Hanyou on the High Sea

by Lady Donut

[AU] Yo ho ho, and a bottle of sake. Inuyasha, the most notorious pirate in the Seven Seas meets his match when he accidentally kidnaps the wrong kind of captive... Kagome! ...What's a sea dog to do?

10. It Was All But a Dream

AN: Please... Save the tomatoes until the chapter's over... *trembles*

Hanyou on the High Sea- Chapter 10

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The covers clung to Kagome's sleeping form like sheets of plastic wrap... Within the small cabin, the air hung thick, like drops of water. There was a faint buzzing in her ears, but, Kagome, whose sleep was slowly leaving her, opened her eyes slowly to find nothing more than a small mosquito hovering slightly above her head.  ...With a slap, the poor insect was sent to the land beyond.

Kagome stretched groggily, peeling the damp-feeling covers off her body and pressing her hands to her head, trying to rub away the sleepiness. ...It seemed a little early to be this hot, she thought with sleep-dulled senses.

She glanced quickly around the room, and happened to make note of the fact that Sango's bed was already empty and done, with no sign of the taijiiya or her clothing in sight.

Her nails absently scratched her butt and she gave another yawn. It seems a little too early for her to be gone... Kagome yawned. Unless...

She turned her head to her bedside table and zoomed in to an open golden pocket watch.

...Past noon.

Eyes widened, a feeling of dread fell to the pit of her stomach, and she slapped her hand to her head... simultaneously. Why didn't Sango wake her? Curses most unbefitting for a noble escaped her lips and she reached over her bed to the familiar green sailor suit resting on a wooden chair. She had completely missed the breakfast cooking this morning... She thought she'd made it crystal clear that by any means available, the other woman was to wake Kagome up in the morning. I mean... there was a glass of water by her bed specifically for this purpose.

Kagome quickly pulled on her outfit and ran a hand through her limp and bedraggled hair. Sigh... If there was anything she greatly missed about life on land, she thought while staring at a cracked mirror, it was shampoo. Honestly... would it KILL the ship's crew to plunder toiletries?

 Sitting on the same wooden chair, the green-clothed noble pulled her brown loafer up to her. How odd, she noted. ...She thought she'd left the pair near the door last night.

Her left shoe was in place and secured...

Kagome reached for its mate, but let out a yelp when she'd picked it up. There was a surprising movement inside, and a small, (yet quite fuzzy) spider ambled out of it. The shoe fell to the floor and Kagome, suddenly fully awake, gave a loud yelp and tossed the nearest object at the impertinent arachnid, which in this case... was the golden pocket watch.

It bounced off the wooden boards with a clink, and lay open on the floor. Kagome got down onto all fours, pulling the bed sheets up, looking for the little bastard. Damn. She'd missed! And now, the creature scuttled away underneath the bed, well out of her reach.

Kagome sighed, sitting up once more. She reached for her shoe again, and after inspecting it for eggs, waste products and other critters, she pulled it on... understandably cranky. From the corner of her eye, she spotted the watch lying on the floor. Only, there was something wrong with it.

Besides the fact that she'd managed to successfully crack the pane of glass over the face, there between the layers of metal was stuck a small, folded piece of parchment. Kagome picked up the small instrument, pulling the paper out of the watch with her fingers and rising from her feet... It was torn, roughly shoved into the watch from it's bent condition and, upon folding it open, was written on with a blue-inked, sloppily done hand. ...A single question was written.

What is your favorite color? ...'Color' was written below a long string of X'd out words, including, from what she could make out, were 'food', 'animal', and 'place'. The sheet was shredded in a corner.

The girl stared at the solitary question, torn somewhere between confusion and vexation. This wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind when she'd randomly made up the question game around Inu. ...But then again... She tilted her head back and thought of the surly dog-eared pirate. Ha. Could she expect any less? For him, she figured, it was probably just a little soon to get personal and coy.

Kagome shoved the small paper into her pocket and after pondering for only a moment, reached over to the small brass-knobbed drawer on her nightstand and tore off a sheet of parchment from what looked like an unused log book. ...But, as to what to ask in return at the moment, her mind drew a huge blank. Inuyasha's paper found company in her pocket as she hastily stuffed it in, and proceeded to depart from the small dank cabin, turning the corner to the ship's kitchen.

Time for work.

~*~

Same day, in a wolfy manor not too far away...

~*~

A certain young lupine noble paced frantically around a largely furnished and well lit parlor. The ceilings were vaulted, curving elegantly into what seemed like an eternal climb at upward glance. The room was softly furnished with many fur accents and decorations... Fur rugs covering the marble floors, large fur poufs topped velvet couches and a half grown wolf-cub lay sleeping near the hearth while a soft flame burned, giving the room a warm, cozy, and cheery feel.

...However, the expression on this certain young noble's face could have coated the room in sheets of ice. In his clawed hands, he held two letters; one sealed in a corner by the imperial navy, and one messily written with visible tearstains dotting the paper.

Both concerned his Love-to-be. ...Both bared bad news. A single, hot tear formed at the corner of one eye, but the Lord refused to let it fall. Instead, his face was set in a stony expression.

He reread over the tearstained letter. It had come from Kagome's family, frantic and wrought with grief, visible in the words.

...Stated simply, they had gotten word only days before of a certain maritime catastrophe... A certain maritime catastrophe that involved Kagome... and a notorious ship of pirates. The words 'gomen-nasai' were written repeatedly in messy ink, but Kouga knew better than to believe it was him they were apologizing to. ...They were, Kouga could easily read between the lines of the letter, apologizing to themselves for ever letting her go.

The second letter was much more formal; an insurance declaration. ...Lord Kouga was influential and powerful, and when a loss of property or life ever happened at sea, the navy liked to keep their more important citizens at peace. ...This letter described the lost articles and people in detail, assuring that as soon as the culprit was caught, the bounty secured would go to reimburse the lost possessions. ...Or life.

As far as one can pay off life, anyway.

The last typed line in the letter made him the angriest of all, so heated that to keep himself from shredding the paper took great effort. For, as the paper mentioned, the suspect in the entire Survivor attack was none other than the vile dog-shit pirate, Inuyasha, and his galleon of crusty men. ...How ironic, Kouga thought cynically... that just hours before this letter had been received... Inuyasha was nothing more to him than another fish to fry.

But now... as far as the gods were concerned, Whiteclaw would pay. ...The life he took was the one he was to replace with his own.

The small wolfling by the hearth lifted up his head and gave a great yawn, awakened by the sound of the parlor door swinging open. Kouga refused to face the intruder and only stood with silence as the maid walked in shyly.

"Um, Kouga-sama..? Sir? Lunch preparations are complete and served... Won't you please come?"

The tough-lipped wolf tried hard to keep the anguish out of his voice as he waved her away. "...No. No thank you. I'll be having my lunch in my bedchambers later on. ...Just have Ginta send it up in a little while." He paused momentarily. "That and along with an inkwell and a few sheets of parchment."

The small, timid maid cast him a look of concern. It wasn't common for the Lord to miss meals, yet alone eat unaccompanied. "Yes, Kouga-sama... as you say." She turned to exit the room but cast a glance backward, stopping at the entrance. "...Sir...?" she questioned hesitantly.

The wolf turned partially to look the maid in the eye. The small black-haired girl felt a shiver go down her spine at the cold blue eyes peered at her stonily. "...Yes, Rin?"

"Are... you alright?"

