InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Just A Moment ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Yeah, Disclaimer: Can't have all ya'll suing me and making it so I can't write! This story is getting close to ending. There will be only about three more chapters, maybe four if you're lucky. By the way, I do not own the Inu-tachi, only Riasha and Jax in this story.

Chapter 10

Inuyasha looked ready to pounce on Sango. His eyes held something she might call desperation, but Sango did not stop to study him.

"Kagome obviously cannot kill your brother, Inuyasha. She wants to break the mating bond but doesn't know how else to do it. Unless Sesshoumaru…" Sango implied. Inuyasha's eyes calmed a little.

"Yeah, Sesshoumaru would want to break the bond, he despises humans. There's no way he'd wanted to be mated to one." His dark look returned. "So, where do you think Kagome is?" He advanced on her again, not really trying to look menacing, just angry. Sure, he had an obligation to Kikyou first, but Kagome was top priority at the moment.

"I've heard that some Youkai possess some magical abilities and can work spells and the such, like the one to hide the castle." Inuyasha acknowledged this with a curt and impatient nod. She took a deep breath. "I think he may have hid his and her presences and abducted her while we were exterminating Youkai." Inuyasha swelled to greater size and burst out suddenly.

"Damn! Mother Fucker! You mean he's going to kill her to try and break the bond?" Sango flinched and took a step back, into Miroku. But she did not move away from him like she would've before. Instead she looked into his eyes, taking courage, and then turned back to Inuyasha.

"Well, is there any other way to break the bond?" Sango asked cautiously. Inuyasha's ears twitched as he thought, before slowly nodding. Sango took heart. "Didn't you say she had a rosary around his neck anyway? So she should be able to handle herself, right?" Again, Inuyasha nodded but still looked mutinous.

"I swear, if he hurts even one hair on her head…" He didn't have to finish. Sango and Miroku nodded their heads in agreement. Without a word shared Kirara transformed and they headed in the direction of one of the places Inuyasha vowed he would never return.

~**~

Kagome awoke and sat up drowsily, rubbing sleepy eyes.

"Where am I?" Then her eyes adjusted and everything came rushing back. A flower petal slid off her unruly hair and floated down to her bare legs. She turned quickly to the other side and found the bed strangely empty. She noticed a robe on the end of the bed and rose to adorn it, reveling in its silky soft feel. It tied easily in front of her and she wondered why they were here in the feudal age. Almost seconds after it was securely in place there was a gentle yet loud knock at the door. She started at the abrupt sound before taking a breath and exhaling, blowing her bangs out of her face nervously.

"Come in." She invited quietly. The door opened and a servant entered swiftly, carrying the dress Sesshoumaru had asked her to wear, matching shoes, and the emerald, carefully carved and put on a long, delicate silver chain. A pair of earrings had also been made out of the precious gem to match. Another thing caught her eye and she carefully picked up another gem studded piece, it was a delicate tiara with the diamond in the middle, and littler ones going down each side until the glint of the gem would disappear in her hair. She fingered it and swallowed the lump in her throat, thoroughly confused, and unsure. Butterflies danced in her stomach and her head felt like it was floating. She tried to breath deeply, and found a worried looking servant peering at her.

"Be you alright, Lady Kagome?" Great, the servants already knew her name. And she had called her `Lady'. It felt very weird, and almost flattering. She licked her dry lips and attempted to smile, her lips tight.

"I'm okay, just a little thirsty. Please just call me Kagome. I don't want any formalities." The woman bowed and collected the garments that were on the floor.

"I reckon that you should start your bath, cause dinner isn't far off. You wouldn't want to keep the Lord waiting, no you don't." She finished picking up the clothes and beckoned to Kagome. She bit her lip but followed the little woman, finally seeing detail on her. She guessed she was about 30 and 5'4" tall. She had brown eyes and brown hair that came down to her hips. Her voice was soft and melodious, rich enough that she sounded as though she came from Irish decent. She moved with quick agility and even though her speech was limited, her eyes told of intelligence. Kagome caught up finally and walked next to the woman, feeling foolish.

"Excuse me, I didn't catch your name…?" Kagome looked intently into the woman's deep brown eyes. Ancient eyes, for someone who was only about 30.

"My name is Erin." She said, looking away bashfully. That, That's an American type name! Kagome gawked and her eyes went wide.

"Where do you come from, Erin?" She kept her voice sweet and nice; she didn't want to turn the woman off from her.

"I came from far in the West. Very far. My mother moved here to escape and was caught by the Lord. She was made a slave but we got the best lord there is to have here. Now, some of the other lords, they use their human woman to lay with or torture." She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh, Kami! What have I done? The Lord was saying you was curious, but I wasn't supposed to say nothing about nothing!" Erin looked horrified, and Kagome thought she might understand why.

