(A/N Thanks for the good reviews. Any way, I made Inuyasha evil because I wanted an antagonist, that's a bad guy for those who don't know, you can really hate. I personally despise the little shit. I watch the series to see Sesshoumaru kick his ass.)

Disclaimer- Nope, don't own it. –grumbles-

Sesshoumaru was sitting at his desk, writing a reply to a message that was delivered to him earlier that morning. He was fighting back a headache that plagued him since the day his mother died. It was constant, and grew in intensity whenever he got angry. Only very few knew about it, and less knew it's cause.

The silver haired lord was carefully choosing words to use when the door was opened by a beautiful, tall, inudemon. He tried to ignore her, by keeping his eyes on the papers and letters in front of him, but she swayed her hips in a way that almost hypnotized him causing him to watch her out of his peripheral vision. She moved around to the side of his desk and obscured his view of the work by lying across it. "So what does my lord wish of me today," she asked as she stretched one leg over the other.

The collar of her kimono was so low, he could almost see her large breasts in their entirety. His composure remained the same, cool and detached. His hand never dropped the quill he was writing with. But inside he was filled with rage and stuttering on the edge of arousal.

"Get off my desk," Sesshoumaru growled. He could feel a throbbing pain start to grow between his temples and along the crook of his nose. 'Not again,' he thought silently.

"Come, let use take a bath." She reached over and started to play with the tie that held his armor in place. "I will relieve all of your stress."

"I told you, Saka," His voice rose as he slapped her hands away from the knot. "I will not mate with you!" The pain in his head began grow more intense.

"You will," she said as she got off the desk and walked away. "You will."

As she walked out, Sesshoumaru waited until her footsteps and scent had faded, then slammed his fist on his desk. 'If she weren't my mother's friend, I'd have killed her a long time ago.' He sat back in his chair and seethed for a few moments, letting his emotions calm. "But she's right...in a way," he said out loud as he turned his chair so he could face the window. "I need to find a mate. I need to find a mother for Rin."

He gently began to rub the bone of his nose that rest between his eyes and let his constant migraine ebb back into a dull pain. He calmed his mind until he caught the scent of the young miko and his lieutenant approaching his study's door. His nose caught the scent of blood, the blood of his lieutenant. 'Why is Sentaru bleeding?' He mentally inquired.

Kagome awoke and opened her eyes, her head was pounding and what happened the day before was a blur. She wanted to sit up, but decided to stay in the bed, thinking the sudden movement would bring disastrous results. It took her a moment for the past day's events to register and realize she was lying in a soft bed of silk.

'Who's bed is this?' she thought, passing her hand over the silk sheets. 'It has to be a very powerful and rich lord.' She remembered what happened to Shippo and

ignoring the pain and sourness, she got out from the bed and looked around the room, only to find Shippo asleep in the corner. She walked over to him and noticed that his abdomen was wrapped with bandages and he had a large scar on the right side of his face. It stretched from his ear across his cheek and under his chin.

"Shippo," she whispered as she gently shook him. "Shippo, wake up, we have to get out of here."

Her only answer was a soft groan and slight movement, but he never opened his eyes. She put her hand on his wrist, looking for his radial pulse. She found it after a minute of searching. It was weak, unsteady, and fast, but it was there.

Kagome was unsure what to do when she heard someone knock on the door and jumped. In a panic she ran over to the it and stood behind it. There on a nightstand stood a small sword rack with a katana, a wakisashi, and a tanto. She silently picked up the katana, and waited for who ever was behind the door to open it.

The large door creaked open and the one behind it stepped out into plain view. It was a tall and thin, red haired male dressed in a black gee. His feet were concealed by a black pair of shoes, almost like Sesshoumaru's. He looked around the room and saw nothing. "Where is that girl," he asked out loud in a soft tone.

"I'm right behind you."

The tall kitsune youkai turned around and was met by the sword wielding miko. "It's okay," he said as he put out his hand to her trying to calm her down. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Bullshit," Kagome shouted as she took a swing at his hand. She whipped the blade at him so fast he barley had time to react. She clipped it between the thumb and forefinger and splashed some blood on the floor. Kagome revved back again but was stopped by the demon in front of her.

