Disclaimer: Lalala… Inuyasha and Friends are not mine. However… *holds up Inuyasha plushie from Katsucon* THIS *IS* MINE!!! MUAHAHAH!!
*Dances little Inuyasha plushie in front of readers* Hehehe, Chibi Inuyasha, ne? Oh, lookie here, readers! Ha! Go figure. ^-~ … muahahaha… Okay, okay, story time! …Not for you, tho, Chibi Inuyasha! YOU get to come with ME! MUAHAHAHA…
P.S. Kagome's speech mistakes are not mine. They are supposed to be there. She's only little, so how would she know the difference between "fowl and foul" or something else… Hell, *I* don't even know! WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Koukennin- Guardian
Keishi- Heiress
Ano- um
Urabe- coastal
Komorebi- sunlight filtering through the trees (reference to a town)
Mambushii- radiant (reference to a kingdom)
Retsu- cold (ref. to land name)
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Act Two: Without Faith
'You have to have faith; if you give up, I give up, don't you understand that? Did you think it was the other way around? You know better than that, you know, you know. Give me your hand, maybe for the last time. It doesn't matter how bad it gets, just stretch out your fingertips, mine will be waiting for you. I swear it. I swear it. Just hold that breath, I'll be there soon. I swear it. Just hold that breath. You have to have faith.'
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From her position on the floor, it was the only thing the girl could think about.
'I want to touch them.'
Staring eagerly at the twitching pink tufted ears above the boy's silver head, she felt her hands begin to twitch. Strangely, and despite all her haughty dignity, she could not force herself to get up from her inelegant sprawl on the bare floor, even though the cold that seeped up from the stone was giving her goose bumps from the chill. In fact, the room was exceptionally cold, and not all of it was from the lack of fire. The boy's face was like a frozen mask; she realized he was growling a deep throated sound that made more shivers race around her body. Her eyes trailed their way deliberately down his face. She flinched as their eyes met; his were pools of frigid amber, edged by the wandering silver thread of hair. Further exploration and she realized his fangs were bared, to accompany his humming rumble.
With a sudden fear of this angered creature, Kagome rose warily from her knees keeping her own black eyes locked on his- dreading that any minute he would find it more convenient to eat her than let her live. Even though he was only a bit taller than her; and how much older, she wondered distantly?
"Who the hell are you? And what are you doing in my room, bitch?" The creature said, glaring at her. His clawed hand strayed to his side: to his sword! If one had been strapped there.
Kagome blinked in astonishment. "Excuse me? 'What' did you just say to me, fowl creature?" In the entire span of her short life, no one had dared to take that tone with the princess, not even mentioning cussing at her. Her brain could hardly register it, the shock was so deep. People could curse at her? They could yell? …Could they really?
His eyebrows dipped deeper. "I asked who the 'hell' are you, human bitch!"
Putting her hands on her hips, she dusted off her flowing skirts of their dust, not that it helped much, pointedly ignoring the boy's comments. It was something she noticed many of the courtiers did when Mother yelled at them. Taking her time, she regarded the thing before her with suddenly cool eyes, placing her hands on her hips and leisurely beginning to circle the creature. He was taller than her by a head and probably older too; she wondered why he had those strange ears on his head. As she circled behind him, the irresistible urge to touch them bloomed again; her fist became white-knuckled. With the most disdainful tone she could manage, she drawled, "Who and 'what' are you?"
The buzzing sound increased. "I asked you first, bitch!"
Drawing herself up, eyes flashing lightning, she faced him and pointed indignantly. The petulant stomp slightly ruined her princess demeanor. "You will 'not' refer to me like that, servant! I order it!"
"Yeah, so what! I'm not one of your fucking servants!"
"How dare you talk to me like that!" she shrieked, waving her hands in the air.
"Yeah, bitch, so what?" He taunted, smiling nastily, realizing this little girl was just fluff and puff. Consequentially, he was caught of guard, very painfully, when the girl threw a clean right hook that connected squarely to his chin.
