Higurashi Kagome cannot contain the happiness bubbling inside her. Today she will be married to the one demon she had secretly admired for a very long time—Inuyasha. It does not matter to her that this marriage is only arranged as a way to ally the powerful taiyoukai of the west and ensured peace in the southern lands. And it hardly matters that she and Inuyasha barely exchanged words every time they met or that she knew little of him. She is going to be with Inuyasha, and that is all that matters. Once they have become husband and wife, they will learn more about each other.

Her parents had not even seen each other until their wedding night, and they clearly loved one another.

"You look beautiful, Kagome," her mother said admirably as she looked at her daughter in the newly white-silk uchikake, dabbing her teary eyes with the hem of her kimono. "My little girl is really getting married."

Kagome turns to her mother. "Mama, don't cry," she said with an assuring smile. "Today is a special day."

"I know, dear," her mother sobbed, "It is just that you'll be going away from me, and it'll be a while before I can brush your hair, help you dress, and…"

"I am going to miss you too," Kagome wrapped her slender arms around her mother.

"Oh, my little Kagome," her mother sigh sadly as she pull away to take another good look at her daughter. "What am I going to do without you here?"

"Have another little girl," Kagome teased—feeling satisfy when her mother laugh along with her. "It's going to be alright, Mama. You still have Papa, Souta, and Grandpa."

She knew that her mother wanted to say more, but she just nodded and gave Kagome an encouraging smile, then pull her in for another hug. Kagome gave her mother a chaste kiss on the cheek as the maids return to help her with the rest of the preparation. Her mother sadly walks out of the room to join her father in the small Shinto contained in the castle with the guests as they await the groom's arrival.

As Kagome walk into the room, all eyes were on her—except for the groom's. Slowly and gracefully, she made her way to the stage where her groom sat. She heard him mumble under his breath as she sat down beside him but it was too low for her to distinguish what it was. Taking a quick peek at him, her heart melts at the sight of his attractive features.

When he finally turns to look at her, she suddenly feel as if someone had suck out all the heat in her body leaving it cold and numb. There is no warmth in his amber eyes at all as he continues to stare at her. The feeling of hatred is so tangible she can almost feel it seeping through her kimono. She suddenly feels uncomfortable being beside him, but dismisses it as bridal anxiety.

She notices that her mother had become aware of her discomfort, and so does everyone else in the room. She forced a smile to assure everyone that she's alright. Everyone, besides her mother, sigh in relief. If this wedding does not go as plan, there will be disastrous results, since it was her father who proposed the idea. Backing out now will insult the Taiyoukai Lord and his people; the outcome will be the death of her family and clan members. It's not that she wants to back out. This is the person she wants to be with, and she's not going to let the negative energy gets to her.

After the purification and vows are performed, the San-san-kudo ceremony of three-times-three exchange of matrimonial cups between bridegroom and bride is silently performed. Soon following, the Taiyoukai Lord and Higurashi Lord exchange and drink sake to unify the two families. As the miko began to serve sake to everyone else, Kagome turn to Inuyasha and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Inuyasha?"

He didn't even look at her as he replied darkly, "Don't speak to me, human."

Kagome found herself flinch at the sound of his voice, and the fear in her heart began to increased until the happiness which she felt hours before is nothing but a speck of hope. She doesn't know how, but she felt the vibes that he sends her is one of hatred and revulsion. Feeling this, she suddenly wishes to stop the ceremony. But it was too late to turn back as the ceremony began to end as she and Inuyasha proceed to the sanctuary to offer twigs of Sakaki sacred tree in worship to gods.

And through it all, Kagome's mother senses that something is very wrong. Her daughter was clearly happy as she enters the room but then the brightness in her falter as her husband-to-be turn to look at her. She can actually see her daughter's glow fading from her. One look and she can tell that her son-in-law hated this arrangement. She wanted to walk up to the stage and pull her daughter away from the taiyoukai, but she doesn't want to see her family and clan died because of her motherly actions. In her heart, she hoped that Inuyasha will learn to love her daughter.