"Listen, its okay. I think he meant about the dinner and stuff. But even if you are going to get into trouble…"

"And that she will, the ignorant wench." Sesshoumaru swept down the hall to stand before them, looking cold and so impassive. "She had her orders, they all do. I did not want them to speak to you about such things. It is disrespectful and a Lady does not need to hear such things." His cold voice sent shivers, but Kagome was equal to that.

"No she most certainly will not! Erin has done absolutely nothing wrong! You most certainly will not punish her for answering a question!!" Kagome got right up into his face and her eyes went dark and furious. Her whole aura was flashing and blinking angrily. Sesshoumaru was surprised yet again by her fire and spirit. Her kindness towards others was astounding. He let an amused grin touch his lips at the sight of her bristling and shooting daggers at him. Indeed, one of his favorite things about her was her spirit.

"Calm yourself, little one. Your tongue will bring trouble upon you." He watched as she fumed and finally subsided a little, but stood protectively close to the servant woman. Well, he certainly couldn't let all of the servants be like that, but he knew she would rant and rave until she got what she wanted. So he, the merciless lord, compromised. "I will allow this to pass," Kagome's face smoothed from her black frown somewhat. "But, I want this to stay between the three of us. This servant will be your personal servant from now on, as long as I hear nothing of the sort going on among the other servants. Understood?" Kagome nodded and smiled sweetly, happy with that. Erin bowed in almost reverence.

"Thank you so much, My Lord! I will serve her well as I can. I promise." Sesshoumaru nodded curtly and the woman rose and stood quietly next to Kagome, who watched this with a little disdain. She was treating Sesshoumaru like he was some kind of god. But she supposed, in this day and age, he was like a saint from the sounds of it compared to other Lords. He was about to turn away when he felt her fingertips brush his arm, and he turned back towards her. Her beautiful sapphire eyes glinted at his and made him feel very, very right about letting the servant woman off the hook. Something expanded in his chest, like he had just successfully pulled down the moon for her. She stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips across his cheek, giving his arm a little squeeze, before whispering a thank you. He wanted desperately to wrap his arms around her and hold her for a real kiss, but there were things to do and she needed to take a dip the hot springs before getting dressed and ready for dinner. He had sent out scouts and sure enough, his brother and the rest of the crew were headed this way. He hoped his idiotic kin would not make too much of a mess of the castle. He sighed. That was hopeless, the idiot would not even let him explain, and he needed him to be there when he publicly asked Kagome to be his mate totally. By tradition, all of the kin must be there and also the lords of the four territories, to witness and give approval. He didn't expressly need approval, but they had to be there just the same. He watched as Kagome spoke with her new servant closely before giving him a quick wave as she started down the hall. He turned and prepared to get ready himself, going to a separate, private hot spring nearer to their room he planned to show Kagome later.

~**~

Kagome was chatting easily with Erin now, and turned the corner to find a wide hot spring in front of her. The rocks on the side looked very comfy indeed for rocks, and then she noticed padding on some placed under the water. She dipped her finger into the water and stood straight to test its heat. It was a little warmer than lukewarm, the water sparkling and clear.

"Erin, why don't you bathe with me? Then you won't have to later on. Besides, I don't want to be alone right now and having you sitting there makes no sense." Kagome tried to entice Erin into bathing with her. Erin was shaking her head and backing away, her eyes wide.

"N, no my Lady! I mustn't! The Lord would surely punish me then! I have no need to; there are springs for the servants. We are not allowed to bathe in the same springs as My Lord and Lady!" Kagome sighed and figured she might as well just do it, and make it easier for her later on. There would be other issues like these, and Erin was going to have to trust her to resolve them.

"Erin, I order you to join me for a soak in the spring. I promise the lord will not harm you nor punish you in any way. And didn't I tell you to call me Kagome?" Erin looked shocked before shaking her head.

"He told me the Lady had fight and spirit." She mumbled. The in a louder tone she added with almost a slight smile, "Yes, my, I mean, Kagome." Kagome smiled brilliantly.

"Thank you! That's much better! Now lets get out of these stinky clothes and into that nice, warm, relaxing water!"

