Kagome stared at the retreating form of the incredibly handsome dog demon for a moment. She was confused again, a feeling she was adjusting to rather quickly thanks to her new master. 'He doesn't want me to go to his room with him?' she wondered, frowning. 'Did I do something wrong?'
The first thing all her old masters had done was introduce her to their sleeping quarters and bed. Not one of them had left her alone for the first night or even the first week. For her new master to not want to sleep with her meant that she had done something that he hadn't liked. She had obviously done something wrong.
Shaking her head, she went into the room as she had been instructed. What she saw nearly took her breath away. Never in her life had she seen a more beautiful room. It was almost too perfect to believe.
The room was elegant almost to an extreme. The carpet was a rich, plush cream color and very soft. A large, navy blue and cream Turkish rug was placed in the center of the room. Along the farthest wall was a huge, canopy bed with navy blue sheets and large, glass double doors with navy curtains that lead to a white balcony. On the wall to her left was a dresser and a open oak door to the bathroom. On the right wall was a desk and another oak door, probably to a closet. The walls had been left white, but a navy blue top trim went around the perimeter of the room. Beautiful landscape paintings hung on the walls as well, giving the room a completed look.
'There must be some mistake,' she thought fearfully. 'This can't be my room. This can't be where he wants me to sleep. Is this his idea of a cruel joke? Is he going to reappear suddenly and scold me for being stupid enough to think I was worthy of this room?' She shook her head, banishing her thoughts. 'He gave me an order, and I must follow it. He gestured for me to enter.' Her gaze wandered over to the bathroom. 'He did say that I was suppose to take a shower every day, and I haven't taken one since yesterday morning, so I'd better go follow orders.'
Shutting the oak door behind her, Kagome went into the bathroom. She took a few moments to study the place, which was as elegant as the bedroom and in matching colors. A huge white tub, big enough for her to lay fully down in, was along one wall. Along the other wall was a sink and toilet. The mirror above the sink doubled as a medicine cabinet. A large, navy blue rug covered a portion of the cream-tiled floor. Dark blue terry-cloth towels hung from a metal bar near the bathtub.
Stripping, she filled the tub up with warm water. She let a sigh of contentment escape her lips as she sunk into the water. It had been ages since she had taken a warm bath or shower. Most of her old masters had made her take very short, cold showers.
Kagome was further impressed when she saw bottles of sweet-smelling shampoo, condition, and soap sitting in the corner. Smiling slightly, she quickly washed her hair and body. Once done, she decided to let herself soak, just for a little while. 'Five more minutes,' she thought, sounding tired even in her mind.
Sinking a little lower into the water, she gently massaged her neck muscles with her hands. 'This is all so strange. My new master is incredibly different from all my old ones. He knows that I'm a slave, a worthless slave, yet he keeps treating me like a normal person. He wants to know what I like. He wants me to be clean and to eat as much as I want. He wants me to sleep in a beautiful room by myself.' She sighed. 'He's probably just playing around with me. Soon, he'll reveal his true colors and start acting like all the others. He won't treat me like this for much longer. There's no way.'
Kagome sighed again and forced herself to get out of the tub. Wrapping herself in a large, soft towel, she unplugged the drain and quickly began to dry off. Once she had finished, she hung the towel back up, grabbed her clothes, and went back into the bedroom.
She knew that she would have to wear her genie outfit again, so she shook it out and hung it over the chair in front of the desk. Then, having nothing else better to do, she crawled into bed, rolled over onto her side, pulled the covers up to her chin, and proceeded to stare at the wall until sleep overcame her.
~*~
Down the hall, Sesshoumaru picked up the phone in his study and dialed a familiar number. He needed to find out exactly how to free her, and Shippou was the best one for the job. After three rings, someone picked up the phone.
~Hello?~ came a boyish, friendly voice from the other end. He sounded rather happy to be getting a phone call.
"Good evening, Shippou," Sesshoumaru greeted him. He knew that the fox demon would start babbling any second, so he got right down to business. "I need you to find out some information for me."
~Oh?~ Shippou asked, his childish curiosity raising a few notches. ~What kind of information?~
"I bought a slave today," he began, but he was quickly interrupted. Kitsunes were not known for their patience or good manners.
~What?!~ the fox demon sputtered. ~But I could have sworn that you hated slavery.~ Sesshoumaru had made it incredibly clear on many occasions how much he detested the vile business. For the inu youkai to say that he had bought a slave was like a dog claiming that he was a cat.
"Yes. My pathetic half-brother was trying to buy her in one of the auctions, and I decided to outbid him," he clarified, proving -at least in his eyes- that he had had good reasons for his actions. "Now, I want to know how to free her."
