Trapped in the Threads of Fate

Disclaimer: You people are soooo mean for making me say this! clears throat I don't own any characters from Inuyasha. But I think it would be cool if I did. Oh well, Rumiko Takahashi found him first. Grrrrr.

A/N: Hey minna-san! I started to write this chapter in the sandbox in my backyard. Sure, I know I'm 18, but getting away from household responsibilities for a while is always fun, even if it may seem a little childish. I don't care! ^_^ Hahaha! On with the next chapter.

~**~

Recap

"What?" Jaken starred in horror as his own neck snapped and he breathed his last breath.

"Yeah, you fucking loser. YOU set me free by moving the fireplace logs over the switch in the back," chuckled the white blur. "Now . what were you playing with here?" he bent down to inspect the awakening girl.

Kagome's vision was still a blur as she came face to face with an angel. All she could make out was a golden glow covered in white . or was it the other way around?

"Are you alright?"

Chapter Three: Pervert Chef

"Am I dead?" Kagome asked with a raspy voice.

"No, but I'll bet you feel like it!"

Kagome closed her eyes groaning. Hearing a sniffing noise, her eyes shot back open only to see the face of a boy centimeters away. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

"You're hurt!"

"And you have a knack for stating the obvious!" Kagome muttered struggling to get up.

"Feh!" he said moving to pick her up bridal style. "You're a human!"

"Give the man a medal, he's done it again! How could you tell I was human? Was it my hair that gave me away?" she said sarcastically.

"Do you want me to drop you?" he glared at her.

"No," Kagome pouted.

"Then shut up and stay here," the boy said as he dropped Kagome on a couch and left the room.

'Who IS that guy? Does he live here? . Wait a minute. did he save me from that Jaken creature?' she thought as her gaze fell upon the mentioned monster. Sitting up, Kagome edged to the side of the couch furthest from him. And then she let out a terrified scream as Jaken's lifeless body started to twitch.

The white haired boy dashed to her side, "What's wrong?" Kagome pointed a shaking hand towards the twitching toad. When he saw what had made her scream he smirked. Motioning to Jaken, "You know. they DO do that sometimes! You act like you've never seen a dead body before."

Giving him a shocked look, "That's because I HAVEN'T!"

"Never?"

"No!"

"Not even at a funeral?"

"N. well, okay fine. but only at funerals! And that's much different! The body's already been dead for a day or so," she added crossing her arms in a pouting posture. "What's your name anyway?"

"Inuyasha. Now give me your ankle," he said as he took out some bandages he had brought when she screamed. He sat down on the opposite end of the couch with her ankle perched on his lap.

"I'm Kagome."

All she got was a grunt for a reply. 'He sure is easy on the eyes,' Kagome mused as she watched him tend to the wounds on her ankles. His face seemed emotionless, but she could see the concentration deep within the golden pools of his eyes. 'I've never seen someone with that eye color before!' His silvery-white hair was long enough to reach his waist. Her eyes drifted to the top of his head as a movement caught her attention. At first it looked like his hair was really tangled in two spots. But when she looked harder in the moonlight, Kagome realized that Inuyasha had two fuzzy triangular dog-like ears on the top of his head.

A smile played across her lips just when Inuyasha scowled at her, annoyance evident on his face. "What are you so smug about?"

Realizing that she had been staring, Kagome tore her gaze away, "N- nothing."

"Feh! You're a human, so what are you doing in Sesshomaru's castle anyway? I'm sure if he knew you, or me for that matter were here, he'd kill us both in an instant! Or at least try!" He finished bandaging her ankle and gently placed it on the floor.

"Who's Sesshomaru?"

"My half-brother," Inuyasha plainly stated.

"And he would try to kill you if he found you here?"

"Yes!"

"But you're his brother!?"

"HALF-BROTHER! And so what, I try to kill him whenever I get the chance!" He slid over so that he was sitting VERY close to Kagome. Kagome gawked at what he had said. And she flinched when he lifted his fingers to gently trace the claw marks Jaken had given her earlier. "What? Do I repulse you that much?" he asked angrily.

"No, it just still hurts A LOT!"

Inuyasha looked at her trying to figure out if she was telling the truth. Satisfied by what he saw in her eyes, he took out more bandages and started to dress the wounds around her neck.

Being so close, Kagome found herself looking at his strange ears again.

"Turn," Inuyasha commanded.

She shifted on the couch to let him have better access to the other side of her neck. Her gaze never leaving the top of his head, she bit her bottom lip. A low growl emanated from deep in Inuyasha's throat, as he saw her hand slowly inch towards his ears. Once her hand was too close in his opinion, his own hand shot up and grabbed Kagome's wrist, making her jump in surprise.