Kouga said nothing for a moment. The small girl's gentle questioning wanted to make him burst. A thin wall of social breeding was all that dammed the anguish and fury inside of him.

...He wanted to yell and to scream and slam nearby precious porcelain to the ground in his fury. He wanted to tear his hanging portrait to tattered shreds with his claws. No, he was NOT alright. As far as he knew, Kagome was gone, drowned at sea, kidnapped and brutalized by pirates, or the personal victim of the ship's captain. That...that bastard, Inuyasha...

He took her. Hell, he probably killed her. Kagome. His Kagome. Just like he had taken other things in the years before them. ...Really... was it honestly not enough that he had, in one way or another, stolen all of his naval school friends? ...Was it not enough that that goddamn Whiteclaw had, in his few years as a pirate, gained more respect and fear than HE had with years of kindness and wealth? Despite himself, Kouga's hand clenched around the crisp white naval letter. This time, Inuyasha had crossed too far. What honor and cruel satisfaction could there be in taking a man's love? The king of the sea... was going to pay.

That solitary tear held in his eye finally found its way free, and trickled down his cheek.

He turned to the little girl once more, but this time a small smile lingered on his lips. "I'm fine. Make sure you tell Greta to deliver the food as hotter than fire when served. ...I'll be pretty starving in a few hours..."

He turned around once more to the light, holding his hands behind him. The small maid Rin held onto the door, both sad and wide-eyed, and lingered for a moment, before finally closing it shut behind her.

And, momentarily, Kouga was left alone, the only respite from the silence coming from the snapping of the hearth. ...His mind traveled... It rose beyond his body... up into the sky beyond the vaulted ceilings and blue, blue sky, like an ethereal bird, searching for that memory... It was the only connection he ever had to the woman he knew he loved, up there, way beyond the stars.

A boy of seven wispily walked over a phantom beach... It was so many years ago, that even Kouga couldn't tell what was fiction and what was fact. ...But he did know one certainty. That day was the day he had met an angel... a bright-eyed, ruddy skinned angel, happy and smiling, that had stumbled across him on the beach... She was a little girl of five with wispy bowed pigtails, offering her last half of 'sand'which to a lonely pony-tailed boy, freshly shunned by his own father and having collapsed in angry tears on the sand.

She had simply stood over him and smiled, a soft and sweet expression, hiding her puzzlement at the strange wolf-boy who looked so despondent. She didn't understand it, but she knew how to fix it, even at that tender young age, all it had taken was an extended hand and an invitation. ...'Will you play with me?'

Since then, Kouga knew that he loved her. He had too. She was the only one who had bothered, who had made him feel that he was more than just a 'nothing noble' ...Though, he couldn't have hoped that she had remembered him as well.. but perhaps, given his love, she just might have grown to.

Lady Kagome was all he had to look forward to. ...Now... what else was there for him to fill his void? There was an aching, hollow feeling inside of him, and it needed to be filled.

At that time, only one word came to his mind. And repeated. ...Revenge.

...Kouga's jaw clenched as he stared out into the bay from the large window. ...Revenge. It was to be the absolution from his anger, for he knew he would never forgive himself until Inuyasha—Whiteclaw's life was forfeit by his hand.

The wolf noble's thoughts were so deep and troubled, that when the parlor door opened once again he took no notice.

Light footfall padded across the floor and stopped behind him. There was silence for a moment.

"What do you want, Kikyou...?" Kouga's voice was stony once more. Though the two were bound by employer-employee contract, Kouga's trust in the woman had never risen past the assigning of house keys. ...There was something hauntingly beautiful about her, but eerie and cold. Cautious by nature, a wolf never trusts something that appears that it could turn on him.

"I couldn't help but notice you... aren't in the best of moods..." The cool wind of her breath breezed past his neck, causing an involuntary shudder. "I don't' suppose it had anything to do with that mound of drapery that arrived in the large travel trunk downstairs, today..."

"Drapery...?" he turned to look at the woman, who donned a black silk summer kimono, blood red birds flying about its sleeves and skirt.  Her hair was flowing behind her like an ebony waterfall, framing her pale face and making it even more doll-like.  Her eyes gazed at him studiously. "...Of course... with the sort of news bared in your hands, I can see how your memory would be misplaced..."

The wolf looked away from her, saying nothing. In his hand, the naval letter had been reduced to a crumpled ball. "I don't think this is any of your business, Kikyou... Perhaps you should get beck to the finance filing I'm feeding, clothing, and paying you for."

There was a soft laugh behind him. The raven woman helped herself to a seat upon one of the velvet couch and leaned back, staring at him with an air of entitlement. "Au' contraire, Sir Wolf... why, in case the thoughts of fancy have blinded your vision... the one with the most history to Inuyasha..." she paused and Kouga looked around. Kikyou smiled with reddened lips.

"...Is me. And therefore, there is something we need to clear up."

~*~

Meanwhile, in a certain fuzzy captain's cabin...

~*~

Inuyasha was only half sleeping. ...The cabin was dark, as all of the shades and curtains had been pulled across the windows to shield the sun. He had sent Miroku elsewhere, as he didn't feel like having the monk's company right now. There was something about her.... something he couldn't get out of his head. Kagome. The girl. ...Every time his gaze fell across her face, there was a surge of deja' vu... It felt like there was a large piece of his memory missing. Like he should know who she is, but didn't. ....It was all too strange.

In any case, Inuyasha had retreated back to his cabin in the middle of the day to get away from those thoughts. ...he hadn't slept much lately, what with devoting all of his time in trying to find his old nemesis. The ship was sailing somewhere along the coast of where he had remembered Kouga resided, but how close he was to the manor, or exactly where the manor was to begin with, he couldn't be sure. ...He'd just have to play it by furry-ear.

The rocking of the boat made it all the easier to fall asleep. Even after all of his years of captaining the vessel, he had never been able to get fully accustomed to the feeling of the tides against the boat. Perhaps it was his hanyou sensitivity. ...Normal men wouldn't be able to feel it anymore after a week. The gentle motion, combined with the cooled air of the cabin thanks to lack of sunlight acted like a mild drug, making his muscles involuntarily relax and he sink farther into the pillow. Sleep... sleep was good.

The half youkai never noticed when he fully drifted off to sleep, of course... his mind was unconscious, yes, but his thoughts, or dreams, rather were troubled.

Minutes passed in sleep... then half an hour... Just beginning his dream cycle, Inuyasha saw himself standing in the middle of a great room. A great, familiar room... Dark, swirling mist blanketed all and shielded things from view... There were a large number of figures nearby, moving... sweeping across the floor in what seemed like a pattern. He realized that there were, in fact, a great deal of people... surrounding him on all sides, moving rhythmically. ...They were little more than figures... Their faces were hidden, their clothes were devoid of color or anything that might set them apart as clothes. Up on misty walls, dim, ornamental sconces burned on walls. ...He looked up. ...Starlight. ...A clear-roofed room...

...A clear-roofed ballroom. The figures around him were dancing.

'What is this?' Inuyasha though with dreamlike passing... He had been to this place before. Every cell in his sleeping brain screamed recognition. ...But where? When? A nearby figure brushed against him, nearly making him lose his balance. The hanyou turned to the person, intending to give him a piece of his mind. Dreaming took away none of his attitude. But he stopped short. The figure's clothing had become much more apparent.

