Disclaimer- I do not own Inuyasha, kagome, shippo, or any of the inu gang…

She entered through the back door when she reached her destination: a four-star restaurant. She was always grateful for her job and it paid well. She was one of the top chefs there, which is only to be expected because she started to learn how to cook at such a young age. Her mom use to be the head cook and she started bringing her daughter to work with her in order to teach her how to cook. The workers there were always like family to Kagome and, after the tragic incident with her family, they gladly took her in.

Thanks to this job I have more than enough money saved up. Kagome smiled at her plans and clocked in. She walked further down the dark narrow hallway and entered the kitchen.

Everyone was bustling about. Cooks would shout for ingredients and helpers retrieved them from the storage or coolers. Her boss spotted her and waved her over. She made her way to an empty working space that her boss was standing next to.

"Kagome! That soup you made got outstanding reviews; it's our best seller!" Her boss gleamed at her.

Kagome smiled and listened as her boss rambled on. Half paying attention, she started to set up her work area. She heard something about 'her share' and the thought of getting some extra money eased a few of her worries, despite the money she already had hidden away.

"Hey Kags." A husky voice started her out of her thoughts, causing her to drop a cast iron pan on her toe.

"Kouga!" she exclaimed as she picked up the pan and wrinkled her nose into a pout as she felt the throbbing in her toe, "You startled me."

"You make the cutest faces when you are upset." The wolf demon chuckled. His long black hair was up in its pony tail with a sweat band on his head, as per usual "We should catch a movie sometime, we haven't hung out in awhile."

"What do you mean? We just went to that park two days ago." She rolled her eyes at his antics and he began to whine.

"Buuut kags… don't you like hanging out with me?" He put on a sad face and his tail hang between his legs.

She hated to see him sad, even if she knew he was just teasing. Kouga was her closest friend but sometimes they just didn't see things eye to eye. For one, Kouga has had a crush on Kagome sense he first laid eyes on her. However, Kagome could never see the two of them ending up together. She just saw him as more of a brother figure and people just can't control their feelings. But if she could, she would have definitely fallen in love with him, it would have made him so happy. The fact still remained though: She didn't have romantic feelings towards him.

Despite the numerous times she had explained how she felt, he just wouldn't accept it.



"It's just that I have to get ready, you know that."

"I guess…" He sighed dramatically but gave a little smirk so she would smile, "We'll have to make plans soon though, you are my women and I should get to spend time with you."

"Kouga, how many times do I have to tell you? I am not, nor will I ever be-" she was cut off as her boss gave them their orders and they hastened to make the meals.

--

Overall the day wasn't so bad. She didn't have any meals sent back and the kitchen radio was working today. She enjoyed singing to herself; however she was so into one of the songs that she spilt her whole pot of soup on herself and all over the floor. It was only one accident today though. She could be quite the klutz sometimes, except for when she's training.

She made her way to Shippo's house, as promised. It was a chilly night and the moon was nowhere in sight due to the many clouds that were casting dark shadows over the town. It was already past ten and she wasn't even sure if Shippo would still be awake.

She turned a corner and saw the house at the end of the street. She could hear a faint scream coming from that way. She sped up her pace and stopped in front of the house. She heard clatters and screams, the loud bangs of pots being thrown about and the occasional shattering of glass. At first she thought it was his mom and dad arguing again, but this time she didn't hear two-way shouting, just the mom and a soft crying noise.

She quickly realized what must be happening and ran inside.

"Who de 'ell do you sink you are?! You baserd. Isall you fault. E lef because a you. Tha diry whore wit him." Her eyes were bloodshot and she held a beer in one hand while many more scattered the ground. Her long red hair was matted and her clothes were disgusting and ripped. She chugged down her beer, missing her mouth and sloshing half of it down her shirt, and threw the bottle towards a little mass of red across the room.

Kagome ran towards the little red mass and caught the bottle before it could hit him. She was pissed and her pink aura started to surround her hands. She slowly walked over to Shippo's abuser, a low growl in her throat.

The abuser, for there was no right to call her his mom anymore, widened her eyes in surprise.

