InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Final Bow ❯ Meeting the cast ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer; See chapter one.

The Final Bow

By: Undecidedly Certain

Chapter Three

Meeting the Cast

It was nearly a three hour drive from White Dog Studios in Tokyo to Sesshoumaru's seaside estate near the outskirts of Sendai. Kagome was waiting nervously with Sango and Miroku near the back gates for the car to come around to pick them up.

Kagome had been delightfully surprised to find out that, along with their administrations duties, both the high strung casting director and the perverted publicist had pretty big roles in the film an would be attending the training. Although with the way those two carried on, Kagome was fairly certain that one of them would be either pregnant or dead by the time this was all over.

When the long white limousine pulled around Kagome just knew she was gawking like and idiot and had the decency to be embarrassed by it. It was by far the most impressive vehicle she had ever seen let alone ridden in. When Koga had said 'car' she had been picturing…well, a car. In Kagome's opinion, anything that takes up more than three parking spaces and has a built in wet bar can't be considered a car.

She was actually kind of giddy about the whole deal. She hadn't ridden in a limo since she went to Junior Prom with Hojo in High School. Even then, the limo they had taken was a rusted old pinto compared to this. This was the top of the line, all shiny and new, a Lincoln Navigator to be exact. Kagome felt very out of place standing next to it in her blue jeans and tennis shoes.

Koga came striding toward the `car' with an impish smile and a beautiful red head in tow. He introduced her as Ayami Sanosuke, she was playing the role of Koga's second hand man, er… woman, in the movie. She seemed nice enough, she had a pleasant smile, but she was a bit clingy. Poor Koga seemed to be having a hard time extracting his arm from her vice-like grip.

Kagome giggled discretely at the pair. Koga seemed to be only half heartedly trying to escape the over zealous girl. It looked more like an outlandish game of cat and mouse than anything else. They were cute together.

Suddenly the pounding of little pink sneakers could be heard coming their way. Rin's little body slammed into her at full tilt nearly knocking Kagome over. Kagome gasped, surprised, then smiled down at the little brown headed child firmly attached to her hip.

"Hi Miss Kagome!" The girl squealed, burying her head into the older girls stomach. "Rin missed you."

"Good morning to you too Rin!" Kagome chortled, ruffling the child's hair and straightening her ponytail.

Prince chagrin himself was not far behind, looking just as pristine as he had Yesterday. Well, as pristine as he had before Kagome assaulted him with her ice cream cone. Even though they were about to be crammed in the back of a car for three hours he was dressed business casual in a pair of dark khaki slacks and a white button down dress shirt. No tie. The top two buttons were left undone, teasing her with a glimpse of his smooth chest.

He had his hands thrust casually in his pockets, the material of his chinos puckering slightly around his wrists. Every strand of his hair was in perfect disarray. It looked incredibly soft, her fingers itched to run through it.

An odd look crossed her face as she realized the direction her thoughts were going. It was an unhealthy mix of horror and humiliation.

Sesshoumaru, noticing that she was staring at him like he'd grown another head, shot her a questioning look while readjusting his laptop case on his shoulder.

Bristling like a startled cat, Kagome quickly turned her attention elsewhere. It was really remarkable how clean the rims on the limo were, almost like new, she thought dismally trying to hide her embarrassment.

Why oh why couldn't she have realized she was staring just a moment earlier and why oh why did she have to feel this strange attraction toward him?

Well, ok. So maybe it wasn't so strange to be attracted to him, but it was this perplexing feeling of longing she felt toward him that was unsettling her so.

Those weren't the sort of feelings that just sprang up with random crushes, especially not after just meeting said crush. And even more especially when said crush was a jerk.

Who even said she had a crush on the jerk to begin with. Damn it all to hell.

With a soft sigh Kagome climbed into the limo, immediately sliding over to take residence by the window. She knew no amount of Dramamine would save her if she was crammed somewhere in the middle with no fresh air. Kagome's motion sickness was legend in the Higurashi family.

