Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. I will say this for the ENTIRE story, so I don't have to write this over and over again.
Chapter 1: Sneaking Away
"Stars move slowly in the silvery night, far away on the other side…"–Moonlight Shadow
No one had ever experienced the same kind of pain that fifteen-year-old Kagome Higurashi went through. It wasn't the type of pain that one could easily run away from—mentally, and physically. But today, on July 11th, at 2:00 A.M. in the morning, Kagome would be free from it…
She had prepared all her things to take with her, The Photograph, The Necklace, The Backpack, and creeped down the hallway of the second floor to the stairs. She tilted her head back down the hall to make sure no one was awake. Sensing no movement or consciousness, she tip-toed down the stairs, and CREAK! Kagome flung her hand over her mouth, heart-pounding. She always forgot that the last stair creaked…a big problem for her in the past.
But no one came to drag her back to her room, nor did anyone yell at her to come back. Kagome breathed a huge sigh of relief. She opened the door carefully, and was so glad that she remembered to oil the hinges, just as Eri told her. Then, she stepped out, and breathed in the sweet, rural air of Osaka. The friendly stars twinkled overhead, as if congratulating her escape. Once she left the driveway of her country home, she would finally be away from it all…away from the pain that had held her in.
Flashback: One week ago, July 4, Kagome's 15th birthday
Whip! Whip! Punch! Kagome fell to the floor, holding her bleeding, bruised face.
"How dare you spoil my food!" Naraku, Kagome's step-father, screamed, while holding up a slightly worn out belt—a belt that was worn-out on her…"I told you not to put shrimp in my sushi, and yet you did! Are you trying to poison me, wench? Sota, your own seven-year-old brother can do better! Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean I've got to treat you nice!"
Kagome could do nothing, but stand the beating. It was an honest mistake, to have put the shrimp in the sushi. It looked just like the imitation crab meat in the fridge. But…it wasn't her fault that Naraku didn't like girls, it wasn't her fault that she wasn't a boy, it wasn't her fault that she and Sota Higurashi, her little brother, were orphans, and it definitely wasn't her fault that Naraku abused her for the littlest things ever. Sota's sweet, yet frightened voice interrupted her thoughts, "But daddy (Kagome hated that title for Naraku), I can't prepare food."
"Ummm…it's O.K. Sota. Go up to bed. I'll tuck you in," Naraku said. "As for you, girl," he snarled, as he turned to Kagome. "Stay in your room for two days. No food, just water. I guess I can trust you enough to only use the bathroom when you come out of your room."
Kagome trudged upstairs to her room, shut the door, and flopped onto her bed. She reached under the bed, and pulled out a loose floorboard, where hoards of non-perishable food and water were. She had created this secret spot when Naraku first became her step-father, and began starving her. The food came from stealthy pilfering. Kagome did not want Naraku to hear crunching of food, so she took a long swig of bottled Dasani water. The swishing of the liquid in her empty stomach made her very uncomfortable, but it was better than nothing.
She put the floorboard back where it was, and pulled out another loose floorboard. This was the spot where her two secret treasures were placed. It was these secret items that still kept her motivated to live. Kagome carefully pulled out a beautifully printed copy of a picture of four smiling people, and a necklace with a round, pink jewel at the end.
She placed the bottle of water her dresser top, and closed her eyes, remembering those four people. She remembered the scene well, which took place five years ago on New Year's Day. Her mother had Kagome, then 10, in her lap, and Kagome's father, with 2 year old Souta in his lap. Kagome and her mother were wearing matching traditional kimonos, but Mr. Higurashi and Souta wore tuxedos. They were all sitting on a park bench, and their neighbor had taken the picture, and printed out a copy for Kagome's family.
Kagome could not remember a happier day of her life. She remembered their family going to the local WacDonalds to eat because all the traditional Sushi bars were filled. She remembered Souta getting ice cream all over his face and suit. She remembered falling down, crying, and then her father and mother picking her up...Father…Mother…
Right when she thought of her mother and father, a stream of memories came flowing in without stopping. Naraku coming into the family, her father's death…too gruesome to think about now, her mother's death, her Jewel…Hot tears poured down her cheeks as she thought, "Mother, Father…you could've helped me get out of this place if you hadn't died." Then, Kagome dozed off.
Kagome's dream
"Give me it, you foolish girl, before you end up like your father!" the dark figure yelled, a huge samurai sword in his hand.
"I-I don't know what you want!" Kagome stuttered, fearfully looking at the samurai sword. She did not want to die…not like her father…
"Yes you do!" the figure screamed. Then, the face of the person came to light, and Kagome saw that it was Naraku. As Naraku lunged toward her heart, Kagome gasped…
Suddenly, somebody tapped her on the back, and she woke up, shuddering. She turned around to find Souta behind. "Souta!" she whispered. "Naraku will kill you if he finds out what you're doing! How'd you get in here?"
"Shhh. Daddy left the keys in his room. Daddy wants to kill you. I heard him say so on the phone. He was talking to someone, and he said he wants to kill you for something that he says you have. I didn't hear all that he said, 'cause I got scared." Sota explained.
"Oh, God…" Kagome whispered. Now she knew that she HAD to leave. First that dream, and now this…
The next day, while Naraku was eating breakfast, Kagome pulled out a cell phone, and speed-dialed her friend, Eri.
Eri knew everything that happened in Kagome's life. They've been friends since pre-school, and Eri was literally Kagome's diary. Eri was also a VERY wealthy child, but not spoiled at all. Although her parents did not know Kagome's abusement very well, but only as "a child in need", they provided Kagome with a cell phone in case she needed to reach Eri (not to mention that the cell phones were always the latest trend in the market, complete with text messaging and email). And it was very lucky that they did so too—Naraku had cut off all emergency hotlines, and put a recorder on all calls.
