"It feels good to be back, doesn't it, Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked as she raced from the car to the front door, Sunday's afternoon sun beating down on her. "I kinda missed this place."
"Yes, it does feel good," the dog demon admitted, a small smile tugging on the corners of his lips as he walked towards the entrance to his home.
"And tomorrow I get to see Sango again." Her cheerful tone warmed him from the inside out as he dug out his key. 'The smallest things cause her joy,' the inu youkai thought in amusement, unlocking the door at the same time. He opened the door, gesturing for the miko to enter before him.
"Thank you," she stated politely as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. After flashing him a smile, she went into the house, the silver-haired male at her heels.
A little girl with long white hair and pale eyes blinked slowly as she watched the two people enter the mansion. Her white kimono barely swayed as she began to walk away from the large house, her bare feet padding softly on the road.
Without even a whispered word, she disappeared, leaving only empty air and a very surprised, two-tailed demon cat behind to testify to where she had just been.
A moment later, the child reappeared in a decent sized house on the edge of town. She surveyed her dark surroundings with a calm, almost vacant expression. Everything in the room, except for herself, was pure black, and not a single light was on. Luckily, the dark did not bother the girl.
Suddenly, a shadow in the corner in the room shifted, becoming larger and taller.
"Kanna, do you have anything to report to me?" the shadow asked, his masculine voice soft.
"They have returned," the little girl replied in a whispery, delicate voice.
"Good." The shadow moved again. "I have no more use for you, Kanna. You may leave now."
"As you wish," Kanna replied, fading away a moment later.
Chuckling, the dark figure sat back down in his black leather chair, lacing his long fingers together. "Soon, Kagome, I will have you once again."
Kagome and Sesshoumaru spent the rest of the day relaxing in the library, putting any kind of work off until later. While they were both reading, the miko broke out laughing; so, the dog demon gently demanded to know what had been so funny. With a smile, she read an excerpt from her novel out loud to him; he, of course, found it comical as well.
In return, Sesshoumaru read a part of his book out loud, and they went back and forth, reading pieces of their stories to each other. Eventually, they tired of talking across the room, and Kagome moved into the inu youkai's lap, a book laid out across her thighs. As she read, the demon rested his chin on her shoulder, his eyes on the open book.
They stayed that way until Kagome fell asleep in his lap, her head resting on his chest.
Chuckling softly so he wouldn't wake her, Sesshoumaru carried the sleeping miko to her newly repaired room and tucked her into bed. He placed a tender kiss on her forehead, receiving a smile from her in return, before he left the room.
He automatically went to his study, sitting down behind his familiar desk. Out of habit, the dog demon reached for some of his paperwork right as the telephone rang. With a small sigh, he answered the phone.
"Hello?" Sesshoumaru said into the receiver, curious as to who was calling him. Surely no one knew that he was home yet, right?
~Sesshoumaru, it's Shippou,~ a cheerful, boyish voice responded.
'Ah, that explains it. The kitsune always seems to know things that he shouldn't,' the dog demon thought. "Why did you call me? Do you have any new information for me?" he inquired, doing his best to keep his hope out of his voice. He wanted to remove the spell from Kagome; he wanted to fully free her, whatever the cost.
~What do you think?~ the kitsune retorted. ~Would I call for any other reason?~ He gave a snort. ~Actually, I have pretty good news.~
"I would recommend that you cease beating around the bush and tell me exactly what this piece of good news is." The inu youkai felt like he was on pins and needles because of his anticipation, and Shippou was not helping to dispel that feeling at all.
The fox demon laughed. ~Well, while you guys were gone, Lady Kaede returned. I explained the spell to her, and she found out how to remove it.~
The dog demon waited for a few moments, and when the kitsune did not continue, he gave a low growl in annoyance. "Finish your explanation," he ordered. 'Close, so close to the answer. I believe that he is teasing me by figuratively dangling the prize right out of my reach.'
~The spell will automatically be removed when one of her old masters marries her out of love,~ Shippou stated, voice neutral.
"Thank you, Shippou," Sesshoumaru stated, hiding his surprise. That had been one of the last things he had expected. "Is that all?"
~Yes, it is,~ the kitsune answered immediately.
"Very well. I will talk to you later." The inu youkai was already half lost in thought, so he didn't hear Shippou's response, much to the other's irritation.
~Whatever. Bye,~ the fox demon grumbled.
Both demons then hung up their respective phones.
