A.N. I've finally reached double digits with this fic. Very exciting!If only that excitement had turned into plot inspiration lol. I had a bit of difficulty constructing an outline for this chapter, but here it is!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Underneath the Brown Wrapping

(Tsuki)

Chapter Ten

(Tsuki)

She found the room pitch black, "Ugh… now where is that light?"

The dim light from the hall barely helped her out.

Her hand felt around the wall for the switch as she muttered various curses, frustrated when she couldn't find it.

Suddenly a hand snaked around her mouth and the door was slammed shut.

Kagome let out a muffled shriek as she was picked up and another door was opened.

She was thrown gently within the room and the door was shut. She pounded on the door and tried to open it, but someone was leaned against it.

She pitifully sank to the cool floor of what could only be the bathroom and rubbed her temples, "What the hell is going on?"

The bathroom was just as dark as the room she had been in and the tiles of the bathroom floor kept causing her to shiver.

Suddenly she heard giggles. Kagome eyes narrowed. Giggles? And to make matters even worse, she recognized one of the voices. "Mirouku?" She hissed out in question.

She only ended up getting shushed, "We're playing a game, Kagome. Stay quiet!"

"Quiet? You jerk! How do you expect me to be quiet when I'm locked in a bathroom like this?"

"Kagome-channnn," he whined.

"I'm serious Mirouku, let me out!" Her force held a twinge of fear in it as she gaze with uncertainty around her, but saw nothing but a seemingly endless abyss.

Someone suddenly whispered, albeit, none too quietly, "I think she's asking us to get her company, Mirouku…"

"You dumbass! That's not what I'm asking at all!"

"Really, I could have sworn she wanted out…but—"

Kagome resumed pounding against the door, "No buts! Please let me out of here!" The second voice gasped, "She said please…may-maybe we should leh her out." Kagome suddenly identified it as Inuyasha's.

"But she also said 'but!' Hahahaha I said it too! Buttttt!" Inuyasha let out a silly laugh and repeated the word in a slurred mumble.

"Are you both drunk?"

Mirouku shushed her again, "Don't tell okay? Hih'd get in a lottaa trouble if they found me drinking on the job…"

Inuyasha abruptly cursed, "Oh shit! Someone's coming!"

Mirouku hissed through the door, "Don't make a sound Kagome-chan, or I'll tell you who about you know what!"

Kagome did not know what was worse, knowing she had been enclosed in there by her cousin or when she had been thinking that it was some random psychopath.

This was probably worse…

These idiots were not only probably just as psychotic and unpredictable as any other random crazy person, but people you just met tended not to know anything to blackmail you with to keep you from screaming your lungs off.

Kagome heard the room door open then and prayed it was Sango…then those two guys would get the worst ass beating of their lives and she could feel compensated for all of this.

But when she heard a scuffle and a cry of, "Holy sssshit, Mirowwku! It's Sesshoumroo! Hee's fucking gonna kill us!"

There were sounds of grunting and Kagome decided to throw all her secret planning out the window. The hell she was helping this guy, if he was currently planning on locking Sesshoumaru in with her.

She pounded on the door, "Let me out!"

Her only response was the sound of more struggling and Inuyasha's abrupt cheer of, "We got him! Get the door!"

The door flung open quickly, slamming into Kagome with the entirety of the force that Mirouku had thrown against it.

Kagome stumbled in the darkness until she reached the tub. It connected with her legs and caused her knees to buckle when it hit her the backs of them. She snatched the curtain, but that did not completely stop her violent fall as most of it immediately snapped off under her unexpected weight.

Her skull smacked hard against the tiled wall of the shower. Her limp body slumped down into the mouth of the tub, and her head lolled from side to the side until a new blanket of obscurity overcame her as she slipped from consciousness.

(Tsuki)

Sesshoumaru had never felt such a murderous rage before in his life…

One of those little bastards had dared put their hands over his mouth… A grimace crossed his features.

Their fucking dirty, alcohol reeking hands! Over his mouth!

How revolting…

He flicked on the lights.

Now where was that damn girl?

She was being rather uncharacteristically quiet. He scowled in thought of her.

It had been her fault they got they upper hand over him. Hearing her voice when he did had thrown him off guard and he had hesitated before he could successfully maim either moron.

And then he found her…

He let out a string of curses.

This was just the icing on top of his cake of hell.

