Title: Everlasting- Until the End

Summary: Living as a human bride of a half-dog demon, Higurashi Kagome must face the hardships of being a human in the world of the demons. She must face the jealousy and wrath of the first wife. Others on the estates will harass Kagome for being human, becoming her husband's "toy" as the concubine. Will she be able to survive her new life in the world of the demons for the sake of her people- or rather, for her whole race…?

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Chapter 1: Blue Thoughts
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…"Kagome-neesan…are you really going to become the "sacrifice" to that dog demon?"

"Souta-kun! Please do not call him a, 'demon'. He is a powerful god! And besides, Kagome is doing this for the sake of the village…right?"

"…Mhmm… I will do…what is best for everyone."

"That's great to hear! At least my daughter will not be sold off into the cities to become an oiran (Japanese high-class courtesans) like the others were…"

The girl whose long, silky black hair was being done by her own mother in front of a dusty vanity mirror closed her tearing light brown eyes. Her heart was full of sadness, yet a bit of regret for agreeing to become the "sacrifice" for her village.

The leader of the dog demons from the mountains in the east has two sons. One was a full demon dog which a full-blooded dog demon gave birth to just for mating purposes, and the other was a half from a legal full-blooded human wife. The leader, Inu no Taisho, on his deathbed, told his two sons that only one of them can inherit the title to become leader of the demons when they are wed. Sesshoumaru, the full-blooded eldest, had no desire for a "mate", or simply, a companion and left the mountains and his family.

Inuyasha, the younger and "half-breed" wished to please his father no matter what while he was still waiting for his death to claim him. He rushed down from the mountains and searched the villages for a bride. Instead, he came back with a human just as his own father did. Of course, this displeased the Royal Advisors in the estate and they protested against the fact that he and his bride should rule after Inu no Taisho's death. With little time to breathe his living breaths, Inu no Taisho bestowed his title upon his son, who would find true love in his wife, just as he did himself.

Unfortunately though, as Inu no Taisho bestowed his title upon his younger son, he passed away to the other world to join his own beloved. The task of ruling the dog demons in the mountains was up to Inuyasha, the half breed, and his human wife. Another reason why the Royal Advisors refused to acknowledge Inuyasha and his wife was because she was a miko, a priestess against evil.

"Who knows what she would do to us when we turn around?" they all agreed, fearing for their lives whenever the human wife passed them by. They looked upon her with eyes mixed with fear and resentment to smell such blood on their estates.

The wife then fell ill from the thoughts she had been gathering in her mind, and the feelings she had gathered in her heart. 'She would not be able to live on in the estates alongside her husband unless a concubine was brought back,' a doctor told him.

Enraged, Inuyasha sentences the doctor to a beheading for such foolishness. The Royal Advisors agreed though.

'The doctor is the best in these mountains! He would never lie!' they told Inuyasha.

And so, taking the words from his late father's wise advisors, he sent word to the villages closest to his mountains. "Send me the prettiest virgin you have in the village or I will feast upon your children," he threatened.

The villagers of course, quickly went in search of the perfect candidate. Higurashi Kagome, a young fifteen year girl with only a mother, grandfather, younger brother, and a cat was chosen. The village leader begged Kagome's mother to let her go become the "bride of the east mountain gods", for the sake of the village. Her mother was at a loss for words, crying that Kagome was her only daughter. 'There are other girls in the village much prettier than my own,' she told them, 'please find someone else!'

The village head continued to beg Kagome to become the god's bride so he would be satisfied. He told her that she wasn't doing it only for her family- but for the whole village itself! Oh, she would be a heroine which all children would hear about when they are older! Kagome reluctantly gave in, not wanting any misfortune to happen to her own family as the others would. She agreed to become the bride of the dog demon.

"Okasan…" Kagome spoke in a soft voice, looking at herself in the aged mirror. Her hair was being combed at least a dozen times to ensure the silk texture and shine by her mother, just with the motions of going up and down.

Souta was brought outside by their grandfather so the two women would have one last chance to speak together. Kagome's mother's eyes begin to fill with tears of their own, but she fought against them and broke into a smile.

"Yes, what is it, my dear daughter?" she asked.

Kagome turned to her mother, putting the Taran wood comb down on the vanity table. She held her hands and said, "Please take good care of yourself while I am gone. I am not even sure if I may even come back again."

Her mother chuckled a bit and told her, "Of course you will come back. And when you do, it will be to visit me, right?"

"But Okasan, this is a demon I will be marrying…not a regular being. I don't know how he will deal with a human like me…"

"No, please do not think about such things on your wedding day! I will not tolerate any of this, Kagome. Now, let us dress you in your irotomesode… It is almost time to go."

Kagome was led by her mother behind a changing screen which was portrayed with a riverbank scene with herons eating their fish meals. She was dressed in her mother's old and only fancy irotomesode, a kimono in a melon color with Japanese flowers embroidered below the waistline. It was the only memento that Kagome's mother had of her late husband, which would pass her memories on to her own daughter with her own husband.

