Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha!
A/N: My GOSH the rewriting this chapter needs makes me cry. Hopefully this chapter will be a little more enjoyable to read now, thanks for stopping by!
My Pet
Of Torturing Toads
Kagome had been collared, proverbially speaking. Kagome tugged on the seemingly unbreakable collar as she stared at the rising sun. Upon waking the young miko had hoped that it was all some strange sort of nightmare and that she was really with Inu Yasha and the rest of the group. Her hopes were dashed when she woke up to the locked room.
Kagome then got up and readied herself for the day before walking out onto her patio door, reflecting on the meal she had eaten the evening before.
Kagome ate alone and the servants attended to her needs during the meal. The entire time she was there a pair of oxen demons sat there, watching her like hawks. They escorted her to and from her room and she had a suspicion that they were currently standing outside her locked door.
Kagome smirked as she looked at the rising sun. Her body was running on 'Inu Yasha time', the hanyou would always bark in her face before the sun rose, demanding that they be on the road by dawn.
Only the birds were flying around, the sun was barely peeking over the horizon line as stars slowly dwindled in the night sky. The gardens were below her patio (She had already tried jumping off, no need for Sesshoumaru had placed some strange sort of barrier around the outer edge, keeping her captive.) and peace filled the large castle. Only a few servants scuttled around, all of the fat royals and icy dog demons were probably still sleeping.
Kagome smirked and opened her mouth.
Sesshoumaru was peacefully sleeping.
"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE OF SESSHOUMARU'S CASTLE! IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP!"
Sesshoumaru was brutally seething. The abominable voice could only be that wretched miko's filled the air. Sesshoumaru refrained from growling as he sat up in his giant bed to see the sun barely shifting over his gardens. His thoughts raged from the irritating girl to contemplating murder. He would only be putting the castle out of its misery if he silenced the miko.
Sesshoumaru rose out of his bed and stiffly prepared himself for the day before wondering if he should assign the deaf polar bear demon to the healthy young miko. After all, she was still chirping some strange song.
"IT'S THE EYE OF THE TIGER ...wait, let's change that...IT'S THE EYE OF THE WHITE DOG, IT'S THE I-FORGET-THE-REST-Of-THE-SONG," she belted.
Sesshoumaru internally reminded himself to change her rooms so she would no longer be directly below him as he wondered why on earth Rin would want to play with such a loud, irritating creature.
"Saku," he called as he entered his office; he knew his steward was lurking somewhere in the shadows, after all who couldn't be awake with the racket the human was making.
"Yes milord?" a slender otter demon asked, emerging from a door to the hallway before bowing. Sesshoumaru smirked. Saku would be the perfect match for Kagome with his innocent looks but deviously sly intelligence.
"Do you remember what we discussed about the miko last night?" he questioned.
"Yes milord," the demon said while staying in a bowing position.
"Explain to her what she can and cannot do in my castle."
Saku paused. "Sir, do you wish for the oxen to stay with her?"
Sesshoumaru thought for a moment, yes that would be a problem. He needed a babysitter that was cunning as the otter but also very intimidating. "Find a suitable guardian that will keep her in her place and not allow her to escape. Make sure it is not one of my officers, perhaps demons eager to work their way up, or something transgressing for a wrong they did," Sesshoumaru ordered.
"Yes milord. I have just the pair in mind," the otter demon said with a pleasant smile before sliding out as Sesshoumaru smirked. He knew Saku would choose well.
If only he knew what lady fate had planned, about Kagome's captivating personality, her powers of persuasion, and the wonders of chocolate in the days to come.
Kagome sulked, if only she had her yellow bag with her. Then she would be able to use her battery charged CD player to torture the demons of the castle with the shrieking powers of Brittney Spears. (A/N: Sorry peeps, I am not a fan.)
