InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ That's Just Wrong ❯ Now What? ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 4: Now What?

Kagome slowly woke up, her head feeling like someone had taken a baseball bat to it. She placed a hand on the side of her head trying to ease the tension she felt beneath the surface of her skull, but to no avail. Slowly, so as to not increase the pain in her head, she sat up, looking around the room. The first thing she noticed, was that it was not the same room she had woken up in the first time. The bed was much larger, and there was a curtain around the bed, blocking it and some space around it off from the rest of the room.

She sat there for a few minutes, wondering why she couldn't remember anything that happened before she passed out. Kagome vaguely remembered Kikyo showing up, and finding out that Inuyasha, Kouga, and Kikyo had had a threesome the night she left, but even that was kind of fuzzy. Everything afterwards was a complete blur with bits and pieces missing from her memory. She remembered that Sango and Miroku had been there before she passed out, so she slid to the edge of the bed, ready to go look for her friends in hopes that they could fill her in on what happened.

Kagome's feet were about to hit the floor beside the bed when she heard a whimper behind her and a small voice calling out her name. She turned around to look at where she had been lying before, and noticed a small orange fluffball sticking out from underneath the covers. She crawled back over to her sleeping spot and pulled back the covers to reveal a sleeping Shippo curled up to where her side had been.

Kagome smiled at the sleeping kit as he tried to wiggle closer to her body. She took his shoulder in her hand and gently shook him, calling his name, to wake him. Slowly, his emerald green eyes opened and focused on her. Suddenly she was lying on her back with Shippo hugging her tightly.

"Iwassoafraidyouwouldn'twakeupandthenIwouldhavetolivewithSangoa ndMirokuandyouwouldn'tbeabletoplaywithmeanymore," Shippo said in a rush, his words running together as he buried his face in her neck.

Kagome merely shushed him while she soothingly rubbed his back, waiting for him to calm down before she asked him any questions of her own. "It's alright, Shippo, I'm awake now, and I'm not going anywhere," she said softly.

After a few moment, the young kitsune calmed enough to talk coherently, and looked up at Kagome, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears of distress. Kagome smiled reassuringly at him as she pulled the covers back over her legs, her back propped up by a multitude of pillows. For a few more minutes, she just sat there with Shippo in her arms and rocked him gently, until he calmed completely.

"Shippo, where is Sango and Miroku," Kagome asked.

He looked up at her with big eyes. "Oh, Kirara and them went to the kitchen to find some food. They were hungry, and wanted to go get some food. I would have went with them, but I didn't want to leave you," Shippo explained.

Kagome smiled at the little kit still nestled in her arms. "How long do you think it will take them to get back," she asked, scratching behind his ears.

"It shouldn't be too long," he said after a moments thought.

Kagome nodded and continued to lightly scratch his head. They were each content to sit there for a while longer, waiting for their friends to come back.

~*~

"Sesshoumaru-sama, can Kagome-chan stay here and be my hahaoya," Rin asked as she stood at Sesshoumaru's side in his study.

Sesshoumaru looked up from the scroll he was reading and glanced at the young girl by his side. She had been more eager for a mother recently, and he knew he would at least need to get an older female to teach her how to be a proper lady, knowing he wouldn't be able to get Jaken to properly instruct her. But he wasn't sure about letting the firey tempered miko stay in his home, no matter how attached Rin was to her. And yet, he still couldn't deny the fact that Rin needed someone to instruct her.

Perhaps if he could get the miko to act more refined around Rin, and not wear such revealing clothing, then she might be acceptable. But, he was unsure if such a feat was even possible.

'No,' he mentally growled. 'I am the Lord of the Western Lands, the most powerful, most respected, most feared youkai in all the lands. The miko will bend to my will.'

"The miko, Kagome, will stay, Rin, of that you can be assured," Sesshoumaru told the young girl.

Rin smiled broadly. "Will I get brothers and sisters from Sesshoumaru-sama and Kagome-hahaoya," she asked.

