The Higurashi Jewel by Symphonia

Chapter 1

A/N: I hope you will like this fic. This is an A/U fic. Please R&R. I do not own Inuyasha.

Souta fingered the signet ring on his right hand and looked at the raven haired beauty standing in front of his desk. Seeing his glance on her, she lifted her chin defiantly and returned his look with a smoldering one herself.

"Damn it, Kikyo. How can you do this to me? You know how much we need this alliance," Souta burst out.

But the young woman only shrugged her shoulders indifferently and replied, "It's you who need this alliance, not me, dear cousin." Kikyo said sarcastically.

"Why you ungrateful..." Souta began to snarl but quickly swallow what he was about to say when he saw the look on his mother's face.

Seeing his reaction, Kikyo smirked knowing that she had gotten better of her cousin; she turned and took a seat in one of the chairs in the room to see just what Souta would do to her.

Souta took several deep breaths to get his temper under control before addressing his cousin again. He knew that no matter what Kikyo did, she was a Higurashi, which meant that he had to take care of her as long as she lived under this roof and unmarried. It was one of the lessons that his mother had instilled in him from a young age.

"Go back to your room, Kikyo." Souta said tiredly. "I'm sure you are tired after your activities tonight," waving his hand in dismissal.

Unable to counteract the order, Kikyo got out of her seat in a flurry of skirts and stalked out of the study followed by a servant. Souta listened as their footsteps faded away and turned to the other occupants remaining in the room. Sighing, Souta got out from behind the desk and went over to his mother sat.

"I'm sorry mama. I didn't mean to lose my temper." He said softly taking one of his mother's hands into his.

Lady Higurashi patted her son's hand and said gently, "It's not your fault, my dear." She turned her gaze to the painting of the Higurashi clan that hung above the fireplace. "Kikyo would not have turned out to be like this if I hadn't spoiled her when she was a child to make up for her losing her parents."

"No, mama, please don't say that." Souta comforted her.

"Souta's right, my lady, you must not think that you are responsible for what she choose to do." A new voice said coming towards them.

Souta turned and gave his friend a grateful look. Shippou knelt down beside Souta and took one of Lady Higurashi's hands from Souta's and raised it gently to his lips.

"It would not do anyone any good if you were to become ill too, my lady. So please get some sleep and we can deal with the results of this fiasco tomorrow when you are well rested." Shippou pleaded sincerely.

Lady Higurashi gave Shippou a watery smile and extracted her hands from both young men. "You are too young to be fussing, Shippou." She chided gently.

Shippou grinned, "I learned that from you, your ladyship."

Shaking her head, Lady Higurashi left with a servant to escort her back to her chambers, leaving Souta and Shippou in the study.

The two friends looked at each other and Souta said, "Well, I guess it's time to figure out how to extract ourselves from this mess. Shall we?" gesturing at the desk.

"I couldn't have put it better myself, brother." agreed Shippou as he sent a servant for food and drink to sustain them throughout the night trying to figure out solutions that Kikyo had caused with her indiscretions.

Kikyo dismissed the servant when she reached her rooms. Just who does that little brat thinks himself as? Kikyo thought angrily as she allowed her maid to help her out of the dress and into a silk nightgown. Even though he was the current Lord, Souta had no right to force into a contract marriage without her consent. Furthermore, had this marriage gone through, it would only benefit him and no one else. Besides, if this alliance was as important as he said it was and this Sesshoumaru was as good as they said he is, so why did Souta make her marry him instead of saving him for his sister, Kagome?

The more she thought about this, the angrier she became. When she reached the inner chamber, she dismissed her maid for the night and slammed the door shut. Locking the door, Kikyo rested her head against it. All she ever was to them was a tool. No one truly loved her in this household, not even her aunt. All those lessons that she received were to shape her into their tool, just like a chef who sharpens his knife to make sure that it works efficiently. So it should only be fair that she should have a little fun herself before being forced into that marriage. Besides, a number of court ladies took lovers prior and after their marriages. Who knows how many of those 'rightful' heirs were truly the sons of the husbands? Kikyo was so concentrated on her thoughts that she did not hear someone come up behind her until a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist and a husky voice whispered into her ear.

"So, how was Inuyasha compared to me?"

