AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow, this chapter was really long! I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed! ^^ And enormous thanks go out to my best friend, Jesschan. Without you, well I'd be lost and less of a Tasuki hater! Well then people don't want to listen to my rambling so here's the story!
*forgot this last chapter* DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inu-yasha and co. (but I do own the Duke, Duchess, and Katrina, no matter how much I already hate Katrina….)
Chapter 3-The Dream
"You two may want to sit down as well. I have a feeling that this will take a while so get comfortable. Any questions that you have before I start?" the lord asked.
"Actually, I have one. What shall I call you?" Kagome asked in Japanese.
"You may call me Otou-san; it seems to fit me well. I honestly don't mind you calling me that. If there's nothing else then I will begin," Otou-san paused again, for Inu-yasha had begun to speak.
"Will you talk in both English and Japanese for us, Otou-san? Please?" Inu-yasha said, giving his father those pleading puppy dog eyes, not knowing Kagome had practiced her English.
"If I must, then I will. I guess I'll just say things in Japanese and then in English. I had a dream the night before you showed up Kagome-san. In that dream, Inu-yasha tripped and fell into the well. Kagome-san, you were right there with him when he fell in. Being how he is, he didn't let go of you, fearing that he would be taken to your world and not know how to live there. I heard him scream out for me and that was when I woke up. I don't know if it was a prophetic dream, but whatever it was, I have a feeling Inu-yasha will be going to your world. Now then, I assume you'll want to avoid the well for at least two days because we have our guests over. In fact, I'm banning both of you from leaving the safety of this castle until our guests have left. Imagine if you two left, what would I tell the neighbors? My son and a visitor just vanished by going into the well. My, we'd be the laughing stock of the area!" he said with a chuckle as he rose to leave the room. "Now, remember you two, you are not to leave the castle until the guests have been taken back home!"
Inu-yasha sighed. What was he supposed to do now? He certainly didn't want to leave his home just to send Kagome back, but he also didn't want Kagome to be miserable here. Now the fact that he was banned from going outside made things worse for him. He couldn't go to his favorite tree and just sit there to think. Now he had go do something to keep his mind off his troubles. Fencing seemed like the way to do that.
Kagome heard Inu-yasha's sigh and wondered why he kept sighing like that. Now that she was stuck inside she couldn't go outside to think. She hated being cooped up inside. "Oh well," she thought, "there must be a room here that I could think in and maybe learn something." She decided to wander around where Inu-yasha had not gone during their tour this morning.
Kagome continued down the corridor and ended up arriving in the Great Hall, where she saw Inu-yasha's mother. Walking briskly towards her, his mother exclaimed in Japanese, "Kagome-chan! What did he say? Oh, and you just have to meet our guests! I'll introduce them to you!"
"He said that I was banned from leaving the house until your guests have left. Other than that, he said nothing else. Well, shall you introduce me? I understand if you must use English," Kagome said politely.
"Yes, yes, Kagome Higurashi, I am pleased to introduce you to the Duke and Duchess of Hemmings and their daughter Katrina. Duke and Duchess of Hemming, I am pleased to introduce you to our guest from Japan, Kagome Higurashi. Now then, anything else I may help any of you with?" Shukujo-san said.
"Oh ma'am, why is that young lady wearing such a short dress? It's highly unfashionable and utterly disgusting! Young ladies should wear proper clothes!" the Duchess of Hemmings declared in utter disgust.
"I can explain that. She came here with her dress ripped so I had the seamstress fix it up so it didn't look so raggedy and that is what she came up with, I guess. Our seamstress is busy preparing our young friend here some appropriate dresses for tonight's dinner. She will be dressed properly for tonight's dinner, I assure you of that," she said, tired of explaining things to the duchess about why things were that way. The only reason the duchess tolerated coming here was because Katrina fancied Inu-yasha. Everyone knew it, except Kagome! "Kagome!" she thought, "Kagome doesn't know how much Katrina loves Inu-yasha! Oh I hope she's all right and handles herself in an appropriate manner."
After being introduced to Kagome, Katrina dashed off to look for Inu-yasha. She loved him, but whenever she was alone with him he would dash off somewhere else. "Does he not love me back? I hoped I would marry him eventually. Why doesn't he want to be with me alone?" Katrina asked herself, "If I was Inu-yasha, where would I be?"
