Chapter 1

The warm morning sunlight floods threw the open balcony door, across the room and onto my body. I roll away from the sunlight and I blindly feel around the bed for Sesshoumaru.

When I do not feel his body, I open my eyes. Instead of finding Sesshoumaru, I find a note lying on his pillow. I sit up and pick up the letter. I slowly unfold it and begin to read.

To my dearest Kagome,

I am so sorry for having to leave you like this, but a problem has arisen that needs my immediate attention. I do not know when I will be back. Rin's room is directly across the hall from the room you are currently in. If you look into the closet, you will find kimonos and other different outfits in there for you. You have a personal servant, she is an inu demon, and her name is Maria. I will try to return to you as soon a possible. Until then, my dearest.

Forever yours,

Sesshoumaru

I smile down at the letter in my hands. I never in my life could have thought Sesshoumaru could be that sentimental. Last night, after kissing each other and telling each other that we love each other he brought me back here to his castle.

We had made passionate love... I can not believe that he loves me. I pull the sheets over my body as a knock comes at the door.

When I am settled, I answer. "Come in."

The door slides open, and a beautiful demoness with black hair comes walking in the room. Her outfit is that of a servants, but I can tell that it is still expensive. Her face is young and fair, and I feel a little embarrassed-my face must look awful after just awakening. The servant bows low to me.

"Hello, Lady Kagome. I am your personal servant." Wow, I think. My personal servant... I smile-Sesshomaru must really care lots for me.

"Please, just call me Kagome."

The servant bows again. "Of course."

The demoness has a comfortable feel to her and I warm up to her quickly. "What's your name?"

"Maria."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Maria," I say.

"No, the pleasure is all mine, Kagome." I can tell she believes this, and I am honored. A thought then strikes me.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Sesshoumaru had to leave to, would you?"

She shakes her head. "Sorry, Kagome, he only informed us that he would be gone for a while-and he informed us of you, of course."

Oh well; it was worth a shot. "Alright."

"I am sorry that I could not be of more help Kagome."

I smile up at her. "That's okay, Maria. You do not have to be so formal. I do not want to think of you as a servant. I would rather us be friends."

My statement causes her to smile. I can see the formality disappear from her face. Her eyes scan over the bed. "Would you like to have a bath, Kagome?"

I lift my arm to feel my messy hair. "That would be fantastic."

"Then a bath you shall have." She gives a small grin.

Maria walks over to one door and opens it, revealing a large closet. The size of it stuns me; I never saw a closet so large. She takes some stuff from the many racks and soon walks back out the closet. She comes over to me and hands me a beautiful soft silk robe. I watch as she turns her back to me, and I quickly take the opportunity to jump out of bed and slide on the robe.

"Okay," I say when I am done.

"Alright; follow me."

We walk over to the main door, which leads us into the hall way. I follow Maria closely as we walk down the corridor, passing a few doors along the way. As we walk, I concentrate on the enormity of the place. It is definitely the largest residence I have ever seen.

We soon come upon two bigger, silver doors, and Maria pushes them wide. Before we can walk in, steam streams from the room. When we are completely inside, Maria pulls the door shut once more to give us privacy.

There in front of is a huge hotspring. It is separated right down the middle, one side for the women and the other men. Maria comes up beside me.

"Would you like to join me for a bath, Maria?" I ask.

Her face adopts an apologetic manner. "I couldn't Kagome; servants are not allowed to bathe here."

The news surprises me, and I feel a bit of anger rush through my body. Servants deserve luxuries, too. "Well, you are my friend, and I say that you can bathe with me in here."

Her face shows her gratitude. "If you wish, Kagome, then I will go with you."

"Good." I smile and watch her answering grin.

We both walk over to the hot spring, and I hide behind a changing screen while Maria retreats behind another. I untie the knot on the robe and slide it off my body. I throw the robe over the screen.

I place my foot carefully into the spring before sliding in fully. I moan as the water surrounds my body, making my body release all its tension.

I lay my head back on the floor and close my eyes. I feel the water move, telling me that Maria has gotten in with me. After a few seconds, I open my eyes and look to my left, where Maria is.

"So, Maria, how did you come to work at the castle?" Maria's face takes on a dark look as she remembers her past.

"My family was killed back when Lord Sesshoumaru was in his teenage years. I was wondering the forest outside the castle, covered in blood when Lord Sesshoumaru found me." She closes her eyes, remembering. It was a while before she continued.

"He brought me back to his castle and got me cleaned up. Since I had no where else to go, I stayed here to serve Lord Sesshoumaru."

I feel guilt wash over me, and I know I should not have asked such a personal question. "Oh Maria, I'm sorry to hear about your family. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"That's okay, Kagome, it was a very long time ago. But thank you." She gives a small smile of reassurance.

"You're welcome."

