InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Delayed Attraction ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Delayed Attraction

Sara: Hey! This is my new story! In this story both of Kagome's parents are alive!!! Uh…. Not much to say when you just start a story so I will leave the long A/N's for later.

Disclaimer: ::Sigh:: I don't own Inuyasha. I only own movie one and two and the cute little imprint of him Takahashi-sensei drew in my mind. ::runs crying::

Delayed Attraction

Chapter 1

I wonder. Now that I am happy right now, all the things that I have went through in the past; did they really contribute to my future? When I happily sit near my friends at college, I think about the days when I was alone. As I drive down the freeway listening to the radio, I think about the time I used to only listen to the music of my soul. When I now go home with friends to do homework, I think about how I used to have to blow dry my tears away. Life wasn't always good for me, and as I lie down at this moment right now and think back, fate wasn't always by my side. For instance, the prom. Most people say that that is the most glorious moment of their life. I didn't even go. Why disgrace myself with a brand new dress, new strappy, sexy shoes, lots of makeup, and no date on my arm? So instead I spent the night eating ice cream and watching lifetime movies. And school. I never had anybody to accompany me at lunch in from Jr. High on. Once my father was elected by a `cheap shot', all my friends dropped me. I had a table that practically said `KAGOME! STAY AWAY!'. Nobody sat within a firing range near me. At first, I still dressed in the glamorous clothes, in hopes to get my friends to come back. But after the first six months, I stopped going to Tiffany and started going to the second hand stores. I used to get a nice perm every weekend but soon I began a rotation of waking up, sticking a hair clip into my hair, and getting dressed in whatever my closet conjured up. Hell, I didn't even need to match. In school, I'd drag myself from class to class, laughing at my own jokes. In eighth grade, I got a letter from seven different colleges, begging me to go to their schools. That isn't exactly a reputation booster, well not with the people that matter. And those dreaded banquets. My father would make me get dressed in pearls and a nice long dress to go to his dinners where he makes up lies as a way to praise me to his bosses. And after that, my dad tells me in the limo about how I should meet up to his expectations and dress like a lady instead of like a slob day after day. I don't even think I'm ugly. I feel very beautiful on the inside. In fact, I used to be asked out so much that I had to make a schedule. Graduation was one of the worst days of my life. That was the day you were supposed to wear your best things. So I wore one of the shirts and skirts that I used to wear in the popular days. But my reputation couldn't live up to the look. Nobody even glanced at me. To top it off, at graduation I was bound and gagged in the basement during the assembly and the principal had to mail me my diploma. I had a pretty shitty high school year. But the summer, that was another story….

::Five months earlier::

Summer vacation

The sunlight shone through the blinds and cast an eerie shadow on the sleeping teen's eyelids. Her eyes fluttered open exposing dark chocolate orbs. She groaned and closed her eyes again, trying to get his mad imprint out of her eyes but she soon opened them again, using her hand as a visor.

"Morning Daddy." She mumbled and rolled away from his face and the light.

"Wake up Kagome." He said, voice stern and held no playful tone in it. Kagome sat up and sighed.

"What? Its summer and its been summer for sixteen hours so go away." She slammed back into her pillows.

"Okay. Just come down to breakfast." He said, ignoring the girl's protests and raking a hand through his short brown hair. The man looked like his daughter, same face contours and same hair thickness that his wife loved to run her hands through…

After her father left the room, she kicked her feet through her black silk blankets. She was used to her father not listening to a thing she said so it didn't affect her that he ordered her down to breakfast or the fact that it was six thirty and the sun just peaked over the horizon. After having that wonderful dream of flying on pillows and nutri-grain bars, she felt pretty screwed up and discombobulated. The teen straightened out her creamy white pajamas and tucked herself into her pale blue fuzzy bathrobe. She stepped out onto the cold marble staircase as sighed.

