Wow… I have time! I'm sick so I decided to type the next chapter. Today wasn't a good day… My mousie died. Oh well. Hope you like it!

A Prince's Promise~ Chapter 2

Kagome set the picture of her and Inuyasha as children down. She stared out her window and looked at the palace grounds.

~Has it really been six years?~ Kagome sighed and closed her eyes. She had given up all hope that Inuyasha would ever come back. She heard the door open and turned around to see her friend Sango come in.

"Hi, Kagome." Sango noted the unhappy expression on her face, and then the picture. "Thinking about Inuyasha again, huh?" Sango pulled a chair next to the window and sat on it.

"Yeah…" Kagome looked down. "He's not coming back. He broke his promise…"

"It's been six years, Kagome. You should be over it. Anyway, your mother wants you, Sota, and Rin to go see her." Kagome sighed.

"Aww man… I wonder what it is this time." She got up and trudged to her mother's room. "I hope we aren't in trouble again." She joined her smaller siblings, Sota and Rin, at her mother's table.

"Oh, good! You're here." Queen Higurashi smiled at her children. "As you know, things have been kind of crazy around here since your father died. This country needs a King and since Kagome is now of legal age…"

"What?!" Kagome jumped up. "There's no way mother. I'm NOT getting married!"

"Kagome, dearest… You must. If you don't I'm afraid I'll have to give your title as Princess to Rin."

"That's not fair, mother. You know it isn't." Kagome was horrified. She couldn't believe her own mother was doing this to her.

"I'm terribly sorry, Kagome. I will let you choose your husband, but I'm afraid it must be done in a month."

"A month?!" Kagome stared at her mother in shock.

"I'm sorry, dear. It's for the best. You all are dismissed." Sota and Rin took her by the hands and led her back to her room. She sat down on her bed and they left. Someone knocked on the door and then Sango entered.

"Your mom just told everyone the news. It must be hard on you Kagome…"

"Sango? Will you stay with me tonight? It's nice knowing I have one person around here on my side." ((Don't think that in a bad way you hentai! Sheesh…))

"Sure, Kagome." Sango pulled out a cot from the corner of the room and laid down on it. "Goodnight, Kagome."

"Goodnight, Sango." Kagome fell asleep, silently crying.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Kagome. Wake up." Kagome stirred in her sleep. "Get up, Kagome!"

"What? Leave me alone." Kagome threw her pillow over her head in a feeble attempt to block out all noise.

"It's twelve o'clock." Kagome sat up and opened her eyes.

"Are you serious?!" She jumped out of bed and started to throw some clothes on. "I'm late! Oh, they're gonna be so mad!" Someone knocked on the door and Sango answered it.

"What is all the racket?" Sango turned around only to feel a hand on her behind. She whirled around and punched the violator.

"Hi, Miroku!" Miroku was one of Sango and Kagome's friends, even if he was a lecher.

"Hello, lovely Princess. You look wonderful. I hear you need a husband to be the King…" Sango glared at him and he stepped back. "Uh… Not that I'd be asking though. It must be causing you some stress, huh?"

"You got that right… We'd better go. We're already late." They ran to go meet Sota, Rin, and Shippo in the flower field. They greeted them and sat down. Kagome held out her arms and Shippo jumped into them.

"Kagome… You're late." Shippo was an adorable kitsune that was saved by Kagome after his parents were killed. He looked to Kagome as more of a mother, than a friend.

"Sorry, Shippo." The group of six happily chatted and Kagome was able to think of something other than marriage. They saw a crowd gathering at the front gates. Kagome grabbed someone that ran by them. "What's going on?"

"The King and Prince of Takado have just arrived!" Kagome let the lady go and watched her run to the gates.

"We'd better go see this." Kagome and the others stood up and walked through the crowd. She saw a man greeting her mother.

"How nice to see you again, fair Queen of Marea. It's been so long!" Kagome walked up to her mother and who she assumed was the King. "And you must be Princess Kagome. Nice to see you."

"Greetings. How wonderful for you and the Prince to join us here." Kagome remembered how she had to "properly" greet people.

"Ah… Speaking of. Let me get my son." He spoke to someone in the carriage.

"This is the fifth place we've been to, father. It's so boring. Kagome shot her head up at that voice. It sounded so much like…

~No… It's not him. It can't be…~ She gasped as the Prince stepped out. There was just no mistaking those furry ears and blue-white hair.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome ran up to him and hugged him. "You came back! I thought you were gonna break your promise."

"Feh… I didn't come back for you, woman." He pushed her away, causing her to stumble and fall on her butt. "My father made me come. He thinks he can find a Princess worthy enough to marry me." Tears filled Kagome's eyes.

"Inuyasha… You… You're such a JERK!" She stood up and ran away. Sango and Shippo glared at him and ran after her.

"That was an awfully mean thing to do to Lady Kagome." Inuyasha smirked. He figured he needed to make at least one friend while staying here.

"What's your name?" Inuyasha looked over the weird boy.

"My name is Miroku." Inuyasha scowled.

"Aren't you supposed to treat me with some respect?"

"I am… Doesn't mean I'm going to though."