A naval uniform. ...A steel-gray and cobalt blue one, much like what was worn by students. Upon the figure's chest, decorations and ribbons were pinned proudly. The figure's dancing partner, a female, donned a long, flowing white gown. ...Memory flooded back into his head.

...A starlit ballroom. ...A ball. A naval uniform. These were in fact memories, and they were memories from a time in his life he didn't care to remember.

...In front of him, a figure pushed through the crowd, parting it, coming towards him. ...The figure was another woman. Her gown was a deep, shimmering blue, like the color of first twilight. Shimmering reflections looked like stars. ...And that body... the way the fabric clung to the soft curves... it was all so familiar.

The figure came up to him, smiling and extending her hand to grab his... Inuyasha couldn't see her face, it was blurred and rubbed out. ...All he could see, or rather, feel, was the soft smile of reddish lips. Long, black hair cascaded over her shoulders and down the back of her dress, causing a stark contrast between it and her skin.

"Inuyasha!" Came an unfamiliar-yet-familiar voice... "...I've been looking all over for you... Come, I'm making you have this dance with me..." The words spoken seemed far off, as if they were spoken from fifty yards away. ...The soft hand pulled him through the crowd of people that parted after what seemed like an eternity... And he was led through ornate glass doors, onto the ballrooms balcony.

The dreamlike voice reached his ears again...

"...Are you afraid...?" she whispered, with a hint of shyness in her voice.

"Afraid?" He heard himself answer... "Afraid of what..?"

The woman turned around and pulled him close, placing her hands in his and raising them to a waltzing position. "...Afraid... to dance with me?" Her face was still hidden from view.

Inuyasha couldn't think of words to say... He was silent, and the woman laughed softly. "...Of course... that's so you, Inuyasha... Always the strong, brooding type..." She pulled him into a soft lull, going with the faint music. "...I told you I would find you and teach you how to waltz..." The hanyou was silent once more... he didn't know why, but he could feel his dreamlike self blushing.

Their movement led them to the edge of the balcony... The woman suddenly stopped dancing and lowered their hands, so that they were being held at waist length... "Inuyasha...?" The ethereal voice said... "The reason... the reason I brought you out here... wasn't only to dance... but... to confess something... A little something... I've wanted to tell you for along time."

"Confess something...?" he heard himself say. He felt his heart beginning to beat faster. Whatever this memory was, it felt very, very real. ...The faceless woman looked away at the ocean below. A puff of sea breeze made her hair and dress flutter. "...I... can't honestly say that I've been fair to you, Inuyasha... I know that you've liked me for so long, and never made an effort to hide it. You, like a big brother, were always so protective of me, and yet... And yet I always turned you away." She turned again. "...Will you forgive me, Inuyasha?"

The words came from his mouth before he even thought of them. "...There was never anything to forgive... Kikyou." He saw his arms going around her waist. In the back of his mind, he questioned the name. Kikyou? Who was she? Where had he heard that name before?

The voice drifted into his ears again. ...It was almost intoxicating... The soft curves of the womanly body, the long frame of flowing black hair and starry sky and ocean breeze. The smell of her that was alien but no less hypnotic.

"...Inuyasha... I never meant to hurt you... And, if you'll have me, I never will again..." Her arms wrapped around his chest and he did the same. His heart was about to pound through his chest. "What..." he breathed. "...What is it you want of me?"

Her sweet, womanly voice was in his ear. The music drifted in as well. The environment around him was still muted and misty.

"I love you, Inuyasha. Please... Tell me you'll marry me..."

His hands completely folded over hers and he pulled her in closer, wordlessly. "...I don't deserve you... and I can't hope to think I ever will..."

"Just tell me. ...Don't leave me on a breath."

"Kikyou..."

"If you can't answer me with words," She lifted her head, inching closer. "Inuyasha..."

His head bent, and the hanyou consented. His lips gently bent down and silenced hers. Everything about her.... everything about this DREAM seemed so real. But how could they be memories? The woman quivered in his arms and he pulled her in deeper.

...Who was this woman? He had never known a Kikyou... had he? Her name was as alien as the bottom of the ocean.

He pulled his lips a centimeter from hers. "...I love you too," he heard himself murmur. ...Suddenly, the face began to clear, and he pulled away.

...The figure with the unfamiliar name and the unfamiliar voice had a very, VERY familiar face. Inuyasha stepped back. He felt his dreaming body smile softly at the woman named Kikyou. The breeze played again with her hair and clouds parted, shining cool moonlight on the face.

...But the woman smiling back wasn't 'Kikyou' at all.

 ...The woman smiling back... was Kagome.

His eyes shot open. The hanyou was lying in bed once more. ...A clawed hand reached up and touched his face, covered in sweat. His yellow eyes were wide in confusion.

...What had just happened?

~*~

Back to the conscious world, in the galley...

~*~

A very large honey-covered flapjack was stuffed into a very small mouth. Then the mouth tried to speak.

"Awrrat. Suh wet me ghet da gist adhis..."

"Swallow, Shippou. Have you ever choked? It's not fun." The taijiiya tossed another flapjack onto a large pile for delivery to the mess hall. The fox-pirate rolled his eyes and gulped a few times, trying to shove the mass down his small throat. His eyes reddened and moistened and he quickly reached for some water.

"I beg to differ!" he declared upon regaining the ability to speak. "Your food is worth the pain!"

Sango smiled and replied in a mock-British accent. "Oh sah! You're much too kind." She reverted and looked at him plainly. "Want another?"

"Hell, yes!" swore the boy. Once another honey-covered pancake was on the boy's plate, he began to speak again. "Like I was saying... let me get the gist of this... You were with Miroku last night..."

"Uh-huh—I mean, NO! ...Not like that."

"In here, in this kitchen..."

"Bingo."

"...And he had righteous gas..."

"Poisoning, Shippou, poisoning."

"...That's just a polite, noble term for gas."

"I said he was poisoned... So how do you like your grey matter? Sunny side, or scrambled?"

"Fine, fine... poisoned. ...Sheesh, Sango. You don't have to get so defensive, especially concerning Miroku. ...It's not a very good investment, if you ask me."

Sango paused. "Get back to the topic at hand, chibi. I don't remember asking you for your assessment."

The kitsune looked insulted at the term. "Chibi? Sango... really... you know I'm all man..."

"...If you finish that sentence... you won't be man at all."

Shippou breathed in almost-fright, raising his fork as a toast. "...Touché." He paused and chewed his pancake. "...By the way... do you have any real syrup? I'm not really a fan of honey..."

Sango, who was dressed in some of the borrowed clothes from Kagome's backpack, a white blouse with fitted lace-up bodice, and dark indigo wraparound skirt, gave Shippou a shake of the head. "...All there is back there is what you guys steal. ...Which, granted, is quite a bit, but I guess the pancake syrup ships never crossed your path. ...Too bad, so sad. And besides... honey is much better for you..."

Shippou made a gagging noise behind Sango's back.

"...I can see you."

The kitsune's face froze in the position she'd caught him in while the taijiiya-turned-cook smirked. One last pancake flipped gracefully in the air before landing in the wheat-y heap next to it. Shippou un-paused and marveled with shining eyes. "...Wow, Sango-chan! You've really got some skill there... How do you keep it from landing on the floor?" Inside, Sango grinned in satisfaction. "Well... here's a hint... It's all in the wrist." Another flapjack sailed through the air.

"What is? Years of secret practice? You're amazing-"

"Thank you very much, Shippou-chan."

