Disclaimer: No, no, and no, I don't own Inuyasha.
A/N: Decided to split up this chapter, so it's really short, but the next one will make up for it, promise! Sorry the updates are taking so long; it's so weird to be writing in first person. XD Chiguu-chan (my beta) is the best!
Under the Cherry Trees
By celinae
Chapter One: How These Days Grow Old
I remember my first wedding was during spring, so that when I left home the cherry trees were flowering, dropping petals onto my hair as the sedan chair moved past, its many curtains obscuring the light. The bumpy ride to the temple took forever, while I watched the trees flow behind me like showers of pink blossoms.
The blue sky was so clear, so endless, even through the gauze that obscured it.
It would have been faster to just walk, but Naraku-dono had insisted on the purity of his bride, and Mother had interpreted that as complete cleanliness.
Mother had been absolutely pig-headed about it, too. I had always admired this quality in her: this was what had helped her survive after Father died and helped her be strong enough to support our family. But still, it was absolutely annoying though when she used it on me.
Mother had been just another daimyo's distant cousin, before Father, a rich noble of the powerful Higurashi clan, married her. Suddenly, she was filthy rich, even more than her distant daimyo cousin, and every court season she was in high demand at every party as the Wife of a Rich Man.
She had a boy, my brother Souta, and me, before Father died of food poisoning. When Father was still alive, I had been ignored and my only classical education was what I had learned by eavesdropping on my brother's calligraphy classes and stumbling through the kanji on the scrolls in Father's study.
I had always loved the cherry trees when I was young, but when I learned that I had to eventually become the Wife of a Rich Man, they always reminded me of my bleak future, taunting me with their whispers of happy memories.
Sometimes, I had hoped that I would marry one of my many cousins, many of whom were rich enough to appease my ambitious mother. They were relatives on my father's side, for he had two younger sisters who had married daimyo princes.
Inuyasha was my favorite cousin, although he was only the youngest son of a powerful official. I met him on a sunny day just like this one, long ago.
Such a distant memory to recall…
A/N: Next chapter, Kagome meets Kouga, Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru!