Title: Bow

Summary: She swore she would never do it. He was too arrogant. Too cocky. Too proud. Today, in front of everyone, she forgot everything and bowed……

Rating: T for language

Past

Present

The crowd gasped upon my actions. I ignored. My chest was soon going to burst with all these emotions.

Anger

Bitterness

Hatred

Miserable

Sad

But most of all……heartbroken.

I remember one of our conversations, two days after I was forced to move into his castle.

I was sitting on the fountain in the middle of the garden. I admit that this castle did have some good qualities. The garden was beautiful. There was a nearby forest that wasn't as dangerous as the one back in the Higurashi lands.

Also, the castle was on top of a hill, enabling us to see the entire village that was on the bottom of the hill.

However, there were some bad parts to this castle.

And one of them was him.

I got up and made my way to my room. I tripped over my long dress robes and fell forward. Two strong hands made their way around my waist.

"Stupid wench," the owner of the hands called me. I tried to get out of his grip, but he was far too strong. I am a miko and he is a hanyou, so there is no contest.

"Let go off me." I said.

"No."

"What do you want?" I asked exasperated.

"Bow."

"No!" I said stubbornly. I stepped on his foot hard and he let go off me.

"Ow! You fucking bitch!" he cussed. I tsk-tsked and wagged my finger.

"Now, now. It's never polite to cuss in front of a lady, Inuyasha." I told him. He scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Show me a lady first." He said. I huffed and stepped on the exact spot as before. He howled in pain and grabbed his foot.

"Itai!"

"Good lord! I am nothing but a miko and you're a hanyou." I said. I placed my hands on my hips. "Aren't you supposed to be stronger than that?"

"Well, that's because your shoes are sharp." He defended himself lamely. I rolled my eyes and walked away, knowing he would follow. We got to the corridor of where our chambers are located.

"We both know that I do not wear high heeled shoes. I wear simple sandals."

"Whatever." Inuyasha scoffed as some maids past by us giggling. "When are those idiots going to realize that I can hear them perfectly fine?"

"Inuyasha!" I gasped. "Be nice. They are just gossiping."

"Shut up! God, I don't know what the hell I did to deserve this type of punishment!" Inuyasha cried out loud.

"Neither do I!" I screamed and shut my bedroom door.

I laughed silently, realizing how stupid are arguments were. Back then, we hated each other. We had grown up together, since our parents were friends since before we were born.

When we found out we were engaged, a war had broken out.

"What!" Inuyasha and I exclamained, standing up with great force. Our parents were sitting right in front of us, smiling in content.

"That's right! You two are to be married in this up coming autumn." My mother, Queen Amy Higurashi, smiled at us.

"Mom, with all due respect, are you ill!" I asked.

"Sweetie, we want to see you and Inuyasha married with children before we die." My father, King Tai Higurashi, said.

"Yes. We knew you two would never get married and settle down because of your stubbornness." Inuyasha's mom, Queen Izaiyou Takahashi, explained.

"Besides, look at it this way," Inuyasha's father, King Inu no Taishio Takahashi, said. "At least you will be married to each other and not complete strangers."

I, for once, was speechless. I opened my mouth to protest, but Inuyasha beat me to it.

"Fine." He said. I gaped at him, along with his parents and my parents.

"What!" I shrieked.

"I said 'Fine'. Knowing our parents, they will not rest until you are pregnant with my pup." Inuyasha said.

"Eww, gross. I do not want to become your wife." I said. I could have sworn I saw a look of sadness and pain go across his eyes, but it disappeared quickly.

"Look, wench," he began. "Our parents will not rest until we are happily married and with a family. Even after they die, which I pray will not be soon because I am not ready to be king yet, they will haunt us."

"So……….?" I trailed off, hoping he will fill in the blanks.

"So, save them and us a lot of pain and trouble and just marry me." Inuyasha said, slightly raising his voice.

"You have interesting ways of proposing." I muttered. Inuyasha sighed and ran a clawed hand through his long silver hair.

"Well, what do you expect?" Inuyasha murmured. We both excused our selves and walked out of the study. We began to argue.

"Why in the world would you say yes?" I screamed at him.

"Watch the ears wench!" Inuyasha yelled at me.

"See! We can't even stand being in the same room. How in the world are we going to pull this off?" I screamed louder. Servants and guards stopped in the hallway to watch us.

