A/N: This is a story I started writing in 2005. It's based on a Korean comic called Goong. But you may also recognize it from its live, dramatized version, Princess Hours. :D I hope you all enjoy it!
~Rika
Royal Treatment
By Rikayu
Chapter One: Black Lacquered Box
"Kagome! Wait for us!"
Kagome turned her head slightly to see her friends running up to her in a hurry from the corner of her eye. Once they got to her, they took a minute to catch their breath before straightening and thinking of what they were supposed to say. Kagome smiled at them and turned around fully. She tilted her head to the side as she clasped her hands behind her back.
"What is it?" she asked them cheerfully as she idly twirled the end of a lock of her hair behind her back.
"Did you see?" they all said simultaneously.
Kagome raised her eyebrow as she straightened her posture. "Did I see what?"
"Him!"
She rolled her eyes at her impossible friends. "Who's 'him'?"
In the next few seconds that they struggled to get whatever they were going to say, they then decided to show Kagome instead. They grabbed their stumped friend and dragged her all the way to their classroom. They led her one of the windows and pointed to something. Kagome looked out and noticed that there was a rather large group of men dressed in black standing in the courtyard. What her friends had been pointing to, however, were the two boys who were surrounded by the men in black. Kagome had never seen them at their school before, but they were wearing the school uniform, so that meant that they were most likely new. They had unusual silvery hair that was grown long and the men in black were apparently guarding them. Then, as the taller one turned slightly to the side, Kagome's eyes grew slightly bigger as she recognized him.
"Isn't he...?" she turned back to her friends.
"Mikazuki! Mikazuki!" they shook her as their eyes hungrily gaze down into the courtyard.
Kagome glanced back down and looked at the two silver-headed boys in their school courtyard. She had to admit that they were cute, but the taller one's looks were more mature and sophisticated compared to the shorter one's young boyish charm. As she observed them from the classroom window, taller one, the one her friends where drooling over in the other corner of the classroom, turned his head and caught her in his line of sight. Kagome's eyes grew wide as her face reddened. She quickly ducked down and plopped onto the floor to hide herself.
Her friends noticed this and quickly came to her. They dragged her up off the floor and asked her what was the matter, but Kagome shook her head and plastered on a reassuring face to fend off her friends' questions. They backed off and let her regain her balance. Once she did, she smiled at them as they made their way back to their little corner. Kagome glanced back down into the courtyard and saw that the men wearing black were retreating off-campus and that he and the other one were already gone.
She shook her head and mentally slapped herself out of her slight daze. She brushed it off as her imagination and grabbed her bag and ran out of the classroom to catch up with her friends. She figured they must have gone to their next class since the bell was about the ring. As Kagome turned at the corner, she crashed into something solid and fell backwards, landing on her butt and spilling some of the contents of her bag. She frantically picked them up and shoved them into her back as the sound of the bell rang through her ears. She reached for her history book and another person's hand came into view as it reached for the book as well. She looked up and froze as she saw golden eyes.
Kagome stood up with her book and his hand still attached to it. She accepted it from him gratefully before placing it in her bag as well. Without looking up anymore, she bowed and said a thanks and a sorry for bumping into him before hurriedly running passed him, leaving him to stare at her as she disappeared at a corner. Once she was out of sight, she leaned against a wall and sighed with relief.
There was just something in his eyes that really made her feel uncomfortable even though she's only seen him twice.
She groaned and heard as the late bell rang. She ran for class and was lucky enough to find that the teacher had not come back yet from her lunch break. Kagome placed her bag down and mentally slapped herself awake. As the class waited for their teacher, Kagome's friends questioned why she was so red, but she ignored them as long as she could, but when they got to her, she told them that she had just slipped on something when she made a run for class.
He stared at her as she turned the corner. He looked down and noticed that she had left a notebook behind in her hurry. He picked it up and read the name written on it, 'Kagome Higurashi...' He placed it in bag and silently walked to his next class, the corridor emptying around him.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sesshoumaru watched as sakura petal after sakura petal fell just past the shoji screen doors. A cup of tea was set in front of him while his father sat on the other side of the table. Apparently, his father had called him up here to talk about something important but as of yet, they had not said a word to each other since they had seen each other the week prior. His father had brought along a folder and a sealed envelope but had yet to tell him what their purpose in their meeting was.
The silence was broken when Inutaisho's voice cut into the air, "How long has it been since we've had tea together like this?"
"Father, if you called me here only to waste my time--" Sesshoumaru started, but Inutaisho interrupted him.
"Do not make the mistake that I called you here for nothing, son," he said simply as he looked down at his teacup. "I have something important to discuss with you."
Sesshoumaru turned slightly, and watched as his father cut open this sealed envelope in his hands and took out a piece of yellowed paper. His father unfolded it and laid it out in front of him to see. Sesshoumaru turned fully and read the paper. His eyes narrowed as he progressed farther down the document and when he finished, he did not look up, but he merely took hold of his teacup and looked down into the brew inside.
