Chapter 1: A Visitor in the Dark

Kagome woke with a start. For a moment she lay blinking on her narrow bed, the rough blanket twisted about her feet. She ran her eyes around the small and shabby room. It was pitch dark with only a faint star light coming in through the open window. She wondered about that until she recalled that tonight was the new moon. A breeze came in through the window bringing with it a foul stench from outside.

Kagome and her mother Mayu lived in the poorest section of the Fountain City. Their house was on the lowest circle, which was actually at the foot of the mountain over which the rest of the city was built. Only the poorest of the poor lived here, barely scraping together a living. The houses were all crammed together and the streets and alleyways were very narrow. It was also a dangerous place, since this was the home of many thugs and thieves. It was common to see fights breaking out in this part of the city. The jurisdiction of the Crown was not often acknowledged in these parts making it somewhat alienated from the rest of the city.

Kagome turned to lie on her side trying to go back to sleep. Suddenly there was a whisper of wind that disturbed the reed curtain that acted as the door to her room and the hairs on her arm stood up. Kagome suddenly sat up wondering if someone had broken into the shop below.

'It would not be the first time.' She thought. 'When will they learn we have even less than they do?'

Taking a deep breath and trying to calm her nerves, she reached for a short knife that she always kept under her bed roll. Kagome stood up and walked carefully out of her room, the knife clutched in her right hand. The small hall was clear of any intruders. She turned to her right to go check out the kitchen, when a slight movement behind her had her whirling around knife at the ready.

"Kagome?" Whispered a gentle voice.

"Mama!" Kagome sighed in relief.

"What are you doing, jumping around with that knife?" scolded Mayu in a whisper.

"Something woke me up." Kagome said "I thought it was an intruder."

"Kagome…" Mayu sighed. "You know you are supposed to wake me up. It's dangerous to confront a thief by yourself."

"I can take care of myself, mama!" Kagome began indignantly.

But Mayu raised a hand forestalling their daily argument of whether Kagome was old enough to take care of herself or not.

"I too heard a noise." Mayu said overlooking her daughter's scowl. "Let's make sure it was only you making a racket and not an unwanted visitor."

Saying this, Mayu went into the kitchen and peered about in the dark. She did not wish to light a lamp that might alert their intruder if there was any. Not sensing anything in the kitchen she came back out in the hall where Kagome was standing with her arms crossed and scowling fiercely at the wall.

'She is so stubborn…just like her father' Mayu thought affectionately as she went to stand before a closed door. This door opened to a staircase which went down into the antique shop below. The shop was only a single room lined with dusty shelves that held a few baubles and trinkets. There was a small counter underneath which was kept their little cash locked up in a box. Mayu usually took this box up with her when she closed shop every evening. So, unless you were interested in ancient worthless junk, there was not anything to rob from the shop. But Mayu knew that the people who had broken in before had been after something else, namely herself and Kagome.

Kagome grumbled to herself about her mother's over-protectiveness as she watched Mayu sliding the latch open, trying to stay as quiet as possible. She gripped her knife in her hand and went to stand behind her mother.

Mayu eased the door open slowly and looked down the stairs. The room was completely dark and quiet. It did not look like anyone had forced entry, but some instinct told Kagome that someone was down there. She took a sharp breath and saw Mayu crouch down. She also must have sensed the other presence.

Gesturing at her daughter to stay here, Mayu quietly descended the staircase in a crouched position. She reached the bottom and leaned on the counter that was to her immediate right. Slowly going down on all fours she inched forward and peeked around the corner of the counter and looked directly into two gleaming pools of…something. The suddenness caused Mayu to let out a small scream as she fell back on her haunches trying to get away from whatever it was.

Kagome had not really heeded her mother's command to stay. Instead, she had set off down the stairs as soon as Mayu reached the side of the counter. She was halfway down when she heard Mayu scream and fall back.

"No!" Kagome yelled as she dashed the rest of the way, the knife held out in front of her. "Mama! Are you okay?"

Mayu heard Kagome's scream and looked up to see the silhouette of a man crouched down in front of the counter. Her eyes became more adjusted to the darkness and she realized that the man had looked up at Kagome but did not seem interested in attacking either of them…yet.

Kagome reached her and started to pull her back towards the stairs.

