A wish upon a star
Disclaimer: Um...now...what do I say here?
Note: *panics* Grrr...one of my reviewers caught a whiff of what happened to Kikyou...not telling who...but one you guys are pretty close!
Yay!!! 60 reviews!!! Thankx all you guyz!
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Chapter Eight
A Secret Leeway
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Kagome stretched her hand, hoping to skim her fingers through some soft, silky sand but all she touched was cloth. She frowned, that's weird... she shook her head, straining her ears to hear the waves of the sea. All she heard were birds chirping their morning songs. Now that was definitely weird.
Opening her eyes groggily, she eyed the condition she was in. Furrowing her eyebrows she rubbed her eyes, "How did I end up back here?"
She was back in room; her hair and clothes still smelled of sea salt, so that meant her visit to the sea wasn't a dream but how she had gotten back still remained a mystery. 'I don't remember walking back home'
Straining her mind to remember any events of walking back to castle she ended up with nothing. She sat up and leaned back, placing her head on the wall that stood behind her bed. 'Did Inu-Yasha carry me back home?'
She laughed almost immediately, the thought seemed too impossible to believe that it seemed funny. As she looked outside her window which was currently open, revealing a bright, but cloudy day a thought struck her mind...
"Oh yeah, Kikyou's coming today..."
The two weeks passed by so quickly it seemed as if it was only yesterday she had arrived at the castle, not wanting to meet her sister she decided she would avoid her as much as she was able to.
As she got out of her bed a red ribbon hanging from her wrist caught her attention.
"Huh?"
There was a tissue paper hanging from the ribbon, as she eyed the tissue paper, obviously searching for some 'disgusting' features on it, some writing caught her attention. Someone had written on the tissue paper with very messy handwriting, almost impossible to read.
She ripped the tissue paper off her ribbon and opened it, curiosity taking over her. She flattened the last cresses and read the contents on the tissue.
-----
Man...Lose some weight! I almost
dropped you on the way back to the
castle, and you're snoring didn't
help out either, by the way who were
you screaming at in you're dreams?
Hopefully, it wasn't me...I won't be
in the castle today, and I won't be
at the sea either so don't go
looking for me....
Kagome snorted at that comment...like she would actually go looking for him...
...You're sister is supposed to
arriving before lunch and there's a
ball tonight – after dinner. Oh,
and one more thing before I go – you
suck, you couldn't even find me
yesterday!
The last sentence gave away all doubts that someone else had written the letter, it was obviously Inu-Yasha, and by the looks of it he was going to be busy the whole day preparing things. Kagome chuckled; he was obviously going to hide in the forest the whole day.
She re-read the letter again, there was a ball tonight? No body had told her that.
'Oh well, I'll get dressed later, right now...I have to take a shower, change my clothes, get some breakfast...'
She yawned as she got up from her bed to do her morning chores.
___________
Sesshomuru eyed the girl lazily as she set up decorations for the upcoming ball. He looked down at the paper he was holding at read the words he had written.
'All attempts to start conversations have failed'
He fumbled with his pen and wrote another sentence.
'Going for plan B'
He got up from his chair and walked towards Rin. As he walked closer she snapped her head around and sent a 'Get away from me' glare. Not caring what she was going to do he flopped down on the floor beside her and stared up at her like a lost puppy would do to a stranger.
She set down the roses she had in her hand and stared back at him, her face still straight, showing no signs of weakness.
"What do you want this time, and before you ask – no I have not found your 'socks, underwear, knife, golden tip pen, black inked quill, your sword Tensaiga..."
He blinked innocently at her as the list went on and on, he had almost forgotten he had asked her to find objects that he had –in the first place- not lost.
"...or your golden ring" She finished off. She picked up the roses and once again, started pasting them onto the wall.
"Uh...its okay, I came here to ask something else" He said to her, as he saw her pick up another batch of roses and paste them on top of the once she had already pasted on.
"Oh yeah? What's that? Oh, could you move over a little?" She waved a hand in his face. As he scooted back she stepped onto the place he had previously been sitting on and starting placing roses on the wall.
"Are you going to the ball tonight?"
She shook her head, "Nope, oh – could you pass me those roses?"
He sighed and reached out for the roses on the floor, he stared at her as she snatched them out of his hands.
"Um...do you know how to dance?"
She said nothing and continued pasting on the roses onto the wall. Thinking she hadn't heard him, he decided to repeat the question, this time slightly louder "Do you know -." He was cut off as she dropped the roses and turned towards him; she flopped down on the floor beside him and started playing with the roses on the floor.
"What do you think?" She turned an angry pair of eyes at the currently confused yet fake face Sesshomuru had put on. She scoffed and turned away "You're good at acting"
He rolled his eyes, he was just trying to be nice...sheesh...
He looked at the pissed girl sitting in front of him 'what do guys do that girls would like at a time like this?' He furrowed his eyebrows...too bad he didn't hadn't have any experience.
"I'll teach you"
She turned a surprised gaze at the innocent demon in front of her. "You – teach – me?"
"That's what I said didn't I? Here, let me repeat those words, I'll – teach – you"
She rolled her eyes, she didn't need him to repeat it, and it made her feel like a child.
She bit her lip as she thought about it...the ball was for the 'getting engaged couples' and wasn't Prince Sesshomuru one of the fiancé's? It -would- be innocent, wouldn't it? He was just going to teach her how to dance right? Nothing else...so, in that case, this wouldn't be wrong in any way...right?
She looked at Sesshomuru uneasily, she glanced at the doors of the hall – making sure no one was watching. "I guess I could learn" She glanced at the walls "But I have to finish the walls first"
"They can wait"
"No they can't"
"Yes they can"
She sent him an angry glare, shutting him up immediately. Shaking her head she got up and continued pasting up the roses.