Sesshoumaru internally cringed at the thought of mating with a human, no matter how strong she was. He would rather hug his brother, and that was saying a lot. "Do not expect it, Rin," he spoke quietly, seemingly turning his attention back to the scroll he had previously been reading.

~*~

Kagome looked to the door of her new room when it opened, revealing her friends. She smiled at them as they walked to the bed and greeted her back into the land of the living.

"So, where are we," Kagome asked looking around at the parts of the room she could see from her seat on the large bed.

Sango looked at her in shock. "You mean, you don't know," she asked. She watched as the young miko from the future shook her head in the negative. "We're at Sesshoumaru's still. He practically gave us no choice. He told us to follow him, and then came inside. In fact, he told us he wanted to talk to you in his study as soon as you got up."

"Sesshoumaru-sama was quite firm in that matter," Miroku chimed in, looking every bit the wise spiritual leader he was suppose to be. "I would suggest you speak with him as soon as you can."

"That's great, but how am I suppose to find him," Kagome asked looking skeptically between her two friends while Shippo sat quietly in her lap.

"Well, first you go out the door and to your right, down the hall past three other hallways, left down the fourth hallway, and all the way at the end there is a door," Sango explained.

"Is that his study," asked Kagome.

<p>"No, that's the hot springs, so you can take a bath. You probably need one," Sango said with a grin.

Kagome leaned over and lightly smacked Sango in the shoulder, muttering a playful, "baka," at the young youkai exterminator. "So, what am I suppose to wear after this oh so needed bath," she asked. "It wouldn't be very smart to get clean only to put the same dirty clothes on," she pointed out.

"That's probably why Sesshoumaru said we can use the kimono's in the closet," Sango said with a grin as she got off the bed and headed towards the closet. She caught Miroku's grin, and hurried to shoo him and Shippo out of the room. She told the two of them to go play in the garden until later, slamming the door on Miroku's nose just as he raised a hand to protest.

Kagome shook her head at her friends' antics as she got out of the huge bed and walked towards the closet where Sango already stood with the doors opened, revealing shelf after shelf of beautifully made kimonos. As she walked to the closet, she looked around the room; really looked around for the first time since she woke up.

Her eye was instantly caught by an interesting portrait hanging on the wall opposite the large glass door that lead to a balcony, the painting catching the light just right to make a person think the beings in the scene were really alive at first glance. Kagome stopped walking and focused on the painting, her curiousity getting the better of her as she stood, staring at the portrait.

The beautiful woman sitting on a small bridge that crossed over a narrow koi pond was what first caught her eye, but now her eyes were drawn to the young boy standing next to the woman. The young boy with platnium hair, gold eyes, and very familiar marks on his creamy skin. A young Sesshoumaru stood in the portrait, his unruly hair flying about his face with a wind that must have been blowing at the time. A quick glance at the surface of the pond revealed ripples that could have only been caused by a stiff breeze. Her eyes were drawn back to the young youkai, her eyes wide as she noticed the playful smirk dancing across his lips.

Kagome looked back at the beautiful woman, her eyes roaming over her face, trying to figure out who she might be. Her eyes were a startling silver, almost as brilliant as Sesshoumaru's own golden amber eyes, her hair a firey red, making her skin look that much more pale. Then, Kagome's eyes fell on the midnight blue cresent moon that rested on the womans forehead. Kagome began to notice facial features that the woman and Sesshoumaru shared; high, delicate cheekbones, cool,calculating eyes, and a presence, even in a portrait, that could make a person shiver.

Kagome was completely shocked. That woman had to be Sesshoumaru's mother. There was no one else she could possibly be. But now the question was, why had Sesshoumaru put her and her friends in this room?

Sango's voice calling to Kagome drew her out of her thoughts, the question still tugging at the edges of her mind as she made her way to the closet, where she joined Sango in the search for a kimono that would suit her well. They pulled one out, making sure the kimonos would fit Kagome before they began their search in ernest.