"Child… let go." Mayu gasped. "I'm fine. I was just startled."

"Oh…" Kagome said lamely as she dropped to the floor beside her mother.

"Who are you?" Mayu asked sharply "what do you want?"

Kagome looked up wild eyed as she caught sight of a dark shadow and once more tightened the grip on her knife. She would go down fighting, that was for sure!

"I…I mean you no harm" said a husky voice out of the darkness. "I just needed a place to hide for a couple of hours."

The voice sent shivers down Kagome's spine. It was a man's voice and yet it was not. He was probably around her age. So, it was a young man. But there was something about his voice that left her stomach in knots.

Something made Mayu trust him, although she could not have said why. Usually, she was wary of strangers and she was sure that she had never heard this man's voice before.

There was a slight grunt as the young man leaned on the counter for support, breathing heavily.

"You are injured." Mayu said as Kagome shivered beside her. She put a hand on her daughter's shoulder to calm her down.

"It's only a scratch." The man rasped out. "I'll be fine by morning."

"Hmm…no." Mayu countered. "Your breathing doesn't make it sound like a small scratch."

"I was running from some idiots, okay? I'm just out of breath." He seemed to be getting irritated with her prying.

Mayu sighed thinking about the stubbornness of youth. This young man was probably an orphan. There were many in the lowest circle. He probably led a hand to mouth existence, often fighting with others like himself for food scraps. Incidents like these made her count her blessings and overlook every hardship she had had to endure after the death of her husband. Her maternal heart went out to this poor boy.

"Kagome, why don't you find us some light?"

"Huh?" Kagome turned incredulous eyes on her mother as if questioning her sanity.

"Go and light the lamp." Mayu sighed. "There is one under counter. Go on." She shooed at her daughter.

Kagome stood up slowly and felt rather than saw the man tensing. Then she realized that he could probably see the gleam of her knife. Huffing in irritation, she tucked the knife around a small band she wore on her thigh underneath her shabby clothes and stumbled over to the counter. It took a few minutes of fiddling before she located the lamp and the box of matches. She quickly lighted it and placed it on the counter. The feeble light threw long shadows on the walls and illuminated Mayu sitting on the ground in front of the stairs and a young man with long dark hair crouching in front of the counter. He had a stubborn looking chin peppered with stubbles of a beard and fierce dark eyebrows. His bangs came down almost to his eyes and Kagome was somewhat disconcerted to see that his dark eyes were fixed on her with a strange intensity.

"Let me take a look at your leg." Mayu said.

It was then that Kagome noticed the leg the man had extended out on the floor. His feet were bare and his pants of rough wool were dirty and torn. His shirt was drenched in perspiration and there were many scratches and cuts on his face and arms. The cut on his leg was nasty if the blood seeping out to the floor was any indication.

"I told you I will be fine by morning" said the man "Just let me stay here till then…please" he added, almost as an afterthought.

Mayu got up pretending not to hear him and started searching behind the counter.

"Kagome, run up to my room and grab my medicine bag."

Kagome watched as a scowl adorned the man's face.

"Will you be okay while I'm gone?" Kagome asked her mother in a whisper.

"Kagome!" Mayu raised her eyes in exasperation and gave her daughter 'the look'. Kagome translated it correctly as 'shut up and do as I tell you' and ran up the stairs to get the small satchel in which her mother kept some bandages and herbs.

When she came back down, she saw Mayu sitting beside the stranger who had a stubborn look in his eyes as he glared at her mother. Mayu held a pair of scissors in her hands and was attempting to remove his clothes so she could look at his leg.

"Just give in. It's easier than convincing her to leave it be." Kagome said with a wry smile.

The stranger stared at her for a minute and sighed and said, "Keh!"

Mayu just smiled serenely as he finally took away his hand which had been clutching at his wound. She slowly began to cut away the cloth, trying not to yank the wounded flesh. The stranger gritted his teeth but made no sound.

"Kagome, go boil some water. I need to sterilize this wound."

Kagome climbed the stairs a lot more slowly this time around. This man was beginning to fascinate her. Reaching the door that led to their living quarters, Kagome looked back. She could see nothing of her mother or the stranger. Both were hidden behind the counter and the shadows cast by the lamp.

