Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA. I WOULD LOVE IT, AND AM SINCERELY TEMPTED TO NOT WRITE THIS, BUT THE NASTY MEN IN WHITE COATS HAVE FORCED ME TO. OKAY! OKAY! I'VE WRITTEN IT!

Author's note 1:

Hello my faithful minions. I see that if you are reading this, then you are faithful enough to read my dreadful and lowly fanfic. I will write faster if you all R&R. Thank you, and I now present you the much awaited Chapter 4 of The Half-Blood Princess.

The Half-Blood Princess

Chapter 4

In which a strange feeling is discovered

"What! ME!" Inuyasha backed away. Minato narrowed her eyes, and stared at him. The bubbly, bright look in her eyes vanished, and a death glare shot out from her eyes. "You don't want to marry me?" her eyes were deathly cold, as her voice, and everyone in the room felt the temperature drop 30 degrees. "I- I- I-" Inuyasha had sensed the threat on his life, and didn't dare say anything. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, and smirked. This girl, she doesn't show any signs of weakness that other half-demons show. If it's this girl, maybe marriage wouldn't be so… WHAT? Could it possibly be that I, no. No. I DO NOT like this weakling. But she does have a demon-like attitude… He glanced back up at his now half suffocating younger brother.

"O-of course I would marry you, Minato-hime!" The room immediately returned to normal, and a smiling Minato threw her arms around Inuyasha and hugged him. "WHA-!" The other four members in the room gaped at the pretty young girl, who was rubbing her cheek happily against her poor victim's arm. She beamed up at Inuyasha, and whispered, "You can call me Minato!"

"Wha-?" Inuyasha stared down at her innocently happy face. She broke away from him, and whirled around on the spot laughing. "Finally! Finally I've found myself a friend who is like me! Who doesn't like me simply for being the princess! Ha ha!" Inuyasha's disgusted look vanished, and he peered at his fiancée curiously. Sesshoumaru gazed at his brother, an unreadable look on his countenance. Celestin sighed and frowned at his daughter. "I'm sorry Inutaisho." He whispered sideways to his childhood friend. Inutaisho laughed openly, and leaned over muttering something in the King's ear. The two grinned childishly at each other.

By the end of the day, the two fathers were pleased to see their two precious children happily engaged. The whole castle was lit up with joy. After all, it was rare to see the normally cold Minato-hime laughing and enjoying herself, without a sense of cold dislike. Everyone was rejoicing. All, except for one. Sesshoumaru glanced coldly at his younger brother, who was presently nervously smiling at his bride-to-be. He was snapped out of his reverie when a bright voice called his name. "Sesshoumaru!" He snapped his head round, to come face to face with the huge lilac orbs of Minato's eyes. He stepped back quickly, noting with annoyance how the air around him suddenly felt hotter. "What?" he asked coldly. Minato's bubbly look vanished for a moment, until she resumed her smiling, but Sesshoumaru noted with a sinking heart that her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Well," Minato started slowly. "I was thinking, Inuyasha and I are going to get married at the end of the year, when I turn eleven, but your father said that we'll have a problem. He said that the reason for the marriage in the first place was to unite the Ayakashi clan and the royal family. But if I'm getting married to Inuyasha, and you're the heir to the Ayakashi clan, then there'll be no point in the marriage, so…" she paused, and glanced sheepishly at the older boy. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes dangerously at her. "You want me to forfeit the place to my worthless younger brother?" Minato's eyes blazed at hearing him call her precious lover worthless, but she kept a cool face. "If it is an order from you, then I shall do so." Sesshoumaru continued. Minato pricked up her ears, but shook her head. "No. It is not an order. I'll tell our fathers that the marriage is off then." She slowly began to walk away.

Sesshoumaru sighed. "Wait," he called after her. She ignored him and continued dragging her feet away from him. "I said wait!" He grabbed her arm, and forced her to spin round, facing him.

"What?" she asked exasperated. Sesshoumaru sighed again, and ran his hand through his long white hair. Minato stared quizzically at him, forcing him to carry on. "Well, if you really want, then the day you two get married, is the day I forfeit my position." She stared at him for a moment, and raised her eyebrows. "Think of it as a wedding present from me," Sesshoumaru growled. Minato gasped, her face a picture of pure bliss.

"You really mean it? I mean, really?" She looked hopefully up into his face. Sesshoumaru turned away quickly, unable to stand the strange feeling that developed at the pit of his stomach every time she smiled at him. He nodded stiffly, and started to walk off, only to be stopped by a light weight flinging herself onto his back, and hugging him tightly around the waist. Sesshoumaru was glad that his back was facing the princess, as he could feel his face turning a scarlet red, disguising the three red slashes he had obtained on both cheeks from his battle with the dragon demon Onigumo. "Er, yes. Goodbye." He repeated metallically, and he glided off down the hall, leaving an extremely pleased Minato hugging herself and dancing around the hall.

"Damn. What's going on with me? It can't possibly be that I, the great cold Sesshoumaru could actually fall in love with a half-demon. Could it?"

Author's note:

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Chapter 4 is up and running! What is this strange new feeling that our sweet Sesshoumaru is experiencing? Could it possibly be :shock horror: love? I'm still extremely, extraneously and expectedly (E.E.E.) disappointed that I still haven't reached 10 reviews! R&R, before I track you all down and make you all grovel! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! By the way, I have decided to write a Card Captor Sakura fanfic as well, which naturally means that it will take longer to update either story, but a great deal of reviews and support from readers could very well make me hyper, causing me to write (or rather type) very fast, and that will therefore mean that you there: my happy reader, will be able to read more.