Disclaimer: I ran into a wall today, and I said, "Hey!" Whoo! That rhymed. I don't have time—Okay, I'm done now.

The Princess and the Pauperess

Chapter 6

The right love

Kikyou stepped through Kouga's threshold confidently. The first week of her temporary life had passed by without anything too traumatic happening; that she was terribly glad for. She gazed about the unmanned, dirty, sparsely furnished room in a state of mild awe. The dirt gathered on the floor thicker in some places, and thinnest under the small, rotted table against the wall. Not too long ago, she reminded herself, she would have wondered how one could live in such a place. But now she knew—it was all they knew. Kikyou's stomach growled, but she ignored it. What else could she do? Kouga sauntered in through another, smaller door that led to his small, closet-sized bedroom.

"Hey Kikyou," he greeted.

"Hello Kouga," she countered, shifting her weight. He looked at her expectantly, and she sighed. "I'm running out of stories to tell! You should take over for a while." He stood there pensively for a moment before shrugging.

"Sure," and he smirked, making his cute little fang visible. Kikyou felt her heart pound a little harder than necessary, and wondered if that was healthy. No one had ever really elicited these sorts of feelings from her. Not even Inuyasha. Speaking of, she wondered how he was doing…

"So…" she started, breaking the silence and the eye contact. Kouga suddenly moved closer, studying her face carefully.

"My princess, I think you're blushing," he informed her, and she instinctively raised a cool hand to her (indeed, unnaturally warm) cheek. He chuckled to himself before sitting on the floor against the wall. "Okay. Once, when I was little—around ten, I think—Miroku and I were swimming in this little pool of still water, and when we got out, we realized that we had leeches on us. Well, they were very big leeches, so it hurt to pull them off, and blood inevitably came with them. So we got scared and ran into town, buck naked, screaming and wailing to get the damn leeches off…" Kikyou was torn. On one end, she had this strong urge to laugh. On the other, a strong urge to grimace and attempt sympathizing. The first urge won. Kouga shot her an odd look as she laughed heartily.

"What?" she finally asked, a bit indignant.

"Nothin." He shrugged. "That's just the first time I think I've ever seen you laugh like that." Kikyou blushed and grew quiet. She could see why Kagome would like him…But wait—did she? She was not Kagome, and thus had no right. She could not help the fact that she was physically attracted to the blue-eyed man before her, nor could she help the lesser-known fact that she was growing more and more attracted to his mind—and his soul. But she still loved Inuyasha. She would always love Inuyasha. Her beautiful messenger boy with the soulful amber eyes and long, wild, black locks splayed down his back. She loved him, she loved him, she loved him, she chanted as a mantra in her mind. But there was one thought she couldn't keep from bouncing about her skull.

She loved him…right?

. . . . .

Kagome's eyes opened laboriously, and her lungs filled rhythmically with blesséd, sweet, belovéd oxygen. Yes! Air! She almost sat up, but a firm hand's pressure on her shoulder forced her back upon the cushy fabrics her body was haphazardly lying on. She worked her gaze up the obviously well-built arm and to the face of…that guy. Oh god, what was his name? Kagome fought the bleary haze of her senses to recall the name of the man handling her so gently. Um…Oh! Yes, that's it…

"Naraku?" she croaked out, startled by how weak and haggard her own voice was to her ears.

"Yes, Kikyou Dearest?" he asked, his thickly dark curled mane brushing against her arm as he leaned in closer. Closer, closer…What was he doing?!

"Urhm!" Kagome grunted in protest as she managed to scurry away from him to the other side of the very large, luxurious bed. "Wha-what were you doing?" she asked, only realizing she was being rude afterwards. He chuckled, which creeped her out mildly.

"I was smelling you," he replied. She stared at him, aghast. Smelling…her?

"Yes, well, could you please refrain from…smelling me in the future?" she said as politely as she could. He shook his head slightly, his long lashes lowering over his eyes, giving them more of a seductive gleam.