Kagome couldn't bear being a room with someone who absolutely hated her for long, so she excused herself from the Great Hall. Continuing to tour the castle, she ended up outside by the archery range. "Maybe I should try using the bow and arrow, it'd certainly give me something to do, and technically I won't be stepping outside of the castle!" she spoke to herself aloud. The castle was designed so that there was a covering over where you would shoot the arrows so that you could practice during the rain. "It looks easy, and hey it is easy!" Kagome thought after just one shot nailing it head on.
Walking at a fast pace, Inu-yasha arrived in the fencing hall before he could be pulled into the Great Hall. He knew who'd be there. Katrina. She loved him so much and she didn't get the hints that he dropped that said, "I hate you." She was annoying and he could never do anything when she was near. He spent half of the day running away from her and the other half being polite to her in front of his parents.
"Oh shit! Now that Father has banned me from going outside, there are less places to hide!" he thought to himself. "Hopefully, she won't find me in the fencing chamber. One can only hope," he trailed off thinking as he opened the doors to the fencing room.
Kagome heard doors opening somewhere. Not seeing this part of the castle before, she decided to see where it was coming from. "I hope it's not the Duke and Duchess. Especially not the Duchess, she seemed to have something against me. Just because I look and talk a little different doesn't mean a thing!" Kagome thought with a huff. Exiting the archery range after only two shots, she went into the hallway. Just as she entered the hallway, she saw a door slam shut in front of her. She walked across and tried to open it but had no such luck in doing so. "Damn it, why won't it open for me? All I want to do is see who's in there and what's in there, that's all!" she screamed out loud, not meaning to do so. "Oh I hope no one heard me," she thought.
Inu-yasha had just gotten out his practice stick when he heard someone shout. He couldn't make out all of it but what he heard was, "All I want to do is see who's in there and what's in there that's all!"
Inu-yasha thought for a second. Who else would scream like that? He hoped it wasn't Katrina, but he knew better than that. It was definitely a feminine voice that screamed, but whose? "Not the Duchess, she's too rich to scream. Not Mother, she knows better than to disrupt my fencing practices. Ah! It must be Kagome! At least I hope it's Kagome! Better open the door before she leaves," Inu-yasha thought, blushing slightly at what his mind was really thinking.
Just as she was going to walk away, she heard the door open. Turning around quickly, she saw Inu-yasha. "Ah Inu-yasha, what are you doing? Slamming doors like that isn't very prince-like; you wouldn't want to upset Katrina, the heir to Hemmings Manor, now would you?" Kagome asked teasingly.
"How can she do that? Read my mind like that and tease me about? This girl is certainly something special, and not at all annoying like Katrina," Inu-yasha thought before speaking, "How did you do that? Read my mind like that? Now come on, I bet you want to see what I was doing." He led her inside to the fencing chambers, just as she gasped. "What's wrong, Kagome?"
"It's just, just so big! Wow, look at all of this! Would you be able to teach me sometime?" Kagome asked intently and truly interested, Inu-yasha saw it in her eyes.
"How about we start with something a little less dangerous, like archery? I think you'll like it," he said, dragging Kagome out and closing the doors behind them. She wanted to tell him that she had already tried archery, but she didn't want to upset him. She just followed before he gasped.
"Now what's wrong with you?" she queried, knowing exactly what he was going to say.
"Someone, someone got two bull's eyes! Sesshou-maru avoids everyone whenever we have guests. He spends his time getting his outfit perfect for dinner, so it wasn't him. Father isn't very good with the bow and arrow, and I know it wasn't me. Who could it be?" Inu-yasha thought aloud.
"What would you say if I told you it was me?" Kagome said with a devilish grin on her face.
"I don't know. You don't seem to be the type. You want to prove it to me then?" Inu-yasha said looking down to Kagome, hoping to prove her right. Having Kagome do something that Katrina would never even go near would be a miracle. In fact, that's all that it could be described as, a miracle.
Shooting dead on, Kagome said, "Ah that was nothing, want me to do it again?" She was still grinning devilishly.
"Wow, this is great! Hey listen do you have a minute? I want to explain something to you before you find out on your own, but if you would rather shoot that's all right," Inu-yasha asked, hoping she'd like to listen.
"Umm, I guess I have time to listen to whatever you have to say. I mean it can't take forever right?" Kagome said wistfully.
