Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Inuyasha, Rumko Takahashi does.

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Whispers of a Screaming Soul
Where the Liquor Flows, the Hearts Break
By Sakura-chan88
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'As the wind blows
Through the Willow's whips
A cry is heard
As weeping, soft and sorrow-filled,
And tears of fire fall'






Kagome followed after Sango, her eyes dull from the many years spent in the Nightingale's Bell- the saloon the sheriff called 'respectable.' It was only because he spent his every night in the so-called saloon. In truth, it was nothing more than a slave holding tavern.


Smog-like smoke entered already tar-caked lungs as the clattering of alcohol-containing bottles coming to a rest on a table top, or, more frequently, the hardwood floor, filled the air. Men lounged around lazily, grunting or cursing as 'friendly' talk with the other men who lounged around lazily, or staggered about drunkenly while slurring more curses, or messed shamelessly with the saloon girls.


Being one of the aforementioned 'girls', Kagome had dressed in the usual attire: a loose, low cut, off-white silken blouse, with a short, blood red and thoroughly worn skirt. Her hair was pulled into an 'elegent' sweeping tail with curls tangling themselves around faux diamond studded earrings. The perfume she used, though noticeably less than the other women, was horribly powerful, still burning her eyes after the many years of inhaling the toxic fragrance. The powder clinging to her face also remained just as foreign as the cologne's stinging scent.


Ten years... Tonight was the marking of her first horrid night as a slave in this 'saloon'.


Ten years had passed since her mother was murdered in cold blood and she sold herself, her life, her being, over in order to-


Ten years and the 21 year old Kagome Higurashi had forgotten her reasons for choosing this life by crying the memories away each time another man entered her.


Ten years of abuse.


Ten years of no one caring.


Ten years of a battered heart and a bruised body screaming for rescue.


Ten had always been her lucky number.


"Kagome," Sango called gently, grabbing her arm. "You can't let them see you frowning like that. Remember what boss did last time he saw you?"


Last time she had frowned in the presence of the tavern's patrons and her boss had witnessed it, Kagome had come face to heel with his steel-toe boots. Even with the sinister bruising around her left eye and a split lip, she was forced to 'work'... and was pulled to the side by a man you loved playing rough. The purpling flesh was exactly what he liked to see... Needless to say, Kagome did not want to go through anything like that again since it had wound up being an almost month-long punishment with all the sick bastards that took violence as a turn-on.


The said girl forced a pleasant smile, bringing her hand up to squeeze her friends reassuring grip for comfort. A few men shouted, excitement pounding through the room as they noticed the girls looking at each other in mutual understanding.


"Kiss!" A chorus sounded, entering the stifling air. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"


Kagome held back an inward groan as Sango's reached her ears, but no one else's. They held back a shiver of disgust as their boss, clad in a black business suit and the same foreboding steel-toe boots, appeared from a darkened corner with cold eyes, nodding for them to comply with the benefactors' wish. The friends sighed an apology to the other before pulling themselves closer and locking quivering lips. The only thing that kept away their tears were a few quiet and comforting thoughts.


At least they understood each other.


At least they knew the person pressed against their own body.


At least it wasn't another guy to have their own way then leave the broken girl in the dust as the next day dawned.


At least the kiss had some feeling behind it beside the usual desire or spite- it had friendship.


Breaking apart, they turned together to locate the origin of the order, Kagome whispering lowly, "do they always have to assume?"


"Men will be pigs," Sango stated, hissing as she found their target. "Well, well- look who's back."


"It's men will be men, not pigs, Sango."


"I don't see any difference in the two."


"True," Kagome laughed dryly, a wry smile forming on her lips. "Now- who's here?"


Before she could be answered, she was pulled from her friend's side by a drunken, grinning man. She held back the urge to slap him away and let herself be dragged to a lone chair in the corner of the tavern.


"Dance," he ordered, pressing her to his body with a forceful hand, breath repulsive with the stench of booze. He fell back into the chair, releasing her slim form. "C'mon, dance fer me, wench."


Kagome forced a seductive smile, following the man's order after taking a swig from his beer bottle and winking. "Anything you want, handsome."



()()()()()()()()()()()()()()




"It was Hiten, again," Sango whispered hurriedly as she passed her friend, her 'man for the night' staggeringly pulling her toward the closest room- Sango's room.


Kagome nodded in understanding. Hiten was a regular there and had always managed to get Kagome or Sango to kiss one of the other females. What was it with men and seeing women kiss?


She shook it off, assisting her own drunkard to her room. He was lean, which helped, but heavy nonetheless, causing them to stumble more than once. He would grunt and protest her proffered help, then fall back into her when she let him walk without support.