"Fair enough. Show me around, will you?"

"Sure."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"A month?! Urgh… I wish he would just leave! Wait… Does that mean he'll be at the ball?"

"Of course, dear. You know… You may find you like him and choose him as your husband."

"What?! Are you nuts?" Kagome stormed out of the room only to stumble into Inuyasha and Miroku.

"Watch where you're going, wench." Kagome narrowed her eyes and grabbed Miroku's stick. She beat Inuyasha with it until she was satisfied, then left. "Ow…"

"Don't piss her or Sango off. Just a warning." Miroku picked up his stick-thingie and continued their tour. "On the left…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ((Night of the Acquaintance Ball))

Sango helped Kagome put on her dress. It was light purple and long. Kagome sighed and put a tiara on her head.

"I think you should take my place, Sango." Kagome frowned and looked at herself in the mirror.

"You know that wouldn't work and besides, you look really pretty. I bet you'd stun even Inuyasha."

"I look ridiculous! And who cares what Inuyasha thinks? He's just a conceited jerk anyways…"

~Even if he is a total jerk… I gotta admit that he's a hottie.~ **Poke, poke**

"Kagome?" She snapped out of her daze.

"What?" Kagome looked to her friend.

"You think he's hot, don't you? Don't even try to deny." Kagome put on a disbelieving face but Sango didn't buy it. "You think he's hot!"

"So what?! You think Miroku's hot!"

"I do not!"

"Yes, you do!"

"At least I'm not in love with a half demon!" Kagome was about to scream a retort at her but she stopped. "Kagome?"

"You mean was in love with a half demon. I don't love him anymore…"

"…" Behind the door sat a startled hanyou and a surprised lecher.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They finally finished getting Kagome ready and were walking out the door when Kagome stopped.

"What is it, Kagome?" Kagome bent down and picked up a single strand of blue-white hair.

"They listened to us. Those jerks… We have to get them back!" Kagome fumed.

"But how?" Kagome smirked. She had the perfect plan.

"Let's go see Kaede-baachan." They ran down the hall till they got to Kaede's room and knocked.

"Come in." They walked inside and looked around. "Oh, hello you two. Nice to see you. Is there something you need?"

"Do you by any chance have any of your rosaries left?"

"Well, yes actually. I have exactly two left." Kagome smiled.

"Could we borrow them?"

"Sure, but be very careful with them. You know what they can do."

"Thank you! See you at the ball!" They ran back to Kagome's room and hid them in one of her drawer's. Then they went down to the ballroom.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kagome walked into the ballroom and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her. She blushed and hurried over to a dark corner. Sango was right though, Inuyasha was stunned.

"Oh, this is so embarrassing. Why'd they all have to look at me like that?"

"Hello, Princess. My name is Hojo and I am proud to be one of the people who are being considered for marriage."

"What do you mean, being considered?"

"Well, the queen will only let worthy males even have a chance of marrying you and my name was on the list so…"

"There's a LIST?!" Kagome ran to her mother angrily. "What is this list I hear of?"

"Kagome, dear. You need to marry someone who's worthy. I know you don't have exactly the best judgment so I picked a few for you. There are quite a few names on the list. All you have to do is pick one."

"Give me the list, mother." She snatched the list from her mother's hands and looked it over. There were only five names. Three princes and two nobles. She picked out the only three she knew. "Hojo, Kouga, and…" She nearly fainted. Someone set their hand on her shoulder and steadied her. "And… Inuyasha…"

"What about me?" She looked to the hand's owner and wished the ground would suck her in at that moment.

"Nothing." Inuyasha's face turned towards the list.

"So… Picking your guy, huh? Too bad none of them are as good as me…"

"You're on the list… Inuyasha."

"What?!" He grabbed it from her and saw that his name was indeed on the list. "Father… That traitor." Kagome couldn't help but think how funny it'd be if she were to announce right now that she was choosing Inuyasha. The hilarious scene took over her mind and she burst out laughing.

"Oh, that's hilarious!" Inuyasha stared at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Are you laughing at the idea of marrying me?"

"Well, yes actually. Try and picture it. It's rather funny." A pained look slowly spread across his features and she stopped laughing.

"That funny, huh?" He turned away from her and walked out into the courtyard.

"Oh… Was it that mean?" She followed him out and saw next to him on a bench. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha."

"Don't be. It wasn't that mean. I'm just lingering on the past, that's all." She saw his sad face and was instantly worried.

"What happened?" She set her hand on his slowly. He didn't pull away.

"About three years ago, I met this wonderful girl. Her name was Kikyo and she was a priestess. After being around her for a while, I eventually fell in love with her. One day, I got really brave or just really stupid, and I asked her to marry me…" Kagome's eyes widened.

"You're married?!" She felt a pain in her chest.

"No." She felt a soothing relief wash over her, but she didn't know why. "When I proposed to her… she looked at me… and laughed in my face."

"That's horrible! Why would she do that?"

"She said it was because she hunted demons and since I was half demon, she could never love me." Kagome felt so sad for him. "I guess… I never fell out of love with her…"

((Longer than I expected. Well hope you liked it and I'll post more soon. Review please! ))