He rose slowly and straightened his clothing. She realized for the first time that Sesshomaru was not wearing his traditional kimono. Today he was wearing

a pair of well-fitting jeans and a shirt that matched the color of his blue crescent moon on his head. Of course, he had not changed from his regular black

boots, but he looked very good in modern clothes. She was surprised to find he had stripes on his wrists that matched his cheeks. His hair seemed to be

braided as well. She looked back into his face, "It doesn't help your Kymela situation when you dress like that." 'Although,' she thought, 'He could probably

make a potato sack look wonderful.' Sesshomaru looked down at his clothing and back up to her, "There is nothing wrong with what this Sesshomaru is

wearing." She nodded, "Exactly." His head tilted, "Explain." Kagome was still sitting on her bed, and she crossed her legs, "Well for starters if you're trying

to not attract his attention, it would help if your clothes fit a bit looser. You can see nearly every muscle which he probably likes." Sesshomaru narrowed his

eyes, "Would you have this Sesshomaru wear sweat clothes?" he sneered. An image of him in sweat clothes, dripping with sweat came to her mind

unbidden. She shook her head, trying to remove the image. "Hmm, I guess it would be kind of hard to tone your image down." Sesshomaru had a look of

satisfaction on his face, but didn't say anything. Kagome blinked at him, "I thought you liked wearing your other clothes." His chin raised a notch, "This

Sesshomaru wears what he pleases." Kagome sighed, "I was only curious." "Hn, it is casual Friday and this Sesshomaru wished to participate." Sesshomaru

spoke as if he dared Kagome to berate him for that fact. She sat up straighter, "Does everyone in the castle participate?" thinking back on the clothes she

saw the employees wearing, she realized they were all in uniforms of some sort. The maids wore butter yellow kimonos with black and white obis, and the

guards wore a combination of greens and browns, which Kagome assumed, were to help blend in with the colors outside. Although she saw a few guards,

wearing bright gold kimonos like Kiomaru. She didn't know why they were different yet, but she suspected they had special jobs. She also remembered the

servant boy that brought her the extension cord was wearing a magenta kimono and royal blue obi. "The staff wears modern clothing befitting their status."

Kagome nodded as he explained, "Maids wear the traditional American uniform of black dress with white undershirt and petticoat, white socks and black

pumps. We originally were going to use hosiery, but demon claws rendered the flimsy material useless. Common guards wear a uniform similar to their

own, but in a style called 'camo'. Captains of the guard wear a uniform of white instead of their usual gold, and pages wear magenta button shirts with blue

slacks." Kagome blinked, "So it really isn't casual at all. Seems kind of nerve-wracking to me." Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at her, "What this

Sesshomaru does with his staff is not your concern." Kagome rolled her eyes at him, "Whatever. So it's nearly dawn; I guess I should get dressed so we

can eat?" Sesshomaru nodded once, and then a glint came into his eyes, "This Sesshomaru will have your morning clothes brought in. Bathe, as you smell

of fear and the despised Kymela. Kagome nodded and sighed, and then Sesshomaru left.

Kagome decided on the shower, despite her body's silent plea for a long soak that had yet to be fulfilled. When she emerged from the bathroom wrapped in

a towel, after drying her hair, she found a red dress on the bed, which had been made. She glanced at the dress, grimacing when she saw how short it

was, and how much cleavage showed. She went to the armoire, set on changing into something a bit more decent. She found the whole thing devoid of all

of its contents. Her jaw dropped, he had the audacity to clear out all other options. There were no undergarments in any of the drawers either. She growled

and lifted the dress to find a lacy thong and bra in the same shade as the red dress. She swallowed hard and finally put on the provocative clothing. She

walked over to the mirror and blinked at the image there. She had never realized she possessed curves like that. She smiled at the suggestive neckline;

carefully displaying her breasts, while leaving enough still hidden as to be moderately decent and the slits on the side of the already short hemline of the

skirt. She decided to pull her hair up into a high ponytail, tying it with a hair scrunchy on the vanity. She grimaced at the red stiletto heels standing near

the door. With a sigh, she put those on as well. Gathering her courage she stepped out into the hallway, vaguely wondering what Sesshomaru had in store

for her. Amazingly, Kagome found her way to the sunroom without help. She opened the door to see Sesshomaru in deep conversation with a group of

men…make those demons. She swallowed hard and mentally bashed Sesshomaru over the head with the pointy red shoes for making her wear these

clothes in front of so many men, but remained silent outwardly. Conversation suddenly ceased and the group of male demons turned toward her, "This is

the one this Sesshomaru spoke of. She possesses great talent." A blush rose on her cheeks at the compliment, although she wondered to what talent he

was referring, and she stepped forward to meet them head-on.

"My name is Kagome. You must be friends of Lord Sesshomaru's?" A demon spoke up; he was a tall demon, nearly as tall as Sesshomaru, only shy two

inches. He had ebony skin, dark chocolate eyes and long silver hair that reached his waist. His face had shockingly orange stripes similar to Sesshomaru's,

but they were thinner and there were three instead of two. His forehead revealed a yellow shape that looked like a banana. "We are not quite friends…more

like colleagues. My name is Lord Nambino of the silverback tribe in Africa." Kagome shook his hand, "Silverback…you're a gorilla youkai?" He nodded and

another youkai stepped forward, "I am Lord Ricardo, of the Tauren clan located in Spain." She blinked at him; he was rather short as he was three inches

shorter than her own 5'1". He had tanned skin and no cheek marks, but the symbol of a brown bull's horns on his head and waist length dark brown hair.

Kagome was starting to get the hang of this, "You are a bull youkai." He nodded. Another demon reached forward. He was the tallest demon here, topping

Sesshomaru's height by three inches, making him 6'1". He was pale skinned with black and white hair that was a modest length only reaching just past his

shoulders. His markings were a green bamboo shoot on his forehead and one black stripe on each cheek. "I am Li-Wu, Lord of the Panda tribe in China."

Kagome smiled at him, and then turned to the last demon in the room.

He was five inches taller than she was, and when she locked eyes with him, she had to repress a shudder. He was very handsome, but for some reason she

got the willies looking at him. He had red eyes outlined in kohl, different from the color of an enraged demon. He had golden skin, and hair that was a

strange translucent red-brown simultaneously. Kagome wondered about the color until he said that he was a scorpion youkai. On his forehead, he had the

symbol of a pair of scorpion claws and a tail, and his cheeks stripes were scorpion tails. All his markings were in black. "I would have thought your

markings would have been red or brown…sorry if that was rude." He smiled and Kagome blanched, this guy was just plain scary! "My parents thought

something along those very lines when I was born. I was thought to bring destruction to the land and my parents had me killed. Somehow, I overpowered

my executioner at only a day old and earned the name Daghishat, it means darkness. Although I am technically the rightful heir of the tribe back in Cairo, I

will not be recognized until I do something monumentally good. For some reason I exude evil, although I assure you I am the kindest one in this room."

Kagome blinked, "You're from Egypt?" He nodded and she sighed, "What is it like there?" He chuckled, "I have not been there in many years, but last I

remember it is very hot and covered in sand." Kagome laughed, and the others, aside from Sesshomaru of course, chuckled as well.