WARNING: THIS FIC CONTAINS SCENES OF VIOLENCE, VULGAR LANGUAGE, SEXUAL ASSAULT,
DEATH OF A FAMILY MEMBER AND CHILD ABUSE.PLEASE BE AWARE AND CAUTIOUS. THANK YOU.

Two. Determined Sister

There were a million other things on her mind, a million other things more important to her than this speeding ticket that was being given to her. "You have a list of speeding offences, Ma'am. Just slow it down. Nothing can be as important as your life," the cop lectured her, handing her the slip as she rolled her eyes and sighed—another one to add to her pile at home.

Nothing can be as important as your life. But there was something more important than her life. If your men were more competent I wouldn't have to rush everywhere, she thought.

Once the officer was back in his cruiser and out of sight, the young woman pulled her helmet and goggles back over her head and kicked herself back up on her bike, which was lovingly named Kirara, and sped off at top speed down the highway. She weaved in and out of traffic, passing by everyone and taking many other drivers by surprise with her speed. Even if the circumstances were so horrible, she loved to ride her motorcycle through the streets going as fast as Kirara would take her. It was her peaceful solitude.

But sometimes that peace was broken. That officer's forced kindness—the act he put on for her when giving her that ticket—it brought the whole thing back again. They were all so useless. So apathetic. Not a single cop in this town could be trusted to get anything done, to do anything other than play with their dicks and focus on petty crime.

"Where is he? Please, you have to have found more information! N-new leads!? Something!" she cried frantically at the investigator, speaking loudly enough that she could be heard outside of the office.

He took a long, tired sigh. "I think it would be best if you just came to terms with the situation, Sango. He's not coming home... ever."

She fought back that memory, those words. Tears were not going to blind her today. Not when she was finally getting so close to finding him again. The little bit of stealth she had was going to be put to the test today if she was going to get that vital piece of information. Sango was not going to fail. She refused.

"Where are you, Kohaku?"

*** II ***

Her mother had been almost impossible to deal with when she had finally gotten home the night before, even with Kagome's reassurance that she had made a new friend who helped her on her way home, she paced around the house in distress, practically hovering over her daughter. "You should have let me pick you up, Kagome! What if something bad would have happened to you? What if somebody tried to kidnap you or hurt you? I would never be able to forgive myself! I feel so terrible, letting you walk home when you don't know your way!"

"Mom, mom!" Kagome tried to calm her mother, but to no avail, "I was okay! Nothing happened! I'll be alright, I swear!" Despite her reassurance, her mother continued to worry over her for the remainder of the evening. Of course she didn't tell her mother what had actually happened. Her mother didn't need anything else to bring her nightmares or even more worry. She was already suffering enough.

Although yesterday had been a dramatic catastrophe, today was turning out to be quite promising. Kagome's school uniform had finally come in, and she was so excited to finally blend in with the rest of her classmates. She would finally be able to disappear in the crowd, which was the only thing she thought would be able to keep people from asking the miserable questions she had been bombarded with for the past two years. Kagome just wanted to be normal—she was tired of always standing out.

Stepping outside, she took a deep breath of the fresh air; as fresh as city air could be. She was relieved to see the weather was nice today, considering she didn't know where she and Inuyasha would be training at. With the heat and the sunlight, Kagome didn't think she could bear being forced inside. She needed to feel the sun on her skin.

Walking along to the street corner to meet Inuyasha, she noticed just how peaceful her neighborhood was compared to the Feudal District. It certainly put her at ease to be in such calm surroundings. What must growing up in such a place do to a person? What on earth would it be like? Kagome couldn't imagine that it would be very pleasant. Nor healthy, actually.

Leaning against the stop-sign at the corner, the white-haired youth was already waiting for her, which kind of surprised Kagome. He didn't seem like he was too interested in this deal she forced him into. She actually expected him to be late, or maybe to not show up at all. Did he just not have anything better to do with his time?

"'Bout time you showed up," he mumbled, hands in his pockets as he looked at her from the bottom of his eyes.