~**~

Kagome nervously bit her lip as she studied herself in the mirror. Erin was standing behind her smiling a little at Kagome. She couldn't believe how different she looked right now. It was amazing. She had just a touch of makeup on, adding a little color to her lips and cheeks. Her still slightly damp hair was left loose, her wild bangs tamed only slightly. Little jewels were scattered through her hair, her tiara nestled into the place where her bangs parted from the rest of her hair. Some sort of gel had been smoothed into her hair, making it wave ever so gently down her back. The green emeralds around her neck and hanging gently from her ears complemented her eyes and drew attention to her dress. The tightly tied bodice boosted her breasts and gave her cleavage that was not improper. The dress went smoothly over her shoulders and down her back a ways before squaring off. The top only went over the edge of her shoulder before ending, showing off the muscular slope of her shoulders from running all over Japan fighting Youkai. The dress stayed formed to her until coming to her hips, where it flared out, making her upper body look that much more shapely. Where the bodice ended and the bottom half began came to a point on her lower stomach. All of the edges had a grass green, or maybe it was much closer to the emerald's color, trim. Very delicate and tiny lines of that same color ran straight down the dress and to the trim at the bottom. The bodice was white, while the gown was silver, save the trim. It flowed when she walked and almost hid her delicate silver high-heeled sandals that adorned her shapely feet. All in all, she looked very pretty, just like a princess, or Lady should look.

She sighed nervously, inhaling and exhaling several times to try and get rid of the butterflies in her chest. Nothing helped, and she wondered just what she was so nervous about. She turned and smiled at Erin, whom she had become quite comfortable with. Erin was dressed in a high-necked golden dress, which set off her dark eyes nicely. Kagome had a thought when she looked at the woman's dark tresses. She grabbed the brush from the bureau and forced her to sit down, armed with hair utensils.

"My La… Kagome! I'm supposed to be dressing you! You mustn't mess your clothes!" Kagome pushed Erin's shoulders back down and laughed.

"Relax, Erin, you said we were early anyway and I won't mess up my clothes. I want to do your hair; there's no need for my servant to look unkempt!" Erin sat still at that and let Kagome do as she wanted. She tried a few things with her hair before putting it up in a messy bun high on her head, using the hair gel and curlers to make little ringlets come down and frame her narrow face. Her neck looked bare so she rummaged through the drawers until she found a pair of teardrop earrings and a matching necklace that would look nice. Erin tried to protest but Kagome ignored her and put them on, standing back to check her work.

"Come look in the mirror and lets see how this looks!" Erin got unsteadily to her feet and walked over to the mirror. What she saw was the image of what looked like someone she might serve, not a servant! Ten years seemed to have disappeared from her visage just by brushing her hair and using it to frame her already pretty face. She ran her fingers over her face and through her hair, careful not to mess it up. Her eyes filled with tears and she turned and took Kagome's hand, intending on thanking her over and over. Kagome pulled her into a hug before she could speak, and when they pulled back, a look of understanding passed between them.

"Come on, Lets go and see if they are ready to receive us yet!" She took Erin's hand and started to pull her out of the room, shutting the door behind the surprised older woman.

~**~

Inuyasha knew where he was going. It had been a long time, but his memory of the place was still sharp. He remembered that his father had feared at first that he would not be able to see the castle because of his human blood, but was reassured that he could when they took him out to prove it. Now he went surely farther and farther West, remembering with nostalgia the way to the castle. His companions followed him trustingly, waiting to see what they would not. Only he and his brother could see the castle, and their mates. Inuyasha wondered if Kagome had been able to see it before going in. Urgency was tight in his chest, for his brother was known for being a `take no prisoners, let none live' type. If Kagome opened her mouth and let her temper flare, who knows what could happen.

The castle came within his sights and Inuyasha put on another burst of speed. It was still a while away, at least an hour. The knot in his chest constricted with fear as he ran full speed toward his old home.

~**~

Sango worried that they would be too late. They were going across open area with nothing in sight ahead. Still, even with the problem at hand, her mind wandered. Specifically to the warm body pressed against hers. Kirara kept throwing her curious looks over her feline shoulder, able to feel that there was something different today. Miroku's hands stayed wrapped around her waist, shaking her with the thought that he was so close. Even through all of his clothing she could feel something hard behind her and knew he was not completely focused either. A blush stained her cheeks that none could see, with the exception of her neko youkai friend. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, making her sure that Miroku and Inuyasha must be able to hear it. She laid a hand over her chest and breathed deeply, pressing her even closer to the houshi behind her. His grip on her tightened, holding her there. She exhaled slowly and did her best to concentrate on where they were going. She hoped this would be over soon, because she wanted nothing more than to simply relax into his embrace and, and do other things too. She sighed, swearing that it would be the death of her.

~**~

AN: And that is a wrap for tonight. *yawn* Time for bed. Goodnight all!

RyuuAngel

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MOMENT:

BOUNCING IS WHAT TIGGERS DO BEST!! AND I AM NOT TIGGER! DAMN!!!!