We stop talking and just lay there in silence. I was never good with silence, which is why it did not take me long to break it.

"So, Maria, do you know how old Sesshoumaru is?" This was a question that had been on my mind for a while.

"He will be three-hundred-one years old on the next Full Moon, but, in human years, he will be twenty-one, I think." She gives a calculating look and sits in silence for a moment. Finally she nods her head. "Yes, I believe that is right."

The question startles me. I had my own conjectures about his age, but none of them were even close to Maria's answer."Wow, I can not believe he is that old."

Maria gives a small smile and nods."Yes, I believe he was ninety-five years old when Inuyasha was born, and Lord Sesshoumaru's Father, Lord Inutaisho died."

I absorb the information. "So that would have made him . . .?"

"Eleven in human years old when Inuyasha was born."

"Wow , I never knew that."

Maria smiles again. "Glad I could help you, Kagome."

I feel a sudden urge to find out how old Maria is. I note her knowledgeability and reckon she would have to be quite aged. "Well, then, how old are you, Maria? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"I am two-hundred-fifty-two years old, but I am nineteen in human years."

Just like I thought."We are practically the same age."

Maria's face breaks into a wide grin. "That is cool,"she says, the smile still stretching her face.

Silence falls. We both grab the bathing soaps and start to bathe. After another half hour, we leave the humid hot spring, feeling refreshed and relaxed. I find two towels, a clean kimono, and underclothes waiting for me on a bench that rested near the spring. Since Maria is only a servant, she does not have a change of clothes. She walks behind the screen and begins to change.

I notice that the towels are extremely elaborate and decorative, an example of Sesshomaru's wealth. I grab a towel, which I wrap around my hair. I then pick up the other one and use it to dry my body. The towel is soft, caressing my skin like the gentle hand of a lover. I grab the underclothes and begin to dress.

I take the kimono and slide it on. It is beautiful with its violet hue and the cherry blossoms embroidered into it.

I then pick up a beautiful pink obi, wrapping it around my waist and tying it so that it will keep my kimono together.I take the towel off my hair, which is still damp, but not soaking wet. I walk from the screen and come face to face with Maria. She is changed back into her attire. She seems to notice my uncouth hair.

"Why don't we head back to your room, Kagome, so that I can fix your hair?"

I briefly wonder if she is any good at hair. "Sure, Maria."

We step out into the hall and Maria pulls the doors shut behind us. However, before we could begin our stroll back to my rooms, a little brown streak comes running down the hall and attaches itself to my waist.

"Lady Kagome, you're here!"

I recognize the person in an instant. "Hi, Rin." She beams up at me and glances over at Maria before averting her gaze back to me. Her grasp on me is tight.

I am able to pry her from me, but I kneel down to her height where I hold open my arms. She gladly runs into them, and I wrap my arms around her and hug. I feel the soft pitter-patter of her heart against her warm chest, and I remember how much I care for the little girl. When we pull apart, I stand. She looks up at me with her big brown eyes, which are dancing with happiness.

"Rin is so happy that Lady Kagome is here! You can pick flowers in the garden with Rin for Lord Sesshoumaru for when he returns. We are going to have a lot of fun!"

I cannot stop the smile that makes it way to my face. "I know that we will, Rin; I can't wait."

Maria, who had been silent throughout the entire meeting, interrupts gently. "Lady Rin, why don't you go down and see where Jaken is?" Rin, who had known Maria for a while, obeyed readily.

"Sure, Maria," she says with childish glee. She turns back to me and smiles again.

"Bye, Lady Kagome."

I kneel down and kiss her on the cheek. "Bye, Rin."

Rin runs off down the hall. I shake my head. I still can not believe that Sesshoumaru keeps her.

"Let's go. We do not have long before breakfast," Maria suggests in the silence that follows Rin's departure, leading the way down the hallway.

Remembering my hair, I agree and begin to follow her. "Okay."

Maria and I walk back up the hall to my rooms. The hall is filled with grand paintings, and I can not help but stop and look at a few of them. Many of them, I reason, are probably paintings of Sesshomaru's ancestors. We halt in front of two huge silver doors which Maria pushes open with ease, leading me back into my and Sesshoumaru's room.

I see that the bed has been made and that our clothes have been cleaned up. Maria takes me over to the vanity-which appears to be extremely expensive-and gestures to the stool. I sit down, and Maria stands behind me. She takes the brush and begins to brush out my hair.

Hi everyone, Ok this is the continuation to my oneshot My Taiyoukai. I have finally wrote a story for it. I worked like super hard on this first chapter to make it perfect. Ok one thing I am going to tell you is that Sesshoumaru and Kagome are not matted yet. There is going to be a lot of differnt things happening in this story and I really hope you will enjoy it. Please review review review. Also this story is being edited by my great beta reader mangahottie740,

KatiechanXoxoXSesshoukun