InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Soul Exchange ❯ Marry Me ( Chapter 24 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AN: Well you all assume it's Inu and Kag with this proposal... what if it's Lady Inu and... the guy who tends the horses down in the stables? It could happen...

And another thing we better set straight - the time that has gone by since Kagome arrived on the island. Well, she arrived around a new moon and received the poison of Sesshomaru - and he said she had 3 months to get the cure and get the info off Inuyasha. Now since that time Inuyasha has turned full Youkai once (on the full moon) and human once, again - at the time of the last battle. Now that means it's only really been a full month since Kagome got the poison - so she isn't going to die just yet.

And I know, because I was very careful about how much time passes in this. So really Kagome has only known Inuyasha for a little over a month...












Soul Exchange

Marry Me



















"You disgust me you filthy little whore! If you touch me again it'll be the last thing you ever touch with those defiled fingers! Got that?! If I ever see your face again I may not be so lenient in my decision to not have you executed!" Inuyasha shouted, facing Kagome.

She blinked at him in surprise for a moment. "Is that what you really said to Urami?"

"Well..." Inuyasha shrugged and went back to practising his sword swings. "In a nutshell. The real thing went on for like five minutes until I shouted myself hoarse."

"So what are you going to do with her?" Kagome asked, watching him idly.

"I dunno..." he spoke without breaking in his practise. "She's not really much of a threat. Mum doesn't want her to be executed. So we'll just keep her locked up for a while to give her a scare and then send her back to her village."

"You mean she really does have a village?" Kagome looked surprised. "I thought she made all that stuff about having a family up."

Inuyasha shook his head slightly. "No. Some soldiers went to check it out. She has a family, a large one, that's depending on her as the breadwinner. She has no father though, he was killed personally by my father after being found out to be a spy for the north as well. Sort of ironic what he named his daughter, Urami, 'resentment', and she followed his footsteps to get revenge."

"I call that having no life of her own." Kagome said snippily. "She should have just settled for marrying a farmer and taken care of her family."

Inuyasha grunted a noncommittal reply. He didn't like talking about Urami. She was just another spy that wasn't really worth the time to think about. Kagome was a much nicer topic of thought. Now what had she meant by that 'best friend' comment?

"You know..." Kagome sighed to herself and cocked her head as she watched him. "After seeing your father in those visions... you look a lot like him actually... except maybe he was slightly taller... like Sesshomaru I guess..."

Inuyasha's face warmed slightly. He didn't know why a comment like that made him slightly flustered. Maybe it was because a lot of people thought his father had been extremely good looking... and if Kagome thought he looked like his father then perhaps...

"But you have a cuter butt anyway." Kagome concluded with a grin.

The surprise made Inuyasha's foot slip on the mat and he fell with a short cry onto his front, and didn't move. The only sound that could be heard after that was Kagome's mirthful laughter. "Oh Inuyasha... you're such a goof..."

"And you're such a flibbertigibbet." He shot back.

Kagome sobered at once. "What did you call me?! I am NOT the inside of a chicken! Is that some kind of new insult?"

Inuyasha stared at her. "What?! I didn't call you giblets!"

"Oh..." She calmed down a little. "Then what does flubber-jibbits mean?"

"You really are a peasant aren't you...?" Inuyasha shook his head at her.





^_^





"What's the matter Sango?" Miroku asked as he looked up from the baby he held to the ticked off looking girl sitting by the bedroom window.

"The Shikon no Tama..." Sango snapped out angrily. "The bleeding jewel... I thought it was a pearl or something that the fish had eaten - but no! It HAS to be the one precious thing that Inuyasha just HAS to take back! I could have sold it and been rich! But no - he has to give it to Kagome to save her soul!"

"Curse that selfish pair." Miroku shook his head, but he smiled with amusement at Sango's obvious anger.

"Don't patronise me..." she warned with narrowed eyes, but she wasn't being totally serious with him.

"I wasn't." he carefully put the sleeping Fushi back in his cradle and went over to sit down beside Sango. "But if you're so hooked up on having a pretty jewel... here you go."

He dropped a pendent into her hand and waited for her reaction.

Sango gasped and stared at it. Slowly she held it up to see it better. "Miroku... it's... it's beautiful, it's real gold, it's perfect... it's... it's... Lady Inu's." She froze before turning a glare on him. "Miroku... you stole this from Lady Inu didn't you?"

