Title: Kitten Kaboodles

Rating: T

Genre: Drama

Tagline: Rin finds a pretty kitty.

Summary: As Kagome climbs out of the Bone Eater's Well, a mysterious spell is cast upon her, but the castor is unknown. By the spell's powers, Kagome gets turned into a blue-eyed black kitten. Rin happens to wander into the well's clearing, and returns to her Lord, asking to keep the cat. What will happen when the spell's conditions are discovered?

Let the adventure begin.


Chapter One
Who Wants To Pet the Pretty Kitty?

Kagome Higurashi, age nineteen, smiled slightly as the aurora lights swirled around her body giving off the feeling of pure untainted magic. Everything was peaceful now that Naraku had been defeated, though it was not for lack of a great trade off.

Kikyou had given the remaining power in her undead body to assist Kagome in purifying Naraku while Inuyasha used his Wind Scar promptly followed by the Bakuryuuha. The effects had been explosive. Literally, she thought wryly. Kouga, who had been fighting Kagura, was blown back in the blast while the wind demoness had tried to hide behind a large tree.

Hakudoushi and Entei had been purified the instant the holy powers broke through the barrier, the demon horse's cries echoing through the ravaged battlefield. Kanna's mirror shattered and glass rained down on her white clad figure as her shining black eyes faded to a dull charcoal. The only items left as evidenced of Kagura's existence were three green beads from one of her earrings.

Oddly enough, though their purifying power had attempted to simultaneously incinerate Lord Sesshoumaru, Tenseiga had formed a suitable barrier around him. Even more strange was that Tetsusaiga was also able to form protection around Inuyasha as the energy pushed him back several feet. Kouga had not been lucky; as he was thrown several feet back and into the air, he was instantaneously purified. Luckily Miroku had seen this and was able to form a purity barrier to protect Shippou and Kilala.

The two holy energies had clashed and Kikyou's and Kagome's purification seemed to recognize that the beings within were not to be harmed, before receding.

That had been the final battle. Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, Kilala, Kikyou and herself had all been spared, just fleetingly. I'm still sorry, Kouga, Kagome thought as her feet pushed into the Bone Eater Well's walls, allowing her to climb.

Kouga had done so much for her in the last year. After many self-revelations, Kagome had finally felt she fully understood herself and her place in the world. She came to recognize that the love Inuyasha still held for Kikyou would not fade, and that though she was truly in love with the half-demon, a relationship was never meant to be.

Kouga had comforted her, had given up his two remaining jewel shards in order to better the good side's chances of winning. He had decided to travel with them after the final face-off with Hakudoushi and Entei, had protected Shippou from Inuyasha's wrath, and watched over their troupe when Inuyasha went off into the forest. In order to see Kikyou, she ran over every similar memory.

Reaching the top of the old wooden well, the young priestess of the future breathed in the clean air of the forest clearing. Obviously it had just rained no more than a day ago, as the grass was shining with rainwater and the trees glistened in the light of the sun.

It had been little over four months ago that the final battle happened. Kagome and Sango had stayed for an hour at the site to pray for Kouga's soul to pass peacefully on, and as Sango stepped back to allow Kagome time to herself, something strange had occurred. Her body had glowed a purplish-pink – similar to that of the purified and completed Shikon Jewel – and a ripple of energy was released into the ground and air. In an instant, the barren land of their fight was restored to short blades of new, bright green grass. Kouga's soul now rested in peace and the land was restored.

A sudden disturbance in the air stopped Kagome's thoughts from going any further into her memories. There was a really strong smell of strawberries and garlic, oddly enough, and all sounds in the forest were non-existent. The young woman shivered, clutching her newer thick leather bag in her nimble fingers. Something was wrong, right where she stood, but was too afraid that moving would cause a greater problem.

Loud crackling noises made Kagome look up into the quickly darkening sky. The clouds were forming a murky green spiral and it appeared to be getting closer to her. Her eyes widened suddenly, as it dawned on her; the green light was coming down toward her. The smell of strawberries and garlic got stronger as the light approached.

