AN: First off, I want to apologize to all my readers for taking so long to update (I currently have over 3,500 views! :D), school has been absolutely kicking my butt because we're so close to final exams. Also thank you guys so much for your feedback about the rating! As you can see I decided to follow it :)

Second, I know that I said a lot of things would be revealed in this chapter but my muse has a mind of it's own when it comes to writing these stories, so I have decided that I'm going to stop promising for something to happen in upcoming chapters and to just roll with the punches. My muse is very stubborn when it comes to things going her way. (whispers discretely so she won't hear)

Well anyway here's Chapter 8, I hope you guys enjoy and please don't forget to leave review, even if it's small ) your review's mean everything to me!

Disclaimer: I don't not own Inuyasha, sexy Sesshomaru, or any of the other Inuyasha characters, I do own any OC's that may appear in this story though ;P

It had been four days since the strange incident had happened to her in the forest near the castle. Since then she hadn't really seen too much of Lord Sesshomaru. And when she did, he refused to say much of anything to her or even look at her for that matter. Not that he paid too much attention to her before, she reminded herself. But now, on whatever rare occasion she was in his presence, she couldn't help but feel that his feelings of displeasure towards her had increased tenfold.

Part of her was happy with this new change in their relationship because it meant that she wouldn't be forced into carrying on unnecessary conversation with him. Something that she had no desire to do after the incident in the garden. But this new status change also didn't help her further her goals in any sort of way, she thought despairingly.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Kagome had also noticed in the brief time she had spent around the western prince, that some extreme change had come about and it very much seemed like Sesshomaru was now ready to accept the marriage arrangement. Now this didn't mean that he was pleased with the upcoming wedding, actually he was far from it. But for some unknown reason, she could tell that he had stopped fighting against it. This dramatic change had completely thrown Kagome off, as she was relying partially on Lord Sesshomaru unwillingness to get her out of this horrible situation she was in.

Now that Sesshomaru had decided to join the party of people who wished to throw her into this hell called marriage, Kagome it seemed, was the only one left who was fighting for the wedding to never take place. This left her at a high disadvantage and to tell the truth she had completely run out ideas. It very much seemed that this marriage was going to take place whether she wanted it to or not.

It was not uncommon for women to be placed in unhappy and un-loving marriages, Kagome reminded herself, trying to remain optimistic. 'Plus who knows something could still happen.' She thought, sounding crazy even to herself. 'Some miraculous, unlikely, disastrous, event that would prevent me from marrying the demon prince'

Kagome, in a moment of panic, had even thought about running away. Convincing herself for a moment that being a wandering unknown nomad, and living a life poverty, would be better than spending the rest of her days as Lord Sesshomaru's mate. The only thing that changed her mind, and made her decide to stay, was the thought of what her disappearance would do to her parents. 'Besides, I doubt I could have made it very far with a whole kingdom of demons looking and sniffing around for me' she thought skeptically.

Even though her parents were forcing her into a marriage that she wanted nothing to do with, Kagome knew that they were only doing what they thought was the best thing for her. She knew that, what they were forcing her to do, they were doing so out of love 'The wrong kind of love' in her opinion 'but love all the same.'

Her thoughts leaving those of her parents Kagome began to remember the strange events that took place on the day when she had run, terrified, from the forest. Upon finally being able to move her feet from the spot they had been rooted to, she remembered running as fast as her feet could carry her back to the castle and straight to Lord InuTaisho's office, not caring that she didn't have an official appointment or not.

However, she wasn't foolish enough to just bust into his office without at-least knocking first. 'Funny how her fear of Lord InuTaisho's wrath could even manage to break through the paralyzing fear that she had felt at that moment' Kagome thought, laughing slightly at herself. But as soon as she heard him acknowledge her presence and give her permission to enter, she immediately threw open the large doors to his office. Almost collapsing from the effort used to push open the heavy doors that were about the height of three tall men, and the toll the run back to the castle had taken out of her.

She stood leaning on the doorway for a moment while she tried to gather her breath enough to speak. She had been shocked to find that InuTaisho was not alone and that now, both he and Lord Sesshomaru stood looking wide eyed at her show of great strength and harried appearance.