Maid had told her she shouldn't hit people. Mother had too. Dad didn't really care what the hell she did. Nevertheless, starting from a very young age, it was evident that hitting people (especially if you hit them in the magic spot) could get people out of your way and groveling (quite literally sometimes- Kagome had a nice fist) for your divine forgiveness. Logically what Maid and Mother said just did not match reality; especially since until the time she had met this creature with the cute fuzzy ears none of her victims had ever, 'ever' hit back. Until now. Thus, finding herself on the floor with a throbbing cheek was a very unnatural result to a very natural action. So Kagome proceeded to do the only other thing that had never failed her. She started to cry.
"Oi! S-stop that! W-what are you doing? Oi! ... Oi! STOP!" Kagome's wails only grew in volume. The hesitant and very frightened youkai inched closer to the sobbing girl, daring to stretch out a finger and poke the thing. She slapped his hand away so quickly Inuyasha blinked, wondering if it had happened. The stinging sensation in his hand assured him it had.
"I HATE you!" Kagome screeched at him through her fingers, spreading two just enough to glimpse the boy's face. She practically sighed with relief; at least this was working- the boy looked as though he was about to panic.
"Oi oi, look! C'mon!" He said softer, taking her shoulders and shaking her with enough force to jar her hands away from her face. Afraid to be caught without the tears that normally went with crying fits, Kagome struggled to turn her face away, but the boy tightened his grip on her shoulders "C'mon, look… I'm… I'm sorry!" He said, ducking his head to hide his blushing face. The girl stopped twisting; the boy dared to look up.
Sniffling pitifully and her face blotchy and red from her exertions, Kagome whipped a delicate fist across her nose. She avoided the boy's amber gaze, but out of the corner of her eye she could see him staring at her in their awkward position. His arms were curled clumsily across her flat chest from his attempts to restrain her; her hand was pressed firmly against his chest to keep him away. So close to him, she saw a flicker of pink above her- his ears! Unbidden, her hands found the silver tufts, and she sighed contentedly as she rubbed them, remembering the old retired hunting hound in the castle kitchen that loved to have his ears scratched and the soothing rumble he always made when she did. That soothing rumble in his stomach, she would sometimes press her ear against his belly feel it buzz against her skin, that soothing purr-
Her hands paused, realizing she wasn't just reminiscing, but she heard it! The boy's eyes had fallen half-closed into glittering amber slits of bliss, pushing his head instinctively against her hand for her to scratch a better spot. A short, bell-like laugh escaped her mouth before she could cover it- this boy who had been so fierce just a minute ago, was purring!
Surprised, the boy's eyes snapped open completely, and he fumbled backwards, almost tripping as he shot up, trying to regain his arrogant aura. He glared at her fiercely, but the blush staining his cheeks gave him away.
Smiling broadly now, Kagome neatly stood up, the tears miraculously gone. Sashaying a step toward him, fingers tightly clasped at her middle, the princess said with as much sweetness as she could muster into her voice, "What's your name?" She fluttered her eyelashes as best she could, mimicking the women at court. They always did that when they were talking to men. Mother, after all, had told her to try to learn after them.
Taken off guard by this sudden change in attitude, the youkai boy watched the girl as warily as a fencing opponent. He wasn't completely surprised when he realized his hands were fumbling for the sword he didn't have at his hip. "They call me Inuyasha," he said, keeping his eyes on her.
Kagome stopped in her delicate swaying and asked, "Inuyasha?" Her voice had dropped the sugary coating and now was leaning toward disdainful. "Dog… demon?" Her lips curved around the words as though they were from a foreign tongue or a bad tasting piece of meat. When the boy didn't say anything more, Kagome held her silence while understanding began to creep into her dark onyx eyes. "You're a… youkai, aren't you?" She asked slowly.
Her face was unreadable, like a piece of wood. Inuyasha stiffened from the lack of expression; he had heard that humans didn't like youkai, that they would try to kill all the youkai in the world. That was what his father had told him. Well, it had certainly turned out to be true, hadn't it? Humans 'had' killed his father. They had chopped his head off while Inuyasha looked on, helpless to stop it, hiding like a coward within his father's closet. This girl was the same- just another killing, bloodthirsty bastard human.
"Fuck off, bitch," he growled at her, turning away and going to the small chest in front of his bed where he was told to put all of his things. His face hit the hard stone floor in front of it when Kagome tripped him, pulling his feet out from under him.