She noted, with slight amusement and great bewilderment, that the man couldn't hold liquor well.


Not well at all...


Reaching the room designated for her, Kagome pushed its door open, wincing at what was to come as the man wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling her neck. She kicked the door deftly shut behind them, bracing herself as he turned her to face him.


Dull blue-gray eyes met drunken golden orbs before his soft lips possessively covered hers, hands working their way under her shirt, their calloused fingers never moving any higher than the base of a smooth stomach.


A tear sped down Kagome's pale cheek as she led him slowly over to the small worn down bed.


Forget her lucky number ten. Tonight would be like all the others and this man would be just as rough handling as her first. Figures a ten year anniversary would be that way- never changing from the original day, the first day it celebrated with such blandness.


She circled her arms around his neck, willing herself to keep from vomiting at the familiarity of such actions, and pulled him down with her. He shifted to rest himself between her legs, supported up on his knees as he continued his kissing, trailing them down her neck. His hands moved to pull the blouse up over her head, eyes unfocused and dazed, before moving to grip the underside of her thighs and pull her closer. She quickly took the cue and began to tug at the buttons on his shirt, briefly letting her fingers brush against his silver hair.


The only thing she could be thankful for this night that made it so different from her first was the intoxicating poison (alcohol) seeping through her veins to drown out the feelings.


Yet, her heart continued to contract painfully in her chest. No matter what type of numbing aid she had to help her through, she couldn't take away what was happening, she couldn't change the past, she couldn't regain what she had lost those ten years ago.


His clothes were discarded.


Nothing would ever be able to take the pain from her. Nothing would ever be able to make everything right as it had once been so many years before. Nothing, not a single thing, could help her when she needed it the most... because the time when she had needed it the most had already come to pass...


Those exploring male hands slipped from their spot on her legs- one to tangle in her hair and pull with surprising gentleness to expose her neck fully, the other placed in the small of her back to press her tighter to his now bare physique. His lips trailed down from the woman's lips to the base of her neck once more, his breathing becoming all the more ragged.


More tears fell from her closed eyes, eyelashes weighed down with dew-like drops of salty water. She felt awful for assuming he'd be rough, but damned him in her mind for being there in the first place. There was no excusing any person for messing with another in such a way.


He lowered her slowly back to the bed, his hand cushioning her head as an extra barrier along with the feather pillow, lips returning hungrily for her own. Again, his hand on her back moved to roam the inside of her thigh, light as could be. Kisses traveled back down to her neck, reaching her collar bone before it stopped, only to be replaced by a gentle grazing of fangs over flesh.


Kagome caught the whimper from escaping her- a whimper pleading for the stranger to stop. The fangs didn't scare her... they were oddly comforting... but...


She wanted everything to be over, everything to be different, everything to be normal like her ten-year old 'once upon a time' life had been.


She had prayed for so long...


She had hoped for so long...


She had wept for so long...


And ten thousand silent pleas went unheard.


And ten thousand wishes went unrealized.


And ten thousand tears went unnoticed, uncared for, unconfined...


A glimmer of light appeared before her eyes every time she passed one the windows, or the open tavern door. A black rain cloud barred her path for the lack of a place to go, for the knowledge of what could happen, for the courage she had long since lost.


She just wanted it to end.


A sudden weight fell on top of her, heavy and unmoving. Heartbeats against her chest unknown to her and slow, steady, rhythmic, yet shallow intakes of breath from the stranger told her he had fallen unconscious while trailing kisses and ivory fangs over her collarbone.


She bit back a cry of shock, remaining motionless for some time. This had never happened before and she had no idea what she was to do... until a small smile formed on her lips and she released her previously withheld breath. For once, she let herself sigh in the presence of a man as tears flowed freely.


Her first true sigh of a twisted kind of contentment in ten whole years.


This would be the first night she wouldn't have to remember as herself being just another man's night cap. She couldn't stop the soft murmur from pouring passed her trembling lips to the person who knew not of who she was or what he had done.


"... Thank you."



'As the day ends
And evanescence begins
A cry is heard
For a bitter taste of joy
At the Unintentional'
~Sakura-chan88's Whispers of a Screaming Soul















A/N: Hope you liked the start- YES, THIS IS JUST THE START (just trying to keep all the 'is this a one-shot?' like questions at bay). I'm not good with... scenes... like - well - you know... So this story may sound a bit odd since it is based around Kagome being a prostitute at the Nightingale's Bell. Please tell me what you think and how I might be able to change it for the better. I'm counting on this to be a shorter fic than most of my others, but I haven't exactly worked out all of my idea's for this story, so it's really open to anything. If you have an idea you'd like to see, tell me and I'll try and work it in.

Thanks for reading!
~Sakura-chan88