InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Down To Earth ❯ Black ( Chapter 1 )

Misera- Ah!! Don't kill me for making this story! (To BIA and AAC2 readers!)

I had to create this one, I HAD TO! I'm emotionally attached to this plot and it serves as a practice piece for my writing.

(This Practice piece also serves as a way to check on my own writing improvement, so there will be Grammar problems. If you do find them, point them out to me!)
(there will be no beta reader for this story!)

Setting: Earth in another dimension, not modern day, not ancient day, just... Fantasy. Misera's very own Fairy Tale.

Characters: OOC some/most of the time (Some of them, not the entire cast)

Summary- She wanted nothing more than to find the one who abandoned her to years of unrelenting abuse. To find that being, she must escape to a foreign land and find the one called Ja-unnitzi. Along the way, she unknowingly caught the eye of the land's heir and together they set off on a journey across the mystical land called Nirannia.

Down To Earth
MiserablySweet

Chapter 1- Black

Black.

Black was all she could see as she frantically gripped onto the rope for dear life. The waves of the sea rocked the ship with relentless fury. Her keen hearing picked up people talking and light music playing in the background. She looked around the pitch black steerage of the ship-- searching for any signs of life. As the joyous chatter from the floor above continue to echo into the steerage, the girl felt jealous. Jealous of their laughter, their exquisite food and expensive wine. What they had was an abundance, what she-- and the others in the steerage with her, had nothing. Nothing but the clothes on their backs and their strong hope for a new life once they arrived to their destined place.

"Grandmama, what's wrong?"

She picked up a small child's voice from the opposite side of the steerage. The young girl's voice was frantic and worried over her coughing grandmother. The grandmother's cough racked against the darkness of the steerage-- her cough was dry and raspy. The voyage has taken a toll upon her aged body. She reached over to her side and held her water canteen in place as she released her grip on the rope and wobbled to the sick elder. Through the darkness of the steerage, she stumbled across the room with nothing to guide her but the sounds of the grandmother's coughs.

"Here, drink some water," she unscrewed her leather canteen's cap and placed it in the elder woman's hand as she knelt next to the two.

"Thank you," came the elder's raspy reply and accepted the water gratefully.

She bowed her head in the darkness as the elder returned her water canteen. "Would you like some too?" She offered it to the young girl as she heard her shift closer to her grandmother. The young girl's icy hands brushed against her own warmer ones as she accepted the canteen. "Why is your hand so cold?" She reached over to where the young girl was sitting and placed a hand on her forehead. She hissed silently at her feverish temperature. "Are you sick?"

"I don't know... I'm hungry," came the young girl's reply. "Grandmama and I ran out of food a while ago, and I'm scared she's not going to make it." The young girl began to tremble and began to cry.

Through the darkness, she could make out shadows and shapes of the passengers around her. It had been so long since they've boarded the ship and the crew members have stopped supply the food like they promised they would.

"This is what we get for paying the cheapest price to board the ship, huh?"

She heard a gruff voice nearby, presumably a male's voice. She listened in as he continued.

"They promised us we would have daily bread and broth, and look at us now! Starving. Every single one of us ran out of food days ago and the people up there? They have loads of food and scraps that they feed to the birds than rather feed us."

"To hell with this! I'm going up there and stealing us some food," came another male's voice, but he sounded quite young. Men across the steerage cheered in agreement and stumbled to reach the ladder to the upper level.

She shook her head in dismay, "Stop! You'll only get thrown overboard, or worse-- killed." She warned them as gently as she could but they wouldn't listen. In the pitch darkness of the steerage she groped for a rope along the walls to help herself to her feet. She hissed in surprise as her fingers brushed against an icy cool metal of some sort. She reached over to the source of metal and cautiously brought it to her lap, 'A kerosene lamp?' She brought the lamp to her nose and sniffed it carefully for any signs of over or recent use. Finding none, she quickly searched her bag for the match she's been saving for emergencies. She lit the wick carefully and replaced the chimney to the lamp and adjusted it to it's maximum capacity without burning the chimney. "Hey! I said stop!"

The passengers of the steerage shielded their eyes from the sudden light. The men who were already climbing the ladder stopped and faced her. "Are you going to see us all starve and die in the same room?!" One of the men shouted.

