Almost Twelve Roses

Chappie 3: Where am I?

Author: THE one and only FUNNYFAN (Of my knowledge anyhow.)

last time

"I hope you see what everyone else can see so clearly soon, Kagome." she closed Kagome's bedroom door and walked downstairs to play Rummy with her son and InuTaishio.

Now

To say Kagome was mad was an understatement. She was far past mad, far past pissed, I would even go as far to say she surpassed furious. Kagome didn't go to sit in the tree she normally sat it, no, for some reason that only reminded her of the man that had just made an attempt to seduce her. Kagome's body shook with anger. She had passed the giant tree a while ago; she was going to go into the forest, it was a place she didn't normally go. Kagome ran towards the forest's entrance and ran from one side to the other. Standing where she started she ran into the forest and began to run around randomly spreading her scent. She didn't want to be found soon, and she would confuse them if it meant that she could be alone. Through out the entire ordeal that had happened, Kagome hadn't been able to spend very long alone, something she greatly desired. To just sit and think about everything, to just sit and do nothing, relax without having to listen to everyone talk about the 'accident'.

Kagome let out a sigh and lay down against the forest's grassy floor. The accident had happened to her and she had the least of all reactions. Sango, she had seen, had cried for several hours over it exclaiming it was her fault, or something alone the lines, Kagome couldn't understand through the crying and sniffles. Souta, being a seventeen year old boy, had tried his best not to cry, but Kagome had noticed a tear slide down his cheek. He had promised he'd do everything he could to protect her. Kagome's mother was crying tears of happiness, as she called them, that her daughter was alive. InuYasha had gotten the news and was at the hospital in a matter of minutes, or so it seemed to Kagome. She knew InuYasha wouldn't cry she had expected him to 'feh' and then scoff her for running into the middle of the street. She wasn't disappointed, but she couldn't pretend she hadn't seen the intense look of worry that had been on his face when she first arrived.

InuYasha…her best friend since she was a small girl. She'd known him almost her entire life, and he'd always been there for her, well, she could only remember up till a certain age, but she knew, he had been by her through all the years. And he was by her now. Kagome knew she had loved InuYasha when she was a little girl, she had even promised to marry him. But the question was 'do I still love InuYasha?' Kagome had asked herself that over and over that day. She had still yet to come up with an answer. She was supposed to love this Sesshomaru person, someone who she'd come to hate.

Had she fallen out of love with InuYasha, and into love with Sesshomaru? Is that what had happened? Kagome scoffed the idea. How could she have ever loved him? Sesshomaru, someone who within a day's time, she had learned to hate. Was he still planning on trying to win her love? If he was, he was doing a horrible job at it. She was going to end up hating him more later on, than she did now. Kagome sighed in distress. This was all so confusing. But, maybe it was a gift, a way to show Kagome that she and Sesshomaru weren't meant to be. Maybe this was a way to show Kagome Sesshomaru's true self. A self that she would learn to hate, in which, she did.

Kagome groaned. This was too much to think about. Way too much. Why couldn't she relax? This was summer break, and here she was thinking harder than she did in school. She shouldn't have to think on summer break, at least not as much as she was now. It should be illegal Kagome decided mentally. Kagome sighed again, for what felt like the millionth time. She wasn't going to think anymore on the subject. She would just relax and revere the time she had with the sun while it was still quiet.

She thought it was a good idea. She had to agree with Sesshomaru, it would make more sense if she lived with them for a while. Love was hard to come by these days, especially a love like the one he and her Kagome had. Though, she did hope, that it didn't happen the same way it did the last time. It may have had the same ending, but to be hurt by the same person, the same way, more than once could not be healthy, and she was sure, that it would hurt her daughter immensely. Whether she remembered the first time or not, the scar was still there. Though it went unnoticed by her daughter, she was sure that even if she couldn't remember it, it would still hurt her double to have it happen to her again. If you had a bruise on your arm, but you forgot you had it, and the bruise was hit again, whether you remembered you had it or not, it would hurt.

"Sounds like a good idea to me Sesshomaru," InuTaishio agreed. Sesshomaru could sense a 'but' was going to come up. "But, it's not my decision, it is Ms. Higurashi's here." He gestured towards Kagome's mother. She nodded her head.

