Being an orphan isn't easy. Being half-demon isn't easy. Running away isn't easy. Finding your place in the world when that world could only look at you with pity or disgust in their eyes… that isn't easy either.
But it's a hell of a lot easier when you've got someone to help you bear the burden.
--
Kagome Higurashi was a typical fiteen-year-old girl, other than the fact that she had no parents, lived in an orphanage where she was beaten by "the warden" and barely ever got any food, very much like the other residents. She liked reading, writing, fashion, boys, and a lot of other typical fifteen year old girl things.
But Kagome Higurashi was also very different from the typical fifteen-year-old girl. Her parents—when they were alive—were wealthy humans. She grew up living like a princess until she was seven and her parents died in a car accident. She, having no other living relatives, was sent to live in the orphanage. Her inheritance was frozen in its bank account until she turned eighteen, and until she turned eighteen, she was subjected to daily torture.
--
Inuyasha was a typical fifteen-year-old boy, other than the fact that he also had no parents was a squatter in an abandoned, condemned mansion, he was a half-demon, and he rarely ate, afraid of going out into the world outside and the way they treated him. He liked reading, playing card games—alone—and girls, much like a normal fifteen-year-old boy.
But Inuyasha was also very different from the typical fifteen-year-old boy. His parents might be alive somewhere. He didn't care. They left him, and in truth, he only presumed them dead. They were dead to him. They knew a normal child could not result from their relationship, and still continued with their little affair until he was born. They put up with him for a while, but abandoned him when he was seven, leaving in the middle of the night. They also left him with abandonment issues and a temper problem.
--
So the two were very different, and very alike. And their paths would be crossed by the most unlikely thing imaginable—a stray bullet. And that tiny piece of metal would give both of them the one thing in life they needed.
--
"Kagome," a fearful younger girl said entering the bedroom. "The 'warden' wants to see you." The 'warden' was the name the children in the orphanage had for the woman who was in charge.
"Okay," Kagome said, sliding gracefully off her bunk and walked to the door. She patted the younger child's back comfortingly. "It'll be okay. You climb into bed and I'll be back to read you a story later, alright, Rin?" The girl nodded and sniffled, heading for her own bed. Kagome strode briskly from the room and toward the office, where the warden was waiting.
The hinges creaked as she opened the door, closing it behind her before turning to face the desk, eyes downcast. "You wanted to see me, ma'am?"
"Kagome…" her tone was different this evening. The young girl tensed herself, ready for her regular beating, but it didn't come. The woman behind the desk chuckled.
"I'm not going to hit you. Not today, Kagome. I'm in a good mood. Do you know why I'm in a good mood?" The chair she'd been staring at turned, and she saw the face of her worst enemy. Greasy black hair, pale, blemished skin, wrinkled, dark circles under her eyes, and a large, hairy mole right above her lip. Kagome winced at the sight, but hoped the warden hadn't seen.
"No, ma'am."
"I didn't think you did. I got a call today. From town hall. They're giving a grant to each of the orphanages, and so we've got some money to get this place fixed up a bit." The ugly woman chuckled. "So I've got contractors coming in tomorrow to start work. The only thing we really need is the hole in the ceiling patched and a new coat of paint in the bedrooms. So, I'll need you to keep the little ones out of the way. As the oldest, you can handle that, can't you?"
Kagome bristled at the mention of her being the "oldest". She didn't like being reminded of the reason she couldn't just run away. Rin needed her. The other children weren't quite as dependant. While Kagome was the oldest, Rin was the youngest.
"Of course, ma'am. Is there anything else?"
"Yes. The day after the contracting is finished, we've got an adoption interview. Make sure the laundry gets done, the young ones get their baths, and everyone looks their best."
"Yes ma'am."
"Now you may go." The warden waved her hand and Kagome turned and put her hand on the door knob. "Wait. One more thing. Fetch me a bottle of vodka from the liquor cabinet. I want to celebrate." Kagome turned and caught the key that was tossed to her.
"Yes ma'am." She left, got the bottle and gave it to the woman before retreating to her bedroom where Rin was looking expectantly at the door.
"Kagome!" She cried happily when she saw the older girl. Kagome smiled.
