howdy! heres the next chapter for 'ya!

disclaimer: yeah, i forgot to add this in the last chapter, but you all know i dont own it, so theres not really a problem.

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At times life is wicked and I just can't see the light
A silver lining sometimes isn't enough
To make some wrongs seem right
Whatever life brings
I've been through everything
And now I'm on my knees again
(Creed: Don't Stop Dancing)

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Don't Fall Away

Chapter Five: A Familiar Place

Sesshomaru, Kagome, Yukana, Rin, and Jaken set for Sesshomaru's castle out shortly after daybreak the next day. Kagome stayed towards the back of the strange group so she could think without being questioned by Yukana and Rin.

'What am I going to do when it comes time for me to leave? It wouldn't be possible for me to return to InuYasha and the others, especially if it meant putting them in harms way. I have to figure something out. I can't go home, either, no matter how much I want to.'

Flashback

Kagome, Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi had gone to the carnival, which was only in town for another few days. As they were walking by a fortune telling stand, the psychic in charge of the stand ran up to Kagome and grabbed her by the wrist.

"Good heavens, child!" the psychic exclaimed. "You're a miko! Oh, but things are not looking up for you, dear." Kagome was suprised that the old woman knew about the fact that she was a miko, but she didn't let it show.

"What are you talking about? I'm not a miko. You must be mistaken." Kagome said hurriedly. "The last miko in my family was Kikyo."

"Oh, I doubt that, child." the old woman said. "But let me get to your fortune. You are going to face a difficult change. It could turn out for the best or for the worst. If you don't be careful, the ones that you love most may fall into harm's way."

"Uhhh...okay..." Kagome stuttered. "Thank you for your time, I guess. Come on guys, we gotta leave."

"No, child! Wait!" the psychic yelled after her. "Beware of the demon within! Don't let your feelings get the better of you.!"

Kagome quickly took Yuka by the arm while she latched on to Ayumi who grabbed Eri by the back of her shirt.

"What was that strange woman talking about, Kagome?" Yuka asked. "Kagome?"

"Kagome!"

"Kagome!"

"KAGOME!"

End Flashback

"Kagome!"

Kagome was jolted out of her thoughts by Yukana, who had fallen back to tell her that they were about to stop for Rin to have a snack.

"Huh? Oh, hey. What do you need?" Kagome asked. Yukana gave Kagome a small frown.

"We're stopping for a while." Yukana announced. "Rin needed something to eat."

"Oh, okay." Yukana frowned again.

"Are you okay, Kagome? You haven't been acting normal since last night." Yukana pointed out. "Is something bothering you? You can tell me. I'll keep it a secret, I promise."

'She reminds me of Sango.' Kagome thought. Kagome shook her head and smiled.

"Yukana, I'm going to go take a bath. Do you want to come with me?" Kagome offered, looking at Yukana hopefully.

"You mean go and find a hot spring and bathe...together..." Yukana said uncertainly. It made Kagome wonder what she was thinking. Then she caught on.

"No, Yukana! That's not what I mean!" Kagome said defensively. "Its a friend thing. Me and Sango do it all the time. Its a way to talk without being overheard by the rest of the group, okay? Although, it never really worked with Miroku. So, are ya comin'?" Yukana nodded happily and followed Kagome to the hot spring.

"Hey, Kagome."

"Hm?"

"Who's Sango?" Yukana asked, tilting her head a little. She looked to Kagome and saw her smile fade slightly. "Is there something wrong?" Kagome shook her head.

"Sango is one of my friends. It seems like forever since I last saw her." Kagome sighed. "Sango is a taijiya(sp?) who travels with InuYasha, Miroku, Shippo, and myself. She is more like a sister to me than a friend. I tell her everything."

"Oh, okay. Then who are Miroku and Shippo."

"Miroku is a monk that travels with us. He has a wind tunnel in his right palm and it swallows up anything in the way, including me, Sango, Shippo, and InuYasha." Kagome explained. "Personally, I would rather be at least three feet away from him at all times. But, that doesn't work, so I usually put up a barrier."

"Why?"

"Miroku is...how to say this politely...well, he's a hentai." Kagome said flatly. Yukana nodded and smile to herself.

"And Shippo?" she asked.

