InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Power ❯ The Great Castle ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: In the Great Castle

The castle, which must have been the nicest in the area, just about glittered. It was exactly how she imagined a hero/fairytale prince's castle should look. Any moment Kagome expected to see white horses with knights in armor to come riding out.

"This is Sesshoumaru's home." He stated. He had expected her reaction to the castle; Rin had done something similar, except in Rin's style.

"It's beautiful." She found herself being picked up once again by strong arms and linked her fingers around his neck out of habit. "What, am I not able to walk anymore?" She said in consternation. He scowled down at her.

"From what I had seen you seemed to enjoy being carried by a mutt. Sesshoumaru thought you might enjoy the privilege." She blushed slightly, but was a little confused.

"But I thought you hated humans? You said that their smell and they themselves disgusted you." She was surprised when he brought his face down and inhaled a deep breath, his nose close to her neck.

"You are the only human that's smell has ever not repulsed me. It is a sweet smell." Immediately she thought of the first time IY had complimented her smell, during the Shingetsu. "Also, you are no ordinary human. You are a most powerful miko. Inuyasha will never appreciate you, Kagome." Was she hearing things? Did he just say her name? She decided not to say anything about it, a piece of wisdom she had learned from dealing with IY. SO deep in thought was she that she was surprised to find herself at the castle door. He let go of her legs and stood her up. He opened the door for her and she mutely walked in. (AN: Yes Sesshy has manners unless, of course, you offend him or he is trying to kill you.) Her stomach let out a rumble completely out of the blue. She blushed in embarrassment and he once again looked slightly amused.

"Perhaps we should dine?" He suggested.

"Hai, that sounds good to me." She said shyly. She caught a glimpse of the sun setting on the fringe of the Western lands, and then the door shut. With the sun was also any sign of her, gone. It was like she and Sesshoumaru hadn't even been there.

. . . . . . .

Kagome watched the play of shadows across the ceiling of the chamber in which she was residing. She was lying on a feather bed, which was positioned on the floor. Not in the air like the beds in her time, that's how all the beds in the Sengoku Jidai were. It had been a couple of days since she had first arrived and she was starting to get bored. Sesshoumaru was always so cold to her even though Rin was almost cute enough and hyper enough to make up for it. What Kagome really missed was her family. She hadn't seen them in 1 week now and the miss for them was slowly building to an ache. She was about to see if Sesshoumaru would let her leave. Then she started. Her parents were still on vacation! They had left on Friday and now it was only Tuesday. They would be back early Friday morning.

It wasn't bad here, not at all; she was actually pretty comfortable. Every night there was a sleeping gown on the bed after dinner and every morning when she awoke there was a new beautifully decorated gown for her to wear. Everything was comfortable and of the finest quality. There were servants all over the place she knew but the only one she had ever seen was Jaken. The food was delicious and was served with the best china. There was no such thing as forks and the like but Kagome was never that bad with chopsticks. No, she could definitely get along here; she just wanted to see her family.

She couldn't sleep for some odd reason. She rolled over a few times and tried counting things. She had counted 100 sheep, 100 horses and 100 demons. Nope, she wasn't going to be able to sleep. Sesshoumaru had said she could go wherever she wanted in the castle grounds, so she decided to take a walk. She slipped out from under the covers and was immediately grateful the gown was a heavy material and swept down to her toes, for there was a breeze through the well-aired castle. It wasn't cold in here, just not warm either. She slipped on her shoes and carefully opened the door. Peeking out, she sighed in relief to find no one in the halls. She strode into the deserted hall, the jewel shards around her neck glinting in the moonlight whenever she went past a window.

As she continued down the hall she could feel eyes watching her, the one thing she hated about the servants. She stopped in the middle of the hall; she needed directions to the garden. She hoped if she sat and stared at the waning moon long enough, she might be able to calm enough to sleep. She closed her eyes and put a hand over the jewel shard to gather her courage.

"Hello, Is anyone there?" She felt a stir but none answered. "Please, come out for a second, I really need directions." She let a fleeting smile light her face. "I promise I won't bite, and I'll make sure there's no prob with Sesshoumaru." She promised. After many minutes, she had just about given up; a timid low level youkai female stepped forward.

"Where do you need to go?" She said shakily, her eyes darting around like she expected any second to be punished.

"To the gardens please. Thank you." Kagome smiled again.

"Go straight down the hall, it is the fourth door on the right." The youkai then disappeared back into the shadows.

Kagome sighed. The hall looked miles long instead of a couple hundred feet. She started off down the hall. On and on and on she went down the hallway. Finally she reached the fourth door on the right, the last one on the right in the hall. There was also a door right in front of her, was this the West Wing Rin had told her of? Where Sesshoumaru lived, slept? Erotic thoughts floated through her mind and she firmly pushed them out, with more than a little embarrassment. She had the sudden urge to see if they were his rooms and couldn't stifle it. She carefully opened the door in front of her instead of the one on her right. She pocked her head in, expecting to get it sliced off.

