The journey, to much of my surprise, had turned out to be quite pleasant. Despite the improper sight of me riding on my husband's back, it was truly a joyous time. It was as if as though the four of us had known each other for a lifetime and a half.
Sango and Miroku were getting along marvelously under my watchful eye. My once shy sister was smiling more often, the charisma and charm I knew her to possess spilling forth from those chocolate eyes so reminiscent of our mother's. Miroku, who had never seen his wife so carefree and happy, glowed with admiration.
As for Inuyasha and I, we treated each other with civility and respect. We didn't possess the same amount of attraction my sister and her husband had, and yet we fell into a type of casualness. Harsh words and banter still remained, but after waking up the morning after our discussion of Izayoi in his arms, I saw my hanyou husband in a new light; he was still rough around the edges, but I was beginning to accept them.
My temperamental husband stayed true to his word—before midday we arrived at a small dock, surrounded with boats and canoes. The estate, he explained, was on the other side of the small bay. It was only accessible through water transportation.
Sango and I were delighted, yet sobered, with the boat ride steered by our husbands. It reminded us of our childhood days when our mother was still alive, when she and our father would take us to the nearby lake. Bittersweet memories appeared to haunt my every step.
As I ran my fingers through the cool water I glanced up at Inuyasha, who was distracted by a dragonfly that had decided to buzz in his ear. Watching him swat the infuriating insect was a comical scene that sent the rest of us into peals of laughter, and at the same time tugged at the strings of my heart. This antagonizing, unpredictable, unexpectedly considerate man was my husband, whom I would be bound to for decades…perhaps centuries.
It had scared me in the beginning, knowing that I would be his wife. He had been such a disagreeable, pompous, self-centered imbecile that I wanted nothing to do with, and yet although my initial impressions of him were true, they were largely exaggerated. He was no more grandiose than any other man of his station, yet he retained a genteel nature underneath his coarse exterior.
He must have noticed me watching him, for his golden eyes locked with mine, the fire of his soul licking my own. Feeling my face heat, I looked away, embarrassed and afraid.
Embarrassed that he caught me looking at him…
…afraid that I was falling for the one man I swore never to love.
xOx
"Welcome, my ladies, to the Shindo Estate."
Kagome couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips as she surveyed the scene before her. The dock they were approaching was identical to the one they had departed from, yet with the large grounds looming behind made the scene all the more beautiful. It was much warmer in the south, and everywhere the sisters looked cherry blossoms bloomed with vivacity. Through the groves of trees and pink clouds of flowers stood a fairly large wooden house, surrounded by much smaller buildings. The entire estate was accentuated with the dark mountains that rose behind it, the peaks lightly tipped with white before it ascended to the clouds and heavens above.
"It is beautiful," the blue-eyed woman admired, leaning forward. "Is it truly real?"
"As real as the boat you sit in," Inuyasha murmured, he too mesmerized by the scenery.
Sango smiled as she reached for her sister's hand to squeeze. "To think, Kagome. You are mistress of all of this."
Her sister's words suddenly made her feel uneasy. No doubt with this beautiful home came servants and people to overlook. Kagome's stomach churned as she thought of all the responsibilities that were to befall her.
"Surely…surely you will live with us?"
The elder woman thought a moment, before turning to her husband. Miroku gave her a reassuring smile. "Sango and I will be living on the grounds, yes, but we do not live in the main house with you and Inuyasha. We reside in a smaller household nearby."
"I'll still be close," Sango whispered, giving her hand another squeeze. Kagome nodded, but somehow the happy feeling she felt moments ago was slowly sinking into apprehension.
Upon docking, the women were surprised to find servants waiting for their arrival. Even Inuyasha, who sent no word, was slightly suspicious of the group of youkai and human attendants that stood, hands clasped in front, as they set foot on land.
"Inuyasha-sama, we are pleased to hear of your success at the capital."
The young servant who bowed looked no more than fifteen, yet the golden hair and piercing amethyst eyes were a dead giveaway that he was a youkai. His cropped hair glistened in the sunlight as he gazed at the women behind his master. "Might these be the Higurashi sisters?"
"Yes. This is Sango, Miroku's wife, and Kagome, my wife." Clearing his throat, he watched as the women and his servant exchanged formalities. "This is Haruo."
