InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Affections ❯ Chapter 1

a/n::: This is my first fanfic ever. Tell me if it's any good. And when I say tell me, I mean TELL ME!! I neeeeedddd reviews! Otherwise I'll stop writing this fic. I need to know that someone is reading it (other than the friends I beg to read it).

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is in no way mine, nor will he ever be. ::cries::

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Prologue:

Once upon a time, a demon and a human fell in love. Now, in this time such a thing was unheard of. The demons who knew muttered that the great dog demon, who was Lord of the Western Lands, had gone soft. To even consider taking a human weakling as a mate! If he went through with this, they told him, he would lose his title and all the respect they previously had for him. But he didn't care about that stuff anymore. Now he cared only for one person…

The woman was soon being shunned by the other villagers. To love such a vile creature as a demon was madness, they thought. She soon found that her friends had abandoned her and that people avoided her on the streets. Whenever someone caught her eye, their gaze was filled with suspicion and mistrust.

But for some odd reason, she didn't feel betrayed and lonely. She was sure that she had made the right choice. Why should it be wrong to be with the one she loved? And she did love him, with all her heart.

The two married and built a house in the forest, not too far from the village. They had a son, a hanyou they named Inuyasha.

They lived in solitude, hardly ever venturing into the village. The people there hated them. The only visitor they got was one of the woman's old friends, the only one who had stuck by her. When her friend had a daughter, Kagome, she often brought her over to play with Inuyasha. And so, from very early childhood, the two were friends. Kagome and Inuyasha.

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Chapter One:

A thirteen-year-old Inuyasha and a twelve-year-old Kagome were racing through the forest. Kagome, having built up her strength throughout the years, was almost able to keep up with Inuyasha. Almost.

"Ha! I win!" Inuyasha shouted as he tagged the Goshinboku tree. Kagome caught up and sat against the tree, catching her breath.

"Hmph! I would have won if you hadn't cheated," she said accusingly.

"Cheated? Never! Don't try to blame me because you're such a weakling!" Inuyasha replied, mocking her. "Come on, let's go sit up in the tree."

"What did you call me?" Kagome asked, eyebrows raised questioningly as she climbed onto Inuyasha's back. The Goshinboku, having no low branches, was one of few trees she couldn't climb herself, so Inuyasha usually carried her up.

"I called you a weakling, wench." Inuyasha sprang off the ground and landed gracefully on one of the Goshinboku's thick branches.

Kagome slid off Inuyasha's back and sat against the tree trunk. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the cool breeze brushing by while still managing to keep up an argument with Inuyasha.

"I am not a weakling or a wench, dog-boy," she retaliated.

"Feh," was all Inuyasha said. They sat quietly for a few minutes, watching the evening shadows shift around them.

All was quiet. Everything seemed to be right with the world, at least to Kagome's eyes. But the peace didn't last nearly as long as she would have liked. Inuyasha's head suddenly jerked toward the west, where the sun was hovering above the horizon. His eyes narrowed and he sniffed the air.

"What is it, Inu?" Kagome asked.

"Smoke."

"What do you mean, smoke? A fire?" Kagome asked him, a bit scared. Both of them realized what lay west of them, the only thing that was likely to catch fire without lightning hitting it-- Inuyasha's house.

Inuyasha didn't answer Kagome's question. He just stared in the direction of the house, which was about two miles away.

"We should get help from the village," Kagome said. "They'll help, won't they?"

Inuyasha sneered. "Yeah right, Kag. And pigs fly. And I'm the queen of England. And giant green elephants wear tutus while dancing on birds. And-"

"Inu, enough already!" Kagome said, and Inuyasha smirked. Though it was a grim topic, they were somehow able to joke around about the villagers and their attitude toward Inuyasha's family. (A/N- Don't ask me how, I am but a lowly authoress)

"Be serious Inuyasha…" Kagome said. "I mean, what if our parents are stuck inside there? What if they're being burned to a crisp as we speak? What if- what if-" Kagome had been getting more and more hysterical with each sentence, so that before she could complete her thought she fell through the branches of the tree to the ground.

A loud thump was heard and Inuyasha immediately leaped from the Goshinboku, landing softly on the ground beside her.

"Hey, wench, are you alright?" he asked concernedly.

"Ooooooo, that hurt…" Kagome winced and stood up. Of course Inuyasha didn't help her, but she wasn't really expecting him to. `He never remembers to be polite', she thought. Oh well, she was fine. It was no big deal anyway. Back to more important matters…

Inuyasha started as Kagome suddenly jumped up, grabbed his arm, and began to run through the forest, dragging him along. "Hey!" he yelled.

Kagome stopped abruptly, causing Inuyasha to overbalance and fall flat on his face. "What?" she asked innocently.

