The White Dog by Katerina

An Ordered Assembly

Hello everyone!!! I hope you all enjoy my first fic. It took me forever to type this all up, but hopefully it will go wonderfully. Updates will be done whenever I can. All critiques are openly welcome and any questions asked as well since they might help in the writing process. I have based this fic off of the commonly known fairytale The White Cat. For all of those who do not know it, the internet is a wide source of available knowledge. Feel free to use it. I got the idea to write this after seeing the art done by KAYKA under the same name as the fairytale.

Disclaimor: I do not own Inuyasha or any of it’s characters. Only the plot any OC I make of my own.

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             Noise was everywhere. The sea of people kept bustling about the room. There was hardly enough space to move about. You either bumped into the person beside you or got shoved into the one in front of you. The anticipation in the room was so thick, it practically had a taste.

            The courtiers gossiped like cackling hens. Talking about what was going on or about nothing in particular. Lords and ladies talked amongst themselves, avoiding anybody that was below their status in society. Even those of common blood were talking. Overall, it was loud.

            Out of all the people in the room, there seemed to be only one person who was completely silent. She stood towards the back off the room near the entrance of the heavy, carved doors of cherry wood. To all of those who looked at her, she appeared to be bored out of her mind. Her petite 5’6” body was slightly slumped, her shoulders sagging making her look somewhat shorter; her heart-shaped face drawn into a blank looking pout. Her full rosy lips had the bottom jutting slightly out. Her doe-colored eyes never settled on one spot in particular while her hands twiddled with the stray ends of her calve-length ebony locks that were twisted into a French braid. Yes, to all she looked bored.

            She had a lot on her mind. Ever since her mother had called for a meeting within the throne room, she had been thinking about what was going to be announced. Thousands of possibilities were going through her mind. Then there was the problem of locating her two younger siblings, Rin and Souta. At eight years of age, both of them seemed to have an endless amount of energy. And being twins, they were never apart. Both having extremely dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, they were often mistaken for each other. They even went so far as to dress alike wearing crimson hakamas and white haoris, much to the discomfort of everyone else. The only difference about them was their hair. Rin usually had a side-ponytail because hers was longer while Souta had his neatly cropped. Currently, she was searching the crowd for either of them.

            Another issue that had her mind in turmoil at the moment was the problem with one of her best friends. Ayame, a pretty okami youkai, was one of her ladies-in-waiting. The current situation was with her betrothed, Kouga. With how pretty she was with her large emerald eyes and her beautiful copper locks tied into adorable pigtails, you’d think that she would have already won his heart. But no. The handsome okami youkai only had his azure eyes set on Kagome. And Kagome, she had the problem of handling the over-confident okami. She had to come up with a way to make him see that she only thought of him as a friend and nothing more.

            The final issue on her mind was a bit more personal. It had to do with her mother. She didn’t know what to expect there. Her mother used to openly talk about everything with her which caused Kagome to become really close with her. But lately, whenever she had gone to talk to her mother or was trying to spend time with her, Kagome’s mother would either be too busy or would gaze off sometime during a conversation and not really pay attention. She was always drifting into her thoughts or was thinking deeply about something. Kagome worried about what it was that had her beloved oka-san upset. Add that on top of the large gathering that was called to order on such short notice to give an announcement that she had given no hints of what it could be about. This made her worry even more! What could it be? What was she going to say? Oh! Her brain was in turmoil. It was giving her a headache. She was too busy to notice two little brown heads sneaking up quietly behind her. Ever so slowly, they made their way to her. With a knowing glance at each other and a consecutive nod of the head, they pounced.

            “Oomph,” Kagome grunted as she had all the air knocked out of her at that one instance. Grinning, she looked down at the pair who were currently giggling on top of her. “Rin. Souta. Where exactly have you been? You know better than to take off on your own.”

