Author's Nonsense: I wanted to move this fiction right along, I got an idea for the beginning of it and while it's sort of sad I figured I should continue while I have time and the mood to write.

End of Chapter 13:

"I'll do my best not to let my agony interfere with your day to day operations." Kagome deadpanned in response as she took his hand with her good one and allowed him to lead the way back toward her room. A small smile on the inside despite herself, he was taking time from his busy schedule just to sit with her after all. Maybe she wasn't really going to do her best…

Chapter 14: Alluring Dreams

I should have realized the whole thing was pointless… That the fights…the duels as I call them now. They were just another way for the man to press home my peon status far beneath him and try to use the wins he attained to control me.

The whole mental commentary was a little fractured and Kaiba turned his head slightly in his sleep at memories of the man that still managed to haunt him years after his death.

I don't cry…not anymore… I just…sort of exist. Settled in this little ocean of work that's been piled around me so high I can't even spend the time to sleep unless it claims me unbidden in the early hours when his presence is gone from me because I've just lost capability to keep conscious thought that is formed enough to mean anything. It's hard to remember a time when I smiled from anything other than sarcastic commentary or the pain of defeat I inflict on others. …when I cared for anything beyond surviving from this minute to the next. When I didn't have to fear betrayal or hatred for sins not my own from everyone I happen to meet. A time when I wasn't completely taken by the paranoia that has forced it's way into my blood like a poison… I sometimes wonder if those memories from my earliest days, if that happiness is nothing more than a fake promise…a false hope of possibility that tries to drag me from the safety of the frigid walls I've surrounded myself with.

He turned a little again in his strange dream…why in the world would he be talking to himself like this? This is why he hated to sleep, it made him weak…

I'm not sure if I even worry for myself anymore. If it wasn't for Mokuba I'd of found my way out of the torture of that madman by putting a hole in the water of the pool out back. A few moments of agony as my lungs burned with need for air would have been a blessed release after the years that man transformed me into… What exactly am I? I'm not like him. That much I can say easily…but did he take my personality away in the time he spent trying to disfigure my mind and break my spirit? Mokuba was why I survived, he was the only reason I bothered. How could I betray him when he was the only person in the world that ever loved me? He managed to keep me alive through the torment so I could rise up and defeat that man…

Even in his sleep Kaiba's eyes tried to narrow, curling against some of the pillows and holding it closer to him, clinging to it's soft fabric in a sudden physical need to have something close to him.

That man…our foster father; I have to wonder if we would have been better off at the orphanage than being adopted by the devil. Does that make me the spawn of Satan? How I still hate him, how I loathe the very thought of his being… It is one of the things that fuels my work now, tearing apart the work he did to build his desired tools of destruction and change all his plans into the toys and systems I now put into motion to help bring happiness to children as it was never brought to me. Even if I have to give up my soul in return for Mokuba's safety…that isn't so bad a price to pay…not for my brother…

Kaiba's eyes snapped open and put pause to the little mental tirade that was clinging to his dreams, freezing a moment when he realized that he wasn't in his room. It smelled different, it had different sheets. When had he fallen asleep wearing his coat? Not that he hadn't done it before but usually he wasn't actually in a bed if he did. Then he noticed that the pillow he'd gripped in sleep was the still sleeping form of Kagome.

He'd sat here to watch the movie with her that she wanted to watch with him. She'd started to fall asleep within the first few minutes but when he'd started to leave she'd grabbed his sleeve and asked him to stay until she was actually unconscious. Shortly after he must have dosed off next to her and not realized until now that he'd done so. The small neon alarm clock told him it was a few minutes after one pm and that was probably why he was awake. Normally he only got about 3 hours of sleep and likely by the time he'd nodded off this was about that. With himself wrapped around her and with an arm somehow under her neck below where her head rested on the pillow he wondered just how he was suppose to untangle himself without waking her.

Of course I choose tonight to pass out earlier than usual. He thought as he considered his situation. My enemies and workers would be having a field day if they knew the situation I'd gotten myself into.

Certainly, at least he wasn't exactly uncomfortable…though his arm was starting to fall asleep from the lack of circulation. Sleep still tempting him in the dark and quiet room away from his usual constant phone calls or disruptions. He gritted his teeth, determined to defeat the sandman this time and focused his eyes as best he could in the poor lighting to see how he might retreat without waking the girl or seriously injuring her shoulder. He vaguely thought that he wanted to know how he'd managed to hold her without jarring her injury in the first place. Then he noticed that she was muttering and shivering a little…clinging onto his own arm with a need that he'd gripped her with a few moments before in his own dream.

Then he sighed, he couldn't just leave when she was having a nightmare. Contrary to popular belief he wasn't a complete jerk and only someone like that dog Wheeler would leave a disturbed girl to bad dreams and walk off.