(Tsuki)

When Kagome woke up, she awoke to a splitting headache. She let out a wince. Her eyelids fluttered opened only to snap shut again at the harsh light shining down on her.

She did not even bother trying to sit up. The raven haired girl simply took shallow calming breaths to try and ease her headache and clear her muddled mind. Nevertheless she could not for life of her remember where she was or why her head hurt so fiercely.

Kagome murmured a few incoherent jumbles of words, which to her, sounded to be a completely lucid sentence. The initial response was a sloshing noise near her and the deafening rush of water.

"You're finally awake." The voice sounded as if she were hearing it underwater and she tried rolling closer to the sound to hear it better but a lithe hand restrained her.

"Stay where you are," it commanded with that same incorporeal sounding tone.

A cool, damp cloth was placed on her forehead and suddenly Kagome realized suddenly how warm it was where she was. As if she was on a heater. And long gone was the feel of the frosty ceramic of the tub beneath her. That had been replaced by the some soft, fuzzy surface.

Abruptly, everything came rushing back to her.

Her disjointed mumbles spewed from her lips again as she remembered who else was in the room with her.

"Moving will only make your head worse. Besides, we are not leaving anytime soon. Those morons passed out in front of the door, so you might as well cease that senseless activity. It will certainly not make time pass by any quicker." He snorted out the last part with a roll of his eyes.

And suddenly she emitted her first understandable word of Japanese since they had been trapped in there, "Die…"

There was a scoff, "Your animosity towards me is truly incomprehensible." But then again what he was also unable to grasp, was why he kept trying to appease her…

From the very beginning, all his actions did not make sense to even him. Although to his defense, when he initially saw her in the bookstore, he had truly assumed that she was a child.

Kagome rolled her head away from the sound of his voice. "…Incomprehensible…?" She repeated almost indecipherably. "How so? It…felt like you were contemptuously taunting me." Her voice sounded hoarse and strain. "I had never seen your face before that day you know. But when I look at you as Sesshoumaru Taisho, I see a man who's never even heard of the word 'dilemma.'"

With an exasperated undertone she summed up, "You don't seem like you have any problems." She paused, "But in the bookstore, even if it were just for a moment, you looked as desperately lost as I felt that day. I thought I could relate to you. I felt a feeling of betrayal…. That you turned out to be the exact opposite of me…" she left the sentence hanging.

Sesshoumaru made an annoyed sound, "Because I don't wear my problems on my sleeve—"

Kagome raised her tone, her voice gruff, "Because you ended up knowing so much about me. I was an open book and you're so locked up that you couldn't even tell me who you were!"

"How juvenile you're acting…" he muttered with irritation, "And what exactly would you have done with that knowledge? How would you have benefitted from me divulging that information if neither of us made the assumption that we would see each other again?" Before she could get a retort in, he continued, "And an even better question is though, how long was our phone conversation if I hardly remember conversing with you?"

Kagome felt her cheeks flush…

So technically she hadn't even been on the phone with him.

He continued coolly, "I get literally hundreds of phone calls in a day with offers for my brother. Yet I remember hearing nothing from a Kagome Higurashi… So do not feel as if I am required to act as personally as you do with strangers."

Kagome sat in silence for a moment, her head was still spinning and she suddenly felt nauseous. She shuddered a bit from the feeling and brought her knees closer to her chest. The towel slipped off her forehead.

"Your reasoning behind this irrational attitude is just as nonsensical as the manner it inspires."

"Fine!" She hissed, "You want to know the truth…I hate you because you're exactly the type of person I could end up depending on! I hate that you make me feel like I can rely on you, when I'm trying so hard to stand up on my own two feet!"

With the manga… the ice cream…at the hospital…and with the prospective embarrassing situation that could have occurred at the grocery store. Everything made her feel as if she couldn't keep her head with him around.

Her voice lost its harsh tone, "I feel too open with you and it's easier to push you away than feel this reliant with someone I barely know."

Even if the light would not have stung her currently oversensitive eyes, she still would not have opened them, because she didn't want to see Sesshoumaru's expression after that uncomfortable admittance.

"You truly are an irrational girl."

Kagome heard the same roar of water and felt warm fingers straighten her head and the cool cloth was placed yet again on her forehead.

