Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Author's Note: Hey, everybody! InuXKags here with another story! Okay, so this one has a bit of a sad and gloomy side to it, but it's funny in some parts (it's a habit for me to put at least some humor into my stories. I mean, who wants to read a depressing story? Seriously...). Now, I know most of you are probably about to choke me and beat me down, but I've been totally sleepy lately. I can never get a decent amount of sleep. I have dark circles under my eyes to prove it! And I'm only 14! Anyway, my friends think it's because I'm in love (and look at. Valentine's Day is coming up!). Well, enough of my babbling. Go ahead and read my newest creation and review. And PLEASE TAKE MY POLL!!
Bad Luck
"Hey, look, guys! It's the witch!" a teenaged girl shouted, pointing at a another girl younger than her.
"Ha ha! Witch! Witch! Witch!" numerous other children taunted, pointing and laughing at the fourteen-year-old girl.
Kagome shifted the wooden bucket of water in her thin arms. What had she done to these other idiotic kids to urge them to tease her? All she wanted to do was fetch some water from the well for her mother and that was it. But she should've gotten used to it by now. Ever since a handful of adults had found out that she was the descendant of a powerful sorceress named Kikyou not too long ago, they'd spread the preposterous rumor of Kagome being an evil witch. The careless children bullied her, in secret hopes that she'd be weakened by desperation.
Today seemed to be the children's lucky days because, if they looked close enough, they could see the watery tears brimming her cobalt blue irises.
"What's the matter, witch?" the biggest bully of them all, Mayu, mocked. "Aren't you gonna turn me into a frog?" The laughing children encircled Kagome in a tight oval, eliminating all escapes.
Kagome set down her water bucket, and kept her furious gaze down on the dirt beneath her bare feet. Her charcoal bangs shaded the area around her eyes, giving the crowd a boost in their ego.
"Witch! Witch! Witch! Witch!" they continued to chant.
Mayu sneered and stepped forward. She shoved Kagome to the ground, and gave her a swift kick to the ribs. Nonetheless, the victim stayed quiet, despite the immense pain inflicted on her purplish bruise. "C'mon, guys, let's go. This is boring," she ordered. She led the group of tormenters to the field, where they could play a hearty round of tag.
Kagome winced as she gathered her strength to sit up. She shifted her blurry gaze around until she found what seemed to be the outline of the water jug. The girl shakily rose, her long legs wobbly. She lifted the pail in her scratched arms and progressed to her hut, where she lived with her mother.
Tomorrow would be her fifteenth birthday. Of course, nobody but she and her mother would celebrate it in their cozy hut, blocking out the rude villagers from their private party together.
"Mama, I brought the water," she said as she shoved the indigo curtain aside from the front entrance.
Her mother glanced up from her sewing with a confused expression. "You took a little longer than usual. Did something happen, sweetheart?" she timidly asked, setting her work down on a flat stone.
"Some of the kids bullied me again, but I'm okay." The teenaged girl set down the basket next her mother with a forced smile.
"Kagome. . . ."
"No, it's alright, Mama. Really." Kagome took a few steps and went to the small room and lay down on the futon she and her mother shared. She hated to see her mother's face drenched with sympathy and tears. It only made things worse to witness the moment of depression.
As soon as Mayu delivered the kick, Kagome felt pain wash over body along with some drowsiness. The repetitive behavior of the village children was getting tiring and dull, yet excruciating. But when she lay her head down on the pillow, Kagome no longer felt sleepy, but adventurous . . . And filthy.
She stood up from the futon and went to the basket of clean clothes in the corner of the room. She picked out a nice outfit that her mother had made for her birthday last year: A mid-thigh pale blue dress with a silver belt hanging around the waist area. The outfit came with dark purple pantyhose and laced sandy boots. None of the colors matched, but the teenager didn't care. It was unique. Kagome folded the clothes up and walked into the entry room, where her mother had just sighed with satisfaction as she placed the needle down.
"Oh, Kagome!" she called.
Kagome paused before the door. "Yes, Mother?" she said.
