So, here I am, uploading again! I know, I'm just as shocked as you guys are. Basically what this story is a way for me to get my creative process flowing again before I pick Projectile and The Creed up again. I love the movie of Titanic and was obsessed with reading about it as a kid . . . for whatever reason. I had been thinking about a Titanic AU for awhile involving Inuyasha and Kagome, and I thought this was the perfect time to write it! It's something fun and light-hearted for me to write before I move onto more serious things. (Not that the story of Titanic isn't tragic - seriously, it's sad as hell- but I love the story so, ya know.)

At first, I wasn't sure about uploading this here. I was originally just going to keep it on my tumblr but then I came up with a plan. For every two parts I put up on tumblr, I will upload one chapter here. For example, the first two parts are already on tumblr, but on here I'll be combining them into a longer chapter. If you would like to get updates faster, you are welcome to go follow me on tumblr (my username is the same as it is on here), where I will be uploading smaller parts every week or you can read it here every other week! Or just read it twice because Titanic is epic.

This fic is heavily inspired by the movie but I will be changing the some things to better fit the characters and things like that. I have also rated this M due to future chapters, but it's pretty innocent until we reach that point.

Remember, this is just something fun I'm writing to get my creative mindset back! I am not abandoning my other stories for this. Just keep anxiously awaiting for those to be updated!

Alright, I'm done talking now. If you have any questions for me, you can message me on here or on tumblr. I apologize in advance if it takes me forever to get back to people. School will be starting back for me next week so YAY.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Duh.


April 10th, 1912

The narrow streets of Southampton were bustling with so many color figures, Kagome feared that our car would cause an accident.

Was it really necessary to bring a car? Kagome thought ruefully.

Kagome, her mother, and fiancé were not yet at the harbor but she hoped they would be there soon; she was tired of sitting in the stuffy car. The air around her was humid enough and the constricting dress she wore was doing nothing to help matters – the temperature was cool but Kagome could not help but feel a little too warm.

"Kagome, dear, don't scowl," her mother scolded from across her.

Kagome simply shot her a pleasant smile, not bothering to respond with words. It felt like it took all of the muscles in her body just to complete that one task; she was trying not to die from suffocation.

Finally, after what felt like hours, they arrived at the location where they would be boarding the R.M.S. Titanic. A chauffer came to open the door to our car and Kagome properly offered him her hand. As the raven haired girl stepped out, her blue eyes could not help but wander to the large ship in the harbor, and a sharp pang hit her in the stomach.

"It doesn't look any bigger than the Mauretania," Kagome commented as she stared up at the ocean liner in an expression that could pass for boredom.

Her fiancé, Hojo, scoffed at the words. "You can be blasé about a lot of things, Kagome, but not about Titanic! It's over a hundred feet longer than the Mauretania and far more luxurious."

"So this is the ship they say is unsinkable," Ms. Higurashi said as she stood behind the others.

"It is unsinkable," Hojo said adamantly. "The Kamis themselves could not sink this ship!"

Everyone spoke tales about its grandeur, how it would be the greatest ship to sail the seas. Kagome wasn't convinced. She wasn't trying to be blasé or difficult but what was the point in being excited? Everything in her life was out of her control, her choices in life being taken out of her hands. What did she have to complain about? She was getting to travel on the greatest ship in the world as a first-class passenger, nor did she have to struggle to survive like so many others. Kagome should have felt fortunate, not complaining like a miserable teen.

But nor could she stop the feeling that Titanic was like a slave ship to her, taking her to American in chains against her will. Looking at Kagome on the outside, she was everything a well-brought up girl should be. Her midnight hair was waved to perfection, her clothes pressed so finely that a wrinkle was not to be found, her pale skin practically glowed with health instead of graying from malnourishment. On the inside, however, she was screaming.

xXx

Inuyasha could barely hear the ticking of the clock in the background anymore. The pub he was in was growing more crowded by the minute. People were shoving inside so they could drink while watching Titanic sail off for its maiden voyage.

Inuyasha planned to be on that voyage.

Swiping a card from the deck in the middle of the table, he put it into his hand and observed what he had. His two opponents across from him spoke in a language he could not understand.

"Inuyasha," a hand tugged on his shirt.

"Waddya want, Shippo?" he growled in annoyance. He needed to concentrate, dammit.

"You bet all of our money!" he said at a volume that only the half-demon could hear. "What if we lose?"

"When you got nothin', you got nothin' to lose, kid." He shot a confident smirk at the fox tyke then turned to his opponents, who were both a breed of ogre demon. "Whatcha got, boys?"

The biggest of the ogre demons growled and set his cards down in disdain, shooting a glare at Inuyasha all the while.

"Nothin, huh? What about you, Shippo?"

"Also nothing," Shippo sighed.