She lowered her sapphire eyes to the floor of the steerage and held out the lamp in front of her to get a good look of everyone's faces. All were worn and tired, many were young children and the elderly. From what she saw, there were about seventy heads in the steerage, only twenty or so were men and women of adulthood. "It's not safe," she tried to keep her words simple and short-- but it didn't satisfy the angry men.

"We need food and water for our children and our elders. Look at them, lady. They are on the verge of starvation!"

"I understand, but you men won't stand a chance against the guards who have been trained to hurt people with their swords and staffs. What use is it if you risk your life for something you know you won't accomplish?" She stared them down with her enchanting gem depths.

"What do you suppose we do then?" Her words made perfect sense now that they thought about it. They were weak from the lack of food, and unstable from sitting in the darkness for so long. But what could they possibly do? "What do you suggest then?"

She hobbled over to the men, mindful of not stepping on the limbs of the passengers. "I suggest you men step down and let me handle the stealing," she smiled softly and motioned for the men to sit.

"You? You are a mere girl, how will you stand against their swords?"

She kept a friendly smile on her face. "I am used to living in the darkness. The steerage's lack of light doesn't affect me as it does the rest of you. I'm used to these conditions, therefore I'm not weakened. And besides," she chuckled softly, "I am not as big as the rest of you-- they won't detect me if I am careful." She nodded over to the men's body. They were well built, as the men of the poor class should be. They worked on hard manual labor for only little pay, they are what they do.

The men nodded and received the kerosene lamp from her as she offered it. "We wish you luck, young one. We're counting on you."

She nodded and nimbly climbed up the stairs. She was stopped momentarily by their last question.

"Wait! What is your name?"

She smiled, "Kagome. My name is Kagome." She unhooked the lock from the other side with the strap of her canteen and peered out from the crack. Not a sound was heard from that level of the ship and she looked back down to the passengers of the steerage. "I'll return with food. Hang in there," she beamed a bright and cheerful smile to them and leaped into the upper level and eased the trap door closed. 'Here I go,' she nodded her head as if to give herself courage. She maneuvered swiftly in the corridor and reached the door were music and laughter could be heard.

"Mhm," she nodded and reached for the door handle when the door began to swing open. Kagome moved swiftly and slipped in between the mass of dangling coils to conceal herself. She observed quietly as the moans of a lady caught her ears.

"Are you sure we can do this here?" Kagome heard her say.

"Of course, my love. No one even bothers to enter this room." Kagome raised an eyebrow at the formally dressed man as he undid her golden corset dress and flung it behind his dress-- landing it by Kagome's feet.

Kagome shook her head at the moans and groans of the aroused couple-- it amazed her how people can be so hypocritical at times. They can label a prostitute a whore as she offers her service in the privacy of her own home, and yet a lady is not wrong when she has sex with a man in public. But it was not the time to dwell on such trivial topics. She needed to get food for the steerage passengers fast. She looked down at her attire-- a dark gray tunic, faded black trousers and a pair of black clothed shoes. It was not an attire to walk into the musical room with. Judging by what that lady wore, it must have been a very formal party.

She smiled as an idea popped into her head and carefully reached over the ground to pull in the discarded golden corset dress. Kagome quickly stripped herself of her old, worn clothes and slipped on the corset dress. Surprisingly, the dress was a bit too loose so she had to tie the corset even tighter than the woman who was wearing it. She reached over to her water canteen and damped a sleeve of her tunic and wiped traces of dirt away from her face. She undid the white ribbon that adorned the dress's chest and tied her midnight locks in a messy bun. Satisfied that she wouldn't stand out in the party, she headed for the door.

"Damn," she whispered as she realized that her black clothed shoes would look suspicious with her dress-- but it was a lost cause. Kagome had no choice but to abandon the formal shoes and slipped through the door undetected by the aroused couple.

----------

"Your Highness, you must stay in this party. Your father demands it so," the humble servant tried to usher his Prince back into the ballroom.

"Jaken," the Prince warned in his usual icy tone. "Tell me why I should subject myself to the women's mindless chatter when I can have my privacy in my own room?" The young Prince changed his attire to a new white jacket adorned by golden buttons, a golden stitched collar and a mauve belt. His broad shoulders seem even bigger with his brown family crest epaulets with hanging golden threads. The ends of his sleeves were stitched with the same pattern as his collar, and his pants were the same color as his mauve belt with golden line stitching down the length of the pants.

