A/N: Hello everyone, a new story, a new beginning! This has been in the making for a few weeks now...just never got it down on paper...ah well! That's about to change! So here it goes. This is going to be a very...sad, happy, funny, dramatic, romantic, smutty and SMEXY story in the near future. I'm on holidays right now so I thought, why not? Here goes! Its AU by the way.

Playing Their Game

Chapter 1: Pain Is An Alarm Clock

"Pain is an alarm clock, it brings you back to reality every time. Don't let pain cloud your vision Kagome, that's not how it's done."

The drops fell heavy on her head, her body, her face, drowning her thoughts away as it swirled around on the tiled floor of her tub. The floor was pristine white, betraying grey and black marks of the mud from her feet and grains of sand when she fell on the ground earlier. Blood swirled around the water from her knees and arms. And on her cold body, which had taken on a blue tint, were dark blue and purple bruises. They had hit her, hard and painfully, but she didn't cry, she wouldn't cry. She hadn't cried in a long time, and she wasn't about to start now.

"Momo, come." She called softly, hearing the patter of clawed feet on the ground. A few moments later, the tiniest puppy came trotting into the bathroom, his silky black fur rippling on her skin. She was a rottweiler, the smallest of the new bunch that were born a week ago. Smiling wanly, Kagome bent down and lifted the tiny thing into her arms and chuckled as it began to blink and shake out its fur as the water fell on her little head.

They say that animals can smell feelings and emotions on you...if so, perhaps that was the reason Momo looked up at her mistress with comforting, wide and innocent eyes. The dark haired girl smiled softly and kissed her on her forehead, wiping the suds out of her eyes.

"You're my only friend right now, aren't you Momo? You'll look after me right? Daddy wont...wont take me on his bike anymore. He's...gone isn't he...just like mama. But...you won't leave me will you? We'll take care of each other. And...and...Kaede-chan will take care of us too. So...so don't worry." Kagome closed her eyes, willing to keep the tears in. Her mother would tell her, "Be strong, don't break down, just be strong and don't take any nonsense from anyone! My strong little girl."

Smiling to herself, she cuddled the dog closer, smiling into her fur as the water just kept falling.

5 Years Later...

"Kagome-chan, I've packed your bento, be careful ok? It's a little hot." An old, yet kindly voice said.

Kagome turned around from her breakfast and smiled thankfully. "Arigatou, Kaede-chan. I will. I'll see you later then. Come! Momo!"

The young girl of eighteen, stood up quickly and grabbed her bag, pushing her thick wavy hair behind her back. As soon as she was out of the door, she heard the bounding of heavy feet and the the excited bark of her pet, Momo.

Momo had grown quite large in the last few years and she was enough to scare away the whole school should she like to. She had mated with a stray of the same breed and Kagome, in a few more weeks, would be the proud godmother of a new litter of pups. Of course she'd had to plead her guardian into letting her keep them first.

They did live in a rather big house, but it was in shambles for the most part, paint chipping, floor boards creaking, doors hanging off hinges and not to mention door knobs falling off every so often. It was one of those very old double story houses which had been in Kaede's family for generations and she refused to leave it. Not that Kagome had any objections, having many little hiding places all around, not to mention a little tower right at the top which was her room.

She loved her home, it was the only one she'd ever had where she didn't need to worry about anything except school. Or so she told herself everyday. Deep down, she still carried those burdens and bruises of old, when the kids bullied her, when her father died on the bike she loved to ride and when her mother joined him after suffering from cancer.

She'd had one of those lives where everything seemed to be going wrong, until she decided to take control of everything and be strong, just as her mother and father told her to.

"Ne, Momo, we're here, thank you sweetie, go home and rest now ok? We've still got to protect those babies of yours." The brown eyed girl sat on her heels and gave her friend a kiss on the head, before watching her trot off and then heading to class herself. It was the University of East Tokyo that she went to, one of the better ones, but also a little expensive. Many youkai families sent their children to it and a good number of "humans" who went there were known to be quite "gifted".

But there were also the groups. A number of gangster groups each with their extremely skilled members resided in the school and they were usually those from rich families much to Kagome's dislike. She on the other hand, didn't belong to any group, and that was probably why she was called a loner a lot of the time.

Yes she was still bullied, though not as badly as before, nowadays, people either didn't notice her or just ignored her. Quirking a grin, she walked purposely towards the gates, being mindful of the number of students walking to and fro, all talking to each other happily and exchanging news about the weekend.

"Can you believe it? He called me! I mean he actually, finally called me!"

"Haha, well you're one lucky girl! So, did he ask you out?"

Kagome rolled her eyes, muttering a soft, "Pathetic," under her voice. Some girls these days honestly had nothing else on their mind other than guys. It really was pathetic in her eyes.

