I'm BACK! I hope Y'all had fun over your weekend. Today is 6/27/04. ALL of the poetry is written by yours truly. Sorry if you don't like it. Great if you do.

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I see her now,

her wings spread wide

In their darkest glory.

Her sleeping form

frail like the water nymph,

strong like a fiery spirit.

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The next day passed without incident. Kagome hadn't seen Inu-yasha at all, and the clock was nearing twelve. Bored to near death, she set out to explore the east and north parts of the mansion. Again, most of the rooms were either locked or empty. She was beginning to become seriously pissed off at the lack of things to do, as she opened one of the last doors.

The contents were strewn all over the large room, an ancient looking Katakana was propped up in one of the corners. A traditional Japanese Haori-Hakama was on a hanger. She stepped cautiously into the room and was immediately amazed at the coloring. The walls were blood red, the bed was also the same shade of crimson. She stepped over piles of clothing, making sure not to knock over any of the mountains. Making a wild leap to the bed, Kagome scrambled over the sleek fabric of his bed-sheets.

"Pretty..." She said, running a hand over the silky cover. The fabric rippled and swayed at her every touch. She looked over the blood red walls. He had many posters and displays randomly scattered over his walls. One glass box mounted on the wall held a ancient-looking arrow. She fell onto her back, looking at the ceiling, which was slanted slightly over the bed. Letting her arms and legs spread over the feathery surface, she closed her eyes and wondered how he ever had problems sleeping. She could fall asleep right now if she wanted to.

'... Maybe even if I didn't want to...' She thought, rolling onto her side. The comfort of his bed was so welcoming, his scent so calming. She let herself slip into the bliss of sleep.

Near four o'clock, Inu-yasha Taisho walked calmly into his own house, shut the door tightly, and loosened his ruby tie. Yawning, he tossed his brief case to a waiting servant.

"Guard that for me, Myouga."

"Aye."

Inu-yasha took several different routes to find his room, but the shortest was the way directly to the right. He walked down countless corridors, counting doors.

"Ten to left, two up." He said, stopping at his door, marked exactly like the one next to it and the after that. He opened his own door, stopped and sniffed. Looking around, Inu-yasha spotted the object of his interest lying on his bed. He was severely shaken.

Walking slowly, as if not to wake her, he approached the edge of his scarlet bed. Her eyes were closed tightly, her hair partially fallen over her angelic face. Her small hands gripped the cover on one of his pillows. Before he could react to her waking, her deep blue eyes slowly opened to gaze up at him. Blinking once, she sat up.

"Oh... Sorry, you're bed was just so comfortable." She crossed her legs, and rubbed her eyes roughly.

He sat on the bed next to her, and crossed his legs as well. "So you like my room? It's a bit messy, sorry."

Kagome gave him a look.

"What?"

"A bit messy?" She said, raising an eyebrow. He shrugged. "So what is this stuff, anyway?" She said, gesturing to the medieval objects.

"Oh, those!" His face brightened. "That Haori-Hakama is legendary, was supposed to be worn by the infamous half-demon that nearly destroyed mankind."

Kagome's eyes widened. "Tell me more! Why'd he nearly destroy mankind? What stopped him?" She turned herself around so that she was facing him.

"Our near destruction was brought about by his lover, actually. She left him forever, causing him much grief. He then hated humans for as long as he lived. Killed his own human friends. Records say that their names were Sango and Miroku. Just like my co-workers, weird, right?"

So after going mad, the only chance for human kind was his lost love. She was a miko, right, a priestess. She foresaw the actions of this half-breed. She returned to him long enough for him die happy, and to be purified by that sacred arrow." He pointed at the ancient-looking arrow mounted on the wall. "You can see the hole in the robe. Right through the heart, like her words. Struck him cold. You'll never guess what those words were."

Kagome was hanging onto every last word. She loved fairy tales. Especially when there was a fiber of truth. "What? Did she say that she loved him and that she never meant to leave?" She smiled.

"Yeah... sort of. She said that she loved him, that she always had, but she couldn't forgive him. The last words he heard before the arrow flew were 'Why did you betray me?'. That was the exact same thing his past lover said when she found him courting the young miko."

Kagome sat in deep thought. "That sucks."

"Tell me about it." Inu-yasha said glumly. He began removing his tie, got up and pulled off his black suit jacket. "I hate these suits, if you know what I mean." She sat, frozen, her legs folded under her.

"Uh.. do you want me to... uh..."

"No need." he said, unbuttoning his white shirt. Kagome tried to stare at the bed sheets. She couldn't keep her eyes off his back as he pulled the shirt off. His back was extremely muscular, young skin, healthily bronze from the sun. No blemishes... Kagome noticed that her jaw had dropped. She closed her mouth quickly, and turned around so that she could not witness the dropping of pants. She did, however hear the zipper and then the 'fwump' of clothing on the floor. She heard him curse quietly, as he searched for a clean t-shirt.