"It is an honor," Kagome murmured, eyeing him openly. Although the capital they had resided in their entire lives were open to youkai and humans alike, the otherworldly creatures preferred the outskirts of the country to live. Save for the usual raccoon and fox youkai that entered the city to trade, the Kimura clan had been, by far, the most unique and humanoid youkai they had ever seen. With another so similarly featured, the young woman couldn't quell the curiosity that rose within her.
"Are you inuyoukai as well?" She queried, taking in the pointed ears and green markings on his face, that seemed to deepen with embarrassment.
"Oh, no, my lady," Haruo laughed uneasily. "I am raion-youkai."
Sango stared in wonder as Kagome blinked. "I was unaware that we have lions in our country."
"Haruo is from the continent," Miroku explained as he threw his oar into the boat. "His father served under Kimura-sama himself, but when he died in battle, Kimura-sama took it upon himself to raise his son."
"And for that I am forever indebted," Haruo inclined his head.
"I would hate to break up this little conversation," Inuyasha interrupted, but perhaps we should get inside before dark?"
"Of course," the lion agreed, fussing over the rest of the servants to hurry back inside and prepare them a proper meal. "I must say," the golden-haired youkai admitted, leading the way up the dirt road that wove through the cherry blossoms trees leading to the front gate, "if it wasn't for Kouga-sama, we would have never expected you to arrive so early, Inuyasha-sama."
"Kouga?" Kagome noticed the tone of disdain in her husband's voice as he bristled at the name. "Is he here?"
"But of course, milord. He proclaimed he smelled your unique scent from miles away, and sent us hurrying into the preparations."
"He said that, did he?" Inuyasha growled. "That mangy wolf…"
"Miroku," Kagome asked in a low voice, hoping that her husband would not overhear, "who is this Kouga Haruo speaks of?"
"Ah," the general sighed, shaking his head. "Kouga is Inuyasha's cousin…indirectly. You see, the only blood relation he holds with the Kimuras is through Sesshoumaru—Kouga's mother was a cousin to Sesshoumaru's mother. It is not uncommon for wolves and inuyoukai to intermingle in the north."
"So why is he here, and not in there, with his kin?" Sango asked.
"Years ago, Kimura-sama thought it fit if Kouga, seeing as he was closer to Inuyasha's age than his eldest son, would come and be a companion to his son. However, as the years went on, the two formed a type of…rivalry, if you will." Miroku sighed, shrugging. "Why he still lingers here, I have no idea, but I believe it has to do with an unwanted engagement to a wolf maiden up North."
"He sounds like an interesting character," Kagome mused. "A rival of Inuyasha? I would very much like to meet him."
"You'll stay away from him," a low voice growled, startling her. Jerking to the side she watched as Inuyasha glowered at his three companions, his golden eyes glistening.
Kagome felt the familiar fire within her light with his words. "Since when do you have a say of who I can and cannot meet?"
"Since I married you, wench."
"Why you insolent—"
"If you three are done wagging your tongues behind my back," he cut off, ignoring the fuming woman beside him, "I would like to freshen up before my meal, thank you."
The three watched as he stalked off into a turn the dirt path led into, hidden by a cluster of trees. Kagome, irritated, stomped off in the direction of her spouse. "Inuyasha! Inuyasha, I'm not done talking to—oh, my!"
Kagome felt all her breath leave her body as she stopped dead in her tracks, gazing up at the immense building before her. The turn had led into the front gate, where Haruo awaited with an amused grin. Inuyasha had too paused a few feet before her, momentarily stunned with memories that flooded his senses of his childhood. He had not taken residence here since before his father's aspiration for the throne, some two centuries before.
"It's about time you showed up, you mongrel!"
The inspiring reverie was broken by a deep voice that seemed to float down out of thin air. Moments later the voice materialized and a tall man rounded the corner, his ebony tresses pulled into a neat tail atop his head. Blue eyes flashed with animosity and amusement, as the furs he wore gave him the appearance of a true mountain youkai.
"Kouga." Inuyasha acknowledged in a low voice, his eyes narrowing. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm here to welcome you, mutt!" He grinned, his white fangs flashing in the sunlight. "And Kimura-sama ordered me to be here when you arrived."
