InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Hopelessly Devoted ❯ The Beginning of It All... ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Author's Notes: Fortunately for everyone who like stories with plots, I've created an outline, just for you, just to make myself positively sure that I have a plot for you. ^_^ Yay! I'm exercising my writing skill all the more!



Happy New Year everyone!... Err... and Belated Merry Christmas! Oh, and the thank you's are for the reviewers from fanfiction ^_^. I still thank everyone who reviewed in mediaminer!!!



Oh, and I'm sorry for the mix-up with my first second chapter. I accidentally chose a different file. Please forgive me, and enjoy the real second chapter for Hopelessly Devoted!



Eva-chan: ^_^ haha... Thank you so much for saying all those wonderful things. I was just on a sugar high when I made that little disclaimer... so yeah... By the way: Your writing does not suck! The reviews are the ones who know what they like, and with their vast amount of reviews for you story, one knows that they like your writing too.



Writer Chica: I'm only fifteen, and I still remember how I felt when I was thirteen, and I know that one can definitely have a strong liking for someone. ^_^ Haha... Thank you so much for your review!!! This chapter goes out to you and everyone who couldn't wait for it ('cause it's long and it should take you a while to read).



keri: OooO. I know about the sap, and sometimes, one just gets sick and tired of it, but I had to. I just had to put it in there. Don't you just love Inuyasha and Kagome? *Grins*



Hunter The Dusk: Oh I'll continue this fic, no worries there. I'm so into the whole Inuyasha concept right now, and I'll be concentrating on it for a while. (Meaning until it's finished). Don't worry! I have everything all planned out, and I won't waste my time writing an outline for nothing. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEW!!!



Lil Drowned One: *Shuts eyes tight* Okay, okay, I promise to update... Just as soon as I get this whole Inuyasha thing outta my system (which is possibly going to take a while). *Runs away*. Don't hurt me! *Hides*



Riena: WOW ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. YOU MUST BE REALLY HAPPY ^_^!!! SO AM I, FOR YOU ARE MY FIRST REVIEWER FOR THIS FIC, PLUS YOU'RE THE FIRST TO ADD IT TO YOUR FAVORITES!!! Thank you to everyone who veiwed and reviewed! I really appreciate it ^_^.



Anyway... Onto the chapter where the plot begins to unfold... and characters are introduced.
Enjoy!




~*~




The hard knocking 'clomps' from the horses shoes pressed on without a care, as they traveled further than the young girl could ever imagine. It had been more than a weeks journey inside of a stuffy carriage with her six year old brother, and two parents who were visibly upset with their daughters actions. They decided to use the 'shunning method' on the poor girl, as she just sank deeper into her seat.



Like leaving Inuyasha was bad enough, now her parents treated her as if she didn't exist. To make matters worse, her brother repeatedly shook her away from sleep asking if they were there yet. How was she supposed to know?! She wanted to scold him because of the foul mood she was in, but she was just not the yelling type.



"Souta will you please leave you sister alone?" Ayame Higurashi, Kagome's twenty nine year old mother pleaded to her son. Her husband gave her a disapproving look before turning away.



Finally they acknowledge her presence. "Thank you mother," Kagome said politely, in order for the tension mounting inside the carriage, to stop. Instead, her mother sighed and just turned to face the window. 'How childish...' she thought angrily. 'The least they could do is explain to me of my transgressions and be done with it, but nooo... They somehow managed to make the shunning last for a week! Besides, why does my mother always take my fathers side?' With this, she scowled and turned to face the other way, away from all her family members.




~*~




Just a few hours later, the family arrived in what would be called their new home. To Kagome though, it was a bit too much. She didn't think that the high rise ceilings, the polished wooden floors, and the vast amount of rice paper doors scattered about the house, looked too homey. It was practically ten times larger than a normal Japanese-style home, yet it was... supposedly a 'normal' Japanese-styled home.



"This is ridiculous!" Kagome exclaimed, before she had a chance to think her words through. "You're mad if you think we're going to be living in something larger than the Grand Kyoto Hotel!"



"Just get you trunks out of the back of the carriage, Kagome. We will talk to you about your punishment soon enough after we have all finished unpacking... In fact..." Hayato Higurashi, the 'man of the house' and Kagome's father looked up into the sky and thought for a second. "I believe that giving you a room at the end of the hall way, next to the tea room, will start off as a good punishment."