"Oh, nothing, I just thought maybe you could STOP!" Inuyasha had just received a mouthful of dirt… needless to say, he was not happy, something Kagome noticed immediately. "You're dragging me along like a rag doll!" he ranted. "I can run faster than you. I'll drag you back to the house, not the other way around! Now climb on my back!"

"Okay…" Kagome whimpered faintly, clambering onto Inuyasha's back. She gripped his shoulders tightly as he took off toward the house, scared of what she might find when she got there.

It took him 5 minutes to get there, the stench of burning wood getting stronger with every step. As they neared the clearing where the house stood, the smoke began to sting Kagome's eyes. When they burst through the last few trees she slid off Inuyasha's back and slumped to the ground, rubbing her eyes furiously, trying to clear them. When she opened them again she saw, to her horror, a near-solid block of fire.

`The house', she thought. "Mommy?! Daddy?! Where are you?" she yelled, but there was no answer.

Inuyasha had dropped Kagome and immediately run into the blazing house. It didn't take him long to realize that no one had survived. The flames surged around him as he stood, eyes wide, staring at the huddle of bodies around the table. `What happened?' he thought. `How come they didn't get out? How come they're just sitting there? Like they didn't know what was happening 'till they were dead?' As he pondered, the flames surrounding him began closing in. Noticing this, Inuyasha turned and fled out the door, away from the horrific seen inside. There was Kagome, curled up in a ball, yelling for her mom and dad.

"Please, I don't want to be alone…." She whispered, the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You aren't, Kag. I'm here." Inuyasha put a hand on Kagome's shoulder, kneeling down beside her. He looked a bit nervous. "And don't cry. I can't stand to see women cry." Kagome barked out a weak laugh and tried to dry her tears on her sleeve.

"So what are we going to do?" Kagome asked. She didn't need Inuyasha to tell her of the scene within the burning building-she knew their parents hadn't made it. She would have cried again, if not for Inuyasha.

"Survive, I guess. You know the villagers won't accept me, so we can't go to them for help. Well, I mean, you could probably get taken in by some family or another. Yeah, that'd work. I'll just stay in the forest, okay?"

"No way, you idiot!" Kagome countered. "If you're staying out here, so am I! You're my best friend and I'm not abandoning you."

"No, Kagome! You're going into the village, a nice family is going to take care of you, and you're going to be happy, whether you like it or not!"

"Will not!"

"Will so!"

"Will not!"

"Will so!"

"Will not!"

"Will so!"

"I WILL NOT, Inuyasha, so SHUT UP!!!" Kagome yelled.

Inuyasha, startled at the outburst (and a little bit freaked, too) didn't have time to gather his thoughts and rebel. Kagome, taking his stunned silence for compliance, continued. "I know the villagers don't accept you very well-" Inuyasha snorted sarcastically at this "-so I can go into the village and maybe find a way to get some money for us."

"Wait a minute, Kag. There is no way I'm depending on a girl to buy my food! I'm helping!" Inuyasha insisted.

"But how can you help when you can't enter the village?" Kagome asked.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll think of something…."

*.*.*

Two weeks later:

The king and queen were beginning to think that it was around time for them to visit the village again. Their castle-where they lived with their daughter, the princess Kikyo-sat atop a hill to the north of the village. Though it was close by, the royal family rarely visited it. But today, they felt like going on a quick jaunt-except for Kikyo, who was busy with dance classes and etiquette lessons.

So the king and queen set out in a carriage and rode down to the small town. Things were quiet-everyone was gathered at the market in the town square. The two monarchs asked the driver to take them there, thinking they might buy a small gift for their daughter.

They were standing at one of the many stalls, looking at wooden flutes and stone statuettes, when something-or rather, someone-caught the queen's attention. Wandering through the crowd was a small, black-haired girl with a large box in her hands and a smile on her face.

"Demon fangs! All sizes! Affordable price!" the girl was shouting. The queen was interested. Why would someone sell such a thing as a demon's fang? And why would a child be selling them?

Calling to the old man who owned the stall, she pointed out the girl and asked who she was.

"Oh, 'er? She's an odd one. 'Er parents died not too long ago, I 'ear. As far as I know, she's been livin' on 'er own since then. I believe she's called Kagome." The stall's owner seemed to be used to talking to important people. He only stuttered a little at being addressed by the queen.

"And she sells demon fangs? Why?" she inquired.

"Oh, demon fangs, they're quite useful. They make excellent blades. Most a'come knives, but if you have one 'at's large enough, you can make a sword. I'm not sure where she gets 'er wares from-they're odd things she's sellin'. Last week, 'twas the shell of a gian' insect o' some sort she was peddlin' off. My son bought a piece, used it t' make armor for hisself. 'Twas nicely priced, too." The man was biting his lip and beginning to shift from foot to foot nervously.