            “Kagome-niisan,” Souta wailed. “Kaede-baachan was too tired to play…”

            “Jii-chan is too boring,” Rin butted in at exactly the right moment. It was as if they knew each other’s thoughts. “Rin thinks Jii-chan likes his own voice. Jii-chan always tells Rin and Souta the same stories. Jii-chan didn’t even want to pick flowers for Kagome-niisan with Rin.”

            “Will you come play with us?” Souta asked the second Rin stopped. “Rin and I are tired of playing alone.”

            Kagome looked down at the two pairs of watery brown eyes pleading with her to join the two nearly irresistible children. She had to work extra hard not to give in, but she managed to do it. Giving them an empathetic look, she shook her head no.

            “I know how much you want to play, but now would not be the proper time to do so. Oka-san has called a gathering. We are, all of us, to be present when she makes her announcement. Kikyo-niisan and our Aniki still have yet to join us.”

            Kagome had nothing to worry about when it came to locating her identical twin. She could do that through the mental link that they shared, much the same way as Rin and Souta. Kikyo was currently talking to their three cousins, Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka, a set of triplets about who was the most attractive eligible male in the court.        ‘Of course,’ Kagome mentally rolled her eyes. ‘It had to be about males. What else would have our cousins in a tizzy?’ The one she was wondering about was her Aniki. Hojo was the eldest of the five siblings and the only one without a twin. This was an unusual case for her family, seeing as to how both sides had a history of birthing sets of twins or triplets. So it was even harder to keep track of him than the rest of her siblings. With Rin or Souta, all she had to do was listen around the shiro for people talking about one problematic disaster or another. Either that or ask Rin where Souta was whenever she was spending time with her. With Kikyo, she only had to use her mental link that they shared. Such was the way with all twins in her family.

            “Rin and Souta have not seen Aniki,” Rin stated. She understood that Kagome had already located Kikyo. “Rin thinks Aniki might be with Miroku-sama again.”

            “Miroku-sama was naughty again,” Souta said confirming Rin’s statement. “He decided to spank Sango-chan again. She hit him in the head and he fell asleep suddenly.”

            “Aniki had to take Miroku-sama to his room so Miroku-sama could finish his nap in bed,” Rin finished. Kagome had to hold back the giggle that tried to make its way out. Miroku, one of her best friends, was the palace houshi. He had what people considered a “wandering hand.” He had a tendency to overstep certain boundaries with women. With his violet eyes, his charming smile, and his raven-black hair, he could easily charm his way into any woman’s heart. It was when he had you swooning that you had to look out. For soon, you would find a hand rubbing its way up and down your ass.

            What was the funny thing, though, was the fact that lately he had a certain fascination for the ass of Kagome’s other best friend. Sango, another of her ladies-in waiting, was herself a beautiful person. She had eyes so dark they were nearly black. She had high cheek-bones and heart shaped lips. Her hair, while not the traditional black, was still a very lovely shade of dark brown and reached to her waist. What kept Miroku coming back was her personality. Being a bold, outspoken tomboy, she was unlike any other woman that he had come across. She saw right through his charm and wouldn’t take any of it. His advances towards her were met with bluntness and his inappropriate behavior was met with force. No matter how many times Sango knocked him out cold, Miroku just couldn’t get enough of her ass. He just had to feel more. And being one of her Aniki’s close friends, it was usually Hojo that brought him to his room. So what Rin and Souta had said rang true.

            “Miroku-chan needs to learn not to do that to Sango-chan,” Kagome said between giggles. “Aniki and I will not always be there to drag him back to his chambers. He might end up being left in the middle of one of the hallways. Now, Kikyo-niisan is about to come in. We should go up and meet her so she doesn’t get lost in this crowd.”

