My first chapter to my new story! yay! Ok...at the end of this one, I shall say my age (most of you might be a bit surprised). Well, at least my age from when I wrote Bloody Lollipops (because, well, my b-day is coming up next month, and I don't exactly think I'll be done by then). Oh, yes, btw, the time period for this story is about our time, but Tokyo's like…what's the word I'm looking for..oh yes! It's ruled over Monarchy, so it might seem like it takes place in the Feudal Era, but it's not.

Claimer: I do own Inu-Yasha

Rumiko Takahashi: -threatens to stop making the manga-

Disclaimer: AAAAH!! NOOOO!!! ok ok! I don't own Inu-Yasha!

Rumiko: -grins-

The sun was almost below the horizen, its red rays coming over Tokyo. A 18-year old cross between a cat hanyou and a miko was walking along one of the deserted streets, not paying attention to anything that was happening around her. She absently-minded took a turn down a rather dark alley. That's when she started to hear noises. Little pats at first, but as they became louder she knew that they were footsteps. The girl strained her cat ears as much as she could, noticing another thing. The footsteps were getting much, much closer. She started to run. The girl took a left, then two rights, before swishing around a familiar corner. Before she knew it, the sun was completely gone. The only light now was that of the lamppost that was flickering above her. The girl listened again, holding her breath, yet there was no noise. She sighed a breath of relief.

Without warning, she felt two very strong hands clutched her shoulders, almost crushing them, and lifted her feet off the ground. The girl screamed in shock and turned her head to see who had gabbed her. It was a male youkai, who looked like he was about in his mid-twenties. He had flaming orange hair and evil red eyes. The youkai licked his lips hungrily. Seeing the lust in his eyes, the girl started to struggle, trying to get out of his grasp.

"Let go of me!" she screamed into the moonless night, struggling with all her might. Yet it was no use, the youkai was too strong. He laughed and licked his lips again.

"The more you squirm the more I want you," the youkai whispered huskily, making her stop immediately. He licked her cheek. "You taste so good, I need you now."

"Stop that creep!" she screamed, managing to make one her knees contact with his balls. He let go of her, clutching his crotch in pain. The girl was just about to kick him again when she heard a soft yet strong voice.

"Stop this instant."

The two looked up to see a 48-year old man with black cat ears with gold at the tips, pure gold eyes a black tail with gold stripes, and purple stripes on his cheeks. He was clad in clothes made out of fine silk and his hair was the richest color of black. His golden eyes glared over at the girl.

"Father," she sputtered out; wide-eyed. The girl fell to her knees and bowed. "I mean, King Higarashi."

"King Higarashi," the youkai said angrily, glaring daggers as the girl. "I tried. She kept resisting."

The king looked down at his daughter. "Kikyo. This is your eighteenth birthday. Which means you are now old enough. You will now be taken away by this man and become his slave."

Kikyo stared at her father with her jaw dropped. "But father-!"

"No buts!" he interrupted in a harsh tone. He waved his hand at the youkai. The man grabbed Kikyo by the arm. "Goodbye Kikyo."

"Father, please, no!" Kikyo pleaded desperately, but soon her cries were swallowed up by the darkness of the night.

His gold eyes stared intensely at where his daughter was pulled away. After a moment, the king started to walk away. "Come along Kagome."

The girl called Kagome still stood there, staring in horror at where her only sister once was standing. Her hanyou features looked exactly like her fathers, except for her eyes were much softer. The girl's long, ebony hair flew out like angel wings behind her.

"Kagome! Come now!"

Kagome shook her head as she snapped back into reality. She looked over at her father. "Sorry daddy! Coming!" With that, she ran off.

---

The now much older Kagome opened her eyes with a heavy gasp. She sat up, a cold sweat pouring over her. When she looked around, she sighed. It had been that dream again. That dream that actually had happened 13 years ago. It was a horrible day for her, to see her sister have to become a slave, but she thought that it would have been worse in Kikyo's case. Every since then, Kagome had prayed every night for Kikyo's happiness and life. Unfortunately, no one had ever heard from or seen Kikyo ever again. The cat hanyou got out of bed, stretching her limbs and opening her mouth for a big yawn. Suddenly, the door was slammed open.

"Happy 18th birthday Kagome!" her younger (as in 16 years old) brother, Souta, greeted cheerfully. A wrapped present was in his hand. Souta also looked like Kagome and her father, except that he had no stripes.