"Please, Kagome…use this well," she told her, embracing her for the last time before the departure.

Kagome closed her eyes as the tears flowed down her face eyes. "I will," she promised her mother.

Kagome was sent with a matching melon veil covering her whole head, but letting a peak of her black hair shine in the daylight. She was to depart on a boat that would sail in the waters to the foot of the dog demons' mountains, and there, a demon would escort her to the estates.

Ah…why do I have to leave now? Mother will be lonely without me… Grandfather and Souta too… Will they miss me truly though? What about the villagers? Do they even show remorse for my leave? I miss my family already… I miss my village…my home.

What will he do with me? Does he wish to feast on me like he threatened to do with the village children? Maybe the mountains ran out of food for the whole race…

"Kagome-neesan!"

Ah…that's right… Souta will truly miss me… After all, he is the only one that understands me. My precious little brother…what will become of him without me to watch over him? Souta…please be well…

The boat swayed from side to side. Kagome quickly lifted her veil up to reveal her curious bright eyes to see what the problem was. She looked from side to side to discover that she was no longer in the river that was near her village. She was now in a misty lake, a place she has never seen before. She panicked.

Did I…make a wrong turn somewhere? All I have been doing was thinking and sailing! How foolish of me not to have paid attention to where I was going! Oh, dear… How will I get to the mountains now? Will the demon be furious and raid the village to demand for my presence? Souta!

Kagome continued to look around her, not noticing the plants which grew on the water's crystal clear surface. They were beautiful water lilies which bloomed brightly, glistening mysteriously as her little boat passed her by. She reached out to touch one, only to pull her hand back when the bloomed petals closed.

"These are…quite the strange flowers," she told herself, still admiring its beauty.

"Indeed, they are the pride of that human woman," a voice said.

Kagome turned around in her boat to see no one. Was it her imagination? Was it the flower speaking to her? She took a closer look at the water lilies and asked, "Can it be…the demons' flowers actually speak?"

The same voice came again, "Foolish girl! Look up here."

She did so and gasped. A dog demon was hovering right above her. He was quite handsome for a demon, which was said to be "ugly" and quite "heinous" by the villagers. His long silvery white hair looked like pure white feathers surrounding him in the mist, his golden yellow eyes like a new sun for this place, but the ears and white pelt over his shoulder proved him to be a demon of a clan.

"You…are…?" Kagome asked quietly.

He looked straight into her eyes, closing his own golden ones and sighing. "My, my," he said, looking back up into the cloudy sky. "You look so much like the first one…"

Kagome's eyes widened and her ears perked up. "What are you talking about, sir? What are you referring to? What, 'first one'? Ne, please tell me!" she pleaded.

He smirked and landed on her boat gracefully, taking her chin in his claws gently. He smiled with his fangs showing and replied, "I might be able to tell you a little something…if you come to my chamber on the last day of the month." He took his hand away from her face and jumped backwards into the mist.

"M-matte!" Kagome yelled out, standing up rather too quickly. "W-what are you talking about? Who are you? How do you know about me?!" Her curiosity got the best of her as she tried to take a closer look into the cloudy scene, but instead ended up tipping all of her weight unknowingly to the end. The boat started to tip over to where all of the body mass was, and finally dipped itself into the water. It threw Kagome off into the water, shocking her with the irotomesode collecting weight under the surface.

She panicked, she tried to paddle forward, but the kimono her mother had handed down to her was too heavy to allow her to go anywhere. Her hands were thrown up into the air, trying to grasp the boat, but to no prevail. She began to sink with the kimono.

Ah…is this how it is going to end? Will I end up not knowing who that demon was, or how he knew me in the first place? If I don't reach the dog god's mountains…he will surely terrorize the village! They will all blame me, and then my whole family for an attempted escape! I don't want that to happen…no, not to them… Souta…Souta… Is everything alright on your side…? Is Mama alright? That dog demon…will he…be eating you first…? Souta…

Her eyes closed in the bubbling blue when her hands couldn't grasp any protruding parts of the boat anymore. She sank into the depths of the clear blue lake, wishing her life to be granted a bit more time in order to meet that dog demon that promised to take her as his concubine, the next human wife.

"Hmm… Ojousama, you have been presented with two red strings… That means there will be a love triangle in your future! It is considered bad luck to have such a thing happen."

A young Kagome of around the ages of 6-7 stood in front of an elderly man. He placed two red strings in her little hands and studied her face carefully. She instead though, tried to ask him what would be the, 'bad luck' part of it- but she was pulled away by her mother. Struck with curiosity, Kagome tried to call back out to the man, but he disappeared. She tucked the strings into her kimono as she followed her mother back home from the market.
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A/N: This is my third attempt to try to write a serious love story! I don't know how well this one will turn out… But please read and review to give me more ideas to spiffy this story up! Thank you.