A/N: Second chapter! Well…not much else to say…hope you like this chapter! Thanks for the reviews!


Disclaimer: Refer to first chapter. I don't own Inuyasha.





Behind the Masquerade

Betrothed




Inuyasha quietly slipped from the balcony, seeing that those two needed some time alone. That girl he had danced with didn't seem particularly happy that the guy had touched her, and he had felt a sudden jolt of protectiveness in him, but it quickly disappeared as it had come.


He made it to a safe spot where he could watch the argument between that girl and the guy without being spotted and labelled "nosy." Something seemed to have happened to them in the past as he eyed the girl whip around and slap the man's hands away from her. Her posture and aura practically sent off warnings to stay away, but the guy didn't seem to notice this, or he just didn't care, as he said something to her.


He watched her clench her fists to her side while the guy said more things to her. Then he observed her grab the glass of wine the man had been holding onto and dump the content over the guy, down the formal clothes and all. Then she threw the glass off the balcony and made her way away from the man, her head held high and her posture stiff as a board.


Inuyasha lightly chuckled to himself. This girl wasn't as princess-like as she had first seemed. Plus she had the most beautiful blue eyes he had yet to see…


He shook his head almost rapidly and grabbed a glass of wine that a waitress had been holding onto when she had passed him. Downing it in one gulp, he put the glass down on the table next to him and watched the couples dance another slow song.


He was about to just observe the scene before him a bit more, when he spotted the same girl stomp towards him, followed by a wine drenched man. The man seemed to be very angry, and just about ready to hit her, but since they were in a ballroom, Inuyasha knew that the guy couldn't do anything to the girl. At least anything too drastic.


"Get away from me!" Kagome said, turning around and glaring at the man stalking her around the ballroom. She didn't like meeting him again because it only reminded her of past memories that she would rather forget. Her eyes blazed when he caught up with her, glaring back with those cold, menacing eyes of his.


"You are such a bitch," the guy growled, grabbing Kagome roughly by the arm and making her wince. "You belong to me from the start and till you die. You owe me your life! Remember?"


"Don't touch me! I owe you nothing!" Kagome yelled, and the temptation of kicking the guy in the stomach with her knee sounded incredibly enticing.


"You owe me everything...and I'll come back to reclaim all that is mine!"


"You tricked me then! I hate you! Let me go!"


"Didn't you hear her? Let go of her, creep." Prince Inuyasha to the rescue! How cheesy...and cliché...but Inuyasha stalked up to the man and gave the guy a penetrating glare that burned a hole through the head of the guy.


"And who are you to tell me what and what not to do?" the guy challenged back, although he let go of Kagome and stalked up to Inuyasha, glaring at him straight in the eye.


"Your kind make me sick," Inuyasha snarled and was about to take a fighting stance to beat the living daylights out of the guy, but Kagome interrupted their manly conversation and dragged him into the midst of the dancing crowd. Again.


She quickly wrung her hands around his neck again and quietly commanded him to put his hands around her waist. Like an obeying puppy, Inuyasha did just that and looked down at the girl, who had her face hidden in his shoulder. She didn't seem to want to talk or start a conversation any time soon, so Inuyasha decided to keep quiet, looking around him indolently and sighing every now and then.


They just danced like that the whole time through the song, with her head on his shoulder and him just holding her quietly. He had no idea what had happened between the girl and the man before, but he knew enough that something bad had occurred between them.


"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, silently trying to make conversation with this girl.


"It's nothing. I'm just trying to calm my nerves right now. Thank you anyway."


"I'm just trying to help, you know."


"Yea…but don't bother yourself with my problem."


The song soon ended, but Kagome still hung onto the guy, not exactly knowing why she felt so warm and safe in his arms. She took in a deep breath, noticing that he smelt like a beautiful rainforest with a twist of some manly scent with his own personal aroma. Taking her head off his shoulders, she pulled her eyes back and stared into his golden orbs, trying to remember as much as possible about him...even though she herself had no idea why she wanted to do such a thing... "You want to take a walk in the garden with me?" she asked suddenly, already tugging him towards the exit.


