Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or Inuyasha!

Okay, there is nothing that I would really consider rated R…but I wasn't sure. So it's rated R just to be safe.

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Abuse

Huff…it was heavy.

Huff…it was cold.

Wheeze…it was plain unfair.

Splash…it slipped.

"Oh, no." a petite female moaned dejectedly under her ragged breath. She ignored the severe pain that shot through her spine when she crouched down to retrieve her bucket, dismissing it as a minor setback. The girl cried out in silent scream pain as soon as the bucket came into contact with her bare skin. She reluctantly allowed her bucket to slip from her sore fingers once again. Utilizing the full moon as her only source of light, she carefully examined her callused hands, grimacing at the sight of her raw appendages. "It hurts," she murmured to no one in particular (there wasn't anyone there, anyway) while gently balling her hands into small fists.

"How much longer must I suffer this injustice?" she whispered softly to the stars, foolishly hoping someone – anyone would answer her question.

Ignoring the protests of her aching hands, she picked up her wooden bucket and hurried back to the old well. Grunting slightly with her strained efforts, she was finally able to reel in a large bucket of freezing water. She unceremoniously dumped the contents into her bucket, spilling a quarter of the water in the process. Wrapping her hands tightly around the bucket's handle, she heaved her heavy burden through the main part of her village and towards the back hills, where a small hut was situated.

"Kagome, what are you doing up at this ungodly hour?" a slightly older girl asked while bending down to pick up her fire cat demon - Kirara. Kagome plastered on a tired smile and glanced up into the dark night as if to confirm the elder girl's question before exhaling a wistful sigh.

"Well, Sango, I wouldn't be talking. What are you doing up so early…or late? Depending on how you're viewing it." Kagome laughed in an effort to hide the grimace of pain that had momentarily passed over her face. Kagome could feel a lump beginning to form in her parched throat when Sango's eyes lingered on her hands.

"It's my shift. We, exterminators, have to keep an eye on the village day and night." Sango finally replied, shifting her gaze from Kagome's hands to her face. "Even if it wasn't my shift, I would feel obligated to be out here. My father is the head of the exterminators in this village and I desire to help him carry some his many burdens."

"That's so thoughtful of you, Sango." Kagome grinned childishly, "It's just like you to say those things." Kagome took a quick glance at the sky before chirping, "I'm going to head back home now. I still have breakfast to make for my big family. See you around!" Before Sango could reply, Kagome was already heading home at a quick pace. Noticing Kagome's slightly hurried steps, Sango furrowed her brows in mild confusion.

"Hey, Kagome," Sango called out after Kagome's retreating figure. Kagome stopped dead in her tracks before slowly turning around to face Sango, whose face was creased with worry. "Kagome, you're working way too hard for your age. Every time I see you, you're always working. I've never seen anyone work as much as you do in my whole life. Why don't you tell one of your siblings to do the work for once? According to my knowledge, I've never seen them work before! Your family isn't mistreating you, are they? If they are, I'm going to…"

"O-Of course not," Kagome quickly blurted out, causing her cheeks to flame a light shade of red, "my parents…love me…I just like doing these chores." Kagome answered, grinning widely at Sango. "It's great exercise, don't you agree? Plus, I love the night air and running through the village! The stars are so pretty…and the moon is so bright…" Kagome rambled on, causing Sango to look at Kagome suspiciously.

"Don't you want to have some time just to enjoy yourself?" Sango asked, "Even I take a break every now and then. It's not healthy to work the way you do."

"Sango, I can't," Kagome sighed, deciding it wouldn't hurt to give Sango some of the truth. "There is just too much work that needs to be done. Kikyou is the village priestess, so I can't bother her with any chores. Mother and Father shouldn't have to work at their old age. Koharu, Nazuna, Kaeda, and Souta are too young to be doing such harsh chores." Kagome explained.

"What about Maya? As far as my knowledge goes, she just sits around acting as if she's some royal princess that had descended from heaven to grace this unworthy earth of her presence." Sango quickly lashed out.

"Eh, you mean Maya? Never mind her. Maya wouldn't know how to wash dishes if her life depended on it. She'll only cause me more trouble than she's worth." Kagome giggled softly. "You know how she is. She spends her whole day fantasizing about marrying a handsome, rich, and powerful lord. Anyway, you don't have to worry about me. I know my limits."