Rin settled comfortably beside her and placed her little pink backpack of traveling goodies on her knees while Sesshoumaru sat on her other side, immediately pulling out his slim laptop computer and plugging it in to an outlet ornately disguised in the side paneling.

The interior of the limo was just as pristine and new looking. Brown leather and highly polished mahogany paneling covered every square inch of the inside. It even had that wonderful `new car' smell.

Rin pulled a brown haired Barbie doll out of her bag and began tipping the scantily clad doll back and forth across Kagome's leg like it was walking.

"And who is this?" Kagome asked with a hint of nostalgia. She had tons of Barbie's when she was a little girl. Still did in fact, they were all tucked away in the attic of her mothers house with the huge doll house her father built for her fifth birthday. Mom insisted on keeping all of those things in hopes of having grandchildren before too long to bring them out for. She found Kagome's complete lack of a steady boyfriend quite distressing.

"This is stinky Marge." Rin announced happily swinging the doll so her brown hair twirled around in a wide arc.

"Stinky…Marge?" Kagome asked slowly, trying to ascertain whether she'd heard right or not. Rin nodded vigorously, bobbing the dolls head too for emphasis. Kagome had expected Barbie, or Kelley, or even Sally, but definitely not Stinky Marge. She noted that Sesshoumaru was massaging the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

Ah, she thought devilishly, so this is a pressure point for the poker faced producer. "Where on earth did you come up with the name stinky Marge?" Kagome asked trying not to snicker at Sesshoumaru`s sharp glare.

"Rin's last baby sitter was called Margie and she had brown hair like her." She said holding up the doll. "Also, she was stinky." Then she added conspiratorially. "She wanted to be Papa Sess's girl friend."

"R-really?" Kagome could barely contain her giggles even when Sesshoumaru sent her a death glare from across the car.

The other occupants of the car seemed to be fervently trying to find something else in the car to focus their attention on. Sango was looking out the window, a quivering smile on her face, Miroku was hiding behind a copy of the movie script, Ayami had her face buried in Koga's shoulder (though she probably had ulterior motives with that move), and Koga had his head tipped back and was intently studying the upholstered ceiling.

"Rin, we have talked about this, have we not?" Sesshoumaru gently scolded. The little girl turned her big puppy dog eyes on him and his glower softened slightly.

"Yes sir." She sighed. "Miss Margie was not stinky, she just didn't smell real good." The little girl corrected earning another snort from Kagome. Sesshoumaru sighed and turned back to his lap top.

Miroku and Koga started a game of cards with a deck Miroku pulled out of a side compartment while Sango and Ayami examined a portfolio with costume designs, `ooing' and `ahing' every now and then. Sesshoumaru alternately pursued his laptop and cell phone making arrangements for god knows what.

It didn't take long for the subtle vibrations of the drive to take effect. Before they even reached the outskirts of the city, Rin began to yawn widely, her eyes fluttering as she fought to keep them open.

Finally succumbing to the sandman's call, Rin lay her head in Kagome's lap and drifted to sleep, Stinky Marge tucked securely under her arm. Kagome smiled and languidly ran her fingers through the child's baby-fine hair.

Sango smiled at the serenity of the scene, the younger woman seemed to glow with maternal instinct even though the child was not her own. She also noted with a smirk that someone else had taken notice as well. Sesshoumaru kept sending subtle glances her way out of the corner of his eyes.

"Kagome, do you have any children?"

Kagome's head snapped up at the sound of her name and blushed at the implications of the question. "No, much to the disappointment of my mother." She said with a wistful smile. "Hopefully someday though." She continued to thread her fingers through Rin's silky hair.

"You're very good with her." Sango commented nodding toward the sleeping child in her lap.

"She's a good girl." Kagome smiled warmly down at the child. She caught Sesshoumaru's eyes on her and blushed crimson. His eyes were so intense and they gave away very little insight as to what he was actually thinking. She couldn't tell whether he was pleased with her affection for Rin or irritated by it.

Not that she cared either way. He was still a jerk.

"You know," Miroku said looking up from his hand while Koga drew a card form the pile between them, "My offer still stands, I'm sure we could make your mother a very happy woman…"

Smack!