"Dependency is human nature. If you feel the need to rely on someone then take it not as a sign of weakness, but as a chance to advance. Rather than get nothing done, receive assistance and move on. You would better grow as a person doing the latter…"

She was silent for a moment before she posed in a quiet, timid voice. "Do you have anyone that you rely on, Sesshoumaru?"

He superciliously scoffed, "No."

But hadn't he just said….

A small smile graced her lips.

Who knew, Sesshoumaru probably was a bigger liar than she was.

She smiled a bit, "Thanks for everything for now and earlier… And I also apologize for before—though it's very long overdue."

"Hn."

As she drifted off, this time, to sleep, she could not help but wonder what type of expression Sesshoumaru was wearing now.

(Tsuki)

The next time she woke up, there was still the distinct throbbing, but it was now isolated to the top left side of her skull. She was lying on her right ride, and the softness underneath her was even softer yet.

She braved opening her eyes slowly and was met with a foggy blur. She one handedly rubbed her eyes and lay still for a moment.

"Kagome? Are you awake yet?" She heard someone call to her. Their tone was unmistakably worried.

She recognized instantly, albeit with some bewilderment, that it was her brother who had addressed her.

"Souta…?" she called back groggily, her voice was rough and scratchy.

An excited exchange occurred in the hallway and a door opened. Kagome endured opening her eyes to see what was going on.

Kagome was surprised to note that she was in her mother's room. She recognized the older woman's decorating motif almost immediately. Her cheerfully cerulean painted walls, her white and azure polka dot drapery, her bed; all of it was her mother's… But how had she gotten there?

Souta suddenly came into view. She had to squint her eyes to focus on his face, but soon she was seeing him clearly. She repeated what she had said moments before and tried to sit up.

He gently held her back. "Try not to move around too much, sis! You hit your head pretty hard apparently. Not hard enough to do any permanent damage thanks to that thick skull of yours," he weakly joked, "but you do have a mild concussion so it's the doctor's orders that you stay in bed at least for the rest of today." He murmured, "God help me on getting that to happen though."

"Doctor? When did I see a doctor?"

"Sesshoumaru brought you home at like twelve last night—or this morning rather and called his private physician over to give you a quick look down."

Kagome was quiet for a moment and Souta touched her cheek gently, "You okay, sis? Seriously, man, I won't lie and say I wasn't worried. Mirouku is definitely gonna have it later! I don't know what he was thinking." He muttered the last part to himself.

"Okay?" She gave him a wry smile, "It hurts to even think. But I'll live."

Souta brought something into view. It was a large ceramic plate. On top of it was a bowl of fruit and a glass of water. Two small pills lay on a napkin next to the glass. Souta held out a fork. "Eat at least some of this fruit and drink something and I'll give you some Advil."

Kagome halfheartedly grabbed the fork and Souta assisted her in sitting up. He propped a pillow between her and the head board and placed the plate in her lap.

"Do you remember what even happened last night?" He asked as she started at the fruit, with very little enthusiasm.

"I don't remember why those idiots were running around as smashed as they were. I saw both that morning, before I left to see momma, and they were fine. I can't even possibly think of anything that could have set them off to drink enough to lock me in a bathroom." She scowled.

Souta took a seat on the side of her bed. "So you hit your head as soon as you were thrown in there?"

"No…it was later when they fling Sesshoumaru in. The door hit me and I went flying," she grimaced and touched her head. It was only then when she noted the gauze that wrapped across her head.

Souta fumed, "Mirouku ended up running off so I spent the whole time wondering what happened since Sesshoumaru said he couldn't 'be certain as to what occurred'."

Kagome had eaten a good portion of the fruit and so she set that aside and downed half the cup of water. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was until she had felt the first sip go down her parched throat. She would have finished the rest had it not been for the fact that she still had to take the Advil.

She popped them in her mouth and took a swig of water to help her swallow them. The girl then commenced to empty the glass.

Souta moved to take the plate from her, "You finished?"

"Yes, thanks…" She paused, "How are Rin and Shippou?"

Souta rubbed the back of his head, "Equally as worried as jii-chan and I were. They freaked out quite a bit when they saw you our cold. It was like a repeat I guess from yesterday afternoon, so they don't want to see you just yet."

Kagome sighed, "Have they eaten yet?"

Souta nodded profusely and suddenly he grinned, "I'm going to like those two, for sure. Calling them hearty eaters would have been an understatement. I made waffles an hour ago for them—giant stacks mind you—all of them gone in minutes! It was like that at dinner too last night after you left."