After a few minutes searching through the many elaborate kimonos, Kagome finally found a cream colored kimono with white sakura flowers embroidered around the cuffs and neckline. She pulled the kimono off the shelf and noticed a bright green obi folded and placed on the shelf so that it would have been under the kimono while on the shelf. Liking the color combination, she grabbed the obi from the shelf as well, glad she didn't have to worry about deciding on an obi color as well.

Kagome turned around to look for Sango, who had mysteriously disappeared from her side a few minutes ago, to ask her opinion of the kimono. As she turned around, she felt something shoved into her arms. She looked down, see more clothes, and looked back up at a grinning Sango.

"What's all this for," Kagome asked, holding up a strip of cloth that she knew couldn't be an obi; it was just a plain white.

"Breast binding and a yukata," Sango said, pointing to the still wadded yukata in Kagome's arm. "All your clothes are dirty, and you can't run around half naked anyway," she said shaking her head.

Kagome nodded, glad she had spent a lot of time with Sango. At least she knew how to put this stuff on, kind of. "Where's my bag," she asked, looking back up at the older girl.

"Oh, that's over here," Sango said as she turned and dragged the heavy bag away from the wall. She dug through it for a moment, quickly finding Kagome's bag with her bathing supplies in it. "There are towels at the springs, so you don't need to take yours," Sango said as she turned and handed Kagome her small mesh bag. "You remember the directions I gave you?"

"Yes, but aren't you coming with me," Kagome asked.

"No. I'm going to go save Miroku from Shippo. Or, more acurately, save Shippo from being corrupted by houshi-sama," Sango said with a small, long-suffering sigh. "Besides, I think you need some time to think. I doubt you've had much time to yourself lately."

Kagome nodded and started walking towards the door, Sango walking with her. "Sango, why aren't you wearing one of the kimonos from the closet," she asked looking up at the older girl.

"Unfortunately, the kimonos don't fit me. They were custom-made for someone, and it definately wasn't me," Sango said as they turned down the hall, having to go the same way for a while.

"And how do you know they'll fit me," Kagome asked, her eyes watching where she was going, hoping to be able to find her way back after her bath.

Sango shrugged. "You wear smaller clothing than myself."

Kagome sighed. She really had too much on her mind to worry about clothes, but she didn't want to think about it. She turned down the hall that would take her to the springs, but quickly noticed that Sango was no longer walking next to her. She spun around and saw Sango heading down a different hall. Turning back the way she was going, she continued down the hall, quickly coming to the end.

Taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out through her nose, she opened the door and stepped in, not raising her eyes to her surroundind until she was in the room with the door closed firmly behind her. Looking up at the slightly steamy room, Kagome moved over to an area behind a screen, quickly undressing and began washing her body with pails of warm water that sat on the tile floor. Once she had a good lather worked up all over her body, she poured a pail of warm water over head, rinsing the suds off her body.

She set her belongings on a bench by another door and, after grabbing a towel, opened the other door, a wall of steam rushing at her. Kagome stepped into the room, closing the door behind her and peered through the steam. She quickly realized this was no ordinary room. There were five springs, all varying in size, in a V-shaped set up, with small waterfalls connecting the falls, all set in stone. The stone in the middle of the V was carved into steps, enabling a person to reach the higher springs with ease.

The highest hotspring reminded Kagome of a large swimming pool; large enough to easily accomadate Sesshoumaru in his large dog form. A sudden image of a large canine Sesshoumaru swimming around in the largest spring sprung up in Kagome's mind, causing her to giggle. She saved the image for later, hoping to share the humor with Sango.

Two small waterfalls fell from the largest spring, one spilling into a slightly smaller spring on each side of the V. Each of those springs had a small waterfall running excess water off into the lowest, and smallest, springs, though, Kagome couldn't really call them small; they would probably fit ten or twelve people easily. She was intrigued when she saw that the smallest springs each had a small run-off as well, each running into a small creek, which ran around behind the large setting of the springs. She looked back up at the top-most spring and saw a flow of water running into the large spring.

To compliment the beauty of the springs, the entire room had been made into a garden. The floor was even made out of grass and stone, with a few the stones placed to act as a pathway from the door she now stood in front of and the springs. Placed all around the room, there were tropical flowers that would be able to survive in such heat, though Kagome was uncertain how Sesshoumaru might have gotten them.

