.:A Slaves Love:.
By: Kagura-hime

Summery: In a world where humans are slaves to youkai, Kagome Higurashi has it as bad as you can get. Viciously beaten and abandoned by her master, a certain hanyou finds her and heals her wounds. But can he mend her broken heart too? I/K Miroku/Sango, Sess/OC

Disclaimer: I'm very sad to say that I don't own any copyright privileges to Inuyasha. It's a depressing fact, but hey, they make meds to help with that sort of thing so it all works out in the end.

Notes: Finally, the long awaited new chapter. As I said at the end of the edited chapter seven, I'm sorry about the lack of Sango/Miroku and Inu/Kag action. I hope this chapter will make up for it. In case you haven't noticed, I went back and edited all the previous chapters. I changed some things, added a LOT to chapter seven between Kagome and Inuyasha and Inuyasha explains Sango and Miroku's origins along with a more detailed past of his own. So, check it out, and I hope you enjoy the new, spiffy, mostly-grammatically correct version of ASL.

Also, after I post this and give people a chance to read it, I'm changing my pen-name to Cognoscente. Just thought I'd give you a heads up D

:A Slaves Love:
Chapter 8: Disasters Really DO Bring Out The Best In People...I Think

No matter what she did, Sango couldn't wipe the goofy grin off her face. She had just spent hours with the lecher, and not once was she molested, groped, or frustrated in any way; she couldn't remember a time when they had just enjoyed each other's company without incident. But now as she fluttered about the kitchen, a huge albeit partially finished breakfast giving off a mouth-watering aroma, a particular organ located in her chest fluttered along with her. Now if only Miroku would act like that all of the time, things might be drastically different between the two of them.

Sango hummed a little tune to herself as she worked cooking a variety of meats, pancakes, waffles, and eggs, wondering to herself all the time if Miroku would like her meal. 'What has gotten into me? How could a few hours with a man I've known for years change how I feel about him? Maybe I've always felt like this, but…why didn't I realize it sooner? How could I ignore that I fell in love with him? Wait, oh my god, did I just say love? I can't, I don't! Can I…? I guess that…maybe I do. It explains a lot. And here I'd just convinced myself it was just a silly crush. I hate Cupid; I truly, utterly, hate Cupid and his stupid arrows.'

After another half hour or so, Sango went to her room, to tell Inuyasha that breakfast was ready. Kagome had gotten so used to the room that Sango had never had the heart to make her leave when she was finally so happy for once, and had taken up residence in one of the spare rooms, slowly moving her stuff out without Kagome realizing it.

The said girl had fallen asleep cuddled up to the half-demon, and it took him a few minutes to gently disentangle himself without waking her. They went back downstairs together and not surprisingly, Inuyasha attacked the food and packed his mouth full of goodies. "Disgusting…"

Inuyasha looked up from his plate and swallowed noisily. "What?"

"You eat like a pig Inuyasha; one of these days you're going to choke and die. You do realize that you don't have to stuff it all down your throat at once; it won't run away from you if you take smaller bites."

Inuyasha merely narrowed his eyes and glared at her for a few moments before stuffing a particularly huge chunk of pancake in his mouth.

Sango shot him a look of disgust and left him with the utterance of "I hope you do choke" to go fetch Miroku.

A few minutes later she was standing in front of his third floor room, a huge smile in place. She knocked and felt her stomach drop when a very feminine giggle was quickly quieted. The sound of quick footsteps and a door opening and shutting came right before Miroku answered the door, wearing naught but his boxers, an irritated expression marring his handsome features. His expression quickly turned sick after he saw who had knocked, the undeniable expression of pain on her face.

"Sango-"

"Don't." She held up a hand to stop him; she didn't want to hear any excuses or stories this time. "Just…don't Miroku. I get it, I really do. I was a fool to think you may have actually cared for me." When Miroku opened his mouth to speak Sango quickly cut him off. "I just came to let you know breakfast is ready down in the kitchen. I'll leave you alone with your…company now. Come down whenever you're free." She turned and started to walk down the hall towards the stairs.

Miroku reached and grabbed her shoulder ready to do anything to take away the look of pain on her face that he caused.

"Get off me. Let me go."

"No Sango, I won't. You have to listen to me."

"No! I don't want to hear it! I hate you Miroku! Just let me go!" Sango screamed, her eyes welling up with tears.

And he did. His hand slid limply from her shoulder in shock. He watched her run down the hall towards the stairs for a moment before dashing back into his room and throwing open the closet door. A half naked maid greeted him, smiling up at him in victory.

Miroku glared down at her, fury in his eyes. "Out. Now," he seethed at her.