"Jerk!" She shouted at him, sticking out her tongue as he scrambled up, lightning flashing from his amber eyes.
Maid and the guards finally found them, in the last place they hoped they would have to look, wrestling like a pair of stable boys. With a shriek of disgust, Maid rushed in as fast as her plumpness would allow her, pulling the scratching Kagome off the youkai boy, spitting, kicking, and scratching. Lifting her to eye level, Maid gave the girl a smart shake, shrieking about the state of her clothes and hair. Beneath them, the small boy pushed himself up, licking his bleeding lip where Kagome had landed one of her fists. And they were fast fists.
"What were you 'thinking! Do you realize that you have to be presentable in TEN minutes? TEN! Look at you! LOOK at you! I'll never get you clean! You're absolutely filthy! What were you 'doing'? Crawling through the sewer system? And fighting with this poor boy! You're a 'lady'! A 'lady'! Princesses DON'T FIGHT WITH OTHER CHILDREN!" Maid shrieked at her, waving her free hand around violently while the other one gave the girl small shakes to emphasize her words.
"Put me down! Put me down, Maid!" Kagome whined, kicking her legs about in the air. "You can't handle the princess like this!"
"No, I can't handle the princess like this! When you stop acting like a stable boy we'll talk, you understand me you-"
"The Princess?"
The voice cut through Maid's heated tirade and Kagome stopped her furious struggling. Twisting around in the air to look at the bewildered boy, she stuck out her tongue. "Nyah nyah nyah! Now you're gonna get it for treating me like that you-"
Maid cut her off with a firm shake. She looked down at the boy, his clothes horribly disarrayed, displaying a few red scratches on his cheek where Kagome's nails had reached. She observed him with cool eyes. "Ah, Kagome-hime. You've met your new brother."
Inuyasha and Kagome looked at each other, mirror images of horror.
Then Kagome burst out crying.
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A Few Years Later
"BITCH! Gods, you take forever in the bath!"
"I'm not the one who asked to put your room next to mine, asshole!" Smiling broadly from behind the shielding door, Kagome splashed the water in the large bathtub around playfully. She dragged the last word out long and full-lunged. Sharing a wicked grin with her maids, she stepped into the lukewarm water, tittering lightly as Inuyasha pounded on the door, his words turning into insensible mutters. It went silent for a moment and Kagome's feral smirk started to slide off her face. Then it was back on, brighter than ever, as Inuyasha yelled, "Just because you're the fucking heir to the throne doesn't mean I have to be your fucking protector every single fucking second of the day."
"You know the traditions, Inuyasha-niiiiiichan. Go complain to Her Royal Majesty if you want to contend them, not me, dearest broooother. Ah, the water is 'so' lovely, oniichan!"
"I'm not your fucking brother, Kagome!" He shouted, another pound emphasizing it.
"Oh, nii-chan, you're 'so' grumpy in the morning!" She burst out laughing when she heard the aggravated groan from the youkai, then his footsteps stomping off back to his room. Even that sound was infuriated. Her laughter increased; this was starting off as a wonderful day.
"Sassou, hand me the shampoo."
Taking the shampoo, she began to lather it in her hair, but the smile didn't stay. Last week was her fourteenth birthday, and the celebrations only recently came to a close; it was an extremely important year in her life, her Mother kept telling her. Kagome knew it was true. The smile disappeared completely. Now she was available for suitors.
Kagome stuck her head beneath the water.
Absentmindedly she began to rinse the suds out of her long raven hair, frowning beneath the water. Fourteen was open hunting ground for possible husbands, and they didn't have to be young. Already, from Urabe Kingdom, their Queen sent four suitable men, each one more repulsive than the last. The first suitor she met the day following her birthday; he was fat, mustachioed, and twenty-nine years older than her. Coming up for air, she rubbed at the back of her neck, still able to feel his rancid breath there when he had tried to feel her up. Thank the gods Inuyasha had come in at just the right time. Thank the gods she wouldn't be seeing that brute ever again after Inuyasha made his report to Mother.