Kagome just stared at him with disbelief, then she turned to her mother and pleaded with her. No one would ever want to have a room next to the tea room, for although a tea ceremony was supposed to be silent, her father would bring his co-workers there where they would drink sake and loudly tell stories of their day. Although that didn't sound as bad, the fact that they did that during the night, was. One could barely get any sleep. What cruel and unusual punishment.



"Now, Shippou?" her father asked Kagome's personal servant.



"Yes Higurashi-sama?" the kitsune youkai named Shippou answered, as he lowered himself to bow on the floor.



"Take Kagome's trunks to her said room," he order, as the little fox scrambled to his feet immediately and grabbed Kagome's luggage.



"No- Shippou, please. I'll do it myself!" Kagome tried. She never wanted a servant in the first place, but her parents told her that all respected ladies in Japan owned servants, so that their hands would not become blemished. Kagome's answer to that explanation was, "Well I think that is a load of carcass!" Of course, in the end, she was punished.



Shippou looked over at the father then at the daughter, confused. What was he to do?



"Shippou, I will not ask you again. Take those to my daughter's room," he said more sternly.



With that, the little kit scurried away towards Kagome's new room, with literally ten suitcases at hand. Mr. Higurashi never wanted to waste time.



"Father! You appointed him to me, now why can't I just handle it myself?" she asked. Her calm restraints were slowly peeling away.



"Because I know for a fact that you will just let him watch, as you do all the slaves work. There is no way I will see to that. Besides, my business partners are coming anytime now, and if any see my daughter carrying her own baggage, they will just torment me for not training you better as a lady!" her father explained rather rudely.



Kagome did not want her punishment to be any more worse, so she decided to bow to her father, and walk away in Shippou's direction.




~*~




The rebellious girl, with midnight black hair, and unique rain cloud gray eyes, now sat submissive to her father's every word. Earlier that day, they had argued about how hanyou's were people and youkai too, with feelings and such, but her father would not hear any of it.



Her father said that the reason why he moved that family was so that he could be as far away from the hanyou, Inuyasha as possible, so she would forget, and erase such preposterous thoughts from her head.



Kagome became angered at that, and told him that she had kissed that 'filthy hanyou' good-bye and that would never be erased from her memory.



This caused her father to call Shippou out of his servant's room. Mr. Higurashi came out of his room for a second, then came back holding a large wooden paddle-like device created for parents to teach their children something. Her father knew that if he punished Kagome with this, she wouldn't change still, but if he punished someone she cared about, it would hurt her ten times more than the paddle striking her back would.



It took just two hits before Shippou started wailing, for he was just as old as Souta. Kagome screamed and threw herself over her little kitsune before her father could strike again. She promised that from then on, she would listen to him, just as long as he stayed away from Shippou.



Mr. Higurashi smiled, because he knew he had won. He therefore walked out of the room, only to explain to Kagome about her last punishment.




~*~




Kagome placed another moist towel on the second lash wound on Shippou's back. She was sorry to ever get the pup in the position in the first place. She was sorry that she took him in, in the first place, and made him into a servant.



Actually, she was not the one who made him into a slave. She had found him with major burn wounds, as he told her a horrid story of his parents murder, and his escape. She immediately took him in and cared for him, all the while trying to hide him from her parents. Her father of course found out one day, and decided that no matter how young, he should become his daughter's servant.



She cursed herself for not giving him to Inuyasha before she left. She knew that although the two fought very much, and Inuyasha would give him 'a piece of [his] mind' every now and then, she knew that his fate would have been better with the hanyou. She missed him so much.



When Shippou was all nicely bandaged up, the two sat up all night and talked, while her father was in the tea room with his boasting comrades. It wasn't as if she could sleep with all the noise in the other room anyway.



"Shippou?" she asked, as she stared straight into the kit's clear emerald eyes.



Shippou looked at her questioningly.



"I know that we've traveled very far-" Kagome tried to explain.



"It may seem like that, but it's only because we went around the forest. If we went through it would take only two or three days on foot," he said wisely.



Kagome smiled at this. All the more better. "Look Shippou. I don't want to cause you any more burden..." she said looking away, ashamed at herself for causing such a young kit so much pain.



"You're not a burden to me Kagome... You protect me! You're like my other mommy!" he exclaimed, all the while bringing tears to the girl's eyes.



