AN: Just to clear things up, Lady Ayame is Inuyasha's mother, the queen.

The Decision

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Inuyasha felt some of the tension leave his body. 'She's not Kikyo...' he thought, though still having some doubts. She sure looked like a complete replica to him...

He truly looked at the girl before him now. She was medium height, a little shorter than Kikyo had been. Her long hair was raven black and was left unbound, while Kikyo always pinned it together businesslike in a ponytail. She had hazel brown eyes and a pale complexion. When Inuyasha saw her dust covered clothes, he smirked.

If anything, this would set the difference between Kikyo and this girl. The world would come to an end before Kikyo ever allowed herself to be seen like THAT.

"Er... you can plan on stopping the staring any time now," Kagome said uneasily, seeing as the prince had been glaring at her for more than a while now. 'Well I suppose since he's the prince he can do whatever he wants... but stil...'

Kagome watched as Inuyasha said, "Oh, whatever. Like I'd stare at an ugly bitch like you," without the faintest of emotions rippling his calm expression.

'He has no decency at all!' Kagome thought angrily to herself, unable to contain the surge of rage in her self defense.

"Kagura, you can leave now," Inuyasha added, not even sparing a glance her way. The said girl looked warily at the prince before huffily walking out of the room, her high heeled shoes clicking the tiled floor ominously.

Kagome raised an eyebrow. Looking at Inuyasha, she suddenly consciously realized for the first time that he had long silver-white hair. His eyes were golden orbs, and his ears were... furry!

'He's a hanyou...' Kagome thought. 'A half-demon.'

"Okay, on with the interview, then," Inuyasha decided. He watched the Kikyo look alike carefully. Kagome had immediately begun nervously fidgeting with the edge of her shirt. Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk.

"Why do you want this job?" he asked his signature question of the day.

Kagome looked up, surprised. She had expected a much more formal question, interrogating about past career experiences and such.

Taking a shaky breath, she replied, "Well, I actually need it more than I want it. You see, I really need the financial support and the living accomodations..." Inuyasha was eyeing her with a triumphant look.

"You have never had a job interview before, have you?" he asked her seriously.

"Um... no?" Kagome answered. "Is it that obvious?"

"You're always supposed to agree with what the interviewer asks if you're aiming to get the job," Inuyasha muttered, exasperated. "Unless you're playing for sympathy points, you'd never accomplish anything the way you answered my question."

Kagome frowned. Had she become so low as to take advice from a sad excuse for a prince? Looking at her own dirty clothes, she grimaced. "What would be the right way to answer your question then?" she forced out, her voice strained.

Inuyasha grinned ignorantly. "Well this is how a couple of girls did it," he grinned. Taking on a ridiculous expression and slinging a hand to his forehead, he feigned a high-pitched voice, "Oh, Inuyasha! I want this job because you're so irresistably sexy and hot! I would do anything to be with you! Any-" He had finally burst into a fit of laughing, upon seeing Kagome's disgusted face.

Kagome rolled her eyes. Had she ever seen a person so full of themself? "You'll go to hell twice before you see me do that," she snapped. "Thanks for the advice, though," she forced out moment later, remembering she was in the presence of the prince. Some prince...

Inuyasha straightened his posture and fought to stop the laughing, but Kagome could see his hands trembling. "You can go to hell first, bitch," he responded.

"You know, I don't think you could pass for royalty," Kagome taunted. "You are the rudest person I've ever met."

"Are you stupid? I AM royalty," Inuyasha scowled. "Ya know, a prince? And speaking of rude, I would never hire some ugly cow who talks back to be my maid. It'd be torture to have to see your face every day. I'd have nightmares." He pretended to shiver.

Kagome took it personally. "You are such an impossible JERK!" she protested. With that, she stormed out of the room.

Inuyasha lifted an eyebrow. Shrugging, he went back to his spot on the couch.

"Next!" he called.

His door opened and a girl walked in. Inuyasha stared. The girl wasn't incredibly beautiful or spectacular, but he found that it was hard to keep his eyes off of her. She seemed to be almost hypnotic...

Her face was paper white, and her hair was dark. But what had captured his attention most was her expression.

Totally emotionless...

Sango wiped her forehead. She had just escaped from the old cook, who could think of nothing better to do all day than gossip. 'I wonder if Kagome is still in line?' she thought to herself. The line had seemed incredibly long.

