InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Cry ❯ Dinner ( Chapter 5 )

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Chapter 5: Dinner!

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Kagome awoke to a soft tap on her shoulder. She opened her bleary eyes and looked up from her position on the chair into soft brown eyes. A young girl garbed in a simple kimono smiled gently down at Kagome. She wore her dark black hair up in a simple bun atop of her head and her lips were full and pink. The woman bowed low to Kagome.

"Good evening milady I am Rienzi I am to help you prepare for dinner." She said as she gazed at the floor, refusing to meet Kagome's eyes.

"Dinner! How long have been asleep!?" Kagome gasped as her hands flew to her mouth. If what this girl said was true she had been sleeping all day.

"I-I don't know milady." The girl murmured as she stared at the floor. Kagome frowned as she studied the girl.

Kagome smiled at the girl before her "Just call me Kagome okay?"

The girl smiled as she looked at Kagome. "Yes, Kagome." She said softly. She held out her hand to Kagome. Kagome eagerly took it and the girl pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks, so what about this dinner?" Kagome asked smiling. Rienzi smiled as she motioned towards the door. Kagome looked over her shoulder at the bed to find that Shippo was missing.

"Where's Shippo." Kagome asked looking around the room for the small boy.

"Ah, yes the boy, he woke up an hour ago and did not want to disturb you. He is out in the gardens with the other children." She said simply as she ushered Kagome forward down the richly decorated halls.

"Where are we going?" Kagome asked the girl in front of her. Rienzi turned and smiled,

"To get you cleaned up milady." She responded sweetly. Kagome frowned as she followed the girl through several hallways. She didn't think she needed to get cleaned up. Looking down at her tattered black dress and her dirt streaked legs Kagome bit her lip in embarrassment. She could only imagine what her hair looked like, probably a black tangle of hair. Her feet were still bare and dirty and this caused Kagome to blush even more.

Rienzi stopped so suddenly that Kagome just managed to avoid running into her.

"Here we are." Rienzi said opening two solid oak doors and walking inside a dimly lit room. Kagome followed the girl hesitantly and the sold doors closed behind her as she entered the large room.

Kagome peered through the darkness of the room and smiled lightly. The room was humongous and there were many candles, on chandeliers and placed on the ground around what looked to be hot pools. Steam rose in the air from the pools , there were seven in all six small ones circled around a large one in the center. The floor was tiled and although Kagome couldn't see it in such dim light she knew that it was expensive. Six young women dressed similarly to Rienzi stood in the corner of the room all in a perfect line. The only difference as far as Kagome could tell from these women and Rienzi was that on Rienzi's Kimono there was a red circular patch on the front and it was missing from the other women's kimonos.

"Uh, hi?" Kagome said softly to the other women as they stared at her expectantly. Even in such dim light Kagome could feel their eyes on her. All at once the women rushed toward Kagome circling her.

"After your bath I will come and get you milady." Rienzi said with a bow and scurried out of the room.

"H-Hey wait!" Kagome called after her but was met by the sound of the door closing. Her gaze wandered back to the women that now surrounded her. Kagome backed up nervously as the women closed in around her.

`I've got a bad feeling about this' Kagome gulped. Before Kagome could even blink all six women were upon her, pulling at her dress and combing her hair.

"Hey wait! Can't we talk about this Oo!" Kagome cried as her hair was freed from snarls. Within minutes Kagome was completely nude and being ushered into one of the smaller pools. Kagome entered the pool hesitantly and found that it was pleasantly warm. Kagome let out a sigh of relief as the hot water rolled over her skin, soothing her tense muscles. But Kagome didn't have long to enjoy this, a small hand pushed her head under water and Kagome came up sputtering.

"Hey what gives?" Kagome cried as she spit water from her mouth and tried to blink the water from her eyes. Six pairs of hands began to rub her scalp and back furiously with soap. Within five minutes Kagome was spotless, and feeling a little violated. When the women left her to bathe alone Kagome decided that she had been in the room long enough. Slowly she eased her self out of the hot pool (or spring whichever you prefer) and looked warily around. The six women came over to her all wearing smiles. One carried a brush, one carried a towel, one carried slippers and another carried a bath robe. Before Kagome could say anything else a silk bathrobe was put gently across her shoulders and her feet slipped into a soft pair of slippers. Her hair was being brushed and she was being sprayed with a perfume that made her gag.

Before Kagome knew it she was being ushered out of the dimly lit room and towards the hall, all the women were chattering softly about how beautiful Kagome was and what a fine servant she would make…

`I am not a servant!' Kagome thought bitterly as she allowed herself to be pushed toward Rienzi who stood by a plan oak door patiently.

"Did you enjoy your bath Kagome?' Rienzi asked politely with a small smile.

"No." Kagome grumbled miserably as she realized that Rienzi wasn't even listening.

"Come in milady" Rienzi said motioning towards the door. Kagome steeped through the door hesitantly and found herself in a warm comfortable sized room. The room had a soft yellow glow to it, there were laps in every corner of the room and the carpet was soft and white. There were many closets in the room and most of them had their doors open to reveal fine silk dresses. In the center of the room there sat a woman on a small stool. Next to her was a large table with a lot of different material laid on it. From red silk to white cotton, almost every color of cloth covered the table.

"You are to be fitted for your kimonos." Rienzi said as she ushered Kagome towards the woman. Kagome smiled shyly at the woman who crouched down on the stool, watching her with eyes that seemed to smile. The woman looked to be in her late thirties, around Kagome's mothers age, a tint of gray streaked through her midnight black hair that was held firmly in place at the top of her head in a bun. The woman's chocolate brown eyes smiled at Kagome. Kagome couldn't help but be a little wary of the woman, `Any second now she'll pounce on me' Kagome thought eyeing the woman.