"You're not making this any easier Shippou..." she smiled, taking him into her arms.



"What do you mean...?" he asked, confused.



"I want you to go to Inuyasha. It would be so much more better for you there..." she explained.



"Bu-But! You're not going to be there to stop him from hitting me! He's gonna have so much fun torturing me!" he complained.



Kagome couldn't help but laugh at the kit. "Then I'll just simply write him a note explaining that he take care of you," she said, taking out a quill and parchment, and began writing.



"Like that idiot knows how to read..." he scoffed.



Kagome continued to laugh, and stretched out her arm to ruffle up his hair.



"But I don't want to leave you..." he said, more seriously this time.



"It will be okay Shippou. We'll meet again..." she said, although she was so unsure of what she just said.



"Promise?" he asked, with his big green eyes.



Just then, the two heard footsteps in the hallways, and just realized that all the mens voices in the other room deceased.



"You have to go now, Shippou. Take care! I'll miss you!" she said, pushing the reluctant kitsune out of the small window.



"Kag-" he began, before he bounced off a bush.



The footsteps were heard all the more clearer. "Run!"



With that, the little kit ran away towards the forest.




~*~




Four years ago, Kagome was brought to a school that trained young girls of tea ceremonies. Her father enrolled her in this school as part of her punishment. Her father had said, "Since you want so much to take something of a slave's job, I will make you my official tea-holder. Besides, it will impress my friends. They all want to take a look at the young beauty my daughter has grown to be."



Just a year ago, her schooling was over. It wouldn't have taken so long if she didn't keep messing up, but she finally grew used to it. Her life had grown so dull, and there was nothing else she could do but listen to her father's orders.



Since Shippou left, there was no one to talk to for her parents would barely let her speak to her brother for fear of her becoming rebellious once again.



Somehow, between the years, her father had gotten her to think that both her friends abandoned her. They didn't care for her, that's why even with their powerful youkai sense of smell, they didn't bother tracking her down. When she slowly began to believe these lies, he decided to begin adding that she never go near filthy half-breeds again. Once again, she began to believe this.



Every night, for the past four years, she would sit in her room and cry, but on the fifth year, her heart grew to become covered in ice, and she slept feeling no emotions at all.




~*~




The loud boastful voices could be heard once more, as Kagome went into the kitchen to pour some more sake for her father's business partners. She hated their voices, and she hated their cat calls to her, something her father never bothered to stop. She hated all of them, and wished that they would just rot. Rot, drinking their damned sake.




~*~




It had been five long, hard years, but to a certain hanyou, they were all worth it.



After asking his brother for help, Sesshoumaru immediately explained that it would be harder for a youkai, especially an unstable hanyou, to gain the trust of business men, so he decided to cover up Inuyasha's youkai image and make an illusion of him as a human. This led them to a miko named Kaede.



The miko's powers were legendary, and they were known to have powers of illusions, if not, the power to conceal true images. Kaede casted her powers on Inuyasha, but she did not get the desired effect. Instead, she left him with a couple white streaks of hair, and one dog ear on his head. His eyes were two different colors: gold, which was his hanyou eye color, and a dark purple, which was his human 'new moon', color.



He looked positively strange.



Kaede recommended them to her sister, who was a much more powerful miko: Kikyou. Kikyou succeeded in concealing Inuyasha's hanyou image. Just as long as her spell was cast, he would look like a human.



Now that their first plan had worked out well, their second was to create a totally new identity. The brothers were never really good at naming, so Shippou decided to help and suggested that they mix up the letters in Inuyasha's name, and what his father was: a Inuyoukai, all the while saying, "You two are damned idiots with absolutely no sense of creativity."
This earned him a good 'whack' on the head, credited to Inuyasha.



This led them to the name Nayu Unuki.



Now that they got the naming part down, they needed to find a way to make him known. The only way to do that was if he were filthy rich. Now this is were they came to a dead end.




~*~




"Toutousai. I have a favor to ask of you," a deep, male voice said, as the sounds of footsteps came closer to the man known as Toutousai.



The old geezer turned around to face his visitor. "Ahh... Sesshoumaru-san. It's been a while. I haven't seen you or your brother in quite a while."



"That's true, but then again, it was because of your departure since my father died," explained the Inuyoukai. "I did not come here to chat about this though, and I need to make this quick."



