Chapter Ten

A month had passed since the peculiar arrival of Kagome and she was in a fine state of health. The constant supply of food was the main reason for that. Kagome knew by now that she had overstayed her welcome. The past month had been blissful, though the first week had been a little shaky. Kagome could almost feel herself getting used to living here. It was different from her old home, such as she could see the front of her house from the room she resided in. Sometimes she would find herself watching as people past by on the road, heading to the market. Nobody in the house scurried around her or whispered fearfully behind cupped hands. It was like her old home, only friendlier.

But staying put all these people at risk. Kagome had grown quite fond of Kaede and even Kikyo to a certain degree. She even somewhat liked Koga, though he was a bit rude occasionally. It was amazing that Naraku had not found her yet, but it would not last long. The more time that passed, the more Kagome was put on edge. Naraku would find her soon; there was no doubt about that.

Kagome spent most of her time, to the amazement of everyone else, in the library reading. It was a dangerous idea, considering she was not supposed to know how to read or write. Kagome was supposed to be a mistreated servant, not an educated lady. Kagome loved to read though, so she could not stay away from the books and worded pages that seemed to call out to her. Besides, when Naraku came for her, she would not be able to read another book in who knew how long.

Kagome was currently reading a historical text when she heard a small noise, one that sounded like a grunt. She looked up from the words from where she sat curled up tightly in a chair. She placed the book down gently and stood up, rounding the corner.

Kagome saw a young boy, about ten or so, dressed in loose pants and a vest, scaling the shelves.

"Do you need help?" Kagome asked and the boy, quite surprised, let out a yelp and crashed to the ground. Kagome walked over to him and crouched down, wondering if he was okay.

The boy sat up so quickly, Kagome fell backward to avoid being hit. "I am fine!" the boy announced in a strange accent.

"Are you sure?" Kagome wondered. The boy turned around and nodded, his red hair flying. Kagome started laughing; his face was so comical.

"What?" he asked confused.

Kagome shook her head. "Nothing," she replied, standing up. "Who are you?"

The boy hopped up, straightening his clothes. "I am Shippo, the messenger boy. Who are you? I have never seen you in the manor before."

"I am Kagome," Kagome answered. Shippo's eyes widened. "You are that girl that was rescued off the side of the road! I heard Lord Sesshomaru fought off a hoard of demons and bandits to save you!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "I was only unconscious from running so much."

Shippo's face fell. "Oh, that is good too, I guess." His face lit up again almost immediately again. "Were you running from a hoard of demons and bandits?"

"I guess you could say that," Kagome responded dryly.

Shippo's mouth broke out into a wide grin. "Oh, I cannot wait to tell the boys in town! They will have nothing on this!" Shippo ran off, completely forgetting why he was in the library in the first place.

Kagome sighed heavily, afraid that she was so well known here. It would most definitely not be long before Naraku caught word of this.

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Kikyo located Sesshomaru with much difficulty. It was strange, considering there was so much of the manor he did not dare go to.

"Sesshomaru!" Kikyo called out, catching his attention. His head snapped in her direction and he almost looked annoyed. Kikyo sighed, having a feeling that Sesshomaru was in a most sour mood.

"What?" He nearly growled.

Kikyo frowned at him. "Kagome cannot leave," she stated, hands on hip.

Sesshomaru's eyebrow rose. "I cannot stop her."

Kikyo's mouth fell open and she glared at him. "She is not safe outside. She is a girl and the world will take advantage of that."

Sesshomaru shook his head. "It is not my decision. Are you suggesting I barricade the door?"

Kikyo laughed humorlessly. "Very funny, Sesshomaru. No, I am suggesting that you give her another option. She thinks she is a burden here."

Sesshomaru turned to look at her. "What are you suggesting?"

"Ask her to work here."

Sesshomaru made a sound of disbelief. "I cannot offer jobs to anyone off the streets."

"It seems she was already a servant, a mistreated one at that. A job here would be of no difficulty," Kikyo argued.

