Summary: In a world where demons rule the land and humans are slaves, one family is tied by the strings of fate. But fate's made a mistake that can only be fixed by one human girl.

AN: Finally finished this chapter. Stared at it for a long time. I still can't seem to get what I want to say to come out smoothly, but I'm trying. I'd like to say thank you to all my reviewers. You guys are awesome, and I'm writing this chapter for all of you! Review responses are at the bottom. Oh, but I'm afraid this chapter will come as a disappointment. I am not as happy with this. Well, read on and see for yourself. ^^

*** In the last chapter *** Inu-Yasha and Sesshoumaru win a fight in which they receive Kagome, a human, as a prize.

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Declaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha.

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Fate's Mistake

Chapter 2

Kagome glared. Now that she was free from the refines of the slave driver, Jaken, she felt no need to act submissive. If anything, she really wouldn't mind if she died right then and there.

"Wench, what the hell do you think you're staring at?" Inu-Yasha spat out. It intimidated him, quite frankly, to see Kikyou's exact face glaring at him so. The girl had nerve too, she was a slave, as all humans were, and she must be touched in the head to eyeball him.

"I'm not exactly happy with this arrangement either, sir, so why don't you stop complaining." Kagome replied. She flinched unconsciously as she spoke the words, anticipating a heavy punishment for her stray tongue. She couldn't help it, really. Sometimes things pop into her head and out her mouth before she could even process them. That was why her last master had decided to sell her off to Jaken, the toad like slave driver; that and the fact that her ex-master, Naraku, had some strange notion that her family was cursed. Sure, people in her family seem to die painful deaths, but that should not conflict with her ability to serve. The only thing that branded her as unfit to be a servant was her big fat mouth that refused to stay shut.

Inu-Yasha was infuriated. Any other demon in their right mind would have laid their claws on her and ripped her head off, but the thought did not even occur to him. He'd always been more of the expressive type, always yelling out his frustrations verses killing someone to make himself feel better. "Woman, watch what you're saying. I'm your master now so show some respect." Of course, currently, the only thing running through his mind was how uncanny the resemblance between the girl and Kikyou were.

"I have a name. It's not 'wench' or 'woman.' My name's Kagome." She said through clenched teeth. She always was an uncivilized slave without much training. From her last master Naraku, she hadn't gone straight to Jaken. Between she'd been traded around to more than a few demons. Jaken thought it was unfortunate that he got landed with her and did the first thing he could to get rid of her.

Sesshoumaru, tired of their bickering, decided to finally join in on the conversation. He figured that if he was to walk these two home, he might as well shut them up before they drove him crazy. "Slave, you will hold your tongue. Inu-Yasha, be quiet."

Behind his back, Kagome stuck a tongue out at the hanyou, watching as he clenched his fist and glared back.

The rest of the trip to the palace remained uneventful. Thankfully.

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Inutaikou stared at his sons in disbelief. They had been gone for a total of less than half an hour and they had returned with yet another slave to add to their collection of well over four hundred.

He fixed his stare on Sesshoumaru. "Our palace is not nearly big enough to house so many humans."

"You always seem to find place for your pretty new wife." He answered and immediately regretted it. His father may be lenient with rules, but he would never stand for such insults. Sesshoumaru was thrown clear across the room, slamming into the wall. He had not dodged the attack, but he doubted he could have. His face showed nothing as he stood up again, calmly wiping the blood from his chin.

"Never say that to me again." Inutaikou said softly.

Sesshoumaru's eyebrow twitched the slightest. "Forgive me, father, it was not my place." He did not mean a single word of that, but what could he do? It was not like his father cared about him for anything other than his pure bloodedness. It was not Inu-Yasha's fault they had a new slave, instead it was Sesshoumaru's fault for saving his neck.

"Take the slave to Kaede, she'll take care of her." Inutaikou waved a hand, dismissing his sons, the both of them.

Sesshoumaru wanted nothing to do with the slave now. He didn't know what came over him, what about the slave that made him want to defend her, to keep her within his reach, to watch over and protect her. It was a sign of weakness, and he resented that. Without bothering to excuse himself, he left Inu-Yasha with the care of the new girl, Kagome, as she called herself.

Inu-Yasha cursed, "Keh, how like him to load all the busy work on me." He began walking briskly down the hallways with a rude, "Follow me."

Kagome's eyebrows shot up and she struggled to keep up with his pace. He was practically flying down the hallways without so much as a backward glance at her. He was rude and for some reason, Kagome got the feeling that he did not even remotely like her. Was being a human really so repulsive that he couldn't even stand to look at her, much less be within her presence? Kagome sighed softly, it had always been like this, she should have been used to this. No one ever wanted her; no one will ever want to keep her.

The great arched doorways, clear crystal chandeliers, and marble carvings of great demonic fights that covered almost every inch of the fantastically wide walls did nothing to catch Kagome's attention. Sure, this palace was bigger, better, and more beautiful than any she's ever had the chance to step into, but the idea of what was waiting at the end of the long path ruined the affect. She didn't know what to expect, and she most surely had the right to expect the worse. After all, she was at the ripe age of sixteen and she'd already suffered many blows upon her.