"Well too bad Princess! We are getting married and that's finally!" Inuyasha declared. He stormed off, leaving me boiling mad. I saw that the nearby servant had some peaches. I grabbed one and threw it at the back of that pompous' head.

The entire castle grew silent as I hit bull's eye. I stormed off in the opposite direction. I felt something wet connect with my back. My eyes widen and I turned around slowly. I saw that Inuyasha throwing a peach back and forth between his hands.

"You asshole!" I yelled. He bowed.

"Thank you very much, your Royal Pain in the Ass." He said in a mocking voice.

I remember all the times that we spent together. All the stupid, pointless fights. All the arguments. I still remember the day when I realized that I loved him.

I sat in the garden. It has been a couple of weeks since Inuyasha and I got engaged. I am still furious at the pig-headed jerk. I know he only wants to use me to get his throne.

I know that the only reason why Inuyasha can stand being my friend is because of her.

Kikyo.

My sister. My eldest sister.

How much I despise her. She takes everything away from me. My parents' love, the trust of the country, and my dignity.

But she mainly took Inuyasha.

Why should I care? He loves her, she loves him. They are going to get married soon, and then they will be a very happy couple. This marriage gets rid of Kikyo and Inuyasha. After they marry, I will never see them again.

I choked back on my sobs. I saw that I had begun to cry. Why? Is it because of the fight we had earlier? Is it because he said he hates me.

That last line had sent so much pain through my heart. It hurt so much and I am so weak, I couldn't take it. I cried harder, knowing that he despises me with his every fiber.

I know Kikyo would have been stronger than this. She wouldn't cry. She would merely laugh it off. She would call me stupid and say that I need to grow up. She would have said that men are just a waste of time and tears. She would say I was a naive, stupid little girl.

I can't believe I am thinking this but I am glad that she fell in love with Naraku. I am glad that they both ran away. I am glad that they both died in the fire. I am glad that they didn't find their bodies, but their ashes.

Now I have Inuyasha. And I don't have to share him.

Why am I thinking this way? I don't even like that chauvinist, arrogant, cocky, handsome, and caring-

I need to stop this. I need to stop falling in love. Why must my stupid heart rule over me! I can't love him. I refuse to love him!

I cried.

I don't want to love him. But it is too late.

I love Inuyasha Takahashi. I love him.

I guess I have loved him for a long time, but because of today's fight, my feelings surfaced.

I tried to stop, knowing that Inuyasha was right behind me. He knelt besides me and wrapped his arms around me.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, voice full of concern and worry. I wiped my tears and stared at his honey golden eyes. Those eyes.

"What?" he asked me, tilting his head sideways. I smiled sadly, noticing how cute he looked. I shook my head.

"Kagome, tell me what's wrong?" he asked again softly.

"Don't worry. It's way out of your league." I said. I saw pain go across his eyes.

"Is it about our earlier fight? Look, I'm sorry I was such an ass. Please stop crying." He pleaded. I laughed. I laughed and laughed that I had begun to cry all over again. I stood up and Inuyasha did the same.

"Thank you Inuyasha." You might cause most of my pain, but thank you. I love you and I thank you.

"Are you okay?" Inuyasha asked me as we walked back inside.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I said softly.

"Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?" he asked. He grabbed my chin and made me look at his eyes. He leaned in and kissed me. It was chaste, but it was pure bliss.

I looked deep into his eyes. I knew if I kept looking, he would know. Our friendship would end because I fell in love with my deceased sister's fiancée.

I turn and ran. I ran to my room. I sped up when I heard Inuyasha calling after me. I ran using my miko powers to go even faster and stronger. I got to my room. I closed the door and placed a barrier.

One barrier around the door and another around my heart.

I remember that the entire week, I avoided him. I made sure that we were never in the same room for too long. I always had either Sango, or her husband Miroku to talk to.

Two weeks after the kissing incident, we crashed again. This time, the damage and the reward was bigger….

"Kouga, is that you?" I asked as I saw a figure in the shadows. I was my bedroom balcony. I mean mine and Inuyasha's bedroom balcony.

"Yeah. It's me." He said softly, and stepped forward. I relaxed and my eyes soften.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked softly. I knew everyone was downstairs at the ball.

"Kagome, do you really want to marry him?" he asked me. My shoulders stiffen as did my back.

"Kouga, could we please-"

"No Kagome. I need to know. You know that I love you." Kouga said interrupting me.