"Why am I up at six freakin' thirty again?" She shouted, causing her voice to echo off of the walls. "As expected." She mumbled after she heard no reply. You would get used to it too if you barely ever got a reply to the questions that you asked. Kagome scratched her head and debated in her mind if she should just turn back and take a nice, relaxing bath. It wasn't like they would miss her at breakfast anyway. The only word that you might catch Kagome mumbling would probably be `Pass the syrup' or maybe `more oden please' (their family had pure Japanese roots). The girl was normally quiet and that was the way she planned to stay. As they say, old habits die hard. After spending months entertaining yourself, I guess you get used to it. The teen made up her mind and turned back to take a bath in her room. She slugged up the steps that she recently came down from and dragged her tired body back to her room at the end of the hall. She looked through her door to her bed. Since Kagome refused to awake in the morning, her parents had a glass door installed so the maids can make sure she doesn't doze off for `just three more minutes'.

"Damn them all." The teen mumbled as she longingly stared at her bed, silk blankets ruffled at the corner and her purple and red pillows neatly assorted around where he sleeping form was imprinted and she was previously indulged with dreams. The theme for her room was dark and scary since she had nobody to share it with, other than the Ayumi Hamasaki poster that her dad bought for her. Kagome walked over to her bookshelf where she had picture frames. One was a picture from her senior picture day. It was the only one worth keeping through all of high school. Kagome was dressed in a red plaid over shirt with a white t-shirt with a big red star in the middle underneath. She was also wearing a short black mini skirt and her legs, which were neatly crossed off of the chair, were coated with black leather boots. That seemed to be the most perfect picture of Kagome's life. She even attempted to give one to her old friends. She remembered cutting out three pictures and handing them to the girls named Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka. Yuka ripped hers on the spot while Eri waited until she reached a trash can. Kagome was about to sigh and walk away when Ayumi stopped her and handed her a picture of herself. The two teens talked for the next few days but Ayumi slowly slipped back into her popularity spotlight. Kagome shook out of her thoughts as her eyes dripped onto another picture. It was from sixth grade at cheerleading when they won the big game. The whole squad was clad in their green and white uniforms and was throwing Kagome in the air. From the view of her face she was laughing heartily and- Kagome stubbornly flipped the picture down. That was the year her father ran for mayor and succeeded. He drastically cut all funding for schools and the cheerleading squad had to eliminate the uniforms. So in the end the girls had to go to the games in a pair of jeans and a blue shirt. He also added taxes to the consumers by fifty cents for food, three dollars for clothes, and the price for CDs went from ten dollars to a whopping twenty-nine. The tax papers went crazy when they found he was writing false checks and using them on his three million dollar home and they hastily overthrew him after two months in office. And after her father did that, Kagome was immediately the world's favorite target for hazing, rants, verbal and physical abuse, and once, poison. Kagome thanked Kami every night for getting her stomach pumped in the nick of time. The girl fought the sting of tears in her eyes as she tramped her way to the bathroom. She flipped on the beige light switch and the room was immediately illuminated. The walls were a deep shade of pink and the floor was black tile. The shower stall was sterling silver with a pink shade. Behind it was a white bathtub and the other wall had a sink and a three-paneled mirror. Kagome didn't like when her parents tried to shower her with money and gifts as a way to prove that they loved her. She just wanted to be loved for who she was.

