Disclaimer: I had a dream that I owned Inuyasha. But a dream is just a dream. (sighs)

Ok, another chapter. Wow, 8 chapters. And I don't see the end in sight quite yet. I hope you people are happy, b/c I'm having a very fun time writing this. Hehe...I like making the characters do whatever I want them to do. It's fun, isn't it? Yes. I'll answer that one for ya. So...here it is! Have...fun...or whatever you do when you read.

Chapter 8-Kid Search

Kagome walked silently down the hall with the other's following behind her, whispering quietly amongst each other.

"Say, Shippo, did Kagome and Inuyasha really hug?" Sango asked the child propped on her shoulder.

He nodded, "Yep. I'm sure I saw it. Me an' Rin both!" He said while watching the back of Kagome's head, hoping that she couldn't hear. He didn't want her to be mad at him. He liked her, and it would crush him if she was ever mad at him and wouldn't forgive him.

"Well, if they hugged, then she should be happy, right?" Miroku asked. "If the woman I cared for were to embrace me, I would be thrilled, not upset."

Sango nodded her head. "I agree. But there's something Inuyasha said. Something that he started to say anyway. About how they realized something. Do ya think that's what upset her so much?"

Miroku looked at Sango, and slowly started to put the many pieces together. "I think I understand what happened." Sango watched him and listened intensely to his words. "Stick with me, and let's see if this makes sense. Let's say that Kagome and Inuyasha did have feelings for each other. So they express those feelings through that hug. But then, they both realize that they could not have that sort of relationship because of their...status...so to speak. With him being a master, and her the servant, it wouldn't work out."

Sango's mouth hung open. 'Why didn't I think of that?' She mentally asked herself. 'I could see why she would be upset then. Poor Kagome. I won't say anything about it, because it may upset her even more. I just hope she'll talk to me about it. It's not good to keep things like that all locked up. At least it's just a crush and nothing more.'

She then turned to Miroku. "Miroku, I hope that she's ok." She said in a worried voice.

The cook looked to her with understanding eyes. "I'm sure she'll be able to work out her own emotions. We just need to be there whenever she needs us." He smiled, hoping it would reassure her, and it did.

"What do we do?" Rin asked, tugging on the hem of Sango's dress. Sango bent down to the little girl. "You guys just be nice and sweet like always, ok?" Rin shook her head fiercely, and then rocked back and forth on her heals. "We will Sango!" She said cheerfully.

The morning had not gone all too wonderful, and Kagome wanted some alone time. So she went to the library to clean. 'This room will take forever to get completely clean.' Kagome thought. "Who uses this place?" She asked aloud, thinking she was alone.

"I do." Came a smooth voice. She looked to her left, and sitting at a table, was Sesshoumaru. He glanced up at her momentarily before saying, "I don't spend much time here at home, but when I am here, this room is one of my favorite places. It's very quiet, unlike the rest of this place." He looked back to the book he had. "With Inuyasha yelling constantly, and the two children running around, this is not a peaceful place you know."

Kagome nodded. "Yes sir. I understand what you're saying." She watched him for a moment, not sure whether to continue, or leave and let him read in peace. He felt her stare and looked up. She averted her eyes, fearing she had looked to long. "I'll leave if you want, sir." She said quietly.

"No, please continue. This is why we bought you, isn't it? To clean this filthy room. The gods know it needs the cleaning." He said, almost amused. He looked back to his book after his remark, disregarding her completely.

'Well,' she thought, 'I guess I should get to work.' She picked up a stack of books that were scattered on a table. She dusted off the table, then set the books on a nearby shelf. 'I can see why he likes this room. It's quiet, and has all these books! Something about it is calming. It's so unlike the rest of the house, which is all hectic and loud.' She cocked her head to the side in thought as she cleaned a marble table off. Then the table caught her attention. It was the most beautiful table she had ever seen. It was white and black marble, and the pattern was that of a chessboard. She ran her delicate finger over the smooth stone. The pieces were in their positions, waiting for someone to step over and start a game. The little pawns looked as if they had never been touched. The white pieces were made of ivory; soft and almost regal. The black pawns were made of onyx; bold and proud. 'If I had a chess set like this, I'd never touch it! Not that I know how to play, but still, it's so...just...wow.' She thought.

She stood there for a moment before a tap on her shoulder brought her out of her trance. She turned around to see her elder master. "Sir?" She asked.

"You seem quiet interested in the chess board. Do you know how to play?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "No sir. But I'd love to learn. It's just that I've never seen one like this before."

"I don't know how to either. I've never taken the time to learn. Our father left this particular board to Inuyasha and myself. Though it does neither of us any good, because like me, Inuyasha doesn't know how to play the game." Sesshoumaru said in his flat, masculine voice.