Before she could run, she was hit, slamming her body into the ground with the force of pure power. All air was knocked from her lungs with the impact, barely allowing Kagome to scream feebly as the light touched her skin. She felt a burning sensation, as if the power was not only eating her flesh away, but also healing her like a cooling salve would feel to a fire burn.

Not moments later, the pain receded, and she only felt inky darkness surround her person. The sky cleared within milliseconds and noises returned to the forest around the clearing, with the smells of garlic and strawberries fading instantly.

xox

Not but five minutes away a small traveling group of four beings headed leisurely toward the clearing. It was lead by Lord Sesshoumaru, demon lord of the West, and followed by a two-headed dragon, a hyperactive human child and a toad demon. The regal demon lord cast his eyes onto the human child as she ran between a set of trees and then moments later, came back through carrying a small purple flower.

She smiled brightly as she passed it from her delicate hands into his larger and deadly ones.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, isn't this a pretty flower? I found it in a whole bush! Do you know its name, milord?" the girl questioned.

"Be quiet, Rin! Lord Sesshoumaru can not be bothered by your pointless questions!" the toad demon shouted, brandishing his Staff of Heads threateningly.

The dog demon turned an eye down at his retainer, and spoke. "Jaken, silence."

Rin giggled and ran up ahead when the purple flowers' bush came into view, deftly plucking three more. "Ah-Un! I got flowers for you! And Jaken too!"

"No more flowers, Rin! We do not need them!" Jaken berated the human girl.

"Silly Jaken, everyone needs flowers!" And she continued to run around right out of sight to gather a variety of colours.

None noticed when the demon lord stiffened, sniffed the air, and looked into the sky. They still did not notice when the sky darkened for no more than two seconds blended with a green light, a pulsing spreading from an epicenter ahead, and then fade away to the pure blue sky of the Feudal Era. How strange, he thought briefly. It spread from the upcoming clearing.

Rin raced through the break in the line of trees, and into the middle of the clearing. She was preparing to race around the Bone Eater's Well, when a black blob surrounded by dark fabric in the bright grass caught her eyes. Near the blob was a pack of sorts made of a thick brown fabric. Rin looked back to the black thing and scooted closer, shortly discovering four tiny limbs and that the black was fur.

"Milord, I found a kitty! And she looks hurt!" the little girl called back the way she had come, knowing the demon lord could hear and was listening.

Sesshoumaru knew what was coming. A poor innocent creature, helpless, and a young cat nonetheless; he had the irrepressibly knowing thought that she would ask to keep it and take care of it back at the Western Palace.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, please, can I... can I keep her? She's so young and..." Rin trailed off, stifling a sniffle and sob. Her eyes were already pooling with tears in an attempt to soften her lord, which – Sesshoumaru would not admit – was working.

The creature was lying almost limp in his ward's thin arms, but occasionally gave off small mewls of protest. He tensed when he heard its heartbeat speed up, and watched as its eyes open, showing off a bright blue-grey. As it shifted, batting a furry paw in the air, Sesshoumaru also felt Rin give off a sense of surprise and happiness. She shifted the cat to hold it up to her face and the tiny cat blinked twice mewling louder.

His ward giggled, smiling, and brought the cat back to her chest to cuddle it in her arms once more. The demon lord sighed inaudibly. It is no use any more. Rin now gets what she wants.

"Yes, Rin, but you will be solely responsible for her. Do not kill her in the process. Come, we must leave now." Sesshoumaru hoped that Rin would listen without complaint. If they were to leave immediately, their group would reach the palace in a day.

"Okay, Lord Sesshoumaru! Jaken, we can play with the pretty kitty when we rest!"

"Rin, I do not play with cats!" Jaken screeched.

xox

There was a girl in front of her, who looked very familiar. And nearby she could sense were three beings, though she could not see them. Where am I? Is that... Rin? the tiny being thought sluggishly. She yawned, automatically closing both eyes, and opened one to now see a vastness of pale blue with white puffy-looking wisps intermixed. Sky? Am I on my back?