"Miss, I'm not here to hurt you." He said as he forced the sword from her hand. 'Damn she's fast,' was the after thought that passed trough his head. He slid behind her and locked her arms. "My lord wants to see you and sent me to get you." They stood there for a few minutes, trying to figure out what exactly happened. Both were both breathing shallow and rapidly, and the wound on his hand was bleeding profusely, and as Kagome relaxed, so did he. He released her and moved so he could face her. "But I think a change in cloths is in order." Kagome was still wearing her tattered school uniform.

"This is the only thing I have."

"I am aware of this." He said as he smiled delicately and walked over to one of the walls and opened a secret room. "You may find something that you like in here."

Kagome walked over to the doorway and stepped inside. There were shelves and shelves of beautiful folded kimonos. She looked to the servant who had his back to her, allowing her some privacy to change. She looked at a few of them and selected one of blue silk. She attempted to find one that did not look so expensive, but they were all made of silk and all were decorated with embroidered flowers or birds. She changed into it as fast as she could and walked over to the open door. "I'm ready," Kagome said as she watched the servant walk over to the door to the hall. "What about Shippo?"

The kitsune youkai looked at her, then the small pup, and looked back to Kagome. "He will be fine there. Please, follow me." He stepped outside the door and led her through the wide halls. Kagome's eyes lit up like comets as they gazed at the lovely paintings and, to her surprise, European suits of armor. She followed her guide at a close distance at the same time she was looking around at all of the wonderful tapestries from all over the world. The tall demon looked back to make sure she was still following him and caught her open-mouthed expression.

"Do you like the décor?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes they are lovely."

"My lord likes to travel. He goes to a new place in the world once a year and picks up some item of some kind and adds it to the house. This," he motioned to an old looking suit of armor. "Was worn by a famous Spanish knight known as 'El Cid Campeador.' The Lord Champion."

Kagome moved to get a closer look at the suit of armor. "This is El Cid's armor? Your lord must be very refined...and very rich."

"He is, but...he has his moments when one does not want to be in the same room as him."

"Sounds like someone I know."

"Oh, who is that?"

"His name is Inuyasha."

The demon servant nearly tripped over his own feet but caught himself. When Kagome started to snicker he kept walking as if nothing had happened.

"What is your name?"

"Sentaru."

"Are you a kitsune youkai?"

"Yes, I am." After he answered the both fell silent. The only sound in the halls was their footsteps. 'Oh, boy.' Sentaru thought to himself. 'Sesshoumaru is not going to like this. Unless he already knows, but why treat her as a guest if she is an enemy.' He mentally shook the thought from his mind and sighed. 'Sentaru you are going to give yourself a headache if you keep thinking about this shit.'

As they walked, they came upon a young looking demoness with long, silver hair. She was very beautiful and only a little taller than Kagome. "So how did it go," Sentaru asked with a mischievous smirk.

"Go fuck yourself," she answered and quickened her pace.

Sentaru voiced no rebuttal but gave an amused huff as he caught her say 'asshole' as she moved further down the hall. "She's been trying to get in the lord's bed since her husband was killed."

They stopped just in front of a set of large oak doors. The demon opened them and let Kagome into the large room. She stepped in and was dumbfounded by the cases of books that stretched from the floor to the ceiling and from one end of the room, to the other. There was a ladder on a track, like the ones you usually see in large libraries. The room was void of any other furniture, except for a large desk at the other end of the room with three small chairs on one side and another that was turned around, looking out the pane glass window. She was a little startled when the demon servant closed the door behind them.

"Sorry," he whispered as he walked past her. "My lord, the miko is awake."

"Thank you Sentaru," said a familiarly cold voice from behind the chair. "Wait out side I wish to speak with you when I am through."

"Yes my lord," Sentaru said with a nod and bowed to Kagome. He walked out and closed the doors shut behind him.

Kagome approached the desk and stood behind one of the small chairs. "Thank you for your kindness my lord."

Sesshoumaru turned around in the chair and stared at Kagome with his cold, amber eyes. Kagome almost screamed when she saw that her savior was the malicious brother of Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru extended his hand in a gesture to the center chair. "Please, sit." Not wanting to stir up any trouble, Kagome did as she was told and sat in the chair. "This is how it is going to work, young miko. I am going to ask you a question, and then you ask me one."

"Okay," Kagome said simply, still shaking.

"Why was my brother beating you," he asked bluntly noticing the already healing marks on her cheeks. 'Must be the miko energy.' He reasoned. "I was under the assumption that he wished to mate with you."