Inuyasha. As called for by the long tradition of her kingdom, Inuyasha had moved next door to her apartments, and began training as Koukennin on her birthday. If she had a real blood-brother, he would have done the same. The Koukennin served to protect the Keishi throughout her life, into the time she would be Queen. The Koukennin would never marry, would never leave the Keishi's side, would never… live. His life was utter devotion to the Keishi; and that was Inuyasha's fate.
A complete frown blossomed on Kagome's face.
"Ah, Kagome-hime, is something wrong? Did you get shampoo in your eyes?" Toroi came to Kagome's side, bending down on her knees, her dull eyes searching Kagome's own with a motherly concern unsurpassed by the rest of her handmaidens. "Ano, Toroi, it's okay, I'm alright." She gently slapped the girl's hands away as she tried to dab at her eyes unasked.
Unbothered, Toroi slid behind Kagome's back, and began to work on her hair. "Here, Kagome-hime, you should really let us do this. See, you missed some of the suds."
Surrendering to her persistent maid's ministrations, Kagome leaned back, trying to relax as Toroi's fingers massaged her scalp. It was going to be a difficult day as it was without needing to reprimand an overprotective maid. "As you say, Toroi."
"Good. See there, just relax, Kagome-hime. You can't have creases from frowns marring your perfect beauty when the suitors come to call, ne? Sassou! Hand me the soap and you! Enkou! Come here and I will teach you how to properly wash our lady." Toroi was the oldest of her handmaidens, of which there were a total of five- Sassou, Toroi, Kumo, Asahigake, and the newest addition, Enkou. Enkou was the offering of a latest conquest by her father, His Majesty Higurashi; she lived in the town of Komorebi, a boarder town between the Eastern Kingdom and the Mabushii city-state they were currently at war with. It seemed like they were battling a new one every other week. Enkou was a beautiful girl of fifteen, with exotic blonde hair and pale, delicate skin. In addition, she was a reasonably intelligent creature, which could not exactly be said about Toroi.
Her patience reached its limit as Toroi began to explain the finer details in great length about washing the princess's scalp, and how one must be sure not to ever prod, poke, or (for heaven's sake) gouge with fingernails. "Enough, Toroi! Enough!" Toroi, the perfect model of obedience, submissively bent her head and glared at Enkou when she hesitated.
Grimacing at her maids, Kagome called for her robe and quickly wrapped it around herself. The water had lost its warmth too quickly as Toroi babbled on about shampoo, and now the air felt crisp and chill. Kumo and Sassou opened the doors to Kagome's apartments, which led directly into the bathing room. Striding in, Kagome threw open her armoire's doors, and began ferreting through the clothing.
"Kagome-hime, should we alert Inuyasha-sama that you are finished bathing?" Asashigake drawled in her foreign accent, marking her from the Northern lands of Retsu.
Grinning viciously from within the depths of the armoire, Kagome said, "No. I don't believe we should."
Unable to see her liege-lady's face, Asashigake responded, a touch flatly, "As you wish, Kagome-hime."
The young princess frowned slightly at Asashigake's tone; she really thought the woman was soft for Inuyasha. She would have to keep a better eye on her at nights and make sure she didn't do anything foolish that would cost her the distinctive position as handmaiden for the princess of the second strongest kingdom in the Upper Lands. Fool girls. Fool Inuyasha.
As if on cue, "Kagome, you bitch! You couldn't have made a bigger mess in here if you had the water poured on you outside the fucking bathtub!"
"Go to hell, Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled back.
Toroi went to Kagome's second closet and deftly pulled out a dress, yellow satin, lightly embroidered in green on the sleeves, with pearl buttons. "Mistress, perhaps you would consider this dress instead of your riding clothes today, for the suitor."
A derisive snort came from the direction of the bathing room; the door was still half-open. "Ha! Kagome couldn't fit into a dress if her life depended on it- she's too fa-"
Enkou quickly closed the door on Inuyasha's taunts.
"Very good, Enkou. You 'are' learning after all." Kagome said with a smirk. Then she turned back to Toroi as the apprentice blushed. "Yes. Yes, Toroi, I do believe a dress will do nicely today."
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Um, hope you all enjoyed that chapter as much as I did writing it. But wow! These things take a while to write! ^^;;; Please read and review, tell me what you think!
