Hello everyone, this is a new chapter! I've tried to make this chapter kind of interesting but it didn't really work out. Heh, if you think about it, this chapter seems kind of rushed. Lol! It's kind of my fault because I guess it was late when I wrote it, so don't get discouraged by this chapter just because of that. : ) : ) Okay, I must thank you all for your wonderful reviews. It makes me happy to know that people like what I write, most of the time. Lol! Alright then, on with the chapter!

Let the Scrubbing and Running Begin!

Two days had quickly passed and it was my last day to stay inside. I had spent the days by following Sesshoumaru everywhere because I could go nowhere else. There was only one time that the lord had to go outside and he had left me with Jaken. By the time Sesshoumaru had gotten back, Jaken had five goose eggs, a black eye, multiple contusions, a bloody nose, and a concussion. After that the lord never went back outside.

It was morning and the first thing I had done when I woke up was run down the stairs to the doors. I burst outside when the sun hadn't even risen yet and sat against the castle wall. 'Finally, a breath of fresh air! Three days are hell like that! I don't know what I'd even do without going outside!' I smiled and felt the wind against my face. I sat there quietly and closed my eyes. The wind was a soft kind breeze as it blew the grass of the western plains. Footsteps could be heard walking through the grass and I opened my left eye to see who it was. 'Why would anyone be up so early and outside? Wait… I'm up early and outside so what am I talking about?' I laughed at myself and then saw Sesshoumaru walking towards the castle. His silver hair caught the light of the sun as it started to rise which gave him a slight glow.

"I didn't expect for you to be out so early Fox. Morning is usually when you don't get up!" he said stopping a little ways away.

I opened both eyes and looked at him with a slightly confused look. 'It's my first day back outside, what does he expect me to do?'

"I'd do anything to be outside, even if it means waking up early to do it!" I said with a low tone.

The lord looked at me strangely, not taking his golden amber eyes off my red ones. 'Why does he keep staring at me like that?'

"What bothers you Fox?" Sesshoumaru asked me with a kinder tone.

His question surprised me. 'Since when do you care?'

"Nothing, other than the fact you keep staring at me like that and doing weird things to me!" I replied, not daring to look at him.

'I know he hates lies but I can't tell him that I'm acting different because of something two whores said to me!' I thought with disgust towards the two maids.

"Do not lie to me Fox. You've been different for two days."

"It couldn't possibly be what you did to me now could it?" I snapped, knowing that that was also part of the reason.

Sesshoumaru smiled slightly at my anger. This was a simple battle that he swore he would always win. There was a silver blur and I quickly dodged him without knowing. When he came after me again I rolled over my back onto my feet. 'I hated how he touched me like he had. I especially hated how he made me feel things I didn't know I could feel.' There was another silver blur but this time he was too quick for me. The lord took hold of both my wrists and pulled me against him.

"You say you hate me for holding you this close to me, for stealing a kiss, and arousing you but do you really despise those things?" he whispered into my ear.

I stayed calm, knowing that since my back was against him he couldn't do anything.

"I hated how you made me feel weak compared to your strength. Just like now. I know I can't get away from you no matter how hard I try!" I replied with a small threatening growl.

Sesshoumaru didn't release me until a few minutes passed. I was relieved that he didn't do anything. 'That's it, as soon as I finish cleaning the bathing rooms I'm out of here!' I walked by him and was about to go into the castle. His clawed hand took hold of mine to stop me. It was a gentle hold, not forceful like the others. 'Now what?' I wondered not lifting my head to look at the lord.

"What do you want in your mate?" he said as his golden eyes didn't leave the side of my face, waiting to see me turn towards him. 'That's a dumb question to ask.' I thought with a small laugh to myself.

"Someone who actually feels for me, not just want me. One that doesn't hurt me in anyway or make me feel things I don't want to feel!" I replied, waiting for Sesshoumaru to release me.

"You better attend to the bathing rooms. No one will assist you, or would you rather do one each day?" he said releasing my hand and allowing me to leave.

'Whatever. I'll finish them all today, even if there are seven! I probably won't be done till night anyway so that will help a lot.' I went through the doors and the lord thought for a few moments.

"How wrong you are to think I only want you Fox. If you do not want me to hold you against your will, then never again will I do so," he whispered, looking at the closed doors.

I found a bucket of water and a cloth to use. 'I'll do this and tonight I'll run from here. I wouldn't mind knowing where my family really is or why I was wandering that forest alone!' I sighed and went up the stairs to the bathing rooms. The seven doors at the end of the hallway were all bathing rooms.

"This is going to take a while," I whispered to myself as I went into the first room.

