Somewhere To Belong: A Familiar Scent

Sometime in the middle of the night, Suko awakened to the sound of someone yelling. Getting up from her bed, she sleepily walked through the hut in the direction of the ruckus which was coming from outside.

Once outside, she found out what all the commotion was about. Inuyasha was yelling at someone, but... who? Suko couldn't really see what was going on with Miroku, Sango, Kaede, Kagome, and Shippo all blocking her view. So she pushed her way in between Kagome and Sango who had perpetual looks of concern on their faces.

"What's going on, Kagome?" she asked as she watched Inuyasha withdraw his sword. He seemed to be arguing with another man.

He had long, flowing hair the same color as Inuyasha's. He was a bit taller and leaner than Inuyasha and had a crescent moon shape on his forehead. Suko couldn't help but be infatuated by this stranger's beauty... even though he was short an arm. She could feel her body temperature rise as she stared at this enigma of a man.

"That's Sesshomaru," Kagome whispered to her. "He's Inuyasha's brother, although, they're not really close. They always fight."

Sesshomaru... now she knew his name. "What a perfect name for such a perfect creature," she thought. She instantly found herself blushing.

"I'm gonna' ask you for the last time, Sesshomaru," Inuyasha growled, " What in the hell are you doing here? Let me guess... you want the Tetsusaiga."

"Silence, half-breed!" hissed Sesshomaru, "I'm tracking a scent!"

"What scent? What are you talking about?" demanded Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru stuck his nose in the air and sniffed. He turned in Suko's direction and locked eyes with her.

"Hers! He said as he leapt over Inuyasha and flew at the clueless girl.

"Get the hell away from her, you bastard!" Inuyasha yelled, charging after Sesshomaru.

"Um, Suko," gasped Kagome, " RUN!!!"

"Right," Suko replied nervously as she turned to run. But she couldn't run. Something had a hold of her hair!

"Not quite fast enough, my dear," Sesshomaru hissed in her ear. Not loosening his grip on her hair, he turned her around to face him.

"Let her go, Sesshomaru! She hasn't done anything to you!" pleaded Kagome.

"Silence!" Sesshomaru snarled as he bared his fangs at Kagome.

Sesshomaru let go of Suko's hair, only to replace his fingers tightly around her throat lifting her up in the air as he did so.

"Take your damn hands off of her!" yelled Inuyasha charging at his brother.

"Stay out of this, little brother. My business is with the girl, not with you," Sesshomaru replied, his voice eerily calm. "What's your name, wench?" he asked her. "What are you doing here?"

Suko couldn't find her words to answer him. Partly, because his hand was so tight around her throat, the other part because she was scared to death! She realized how easily he could snap her neck, which scared her, yet, oddly enough, excited her as well. She tried, with all her might, to pry his fingers loose from her neck, all the while, struggling to breathe.

"Answer me!" Sesshomaru growled.

"I said, LET HER GO, SESSHOMARU!!!" shouted Inuyasha trying to close in on him again.

Suko's breath now came in short quick gasps as Sesshomaru's grip tightened evermore on her neck. She could feel her body going limp from starving for oxygen. Everything was starting to go black as her world was spinning around her in circles. She felt a familiar warmth overtake her body, as her necklace wiggled free from it's hiding place between her breasts. Sesshomaru caught sight of it and stared at it in absolute horror.

"Where did you get that?" he asked, his gaze fixed steadfast at the pendant dangling in front of him.

"M-my Unc-uncle," Suko whispered.

"Why have you come here, wench?" Sesshomaru asked, coldly.

"I don't- I don't know," she panted.

Seeing that he was getting nowhere with this line of questioning, he let go of the girl's neck and sent her crashing hard to the ground below. She lay there at his feet for a moment gasping for the air that her body was so hungry for.

Sesshomaru quickly turned his gaze from the broken girl at his feet, to Inuyasha and the others.

"Is this some kind of joke?" he asked. "I never would have thought that you, Inuyasha, would stoop to this level of trickery!" Sesshomaru spat as he pointed down at Suko. "I will get to the bottom of this, little brother." And, with a flash of light, the Great Youkai Lord of the Western Lands was gone.

"Who in the hell does he think he is?" Inuyasha asked out loud.

Kagome and Sango rushed over to Suko and helped her up. "Are you all right?" they asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. My neck's a little sore, but, I guess I'm all right," the shaken girl replied.

"Well, you're lucky that's all that's wrong with you," Kagome said, gratefully, "Sesshomaru is so cold-hearted. He could have killed you! I'm just so glad that you're okay."

"So... what did you do to him to get him all riled up like that?" asked Inuyasha re-sheathing his Tetsusaiga.

"Nothing!" Suko said in disgust, not believing what he was asking her. " I've never seen him before in my life!"

"Well, he sure seems to know you from somewhere," Inuyasha accused.

"That's enough, Inuyasha!" yelled Kagome. She put her arm around Suko and led her back inside. "I think you should sleep in mine and Sango's room with us, tonight."

"Thank you, Kagome."

Suko lay there for quite a while thinking about him. She couldn't get Sesshomaru's face out of her mind. And now she was even more interested in how he knew her. She even took guilty pleasure in imagining what his hand would feel like on other parts of her body... not just her neck. And, with a bashful smile on her lips, she fell fast asleep.