The Eternal Curse
Chapter One:
Princess Kagome
Hey, I'm back with an all new fic! Hope you enjoy it like my other stories and don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: People say I don't have a firm grip on reality when I claim to own Inuyasha. My response? Shut the hell up.
Summary: Kagome is a princess with a curse. Prince Inuyasha, that bastard from the Western Lands, thinks he's God. Though he's far from perfect. Onc a month his own curse burdens him. But fate has an odd way of twisting things around and it turns out that Kagome and Inuyasha must pull strength from themselves to help each other fight their curses. Slightly same story of Shrek and Cinderella with a twist, AU.
~*~
Young Kagome Higurashi stared out of the window, dully. Another boring Monday. Another night to live in terror. Another day to live with boredom. Would anything ever change? She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn't realize someone entering her room.
"Kagome?"
"Oh, hi Mama," she said, slowly turning her head to face her.
"Will you be alright, tonight?" she asked worriedly, sweeping across the room in her elegant burgundy dress, heels clicking softly against the hardwood floor.
"Of course Mama. I am 17 after all."
"But," her mother began, nibbling her lip nervously. "You know what happens every night. I have to go to a very important conference with the Yoshitomis, but. . ."
"Mama!" Kagome said sternly. Her mother was very sweet, but sometimes she worried just too much! "I'll be fine. Besides, Sango will be here to help with the. . .erm. . ."
"The pain," she finished sadly. "Well, if you're sure."
"Hai, Mama," Kagome said wearily.
"Okay, but if you change my mind, I'll be in Sato's chambers." She nodded and as soon as her mother left she sighed.
"Will I ever be rid of this curse? Will I EVER be able to love night and not fear it?" Realizing it was almost time for her lessons, Kagome quickly dressed.
~*~
"I'm here Lady Kaede! I'm sorry I'm late. Mother held me up. . ." The old woman put up a wrinkled hand to silence her.
"I understand. Gather your supplies." Archery was Kagome's first lesson. Her older sister Kikyo used to teach her before she died. Not that she missed her or anything, after what she did. . . Shaking her head, she picked up her bow and a quiver of arrows.
"Let's begin."
~*~
Kagome hated dresses. She often tripped running through the long corridors and up flights of worn, musty stairs. What she really needed was a good pair of cotton breeches and a short shirt, but her mother wouldn't stand for it. There was no way in heaven or hell that her daughter, heir to the thrown of the Northern Lands, Descendant of Kiimoto, the Great Priestess, Winner of a Beauty Pageant, and Daughter of the Mighty Warrior Noburo was going to wear peasant clothes! She sighed, hiking up the frills of her dress as she tripped up the stairs to her next class.
She was late for penmanship, also. Yumiko wasn't very pleased. She was a strict, frigid woman, wearing her straight hair into a tight bun, lace up black boots, moth-bitten old dresses, and she had a tense, hollow face with yellow skin resembling a skeleton. Yumiko despised Kagome for her daily tardiness, but she didn't know how the teenager had struggled up a zillion flights of stairs, in a stuffy castle, in a DRESS to get to class only five minutes late.
"TARDY AGAIN!" she screeched, shaking her head, taking out a quill and parchment to scribble down a few words. "Ms. Higurashi, what do you have to say for yourself this time?"
"Ms. Yumiko, I fell on the way--"
"CLUMSY AS WELL AS TARDY!" she yelled, pale face purpling in rage, as she scrawled a few more things onto parchment. "Now take your seat!" Grumbling, Kagome slid into her chair, picked up a battered quill, and bent over to write.
~*~
Thankfully, her next lesson was only a few doors down. With one of her favorite teachers. Tai. Tai was about her age, 19, thankfully, and understood Kagome, often letting her get away with tardiness(Yumiko almost always made her stay after class)
"Today you're going to learn how to serve tea properly. You'll be needing it, soon." Tai winked.
"What?" she asked. Tai shrugged her thin shoulders, while tucking a lock of her dark brown hair behind her ear, eyes still twinkling with mirth. ~What is mom planning?~ Kagome sat down, in front of the low table, covered with ancient china.
"First, pour to the tea, and be careful not to burn yourself." She nodded, picking up the pot delicately, tipping the steaming hot brown liquid into her cup then Tai's.