She shook her head and climbed to the middle spring on the right side of the V. Setting her towel down on the edge, she slowly slipped into the hot water, a content sigh escaping her as she leaned her head back against the towel. Kagome quickly settled in the water, her mind wandering over her responsibilities as a miko, mainly completing the Shikon no Tama. After a while, though, she had completely relaxed, her mind no longer filled with her problems, for the time being, anyway.

Kagome sat up straight and covered her chest when she heard the door open and close, and looked towards it, but she didn't see anyone there.

"Girl, what do you think you are doing," a cool voice asked from behind her.

Kagome slowly turned around, her arms still crossed over her chest, her eyes meeting with cool amber eyes.

"I told your companions to have you come talk to me when you woke up, not wander about my castle and come at your leisure," Sesshoumaru stated.

"I thought you might appreciate it if I bathed before I came to talk to you. Even if you don't, your nose will," Kagome huffed as she sunk lower in the water.

"What would it matter? Humans smell," he stated, as if it were an univerversal truth.

"Not this one," Kagome growled. "I hate being dirty. And now I am clean, so if you don't mind, I'd like to get out."

"I don't mind one bit. Go right ahead," he said with a wave of his hand, staying right where he stood.

Kagome wanted to scream in indignant rage. <i>'How dare he. That JERK!'</i> "At least close your eyes, you hentai," she growled at him.

Sesshoumaru exhaled heavily and closed his eyes. "There, happy, human," he said, his voice showing he was losing patience.

"Not particularly," Kagome grumbled as she got out of the spring. She quickly wrapped the towel around her body and began her decent down the stone steps. She quickly got to the door, opening and closing it rapidly as she went into the other door, hoping to be able to get at least the yukata on before Sesshoumaru followed her.

Sesshoumaru had opened his eyes, unnoticed by the miko, as soon as he heard the towel settle around her body, and watched her exit the room. He slowly walked down the steps, purposely giving the miko extra time to get dressed. It also gave him more time to think about the miko. 'I knew she would be trouble before I ever brought her here. So why did I do so,' he wondered as he walked towards the door. Suddenly he growled at himself. 'I, Sesshoumaru, do NOT question my actions.'

He had reached the door and pulled it open quickly, pleased to see the miko most of the way dressed. She had the kimono on, but it looked like she was having problems tying the obi. Sesshoumaru walked up behind her and plucked the ends of the obi from her hands, swiftly folding and tucking the obi into the proper places, the loose ends being transfomed into a secure knot.

Kagome lowered her head in embarrassment at having to have Sesshoumaru tie her obi for her, a slight blush tinting her cheeks pink. "Thank you," she said quietly as she turned to face him more while she ran the towel over her hair in an attempt to dry it. Once she was satisfied with that, she grabbed her small hairbrush and ran it through her hair, quickly freeing her hair of all tangles. Kagome, not wanting the entire back of her kimono soaked through, pulled her hair over her shoulder and twisted it into a tight braid, securing it with a small black rubber band.

She looked up and noticed that Sesshoumaru was staring at her. Or more acurately, the band she had just put in her hair. "What," Kagome asked quietly.

"What sort of magic did you use, to tie your hair with nothing like that," Sesshoumaru inquired.

Kagome sighed, not really feeling in the mood to explain rubber bands, let alone rubber itself. "I'll tell you later. You wanted to talk to me, and I'm sure it's not about my hair tie, so let's go talk," she said gathering her belongings and heading for the door.

Sesshoumaru and Kagome walked down the hall together, stopping by the room Kagome was staying in so she could drop her stuff off, and then continued on to his study. Sesshoumaru sat on a large cushion behind a low table that he used as a desk and directed Kagome to sit on a cushion across from him.

Once they were seated, Sesshoumaru looked up at the curious Kagome, studying her for a minute, before he began to speak. "You will stay here to care for Rin and instruct her in the ways of being a lady, as well as a miko," he told the young miko.

