Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha…

The Golden Rule

Chapter Two:

Waiting till Tomorrow

Kagome went slowly back to her room, still pondering at the question in her head. 'Inu Yasha? But why after all this time?'

When she reached the door of her room and entered it slowly. She went to her vanity mirror and sat down, looking at herself in the mirror. She retraced her lips with her fingers remembering a thought she had when she was 11.

*--- memory ---*

Happening when Kagome was 11 and Inu Yasha was 12, we see both of the children outside in the wild, not far from Inu Yasha's castle. Both of them go running off towards the nearby forest and stop near a lake.

"You understand what is happening don't you?" Inu Yasha said looking slightly worried at Kagome. His eyes seem to plead something that she can't describe at her age.

"What do you mean? I don't get it" Kagome said, not really sensing the tension between ruling rivalries.

Inu Yasha sighed and took her hand in his. Kagome was overwhelmed at this surprise, but let it be naturally.

"There's going to be a war." Inu Yasha said, looking at the water in the lake infront of him. "We're not going to see each other for a while…" He said gravely.

"Why is there going to be a war?" Kagome asked, looking up at him, seeing his amber eyes stare directly ahead.

"Some people are bad, and they want other things that people already have. If they want it that badly, they'll get it using force." He explained, trying to make it as simple as possible. He knew what type of girl Kagome was. She was the type that was carefree, who loved nature. Kagome had a heart of gold; she loved everything and everyone. Her smile made you melt inside.

His grip on her hand tightened somewhat. He looked hesitant, like if he wanted to say something but didn't know how to say it. "Kagome?"

"Yeah?"

"I like you, a lot" Inu Yasha said, trying so hard not to blush, unfortunately for him, it didn't work. A slight blush crept on his cheeks and he looked down, trying to hide it.

Kagome was still having a hard time trying to understand what he meant by liking her a lot. "You like me?"

"Yeah"

Unexpectedly, Inu Yasha turned around making Kagome turn around with him. They looked at each other directly in their eyes. Inu Yasha saw deep into Kagome's grayish-blue eyes and Kagome saw a slight bit of pain and happiness intertwined in his amber eyes. Inu Yasha slowly leaned down toward Kagome and she didn't pull back, she just stood there, motionless.

The rays of the sunlight bounced off the clear blue waters that the lake produced and all we see now is two figures close to kissing each other…

*--- end of memory ---*

Kagome was knocked out of her fantasy when a knock produced the head of her younger brother Souta, who came to talk to her.

"Hey Kagome, can I talk to you?" Souta ineptly asked, from the look on his face, it looked like he had much on his mind.

Kagome now did a 90-degree turn. She was now facing Souta directly. "Sure kiddo" Kagome said reassuringly; she signaled for Souta to come and sit on her bed.

Souta carefully closed the door behind him and went to talk to his sister inside her room.

----

Queen Higurashi finally found her husband in the stables taking care of his favorite horse, Berry, the horse he's had since he was an adolescent.

"Honey? What are you doing here?" Queen Higurashi said while looking at her husband, wearing peasant clothes brush in hand, combing Berry's mane.

"I'm taking care of Berry; it's not like you to come to the stables, you must have something on your mind." He said "What's wrong?"

'Even after all these years, he still knows me like the back of his hand' Queen Higurashi thought to herself. "I'm worried about Kagome and the party we're hosting tomorrow for Souta."

King Higurashi left the brush on a table nearby and went towards the door of the stables. "Come with me." He said holding out his hand towards his wife, which she took gently and followed him.

They walked towards the castle; the blue skies making the world seem brighter. Looking up at the sky, the Queen saw a small flock of yellow birds flying through the sky with no fear or worry whatsoever. She smiled then sighed and turned her direction back to her husband.

"I'm worried about Kagome, and what will happen tomorrow night." The Queen started off.

"Why? What do you think is going to happen?" The King said, still having a hold of her hand.

The Queen sighed. "I don't know really, I have a bad feeling about it. This is practically the first party thrown since The Great War."

The King thought to himself 'She's right.' "Well, it was over about eight years ago. No one wants a war anymore; we have learned our lesson that war doesn't solve anything. Besides, this party is more like a peace gathering, to show that we all want peace; even though it IS for Souta…" He trailed off.

"Well…" The Queen said with a guilty voice, her facial expressions also hinted a lie within her. "Not exactly… But close…" She too trailed off.

"What do you mean 'not exactly?' The party isn't for Souta?" The King said with a staggered look.

"It is, but it's for Kagome as well. See, she's being too stubborn about not wanting to get married. You know how she gets." The Queen commented.

"I wouldn't blame her; I wouldn't want my little girl to be married so quickly." King Higurashi said to his wife.

Queen Higurashi just stopped walking, causing her husband to look at her. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Hiroshi, aren't you at least somewhat worried about Kagome? What if she doesn't wed before she's 19? She will be put to death!" her voice sounded worried. She was very concerned about Kagome's day; she'll even have the stable boy wed her if it was necessary.