"Eri, I REALLY need help. I'm being abused again, I had a dream that Naraku wants to kill me, and now Sota tells me that Naraku really wants to kill me."
There was a pause on the other end, and Eri replied, "Hmm…I've got a plan. But it'll involve two other people. Do you know Ayumi Oasaki and Yuka Pyon?"
"Umm…isn't Ayumi the smartest girl in our grade, and Yuka's the most creative person?"
"Right. On July 10th, throw me a rope out your window at 7:00 P.M sharp. I will have all the materials you need ready. Naraku will be out at the moment you sneak out because I'll make sure he is with a car-jacking. Oh, and that's Ayumi's specialty. At 2:00 A.M, leave the house for Tokyo. You'll be going to the Shikon Boarding School…"
Then, Eri hung up, leaving Kagome very confused. Was Eri crazy? Ayumi? Carjacking? And what did Yuka have to do with this? Shikon Boarding School…?
Ayumi Oasaki was the smartest girl in Kagome and Eri's school, Tomodachi High. Not only was she smart, she was a good student as well. She received the best grades, and was a very talented violinist. Yuka Pyon knew everything about creativity there was to know. She was very good at solving problems and created art pieces that were unimaginable by the average human being.
Kagome did not know whether the carjacking part about Ayumi was true, but if it was…Naraku had better watch out. A smart person and plus carjacking didn't sound so good…especially if Naraku's car was a Rolls Royce, and carjacking happened to be that smart person's hobby…
On July 10th, the entire population within five miles of Kagome's house could've heard a BANG, CRASH, and Naraku screaming, "Holy crud! Where's my car!!??"
Right after Naraku was gone to investigate the situation, Kagome threw a rope out the window. Eri climbed up, and hoisted a bulging backpack onto the floor. Yuka followed shortly after.
"Ok, Kagome," Eri explained. "Yuka and I put together a backpack with all the things that you're going to need. Hence, the bulges."
"We're going to walk you through the items that are in here," Yuka smiled, and pulled a box of make-up.
"Um…I don't wear make-up…" Kagome muttered.
"Well, now you are!" Eri beamed, trying to ignore the anguished howls of Naraku two miles away. "We're going to cover up those scars, and then you're going to be the New Kagome."
Kagome lightly touched the bruise on her face, and winced. It still hurt after 6 days.
Yuka also pulled out a pair of jeans, two pairs of green sailor skirts, two matching sailor tops, and a file folder. She explained, "I told Eri to give you jeans—and I embellished a letter K on one of the pockets. The uniform is for Shikon Boarding School, and the file folder is a transcript that Eri and I made. You're going to need it."
Kagome peeked into the backpack, and saw feminine products, lingerie (apparently creatively decorated), and a tweezer like tool. Kagome pulled that out and showed it to Eri and Yuka.
"And this is for…?"
"Oh! I plumb forgot about that!" Yuka grabbed the tweezers, and pulled out a micro-chip, and a stick of gum from her pocket. Chewing the gum, she brought over the landline phone in Kagome's room, and unscrewed the base of the phone, revealing a complex maze of wires. "Dhis wih wok! Twust mi." Yuka spoke, while chewing the gum.
Kagome looked at Yuka with her eyebrows raised, who was now fiddling with the wires inside the phone with the tweezers. If Naraku found out that the phone was tampered with…
"All done!" Yuka beamed, waving Kagome over. "Your step-father had placed a recorder inside the phone. I used my gum to block that recorder."
Eri asked, "Wouldn't Naraku think something's fishy about the phone?"
"That's where my microchip comes in place. I built it completely out of bobby pins and really small screws. This microchip will supply pre-made recordings, so all Naraku's going to hear is Kagome talking to one of us about mindless girl chatter. He's not going to care about mindless stuff, right?"
Kagome looked and listened on wide-eyed. A microchip out of bobby pins and screws? Yuka was the most creative person…Kagome asked, "Wait…were you the one who won that one science competition with a rotating clothes hangers and some mechanical robot and some dirt bike wheel?"
Yuka nodded and smiled, "Yea. But there was a 9 inch long spring and three old pairs of shoes involved as well. Trust me, too complicated to explain."
Kagome's head was spinning. So…we have a carjacker and an inventor together…Naraku's in for it big time… Kagome thought.
Yuka added on, "I shifted a few wires around in the phone as well. So now, if anything happens to Souta, he can call the emergency hotlines. Even though I only made changes to your phone, apparently your phone is hooked up to all the phones in the house. Naraku definitely purposely did that so he could hear your conversation on another phone. Anyway, So then one change to one phone will change the rest."
Once Yuka was done talking, Eri said, "By the way, you'll be enrolling in freshman year at Shikon. The school system is a tad different. Their freshman year is equivalent to Tomodachi High's Sophomore year. You'll graduate one year later than us, but you'll be a whole heck of a lot smarter than us. See? We're going to help you get out of this place. But I wonder how Ayumi's doing…"
As if on cue, a big explosion of cursing and yelling reverberated throughout a ten mile radius. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CAR!? HOW DID IT GET LIKE THIS!?"
"Eri! Yuka!" a voice whispered from outside the window, barely audible over Naraku's howling. "We've gotta go!"
"Well, it looks like Ayumi did a good job…" Yuka trailed. "We've gotta go. One day, we'll meet again."
Kagome whispered, "Yes. We will. Arigato Gozaimas."
Although Kagome never really knew Yuka, she gave her a big hug. Eri was crying, and gave Kagome a long hug, wishing that it would last forever. But at last, Yuka and Eri parted, leaving Kagome with her own future in her hands.
End Flashback
With one last look at the place that had given her so much suffering, Kagome fled down the long country roadside.