Her smile faltered a split-second before regaining its full force. She stood up and placed her hands on his bare chest, batting her seductive brown eyes at him. "Why, what's wrong baby?"

He grabbed her hands and pushed her away from him. Her smile vanished and she matched his glare with one of her own.

"Don't you dare 'baby' me ever again. I want you out and I want you out now. Don't come back here. You may very well have just destroyed my one chance with Sango over nothing."

"It wasn't 'nothing' when you were fucking my brains out two days ago now was it? Or am I just not good enough for you?" Venom dripped from her voice.

"You knew that nothing would come of it. I let you know in no uncertain terms it was just physical and you said you were ok with that. Well whatever you thought was going on is over. Now get out."

"You'll regret this Miroku, don't you worry."

"I already do."

With that she walked over to her shirt and put it on as she was storming out. The door slammed behind her and Miroku dropped his head into his hands for one desolate moment. 'How can I ever repair the damage that Kira just caused? I never should have slept with her in the first place…'

He snapped himself out of his daze and pulled on jeans and a dress shirt as fast as he could, running out of his room in the direction Sango had gone barefoot.

'I hope it's not too late to fix this.'

Sango busted into the kitchen, unshed tears brimming in her eyes. Inuyasha was still eating at a furious pace but managed to pause for a moment to look up curiously at the commotion.

When the tears broke free Inuyasha froze for a split-second before jumping up and hugging her. He pulled her close and cradled her head to his chest with one hand, the other wrapped around her shoulders stroking her upper arm. She tried to talk but the sobs racking her body made it hard.

"I k-knew I s-shouldn't have t-trusted him. H-he doesn't care about m-me at a-all!"

"Who?" Inuyasha asked, knowing who 'he' was but not wanting to hear it confirmed.

"W-who else? T-that asshole M-Miroku."

Inuyasha was a little shocked at the language. Normally she was yelling at everyone else about their potty-mouths and for her to use that kind of language, talking about Miroku no less, he must have hurt her bad. Inuyasha saw red.

"What exactly did he do now?"

Sango took a few deep breaths to steady herself before answering. She hated absolutely hated blubbering; it made her sound weak.

"Well," she started off slowly, "we had a really nice time last night. I was upset and went to see him. He didn't act perverted at all. He asked me to dance to help get my mind off things and I had a great time; I've never done something like that before. It really sparked old feelings for him. I was beginning to hope that he liked me too…it had really seemed like he cared. He walked me back to my room and kissed my hand goodnight. It was all so sweet…" Sango started to lose her cool and took another deep breath or two to finish. "I woke up about an hour ago and was so happy. I came down and started cooking and I realized that I've been in love with him for a long time. When I went up to tell him breakfast was ready I heard a girl giggle before he put her in the closet and answered the door in his boxers. I can't believe it. Not even six hours after he acted a complete gentleman towards me he was tossing the sheets with one of the maids! Jesus I hate him…I'm such a fool…" Sango broke into sobs again.

Inuyasha seethed silently, wondering how long Miroku was going to stand at the door listening before he made his grand appearance. 'I can't believe he did this…how could he be such a damned fool?! I'll kill him for this I really will!'

Then the source of Sangos' distress walked in slowly after hearing majority of her story and regretting ever laying eyes on Kira. Inuyasha sent him an icy glare that could only be rivaled by Sesshoumaru himself. Miroku swallowed in fear before opening his mouth to speak.

"No. Out, now," Inuyasha cut him off.

"No! Sango, you need to hear me out."

"I said out!" Inuyasha roared.

"Sango I love you!"

All the wind disappeared from the half-demons' sails with the look of raw truth on Mirokus face. Sango froze before slowly lifting her head from Inuyashas' chest for the first time since he came in.

"What did you say?" she whispered, barely daring to hope.

"I love you. I have for years. This isn't how I envisioned telling you at all but I didn't see any other way of getting you to listen to me. That girl doesn't mean anything to me; it was purely physical. And nothing happened this morning no matter how bad it looked. I was with her a few days ago and she came back to my room hoping for an encore. I always sleep in boxers which is why I opened the door in them. When you knocked she giggled and I put her in the closet in case it was you, hoping to god you hadn't heard her. I knew immediately that you had and wanted to explain. I ended it with her. She's mad but she'll get over it. The only person I really want…is you," Miroku looked directly into Sangos' eyes praying to Buddha she would believe him.

Inuyasha sniffed the air for a moment then looked down at Sango. "He's not lying if that helps you any. And I can vouch for him-he does sleep in boxers; has since he's been here."

