[A/N]: I'm so sorry everyone!!!! I know I haven't updated for months...I transferred schools right after my previous school year which was just a few weeks before the new S.Y; I never had a 'real' vacation so I had no time to update... I'm really, really sorry... I hope you enjoy this chapter; and I'd like to give a thanks to all those who reviewed, I try my best to reserve time to update for you guys... sorry for letting you guys down...
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DESTINY
 By: kdpcat
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-Chapter III

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Kagome sat up from her futon, sweat sliding off her brow. She dreamt about the events that occurred two nights before. She shuddered again, remembering the look he had given her...
Suddenly, her ears twitched, hearing someone approach her door. Her door was opened rather hurriedly and revealed a little girl, no older than 7 years old. Kagome remembered her as Rin, the little girl Sesshoumaru supposedly saved from a pack of wolves. She was still confused about Sesshoumaru. He had proven that he was not completely emotionless by saving and making Rin, a human, his ward. But he still treated humans like scum and hated being around them. Such a peculiar youkai...
She smiled warmly at Rin, whom in turn ran towards Kagome and gave her a crushing hug. Kagome just chuckled and hugged the girl back.

"Ohayou, Kagome- okaasan! Rin is very glad that you will stay at the castle and become Rin's mother! Rin is so happy!" the little girl energetically said to her 'mother'.

Kagome looked at Rin is surprise, wondering where she got the notion. She was about to correct Rin when she saw Rin's eager face. She sighed. She was bound to stay at Sessoumaru's castle anyway, what harm could it bring to be the girl's temporary mother?

"Hai Rin-chan, I will be your okaasan," Kagome hugged the little girl once more.

"Yay!!!" Rin bounced up and down, happy to finally have a mother. But she remembered why she was at Kagome's room at the first place. "Okaasan, Sesshoumaru-sama told Rin to summon you to breakfast."
She smiled at Rin and walked towards the closet; Rin stayed by her futon. Kagome opened the closet and gasped at the vast amount of kimono's she saw. She knew she would need help. "Rin-chan, can you help me pick out a kimono? There are so many choices to choose from..."
Rin looked up to her mother, happiness glimmered in her eyes. The girl vigorously and enthusiastically ran towards the closet and searched rack after rack of a suitable kimono for Kagome.
Kagome smiled warmly at the girl's antics. Rin reminded her of Shippou... how she missed him. But she was sure that by now, Inuyasha would have the little kitsune's head filled with obscenities and insults about her.
She looked down when she felt a tug on her yukata. Rin was standing there with a large smile on her face, holding an elegant kimono. "Rin thinks this will look nice on okaasan!"
Rin handed her the beautiful navy blue kimono with red rose imprints at the bottom winding up to her thigh. The matching obi was black with a silver lining and silver rose imprints. Rin then went back to sit on Kagome's futon, while Kagome went behind the changing screen, which she noticed, wasn't there when she woke up before.
She took off her yukata and hung it on the screen. She wore the kimono, tied the obi and walked back to the vanity mirror to brush her hair. Once she was finished, she looked back at Rin and smiled, "We shouldn't keep Sesshoumaru-sama waiting."
The little girl nodded and bounded towards the door, holding Kagome's hand, as she led the older woman to the dining room.
All Kagome could do was gape at the large hallway she was in. Her room was very traditional, but the hallway clearly wasn't. The walls and floor was made from black marble.
Rin led her to a pair of large oak doors, and pushed then open. How a little girl could open a door 500 times her weight, she would have to figure out later. Kagome found herself in a large room with a long oak table. Rin sat down on the left side of the master's chair, while Kagome sat down on the right.
She waited for Sesshoumaru to come before she could indulge herself with the mouth-watering food that was offered before her. She didn't have to wait long for the taiyoukai to come though; he came in just as she was getting comfortable. When he came in the room though, she tensed and knew he felt it too. But he gave no acknowledgement if he did feel her tension.
Rin hugged his legs briefly before he sat down, "Ohayou Sesshoumaru- sama!" Sesshoumaru patted her head in recognition, and the girl released her death grip on his legs, and went back to sit on her chair.
When he finally settled in his seat, he nodded slightly to Kagome and she nodded back in response. The three ate silently, even Rin kept silent, until Jaken rambled in the room, giving Kagome a confused look, while she just smiled warmly at the toad youkai. ---------
Kagome followed Sesshoumaru silently, slowly memorizing the different rooms and paths. After breakfast that morning, Sesshoumaru ordered her to follow him so that they may continue their previous conversation the night before. She huffed indignantly at the thought of him ordering him around, but she knew that if she wanted to get her revenge, she would have to keep quiet. So in turn, she just glared at his back, her eyes now a stormy blue.
He could feel her glaring at his back, and he knew fully well why she was mad. 'I couldn't care less, I can kill her right here, right now.' But he knew he couldn't, for he promised to protect her, even from himself, 'I am getting weak, probably from spending too much time with Rin. She should be the one I dispose of.' He sighed inwardly, no matter what he told himself, he knew he wouldn't be able to do it. He considered the little ningen his daughter.
He stopped his tirade of thoughts as they reached his study and he opened the door, revealing a furnished room with bookshelves lining the walls and a pine desk at the far side of the room, just beside a large window.
Sesshoumaru glanced at Kagome, signaling her that she could sit on one of the chairs in front of the desk, while he walked towards the chair behind the desk.
Kagome made herself comfortable on the chair and looked at Sesshoumaru expectantly. When she saw that he would not start the conversation, she sighed and asked sarcastically, "Yes, my Lord?"