"Kagome?" Lord InuTaisho asked, reaching towards the small woman's frame thrown off by her distressed appearance. "Is something wrong?"

Kagome gaze immediately locked onto Sesshomaru's gaze and held it until he looked away. 'The bastard probably thought that she was here to tell on him to his father about the incident that happened in the garden' she thought with a scowl on her face. She felt all her previous fear fade away, forgotten for the moment, and quickly beginning to be replaced with the fury she had felt earlier.

Kagome's infuriated look toward his son did not go unnoticed by Lord InuTaisho, and his disapproving and accusing gaze immediately met Sesshomaru's.

"This Sesshomaru assures you that I have nothing to do with this woman's distress" Sesshomaru said, his eyes narrowing at his father's suspicion.

'Sure' Kagome thought, completely ready to mentally lay the blame all on him 'you're the whole reason I ran outside anyway'

"Well child, does he tell the truth?" Lord InuTaisho asked, now looking at Kagome again.

"This Sesshomaru does not lie." Sesshomaru said through his teeth, growling in his chest at his father's obvious distrust.

Sesshomaru quickly turned his head to look at Kagome, daring her with his eyes to claim otherwise. Even Kagome had to admit she had been a bit scared of him at that moment, if looks could kill she would have been slain on the spot. She could tell that his honor was one of things Sesshomaru held to be of the upmost importance and he would not allow anyone to falsely tarnish it.

Even though she had been scared, she could not pass up the small chance to get him back for what happened in the garden, and took the opportunity to further irritate him. She remained silent at Lord InuTaisho question and made sure to make it look as if she was really contemplating her answer, immediately receiving a growl from Lord Sesshomaru as a result.

She didn't have to try too hard however, because in truth she was thinking back over the incident that had happened in the forest. Now that her initial fear was gone she could now calmly think about the events that had happened. Now that she was much calmer she began to wonder if the whole event had been a figment of her imagination, brought about by all her recent stress.

As a matter of fact, the more she tried to recall the memory of what happened, the more crazy the incident seemed to her. From the sudden disappearance of the guards, when surely if something that extreme had happened, she would not have interrupted a seemingly calm meeting between Lord InuTaisho and his son. To a strange presence going unnoticed this close to castle premise and the royal family.

After carefully examining her thoughts, Kagome decided that it would be better if she refrained from telling Lord InuTaisho about the incident, seeing as to how she wasn't even sure if she was allowed outside castle grounds in the first place. It's not like she would be planning to take any more "outdoor exploration" trips anytime soon, and the last thing she needed was for him to increase the already heavy security they had her under.

After laying Lord InuTaisho's mind to rest and assuring him that Sesshomaru wasn't the reason she had come barging into his office like a wild woman, she began to come up with a bunch of miscellaneous excuses for her strange actions. Kagome blushed in embarrassment as she recalled a few of the stupid things she had claimed had disturbed her that day. One of them being, that she had suddenly forgotten the day her parents were supposed to arrive and that she couldn't "for the life of her", remember what day the wedding was even supposed to take place or what she was supposed to wear.

She had made sure to talk extra fast, and pace back and forth, and talk about many different things that she supposed a bride would worry about if she actually wanted to get married, just to confuse the two men and seem as if she was telling the truth. But in the end, she was sure that both of them saw straight through her, and knew that those had not been the true reasons behind her distress, especially Lord Sesshomaru, who knew full well her true feelings about the marriage.

After that day she had spent most of her time getting to know more of the people around the castle. She had tea with Lady Izayoi a few times and even managed to make a few friends in the royal guard, as well as with a few house servants. She had even managed, after much fussing and "Oh no my lady, you mustn't", to convince some of the cooks in the kitchen to allow her to help them cook one evening.

She had also played with some of the children of the servants that also lived in the castle. It amazed her how this castle was big enough to house the royal guard and their families, as well as some of the most trusted servant's families, and still not even be halfway full. It truly was a humongous and beautiful castle.