"Wonderful. Well we are here, so you are free to lea—"
"So, I assume everything at the capital went smoothly? Is Kimura-sama truly Emperor?" Kouga ignored his cousin's snarl as he gazed at the humans behind him, his piercing blue eyes landing on Kagome. "My, my, who is this?"
A low rumble began to sound from the inuyoukai's chest. "Yes, Father is Emperor," he answered coolly. "And that wench is my wife."
Kagome gave him a dangerous glare as Kouga laughed. "I heard that you were forced into marriage to the Higurashi sisters." Striding up to the seething woman he scooped up her hands in one motion. "Though if I was married to such a creature as you, I would not be complaining."
Blushing prettily, the noblewoman found herself in an awkward position. Behind Kouga's head she could see a livid Inuyasha, his molten gold eyes burning bright.
"Stay away from her, Kouga," he growled menacingly.
"What is your name, my lady?" Kouga purred, flashing a dashing smile.
In a split second all of Kagome's senses came rushing back to her. Realizing that she was being toyed with between these two men like a slab of meat she quickly pulled her hands away, crossing them over her chest. Her eyes glinting annoyance, she answered him in a clipped tone. "Kagome."
Taken back by her sudden change in mood, something tugged in the back of Kouga's mind as he looked at the woman staring at him so defiantly. "Higurashi Kagome…" he murmured slowly, taking in the fierce azure eyes. As recognition began to sink in his jaw dropped, and he quickly whirled around to face his inuyoukai kin.
"You married the Blue Lark?!"
"The one and only," Inuyasha muttered. Seeing Kouga's reaction changed Inuyasha's sour look to one of pride and ego. "Jealous, wolf?"
The older youkai rolled his eyes. "Not likely, puppy. It is not like she wanted to marry you. Binding her to you is one thing…having her love you is another." Flashing another dazzling grin to his cousin's wife, he put his hands on his hips. "Tell us, Kagome. Do you love him? Because if you don't, I'm looking for a wife."
"You bastard!" Inuyasha snarled, reaching out and slashing the air in front of him. "That is low, even for you, Kouga, to try to steal someone's wife right from under his nose. Family nonetheless!"
Kouga, having dodged his attack, bore his teeth threateningly. "She is no more your wife than she is any man," he spat, his piercing blue eyes narrowing. "You know that youkai know no marriage laws that humans abide by, and by the smell on her, you haven't claimed her, haven't you?"
Kagome felt her face flush as Inuyasha's lips thinned into a straight line. "We have not consummated the marriage yet, seeing as we had to leave the morning after our wedding."
"Then," Kouga grinned wolfishly, "She's still fair game. Until you mark her in our ways, she is nothing more than a maiden under your care."
"To hell with you, you filthy—"
"ENOUGH!"
The two youkai froze as a livid Kagome stood between them, her brilliant dark eyes flashing with irritation and embarrassment. Sango and Miroku stood back, watching, as she set each man into place.
"I am not," she hissed in a low voice, "an object to be won, and I will not tolerate being treated as such." Turning her penetrating glare to Kouga, her nostrils flared.
"Do not treat me with such familiarity, sir," she spoke in a cold, frigid voice. "I am a married woman. Love or not, I have a duty to the throne and to my husband."
"And as for you," she spun on her heel, the smug smirk that crept onto Inuyasha's face immediately disappearing, "you are nothing more than an arrogant, overbearing man who domineers everything and everyone around him. If you think that this marriage gives you the right to master me, I implore you to rethink your thoughts."
With a rustle of fabric and a flash of a blue kimono she was gone, stomping into the front yard of the estate with Sango hot on her trail. Miroku, passing by much slower, patted each man on the back before following his wife inside.
Kouga and Inuyasha stared at the empty path; each ego's deflated significantly. After the tongue-lashing they had received, neither had the energy or the need to resume their argument.
"You have quite a woman on your hands," the wolf commented, blinking dumbly at his cousin.
Inuyasha shook his head, running his hand through his hair. "Keh."
xOx
"The nerve of that idiot!"