"All right, but if you need anything or if there's anything I can do to help, you promise you'll let me know." Sango informed Kagome, leveling her brown orbs with Kagome's blue one. "Also, if anyone picks on you at all, just tell me, and I'll beat the crap out of them." Kagome warily eyed Sango's tightly balled fist and gulped. "I haven't had much practice lately anyway."

"Heh, right," Kagome replied, assuring Sango she'd tell her if anyone was picking on her. Kagome murmured a quick, "bye," to Sango before walking down the road at a slow pace.

"Hey, Kagome…" Sango trailed, causing Kagome to turn around to face the exterminator once more. "Be careful and stay away from the forest. Some nasty demons reside there and lately, attacks from them have become more frequent."

"I'll remember that." Kagome replied. "Thanks for the warning Sango, or else I'll still be confused on how I died when I meet King Yama."

"Also, if you ever run into a strange looking human, it is most likely a demon – a very powerful demon. Not many demons can hold a humanoid form, but beware of those that can. Their beauty is what makes them deadly." Sango advised.

"Why are you telling me this?" Kagome asked sheepishly. "It's not like I'd be able to escape if I did run into one of them."

"At least you'd know how you died." Sango grinned, causing a smile to spread across Kagome's rosy lips.

"Bye Sango!" Kagome gasped out between fits of giggles. "I really need to get back home and start on breakfast."

Kagome could feel the burning friction caused by the bucket rubbing against her raw skin the whole trek up the hill. The exhausted girl stopped before her home to catch her breath before slowly pushing aside the flap of animal skin, which served as a door and a shield against the harsh winds. "The sun is about to rise." Kagome thought happily to herself.

Kagome quietly tiptoed in and placed the bucket of water near the cooking fire. Without stopping for a break, Kagome swiftly grabbed some of the remaining vegetables from the storage and chopped it into bite sized pieces. She smiled happily as she stopped to scoop some of the water into a pot to boil above the blazing fire. While she waited for the water to boil, Kagome lost herself in the intricate designs created by the fire. She yipped in surprise when she nearly forgot to drop the vegetables into the bubbling hot water.

Kagome waited patiently for the vegetable stew to cook, taking this spare moment to wipe away the sweat that trickled down her forehead and neck with a dirty piece of rag. Kagome's hand lingered above her left shoulder, where her birthmark- a blazing flame – was imprinted. Tracing her dull fingernails over the area, Kagome's eyes returned to the fire before her. "Sango, I do wish for spare moments dedicated to myself. I wish to be free – free from my imprisonment- free from my family. I wish for someone to care for me. But most of all, I wish for po…"

Kagome's thoughts were cut short when the pot rattled, causing steam to erupt from the sides of the lid. Quickly opening the pot's lid with her piece of rag, Kagome gently stirred the stew's contents. Taking a wooden spoon from nearby, Kagome daintily lifted the liquid-like stew to her lips. Before she had even registered the taste of the stew, a shrill voice coldly demanded, "What do you think you're doing?" causing Kagome to drop the spoon in surprise. "Food doesn't grow on trees, silly girl. If I catch you stealing food from the family stew again, I'll…."

"I was only testing the flavor, mother." Kagome quietly protested. "Apples are food, right? Apples grow on trees, don't they?" Kagome thought idly to herself, but wisely kept the latter tidbit of information to herself.

"Do not lie to me, you good-for-nothing child!" the woman accused, pointing a finger in Kagome's direction. Kagome wisely bit her lips and waited for her mother to finish her ranting.

"Isn't it a little early to be causing trouble?" Kikyou asked softly, her dull brown eyes showing slight signs of annoyance and irritation. Kagome could feel her cheeks flame a deep red in embarrassment when she noticed her two elder sisters, Kikyou and Maya with her younger sisters and brother in tow. "I wish for silence. I cannot concentrate with this racket. What if demons attacked? It would be your fault, Kagome, if I wasn't able to sense them." Kikyou continued, without missing a single beat.

"Yes, little sister." Maya added haughtily, emphasizing the word 'sister'. "It will be entirely your fault."

"Mama?" a young boy yawned, rubbing the sleep from his sleepy eyes.

"Yes, baby?" the woman asked softly, allowing her personality to take a huge flip.

"She's so nice to Souta, I wouldn't even have recognized her if I hadn't been spending my whole life with her." Kagome thought bitterly to herself.

"Did you sleep well? Are you hungry?" The little boy nodded his head enthusiastically. "You heard it, girl! Hurry up and serve breakfast before your father wakes up. You know how he is in the morning without his breakfast! Don't stand there like an idiot!"