Sango looked pensive for a moment before pulling away from Inuyasha, the tear tracks still fresh on her face, and walked to Miroku. She stood directly in front of him and slapped him across the face as hard as she could.

Mirokus hopes were dashed until she placed both her hands on either side of his face and pulled it up to look him in the eye.

"That's for hurting me all these years by letting me catch you with other women. And this is for finally making all that pain worth it."

And she kissed him. Slowly, lovingly, pouring her entire heart into it. It only took Miroku a heartbeat to wrap his arms around the girl he'd thought he would only kiss in his dreams. He pulled her as close as possible, kissing back with matching passion. Sangos hands moved to his hair, pulling it out of its traditional ponytail and running her fingers through it. His hands fanned her back, caressing.

She broke the kiss and looked him dead in the eye. "I love you too Miroku."

He smiled the most genuine smile she'd ever seen from him. "You've no idea how good it sounds to hear that from you. I thought I'd never hear it, and after this morning I was scared you'd never talk to me again at all."

She smiled back. "You're lucky you're so cute. And by the way, I do know how good it feels to hear those words. But enough of that. Just shut up and kiss me."

Miroku responded, "As you wish m'lady," before swooping down and recapturing her lips.

While Sango and Miroku were kissing each other senseless, Inuyasha had felt like an intruder and quickly gathered up the rest of his food and some extra and threw it all on to two trays with the double intention of giving the two lovebirds privacy, and feeding Kagome (and not to mention himself- he was starving!).

After he slipped out of the kitchen the back way as not to disturb the moment he picked up the strong scent of anger and tears from one of the back storage rooms. He peeked inside and saw one of the maids, Kira, sitting on the floor, her back to the door. He knew from the scent of tears that she had been crying and felt sorry for her.

'This must be the maid Miroku just dumped. A shame she had to get hurt like that, she always seemed like a nice girl even though I've only known her a few months.'

"I know you're there. Leave me alone."

"Kira its Inuyasha."

She whirled around, her eyes wide. He was one the two last people she had expected to see, with the other being the full-fledged demon who owned the house. "Oh…I'm sorry sir. I didn't realize who it was. But still, would you please leave me alone."

Inuyasha set down the trays outside and sat next to her. "I know what happened, and I'm sorry."

"I don't want your pity! Please, just let me be!"

Inuyasha shook his head. "I'm not giving you pity. I don't want pity so I don't give it. But just so you know, you're not the only person who knows how much it hurts to lose someone they care about."

She looked at him warily, trying to decide if this was a ruse or not. "Who did you lose?"

Inuyasha pursed his lips a moment before responding; he didn't like talking about her, but he didn't want this girl to close up on him and become bitter like he had after he lost his love. "Her name was Kikyo. She was the love of my life. A priestess. I was naïve and foolish then. She didn't go out with me because she liked me…she went out with me to give my enemy information on me and my brother. Once her real boyfriend was tired of sharing her she broke it off. When I pursued her she told me the truth so she wouldn't have to be bothered by me anymore. I didn't talk to anyone about it. I became bitter. Only because my friends were persistent and had limitless patience with me did I get out of my slump and start living again."

She stared at him in awe, a new respect forming for him. "That…that's terrible. I'm so sorry."

Inuyasha smiled gently at her. "I don't want your pity."

She smiled back weakly. "Okay, point proven. I just…I don't know. I really liked him. I knew the only way I'd get close to him was if I…messed around with him. So I did. I slept with him a few days ago and it was the best night of my life. It wasn't like he was just screwing me, it felt like he was making love to me no matter what he had told me about it just being physical." Kira looked away towards the ground. "I had hoped that if I kept it going long enough he would get to know me for who I am not just my body. I went to his room to try and see him again today. He was so angry at me this morning after Sango left…I'd never seen him like that before. I knew I didn't stand a chance anymore; he was already in love. I was so angry and hurt that I told him he'd regret dumping me. I was originally intending on breaking them up as revenge. I knew he would never give me the chance of day again so I was going to make him miserable….but deep down I really didn't want to do it honestly. And now…I'm going to just try and let it go; let him be happy. I'm going to apologize to him later, and explain myself before he gets the wrong idea. Sango too." She looked back up at Inuyasha. "Thank you. I feel so much better now. I guess I just needed to let that out."

"It's nice having someone to just listen sometimes."

"True to that," she smiled.

"Listen, anytime you need someone to talk to, vent to, whatever the case, just come find me, ok?" Inuyasha looked at her, hoping she would accept his offer.

Kira nodded and stood up. She reached down to help Inuyasha stand. He gave her a teasing look as he took her hands. "Isn't this supposed to be the other way around?"

She laughed and responded, "Yeah and I can see why…you're heavy!"

