A/N: Here's the new story I promised you all! As stated before, it is rated T, but the rating may go up. A summary is below! Please review and let me know what you think!
Summary:A Place Where I Belong: AU. Kagome accidentally discovers a secret that her abusive family has hidden from her. She was adopted. Desperate to find her birth mother, Kagome enlists the help of Inuyasha, a private detective who always finds what he's looking for. But what happens when she finally finds the truth? Will Inuyasha be able to help her find where she truly belongs?
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A Place Where I Belong
Chapter One: Deeply Buried Secret
"Kagome!" her mother screamed. "Kagome! Get in here! Your father wants to talk to you!"
Kagome shivered slightly, and slowly made her way into her parents' room. She kept her eyes to the ground as she entered. Her mother already sounded mad, and although she did not know what she had done to elicit such anger, she didn't want to make her father angry as well. That could be…painful…
"Yes?" Kagome whispered.
"Would you mind explaining to your mother your reasoning for disobeying her?" her father asked. Naraku was an intimidating man, even when he wasn't angry. However, when he looked at her like that, it made her want to shrink inside herself.
She gulped. "What do you mean, father?" she asked.
Her mother blinked. "Don't act stupid you little bitch! What did I tell you about those hoodlums you hang around with at school?" she yelled.
Kagome flinched. "I…I'm sorry…" she stammered. "I can't just completely ignore them. It's senior year, and I've been friends with them since…" she stopped.
"I told you that you aren't to associate with them!" her mother growled, slapping her across the face.
Kagome sucked in her breath quickly, in an effort to keep her tears from flowing. "But I don't have any more…" Kagome sobbed. "They are my only…my only…"
"Too bad." Her father smirked. "If we find out you have been anywhere near them again, you will certainly wish you had never been born. Do we have an understanding?"
Kagome nodded slowly and couldn't help the whimper that escaped from her. Quickly, she made her retreat from the room.
---
"Graduation is in two weeks and you still don't know what you want to…" Sango stopped mid-sentence, her mouth agape.
"What were you saying, my love?" Miroku smiled.
Sango did not skip a beat as she hit him squarely over the head, and pointed with the other. "Miroku! Shut up and look! It's Kagome! I think something is wrong…"
She ran up to her friend. "Kagome, are you…?"
Kagome did not stop. She only continued to walk by as though she had not heard nor seen her friend who was talking to her.
"What's wrong, Lady Kagome?" Miroku frowned.
Kagome stopped. "I got in trouble. I can't talk to you guys anymore. So just leave me alone."
Sango gasped as her friend turned around. "Kagome! What the hell happened to your face?"
"I told you to leave me alone!" Kagome sobbed.
"Kagome…" Sango began.
"Go away…please. I'm supposed to go to the store. I don't want to get in trouble again…" Kagome nearly pleaded.
Miroku nodded. "Sango…come on." What is going on with Kagome? Is she all right? Why won't she at least talk to Sango?
---
Kagome ran up the stairs. Hopefully, she wasn't late. The line at the store had taken far too long to get through, and getting up the shrine steps with her parents' things was definitely a chore. She stopped. Why did they even live in this shrine? Her parents didn't take care of the grounds. The old tree was starting to get overgrown, and the well on the grounds had been sealed since Kagome could remember. This place that she lived—there was supposed to be a certain level of holiness to it, but all Kagome could sense was the dark cloud that seemed to hover over her home and her life.
"Kagome!" It was her father.
She took a deep breath. "I'm coming up the steps, father." She called.
"You'd better hurry!" he threatened.
Kagome broke into a run.
She swung open the door to the kitchen, panting lightly. "I'm here, mother…father…" she announced.
Kagura jumped, dropping a small glass on the floor. The glass shattered, and Kagura turned a cold glare toward her daughter. She glanced down at the broken glass on the floor.
"I'm sorry, mother. I didn't mean to. I was just…Father wanted me to hurry, and I…"
Kagura wrapped her hand around her daughter's arm, dragging her outside. She dragged her past the stairs, and toward the well house.
