Helllllllooooooooooooooooooooo! Long time eh? Yeah, I bet you havent even finished chapter 3! HA, well Im sure you have now, because you're on chapter 4... Ok, im confusing myself. Ok, I typed this out, and in the last chapter, i promised to post this one quick, so i have not proof read itlike i usually do. In any case, let me know what you think.

Sad Girl

A Hidden Castle

By : Roses of Chaos

The birds sang their morning song, welcoming a new day. The sun shown brightly as it reached to the top of the clear blue sky. The warm raises tickled at Kagome's skin, as if begging her to awaken. She tossed about for a moment. As time passed, the sun made its way to her eyes. She winced at the brightness beaming through her closed eyelids. She turned over on her other side, and began to open her eyes slowly. She gave a quick yawn and stretched out her tiresome body, her head and body pounding with pain from the abuse of the previous day. She quickly shot up, remembering the last place she was, was in the forest…. With that demon.

"Where am I?" she asked herself, still laying in a bed of fur. Her eyes regained their sight, and she glanced around the room in which she lay. It was a fairly large room. To the left of her was an archway leading out to a balcony. To the far end of the room was a small fire pit. The small fire cackled lowly as it burned warmth into the room. There were decorative chests carved out of elegant cherry wood placed around the whole room. Candles and paper lanterns hung from the walls and ceiling, giving the room an almost homey feel to Kagome.

She glanced down at the fur and noticed something very familiar about it. She ran her fingers along the large puffy fur. Her eyes grew wide with uncertainty.

"This is… Sesshoumaru's fur?" she questioned herself, pulling the smooth object away from her skin. Her eyes grew even wider as she looked down at her body. She was bruised all over, but somehow that didn't seem to be the problem. Her clothe, they were gone!

"AHHHHHHHH!" she screamed out loud, quickly grabbing the fur and tossing it over her bare form. A second later, the door to this strange room opened, and she stared curiously at the figure who entered.

"Sesshoumaru! What are you doing here?" she questioned. He gazed down at the girl who laid wrapped in his fur. Her shoulders were bare, and the garment stopped just above the crease of her chest. Her legs stuck out at the bottom as she sat there, awaiting an answer.

"Well!" she demanded, feeling his eyes burning through her.

"I live here." he said coolly, redirecting his gaze to her eyes. Her brow furrowed, shooting her eyes to stare at the fur.

"What am I doing here then: she questioned. Her gaze caught hold of her bare legs and remembered. She shot her head up and glared hard at the demon lord.

"WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES?" she shouted angrily. "What did you do to me?"

Sesshoumaru's resolve remained unchanged. He merely stared at the girl for a moment, before giving his response.

"If I had taken you mortal, you would know it." he answered coldly, walking toward the window in the room. Kagome's eyes blinked rapidly at his response. In a way, she felt almost embarrassed.

Sesshoumaru gazed out over the land. The morning sun continued to rise as he stood there. His shadow was cast towards the other end of the room. Kagome's eyes fixated on the distressed shadow.

"You're bleeding again." he observed, his delicate nose picking up the scent of her blood. Kagome felt the pain on her thigh and removed the fur to take a look. The claw marks were bleeding pretty heavy. Kagome replaced the fur on her wound, and added pressure. She felt the warm rays of the sun disappear, replaced with a cool shadow. Sesshoumaru held a bowl in his hand. He knelt down lightly and placed it next to the girl. Kagome peered at its contents. The water was tinted red, and soaking in the bottom was a blood stained cloth. Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru, who was making his way out of the room.

"Thank you," she remarked as the door slammed shut.

Sesshoumaru walked down the corridor of the upstairs to the far end of the castle. There was a large room, filled with elegant silk clothing. He looked around carefully, tossing the occasional kimono over his broad shoulders. He returned to the room where Kagome had just finished tending to her wound. He plopped the pile of elegant silk clothing in front of her.

"Dress yourself." he said coldly. Kagome flipped through the pile as he made his way back out of the room. She stared at the door for a moment, before uncovering herself from the fur. She looked at each garment closely.

"Amazing!" she whispered softly to herself, feeling the silk glide soothingly across her flesh. She quickly chose an elegant black Kimono with pail pink cherry blossoms printed on it. She dressed herself and swung her arms out at her side.

"Hmmm," she hummed, inspecting the oversized outfit. "I know exactly what this needs." She smiled cheerfully as she ripped the long sleeves at the seams. She then wrapped the extra fabric around her small waist. Next, she glanced down at her legs, which were completely covered to the ankles.

"Oh this just will not do." she grinned. She knelt down slightly, taking the cloth just above her knees in her hands. Slowly she ripped the fabric all the way around, revealing her legs. They were battered and bruised from the thighs down.

"Hmmm… maybe that wasn't such a hot idea after all." she smirked

After a little preparation, Kagome emerged from her room. Sesshoumaru could smell her wonderful scent and looked up the stairs. There, before his eyes stood Kagome. He watched as the young lady walked gracefully down the stone steps. It did not cross his mind that she had destroyed one of his favorite kimono's to suit herself, not that it would have mattered much anyway. Her hair swayed side to side as she came to the bottom of the steps. She looked at Sesshoumaru and Jaken. Sesshoumaru gazed at her with a cold stare for a moment, then turned his head towards the window. Jaken looked up at the human girl, then at his lord.