_______________
Kagome walked through the corridors of the castle. "So bored..." she sighed, she was doing absolutely nothing. Sango was helping out in the kitchens, figuring out what foods they were going to serve at the ball. Miroku was out in the servant quarters...doing god knows what. Sesshomuru was helping out with the decorations for the ball. And Inu-Yasha was out of the castle...and not by the sea...and not in the forest either.
Kagome bit her cheek. She had gotten so bored that she had actually gone searching for the hanyou. Coming back to the castle, with no success, she had nothing do to but walk lazily around the castle, hoping to find something that would interest her in the least.
She entered the library, deciding maybe the king and queen might be in here...she could talk to them...
She looked around lazily, a little headache forming in the left side of her head. As she looked around, she spotted the king. Putting on a smile she walked up to him and patted him on the back.
He turned around and smiled broadly, obviously happy to see her.
"Hello dear! You must be excited that your sister is coming"
Her smile wavered, 'Nope, not a bit' She looked at the king intently "Yeah, I'm really excited"
"Her names Kikyou, wasn't it?"
"Yeah..."
"I'm so anxious to meet her; everyone says she's a darling"
"Yeah, she is..."
"One more year older than you isn't she?"
"Yeah..."
"Does she look the same as you?"
Kagome tried her best as she tried not to frown; it seemed as if the king was comparing her to her sister. A sudden urge to leave him right there erupted through her but respect still topped it.
"Well, I guess you'll have to see her to find out"
"Does she -." He was cut of as Kagome suddenly clenched her stomach. "Are you okay?"
Kagome shook her head and made a fake groan escape her throat "I think I'm going to vomit"
"Oh dear, go to the nurse immediately, we don't want you having sick before such an amazing night!"
She nodded approvingly and scurried away from the king. As she got out of eye sight from the king she let go of her stomach and took in a deep breath. She smiled inwardly. She had had enough of the king's questions and had done the only thing that had come into her mind – fake some bad health 'I can't believe he actually fell for it'
She looked around the library; she had scurried off to the other end. She hadn't come here before, and it looked like no one else really did either.
It wasn't lit up like the other side, and it smelled old and forgotten too. She looked uneasily around her as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. A tilted candle caught her eyes. She slowly walked up to it and examined it. The candle was unlit, but it was bent in the middle, making it seem like a handle.
Curiosity taking over her she reached out her hand grabbed the candle. It was fixed right to the walls. She slowly pulled it to the left, hoping to straighten it out, thinking the candle seemed to make the whole left side of the library even uglier.
As she finally straightened it out she stared at it for a while.
That was interesting...
She shook her head and turned around but stopped dead in her tracks as she heard the sound of cement sliding against cement behind her.
Eyes opened wide with shock and fear she slowly turned around to see something she hadn't seen before.
The candle had opened some sort of secret door way.
It was small, but Kagome could definitely fit through it. Thoughts raced through her mind.
'Should I go through?' she shook her head.
'Go through it dummy'
She shook her head once again...
'If you don't go through the opening, you'll kill yourself with curiosity...think about it, you'll never find out what's in there...'
It seemed as if she was fighting a losing battle with the voices in her head.
'Think about it, never...never...never'
"Fine! I'll go!" She got down on her knees and started to crawl through the doorway. It seemed to lead into a short tunnel. Sighing, she crawled forward. Just noticing how dark it was she made up her mind she would go back, get a candle...then come back again.
As she started to crawl back the entrance shut close.
She punched the ground at her bad luck.
Turning around once again, she gulped at the new thoughts forming in her head 'what if there are spiders in here?'
"No spiders in here, just keep crawling, no spiders in here, just keep crawling" She started to crawl forward, her eyes shut tight.
'Curiosity killed the cat didn't it?'
Kagome mentally slapped herself. Her consciousness always taking the better of her during these times, always making her panicky.
'What if the tunnel leads to a dead end?'
She gulped down the lump that had appeared in her throat.
'What if the air runs out?'
That was it; she was calling out for help.
"Anybody on the other end!?!" It was more of a cry for help than a question. Hearing no reply, she buried her head deep into her arms, flattening down on her stomach; somehow this position always seemed to calm her down a little. Her insides of her stomach were slowly twisting into figure eights as she still waited desperately for some reply.
As her last hopes of surviving started to vanish from her mind, her consciousness taking over her, she almost jumped out of wits when she heard a voice through the tunnels.
"Kagome? Is that you?"
She jolted back onto her knees as the voice carried to her ears. She almost lost her voice as relief swept through her whole body like a big tidal wave. "Um, yeah, is that you Inu-Yasha?" She waited for a response, starting to feel silly in the position she was in but all in all, she had never been this happy to hear his voice in her life.
"Yeah, it's me...what are you doing down here?"
She sighed in frustration, she could barely see a thing, she was on her knee's and hands...and was starting to feel suffocated at the tiny amount of moving space she had and here he was, asking how she got here?
"I'll tell you if you get me outta this place, I don't like it, I can barely see a thing"
It sounded as if he jumped onto some dirt and started crawling on top-speed towards her, as he reached her he tugged on her hair. "Is that you?"
She squealed in pain "Yeah, that's me!"
He chuckled "Follow me" and is if he read her mind "I'll try to make a lot of noise so you can hear me, okay?"
She nodded, and just remembering he couldn't see her that well either she added on "Yeah, sure"
It was only after a few minutes before Inu-Yasha jumped out a little opening at the end of the tunnel. Kagome came feebly behind him; it took her a while before she got adjusted to the new setting around her.
