"Young Master!" the plea echoed in the large palace. "Young Master, please wait!"
A loud slam caught Kuronue's attention. "Brother! What is this about marriage all of a sudden?" Kurama demanded of him.
"Oh, there you are Kurama!" Kuronue looked up from his book.
Youko leaned into Kuronue until their noses almost touched. "An arranged marriage is bad enough, but you just had to marry me off to some ningen girl?" he asked threateningly.
Altogether ignoring his anger, Kuronue laughed and smiled at him, "Oh, come on, don't be such a racist. They can be pretty nice at times."
"Kuronue!" Youko groaned shaking in fury and disbelief.
"Now, now, calm down Kurama and hear me out," Kuronue sighed and waved his hand in a pitying gesture. "Let's see… where should I begin? It all started because of this," Kuronue held out a black stone with a phoenix perched on it.
"Isn't that… the white phoenix that we stole from that wealthy family?"
"Yes, this is the seal witch we now use to seal and signify ourselves, that is…if this were the real one…"
"WHAT?!" Youko shouted in disbelief.
"It's been five years since then. In the end we had to ask a well known crafter to make an exact duplicate and he promised to keep it a secret so this err… mistake would continue to be unknown to the world. The deal though, was that one of us had to marry his little sister." Kuronue finished.
"And so…?"
"You're getting married and mated in both Youkai and Ningen traditions!"
"I CAN'T BELIVE IT! YOU SOLD ME FOR A STUPID SEAL, AND WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ME?!"
~!!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~~!
Youko was cradling his head in his hands as he sat on a bench in the forest that surrounded their 'castle'. He sighed, "I can't believe Kuronue would just marry me off to some random ningen girl…. Wait, I do believe it, and he already has." A sudden fizzing to his right caught his attention. Glancing up at the small ball of white fire her glared at it, "I'm not in the mood for any games. Show yourself or I will take care of the problem myself."
"Oh my, sorry if I disturbed you in any way," the fire apologized before a loud poof resounded through the area. A long midnight haired ningen puffed out where the fire was a second ago. She was wearing a short cut bottom with a long flowing sash around her. The woman's long hair fluttered in the wind. "I apologize; I wasn't trying to spy on you."
"Regardless," she continued, "it's nice to meet you. My name is Kagome Nigenkai from the rolling waters clan and I'm supposed to be your fiancé."
Youko shook hands with the one she had offered him, "I see…I'm Youko Kurama."
She looked at him a bit nervously, and he felt that he might as well say it.
"The truth is… I came here secretly because I wanted to ask you for a favor…"
"Good timing, there was something wanted to ask you." A sudden breeze blew by as they both paused in somewhat of an awkward situation.
"DO whatever it takes to convince your father to cancel the marriage!" they shouted at each other in unison. It was followed by an awkward silence until Kagome laughed.
"You know, I think we're going to get along fine," she laughed as she shook his hand with her right and wiped her tears of laughter away with her left.
"I agree," he replied smiling at her as he shook hers as well.
"Oh- just look at them, they make quite a couple." Yusuke chuckled suddenly appearing and standing next to Kuronue. "Yes, and they're already holding hands, kids these days…" Kuronue teased knowing Youko would hear him.
"Th-that's not it Bro!" Kagome scolded scotching away from Youko and looking mortified by Yusuke.
"Look they're blushing!" Yusuke teased.
"Of course. Of course," Kuronue couldn't help but laugh at them. He was never the one to not join in on a good chance to make fun of Youko.
"Kuronue!" Youko called out sounding both angry and scandalized.
"We both agree not to go through with this!" Kagome told them both sternly.
"Just why are you guys trying to get us married anyways?!" Youko demanded.
"Why? Because it's so fun isn't it?" they replied in unison causing Kagome to lose her balance and fall quite ungracefully onto the floor. "Fine, we'll give you two a break, find the real artifact, and the marriage is off." Yusuke dealed with the two of them before walking off with Kuronue at his side.
"We are so screwed..." Youko sighed. "It's been missing for five years."
"D-Don't give up just yet," Kagome tried to assure him only to fail lamely.
FOUR HOURS LATER
"This is absolutely hopeless!" Kagome shouted out as she fell to her knees in the soft green grass. "How are we supposed to find one particular thing that looks like such a common day object?!"
"It's not exactly a common day object…" Youko groused to himself quietly enough for her not to hear it. Looking over at her, he asked, "Kagome… why is it that you don't want to go through this arranged marriage so much? Is there any particular reasons?"
Kagome blinked and then thought to herself. Making a little X with her hands, she told him, "No matter what, I'm not going to get into an arranged marriage! I plan on falling in love and choosing my own husband."
"You're simple-minded aren't you?"
Kagome ignored his jibe, "What about you Youko, is there any reason for you?"
Youko frowned and sat down on the grass beside her. "I'm not sure but… when I was a bit younger, I met a lost little girl who seemed to have wandered lost for days. I took care of her for a while and then I led her to her group of kinsmen. But I can't seem to get her out of my mind and how she may be like now."
"Eh? What is it, you're still in love with that little girl, or is it that you don't find me as attractive as the ten year old?"
Youko looked at her solemnly, "On the Contrary, I find myself liking you even more ever second. That and I don't want to be with a woman who would rather not be with me." He chuckled unaware of Kagome's blush.
"If you don't mind me saying, you're pretty foolish you know that?" Kagome laughed at him.
"Humph… foolish eh?"
"Just about everyone has had an experience as well. I've been proposed to by a demon once."
"Some demon proposed to you?"
Kagome smiled and let out a little laugh. "Yeah, and not only that but he gave me a ring about…" she paused.
Bending to look at her, he arched a single brow," What's wrong Kagome?" he asked her when she didn't do anything more for a while. Suddenly she pulled out from her overlarge sleeve a…
"Kagome, how did you?!" Youko spluttered at her and the object in her hand. The White Phoenix was resting in her open palm and he couldn't do much but stare at it in awe.
"The demon who proposed to me put this on my finger. He put it on saying it was a ring, and he said to me…"
"In ten years I will come looking for you. This ring which is the largest and most powerful in the world will eventually bring u together again." They recited in unison.
"Then, you're that kid…"
"I can't believe it, you're that youkai!" Kagome turned away from him and stared into her hands somewhat amazed. "My goodness, youkai age so slowly, it's been ten years too…!"
Youko clenched his fists, "Now I remember! I brought the seal with me because I thought it was a tough looking ring that could grant me a wish…I dug my own grave!"
Kagome swirled the ring on her marriage finger, the feathery tail of the phoenix kept it from falling off. "You know, you really shouldn't be giving girls engagement rings only to take them back," she teased blushing lightly. He reached foreword to take her hand in his larger ones.
"How about I just let you keep it?"
Kagome backed up embarrassed," Like I said, I don't want to go through an arranged marriage…"
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And so like that, our arrange marriage was called off. I still remember big bro's surprised gawk. "Holy~ I can't believe they found the real deal!"
"Those kids are monsters!" Kuronue had gasped.
And ever since then…
"Kagome!" I turn around. Standing behind me is…
Youko has come to visit me every day…
I run to him and leap. Holding him tightly I look up at him; his hair's grown even longer.
This must be what they refer to as a 'romantic relationship'.