Disclaimer: If I did own Inuyasha… ::starts daydreaming::

A/N: Agh! Something terrible happened! My computer broke down and all the stuff store there could possibly be lost forever! And I had written half the chapter for both this story and Robotic Beauty too! Luckily, I remember enough of this story to write it over, but for RB… that's a different story. If the computer doesn't get fixed I might have to write that chapter from scratch! But enough about that. I decided to change the genre for this story a little. I decided that there is going to be quite a bit of romance so that's going to be the primary theme. Not that that really matters much anyway… Please R&R! I need more reviews for this story! LOL.

Summary: Kagome Higurashi lives in an impoverished sector of the human-demon segregated country of Northern Japan. When she gets the chance to escape to peaceful and bountiful Southern Japan, she must seize the opportunity to help out her family. But she never counted on meeting Inuyasha Taisho.

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Into the Darkness

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Chapter II: Escape

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"Take me away?!" Kagome cried out alarmed. "Take me where?"

"Foolish girl, I told you to hush!" Her mother reprimanded.

"To where?!" She demanded.

"To Southern Japan."

Kagome froze. What had her mother just said? Had she finally broken down from the stress? No one, in the history of Northern Japan, had escaped out of the country. How was she, a simple schoolgirl ever going to make it out?

"Are you crazy, Mama? I'll be killed!" She exclaimed.

"No, you won't. Kouga here will make sure you get there in one piece."

"How can you trust him, Mama?" She hissed. "He's a demon!"

"Kagome!" The older woman gasped. "How dare you! Just because those damn Yu-Hellions treat us like dirt, doesn't mean you're allowed to act the same! Shame on you!"

"Then how do you know him?" Kagome challenged.

"I haven't always lived in Northern Japan, you know. I was born in Southern Japan—and so were you!—before they forced us here because of the war. Kouga is a childhood friend I've known since I was born." Mrs. Higurashi reminisced. Kagome looked dubiously at the young-seeming man. "And the day we left that wondrous country, I promised myself that I wouldn't die until I saw the day that I would send my child back to my homeland where we belong." She pulled out a thick wad of bills from the breast pocket of her coat. "Do you see this? All of this is for you, child. I've been saving 200 yen of my monthly paycheck ever since, just for you. I'm not going to let you pass up this opportunity."

Kagome looked at the money with wide eyes, "But… Mama! I-I can't! How will you take care of everything without me?"

Her mother chuckled. "Are you kidding me? How do you think I took care of just you before Souta was born? I can manage by myself, Kagome, don't you worry about me."

"But…" Kagome protested weakly.

Mrs. Higurashi folded her arms stubbornly. "No buts, Kagome. My mind is made; you're going to the Southern." She said resolutely.

"But why, Mama?"

Her mother's eyes softened. "I want you to be happy, my daughter. There is no future for you, if you live here. Especially for women. Souta will grow to be a man; he'll be able to manage by himself, but for us women, it's different. I know the life, child. I've lived it. And I want you to be able to live your life in happiness. You're a good girl, Kagome. You deserve much more than this. Please, Kagome, I want you to go."

"Mama…" Kagome's eyes began to water. She gave a choked cry and flung herself on her mother.

The older woman welcomed the embrace and cried along with her daughter. "I'll remember you always, my child. I wish you well."

Kouga watched all of this passively, not saying a word.

Kagome drew back from the hug. "I'm going to miss you so much, Mama." She sniffled.

"Hush now, daughter, it'll be alright. But you must take your leave now. The darker it is outside, the better. It'll only take you three hours in Kouga's car to get you to the border. I've already packed your stuff." She passed Kagome a cloth bag filled with non-perishable food and clothes. She stuffed the money into the bag. "Good luck, Kagome. Be safe."

Kagome's eyes began to leak again as she realized this could be the last time she would ever see her mother. "I love you, Mama." She whispered and hugged her mother one last time.

"Me too, Kagome, me too." She squeezed Kagome tight, before releasing her. "Now get out of here. And make sure you don't forget us."

"I promise, Mama. And tell Souta I love him and that I'll miss him."