She gasped.
It seemed like the homiest room she had ever seen in her life. The walls were made with large rocks but were covered with long blue drapes. There was green plush carpet on the floor and there was nice cool, fresh air wafting in and out of the room. There was ink quills and parchment on the floor with one ink bottle on a little stool like table. A stash of food was kept in a box near the left side of the room. There was blanket set out near the right side of the room with a few pillows. Big fluffy cushions were set directly in front of where Kagome was standing and on the right corner of the room were long red candles, unlit, but obviously there to give the room some nice aroma when lit.
She looked around and spotted Inu-Yasha eying her as if waiting for her to judge the room.
"This is...wow!" She gasped out loud, still amazed at how at home she felt here.
"Um...yeah, thanks...I decorated the whole thing myself"
She turned her head to look at him. She gave him a big smile "You have to decorate my room sometime"
He chuckled before gazing at the floor with a face obviously showing an uncertain expression.
"Um, hey...Kagome?"
She broke her gaze away from the silky blue drapes and turned her face towards Inu-Yasha. "Yeah?"
"Could we keep this...our little secret?"
He looked up from the floor, only to lock gazes with the confused Kagome. She blinked uncertainly and looked away, somehow embarrassed. Though she recovered quickly as she looked back at him and grinned.
"Only if I get to come here when I want to"
He folded his arms across his chest and tapped his fingers on his shoulder, "Hmm"
Kagome, seeing that he might say no, took of her shoes, (who would want to ruin such clean carpet?) ran up to him and put on her best puppy face. "Oh, please?"
He gave her an uncertain look, "Well...if you promise not to decorate the room with pink frilly things"
She blinked, 'That would be the thing Kikyou would do' Shaking her head of all thoughts she smiled "Of coarse I wouldn't!"
"Fine, by the way –how- did u find the tunnel?" He nudged his head towards the bean bag chair, motioning her to sit down. She happily turned around and flopped down on the bean bag chair, almost sinking into its cozy warmth.
"Well, I was running away from..." she hesitated, should she tell him she was running away from his father? Better not, "Miroku, and I ended up in the far left of the library" She gulped, Inu-Yasha was staring holes into her and now she felt like she was on trial in a court. She nervously moved her gaze upwards, once again, locking gazes with Inu-Yasha, "and...I saw a candle..." she gulped, what was so hard in telling him this? "It was bent..." She stopped; she felt paralyzed...those golden eyes of him, made her feel chilly to the spine.
"Go on" He scooted further and placed his arms on his knees but still had his face watching her intently.
"So I straightened it...and this tunnel opened" She fidgeted with her hands nervously, desperately wanting to break the gaze but felt she had no power to. She was definitely going to search up 'Magical trance golden eyes' in the library "And, well...you can figure out the rest"
He nodded, finally breaking the trance. She sighed, she felt out of breath...it felt as if the judge had claimed her innocent and now she was on her way home. Not wanting to act suspicious in front of Inu-Yasha she decided to start a conversation. Before she could say anything Inu-Yasha spoke.
"You excited?"
She raised an eyebrow at his question "Excited about what?"
He scoffed. "Are you excited that your sister is coming?"
She shrugged and looked at him uneasily, she sighed "I can't say I'm thrilled to see her again"
He straightened up as she said that, that was weird...someone who didn't like the princess that was coming? Everyone was talking about her; even her father couldn't shut up "Why? Isn't she nice to you?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Nice? Cruel is more like it"
Kagome looked at him from her position on the bean bag chair. He seemed to be in deep thought; all of a sudden he glanced towards the tunnel and stood up.
"What happened?"
He looked back at her and sighed "She's here"
_____________________
Sesshomuru stared at the girl as she mopped the ball room floor. She had been making excuses the last hour.
She had finished pasting up the roses and the walls looked beautiful...but then she had to sweep the floor.
After sweeping the floor she had to bring in all the scented candles and place them on the tables.
After doing so she said she had to mop the floor. Now here she was, mopping the floor, though the ball room floor was already sparkling like diamond. Getting tired he stood up and walked up to her.
"You're doing this to annoy me"
She looked up from the floor and raised her eyebrows; she smiled mischievously "I am?"
He rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist, making the mop fall to the floor. She narrowed her eyes. "I was mopping the floor"
"You've only done so thrice"
She shrugged and pulled on her wrist "Come on, let go"
He neglected her protest. "I'll fire you if you don't listen to me"
She sighed and turned an annoying gaze at him "Fine!" she slumped her shoulders "Teach me how to dance then"
He smiled inwardly, not loosening his grip on her hand he led her to the center of the ball room. "Okay, they usually start the ball with the waltz" She nodded "So, place your right hand on my left shoulder and your right hand goes into my left hand" She did as he told her, feeling very uncomfortable as his right hand went to her waist. She hadn't done anything like this before and now she desperately wished she had rejected his offer.
"Now, the male leads on and the female follows" he slowly started to move, Rin hopelessly tried to follow.
______________
After around seven more tries, she finally got the hang of it. Though she was in a giggling fit. Sesshomuru hopelessly tried to shut her up.
"Okay, let's move on to the next dance" He stared hopelessly at the giggling girl. He sighed, "The next few dances are very simple, you put both of your hands on my shoulders and just move along with the music"
She did as he said so even though she had started to giggle uncontrollably. He placed his hands on her waist and sighed, it felt as if he was teaching a three year old girl how to use the toilet.
She did the dance perfectly, mostly because it was simplest and easiest dance of them all. "The sixth or seventh dance of the ball is usually one with fast music" She stopped giggling but still had a sly smile on her face "It starts out like this" They got into their usual waltz position. "But can go like this" He let go of her waist and twirled her out, and just before she pulled on his arm, he pulled her back with another swirl. As she reached him he dipped her into an extravagant dip.