"What do you mean by that? I'm perfectly on time, you're just early!" Kagome spat back, showing her lack of desire to put up with his unpleasant attitude. "Excited?" She grinned at him, having quickly dropped her defensive tone.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and crossed his arms and one foot over the other, still leaning up against the stop-sign. "Are you high? I'm just tryin' to get this shit over with." He was still just as unpleasant as the day before, that was for sure. Without explanation, he began walking across the street and back towards the Feudal District, leaving Kagome behind. He turned his head back, lip curled. "You coming?"

Kagome quickly chased after. "W-where are you going? Why are you taking me back that way isn't that where the Feudal District is? Isn't it dangerous?" She protested, trying to keep up with his fast pace. Why did he always seem to rush off to wherever he was going?

"I feel more comfortable in familiar surroundings. If I'm gonna train you, you're gonna do it my way, so stop your bitching." He turned his nose up, "Besides, I won't let anything happen to ya, Christ."

"You promise?" she pleaded, giving him the poutiest puppy-eyes she could manage.

"Tch." They continued on without much conversation, Kagome watching as their surroundings became less and less appealing. Something told her she would be able to count on him for protection, but it didn't remove the paranoia. There had to be someone in the Feudal District who could out-fight him, and what if they came after them?

In her daydreaming, she finally noticed he wasn't wearing the same red beanie as before, though he was still dressed in the same clothes. "Where's your beanie?" It was kind of a ridiculous question, really. What did it matter? Honestly, she just wanted to make conversation.

"It's too hot to wear that thing, are you serious?" he spat back.

Kagome raised a brow. "Says the guy wearing a red leather jacket."

"This thing isn't just for looks. This jacket has saved me from road-burn on more than one occasion, I'm not about to run around without it." With that explanation, Kagome noticed just how worn the jacket was. It was clear it had taken a beating, and she wondered just what kind of scraps this guy had been through. She couldn't imagine living such a lifestyle.

Inuyasha led her back to the cul de sac where he had rescued her the night before, taking her to a boarded up house towards the back. The grass had grown ridiculously tall, about halfway up the shins, and weeds had begun to overtake the house, the windows boarded up and the siding rotting off. It was a small little house to begin with, but the overpowering vegetation made it seem even smaller. He ran towards the back, motioning for Kagome to follow after, though she found herself distracted by his place of residence. "Hey!" he called, giving her an annoyed stare as she finally followed along.

"This is where you live?" she asked, coming up behind him behind the house as he started moving boards in one of the windows to enter the house from.

"Like I said yesterday: for now." As they entered, he watched the concerned look on her face grow. "What? Not up to your standards?"

She shook her head. "No one should have to live like this..."

Broken glass was lying about all around the house in each of the rooms where youngsters had taken baseball bats and peat in the windows. More than a few of the walls was covered in vulgar graffiti and there were gaping holes in the dry-wall where fights had broken out. The carpets were dirty and the used mattress looked like it had urine stains on it. Dead bugs littered the corners of the room and the ceiling fan in the living room was hanging in shambles from the ceiling. This place should have been condemned.

Inuyasha looked at her for just a moment before shrugging. "Not all of us are as fortunate as you, princess." He started shuffling around the rooms almost in rhythm, having already memorized the mess on the floor. "Don't go poking around, I'll be right back," he called as he disappeared into another room.

She waited, falling back into daydreams. Daydreams about him living here—alone and in the dark. What happened to his family? What did he do about school? Who were his friends, didn't they know what kind of situation he was in? And how lonely... how lonely must it have been to live on the streets, with no place to really be able to call home? Was he ever afraid? Kagome had only just met Inuyasha, but already, her heart was breaking for him. No one should have to live like this...

After a bit of banging and other kinds of noise, Inuyasha returned to the living area, his jacket gone. With his arms bare, she could see scares all along his arms, and her heartbreak continued. What on earth had happened to this poor boy? He nodded his head towards the room he returned from. "Come here, this is where we'll train."

