Disclaimer: I don't Inu Yasha or any of the gang. Although the name may have been used before, Shirokiba's character and relationship with Kagome belong to me. Please don't take those ideas w/o permission.

Last time- Kagome looked him in the eye. Sesshoumaru realized that she wasn't challenging him. She wanted him to listen; she would allow him to judge whether or not she was a threat.

Kagome spoke softly, but firmly, "I won't tell anyone. I wasn't aware that what I said could be later used against anyone. I didn't realize it wasn't common knowledge." Kagome raised her voice a bit cockily, " But you know…. You shouldn't make it so obvious you don't want people to know."

Sesshoumaru glared menacingly.

Kagome smiled sadly, a far off look in her eye. She turned away slightly, staring into space. "I wasn't aware I even remembered that. When my father died, I tried to forget."

Kagome mentally shook her head, turning back to Sesshoumaru and bowing her head.

"Sorry," Kagome whispered so softly Sesshoumaru almost missed the pain hidden beneath. He realized she had meant it, but had been unable to say it any louder for fear of crying.

Sesshoumaru hooked his clawed finger under Kagome's chin and jerked it upward. He had meant to startle her, growl, and tell her not to be so emotional about something that didn't matter. His urge to reprimand her caught in his throat at the sight of her face.

Kagome looked up at Sesshoumaru, scared somewhat by his abruptness. When she had first looked at him, Sesshoumaru had been angry, but then something had flitted through his eyes.

Sesshoumaru took in Kagome's appearance. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears, but there was a hardness there. A hardness that he guessed was her support and strength. She had been displaying many different emotions since they had met, but he wondered if she herself had actually felt any of them.

Sesshoumaru removed his hand from Kagome's chin, "Your father…" Sesshoumaru paused a long moment, unable to describe what he had felt for the man who had been his mentor and good friend.

Kagome waited for Sesshoumaru to finish. When it appeared that he wouldn't, she answered softly, "I know."

Sesshoumaru's eyes locked on to Kagome's.

Kagome nodded, keeping eye contact, "I know." Then she smiled.

In that moment, Sesshoumaru saw Kagome light up. Her hair reflected the sunlight, her eyes became illuminated, her cheeks flushed, and Sesshoumaru felt himself smile back.

Kagome's smile disappeared. She stood staring at Sesshoumaru, who was looking slightly disgusted with himself.

"If you're upset because you smiled, don't be."

Sesshoumaru was startled that this girl could see he was angry with himself. He didn't like people knowing anything about him. Emotions were a weakness. He had learned the lesson well. He would see to it this girl, Kagome- was it?, learned no more about him.

Kagome frowned when Sesshoumaru's mask dropped back in place, but she understood and let it go.

Sesshoumaru didn't let them rest until they made it to the Citadel. Kagome was stumbling by the time they reached the gates. She swore under her breath when she realized she'd have to walk another mile before she'd reach any type of room.

Sesshoumaru picked up on Kagome's colorful remarks. He turned around, looking her over, mask in place.

"You will show you sanctuary more respect, wench."

Kagome glared, "It's Kagome."

Sesshoumaru regarded her uninterestedly, then turned and walked away, leaving her there fuming.

Kagome was livid. She stood, a perfect silhouette, boring holes into his retreating back. But Kagome found that she was tired and queasy, and quite unable to bring herself to say anything more.

Kagome walked the few remaining feet to the gate and collapsed. She lay in the grass, feeling the breeze tug at her hair. She wasn't sure how long she lay there, but she was once more replenished in both spirit, body, and in her miko powers.

She stood and surveyed her surroundings slowly. The Citadel was unlike anything she had ever imagined. The compound was huge, probably over 5 miles in area. Kagome found she could not see the top of one of the Citadel's towers. The walls appeared to be made of white marble, etchings of white dogs and hunts were carved into the walls. Kagome remembered how her father had been at a loss for words when she had asked him about it as a girl. He-

Kagome cut the thought short, realizing what she was doing. She wouldn't think about him. Kaede had said she needed to face her father's death, but she couldn't. She wasn't strong enough. Not yet. Kagome pushed the memories further back, successfully locking them away again. Suddenly she no longer wanted to look at the Citadel. She sprinted three and a half miles from the gate to the front door.

