So sorry about taking so long! School is running my life! ARGH! Well, anyways, enjoy:)

Chapter 4: And so it begins...

My alarm clock blared noisily on my bedside table. Pushing the covers back from over my head, I squinted at the jumbled of green numbers: 5:45 AM. 'Crap...' I thought,
slapping the snooze button and rolling over. My eyes felt heavy and full of sand and a small twitch had begun to pulse over my right eye. 'I need to sleep,' I thought, closing my eyes again. 'But the animals need to be fed and your guests need to be tended to as well,' said a little voice. I opened my eyes again and stretched slowly. Turning back over, I switched off my alarm clock and stumbled to my feet. I was still wearing my robe from the previous night and I looked terrible. I quickly washed my face, changed into some work clothes and hurried to the kitchen. I downed a cup of coffee and headed for the laundry room. Very quietly, I tiptoed through the house, dropping off freshly folded piles of clothes by the bedrooms: Kagome, Sango, Shippo and Rin all shared one room, while Inuyasha, Miroku and Jaken stayed in another. And, of course, Sesshomaru had his own quarters. I could hear little noises every now and then, little signs of life in each room. Rupert and Blitz pranced along behind me as I made my deliveries. Once finished, I headed straight to the kitchen and proceeded to feed the two canines. The sun had slowly risen and now beautiful rays of light began to shine through the windows. Throwing on some old sneakers, I hurried outside. The sky was clear and a beautiful blue. Everywhere, little droplets of water from the previous night's rain glimmered in the morning light. I smiled and glanced around, looking for Kouga. The wolf demon had elected to sleep outside, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Shrugging, I headed for the barn to start the morning feeding.
Upon returning from the barn, I discovered that everyone was up. I was so happy and awake, I smiled broadly at everyone.
"Well, good morning!" I said, slipping off my shoes and going to open up the curtains in the front room. Warm sunlight flooded the house and everyone seemed content and rested. They all were wearing their original clothing now and I grinned, feeling triumphant. "How did you sleep?" I asked, looking around. Kagome smiled.
"It felt like I was back at my house, in my own bed. It was wonderful," she said. Sango nodded.
"I'd never slept in a bed like that before. It was very comfortable!" Everyone agreed, except Sesshomaru, who remained silent, staring out the front window.
"Well, who'd like to help me make breakfast?" I asked. Within a few minutes, I was in the kitchen with Kagome, Sango and Miroku, mixing ingredients for biscuits and preparing the eggs. Everyone joined us in the kitchen, even Kouga showed up. I smiled as Rin jumped up in Sesshomaru's lap and began playing with his hair. The youkai stared down at the little girl, almost in an affectionate way. "Well, Miss Vicki, you're quite the cook, aren't you?" asked Miroku, striking a pose and leaning on the counter next to me. "Would you consider bearing my child?" I knew that had been coming, but before I could dish out a punishment, Sango beat me to it. Taking the spatula she'd been using, she smacked Miroku over the head with it.
"You PERV!" we both yelled, glaring down at him. Sango snorted and tried to calm herself.
"Men are such pigs," she growled.
"Hey!" whined Inuyasha, glaring over at us. I smirked and put on my most snobbish face.
"Actually, men are not pigs. Pigs are sensitive, intelligent creatures. Men are rude, obnoxious and stupid. Therefore," I said, holding up the whisk in my right hand as if it were my index finger," Men are not pigs." I couldn't help but giggle and Sango and Kagome followed suit. I turned back to scrambling the eggs, continuing to hold in the laugh that wanted so bad to escape. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miroku crawl over towards the kitchen table and sit down, looking embarrassed. I gave the scrambled eggs to Kagome to cook and pulled the dough for the biscuits towards me. I quickly washed my hands and spread some flour on the plastic cutting sheet. While kneading the dough,
I noticed Rin had left Sesshomaru's lap and now hovered at my side, watching with wide eyes. I smiled down at her.
"Would you like to help, Rin?" I asked. She stared up at me, then, grinning widely, she nodded.
"Yes! Rin would love to help," she squealed. I helped her get a chair to stand on and pushed the container of flour towards her.
"You'll be my flour helper," I said, turning my attention back to the dough. I began flattening it with my rolling pin. I showed Rin how to sprinkle the flour on the dough, then let her use the rolling pin to finish flattening it. "Now, we get to cut out the biscuits. Do you want to do shapes or just circles?" I asked, opening a drawer for her to see in.
"The heart!" she squealed, clapping her hand, sending little puffs of flour flying. I laughed and pulled out the cutter. Once I showed her how to cut out the shapes, she grinned up at me and looked over at Sesshomaru.
"Look, Lord Sesshomaru! I'm learning how to cook!" He simply nodded to her, the very slightest hint of a smile on his lips. She smiled proudly and continued cutting out biscuits. Once she finished, she grinned up at me.
"Rin's done!" she said. I laughed and, taking some flour on my index finger, dotted the tip of her nose with it.
"Oops! I got flour on your nose," I giggled. Rin giggled too and pressed her flour-covered hand to the side of my face. "Now Rin put flour on your face!" she shrieked, jumping off the chair and turning to run. I scooped her up before she could get away and began to tickle her. Rin shrieked and laughed. I set her back down and she ran to Sesshomaru, who looked slightly amused by our antics. I put the trays of biscuits in the oven and continued helping Kagome and Sango. Within 30 minutes, the table had been heaped with food and everyone was filling their plates. Eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes and fresh fruit, as well as extras for some of the food, left no room for eating on the table. "What is this stuff?" asked Inuyasha, holding up a bottle. I glanced up at him.
"It's ketchup...and that's jelly, that's butter, salsa and peanut butter!" I said, pointing to each item. "What's peanut butter?" asked Shippo, staring at the little jar. "It's made from peanuts! It's pretty good on biscuits, but do you wanna see something funny?" I asked, grabbing the jar. Shippo nodded and grinned.
"Rupert! Come, boy!" I shouted, turning towards the kitchen opening. The fat lab bounded in, wagging his tail and resting his head in my lap. I picked up an extra spoon and scooped some peanut butter out with it. Holding the spoon in front of Rupert, I watched as he sniffed it, then took the clump of peanut butter in his mouth, licking like crazy.
"What's he doing?" asked Shippo, watching the dog curiously. I noticed Inuyasha watching the dog out of the corner of his eye. Sesshomaru didn't seem worried, and continued to enjoy his meal.
"Dog's can't have peanut butter because it gets stuck on the roof of their mouth. It drives them crazy!" I giggled, setting the jar back on the table. Shippo smirked and glanced over at Inuyasha, who pushed the jar of peanut butter away from his plate.
"Kagome, don't ever bring that stuff to the Feudal Era," he said, watching the jar as if it would attack him. Shippo chuckled and returned to his food. Everyone was quiet, enjoying their meal. Inuyasha, however, seemed to be having some problems.
"What is this thing?" he asked, holding up his fork and glaring at Kagome.
"It's a fork. You use it to eat," she said, showing him how to hold it and scoop up the eggs. He furrowed his brow, concentrating on holding the fork correctly. After failing to scoop up anything from his plate, I watched him sneak another fork and attempt to use both like chopsticks.
"What are you doing?" asked Kagome, looking a little perturbed at the hanyou. Inuyasha froze in mid-bite and shifted his eyes towards her.
"E'm thrying da eath," he said, the utensils still in his mouth. I tried holding in a giggle, my cheeks reddening with suppressed laughter. Sesshomaru looked up from his now clean plate and gazed over at his brother.
"Little brother, if you can't eat in a civilized manner, perhaps you belong on the floor with the other uncivilized animals," he said, the words spilling from his mouth as smooth as silk. The embarrassed hanyou glared dangerously at the youkai lord.
"Shut it, Sesshomaru! Like using a fork is something you're good at!" he shouted, standing up and leaning on the table. "As you can see..." he stated, indicating his empty plate. Inuyasha growled and sat down hard in his chair.
"Feh!" was all he said, returning to his food. I finished my breakfast and began clearing the table, placing dirty dishes in the sink. Everyone followed my example and helped put away the leftovers. Soon the dishes were taken care of and I felt the need for a swim.
"How about we go down to the beach and spend some time out in the sun?" I asked, smiling and itching to pull out my surf board. Kagome smiled.
"That sounds great! We could all use some fresh air," she said, glancing back at the group. Smiles lit up the faces of Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Rin. I grinned back.
"Alright, then! Let's get going!"

