Laura-chan, you're going to hate me!!!  *grovels*  The official pairing is……Kagome and……Sesshoumaru.  FORGIVE ME!!!!!!

Disclaimer:  I don't own anyone from Inuyasha, but there are a few original characters tossed in here.

AN:  I'm soooo sorry for getting this out so late!!!  I was inspired to work on my original manga idea and then, last week, I had to haul wood.  Ahhh, the one curse of using a woodstove to heat the house…   Anyway, I know Kagome was a little rough of Inu, but they'll get some fluffy moments later.  But not now.

Reviewer Responses at the end!!!

Chapter 4

Kagome was fairly panting for breath by the time they reached the top of the stairs that lead up to the castle.  She and Sesshoumaru had left Kaede some where along the way despite Kagome's pleads to stay with her, Sesshoumaru had assured her that she would be fine and he would send someone to help her.  Kagome hated to think how the poor old woman was fairing if she herself was having a hard time catching her breath.  If she had ever been sure about anything in her entire life is was that she knew she had at least five blisters on each foot from her boots.  'God I'm going to burn these things the first chance I get.'  Sesshoumaru had spoken very little since leaving the cavern below, she had glanced at him a few times only to see eyes that looked distant and preoccupied and she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about.  Despite their lack of conversation, Sesshoumaru had stopped once they reached the top of the stairs, allowing time for her to recover from their hike; whether it was out of pity or understanding she didn't know, but right now she didn't care.  She leaned carefully against the cool stones of the wall next to her and tried to calm her heavily beating heart and breathing.

Sesshoumaru had spent the entire walk up the halls attempting to find a way out of the mess that Inuyasha had gotten them into.  The only slightly plausible plan he could come up with would be that upon scouting the lands around their castle, Inuyasha and himself had come upon the pirates' hide out.  And they and their men had waited until nightfall and had dashed in, saved the women and dashed out.  But it sounded made up to him, and he was sure that it would to anyone else with a miniscule amount of intelligence.  Not only that, it required the cooperation of the women, who had no reason to work with them.  'I'm going to beat the hell out of him when this is over.'  Sesshoumaru was sick and tired of having his family's name dishonored at every turn; it had started with his father and was apparently continuing with Inuyasha.  'Am I the only one with any sense in this family?' he found himself wondering as he had so many times before. 

He had been about to continue into the castle with the girl when he spotted an all-too familiar person leaning against a wall a little ways from them.   Miroku was leaning toward the wall with his right arm braced against the wall above his head, with another body in-between the wall and himself.  'Doesn't he ever give up?'   Sesshoumaru was almost tempted to watch and wait for the moment Miroku would get stuck, however he remembered the old governess climbing the stairs somewhere behind them.

"Miroku!"  He barked suddenly, startling Miroku and the girl in front of him.  Miroku pushed himself away from the wall almost violently coming to a stilted halt precariously close to the opposite side with his hands demurely behind his back. 

"Go help the governess coming up the stairs."  His face fell immediately at his command before quietly asking,

"Is the Lady Kagome with her?"

Upon hearing her name, Kagome stepped closer to Sesshoumaru to see down the hallway and spot Miroku and the girl who was glaring at him.  Kagome could only guess what Miroku could have been doing when Sesshoumaru had called out his name.  The girl looked to be a year or so older than Kagome herself with long black hair tied up in a high ponytail.  They way she was dressed made Kagome think she was one of the servants.  Miroku heaved a sigh heavy with disappointment upon seeing her and walked past them to go down the halls and find Kaede. 

"Sango."  He called to the girl next who stood up fully.  "Go search the castle and see if you can find any trunks that could possibly contain women's clothing.  And have someone prepare two rooms for our guests."  Sango looked at him strangely for a brief moment before complying.

"Yes, Lord." She answered shortly with a quick curtsy before bustling hurriedly down the hall.

"Come with me."  He said to Kagome quietly; it wasn't a command, as the other two had been, it was almost a request.  Kagome followed him without compulsion and thought about the scene she had just witnessed.  This man was obviously bred to be to a station of some standing; the way he carried himself, the way he spoke to others, it was all there.  Kagome hadn't been paying any attention to where they were going when she almost bumped into him when he stopped at a doorway and had opened the door for her.  Quietly apologizing she turned into the room only to stop short.  The room was quiet cozy, a fire popped welcomingly in the large hearth that took up half the left wall, a large desk sat in the middle room covered in neatly stacked in piles.  One large winged back chair sat behind the desk covered in rare violet and red upholstery, two similar chairs sat before the desk.  There was a fairly large cabinet in the back corner to the left of the desk, setting on top of the cabinet were several decanters of red and golden liquids and empty glasses.  The room wasn't the reason she had stopped short; the reason was the fact that she would be in this room with a man, alone.  She had never been alone with a man before; oh sure there was the once with Hojo but he didn't count, she'd known him practically forever.   This was practically a complete stranger.