Sango watched serenely on as Kagome fumed around the small garden, her legs tucked neatly underneath her as she enjoyed the shade of the large cherry blossom tree. After storming off, Miroku offered to take care of their room arrangements while they enjoyed the luxury of the nearby garden. With the promise to keep Inuyasha at bay, Kagome agreed to his proposal.
"Those idiots," the elder sister corrected gently. "Kouga was not exactly a gentlemen himself."
"Ugh! Curse both of them! Them and the conceited blood that runs through their veins!"
"They are not blood-kin."
"It does not matter!" the blue-eyed woman exploded, clenching her fists. "Who do they think they are, treating me like a piece of meat? Such detestable, low, creatures they—"
"Excuse me?"
"What?!" Kagome spun on her heel, only to be confronted by Haruo and a human man by his side. The youkai's eyes flew open in surprise as the man cringed, sending a flood of embarrassment rushing through sheepish woman.
"Ah, sorry," she mumbled, bowing her head. "Please forgive my rudeness."
"It has been forgotten, my lady," the violet-eyed youkai smiled, his composure returning. Motioning to the man beside him, his smile widened. "Kagome-hime, may I present Houjou Isao."
Kagome brushed off the title quick enough to greet the bashful young man with navy eyes. "It is a pleasure."
"He will be your personal guide to the estate," Haruo went on. "and your personal stable hand, if you so desire a horse."
Nodding, she felt her sister's presence at her side. "May I present Sango, my elder sister?"
"Sango-hime," Houjou bowed low. Kagome's eyebrows rose at the sound of his voice; it was deep, yet retained much of the boyish tone that she had known the young soldiers in the capital to have.
"I shall leave you in his company," Haruo smiled, turning to leave. Kagome called out his name, stopping him.
"About my husband…" she began hesitantly. He briefly glanced over to her sister, where she shook her head in amusement. It appeared that his new mistress, no matter how fiery her nature would become, had a spot in her heart for his unpolished master.
"Inuyasha-sama is presently in his study," the raion-youkai answered impassively. Kagome nodded, slightly taken aback by his indifferent answer when he added, "It is likely he will not be out till sundown; his work has accumulated by lengths and bounds since his absence."
With that he left, a twinkle in his eye that Kagome didn't miss. Her spirits lifting slightly, she hoped that she had made a new friend.
"So, Houjou," Kagome smiled, turning around. "Where shall we begin?"
xOx
"Will you ever resolve your issues with Kouga and be allies instead of pursuing this childish rivalry?"
Inuyasha glared up at his general, his claws scratching dangerously against his desk. The parchments of paper that were strewn about blew off the table as the hanyou stood, his golden eyes flashing.
"What kind of question is that, bouzo?"
"I am just saying, Inuyasha," Miroku countered, following his prince as he headed towards the window, "you are now a member of the royal family. Petty competitions between your cousin—"
"He is no kin of mine," the hanyou growled, leaning against the post of the sill. "I should have that mangy wolf exiled to the north with that brother of mine—keh, what is that wench doing?!"
Miroku veered over to the window, just in time to see his friend's wife climb atop a young man's shoulders, laughing as she tried to pluck a particular cherry blossom from a nearby tree. Sango stood nearby, amused at the sight, while Kagome's tinkling laughter rang throughout the courtyard. Glancing at Inuyasha, he saw his claws curl into a fist as a low rumble emitted from his chest.
"That wench! Parading around like some child! Gallivanting around with that stupid stable boy! First the wolf now the village idiot…"
"Kami, Inuyasha! Don't tell me you're jealous?!"
Inuyasha's lips set in a thin line as he whirled around. "Like I would be jealous of that scrawny human and pungent wolf!"
The general rolled his eyes, taking in appreciatively his wife's smile from a distance. "Oh, but you are, Inuyasha. You are terribly jealous."
"Keh."
"Admit it," Miroku grinned. "You care for Kagome more than you would like to!"
"Shut up," Inuyasha snarled. Turning away from the window, he huffed out the shoji screen, muttering words of a hot water, a wolf, and a dead stable boy.
xOx
AN: I'm sorry it's taken so long! I've gotten a job, and stuff…and school's still hectic…but the good news is, the plot is getting into the juicy stuff! All I have to say is wait around for the next two chapters…'cause they'll be awesome!
