Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Final Fantasy VII, The Forgotten Realms, or Inuyasha. This is all for fun.

A/N: Hi my lovely readers! I have not forgotten about you or this fic. I apologize since I am having a hell of a time getting past this section of the story. I will be doing my best to update more often though. I know this is more of a transition chapter but I hope it's enough until we can really get into the action. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Kagome was awoken by the smell of food. When she opened her eyes, she found one of the servants was bustling around the room, gathering up the garments she would need to get dressed. A tray with breakfast was already sitting on a small table to the side of the room. Kagome greeted the small youkai that looked to possibly be a kitsune, if the three tails were anything to go by. The woman didn't meet her gaze, bowing instead and asking if Kagome needed anything.

The whole scene had Kagome feeling uncomfortable. She wasn't used to being waited on. "Thank you for asking but you've already brought breakfast so I'm good. The only question I have is if Sesshomaru has set up a time for us to meet him, so we can start our research."

The youkai bowed again, looking regretful. "No, my Lady, Lord Sesshomaru has only asked that we provide you with anything you need today and has further asked for you to all meet him for dinner."

Kagome barely managed to hold in her irritation. Of course, it was just like the arrogant dog to not think their time was valuable too. Before she could say something that might cause problems an idea occurred to her. "Then, would you be able to guide us to the library?"

She could tell the youkai was hesitant so pushed forward before she could be denied. "He did say to take care of our needs, right? Unless he specifically asked you not to take us I don't see why it would be a problem. That is really all we need right now."

Kagome could tell the kitsune was still hesitant but finally she agreed. "Yes, my Lady, I would be honored to guide you. As soon as you have finished preparing for the day I will take you there. Will the two Lords be joining you?"

Kagome was happy that it hadn't taken more effort. She just hoped it wouldn't make Sesshomaru too angry. "Yes, please. That is why we are all here after all."

"Very well. I will return shortly to assist you in preparing for the day." The kitsune bowed out of the room before Kagome could object. She didn't need any help in getting dressed and she hoped the request didn't mean she would be forced into one of the kimonos.

It didn't take her long to finish her breakfast, but the youkai female was back before she was done. She had immediately moved to the wardrobe, opening it up, before turning back to Kagome. "My Lady, which color would you like to wear today?"

Kagome felt like stamping her foot. Of course, Sesshomaru would expect her to wear one of those unwieldy things. "I have my own clothes. I don't need to wear one of those."

This time the youkai barely contained a frown. "No disrespect my Lady, but the items you were wearing yesterday cannot be worn within the Shiro. It would be improper and disrespectful to the Western Lord. Please let me know which of these you would prefer."

Kagome was fuming but she had looked around and found that her uniform was not in the room. She didn't have a choice but to don one of the kimonos and she didn't like it at all. Grudgingly she went through the selections, finally settling on a solid green kimono with a gold obi. It was the simplest one in the group, but it was still more than she was used to dealing with. Between her awkwardness and barely concealed dislike for the process, it took them some time to finish getting everything on. When the woman moved to start on Kagome's hair she finally put her foot down. "I don't need my hair put up. It's brushed out and that will have to be good enough. I am sure the others are waiting for me anyway."

The youkai bowed back reluctantly. "Of course, my Lady. If you would follow me, please."

When they entered the hallway, Kagome wasn't surprised to see Sephiroth and Drizzt waiting toward the end, talking quietly with each other. She was surprised to see them also wearing a more traditional style. Their haoris wear nearly matching and made her think immediately of Sesshomaru. They didn't have the same distinctive pattern on the shoulder, but they were white with red accents. Kagome had to stop and gather her wits before approaching them. She could already tell this could be distracting if she didn't keep her mind on what was important.

Once she felt she could look at them both without blushing she made her way over with a bright smile. "I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one bullied into wearing this." She noted that both men still had their weapons strapped to their sides though.

Both men turned her way at her greeting. Sephiroth still looked aloof but he returned her greeting with a polite nod. Drizzt returned her smile. "They were quite insistent that this would be the only acceptable thing to wear. I've never seen anything like it, but it isn't uncomfortable."

"I'm not used to wearing them much either. Your hakama may be comfortable enough but this kimono is killing me."

Their conversation was interrupted by the woman that had been helping Kagome. "My Lady, my Lords, if you would please follow me I will guide you to the library now."

