Itachi – I loved your reviews! I read every single one of them! I'm so glad that you all enjoy the story so far! Sooo… Here's Chapter 2!

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JokerChapter 2

"Wander into the woods at night, and he will steal your heart." That had been told to wanderers to keep them from the surrounding wooded area, but, when a lone girl finds herself lost and in the midst of a storm, she stumbles upon an empty castle, staying for just the night, she soon learns the legend had been real…for the acceptation of his utter laziness.

May I eat your heart now?...

"Young lady," He repeated the words once again, moving uncomfortably closer – silver hair had draped over his face in a messy fashion, "Tell me, why have you snuck into my castle?" He seemed unfazed by my presence, moving closer, all while I moved back; he was now mere inches from my face, blinking, than repeating himself once more, "Have you come here to give me your…heart?" I still did not give him an answer. What was I supposed to say? 'I snuck inside your castle completely ignoring everything said about the place, and practically broke into your private living space while stealing your bed, because the door was open and there was a storm outside?' No! I couldn't say that! What if…What if he kills me?! This guy is the 'Night Walker who eats hearts – What if he takes mine?! "Young Lady," his ominous voice swept through my ears, "Are you not here to give your heart…to me?" He pointed at himself, staring at me with a curious look, I still said nothing…for what was I to say?! "If you are not here…for that purpose, why have you come to my…castle?"

The way he spoke was somewhat off. He paused each time during his sentences to think – or search or words, why was someone with such a scary reputation, so hesitant while speaking? And above all, why did he not seem angered by my unexpected intrusion onto his property? "Uh, well, you see…" I opted to speak, "I'm a traveler of the old country, and while on my travels, a huge storm had pulled in – I was soaked and in need of a place to stay, but every Inn in the town had already been booked, closed, or filled. I remember seeing the tips of this castle over some of the trees of the forest area, and I thought that this may be a good place to stay and rest – Just for the night of course!... And along the way, from an Inn Keeper, I heard the legend of this place…" I gave out a nervous laugh as I found the man shaking his head, humming in agreement. He looked quite interested in my story. "I thought the legend wasn't for real…so I snuck into here since the door was open-"

"The legend is real."

I looked up to the man who now sat on the side of the bed, dragging his clawed fingers through his silver hair. "Well, yes, I know it is true now that I actually see you-"

"You have seen me…and yet," He turned to face me, "You have not gotten up to run away?...Tell me…you are not afraid?"

"Actually, I'm quite terrify-"

"I am a killer." I quickly looked up to him. His bright golden eyes holding a sad and cloudy hue. His sudden label of himself caused me to remember the tale, "I cannot…remember even the simplest things, and because of that laziness, I am cursed to eat the hearts of human women to keep the one…that I have yet to know…alive." Upon hearing him repeat the sad tale, I suddenly felt horribly bad for him.

"How could your own father place this curse on you? Can't he forgive you?"

"It is eternal punishment." He started to speak fluently, without breaking to think for his next word, "If I lift the curse myself…I would have to eat the heart of the women I love…and after killing so many others, I'd rather have her live without me, than to die by my hand. I'd rather go on with eating hearts of others, for the rest of my eternity." Wow. This man…demon, surely was a romantic, whatever women he falls for may as well be the luckiest girl in the world – "Say, young lady," he spoke again, "May I eat your heart now?"

"You're still planning on eating my heart?!"

"Not entirely," He laid himself down on the bed, his silver hair floating down slowly after the rest of him, he closed his eyes, opening them, he looked to me, "Do you not remember that you are a human women?"

"Uh, Yes, I know that…"

"And do you not remember," He turned the rest of his body so he faced my person, "That I eat the hearts of human women? Like yourself?"

"I remember that entirely."

"Then why have you not fled my castle, Young Lady?"

"Well," I smiled a little, still terrified by his presence…but more calm, "Like I said before, I've got nowhere to stay, but here." He grew silent for some time, most likely processing everything that I just said to him. The look on his face seemed so at peace. Suddenly, he had stood up, and started making his way to the door which he appeared from, he turned back to face me.

"You may stay as long as you like."

He shut the door behind him, leaving me huddled on the bed in confusion. He said that I could stay? He said that I could stay! Keeping in my long lasting thanks to the…uh…demon, I lay my head back down on the pillow's, stretched my legs, and closed my eyes awaiting sleep – That is, until, the door had creaked open, revealing the same man who'd just walked out of the room. Though he was changed into more comfortable clothing. "It's you-"

"Young Lady," he said as he walked slowly to the other side of the bed, "My name is not 'it's you' – it is Sesshomaru." He casually laid down next to me, ignoring my surprise.

"Wa- Wait! Your sleeping here?!"

"This is my castle, and this is my room, where else would I sleep at?" His eyes where closed while he spoke.

"O-oh…" This was an awkward place to be with the demon that was well known for stealing hearts from human women, then devouring them.

"Young Lady," he spoke in a faraway voice, "What is your name?"

"I- its Kagome…" He didn't say anything after that. Instead, he had fallen into a deep slumber. "He must have been tired." I spoke aloud. His sleeping face was something out of a fairy tale. Pale skin, delicate facial markings, and shimmering silver hair which draped across the sheets, and down the side of the bed. I suddenly had the want to feel how his hair really felt; did it feel as smooth as it looked? Reaching out my hand timidly, I gently took some of his silver locks into my hand, "It's so soft…" How was his hair so silky? It was so light and feathery – it was amazing to the touch. I looked to his sleeping face. "Is his face as soft as his hair..?" I shyly reached out – and by surprise did his hand grab my own, and gently place it on his stripped cheek. I jumped in surprise – an unknown heat making its way to my cheeks.