"I could never refrain from you, Kikyou Dearest," he told her seriously, but with a hint of a smirk on his face. Kagome realized for the first time that it had been there the whole time. Was he just trying to mess with her head, or was that how he always looked?

"What the heck did you do to me in my sleep?" she asked suddenly, unable to stop herself. He chuckled again, and stood.

"Nothing, my dear. You need rest. I expect to have the pleasure of your company for breakfast tomorrow morning." With that, he stood and exited the room in a noble flourish. Kagome sighed. Hopefully she wouldn't have to be the one to marry the guy…She suddenly felt very sorry for Kikyou. He was weird. Sure, he hadn't proven evil—yet—but marrying a weird guy that happened to be weird in the not cute-lovable-aww-how-weird sort of way was not a happy thing. She lifted her body from the bed reluctantly and stretched, taking her sweet time. Maybe she would search out the kitchens and grab a midnight snack. Some bread and cheese sounded pretty good right about then. That was when her eyes fell upon a piece of paper resting on her nightstand innocently. She picked it up, and began reading.

You fainted at the sight of me,

I couldn't help but think, 'Wheee!'

You love me, I'm sure,

Your heart so pure.

Your eyes are pools of precious treasure,

Measure for Measure.

Your lips are priceless rubies,

They give me the oobies.

I love you,

And I know…

You love me, too.

Suddenly, Kagome wished she'd never been literate. And what the heck were 'oobies', anyway? She shuddered at the many, many terrible possibilities that flitted through her mind. She would—could—never think of poetry in the same way again…Suddenly, the door burst open, and Inuyasha stood there, in all his cocky glory. Kagome's face immediately warped into a scowl on sight. He was gloating.

"So, princess, have a good nap?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow of speculation but otherwise made no move to acknowledge that he existed, let alone that he'd spoken. Before she could even contemplate hiding the offensive 'poem', Inuyasha had it in his hand and was reading it. How on earth was he so fast? He snorted trying to keep in a laugh, and eventually had to toss the poem aside to throw his head back and laugh properly at Kagome's misfortune. "Perfect! It's just perfect!" he bellowed. Kagome felt her face heat up in anger. "It couldn't have turned out better!" he told the ceiling with mirth. She couldn't hold it any longer.

"You jerk!" she screamed as she lunged at him, knocking him to the bed. "You planned this, didn't you? You knew I would faint! You bastard!" She began throwing wild punches at his head, most of which he either dodged or blocked. She leapt upon him, and, holding him in place with her thighs, kept up the barrage. Inuyasha just laughed, which infuriated her all the more. "You were never being nice to me, were you?!" she demanded heatedly as she popped him especially hard in the jaw. He caught her arms suddenly, so suddenly, she forgot to struggle until he'd gained the top position. He glared down at her, the mirth not completely gone from his expression. He held her wrists above her head, and no matter how much she fought, it was futile.

"Don't test me, wench," he told her, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of anger and mischief. "I can make your month here as miserable as I want."

"Bite me," Kagome snarled as she wiggled anew to get free. To her utter shock, he did. Right on her neck, under her jaw. She immediately stopped moving, not sure what to do as his teeth grazed her flesh just hard enough to hurt. His soft tongue touched her flesh briefly, sending a quick jolt through her system. What was he doing?

"Mm…Kikyou…" he muttered against her, snapping her out of whatever spell had been cast.

"Get off of me!" she yelled as she struggled with all her might. He seemed to snap out of it, too, for he obliged. He met her eyes briefly.

"You're not Kikyou. You'll never be," he ground out before leaving with quick, angry steps. Kagome was left, sprawled on the bed. How could Kikyou love a man like that? She touched the still moist and tingling flesh of her neck, and couldn't help the small shiver that scuttled along her spine at the memory of how he had felt against her. She briefly wondered what Kouga would be like in that situation.

Not like that.

. . . . .

Kikyou, Sango, and Miroku were all sat on the bridge across the stream, dangling their feet into the smoothly cold water. Kikyou couldn't keep herself from passing Sango meaningful glances and shooting Miroku looks of sympathy. That poor, poor boy had no idea what he was up against.