"No, no. Serve the guest first, then yourself."
"But you're all the way down there!" Kagome pouted. Tai rolled her eyes.
"There are croissants on that plate right there. Please distribute them." Kagome walked over to the silver platter and dumped a golden biscuit on her friends plate, then hers.
"Wrong! You must gently place down the croissant, or else it means you really don't wish to be hostess," Tai corrected gently. "Maybe you can do this right. Sip the tea, pinky extended."
"Why?" She shrugged again.
"I dunno. It's just how I learned." But Kagome complied, delicately picking up the hot cup, putting it to her lips, and sipping it very softly, extending her pinky.
"Mmm. . .Herbal tea." She raised an eyebrow.
"Anyway, now you must make polite conversation."
"Tai, what did you mean earlier, about I'll be needing it soon?" Her young instructor looked guilty.
"I really wasn't supposed to tell you anything, but. . ."
"But. . ."
"You may be having a guest come over soon."
"Huh? Who! What! When! Why!" Tai chuckled softly, taking a swig of her own tea before replying,
"The details aren't clear yet, and I wasn't supposed to tell you so you wouldn't get your hopes up and it was going to be a surprise." Kagome nodded eagerly, ripping a chunk out of her biscuit.
"Do you know anything else?" she asked thickly.
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat. Visitors wasn't something she could hope for everyday. She only had one friend, her servant and teacher, Sango, but she wasn't available all of the time, because of her duties. Tai was a great friend, but she also had her own jobs and couldn't be bothered with Kagome unless she was giving her lessons.
"Well, do ya?" she questioned eagerly, almost spilling her tea in her anxious grab for it.
"I don't know whether or not it's a boy or girl, but I'm guessing girl, though I could be wrong. I also don't know the reason why he or she is coming over, but I'll try and find out for you!" She winked, but then looked up at the grandfather clock. "Oh my! You're late. Chie won't be happy." Tai found a spare piece of parchment and lone quill, dipping it in ink, before writing a hurried note.
"Give this to your next teacher! Now scat!"
"Bye!" Kagome quickly got to her feet, grabbed the note, and dashed from the room. "Shoot! Chie's classes are on the next floor!" She groaned. Another flight of stairs to trip and fall down. Oh joy.
Clutching the note tightly in her hand, holding up her skirts in the other, she made a mad dash down the stairs, and thought she was home free when she lost her footing and went thumping down the stairs.
"Ow," she moaned, rubbing her butt as she swiftly stood up. Kagome ignored the stares of the confused servants, and ran into a small room to her left.
"KAGOME HIGURASHI!" She winced. She had hoped Chie would be in a good mood, but that would be as likely as Yumiko being remotely attractive. Kagome gave her a quick, wobbly curtsy before looking Chie in the eye. She never understood why the woman was so bitter. Chie was in her earlier twenties, and very attractive, with waist length black hair, pale, creamy skin, rare blue eyes, and perfect teeth, and men ran after her. Maybe it was the fact that she was an orphan. Kagome felt a pang of pity but was quickly swallowed up when Chie didn't accept the late pass, and gave Kagome an after class detention, which would make her late for her next class. This just wasn't her day.
~*~
Kagome hated her extra class. Because she was so clumsy, she had to attend it, to make her posture better and so she wouldn't trip and stumble every few seconds. It just wasn't proper for a queen-in-waiting. She wiped a loose strand of her ebony black hair from her face, and smiled. It was her last lesson of the day, with Sango.
~*~
"Oi, Kagome, you're late!" Sango cried, shaking her head while biting her lip painfully.
"Gomen, Sango. I was late for all of my classes because of my talk with Mama, and Chie made me have an after-class detention because of it."
"It's alright. We're friends, remember?" Kagome nodded eagerly.
"What are we doing today?"
"Zenshin and Rei need to be walked."
"Yay!" Zenshin and Rei were stray dogs that Kagome found in the wild one year ago and begged her mom to take them in. It took a while to tame the dogs and make them suitable pets, but it was worth it.
She followed Sango to her dogs' outside pens. Kagome pulled Rei, the small, yappy pup with thick black hair and floppy ears and attached a rope to her collar. Sango struggled with Zenshin, the gigantic, yet graceful huge, white, wolf-like dog with crystal blue eyes.