"You were curious, where you not?" His eyes where open and he wore the same wandering look as before. Not before long, had he told me to sleep, and he reassured me, saying "Do not worry; I will not eat your heart while you sleep."

..

Joker…

..

The hours of morning had come along quicker than I had expected. The rain had stopped, and the sun shone brightly from the cloudless blue skies. I looked to my side – not too surprised to find that Sesshomaru had been gone. Sitting up, I found something that came to me as a surprise. Hanging in the corner was the very dress I had worn the night before, it was dried, and so was my shawl which hung next to the umbrella, and my slippers. I slipped on the dress and slippers, and headed out of the room, bringing along my shawl and Inuyasha's umbrella. As I started my walk down the stairs, the smell of food had made its way into my nose. Was somebody cooking? "Who…?" Before I could finish, the face of the very demon that had disappeared in the early morning had come to meet my eye. He wore clothing quite similar to what he had on the night before. A rich mans' garb, black boots, and a cape which only added to the royal look given to him by his golden eyes, and silver hair. His expression was the same – dull, and uninterested. He starred at me from the bottom of the steps, than, in a swift movement, was he at the top, alongside me. Surprising as his speed was, this was to be expected. He is a demon; one that has lived through centuries I believe! As I found myself lost in thought – Sesshomaru had took my hand – I awoke, as he started to lead me down the steps, holding my dull hand with his clawed fingers. He led me down a hallway, into a dining area – atop of a grand table, foods of all sorts were lined in order. As I looked around, I saw that the walls in this room; unlike the others, were bare. Curtains placed to drape over the windows creating a downcast atmosphere, and at the table…A family set of four grand, yet empty chairs.

"Would you not care to stay a little longer?" Sesshomaru asked almost sounding eager, "It took me time to prepare this…though I nearly forgot to make enough for two people…" The look on his face was practically pleading to me. I couldn't just say 'no' to him? Could I?

"Well, I guess that I can stay for a little while longer."

I had taken a seat next to Sesshomaru who had already served himself. Though there was a lot of food on his plate, he didn't seem too interested in eating. As my strange 'luck' may have it, Sesshomaru seemed to be more interested in sneaking small peaks over at me while I wasn't looking. Maybe he wants to tell me something? "Um," I started off nervously, "Is there something wrong?"

"No," he said, "Nothing of real concern...I am just…" He paused for a moment to think of another word, "Hn… 'happy' as you might say," He turned to face me, a small smile glinting over his features, "You are the only company that I have had in nearly 500 years, though you are terrified of my presence, I cannot help but be… 'happy'…since you are here," Suddenly, his expression saddened, as he looked to his plate, "Even if it will be for just this short time…"

Past every fear I once held towards him; after hearing how alone he has been in this castle by himself for so very long and being cursed by his own father, and being abandoned by his younger brother, my heart had wrenched. How could he have gone through so much? Because of his laziness, his mother had died – but he cried - in the legend he cried for her loss, knowing it was he who was at fault… but instead of comfort, his own bloody family gave him resentment. Has he even seen his younger brother in those 500 years? Or said hello to his father? Or at least, has he talked to a person – a living soul other than himself, has he ever been given the blessing of simple company in this castle that he has stalked in for the last 500 years?

Hearing myself think only made me feel even worse.

We had finished our meal in a tensed silence. And now, here we two were at the exit to the castle – the giant door leading to the bright outside in which Sesshomaru would never be able to share with anyone but the presence of himself. "Well then," he started, "It looks as your time to go," I couldn't miss the small glint in his eye which was all too overcome with unknown emotions, "To some degree, I may miss this small company that you have given me – though the small urge to eat your heart was trying to overcome my mind, I did enjoy you staying over… even if you had snuck inside, thinking that I did not exist."

I laughed a bit at that, "Well, I have you to thank for letting me stay," I spoke awkwardly, as the bits of my mind tried to piece together some way to say goodbye… "Truthfully, you are not as scary as they say you are, some people see you as the villain who eats the hearts of human women, but I…" I took a breath, "I see you as the demon whose illness was the laziness that caught to him at the wrong time, which is-"

"-Why do you… say this? Kagome?" Sesshomaru asked curiously, "You say now that I am 'not scary' but you seemed… horrified just the night before, what do you mean-"

I interrupted him, "I'll stay," I saw his eyes light up – he grabbed my shoulders –

"You mean this?" He brought his face closer to mine, his usually uninterested eyes now filled with surprise, "You want to stay?"

"O-Only for a small time I guess…" Our close proximity was causing me to trip on my words, "Until I th-think of new places to travel in the Old Country!" Before I could try to read out his expression, he grabbed the back of my head, pushing it forwards into his own – crashing a pair of soft lips onto mine – The surprise was almost too much for me. Was the infamous Night Walker actually kissing me?! He pulled away, and smiled at my frazzled expression, "Wha- What'd you do that for?!" His hands were still on my shoulders, and his face still close to my own.

"That was a promise," Sesshomaru said while holding a smug look on his face, "You said that you would stay just a little longer, did you not? That was to make sure that I do not eat your heart while you stay – It will be my reminder."

His… reminder? Like in the legend – his father gave him a reminder to take care of his mother each morning… So, he was promising not to kill me… Sesshomaru reached his hand out towards me, and with only slight hesitation did I take hold of it.

As Sesshomaru lead me inside, I couldn't see the small smile that now stretched on his face. She, the first visitor I have had in this lonely Black Castle, is willing to stay a while longer…with me…

I think I may have finally found the love I have searched out ever since I was cursed… It seems as my efforts - all these 500 years of killing have actually gone to something – She is her. I know she is.

She is my 'love'.

Joker… Chapter 2

End

T.B.C

Itachi – Yaa! Chapter 2 is done and up! Thank you for reviewing, please check in again!