"Yes, I believe that is a good idea. When shall she come over?" Ms. Higurashi asked. Sesshomaru, after picking up the shattered pieces of his pride, had suggested that if he were to have Kagome fall in love with him, then it would be best, that she stay with him, and his father and brother. Not that he wanted her near InuYasha after what he had seen earlier in the day. He almost growled at it.

"A week sounds good to me, what do you think Sesshomaru?" InuTaishio asked turning his attention towards Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru only nodded his head in consent.

No matter how hard she tried to just relax, she couldn't. She had tried to think of nothing, but his face kept showing up. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get him out of her head. She didn't know why, it wasn't like she liked him. Actually, she hated him. A lot. Kagome glared at the sky, having nothing else to glare at. He made her angry, angrier than she normally got, even around InuYasha. Though she had to admit, he was beautiful. With his long, glowing, silver tresses hanging gracefully about his body, flattering it, and making you look at it with awe. His eyes, though golden like InuYasha's, were completely different. They held almost no emotion, well, at most points. It seemed when he was on top of her, he had nothing but raw emotion in them. She had doubted that he had ever shown that much emotion, not that she cared. She was supposed to hate him. But she couldn't help think of his beauty. No. she didn't have to think about him. But she did.

Kagome gasped when an image of his delicate, pale face faded into her mind. His gold eyes seemed to look past her, through her. Holding no emotion. His lips were straight, showing no smile, or frown. Nothing. His face was emotionless. Kagome's mind seemed to be showing her a play. A play about Sesshomaru. He was looking at her with emotionless eyes, and then turned to her with roses in his hands. Twelve roses. Kagome had counted. They were so pretty. A smile crept on her face. Then she remembered his words.

'I will love you until the last rose dies'

Kagome's smile faded into a frown as her once warming eyes turned to that of hatred. What kind of person loved someone until flowers died? Was that his way of breaking up with her? Was he mad because she had ruined his plans, mad because it was he, who in the end, was dumped. So now he was trying to make her fall in love with him, so he could regain his pride back, and be the one to dump her. Kagome almost growled. She would not let that happen.

An image of Sesshomaru holding her flowers appeared again. He held no emotion on his face. Though the flowers were pretty and seemed to draw away from the fact that he wasn't smiling, and his eyes held no emotion, no happiness, no sadness, no emotion, no nothing. Kagome noticed that as he handed her the flowers he showed no emotion. She quickly realized that something that could not hold emotion surely could not hold love. Therefore, he did not love her, which was fine with her. She hated him. But she couldn't help but feel a little sad. Had he loved her before? When she had remembered everything? Had she loved him? Had she loved someone who held no feelings for her?

'Stupid jack-ass'

Kagome grumbled unwholesome words under her breath as she packed for what her mother had told was to be 'a long time'. How was she supposed to pack for that? What was worse was that it was with Sesshomaru. Well, not just Sesshomaru, InuYasha, her child hood friend, and InuTaishio, the man who had always been a father to her, would be there as well. Kagome was happy for that. She did not want to spend any time with that stuck-up bastard, especially not alone. Kagome shuddered at the thought of it. The image of what had happened last time she had been in an, uncomfortable, position with him shadowed her thoughts. It had for the past week. She had even had a dream about it. A dream that she tried her best to forget. Something that did not seem easy, since it had occurred every night for the past week. Sometimes she'd even find herself thinking about it during the day.

Kagome sighed and turned to grab some personal products off of her dresser when she noticed them there again. How they had gotten there, Kagome only had an idea. She sighed and decided to ignore them. The flowers he had gotten her seemed to be following her. She didn't want the flowers and had made that very clear when she smashed the vase they were in, something her mother requested she not do again, or so she had thought. She had returned to her room to find that they were sitting on her dresser in a new vase. Kagome had wondered who had put them there. But, didn't care enough to think too hard on it. All she did was throw them in the kitchen garbage and put the vase in the sink. The next morning they were on her dresser again.