"Prince Sesshoumaru, your father wishes you to marry soon. He is planning to retire, sire you should know that already," Jaken stepped onto a wooden stool to straighten his Prince's outfit. "Prince Sesshoumaru, the ball will be over soon. Endure it a little longer my Prince," he pleaded as he slipped a golden stitched sash over Sesshoumaru's head.

"Your squawking annoys me," Sesshoumaru growled inhumanely and shrugged off Jaken's patting hands. He knew his adviser spoke truly and honestly-- but he didn't want to think about marriage. 'I am only twenty-six, why should I settle so early?' The thought of having a woman tying him down irritated him. He wanted to travel, to see the world beyond his castle walls. Given, he's traveled around the kingdom to meet officials and other royalty, but he wanted adventure and surprises, not handshakes and peace treaties.

Sesshoumaru gripped the door handle with slight annoyance, "Let's get this over with..."

----------

"Pardon me, kind sir," Kagome tapped a server's shoulder lightly to catch his attention.

The server tilted his head to catch a glimpse of her and instantly spun on his heels to get a double take of the female before him. "H-how can I serve you, my lady?" The server was stunned by the view before him-- a female with the most exquisite shade of sapphire eyes smiled sweetly towards him.

"I was wondering if I could get a couple dozen of these loaves of bread sent to my room?" Kagome managed to act as lady like as possible-- something she surprised herself with. She was nothing like a high class lady. Not in her past, not now and certain she won't be in the future.

The server bore on a bewildered look. "The loaves of bread?" he asked incredulously.

Kagome nodded, "I get very hungry at night after certain... activities." She had no idea where she was getting to when she winked at the server flirtatiously. It wasn't that she winked at him because she was interested in him-- heavens no. She needed the server to agree to her somewhat ridiculous request. She watched curiously as the server fumbled over on what to say.

"Well uh, I can do that, my lady." She heard him say. "Please wait here," he finished and rushed into the kitchen to get the breads.

Kagome smiled softly to herself in light humor. 'Easier than I thought,' she remarked lightly.

----------

"Pleasure to meet you," Sesshoumaru forced out the four words he's been repeating since the party started. He wasn't the type to have enormous gatherings with dozens and dozens of people. He wanted nothing more to stare them down and scare them into their rooms for the rest of the evening. But that would ruin his reputation and his title-- not to mention his father's title.

Yes, he was a Prince-- Prince Sesshoumaru of Nirannia. Amongst his other siblings, he was the oldest and it seems to to his father-- the most capable to handle the throne when the King retires. Sesshoumaru couldn't agree more. Inuyasha, his youngest half brother from his father's second marriage had everything he wanted, did everything he wanted and ultimately was allowed to do things Sesshoumaru couldn't do. The youngest Prince of the three siblings never had to take lessons on meeting ambassadors from other Kingdoms, or how to sign your name on a peace treaty in such a way it couldn't be forged.

Sesshoumaru sighed, what he wouldn't give to be rid of his monotonous life for the life outside the castle. He looked over the swarms of people mingling amongst friends and politicians. A boring sight in his eyes. He scanned the large gathering again hoping to find something of interest-- a book, another royal member from a different kingdom maybe. To his dismay, he didn't find anything of interest until he saw a young male server's face flush with shyness and hurried away into the kitchen.

"Oh?" Sesshoumaru raised a curious eyebrow as a female with midnight hair waved to the bashful server. His eyes trailed to the tiny female in the golden corset dress. "Jaken," he called out for his adviser who scrambled to his side in an instant.

"How can this lowly one be of service, my Prince?"

"Who is the female over there?" Sesshoumaru nodded over to where Kagome stood.

"I'm not sure, she doesn't seem to fit the description on this list," Jaken mumbled as he flipped through his guest list frivolously.

Sesshoumaru sighed with light disappointment. "Useless," he whispered to himself and left the mumbling Jaken to himself and headed to Kagome. Before he could squeeze through the crowd he saw the server return with an extremely large sack on his back. 'What can that be?' He watched silently as Kagome motioned the server to follow her. Sesshoumaru trailed silently behind him as they maneuvered through the crowd without suspicion.

Kagome led the server in front of the door to the corridor that leads to the steerage room. "Ah, you could have let me carry it," she smiled as sweetly as possible. She was rather irked that he didn't let her carry it. If he knew she was going to give the food to the lower level passengers, he might alert the other crew members. But why did it matter anyway? It wasn't like they were illegal travelers-- they all paid their fees and travel expenses.