"I thought I told Myouga to do this yesterday!" He grumbled. He glared at Kagome from his search. She found that she had turned around to see his chiseled chest sub-consciously. He looked so hot in boxers. "Well? Don't just sit there, help me find a clean shirt!"

"What if I don't feel like it?" She said, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. She smirked at his glare. She soon regretted it. His hand on her throat, his face inches from hers.

"I said so. You help." He glared at her, soaking the scent of her fear. He let her go, got off her, and began digging more furiously in a nearby pile. Each and every shirt had his scent on it.

She blinked at the air where he had been. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" She cried angrily, jumping up, and pointing an accusing finger at him.

He looked up, partially interested. "What?"

She fumed. "You don't have to THREATEN me to get me to help!"

"Whatever."

"Ooh, I hate you so much."

"Trust me, it can go two ways." He gave her a serious look.

She spat at him, and dove into the bed sheets. "Leave me alone."

"You're the one in my room! I'm not going to act different just because you're here! And I'm about to take my afternoon nap, whether you get out of my bed or not." She only had seconds to contemplate what this could mean before something landed inches from her, sending her and the sheets flying. She landed partially on him with a thump. He was chortling stupidly.

"Get out of my room, Kagome. I need to sleep." He pushed her off on him.

"Okay. I'll see you in..." she said, getting up from his place. When no reply came, she looked over at him. He was sprawled over his bed, snoring loudly. She threw up her arms, exasperated.

Put out because of her unresolved sexual tension, Kagome decided to find her own room. When she returned to her chamber, the floor seemed to glow more brightly than ever. She sat down at her dresser, and began putting her clothes away into the drawers.

Letting her thoughts wander as she sorted her underwear by color, she thought back to the legend Inu-yasha told her. The story was just so heart breaking. She felt almost like it was related to how she felt about Inu-yasha. Her heart felt like it was tearing in half. Torn between her mother's trust and Inu-yasha's love. How was she going to get this to work?

Her hand slipped on the desk, and she cut her hand roughly on the silver letter-opener.

She stared blankly at the blood running down her wrist. She picked up the letter-opener with her good hand and saw the scarlet liquid slide down it easily. She could not remember the last time she saw her own blood.

"KAGOME!"

She spun around. Inu-yasha was framed in her doorway, his hair and eyes wild.

"What are you doing?!" He asked, grabbing the letter opener from her.

"My hand slipped..." She held out her severely bleeding hand. A small pool of blood began to form in her cupped hand.

"Kagome.... don't ever hurt yourself... Kagome?" He held her bleeding hand, she kept her eyes downcast. Her raven bangs covered her shining eyes. Eyes that threatened to spill over tears. He smelled her tears before he saw them.

"It... It hurts.." She said quietly, a silver tear slid down her cheek. Of course she didn't mean the cut.

"Myouga! Get me the first aid!" Inu-yasha yelled over his shoulder. "Kagome... Kagome look at me." She gulped, and looked into his amber eyes. "Myouga's getting me the medical supplies." Her eyes moved to their hands clenched together. A tiny drop was forming at his knuckle. She watched it slowly drop to the shining floor.

"Inu-yasha! The floor!" She stood up, took her shirt in one hand, and ripped it with her teeth. "Wrap this." She held out her bloody hand.

"I can't see the cut! Where is it?" He turned her hand over.

"On top, between the middle knuckle and base of the hand near the thumb."

"Ok, I see it now." He wrapped her hand quickly and tied it. "Myouga's so useless. Let's get us washed." They went into her bathroom, and he helped her towel off the dried blood on her hands. He washed his hands quickly, and he made her sit on her bed. He sat in front of her.

"Tell me you did not cut yourself, Kagome. I want you to be happy."

"Why would you want that, Inu-yasha?" Kagome laughed. He did not smile back.

"Did you cut yourself?"

"No."

"Please tell me the truth."

"What do you want me to do?! Lie and tell you that I cut myself?! Of course I didn't cut myself." She was beginning to get angry. At that moment Myouga arrived with a small first aid kit. He was a squat old man with an abnormally long nose.

"Myouga, you useless fool! We needed this five minutes ago!" Inu-yasha snatched the box from his servant. "You are dismissed for tonight." Myouga left without a word.

"Give me your hand." Inu-yasha said roughly. She held out her hand as he replaced her shirt with medical tape and gauze.

In deep thought while he worked, Kagome remembered something. "Oh... Inu-yasha? Thanks for helping me earlier with the waiter and stuff."

"No problem. There, you're all fixed up. Now get to bed." He said, getting up to leave.

"Inu-yasha?"

"What?" He said, turning around in the doorway.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, dear." He shut off her lights while she snuggled into her sheets. She slept soundly in her partially cut shirt.

'Goodnight, my love.'

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Don't let your blood run

for the sake of my wretched self.

My wretched soul.

But light my flame,

My dearest, my sweetest,

my darkest angel.

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I work only on weekdays, sorry folks.