'Oh she has ruined Lord Sesshoumaru's beautiful kimono!'

Kagome caught the unfriendly stare from the imp and looked down upon him.

"What is it? I know I'm a bit bruised up, but I didn't think it was that bad!" she joked lightly, trying to break the ice. Jaken huffed loudly.

"As if I would worry about your bruises." He turned his head away from the girl. Kagome didn't seem too surprised by his reaction. This was of course, Jaken.

"Well, I just thought…" she began.

"Silence human!" Jaken raised his voice, pointing at Kagome, his eyes wide. " You ruined Lord Sesshoumaru's favorite kimono! What gave you the right to even look at it, let alone cut it up and wear it?"

Kagome looked down at the imp demon, a feeling of hurt as his words rang through her ears.

"Well, you don't have to be so mean about it!" she scowled.

"Stupid girl! you should be…" Jaken began to yell at the girl, before a familiar voice interrupted him.

"Jaken, you will stay here with the girl until I return." Sesshoumaru began to walk towards the exit.

The eyes of Kagome and Jaken followed the elegant walk of the lord as he made his way outside.

"But my lord!" Jaken began, running towards the exit himself. He ran outside and looked around in protest of having to watch over the girl. He looked around but it was too late. Sesshoumaru was gone, and he was left behind.

Shift….

Sesshoumaru walked through the woods slowly, lost in deep thought. He was displeased with his actions of the past couple of days. He let the small breeze beat against his face, his magnificent hair gliding along with the wind.

'What has this moral done to me?' he thought to himself. It is true, he saved her from that beastly devil demon. He could have stopped there, but then he wrapped her naked body in his fur, brought her to his castle, cared for her while she slept. He even gave her his favorite kimono's, and didn't strike her down for ripping them to suit her. Why did he do all of this for a mortal? A mortal who was recently turned away by his younger half brother.

"She is the reincarnation of Kikyo. She has strong spiritual power." His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. 'She has cursed me. That woman will remain here until she removes this spell she has inflicted upon me." he told himself sternly. Satisfied with his decision, he made his way back to his castle. He took to the air, a little anxious to get back faster. As he flew over head, he happened to get a glimpse of something very familiar.

"What is she doing out here?" she spoke coldly to the equally brisk air. Below he saw Kagome running through the woods. She wasn't too far from the castle, yet she wasn't getting any closer to it.

"She runs!" he said, descending upon the earth. He landed in front of Kagome. She screamed as he surprise her, coming to a halt.

"Where do you think you are going?" he asked sternly.

Kagome was hunched over, trying to catch her breath. "I'm going home!" she replied after managing to regain her composure.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed dangerously. He glared directly at the girl. She was panting heavily. Her dark hair was tossed about her face, as sweat glittered her features.

"You… will do no such thing." he replied in a low, rasping voice.

"Who are you to tell me what I cannot do?" Kagome hollered. She glared at the demon, taking a step forward as if to challenge him.

"WHO AM I!" Sesshoumaru snapped. Kagome, surprised at his outburst, did not falter. "I am Sesshoumaru. You will beware the tone you take mortal!" he snapped.

Kagome huffed at the demon, crossing her hands across her chest. "I'M GOING HOME!" Kagome screamed, side stepping the demon lord. Without looking back, she continued in the direction she had been traveling.

Sesshoumaru stood with his back towards the walking girl. He closed his eyes, and lifted his head upward slightly. "If you leave, your friends will all die." he said coldly. He heard the rustling leaves cease, as Kagome stopped dead in her tracks. They stood motionless, their backs towards each other. There was an eerie silence for a moment.

"You wouldn't." she managed to squeak out. She turned around to look at him. Anger burned in her eyes. 'He couldn't possibly mean it. He just wants to keep me trapped here. He's lying.'

"Wouldn't I?" he stated coolly to her question. Her eyes grew wider as her anger quickly turned to fear, fear for her friends.

"But… why?" she cried. The afternoon sun revealed several tears dripping down her cheek.

Sesshoumaru turned towards the girl. He opened his ember eyes slowly, staring coldly at Kagome.

"You will remove this wretched spell you have inflicted upon me. Only then will you be free, and your friends safe."

Kagome blinked in confusion. "Spell? What spell…. What are you talking about?" Kagome asked. Her eyes were filled with tears. She waited for an answer, but received none. Instead, he began walking back in the direction of the castle.

'What is he talking about. It's a lie. I didn't place any spell on him. But…if I leave… my friends!' Kagome's head hung low at the thought of her friends dying at the hands of the demon lord. She would never be able to live with herself if something happened to them, all because she wanted to go home. Her eyes slammed shut as tears threatened to fall. She stood for only a second, before regaining her composure, and following Sesshoumaru silently back to the castle.