The University campus was very large, creating what some people would say, a small town in itself. You would usually have to take the bus around it in order to save an hour of walking and getting lost. And like most universities out there, there was no dress code. This sometimes bothered her because you'd get girls walking around with practically nothing but two pieces of cloth. And not to mention guys who "lost" their shirt on the way.

The brown eyed girl sighed and sat down in her seat, waiting for class to start. All of a sudden, everyone in the class began to gasp and some girls started whispering amongst one another. It was then that Kagome noticed a large group of people, all looking quite intimidating as they walked in. Kagome shook her head, realizing who they were and she turned back to her book. It was one of the gangs, The Ravens as they called themselves. A weird name for weird people, she thought, but then again, she thought that she herself must be pretty weird to everyone else.

The gangs around the school were quiet feared amongst the students, having had quite a few nasty things done to them over the years. But if you just made yourself seem invisible, probably nothing bad would happen. The young Higurashi peeked up again and in her mind, named the members of the Ravens. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha Turomiki, Miroku Tatsugaya, Kikyo Hanajima, Kouga Hitoki, Hiten and Manten Yagahara, Sango and Kohaku Mutsou, Ayame Janurobu some others who didn't take the class, and of course, a group of brothers, Jakotsu, Renkotsu, Suikotsu and Bankotsu.

History, Pure Chemistry, Pure Maths and Languages were the worst because the entire gang took those. The girl sighed and returned to her work. The teacher came in a few minutes later and gave them their assignments. About halfway through class, the teacher left, apparently needing the bathroom.

The minute he stepped out of the class, the students began chatting and talking, totally abandoning their work. Totally oblivious to this, Kagome just continued, earning her a few whispers and giggles from a group of girls.

"Well if it isn't Kagome Higurashi, the world's biggest suck up." Came a sneering voice from above.

The girl all but jumped from her chair and looked up, dropping her pen in the process. Giggles and laughter erupted all around and Kagome felt her cheeks burn. It was Megumi Atoni and her friends Ami, Yui and Eri. They all looked at her with spite and amusement, leaving Kagome to roll her eyes and look back down.

"And what exactly is it that you want with this 'World's Biggest Suck Up'?" she asked boredly.

Megumi narrowed her eyes and scowled, "Watch it Higurashi, in case you haven't noticed, not that many people are on your side in here."

Getting slightly annoyed, Kagome bit out a comment, "Well then lets just hope they aren't on 'The Worlds' Most Annoying Bimbos' side. I'm pretty sure that's much worse."

Now this got a few laughs and maybe even an 'ooh' or two from the guys. Kagome just smirked and turned back to her work.

&&&&&&&

Aquamarine eyes watched the scene in amusement. An interested grin slowly made its way across the boy's face as he watched the small girl battle with four other wenches.

"Oi, Ayame, look at this. Some chick is going fireball on the Barbies." Bankotsu said in a low whisper.

The red-head immediately looked up at this and grinned. "Well looks like someone's putting them in their freaking place. Bunch of plastic dolls."

Bankotsu eyed the fiery girl with interest, her hair was either a very dark brown or black and her eyes were currently blazing with fire in their brown depths. She had a very small stature but in his opinion, it was rather...cute.

She wore a black crop top and a pair of tight, faded jeans and a pair of boots. All of a sudden, something happened that he didn't expect, she slapped one of the girls right on the face.

"How dare you talk about my guardian that way!" He heard her scream. He could still hear the slap that echoed in the air and stilled the class. Everyone looked at her, wide eyed and disbelieved.

Megumi was still recovering from her initial shock and she had her hand placed on her cheek, a red mark beginning to appear. She suddenly looked at Kagome, fury in her eyes, "You..you BITCH!" With that, she lunged at Kagome, pushing her to the ground and banging her head against the floor, delivering punches to her face. Her friends, Ami, Yui and Eri, joined in a few moments later and kicked the girl and with that, the whole class ended up in an uproar.

The class began crowding around the fight, some cheering, some yelling, some telling them to stop. Bankotsu immediately jumped to his feet, pushing his way through the crowd, trying to shove the huge mass of students away. "Move outta my way!"

"Oi! Inuyasha! Gimme some help here!" He called, though he really had no need to, as his hanyou friend was already by his side, helping him through.

"Shit, did you see that?" He shouted, wildly.

"Yes I did, I was right here! Now get these ass holed outta the way!" Bankostu finally got so annoyed that he began elbowing people out of the way, trying to get to the girl. Finally making it through, his eyes widened as he saw the amount of blood splattered on the floor. Megumi was still delivering punches while the other three helped, holding the struggling girl up and delivering kicks and yanking at her hair.

Someone tried pulling Megumi off the girl but to no avail. Bankotsu growled and lunged at the girl, shoving her against Inuyasha who sneered at her and brought her away. The other three seemed to get the hint and they jumped up, trying to step away but they were taken away by another group of boys as the girl fell to the floor breathing heavily.

