this point. So what will it be mighty Sesshomaru?'

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘She will likely be mad at me for what I am about to do, but so be it.' His clawed hand carefully swept some stray hair away from her neck. ‘She does not deserve the path she was forced into, nor the early death trying to claim her.'

His head leaned back and his mouth opened. Pearly white fangs elongated. His head came down and the fangs dove deep into the tender flesh where her neck and shoulder joined.

His inner beast roared in a mix of anger and glee as his soft tongue licked up the blood pooling around the wounds in her neck.

Her body jerked and she tried to wriggle free, but he firmly held her in place. Her eyes flew open at the burning sensation coursing through her neck.

After a few seconds he retracted his fangs and lapped up the blood until the wounds closed leaving behind two iridescent scars. He inhaled deeply drawing in her scent and nuzzled his mark.

Her eyes fluttered shut and her breathing slowly evened out to a strong healthy pace.

He closed his eyes and hung his head, holding her close to his chest. ‘How the mighty have fallen, eh father?' Amber eyes stared down at the pale face of his mate and he sighed.

XOXOXO:

A/N: Remember this is my first shot at a real Sesshomaru/Kagome eccentric fic. How did I do? Should I continue it into a full fledged story? Please read and review, thanks. XD