I'm going to have to hire a couple more secretaries. Kaiba thought to himself as he relaxed again, holding her a little tighter in a natural response when she grabbed him tightly and shivered again. He couldn't make out what she was muttering but he could do what little he could to let her know it was going to be all right. Nuzzling a little into the back of her hair, noticing the violet smell that it exuded as he took a deeper breath and she started awake. I have the worst luck…

Kaiba waited a moment, holding his breath in hopes she wouldn't jump up or scream…surprised a little more when she pulled his arm a little tighter and shivered again. She'd broken into a cold sweat during the last minute or so of her nightmare but it seems it was still bothering her enough that she didn't mind his intimate company. Hopes of her realizing it was just a dream and leaving him to go back to work - or at least his own room - dashed when she held on so desperately.

"It's okay Kagome." He comforted in barely a whisper, still nuzzling the back of her head gently. "It's okay…you were just dreaming."

She notably relaxed once he spoke to her and he had to be glad that she was at least not going to throw some sort of fit about him being in here. He remembered falling asleep on the same bed of some girl he'd been forced to spend an afternoon with because of the company board and the small lawsuit she'd tried to file afterward until he pulled tapes of what had really happened. He didn't fear that sort of thing from Kagome though, if she had a problem she would have said it already.

"Thanks Seto." She finally whispered back, her voice holding just the tiniest hint of sultry making his thoughts shift for a moment to less appropriate things for someone that was suppose to be resting. What straight, healthy, young boy wouldn't have some sort of thought like that when laying next to a perfectly beautiful half naked young woman after all? He pushed the slight distraction from his mind after a moment though and listened to her. "I'm sorry I'm such trouble. I…you didn't have to stay with me. Thank you though."

"Don't misunderstand." Seto answered with a gentler tone than he's usually use. "I fell asleep here on accident and when I woke up you happened to be in my arms like this."

She chuckled lightly at him and he realized she didn't believe him…

Figures, the one time I'm totally honest about it.

"Thank you Seto. For everything." Kagome yawned and was already going back to sleep when she whispered. "You make me happy."

He didn't move, just laid and listened to her breath for a while.

I make her happy?

There were so many new possibilities the cold youth had to consider that he didn't know when he'd fallen back to sleep again during the night.

Scene Switch

Kaiba had retreated from her the next morning while she was still sleeping with a lot of difficulty and precision he'd managed to not even wake her up as he left her room. At least no one was there to see the embarrassing situation, there were the security tapes but that was a necessary evil he was willing to let slide outside of locking them from anyone else's view but his. Her words from the night before still haunting him somehow…how on earth could he make her happy when he'd gotten her shot and put her life in danger?

He shook his head and instead moved off to work on the things he needed to do for the company, that line would be endless and he could submerge himself into something that didn't involve the Higurashi girl at all.

Meanwhile, Kagome woke with a wince as she stretched a little. It's only been a few days sense her attack but already the wound was much better than it's been. She didn't want to press her luck though and she didn't use it more than needed to move around. She turned and half-expected to see Seto next to her, a little disappointed when she didn't.

"He must have left during the movie." Kagome observed to no one. "At least he stayed until I fell asleep…I thought that he was here last night…must have been a dream."

She didn't remember whatever it had been that had bothered her or Kaiba comforting her in return, so her admonition that he made her happy was far from her mind. She got herself up and had to smile at how much better her arm was in comparison to the day before, perhaps her miko powers were coming back after the injury and helping her to heal faster. She had finally noticed the strange aura around Yugi's puzzle and Bakura's ring…not that she could tell what they were for but Bakura's ring seemed more like the corrupted jewel shards of Naraku where Yugi's seemed more just like a jewel shard. Maybe the jewel had somehow been broken again after they'd defeated the villain. She had found one of the last shards in her own time during the frantic search. Maybe those items were somehow imbued with it or a similar sort of power, they didn't seem exactly the same as the jewel.

She headed and took a shower while she thought, the warm water was amazing but the pressure was a little painful. She had to grin and bear it though she knew if she wanted to recover more quickly. The shower wasn't nearly so bad as the prospect of getting dressed afterward. She couldn't quite bring herself to try a shirt that didn't button up just yet, instead opening the closet to look through it and after some digging putting on a white button up shirt that was a little too large for her. At least her bra was white so it wouldn't look too bad if the shirt was just a little big. She buttoned it all the way up and when she couldn't find pants that would fit her easily finally deigned to put on the same pants as the day before.

"What? Did they bring me here but not think that I would need to change from time to time?" she chuckled to herself and found a brush to start working the few tangles from her hair that she'd gotten from the night and water.

Once she'd finished cleaning herself up she left in search of breakfast. She knew she was suppose to be resting but she couldn't help but want to be up a little more often, growing restless of television and hungry she started the search for the kitchen. She wasn't quite as good at the stairs as she would like however and toward the bottom she tripped. She threw her non-injured arm up to try to keep her shoulder from further harm when someone caught her unexpectedly.

