How to Escape
An Arranged Mating
(In Ten Difficult Steps)
Thank you for taking an interest in How to Escape An Arranged Mating (In Ten Difficult Steps)! We will explore the most difficult, most tedious, most effective method for breaking off a relationship before matters become official, no matter your species!
These ten steps are not for the weak of heart or mind. In fact, some serious side effects may occur if these steps are undertaken by the emotionally unprepared, or even if they take too long to fulfill. Throughout How to Escape An Arranged Mating (In Ten Difficult Steps) you will be provided with story segments to acquaint you with the core values of each step and to ingrain respect for their do's and don't's.
Should you experience difficulties, please contact us at 1 WE-DONT-CARE. 1 (933) 668-2273. Our free-hire receptionist may seem confused by your inquiries and may very well speak Canadian French. If so, please hang up, and don't try again. You should be able to work out the kinks yourself. For risks and conditions please review the last page of this collaboration.
On that note, enjoy reading, and best of luck to you! You will probably need it if you're reading this...
Step 1 – Select a Lover
When selecting a lover, keep in mind that they can not be just any individual. For yourself, it is a high priority that you and your lover are compatible. For everyone else, your lover must either have strong qualities or they must have a strong image. One or both of these will assure consideration by your future audience, and give credibility and value to your relationship. Be sure that these traits or values unquestionably outweigh the traits or values of your betrothed, or you will put your lover into a difficult position.
WARNING: If you do not have a real lover and obtain a false image lover, do be sure that your false image lover understands the risks and that they are compliant before commencing with these steps. Having a very good friend for this role is highly recommended.
Kagome pursed her lips in irritation when her strung bow caught yet again on some undergrowth. "This is ridiculous..." she grumbled, plucking the vegetation loose while making her way through the woods.
This was the third time, in only one week no less, that Sesshōmaru 'summoned' her. She had no other decent term for it. The first time she sensed his vague release of yōki she had asked Rin while they ground dried herbs if Sesshōmaru was supposed to be back for a visit so early. The girl had bounded from the hut in a fit of young teen exuberance without answering. Kagome followed, much less enthusiastically, to find the two standing together some distance from the village. As Rin did her best to ruin Sesshōmaru's hearing with tales of her activities since his last visit, the yōkai in reference glared so hard at Kagome that she lost track of her feet and stumbled forward in sheer shock.
The second 'encounter' happened a mere four days later. Kagome sensed him while eating over at Sango's and Miroku's place with their young family and Inu-Yasha. Pausing in her eating, she stared in curiosity at the wall, toward where Sesshōmaru was standing probably sixty feet away. Inu-Yasha jarred her attention, asking what was up. She gave a start and threw Sango and Miroku questioning looks, then gave herself a shake and laughed. "Sorry. I sampled some herbs to test their freshness. They're still strong. I shouldn't have done so knowing I'd come over."
She was forgiven for doing her duty, and her absentminded glances to the wall were overlooked as everyone ate and discussed matters in the village. Sesshōmaru didn't move even after she forced herself to go to sleep later on. There was no way she was going into the woods at night with Inu-Yasha trailing her, so she slept under the hanyō's supervision, wondering what was up.
Two days later, and she found herself armed and alone walking toward the yōkai, armed and worried over his past glare, which was followed by outright refusal to see him. Then again, just for the glare she could justify her actions. "And label myself as very immature..." She sighed, absentmindedly yanking her bow out of a bush and wondering how Kikyo had ever managed this; wondering if her feeling of guilt for her actions meant she really was guilty for something.
It was another two minutes later before she spotted his vibrant attire through the trees, vivid white spots of sunlight slowly dancing across his figure as the late summer breeze teased the treetops. It glared off his hair and armor, but nothing could outdo his expression.
"Sorry I'm late," she attempted lightly, not wanting to get off on the wrong foot. Then again, she only had two feet to work with as it was, so on that note her chances for a good encounter were slim. "What are you here for?"
"Miko, what do you know of arranged matings?"
The question he had probably planned out so perfectly hit her like a bucket of cold water. She balked, amazed, and stared for a few seconds. It was realizing her mouth was hanging open that got her clearing her throat and regaining some ground. "Um, not much I'm sure. I know of arranged marriages, but the customs are bound to be different."
