The Scars Embedded in Our Hearts
Author: Yuurei-Chi
Disclaimer: Any characters that are not in the anime or manga "Inuyasha" belong to me. All others belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
We hate our father. He doesn't try. He doesn't care. Or at least he doesn't care about us anymore. He used to, but now all he cares about is Inuyasha. Now, he treats us like we're two bunches of crap. He's hurt us so many times, both physically and mentally. Now all we have is each other. The two of us will always have each other, along with the scars embedded within us.
Kiara and Sesshomaru had that thought for the third time that morning. They could tell by the smell in the air that it was early in the morning, early enough for them to get the dishes done by the time their father woke up. The two of them scrubbed the glass until the plates were shiny enough that the twin demons could see their almost identical reflections by using the plates as mirrors. They both knew that if when their father inspected the dishes that they weren't shiny enough so that he could see his reflection that the two of them would be in for it. They also knew that they had to get the dishes washed and dried before their father woke up or they'd be in for it, too.
Their father, Inutaisho, never gave either of them a break. He treated them like his slaves, while he treated his other child, Inuyasha, like a king. Inuyasha always got new clothes every week and he got to do whatever he wanted. However, Kiara and Sesshomaru were only given new clothes when their old ones were so small for them that they couldn't even fit into them, and one wrong move from either of them could result in a severe beating for both twins. It was unfair, it was child abuse, but there was nothing that either of them could do. Because of this, Kiara and Sesshomaru both hated the world, and hated everything except for themselves and each other. They both knew that life would be this way for them until their deaths. And both of them knew that they would die from being overworked, or that there would be an 'accident' whiles their father was beating them.
Kiara and Sesshomaru finished their dish work. Now it would be time for them to prepare breakfast for Inuyasha and Inutaisho. That was another one of the many things that their father was so strict about that he would beat the crap out of them if anything went wrong. If either Inuyasha or their father had a complaint about their meals, Kiara and Sesshomaru would be beaten. Luckily for them, Inuyasha and Inutaisho had left them the foods that they wanted for breakfast. Kiara and Sesshomaru prepared breakfast for their father and brother as quickly and as carefully as they could. Just like every day, Inutaisho left the most complex meal. And Inuyasha left an easy thing for them to cook.
Inuyasha never treated his siblings badly. Even if one of his meals wasn't exactly the way he wanted it, he wouldn't complain. Inuyasha also tried to help out Kiara and Sesshomaru by sneaking food to them or by giving them a blanket for them to use on cold nights. But he couldn't give the two of them clothes. Inutaisho knew exactly what clothing each of his children had, and if he caught Kiara or Sesshomaru with clothes besides their own, he would severely punish them.
Kiara and Sesshomaru never understood why their father treated them this way. Believe it or not, the twins were once loved and pampered by Inutaisho. He used to praise them, and treat them the same way as he now treated Inuyasha. It was after Kiara and Sesshomaru's mother died when their father got angry, cold-hearted and abusive towards them. Inuyasha was only their half-brother. Instead of having both demon parents like Kiara and Sesshomaru did, Inuyasha had a demon father (Inutaisho) and a human mother named Izayoi. Izayoi was Inutaisho's mate after his first wife died, therefore making her Kiara and Sesshomaru's stepmother. But she was never there. Nobody could figure that out, but Izayoi was rarely seen in the house or in the yard. Kiara and Sesshomaru didn't really know their stepmother, and just assumed that she would be as cold-hearted and abusive towards them as their father was.
Then, Kiara and Sesshomaru were terrified by the sound that they started to hear. It was footsteps slowly approaching them from the corridors. Kiara and Sesshomaru could tell by the volume of the footsteps that their father was coming. Their father was going to inspect his breakfast in every way possible, then taste-test it by making sure that the taste was within his perfection standards.
The door to the kitchen slammed open when their father came into their view. He wore his usual outfit, a traditional kimono that was long, baggy and that covered up his muscular arms. He let his silver hair lay down his back instead of tying it up into a ponytail like he usually did. His face showed a sign of coldness towards Kiara and Sesshomaru. He looked at them with narrowed gray eyes that sent a chill through Kiara and Sesshomaru's backs.
"I assume that you two low-lives had found my commands for my breakfast for today," Inutaisho said. His cold and ruthless sounding voice rang through Kiara and Sesshomaru's ears as a sign of hatred that they already knew was there.
"Yes," they both said obediently.
"Good," Their father said as he sat down at the table. He sniffed the meal that his children prepared for him, as if to make sure that the food was exactly what he wanted, right down to the amount of spices and herbs they used. "My breakfast seems to be fine today. I don't have any complaints … yet …"
The word 'yet' scared Kiara and Sesshomaru. Right when Inutaisho had seen that his children were relieved because he said that he didn't have any complaints, he added that word to do nothing more than scare his two elder children.
"Inuyasha!" Inutaisho called with a kind tone of voice. "Breakfast!"
Inuyasha replied with nothing more than saying 'okay'.