"Pervert." Sango said angrily as Miroku clutched the back of his now throbbing head not realizing he was giving Koga a perfect view of his cards.

Exhaling loudly, Kagome turned her head to look out the window completely missing the dirty look Sesshoumaru sent the perverted publicist.

The rest of the trip was pretty quiet. The occasional shuffling of cards, or turning of pages, Sesshoumaru's nimble fingers tapping away at his keyboard, and Rin's soft mumbles and sighs in her slumber were the only sounds filling the interior of the luxurious vehicle.

Nearly three hours after they began, the car pulled off the highway and onto a side road. `Just in time,' Kagome thought with relief. Her butt was beginning to go numb since, as Rin's pillow, she couldn't move much.

After about fifteen minutes of driving through undeveloped countryside they came upon a tall iron gate, the ten foot fence it connected to went off in both directions farther that the eye could see. Kagome was both awed and mildly repulsed by the opulence of it. The iron was expertly crafted into a strong yet beautiful set of gates with the Sesshoumaru's monogram set in the center.

The gates opened of their own accord as the car approached, seeming to recognize their masters return. Kagome craned her neck to take in as much of it as she could, sure that this would be something she would want to tell her grand kids about one day.

She could just imagine how that story would go. `Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl who met a really good looking jerk who dragged her off to his castle far, far away to teach her some history and how to play with sharp knives.' How romantic.

As she watched the massive expanse of front yard go by Kagome couldn't help but feel a little removed from reality. Just yesterday she was a normal university student living in a dinky little one bedroom apartment with her obese cat Bouyo, and today she was being whisked away into the lap of luxury to prepare for her upcoming role in a movie. Life is weird sometimes, and it always seems to throw a curve ball when your expecting a slow pitch.

The drive way alone seemed to go on for ages. Kagome craned her neck around the best she could, but couldn't catch a glimpse of the house until they were halfway down. She was sorely tempted to climb through the sun roof to get a better view, and she would have too if Rin weren't anchoring her to the seat.

Finally she saw it, looming before them like an ornamental mountain of brick, stucco, and glass. It was easily the biggest house Kagome had ever seen in person.

It was like watching lifestyles of the rich and famous, only in person.

The smooth blacktop driveway circled around in front of the huge double oak doors. A huge fountain sat in the center of the circle, a huge white marble statue of a wild dog adorned the center while jets of water erupted all around it. The dog's fangs were barred and its claw clad front paw was raised in a defensive manner.

It was actually kind of disturbing. Perhaps Sesshoumaru Takishima was more of a sadist than she first thought.

Rin stirred from her slumber and sat up yawning and wiping at her chin with her sleeve. Kagome noticed surreptitiously that she now had a nice round wet spot on her left jean clad thigh where the little girl had drooled.

"Did you have a good nap Rin?" Kagome asked ruffling the child's sleep flattened hair with a smile.

"Uh-huh." She yawned again rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Are we home?"

"Either that or Buckingham Palace." Kagome teased looking out the window again, waiting for the car to stop.

"What's a buk-in-ham place?" Rin asked sleepily.

"Never mind. I was just being silly."

"Oh." Suddenly the little girl brightened and began bouncing happily in her seat as she threw off the last of her sleepiness. "Is uncle Inu here?"

"He should be." Sesshoumaru said gruffly with a slight scowl.

"Ah, so Inuyasha decided to do the film after all?" Miroku straightened his slightly travel rumpled shirt as the door to the limo was opened for them.

"My brother may be an idiot, but he is not so stupid as to turn down my offer."

Kagome climbed out of the back of the car stretching like a sleepy cat and stamping her feet to get the blood flowing again. `So he has a brother.' Kagome thought with interest. `If I'm lucky maybe he'll have all his brothers looks and none of his attitude.'

"SESSHOUMARU!" A gruff voice billowed as the front door was roughly jerked open to reveal a very angry looking young man with long black hair and gorgeous whisky amber eyes. The same eyes as Sesshoumaru.

