Author's Note: Hello, everyone. I decided to update my story today! Ahem, anyway, here's the fourth chapter. Oh, and also, there are some musical terms here, and if you're totally clueless to what they mean, feel free to ask me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

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Art of Love

Chapter Four: Reminiscing the Past

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It was Wednesday, which was the day Kikyou performed for Inutaisho at his little social-gathering.

Her gaze was fixed outside through her apartment window. There was a dark mass of clouds hovering over the sky of the city, making the dull city appear even duller than it did before. The climate was no better; it was still hot, and to make matters worse, it was also humid. These were the early signs of precipitation.

Kikyou loved the rain.

She enjoyed hearing the sorrowful, yet rhythmic melody of rain drops falling on the cold, hard ground. The rain and she had a lot in common; they both seemed to bring an aura of melancholy wherever they went, and they both were falling from grace, well, in her opinion, she had already fallen from grace many years ago.

She also liked the sound of roaring thunder. The booming blare of thunder always reminded her of the timpani. If struck with great force, it could be even more deafening than thunder.

But she also hated it. She hated it because on that day, it was raining. She had felt like the rain had also betrayed her that day.

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A lone maiden made her way through the crowded street. The rain was pouring heavily, and it was only the afternoon. Her face was covered by a plain, black umbrella. She wore a jade-green turtle neck sweater and a pair of blue jeans. She also was carrying a black suitcase. She walked gracefully through the place.

She raised the umbrella up higher, and her face was now in view. The petite woman beneath the dark umbrella was none other than Kikyou. Her facial expressions were bright despite the heavy rain; she looked content.

Who wouldn't be happy to be back home? Kikyou had been away on a trip to New York and other surrounding cities and states for five months to perform on a tour with the orchestra she pertains to, and now she was back. Back to where she was born, raised, and met her beloved, Inuyasha.

She had missed him while she was at New York. She could not get her mind off of him since she had left; especially since they had made a promise to each other before she had left.

They had promised to wed when she was back, and since they had made that promise, she has been very anxious about it. They had also promised to meet at the park when she got back from her trip. And that was where she was going at that instant; the park.

Soon, she was at the entrance to the tall gates of the park. The park was one of her favorite places to go to. She always used to go there when she was down. She had found out that the park's tranquil atmosphere calmed her down. It was also an ideal spot for couples to gather.

Kikyou walked blissfully through the path of evergreen trees. The heavy rain pounded against her black umbrella; it was like the rain was trying to break through her defenses.

She was headed towards a bench that she and Inuyasha and herself always occupied before she left on her trip.

Time stopped completely for Kikyou when she saw the scene right in front of her. The bench that was surrounded by the field of green grass and was near the shoreline of the small pond was occupied by two people. The bench she and Inuyasha used to sit at and look up at the sky was being occupied by Inuyasha and someone else.

She was horrified by the scene in front of her. All her dreams and happiness were all thrown away now. Inuyasha was holding another woman in his arms.

The girl was a bit younger than Kikyou, and was very pretty. She had a big smile plastered on her lovely face. Her chocolate eyes were lit up with joy and contentment. Her aura radiated joyful and content emotions; all of the emotions which had belonged to Kikyou just a while earlier.

Kikyou stepped closer to the happy little couple. She watched as Inuyasha planted a small kiss on the girl's cheek. Kikyou's eyes dimmed and she became even paler than before. All the life and contentment she had been feeling earlier were drained from her.

'How could he?' Kikyou thought miserably. 'Was I not good enough for him? Is that why he has replaced me?'

She should have been the one in his arms. She should have been the one receiving sweet kisses from him.

But was it really that girl's fault?

No, she probably didn't know that Inuyasha and she were engaged. Or did she?

"Kagome…" Inuyasha muttered out. Kikyou's eyes lit up from realization. She knew the girl Inuyasha was with. Kagome was one of her cousins. Kagome couldn't know that she and Inuyasha were engaged. Well, were engaged; as of now, she hated Inuyasha.

"I-Inuyasha…" Kikyou choked out. Inuyasha looked up toward where the voice had come from. His eyes widened at what he saw.

"Kikyou!" Inuyasha called out loudly. Kagome turned her head abruptly to see Kikyou standing still. She had dropped her umbrella and was getting soaking wet. The pounding rain came down on her porcelain skin.

"Kikyou, what are you doing here? And how do you know her, Inuyasha? Have you two met before?" Kagome asked. She was bewildered at what was going on. Why did her cousin look at Inuyasha with so much contempt? And why was Inuyasha so surprised to see her?

"Inuyasha, you broke our promise… I will never forgive you." Kikyou declared unemotionally. She then made her way to turn around on her heel, but Inuyasha grabbed her by the wrist.

"Kikyou, wait!" Inuyasha yelled. Kikyou turned to look at Inuyasha with her cold, brown eyes. Inuyasha flinched a little; he had never seen Kikyou look at him with such hatred before.

"Unhand me, Inuyasha." She said calmly. Kagome watched the ordeal from the sidelines; she was confused beyond belief.

Kikyou yanked her hand away from Inuyasha's grip and began to walk away. "Kikyou, wait!"

"No, Inuyasha, I won't wait. It is clear to me that you have found yourself another woman." Kikyou stated icily. Inuyasha looked at her sadly as she walked away from him and his life.