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Twenty minutes later, the Inu-gang and I were down by the beach, unfolding towels and putting on sunscreen. I rolled out my towel and placed my cell phone on it to keep it clean, then proceeded to pull the large shirt I was wearing over my head and off.
"That's a cute swimsuit, Vicki!" said Kagome, sitting on her towel. "Thanks!" I said, smiling. I loved my swimsuit. The top was a baby blue short halter top with hot pink and orange hibiscus flowers. The bottoms were blue boy shorts with a pink and orange swirl design down the sides. I waxed up my board quickly and attached the safety strap to my ankle. I looked down at myself.
'Wow! I didn't realize I was that tanned,' I thought, rubbing in the rest of my sun block. After tossing the bottle onto my towel, I picked up my surf board and headed for the water.

Sesshomaru scanned the beach and the water, taking in the sights and smells of his surroundings.
'It is quite peaceful here,' he thought, watching Rin scurry about in the sand. He glanced over in the direction of his half brother and his eyes were suddenly fixed on Victoria. She had just pulled her shirt off and casually tossed it down. He was surprised and a little shocked. He had never seen a female show off that much skin and it made him feel strange. Well-defined muscles in her stomach, legs and arms were accentuated by her smoothe, tanned skin. Sesshomaru shook his head and looked away.
'Am I attracted to this girl?' he thought, becoming angry with himself. He could hear her giggling and carrying on a conversation with another one of the females. He was too busy with his thought to even notice her jogging towards the water, board tucked under one arm.
'What is she doing?' he thought, watching her wade out in the water and dive onto her surf board. The waves were fairly good sized and he wondered if the girl had lost her mind. Sesshomaru watched Vicki paddle out to deeper water, belly down on her board. After a few minutes of waiting, the girl began to paddle furiously back to shore,
a wave forming just behind her. Right as the wave peaked, everyone watched in awe as she pushed herself up, planting her feet on the board and standing up. The board dove down the wall of water as Vicki leaned back. Sesshomaru watched as the wave began to curl over and around the girl, but she stayed crouched on the surf board, one hand dragging along in the wall of the wave. Every move was so graceful and well executed. Vicki remained balance on the board and occasionally, she would swoop down out of the curl and back again.
"Beautiful," whispered Sesshomaru, not even realizing he'd said it out loud.