"Before we continue to the previous subject of our conversation, I would like to know what you meant when you said that the mutt will not trade the Tetsusaiga for you being. This Sesshoumaru knows well that you travel with the mutt, mainly because you can sense the shards of the Shikon no Tama."

At that comment, Kagome laughed bitterly and her hair shadowed her eyes, "So everyone does see me as a shard detector, nothing more..."
Sesshoumaru's eyes betrayed his impassive face. He was confused, and Kagome realized that she would have to go into detail.

She sighed, "So I guess I'll have to re-tell what happened that night?" She stated rather than asked.
Sesshoumaru gave a slight nod, she continued at his sign, knowing he was listening diligently. Kagome sighed again and started her tale...

---FLASHBACK---
Kagome and the others decided to call it a night. Earlier that day, they were at Kaede's Village, celebrating Kagome's 17th birthday. Unfortunately, Kagome sensed a shard and they had to retrieve it.
They were at a forest clearing, Inuyasha perched on a tree, feigning sleep, Miroku unconscious because he tried to grope Sango once again, who went to sleep furious, and Shippou who tried to wait for Kagome, but fell asleep anyway. Kagome was bathing in a nearby hot spring, trying to relieve the tension in her muscles.
She finally decided to go back to camp, happy to feel so relaxed. Suddenly though, she felt her instincts tell her that something was wrong. Then she heard it. At first it was faint, but grew louder as her feet led her to the source of the noise. She hid behind a tree, hiding from whoever or whatever was making the noise. She peeked out cautiously, her eyes widening at what she saw.
There, in a clearing, she saw them; Inuyasha, together with Kikyou and Naraku. She took a step back, as her tears threatened to spill out. She choked down a sob, as she watched the threesome rut in the moonlight.
Suddenly, she felt angry instead of being sick and heartbroken. 'How could he do this to me?! He promised to protect me, yet he's rutting with the corpse who wants to kill me and a hanyou who is trying to steal the Shikon no Tama!'
She felt her control break and her power surged out from the perfect control she always leashed them to.
Naraku and Inuyasha stopped their activities as they stared, in fear, at the source of the magnificent power. Their eyes widened when they saw Kagome, trying to keep her power at bay.
Inuyasha gave a curt nod towards Naraku, who picked up his discarded baboon pelt and Kikyou, who fainted at the astonishing amount of power Kagome released, as he tried to escape from the clearing.
Inuyasha watched Naraku leave with Kikyou, and then turned his full attention to Kagome. He shuddered at the aura she was emitting. It was bright red, meaning she was really, really mad. Not only that, but he never realized that she was this strong; he suspected that she was even stronger that him, even with only half her power.
She wasn't going to cry in front of him. She wasn't pathetic anymore. She raised her head and gave Inuyasha the iciest look she could give. "Why?"

"Why what wench?!" Inuyasha knew he shouldn't provoke her, but he knew that she wouldn't hurt him. He knew that she loved him for about two years now. He wasn't THAT dense.

"Why her? What were you doing with her and Naraku? You're supposed to protect me! You're not supposed to mingle with the enemy!"

"Feh, whatever. I only said that I would protect you because you looked like Kikyou, and with you being able to sense shards, it would be faster to gather the whole Shikon, together with Naraku's piece." Inuyasha walked back to his clothes and took the Tetsusaiga from its sheath.

Kagome's eyes widened. 'He's not going to kill me...is he?' She suddenly felt weak, probably from the emotional breakdown she just experienced. She saw him approach her, and she ran, she couldn't handle this right now. She had no control over her power, and the subduing spell would only give her a few seconds to escape.
She ran, not caring as branches and thorns scraped her legs and arms. She just needed to get away from him; she didn't want to die yet.
Inuyasha followed Kagome, his purpose: Have fun with the wench first, kill her, and then get the shards that hung from her neck. He was thrilled with the chase she was giving.
Kagome felt his aura come nearer and she knew he was going for the attack. She summoned the last wills of her powers and unleashed it towards Inuyasha, which threw him back to the clearing, just as the other group members emerged from the trees, in search of what caused the commotion. They were in disbelief when they saw what Kagome did to Inuyasha, who was now paralyzed as an after-effect of Kagome's power.
Then Inuyasha saw it; so did the others. Stubby fingers now replaced his claws. His hair had become black, and he wasn't able to smell or hear as sharply as before. His eyes widened. Kagome had purified him without killing him.

