{The Road Between Souls}

{chapter 3 - intertwining paths}

Standard disclaimers apply here. Enjoy!!!

~~~

Shirobou sat down in front of the three new slaves; two human; one youkai; all girls. "So," she said pleasantly.

"So what?" Yari asked cheerfully.

"So, I suppose I'll be teaching you. Tsuraiuta apparently has "better things to do", and I was a little bored."

"We know what to do, Shirobou-sama," Sango said impatiently. "tell us who we're assigned to."

"Yumeyari will go to Sesshoumaru-sama's chambers. Sango is now property of my private priest Miroku-sama, and Kagome...you should go to my son, I believe. His name is Inuyasha." Shirobou smiled encouragingly. "Ganbatte, minna-san."

Kagome blew a strand of hair out of her face. "This sounds like one big fireball of fun." Sango snorted. Yari snickered, and Shirobou sighed.

~~~

Kagome took a deep breath, then knocked lightly on the door that she knew was Inuyasha's. How long does it take to answer a door?

"Come in." a gruff voice all but growled out. Kagome slid the door open, balancing the dinner tray that also held sake and tea. She set it down carefully on the small table in the middle of the room, noting that he had an impatient look on his face, his chopsticks already clenched in clawed fists. She kept her eyes low, arranging the items on the plate.

"Would you like tea or sake?" she asked quietly, her eyes still low.

"Sake." Calmly, she poured the heated liquid into a small carafe. Her chores done, she slid back, curling into a ball in a corner near another table, this one covered with sword-care tools.

Kagome snuck a glance at him, with a displeased scowl on his face as he slid rice into his mouth. She almost gasped upon seeing the chopsticks. They were beautifully carved from ivory, with gold circles near the bright rubies shaped into small dogs resting at the top.

"What are you staring at?" Kagome snapped her eyes down.

"Your chopsticks, Inuyasha-sama. They're very beautiful." He snorted.

"Drop the -sama," Inuyasha ordered in an irritated tone. "I'm not some old relic like oyaji." Kagome shrugged.

"Whatever you say." She felt his eyes scrutinizing her, an interested look beginning to cover the annoyed scowl.

"Human. You're human," he declared in a disgusted tone, then returned to his dinner. Kagome bit back a snide remark. Well, what did you expect, baka?

After finishing his food, Kagome stood up and collected the dishes.

"Hey, you."

"I have a name, Inuyasha. My name is Kagome." she replied through gritted teeth.

"Bah! I don't care about a human slave's name. Anyway, tell the chef, whatsis name -"

"Dokukon."

" - that he needs to learn how to cook."

"I'll tell him that." With that, she bowed very low and left, sliding the door back into the other side harder than required.

Inuyasha grunted. "Women."

~~~

Late that night, Sango stormed into the slaves' quarters angrily yanking at her obi.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked sleepily. "Why are you so late?"

"That disgusting pervert!" Sango raged. "I swear, I'd rather be assigned to Sesshoumaru-sama than him!" Kagome blinked.

"Who?"

"That sick-minded so-called priest, that's who! I must've gotten my ass pinched fifty times!" Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Just go to sleep. I managed to save a blanket for you. Oyasumi nasai, Sango-chan."

"Oyasumi, Kagome-chan." Sango rolled over, wishing she was back at home with her brother and father. Kohaku-kun...chichi-ue...

~~~

The next morning, Kagome knocked once more on Inuyasha's door, realizing that it was plain and unmarked, unlike every other door she'd seen thus far. Hmph. Tasteless pig.

"Come in."

Kagome slid in, asking quietly whether he wanted tea or sake, then began to pour tea out for him at his response. She repeated last night's routine, but this time she let her eyes watch his face as he began to eat. He paused and looked over at her.

"Okay, what gives? That moron couldn't've improved this fast!"

"Naniyo?" Inuyasha slammed his chopsticks down on the table.

"Who cooked it? The old chef sure as hell didn't."

"I did," Kagome answered calmly, as if it were a stupid question.

"Why?" he seemed confused. Kagome shrugged.

"You said yourself that you didn't like how Dokukon cooked, and I wanted to see if I could remember how after three years. So I got up early and made your breakfast."

Inuyasha blinked. "You didn't have to."

She ignored his remark and asked him, "Do you like it?"

"Aa. How come you didn't cook for three years?"

"The youkai wolf tribe prefers raw meat, and only raw meat. Kouga-kun let me roast mine, but I haven't made miso soup or rice in three years."

"That doesn't answer my question." he returned to eating, but kept his eyes on her.

"My father gave me to the leader of the youkai wolf tribe as a peace offering three years ago. And now I get to cook again. And if I'm lucky, I'll be able to scrounge up a book or two!" Kagome gave him a brilliant smile. "I haven't read anything in three years either, so I hope I can remember how."

Inuyasha looked at her curiously. "How is it that a slave knows how to read and write? And why would you want to bother? I don't."

"I haven't been a slave all my life, you know. I was the village head's daughter, and a shrine maiden at that. And my brother made my father pay for lessons for me, so I could teach him and my imouto. He said I was the best teacher out of the three of us," Kagome replied haughtily.

"Teach me, then."

Blink. Blink. "You said you didn't bother."

"Only because Sesshoumaru was the only one willing to teach me. And it's bad enough that he taught me how to fight."

Kagome stuck her hand out. "I'll make you a deal." Inuyasha shot her a suspicious glare.

"What kind of deal?"

"You get me ten books from Shirobou-sama's library - and I mean good ones, like philosophy and fairy tales, and you get paper and writing stuff, and I'll teach you everything I know." He grabbed her hand, a little too roughly, and shook it.

"Deal. See you in the garden after I get healed from my fight today with Sesshoumaru."

Now it was her turn to look curious. "Why would you need healing?"