She had put them in the garbage countless times a day. After a while, when they kept ending up back on her dresser, Kagome had started to dump them in her own garbage, but that hadn't worked either. She had tried all the garbage's, but in the end the roses wouns up back in her room, on her dresser, in a new, or occasionally the same, vase. She had even started to hide them, but they had found their way back to Kagome's dresser.

Kagome decided to give up and just leave them. She wouldn't be here to look at them anyway. So what did she care? Kagome heaved another sigh and she finished her packing for the 'long time' visit at InuYasha's. She'd been there many times, she remember that much, but she couldn't quite remember what it looked like, and hoped she wouldn't get lost. Then she remembered InuYasha would be there, and hopefully show her around. Kagome spread herself across her bed, beside her newly packed bag. She'd had the bag for years now, and was amazed that the yellow bag had survived so long.

"Kagome are you ready?" Kagome lifted herself off her bed when she heard her mother call for her. Sighing once more, Kagome lifted her bag and headed down the hall, towards her mother, and hell. She knew Sesshomaru was picking her up. She had been 'informed' of it the same time she had been informed that she would be staying with Sesshomaru for a 'very long time'. Kagome walked grudgingly down the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Kagome mumbled. Her mother pulled her into a hug and whispered 'behave' into her ear. Kagome smiled at her mother's quiet way of warning. Being released from her mother's embrace she looked around for her 'host'. She searched the kitchen, and found no one in there other than her mother, her brother, who was more interested in playing his video games, her grandfather, who looked like he was sleeping, and, of course, herself. Kagome didn't know if she was disappointed or not. Her attention was grabbed when she heard a silent 'ahem'. Kagome turned her head down to see a small green man. He had pointed ears, and large yellow eyes. Kagome shuddered at the sight. He looked like an imp, his skin wrinkled and, thankfully, covered by a brown robe that looked like a potato sack to Kagome. He held a wooden staff that had to faces carved onto it, one of an old woman the other of an old man.

"I am here to escort you to Master Sesshomaru's house." He announced.

"Kagome, honey, this is Jaken, he's your escort," Kagome's mother introduced and was about to tell her why it was him and not Sesshomaru, when the imp interrupted and informed Kagome instead.

"Master Sesshomaru has business to attend to, and can't 'get out' of it." Jaken, as he was supposedly called, announced. He motioned for Kagome to follow him and started for the door. Kagome waved one last good-bye, her face contorted in a series of emotions all meaning one thing; 'I don't want to go!' Kagome's mother waved good-bye, a smile never leaving her face. Souta and her grandfather didn't seem to even notice her leave.

She watched as her daughter waved good-bye to her, holding a funny look on her face, silently saying she didn't want to go. Not that she could blame her daughter. The impish looking thing that was escorting her was repulsive, though she would never say so. It was against her nature. As soon as Kagome had left she searched all of the garbage cans and all of Kagome's 'secret' hiding places. Ones she hadn't used since she was nine, which, was understandable.

It was funny. She had thought Kagome would throw the roses out again. She'd been doing it all week. More than once a day. She had figured out Kagome hated Sesshomaru at the moment, but she hadn't thought it was that bad. Though, she had to admit, Kagome had hated him more, the first time. Kagome's mother opened her bedroom door and took a peek. It was clean, provided half of her things were at Sesshomaru's 'house'. Or would be. She scanned the room, and was surprised to find that the roses were still on Kagome's dresser. Had her daughter given up? Or did she just find no point in throwing something she wasn't going to see out.

Walking over to the dresser, she inspected the flowers. They were still very much alive, even through all the roughness they had gone through. They were all still quite beautiful. She inspected them further and made her decision. Quietly, she left the room, just as it was before, mumbling a song.

"Two months, two months, two months, and all will wilt, wilt, wilt." It wasn't so much a song as it was words put into a made-up tune. But it sounded nice, considering its lyrics.

Kagome had dreaded the entire ride to InuYasha's mansion. She'd been their tons of times before when she was little, and she was sure, she'd been there many times after, not that she could remember. But, seen as she was still friends with InuYasha, she was sure she had continued her visits to the place she had called her second home. Though, now, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be there. Not with Sesshomaru anyway.