Peace! Love!
Donuts!
*Dances little Inuyasha plushie in front of readers* Hehehe, Chibi Inuyasha, ne? Oh, lookie here, readers! Ha! Go figure. ^-~ … muahahaha… Okay, okay, story time! …Not for you, tho, Chibi Inuyasha! YOU get to come with ME! MUAHAHAHA…
P.S. Kagome's speech mistakes are not mine. They are supposed to be there. She's only little, so how would she know the difference between "fowl and foul" or something else… Hell, *I* don't even know! WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Koukennin- Guardian
Keishi- Heiress
Ano- um
Urabe- coastal
Komorebi- sunlight filtering through the trees (reference to a town)
Mambushii- radiant (reference to a kingdom)
Retsu- cold (ref. to land name)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Act Two: Without Faith
'You have to have faith; if you give up, I give up, don't you understand that? Did you think it was the other way around? You know better than that, you know, you know. Give me your hand, maybe for the last time. It doesn't matter how bad it gets, just stretch out your fingertips, mine will be waiting for you. I swear it. I swear it. Just hold that breath, I'll be there soon. I swear it. Just hold that breath. You have to have faith.'
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From her position on the floor, it was the only thing the girl could think about.
'I want to touch them.'
Staring eagerly at the twitching pink tufted ears above the boy's silver head, she felt her hands begin to twitch. Strangely, and despite all her haughty dignity, she could not force herself to get up from her inelegant sprawl on the bare floor, even though the cold that seeped up from the stone was giving her goose bumps from the chill. In fact, the room was exceptionally cold, and not all of it was from the lack of fire. The boy's face was like a frozen mask; she realized he was growling a deep throated sound that made more shivers race around her body. Her eyes trailed their way deliberately down his face. She flinched as their eyes met; his were pools of frigid amber, edged by the wandering silver thread of hair. Further exploration and she realized his fangs were bared, to accompany his humming rumble.
With a sudden fear of this angered creature, Kagome rose warily from her knees keeping her own black eyes locked on his- dreading that any minute he would find it more convenient to eat her than let her live. Even though he was only a bit taller than her; and how much older, she wondered distantly?
"Who the hell are you? And what are you doing in my room, bitch?" The creature said, glaring at her. His clawed hand strayed to his side: to his sword! If one had been strapped there.
Kagome blinked in astonishment. "Excuse me? 'What' did you just say to me, fowl creature?" In the entire span of her short life, no one had dared to take that tone with the princess, not even mentioning cussing at her. Her brain could hardly register it, the shock was so deep. People could curse at her? They could yell? …Could they really?
His eyebrows dipped deeper. "I asked who the 'hell' are you, human bitch!"
Putting her hands on her hips, she dusted off her flowing skirts of their dust, not that it helped much, pointedly ignoring the boy's comments. It was something she noticed many of the courtiers did when Mother yelled at them. Taking her time, she regarded the thing before her with suddenly cool eyes, placing her hands on her hips and leisurely beginning to circle the creature. He was taller than her by a head and probably older too; she wondered why he had those strange ears on his head. As she circled behind him, the irresistible urge to touch them bloomed again; her fist became white-knuckled. With the most disdainful tone she could manage, she drawled, "Who and 'what' are you?"
The buzzing sound increased. "I asked you first, bitch!"
Drawing herself up, eyes flashing lightning, she faced him and pointed indignantly. The petulant stomp slightly ruined her princess demeanor. "You will 'not' refer to me like that, servant! I order it!"
"Yeah, so what! I'm not one of your fucking servants!"
"How dare you talk to me like that!" she shrieked, waving her hands in the air.
"Yeah, bitch, so what?" He taunted, smiling nastily, realizing this little girl was just fluff and puff. Consequentially, he was caught of guard, very painfully, when the girl threw a clean right hook that connected squarely to his chin.