When Kagome reached the door, her lungs were burning, her calves were feeling stretched and she had a cramp. She hardly noticed as she yanked the door open and slammed it shut behind her, only to find herself standing in front of a very peeved Lord of the Western Lands……

Sesshoumaru grabbed Kagome's wrist and yanked her away from the door.

"When you are here-" yank "-you will abide-" yank "-by my-" yank "rule."

Sesshoumaru literally flung the girl into the room he'd given her. Before he shut the door he stated simply, "take a bath, girl. You smell." With that, he left, the door closing silently behind him.

Kagome sighed. Not even bothering to yell, she repeated herself, "It's Kagome."



Three hours later, Kagome left her room. She had taken a long bubble bath, followed by a nice nap. When she had woken up, she'd found a plain sky blue kimono at the foot of her bed. As she'd put it on, she had noticed the higher quality of the material, which meant it probably wasn't a servant's kimono. Kagome found she was upset with the thought that she had somehow ended up with someone else's clothes. She'd have to find out who it belonged to and return it.

Kagome wandered around the halls. Turning left and right, right again and then left…. She was hopelessly lost. Kagome started noticing the designs in the woodwork along the walls. The ceiling changed as well, sometimes portraying trees in the fall, other times a cloudy blue sky. Kagome stopped worrying about being lost and enjoyed herself. She decided which way to turn by the hall she liked better. She kept to the simpler halls, not liking the ones decorated in gold and rubies.

Almost an hour and a half later, Kagome noticed someone singing. She followed the voice and found herself in the kitchen. The singing became humming, but the woman took no notice of her.

"Uh..um…. Excuse me?" Kagome cleared her throat.

The woman whirled around. At the sight of Kagome, her eyes widened and she bowed quickly. "Lady Kagome… I am sorry. Is there something I can do for you? Were you hungry or may be lost?"

Kagome stood rooted to the spot. A single tear fell, it ran down her face and pearled on her chin. "To….Tomika?"



( I'd like to stop and mention that Tomika is also one of my characters. To my knowledge, her name and none of her characteristics or relationships to inu yasha and the gang exist. Please don't copy these w/o permission. On with the story!)

The girl looked up, clearly startled.

Kagome shook her head, wiping the tear from her face. "I'm sorry, you reminded me of someone. Forgive me, I didn't mean to be rude."

The girl looked at her. She smiled sadly, "Tomika was my mother. She served you for years. She would be overjoyed to see the way you turned out."

Kagome shook her head, whispering to herself, " I don't think so." Kagome looked back up smiling brightly. She extended her hand, " I'm Kagome."

The other girl smiled back, taking her hand, "I am Sango."

The two girls fell into a fit of giggles.

A pot on the stove started to boil over and Sango turned her attention back to cooking. The two continued to talk, Sango explaining about dinner, "I'm not the cook. Mansy, our usual cook is ill, and Lord Sesshoumaru-sama told me to fix it. (don't ask how I came up with 'mansy', my muse was probably quite tipsy.) I hope you're not hungry." Sango looked up at Kagome worriedly.

Kagome started to laugh, "you have no idea what you're doing do you?"

Sango shook her head. Kagome laughed again, but managed to approach the stove, "here, let me help you."

Sango immediately started to protest, "no, no you mustn't!"

Kagome shook her head laughing, "why not?"

"Lord Sesshoumaru-sama would be furious."

Kagome looked blankly at Sango, "why?"

Sango fidgeted, "well, you know… well, you shouldn't be here. It's below your station."

Kagome looked angry, "is that you or his all-high-and-mighty talking?"

Sango said nothing. The only sound was the boiling of the soup on the stove.

Kagome regained her composure, "what Sesshoumaru doesn't know won't hurt him."

Sango looked worried.

Kagome smiled reassuringly, "I'll give you some hints."

Sango paused, then looking at the slop she was calling soup, nodded quickly.

~*~*~*



"Alright, now it's a little sweet so I would add one-fourth of a teaspoon of salt. Oh! Is the garlic bread ready?" Kagome asked.

Sango grinned back, "yah, I just took it out of the oven. What should I do with it?"

Kagome glanced at the bread over on the counter, "keep it on the warming pan so it won't get cold. The soup too. It's done, but you want it served warm, so keep it on the stove. It won't be long before supper, so don't worry."