Kagome quickly moved to do as she was bid, afraid to anger her mother any further, which would most likely result in a whipping – in front of her siblings. "Maya will get a kick out of that. She'll be happy as long as I'm not." Kagome thought sourly to herself. "But one day, I will..."

"Good morning, Kagome!" the little boy chirped, successfully knocking Kagome out her thoughts. After taking a small sip, he exclaimed, "This tastes great, Kagome!"

"Thank you, Souta." Kagome replied, while serving breakfast to her other siblings. "Good morning Kikyou, Maya, Koharu, Nazuna, Kaeda." Kagome greeted each and every one of her family members ranking by age. Kagome's younger siblings replied with a slight nod of acknowledgement while her elder sisters completely ignored her existence.

Kagome quickly handed a large bowl of stew to her father as soon as he took his spot at the head of the table. "This is it?" Her father roared in outrage, looking distastefully at the watery substance.

"Yes, there isn't that much food left." Kagome replied as her father took a large gulp of the stew. "Not when no one in this family is working, but me."

"That's because you're eating all the food behind everyone's back! You thought we wouldn't notice, didn't you? But I caught you red handed this morning!" Kagome's mother shamelessly accused her daughter, causing Kagome's father to turn his furious glare on Kagome. Kagome gulped and quickly took a small step backwards.

"I didn't do that, honest!" Kagome whimpered. "Even if I did eat food behind your backs, not that I did, it wouldn't be considered stealing. You can't really steal from yourself now, can you?"

"Let's hope so, or else I'm going to have to use drastic measures to teach you a lesson." Kagome's father warned, allowing the unvoiced threat to hang heavily in the air. "You added way to much salt to this stew. Salt isn't cheap, you stupid girl. Next time don't use so much!" Kagome absently nodded her head in understanding, suddenly finding her painfully small shoes very interesting.

"Aren't you going to eat, little sister?" Maya taunted before a false look of horror crossed her pretty features. "Oh no, there's no stew left." Kagome effortlessly ignored her sister's taunting (since she had her whole life to master it), choosing instead to loose herself in the fire that still continued to burn passionately.

"Kagome," her mother commanded, "go chop us some fire wood. That way, we won't have to buy wood, they aren't cheap either."

"But, it's dangerous out there!" Nazuna quickly blurted, fear entering her eyes. "I heard scary demons live in the forest! I don't think anyone has come out alive from that forest!" Souta gasped, his eyes turning to the size of saucers.

"That's nice, dear." their mother replied lazily, while trying to comfort her youngest child. "Now hurry up you lazy girl, we need the wood today in order to keep us warm and cook food." Kagome promptly grabbed the old family ax and headed for the forest, glad to get a chance to evade her family members.

"I'll walk you there, little sister." Maya suddenly offered, a cruel smirk lighting her red lips. As soon as the duo set foot outside of the hut, Maya grabbed Kagome's raw hands. "Pity, with your looks and slave-like demeanor, you'll never find a handsome, rich, and powerful lord as your husband. Wait, no, you'll be lucky if you find anyone who would want you at all!" Maya giggled happily.

"That's what you think." Kagome growled, glaring at her older sister. "I didn't know you could predict the future."

"I don't have to, it's written all over your ugly face. You are not destined for a luxurious life, unlike me." Maya smirked. "You should feel honored. You have a sister who's going to be the next lady of these lands! How does the title Lady of the East sound to you?"

"The Lord of the East is a demon." Kagome pointed out, "Where in the world did she get the idea that she would be the next Lady of the East?"

"Yes, but he is kind and fair to both humans and demons. He's a powerful fox demon. I heard he is extremely handsome and courteous as well." Maya proudly informed.

"You wouldn't know." Kagome replied, hoping to end this pointless discussion. "And you never know; I might just get the better husband."

"How about this, if you can get a better husband than me, I'll gouge out my eyes?" Maya laughed. "But don't put your hopes up, because that will never happen. How many can beat the Lord of the East? As far as my knowledge goes, there are only two candidates. Lord of the West and Lord of the South. You'll never get either of those titles."

"Never say never," Kagome promptly reminded, gripping her ax tightly. "Even if you are right," Kagome thought to herself.

Maya snorted before turning to walk back up the hill. "Have fun chopping wood." Maya called.