"What's your name?" she heard her mother ask.

After a moment, the young man murmured softly, "Inuyasha."

By the time Kagome returned with the boiling water and a wooden pail full of fresh cool water, Mayu had cut away the cloth surrounding the wound on Inuyasha's leg. Kagome gasped upon seeing the wound. Even under the weak light, it looked nasty. The flesh looked torn up and red. Blood was still oozing out from the cut even though it did not look very deep.

Kagome sat beside her mother, ready to help in any way. She watched Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye. He had leaned his head back on the counter and had closed his eyes. If not for the grimaces of pain, she would have thought that he had fallen asleep. It took a few hours, but the wound was bathed and a soothing salve had been applied. Mayu debated whether to stitch up the wound or not. But she finally decided to just bandage it with clean strips of cloth since the wound was not deep. She finally sat back and admired her handiwork. Inuyasha seemed to have finally succumbed to exhaustion and fallen asleep.

"I'm going to get him a pair of your father's pants." Mayu said to Kagome. "I think they will fit him. He certainly can't go about in his present pair." She got up and stretched before yawning. Half the night was gone and dawn was fast approaching. She went up to her room, leaving Kagome alone with Inuyasha.

"Why?"

The question startled Kagome who had been staring at his long black hair. It was dirty but not matted. He obviously liked and cared for his hair. It was longer than hers, reaching past his waist.

Kagome looked up to see his dark eyes staring at her intently from beneath his bangs.

"Why what?" she asked confused.

"Why are you helping me, a stranger?" Inuyasha asked. He had never known kindness and was half inclined to be suspicious of these two women who had insisted on treating his wound. But looking at their faces, he could not bring himself to do it. Having lived on the streets his whole life, he had sharpened senses when it came to reading others. There was nothing malicious about these women. They seemed genuinely kind and caring. Their first reaction had been understandable, considering they had thought him to be an intruder.

Inuyasha looked into the girl's eyes, trying to find answers. There was something about this girl that had his heart beat increasing and his stomach twisting in circles. He had a strange urge to protect this girl, though from what, he had no clue. He had been running blindly through strange alleyways trying to escape from the gang that was following him. The gang was led by a wolf demon and had some really weird members. They were his sworn enemies though he had no idea why this was so. There were many strange things about himself that he had never truly understood. But he did not have anyone to ask about these things. And on the streets, ignorance was a great weakness. So, he learned to accept without question whatever came his way pretending to know all about the whys and wherefores.

He usually stuck to the streets he was familiar with. But a few members of the gang had come upon him on the one night he was truly weak. Thankfully, the wolf demon was not with them, so they had not recognized him by his scent. They had chased him anyway for sport. Without his usual senses to direct him, he had lost his way trying to escape them and had ended up in an unfamiliar part of the circle. Something had compelled him to break into a shabby looking shop and hide till dawn. He had no hope of thwarting his enemies in his weakened form. But now, he wondered if it was more than his instinct for survival that had brought him here.

"You needed our help." Kagome said.

Inuyasha had almost forgotten that she was still sitting beside him, so lost was he in his musings.

"I could have been a robber or worse" he said, "I could have hurt you." Had these women no sense of self-preservation? Were they this friendly to all strangers? He felt his beast stirring from within at the thought of Kagome unprotected. 'It must be nearing dawn' he thought.

"But you didn't" Kagome said. She seemed just as stubborn as her mother.

"That's not the point!" Inuyasha said exasperated.

"You are supposed to be grateful here!" she exclaimed.

"I am grateful! I just don't want you to do this to every stranger" he said loudly. "Not everyone is like me, you know!"

That seemed to deflate her. Seeing her drooping visage made him feel guilty. "

"I know" she said. "I know everyone is not like you." She looked up at him and continued, "You are the first intruder we have helped."

"Just don't make it a habit." Inuyasha sighed and closed his eyes once more before they flew open again as something she said registered.

"Wait… first intruder? You mean there were others?" he demanded.

"Uh…yeah. This is the lowest circle, remember?" Kagome said, wondering about his reaction. 'It's like he cares what happens to us… ugh! Get your head out of the clouds, girl!' she admonished to herself.

Inuyasha found himself stifling a growl as he thought of intruders attacking Kagome.

"Where is your father?" he asked a bit fiercely.