"Well... yes and no..." he started off but Sango slapped the pendent back into his hand.

"There - go steal it back before she notices." She sighed. "I guess time really hasn't changed some people."

Miroku pocketed the pendent before glancing back across at her. "I may have changed more than you think."

Sango snorted in response.

"Well if I was really the same person would I have done this...?" he asked. Sango glanced at him sharply, waiting for him to grope her or something... but instead he slipped off the bed and knelt before her, taking his hands in his. Sango stared at him in open surprise, at once all the irritation she'd felt before left her in a snap as she realised what he was about to do.

"Sango... please say you'll marry me." He said earnestly. "And before you say no - let me just tell you a few of the many reasons why we should marry. Number one, being because of Fushi - I want him to grow up in a stable family unit and so on - and another reason would be that I want to stick around and make sure you don't marry anyone else and make them into more of a father to Fushi than me. Also I think if we marry it would be very financially rewarding if you know what I mean."

"And the part where we marry for love comes in when?" Sango raised an eyebrow at him.

"I was getting to that..." Miroku squeezed her hands. "But I didn't think that would matter so much to you..."

Sango sighed and pulled her hands away... only to place them on either side of his face. "Miroku... I'll only marry you if you love me."

"Then you should have married me years ago." He smiled. "I take it this is an extended answer for 'yes'?"

"Yes." Sango smiled widely and leaned down to kiss him on the lips for the first time in a long, long time.





^_^





It had taken a full day to travel from the northern territory all the way to the Southern palace without being detected by anyone along the way. Sesshomaru's men had to take the long way around, sticking to the tree lines along the coast. But it had been worth it, and when they arrived at the Southern palace they could barely contain themselves.

"They're ours!" one the men practically bubbled like a young girl. "They don't suspect a thing! We could just storm the palace tonight and they'd never know what hit them!"

"Shut your mouth, fool." Sesshomaru cut him off sharply. "We are not storming anything. We are talking this place by stealth. And you are to kill no one. The smell of blood will alert them."

"How do you wish us to go about this?" the captain of the guard asked.

"Infiltrate and render the guards and soldiers unconscious and replace them with our own one by one." Sesshomaru said loudly so they all heard. "Hide the Southern warriors in the closets and rooms and take their posts. Then when I give the order... it will look like a mutiny... they will not see it coming."





^_^





Kago me hugged her knees loosely as she stared daringly across the tiny storage room to Inuyasha who was staring just as intensely back. How much time had passed? It seemed like forever... but neither were going to back down from the challenge. The room was really only big enough for one of them so they had to sit opposite each other to either side of the door with their backs against the walls. But even then their knees still touched and Kagome tried to distract Inuyasha's gaze by tapping the end of her foot lightly on his toes.

"You can't keep this up forever." He told her, struggling to hold back a grin.

"I come from a family with fifteen people in the house... most of them kids... I can do this ALL day." Kagome replied evenly, refusing to look away.

"What happens when you need to eat, drink and sleep. What happens when you need the bathroom?" Inuyasha pointed out.

"I can wait."

He smirked. "I can wait longer."

Good point, but she was sure she could win this little staring contest. It had been building up over the day. They'd been trying to outstare each other since the minute they'd sat down for breakfast. Inuyasha had lost five times, mostly because he'd been distracted by something and forgotten the contest, while Kagome had only lost once so far.

Now Inuyasha was getting annoyed and wanted to prove that he could win anything, even something as simple as a staring contest.

It was rather sad really...

"Inuyasha..." Kagome tried to distract him again. "You have a stain on your shirt."

"That only works once." He said, holding her gaze and refusing to look down to see if she was right. In actual fact - she WAS telling the truth. Inuyasha was not a neat eater when he was starving... like he'd been at supper an hour ago.

The sound of running footsteps could be heard outside in the corridor, and Sango's voice calling out. "Inuyasha? Oh Inu~ya~sha! The advisors want to talk to you about that marriage thing again - they say you have to take a wife!"

Kagome smiled as she saw Inuyasha's lip curl slightly.

"And I have some great news to tell you and Kagome!" Sango called out. "But I won't tell you till you come out from wherever it is you're hiding!"