The raven haired girl gave a smile. She was glad then. Both children were shockingly underweight and it relieved her to know they were finally eating well.

Kagome turned her head slowly and glanced at her mother's alarm clock on the white night stand with a mirror surface. Kagome ignored her battered reflection in favor of checking the time. It was only nine in the morning.

"Nine! Only nine o'clock…And I have to stay in bed all day?" She scoffed, "I am not staying in bed literally for a day!"

Souta sweat dropped, "How late did you think it was?"

"I was hoping it was twelve of one or something! But nine? No way I can do that?"

Her brother cowered as his sister threw her fit, "But the doctor—"

"Screw the doctor! What does he know?"

"Kagome!" he whined, "It's for your own benefit anyway! Just go to sleep or something, okay? I mean you're making it sound like the end of the world."

"If I sleep for two hours, can I get up?"

"Five?"

"What? Now way! Two and a half!"

"Four!"

"Two hours and forty minutes…?"

"Three!"

"…Fine."

Souta turned to leave and he gave his pouting sister a wink, "But you're only allowed to be on your feet for an hour."

"Wait what? Souta! I demand a negotiation."

He smirked. "We'll negotiate when you wake up. I'm expecting you to be asleep for exactly three hours, sis, so you better start catching those z's."

Kagome slid down from her seated position and adjusted her self so that she was lying down.

It was only then that she realized how tired she still was.

Souta stayed at the doorway and watched his sister until her breathing evened out and she was deeply asleep.

He shook his head lightly with a wry grin, "That girl would work herself tired even if it killed her, huh?"

Abruptly the grin left his face and he sighed. Turning around, he murmured, "Idiot."

(Tsuki)

When Sesshoumaru had gotten back to the hotel around two in the morning after dropping off Kagome at her shrine, he immediately went in search of the two idiots who had put both in that horrendous situation.

If it hadn't been for a brunette maid coming to look into what was taking Kagome so long in their room, the two of them probably would not have been freed until whenever those two dumbasses decided to wake up.

But at two when he returned, the manager was no where in sight and neither was that infuriating brother of his.

He had found a few of Inuyasha's articles missing, so he had assumed that his brother was probably hiding in a room somewhere in the building.

So harming either of the two was put towards the back of his mind as he got some long awaited rest. In an out of character move, he had merely taken off his shoes and slipped under the covers.

It had been a draining day and he just wanted nothing more than to sleep.

Hours ticked away like seconds though before his alarm clock went off and he was forced to emerge from his short lived slumber.

The silver haired man rose easily from the bed and silenced the alarm before making his way to the bathroom to prepare for the morning.

He had a meeting at nine that would probably extend for a few hours.

'I certainly overlooked this…'

Sesshoumaru ran a hand swiftly and with blatant irritation, through his hair at the sight of the state the shower curtain was in.

Several towels still littered the floor where he had left them the night before.

He had a feeling that this morning was going to piss him off….

With quick steps, Sesshoumaru reached the room phone and picked it up, intending to call the front desk about replacing the shower curtain.

Of course, intending and doing were two different things.

Although he intended to make the call, he couldn't do so because there was no dial tone…

He looked down and his brow rose as he saw that the telephone cable connected to the phone had been ripped out of the wall.

Sesshoumaru scowled.

They were complete dumbass. Complete and utter moronic shit for brains.

He could only wonder what other damage they had done to the room that they would have to end up paying for.

Incidentally, if Sesshoumaru had turned his head a little more to the right, he would have seen the beginnings of a hairline crack that was hidden behind part of the curtain. And if said curtain had been pushed back, he also would have, incidentally of course, seen the intricate lines and pattern formed by the almost completely cracked window—which certainly would have helped to make his morning.

But he hadn't.

Instead of turning right, he turned left. He needed to get to the front desk. It was seven thirty now and he needed to showed and get ready so he could leave by eight fifteen.

He rushed out the door just as the person in the room across from his opened theirs.

And suddenly two pairs of amber eyes met.

One pair narrowed and the owner of the second cursed, "Oh shit…" His eyes closed and he waited tensely for the berating that was undoubtedly well deserved.

Perhaps it had been unwise to choose the vacant room across from Sesshoumaru's to hide-away in?