"-Astounding. Simply marvelous. You make Martha Stewart look like Captain Inuyasha. By the way... where DID you get that outfit-?"

Sango spun and sent a third pancake Shippou's way. It landed on his head, flopping over and covering up most of his face. ...A dribble of butter ran down his cheek like a greasy tear. "If you want fourths... just ask."

The boy just smiled and chomped in. "...Hey, Sango... Have you seen Kagome? I thought you guys always shared the breakfast shift..." 

The woman just turned and grinned wickedly. Wide blue fox-eyes became wider. "...Whoa. Sango. You didn't kill her, did you?" He leaned forward in his stool, eyes brow furrowing in disappointment. "...And if you did...couldn't you have waited for dinner, first?"

Plop. Another pancake landed. Sango gave a small laugh. "...Kagome's been my tutor since we got here. I think it was pretty common knowledge that before she woke up, you know... from the coma; as a cook I-"

"-Stunk like a sweaty pirate's armpit?"

"I was going to say... 'had significantly less aptitude', but thanks for finishing my sentence."

"No prob. ...I take donations."

"...Anyway, I let her sleep in this morning.  ...I wanted to see the surprise on her face when she walked in and found a steamy breakfast done and waiting."

"Ooh... you're sly. AND, may I add... that as a woman you deeply, deeply impress me-"

Plop. Shippou wore another hat. He reached up with his fork and speared it off his head. "Heh heh heh... you read me like a book."

"...Enjoy it, Shippou. After that, you're done." Orange bangs came forward as the little pirate-ling pouted. Silence reigned for a few minutes, with the exception of noisy chews and a sizzling stovetop, before the little fox's voice came again. "So... hey, random question. What exactly do you see in him...?"

Sango tossed the remaining two wheat pancakes onto the large tray and turned, wiping her hands on the stained apron she donned. "...Miroku?"

"No. The Pope. I mean... yes, Miroku."

"You're a little young to be so sarcastic, but I suppose a pope and a monk aren't that far off..."

Shippou gave Sango a sidelong stare and blinked profusely. "Um... Sango... you wouldn't perchance... be thinking that Miroku's a virtuous monk, now would you...? Because, I for one would have to tell you..." A spatula clattered to the floor.

"...What?" Sango's hands flew to her face and she gave a look of intense shock. "...You... you mean he's not?" She breathed. Shippou watched as feelings of betrayal quickly rose in her eyes. "You mean... his chastity... his purity... are they really gone...? It wasn't just a lonely act?"

Shippou's face quickly turned from stunned to very uncomfortable. Just how... do you break the news to someone that their love is... well... been lovin' around? Not... that he wasn't about to anyway, but her reaction certainly teetered the situation. "Well... you know... he's, um..."

Her face straightened and she gave him a raised eyebrow. "...Really, Shippou... What do you take me for, an idiot?"

The kid's face turned pink and he looked grossly debased. "...You were being sarcastic with me!"

She held out a fork. "...Touché! ...Of course."

"Serves me right, I suppose..." Shippou twiddled with the knife and fork on the table for a few moments. "...But, you know... if it comforts you some... I actually think that Miroku is serious about you."

Sango turned to the boy... Her eyes pleased and a small smile playing on her lips. "...Really? What makes you that?" ...Every woman likes to be told why they're liked, and Sango wasn't the exception. Shippou's eyes quickly darted around the room nonchalantly. ...He pretended to look for a hovering fly. "Nothing really... He just... um... said that you're number one on his list..."

A blink passed by and Sango said in a slightly higher tone, smiling inside. "Oh...? Really? Well then... that's good."

An innocent nod and smile shown with pearly kid's teeth. "You betcha'. ...Especially when you beat out Helga from the Shoya coast. ...And she had some huge knockers."

...Helga? Knockers? Like... breasts? "...Oh? That so?" Her voice rose another notch..

Shippou waved it off and shoved the very last bit of his very last pancake into his mouth. "Yeah, but she also had a gap in her teeth, so Miroku wasn't with her long. But you should have seen Amairu over from Shikabe. She was one of those geishas? The really loose kind...? And MAN, was she hot."

"Oh." It was more of a statement now. And the poor taijiiya's voice had risen to the frequency of low bird chirp.

Shippou suddenly looked stricken. "...But she didn't mean anything to him either, I swear! When women like that give and give and give, it's all they can do to keep a man from running away. And... remember..." He paused and gave her a wink. "You're at the very, very top of a long list. He really digs you."

Sango's lips pulled back into a hard smile. "That's just... peachy... Wow Shippou, thanks for letting me know! I'm... glad you told me..."

The kitsune snapped a miniature eye-patch back into place over his face and gave a low bow while standing on the stool. "Anytime, my fair lady! Now..." he paused to wipe his honeyed mouth on a nearby handkerchief. "...Off I must go!" He hopped off the stool and made for the door, but then turned back. "...Um... You never heard this from me, alright? I want Miroku to have full credit for making you feel special."

Sango's grin could have frozen lava. "...Oh, he will. No worries."

With a childish smile and a hop, Shippou pulled a wooden bokken from a mini-scabbard at his side and waved it around. "I'll see you after today's training melee'!"

Sango smile was just frozen in place. And the kid was gone.

...A second later...

Who should appear by the door but Miroku? The purple-robed monk peeped in to find several dozen flapjacks near the stove, an arrangement of used cutlery where Shippou had sat, and a very odd-looking taijiiya, standing between it.

He let out a soft smile and stuck his head in the door fully. "...Good day, Sango-sama... The smell in here is simply divine..."

"Good day, Miroku."

"You know... the weirdest thing just happened. ...I just saw Shippou out in the passage, and he told me that you needed a bit of company in here. ...Why, I don't know, because well... Shippou's just not that chivalrous..."

"Is that so, Miroku?" Her apron suddenly found itself squeezed in her hands.

"Haha... yeah. Anyway, I've been wanting to see you all morning... How I've missed you, Sango-sama... Dealing with the captain last night was quite hellish. You'd almost think he was being deprived of a woman..."

Her eyes were snowballs. "Hellish, was it...?"

"Yes, quite. ...He was overbearing and moody. Not that that's a switch..."

"...You mean like... Helga?"

Miroku froze as well. For about a split second, a sweatdrop appeared on his head.  Then it clanged against the metal weight of a nearby pot. And the monk went down.

"So. ...Top of your list, Miroku? What a sweet..." another object appeared in her hands. This one happened to be the old steel bowl containing a few remaining inches of pancake batter. "...sentiment."

This time, Miroku wore a new hat. He lay, as he had so many other times, writhing on the floor. "Sango..." he tried to breathe through the pain and batter. "What... did I do..?"

"You must think you are soo slick... What excuse are you planning to give ME when you've had enough?"

"What... are you talking about...? Sango... I lov-"

She shouted now, loud enough for the ship to hear. "Bite me, Miroku! Just friggin' BITE ME! Right HERE!" Another metal object was chucked at him.

"Sango! Be gentle with me!" Miroku shielded himself on the floor. "...I don't think my body can handle this!"

"You're a freaking man! You're equipped, aren't you?!" Crash.

...Meanwhile... just outside the galley door...

Kagome's jaw grazed the floor. ...And her eyes the size of saucers. From inside, the loud, perverse shouting of Sango and Miroku were to be heard.

...Lord... you'd think they'd be more discreet...

