Disclaimer - InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and D. Gray Man is the property of Katsura Hoshino. All characters, setting, etc. are the property of their respective owners. I, SheikahLover, merely wrote this story for amusement. I receive no profit from the creation of the story. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise relating to InuYasha and/or D. Gray Man. No copyright infringement is intended.

Image: The cover for the story is a piece of fan art drawn by the wonderful SamJadeHarley. Thank you again for creating this. It never fails to make me smile whenever I see it.

Chapter One: Pain

From the top of her head to the tips of her toes, every inch of her body throbbed. Any twitch or jerk she made as a result of the pain made her scream. And anywhere she looked she saw red.

She thought she was dying, there was no other plausible explanation. Her mother had called several doctors across the city and from the neighbouring towns. It wound up costing the family a small fortune to have numerous physicians visit their home. Each one conducted multiple examinations on her but none could determine her ailment. After the termination of each procedure, they would each tell her mother the same sixteen words: "She is perfectly healthy, Miss. Higurashi. I do not see anything physically wrong with your daughter."

Kagome could remember the first time when she heard these words. It was roughly three weeks ago. Approximately three days had passed when she had befallen to illness, that her mother decided to lock her up in the attic bedroom. It was originally the servants quarters, but her mother believed it was the proper area to keep her daughter concealed.

Her mother was always so concerned about the opinion of others. She didn't want to risk anyone seeing Kagome in her horrid state. The thought of letting her daughter rest in her own bedroom was too troubling for the middle-aged mother to handle. Kagome's bedroom was situated at the front of the house, overlooking a fairly busy street. If someone caught wind of Kagome's sickness and its lack of cure then it would undoubtedly sully their reputation.

Mother always put appearances before everything, even the well-being of her only child.

In any event, the reason these words stood out so strongly to Kagome is that she remembered hearing her mother and the doctor conversing all the way downstairs. From the attic bedroom, she was able to hear every word and breath they exchanged. It didn't make sense to Kagome how she could have heard them, but she did.

This pain was intriguing, to say the least. Although she could barely move, it seemed like her sensory nervous system was flourishing. She could hear the floorboards creak all the way from the basement. She could smell someone frying food down the block. She could even see the faint dust particles lining old clothes in the closet. But most of all, she could sense her mother's fear.

Fear.

Her mother feared what was happening to her. It was obvious that she was becoming afraid... of her own daughter.

Kagome wasn't an idiot. She noticed it whenever her mother came into the room, walking in quietly as she deposited some food before the bed. She saw how her mother withdrew fearfully from her room. Another sign occurred when speaking about her daughter's condition to other people, who unfortunately knew about her illness.

"Kagome-chan? Ah, she's fine. She's getting better with each passing day."

Lies.

"She's still her beautiful self. I know Hojo-san will be asking for her hand in marriage very soon."

More lies.

"Patience… we must be patient; after all, this is Kagome-chan we're talking about."

Even more lies.

Couldn't her mother notice what was happening to her? Didn't she understand what her daughter was going through?

I'm dying Mama. I'm dying, and you don't even seem to realize it. Why?

As the illness worsened with fevers and Kagome vomiting up blood, her mother was still none the wiser. Heck, it wasn't until the stigmata formed across her forehead that her mother screamed, and seemed to gain a true understanding of what her daughter was going through.

She wasn't dying; instead, she was transforming into a monster.

A monster!

Kagome could remember lying in the attic bed unable to sleep. Every time she shut her eyes, the pain would shoot straight through her body causing her to scream. Her arms and legs had been pinned down to the bedposts, tied tight, restricting her movement. Both the town physician and her family assumed that if she were tied back then perhaps she would be able to sleep, yet it wasn't anything but pure bullshit on their part.

It made sleep that much harder. The ropes burned and irritated her skin, which left rope burn marks. She would try to break free by shaking or swinging from side to side, however, nothing worked.

Grunting with displeasure, Kagome had hissed with pain, tears streaming down her face. Unable to speak, she stared at the door longingly, hoping that someone would come by; but no one did.

As the night passed on and time ticked by, so did the pain. It had started off normal - or as normal as this pain could be. The same sensation running through her body, erupting small cries and whimpers of pain from her sore throat. Her heart then begun to pound making her quake. Soon after, the fever broke out. What began with a cold sweat, continued with chills and bodily pains before ending with her screaming and crying for help: SOMEBODY HELP! ANYBODY HELP!

The cries, however, subsided as no words escaped her lips, only whimpers and mutterings.

SOMEBODY… HELP! ANYBODY… HELP!

The pains increased, intensifying and shaking her fully. Everywhere she experienced pain, nowhere was painless. And then, the stigmata formed. She could faintly remember staring towards the ceiling, wondering why the entire world was suddenly turning red. It had taken her several seconds to realize that something moist was dripping down to her nose. She blinked, tilting her head up only to watch as droplets of blood fell down, staining her white nightgown.

MAMA!

Seemingly, her mother burst through the door for once answering her daughter's cries. She was wearing her nightgown while clutching a small lamplight as she slowly walked into the room.

"Kagome-chan? What's wrong?" When she eyed her daughter and saw the blood, she screamed louder than she had ever screamed before.

What's this?! What's this monster laying before me?

No longer seeing her daughter confined to the bed, all her vision deduced was a monster; a hideous, painful and disgusting freak. Dropping the lamp which had successfully burnt out, she backed out of the room, scampering away as if her life depended on it.

Her daughter watched on shocked, staring to the spot where her mother once stood.

"Mama?" She mouthed her voice hoarse. "Why? Why?"

Tears cascading down her cheeks, staining her face, she sniffled and started to cry.

A lone figure sat in a large rocking chair, humming a soft tune. A large smile adorned his face making his glasses glimmer, which reflected his pure and untainted joy. Laughing he stared at the dark ceiling, pleasantly pleased.

"It's time. She's almost ready." He cackled, rocking back and forth. "The next member of our family will be arriving quite soon. Road will be quite happy."