Recognizing the voice, Kikyo turned around to face the intruder and circled her arms around his neck.

"I want a review before making any decisions," Kikyo purred.

Naraku chuckled as he deftly removed her nightgown, "As my lady wishes."

Myoga sat in one of the chairs in Inuyasha's chamber muttering to himself reading the marriage contract while the young man paced back and forth the room.

"Stop that muttering would you." Inuyasha snapped. "It's annoying."

Myoga only gave the young man a baleful look and said, "I won't be muttering if you haven't gotten yourself into this mess in the first place."

Inuyasha threw up his hands, "I didn't mean for it to happen, it just did okay?"

Myoga gave Inuyasha a look of disbelief, "You do know that Kikyo was to be Lord Sesshoumaru's bride and we were sent to escort her along back to the western lands with Lord Shippou. So you can't even claim that you had no idea who she was."

Inuyasha resumed his pacing, "So, it doesn't really matter does it? Since according to the contract, Sesshoumaru has to marry Kikyo anyways," he stopped and gave a look to Myoga.

Myoga huffed, "There is also a clause in the marriage contract that states the bride must also be a virgin at the time of the marriage. Since it was Souta and Shippou who caught you two in the act..." Myoga shrugged emphatically.

"Oh come on, Myoga. You've been a diplomat for ages, surely you can handle a few youngsters like Souta and Shippou. Anyways, they needed this alliance more than we do." Inuyasha insisted.

"Master Inuyasha," Myoga said beginning to get a little impatient, "the politics involved is much more complex than it appears. Alliances are never made beneficially to one side only. You have compromised the delicate balance of the situation by your actions."

Inuyasha's mouth dropped open in confusion, "How did I do that? Since I'm pretty sure that tonight was not Kikyo's first time either."

"How do you plan to prove that without further incriminating yourself, Inuyasha? Souta and Shippou could very well just pin it all on you if they are so inclined." retorted Myoga angrily. "For the love of life, Master Inuyasha, I beg you to keep silent on this matter, already you have given them extra bargaining chips to use against us. Let me handle whatever they throw at us before Sesshoumaru finds out," Myoga pleaded.

"Alright, alright," Inuyasha said waving his hand dismissingly. "I'll do whatever you say until this damn marriage goes through." With that said, Inuyasha took himself into the bathing chamber leaving Myoga alone.

"The marriage has to go through, but how?" muttered Myoga as he stared at the contract in front of him.

Souta leaned back in his chair and groaned. He rubbed his tired eyes and was surprised to see the morning light was peeping through the shutters. He and Shippou had spent the whole night looking through and making the appropriate changes in the contract that Kikyo's behaviour caused.

"Well, that's that," Shippou said placing the quill back into its holder and looking over the revised contract. "Think Myoga will agree to these new terms?"

Souta took the contract from Shippou and looked it over. "He has no choice but to accept it," Souta said absentmindedly. "Fortunately for him, Kagome looked remarkably similar to Kikyo, so having Kagome go in Kikyo's place would not draw too much attention and thus saving him the trouble of explaining why did the bride looked nothing like the betrothal painting that Jaken brought back a few months ago. If he chooses to make this difficult, I'll just remind him that Inuyasha was supposed to escort his brother's bride, not bed her."

Shippou looked sharply at his friend. In the few years that he had officially ruled the Higurashi lands, Souta had gone from the innocent boy to shrewd politician. Shippou had forgotten that before the finalization of the marriage contract, Sesshoumaru had sent Jaken, another retainer, to Souta's court to take a look at the prospective bride. According to court gossip, Jaken and Myoga were rivals and Jaken distrusted the accuracy of the depiction of the potential bride. Therefore, Jaken came to Souta's court and brought along his own painter who painted another portrait of Kikyo before agreeing to sign the marriage contract. As if sensing his friend's thoughts, Souta looked up at him and sighed.

"Funny isn't it? How politics can change someone in such a short period of time." Souta remarked glancing at the family portrait.

Shaking his head not knowing how to respond, Shippou jumped out of his chair, "After last night labour, I think we deserve a hot bath and breakfast, in that order."

