InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Genuine Fake ❯ The Art of Propaganda ( Chapter 1 )

Genuine Fake
by Viitoria

Chapter One: The Art of Propaganda

Kagome ran her fingers stiffly through her hair, waiting for someone to pick her up at the airport. The sky was clear; the sun shining bright. It didn't seem right for it to be so happy and her to be so miserable. She wasn't on a pleasure trip, no, her therapist had recommended her to get a change of scenery, preferably out of the city. Naturally, her mother didn't have the money to do anything like that.

It was resolved when Souta, ever the annoying brother, suggested that she go visit her father. Her mom had almost gone into shock at his words. While Mai was usually very calm, she blew up at this idea: she just about did every time her ex-husband was mentioned.

Kagome never knew exactly what happened with her parents all those years ago. An argument had sprung up one day and the sparks that had started it never seemed to die. Before she knew it, their bags were packed her dad had moved out to a hotel with her baby brother. It didn't last long, for he was back soon, dumping the infant onto his wife: it had been too much work. Before long, divorce papers were filed and he had moved out permanently.

She blamed her predicament entirely on her parents. After the divorce, Kagome's life had been a huge downward spiral. Their family never had much money to start with, and what with her dad being a former lawyer, he had managed to con the better deal out of the divorce, leaving his wife and children with barely enough to get by.

The wind picked up, blowing strands of her hair into her face. She shivered, wishing that she had worn pants, or at least a longer skirt. Tossing the strands back in their place, she caught a boy around her age staring at her. She turned away. She was used to stares-she got plenty of them as a side dish to the scarring comments everyday at school.

She'd spent most of her life under the criticizing eyes of others. After school, she'd had to work sweeping and cleaning the street outside a large club. How she watched the upper-classes guardedly, trying not to let her wanting show through. All she got were disgusted looks and an occasional pity coin tossed her way.

Life at school was hardly better. In middle school, when she still had all her pride and confidence in tact, she had stood up to a boy who was being picked on by the older students. How was she supposed to know they were the popular clique? After that, she was made fun of as well. It didn't help that the boy she'd supposedly rescued became enraptured by her. Everyday after that he'd give her some stupid, useless present, like a daisy or some leaf from a mulberry tree. She turned it down with a sarcastic comment everyday. He just didn't seem to get the message. Not that the boy had the brains to understand that, either.

In high school, it had only gotten worse. With how small the town she lived in was, everyone knew everyone else's business, and she became the school pincushion, what with the guy being too stupid to be any fun picking on. And she had to take it all with a smile on her face. Her mother didn't even notice at all, and as for her dad, he could very well be nonexistent.

So one day-her sixteenth birthday, to be exact-all her pent up anger blew up. Word of her birthday had gotten around, and as a gift, the student body had decided to play some particularly nasty tricks on her. That day, caked in some unknown substance, she had walked in on her mom frenching some real estate guy, having completely forgotten about her daughter's birthday. She blew up right then and there, not caring that it had taken almost a year to save up the money to get that television set. By the end of her tantrum, the new screen of the TV was fractured and an old family heirloom lost outside the window.

Her mom had apologized profoundly and didn't even blame her for the destroyed items, but she had only bitten her head off. Souta came home the broken television and had a little tantrum of his own. She flared out at him, too, smacking him across the cheek. Her mother didn't forgive her for that. With their saved up money, she paid for her to go to a therapist. Which was why she was stuck here now, in a completely foreign setting waiting dumbly for a ride that was probably not going to come.

She glanced back at the boy, who spotted her looking and quickly turned away. She noticed that he was sort of cute, with what perfectly a chiseled face and his hair tied in a high ponytail. She noted his pointed ears. A youkai, she realized. At school, she had overheard some of the popular girls bragging about their rich youkai boyfriends. They tended to drift towards the bustling cities like Tokyo, and even those that did live in her town didn't go to the public school there.

According to her history teacher (in the occasional times she wasn't too depressed to listen), the Youkai used to be considered enemies to men. However, after some war or the other-a lesson she hadn't bothered to pay attention to-and only the strong youkai, or rather those who had human form, survived. With their superior instincts, they merged into human culture and grew rich off the centuries they outlived their more mortal counterparts. She knew most of them lived just like humans, but the ones she'd heard of were always rich and glamorous.

