Miroku walked into the Youkai Armory, his mind on nothing but business... and Sango, of course. He whistled a happy tune as he meandered about the store, glancing through a window at the forge area that was located behind the building. With a large grin on his face, he strolled up to the front counter, leaning up against it when he got there.
"What do you want, Miroku?" Inuyasha demanded to know in his normal, rude tone.
"I'm here to pick up lady Sango's sword. I believe that she's already paid for the repairs," the electrician replied, letting the rude response just roll off of him. He never allowed the hanyou's bad attitude to bother him at all. Besides, he knew that Inuyasha didn't mean to offend anyone. It was just part of his nature.
The hanyou checked the store computer. "Yep. It's all paid for." He left then returned a moment later, a sheathed sword in his hands. He handed it to his lecherous friend. "Do you know why she conned you into getting it, instead of coming for it herself?"
"She started a new job today," Miroku answered, pulling the sword out of its sheath so he could look at it. The blade looked like it had never been broken or even used. "She had to be there at seven, and she really didn't want to go the whole day without it, so I offered to pick it up and drop it off at the place she's working at."
Scratching one of his dog-ears, he pointed at the sword. "You should put that up. First off, you know that my shop does the job right the first time. Second, you don't know how to use one, and I don't feel like getting my head chopped off."
The one-time monk sheathed the blade. "Thank you so much for your vote of confidence. I shall have to remember how supportive you are of me." He didn't know how to fight with a sword, but he was very adept at the staff.
"Anytime," the hanyou replied simply. "So, who's Sango workin' for?"
Miroku thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I really don't remember. The address is in my car, so I didn't memorize it." He paused for a moment. "Though, I do recall that whoever hired her is very rich. The house is located in the fanciest section of town."
"She's probably getting paid really good then," Inuyasha commented, but then he decided to change the subject. "How are you and Sango doing?"
The raven-haired man shrugged. "She keeps telling me no."
Inuyasha groaned. "Then don't ask her to bear your son!" he snapped. "Ask her out on a date or something."
Miroku brightened. "That's a good idea." He smiled happily. "Thanks again, Inuyasha!" Then, taking the sword with him, the ex-monk left the Youkai Armory.
~*~
Miroku pulled his car into the driveway of the huge mansion, whistling in appreciation as he did. Whoever the owner was certainly had good taste in real estate. The grounds and the actual building were magnificent. The mansion had been done in the Victorian style with balconies on the second floor.
Very curious as to who owned the house, he grabbed Sango's sword and walked up to the front door, knocking once he got there. No one answered the door for a few moments, making him wonder if he had the right house. Right when he was about to double-check the address Sango had given him, he heard footsteps coming from inside.
"Who's there?" a familiar voice asked from the other side of the door.
"Lady Sango dearest, it's me, Miroku," he replied cheerfully.
There was a pause. "Prove it."
He sighed. She never was one to take chances, and even if he looked like Miroku, he could still be a shape-shifter. "Lady Sango, will you please do me the honor of bearing my son?"
The door opened to reveal Sango standing there. "C'mon in, Miroku. I assume that you brought my sword?" She looked at him hopefully. She felt a little naked without her weapon. True, she did have her throwing knives, but nothing made her feel safer than having her sword strapped to her side.
"Of course I did, Lady Sango," he replied politely, smiling and handing it to her. Right then, his eyes landed on another female, a very beautiful female. "And may I ask who you are, lovely lady?" He took her hand and kissed it, flashing her his best smile.
"My master calls me Kagome, Miroku-sama," the slave girl replied, sounding like she wasn't surprised in the least bit. She had certainly met stranger people. The flirtatious man seemed quite harmless as well, something she was thankful for.
"Miroku..." Sango said, her tone warning him not to do anything more. "That is the one I'm protecting, so don't you dare grope her."
The electrician feigned hurt, releasing Kagome's hand. "My dear Lady Sango, how can you think such a thing of me? I would never do anything like that to such a lovely girl."
The bodyguard rolled her eyes. "I hope you know that Sesshoumaru will maim you if he finds out you touched her."
His eyes went wide. "Sesshoumaru? She's the slave that he bought?" he exclaimed, amazed. "So this is the girl that Inuyasha claims looks like Kikyou." It was more of a statement than a question. "I can see why he wanted to buy her. She's quite lovely. Not as beautiful as you, of course, but still lovely." His hand began to reach for a spot that was (in Sango's opinion) a little too far down Kagome's backside.
Scowling, she banged the lecherous man over the head with her sheathed sword. "I told you no," she snapped. "You should know better by now, Miroku." She hoped the hit on the head and the glare she was giving him was enough to chastise him so he would never try to touch Kagome again. There was no way she was going to allow him to molest her charge.
"Forgive me, Lady Sango, but I just can not seem to help myself." The apology was sincere, but the bodyguard took note of the fact that he did not promise to never do that again. The man enjoyed groping women too much for his own good.
"Houshi," Sango said, using the man's last name to emphasize her annoyance with him. "Perhaps you'd better leave now. I'm on duty, and you probably need to get to your store in the mall."