"Should we go see?" Kagome asked quietly.

Inuyasha gave an ever so small shake of the head. "It's a trick... she pulls that one all the time. She only says it to make me come out and then the advisors pin me down to question me."

Sango's footsteps retreated down the corridor until they were gone along with her voice. Kagome went back to thinking of a way to get Inuyasha to look away. Suddenly she got a brilliant idea.

She gasped loudly and suddenly tightened her arms around her knees. "Dammit..."

"What?" he frowned, waiting for her to try and cheat on their game.

"I forgot to put my underwear on this morning!" she hissed.

Inuyasha forgot the game in a heartbeat and jerked his eyes downwards to see if she was right. Kagome burst out laughing and poked him in the chest. "Your perverted ways are your downfall!"

"That was under the belt!" he snapped, jerking his eyes back up to her face.

"I'd say." She sniggered at him. "I am wearing underwear by the way."

"I know." He saw her glare at him and quickly tried again. "I mean - I know because you were obviously trying to catch me out."

"Right..." she tucked her skirts more securely around her. "Anyway - we should be going, I'm sure they're all wondering where we went. They probably think we've sneaked off to... you know..."

Inuyasha pulled a face. "Best two out of three - I have to win this!"

"No you don't!" Kagome laughed as she got to her feet and brushed her skirts down.

"Oh come on - if you go then I have to go and then the advisors put a hook around my neck and make me sit down and listen to a loud of crap about the kingdom. Do you know how boring that is?"

"Well, being King comes at a price you know." Kagome pointed out. "It isn't always sunshine and daisies and fancy costumes."

"I know that - that's why I get a break from being King for three hours a day." He folded his arms moodily. "I still have an hour left so I'm not going anywhere."

"So you're just going to sit in a cupboard for an hour until your shift to be king comes back?" Kagome seemed reluctant to leave. "Alone?"

Inuyasha sighed, milking the situation. He could play on her sympathy and get her to stay. "Yes..."

"You lonely fool..." Kagome sat back with a smile, though found this difficult because he'd stretched his legs out across the small space. And since he refused to move his legs because he was comfortable, she was forced to sit a little to the side of his feet and stretch her legs out across his in retaliation. He didn't seem to mind though.

"So you wanna make it the best two out of three?" she asked, realising that their current position was a lot more comfortable than the last.

"Nah... I'm bored of the now." He shrugged.

"You have the attention span of a minnow." She told him flatly.

"No... mine is less." He smirked and rapped his claws lightly against her shin. "Damn... your feet are really cold."

"That's what happens when you don't wear shoes." She leaned down and pretended to sniff his feet and wrinkled her nose. "At least mine don't stink."

"Don't be so sure." That earned him a sound pinch on the ankle. "Hey!"

"You had that coming..." she told him.

They sat in a comfortable sort of silence for a while in the dark room, before eventually Inuyasha noticed Kagome was grinning like a maniac. "What?" he asked, frowning, thinking she was laughing at him.

"No... I'm just really happy that's all." She laughed slightly. "Naraku hasn't visited me... I think... I think he really can't find me... he has nothing on me anymore."

Inuyasha didn't feel so inclined to smile. Any mention of Naraku made his stomach lurch with anger and hatred. "That's good, right."

"He only has about a month before his time is up and he has to return to the underworld. If he still can't find me by then I'll be free from his grip forever." Kagome smiled and hugged herself since Inuyasha was too far away to embrace with happiness. "Until then all I have to do is keep the Shikon with me and I'll be ok..."

"I'm happy for you." Though his tone of voice told differently.

Kagome sensed that and tried to soothe him a little. "If it wasn't for you... I'd be screwed you know... you've saved my soul."

Put like that... it warmed him inside a little, but he still didn't return her smile. Kagome guessed that Naraku was still a touchy subject for him. Well... given time he'd forgive and forget completely.





^_^





S ango entered the throne room sullenly and strode up to Lady Inu to take back her son. She then turned to glare at Kouga and the rest of his band of merry men behind him. "I'm sorry, Kouga, I can't find either of them."

"He's hiding, that bastard!" Kouga growled. "He's too chicken to fight me so he run's away and hides Kagome from me! I need to see her!"