`Great,' Kagome thought with a pout. `Same good looks, same bad attitude.' Inuyasha seemed to be taking a more verbose form of attitude delivery where Sesshoumaru used the icy glare method.

"Where the hell have you been!" He shouted, his dark braid swinging back and forth as he bounded down the front steps in a single well placed leap. It was impressive, Kagome would have broken her leg for just thinking about trying something like that. "I've had to put up with that pansy assed nut case for over an hour now. You better be paying extra for…." Inuyasha trailed off as he caught sight of Kagome, who had instinctively clapped her hands over Rin's ears as soon as the profanities started flying.

"Well hello…" He said giving her a rakish smile making his eyes light up. He was every bit as handsome as Sesshoumaru, though he was a bit more rough and tumble than his refined brother. He thrust his hand out to the beautiful raven haired young woman who was blinking owlishly at him. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck, very cute. "Inuyasha Takishima," He announced lifting her hand to his lips. "and you are?"

"Uh…" Kagome continued to stare at the young man causing his smile to widen. She shook herself and finally choked out her name. Luckily she was saved any further embarrassment by Rin.

"Uncle Inu! Uncle Inu!" Rin shouted with the enthusiasm only found in children and the clinically insane. The little girl leapt from Kagome's grasp and bounded right up to the dark haired man who had yet to tear his eyes away from her face.

Everyone seemed to be staring at her lately, and while it was flattering in a way it was also kind of creepy. Inuyasha was looking at her with such scrutiny that she was almost tempted to scoot behind Sesshoumaru to avoid his eyes.

"Hey there brat." He said absently patting Rin on the head. "So Sess, where'd you find this one? One of your fan girls get plastic surgery to get the part?"

And the magic was broken. There was that good old Takishima charm, perhaps the brothers were more alike than she'd first suspected. All she needed now was for the father to insult her and it would be unanimous.

"Excuse me?!" She said indignantly, her hands fisting at her hips, and her eye brow twitching at his insinuation. "There is absolutely nothing plastic about me, and I sure as hell am not in HIS fan club!" She poked her finger roughly in Sesshoumaru's shoulder. He didn't budge, but grabbed her wrist and removed her hand.

Inuyasha broke into a wide grin. "I like her. We`re gonna get along just fine."

Kagome sweat dropped anime style, not quite sure how to take this guy. One minute he was checking her out, the next insulting her, then acting like they were going to be the best of friends.

Sesshoumaru sighed. "Did you have a purpose for this curb side welcome Inuyasha?"

"Oh, yeah. Naraku's here already. He's at the pool ordering the staff around like he owns the place. I swear I'm gonna kill that guy before this is all said and done."

"Yes, well at least wait until we get through with filming." Sesshoumaru started up the stairs, his laptop thrown casually over his shoulder.

Rin tugged on Kagome's hand, pulling her forward. "C'mon Miss Kagome. I want you to see Rin's room!"

"Ok, ok. Show me Rin's room." Kagome laughed as she was pulled up the smooth marble stairs and into the huge dwelling.

Inuyasha threw his hand up in greeting to the others who were still stretching their atrophied limbs and pulling their bags out of the back of the car.

"Oi, Miroku," He called pulling him aside. "That girl really all natural?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah man. It's the strangest thing. She just happened to be wandering around the lot and I had her audition. She's pretty good…what…why are you looking at me like that?"

"You don't think it's just a little strange. I mean she looks just like that picture."

"I know, it kind of freaked us out at first too."

****

Kagome quite literally gasped as she was dragged through the front door. Never in her whole life had she seen so much opulence, so much beautiful marble and deeply stained and polished wood. It was rich that's for sure, but not over done or gaudy. A double staircase led up from the foyer, curving around a set of French glass doors elegantly.

"Beautiful." She whispered. Sesshoumaru smiled, obviously pleased that she liked his home.

"C'mon Miss `Gome!" Rin shouted. "Come see Rin's room."

"Ok, lead the way."

Sesshoumaru watched as the girls trudged happily up the stairs before heading through the French doors. Jaken limped in not too long after soon followed by Inuyasha.