"Oh what a pretty kitty she is, isn't she Lord Sesshoumaru?" a voice asked from somewhere nearby.

A soft rumbling escaped the creature's throat as she stared up into the vast blue, listening to the young voice. Lord Sesshoumaru...? He's here? As a warm object began methodically stroking what the animal thought to be fur, the voice spoke again.

"Look, I'm petting the kitty, milord!" The warm object came into contact with her fur again. When a rumbling shook through her body, something large blocked the bright expanse of light blue. "She's purring, too. You are the cutest kitty."

Purring? Am I the one purring? Oh, no! What happened?

"I see, Rin. She is a pretty kitty," a voice in a vastly different timbre spoke. She immediately stopped the rumbling in her chest, trying to twist in order to look for the source of the voice.

"No, now she stopped purring..." On either side of her, two warm objects held her up, coming face to face with the girl once again. "Please purr, Miss Kitty," the words poured from the lips of the little girl layered in bright clothing, and the creature realized that the two warm objects suspending her in the air were connected to the being in front of her.

"Come along now, Rin."

The girl – Rin! the creature thought – cradled her once more, and trailed silently after the being who she sincerely prayed was not the demon lord of the West.

xox

Now Rin had shifted the tiny cat in her arms to a new position, upright and facing away from her body, to look out at the passing landscape. Everything was beautiful at this time of year; early summer with plant life and animals abundant throughout. Her lord was ahead, keeping a steady pace. Just through a break in the trees, a large formidable structure could be seen.

Passing the last line of trees before the clearing, the group now consisting of five members came face to wall with what was easily identified as the House of the Royal Family of the Western Lands.

It appeared to still be in perfect condition, though it had obviously seen many years of use. The outside engawa was long covering more than one hundred feet across, and layering down into steps and a stone-laid pathway to where they stood. Quite far into the other side of the engawa, two large doors stood with sentinels on either side. The outer walls of the building were a dark and very clearly thick wood to hold off any intruders.

"Isashi-san, Kokomo-kun; Rin-chan is back with milord, and Ah-Un, and Jaken, and a kitty!" the little human called out, much to the displeasure of the demons with sensitive hearing.

The two guards straightened themselves further before bowing at the waist and simultaneously crossing their speared swords to temporarily blockade the door. When they looked up and resumed their posts, the thick doors were slid on the tracks to allow passage.

"Kokomo, watch Rin and wait for the next guard rounds. When they arrive, play with Rin. Isashi, come with me. We must talk." With that said, Sesshoumaru strode through the open doors and into a large waiting room.

On the left wall was another set of lighter fusuma, leading out onto another engawa, which –by turning left – would lead them to a secluded and heavily warded room. The two demons headed to the private room, intent on the upcoming and inevitable discussion.

Now inside, Isashi shut the fusuma, waiting for his lord to speak. The older dog demon turned away and sat a low table covered in stacks of parchment and scrolls. Despite the failed attempts at organization, there were clearly ink stains on the wooden surface. Sesshoumaru did not bother to look up, opting instead to pick up a brush and going through a fairly large stack of paper.

The other demon waited silently, knowing after many years of service, that when his lord had gathered the strands of thought, he would speak. It came sooner than he expected.

"Sit, Isashi."

Doing as he was told, Isashi lowered himself to a cushion directly across from the Lord and placed his weapon horizontally across his knees. Then fluidly, he declined his head.

"Did you sense it?"

"Yes, milord," he was careful to choose his words. After all, this regarded the human ward, Rin.

"You may speak as you please at the moment, Isashi."

Looking up into the cold golden eyes of his master, the guard felt all of his muscles tense. He knew that no matter what his lord said, if anything were to have a negative connotation, Isashi would die in cold blood labeled as a traitor.

"If... the being has such a strange aura, why did you allow it into the Palace, milord? It might not be safe to leave -" Isashi tried to impress another aspect of the situation but he was brutally cut off.

"Silence! You would question my judgment; my ability to foresee the safety of Rin?" Sesshoumaru hissed as silence quickly settled into the room's atmosphere.

