Kuda shook out of her trance, and glared as Sesshomaru who wasn't looking at her, but rather at the princess beside Takemisho. "What do you mean?" She hissed angrily at him.

"You told me a while back that if Takemisho were your father, you would kill herself. Takemisho is clearly your father, for look at you standing up there beside him." Sesshomaru replied.

Kuda turned her head and glared at the Princess. Sesshomaru was right, she thought, there's no denying it. Kuda was standing up there, just altered in her looks a bit. The Princess, Asuyana, had midnight hair, the very same color as Kuda's except her hair reached the back of her knees even twisted into a braid. Asuyana's eyes, her deep blue and true eyes were just like Kuda's. But then, in their body stature they changed. Asuyana was taller, much taller than Kuda, and had a perfect slim body while Kuda had a much more fragile body, small and boney. Asuyana also had a nice round face, just like Kuda's, just a bit more plumper. More changed when Asuyana was dressed in a beautiful kimono of reds and blacks, beautified with make-up and color-polished nails of deep red. Where as Kuda very much preferred hakamas and shirts, and just recently, short hair; no make-up and most certainly no colored nails. But what pissed off more Kuda was that she saw Princess Asuyana wearing a blue flowered bracelet, the very same bracelet that Rin had given her. Kuda clenched her hands into tight ball fists by her side, growling angrily.

"It is a pleasure to finally be presented to you Ladies and Lords," Sesshomaru and Kuda simultaneously jerked their heads back a bit, hearing Kuda's voice come out of the mouth of Asuyana, "And a pleasure more to soon be you ruler. Please, now let's all enjoy this special event!" Asuyana finished, and everyone clamped and returned back to the party, everyone breaking their necks to steal glances at the Princess Asuyana. Princess Asuyana quickly grabbed a cup from a servant, walked down the steps, and quickly stood in front of Sesshomaru, offering him the cup of Sake. She smiled wide, showing of her white pearled teeth. Kuda grimaced, never knowing how herself could ever smile so big without ripping her lips and cheeks apart.

"Here, My Lord, as I have seen that you have not drunk or eaten anything at my party yet." Asuyana said. Even Sesshomaru couldn't help but frown in front of the princess, not believing that is in some way Kuda in front of him. He was already used to answering without formality with Kuda, and he might just do the same by accident with Princess Asuyana in front of him.

"No, thank you." Sesshomaru replied.

Asuyana sighed, and made an annoyed face as she turned away from Sesshomaru to shove the cup of Sake into a servant's hands while passing by. While Asuyana did that, Kuda noticed she was very tall too, for she reached Asuyana's nose at the most. Yet though, Kuda thought glumly, she has a more shapely body than I do! Asuyana sighed as she turned back to look at Sesshomaru and folded her hands neatly. "Then why don't you come and eat dinner with me and my father, then?" Asuyana suggested.

"Very well then," Sesshomaru said, and Kuda wanted to jump up and strangle him. As they began to walk, Asuyana noticed Kuda following them and stopped abruptly and glared at Kuda.

"My Lord, surely you don't intend to let a filthy slave dine with us, do you?" Asuyana asked, still glaring at Kuda. "I mean, look at her! She is like an animal with that hair in her face!"

Kuda's blood boiled, angry at herself for the very first time in her life. She hated her sister, and it was her sister hated her now. "No, she will come with me, or I will not go." Sesshomaru replied.

It looked as if Asuyana was going to stomp her foot on the ground like a little child, and run off angrily. But she did not, and led the way again to Lord Takemisho's private dinning room. Upon entering, Takemisho was already seated and waiting for the rest of his guests. Sesshomaru sat, a little away from Takemisho and his daughter, but Asuyana moved seats just to sit beside Lord Sesshomaru. Kuda sat across from Sesshomaru, trying her best to ignore Takemisho, Sesshomaru, and her twin sister with her bracelet. I will get that bracelet back, Kuda thought angrily and glaring at a busy Princess flirting away with Sesshomaru, whether it kills me or not! While Sesshomaru chatted with Asuyana, Takemisho turned his eyes towards a grumpy Kuda.

"My daughter had a twin sister, you know Valuable." Takemisho said.

Valuable? Kuda repeated her nickname in her mind. Had a twin sister, she also repeated in her head, more like has you idiot. "What happened to her twin sister." Kuda demanded, not even taking in formality and Takemisho didn't seem to notice or even care.

"Her own mother killed her."

Kuda froze. Then it happened, a sharp pain in the back of her head on her right. Absently she reached up with her hand, trying to massage the pain away, but it was a painful pain in the end. "Oh...", she mumbled out.

"Yes, tragic, very tragic to lose another daughter of mines." Takemisho said with sadness, but Kuda knew instantly he was pretending, and very good pretender he is, Kuda thought, but even thinking hurt her head more.

"Where are your parents, Valuable?" Takemisho asked while shoving a piece of fish in his mouth.

One is sitting right across me, she thought bitterly. "I don't know, dead; never had or even knew any." She replied quietly, picking at her food with the chopsticks.

"Let me see your eyes." Takemisho finally demanded.

Kuda froze and got angry. Damn bastard has a suspicion, she thought, maybe he was the one who tried to kill me, not my mother! But she had to think fast, for even she couldn't deny the demon Lord any longer. "Their blue."

"I want to see." He growled. Princess Asuyana was chatting too much to Sesshomaru for him to notice what was happening.