It had felt like years since she'd been there. But, Kagome knew that was because of her loss in memory. She was sure she went to the house regularly. But Kagome couldn't help but wonder if she had started to go there because of what Sesshomaru and she had once felt. She hadn't even known InuYasha had a brother, well, he did mention one when they were little, but it hadn't come to mind until now. How had they met? Was she foolish and naïve back then?

Kagome was brought out of her thoughts when her host cleared his throat. Kagome turned her attention to the green imp. His greenish yellow eyes staring her down. She could se his hatred for her burning in his eyes. She had to admit, she had liked the previous care taker, Myouga, much better. He had actually seemed nice, and didn't look nearly as freaky as this one did. Kagome just stared at him, waiting for him to tell her what, she was suspecting, he had interrupted her thoughts to do. He didn't fail.

"Lord Sesshomaru will be busy, therefore unable to welcome you. InuYasha will take master Sesshomaru's place, not that someone such as himself could replace someone such as Lord Sesshomaru." Kagome almost gaped at his toad-like face. Lord? Kagome's mind questioned. He had mad his servants call him Lord? Master, she could sort of understand, but Lord? That was going too far. It was then, that Kagome realized if she hadn't already, that she was going to dread the next couple weeks with Sesshomaru.

"That's fine with me," Kagome said, trying to make her voice sound like she really didn't care. Something, she actually felt. She didn't care. She had no reason to. She may have loved him but right now she hated him. Jaken seemed to have heard her lack of care and frowned at her. If you could call it a frown.

"Bite your tongue human." Kagome arched an eye brow at the imp. Human? What else would she be? Before Kagome had a chance to answer, the vehicle, a limo, stopped and the door was swiftly opened. Kagome was helped out of the limo and steered towards the ever large home of Sesshomaru. Some how, before she knew it, she was inside the entrance, by herself. Jaken, it seemed, had left the first chance he got.

"Kagome." Kagome turned her head to the source of the voice. InuYasha was making his way down the stairs, towards her. Kagome smiled.

"InuYasha." Kagome greeted and once he was close enough pulled him into a friendly hug. He hugged her back, but not before glancing around. Sesshomaru was pissed off at him enough as it was, he didn't need to get pushed to the front of the line of 'who to kill' in Sesshomaru's black book. Not that he was afraid of his older brother; he just knew when to be cautious. They parted from the embrace and Kagome smiled at him. "So, you going to give me a tour?" Kagome asked. InuYasha nodded and motioned for her to follow him. Kagome wobbled with her bags, but followed InuYasha. Walking straight was hard enough but going up stairs, that was a different story. "Uh, InuYasha?" Kagome paused at the first stair. She would fall for sure if she tried to walk up the stairs with all her bags. InuYasha turned to her and caught her un-asked question.

"Can't you do anything!" InuYasha grumbled and grabbed three of the four bags Kagome was carrying. Once he had grabbed her bags he turned his back to her and started to walk up the stairs with ease. Well, at least he's back to his old self. Kagome grumbled mentally. He hadn't been acting like InuYasha for a while, and it was started to worry Kagome, but, it looked like she didn't have anything to worry about. He as back to his old grumpy self. But, was that a good thing?

"Where am I staying?" Kagome asked taking in everything around her. Examining the framed pictures hanging on the walls. All looked to be related to InuYasha and his family. Most of them had long silver hair, few had black hair, and some even had streaks of different colors. All of the males had weird markings on their faces and Kagome wondered if they were supposed to be wearing make up like that. They looked like clowns, ok, they didn't look at all like clowns, but they did look like they were dressed up as something. Tigers? Kagome didn't know. Nothing came to mind, and before Kagome could think on it anymore her attention was grabbed when she bumped into InuYasha. Apparently he had stopped.

InuYasha didn't know if he should worry about Kagome looking at the pictures or not. He doubted she would find out. She hadn't when they were little, so maybe she wouldn't now. InuYasha mentally snorted. She had probably come up with some sort of answer on her own. Something completely farfetched. He wasn't far off the mark.

"This is your room." InuYasha declared ignoring the death glare she was giving him. He skillfully opened the door with his foot, both hands occupied with bags, and walked in. Kagome followed after him mumbling about how she could have opened the door without his feet getting all over the door knob. Kagome stopped mumbling when she entered the room she was staying in. It was huge. There was a bed against the far wall that looked bigger than two kings sized beds, a huge dresser along the left wall with an even bigger closet beside it, full of clothes, that InuYasha had said were for Kagome.

