Disclaimer: I wish I owned socks. Therefore, it is my pitiful duty to announce to you that I do not own Inuyasha or any other manga's/anime's mentioned in this story. I do actually own several of the OC's mentioned, such as Sakura, Kiysku, Kiyre and Yuzuki (there are tons more though) but I do not own Kimeku, Sarany, or any of THOSE OC's, but I do IN FACT have their creator's permition to use them to do my bidding…. bwahaha, go build Rome!! Alright, I'm sorry if the OC's are OOC, same with the regular characters… jeez, I'm confusing myself! On with Chapter 1!!
(Prelude of sorts)
"Are you sure you want to go home now, Yuzi-chan?"
"I'll be fine, Sakura-chi, don't you worry. My mom won't be too upset I'm walking home."
Sakura bit her lip and rocked back and forth across her heels. "But you know you aren't supposed to walk home alone, and besides, you know the stories!" Everyone in the town had heard of the mysterious disappearance of Professor Takahashi-sensei's adopted daughter, Kimberly. The poor girl had lost her parents in a (in((famous))) drive-by shooting in America, and upon coming to Japan had been adopted by one of the most famous people in the town, Doctor Sesshomaru Takahashi-sama, Ph D. He doubled at being the English teacher at the local high school. But if he had provided any light for her in those dark days, everything changed (A.N. when the fire nation attacked… lol) when he reported that she had never returned from a party with her boyfriend and his friends. Kyon-san, her boyfriend, had a criminal record, and his high school friends weren't exactly the type of people you'd like to be found in a dark alley with. The investigation had been going on for two weeks now with no results. Because the party had been held a few blocks away from the movie theatre Yuzuki and Sakura were at, everyone in the area had been taking extra precautions. But Yuzuki had never been the type to go with the flow, leaving extra room for Sakura to worry about her.
"Kura-chi, don't worry. Nothing bad is gonna happen. Are you sure you don't want to walk home with me?"
Sakura turned her head away. "No, Zuki-chan, I'll just wait. Look, here's my dad now. Are you sure you don't want to ride home with me?"
Yuzuki rubbed her hand through her hair. She winced when she accidentally hit her hamster ear, hidden beneath her wavy black locks. "Nah, it's alright. I know you live on the other side of town, and I don't want to bother you. Bye, Kura-chan. See you in school tomorrow, 'kay?"
"'Kay. Bye, Yuzuki-chan." Sakura sighed and looked trustingly into Yuzuki's eyes, deep, clear and green. Yuzuki ruffled Sakura's brown hair and with a little wave and a small smile, walked away into the deep night. "Bye, Yuzuki." The night air was heavy, and even if Sakura had said it loud enough for her to hear, Yuzuki wouldn't have noticed, having covered her ears to keep them warm in the cold air. If they could have read the signs, nothing would have happened, and perhaps Yuzuki would still be sitting at the dining table with her family and friends, but since they could not predict the future, and Yuzuki walked home that night with her ears covered, the future is entirely different, but perhaps it was for the best.
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Sakura's POV
"Sakura-chan! Wake up! You have to go to school and you can't be late again!"
I lazily opened my eyes and they unwillingly fluttered open. I grumbled angrily at my sister Aina. She is such a boss and it kinda annoys me. But I guess I can't blame her. Our mom died 4 years ago, and it takes a while for us to get over things like death. Speaking of death, our dad looks closer and closer to death every day. AND my brother died in a drunk driving accident 8 months ago, so you could say my family is going through some rough times right now. Not to mention I have stage 3 leukemia. Anyways, Aina seems to think that now that mom's gone, she needs to be the boss of me. Kyou (my big brother) took care of those kinds of things, but now that he's gone, Aina is. My other sister, Rin, who is the only one of all the kids who looks like my dad, is only 5, and she's living as a foster kid with Takahashi Sesshomaru-dono, Kimberly-san's adoptive father. It became official 1 week ago, so she didn't know Kimberly-san. I didn't either – Takahashi-dono enrolled her in an upper class private school that I can't get into. Even though I stayed back a grade last year (I got one B+ and my teacher made me stay back, but it was because I missed a lot of school last year because I was in the hospital a lot), I still am top of my class, and it was the same last year when I was still in the right grade. I can't go back into the right grade though, because I still miss a lot of school due to my illness. Anyways, that school costs a ton of money to get into, and money is something we don't have.
"Sakura Ai Washikito, you get up off your lazy ass right this minute cause you are in for a whooping you won't soon forget! GET UP!"
"Okay, Aina." I stood up wearily and pushed a tangled mass of hair out of my eyes. I looked over at the clock and saw I had just 30 minutes to get ready and get to school. I quickly threw on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, grabbed the brush, and slipped on some socks and my favorite pair of Etnies. Honestly, I love those shoes; they are just soooo comfy. I jerkily moved the brush through my rats' nest that I called hair and winced each time it hit a knot. My last chemo session had been a couple days ago too, so my semi newly re-grown hair came out more easily and much more fell out than it should have, but the worst part was the headache. Each tug felt like a spear being driven through my head, but I grit my teeth and finished brushing. I flew down the stairs and stopped outside my dad's bedroom door.
"Daddy?" I asked tentatively as I pushed open the door. Most people would be shocked if they pushed open a door in their house to discover their father surrounded by beer bottles and cigarette packs, but I was used to it by now. "Daddy? Are you awake?"
"Sakura? Hey, sweetie. How are you?" My dad's voice was hoarse and his words were slurred.