"Relax dear, Shall we begin?" The woman asked kindly getting up from her place on the stool. In her hand she held a long knotted cord.

Kagome smiled and gave the woman a small nod. She let herself be pushed into a position on top of the stool. It took at least a half an hour for the whole process to be done but by the end of it Kagome was wearing a comfortable blue and purple Kimono. The kimono was a soft silk and intricate designs ran down the back of it and at the sleeves. Kagome smiled as she turned around eying herself in the mirror. She felt like a princess, `It feels so nice.' Kagome thought giving herself a playful wink in the mirror.

"Do you like it?" The woman asked smiling at Kagome. Kagome turned and clasped her hands around the woman's callused ones.

"I love it! It's so beautiful, thank you very much!" Kagome said her light brown eyes shone with childish glee. The woman smiled.

"Of course dear, now remember this one is only temporary until I finish making the other ones." The woman smiled at her sweetly.

"Oh, about that, I don't think I will be staying that long…so I don't think you should have to go out of your way to make all those kimonos for me. One is enough." Kagome said with a sad smile.

The woman waved it off. And smiled at Kagome. "Your such a sweet girl, I wont mind making a few Kimono's for you, besides its been a while since I've been able to make anything nice."

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked puzzled.

"Well I'm make all the kimonos for the royal family, And My lord Sesshoumaru insist on having the same kimono made over and over again. No fashion sense that one." The woman smiled.

"Aren't there any women in the castle?" Kagome asked

"Aye there are, but there aren't any ROYAL women so I don't get to make kimonos for them." The women sighed. Kagome's mind froze for a second.

"B-But I'm not royalty!" Kagome protested as she stared at the woman in disbelief. The woman smiled and nodded her head.

"Of course you are, you`re bonded to Milord." She said simply. Kagome sighed and nodded her head. She didn't understand this place, but who was she to argue?

The woman smiled and patted Kagome's shoulder lightly. "You'll understand everything soon enough dear." She said sympathetically.

Kagome nodded and a few strands of her ebony tresses fell into her eyes.

"Thanks." Kagome murmured tucking her hair behind her ear. The woman smiled.

"If you ever need to talk, just ask for Kina." She said and gave Kagome a small shove out the door. "Rienzi will take you back to your room to prepare for dinner." And with that Kina closed the door.

Rienzi smiled at the newly robed Kagome. "Come milady we must hurry." Rienzi said ushering Kagome back to Kagome's temporary bedroom. `I wonder what for.' Kagome thought as she allowed herself to be pushed through the door and then forced o sit down in front of what looked to be a vanity mirror.

Rienzi brushed Kagome's long black hair and smiled wistfully.

"Your hair is so soft…" she said as she brought it up and pinned it to Kagome's head with a beautiful butterfly comb. Two strands of Kagome's ebony hair fell at the sides of her face, accenting her cheek bones.

Rienzi smiled. "Come now, we are late." She said ushering Kagome out of the room and down more hallways. After what seemed like an eternity of walking down long hallways they came to the two largest doors Kagome had ever seen in her life. Both were elaborately carved and the designs in the wood seemed so real that they took Kagome's breath away.

"You may go in." Rienzi said motioning to the closed door with a reassuring smile. Kagome looked at Rienzi unsurely as she hesitantly walked toward the door. Her hand came to rest on one of the doors gold handles and Kagome noticed with interest that they too were carved with the same kind of perfection as the door. Kagome turned to ask Rienzi who had carved the doors only to find that she was gone. Kagome let out a sigh. `Great!' she thought as she took a deep breath and prepared herself to enter the room. She didn't know why she was so nervous, but she was and that was all that mattered. Slowly, hesitantly, Kagome turned the golden knob of the door and slipped inside the room.

Kagome entered the largest room of all. The room was humongous, elaborate hangings hung from the ceilings; the walls were covered in beautiful pictures of fruit and animals, mostly dogs. The walls were made of wood, but were polished till it shined. The floor beneath Kagome's feet were beautiful whit tiles that led to an intricate design in the center of the floor. Towards the back wall was a long table. At the center of the table sat Sesshoumaru to his right was Kouga and next to Kouga sat a burly looking demon that reminded Kagome of a hedgehog. There was an empty seat to Sesshoumaru's left but one seat over sat a large demon who resembled a snake. Even his skin was a faint green color. Kagome blushed as she realized that all eyes were on her. Her gaze immediately fell to the floor.

Sesshoumaru stood up from his seat at the table and said in a calm voice.

"Kagome, come." Kagome looked up to see Sesshoumaru motioning her toward the chair at his left. Obediently she followed. It seemed to take her an eternity to reach the chair but when she did she sat down neatly and folded her hands in her lap. Kouga grinned wolfishly at Kagome from across the table and Kagome felt her already pink cheeks grow pinker. She dared a peek at Sesshoumaru who also seemed to be. . . smiling. `Is he smiling. . . at me?' Kagome thought as her brown eyes went wide in her flushed face. But just as quickly as the smile appeared it went away.

"Shall we begin?" Sesshoumaru asked as he sat down again. The other demons at the table voiced their agreement, all chancing quick glances at the woman who sat next to Sesshoumaru.

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^__^ So wut did you guys think of the chapter? Am I confusing you with all the mixed emotions? (Sesshoumaru)? Oh and you can still vote on who should be with who, that hasn't stopped yet. Well I got some interesting surprises ahead soooo…if ur wondering how Kouga and Sesshoumaru can speak each others language now then u'll find out in the next chapter ^__^ I am evil aren't i?

~~~Sarah