Snubbed
by
Iris
Like all good stories, this all started once upon a time. Once upon a Saturday in May 2002 to be exact. The setting was an empty parking lot located in the midst of a busy, crowd-packed Tokyo. Empty, that is, except for two lone figures. One boy and one girl. The boy was Taiyoukai Inuyasha, an almost fourteen-year-old who had just discovered that, contrary to popular belief, girls did NOT have cooties. The girl was just-turned-eighteen Higurashi Kikyo. A very pretty black-haired student well on her way to Tokyo University with several hefty scholarships.
And, as it turned out, eighth-grader Inuyasha was strongly convinced that he had fallen in love with this most becoming, high-school girl that he barely knew and had finally conjured up the nerve to tell her. And tell her he did, professing his undying love to the much-shocked Kikyo in the center of a parking lot in front of a 24-hour convenience store. But alas, puppy love is just puppy love and their relationship was simply not meant to be because on Saturday, May 25, 2002, Higurashi Kikyo snubbed Inuyasha.
And that, is how it all began.
Amazing isn't it? How one single junior high crush can pit two families completely and totally against each other. In fact, this one incident overturned the lives of both the Taiyoukai and the Higurashis.
However, this...affair...did not much upset Higurashi Kikyo, although, she was pretty much the cause for the whole thing. But it's unfair to blame her really, it was not her fault that she was not interested in Inuyasha in any way whatsoever. Moving on though, Kikyo did not know much about this sudden friction between her family and Inuyasha's. She didn't really know it existed until much, much later because she was at college. And in college, you tend to cut all ties with your parents because it is the one true time in life when you are flying solo but not burdened with the thought of bills waiting in your mailbox. Kikyo did not truly know of the happenings until a few years later because of lack of information from the one person she actually came in contact with within her family. That person was Higurashi Kagome.
Higurashi Kagome was the youngest of her siblings, the baby of the family. She was Inuyasha's age, thirteen turning fourteen, when this all transpired. Kagome really had no idea of the going ons around the house since Kikyo, her somewhat detached older sister but still there when it counted the most, had not cared to enlighten her, thinking that this really wasn't as big a problem as she thought. Because of this large gap in her knowledge, she was somewhat confused when their father shipped her off to an all-girl boarding school in the outreaches of Tokyo. No, she hadn't the slightest clue why her father took to muttering injustices under his breath about boys who thought to well of themselves and how his youngest daughter would NOT be tainted by any teenage boys while he was alive.
And last, but not least, of the Higurashi siblings was Higurashi Naraku himself. At fifteen, Higurashi Naraku was already a very important figure in the politics of high school. He looked up to his older sister Kikyo, to the point of practically idolizing her, and was extremely, extremely protective of his younger sister Kagome. It was because of this almost-idolization of Kikyo that Naraku was immensely displeased when he discovered what had conspired in that convenience store parking lot between a Taiyoukai and Kikyo. So, he took it upon himself to avenge this great wrong that a Taiyoukai had done to his beloved sister and family. Thus, Higurashi Naraku was a big part of the war that would rage for years using Jubaan High as its battleground.
Taiyoukai Sesshoumaru. Known to most as the great, all-mighty Sesshoumaru-sama. He too was an important figure in Jubaan High and fifteen-years-old. Did the fact that Naraku, who was his main rival for student body president AND most popular boy in their grade, belonged to the Higurashi family help fuel the family feud that could only be rivaled by the classic story of Romeo and Juliet? Not likely in Sesshoumaru's case. No, that did not drive him to spreading nasty rumors behind Naraku's back. That did not drive him to pasting horrific (edited of course, as if Naraku would EVER be caught in such disgraceful poses as those) pictures on his own personal website [www.higurashisrscum.net]. No, the thing that drove him to all those things was family honor. Sesshoumaru did not care much that his pathetic, half-brother Inuyasha was mourning in his room, his heart broken and ground to dust on the floor. What Sesshoumaru cared about was the fact that someone had dared mar the perfect image the Taiyoukai family had. But someone had dared. That someone was a Higurashi and so the battle was on.
And finally, Taiyoukai Inuyasha himself. A very vengeful boy who would like nothing better than to make sure any and all Higurashis would burn in the depths of hell. When he finally emerged from his room again, he set out for revenge. He too began to take part in the war against the Higurashis, even to the point of :shudder: helping his older brother. Yes, that is correct. Inuyasha would willingly associate with Sesshoumaru in order to bring Kikyo and Naraku down. Inuyasha obviously wasn't that smart in the research department seeing how he had no clue that a third Higurashi named Kagome existed. That might have been due to the fact that in eighth grade he had eyes only for Kikyo and hadn't bothered to see if she had any other siblings. In fact, Inuyasha only learned of Naraku when he got into ninth grade and discovered for himself the, as he would put it, other Higurashi scum.
The year is now 2003. The date? August 25th, the new school year is about to begin. Kagome, who still has no idea what's going on, has finally convinced her father to let her attend public school for just one year in hopes that he will let her stay there should she wish to stay. Naraku, who does not realize that Kagome doesn't have any idea about the feud, is delighted that his younger sister will now be attending school with him. This means two things. One: Kagome is now in a place where he can keep an eye on her. No nasty boys will taint her now (so much like Mr. Higurashi, ne?) while he is a senior. And two: there is now a second Higurashi in Jubaan who can even the odds to two against two instead of the original two against one.
Because of Naraku's convenient blind spot about that gap in Kagome's knowledge, he fails to warn her about the Taiyoukai-Higurashi feud. And so, poor Kagome, enters sophomore year, unknowingly stepping into enemy territory since Jubaan High has now been divided into three sections: pro Taiyoukai, pro Higurashi, or undecided. Currently, sophomore year belongs to Taiyoukai since that is the grade Inuyasha is in. Freshmen are still undecided, although, they will eventually pick a side as the school year progresses. Junior year belongs solely to Higurashi since Ookami Kouga (avid supporter of Naraku) resides there with his very influential group. And then, senior year, a 50:50 split between both Taiyoukai and Higurashi.
But now, a new school year has just started, a second Higurashi has entered the fray, and the 50:50 split is just about to change.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-Yasha.