Someone tapped her shoulder; she stiffened and took a defensive stance. A smiling man dressed in a chauffeur's uniform greeted her. "Excuse me miss, are you Miss Higurashi?"

Did she do something wrong? "Y-yes," she stammered out.

He continued to smile. "Please follow me. Your father sent me to bring you to his house."

Her eyes widened. She was living in the slums and her father could afford personal chauffeurs? There was definitely something wrong here. "Um, my bags," she told the driver a few steps later.

The man paused. "Oh yes." He turned right around and picked up both her suitcases at once before leading on again. "Excuse me again, Miss Higurashi, but do you mind not telling your father about this? He doesn't like blunders."

"Of course." She frowned. A blunder? Not telling my father about something as small as that? Not for the first time in her life, she wondered what her dad was like now.

When they stopped in front of a black limo, Kagome shouldn't have been surprised, though she was. Mildly. Things might be better than she thought.

Things just got better and better. It turned out that her father lived in a house big enough to be considered a mansion, with the grounds to match.

She marveled at the expanse of property, not even realizing when they had stopped. The door was opened for her and she was helped out of the car. Someone else-most likely a butler-escorted her to the door, which was opened by a maid. From there she was taken to what she suspected was a parlor, complete with a piano and lace decoration which could not have been possibly chosen by a man. Was he married?

The maid showed her a seat and politely bade her to wait. "The master will be down in a little while."

Kagome nodded mutely and took in the rich surrounding. "Are they usually so formal?" she wondered.

"No, miss. We usually take a lighter tone, but today we were instructed to be the best since the master's daughter was coming."

"Huh?" She hadn't realized she had spoken aloud. Under any other circumstance, she would have gotten annoyed for being made to wait, especially by her father, but everything had been such a delightful surprise that she didn't really mind.

Footsteps informed her that someone was coming down stairs. The maid stood up straighter and dusted off her skirt. Not knowing what to expect, Kagome did the same, but remained seated. The man that came in was more formal than she remembered, but if anything, seemed younger. For one thing, she remembered him as a balding, potbellied man from pictures to a visit to the zoo when she turned six-their last trip together. Now he had a full head of hair again and a remarkably well-toned body on a man ten years older. He was wearing a business suit even in his own home-providing this really was his house. Kagome still found it a bit unbelievable.

"Kagome," he acknowledged with a nod and a smile. "Long time no see."

She stood up. "Father?"

"The one and only," he replied. "Come give your old man a hug." Feeling better than she had in a long while approached her lost parent and gave him an awkward squeeze.

"I hear that you've had some problems," he admonished once they were both seated in the huge dinning room table for lunch. She nodded, still filling a bit alien. He sighed and took a sip a wine, dabbing at his mouth when he was done. "I tried to talk to Mai about taking you into custody now that you were a bit older, but she wouldn't hear of it."

Her father had tried to take her in? Why had her mom denied her all this? She felt the beginning sparks of her still smoldering anger at her mom flare up again. "She never told me," she said carefully.

He shrugged. "Your mother was always one to keep secrets."

She nodded agreement and picked at her beautifully arranged salad with it's fancy Italian dressing. The price of the meal, might have been able to cover the tuition of half a year at her school. Why didn't mom let me come to dads? Just because of some stupid grudge of hers, I had to suffer everyday of my stupid life.

"Dad?" she asked, testing. When he smiled to show that he was listening, she continued. Mom never paid attention to me when I tried talking to her. She was always busy doing something else. But then again, her mother did have to juggle three jobs. Not if she'd let dad help, she countered herself. "Um, when did you become so-so-"

"Rich?" her father supplied. She nodded again. Chuckling, he put down his fork. "I used to be a lawyer, as you might have known, but you mother didn't like the practice; said it was tricking honest people out of their money. So I quit the practice when I married her. That's why we were always struggling when we had you. But now that we're...separated, I picked up the practice again. I just happened to pick up the right clients. So here I am." He flashed a smile at her. She smiled back.