Kagome stared at Sesshoumaru, dumbfounded, for long moments before her brain caught up with what he had said and processed it. He was practically ordering her to stay and take care of Rin for him. She barely avoided snorting out loud when it registered in her mind that he had, in fact, just ordered her to care for the young human girl. Kagome looked up to study Sesshoumaru's face, hoping to be able to find any clues to what he really wanted hidden there. Finding nothing there, she decided to take the direct approach and just ask.

"Why should I stay here? I have responsibilities to take care of, and once I'm done with that, I have a family to return to," Kagome said.

"Because this Sesshoumaru has said so," he replied, his voice colder than usual.

Kagome snorted. "And I should care about that because," she asked, her arms crossed over her chest in defiance. "Besides, do you think my friends would just leave me in your care when you have threatened to kill us all multiple times?"

Sesshoumaru nearly sighed. He couldn't believe how she was acting. "You will not like the consequences if you go against my word. Besides, I will not disappoint Rin," Sesshoumaru told her, his voice stern as he spoke, his body language telling her he would not back down.

Kagome sighed as she looked at Sesshoumaru's expression. "Why would my not staying disappoint Rin," she asked in a calm voice.

"She has become extremely fond of you," Sesshoumaru told her.

"So, we could visit each other once in a while," Kagome pointed out.

"You would not be able to train her, which is why you will be staying."

"You make it sound like I don't have a choice in the matter."

"You don't. Now, I suggest you go to your room."

"Geesh, I feel like a little kid getting punished," Kagome grumbled as she stood up. She shot a glare at Sesshoumaru before she left the room, heading back to the room she had been given to stay in, and laid down on her bed, thinking about what she should do.

~*~

Jolting awake when a knock came from her door, Kagome wondered when she had fallen asleep as she moved towards the door. She could already sense who was standing in the hallway just outside her door; she had been around him enough that his aura was familiar.

Standing right in front of the door, she crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. "What do you want, Sesshoumaru," Kagome question before she even opened the door. She heard a growl come from the other side of the door and figured she should open the door before he broke it down.

She opened the door, revealing a not-too-happy Sesshoumaru standing in the hall. "What do you want," she repeated, one hand still on the door, the other resting on her hip.

"Come with me. There are things we must discuss," he told her, then turned on his heel and walked down the hall, his sensitive hearing picking up her foot steps as she caught up with him and fell instep next to him.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru walked for almost fifteen minutes in complete silence, the only noise the soft sound of their foot steps echoing off the stone walls of the hallway. During that time, they were either lost in their own thoughts, or being childish and not wanting to be the first to talk.

Finally, Kagome decided to break the opressing silence and spoke up. "You said we needed to discuss things and now we aren't talking. Can we at least go ..." she said, but trailed off when Sesshoumaru opened a large door that revealed a table filled with various kinds of food.

"You were going to ask about food, right," he asked. His lip twitched as a smirk tried to break out on his face when she looked at him, not understanding how he knew. "I could hear your stomach," he said, the smirk succeeding a little bit when she blushed. "Shall we," he asked holding the door open for her to enter the room.

Kagome looked at him warily as she walked past him, not entirely sure what to think of the situation. Then, her stomach solved that problem for a while; it completely took over her mind. She nearly ran to the table and started stuffing her face, but she quickly remembered who was walking behind her, and controlled her body.

She made her way to the table and sat down on one side and Sesshoumaru sat opposite of her so he could watch her. She was surprised when servants came in and started serving her and Sesshoumaru, but then realized how silly that reaction was. 'Of course he would have servants, he may be a demon, but he is still a lord,' Kagome scolded herself.

After the servants left, she slowly started to eat. When she glanced up, she noticed that Sesshoumaru wasn't eating, but instead, was watching her as she ate, his eyes following her movements.

She decided she had better get him to speak before he stared a hole through her head. "You wanted to discuss some things," she asked once she had eaten enough to keep her stomach from complaining too much.

"Yes. I desired to know if you had decided to stay here," he asked, quietly.