Maid had told her she shouldn't hit people. Mother had too. Dad didn't really care what the hell she did. Nevertheless, starting from a very young age, it was evident that hitting people (especially if you hit them in the magic spot) could get people out of your way and groveling (quite literally sometimes- Kagome had a nice fist) for your divine forgiveness. Logically what Maid and Mother said just did not match reality; especially since until the time she had met this creature with the cute fuzzy ears none of her victims had ever, 'ever' hit back. Until now. Thus, finding herself on the floor with a throbbing cheek was a very unnatural result to a very natural action. So Kagome proceeded to do the only other thing that had never failed her. She started to cry.
"Oi! S-stop that! W-what are you doing? Oi! ... Oi! STOP!" Kagome's wails only grew in volume. The hesitant and very frightened youkai inched closer to the sobbing girl, daring to stretch out a finger and poke the thing. She slapped his hand away so quickly Inuyasha blinked, wondering if it had happened. The stinging sensation in his hand assured him it had.
"I HATE you!" Kagome screeched at him through her fingers, spreading two just enough to glimpse the boy's face. She practically sighed with relief; at least this was working- the boy looked as though he was about to panic.
"Oi oi, look! C'mon!" He said softer, taking her shoulders and shaking her with enough force to jar her hands away from her face. Afraid to be caught without the tears that normally went with crying fits, Kagome struggled to turn her face away, but the boy tightened his grip on her shoulders "C'mon, look… I'm… I'm sorry!" He said, ducking his head to hide his blushing face. The girl stopped twisting; the boy dared to look up.
Sniffling pitifully and her face blotchy and red from her exertions, Kagome whipped a delicate fist across her nose. She avoided the boy's amber gaze, but out of the corner of her eye she could see him staring at her in their awkward position. His arms were curled clumsily across her flat chest from his attempts to restrain her; her hand was pressed firmly against his chest to keep him away. So close to him, she saw a flicker of pink above her- his ears! Unbidden, her hands found the silver tufts, and she sighed contentedly as she rubbed them, remembering the old retired hunting hound in the castle kitchen that loved to have his ears scratched and the soothing rumble he always made when she did. That soothing rumble in his stomach, she would sometimes press her ear against his belly feel it buzz against her skin, that soothing purr-
Her hands paused, realizing she wasn't just reminiscing, but she heard it! The boy's eyes had fallen half-closed into glittering amber slits of bliss, pushing his head instinctively against her hand for her to scratch a better spot. A short, bell-like laugh escaped her mouth before she could cover it- this boy who had been so fierce just a minute ago, was purring!
Surprised, the boy's eyes snapped open completely, and he fumbled backwards, almost tripping as he shot up, trying to regain his arrogant aura. He glared at her fiercely, but the blush staining his cheeks gave him away.
Smiling broadly now, Kagome neatly stood up, the tears miraculously gone. Sashaying a step toward him, fingers tightly clasped at her middle, the princess said with as much sweetness as she could muster into her voice, "What's your name?" She fluttered her eyelashes as best she could, mimicking the women at court. They always did that when they were talking to men. Mother, after all, had told her to try to learn after them.
Taken off guard by this sudden change in attitude, the youkai boy watched the girl as warily as a fencing opponent. He wasn't completely surprised when he realized his hands were fumbling for the sword he didn't have at his hip. "They call me Inuyasha," he said, keeping his eyes on her.
Kagome stopped in her delicate swaying and asked, "Inuyasha?" Her voice had dropped the sugary coating and now was leaning toward disdainful. "Dog… demon?" Her lips curved around the words as though they were from a foreign tongue or a bad tasting piece of meat. When the boy didn't say anything more, Kagome held her silence while understanding began to creep into her dark onyx eyes. "You're a… youkai, aren't you?" She asked slowly.
Her face was unreadable, like a piece of wood. Inuyasha stiffened from the lack of expression; he had heard that humans didn't like youkai, that they would try to kill all the youkai in the world. That was what his father had told him. Well, it had certainly turned out to be true, hadn't it? Humans 'had' killed his father. They had chopped his head off while Inuyasha looked on, helpless to stop it, hiding like a coward within his father's closet. This girl was the same- just another killing, bloodthirsty bastard human.
"Fuck off, bitch," he growled at her, turning away and going to the small chest in front of his bed where he was told to put all of his things. His face hit the hard stone floor in front of it when Kagome tripped him, pulling his feet out from under him.