"No ma'am, this is far too heavy for someone like you to carry," the young server grinned charmingly and looked at the door she stopped in front of. "This room is the steerage room..."

"Yes, yes it is, it will lead us to the steerage room where dozens of starving passenger are waiting for my return," Kagome stepped behind the server, blocking his escape with the food if he wanted to do so. "Now please, good sir hand over the bag of food," she said as she held out her hand.

"You lied! You can't give these food to those passengers!" The server gripped the sack tightly.

"And why not? I'm sure you have plenty of food in this ship. They are starving down there-- they need food immediately," Kagome took a step closer to the young man who in return puffed up his chest and glared at her defiantly.

"No, this food is for paying passengers only," the server stood his ground firmly.

Sesshoumaru questioned himself about the passengers in the ship, 'The steerage passengers? Did they not pay for their board?' He was eavesdropping on their conversation while laying against the wall around the corner. He wasn't sure why he felt the urge to follow the two, but he was glad he did-- this information he's hearing is most interesting.

"They paid for their board, it is your people who neglected to provide food as promised. This is our last resort in keeping ourselves alive," Kagome purposely used the terms 'ourselves.' It was true after all-- she was one of them, the passengers of the steerage and not the noble ladies in the ballroom.

"It is against my responsibility to do that, you have to ask the captain," the young man began squeeze around Kagome to leave with the sack of food.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you leave with the food. Please hand it over," Kagome whispered as she slammed her hand into the wall, her arm parallel to the floor-- blocking the man's way out. "Please hand it over, or else I'll have to resort to violence." She bluffed-- yes, bluffed. She didn't know a thing about fighting, but she had to try to lie her way in getting the food-- other lives were at stake.

The server narrowed his eyes in anger and snapped his teeth against Kagome's wrist.

Kagome cried out in sheer shock and agony and tried to jerk her wrist from his mouth, "What are you doing?!"

"How dare you threaten me, you peasant?!" the server hissed as his eyes darken with malicious intentions. "Where did you get the pretty dress? Did you steal it?" he gripped her wrist and shoved her roughly against the wall. His anger was fueled by her threatens and cries of pain-- it excited him in every way possible. He grinned with anticipation and reached behind Kagome's back and pulled the knot to her corset loose. "I'll let you have the food-- under one condition... and I bet you already know what that is." He bent closer to her struggling body and brought his lips close to her ear, "And I won't be gentle."

Kagome's face flushed with anger and disgust, "You let me be, you pervert!" She struggled against his surprisingly strong hold. There was a reason why she chose a smaller, younger looking server instead of the middle aged ones-- they're weaker. To her surprise, this young man in front of her was far stronger than what she assumed him to be.

"Let you go? Don't you want this food lady? Then I suggest you to shut up and pay for it!" He snorted at her defiant glare. He placed a rough hand over her mouth to muffle her cries of help and trapped her tightly between the wall and his own body. "Now now, no one will hear you, so be a good girl," his eyes glowed with lust and with a hand he lifted the hem of her dress to her waist revealing her slender legs. "My my, what soft legs you have," he parted her legs with his knee without struggle.

'No... Not again,' Kagome squinted her eyes shut and willed herself to feel no pain. She didn't want her body to be intruded, not again. 'Please, someone... save me.'

'Hm...' Sesshoumaru furrowed his eyebrows in disgust. He couldn't believe there were such people on the planet-- well actually, he could. With an inaudible sigh, he reached into his jacket and retrieved a golden encrusted ball. 'This will do,' he peeked around the corner carefully-- making sure his presence was undetected. He couldn't help but feel mesmerized by Kagome's gaping sapphires eyes. Sesshoumaru shook his head lightly and demanded himself to focus on the task at hand. He held the golden ball with his thumb and two fingers and aimed for the back of the man's neck. Calculating the force carefully he flicked the golden ball hard enough to cause the server to lose consciousness and not break his neck.

Kagome's chest swelled with relief as she saw the abusive man faint onto the ground unceremoniously. Her numb knees shivered with shock as she slumped onto the floor besides the unconscious man. "I will not cry," she whispered shakily to comfort herself. She has been weak in the past, her weakness was what she was escaping from. She can't let her fear and weakness overcome and immobilize her life any longer. "I will not cry," she said again in a firm voice. Kagome gripped the moldings on the middle of the walls for support and hauled herself up on her still numb legs.