"So...I signed you up for Tamagawa. Is that okay? They're supposed to be really good. It's private, so there shouldn't be any lesser beings bother you." He said it jokingly, but to Kagome, it was exactly what she always wanted. No one to bother her-to start over anew. And this time, she wouldn't make the same mistakes she had.

The week passed quickly, and how wonderful it was. She was the daughter of a rich and successful lawyer in a private school, and that's how she was treated. Kan, the chauffeur, drove her to school everyday. With a new and fashionable wardrobe, her style changed dramatically. No longer was she an embarrassment to herself. She had boys hanging onto her words, she had a group of her own popular friends, who had accomplished so much more than the snobs of her old school. It was perfect, heavenly bliss.

Until the week ended abruptly. On Sunday, she had planned to go to see the new American film with her newfound friends when Akera the maid informed her that she was going home today. She must have fainted in shock, for when she woke up, she was surrounded by a worried staff. Dazed, the trip home passed quickly.

Then it was back to the old torment, the old life. The bullying, the embarrassment, the arguments...

A Year Later:

As quietly as he could, Inuyasha opened the door. He hoped this was like those movies where the protagonist never got caught for the first three times they tried sneaking back in from a forbidden outing. Unfortunately for him, this was the not one of the first three times. In fact, in wasn't even the fourth or fifth time he'd done this. He was doing this on a nightly bases since his father and brother left on their 'bonding business trip'.

The light clicked on. "I can explain mom," he said quickly.

"I'm sure you can," a distinctly male voice said. He gulped and looked towards the figure one the couch, and there, with a false smile pasted on, was his older brother. "Though if you're implying that I'm a woman..."

Inuyasha let out his breath and brushed his comments aside. "Good thing it's not dad," he muttered to himself and rushed up the stairs.

"Inuyasha!"

"Tell me later, Fluffy! I got more important things to do," he yelled back over his shoulder.

Downstairs, Inutaisho Takagi frowned and looked to his elder son. "Fluffy?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

Still scowling at his younger brother, Sesshomaru shook his head. "We're not even going to go there. That's between me, mom, and because he's an eavesdropping git, Inuyasha."

"Mom, huh?"

The younger Takagi turned his glare on his father. "Don't even try. Anyway, I think Inuyasha thought I called his name, so that means he called you Fluffy. Now go ground him till he's a hundred or something. I'm getting a coke." He stood up and stretched, not bothering to cover a yawn.

"I'll go talk to him-but coke? Don't you mean Pepsi?"

"I thought we had this argument on the 'trip' right after the car-mel vs. car-a-mel thing," he replied as he walked away. "I'm tired, I'm in a bad mood, and I'm acting too much like you and Inuyasha for my own good. I need a drink, a shower, then I'm going to the office for some catching up. And maybe I'll have a talk with mom before she comes hunting for me..."

Inutaisho just shrugged and headed upstairs after his other son. He could hear the pounding rock music from the hallway already. How can he stand the volume? he wondered. His eardrums must be breaking five days ago. Covering his own ears, he entered the room and turned the radio off.

Inuyasha didn't look up; in fact, he didn't even notice the difference. One look at his ears told why right off: he was wearing headphones. Reaching over, he pulled the neon green contraption off. "Hmm," he mused aloud. "These look an awful like the ones I keep in my safe under the floorboards under the bed. In fact, they look like the very same pair. Would you Imagine that."

The hanyou's eyes widened and he quickly shut the album he had been looking through. "Dad! I didn't know you're home."

"You knew 'Fluffly' was home."

He giggled nervously, looking from the album to his father. "It's an interesting name, don't you think?"

His father's arms were crossed and he was smirking; not a good sign if there was one. "Okay Inuyasha, what are you hiding?"

"N-nothing." He stared at the thick maroon carpeting in silence. After a while, he dared a peek at his dad's face; that wasn't a very good idea. "Okay, there's something," he blurted.

"Uh-huh," he was prodded.

"Um, nothing?" Inuyasha knew his secret would be out soon whether he like it or not, but he wanted to keep that moment off as far as possible.

Inutaisho smiled dangerously again. "Your mother doesn't think it's nothing."

