A/N: Third chapter.
Disclaimer: Sick of these ya know? Just refer to chapter one!
Behind the Masquerade
Conviction
Kagome felt like someone had just poured a pound of sand into her throat as the sunlight filtered in through the window, shooting its rays into her eyes and making her wake from her deep sleep. She groaned as she felt the grainy substance in her throat cause her to feel like she was sick and dying. Rolling to her right, she wanted to go back to sleep---since in her opinion, it was way too early to wake up.
But she didn't know she had been sleeping on the corner of her bed and
she fell right off, turning into a mess of sheets and flesh. That woke
her right up and she peeked her head from under her sheets, staring out
the window to see the sun up and the birds tweeting.
"Stupid birds…I'll shoot them one day," Kagome grumbled when she
watched a bird fly straight into her closed window, to only bump off
with a resounding smack.
She slowly made her way out of the covers and threw the offending
sheets back onto her bed, grumbling under her breath about how she
hated mornings. She made her way to her closet and found one of the
most plain kimonos available and slipped it on, while brushing her hair
a few times till the tangles and knots were out.
She slowly dragged her fatigued body out the door, making her way to
breakfast. With the worst luck, Kikyou came out of her bedroom when
Kagome was dragging her corpse-like body past, and Kikyou threw a
disgusted look at her sister.
"Kagome, you have got to learn to be a proper girl. Look at me, you
don't see black rings circling my eyes. You don't see me walking around
with a slump, as if I was a hunchback. It's shameful to call you my
sister!" Kikyou commented, while Kagome shot her sister a death glare
in return.
"Save the lecture Kikyou. I don't have time for you," Kagome growled
and quickly made her way down the stairs, while Kikyou huffed at the
response and took her steps one at a time.
Kagome nearly tripped on the last step and she ungracefully tried to
regain her posture, while passing maids and servants shook their heads
quietly. Kagome wanted to flip them the bird, but that would only get
her into trouble if the person told her mother what she had did.
The younger princess quietly opened the door to the dining room and saw
her mother and father already eating and drinking their own breakfast.
When they saw Kagome enter, Queen Higurashi took in a deep breath and
Kagome knew that her mother was about to give her a nice, long lecture.
Oh joy.
"Kagome! It's late! You woke up late! Again! It's afternoon! It might
as well be lunch for you now instead of breakfast! Why can't you be on
time? Why can't you be like your sister?"
"Kikyou is late too," Kagome quietly whispered to herself, but it
didn't seem to reach her mother.
And at that precise moment, Kikyou entered the dining room and
sophisticatedly made her way to her seat. The princesses' mother's
frown suddenly twisted around and she smiled at seeing her older
daughter, commenting, "Always on time, Kikyou!"
Kagome glowered and went to take a seat at the table too. "You said I
was late! But Kikyou entered later than me... So why are you saying she
was on time!?" Kagome demanded while taking a toast from the table, and
drinking some orange juice to quench the sandy feeling in her throat.
"Of course you're late! But Kikyou is never late! Right Kikyou?" King
Higurashi questioned the older princess, who replied with a faint nod
while munching on some toast. "You really have to be like your sister."
Kagome clenched her fists under the table and frowned across at her
sister, trying to will the older princess to choke on her toast and die
a very slow and painful death. It didn't seem to work as Kikyou glanced
over at her icily from under her long lashes, giving her a half open
eyed look.
"Of course Kikyou is never late. Kagome is always late. Kikyou is
perfect. Kagome is never perfect. Kikyou is filled with manners. Kagome
has no manners. Kikyou is elegant and graceful. Kagome is clumsy and
stupid!" Kagome hissed at her parents, but they continued eating as if
they hadn't heard a word she had said.
"Oh dearest sister of mine," Kikyou started, sarcastically stating the
word 'dearest.' "I do think our parents have an announcement to make
for you. Do you not? Mother? Father?"