A thought dawned on her as a moan clearly from Miroku came from inside... Now she knew why Sango hadn't woken her up. Ha... the sly girl... But, Kagome thought, tutting... If she had wanted privacy, all Sango had to do was ask.  ...Kagome took a step backwards from the door. Perhaps she would... go take a walk. ...Around the ship.

...Several times... Just to be generous.

There was another crash from the other side before Kagome turned and sprinted down the passage.

Breakfast must already have been covered. And perhaps... Inu was around?

~*~

The room was now darker and cold, as the wolf lord had ordered the curtains drawn and hearth extinguished. His head was against his hands and not a sound came from him. ...And he preferred to brood that way. Two minutes before, the parlor door had shut behind him, taking with it the ever beautifully icy Kikyou. He remembered her expression throughout the talk clearly... It had been about as cold and hard as the cool blue gemstone on her ring finger.

A sapphire... 'K' engraved on one side of the ring, and "I" on the other... Which, once again led to the disbelief... Kikyou... and Inuyasha?

Laughable...

He slammed his fist against the small table next to him, splintering the area of impact... Inuyasha did not deserve anybody's love... Even if it was the frigid love of the frost queen, Kikyou... And, when had this happened? He may have been preoccupied back in the days of the naval academy... But he certainly wasn't blind. Had Inuyasha gotten together with a girl back in school, he certainly would have known of it... right?

Particularly... because Kikyou had been so desirable. Of course... back then, much had been different... Somewhere along the road to adulthood, Kikyou had lost her vitality... her fire. ...How and why, Kouga could only guess, as they had met up again only a few short years before, but the certainty was that among all of the female students enrolled, the one who had shone the most... was Kikyou.

...Kikyou, the school sweetheart.

Kouga's teeth gritted against the others. This topic was so infuriating, yet he couldn't put the blame on any one cause....Perhaps, it was the occurrence of 'Inuyasha' and 'love' in the same line. ...Perhaps it was that once again, without his knowledge, Inuyasha had managed to beat him. This time in the game of love... by managing to acquire the most popular girl in the school... Or, perhaps, it was because that underlying it all... Lady Kagome would no longer be coming... and it was still Inuyasha's fault.

...For the hundredth time that day, Lord Kouga swore his revenge.

...He sat there, alone and in the dark, for a long, long time.

Then, came the respite. The door clicked open, and Kouga caught the familiar wolf-y scent of one of his servants. The light clicked on and with a cheery smile, the butler spoke. "Hullo, Sir! I've got some news."

No less than grouchy, the lord turned to look at the tux-ed white-haired youkai, who stood by the vast room's entrance with little more than a bubble-headed smile. "You're not the shiniest spoon on the dinner table, are you now, Ginta?" His eyes squinted and rearranged themselves into annoyed adjustment to the light. "What kind of mood do you guess I'd have to be in to be sitting alone in a dark, quiet room...?"

"Well, um... I don't know sir. What kind of mood are you in? Can I guess?"

Kouga slapped his forehead and groaned. "Take a note for me, Ginta."

"Of course, sir, right away sir!" The butler gave his boss a firm salute and pulled out a pack of post-its from his tux jacket. "Ready whenever you are."

Kouga's hard, irritated stare was accompanied by a new sweat-drop. "...You're expendable."

"...Yes sir! ...Now... um, would that be with one or two k's...?"

Kouga blinked. Then sat back in his seat. "Wow..." he breathed. Ginta gave him a puzzled, tilted stare and came over to his boss. "What is it, Lord Kouga?" ...The young noble just slowly shook his head and said simply, "You've gotten stupider."

Ginta blinked. "...That's bad, right?"

"Ginta, PLEASE tell me you're just trying to be funny."

"Well, no sir... but if you want funny; A Buddhist goes up to a hot dog vendor..."

"Ginta..."

"...Gives him a bow and says, 'Make me one with everything!"

"GINTA!"

"...Yes?"

"...If you don't tell me what you came here for in five seconds, I'm going to have to break my promise to your mother and kill you."

There was a thick silence that hung in the air as the butler comprehended what Kouga had just said. Once the words had registered, he stood up straighter and gave a polite bow. "Yes! Of course! ...Um..." he righted himself, then looked at the wolf nervously.

"...I just ran in from the docks... The ones near town? I was with Hatsuro and some others and we'd just returned from the pub on our break... he was telling me about how he'd seen that Ayame chick hanging around the manor walls again, and then Sajiro made some random crack about my hair, and everyone laughed..."

Kouga's fingers rapped on the ebony night-table next to him. "...And?"

"...And suddenly, Masao comes out of NOWHERE, Which I thought was weird because he'd supposed to have been on guard duty near the south shore of the manor, and Sajiro was like, 'Whoa, man! Where'd you come from?' And I reach into my back pocket and prepare to give him a fiver because I thought he'd finally remembered that he'd won that pig-kissing bet around New Years... As if I'D ever kiss a frickin' pig..."

White lighting flashed over the chair and suddenly grasped the butler by the neck. Ginta's eyes bulged and his tongue lolled... "I... was almost done..." he gasped.

Kouga's sweat-drop had increased tri-fold in size. He let out a low growl. "...I'm about make your mom cry. ...Now what did you want to tell me?"

Ginta appeared like he was trying hard not to turn purple. A vein bulged from his forehead as he tried to finish delivering his news. "And then... *cough* Masao said he'd... spotted... Captain Whiteclaw's... *choke*"

...Captain Whiteclaw. Inuyasha! Eyes opening wide, Kouga let go of the butler's neck and instead grasped his suit. "Where?" he demanded. ...in all the drama of the letter delivery and Kikyou's confession, Kouga had completely forgotten that Inuyasha had already been sailing around his manor. And, that he was in pursuit of the map to the Shikon-no-Tama...

By then, Ginta had been a lovely shade of eggplant. He paused as Kouga put him down to gasp and catch his breath, coughing and hacking the air back into his systems. "About 10 leagues... about a 10 leagues past Devil's Horn Isle... and nearing..."

Kouga collapsed back onto the sofa, the wheels in his mind turning with thought. ...He... didn't need to go out searching for Inuyasha. The pirate was already on his way... lured by visions of power and fancy. He was walking right into Kouga's vengeful hands. ...How much easier could exacting his revenge be? Kouga furrowed his brow with the arrival of a problem... Just how was he to welcome the unwelcome Inuyasha...?

"Ginta." He spoke up suddenly.

"Y...yes Kouga-sama?" The white-haired wolf peered at his master uncertainly and had his hands risen, covering his neck. ...Christ. What a moody guy...

"Take out your notes. I need some preparations to be made..."

~*~

It wasn't going to be too hard to find Inu... All Kagome had to do was run to the stern of the ship and take a look around... If she waited long enough... she'd probably see him walking around along the decks, right...? The vantage point from the front was always expansive.

...Several pirates were already there, lounging around and filling the air with stink and profanity. ...A small group of massive, dirty men were playing poker over a cluster of barrels nearby. A young-looking pirate with a skinny build and bandanna hung upside down from tangled rigging and shouted for help, to nobody in particular. ...Kagome just sat on the tail of the wooden mermaid, arms crossed and looking very fidgety and bored. None of the men seemed to pay her any attention any more. ...Either that, or they were trying very hard NOT to.

She hadn't had time to consider if that was a good thing or bad thing.