Giving a small sigh, Sesshoumaru pushed his paperwork away and leaned back in his chair. He needed to think logically on what Shippou had just said, not sort through papers or allow his mind to wander haphazardly. That just wouldn't suffice.
'To free Kagome, one of her old masters would have to marry her... out of love. I highly doubt that any of her thirty-six other masters loved her; and even if one did, I have a feeling that Kagome would not wish to marry him.'
Frowning thoughtfully, the tip of his tail twitching, Sesshoumaru leaned his elbows on his desk, interlocked his fingers, and rested his chin on them. 'That leaves me. I do know that I love her, but I do not know if the feeling is mutual. Kagome has not said a word about love to me. Nor do I know if I would even want to marry her.'
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. 'Would I be able to put up with her for however long I live? If we marry, then she will share my life span.' The dog demon sighed softly, fond memories of the miko instantly surfacing. 'Kagome is delightful, cheerful, sweet, and beautiful. She smells and tastes wonder; she is well- mannered in addition to all that. I enjoy spending time with her, and I would hate to see her leave.' A small smile appeared on his face as he opened his eyes. 'It seems that I would not mind spending my life with her. In fact, I believe that I would enjoy it quite a bit.'
Sesshoumaru sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. 'So, do I want to marry her?' He considered that question for a while, an image of Kagome's smiling face in his mind. 'I love her and want her to stay with me forever.' His gaze drifted up to the ceiling. 'I guess I do want to marry her.' After a moment, he came to a decision. 'Tomorrow, after work, I will buy a ring and propose to her.'
His mind made up, he picked up some papers and began to read.
Monday morning, Kagome was up bright and early, preparing blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Singing softly, she gracefully moved about the kitchen, her knee-length green skirt swaying with her movements. Her white blouse clung to her frame just right, giving her a delicate, yet shapely look.
When Sesshoumaru entered the kitchen, fully dressed, she gave him a bright smile. "Morning, Sesshoumaru," she greeted him enthusiastically. "Breakfast is almost ready."
"Pancakes?" he inquired, peering over her shoulder to look at the top of the stove.
"Yes. Blueberry ones," the miko replied, flipping a pancake as she said it.
"Sounds good," the dog demon commented, still watching her movements.
"Thank you." Kagome went back to fully concentrating on her cooking, not minding her shadow in the least.
Half an hour later, they had both eaten. Sesshoumaru was merely waiting for Sango to show up so he could leave for work. As he waited, he chatted with Kagome, content to just stay by her side for a while and listen to her voice.
The bodyguard arrived at five minutes to seven; and then Sesshoumaru, after receiving a good-bye kiss from Kagome, left the mansion for work.
For the rest of the morning, the two girls chatted, and Sango was very impressed by the positive change in her friend. The miko had become a cheerful and much less submissive girl... a very, very good thing in the bodyguard's opinion.
Around noon, they ate a simple lunch; and while they were cleaning up, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
Sango answered the door to find Varice standing there. "Varice, hi."
"Hey, Sango-chan. I know that I'm a little early, but Inuyasha and I have a date later this afternoon," the blonde responded. "Since Miroku didn't grope you once, the dog demon lost the bet. Since I'm a nice person, I gave him a choice: he could either take me on a few dates, or he could pay up. He opted for the dates."
The raven-haired bodyguard laughed and gestured for her friend to enter. Only Varice would know about the bet that her and Inuyasha had had going for a while.
"So, how has your day been so far?" Varice inquired politely as she stepped inside.
"Pretty good. Nothing has happened," she replied with a small shrug as she closed the front door and re-did all the locks. She was use to the lack of action.
"Excellent!" the blue-eyed girl exclaimed with a smile. "The bad guys are probably so scared of you that they're avoiding this place."
Sango shook her head in amusement. "Trust me. I don't scare the bad guys."
"Oh, don't be so modest," Varice insisted. "You've defeated your share of youkai, and plenty of people know it."
The other female just sighed. "C'mon. I need to go help Kagome finish cleaning up the kitchen."
"I'll help too," the blond offered.
With that decided, they both went into the kitchen.
"Kagura?"
"Yes?" The wind sorceress turned to look at her employer.
"Take Hiten, Manten, and Gatenmaru with you, and bring me back Kagome."
"I take it that I'll be paid even more for this since I specifically requested to not be forced to work with Hiten and Manten?" Kagura asked.
"Yes. Now go. It is the perfect time to strike."