After a long silence, he spoke. "Since when have you known of this?" he said coldly.
Inutaisho sighed as he intertwined his hands and leaned one the table with his elbows. He rested his chin on his hands and closed his eyes. "You do know that you have no choice in this matter, do you not?"
"You cannot force this upon me," he replied calmly.
His father remained silent, but he was stern with his decision. He knew from a great deal of experience that his eldest son would not back down easily. This time, however, Sesshoumaru would not win and Inutaisho would make sure of that. It was for the best that this was his decision for his son.
Inutaisho chuckled and drank the rest of his tea. Then, he switched his gaze to the falling petals of the sakura tree. "As I said before, you have no choice in this matter." With that, Inutaisho pulled out a beautifully decorated black lacquered box. He pointed at it as he gave a stern look to his son. "It's in here and you have to wear it whether or not you want to," he said.
Sesshoumaru's jaw tensed as he glared out at the falling petals. It was apparent that his father's decision could not be swayed. First, his father had betrayed his mother and had married the woman he had an illegitimate child with. And now, his father was going to force him to endure a lifetime of annoyance.
"Sesshoumaru," he heard his father say, "You must understand that this is only for the better. Perhaps someday you shall understand why I did this..."
He heard a shift of clothes and he listened as his father quietly opened the shoji door and walked away into the interior hallway. A frown settled up his face as he lay on his back and he placed his hands behind his head. He stared at the ceiling before briefly closing his eyes. The black lacquered bow sat untouched by him on the table beside the paper his father had shown him.
Inutaisho entered his study and sat himself down in his chair. He leaned back and closed his eyes as a frustrated sigh escaped his lips. He knew his son was even more furious with him now that he had presented such news to him. He would eventually have to learn to deal with it and perhaps accept it. But for now, Inutaisho would do his best not to worsen his already dysfunctional relationship with his son anymore than he already did.
He opened his eyes and immediately picked up the ringing phone in front of him. "Hello," he said somewhat aggravated.
"Oh, I'm sorry... Did I interrupt something important?" a soft voice came.
Inutaisho shook his head mentally and calmed himself down. "No, nothing... What did you call me for?"
"I received your package just now," the female voice replied.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"I just... I don't know how to tell her..." a middle-aged woman said as she looked at the black lacquered box on her lap.
"You should have been prepared to tell her from the beginning, Sayuri. Wha's done is done. The contract cannot be broken. You know that...," Inutaisho's voice came from the phone.
She sighed deeply and looked out her window, "Yes, I know, butfather was he one who made the decision."
"But he consulted you, did he not? He wanted you to give him that permission to agree to this. He knew it was important that he had your approval.."
"Yes, but..." she paused, "Isn't it a bit early? Why now?"
She listened to him sigh and she looked down at the box again. "It's always been that way. It was the same for myself when I was younger, you remember. It is my duty to honor tradition. I have told you that many times before," he said.
Sayuri muttered a small okay then dropped the phone. She ran her hands over the intricate designs of the box as a myriad of thought invade her mind. Her eyes welled up with tears and one silent tear fell and landed top of her hand. She wrapped her arms around herself as she bent forward and choked out sobs, her tears falling down on the tatami floor and on the crescent moon emblem adorning the lid of the box on her lap.
"Okaa-san?"
She looked up and tried to wipe away the tears, but they refused to stop falling. Her youngest, Souta, stood at the door with a concerned look on his face. He ran over to her and wiped away her tears with the handkerchief she had given him to use.
"Okaa-san, why are you crying?" he asked as he wiped the remaining slivers of moisture off his mother's face.
She shook her head and ran her hand through his hair as she often did. "Nothing really, Souta. I was... just thinking about you father, that's all..."
Souta smiled and shrugged her hand away from his hair. When his did so, he caught sight of the black lacquered box on his mother's lap and looked down at it with much interest. "Okaa-san, what's that?"
Sayuri picked up the box and showed it to him up close. She smiled as she saw her son's expressions change from worry to curiosity to awe. He reached up to try and open the lid, but Sayuri pulled it away before he could touch it and placed it on the table next to her. She smiled at her son and patted his cheek. He smiled and received his handkerchief back.
"Why don't you go find grandpa? I bet he'll need your help," she said.
Souta nodded enthusiastically and ran off to find his grandfather. Sayuri smiled sadly as she saw him turn out of her sight. She gritted her teeth and balled her fists on her lap as she stared at the box. She reached out her hand and lifted the lid to reveal a ring in a pool of velvet cloth. It glinted in the light that shone through the window. Behind it was a folded note intended for the owner of the ring. Sayuri bowed her head and closed her eyes as her body slanted and rested against the wall beside her.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
TBC...
PLZ REVIEW!