Inuyasha grumbled playfully as she pulled him up. "Do you want me to take the trays you had somewhere?" She asked once he was up.

Inuyasha thought for a moment, deciding to let her take the food up so he could go grab a few board games from his room to keep Kagome occupied for the day since Kesa was at the hospital with his brother and Sango would most likely be busy with Miroku all day. He wasn't quite sure where everything was so it might take him a while and the food would be really cold by the time Kagome got her hands on it.

"Sure. Could you take them to Kagome? She's in Sango's room," Inuyasha smiled at her.

Kira smiled back, but this time, it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Not a problem."

"Thanks a bunch." Inuyasha grinned and sped off to his room to dig out some games.

Kira bent to pick up the trays, her smile sinister. 'That was easier than I thought; he's so gullible it's ridiculous. But one quick stop and then to Kagome we shall go. Today turned out quite in my favor after all.' A chuckle escaped her lips as she headed in the direction of the medical cabinet.

'Mitsukake Asako has another son. Her husband was killed last year by a car-jacker. Does that help any?'

Kesa shook her head before responding to Sesshoumaru mentally. 'This poor family has no luck with cars do they? Is there anybody left to take care of the second son?'

'The chart had no other relatives listed as the next of kin. I suppose the boy is still alone unless somebody has taken him in or child services got to him.'

Kesa would have gasp aloud if she didn't catch herself in time. It was risky enough talking mentally with him around other, powerful demons who may have had the same trait but to physically respond would have been a death sentence.

'That poor child! We can't leave him alone! That's so cruel…his whole family is dead and now he has to fend for himself…we have to do something Sesshou-chan.'

Sesshoumaru was reluctant to admit that he liked the pet name she had just called him. He decided it was something he shouldn't dwell on and responded. 'What is this 'we'? I don't have to do anything. There are enough people in our house without bringing in a complete stranger. We don't even know, the second son may be an adult who can take care of himself. I'm not getting involved.'

Kesa decided that persistence would wear him down….or annoy him to the point where he would give in just to shut her up. It also wasn't lost on her how he didn't threaten her life for the nickname she called him. Maybe he was starting to warm up to her? It was something to think about after the mental connection was broken. 'Please Sesshou-chan? We'll just go and see. And if he is an adult, then just tell him you came to inform him of his family's death and to offer condolences or something. But if he's just a defenseless child, could you really leave him by himself and not feel the slightest bit of guilt?'

Sesshoumaru sighed mentally. 'I must be getting soft in my old age to even consider this scheme. Ok, we will go after I am done my shift. I remember the address from the chart. But no promises. If nobody is there then we go home I'm not spending half the bloody night on a wild-goose chase to track the kid down.'

'Deal. And thank you Sesshoumaru. This means a lot to me,' Kesa sent him the sensation of smiling.

Sesshoumaru broke the connection. He told himself the happiness swelling in his chest at making her smile was merely indigestion though he knew it wasn't true.

The first thing that entered the room was a teetering pile of brightly colored boxes supported by two clawed hands. After the mass turned around, the body that was attached to the hands was visible as it closed the door with its elbow.

Inuyasha walked over next to the bed and put down his load. He looked at Kagome and caught her in the middle of biting a piece of bacon. He smiled down at her.

"How is it?"

"Great!" She mumbled around the food. As soon as she chewed and swallowed she elaborated a bit. "This is delicious! Who made breakfast this morning?"

"Sango did. But now she's in the kitchen making out with Miroku instead of making food."

Kagome choked on the orange juice she was drinking and Inuyasha started patting her back as she coughed.

"What?! Since when are they...?"

Inuyasha grinned. "Since last night apparently. They had a nice kind of date and now they professed their love for one another and are sucking each other's faces off."

Kagome smiled. "That' so adorable. I'm really glad they're happy with each other. It's nice to see some good left in the world."

Before Inuyasha could respond Ayume walked in unannounced, which was something she never did. She looked pale as ice as she held a phone tightly against her shoulder . Inuyasha opened his mouth to ask but she shook her head and put a finger to her lips and mouthed one word that made Inuyasha's blood run cold.

Inspector

After coming very close to going insane from boredom, Kesa looked up with relief when Sesshoumaru spoke from the open doorway of the storage room. It didn't even matter to her anymore that he publically degraded her with the filthy names, just that her torture was over.

She silently followed the demon out of the hospital and climbed into his car the same way. After they were out of earshot of the youkai in the hospital, Sesshoumaru spoke civilly for the first time in hours.

"You are a better actress than I thought. Nobody questioned me about you."

