AN: Hey everyone! Thank you for 100 reviews!! Wow, I didn't think this story would be that popular, especially since I've been taking so long to update. You guys are great, and just because of that, I wrote this chapter as soon as I could. It's amazing. I actually had some events in this chapter planned before I wrote it. You should thank my supercool mom for this chapter. She helped me with the ideas and some of the next chapter. Well, hope you enjoy. I don't really know what this chapter is..it's just kinda..yeah..well, please review and send any suggestions. BTW, I think I figured out how I'm going to end the story. Just thought I'd let you know. Read on! Peace and popsicles.
A TWIST OF FATE*~CHAPTER 9
The small group was heading towards the youkai lord's house now, at a slow pace, though not much slower than that of before. It seemed that the small demon did not hold them back in the least bit, being as he was almost always riding on the shoulder of the young miko, constantly gibbering to the girl, yet not holding her back. She walked on, as fast as she could, struggling to keep up with the larger demon.
He couldn't help but watch her. There was a disconcerting fascination with her, buried deep inside of him somewhere, and it absolutely refused to be destroyed, similar to the young woman herself. She would simply not be destroyed. Nothing saddened her. Well, almost nothing. There was that day...the hanyou was, no doubt in the least bit, an idiot. But he had know that for a long time. The half breed had proven that to be true more than fifty years ago, by falling in love with the other miko. He watched her with a narrow, intent, and frustrated gaze that betrayed his normal, cool nature. He watched her walk, watched her talk to the annoying thing blabbering away on her shoulder...watched how she tolerated it with calm, yet cheerful replies, making sure that the child received the attention that was necessary. There was something about this girl.... Suddenly, she looked up, bringing an abrupt end to his musings.
Kagome watlked slowly, chatting with Shippo, attempting to gather news about her friends. Sure, she hadn't been gone for any signigicant amount of time at all, but she already missed them. You know, that cliche "you don't know what you have until it's gone". The only problem was, she knew how much she had..she knew what great friends she had, and now, she knew that she couldn't see them. I wonder what's worse...not knowing what you had, only to realize it when you wake up and find it's gone, or knowing what you had the whole time and knowing it was going to leave you. I guess it's a lose-lose situation either way, so it doesn't really matter. She reasoned with herself. She needed to stop. These were the types of thoughts that depressed her, and she didn't want to be depressed right now. Not in front of Shippo. Not in front of Sesshoumaru.
Suddenly, Kagome felt something. The same feeling she had felt before. Someone was watching her. It wasn't a good feeling. She looked around. Shippo was obviously staring straight at her, talking. But, then she looked at Sesshoumaru. He turned slightly away from her. So, it was him! He was the one watching me the day I left the others! That white..it was him! It wasn't Inu Yasha, it was Sesshoumaru! He-
"Um..Sesshoumaru-sama.." Kagome was absolutely shocked to hear Shippo's voice ringing through her thoughts.
Shippo..he's talkin to Sesshoumar..that's all...Talking to Sesshoumaru!! Oh no..
Kagome wasn't quite sure, but she thought she heard the demon lord grunt a show of acknowledgement even while obviously ignoring the child, if that was possible.
"Well..I..I was wondering.." Shippo stammered.
Sesshoumaru turned to the small youkai and stared blankly at him. Well, at least he was paying attention to the kid.
"Continue."
"Well..I..uh.." Shippo looked at Kagome.
"Go ahead, Shippo." Kagome nodded.
"Well..uh....uh....WHAT'S YOUR HOUSE LIKE?!" he blurted out to the demon lord.
Oh no...
Kagome wasn't looking forward to the reply, but amazingly enough, Sesshoumaru's comment was not a harsh one or even a death threat.
"Perhaps you should wait a while and just see for yourself."
"Fine.." Shippo grumbled, snuggling into Kagome's chest.
Not that he mentioned it, Kagome realized that she hadn't even thought about that. What type of place would a youkai lord like Sesshoumaru live in? He would probably live in a very secure place, well protected...but then again, he is a strong demon lord, so maybe he doesn't need much protection. Kagome thought about this as they walked on. It was quite interesting. She would have contemplated the subject longer except..
"We are here." Sesshoumaru interrupted her train of thought.
"Well, obviously. We can't be anywhere else than where we are, can we?" Kagome replied smartly. But then again, I'm the perfect evidence against that, aren't I? After all, a part of me is Kikyo and she's obviously not here right now. Whatever. Her thoughts were too confusing for her at the moment.
"Whoa! Kagome! Look!" Kagome looked up and realized quite abruptly what Sesshoumaru had meant. Shippo had definitely been commenting on Sesshoumaru's house which they were just a small distance from.
Shippo was gauking in amazement.
Kagome was shocked.
