I hate long author notes so I'll keep this short and simple, this isn't my first story but I haven't written one for like 3 years! So I'll just start with this now (: Some what inspired by the song 'Fast Car' by Tracy Chapman.

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, any of its characters, or whatever else.

If someone were to ask me if I thought I had a hard life growing up, I wouldn't say yes. I did what I needed to when it had to be done. From a young age I had learned that I was going to have to grow up quicker than everyone else and take care of people that were supposed to be in charge of taking care of me. By this I mean my father; the old drunk made excuses for why he shouldn't get a job and just spent his days and nights laying on his recliner chair in the corner of the living room in our old trailer home. My mom was around till I was 15 but I guess dealing with my father was too much for her. I came home from school one day and she was gone, my life had forever changed without me realizing it at that point. I cried when I saw the empty closet and the short note telling me that she was sorry but she wanted more in life then he could give.

The crying ended within an hour when my father had woken up and I had to tell him everything. I held his hand as he wept and my heart ached, my father wasn't an abusive drunk, he was just lazy!
My aching heart then became broken as my father looked into my eyes and spoke, "I'm so sorry Rin. This is my entire fault; I shouldn't have been so lazy. It hurts that your mom would leave me, but I'm hurting more that she would leave you as well."
"Don't blame yourself daddy. We're going to make it out just ok, don't you worry." I hugged him and watched him take swigs from whatever bottle of beer he was drinking from. In a few minutes he was asleep on his recliner again leaving me alone to think of what comes next. It was ridiculous to think my father would go and get a job himself. As much as he cared and loved me, he was lazy and cared more about the numbness that the alcohol gave him.

I went into my small room and laid down on my 'bed'; or you could just called it a thin old mattress laying on the ground. There was no point in worrying right now; tomorrow was Saturday so I would use the day to figure out what I needed to do to fix the mess my mother had left.

I was startled from my sleep to the crashing sound of glass. I ran to the living room to see my father panting, his hands cut up and blood pouring from then.
"Father! What is going on?" I grabbed a wet cloth from the kitchen and went over to him, trying to keep the blood as much as I could.
"Life is useless! Life is useless…so useless!" He fell to his knees and his shoulders were shaking. As a 15 year old, I didn't know how to handle this situation, so I ran to the trailer next door because a retired nurse lived there. I couldn't help but at least be thankful that it was 7 AM and not 3. I didn't feel the need to be around anymore, so I took a cold shower and pulled on some dark blue skinny jeans, white flip flops, and a pink hoodie. Without looking at my father and the nurse, I walked out of the house not sure where to go.

I had been walking for about 20 minutes when I reached the middle of our town, with all the shops and schools. This is when it all hit me; I was going to have to grow up. I was old enough to get a job and I needed to do whatever it took to make life ok for my father. I went in and out of stores for what felt like hours, asking them if they were hiring but no one seemed to want me there. Finally I reached a small corner coffee shop that seemed mildly busy. I walked in and someone must have being listening to my prayers, because someone had just quit the day before.
"Will you be 16 soon?" the interviewer asked, he was the owner of the place but I just saw a man that acted like my grandpa. "Yes, I'm turning 16 next month."
"Alright last question… are you in school?" I was just about to answer yes but something stopped me. The voice of reason, would I really be able to continue on when I needed to work to support my father, myself, and keep our trailer? So instead I just looked at the owner and said, "Not as of now. There are some things I need to take care of…" I could tell that the old man wanted to question me further on that topic but he kept it to himself. Although he did then ask, "Do you need a lot of hours?" I nodded, "As many as you can give me sir." He turned to his computer and started typing some things out. He then handed me my schedule.

"You start tomorrow; just ask me if you need anything."
"Thank you sir," I got up and smiled as I walked out. This was just the beginning of me fixing my destroyed household.

Ok, yes I know it was a short beginning but the next chapter will be a time skip! I just wanted everyone to have a good introduction and know what was going on(: Please review!