Kagome smiled at her brother's cheerfulness. 'My, how he has the same kind look of Kikyo and mother.' A few years after Kikyo had been slaved, their parents had Souta. Unfortunately, something went terribly wrong with the birth. They had a choice to pick between who would still live- Souta or their mother. Their mother wanted them to keep Souta, and died. Kagome also had prayed every night that her mother was happy up in heaven.

"Thanks so much Souta!" Kagome smiled brightly, giving Souta a big hug. She grinned mischievously as she started to give him a noogie.

"Hey, hey, stop!" Souta giggled, managing to escape his sister's attack. He grinned and held the present close to his chest. Sticking out his tongue, he said, "Now you're not getting the present I got for you."

"C'mon! I'm the birthday girl!" Kagome whined in protest. "I'm the one who gets the presents!"

Souta rolled his eyes, but still smiled. "Jeez, stop acting like a three-year old. Here you go." He carefully tossed the wrapped box to his sister. She caught it with a grin.

"Hmmm, I wonder what it is," Kagome thought aloud, pressing the box up to her cat year and shaking it slightly. Then she looked at her brother blandly. "I hope it's not a bathroom set. The same one you've been getting me for the last 10 years." She made sure to say '10' as loud as she could without shouting.

Souta rolled his eyes again. "No, of course not! I got something new that I can get you for the next 10 years!" He laughed as Kagome glared at him. But she stopped when she started to rip apart the paper with her claws. Inside was three Evanescence CD's and a poster signed by Amy Lee. Kagome's eyes widened.

"OMG!" she screamed happily. Kagome pulled her brother into a powerful, bone-crushing bear hug.

"Can't breathe...too much...family...bonding..." her brother gasped for air, his ears stretching out. Kagome giggled and let go of him, letting him take a deep breath.

"Thanks Souta," Kagome finally said.

"No prob sis," Souta replied. He looked over at the door. "We should go downstairs so Dad can say happy birthday to you too." Kagome nodded in agreement and the two went downstairs. When the siblings entered the living room, it was completely dark. Even with Kagome's cat eyes, she couldn't see anyone in the room.

"Hey Souta, where is-"

"SURPRISE!"

The lights suddenly flickered on and four people popped out from behind the couch. One of them was her dad. He was of course much older, but, being a hanyou, he looked almost the same. Except that his eyes were softer and his hair had grown much longer.

Another one of them was Sango. She was Kagome's best friend ever since they were 3. She was the one who helped most with the whole Kikyo thing. Sango had fiery brown eyes, long black hair that was tied into a loose ponytail, white-ish blue tiger ears, and was wearing a t-shirt that said 'Can't Touch This' and jeans. Sango was very smart and pretty, but she was one of the toughest kids in their school to boot, since she was part-time youkai taijiya (and a tiger hanyou).

The man that was standing beside her was Miroku. He was Sango's boyfriend, and Kagome's friend since they were born (their parents were friends when they were in high school). Miroku has pure blue eyes, black hair tied into a small pony tail, silver tiger ears, and shirt that said 'Kiss me, I'm a monk' and jeans. Sure he is pretty good looking, smart and strong, but Miroku has a problem. Ever since that one day in grade 2, when the grade 2 class had to do a dance in front of the school. Miroku and Sango were stuck being dance partners, and when the day came, his hand sort of...slipped. Ever since that day, even though it was an accident, it kind of grew on him and he started to become a total flirt (he's a cross between a houshi and a tiger hanyou).

The last person was Shippou. He was one of their friends from a few years ago (I should say that he's actually a ten-year old genius that was put into high school when he was 7). Shippo has sparkling aqua eyes, orange hair that was tied up with a bow, a poofy kistune tail, and was wearing overalls. He was an orphan whose family was killed by bandits and now lived in an orphanage. Even though, Shippo was even smarter than Kagome, Sango, and Miroku combined (he's a kistune youkai- but a good one).

"Thank you everyone!" Kagome squealed happily as her father took out the huge cake that inscribed 'HAPPY 18TH B-DAY KAGS!'.

Sango smiled then frowned when she looked over at Miroku. He was currently staring at Kagome's pajama top, for it was showing some amount of her chest. The youkai taijiya elbowed him HARD in his rib cage. Miroku immediately took his attention off of Kagome and towards his aching side. Sango's smile returned as Kagome pulled her into a hug. The cat hanyou then pulled Miroku into a hug.

"Thanks so much!" Kagome cried, still in Miroku's embrace.

"You're welcome," Miroku said, his hand sneaking it's way down towards her backside.

SLAP!

