"Sango, I'm going out on the deck for some air, I'll be back." Sango watched as Kagome walked through door of their cabin to go for some air. Sango knew that it was just the stress of her family life and the constant attacks from Hojo and Kouga to either marry or mate them. The cruise was meant to help relax but that wasn't working as planned. "See you later." Sango watched Kagome leave the cabin for the last time that night.
ON THE DECK OF CRUISESHIP
"Hm." Kagome reached into her hair to remove the ivory comb her father gave her for her birthday. She began playing with it and started thinking about all the events that brought her to jump on a ship with Sango.
FLASHBACK
"Kagome can you go to the store for Grandpa?" Kagome sighed, 'This is the third time today. What does the geezer need now?' "What am I getting this time Sota?" Kagome's little brother, Sota, gave her sheepish look, "He needs more ointment and another toads foot." 'What in the hell is this old man doing with all this ointment, and why would he want with a toads foot.' "Sota, why does the old coot want a toads foot and where the hell am I supposed to get one?"Then out of nowhere you hear an screechy old voice from upstairs, "Why I need it is none of your business little lady and its in the back of the store with all the other meats. Now go get my toads feet!"
AT THE STORE
"Hey Hojo, can I get two more tubes of ointment and three toads feet." Hojo tried his hardest to hide the smile creeping around the corners of his mouth. "So, what's your grandfather making this time?" Kagome gave him the best smile she could muster and handed him her money, "I couldn't give the slightest clue. Although the last time I bought toads feet, I found it on my dinner." Hojo shook his head in a disapproving manner and took the money while setting the items on the counter, "So Kagome, are going to except my proposal? I think we would be really happy together." He gave her a hopeful glance and right before she could utter a reply, another answered for her. "That's because she's gonna mate with me. So why don't you leave my woman alone and get back to work." Kagome turned angry eyes on Kouga for making such a claim and was just about to say something when Hojo made his own rebuttal. "Well how do you know that Kagome wants to mate with a mangy wolf and have abominations for children." Kagome was hurt that Hojo would think she was that kind of person, then Kouga had to add fuel to the fire. " How do you know she doesn't. How do you know that she wants to marry some weak human and have weak human children."
END FLASHBACK
Kagome looked up at the sky, the clouds were beginning to darken and the wind was beginning to pick up.'The beginnings of a storm. So much for never ending rays of sunshine.' She went to move away from the rail and forgot about the comb in her hands and it slip. On reflex she reached for it, lost her balance and fell. No one heard her scream and no one saw her fall.
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'How do the youth find the energy to talk that much.' "Rin, why don't you go downstairs and see what Inuyasha is doing." "Mm...okay." She skipped away singing a song about wieners and bologna. Sesshomaru shook his head and went back to staring at the horizon. He relished in the silence. ' Finally I thought my poor ears would have to continue to be subjected to that never ending chatter. I love her and everything but there is only so much a demon of my stature can take. What am I doing out here anyway?' He was brought out of his reveries by the happy laughter of Rin and Inuyasha, only to be set on another train of thought. 'They are meant to be with someone that will bring them happiness. I was meant to be alone and go from woman to woman seeking my pleasure.' Sesshomaru looked up to the sky and took a quick sniff.
'Hn, a storm appears to be approaching.' He took one more look at the horizon. Something caught his attention before he could walk away. 'Is that a person out there?' Sesshomaru went back downstairs to retrieve the binoculars. He heard the angry protests of an eleven year old Rin and twelve year old Inuyasha as he ran through their game. "Sess what's up?Why are you running around like the is sky falling?" The only thing they heard was something like "Person in water." They just passed it off on the amount of liquor he consumed and went back to playing what was left of their game.
BACK WITH SESSHOMARU AND PERSON IN WATER
Sesshomaru put the binoculars to his face and focused on the object floating in the water. When he confirmed it was in fact a person he yelled for the captain. "Captain! There is someone floating around out in the water." The captain looked towards the area in which Sesshomaru was pointing. "Sir would you like me to go out there?" Sesshomaru rolled his eyes and gave him a 'what do you think look'. The captain nodded his head in affirmation and turned the boat around.
Sesshomaru was a little curious as to why he/she was just floating around in the middle of the damn ocean. When the captain finally pulled the person in they realized it was woman. She appeared to have been floating around for a few hours. "I'll take her below and get her changed into some dry clothes. See if you can find any boats nearby that she may have fallen off of in the past couple of hours." The captain took his orders and set off to do his new duties.
BELOW DECK
"Rin, Inuyasha put that game away. Inuyasha you will come with me while Rin changes the girls clothes. Come get me when you are finished." The children got up without question. Rin emerged from below ten minutes later. "She's very pretty. Sesshomaru-sama none of my clothes fit her and all of Inuyasha's clothes were too risky, so I put yours on her." He nodded his head, "You two stay here." 'Now to figure out who she is.' He looked through her wet clothes trying to find any type I.D. 'Aha. I found her purse." He fumbled through it and found her wallet. He read out loud, "Kagome Satsumi Higurashi. Seems fitting," he said giving her a once over. She began to stir, ' I guess I'll get my questions answered sooner than I thought.' "Welcome back to the world of the living." He saw her tense, then he watched her eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. Then she finally sat up to face him, when she opened her mouth he expected her to say something but he never expected her to start screaming.