Ok well.. thx to ppl who review.. I love you all!!

Disclaimer: I STILL don't own Inuyasha.  Wish I did, but I don't.  I don't own the fruit fly that just got smashed to my monitor, either.

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"Well?"  Sango stood with her fists propped on her hips.  "What did he say?"

"He said.. he told me he asked my parents already.  I don't know what they said, though."  Kagome bunched the material of her kimono in her hands nervously.  "Sango, I don't know what to say!  He's wonderful and everything.. he's absolutely one of the nicest guys I've ever met.  Sure, he's a full-blooded youkai.. but he's so nice.. and he's really quite cute.."

"But.."

"But I don't know.  I just don't think I'm ready for this!  If only life could be simple.  If only life could go on like it has, and just keep going that way forever.  You, me, Kikyou, just hanging around all day, inside, at the archery range, riding..  I just can't imagine being away from that!  Argghh..  Lucky you, you don't have to worry about being forced to marry.."

"Oh, Kagome.  This Kouga.. I'm sure your parents will pick the best guy for you.  Don't worry."

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"My lord!  A messenger has arrived!"

Kouga whipped around, his blue eyes following the small, human figure below.  He hopped down from the cave, past the waterfall beside it, and landed on the path several feet ahead of the messenger.

"Ano.." the messenger gulped audibly.  "I have a message for.. Lord Kouga.."

Kouga straightened up and nodded.  "I am Kouga."  He took the rolled-up, beribboned and sealed message from the human's shaking hands.  The human bowed nervously, and Kouga turned and made his way back up to the cliff, half-hearing the human's feet running back down the path.  Humans..

He didn't like humans, not really.  He found most of them pitiful and weak, good only for his wolves to hunt.  But he was willing to do almost anything for this human lady he had met, this Lady Kagome.  She was different.  She seemed to glow with beauty and internal strength.

The seal, he noted with light-headedly, bore the sign of the Higurashi nobility.  She's mine..  The seal and ribbon fell to the floor, the message unrolled.

He scanned the contents of the letter, heart pounding.  Then, deciding that maybe he had read wrong the first time, he read it again, going over every word, ever letter.  The roaring of his blood filled his ears.  He could hardly believe what he was reading.

I knew it!  She's mine!  "Mine.."

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The official engagement of the Lady Kagome Higurashi to the Lord Kouga was an even more tremendous party than the one the Higurashis had thrown to introduce their daughter.  They, of course, were ecstatic.  So was Kouga.

And so was Kagome.  Wasn't she?  She should be; she was being engaged to the one man she was sure she'd ever, ever love.  He was sweet, kind, handsome, and he definitely wasn't a womanizer.  This must be her destiny; she would marry, live happily.  What could go wrong?

She felt as if the wedding couldn't come soon enough.  Two months and three weeks had passed since the engagement.  Only seven days left.  Seven!  Each day, each hour passed by, crawling second by second.  Kagome was, when she wasn't eating or sleeping or bathing, surrounded by a whirlwind of clothes as the desperate race to finish making new outfits came down to a close.  Just why it took so darned long to make clothes (and just why she needed so many) was completely beyond her.  She would be fitted with loose cloth one day, told that it would be ready in two, and find it being readjusted, repinned, and redone the third.

Her fingers itched for her bow and arrows; she hadn't even been within arm's reach of them in days.  In fact, they were placed in a corner of her room, gathering dust at this very moment.  She scowled mentally.  So close and yet..

For the hundredth-thousandth-gazillionth time, cloth was draped over her form, pinned, then whisked away only to be replaced by some other cloth.  Some of it was really actually quite pretty.  Well, she supposed it had to be, for it was probably to be her wedding present or something.  The funny thing was, though it felt like all this cloth could make probably a thousand kimonos, in the end it would only amount to about twenty or so.  She wondered dimly just how much money her parents had spent on them, then decided to think of something a little less daunting.

And that definitely meant not thinking about the coming weekend.  Getting married wasn't something she'd thought of often, but now it was staring her in the face.  Not that she really rejected that idea; she just felt that it was all just a little overwhelming.

She sighed.  Thankfully, Sango was around all the time, full of news and court gossip.  So at least Kagome had something to do and wouldn't go crazy.

"Sango.. how much longer.."  She could barely see her friend through the cloud of cloth and brisk women with pins in their mouths and measuring tapes in their hands.

"Not much longer, just one or two more fittings!  Then maybe we can go to the range?"