Kagome followed him into the back bedroom that he had obviously just cleaned in a hurry; all of the mess that was previously thrown about the floor was shoved into the open closet or against the walls, leaving the middle open for the two of them.

"Aaw, we can't train outside?" she groaned, "It's so nice out, today!"

He shot her a glare. "Look, I told you we do this my way! So stop your whining and just do what I tell you to do!"

"You really have an attitude problem!" she shot back, folding her arms with sass.

Inuyasha made mocking faces at her, planting his feet on the ground and holding his hands out. "Then do something about it!"

"W-what!?" Her hands had instantly dropped back down to her sides, her eyes wide with a little bit of shock. "What do you mean?"

"Come at me!" he ordered, calling her towards him with his hands still stretched out in front of him. When he saw her look of hesitation, he growled back at her, "Don't be such a baby! You asked for this!"

With a sigh, she gathered her courage and ran after him, reaching a fist out that was stopped almost instantly by the boy, his other hand balled into a fist that he lightly tapped against the side of her abdomen to demonstrate his would-be counter.

"You would have been down easily with an attack like that. You leave yourself wide open. Everyone always expects a punch to the face, and you're better off dealing lower blows," he explained, not having changed his position in the slightest. Kagome listened, a little embarrassed at her lack of combative skill. It was clear she needed this training.

She pulled her hands back towards herself. "What should I do, then?"

He gave her a slight smirk, swinging his arms out back and forth in front of himself, loosening up all his joints, "I'll show you."

*** II ***

Kagome hadn't felt this exhausted in a long time, her forehead coated in sweat and her breath getting away from her. Inuyasha barely gave her time to rest during their training. She could swear that maybe he had been enjoying himself after all.

It was dark out by now, the street lights starting to turn on around the cul de sac, and she knew her mother would start to worry. "I think you should take me home now," she said out of breath, pulling herself back up to her feet and leaning against the wall beside Inuyasha who seemed well-composed, "My mom is probably losing her mind right now. I'm gonna get an earful when we get there."

He pulled his jacket back on, "You tell her what happened last night?"

She shook her head. "No. It didn't seem like a good idea to, especially after what you said about the cops. Mom's had enough to be stressed about, anyways. She doesn't need my safety added to the list." Kagome yawned, "As far as she knows, you only escorted me home." She tried to get a look at his face in the dark of the room, the light coming in through the cracks of the boarded windows the only thing illuminating the inside of the house. "You okay to stay here by yourself?"

He rolled his eyes, though she couldn't see it. "I have been every other night. Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. You on the other hand, need to work on your self-defense, still. Wouldn't trust you with my life."

"Are you sure? I could ask my mom to let you stay with us. For the night, at least." She really didn't want to be kept up at night wondering if he was safe. Besides the dangers of living in the streets, that mattress looked like it held about a million different kinds of diseases, and it couldn't be very comfortable.

"I said I'm fine! Come on, let's get you home." He led her back outside of the house without room for argument, helping her out the back window from where they entered before. They headed out under the streetlights, Inuyasha slowing down his fast pace at Kagome's plea.

The Feudal District never slept. Kagome could hear sirens in the distance, could hear the same domestic disputes from the night before. Obnoxious barking sounded from the suburban ghetto and she may have even heard gun-shots somewhere far off. She had to wonder if all this bothered Inuyasha, even just a little bit.

"So... do you have any family at all, Inuyasha?" she asked out of the silence. After what he did for her yesterday, she knew she had to do something for him. If there was anything she could offer him, she hoped that maybe it would be a stable environment.

He grimaced after a short thought. "A cock-sucking asshole for a brother." He said it so bluntly and with so much malice it really took Kagome by surprise.

"I take it you don't get along?" she asked hesitantly, not sure if she should bring up such a thing. Was there anything positive in this boy's life?

"Fuck no. He can burn in hell for all I fucking care!" he growled, gritting his teeth.

"O-oh... is there anybody else, then?"

