A/N: Ok. Yeah, well since I finished my other story "The A-List" I started another one. Don't worry. Hopefully I'll be fine in my updates for my other stories. Please enjoy this one!
Full summary: Kagome, 18 and high school senior, lives with her stepfather, Naraku. She's all by her lonesome, being his personal maid and errand runner. He's not very nice to her. In fact, he abuses her when she seems to become even the slightest bit defiant. But she's tired of it, and she runs away. Through unexpected occurrences, Kagome meets Inuyasha, and things might not turn out exactly like she planned. She still has to keep a connection with her father, but hopefully with the help of her new friends, she just might reach escape velocity…
Disclaimer: I only own this story, and the situations I've thrown these characters in.
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Escape Velocity
Intro – Chapter 1
TaintedMunkeyz
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Escape velocity is the speed at which a body must travel, to escape the gravitational pull of another body.
I'm not exactly sure if I've reached it. It as in escape velocity… I'm not even sure how I managed to reach it, if I did in fact. The journey wasn't exactly what you'd call easy…
But, of course I had help along the way. People who just happened to show up at a time when I would need someone most. I still wonder today if they were – and are – guardian angels.
Either way, my gratitude and love for them stays the same. I look back and wonder what my life would be like if they hadn't saved me… I still wonder if I'd be a changed person…
… Or the same pathetic fool. Falling, and falling again, over and over, like some stupid routine. It's not like I was really some weak little girl… but after a certain number of years, of the same bloody abuse, happening over and over, you just fade. You die inside. There's no light in your eyes, no love in your heart, no positive outlook for a new day. It's gone.
You can't help but resemble that weak little girl…
You can never get the mental images out of your mind, and they seem to haunt you, no matter how far you try to run and escape. You don't feel right anymore, like something precious has been taken away from you, and you don't think you'll be getting it back anytime soon. Thoughts and feelings whirl around you and make you sick, because you can't seem to stop and concentrate on one.
You want to press the heel of your palm into your eyes, until you see black spots, so maybe you can concentrate on something other than that empty feeling in your heart. You don't ever want to let anyone else in, in fear that they'll hurt you, laugh at you, make you feel like shit 24/7 after the occurrence. You vow to never ever let yourself open up to that person, or anyone you don't trust fully, because you don't want them inside, that close, to use your shit against you – or just not even care for you.
You feel numb because you feel like giving up. The world around you seems like they're mocking you, with their happiness while you lack it. Lies, they have all been lies, every word, every phrase out of that person's mouth.
You want to be happy, you want to stop hurting, you want to cry every single tear you can muster till it's all gone and you can't remember. Yet it doesn't work that way. You know, that for at least a while, the pain will be there, and the words will echo in your mind. You try and tell yourself that it doesn't hurt, and you'll have a happy ending, but you're fooling yourself. You know it's not in the least bit true. You hate feeling like this, but you're tired of fighting. And you want to give in…
Life doesn't get much harder than that…
Especially when you deal with it every day. But then… if you make a choice… things may change. They did for me…
I remember how everything happened exactly… when everything changed for me. My life began to become clear instead of distorted.
… And this is how it happened.
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Kagome balled her hand into a fist and brought it down, none-to-gently, on her black digital alarm clock. She groaned and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow, and pulling the covers to her chin.
She did not want to wake up right now.
But, she knew that she had to. There wasn't any way to avoid the clutches of early mornings, even if it happened to be a Saturday. She flung the covers away from her body and looked over at the clock. It was 6:50 in the morning. She groaned again and rubbed her eyes, running a hand through her tangled black locks.
Throwing her legs over the side of her bed, she stood up and stretched her tired and achy muscles. She threw on a sweatshirt that happened to be in a heap of clothes on the floor, and walked over to her bedroom door. She was greeted with the same sight se saw everyday: the hallway banister that led downstairs if you went to the right, and to the left, at the very end of the lengthy hall, her stepfather's bedroom and next to it, the bathroom.
She decided to go right.
When she got downstairs, she preceded to start her daily chores. Sweeping, mopping, dusting, washing. It was what she did everyday, and she'd pretty much gotten used to it. When she finished, she looked up at her job, admiring how everything sparkled, and if it didn't sparkle, how it just looked clean.