The day so far was bright, hot and sunny, and the wind, or breeze really, blew modestly... There was land on the horizon too, Kagome noted. ...But where was Inu? It was midday... the men wandered around aimlessly until late afternoon.

She counted the minutes by like hours on the hot deck... standing there with no real purpose. Was this... how pirates always lived...?  She wondered. They floated like leaves on the sea, without certainty or apparent reason, other than to pillage the occasional village and sink the occasional ship... Kagome was torn between feelings of disgust and fascination on the topic... The noble side of her still wondered what could make men of any type act in such a savage way...

Suddenly, the sea dog whose foot had been caught in the roped rigging overhead must have suddenly become untangled, because without warning, he came plummeting down to earth and landed in front of Kagome, who jumped out of her skin and about five feet in the air. "Aggggh!! Holy shit!" she cursed and shouted in surprise. ...So much for polite noble breeding.

"You scared the crap out of me!" She was wide-eyed with her hand grasping her heart and sweating buckets. The pirate moaned on the wooden deck, apparently having taken quite a blow to the head. Getting her wind back, she kneeled over the pirate, checking for blood and bruises, since he was half naked anyway.

"...Are you alright? ...Hey, how many fingers am I holding up?" Over from the barrels, the poker-playing pirates had stopped and now watched them.

He turned over... but was obviously disoriented... His face was covered in stringy hair, and a bandanna was wrapped around his head. There was peach fuzz covering most of his face. ...He looked a little...'tender' to be a pirate, Kagome thought... and there was something familiar about him...

From behind crudely-made glasses (one lens was shattered), the pirate's eyes began to focus. "Don't move too much... How many fingers am I holding up..?" she asked again.

He moaned and, getting his bearings, he finally took note of the person standing over him... of the girl standing over him.

"Ahhh!" He sat up and scooted away from her as far as he could. He stared at her for a second and began to breathe heavily. "Ka-Kagome??"

Huh..? THIS threw Kagome for a loop... It was almost like the pirate recognized her... "Um..." she tilted her head in polite confusion. "...Have we met..?"

The skinny pirate sat frozen as a scary thought just dawned on him...

Oh no...  SHE'S the one! Kagome is the one he was talking about! 

The skinny pirate shook his head fervently and scooted farther away, bowing with every inch he retracted. "No! N-not at all! Terribly sorry for the fright, m'lady. I'm afraid I must go now, do forgive me!" He stood to leave as soon as possible, but Kagome, wondering exactly why she'd just been treated like the loch ness monster, stood up as well and grabbed at his patched vest. "Hey! Just wait a damn minute."

His muscles tensed underneath the vest. She let go and put her hands on her hips, but he didn't turn around. "Gods, I'm not going to bite you! ...Calm down! Just what the hell was that all about?"

"Um..." He seemed to be at an anxious loss for words.

"And, would ANYBODY mind telling me WHY I'm suddenly terrifying?!" She looked around and glared at all of the pirates in the eye. It was odd... until this particular pirate had run from her half-screaming, she hadn't noticed the trend... perhaps she had been too preoccupied with thoughts of Sango and Miroku's romance, of home, of her marriage that no longer looked as if it was going to take place... but lately,  it seemed that every pirate she'd come across while walking the decks or greeted had just as quickly moved out of her path...

She was a young fresh girl... they were lonely, and (she assumed) straight men. What was going on?

The pirate she had just grasped spoke with a small voice... that didn't sound very pirate-ish. ...In fact, he sounded like a cultured young man. "...You... you are a lady, and are to be treated... with the utmost delicacy and respect, or... or..." He looked to the other pirates nervously. ...Kagome looked too, and was surprised to find that they too had suddenly lost their hard pirate edge and just sat there, uneasily.

"...Or..?" she questioned. Delicacy? ...Respect..? What was she... a statue of the western virgin mary? "Or what?" she said now with some annoyance to her voice.

The skinny pirate hunched over with his hands covering his head. "Forgive me, Kagome-sama! I have offended you! Just don't tell the captain and I'll stay out of your way!"

"Huh?" The young noble stared at him like he had just spoken in African chant.

From the floor, he was silent. The others looked on in uneasy silence as well.

The captain...? He had said 'captain', hadn't he? Whiteclaw. ...Just what did he have to do with her?  She thought about his words... 'Just don't tell the captain'... He'd said.

She inched closer and prodded him with her foot. "...Hey... what the hell are you talking about?" Her voice lowered dangerously in offense. "...Do you mind telling me when I became the ship spy...?

He turned his head partially, and once again Kagome was struck by how familiar the pirate looked. "Kagome-sama..." he whispered. "The captain... he..." From the corner of her eye, the poker playing pirates stood up and quickly hustled over to the huddled pirate. They surrounded him, cutting off Kagome from her interrogatee and hoisting him up over their shoulders... One of them, Kagome recognized as being in Manten's company when she'd first been kidnapped from the Survivor.  He gave her a sheepish bow and walked off with the other men, apologizing profusely as they gradually disappeared. "...Forgive 'im, Lady Kagome. He needs ta- ta- t'do some... ah... moppin'..."

And suddenly they were all gone, taking the hapless young one with them. Kagome stood agape, suddenly alone on the wide deck...

She had just seen a man silenced.

Well, not silenced, silenced, mind you... but something was going on here... and it had to do with her... and the elusive Captain Whiteclaw...

...Kagome found herself walking back to the mermaid's tail... a good enough seat for the time being. Understandably, her mind was spinning. ...Perhaps... it was time to pay this captain a visit... for the very first time.

A bird sailed overhead, and it caught Kagome's eye just time to see some movement on the captain's deck... A door was slammed open, and a person walked out... dressed head to toe in a red haori, with a small animal skull decorating a string of beads around his neck, and a tiny golden earring glittering from his puppy-like ear.

...It was Inu.

Kagome could see, even from her vantage point as he leaned over the rail... He was still, staring at the water with the oddest expression she had ever seen him in. ...Was it anger? Was it sadness? Was it confusion? Squinting, she could see that dotted on his forehead were several beads of sweat. ...He was softly heaving.

...This... must have to do with the captain.

For even Inu to have emerged from the cabin so affected, there must have been something to Whiteclaw that she didn't know.

Kagome looked on, and her face hardened in determination. She was going to find out what was going on... right now.

~*~

Inuyasha felt a deep pressure on the side of his head. ...It was less than a headache, and more of a concentrated bout of confusion... How it was that just a dream could shake him up so was unsettling... And now, he just wanted to clear that thought...

But it seemed like the confusion wanted to linger... He didn't know how to describe what he had just seen and felt. The images he'd seen he had no recollection of, the woman who'd proposed to him didn't exist, and, (the thought almost made him blush), he had no romantic connection with the prisoner named Kagome. ...None.

...But then, why was his heart beating so fast?

With his weight pressed against the rail, he sank lower, so that his head rested on his arms. ...It was a beautiful day, he thought with a trace of bitterness. And look... there was the Koozushima coast. Lined delicately with vegetation and just waiting to be pillaged. Somewhere inside, the wolf-shit Kouga lay in hiding. Why, soon, he'd grasp the Shikon no Tama by the hand, and be the most powerful sea warlord Japan had ever known. ...He was that close...

But somehow, that didn't seem very important right now. She was on his mind, as much as he hated to admit it. ...And she had no reason being there. She was just a petty breathing bundle of contraband. Stupid Kagome.