Once Inuyasha got to the table, his father told him to inspect the food to make sure that there were no complaints. Inuyasha went along with his father and quickly sniffed out his breakfast, even though he would care less how Kiara and Sesshomaru made his food or how much of the spices and herbs they put in it.
"Any complaints for your useless siblings, Inuyasha?" Inutaisho asked, still speaking to his youngest child in a kind sounding tone of voice.
Inuyasha shook his head. The comment that he always gave to his father after hearing that question. Sometimes his food wasn't exactly the way he would have wanted it, but Inuyasha didn't complain. He knew about how much pressure Kiara and Sesshomaru were under and how much abuse they have received from Inutaisho. Inuyasha knew that they always did the best that they could.
"Good," Inutaisho said. Then he changed his mood from being kind back to being cold and angry. He changed the emotion within his face from being kind and strict to being cold, angry and strict when he looked at Kiara and Sesshomaru. "You two …" he said with his voice full of coldness. "Out. Go to your chamber immediately."
Most of the time, Kiara and Sesshomaru would have obeyed their father's commands. But this time they were just plain fed up with working so hard and receiving nothing kind in return. They have never received a 'thank you' from anyone except Inuyasha. Not only that, but even after working so hard on preparing breakfast, Inutaisho wouldn't let them eat anything besides the grubs that they would find outside.
"But, we're hungry," Sesshomaru said. His voice was soft, almost a whisper. Sesshomaru also looked at the ground as he spoke.
"Yes," Kiara said with the same soft voice. She also looked at the ground. She knew as well as Sesshomaru did that whenever they would speak against Inutaisho that he would get even angrier if they looked him in the eyes. Their father always told them that they were not good enough to look at him or Inuyasha in the eyes. So, if Inutaisho was angrier, he would be more abusive, and Kiara and Sesshomaru wanted both knew that they would be getting a beating anyway, they might as well not make it worse for themselves. "We haven't eaten for a day."
Inutaisho stood up from the table and pushed his chair over. He was angry, so angry that Kiara and Sesshomaru both knew that they would probably not be allowed any kind of food for another day or two. They also knew that in a few minutes, they two of them would be thrown into their basement chamber, covered from head to toe in bruises.
"DO THE TWO OF YOU THINK THAT YOU DESERVE TO BE FED A DECENT MEAL?" Inutaisho barked. "WELL, YOU DON'T AND NEVER WILL!"
Kiara and Sesshomaru both stood still as they waited for their father to unleash his anger on them. They heard his few footsteps over to where they were standing. Kiara and Sesshomaru still stood so still that if you didn't know what was going on, what their lives were like, you would have sworn that they were colored statues. The only movement that they were making was from their chests, which were slightly moving up and down as the twins drew in small breaths.
"LOOK HERE!" Inutaisho commanded.
Kiara and Sesshomaru obeyed. They looked at their father's face. The next thing they knew was that their father was slapping the two of them across the face so many times, that the twins lost count. Kiara and Sesshomaru felt hot tears swell up in their eyes as they felt the pain shoot through their faces and feel their cheeks get more swollen with every painful hit. Inutaisho finished off the beating by slamming the twins into each other and violently shoving them down the moist, brick stairs that led to their chamber.
"AND DON'T COME OUT UNTIL I ALLOW YOU TO!" Inutaisho yelled as he slammed the door shut.
Kiara and Sesshomaru both heard sickening cracks as their bodies hit the cobblestone floor of the dungeon that was the place where Inutaisho allowed them to live. The floor was wet and grimy, just like the walls and the steps that led from the first floor of their father's castle to the dungeon. Kiara and Sesshomaru huddled together at the only dry corner in their chamber. They took the blanket that Inuyasha sneaked to them and covered themselves with it. Their sobs echoed throughout the chamber's brick and cobblestone walls as warm blood trickled down their faces and onto the blanket.
"Why does it have to be this way?" Kiara sobbed.
"I don't know," Sesshomaru sniffled as he wiped some tears away from his face and his sister's. "God made it this way for us. But what did we do to deserve this?"
"I don't know," Kiara cried. "We never did anything wrong. Father used to care for us. He used to love us to pieces. But now … he treats us like crap. He treats us like useless slaves."
"What is it about Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru cried. "Why is he loved when we're not?"
"I … I have no idea," Kiara replied as a tear rolled down her cheek and mixed in with a cut on her face.
Kiara and Sesshomaru cuddled together, both of them trying to stay warm by using the blanket. They just woke up a couple of hours ago, and already they were in the position that they would be trapped in their chamber for days and days. They were already beaten. And after all of the work that they already did that day … this was what they got in return. Kiara and Sesshomaru ended up crying themselves to sleep, both of them wondering if they would ever find someone who would take them away from the hellhole that they were forced to live in.
That's my first chapter. I know, I really put Kiara and Sesshomaru through tortured lives. Don't worry, it'll get better for them. I don't know why I wrote this, I was in a tragedy mood since it was such a gloomy day today. Anyway, please, please, please review! I won't continue my story without reviews.