"Yeah you're right. I'll start at the beginning."
"That's always a good place to start!" Kagome said sarcastically.
"Are you going to do this the whole time?"
"No, now continue!"
"Thank you. Anyway, it starts when I was seven. That's when I first met Katrina. My parents always insisted on having her come over and allowing us to get acquainted. Apparently, she fell in love with me from that first moment. I'm surprised we haven't run into her yet. Anytime she comes over she insists on following me around. I try to say politely that I don't love her like that, but she just doesn't get it. I believe that this little dinner plan is to set an engagement and I am against it wholeheartedly. Now, due to the fact that we are both banned from going outside, I can't teach you how shoot moving objects or escape from Katrina. Today is my cursed day, I tell you! I really wish she'd understand I don't love her. I mean, it's been going on for almost 12 years now. You think after 12 years she'd see my point, but no. Ah well, I'm tired of staying in the house! I want to go outside! Hey wait a sec! Have you been able to understand everything I said? I thought your English wasn't that good," Inu-yasha said, surprisingly not in one breath.
"Well, your mother helped me practice it last night. Also, don't be giving up on staying inside already. We still have two more days that we have to live with this punishment of some sorts. It can't be all that bad if we stay here until right before dinner when we have to go get ready, right? You'll live, I swear!" Kagome said exasperated that Inu-yasha was already tired of being inside and it had only been a couple hours.
"Katrina should be down here soon. She hunts me down and tries to get us alone. It's disgusting considering how much I hate her. Yeah, she's an okay person to get along with, but she's obsessive. I bet she'll be jealous of you. She got jealous of the servant that was helping me practice my fencing skills. She gets jealous because another person spends time with me besides her. That's why I went to go fence; she rarely goes there," Inu-yasha said with a sigh.
"Why doesn't she like to go there?" Kagome asked sincerely curious as to what he had to say.
"Anytime I'm there, I'm always with someone else. Hey you know what we could do right now?"
"What? You're not going to…oh I know. You're really evil you know that?" Kagome said with a chuckle.
"Aw, but it'll be fun. Besides you need to learn how to fence, considering you're already an expert archer. Yeah I may be a little evil, but she deserves it. Come on, Kagome, I swear I'll be gentle. We could just use the practice sticks. Let's go before she finds us talking because she'll tell the world that we're in love and that I betrayed her. You and I know that it wouldn't be the truth, but what would Sesshou-maru do? He always uses what she says against me, whether or not he thinks it's true. So come on, what do you say?" Inu-yasha pleaded.
"Fine, fine, if you say so…" Kagome barely got out of her mouth when Inu-yasha dragged her into the fencing room.
"Glad you see it my way! Now let's practice! The sticks are over there, but I'll get them. All right then, let's fence!" Inu-yasha said excitedly, hoping that Katrina would come in at any moment because he loved to see her jealous. After only a little bit of practice, Inu-yasha said, a little out of breath, "Hey Kagome, you sure you've never fenced before? You seem like you're a little better than a beginner."
"Well, my brother and I used to do this with Grandfather. It was just Grandfather and he always let us win. That was all though, no big training or practices. You're right about one thing," Kagome said teasingly.
"Only one thing? Are you sure about that?" Inu-yasha said giving her another teasing look.
"Yeah, this is fun! Let's keep it up until someone tells us it's time for dinner. I need a good workout and this seems like the perfect thing. Besides it'd be fun to beat you!"
"Oh you're going down! I'll beat you!"
The two of them continued to fence until they both were very sweaty and tired. Katrina had finally come down this hall and was looking at the fencing door. Opening it slowly, she looked in and screamed.
"Inu-yasha! What are you doing? All sweaty with another woman? Didn't you know that I had arrived? I can not believe you! You didn't even come to say hi! You better explain yourself before I tell anyone!" she screamed.
"Yeah, I can explain myself. I assume you've met our visitor Kagome, who came here from Japan. I just met her yesterday. We both ended up down here by accident. I had decided to practice fencing before you came, in case you had decided to come down here you'd see me doing something. Kagome was practicing archery when I decided to come and see if you had arrived yet. That's when I asked if she would practice with me until you came down. She thought that if it was one-on-one you'd see how good I've become. I think that's everything," Inu-yasha said, hoping she'd believe that story.