"I do not know," Kagome answered looking into his eyes. "I believe that he wishes to give Kikyou my soul so she can live again." 'What the hell is he asking me that for,' Kagome thought angrily. 'That is none of his business and why does he care?'

'She has strength.' He mentally smirked as he took in her gaze. "So he wishes to bring his old love back to life by sacrificing the one who unconditionally loves him… Interesting."

Kagome stood up, tears of vehement anger burning in her eyes, and slammed her hands on the table. "I DO NOT LOVE THAT BARBARIAN!"

Sesshoumaru stood from his chair slowly and stared down into her eyes that were now filled with an unrelenting rage. The same kind seen in those of one who had been betrayed by a lover. "You will show me the proper respect in this castle or I will give you back to Inuyasha." His voice was calm, but all the more threatening.

Kagome reluctantly sat back down in the center chair. After she settled down, Sesshoumaru took his place in his chair. "You may ask your question."

Kagome thought for a minute, mostly about asking why he was so arrogant and egotistical, but found a better question to ask. "Why did you save me and bring Shippo back to life?"

Sesshoumaru's back straitened and stared at Kagome. 'Damn…why did I save her?' He thought of a quick answer and breathed deeply. "I did not save you. I saw my brother and took the opportunity to try and eliminate him. And I did not bring your pup back to life. He was still alive. He is strong for such a small pup."

Kagome blushed as the words 'your pup' hit her ears. But after a moment the thought did not seem all that strange after all. She did take care of him, and even bathed with him, in all tense and prepossess, he was her son.

"Why did you run in the direction you did? It was not on the way to your village."

"I was hoping I could lose Inuyasha in the woods and get home when it was dark. It was a long shot, but it was the only option I had. Why did you bring me here?"

'This miko may be the female role model I want for Rin.' He thought as he watched her eyes. They never wavered from his. "I wanted you here for one reason. You are to stay here and care for my ward, Rin. I assume you are educated enough to give her a basic education. And in return, you may stay here with your pup under the protection of Sentaru." Sesshoumaru thought for a moment and remembered that Sentaru was bleeding when they entered. "How did Sentaru get that wound? "

Kagome smirked and watched Sesshoumaru's expression of apathy. "I grabbed one of the swords in the room an cut him. What if I refuse?"

Sesshoumaru was surprised at the fact that this young miko managed to wound his lieutenant. But he was not surprised about her inner strength. "Than you will be let out of this castle and only have the pup with you. Do you accept my offer?"

Kagome thought for a moment. 'This is not that much different from being with Inuyasha.' "I do on one condition."

"And that is?"

"I want to go home from time to time to see my mother, brother, and grandpa."

"You will be aloud once a week for the night. But you bring Sentaru with you."

"Thank you my lord," Kagome bowed to him and left. As she walked to the door she sighed and smiled. 'That was scary, but now I have to figure out a way to ditch the guard when I get to my world…Speaking of which, how do I explain it to him…I'll think of it later.' She opened the large, oak doors and stepped into the hall way where she found Sentaru leaning against the wall. She smiled at him and closed the door.

"So do you know your way back to the room?" Sentaru asked as he walked up to her, his hands behind his back.

"No…I wasn't paying attention," she answered, blushing with embarrassment.

"That's okay," He smiled, turned down the hall and cupped his hand to the side of his mouth. "Gaten!" His powerful voice echoed down the hall and a moment later there was a fully armored guard carrying a spear rushing around the corner. His armor was red and well polished, but he was missing a helmet.

Sentaru looked back to Kagome and held out his hand in the direction towards the guard. "This is Gaten, he will bring back you to the room. And if you ever get hungry, call for him and he will show you to the kitchen.

"Thank you very much," Kagome stated surprised.

"It is absolutely no problem my lady." Sentaru smiled and walk into Sesshoumaru's study, leaving Kagome with Gaten, who was walking up to her as she watched Sentaru disappear behind the closing door.

"Shall we, my lady?" Gaten smiled, forcing her attention to him.

"Yes…please lead the way."

Sentaru walked into the large study and found his lord siting at his desk rubbing his temples. 'The migraine again,' Sentaru thought as he walked closer to the chair in the middle. He rested his hand on its back and pulled it out. Before he sat down, he inhaled Kagome's lingering scent and smiled. "She certainly smells beautiful."