On the other side of the dresser was another door, that Kagome assumed led to a bathroom. She was not disappointed. The bathroom was large, almost half the size of her bedroom. A huge bathtub was set against the back wall. It looked more like a mini pool to Kagome. The sink was the whitest and cleanest she had ever seen with a mirror above it. Beside the sink was porcelain toilet, nothing special. It was like every other toilet. Between the tub and the sink was a table full of hair, makeup, and face products. Kagome would enjoy her bath tonight. That was for sure.

There was a nightstand on either side of the ever large bed, both containing lamps, and bowls of candy. A large mirror was placed on the wall beside the door. On the other side of the door was a huge picture of her and Sesshomaru holding each other in the other's arms. Kagome pretended she didn't see it and continued to scan the room. A large book shelf, full of books Kagome found interesting, was across from the dresser. Beside that, were sliding doors that led out to a balcony. Kagome quickly set her bag down and ran towards the balcony, opening the doors and stepping outside. Kagome noticed the sun was still high in the sky, but tilted towards the west. It was past after noon, and Kagome then realized, she hadn't eaten lunch.

Kagome's attention was drawn from her stomach when something behind her started to beep. Kagome spun around to see InuYasha frantically searching for something. She watched as he felt all of his pockets and then realizing that he had what he was looking for was on his waste. He pulled a small black beeper and pressed a red button to rid them of the annoying sound it was making. He searched the small screen with a determined look on his face.

"As much as I'd love to give you your tour, I have some where I need to be," InuYasha said and stuck the beeper in his pant's pocket. Kagome nodded her head in understanding and InuYasha left, in a hurry. Kagome could hear him yelling down the hall for his father.

Kagome had unpacked her things hours ago, and she was not about to just sit in her room and do nothing. She was bored. So she decided that she would give herself a tour. Though it wasn't as defined as InuYasha's would have been, then again, he would probably complain that he had to give her a tour and say things like, 'This house is boring, why would you want a stupid tour?', 'why do I have to give you damn tour', and if she asked a question 'can't you figure that out on your own' or 'That's just a door, you don't need to know where it leads to.' Of course, it was better than listening to him be nice. That had been just creepy and unnerving.

Kagome had been walking down the halls for what seemed like hours, and she was sure she hadn't even covered a quarter of the house. She was also sure, that she was lost. Completely and utterly lost. Kagome groaned. She hadn't seen anything living since she parted with InuYasha. Where was everyone? She remembered when she was little, that normally there were maids and butlers running around every where, and now, there wasn't a soul in sight. She opened another door. There was no on in there. She had given up knocking long ago. She didn't know why she was still even trying. It was obvious this part of the house wasn't used, or something was happening.

Kagome peered in another room. Normally she would open it, find no one, and close it. But, this room, it itched her memory. It looked so, familiar. Why was that? Kagome opened the door a bit more and stepped in. This room, unlike the others, looked like it had been used. The bed looked used, and there were clothes strewn about the room. Some one definitely slept in the room.

"That, Kagome my dear, would be Sesshomaru's room." Kagome quickly backed out of the room, dragging the door closed behind her. Kagome spun around and met a pair of golden eyes staring at her. Had they not looked older Kagome would have guessed it was InuYasha or Sesshomaru staring back at her. Of course, she had recognized the voice and held no fear of seeing either two.

"Hello InuTaishio," Kagome greeted and bowed. He waved his hand at her.

"No need for such formalities Kagome, you're family." InuTaishio said with a laugh and put his arm around Kagome and started to steer her back down the hall she had just come from. Kagome nodded her head, but said nothing. She was still pondering why, of all the halls there were, she chose to go down that one. "This hall is Sesshomaru's hall, no one else comes down here, except for the very few, and Sesshomaru. He's very picky about his belongings. Won't even let the maids clean his room, not that they complain." He laughed at his own joke. Kagome smiled. Leave it to him to be able to talk so lightly about Sesshomaru around her. He acted as though nothing had happened, it was a little unnerving. "I take it InuYasha never gave you the tour," he asked.

