~*~More Than What She Seems~*~

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha.

Chapter 3: A Sorrowful & Scarring Childhood

Kagome walked silently beside Inu Yasha to her grandmother's house. She looked up at the sky and closed her eyes, feeling the wind through her hair.

"Oi, wench," Inu Yasha grumbled. "How long does it exactly take to get to your house?"

"A good fifteen minutes," she replied softly. He fell anime-style in mid- step.

"WHAT?!"

"Fifteen minutes."

"I know that! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"Why should I?"

"So you don't waste my time."

Her eyes flashed. Inu Yasha blinked.

"Then have Kikyo as your partner instead," she replied sharply. "If you think I'm a waste of your time."

She walked on ahead, leaving him standing there speechless. He grumbled to himself and then quickly caught up with her.

"You hate me, don't you?" he asked, walking backwards so he could look her in the face.

"Did I ever say that I did?" Kagome asked quietly as she continued walking. He blinked.

"Wait," he said slowly. "You 'like' me?"

"As a friend, yes," she answered. She stopped at a red light and then watched the cars go by. Inu Yasha glanced at her.

'Why am I so attracted to her?' he asked himself. 'How can I like someone who looks exactly like the slutty bitch, Kikyo?'

*****

"Grandma, I'm home," Kagome called out softly as she took off her shoes at the doorway. Inu Yasha looked around after he did the same.

"DEFINITELY a miko family," he remarked after looking at bows and arrows that hung on a wall. Kagome watched him silently.

"Kagome?" an old woman's voice asked. Inu Yasha's ears twitched. Kaede walked in and spotted him.

"Hmm, a hanyou, aren't ye?" she asked knowingly. He growled.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Kaede continued. "Everyone is different in their own special ways."

Kagome walked into the kitchen and they could hear her starting to wash the dishes.

"Kagome," Kaede shook her head. "My beloved granddaughter. A good child, she is, but she's had a terrible childhood."

"What happened?" Inu Yasha asked.

"You know all those scars on her body?"

He nodded.

"She got all those from her mother."

Inu Yasha stared at her in disbelief.

"Her mother's father sent her to me when she was 14 years old. It seems like it all happened yesterday," Kaede sighed she shook her head. "I was horrified at what I saw. A young girl, crying her eyes out in my lap with a huge fresh scar on her side, at the waist. She told me that day that she still loved her step-mother."

Kaede shook her head again, "She's such a loving child. Last year, the principal told me there were a lot of girls that were bullying Kagome everyday. Punching her, kicking her..everything. She'd come home everyday with bruises somewhere on her body, but she'd say nothing. That's why I had her transfer to your school this year. It feels like she's put up a mental barrier against everyone."

Inu Yasha looked away.

'That all happened to her?' he wondered. His expression softened. 'That's why Kagome has those scars and those..emotionless eyes.'

*****

After washing the dishes, Kagome walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, waiting for Inu Yasha and her grandmother to finish talking in the hallway.

'Why..do I like Inu Yasha so much?' she asked herself. 'How can I trust him..just like that? What makes me so sure that he won't turn against me and hurt me?'

The talking in the hallway finally stopped and after a few seconds, Inu Yasha walked into the room.

"Hi," he stopped in front of her.

She looked up at him, "Hi."

He sat down beside her.

"So," he blushed faintly. "I guess we should start the questioning now."

She nodded.

"How old are you?" Inu Yasha asked.

"16," she answered.

"Do you have a brother?"

"Step-brother, yeah."

"Do you live with anyone else besides your grandmother?"

"Mm hm, with Shippou too."

"And he is?"

"My cousin. He's a fox demon. He's still at school right now."

"What happened to your father?"

Kagome sharply breathed in. Her hands trembled.

"Kagome?" Inu Yasha cocked an eyebrow.

She just continued shaking.

:.:Flashback:.:

"It's all your fault that your father died!" Mrs. Higurashi shouted the morning after her husband's death. She took a belt and whipped it down onto her step-daughter.

Kagome cried out.

"I'm sorry, mommy!" she sobbed. "I didn't mean to be sick."

Her step-mother ignored her and lashed the belt down onto her again, but even harder than before.

Tears streamed down Kagome's face as she slowly blacked out, "I'm sorry.."

:.:End of Flashback:.:

Tears blurred up Kagome's vision as she sat there on the couch.

"My father is..dead," she whispered. "And it's all my fault."

*****

After questioning Kagome about things other than her mother and father, Inu Yasha answered her questions.

"I'm 16, turning 17 in a few months," he told her. "I live with my brother and we're going to take care of our dad's corporation together when I get older."

They continued with their questioning and soon, they finished. Inu Yasha stood up.

"I have to go, bye Kagome," he smiled and then left.

*****

Kagome lay in her bed that night and stared up at the ceiling.

"Inu Yasha is nice," she thought. "Not like anybody in my old school."

She sighed and then turned onto her side.

"But there's something else I feel towards him besides friendship..what is it?"

*****

The next day Kagome walked slowly to school.

"Higurashi!" a shrill voice screeched. "How dare you steal my Inu away from me and leave me with Naraku!"

Kagome turned her head and answered softly, "I didn't steal him away from you. He wasn't even yours."

Kikyo's eyes flared, "WHAT did you just say?!"

She stomped up to her and shoved her.

"Stupid bitch," Kikyo snarled in her face. "You think you're Miss Know-it- all, don't you?"

She shoved Kagome again. Kagura, Kanna, Kaguya, and Yura all stood aside, snickering. Kagome backed away.

"Le-leave me alone," her voice cracked. Kikyo shoved her again.

"Why should I?" she asked coldly and pushed her. Kagome dropped her books and continued backing away. A blue light surrounded Kikyo.

"You're-a miko," Kagome breathed.

"And I'm not a very nice one," she growled. "I know you're one too, now fight me."

Kagome took another step back.

"No," she whispered.

Kikyo glared at her, "Then you will die."

With that, Kikyo sent a huge amount of miko energy toward her and Kagome watched in terror as the light surrounded her.

A/N: No! Run, Kagome! ^_^ Please review!