Because it's been so long since my last update…
Recap of Chapter 10!
Kagome writes Kikyou, and Kikyou writes both Inuyasha and Kagome, telling them of her newfound love for Kouga and asking for Kagome's help in freeing Sango's brother, Kohaku. Naraku and Kagome try unsuccessfully to match-make for Sesshoumaru and Kagura. Kagura teaches Rin to cuss and freaks Inuyasha out.
There! I hope that's sufficient! If you didn't think Chapter 10 was that shallow, go back and read it.

The Princess and the Pauperess
Chapter 11
Convincing my heart

My father is dead, my father is dead, my father is dead…Kagome flopped down on the bed and buried her face into an ungodly soft pillow. She was only in her slip again, because it was a bit hot. She didn't know what to feel. He couldn't get to her anymore, but he was her father. And Kouga had killed him to protect Kikyou--his new love, it seemed. She had nothing to return to, but nothing to stay for, either. For just a second she had a terrible feeling of being in limbo. A knock at the door and a "Kikyou Dearest!" coo (that would have been insulting had it not been Naraku) broke her mood, and she bade him enter.

"My, Kikyou Dearest, what's the matter?" he asked, moving to the bedside. Kagome shook her head, still enjoying the feel of the pillow all around her face. He stroked her hair in that weird, touchy-feely way of his, and reminded her of their grand master plan. She rolled over and sat up. He sat beside her, seemingly oblivious to her lack of dress.

"Naraku, do you have a servant named Kohaku?" she asked randomly. He looked at her oddly.

"Where did you hear about him?" he asked. She twiddled her thumbs.

"Um…from a friend of mine. She's his sister."

"Oh really."

"I don't really know much about the situation, but the real Kikyou asked me to ask you to release him."

"Okay…" He stared at her blankly, she stared back.

"So, could you please release Kohaku?" Kagome finished.

"Who?" Naraku retorted.

"Don't be difficult!"

"I'll be difficult if I want."

"Will you?"

"Yes." He stood. "You only have to do one simple thing to gain Kohaku's freedom," he told her.

"Okay. What is it?" She stood eagerly, and he grinned widely at her.

. . . . .

Kikyou couldn't help it--she was crying. Princesses didn't cry, but currently, she was not a princess. She laced her fingers with Kouga's through the bars, hoping that would ease the flow of her tears. It made them more fervent.

"I'm sorry," Kouga said for the hundredth time. Kikyou smiled.

"I'll get you out of here. I just need to trade back with Kagome." He nodded with her words. He didn't look particularly angry or upset that he was on the executioner's wait list, and that made Kikyou wonder if he was still in shock over having killed Kagome's father.

"Kikyou," he suddenly said seriously, his voice deeper than usual. "I need to tell you something."

"Oh no, not one of those 'before I die, you should know' speeches! You're not going to die!" She glared at him, hoping that would help somehow.

"You moron." He grinned. "I need to tell you that I love you. I want to tell you that every day for the rest of our lives."

"Oh, Kouga!" She tried to hug him through the bars, but it didn't work very well. She wound up smashing both her and Kouga's heads into the bars.

"Ow," he complained, rubbing his head. "What are you trying to do, kill me?" Kikyou smiled sheepishly. Suddenly, the guard burst through the hallway door, two people in tow.

"Ki--Kagome!" one of them called, rushing past the guard, waving some sort of paper. It was Sango. "You got letters from, um, Kikyou and…Inuyasha?" She held the sealed letters out for Kikyou to take, and she did, gingerly. She opened the one from Kagome first, and skimmed through it quickly. Her father wasn't dying, Inuyasha was still a jackass, and Kohaku was in the process of gaining his freedom. Everything seemed in order, except Kagome had forgotten to set a time for their switching back. Really, what could possibly be going on that could have caused her to forget?

"So?" Sango piped up. Kikyou smiled.

"Kohaku will have his freedom," she said, and Sango's face broke into the brightest smile Kikyou had seen to date.