They all three turned at that and quietly followed the kitsune through the shiro. Kagome noted that there were many youkai throughout the building, she could feel their youki, but they didn't see any of them as they passed through. She wondered if it was because they were trying to avoid the humans or if Sesshomaru had told everyone to leave them alone. Either way, she was glad she didn't have to worry about random run-ins with rude youkai. After their entrance yesterday, she would be happy not to see another youkai before she left.

When they finally made it to the library, Kagome found that she was at a loss for words. When Sesshomaru had said his library was extensive he had not exaggerated. There were shelves along each wall and several more sections separated by more shelves lined with books and scrolls. Each section had either a small table with seating pillows or comfortable looking nooks that had lamps surrounding them. It was obvious that this entire room was made for reading, whether for pleasure or research.

She absently thanked the female that had guided them before wandering in between the shelves. She had completely forgotten the two men that had entered with her as she looked around. She was hesitant to touch the scrolls until she found out more, so for now she looked at all the book titles she could find. She was surprised to see a great many in languages other than Japanese. She wondered if Sesshomaru could read them, although it wouldn't surprise her if he could. He had lived long enough already that it shouldn't have been a problem for him to have learned several dozen languages.

She was brought out of her silent revue by a quiet voice. She was completely taken by surprise to turn and see Sephiroth. His brow was furrowed but he was polite when he spoke, only being slightly commanding. "Show me which ones would be pertinent to our search… please."

Kagome could tell it was hard for him to ask for help. He came across much like Sesshomaru, arrogant for a good reason. She was sure he hated admitting there was something he didn't know. She gave him a bright smile before answering. "I can tell you aren't a native Japanese speaker. You're really good though. How much of the written language can you interpret?"

He gave her a scowl, obviously not wanting to get into it, but finally relented. "I understand the basics. I never required more than that."

She nodded in understanding. "I thought that might be the case. I am the same way with Mandarin. I learned English, but only enough Mandarin to get by."

Sephiroth couldn't help but to raise a brow in surprise. "You can speak several languages?" He had not been expecting that from such a young woman. Although he had to admit, he couldn't be much older.

Kagome blushed a little at his obvious surprise. "Well, I can speak two pretty fluently, but the other, like I said before, I only know the basics." She turned at that to keep him from seeing her continuing blush. She made an effort to focus on her search. "Let me look around and see what I can find. There are quite a few here in languages I don't understand at all, but more than half are in Japanese."

It didn't take her long to get wrapped up in her search again, this time keeping an eye out for anything that might help the other two men as well. She vaguely noted that Drizzt was already seated in one of the nooks as she passed by. She noticed that most of the books she found were either books on magical theory or on strategy and warfare. She couldn't help but chuckle as that fact didn't really surprise her. After about an hour she finally found a couple that looked like they could help and sat with Sephiroth pointing at the first book. "This one is about barrier magic, something I need to know more about, and the other is about magic portals. That second one sounds like a good place to start for you. If you would like I can read it out loud?"

At her request Sephiroth gave her an unreadable look before nodding his head. He realized if he was to make any progress he had to admit when he still had something to learn and take the opportunity to learn it. He moved to sit closer to her, so he could read as she spoke but paused. As socially inept as he could be he realized sitting so close could make her uncomfortable. "Do you mind if I sit close enough to try and read while you speak. It will improve my overall understanding of the language."

Kagome couldn't help but blush again but managed to give him a nod. "Sure. If you find something you would like me to explain about the language I would be happy to help."

With her permission he moved close enough to see clearly when she sat the book down between them, but not so close as to make her uncomfortable. If he noted that she had to start twice before she really started reading clearly, he didn't mention it.

Kagome had been reading for some time when they were interrupted by the sight of Sesshomaru walking into the nook they were occupying. She had to swallow twice at the look on his face. She was beginning to wonder if she had made the right decision. Her thoughts on self-preservation were interrupted by Sesshomaru's low voice. "What is the meaning of this miko?"

She couldn't hold in a nervous laugh before answering. "Ah… well you did say we could go through your library, so I asked your servant to guide us here. This is what we're here for after all."

Sesshomaru had been listening to the miko read aloud for several minutes before he finally interrupted them. He had not realized she would be able to read and didn't have the time to set up assistance on this first day. He had planned on giving them a guide for the next day. He had to admit that this tiny human woman continued to surprise him. He had not ever met another human like her. "Hn, next time you wish to traverse this one's shiro make sure you ask for permission first. For today you may stay. Tomorrow you will have a servant to assist in your search."

Kagome couldn't help but grin up at him. "Thank you Sesshomaru-sama! Will you be staying today?"