Looking at the clock, she cursed, and began pulling out stuff from the fridge so that she could make her stepfather's breakfast: eggs, bacon, sausage, white rice and biscuits. What she cooked for her father everyday, for the past six years, since her mother left.
She set the dining table for one, pouring orange juice – no pulp – into a tall glass and setting it on the wooden object. The delicious food steamed, and Kagome glanced at the kitchen clock. When the hands on the clock struck eleven-thirty, just as it did everyday, Kagome's stepfather walked into the kitchen, and with to pleasant of a smile, sat down at the table.
"This looks delicious, Kagome." She bowed her head and looked at her hands, wringing them nervously. She'd always been nervous around the man after her mother left. It was like she was nervous subconsciously. "Kagome…" her father trailed off, his voice eerily pleasant. Kagome flinched, feeling his eyes burning two identical holes in the top of her head.
Something was missing.
"Yes?" she asked softly.
"Don't 'yes' me. Where's my damn paper?" Kagome mentally kicked herself. Repeatedly.
"I'm sorry, sir. I-I forgot." She stuttered. She started walking towards one of the door-less exits in the kitchen, ready to open the front door and get the questioned item, but he grabbed her wrist with his oversized hand.
And squeezed. Hard.
"Don't let it happen again." He said quietly. She nodded meekly.
"Yes, sir." He released her wrist, and Kagome briskly walked towards the front door, happy to see the bundle of world news and other things. She picked it up, and walked back towards the kitchen, handing it over. He snatched it from her hands, causing her to jump and opened it up. Kagome stood by uncertainly, waiting to see what he'd do next.
"Why are you still here? Go take a shower. You smell." He said without missing a beat. Kagome bit her lip. She knew she didn't smell, but she still let it get to her.
"Yes, sir…" she turned and headed back upstairs, readily willing to get away from the man.
X.x.XKagome stood in the shower, letting the steaming hot water flow over her toned body in rivulets. She turned her face upward, letting it come down right on her face, the water peppering down softly on her cheeks, her closed eyes and her lips. She grabbed a shampoo bottle sitting on a ledge in the corner of the bathtub and filled her palm with the pearly blue liquid, bring it up to her hair to lather it up. The familiar scent - fresh blue lilies - filled the steam in the bathroom, floating out the high window by the tub. She placed her head under the showerhead, letting the nice smelling suds run down her back, washing it out and using the tips of her fingers to get a good clean feeling.
She sighed as she massaged her own shoulders, relishing in the feel of them loosening up from being so tight. Her eyes still closed, she let her mind wander to different subjects - school, her stepfather, her soccer career, and everything else that needed to be addressed. She almost forgot she was in the hellhole she called home, but a sharp knock on the wooden door leading into the room she currently occupied jarred her from her thoughts.
"I'm leaving for work! Get out now, and stop running up my water bill!" Kagome sighed and rinsed the rest of her hair out, before turning off the shower knob. Instantly cool air hit her body, making a shiver run through her, but she ignored it as she reached out onto a rack by the bathtub and grabbed her fluffy green towel. After wrapping it around her body she stepped out and went over to the sink, taking a comb sitting on the edge and brushed out her long ebony locks. She opened the bathroom door and stepped out, even cooler air making her freeze as she tore off down the hall and rushed into her room. She closed it with a click and locked the door. She turned around to darkness, save for the little light that peeked through her slightly parted pink curtains. She bit her lip as she looked at the almost immaculate bedroom. Her sheets, comforter and pillows on the bed were of a soft bright green and pink. Her carpet was a light beige and her walls were a soft pale yellow, almost white.
She liked bright colors.
Kagome walked over to her dresser and picked out her under garments, as well as a pair of socks and headed over to her closet to see what she wanted to wear for the day. She decided on a pair of jean capris and a green tank top, with a black zip up wool jacket for warmth. She got dressed quickly, and pulled on her socks, and then her beloved Converse sneakers.
She walked over to her computer desk, and bumped the mouse with her hand before walking back over to her dresser and putting in stud earrings, and about fifteen sex bracelets on each wrist. She walked back over to her desk and sat down in her comfortable chair, clicking out of the away message for AIM, and showing her return sign for MSN Messenger. She was immediately bombarded with a conversation box from her best friend, Sango Taijiya.