"Ignore her, ignore her." Kagome chanted silently to herself, concentrating on placing one foot before the other. Before she had even realized it, she had already arrived at the edge of the forest. Kagome stopped herself from venturing any further into the forest when a sensation of foreboding throbbed dully in her subconscious.

"Be careful and stay away from the forest. Some nasty demons reside there and lately, attacks from them have become more frequent." Sango's warning echoed loudly in the recess of Kagome's mind. "Also, if you ever run into a strange looking human, it is most likely a demon – a very powerful demon. Not many demons can hold a humanoid form, but beware of those that can. Their beauty is what makes them deadly."

"It's dark." Kagome murmured softly to herself, griping her ax tightly. A startled gasp escaped her slightly parted lips when her ax was suddenly yanked from her grasps. "Give it back!" Kagome ground out between clenched teeth as she glared at the village boys.

"Look, it's Kagome. So, what are you going to do about it?" the leader of the pack of boys asked, twirling the ax causally in his right hand. "Are you afraid to face us without that exterminator of yours? Wait, if I'm not mistaken, you wanted to enter the forest, right? What's holding you back? Are you scared of the big bad demons? Boo hoo, are you going to wet yourself?" This was followed by a fit of giggles from the other boys.

"Just leave me alone!" Kagome growled in warning, "And give me my family ax back!"

"Oh, you mean this piece of junk? How about, no?" the leader laughed. Without the slightest warning, Kagome charged head on at the leader, wrapping her hands tightly around her ax and trying in vain to pull back what was hers. Rough hands harshly grabbed her shoulder, securing her tightly in their grasps. She felt the air leave her lungs when a hard kick was dealt to her stomach.

"Hey, Keiji, what should we do to her?" the boys asked their leader in unison. Keiji seemed to be lost in his own sadistic thoughts for a minute before a wide smirk crossed his lips. Kagome glared at Keiji as he grabbed a fistful of her black locks and slapped her hard across the cheek. Fresh blood trickled down the edge of Kagome's mouth, leaving a trail of red in its wake.

Keiji tilted Kagome's head towards her right shoulder blade, revealing the flame mark above her left shoulder. "Let's skin her…then we can keep this unusual piece of birthmark!" This was echoed with agreements by the others as Keiji pulled out a small dagger and examined the blade closely. Kagome felt herself fall forward when she was brutally pushed off balance.

Kagome thrashed wildly within their grasps, trying to pull away from the sadistic Keiji. Kagome eyes burned a dark shade of blue when Keiji pushed the blade into her soft flesh, where her birthmark was imprinted. Kagome slammed her eyes shut, biting her lips to keep herself from screaming out in pain. "No one's going to hear me anyway. Even if they did, they wouldn't help…"

Kagome snapped her eyes open when the dagger was slapped from Keiji's hand to the ground with a loud clang. Kagome felt the hold on her limbs slacken before she was completely released. Kagome raised her blue eyes to her savior, an ethereal-looking human, who was holding Keiji by the neck. "Angel-sama, p-please let me go!" Keiji whimpered as he trembled within the angel's grasps. Kagome was captivated by the angel's long, silky hair and molten gold eyes while Keiji urinated in his pants.

"I'm the farthest possibility from an angel." the silver-haired 'angel' informed the boys in a cold, masculine voice.

"P-please let me go!" Keiji pleaded once again.

The silver-haired 'angel' scrunched his nose in distaste before tossing Keiji aside with one swift motion. Kagome watched in unveiled amazement at the 'angel's' beauty and grace. "Disgusting." he snorted, analyzing the gang of boys through cold, calculating eyes. The boys quickly grabbed Keiji's unconscious form and ran for their pitiful lives.

Kagome's eyes fell to the 'angel's' hands and noticed the razor sharp claws. "He's a demon. If this is Sango's definition of strange, than I would never guess..." Kagome trailed off in her mind when she felt her eyes cloud over in exhaustion. Kagome fell forward, but the demon swiftly caught her before she could injure herself any further. He gently pushed Kagome's hair over her right shoulder blade and carefully examined the flame birthmark, which was crusted with blood.

"I don't see what's so special about you," the demon murmured coldly, "but I will keep my promise." The demon tossed his silver hair over his back as he scooped Kagome's small form into his arms. Kagome snuggled closer to the unknown demon as he carried her deeper into the dark forest with swift, quick movements.

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Please read and review!

Summer Biology is over, so hopefully I can give quicker updates. ;)