She stared up at him, and before he knew what was coming she started giggling again. Feeling annoyed he pulled her up and stared at her wanting an explanation "Why do you keep giggling?"
She pulled out of his reach and crossed her arms over her chest "Because you look so cute when you don't know why I'm laughing"
He rolled his eyes and sighed...typical...girls...all of them are the same...
"Anyways"
He stared at the girl and raised his eyebrows "Yeah?"
"Kikyou's here and you're late!"
Before he could say anything she ran out of the ball room. Damnit, he punched his palm...mother was going to kill him for missing something like that.
He shook his head, how come he hadn't smelled Kikyou coming?
Well...he did have a distraction.
___________________
Kagome waited without interest for Kikyou to step out of her carriage. She looked over; Inu-Yasha didn't seem too interested either. On the contrary, the queen and the king were practically jumping up and down, waiting for Kikyou to make her 'grand' and 'elegant' entrance.
She sighed as the door opened and out stepped Kikyou, wearing a long purple dress with a diamond tiara on her head. A tinge of jealousy grew in her...Kagome didn't look so good when she arrived, and if you thought about it, she didn't look that good right now either.
Kikyou had tons of makeup on while Kagome had none. Her dress was filled with diamonds, violet roses, frills, and the silk sparkled with glitter while Kagome wore a simple blue – knee high dress. Her hair was curled and her ears had blue diamond earrings on while Kagome's hair was wavy straight and her ears were still un-pierced.
All in all, Kagome felt like dirt compared to her.
She looked away, trying to seem uninterested. Inu-Yasha caught her attention; his eyebrows were shot high up, almost disappearing underneath his fringe...anger built up inside of her... 'He's probably thinking how hot she looks'
"Hi Kagome!" A cheery but dull voice called out to her, she snapped her head back towards Kikyou who was smiling her 'charming' smile at her, she smiled back, but Inu-Yasha could see it was forced.
"Hey..."
She turned towards Inu-Yasha who had a strained expression. Kikyou eyes widened as she saw him but her face returned to her normal fake smile she had put on earlier. "Hi, nice to meet you"
"Uh...same"
Kagome snickered...just like Inu-Yasha to say something lame.
After the introductions were done, the king and queen led Kikyou into the castle, leaving Inu-Yasha and Kagome alone.
Kagome walked forward and closed the gates, seeing all the guards had already left. After doing so she turned around and walked up to Inu-Yasha who seemed to be choking. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Water, please!"
Wondering why he was asking for such a think she picked up the nearest pot and rushed to the fountain near the gates. After filling it half way up she returned to Inu-Yasha who gulped down the water in a second.
He panted for a while before inhaling the fresh air. Kagome stood there, wondering what the heck was going on. He looked back at Kagome at shook his head.
"Man...that woman has..."
Kagome cut him of as her anger rose up like a bullet "Yeah, I know, no need to rub it in my face, she's prettier than me, she's hot, she has a great smile, she's perfect...even her voice is better than mine"
Inu-Yasha stared at the fuming girl. She was staring down at him, obviously pissed. He chuckled.
"What's wrong? You think she can scream better than me too?"
He shook his head "uh...nooo..."
She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot impatiently on the ground "Then!?"
He smirked "I was just going to say that woman has so much perfume on I was about to choke, damnit, the smell was stuck in my throat, that's why I asked for water"
Kagome turned beet root red. She mouthed and 'o' and pouted in front of him. "Well...okay"
He smirked, he punched her playfully on the shoulder "You thought that's what I was thinking when I saw her?"
She turned her beet root face towards him and shrugged "it may have crossed my mind"
He smiled; her actions reminded him of a little girl, pouting because she didn't get a lollypop. He chuckled and crossed his arms across his chest and cocked his head, hoping to catch a glimpse of her beet root red face.
She suddenly lifted her head and stared at him straight in the eye "I saw the way you looked at her though!"
He lifted his eyebrows, "Probably because I was surprised how anyone could look so shitty in a dress like that!"
"Yeah right!" She smirked at him, embarrassment slowly leaving her, replacing her beet root red color with her normal pale skin color. He suddenly grabbed her wrist and jerked her forward.
"Even if I was, why do you care? She –is- my fiancé"
All embarrassment returned to Kagome as she realized what he had just said. Inu-Yasha smirked as the now almost familiar blush returned to her cheeks. She struggled against his tight grip on her wrist. Seeing he wasn't going to let go she slumped her shoulders and sent him a half embarrassed/ half angry glare.
"For your information I DON'T care, I was just teasing you"
He smirked "You don't have any proof!"
She smirked back at him, almost surprising him, before he could do anything she stomped onto his foot.
"Ow!"
"I think that's proof enough!"
"I'll get back at you for that!"
"Get lost!"
"Wench!"
She sighed...he'll never lose that habit. Oh well...she sighed and turned around, heading back to the castle.
"I better start getting ready for the ball!"
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There...Tee hee....I loved writing the tunnel and room part... it's always been my dream to have a secret hideout like that!!!
Well...there you go! There is (like I promised) a clue in there to the family secret, but a very, very vague one.
The next chapter will have a humungo, tremendously big clue to the secret (giving u a head start)...and it will also have to whole ball part. Sorry that I couldn't fit it in here...but if I did...the humungo, tremendously big clue wud have come in too so I have my reasons....
Sorry for the lame title for the chapter but I seriously couldn't think of anything else.
Well...I'm just blabbing on and on....so until the next chapter!