"Oh yeah? Why are you both so sweaty and you two weren't practicing when I came down here!"
Kagome stepped forward and said, "I can explain that one. I told him I was getting tired and that he was wearing me out. We decided to sit and rest before going to get ready for dinner. That's when you came in. I'm sorry if I've done anything wrong. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go get prepared for dinner." Kagome left quickly, but she was smirking the entire way to her room. She thought how much Inu-yasha must hate her now for leaving him alone with Katrina.
"Katrina, what do you want? Kagome and I were just having a little fun. It's more than you can say. All you ever do is chase me around. Maybe you don't get it yet, but I don't like it when you do that. How many times can you honestly say we've had fun? The last time was when 10 years ago! Then you got it in your head that all I wanted to do was be chased by you and that's not true!" Inu-yasha said in huff. Ever since Kagome had come, he found that he had more courage when it came to standing up to Katrina. He headed straight for the door, but turned around before he left and said, "Katrina I'm going to get ready for dinner. Think about things and talk about it later. I'll be there at dinner if you want to talk."
"Wait Inu-yasha! No, don't leave me!" Katrina screamed and dropped to her knees crying. "What have I done wrong? Where did I go wrong? I thought he loved me. Maybe he still loves me, but not like it was before." Then she thought about it over and over again. "Is this why whenever I would come Inu-yasha would suddenly get sick? Why is he doing this to me? Especially on the night when our parents will announce our engagement." Katrina grinned at that last thought. "Together forever with my love, Inu-yasha."
Kagome was up in her room, almost finished getting dressed with the help of her servants. Deciding that Inu-yasha might finally be done talking with Katrina, she decided to head down there. Just as she stepped out of the door, Inu-yasha flew by. She didn't even get a chance to say hello, but she figured Katrina would still be down in the fencing room and would need a little comfort.
"I just hope Inu-yasha wasn't too hard on her. I wouldn't want her too upset for tonight's dinner. Shukujo-san said that there would be an important announcement made tonight." Heading down she continued to wonder what the announcement could be.
Katrina was still in the fencing chamber, still too dumbstruck to speak or move. She finally decided to get up when she heard the door begin to open. She hoped it was Inu-yasha coming to apologize, but it was only Kagome, the girl who stole her fiancée's heart.
"What do you want?" Katrina sneered at Kagome.
"I just came down to say…I hope it went well…" she trailed off not knowing how to phrase what she felt in English.
"You knew about it? You knew that Inu-yasha was going to break my heart? YOU KNEW?!" Katrina said disgusted.
"Inu-yasha asked me the polite way to say…aishiteru and also not hurt your feelings. He …didn't want to hurt your feelings," Kagome said, forgetting everything she had learned about English.
"What's aishiteru? I bet anything that it's 'I hate you.' He wanted me to think about things. Do you know what he means by that? He said we weren't having any fun! I am the most fun person in all of England!" Katrina stated overconfidently.
Kagome giggled at that thought, "Well, I have to go up for dinner. We wouldn't want to be late, now would we?" She smiled, showing that she was innocent and just wanted to be friends.
Katrina followed Kagome to the Great Hall and they sat down. The Duke of Hemming was seated next Otou-san, with their wives besides them. Sesshou-maru sat next to the Duchess of Hemming and Kagome sat down next to Shukujo-san. Inu-yasha had just arrived and headed straight for the seat next to Kagome. Katrina made sure that she got the last seat on the end next to Inu-yasha. The servants began to bring out the soup and start the meal.
Kagome turned to Shukujo-san, hoping to have a conversation in Japanese again. Unfortunately, the food was being served and there would be no time to talk. Dinner went smoothly, with minimal amounts of talking. After everyone had finished, the servants cleaned the table and Otou-san led everyone to sit down on the couches at the other side of the Great Hall.
"I have a very important matter to discuss privately with my son, Inu-yasha, so if you'll excuse us, we'll be right back," Otou-san stated. Kagome saw Inu-yasha's face drop at that last statement. Kagome turned towards Shukujo-san to ask her what Otou-san wanted to discuss with Inu-yasha.
Replying in Japanese, Shukujo-san said, "He most likely wanted to tell Inu-yasha that he will be announcing the engagement of Katrina and Inu-yasha tonight."
