InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Miko and the Taiyoukai ❯ Lady? ( Chapter 7 )

Kagome awoke with a gasp. She looked around her to figure out what was wrong with this picture, and the first thing she noticed was…a roof. She was sleeping in a building? The second thing she noticed was the white fluffy pelt that was wrapped around her. No matter how warm her bed was, she never got sweaty, maybe there was some kind of enchantment in the pelt. It wrapped itself around her when she put it on her shoulders, or when she lie down, but it never overheated her, it only gave her comfort. She could still smell that peculiar smell, moonlight and wind. She wondered if this was what Sesshoumaru smelled like. She knew from being around Inuyasha that all Inu's had a great, if somewhat irritating at times, sense of smell, and she was sure that Sesshoumaru's was even more sensitive. She wondered how she could smell what was on the pelt, she was not an Inuyoukai, she was a miko, and she had no bond to an Inuyoukai, except for the fact that she loved one with all her soul. Love was a strange thing, it changed everything, and it changed nothing.

 

Loving someone changed you. You could become softer in some ways, more ruthless and hard in others. You would do anything to protect the one that you loved. Kagome was soft by nature, but she was courageous. She would become hard if someone threatened Sesshoumaru, or Rin, who was so dear to her. Loving someone changed nothing in other ways. Her situation had not changed; yes, she was in the castle of the Western lands, but Sesshoumaru did not know her feelings, and she was in a precarious position. She was under the care of a youkai that cared nothing for her and hated all humans. What was she to do?

 

She dressed in her pajamas, someone had put her into bed in the clothes she wore at the time, and washed the others, but she needed a bath. One thing she never could get used to in this time was how infrequently people bathed. They thought she was strange for insisting on bathing at least ever other day. She tried to make sure that her toiletries lasted as long as possible, but still, she felt filthy unless she could bathe on a regular basis. As soon as she grabbed her big yellow bag, there was a quiet knock at her door. She was so surprised; she felt her heart skip a beat. She called out, “Who is it?”

 

“It is Chiyou, my lady,” a young female voice spoke quietly from the other side of the door. “I am to be the lady's handmaiden while she is here.”

 

A handmaiden? For Kagome? Only royalty had handmaidens! She realized that she had taken too long for her response. “Please enter, Chiyou.”

 

Chiyou slid the door open and bowed before Kagome, her hands in a triangle and her head bowed to the floor. It made Kagome blush; she did not deserve such…respect. When she realized that Chiyou would not rise until given leave, she spoke again. “Please rise, Chiyou, I would be grateful for any help you could give me.”

 

“Thank you, my Lady.”

 

“Please, Chiyou, when we are alone, call me Kagome.”

 

“No! No, my Lady. You are Lord Sesshoumaru's intended. You will be Lady of the Western Lands, you deserve our respect,” Chiyou explained, ducking her head, expecting a cool reception at the very best, a strike at the worst. You never knew with the youkai aristocracy, it could go either way. This one was even worse, she could purify you if she so desired. All youkai, and some humans in the compound, had felt the miko's power, and they feared her.

 

Sesshoumaru's intended? How did that happen? Not that it is not my fondest wish, but still…he doesn't give a girl much time does he? Kagome giggled to herself. Chiyou watched the new Lady with uncomprehending eyes. She did not know why the Lady giggled, but she would not question her. It was not allowed to question the rulers of your particular region. It was not allowed to even notice that they were having fits, sometimes; you could not even acknowledge the fact that they were crazy. Chiyou kept her mouth shut, maybe once she knew the Lady better, they would be able to share secrets, and she would gain the Lady's trust, but until then, silence was best.

 

“My Lady, if you are ready, I will take you to the bath house,” Chiyou said softly.

 

How did they know that a bath was exactly what I wanted? Kagome wondered. Sesshoumaru, of course. He knew enough from watching our camp to know of how much and how often I bathe, so why should I be surprised?

 

Kagome gathered her thin bathing yukata and her toiletries, and followed Chiyou to the bathing house. Chiyou took her farther into the western part of the castle to a very ornate door carved with a crescent moon and a large dog that looked like Sesshoumaru in true form.

 

“Chiyou, are you sure this is the bathing house for me? It looks too special, too fancy?” Kagome wondered.

 

“Yes, Lady Kagome,” Chiyou answered with a slight bow, “You are to use Lord Sesshoumaru's private bath while you are here. He said you might want privacy.”

