Serendipity
A New Master?
Hello everyone ... I've been gone a long time haven't I?
>.< Been busy, then computer died and had to be reformatted, then come 5
projects, which I got stuck doing till I'm so tired of them I can't
think straight, then now there's the finals and I've been stuck studying, and I
still flunked my math. Oh well, and still studying for mandarin. Going to forget everything and just write
something now. Very very sorry again for the super huge extra long absence T___T
A Big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, I'm going to
put off replying to reviews in future chapter because it's taking off time for
actual writing of the story. It's hard enough to find time as it is.
/Italics/ - thoughts [it was "italics"
previously, but I found on some sites it won't show up properly, so in order to
not confuse it with dialogue, I've decided to change it to something more
obvious instead]
"blahblah" - dialogue
[blahblah] - author notes or translations.
AN: To clarify a little something, in my sense of youkai
smelling a scent, it's not just a physical smell, but also emotions and
character traits, and its also a bit like a feeling more than just smelling.
Like how some animals can smell fear, and how some can feel danger or kindness
from someone else.
Rating Alert: Some lustful hints on Inuyasha's part ... but
very mild I think.
Serendipity
~ sometimes blessings are disguised in the most unexpected ways ...
Chapter 3
A New Master?
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/Stupid wolf, why did he insist on coming when I've
already offered to come anyway? He
dislike me as much as I dislike him, so why .../ Inuyasha looked up sharply,
sniffing the air. /What is that intriguingly alluring scent? I have never
came upon any like it ... I wonder where it came from .../
he finally found himself in the gardens. /A very nice garden, almost as well
kept as the ones at Sesshoumaru's castle./ He thought distractedly, trying
to determine where the scent came from.
Suddenly, he heard the sounds of sniffling, then a shaky
breath. /There's someone here! A human female, why didn't I noticed sooner?
Must be that strange scent distracting me./ Inuyasha
walked towards the origins
of the soft sniffling.
/Wait a moment ... that scent is getting stronger! ...
no way! This scent can't possibly be from a human ... can it?/ A bewildered Inuyasha
cautiously approached the dark head he can see poking through the bush in
front of him. Silently maneuvering himself around the tree the human is leaning
against, he tried to have a peak at the human without her noticing.
Absently, it registered at the back of his mind that the
human is no longer sniffling. When she came into full view, Inuyasha
did a double
take at the beauty in front of him. As a prince and heir to the title of Lord of
the Western Lands,
he has seen his fair share of beautiful people, human or youkai, male or female.
However, Inuyasha was willing to bet his legs that this girl in front of him would
be a match in looks to anyone he's ever seen. [AN: Though I would say, with the
exception of Sesshoumaru, no one is a match with the beauty of Fluffy-sama, All
Hail Fluffy! .. Ahem! back to the story.]
that alluring scent straight into Inuyasha's face. He took a long whiff of the
scent, trying to decide what it felt like. /Warmth, and light, like sunshine;
something sweet and innocent, along with a fair bit of fire; lavender and
jasmine, with a hint of cinnamon and mint ... there's something dark and melancholy
there too, like the calm before a thunderstorm. Such an unique scent, I wonder
how the human is like .../ Inuyasha moved to the front of the human, expecting the girl
to prostrate herself at his feet immediately at the sight of a youkai lord. He
knew she was probably a slave or servant, since there was no other human at the
castle currently. However, the girl gave no indication that she noticed him at
all, and continued to stare into space, even when he has occupied that space.
Watching the girl intently, Inuyasha decided to wait for her to come to her senses
without his help. Besides, it was a good opportunity to observe this delicate
rose. Raven black hair framed a softly pointed face, with dark onyx
eyes half covered by long dark lashes, cherry red lips under a delicate little
nose, completed with flawless pale skin. Inuyasha licked his lips; his mouth has
suddenly gone dry. His eyes moved down her smooth neck, the firm swell of her
chest, her shapely thin waist, swept over her exquisitely shaped hands, and
finally down beautiful shapely long legs. A sudden image of them wrapping around
him appeared; Inuyasha swallowed
hard and quickly shook it out of his head before something
decided to spring to life. Looking back at her neck, he frowned at the solid
iron band encircling it, looking disturbingly out of place on such a delicate
and pale creature.
/Must be a slave then./ Inuyasha
thought,
knowing full well what that band meant. Displeasure flowed through him for some
reason, but he could not think of why. /Probably because such a delicate
creature should not have been treated so harshly. I never liked the idea of
torture./ A slight movement from the slave drew his attention back to her
face, waiting for her to acknowledge his presence.
