Disclaimer; I do not own Inuyasha, nor the story of Esther.

Summary; There once was a peasant named Inuyasha, who was pulled into the competition for a new King unwillingly. As the competition continues, something happens that neither Inuyasha nor Her Majesty, Kagome expected. How will the two fair, as the rush and search for a new king becomes the only life they know?

The Story of a Peasant

Chapter Seven;

(Inuyasha's POV)

The next week was long, boring, and agonizing.

Each morning we awoke bright and early (although not nearly as 'bright' as we could be, Sango was sure to mention everyday) and follow the routine of eat, bathe, dress, lessons.

Lessons varied each day, switching from mannerisms of the court, to history, to war tactics, literature, etc. It put me back in the day when my parents still lived and I was but a boy, still living in a posh palace. I had many tutors when I was young, each one leaving for the same thing.

'There is no way to tame your bratty hanyou of a son!'

Even I could admit I wasn't the best pupil. I was mischievous just like any other boy my age. I lived for the pranks I would pull on each new victim that managed to be hired by my father.

That was until I met Totosai.

At first, he seemed like every other tutor I'd had, except for one thing.

He was human.

He was the first human tutor my dad had hired, and at the time I had been curious about as to why. Now it isn't so surprising, I was after all, acting like a human boy would.

Anyways, he's come in to the room, introducing himself and giving the typical 'I'm going to teach you the ways of the demon court...' speech that I'd heard a million times already. He'd set a bag down at the table, and preceded to walk up to me. I had moved aside, deciding then and there to start with the low grade pranks.

As he came up to my side, my foot went out, and over the man fell, tripped and falling for one of the oldest tricks in the book. I just crossed my arms, my face expressionless. Totosai rolled over, stood up, brushed himself off and continued talking.

I had been used to being brushed off.

The next day, I came into the library to see Totosai already waiting, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Whatd'ya want old man?" I remember saying.

"We're going to start with your literacy today. Your going to read this book. Now come over here and pick it up for your frail old tutor." I could hear the sarcasm marring his voice, but I went over anyways.

Not but a step past him, and I was flying over the floor, sliding against the slickness of it. I rolled over, mouth agape. Totosai stood there gaffawing at his trick, his foot still stuck out where he had tripped me. It had been the first time a teacher had ever pranked me back.

He was my tutor from then on, teaching me everything I knew about the demons court.

It was strange, but he had earned my respect that day.

And right now, I missed the way his lessons were taught. Not by lecture, but by experience. If I wanted to learn history, it would be reinacted. If I wanted to learn military defense, I used models to set it up. Literature was acted out.

And because of that, it had stuck with me.

But these humans? Man, how dull could they be?

"Could his voice be more monotonous?" Miroku said after leaving class today.

"Doubtful." I answered back. I stretched my arms up over my head, groaning as my muscles stretched out and joints popped.

"Good afternoon men." Miroku and I whirled around seeing Queen Kagome and Sango. Quickly we bowed at the waist as we were taught in our first class of the week; "Manners of the Court". Go figure.

"Good afternoon Your Majesty, Sango." I answered politely. Miroku said his pleasantries as well.

"And how are you men this morning?" Sango said, surprising me, as she wasn't ever really being one for small talk.

Luckily my surprise wasn't noticed, as Miroku answered for the both of us. "We're fine. Just got out of class."

I rolled my eyes. "You sound like a little school boy Miroku."

He laughed, but that wasn't what really caught my ears. Behind his and Sango's laughter, which was strange enough, was also that of Queen Kagome's light and high pitched laughter. I could feel my ears swivelling in that direction and I tried hard to stomp them from tilting, a reflex I wasn't entirely in control of.

"Well, how are the classes going? Tedious I bet." She surprised us by saying. "I remember hating them when I was little. So boring." Sango nodded in agreement, and I wasn't sure what my reply should be, so I stuck with silence, a small smirk on my face. Miroku smiled, giving a small nod.

"Much the same now. But what must be done, must be done." He answered. Slick answer Miroku, slick answer.

Both women nodded, then said their goodbyes as we parted ways. We continued to walk on a bit, waiting till we were far enough away before I checked over our shoulders.

"What was up with that?" I asked.

Miroku shrugged. "I'm not sure. Strange wasn't it?"

I nodded in agreement, then checked over our shoulders again. I could spy the backs of the women talking to some of the other men.

"I bet their judging how well we're doing or something by casually mingling with us." I observed.

"You think?"

"Yeah. Definitely." They were moving on to another group of men already.

"Oh well. Want to go eat some lunch?"