"Like that will ever happen." The girl thought as she went into her cabinet and reached for her pink cloth to drape over the mirror. She didn't like watching herself undress because it made her want to pinpoint on what exactly the people made fun of her about but that always resulted in tears. The girl looked at her self for the last time before the pink cloth covered her face and she was swallowed into the pink depths. She quietly trotted over and turned on the tap. The water quickly began to fill as she lit the lavender candles and added strawberry bubble bath. Kagome watched as the small pink bubbles began emitting from the water that the reaching depth. She ran her hand through the warm water, creating waves that ultimately lead to the creation of more and more waves. As time danced on end, she turned off the tap and slowly crept out of her clothes and sunk into the bath. She calmed and breathed in the thick scent of strawberry and lavender. She assumed she just made a concoction of strawender (or at least that was what her brother Souta called it). Kagome splashed a bit as she thought about Souta. She hasn't really seen him much since he was sent off to Boarding School after setting the principal's wig on fire with his lighter. Out of the family, Kagome thought that Souta was the most demented but took the quickest to fit in from Japan. Once he said `arigatou', he was in. The child was arrested when he was ten. From what Souta told his sister in confidentiality, he was at a sleepover and they got bored. So they began to throw rocks at the flower shop in front of the police station. One of the kids had bad aim so they sent a pebble through the window of the station, sending five cops running like mad. All the kids jumped on their bikes and decided to take different routes to the house of the child that they slept over at. Souta decided to take the route down the hill. Once he passed the peak, the bike toppled from underneath him and it threw the boy over and sent him rolling down the one fourth of a mile hill. The boy placed his fists on his hips and smiled triumphantly when he bragged about how he broke two bones, tore a ligament, and disconnected his left shoulder. She sighed and sunk deeply into the water as she remembered when he parents refused to release her brother so Souta was forced to stay in jail for two weeks. When he came back home, his eyes were wide with shock, he refused to take a shower when anybody was within three rooms of the bathroom he was in, and would scream if anybody approached him while he was bending over. But Kagome took on a struggle from the transition from Japan to America. She was mocked by the way she bowed when she was talking to the teacher, and when she added the -chan and -san. But soon Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi took her up. Later, the whole school did. But her father crushed all that. Kagome looked up at the roof and sighed into the water.

"KAGOME!" She suddenly bounced up.

"Damn. Maybe they did notice I was gone." She mumbled as she reached for a fuzzy black towel and wrapped herself with it. She pulled the cork and grasped another towel, but thinner, for her hair. Kagome slowly removed the pink cloth and wiped off the misty fog from mirror. She looked like a princess, to herself however. Her body covered in a black `gown' and her head clothed with a pink `tiara' with her long hair wavy and slinging down her bare shoulders. Kagome used to feel like this all the time but her self-esteem shattered. She left the cloth on the sink and went into her bedroom. Her chocolate orbs lingered towards the clock and she read the time. It was seven. The bath took longer than she had expected. She went into her closet and plunged her hand in.

"Round and round the hand goes, where it stops, nobody knows." She plunged her hand in and spun it around. When she finished the small song, she pulled her hand out and recovered a long orange tee. Kagome repeated the process with her other arm and pulled out red sweatpants. The ritual brought a smile to the teen's lips. She has been doing that since school and sometimes it brought out some pretty weird sets. She once went to school in a brown sweater with purple spandex pants. Yeah. Wasn't exactly Madonna. Kagome got dressed and released the towel from her head. She attempted to look for the brush. But when she couldn't find it, she settled for raking her hair with her fingers. Afterwards, the girl opened a small chest that rested on her dresser and took out one of her hundreds of clips. She grasped an orange and red one and placed one on each side of her head. The girl's hair was severely knotted but she could care less. For her own appeal, she applied mascara, and light gold eye shadow.

"KAGOME HIGURASHI! WHERE ARE YOU?" Kagome snapped from her dream and realized that her father was calling.

"Coming daddy!" She shouted back and slipped into her slippers. The girl trampled down the steps, careful to avoid her fat cat, Buyo, that was trying to make his way upstairs in less than four days. She entered the gourmet kitchen and grabbed an apple from the straw basket. The kitchen was pretty average. Made of pure oak wood that was polished once a week. Kagome rounded the corner and entered the dining room to be greeted by her parents', well father's, eyes.

"Kagome Tomiko Higurashi. I woke you up thirty minutes ago. Now I know you aren't Buyo so it doesn't take you thirty minutes to walk down a flight of stairs." My father scolded. He once again, for the second time this morning, raked his hand through is brown hair. My mother picked at her food. She didn't really like to intrude into Kagome and her husband's fights. She noted that her daughter got her stubbornness from her husband's side. Maybe it was from his damnable mother, she mentally snapped as she took a bite of eggs.