"No, he had to go do something, so I decided I'd give myself a tour, but, as you saw, I got lost." Kagome answered her shoulders slumping slightly. She had been there millions of times, and she gets lost in minutes. It was embarrassing, and Kagome showed it by blushing slightly after admitting to being lost.

"Don't think to hard on it, I live here and I still tend to get lost," he nodded his head matter-of-factly with each word. Kagome laughed at that. "See, no need to feel embarrassed, just laugh it off. I do it all the time." Kagome nodded and thanked him. "Not a problem, say, how about I give you the tour since Inu—," he was cut off when something started to beep. Kagome knew what it was right away. She was proved right when he pulled out a beeper and looked at the screen. He sighed and clicked the red button on the side, shutting it up.

"It's alright; I'll just give myself another self-tour." InuTaishio nodded his head in thanks and speedily walked down the hall and turned left. Kagome sighed. It was back to the tour. Hopefully, this time she wouldn't get lost. Kagome smiled at herself and started down the hall, taking everything around her in.

Kagome was walking through the halls, no, not lost, again. She recognized this hall. Not that that was that great. She had been up and down this hall more times then she could count when she was little. Kagome sighed. Giving yourself a tour was not fun.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Kagome!" Kagome spun around just in time to have a small child throw them self at her. She caught the child and fell onto the floor with a 'thud'. Kagome winced as her bottom hit the hard floor. "Is Kagome ok? Rin didn't mean to hurt Kagome." Kagome looked at the child sitting on her. A girl with bouncy dark brown hair and playful brown eyes was sitting on her lap. A small side-ponytail was tied in a colorful hair tie on the side of her head.

"Who are you?" Kagome asked. The smile that was on the girl's face faded away and was replaced with a look of hurt and confusion.

"Does Kagome not remember Rin?" Kagome shook her head. Rin looked like she was about to cry.

"But I bumped my head. So I can't remember a lot of things." Kagome said quickly; she didn't want the child to start crying. Her look of sadness was quickly erased and a look of worry washed over.

"Is Kagome ok? Will Kagome remember me soon?" she asked. Kagome laughed and picked the child up.

"Yes, I'm ok. And I'm sure I'll remember you, but how about, we try and get me to remember you quicker," Kagome said and lifted the girl onto her shoulders after standing up. Rin, lightly, took hold of Kagome's head as to not fall of. Kagome secured her arms around her legs, also insuring that she would not fall.

"How can Kagome do that?" she asked.

"Well, how about we walk around a bit and you tell me about yourself." Kagome suggested. Rin squealed in joy and quickly started to tell Kagome about herself.

In the end, Rin was the one that gave her a tour of mansion. She had told Kagome that she had been here for 'lotsa' years. Which made sense because she knew where everything was, and what it was, unlike InuTaishio who had lived their longer than the young girl. Every time she had mentioned Sesshomaru's name she either had 'lord' or 'master' in front of it. She spoke of him as if he were a god. But, apparently he had saved her from a pack of dogs, and ever since, she'd been under the care of Sesshomaru. Kagome almost snorted when she said something nice about Sesshomaru.

"This room is the library, Rin likes to go here with Sesshomaru. He reads Rin stories." Rin said and pointed to a door from atop Kagome's shoulders. Kagome nodded her head. The girl told Kagome what she did in every room she pointed out. "Have you seen Lord Sesshomaru yet?" Rin asked. Kagome mentally frowned. No, and I don't want to.

"No Rin, I haven't." Kagome answered with fake cheerfulness. She could feel Rin droop on her shoulders. Kagome hoped she wouldn't have to see the pompous ass her entire stay, but that was doubtful. That's when she realized, she had met everyone else, except for Sesshomaru. Kagome frowned. She didn't want to meet him, again, but how dare he force her to come and then not even say hello. Though she didn't know why she cared. She hated him. The pompous jack-ass Kagome growled in her mind. Not that I care she added to herself quickly.

"That makes sense to Rin. Lord Sesshomaru is probably busy with work." Rin's words brought Kagome out her thoughts. Her voice sounded sad.