Queen Higurashi cleared her throat and looked at the angry younger
daughter, who by now was fixing her mother with one of those looks that
could freeze fire. "Well Kagome, we decided yesterday night at the
masquerade that you would visit the Komiyas for one month to decide if
Inuyasha would be a suitable husband for Kikyou! Aren't you just
ecstatic?"
Kagome dropped her toast to the floor and stared at her mother with her
mouth wide open, her current anger slowly dissipating. She didn't know
whether to be euphoric and shocked that she didn't have to see Kikyou
or her parents for a month or either livid and outraged that they had
made a decision like that without her consent.
She decided to be none of them as she quietly excused herself from the
table and exited the dining room, making her way to the usual garden
bench that she sat at every day. She sat down on the wooden
contraption, feeling a bit faint and a bit overwhelmed, and stared off
into the distance.
The birds continued their consistent tweeting and Kagome had a sudden
urge to grab her bow and arrow and shoot them all down till the grounds
were littered with bird remains. That would teach them to fly into her
window every single morning…
She sighed as she realized that she wasn't exactly happy or depressed
about this whole situation. It was more of a mix. She was happy she
wouldn't be able to hear lectures for one whole month, but she was
depressed that everyone chose her decisions for her and that she was
going to be in some foreign kingdom where she didn't know anyone.
She took some time to think about her situation a little more and then
smiled lightly, realizing that maybe this 'vacation' could be good for
her soul. Plus, a chance to be away from Kikyou and her parents would
be worth it. Maybe God would be nice to her and let her live a normal,
equal life for the one month at the Komiyas? She hoped so…
Looking around her at the surroundings she was so used to, she etched
everything into her mind so as to not forget them and then took in a
deep breath, memorizing the hot, damp smell that always seemed to
circle around her castle. Guess that was one of the bad things for
practically living in the middle of a desert…hot and damp.
Kagome closed her eyes and sighed, pushing herself off the bench and
getting ready to go inside and tell her mother and father that she
would do this. But a sudden crack from underneath her foot caught her
attention and she stopped her motion, moving her foot to the side. She
blinked owlishly when she caught sight of something mysterious and
strange; it was a rosary bead necklace, and between every few beads
were white fang-like teeth.
Bending down uneasily, Kagome picked up the so-called jewelry and
rolled the beads between her fingers. Bringing it up to her eyes, she
ogled at the teeth while mumbling to herself at who could have dropped
these.
A hazy image of the prince she had danced with yesterday flitted
through her mind and she opened her mouth in a little 'o'. She smiled
lightly at the memory and jiggled the necklace in her hands, deciding
that she would keep it until she found the owner again---if she ever
did.
A sudden horn blared and Kagome blinked again, turning her gaze to the
gates. Pocketing the necklace, she jogged to the gates and looked at
the two guards on duty, curiosity shining in her eyes. "Who's coming?
Can you tell?"
One of the guards clucked his tongue as he squinted into the distance
as the princess has asked him to do, analyzing the expanse of the
desert. A carriage slowly came into view as an indistinguishable flag
appeared, waving proudly in the bright blue sky. The guard's eyebrows
rose as he recognized the emblem and the flag as the carriage got
closer.
"Why Princess Higurashi, it's your cousin…Princess Sango!" the guard
said in a cheerful voice, turning to meet the ecstatic face of the
princess.
"Really?! Oh my god..." Kagome exclaimed and turned heels to run back
to the palace to tell her parents. But as she got half way to the
entrance, she turned back and yelled at the guards. "And please just
call me Kagome!"
The two guards smiled at the young girl as she raced up the steps and
disappeared into the castle. Such the adolescent, bright girl…
Kagome rounded the corner and burst into the dining room, where her
parents were discussing politics and Kikyou was lazily staring at her
fingers and continuing to munch on some cookies. "Guess what?!" she
yelled excitedly.
"What?" Kikyou asked in a blasé tone, not looking up from her
fingernails.
"Sango is coming!" Kagome cried in a whisper, as if out of breath.