"Very well." With blast of wind and fluttering of feathers, she took off to gather the back-up she was supposed to have.
"Would either of you like some tea?" Kagome asked as she rose up off of the couch. She had been talking with the other girls in the living room when she had become thirsty.
Sango shrugged. "Sure. That would be really nice."
"I'd like a cup," Varice stated. "Thanks."
"No problem." With that said, the miko went into the kitchen. Admiring the cheerful sunlight streaming through the windows, she pulled a tea kettle out of the cabinet and poured some water into it. As the water was heating up on the stove, she sorted through the different tea bags. 'Hmmm... mint tea looks pretty good right now.'
Right as she was about to place her choice by the stove and put the others away, she heard a loud crash from the living room. It resembled a crack of lightning more than anything, but Kagome didn't think that lightning would strike the house when the sky was perfectly clear.
Wondering what had just happened and more than slightly worried, the ex-slave began to head back to the room where her two friends were. "Sango? Varice?" she called out, sounds of fighting reaching her ears.
"Kagome, run!" Sango screamed as the sound of crashing lightning resounded throughout the area again.
Eyes wide, the miko immediately did as her bodyguard suggested. She was about to run out the back door when she heard a familiar phrase.
"Dance of blades!"
Suddenly, the door and much of the wall around it was gone, leaving Kagura there, floating on a feather. The wind sorceress grabbed the ex-slave from off of the ground and onto her feather, taking off a moment later.
Kagome screamed for help; however, Sango and Varice were both too busy fighting to hear, much less try to help.
So, with a wicked smile on her face, Kagura took the girl to her master, Naraku.
"Varice, call for back-up!" Sango ordered. "I'll hold them off as best as I can while you do that." She jumped out of the way of another youkai lightning bolt from both Hiten and Manten as she lashed out with her sword at Gatenmaru, eyes narrowed in concentration.
"Right." Varice raced off to the nearest phone. Manten tried to follow her, but Sango swung her sword at his back, tracing a narrow cut right above his old-fashioned armor.
Growling in anger, the younger Thunder Brother turned to the raven-haired bodyguard. "You hurt me!" he howled in fury, launching at the human.
Sango dodged as best as she could, but his spear sliced into her side, spraying blood all over the new, light blue carpet. Ignoring the pain, she avoided another lightning bolt as she swung her sword at Gatenmaru's neck, missing him by a few inches. She silently cursed as the three demons circled around her, taunting her.
Without really looking, she lashed out at a demon, slicing through Hiten's braid. About a foot of black locks fell to the ground.
Amazed and annoyed that the human had come so close to hitting him, Hiten struck out at the girl, electricity crackling around his weapon. The girl almost dodged his attack, but his spear brushed against her, sending a small shock though her.
'Varice, I really hope that your help comes soon,' Sango thought as she avoided another attack. 'Because I really need it.'
"Inuyasha, get your butt over to your brother's mansion right now! We're being attacked by three demons and I don't have a clue as to where Kagome is!" Varice screamed into the phone. She would have called the police, but they just weren't prepared to handle three youkai. Only another, powerful youkai could hope to defeat the demons, and the hanyou had been the first person she had thought of.
"Huh?" the half dog demon responded, confusion in his voice. He had most definitely not expected the girl to tell him something like that.
"Don't question me. We could all die if you don't come and help, dammit!" the blond retorted angrily, her voice carrying a hint of panic.
"I'll be there in a bit," Inuyasha quickly replied, hanging up the phone.
Putting the receiver down, the blue-eyed female raced back to help her friend.
"Die, you jerk!" Varice shouted as she stabbed Gatenmaru from behind, the tip of her sword coming out of the demon's stomach. She quickly pulled the blade back out and swung at another, nearly bald demon.
'This is not good. Sango is badly injured, and we're still outnumbered. We're good, but humans can not stand up to three demons, especially when two of them have lightning attacks,' Varice snapped in her mind, jumping out of the way of a lightning bolt and a punch from Gatenmaru.
The demon she had just stabbed had not gone down. In fact, he seemed to still be going strong.
'Level one demons. Yippee,' she mentally grumbled. 'I'm so dead if Inuyasha doesn't get his butt over here soon.'
Sango and Varice moved until they were standing back to back, their swords held out in a defensive position. Blood dripped down one of the back-haired girl's legs, soaking her black pants. Her red shirt was already covered in blood.
"On the count of three," Sango whispered. "One... two... three!"