 

Kagome did not ask any more questions, just waited while Chiyou used an ornate key to open the bathhouse. It was more opulent and detailed than anything she had ever seen. There was a natural hot spring, as well as a small waterfall. There was also a fountain in the shape of a dog. Someone had placed an assortment of bottles around the spring, which Kagome guessed were for hair and body, and there was a basin and pitcher that she guessed were filled with cold water. You could never stay in a hot spring too long without feeling ill. Kagome was so pleased. She walked into the room, and when she set down her clothes that she had found laundered in her room, she also found ornate kimono and obi and all the underclothes that went with them. She looked to Chiyou, and asked her, “Am I supposed to wear these?”

 

“Yes, Lady Kagome,” Chiyou bowed. “I am to help you with your clothing and your hair and make up as soon as you are finished with bathing. Dinner will be served in the formal dining hall in about two hours, just to give you a time-frame.”

 

Chiyou once again feared punishment from the new Lady of the house, but instead she heard a kind voice, “Thank you so much, Chiyou,” Kagome said with a smile. “I will be out of the bath in about twenty minutes. If you could return in that time, I would be grateful for any help you could give me.”

 

Chiyou smiled and bowed her way out the door, never giving Kagome her back, as you would do with royalty. Kagome was a little confused, but the second she stepped into the bath, she felt better. She made sure to take care of her hair, and was thankful for the millionth time that her mother had paid for laser hair removal for her seventeenth birthday. Shaving in the feudal era would just be too strange. She used what someone left out for her, and it made her hair so silky. She knew Sesshoumaru's secret now. Not demonic powers, not telekinesis, just some kind of strange mix of herbs, oil, and something else that she did not want to name. She felt so much better after the bath. As soon as she had wrapped her thin yukata around her again, and wrapped her hair with a thick piece of cloth, there was another knock again at the door.

 

“Chiyou?”

 

“Yes, my Lady”

 

“Please come in, I have finished my bath,” Kagome said kindly.

 

Chiyou entered the room, bowing respectfully. She came up to Kagome and quickly but gently helped her with dressing in the formal kimono that was laid out for her, as it was the first Kagome had ever worn. Chiyou was a bit surprised that her Lady did not know how to dress herself, but she knew better than to question. She then brushed out Kagome's beautiful hair, free of it's waves now that Kagome had let it grow out these past five years, and it now reached her knees. Chiyou folded and braided the hair until it was in the most beautiful concoction she had ever seen in her entire life. Chiyou added hair ornaments and then put light makeup on Kagome's eyes, cheeks and lips, and then declared her ready for dinner.

 

There was a knock at the door, and Sachiko, the head of Sesshoumaru's guard, was there to escort the new Lady to dinner. He inhaled sharply when he saw her dressed in a formal kimono. She was even more beautiful than she was when he first saw her when the Lord brought her to his palace. She was a beauty to rival human and demon alike.

 

Kagome tried to follow her progress around the palace so that she could remember where her rooms were, but was soon lost as the rooms twisted and turned. She finally reached a large door, and knelt down in front of it and knocked softly. She might be from five hundred years in the future, but she still had manners.

 

She heard Sesshoumaru's voice asking her to enter, which she did with a bow. When she looked up, she was speechless. He was dressed in gold, which matched his eyes. His haori was decorated with a large silver dog, which wrapped around under his left arm, and his hakama were the same silver as the dog. His hair was even different, pulled into a low ponytail. He was breathtaking.

 

Sesshoumaru could see the look on her face, and felt no small amount of male pride at rendering her speechless, although she did the same to him. She was so beautiful. She was beautiful in a plain wool kimono or hakama and haori, or in the ornate formal kimono she was in right now. The kimono was silver, with a golden obi tied around her, with the large, box-like bow tied on the back. She even had his pelt around her, still. The kimono had small colored flowers embroidered along the sleeves and the bottom, and her hair was coiled about her like a beautiful ornament in itself, she did not need the gold and silver clips, although they suited her completely. He saw the light makeup on her face, and something in his chest actually ached when looking at her. She was just so perfect. He did not deserve her. No one did. She did not deserve the life of a miko either. He did not know how to explain what he thought of her, except love. He loved her, fully and completely. For some reason, ever since she had given back his arm, this longing for her had gotten worse.

 

He felt as if he could feel her emotions and her thoughts, not just smell them, as other Inuyoukai did. He had this strange connection to her. He felt sometimes like he would seriously die without her. He pushed these thoughts from his mind as he stood up and gestured for her to take the seat to his right. She came to him, bowed again, and took the seat offered to her, and when she saw his cup was empty, she filled it for him. She settled next to him, unsure of what to say.

 

She had this strange connection to him, she was sure of it. She could move faster than she could before, she tested this in the bathhouse. She could smell everything with much more sensitivity than she could before, and she even noticed some physical changes. Her hair was lighter, as were here eyes. What was happening to her? What had caused these changes?

 

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