Sesshoumaru noted that she wasn't like the females he's met and have been surrounded with. She was-- dare he say it, strong. Unlike most females who will whimper and whine for help, she looked past it and somehow willed herself to move on. 'Interesting,' he nodded to himself.

Kagome gripped the knot of the sack tightly and opened the door to the corridor that led to the steerage. She grimaced at her unsteady legs-- naturally she should be still shocked from her ordeal but she wouldn't have it. "I will be strong," she whispered to herself. Kagome hauled the sack over her shoulders and gripped the walls for support as she headed back to the steerage. She stopped where she discarded her clothes and looked down at her attire, 'I should change back.' She dropped the sack of food onto the floor and slipped the wrinkled corset dress. Unknown to her, someone was watching her very actions.

Sesshoumaru sucked in a breath when he saw her bare frame. His eyes trailed over her slender and lean legs up to her well rounded rear, then to lower back, then her scar marred back. 'Scars?' He hissed subconsciously at the massive scars that marred her ivory skin. Judging by the color of the scars, they must have healed a long while ago, although some were still a light pink-- they were still fresh. 'What happened to her,' he couldn't help but ask that question. The scars were mainly diagonal, starting from opposite sides trailing across her back to her hips. They were definitely whip scars. 'Who would whip such a girl?' He kept his eyes glued to her frame as she donned on her trousers, tunic and her belt. Sesshoumaru wondered briefly why she would change in that attire but squashed the thought and swiftly followed her down the corridor.

Kagome sighed in triumph when she saw the trapdoor. Why the steerage room was underneath the trapdoor was beyond her. There must've been another exit, but it was too dark for her to find it at the time. "Hey guys!" she called out softly into the hole on the floor, "I got some food!"

Cheers could be heard coming from the hole. Sesshoumaru watched silently as she lowered the sack into the hole which he believed there were people accepting it. He noted she smiled happily and replied with no hint of shock or fear in her voice when they asked her if she was hurt in the process of getting them food. What surprised him the most was her lie-- 'It was a breeze!' He heard her say in a chirpy tone. "What a girl," he whispered admirably. He was curious to know who were down there, he believed they were the pay passengers for the cheapest ticket-- but he wasn't too sure.

Sesshoumaru glanced around the corridor and spotted closet labeled, Coal Uniforms. 'Now there's an idea,' he smirked and gracefully opened the door to retrieve a worker's uniform. He questioned if he was going to soil his body with these untailored uniforms-- but to see how the lower class lived, he had to. He stripped his royal garments off his being and quickly slipped on the somewhat musky smelling uniform-- a v-collar faded forest green shirt, a dark beige trouser stained with coal dust and a pair of dark brown leather boots. Sesshoumaru shrugged, 'I'll be out of this disgusting outfit soon.'

He walked over to the trapped door and descended down the metallic ladder. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he was assaulted by several large middle aged men. It took nearly all his control to not retaliate-- after all, he could've hurt them if he wanted to. He was a skilled swordsman and hand-to-hand combatsman.

"Who are you?" the biggest of the men stared at Sesshoumaru with distrusting eyes. "Do you even belong here?"

"I am also a refugee and a worker of this ship," Sesshoumaru had to play his cards right to find information from these people. He felt thrilled to be able to be a part of this adventure, 'It's far more exciting than anything I've done within the palace.'

"A worker huh?" the gruff man with prickly beard growled and shoved Sesshoumaru against the metallic ladder. "Well, get outta here! We won't accept the likes of you."

It was probably a bad idea to say he was a worker, but he didn't know what the situation was-- it wasn't his fault, right?

"Wait, what's wrong with the ships workers?" Sesshoumaru straightened out his shirt and stared at them in the eye. He saw a slender hand tap the gruff man on the shoulders and heard a feminine voice whisper to him. The gruff man turned his attention back to Sesshoumaru and snarled and walked away to get their portion of the food.

Kagome stepped forward to Sesshoumaru, "Your comrades has neglected to feed us, though we paid for our board as asked." Her heart skipped a light beat when the lantern's light on the ladder flickered on his milky skin. 'How can a man be so beautiful?' It was true that Kagome didn't see much of the outside world at her native country, but she never expected a man to be so pleasing to the eye. "Are you... even a worker?" Kagome doubted his status as a worker on the ship with a face like his.