Sesshomaru sighed. "If I ask her, will you leave me alone?"

Kikyo nodded. "If you ask her."

"There is no guarantee she will say yes."

"But we can try, Sesshomaru. I do not know where she came from, but I fear for her. She is not safe out there."

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It was night when Sesshomaru decided to offer Kagome a job. She was in her room, which was lit dimly with candles. She sat in her bed, kneeling, looking at her reflection in the window pane. Sesshomaru would have thought her vain if it was not for the frown marring her face. She seemed most unhappy about something.

He cleared his throat and her head snapped around. Her eyes narrowed immediately when she saw who it was. Even after he had given her food to eat and a room to sleep in, she was still careful around him. It was obvious that Kagome did not trust Sesshomaru one bit.

"I have come to offer you something." Sesshomaru did not move from his position by the door. Kagome remained kneeling on her bed and she nodded, silently telling him to continue.

"I offer you a job."

Kagome was shocked. A job? One with pay and board? "What kind of job?" Kagome asked suspiciously.

"As a maid," Sesshomaru clarified. Kagome thought for a moment. A job would be nice, would it not? She could buy her own things with money an-no! Kagome shook her head. She could not stay!

"I am sorry to say I cannot accept your offer," Kagome replied, turning back to the window.

Sesshomaru frowned. "You have somewhere else to be?" he asked.

Kagome turned back to look at him. "No, but-"

"I do not see why you cannot accept my offer. It is the kindest you will receive," Sesshomaru pointed out. Kagome could not understand why he cared, even the least bit.

"I cannot stay," Kagome told him, but Sesshomaru would have none of it.

"You have nowhere else to go, so you may stay. I expect to see you working. Talk to Kaede about your job." In one fluid motion, Sesshomaru opened up the door and walked out.

Kagome sat on her bed, not comprehending what had just happened. She had a job…? A real and actual job? It was almost laughable, almost. Could she really stay? Kagome gave it a thought. It would be useful to have some money on the road, so she could afford to buy some food or a place to stay overnight. With a short nod of her head, it was decided, Kagome would stay for only a short while until she had enough to leave. Though, Kagome could not help but feel like she was staying for a totally different reason.

A/N: Yay, another chapter! Kind of boring, but it means we are moving forward in the story! Like I already mentioned, the next few chapters will be slow and dull, so you cannot say you didn't see this coming. :) I hope to get at least another chapter up before the new year, but thanks to three new wifi-hogging devices in my house, along with having poor service to begin with, being able to access the internet has become a lot more difficult. I mean, I could just go all the way downstairs and reset the wifi, thus knocking everyone off, but I'm just too lazy. :P

BlindSaya- I believe this should answer your question (yes). I also do hope some of your other questions get answered soon, but I doubt it. I'm kind of a horrible person like that, making you have to wait until the very end. :)

Lakeya2700- Shake my head. Huh. I was once told that it meant "smash my head," which, as you probably understand, makes next to no sense. Shake my head sounds a lot more legit.

TearsDrippingDown- I'm being forced to view your review from my phone's saved emails, so either your itachi face looks cooler online or I'm not understanding something. What is an itachi face, if you don't mind explaining?

Guest- Hehe, friends of some sort. :) I think that takes a while, I hope you have patience. I mean, later Kagome's mistrust will make more sense (either that or it already does), so I'm trying to make it all happen at a believable pace, rather than real quick.

InconciousSin- Well, it's nice to know I wasn't the only one. :) Most people don't like Kikyo, do they? I, personally, don't hate her, the actual Kikyo, mainly because in my mind, the Kikyo present most of the time in the anime is not the actual Kikyo. Thus, I do not hate the real Kikyo.

Ainhoa11- I know, I just give the best presents, don't I? :) Also, you just reminded me that I needed to add a small bit to the end of this story. Excuse me. :3

Princess-snow510- It's funny, you see. You would have gotten that update sooner if I could have gotten the internet to work sooner. :)