            Just as she said that, their sister walked in through the pair of doors located on the side of the room. She looked nearly identical to her twin. The only differences between them being their hair styles and their outfits. Where Kagome had hers done in a French braid, Kikyo had hers done up in a bun held in place by a pair of silver chopsticks. Both were wearing kimonos. Kagome wore a deep maroon kimono that had embroidery along the bottom and edges of twining rose vines done in a shade of lavender. Her obi was the same shade of lavender with the same embroidery done in maroon. The kimono clung to her every curve and ended halfway up her thighs with slits on the sides up to her hips. Underneath, she wore lavender leggings that ended just below her knees. The slippers on her feet were maroon. Kikyo was dressed in the exact same outfit but in different colors. In the place of the maroon was a pine green and in the place of the lavender was a light sage green. Instead of rose vines, the embroidery was done up in an ivy design. Both wore colors that complimented what the other wore. They looked lovely next to each other in their clan colors.

            Kikyo could mentally feel Kagome coming towards her. She knew to stay where she was. Soon though, she tackled by two over-eager eight year olds. They both had ear-to-ear grins on their faces and their eyes glimmered with excitement.

            “Kikyo-niisan!!” The two of them exclaimed at the same time.

            “Rin was worried about Kikyo-niisan,” Rin exclaimed. “Rin and Souta could not find Kikyo-niisan.”

            “Yeah,” Souta piped in when she ended. “We were able to get away from Kaede-baachan when she did not want to play.”

            “Will Kikyo-niisan play with Rin and Souta?” Rin pleaded, giving her most adorable puppy-dog pout. Kikyo looked down at her with a gentle smile and was about to say something when Kagome finally came up to them.

            ‘Don’t give in,’ Kagome thought to her twin. ‘Oka-san called everyone down her in order to give an announcement.’ With that stated, she turned to her younger siblings.

            “Rin, Souta,” Kagome said in a gentle but commanding voice. “Oka-san could show up anytime now. Please settle down.” Kikyo was surprised by this statement. She had heard nothing about this from any of her friends.

            ‘Kagome,’ Kikyo thought. ‘Do you know what it is about? Did she tell you anything? I know how close you two are. Surely she told you something.’

            ‘Iie,’ Kagome shot back. ‘I was told nothing about this. Oka-san has not spoken to me as of late. She has been acting especially strange.’

            ‘How so?’

            ‘Well, whenever I go to speak to her, about something, she either says that she does not have the time or she does not pay attention to what we are discussing. Something is obviously on her mind.’

            ‘From what you say, whatever this is about is something of great importance. We will have to wait and see.’ Barely had she thought this then they both felt a tug on the sleeves of their kimonos.

            “Kikyo-niisan. Kagome-niisan,” Rin and Souta said at exactly the same time. “Aniki is coming!!”

            “Let’s go!! Come on!!” Rin said, pulling Kikyo by the sleeve of her kimono.

            “Let’s get him!!” Souta said mimicking Rin’s movements but with Kagome. Both of them began dragging the two older twins through the crowds towards the other side of the room. Sure enough, there stood their brother Hojo trying to placate an irate Sango while Kouga stood to the side grinning in amusement. As they closed in on the group, they could pick up on what they were arguing about.

            “I don’t care what that lecher says,” Sango proclaimed heatedly. “Every time he comes to speak to me, he rubs my ass. I will not tolerate being treated in such ways. He needs to learn to control that ‘cursed’ hand of his. Otherwise he will be finding himself without.”

            “Sango-san,” Hojo pleaded. “He has been like this for too long. There is nothing short of falling in love that could get him to stop.”

            “Obviously he’s well on his way,” Kouga teased. “It’s obvious from his actions that he’s attracted to you.”

            “What did you say?” Sango shouted, turning a million shades of red. “There is no way on this green earth that I will ever be attracted to a man of that degree.”

            “Sango, please!” Hojo pleaded again, frantically waving his hands in the air. “There is no need to get all worked up. Miroku will be…oomph!!!”

            “Aniki!!” At that moment, Hojo was tackled to the ground in much the same way as Kagome. He looked down at them in surprise and relief. Surprise at being tackled and relief at not having to calm Sango down. For right after tackling their Aniki, they got up and talked her with a cheerful “Sango-chan!!”