"I took a bath." The teen stated simply. She sat in her unofficial (but household known) seat. It was also directly across from the plasma screen television that was built in the wall.

"Kagome. When I call you, that comes before your hygienic needs." Her father sighed and tucked his face into his hands. Kagome rolled her eyes. Her parents' needs always seemed to excel beyond her own. She sighed and pulled her plate of eggs in front of herself and reached for a fork in the silverware that was around her plate. Her mother kindly took the cheesecake fork out of her hand and handed her the rightful fork. They have attempted to teach her the rightful forks from a young age but to Kagome, a fork was a fork. The teen mumbled a small `thanks' and turned on the television only to have it turned off by her father.

"I'm talking to you Kagome." Mr. Higurashi snapped. "I awoke you because you have a very busy day ahead of you." He placed his fork down and took a sip of wine. "And afterwards we have a big banquet to attend to. You know I'm running for Treasurer for our state?" He chuckled.

"Well we sure will have a good year, financially of course." Kagome added.

"So anyway. I have something to talk about with you." He took another fine sip of wine and looked at me. "How do you plan on spending your summer vacation?" Kagome tapped her chin. She didn't really like thinking ahead about things. Occasionally when she thought ahead about the perfect day of school, she'd end up getting chased with water bottles while she is at her locker, leaving it open, and finding shaving cream on the inside or paint with the words `Your father made my sister have to drop out!' taped over it. So Kagome just let the tide roll her whichever way it was planned to happen. First she wanted to sleep in (that was already trashed). Then she wanted to be inundated with ice cream and candy as she watched television.

"I don't know. I was just planning to sleep. After all I don't have any colleges in need of picking out. Because I was college bound at the age if thirteen." Kagome said.

"Well honey. We found a good job that we think you may enjoy." Ms. Higurashi said, eyes kind. Kagome tensed.

"A job? A JOB! Its summer damn vacation! I'm not supposed to have a damn job!" The girl raged.

"Well it isn't really a job. Its just volunteer work." Ms. Higurashi subsided.

"So I don't even get paid for slaving myself awake every morning at six thirty?" The teen was getting angry.

"Well. It will help boost your father's profile a bit, to know that his daughter is working at a youth to youth center. And some of your friends from school will be there." The girl froze. The last thing she needed to jumpstart her summer vacation was being chased out of the youth to youth center with water bottles. She endured enough pain from the school year with her schoolmates; she didn't need an after shock.

"No daddy. I don't want to." Kagome looked down at the table. It was an old French style, her mother loved Europe and all he fancy things there.

"Sorry but you don't have a choice." Her father switched to the I-don't-mess-around business tone and Kagome sighed heavily. He straightened out his tie and stood.

"I never have a choice." She promptly left the table and made her way upstairs. She avoided Buyo, still trekking his way, and went into her room. It seemed her parents were never fond of her clothing game so she instead actually opened her closet and peeked at what was within. Clothes were thrown about on the floor and few were in the sanctuary of a hanger. The second hand clothes that she purchased were sprawled about, few beaded sweaters, hippie jeans, some tie-dye shirts. Kagome decided to go for a tie-dye shirt with the colors of the light spectrum, and black jeans. She reached for a brown headband, moccasins, and three red, green, and yellow hair clips. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and captured the stray hairs with the hair clips. Kagome slinked her way down the steps and looked at her parents in the living room, watching television, most likely `The fabulous life of-'. Since Mr. Higurashi's life was on there a few years back, it jumped to the top of their society charts. Whenever they are at a banquet or whatever, he always brings up the topic of how he was on it and how they compared his income with Madonna's.

"I'm off now." Kagome echoed. The adults looked at their daughter, mostly her attire.

"I'm glad to see you didn't wear your atrocious sweatpants. Thought I would have preferred your dress that I purchased from Barney's online catalogue." Mr. Higurashi said.

"Well I wouldn't. I hate that dress." Kagome spat.

