Check One: YES - NO - MAYBE

Authors Note: Thanks everybody that reviewed chapter 1. I never really understood why other authors begged for reviews, and now I do. Reviews are motivation to write the next chapter and make it better than the last. So Please, Please, Please, Please, Please don't turn off my cable, it's all I got, that and the smokes, and leave me a review of what you think.

Chapter 2: The Setup

“Sup, Dude?” Sota asked as he shut the door to his room. The Lord of the Western Lands still sat in the same position he had been in for the last three days and two nights. The only time he had pried his eyes from the screen was to elicit information about the tiny humans in the box's various activities.

“You desire this female.” was the response. More of a statement than a question.

“Huh!?” Sota exclaimed looking towards the TV.

“I have noticed several likenesses of her on the walls here in your chambers, as well as on the coverings of your futon. You wish to bed this woman?”

Sota's cheeks flushed red and he tried to stammer out a reply, but nothing would come.

“Not an unwise choice in my opinion. She is strong, talented, and skilled with both the shuriken, and certain fighting magics that even I have been unable to duplicate so far. Although, the pink hair is a bit strange, and you may have to kill this Naruto first. It seems he has intentions towards her as well.”

Sota was stunned into silence for a moment. Although he was a bit embarrassed, he was also quite grateful as well. Grateful for the fact the Sesshomaru hadn't looked through his things or glanced under his bed and seen a notebook with a green cover.

Sota loved manga, and had, over time become quite a talented artist. His dream was to have his own manga one day, published by Shonen Jump. The problem is that housed beneath that plain green cover was all of his best drawings of the object of his adolescent affection. And although the renderings of his beloved Sakura were quite good, he wasn't sure if anyone would truly appreciate the various states of undress, or the suggestive poses that had leaked their way from his hormone overloaded brain and onto the pages.

The only thing he could think of, was to change the subject entirely. “Kagome's on her way home. She should be here in a few minutes. Then you can talk to her, and tell her all the stuff you told me about that whole rutting, mating, puppy plan you talked about a few days ago.”

For the first time since he had arrived here, Sota saw Sesshomaru's countenance change. He went from his usual stoic, nothing can move this pole up my ass, face to a look of sheer terror.

What would he say? What would he do? He was nowhere near the “cool guy” that he thought she wanted to see. What was confusing him even more was the fact that there were so many “cool guys” that women seemed to love, but they were all so different. Which one would she want him to be?

He did the only thing he could think of. Something he had not done in centuries, since he had been a pup.

He ran.

He couldn't face her, not like this. He leaped from Sota's bed, banging his head on the ceiling. Sota, never having seen anyone move so fast, but be so clumsy, yelled, and fell off the bed. His nose came to rest mere inches from the afore mentioned green covered notebook.

“What the hell's wrong with you, man? You look like you've seen a ghost!” He shouted.

“I must leave, NOW!” the demon shrieked.

“Why? She'll be here in a few minutes. She was just saying goodbye to her friends when I passed her on the sidewalk.” Sota yelled, very confused, and trying to keep up with the much faster dog demon.

Getting lost trying to find the door slowed the dog down a bit, but after going through the living room, the front closet, the downstairs bathroom, and the pantry, he finally made it out the kitchen door and into the courtyard.

He turned so suddenly that Sota, who had caught up, almost ran into him. His initial feeling of terror had begun to subside, and his normal stoic disposition was returning. He squinted hard at the harsh sunlight, still a bit disoriented from his vigil in the boys darkened room. The Inu brought his face very close to the boys.

“You will tell no one of my sojourn here, especially the miko. Understand?”

He nodded, “Oh Shits” starting to return.

“And the next time I come to view your box, you will allow me to watch the large one downstairs instead of the tiny one in your cramped quarters.”

He sniffed once, turned, and in a blur of white, vanished down the well.

Sota stood there in a complete daze... for all of thirty seconds before he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

“Thanks a lot Sota!” Kagome yelled, interrupting his stupor. “Just walk past a girl with a heavy bag and don't even bother offering to help!”

“Sorry, I had something I had to do.” he responded, still stunned by the bizarre series of events that happened in the last three days.

“What, you had to rush home so you could stand in the courtyard looking like a complete retard, with your mouth hanging open? Those video games have totally screwed with your brain.” She spat back, lugging her bags into the house. “And why are all the doors open?” she yelled from inside.

Sota turned, shoulders hunched in defeat. He didn't even care what was going on any more. All these people were completely crazy. He needed some peace and solitude, without a giant white demon sitting on the edge of his bed saying “Explain” every 30 seconds. He needed some alone time... with a certain green covered notebook.

>---------------------->

The mighty Tai Youkai sat on the edge of his bed. Head in hands, elbows on knees. He had flown straight home immediately upon exiting the well. Jaken had taken one look at him, and become quite worried. He had fussed over the fact that his lords eyes were bloodshot, and there seemed to be dark circles under them too.

What had concerned the loyal retainer the most though was the bright orange stain that circled his mouth and covered his fingers. Acting completely out of character and with utter disdain for his personal safety, the toad had commanded his lord to go directly to the healers so the bizarre poison that was apparently afflicting him could be dealt with.

He convinced the imp that he was not under a spell, or having a strange reaction to the acid demoness that he had pursued some time back. He had immediately summoned his best craftsmen, and commissioned a new piece to be built. They had looked at him in bewilderment as he explained over and over, with each explanation becoming more animated, what he desired from them.

They simply could not grasp the concept of a box, that could magically see into other peoples lives. Their never ending stream of questions had irritated him to no end. In the end he let them know that the box was their problem, and where to find the tiny humans to fit inside it, was his.