"KAGOME!!!" he shouted, vowing to kill the miko.

Kagome heard his scream and ran even faster, not caring where she would end up, just as long as she could stay away from the former hanyou...

---END FLASHBACK---

Kagome glanced across the table as she watched Sesshoumaru's expression. His face remained stoic, but she knew he was contemplating her story. Suddenly, she found the hem of her kimono very interesting.
It was safe to say that Sesshoumaru was shocked. Of course, he would not express it, but he was truly astonished. He could not believe that his idiotic half brother would ally himself with Naraku, his sworn enemy. What was even more surprising was the fact that his brother was now human. Truly, she was a formidable foe.
He suddenly stood up and motioned for her to follow. He led her around the halls and she wondered where he was taking her. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru stopped in front of another pair of oak doors. He opened them and they entered the room.
Kagome was stunned at the size of the room, no, dojo she was in. She realized that her mouth was slightly open, and closed it before Sesshoumaru could make any snide remarks.
The walls were lined with weapons: katanas, swords, glaives, bows and arrows, staffs, spears, etc. There were practice dummies and a large Japanese garden at the back, for meditating.

"Have you ever fought using weapons before?" he broke her reverie with his question.

Kagome relaxed slightly, "Other than my bows and arrows, no. Unless you count my miko power of course."

He nodded and told her to pick a weapon of her choice for close combat. She chose a katana, slightly smaller than his Toukijin. He nodded once more in approval of her choice. "Get ready."
Suddenly, Sesshoumaru attacked her, and she was surprised to know that she could follow his movements, barely. She managed to dodge his first attack, their swords clashing together, then he disappeared completely.
Kagome just stood in the middle of the room, feeling for his aura. She felt it and turned around quick, but instead of her sword clashing with his, her tail did.
Somehow, through the battle, she forgot about her tail and let it wander. She fell down on her knees and whimpered; the pain was unbearable. There was a large gash on her fluffy raven tail, and it was bleeding profusely.
Sesshoumaru, not knowing what came over him, immediately went to her side, unsheathed the pulsing Tensaiga, and slashed a perfect arch across her tail, healing it in moments. He was surprised to see her still awake after the incident; he expected her to faint.
She unsteadily rose to her feet, tucking her now healed tail around her arm. "We should continue," she whispered, shaking.
He couldn't believe it. Most youkai would be screaming by now. He allowed a small smile to grace his face, "You are truly remarkable, Kagome."
She widened her eyes when he smiled at her, and blushed at his comment. 'What did he mean by that? Moreover, Sesshoumaru, the stoic demon lord, SMILED!!!'

"Ano, arigato gozaimasu Sesshoumaru; demo, we really should resume the fight..." she started, but Sesshoumaru interrupted. "Enough training for today, you will rest. You cannot fight properly if you are not able to control your new appendages. Bathe, then join me for dinner."

He then walked briskly out of the dojo and she just stared at him. Somehow finding her way through the halls into her room,. She thought about the days' events as she got ready to bathe in the miniature hot spring. It wasn't that bad living with Sesshoumaru, in fact, it was nice. Though there were some awkward moments between them. She settled in, the warm water soothing her muscles.
She dozed off, forgetting that a certain taiyoukai was waiting in the dining room for her.

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'Where is she?' he wondered, as he waited for the young youkai-miko. Finally getting impatient, he walked to her room, not bothering to knock. She wasn't in the room, meaning she was still in the bathroom. He walked skeptically towards the door and immediately, the scent of sakura blossoms and strawberries bombarded his nose.
Her scent was like an aphrodisiac, and he had to stop and just smell her. He finally managed to open the door, revealing a sleeping raven-haired girl. Her long hair was plastered to her face and her mouth was slightly open.
He stared at her pink lips and without even knowing it, he walked over to her and found his lips just a stand of hair from his own. But he stopped when he heard it, she whispered someone's name.
Leaving her to sleep, Sesshoumaru walked towards his room, ordering a servant to wake Kagome and bring her food. All he could think of was her voice when she whispered, "Fluffy-chan..."

-End Chapter 3

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[A/N]: I know, I know! I suck! The ending was really crappy too... I'm really, really sorry... I know that this story isn't fascinating and all, plus my grammar sucks... please don't attack me... peace? Hehe... I hope and I'll try to get the next chapter out soon... please bear with me... And if I get more reviews, I'll update faster, I promise... :) Thanks for bearing with this twit!