"Err…" he began, feeling quite cautious when he noticed many peoples' eyes were upon them. He even heard a dancing couple comment that he and this girl looked quite adorable together. Without knowing entirely why he accepted her offer, he blushed and answered yes, then let her take him towards the door. She seemed familiar with her surroundings, and pull his ears if she didn't have abrupt mood swings...


Women these days...


He allowed this stranger to pull him towards a bench underneath one of the windows, watching her sit down and pat the spot next to her. Sighing quietly to himself, he accepted the gentle offer and sat down next to her, glimpsing over at the girl. She wore a mask that completely hid her face from him, other than her piercing bright, blue eyes, but that didn't help much for identifying who she was.


He himself, wore a mask that practically concealed half his head, even hiding his dog ears from view. He did have a long fight with his father about forcing him to wear a weird mask that clamped down upon his poor, sensitive ears, but after many inanimate objects breaking in frustration, he obliged when his mother begged him to.


His mother always did have a thing about her that made him calm down and think reasonably, but even she couldn't change the fact that certain people in his castle hated him. And all because he was what they would call a mutant child…half human and half dog demon. He never asked to be a cross between human and dog, did he? But all those idiots just saw him as some monster…some animalistic breed of shame.


All his life, he had shun many people away, knowing that he couldn't trust anyone because of his blood…so why was he so comfortable around his girl? What made her so special, that although he didn't even know her name, that he would feel complete ease around her? She had stood out above the rest in that room, something drawing him towards her. Something about her made him feel…well…sort of attracted to her. Like as if they were meant to meet at that place, that time and that situation.


But was the situation because they were both bored? …Maybe…


"I love the ocean," she suddenly said, and Inuyasha broke from his thoughts to turn his gaze upon the girl, who had just suddenly said something entirely random. "It's so peaceful…so calming…so soothing to my heart…and it's…so…well…beautiful."


"Too bad this kingdom isn't situated anywhere remotely close to water," Inuyasha commented, staring at the bright stars above him.


"Exactly," she remarked quietly, thinking back to the one single time she had visited the ocean, when she was but a small girl.


"Huh?" he asked, not quite clear on why she said 'exactly.' It never occurred to him that this girl might live in this land-surrounded kingdom, but it didn't, so the story could go on.


"Nothing," she answered, fixing her gaze upon the guy next to her.


"Did you know I live next to the ocean?" he questioned, also gazing at the girl and wondering how her eyes could be so radiantly blue.


"Really?" she exclaimed happily, smiling behind her mask. "Isn't it so beautiful?"


"It sure is," he answered. "When I was a small kid, I would go out to the beach and at certain times of the month, the tide runs so low that previously hidden rocks become visible. I had went out and watched the starfish, played with the crabs, observed the sea dragons, and poked at stranded jellyfish. Since I was only a young boy, I wasn't exactly graceful and I fell really hard. So hard in fact that I made a deep and ugly cut in my back, which is now a scar."


Inuyasha quickly ran over in his head why he had just told a complete stranger a part of his life. He hadn't done this before. Not to complete strangers too. But maybe it was because this girl WAS a complete stranger. So she wouldn't know who he was right? He could just tell her stuff, and he would never see her again. So it didn't matter…


Right?


She giggled to herself, surprised that she had found such a daring noble person in her life. Lots of noble people would appall at the thought of even touching water. "You could be my fairy tale prince! I could fall in love with someone like you…"


He smiled faintly behind his mask, although he knew that if she found out he was a hanyou, she would probably shun him away like most people would. But this was what he was telling himself, right? She might not…


"Oh, so what's your name?" she asked politely.