"Have fun dear, and don't forget the banquet." Ms. Higurashi called and Kagome opened the door, only to slam it behind her.

"I swear, its like I'm not even home." Kagome fumed as she went to her Lexus SC 430. She honestly hated the car to death. Not to say it was an ugly car, it was actually very beautiful. But the reason it was purchased was A) Kagome was crying because she was dumped with mustard at lunch, and B) Her dad had money to show off. Kagome went into the dreaded car and drove to the youth to youth center.

Kagome approached the gate to the youth to youth center. It had a cream colored wall around it and in ivy, it say youth to youth. She stopped at the gate as a voice came over the intercom.

"Name yourself." The voice barked. Kagome cleared her throat.

"Uhh… Higurashi Kagome." She said. Didn't know they had this high security, she thought irritably.

"Excuse him. (she could hear a faint `Be nice Kyoukotsu' and then a `Shut it Jakotsu') So what are you here for baby doll?" Kagome twitched a bit.

"For the volunteer work." Kagome replied into the intercom. She could hear a squeal of delight emit from the intercom.

"Oh! You're going to work with all the cute baby boys! Come on in!" The gate opened, revealing a paint chipped building. Some of the windows couldn't take the windy days, thus boarded up with wood. Other windows were simply removed, showing holds in the wood. There were frequent termite holes in the wood and one of the shingles looked just about ready to give away. It was miraculous that the gate was so fine but the building on the inside was pretty much from the Michel Jackson era. For a brief second, the girl was afraid to park such a nice car in the parking lot of the recreational center. But she soon got over the fear when she heard a loud roar of wind and the shingle fell to where her car was previously standing. The teen concluded that it would be much safer in the parking lot. After securing a spot, the girl headed towards the building, all ready with hopes of the day being over.

Kagome opened the door so be greeted with the thick smell of mold. She looked around edgily. The girl's feet traveled towards the desk that erupted from the wall. A woman with long gray hair and a black eye patch sat at the desk.

"How may I help ye?" She asked. Kagome took her time reading the woman's nametag. It said `Kaede' in English and Kanji underneath for the Japanese people in the community. Kagome leisurely leaned on the desk.

"I, erm, am here for volunteer work, with the youth to youth program?" She asked. The visible eye of the elder lady's widened in shock.

"I wish ye best of health." The lady said and handed the teen a key and a name sticker that said hello! I'm…. Kagome signed her named and stuck the tag on her left breast part of her shirt.

"Don't you mean best of luck?" Kagome asked. The lady crept from behind the door and opened another door with a bronze key, identical to the one that Kagome was handling. She gave Kagome a look that said, no.

Kagome entered the hallway. Doors were on each side of the hall. Each had a certain class on it. Kagome read one that said `Teacher's lounge'. She pushed the door open briskly. Inside were a small refrigerator and a fairly sized card table/eating table in the center. On the right side of the room were counters that were packed with a espresso machine, millions of papers, Krispy Kreme donuts, and a box of Pepsi. The girl walked over to a sheet of paper that was hanging on the wall and saw the summer school teaching list. She read down and saw Higurashi, Kagome T. and in big letters, Literacy was next to it. Out of all the things Kagome had to teach, it was Literacy. Even though the girl loved to read books and poetry, she couldn't rhyme for her life. To her ears, car and trunk rhymed.

"Just great." She mumbled as the girl poured herself a cup of warm coffee and sat at the card table. She wrapped her hands around the small cup and took a lingering sip. While her eyes were closed, she didn't notice the door open and shut.

"Hey…" The person got a cup of coffee also and sat across from to teen. Kagome looked up to find herself looking into red eyes.

"Uh…hey…?" The teen said. She was baffled by the blue eye shadow on the man. He looked her up and down.

"Your not allowed in here…." He paused when he looked at her again. "Your Higurashi's daughter aren't you?" A smile played his lips. Kagome nodded slowly.

"I heard about you. The girl that was found in the basement of the school at graduation." He said. The girl blushed darkly. "You know, your dad is a really bad man." He said. Kagome looked to the floor.

