Chapter 1

"Miss Higurashi?" Kayami called from outside Kagome's big French doors. "Miss Higurashi? It's 7 o'clock, your father instructed me to wake you at 6:40, but you haven't woken yet... Miss Higurashi please, your father will be furious if you're late for school."

Kagome frowned into her huge fluffy pillow and rolled out of bed. "I'll be out in a second Kayami!" she moaned back to the maid.

"Thank you Miss Higurashi."

"Call me Kagome Kayami."

"Of course, Miss Higurashi,"

Kagome smiled and slowly began to get up. Kayami was only a few years older than Kagome, which is why she wished the girl would stop being so formal call her by her first name. Kayami didn't work for Kagome anyway; she worked for Kagome's father. There's a huge difference between the two of them.

Her father was a wealthy, monotone and pressed man. He was a successful business person, who always wore a suit and had hired staff for everything. A house maid, Kayami, a driver, a gardener, a grocer, a secretary and everything else a rich and busy man needed to stay in order.

Kagome's older brother, Sota, was already studying abroad in America, making their father proud; something she'd been having a hard time with recently.

Kagome was starting her final year of high school and all her father cared about was her marks. Her happiness was a minor detail, hardly even a detail at all. The pressure he put on her was astounding and impossible to bear. Narushi had become less and less her father and more a fearful mentor. All she got from him were commands and scolds.

Sota had said the only way he got through the same ordeal in his final year was because Kagome was there to talk to. That thought must have skipped his mind when he left her to take the toll on her own.

She was so young when her father stopped being loving that Kagome hardly remembered what he was like, let alone what her mother was like. Sota told her that their mom was beautiful and caring; she brought something out of their father that neither of them would even dream of looking for in him. When Kagome was but 5 years-old, their beautiful mother lost in an ongoing fight with cancer. Their father had spent half his fortune trying to keep his wife alive, but his efforts were futile.

That was a dark time for the Higurashi family, a time that Kagome was raised in. Her brother did his best to make her happy, and Narushi did his best to give small smiles to his little daughter, but looking at her was painful. His daughter looked more like his wife than anyone ever had. They both had perfect eyes, long eyelashes, perfect skin, rosy cheeks, perfect hair and the most adorable smile he'd ever seen. This only grew worse as Kagome got older. Now 17 years-old, she looked much more mature and even more like his wife when they first met. It was unbearable.

Of course though, Kagome knew none of this. All she knew of Narushi was what she had seen; a stern, grey haired, unwavering, wealthy and relentless man she called father.

Kagome stumbled into the on-suit bathroom in her room and went to work. She had a shower and blow-dried her hair the night before so all she had to do now was wash her face and get dressed. Make-up wasn't something Kagome bothered with; she found that she really didn't need it.

In the mirror there stood a short and fair skinned girl. Her mirror image stared back at her with huge brown eyes perfectly placed on her extremely angular face. Kagome brushed her thick, straight, jet black hair up into a cute and messy bun before bending over and splashing water into her face to wash it.

Once her bathroom associated preparation for the day was finished, Kagome walked over to her huge closet and pulled out her adorable school uniform. After slipping it on and running out the door she called down to Kayami. "Kayami! Is my bag packed and my breakfast ready?"

"Yes Miss Higurashi, as always, but I doubt you'll have time to eat this morning..."

"I'll eat on the train," she smiled while jogging into the kitchen. Why am I always so late? Kagome thought angrily as she through her back pack over her shoulder and shoved a few dumplings in her mouth. She ran from the kitchen and out the door.

It took about ten metres of running and Kayami calling out for her a few times before she realized what she'd forgotten. Kagome stopped in her tracks and sheepishly turned around. Kayami stood a few feet from the door with black flats in her outstretched hand. "You forgot your shoes Miss Higurashi..." she said quietly.

Kagome sighed, "Thank you Kayami." She rolled her eyes at herself and walked back to retrieve her school shoes, typical morning.