Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters!

Memories Never Fade

Chapter 3:No School

Mrs. Higurashi awoke Kagome and Souta giving them the news that school had been cancelled to due a snow storm.

Great, thought Kagome, a day full of beatings?

"Get dressed and go outside to shovel snow out of the driveway." Mrs. Higurashi demanded, "I have an interview today."

Kagome obeyed and went outside to start shoveling the snow. She begged her mother to let Souta stay inside and keep warm, and to her surprise, she accepted.

Souta sat inside on the couch, watching TV in fear. Everything he did, he did in fear. He was afraid if he did something wrong, his mother would beat him. He was afraid to move, because he was scared his mother would beat him. Sometimes, he was even afraid to breathe… poor Souta.

I wish school wasn't cancelled, thought Kagome, anything would be better than staying here. Even living out on the streets… She sighed and continued to shovel up the snow as quickly as she could. She knew the sooner she cleared the snow, the sooner her mother would leave for the interview, leaving Souta and her home and out of harm for a while.

Kagome finished about an hour after she started and her mother left. Kagome went over to sit next to Souta, who was still sitting on the couch. She could tell he was feeling less tense with their mother gone.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Kagome didn't know whether to answer the phone or not. If her mother found out, she might beat her. Oh well, she didn't care anyways. She decided to answer the phone.

"H-Hello?" asked Kagome.

"Kagome?"

"Umm... yeah."

"This is Inuyasha."

"Oh. Hi Inuyasha." Kagome sat down on the couch.

"Why weren't you home last night?"

"I… I was taking a walk." She replied quickly.

"Oh. Well, do you want the directions to my house?"

"Sure…" Kagome knew even if she got the directions, she'd never be able to go. Her mother never let her or Souta leave the house, except to go to school.

Inuyasha gave her the directions and had to leave to help his brother, Sesshoumaru. They said their goodbyes and Kagome hung up the phone.

How are we going to get this project done, thought Kagome, mom won't let me leave the house!

Souta turned to look at Kagome, who had a confused look on her face.

"Is something wrong, Kagome?"

"Sort of. I have a science project, but I have to go to Inuyasha's house to do it."

"Oh. Well… I guess your going to fail it."

"Yeah." Kagome sighed. She never failed anything in school!

Since their mother was gone, Kagome decided to go into the kitchen to fix something for her and Souta to eat. She fixed a big plate of sandwiches, and brought out a couple of cans of soda.

Souta hadn't eaten anything for the past couple of days, so he was starving. Kagome on the other hand, had gotten some chips from a friend, so she wasn't as hungry as Souta. But she was pretty damn hungry!

They pigged out on sandwiches for the next 30 minutes while watching cartoons. So far they had actually been enjoying the day with their mother gone. The fear wasn't gone, but they weren't as tense as they were with Mrs. Higurashi around. Kagome sighed in relief. She then realized that Mrs. Higurashi would be back home pretty soon.

About an hour later, the door swung open. Mrs. Higurashi was home, and seemed quite… happy.

"Good news," she began slowly, "I got the job!"

How could she get a job, thought Kagome, I figured she'd get a job when hell froze over. I guess not.

Souta rolled his eyes, and so did Kagome. They didn't really care whether or not she got the job, they were still going to be beaten and treated the same way as they were now. Things weren't going to change, so why should they care?

Mrs. Higurashi went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. She then came into the living room and sat down on the couch, in between Kagome and Souta. She glared at them for a moment, and turned her attention to the TV.

An ad had come on that Mrs. Higurashi didn't want them to see. Kagome already knew what it was, it was a commercial talking about how many kids are abused, and that it just wasn't right and they needed help. They listed a phone number to call if you knew anyone who was being abused. Yeah, I know someone who's being abused, Kagome thought, my brother and I.

Kagome had once tried to call the number, but Mrs. Higurashi caught her and threatened to kill her if she ever tried it again. Kagome sighed at that thought. Her mother had threatened to kill her so many times, she doesn't even remember how many!

Souta had been threatened like that as well, but not as much as Kagome. Since he was younger, he was more afraid than Kagome was, therefore he didn't attempt to do such risky things as his big sister. He didn't want to be beaten any more than he already had.

Kagome was surprised that so far they hadn't been beaten. She knew that since they hadn't been beaten any at all so far, that they'd get it bad later. Souta knew that, too.

Kagome got herself prepared mentally for the beating. There wasn't much physically that she could do.

"Get upstairs!" Mrs. Higurashi demanded. "Now!"

Kagome and Souta gulped and ran upstairs. They knew they were about to be beaten. Souta had already begun to cry.

"Since you didn't have school today, I decided not to beat you today." Mrs. Higurashi sighed, "Be prepared for tomorrow though, lovelies."

Kagome was shocked. She had never gone a day without getting beaten for 5 years! Souta didn't stop crying. Instead of tears of fear, they were tears of joy. Kagome knew that since her mother had gotten the job she wanted, that that had played a role in the decision not to beat them. Hopefully she decides to quit beating us, thought Kagome; I doubt it'd happen though…

Kagome wondered if things would have gone the same if they did have school today. Would they have still got beaten? Would their mom have gotten the job?

Mrs. Higurashi bought ramen for dinner, and gave a small bowl to Kagome and Souta. Kagome's eye's lit up when she saw the ramen. She hadn't had beef ramen for the longest time!

"Don't think I'm going to be like this forever," said Mrs. Higurashi, "just for today."

Kagome and Souta nodded in confusion.

After dinner, Kagome took a shower and headed off for bed. She was still in shock about not getting beaten. As she lay in her bed, she thought about her science project. Maybe she could at least ask her mother if Inuyasha could come here. She decided that she'd ask tomorrow…


Justakidd: No, I haven't read 'A Child Called It'. I just recently found out about Fanfiction and have only read a couple of stories. Thank you for the comment.

I have a question for everyone... which story do you like better so far? This one, or Love Blossoms? If you like this one better, I'll update this one more often. If you like the other one better, I'll update it more often.

Thanks everyone!

Mariah