The old man was a little frightened. 'Make this quick?' Make what quick? Was the man going to kill him as punishment for leaving the family ever since his student died? Were the brothers truly that dependent on him? "Sesshoumaru-" he began.



"Inuyasha and I have finally tracked down where you work," Sesshoumaru began.



'Oh no! This is my end, after so many years...' thought the old man, with bulging white eyes, and a vast amount of wrinkles.



"We found out that you mine for gold, on your own," he continued.



'Yes. On my own, where no one can save me! Why didn't I just agree to work with that mining company? Why did I want to become so rich?'



"We want to know if you will help us on a plan that we made," he finished.



Toutousai looked up. 'Phew. I knew that! They would never kill me! I'm too valuable of a sensei for them to do that! Hah! Was I just scared for a moment?'> he asked himself. He shook his head, 'Haha! Never in a million years!'



"Talk old man," the white-haired youkai barked.



"Of course I will!" the old man said happily.



"Well you see. Inuyasha needs a little advancement for some yen." With that, the youkai added quickly, "It's all part of the plan for him to get what he wants, and for me to earn money to tend to the western lands."



"I see. So you want my gold?"



"Yes. In fact we do. We will pay you, plus interest, once the plan is completed."



"But... But... It's my hard-earned-" the old man began.



Sesshoumaru looked anywhere but the face of the stubborn man. He was wearing away his patience. "I know that. That is why I said that we will pay you plus interest when it is all over."



"Bu-"



"It's just a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer Toutousai, although my deceased father would be terribly upset if you disagreed on helping his two sons."



This got to him. He cared for the Tai-Inuyoukai very much, as if he were his son, but when he became angry, no one would ever want to cross his path. Even when he was dead, the old man would still cower in fear of upsetting the lord. "I agree, just as long as you explain to me about this 'plan' of yours," he said, as the two walked towards Sesshoumaru's territory.




~*~




Inuyasha looked positively human when he stepped outside of his carriage, as he was now accustomed to for the past year. For the past two years, he had been gradually rising towards the top, after he bought an almost bankrupt company, with the gold-turned yen.



With the help of his brother, Toutoutsai, and sometimes even Shippou, added inventions were made, and with them, the company began booming as it had never done before.



This caught the attention of Hayato Higurashi, just as Inuyasha wanted. The man immediately was interested in a merger of the two companies, which made Inuyasha's plan all the more better.



Inuyasha of course, wanted to make it slow and painful for the old man, so he made games, and sometimes even hint that he would finally merge the companies, but the next day, he would be completely oblivious about it. He loved the power.



Finally, Hayato-san decided that it would be better if the two men actually got to know each other better, without the thought of work in their minds, so he invited Inuyasha - Nayu - to his house for a cup of tea. What the old man was really planning on doing was to make Nayu see his daughter.



If he could just get Nayu to like, if not, fall in love with his daughter, he could finally have something to hold over his head, so that he could make him want to merge the companies.




~*~




Kagome walked out of the house with a wad of yen that her father had given her, so that she could buy the most expensive green tea she could find at the market. He had told her that a very important guest was to be visiting, so he gave her an extra amount, so she could buy a new kimono.



She wasn't surprised when her father had asked her to buy a new dress, just for herself. She had a feeling that her father was just planning to display her like a China doll to his visitor, for some stupid plan he made up. She hated the fact that he always did that with her. She hated being displayed like some toy, and she hated the way her father always boasted on about how well-trained she was. She wanted to bite the man.



As she walked down the road, her wad of bills fell to the ground, so she stopped to pick it up.



Without her knowledge, a wolf youkai was watching her, hungrily, for it had not eaten in days. As the girl bent down to pick up the yen, the wolf decided that it was a perfect sign for him to strike, so he took that chance, before the girl could scream and alert help.



As fast as lightning, the youkai sped towards his unaware victim. When he reached her, she was just about to stand back up. She turned around too late, and saw a flash of brown, before she fell down on the ground. "HEL-" was all that escaped her mouth before it was roughly closed by a youkai's hand.



"Shut the hell up!" he commanded. "Damn it. If I wasn't so damn hungry, I'd make a beautiful woman such as yourself, my mate," he said, giving her a look over.



Kagome didn't know whether to blush from his compliment or kick him in the family jewels.




~*~




Somewhere, not too far away, Nayu was just about to enter his carriage home until he heard a scream that was instantly cut off. He knew those types of screams, and it was one calling for help, so instead of resuming into his carriage, he paid the driver to wait, and ran off.