I looked around the room and saw the dark polished stone that had some light from a window in the wall shine upon it. 'Let the scrubbing begin!' I placed the bucket of water on the floor and the cloth inside it. 'These look like they were cleaned like a week ago, even though they were cleaned yesterday. That's right, the bucket of water those two whores threw at me was from cleaning these rooms.' I grabbed the drenched cloth and started cleaning the floor. Placing both hands on the cloth, I started running to the sides of the room to soak the floor. 'This should do it. By the time I'm done this, I'll be out of here in no time!' A half an hour had passed before I had finished the floor but then became dreaded when I saw the tub.

"Oh god," I whispered, seeing the dark stone nearly white.

'I only hope they aren't all like this!' I turned my head slightly from the smell that came off it. Jumping into the tub I pulled my pants up a little pass my knees and started scrubbing with the cloth.

By the time I had finished scrubbing the one tub I had collapsed in the middle of it. 'It's not so bad. I mean, I'm only a little tired!' I sighed and slowly got to my feet. Going out the door the scent of the lord and Reiku filled my nose as they walked down the hallway.

"Hello lord Sesshoumaru, lady Reiku. I trust you two are having fun discussing the boring land matters," I said with a forced smile and a small chuckle to myself.

'Great, that's all I need. Both of them coming down the hallway and running into them. Smart Fox, you really did it this time!'

"Fun?" they both whispered at the same time.

"Uh never mind!" I replied, slowly moving on to the next bathing room.

Opening the door there was a loud scream and I immediately slammed it shut. 'That wasn't good!' I thought with a shocked look on my face.

"Fox you disgusting little worm!" screamed the annoying maid from previous days.

Sesshoumaru had a slightly surprised look on his face while Reiku had wide eyes like she was disturbed. (O.o)

"Heh didn't know she was in there… Yeah, I'll just…" I laughed nervously while slowly walking backwards towards the next bathing room.

Before either of them could say a word I slipped into the room and started cleaning. 'That has to be the dumbest thing I have ever done!' I cried in my mind as I started to wash the floor.

The day had slowly passed and there was only one bathing room left to clean.

"Ming, are you out of there yet?" I asked the annoying maid.

"I'm almost done you peeping Todd!" she yelled at me.

"Uh, isn't a peeping Todd for guys?" I wondered with a tired yawn, not really caring.

"I don't care! You still burst in on me!"

"Ming, that was eight hours ago! Get over it! Just hurry up and get out of there before I close my eyes and drag you out myself!"

There was a loud groan and then she came out with a pissed off face.

"Eight hours or not you still burst in on me! I think the lord should hear about this!" Ming yelled at me.

"Yeah about that, he was right there," I replied with an annoyed yet amused tone.

'Is she stupid or what? How many stupid people are in this castle?'

"Then lady Reiku should hear about it!"

"She was there too! Now get out of the hell out of the way before I have to do something violent!"

Ming wasn't about to take me seriously until I lifted the bucket of filthy brown water. 'Maybe I should get some more water, considering on how filthy I know Ming is!'

"You wouldn't dare throw that at me!"

"Do you really want to test that theory?" I said in a low voice with an evil grin on my face.

Ming had her long black hair tied back and wore a pink night kimono that made her look like a total whore. She crossed her arms and grunted, walking away with her nose held high. 'What an annoying brat! She's older than me too!' I stuck my tongue out at her and walked towards the stairs to get clean water.

'It's almost night time and I'm almost done the bathing rooms, took me long enough too.' I thought with a sigh as I walked down the stairs.

"I see you're getting your duties done Fox. I'm rather surprised since you've caused so much trouble in this place," a guy's voice said with a laugh.

I looked up at the window, not sure on who was there. 'Who the hell would be here now?' There was a guy sitting in the window, watching me with a smirk on his face.

"What do you want?" I growled at him.

His red eyes were glowing slightly as he looked down at me.

"Nothing really, just to see the one who was abandoned as a child," he laughed again.

'What does he mean by 'the one who was abandoned as a child'? Who is this bastard?'

"I'm here on account of my village elder. He demanded that I see if our little fox was still alive!"

"If you were smart enough, you'd leave. If Sesshoumaru catches you in his lands he'll kill you, though I could really care less," I growled with some amusement.

"Whatever, I got what I came for. See you around little Fox, our paths will soon cross again," the demon boy laughed before jumping off the window to the ground outside.

'Who was he and what did he mean by 'our little Fox'? Does he know where I came from?' Shrugging it off, I continued down the hallway towards the doors.

Going outside my self, I dumped the dirty brown water and some glowing silver caught my eyes. Looking up I saw Sesshoumaru holding the demon boy by his throat. 'Well what do ya know!' I laughed to myself, watching the two to see what would happen. The lord growled something and the boy kicked his one leg slightly, saying something back.

"Told you, didn't I?" I shouted with a small smirk on my face.

