Please be nice. This is my first fanfic. Oh, and I do not own any of characters from InuYasha. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi, so don't sue.

"NO! DAD!"

"GET BACK HERE KANNA!"

I snapped awake from my troubled slumber, the dream's events replaying in my mind. The memory of my father's arrest has been haunting me for ten years. Ten years of mental torture. Ten years of silence from my twin sister. Ten years of countless attempted suicides.

Kanna was my fraternal twin sister. She was Naraku's favorite, always jumping to his every request. In return, she was treated kindly. When father was arrested, she lost all trust in humanity, even if it meant cutting off contact with her only remaining family member.

Our father was arrested for murder and child abuse. He had hired a hitman to slaughter a wealthy family for their money, and to get rid of business rivals. As for the child abuse, well, I was never the favorite. I never got perfect grades in school, so I would be beaten for bad grades. Then, the bastard would compare me to my "perfect" sister. Things went too far when he broke my arm, so I reported him. He was arrested for child abuse, and later connected to his business rival's murder.

It's been ten years since that happened. With no mother to take over for Naraku, we were split up into separate foster homes for the last three years of our childhood. Nobody really understood me, and I was always transferred to another home after each suicide attempt. I couldn't stand my foster families, and when I managed to find Kanna, she turned me away, accusing me of breaking up our family.

I sighed, banishing the bad memories to the back of my head for a while. I climbed out of bed and pulled on my waitress' uniform. I hated the job, but I had to take it. I couldn't get into college, so this was the only job I could take. With a touch of make-up, I was out the door and walking in the cold winter weather the two blocks to the neighborhood's old-style diner.

"Early again, as usual, Kagura," my boss smiled at me as I passed her. I smiled back at the raven-haired woman, and hanged my coat up on the coat rack.

"So, anything unusual planned for today, Kikyo?"

"Nothing much. We may have some first-graders coming in from a field trip, but that's about it."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Is Koga here? I could go get him started on the little platters."

"I can handle it. Just go get the place ready for the customers."

I turned my back on her and started wiping down the stools and booths. Kikyo went back to her office, where she would analyze reports from the health inspectors. In a few minutes, machines could be heard behind the counter, telling me that Koga, Ginta, and Hakkaku had come in on time through the back door. A few minutes later, a girl with dark hair, wearing a waitress uniform tried sneaking into the diner.

"Don't think I didn't hear that, Kagome!" Kikyo shouted through her office door.

"Why does she always yell at me?" Kagome complained.

"Well, let's see," I couldn't resist putting her in her place. "You stole her boyfriend, and you are always late."

"I am not!"

"Just hang up your coat and get ready. People should be coming in any time now."

Sure enough, the regulars started coming in. Many of the men that came in usually flirted with Kagome, and today was no different. Some would strike up a conversation with me, but in the end, Kagome was who they wanted.

As one of the customers left, I picked up his payment, tip, and his coffee mug. I was in the back, putting the mug in the sink, when Kagome's yells reached me.

"Kagura, get over here now! We have another customer, and I'm swamped."

"Yeah right," I thought to myself. "You're just too busy flirting."

I made my way to the counter to handle the new customer. Only one thought coursed through my head when I saw him.

He was HOT.

His long, silvery hair draped down almost the whole length of his back. Despite the cold weather, he wore a white tee shirt and blue jeans. One sleeve of the shirt hung limp, as he was missing his left arm. Tattooed on the sides of his face and on his right hand were long, magenta triangles. To top it off, his eyes were a beautiful shade of amber.

Apparently, he noticed that I was staring at him with a stupid look plastered on my face. He snapped his fingers to bring me to attention.

"Oh! S-sorry sir," I stammered nervously, looking around to see if anybody noticed. The others went on with their usual flirting. "Is there anything that you would like to order."

The man stared off into space for a second, as if considering something. Then, he suddenly shook his head and responded, "I'll just have some dry toast and coffee."

I had turned around to get his food, when suddenly someone grabbed my arm. I turned to face the man, who was inspecting the silvery scars on my wrist. He traced one of the scars with his thumb, shaking his head slightly as he did so.

"Um, is there something you want, sir?"

"Nothing, just, go on with your business."

He released my arm, and I walked off to fetch his food, with my mind focusing solely on that man. He was gorgeous, meaning that I would never have a chance with him. I sighed a bit loudly, and Koga heard me.

"Hey Kagura, what's wrong?" Koga asked, trying to hide the venom in his voice. I never understood why the tall, black-haired man hated me.

"Nothing, now get me some toast."

I poured the customer a cup of coffee, and waited a minute for the toast. When the toast came up, I took it to the man. He took a bite and looked at me, as if he were going to ask me something.

"What's your name?"

The suddenness of the question caught me off guard. "Uh… My name is Kagura. Don't you ever look at the name tags?"

"No," he said, cramming a large piece of toast in his mouth and swallowing it. "The location of the tags makes me feel like a perv if I look at them. By the way, I'm Sesshomaru."

We held a light conversation while he ate. Finally, he set some money on the counter and made to leave. I picked up his dirty dishes and took them to the sink in the back. Back up front, when I went to pick up the tip, I found a napkin with writing on it.

Kagura, meet me in front of this diner at 8:00 PM. Wear something nice. Call this number only if you cannot make it. 555-7349

Sesshomaru