Disclaimer: Rumiko owns Inuyasha and company!---Not me. uu

Chapter 5

Kagome and Inuyasha stood in front of Kaede. The old woman proceeded to hand them brooms, pails of water, sponges, and various cleaning supplies.

"Kagome, Inuyasha," the old lady barked for attention, a strict expression upon her weathered yet wise-looking face.

"See that cabin over there?" Kaede pointed to the nearest log cabin. "Sweep it, mop it, and scrub it. Now," Kaede commanded.

"WHAT!" Inuyasha shouted disbelievingly, hands clenched at his side. "I'm nobody's," Inuyasha shook his head to emphasize, "servant or a type of maid!"

"Inuyasha, if you want ANY furniture for your cabin, you'd best scrub that deck," said Kaede calmly and then turned towards the rest of the campers. "You see, your cabins have no furniture. No carpet, no beds, not anything. If you wish to have something to sleep on tonight, you'll get to work right away."

This set many people talking. A majority of the females sounded worried. Apparently, some of the riff raff were actually very spoiled teenagers who were usually granted whatever they wanted. Those that were not necessarily less fortunate to be rich, were intrigued by the idea of working for their cabin furnishings. A few just didn't care at all and those were the campers to avoid.

"First off, I'll announce roommates and a camp counselor to each cabin; however, two of our counselors are not here yet. You will rest in front of the bus for now. Talk amongst each other now because you'll have to pay rapt attention once they arrive. I will also answer questions about the cabin ordeal later," Kaede dismissed the awkwardly raised hands, walking over to a boy holding a tablet, the two of them talking quietly. Kagome noticed the young boy's bright eyes and his adorable head of hair--it was orange and pulled back into a ponytail. He appeared to be about fourteen years old but his childish face could pass for ten.

Campers were now starting to sift away from the bus and into small groups, resting on the grass here and there. Kagome rolled her eyes at four guys, all of which that were very buff and huge, that had chosen to stand against trees instead, to proud to sit amongst the others in the grass.

Kagome took a step away from the bus at the same time as Inuyasha had; she though was going to go sit with Sango.

"Kagome! Inuyasha! Where do you think you are going? You both have a cabin porch to scrub!"

Kagome startled at Kaede's words and sighed. Sango gave her a sympathetic smile and Kagome tried her best to return it. Lifting her hand, Kagome gave Sango a small wave and followed the beckoning Kaede to the cabin with a growling Inuyasha in tow.

O.o...

Fifteen minutes later of hard scrubbing and putting up with Inuyasha's childish whining, they were done. Kagome wiped her brow and sat on the porch with her legs folded beneath her.

"I'm glad that's done," She said with her eyes closed for a moment, a content smile upon her face. She had never actually minded work like this before. It reminded her of the shrine at home.

"Feh, I could hardly stand it. You're unbearable," Inuyasha muttered, standing against the cabin's rough wood exterior, the setting sun casting a warm pinkish-red glow on him.

"Me! Unbearable? You're one to talk! I was the one who.." Kagome looked at him and really noticed how well the sun played off of his silver hair.

"Oh forget it. I'm too tired to fight." Kagome's angry expression became submissively neutral, putting Inuyasha off for a few seconds. "But there's something I want to know."

Kagome cocked her head to the side a bit, a finger on her chin.

"Is that hair color natural? Did you dye it?" she asked. Kagome was going to comment again but thought it was better to stop.

"GAH!" Inuyasha stepped sideways from her and into a shadow cast from a nearby tree. "Mind you're own business, stupid girl."

"Why do you have to be so mean! I could have teased you and asked if you were just turning into an old man already but I thought otherwise!..OUCH!" Kagome yelped and held her head where somebody had conked her with a wooden bucket.

"You should respect your elders. Now come with me, the rest of the counselors have arrived," Kaede said, nodding towards a winter green car that was now parked beside the orange bus.

Kagome looked up and tried to see into the car but the occupants had hardly gotten out and were standing in front of the students lined up once again against the bus. Kagome couldn't see them in detail because of the sun shining directly on them. From what she could see though, they both surprisingly appeared to be female due to the long hair that was tied back and softly blowing behind their backs.

Standing up, Kagome made her way towards the bus with Inuyasha a few feet ahead of her. She startled when she heard loud laughter coming from Inuyasha.

"Sesshoumaru? YOU'RE the camp COUNSELOR?" Inuyasha managed to get the words out and burst into laughter once more. "Who forced you? Was it Mom or Dad?.."

"Quiet!" the thick, rich voice bellowed. "Don't speak of that human."

A few snickers came from the crowd but mostly were in awe by the voice's owner and Kagome could now see why.