The wind blew and brought a familiar scent to his nose. ...Vanilla. However this time, it was mixed with the smells of sandalwood, (Kagome's perfume, safely tucked in her yellow backpack,) and the irritating scent of one of his own men... A skinny pirate they'd picked up a week or two ago, sitting alone in a pub and begging to be inaugurated as a pirate. ...God, that one was annoying. Inuyasha had taken a look at his hands. It seemed the boy hadn't worked a day in his life. ...The pansy might as well have been a noble...

Anyway, he shook out the sidetracked thought and groaned. Kagome was near. Hell... she was probably down on deck... Standing on the mermaid and pretending she was Rose from whatever that woman from that damn storybook was called. The women always did that...

"Inu-?"

The hanyou jumped out of his skin and landed facing the girl.

"Kagome?! What the hell?!" He hadn't even heard her. She stood behind him, and probably had for a good minute.

She tilted her head and gave him an incredulous glance. "...What's eating you?" She studied him deeply...  Something seemed different. Normally, when he saw her, he was cool and aloof. He was the perfect rebel pirate. ...Now, he seemed just a little agitated to see her. This hard look he gave her seemed a little more involved than the usual. ...She took a half step forward, her voice light and expression innocently cool. "You seem a little jumpy, Inu... Is there something on my face?" She ran a hand over her features for comic effect.

It didn't work. Inuyasha shot back. "Yeah. Your face. How the hell did you get up here?"

His cruel voice bit softly into Kagome, but she didn't let it show. Why was he being so defensive? ...Instead, she looked away onto the horizon and shrugged. "...Easy enough... I climbed. I was given limbs, and I intend not to waste the gift."

If her presence at this time was unsettling, Inuyasha realized then that she was standing on the captain's deck. ...And seemed not the least bit concerned about meeting a 'captain'. His voice became low and suspicious. "...Then what are you doing here..? Didn't you know that prisoners don't have the same rights as pirates?" ...He was verbally pushing her away, and he knew it. ...But he couldn't help himself. Every bone in his body told him that the farther she was from his soul, the safer he'll be...

Kagome's eyes visibly softened with a trace of hurt. ...How odd... Last night, Inu had seemed friendly and... almost protective. What had brought about his bi-polarity? ...She glanced at the captain's closed door that seemed to beckon answers from within... She took a few steps closer, putting her and arms length with the hanyou pirate.

"Inu... is there something bothering you? Call me nuts, but somehow I can't help getting the feeling that there's something on your mind."

The hanyou simply keh'd. Why was this woman so insistent on getting close to him? She didn't need to know about his life. Nobody ever had. And that's the way it was going to stay. He crossed his arms and looked away from her with a surly expression. "Maybe, Kagome, you shouldn't worry yourself so much with the life of a 'scurvy sea dog' and take your place back in the kitchen. What I feel is none of your business!"

Kagome simply looked at him, silent.

...He was silent as well... unsure of what to say or do...

Kagome reached out and grabbed his hand, and Inuyasha flinched in surprise. In his open palm, she placed a folded piece of paper and closed his hand around it. ...Her face was narrow and cold.

"Then... I guess this idea was a total bust."

"What's this?" He asked before thinking.

She ignored him and stepped back. "Have it your way, Inu. Let's just forget this prisoner ever gave a damn, alright? I'm sure there are lots of other lonely pirates eager for someone who just maybe was willing to take the chance and understand them." She stepped away, turning her back.

Inuyasha stood there frozen, choosing not to believe the words he had just heard from her mouth. "...And just what makes you think I'm lonely?  What the hell makes you think you know me at all, you weak woman?!"

Kagome simply ignored him. And walked to her destination... the captain's door right behind Inuyasha. She turned once and gave him that aloof stare. "...I don't." And her hand reached for the brass knob.

Inuyasha's eyes flew open. The door to the cabin! By instinct, he moved at a flash and intercepted the door, grabbing Kagome by the arm and pulling her back. Unfortunately, he'd underestimated his force and Kagome was consequently yanked off her feet and crashed into Inu's chest. He stumbled back and fell in a red heap on the captain's deck floor. Kagome was his topping.

The wind was knocked out of her for only a brief moment. And it took less than a moment to get her bearings, and upon doing so she wasted no time in flipping over and screeching at him.

"Who the hell said you could touch me, you insane mutt??!" With her leg she shot him a painful kick away. Any normal man would have felt immense pain at her foot in their chest, but Inuyasha just shook off the force and got up, half-yelling back, "Yeah well, who the hell said  you could go in there?!"

Kagome's jaw clenched and her face turned darker. "I don't remember having a boss. " She started again for the door. Inuyasha once again blocked her passage for it. "...That's funny," he growled, "...because I don't remember you being anything more than stolen goods."

Kagome blanched instantly with anger. Stolen goods?! What the hell was she, a barrel of imported tobacco?! Her jaw clenched even tighter. And, with all her force, Kagome placed her hands over Inuyasha's chest and gave him a good, hard shove to the side. Once again, the hanyou found himself on the floor of his own deck. And once again, he was caught in surprise. On this time, his usual hanyou temper filled him as well. Kagome leaned over him, with venom in her gaze. "I have business to attend to with Captain Whiteclaw," she said slowly, as if each word was a separate stab. "And I don't need the permission of a lowly deck-licker like you to do it. Inu, just SIT."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, though not enough for Kagome to tell. Ignoring her reference to him as a deck-licker and lap-dog, (which in itself was a blow to the proud Inuyasha's male parts), his expression narrowed and he countered. "...And pray tell, Lady Kagome, what would that be...?" His sarcasm oozed to the floor as he stood.

He had no idea he'd just addressed Kagome by her proper title.

"Nothing a lowly pirate pawn like you needs to know. You're not my mother."

Her impertinence he found he couldn't deal with. "...And damn well glad I'm not, If I'd have had to push a whiny, bratty bitch like you out from between my legs, I'd have jumped off a fucking cliff!"

...His words lingered in the air for a second. He took in a sharp breath. ...It was only when the silence settled that he had begun to regret his words. ...Then, out of nowhere, came Kagome's swift, unexpected slap.

The hard sound rang out in the air and froze the scene between the two.

Inuyasha's hand rose to the side of his face, where the red-hot burn bruised more than his pride. But he was speechless. ...The great and powerful Inuyasha had just been humbled.

"My mother... has no place in your words."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something, but his voice died as Kagome looked at him with a steely stare. From his chest, the hanyou's heart began to beat just a little bit harder...

Kagome reached once more for the brass doorknob. Inuyasha reached for her arm. "...Just what..." he said, "...Makes you think the captain wants to be bothered?"

Kagome pulled away and gave him a slightly raised chin. It was a haughty expression she'd picked up from years of noble socialization. "...The captain's comfort is the least of my concern. I need to know something, and if he has a problem... he can just kiss my ass."

The hanyou pirate's eyes narrowed. "...You're too full of yourself."

"...Oh yeah? And what were you expecting?"

"...For you to be just a little smarter."

Kagome was silent for a minute. "...What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Inuyasha slanted Kagome a narrowed look and came a foot closer. "Who do you think Captain Whiteclaw is...? I'll drop you a hint: It's not 'a fucking daisy'. What were you planning to do? Bound into his cabin, stamp your little foot and make demands like some debutante? ...Has it even occurred to you that there's a price on his head for a fucking reason?"

"I..." Kagome hadn't though of that. ...And it sullied her.