Drop a heart, break a name says: Shit, Kag, there's supposed to be this bomb ass party tonight!
Baby, I'm just bad news says: Really? Where?
Drop a heart, break a name says: Kouga's place. Wanna go?
Kagome raised an eyebrow. Kouga's place? It was no doubt that she wanted to go. It was a matter of making it go undetected.
Baby, I'm just bad news says: You know how my step-dad is Sango. It won't be likely that I can.
Drop a heart, break a name says: That's why you're going to sneak out. Besides, isn't he at work until like… forever?
Baby, I'm just bad news says: dude, I wish.
Drop a heart, break a name says: come on! You could stand another night out! All you do is chores. I mean that's serious destruction of teenage rights.
Baby, I'm just bad news says: just because you don't have chores…
Drop a heart, break a name says: yeah, you're right. But honestly, can you make it? It won't be the same without you at this party.
Baby, I'm just bad news says: I give into peer pressure too easily.
Drop a heart, break a name says: which is why I'm pursuing
Baby, I'm just bad news says: but I need a ride.
Drop a heart, break a name says: I've got you covered. Be ready at 8:00
Baby, I'm just bad news says: Will do, master.
Drop a heart, break a name says: hey, hey now.
Baby, I'm just bad news says: I have to go. I'll see you tonight. You better be here at 8:00 Sango! I'm serious.
Drop a heart, break a name says: when have I ever let you down?
Kagome paused to think about it. Never actually, but that didn't mean she could break her record.
Drop a heart, break a name says: That's what I thought. Ta-Ta darling.
Baby, I'm just bad news says: Later, Sango.
Kagome sighed and signed off, rubbing her forehead. Sango was right. She really did need a night off. Her father's ropes were starting to get a little too tight.
And it was time to have some fun.
X.x.XKagome and Sango walked into the large front door leading into Kouga's humble abode. It was already jam packed with teenagers of all ages from their high school.
"See Kouga around?" Sango asked as she unzipped her letterman's jacket a little. Kagome stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets and sighed.
"No. But it's not like I'm looking for him." she replied curtly as they headed over to the kitchen to get two beers. Sango rolled her eyes but didn't press the subject. It was a well-known fact that Kouga and Kagome were "dating", but whether or not they really were was a mystery, even to Sango. Kagome hugged a few people she knew from school and joked around with some of their friends, grabbing a beer from the cooler in the corner. Sango followed her example and grabbed a beer before hopping onto the counter. Kouga walked in with his high ponytail swishing against his back, his jacket unzipped all the way, a boyish grin on his face.
"Ah, my favorite ladies." He stepped over to Sango and kissed her on the cheek before walking over to Kagome and encasing her in a hug. Kagome smiled and allowed him to keep his arm around her waist, as they all engaged in conversation with each other.
Everyone standing in the kitchen at the moment was a varsity soccer star. They all played their positions the best, and there wasn't anyone that could match their talent. There was a girl's team and a boy's team, and every single one of them was wearing a letterman's jacket with an abundance of sports listed on the front. They each had their names printed on a flap hanging loosely at their backs – which could zip up into a hood for cool weather if they pleased – and different symbols to represent what they were the best at. Kagome's had her name – Higurashi – and a pair of soccer cleats along with a soccer ball. Sango's was the same. Kouga, although he was great at soccer, had symbols for track, basketball, and wrestling next to his name – Sasaki – and even a football. Ayame was there, and she had symbols for water polo and soccer next to her name – also Sasaki, yet no relation to Kouga. Bankotsu and Renkotsu Isamu, who were brothers, played soccer, basketball and ran track with Kouga. Hojo Hideaki played tennis and soccer and Kagura Emi played soccer and water polo, same as Ayame.
"Did you guys see how I scored that last goal during the last few seconds of our latest game?" Kouga gloated. Kagome just rolled her eyes, but the boys all chuckled and gave him high-fives. Of course everyone saw it. It was one of the biggest and greatest wins of the season so far for the boys. They'd won every game, but that game was special because of how they were tied with the opposing team, and there were ten seconds left on the clock. Kouga managed to steal the ball from the other center forward and dribbled down the field at top speed, sending the ball into the goal as soon as the buzzer went off. And they won the game: 6 to 5, Shikon High School. It was talked about in school everyday since the occurrence and in every period.