No answer came from Sesshoumaru, he just stayed there rubbing his temples, trying to will the pain away. Sentaru sat in the chair and waited for his lord to say something, it was a while until he finally spoke. "How is the palace kitchen on supplies?"

"It'll be fine for about another week, give or take a couple days."

"And the kitchen for the baracks?"

"Same."

Sesshoumaru sat back and let out a deep breath. His migraine finally melted into a dull ache. "Good," he answered as he settled his eyes back on his work.

There were a few more moments of silence until Sentaru finally broke it. "Why did you really bring the young miko here?"

"Eves dropping is not a quality to be harbored by castle guards," Sesshoumaru replied coldly.

"And as I recall, I am not a guard. I am your second in command of the army and in political matters. With out me, your job would be twice as hard.Besides, we did it enough times when we were children."

"And we paid for it too."

"Oh, please. A few bumps and bruises never killed anyone. Anyway, wasn't it you who said 'Pain is weakness leaving the body'?"

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and sat back in his chair. He rested his hand on the desk and tapped his clawed fingers on the hard marble top of the desk. "Do not change the subject. Do not listen in on my conversations."

"Yes my lord. But why did you bring her here"

"Because Rin needs a mothe…teacher."

"I see…so why did you call me in here?"

"Make sure she doesn't leave. I may need her to help me find Naraku."

"I thought you gave up the search."

"I will never stop looking for that disgraceful hanyou until I find his body on a stake at the gates of my palace!" Sesshoumaru shouted as he stood from his chair, then sat back down as his migraine came back.

"You know, it's because of your repressed emotions that you have those headaches."

"You may leave Sentaru." Sesshoumaru growled, clutching his head.

"Yes my lord."

The miasma air around Naraku's castle was thick with malice as the dead miko Kikyou walked up the steps to the entrance. She liked this castle more than the others. This one was out on one of the southern islands. And no one knew where it was. Except of coarse Kagura, Kanna, and her. The doors of the palace were wide open and the bones of the guards in their armor laid on either side of it. It was Naraku that she wanted to see.

The undead miko stalked into the palace and turned down the hall, passing Kagura's room and slipped silently into Naraku's. When she entered, she found Naraku siting with one leg straight out and the other bent, with his arm resting on it. He turned to her and smiled. "Hello Kikyou, come to see me all the way out here?"

"I've come at your request, she replied with a cold air in her voice. Little did they know that Kagura had walked up to the door and put her ear against it. She heard every part of their conversation.

"I have heard from your spy that Sesshoumaru did take the miko to his castle," Kikyou told Naraku.

"Why would he do something like that?…Hmmm. Doesn't matter. Is Inuyasha in on our plan?"

"Yes, he would do anything for me. Even kill that little miko."

"But now that she is under Sesshoumaru's protection, it would be very hard to get to her."

"So what do you plan to do about it?"

"My spy has told me that Sesshoumaru is going to go to the Southern Islands for the lord's daughter's wedding ceremony. When he goes there, the little miko will be all alone."

"When does Sesshoumaru leave?"

"I am not sure, my spy told me this long ago, and apparently it hasn't occurred yet."

"But you also said that the lords would have to be eliminated as well."

"Yes I did but I think it would be easier to take them all out at once, at the southern lord's celebration."

Kikyou smiled and turned toward the door, but stopped at the sound of Naraku's voice. "What, no good-bye?"

That was when Kagura moved away from the door. She rushed back to her room and slipped into her bed, fainting sleep. She didn't open her eyes until she heard Kikyou's footsteps pass her room. Kagura heard it all began to contemplate whether or not to warn Sesshoumaru. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she could lure Naraku into a different trap. 'He is going into his dormant stage for the next few days in preparation for the attack on the southern lords,' Kagura thought to herself. Hanyou only change one night a month, but Naraku uses that time to grow stronger. The stronger he makes himself, the better he is able to fight. 'When he does I will warn the miko's other friends.'

Gaten led Kagome back down the hall that she followed Sentaru. She was still registering that it was Sesshoumaru who 'unwittingly' saved her. Her silent musings were interrupted by the gentle voice of the young guard next to her.

"So how do you like it here so far my lady?" He said smiling widely. Kagome noticed how bright his blue eyes were. It took her a moment to realized that he was a wolf youkai.