And there it was sitting in front of him. He had been so pleased when they had brought it to him that same day for inspection. All was as he had instructed, including the wand of power that was recreated perfectly, even down to the DirecTV logo at the top. It looked exactly as the one in the boys room had, or, it was close enough.

But he found he did not know the incantation to start the magic. Maybe it's a miko thing , maybe they alone truly hold the power of the magic box. Since the boys sister was a powerful miko, it would stand to reason that she would allow her own blood kin access to such an enjoyable form of divination.

He groaned and ran his claws through his hair for the tenth time in as many minutes, trying to think of what to do next. His near perfect memory remembered it all, every second of time spent before the glowing portal. Every word, every gesture, every expression and mannerism of all the “cool guys” he had observed.

The box is not the point! he realized jumping to his feet and beginning to pace. The point is to find out which of the “cool guys” I have observed is the one that she desires. A plan began to take form in his mind. It wasn't difficult, he would simply try them out for her, one at a time, till he found one she liked. It was so simple, why hadn't he thought of it before.

He walked over to his wardrobe and began rifling through it, pulling out almost all the clothes he had, and throwing them on the bed. This will work , not realizing what a week without sleep, and 72 hours of non-stop TV watching can do to ones decision making process.

He made a mental checklist of the supplies he would need and called for Jaken. As he waited for the imp to appear, he said aloud, “And the first thing she shall do, once she is safely within my chambers, is use her powers to make this box work.”

>------------------------------------------------>

Sota had kept his word, and not breathed a word to Kagome of what had transpired in her absence. He knew that if she ever found out, she would be pissed. At least her wrath didn't consist of disemboweling, or any of the other painful deaths he was sure the demon lord knew.

Kagome returned to the feudal area the next day, and resumed the usual shard hunting routine that had become normal for her over the last few years. Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kierara had been happy to see her and were glad to resume their quest. InuYasha had cursed, and called her stupid for taking so long at home, and had run on ahead so everyone would know that he was the best at everything.

Just your completely typical day for your modern girl, that is really a reincarnated priestess, that is looking for a never ending amount of tiny jewel pieces, with all of the most evil and vile creatures in all of the land gunning for them on a daily basis. You know, normal.

Until

They all noticed a figure, standing just off the trail up ahead.

As they drew nearer, and could begin to make out his features, Kagome still did not recognize him. He was wearing tight blue pants, brown pointed shoes, a denim looking shirt, and red bandanna tied around his neck, what looked like a western style gun belt, and a cowboy hat made out of reeds.

“Well hello there small woman,” Sesshomaru said with his best Texas drawl. He walked towards the group, hips gyrating in a strange, rolling, halting rhythm.

He had practiced the voice as much as he could, and with his natural deep baritone, thought he pulled it off rather well.

“S-S-Sesshomaru?” Kagome asked haltingly.

“Round these parts, they call me 'The Duke', ma'am.” he said tipping his hat, just like the tall cowboy he had seen on the Western Channel. He had been transfixed at how this human male had demanded so much respect, even though he had no powers to speak of. He had understood the human males need to care for and protect his land, as well and his desire to woo the attractive woman the seemed a bit too fiery for anyone else to tame. It had seemed the perfect match to him.

All six of the shard hunters stared with mouths hanging open. They could not believe their eyes.

InuYasha did what InuYasha does best. He leaped in between the group, and the strange figure before them. Still a bit confused, he brandished Tetsusaiga. “What do you want, you bastard?” he said with less conviction than normal. He smelled his hated half -brother, but had never seen him dressed or speaking like this before.

Sesshomaru looked up at the hanyu, and lazily said, “Maybe ya ought a put that thing down before someone gets hurt, son. Now if you don't mind, I was talking to the woman.”

He returned his gaze to Kagome, whose mouth was almost back to it's natural position.

“A small woman like you doesn't belong in rough country like this, ma'am. You need a big tall man with a large hat to look after ya. I was wonderin, Miss Kagome, if maybe some evening you might be interested in taking a buggy ride out in the moonlight.”

Before Kagome could even think up a response, InuYasha butted in. “I don't know what the fuck you're trying to pull, and I don't know what a buggy is, but your not taking Kagome anywhere.”

Faster than their eyes could see, Sesshomaru darted in, and punched InuYasha square in the mouth. The half-breed went sailing back, till he connected with a fairly large tree, and fell to the ground.

“Watch your mouth round the women, son.” 'Duke' Sesshomaru said as he turned back to face Kagome.

“Sheesh Sesshomaru! Whats your problem?” Kagome asked as she rushed past him to try and render aid to her dazed protector.

InuYasha pushed her aside. “I'm fine wench. Now where is that bastard?”

Everyone turned to look, he had vanished.

“What was that all about?” asked Sango.

“I'm not really sure.” said Kagome. “That was Sesshomaru, wasn't it?”

“Yeah it was Sesshomaru,” blurted out InuYasha. “But I've never seen him act like that before.”

“And what was he wearing” Asked Miroku. “I've never seen clothes like that before.”

“It was a cowboy outfit.” Kagome said, still trying to put all the pieces together. “He called himself 'The Duke'! Why, he was acting like John Wayne?”

“Who's John Wayne?” everyone asked at once.

“He was an actor from the modern era. InuYasha, you may have seen him on TV before. Gramps loves those old westerns.”

Nobody understood what she was saying, but they didn't understand a lot of what Kagome said. They pretty much ignored anything she said with the words “modern era” in them.

>--------------------------------------------------->

In a tree, close enough to hear what the group was saying, Sesshomaru was listening intently. He was not too discouraged that his first attempt had failed. At least she had figured out who he was pretending to be. It was a bit of a trial run anyway, more to gage their reactions than anything else. Not that he would have minded playing the part of the rough and tough cowboy for her.

He began to scroll through his list of possibilities for the next best prospect to win her affection.