"Ou ze phhuuck are you?" she narrowed her eyes as her body swayed from side to side.

Kagome didn't even waste her breath on the lowlife in front of her. She just kept walking slowly toward her. She heard a whimper from behind her and the pink aura spread up her arms and darkened. If anyone bothered to look closer, they would be baffled by the blackness that was just at the edges of the dark pink and how Kagome's eyes looked very dark brown, even black.



The lack of response scared the abuser even more as it took a step backwards. It looked around the floor and picked up another beer bottle, jabbing it forward towards the approaching girl.

I wish I had sharp claws to extend right now, just like father. With that thought, she closed the distance between the two of them in one jump. As she came down she extended her arms toward it, hands flat out, and focused her energy into them. The whole room lit up, highlighting the filth that was in front of her and the mess that surrounded her.

She landed nimbly on the balls of her toes as it fell lifeless onto the floor. She held back and didn't kill her though, and that was the best favor she could have done. She didn't like killing, even if she really did deserve death. Maybe her life would be a depressing one. That was all she could hope for.

A whimper was heard from behind her and the pink aura went away. She turned around, her now chocolate brown eyes filled with concern. She cautiously moved the red mass to reveal a little face with blood running down from various cuts. A huge bump was on his head and his arm looked like it was bent in a discomforting way.

"Ka-gome?" Shippo's eyes opened momentarily before closing again as he fell unconscious.

She gently picked him up and whispered comforting words of endearment, even though she knew he couldn't hear. She ran quickly to her house, making sure not to jostle the little bundle in her arms.

--

She stayed up all night. Shippo's wounds were thoroughly cleaned and bandaged. His arm was broken and he had cuts ranging from deep gashes to little grazes. She knew they would heal quickly though, because he was a demon, but she still paced around the house and cleaned everything relentlessly as she waited for him to wake up. She knew he would sleep for quite some time while his body healed itself.

There wasn't much to clean and she figured that she had tortured the sponge enough. She rinsed it out and put it back in the box. She gathered up all of her remaining possessions, which wasn't that much, and put them into another box. She picked up a letter on the table and read it for the hundredth time. She already had it memorized, along with the other two letters that were next to it.

She glanced worriedly as her little Shippo turned onto his side and gave out a grunt. She wished she had a bed for him. She made a mental note to buy him one before she moved into the new house. She opened up the cupboards and made sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

The phone rang.

Kagome looked at it and turned her head slightly, she hadn't heard the phone ring in quite some time. To be honest, she was surprised that it was still working.

It rang again and Kagome went to answer it.



"Hello?" The voice that answered sounded kind. She asked who she was. "I'm Kagome…. No my uncle is away right now, can I help you…? Well actually he won't be coming back…. Yes, you see he got promoted and we are moving to America… Yes, that's right."

The lady on the phone just called to inform her that the rent was late, they tried to take it out of the bank account, as usual, but there wasn't enough money in it. She told Kagome that her uncle should have informed her that he would be leaving so that they could try to sell the house. Kagome apologized and the lady said it wasn't her fault, but to tell her Uncle he can't just up and leave things like that.

The lady sighed and said she would handle it. Kagome let her know that she was actually leaving today. She told her to tell her uncle that he has to switch over all of the bills and make a change of address, or his credit will go bad and he won't be getting his mail. Kagome thanked her, said she would leave the key in the mail box, and hung up.

She hadn't thought about telling anyone that she was leaving. She didn't really care about his credit, she was wondering when it would be used up. He must have had quite a bit of money because the rent, phone, water and electricity bills had all been paid for until now. Then again, he was a drug dealer so she wasn't surprised. She was lucky that he was lazy and had everything taken out directly from his bank account.

She wasn't really worried about people looking for her uncle, or if they would trace him to her. If the time came that they started to look for him and came asking her questions, she would just tell them that she moved out when she was eighteen, which was true enough. The last she saw him, he was on his way to America and she had refused to go. Well, the last part wasn't true but no one is perfect.

It was a good thing she called though; she would have to get her address changed and register as independent now. She looked at Shippo and realized a few problems. She would have to make quite a few stops today.