He could suddenly feel his heart quicken. No doubt, if he told her his name, she would probably recognize him as the hanyou of the Komiya kingdom, but he would take the risk. Who cares if someone else hated him just because of his blood? He wouldn't care…or would he…nah…he wouldn't…


"My name is…well…it's…" He was starting to wonder why it was so hard to tell his damn name to a girl.


"It's…?" she urged, looking at him with her cobalt eyes. .


"My name is---" Too bad he got interrupted.


"Umm princess, your parents want you in the ballroom," a random girl servant said, and like the rest of them, a mask hid her face from view.


"Oh…okay…" she said, disappointed that someone interrupted her at such a…well…fantastic moment. She got off her seat next to the guy and bowed a little in apology, muttering behind her breath about annoying, demanding parents. "It was nice to meet you. Maybe we'll meet again," she quickly grumbled and walked back into the ballroom, leaving Inuyasha behind in the dark.


Kagome promptly squeezed her way through the thick crowd to the thrones where her parents and some other person's parents were on. She quietly made her way to her mother's side and hissed as respectively as possible, a "what?!"


"Be more lady-like like your sister, Kagome. Don't raise your voice at me. Be like your sister---be respectful and mannerly," Queen Higurashi lectured, shaking her fingers at her younger daughter.


Kagome pursed her lips into a tight line, use to the "Be like my mannerly nut sister" lectures. She was glad that her mother stopped at that, and quietly whispered something to her daughter.


"Kagome, we have to tell you something. Your sister is getting married! The Komiyas and your father and I have made a betrothal between Kikyou and their younger son, Inuyasha. It would be the perfect union between demons and humans! We're just about to announce this incredible and perfect declaration!" Kagome heard her mother whisper excitedly, clapping her hands like a little girl who just got presents for her birthday.


"Wow. Thrilled," Kagome answered in a monotone voice, and surprisingly, her mother congratulated her for using a 'Kikyou' voice.


Kagome could almost scream her head off.


"Sorry Kagome dear, but we couldn't find a suitable husband for you. Maybe next time alright?"


"Of course!!!" Kagome answered in a relieved voice, praying the gods up there.


"Now now, be more like Kikyou! More princess-like. And work on your posture! And your voice too! Don't wave your hands in the air! Use a more refined way of holding your head! Dear Kagome, are you ever going to find a husband with such horribly crude manners? Please daughter, work on being a princess. Like your sister!" Queen Higurashi ordered, while not noticing that Kagome had stomped her way to the stairs. "Don't run like a duck, don't walk like a goose, don't---"


Her mother's voice soon grew fainter and fainter as Kagome weaved through the crowd, making for the stairs to her room. She could almost throw a tantrum in the middle of the room, and break some expensive glasses, and rip some priceless paintings…anything to make her feel better.


Her mother always criticized her, no matter how hard she tried to be more 'respectful.' What did they want from her? A perfect clone of the perfect sister of hers? She was Kagome for goodness sakes, not some flawed copy of Kikyou!


She huffed indignantly when she reached the stairs, turning around to glare a hole into the back of her mother's head. "I'll never be another Kikyou…"


If she had hung around for the announcement, she would have probably had her heart broken when she would have found out that the only man she had ever met that was like her, was engaged to her sister. But she didn't stay around…so she disappeared up the dark stairs, still huffing like an angry porcupine. When she was just gone from sight, Inuyasha entered the ballroom, pulled by a man with short black hair tied back with a leather thong.


Inuyasha seemed to be reluctant to go inside, while the man with short black hair was having major problems dragging the hanyou into the room.


"What do you want, you asshole!?" Inuyasha growled, while digging his heels into the ground to stop Miroku from pulling him along anymore.


"Your parents want you, you damn stubborn idiot!" Miroku growled in an equally furious voice, now having troubles trying to even move the hanyou from his position.


"For what?"


"Am I suppose to know!?"


"Yes! You are the one dragging me into this hellhole!"


"Just---GO!" Miroku yelled and gave a strong push that used up all his strength to manage to make Inuyasha stumble into the middle of the ballroom where everyone had created a circle around.