The queen thanked the man and handed him a Silver Canter for his troubles. Bowing, he turned around and went to attend to his other customers.

The queen turned to the king and told him, "There's a girl who just walked by here a minute ago. She was selling demon fangs." The queen knew that the king hadn't been paying attention to her conversation with the stall-keeper or she wouldn't have bothered restating this. The king tended to be a little bubble-headed when he wasn't sitting in a throne.

"Huh?" The king jolted to attention in a very undignified manner. "Oh, sorry, drifted off for a moment there. What were you saying?"

"A girl selling demon fangs passed by a minute ago."

"Oh. So?"

"She looked like Kikyo."

"Our Kikyo?"

"Yes, our Kikyo." The queen was getting a little exasperated. This was taking too long.

"And, uh, why is this such a big deal, dear?"

"Look, I just thought that it would be a good idea to help her. Kikyo needs a playmate, and according to the stall owner, the poor girl's homeless, and she's lost her parents-we'd be doing a good deed."

"But we've already taken in one orphan; do we really need another mouth to feed?"

"Oh, come on, dear! She's old enough to work as a kitchen helper-she can work as well as be a friend to Kikyo! Please?" The queen had always had a soft spot for orphans, having lost her parents herself when she was fifteen. She was always finding reasons to give food and shelter to children she found in need. So far only one child had stayed in the castle permanently, though, and to her, the prospect of more happy faces around was very tempting.

The king looked at his wife, and thought about it. If he said yes, his wife would be happy, and he'd be doing a good deed. However, this girl was a peasant, and peasants tended to have crude manners. He didn't want her rubbing off on his little Kikyo, did he?

On the other hand, if he said no, his dear wife would pester him to death, or until he gave in, whichever came first.

`Oh well,' he thought. `If I'm to say yes no matter what, then I might as well give my consent now. It'll save my eardrums quite a bit of damage....' He sighed heavily and said, "Well, I guess it's all right."

"Thank you, honey." The queen smiled and gave her husband a quick peck on the cheek.

"Now, where is this girl of yours?"

"Ah!" the queen exclaimed. "I should find her!" The king sweatdropped. That's his wife….

The queen continued. "Go wait in the carriage, dear. Wouldn't want you getting lost, now would we?" she said, sounding like a mother speaking to her son.

"No, ma'am," the king played along, pouting. Then he headed back to the carriage while the queen dove into the crowds.

*.*.*

Kagome was feeling very good. She had already sold half of the demon fangs she had started with, and made quite a bit of money. Inuyasha had killed the demon these fangs came from while it was tormenting the next village over, and Kagome had already sold pieces of its hide last week. The two were doing quite well for themselves, but there's only so much a dead demon could be used for. They had run out of things to sell. The money they made from the fangs would buy them food for the next week at least, but after that Kagome didn't know what they would do.

As she made her way through the market, wares in hand, she heard a voice call out from behind her, "Little girl! Little girl, will you please wait for a minute, I wish to speak with you!"

Kagome, seeing no other children around, assumed that she was the aforementioned "little girl" and turned to face the woman speaking.

"Yes, ma'am?" she asked, studying the lady discretely. She was tall and elegantly dressed with long black hair and a kind air about her. She didn't look like a prospective customer, but nonetheless seemed important, so Kagome used her best manners.

"Hello, deary, I'm sorry to bother you, but I just had to ask about your merchandise. I've heard about the properties of demon fangs, as well as their uses, and I must say I'm fascinated." She wasn't really, but the queen thought this would be a good way to approach the girl. "How much do they cost?"

"5 Silver Canters for the smaller ones and 9 for the canines, miss," Kagome recited. `Hmm. Maybe she's a customer after all…' she thought, smiling.

"Oh that seems a nice reasonable price. Where do you get these, that you are able to sell them for so little? Your father, perhaps?"

"Oh, no ma'am. My father died a couple of weeks ago." Kagome looked down at the ground, hoping the woman would forget her earlier inquiry as to where they came from in her pity. You see, nobody knew that she and Inuyasha were helping each other. No one would buy anything from her if they knew she got it from "that filthy half-breed".

Unfortunately, the woman had a one-track mind. "From your mother then? Or maybe a brother?" The queen really wouldn't have bothered asking if she knew for sure whether Kagome was an orphan or not. But she couldn't rely totally on an old man's statement that her family was dead. If she had a grandpa or someone else to look after her, then the queen couldn't take her in.

"My mother died with my father. I have no brother or sister." This line of conversation was really beginning to depress Kagome. She wasn't quite over her parents' deaths yet. (a/n: can't say I blame her)

"So you're all alone?"