"Kaede ba chan," Inu-Yasha called out as he threw open a door and down what was obviously the servants' quarters.

Kaede turned out to be a creaky old woman with a bent back and a patch over one eye. Her eyes crinkled around the edges slightly, smiling lightly at Kagome before turning to Inu-Yasha.

Kagome gaped, open mouthed as this old lady began pushing the dog demon back down the hall they came from. "This is not acceptable." She muttered over and over and Inu-Yasha yelled some colorful words at her. She half dragged the struggling demon out, throwing him through the door.

"What the hell was that for, hag?!"

"Inu-Yasha, you do not enter the servants' quarters. You will wait outside and ring the bell if you need anything." She said calmly, "Ring the bell," and promptly closed the door in their faces.

A vein in Inu-Yasha's head popped out. The hag was always doing this to him. And for some reason, he always let her. He'd pretend to struggle and act like he's her master, but in the end, he always listened to her. The human was even younger than him and he was bowing to every command.

"Keh," he muttered, slamming his fist into the bell which rang for a split second before crumbling to pieces.

Kaede opened the door, replaced the bell was another, and cleaned up the pieces on the floor. "What do you want?" She asked.

Kaede had been through this many times before. It was a wonder that she still tried to teach him formal etiquette when she knew it would just end up with lots of broken items. She shrugged mentally. It was her job, and besides, she knew that Inu-Yasha was a kind hearted little boy inside that needed some approval.

"I'm leaving her with you, get her situated." Inu-Yasha stressed the 'her,' spitting the word out like it burned his tongue. He trained a glare at her somewhat bewildered face and quickly fled.

He couldn't be around her any longer. It was almost impossible to be mean to her when she looked so scared of everything. At first it was easy, she was being rude right back at him. But perhaps the house was intimidating. Perhaps his father scared her. But something certainly put her into a new mindset, and Inu-Yasha almost felt sorry for making her feel even more unwelcome than she probably already felt. Almost. Besides, it's not like he'll be seeing her anymore. The palace was humongous and the servants plentiful. What were the chances of spying her face ever again?

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"Umm.." Kagome looked around her nervously. Kaede had sat her down around a little fire and was forcing her to drink soup. This was the best she had ever been treated and it made her nervous. Were the youkai going to eat her? Was she a human sacrifice? Did they dislike her so much they were going to fatten her up, chew her out, and throw the bones out to the dogs? Well, they were dogs, but.. you know what she means.

It unnerved her even more when Kaede refused to look away from her face. Kagome was not a patient person, never was, and even though she was supposed to respect her elders, she couldn't find herself respecting someone who was staring at her face like she'd just grown a third eye.

"What?!" She finally yelled, plunking her bowl down before her. "Is there something on my face? Have I grown an extra limb somewhere? What are you looking at? WHY are you staring at me??"

Kaede chuckled at her outburst. The girl may look a lot like someone from long ago, but she was certainly different in spirit.

"Forgive me, child, for staring, but you look unnervingly like my sister."

"Oh," Kagome murmured. Something in Kaede's tone said that the sister was no more. And then she remembered Inu-Yasha's shocked expression when they first met. "Oh! Did Inu-Yasha know your sister?"

"He did indeed," Kaede's face darkened slightly, "but it would do you good not to mention it to him."

Again, the tone that said there were unfinished businesses and hidden pasts.

"What happened to her?"

"Her name was Kikyou," Kaede said gravely, "And she died fifty years ago."

"I'm so sorry."

"Not at all. It was meant to be. But as I said, you look very much like her. Identical, if I may say so. Perhaps, you are a reincarnation."

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For the next two weeks, Kaede taught Kagome the rules of the household; when to bow, how to bow, and how to walk within the Inutaikou's presence. She learned about how to serve food, how to smile politely without seeming to take away the attention of important guests, and how to fade away into the backdrop. Cooking was a complete enigma to Kagome, so Kaede decided she would do better as a house maid. Kagome was drilled nonstop on the likes and dislikes of the young masters, Sesshoumaru and Inu-Yasha.

Sesshoumaru liked things crisp and clean. He detested having a single thing in his room moved without his consent. When cleaning his room, one had to remove every speck of dust while leaving everything as it was when you first entered. He liked to have hot tea in the mornings and prefers quiet. In fact, the mere breathing of a human seemed to annoy him. Normally, when a servant spies the handsome young master, they were to scram.

Inu-Yasha's room was always dirty. Everything was constantly in need of being replaced. He broke his desk at least once a week, and various objects were always thrown across the place. It was better for the maid not to show up in his presence, but Inu-Yasha would not lash out at a human. The only thing is to beware of his harsh tongue. He likes to be left alone, but leaving him some random sweets always cheers him up some.

After such extensive studying, Kagome was finally ready to battle the household. Her first assignment was to clean Sesshoumaru's expansive room. So, on the fated day, when the servants made extra sure that Sesshoumaru would be gone for a while, they patted her on the back and wished her luck.

