First Love

Chapter 1

"Kagome dear?" an old woman asked, lightly brushing the sweat off of her brow.

"Yeah mom?" answered the girl named Kagome as she walked into a small hut that she shared with her mother and ten year old brother..

"Could you please get some water from the river so I can make dinner?"

"Of course," replied Kagome with a smile.

Bending down, Kagome grabbed the bucket that was always found by the doorway before leaving. It would take Kagome about ten minutes to get there and another ten to get back.

She noticedthe beautiful sunset as she walked through the small village she and her family resided in.This was Kagome's favorite time of the day.

The colors of the sky at this time of day usually made Kagome think of many things andshe remembered she would be coming upon her eighteenth birthday in a few weeks. She'd been living in this village for eighteen years already.

Her life was nothing fantastic, but she loved it nonetheless. Kagome belonged in a class of very poor stature that made barely ends meet. You could never tell by the smiles her family always had on that they were suffering. They never wanted to worry anyone if they did or didn't have enough food to eat at dinner, or if they couldn't eat anything at all. Unfortunately this did happen.

She enjoyed helping her mother since their father died.It was almost instinctto take some of the burden off of her mother, and in a way she wanted to show her thanks to her mother for raising her so well.

Kagome never once complained;she appreciated everything she and her family had. They were alive, happy, and more importantly, they were together. That's all Kagome would ever need.

She did admit when she was younger, she did get jealous when she would see beautiful women that had gorgeous jewelry and wore equally stunning kimonos.

Never once did she ask her mother why they didn't have clothes like that for fear of hurting her feelings. Even now, at seventeen, she was wearing an old gray kimono she had for the past few years. Even so, she was grateful because she knew there were some people who didn't have clothes on their backs.

Finally reaching the river, Kagome sank to her knees and placed the bucket in the river and waited for it to fill with water.

She briefly wondered what her future would be like. Would she ever get married? Have children? Most of the young women in her village were already married and pregnant. A handful, which included Kagome, weren't.

'I'm not sure I even want to get married. The only thing important to me at the moment is mom and Souta.'

Realizing the bucket was full, Kagome hauled it out of the water before standing up with some effort, and began walking back to the village.

The woods were growing dark and Kagome knew she would be home when she could see the moon out in the sky brightly. A firefly flew past her and she smiled as its light went on and off.

If she ever did change her mind about marriage, Kagome wanted to marry someone she loved with all her heart. She didn't want to settle with someone she could live with, but rather someone she couldn't live without.

Sadly at this time in her life she only knew of one person she could live with. He was the village healers apprentice, Hojo.

He was a nice guy and was well off money wise, but he never gave Kagome butterflies in her stomach whenever she looked at him. He was more of a friend to her rather than a lover. He'd ask her to festivals and to go on walks together, but each time she denied. She belonged at home, helping her mother.

He did come to see her whenever he could and he would even help Kagome with whatever she would be doing. She valued his friendship very much so, as she had another named Sango.

Sango was her best friend since she was little and they had done everything together. But last year Sango left with a man she had fallen in love with named Miroku. Kagome was happy for them, but at the same time jealoussince Sango would leave their village to go with Mirokuand live the rest of their lives together.

Looking back she realized how childish it was and that she might have done the same thing if it were she.

Reaching her small house, she pushed aside the flap of deer hide that was used for a door and stepped inside to receive a warm welcome home from her mother. And at that moment Kagome wished her father was alive because when her mother opened her eyes to turn and make dinner, she saw a deep longing sadness. Kagome's heart ached when she saw her mother like that.

Her mother didn't deserve to feel like this but what was done was done, and Kagome silently wished she would never have to endure the hardships her mother had to.