"I'm fine daddy. I just wanted to say hi to you before I left for school. I love you, daddy." I said as I squeezed him goodbye.
"Love you too, Kura." He said and rolled over in his bed to fall back asleep.
I slowly tiptoed out of the room and into the kitchen. Aina was standing there shaking her head at me, so I smiled innocently and grabbed a muffin that was on the counter.
"What? Can't I talk to daddy without getting yelled at?"
Aina just shook her head at me. "Hurry up, Kura. I'll drive you, but we'll just make it."
I knew better than to argue and I nodded as I walked silently out the door.
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Our school is pretty big. I mean, only fairly big, all things considered, but to me it's pretty big. There's the main building with both junior high and high school, the administrative building next to it, the elementary school building on the other side of the junior high/high school building, and behind that is a small playground. I'm in my second year at the junior high, but that's only if I was in the right grade. Right now I'm in my first year there, but I'm passing with flying colors. OH NO!! NOW I'M BRAGGING!! I'M SOOOOOO SORRY!! I MUST SEEK YOUR FORGIVENESS!! May the lord have mercy on my evil soul… oh, oh, I'm sooo sorry! Speaking of being sorry, Yuzuki-chan normally compares me with her two favorite Furuba characters, Ritsu-chan and Tohru-san. She says it's because Ritsu-chan apologizes at the littlest things and because Tohru-chan not only looks like me, but it's like she was based off me, we're that alike. Yuzuki! Now I remembered why I was in such a rush to get to school today. Yuzuki walked home in that neighborhood! Oh, I hope she's alright.
"We're here, Kura-bozu," Aina sneered at me. "Now get out of the car before I kick your ass out myself."
I love Aina, even though she's sometimes really mean. She's in her second year of high school though, so I give her credit for trying. "Arigato Gozaimasu, Aina-chan!" I said as I kicked myself out of our rusty old car. (A.N. In this town, you go to high school for three years, not four, so Aina does technically have her driver's license, being 17.) Kissing Aina on the cheek, I ran inside before she could strangle me and sat in my classroom.
I don't know how I knew something was up, but by the time the homeroom bell rang and Yuzuki hadn't visited me (she was in my class 2 years ago, so she's a grade ahead of me), I could tell something was wrong. And when Tanemura-sensei (A.N. ), my homeroom teacher, called me aside, I could tell.
"Sakura-chan, you're not in trouble, but Yuzuki Jinenki-chan's mother called today to say that Yuzuki wouldn't be coming to school today and I asked why, she told me that she hadn't come home from the movies last night, and she also said she was with you, so I'm wondering if you have any information about Yuzuki and where she might be."
My breath caught in my throat and tears welled up. "N-no, sensei, I d-d-don't know w-where she could b-b-be."
Sensei sighed. "Sakura, don't be scared, but if you have any information at all it would be appreciated. Her mother is very worried. Now, please, you're her best friend, so I NEED you to tell me everything you know."
All I could do was cry. "She w-was with me at the m-movies, a-and sh-she wanted t-to go home a-alone. I-I tried to st-stop her, b-but she wouldn't l-listen to m-me! I'm s-so sorry!!" I broke down and sobbed. Everyone in the classroom was staring at me by now, but I didn't care. Yuzuki was gone, and it was all my fault.
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That afternoon, an amber alert was sent out on the 'missing girl'. I've always felt bad for families when this happens, but it can't compare to how I feel right now. Yuzuki had been missing for about a month when they found her body in a river. She had been raped and gotten pregnant, though she had had no idea. She had died from several gun shots to the head, one to the heart, and one through her lung. But before we could take the body back, Takahashi Sesshomaru-dono had taken her body away, saying the body was that of his beloved daughter, Kimberly-san. I knew why he thought that – Yuzuki and Kimberly definitely did look a lot alike, but underneath Yuzuki's forest of thick hair, she hid her hamster ears, telling her apart from Kimberly-san. When we had gone to the wake that Takahashi-dono had taken her body away, I had secretly held her hand and weaved my hand through her hair, accidentally hitting her ear. Wakes for me are too sad to cry, so all my tears were let out later, when no one was looking. The poor Jinenki family. I'd seen them at the wake and looking at Yuzuki's mom and brother (their dad left them when Yuzuki was three) my heart cracked open. And even though Mrs. Jinenki's face was twisted with agony so much that I had to look away so I wouldn't cry, Kiysku's face was unbearable to look at so much that I had to look. Kiysku's in my grade, but only because his birthday is in October so he missed the cutoff, making him seven months younger than me. Also… I've kinda had a huge crush on him since I was in the second grade. Which doesn't really make me feel better for both the reasons that a) he's a jock and popular and stuff while I'm a nerdy geek, and b) his sister just died (and my best friend, but that's irrelevant right now) and I can't help him because I'm suffering too much to do anything. And now the one person that I tell my secrets to and who actually listens to me and comforts me is gone.
But all this happened several years ago.
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A.N. GOMEN NISAI!! …I have no idea how you spell that. Anyways, I'm so sorry to my good friends SilenceX and InuYashaBaby1 because. Because why? Because I've been telling them for about a year that I'd have this chapter up within a week, and obviously that didn't happen. So thanks for not hating me as much as you could right now, meaning thank you SOOOO MUCH for not having killed me.
I love you too.
Arigato Gozaimasu, next chapter will be up… soon. As long as I'm reminded by friends and the good people who review. See you next chapter… or hear from you. XD Me
