I've run out of answers , I've run out of time
And I'm so confused that I'm loosing my mind
Its gonna take a miracle to save me this time
I'm traveling a road that has not one sign.

-I Need an Angel

Chapter Six: Surprising Contemplations

Rimida turned to find a much more irritated Kagome leaving the office than who entered it, though was more shocked to see his lord actually looking after her before the door closed. He just smiled to her again, concealing a further grin at the subtle clues he was misinterpreting.

"Can I escort you anywhere else Lady?" He asked her, drawing her from her inner tirade of chosen words for the estate's master.

"Oh…sorry Rimida. You keep surprising me. I'm not really used to having someone around like this." She had jumped at first when he spoke but smiled warmly to him now, apparently having forgotten whatever was disturbing her just like that. "Is there any sort of garden here? I think some time outside will do me a lot of good after being stuck in that room for so long."

"It's a bit of a walk from here but I can take you if you think you are feeling up to it." He agreed. "Though if you start to tire then you need to let me know."

"That's fair, I'd like to go to the gardens then." She smiled brightly at the opportunity and followed her bodyguard off in the direction that he had motioned her.

"It would be easier if we knew where his home actually was." Shippou pointed out for a countless time as he rode on the back of Hachi with the other members that once worked with Kagome.

"Well, Inuyasha wouldn't have been the best person to ask to accompany us. Even if he feels horrible for the way Kagome found out about he and Kikiyo, he's not someone she should have to face if she's been avoiding him this long." Sango offered with a shrug. "The best we can do is continue to fly around and search the general area that he did know about."

"Why did Inuyasha have to be such a jerk and do that to Kagome anyway?" Shippou complained with a tiny raised fist. "Who would want Kikiyo over Kagome? He's such an idiot!"

"Despite the fact that we don't agree with the way things happened…it would have been just as wrong for Inuyasha to continue to lead Kagome on when he'd chosen her predecessor." the monk offered with a helpless shrug and a small sigh.

"Still a stupid person to pick." the fox kit mumbled irritably. He knew that it was probably better that Inuyasha had left Kagome but he couldn't help but be angry with the half-demon; it was his fault that they were on this search in the first place.

Sango reached over to give the younger demon a gentle pat and offer as comforting a smile as she was able to muster, she wasn't going to admit that she shared his distaste of their previous companion at the moment.

"Either way, complaining about Inuyasha won't help us find his brother…or defend against him if he decides we shouldn't be in his presence." Miroku pointed out to change one dark subject to another. "Maybe we'll have better luck if we ask some of the locals in villages? I know that he doesn't care for humans but that doesn't stop them from knowing about him."

"Seems sound enough to me. I'd be happy to spend the night inside after the past few evenings of wet ground, it looks like it's going to rain again." Sango wasn't about to argue with the idea of an inn instead of camping out.

"I guess it can't hurt…we haven't found anything else yet." Shippou nodded as he still tried to look as far around as he could from the high vantage point flying upon the odd form Hachi took offered him. The kid doing his best to strain his eyes so he might find a clue as to where his surrogate mother had disappeared to.

Kagome had to gape in shock at the beauty she found in the gardens of such a cold-hearted person as Sesshomaru. With the fall weather a lot of the flowers had ceased to bloom but quite a few others still scattered brighter colors amongst the autumn spectrum of leaves both littering the cobblestone paths and hanging in a sun kissed breeze as a colorful canopy above where she walked. There were some areas of pink spotted throughout the grounds where cheery trees where in silent blossom as a fruitless warning of the coming winter.

She grinned a little and started to walk as she took it all in. "What an amazing place. It's so strange that someone like him would have something like this. He doesn't seem like someone that would take the time to enjoy the beauty involved."

"Perhaps he does, or doesn't." Rimida shrugged a little, walking a bit behind Kagome as she wandered. "It is expected of royalty to have expensive or impressive things, even if they can't appreciate or enjoy them. Though I have seen him often take walks here when he wished to be alone or was thinking about things seriously…don't think so poorly of our lord Lady, he will likely manage to surprise you."

"Do you really think so?" She asked, looking to her guard curiously. "I guess you would know him better than I. How long have you worked for him?"

"For two-hundred years, give or take a few." Rimida replied, laughing at the shocked look that he was given. "Demons live much longer than those of your blood. I believe that people with holy powers do live longer than many others of your race but few of mine will not outlive yours."