            “Calm down you two,” Kagome stated to the younger twins. “I’m sure Sango-chan needs to breathe.”

            “Kagome-chan,” Sango huffed out, lacking the air to speak properly at the moment. “It’s quite alright. I’m happy to see them. They can hug me as much as they want.”

            “That may be so,” Kagome state with a huge smile. “But you are the fourth person they have tackled today. Me included.”

            ‘Let them enjoy life while they are still young,’ Kikyo said within the confines of their minds.

            ‘I know,’ Kagome sent back. ‘But they need to learn to behave properly in court. Someone needs to teach them. Might as well be….’

            She never got to finish that thought. For at that moment, Kikyo’s hands were taken up into those of an ecstatic okami youkai.

            “Kagome!!!” Kouga exclaimed, practically wagging his furry brown tail. “How’s my woman?”

            This caused several different reactions. Sango struggled to hold in her laughter as Hojo looked ready to pound the poor guy into the ground for touching and claiming either if his imoutos. He couldn’t believe that Kouga had mixed the two of them up. Rin and Souta looked very confused. Kikyo just stood there blinking in surprise. Kagome, on the other hand, was glowing red with irritation.

            “Kouga-chan,” Hojo seethed out in anger. “I would very much prefer it if you would remove your hands from my imouto, Kikyo.”

            “Huh?” Kouga said in confusion. “Kikyo?” Taking a look to the right of the person in front of him, he saw a very peeved Kagome. Looking back to Kikyo, he saw no difference between the two. He decided to sniff them. Whereas Kagome smelled of lime and coconut, the girl in front of him smelled of vanilla and cinnamon. Looking back to Kagome with a grin, he quickly exchanged Kikyo’s hands for hers.

            “There’s my woman!!” he exclaimed, once again too oblivious to see everyone else sweat drop. As calmly as she could without hitting the baka okami upside the head, Kagome removed her hands from his.

            “Kouga-chan,” she stated. “By now, you should realize that I only see you as a friend. Nothing more, nothing less. Come spring, you should be taking your betrothed as your mate.” Despite everything that she said, it all went in one ear and out the other. That’s how thick-headed Kouga was. He just stood there obliviously grinning and wagging his tail, not paying attention.

            “Kagome-mine,” he said. “I’ll be seeing you. I’ve got to find my pack.” He quickly took off before anyone could so much as blink leaving behind a few annoyed individuals and a very agitated Hojo.

            “I can’t believe he did that,” Hojo fumed as steam came out of his ears. “How dare he touch either of my imoutos.”

            “Aniki,” Kagome said, trying to calm her brother. “Kouga-chan does this every time he sees me.” This only made the situation at hand even worse. Everyone could see his eyes bug out and a vein become visible on his forehead.

            “WHAT!!!” He exploded. “How dare he!! When did this start?”

            “Hai,” Kagome sighed. “This has been going on for the past two years. What I want to know is why he mistook Kikyo-niisan as me.”

            ‘We are twins you know,’ Kikyo mentally stated.

            ‘Hai,’ Kagome sent back,’ but he is an okami-youkai. His canine sense of smell should be able to detect my natural scent.’

            ‘Also true. But this is Kouga we’re talking about here. He is pretty thick-headed.’

            ‘Touché.’

            “Two years?” Hojo questioned. “That long? How did this get started? Why does he still have interest in you?”

            “Hai, Aniki,” Kagome said, “That long. For some reason, he showed up during my priestess training one day and decided that I would be his ‘woman.’”

            “Kagome-chan,” Sango said, deciding to add her input. “The reason behind that is the amount of power you exude. You do know that I come from a family of Taijiya. When a youkai looks for a mate, they look for certain characteristics. The amount of power you have plus your natural beauty and noble bloodline are all very ideal. It is no wonder that he still wants you for a mate.”

            “I don’t care what he wants,” Hojo ranted on. “There is NO WAY HE IS MATING MY IMOUTO!!”