She was lost for a good part of the first ten minutes, but when she was finally directed into the correct room, she knew she didn't have that much time to finish her work. She pushed open the extraordinarily heavy double doors, and crept in.

The floor was laid with deep rich hardwood with a large furry skin in the middle for a rug. It was beautiful. The lighting was astounding. The giant windows opened out into the lush green forest below. With the sun blinking into the room, it cast its light upon every corner. To one side of the room, a long low rise table stood on firm clawed legs. A neat pile of books stacked on a corner. A single book lay open. By the wall, a vast book shelf covered much of the white marble. Volumes upon volumes of thick books covered every shelf. There were books on calligraphy, warfare, politics, herbs, and many more.

Kagome turned to a sliding door and slid the compartment open to find the sleeping area. She found nothing of interest there. The picture of the open booked nagged in Kagome's mind, and before she knew it, she was already squatting down on Sesshoumaru's mat, fingering the open page.

Staring down at the book, she squinted.

"Ha - shin?" She began, "No.. something.. sky? No.."

"What are you doing?"

Kagome gasped, slamming the book shut, and jumping to her feet.

"Who are you?" Sesshoumaru asked, knowing very well who she was.

"I'm so sorry, my lord." She gasped, "Please forgive me, I did not mean to -"

"You are new." He interrupted. It was a stupid statement, but for some reason, he wanted to stop her from apologizing.

She nodded, her face turning red, bowing quickly. The book was still clasped in her hand, a finger, holding the page it was at. Sesshoumaru strode over to her, plucking the book from her grasp.

"Hashin," he read in his sonorous voice, "'No sky, no earth - but still snowflakes fall.' It is a haiku."

Throwing the book back down on his table, he glanced at the quivering girl. "You do not know how to read?"

Kagome's eyes widened. From all the stories she had heard about the wrath of this Sesshoumaru, he seemed surprisingly kind to her. She was amazed that this beautiful demon did not punish her for nosing through his things.

Sesshoumaru growled impatiently, "Do you not speak, slave girl?"

"Uh - no, I don't know how to read. My father tried to teach me before," she answered quickly. 'But he died,' she thought, 'killed by demons when he tried to escape from slavery.' Her eyes darkened at the thought.

Sesshoumaru was shocked, even disgusted, at himself. Here he was conversing with humans; the very same species his mother had taught him were below him and never worth his time. He wasn't sure what was happening to him, but something definitely was.

"Leave," he said, staring down at the book of haikus. He needed to distance himself from this maid. He will have to talk to the head of the servants.

"But I have not even started -" Kagome tried to say, noticing the sudden change in his demeanor.

"Leave," he repeated.

Kagome felt put out, even insulted. One second he seemed almost nice, the next he was right back to what everyone said he was like. "Humph," she grumbled, stalking out of the room, muttering under her breath, something she didn't realize he could hear.

"Stupid jerk. What a pompous arse! Jeez, no need to go crazy on me.."

Sesshoumaru's eyebrows quirked up slightly. She was an amusing human and that was what bothered him. The fact that this Sesshoumaru should be amused by a human.. He smiled. Well, it had certainly happened once a long time ago, but surely he would not make the same mistake again.

Sesshoumaru went to bed that night with the image of an adorable little girl with long black hair and a name on his lips.

"Rin."

:End Chapter 2:

AN: I didn't spend as much time on this chapter, so I'm not very happy with its delivery. I'll just post this and work harder on the next chapter. Keep in mind, for those of you who think the story is moving along slowly, that I'm writing this so that people who don't know Inu-Yasha might somehow understand what is happening. Plus this IS an AU so things are different. ^^ thank you for reading, and please review.

Responses:

Marnika - I'm surprised that you can't tell this story is an AU. I say in the summary that its set in a world where demons rule and humans are slaves. It's set in a make believe youkai country where Inutaikou rules the western lands. But now I know it wasn't clear, thx for reviewing. ^^

Lima Squamosa - Thank you for your many compliments. I'm sorry I haven't found the time to read your story. That is also why my update is so slow. ^^ About the Sess/Kag or Inu/Kag thing, I'll be talking about that in my ANs to come. So stay tuned. Hehe

Breshcandra / tsuki-chan / ko-chan / thundergirl / lid - Thanks for your support. It really makes me feel good about my story. ^^ I'm glad you guys all like my first chapter. I'm continuing for all of you! I hope you enjoyed the second as well, though I confess it is not as well written. ^^ thank you again!

Ria - haha, thanks very much. I'll continue this story as long as I get fab feedback from fantastic people like you. ^^ Thx.

Fay - ^^ I'm so happy that people really do like my first chapter. It makes me feel very very good. You have no idea. ^^ Thx soo much.

Lirpa - Haha, thank you for reading this. I promise I'll expose you to more anime, if only through my stories. Of course, feel free to borrow anime from me anytime you want too. Kikyou ~ well, you'll find out about her some more as the story progresses.