"So, Sango," Kagome began slyly, as Rei trotted along, sniffing the trail, bushy black tail wagging furiously. "Do you know anything about a guest coming over anytime soon?" She gulped.
"I don't think so Kagome-chan," she replied stiffly, while patting Zenshin distractedly.
"But Tai said--"
"Tai has a big mouth," Sango said simply. "And loves to gossip. Not that I don't like her or anything she's just. . ."
"Perky," she finished, as the sun filtered through the leaves on the trail and dappled her hair. "But you know something's going on, right?" Sango shrugged again and Zenshin tried to drag her along.
"No, Zen, stop!" she growled, completely ignoring the question.
"Sango!" Kagome whined. "Pa-leeeeese!"
"Well. . .you know about the Yoshitomis, right?"
"Vaguely."
"They're some big demons who rule the Western Lands, though recently, King Ikemoto married a human and she gave birth to a hanyou, but the father died a few years later."
"That's so sad!"
"Yeah," Sango nodded. "But that's not the worst of it. Their son, Inu. . .Inuyappa, or something like that is a real brat. He has tantrums and is really strong and snobby."
"And Mama's going to have a conference with them!" Kagome squealed. "That's awful."
"Plus, they're looking for a girl to marry him." She let out a stifled shriek.
"Omigod! Mama better not--"
"Did she say?. . ."
"No! And if she wants me to marry. . ."
"I would go and talk. . ." Kagome nodded.
"Could you put Rei away for me? I gotta go talk to her!" She quickly shoved Sango the leash and dashed away, waving over her shoulder. "Thanks! I owe you one!"
***
"Damn! Why does it have to be so hot!" Kagome panted, wiping sweat from her face. Her shoes, which used to be white, were now brown, scuffed with mud. She ran up the steps, through open the palace doors, sprinted up another flight up steps, rounded the corner, and fled into Sato's room.
As expected, her mom was still there, in a very elegant gown, as Sato—her mom's lady in waiting—combed her jet black locks.
"M-M-Mama!" Kagome huffed, clutching a stitch in her side.
"What's wrong sweetie?" she asked rather calmly.
"You know how you're going to the Yoshitomis?"
"Yeah. . ."
"And you know how they have a son, right?"
"Hai."
"Then, are you gonna try and make me marry that brat, like you did that other guy, Hobo?"
"Hojo was a very nice, well mannered, well behaved, sweet young man. Why did you decline his offer?"
"Because he was BORING! All he did was talk about his lint collection. . ." She ushered Sato away, and stood up to face Kagome.
"I have been thinking about it."
"But you haven't asked me!" she screeched, face reddening in anger, hands balling into small fists.
"Then, I decided, you should be allowed to choose who you marry, so I declined Shioko's, Inuyasha's mother's offer." Kagome broke out into a smile, and threw her arms around her mom.
"Thank you Mama. I'm sorry for accusing you." (Kagome's mom's name is Koi, so that's what I'm going to call her from now on) Koi patted her hair. "Are we going to have a guest over soon?"
"Maybe. Ooh, Kagome, have you been exercising the dog's again?"
"Why?"
"Maybe you should freshen up before dinner."
"Hai. Arigato, Mama."
~*~
As Kagome sat in her tub, she thought about all that was going on. This would be her first night, alone without Koi, when the curse would take affect. She shivered. It was the most painful thing she ever had to endure. Worse than skinning your knee. Falling down the stairs(which she did frequently). Or even cramps. Sighing, she picked up a sponge, put on some soap, and lathered, then washed her now pink skin.
"I hate having early dinners," she groaned softly. Kagome snuck an early breakfast, as the sun rose, and skipped lunch because she never head the time, sadly. They always had dinner at 4 o'clock sharp, because when the first splotches of black spotted the horizon, she would have to be ushered to her chambers, so the horrible screams wouldn't be heard throughout the halls.
She got up and dried herself off, picking out a nice, deep blue dress to wear with a matching headband.