"I will."

Kagome wiped her hand across her eyes and said in a soft voice, "Bye, Mama, and thank you… for everything."

"You're welcome, daughter."

Kouga stood up and the three of them stepped out of the shack. They approached his car. Like a gentleman, he opened the door for her before getting in himself. He revved up the engine and they took off.

Hatsuyo Higurashi watched the car until it disappeared in the sea of shacks, wondering if she'd ever see her daughter again.

*

As the Goshinboku border station came into view, Kouga pulled to a stop at the side of the narrow road. He turned to her. "I want you to hide in the space between this seat and the backseat. Pull a blanket over yourself and I'm going to pile the car parts I've stored in the trunk over you so the Yu-Hellions won't see you, okay? Be sure to leave yourself room to breath. I don't want you suffocating on me."

Kagome thought he was teasing her at first, but his face was completely serious. She gulped and nodded her head. Silently, she followed his instructions as he got out of the car and opened the trunk. Once the random car parts were carefully piled over her, he set yet another blanket over everything.

He drove the rest of the way to the station and slowed to a stop as two Yu-Hellions approached him.

"Good day, sir," one of the Yu-Hellions nodded his head politely.

"It is," Kouga nodded in return.

"Do you mind if I search your car quickly, sir?" He asked.

"Not at all."

The demon pulled back the blanket and rooted through the pile of mechanical parts as his partner opened the trunk. "Okay then, you're free to go, sir. We usually don't search the demons like this, but you can never be too careful, especially after that student uprising. We wouldn't want any of those fucking humans smuggling away now, eh?" He laughed and Kouga joined him, keeping his anger in check. He quickly wiped his brow of its perspiration.

"Well, it was nice chatting with you, but I've got to get these car parts to the Southern before daybreak." Kouga jerked his thumb at the backseat.

"Of course." The Yu-Hellion waved his hand at the demon in the station to move the roadblock. "Have a nice trip, sir."

After several hours of driving, they saw the country border station coming into view. It was then when Kouga's old station wagon began to sputter and slow down. The car gradually came to a stop and the engine gave one more smoking cough before dying altogether.

"Fuck!" Kouga cursed, slamming his hand against the dashboard, leaving a large dent.

"What now, Kouga?" Kagome asked tentatively. She saw a muscle in his cheek twitch as he clenched his teeth angrily. She was expecting him to unleash his anger on her any second now.

Slowly, Kouga's fisted hands unclenched. "We'll have to sneak past security."

Kagome's jaw dropped. "Are you crazy?! We'll be killed for sure!"

"Don't worry, we'll find a way. Just get out of the car and grab your things."

Kagome eyed the car parts in the back seat. "But don't you have to get your stuff to Southern Japan before daybreak?"

Kouga smirked despite the situation. "Those parts were only here to hid you, Kagome."

She blushed at her naïveté and stepped out of the car. Kouga grabbed one of the blankets in the back before following her. They hid behind a nearby bush.

Kouga turned towards her, "Okay, now you have to listen to me carefully. See the hole in the fence over there? I want you to crawl through it while I distract the guards. I want you to run as far and as fast as you can. It's a mile to the nearest city. From there, take a taxi to the town of Shikon. I guarantee that it's the safest place you'll ever come by." He pulled 2000 yen from his pocket. "Here, this should be more than enough to cover the taxi fare." He smiled at her kindly. "Good luck, Kagome. You're just as wonderful as the girl your mother told me about. Promise me you'll have a good life."

Kagome's mouth fell open in horror as she realized what he was about to do. "No, Kouga, you-you can't! You'll be killed!"

Kouga nodded his head grimly, "It's quite the sacrifice, but it'll be worth it."

She shook her head violently. "No! I can't let you! I can't allow you to throw your life away just for my sake!"

He put a finger to her lips. "Hush, Kagome. I promised your mother I'd do everything in my power to get you to Southern Japan. I'm not going to back out on my word now."

They stayed silent for several moments before Kouga ducked his head quickly and kissed Kagome lightly on the lips.