"Kikyou…" He wanted to chase after her and tell her not to go, but he saw Kagome's confused face and stayed where he was.

Kikyou's dark, black hair cradled her pale face. Her brown eyes were narrowed as she walked gracefully through the sidewalk. Despite her seemingly calm demeanor, in the inside, she felt like she was being torn apart. Her calmness was all a façade.

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Kikyou scoffed at her thoughts. She was reminiscing once again. How many times has she remembered that incident? Too many times to count, that was the only thing that was certain.

Kikyou walked over to the closet in her bedroom. She thought that maybe choosing something to wear would help distract her from her feelings.

Inutaisho had said it was a formal party, so she had to wear something formal. She opened the doors to her closet and searched through all her clothes. Her attention was caught by one particular dress. The dress was black and was very long. It had a very simple design, but still managed to look elegant and beautiful.

She took the dress from the hanger and placed it neatly on the bed as she began to undress. She then put on the black gown on her body and zipped it up. She walked towards the mirror and observed herself. She looked at her reflection and frowned. She didn't frown at how she looked, though; she frowned about how many unpleasant memories the elegant gown brought.

She went into the bathroom and readied herself up. She looked at her reflection once more and checked herself. The gown suited her perfectly; she looked astonishing in it. The dress had a single small slit on the side of it, but it was not very showy; the slit didn't go very high. The dress was held by two straps on her shoulders. The darker-than-night color of the gown was a noticible contrast to her milky, white skin.

Kikyou hadn't bothered with putting too much make-up on. She didn't need it, after all. She did, however, wear a thin layer of rouge on her lips, as well as a bit of eyeliner.

She had decided to let her long, flowing hair down. The only ornament in her hair was a simple little hair ornament. Overall, Kikyou looked stunning.

Kikyou then left the room to get her purse, as well as her flute. She was supposed to perform on three instruments, which included her flute, violin, and piano. The piano and violin were provided for her, but she had decided to take her own flute.

Kikyou then got out of the apartment and left to Inutaisho's manor in a taxi. The taxi stopped in front of two gates leading to a large manor. Kikyou stared at the place before she went through the opened gates.

Kikyou wasn't surprised; she wasn't new to manors and places similar to them. In fact, she was quite used to them. Kikyou walked through the pathway leading to the doors and noticed the beautiful gardens surrounding the place. There were pretty pink roses lining the wall separating the manor's gardens and the outside world.

Someone heading the opposite way Kikyou was going accidentally bumped into her. Kikyou gazed at the person who had bumped into her and noticed it was the same one who Kaede had bumped into.

The man seemed too preoccupied to even acknowledge Kikyou and he did not even utter out a word of apology. Kikyou thought it was rude of him not to do so, but she brushed it off.

Kikyou then proceeded to entering the manor. She walked in gracefully and was immediately greeted by the sight of Inutaisho smiling at her.

"Ah, Kikyou, you're here." He greeted her warmly. Unlike his son, Inuyasha, Inutaisho was much more amiable. "I'm guessing that the little case in your hand is your flute, correct?"

"Correct, sir." Kikyou replied. Inutaisho frowned a little.

"You don't have to be so formal, just call me Inutaisho." He said while faking a frown. Kikyou laughed a little at his pretend pout. Inuyasha used to do that all the time.

"I'll try, Inutaisho." Kikyou said. As soon as she finished her sentence a man passed by them; it was the same one who had bumped into her earlier.

"Sesshoumaru, come over here for a second." Inutaisho called out to the man. Sesshoumaru stopped at hearing his name and turned around to face his father.

"What is it, father?" Sesshoumaru said rather coldly. He was a little irked that he had to attend his father's social-gathering.

'Father? Then this must be Inuyasha's elder brother... No wonder they look so much alike.' Kikyou mused.

"Come, I want you to meet someone." Inutaisho ordered his eldest son. Sesshoumaru walked over to his father and Kikyou. "Sesshoumaru, this is Kikyou, the musician I hired. And Kikyou, this is my eldest son." He introduced them to each other.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Kikyou said as she bowed a little.

Sesshoumaru looked over the girl and noticed she was about the same age as Inuyasha. He had to agree that she was not bad-looking, in fact, she was pretty attractive; her black dress suited her features well.

"Nice to meet you too." Sesshoumaru said too coldly for his father's liking. Inutaisho sighed; why was his son so… cold? Kikyou, however, didn't seem affected by Sesshoumaru's coldness.

"Kikyou, how about you go practice your instrument for a while until the guests come, hmm? You can practice out here." Inutaisho inquired. Kikyou nodded her response and headed towards the corner of the room.

She got out her flute from her case and started to warm-up. Sesshoumaru stopped what he was doing to hear the flute. Kikyou started playing all twelve major scales in all octaves as well as some minor scales. Sesshoumaru was a little surprised to hear her play. She had great tone quality.

All the other musicians Sesshoumaru's father had hired in the past didn't seem as good as this one, and weren't exactly to Sesshoumaru's liking. Perhaps, this one would be to his liking...

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Okay, I lied… Inuyasha didn't appear in this chapter, but he will next one. Sorry…

Note: I recently received a review about the pairing. Look, I clearly stated in the beginning that if you don't like the pairing, then do not read it, and don't whine to me that you don't like it.