Sango decided to go check. From a distance, she saw a girl storming toward her end of the hall. 'Inuyasha knows how to piss people off,' Sango thought to herself, shaking her head. 'Poor girl, must've had her heart broken.'

"Sango!" Kagome called, momentarily pausing the steam billowing from her ears. Sango looked up.

The 'poor girl' was Kagome.

"Hey," Sango replied. "How'd it go?" Although she could probably guess the answer. 'Not too well,' Sango thought.

"Well, I finally met the guy who all the girls are swooning over," Kagome said, trying to keep on the positive side.

"And?" Sango prodded.

"He is the biggest egotistic jerk I have ever laid eyes upon," Kagome said cheerfully.

Sango smiled. Trust Kagome to be all cheery while saying something like that.

Then she asked, "What about the job?"

Kagome's expression fell a little. "Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna get this one," she sighed. "The prince made a point in saying that he'd never hire me. But that also means I'll have nowhere to stay..."

Sango brightened up. "You could stay here at the palace for a while," she said. "I'll just say that you're an old friend who's visiting. You'll be able to stay here for a month at most, though."

"Really?" Kagome exclaimed. She wouldn't have to live on the streets yet. "Thanks so much, Sango!" She gave the maid a quick hug.

"You wanna go see your room, then?" Sango offered. "There's a guest room next to mine, so I guess you could stay there." Kagome nodded, and followed her down the hall.

Kagome sighed. The room was perfect. It was just the right size, and had a very comfortable looking bed. All the furniture looked new, and everything was in place.

"This is great!" Kagome squealed, jumping onto the bed and earning a roll of the eyes from Sango.

Kagome watched with sudden amusement as a young man dressed in a priest uniform entered the room and crept up behind Sango. His hand wandered a little too close to Sango's rear end. Kagome saw Sango's eyebrows twitch dangerously.

"HENTAI!" could be heard echoing throughout the hall. The servants shook their heads, all knowing that Miroku had done it again.

::smack::

"Sango, I'm hurt!" whined the priest from behind Sango.

"You deserve it, pervert," Sango muttered, her cheeks just a little on the red side.

"Aren't you a priest?" Kagome pointed out.

"The name's Miroku Priest," the young man introduced jumping towards Kagome and kissing her hand. "Will you bear my child?"

To Kagome's embarrassment, she blushed.

"Miroku...," Sango said warningly. "Don't harass Kagome. She's already taken by Inuyasha anyway." Upon hearing this Kagome turned a brilliant burgundy, and shot Sango a glare of death. 'Trust Sango to joke in such a cruel way...' Sango winked at Kagome.

When Miroku still didn't let go of Kagome's hand, Sango started to shoot him dangerous looks. Finally, he gave up and dropped it.

"Yeah, he's a priest," Sango said wearily. "A perverted one, mind. I don't think he could pass for a real priest, though."

Miroku smirked. "Sango wants me so badly that she won't let me become a priest," he said.

"You wish," Sango said, although her face had turned pink, much to Kagome's surprise.

"Anyway," Miroku said, "I just came to tell you that Lady Ayame decided to make Inuyasha pick five girls out of all the ones that came for the interview today. He's gonna eat dinner with them. Then he has to choose which one of the five girls get to be his maid."

"Picky, isn't he?" Kagome said with raised eyebrows.

"Oh yeah, and Kagome is among the five girls Inuyasha chose," Miroku added. Both Kagome and Sango looked at Miroku with wide eyes.

"WHAT?" Kagome screeched, causing Miroku to cover his ears in pain.

"Geez, calm down!" Miroku complained.

"I still got chosen even after telling his majesty the prince to go to hell?" Kagome said, laughing. "I don't think that has never been done before!"

Sango congratulated, "This is great, Kagome! You have a chance at getting the job again!"

"Yeah..." Kagome wondered. "What am I gonna wear to dinner?" she looked at the ragged clothes she was wearing.

"Eager to please, huh?" Miroku grinned.

"Well, I'll literally be on the streets if I don't get this job," Kagome said seriously.

"Oh..."

Sango was rummaging through her enormous wardrobe. She tugged out a formal evening gown.

"This is perfect!" she exclaimed. Bringing it to Kagome, she asked, "What do you think?"