There was a slight knock and Kagome turned to watch a demon enter her bedroom. He had shiny, black, obsidian eyes and chocolate brown hair. A sleek, brown tail was wrapped around his waist, more like a shiny belt then anything. His hands were slightly clawed, his fingernails weren't nearly as sharp as Sesshoumaru's, and he had a curious look to him as he tilted his looking at Kagome with an inquisitive gaze.
"I am Saku, milady, Lord Sesshoumaru's steward," he said with a small bow. Kagome smiled, his voice reminded her of a bubbling brook.
"What kind of demon are you?" she chirped, the steward distracted her and kept her from bellowing out more verses of the Yellow Submarine. "Oh wait, don't tell me!" Kagome gazed at him for a while, narrowing her eyes as the demon shifted his weight, grinning slightly. "Okay, I give up. What are you?"
"I am from the otter clan," Saku said with a small smile.
"I was wondering about that tail," Kagome said as she lightly reached out and tugged on the end, startling Saku, before getting down to business. "Breakfast, where can I get some?" Bellowing like a dying fowl often provoked hunger in humans.
"I can take you to the dinning room in a moment Lady, but first I must inform you of the rules you will be under while living here."
Kagome snorted. "What does his royal popsicle want?" she barked while Saku looked as though she had personally insulted his favorite stuffed animal.
"Lord Sesshoumaru requires that you keep a guardian, perhaps two, around you at all times; for your safety of course. You are allowed to wander the castle grounds, but you may never enter his personal chambers, nor are you allowed to badger the servants. You may do as you please, whatever you require will be supplied to you. You are expected to act polite and compliant-" Here Kagome burst out laughing but Saku continued as if uninterrupted. "and you must behave like a lady. You will be required to attend whatever parties Lord Sesshoumaru deems, and you may not venture outside of the castle grounds."
Kagome bit back more laughter as the wide eyed otter stared at her. "Go on," she said with a slight snort.
"Your guardians will be arriving soon. They will take you to the dining hall," he said before Kagome loudly hiccupped and turned red in the face, nodding and waving Saku out of the room.
Saku straightened his shoulders once he exited the room and eyed the door before turning to face some demon twins, Kagome's new guardians. "When the lady stops… laughing, you may feed her," he said before walking away, wondering at the new addition to Lord Sesshoumaru's household as he rubbed his abused tail.
Kagome grinned and stuck her face out of the open door, delighted to find it unlocked for once. Her jubilance was stopped however when she saw her guardians. "I don't think so!" she yelled.
Kagome sourly ate her breakfast as she glared at her guardians, twin cheetah guards. When she opened the door it had only taken her two seconds to see their gold hair with the black spots, their long tails, and the black marks under their eyes to identify what kind of demon they were.
Kagome was hoping for a stupid monkey, or perhaps a fat bear, maybe even a timid deer. But instead she had two cunning, quick demons who would easily be able to keep her from escaping with their keen sense of smell and hearing.
This was not her day.
Kagome gazed up at one of the twins. They introduced themselves as Haruko and Hiroshi; Kagome was not sure which was which, but she was determined that by the end of the day she would be able to tell them apart.
"So why were you two assigned to be my guards?" Kagome asked as she fiddled with her chopsticks before digging into her rice.
The twins said nothing and continued staring forward.
"Oookay, where are you from then?" Kagome asked, trying another question.
They stood like pefectly molded decorative statues.
"You guys are very antisocial aren't you?" she asked; tempted to poke the one that was closest to her in the stomach with her chopsticks.
They remained silent and ignored their new charge, wondering why it took the two of them to watch her and how this small girl could possibly make such a loud noise as she had this morning. However, they weren't about to protest their new job. Saku warned them this may be their only chance to return to their former positions.
Kagome slowly turned around, seemingly taking their silence as permanent before she spun and solidly stabbed one of them in the stomach. It did very little damage since the demon's abs were hard as rock, but Kagome noted with some satisfaction that he bent slightly over, his breath having been knocked out when she stabbed him.
