Disclaimer: I do not own anything… Inuyasha belongs to the brilliant person who created it (not me).

Chapter 3: Getting Through

After Kagome left her bedroom and was painting with her Art tutor, she heard a wonderful piece of news.

"Your majesty, your royal sister will be returning in a month. Don't you think she will be disappointed when she realizes that you can't even paint a simple still-life yet," her tutor said in a very annoyed tone, "Now you must concen--"

Kagome accidentally splashed a large quantity of red paint on her canvas.

"What," she glanced up in excitement, "Kikyou's coming back in a month?"

"Yes," her tutor said in irritation, "In fact, there is going to be a Royal Ball held in her honor. Rumor has it that this ball is to find Lady Kikyou a groom. Your royal mother is planning it right now as we speak."

Kagome was in shock. "Really?"

"Yes, really. And its all very exciting, Lady Kagome, but you must concentrate on your work. Continue."

Slightly more cheerful, Kagome began to try and repair the damage she had done to her canvas. As soon as the lesson was over, she'd go to her mother and see if the rumor about the Ball was true.

And even if Kikyou was going to find a husband at the Ball and get married or not, Kagome couldn't wait to see her sister…it had been about a year since she had seen her last, and who knew? This Ball could certainly cure her of her loneliness, even if it was just for a little while.

Time passed by quickly, and there were only a few days left until the Royal Ball.

Everyone in the entire kingdom had heard about the celebration. There was an atmosphere of excitement in the air, and no one was spared from being infected by it. Kagome had do deal with much activity in the castle, but Inuyasha had to deal with just as much pandemonium within his stepfamily's house.

Though he wasn't particularly interested in the Ball, Kanna and Kagura certainly were, shopping nonstop for potential Ball gowns contentedly. They went everywhere—from the village they lived in, to the city where the Ball was being held, entering every store their eyes would spy. Luckily for them, the village that they lived in was close to the city, so they had many hours to spend shopping before returning home.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, couldn't wait until the whole silly affair was over. Because Naraku seemed to think that his delicate daughters needed help with their shopping, Inuyasha was dragged along, where he spent countless, never-ending hours sitting on top of the carriage, holding the horses' reins and waiting for the girls to get out of the stores, helping them carry their purchases, and listening to their annoying chatter (well, mostly Kagura's chatter, because Kanna rarely spoke, even when excited).

"What's the point of the that stupid…Ball…thing anyway," he asked Myoga one day when he came along for the ride.

"The point," Myoga was slightly startled by the question, "The point? The point is to have fun, Master."

Inuyasha snorted. "That's dumb."

"Oh no, it's really quite enjoyable…"

"Are you talking to yourself again, Inuyasha," Kagura appeared out of one of the stores, holding several packages and cocking an eyebrow, "Get down from there and help me with these."

Scowling, Inuyasha jumped down from his driver's seat and took the boxes she carried and put them in the carriage. As he straightened them inside, Myoga spoke very quietly in his ear.

" You wouldn't mind if I had a bite to eat, would you, Master Inuyasha?" He nodded his head towards the two girls. Inuyasha smirked.

"Go on ahead…besides, if you do, they'll just think I have fleas again and leave me at home."

That night, after arriving back home, and Inuyasha was about to go sleep, when Myoga spoke.

"You really don't want to go?."

Inuyasha slightly cracked open an eye. "What are you talking about," he asked sleepily, "Go where?."

"To the Ball of course."

Inuyasha thought for a moment, staring up at the ceiling. "Well, I guess so. I dunno…I don't really care. Maybe."

"Are you going to, though?"

"No." Inuyasha gave a low sigh and shifted around on his straw trying to get comfortable, "Naraku doesn't want me to. Besides, don't cha need to look kinda dressy for that sort of thing?"

"I could get you some suitable clothes, Master."

"Yeah, right."

"I could! I found something suitable about a week ago…"

"Keh."

There was silence for a few minutes.

"Well, I could still show you where the clothes are, Master. They aren't Lord Naraku's or anything, and I'm sure I'd be something you'd like…it's a special haori your father once had, and there are also a few other things…"

Inuyasha sat upright, making Myoga almost fall out of his head. "What? Where? Show me!"

After the death of his mother, Inuyasha's possessions, as well as inheritance, had been basically lost to him. Naraku had sold most of his things (after all, the youkai was money hungry), and left his stepson with nothing. So if the Hanyou ever found anything that had once belonged to his parents, he would guard his treasure fiercely, for fear that Naraku, Kagura, or Kanna would try to take it away.

At the moment, Inuyasha and Myoga crept through the night, and silently slipped into the dark house, trying to make as little noise as possible. Inuyasha felt slightly uneasy about sneaking into the manor—he really wasn't allowed inside, but then again that was Myoga's fault. (Naraku and his daughters had accidentally mistaken Myoga for a real flea once, and since then he wasn't allowed inside—they thought Inuyasha was infested with the creatures.)

"Down that hallway," Myoga whispered as they got inside. He motioned to a hallway that was to their left, luckily, nowhere near the stepfamily's bedrooms.

Inuyasha nodded his head slightly and strolled quietly through it. They passed many dark doors, but didn't go inside one—Inuyasha waited for Myoga to speak to tell him where he should stop, but Myoga didn't say anything until they reached the very end of the hall.

"Now what? There's nothing here," Inuyasha muttered quietly in annoyance, staring at the wall he had stopped in front of.

Myoga hopped off him. "Hmm…," he carefully looked inside a crack in the stone wall, "Yes, actually there is, Master Inuyasha. Behind this wall there is a hidden room. I can easily get through it, but I don't know how you'll manage it…."

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, and sorry for the longer wait to come guys! I don't have a computer at home, so until I come back to school, you won't be getting any updates for a while! Thank you so much chibi, alaskangirl24, Hearii-sama, and QT102! Your support means a lot… and also to anyone who didn't review, but still read it…I also apologize if it sounds kinda rushed or confusing, I really wanted to update before Thursday, you know. Okay, well, Ja ne! And Happy Holidays!