"This one has other duties to attend to." He didn't bother saying anything else before walking away.

Kagome felt her irritation rise at his arrogant dismissal but realized she shouldn't be surprised. He had to be the most arrogant person she had ever met. She shook off those thoughts before turning back to Sephiroth. She noticed he had a slight look of irritation on his face as well. She had a feeling this man and Sesshomaru had a lot in common. She was glad he was willing to talk to her at least, especially since they were going to be working together until they could find a way to get these men back home. She smiled brightly before picking up the book again. "So, where were we?"

Kagome wasn't sure how long they had been in the library when they were stopped by the presence of the woman that had helped her that morning. "My Lady, my Lord, I have brought your midday meal."

She hadn't been paying attention to her stomach until the woman interrupted. Now that she could smell the food, her stomach let her know it had been some time since breakfast. "Thank you! I'm famished."

The servant bowed again before turning to lead them back to the main area of the library where several trays were set up on a large table. Kagome noted that Drizzt hadn't followed them so went to quickly see if he was still where she had seen him earlier. She found him in the same spot with several more books next him now. She couldn't help but be impressed with how efficient he was. She shook off those thoughts when her stomach growled again, this time loud enough to get the attention of the drow. "Kagome was there something you needed?"

She blushed slightly as she shook her head. "I just wanted to let you know there is food for you if you would like to take a break."

He smiled brightly at her as he got to his feet. "That sounds wonderful. I had lost track of time back here. This is really an amazing place."

"It's set up in the front of the library." She turned to go back to the meal, Drizzt close behind.

When they were all seated and eating Drizzt turned to Kagome. "Have you found anything relevant?"

She turned to him with a slight frown. "I found a book that mentions several different portal type magics that Sephiroth and I have been going through, but so far we haven't found anything that matches the well."

He gave her a comforting smile before he spoke. "Well we have only just started so it isn't surprising. We would have had to be incredibly lucky to find what we needed right off. Maybe Sesshomaru will join us tomorrow and be able to point us in the right direction."

Kagome couldn't help the frown that came up at the mention of the arrogant daiyoukai. "I doubt he will bother, at least not until he wants to start interrogating us. He said he will have someone to help us though."

Sephiroth had been silent through the exchange but finally spoke up. "You don't seem to like our host very much. If that is the case, why did you ask to come?"

Kagome couldn't help but feel a little bad at his question. She didn't dislike Sesshomaru, he had quit trying to kill them all some time ago. That didn't mean she trusted him completely. She was pretty sure he still wanted Tessaiga. She tried to put it into words for the others. "It's a long story but I can give you the basics. The first time I met Sesshomaru he tried to kill me. He was trying to get one of the swords that his father had left when he died. When we found it Sesshomaru couldn't touch it because it had a barrier on it that burned him each time he tried. Inuyasha didn't fare much better. He could touch it, but he couldn't pull it out. It wasn't until I touched it that it came loose. Sesshomaru still couldn't touch it but he tried to melt me and take it anyway. Eventually Inuyasha got it and used it to cut of Sesshomaru's arm. He has been trying to get the sword ever since then. Ever since he found Rin though, he stopped trying to kill me every time we ran into him. Inuyasha still picks fights with him but he isn't as bad."

When she stopped talking she looked around to see both men had identical looks of shock on their faces. It was Sephiroth that spoke first. "How can you trust him? Do you believe he has reformed?"

Kagome waved his question off with a smile. "Not at all. He is still an arrogant dog that would love to get his hands on Tessaiga. The only reason I asked to come here is because I know if anyone had the information we needed it would be him. Besides, if he agreed to let me come here I know I will be safe. Despite the fact that he pretty much hates humans he has a strict code of honor. If he says something, then he will keep his word. As long as we are here with his permission he will do all he can to make sure we stay safe."

At the girl's talk of honor, Sephiroth felt his heart clench. The reminder of one of the men he had actually called friend, and of his demise, made him push away from the table. He barely paused long enough to utter an 'excuse me' before walking back into the depths of the room.

Kagome could only follow his retreating form with her eyes. She wasn't sure what she had said to hurt the man, but it was obvious he was bothered. She started to get up and follow him to see if there was some way she could help but a hand on her forearm stopped her. She turned to see Drizzt shaking his head. "I know the look of someone that has demons to fight. Let him be for now." She didn't like it, but she gave him a nod before sitting back down. They finished the rest of the meal in silence, each caught up in their own tangled thoughts.