I confess. I'm not the type to take care of myself. What brings me joy is seeing others happy. I've always been like that.

That's why I never peeped when my little brother joined royalty and I became a mere servant.

It's a fault, I know.

Growing up, I stayed out of everyone's way. I smiled back when someone glared at me. And everyone glared at me back then. Even my King…no, he's not MY king anymore. No more. I'm sick of ensuring everyone's happiness. I'm sick of thinking of others before thinking of myself. I'm sick of my plans backfiring on me. I'm sick of being the matchmaker. I'm sick of being the nice girl. It's time to break all ties. It's time to break all bonds.

So…

I'm sorry.

I want to be selfish. I need to be selfish.

This is why I'm doing this. This is why I'm going through with this stupid plan.

So…

Goodbye, and good riddance.

So NOT A Fairytale

The END…eh?

I was falling.

This was it.

"KAGOME!"

I should've known he would be shadowing us. Stupid Inuyasha. If he hadn't come he wouldn't have to see this.

THUD. Ugh. Great. I was supposed to go unconscious before I landed. So much for that.

So this is how it feels to lie in one's pool of blood. Freaky.

"HIRAIKOTSU!"

Good ole Sango, always swinging that boomerang like she owned the place. God, I feel horrible for making her think I'm…oh, here he comes again.

Ow.

Oh.

ARGH.

Ladies and gentleman, getting stabbed through the abdomen is not a nice feeling.

"DIE, KIKYOU!"

I inwardly smirked. Getting assassinated sucks. But getting assassinated for mistaken identity epically sucked worse.

I can't make out anything anymore. Everything…blurry. Except someone…cradling my head. Oh…Inuyasha.

"No, don't do this to me," he whispers…"Come on, don't close your eyes." Was he—was he crying?

Oh…what hurt worse—the guilt or the two, now three, stab wounds? OK, stab wounds won by…a margin, but the tears falling on my bloody cheeks…

Can't see…

"Kagome…"

Whispers…in the dark… "I-Inu…"

"Kagome…"

"I-I'm…"

"No…"

"Guh…g-bye."

"KAGOME!"

The Daily DragonSPEAK

Headline: Mourning for Family

Yesterday, an unspeakable tragedy occurred. On the soil of the ever protective Dog Clan, blood pooled on the steps of the national treasury. A lone man, the very one recently identified as the leader of the attack on a foreign dignitary from the western mountains, murdered an individual whom he believed to be Princess Kikyou Higurashi. The victim died after three stabs to the chest and abdomen. After a chase through the streets and across a dozen roofs, the murderer was summarily executed by the guards. But the victim wasn't the Princess.

It was the personal servant of the royal children, the once banished and exiled Kagome Higurashi, sister to the King's one and only son.

She was a servant born out of wedlock, related to royalty and shunned by the peasants. But who was she really?

When Kagome was publicly condemned three years ago the citizens believed the worst—had she plotted something against the royal family? Surely someone so painfully close to the royal bloodline yet so impossibly far from a royal title would hold a grudge against His Majesty. From word of mouth, she seemed to be the epitome of the dastardly traitor. Maids and butlers loathed her, ordinary townspeople cast her aside, and rumors of her numerous flings with servants and lords alike thrived.

But once her body was taken away, the blood cleaned off the ground, and the kingdom fell into mourning, her character was finally revealed.

A caring servant. A dedicated friend. A strong sister. She was forced to give up her surname at birth and sacrificed her happiness before death. Her name was blackened by the exiled Naraku, her life was scrutinized by an unsympathetic public, and she met death by mistaken identity. Yet, as some witnesses claim, she died smiling.

Why? Why smile when she saw so much and yet owned nothing? Had she yearned for death? Had she sought peace by eternal slumber? No. The same witnesses also saw her surrounded by many mourners. Many who shed tears and many who cried her name; those few who knew her true character. They saw her smile for the last time, comforted by the knowledge that she was loved, before she spoke for the last time—"Bye." An almost apologetic farewell left her lips and the world lost one of the most mysterious figures in history. After leading a tumultuous life, having certainly faced violent confrontations during her childhood, Kagome Higurashi, a true Higurashi, smiled.

Let us bid farewell to the tragic figure, who never achieved happiness until the very end. Let us smile and hope we can be as content when we meet our end, for that is the fate of all, no matter how blessed one's bloodline may be.

Goodbye, Kagome Higurashi, and goodnight.

Note: Public mourning will last for seven nights. Citizens must take an oath of silence before the funeral of Kagome Higurashi.

She dropped the newspaper with a sigh. "What rubbish. They talk as if a general died in his sleep."

"Kagura." A disapproving voice said from behind the closed door.

She rolled her red eyes. "Well they are making this more depressing than it ought to be. They were cruel before her death. Why make nice as soon as she's about to be six feet underground? Rubbish. Absolute rubbish."

The door opened and Sesshomaru appeared, dressed all in black. "Change," he ordered. "The funeral will be in an hour."

She turned and eyed him. "How is—"

"The coma's ended." He barely batted an eyelash.

Kagura shrugged. "So it was in the vault—"

"Yes."

