Disclaimer: I don't own Jack!

Of Butterfly Wings

Chapter Twelve: Sibling Rivalry

Kagome pressed her palm against the side of her neck. She couldn't feel the bruise Touya had left on her, but she knew that it was still there.

The entire walk home she kept pulling her hair over her shoulder, convinced that every small flutter in the wind would reveal its existence. The subtle glances people threw their way only made her paranoia worse. Logically, she knew that it was just because they were holding hands and strangers still gawked at Touya as if he were some sort of alien. It didn't stop her mind from wandering though, convincing her that people were judging her for the large mark on her neck.

She pressed her palm against it again.

Well she supposed that she could always try using make-up in an effort to cover it up. She'd never been fond of make-up in the first place as it always made her skin break out in harsh rashes. The first time she experimented with it was when she was thirteen. She'd borrowed some of her mother's foundation and when she applied it to her face, a horrid rash had broken out. It took several days for the marks to fully disappear. Her mother chided her for using something that wasn't hers but never thought to take her to the doctor any sort of clinic to have the rash looked at. So she never touched it again. It was possible she was just allergic to that specific foundation and simply needed to find something for sensitive skin instead.

Kagome jumped at the sound of her door being flung open.

"You can always knock, you know." She growled at her twin hovering in the threshold.

Kikyou folded her arms over her chest as she rested her hip against the doorframe. A displeased scowl wrote itself across her expression.

"What did you do?" Her sibling's brows furrowed.

Kagome kept her hair tucked securely over her shoulder, "You're going to have to be more specific than that. I have no idea what you're asking about."

Which was the truth.

She honestly had no idea what Kikyou was on about this time. Her question was as vague as the thoughts that floated between the other woman's ears. Had she gotten wind of some sort of rumor or was she demanding an answer as to why she'd been out of the house more frequently?

Kikyou curled her lip into a snarl, "I heard from the grapevine that you're dating someone. All of my feeds are full of conversations about you. So spill it, what did you do?"

That time Kagome didn't fight the urge to roll her eyes.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know that I needed your permission to go out with someone. Seriously what are you, my mother?" She sat up, ensuring that her hair didn't expose the oversized mark on her neck. "Last I checked, you had your own relationship to worry about."

It was the one taboo subject within the household. There were many topics that were 'sensitive' and 'unbearable' for her sister and mother to discuss. However bringing up Kikyou's relationship with Inuyasha was always a sure fire way of getting under her twin's skin.

"What do you mean by that?" Her sibling growled through clenched teeth.

Kagome tucked one ankle under the other as she sat up straighter, "You know exactly what I'm referring to. Did you really think that by stealing a cheater that he wouldn't do the exact same thing to you? It's no surprise that he was caught in the janitorial closet with a girl from Class B."

It was a mark of shame for Kikyou.

Proof positive that she wasn't the picture-perfect girl next door that she often tried to pose herself as. While Inuyasha may have had powerful feelings for Kikyou growing up, it never stopped him from seeking a relationship with herself when Kikyou initially rejected him. She'd often heard him referring to her as the 'runner up' between the two of them and that he was just settling with the 'second best' prize.

His half brother found his view of women to be distasteful but with their father trading out wives like they were weekly specials, it wasn't a surprise to any of them that Inuyasha ended up adopting a similar attitude towards the opposite sex. To him they were just ornaments. Things to show off.

Kikyou was the grand prize to Inuyasha. She herself had been labelled the consolation prize. Everyone after that was just a passing interest. Simple flings to 'keep things interesting'. Being told that she wasn't enough to satisfy a single man must've stung Kikyou's pride.

"Watch your mouth," Her sibling took a step forward, her hands curling into white-knuckled fists at her side. "Your forget your place, you quirkless loser."

Kagome rolled her shoulders in a careless shrug, "What place? You act as if I even had one in this family." Her eyes thinned at her twin sharply, "I have no intention of keeping the Higurashi name when I graduate and I won't ever see you or mom again afterwards. I'm just here because I have to be. That's all."

It was a truth she'd decided for herself the moment she'd realized where she really stood in her mother's heart. To call her an afterthought to the woman who'd given birth to her would be a compliment compared to her true feelings.

They had no father for her to fall back on. No grandparents for her to run to. All she had was a mother that called her a mistake that she never wanted and a twin that felt as if her very existence was some sort of fluke.

Kagome gripped the edge of her bed.

Unlike most families, she had to learn a harsh reality about the origin of her and Kikyou's birth. They were not some happy accident. Nor were they the result of some long standing relationship that their mother had been in. No, it was even stranger than that.