But Sesshoumaru had already strode past him with a hissed, "I'm using your shower."

Inuyasha blinked as he heard the bathroom door slammed. He ignored the throbbing in his skull that the sound incited and mused, "I guess I can live for another fifteen minutes…"

He continued down the hall, "Now if I could only do something 'bout this hangover, this would be a pretty damn decent morning."

(Tsuki)

When Kagome awoke the second time that day, she was greeted by the sight of Kikyou sitting in a near by rocking chair.

The older girl had dozed off and her hand was lying across her stomach. Kagome stretched, reveling in the fact there her head no longer felt as if some tiny jack hammer was abusing her head.

Her bruise still hurt upon contact, but she felt a lot better.

Kagome rose, from the bed, a tad shakily and slipped out of her mother's room. She unsteadily walked a few feet down the hall that led to all the bedrooms. Her eyes gazed passed the various framed pictured that decorated the hall in favor of seeking out her room door.

She pulled it open. She could hardly tell that Rin had been in there. Nothing had been moved and the bed had been remade.

Kagome hurriedly got her bathing things and made her way to the bathroom as quickly as her battered body would allow.

All she wanted was a nice warm shower, and a nice warm meal. Not only did she feel incredibly grimy and she knew she probably looked like hell after all that happened yesterday, but she was half starved to boot. She could feel her stomach rumbling as she undressed and removed the gauze around her head.

The once pristine white material was stained slightly with blood from where it had been wrapped around her head.

Kagome took a quick shower and washed her hair, biting down a multitude of curses by the time she step out of the shower from the pain caused by her wound's contact with the shampoos and conditioners.

The heated water had definitely done something next to miraculous for her body, though. Her tired muscles no longer felt drained and on a whole she felt completely refreshed.

She moved to brush her teeth to remove the coppery taste of blood from her mouth and after a quick swig of mouth wash, she was out the door. Her stiff, languid movements had become a lot more vivacious. She got dressed in her room before went to wake up Kikyou.

And as soon as she got the other woman awake, Kagome immediately started spewing a rapid torrent of apologies for standing Kikyou up yesterday.

"I'm so, so, so, so sorry! I should have called you or something—Oh my god, I didn't even get your number! I'm sorry… I probably should have asked before." She smacked her head lightly, only to wince at the action. With a sheepish look she continued, "But I will totally make this up to you for sure! I mean I'm really—!"

Kikyou placed her hand over the girl's mouth and smiled with amusement. "I didn't think I'd have to take Sango's advice on that one," she murmured before smiling, "Forgiven."

She removed her hand and Kagome rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, vaguely remembering how Sango had done something similar.

Sango covered Kagome's mouth to end the barrage of apologies, with a wink to Kikyou, "If she ever gets like that….Viola!"

She grimaced. So maybe she did apologize too much.

Kikyou added lightly, "And don't worry about shopping either. Your brother told me about the doctor's prognosis and besides, I met both Shippou and Rin and they should be top priority right now…"

Kagome nodded, "Exactly! Which is why I should go! Most of Souta and my outgrown clothing were donated away. Both of them, Rin especially, since Shippou may be able to find something of Souta's that might fit, need more than just consumable provisions."

She smiled, "Then I'd be happy to have you accompany me…But there was another reason why I came here." Kikyou suddenly look intently at Kagome. "Kagome…Is there something that you've been keeping from me?"

There was a slight tensing in the other girl in question and Kikyou elaborated, "I went to the hotel this morning to see if you were there before I came here—this was before I heard about what happened last night. But anyway, I saw Sesshoumaru today… We didn't exchange words as he was occupied with speaking to an employee at the front desk. I," she paused and her eyes searched Kagome's for a moment, "I know Inuyasha recently moved in with his brother, since the address started changing on the package. So let me be frank. Is Inuyasha there as well?"

Now how exactly was she supposed to answer this?

(Tsuki)

A.N. Okay so I couldn't resist another cliffy. I mean really, who can?

The whole Kikyou seeing Sess thing was something I had a mini debate with. Not only was I not sure if I wanted that to happen, I wasn't sure if I wanted to make Sess's day even worse by having him step out of Inuyasha's room and see Kikyou then. Why would that make things worse? I was thinking about being totally evil and making him have to cross back to his own room after his shower, clad only in a towel.

But I resisted. This way will be just as fun.

R&R