She scowled. "No need to be so testy. I'll go change."

And the two left the room hidden behind the bookshelves, tucked well beneath the dungeons, down the stone staircase that should not exist in an unguarded inn.

And when they heard someone knock on a set of oak doors, right next to the room they had exited, they knew the plan had worked.

But it wasn't the end just yet.

AN: Confused? GOOD! Kind of know what happened? BETTER!

Scenes that were deleted from the story? AWESOME!

Chapter One: The PLAN

Kagome reads her dialogue:

She needed a prince.

FAST!

And voila! I found the King's list.

…and another sort of list. My eyes bulged. The Big Black Book of Bitches I Ever Banged—

Director: CUT! Dammit Inuyasha!

Inuyasha quickly raises his hands in defense, backing into a corner as the furious trio of Kikyou, Kagome, and Sango approaches. "Not mine, not mine! It was his!" He points to the offender.

Everyone: SESSHOMARU?

Sesshomaru nonchalantly flips his hair with an arrogant smirk. "Well what else do you think I do in my free time, other than maintain my perfect silver mane?"

Kagura sticks her tongue out in disgust but then looks away, ashamed. "His silver mane did all the seducing, I can tell you that."

Everyone again: WHAT?

Chapter Two: The STALKER

"Is there a problem, miss?" A very loud, demanding voice boomed.

We both froze and paled, not realizing we had an audience. I stepped aside and Naraku turned around so we both saw the expensive carriage parked on the private street, the deserted street exclusive to traveling royalty. I quietly smacked my forehead.

A silver head popped out of the window. "Miss?"

Naraku suddenly takes out a sawed-off shotgun, a semiautomatic, and a machinegun and aims at the carriage. "It's a drive-by-shooting, BIOTCH!"

Everyone stares with mouths agape as Naraku showers the carriage with bullets. Once he runs out of ammo he drops his weapons and takes out a bazooka. "What's that sweetness? You want more? Oh, I'll give you more."

Inuyasha miraculously hops out of the ruined and smoking carriage wearing an old fashioned business suit and hat and a cigar in his mouth. "Huh, sneaking up on a man in his carriage, eh?" He says with a heavy Chicagoan accent.

"Sweetness wants to give him another belly button? That could be arranged."

"It's a duel then, see," Inuyasha spits out his cigar and takes out a massive chain gun with the words "BONE LICKER" scrawled on it. "SHOW ME THE MONEY!"

Director: ENOUGH!

Chapter Three: The PARTY

"She always had a thing for gorgeous Sesshomaru," Inuyasha commented idly before taking the glass out of my hands without so much as asking. "You actually got apple juice. I'm impressed."

"We have every kind of refreshments in the world. You name it, we got it." I said, like an advertisement.

"Do you have white wine?" He asked, leaning back on the table and smirking. He actually set his cup down without even taking a sip…oh wait. It's half empty.

Inuyasha hiccups and looks up, looking very flushed. Kagome backs away, scared. "Inu…yasha?"

"Ya know," he says, his words slurred. "Yah rook…reel sex-eh…ye…" He then jumps her and throws her over his shoulder.

"Aiyeee!" Kagome shrieks. "INUYASHA! Put me down this instance!"

"Not…till…bed…" He grins goofily and speeds to his bedroom, with Kagome screaming, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!"

Miroku scratches his head. "Maybe I put too much rum in the apple juice."

Director: Wait, why didn't she stop…oh. Oh well.

Kikyou's chair has a "Bathroom Break" on it. No one bothers to contact her.

Chapter Four: The PROBLEM

I went over to the balcony…and lo and behold, HE was there. No, not who you were thinking.

"Oh…you." I growled. "What are you doing here?"

Naraku sneered. "I may not have gotten an invitation but Kanna has."

"There's a reason why we invited your underlings and not you."

"Aren't you supposed to use my title, little girl?"

Little GIRL? "Oh, let me guess, your title as in ugly-squirrel-sucking-white-baboon-as—"

Suddenly Naraku takes out…mace? Kagome backs away. Until he hiccups. Then she pales and runs away. Naraku screams, in a familiar slurred manner, "GHET YAR BUTT BACK HEERE!" He chases Kagome, yelling obscene, sexual things along the way, like spanking and whipping and using honey and such and such.

Director: Alright Miroku, gimme the rum. And stop Inuyasha from castrating Naraku, he has a no-castration clause on his contract. Plus it's against our policy…and such.

Chapter Five: The ESCAPE

"I owe you guys so much."

"We know." They said in unison.

I got on the horse and patted Dasher's head. That's how I left quietly into the night, short red cloak and all, forcing myself not to look back as the horse trotted on, lest I become homesick at the sight of Kaede and Souta watching me disappear. I did, however, look up at the balcony where the notorious act took place.

For some unfathomable reason, the last thing I thought of as I left the grounds of the castle, my home, was…

Kagome blinks. "Wait…"

Director: Hmm?

"This isn't a horse," Kagome squints at the animal she's sitting on. "Dasher's a—"

Someone clears his throat and everyone turns around. A jolly old fellow with a large white beard and a huge belly points at the "horse." "Do you mind?"

Sweat drops all around.