Sesshoumaru didn't look over, but the demon boy did. Shaking my head with both amusement and disappointment, I went back into the castle to fetch my water. As I walked through the hallway the darkness of night had finally set in. Moonlight started to shine against the polished stone with all its glory through the windows. 'Aw man, this is gunna take forever to do! I want to get out of here and it's kind of hard when I have to clean that last damn bathing room!' I cried in my mind with frustration. I finally came upon the chamber where all the extra water was kept and filled my bucket to go back upstairs. On my way back to the stairway I had seen the lord standing by them, waiting for me to return.

"That wretch had come to see you," he whispered, staring at me intently with his cold golden eyes.

"I know I saw him sitting in the window. Said something about a village and his elder," I replied shrugging my shoulders.

"Did you know him?"

I shook my head, not really caring since he was probably dead anyway. 'He seemed to know me. What difference would it make now, now that he's dead?'

"Finish the last bathing room and return to you chamber. I wish to speak with you in the morning," Sesshoumaru said as he walked pass me.

"As you wish lord Sesshoumaru," I replied, running up the stairs without spilling any water.

'As if you'll see me in the morning, I'm out of here in like two hours!' I ran down the hallway towards the bathing rooms and went into the one where Ming had been bathing. Soaking the cloth and placing it on the floor, I started running. Not even a half an hour had passed before I was finished the floor and was in the tub. I scrubbed like there was no tomorrow until the stone had become its normal dark colour. When midnight had come, all the bathing rooms were clean and shiny again. 'Damn that took a while to do, but now it's done and I can finally take my chance to run from here!' I placed both the rag and the bucket of water on the floor near the doorway. Sneaking down the hallway to my chamber I grabbed my scarf and tied it around my neck baggily. 'I only hope that Sesshoumaru had gone to his chamber. If I get caught trying to run from him again then I could be in a deeper grave than I already am!' I slipped through the door and shut it silently so no one would hear.

Sesshoumaru had been outside thinking about different things. He had given his sleeping chamber to Reiku and hadn't been in there since. The lord had caught my scent as soon as I had come through the doors. He could see my white scarf moving out across the land.

"You choose to run to get away from me. I will follow you, regain your trust. When I finally have a place in your heart, I will make you my mate," he whispered to himself, waiting for me to reach the forest before taking after me.

Reaching the forest I kept on running without knowing where I was going. 'If I find that guy's scent then I can follow it back to where he came from. His eyes were the same as mine. His hair had the same dark shade to it. Maybe I've found a way to see who my family is!' While I was running I had come across a small peaceful river and took a break. The sound of the running water and slight breeze was peaceful. 'I wonder what my parents would say if they saw me. What that boy said bothers me. How he said 'our little Fox' makes it seem like I'm some sort of thing for a plot.' I thought with a sigh as I closed my eyes for a moment. A sudden movement through the trees caused me to open them again. 'That's Sesshoumaru's scent! Is he following me? Could he have seen me leave the castle?' I started to panic, wondering what he would do to me if I was caught. 'Damn, I'll have to run for it! It's the only thing I can do right now even though I'm sure to be caught.' Without thinking I jumped onto a rock in the river and fell in by slipping off it.

"Stupid," I cursed at my self while getting up and running deeper into the forest.

I ran as fast as my legs would take me, led by fear and frustration. At that moment I didn't care about finding or losing that demon boy's scent. It was either run or die for me. 'I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead!' I ran until I had tripped over a large root and landed face first on the ground. As if the fall knocked me out, I fell asleep right where I was.

Sesshoumaru had followed me until he heard, from a distance away, me fall to the ground.

"Running doesn't get you anywhere," he whispered jumping to the ground from a tree.

The lord had flown from the castle to the forest when he had seen my scarf vanish and then jumped from tree to tree. Walking towards my sleeping body, he could feel the gentle breeze against his face. When he had come across me, there was a small laugh that came from him.

"You fool," Sesshoumaru whispered as he bent down to me and picked up my sleeping form.

He could feel my shivering in my sleep from the water on my clothes. Sitting me against a tree trunk the lord took off his hoari, his big fluffy thing, and his armor. He then placed his hoari over my shivering body and slipped off my shirt along with my scarf. Once again Sesshoumaru picked me up in his arms and went behind me. Wrapping his hoari all the way around me, the lord sat down with my back against him.

"If only you knew how much you mean to me," Sesshoumaru whispered as he wrapped his strong warm hands around me and leaned his head backwards to stare at the sky.

End of Chapter 3

Hello again! Told you that it was kind of rushed didn't I? Lol! I swear that the next chapter won't be like that and it'll be better than this one. : ) : ) Count on it. : ) : ) So yeah, my supper is almost ready so I should really go because we're having the Chicken and Ribs! : ) : ) Please R&R and I'll try to update as soon as I can!