The houshi sighed but still smiled as he rubbed his sore cheek. "It was so worth the pain."

Sango glared daggers at him. Shippo rolled his eyes. King Higarashi glared along side with Sango. Souta looked a bit grossed out. But Kagome giggled and smiled.

"Same old Miroku. When will you're hands ever mature?" she wondered out loud, laughing a bit. Everyone (even Miroku) joined in with her.

---

Ripped paper and lonely boxes were now scattered everywhere across the floor. The huge plate that had the cake on it was now cake-less. Everyone sat around the living room, looking at Kagome's presents and chatting and laughing among themselves. But Kagome, even being among her dearest friends and family, didn't feel true happiness right now. The cat hanyou felt that this wasn't really meaning anything since Kikyo and her mother weren't here to celebrate it with her. She knew that her mother was probably looking down on her right now as they all celebrated, but she knew that Kikyo wouldn't be watching. Unless she di...

'OK!' Kagome thought, shaking her head, trying to get the thoughts out. 'Don't think about that! Stay positive!' As she sat there, Kagome thought about something else. Of course not having the most special parts of her family come spend this special day with her was bothering the girl, but there something else too. Something that frightened Kagome to the bone. It was on the day of Kikyo's 18th birthday that she had been slaved. And today was Kagome's 18th birthday. She couldn't just help but feel like she would get enslaved sometime today. Kagome's golden eyes darted over to her farther. He was laughing alongside with Souta. She looked away and down to the floor. Her farther, King Higarashi, was a much kinder man now. Seeing Kagome and Souta grow up, he did become much softer, even though he can be strict when it means business.

'He wouldn't,' she thought, not daring to look back over at him. 'He wouldn't let that same fate fall over me, would he?'

"Kagome," Sango started, breaking Kagome's concentration. "Are you OK? Because you're staring at the floor as if it was the most fascinating thing you've ever seen."

Kagome looked back and forth between her friend and her father. She took hold of Sango's arm and pulled them both up.

"I need to talk to Sango right now," Kagome announced to everyone. Looking at directly at Souta and Miroku, she added darkly, "Privately." Miroku and Souta nodded nervously.

The cat hanyou brought her friend outside onto the balcony (a/n: Just so you know...Kagome lives in a mansion type thing..er...or...um..yea..a mansion), the sun which was now right above them beating it's rays upon them.

"What's wrong?" Sango asked worriedly, her tiger ears twitching. She was frowning deeply, scared that Kagome would have very bad news. "Did something bad happen?"

Kagome looked downwards from the balcony, staying silent for a moment. Finally, she gazed upwards at Sango. "Sango, do you remember when they took Kikyo away to be enslaved to that wolf youkai?"

Sango started to panic a bit. "Yes, what about it? What's wrong Kagome?"

"It happened on her 18th birthday," Kagome explained quietly. She hung her head low so her bangs were covering her golden eyes. "And it's my 18th birthday today."

"Yes," Sango said, not really understanding what her best friend was getting at. "But, Kagome, why are you telling me all this?

Kagome rose her head to look at Sango with tear stained eyes. "What if my father is going to make me be enslaved?"

Sango's eyes widened. She didn't know how to answer that particular question. Seeing that, Kagome let out a sob and fell to her knees, crying. Sango fell down beside her and held her arms around her and cooing her comfortably, trying to calm down her sobbing friend.

"Please Kagome, don't cry," the youkai taijiya whispered, trying to make Kagome stop. "I bet he won't do it."

"How are you sure?" Kagome mumbled quietly.

"I'm sure. I'm definitely sure. He loves you too much, and he's a big softie now. He wouldn't have the heart to do it," Sango replied, smiling sadly at her.

Kagome's sobs died down as she returned Sango's smile. "Thanks Sango. You're such a great friend."

"No problem Kagome. That's what's friends are for." The youkai taijiya helped her friends up, taking out a tissue to wipe away the remains of her tears. The two friends walked back into the mansion, ready to celebrate this party to their hearts content. As they walked away, they didn't notice the black figure that was balancing perfectly on a branch of one of the sakura trees that laid around the mansion. He smiled, a low, erotic growl emitting from his throat.

"Don't worry my dear. It'll happen oh so sooner then you think."

I really hope you like it. Really really do. And I really hope you comment, please. They're really appreciated.

So any who...

Who's this black figure that was on the tree branch? What did he mean by 'it'll happen oh so sooner'? Was Sango right? Will Kagome's father make her be enslaved?

Find out in the next chapter: Sakura Petals