"That's nice." Kikyou continued munching on the cookie, completely
unfazed.
"Mom! Can Sango go to the Komiya kingdom with me tonight?" Kagome
gushed out fast, her eyes twinkling in anticipation.
"Yes yes whatever dear," her mother answered in a nonchalant voice,
waving her hands at her daughter in an uninterested manner. Her
attention was rather on the heated conversation with her husband. "And
then that Rina told me I couldn't speak in public. Can you believe that
dear? Who does she think she is!"
"Yay!" Kagome screeched in happiness, jumping up and down in her total
and utter exhilaration. "I'm going traveling with Sango! Yay! You hear
that Kikyou? I'm going with Sango!"
"Mm. Interesting…" Kikyou continued on her fifteenth cookie.
Seeing the sheer enthusiasm in the room [cough cough], Kagome rushed
back out the door to go meet her cousin, and her best friend. She ran
out to the gate again where the two guards raised their eyebrows at
seeing the princess jump up and down between them, while pointing at
the carriage arriving.
When the carriage stopped a few feet away from the gates, the coachman
got off and opened the door to the carriage, extending a hand for the
girl inside to get out. The hand was brushed off hastily as the girl
chose to rather jump from the carriage and land in the dirt---all the
while in an expensive kimono.
Kagome and Sango eyed each other for a grand total of two seconds
before they both did a squeak of glee and ran to hug each other. They
met in the middle and they gave each other a rib-smashing hug from the
other, blabbering words at about a mile per hour.
"It's been nearly a month Sango! I've missed you so much!" Kagome
spurted from her mouth, releasing her cousin and smiling like she had
won a million dollars.
"I've missed you too! You won't believe what happened at my home! You
know that maid I told you last time about? Kiki? The airhead? She fell
in horse dung! It was so hilarious!" Sango gushed out, smiles and
laughter lighting up her face.
"Really? She deserved that!" Kagome answered as she pulled her friend
towards the castle, both jabbering obscenities to each other at a
rather rapid pace that sounded more like gibberish to the guards.
As they entered the confines of the castle, Kagome suddenly remembered
that she had to go to the Komiya kingdom and she looked thoughtful as
she stopped her express chatter with Sango.
Sango, realizing that Kagome had stopped telling her the latest news
about Kikyou, looked at her best friend and blinked confusedly.
"Something wrong?"
"Well…" Kagome looked at her cousin in the eyes. "My sister's engaged…"
"REALLY? YES! You finally get rid of her! Wait…married? Ooo hoo hoo…I
feel sorry for the guy. He'll dump her before a month---"
"No...That's not it…"
"Oh. What's wrong?"
Kagome clenched and unclenched her fists nervously as she eyed her
cousin staring at her with questioning eyes. "Well…my parents are
making me go to her fiancé's kingdom and see if he's the perfect
suitor for Kikyou or something. And I had to go today…so I was
wondering…"
"Of course!" Sango answered immediately, smiling widely.
"But I didn't even ask---"
"You were gonna ask me to go with you right? Of course! That's why I
came to visit you in the first place!"
"But it's for a month…"
"I'll live."
Kagome beamed at her one year older cousin and grasped the other girl's
hands, giving her friend a grateful look. "Thank you! I didn't want to
go alone!"
Sango smiled at Kagome's enthusiasm, before a light went off in her
mind. "But you know what? My coachman person guy is also my guardian
and he was assigned to make sure I don't go out of the Higurashi castle
grounds…so---"
Kagome cast out a sudden depressed look as she heard that. Sango wasn't
going to go!?
"---We'll have to sneak out."
Kagome sweat dropped as she heard that, a sudden image of them wearing
all black and sneaking across the castle grounds late at night darted
through her mind. Oh yes…life was always much more interesting with
Sango around…"Alright then!" They gave each other a high five and
smirking grins, already picturing the adventures they were going to
have.
"Okay, it's time to plan Operation Sneak Out!"
***
A/N: Next chapter --- Delinquency