Disclaimers and warnings in Chapter 1.

Thank you to all the reviewers! I have been so tied up with reading fan fiction! And I had to re-think about where this story and 'The Sword of Shinjitsu' are going. Plus, we're selling the house, so we had to clean it up, and I had to throw away many things! And on top of that, my internet wasn't working properly so I started a whole new fan fiction story but deleted it because it was crap anyways. Oh well... Enjoy!

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Rambling Life – Chapter 3: Cleaning Dirty Messes

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Six pairs of eyes stared down at him, as his eyelids slowly retreated and showed his golden orbs, which were searching the faces expectantly. A finger was placed carefully on his cheek, slightly pushing it, examining his face. Another finger, he noticed, was on his chest, and when he blinked several times more, he found out that it wasn't a finger on his chest, but a whole palm, and when he sniffed a couple of times, he found out that the owner of that palm was Miroku, who was using Sesshomaru's chest to balance. The finger on his cheek belonged to Inuyasha, who was on his left. Rin was on his right. Shippo was on the other side of his head (where his hair is) looking down on him. Miroku was opposite Shippo, and Kagome and Sango were on either side of Miroku.

Sesshomaru shot up. "Wh-What are you doing!"

"Weer sorry Sesshy-sama..." began Kagome, "but..."

Sesshomaru sighed. "Ah, nevermind. Why are you up so early?"

"It's not that early Lord Sesshomaru," Rin piped up.

"Oh really?" he questioned.

"Only one hour till lunch!"

"What!"

Sango nodded.

"I-It can't be that late!"

"Nii-san! I'm hungwy!"

"You guys didn't eat anything? No breakfast? No one woke me up! Come to think of it, I should have woken up myself..."

Sesshomaru got up from the bed, and did the necessary things to get ready, while all the children waited on his bed, impatiently.

As soon as he was done, they got up from his bed and followed him put the doors.

Miroku tugged on Sesshomaru's pants. "Sesshy-sama! Weer hungwy!"

"Lunch is promptly at noon."

Miroku thought for a moment and then said, "It is 'pawmtly at noon' now!"

"No it isn't. Wait for half an hour."

A series of groans and 'awws' came from behind him, but he didn't care as he headed for his office.

"Sesshy-sama! Lets play!" Kagome broke in.

"I don't have time to. Some of us have work here to do."

"Can we go back to da river, Sesshy-sama?" asked Sango.

"No."

"Please!" Kagome broke in.

"I liked the river..." stated Rin.

"No river, ok!" shouted Inuyasha as he pouted.

"Then what to do?" asked Rin.

"Rin, why don't you show the kids around the palace grounds, and by the time you come back, lunch will be ready."

"Ok Sesshomaru-sama!"

And with that all the kids left the room, even Shippo, who was cradled in Rin's arms.

Finally, peace and quiet...

He then stared at his work not sure what to do. Damn, he was screwed, especially with those rascals around. And how to get them back to normal! And what about this Midori creature? What exactly did she want from him? And worst yet, what would the Inuyasha-gumi think of Sesshomaru when they turned back to normal? Shit...

--

"Sesshomaru-sama!"

Sesshomaru groaned as he lifted his head from up the table to hear Rin calling him.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Again.

Was I asleep?...

Yes. Lord Sesshomaru awoke to find himself hearing Rin calling once again. Yes. He has been sleeping. He had taken a nap. He hadn't gotten any work done.

Did I miss lunch?

Rin burst in the room, with little heads peeking from the sides.

"Lord Sesshomaru! You aren't going to be late for lunch are you!"

"No. Of course not. You go ahead. I'll be right there."

"Okay..." Rin ran out of the room with the kids cheerily following behind.

Oh yes. He was definitely screwed.

--

Sesshomaru slowly placed himself down on the mat. The table was bigger, considering there were more guests. Though he wouldn't call them guests since they were only little children.

The little pups ran around the room, and after calming themselves down, they sat down on the mats too, playing with the little trinkets on the table. The servants placed the food on the table, and when everything was done, they left.

Rin smiled happily as she began to stare at the food hungrily. Miroku made weird noises though he thought he was cheering. Sango and Kagome politely waited to eat, even though they looked hungry. Inuyasha had already picked up a utensil to pour food unto the plate. Shippo sat beside Rin waiting for her to feed him.

Everyone stared at Inuyasha; before he could eat Rin interrupted saying, "You're not supposed to eat anything until Lord Sesshomaru pours the food on his plate and eats some."

Inuyasha looked awestruck as he stared back at all the ones who were staring at him. He gently put down the chopsticks, and sat back, blushing slightly.

Sesshomaru smirked, and poured a bit of each of the foods. Once done, he could feel all the childrens' eyes on him. Then he picked up his chopsticks, and picked up some rice. The moment the chopsticks came out of his mouth without the rice grains, the children poured the food onto their plates, and dug in.