He handed her the blanket her was holding. "Here, be sure to cover yourself with this. It's an old blanket that's been in my family for generations, designed to cover the wearer's scent. This way, the demons won't be able to sniff you out."

Kagome nodded dumbly, accepting the blanket. "Okay."

"Now, when I lure the demons away from their posts, they you run to the fence, understand?"

Kagome nodded once more.

"Good luck, Kagome." Kouga stood up and marched resolutely toward the border station, sucking in a large breath of air. Kagome snuck from bush to bush, following him, until she decided she was close enough to make the dash.

As he neared the border station, Kouga pulled out the hand gun, hidden in the lining of his jacket. He cocked the gun and aimed at the demon he spotted in the window of the station. The man didn't even know what hithim. He was dead before he fell to the ground, blood oozing from the gunshot wound in his skull. The other guards began shouting at once. They rushed out of the building, carrying guns of their own.

Kouga calmly shot another one as they approached. He continued to shoot at the oncoming crowd of demons, hoping to kill as many as possible.

Kagome ran then, tearing her eyes from the grueling scene. She quickly wiggled through the hole in the chain-link fence and ducked behind a tree on the other side. Her heart was racing. She peaked behind the tree to watch what was happening to Kouga.

One of the demons shot at him and Kouga gritted his teeth as the bullet found its mark in his arm. His left arm hung limply at his side as he fired persistently at the guards. His gun made a clicking sound when he ran out of bullets. He threw the handgun as hard as he could and it smacked a snake demon squarely in the forehead. The guard gave a strangled cry and fell backwards, dead or unconscious, Kouga couldn't tell.

He pulled out a knife hidden in his pant pocket and launched himself at the demons, letting out a hoarse yell. He slashed left and right, trying to buy as much time as possible. Why in the world wasn't that girl running yet? The guards pulled out knives and swords as well, as they realized using guns at this close range could cause deaths on their side. One demon screamed as Kouga slashed viciously at his stomach, his guts spilling out from the wound.

Kagome couldn't bear to watch any longer and ran as Kouga had told her.

The wolf demon smirked when he saw her run away. His mission was fulfilled. The grin was wiped from his face, however, when a knife lodged itself in his shoulder. He gave a choked scream as the pain burned through him. Another demon took advantage of the moment and stabbed him in the stomach. Kouga fell to his knees. Blood and saliva spewed from his mouth. The guards crowed in on him, stabbing and kicking his fallen form. Gathering together the rest of his diminishing energy, he threw his knive as hard as he could. The recipient of the throw howled as the knife gouged out his eye and pierced his brain.

A blade found its way to his neck and his eyes grew dim. Kouga took in one last rattling breath and lay still.

*

Kagome cried fiercely, the tears streaming from her eyes as she made her way to freedom.

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A/N: Chapter two done! Yay! Now if you guys will review ::hint hint nudge nudge:: I haven't gotten many reviews lately and it makes me sad ='( But anyway, I really like this story so I will continue to write it. Review people! Thanks!

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Review Responses

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Cataluna: YAY! You reviewed again! Me happy =P Anyway, yeah, I'm trying to make life in the sectors sound really sad and depressing so unfortunately, that involves a lot of killing. I've never heard of what happened to the Beijing students, but I'm sure that I'll learn about it… eventually. Thank you for reviewing! I really appreciate it. Pinayazngrl: Thank you! Your question is answered in this chapter, I assume. I hope you review again! ^^ SleepyHead: -^_^- Thanks! I did think a lot about this story and I'm glad that you like it. This chapter was a little gory, I hope you don't mind. Thank you for reviewing! AnimeBrat: Still going on about Dr. Do-Youkai, eh? LOL. Thanks, it really flatters me! -^_^- I still don't know when I'll start that up again though… Sorry… Anyway, yeah, a couple of people thought that it should have been Inuyasha instead, but if it had been, then Inuyasha would have died, we can't have that now, can we? I think this is the first time I ever made Kouga a good guy… Thank you for the review!! DemonKitty: LOL. Don't worry, Inuyasha will come up in the next chapter. So stay tuned! He'll be in that Shikon town. Thank you for reviewing!