"He passed away a long time ago" Kagome smiled sadly. "I have never seen him."

"Oh…" Inuyasha felt his heart twinge as he watched the sadness in her eyes. He wanted to wipe it away and fill it with the fierceness and life he had first seen in them.

"uh…um…sorry" he felt like banging his head on the wall. He was no good with all this sympathy and stuff.

But Kagome seemed grateful as she shook her head and smiled lightly at him. "Like I said, it was a long time ago. We did not live in the city then."

"Huh? So where did you live?"

"We lived in one of the villages near the coast." Kagome said. "Father died before I was born and a couple of years later, there was a famine. So, we moved to the city like so many others, in hopes of finding a good living."

Kagome did not know why she was telling this stranger her life history. But she felt a strange connection to him, as if he was a long-lost friend.

"Oh…" he said again, wondering how she managed to smile so beautifully. It could not have been simple, scraping a life in this godforsaken place. In order to prosper in this city, you needed to reach the higher circles and for that you needed money and power.

"So, what about you? Where are your parents?" Kagome asked brightly.

Inuyasha was spared from answering as Mayu came back down the stairs with a huge bundle in her hands which she dumped near them on the floor.

"I was trying to find you some shoes." She said with a sigh as she began sorting through the bundle with Kagome's help. She picked up a pair of woollen pants, much like his own and almost the same size.

"This belonged to my husband" Mayu said. "You can have them. And I found you a pair of shoes also. They are rather worn, but sturdy."

Inuyasha sat speechless through all this. Never having known kindness, he had no idea how to react. Seeing his bewildered look, Kagome took pity on him and whispered into his ear as her mother continued to unroll what looked like spare sheets and a blanket.

"You can just say thank you."

Inuyasha turned around to see Kagome smirking lightly at him, a teasing light in her eyes. An involuntary smile tugged on his lips, the sensation quite alien to his facial muscles.

"You won't get up the stairs with that leg and I don't want to injure it further." Mayu said. "So, I brought some bedding down. You can sleep here tonight…or what's left of it."

Mayu stood up and looked kindly at the gaping boy sitting on the floor.

"We'll have breakfast in the morning and then you can go…if you want" she said. "Get some rest for now."

She turned to Kagome and said, "We better get to bed too, Kagome. You must be tired as well."

"I'm fine mama." Kagome muttered, but her yawn betrayed her.

Mayu shook her head at her and went up the stairs saying, "Suit yourself, dear."

Kagome scowled, but realized the truth of her mother's words as another yawn fought its way out of her mouth.

"You should get some rest" Inuyasha told her quietly.

"Mmm…" she murmured. "I'll see you in the morning." She stood up and followed her mother. Before she went through the door, she turned back and called out softly, "Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"Blow out the lamp before you sleep, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good night." Kagome said as she vanished through the door, leaving behind a very conflicted Inuyasha.

He was astounded at Mayu's offer. He wondered at her kindness directed towards him, who had never done a good deed in his life. But he could not accept it. If he stayed, he would be bringing his problems down on top of them. And he had some big problems, like the gang that had been following him yesterday. At the same time, the thought of never seeing Kagome brought a strange ache to his heart. He sighed and lay down on the bedding as the sky outside lightened, heralding another dawn.

Kagome opened her eyes this time to find her room flooded with light. It was well past dawn, but she was still sleepy. Remembering the events of last night, she shot out of bed wanting to check on Inuyasha. She splashed some water on her face from the basin in her room and ran her hand through her thick hair, trying to tame it down. Straightening her clothes as much as she could, she walked in to the kitchen to see her mother just putting on the kettle. Apparently, she too had just woken up.

"Kagome… you're up." Mayu smiled at her daughter. "Go see if Inuyasha is up yet." She smiled to herself seeing the blush creep up on her daughter's face.

Kagome hopped down the stairs and rounded the counter calling out to their guest, "Good morning Inuyasha! How's your…"

She trailed off, seeing the bedding rolled up neatly. Other than that, there was no trace of their late-night visitor. Even the blood on the floor had been cleaned up. She looked around the small room and even checked under the counter. But there was no denying the fact that he was gone. She sat down on the floor where he had been sitting last night, her heart breaking at the thought that she would never see him again.