Chapter 7-Amusement, Denial, and Investigations

Kagome sighed, the children were asleep on Kirara under the sky, Sango had run off to find Miroku finally to see what was wrong, and she was bored. She couldn't even bug Jaken with questions since he ran off somewhere too. She idly started to play with the necklace she had gotten from Sesshomaru.

General Cade came and sat next to Kagome looking at her curiously.

"Did you need something Cade-san?" Kagome asked.

"You were looking bored so I thought I might give you a tour of the grounds if you wanted." Cade replied with a smile.

"Would Sesshomaru-san be ok with that? He's been a good host and I don't want to appear rude." She said, eager to learn more of the palace she was in.

"It would be fine but I would prefer if the whole tachi went so they could learn the area as well." Came a deep reply behind Kagome.

General Cade stood and bowed to Sesshomaru while Kagome looked up with a grin.

"Hontou? We can see everything?" Shippo mumbled while wiping his eyes, Rin and Kirara next to him.

"Hai, General, go retrieve Lady Sango and Lord Miroku. As well as Saia, Ah-Uhn, and tell Jaken I want him in the South tower attic. That should buy us time to slip away." Sesshomaru stated while smirking.

"Gomen-ne Sesshomaru-san but I would like to change into fighting attire, just in case." Kagome said before running off at his nod to her rooms.

When she was done she ran to the gate protecting the castle from the rest of the grounds. Miroku's hand was wrapped and Sango rolled her eyes at Kagome to let her know he was fine. Shippo, Rin, and Kirara were riding on Ah-Uhn. At Sesshomaru's nod the guards opened the gate and everyone walked through.

~Elsewhere~

Kikyo and Inuyasha were in a clearing in the East. She had been misdirecting him from every jewel shard in order to buy Naraku the time he needed to gather them before redirecting Inuyasha to the correct site. Everywhere they went to look after the redirection was a wasteland. Fires, blood, and bodies were all around. Sometimes there was nothing left but the charred husk of the villages.

Inuyasha's temper was getting out of hand and he was more confused and angry than ever.

'Maybe I should have kept the little wench around, she smells better and we ALWAYS got the shards she sensed.' He thought throwing a disdained look at Kikyo.

Kikyo on the other hand was bored, she hoped that whatever Naraku had planned would be worth the hassle of dealing with Inuyasha. The only time she wasn't being held or carried was in fights, and when she was taking the souls she was brought from her shinidamachuu. She was well past the point of annoyed.

~Back with Kagome and the others~

Sesshomaru, General Cade, and Saia had shown everyone all the levels down to the second where the open markets were. They had pointed out the shops, servants housing, barracks, and everything else. Rin kept tugging Sesshomaru's sleeve to go to the first where the free garden was but he wanted to let them look at the markets for a bit. Shippo kept bouncing on Miroku's shoulder and pointing out everything in sight. Sango kept straying to weapons with Kirara in tow. Kagome had stayed with Sesshomaru and the others. She kept looking around and nodding to people but hadn't seen anything she really wanted to investigate just yet. General Cade and Saia looked at each other with a confused air about them. They were shocked Kagome hadn't wandered off just yet like the others had.

"Sesshomaru-san," Kagome started, "is there a shrine around that I may visit?"

Sesshomaru nodded to the left of the gate they were approaching. Kagome grinned and took off with Saia running after her. Upon closer inspection the shrine was as beautifully carved as the palace. It was made from the stones and mountain itself as well. She walked to the altar and bowed low to it before starting her prayer. Saia stood guard and watched everything around them, and smiled as the shrine maiden made her way over.

As Kagome rose from her bow she turned and bowed to the other miko. The girl looked to be no more than 17 years old, until her pointed ears were seen.

"You are a youkai?" Kagome questioned.

"Iie, I am a hanyou. My mother was a priestess and my father a youkai." The maiden stated bowing.

"Oh please don't," Kagome said embarrassed, "I've had enough people bowing to me to last a lifetime."

"But you are the Shikon-no-Miko ne?" The girl asked.

"Hai, but I'm not so used to the formailities just yet." Kagome explained.

"Ah, well then you may call me Kiri-chan!" The hanyou-miko stated.

Kagome's tachi walked up and bowed to Kiri as Kagome made the introductions. Sesshomaru, Rin, and Cade stayed by the gate waiting for the others.

The tachi learned that Kiri's family had been slaughtered by Naraku's forces and she was found and brought here by General Cade. She was a sweet girl but was feisty much like Kagome. She had long black hair with red tips, green eyes, and had a single silver stripe on her neck to show her demon heritage.

After a promise to visit again Kagome and her tachi made their way to the gate to see what other surprises were in store.

'Interesting girl, very interesting indeed….'