Sesshoumaru watched her stop after just entering the room and inspect the furnishings.  She seemed to have come to some kind of revelation or remembered something.  Sesshoumaru had an idea of what it was and could barely keep the smirk that tried to curl his lips off his face.  Kagome was obviously a bred to some kind of station if it was the thought he thought it was.  She didn't look over sixteen, so she had probably never been alone with a man before.  He might be able to use that unease to his advantage.   He stepped barely into the room and shut the doors behind him quietly before coming up behind her.

"Have a seat."  He said into her ear, startling the girl, causing her to jump and almost knocking their heads together.  She stepped away from him quickly and walked stiffly to one of the large chairs before the desk.  Sesshoumaru let one corner of his lips tip up slightly at her reaction as he walked over to the liquor cabinet to pour himself a glass.

Kagome sat down it the chair heavily, trying to calm the shaking of her hands by holding them tightly in her lap.  Her heart, so soon after recovering from her earlier exercise, felt like it was going to beat out of her chest at any moment it was beating so hard.  He had scared the living daylights out of her when he had come up behind her and spoke into her ear and she suspected that he knew it.  Her efforts to hide her shaking must have been obvious because he graciously asked if she wanted a drink.  Kagome was almost tempted to accept but though better of it; the last thing she needed was something to alter her judgment.  With a slight shrug of his shoulders Sesshoumaru brought a full glass of ale with him to the chair across the desk from her and sat down.  He said nothing but looked at her for a moment while taking a sip from his drink.  Kagome couldn't help but fidget under his gaze.  'Why is he staring?'   With a sigh Sesshoumaru sat his glass onto the desktop.

"I really don't know what to do, Miss Kagome." He stated causally as he continued to watch her. 

"About what?" She asked politely.

"About you and your governess and my half-brother's idiocy."  Sesshoumaru picked up his ale again and took a long swallow.  The glass met the desk again and amber eyes met sapphire. 

"I have no problem with letting you both go if you both swear not to mention my family's name."  Sesshoumaru told her levelly.  Kagome couldn't contain the indignation that rose within her. 

"You cannot be serious sir.  I have been publicly humiliated by your brother, he and his crew murdered everyone onboard our ship, not to mention the fact that everyone back home will now question my chastity.  I cannot simply be cowed into silence because this will undoubtedly ruin me."

"I think you are over exaggerating things Madame.  All that needs to be done is for you to see a midwife who will verify your purity."

"And let you and your brother continue to go around murdering people?"  She retorted angrily.

"I am being more than generous in letting you go." He answered simply, looking at her blankly.

"Your nothing but murdering, treacherous pirates!"  She stood, slamming her fists onto the table for emphasis. 

"Do you wish to play pirates and the damsel in distress then?" Sesshoumaru stood as well, circling around the desk to step toward her, only letting a fraction of irritation show in his voice.  "I could offer you your maid's life in exchange for your silence.  Or easier yet, I could kill you both and dump the bodies in the ocean."  For each statement he took a step forward; and for every one of his steps forward she stepped back.  "Or I could kill the old woman and give you to my men to toy with.  What do you think about those options Lady?"  He asked slightly mockingly as Kagome backed into the warm stonewall opposite the fireplace.  She had paled considerably at his suggestions, clearly showing that she had forgotten with whom she was dealing.  Sesshoumaru stepped closer, crowding her against the wall, towering over her, but not touching, using only his presence to intimidate her.  Nothing like a good dose of fear to cow someone into a somewhat subdued state.

"We are murders." He continued, locking eyes with the frightened girl before him.  Lifting one long, graceful hand to her neck, he brushed away the hair that rested there with a quick movement that made the girl jump.  Sesshoumaru trailed his fingertips across the soft skin in light patterns, distinctly feeling Kagome shiver slightly.  "You said so yourself.  I could slip a blade across your throat while you sleep, or while your conscious, it matters not, and feel absolutely no remorse."

Kagome couldn't breath.  If his close, daunting presence hadn't been the catalyst for her current breathing restriction, then the hand on her neck certainly was.  Kagome struggled to clear her thoughts as her heart pounded frantically in her chest, sending an almost painful amount of oxygen to her head.  'He's just trying to intimidate me.'  She kept trying to tell herself; the thought however, went no farther than that.  She couldn't tear her eyes from his steadfast gaze of molten gold as she looked up at him.  Emphases on the looking up; Kagome was startled to realize just how much taller he was than her.  She had realized that he was tall but it had apparently escaped her as to the extent.  The fire behind him cast an eerie gold glow around his figure, the light filtered through his loose hair giving his already unusual coloring an ethereal feel.