"Yea, well, Inuyasha doesn't really have the patience to learn." Kagome commented, more to herself than to the lord.

He let out a slight chuckle, which startled her. "That is true." He said. "It seems that you and your friend have made yourselves comfortable here." Kagome nodded her head. "That's good to hear. We plan to keep you two a long time. So far you have done what we ask of you especially well."

Kagome smiled at his compliments. 'He's not so horrible. I've heard he's mean and cold. Which is what I thought of him at first. But he's just a normal man with a high status. I guess people just confuse calm, collected, and intelligent with mean and evil.'

"Well, I must leave you alone now. Tell Miroku that I won't be home for dinner. So he needn't worry about it. I have to go take care of some business." He shook his head disappointingly; "This whole ordeal with Kouga caused a huge upstart in the business district. He worked with many people, and so many relied on his assistance."

Kagome watched at his figure faded from the doorway to the library and the large door slowly shut behind him. 'He and Inuyasha are completely different. Sesshoumaru is smart, quiet, calm, organized, and a bit distant from us all. Inuyasha is the total opposite. I wonder what their parents were like. I've never heard them talk about them.' She stopped for a minute. 'In fact, I've never heard ANYONE talk about them. Sesshoumaru just mentioned their father, but I wonder about...their mother.' Her brows furrowed as she thought a moment longer. 'I wonder who Inuyasha inherited his dog-ears from? I'll ask Miroku, maybe he'll know.' She finished cleaning up the assorted books and papers that were thrown in assorted places, and then skipped down the hall and made her way to the kitchen.

"Hey, Miroku! Lord Sesshoumaru said not to worry about dinner, 'cause he's not gonna be here." Kagome said as she went through the kitchen door. The cook looked up to see her. "Oh, did he? Well, that's a shame, I had a good meal planned out too."

"Well, I guess you'll have to wait then, won't ya?" Sango said. She was sitting across the table from him, and stood up to walk over to the refrigerator when Kagome sat down. Sango reached in and pulled out two drinks and handed one to Kagome. "Thanks." The younger girls said.

Kagome looked around the room. "Where's everyone else? I know Hojo went to take Sesshoumaru somewhere, but...where are the others? Shippo and Rin are usually with at least one of us."

Sango glanced around the large room. She looked up to the ceiling as if she was trying to remember something. "They were both here a while ago..." She looked to Miroku, "I hope they haven't gone and caused some sort of trouble." She said warily.

Miroku absently waved at her before he spoke. "They're kids, they can't get in to too much." He stopped for a second. "Can they?"

Sango and Kagome rolled their eyes at the dense cook. "Come on Kagome, let's go look for them. We wouldn't want them to do anything to make Inuyasha mad. You know his temper." They both ran out of the kitchen to search the house. But it seemed that every room they checked was empty. They had checked the den, the entrance hall, the dinning room, the living room, all the bathrooms they knew of, their bedrooms, the entertainment room, and even the library.

Kagome and Sango sat at the bottom of the stairs to catch their breath. "Where on Earth could they be? There's no way we can search every room in this house." Sango said.

"Yea, I know. Maybe we can ask Inuyasha to sniff them out." Kagome said with a giggle.

Sango giggled as well, "Yea, do you think he'd do that?" She asked.

Kagome shrugged and shook her head. "I doubt it." She said flatly.

"Doubt what?" The voice caused both girls to turn their heads upside down to look at their younger master.

"Hey, Inuyasha," Sango started, "do you think you could help us?"

"Help you do what?" He scowled at the thought of actually working. "I'm not doin' any chores for ya. That's your job!"

"No, no...not like that." Kagome said, finally standing up. "We just can't find the kids. We've looked almost everywhere, and they aren't around."

Inuyasha grunted. Both the girls jumped up and looked at him. "Why would I want to find them. That Shippo tike annoys the hell outa me. Now you want me to go looking for him? You're joking, right?" He said loudly.

"We're serious!" Kagome said.

"Yea, we're just worried about them. We wouldn't want them to get hurt or in trouble." Sango added.

Inuyasha groaned. He really didn't want to do this. But both the girls looked worried, so he figured he might as well help them.

"All right. I'll help you look for 'em." He said with a slight grudge.

Both girls smiled at him, as they set out through the house to search for the children.

Okie dokie folks. I know, a bit boring. But they're gonna find them next time. And there'll also be humor. I guess anytime you put Shippo and Inuyasha together you get humor though. I swear, those two are hilarious together! Especially with Kagome in the mix! Please review and I'll give you a cookie! I won't take it away this time, I promise...