"Take this to my study Jaken." Sesshoumaru commanded handing the hunched old man his laptop before heading swiftly for the kitchens, his brother hot on his heels.

"So what's the scoop on the hottie?" Inuyasha asked turning to walk backward so he could see his brothers face as he spoke.

"What exactly are you fishing for Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru snapped, a little irritated at his brother for being so ambiguous about what he really wanted.

"That Kagami chick, is she …available?"

"Her name is Kagome, and no she is not …available." Why he just told his brother she was not available when he knew perfectly well that she was not seeing anyone, he wasn't quite sure.

"Damn." He said with a pout. "She's got great legs, and those eyes…man!" He commented distractedly, still walking backwards trying to keep up with Sesshoumaru. "Hey, but I'm a charming guy maybe I could …."

Wham.

Sesshoumaru smirked as his brother ran into the door frame and toppled forward. `Idiot.'

"Kaede." He called out stepping over his brothers prone and cursing form into the kitchen.

"Yes Mr. Takishima?" The older woman had long slate gray hair pulled into a low ponytail. She wore a simple black dress, as was Sesshoumaru's preference, and was a hard worker. She served the house as a cook and took a very grandmotherly role in the family. She also took care of organizing all of the domestic chores and tasks around the house.

"Are the guest rooms ready?"

"Of course."

"Damn it Sesshoumaru, why didn't you tell me the door was there." Inuyasha grumped stomping into the room.

"I was not informed that I would be serving as your eyes now, Inuyasha."

"Shut up. Anyways like I was saying, do you think she'd…"

"No."

"You didn't even let me finish."

"Higurashi is here to rehearse for her role in the film, not to improve your sex life." Sesshoumaru snapped tersely startling his brother.

Inuyasha's stunned face suddenly turned smug, a wry smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "You have the hots for her don't you?"

"You have lost your mind, brother."

"That's it isn't it, and I thought for sure you were gay…"

"Get out, Inuyasha."

"Alright, alright…but if she don't go for you, I get second dibs on her."

"She is not a piece of meat." Sesshoumaru sighed. Inuyasha simply smirked and headed out the door.

Kaede had watched the entire exchange silently. It was rare indeed to have both Takishima brothers residing under the same roof for any length of time. Not since they moved out of their fathers house years ago. The two of them butted heads like a couple of long horned sheep fighting over a rock on a mountain side, dangerous yet still holding entertainment value.

"Is everything set for dinner this evening?" Sesshoumaru addressed the older woman after a pause to reign in his temper.

"Of course Mr. Takishima." Kaede replied in a placating manner. The next three months would prove to be very interesting indeed, especially if the boys were to be competing for the hand of a female.

"Very well. I want dinner served every night at seven in the dining hall, lunch can be buffet style from twelve to one, and breakfast will be precisely at eight after morning exercises."

"It will be done." Kaede assured him.

"Thank you Kaede." He aloud a rare appreciative smile to grace his features. "Will you show our guests to their rooms and notify them to meet in the drawing room in one hour from now?"

"Of course."

****

Kagome's jaw took a dive when the sweet old lady opened the door to her room. It was as big as her apartment, and much better furnished. The king sized four poster bed was eloquently draped in rich burgundy fabric and the highly polished wood floor shone brightly.

She couldn't seem to help her self. She giggled girlishly and took a running dive onto the bed. She stretched out luxuriously on the feather soft mattress and rolled onto her back with an indulgent sigh. Kaede chuckled warmly as she approached the bed where the young woman was wallowing on the heavy silk comforter.

Kagome cracked open one blue eye to regard the older woman warmly. "I feel like a princess or something." She admitted sheepishly.

"I believe you are supposed to be feeling like a priestess not a princess Miss Higurashi." Kaede laughed lightly.

"Yeah, but can you blame me? And please, call me Kagome."

"Very well, Kagome. Mr. Takishima wanted me to inform you that he wants to meet with everyone in the drawing room in one hour. I would advise you not to be late, he can be very…temperamental at times."

"I would have never guessed." Kagome said wryly earning a smile from the older woman.

"I will see you at the evening meal Kagome."

