The next time Kagome opened her eyes, she was alone, and in a ginormous four-poster bed, in an opulently furnished room. It was the annoyingly bright sunlight streaming through the balcony windows that had woken her.
And, suddenly, it hit her that she had no idea where she was. She leaped to her feet, distantly noting that she was no longer wearing her bedraggled school uniform. Someone had changed her into a silky white robe-y thingy , with a design of blue and red hexagons on it.
Kagome, turning, saw someone else in the room with her. How she had missed her before, Kagome didn't know.
Then, she realized.
It was a mirror. The stranger…was her.
She had known that there would be changes upon her youkai transformation, but she hadn't expected anything on this level.
Her raven black hair had gained a fiery tint. Her formerly sapphire eyes were now a deep, forest green. There were the claws she had first noticed, and, smiling at the mirror, Kagome caught sight of delicately pointed fangs. And atop her head were two InuYasha-esque fox ears.
So stunned was she by her new, unexpected appearance, she didn't even notice the Aristocratic Assassin, the Killing Perfection, Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands enter the room.
Though, to her credit, he's Sesshomaru. He's pretty much got the quiet, sneaky, stalk-ey thing down.
"Welcome to the Palace of the Moon, kitsune-san." His deep, bass rumble startled her.
I told you. Quiet. Sneaky. Stalk-ey. Thing.
She spun to face him. "My thanks to you, Sesshomaru-sama." she whispered, bowing, terrified that she was so close to the man that had tried to kill her and InuYasha so many times before.
"Save your thanks." Sesshomaru said, disdain coloring his reply. "Ningen have no right to hunt youkai on this Sesshomaru's holdings. Had this Sesshomaru the choice, he would hunt down those audacious enough to do so, and slaughter them, as a lesson to the rest." he sighed. "But, enough of this depressing talk. This Sesshomaru has come to ask you if you would grace him with your presence, at the great gathering of the taiyoukai this night."
Kagome was momentarily stunned. It had never occurred to her, that when he wasn't trying to steal the Tetsusaiga, or kill her, or InuYasha, or Totosai, or any random ningen that crossed his path, or working on a collaborative evil effort with Naraku, or punting Jaken the length and breadth of feudal Japan, or-
OK, we get it. Sesshomaru is a very busy, little taiyoukai.
The point is, that Kagome never even thought he was capable of being polite, or…or…charming.
He was still waiting for an answer, a single eyebrow quirked.
"Of course, Sesshomaru-sama." she said. "You saved my life. How could I possibly refuse?"