"Ugh.. yes!"

Finally all the cloths were taken away and Kagome's old kimono was slipped on and tied.  "Your clothing will be ready in a day or so, my lady."  The head dressmaker bowed deeply and left the room with her assistants, leaving the room cleaner and emptier than it had been in days.

In a single leap, Kagome had retrieved her bow and quiver from the corner of her room and jumped to the doorway.  "Let's go!"

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The day was here.  The ceremony was not to be held at the wolves' home nor in the Higurashis' castle, but in a lovely garden on the border between the two territories.  Kagome had managed to persuade her parents to allow her to ride there on her own.  It was early in the morning, the ceremony wasn't until late afternoon, and she wasn't required to be there for another hour or so.  Not to mention, it might be one of the last times she'd get to ride alone without anyone else around guarding.  She would have asked if Sango could come too, but the other girl was busy with other preparations.

Everything she'd need had already been taken there, anyway.  So she put on one of her favourite kimonos, white with green embroidery and obi.  Then she simply went to the stables, (bow and quiver in her hands) found her mare Hoshi, already saddled, and set off happily.

By her calculations, she had at least two hours to make the half-hour ride to the garden, which gave her plenty of time to slow down and enjoy the morning.

I can't believe this is happening!  It's all like a dream..  In less than a day, I'll be married..  She shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts.

Hoshi looked back at her for one instant, and she could swear that it snorted.  "Well, it's not like you're the one getting married."  The horse snorted again, and Kagome chuckled.  "C'mon, lets go head by the forest.  Maybe I can practise my archery a bit.  It may be the last time I'll ever touch my bow.."

They rode off the main road, onto a side path that wound its way into the forest.  The forest here was on the outskirts of the Higurashi's domain, close to the base of the mountains, and approaching the domain of the wolves.  The mountains didn't belong to anyone.  More like, nobody really wanted to have them in their domain.  The mountains were full of bandits and demons and such rabble, or so at least Kagome had heard a thousand times from other nobles.  Her mother would probably be freaking out right about now if she found out that Kagome was riding here.  Ah well.. you only live once.

The forest was quiet, save for the chirping of birds and the occasional rustling of leaves as wildlife scampered about.  The only other sound came from the soft thumps of the horse and rider making its way down the dirt path.  Streams of light filtered through the leaves, making stray patterns of shadows on the forest floor.

Kagome sighed as she looked around.  It was so beautiful here.  She had never wandered to this part of the Higurashi domain before; always before she had been accompanied by at least Sango, or else as a part of the entourage of her family.  A songbird alighted on a branch nearby and began twittering its song, bringing a smile to the lady's lips.  She was definitely glad she'd taken this route.

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Hidden by the shadows, a pair of bright, golden eyes followed the young lady's movements.  The young lady's eyes were following the bright streams of sunshine and the patterns it made, or she would have noticed the flash of white.  Clawed hands gripped the tree branch, before releasing and grabbing for the next branch.  The movements fluid, silent.  Only the slight rasp of claws on bark gave the slightest indication of the young lady's follower.

This is her.  I can tell.  The lady Kagome Higurashi, soon to be married to that bastard of a wolf.  What perfect timing.

Another leap to the next branch, a flash of white and red as the silent figure passed beneath light.  The young lady turned, soft, brown eyes searching the shadows.  The mare snorted nervously, its nostrils flaring in apprehension.

But there was nothing there.  Just the light, the shadows, the singing bird..  The young lady turned back to the path, urging her mare to a slightly faster pace.

A mocking smile.  You can't get away that easily, human.

Explosion of movement.  A blue of white and red, two golden eyes.  "You're mine.."

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Well?  How'd you like that?  Don't forget to hinthint review!  Sorry about the really messed up use of tenses in that last bit.  Never quite got the hang of telling the difference between them.  Anyway.. yeah.. um.. sorry that it's kinda weird.  I'm just trying to make a slight deviation from my normal writing style (wait, I have one?) just for that little bit, plus I'm sleep and sugar deprived, which is never a good combination.  Thankfully I'm not quite caffeine-deprived yet.

And really, really sorry it's taken so long to finish this chapter.  I've been trying to work on it for the past while, but my bro got FFX-2 for his bday, and I've been playing that like crazy.  (more than he has, which is kinda sad considering it's really his game).  Anyway.. between study and exams coming up, I shall still try my hardest to work on the next chap!

Arigatou!! And remember to coughhintnudgewinkREVIEW!!!