"Hi Rin! Time for that story I promised." Rin curled up under her covers, clutching her teddy bear to her. The Kagome tucked her tightly into bed, and pulled a book from under her mattress. She sat on the edge of the bottom bunk and started to read, knowing Rin wasn't the only one listening.
"Once upon a time, in a faraway land," she began. No matter how many times the children heard this story, they insisted on hearing it at bedtime. "There was a princess. But she was being held in a tower by a witch who wouldn't let her go. The princess sat at her window every night and cried herself to sleep. Little did she know that her tears were watering a seed that had been planted at the bottom of the tower. Every night, her tears would make it grow bigger and bigger, and she never noticed." Rin's eyes started to close.
"The one day, a prince came. It was late, and the princess was in her window. He heard her cries from his horse, which he was riding in the forest. He decided to investigate, and found a beautiful princess held captive in a tower. He saw the plant at the base of the tower and came up with a plan. He got off his horse and started to climb…" Kagome stopped, realizing the children were all asleep. They never wer able to make it through the entire story.
She sighed and shoved the book back under Rin's mattress, climbing up into her own bed and crawling under the covers. She was always the one who went to bed last and woke up first. She was, after all, pretty much forced into taking over the job of the warden. Bathing, feeding and dressing the children was her job, and instead, she thrust those chores on Kagome and sat in her office watching television and getting drunk.
Sleep overtook her before she could count to five. She was exhausted. And it seemed to have been barely more than a minute or two before she was being shaken awake by a frantic Rin.
"Kagome!" She squealed. "Kagome, wake up!"
"What is it, Rin?" Kagome asked drowsily, holding her dizzy head as she propped up on one elbow.
"The lady is mad! She's looking for you!"
"What time is it?"
"It's almost nine thirty!" Kagome's eyes widened as she realized she was late. She was supposed to have been awake at eight. She threw back the covers and jumped into some different clothes, running a brush through her ebony locks before running into the hallway.
"Kagome!" She heard someone scream her name, knowing who it was.
"Yes, ma'am?"she asked, somewhat fearful. She scolded herself. She promised she wouldn't be afraid of the warden. She had to be strong and protect the little ones.
"Where have you been? The contractors are going to be here in half an hour and no one has had breakfast! The dishes will need to be done, and the living room needs to be swept out!" The warden's arm flashed out and connected with Kagome's face, leaving an invisible mark just below her cheekbone that would appear later. "Get to work and make it fast! I'll be in my office." The angry woman stomped off. When the coast was clear, Kagome hurried to the kitchen to cook breakfast.
There wasn't much food in the place, but she managed to throw together a few omelets and some cereal for the others. Everyone was seated around the table and Kagome was running around filling everyone's glass with orange juice or milk, and then wiping the faces of the ones who finished, taking their dishes to the sink, and giving seconds to those who asked for it. While everyone else was eating, she was scrubbing pots and pans and leaving them to dry in the rack. Soon, everyone was done. She gave everyone napkins and asked two of the older ones if they'd put away the dishes. They agreed, and she grabbed the broom from the broom closet and ran off to the living room.
Quickly, she cleaned up in there as well. She'd forgotten the dustpan, and she could hear the doorbell ring. Frantically, she looked around and decided at the last minute to sweep everything under the rug. She left the room looking spotless and hurried off to put away the broom and take the little ones outside to play. She peeked quickly into the kitchen and saw that the dishes had been put away like she'd asked, and she sighed in relief. Quickly, she ran off to her bedroom, where everyone was hiding, awaiting her return. "'Kay guys," she said. "Let's sneak out while no one's looking." They followed her obediently as she led them out the back door and into the yard to play.
--
"You wanted to see me, ma'am?"
"Yes, Kagome. Close the door." She did as she was told. "Kagome, I'm disappointed, to say the least, in your irresponsibility. You overslept, and the children got their breakfast late. You barely made the place clean enough, and you're lucky the contractors were late, or they would have seen your pathetic attempt at cleaning the room. Disappointing…no, disgusting behavior. I expected better fro you."
"I'm sorry ma'am. I'll do better tomorrow. I promise."
"You'd better. Tomorrow is the interview. And I'm hoping that the couple coming in tomorrow will be walking out of here with a child."