Now then, for later chapters I need to know which time period people should live in. Rin-chan will obviously be in the past, but what about Kaede, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and anyone else I may have forgotten. Tell me in your review where you think I should put them.
*forgot this last chapter* DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inu-yasha and co. (but I do own the Duke, Duchess, and Katrina, no matter how much I already hate Katrina….)
Chapter 3-The Dream
"You two may want to sit down as well. I have a feeling that this will take a while so get comfortable. Any questions that you have before I start?" the lord asked.
"Actually, I have one. What shall I call you?" Kagome asked in Japanese.
"You may call me Otou-san; it seems to fit me well. I honestly don't mind you calling me that. If there's nothing else then I will begin," Otou-san paused again, for Inu-yasha had begun to speak.
"Will you talk in both English and Japanese for us, Otou-san? Please?" Inu-yasha said, giving his father those pleading puppy dog eyes, not knowing Kagome had practiced her English.
"If I must, then I will. I guess I'll just say things in Japanese and then in English. I had a dream the night before you showed up Kagome-san. In that dream, Inu-yasha tripped and fell into the well. Kagome-san, you were right there with him when he fell in. Being how he is, he didn't let go of you, fearing that he would be taken to your world and not know how to live there. I heard him scream out for me and that was when I woke up. I don't know if it was a prophetic dream, but whatever it was, I have a feeling Inu-yasha will be going to your world. Now then, I assume you'll want to avoid the well for at least two days because we have our guests over. In fact, I'm banning both of you from leaving the safety of this castle until our guests have left. Imagine if you two left, what would I tell the neighbors? My son and a visitor just vanished by going into the well. My, we'd be the laughing stock of the area!" he said with a chuckle as he rose to leave the room. "Now, remember you two, you are not to leave the castle until the guests have been taken back home!"
Inu-yasha sighed. What was he supposed to do now? He certainly didn't want to leave his home just to send Kagome back, but he also didn't want Kagome to be miserable here. Now the fact that he was banned from going outside made things worse for him. He couldn't go to his favorite tree and just sit there to think. Now he had go do something to keep his mind off his troubles. Fencing seemed like the way to do that.
Kagome heard Inu-yasha's sigh and wondered why he kept sighing like that. Now that she was stuck inside she couldn't go outside to think. She hated being cooped up inside. "Oh well," she thought, "there must be a room here that I could think in and maybe learn something." She decided to wander around where Inu-yasha had not gone during their tour this morning.
Kagome continued down the corridor and ended up arriving in the Great Hall, where she saw Inu-yasha's mother. Walking briskly towards her, his mother exclaimed in Japanese, "Kagome-chan! What did he say? Oh, and you just have to meet our guests! I'll introduce them to you!"
"He said that I was banned from leaving the house until your guests have left. Other than that, he said nothing else. Well, shall you introduce me? I understand if you must use English," Kagome said politely.
"Yes, yes, Kagome Higurashi, I am pleased to introduce you to the Duke and Duchess of Hemmings and their daughter Katrina. Duke and Duchess of Hemming, I am pleased to introduce you to our guest from Japan, Kagome Higurashi. Now then, anything else I may help any of you with?" Shukujo-san said.
"Oh ma'am, why is that young lady wearing such a short dress? It's highly unfashionable and utterly disgusting! Young ladies should wear proper clothes!" the Duchess of Hemmings declared in utter disgust.
"I can explain that. She came here with her dress ripped so I had the seamstress fix it up so it didn't look so raggedy and that is what she came up with, I guess. Our seamstress is busy preparing our young friend here some appropriate dresses for tonight's dinner. She will be dressed properly for tonight's dinner, I assure you of that," she said, tired of explaining things to the duchess about why things were that way. The only reason the duchess tolerated coming here was because Katrina fancied Inu-yasha. Everyone knew it, except Kagome! "Kagome!" she thought, "Kagome doesn't know how much Katrina loves Inu-yasha! Oh I hope she's all right and handles herself in an appropriate manner."
After being introduced to Kagome, Katrina dashed off to look for Inu-yasha. She loved him, but whenever she was alone with him he would dash off somewhere else. "Does he not love me back? I hoped I would marry him eventually. Why doesn't he want to be with me alone?" Katrina asked herself, "If I was Inu-yasha, where would I be?"