Disclaimer: Um...now...what do I say here?
Note: *panics* Grrr...one of my reviewers caught a whiff of what happened to Kikyou...not telling who...but one you guys are pretty close!
Yay!!! 60 reviews!!! Thankx all you guyz!
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Chapter Eight
A Secret Leeway
_____________
Kagome stretched her hand, hoping to skim her fingers through some soft, silky sand but all she touched was cloth. She frowned, that's weird... she shook her head, straining her ears to hear the waves of the sea. All she heard were birds chirping their morning songs. Now that was definitely weird.
Opening her eyes groggily, she eyed the condition she was in. Furrowing her eyebrows she rubbed her eyes, "How did I end up back here?"
She was back in room; her hair and clothes still smelled of sea salt, so that meant her visit to the sea wasn't a dream but how she had gotten back still remained a mystery. 'I don't remember walking back home'
Straining her mind to remember any events of walking back to castle she ended up with nothing. She sat up and leaned back, placing her head on the wall that stood behind her bed. 'Did Inu-Yasha carry me back home?'
She laughed almost immediately, the thought seemed too impossible to believe that it seemed funny. As she looked outside her window which was currently open, revealing a bright, but cloudy day a thought struck her mind...
"Oh yeah, Kikyou's coming today..."
The two weeks passed by so quickly it seemed as if it was only yesterday she had arrived at the castle, not wanting to meet her sister she decided she would avoid her as much as she was able to.
As she got out of her bed a red ribbon hanging from her wrist caught her attention.
"Huh?"
There was a tissue paper hanging from the ribbon, as she eyed the tissue paper, obviously searching for some 'disgusting' features on it, some writing caught her attention. Someone had written on the tissue paper with very messy handwriting, almost impossible to read.
She ripped the tissue paper off her ribbon and opened it, curiosity taking over her. She flattened the last cresses and read the contents on the tissue.
-----
Man...Lose some weight! I almost
dropped you on the way back to the
castle, and you're snoring didn't
help out either, by the way who were
you screaming at in you're dreams?
Hopefully, it wasn't me...I won't be
in the castle today, and I won't be
at the sea either so don't go
looking for me....
Kagome snorted at that comment...like she would actually go looking for him...
...You're sister is supposed to
arriving before lunch and there's a
ball tonight – after dinner. Oh,
and one more thing before I go – you
suck, you couldn't even find me
yesterday!
The last sentence gave away all doubts that someone else had written the letter, it was obviously Inu-Yasha, and by the looks of it he was going to be busy the whole day preparing things. Kagome chuckled; he was obviously going to hide in the forest the whole day.
She re-read the letter again, there was a ball tonight? No body had told her that.
'Oh well, I'll get dressed later, right now...I have to take a shower, change my clothes, get some breakfast...'
She yawned as she got up from her bed to do her morning chores.
___________
Sesshomuru eyed the girl lazily as she set up decorations for the upcoming ball. He looked down at the paper he was holding at read the words he had written.
'All attempts to start conversations have failed'
He fumbled with his pen and wrote another sentence.
'Going for plan B'
He got up from his chair and walked towards Rin. As he walked closer she snapped her head around and sent a 'Get away from me' glare. Not caring what she was going to do he flopped down on the floor beside her and stared up at her like a lost puppy would do to a stranger.
She set down the roses she had in her hand and stared back at him, her face still straight, showing no signs of weakness.
"What do you want this time, and before you ask – no I have not found your 'socks, underwear, knife, golden tip pen, black inked quill, your sword Tensaiga..."
He blinked innocently at her as the list went on and on, he had almost forgotten he had asked her to find objects that he had –in the first place- not lost.
"...or your golden ring" She finished off. She picked up the roses and once again, started pasting them onto the wall.
"Uh...its okay, I came here to ask something else" He said to her, as he saw her pick up another batch of roses and paste them on top of the once she had already pasted on.
"Oh yeah? What's that? Oh, could you move over a little?" She waved a hand in his face. As he scooted back she stepped onto the place he had previously been sitting on and starting placing roses on the wall.
"Are you going to the ball tonight?"
She shook her head, "Nope, oh – could you pass me those roses?"
He sighed and reached out for the roses on the floor, he stared at her as she snatched them out of his hands.
"Um...do you know how to dance?"
She said nothing and continued pasting on the roses onto the wall. Thinking she hadn't heard him, he decided to repeat the question, this time slightly louder "Do you know -." He was cut off as she dropped the roses and turned towards him; she flopped down on the floor beside him and started playing with the roses on the floor.
"What do you think?" She turned an angry pair of eyes at the currently confused yet fake face Sesshomuru had put on. She scoffed and turned away "You're good at acting"
He rolled his eyes, he was just trying to be nice...sheesh...
He looked at the pissed girl sitting in front of him 'what do guys do that girls would like at a time like this?' He furrowed his eyebrows...too bad he didn't hadn't have any experience.
"I'll teach you"
She turned a surprised gaze at the innocent demon in front of her. "You – teach – me?"
"That's what I said didn't I? Here, let me repeat those words, I'll – teach – you"
She rolled her eyes, she didn't need him to repeat it, and it made her feel like a child.
She bit her lip as she thought about it...the ball was for the 'getting engaged couples' and wasn't Prince Sesshomuru one of the fiancé's? It -would- be innocent, wouldn't it? He was just going to teach her how to dance right? Nothing else...so, in that case, this wouldn't be wrong in any way...right?
She looked at Sesshomuru uneasily, she glanced at the doors of the hall – making sure no one was watching. "I guess I could learn" She glanced at the walls "But I have to finish the walls first"
"They can wait"
"No they can't"
"Yes they can"
She sent him an angry glare, shutting him up immediately. Shaking her head she got up and continued pasting up the roses.