Miroku nodded his head in agreement. "I do need to do that, Lady Sango." He bowed to her. "I leave you with the promise that I will return to see you once again." Smiling lecherously, he let himself out of the house.
Sango sighed, shaking her head as she redid the locks on the door. "That man. He can be so aggravating sometimes." She turned to look at Kagome. "He really doesn't mean any harm, and he would never hurt a woman, but at times he does have a habit of touching females in places he shouldn't." She gave another sigh. "He is nice and very polite most of the time, though."
Kagome just watched the other girl as she went on talking about the man who had just left. 'She must like him. She spends half of her time condemning him and the other half defending him.' She almost smiled as she followed the other girl back to the library, but she caught herself just in time. After all, it wouldn't do her any good to show some emotion, now, would it?
~*~
The rest of the day was boring. Nothing happened, which both Sango and Kagome were thankful for. Naraku didn't show up, Miroku didn't return, and there were no other visitors of any kind. When Sesshoumaru returned home, Sango gave him a quick, verbal report, then left, promising to be back the next day.
The next two weeks were almost exactly the same, except Kagome changed a little. She opened up to Sango, surprising both herself and the other girl. The thing was, the slave just couldn't help herself. Her bodyguard acted like a protective older sister and friend, someone to trust and look up to. By the end of the first week, Sango had Kagome reading some books; and by the end of the second, she had the slave girl talking more than usual and cautiously giving her opinion on certain subjects.
Sesshoumaru was impressed by the progress Sango had made with Kagome, but he rarely got to see it. The instant he returned home, the young girl almost immediately clamed up and went straight into slave mode. He found that fact annoying, but the bodyguard assured him that the slave girl only needed time.
Time was something that Sesshoumaru had plenty of. Shippou still hadn't found anything about removing the spell, but he had told the dog demon how to make the girl a free citizen. All he had to do was pay a small fee at the courthouse to have her status changed. Simple, yet it made sense to him.
There was one thing about Kagome that made him worry. Her nightmares never faded, and every night he heard her calling out for her parents and the person named Souta. Whatever had happened to her in the past had been bad, so bad that she was still having nightmares because of it. Whenever he confronted her with it though, Kagome would just avoid the subject and give elusive answers at best. It didn't help that she did not seem to remember her nightmares, and the only thing she could recall was the feeling of sadness.
So, curious as he could get, the inu youkai had given Shippou another assignment on top of the one he already had. He had told the kitsune to find out as much about her past as he possibly could. The fox demon was to leave nothing out at all, no matter how insignificant or pathetic it seemed.
At the end of the two weeks, although there hadn't been much of a mental change, there had been a good physical change in Kagome. Her form had filled out very nicely, making her clothes unfit for wearing. Only one shirt and one skirt still fit the girl, so Sesshoumaru had decided to take the girl shopping again. Of course, before taking the second trip to the mall, he had thought it all out carefully, and he had invited Sango along, knowing that the bodyguard would have a positive effect on Kagome. He was hoping that the slave girl would relax with Sango there, and he was right.
At the mall, Sango enthusiastically helped Kagome pick out clothes as she constantly asked the slave's opinion on everything. The bodyguard never gave up, and she insisted on knowing what the other girl thought. Soon, Kagome was very carefully and cautiously telling Sango what she thought of different things, but every single one of her words was forced out of her.
At the end of a few hours, Sango had a few new additions to her wardrobe that she had happily paid for, while Kagome had more new clothing items than she new what to do with. Sesshoumaru was spoiling her, and she didn't even know why. All the things he had bought her were in good taste and expensive.
She wasn't about to argue though. Of course, she couldn't argue, as her training would not allow it. Still though, she was thankful; but she would be even more thankful once she was at the house and away from all the people at the mall.
When both the inu youkai and the slave girl were once again at home alone, Sesshoumaru decided to try and get her to act like a free person again. He had treated her just like he treated everyone else for two solid weeks, and he just knew that it had to have had some kind of affect on Kagome. Surely she trusted him after he had showed just how honorable he was.
He broached the subject at dinner that night, making sure that she was paying full attention to him when he began to speak.
"Kagome, do you remember when I ordered you to act like a free person?" he asked, watching the girl for any emotion as she nodded her head. Her face remained blank. "That order still stands."
"I know, Sesshoumaru-sama, but I can not follow your wishes. It is forbidden," she replied, a very small amount of remorse in her voice. The amount was so small that the inu youkai could just barely picked up on it.
'She does want to obey me then, but she obviously believes that she can't.' He mentally sighed. "If I pay to have your status changed, if you become a free person, will you obey my order then?"
He really, really hoped that she would reply with a yes. Somehow, during the past two weeks, he had actually started to like the girl. She had a beautiful voice, a stubbornness to her that was often revealed in her desire to always obey her training, a lovely scent, and the most perfect body he had ever seen.
Kagome thought on that for a few minutes then she very slowly nodded her head. "Yes, Sesshoumaru- sama, I will."