"Yes, I am," Sesshoumaru was equally doubtful of Kagome's status as a poor refugee. "Your name?" It surprised him how the clothes she was wearing concealed much from anyone's eyes-- unlike the golden corset dress she wore. Either attire, her eyes mesmerized him.

"My name? I don't think I want to tell you," Kagome stared at him with questioning eyes before turning her back to him and headed to the sick grandmother and the young girl earlier before.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow-- she waved him off like he was nothing special. His face began to heat up in anger while keeping his composure. "Do you know who I am?"

Kagome stopped tending to the grandmother and looked up, "You? Do I know who you are?"

Sesshoumaru nodded and bit his tongue at their repentance. He walked over to the grandmother and bowed his head to show his respect. He was not the one to neglect the elderly.

"Why, aren't you a coal shoveler, a worker on this ship?" Kagome replied casually and headed over to another group of passengers and aided them in any way she could.

Sesshoumaru followed her in her trek in light amusement, 'That's right... these are refugees who haven't been to Nirannia. They wouldn't know that I am their Prince.' He bent down in his knees and gave Kagome a hand to make a misfit pillow for another elderly couple. "Why did you have to steal the food?" He nodded over to the sack that contained bread and canteens of water.

"Your captain has failed to provide food as promised. I don't want to steal, but," she paused and scanned the steerage room. "But, to save these people, I had to."

Sesshoumaru's lip tilted up in a small smile at her compassion for the others. He saw all the other passengers eating the goods, but she was tending to the people who needed help. "Why are you not eating?"

"I am not hungry," came her sharp reply.

"You're probably too hungry to even realize it," Sesshoumaru headed over to the sack and retrieved two small rolls and returned to Kagome who retreated to an isolated corner. He held one roll in his hand and offered the other to her, "here."

Kagome looked up with somewhat weary eyes and accepted the roll with shaky hands without question, "Thank you." Her cold fingers brushed against his warmer ones-- it shocked Kagome how warm his hands were and she snatched her hands back, letting the roll fall onto the floor. "Oh no," she whispered and leaned over and over to grab the roll from rolling around on the dirty floor. She stared at the lightly dusty roll and smiled to herself, "It can still be eaten."

"But it's dirty," Sesshoumaru said with a hint of disgust and eased himself onto the floor with his back to the ball. Truth be told, it did disgust him that she was willing to eat it after it fell onto the floor. In his palace, he would have never eaten something that was not on the appropriate plate for the meal. He watched incredulously as she dusted the roll and carefully peeled the outer skin layer of the pastry. After a few moments, she discarded the dirty skin and took a small bite of the now clean roll. He never expected her to do something so... smart?

"We have to save as much food as possible, we don't know how long the stash I took will last us," Kagome looked at her roll and smiled. "If I had this much to eat when I was in my homeland, I wouldn't have to leave."

Sesshoumaru's eyes widen slightly. The roll in her her hands were no larder than her fist, was that even considered plenty or a lot? Suddenly, it occurred to him that not everyone was royalty. They wouldn't even dare to dream about the foods Royalty eat and waste on a daily basis. He looked around in the dim light steerage, these people-- these people were happy and grateful with even a small pastry to eat on a daily basis. He then looked at the half eaten roll in his hands, if he were at the palace, he would've never considered in tasting such a simple morsel. And yet here he is-- beside this wonderful enigma eating a simply baked roll. He was brought out of his musings with a sneeze from the body next to him.

"Are you cold?" Sesshoumaru looked down at Kagome's face. Her eyes were closing unwilling from sheer exhaustion. It surprised him that she didn't even complain about her ordeal to get the food. Instead, she seem grateful she was able to get it. He scanned the steerage once more. Most, if not all of the passengers were sleeping-- it was the perfect time for him to leave. Although a part of him felt reluctant to leave this simple girl besides him.

He finished his half eaten pastry quickly and pulled the faded forest green shirt above his head. The hairs on his body stood up from the chill that clashed against his skin, 'It is quite cold in here.' He reached over besides him and covered Kagome's upper part of her body with his shirt. His head hovered over hers as he reached over her to tuck in the shirt around her small frame. His concentration was broken when Kagome stirred and stared at him with shocked eyes.