Dinner was always a royal affair. Everyone, the servants, the cooks, the cleaners, the ladies-in-waiting, the instructors, the stable hands, and of course, the queen and princess would sit at an enormous table, in the dining hall, with a clean, white tablecloth, with expensive china, glass cups, and silver or gold utensils. And above, hung a huge, crystal chandelier.
Gasping for breath, Kagome made a dive(figuratively)for the table, earning a sharp glare from everyone else, including her mom. Blushing, she quickly took her place next to Koi, and waited for the cooks to arrive the meal before they to took their places at the table.
"Kagome, you're late," she hissed under her breath.
"Sorry Mama."
"And, I heard from all of your instructors that you were late, also." She bowed her head in shame. Didn't her mother realize that tramping around a huge, ancient Japanese palace was no picnic? She was always tired at the end of her day, but due to certain circumstances, she really never got much rest. Only on the weekends was she able to relax and sleep as much as she pleased.
"It's hard for me to run all around the castle so fast. Every class is five minutes apart and they are spread all around. It takes me forever."
"Then you must try to wake up earlier. Kikyo was never late." How DARE she bring up KIKYO! It was her fault that Kagome had to live under this curse, live every night in pain and shame, and it was all over jealousy. For what?!
"Mama, Kikyo is a. . ." She was about to say something rather rude, which started with a b and ended in itch, but decided that she didn't feel like getting punished.
"Ahhh. . ." The delightful cries echoed through the Great Hall. The cooks had finally arrived along with the waiters with platters of food.
***
"Bye, Kagome. Please behave yourself and stay in your chambers. I will arrive early in the morning. Sango will be with you momentarily. Now are you SURE you are comfortable with me leaving?" She nodded.
"Yes, I don't want you to miss an important conference because of me." She squirmed uncomfortably. Of course she wanted her mom to stay, but she was 17 and she didn't want to act like a sniveling baby.
Kagome watched as Koi elegantly swept from the castle, and was escorted into a carriage. As soon as she sped off into the darkening light, she obediently trotted upstairs into her room. Sango was there.
"Kagome-chan, would you like to sit down?" She shook her head and began peering out of the window. Sango paced around anxiously.
"I hate night," Kagome rumbled as soon as the sun sank below the horizon pain began to overcome her body.
Chapter One:
Princess Kagome
Hey, I'm back with an all new fic! Hope you enjoy it like my other stories and don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: People say I don't have a firm grip on reality when I claim to own Inuyasha. My response? Shut the hell up.
Summary: Kagome is a princess with a curse. Prince Inuyasha, that bastard from the Western Lands, thinks he's God. Though he's far from perfect. Onc a month his own curse burdens him. But fate has an odd way of twisting things around and it turns out that Kagome and Inuyasha must pull strength from themselves to help each other fight their curses. Slightly same story of Shrek and Cinderella with a twist, AU.
~*~
Young Kagome Higurashi stared out of the window, dully. Another boring Monday. Another night to live in terror. Another day to live with boredom. Would anything ever change? She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn't realize someone entering her room.
"Kagome?"
"Oh, hi Mama," she said, slowly turning her head to face her.
"Will you be alright, tonight?" she asked worriedly, sweeping across the room in her elegant burgundy dress, heels clicking softly against the hardwood floor.
"Of course Mama. I am 17 after all."
"But," her mother began, nibbling her lip nervously. "You know what happens every night. I have to go to a very important conference with the Yoshitomis, but. . ."
"Mama!" Kagome said sternly. Her mother was very sweet, but sometimes she worried just too much! "I'll be fine. Besides, Sango will be here to help with the. . .erm. . ."
"The pain," she finished sadly. "Well, if you're sure."
"Hai, Mama," Kagome said wearily.
"Okay, but if you change my mind, I'll be in Sato's chambers." She nodded and as soon as her mother left she sighed.
"Will I ever be rid of this curse? Will I EVER be able to love night and not fear it?" Realizing it was almost time for her lessons, Kagome quickly dressed.
~*~
"I'm here Lady Kaede! I'm sorry I'm late. Mother held me up. . ." The old woman put up a wrinkled hand to silence her.
"I understand. Gather your supplies." Archery was Kagome's first lesson. Her older sister Kikyo used to teach her before she died. Not that she missed her or anything, after what she did. . . Shaking her head, she picked up her bow and a quiver of arrows.