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My heart pounded in my chest as I braced myself for the plunge. The wave was rather high, but I knew I could handle it. As the front of my board dove off the peaked wave, I crouched and leaned back, keeping my weight from weighing down the front of the board. As the wave began to curl over, I navigated the board to the left and along the wall of water. I stayed just ahead of the tunnel of water, allowing my left hand to drag through the water wall. Near the end of the wave, I steered my board up and over the wall,
which was now nearly gone. Once up and over, I returned to sitting on my surf boards. Everyone on the beach was cheering, except Sesshomaru, who just gazed at me with bright amber eyes. I paddled back towards shore and dismounted my surfboard. Kagome and many of the others jogged towards me. "That was AWESOME!" said Kagome, giving me a hug as I grinned at the group.
"Yeah. That was amazing! Where did you learn how to do that?" asked Sango. I laughed a little and began ringing the water out of my hair.
"I took lessons when I was little and I've been practicing ever since. It's kinda like a stress-reliever for me." I smiled.

After a few more quick rides, I set my board down and began mingling with the other. Kagome, Sango, Miroku and I started a volleyball game that ended in Kagome and I winning. I showed Rin how to build the "perfect" sandcastle and helped her bury an unsuspecting, sleeping Jaken. Shippo and I went shell hunting and came back with a whole bunch. Miroku attempted to play a game of "tag" with us girls, which ended when he tripped and landed in the water. All the while, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha and Koga just sat and watched our antics. "Hey, mutt-face!" said Koga, glancing over at Inuyasha with a smug look on his face.
"What!?" growled the hanyou, giving the wolf a dangerous glare. Koga smirked and averted his gaze back to the group.
"What do you think of Vicki, huh? Personally, she's the kind of female I wouldn't mind taking as mine. She's pretty cute!" He said, glancing back at the hanyou. Sesshomaru tuned into the conversation between the two at the mention of Vicki. Inuyasha snorted and didn't return Koga's stare.
"I don't look at her like that. I don't NEED to look at her like that!" he snarled. Koga chuckled.
"What's wrong, mutt-boy? Afraid she's out of your league? Or are you too embarrassed to admit you do kinda like her?" Inuyasha tried to hide the slight flush in his cheeks that gave away his thoughts. Before he could think of something to shoot back at the nosey wolf, Sesshomaru spoke up.
"You know, wolf, you shouldn't dream of things out of your reach. You'll only disappoint yourself," he said coolly, not even glancing in Koga's direction. The wolf began to fume at the youkai's words.
"How would you know what I can and can't have?! If I want her, all I have to do is take her and she's MINE!" snarled the wolf, jumping to his feet and facing Sesshomaru.
The youkai lord stood effortlessly and turned to face the agitated wolf.
"You'd be stupid to call me a liar, but you'd be a fool to start a fight with me," he said, a breeze making his hair drift out behind him. By now, we had all realized what was about to happen and headed towards the three. Before I could say anything, Koga lunged at Sesshomaru. The youkai pulled Tokijin from it's place at his side and send a rush of energy in the wolf's direction. The blast hit Koga dead center, knocking him down and in an instant, Sesshomaru was standing over him, sword pointed at the wolf's throat.
Sesshomaru, no! Please!" I said, rushing between the two demons and placing a hand on the youkai's arm. Sesshomaru looked down at the female's hand on his arm and glanced up at her face. He had started his transformation, but as he stared into Vicki's beautiful eyes, he felt himself relax and he pulled Tokijin away from Koga's throat. Quickly, he returned the sword to it's place tucked in his sash and turned away. Koga groaned a little and sat up, holding his stomach. At that moment, I heard my cell phone go off, the music just loud enough for me to hear. I rushed over to my towel and picked it up. Flipping it open, I said,
"Hello? Vicki here!" "He Vick! It's me, Eric! You wanna practice today?" I grinned and held in a giggle.
"Sure! but isn't the hockey team practicing"
"Not today! It was canceled. So, do you wanna"
"Sure! You know what they say! Practice makes perfect"
"Awesome! So...I'll meet you there at 1:00 P.M"
"Sure! Sounds good to me"
"Alright! Oh! and don't worry. Brit won't be there today. She's got some kind of appointment"
"Oh. Okay"
"Talk to you later, Vicki"
"K! Bye!" As I hung up, relief washed over me. 'Thank God Brittany won't be there...' I thought. I turned to look at the group.
"Okay, gang! Pack up and let's head inside! I've got to get ready for practice!"

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Thanks everyone for being so patient with me! It's getting close to final time and so I have less free time to do my writing. Hope you like this chapter! Don't forget: R&R!!