The two girls launched themselves at different demons at the same time, trying to injure them enough to make them stop fighting. They didn't succeed; they only gained wounds for the attempt.
"Please tell me some help is coming," the brown-eyed girl pleaded softly with her friend.
"Inuyasha said that he'd be here soon," Varice replied, tone wistful. She wanted, no NEEDED, help.
Right at that moment, a streak of silver and red shot into the living room and cut Gatenmaru in half, shocking Hiten and Manten so much that they froze. One half of the body slid to the floor in a bloodied mess while the other half fell over. Inuyasha stood in the middle of the puddle of blood, a huge sword in his hands.
"Would anyone else like a piece of me?" he growled out, eyes flicking towards the two girls for just a moment before returning to his opponents. "You two okay?"
"Yeah," Varice answered. "We'll live."
"Good." The hanyou took a few steps towards the last two demons. "Are you two gonna attack, or are you gonna leave?"
"I never run from a fight," Hiten shot back, bringing his lighting spear down for a slash at Inuyasha's throat. Manten was quick to back up his brother.
"Fine. It's your funeral," Inuyasha replied. "Kaze no Kizu!" With a swing of his sword, he sent power straight at the two demons, cutting them into pieces.
Sango stared at the mess as a new person walked onto the battle field.
"You didn't leave any for me, did you, Inuyasha?" the black-haired man asked.
"It's your own fault. You took too long, Miroku," the hanyou retorted; however, his attention was already shifting. His eyes went to the girls, and he instantly realized just how hurt they were. Miroku noticed at the exact same time.
"Inuyasha, call an ambulance," the electrician ordered, and the hanyou rushed off to obey. "Lady Sango, do you know if there's a first aid kit around here?"
She shook her head. "Forget about that though. We need to find Kagome."
Miroku's eyes went wide. "She's missing?"
"I told her to run, so she could be anywhere," Sango responded.
"The enemy could even have her," Varice added.
"Great," he muttered. "Well, you both sit down and relax. I'm going to go look for a first aid kit."
The raven-haired bodyguard began to protest. "But-"
Miroku cut her off. "Kagome would never forgive me if I left you to die while I searched for her. Besides, Inuyasha would be much better at finding her."
"Good point, Houshi-sama." The blonde nodded her head in agreement. "I'll tell him about Kagome when he comes back out here."
"I'll be back in a moment." With that said, the black-haired man left the destroyed living room.
Sango surveyed the mess once again and came to a conclusion. "Sesshoumaru is not going to be happy."
When Miroku reappeared with a first aid kit, Inuyasha returned as well, stating that an ambulance was on its way.
"Inuyasha-kun," Varice began as the one-time monk tended to Sango's wounds. "Could you please try to find Kagome? She was in the kitchen when Sango told her to run, and we don't have a clue where she is."
His eyes widened in surprise, but he calmly nodded his head. "Sure." The hanyou raced off, his nose hard at work.
Sirens could be heard as the dog demon returned a few moments later, eyes hard and face pale.
"What is it?" the blond asked as Miroku moved to patch up her wounds. "Is something wrong?"
EMTs and police swarmed the area as the half demon sighed.
"She's gone," Inuyasha answered. "A demon took her."
Ringhearty: You'll find out about her family eventually, I promise. There should be more fluff as well. ^_^
Flowerblossom: ^_^ Thanks for reviewing.
Sessh&inufan: You're welcome, and thanks for the compliment.
Abby: I always try to respond to all my reviewers. It takes a while though.
Fuse: Yes, there will be more. I have... two or three more chappies to go.
Krazy-Kagome: Dedication? That's one of the things that I lack. My reviews donate their dedication to me, and I use it to keep my stories going. Without them, my stories would die very quickly.
Evilfire4321: *chuckles* I'll relay the message to Sesshoumaru.
Ami: Mexico? Wow. I wanna go there!
Hamaguri: I don't know how you keep missing the chappies. It's no big deal though. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm happy that Varice is starting to grow on you. I rather like her.
Lisa: Thanks for reviewing. I'm working on the next chappie right now, so it should be out sometime next week.
Tessa: Yes, I got your email, I just forgot to put a review response at the end of the chappie. Sorry about that. I really didn't mean to. I have a habit of forgetting the reviews I get by email only. And I'm CotA-san now? Strange... I've never been called that before. *shrugs* Oh well. I'm not going to think too much into it. Besides, it kinda cool.