"Chiharu, I am worried, but I have a feeling after tomorrow night, she will be engaged, or fairly close to it." Hiroshi reassured his wife with a tender smile. He went over to her and wrapped his arms around her and whispered what he just said over and over in her ear. This made Chiharu relax and gave into her husband's strong yet soft embrace.

----

Souta twirled his fingers nervously and fidgeted on Kagome's bed as well. He seemed to have a lot on his mind.

It had been about 10 minutes since Souta had come in, and not a word from him. This was making Kagome quite bored and a little bit frustrated at the same time. She sighed about 20 times in the last 5 minutes, to give Souta his cue to start talking. Unfortunately, he was very thick headed, and didn't get the little signs Kagome was giving out.

So, Kagome did the obvious that an older sister would do. She started screaming.

"Will you tell me what's bothering you already?! You've been here 15 minutes and not a word!" Kagome screamed. She decided to get up and walk since she didn't want to scream at her younger brother directly, it would make him feel even more uncomfortable.

Souta got very scared. 'Talk about PMS…' He thought. Then he remembered why he had come here in the first place.

"I'm scared." He said quietly, so quietly that Kagome almost didn't hear him. But she did. She stopped the rampaging that she was doing all over her room and stared at Souta in bewilderment.

"Why are you afraid? What are you scared of?" She quietly asked, returning to her vanity seat.

"Tomorrow night, I've never really had an official party." He said looking down, still twirling his fingers.

Kagome looked at him with sad eyes; then she remembered that Souta only has had private parties where family members only come. Not real friends or strangers are invited. She, then, understood his fear. To encourage him, she placed her hand on his shoulder to show her support. Souta looked at her with awe and smiled at his sister when he saw her smile at him. (AN: Aint that a tongue twister? ^_^)

"Guess what?" Kagome said smiling at her brother. "I'm scared too." She said in a murmur.

"You? Scared? What could you possibly be scared of?" Souta asked her. She took him completely by surprise when she said that.

"Let's just say I haven't seen someone in a very long time and he's going to be there. That makes me nervous." Kagome confessed to her younger brother.

"You mean that guy that Mom keeps bragging about? Inu---whatever?" Souta said now crossing his arms staring at Kagome with an accusing look. Kagome took in what Souta said and blushed ever so lightly.

"What?! Mom has been bragging about Inu Yasha?!" Kagome started screaming again. Souta sighed and covered his ears as best he could with her pillows.

"God help me…" Souta said to himself while his sister's temper tantrum started to kick in at full power. Kagome then remembered that Souta was in the room and slowly adjusted herself.

"What was I saying? Oh yeah! Tomorrow night is going to be one of the best nights of your life." Kagome said. "Mom and Dad throw the biggest parties you could ever imagine, although they do get boring at some point of the night… But that's not the point. The point is that you're gonna be happy as a… a…." her voice trailed off as she thought of something to say. "You'll be as happy as Buyo is fat!"

Souta just casted a glare in Kagome's direction; he had taken it the wrong way. "Are you calling me fat?" he said with a serious tone.

"No! It was just an expression. You do know how Buyo is fat, I'm saying that you are going to be happy, very very happy as Buyo is very very fat." Kagome said trying to explain to him. He didn't seem to understand it though. He had a blank stare on his face.

Kagome sighed. 'Damn 12-year-olds' She thought bitterly. 'They don't get anything'

A few minutes (it seemed like hours since Souta still didn't understand the phrase that Kagome had said earlier) later, Kagome went to go seek her mother to see where she was hiding this time. She needed to ask her if her bestfriend, Sango Katsura, was going to be attending.

When she found her mother, and she answered Kagome's question she felt relieved. Sango was going to attend after all! This caused great joy for Kagome since she didn't want to be in a room filled with people she didn't even know their names.

Kagome left the safety of the castle in search of the tree she has known since the begging of her life thanks to her grandfather who passed away some years ago. She followed a trail which seemed to be jumping at Kagome, telling her this is the right trail. She stay on the trail which lead her to the Goshinboku tree.

She remembered this tree well from her grandfather's stories, lies and other forms of telling a story. He had even told her that a powerful monster was sealed to this tree when a young maiden came and freed him. The legend that her grandfather says, says that the monster and the maiden fell in love with each other.

"What a joke" Kagome said to no one in particular. She put her back against the cool tree and slumped, slowly gliding down the tree until she reached the aged roots of the Goshinboku tree. There all she could think about was tomorrow night and seeing Inu Yasha once again.

----

(AN: I would want to thank Vanessa (a.k.a. menchi saucy sausage) for helping me with the Japanese words, and Souta's age and a bunch of other shit too. Thanks! ^_^  I would also like to clarify that Souta is 12 and Kagome is 18 going to be 19. If you didn't get the Buyo joke, then just email me and I'll TRY to answer it as best as I can, seeing as Vanessa didn't understand the joke at first… -_-* )

Review Please! ^_^