"I look forward to it, it was very nice to meet you Kaede." The older woman bowed lightly and left Kagome to bask in the glow of her unbelievably decadent room.

This was incredible, in fact it was probably a little too incredible, Kagome thought dismally as she curled into the soft pillows allowing her eyes to drift closed.

"How am I ever going to go back to cotton sheets after this." She mumbled sleepily as her mind drifted into the blissful haze of sleep.

****

"Where is she." Sesshoumaru growled irritated as he sat in the drawing room with the rest of the group. She was nearly fifteen minutes late, he had been very explicit with his instructions. Was it really that hard to obey such a simple request.

"Takishima," Naraku drawled from an over stuffed leather arm chair near the softly crackling fire place, "I didn't realize you picked up such a premadonna for the part. Late for the first meeting…very interesting."

"Shut up Himura." Inuyasha sneered at the over primped man lounging arrogantly in the corner. "No body wants to hear you runin' your mouth."

"Au contraire you little wanna be. Everyone wants to hear me, see me, touch me…that's why I am in such high demand…"

Koga's lip curled at the mans arrogance, Miroku took the high road and ignored him as did Sesshoumaru, but Inuyasha, being hot blooded as he was lunged for irritating actor.

"I'll touch you, you arrogant jack ass." He snarled diving at him, only to be caught effortlessly by the back of his shirt by his older brother.

"I will not tolerate such behavior, if you can't control yourselves…"

BAM!

Crash!

Giggle!

Everyone looked up from their respective places in the drawing room as a very disheveled Kagome burst into the room followed by a madly grinning Rin. "Sorry." She said sheepishly trying to run a hair through her thick unruly mass of black hair.

Sesshoumaru stared openly at the girl. Her hair was a wild tangle about her face, her clothes wrinkled and disheveled, the side of her face was a bit red with a soft crease running down the length of her cheek, as if she'd been leaning on something for an extended period of time. He had never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

Rin giggled again breaking the silence. "Miss Kagome was snoring."

Kagome's slender hand immediately shot up to cover her face as she blushed cherry, her other hand absently reaching out to ruffle the little girls hair. "Thanks Rin." She said weakly. Before she could make a move to sit down or further apologize, her hands were snatched away and held closely by someone Kagome recognized immediately.

"Takishima, I must give you credit. You have done well for me." Naraku admonished haughtily as he looked Kagome over appreciatively making her blush even harder and earning a nice glare from a certain pair of amber eyed brothers.

"Naraku Himura, right?" Kagome questioned trying to break up the tension that had suddenly crept into the room, though whether it was a direct result of her tardiness or Himura's pompous words and overly forward actions.

"Ah," He purred, his cinnamon eyes sparkling with self righteousness. "So you are a fan are you?"

Kagome felt an uncomfortable jolt go through her at their contact, and an even more ominous sensation at the sound of his voice. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she likened it to women's intuition, or the way her mother always knew when she was lying, even when she was doing a really good job. However you looked at it, something about Naraku Himura made her uneasy. She shifted apprehensively and subtly tried to pry her hands free from his grip.

"Actually, I saw your picture on the cover of the National Enquirer the other day at the grocery store." She giggled lightly. "But they had you blown up like a balloon. I think the headline read something like `Super star diet gone horribly wrong'."

Naraku's eye twitched in an irritated fashion, though eerily enough his smile remained undaunted. "Well, I guess my lawyer will be sending them another nasty letter." He smirked and took his seat in the chair.

Sesshoumaru was pleased with Kagome's reaction to Naraku's advances. The man was slime, but unfortunately he was popular slime and people would pay to come see him. There was the true nature of the beast, the money. Sadly that's what it all came down to in the end, how much they banked in the box offices.

"Since you've finally decided to join us Higurashi." Sesshoumaru stated coolly as the young woman blushed prettily and sat down on the couch next to Sango. "Perhaps next time you could grace us with your presence on time."