"That's amazing though." She smiled at him. "I'd love to live for that long…It'd give me a chance to see and do so much!"

"Hmm." He eyed her thoughtfully but didn't give voice to any of his inner workings, eyes still swirling hypnotically.

She blushed a little at what seemed like such an intent gaze, her own eyes dropping off to look around the gardens. "How did you come to be in Sesshomaru's service? Were you born to it?"

"No…I've been alive a lot longer than I've worked for the Lord." Rimida answered her questions as he kept an eye on her. "He helped my family and myself two centuries ago and what he did for us is why I will remain in his service for as long as he wants me here."

"Must have been quite something for loyalty such as that." She observed with another smile on her face, pausing to look at a weeping willow amongst the huge amount of land lent to this 'garden'.

"You could say he rescued us all from a fate worse than death. The whole family wasn't as…" he paused a moment, carefully choosing his next word. "grateful as the few of us that decided to live in his service."

"How many of your family are here?" Kagome perked up at the idea of demon families - demon wasn't a word that inspired feelings of close relations after all.

"Only three of us have stayed for this long." He answered with another smile. "While we did owe the Lord much, it is not surprising that some decided to leave over the time that passed. One of my sisters and a cousin still remain here. My sister, Saiya, is a seer and my cousin, Trion, deals in…things better not mentioned to a lady such as yourself."

"It must be nice having family around though." She kept up conversation more to fill the silence in the garden than anything else at that point.

"I enjoy it sometimes, less others. I suppose that is a commonality between our races though to both love and sometimes hate our families." He replied as if reading her mind and she got quiet again, shocked at how easily he could figure out what she might say.

"Don't let me make you uncomfortable." He said with his usual calm, earning another surprised glance. "I am used to needing to watch those around me for any intentions they might have. It is a skill that makes battle much easier when I can make my opponents give away such things."

"Oh, guess I never thought about that…" She answered. "It's just a little strange talking to someone that seems to be reading my mind."

"You wear your heart on your sleeve Lady." He had to actually grin at the blush and bashful behavior he got in return for the statement. "I hear that is an admirable trait for your race, no reason to be so humble as to the things that make you attractive to others."

"Does that mean he thinks I'm attractive?" She wondered with another deep blush, the idea a little much for her…or perhaps the walk had been. She was suddenly very dizzy for some reason, stumbling as she saw the ground coming closer she vaguely felt an arm around her. For a moment she had the flicker of something else familiar as she was lifted from the ground to be carried, blinking at the uncertain image of Rimida in front of her eyes mixed with the black spots that were growing and eventually took over her vision until she had fully blacked out.

"Guess telling you not to overdo it didn't quite work." The chaos demon observed in amusement as he watched the slumbering mortal in his arms, part of him nervous she might try to purify his energy but not enough that he would drop her in her unconscious state. "I can see why you could cause trouble for his lordship strange mortal Kagome. Should get you back to your room though I suppose."

End Chapter

This chapter was another hard one. Hints of a possible love triangle in the future - cause I think putting Kagome in the same situation Inuyasha was in is really befitting of her. I just have to figure out a way for her to get closer to Sesshomaru now instead of the original Character pulls hair gah! Anyway, wanted to get this chapter up before bed, maybe sleep will inspire something more for me.

-Aura

To my reviewers:

Eerie Iri - Thanks, hope you keep on liking it!

Callie-yue Lost Dreams - Updated!

Flirtymiyu - Just have to figure out how to make him less jerk like now.

Dominik Journot - Possibly, I'm still on the fence with several ideas as far as her memory issue goes.

Demonic-Dragon-Eyed-Chick - Well I'm trying to keep them IC and thus my difficulty as to getting them to think about each other…but I do have a plan for the next chapter to get them to start getting on a little better…or at least thinking of each other more.

Evil RULZ - Thanks, I was happy with my character idea with Rimida.

LovingoOKawaiiOoGirl - Eventually more detail as to the Inuyasha situation will come to light - but not too much more - this chapter helped describe that.

Cream-Bunny156 - Can't blame her with the way that Sesshomaru acts toward her.

Atsila - Thanks, I'm still having difficulties with getting em together but I don't wanna make them ooc when I do it.

KiTsUnEoOkAmI - I'm trying to keep the chapters to the general length I've been using because I need to write about that much each day or two to get to my goal of 50,000 words by the end of October- so far so good.