Chapter Twelve- The New Moon

The gun is loaded when the glass is full
Down the hatch and the trigger's pulled
Off the wagon and back onto the stool
I know that when I stare into your eyes
I can see all the years of lies
Ghosts and demons you never exorcised

-Billy Talent lll

Kagome's mom had broken the news to her just days before. She hadn't stuck around to listen to the details. They thought they could just ship her off to some foreign place? The miko stared off at her packed bags. She didn't want to live with more purists. She wanted to get AWAY from them. They would be here soon.

She idly wondered what this Mikiaha family would be like. Would they be as crazy as her mother? Did they even speak English? How was she going to get out of this? Kagome picked at another scab, a thought coming to her. Digging through her bags, the raven haired girl pulled out a sleeveless top. Changing shirts, Kagome looked at the mirror. Shit was about to hit the fan tonight.

When her name was called from downstairs, Kagome left the room with her head held high, a bag in each hand. It was like moving from one hell to another…the least she could do was give her mother some of that hell before leaving.

Upon entering the living room, Kaon was the first one to react. "WHAT IS THIS?!" Without thinking on it, he grabbed onto her bloodied arms. "Do you really hate yourself this much; you would do something as stupid as this?"

"Let go of me now," Kagome ground out.

Kaon quickly backed away, remembering that they had important guests. Of course she would pull some sort of stunt like this, on such an important night. What if the Mikiaha family refused to take her now? Self-mutilation was a sin frowned upon greatly. Again, Kagome was proving to be the black sheep of the flock.

A girl around her age with long black hair and chocolate brown eyes, hesitantly approached Kagome. "You are obviously unhappy. I'm sure coming with us to preach the good news will surely lift your spirits. Let my family take you in and show you the light. I'm sure you will very much enjoy Japan."

The words the other girl spoke made her skin crawl but one thing did catch her interest. Japan? Where Sesshomaru was? What if this family lived close enough for her to be able to meet him? She just wouldn't be able to tell them where she was going….

She glanced over to the two people standing behind the other girl. A woman with gentle brown eyes stood next to a teenage boy. He had long black hair and the same brown eyes as the woman beside him. He clearly looked uncomfortable and was trying not to fidget too much at the time.

"Let me introduce ourselves. My name is Izayoi and this is my son and daughter; Kikyou and Yasha. We would very much like to welcome you into our fold."

"Where is your husband ," Kaon suddenly interrupted.

Izayoi's eyes went downcast. "He went to acquire more worldly pursuits and is no longer in the truth. It is just I and my two children. Yasha acts as head of our household. He is well versed in the bible and even gives his own speeches in the congregation now. I can assure you that your Kagome will be in good hands."

Kaon eyed the meek, small woman. "And how again did you come about choosing Kagome for this mission?"

"The head of our congregation gave us a list of young students from this area. Kagome was listed as one of them. With so many names on the list, it was more of a random choosing. Once we picked a student, the elders supplied us with your address and I wrote right away. There are many English speaking students in my children's school that could benefit from hearing about the truth. Kikyou and Yasha have both taken English as a second language but they are only two people and there are no other purists in our congregation who know English. A third person would be very useful to us."

Kaon still didn't feel one hundred percent sure on this. "Is there an elder I can contact to confirm about this?"

Izayoi glanced at Kikyou. "Yes, Brother Hiro can be reached by this number."

The younger girl handed him a slip of paper.

"Did you want to call now," Izayoi inquired softly.

Kaon's lip curled upwards in dismay. He didn't want to have to waste money on a long distance phone call. "It's fine. I have faith in what you've told me. If I have any questions I'll be sure to give this number a call." He gave her one of his best cheesy smiles.

Izayoi returned his smile with a fake one of her own before turning to Kagome. "Are you ready my dear?"

Kagome looked around the room for Souta but he was nowhere to be found. She glanced over at her mother whom refused to even look at her. She didn't bother looking to Kaon. He wasn't worth the attention. The raven haired miko let out a little sigh. It's not like she had any real choice in this matter. Numbly, Kagome nodded.

"I just have a few papers for your parents to sign, why don't you and the kids go ahead and wait for me in the taxi. This should only take a moment."

Kagome followed the two other teenagers out to the taxi. The three of them sat in silence until Izayoi joined them. The older woman wrinkled her nose in distaste at the filthy interior of the taxi. Just how many germs were accumulating in this place, she didn't want to know.

"Driver, please just take us two streets down. I have a limo waiting for us there."

Kagome's brow furrowed. What was with the taxi then? And a limo?

Izayoi glanced back at the raven haired girl. "You might want to put a coat on dear; Sesshomaru will have absolute fits if he sees your arms like that. And who knows how InuTaisho would take it! They are both already really worried about you."

Oh…okay…she must have fallen asleep on her bed…and this was all just some dream…right? Kagome dug her nails into the palm of her hands…pain shot up where her fingernails dug in….nope…not a dream…then….wtf…

"Y-you guys know Sesshomaru?" Kagome's mind was spinning. What exactly was going on? How did this happen? Weren't they purists?

Izayoi smiled warmly at the poor miko. "I'm Sesshomaru's step-mother. Inuyasha is his brother and Kikyou is Inuyasha's girlfriend. My husband wanted to help get you to Sesshomaru and out of that horrible situation so we devised this plan. Pretty clever, ne?"

"So you aren't purists?"

"Oh heavens, no," Izayoi exclaimed, "I'm married to a very prominent dog demon and my son here is a hanyou. I'm sure the Divine's Organization would condemn me to damnation if I ever even tried stepping foot into one of their congregations."

The taxi pulled up beside a limo. Kagome quickly pulled on a long sleeve shirt from her bag, over the tank top. She was still having a hard time accepting all of this. This was really happening?

Inuyasha grabbed her bags with the prompting of his mother. Kikyou gently took her hand, wrapping Kagome in her warm aura. It was something most mikos were able to do. She hadn't even noticed that Kikyou was a miko until now. She vaguely remembered Sesshomaru complaining about a younger half-brother. But if he was a hanyou…then why did he look so human?

Kagome's body trembled when the door to the limo opened for her. The youki coming from within was very unsettling. She had never felt such tremendous power before. Izayoi gently guided Kagome inside while Kikyou and Inuyasha chose a seat together.

"Did they sign the papers," InuTaisho immediately asked.

"Yes, they were very hesitant at first but when I explained it would be easier when it came to enrolling Kagome into a school, her mother reluctantly relented. By legal rights Kagome no longer belongs to them."

Kagome's whole body was frozen in place as she stared at the two silver haired dog demons sitting across from her. They both shared the same golden eyes too.

Sesshomaru leaned forward, slowly out stretching his arm to her. She seemed so small and fragile and he didn't want to scare her away.

The raven haired miko's vision slowly began to darken. Had she remembered to eat today? Sesshomaru felt sudden alarm as her small body slumped forward unconscious.

Kikyou was instantly by her side. She gently laid her hands on the other miko, looking for whatever ailed her. Besides the self-inflicted wounds, Kagome was merely malnourished. "Do not be so alarmed, Sesshomaru-sama. She simply needs a good meal. I doubt she has had anything to eat today."

The silver haired youkai gently scooped her up into his arms as he stared down at his little miko. Curiosity was nagging at him. She had never given him a proper response to his question. He could feel Izayoi eyeing him intently as he gently pulled back one of Kagome's sleeves.

A low growl escaped him as he held her closer. He would not allow her to do this anymore…

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A/N- Thanks for the reviews! Next chapter should be out some time next week. I estimate probably about 20 chapters for this fic. Thanks for reading!