"I'm free," she noted to no one in particular. She then turned to Miroku. "Miroku, I'm rich! I can buy a farm, and raise a family…"

"You want to raise a family?" Miroku asked.

"Well, sure," Sango replied. Kikyou rolled her eyes at that.

"Would you…want to raise a family with, with someone like me?" Miroku asked hopefully, grasping Sango's hand in both of his. Kikyou turned away from the scene as much as possible and opened the letter from Inuyasha. To her utter shock, it was just a two page rant about Kagome, and how annoying she was, and how she was trying to seduce Naraku for his wealth, and how it was hilarious when she blushed clear down to her chest. Kikyou sighed and chose not to dignify his "letter" with a reply. If he was so infatuated with the girl, he should tell her, not write a stupid rant to Kikyou. Suddenly, the guard, who, to Kikyou's shock, had been there the whole time, cleared his throat in an unnecessarily juicy way.

"Ew," Sango noted before she could stop herself.

"You're scheduled for next week," he told Kouga, and sauntered down the hall, closing the door after himself. Everyone stared in shock.

. . . . .

Kagome tried to stop her nervous fidgeting as she moved to intercept Sesshoumaru in the hall. Hopefully he would play along…

"What do you want?" he demanded, noticing her blocking his path and staring at him expectantly.

"Um…I just…Could you help me with something?" she practically choked out.

"That depends on what you need help with," he replied matter-of-factly. She sighed in what she hoped was a dramatic, lovesick way.

"I'm having problems with Naraku. He doesn't want to marry me. He says there's another princess that he would rather marry, but, you see, I love him, and there's absolutely no economical reason why he shouldn't marry me anyway…"

"Is this going anywhere?" Sesshoumaru asked impatiently. Kagome forced herself not to shoot him a sour glare.

"Yes, actually. I want you to help me make him jealous."

"How could I do that? You said yourself, he doesn't want to marry you--"

"That's what he says, but I think he may have some feelings for me, too. If only he could experience a little jealousy to get his heart in the right place."

"You don't make any sense."

"Neither does love." She clasped her hands together and sighed.

"Oh, god."

"What?"

"Will you leave me alone if I help you?" he asked. She nodded vigorously. "Okay then." He sighed in an exasperated manner. "What do I do?" She made a point of catching something down the hall, behind Sesshoumaru. He started to turn due to her fervent stare, but she stopped him.

"Don't turn around! It's him!" she whispered. He raised an eyebrow at her girlish behavior, but said nothing. "Okay, kiss me, then he'll be insanely jealous and we'll get married!"

"You don't make any sense at all," he noted, but began to coldly comply with her request.

"You have to look like you mean it, or it won't work!" she hissed urgently.

"Fine." She suddenly found herself pinned against the wall, her mouth smothered by his. She gasped in, having not expected the sensation. She forced her stiffened body to relax and melt into his, and the kiss grew deeper. Suddenly, they were pulled apart, and a terrible slap resounded as Kagura's hand made contact with Sesshoumaru's face. One look at her expression and Kagome knew that the woman was terribly jealous.

"You stupid wench!" Sesshoumaru exclaimed. "What's wrong with you?"

"You kissing her, that's what's--"

"At least I didn't go so low as to teach your only daughter how to curse."

"At least I didn't shave your eyebrows off while you were sleeping!"

"That happened when we were kids, Kagura."

"We still act the same, Sesshoumaru." Their tones had changed. Subtly, but a definite change. Kagome glanced at Naraku, who was beaming. According to him, it seemed to be working. She carefully unstuck herself from the wall and moved to stand beside Naraku. Sesshoumaru's and Kagura's voices had lowered enough that they were difficult to hear. Suddenly, they began walking away, still talking in low, secretive voices.

"Did it work?" Kagome asked Naraku quietly. "It sounded kinda like it did, but I don't know them very well."

"Yes. It worked like a charm. Thank you, Kikyou Dearest."

"I'm glad." She smiled and he patted her cheek before sauntering off in the same direction the two had gone.