"Rin, would you like to play with me?" Kagome asked. Rin's body shook with excitement.

"Yes! Rin would like to play with Kagome!" Rin squealed in excitement. "But first, Rin must finish your tour!" Rin added proudly.

"That's the dining room," Rin pointed, still on Kagome's shoulders. They had finished the upstairs and were now tour down stairs. "Rin isn't aloud in the kitchen, Uncle InuYasha says Rin would get hurt, or in the way." The last stop was the living room. Kagome flopped onto the couch.

"So were done?" Kagome asked as she relaxed into the soft couch. Rin jumped on the couch beside Kagome, nodding her head as she jumped up and down.

"Does Kagome still want to play with Rin?" Kagome nodded her head and Rin squealed and jumped of the couch. "Then Kagome can follow Rin!" Rin said excitedly and pulled Kagome's hand dragging her up the stairs.

"Where are we going Rin?" Kagome asked as Rin continued to pull Kagome's hand through the halls. As they went further down the halls Rin's movement had slowed, giving Kagome a chance to look around. She didn't remember seeing this hall before. Rin hadn't shown it to her, and she didn't remember seeing it when she was lost. Where were they? As if reading her mind Rin spoke up.

"This is Rin's hall! Lord Sesshomaru gave it to Rin!" Kagome nodded. She doubted Sesshomaru would give her an entire hall, especially her own, when she seemed to love attention. Not that it was a bad thing. She was small, and from what she had heard, had a hard life. Kagome wouldn't argue with what the girl said.

"That's awesome Rin." Kagome smiled down at Rin. Rin turned her head and matched Kagome's smile with one of her own. Both eyes met, which wasn't hard, Rin's grasp on Kagome's hand was strong, for such a small girl, and had pulled her down to Rin's height. An uncomfortable position when you were almost running down the hall.

Kagome nearly tripped over Rin as the girl stopped abruptly. She let go of Kagome's hand and slowed her pace. Kagome drew her hand to her side and watched the girl in confusion. She had all of a sudden started acting completely different. Kagome turned her attention back to the hall in front of her. Kagome's eyes widened. Sesshomaru was walking down the hall towards them, surrounded by men, all wearing neat business suits, each trying to talk to him and get their say in first. Sesshomaru looked annoyed. Not that she could blame him, she would be too, if there were a bunch of men trying to talk to her all at once. It was like elementary school, when everyone was trying to tell the teacher their side of the story first, and try and make them sound like it wasn't their fault.

Kagome didn't pity Sesshomaru. In fact, she was laughing at him, not out loud though. That would just make her look insane to start laughing all of a sudden. But her eye danced with amusement. Her amusement quickly turned to nervousness and anger. He was walking straight for them. Kagome quickly looked down and started to fiddle with the sleeves of her shirt.

"Mr. Takahashi, the stocks are up."

"Mr. Takahashi, the press would like to set up a press conference."

"Mr. Takahashi your mail has arrived."

Kagome could hear them perfectly. They were getting closer, much closer. Kagome fought the urge to look up and see how close, but she couldn't. Curiosity got the best of her and she directed her attention to Sesshomaru and his 'shadows'. They were only a few paces from her and, the oddly behaving, Rin, and were closing in. Kagome quickly averted her eyes to the floor, not wanting to make eye contact.

Kagome couldn't deny that she was nervous, and a tiny bit afraid. She thought for sure he was going to stop her and do, something, she didn't know what. But she was sure he was going to do it. It scared her a little bit. She waited for the shuffling of feet to stop, but they kept going and passed her and Rin. Kagome looked up when she heard them pass her. She spun around and noticed none had slowed their pace, and none turned their heads. Including Sesshomaru. Kagome wasn't sure if she was relieved or mad. Her attention was grabbed when she heard Rin sigh.

"Rin thinks that was hard." Rin reached for Kagome's hand and began to pull her again.

"What was Rin?" Kagome asked, back in her uncomfortable position.

"Sesshomaru told Rin she has to behave when he's with his business people. So Rin behaved. Rin did a good job, Rin thinks." Rin said proudly. She really had done a good job. Kagome didn't think Rin could be that quiet for that long. She smiled at Rin.