--

She had locked the house and left Shippo a note and some mac & cheese just in case he woke up before she came back. She had taken the bus and changed her address. She called her new landlord from a pay phone and he said it would be fine if she moved in today. She had to ask for a lot of help to figure out how to get a phone company and how to pay for that, electricity and water. She asked if there was anything else she needed. Everyone was pretty patient with her, after all she was young and it was her first time on her own.

She made one last stop before she was dropped off a block or two away from Shippo's old house. With papers in hand, she made her way to the house and up the steps. She contemplated on whether or not she should knock.

Deciding that she should try and be reasonable today, she knocked.



She knocked again, this time a little louder. She heard clanking inside the house as someone walked to the door. She looked through the peep hole and yelled that she should leave before she called the cops.

"If you were going to call the cops, you would have when you first woke up. You didn't because you know I could just tell them how you treated your son last night." Kagome calmly informed the thing inside, "And if you do not sign these papers, I will call the police"

Kagome had thought about calling the police already. If she had to she would, but she would rather not. It would take a lot longer and she would end up missing a lot of her classes. They would probable snoop into her life too, which she couldn't allow to happen.

The door creaked open a little and someone took a few steps back. Kagome opened the door the rest of the way and entered the house. There were some boxes packed and unpacked all around the house.

"Moving now are we?" Kagome surveyed the room, showed her the papers and handed her a pen, "Just sign the papers and you will never see me or Shippo again."

The thing, which still had not showered and stunk even from over there, walked over and reached out a shaking hand to take the pen. She looked over the adoption papers and signed in all the appropriate spots.

--

She walked into the house and noticed that Shippo was still asleep. It was dark out now and she walked over to check his wounds. Everything was healed except for his arm, but even that looked a lot better. She was glad that she had kept the sling that she had to buy for herself not too long ago; at least it would keep his arm in place so that it could heal properly. She looked down sadly as she remembered why she needed that sling…

"I thought I told you to clean this mess!" A tall man with a shaven head entered the room, his red eyes ablaze.

The room looked like Kagome's living room but not empty. It was of average size with wood paneling. A small glass coffee table sat in between a large screen T.V. and a large brown sofa. There was an expensive looking rug on the floor and two end tables, with a light on each one, placed on opposite sides of the couch.

The girl surveyed the immaculate room and sighed. She knew what was coming. It was just a good thing that Kaede had taken her in for training; otherwise she wouldn't have the control to not hurt him. He was mean a lot but she just couldn't bring herself to hurt him.

"I cleaned the whole house." Kagome looked down at her feet, afraid to look up at her father's half brother. She wondered if that made him her half Uncle? She supposed so.

"Stop lying you bitch. You are such a fucking slut, you probably were out all day trying to earn a couple extra bucks." She could smell the alcohol and drugs on him as he took a step closer to her. She tensed 

and waited. He hit her a lot, but it was never that serious, just a bruise here and there followed by the occasional cut. She knew it could be a lot worse, seeing as he was a full demon.

He hit her harder than normal and knocked her against the wall. Her head cracked against the paneling and her vision blurred for a second. She looked up at him and glared.

"That's a bit redundant, don't you think? A fucking slut?" She quickly widened her eyes and bit her tongue. She couldn't help it, it just came out.

Of course she had been home cleaning, just like every day she didn't either work, go to school, or train with Kaede. She barley even had any friends, she didn't have time for them. There was just her work friend, Kouga.

"I don't even know why I let you live here! I never liked your half-breed father, no one did. I only wish I could have killed that abomination." Kagome tried to control her powers and kept the tears in as he continued, "That was fathers' biggest mistake, screwing that human bitch and having him. My father got what he deserved for doing that, as did your father. But that half-breed just had to go off and marry that human bitch and have you first! I only wish I could have killed him before he decided to make you. You are a disgrace to everything, a bigger abomination then a half breed. You don't even fit in with miko's, having that little bit of demon blood running through your veins. And that disgusting scent! You don't even fit in with the abominations! Your filth and you deserve what happened to your precious family. And I'm going to do the world a big favor and take you away from it."