"What are you doing?" Her barely inaudible whisper held light fear. Their heads were mere inches away from touching each other, she had the right to be scared after her previous ordeal.

Sesshoumaru was unable to answer her-- what was he doing? Why did he feel obligated to drape his shirt over her to keep her warm and let himself sit in the cold? This girl in front of him was a funny mystery indeed-- she invoked emotions and thoughts he never thought of before. He stared at her bright sapphire eyes that contrasted against her skin. What an enigma indeed. "Can you tell me your name?" He wanted to know her name-- just in case he wanted to reach her in the future.

Kagome stared at his golden eyes through her own sleepy ones, "Why do you want to know?" She could feel her heart thump loudly against her chest when he smiled to her.

"Because I want to know."

"Kagome... my name is Kagome," she whispered softly. Her eyes traveled down Sesshoumaru's high cheek bones to his slender nose, and lastly to his lush lips.

"What is your family name?" Sesshoumaru nearly laughed when she didn't give him her family's name. He watched with mild guild as her expression turned to a deep remorse and confusion.

"... I have none," she replied.

Sesshoumaru bit his lip unknowingly. It should have been obvious she didn't have a family name-- if she had one, she should be traveling with her family and not alone, right?

Kagome's hand snaked out from under the shirt and brushed her cold fingers against his slightly swollen lip, "Don't feel guilty, rarely anyone know about me."

Sesshoumaru encased his warm hand around her nimble one and held it in place-- still touching his lips. "Why do you think I feel guilty?"

For the first time in her life, Kagome blushed prettily when she felt his warm, soft lips brush against her fingertips. "B-because you look guilty."

Sesshoumaru smirked, 'That's a first.' He couldn't believe what he heard-- yet he could. No one was able to tell what he was feeling, not even his own father-- the King. Maybe it was he let his facade drop for a brief moment and she caught him... maybe. "Mhm," he hummed softly and stared her down. He brought her cold hand to his cheek, "You're still cold?"

Kagome shrugged, "I'm used to it. I'll be fine. You should get some rest." She pulled his shirt from her body and handed to him.

Sesshoumaru shook his head, "I have to be heading up for my job." He didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't break the trust that they already formed. He watch her nod and saw her eyes slowly drift to a close. He released her cold hand and draped the shirt around her small frame once more. He was reluctant to go, but he knew he had to. Jaken would be squawking all over the ship trying to look for him. He eased himself back, and positioned himself to stand up until Kagome's small hand darted out from the makeshift blanket.

"Wait-- what is your name?" came her sleepy question.

Sesshoumaru couldn't help but sigh and smile at the same time, "Sesshoumaru."

"Will I see you again?" Kagome subconsciously asked and brushed her hand on his cheek.

He swallowed bashfully and nipped the skin on the back of her hand softly, "Yes." In the back of his head, he knew he'll see her again. He'll make sure of that. Sesshoumaru smiled and shook his head at the sleepy Kagome. 'She trusts too easily,' he tucked her in once more. 'I doubt you'll even remember what you asked when you wake up,' he finally stood up and carefully made his way to the metallic ladder. He looked back at Kagome and the rest of the passengers once more before slipping up to the upper level and silently closed the trapdoor.

"I'll make sure these passengers get some fresh food and water tomorrow morning," Sesshoumaru noted to himself and discarded the uniform and dressed back into his Royal jacket and seal. He could recall Kagome's fresh jasmine scent in the corridor-- but he can be just imagining things. He straightened up his attire and opened the door to the ballroom, 'I shall see you again, Kagome.'

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Kagome opened a sleepy eye, 'Where did he go?' The steerage room was dark, the lantern no longer gave off light. She noticed Sesshoumaru tucked her in again and she smiled. "Sesshoumaru," she whispered his name lightly. He was the first gentleman she's met and she'll make sure she remembers him. Kagome snuggled into his shirt and slowly drifted to a light slumber encased by the silver hair male's musky scent.

It was black again, but this time she was not gripping onto any rope to steady herself-- the ship was calm, light snoring can be heard across the pitch black steerage. Peace was present in the cold walls of the steerage-- they were no longer starving but satisfied. Black,might not always be something evil or unsightly-- in fact, this black was very calming.

... Black.

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Misera- *grins* I just love this plot xD I'm sorry it's a tad bit boring at this point, but it'll get better :) I promise!