Kagome stared at the dress in wonder. It was made of a light blue silk, starting in a halter top and ending in the ankle area.

"It's beautiful," Kagome breathed. Her family had never had the money to afford anything this elegant. "But I think I'll take a shower first, before I try it on," she said dryly. Sango saw Kagome's dirt covered appearance and agreed.

"It's too..." Miroku's voice suddenly said. Both girls stared at him. They had completely forgotten about him being there. "It's too plain," Miroku finished.

"Like you give a damn," Sango muttered. "You're just upset 'cause it covers everthing important to you."

"Dearest Sango," Miroku said, inching towards her, "You're the only one who can wound my heart so deeply with your words."

::smack::

"Don't put your dirty hand there!" Sango shouted, slapping Miroku's hand away from her butt.

Kagome shook her head, watching them.

"You look great, Kagome!" Sango complimented. Kagome looked into the long mirror to check. Her hair had been tied up in a high ponytail by Sango.

The dress she was wearing looked like it was made for her. The pale blue brought out the color of her eyes, and the dress draped elegantly down to her ankles, where they met with a pair of silver sandals.

"No pressure at all," Kagome said, more to herself than to Sango. "It's only my last hope at having at normal life again at stake here!" Involuntarily, she thought, 'If I don't get this job, then it's the streets for me.'

Sango looked at Kagome sympathetically.

Kagome walked slowly through the grand palace halls. 'What I wouldn't give to live here!' she thought. 'Even suffering being with Inuyasha would be worth it!' She soon found herself standing in front of a glazed wooden door labeled DINING HALL.

Taking in a deep breath, she opened the door.

Kagome had never seen such a large dining area.

A long table covered in a royal blue table cloth sat in the middle of the spacious hall. Candles held in gold and silver chandeliers lined the middle of the table.

Kagome lifted her eyes from the table to see five figures sitting at the other end. Four girls had placed themselves as close to a scowling Inuyasha as possible.

"You're late, bitch," the hanyou announced, smirking at Kagome. Secretly, he was relieved that she had come. 'It'd get so boring without someone to make fun of,' he thought. 'The fact that she gets pissed off so easily makes it even funner to insult her!'

"My name's Kagome," Kagome said coldly. "Not bitch."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Inuyasha said. "I didn't notice the difference." The girls around him glared at the newcomer who was hogging all of the prince's attention.

Kagome watched in disgust as the girl she recognized as Kagura threw her arms around Inuyasha's neck. Kagome took a seat next to a girl with short brown hair.

The girl had a pale, almost paper white face, and was looking at Inuyasha hungrily, smacking her lips every now and then.

Kagome raised an eyebrow.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome as she sat down. 'She looks beautiful,' he couldn't help but think. 'What the hell? Where did that come from?' he demanded of himself. 'Kagome's a bitch,' he reassured himself. 'Why?' a little voice in his mind asked.

Inuyasha looked around him. Kagura had tangled her hands into his hair, something that greatly annoyed him, but he didn't say it.

The happy-go- lucky wench, Rin, was smiling as usual, and Kanna, the normally emotionless wench, was looking at him with a hungry kind of lust. 'Looks like she wants to fucking eat me,' Inuyasha thought. Inuyasha couldn't name the other girl. He had let Miroku randomly pick that girl, because he hadn't remembered the names of any of the other girls.

The random wench was eyeing him dreamily.

Then there was Kagome. Inuyasha watched as she ate her food. How did she resist him? It was unnerving.



Kagome swallowed the last of her dinner. The food had been delicious, but no one had spoken at all during the feast. She couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in the silence. Suddenly, Inuyasha spoke.

"Since you're all done with your food," he began, capturing the attention of all the girls at once with his voice. "I guess I'm choosing my girl now."

Kagome frowned. He made it sound like he owned them. Inuyasha watched with interest as Kagura gave him a seductive smile, Rin fidgeted nervously, Kanna looked at him with absolute hunger, Kagome watched almost indifferently, and the other girl... fainted.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows, smirking. 'I can't stand the damn cheeriness, so Rin is out of the picture,' Inuyasha reasoned. 'Kanna creeps me out, and I can't have that girl fucking swooning every time she sees me. Hmmm... Kagura or Kagome. Pleasure or Bitch.'

"Kagura..." he said at last.