"I know." She started when a thick bell rang through the room. The man packed up his papers and stood. His long, black, wavy hair was neatly tucked behind his right ear with a number 2 pencil.

"I'll have a talk with you later." He said and left the room, leaving Kagome with the coffee. She placed the cup down and left it. She looked around for the literacy papers. After Kagome recovered them, she left the lounge in search of the room that she was to be in. The teen scurried down the hallway in search for the literacy classroom. The hall held an eerie feeling that went down to her bones. She looked around and saw a door that had chips in the wood. On it said Literacy. She attempted to ignore the arrow that pointed to text which read …is hell. Kagome cleared her throat and closed her eyes to prepare for the scene she was about to experience. As soon as Kagome opened the door, she was forced to slam it again do to the flying paintball that was lunged towards the door. She could hear erupting laughter from inside. Kagome mentally scolded herself for allowing her parents to send her here. She opened the door ago to find herself flabbergasted. The chairs were toppled and kids were running franticly like ticks were on their backs. Some kids were even making out on top of her desk. She twitched.

"Stop!" She shouted. He call seemed to have no effect on the kids because not one turned into her direction.

"I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP ALL YOU STUPIDASS KIDS!" This got Kagome attention because everybody looked at her. She recognized some kids from school. Suddenly she felt so small and weak. Who was daddy kidding? I can't do this, she was about to turn and leave when she heard a voice. She missed what was said so she turned back around.

"What?" She asked. Kagome tried to put a tough look by placing her hands on her hips.

"What kind of hippie is going to call us stupidasses if they aren't talking to anybody but their own father?" Kagome's eyes darted to a man in the front of the room. He had long black hair that reached to the end of his back, and piercing violet eyes.

"And who are you to talk about hippies?" She snapped, indicating his hair. The man put his hand to his heart.

"Ouch." He said without feeling, motivation, or even a tone. Kagome narrowed her eyes. She immediately plastered on a cheery smile.

"Okay class today we are going to-" Kagome was interrupted when she heard a voice.

"My brother had to drop out of school because of your damnable father and his taxes." The same boy said again. Kagome closed her eyes and counted to three.

"We are-" She was interrupted again by another voice.

"Yeah. What your father did makes me proud to participate in the Kagome bashings. My uncle even bought me eggs for the occasion." Kagome squeezed her eyes shut.

"We will-" Her voice came out a little above a squeak.

"Why are we even here? Lets go." A girl with deep red eyes snapped and about twelve people left the room. Kagome now allowed the tears to roll down her cheeks. She felt a tug at the bottom of her pants. She looked down to meet with a tangerine colored head.

"Yes?" She asked through her tears.

"What are we going to do today?" The boy asked, green eyes full with sincerity. Kagome looked up and saw two other girls sitting. The teen smiled proudly and dried her tears with her sleeves. She turned to the board and wrote Kagome in neat cursive. She turned and clapped her hands.

"Okay class today we are going to…"

Kagome drew another line.

"C'mon guys! He's almost getting hanged!" She said through laughter. A teen with a ponytail on the side of her head raised her hand. She was dressed in a casual halter-top and shorts.

"R!" She shouted. Kagome sighed and drew another line.

"C'mon Rin! He only has his legs left!" Kagome shouted. Another teen with a t-shirt and jeans named Sango raised her hand.

"J!" She called. Kagome sighed and drew another line. The little boy was sleeping on one of the beanbag chairs. She already finished her lesson so they were having fun. Rin raised her hand once again.

"Q!" She yelled. Kagome sighed again.

"You can't have a Q without a U." Kagome sing-songed. She drew the last line. "C'mon guys. You needed a B." Kagome wrote the `B' in antiestablishmentism. The girls sighed.