"We beat up on each other pretty hard out there. I almost ripped his right arm off once. And he's run me through with his claws about five times." Inuyasha shrugged it off as if it were nothing. "It's no big deal, because we have Miroku here. He can heal most wounds, but I wish that we had someone better, like a Shinto priestess."

"I can heal some. I told you, I'm a shrine maiden. Or was. Or whatever. My real specialty is holy-spell arrows. Those are fun."

Inuyasha laughed. "You're a weird girl."

"I should probably go. Sayonara, Inuyasha-sama." Kagome picked up the tray, her voice returning to the professional servile tone. Inuyasha reached out and grabbed her wrist, his face very close to hers.

"Don't forget." he said quietly.

"I won't," she replied, her voice a little shaky. Gently, she pulled her hand away from his, then gave the customary bow, closing the door carefully. So that's Kagome...a nice scent - for a human.

~~~

"Oi, ofukuro!" Shirobou looked up, seeing her son walk in to the one place she thought she'd never see him.

The library. Dun dun dun!

"Konnichi wa, Inuyasha." he rolled his eyes, then began rummaging through the scrolls placed haphazardly around the small disorganized room.

"What are you looking for?" Shirobou asked, knowing it was, more likely than not, pointless to ask her son why he wanted reading material. If it was important, he would tell her. If it wasn't, she would probably either figure it out or pry it from his well-guarded mind.

"Philosophy...fairy tales...any shit a girl would like." Inuyasha glared at a dusty scroll. "How the hell are you supposed to find anything here?!"

Now that was interesting. "Practice. Who are the scrolls for?"

"Some girl slave. She's gonna teach me to read. So we made a deal: I give her ten books. She teaches me. But I need paper, too, and crap like that."

"Why are you going along with this? You could just force her to teach you." Shirobou now had a slight idea of what was going on.

He shrugged. "It really makes no difference to me."

"You're lying. You sensed it, too."

"Did not. Anyhow, she's only a shrine maiden." Inuyasha turned to face his mother. "Are you gonna help me or not!?"

"You're avoiding the question," Shirobou insisted, but began to pull out some scrolls. "Tell the truth: you know it, too. You know it's her."

"It is not. It can't be her."

"Why not?" Shirobou pushed all the scrolls into an orderly pile, handing them to Inuyasha. "You've owned her for less than a day and you're already sure that it's not her."

"You barely spoke to her," Inuyasha shot back. "I'll see if it is her, but I highly doubt it. She lacks the piety."

"Be careful." she leaned forward and tilted her head, kissing her son on his forehead.

"I'm not a kid anymore, ofukuro!" he protested, storming out of the room.

I know, my son. You're all grown up now, ne?

~~~

"Okay, so you hold the brush like this," Kagome demonstrated, then corrected the placing of his index finger.

Today was a bright sunny summer day. Kagome sat on Inuyasha's left outside as small animals frolicked around them, the writing instruments spread out on a low table borrowed from the library. Carefully, she reached forward and with seventeen quick, even brush strokes, three characters emerged.

"Inu. Ya. Sha." she sounded out, pointing at each character. "Your name. Now you write it."

It was the fifth lesson, and so far Inuyasha had seemed to pick up on reading fairly quickly. He wasn't eager to begin writing, but Kagome had insisted. Inuyasha copied the characters in a messy script, glaring at her defiantly.

Kagome stood up and knelt behind him, placing her left hand on his left shoulder, her right covering his as she gripped it tightly, rewriting the words next to his childlike version.

"Like that, see?" she said quietly.

"I still don't get it," he grumped. Slowly, Inuyasha turned his face so that his mouth was right next to her ear. "you said you were a good teacher."

"Then...then you should get...a better...teacher..." she was having a hard time talking...he was so close...

Gently, almost tenderly, he reached with his left hand and turned her head so that she was staring down into his eyes...deep, gold pools...she could stare into his eyes forever...

"What if...I want you...?" as he spoke, Inuyasha's lips lightly brushed against hers...more of a tease than a kiss, really. As if he were moving in slow motion, his mouth moved closer to hers, kissing her softly. Kagome felt her eyes closing, his hand still resting on her face. She moved her right hand to tangle in his thick silver hair. Inuyasha's free hand wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him as he turned his body slightly to make it easier to sit.

Kagome found herself falling deeper into his embrace, her right hand unconsciously shifting position to rest on his hard, well-toned chest. Slowly, he pulled back, then leaned forward again, kissing her harder this time. She felt his tongue roll across her lips, seeking entrance. She opened her mouth slightly, feeling him explore her mouth, shifting her tongue inside of his mouth.

She moaned softly as Inuyasha's hands moved to massage her back gently. Kagome pulled her mouth away from his, resting her head on his shoulder as his lips teased her neck and earlobe.

"See?" he breathed. Kagome closed her eyes, hoping for the moment to never end.

"Kagome! Kagome, where are you!?" Quick as lightning, Kagome moved out of her owner's embrace.

"Who's there?" she called out, keeping her eyes away from Inuyasha.

"It's Tsuraiuta, baka! You were supposed to be in the kitchens fifteen minutes ago!" as she yelled, Tsurai moved into view.

"Calm down. I kept her after." Inuyasha stepped forward. "You can go now, though." Kagome bowed, though perhaps not as deep as before, bending to clean up the mess made during their tryst. Tsurai bowed.

"Sayonara, Inuyasha-sama," the two girls said in unison. He frowned.

"Drop the -sama, Kagome." Kagome shrugged, then bowed again and walked off.

Tsuraiuta followed, lecturing Kagome as they walked. Kagome's thoughts were, however, on other matters at that particular moment. Inuyasha...are all your kisses that sweet...?

~~~

Yay being alive. See you in the next chapter, minna-san!