Kagome sat uncomfortably and strained to keep the practiced smile on her face. The man seated in front of her, like many of the men before him, based his decision on whether to request her on physique alone. He had pretended to be interested in her personality for two or three terse questions, and then his inquiries turned to her measurements, whether she had any scars or moles, and how well her mother had aged. Now he was just staring at her. When he got up to circle her slowly, she took a moment to self-indulgently roll her eyes as soon as they were out of his scrutinizing gaze. Finally he sat down again.

"Very nice. I'll give you an eight and a half," he stated, marking the number down on a scroll he was keeping for reference.

"I'm so glad that what you see pleases you," Kagome replied, trying very hard to keep the sarcasm out of her tone. She had never felt more like a commodity in her life.

She rose as the bell rang, just like she had in every previous interview. But this, finally, was the last one. She could go back to the women's tent and await her fate. Granted, it wasn't much of a refuge with all the other excited and nervous girls squealing and gushing endlessly around her, but at least no one would be trying to picture her naked.

She removed her headdress again as soon as she was safely inside the cloth haven. She wanted to throw it on the ground and kick it, too, but she bravely resisted.

"Lady Kagome! Why is your head bare!?" shrieked a girl who entered seconds after her. Her hands were clutching her face in horror.

"The headdress is, uh... it's haunted. It moved on its own. Unlike yours, mine is made of real hair, carefully cut from the head of a princess as she lay on her deathbed. It's very rare. Only now the ghost of that princess clings to the hair, desperately trying to reunite with its body so that the two can rest together in peace forever. I'd let it, but, obviously, I need to entice a man. So tough luck for the wig! Occasionally it gets away from me, though. You know how these things go."

After that, no one talked to Kagome much, which was exactly how she liked it.

When the time came, she reluctantly and carelessly plopped the wretched thing back on her head, halfheartedly shoved some of her hanging hair back into it, and went to watch the auction. She was sure she looked dreadful, but she was also sure that she didn't care at this point. The women were supposed to be out of sight in the tent until the results were announced, but Kagome wasn't one to sit patiently. She crept up behind the mass of men milling around and, as subtly as she could in a dress and bare feet (because her shoes were awful), climbed a nearby tree to observe the proceedings. It had enough low-hanging branches that it wasn't too difficult, and once she was up, the foliage was thick enough to hide her. She quickly scanned the crowd to see if anyone had noticed the feat, but they were as oblivious as the women back in the tent were when she left. So she settled back smugly.

Soon an important-looking man stepped in front of everyone else and commanded their silence and attention. He quickly explained the rules: auctioneer says name, men bid, highest bid gets girl. Then the man gets to take the girl home for a trial period, and at the end of it, if both families agree, the two get engaged. Fairly straightforward.

He started to list the names. Most girls got at least a bid or two. One particularly beautiful girl got twelve. Kagome noticed the last man she had interviewed with angrily crossing her name off of the top of his list when he lost the battle. As more and more names droned on, Kagome idly observed the men, tried to recall if there was anything unique about her interview with them, and then tried to picture what life with them would be like if they were the one to take her home. Most of the pictures were mind-numbingly boring or intensely uncomfortable. Then she saw Inuyasha.

She chuckled, because he looked as bored as she was. She was glad that he would be able to get out of all this soon. At least one of them would be happy. And after the relaxing break he had given her in the middle of all this chaos, she was truly grateful to him and wished him well. She tried to send him some good chi to pass the time.

Then she heard her name. Before she could even wince or say a prayer, two or three bids went up immediately. Kagome was surprised. She studied the bidders and noticed with dread that all of them were leerers. Just great. Since she was already watching Inuyasha, she looked to see what his reaction was. Curiously, he seemed to be upset and bewildered and not at all as withdrawn and bored as he had been a second ago. The bidding started to wind down to two particularly zealous participants. One was the man she had interviewed with last, and one was an overweight and piggish-looking man who was old enough to be her father. She remembered that he had spent more time talking about himself than asking her questions. Either way this went, it looked like it was going to be a very long trial period.

Then, suddenly, Inuyasha put in a bid. Kagome sat up straighter in shock and almost fell out of the tree. She had thought he wasn't going to bid on anyone. Apparently, that's what everyone else thought, too, because the crowd started to murmur. Inuyasha stubbornly refused to look at anyone but the auctioneer. After a couple of seconds, the bidding resumed, and the three duked it out. The one who had deemed her an eight and a half dropped out first, disappointedly crossing her name from his list as well. It took a little longer, but eventually Mr. Pig dropped out, too.

When the auctioneer declared the betting finished in favor of Inuyasha, Kagome actually clapped her hands in delight. He must have had compassion on her. The other men made her feel like a piece of meat, but now, for the first time, Kagome felt understood and cared about in at least a basic human way. It was a really, really good feeling.

A/N: Hey guys. I wrote you another chapter because currently this story is in the lead, but that's really only because I updated the other two ahead of it in the last couple of days and they haven't had time yet to gain as many reviews. I'm sad to say that this one is not the favorite. But it's not to late to change that... if you want me to continue, then review!