Kagome suddenly a tingle down her spine, like someone was
watching her. Coming out of her daze, she blinked stupidly at the visage in
front of her, somewhat fuzzy mind not being able to connect what she's seeing
with the thoughts from her brain. Her confused eyes took in the startling honey eyes under
silver eyebrows, and the silver hair flowing behind him. Absently she wondered
if her daydream became reality. Her eyes continued
to travel down his body, taking in the baggy fiery red haori. Something
moved in the corner of her eyes, and she looked up at the top of his head, finally noticing
the fuzzy pointed ears twitching in his hair.
/... wait a moment, he's that hanyou!!/ She thought in
shock. That brought her out of her daze, dark eyes widening impossibly as she
tried to scramble back and away from the hanyou, which only resulted in pushing
herself against the tree she was leaning against. She was too shocked and still
not recovered enough from her daze to remember how she should be acting,
the intent scrutiny of the hanyou in front of her sending goose-bumps down her
flesh.
any of the slaves here know how to behave?/ He thought with
exasperation, thinking back to the other slave who had the audacity to talk back
to him. [A/N: Inuyasha had not recognized Kagome yet, because she was covered in
dirt and soot, but now she is clean.]
Glaring at her, he said: "Hey you! Isn't there something you should be
doing right now?"
Kagome eyes went even wider as a multitude of emotions
flashed through her expressive dark eyes, but the most dominant ones were fear
and dread. Her breath caught in her chest, and she found herself unable to
reply, her vocal chords having locked down in her fear. /What if he finds
out?!/ The thought went around and around in her head.
Inuyasha blinked in surprise, not sure why Kagome would be so
afraid. Then his eyes darkened in anger with the thought that she had probably
been badly mistreated; he had seen many broken slaves terrified at the smallest
indication of displeasure from their masters.
"a...a..I.." Kagome tried trm arm a reply,
forcing her unresponsive body to move into a kneeling position, bowing her head
submissively.
to be so terrified of me." Inuyasha said softly, as if he was talking to a
frightened pup. He knelt down on one knee in front of her, raising her chin
softly with his fingers.
Kagome was dumbfounded. She had grew up in mid midst of
pain and torture and she handled it, but the sudden kindness from the hanyou took her completely off guard. She opened her mouth to form a reply, any reply,
then closed it again when nothing would come to mind. She settled on just
staring at him.
difficulties this slave seemed to have with talking.
Kagome shook her head, swallowing hard. /Get a hold of
yourself Kagome! If he was going to kill you he would have done so already, so
snap out of it!/ She berated herself, /the last thing you want is for him
to get mad at you because you won't talk!/
breath tickling Inuyasha's fingers, which were still holding her chin up. "I
was just ... too shocked just now to react properly. Please forgive low lowly
slave." Kagome lowered her eyes, since she was unable to lower her head.
"Don't worry about it. I don't really like all this
slave business anyway, but it's been a tradition for so long, and I can't just
abolish it out of the blue. Especially since I can't do so without causing
friction with the Lords of the other Lands." Inuyasha suppressed a shiver from
the sensations her sweet breath cause on his fingers. Hastily, he dropped his
hand. Standing up, he motioned for her to do so as well.
/Her voice sounds familiar ... wait, isn't she that
same slave who talked back to me in the dungeons?! / Realising this,
Inuyasha drew himself up and glared down at the girl. "Say, aren't you that
slave who said I had "cute puppy ears"?"
coming to join you mother!/
Inuyasha snorted at the terrified girl, knowing she's
probably awaiting her death by his hands. "Don't worry, I'm not going to
kill you. Just make sure you behave from now on, not everyone is nice like me
you know."
"Y-yes, I am very sorry for my behaviour. I was not
thinking straight." Kagome answered in soft tones, eyes downcast.
He looked at her with curiosity, "What do you do
here?"
Kagome hoped he would just take it at face value and not inquire about her
specific duties."Personal slave? Do you share his bed?" Inuyasha
asked with interest. He felt his loins tightening. /Why am I reacting like
this to her? No female has ever had this effect on me./Kagome swallowed, not sure if she should answer the truth
that no, she does not share Hojo's bed, or if she should answer according to her
position thas, ss, she should be sharing his bed.
"Answer me!" Patience had always been an alien
concept to Inuyasha, and the movement of her white neck when she swallowed was
distracting him.
"No!" Kagome decided to go with the truth; she
did not need the hanyou to get any less than savory ideas.
"Really, I'm surprised. Make sure you are not lying
to me, or else ... " Inuyasha raised one of his claws in front of her face,
crackling his knuckles.
"I am not lying to you, I do not share Lord Hojo's
bed." Kagome tried her best to calm her racing heart.
"Well then, what do you do, if you do not share his
bed." Inuyasha said the last few words with a slight sneer, letting her
know that he did not believe her at all.
"I help him dress, clean his rooms, and accompany him
to serve him." Kagome was getting nervous, she wondered if he would do
anything to her.
"I see, well then, since you have no one to serve
right now, why don't you serve me." Inuyasha smirked at her.
/Nooo ..../ Kagome mentally moaned. /Hopefully
he would not ... do anything./ To answer the hanyou, she noded. It was
not like she had any choice.
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"Yo dog-breath! I'm going back t... " Kouga
trailed off, jaw dropping and eyes popping out of their sockets at the tenyo
following demurely after the hanyou. [Tenyo: somewhat like angel, fairy, or
goddess.]
"What stinky wolf, cat got your tongue?"
Inuyasha sneered, knowing well what, or rather who, the wolf was staring at.
asked, still in daze staring at Kagome.Kagome felt unnerved by the youkai's blatant staring, as
she followed behind the hanyou with her eyes downcast. She wondered who the
other youkai was, but did not dare to look up.
Inuyasha shrugged nonchalantly, though he was secretly
gloating. "I came upon her in the gardens. You should learn to appreciate
the beauty of nature too."
"She's a beauty alright, mind sharing?" Kouga
had finally gotten a hold of himself, and is no longer gapping like a fish at
the girl.
"No way!" Inuyasha growled. Somehow the thought
of another person touching the girl angering him, especially if it's the stupid
wolf Kouga.
"Aww, spoil sport! Anyway, as I was saying. I'm going
back to my lands, there's no need for us to stay here." Kouga knew the rule
of first come first serve among the youkai and did nry try to steal the girl. He
dragged his attention with some difficulty to look at Inuyasha.
Inuyasha turned to go, Kagome following him. "Wait!" Kouga called after them, stepping
closer. Even though he cannot outright take her from the hanyou, there was
nothing that said he could not make her come to him of her own free will, and if
she wanted to go with him, he would not mind buying her from the stupid hanyou. He took Kagome's hand and brought it to his lips, then planted a kiss
against the petal soft skin of the back of her fingers. "I am Kouga, prince of the
wolves and Lord of the Eastern lands. It is my honour to meet someone as
exquisite as yourself. If you ever want to get away from the stupid dog I'll
gladly buy you from him." Kagome blushed, a loss at how to react. However, she was
saved from having to make a reply by Inuyasha's angry growl."Stay away from my slave, you stupid wolf! Get your
hands off her!" Inuyasha was not pleased at all to see the slight reddening
of Kagome's cheeks. He did not like the fact that the mangy wolf was the source
of the girl's alluring blush. He moved to pull Kouga away, but Kouga has already
stepped back. With a wink at Kagome, he disappeared in a cloud of dust,
calling behind him: "You'd better take good care of the girl for when I
come to get her."Kagome blinked at the onslaught of dust left behind by the
youkai. /Who was that? I did not even get a look at him...but they're
all the same anyway, wanting me for my looks and "services". Even if
he buys me, I will just be going from one hell to another./ Kagome stayed as
she was, standing behind Inuyasha forlornly.
I">Inuyasha turned from glaring after the wolf to Kagome,
noticing her dejected look. Not sure why she look even more miserable than
before, but suspecting that it probably had to do with the wolf.
he says anyway." He tried to comfort her in a way. He also really wanted
her to disregard what Kouga had suggested; there was no way he would let Kouga
have her. Kagome nodded slightly, she did not really consider going with
the other youkai anyway. At least, from what she had seen from this hanyou, he
was not one to randomly abuse his slaves. She actually thought he might be
relatively nice for a part youkai master.
/I guess he is my new master ... I wonder if he will
take me with him? I'm getting old, even if he leaves me behind to wait for
Hojo's return, his father will still want to sell me soon since I am growing old
and it is obvious Hojo is not using my "services"./ Kagome
pondered. /Maybe this is for the better ... at least if I am forced to serve
anyone, this hanyou is actually not bad looking./
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I don't really like this chapter ... it was so hard to
write ... and it still turned out crappy >.< Hopefully it is not too bad.
Sesshoumaru shall appear soon ... in about one or two chapters at the most. (At
least I hope so ... the story is writing itself ... I am merely its medium.) I'm
not good at keeping characters in character ... forgive me if anything seems out
of place >.<
for the super late chapter. Hopefully the next chapter will come in a week or
so. ¡¡