--

Sesshomaru stepped in the dojo, needing to release the irritation bottled up inside from the past few days. Every servant he used for training, were throttled, and then wallowed in their self-pity. Sesshomaru was just getting warmed up, as he requested some guards of the castle would fight him. The guards were all youkai, fast, and strong, but none compared to Sesshomaru. He kicked all their asses, so to speak, and soon noticed that the little children were watching him, and cheering him on. Every time he hit the opponent, they waved and hooted. And every time he defeated his opponent, they all ran over to him, and crowded him. Their behavior was childish, but come to think about it, they were children, anyways. It was amusing for him to watch them, and not just him, but his opponents, and the servants walking by smiled as the children made noise.

Very soon, evening came, and the children were tired of cheering their lord on, who, by the way, was also sweating, and panting, as he attacked his last opponent.

Once that was done, he retreated to his quarters to bathe, but before he could...

"Lord Sesshomaru!" said Rin.

Sesshomaru turned to face her, acknowledging her.

"I'm going to bathe now, no?"

Sesshomaru nodded.

"The others will need to bathe to, no?"

Sesshomaru nodded again.

"Can you help me?"

"No. I draw the line at giving them baths. We have plenty of servants to help them bathe. Ask them!"

"Ok, milord."

Rin stayed there, her finger on her lips, staring at the floor. Sesshomaru could tell she was thinking hard.

"Rin..."

"But, milord, are they going to take a bath alone?"

Sesshomaru stopped. That was right wasn't it? Rin always took baths, but she already knew how. The children didn't. Rin was going to be there watching over them, while the servant would clean them, but that wasn't enough was it. Sesshomaru always had sat behind a screen while Rin took baths, because he was always insecure about Rin being alone while taking a bath. He couldn't place Rin in the hands of any servant, regardless of how long they had been working there. So if he couldn't trust a servant with Rin, he couldn't trust the children with the servants either.

He sighed. "Maybe you should accompany them..."

"But you are always there when I take baths!" Rin tugged on his pants.

"Yes, but you know, I smell like filth. All this sweat is getting to my nose."

"But..." Rin started to get tears in her eyes. "It'll be the first time without you..."

Sesshomaru panicked. "Alright. Alright. Don't cry. I'll bathe later. Eh, Rin-chan?"

Rin smiled brightly, and nodded.

"You did that on purpose. I should have known..."

--

After sitting behind a screen while Rin bathed, he had to go attend the other childrens' baths. He had chosen an old woman servant to bathe the children. (For modesty and common humility, Sesshomaru didn't watch... Just stood by the door, and faced the other way.) And Rin had just held onto his pants and stood by the door, watching the old woman bathe Sango and Kagome, who were doing pretty well for themselves without the woman's help. After the girls had finished, Sesshomaru told Rin to accompany the little girls before they went to bed. Then the woman bathed Miroku and Shippo. Miroku was doing a pretty good job of destroying the whole room, but he still bathed. Shippo needed more help than Miroku, since he was just a baby. But soon they were both done, and were sent to bed. There was only one more.

Inuyasha.

--

"NOOOOOOOO! I DON'T WANT TO GO IN WATER! NII-SAN!"

"Inuyasha! It's not even deep! You only have to take a bath!"

"NO WATER! NII-SAN! YOU PROMISED!"

"It's only a bath. Nothing else. Surely you've been bathed before."

"I DON'T NEED A BATH! IM FINE!"

"Inuyasha! You stink!"

"NO! I DON'T!"

"Inuyasha!" he growled. That shut Inuyasha up. "Its only a bath."

Inuyasha wasn't certain, but walked over to where the old woman was.

"I don't wanna take off my clothes."

"How else are you going to take a bath?"

"Not my problem..." huffed Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha," he growled once again.

Quickly enough, he took of his clothes, and slowly advanced in the water, staying near the edge. He was more afraid of his brother's wrath than he was the water. The woman reached for him, but he pushed away. He wasn't going to let the woman touch him. Oh no. He had to make it difficult for Sesshomaru.

"Oi. This one is going to be a problem," said the old woman.

"Nii-san. I don't want to bathe..."

"You must. It's only proper."

"I don't wanna be proper!"

"Too bad..."

"I'm not proper."

"You don't think I don't already know that!"

"I don't wanna..."

"Bathe. Now."

"No."

Now the old woman was scared. "M'lord?"

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, as he stepped forward. "Inuyasha," he growled.

Inuyasha was scared to death, but he was stubborn and pouted.

Sesshomaru growled as he began to flex his claws, and stepping closer.

Both Inuyasha and the servant were terrified.

"Nii-san! I only bathe if you help me..."

Sesshomaru stopped in his tracks. WHAT!

"You better not be serious."

"Nii-san, you help me. You help me in water so you can help me bathe."

"You have the servant to help you."

"But I wan you to help me."

"I don't bathe pups, Inuyasha."