"Yes Rin, you did an excellent job." Rin puffed up a bit. Though it did bother Kagome a little bit, that Sesshomaru didn't even acknowledge Rin, or herself for that matter. They stopped once again, this time slower. Rin released Kagome's hand and wasted no time in opening the door that stood before them. It was a bright pink color with a sign on it reading 'Rin's Room'. Before Kagome had a chance to look around the hall and see where they were she was dragged into the room by Rin.

Kagome gasped. The room was just as big as the one Kagome was staying in, but looked completely different. The bed was much smaller, as was the dresser, though the closet looked bigger. Instead of having mirrors and bookshelves, Rin had toy boxes, stuffed animals, video games, and a small TV. Kagome was jealous of Rin's video games and TV. Maybe she would let her come over and play. Kagome didn't have enough time to continue looking around the room, there was a knock at the door. For a second Kagome was afraid it was Sesshomaru.

"Come in!" Rin shouted from behind a small screen as she threw her clothes over it. A young maid walked into the room.

"Lady Rin, I have been asked to inform you supper shall be shortly, and that you are not to change." With that said, the maid left. Kagome heard Rin 'awww' and heard the ruffling of clothes once again. Rin revealed herself from behind her screen and walked up to Kagome.

"Will Kagome play with Rin next time?" Rin asked. Kagome smiled and nodded her head. Rin's sad face turned to one filled with glee. "YAY! Come on Kagome, Rin wants to go eat!" Rin shouted, grabbing Kagome's hand once more. Kagome quietly sighed as she was dragged down the hall once more, in, probably, the most uncomfortable position she'd ever been in.

Kagome thought for sure Sesshomaru would be in the dining room, and had been a bit wary of going in. but he had been no where in sight. InuTaishio informed her that he didn't normally eat supper them, and he rarely ate breakfast with him. He was busy with his company. Well it was still InuTaishio's company, but Sesshomaru was second on line, and had insisted that he prepare himself for when he took over fully. So, he was busy almost all the time. The summer was the only time that he got his time off, and some odd days.

After hearing this, and excusing herself from the table, Kagome stomped off to her room. She was mad. No, she was beyond mad, she was furious. He had made her come here to try and make her fall in love with him, and he wasn't even going to be able to spend time with her. She was between relieved and furious. She was furious that he wasn't going to try to spend any time with her, and relieved for the same reason. She hated him, but she didn't like the feeling of being tossed aside.

It made her more mad the more she thought about it. Kagome stomped towards her room. She had memorized how to get from her room to the stairs now, and back. And she was glad. She wasn't in the mood to get lost.

Stupid Sesshomaru.

He knew he wasn't going to be able to spend a lot of time with her. In fact, he knew he wasn't going to be able to spend that much time with her at all. But he got her to stay anyway. He let out a breath most people would call a sigh. He had already told Jaken to clear some time in his schedule for her, but he still wouldn't be able to spend time with her for another month at minimum. He growled. He didn't like things not going the way he wanted. The fact that he couldn't change anything, annoyed him even more. But not as much as those stupid business associates that followed him around like puppy dogs.

The thought of his associates made him remember earlier that evening. He had seen Kagome and Rin walking down the hall, to Rin's room he assumed. He saw the look of nervousness in her eyes. He also noticed that she seemed to have found his predicament amusing. It dance in her eyes. That, was something she was going to pay for. No one mocked Sesshomaru. With the exception of his father and half brother of course. Though, those two were idiots.

He brought his thoughts back to Kagome. He remembered how it use to be before he left for that business trip, and she lost most of her memory. Around this time, she would come into his office and they would have some time together. Other times, she would skip supper with everyone else and wait to have it with him, when he was free for the evening. But now, now she didn't even want to look at him. But he would make her fall in love with him again, no matter what.

A grin spread itself across Sesshomaru's face. And normally, when a grin was on his face, it meant that he was planning something. And indeed, he was planning something. He was going to make her fall in love with him. Even if he had to go through the same things he did last time. Yes, last time had been, fun, to say the least, and he would try not to go through the same things, but if he had no choice, he had no choice.

Be ready Kagome, love.

End of Chappie 3