"Hah!" Kagome exclaimed, thankfully they were her guards so they could not hurt her even if they wanted to. Kagome was not particularly intelligent when it came to demons; if she had stabbed any other demon in the gut they would have instantly disemboweled her. "Don't overlook me," she told the assaulted twin whoes head was closer to her sitting level because of his bending position. "Which one are you?"
"Hiroshi, lady," he gasped as he slowly recovered.
Kagome nodded. "Good. Now if either of you sit there and ignore me again I will do something more drastic next time!" she threatened as she clicked her chopsticks together with one hand, looking very un-intimidating.
Kagome stood up. "How about a tour of the castle?" she asked; she was really hoping that she would some how see a way to escape, if possible. Her thoughts, however, were scattered when she heard a young girl singing at the top of her lungs. She turned her head to see little Rin, skipping to the room while singing, pausing once she spotted Kagome.
"Kagome!" she joyfully cried before running headlong into the teenager, nearly knocking her over. "I'm so glad that Kagome is here!" she said with a toothless smile.
"Why hello Rin!" Kagome said with her own cheerful smile. "Would you like to play with me this fine morning?" she asked, deciding that scouting out the castle grounds and terrorizing the twins could wait for another day. Besides, with the little girl at her side she was much less likely to be killed by Sesshoumaru when he became fed up with her.
"Yes!" Rin shouted, dancing in place with delight. "We can play dress up with Jakken! Although first we have to dig him up."
"Well where did you bury him?" Kagome asked, fighting a smile.
"In the gardens! The perfect place, although I didn't make the hole very deep this time. Sesshoumaru told me that Jakken does need to breath," the little girl solemnly said.
Kagome laughed before turning to the twins. "Okay then, to the gardens!"
Sesshoumaru gently closed his eyes, the rest of his senses on alert, as he let the warmth of the sun bathe his skin. He had finished several important treaties that involved the Eastern Lands, stepped on Jakken, lowered taxes. and had breakfast. Not bad for one morning. He was currently lounging in the gardens, relaxing and relishing in the quiet moment that did not include the noisy human's bellows.
His moment was shattered when he heard two female voices.
"Wait Jakken! Rin only wants to tie the hat on a little tighter." The younger girl cried.
"It's not your fault Rin," Kagome comforted the younger girl. "His head is just too slippery so it keeps falling off," she said as the girls scrambled after the fleeing toad, the cheetah twins, Haruku and Hiroshi, following them at a more sedate pace while looking rather disgruntled.
"Lord Sesshoumaru," they said as they simultaneously saluted, Sesshoumaru always did have trouble telling the two apart. Once upon a time they shared the same position, making them even harder to differentiate.
Sesshoumaru nodded to them as they paused by his side while watching the two girls run after the crying toad. They were sprinting around a large fountain in a circle, the girls quickly gaining on the surprisingly fast frog.
A few seconds later they caught him and Kagome sat on the toad as Rin 'tightened' his straw hat, cutting off the squat demon's air passage.
"To tight, to tight!" he gaped, pointing to his head that was slowly swelling.
The girls ignored each other and congratulated themselves as they surveyed their handiwork. Obviously they had become close friends in a short amount of time, bonded by their loud voices, their taste for torturing Jakken, and the sly intelligence that girl humans had. Sesshoumaru thanked his lucky stars that Rin was still a child and not yet a teenager. One was killing him enough, two would probably make him want to end his own life.
The toad swiftly became a dark blue as Kagome got off of him and brushed herself off with some disgust. "Gross!" she exclaimed. "I think he oozed on me." Turning to the twins with one of her most winning smiles she wheedled. "Will you guys take me to the hot springs, plea-" she stopped when she noticed Sesshoumaru sitting near by. "You," she said before leaping at him, hollering and screaming. The twins quickly intercepted her and it took the two of them to hold her back as she strained forward, shouting at Sesshoumaru.