"Shippo is my adopted son. He is a kitsune, but his parents were killed by the Thunder Brothers. Me and InuYasha helped him get revenge and he just stayed with us after that. He eventually began to think of me as his mother, so I just adopted the adorable little guy."

"Well, you have a strange group." Yukana joked. Kagome smiled and nodded. They had reached the spring and Kagome undressed and slowly lowered herself into the comfortably warm water. Yukana, however, hesitated. Kagome got the message and turned around. This seemed to satisfy Yukana, because she also undressed and entered the spring.

Kagome dunked her head into the water and scrubbed at her scalp, since she ran out of shampoo the day before she left the village. However, she still had plenty of conditioner left, so she massaged some into her hair when she was satisfied that she had gotten the majority of the dirt out.

"Yukana, what was Sesshomaru like when he was a child?" Kagome asked.

"Why?"

"I feel that I should know at least a little bit about the guy I'm supposed to be spending the next few days with." Kagome declared. "He knows a lot about me."

"Okay...I guess that makes sense." Yukana muttered. "When Sesshomaru was a child he was a little like the little girl. He was never as hyper as she is, but he was very happy. I myself find it hard to believe that this is what he grew up to be like. His mother was like that, but I didn't think that it would rub off on Sesshomaru. He started getting more distant when his father left his mother for Izayoi. As you know, his mother died shortly after this occured. You know the rest."

"Yeah..." Kagome sighed. "I can't imagine him any other way..."

"You can't?" Yukana asked, sounding a little disappointed. Kagome studdied the look in Yukana's eyes. It seemed a bit unnatural for a demoness her age; like a look a mother would give her child when they were hurt.

"You looked after him, didn't you?" Yukana smiled softly and nodded. After a few minutes of an uncomfortable silence, Kagome decided it was time to get out.

"You can get out first." Kagome offered. "I'll turn around.

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"What is taking Kagome-chan so long?" Rin whined. Rin had waited patiently for almost an hour. After a little while, though, she began to get restless. To her relief, Kagome and Yukana walked out of teh forest a few moments later.

"What took so long, Kagome-chan?" Rin exclaimed, running up to Kagome. "Rin was waiting for you. Sesshomaru-sama said that we would leave again when you two got back, right Sesshomaru-sama?" Sessshomaru nodded and continued on the path that they had been taking before they had stopped for Rin's snack.

The castle came into view about an hour later. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it. Her legs were aching and her feet felt raw from walking around in her wet shoes and socks. As they approached the gates, the guards gaped at Yukana.

"Lady Yukana! Where have you been? Its been a while."

Yukana smiled and wagged her finger at him playfully.

A female servant walked out of the castle and Sesshomaru called her over. He told her something and she nodded, bowing as he went into his home, with Rin and Jaken in tow. The servant walked over to Kagome and Yukana and bowed again.

"Hello. I am Kaori." she said. "Sesshomaru-sama has ordered me to show you to your rooms. This way, Lady Kagome...Lady Yukana." Yukana rolled her eyes.

"Stop it, Kaori! You don't need to be so formal with us...well, at least not me." Yukana said, giggling a little. "I've known you for almost my entire life." Yukana walked over and hugged Kaori. "It's been a long time." Yukana and Kaori split apart and Kaori turned and bowed to Kagome.

"Please don't do that, Kaori. I'm not royalty." Kagome said uncomfortably. "And you can just call me Kagome." Kaori grinned and nodded.

"C'mon. Let me take you to your rooms." Kaori said. Kagome, if you like I could give you a tour of the castle. Do you want me to?"

"Hmm...no, you don't have to. You've probably got loads of stuff to do." Kagome said with a smile.

"But won't you get lost?"

"What makes you think that? My sense of direction isn't that bad. Besides, where I'm from, I've been in here countless times." Kagome stated. Yukana and Kaori looked skeptical.

"Alright then. You give us a tour." Yukana suggested.

"Why? Don't you two already know your way around?" Kagome asked. "Why would you need a tour?"

"I forgot where everything was!" Yukana said quickly. Kagome sighed and motioned for them to follow.

After about an hour Kagome, Yukana, and Kaori were back in the entrance hall. Kaori was impressed. Kagome had given a very accurate tour of the castle, so there was no doubt that she had somehow been there before. However, she had no idea how. Kaori had never seen Kagome before, and she had been working there since Sesshomaru's father died.