To say the least, Kagome was sick of it.
"Yeah we saw the magnificent game you play, Kouga. If that were me out there, I probably wouldn't have thought that fast." Ayame let out a wistful sigh and glanced at Kouga with something sparkling in her eye. Kagome raised an eyebrow, wondering to herself just who the hell did Ayame think she was.
"Right. Which is why you're a winger and not a center forward like myself." Kagome said sardonically and glared at the girl standing across from her. Ayame's eyes shifted over to Kagome. They held a hint of malice, but Kagome didn't back down.
"Cat fight!" Bankotsu and Renkotsu yelled simultaneously. Sango snorted flipping her long ponytail over her shoulder.
"Easy there boys. No one's going to be ripping off their shirts for your enjoyment just yet." Everyone laughed; even Kagome managed a little chuckle, handing it to Sango for lightening up the mood. That was basically her job: to keep everything under control within their huge group of friends. It wasn't just the eight of them. It grew dramatically to the point where they didn't even know some people's names.
And there were always fights between everyone. Guys who tried to gain the affection of Kagome, who happened to be at the top of the social latter, but not quite preppy. Kouga would practically rip off anyone's head that came near her. And then fights between Kagome and Ayame over whom should have Kouga. People would joke around and say that Ayame and Kouga should date and get married, because they wouldn't ever have to change their names. Ayame would look at her smugly, making Kagome want to wipe the look off her face, but then she would decide not to deal with petty matters like such since she was the one who was "with" him.
Ayame had nothing on her.
But then, that's where it started getting confusing for some people. They were all best friends. Ayame and Kagome included. They just couldn't get past the fact that they both liked the same guy. And now here's where Kagome would consider herself selfish.
Of course she liked Kouga, but at the same time, he wasn't everything she needed. She was missing something. She was hoping that maybe if she stayed with him, that missing feeling would become filled, but it hadn't happened. She was almost ready to just give him up to Ayame. Who she knew would be more than willing to take him.
A loud crash was heard from the living room, over the pounding music playing throughout the house, and Kouga cursed, looking out the entrance of the kitchen.
"Bloody freshman." He excused himself and headed towards the living room, leaving the seven to talk about whatever the hell they wanted. Sango jumped down from her position on the counter and sighed.
"You look about ready to blow this Popsicle stand." Kagome smirked. She swished her beer bottle around and then took a sip.
"You're right. I can't even get a damn buzz." Sango laughed and patted Kagome on the shoulder, before turning and looking in cabinets for Kouga's father's liquor stash.
"That's because you, my friend, can hold your liquor. How about I make you a drink that'll really knock your socks off?" Kagome grinned, unzipping her letterman and hanging it on the back of a chair.
"Let the knocking begin!"
This was Sango's other job.
X.x.XKagome stumbled out of Sango's car and up the walk to her front door, a giggling mess. She wasn't exactly drunk. Tired and happy, if you will.
She pulled out her keys and sighed contentedly, before pulling them up and unlocking the front door after a couple of tries. She pushed the door open and closed it behind her, sloppily kicking off her shoes and heading up the stairs in darkness. She already knew the house by heart, so it wasn't exactly that hard to find her room and fall into bed. She almost felt herself falling asleep but her stomach grumbled loudly.
"Dude, I'm so hungry." She giggled to herself and lifted her tired body out of bed, heading back down the stairs towards the kitchen. As far as her stomach was concerned, anything would be great right about now. So she turned on the kitchen light, going about making herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She took her first bite, enjoying how the bread melted in her mouth, igniting her taste buds.
It wasn't until she heard a slight creak from the floor that she realized she wasn't alone in the big place she called "home".
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A/N: so there it is. First chapter. I'm really excited about this one. It will have angst, but I just like the general idea of it. Please review and tell me what you think. I'll try to have the next chapter posted up as soon as possible. But school will be starting on Monday – today's Saturday – and I won't exactly have all the time in the world to update. Anyway, yeah… REVIEW!
TaintedMunkeyz