"Come see what I made you." The older woman ushered Kagome over. The teenaged girl kneeled next to her mother by the ashy fire pit. The woman lifted up a piece of bottle green cloth and held it up for her daughter to see. "What do you think?" she asked.
Kagome squinted at the item. The ends of the fabric were tied together with a pink bow, similar to the color of the belt of her freshly washed outfit. "That depends," she answered. "What is it?"
Her mother smiled. "It's a shawl for you to wear when it gets cold outside. Try it on!"
The girl reached for the material and tenderly put the object over her head. The bottom of the shawl stopped just above her elbow, the front of it covering most of her chest.
"Perfect," the elder woman murmured.
Kagome smiled at her, and embraced her. "Thank you, Mama," she whispered. It was so heartwarming when her mother did a good deed, like sewing together a shawl for weeks nonstop until it was completely finished. And it touched Kagome's heart even more because her mother was the only person in the world that actually loved her. No one but the woman who brought her into this world loved Kagome.
Kagome's mother glanced down at the folded clothes on the mat next her daughter. "Are you going to take a bath?" she asked.
The girl looked down at the pile. "Oh, yeah, I was." She stood up and picked up the clothes.
"Good, 'cause you reek," the woman teased, fanning the air in front of her nose.
Both females laughed.
"I'll be back before supper," Kagome said before exiting the hut.
"Be safe, Kagome!" her mother called.
"Okay!" Kagome followed a path never taken by the other villagers to a small lake. Nobody ever washed themselves in a lake; Kagome never knew why, but she had a feeling that it was because they didn't want to be cleansed with the same water used by her. She scoffed at their beliefs. They also thought that, despite the fact that she never knew she had powers nor had she used them, she was a witch who used her magic for evil. Foolish people.
Kagome halted briefly by the shore of the lake to take in her surroundings. It was still the middle of the afternoon, maybe around three or four o'clock, but the area seemed deserted by the looks of it. She dropped her clean clothes on the grass beside a rock. Then, she stripped out of her clothes and gracefully stepped into the water. It was always a relaxing temperature, never too hot and never too cold. It was perfect.
She inhaled deeply before plunging under the surface. Swimming around underwater always took out all the dirt and muck from her hair. Her skin was in extremely needed cleansing as well because of the numerous times she'd been pushed to the ground. She just wished that the cuts on her body would dissipate from her pale skin just like the filth.
Her lungs were necessitating oxygen, so she kicked her way up to the surface. Gasping for air, she swam to the edge to rest near a large boulder. Kagome examined the discoloration on her ribs; It was growing bigger every day due to the unreasonable punishment she was receiving from the bullies. She flinched at the slightest touch. The abuse was getting out of control, yet she and her mother stayed strong against the villagers and continued to live in the hut her father had built long before he'd passed away, leaving the women defenseless.
Kagome had learned to be confident no matter what. Defend herself, show no weakness. . . .
The abrupt snap of a twig interrupted her thoughts of self-confidence. She whirled around only to see a man wandering into the swamp, not noting her presence. She inaudibly floated towards the tall reeds growing in the water to hide from the man's view.
"Damn them all," the man muttered. He kneeled down by the opposite edge of the lake and splashed his face with water. By the looks of it, he seemed to be a half demon. He had puppy dog ears, fangs, claws, and long silvery hair with forelocks. On his face, there were tiny cuts and bruises, as if he'd been abused, too.
Kagome let out a breath as hushed as possible, but it wasn't quiet enough.
"Who's there?" the man cautiously asked. He reached into his sheath and pulled out an oversized sword.
Kagome sucked in her breath and dipped lower into the water. A half demon with a sword against a naked human girl; The winner was completely obvious. She didn't stand a chance against this guy. But maybe she can outrun him. . . .
She turned around only to come face to face with the guy.
"AHHHHHHH-HHHHH!!" they screamed. The boy fell backwards onto his butt and Kagome splashed water all over the place.
"Where the hell did you come from?!" the man demanded.
So he didn't know. "I was right here the whole time, you idiot!" she yelled back. She couldn't control her temper that well around irritating people, especially when they were interrupting her relaxation.