They were born through sperm donation and IVF with a sole purpose in mind: To continue the Crystallize quirk's line. Crystallize was a recessive gene that could only pass down to the female members of the Higurashi family. If even a single gene for another quirk factor could be inherited, then Crystallize would be overwritten. Quirkless men were in short order so their mother had specifically used a quirkless sperm donor in order to conceive them. Of the many eggs that were fertilized, only her sibling was supposed to have been born. She was only allowed to make it this long under the assumption that she would have inherited the same quirk as her mother and sister. When she didn't, her own parent threatened to send her into the system. In the end she only chose to keep her because of the possibility that she could develop a strong quirk in the future which would make keeping her worth it.

That was all she was to her parent. A financial burden that had yet to pay off its investment.

Some days, Kagome wondered if she'd have been happier if her mother had given her up. As a child she used to have fantasies that her real family was waiting for her—searching for her, missing her. That she was just brought home from the hospital by mistake and that she was never supposed to have been handed to the Higurashi family. She'd use to go to bed dreaming of a future where she'd wake up and discover that this was all some kind of horrid nightmare.

Fuyumi had been the only person she confessed any of this to. The girl had held her as she cried for hours afterwards. She'd assured her that she wasn't a failure and that her future was her own decide. Just because her mother and sister were terrible, that didn't mean that her future had to be too. Fuyumi had been the one who taught her that the word family meant more than just a blood connection to someone. A true family was comprised of the people who would stand beside her through thick and thin. It was built on the foundation of trust and fostered through mutual respect. A family were the people she chose to keep around her.

Kikyou's smirk turned cold, "And go where exactly? Who would want someone as worthless as you?" Her voice raking over Kagome's ears like shards of broken glass. "Good luck finding a man that'll want to have a family with you when you're so damn powerless."

Azure eyes lowered to her neck.

Kagome froze as she saw her sister's mouth open slightly with shock.

"Is that…?"

Her hand shot up and swiftly smothered the mark with her palm.

"It's none of your business." She shot back at her sibling. Really, of all times for her hair to fall back over her shoulders.

Kikyou's smirk turned snide, "So you're not a total cold fish like Inuyasha said." The other teen tipped her chin up as she threw a condescending look her way, "To think that there's some idiot foolish enough to take you on as his girlfriend. Oh wait, you were close to that Todoroki girl not too long ago. Did getting dumped lead you to preferring women over men?"

Kagome fought the urge to react.

Getting angry and acting out that fury would only make things worse. Her mother would never agree with her reasoning no matter how justified she was. As much as it sucked, she still had to stick it out for these last three years. Afterwards, she would cut them off completely.

Kagome returned her sibling's smirk with a colder one of her own, "Who knows? At least I don't have to wonder if my partner is sneaking off with some side piece though."

She felt the harsh sting of an open palm striking her cheek. She didn't have to look to see Kikyou's furious expression.

Kagome kept her smile, "I'm still right."

Her twin leveled her with a fierce glare, "We'll see about that."

The walls gave a violent shudder as she slammed the door shut.

Kagome pressed her fingertips against her cheek, already feeling the warmth of its swelling. She doubted that there was any make-up in the world that would cover the mark her sister had just left on her.

She glanced at herself in the mirror, observing as the stark splotch of red began spreading over her high bone and creeping ever closer to her temple.

If there was one thing she could say then it was the fact that Touya would be utterly pissed tomorrow if he saw her like this.

Kagome poked at the swelled flesh, pursing her lips into a thin pout.

Sometimes, all she wanted was to pretend that this family never existed. Her eyes lowered towards her phone as she caught sight of a new notification from Touya.

Got the scarf.

Along with the message was an image of what appeared to be a hand-knitted scarf in the colors of scarlet and white.

Kagome quickly sent back a response of her own.

It didn't matter what Kikyou had planned. She could try to flirt with Touya all she wanted. At the end of the day, Touya was not Inuyasha. He was different and she wanted to try trusting him. Just one more time, she wanted to try placing her faith in a relationship with another human being.

Her smile softened as he sent her another GIF. This time it was of a cat chasing its own tail.

If there was one thing she learned from all of her years living under this roof, then it was that this situation was only temporary. One day she would leave and so too would she start to heal from the scars left behind. Until then, she would take solace in the friends she'd made along the way.

Fuyumi. Touya. She hoped to have them meet someday but for now, she was satisfied with just this much.

Kagome closed her eyes as she settled into bed for the night.

"Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day."