A.N. Hey guys! This is my story Self Against City. Summary: A civil war plagued the country. Now it was the people against their government. Although at this time nobody had a good life, for Kagome Higurashi, it was about to get a lot worse…
Sounds interesting right?
Well I guess this is the time where I post my disclaimer saying I do not own Inuyasha & Co. though I sincerely wish I did.
Enjoy the story!
Prologue
Icy darkness. So icy it was piercing right through her very soul. Her mouth opens in a silent scream of agony, but nothing comes out.
She trembles at the thought.
Tiny cuts appear up and down her arms, blood seeping from the folds of skin. She shivers, searching frantically in the darkness for a way out. There had to be one.
She took one step, and then another, trying to fight through the darkness that covered her like a blanket. A dripping noise comes from the right. She turns sharply, eyes scanning everywhere for any sign of…well anything.
There's nothing.
She takes a hesitant step forward. The floor gives away and she is plunged downwards into more darkness. Body meets hard, cold ground with a resounding thump. Once again agony consumes her body and she begins to shake, from loss of blood or pure fright, she did not know.
All she knew was she had to get out.
She lifts herself from the ground slowly as a whimper escapes her lips.
Or it would have, except there seemed to be a lump in her throat preventing any sound from passing.
A light appears in the distance. It glows blue, emanating a feeling of peace and happiness. Despite her injuries, she smiles and desperately limps toward the light. As she approaches it, she sees that there is a human bathed in its glow.
She opens her mouth to cry out for help or to say anything, but it's as if she has no voice. She tries again. Still nothing.
What was going on?
The unknown figure inched away, as did the blue light. A feeling of panic again gripped the strings of her heart. She lunges forward in a futile attempt to stop the slowly departing figure, but it was no use. Her fingers stretch to their full length, and clench together again as if they were trying to grab something.
She glances down at her hands but there is nothing.
The figure is now completely gone, and the darkness is back, as though it is closing in to suffocate.
Something shiny catches her glance.
A knife…
Just as she sucked in a breath, it was knocked out of her. The knife plunged deeply into her chest.
A warm liquid ran down her body, soaking her clothes and the floor. Her eyes shoot open wide and her mouth opens in silent scream. Her eyes dart down at the handle, just barely peeking out from her shirt. It was seriously scratched, as if it had been through a fire. She bit her lip to try and hold in the pain she was feeling, causing a slight cut to appear. The metallic taste of blood entered her mouth making her head spin.
Things were starting to go fuzzy, which was even worse because there was nothing to be seen in the first place.
There were voices in the distance. Her senses heighten in a desperate attempt to hear. Whoever it was, was mumbling just out of her earshot. Her head was throbbing in the effort, her body not letting her mind forget that she had a knife lodged in her heart. Her breathing started to become shallower and she breaks out in a sweat.
Her eyes started to roll in the back of her head and she collapsed to the floor. But before she completely blacked out, she heard a scream begging for her help…
Kagome shot up out of bed, a hand clutching desperately at her gut searching for the knife she was sure was there. Uncertainly, she looked down to examine her body. There was no evidence of any injury. She let out a sigh of relief and slumped against her pillow behind her, pulling her blanket closer to her.
This wasn't the first time she had this dream, in fact she had them at least once a week.
Not that she knew what they meant of course. Your guess is as good as hers.
Kagome lifted a hand to ruffle through her slightly disheveled raven hair. Cerulean eyes darted to her alarm clock sitting beside her bed. It's only 4:45?
"No sense trying to get back to sleep now," she mumbled more to herself than anyone else. Kagome glanced around her room with a sigh. It was so drab compared to how it used to be, but not sense the government had regulations on that. Anything abnormal was banished, nothing that provided entertainment or pleasantries. The more time went on, that more paranoid they got she supposed. Not to mention that everybody that wasn't on the "governments" side was poor to the point where they were barely making ends meet.
In Kagome's eyes, this entire ordeal was incredibly unnecessary in her eyes, a serious lack in communication. About a year ago, a vicious rumor spread that the government was responsible for a "tragic accident" five years back. A nuclear bomb had gone off on the outskirts of Tokyo. Its devastation killed thousands by its direct hit, but that was only because the area wasn't highly populated, but the aftershock proceeded to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.
Sadly, that wasn't the worst of it. A year later, mysterious "plague" swept the city. There didn't seem to be an apparent cause, and even worse, no cure. News of the death toll was reported everywhere and nearly 100 people died everyday. The population decreased dramatically. Panic gripped nearly everyone who lived there. The streets became empty and nearly every store or building in the city looked abandoned. Hardly anyone was seen out of their house, and no one kept in touch. They relied on the news tabloids to keep them updated.
Complete trust was put into the government to solve this problem. Nobody suspected anything out of the ordinary to them. That was…until Yakota Taijii.
Some consider him a hero of sorts, somebody to look up to. Others view him as nothing more than a nuisance who just wants attention and to disturb the peace. What you think it is…well that's up to you to decide.
The unaltered and unbiased truth is this. By some means, Yakota claimed to have gotten top secret information regarding both the nuclear bomb, and the outbreak of the virus. This said top secret information was that the government was behind everything, that they had an illegal testing area for these types of things. It was all a conspiracy, according to him.