He had to bow once more, this time his forehead touching the tatami flooring. "Of course not, milord. I am merely curious as to your decision. My apologies; forgive this humble guard."

"You are forgiven, for now. I will deign to give you an answer, I suppose." The condescending look in the Western Lord's eyes made a chilling sensation creep through the other demon's blood. "The aura of that cat is familiar to me. It matters not though. What does, is that while the primary interaction between the feline and Rin took place near the Bone Eater's Well, I could feel strong emotions coming from the creature - which is quite uncommon for a cat, especially one so young."

When the dog demon did not speak any more of the subject, Isashi figured it would be acceptable to speak. "Do you... wish for me to keep an eye on the creature?" He was clearly hesitant; this conversation was getting increasingly tense as time passed.

"Yes, and you will guard Rin in case the creature attacks her. Alert me to any strange behaviour of it."

A minute or two elapsed in which Sesshoumaru went back to working on the papers in front of him. Isashi had bowed his head once more, still, and waiting silently for his next directions.

"You are dismissed now," the regal demon spoke, not even chancing a glance up.

Silently and without complaint, the guard slipped out of the room, closing the door swiftly behind him. Only then did the demon lord take time to reflect on the conversation, losing himself to the possibilities. Such a mystery he thought of the appearance of the creature.

He had known from the moment he saw it, that the cat was not entirely what it seemed. Its aura, and life force, radiated a strange power; one which was quite familiar to him; the call of magic. Its scent held no fear whatsoever, which was his first clue. All creatures instinctively recognized the power of a greater being than their own, and usually cowered in fear, but not this one. Its scent held only a great amount of confusion, with underlying currents of worry and apprehension.

Sesshoumaru understood his demon guard's hesitancy at allowing the strange cat onto the premises, but it would be Rin's pet for the time being. The scent of bitterness and resentment lingered fleetingly after the Indian cobra demon, when he had cut the sergeant off while speaking. Nothing made his soldiers more angered than a casual dismissal of intelligent strategic thoughts.

Turning back to thoughts of Rin, he halted in picking his brush up again. Perhaps it was not wise... but if this cat turned out to be someone not in hostile standing, it would be a grave parting, and Rin would be greatly upset. As Sesshoumaru shook his head to dispel the doubt, silver bangs fluttered against the blue crescent moon on his forehead. It was utterly useless; it was too late. Once his young human ward had found the cat, their fates were sealed to a hallway of numerous new possibilities.

With that, the demon lord pressed the bristles of the brush to the ink plate, intent on getting some work done. After all, he had to have this report done by the full moon, and that just happened to be in two days.

xox

"Oh, Buddha, do you think Mother will... you know... exile us to..." came the hesitant voice of a youthful looking being swathed in silk.

"With the Amazonian Princesses? Well, our Mother would, but yours just bought you another silk dress from those Roman humans this time. You have nothing to worry about at all, Destiny," a voice from the darkest corner of the room sneered.

"Be quiet, Future."

One of the seven girls went to stand directly in the center of the circular bedroom, one hand on her chin and the other resting on her hip. "Can turning her into a cat really do a lot of damage to the world?"

"Maybe we should tell our Mothers. They can fix anything; after all, they are the highest of all deities," Lachesis pressed, determined not to have the situation escalate any further.

"You must be kidding! The Grand Feast is two days away! On the humans' full moon! It is the highlight of the deities and gods. Mother Nature would slaughter us..."

"Not if Mother Heavens gets to us first," Past muttered.

"This is getting us nowhere! The girl is protected by that dog demon and little girl, living at a Japanese palace, and we're worried?" Clotho protested. "This is a joke! Let's just wait until after the Feast, and then see how she's doing. We can slip away while all of the Council is meeting with the deities and gods; especially since, though we're higher than the gods, we are technically younger."

"You're so smart, Clotho," whispered Atropos. "It's a good plan. Should we follow through?"

All of the girls waited in silence, weighing the proponents and the consequences of the situation. None had the courage to tell the others their opinion, and so, in the next instant, they came to an agreement.