Kikyo, Sango and Ayame stepped forward and knelt down next to Bankotsu who was pushing her hair out of her face while getting his hands bloodied in the process.

The girl soon started to wince and move, trying to get up into sitting position. "Ow...oh kami that hurts." She whispered.

"Whoa easy girl, we've gotcha." The braided boy helped the bloodied girl up only to have her collapse back down again. She would have probably hurt herself even more had it not been for Bankotsu quickly catching her in time.

"Ugh...I'm fine...I can do it." the girl said, determined.

Amused by her self righteousness and self pride, he chuckled and picked her up, bridal style, walking her to the nurse's office.

&&&&&&&&&&

When the nurse had cleaned her up and left, Kagome was sporting a split lip, bruises all over her body, cuts and scratches, and a cheek that was now turning blue. Nothing had been broken but she still felt like crap and was in bad pain.

She sat on the white bed, dangling her legs and looking at the floor when three girls walked up to her. "Hey," a red head said, "You feeling better?"

Kagome chuckled mirthlessly and shook her head. "I feel like I've just been run down by a herd of heavy metal weight champions." She looked up at the three looked down again, whispering a soft, "Thank you..."

The girl who she recognized as Kikyo laughed and sat down on the bed, next to her stroking her hair. "I think it's Bankotsu who you might want to thank. What's your name by the way?"

"Kagome Higurashi...aren't you...the Miko, Kikyo?" She asked, uncertain, looking at the pretty girl next to her.

Kikyo nodded, "Would you like me to heal you...I could do it easily-"

"No," she was cut off, "I've suffered worse than this, but thank you. You're very kind."

The other three girls looked at each other uncertainly. "What do you mean...suffered worse?" Sango the Taijiya asked.

Kagome looked down, not knowing what to say. "Well...I..I've fallen off my father's bike a couple of times or so while riding." She lied smoothly, chuckling.

"So you ride huh?" A voice said from the doorway. All four girls looked up and saw Bankotsu leaning against the door.

"Bankotsu! Did you get those girls suspended?" Ayame asked, spitting out the word "girls".

"Yup! So no worries about them anymore. Though you did put up quite a punch in defense didn't you Wench?" He stated, looking down at her from the tip of his nose.

Kagome narrowed her eyes and stood up, "The name's Kagome, not Wench. Spell it if you can, makes saying it a lot easier."

"Ooh, fiesty aren't we." Bankotsu said, smirking and folding his arms, bending down so he was face to face with her. "A nice "thank you" would suffice...Kagome."

The raven head sighed in defeat and looked up at him, annoyance in her eyes, "As much as it pains me to say this, thanks." With that, she brushed past him and out the door.

&&&&&&&&

"I like her." Kikyo said, quirking a smile. The girl was quite intimidating, though once she saw something interesting in someone, she tended to soften up a bit. Bankotsu just looked at her with horrified eyes.

"What's this, Miss Heartless likes someone? Now that's something."

Throwing the braided boy a scowl, she snapped, "Watch it, Bankotsu, I might end up disliking you and we wouldn't want that would we?"

"Hmph! Whatever, I think she's too proud for her own good." The blue eyed boy said indifferently.

"Ha! Maybe she can put you back in your place and calm you down a bit." Sango laughed.

"Mmm true, Bankotsu, much like many of the other boys in the gang have gotten a little too high in their heads." Ayame huffed, linking arms with the other two and walking out.

But before they left, Sango turned and asked with an unreadable smile, "But I'm still curious to know, why'd you help her?"

"Uhh..."

"Hm, thought so." The Taijiya laughed before she and her friends left.

Shaking his head in frustration, the boy left, looking for the rest of his friends, the girl's question ringing in his head.

A/N: SO! How'd you like it? Good? Bad? REVIEW MY PRETTIES! HAHAHAHAHAH! So yea, please review and tell me what you think ok? Tell me what I should improve on, or if you think I need a BETA to proof read this. If you think I do, who'd like to volunteer? I'm always up for BETAs! So! TELL ME WHATCHA THINK! I know some of em are going to seem a little OOC but I'll put them back into place soon...sorta. Now I know a lot of you don't like Kikyo, but I personally don't have any objections to her...Yes everyone is as they are in the series, they've all still got their powers, skills and whatnot. And yes, even in this time, people know they are youkai, Miko, and blah blah blah. The gangs are all made of people who are pretty much rich and who are a little tired of their diamond lives and want to rebel and cause a little bit of havoc. So go on, how's the idea:)

Next Chapter: Bankotsu has another encounter with our darling Kagome and they end up getting into a pretty big argument while the Gang watch, amused. Who's side do you think they'll be on? ;) And yes, the chapters will get longer and more organized and in sync.

Now...REVIEW!

Peace out!

Rex!