Chapter 1: Kagome's Past, Getting Into Ouran
"Yuzuru, aniki," a voice said on the line.
"Yes, imouto?" It had been a while since he heard from his sister, his mother disowning her for marrying a commoner, and a poor one at that.
"I need a favor," she answered, sounding a bit uncertain.
"A favor? What does this entail?" It wasn't often that she asked for something.
"Your niece…"
…A week prior
She and her son were finally released from the hospital. She was back down to her pre-baby weight, perhaps a bit lighter. Her son was now five months old. He had been in the ICU since the day he was born prematurely. She and her baby had almost died, but her brother had shown up and saved her. He had called the police and an ambulance to save her. He had ridden in the ambulance while he called their mother. The EMTs had strapped a fetal monitor and a heart rate monitor on her.
It had been one hell of a year up until that point. She had fallen down the well on her family's property, shattered a jewel that had once resided in her hip, released a half demon to save her, saved an orphan kitsune from being killed by his father's murderer, and made friends with a perverted monk and a revenge driven demon slayer, even if they had tried to do her some form of harm. It had taken six months to track down every jewel fragment and destroy both the jewel and a half demon that craved to get rid of his human heart and rule the world. She had gained the respect of an inu yokai and the affections of a wolf tribe. But that was all left behind unwillingly with the destruction of the jewel.
Upon her return to her rightful time, she had been raped and beaten to an unrecognizable pulp. She had almost died that day; the same day she conceived her child. She stayed alive for him. She loved her son with everything she had, despite the circumstances leading to his conception. It wasn't his fault after all. Six months into her complicated pregnancy the man came back and tried to kill her and her unborn child. He would have succeeded if it weren't for her brother.
Her pregnancy had been made complicated due to her recovery from the rape and beating. She was bedridden for a majority of it, but her and her son were strong and made it through, even if he was born so tiny.
The five months she and her son spent in the hospital was devoted to the care of her premature son as well as her recovery. Her body was now covered in hideous, jagged scars. They had to give her an emergency C-section to save her son. Her heart had stopped beating and her son couldn't breathe. She had technically died for five minutes before they had brought her back to life.
Her son, whom she named Kenichi, was in an incubator until his body could support itself. The doctors monitored him closely and wanted to continue monitoring him. They had told her there was a chance he would need continued monitoring and surgeries to keep him alive. There was also a chance his growth would be stunted. It wasn't likely, especially since her son had inherited her powers. Slowly they were making him stronger.
"I'm glad you and Kenichi are finally able to come home, Kagome," her mother said. "It just wasn't the same without you." She helped Kagome secure the car seat in the minivan. "Hojo, Eri, Yuka, and Ayame stopped coming by weeks ago. I am sure they would like to know that you are finally out of the hospital."
"They don't care," Kagome said. "They haven't tried visiting me in the hospital." She shoved her scarred hands into her pockets. She grew out half her bangs to cover half her face and she was wearing a long sleeved shirt as well as pants in the middle of summer, the hottest time of the year. "I don't want them to see me like this anyways."
She looked to her daughter. Every single scar she had was covered. She knew it was because of all the reactions she got. People called her hideous and would pull their children away from her. They called her a thug and other names, saying she deserved every scar for being a bad person without even knowing her precious daughter. She was beautiful and kind to everyone. She was smart too. It wasn't her fault bad things happened to her. It made her want to attack those people, but she didn't because Kagome told her not to. They knew the truth and that was all that mattered to Kagome.
"I've started looking at schools for you to go to. I haven't had much luck because of all your absences last year." Her daughter stayed silent. "If nothing works I'll call your uncle."
"I don't want you calling him," she said, never looking towards her mother. "He's never been there for us from the start."
"That isn't his fault. He was only listening to …."
"My grandmother? He would have found a way around her if he truly wanted to be there for us."
"Please, Kagome. You have to go back to school. How else do you expect to get a good job?" She heard Kagome sigh.
"Only as a last resort," Kagome said. She winced. Her leg was giving her problems again.
"I promise it will only be a last resort." She smiled. At least she was able to get Kagome to bend to something she wanted.
…Fast forward to the conversation
"What about her?" He had never seen her, but his imouto had informed him of her birth.
"I cannot find a high school to accept her due to her large amount of absences. She has great grades, but is becoming withdrawn from society due to recent events. I was hoping to enroll her at Ouran…"
"I can't just…"
"Please! I tried everywhere. Even with her grades they won't accept her. I want her to have a future. Is that too much to ask?" He could tell she was about ready to cry.
He sighed. "Have her take the entrance exam. If she passes, I'll over look her absences, but if her absence becomes excessive, I'll have to expel her. We will discuss her tuition and the paperwork for her entrance if she passes." He rubbed his temples. His mother had given him hell for having Tamaki, his illegitimate son. He could only imagine what she had to say when she discovered he was in contact with his dear imouto and his niece.
"After she passes," she corrected. "Kagome is smart, just becoming antisocial. I don't blame her."
"The test will be administered Saturday. Make sure she is there."
"Alright." She sighed. "There will be much to discuss after she passes. Goodbye, aniki." She hung up.
He sighed as he hung up his phone. He couldn't allow Tamaki to know that he had a cousin. The last thing he needed was Tamaki telling the Suou matriarch. He had to figure out what to do with Kagome when she started going here. She needed friends but he couldn't afford to have Tamaki talking about her at home. He needed to think.
…Saturday
It was the morning and he was looking out the window. He could see two figures approaching the building. One was wearing an orange sundress and the other was dressed in pants, a turtle neck and scarf and had both hands shoved in their pockets, their long hair was in a ponytail at the nap their neck with long, thick bangs covering half their face. It was hot outside, which made the outfit impractical.
He headed down to meet the two. He would speak with his imouto while his niece took the entrance exam. There was a lot he and his sister needed to catch up on. It was obvious something had happened if his imouto just about begged him to enroll Kagome in Ouran High School. Why was she absent so much?
"Yuzuru," his imouto greeted.
"Hanako," he said with a smile on his face. "It has been such a long time." He made to hug her, but she stepped back, shooting him down. "Come this way, both of you." He turned and led them down the hall. He entered a room with them following. There was a single desk in the middle of the room and another door on the far side of the room. "Kagome, your exam is on the desk. Hanako, I wish to speak with you in the next room."
Kagome walked over to the desk while they made for the other door. She didn't want to come here but saw the large amount of rejection letters from the other high schools. This school was her last hope. If she didn't get into this school then she had no options left, but to get a crappy job. She knew no man would want to marry her because of all the scars she had upon her body. They would be embarrassed to have her at their side.
She looked down and decided to focus on this test. This determined her future. After she passed this test, she would focus on her studies and hopefully get into college. Once done there, she would continue to hide her scars and avoid getting into a romantic relationship. She would continue to distance herself from others. She couldn't afford to be hurt like she had been in the past.
She pushed all thoughts from her mind that did not pertain to this test. She knew she was smart. She used the time in the hospital both times to finish middle school and start high school. She had been considered part of her middle school then, her mother going out of her way to pick up the work for the week from each teacher and dropping off the completed assignments. It gave her something to do when she was not busy with rehabilitation or feeding her son. She was glad for the help the hospital provided. If she ever became successful she would be sure to donate money to them.