            “Aniki,” Rin and Souta piped in at the same moment after sharing their thoughts. “What does ‘mating’ mean?” This caused Hojo to visibly pale.

            “Wuh…wuh…what?” He stuttered. His eyes bulged and his mouth hung open a bit. Clearing his throat, he said, “Well, mating is the youkai word for marriage.”

            “Does that mean Kouga-chan is going to marry Kagome-niisan?” Rin innocently asked.

            “Does that mean Kouga-chan is going to marry Kikyo-niisan too?” Souta asked, innocently taking it a step further.

            “What? Iie!!” Kagome shouted, having the same thought that ran through the head of a much calmer Kikyo. “There is no way that I’m going to marry Kouga!! There is no reason for the two of you to think such a thought.”

            Sango decided it was time to change the mood of the conversation since Kagome had finally gone off the deep end. “Now, Kagome,” she said teasingly. There was a glimmer of amusement in her eyes and she was standing in one of those mock-scolding poses. “There is no need to get upset. Kouga-chan will surely understand your feelings towards him. He does have Ayame-chan, now doesn’t he?”

            Kagome took note of her friend’s posture and the tone she used. Catching on, she let out a giggle. “Of course, Sango-chan. But it will take quite a lot to make him understand.”

            “The same can be said about a certain Houshi,” Kikyo said, deciding to join in the fun. “He cannot seem to see how much you do appreciate his wandering hands.”

            “Ugh,” Sango groaned. “Don’t remind me. The same thing has been going on for about a year or so. No matter how many times I knock him out, he keeps coming back for more. I’m beginning to think that he enjoys the pain.”

            “At least he hasn’t asked you to bear his children yet,” Kagome pointed out. “He has done that to every woman he comes across.”

            “That’s not quite true, Imouto,” Hojo butted in. “He has not asked you yet.” Immediately, he took note of the pointed look Kikyo and Kagome gave each other. “You mean he has?”

            “Quite assuredly,” Kikyo said.

            “He did so on his third day here,” Kagome said, taking over. “It happened as he was taking an extended tour of the shiro. He got lost and came across us as we were on our way to speak to Oka-san. He took both of our hands in his, got down on his knees, and asked us. Right after that, Kikyo-niisan and I hit him upside the head.”

            “I’m not surprised,” Hojo commented. “After knowing him for all these years, I am quite used to his behavior by now. This is nothing new.” Deciding to change the subject, Kagome asked the one  thing that had been on her mind all day.

            “Aniki, do you know what it is that Oka-san wanted to announce? She has not talked to me about anything in the past few days.”

            “I am sorry to say that I do not,” he said. “Oka-san disappeared shortly after calling for this assembly. I think maybe that it has to do with….” He never finished that statement. For at that exact moment, the gongs located on each side of the two giant doors behind the throne sounded. Everyone in the room fell silent as they watched a middle-aged woman walk gracefully through the opening doors.

            The woman was completely elegant in a kimono of the clan  colors and symbols. The kimono was stark white completely embroidered in sage-green patterns of coiling ivy. Scattered across the vines were embroidered lavender roses. The obi was maroon with the ivy pattern embroidered along the edges in pine green. The slippers matched the obi. What jewelry she wore was simple and beautiful. The necklace looked like a silver vine of ivy. The leaves were cut emeralds and at the end hung a beautiful amethyst cut to look like a rose. Her earrings had an amethyst rose base with dangling silver chains that had the emerald leaves on the ends. Her hair was in a French twist held in place by jade chopsticks.

            As she stood up there with her hands folded in her sleeves, everyone else stood to attention and waited. Kagome grabbed the hand of her twin and worked her way to the front. As they came closer, their mother turned to look at them briefly before extending her hands out at her sides. Turning to the rest of the room, she said, “I, Queen Atsuko Nyame Higurashi, have called you all here to announce something of great importance. As of today, I have decided to step down from my position as queen.”