A/N: Ok, so here is chapter 3. Not very long, no, but chapter 4 will be longer. I wanted to have chapter 5 already written before I put chapter 3 up, but I'm having the worst time writng one part of chapter 5 and I don't know if I'll be on the computer to write anything before the weekend. So I'm putting chapter 3 up because I'm cool like that...even though it's short like the first 2 chapters. But hey, it's better than nothing and at least I'm trying, right? I'll try my hardest not to have too much homework so I can work on it (haha, yeah right Shelby, keep telling yourself that). And maybe my teachers will take pity on my this week too (again, haha, yeah right). Ok, I'm gonna shut up and let you all read this.

Chapter 3: Kane

Miyoko quietly opened the front door and stepped in, slipping her shoes off as she did. She quickly and quietly made her way to the stairs, hoping to make it to her room before Kane could get to her. But before her foot even touched the first step, the light by the couch flicked on behind her.

"And just where do you think you're going?" said a voice behind Miyoko that she had come to hate over the years. Miyoko turned to face Kane, her step dad. Kane had short light brown hair and cold, dark brown, almost black eyes. He wore regular jeans and a t-shirt. Kane, to Miyoko, wasn't her step dad. She didn't think of him as one and never would. No one could take the place of her real dad.

"I asked you a question and I want an answer." He said, his voice quiet and even while his eyes bore in to hers.

"I was going to my room. Where else would I go?" Miyoko replied hotly, which was a bad idea. Kane walked over and hit her hard across the cheek.

"Don't use that tone with me. You know better," said Kane as Miyoko reached up and started rubbing her sore cheek. "Now, I thought I told you to be home by 9. It's 11. You're 2 hours late, young lady." Miyoko closed her eyes, waiting for him to punch her somewhere and preparing mentally for the pain, but it didn't come. She looked up at him, only to see him smirking down at her, that sinister glint never leaving his eyes. "Now I want you to go upstairs and go to bed. You're going to have a long day tomorrow to make for what you did. Understood?"

Miyoko glared at him. "Yes sir."

"Good." Kane smirked again as he watched her climb the stairs to her room.

Miyoko walked in and closed the door, looking around. Her bed was to her right, centered in the middle of the wall. A night stand was next to her bed with a lamp and two picture frames on it. One frame held a picture of her and Hoji, while the other had everyone in it: her, Hoji, Hiroshi, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, Keiko, Botan, Genkai, Yukina, Shizuru, and even Koenma. Those were her two favorite pictures, besides the one in the drawer of the nightstand, which was a picture of her and her dad that her mom had given her a long time ago. Across from her bed and more to the left was her desk, which held her laptop that her uncle had given her last year for Christmas and all her cd's. Next to the desk was her dresser, with her stereo on top, and her closet, which was about half full. A window was centered in the wall across from the door, fairly close to the tree in the backyard. Miyoko went into her bathroom, which was to the right of her bed, and turned on the light. She filled a cup with water at the sink, then opened a bottle of ibuprofen and took a couple to help with the pain coming from her cheek. She examined her cheek, coming to the conclusion it wasn't going to bruise too bad and she would be able to cover it up Monday if it was still there. She shut the light off, went back to her bedroom, changed, and then flopped down on her bed. As her eyelids started to close, she thought back through the afternoons events, thinking about how fun it had been and how she hadn't worried once about Kane, the beatings, or the dreams that had been haunting her sleep for over a week now. Miyoko decided to give in to the slumber that was calling her and waited for the inevitable dream to come.

Miyoko made her way slowly to the school's front gates Monday morning. She was so unbelievably sore from head to toe; she was amazed she was even walking in a straight line. Kane had woken her up at 6 both Saturday and Sunday and made her clean the house from top to bottom as her weekend punishment. Of course, before she even had a chance to get started, he had to beat her a few times to "wake her up" as he put it. Oh, what Miyoko wouldn't give to just crawl in a hole somewhere and disappear for a while. Even demon world was better than this crap she had to live through. Miyoko suddenly stopped and looked down at her left arm. It was tingling and….. glowing? Miyoko blinked and looked closer at her arm, but it wasn't glowing anymore. Was it even glowing in the first place? She wasn't one-hundred percent sure.

"Great! Now I've become delusional!" She said out loud. She shook her head and decided not to worry about it right now and kept walking. Ha, easier said that done. She reached the front gates and, as expected, there was Hoji. He looked up and smiled.

"Hey stranger."

"Hey."

"Here are your gifts. You left them at uncle's Friday." He handed her a sack containing her gifts.

"Thanks." Miyoko took the sack quietly, still thinking about the glowing deal with her arm.

Hoji looked at her. "Are you ok?" He paused, just barely noticing slight colors of purple and blue on her cheek. "What did he do this time?!"

"Hoji, calm down! I'm fine." Miyoko waved he hands in front of her. "Don't worry ok."

He looked uncertainly at her, then shook his head and sighed.

"Fine. Come on, let's go." They both started up the steps to the front doors, Miyoko being sure not to wince at the protest her legs were giving her at the moment.

"By the way, thanks for the party. You didn't have to do that."

"I know, but you needed to get out of that house and have some fun. Besides, you did the same thing to me last year. Remember?" He looked at her teasingly.

"Oh, yeah. Hehehe." Miyoko started smile at the memory. "So this was payback, was it?" She looked up at him, the smile on her face spreading more.

"Oh, it was definitely payback," he joked. They laughed. Miyoko decided not to mention the arm thing. It wasn't that important. For now.

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