"I like it very much." She said not wanting to sound rude, but so far she was being treated like a very important guest. "Your lord seems very kind." She said smiling. 'Okay, that sounded like sucking up.' She thought giving a nervous laughter.

The guard's smile disappeared as he gave an amused huff. "Well give it time. You'll see him in all his glory, and it ain't pretty…Though he never let anyone else sleep in his bed."

Kagome's eyes widened as Gaten revealed what was unbeknownst to her. 'I was sleeping in his bed?' She thought surprised.

"He was up all night in his study working while you and your son slept," he continued. They stopped at the room and Gaten opened the door for Kagome, she found Shippo on the bed with a little black haired girl, talking and laughing.

"Kagome!" Shippo shouted as he jumped from the bed, to the floor, to her arms. "This is Rin." He pointed to the girl who was now walking up to her.

"Hello lady Kagome," she said politely and bowed.

"Hello Rin, I hope you two have kept yourselves out of trouble."

"We did," Shippo said as he put his arms around her. His embrace seemed to trigger a rumble from his stomach that everyone heard. He looked to Kagome and gave a small smile.

Kagome grinned back, she was thinking the exact same thing. "Do you think we can get something to eat?" She asked Gaten who was silently snickering.

"Of coarse."

It was at breakfast that Rin learned that Kagome would be her teacher. Sesshoumaru was there, but ate slowly, watching his ward and two guests eat and joke. It seemed that Rin was very taken with Kagome. They appeared to have a connection that only women could share. He watched as Rin whispered something into Kagome's ear and the miko's face light up with laughter.

'My,' he thought to himself as he watched the two without emotion. 'That miko is very appealing to the eyes. Sentaru was right, she does…' he mentally slapped himself before he could finish his musing. 'Humans are filthy, putrid, weak creatures. But why is it that this woman can wound my best guard, be beaten by the one she loved and still be able to laugh, smell so sweet, and be so clean? She is human, but in a way, she's not. This is a very interesting puzzle.'

Kagome shifted her gaze to Sesshoumaru's expression. 'Why is he staring at me?' She thought as she blushed and lowered her head. She was still smiling though. Shippo joined the conversation shortly after Rin said something about foxes being mean. Sesshoumaru watched all of this, and reacted to none of it. He was trying to figure out why they were all happy together and they just met. His childhood was never like that, except for one friendship. He closed his eyes and pushed the memories out of his head.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," Rin started, breaking him out of his meditative state. "Do you think fox demons are mean?"

Sesshoumaru contemplated the question for a few minutes, specifically about where she would think that. She got along with Sentaru as if he were family. He was going to voice that when Sentaru walked in the room and signaled that they must speak. "Excuse me," he stated simply and walked off.

"Is he always that quiet?" Kagome asked Rin.

"Yes, but sometimes he reads me a story at bedtime."

The answer almost knocked Kagome out of her chair and nearly made Shippo choke. They were both very surprised that the mighty lord Sesshoumaru had a softer side. Their thoughts were pretty much the same, 'I don't believe it.'

Sesshoumaru walked over to Sentaru and they both disappeared around the corner. "What is it, Sentaru," Sesshoumaru questioned.

"We have a small problem," Sentaru said in a voice of irritation and seemed to be panting as if he'd been running for a great distance. "You remember that large group of scorpion youkai we killed on our last patrol and a few escaped?"

"Yes."

"Well, they're back. And they brought friends…a lot of them."

"Okay, rally a group of our best warriors and cut them off. I will join you shortly." He was beginning to feel the outskirts of his migraine start to intensify.

Sentaru said nothing and ran down the hall to the warrior barracks as Sesshoumaru made his way back to the table. "I must leave," he told them. "Miko, I wish you to start your lessons with Rin while I'm gone. You have full use of my study with the exception of my desk."

"Yes, lord Sesshoumaru," Kagome said as she stood and bowed. Sesshoumaru walked out of the room and ran to his bedroom. As he opened the door, he found where Kagome cut Sentaru. The blood was still on the floor, but he gave it little notice as he grabbed the tokijin and the tensiaga. He ran out of the castle and was with his men in a few short minutes.

(A/N There it is, Chapter 2. And just as cheesy as Chapter 1. I hope you all leave a review and once again, please no flaming.)