On the fourth day of her being in the western lands, Kagome had been absolutely wrought with boredom and getting on Sango's last nerve with her constant bored exhales, when she had decided to wonder about the castle leaving Sango alone in the room. She had no idea where her feet were taking her, and giving no thought to getting lost, she continued to wonder aimlessly about the castle. Eventually her feet brought her to the front entrance. She guessed it was probably because that was one of the few places she actually knew by memory how to get to.

Upon her arrival, her sky blue eyes instantly met bright amber ones. She could not help it as her eyes instantly hardened in preparation to give the best glare she had ever given in her life. However, the eyes did not belong to who she thought they would. Although similar in appearance to Lord Sesshomaru's, these eyes held vibrant life and expression in them, much unlike Sesshomaru's very own. Soon her eyes traveled to take in more of the face of this new stranger.

He had very long white hair, slightly dimmer than Sesshomaru and Lord InuTaisho's, and he was wearing a red hakama and haori, with a blade strapped over his shoulder. He looked to be about 5'6"and of medium build and if she had to guess she would say they were around the same age, which was 18, but being that he was a demon she could not really tell.

'AWWWWWWW' Kagome mentally screamed as she saw his cute puppy ears. 'I just want to touch them' she thought, practically squirming where she stood. Becoming serious all of a sudden she suddenly began to stare very intently at them, an action that was beginning to creep Inuyasha out.

'I wonder…' she thought 'would he let me touch them…'

"Oi, girly…" Inuyasha called out to the strange beautiful girl that was now staring at him "What the hell are ya lookin at?"

"Humpf" Kagome puffed at his rude words, hands instantly going on her hips.

'Well he can't possibly be related to Sesshomaru..' she thought, 'not with those bad manners of his.' Not sure how she should take his words she stood there staring the dog demon directly in the eyes.

"Apparently a hoodlum" she mumbled under her breath, beginning to walking away, continuing on her earlier journey.

"Hey, wad you say" he said eyes growing wide at her brazenness.

When she didn't immediately turn around, he walked up behind her intending to grab her arm to keep her from leaving. He was quickly thrown off guard however, when the girl all of a sudden swung her entire body around to face him as soon as he got close up behind her. Freezing in his tracks he watched as the girl began to raise both his hands towards his face.

Growing bright red he began to stutter " W-w-what do ya think you're doin?"

'This girl…what is …what is she doing?!' Inuyasha thought as the girls face drew closer and closer to his own.

As Inuyasha stared directly into the girl's eyes trying to figure out what her motives were, all of a sudden everything came to a sudden stop as the girls hands finally found their way to his…to his…..EARS!

Inuyasha eyes narrowed, as he quickly began to lose patience with this girl who was now squeezing and rubbing his ears furiously. He had finally come to the decision that girl was off her rocker. But whether she was crazy or not, it there was one thing he could not stand it was for people to touch his ears.

"Hey, woman."

"Huh?" Kagome asked, stopping her squeezing of his ears for a moment at the deep sounding change in his voice.

Looking down at him from her tippy-toes, she found his hair shading his eyes so she could not read his features.

"Just what-" he began.

Kagome quickly let go of his ears and took a step back.

"Just what-" he repeated "the hell do you think YOU'RE DOING!" he yelled leaning in towards her face.

Kagome stood there in shocked silence, Inuyasha still huffing in anger over her, as she tried to process what had just happened. Her silence did not last for very long though, as the realization that this boy had just yelled directly in her face. Sure she had touched his ears without his permission but it wasn't that serious.'

"Just who do you think you're YELLING AT?!" she asked backing him up as she immediately lost her cool.

They stood there staring each other down in silence, both refusing to back down. And this is exactly how the rest of the royal family found them. Kagome soon found out that the young hot head was indeed related to Lord Sesshomaru, and not only that but he was Sesshomaru's half -brother and a half- demon. This was the missing family member Inuyasha, who had been on a scouting mission when she had first arrived at castle.

