The very next morning, news of Kagome's engagement to Prince Koga of the Wolf Demon Clan quickly spread. From the dinner tables of noblemen, to the shabby bars of street tramps, the hottest topic would always be the Emperor marrying off the Jewel of Shikon.
Kagome appeared to be amused by the flattering title while Sango was shocked.
"You mean you have never heard of people calling you the Jewel of Shikon before?"
"Nope," answered Kagome, "I wonder why they call me that."
"Wow, you REALLY haven't been outside much," said Sango, "All across the land people spread the tales of beauty and your pure-heartedness. They call you Jewel of Shikon. They adore you, Kagome. They almost respect you more than your parents!"
Kagome was speechless; she was amazed at how high the people of her kingdom thought of her, and how little she had known about it.
"But…but why? I hadn't done a thing!" Kagome stammered.
Sango thought about it long and hard, then replied slowly as if recalling a distant memory, "I remember my father speaking about it once, about a prophecy being made at your birth. Something of great importance happened. It's mainly just a myth now, and not many people remember it clearly, the younger people particularly scorn it, but the people are awed by you just the same. That's all I know."
Later that night, Kagome lied in bed, unable to sleep. She thought about what Sango had told her. How come her parents had never said anything about whatever happened at her birth? Most importantly, WHAT did happen? When did her own dull life become such a mystery?
Feeling restless, she got out of the bed and walked out to the balcony. The cool night air brushed against her face, bringing the sweet scent of Sakura blossoms in the royal garden towards her. She felt calm and soothed. That was, until a certain dog demon prince appeared out of nowhere.
For a while now Inuyasha had been watching her, standing on the balcony, half-concealed behind the flowery branches of a cherry tree. He had to admit in spite of himself that the Princess looked different now, standing in her white flowing night gown while the moonlight illuminating her pale face, with the wind sending flying her black, silky tresses and a sorrowful expression on her face. She looked more like a tennyo of the legends, stepping down to Earth from the tip of the clouds, than the temperamental brat of the day before. Inuyasha watched as a sigh escaped the Princess's lips, he frowned. Somehow seeing her all unhappy like this bothered him a whole lot.
He jumped out of the tree and straight onto the railing of the balcony. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked right in Kagome's face.
"Ahhhhh!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs and slapped Inuyasha full force across the face, causing the hanyou to lose his balance and fell head first through the trees.
"Lady Kagome, is there anything wrong?" came the concerned voice of servants.
"No, no, everything's quite fine!" Kagome said quickly.
"But that noise…"
"Oh, I was startled too. It turned out to be a stray cat, or was it a raccoon? Hard to tell, hehehe…" Kagome giggled nervously.
Convinced by her acting, the servants retreated. Kagome sighed in relief, until she turned around to face a seriously ticked-off Inuyasha.
"You…Wench…I was wrong! You are still the same ugly, violent wench of before!"
"Oh, did you think otherwise?" replied Kagome coolly.
"Err…" Inuyasha stammered. To his horror, his cheeks began to warm up, he was near sweating how. Dreading his brain was going to hyperventilate, he used the quick way out, a.k.a., the loud way.
"Shut up!" Inuyasha yelled, "think what you will, but nothing would prevent you from being a wench, and you know it."
Kagome felt her temper steam up. "And who are you to criticize? I have every right to be mad at you, you are my enemy for haven't sake, and your father wants to destroy my country!"
"Feh! If humans don't stick their noses up in our turf, we wouldn't even care that your kind exists. But since it's the humans who started it in the first place…"
"WHAT?" How dare you! You do know that just by my command, you can be marched off to the dungeon and beheaded at any moment."
"Oh, but I can escape any time," smirked Inuyasha.
"How? These walls are high. Wait a minute, how did you get in in the first place?" asked Kagome.
"These pathetic human defenses cannot prevent me from getting what I want," said Inuyasha, his tone turned malicious, "the reason I have come tonight, is that I need you to take these stupid beads off of me!"
"No can do," answered Kagome.
"You do know that I don't take 'no' for an answer, do you?" threatened Inuyasha.
"Threatening me won't do you any good," said Kagome matter-of-factly.
"And why is that?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes.
"Because I don't know how."
Inuyasha nearly fell over. "WHAT?"
"AN old priestess gave them to me years ago, she only told me how to cast them on, she never told me how to get them off," explained Kagome.
"Well, if that's the case," Inuyasha said between gritted teeth, "you'll just have to come with me to find that priestess. I won't let you go until I get this thing off!"
"What? You can't do that to me!" exclaimed Kagome.
"I can and I will," Inuyasha said as he grabbed Kagome bridal-style and jumped up into the air. His sleeve covered her mouth to muffle her shriek for help. He leaped from tree to tree, always silent and unseen. Soon, they were out of the palace grounds.
Kagome struggled, but his grip was too strong. She tried to utter the command word "sit", but Inuyasha quickly reacted. He expertly pressed the pressure points on her back. Her body went limp instantly in his arms.
Tennyo means Celestial Maiden. Tennyos are part of an ancient Japanese/Chinese legend.
Finally, some dramatic development! I must say that this fic, started out as a simple love story, is getting more and more of a adventure/mystery feel, and further and further away from the Shakespeare romance. Rather than saying this is based on Romeo and Juliet, I'm going to call it Romeo and Juliet inspired. I'm not sure how readers will react to this new development, so please review! Yes, lots and lots of them, mwahahahaha!