"I swear, if you touch my ears, I will not be so hospitable anymore!" Inuyasha firmly stated.

Kagome gulped, "Okay! Sorry! So. um. where's everyone else? I mean. shouldn't there be A LOT more people in a castle as big as this?"

"People?" he looked at her quizzically. "No people, just youkai!"

"Aren't youkai just myths?"

Inuyasha put the finishing touches on her neck before answering, "Are you baka? What do you think HE is, or was?" He pointed to Jaken's now motionless body. "And what about me? You can see these ears, OBVIOUSLY I'm not a human!"

Kagome took a moment before whispering mostly to herself, "You mean youkai aren't just legends?"

"Wench, I don't know where you got that baka idea, but youkai have been around a lot longer than you humans!" Inuyasha said getting off the couch.

Suddenly getting angry, "I DO have a name! I told you before that my name is KAGOME! And stop calling me BAKA. BAKA!" Kagome stood on the tips of her toes so that she was closer to his height, "You know, you're a JERK!"

"What did I do. Bitch!?" he countered.

"I told you, my NAME IS KAGOME!"

"You show A LOT of gratitude. If I get this kind of treatment after I save you and dress your wounds, I'd hate to see what you'd do it I was REALLY nasty to you!" Inuyasha said sarcastically. "You should be THANKING me instead of patronizing me!"

Kagome sat back down at his outburst, "Yeah, I. I guess you're right. I'm. sorry." Suddenly getting an idea, Kagome stood up and seized his hand, "Let me make it up to you!"

Snatching his hand back he asked a little unsure of the strange girl, "Like what?"

"Anything!"

Smirking, Inuyasha asked, "Anything?"

"Well, as long as it's within reason," Kagome replied a little unsure of herself.

Inuyasha's stomach growled as a light bulb went off in his head. He smiled, "You know, I haven't had anything to eat in five hundred years. Make me a meal, Wench!"

'There he goes with the wench deal again,' Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes. 'I wish he would just call me by my name for once!' "But it's late!" she protested.

"And I'm a hungry youkai! You wouldn't want me to eat you instead, would you?" he snarled.

Throwing her hands up in defeat at his stone stare, "Alright, just show me to the kitchen and I'll seen what there is to work with."

Inuyasha spun her so her back was facing him. "This way!" he said as he placed his strong hands on her shoulders and guided her to where his nose smelled food.

When they arrived in the kitchen, they both stopped dead in their tracks. "What happened to this place?" Kagome asked.

"Looks like someone was fighting in here! Either that, or a tornado blew through," Inuyasha said looking around the filthy kitchen. There were chairs overturned, the table was on its side, pots, pans, and dishes were strewn all over the counters and floor. The cupboard doors were all closed, and there was a strange looking rectangular box that hummed. "What the hell is THAT?" he asked pointing to the singing box.

Kagome looked to where he was pointing and laughed, "THAT is called a refrigerator. You put food in it to keep it fresh longer. But I guess you wouldn't know that since you've been asleep for five hundred years!"

Inuyasha scratched his head totally perplexed. Giggling at his expression, Kagome started to walk to the fridge to see what was inside, when he suddenly reached out and pulled her close.

"What are you doing?" Kagome demanded.

"How do you know that's not a youkai in disguise?" he whispered in her ear.

"Because fridges are very common in this time!"

"I don't trust it! And I forbid you to go anywhere near it!"

"You FORBID me? Then how am I supposed to make you a meal? BAKA!" she yelled facing him.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to retaliate when his sensitive ears picked up a knock at the entrance of the castle. "Someone's at the door," he said as he slung Kagome over his shoulder and dashed for the door.

"I didn't hear anything! BAKA, you're just afraid!" she pounded her small fists on his back.

He skidded to a halt and placed her firmly in front of him. Giving her a cold stare, "I'm not AFRAID of ANYTHING!" He clenched his fists and stomped past her to the door.

Kagome just stood there, frozen to her spot on the floor facing away from Inuyasha and the door. "Someone's touchy," she muttered under her breath too quiet for any human to hear.

"I heard that!" Inuyasha growled before opening the door.

Kagome's eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. 'How did he hear that? I could barely hear it, and I said it! Wait. he's a youkai, so maybe he has some sort of super hearing.'

As the door opened to reveal the boy on the other side, Inuyasha spat out, "What do you want?"

The boy stood there in the moonlight shocked for a moment before answering. He looked at a small piece of paper in his hand, "I'm looking for a Kagome Higurashi?"

Inuyasha stepped back and motioned to the girl as she turned a puzzled look at the new boy, "Do I know you?"