Sesshoumaru watched a blush spread across her cheeks as her pulse picked up underneath his hand.  Despite the fact that he stood between her and the fire, her eyes had managed to catch and reflect some of its light; making the blue in them shift and swim with darker shades of itself.  At that moment, Sesshoumaru thought her eyes looked deeper than any ocean that he had ever sailed.  They looked infinitely deep; Sesshoumaru leaned forward slightly, getting closer, he searched their swirling depths for any sign of an end.  Her pink lips, almost rouge from her heart's rapid pace, parted slightly as her breathing became more labored.

Sesshoumaru blinked.  'What the…?'  He stepped back away from her, his eyes narrowing and a frown turning the corners of his mouth downward.  'What was that?' he wondered as he turned away from her to stand in front of the fireplace.

Kagome slid slowly down the wall and landed with an unladylike plop onto the floor and stared blankly forward.  'W…what was that about?' she thought shakily as her heart gradually slowed and her breathing returned to normal.  Kagome lifted her gaze up to the man that stood in front of the fireplace with his back to her.  

The door suddenly slammed open, startling them both out of thoughts.

"Damn it Sesshoumaru!  Why the hell…" Inuyasha stopped mid-sentence as he looked from his brother near the fire to the blushing girl on the ground.  Inuyasha smiled slyly at his brother.  "Should I bother asking what you two were doing?" he asked flippantly.

Kagome's blush deepened as she squawked in indignation.  "How dare you…" she started as she jumped to her feet in a rustle of fabric.  "…insinuate that kind of thing?!"

"Well what the hell am I supposed to think girl?  I come in and you're sitting on the floor against the wall blushing like hell after being in the room alone with my brother, just what should I think?" he shot back lucidly.

"Well, at least ask or something…" she mumbled, looking away.  'Oh God, what if he had come in a few minutes sooner?'  Her blush deepened.

Sesshoumaru watched the girl, Kagome, and his brother's little argument silently.  He watched his brother's expression and listened to his voice tone intently, and cocked a delicately tapered eyebrow in Inuyasha's direction.  'Is he purposely leading her on?'  Sesshoumaru would have snorted if it weren't beneath him.  So he settled for a quite, barely noticeable sigh.

"Inuyasha, take Miss Kagome to one of the rooms that Sango prepared.  She has much to think over."  He said blandly as he walked back to his desk.

"Think over?  Think over what?" Inuyasha asked.  Sesshoumaru turned abruptly and stared pointedly into Kagome's eyes.

"Her options."

Inuyasha watched Kagome blanch and shift under his brother's gaze.  He couldn't really help but wonder what had happened before he had come in.  It was almost like an itch, his curiosity that is.  An itch that started between his shoulder blades, in that infernal spot that he could never quite reach.  Damn but he needed to scratch this itch before it became worse he thought as he looked around the room for any clues as to what happened.  No overturned furniture, no broken glass either.   'Hmm…' He wondered as his eyes traveled around the room until they finally found his brother's.  Sesshoumaru turned his pointed gaze at him and arched his eyebrow at him, almost as if saying, 'Well?'  With a heavy sigh Inuyasha stomped over to the girl and grabbed her wrist; but not as ungently as before.

"Come on." He said simply as he started to lead her toward the door.  To his surprise she came complacently and silently, her startling blue eyes downcast.

*~_~*

Sesshoumaru watched his brother lead the oddly quite girl out of the room and waited until their footsteps had faded from his hearing before letting a scowl slightly distort his features.  He couldn't rightly say what had happened to him when he had been near that girl, and that bothered him.  He walked briskly back to the fireplace, ale in hand, and leaned against the mantelpiece.  Some of his hair tumbled over his shoulders with the motion and a few smaller wisps fell over his eyes.  Sesshoumaru watched the fire's light play on the watery strands in a warm yellow glow.  His thoughts drifted back to the girl and his odd reactions.  His intent when he had stepped close to her had been purely to intimidate.  Nothing more than that.  So what the hell had happened?  He couldn't remember anything between the time that he had looked into her eyes and when he had finally snapped out of whatever trance he fallen into.

Sesshoumaru lifted the glass to his lips before backing it up and looking at the golden liquid intently.  He smiled ruefully before tossing the rest of the alcohol into the fire.  He watched as the flames burst violent for a moment before returning to its normal fever.   'Father always used to tease me about not mixing well with alcohol.'