"Has it even occurred to you that he doesn't know you're here?" Miroku suddenly broke into his ramble. "That he and Kagome aren't hiding from you but from us so they can enjoy each other."

Sango nudged him hard in the side. He rubbed his ribs and glared at her. "What? I'm telling the truth! It's about time those two stubborn fools took pleasure from one another-"

"Miroku, please." Lady Inu wrinkled her nose. "I'm his mother, I don't want to think of my son doing those things."

"But you talk about it all the time." Sango pointed out to her.

Kouga growled in frustration as he seemed to be ignored. "Enough! I'll find that asshole myself and make him pay for stealing my mate!"

"Technically, Kouga, she isn't your mate so he hasn't stolen anything. Your anger is unwarranted." Sango pointed out, stroking Fushi's head.

"My woman - my claim!" Kouga thumped the wall angrily. "He stole her - and my claim was strong."

"If not one sided..." Miroku rolled his eyes.

"What did you say?" Kouga spun on him.

"I said - you're a little short sighted!" Miroku said loudly. "you must be blind if you haven't realised by now that Kagome is in love with Inuyasha - not you!"

"I met her first! She's MY woman!" Kouga marched up to face off with Miroku.

"That means nothing - whoever met her first isn't going to set a rule saying she HAS to love you! If that was true - her first ever boyfriend would be the one she loved the most!"

"I AM her first boyfriend!"

"How naïve..." Sango commented.

Kouga gripped his fists tightly by his side. "I'll find that dog-turd and make him pay - I'll rip his fucking throat out!"

They watched him neutrally, obviously not believing a word he said, as he marched towards the door, about to throw it open and storm out, leaving his men behind in the throne room.

"Tea?" Lady Inu offered all the wolf men who nodded sheepishly.

But before Kouga could reach the door to storm out successfully, it was thrown open from the other side. Kouga halted and stepped back as a larger, more imposing force stepped into the room.

It was like a cold wind suddenly swept around the room, chasing the cheer away and turning everything to ice. They all looked up at the door and stiffened up as they saw Sesshomaru standing there. Fushi began to squirm restlessly, while Sango tried her best to calm him... anything to stop him from crying... not now...

Lady Inu was the first to move to stand before everyone else, her anger clear on her face. Obviously she wasn't about to forget the misery and pain this relative had put her son through. "You have a lot of nerve showing your face here, Sesshomaru. Where are you cronies? Or are you so confident as to think you won't need them."

"I am not underestimating anyone." Sesshomaru replied smoothly. "Rather it is YOU who is underestimating me."

Lady Inu opened her mouth to speak but Sesshomaru suddenly clicked his fingers. The guards all around the throne room all suddenly swung their weapons before them and advanced on the members inside the room until every guard had a sword or staff pointed at their necks. The wolf men, Lady Inu, Miroku and Sango who was desperately trying to shush Fushi from crying too hard.

"What is this?" Lady Inu glared at what she thought was an obvious mutiny.

"Don't worry. Your men are still loyal... wherever they are locked up in the cupboards..." Sesshomaru sounded a tad bored as he wondered up and smudged a finger against one random guard's cheek. The face paint smeared away to reveal a stripe. "Fortunately for you."

Lady Inu quieted. She knew when to stop pushing the argument. However... Fushi didn't. He carried on crying until he was literally bawling at the top of his lungs, while Sango desperately rocked him and cuddled him close. The noise was beginning to get on Sesshomaru's nerves and he narrowed a glare on the girl holding the child. "Do shut that thing up."

"I-I can't... h-he's only a baby..." she stammered slightly.

"Shut him up or I will shut him up forever." Sesshomaru raised his voice slightly. "Human children... so much weaker than demon children..."

"Don't talk to her that way." Miroku pulled Sango back against him protectively, glaring angrily at Sesshomaru. "Leave her alone."

"Is it me, or do there seem to be more humans in control of this country than demons." Sesshomaru shook his head with a tutting sound. "This can't do... think how the people see this? Before we know it we'll be a demon land ruled by humans... that happened on the mainland... and now it's happening here."

"At least we would rule better than vengeful fool like you." Lady Inu said calmly.

Sesshomaru graced her with a thin-lipped smile. "You attempts to anger me are wasted, bitch."