She smiled in return. "Same goes to you. You're good at being cruel and domineering"

He gave a low chuckle. He decided to test if she was still suicidal or not. "My earlier statement was actually a lie." At her questioning and hurt look he continued. "I was asked about you, but not about why you were there."

"Will you stop talking in riddles and get to the point?"

"I had a demon offer me money for you." At her shocked look he decided to elaborate a bit. "He offered me almost 600 for you. He said that if you were cleaned up a bit you would be quite a catch. Seemed to really like you." He decided to leave out that the demon only wanted to use her as a sex toy and that he'd almost ripped the kid's arm off over it.

She chuckled lightly. "Yanno that should bother me cuz he probaly only wanted me for sex...but there's no point. Getting upset won't change the world. I just have to be thankful I'm in a part where I have people I can trust who won't hurt me anymore." At the last part she looked at him and smiled.

He was speechless for a moment at the beautiful way her genuine smile lit up her whole face before his cell phone chirped loudly from inside his dashboard, breaking the moment.

"I'll grab it," Kesa volunteered and checked the number before answering.

"Hey 'Yash what's up?"

"Where the fuck are you guys? I've been trying to get a hold of my damn brother for hours!"

"What could possibly be so important?" Sesshoumaru asked, not needing his sensitive hearing to know what the pissed hanyou was screaming into the receiver.

"Yeah 'Yash calm down and explain."

"There is no calming down. Get your asses here now!!"

Sesshoumaru took the phone from Kesa and growled into it. "If you do not stop screaming your fool head off and irritating me I will remove said fool head. Now what is your problem?"

"You arrogant asshole...we've got big problems. An Inspector is coming tomorrow at 8 o'clock! Somebody gave them a tip that we treat our slaves well and the only reason we got a tipoff is because of our influence! Everybody is going crazy trying to get everything ready in time. Now get your asses back here or it's your head they'll cut off!"

Sesshoumaru blinked and responded calmly, "We'll be there as soon as possible. And stop panicking because then you will forget something major that will jeopardize all of our lives. You have the checklist?"

Kesa looked at him sharply when he mentioned the checklist. She knew the only possible checklist he would be talking about was the checklist of all the things in the house that had to change when the Inspectors came for their yearly inspection so that they didn't realize the slaves were treated humanely.

"Of course I have it. Do you think I'm stupid or something?"

"I'm going to treat that as a rhetorical question," Sesshoumaru dryly responded. "Make sure you check everything yourself before you mark it off the list. I'll go over it myself and speak to the humans on behavior when I return."

"Ok just hurry it up will ya? We don't have a lot of time."

Sesshoumaru hung up without another word. As soon as he handed the phone back to Kesa to put back in the glove-box she fired questions at him.

"Why are the Inspectors coming four months earlier than scheduled? And for that matter, how long do we have before they get to the house? And most importantly, are we still going to see the second son?"

Sesshoumaru heaved a weary sigh. "If you would stop rambling woman you would have answers. They are: somebody gave in a tip that we don't abuse our slaves, so an Inspector is coming tomorrow at 8 o'clock in the morning. And yes, since we are five minutes from the address, we will still go see the boy."

Her look paradoxically grew dark and happy. "Good we'll take care of the kid. But who the bloody fuck tipped them off? Do you think it was because of me this morning?"

Sesshoumaru thought hard on this question before finally responding. "No, I don't believe it was because of you. I would have heard somebody making that kind of call. Nobody made any obvious inquiries about you. The only one that would say anything would be that cat and he knows I would kill him for doing any such thing. I almost ripped his arm off as it was for his impudence."

Kesa quickly put two-and-two together and got four. "The cat demon is the one who made you the offer for me." Sesshoumaru noticed that it wasn't a question but a statement.

"Yes," he responded hesitantly. He didn't like where her line of questioning would go now. He really didn't want to give details of the encounter nor have her thinking that he actually cared about her or something ridiculous like that. It was something he didn't like to think about himself.

So, he implemented standard male conversation-evasion-tactic-number-one: he quickly changed topics to distract her. "I have a theory on who gave the tipoff. When Inuyasha rescued your friend he left his scent behind in the alley. When Naraku finally went back for her and didn't find her, he probably recognized the scent and figured out where she was. He waited a while to call in the tipoff so we would feel safe and let down our guard so my brother and I would be killed and he could get his slave back without a fight or any complications."

Kesa nodded, not surprised in the least. "I thought of him but with what happened today it seemed much more...convenient? Plausible, maybe? But now that you lay it out like that it makes sense. Perfect Naraku fashion. Use the cowards way out so he doesn't have to do any dirty work, or any work at all for that matter, and his precious hide is in no danger."