She turned her head towards Takemisho and lifted her hair from her eyes. Pitch black coal eyes stared into Takemisho's deep blue eyes, and Takemisho leaned back again and began to eat more comfortably. "You lied."

Kuda dropped her bangs again in her face, smirking. It was only three years ago that she discovered she could do that little trick changing her eye color. Before she figured it was magic, but now she knows she maybe has a little demon blood in her blood and many demons are known to change their color whenever they wanted. "I like your blue eyes, I want to have them; that is why I lied, thinking you will like me more if I had atleast blue eyes." Kuda said, laughing in the inside.

"Our beautiful eyes wouldn't fit nicely into your ugly face." Asuyana spat at Kuda.

Kuda perched her mouth and threw a good spit of chewed food right into Asuyana's right blue eye, surprising Asuyana onto her back on the floor with a shriek. Kuda just about had enough of that cheap copy of her! "And that spit doesn't suit very well either princess!" Kuda mocked and laughed.

"Kudaranai!" Sesshomaru almost yelled angrily. But Takemisho beat him to the point, twisting Kuda's arm back behind her back to almost a breaking point. Kuda hissed, hearing her bone joints of her arm crack and cry out of pain. The demon was seriously about to break her! With his other hand, Takemisho tightly clenched Kuda's jaw, forcing her mouth open by her jaw joints. Kuda screamed of pain. "How dare you disrespect my Daughter you pathetic, low, of nothing!" Takemisho hissed and growled angrily. He clenched his hand tighter on her mouth, and Kuda knew that he was about to break her mouth. And, she thought angrily, I am sick of being called pathetic! With her other free arm, she angrily ripped Takemisho's hold off of her mouth, twisted behind him which untwisted her arm and twisted his arm behind him just like he had done to her. He screamed in agony, but Kuda gave no mercy, and rammed him against the closest wall hard, making sure that before he hit the wall she grabbed the back of his head and pushed it even harder against the wall than his body did. Takemisho's head bounced back so fast, that Kuda jumped back and aside as he stumbled until the floor, writhing in pain with an abnormal crooked arm. The princess yelled out despairingly, but Kuda wasn't done yet. As she lifted her footed to smash Takemisho's jaw into bits, she was suddenly lifted into the air and pulled back away from him. Suddenly not seeing her job done, she screamed in anger, scratching at the arm around her waist that held her in the air, and kicking furiously at the body behind her. Then, Kuda started spitting saliva with her screaming, "Stop, control yourself!" Sesshomaru demanded. "My head, my head is in pain!" Kuda screeched, and flung her hands to the back of her head, tears streaming down her face. And then Sesshomaru noticed his face and chest was covered indeed of blood that was seeping out from the back of Kuda's head. Sesshomaru quickly turned and walked out quickly of the dinning room.

Kuda lay in her bed, one candle lit for a small amount of light. She was to busy touching the back of her head, no wounds or cuts she felt, and yet blood had squirted out, practically bathing Sesshomaru in it. The healer immediately pronounced her as evil and possessed, making Kuda laugh. Now, almost dawn, she hadn't slept at all, not even closed her eyes for three seconds. Since the fight with her and Takemisho, Kuda heard servants wailing during the night time and Takemisho screaming furiously at everyone. Some guest from the party even left that night, infuriating Takemisho more. Kuda found out Takemisho's jaw was dislocated, with a quick snap of the hands from the healer, his jaw was back in place and extremely sore, making Kuda wonder how he managed to yell with such a sore jaw. He must be pretty pissed, Kuda thought, it's a miracle he didn't come and kill me in my sleep. The main reason why she didn't sleep at all, and, not even closed her eyes for a mere two seconds. Just before the sun rose, her door opened and shut quietly, thinking I am asleep? thought Kuda.

"Give it to me." Kuda said, extending her hand out towards the door, not even looking but rather at the celling.

Asuyana hissed angrily, and threw the dagger into Kuda's hand. Kuda immediately dropped it to the floor. "The bracelet I meant." Kuda clarified, still not looking at her.

"It is mine, I bought it! Now you're low enough-"

"You stole it!" Kuda yelled angrily.

Asuyana stumbled back, a bit surprised from the strength of the yell. "And so what if I did. Doesn't give you a right to steal it, too!"

"You stole it from me, ME! That bracelet is mine, and I will have it back whether if I have to hurt you like your father or not! Now hand it over!" Kuda demanded angrily while standing up, and her outstretched hand trembling out of anger. The princess began to sniff loudly, and big fat tears rolled down her cheeks. She ripped the bracelet off and threw it at Kuda's feet, and ran out crying like a little girl who someone just stole her candy. Kuda bent down and picked it up and stuffed it in her pocket again.

Kuda sat on the mat, and thought. She is a puppet, a puppet for Takemisho to control. She obviously still doesn't know anything for herself. For she is older looking and more mature than me, she has no self-domination at all. It puts me in first place as the older one, and I can control her, but if I can control her then that means anyone can control her, too. Stupid girl, that's what she takes for a living a pampered life. But, she is just a child still! Like I am a child, she is a child, too! She heard sniffling coming at her again, and she lifted her head to see Asuyana standing at the door, a pretend-angry look in her face with big fat tears still rolling out of her eyes.

"I-I want that bracelet! That bracelet i-is mine! So give it back!" Asuyana said forcing the last part out crying.

Kuda snorted. "You don't sound the least bit demanding to me. If you want this bracelet back, there is rule with me; come and get it if you can." Kuda challenged with a proud and a voice thick with good commanding vocals, standing to her feet.