"Sesshoumaru?" She called in a voice he would be sure to hear, but not loud enough to annoy him. What exactly was she going to say to him if he was there? `Hey Sesshy-chan, I'm secretly in love with you and couldn't resist the urge to see if these were your chambers. Hope ya don't mind.' Yeah right! Although those daydreams she had been having lately were pretty interesting… She scanned the room and was about to decide there was no one there. Oh well.

She was caught by surprise when she felt his presence behind her. She yanked her head out of his doorway and turned to see the one she sought behind her.

"Are you lost?" Icy, Cold. His eyes were slightly afire. Apparently he didn't take kindly to people snooping in his chambers. Though she supposed she wouldn't be too happy with it either.

"No, uh, Sorry. I was looking for you." She was nervous, his thoughts might be closed to her but his emotions weren't. And he wasn't exactly happy.

"Why did you come down here?" His voice held daggers. Well, she knew better then to do this again.

"I, uh… Rin said one day this was where you…" She was made to cut short as her voice left her when he took a menacing step toward her. She was bothered to realize he wasn't using his usual mannerisms; he was speaking in a very harsh speech.

"So you thought you'd just invite yourself to my private chambers and work your magic on me?" He growled…a touch of sarcasm in his words.

"Huh?" was all she could manage. Magic? What in the world?

"Don't play stupid, it doesn't suit you." His flashing golden eyes narrowed. "It will not work, I am too strong and in control to submit to your charming magic."

Charming magic? Oh dear Kami, Sesshoumaru had never been attracted to anyone before. He thinks I'm magicking him. So wait, he's attracted to me? She bushed bright red at the thought. She jumped when a claw lightly pushed a lock of her out of her face to behind her ear.

"I wonder what kind of charms I might possess." He said it softly, barely loud enough for her to hear him. "What?!" she whispered as his lips met hers in her second kiss ever. It was exploratory not passionate, but not cold either. And it made her go weak in the knees. He felt this and hardly suppressing a smile he put his left arm around her, pulling her close. The other went into her hair to apply delicious pressure, deepening the kiss. Kagome felt as though she would melt right into a blob. He pulled back and gave her a slightly wicked smile. Wait, he SMILED?

"Apparently I do possess some charms, though I doubt they are as dubious as yours." Kagome never really registered what he said; otherwise she would have been asking what he meant by that. His left hand still held them close and his right hand was running sharp claws through her hair, gentle.

"Sesshoumaru, how is it that I can feel your emotions and some of your thoughts?" His hand momentarily stopped running through her silky raven hair. Damn, he had known she could still see his emotions, but he thought that he had effectively covered all his thoughts. Well, maybe not. Was it because of her powerful aura, which was quite strong, especially for a human?

"Do you remember the day of our first meeting? When I was trying to get the Tetsusaiga? When you pulled the sword out after my brother and my failures, I was, in the least to say, curious. You did not seem to be a demon, yet not an ordinary human either." He paused for a moment when he felt her ready to ask a question.

"What makes me not an ordinary human?" She was ever so slightly sarcastic. He sighed patiently.

"Your aura. You didn't seem to be afraid of me and your aura is too powerful for that of a human. Your soul is the largest, strongest one I have ever seen." She warmed and a blush lit her features. "That day you stood there with that sword, it made me wonder… so I looked into your conscious."

"You can read minds?!" She asked incrediculously.

"Hai and when I read yours you somehow saw into mine, and when you did you attained that power for reasons which are unknown to me. That is only my guess." She looked awed for a moment then blushed brightly.

Oh my god, how many times had he caught her thinking about Inuyasha? Thinking about him! She thought she might love him, in the middle of this messed up capture. So he would know exactly how she felt about him. Her blush was crimson by now.

She was so beautiful when she is embarrassed. It made something in his gut clench to see her like that. He hoped that she would always smile at him like that. He did know exactly how she felt about him. He was more than surprised when he felt more warmth toward him than his brother. He thought she loved his brother, why were those feeling now directed toward him? His feelings for her were undeniable, but he kept her shut out, not wanting to seem weak. Loving a human was despicable and yet here he was falling for a human girl. Looking at her blushing face made him realize how much he wanted her. He was fighting an internal battle and he suddenly went down to kiss her, this kiss much more passionate and grating on her lips.

She was surprised at first when he had suddenly kissed her like that. Sure she'd dreamed about him kissing her like this, but still she wondered. What had made him suddenly so possessive? She was surprised yet again when he picked her up.

"What are you doing?" She asked, wide eyed.

"I'm taking you to my bed."