Souta laughed, "I definitely agree with you on that count." Clapping his hands, Souta summoned a servant. "Prepare hot baths and fresh clothing for Lord Shippou and myself." He ordered when the servant appeared. "Also see if the Dowager has broken her fast yet, if not send a request that Lord Shippou and I would like to breakfast with her if it pleases her," bowing the servant left the room.

Clapping a hand on Souta's shoulder, "Gee, I never thought that you'll still need someone to hold your hand to deliver the news. And here I thought you were all grown up," Shippou remarked as he expertly ducked the swing which Souta threw at him and ran out of the room away from his friend's ruffled feathers all the while laughing.

Half an hour later, Souta paced outside his mother's solar waiting for Shippou to arrive. When his friend finally appeared, immaculately groomed, Souta muttered under his breath about a fox pretending to be a peacock.

"If you don't like what I'm wearing now, I can always go back and change." Shippou said mockingly.

"Please don't," Souta said sarcastically, "at the rate you go at, it'll be lunch time before you're done. I specifically said we'll eat breakfast with my mother, not lunch. Now come on," and knocked on the door.

Lady Higurashi was sitting at a well laden table beside the window. Seeing her son and foster son, she waved them over and called out, "Come, come. You two must be famished after staying up all night. I've ordered your favourites."

"How did you know that we stayed up all night?" Souta asked as he leaned down giving his mother a kiss on the cheek before sitting down in a chair next to his mother and starting his breakfast.

Lady Higurashi smiled benevolently as she watched the boys wolf down their breakfasts before starting on her own. Other than the occasional requests for refills, the three of them ate in silence. Both Souta and Shippou leaned back and groaned after a third helping of breakfast.

"I wish I could take a nap before meeting with Myoga." Shippou groaned.

"Me too," echoed Souta who gestured to the servant to refill his cup with hot tea.

"Speaking of Myoga," began Lady Higurashi, "what are we going to do?" she asked.

Shippou and Souta exchanged a look and Shippou motioned for Souta to say it.

"Mother," Souta began, "you know that we need this alliance with Sesshoumaru, therefore the marriage must go through."

Lady Higurashi nodded in understanding, "But Kikyo..." she started.

Souta held up a hand to forestall whatever his mother might say and continued, "That is precisely why we would not be sending Kikyo to be the bride of Sesshoumaru."

Lady Higurashi's eyes grew big, "But Souta, everyone knows that Kikyo was Sesshoumaru's betrothed, it was stated on the marriage contract. Besides, two of the most important advisors in Sesshoumaru's court have seen her..." she protested.

"Not if we send Kagome in her stead!" Souta interrupted. "They look alike enough to fool most people and Myoga would certainly comply to this change if he wishes to live." Souta snapped and immediately looked stricken when his mother gave him a mournful look.

Shippou leaned over and patted Souta on the shoulder in comfort before moving to kneel in front of Lady Higurashi's chair. "Souta does what he must to protect his lands and family." Shippou said gently. "Believe me, my lady, Souta and I have thought of every possibility there is, and this is by far the best," while Lady Higurashi just shook her head.

"Come on, Shippou, we need to find Myoga to finalize this before Kagome gets home." Souta said gruffly as Shippou rise to his feet. Giving his friend a nod, Shippou proceeded to the door where Souta followed him.

Before leaving, he turned to Lady Higurashi's servant and ordered sternly, "Inform me immediately when Lady Kagome gets home, and escort her directly to her rooms. Make sure that she is speak to no one and no one is to speak to her," and the servant murmured an assent.

Pausing at the door, Souta turned around and said softly, "I'm sorry, mama," and left the room closing the door behind him.

"You don't have to be that harsh to your mother, Souta." Shippou said disapproving as the two left Lady Higurashi's rooms.

Souta sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I know, I know. But we are in a difficult position right now, Shippou. I guess I'm a little overwrought right now. Damn Kikyo, why couldn't she have waited to pull this stunt after the marriage goes through? After that it would be Sesshoumaru's problem, not mine!"

Hearing this, Shippou immediately masked his laughter by coughing while Souta gave him a reproachful look. "Oh, I agree with you completely." Shippou said trying hard not to laugh and quickly ducked as Souta took a swing at him.