Izayoi had apologized profusely for her son's actions, Inuyasha grunting in indignation throughout her entire apology, clearly telling Kagome that he wasn't in the least bit sorry despite what his mother said. Lord InuTaisho had just seemed amused at the interaction between Kagome and his younger son, and Sesshomaru had looked like he could find many other things that were more worth his time than this petty squabble.

In the span of two days however, she and Inuyasha had become close. Instantly becoming friends and finding it easy to relax in each other's company as if they had known each other for years. He was still as rude as ever though and she found herself getting mad at him at-least two times every couple of hours, but it was a part of him she was quickly becoming used to. After Inuyasha's arrival she had seen even less of Sesshomaru, almost to the point that she wasn't entirely sure if he was still in the castle or not. Although, part of that probably had to do with the fact the Inuyasha had wasted no time in picking on Sesshomaru and his soon to be wife, and made it clear that he would take every opportunity to do so again in the future. Much to Sesshomaru's irritation and chagrin.

On the fifth day, around midday, her parents arrived and Kagome was thoroughly freaking out now that the wedding day was just one day away. Although she had kept her cool when she went to go greet her parents, along with the royal family, her mother could clearly see that something was wrong with her daughter on the inside.

As her father and Lord InuTaisho went off to his office to discuss important matters, after they were done with their family reunion, her mother followed Kagome to her room, leaving the servants to settle their belongings into her and her husband's room. As the Kagome's door slid shut behind the two, Kagome heard her mother take a deep breath to begin the conversation.

"Mother, please don't make me do this." She began before her mother could. "I don't think I could be happy here" she finished, tears standing in her eyes.

At seeing her daughter's pleading gaze Isane's gaze softened even more. She knew that her daughter was extremely strong willed and independent and that she would have problems dealing with this situation in which she had no control.

"Happy here or happy with him?" she genuinely asked, as she walked over to hug her daughter.

"Well I guess I mean happy with him" Kagome clarified, as her mom drew her down to sit on her bed "We're complete opposites mom. He's so cold and distant and he completely ignores and doesn't respect me. I'm sure if I married him, when it came time for me to take over the responsibilities of my land, he won't even allow me"

"I think you might be wrong about him" Isane began "I am not going to tell you that your marriage to him will be easy, but you must know Kagome, that your father and I would never put you through this unless it was absolutely necessary."

"But why?" Kagome asked become frustrated and rising from the bed "Why is it necessary Mother?"

"Your father and I wish that we could allow you to find and marry your own true love, as we did ourselves, but circumstance do not allow.."

"Enough!" Kagome said pushing her mother's arms away as she tried to restrain her "I'm tired of people keeping things from me and lying to me like I have no right to control my own life! If you're going to force me into doing this you should at least allow me right to know the reason why!" she finished, staring hard at her mother.

"You're right" Her mother quietly said, walking back over to sit on the bed and indicating for Kagome to follow.

'What?!' Kagome thought to herself not believing that her mom had finally relinquished. She wisely kept quite as she took her seat beside her mother. Afraid that if she spoke she would wrench her mother from the sudden generous and talkative mood she was in.

"I will tell you the true reason behind the agreement between the Eastern and Western Lands" Isane began, staring intently into Kagome's eyes and conveying the importance behind her words.

AN: Inuyasha has finally made an appearance! YAAAYY XP !, I hope I stayed true to his character enough. Even though this is a SesshyKag story I still love Inuyasha, and his hot-headedness, to death (insert fangirl scream here) I'm sorry that Sesshomaru did not make more of an appearance but there will be plenty of SesshyKagi goodness in the future ;)

Sadly I have some bad news :(( being that it is so near to my final exams and the end of this semester for me, I have decided to put off this story until I get out of school (which is around mid-April). There is a bright side though because after that I should be able to update regularly for you guys (YAY!)

I love writing this story, so I hope you guys continue to have patience with me and continue reading it as I try to manage my busy life :D

Muse: The chapter should be written this way.

Me: (whines)But muse I promised the readers...

Muse: So what! Who's the boss here?!

Me: Um...me? (gets hit over the head with heavy book)

Muse: No idiot, me. Now write it like I told you.

Me: Of course... I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking (rubs sore head)