Kouga was looking around the room and counting the number of dog demons he'd have to fight to get control again. There were fifteen of them and twenty of his own men. But right now the match was in favour of the Inu Youkai considering they all had blades pointed at the wolf men's necks. He's have to bide his time.

"Now..." Sesshomaru said loudly, trying to speak over the ear-splitting cries of Fushi. "Someone go bring Inuyasha here now or..." he reached out faster than the eye could follow and ripped Sango from Miroku's grip and pulled her against him to level a blade at her throat. "I kill both mother and child..."

"No!" Miroku lurched forward, but stopped when Sango gave a strangled cry as Sesshomaru squeezed her throat. If he attacked Sesshomaru then he'd probably get Sango hurt... not to mention Fushi... plus the fact he was only a human and Sesshomaru was a VERY strong Inu demon.

He stepped back into line, but no less angry and ready to rip Sesshomaru apart the first chance he got.

Sesshomaru glanced at two of the guards. "Go and find Inuyasha and Kagome and bring them to me. I think... we'll have an interesting little reunion me and that girl..."

The two guards left as everyone else puzzled as to what on earth he'd meant by that comment.





^_^





"You know... I think we've been talking for well over an hour." Kagome looked around the dark room as though looking for the time. "Don't you have to start being King soon."

"Urgh..." was Inuyasha's response. He was comfortable now. It was nice and cosy in the Oshiire with the shelves above their heads. It was warm, and after an hour of lazing around their positions had relaxed even more until now Kagome had managed to wiggle her feet beneath his thighs to keep them warm and was casually leaning to one side, resting on an elbow and playing with the ties of his shoes.

"Is it true you only learnt how to tie lace ups three months ago?" she suddenly asked.

Inuyasha blinked at her in surprise before folding his arms. "Yes."

"Now that's funny." She laughed. "The king of the Inu Youkai didn't know how to tie his shoes until he was seventeen!"

"Well why would I have to know if servants tied my shoes every morning!" he shot back. "I only learnt recently because I was growing sick of someone else dressing me every day like I was some kind of invalid!"

Kagome shrugged. "I suppose... that makes more sense."

"Who told you that anyway?" he asked sharply.

"Don't act so paranoid. It was only your mother." She told him, patting his knee comfortingly.

"Oh I get it... this is the cliché bride thing. The mother always tells the future daughter in law all about her sons embarrassing habits like 'did you know he used to run around the grounds naked when he was five years old screaming about his little samurai?'" he said, feigning his mother's voice in a not so flattering way.

"Oh my god..." Kagome stared at him. "You actually did that when you were five!"

"Dammit!" Inuyasha slapped his forehead, cursing his stupid mouth for blabbing that as Kagome began to laugh.

Kagome's laughter suddenly died. "Hang on... did you just call me a future bride?"

Inuyasha remained guarded after that little slip with the samurai thing. "No."

Kagome shrugged and pretended to forget it. She had a way of talking around this to get the information she wanted. "So how's the pressure going from the advisors? They still want you to marry off?"

"Yeah, you think they'd change their minds." He said dully. "Every time I see them it's like they keep dropping 'subtle' hints and pointing out girls in the corridors to me with comments like 'oh, she's make a lovely wife don't you think?' or 'someone ought to snap her up'."

"You know... the best way to solve that problem would be to marry someone." Kagome told him casually.

"Mm." He grunted with a shrug and stared at his lap.

"Well..." Kagome started off uncertainly. "It's not too late to go fetch Urami from the prisons and dress her in a wedding kimono and-"

"I'll pretend you're joking!" he broke out.

Kagome laughed. "Don't worry... I don't think even a very desperate man would scrape the bottom of the barrel that low."

A long pause stretched on, a deliberate on Kagome's part. Silence was like interrogation for Inuyasha. If you just shut up for a while he'd eventually say what he was thinking.

"Kagome... I wasn't lying when I said I had someone in mind."

"Really?" Kagome mentally gave herself a pat on the back. Now she'd find out who he really wanted. Hitako Kireini, Urami or Kagome...

Inuyasha looked up to meet Kagome's eyes, she saw slight confusion in them, as though he wasn't sure of what he was about to say. It was also written all over his face. "Um... remember under the tree... before Urami came along...?"

