Disclaimer: All Inuyasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, except for the ones I make up myself.

A/N: As you've noticed I've changed the whole story. I guess it wasn't meant to be. The theme will stay the same, namely Abuse, but the way the story goes has changed. An author once told me that it was going nowhere. I must admit that that person had it on the right end. It was just stupid of me trying to write something like this, but since Crimson Snow is finished, I thought I might as well try to re-write and finish this. Enjoy.


Bruises

Kagome looked out her only and little window as the rain trickled down the smooth surface of the glass. Washing away the dirt that would block out what little light that came in. Her room –which is actually an attic- would be very cold. She didn't have a heater or enough blankets to warm herself. Her mother didn't allow any of that. She told Kagome that whatever she had up there was enough and that they couldn't afford to buy anything more.

Her mother was a single parent with two children. Kagome, and Kagome's younger brother, Souta. They lived in a small house, but since there were only two bedrooms downstairs, Kagome had to sleep in the attic where it would usually be very cold, while her mother and brother would sleep downstairs where it's nice and warm. Her mother obviously didn't give a damn if she were to die or not from the cold.

It was still fairly early in the morning and she knew that her mother and Souta were still asleep. Sometimes Kagome envied her little brother. He is mom's favorite. He would always get warm hugs and kisses from mom while she would get cold glares and get beaten. Ever since she could remember did she get beaten. There wasn't one time she could remember that her mother ever hugged or kissed her. She was always left to the side to fend for herself. She never knew why. And she never knew her father. One time she asked for him and her mother went crazy. She was so beaten that she couldn't even walk strait for two weeks. It was so bad. And going to the hospital was out of the question. So, her mother couldn't go to work and had to take care of her. During her whole healing process her mother blamed her for being weak, for making her angry, for missing her work, that she had to waste her time being there for her.

Those times were very hard for Kagome. She really wanted to make her mother happy, but never succeeded in doing so. She seemed to always mess things up. For example: making breakfast on Mother's Day. Her mother would always through away the food Kagome carefully made to her mothers likings, but her mother never appreciated her ministrations. Souta on the other hand, she always loved what he tried to do, would always cherish his little gifts he made at school. But she would always throw Kagome's hand made gifts away and say they're worthless. Kagome never understood why. It always hurt her so much.

It still poured outside. Today wouldn't be any different. She stood up and got ready for school. Without having her breakfast as every child is supposed to she went to school. With no umbrella or coat did she walk through the pouring rain. Everyone that passed felt pity for the girl. Once through the school's gates she was met by Kikyou who looked as glamorous as ever, and Inuyasha who stood by her side. Both were looking disdainfully at her. Kagome just looked at them with lifeless eyes as she would always do. This irritated Kikyou, so she said, "Why don't you get out of our way, loser!" and she pushed Kagome hard. Kagome lost her footage and was fell to the ground. Everyone who saw this laughed the whole while. Now Kagome was under the mud again and her mother wouldn't be happy about this. She could foresee another beating, but she couldn't prevent it.

The two left and Kagome stood up to go to the bathroom to clean herself up as much as possible. She was thoroughly soaked. Her hair clung to her face; she had mud all over her. All in all she was a mess. Soon school would start and she would have to go to class anyway, even if she looked like this. Also, the teachers didn't approve of her. She tried to do her best at school, got good grades, but since she wasn't one to talk much she always got yelled at and punishes.

There was this one time when Kagome didn't finish her homework because she got beaten the day before. The teacher grabbed her arm where a fresh bruise was. Kagome screamed in agony, the tears trickled down her rosy cheeks. This seemed to irritate the teacher further, so he held onto her arm tighter and dragged her to the principal's office. Kagome screamed the whole way to be let loose, but the iron grip wouldn't let go. At the principal's office they saw the bruise, but nothing was ever done about it. Kagome still received beatings. The torture would never end.

As she predicted she got a nice set of beatings from her mother again when she saw Kagome's uniform. When her mother was gone to the laundry, Kagome lay on the ground. Blood oozed out of a cut on her cheek. She felt so small and hopeless. Her brother stared at her but didn't do anything to help. When she reached out her hand he backed away from her. Sadness overwhelmed her being. With great effort did she try to stand up and she limped to the kitchen. Once there she took out one of the razor sharp knifes from the counter and went back to the living room where her brother was still standing in. When he saw the knife his eyes grew wide.

"Don't worry, Souta. I won't hurt you. I never will." Kagome put the knife down. "Come little brother and give me a hug." Slowly the boy walked to her and hugged her waste. "Will you do me a favor?" Souta nodded. "Forget me. Forget your sister. Forget everything about me, about this night. Forget I ever existed. It was all just a dream. Will you do that for me?" By now Kagome was lightly sobbing, her brother too. Slowly he nodded and Kagome gave a weak smile.

Next she took the knife and went out the door in the still pouring rain. Souta just stood there, silently crying. He would forget her as he had promised. But would she ever forget?

The End


It's short, but I love it this way. An open ending, how nice, don't you think? Maybe it was fast, maybe just perfect. You decide. And I'm very sorry, no pairings. All your lovely votes, wasted. I'll see what I shall do about those. Maybe start a sequel or a new story. Give your opinion.

Sincerely, Koorime13