"We were close though." Sango said as she flopped down on the beanbag, but carefully maneuvered around Shippou, the little boy with the orange hair. Kagome flopped down next to her. They had about three minutes left of the day. Kagome couldn't wait until she saw these kids again. They all failed Literacy so she had them for the summer. Rin came over and jumped on them all, shouting dog pile. The beanbag they were on popped and they were all sent to the floor. At the moment, they laughed so hard, but not when the superintendent came and saw them all on top of each other. Then they just felt embarrassed (especially Shippou).

When Kagome returned her key, she had an odd bounce in her step. Kaede watched her as she waved goodbye and called that she will be returning tomorrow earlier so she can set up her lesson plan. The teen felt like she was soaring on clouds of pillows and she was a bit startled when she smacked into her car. Kagome shrugged and jumped into her car, but everything crushed when she realize she still had that stupid banquet to attend.

Kagome entered the house to be greeted by her mother, who was walking up the steps.

"Hello Kagome! Did you have a nice day today?" Ms. Higurashi asked. Kagome smiled up at her mother and she could see the look of surprise in her mom's eyes. It has been a long while since Kagome has smiled to any of her parents.

"That good of a day?" Ms. Higurashi asked, amused. Kagome shook her head playfully and made her way up the marble steps towards her bedroom. Kagome saw Buyo, who accomplished his goal, resting in front of Kagome's glass door. The teen knelt down before her marmalade cat and attempted to lift him. Kagome failed in her attempts and was pulled to the floor under the weight of the cat.

"Damn. Why didn't I just name you Garfield?" Kagome asked as she struggled to release her hand from underneath the cat. Buyo seemed offended and pranced away, but making sure to keep on the second floor. Kagome looked over the balcony at her father, in his nicest Tuxedo, and sighed. She knew that he was going to be `praising' her. She shrugged and opened the door to her bedroom. The teen trotted over to her closet and picked out her `Favorite' dress. It consisted of lavender silk that fell to the floor with silver sparkles. The back was bare and the front sunk modestly.

"Ayame!" Kagome shouted for her maid. A redheaded teen with green eyes entered the room.

"Yes Kagome?" Ayame asked as closed the glass door behind her. She stood in the middle and gaped at Kagome's dress.

"You like it?" Kagome asked.

"No! It's hideous! Look how fat it makes you! My god!" Ayame looked at Kagome's back. "And your ass looks like a horse of it's own!" Kagome rolled her eyes and took off the dress.

"Thanks Ayame." She said sarcastically. She sat on the bed and put her head in her hands. Ayame went into her dresser.

"Don't worry Kagome. I'll fix that. Stand." Ayame motioned Kagome up. The girl had a mischievous smile on and Kagome was immediately frightened.

"C'mon Kagome. Only one more inch!" Ayame's feet were on the wall as she was attempting to pull the corset tighter and tighter. Kagome was gripping the silk of her blanket as she struggled to pull the black strings from Ayame's hands.

"Ayame I cant breathe!" Kagome cried.

"C'mon. Just one more inch!" Ayame was still on the wall pulling tightly on the strings, ignoring Kagome's cries. The teen in torture sucked in deeply as she felt the strings pull farther. Kagome never used a corset before so pulling off four inches was like hell. She was squeezed in a white corset.

"Okay Kagome. Just half an inch." Ayame squeezed her eyes such as she pulled the strings hard, emitting an ear-splitting scream. Ayame knotted the strings and fell from her stance.

"There Kagome! Your skinny like The Olsen twins." The redhead admired her work. Kagome couldn't answer though because she was breathing frantically.

"I might pass out in an hour." She snapped.

"But you will look beautiful when you pass out." Ayame pointed out. Kagome groaned as she got her dress on. She slinked it over her now flat tummy and turned into the mirror. She gasped at herself.

"Wow Ayame! It looks so much better!" Kagome admired herself in the mirror by doing spins. She still couldn't breath that well but she still enjoyed her new body. Ayame wiped the fake dust from her hands.

"Yeah. You don't look like a fat ass anymore." The maid nodded. Kagome narrowed her eyes.

"If I could run in this thing, you would be dead." She informed. Ayame nodded.

