Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters from the anime. I am only writing a fan based story. I may make up my own characters thought.

" " means speaking.

' ' means thought.


As Time Passes By


(Kagome's Point of View)

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The heat was alarmingly high despite the advanced technology of the youki. The power of two fire youki was overwhelming the cooling system and hand servants were called to help keep those in the room cool. The heat was due to Shippo and Lord Hayto of the South. Currently Lord Aoi of the North, Lord Hayto of the South, Lord Daiehi of the East, Lord Sesshomaru of the West, Hime Rin, Lady Kagome, Lord Shippo, Lord Inuyasha and his mate Lady Kikyo and their servants were in what was called the Diamond Room.

Almost every object within the room was made out of or in some way had diamonds. The lounge pillows had diamond sewed into the rich silk fabric, the sparse chairs and tables were made of diamonds, the usual rice paper of the walls was replaced with diamond, and the floor was no exception to this trend. The most impressive object in the room though was a chandelier. It was made out of tiny diamond pieces that formed the shape of a dog demon in full form. A sphere of white light in it's center. Nothing held it up but the magic that was used to keep the wolf animated. The diamond shards moved as if they were flower petals creating the illusion of an alive dog demon. Kagome watched with her brilliantly blue eyes as the dog shifted and moved about. It currently was making a path to circle all of the being of the room. Watching with it's intimating eyes every movement that went on in the room. Kagome then turned her eyes onto the rest of the party.

Inuyasha and Kikyo sat to the right of Kagome on the finely crafted pillows. Shippo and Rin sat on the lounge pillows to her left. Lord Aoi sat in a distinguished lounge chair that was covered in ice and had water running through the entrancing engravings of the chairs diamond material. Wearing a silver hamaka and haori designed with white snowflakes and on his forehead was his clans symbol, a silver full moon with a blue swirl in the middle. His markings were silver and he had short white cropped hair. He carried a whip made out of ice and a intimidating set of metal claws. Kagome could tell that he was a snow leopard demon as he faced north, opposing Lord Hayto.

Moving on, Hayto was also in a diamond lounge chair but flames were coming out of the complex engraving and the diamond chair was turned black. His symbol was a golden sun and his markings were orange, yellow, and red. He had spiky red hair with some natural golden highlights, which made it obvious that he was a fiery phoenix demon. The Southern Lord was clad in a red hamaka and haori with orange swirls and yellow flames and equipped with twin kai that were capable of turning into blades of flames. Now she moved to look at Lord Daichi as he sat across from her also in a lounge chair. His chair was decorated with cherry blossoms falling from the limbs and small branches of a cherry tree that had wrapped itself of his chair. Wearing a forest green hamaka and haori with lime green accents, and golden clan embroidery. Upon his forehead was a forest green star with golden dots between each leg of the star. His hair was a dark brown, medium length, rugged, and wild. It could be easily distinguished that he was burly bear demon that held great brute force with the strong battle axe attached to a holster on his back.

Kagome then turned slightly to view the demon Lord that she sat next to. It was none other than Lord Sesshomaru himself. He was clad in his usual golden attire and still held his famous two swords, Tenseiga and Tokijin and Tenseiga. They were in a golden colored diamond grand lounge chair. Wind was visibly wrapping itself around the legs of the chair. The beautiful engravings were filled with electrical power, something Kagome did not expect and the silk cushions were so soft she would imagine she was sitting on a cloud right now and it seemed to Kagome that Sesshomaru was pleased with this development. She could read it off his aura if not his face and gestures. She thought back to when she entered in the room.

~*FLASHBACK TIME! *~ ***************************************************************************************************************************************************

She woke up once again to meet her hand maiden Shiori. Today she observed that Shiori was wearing a golden kimono with white cherry blossoms adorning it. Her hair was decorated with a small golden comb that was in the shape of a crescent moon. Kagome looked around her now pale pink silk sheets and found her black silk hair surrounding her form. Kagome brought her body to sit up as Shiori bowed to her mistress. Kagome found within the past few days that Shiori had a calm aura around her, she was always positive, loved to be of help, and was always soft. Kagome was glad to find such qualities in the demon before her.

"Good morning Lady Kagome", spoke Shiori with a true soft smile. Kagome returned Shiori's smile back and looked around the room. She saw that breakfast was on the bed on a silver tray that was the perfect height to eat from. The young Lady looked upon her hand maiden once again, "Good morning Shiori. Now why is breakfast placed upon my bed today instead of the usual dinning room?" Brow eyes looked into blue ones as Shiori spoke, " Well... Kagome... Lord Sesshomaru has ordered it so. Today all of the Lords come today to see the newest members of the Tashio clan and for their regular monthly meeting. All of high rank are to be served breakfast in the morning and once decently clothed are to head to the diamond room."