~Oh, that should be easy to find out,~ Shippou replied, sounding pleased with himself. He figured that it would take him an hour or so to find out that small bit of information."Don't get too cocky yet, kitsune," Sesshoumaru advised. "There's a complication." He understood that Shippou had a habit of jumping to conclusions and of not waiting to hear the whole story. The weak, cunning demon was two centuries old, yet he still acted like a child at times.
The fox demon sighed. ~Go figure. With you, there is always at least one complication. What is it this time?~
"She has a spell on her that makes her obey me; it makes her happy whenever she obeys me. For her to be free, the spell has to removed," he answered. His logic was flawless. No one could be free if a simple spell forced him or her to obey someone else.
~Hmmm... sounds like youkai magic.~ Shippou thought for a few moments. ~I'll ask around. Someone will probably know. If all else fails, I can ask Lady Kaede.~ Lady Kaede was a miko and an old friend of Shippou's. Unfortunately, she was almost too old to perform most spells, and her memory wasn't quite what it had once been.
"Thank you. I expect to hear from you soon." Sesshoumaru responded, finding the kistune's reply satisfactory.
~Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bye and good night, Sesshoumaru,~ the fox demon replied, sighing right before he hung up the phone.
The dog demon set down his phone as well, mentally groaning as he looked at the paperwork on top of his desk. He had so many things to do. Running a business was hard work, he wasn't about to deny that, but he had never even thought that there would be so many days in which he would have three hours worth of papers to shift through. 'I'm just glad my technology business is worth it,' he thought, trying to make his headache recede back to wherever it had come from.
Rubbing his forehead with one hand, he reached for his aspirin and water bottle that he always kept at his desk. Putting two pills in his mouth, he took a drink of water and swallowed. 'Kagome was a bigger strain on me than I thought. Her calling me 'milord' all the time obviously annoyed me more than I noticed.'
There were many times when Sesshoumaru ignored his feelings. He was quite adapt at it, especially when he knew that he needed to be patient. He always got the most practice at his office at work when the stupid employees tested his patience at the worst moments possible.
He knew that he needed to get some work done soon, so he flexed his fingers, picked up a pen, and went to work on the large stacks of papers with a complete lack of enthusiasm.
~*~
Midnight rolled around, and Sesshoumaru finally decided to call it quits. With a yawn, he pushed back from his desk and stood up, stretching as he did so. He had to admit, it felt good to have most of the work done. It had cost him a few hours a sleep, but since he was a youkai, he didn't require much rest anyway. Four hours was usually more than enough for him.
He walked down the hallway, stopping as he passed by Kagome's room. He could hear muttering of some sort. It didn't sound good, and he could smell her fear. Something wasn't right.
Frowning, he opened the door and walked in. His keen, golden eyes picked up every detail of the room; and even in the dark, he noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The only living things in the room were the girl and him.
'What is the fear scent for then?' he wondered, walking over to stand by the bed. The dog demon looked down at the sleeping girl, taking note of the silk sheets pooled around her waist that revealed her bare chest. He pulled the material up until it covered her, listening to her mumbling as he did so.
"Mama?! Papa?! Souta?!" she whimpered, curling up into the fetal position. "No." The last word was more of a distressed groan. "Leave them alone... please." Her face was twisted into an expression of extreme sorrow that made his heart jerk painfully in his chest.
'She's having a nightmare,' Sesshoumaru surmised. He had seen Sango soothe her little sister Rin while the girl had been having a nightmare. She had rubbed one of Rin's cheeks gently as she had gently whispered soothing words. He did the same for Kagome. "Shush," he said softly, running the back of his hand down the side of her face.
Amazingly enough, she almost immediately quieted. She ceased to mutter or moan. Her expression became serene, and she slowly uncurled some, her muscles relaxing.
He was a little surprised by that, but he wasn't about to protest. He didn't want her mumbling and such anymore. It had been too depressing for him to watch for even that little bit of time.
The inu youkai stood there for a few more moments, studying Kagome with his golden eyes. 'I do have to admit that she looks like an angel when she sleeps... a very pretty angel. It is no wonder that so many men wanted her. Most men would pay anything for a girl like this.'
He scowled then, ideas of what most of the men would have probably done to the girl flashing through his head. He believed that no one deserved to be treated as slaves usually were. Reluctantly, he acknowledged the fact that Inuyasha would have treated the girl well enough. 'He probably would have treated her exactly like Kikyou. He most likely would have even named her that and dressed her exactly like his dead wife use to dress.'
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, his silver-white hair swishing back and forth as he did so, he left the room and went to his own. Knowing that he would have to deal with Inuyasha in the morning, the taiyoukai went to bed with a plan already forming in his mind. The hanyou wouldn't stand a chance, and he most certainly would not get Kagome, no matter what price he named.