"Let's begin."
~*~
Kagome hated dresses. She often tripped running through the long corridors and up flights of worn, musty stairs. What she really needed was a good pair of cotton breeches and a short shirt, but her mother wouldn't stand for it. There was no way in heaven or hell that her daughter, heir to the thrown of the Northern Lands, Descendant of Kiimoto, the Great Priestess, Winner of a Beauty Pageant, and Daughter of the Mighty Warrior Noburo was going to wear peasant clothes! She sighed, hiking up the frills of her dress as she tripped up the stairs to her next class.
She was late for penmanship, also. Yumiko wasn't very pleased. She was a strict, frigid woman, wearing her straight hair into a tight bun, lace up black boots, moth-bitten old dresses, and she had a tense, hollow face with yellow skin resembling a skeleton. Yumiko despised Kagome for her daily tardiness, but she didn't know how the teenager had struggled up a zillion flights of stairs, in a stuffy castle, in a DRESS to get to class only five minutes late.
"TARDY AGAIN!" she screeched, shaking her head, taking out a quill and parchment to scribble down a few words. "Ms. Higurashi, what do you have to say for yourself this time?"
"Ms. Yumiko, I fell on the way--"
"CLUMSY AS WELL AS TARDY!" she yelled, pale face purpling in rage, as she scrawled a few more things onto parchment. "Now take your seat!" Grumbling, Kagome slid into her chair, picked up a battered quill, and bent over to write.
~*~
Thankfully, her next lesson was only a few doors down. With one of her favorite teachers. Tai. Tai was about her age, 19, thankfully, and understood Kagome, often letting her get away with tardiness(Yumiko almost always made her stay after class)
"Today you're going to learn how to serve tea properly. You'll be needing it, soon." Tai winked.
"What?" she asked. Tai shrugged her thin shoulders, while tucking a lock of her dark brown hair behind her ear, eyes still twinkling with mirth. ~What is mom planning?~ Kagome sat down, in front of the low table, covered with ancient china.
"First, pour to the tea, and be careful not to burn yourself." She nodded, picking up the pot delicately, tipping the steaming hot brown liquid into her cup then Tai's.
"No, no. Serve the guest first, then yourself."
"But you're all the way down there!" Kagome pouted. Tai rolled her eyes.
"There are croissants on that plate right there. Please distribute them." Kagome walked over to the silver platter and dumped a golden biscuit on her friends plate, then hers.
"Wrong! You must gently place down the croissant, or else it means you really don't wish to be hostess," Tai corrected gently. "Maybe you can do this right. Sip the tea, pinky extended."
"Why?" She shrugged again.
"I dunno. It's just how I learned." But Kagome complied, delicately picking up the hot cup, putting it to her lips, and sipping it very softly, extending her pinky.
"Mmm. . .Herbal tea." She raised an eyebrow.
"Anyway, now you must make polite conversation."
"Tai, what did you mean earlier, about I'll be needing it soon?" Her young instructor looked guilty.
"I really wasn't supposed to tell you anything, but. . ."
"But. . ."
"You may be having a guest come over soon."
"Huh? Who! What! When! Why!" Tai chuckled softly, taking a swig of her own tea before replying,
"The details aren't clear yet, and I wasn't supposed to tell you so you wouldn't get your hopes up and it was going to be a surprise." Kagome nodded eagerly, ripping a chunk out of her biscuit.
"Do you know anything else?" she asked thickly.
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat. Visitors wasn't something she could hope for everyday. She only had one friend, her servant and teacher, Sango, but she wasn't available all of the time, because of her duties. Tai was a great friend, but she also had her own jobs and couldn't be bothered with Kagome unless she was giving her lessons.
"Well, do ya?" she questioned eagerly, almost spilling her tea in her anxious grab for it.
"I don't know whether or not it's a boy or girl, but I'm guessing girl, though I could be wrong. I also don't know the reason why he or she is coming over, but I'll try and find out for you!" She winked, but then looked up at the grandfather clock. "Oh my! You're late. Chie won't be happy." Tai found a spare piece of parchment and lone quill, dipping it in ink, before writing a hurried note.
"Give this to your next teacher! Now scat!"