A slight nodd was Kagome's response as she began to eat her breakfast. Once finished with the fine meal she made her way out of the bed. One could hear the shifting of silk as she slid off the bed. "Kagome Lord Sesshomaru instructs you to wear gold and only three layers." Black hair shifted as Kagome turned to face Shiori, "Why three layers? He usually instructs seven." She then continued her way into the hot springs for a quick bath.

Shiori followed her mistress as she replied back, " He told me to tell you that you will find out in a short time." 'What an interesting answer', Kagome thought to herself. She believed that Sesshomaru was quite the complex then headed for the changing screen. She pulled off her light pink yukata with purple swirls. She then put her left foot into the hot spring soon to be followed by the right foot. She continued this process until her chest was covered by the water. Kagome emitted a soothing sigh as she worked the liquid that was like shampoo and conditioner in one. She then pulled cherry blossom scented soap and scrubbed her fair skin to perfection. Once Kagome was satisfied with her bath she walked out and headed behind the beautifully crafted screen. It was opal with paintings of cherry blossoms swirling acompanied by a very fair women playing the wooden flute. The painting was a masterpiece and the fabric used as the medium was also made by a skilled hand.

Shiori had placed all of the kimono's in order and had the obi ready to be worn. "Now Kagome... allow me to dress you today. You will be meeting the other Lords of Japan and with my skills you will have no problems with you kimono, furioside, and obi if I do it for you. Not that I am calling you incapable of dressing yourself milady, but my hands have been doing this for years and are more experienced." Kagome smiled at Shiori, " Of course Shiori. I would not have it any other way." The crane demon smiled and began dressing her mistress.

Once done with the arrangement of clothes Kagome headed to her moonstone vanity and sat upon the matching chair. Kagome's hair was still damp so Shiori had to call in a wind youki servant, with two claps. Then a bird youki wearing a plain white kimono walked in. She took a hold of Kagome's midnight locks and made the air move so that it would dry the water up. Much like a modern day hairdryer. Once the bird youki was done she bowed and left the room to finish off any other duties she had. Then the female crane demon then proceeded to fix her mistress's hair. She had swept the front/top half of her hair so that it was pined to the left. She then pulled all of the hair to make a low ponytail that fell in the front of Kagome's body.

Picking up golden geisha sticks that a crescent moon and several small white diamonds dangled from. Shiori placed it so that it dangled along the ponytail and the stick was hidden from view. She then nodded with satisfaction and brought her hands together in a silent clap."Milady you hair is done I hope you like it." The black haired beauty nodded and the ornaments swayed. "Yes Shiori I am most pleased with this hair style." Kagome swore that if the crane demon was still alive in the future that she was a top of the line hairstylist.

Now that her hair was done she moved onto her make up. She applied a light pink powder to her cheeks so that they were some what rosy. Laid on some liquid eyeliner on her eyes and placed just the right amount of red lip paint on her lips. She then added golden power just to her eyelids to give off that extra punch. She then rose from her seat and headed into her walk in closet. She picked out a pair of golden sandals and pulled two golden metal fans embedded with small white diamonds from the weaponry section. She preferred her original silver and diamond fans but the silver would not go with the gold too well. Today she was officially meeting the other Lords of Japan and did not want to embarrass the Tashio clan and of course Sesshomaru. 'Wait a minute when did I start thinking about making him satisfied?', she questioned herself. She quickly dropped the thought and turned to head out of the room with Shiori. Once they were out into the halls they made their merry way to the diamond room.

Once they reached the diamond encrusted doors the two guards pulled them open so that Kagome and Shiori could enter the room. She nodded her thanks and welcomed by the beauty of the room. She almost had her mouth gaping like a fish in astonishment, but quickly regained herself when her eyes meet up with the rest of the Tashio clan. It seemed that the other Lords were not in the room yet. She saw Inuyasha and Kikyo to the left of Sesshomaru, Shippo and Rin were on his left. She began to bow but was stopped by Sesshomaru clearing his throat.

She looked at him with a plain face but her eyes showed that she wondered why he behaved in such a manner. "Kagome I do not want you to bow to me. If I remember correctly you are my equal. You are the Alpha female of this clan. Rin is too young and is not as strong as you. Kikyo is mated with my brother and has chosen to be the beta of this clan. You are my equal in this clan by your right...", he paused, " So you are to sit next to me through this meeting. It will show the other Lords that you are my equal and are the Alpha female of the Tashio clan." Kagome was shocked by what he just said and numbly walked her way towards the lounge chair Sesshomaru sat upon. She could feel the others watching her movements and facial gestures. Lucky for Kagome she was in control enough to now let her emotions show on her face, but she could not hold her eyes in place. They screamed shock if one who was trained to notice an individuals emotions by looking at their eyes. She was graceful in every movement that was made. It would make even the best geisha green with envy. "Good", stated Sesshomaru, "They are arriving." All eyes looked towards the doors and watched as Japan's other rulers walked through.