"But, we could never be together, even-"

"Kagome, I could take you away! We could go somewhere else, get married. I could even arrange to have a trip taken to Britain. We could start a whole new life together as husband and wife." He said. I struggled with my words.

I did not want to marry him and then go to some foreign country. I knew that my heart belonged to Inuyasha, even though that hanyou could not see it.

"Kouga, I am so sorry if I led you on. I don't love you. I'm sorry, but I think of you only as a friend." I said sincerely. I could see so much pain and hurt going across his eyes.

"But Kagome-"

"What are you doing here, wimpy wolf?" Inuyasha asked rudely as he stepped into the balcony. I turned around and saw he was mad.

"Inuyasha-"

"Save it Kagome. I don't want to hear it." He said sharply. Tears began to cloud up my eyes. I turned my head and stared at Kouga's piercing blue eyes.

He understood.

"Kagome, I love you." He simply said.

"I love you too." I whispered back. I heard something behind me, but I was too busy trying not to break down and start crying. Kouga walked up to me and gave me a kiss and a hug.

I returned the hug.

"You need to know that Ayame loves you." I whispered in his ear. I saw his tail twitch. "Go to her. She will stand by your side no matter what."

I pulled away from our hug. "In time, you shall learn to love her more than you loved me."

Kouga chuckled and Inuyasha growled. "That is impossible. You will always reign over a special part of my heart."

I smiled as more tears escaped my eyes. I tried to choke back on a sob, but it was still heard. "Thank you Kouga. I hope you and Ayame have a happy life."

"I hope that you be happy with Inuyasha." He said, giving me one final hug. He turned, hesitated and finally leaped off the balcony. I ran to the edge and saw a tornado speed away.

I turned around to see Inuyasha's piercing amber eyes staring at me. I flinched.

"Inuyasha, what-"

"Shut up Kagome. I don't want to hear it." He said. I sighed.

"Fine. I...Ugh…you know what? I am going to stop."

"Stop with what?"

"I am going to stop caring about you. You obviously don't care about me." I said. I began to walk away, but one firm, powerful grip on my forearm stopped me.

"Who ever said I didn't care about you?" he asked. I whipped around and my sanity broke.

"Everyone! Inuyasha, the entire kingdom knows that the only reason that you even agreed to this engagement was because I look like Kikyo!" I yelled at him.

"What? I don't want to marry you because of Kikyo." Inuyasha screamed.

"Yes you do. You still love her. I can see that the only reason that you can stand me is because I look like her." I yelled back.

"I never even loved her!" he shouted. The night grew silent as those 5 words repeated themselves over and over.

He never loved her.

Inuyasha never loved Kikyo.

"Then, why were you so heartbroken when she left?" I asked quietly.

"I might have loved her, but that was only a crush. I never proposed to Kikyo. We simply agreed to get married because we were both lonely." He explained. I whimpered and fell to the floor sobbing.

"So, all this pain? All this hurting? Gods, I am such an idiot." I whispered to myself.

"Kagome, I stopped loving Kikyo because I had begun to love you." He said. I looked up and saw my emotions mirrored.

"Nani?"

"I love you, Kagome." He smiled. I smiled back.

"You have no idea how much I have wanted to hear that, koiishi." I said softly. Our lips met. And this time it wasn't chaste.

We parted and I hugged him. "I love you too Inuyasha."

I stood again after finishing my bow. My tears never spilled.

But inside, my heart was breaking.

The way he made my knees weaken and my heart speed up. The way he touched me, caressed me, loved me. All these memories were too much.

I turned and walked out of the church. I walked and tried to forget his funeral. I tried to forget that Inuyasha had died because of my safety. I tried to forget that he promised me he would always be next to me, by my side, and to never leave me alone. I tried to forget everything. But I could still hear them. I could hear the nobles, lords, ladies, kings, and queens. Even the peasants.

They kept whispering about how I, Queen Kagome Higurashi bowed to His Majesty Inuyasha Takahashi.

I had broken my promise.

When Inuyasha had become of age, I told him I would never bow to him. He was too proud. Too arrogant. Too selfish. He need to earn my bow because I only gave them to those I felt have done so much for others.

But I had bowed to my husband. My lover. My king. My life.

I walked strongly and proud. I will continue to live, despite all the pain.

Not for my family.

Not for my friends.

Not for my kingdom.

But for our –mine and Inuyasha's- unborn child.