"I believe I'm growing cold," said boy told said girl as he sidled up to her, snuggling her cheek with his. Sango pushed him away furiously, blushing lightly.

"Don't touch me, lech," she warned through gritted teeth. Miroku raised his hands in a pacific manner.

"Sorry, Sango, I didn't mean to offend you. I was just showing my affection." She glared at him.

"Affection my ass. It's simple lust. That's all. That's all it ever will be…" She had turned away from Miroku and mumbled the last part. He was sure to not have caught it, but Kikyou did. She managed to catch Sango's eyes, and pleaded with her silently to tell the boy who so obviously would accept her no matter what. Sango merely glared at Kikyou, silently saying "Like hell." The Princess sighed, exasperated. Would Sango never get over her pride issue? That was when she caught the look deep within the girl's eyes. It was a far cry from a pride issue, Kikyou realized. Sango was truly, deeply shamed by her profession, and obviously had been all along. She didn't even want to know what she did every night, let alone tell her friends. All she wanted was to escape. Was to forget. And Miroku offered that, on some level, in his ignorance of the situation. Kikyou didn't know what to do. Sango had to get over her problem, and the only way she could think of involved informing Miroku, but said boy was Sango's escape from her problem, so telling him could backfire and ruin everything for the poor girl. What to do? If only father were here, Kikyou thought dejectedly. He would know what to do…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I put the é's on beloved and blessed because without the accent mark, it could be pronounced differently, and if pronounced differently, it has a different effect. Agh! I've had way too much exposure to the wiles of Shakespeare…Speaking of, I was thinking of doing an Inuyasha rendition of Othello. That would be really cool…Anyway…I spent extra time on this chapter, so I hope you all liked it! ^_^

Alright! I'm doin dedications on the bottom now, so I don't take so much room on the top! (I'm so wordy. Hehe.)

Dedications:

hehe: Oh yeah! I finally got to see that movie last week! It was funny. Captain Jack Sparrow is now my hero. ^_^ Man, you were right on the ball when you said how Naraku would take the fainting! Ha! And you could always register as 'hehe'. Anyway, thank you so much for your wonderfully consistent and encouraging reviews!

cecily: Thank you very much! I hope that this fic continues to hold your interest!

duffi: To be completely honest with you, I've never read The Prince and the Pauper, but I've seen countless renditions, and my parents told me the story when I was really little (I've even heard it in German! Not that I understood it, but…yeah…). You should read it so that you can point out all my errors! ^_^

Squishy (times 5!): SQUISHY! *glomps* Thank you for all your reviews! Wow! Yes, my eyes are lazy, and until recently have had no depth-perception, so I can't drive, because now they're crossed due to therapy…*growls* I also agree. Money is better than guys. Yes! Kikyou's dad is…er…not quite well. And I do mow my lawn, thankyouverymuch! *hff* I don't have any brothers, but even then, I'd be the one mowing…Grrr…you make me so mad! You've just got this whole thing figured out, don't you? *glares* And I'll continue this one, but only cause I want to. Not cause you told me. *sticks tongue out* Thanks again for the multiple reviews!

Jamie2: I agree, it does feel weird. But I'll try to make it feel more natural as the story progresses. I hope it'll work…Thanks for the review!

Moonlit Meadow (times 2!): Hahaha! I know what you mean about Naraku…I never in my wildest dreams pictured him nice, and I have no idea how to make it so properly, but…I must try. ^_^ Yes! A critique! *hugs* I LOVE YOU! I did make Inuyasha a little mellower than he was in the original series, but he has not been betrayed by Kikyou (pinned to the tree, etc) in this fic. Also…He is playing pranks on her. He's being rather stealthy about it. Sorry I didn't do a good job of making that clear in the last chapter. I tried to mend it in this one. Keep the character critique comin! I appreciate it so much, you have no idea!

Thank you all again! I love you, and the readers who don't review, too. You all make my day!