*~_~*

Kagome walked mutely down the halls, not paying heed to where Inuyasha was leading her, but just following his presence in front of her.  When Inuyasha had burst into the room, in her anger and mortification, she had completely forgotten her current situation.  No matter how these people treated her, they were still pirates.  Inuyasha had undoubtedly killed several people on her ship, and his brother, Sesshoumaru, had made it perfectly clear that it might be in their best interest to kill her and Kaede and be done with it.  He had offered to let both her and her governess go with the only condition of not leading anything back to them.  Was he telling the truth or just feeding her lies to make her complacent? 

Inuyasha glanced back at her from time to time only to see that her concentration was focused inward, he was really amazed that she hadn't walked into a wall or anything with all the corners and such that he was leading her around.  She wasn't acting like the stubborn and fiery woman she had on the ship, or even when he had dragged her off the ship.  She had been back for a moment when he had burst into study, but then went back into this reclusive submissive mode.  'What the hell did Sesshoumaru say to her?' he almost growled with his thoughts.  Damn that prick.  Inuyasha jerked to a stop when he realized that he'd been about to pass her door.  Kagome walked straight into his back due to his sudden halt.

"What is it?" she asked quietly, blinking up at him and rubbing her nose. 

She looked rather cute.  'Aarrgghh!!  What the hell?'

"Your room." He answered gruffly with a gesture toward the door.

"Oh." She said simply as she walked to the door and opened it.  Stepping into the room, Kagome turned around and gave Inuyasha a weak, forced smile.

"Thank you for showing me to my room."  Inuyasha merely nodded at her words and Kagome started to shut the door.

"Umm…" he started, causing Kagome to pause in her actions and look back at him again.  "Whatever that ass said to you in there, don't take it to heart."  He murmured as he looked away from her.  "He just tries to act like a bad ass."  Kagome blinked at him for a few moments.

She smiled at him again, genuinely.  "Thank you, Inuyasha."

He just 'hmphed' and stomped away.  Kagome smiled again as she watched him walk back the way they had come.

AN:  Again, I am so sorry about the long wait, but was it worth it?  Anyway, I probably wont update this until after the 15th of December because I'm entering a Fanfiction contest and the stories are due by the 15th.  So I'll probably have PP 5 up on the 21st.  PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!

Reviewer Responses:

Snowgirl – See, here's Sango!!!  I hope you like this one too!

Araya Nattawat – If you hadn't guessed yet, yes, it is Sess/Kagome.  Thanks and I hope that you like this one too!

J.Garibaldi – Yes, he is creepy isn't he?  Thanks so much!

Shahrezad1 – I know, I love them both too!  But I'm glad that you enjoyed it and I hope that you liked this one too.

DemonBlade – I was so unsure about how the kicking Inuyasha thing would go over but it seems that several people liked it.  Thanks for the review and I hope that you liked this one!!

vicious-wolf – Here it is!!  Sorry it took so long! Thanks and I hope you enjoyed!

Shura – What did you think of this one?  Did it qualify as a cliffhanger?  Thanks you and I hope you like this one!

Voldersnort – I'm so glad that you did click this one!  I hope you liked this chapter too!

catleya – I'm sorry its not Inu/Kag, but I hope that you'll read this anyway!  Thanks for the review anyhow!

Laura-chan - *grovels* I'M SO SORRY!!!!!  Please forgive me!!  You've only been chanting Inu/Kag the whole time!  Please don't kill me!  I had an idea at the beginning that this would be Sess/Kag but it wasn't for sure. I'M SOO SORRY!!!!!

BoOkWoRm – I hope you didn't lose it before I got this out!  Thanks!!

sorena27 – Sorry I didn't update soon!  Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoyed this one!!

Anonymous Reviewer – Thanks so much!! 

Saori – Sorry it's not Inu/Kag but I'm glad that you'll still read this!  Thank you so much for the review!

Vesta, the Great - *grovels again* Please forgive my tardiness Oh Great One!  My feeble excuses are at the top of the page.  Anyway, I hope you liked this one too!

PLEASE REVIEW!!  PLEASE REVIEW!! PLEASE REVIEW!! PLEASE REVIEW!! PLEASE REVIEW!!  PLEASE REVIEW!!   PLEASE REVIEW!!  PLEASE REVIEW!! PLEASE REVIEW!!  PLEASE REVIEW!!   PLEASE REVIEW!!   PLEASE REVIEW!!  PLEASE REVIEW!!  PLEASE REVIEW!!