The meeting was brief but informative. They were to begin training the very next day. Inuyasha, as it turned out, was a stunt coordinator and a weapons expert and would be handling all of their weapons training. Since Kagome, as a miko, would need to know how to properly handle a bow and arrows an archery instructor had been hired and would be arriving in the morning.

Scripts were handed out with strict instructions to begin familiarizing themselves with it. Since Kagome had never been in a film before Sesshoumaru said that he would be working with her in the evenings on her acting skills, earning himself a knowing smirk from his brother.

After the meeting was concluded, they headed to eat in the dining hall. Kaede had truly out done herself with a wonderful meal of Oden, miso soup, and sushi. Kagome was thrilled of course at the prospect of Oden and ate with a zest that had the others casting nervous glances at her. Dinner conversation was light and happy with an occasional slap between Sango and Miroku for good measure.

Rin on her own was able to dominate any conversation, a feat which Kagome was extremely grateful for because it kept her mind occupied instead of dwelling on the disturbing gaze of Naraku that seemed to linger on her through out the entire meal.

Finally the meal was over and it was time to retire to their rooms. Naraku brushed past Kagome in a much more personal way than was necessary on his way out the door, making the poor girl shiver in response, but not in a good way. The way he smirked at her, it made her want to scrub her skin with sand paper.

Rin insisted that Kagome read her a bed time story, the older girl readily agreed.

After reading the story, Kagome passed Sesshoumaru in the hall on the way to her room.

"Hey, um, I'm sorry about earlier…being late and all." she stammered out, mentally cursing herself for feeling so flighty around him.

He simply nodded in response.

Kagome began fiddling with the ends of her hair nervously, starting to feel seriously stupid for just standing there like a bimbo. "Yeah, well…um…I'll just go to bed now." `God Kagome, did you have to say the stupidest thing to pop into your head.'

Sesshoumaru watched with growing fascination as she seemed to be silently berating herself for something, though what he wasn't quite sure. This girl was a nuisance, and yet he couldn't seem to get his mind off her.

"I will see you in the morning Kagome." He said smoothly, inwardly smirking when she flushed slightly and nodded. She turned stiffly and headed down the hall and disappearing into her room. Sesshoumaru shook his head and walked into Rin's room to tuck her in.

****

The Silk sheets were sheer divinity against Kagome's bare legs. Normally she would have been embarrassed to sleep only in a tank top, but the allure of the cool sheets was more temptation than she had the will to ignore.

Deep midnight tresses fanned across a cream colored pillow case in beautiful contrast as Kagome snuggled deeper under the coverlet, mildly disgusted with herself for feeling all fuzzy about the pitiful excuse for a conversation she'd just had with Sesshoumaru in the hall.

`He must think I'm such a ditz.' She thought dismally. Why did he effect her so strongly. It couldn't be his looks. Technically Naraku Himura was a handsome man as well, but he didn't make her feel fuzzy, he made her feel dirty and unsettled.

Sighing lightly, Kagome decided to not to dwell on her creepy costar, opting instead to drift off thinking of the subtle intensities of a certain pair of amber eyes.

****

Deep in the night, while all other occupants of the house were sleeping soundly, Naraku Himura sat straight up in his bed. He felt like he was waking up for the first time in hundreds of years. Images from dreams long forgotten flooded his conscious mind with a startling intensity, dreams that were once memories. Memories from a time long forgotten, a story that didn't have an end. Or at least not yet.

The image of a beautiful young woman with flowing black hair and startling blue eyes flashed before him. She was crying over the dying form of her lover, pure anguish exuded in her every detail, but it only served to make her more beautiful.

Yes, she was beautiful. And she was his for the taking.

In the dark, in the night, Naraku Himura began to laugh madly.

*****

AN: Dun dun dun! ( insert evil laughter, cue the lights, and that's a wrap) heh heh. There it is another chapter, and our plot begins to thicken. So, what do you think? Good, bad, moving too slowly? Next chapter will have some fluff I think. Thanks to all of you out there that left me such great reviews! I don't think I read one review that didn't make me feel all fuzzy! ^-^! Super big colossal thanks to my beta Avid Reader! You're the best. Another chapter coming up soon, but until then…Ja ne!