Kagome watched as he extended his claws and came closer. She heard the drip drip as the acid-like liquid started to ooze from his claws and onto the floor, ending with a hiss. She was furious now. How dare he say such things about her family, about her. She hated the very core of his being and it started to show. A pink aura started to engulf her hands, and she let it. In fact, she embraced it as it started to run up her arms. She snarled back at him and stood up into a crouching position.

Her uncle narrowed his eyes as he saw the pink. He looked closer and saw the edges tainted with black. It made him even madder as he charged her. She was fast, and she avoided his attack. He knew she would have some demon abilities, but they weren't as good as his. He followed her and noticed that her whole body was glowing now. He grabbed her arm and threw her into a wall. There was a loud bang and a nasty cracking noise.

Kagome looked up at her uncle, not really feeling the impact. She supposed it was the adrenaline rushing through her and she got up. She saw him baffled as he looked at his hand that was now badly burned and bubbling. She took advantage of his momentary confusion and gathered up her energy and focused it all into her hands. The pink aura stared to disappear from her head and feet, as if it were fire being put out, and soon only her hands glowed. Her hands were covered in an intense pink aura that was three times greater than the size of her actual hand. She charged him and punched his as hard as she could across the face. It left a big gash on the side of his face, and you could clearly see the bones from his jaw.



He was caught off guard as he felt the intense pain in his jaw. He looked up in time to see another fist clash with the other side of his head. The pain was unimaginable; he could feel the rest of his body in just as much pain just for being in close proximity to the pink light. He crumbled onto his knees and looked at his niece. He hadn't expected this from her. She was weak. Not a demon or even a full miko. He thought her eyes were black when he looked into them, and then he saw nothing.

Kagome stared down at her uncle's charred body. She focused her energy and sent it sweeping over the body, purifying the remains and leaving no evidence. She sat down on the floor and the pink aura was gone. Tears started to fall from her cheeks. She didn't know why she cried for him, but she just couldn't help it. Soon she felt a pain in her arm and noticed how bad it looked. She tenderly touched it and realized that it must be broken. She knew she healed better than an average human, but it would take awhile for this to heal properly. She gingerly stood up and walked over to the bathroom. Her hair was a mess and she had some blood trickling from her mouth but overall she didn't look that bad.

She brushed her hair with her good hand and washed off the blood before getting some money from her secret stash and heading towards the nearest store to get something for her arm…

Tears started to cloud her vision and she looked down at her sleeping fox and made sure that the sling was still in place. She walked over to the untouched note, threw it away and ate his mac & cheese.

"Sorry Shippo but your bed will have to wait until tomorrow, I'm exhausted." She washed the bowl and put it in a box. She looked at the three boxes on the ground and then at Shippo. Her new apartment wasn't that far, but she surely couldn't carry everything. She decided to take the boxes first.

"I'll be right back." She kissed his forehead, stacked the three boxes and picked them up. She ran out the door, making sure to lock it, and ran down the street. It only took her fifteen minutes to get there when she ran. She stopped in front of an apartment building. The building had white paneling and there were three identical grey doors to the not-so-big house. She took the furthest one to the left and unlocked it.

She walked in the room, which had white walls and white carpeting. It was small and there were only two doors to her left. She knew that one would be the only bedroom and the other would be the bathroom. In four steps she crossed the living room. The living room carpet ended and white tiles started, signaling the beginning of the tiny kitchen. She put the boxes down and looked around her place. It wasn't much, but it was hers.

A/N- Guess what? Next chapter she gets to go to college and meet our favorite hanyou! Maybe you'll discover a few more secrets about this strange miko too. You'll just have to wait and find out.

PLEASE REVIEW! I don't want to beg, but I will if I must. Reviews really help boast my confidence and give me the urge to write, so I'll update faster.

Today is the first day of classes; I go to college at Penn State. My next class is actually in ten minutes so I have to be going. Don't forget to review! I spend a lot of time writing this and the least you could do is put a smile on my face with your reviews! –hint hint