Kagome looked out the window of the carriage while her grandfather and Lady Kaede dozed. It was nice to see Sango again, for who knows, the next time that they meet might be at their weddings. Sango had been her friend for as long as she could remember. Sango's mother, before she past away, had been Lady Higurashi's best friend, so it was no surprise that their daughters would become friends as well. Sango was like the sister she never had, where Kikyo was stuffy and aloof, Sango had cared for her. Having a younger brother herself, Sango became Kagome's chief co-conspirator in their war against bratty younger brothers .

Tired of the scenery outside her window, Kagome leaned back into her seat and sighed. The past few months have been both tiring and educational. She had gone on a tour of the land, as a representative of her brother, along with her grandfather accompanied by Lady Kaede to see the condition for themselves. However, being the official representative meant they required "appropriate" fanfare which roughly translated to attending balls every night and sitting for hours on the dais, letting people gawk at them, while watching other people enjoy themselves. It also meant putting up with the advances from the second and third sons of the minor lords, even some lords themselves who hoped to make a social leap through her.

Luckily, she had persuaded her grandfather, who in turn persuaded Sango's father to allow his daughter to serve as a second lady companion to Kagome. To be honest, without Sango, Kagome would have probably been driven crazy by those rakes who called themselves gentlemen. Therefore, Kagome was more than thankful that the whole thing was over and they were finally going home. Feeling relieved for the first time in months, Kagome followed her grandfather's example and dozed off to the gentle rocking motion of the carriage.

The occupants inside the carriage were jolted awake when the carriage suddenly stopped and they heard their driver shout something to someone.

"Are we home already?" Kagome asked reaching up to stretch her back.

"No, we are close, but we have some distance to go." Her grandfather said as he peered out the carriage window.

"Then why have we stopped?" Lady Kaede wondered.

At that moment, one of their guards' voice came through the hatch. "I'm sorry, my lord and ladies. It appears that we have arrived at a new check point."

"What? Why? Get me the captain." Lord Higurashi demanded while both Kagome and Kaede looked at each other in confusion and alarm.

Soon the captain of the check point appeared and began to apologize profusely to Lord Higurashi. "Forgive us, my Lord," he began. "We're only following Lord Souta's orders for dignitaries from the Western lands are here and Lord Shippou have instructed the guards to be extra vigilant until the dignitaries leave," he explained.

"The wedding party is here early," Lord Higurashi muttered to himself while the guard captain still outside the window waiting for instructions from the elderly Higurashi.

"Grandfather?" Kagome prodded her grandfather quietly.

"Ah yes, tell me, captain. How many more of these check points must we go through before we could reach the castle?" Lord Higurashi asked.

"There are two more check points to go through, but all my lord has to do is to show them this gate pass and the guards will let you through," the captain said respectfully and presented a gate pass to Lord Higurashi.

Lord Higurashi nodded to their guard who took the gate pass from the captain's hand with a nod of thanks, and the carriage continued on their way.

"I'm glad it's only a precautionary measure," Kagome said happily. "For a moment, I thought that something had happened at home."

"Let us hope not," Kaede said, "this close to Lady Kikyo's marriage to the western lands."

The servant waited anxiously at the gate looking for sights of Lady Kagome's carriage. There had been whispers of doubt about the upcoming marriage of Lady Kikyo to the Lord of the Western Lands. The servant let out a sigh of relief when Lady Kagome's carriage came rolling up the drive.

Kagome let out a happy sigh as the carriage rolled into the castle drive. She missed spending time with her mother and her two brothers during the tour. The carriage stopped at front door where a servant was waiting to receive them.

"My lord Higurashi," the servant said bowing deeply to the old Lord as he got out of the carriage.

"Ah Hojo, how have things been around here?" Grandfather asked as he stepped to one side so Kagome and Kaede could get out of the carriage.

"Everything has been well, my Lord," Hojo replied. "My Lady and Lord Souta have expressed a wish to see you immediately upon your return and are waiting for you in the study. Lord Souta has ordered me to escort Lady Kagome and Lady Kaede to their rooms directly, if you please," and gestured for the group to head into the castle.

Kagome gave a look of alarm to her grandfather. "Someone is probably touchy about their safety, my dear. Go on, it's alright," Lord Higurashi said shooing Kagome off.

Kagome and Kaede exchanged a look with each other, but headed to their quarters followed by Hojo.