Kagome couldn't bear being a room with someone who absolutely hated her for long, so she excused herself from the Great Hall. Continuing to tour the castle, she ended up outside by the archery range. "Maybe I should try using the bow and arrow, it'd certainly give me something to do, and technically I won't be stepping outside of the castle!" she spoke to herself aloud. The castle was designed so that there was a covering over where you would shoot the arrows so that you could practice during the rain. "It looks easy, and hey it is easy!" Kagome thought after just one shot nailing it head on.
Walking at a fast pace, Inu-yasha arrived in the fencing hall before he could be pulled into the Great Hall. He knew who'd be there. Katrina. She loved him so much and she didn't get the hints that he dropped that said, "I hate you." She was annoying and he could never do anything when she was near. He spent half of the day running away from her and the other half being polite to her in front of his parents.
"Oh shit! Now that Father has banned me from going outside, there are less places to hide!" he thought to himself. "Hopefully, she won't find me in the fencing chamber. One can only hope," he trailed off thinking as he opened the doors to the fencing room.
Kagome heard doors opening somewhere. Not seeing this part of the castle before, she decided to see where it was coming from. "I hope it's not the Duke and Duchess. Especially not the Duchess, she seemed to have something against me. Just because I look and talk a little different doesn't mean a thing!" Kagome thought with a huff. Exiting the archery range after only two shots, she went into the hallway. Just as she entered the hallway, she saw a door slam shut in front of her. She walked across and tried to open it but had no such luck in doing so. "Damn it, why won't it open for me? All I want to do is see who's in there and what's in there, that's all!" she screamed out loud, not meaning to do so. "Oh I hope no one heard me," she thought.
Inu-yasha had just gotten out his practice stick when he heard someone shout. He couldn't make out all of it but what he heard was, "All I want to do is see who's in there and what's in there that's all!"
Inu-yasha thought for a second. Who else would scream like that? He hoped it wasn't Katrina, but he knew better than that. It was definitely a feminine voice that screamed, but whose? "Not the Duchess, she's too rich to scream. Not Mother, she knows better than to disrupt my fencing practices. Ah! It must be Kagome! At least I hope it's Kagome! Better open the door before she leaves," Inu-yasha thought, blushing slightly at what his mind was really thinking.
Just as she was going to walk away, she heard the door open. Turning around quickly, she saw Inu-yasha. "Ah Inu-yasha, what are you doing? Slamming doors like that isn't very prince-like; you wouldn't want to upset Katrina, the heir to Hemmings Manor, now would you?" Kagome asked teasingly.
"How can she do that? Read my mind like that and tease me about? This girl is certainly something special, and not at all annoying like Katrina," Inu-yasha thought before speaking, "How did you do that? Read my mind like that? Now come on, I bet you want to see what I was doing." He led her inside to the fencing chambers, just as she gasped. "What's wrong, Kagome?"
"It's just, just so big! Wow, look at all of this! Would you be able to teach me sometime?" Kagome asked intently and truly interested, Inu-yasha saw it in her eyes.
"How about we start with something a little less dangerous, like archery? I think you'll like it," he said, dragging Kagome out and closing the doors behind them. She wanted to tell him that she had already tried archery, but she didn't want to upset him. She just followed before he gasped.
"Now what's wrong with you?" she queried, knowing exactly what he was going to say.
"Someone, someone got two bull's eyes! Sesshou-maru avoids everyone whenever we have guests. He spends his time getting his outfit perfect for dinner, so it wasn't him. Father isn't very good with the bow and arrow, and I know it wasn't me. Who could it be?" Inu-yasha thought aloud.
"What would you say if I told you it was me?" Kagome said with a devilish grin on her face.
"I don't know. You don't seem to be the type. You want to prove it to me then?" Inu-yasha said looking down to Kagome, hoping to prove her right. Having Kagome do something that Katrina would never even go near would be a miracle. In fact, that's all that it could be described as, a miracle.
Shooting dead on, Kagome said, "Ah that was nothing, want me to do it again?" She was still grinning devilishly.
"Wow, this is great! Hey listen do you have a minute? I want to explain something to you before you find out on your own, but if you would rather shoot that's all right," Inu-yasha asked, hoping she'd like to listen.
"Umm, I guess I have time to listen to whatever you have to say. I mean it can't take forever right?" Kagome said wistfully.
"Yeah you're right. I'll start at the beginning."
"That's always a good place to start!" Kagome said sarcastically.