"Well, since you know where everything is I'll just tell you the location of your room to see if you find it." Kaori said. "Rin's room is directly across from Sesshomaru's. When you are facing Rin's door, your room is to the right. Yukana, yours is on the left." Yukana shrugged and followed Kagome to their assigned quarters.

When Kagome walked into her room the first thng she did was take off her shoes and socks. After this was done she then took a look around the room. 'It's so much better now than it is in the future.' Kagome thought. 'I'm actually allowed to sit on the bed.'

Kagome walked ever to the wardrobe and slowly opened it. It was filled with at least twenty of the most beautiful kimonos Kagome had ever seen. Just then, Kaori walked in.

"Do ya need anything, Kagome?"

"Yeah. Are these all mine?" Kagome asked innocently. Kaori laughed.

"Yes giggle they're yours. Is there a problem?" Kagome shook her head and smiled sheepishly. Kaori giggled again and walked towards the door.

"Oh, yeah. Sesshomaru-sama told me to tell you to change and meet him in his study in about a half hour." Kaori stated. "Don't be late. Sesshomaru-sama has very little patience for lateness." Kagome nodded and turned back to the kimonos in the wardrobe. She chose one made of black silk with vines containing pink flowers embroidered into the seams. It had a matching obi that had that same embroidered design going through the center. Kagome decided that this one was her favorite.

She walked to the end of the hall and knocked on the door to Sesshomaru's study.

"Enter." Kagome opened the door and peered inside. Sesshomaru looked up from the paperwork on his desk and motioned for her to come in. Kagome entered the room and shut the door behind her. She took a seat in the chair in front of the desk.

"Miko, I have made a decision." Sesshomaru announced. "I have been thinking about it since we met up with Yukana on our way here. The other priestesses in my castle are very inexpierienced and I have decided that you should be the one to train them. The incident in the cave only served to make me positive that this would work. When you are not training the others you will be training to fight with the weapon of your choice. It may also be necessary for you to watch Rin on occasion. The first day of every week will be your day for resting. Is this in any way unclear?" Kagome shook her head and was dismissed.

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"InuYasha, would you please slow down?" Sango asked breathlessly.

"I agree with Sango, Inuyasha. We are not a hanyou like yourself, so we do need rest every now and then." Miroku said.

"Fine. You guys can stay here and I'll go find Kagome."

"No, InuYasha. You should rest, also." Miroku suggested. "It won't do you any good to be tired when we arrive for Kagome."

"What's that supposed to mean?" InuYasha said defensively.

Miroku sighed. He knew that a fight was inevitable. He knew that InuYasha would act irrationally and that he would be the one to start the fight. Sesshomaru was a lot stronger than InuYasha already, but without the energy he used to chase after Kagome he would surely be killed. InuYasha admitted defeat and jumped into a tree.

'Kagome, you had better be okay.'

Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara sat down gratefully. As Sango began to drift to sleep Miroku's hand started to drift towards her butt.

"Don't even think about it, hentai." Sango whispered threateningly. Miroku paid no attention to her warning and groped her rear, anyway. Sango swung her arm back and elbowed him in the face, knocking him out. Shippo shook his head and Kirara meowed.

"Stupid monk." InuYasha muttered.

They continued on their quest around an hour later.

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"Kagome-chan!"

Kagome turned around to see Rin running towards her. Kagome smiled at her as the young girl collided with her midsection, giving her a big hug.

"Hello, Rin!" Kagome laughed. "Its good to see you, too."

"Rin wants to go into the garden." Rin announced. "Will you come, too?"

"Um...okay, I guess." Kagome agreed. "Let's go." Rin let out a cry of victory and dragged Kagome out into the garden that completely surrounded the castle.

Rin pulled Kagome along, pointing out a strange looking flower every now and then. It was around dinnertime that Rin finally let go of Kagome's arm and ran a few yards away to pick her some flowers. Suddenly, Kagome started to hear a disturbance at the front gate, so she took Rin and went to investigate. She was overjoyed when she saw who was trying to overpower the guards. But, the scene with the psychic came back to her mind. Maybe this wasn't a good thing.

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i decided to let out a tiny explanation a bit early 'cause everyone seemed to want one. that and the other chapters took so long to write.