_______________
Kagome walked through the corridors of the castle. "So bored..." she sighed, she was doing absolutely nothing. Sango was helping out in the kitchens, figuring out what foods they were going to serve at the ball. Miroku was out in the servant quarters...doing god knows what. Sesshomuru was helping out with the decorations for the ball. And Inu-Yasha was out of the castle...and not by the sea...and not in the forest either.
Kagome bit her cheek. She had gotten so bored that she had actually gone searching for the hanyou. Coming back to the castle, with no success, she had nothing do to but walk lazily around the castle, hoping to find something that would interest her in the least.
She entered the library, deciding maybe the king and queen might be in here...she could talk to them...
She looked around lazily, a little headache forming in the left side of her head. As she looked around, she spotted the king. Putting on a smile she walked up to him and patted him on the back.
He turned around and smiled broadly, obviously happy to see her.
"Hello dear! You must be excited that your sister is coming"
Her smile wavered, 'Nope, not a bit' She looked at the king intently "Yeah, I'm really excited"
"Her names Kikyou, wasn't it?"
"Yeah..."
"I'm so anxious to meet her; everyone says she's a darling"
"Yeah, she is..."
"One more year older than you isn't she?"
"Yeah..."
"Does she look the same as you?"
Kagome tried her best as she tried not to frown; it seemed as if the king was comparing her to her sister. A sudden urge to leave him right there erupted through her but respect still topped it.
"Well, I guess you'll have to see her to find out"
"Does she -." He was cut of as Kagome suddenly clenched her stomach. "Are you okay?"
Kagome shook her head and made a fake groan escape her throat "I think I'm going to vomit"
"Oh dear, go to the nurse immediately, we don't want you having sick before such an amazing night!"
She nodded approvingly and scurried away from the king. As she got out of eye sight from the king she let go of her stomach and took in a deep breath. She smiled inwardly. She had had enough of the king's questions and had done the only thing that had come into her mind – fake some bad health 'I can't believe he actually fell for it'
She looked around the library; she had scurried off to the other end. She hadn't come here before, and it looked like no one else really did either.
It wasn't lit up like the other side, and it smelled old and forgotten too. She looked uneasily around her as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. A tilted candle caught her eyes. She slowly walked up to it and examined it. The candle was unlit, but it was bent in the middle, making it seem like a handle.
Curiosity taking over her she reached out her hand grabbed the candle. It was fixed right to the walls. She slowly pulled it to the left, hoping to straighten it out, thinking the candle seemed to make the whole left side of the library even uglier.
As she finally straightened it out she stared at it for a while.
That was interesting...
She shook her head and turned around but stopped dead in her tracks as she heard the sound of cement sliding against cement behind her.
Eyes opened wide with shock and fear she slowly turned around to see something she hadn't seen before.
The candle had opened some sort of secret door way.
It was small, but Kagome could definitely fit through it. Thoughts raced through her mind.
'Should I go through?' she shook her head.
'Go through it dummy'
She shook her head once again...
'If you don't go through the opening, you'll kill yourself with curiosity...think about it, you'll never find out what's in there...'
It seemed as if she was fighting a losing battle with the voices in her head.
'Think about it, never...never...never'
"Fine! I'll go!" She got down on her knees and started to crawl through the doorway. It seemed to lead into a short tunnel. Sighing, she crawled forward. Just noticing how dark it was she made up her mind she would go back, get a candle...then come back again.
As she started to crawl back the entrance shut close.
She punched the ground at her bad luck.
Turning around once again, she gulped at the new thoughts forming in her head 'what if there are spiders in here?'
"No spiders in here, just keep crawling, no spiders in here, just keep crawling" She started to crawl forward, her eyes shut tight.
'Curiosity killed the cat didn't it?'
Kagome mentally slapped herself. Her consciousness always taking the better of her during these times, always making her panicky.
'What if the tunnel leads to a dead end?'
She gulped down the lump that had appeared in her throat.
'What if the air runs out?'
That was it; she was calling out for help.
"Anybody on the other end!?!" It was more of a cry for help than a question. Hearing no reply, she buried her head deep into her arms, flattening down on her stomach; somehow this position always seemed to calm her down a little. Her insides of her stomach were slowly twisting into figure eights as she still waited desperately for some reply.
As her last hopes of surviving started to vanish from her mind, her consciousness taking over her, she almost jumped out of wits when she heard a voice through the tunnels.
"Kagome? Is that you?"
She jolted back onto her knees as the voice carried to her ears. She almost lost her voice as relief swept through her whole body like a big tidal wave. "Um, yeah, is that you Inu-Yasha?" She waited for a response, starting to feel silly in the position she was in but all in all, she had never been this happy to hear his voice in her life.
"Yeah, it's me...what are you doing down here?"
She sighed in frustration, she could barely see a thing, she was on her knee's and hands...and was starting to feel suffocated at the tiny amount of moving space she had and here he was, asking how she got here?
"I'll tell you if you get me outta this place, I don't like it, I can barely see a thing"
It sounded as if he jumped onto some dirt and started crawling on top-speed towards her, as he reached her he tugged on her hair. "Is that you?"
She squealed in pain "Yeah, that's me!"
He chuckled "Follow me" and is if he read her mind "I'll try to make a lot of noise so you can hear me, okay?"
She nodded, and just remembering he couldn't see her that well either she added on "Yeah, sure"
It was only after a few minutes before Inu-Yasha jumped out a little opening at the end of the tunnel. Kagome came feebly behind him; it took her a while before she got adjusted to the new setting around her.
