Disclaimer: I'm innocent! Innocent I tell ya!
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Characters:
Kagome Higurashi-Princess of the Northern lands. Match-made with Sesshomaru.
Rin-Personal maid of Kagome. Kagome's only friend as Kagome is not allowed to be with other people etc be cause of her status.
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Kagome Higurashi sat in her four-poster bed, crying softly to herself. Beside her, Rin, her personal maid and best friend was hugging her, hoping to comfort her young mistress.
"Why Rin? Why must I be betrothed?" Kagome said it acidly. "I don't even know what he's like! He could be a demon for all I know!" Kagome sobbed softly. "Rin, it must be so much easier to be you"
"Lady Kagome, you would never want to be me!" replied the small brown-haired girl, still trying her best to comfort the raven-haired one beside her. "I'm just a maid! You would have to clean the floors and such! And if I may be so bold mistress, I remembered the last time you nearly exploded the kitchen while cooking breakfast!"
This finally gave Kagome a small laugh. "Rin, I'm really going to miss you. I'm going to miss your little jokes and cute antics. I'm going to miss my best friend."
"No mistress, I'm not fit to be your best friend!" replied Rin with an appalled look on her face. "I'm just a maid Lady Kagome." Rin replied demurely, keeping her head down.
"Oh Rin!" said Kagome before throwing her arms around the also sobbing girl next to her.
Rin was her best friend, no, her only friend since childhood. After all, her mother would not let her mingle with the common folk, much less let her play with the children. Although Kagome had everything she could ever want or need in the palace, she didn't have anyone to share it with. She certainly would have died of loneliness if she didn't have Rin though.
The young brown-eyed girl was the only one who could bring a smile to Kagome's face after the latter was scolded or saddened. Heck, Rin could probably bring a smile to anyone's face with her cheerful attitude and ever-present, heart-warming smile. The girl was everything Kagome could wish for in a friend. However, if Rin had one shortcoming, it was…to describe it simply, naïve. The girl usually had an outlook of a child, and aura of innocence, believing that everyone was good and although this was precious in these troubled times, it was sometimes disadvantageous to her. Especially when the other servants took advantage of her.
Sigh. Kagome didn't know how Rin was going to cope without her around to guide her, especially after she has married that horrid prince. She had heard from rumors that the prince was quite cold and unfeeling which made her dread going to his palace even more.
What happened to true love? What happened to her freedom? What is she going to do?
Thinking of this, Kagome began to sob louder than ever, just thinking of her future husband's cold demeanor and the freedom she had lost.
"Lady Kagome! Please don't cry!" the young maid begged as her own chocolate brown eyes brimmed with tears. "Lady Kagome, I'm sure it won't be that bad. Is there anyway I can help you?"
"Rin…if only you could." Replied Kagome with a sigh.
"Rin would do anything to help Lady Kagome. Lady Kagome has been most kind to Rin and Lady Kagome is Rin's friend." She replied with an air of resoluteness.
Just then, Kagome remembered a book she had read in her youth. The Prince and the Pauper, a tale of two boys who had swapped the places in their lives for a taste of the others…could this work? No, Kagome couldn't make Rin do this. The prince was supposed to be a cold and unfeeling creature. She couldn't make Rin live with such a man, much less marry him….
Seeing the thoughtful look on Kagome's face, Rin was curious and asked her mistress what she had thought of.
"I…I've thought of a plan, but…I don't think I could make you go through with it." Replied Kagome uncertainly.
"Anything, Lady Kagome, Rin would do anything for her mistress." Replied Rin in her usual cheerful attitude.
"Well…there was a book I had read where…a prince and a erm…common boy exchanged places in their lives and erm…I was wondering if that would work. I would totally understand if you don't want to though, it's said that the prince is very cold and indifferent to almost everyone around him. You would never want to be near such a person Rin, and as a friend, I wouldn't let you be mistreated like that either."
"And as a friend, that is what I must do for you Lady Kagome," Rin replied with wisdom that seemed beyond her years as she hugged her mistress with a sort of fierce defiance.
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That proverbial fateful day finally came. The night before, Kagome sneaked out of her room into the kitchens while Rin replaced her in the bedroom. Not exactly a master plan but at least they hadn't been caught.
The itinerary was that Kagome, or in this case Rin, was to spend a few months at the prince's western palace before the wedding to "get to know" each other better. But the way things were going and the rumors about the prince; Rin would be lucky if he said even one word to her.
Before the swap had taken place, there was a dinner in which both the prince, Sesshomaru as he was named, and Kagome were both present and throughout the whole course of what was three-hour dinner, a total of 2 sentences were spoken between the two.
At the back of their minds though, both Rin and Kagome had a nagging feeling that this plan was going fail spectacularly.
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AN: Soooo this is my first Inuyasha fic, what do you think? I'm a bit unsure of what I'm going to do with this…. and please review!