"No…" Kagome pleaded. "Please mother! I don't want to stay in there over night! Please! I'll clean it up…Let me stay inside. Daddy will…"
"Tough. You should have been more careful." Her mother snapped, throwing open the door to the well house and shoving her daughter inside. "You can think about it tonight."
Kagome began to cry as the door to the well house closed, and she was enveloped in darkness She heard a loud thud noise. Her mother had sealed her inside. She would get no food tonight. All she had was the darkness, and the hope that it would pass quickly. Hopefully her father would not come by to add to her punishment...
She sighed, trying to gain her composure. She had tried to leave once…last year, just after her birthday. Sango and Miroku had tried to help her, but it was futile. When her father found her, the consequences were dire. She spent a week in the hospital. Her father had told the doctors that she had been attacked in the park. Liar. Why had they believed him? Why hadn't they asked her why she had ran away? Why hadn't they looked at all the other times when her father had claimed she had 'fallen' or 'gotten in a fight at school'? Wasn't it obvious that he was lying? That he was the one that was hurting her?
She shivered. "Can't take it…anymore…"
---
"Hey, Inuyasha…" Miroku smiled.
"What's up, Miroku?" Inuyasha asked, a cocky half-smile present on his lips. "Still stuck in high school hell?"
Miroku laughed. "Just because you are four years older than me doesn't mean you can be a smart ass, Inuyasha. Besides, I graduate this year, remember?"
"Yeah…so why are you here?"
"Just wanted to hang out. I've had an interesting day, and I really needed to unwind. Sango is all upset…"
"What did you do?" Inuyasha groaned.
Miroku shook his head. "I didn't do anything this time!" he defended himself. "Sango is upset because our friend Kagome was upset today. She said she couldn't talk to us anymore…and she looked like she had…" he paused.
"What?"
Miroku frowned. "I don't know. Never mind…" he sighed. "Maybe we'll be able to talk to her somehow at school Monday and find out what's wrong. Something wasn't right today…"
---
Kagome curled up in a corner and brought her knees into her chest. "Can't…take it…anymore…" she repeated, allowing her head to fall back against the shelving unit behind her. She closed her eyes. She was about to try to fall asleep when she sensed something above her. She opened her eyes. That's when she noticed it.
"Where did this come from?" she questioned the darkness.
It was an old photo. Partly burned and browned with time, she couldn't see the image in the center because of the darkness. Her curiosity spiked, she pocketed the old photograph.
Just a few more hours, and there would be light. At least her father hadn't visited her yet…
---
"Kagome, why can't you talk to us? Look at me, damn it! What's wrong?" Sango demanded.
Kagome blinked, shaking her head. "Sango, I can't. I can't talk to you. My parents…they'll…" Kagome's skin paled, and she shivered, despite her efforts to hide her fear.
Sango stopped. "Kagome…did they hurt you? What happened the other day?"
"No…" Kagome whispered.
"I think they did." Sango replied, anger in her voice. "Why can't you tell me?"
"I can't!" Kagome nearly screamed. "The well house…dark…my father will…" she stopped, her eyes widening. "No, I didn't say anything. You didn't hear…"
Sango frowned. "Kagome, calm down. How could they possibly know what you do at school?" She sighed. "We can try to get you out of there again, Kagome. It will be okay. For god's sake, Kagome…you don't even look like you changed clothes…"
Kagome shook her head. "I can't, Sango. They're my parents. I can't…"
She sat down, and was confused when she heard a crinkling noise.
"Kagome…what was…?" Sango began.
Kagome looked down, almost in a daze, and removed the photo from her pocket. "The photo…from the well house…" Kagome whispered.
"What photo?" Sango questioned.
Kagome sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know. It fell from the ceiling in the well house last night…"
"What the hell were you doing in that well house over night, Kagome?" Sango demanded, her voice rising.
Kagome waved her hand, silencing Sango. Her mouth hung open as she stared at the photo.