"How could I forget?" Kagome said slightly icily.

"Well - the bit before that bit you don't like." He said quickly. "When we were talking about a bride and... you know..."

Kagome was feeling a little short of breath at the feelings he was bringing close to the surface with them. "Yes..."

"Well... I've been thinking for a long time... about this..." he frowned down at his lap again. "And... I was going over my options... over who I could possibly choose for a bride... and I chose you..."

Kagome couldn't stifle the small little gasp of breath that escaped her. Her elbow slipped out under her and she toppled onto Inuyasha's legs. It took her a moment to right herself until she sat up straight with her feet curled under her again. "Are you serious?"

"Well... you're the only girl I can possibly stomach for the rest of my life. I can't imagine being with anyone else for that long a time. I can talk to you like you're my best friend... and you said the same about me last night." He said as though it was a reasonable debate. "All the other girls... Kikyo... that other one in the closet..."

"Hitako?"

"Yeah, that's her name." Inuyasha said carelessly. "I wasn't comfortable around Kikyo - she made everything seem awkward, and planned out. There was nothing spontaneous or fun about her - up until the point she spontaneously combusted but that's another story. She said she was real... but being real has to have some kind of fun to it... I know, if I'd married her she would have made every day hard for me, there would be no relaxing moments in a marriage like that."

Kagome watched his face anxiously as he continued. "You're the only girl I like Kagome... you're like a long bath after a hard day... that's why I hate it when you hate me and when you're away... I get all tense and I tend to shout a lot."

"You shout anyway, Inuyasha-"

"Would you shut up and listen?" he interrupted.

"Sorry." Kagome said meekly.

"Anyway, where was I..." he tried to remember. "Oh yeah... I guess the point is that if I ever have to marry, it would be to you... and if you said no... then I'd be a bachelor for the rest of my life."

A long pause stretched on.

"And I'd make sure you'd turn into an old maid." He added. "Just out of revenge, you know."

"Thanks..."

He'd pretty much stunned her into silence. She didn't know what she was supposed to say now... it was like trying to give a crap speech after a really impressive one. "Um... I'm speechless..." well, honesty was usually best.

"I wouldn't blame you." He said quietly, before shifting so he was leaning against the same wall beside her. Kagome was suddenly rather nervous about the very small distance between them. If she didn't know any better she'd say that Inuyasha was deliberately getting this close to-

His hand closed around hers on the ground between them. "I never thought I'd be saying this to anyone... but please say you'll marry me...?"

Kagome jerked her head around to face him. This was very much like being thrown into the deep end... like out of the frying pan and into the fire... like out of the pond and into the sea... well, you get the idea. That morning she'd been unsure about his feelings like any other day... but now... he was practically asking her to marry him. He WAS asking her to marry him.

"I..." she really was speechless now. She felt like crying... she felt like laughing... she felt like the world was going to crash down on top of her in despair... while at the moment she felt that at last everything was going right. She wanted this... but she couldn't do this... but she wanted to. Sense told her that she still needed to be honest with him about Sesshomaru. The poison would strike her down in just over a month from then. She couldn't say yes until she had nothing more to hide...

But she didn't want to wait that long...

"Inuyasha..."

She was taking an extremely long time to answer, he thought. Maybe she didn't want to marry him... maybe she didn't know if she loved him or not... he wasn't going to push her... he wouldn't be too upset if she declined, just as long as she continued to stay near he would be happy.

Meanwhile Kagome was trying to sort out the chaos. Did she love him? She'd never thought about it much... but she supposed she did. She had said it absently from time to time - so that must mean that she loved him. For crying out loud she'd changed a song verse just to sing it to him cryptically. Of course she loved him...

"Inuyasha... I..." she faltered.

He knew she was going to say no and it was tearing her up to do so.

"It's ok." He said softly and leaned down to brush his lips against her cheek. Kagome let her eyes drift close, mentally apologising to him repeatedly. Her eyes stung with tears and she fought to hold them back... but the truth was this was the happiest moment in her life, and the saddest, she was allowed to let the emotion water her eyes.

She sniffed as she reached up stoke the long forelock of hair that rested before his shoulder. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." the tears made her voice sound strained and creaky.

"I said it's ok. I can wait." He kissed just under her right eye, tasting the salty tears that dampened her skin.