"Sure."

After lunch, Miroku headed off to the gardens to meditate, his inner monk apparently calling to him. 'It's what I'm destined to be!' He'd say.

I explored a bit, but found myself heading to the kitchen where servants were hard at work already cleaning dishes from lunch and beginning preparations for dinner.

Standing there numbly for a bit, a servant girl walked up to me.

"Gonna stand there all day staring, m'lord?"

I looked down and recognized the kitchen hand whom was normally filling my cup at breakfast. I smirked at her, amused.

"Got something down here I can do?" the question slipped out before I really thought about it, but the girl's eyebrows show up in surprise.

"M'lord wants to work with the servants?"

Looking around I answered, "Quit calling me that!" Turning back to her I added, "And yeah. I don't like taking and receiving so much without giving something back. So here I am."

She just placed a hand on her hip and blew some hair out of her face. "But by working here in the kitchen?"

"It was the first thing I thought of, 'aight?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "If you don't want my help then fine." I turned, only to be drug back around when she tugged back on my arm.

"Oh no, you offered your help, your going to get to help!" She said with a laugh, dragging me through the workers flitting about. Many stared blatantly, other sneaking a peek outside their periphials, but I could still feel each and every pair of eyes on me. It was a bit nerve wracking, but I stood proud as the girl started explaining how to arrange a certain fruit bowl.

"You think you can handle that?" She asked me, organizing the varying fruits yet again in front of me.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Good." And with that she started to flounce off, ordering another worker to stir faster.

"Hey, wait!" I called out.

"What? Too much to handle already?" She called out, not bothering to return to me.

I snorted. "Right. Whatever. I was just gonna ask what your name was."

She paused, and tilted her head in that way that some young people just did. And then she smiled.

"Nida." And with that she was back to ordering around other servants.

A few hours later, and I was walking back to the bathing room attempting to rid myself of the sticky fruit juices, and the dough dust that pretty much inhabited the air of the kitchen.

I was almost there when I heard my name being called out across the commons area.

"Inuyasha!"

Turning, still scratching at my arms, I spotted Miroku calling out to me.

"What's up?" I asked as he ran, huffing to where I was.

He held up a hand and leaned over on his knees, still breathing heavily.

Raising a brow I commented, "Man, you need to get in shape."

He lifted his head and glared. "Try being human, it's not as easy as it looks." I could feel my eyes narrow, but I didn't say anything in response. I knew he just liked to pick fun at anything, and my obvious half and half situtation was a blatant thing to pick on, no matter how many times I bopped him on the head for it.

Finally, he stood up grabbing a big gulp of air.

"Alright, anyways, so there's a notice that's pinned up in our room stating that we're to be having dinner with the Queen and the council members tomorrow night. We'll be observed of all that we've learned in the past week. It's almost like a test, I guess."

Soaking it in, I continued walking into the bathing area. I dropped my arms into the waters, grabbing a scented bottle that I hoped was soap and poaring it on them and lathering it up.

"So what do you think about it?" Miroku said, prodding my side.

I shrugged. "It makes sense. They probably want to see how fast we can learn, and how well we can in that time span."

Miroku shook off his shoes and dipped his feet in.

"You think they'll knock anyone out of the competition depending on the dinner?"

"Did the notice say anything about it?"

"No."

"Then probably not. It's like you said. A test. They want to see the results and judge how well we've learned."

I put the soap back, and reached for a towel that a servant had already on hand. I gave a small 'thank you' before turning back to Miroku.

"I guess your right.."

We started walking back towards the dining hall, the sun beginning to set over the sky, reflecting off the light of the giant pool in the front garden.

"What, are you worried about getting kicked out now?" I said, with a laugh.

Miroku smiled. "If anything I'm intrigued. I mean.... How many chances do you get in a life to do something like this?" He said, his hand coming out to gesture to the palace.

"We get to stay in a palce, get wait on by servants. We're fed the most amazing food, and even though the classes tank, it's not like we aren't learning just useless junk." He thought about that for a minute. "Well sort've."

We both laughed then stood there for a minute before heading inside to eat.

"I dunno. I just want to stick around, for a little while longer if anything." He commented.

I looked over at him, and watched him gazing at the sky.

"Yeah. I do to."

A/N; Dang, two chapters in two days?

Not too shabby, at least for me.

I listened to the Aladdin 'A whole new world' on repeat the entire time I wrote this. I just wanted to throw that out there.

Oh well.

Just call it a Happy Fourth of July.....gift?

And for those who don't live in the US, just call it a really fast update.

=]

R&R,
Souzousei