Sesshoumaru couldn't give a damn.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It hurt. It really did. But then again, why wouldn't getting hit on the head with a giant boomerang more times than a person can count not hurt? Give up? It would. It would just plain hurt. Like hell. Not that the fact slowed Miroku down any. Quite contrary.
Yep, Sango had reached a conclusion. There was nothing in the monk's head, therefore, even when hit the number of times he had been, no long term damage was done. There was nothing to damage. Just like hitting empty space. Yes, that had to be it; it explained everything perfectly.
Sango, Miroku, Kaede, and Kirara were all sitting outside of the old woman's hut, eating. Miroku had spotted where he wanted to be and moved deftly into the choice position (within groping range of Sango's bottom), but Sango was much quicker to act, and there was a thud of boomerang on empty skull, followed by a somewhat loopy Miroku.
Kaede just smiled to herself contentedly. But her thoughts soon shifted to others besides the perverted houshi and the young exterminator.
"There is something that bothers me." The old woman looked at the other three.
"What is the matter, Lady Kaede?" Miroku asked while sneaking in for another all-too-obvious-Sango-bottom-rub.
"The fact of Kagome's disappearnce."
"Do not worry, Lady Kaede. I am sure that she and Inu Yasha just got into a fight. Inu Yasha will be going to get her back soon." The other two reassured her.
"Yes, i assume that is very likely, but the fact that Shippo is also missing disturbs me. He never accompanied Kagome on her trips back to her own time before. It is also possible that he went to look for Kagome, but in that case, how come he is not back yet? Something is not right. This does not bode well."
"I see the reason in your thoughts. What do you propose we do, Lady Kaede?" Miroku asked her.
"I believe that we should search for Kagome. I have a foreboding feeling, and I wish to have Kagome back we us beofre something happens. Do any of you know where Inu Yasha is?"
"I'm sorry, Lady Kaed.." Sango said in a sad voice. "..we don't..HENTAI!!"
Miroku had made his move.
*Wham!*
"..we don't know where Inu Yasha is, so I suggest that we look for her without him."
"Yes, I agree." a muffled voice replied from a rather disheveled monk. "We should search for her ourselves; if the problem concerned Inu Yasha, perhaps it would not be smart for Kagome to see him first thing.
"Yes, let's go gind her. You..HENTAI HOUSHI!!!"
"Then we shall go as soon as they are finished." A tired-looking Kaede told Kirara as a very mad girl waved a large object at a young man, the whole while, yelling about pervert monks, in the background.
Man, you'd think all those beatings would leave a mark...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kagome and Shippo stood, frozen in their tracks, staring at it.
Kagome flinched.
Man, was it ugly! The thing she was looking at appeared to be as if it was made out of green and brown mud and was built very squat and was very rough around the edges. To put it simply, it grossed her out.
"Sesshoumaru-sama!"
It came running across the front garden of a beautiful building, towards Sesshoumaru then stopped to bow in front of him.
"Sesshoumaru-sama! I'm so glad you're back..what is this disgusting human doing with you, lord Sesshoumaru?!"
"Jaken. How is Rin." Sesshoumaru gazed at the toad with total indefference written all over his face. The only thing ever written on his face.
"She is fine, m'lord. This Jaden has seen to it..." Kagome could swear that Jaken looked a little hurt.
"Where is she."
"She is in the left garden, m'lord."
"Fetch her. And tell the others to make up a room in the west wing. This human will be staying here."
Jaken was, needless to say, shocked. His already tennis ball-sized eyes grew to the size of dishplates, but he nodded anyways.
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama." He scurried away.
Sesshoumar began walking towards the beautiful building. Kagome still stood, looking at it. She didn't know how to describe it. Sesshoumaru had called it a castle, bit it had more of a mansion/castle/fortress thing going on. And, amazingly, it resembled European castles she had seen in her history books more than the large mansions built for Japanese lords. It was made mostly from stone and was somewhat detailed, but not incredibly ornate. The reason it was so beautiful were the gardens surrounding it. They were simply spectacular. And the whole place outside of the gardens was surrounded by meadow and forest. She was at a loss.
"You will have plenty of time to gawk later." Sesshoumaru had stopped walking and was now talking to the girl. "Unless you would rather spend the night outside, that is."
"Whatever. I'm coming." She grumbled. She would just have to look at it later. Sesshoumaru continued walking and Kagome had to jog to catch up.
Kagome couldn't help it. As they crossed the front part of the grounds, she had to ask.
"This is your home?"
"Yes."
"Wait, wait, wait, let me get this stragiht...you live here?!"
"If buy live you mean my house where I sleep, eat, and breathe, then yes."
Kagome didn't know what to say, and found herself even more speechless as two rustic-looking, dark wooden doors were opened by a servant who led them into the entrance of the house.
