A nice hot bath was the perfect ending to a hard day's work. Well, one couldn't really consider fighting demons to be the most conventional form of work, but if you happen to be in the feudal era and are a miko who is the protector of the Shikon Jewel, it counts.


Kagome trekked back out through the heavy brush to the scene of the recent battle. The various demon body parts, some even ablaze, lay strewn across the once peaceful field.
The earth was scored with deep scars from the fight, blood and gore soaking into the grass as dust continued to settle back down through the afternoon air.


Fixating her blue gaze on the fiery demon limbs, Kagome thought about how that had always evaded her. They had not used fire as a weapon in any way, shape or form during the skirmish. But somehow it just wasn't a complete battle without fire or smoke. Every confrontation had to end with the field covered in one or the other, sometimes both for good measure. It was just so typical.


Every battle was the same. Even now, near a particularly lofty pile of blazing appendages, was the random hut, although to be fair, it was currently in many pieces. Kagome grimaced and really hoped to herself that no one lived there. Enough people had lost their homes in this adventure.


Narrowing her eyes to see through the dust and smoke, a gleaming patch of bright setting sunlight drew her attention. There, at the edge of the carnage he sat, cross-legged on a
fallen tree. Even in the middle of the barren field there was the lone tree that was always a victim of either sword or claws, foot or talons. It was a virtual requirement. A sudden gust of wind began to blow, making his silver hair flow around his completely pristine and impeccably clean white clothing. The silk seemed to almost sparkle in his little patch of sunlight amid the dark and ominous clouds of smoke.


His features were expressionless as he sat there, calmly cleaning his claws for no reason. Sesshomaru was never dirty, no matter how disgustingly bloody the battle was. It was commonly thought that if he ever were to become unclean or lacking in appearance, the world would suddenly fall into chaos.


The condition of the field baffled her. When she had left, all that had been there was a dead demon that had just exploded on her and Sesshomaru. No utter chaos, no destruction, and certainly no fires! Just a pile of goo a shade of blue so bright it made her eyes hurt.


"What the hell is all of this, and how are you so damn clean?" Kagome shouted, balling her hands up into tight little fists at her sides.


Sesshoumaru surveyed the damage lovingly, looking fairly proud of himself. "It is beautiful, is it not?"


"No it isn't! What about those people that lost their home?" She pointed to a small family that had apparently lived in the fallen hut. In return the father smiled and waved at her, yelling "We're ok!," while the oldest daughter fawned over the "dreaminess" of the demon.


Kagome rolled her eyes and turned back to the disgustingly pristine demon Lord.


He smirked in amusement at her facial expressions. "That man has confirmed that he and his family are unharmed." He pondered for a moment, golden eyes narrowing slightly in thought. "What exactly is 'dreamy', and why is that girl using vocabulary that is far beyond her time?"


Kagome sat down next to him on the stump, bumping him a bit to make him scoot over. "You know, I don't know why she is either. It doesn't really matter. They're just another generic family that this show is full of. We see them once and never see them again." She raised her hand and waved back to the cheerfully smiling and waving father.


"Good enough for this Sesshoumaru" he smirked at her the setting sun lighting fire to his amber eyes.


"Now you can explain to me exactly what happened here?" Kagome asked once she had stopped waving. She turned dark and serious blue eyes on his perfect face.


"I thought you knew miko," he commented lazily catching her eye with a wicked wink before turning away to stare at the sun as it sank below the horizon.


"This Sesshoumaru simply kicks ass and takes names, then looks cool. It's a full time job."