She glanced up and then suddenly thought that she still had to be asleep and that the nightmares were still plaguing her. Silver hair fell to his waist, large bangs ending just above golden eyes that were as unreadable as they had been five-hundred years previous. The marks of heritage on his forehead - a midnight blue quarter moon- and magenta lines on his cheeks left no room for error; Sesshomaru, the demon lord of the west had just saved her from a nasty fall onto the tiled floors.

"Sesshomaru?" Kagome had to gawk, any thoughts of his resemblance to Inuyasha had been replaced by the fear and shock of his appearance into her life. "I…what…what in the world are you doing here?"

When those amber eyes narrowed she had to swallow and back away some.

"Do I know you?" he asked coldly, the deep voice definitely the man that had tried to kill her the first time she met him. "You seem familiar. My name however is Taisho so perhaps you just know another of my associates."

"I…you fought with us against Naraku…Inuyasha and I." Kagome was still just gawking, it seemed like the best real response she could give in the circumstances.

"The miko?" He recognized and Kagome's hopes that she could be wrong were shattered into very fine fragments. "What are you doing here? You don't smell like a demon…you should have died years ago."

"I…it's complicated. I traveled back from this time to deal with Inuyasha and everyone else about the shards and to hunt Naraku." She shivered a little, glancing around nervously. Why do such large houses never have anyone around when they're needed?

"Right." Sesshomaru observed, not giving a motion that he believed or dis-believed the statement. "and why are you here? You seem to be injured."

"I…I got shot a few days ago." Kagome answered nervously. "What about you? Why are you here?"

"I have a business appointment with Mr. Kaiba." Sesshomaru replied. "I was told to wait in here and then you nearly knocked me over from your tumble down the stairs."

"I…right. Sorry. Hey, could you um…tell me what happened to Inuyasha?" Kagome asked but couldn't keep meeting the eyes of the demon capable of so much destruction. Mind still reeling as to how he was here in her time.

"He died." Sesshomaru answered honestly. Using as few words as possible. "Before you ask, it was from old age. Half-breeds don't share the longevity of full blooded demons."

"Oh…" It was all she could say really. She already knew he was dead, that he couldn't have lived this long, though Sesshomaru's sudden arrival gave her a small hope she was glad it had been dashed right away. She was finally coming to terms with him being gone, any false hopes would have ruined her heart's recovery. "So…um…what business do you have with Seto?"

"Mr. Kaiba." Sesshomaru was adding up all he was seeing, and with her calling him by so informal a name she knew what conclusions he was gathering couldn't be good. "and I have a single transaction dealing with an old company his father ran before his takeover of the company. I believe the details should be kept between us unless you wish to ask him."

"Mr. Taisho." Kaiba gathered both of their attention, his voice it's usual cool indifference as he watched from the top of the steps. "Shall we adjourn to my office? Unless you'd rather sit here on the steps. You need to get back in bed Ms. Higurashi, why are you wandering around if you can't even dress yourself?"

He turned away before Kagome could offer a hot reply and Sesshomaru glanced between them once more before heading up the stairs two at a time. She gritted her teeth and moved toward the area where she smelled food defiantly.

Pompous ass, you try getting dressed without any of your own clothes or sizes when you can barely lift or lower one arm. Kagome fumed a bit as she walked. The fact that Sesshomaru was here dealing with Kaiba was a little too bizarre for her to process at the moment. So she continued to be irritated by the rude behavior of her host as she more politely asked for some breakfast and took a seat at the kitchen table.

The servants seemed shocked to have her but happy to see her, chatting some with her and quickly lightening her mood back out of the anger she was reveling in. The full belly certainly helped her and she finished up without wanting to actually walk back up to her room. All the exercise on her still healing body was taking it's toll, she didn't want to sleep but she did want to lay back down somewhere more comfortable than the kitchen. She accepted some cookies to eat at her leisure and moved back into the hallway and glanced up the daunting steps as the demon lord was coming back down them. He didn't offer her more than a glance on his way back out of the building and she had to admit that she liked that he was leaving her life as soon as he'd entered it. That was one more thing she didn't need to deal with.

"You could just ask if you want something." Kaiba made her jump and fumble with the plate, finally dropping it back down the steps to keep her own balance. Frowning at the smirk on his face as he watched her embarrass herself. "I think I asked you to return to your room."

"I'm not just gonna always sit in there." Kagome snapped irritably. "It's stuffy and there isn't any sunshine and my shoulder's already starting to feel better. I know not to push it but I think I can take a flight of steps."

"Not according to Mr. Taisho." Kaiba replied with that same smug smile.

End Chapter

Whew, that chapter was also a lot of fun to write. Wanted to toss Sesshy into the mix with at least a cameo during the fiction and even if I never use him again during this it was a lot of fun to frighten poor Kagome with him. Delving a little more into characters and starting to get Kagome to realize that there is something going on with the millennium items. Until next time.

-Aura

To my reviewers:

Darkened Purity - You don't wanna know what's in this head of mine…it's a little too twisted and weird for even me to completely understand.

Thiefqueengirl - Aw thanks. Bakura is gonna play a little larger of a role but you might not like some of what's coming in his future for sake of the fiction plot.