"Thank Kami." She said as she left the room.

Kagome strapped on the buckle and sighed. She felt just as beautiful as she used to. If this were like the prom or something special like that, she would have jumped for joy. But since it was just a banquet, she settled for a squeal of delight. She looked into the mirror. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and had curls emitting from it. She had on silver eye shadow and pink lip-gloss. Kagome slinked down the stairs fancily. Ms. Higurashi looked up and beamed.

"Kagome! You look beautiful!" Ms. Higurashi gushed. She watched as her daughter made her way down the stairs, looking happier than she ever had. Mr. Higurashi eyed her as she hugged her mother.

"Do you want anything to eat Kagome?" Ms. Higurashi asked her daughter. Kagome grimaced. If she took another bite, she might pop the corset.

"I'm not hungry." Kagome lied. Ms. Higurashi was about press on but she thought better of it. Her daughter wasn't usually this happy, so she better cherish it.

"Okay…" She said uneasily. Ms. Higurashi was still in her pajamas since she usually didn't enjoy associating herself with her husband's `workers'. She placed a motherly kiss on Kagome's head and smiled. "Bye Boo!" Kagome winced at her nickname. Mr. Higurashi wordlessly went into the limo that was waiting for them at the driveway. He held the door open for Kagome but she refused and walked to the other side of the limo. They sat in and secured the belts tightly. Not a word was exchanged from the father and daughter through out the whole ride. As the driver opened the door, Kagome caught her father's wrist and looked him in the eye.

"I know you are going to make up lies about me. But don't exaggerate to much okay?" She said. The father began about how he never did such a thing but Kagome already accepted the driver's hand and exited the limo. Her father mumbled something and followed in suit. They were at the Downtown Meeting Center. The building was made of white brick and had large pillars running down the front. In the center of the entrance way was a stone waterfall with an angel in the middle. Lights illuminated the center, casting a shadow on selected items. Kagome was basking in the beauty. Maybe this would be one of the better banquets after all.

By the end of the night, Kagome didn't know what the hell she was thinking. The night was horrible. Once she entered, her father began bragging about how his `daughter' was valedictorian, how she made an excellent speech (which was impossible because at that moment, Kagome was in the basement crying), about how she was sent college manuscripts when she was in fifth grade (almost the truth), and about how she was top of all the sports. By the end of the night, Kagome was sitting on the waterfall, wondering if she was meant to be as perfect as everybody expected her to be. But the banquet was just like school. Not one person complimented her on the dress that she had slaved to squeeze into. But that was until she heard a voice.

"Hey. Its you! The wench from summer school." Kagome looked up to see the man with the long black hair and violet eyes. The teen sent him a questionable look.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, ignoring the `wench' comment, for now.

"Just because I'm stupid doesn't mean that I cant enjoy the limelight with my mother." He snapped. Kagome shrugged.

"I wasn't implying that you were stupid." She pointed out. The boy looked confused. Kagome had her doubts that he knew what implying meant.

"To suggest?" She decided to tell him the meaning of implying. He looked at her.

"I know what implying means." He lied. Kagome shrugged and removed her heels. The man looked at her.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked. She placed her feet in the water.

"Why burn my poor little toes just to show the impression of the perfect daughter?" She stated as she relaxed against the water.

"What?" The man asked.

"My dad always acts like I'm perfect to scam more money from people." Kagome said irritably. The boy nodded.

"You don't like him do you?" He asked.

"It's all his fault that I get tortured every damn day. But yes, I love him." Sarcasm was dripping from her voice in the last sentence. Silence engulfed the last few seconds. She suddenly heard a voice that sounded like all the angels singing on high.

"Inuyasha! Time to go." The boy stood and left without even a goodbye. Kagome watched him as he left.

Inuyasha was his name.

Sara: The end. I am going to put a lot of effort in these chapters. They are going to be very long (like this one for example) but I probably won't be updating to quickly.

Review. It always puts a smile on my face. And everybody loves to see Sara smile (I hope)

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