Inuyasha nodded and turned to the ogre demon closest to him. "How about you?"

The ogre set his cards down with a smug expression, revealing a two pair.

"Uh-oh," the half-demon sighed and turned to his partner. "I'm sorry, Shippo."

"You asshole! You bet all of our money!" Shippo wailed.

"I'm not sorry about that. I'm just sorry for your sea sickness."

Shippo, along with the ogre demons, shot him a confused look.

With a smirk, Inuyasha slapped his cards down on the table. "Full house, boys."

Several noises erupted at once. Shippo cried with joy while helping the older demon collect the change as well as the boarding tickets into a sack, while the ogre demons roared in protest. The larger of the two had the other one by the shirt, his fist raised high ready to strike.

The little fox demon jumped to hug Inuyasha around the neck and shouted, "I'm going to America!"

"No, mate!" a voice rang out over the noise.

The celebrating pair turned to see the Irish bartender smiling amusedly while polishing a glass.

"Titanic goes to America . . . in five minutes!" he said in a heavy accent.

"Oh, shit," the curse left Inuyasha's mouth breathily.

He and Shippo scrambled for the rest of their bags, or what little they had of them, anyway. Dashing out of the bar, they left the fighting ogre demons behind, taking their won tickets with them. Inuyasha dashed through the crowd of people in the harbor as quickly as he could. Shippo even had to shout so he could hear him.

"What're we gonna do once we get to America?"

"Make it up as we go," Inuyasha shouted back. "You think guys like us get the luxury of having a plan? We're lucky we get to go there travelling like goddamn royalty!"

Shippo didn't get to respond because Inuyasha had to leap over the crowd due to the fact that two valets were closing the he -class entrance doors.

"Wait!" the half-demon shouted as he leaped onto the gangway with inhuman ability and dashed up to the door. "We're passengers!" He pulled out the tickets for proof.

"Have you been through the inspection cue?" the human valet asked, trying to hide his surprise.

"Of course we have," Inuyasha lied. "We're authorized passengers."

"R-right, come aboard."

Wasting no time, the two demons leapt through the doors and didn't stop running until they reached the third-class corridor.

Out of habit, Inuyasha kept glancing behind him to make sure Shippo was keeping up with him through the crowd of people. The fox demon wasn't as small as the older demon made him out to be; Inuyasha had been watching over him for many years now- since Shippo was orphaned- and he would always be a child in Inuyasha's eyes. But in reality, the red-haired boy had grown quite tall and lost all of his baby fat. To humans, he didn't even look like a child anymore, and Shippo refused to be treated as such. That was fine by Inuyasha. In their world, there was no need for coddling.

Golden eyes scanned the narrow hallways for their room number. Many people crowded the corridor and they all spoke different languages. In an odd way, Inuyasha felt refreshed to be around so many people like himself.

But I'm not like them, am I? Even though we're all third-class passengers, I'm a different breed entirely.

"Inuyasha! Here's our room!"

Shippo's shout broke said man out of his reverie. Sure enough, he was about to pass room 260.

Going inside, they found their roommate were already there.

"Hey, there," the human one greeted with an easy smile and twinkling eyes. Inuyasha thought it was too innocent of a look.

"I'm Miroku," the human continued. "This here is my companion, Hachi."

"Hello," Hachi, who was a raccoon demon, greeted.

"Inuyasha," he introduced himself, "and this here is Shippo."

"Nice to meet you," the one named Miroku said. "Hachi and I will be going out soon. Would you like to join us?"

"I'm going to rest here for just a bit but Shippo can go if he wants."

Speaking of the fox demon, Inuyasha hadn't heard him say anything since they entered the room. Turning around, the half-demon saw him lying sheepishly on a mattress.

Inuyasha smirked and teasingly shoved Shippo, "Who says you get top bunk, huh?"

Despite his teasing, the older demon ducked to lie down on the bottom bunk; he would steal back the top bunk after Shippo left. Taking his ticket which he had shoved in his pocket, Inuyasha lifted it above his face to stare at it. He had heard good things about America – that it was an equal opportunity for everyone. That's what drove Inuyasha to go. And while he knew that dreams rarely lived up to reality, he had to have hope that this time would be different, that he would actually be able to make something of himself like his brother had.

Inuyasha finally held hope in his hand. Now, he just needed to hold onto it.

xXx

The next afternoon, Kagome sat with her mother and Hojo at lunch. Joining them were J. Bruce Ismay, an English businessman who served was a chairman of the White Star Line – the company that owned the RMS Titanic. His stature screamed authority and wealth; his suit was finely pressed, his brown hair was cropped short but his long, curling mustache made up for that.