The media went wild and soon this story hit everywhere. Naturally, the government was outraged. The way they handled it only made the suspicions stronger.
Only a week after the claim was made, a bomb went off in Yakota's home not only killing him, but a couple of nearby citizens. A couple announcements were made saying that it was a suicide. This seemed to raise more suspicions, which in time proceeded to make things much worse than they were.
People close to Taijii said there was no way it was a suicide. Claimed he was a happy person, always helping other people out. They began a colt of sorts, against the government. Other people who believed in the "cause" joined in, thus causing a war in a sense. Tokyo was no longer a pleasant place to live. The streets weren't lively anymore, mostly drab in dull colors. Swarms of business people walked the streets, constantly moving about. At any given moment, a gun fight could break out or a spontaneous bomb could go off.
It didn't matter if hundreds got killed. To them it was for the "greater good". They believed it was right and just.
Kagome just wished things would go back to how they were. She carefully swung her legs over the edge of her twin bed to feel her carpet between her toes. There was a lot to be done before she had to go to work.
She had only graduated high school last year, but Kagome needed to work, for her family if anything. They just barely got by, even with both her mom and dad working. Her grandfather was far too old, and dear Souta was way too young.
Kagome had plans for her life; she was going to make it big. Originally she had planned on going to college to become a doctor. Her dreams were shot down since now everyone lived in poverty. There was no way she could afford med school. Now she was stuck working a bar, and even though she was underage, she knew the owner and he allowed her to work there. But no matter what, Kagome always looked on the bright side of life.
The first place to start was with a shower, Kagome hated feeling dirty. She slowly made her way to the bathroom, the fog of sleep lingering on. That would change in a couple of seconds. After turning the knob, warm water shot out of the shower head with a spritz. After undressing, Kagome slid between the gap between the shower curtain and let the water run over her body with a sigh. This was probably the most peaceful part of her day.
By the time she was finished, Kagome could hear muffled bustling around the house signifying that at least one of her family members were awake. With a flip of her wet hair, Kagome ruffled a towel through it to dry it some. She was one of the unfortunate to not own a hairdryer.
Not long after, Hikari wandered in the room with a smile.
"Good morning Kagome dear, I was just coming to wake you up,"
Kagome's towel-clad form peeked out from the bathroom door. "Good morning Mom. I've been up for awhile," she replied with a smile.
Hikari nodded and gave Kagome a peck on the forehead before turning to enter Souta's room to wake him up. It was nearly 6:00 after all and he needed to get to school.
Some days Kagome envied Souta. His life was fairly simple compared to hers, though she supposed, growing up in this environment of war probably wasn't so enjoyable. Kagome doubted he knew the full extent of what was going on. Ignorance is bliss.
With a small sigh, Kagome rifled through her closet for something to wear. Bright colors had been outlawed some time ago as the government opted for dull and dark clothes. They even went as far as to fine and sometimes arrest people if they wore bright colors.
"So many choices," Kagome muttered sarcastically as she chose a simple pair of jeans, a navy blue t-shirt, a brown belt, and navy blue flats. She then proceeded to get dressed and re-enter the bathroom.
After doing her other morning routines, hair brushing etc, Kagome gave herself another once over and seemed content with her look for the day.
"KAGOME, BREAKFAST IS READY," came a shout that appeared to come from the kitchen.
A shuffling of feet met Kagome as she opened her door. "Morning Souta,"
The small boy glanced up through his shaggy brown hair to regard his sister's cheerful demeanor. It was way too early for that kind of talk. "M'rng." He mumbled as a reply and continuing his path to the source of food.
Kagome just gave a knowing smile and ruffled her little brother's already unruly hair. His response was to grunt and bat away fiercely at her petite hand.
"Good morning sweetheart," Hikari greeted with a smile and handed her daughter a plate of food. This was the morning routine, and any second her almost senile grandfather would walk in, most likely mumbling about demons and oofudas. Her father leaves work at about 2:00 a.m. at doesn't get home for another hour or so.
"So I'm going to head off to the store first to get some groceries, and then the post office to send out some letters…oh and the laundry mat." Kagome rattled off as she munched on her breakfast.
"Kagome dear I worry that you work yourself too hard. If you want I can do some of the running around and you can relax before you go to work." Hikari offered sounding worried.
"Darn oofudas…"
Cue grandfather.
"Morning grandpa," Kagome greeted. "Mom, don't worry about me. I'm fine. If anyone needs a break it's you. How often do you get a day off?" She continued, cleaning her now empty dish.
"Mom can you tie my shoe?" Souta intervened pushing Kagome out of the way.
"Well if you insist dear,"
"Alright, well I'm off," Kagome made her rounds giving her family each a kiss on the cheek in farewell and paused to pull Souta's ear in affection.
And with a resounding slam of the door, Kagome's life would never be the same.
;:--:;
Such a teaser I know. I apologize for the shortness but this is just the Prologue. I didn't want all the action to be limited to the first chapter!
I love getting reviews and feedback about my story, this includes constructive critism. I do not appreciate mindless flames that do no good whatsoever so please save it.
Next chapter's title: Unwelcome Disaster.
Wonder what that could mean…
R&R!
-emily.xDARLINGG