`Why is she so nosy?' Kagome thought. She didn't answer the woman. She wasn't alone-she had Inuyasha-but she didn't want to tell the woman that.

But, of course, the woman took her silence for a yes. "Oh, you poor dear," she cooed. "Where do you live?"

"Around…" she said, and bit her lip nervously. She didn't appreciate this woman's prying inquisitions. She wished she'd just buy something and leave.

The queen, however, had other ideas. "Oh, but living by yourself simply isn't acceptable!" she exclaimed. "I've decided. You're going to come live in the castle with me!" The queen was prepared to accept excited thank you's and gratitude… but Kagome was just staring…

"C-c-c-castle?" Kagome stuttered, trying to absorb the woman's statement. "W-w-what do you mean, castle?"

"Why, exactly what I said, dear. Oh, I'm sorry; did I forget to introduce myself? How rude of me," the queen said, smiling softly. "My name is Miyame Miko. Queen Miyame Miko."

Kagome, not knowing what to say to this, reverted back into "fish mode"-eyes wide, mouth opening and closing silently, mind mostly blank. When she snapped back to reality she began to bow incessantly.

"I'm so sorry for my rudeness, Your Highness, I had no idea… please excuse me!"

"Oh, calm down, dear, no need to be so nervous. I'll go if I'm making you uncomfortable, but my offer still stands! A home in the castle! Promise me you'll think about it." With that, the queen turned and walked away, taking her time and moving slowly so Kagome could catch up with her if she decided. After only a minute, the queen felt the tug on her sleeve she'd been expecting. Turning around, she looked down to see the young girl shuffling from foot to foot with her eyes trained on the ground.

"What is it, dear? Have you decided?" she asked.

"I think so, Your Highness," Kagome answered. "But I have a question first."

"What is it?"

"If I come, can my friend come too? His parents died with mine, and we've been helping each other for a while now. He's my best friend and I can't abandon him so-"

"Don't worry, dear, your friend is welcome! It's quite dreary in the castle, and a few more children around would be just the thing to liven it up," the queen said.

Kagome didn't know quite what to say to this. Who'd of thought the castle was dreary? But Kagome didn't care if it was the most boring place on the planet-it was a roof over her head (a big one!) and food on her plate, in her eyes. Living in her old house was fine, but sometimes the memories were just too painful. Now, she could go see the castle! It seemed like a perfect solution. She just hoped Inuyasha saw it the same way.

*.*.*

Inuyasha was not happy when he heard the news, to put it simply.

He sat at the table in Kagome's old house and listened while she explained things to him-the queen had offered a home in the castle; she was waiting with the king in their carriage if they decided to come; she really, really wanted to go…

Inuyasha just sat with his arms crossed, a frown on his face. "Feh," he sneered. "We can take care of ourselves, Kag! We don't need them."

"Please, Inuyasha?" Kagome fell to her knees, clasping her hands in front of her face and wearing a puppy-dog pout. "Please?"

Inu simply turned his head away, glaring at the wall. "You know they'll turn us out once they see me, don't you?"

"They won't! I asked Queen Miko! She said they've already adopted one kid, and he's all demon!"

This piqued Inuyasha's interest a little, but not enough to sway him. He continued his staring contest with the wall.

Kagome dropped her hands to her lap, disappointment etched across her features. `Even after pleading?' she thought. `After begging? Well, I didn't want to resort to this… but…'

She sighed heavily, looking down at the ground so that her eyes were in shadow. Inuyasha, hearing her, jerked back around to face her. She sighed again, just as heavily as before.

Inuyasha was getting worried. "Uh… what… Kag?..." he trailed off, confused.

All of a sudden, Kagome sprang to her feet and stared him straight in the eye. To Inuyasha's dismay, he saw tears there, threatening to overflow any second.

She started shouting. "Inuyasha!" she cried. "You can't expect me to stay in this house for the rest of my life! There are too many memories! You can't make me stay here, I'll die!!"

Inuyasha was leaning back away from her in his chair, looking scared as hell. When Kagome finally broke down and began sobbing, he was at a complete loss. He was afraid to open his mouth-he's probably just start stuttering like a fool. But he couldn't just let her cry.

"Uh… ah… um… l-look Kag, there's no reason to get all sobby about it. If it means that much to you, we can go live in the castle… I guess…"

"Really?" Kagome sniffed.

"Uh… yeah," Inuyasha replied.

"Okay then!" Kagome cheered suspiciously quickly, though her cheeks were still wet with tears. Smiling, she grabbed Inuyasha's arm and dragged him out the door.

Inuyasha, sensing (a little late) that it had been a trick, followed dumbly, muttering curses under his breath.