InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shared Blood ❯ Dark World ( Chapter 1 )
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.30.2002 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 5.3K | Status: Completed
Konnichi'wa, minna-san! Laz comes bearing a new story, one that has a different twist to it. Yes, I am trying my hand at an alternate reality fic with Inuyasha! Please read and enjoy, and if anyone sounds OCC, then live with it. ^.^ Rumiko Takahashi owns the rights to Inuyasha, and I make no claim to the characters. The story itself is mine, and please respect it as such. Thanks goes to Kota Magic, and Stef for reading over this for me, and helping me through some parts!
Shared Blood
Chapter One
lazulidreamer@yahoo.com
Kagome shivered in the small well house, her thin coat not doing much to keep her warm. Sneezing violently, she gathered her one blanket around her, trying to get as much heat from it as possible. Why did she have to lose her privileges at the school? She was barely allowed to attend anymore, and now she was in danger of losing even that privilege.
"Mom…why did you have to die?" Kagome whispered, feeling more alone than she ever had in her life. Souta was at the Han-to school, and she knew that he was safe there. The youkai wouldn't get to him.
She on the other hand was in danger of losing what precious freedom she had left. If it weren't for the proof that she was a free student of the Kon-to school for humans, she wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving without a youkai master.
She sensed them watching her all the time…when she was walking to school, and even when she slept in the well house. Their eyes were on her all the time. She hurriedly got into her clothes for the day-she couldn't be late for school. At least she still had the privileges of free, hot food.
Kagome sighed happily as she ate the food…it was rare to have a good meal. She was down to two days a week at the school, and struggled with a vengeance to keep up with the classwork. Someone sat down next to her, and she looked into the sad brown eyes of Yuka, one of her best friends.
"Kagome…they got Emi. You know how she was only showing up once a day?" Kagome nodded, intent on her saving some of the rice in a plastic container she brought to school for just this purpose, but still listening to Yuka.
"Well, I went to visit her at the old ice cream stand, where she was living after the school took away her room privileges, and there was nothing but splinters, and Emi's daypack." Yuka held up the item, bloodstains splattered across it, in a sick pattern.
At Kagome's horrified look, Yuka quickly shook her head. "No, she's not dead…but she's one of *them* now." Kagome shuddered in sympathy. She saw the slaves…the ones that served the youkai that ruled over their world.
She wondered if there was ever a time that the humans were more dominant. From what she remembered from history lessons, it wasn't until humans really began to advance that the youkai took over. The youkai stole their technology, adapted to it faster, and used it to their advantage to rule over the humans. The humans were helpless to stop them…the weapons that they had created were now in the hands of a race that was already stronger to them and had no qualms about killing anyone that came in their way.
Life had been bloody for the humans for a long time after that, and the human race had threatened to die out all together. Then came the compromise…humans were able to still live-but only as slaves for the youkai. There were a few families that managed to live outside of the youkai influence, and they started the 'free schools' for the others that met the criteria.
The only reason how Kagome got into the school was that she had latent miko powers. That let her in, but it didn't guarantee total safety. More and more, girls her age were vanishing from the school, to become 'useful' members of the community.
She let Yuka cry into the rough cloth of the daypack, her tears making dark splotches on the stained material. She knew that it could happen to her soon. She could soon be in the same position as Emi was now. Like her mother was…she tried to keep back the tears. She didn't want to end in that type of situation, where she would be beat and ordered around by an uncaring youkai.
The bell rang, and Kagome stayed in class a few moments longer, wishing that she could go back to the shared room of the girls who lived at the school. It guaranteed a blanket and pillow at least, and she'd be around people she had known for the last few years of her life. She couldn't stay, though, and she gathered up her few books and left the classroom slowly, wishing that she had someone to go home to.
She ignored the calls of the boys at the Hon-to school next door…Souta wasn't among the ones that hung outside…he was already in his bedroom, studying for his class, wrapped up in a blanket, content. He probably didn't remember his sister…she hadn't seen him since he was six, and he was now ten.
Walking down the street swiftly, she wanted to get to her home, when teasing from one of the youkai high schools caught her attention. She caught a name mockingly called out, and she paused, recognizing it.
"Inuyasha…" she muttered. That youkai was more famous in the human circles than in the youkai, and she crept behind a large tree to watch the proceedings.
"You damn hanyou! We shouldn't even let you stay in this school." A large, misshapen giant of a youkai spoke this, horns curling from the side of his head, large jaws filled with sharp teeth. "We should just eat you, and get it over with it."
"No, Goshinki, he'd better use as a slave. He's half human. That's what he was made for." Inuyasha glared at the new one who spoke-a female youkai by the name of Yura. "I could use him as mine…and play with his hair all day!" As she spoke, she reached for Inuyasha's long silver hair, and he growled at her, flexing his claws.
"Shut your damn mouth, wench! I'm not going to let you near my hair. Whore." Kagome's eyes widened at this. Inuyasha…was standing up to the youkai, who were, in a way, higher up than him.