Inuyasha took another step toward the girl. "Maybe you should stop your high and mighty charade before you get tossed into shark infested waters. ...This isn't your little village, and these men aren't spineless farmers. ...You'd better learn to stay in your place and learn to fear."

Kagome eyes snapped up and she leaned toward Inu. Beside her, a fist was clenched and she spoke. Her voice was suppressed. "But, I have nothing to fear."

Inuyasha was silent. Kagome eyes squarely met his. "I have nothing to fear, because I have nothing to live for. Life, death. There's no difference between the two."

Kagome shortened the distance between them once more... Her head was a foot from his.

The last time he'd been this close to her, he'd been dreaming. The heart of the surly pirate king beat harder than usual...

But her eyes were a hollow brown. "When your captain plucked me out of the sea to make me a servant, did it ever occur to him WHY I was there in the first place? Or did he, like most arrogant warlords, decide that my life was too insignificant for consideration?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Inuyasha said smoothly. Inside, a pang of guilt swam. That was exactly what he had decided.

Kagome's back straightened. ...Her voice was steady, but the hanyou detected a slight waver. "...I have one of two choices, Inu... The first... is to get off this ship whenever your captain deems it so, go back to my family, and find myself shipped out again within a month..." Her eyes narrowed.  "...To complete my arranged marriage."

The hanyou froze immediately. ...An arranged... marriage...? Those words hung like a noose in the pit of Inuyasha's stomach... The hollowness in the eyes of the raven-headed girl never left. "...I'll walk down the aisle smiling, then proceed to kill myself slowly every day, for the rest of my life, as I wake up next to a man I didn't choose." ...Inuyasha stood, motionless.

"Or," Kagome continued, putting her hands on her hips. "I could walk into that cabin, piss off a known murderer, and make the trip to the same destination a whole lot shorter. Which sounds better to you?"

One of the hanyou's furry ears twitched. "...You're a fool..."

Her eyes flickered. "...Why, because I'm not afraid to die?"

"...Because you're being reckless with the way you choose to die."

Kagome looked away. ...Her head lowered and she found herself looking at the ground. "...I don't care."

Inuyasha's jaw clenched. "Why?" ...As in, why are you being so stubborn? Why don't you care what happens to you? Then, he turned around and asked himself, and why do I care?

Kagome read his mind and re-asked him his last question, with an accusing stare.

Inuyasha's froze again, and decided to ignore it, putting up a mask of irritation. There was no way he was going to let this... brat know how sweaty under the collar she was making him.

"I'm not letting you go in there." He declared, finally. ...The hanyou knew full well there was no danger inside the room, but it was the principle that mattered, really. Kagome was perfectly alright with walking into the welcoming arms of death, and there was something about that entire concept that didn't sit well with him. And he was going to show it, whether he wanted to or not.

"And again, I ask you, just why do you care?!"

"Just... shut up, you dumb bitch! I've had enough of your whining!"

"Why don't you take your complaints and shove them up your ass and around the corner?!"

"Maybe I'll shove them up yours, instead!"

Kagome was on the verge of screaming. "...That's IT! I'm NOT going to argue with an annoying, immature little... BOY like YOU! ...I'm going inside!" Her hand lunged for the knob, but the hanyou's hand is always quicker. He grabbed her arm and pushed her against the wall. "I said NO!"

"WHY?"

Inuyasha's clawed hand clenched into a fist and he pounded the wooden wall right next to Kagome's head. ...The dam had broken.

"Because... I GIVE A DAMN ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU!"

Their heads were only inches apart. Kagome's eyes were wide, and her mouth was frozen slightly open in surprise. Across from her, Inuyasha's eyes widened as well, only his was from visible, angry embarrassment.

What... the hell had he just said?

Kagome was the first to speak. "Inu..." Yet her thoughts didn't go very far.

Inuyasha stood up straight. His yellow eyes looked away from her and were furrowed in a mix of emotions. He stepped back once away from Kagome, and put his hand on the popular brass doorknob.

"...Stop calling me that." he said. There was an edge to his voice. He looked straight at the door. Kagome followed his every move with the same expression. "What... do you mean?"

The silver-haired head turned and pierced the sailor girl with a glare. "...From now on, you are to call me by my proper title."

He swung open the cabin door and let it crash loudly against the opposite wall.

"I'm not Deck-licker, Boy, Underling... or Inu." His voice elevated, and his glare dug deeper as he let the bomb drop.  "...My name is Captain Inuyasha, and I promise you, you'd do well to remember it."

Then... as if he'd never been there in the first place, he was gone. ...And the door slammed shut behind him.

Kagome was left alone on the small captain's deck. From within her chest, her heart raced. And her fists trembled. But at this point, whether it was from Inu's first confession, or his second, she didn't know.

In all the melee, a small slip of paper that had fallen from Inuyasha's fist blew a bit and came to rest on the deck, just in front of the bolted wooden door.

~*~

The wind blew black hair endlessly into his eyes as he squinted them toward the late noon horizon. A tiny speck floated upon the line where the ocean and sky met. ...It was far, but, Kouga determined... It was the hanyou's ship. He could feel it.

They were back on the vast outdoor balcony overlooking the sea. Kikyou was to his right; silent, and Ginta to his left; silent as well. Probably because he couldn't think of anything to say.

Kouga took in a deep whiff of the salty air. He felt a terrible fuel burning within him now. Inuyasha... There he is... just a stone's throw away. He held up the thumbs and forefingers of both hands and squinted against them, deep in reckoning.

"Ginta." He said.

The bumbling butler saluted. "Yes sir. Ready sir!"

"Tell the men to position the firepower at twenty-three degrees northwest, and wait for my command." He paused. "...You can manage that... can't you?"

The underling gave a swift nod with a grin. "Of course, M'lord! Whatever you say! Thirty-two degrees..." By the time he was trailing off, his body was as well, and the butler disappeared into the manor once more.

Kikyou glared at him with partial incredulity and partial interest."...And I suppose you have this all planned out... Will this 'task' of yours make me miss my mud bath? ...I'm afraid I'm on a tight schedule, M'lord."

Kouga looked at her and said nothing for a moment. "In a few minutes... you are going to see why I've invested millions into my own firepower...Tell me, Kikyou... how eager are you to meet your fiancé' again?"

The woman paled even more... "Meet...?" Her eyes became hawk-like and she stepped back a few feet, but recovering quickly. "...Very much, Sir." She turned on her heels, looking directly in front of her. "But now, if you'll forgive me, I have a few other matters to attend to."

Kouga didn't bother to grant her permission of even watch her leave. He leaned against the railing, alone again. The knot of tension in his stomach was slowly unraveling...

...This was to be the hour.

~*~

AN: Okay... FIRST THINGS FIRST: I... *trembles* ... haven't updated in over a month.. but wait wait! Hold the fruit... this was an extra, extra long chapter, wasn't it? I want to give a big thankie to my kawaii beta reader, who's birthday just happens to be today.

Happy Birthday/Halloween, P-chan! Congratulations on being old!

*ahem* So yes... the whole taking forever to update thing... Er.. what can I say? I got together with a boy this month... then didn't, I have LOADS of hw and SAT prep and stuff.... and um, I was lazy? *is nervous* Sorry sorry sorry....

What did you think of the chapter? I'd write a lot more stuff and answer reviewers comments and everything.. but I'm so bushed...  The next chappie will be shorter, but the plotline takes an interesting turn. You guys aren't going to kill me for the cliffy, are you?