"But Nii-san..." he began to cry. "Please help me." His ears flattened, and his pouted lip quivered.

"Inuyasha. Don't you dare do that!"

Inuyasha burst into tears.

Sesshomaru sighed. What was he going to do with him?

"Inuyasha, I trust the servant here to help you."

"B-But I t-trust you..."

Something in Sesshomaru struck a nerve. He sighed. He turned to the servant. "You may leave."

"M'lord!" she said exasperated.

"Leave."

"Of course." She hurriedly left the room without another word, and left them alone.

Inuyasha looked up brightly to see his brother's face.

"Inuyasha. Why do you have to make things so hard!"

Inuyasha smiled and said, "I don't know what you mean, nii-san!"

Sesshomaru sighed and sat down, and began to bathe Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, can't you do this by yourself?"

"Nope, you need to help me!" Inuyasha raised his arms as Sesshomaru scrubbed.

He scrubbed Inuyasha's miniscule chest, underarms, arms, in between his fingers, his neck, underneath his chin, and turned Inuyasha around to scrub Inuyasha's shoulders and back. Then he got to the hips. This is where he got nervous.

"Inuyasha, wash the soap off with the water."

This is ridiculous! How'd I get here? Why am I bathing him?

Sesshomaru was stalling, and waiting for Inuyasha to finish washing the soap off.

... Nonsense, Sesshomaru doesn't get nervous, especially over something like this.

"Inuyasha, get back in the water."

"But, how are you going to wash my legs?"

"Do as I say."

Inuyasha did, and Sesshomaru placed his hand under water, and scrubbed from there.

"Tee hee... That tickles!"

Sesshomaru ignored the pup's giggles. He was glad when he was finished with Inuyasha's torso, front and back.

"Inuyasha, lift your legs up so I can wash them."

He did as Sesshomaru said, and Sesshomaru scrubbed Inuyasha's tiny legs. Then he pushed them back in the water. Inuyasha was having fun balancing on one foot, while Sesshomaru was scrubbing the other.

After Sesshomaru was done scrubbing, he put soap on Inuyasha's face, rubbing it here and there. Inuyasha didn't seem to like it, but didn't complain. Then Sesshomaru took some soap and washed Inuyasha's hair, and rubbed his scalp.

Inuyasha giggled like a girl, and then Lord Sesshomaru just realized what he was doing.

That is absolutely disgusting.

He let go of Inuyasha, and told him to rinse his hair. Once done, Inuyasha got dressed and Sesshomaru led him to his room.

"There Inuyasha. Go to sleep."

"Nii-san!"

"What!"

"I'm taking a bath tomorrow night too?"

"Every night, Inuyasha."

"Will you give me a bath then too?"

"NO."

"But nii-san!"

"No is no, Inuyasha. And you will be taking baths every night, and I won't be giving it to you. No arguments allowed."

Inuyasha stopped to think, and didn't continue. He realized Sesshomaru would never put himself through torture again.

"Nii-san?"

"..."

"Will you tuck me in?"

"Excuse me?"

"Please... tuck me in!"

Sesshomaru stared at the pup like he had two heads, but he wasn't in the mood for arguing. "Fine." He pulled blankets over Inuyasha.

"Will you sing a lullaby good night?"

"Don't push your luck Inuyasha."

"Then will you tell me a story!"

"Good night Inuyasha."

Inuyasha sighed before he said, "Good night nii-san."

--

Sesshomaru had walked out the door, and straight to his quarters to take a bath. Once in, he soaked himself in the scented water. Life was great isn't it?

Hardly...

He really needed that bath. After oversleeping, eating with manner-less kids, sparring with the guards, and then bathing Inuyasha, he really needed it, especially since he could smell his sweaty clothed. He had really worked himself over fighting those guards hadn't he?

He sighed, and got up, dried himself, and then crawled into bed.

Hope I don't oversleep. Not that I have anything to do tomorrow anyways. The kids will probably want me to entertain them. Not that I want to...

He slept soundly as he waited for what was to come for the next day.

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Author's Note:

I wanted to make the bathing part a whole nother chapter, but since Sesshomaru didn't have to bathe the kids himself (cept Inuyasha), it wouldn't be much fun would it. But then I thought, Sesshomaru has servants to do that, aint he?

I have just thought about the most important thing ever! I think I made an idea for another story! Omg... hahaha

I just cooked like 5 servings of pasta for my brother, sister, and I to eat. And then my parents came home with Chinese food. And I was kind of mad because they ate it, and it turns out my pasta was only eaten by me. Don't that suck. Especially since I cooked A LOT. I like Chinese food, by the way, but the food they brought home was all greasy. Eeww...

Listen guys... Sesshomaru doesn't take baths with Rin, he sits behind a screen. Okay! Keep your pants on...

Wah! Its almost 1:30 in the morning! OK. I'm going to stop and read fan fiction now. Ha-ha.