Hey readers! Thank you for reading and reviewing! It's been over two months, thanks for remembering about this fic! Though, I am really sorry for the long wait. Christmas and New year's had me totally occupied. And then, I lost the flow. So I re-read the entire thing so that the story doesn't seem dis-jointed. Now, here is the next chapter!

DISCLAIMER : I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. I only own the plot and its ideas which came out from my honest imagination.

CHAPTER 5 : Why am I so clumsy?!

I was observing the beauty of the palace before me. It was splendid! Though I don't remember seeing any such castle back in Tokyo or Japan for that matter. 'I remember them mentioning that he was the Lord of the WEST. So, does that mean present day BRITAIN? There are a lot of castles there...'

"So, he really is a LORD then, isn't he?" I spoke out loud finally.

"Of-course he is! You stupid human! So, pay your respects to him!" Jaken replied instead.

"Hmph! Just because he is a lord in this era doesn't mean I'm going to respect him!" I impulsively replied. 'This toad is really getting onto my nerves!' But then, I realized what I just spoke out in my annoyance. I gave a quick glance at Sesshomaru and he seemed to be heading over to join us. Then, I quickly added, "Though, I will definitely honor him when he deserves it."

"You ungrateful human! My Lord has saved your life once already and this is how you speak about him!" Jaken suddenly started screeching even more loudly. 'Damn. I thought that would shut him up. Instead, now he is screeching even more loudly! Oh, stupid toad! Please shut up before he comes here!'

"Jaken. Shut up. What a human girl thinks about me is of no consequence." I was startled at that voice and sharply turn around. It was Sesshomaru! 'How did he...? Oh! How could I forget?! He is a DOG DEMON! Of course they have a better sense of hearing! Stupid Rin! You shouldn't have opened your mouth at all!'I quickly glanced at him again. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts. And I felt kind of guilty for saying everything I did, despite the fact that he had saved my life once already.

"So, this is the palace of the west. So beautiful." Kagome suddenly spoke out.

"Yeah." Sango agreed.

"Now, follow me. I shall lead you to the secret chamber." Totosai spoke.

Everyone started going after him. While Kagome was walking along with Inuyasha and Shippou, the pervert and Sango were walking behind them with Kirara at their feet. Totosai was right behind Sesshomaru who was leading them with Jaken right behind him. I saw them all going in. Then I realized that the two headed dragon and the three eyed bull were nowhere to be seen. I look around and find them being taken away by some other people. 'Probably being taken to a stable or something.' I was still rooted to the place I was standing. I wasn't sure whether I should follow them or not. In the end, they are still strangers who I've just met. I couldn't just trust them and blindly follow them. What if it was a trap?! 'Hello! It's too late now. You've already come all the way till here. Damn. I guess I would be more lost trying to run away from here than to follow them. Seems like I have no choice...' I look at them, they were already too far ahead. So, I started running towards them.

THUD!

"Ouch." I fell down. I slowly sit properly to examine my knees. I had a small cut. I looked ahead and found that the entire lot stopped to wait for me and were now staring at me. Well, with the exception of Inuyasha and the pervert. They were giggling. 'Great. What is the worse that could happen now?' Thinking this, I tried to comfort my embarrassed self. Kagome came running towards me.

"Are you alright?" She asked me.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a few bruises. Nothing I can't handle." I smiled at her.

She nodded and started walking slowly. I got up and tried taking a few steps forward.

THUD!

I fell down again. Kagome quickly turned, wide-eyed, again. And she came back and helped me up. Sango was there with Kirara too. 'Just great. And here I thought that nothing could be more worse.'

"Ha ha ha." I heard Inuyasha and the pervert laugh loudly from across the distance. 'Yeah, that was the only part that was left.' I thought sourly.

"Inuyasha! Sit!" Kagome yelled from here. And she quickly turned to me and spoke,

"That guy is an Idiot. Ignore him. Now, what happened? You said you were alright."

"Y-Yeah. I guess I sprained my ankle. Maybe, I should wait here outside. You guys go ahead."

"That won't do, Dear Rin. You must come along too." Totosai spoke out of nowhere. I snapped my head towards him. I didn't notice, but now, everyone were surrounding me. Well, everyone except Sesshomaru. I looked down feeling very embarrassed.

"Stupid human. Can't even walk properly." It was Jaken, of-course.

"I'm surprised that you didn't fall when you were running in the forest with that demon chasing you. Oh, wait. You fell there too, didn't you? Pfft." It was Shippou.

"Shut up already. It's not like she did this on purpose." Kagome chastised them.

"Well, so, what do we do now? Maybe she can ride on Kirara's back?" Sango asked.

I abruptly looked up at that time, a horrified expression on my face. 'Riding animals is just not my thing. That two headed dragon was better. Atleast it had reins to hold onto. But this cat demon...Please, anything but that!' I internally screamed.

"Hey kid. You can climb on my back if you don't want to ride on Kirara." Inuyasha offered. I stared at him.

"You can ride on my back too. I won't say anything." The pervert spoke.

"Yeah right. You won't say anything, but you most definitely will do something. No thanks." I quickly told the perverted monk. Too quickly. Everyone started laughing. I then turned to Inuyasha and said, "Guess I have to take you up on your offer."

"Whatever." He replied.

He crouched low and held out his hands a little behind him. I slowly got onto him. He held my legs as I warped my hands around his neck and he got up. We started walking. I looked at Kagome, feeling little awkward. After all, I was stealing her place. But she just smiled at me in return. I honestly thought that Inuyasha would tease me, but he didn't. Well, maybe except the laugh before. Even while holding me like this, I thought that it would be uncomfortable and painful. But it didn't feel weird in the least bit. And so, I started feeling a bit more relaxed. We then caught up with Sesshomaru.

