April rain

"Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat you upon your head wih silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.

The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night.

And I love the rain."

(Langston Hughes)

Chapter 1: A sweet beginning

It was raining so peacefully. The young girl looked at the grey sky through the window, mentally cursing herself. She had forgotten to bring her umbrella along this morning, which meant she couldn't go out then without getting wet from top to toe. And just to make her situation worse, she was to come back home in a few minutes. After a while waiting, she decided to run out in the rain... (without an umbrella, of course..)

The view was blurry and she had to wipe water off her face when running.

'...How stupid of me! I should have brought my umbrella... Oh my God! It's 4:25 already. I'm going to be late... I wonder what was so important that she couldn't tell me on the phone...' ...

"Kagome, can you come home early this afternoon? Do you have anything to do?"

"Uh, no. But..." "Great, so I guess you can go. Let's see, we'll meet them at 5:00PM. Then you are expected to come home by 4:30PM."

"Wait! What are you talking about? We'll meet..who? And why will I have to go with you?"

"They're some old friends of our family. I'll tell you later. Bye, honey. And don't be late!" ...

CRASH

"AHHH..."

The car stopped just in time to prevent a terrible accident. The driver opened the car window and looked out to see a dripping wet girl standing in horror. Her clothes was clinging to her body, water drip from her raven hair and the plates on her skirt to the ground.

"You almost hit me!", she cried, "I'll..."

To her surprise, the man didn't seem to notice her but examined his car carefully as if he had expected a puncture or even worse. After one or two minutes, he looked up.

"It seems alright. You're lucky. If my car was damaged, then I could make sure you would have to pay."

"WHAT? You almost hit me and you..."

"Don't blame me for your fault, wench. It was you who ran into my car. And you seem okay so don't waste my time. " With that, he drove away, leaving a totally shocked and speechless girl behind.

'...He dared to say so, that idiot. What the hell did he think he was? Oh! Shit! I am in such a hurry and ... Now I'm really late...'

'...I still can't believe they can do such thing to me. After all, it's me who have the right to decide my own life. And they, my parents, they 've just ignored me and arranged my life...' ...

"Well, Mom, can you please explain? Why do I have to go along, and in my finest dress? I thought you told me they were some old friends."

" Yes, they are Kagome! We need to talk."

"Well, this is about you. No, exactly it's about your future husband..."

"WHAT? FUTURE HUSBAND? "

"Yes, dear. Your father and I, we have found one for you."

"But you can't..."

"Yes, we can. But don't worry, dear, he's a very nice guy. You'll like him once you meet him."

"No, I won't like him. Nor will I meet him . Mom, I ..."

"Kagome! Don't be so childish. You will meet him whether you like it or not. And that family is very decent, so I recommend that you behave yourself. " ...

'... An arranged marriage...

Yes, and no love...

It's so much like a nightmare, except the fact that it's not. My life's going to be miserable if I don't find a solution soon. It's not that hopeless, is it?

But I won't give up.

Never.

If there's anything I'm proud of myself, that is my steadfastness, or stubbornness as my parents always say. There is no way I will marry some stranger. Or ...

Why didn't I think of this earlier? Great! Mom said the two families had planned it out of our knowledge. So maybe he doesn't agree, either. Then I can persuade him to help me... '

Every thing looked so peaceful. The rain had stopped, leaving small bubbles and whirlpools on the ground. The restaurant they chose was bigger than she thought, yet it proved to be quiet, elegant and somewhat formal. Knowing her parents, she had expected a much more casual and friendlier one for such ocassions. It must have been the other family who made the choice.

This might be a long evening.

She kept quiet, looking blankly when her father said something to the nearest waiter and lead the way to their table. The others had come for a while and were waiting for them. What were their names? And what was his name? She couldn't remember. But it wasn't important. She would figure it out somehow, sometime...

"Here they are!", her thoughts were interrupted by an excited voice. Her father had come to greet them.

The older man came into her view, looking gentle with a tall figure and white, no, silver hair. He was standing next to a young one, who was probably his son by the look of them, her future husband. He looked strangely familiar to her. Had she met him before? She didn't know. Coming near, she saw something that gave her a startle. It was him...

She felt faint when staring blankly at the man. That annoying brat. And her future husband? NO WAY! Kagome tried to calm herself down. Maybe, she was wrong and this was only a nightmare, a very bad one indeed. Unfortunately it was not. And she had to deal with it alone. How ridiculous. When her mother told her about the man , she could never imagine him to be such a ... Marrying him might be a fate worse than death.

The dinner was not as bad as she thought, though. Their parents talked, talked and talked all the time. This meant there was nothing for her to do. Just ate, pretended to be a good listener and gave a slight smile when her mother talked about her babyhood to a beautiful lady who seemed to enjoy their cheerful conversation a lot. Her father was, of course, talking to the man known as Mr. Takeda about something related to the wedding plan and how he had awaited it. It seemed to her that they had arranged this for quite a long time, obviously longer than she was informed. Feeling not interested in those conversations, she turned her attention towards her fiance. They hadn't talked much to each other, almost nothing except when they were introduced.

"... this is our daughter, Kagome ..."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Higurashi-san. My name is Sesshoumaru Takeda."

Brief and formal, it was only an introduction, nothing more, nothing less. But she didn't feel like talking anything more with him. His first impression was bad enough, let alone their current situation. To her suprise, he seemed rather quiet andacted as if they hadn't seen each other before. Not to mention the fact that he appeared to be very calm and polite, almost too polite . This man, he confused her. Maybe he hadn't recognized her, she could understand that. After all, he didn't need to . 'Although it happened just 2 hours ago and he nearly killed me', she thought sarcastically. But what confused her... What she had thought of him was an arrogant bastard and then ... Or was it mere act? Most likely so. Anyway, she would still continue her plan. She had to get rid of all those stuffs.