His gaze dropped, and a dark pink tinted his cheeks. "Uh. . . ."
"Huh?" She looked down and realized that her breasts were above the water level, and he was enjoying the view. "AHHHH!! You pervert!" She plunged under the water until it went up to her chin.
"Uh, sorry," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Couldn't help myself."
She scowled. "You're such a pig," she retorted.
"I said I was sorry!"
Kagome huffed. Men were so irritating. Them with their revolting habits around women. "Get out of here, you nasty!"
"I was about to take a bath!"
"Well, too bad, so sad! I was here first! Now get lost!"
He blinked as he stood up. " . . . Feisty," he muttered before disappearing from her sight.
Kagome glared after the trespasser until she couldn't even hear his incomprehensible curses anymore. She huffed and waded towards the flat stone where her clothes lay. The girl paused near the shore. She couldn't risk that guy to spy on her dressing. Kagome glanced around. The coast was clear, but the sight above her was quite peculiar.
The sky, once a clear cerulean with a few wispy cirrus clouds, was now shrouded with misty gray clouds and thickening fog.
Kagome frowned, but quickly got dressed. Just as she was slipping the green shawl over her head, she heard screams. Familiar shrieks . . . That sounded very similar to the villagers. But the screams sounded . . . Frightened and terrified, as if someone or something were attacking them.
"Mother. . . ."
That was the only word Kagome needed to whisper before she took off running at full speed back to her village.
"Kagome!"
The village girl instantly recognized that fearful voice; It was her mother, and she sounded like she was being attacked. . . .
*~*~*
All was quiet. Not a single noise sounded throughout the silent forest as Kagome sprinted through the woods down the path to the Tama Village. She'd heard the screams of the local villagers, and just as she had made it to the borderline of the forest, the shrieks were gradually quieted.
What in the world happened earlier? Kagome thought to herself. She was starting to get tired, but she was getting close to her destination.
But then, something made her stop just before passing the wooden gates to her town. The scent that hung thickly in the air, just like the cloudy fog. The stench that reeked of blood.
Despite the voice in the back of her head that screamed 'Run away!', Kagome shuffled through the arched gateway. That's when she stepped into the heart of the village. She paused. Her hushed inhales of breath progressed into unsteady gasps. She tried to maintain her pants of inhalation, hoping to blend in with the dead silence. There was no way she could move nor breathe perfectly normal. Not after what she saw.
The sight was horrible.
Immobile lifeless bodies littered the once brown dusty dirt. The ground was now a disgusting shade of bloody red. Quite a few defenseless humans were sliced apart; Some were pierced with sharp arrows. All wore a face of pain and agony.
The attacker left no survivors. It killed every living thing in the village. Every adult, every child, every animal, every baby.
Kagome wobbly stepped over the lifeless remains. She recognized one of the corpses lying on the dirt. Mayu. Her short black pigtails were loose and soiled; Her eyes and mouth were wide open, as if the murderer had scared her before killing her.
"Kagome . . ."
The girl gasped in surprise. She immediately went into her defensive stance. Then, she saw who was wheezing out her name.
"Mama!" she breathed. Kagome jumped over all of the bodies to her mother. The elder woman sported a long slash on her stomach, the blood soaking through her cotton dress. Her face had blood caked on her cheeks and forehead.
"I'm so glad you're alive . . . Kagome," her mother croaked, forcing a weak smile.
"Mama, what happened?" Kagome asked, holding her parent's hand.
"A--A monster attacked . . . Us. He had long d--dark hair and evil red e--eyes. He called himself. . . . Ah!" The woman winced in pain. Kagome shakily tried to assist, but the elder female refused to accept it. "Remember, Kagome." She weakly smiled at her daughter. "I'll always . . . love you. . . ." Her hand drooped loosely in Kagome's.
"Mother?" Kagome whispered. Her mind was telling her that her mom was dead, but her heart refused to listen. She squeezed the woman's hand tighter. "Mama?" No reply. There was no pulse in the mother any more. Tears welled in Kagome's sapphire eyes as she embraced her mother's corpse. "Mother!" she sobbed at the top of her voice.