Ty: I updated, see?
Jinx: Yes, I know that the idea is a little cliche. Sorry, but I had this idea and I just had to write it out. It would have bugged me to high heaven if I hadn't.
Holy-Psychic-Vulpix: I have thought of that, and I'm gonna do it... eventually.
Porifra: Inuyasha didn't think anything of the kimono because no one ever explained the kimono thing to him. He just things that they dressed alike b/c they wanted to. Sesshoumaru and Telonomaru know about it b/c they're older and such.
Raining Fire: Ummm... I don't think that Sesshoumaru is going into heat; however, Sess-chan is already there, much to my annoyance.
Luffy: Dang. Are you serious? And I hate to admit it, but there are only about... two or three more chappies left.
Ruu-chan: Ummm... I think I answered your question about Naraku in this chappie. Oh, and I'd love to read your story. Send it to me anytime. *hugs Ruu-chan* Good luck on it. I'm sure that it's great.
Dragon Child2: Thanks so much. I enjoyed reading your review. I hope that my future chappies live up to your expectations.
Lightdestiny: Ummm... there is no more bracelet. Sorry to confuse you. I had to change my story in the middle. It's just a spell now.
Smiley-chan: Thanks.
Sam: I understand. *pats sam-chan on the head* Teachers are constantly making us review stuff that we already know. It becomes very boring very quickly.
Rei Akita: A lit bomb? What in the crap do I do with this? Ummm... *throws it out the window* *big explosion* Well... *looks out window* It seems that a piece of my moat and forest is gone. Eeek. I'll hafta fix that later.
Bijin-chan: I could have had a fight, but I wanted to emphasize the point that Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha can... somewhat get along. Also, I wanted to show that Inuyasha no longer wants Kagome. :)
Aznfangurl16: I'll update soon. Promise.
Keala-Chick: Yes, most likely it will turn into a Varice/Inuyasha.
Xonnie: Naraku has struck. Yippee. The climax is quickly approaching.
Maitresse: I'll continue. Don't worry.
Mattielover: Is this interesting enough for you?
Eruinichil: Yes, Telonomaru went away. Sorry. You might see him in one of my other (future)stories though.
Junyortrakr: Nope. He didn't comment b/c he didn't have a clue that it meant something. Oh, BTW, where'd you get your name?
Namiko-Daughter of Sekhmet: Yes, sugar is the best. It ranks right up there with caffiene (which doesn't affect me too much for some reason)
Purple Witchy Angel: Neat... okay. I can deal with that. :)
Sukera: Yes, writing in caps is fun, I just tend not to do it.
Kagome: Hey Kagome-chan. *hugs Kagome-chan* Thanks for knocking out Sess-chan. He's still unconscious, thank Kami. And I found the perfect hiding place... The Koji Mansion. Sess-chan can't find me here. In fact, he can't even follow me here. I took the sword that opens the doorway. *giggles* If you want, you can hide out here with me. There's five cute guys here (the Ronin Warriors), and you'll probably like them. They're like my bros. If somehow Sess-chan or Sesshoumaru finds their way here (which is impossible without the sword), then they'll protect us. Rajah will too... although, she's kinda out playing with Whiteblaze, the Ronin's tiger. Hmmm... oh well. I'm not gonna worry about it. I'll talk to ya later.
Merffles: Cookie for you! Yes, I stole it from Lady Squire by Tamera Pierce. Good job on noticing that. :)
InvisibleRain: Actually, he hasn't had all that much time. He's only known Kagome for about a... month or so. But hey, he still knows that he's in love.
Holly: Cool. I'll have to go check out your story later.
Inuyashachich515: Yep. IY no longer wants Kagome. That's a very good thing. ^_^
Kittymui: Ummm... I believe this answered your question about danger.
Me: Yes, this story exists.
Neko: I plan to keep it up.
Silverstone: Don't worry about reviewing every time. It's not that big of a deal.
Bubblesbb03: Thanks for reviewing.
No name: You're back again. *sigh* Well, I'm not going to take out Varice. She is staying and her and Inuyasha are dating. Get over it.
Tom: Ummm... there comes a point where you can give me too much information. The psychology lesson was more than welcome, but the rest was not needed. I'm a very naive 18 year old, and I would like to stay that way, no offense. I tend to... avoid perverted discussions. Oh, and the 'dono' wouldn't really work b/c technically, Sesshoumaru isn't exactly an official lord, not like he is in the show.