"Exactly." Sesshoumaru pulled into the driveway of a two story suburban house. "Come wench." She raised an eyebrow and gave him a looked that screamed 'you-did-not-just-say-that' 'In case he's an adult I have to treat you like a slave. Have you no brains?'

The look on her face deflated into a mask of servitude and submission. He mind however, was not so docile. 'You ass of course I do. But I doubt this kid is an adult anyway.'

As she followed behind him up the walkway he responded 'Well it never hurts to take precautions, especially when we may all die or be sold up the river tomorrow as it is. We don't need anymore shovels with which to dig our own graves.'

'You're still an ass...' She mumbled, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of saying he was right. He smirked internally, knowing it anyway.

Sesshoumaru knocked on the door, loudly, several times, waiting a minute or two between each set of knocks. 'Looks like he's not here anymore. Somebody got him. Let's go'

'Now you're the one with no brains. Sniff him out. Listen to his movements. Use the senses God gave you. Do something constructive will ya?'

Sesshoumaru shot her a glare before taking her suggestion. He should have thought of it earlier; he must need sleep worse than he realized. And of course, thanks to another fabulous curveball from Fate, it didn't seem like he would be getting any sleep tonight either. What absolute fun.

Sesshoumaru managed to pick up a scent resembling that of the little boy he'd worked on the night before. He was hidden away in a room on the upper story of the house. Fear and desolation permeated the kitsune's scent.

'He's hiding inside. I'm going to go in and get him before he starves himself to death.'

'Ok, I'll follow like a good little slave.'

Sesshoumaru tested the door only to find it unlocked, which shocked him a bit. He had figured that the kid would have locked and barred the door against intruders. Or maybe he didn't realize his family was dead and left the door unlocked for when they came home.

Whichever it was, Sesshoumaru was glad that he didn't have to resort to more drastic methods. He stepped inside to a comfortable living room. He quickly followed his nose to the stairs and proceeded upstairs. One thing his nose did not pick up were any human scents. They must not have had slaves. The whole house was still very well kept and felt like a true home, which Sesshoumaru approved of. At least the kid had lived a decent life so far and did not have to see people brutalized in his own home.

He took a left at the top of the stairs, Kesa trailing behind him diligently. He stopped in front of the second door on the right and looked inside to find a little boy who looked no older than ten sitting on his bed staring at a picture. As soon as the boy heard Sesshoumaru he looked up and gasped in fear, scurrying off his bed and against the far wall, his breathing panicked, the picture clasped tightly in his fist.

"Do not fear. I will not harm you."

"W-who are y-you?" the kitsune cub asked, his whole body shaking in fear.

"I am a doctor. I tried to save your mother and brother but I couldn't"

Tears started rolling down the boys face as Kesa walked in, sensing that it was safe. The kid swung his gaze towards her and froze when he saw her face.

Kesa walked toward him slowly, complete disbelief on her face.

"Oh my god...Shippou?"

"Shit!" Inuyasha cursed as he narrowly avoided crashing into a maid. He continued running from room to room checking progress. "Where the hell is Sesshoumaru? He should have been back by now!"

There was still a lot that needed to be done. Nobody seemed to be moving fast enough. Then again, they normally didn't have less than 24 hours to prepare either. They usually started at least a month in advance to make sure everything was 100 believable. 'Who the hell could have tipped them off? Was it because of Kesa at the hospital today? Or is Naraku behind this?'

Finally he came to the slave quarters they had built in to the basement. All the sheets from the upstairs beds had been shredded and placed on these beds so that the scent of each slave was strong down here. All the upstairs beds used by the slaves would be completely disinfected and scraped of any scents. Personal items would be boxed and stored in the attic or placed around the house as ornamentations if they were nice enough. All the rooms would be turned into 'guest sweets' except for the rooms belonging to the two demons of the house. Some of the slaves would have to be hit or have bones broken so that they didn't look too healthy. That job was always left to Sesshoumaru because he knew how to make minor injuries look bad, and even knew a few tricks to age bruises so that not all of them looked fresh, and therefore suspicious. The sooner he got here the better. Everyone was working hard, but Sesshoumaru with his speed and calm head could have everything done with time to spare. And having Kesa wouldn't hurt either. She was quick, efficient, and knew just what to do.

"Where the fuck are you guys?"

Shippou slowly walked toward Kesa, tears still streaming down his small face. "Is it really you?" she asked him.

Sesshoumaru looked between the two of them, quite confused. "Do you know this boy"

Kesa nodded her head, her own eyes tearing up. "Yes. He was a playmate of Naomi's son, back in Hokkaidō. I used to take care of the two of them, reading them bedtime stories and such. Gods...I haven't seen you in years. Not since you moved when I was 11. I never knew your last name or met your parents. What are the odds..."

