AN: yes…it's a new fic…egads...I need to learn how to finish one first yeah? Oh well…this one was one that I thought of while watching a Korean drama…so if any of you Korean drama fans are reading this and the plot sounds similar you now know why. I also understand that there is some major OOC in this fic…that is all because of the way I arranged the characters…sorry for those of you who are Kag/Inu or Kag/Kouga fans.

Key:

"…" conversation

'…' thoughts

Disclaimer: I own neither Inuyasha, it's characters or the plot of Stairways of Heaven. (God I hate saying that…)

Sunlight streamed though the thin white curtains hanging from a large window. A lumpy form shifted under a pile of blankets.

"Wake up! The sun is shining! I'm getting married! And you're still in bed!" A middle-aged man threw the covers from the girl lying beneath them. "Do wake up, dear. I'm getting married today!"

The girl moaned, "It's too early, father! You're getting married on the 27th! It is not the 27th!"

"Look at the calendar, dearest daughter of mine! It is the 27th!" The girl's father prodded her prone form relentlessly. "Wake up, Kagome!"

"FINE!" She lifted herself out of bed and glared at the sun shining through her window. 'I hate this wedding.'

o.o

It had been months since the wedding and Kagome still could not bring herself to call Kagura "Mother." She felt uncomfortable around her and Kikyo made chills crawl down her spine. She shared a room with her because of Kouga, her new stepbrother. The girls at school fawned over him.

"Tall, dark, and handsome," Sango had commented.

He was all of those things, Kagome admitted that much to herself. His personality still left for too much to be desired. Cold, indifferent, those were merely the beginnings of describing his emotional constipation. He never spoke at home; hell, he never did anything either.

Kagome sighed in frustration. Damn it all. Why she had to have an ice cube for a stepbrother? God knew that he couldn't control his hormone driven sister. Which brought her to another problem altogether- Kikyo hated her. That was simple enough. But then she dragged guy after guy around school; she'd been seen with a new man near every other week. Only two had remained out of her clutches: Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha.

Inuyasha was ready to fall. Kagome smiled wryly at the thought. Kikyo might keep Inuyasha for the longest time. Her thoughts turned to the elder of the two brothers and she sighed again. Thank God he had remained free from Kikyo's clutches. She had known both brothers ever since the three of them worn diapers. She nor Inuyasha cared much for the other, nor did Inu harbor strong likings for his older brother. She learned to ignore that and became fast friends with Sesshoumaru. Both he and Kagome would be leaving after graduation to study abroad in America or England.

o.o

Kagome was two years Sesshoumaru's junior. At the age of sixteen, too many young men chased her, going after Kikyo only after she rejected them repeatedly. Sesshoumaru once teased her mercilessly about her many admirers, but once Kagome brought up his fan club, he never brought up the subject again. The amorous young women scared him away from dating; he claimed that the effect was permanent. She'd laughed at his pale face and clammy skin.

Kagome fingered a picture that sat in her lap. It was one taken of Sesshoumaru and herself five years ago. Her family had taken a vacation to Hawaii and dragged Sesshoumaru along. They'd built sand castles together and had their fun terrorizing the other beach-goers. She smiled gently at the memories and looked at their smiling faces. Sand covered his long silver hair and skin as he grinned wolfishly at the camera. She was smiling as well, trapped as she was in the circle of his arms.

Her cell phone rang quietly beside her. She beamed, recognizing Sesshoumaru's ring.

"Hello."

"Kagome. Are you busy right now?" His impatient voice made her smile widen.

"No. Why?"

"Meet me by the side entrance of your house. I'll pick you up in ten minutes. Don't let anyone see you leave the house."

She stared at the phone in surprise. Something was wrong with him.

o.o

He sat waiting anxiously in his black Maserati Spyder. "Hurry up! Let's go!"

Kagome slid into the car and fastened her seatbelt when she felt him floor the accelerator.

"What's wrong, Sesshou? You're pissed about something." Kagome reached for his free hand.
"Wait until I stop the car. I might just hit someone right now," he growled in frustration.

Ten minutes later, he parked the car by a small lake. Both got out of the car simultaneously and silently walked towards a sakura tree by the lakeside.

"What's eating you?"

He snorted, "Your precious 'mother' has pulled the hysterics card. You're not going abroad with me."
"What?" Kagome stopped braiding his hair.

"You heard me. Apparently she's not satisfied with ruining your life for the few months she's been married to your father. She wants to continue doing so until you get out of college."

"She's not that bad, Sesshou." Kagome spoke the words on reflex.

"Say that to the scar on your left hip from when she 'felt like' throwing a paperweight at you. Then, after that, say that again to the bruised girl I was nursing two weeks ago back when she decided that you couldn't be allowed to do better than her daughter. She's taking everything from you! Why can't you just tell your father!" Sesshoumaru pulled Kagome into his lap. "I'm worried about what she'll do to you next. She'll destroy you if she gets the chance."

"I can't tell my father, Sesshou. He'd be devastated- again. Losing Mother was bad enough for him and I don't want to make that worse for him," Kagome hung her head sadly.

"That doesn't mean that you have to be the sacrificial lamb every damn time!" Sesshoumaru snapped at her angrily. His grip was still gentle as he fingered loose strands of her ebony hair. "You're too good to people, Me-chan. You can be selfish sometimes. The rules allow that."

"I know. But Father would still be distressed. I refuse to be the one to do that to him." Kagome shook her head vehemently. "You know he means the world to me."

"This is going to ruin your life! Do you not care about that aspect of it?" Sesshoumaru pulled her close to his body. "Even if you don't care about it, I do! And I refuse to see you ruined by this! There is no way in hell that I'm leaving you here alone for six years!"

Kagome tried to calm him; she could feel the taut muscles in his chest. "It's all right."
"No, it's not! I'm talking to your father. You are coming with me no matter what! You did not skip two grades for nothing! You have to come with me!"

Kagome sat still in his arms. "You know that there's next to nothing that I can do short of running away from home. And I know that you know that I refuse to run away from my own family," Kagome spoke quietly. "I'll wait six years if I have to, so long as you come back and take me away from there."

Sesshoumaru brought her hand to his lips, "I promise."

o.o

"You can't let her go!" Kagura wailed. "You can't send her away for college! I'd miss her too much!"

Kagome's father turned to his second wife and tried to calm her hysterics. "She would come back to visit."

"It's not the same! I need my daughters! You can't send her way!" Her argument weakened as she prepared to faint.

Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat. Sesshoumaru glared at Kagura in barely masked fury and hatred. He stiffened in his seat beside Kagome.

Kagome's father sighed, "If it bothers you that much, she won't go."

"But Father! We've been planning this for years!" Kagome protested weakly.

"I know. But if it distresses your mother this much, I can't let you go. I'm sorry."

AN: Chapter One complete! What do you think? As usual, like with all of my fics, I don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter up. But I have started working on it. So if I'm lucky and I listen to the Stairways of Heaven soundtrack long enough, it should be finished by the end of the week or the beginning of next week. Readest and reviewest please! (don't ask…summer's been pretty devastating for me…)