Part II
Less than a month later...
"I'm so sorry, honey..." The soothing voice of a middle-aged woman echoed through her head.
She tried to block it out in favor of her childish mantra. No, no, no... The eight-year-old Kagome repeated in her head.
"No..."
"We just can't. Your mother and father never got the chance to change the will. You have to go with Yokoshima-san," the woman whispered. "Sorry, dear..."
"No! I won't go with them! I don't care if his wife was really nice! She's dead! Even his name says he's evil! No, no, NO!" Tears pooled under scrunched up eyelids, and her head of silken tresses swished wildly.
"Please, Kagome, we-"
"Auntie Izayoi! You said you'd always take care of me!" Eyes mixed with brown, blue, and grey looked up helplessly.
"I know, but your parents added your uncle and me to the will's instructions. They never took time out to replace the Yokoshima's with us..." Kagome's small hands clenched in her lap as she bowed her head, bangs shadowing her eyes.
Mommy, Daddy... How could you? She shook her head to dispel the natural blame. It was there, oozing out of her eight-year-old skin and reminding her that she was the only one left of her direct family. She vaguely remembered that she had a twenty-six year-old second cousin, somewhere in America, that couldn't quite be trusted.
"Miss Higurashi?" A woman in a business suit spoke up, coming towards them.
The young girl turned her head in the direction of the voice, still in her sulking mood. The tall woman with greenish-black hair was standing nine feet away, bright blue eyes looking worriedly at her. Kagome scrunched up her nose in disgust. She didn't need pity from grown ups! Not after what happened! She brought her head back down in shame.
"Higurashi-san, Yokoshima-san and his son are waiting for you in the main lobby. Are you ready?"
"No," she grumbled. "Tell Evil-san to get lost in a giant poop field." She rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Kagome-angel, your mother didn't raise you that way!" Izayoi reprimanded.
At those words, Kagome burst into tears, covering her head with her hands and bringing her knees up into a fetal position. Izayoi was paralyzed with fear; how could she have forgotten. How could she say something so careless? The little girl's whole family just died in a car accident less than a month ago...
The city government had contacted Izayoi through a live television broadcast with the photo they had taken a few years ago in the park. She and her husband had been so surprised to see that picture flash across the news report, followed by a clear close-up of Izayoi's complexion. Immediately they had raced over to the police station and informed them of their identities and connections to the Higurashi's daughter.
"I'm so sorry, Kaggie-kun! Don't cry, dear, please!" She hugged the child close and smoothed out the rumpled black locks.
Kagome only sniffled in response. She didn't want to keep being reminded of her family; she already had enough guilt to last a lifetime. The young girl grabbed onto the cotton fabric of her dress shirt and buried her head into the older woman's shoulder.
"I don't ever cry, Izayoi-san," Kagome stated stubbornly.
"You- your parents... they wouldn't want you to act like this. Maybe a few tears- not enough to fill a whale tank- but then move on with life, and be happy," Izayoi whispered.
"How can I be happy, Auntie Izayoi," she whined, "when Mommy and Daddy and Souta-baby are dead!"
Izayoi 'hm'ed noncommittally and hugged the girl closer. In a way she had a point but on the other hand, it wasn't logical reasoning. Kagome's way was a naïve and youthful reasoning blinded by sadness.
"You'll learn to be happy, honey, I know you will. As second in line for guardianship, Touga and I have permission and rights to visit you- and we will..." Kagome leaned in closer and hugged her Izayoi-san tightly once more before letting go.
The woman with long green hair stepped forward and made her presence known. "Miss Higurashi? Please... We must go now. I've been informed that Yokoshima-san just finished signing the paperwork. We need to hurry," she said authoritatively.
"Yeah, okay..." Kagome said, pulling away from her 'relative' and standing up slowly in childish grace.
"Come with me, please," the woman spoke while holding out her left hand, halfway turned to leave.
The young Kagome grabbed her miniature satchel she had received for her birthday and walked to the lady. Grasping the woman's hand, she noticed how her fingers were cold and hot at the same time. Creepy, bossy lady... Kagome turned to look over her shoulder at Izayoi-san, and watched sadly as she waved goodbye.
She never knew that she would meet Yokoshima Onigumo-san and his son Yokoshima Naraku-san...
She had been taken to the Yokoshima Estate; she found out they were quite rich. Yokoshima-sama, as she was to thereby call him, ran a large company dealing with lawyers and that was how she was indefinitely stuck in this mess. What a stinky weasel! Kagome thought bitterly.
They hadn't said a single word to her the entire time, apart from Yokoshima-sama cruelly saying 'come Kagome' before rudely walking out to the car. His son seemed positively snobbish as well. For an almost-twelve-year-old, he had the worst attitude; he wore black sunglasses and held his chin up in the 'high and mighty' fashion. With those two, she doubted her new life would be pleasant, let alone getting a simple, sarcastic "Welcome to the Family".
Two servants came running out as soon as the car stopped. They bowed stiffly at the waist when Yokoshima-sama appeared in front of them. "Most of her bags are in the back. Tell the limo driver to get all of the cars washed again. I was unsatisfied.
"And I want my corvette ready; I'm going out again tonight. Make the children a good dinner," he continued to rattle out harshly, ignoring the servants' flinches. "She needs a proper welcome dinner. Make sure the chef doesn't skimp.