Shippou suddenly ran to her and wrapped his arms around her legs and cried. She quickly bent down and enfolded him in her own arms, cradling his head to her shoulder. "Please don't leave me Kesa! I saw my mom and brother get hit, and she told me to run home, otherwise I'd be taken to an orphanage. Please don't leave me here!"

"Shh baby, it's ok. I won't leave you I promise. Just calm down honey, everything will be ok..."

Sesshoumaru looked down at the two and felt his cold heart thaw. She was so good with kids. She would make an excellent mother. A perfect mate...

But not for him. He could never take a human mate. He was a well respected demon, and he intended to keep it that way.

But still the thoughts persisted.

She looked up at him, tears streaming down her own face for this little boys' pain and he knew his battle was lost. All his rational thinking went down the drain when he looked at her, realizing he wanted her to be his. Ironic that he'd hated her for so long and now he was envisioning taking her for himself. Fate was funny that way.

He knew what she was silently asking him as her eyes bored into his and he nodded his approval. She smiled and mouthed 'thank you.'

Shippou had calmed down during the exchange and Kesa broke the demons' gaze to pull away from the fox demon and look him in the eye. "Shippou, would you like to come live with us?"

The boy smiled the first smile seen yet. "I'd really like that."

"Then it's done. Let's pack some of your stuff. I'll help you. But we have to hurry, we don't have much time; there's an emergency at our house and we have to get there as soon as possible. I'll explain while we're packing and on the way home."

Shippou nodded, "Ok Kesa. I trust you."

Kesa smiled and bit her lip. "I'm glad you do baby. Now let's get moving. Sesshou-chan, care to help any?" she added, looking at Sesshoumaru with happiness radiating from her.

He would have moved mountains for her as long as she never stopped smiling at him like that.

Inuyasha sighed in relief when he heard Sesshoumaru's Porsche coming up the driveway. He had just had to help Kagome get settled in her new bed since she was feeling a little anemic and faint today, which was actually quite odd considering she was regaining her strength in leaps and bounds. But he figured everyone has bad days and set Sango and Miroku to work setting up Sango's room. Luckily they had gotten rid of the original mattress Kagome had used because Sesshoumaru had bitched so badly to him about the stench of blood permanently imbedded in it. Sometimes him being an annoying pain in the ass really turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Running this whole operation by himself was tough though, especially since he was only a half-demon. Things he may not be able to smell would be clear as day to a full-blooded demon. He had to have Sesshoumaru to double check everything. His senses were far beyond most other demons so he was a valuable asset to have.

When he started running to the garage to greet his brother and Kesa, he stopped, baffled. 'Why the hell do I smell a fox demon?'

He decided the only way to get answers would be to face his brother head-on, so he took off at top speed, making it to the garage just in time to see the door rising, the engine of the luxury car purring just outside. He could only stare transfixed as he pulled in and a kid jumped out off of Kesa's lap, followed by the girl herself. His brother killed the engine and pulled his seat forward to get a few bags out from the tiny backseat.

"What the fuck is this? We have an Inspector coming in the morning and you pick up some snot-nosed brat?"

"Inuyasha, watch your mouth! Really, you're a terrible influence on kids," Kesa chided and Shippou stuck his tongue out.

Inuyasha made a step toward the kit to strangle him when Sesshoumaru blocked his path. "The boy has been briefed on everything going on and will not be problem. He will be living with us from now on and you will not harm him. Now let's go, there is still much work to be done before the morning. Brief me on progress."

"No shit there's work to be done! 'Progress' isn't doing as well as it could without you being here! Why do you think I called..." Inuyasha trailed off at the venomous look his brother gave him and followed in silence.

After the two had left the garage, Shippou looked up at Kesa and asked, "Is he always such a jerk?"

Kesa chuckled. "Worse, usually, unless your name is 'Kagome.' But he does tend to grow on ya I must admit. Now let's go set you up in a room so I can get to work helping out."

"The most important thing you must remember is that you are slaves and are treated as thus. You receive no special treatment, you are beat when disobedient, and live in rags and squalor in the basement. I am your true master and owner, and no matter what Inuyasha commands his orders will always come second to mine because he is only half-demon. I have already injured some of you, as minimally as possibly, to make this story plausible, and gone over the entire checklist twice. We will not fail because of a mistake made there," Sesshoumaru took a breath and swept his intense gaze across the 10 or so humans standing in front of him. "Know that, should you make us fail this inspection, you will pay with your life, as will every other person in this house, including myself and Inuyasha."