Sesshoumaru looked at the yelling miko with a small amount of repugnance and offense in his icy gaze. She was such a loud creature; it was amazing that she hadn't made him deaf yet. Rin was standing near by, clapping her hands and smiling as she tried to figure out what game Sesshoumaru and Kagome were playing while Jakken wretched from his position, his webbed hands trying to claw at the knot lodged in his throat while his black pupils expanded to fill almost all of his yellow eyes.
Sesshoumaru's golden eyes gazed at Kagome, the hardness and iciness of them leaving Kagome feeling chilled as she slowly trailed off, finding it hard to think while he watched her.
"Are you finished?" he asked as Jakken screamed bloody murder in the background.
Kagome make a small "Eep." Before looking away as the twins slowly released their hold on her.
"You may take her to the hot springs," Sesshoumaru told the twins before turning to Rin. "And you must return to your lessons," Rin blushed a little before scuttled off, doing as she was told while Kagome glared and walked off in the opposite direction, following the cheetah twins to the springs.
Sesshoumaru sighed and rubbed his forehead while getting up before exiting the gardens, stepping on his fainted retainer as he went. While walking to his office Sesshoumaru concluded that pets were not worth all their trouble.
At least she was house broken...sort of.
Kagome paused outside the hotspring house. "Oh wait. I need my yellow backpack." She said, turning to the twins as though they would know where it was.
They exchanged looks. "I am not sure what you speak of." One of them said.
"Take me to Sesshoumaru." She ordered.
The brothers exchanged looks one more time before slowly walking back the way they came, wondering if this was such a good idea.
Sesshoumaru was looking over some papers when the scent of the loud human and the twins invaded his nose. "Come in," he called once they reached his door.
The door opened and Kagome poked her head in and gave him a half smile. "Hi, I need my backpack," she said.
Sesshoumaru gazed at her. "By this you mean?"
Kagome paused. "The yellow thing that I always have with me," she rephrased.
Sesshoumaru slightly tipped his head, when he first met the girl he had thought it was some sort of strange growth on her back. Apparently it was not. "Tell Saku on your way out and he will see to it," he regally said.
Kagome started to turn around and leave. "Yeah, that would be good if Saku was here- BAH!" she gave a small shriek of surprise when she turned around to come face to face with the otter demon. "Saku, how nice to see you," she said backing.
"The feeling is mutual Lady," Saku said with a suave bow as Sesshoumaru cocked his eyebrow. His servants had lowered themselves to flirting with humans, how amusing.
"Saku, I need my backpack," Kagome said as she exited the room.
"I beg your pardon, your what milady?" Saku asked, closing the door behind him.
"My backpack! It's a big yellow thing," Kagome started to explain as the two trailed down the hallway, the twins slowly following them.
Eventually they left hearing range and Sesshoumaru sighed with relief. Saku would find the girl's backpack and hopefully shut her up.
Inu Yasha strapped his sword to his side as he turned to Sango, Miroku, and Shippo. "Lets go," he growled.
"Inu Yasha, are you sure about this? You still seem kind of sick," Sango delicately said as Shippo nodded in agreement while nervously twisting his shirt, he had been uptight since Kagome had been discovered as missing.
"I'm fine," Inu Yasha snapped. "We have to find stupid Kagome, who knows what could have happened to her by now," he said with a snort of annoyance before he started marching off, taking a grand total of twenty steps before dropping in a dead faint.
Miroku sighed. "I told him not to take those broken ribs and fractured arm lightly."
A/N:Okay, this chapter is now corrected too. I think I fixed the portrayal of Rin so she wasn't so embarrassingly young. I think I also managed to do a better job with Sesshoumaru and Kagome this time around.
Anyway, HELLO MY READERS!! I LOVE YOU!! (Spends better part of an hour waving and cooing at every delightfully kind enough to read this little story) Please Review my lovelies!!