"Nope."

Kagome was taken aback. Maybe there wasn't any hope for this poor guy after all. Maybe if she dug deeper into his relationship with his brother she could at least find a place for him to stay. They were brothers, they had to love each other a little bit, at least.

"So, why don't you two get along? Did you do anything to him?"

"I didn't do a damn thing to him! We don't have the same mom, so he's probably just being an elitist fuck about it all. And then when died dad he kicked me out of the house. I'm sure dad left him everything and now he's just taking advantage. Family is nothing more than an obligation that I don't want any part of, anyways..." he trailed off, getting lost deep in thought. Kagome watched as he became more distant, and she found herself even more curious about this poor boy. Was his upbringing full of nothing but pain?

She wanted to ask him more, but she wasn't so sure that she should. She had no intention of bringing up painful memories, yet at the same time, she so desperately wanted to understand this guy. There was something more to him, something that she felt like needed to be addressed. Not to mention, he was obviously a much nicer guy underneath his tough-guy façade. What horrible things have happened to him to put such walls up? Kagome was becoming obsessed with this hoodlum from the Feudal District, though she had yet to realize it.

For quite a while, she stared at him, trying to decide what sort of questions she wanted to ask him, which ones were appropriate. At the moment, she was mostly interested in learning more about his childhood and his relationship with his brother. "Is your brother part of a gang?"

He didn't look at her as he answered. "The ring-leader of one, actually. Sesshomaru took dad's place when he died. He lives in the Shikon District and doesn't do business in the streets anymore. Not that he ever really did before, anyways. He's always been too stuck-up for that," he grimaced as though he were looking directly at his brother even now.

"Is that his gang name, too?"

The boy nodded, still frowning. "Means something like 'perfect killer' or something. He's full of himself."

"He doesn't sound like he's easy to get along with."

Inuyasha chuckled, knowing the complete truth in her assumption. "I already explained to you he's not. I'm waiting for one of the rival gangs to waste his ass. The world will be a better place."

She let out a deep breath. "That's harsh," she frowned sadly. Kagome could never wish death on her little brother. She would never wish death on anyone, but especially not her own family. Not after all the death her family had already faced.

*** II ***

Sango stifled her breathing, listening hard as the two men exchanged conversation. If all the information she found that led her here were correct, she just had to pray these men dropped the name that would lead her to Kohaku.

"Have you ever seen the boss's face?" the shorter man asked, lighting up a cigarette as he leaned against the cargo boxes in the cold warehouse.

The taller man, who was also broader than the other, lit up his own cigarette in suit with his partner, shaking his head, "Nah. But I've heard he can be a ruthless fucker. He's demanding more children. Wants 'em around ten years old."

"That's pretty fucked up," he took a long puff, "Goin' after kids like that."

"They're easier to control. Easier to nab, too. Said somethin' about needing more feet in the streets to deal. The drug business is pretty hoppin', ya know? Addicts never sleep, man," he laughed, blowing out a huge puff of smoke.

Come on, give me a name! She demanded in thought, growing anxious. She was so close now, she could feel it. Kohaku would be home with her, soon.

The shorter man chuckled, flicking the ash off the end of his cigarette. "Nothing truer. I really wonder what a guy who calls himself Naraku looks like, though. 'Hell?' That's a pretty bold title for a drug lord."

Naraku. I'll be getting a good look at him, she thought, when I put him in his grave.

A/N: Aaah, Chapter Two is up! This fanfiction is actually a lot easier to write than I was thinking it might. It's a little reminiscent of What You Are for me, the words just sort of come out naturally, for the most part-which is good! Very good! I definitely feel like I'm getting better at writing chapters out that are of decent length, so this is a plus! It's nice to see that I'm progressing in skill level when it comes to writing prose.

Miroku will be introduced in the next chapter!

I really hope you guys are all enjoying this fic! I really enjoy writing it and the scenes just come to me with such ease! Thank you for reading, and constructive criticism is always welcome!

~Lully