She gasped.
It seemed like the homiest room she had ever seen in her life. The walls were made with large rocks but were covered with long blue drapes. There was green plush carpet on the floor and there was nice cool, fresh air wafting in and out of the room. There was ink quills and parchment on the floor with one ink bottle on a little stool like table. A stash of food was kept in a box near the left side of the room. There was blanket set out near the right side of the room with a few pillows. Big fluffy cushions were set directly in front of where Kagome was standing and on the right corner of the room were long red candles, unlit, but obviously there to give the room some nice aroma when lit.
She looked around and spotted Inu-Yasha eying her as if waiting for her to judge the room.
"This is...wow!" She gasped out loud, still amazed at how at home she felt here.
"Um...yeah, thanks...I decorated the whole thing myself"
She turned her head to look at him. She gave him a big smile "You have to decorate my room sometime"
He chuckled before gazing at the floor with a face obviously showing an uncertain expression.
"Um, hey...Kagome?"
She broke her gaze away from the silky blue drapes and turned her face towards Inu-Yasha. "Yeah?"
"Could we keep this...our little secret?"
He looked up from the floor, only to lock gazes with the confused Kagome. She blinked uncertainly and looked away, somehow embarrassed. Though she recovered quickly as she looked back at him and grinned.
"Only if I get to come here when I want to"
He folded his arms across his chest and tapped his fingers on his shoulder, "Hmm"
Kagome, seeing that he might say no, took of her shoes, (who would want to ruin such clean carpet?) ran up to him and put on her best puppy face. "Oh, please?"
He gave her an uncertain look, "Well...if you promise not to decorate the room with pink frilly things"
She blinked, 'That would be the thing Kikyou would do' Shaking her head of all thoughts she smiled "Of coarse I wouldn't!"
"Fine, by the way –how- did u find the tunnel?" He nudged his head towards the bean bag chair, motioning her to sit down. She happily turned around and flopped down on the bean bag chair, almost sinking into its cozy warmth.
"Well, I was running away from..." she hesitated, should she tell him she was running away from his father? Better not, "Miroku, and I ended up in the far left of the library" She gulped, Inu-Yasha was staring holes into her and now she felt like she was on trial in a court. She nervously moved her gaze upwards, once again, locking gazes with Inu-Yasha, "and...I saw a candle..." she gulped, what was so hard in telling him this? "It was bent..." She stopped; she felt paralyzed...those golden eyes of him, made her feel chilly to the spine.
"Go on" He scooted further and placed his arms on his knees but still had his face watching her intently.
"So I straightened it...and this tunnel opened" She fidgeted with her hands nervously, desperately wanting to break the gaze but felt she had no power to. She was definitely going to search up 'Magical trance golden eyes' in the library "And, well...you can figure out the rest"
He nodded, finally breaking the trance. She sighed, she felt out of breath...it felt as if the judge had claimed her innocent and now she was on her way home. Not wanting to act suspicious in front of Inu-Yasha she decided to start a conversation. Before she could say anything Inu-Yasha spoke.
"You excited?"
She raised an eyebrow at his question "Excited about what?"
He scoffed. "Are you excited that your sister is coming?"
She shrugged and looked at him uneasily, she sighed "I can't say I'm thrilled to see her again"
He straightened up as she said that, that was weird...someone who didn't like the princess that was coming? Everyone was talking about her; even her father couldn't shut up "Why? Isn't she nice to you?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Nice? Cruel is more like it"
Kagome looked at him from her position on the bean bag chair. He seemed to be in deep thought; all of a sudden he glanced towards the tunnel and stood up.
"What happened?"
He looked back at her and sighed "She's here"
_____________________
Sesshomuru stared at the girl as she mopped the ball room floor. She had been making excuses the last hour.
She had finished pasting up the roses and the walls looked beautiful...but then she had to sweep the floor.
After sweeping the floor she had to bring in all the scented candles and place them on the tables.
After doing so she said she had to mop the floor. Now here she was, mopping the floor, though the ball room floor was already sparkling like diamond. Getting tired he stood up and walked up to her.
"You're doing this to annoy me"
She looked up from the floor and raised her eyebrows; she smiled mischievously "I am?"
He rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist, making the mop fall to the floor. She narrowed her eyes. "I was mopping the floor"
"You've only done so thrice"
She shrugged and pulled on her wrist "Come on, let go"
He neglected her protest. "I'll fire you if you don't listen to me"
She sighed and turned an annoying gaze at him "Fine!" she slumped her shoulders "Teach me how to dance then"
He smiled inwardly, not loosening his grip on her hand he led her to the center of the ball room. "Okay, they usually start the ball with the waltz" She nodded "So, place your right hand on my left shoulder and your right hand goes into my left hand" She did as he told her, feeling very uncomfortable as his right hand went to her waist. She hadn't done anything like this before and now she desperately wished she had rejected his offer.
"Now, the male leads on and the female follows" he slowly started to move, Rin hopelessly tried to follow.
______________
After around seven more tries, she finally got the hang of it. Though she was in a giggling fit. Sesshomuru hopelessly tried to shut her up.
"Okay, let's move on to the next dance" He stared hopelessly at the giggling girl. He sighed, "The next few dances are very simple, you put both of your hands on my shoulders and just move along with the music"
She did as he said so even though she had started to giggle uncontrollably. He placed his hands on her waist and sighed, it felt as if he was teaching a three year old girl how to use the toilet.
She did the dance perfectly, mostly because it was simplest and easiest dance of them all. "The sixth or seventh dance of the ball is usually one with fast music" She stopped giggling but still had a sly smile on her face "It starts out like this" They got into their usual waltz position. "But can go like this" He let go of her waist and twirled her out, and just before she pulled on his arm, he pulled her back with another swirl. As she reached him he dipped her into an extravagant dip.