"Explain your tradition." The command was delivered with expressionless poise.
"Well..." She wasn't sure where to start; with the story, or pondering over his reasons? A thought for his limited patience made the decision for her. "We don't practice them in the village, but I know that they are agreements between two families in regards to their children and who they will marry." She studied him for a reaction. He merely waited. "So, two sets of parents matching their children up. Um, I know this can happen young, usually before the child has a right to chose their own partner. And... Oh, usually the families do this to seal agreements or bonds between their whole families or companies, assuring a healthy future for their wealth. … I know that sometimes the kids don't even meet one another until they're at the alter, which is horrible. That's a very big decision for someone else to make, no matter how they claim they have more experience and authority in the matter or no matter what tradition has to say. Some families just do it because of that; tradition that is. Um, I may be able to answer questions if you have any."
That arrogant chin lifted ever so slightly. "You know all of this through stories."
"Well, sorta. I've studied other cultures a lot, and those were just the basics on arranged marriages." Her own words reached her ears, and she winced inside, hoping she didn't reveal too much. "But yes, I've heard stories, too."
He studied her a moment. She fingered her bow. What she planned to do with it to any effective means was beyond her knowledge, but it was a nice, hollow comfort knowing she still had it.
"Have you heard of a means to terminate such an arrangement?"
She hoped he wasn't planning on setting Rin up in an arranged marriage. The girl was still a little too young by Kagome's standards. Besides, there would be no gain for her suitor to marry an orphan studying to become a miko. Maybe he just wanted to make sure Kagome would not be able to give the girl the 'wrong' advise. "I've already said I don't approve of it." That was enough to keep her uncensored. What would happen would happen. "Yes, but I'm not sure if any of the stories are true." No reaction was offered, so she sighed again and shifted to a more comfortable position. "Hmm... Well, one of the two can run away, or just die. One family can fall toward poverty and the well-off family can call it off. Other than that, I think one of the kids just needs to take a stand and suffer the consequences of not going through with things. Some reasons aren't bad, either. There could be another person they love, making their promised partner jealous or disgusted so they break things off, or they see a better future by other means."
"A lover?"
Kagome blinked, wondering when she began to ramble. "Yeah, a lover. If you think about it, for the guy in the arrangement at least it's not too unthinkable that in his sexual prime he'll go out and find a girl on the side until he's forced to get married. Depending on the culture, there's no real reason for the guy to be celibate before marriage." It was her turn to study him a moment, worry mounting ever so slowly. "I hope you don't plan to set Rin up with a boy. She's still young, and should be able to make her own choices."
Seconds passed. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears as he stared unwaveringly at her. Finally he looked away, casual. "Such intentions do not exist."
A heavy exhale escaped her, and she grinned. "Ah, good. I was worried for a minute." Now her curiosity streamed heedlessly through her thoughts. "So, why the sudden interest?"
"Such inquiries are not yours to ask."
And then he was gone. In an instant, as though he was never there, and she balked. The walk back was full of unanswered questions and cursing over a general lack of common courtesy.
Chores were accomplished, a traveling wagon merchant came for the day and made business before he moved on in the afternoon for the next village, the rice fields were checked up on, and night fell on their well-to-do village, with full pots and decent bedding, some of it freshly bought. They were fairly well off for the size of their village.
Kagome slept easily with Rin separating her and Kaede on their futon bedding. That is, until Sesshōmaru came back. His yōki woke her with a start, and she lay there with heavy eyelids wondering what time it was and whether her weariness outweighed the price of her insolence.
A good fifteen minutes later, she crept from the hut and walked out of the village, through the rice fields. Sesshōmaru was not in that direction, but she preferred to cross paddies and climb a hill for the Well in search of solitude rather than pick her way through dense woods with a waning moon to go by.
He stubbornly remained where he was, of course. Kagome genuinely expected no differently, and used his stand for dominance as time to check on the Well. She checked about once a week these days, in idle hope that it would work. The last time it functioned was three years ago, after sealing her away from her proper era. Three years before then, it had isolated her from the feudal era for her high school years. She had come to the past expecting it to never work again, and accepted its continued inactivity as a simple fact of life. Then again, all those years ago she had jumped down into the Well toward the feudal era expecting to land in the arms of the love of her life.