"Bye!" Kagome quickly got to her feet, grabbed the note, and dashed from the room. "Shoot! Chie's classes are on the next floor!" She groaned. Another flight of stairs to trip and fall down. Oh joy.
Clutching the note tightly in her hand, holding up her skirts in the other, she made a mad dash down the stairs, and thought she was home free when she lost her footing and went thumping down the stairs.
"Ow," she moaned, rubbing her butt as she swiftly stood up. Kagome ignored the stares of the confused servants, and ran into a small room to her left.
"KAGOME HIGURASHI!" She winced. She had hoped Chie would be in a good mood, but that would be as likely as Yumiko being remotely attractive. Kagome gave her a quick, wobbly curtsy before looking Chie in the eye. She never understood why the woman was so bitter. Chie was in her earlier twenties, and very attractive, with waist length black hair, pale, creamy skin, rare blue eyes, and perfect teeth, and men ran after her. Maybe it was the fact that she was an orphan. Kagome felt a pang of pity but was quickly swallowed up when Chie didn't accept the late pass, and gave Kagome an after class detention, which would make her late for her next class. This just wasn't her day.
~*~
Kagome hated her extra class. Because she was so clumsy, she had to attend it, to make her posture better and so she wouldn't trip and stumble every few seconds. It just wasn't proper for a queen-in-waiting. She wiped a loose strand of her ebony black hair from her face, and smiled. It was her last lesson of the day, with Sango.
~*~
"Oi, Kagome, you're late!" Sango cried, shaking her head while biting her lip painfully.
"Gomen, Sango. I was late for all of my classes because of my talk with Mama, and Chie made me have an after-class detention because of it."
"It's alright. We're friends, remember?" Kagome nodded eagerly.
"What are we doing today?"
"Zenshin and Rei need to be walked."
"Yay!" Zenshin and Rei were stray dogs that Kagome found in the wild one year ago and begged her mom to take them in. It took a while to tame the dogs and make them suitable pets, but it was worth it.
She followed Sango to her dogs' outside pens. Kagome pulled Rei, the small, yappy pup with thick black hair and floppy ears and attached a rope to her collar. Sango struggled with Zenshin, the gigantic, yet graceful huge, white, wolf-like dog with crystal blue eyes.
"So, Sango," Kagome began slyly, as Rei trotted along, sniffing the trail, bushy black tail wagging furiously. "Do you know anything about a guest coming over anytime soon?" She gulped.
"I don't think so Kagome-chan," she replied stiffly, while patting Zenshin distractedly.
"But Tai said--"
"Tai has a big mouth," Sango said simply. "And loves to gossip. Not that I don't like her or anything she's just. . ."
"Perky," she finished, as the sun filtered through the leaves on the trail and dappled her hair. "But you know something's going on, right?" Sango shrugged again and Zenshin tried to drag her along.
"No, Zen, stop!" she growled, completely ignoring the question.
"Sango!" Kagome whined. "Pa-leeeeese!"
"Well. . .you know about the Yoshitomis, right?"
"Vaguely."
"They're some big demons who rule the Western Lands, though recently, King Ikemoto married a human and she gave birth to a hanyou, but the father died a few years later."
"That's so sad!"
"Yeah," Sango nodded. "But that's not the worst of it. Their son, Inu. . .Inuyappa, or something like that is a real brat. He has tantrums and is really strong and snobby."
"And Mama's going to have a conference with them!" Kagome squealed. "That's awful."
"Plus, they're looking for a girl to marry him." She let out a stifled shriek.
"Omigod! Mama better not--"
"Did she say?. . ."
"No! And if she wants me to marry. . ."
"I would go and talk. . ." Kagome nodded.
"Could you put Rei away for me? I gotta go talk to her!" She quickly shoved Sango the leash and dashed away, waving over her shoulder. "Thanks! I owe you one!"
***
"Damn! Why does it have to be so hot!" Kagome panted, wiping sweat from her face. Her shoes, which used to be white, were now brown, scuffed with mud. She ran up the steps, through open the palace doors, sprinted up another flight up steps, rounded the corner, and fled into Sato's room.
As expected, her mom was still there, in a very elegant gown, as Sato—her mom's lady in waiting—combed her jet black locks.