His son laughed nervously. "You talked to mom already?"

"No, but I got a call from her the other day. She said you were acting really strange and she suspected a thief in the house at night, or at least one of the servants sneaking in and out. So, you want to tell me or should I tell you?"

"Damn. I think I liked it better when you and Fluffy acted like walking icicles."

His father clicked his tongue. "Watch the language, boy, you're coming with your brother to the Business merger this weekend. We wouldn't want to upset sweet Miss Angelica."

"Well double damn to that walking bag of skin and bones."

As expected, the merger meeting was hell. He was used to being in a suit and tie, but he was definitely not used to mingling with sagging old women and having his ears rubbed and his cheeks pinched. Well, maybe to some extent, but as much as he was put through that day. And the worst was that his brother had lost his good mood from the trip and reverted to the 'walking icicle' he was before. His father on the other hand, had managed to keep the happy-go-lucky lifestyle.

On Sunday he was invited to yet another party, as an award for being such a good little boy at the meeting. However, Inuyasha wanted to know what kind of award would keep him hiding in the little boys room for two hours, trying to avoid the many ex's creeping around.

Of course, his mother apologized with a new Porsche later, but that was just a bribe. With that in mind, the whole weekend was a disaster. Rich was definitely not worth the things you had to put up with it these days, new cars or not.

Monday morning dawned with a new resolution. "I'm going to get a job," Inuyasha announced to his family the next morning at breakfast.

Sesshomaru smirked. "Really? Who're you going to pay this time to work it?" His younger brother shot him a glare.

"I think that's wonderful, dear!" Izayoi inserted, trying to ward off a coming argument.

Inutaisho grunted from behind a newspaper. "It's about time you stuck out on your own."

His wife frowned. "Strike out on his own? Are you sure he's old enough to? I mean, what if-"

"The boy's almost nineteen, that's almost too old to strike out on his own!" he huffed and returned to the article. It was quite interesting, something about a divorce case and an argument over child custody ten years later. He covered a yawn.

Inuyasha cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but I was just leaving."

"Okay, but remember to call when you get there!" His mother instructed before going off to boss over the decorating crew.

"If you need a job, look on page two, local section of yesterdays newspaper."

His plan wasn't working; no one seemed upset. If anything, they all had some happy advice to give him, minus his frozen brother, of course.

"Providing I don't see your face here for a month, I'll fix you up a date with Yura when you come back." So much for that.

"Keh." Inuyasha turned on his heels and left.

Sesshomaru sighed. "So we finally go rid of him."

"Don't be so sure," Inutaisho warned his remaining son. "He'll be back."

"I don't think so, old man, with an offer like mine, I'd think he'll be scarce for at least the month."

He only shrugged and continued reading, taking a sip of coffee in return. Father and son sat in silence for a few moments before the unmistakable sound of Inuyasha breaking his car in front of the house. Flustered, the youngest Takagi mumbled an excuse, "I forgot..."

"Everything?"

"Yeah." He dashed upstairs, and within a few minutes, returned with a duffle bag, leaving just as quickly. "Bye Fluffy. This doesn't count, does it?"

Inutaisho put down his newspaper and looked pointedly at the dubbed Fluffy. "Now what did I tell you? Someone owes me something for loosing a bet."

"That was a lucky guess," Sesshomaru muttered. "And we didn't bet on anything. How did you know, though?"

"Oh, I went through the same phase at his age."

So, what do you think? My first chapter of my first Inuyasha fanfic is now done. Tell me by reviewing, please?

Kagome and Inuyasha will meet in the next chapter, and Kagome will most likely be acting pretty different from how she's portrayed in this chapter...there's a hint about it somewhere in this chapter about why. Inutaisho was such fun to write! Too bad I'll be turning him into that walking icicle the next time he appears. You know, the summary gives more away about the story than this chapter does...

Anyway, one of the main reasons I'm posting this fic is to advertise my new awards site: Protege. I'm looking for judges for the Inuyasha section of it. If you're interested in judging for the Awards, read the Rules section on Judging and apply through the form supplied.

http://protege.just-in-dreams.com

-Vii