"Naraku," he sneered. "Show her to her room and a tour of the house. Make sure she knows where she's allowed." With that last command, he walked up the front staircase and in through the metal, glass, and wood front double doors.
"Yes, Father," the boy at her side spoke before Yokoshima had walked away.
"Come on, girl. I'm not waiting for you," Naraku ground out as he pushed his sunglasses up and moved his wavy midnight locks behind his ears. Aren't boys s'posed to have short hair? He's prob'ly just weird... After that distant thought was tucked into her mind, Kagome trailed after her new house companion as the two servants and limo driver were left to talk and bring her bags inside.
Mommy, Daddy... Keep me safe...
"Touga, you need to do something," Izayoi spoke quietly, standing in front of the raging fireplace. She slid her brown eyes to his seated figure.
"Yes, dear, I know..." He replied distractedly. "The little koi-angel isn't safe. Not with them..."
After the quiet dinner with Yokoshima Naraku, he led her back upstairs to where he had said their rooms were. It was a mere two hours ago that Naraku had shown her the room in which she'd be staying. The room was beautiful and quite spacious for an child's room, but less than two minutes later she had seen the boy's room. Gee-willickers! Kagome thought back. His room could'a had a swimming pool in it! But the young man ignored her awe and admiration in favor of scowling.
"It's nine o'clock right now," Naraku stated, snapping her out of her thoughts. "You don't have to go to bed immediately since it's still winter break. But," he hesitated, making the young girl fret. "But don't come out of your room tonight. My dad'll probably be in a bad mood. Lock your door too, and if you need water, there should be a crystal cup sitting in your bathroom. I think I showed you."
Not waiting for a reply, he strode down the hallway to the next door and opened it quickly, walking in. A wide-eyed and daftly confused Kagome stood frozen in the main hallway of the Estate's eastern wing. Realization that she was alone made her dive for the doorknob and scurry in before slamming the door.
It was late in the night when she woke up, Kagome knew; she had seen the clocks. As she sat up, a strangely cold sensation surrounded her and curled up her spine. Her throat was dry and her palms were sweaty. When determination settled in, she pushed the heavy comforter off to the foot of the bed and put her feet on the cold hard-wood floor, making her shiver.
She found the entryway for the bathroom from light streaming through her windows and flicked on the fluorescent lights before shielding her eyes. She looked over to the obsidian and glass countertop and upon inspection of the bathroom's cabinets, found nothing even resembling a cup of any kind. She huffed in exasperation; there was only one thing left to do...
Naraku said 'no', but if I go straight there, I won't be disturbing anyone. Yokoshima-sama can't get mad at me... she thought peering out into the dark hallway.
Cautious and quiet steps led her to where she remembered the large dining room and kitchen to be. Her breathing was ragged from worry as she ran to the kitchen and climbed on the countertops one by one, searching. Upon finding a cup, in her temporary glee, she fell back onto the ground, awkwardly supported by her feet. Surprise and fear kept her from screaming out, but she hissed when the pain sunk in.
She walked out of the kitchen and was just passing back under the dining-room doorway, when a slurred voice stopped her. Coming towards her from the hallway leading to the front doors was the wobbly-walking and slightly hunched figure of Yokoshima Onigumo.
"What are you doing out of bed, wench?" He growled out through his fog-filled mind. He took a few more sluggish steps forward when she instinctively took two steps back.
What was that icky smell coming from Yokoshima-sama? It smelled grossly familiar; the scent so unbearable that it settled onto her tongue and on the roof of her mouth. It clenched at her stomach and made her feel like bile was rising through her esophagus. Kagome just wanted to scream from the impact of the stench rotting on her vulnerable senses.
But she did not; she just could not. She had been properly warned not to come out of her room no matter what that night. Her blatant disregard for rules made Kagome realize her mistake like a slap in the face. It stood less than three feet away, towering over her fragile figure, a scowl etched into old world-worn features.
"Answer me, damn it!" His slurred voice once again echoed through the small side room.
She had to answer. "I- I... was thirsty. I needed a cup, Yokoshima-sama," she whispered.
He came closer, and before she realized what had happened a stinging sensation dug into the skin of her left cheek. He slapped her! She pressed her small fingers to the swollen flesh as fearful eyes looked up to the hand that was still poised from the back force of the slap.
"Get back upstairs," he spoke almost lazily. As the quiet syllables fell from his roughened lips, the large hand suspended in the air crashed back down onto her other cheek.
The young girl reeled back in pain, and released a yelp muffled by the tongue she had bitten. She watched with fear as Onigumo dragged himself into the darkness of the mansion. Kagome struggled to sit up, and when she finally stood, her shaking body painfully made its way back to the room. Please somebody... make the pain go away... she thought as she drifted off to sleep, knowing without a doubt that she would cry.
And in the midst of her nightmares, a blizzard began, slowly coating the outside world in its glory...
Author's Note: Ohhh, lots of those spacing lines! Speeds up the story though. Thank you for reading this far! Muah!
These first five or so chapters will not be happy- thus the angst. But I'm pretty dang sure it'll end happy. If I don't think it will then I'll end it. I can't stand unhappy endings...
Updates on all stories will come alternately.
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