"Are you going to do this the whole time?"
"No, now continue!"
"Thank you. Anyway, it starts when I was seven. That's when I first met Katrina. My parents always insisted on having her come over and allowing us to get acquainted. Apparently, she fell in love with me from that first moment. I'm surprised we haven't run into her yet. Anytime she comes over she insists on following me around. I try to say politely that I don't love her like that, but she just doesn't get it. I believe that this little dinner plan is to set an engagement and I am against it wholeheartedly. Now, due to the fact that we are both banned from going outside, I can't teach you how shoot moving objects or escape from Katrina. Today is my cursed day, I tell you! I really wish she'd understand I don't love her. I mean, it's been going on for almost 12 years now. You think after 12 years she'd see my point, but no. Ah well, I'm tired of staying in the house! I want to go outside! Hey wait a sec! Have you been able to understand everything I said? I thought your English wasn't that good," Inu-yasha said, surprisingly not in one breath.
"Well, your mother helped me practice it last night. Also, don't be giving up on staying inside already. We still have two more days that we have to live with this punishment of some sorts. It can't be all that bad if we stay here until right before dinner when we have to go get ready, right? You'll live, I swear!" Kagome said exasperated that Inu-yasha was already tired of being inside and it had only been a couple hours.
"Katrina should be down here soon. She hunts me down and tries to get us alone. It's disgusting considering how much I hate her. Yeah, she's an okay person to get along with, but she's obsessive. I bet she'll be jealous of you. She got jealous of the servant that was helping me practice my fencing skills. She gets jealous because another person spends time with me besides her. That's why I went to go fence; she rarely goes there," Inu-yasha said with a sigh.
"Why doesn't she like to go there?" Kagome asked sincerely curious as to what he had to say.
"Anytime I'm there, I'm always with someone else. Hey you know what we could do right now?"
"What? You're not going to…oh I know. You're really evil you know that?" Kagome said with a chuckle.
"Aw, but it'll be fun. Besides you need to learn how to fence, considering you're already an expert archer. Yeah I may be a little evil, but she deserves it. Come on, Kagome, I swear I'll be gentle. We could just use the practice sticks. Let's go before she finds us talking because she'll tell the world that we're in love and that I betrayed her. You and I know that it wouldn't be the truth, but what would Sesshou-maru do? He always uses what she says against me, whether or not he thinks it's true. So come on, what do you say?" Inu-yasha pleaded.
"Fine, fine, if you say so…" Kagome barely got out of her mouth when Inu-yasha dragged her into the fencing room.
"Glad you see it my way! Now let's practice! The sticks are over there, but I'll get them. All right then, let's fence!" Inu-yasha said excitedly, hoping that Katrina would come in at any moment because he loved to see her jealous. After only a little bit of practice, Inu-yasha said, a little out of breath, "Hey Kagome, you sure you've never fenced before? You seem like you're a little better than a beginner."
"Well, my brother and I used to do this with Grandfather. It was just Grandfather and he always let us win. That was all though, no big training or practices. You're right about one thing," Kagome said teasingly.
"Only one thing? Are you sure about that?" Inu-yasha said giving her another teasing look.
"Yeah, this is fun! Let's keep it up until someone tells us it's time for dinner. I need a good workout and this seems like the perfect thing. Besides it'd be fun to beat you!"
"Oh you're going down! I'll beat you!"
The two of them continued to fence until they both were very sweaty and tired. Katrina had finally come down this hall and was looking at the fencing door. Opening it slowly, she looked in and screamed.
"Inu-yasha! What are you doing? All sweaty with another woman? Didn't you know that I had arrived? I can not believe you! You didn't even come to say hi! You better explain yourself before I tell anyone!" she screamed.
"Yeah, I can explain myself. I assume you've met our visitor Kagome, who came here from Japan. I just met her yesterday. We both ended up down here by accident. I had decided to practice fencing before you came, in case you had decided to come down here you'd see me doing something. Kagome was practicing archery when I decided to come and see if you had arrived yet. That's when I asked if she would practice with me until you came down. She thought that if it was one-on-one you'd see how good I've become. I think that's everything," Inu-yasha said, hoping she'd believe that story.
"Oh yeah? Why are you both so sweaty and you two weren't practicing when I came down here!"