"Being single sucks..."
Sesshōmaru began closing the gap much sooner than expected. Impressed, she sat on the rim and plucked a three foot high piece of field grass growing alongside it, twisting its firm length around her finger and feeling the thin stalk bend into edges as it encircled her finger.
"I can't break my neck meeting with you," she offered when he was within earshot, which was about thirty feet away and closing. "My vision was barely good enough to get here, and I know the way pretty well." He approached at a walk, unhurried to begin any conversation. His behavior would make her laugh if her sense of humor was as dry as the Well she sat upon. "I've given it some thought. You're stuck in an arranged mating, aren't you?"
He stopped about six feet away, and everything about him was cast in shades of gray and black with the lacking light. The weather decided to make it worse, with misty clouds stretching across the bright sliver in the sky, filtering the small amount of light already offered.
"You are not from this era, miko."
Kagome nearly fell down the dry Well. Gripping the edges firmly, she stared up at his shadowy face. "What... makes you think that?"
"Your mannerisms and speech do not belong in this era."
She frowned. "That can't be the only reason to suspect time traveling. … It was Rin, wasn't it." A shift where his head was indicated a nod, and she sighed, relaxing. There was nothing she could do about keeping that secret now, and since he didn't seem phased by it she shouldn't be either. "Is that why you wanted to talk to me about arranged marriages? Or arranged matings?" That thought had bugged her. Why would he, a lord who most likely had near a thousand years of experience behind him, tutors at his disposal and advisers of all sorts, come to a petty village to ask a petty human about such an intricate matter? She figured that officials would leak details of his hesitance to his mother, if Rin's stories about her were true, and that would keep him from them. But why her in particular? She had gone down a very long mental list of pros and cons several times, and still had wound up clueless, but this little leaked detail changed several things.
"Such did not serve to discourage a conversation." A tickle had her rubbing at her nose as she asked what he was there for that night, stating as well that she had already delivered everything she could think of on the topic. His reply sounded bored, in a slightly peeved manner which screamed the fact that it took a mastery of patience to answer her inquiries at the sacrifice of his precious time. "Your insights on human customs were superficial and irrelevant." A pause lasted just long enough for her to feel the weight of that insult. "However, your views on the matter and vague knowledge help in making you a decent candidate. You are not hideous, your age is ideal, and your profession would be an appalling bonus."
Kagome could feel the gears in her mind trying to feed that thought through. Like an old vending machine swallowing and regurgitating a ragged bill. "My... age is ideal? What does- My profession?" Appalling? She shot to her feet. "What on earth are you babbling on about?"
"Your suggested solution."
She stared, at a loss. "... What?"
"Your innocence as well," he continued, and she felt a warm touch on her cheek. She recoiled as if burned as a blush lit her on fire. "I would have to do very little to inspire the proper responses."
"What the hell, Sesshōmaru?" she demanded, getting annoyed and only partially at him. Damn, why did she have to blush over such a little thing? "I said men didn't have to save themselves for the woman all the time, but that doesn't mean you have to go around touching every girl you're alone with."
"You will experience much more." His tone said he would not condone argument. "Pretending to be a lover would come naturally to such a prolific race."
A sarcastic wind moaned through the woods before teasing through the grass, her clothing and hair. She was silent even after it died, but an odd cricket of sorts was making a weird, spasmodic noise. Realization hit that it was her chuckling faintly in sheer disbelief. That fact only enhanced the rich humor of the moment, and she fell victim to a merciless, unrelenting bought of hysteria, complete with laughter of incredulity and mirth.
Time passed. It could have been five minutes or five hours. Kagome knew that she was risking her life, but every time she tried to take calming breaths to apologize and hopefully change the topic, she'd look up at him and start all over again. Eventually, she found herself with sore sides, sitting slumped against the side of the well, giggling lightly and very determinedly not looking up at him.
"Ooh-ho-hooo... Oh, my. I never knew you were so funny, Sesshōmaru."