"I have some follow-up to attend to," he told her over his shoulder. He turned a corner, and was gone. Kagome hated to admit it, but he was really growing on her. He was almost like the big brother she'd never had.

"Hey, Kagome!" someone suddenly called from behind. She whirled around a little too quickly, not expecting to hear her real name, and almost fell. Inuyasha laughed at her misfortune, as usual.

"What?" she asked after regaining a semblance of composure.

"You're actually wearing clothes," he noted as he leaned against the wall beside her.

"No, now I'm actually wearing an ungodly amount of clothes," she corrected him.

"I'm glad I'm not a woman," he commented. "I would go crazy having to wear all those layers."

"Are you sure? You would look very…ladylike in a dress." He smirked at her retort.

"Bite me."

"Don't tempt me."

"So, when are you switching back with Kikyou?" he asked suddenly.

"Oh, shit! I knew I forgot something!"

"You moron."

"Oh, I hope it isn't too late already." She started a quick march for her room, wherever that was.

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha asked, matching pace.

"My room." Without a word, he turned her in the right direction. She shot him a look, not exactly sure what kind of look it was, but not caring.

"What would you be too late for?" he piped up suddenly.

"Kouga's execution. That's the real reason why we're switching back, I think."

"Kouga…isn't that your little lover boy? But wait. Isn't he with Kikyou now?"

"Yeah. I don't care," Kagome responded. "I mean, I don't have anywhere to live anymore, but…"

"Why not?"

"My father is dead." She felt tears prick her eyes for the first time, but brushed them away before hurrying into her room. Why would the death of her father suddenly want to make her cry? He may have been a jackass, but he was still my father. I still…I still loved him. A sudden sob escaped her throat, and she tried to quiet it, but it was followed by another, deeper. Inuyasha led her gently to her bed and she sat down.

"You should rest," he told her. She bit her lip, still trying to keep the tears at bay. She abruptly launched herself at him, and he caught her in his strong arms. "Kagome, let go," he ordered. She shook her head vigorously. He sighed and sat on the bed, allowing her to curl up beside him, her head still buried in his chest. She just wanted to cry. She needed comfort, and Inuyasha happened to be right there. Soon enough, she was drifting off to sleep, hoping that he wouldn't leave.

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

Well, another not-quite-timely chapter! I would say that I'm sorry for the lack in updates, only this time, I'm not. I needed to crack down and do all that make up work and study for my finals. And I did. Ho, ho. So, um, please understand that school is very difficult for me and requires all of my time sometimes.

Dedications (which are extra deserved this time):

Kats02980416: I'm glad that you want to see Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship improve. Believe it or not, reviews like yours are what make me actually develop their relationship. Thanks a lot!

Shinobi-chan: Yay! You laughed! I try to keep humor in my stories throughout, and I'm glad that I'm sort of succeeding.

Squishy: I'm not going to wimp out! huffs indignantly I told you, I'm trying to be a responsible adult now, so I will finish this story. Promise.

Meisah: I still have little indentions where my teeth used to be, actually. It's really weird, cause every time I eat, I have to swish water around to get little food particles out of the craters in my mouth…Anyway, after giving you the gross details…Thank you for saying you like my writing style! blush I hope you like this chapter, too.

Miko Ariko-901: Teehee! I'm glad you liked it! This chapter had, regrettably, less humor, but hopefully it still had enough.

M 'n' Ms: Hahahaha! Yes, platonically (as far as I know). Have I told you how much I love your reviews? And it doesn't matter that they're "late." I am a tardy person by nature (just look at my updates), so I don't mind.

LadyJynjr: Yay! I'm glad you liked it! I hope this chapter was to your satisfaction as well. And thanks for putting me on author alert.

Babo (times two!): Which part of chapter 8 are you confused about? If it's the Naraku and Kagome exchange, then that was supposed to not make any sense. If it's another part, then tell me and I'll see if I can explain it (I'll warn you now, I am the queen of bad explanations). Thanks for your two wonderful reviews!

Wow! I got tons of reviews! It would be so freakin awesome if I got to 100!!!