"M-M-Mama!" Kagome huffed, clutching a stitch in her side.
"What's wrong sweetie?" she asked rather calmly.
"You know how you're going to the Yoshitomis?"
"Yeah. . ."
"And you know how they have a son, right?"
"Hai."
"Then, are you gonna try and make me marry that brat, like you did that other guy, Hobo?"
"Hojo was a very nice, well mannered, well behaved, sweet young man. Why did you decline his offer?"
"Because he was BORING! All he did was talk about his lint collection. . ." She ushered Sato away, and stood up to face Kagome.
"I have been thinking about it."
"But you haven't asked me!" she screeched, face reddening in anger, hands balling into small fists.
"Then, I decided, you should be allowed to choose who you marry, so I declined Shioko's, Inuyasha's mother's offer." Kagome broke out into a smile, and threw her arms around her mom.
"Thank you Mama. I'm sorry for accusing you." (Kagome's mom's name is Koi, so that's what I'm going to call her from now on) Koi patted her hair. "Are we going to have a guest over soon?"
"Maybe. Ooh, Kagome, have you been exercising the dog's again?"
"Why?"
"Maybe you should freshen up before dinner."
"Hai. Arigato, Mama."
~*~
As Kagome sat in her tub, she thought about all that was going on. This would be her first night, alone without Koi, when the curse would take affect. She shivered. It was the most painful thing she ever had to endure. Worse than skinning your knee. Falling down the stairs(which she did frequently). Or even cramps. Sighing, she picked up a sponge, put on some soap, and lathered, then washed her now pink skin.
"I hate having early dinners," she groaned softly. Kagome snuck an early breakfast, as the sun rose, and skipped lunch because she never head the time, sadly. They always had dinner at 4 o'clock sharp, because when the first splotches of black spotted the horizon, she would have to be ushered to her chambers, so the horrible screams wouldn't be heard throughout the halls.
She got up and dried herself off, picking out a nice, deep blue dress to wear with a matching headband.
Dinner was always a royal affair. Everyone, the servants, the cooks, the cleaners, the ladies-in-waiting, the instructors, the stable hands, and of course, the queen and princess would sit at an enormous table, in the dining hall, with a clean, white tablecloth, with expensive china, glass cups, and silver or gold utensils. And above, hung a huge, crystal chandelier.
Gasping for breath, Kagome made a dive(figuratively)for the table, earning a sharp glare from everyone else, including her mom. Blushing, she quickly took her place next to Koi, and waited for the cooks to arrive the meal before they to took their places at the table.
"Kagome, you're late," she hissed under her breath.
"Sorry Mama."
"And, I heard from all of your instructors that you were late, also." She bowed her head in shame. Didn't her mother realize that tramping around a huge, ancient Japanese palace was no picnic? She was always tired at the end of her day, but due to certain circumstances, she really never got much rest. Only on the weekends was she able to relax and sleep as much as she pleased.
"It's hard for me to run all around the castle so fast. Every class is five minutes apart and they are spread all around. It takes me forever."
"Then you must try to wake up earlier. Kikyo was never late." How DARE she bring up KIKYO! It was her fault that Kagome had to live under this curse, live every night in pain and shame, and it was all over jealousy. For what?!
"Mama, Kikyo is a. . ." She was about to say something rather rude, which started with a b and ended in itch, but decided that she didn't feel like getting punished.
"Ahhh. . ." The delightful cries echoed through the Great Hall. The cooks had finally arrived along with the waiters with platters of food.
***
"Bye, Kagome. Please behave yourself and stay in your chambers. I will arrive early in the morning. Sango will be with you momentarily. Now are you SURE you are comfortable with me leaving?" She nodded.
"Yes, I don't want you to miss an important conference because of me." She squirmed uncomfortably. Of course she wanted her mom to stay, but she was 17 and she didn't want to act like a sniveling baby.
Kagome watched as Koi elegantly swept from the castle, and was escorted into a carriage. As soon as she sped off into the darkening light, she obediently trotted upstairs into her room. Sango was there.
"Kagome-chan, would you like to sit down?" She shook her head and began peering out of the window. Sango paced around anxiously.
"I hate night," Kagome rumbled as soon as the sun sank below the horizon pain began to overcome her body.