"On the contrary, I am perfectly sincere on this matter."
"Oh, yes," she tittered, covering her mouth with her hand, hoping her jumping diaphragm would calm down. "And I'm the whore who started up the red-light district. Listen, even if you were, I'd never do it. Ever."
"Explain."
"Well..." she began, straining over the word as she lifted herself back onto her feet. She continued while brushing herself off. "For starters, we wouldn't be able to pull it off. I wouldn't act well, and... Well, I doubt you'd play the part willingly." Fixing him with a stubborn look, she crossed her arms. "Anyway, I have no desire to even pretend to be your lover. You'd want to whisk me away from the village that depends on me, treat me like an... indulgence, and take me to a place where I'd be treated kami-knows-how. There's absolutely no appeal to it, not even your good looks, and there is no reason I'd willingly suffer through your personality issues, either. In fact, if she didn't kill herself before things became official, I would admire and cherish that female you're being set up with, because you probably require a mate to be found for you as opposed to hoping one will willingly fall for your title or appearance. Furthermore, I'd only want to be touched in any loving manner by someone I love, not the regal half-brother of the guy I had a crush on as a kid six years ago." To think she was already twenty-one. Time really had a knack of flying by. It certainly didn't feel like six years when she stopped to think about it. Nodding to herself, she decided to wrap things up and get some sleep. "Besides, I'm a miko. I think that nature has provided a very evident barrier between us, one I will not even attempt to pass. My best wishes go with you, Sesshōmaru."
She got no further than two steps before he flung an arm out in front of her, making her stop. "You are free to name a price."
"Is this guy desperate? Maybe I was right, maybe he doesn't stand a chance in finding a real lover." "You can't buy love. And this village is not doing poorly, we will survive with ease without any financial aid."
"Not as well as you could. How old is your family's shrine? Can you amount enough money yourself to build it?"
Memories of her grandfather rambling on about the shrine drifted about her head – along with history and mythological stories – but there were not certain records as to when it was built. Hundreds of years ago, yes, but how many hundreds was a key question. She never really determined exactly when in time she was, either. Was it in her lifetime there that the shrine would be built, or would she have to rely on fate to have it built?
"I'll never be as great as Kikyo... She had the village flourishing, rich beyond reason. Then the shrine exploded, thanks to Inu-Yasha, the fire spread everywhere, and she died... The villagers won't even go near the ruins of the walkways and staircases she began building on this hill." Facing Kaede's village, she glanced back remorsefully toward the leaf littered walkways and stairs hidden on the other side. They were really quite beautiful. Now they were unattended, scorched and left to rot. They would not make it to her era, but the idea of so much progress going to waste really saddened her. "Can I assure my own future by myself?"
"As for the acting..." Her attention snapped forward again when that out-flung hand grasped her shoulder, and she hiccuped with shock when his shadowy face loomed before hers. "That will be the easiest part."
Almost violently she shoved him away, cursing her racing heart. If Inu-Yasha had any romantic interest in her – if he didn't act like a fourteen year old boy all the time! – then she probably would have been onto her second child by now instead of single and blushing over every little contact.
"Don't touch me. I'm not helping you, so forget it."
"Your price then?"
"Too high for you to pay," she scoffed, stepping around him and walking for the village. "I'm sorry. Good luck with the romance in your li-!" There shouldn't have been a rock there. In fact, there should have been a dirt trail she had worn down herself over the course of three homesick years, so she was pretty sure that it wasn't a rock – which would have at least been loose – that she had tripped over. Whatever it was, the end result was her catching herself hard on a knee and both of her palms.
"You may name the cost of your compliance," Sesshōmaru stated as she sat up, hissing over certainly bleeding spots on her body, "or you will be forced to survive without it. Either way, you will assist me, miko."
"Can't you take 'no' for an answer?" she yipped at him, still brushing dirt off her palms as small spots of blood began turning it into mud.
"No."
Kami, her knee throbbed... "Well, nor can I, in this situation. I think I'd rather die."
"Then you might as well." A distinct shade of green glowed nearby. "I have no qualms with killing a useless creature."