As we neared him, he seemed to be giving orders to the nearby people about something. And then, slowly we all entered the magnificent palace. Words could hardly describe the beauty it was. The iron doors were huge and seemed very sturdy. They had some intricate carvings done on them. As we moved in, the chandelier on top was made of gems, beautifully sparkling, came into our view. The light that entered through the windows and all the arches in the palace doorways were wonderfully carved with complicated designs. Even the lamp stand had a pretty floral design to it. It seemed that we were in the outer chamber of the palace. I noticed that all of us were silent. Seems like everyone had similar thoughts about the palace and were equally awestruck as I was. Then, a maid came in and bowed before Sesshomaru followed by few others behind her. This bought us out of our daze.

"My Lord. We have bought the things you require exactly as you have told us." The maid said, still bowing.

"Very well. Then see to it that she is treated well." Sesshomaru replied.

"Yes My Lord!" They replied in unison. Saying that, all of them headed towards me. I was puzzled, to say the least. I didn't understand how any of their work was related to me.

"Excuse me miss. Can you kindly step down for a minute so that we may treat your wounds?" The maid stopped in front of me along with the others and bowed.

"Umm...I-I don't mind stepping down and all...but...there is no need to treat my wounds. I'm fine actually. Thank you." I politely refused her. I mean, there is NO way I would get my wounds treated here. And this has got nothing to do with my trust issues! I can't bear the burning sting of the medicine on my wounds. And what about my twisted ankle? That would only heal after some time. Applying medicine on it won't do anything to the sprain, it will only try to reduce the pain. The only other way is to RE-TWIST my ankle again, which I wouldn't allow even over the trade to having cute nails!

"B-But miss, please give us the opportunity of treating your wounds. I assure you, we will get it done as quickly as possible. It won't hurt you much either. Please allow us to do so." The maid spoke again, this time her voice had a hint of panic in them. But PANIC? For what? From the corner of my eyes I noticed that all of them were standing in the center of the hall observing the palace. But Sesshomaru seemed busy talking to someone else who was furiously nodding. Well, he IS the Lord here, so it is to be expected.

"Oi Rin. Get down and get your wounds treated. It's for the best." Inuyasha suddenly spoke.

"Huh? I'm not getting them treated NOW. Maybe later..." I tried.

"You don't understand, do you? They didn't come here out of their own will. Sesshomaru ordered them to do it." He said. 'Oh. So that was what he meant when he talked to them earlier. So, before, when he didn't come to check on me, he was actually asking them to get medicine for me? He's...not a bad person, I guess. But wait. How is that related to anything? '

"I don't understand." I told him.

"Gosh Rin! It's Sesshomaru we are talking about here! He'll probably have their heads if they don't complete their task!" He half-yelled at me. 'WHAT?! That's...too mean! No wonder they seemed tensed. Damn it. Can't I pursue Sesshomaru instead? ' I looked over at him, still busy with that other person there. He seemed to have a menacing look now. 'I give up. There's no way I can talk to him now. Especially after what happened at the entrance. I'm surprised he even bothered. Guess I have no choice. Damn...'

"Fine. Put me down Inuyasha." I said.

"I somehow knew you had a heart in there. But to know you had some little brains stashed away somewhere inside...I'm really glad." He said while he put me down. I was left gaping at him. How DARE he?! I'm a genius, just so you know! Bastard.

"Miss, thank you for honoring our request. If you will now, please sit down and hold still for a moment. It will be done in a moment." The maid spoke out, seeming relieved.

"Alright. J-Just please don't...touch my ankle." Yes. That should work.

"But miss, haven't you injured your ankle?"

"No, not really. Please get it done quickly."

"As you wish, miss." Saying this, she started to slowly dip the cotton ball into the bottle of medicine and smoothly wipe my wounds. I closed my eyes trying to contain my voice from revealing how much it actually hurt me...

"We are done with cleaning your wounds miss." The maid suddenly said, making me snap my eyes open. 'Finally, done.'

"Thank you." I said and tried to get up.

"B-But miss. You have injured your ankle too." She spoke out again.

"No, I have not." I said, desperately trying to stop her from doing ANYTHING to it.

"Oh. So that was what it was about. You are scared, aren't you? Scared-y cat! Pfft." Inuyasha suddenly burst out again.

"No, I'm not. Cat-ears." I muttered. "Now, let me on your back and let's go!" I said.

"How many times should I tell you it's DOG-EARS, Stupid girl! I'm wrong. You really have no brains in there after all!" Inuyasha fought back. 'Right. He has super hearing power after all. How could I forget that again?'

"Sir...please calm down. Miss...please..." The maid tried to stop our squabble in a faint yet desperate voice. But we both ignored her. Inuyasha had already stepped over the line of no return. There is no way I'm going to let him off so easily for saying that TWICE!

"No brain?! How DARE you?! I'm much, MUCH more clever than you can EVER be, MR. RED ROBES!" I yelled. Everyone seemed to have now noticed our little argument and the poor little maid vainly trying to stop us from yelling at each other further. Too bad we were too lost in it to have not noticed that even Sesshomaru's attention was upon us.

AUTHOR'S NOTE : Hey guys. I hope you liked it enough to leave a review! (Please!) I will update the next chapter within valentine's day. It's a promise! So, have a great day ahead!

TO MY REVIEWERS : When I read them, I was inspired to finish typing this chapter. You may not understand how, but, you guys made my day!

Guest : I'm so glad you loved it! Well...here is the update! I will complete the story for sure! Thank you so much for reviewing!

Alina : I'm so glad you loved it too! To make things interesting...I put in a lot of effort. Seems like it paid off! Yeah! Thank you for your review!

-L.M.C. ^^