~* END OF FLASHBACK*~ *************************************************************************************************************************************************

Now coming back to reality and focusing on what was being said she realized that they had a problem on their hands. Unknown to most there was a central domain were all of the Lord's were equal in power. Only one received the honor of becoming the Central Lord. This was achieved by being voted into position by the other Lords and or Ladys of the different domains. The current Central Lord was now Sesshomaru of the West. This didn't catch Kagome off guard but it was something that she felt was an honor for him. But we are moving away from the problem at hand.

So the current issue brought up by Lord Aoi was that some rebels from his domain had succeeded in placing themselves in the central domain. So it made Aoi trailing after them quite difficult. They same held true for Lord Hayto and Lord Daichi. She thought it was most interesting indeed that these rebel groups had organized in the same area. It made one think that someone was planning a large scale rebellion. But the question was who was it? Who was organizing all of these rebel groups? Who was leading them? What did they promise them? What did they hope to achieve by this rebellion?

Kagome was not for sure but she knew that time would give her an answer, she just had to wait. Blue orbs then found the cold golden eyes of Sesshomaru. "Lord Sesshomaru would you think it wise to set up a patrol and army over there just encase they decide to attack the central domain?", she asked him. He seemed to be deep in thought, "Yes it would be... but not one that was large. No it would make the rebels think they were a great threat." He then looked at his fellow companions. " I would like to ask you to do the same", her looked at the other Lords, " But please be in mind to make them small. If there was ever a large force then we could always combine our armies into one. It would be great enough to handle a large group of rebels."

Icy grey eyes then looked at Sesshomaru," I agree Sesshomaru but were would be the correct placement of our armies?", his voice had a menacing feeling about it. It almost was as cold as Sesshomaru's tone. (Now that is cold... Shivers) One could tell by Aoi's icy demeanor that he was not one to be trifled with, but was a great alley to seek. "Lord Aoi, is there such need to be so precise? It is just a few small rebel force. Why does it need to planed so carefully?", spoke up Lord Hayto. He held the passion, fury, and personality one would think fire would have if were able to truly be alive. But some how the phoenix knew when to be serious when it was plainly obvious.

"Lord Hayto let us think about this for a second shall we?", came the booming voice of Lord Daichi. The man was burly and was similar to one might expect out of a timber man or blacksmith. Rough around the edges and but some were able to tell that he had a gentle side. Kagome then spoke up, " I suggest that the separate armies patrol area around the central domain. Each about an 15 minute distance from each other. It will make it easy to support one another and to provide the protection the central domain needs", her voice was strong and commanding. She made sure that none could find any weakness or fault in her tone.

Lord Hayto spoke first, " I must say Lady Kagome, that is a fine plan. What do you think Lord Aoi?" Everyone turned to look at the Northern Lord as he held his head with a closed head, deep in thought. He then nodded with a serious look in his eyes, " I would say that it would work well. Seeing that the domain is not that large and will be enough to also find the rebels hideout." Then a loud booming laughter was heard, " Well then that settles it we are going with Lady Kagome's plan", he continued to chuckle. "Very well. We will proceed with that plan. Now that we have been in meeting over everything concerning the status of our lands, the situation with rebel forces, welcoming the newest members of the Tashio clan, and found a good plan I say we head out and meet one another at dinner tonight", commanded Sesshomaru with a cold tone that made ice shiver. "Very well", spoke each member of the group and headed off to do whatever they wished until dinner.

"Lady Kagome", said Sesshomaru as he lagged behind so that Kagome and him were the only ones in the room.

"Yes Sesshomaru", she asked and turned to face him.

"Meet me in my study I have matters to discuss with you...", he paused, "You also look very lovely today."

Kagome could not help but blush, 'Since when did he give complements? Wait Kagome you dummy say thank you.'

"Why... Thank you Lord Sesshomaru", she smiled softly at him and she could have sworn that he had a small blush on his cheeks as well.

" You are welcome. Please follow me to my study." He walked out of the room, only to be followed by Kagome.

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Authour's Note

I am soooooo terribly sorry for the long update. I just am soo busy lately I hardly even have time to get anything done. So I want to make it up to you dear readers. ^_^

Now when you review let me know if you like the story and.... if you want Shippo and Rin to get together or Shippo and Kamio (his hand maiden)? You can even give me a totally different suggestion to who you think I should pair up Shippo with. Lol Any suggestions give me them, burns let me know as long as they are dealing with criticism (meaning the intent is to help me become a better writer), have a character you would like to see in the story write me up a bio. I would love to hear it all!

I hope you enjoyed the new chapter! I am sorry to inform you all thought that the next update will take some time. T_T I don't like it either but hey I have a life I need to live.

But I want to thank all that reviewed. You kept me wanting to write more on this fanfic and I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerly,

Moonmikolover