To Live And To Love

Chapter 6: In A World Of Cruel Angels.


Sango looked around the room. Well, it was slightly bigger then the last place, and a whole lot cleaner too. The ordinary white walls were tinted a pale blue if you looked closely. The window over looked the road. The bathroom was pretty small but the kitchen was bigger then what she was used to. The bed was beside the window, a small desk to the side. The walls were pretty bare, but she was used to it being this way. It wasn't like she was going to stay here for long anyway.

Dragging the heavy bags with her, she shut the door. Opening one of the bags she put her bathroom things in the tightly spaced room. Next the kitchen things found their places in the cupboards. Then her closed fit neatly into the small closet. Lastly she took out her laptop. One of the few expensive things she owned. Putting the laptop on her desk, she plugged it in. logging in, she found she had a new message.


To: Sango

From: Yoshiro

Hope you like your apartment; you will be staying here for a while, so it doesn't matter much anyway. Just thought I'd let you know, so don't pull anything stupid, we plan on not moving you from here for as long as possible. You will be attending the local pubic high school. I believe it is called Shikon High. You're already registered to start attending classes starting Monday. Good luck.

-Yoshiro.


She sighed. That bastard knew how to rub it in. Closing the laptop, she went over to what was left of the unpacked things. Lifting the bag onto her bed, she took out one last thing. A small, old, shoebox. Looking at it for a while, she gave a tired sigh and opened it. She didn't dare look back at it for over two years. May be three. The lid fell on the bed with a soft thump.

Tons of memories flooded back to her, threatening to over whelm her with their intensity. On top of all things, lied an old, worn beige sketchbook. With a singe name written on it.

Kohaku.


Kagome stared out the window. She saw nothing. She was cold, but she didn't feel it. Turning back to her work, she looked down at her notebook. Ink pen in hand. Yet she could think of nothing. That dream. It threw her off. It seemed so familiar, just so out of reach. If only she could remember! But every time she tried, it seemed to fade farther from her, until it started to hurt her head to think of it any longer. It was like someone blocked of her memory. She sighed quietly.

Looking down on her paper yet again, she let her hand write whatever came to mind. Neatly written words spilled on the paper, surprising her. They were not her own.

How could you pretend like nothing happened…

How could you say I meant nothing to you…

How could you stab me in the back and twist the blade...

I wish I knew…

Yet I no longer care...

She stared at the written words, seeing but not understanding. She stared at the ink pen as it stayed still on the paper after the last letter. A dot started to turn into a black blob as more and more ink seeped into the paper. The abrupt opening of the front door knocked her out of her trance and the pen jerked away from the spot, tearing the paper in two. Quickly ripping the page out on the notebook, she stuffed it in the garbage. Not giving the notebook another though, she stormed out of the room to meet her mother before she would get in any trouble for being disrespectful to her elders. She almost wanted to roll her eyes at the teaching of her stepmother. The woman though herself an angel in this world. Everyone knew though, she was anything but.

"Kagome! Kagome? You insolent brat! Help me with all these bags already will you, you useless child!" A woman stood in the door, her graying hair died blonde as an attempt to hide her age. A dark navy suit clad her somewhat chubby body, a scowl on her face as Kagome ran up and took the heavy bags from the woman.

"Yes, Yoko-sama." She said in a small voice, posture stiffly straight, head down, hiding her worried blue eyes behind a wall of bangs. She walked to the kitchen, unpacking the groceries. She could only do little prayers in her head that her stepmother was in a good mood that day. May be the world would not be against her this day?

"I see you slacked off your chores today." Came the strict voice that almost made her drop the carton of milk she was holding. She spun around, confused. "You have not done the laundry."

"Forgive me, Yoko-sama, but you have not told me to-" she was cut of by a hand grabbing her hair roughly, sending her to her knees at the contact.

"You should have known." That was as good an answer as she was going to get. "Go do it now." Her hair fell over her shoulders as the woman let her go. Kagome stood shakily and gave a shallow bow, before disappearing from the room.

Silent tears rolled down her face, as she picked up the laundry, making her way to the basement of the building, to the laundry room.

Oh, how she wished her real mother was with her now…

Pushing the door open, she walked in, surprised to find another girl whirling around from one of the dryers.

The girl looked startled, so Kagome gave a shaky smile. Then she remembered that she was crying. Quickly lifting one hand up to wipe the tears away, she gasped as the laundry basket tumbled out of her hands and the clothes spilled on the floor. Groaning at her stupidity, she dropped to her knees, forgetting about the confused girl and started picking up the clothes. A second later, someone bend down to help her pick up the clothes. Kagome's head snapped up, to stare at the tired chocolate eyes of the other girl. She gave a small smile and continued picking up the clothes. Confused, but somewhat happy, Kagome stood up with the basket back in her hands.

"I'm Sango." The chocolate eyed girl offered, her hands clasped together in front of her.

"Kagome." She answered, a small smile curling on her lips.

May be, just may be, it didn't have to be so bad…

But then again…

"Kagome! Kagome you useless girl! Where are you?" The commanding tone echoed down the halls of the basement. Kagome flinched. What did she do now?

"In here, Yoko-sama." Her voice was empty, no feeling. Her face blank, no expression.

"You have forgotten to take my blouse you brat! I need that for tomorrow- Oh!" her speech stopped abruptly as her eyes landed on Sango. "Here." She threw the blouse in Kagome's already overflowing basket. "After you're done, get home and start cleaning the living room, we will have guests over tomorrow." With that, she turned, flipping her coloured blonde hair over her shoulder and stalked away from the two girls. Stilettos clicked down the paved floor as her footsteps echoed down the hall.

Kagome turned, and flopped on the floor. The basket fell beside her. How she hated all of this. Her head fell on her bended knees. Just then, someone tapped her shoulder. Looking up, she found Sango looking down, half concerned and half worried.

"You can come to my place if you want… You know, if you want to get away from her for a while.." She said in a soft, hushed tone.

Kagome didn't understand, but for once she didn't have to. She just nodded her head, and smiled, a true, happy smile, not even caring about the tears that streamed down her cheeks. "Thank you..." she whispered.

For once, she could have a friend…


Oh my! I updated! Wow! Okay! I made this chapter longer then usual, since I took so long to update. Anyway, please review.

Later.

Kira.