"But I didn't say no yet!" Kagome protested. "I just... need to think..."

"Take as long as you like."

"How's thirty seconds?" Kagome drew back with a sniff. "Ask me again."

He stared at her with utter confusion. "Marry me?"

There was the best question in the world again, it nearly choked her up with tears. No... she had to think... yes or no... weigh or options...

Inuyasha watched her silently, realising that he really wanted her answer to be positive. He really wanted to marry her...

"Well?" he asked, a little urgently as he heard approaching footsteps sound outside. They were sure and steady on the floor... and they were heading right for the cupboard he was sitting in with Kagome.

"They're in here, I smell them." A guards voice said to a companion whose footsteps also followed the first set. In fact... if he counted... Inuyasha thought he heard five guards.

The door swung back and Kagome jumped as five guards looked down on them. Five guards with stripes on their cheeks. Kagome was rendered speechless all over again. Though Inuyasha was a little quicker... he knew what had happened... he knew he was probably without his army this time.

"Get up." A guard snapped at Inuyasha as the two on each of his sides leant down and grabbed Inuyasha to pull him up. It was useless struggling, he'd have no where to run, and no where to get help.

Instead Inuyasha looked down at Kagome with a shrug and smirk. "Better give me that answer now."

Kagome was a little too surprised to remember what the question had been in the first place. And by the time she realised what he was talking about Inuyasha was being dragged away and Kagome was jerked up by the one remaining guard to follow them.

Never mind... she'd tell him 'yes' later.





^_^





Everyo ne looked up again as the doors to the throne room opened again and Inuyasha was shoved through roughly. "Alright!" he barked at the men behind them before spotted Sesshomaru and his whole demeanour darkened again. "I thought you'd come back to finish off what we started..."

"What a vain boy you are, Inuyasha." Sesshomaru smirked. "Why does everything have to be about you? Ah - here she is."

Kagome was led into the room by another guard. When she saw Sesshomaru her stomach twisted and belly-flopped. Oh no... she knew this wasn't good... he was going to tell Inuyasha everything no doubt... and it would sound a lot worse coming from Sesshomaru than Kagome. Damn... she should have told him earlier.

"What has Kagome got to do with this?" Inuyasha snapped, seeing Sesshomaru eyeing the girl with light amusement.

"I take it you didn't tell him about our little bargain?" Sesshomaru said rather cruelly. Kagome's gaze faltered to the floor.

Sango took a cautious step away from Miroku. "Deal? You don't know Kagome - you've never met her. Leave her alone!"

"A woman should know her place." Sesshomaru glared at her. "Speak only unless spoken to - unless she wishes to speak no more."

Sango backed down slightly, and continued to comfort Fushi.

"Where was I?" Sesshomaru turned back to Inuyasha and Kagome who were standing very close together. "Oh yes... our little deal..."

Inuyasha glanced at Kagome but she was finding the floor infinitely more interesting than any of the conversation right then.

"Well done Kagome. You provided the most useful information for me. I don't think the battle would have gone quite so orderly if you hadn't been so compliant." Sesshomaru smiled slightly.

"What?" Kagome frowned at him.

"I suppose you deserve your payment." Sesshomaru unhooked a flask from the sash at his waist and threw it to her. She caught it clumsily and held it, looking confused. "Your cure, for telling me Inuyasha's human night of the month... you've won me this war... it's the least I can do."

He was lying. She'd completely duped Sesshomaru, but that wouldn't have hurt Inuyasha as much. She quickly glanced up at Inuyasha to see his reaction, anxiety written on his face. He darted a glance down at her and saw nothing but guilt.

She'd betrayed him. It wasn't just a case of lying to him... this was real. She'd sold him out for her own selfish reasons and now his life was about to come to an end... along with Sango's, Fushi's and Miroku's... and his mother's...

The pain of dying was nothing compared to what he felt then.













AN: Well I bet you all thought it was just Miroku and Sango's proposal... but not quite ^_^... but then I ruined it all with this little number. Sorry about that. Anyway, next chapter is - 'Sudden Abdication'

And flibbertigibbet means - a flighty, foolish girl. Just for those people who couldn't be bothered looking it up on the dictionary. How do I know this word? Because my old science teacher called me it... ¬_¬