"Yes ma'am." The warden snapped. She'd been holding back her anger, and now it was gone. She got up from her seat and crossed the room in three steps, raising her arm and bringing it down across Kagome's face.
"Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking! Impudence! I can't stand to see your face! Your voice is so annoying!" She hit her again. "You almost cost me my job!" Kagome couldn't see how that could be, but then, she couldn't see anything when she was squeezing her eyes shut while the warden was beating her. "You little shit! I hate you! I hate you! I can't wait to get out of here." Her eyes got cold and she paused in her attacks for a moment. "You know," she said, turning away from Kagome. "Your parents left you here long before they died."
"What?"
"You heard me. They didn't die until you were almost nine years old. Of course, we didn't think they'd actually die so soon, but it did mesh with the story we'd told you, so it worked in our favor." The woman laughed. Kagome was shaking.
She'd been lied to all this time? Her parents just gave her up?
"So what do you think, Kagome?"
"I think I'd like to retire to my room now, ma'am. I have to get up early to take care of the children."
"I think that's best. Go." Kagome whirled and wrenched the door open, flying down the hall to her room. She jumped onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow.
"Kagome?" Rin asked, peeking up over the edge of the bed. "Are you alright?" Kagome didn't answer, hoping Rin would go away. "Kagome? Kagome?"
"Just leave me alone, Rin!" Kagome snapped. The younger girl recoiled as if she'd been struck. Sadly, she slid back into her own bed.
Kagome immediately regretted yelling, but the damage was done. She buried her face in her pillow again and let loose with the tears she'd been holding back for almost eight years.
--
The light of the rising sun woke her up. She opened her eyes and looked around the room and found the others still sleeping. Seeing her chance, she jumped up and grabbed a change of clothes, heading off for her own shower before she had to bathe and feed the little ones.
She turned the stubborn knob until the dirt-brown water came from the spout. She waited until it ran clear before getting in. It was freezing, but she took her time, washing off a week's worth of grime and scrubbing hard.
She heard the sounds of the early-birds starting to wake up, and quickly ended her shower. She dried off quickly and dressed before throwing her hair up in a towel and walking back to the room.
"Kagome! Kagome!" The children cried, happy to see her as they were every morning. She was surrounded by them and tried not to get run over, but it wasn't easy, seeing as she was so outnumbered.
"Okay, okay, everyone head off to the dining room and I'll make breakfast." Everyone stampeded off, giving her a few moments of private time. She grabbed her brush and fixed her hair, though it was still damp, and looked at herself in the mirror.
It was about as good as it was ever going to get with her. She traced the outlines of the bruises that were starting to form, and wished she had a bit of makeup to cover them. But, unfortunately, she had none, and she'd have to deal with it. She turned away, noticing the book sticking out from under Rin's mattress.
"I wish a handsome prince would come and rescue me from this hellhole," she thought to herself, shoving it back into hiding and leaving the room.
--
Scrubbing squirmy little children covered in breakfast wasn't easy. There were two or three of them in the tub at a time to conserve time and water, and they continuously splashed and wriggled, fell over or found some way to get themselves dirty only moments after she'd washed them. When they were done, she wrapped them in a towel and sent them back to the room while she loaded another three in the tub.
She heard the ding of the laundry and rushed off to get that, and the hurried back to the last little ones, scrubbing every inch of them quickly but efficiently and sending them off to dry in the room. She followed them and dressed everyone with just enough time to change into something nice for herself as well. And not a moment too soon. The person (or persons) who were looking to adopt rang the doorbell just as Kagome finished readjusting her hair.
"I'll get it!" She called and opened the door to see a tall man with a serious look on his face. His hair was bleached almost perfect white and his eyes were a striking shade of purple at that moment. She stood aside and let him pass, showing him to where the interview room was, and informing the warden he had arrived.
"Thank you Kagome. Wait in the room with the others and send them out when I call for them."
"Yes ma'am."
"You may go." Kagome left and went back to her room.
--
A few hours later, once all the paperwork was done, Kagome watched as the only real friend in the orphanage walked out the door with the tall man, throwing a goodbye glance over her shoulder, the fairytale book tucked under one arm.
"Goodbye, Rin." She said sadly.