"Jerk!" She shouted at him, sticking out her tongue as he scrambled up, lightning flashing from his amber eyes.
Maid and the guards finally found them, in the last place they hoped they would have to look, wrestling like a pair of stable boys. With a shriek of disgust, Maid rushed in as fast as her plumpness would allow her, pulling the scratching Kagome off the youkai boy, spitting, kicking, and scratching. Lifting her to eye level, Maid gave the girl a smart shake, shrieking about the state of her clothes and hair. Beneath them, the small boy pushed himself up, licking his bleeding lip where Kagome had landed one of her fists. And they were fast fists.
"What were you 'thinking! Do you realize that you have to be presentable in TEN minutes? TEN! Look at you! LOOK at you! I'll never get you clean! You're absolutely filthy! What were you 'doing'? Crawling through the sewer system? And fighting with this poor boy! You're a 'lady'! A 'lady'! Princesses DON'T FIGHT WITH OTHER CHILDREN!" Maid shrieked at her, waving her free hand around violently while the other one gave the girl small shakes to emphasize her words.
"Put me down! Put me down, Maid!" Kagome whined, kicking her legs about in the air. "You can't handle the princess like this!"
"No, I can't handle the princess like this! When you stop acting like a stable boy we'll talk, you understand me you-"
"The Princess?"
The voice cut through Maid's heated tirade and Kagome stopped her furious struggling. Twisting around in the air to look at the bewildered boy, she stuck out her tongue. "Nyah nyah nyah! Now you're gonna get it for treating me like that you-"
Maid cut her off with a firm shake. She looked down at the boy, his clothes horribly disarrayed, displaying a few red scratches on his cheek where Kagome's nails had reached. She observed him with cool eyes. "Ah, Kagome-hime. You've met your new brother."
Inuyasha and Kagome looked at each other, mirror images of horror.
Then Kagome burst out crying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Few Years Later
"BITCH! Gods, you take forever in the bath!"
"I'm not the one who asked to put your room next to mine, asshole!" Smiling broadly from behind the shielding door, Kagome splashed the water in the large bathtub around playfully. She dragged the last word out long and full-lunged. Sharing a wicked grin with her maids, she stepped into the lukewarm water, tittering lightly as Inuyasha pounded on the door, his words turning into insensible mutters. It went silent for a moment and Kagome's feral smirk started to slide off her face. Then it was back on, brighter than ever, as Inuyasha yelled, "Just because you're the fucking heir to the throne doesn't mean I have to be your fucking protector every single fucking second of the day."
"You know the traditions, Inuyasha-niiiiiichan. Go complain to Her Royal Majesty if you want to contend them, not me, dearest broooother. Ah, the water is 'so' lovely, oniichan!"
"I'm not your fucking brother, Kagome!" He shouted, another pound emphasizing it.
"Oh, nii-chan, you're 'so' grumpy in the morning!" She burst out laughing when she heard the aggravated groan from the youkai, then his footsteps stomping off back to his room. Even that sound was infuriated. Her laughter increased; this was starting off as a wonderful day.
"Sassou, hand me the shampoo."
Taking the shampoo, she began to lather it in her hair, but the smile didn't stay. Last week was her fourteenth birthday, and the celebrations only recently came to a close; it was an extremely important year in her life, her Mother kept telling her. Kagome knew it was true. The smile disappeared completely. Now she was available for suitors.
Kagome stuck her head beneath the water.
Absentmindedly she began to rinse the suds out of her long raven hair, frowning beneath the water. Fourteen was open hunting ground for possible husbands, and they didn't have to be young. Already, from Urabe Kingdom, their Queen sent four suitable men, each one more repulsive than the last. The first suitor she met the day following her birthday; he was fat, mustachioed, and twenty-nine years older than her. Coming up for air, she rubbed at the back of her neck, still able to feel his rancid breath there when he had tried to feel her up. Thank the gods Inuyasha had come in at just the right time. Thank the gods she wouldn't be seeing that brute ever again after Inuyasha made his report to Mother.