"No, I'm here for the job!" he said walking up to her and handing her the piece of newspaper he had.

Kagome took the paper and looked over it as Inuyasha came up beside her and looked over her shoulder. "What's that?" he asked forgetting his earlier explosion.

"I think it's one of those classified add from a newspaper," she said walking to a lit candle to see it better. Kagome read it aloud.

*~Add~*

Head Chef position available for full-time work in a remote castle. Experience a must. Being able to work with hardheaded people is preferred. Room and board is provided. If you can 'find' you're way, ask for Kagome Higurashi.

*~~*

Inuyasha gave a questioning look to Kagome when she finished, and she gave the same look to the boy.

"What? You look like you didn't put that add in the paper," the boy said giving her a shy smile.

"That's because I DIDN'T!" Kagome said as calmly as she could while still being totally freaked out.

Inuyasha walked up to the boy and gave him a look over, "You cook good?"

"I'd like to think so," he said noticing the white fluffy ears on the top of Inuyasha's head. "Those ARE real, right?" the boy asked pointing at Inuyasha's ears.

"Feh, you have a problem if they are?" Inuyasha said defensively crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nope, not at all!" the boy said. Hearing a stomach grumble, "If ya show me to the kitchen, I can make you something quick to eat. Then in the morning I can show you what I can really do!"

Turning around, Inuyasha waved a hand for the boy to follow. They walked in the direction of the kitchen, leaving a baffled Kagome to mull over the mysterious newspaper add. 'I KNOW I didn't put this in a paper! And how would I know I'd end up in a place like this? This is just too weird! I don't understand this at all!' Then noticing the retreating forms of the two boys, "Hey, don't leave me here all alone! Wait for me!"

"I thought you wanted ME to make you something to eat," Kagome teased Inuyasha when she caught up to them in the kitchen.

"I don't trust that thing," he said pointing to the fridge. The pointing to the to-be-cook, "If it attacks him, at least I won't have to save him."

The boy opened the door of the fridge to reveal food. Looking at Inuyasha's stunned face, he laughed, "What do you want me to make?"

As Inuyasha stood there gawking, Kagome answered for him, "It doesn't matter what you make, just make it fast!"

Snapping out of his stare, "As long as it tasted good, I'll eat it!"

"By the way, what's your name?" Kagome yawned as she picked up an over-turned chair to sit on by the table.

"Oh, how rude of me," the boy said stretching out his hand to Kagome. "My name is Miroku Kazana."

"I'm Kagome and this is Inuyasha," she said shaking his hand.

Miroku have his hand to Inuyasha, but he didn't understand the purpose of a handshake and just stared at his outstretched hand. "Alright then, I'll just make you some eggs," he said when Inuyasha ignored his gesture. Finding some clean dishes to work with, Miroku got the ingredients for an omelet and started up the gas stove.

Inuyasha's ears perked up when he discovered the stove was alive. But seeing that neither Miroku nor Kagome was bothered in the least by it's sudden life, he tried his best to ignore the hissing. 'So many strange new objects to get used to!' Inuyasha regarded as he started to smell the omelet.

Kagome folded her arms on the table and rested her head, 'I'll just rest my eyes for a couple minutes.'

Not long after, "Dig in and tell me what ya think." Miroku gave Inuyasha the food and watched him practically inhale it. 'Wow, I've never seen someone eat my food that fast before! He must really like eggs!' Miroku observed.

"You can make more stuff like this?" Inuyasha asked through a mouthful of eggs.

"Yeah, sure. I can make even better stuff than that. That's just fast and simple," Miroku explained. Noticing Kagome's slumbering form, "You're girlfriend's asleep!"

Choking on his last bite of food, "She's ::cough:: not my girl ::cough:: friend! I just met her ::cough:: today!"

"Oh," Miroku smiled. He walked over to Kagome and his smile grew. Inuyasha just cocked his head to the side in confusion. "She's pretty," he said as his hand hovered for a second by her bottom before copping a feel.

Kagome's misty brown eyes shot open before she screamed, "HENTAI!!"

Inuyasha immediately leapt into action seizing Miroku's throat.

~**~

A/N: Well, I think I'll leave the story here for now. I'm really sorry about how this chapter ended. I know I could've gone a lot further, but I needed to stop somewhere and this seemed like the ideal spot. I had a really hard time with this one, so I hope to hear from some reviewers on their thoughts. I hope it didn't suck as bad as I think it did! I know I'd feel a lot better if some of you told me your favorite parts so far. You know, it gives you something to write about in a review if you don't have any ideas. Wow, looks like I started to ramble! So sorry! bows apologetically Don't forget to review! Ja ne!

KrysTheAngel ^_^

May 2003