"Thanks. Way to calm everyone's nerves, my lord. Next time how about you just give us a guillotine demonstrationinstead? Yanno, to take the edge off."

A few people smirked, a few others chuckled, and tension building among the humans was broken. Sesshoumaru looked at the girl who made the comment, openly showing anger.

"Well Kesa, I'm glad this is a joke to you. Then again after last nights' performance I'm sure you wouldn't mind being the volunteer for the next 'guillotine demonstration' I hold."

Kesa stuck her tongue out childishly. "Lighten up. We all know the drill. Why would we want to willingly give up this life?"

The demon shot her a mocking look and said coldly, "I'm not sure, why don't you tell me?"

Kesa's eyebrows crinkled in confusion. He was being purposely spiteful and trying to hurt her, whereas mere hours ago she had been actually able to make him laugh and smile while they were helping Shippou pack. Sesshoumaru, the heartless bastard who never showed joy or happiness was laughing and smiling because of a human girl. She'd never seen him look like that. Granted, he was gorgeous normally, but when he smiled, his whole face lit up and there was no better sight in the world. He'd actually looked happy, and sounded it when he let a deep, rumbling laugh that was so un-Sesshoumaru-like escape him a few times. 'Is he just worried about the inspection, or did I do something?'

Sesshoumaru turned to his brother, who was sitting behind him, dozing off and on. "Inuyasha, where is your newest pet? I see she is not here."

Inuyasha glared at him, too tired to verbally pick a fight. "She's in the slave quarters sleeping. She feels pretty bad today. She knows how to act though. She lived with Naraku for years so she knows what to do."

Sesshoumaru nodded and turned back towards the humans. "It's roughly 3:30 am. Go to your beds in the slave quarters, and be ready to wake up at 6:45 in case the bastard gets here early tomorrow."

Everybody started heading towards the basement, Sango and Miroku holding hands and smiling at each other sweetly as if nothing bad was happening. Kesa was the only human who had not followed the crowd. She walked over to Sesshoumaru, who merely looked at her, his face unreadable now.

She stared up into his eyes, trying to will him to make a mental connection so she could talk to him without Inuyasha hearing. He refused to make it and instead walked around her towards his room.

After a few paces he stopped. "Kesa?"

She turned around and looked at his back hopefully. "Yeah?"

"Give me the keys to the weapons case in your room. I have all the other copies already."

Kesa couldn't hide the look of disappointment that filled her face and fished the keys out of her pocket and walked in front of Sesshoumaru, placing them in his waiting hand.

"Sess-"

"Go to bed. That is not a request."

She turned and watched his retreating back go up the stairs sadly.

"Sess-chan...what did I do?" she whispered to herself.

Sesshoumaru winced when he heard the pain in her voice, wanting to go down and explain to her. But it was better this way, for both of them. She would understand eventually.

Inuyasha just looked back and forth between the two confused. 'What the hell is up with them?'

The normally lively and bustling manor had a strange coldness to it. Nobody put half as much effort into their work as they normally did, and there was a general air of gloom lurking in every corner.

The 'slaves' worked hard through injuries (including Kagome) to make sure everything was pristine; their work schedule would not be interrupted by the arrival of the Inspector. Inspectors liked to see the slaves at work, making sure they did as they were told; the only time they stopped work was if the Inspector had suspicions and interviewed the humans individually.

At 7:56 am a knock sounded at the door; clean, crisp, and quite possibly the sound of death for all.

Ayume answered it without looking into the Inspectors eyes and asked in a voice so flat and lifeless it could scarcely be identified as hers, "Good morning, sir. Who may I tell the Master is calling?"

"You can tell Lord Sesshoumaru that Inspector Kouga is here, and that if I don't like what I see he's in for a heap of trouble."

Tadaa! You know you love how I worked Shippou and Kouga in there. Admit it! Haha just kidding. Anyway, finally, another chapter! I know this one is short but I thought that this would be a good time for a nice cliff-hanger. I'm so nice, I know D

Moving on, as I said in the beginning I'm changing my penname to Cognoscente after this has been posted for a while. Hopefully I'll have another chapter up before the end of the summer because once I start college in the fall there probably won't be another chapter for a very long time (which you should actually be used to by now lol).

So, in honor of all my devoted readers who have stuck with me from the beginning and roughed it out, I dedicate this chapter to you. I thank you with all my heart for all the wonderful reviews. It's from re-reading them I got re-inspired to write again 333

Always-
Kagura-hime

Questions on Japanese? Ask in a review. Actually, you should review anyway and let me know I'm not wasting my time keeping this story up. Love ya lots!! D