"It's beautiful." she whispered. "You're so lucky to live in a place like this! It's amazing!"
"It's nothing but a home."
If the outside had been amazing, she didn't know how to describe the intereior of the home. It was beautiful in its simplicity. There was very little furniture, but the furniture that was there was exquisite and expertly placed.
"You've got to give me the name of your interior designer."
"I do not know what this interior designer that you speak of is.
"Oh..well..it's.."
"Sesshoumaru-sama!!!"
Kagome was shocked as a young girl flung herself at the demon lord, a disgruntled Jaken scurrying down the hall behind her.
"Sesshoumaru-sama is back!! Rin missed Sesshoumaru-sama!"
"Rin."
"Rin-I is sorry. I missed..you!" The little girl was obviously struggling with her words while bobbing up and down. Kagome had to smile. The almighty Sesshoumaru teaching a child proper manners. What a twist that was.
"Oh! It's that pretty lady!" Rin had obviously spotted Kagome. "Here! Pretty lady can have the flowers!" Rin held up a bouquet of what looked to be a bunch of weeds and a few daisies. "Sesshoumaru sama, is pretty lady going to be Rin's mommy?"
This time, Kagome interupted, saving the day.
"Thank you very much for the beautiful flowers, Rin-chan. I'm Kagome." Kagome smiled at the child. "And this is Shippo." She pointed to the small kitsune on her shoulder.
"Hi! I'm Shippo!" Shippo flashed a grin. "Do you like to play?"
"Rin loves to play!" Rin looked at Sesshoumaru. "I...love to play!!"
"Great! Me too! Let's go!"
Rin lloked up at Sesshoumaru agian.
"You may go."
The two children were gone like that in a flurry of luaghs and gigles.
"Jaken."
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"Watch them."
"Yes Sesshoumaru-sama." Jaken hurried away after the two children.
"Wow." Kagome smiled.
"What." Something in her tone annoyed him slightly.
"I never thought I'd live to see the day that the all-powerful Sesshoumaru cares for a little girl."
"Do no speak of things that you know nothing of."
"Why wouldn't I know anything of this?"
"You are a simple-minded human who does not know anything about washing herself, judging by you stench, let alone, anything about Rin."
"Oh, so I stink, do I?!"
"You wreak."
Well, I haven't taken a bath in a while, and my clothes are filthy, but still! He can't talk to me like that! "There's something goin on, isn't there? You're jsut scared that I'll figure something out about Rin. And..I don't stink.
"Afraid, am I?" With tah, in one huge swoop, SEsshoumaru had Kagome in his arms and was carrying her out of a double door and into a large bath house.
"Put me down, you creep!" Kagome kicked at him, but it was no use. he dept walking until he entered a large room with many plants and even a waterfall.
*SpLaSh!!*
Kagome couldn't believe it. She was soaked. Sesshoumaru had dropped her straight into a large bath. Don't get her wrong, after a second, it actually felt very good, but..
"You jerk! You ego-maniac!" She yelled at him as he turned away from her.
"Get her cleaned up." Kagome's arms were suddenly grabbed by two women youkai who gently helped her out of the water.
"Meet me in the dining area when you are done. They will escort you."
Kagome was bout to object when the two servants grabbed her, pulling her shoes and socks off.
"What are you doing!" Kagome screeched.
Sesshoumary stopped in the doorway.
"You can't expect to take a bath fully clothed, can you? Although, your clothing could stand a thorough clensing also."
Kagome let out a growl. "You..you...I'll get you for this, Fluffy!" She screamed at him, while struggling with all her might against the two servants who were no trying to remove her shirt.
Sesshoumaru turned his head slightly to look at her and smirked even more slightly.
"And...by the way..yes, you do stink." He turned his head right as the two servants pulled the remainder of Kagome's shirt over her head, and was gone.
Sesshoumaru walked down the hall. Something was wrong. Since he had always seen the girl as his brothers wench, he had never truly looked at her. But, just then, when he had, he fount that she really wasn't that bad looking at all. She could even be called...When he had seen the girl...something had hit him hard back there in the bath house. Something was wrong.
This was going to be harder than he had thought.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AN: Well, how'd you guys like it? I was personally pretty proud of myself for that semi-filler chapter. But, really, you should thank my mom. She gave me the idea. I just put it into a chapter story line and wrote it. Also, if you don't understand any of the words I am using, e-mail me, or tell me so in a review. In case you haven't noticed, I have a tendancy to mix the Japanese and American version of things. That way it still stays somewhat true to the original, but others can understand it. Also, if any of you know a lot about koga, could you e-mail me some info about him. I really don't know him that well.
Next chapter, we torture Jaken some more! Bwa-ha-ha-ha. That's all I can tell you.
Well, please review! You can e-mail me any time too, if you find it necessay.
Peace and coconuts!