Inuyasha. As called for by the long tradition of her kingdom, Inuyasha had moved next door to her apartments, and began training as Koukennin on her birthday. If she had a real blood-brother, he would have done the same. The Koukennin served to protect the Keishi throughout her life, into the time she would be Queen. The Koukennin would never marry, would never leave the Keishi's side, would never… live. His life was utter devotion to the Keishi; and that was Inuyasha's fate.
A complete frown blossomed on Kagome's face.
"Ah, Kagome-hime, is something wrong? Did you get shampoo in your eyes?" Toroi came to Kagome's side, bending down on her knees, her dull eyes searching Kagome's own with a motherly concern unsurpassed by the rest of her handmaidens. "Ano, Toroi, it's okay, I'm alright." She gently slapped the girl's hands away as she tried to dab at her eyes unasked.
Unbothered, Toroi slid behind Kagome's back, and began to work on her hair. "Here, Kagome-hime, you should really let us do this. See, you missed some of the suds."
Surrendering to her persistent maid's ministrations, Kagome leaned back, trying to relax as Toroi's fingers massaged her scalp. It was going to be a difficult day as it was without needing to reprimand an overprotective maid. "As you say, Toroi."
"Good. See there, just relax, Kagome-hime. You can't have creases from frowns marring your perfect beauty when the suitors come to call, ne? Sassou! Hand me the soap and you! Enkou! Come here and I will teach you how to properly wash our lady." Toroi was the oldest of her handmaidens, of which there were a total of five- Sassou, Toroi, Kumo, Asahigake, and the newest addition, Enkou. Enkou was the offering of a latest conquest by her father, His Majesty Higurashi; she lived in the town of Komorebi, a boarder town between the Eastern Kingdom and the Mabushii city-state they were currently at war with. It seemed like they were battling a new one every other week. Enkou was a beautiful girl of fifteen, with exotic blonde hair and pale, delicate skin. In addition, she was a reasonably intelligent creature, which could not exactly be said about Toroi.
Her patience reached its limit as Toroi began to explain the finer details in great length about washing the princess's scalp, and how one must be sure not to ever prod, poke, or (for heaven's sake) gouge with fingernails. "Enough, Toroi! Enough!" Toroi, the perfect model of obedience, submissively bent her head and glared at Enkou when she hesitated.
Grimacing at her maids, Kagome called for her robe and quickly wrapped it around herself. The water had lost its warmth too quickly as Toroi babbled on about shampoo, and now the air felt crisp and chill. Kumo and Sassou opened the doors to Kagome's apartments, which led directly into the bathing room. Striding in, Kagome threw open her armoire's doors, and began ferreting through the clothing.
"Kagome-hime, should we alert Inuyasha-sama that you are finished bathing?" Asashigake drawled in her foreign accent, marking her from the Northern lands of Retsu.
Grinning viciously from within the depths of the armoire, Kagome said, "No. I don't believe we should."
Unable to see her liege-lady's face, Asashigake responded, a touch flatly, "As you wish, Kagome-hime."
The young princess frowned slightly at Asashigake's tone; she really thought the woman was soft for Inuyasha. She would have to keep a better eye on her at nights and make sure she didn't do anything foolish that would cost her the distinctive position as handmaiden for the princess of the second strongest kingdom in the Upper Lands. Fool girls. Fool Inuyasha.
As if on cue, "Kagome, you bitch! You couldn't have made a bigger mess in here if you had the water poured on you outside the fucking bathtub!"
"Go to hell, Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled back.
Toroi went to Kagome's second closet and deftly pulled out a dress, yellow satin, lightly embroidered in green on the sleeves, with pearl buttons. "Mistress, perhaps you would consider this dress instead of your riding clothes today, for the suitor."
A derisive snort came from the direction of the bathing room; the door was still half-open. "Ha! Kagome couldn't fit into a dress if her life depended on it- she's too fa-"
Enkou quickly closed the door on Inuyasha's taunts.
"Very good, Enkou. You 'are' learning after all." Kagome said with a smirk. Then she turned back to Toroi as the apprentice blushed. "Yes. Yes, Toroi, I do believe a dress will do nicely today."
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Um, hope you all enjoyed that chapter as much as I did writing it. But wow! These things take a while to write! ^^;;; Please read and review, tell me what you think!
Peace! Love!
Donuts!