There was also Thomas Andrews, who was the managing shipbuilder and was in great acquaintance to Mr. Ismay due to their business relations. The Irishman was younger than Mr. Ismay and he had more of a humble air to him. Kagome appreciated that and instantly liked Mr. Andrews; he had a soft, kind smile and a soft tone of voice.

The two men were currently discussing the grandeur of the ship while they all sat in a luncheon lounge, waiters bustling all around them.

"She is the largest moving object made by the hand of man in all of history," Ismay bragged, "and our master shipbuilder, Mr. Andrews, here designed her from the keel plates up!"

"I may have knocked her together but the idea was Mr. Ismay's," Andrews blushed. "He envisioned a steamer so grand in scale and so luxurious in its appointments that its supremacy would never be challenged. And here she is, willed into solid reality!" he exclaimed, banging his fist on the wooden table for emphasis.

That made the corner of Kagome's lips twitch up in amusement. Andrews may have been humble about himself but not about his creations. His proud tone showed that plainly. Despite her amusement, however, Kagome was quite bored. She knew better, knew it wasn't ladylike, but she could not help the sigh that escaped her lips.

Her mother shot her a dangerous look. "You know I don't like that, Kagome," Ms. Higurashi gritted out through her teeth in hopes that no one else at the table would hear, but to no avail.

"She knows," Hojo said loudly enough so that everyone else at the table would hear.

That made her want to sigh again. She wasn't annoyed that her mother had said something; she knew she would. What Kagome was annoyed about was that her fiancé had purposefully spoken loud enough as to make the others at the table stare at her, as if she were a child throwing a fit in public and he was going to be the one to reprimand her. It caused a knot to curl deep in her stomach.

A waiter approached their table a moment later and asked Hojo what they would like.

"We'll both have the lamb. Rare, with very little mint sauce," Hojo said, then turned to Kagome and asked, "You like lamb, right, sweetie?"

She turned her head to give him a smile but did not respond verbally. Kagome despised lamb. She was having a hard time adjusting to the American diet but her mother insisted she adjust if they were going to be living there for the foreseeable future.

Another patron at their table shot her eyes between the two fiancés and smirked. "You gonna cut her meat for her, too, Hojo?" she chuckled.

That was Kaede, a Japanese woman who had married an American and was one of the passengers that had been picked up at Cherbourg earlier in the afternoon. While older, her personality commanded the room, as did her quick wit. She wore a navy dress with white lace underneath that went up to her neck; the bodice was simple but not flashy. Kaede clearly had money but she did not flaunt it, and Kagome appreciated that. Kagome's mother, however, did not like her because she was "new money"; Kaede's husband had struck gold somewhere out West.

Kagome knew the real reason why Ms. Higurashi did not like her, though: Kaede was independent and that showed with the fact that she had been travelling alone. She obviously did not feel the need to have a man accompany her.

"Hey, who thought of the name Titanic?" Kaede spoke up again, her eyes flitting between Ismay and Andrews. "Was it you, Bruce?"

"Why, yes, actually!" Ismay exclaimed proudly. "I wanted to convey sheer size. And size means stability, luxury, and above all, strength."

"Do you know of Dr. Freud, Mr. Ismay?" Kagome asked in an innocent manner. "His ideas about the male preoccupation with size might be of particular interest to you."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Andrews try and hold back a laugh while Kaede did not try to hold back anything. Ms. Higurashi, however, was shooting her another glare.

"What's gotten into you?" her mother hissed.

"Excuse me," Kagome said, dismissing herself. She did not spare a glance to anyone as she hurried off. She once again was feeling stuffy, her body feeling too hot.

The teen heard her mother give a soft, "I do apologize," to the others, and it was in that moment that Kagome knew what caused her blood to boil and her body temperature to rise:

Anger.

xXx

The weather on third-class deck was quite pleasant, despite the chilly breeze that ran through the April air. Inuyasha watched as Shippo performed for the small crowd that he had attracted. Bursts of small blue flame soared through the air as the young fox demon balanced on a ball. The watchers clapped whenever Shippo performed a seemingly difficult trick, although unbeknownst to them, it was illusionary.

Hachi and Miroku stood next to where Inuyasha was sitting as they talked. He had learned a few interesting things about his cabin mates. Hachi, the raccoon dog, was travelling to America to find better work, as many people were reluctant to hire demons. He had heard much the same as Inuyasha that in America there was more equal opportunity. Miroku was an interesting case.

Inuyasha had asked Miroku the previous night, "Hey, Miroku, how come you're travelling in third-class? Most humans can at least afford to travel in second."

"Very perceptive of you, Inuyasha," Miroku said, the ever-present glint in his brown eyes turning towards the half-demon.