She stared up at him, and before he knew what was coming she started giggling again. Feeling annoyed he pulled her up and stared at her wanting an explanation "Why do you keep giggling?"
She pulled out of his reach and crossed her arms over her chest "Because you look so cute when you don't know why I'm laughing"
He rolled his eyes and sighed...typical...girls...all of them are the same...
"Anyways"
He stared at the girl and raised his eyebrows "Yeah?"
"Kikyou's here and you're late!"
Before he could say anything she ran out of the ball room. Damnit, he punched his palm...mother was going to kill him for missing something like that.
He shook his head, how come he hadn't smelled Kikyou coming?
Well...he did have a distraction.
___________________
Kagome waited without interest for Kikyou to step out of her carriage. She looked over; Inu-Yasha didn't seem too interested either. On the contrary, the queen and the king were practically jumping up and down, waiting for Kikyou to make her 'grand' and 'elegant' entrance.
She sighed as the door opened and out stepped Kikyou, wearing a long purple dress with a diamond tiara on her head. A tinge of jealousy grew in her...Kagome didn't look so good when she arrived, and if you thought about it, she didn't look that good right now either.
Kikyou had tons of makeup on while Kagome had none. Her dress was filled with diamonds, violet roses, frills, and the silk sparkled with glitter while Kagome wore a simple blue – knee high dress. Her hair was curled and her ears had blue diamond earrings on while Kagome's hair was wavy straight and her ears were still un-pierced.
All in all, Kagome felt like dirt compared to her.
She looked away, trying to seem uninterested. Inu-Yasha caught her attention; his eyebrows were shot high up, almost disappearing underneath his fringe...anger built up inside of her... 'He's probably thinking how hot she looks'
"Hi Kagome!" A cheery but dull voice called out to her, she snapped her head back towards Kikyou who was smiling her 'charming' smile at her, she smiled back, but Inu-Yasha could see it was forced.
"Hey..."
She turned towards Inu-Yasha who had a strained expression. Kikyou eyes widened as she saw him but her face returned to her normal fake smile she had put on earlier. "Hi, nice to meet you"
"Uh...same"
Kagome snickered...just like Inu-Yasha to say something lame.
After the introductions were done, the king and queen led Kikyou into the castle, leaving Inu-Yasha and Kagome alone.
Kagome walked forward and closed the gates, seeing all the guards had already left. After doing so she turned around and walked up to Inu-Yasha who seemed to be choking. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Water, please!"
Wondering why he was asking for such a think she picked up the nearest pot and rushed to the fountain near the gates. After filling it half way up she returned to Inu-Yasha who gulped down the water in a second.
He panted for a while before inhaling the fresh air. Kagome stood there, wondering what the heck was going on. He looked back at Kagome at shook his head.
"Man...that woman has..."
Kagome cut him of as her anger rose up like a bullet "Yeah, I know, no need to rub it in my face, she's prettier than me, she's hot, she has a great smile, she's perfect...even her voice is better than mine"
Inu-Yasha stared at the fuming girl. She was staring down at him, obviously pissed. He chuckled.
"What's wrong? You think she can scream better than me too?"
He shook his head "uh...nooo..."
She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot impatiently on the ground "Then!?"
He smirked "I was just going to say that woman has so much perfume on I was about to choke, damnit, the smell was stuck in my throat, that's why I asked for water"
Kagome turned beet root red. She mouthed and 'o' and pouted in front of him. "Well...okay"
He smirked, he punched her playfully on the shoulder "You thought that's what I was thinking when I saw her?"
She turned her beet root face towards him and shrugged "it may have crossed my mind"
He smiled; her actions reminded him of a little girl, pouting because she didn't get a lollypop. He chuckled and crossed his arms across his chest and cocked his head, hoping to catch a glimpse of her beet root red face.
She suddenly lifted her head and stared at him straight in the eye "I saw the way you looked at her though!"
He lifted his eyebrows, "Probably because I was surprised how anyone could look so shitty in a dress like that!"
"Yeah right!" She smirked at him, embarrassment slowly leaving her, replacing her beet root red color with her normal pale skin color. He suddenly grabbed her wrist and jerked her forward.
"Even if I was, why do you care? She –is- my fiancé"
All embarrassment returned to Kagome as she realized what he had just said. Inu-Yasha smirked as the now almost familiar blush returned to her cheeks. She struggled against his tight grip on her wrist. Seeing he wasn't going to let go she slumped her shoulders and sent him a half embarrassed/ half angry glare.
"For your information I DON'T care, I was just teasing you"
He smirked "You don't have any proof!"
She smirked back at him, almost surprising him, before he could do anything she stomped onto his foot.
"Ow!"
"I think that's proof enough!"
"I'll get back at you for that!"
"Get lost!"
"Wench!"
She sighed...he'll never lose that habit. Oh well...she sighed and turned around, heading back to the castle.
"I better start getting ready for the ball!"
___________________
There...Tee hee....I loved writing the tunnel and room part... it's always been my dream to have a secret hideout like that!!!
Well...there you go! There is (like I promised) a clue in there to the family secret, but a very, very vague one.
The next chapter will have a humungo, tremendously big clue to the secret (giving u a head start)...and it will also have to whole ball part. Sorry that I couldn't fit it in here...but if I did...the humungo, tremendously big clue wud have come in too so I have my reasons....
Sorry for the lame title for the chapter but I seriously couldn't think of anything else.
Well...I'm just blabbing on and on....so until the next chapter!