"What is it?"
Kagome gasped. "Look at this. Who is that woman?"
Sango peered at the photo. "She's beautiful, Kagome. She looks like you. That baby…"
"That is me…" Kagome nearly sobbed.
---
"This explains it! Kagome, you must have been adopted! Look at the photo. This woman must be your real mother. I bet your parents hid it from you so you wouldn't know about it…" Miroku theorized.
Kagome began to cry. "They…" She squeezed the photo. "What if I really am..adopted?" she nearly choked. "Why did they…? They…they didn't want me to…"
"Calm down, Kags. Just…make sure you're home on time, and tomorrow…we'll help you figure this all out." Sango promised.
---
Kagome threw open her front door, and rushed up to her bedroom. However, when she got there, her mother and father were already waiting for her. Her eyes widened.
"Hello mother, father…" she smiled as best as she could.
She didn't even expect the shock that came next. He had hit her so hard that she hit the floor, knocking her head hard against her wood floor. She groaned in pain as several tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Why…?" she managed to choke out.
"I thought that I told you not to associate with those kids?" her mother smirked darkly. "I remember we had this chat just the other day, didn't we? But apparently, you didn't learn your lesson, did you?"
Kagome shook her head. "But I didn't mean to! I…"
"Shut up! You're lying!" The next shot went to Kagome's ribs.
She yelped in pain and curled into a fetal position. "I'm sorry…" she whimpered. "Please…I promise I'll…" Another shot to the ribs, and Kagome screamed out. This one sent her across the room. The photo that had been in her pocket slid out.
Naraku and Kagura stared down at it.
Naraku's face reddened. "Where in the hell did you get that?" he growled.
"Well…house…" Kagome answered, barely above a whisper. "On the floor…"
Kagura grabbed Naraku's arm. "Naraku…" she gestured.
Her father kicked her once more before turning and leaving with his wife. They slammed the door behind them, and Kagome shuddered when she heard the lock click. She was trapped. Again.
---
"Kagome…" It was Sango. Kagome knew her voice, but she didn't have the strength to answer. Sango was just outside the window. "Kagome…" her voice was getting slightly louder, and Kagome knew she must have managed to open the window. "Kagome…" she called out a third time.
Kagome took a pained breath in an effort to answer her friend, but could only manage a groan.
"Kagome!" Sango gasped. "Miroku! Help me! She's…" Sango's voice shook with fear.
"Mother…father…" Kagome cried.
Sango shook her head. "No, sweetie. The car is gone. They aren't here. It's okay. We'll get you out of here. I promise…"
Miroku crawled into the window. He turned away quickly when he saw Kagome. "Oh my god, Sango…" he stammered. "What happened to her?"
"That doesn't matter right now. Call Inuyasha. Tell him we need his help. We've got to find a place to hide Kagome from these horrible people. Someplace she'll be safe. Someplace her parents wouldn't know about…"
Miroku nodded, pulling out his cell phone as Sango picked Kagome up off of the floor. "Inuyasha…" he greeted. "It's Miroku. I know it's late, but I need a huge favor from you…"
Sango sighed in frustration. "The damn door is locked from the outside!"
"Stand aside, Sango…" Miroku instructed, running towards the locked door. He slammed his shoulder into it several times before he picked up the desk chair in Kagome's room and ran forward with it. After the third or fourth time, the door finally came open.
"Picture…" Kagome moaned.
Miroku glanced down, picking up the old photo of the mysterious woman and the infant Kagome. "I've got it, Kags," he smiled, "so let's get you out of here…"
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A/N: I know…I know. You're all probably like: (right?) Well, I will have the next chapter up very, very soon, so you won't have to wait too long to find out what happens. I promise. Please review and let me know what you think!
Next, on 'A Place Where I Belong': Miroku has called an old friend, Inuyasha, for help. Kagome is free from Naraku and Kagura, but is she safe? Miroku and Sango deal with the backlash from Naraku and Kagura while Kagome heals and searches for answers…