Sango looked at Kagome incredulously, "supper!?!"

Kagome blinked, watching Sango wringing her hands, "Yeeesss…."

Sango started to hop from one foot to the other, "supper! You're supposed to be dressed!"

Kagome looked down at her flour covered apron and the new stain on the borrowed kimono. "Oh nooo…" Kagome groaned, "this isn't even my kimono. I meant to return it."

Sango looked surprised, "of course it's yours. I put it in your room myself."

"You mean this is yours?" Kagome asked, looking confused.

"No," Sango laughed, "It's yours. Lord Sesshoumaru-sama takes care of his guests. There is an entire wardrobe full. Oh Kami-sama! Hurry, you have to get changed. Shippou!"

A little boy came skittering into the kitchen.

Sango gave him a stern look, "take Lady Kagome to her room."

` The little boy, a seven year-old with orange curly hair and green eyes, looked enthusiastically at Kagome. "Come this way!" The little boy started to skip off.

Kagome laughed, "Bye Sango-chan!" Then Kagome jogged off, following the boy as he lead her back to her room. As Kagome got closer she realized that the boy was probably closer to the age of 10, he was just short. He had freckles, and to Kagome's surprise, a tail.

"Are you a kitsune?" Kagome asked.

The boy was bouncing up and down as he lead her down the hall, "yes! My name's Shippou! What's your's? Are you staying here? Have you met Rin-chan? She likes flowers lots and lots. She likes flowers too much!"

Seizing the chance to speak when Shippou paused to breath, Kagome replied, "My name is Kagome. I have not met Lady Rin, but hope to do so. And I will be staying until Sesshoumaru says to leave."

Shippou grinned at her, "your room is right there," he said pointing. "See you at dinner!"

Kagome laughed as the boy skipped back down the hall. No sooner had she shut the door behind her, however, an eerie silence filled her surroundings. She did not laugh or smile, just changed into the fresh kimono at the foot of her bed. Stepping outside of her room, Kagome found herself face-to-chest with Sesshoumaru. Kagome looked up to see Sesshoumaru looking down at her.

Sesshoumaru spoke coldly, "you are late," emphasizing the last word.

Kagome nodded.

Sesshoumaru looked her over. She was not wearing the kimono he had told Sango to leave for her, though the one she was wearing was fine as well. He took in her cold façade, wondering how it could be so different from the way she had acted around Shippou. It bothered him that she seemed to freeze up around him. A self-centered voice yelled at him, 'who cares? She's human. She'd weak and useless. Even if she has proved she can shield her emotions, she doesn't always do so and that is a weakness.' He argued with himself, 'no. It seems that she is stronger when she acts on her emotions. I feel that something eats away at her when she is like this. Still, she is not my concern. It will bother me no more.'

"Wench, I require my servants to show me respect. You will address I, Sesshoumaru, as Sesshoumaru-sama or Lord Sesshoumaru. You will do as instructed." Sesshoumaru stated, expecting obedience.

"I am not your servant Sesshoumaru." Kagome's voice was tired, strained, "and I won't take orders from someone who doesn't respect me enough to even say my name."

Sesshoumaru glared, but beneath his façade he sputtered, "you will learn that your place is below me."

Kagome didn't respond.

Sesshoumaru continued, "from mow on you will stay only in your room, you will be on time to meals, and you will not disobey me."

Kagome looked Sesshoumaru in the eye. Somewhere in Kagome's gray orbs, Sesshoumaru detected a flicker of flame. Her eyes became slightly bluer.

Kagome spoke just as evenly as Sesshoumaru had, "I will go where I please, do what I want to, eat when I want, and obey whomever I choose to."

Sesshoumaru glared at Kagome. She merely returned the favor.

"Sesshoooouuumaaruuuu-saaammaaa!!"

Next chapter: enter the adorable Rin! Yay! Did you all like that chapter? You're welcome to review and tell me. What about Sesshoumaru's and Kagome's verbal spat? Let me know.

Teasers: .. "Your eyes are blue?"…. "You have yet to realize you have no authority over me." … 'she thinks I'm some other guy. No. She thinks I'm her personal body guard.' … "You will never call me that again."

Thanks to my reviewers. I know this took a while. Sorry about the wait. The next chappie will be a good bit sooner, so until next time, ja ne!!