One of the counselors was indeed a female but this one was not. He had keen golden eyes and the hair billowing behind him was slick and silver, almost a hue of blue, the same color as Inuyasha's. Usually it was hard for humans to identify demons but Kagome had this sense about her and it was telling her that Sesshoumaru was definitely a full demon. She could hardly believe that here was a full demon standing right in front of them. And he was an exceptionally handsome demon at that. He looked very similar to Inuyasha though he seemed to be in more touch with his looks than the now-frazzled hanyou.

Kagome looked at the both of them now. They were wearing matching uniforms of khaki knee-length shorts and navy blue shirts with collars that buttoned down to their chests. Neither of the two had buttoned theirs though; Inuyasha's acquaintance had chosen to wear a white shirt beneath the outer shirt while the female chose to show off her cleavage. Her hair was piled loosely upon her head and even from being a couple yards away, Kagome could see that she had piercing red eyes. 'She has demon blood in her, too.'

"Now, we can begin. May I introduce you to Kagura Windy and Sesshoumaru Taishou."

Kagura stepped forward and shot the crowd a death glare.

"Call me Miss Windy and you die," said Kagura simply, stepping back beside Sesshoumaru.

Miroku looked unfazed. On the contrary, he looked turned on by her unfriendly demeanor.

"I'm gonna hit that before camp's over."

The entire camp heard Miroku's squeal of pain as he toppled to the ground.

Kagome and Sango looked at him with obliviously innocent faces.

The crowd went back to their main focus. Many of the girls were still giving their greetings, waving, saying hi, and even blowing kisses towards Sesshoumaru. The guys on the other hand, were whistling and drooling over Kagura.

"Kagura Windy is in charge of the female section of the camp and Sesshoumaru Taishou is in charge of the male section. Now there may be only two of them but after time, this camp will have shaped you lot up enough to choose two more assistant counselors to aid Kikyo and Sesshoumaru in their jobs. Being a counselor has its benefits. Their only superiors are me, Myouga, and Lady Midoriko. Their only duty is to make sure you are doing what you're supposed to. Other than that, it's slack with very good pay."

Whispers went throughout the crowd about actually getting paid to be at Camp Feudal.

"The head staff chooses assistant counselors very carefully so don't think you can trick them for whatever reasons you have. If you aren't lucky enough to be chosen as a camp counselor, you'll have to work the hard way all the way through to the end. Mind you, the chores and number of them decrease with your personal improvement, unless you still have essential furniture to acquire. Now, onto that subject," Kaede paced about them slowly, looking from face to face. "The harder the chore you accomplish, the nicer the furnishings you will receive. It is in your best interest to take hard chores."

Kagome sighed and brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. The setting sun was right in her eyes. She stole a peek at Inuyasha and saw that he was jerking his eyes around, looking at trees and sometimes nothing. 'Whose gaze is he avoiding?' Kagome wondered. Looking around, she noticed that most of the girls were hypnotized by Sesshoumaru. One girl wasn't though. She had red hair and looked as bored and spaced out as Kagome was. The girl felt Kagome's gaze and caught eyes with her. The redhead gave a small nod and wink, acknowledging that she wasn't listening either. 'Maybe this place won't be so bad after all and I can make some new friends,' Kagome thought happily, returning a small smile and leaning back against the bus before Kaede could notice her leaning forward.

"Now, for bunkmates," said Kaede, her eyes trailing down a list.

Kagome felt a poke in her shoulder and saw that behind Miroku, Sango had snuck her arm behind him to get Kagome's attention. Kagome looked behind Miroku's back and saw Sango peeking back at her. Her eyes were wide and she motioned her head towards Kaede and then downwards at her own hand. Kagome reached back behind Miroku and the two crossed a finger with each other's in hopes that they would be bunkmates.

'Please, please, pleeease...' Kagome thought.

Kaede had just gone through the boys' list.

"In Cabin Five...Yura Daimon, Ayame Tychen, and Kanna Mitsima." Kaede continued down the list. "Now for Cabin Seven...Kagome Higurashi, Sango Hiraikotsu, and Kikyo Mikasha.

Kagome and Sango grinned happily, jumped a little, and wiggled their fingers together, one of their weird girly rituals.

"Now campers, I expect all of you to come down the lunch hall where chore lists will be given out after you have found your cabins and placed your things in them. Mind you, you have fifteen minutes to get to the lunch hall, there is a schedule." And with that, Kaede turned around and began walking down a path with the little orange-haired boy.

Before Kagome and Sango could do anything, Miroku grabbed Sango and Kagome's hands and placed them on his ass.

"I saw you two trying to grope me back there! There's no reason to be sneaky, I'm a willing and open-minded guy!" Miroku winked at them. The two girls positively screamed and wrenched their hands away, both burning red in the face.

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Mandy