"You mean, I actually do have a choice," she asked, hopeful. Though, the thought of leaving Sesshoumaru oddly saddened her. He had done so much for her during her stay, including not killing her. And she knew he had to have at least ordered a servant to care for her when she had been unconsicous; no human could last very long without food and water.

"No, you don't. It would just be much easier if you stayed willingly," he told her. "I have already assured Rin you would be staying and I am sure you would hate to disappoint her."

She thought about it for a while and Sesshoumaru didn't push her to answer. She looked up at him and watched his expression when she answered him. "I will stay, but I have some conditions that will affect my willingness," she told him plainly.

He nodded his agreement, signalling for her to go on.

"I spoke of responsibilities earlier. One such responsibility to collect the Shikon no kakera, and destroy Naraku. It is my responsibility to do so. I am the protector of the Shikon no Tama," Kagome told him, leaving out the fact that it was her fault the jewel had been shattered in the first place. "Obviously, I can not recover the shards by myself since I have recently lost my best chance that I had at getting them back from other youkai." She didn't know how she would get her task done if Sesshoumaru decided not to help her.

He studied her for a moment, then summed up what she had said aloud, just to be sure he understood what she was asking of him. "You want me to travel around, fight youkai that possess these shards of yours, and protect you in the process, all so you can complete your responsibility," he asked her.

She nodded meekly, looking at the table top, not really expecting him to agree to it. Which is why she looked up, shocked when he spoke again.

"This is what I will do for you. I will train you personally, so that you are able to defend yourself if an enemy gets too close, so that you are unable to use your arrows. Is that agreeable to you," he questioned.

She just nodded dumbly, not know what to think for what felt like the infinite time that day, considering the fact that she had been highly confused by practically everything he had done every time she saw him that day.

Sesshoumaru brought her out of her stupor with a question. "You said there were conditions, meaning more than one. What are the others," he inquired.

"Shippo has to be allowed to stay here with me. Since his parents died and he started traveling with me, he has looked to me as a mother figure. I'm sure you saw how disstressed he was when my travel companions got here the other day," she told him. "Besides, I think he would make a nice playmate for Rin."

Sesshoumaru thought it over for minute. "He may stay as well. Anything else," he said.

She nodded. "Sango and Miroku."

"What about them," he asked, his voice and face not betraying any of the annoyance he felt.

"They get to help with locating the shards and defeating Naraku," she said, as if it was as obvious as his white hair.

"They would just get in my way," he said.

She sighed. "I know you don't need help with fighting the youkai, but who would protect me? It's not always just getting jewel shards from youkai; the shards I already have need to be protected from other youkai, as well. And, they are both very good fighters," Kagome pointed out. "Besides, if you want them to let me stay without much of a fuss, I suggest you let them travel with us for a while. If they are allowed to see that you have no evil intentions towards me, they will be more willing to let me stay without a fight," she explained to the youkai lord.

Sesshoumaru couldn't deny her logic, no matter if it was human logic. Her companions were decent fighters, for humans, and they could help to protect the shards she already had. Plus there was the added benifit of them being around him and seeing that he meant the miko no harm would make it easier to separate them.

"They may stay until the jewel is completed and Naraku is destroyed. After that, they must leave," he said. "Any other conditions?"

She shook her head no.

"Good. Come with me," he ordered, getting up from the table and heading towards the door they had come in through.

At first, Kagome thought Sesshoumau was taking her back to her room, unitl she noticed that he was taking her in a different direction. Then she recognized some of the things from when she had gone outside the first time, when Sango, Miroku, Kirara, and Shippo had shown up. She got suspicious and curious. "Where are we going," she asked.

"Outside," was all Sesshoumaru offered her as an answer.

"Why," she asked. Kagome wanted to know what he was planning.

"There is someone here that should not be and I am going to go deal with them," Sesshoumaru explained.

"Well, then how come you don't just take me to my room, and then you can go deal with them," she inquired. What was he getting her into?

"Because, your room is in the other direction. This also happens to be someone that you will have an interest in speaking with as well," he told her.