"Oh yes, mustn't hurt Daddy's precious hanyou son. It's not our fault he had the bad taste to *keep* the bastard that he got his concubine pregnant with. And then marry her! What is the world coming to, when a youkai puts a human on equal footing?"
Kagome gasped. She knew, as did everyone, that Inuyasha's father was the leader of the youkai in this section. There wasn't one stronger than him, and he ruled over all. That was why the schools continued to run in the Kyoton district, when they were non-existent everywhere else. To insult his father…
Inuyasha shrugged. "It's no matter to me. My human blood is inferior and weak compared to my youkai blood. I ignore it."
The group snickered. "We can't though. I say that you don't show up here again, Inuyasha. You're better suited to the slave schools. Why don't you try it? I'm sure they'll accept you there with open arms."
Inuyasha snarled at sliced at Yura, nearly taking her head. She jumped backward, and readied out a few strands of hair, planning to wrap them around Inuyasha's neck and kill him with her special brand of magic.
A hand closing around her throat stopped her, and she was thrown a few feet backwards into the wall, Inuyasha's angry gold eyes meeting hers. "I don't want to hear another damn word, you bitch."
With that, he slung his daypack over his shoulders and leapt the high fence with ease, pausing at Kagome's hiding spot. "You better get out of here, you moron. You're school uniform won't always protect you."
Kagome looked up at him, wide-eyed. "I'm sorry that happens to you." She whispered, and then ran down the street, towards the well house that she called home. She didn't notice Inuyasha's shocked gaze looking after her, or him following her to where she lived.
Kagome sighed as she made her way quickly down the street. She didn't like this area…but it was the quickest shortcut to school. It wasn't a safe path, but she had no choice. She was already in enough trouble at school as it was, and she couldn't afford to add one more crime to her record. They had told her one more slip up, no matter how small, and she would be sent to a youkai family to be a slave. She was only with the school for a probation period, and being there was the only thing that saved her from being turned to one of the youkai families that ruled over the town. She shivered in fear, wondering what would happen to her if she did slip up.
She wasn't watching all sides of the street when she crossed through an alleyway, and slammed into somebody walking the opposite way from her. The force of it threw her on her back, and she saw stars for a few moments. She looked up to see who she had run into, and her mouth dried with fear. It was one of them. The youkai that ran this part of town, the part that humans only lived as slaves in. She clutched her satchel to her tighter, knowing that it gave her at least partial immunity.
"Look, Hoshi…we have a visitor in our part of town. A little school girl on the wrong side of the tracks…" The youkai who spoke had blunt cut hair, tied back with a thin red ribbon, most of her curves shown off by her tight black outfit. She didn't wear any shoes, instead cloth wrapped around her feet, but Kagome knew who this was. Yura, she was the one that had been trying to kill Inuyasha the other day.
"I'm sorry…" Kagome knew she sounded pathetic, but she knew what Yura could do to her chosen victims. The human slaves evaded her, and even the girls from the Kon-to school knew her name and avoided saying things about her. They all knew how dangerous she was. Kagome's eyes widened when Yura pulled out a knot of hair, manipulating it until it formed a cat's cradle in her hands.
"You know the penalty for being here, girl? Ones that are not owned by us do not know their place. You would make a nice slave…" Kagome winced. "Or we could just play a nice game of cat's cradle. Does that sound good to you?" The hair in Yura's hands glowed slightly, and Kagome felt strands of sharp hair wrap around her body, cutting into her. She bit back her instinct to scream as her blood ran down the silvery strands, but she couldn't hold back her whimper of pain.
She felt her vision darken alarmingly, and the ground seemed a welcome place. Just as the strands were biting into her neck, she heard a snapping sound, and the hair around her body vanished. There was an outraged scream, and then silence. She looked up to see the face of another youkai standing over her, pieces of a broken comb in his hands.
"Oi!" Kagome struggled to keep her eyes open at the sound of the new voice, but she could only lie on the ground, her breath coming in harsh pants. She heard the distant toll of the school bell, and she realized her life as a free student was over, and she would become a slave for one of the youkai that she saw here today. She curled into a ball and forced herself to her knees, palms flat out on the ground to brace herself.
"You shouldn't be moving, ya know. You were stupid to come here. Did you want to get killed?" The rough voice startled her. She thought the youkai would have left by now, bored with her. Even though he did save her, who knew what he was planning. She let her blurred vision drift to the source of the voice, and was surprised to see a boy in a school uniform bending over her, long white hair cascading down his back, and two canine ears on the top of his head. It was Inuyasha…she wondered why he stopped-for a human.
She leaned against the wall, feeling the ground jerk violently beneath her feet, but she had to get to school somehow. She was already late, but they just might let her go if she explained what had happened. "Thank you…" She said softly, grabbing her satchel with a shaking hand, using the wall as a brace as she made her way though the alleyway, and out to where her school was. She didn't glance back at the boy-youkai, but she could feel his eyes on her the entire time.
"For violation of the school's code yet again, you are no longer allowed the safety of the school. I'm sorry that it has to be this way, Higurashi-san, but you knew the rules when you first came here. You were told that if you violated one more rule, then you had to take the role your station in life dictates."
