These characters do not belong to me.

Choosing a Partner

Chapter 1

By Kenzie Kennedy

Kagome’s eyes crept open. She paused in waking up to stretch her arms and yawn. Her mind ordered a cup of coffee from the café in her brain and tried to wake up the body it was controlling.

Her gaze fixed on the calendar and briefly wondered why she had two days marked in red on her calendar. Her mind had drank its coffee and prodded the memory into working on why there was red ink on her calendar. The thrill of excitement ran through her as she remembered the birthday party she had enjoyed yesterday. There was still some cake left, if she remembered correctly.

Her eyes flew all the way open and she struggled to get out of bed at the thought of why the second day was marked in red. Today was the day!

Kagome got dressed in a flurry of motion and dashed down the hall. She turned the corner almost tipping over and ran down to the end of the next hall. She threw herself at the door, remembering to turn the knob so she didn’t end up with a sore shoulder. "Sango!" she yelled happily.

The slightly older girl blinked her eyes at Kagome as she sat at her vanity. She smiled at Kagome by way of the mirror. "Excited?" Sango asked casually.

Kagome’s head wobbled up and down. "Do you think the mail will be early?"

Sango laughed. "If they knew how excited you were, they would have had it waiting for you when you woke up."

Kagome’s eyes flew open. "Maybe they did!" She turned and ran out of the room.

***

Sango found Kagome downstairs chattering to her mother and trying to ignore her brother Sota. Sango stood on the stairs and smiled. I’m so lucky, she thought to herself.

Two years ago, Sango’s parents had died in a youkai hunting party. Kagome and Sango’s mothers had known each other since before their children were born. They were each other’s godparents. Kagome and her brother Sota would have been taken in by Sango’s parents if it had been the other way around.

Two more children hadn’t changed the way the family had been run. Kagome’s family lived in a large home almost a mansion. Sango’s parents had also been well off. Not rich or extremely wealthy but they definitely could live off what money they had for the rest of their lives.

So Kohaku and Sango had been taken into the Higurashi family. They had moved from one house in the neighborhood to their new rooms. Kagome and Sango had been friends practically since birth. Sango and Kagome had spent so much time at each other’s houses it wasn’t that much of a trip to concentrate on one house. Sango retained their house but had closed it up at the request of Rimiko, Kagome’s mother. It was better for them all to live in one house.

Kagome and Sango were not sisters. Not by a long shot. They were friends. They absolutely refused to be sisters. With being sisters, they’d have to fight over who got to watch TV, who got to date first, and all the little stuff that sisters did. No, it was better to remain friends. Sure, they lived in the same house, but that didn’t mean they had to constantly be together, did it? Everyone needed privacy and since they weren’t sisters, they got along very well. It helped that the girls had TVs in their rooms that were identical. They weren’t interested in dating yet. Sure, they were both recently sixteen, but the boys around here weren’t what they were looking for. Idiots who were only after their money wasn’t exactly what either would choose in a husband.

Kohaku stumbled into Sango almost knocking her down the stairs. "Sorry, sis," he said sheepishly.

"At least wait until your eyes are open to try to navigate the steps," Sango said, one corner of her mouth quirking up.

They walked downstairs just as Kagome’s mother brought out breakfast. Unlike a lot of families, they didn’t have servants to do everything. Kagome’s mother liked doing most of the work around the house. When Rimiko needed help, she asked one of the girls. They did have two women servants come in every two days to help clean up, but they were paid well.

"Are you going to haunt the mailbox?" Rimiko teased Kagome.

Kagome blushed. "No!" she blurted out. She stayed silent for a few seconds. "When do you think it will be here?" she asked anxiously.

Rimiko laughed. "I remember my sixteen birthday. I was so nervous! Of course, I looked through the papers very carefully." She looked at Sango. "You remembered to order them at the same time?"

Sango nodded. "Mine should arrive today, too." Kagome and Sango had ordered them on the same phone call.

"If they don’t, we can look at mine together," Kagome offered. They all had food on their plates from the platters being handed around and Kagome had dived into her pancakes with relish.

"Remember, don’t take the first one that catches your eye. Look at all of them," Rimiko cautioned. "I didn’t find your father in the first hundred. He was down toward the bottom."

Kagome groaned. "Mom! I’ve heard this story a hundred times!"

Sango grinned. "My father was a family grown one."

Kagome sniffed. "It doesn’t make them any better." She looked pointedly at Sota who was mashing his egg yolk into his egg whites and then dipping bits of toast into the mess.

Rimiko smiled. "Both your fathers were wonderful men. I hope you two find what you’re looking for."

Kagome’s ears perked up and her eyes darted to the window. A blue van had just driven up. She shot out of her seat, the fork clattering to the dish. Sota rolled his eyes. "What’s the big deal?" he mumbled.

Sango stayed to finish the food in her mouth. By that time, Kagome was back with two huge bundles. "I’m glad there were two," she panted. "I don’t think I could have balanced one alone. I would have fallen over."

"Finish your breakfast," Rimiko ordered. "They’ll wait." Kagome sat and shoveled food in her mouth. Rimiko tried to frown but didn’t quite make it.

Sango rolled her eyes. "It’s not that big a deal, Kagome. We’ll have all day to look at them."

Kagome looked up at her wide-eyed with pieces of egg on her face. Sango giggled and mimed wiping her face. Kagome grabbed a napkin and hastily wiped the food off her face. "This could mean a life-changing event and it’s ‘not that big a deal’?!"

Sango finished off her last bite and looked at Kagome’s mom. She smiled and nodded. "Go on."

Sango and Kagome ran to the library with their bundles. There was a huge table in there that would do the job well. They dragged over chairs and untied the bundles.

Despite what she had told Kagome, Sango was really excited. She had turned sixteen a month and a half before Kagome. She had promised to wait because they would have more fun going through the papers together.

The moment was here. The packages were undone and Kagome and Sango both took the top sheet off and read it to themselves carefully.

Thank you for choosing the Sunshine Training Facility! Our purpose to give you the best selection available. We’d like to remind you of the world laws now.

No beating your slave.

No mistreating your slave as defined by the world laws.

To make a slave your husband you must apply for the proper permit.

Inspections will be made after your slave is housed with you. You have already completed the necessary paperwork to accept a slave into your household.

All slaves are male, but not all males are slaves. A family raised male can either stay in the family home or the family can choose a wife for him. As a husband, he has the full rights of a female. He may hold a job, speak however he wants, and do everything a female can. He can even divorce the female and still be a free male. This can only take place after six months of married life.

Training center slaves have come from males being sold by their families, unwanted males, or males off the streets.

Happy Hunting!

Kagome and Sango looked at each other. Sango was the first to move. She shrugged. "It’s not anything we haven’t heard before."

Kagome nodded. "Just in a very condensed form." She looked at the pile. It was a foot and a half thick. She sighed and took about three inches off the top and shoved the rest away.

Sango set the papers down in front of her and slid the tall stack further in front of her. One huge stack, one small stack right in front of it, and Kagome sitting beside her. This promised to be a fun couple of hours.

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