It wasn't perceptive at all, though. In the past two-hundred years, humans had come to accumulate most of the wealth in many countries around the world; it was rare to find a country where demons still ranked higher than humans. That didn't mean that there weren't humans living in poverty; poverty was present everywhere in every race. Inuyasha's travels had proven that to be no less than true. It was an incurable disease that plagued more people than there were people to cure it.

There were some demons that still had their hands in the money pit, the ones that were lucky enough to hold onto whatever wealth their families had accumulated over the centuries. But for other demons, ones who either never had wealth or lost it, could not climb up the social ladder. Humans refused to hire demons out of fear that demons would overtake the humans once more in the ever-changing flow of who-holds-the-most-power. If demons could find jobs, then they were menial, such as occupations like servants to wealthy human families, factory workers, waiters or bartenders, railroad workers . . . pretty much anything that involved working for the wealthy businessmen who owned the corporations. In fact, Inuyasha wouldn't be surprised if demons were used as cheap labor to help build Titanic.

"You see, I am a travelling monk. I do not collect wages in the name of Buddha," Miroku explained. "I simply spread the word of my faith to anyone who will listen. I ask for nothing in return. So I could not afford a second-class ticket."

"Bullshit," Hachi snorted. "He tells people there is a spirit of an ominous demon lingering over their house and that he will exercise it in return for food and housing."

"Yeah, for Buddha!" Miroku defended himself.

"So you swindle people," Inuyasha laughed.

"No. I do Buddha's good work."

"Is it in Buddha's good work to swindle people?" Hachi said, laughing along with Inuyasha.

If nothing else, Inuyasha and Shippo's cabin mates were entertaining. They were good men (well, Hachi was a good man. Miroku was still debatable) who understood the struggle of surviving from day-to-day.

"How does Shippo do that?" Miroku asked, gesturing to the fox demon tossing blue flames.

Inuyasha turned his golden eyes away from watching Shippo's audience giving him tips. Good job, he internally praised his companion.

"Shippo specializes in illusions," Inuyasha said. "All fox-demons have that ability. Since they don't have a lot of brute strength, they rely on illusions to escape a larger enemy."

"So in a way," the monk smirked, "you swindle people, too."

Inuyasha chuckled then shook his head. "It's like a magic show to them. It's nothing different than they would see in a circus. I don't force people to give us tips . . . but it is appreciated."

"Hey, have to make a living somehow, right?" Hachi chimed in.

"Ain't that the truth."

The three of them then watched as a human man who was walking his dogs pass by. He was dressed nicely in fine clothes and a top hat, making him stick out like a sore thumb.

Hachi snorted in disdain then took a puff of his cigarette. "Typical. First-class dogs come down here to take a shit."

"Ah, lets us know where we rank in the scheme of things," Inuyasha said.

"Like we could forget?" Miroku chimed in.

He's right. As if we need the reminder.

As if some magnetic pull had suddenly attached onto him, his golden eyes flicked past Miroku, who was leaning on the rail adjacent to Inuyasha. Standing several feet on the deck above them was a woman. She had raven dark hair that was pinned back intricately, revealing the features of her face. From where he was sitting, Inuyasha could see blue eyes, full lips, and a small nose. The skin of the woman was pale, telling the half-demon man that she did not belong in third-class. That wasn't the only thing that gave her away – the light green dress she wore had lace detailing the skirt, sleeves, and around her bodice. A red sash adorned her waist, revealing how curvy and small she was.

The young woman leaned on the railing. A melancholy look rested on her face and it made Inuyasha wonder what exactly she was thinking about.

Miroku's gaze followed his to see just what had caught Inuyasha's attention. When he found out, he shook his head.

"Forget that, mate," the monk said. "You'd have to spirits fly out of your ass just to be able to get next to her."

Inuyasha gave no response, didn't even really hear what he said. It was as if Miroku had spoken to the drifting wind. Hachi laughed, waved a hand in front of the entranced man's face, then laughed again when Inuyasha didn't even budge.

The woman must have felt eyes on her because in the next moment, her own orbs drifted down to Inuyasha. As she did so, the wind blew strong enough to carry her scent in his direction, and they locked eyes for the briefest moment before she quickly looked away.

Inuyasha's olfactory senses could not help but recognize a scent that he had not smelled since he was a child, and he drank it in like a man dying of thirst. Cherry blossoms?

A man approached the young woman from behind, putting his hand on her elbow and seemingly startling her. Inuyasha saw recognition flutter across her face once she saw who it was. He was a human with sandy brown hair and a stern face. It immediately made Inuyasha uneasy. The human man said something to her that Inuyasha could not make out over the howling wind. The woman did not reply back to him and quickly walked away, the man watching after her.

"Inuyasha!" a shrill voice broke into his space. "Look at all the tips I got!"

"Good job, kid," Inuyasha addressed Shippo, without even bothering to look at all the change and dollar bills in the hat.