"Yes."

xox

"Master Jaken, Miss Kitty wants you to play with us!" came Rin's unmistakable voice as her small feet pounded on the engawas, turning corners sharply and ducking into rooms in order to find the toad demon.

"Leave this poor, humble servant alone, Rin! Go play with Kokomo or one of the maids, but leave me alone!" Jaken hollered from his hiding spot in a distant corridor closet holding three futon mattresses.

He heard the child's laughter, the horrendously loud thumps as she continued her hunt, and very almost indiscernible meows from the cat. Those two creatures just might be the death of him, Jaken vaguely thought as he crawled from his hiding spot. Absentmindedly, the toad demon realized the hallways had grown quieter, as he moved deeper into the house.

"Rin? Rin, where are you?"

Moving toward the Royal Gardens, the short demon twisted about looking for the human. Standing on the engawa, he found a blur of orange zooming between some large bright green hedges while a tiny black furry animal sat patiently watching from a stepping stone.

Without preamble, Jaken approached the cat. "Rin, stop it right now! Go back to Kokomo, or you will make him loose his status!" The cat merely flicked its tail back and forth, casting one lazy eye in his direction then letting out a quiet purr.

"Jaken, come play with us!" The cat meowed its agreement and batted at his stubby leg with a paw.

"Be quiet, Rin! I will not!"

xox

She couldn't help but notice that everything was so much bigger from the ground, when one was so much smaller. Rin, who was only around eleven years old now, appeared like a giant. The cat gave a mental sigh, resting its head on its paws. Just two hours ago, she had been human, a lot taller and able to defend herself. Now, she was reduced to the pet of one of her species – granted, it was Rin – and living under the roof of Lord Sesshoumaru ruler of the Western Realm.

Letting out a sound of both a meow and a snort, she watched as the girl hopped onto the floating planks in the koi pond. It was just as well, perhaps. She was planning on going home to the future for good, after saying goodbye to Miroku, Sango, Shippou and Kilala.

She wanted to go home back to the future to resume being Kagome Higurashi, age nineteen, and a freshman at Kyoto University on a scholarship of archery, majoring in Pharmaceutical Sciences and with a minor in Biology.

But no longer could this be. As far as Kagome knew, there was no way to reverse this mysterious spell, and no one could understand what the sounds coming from her feline throat were saying. I was doomed from the beginning! First the Shikon Jewel and now a curse! Wouldn't it be ironic if this was just like Inuyasha turning human on the new moon...? Ha! I wish... She huffed, and when she inhaled again, caught the scent of dog.

Oh, crap.

An aura flared from behind her, and she could sense the youki of a strong demon. She turned from her place on the cold granite slab, her black ears twitching as she heard the lord's breathing. Unsurprisingly, his golden gaze was directed solely at her tiny furred form, a question lurking behind it. Does he know? Maybe he'll help me! When he looked away to call Rin, her hopes were quickly dashed. Or maybe he's just like Inuyasha; dense in the face of true magic.

Rin came over and scooped up the kitten into her arms, smiling widely at the tall dog demon before her. "Isashi will be your guard for the next few years. He will also be training you in combat; and when you are not physically or mentally training, he will play with you and..." Sesshoumaru paused to look at the cat, who stared right back.

"Miss Kitty, milord!"

"Perhaps something different, Rin. The cat demons might not take kindly to that name." In response, the child only shook her head emphatically. "Very well. Isashi will be playing with you and Miss Kitty..."

"Okay, Lord Sesshoumaru. Do you... want to pet the pretty kitty...?"

He obviously could not deny the child her wishes, as not a moment later, the dog demon was bent slightly at the waist, and one of his large clawed hands running over her short and smooth black fur. Rin smiled while her kitten and lord stared at each other, looking so similar with their heads tilted to the side.

And Kagome could not help herself either, because in mere seconds, she began to purr.


Author's Note: First chapter! I like this idea. I always see story summaries of Sesshoumaru getting turned into a dog, or whatnot, or Kagome being his slave but... well— how about Kagome turning into the polar opposite of the clichéd Sesshoumaru?

I'm sticking with the real script here, people!

Please review!