Inuyasha took in deep breaths, mentally reminding himself to throttle Miroku into the earth when he got his hands on him. How dare that lowly pervert call him a damn stubborn idiot…the nerves of that moron…


"Everyone, we are gathered here today, to witness the turn of the tide!"


Inuyasha glanced up at the king on the throne who was announcing some "turn of the tide." Stupid people these days…just plain dull…


"As you all know, demons and humans have been living together rather weakly the past few decades, and some of us haven't been particularly happy together! Some people even hate hanyous these days!"


"You can say that again…" Inuyasha quietly whispered to himself, while eyeing the people crowded around him and some girl next to him.


"In order to form a more peaceful world and create a more perfect kingdom, the Komiyas and the Higurashis are proud to announce, that we have made a betrothal between Inuyasha Komiya and Kikyou Higurashi!"


Inuyasha blanched. He didn't know how to react to this sudden news that had been blasted into his head. He didn't even know about this! For goodness sakes, his parents never even hinted him that he was going to get MARRIED. And HELL! He was only 17! He hadn't even reached 21!


Rapid chatter was suddenly discussed around the circle, talking about how a perfect princess like Kikyou could get engaged to a hanyou like Inuyasha. That just didn't sound right.


"But mother! I don't even know this hanyou! How do you know he is not some crazy man after my money? Or if he is so rough that he might hurt me? Mother! You can't do this to me!" Kikyou raised her voice and yelled, for the first time at her mother in all of her seventeen years of life.


Queen Komiya and Queen Higurashi looked at each other in panic. They had suspected that maybe something like this would have happened, but they expected the blowing up from Inuyasha---not Kikyou.


But the second blow up wasn't far off as Inuyasha suddenly growled and pointed a long clawed finger at his father and mother. "Are you crazy!? You want me to marry someone I haven't even met in all my life! Do you find amusement in choosing my life for me! You god damn---"


Inuyasha cut himself off and snarled, making a beeline for the doorway. He disappeared before anyone even had the chance to stop him.


"Father! How could you?" Kikyou screamed, directing her anger towards her father instead of her mother. "You…You can't! You can't do this to me! I thought you loved me!"


That did the trick. The words 'I thought you loved me' struck a cord in both Queen Higurashi and King Higurashi and they both looked at each other, empathy for their daughter and sighed. They quickly discussed their plan with King and Queen Komiya and they all agreed upon their so-called 'perfect plan.'


"Alright Kikyou. How about we let you spend one month at the Komiyas and get to know your husband? If you don't like him, we'll call off the engagement, but if you happen to fall for him, you can continue the betrothal?" Queen Higurashi urged, giving her daughter an encouraging smile.


"I would rather not, mother. I have many things to do here," Kikyou retorted and looked angrily off to the side, although deep down she knew she had nothing to do here. But she was not going off to some foreign kingdom! "Why don't you send Kagome! She seems to be bored around here! She could tell me if she finds him suitable for someone like me!" Let her sister do the dirty work!


The kings and queens discussed Kikyou's opinion a bit more and found that in order to form a more perfect union, they would have to go along with it.


"Alright Kikyou, we'll send your sister. I think she'll be happy…I think. Are you happy now?" King Higurashi asked sweetly to his beloved daughter.


"Make sure she doesn't make a bad decision for me!" Kikyou ordered one more time and then with a graceful flick of her dress, she left the ballroom, making her own way up to her bedroom.


Everyone in the room let out a sigh of relief when the arguing was over, and then there was a lot of cheering and partying as they realized that this would be the ideal union. That is…if Kagome found Inuyasha suitable for Kikyou.


Inuyasha, who had been quietly peeking in through one of the windows, watched Kikyou elegantly make her way up the stairs. "Spoiled brat…" he muttered under his breath, before slumping back into the garden bench.


His day had just gone officially from great to downright hell…




***




A/N: On we go.