Angry, she lashed out her ki, her energy, and the green glow reappeared a good twenty feet away. "You're such a spoiled brat, Sesshōmaru!" It hurt to stand, but she managed. She'd have to keep a wet cloth over that knee of hers for a time, and elevate it most likely. "I said 'no'. Have some more self-confidence and go find someone else willing to sell herself. At least then you'd have someone who will put out for you, and not just put up with you." She'd get the village back on its feet herself, despite the regional wars which began to decimate it in the first place. By herself, and personal safety be damned! Stubborn, she looked away from him, keeping his location in check with her senses still, and started to walk for the village. She could only imagine finally getting back and having her knee the size of a grapefruit. "Did I land on it funny?"
He moved, and before she even registered where his new location was her upper arm was grasped, and something firm and narrow smacked painfully into the upper side of her neck. The sensation shot down her arm and through half of her chest, but she didn't even get to gasp before something smacked her brow and the nape of her neck.
Her stomach hurt. That sensation had her snapping her eyes open, only to see black booted heels steadily walking along a nigh invisible trail through the woods.
"No damned way did this happen!" Trying to get up, planting her indeed injured palms on the armor on his back, she lost grip when he jostled her and landed hard on his shoulder again. It did not help her stomach in the least. "Ack, damn you! Put me down!" He stopped moving. She didn't. The ground was not a gentle landing, particularly not in the embrace of a bush. Shifting against jabbing and scraping twigs had the rest of her joining her heels on the ground.
Mumbling out a string of profanity tied to him, she picked herself out of the undergrowth with plenty of scratching involved, and finally got up onto her feet. Anger vanished for a moment in shock as she applied more weight to her injured knee. The only thing she felt now was the scrape. Putting that aside, she planted her fists on her hips and confronted him. The last fifteen seconds had her floundering for something to say, her amazement making it difficult to think. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Insisting on your compliance."
She blinked. Several times. Her mouth opened and closed as well, trying to function through bewilderment. "You... can't do that!"
"I assure you, I can." He was definitely not going to let her argue. His expression in the morning light said as much. On that note, she began wondering how long she was out for, and what he had done to render her so. She remembered a smack on the neck, but that only numbed up her shoulder area.
Rubbing the side of her neck ruefully, she turned it into tucking her hair behind her ear, then yelped. Something really stung on the upper part of her ear. Really badly, too! She felt at it, and flinched again before exploring more gently at the area. Maybe it was a bad bug bite. Maybe...
Her fingertip nestled over a sore hole in her ear.
A hole.
In her ear. And not the one she heard through.
"Sesshōmaru," she began firmly, much more calmly than she felt. "What is this?"
He was unfazed by her discovery. "That is a traditional lover's mark."
Silence reigned for a few moments. "There is a hole in my ear."
"Clearly."
"... Sesshōmaru. I am going to kill you."
"Your attempt would be amusing." The bastard actually had the audacity to smirk.
Oh, she would do more than 'attempt'. She was going to singe his arrogant ass. She was- Her grasping for ki had her grabbing nothing. She was blocked?
Her eyes bulged in horror as they swung toward him. She could sense a very faint amount of yōki around her. In her. She wanted to empty her stomach. Why hadn't she noticed that before? "What did you do?" Why wasn't it killing her?
"The answer is evident."
She reached out to choke him, but he grabbed her wrists easily. "You arrogant asshole, what did you do to me?"
"I will have your compliance, one way or another." His words slid down her back like ice, and she shuddered despite herself.
"This won't work out." One way or another? Why was he so hellbent? "If anything, everyone will see the bluff instantly, and I'll be sentenced to death or something."
"You need not worry for your personal safety."
She stared up at him, flabbergasted. Was this really happening? "Why a miko?"
He drew her closer, drawing her wrists down and behind him until their faces were inches apart. Maybe he could endure someone treating him as a lover. "Because, if I am to go through with this at all, it will be with the additional intention of making a certain bitch die due to organ failure."
… As sad as it was, she really hoped he was referring to his mother.
A/N: This story is also posted on Dokuga, a site dedicated to Sesshomaru+Kagome and where I'll continue to be posting the edited version of my trilogy. If interested, check it out! Also provided a link in my profile.
As always, thanks for reading! ^_^