***

Unknown to the returning travelers, Naraku had observed their conversation with Hojo from his quarters in one of the guest towers. Naraku stepped away from the window when the group headed into the castle and threw himself into an armchair by the fireplace.

"Your plan worked, Naraku. I've heard that Souta had changed some terms on the contract and Myoga agreed to it. Kagome is going to marry Sesshoumaru, instead of Kikyo." Bankotsu said coming into the room with a bottle of wine and two glasses. He placed the glasses on the table and poured each of them a glass.

Bankotsu raised his glass to Naraku, "A toast to the success of your scheming."

Naraku chuckled and took a sip of the wine, rolling it around in his mouth to savor it. Bankotsu settled himself into the chair opposite of Naraku's and drained his wine glass.

"I don't understand, Naraku? Why Kikyo? That girl frankly spells trouble. Kagome, on the other hand, has a much better temperament," Bankotsu mused as he poured himself another glass of wine.

Naraku swirled his wine glass and examined the color of his red wine as it gleamed in the firelight. "Tell me, Bankotsu," Naraku asked. "Why do you think Inutaisho, himself, proposed an alliance between him and the Higurashi clan? The Higurashis are not particularly wealthy, nor are they particularly militarily powerful. So why this clan and why the eldest daughter? A clan of Inutaisho's caliber could have his pick of brides from any youkai clans. So an alliance with the Higurashis was not necessary unless there was something special about them," Naraku explained.

Bankotsu looked intrigued, "So what's so special about the Higurashis that attracted the notice of the great Inuyoukai clan to arrange a marriage alliance?"

Naraku gave Bankotsu a sidelong glance. "Have you ever heard of the Jewel of the Higurashi?" he asked.

"The Jewel of the Higurashi?"

Naraku refilled his wine glass and took a sip before answering Bankotsu. "It's been such a long time that I think even the Higurashis themselves have forgotten about it. According to my research, the Higurashi ancestors were once mikos and priests. During the era of mass youkai extermination, a powerful miko named Midoriko created a jewel called Shikon no Tama with her powers. The jewel was said to possess immense power. Before she died, Midoriko gave the jewel to a Higurashi miko. That miko in turn charged the eldest daughters of the Higurashis with the guardianship of the jewel."

"If guarding the jewel was the generational task of the Higurashi daughters, than how could they have forgotten about it?" Bankotsu asked.

"According to the records that I have, the Shikon no tama has been in the family for so long that it became to be known as the Jewel of the Higurashi. Because of the jewel, the family was attracting too much unwanted attention. So one guardian used the power of the jewel and made everyone else forget about it," Naraku said.

"Wait a minute," Bankotsu exclaimed, "if that girl made everyone else forget about the jewel, how did you and Inutaisho know about it?"

"The Higurashi family has the habit of keeping a detailed archive. Their archivist would make two copies of the record, one to keep in the archive, the other to be placed in the library for the family to access," Naraku explained. "But one night, the family castle caught fire and was burned to the ground. The only ones in the family to survive were a five year old boy and his mother. Naturally, the boy would not have known about the jewel and his mother had lost some of her memory due to shock. So knowledge of the jewel was lost to the Higurashis. However, the archivist, at the time, had managed to save one copy of the family records and fled to the western lands with them where Inutaisho took him in. The archivist, knowing the importance of the documents he had, made a second copy of the records and send it to his brother, another archivist, for safekeeping. The Higurashi archivist had intended to return the records to the young lord after he recovered from his injuries. But unfortunately, the stress of traveling to the western lands and making the copy got to him and the archivist died. That was how Inutaisho found out about the history of the jewel."

"Let me guess, you got the other copy," Bankotsu sneered.

"That's right," Naraku smirked. "I am more than certain now that when Inutaisho sent Myoga to arrange the marriage, he did not tell him the whole story. All he told Myoga was that he must arrange a marriage for Sesshoumaru with a Higurashi and that she must be a virgin, but did not tell him which daughter he must get."

"Or else, he would have insisted on Kikyo, virgin or not," Bankotsu interrupted. "Well, aren't you lucky, Naraku. Kikyo is the first daughter to be born in what three, four generations and now she's all yours," raising his wine glass to salute Naraku.

'And the jewel as well,' Naraku thought, 'as soon as I find it.'