Kagome stepped forward and said, "I can explain that one. I told him I was getting tired and that he was wearing me out. We decided to sit and rest before going to get ready for dinner. That's when you came in. I'm sorry if I've done anything wrong. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go get prepared for dinner." Kagome left quickly, but she was smirking the entire way to her room. She thought how much Inu-yasha must hate her now for leaving him alone with Katrina.
"Katrina, what do you want? Kagome and I were just having a little fun. It's more than you can say. All you ever do is chase me around. Maybe you don't get it yet, but I don't like it when you do that. How many times can you honestly say we've had fun? The last time was when 10 years ago! Then you got it in your head that all I wanted to do was be chased by you and that's not true!" Inu-yasha said in huff. Ever since Kagome had come, he found that he had more courage when it came to standing up to Katrina. He headed straight for the door, but turned around before he left and said, "Katrina I'm going to get ready for dinner. Think about things and talk about it later. I'll be there at dinner if you want to talk."
"Wait Inu-yasha! No, don't leave me!" Katrina screamed and dropped to her knees crying. "What have I done wrong? Where did I go wrong? I thought he loved me. Maybe he still loves me, but not like it was before." Then she thought about it over and over again. "Is this why whenever I would come Inu-yasha would suddenly get sick? Why is he doing this to me? Especially on the night when our parents will announce our engagement." Katrina grinned at that last thought. "Together forever with my love, Inu-yasha."
Kagome was up in her room, almost finished getting dressed with the help of her servants. Deciding that Inu-yasha might finally be done talking with Katrina, she decided to head down there. Just as she stepped out of the door, Inu-yasha flew by. She didn't even get a chance to say hello, but she figured Katrina would still be down in the fencing room and would need a little comfort.
"I just hope Inu-yasha wasn't too hard on her. I wouldn't want her too upset for tonight's dinner. Shukujo-san said that there would be an important announcement made tonight." Heading down she continued to wonder what the announcement could be.
Katrina was still in the fencing chamber, still too dumbstruck to speak or move. She finally decided to get up when she heard the door begin to open. She hoped it was Inu-yasha coming to apologize, but it was only Kagome, the girl who stole her fiancée's heart.
"What do you want?" Katrina sneered at Kagome.
"I just came down to say…I hope it went well…" she trailed off not knowing how to phrase what she felt in English.
"You knew about it? You knew that Inu-yasha was going to break my heart? YOU KNEW?!" Katrina said disgusted.
"Inu-yasha asked me the polite way to say…aishiteru and also not hurt your feelings. He …didn't want to hurt your feelings," Kagome said, forgetting everything she had learned about English.
"What's aishiteru? I bet anything that it's 'I hate you.' He wanted me to think about things. Do you know what he means by that? He said we weren't having any fun! I am the most fun person in all of England!" Katrina stated overconfidently.
Kagome giggled at that thought, "Well, I have to go up for dinner. We wouldn't want to be late, now would we?" She smiled, showing that she was innocent and just wanted to be friends.
Katrina followed Kagome to the Great Hall and they sat down. The Duke of Hemming was seated next Otou-san, with their wives besides them. Sesshou-maru sat next to the Duchess of Hemming and Kagome sat down next to Shukujo-san. Inu-yasha had just arrived and headed straight for the seat next to Kagome. Katrina made sure that she got the last seat on the end next to Inu-yasha. The servants began to bring out the soup and start the meal.
Kagome turned to Shukujo-san, hoping to have a conversation in Japanese again. Unfortunately, the food was being served and there would be no time to talk. Dinner went smoothly, with minimal amounts of talking. After everyone had finished, the servants cleaned the table and Otou-san led everyone to sit down on the couches at the other side of the Great Hall.
"I have a very important matter to discuss privately with my son, Inu-yasha, so if you'll excuse us, we'll be right back," Otou-san stated. Kagome saw Inu-yasha's face drop at that last statement. Kagome turned towards Shukujo-san to ask her what Otou-san wanted to discuss with Inu-yasha.
Replying in Japanese, Shukujo-san said, "He most likely wanted to tell Inu-yasha that he will be announcing the engagement of Katrina and Inu-yasha tonight."
Now then, for later chapters I need to know which time period people should live in. Rin-chan will obviously be in the past, but what about Kaede, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and anyone else I may have forgotten. Tell me in your review where you think I should put them.