Kagome barely heard the words the head of the school was saying. All she knew was that she was still in horrible pain, and that it wasn't going to let up anytime soon, especially if she couldn't stay at the school anymore, but had to be a slave to the youkai.
"In fact, we already have an owner for you now, Kagome. There was a request for you shortly before you came. Inuyasha-sama?" The door opened but Kagome didn't care who her owner was at this point. She let her head slump over the desk, waiting for blissful unconsciousness to claim her. She felt herself being lifted in someone's arms before she completely passed out.
Kagome awoke to a cool cloth on her forehead, and she opened bleary eyes to see a figure bending over her, golden eyes narrowed in worry. "Oi…I told ya not to move. Now it's going to take you forever to heal. Not many people survive Yura's attack."
Kagome frowned. "You were the one who saved me. Why?" She knew that it wasn't the smartest thing to sound so demanding…especially of this youkai that was her new master, but she wanted an explanation of why a youkai would save a human.
"I don't have to have a reason. Maybe I was tired of Yura's big mouth." Kagome shrugged and tried to get up from her prone position, but a strong hand on her shoulders kept her down. "Don't move! You're pretty torn up. Stupid human."
"I never asked you to save me! I need to get back!" She struggled against his hand, ignoring the sharp pain the ripped up her side from where Yura's hair had sliced her. He only smirked at her, and she stopped. He knew something that she did not.
"Have you forgotten already? This is where you're staying now. You belong to me." His smile was cold, and everything that happened in the head's office came back to her with startling clarity. She was no longer a free student of the Kon-to school, but property of the smirking youkai above her.
A week later
Kagome sighed as she leaned against the wall of Inuyasha's room, bored. She was completely healed now, and he still hadn't given her any orders of what to do. It wasn't as if she was complaining, but it was strange. Inuyasha was at school-he was a senior at his high school. He must've been on his way to *his* school when he ran across her.
The door suddenly slammed open, and Kagome ducked as his daypack went sailing across the room, thudding into the wall. He turned to glare at her, muttering angrily.
"You…I forgot you were here…" He mumbled. She blinked at him, surprised. "Girl…go get bag…" She walked over to the backpack slowly, grasping it in her hands and handing it to him. "Get my homework out and do it. I don't feel like thinking tonight."
She openly stared at him. "That's not right! You shouldn't have other people do your work for you! How will you ever learn? Pass your tests?" He raised an eyebrow at her, incredulous.
"Are you saying that you won't follow my orders? I told you to do my homework, bitch. Now do it." He snarled, flopping down on his bed.
Kagome nodded, and began pulling the books out, staring at them longingly. Just a week ago she was studying, and doing homework like he was supposed to be doing. She realized that she had the chance to do work again. "What do you want me to do, Inuyasha-sama?" She asked quietly, the books spread out around her.
He looked up, bored. "Do everything from midway through the books until I tell you to stop. I want to get a head start." She gaped at him, but quickly gathered up the books and retreated to her corner of the room. She wondered when she would be sent to the slave quarters…now that she was healed, she no longer needed to be in his room.
She opened the books almost eagerly, reading over the familiar words. The few humans at the schools were taught roughly the same information as the youkai. She didn't care that this above her…she was learning again. She took out a pencil and paper without really thinking about it, and started taking notes on the material. She was soon lost in the books and the information inside them.
It was several hours later and her eyes ached unpleasantly from staring at the tiny print in the many books. She was almost finished with them, having done a chapter out of each before going to the next one. Her hands hurt, and she wanted to curl up asleep. Her brain even felt tired from the papers she was writing. Inuyasha was snoring on the bed, and she kept at the papers, but it was a struggle for her to keep her eyes open.
Well, you were bored, Kagome. He finally gave you something to do. She kept her bitter thoughts to herself, and she read through the last part of the first book, setting it aside, the stack of papers needed for it piled on top of it. She at least got one book done…just three more to finish. She rested her chin on her knees, closing her eyes for a second. She didn't hear the pencil fall out of her hand and clatter to the floor as she fell asleep out of pure exhaustion.
A minute later an alarm clock blaring woke her up out of her nap, and she jerked, grabbing at the book that was about to fall out of her lap. She looked up at Inuyasha in fear, wondering if he knew she fell asleep. He only looked at her surrounded by the books and snorted.
"Well, how much did you get done, wench?" He asked sleepily. She pointed to the pile of finished papers, not able to form a coherent response. His eyebrows rose in surprise, and he grinned at her before going into the adjoining bathroom. "Maybe you'll be useful after all…" He muttered.
Kagome could only stare at his retreating form. He didn't give her permission to stop working, and her stomach grumbled loudly in protest at having to do all this mental work without anything to support her body. She opened up the nearest book again, the words blurring before her. She could barely grip the pencil now that her concentration was broken.
"Give me that…" Inuyasha's voice sounded from somewhere above her as he grabbed the book out of her hands and shoved it into his backpack. She could only stare at him stupidly, her mind dull from exhaustion. "Go get a bath or something…you smell…" He muttered, and left the room, stomping down the stairs. Kagome took that as an invitation to relax, and she collapsed on the floor.