What he saw made his blood boil: a dirty wolf youkai, on top of a vaguely familiar-looking young woman.



"What the hell is going on here?!" he demanded.



This caused the wolf youkai to turn around, annoyed at the intruder. "Get out of here you bastard human! Can't you see I'm busy trying to eat?!"



Nayu glared at this. A youkai trying to eat a human. Now that was just disgraceful, and he wouldn't allow it. He especially wouldn't allow it because he was curious as to why that girl's face was so familiar.



"Hmmlp mmm!!!" the girl mumbled as she stared wide-eyed at Nayu. The damn wolf's hand was still on her mouth.



"Get off her you wolf shit!" Nayu said, kicking the youkai away from the frightened girl.



When she was free, Kagome ran to the side where her 'saviour' was standing.



Nayu was surprised to see how powerful his kick was. He then realized that Kikyou only concealed his outward image. She did not conceal his youkai blood.



"What the hell are you?!" the wolf youkai demanded. This guy definitely couldn't be human. Human's kicks were puny and weak, while this guy's was just as powerful as his. Just then, he caught the scent. It was a light scent of a youkai, but it was still there. "You're not human!" he exclaimed, before he back away a little, then took off towards the forest. He would ask about who that 'man' was later, when his side stopped bleeding. Damn. If he only wasn't so hungry, and lacked energy he wouldn't have bled so damn easily.



"Th-Thank you..." Kagome said, a little stunned at what just happened. She too was surprised to see that a simple kick from that human, caused the youkai to bleed... Bleed badly.



"Don't mention it," Nayu said, before wiping the sweat away from his forehead with his sleeve.



Kagome was smiling now. She was so happy to be alive! She also needed to repay the man, so she took her yen, and handed it to him. "I don't know how else to repay you, but please take this as a token of my gratitude. I'll have to tell my father about you, so he can give you a better prize than this..." she said.



Nayu couldn't very well refuse what she had given him. That would be a rude gesture, so he reluctantly took it and smiled. "I'm Nayu Unuki - by the way - if you're going to tell your father."



Kagome smiled politely at him, then bowed. "I have to leave now, I was supposed to run an errand for my father, but..." she didn't want to say that she needed the money to run that errand. It would make her feel bad if he gave it back to her. "Thank you again, and since I will be telling my father of you, I have a feeling that this will not be the last time I see you. Umm... I have to go... Bye!" she said, before she took off back to her house, to get more money before her father arrived home with his guest.



Nayu looked quizzically at her shrinking frame, before he turned his head up to the darkening sky. 'Oh shit! I have that meeting with Hayato-san! I have to get cleaned up!' he thought, before running back towards his waiting carriage.




~*~




Kagome had made it just in time to clean up and prepare herself for her father's guest. She didn't like him angry at her, when she didn't do exactly as he asked of her.



She wore a beautiful green, silk kimono, adorned in waterfalls, and a serene scene taken from the forest. It matched her perfectly, as her parents servants - who she had gotten close to in the past five years - said.



She boiled the water for the green tea, which she had just bought an hour ago, before racing home to bathe, and dress up.



It wasn't that she was looking forward to this meeting of the guest, it was just that her spirits were higher since that man saved her life. She was so happy to be alive, now that she thought about it, although she still hated to be paraded around. She was just more grateful, is all.



Just as she was pouring the hot water into the tea pot, and adding the bag of expensive green tea, she heard a knock at the door and two men's voices entering the house halls. She quickly finished what she was doing, and shuffled towards the tea room, holding the green tea's pot, and three porcelain cups, in case her father asked her to stay with them. Not that she wanted to.



She heard her father make a joke that would make any of his co-workers laugh, but with her visitor, she heard no laugh. Not even a slight noise that would sound like one. She smiled at this. She would want to stay now, to enjoy watching her father make a fool of himself.



As she slid the rice paper door open, the two men ceased their conversation to see the 'intruder'.



What Kagome saw made her jaw drop down to the floor. What she thought would be just another haughty old geezer, with a beer belly, was that same man who saved her from that wolf youkai. Now that she wasn't standing as close to him, she took in all his features. He had unusually long, midnight hair, and intense, but mysterious purple eyes.



She almost dropped all that she was holding.



"Nayu-san. I would like you to meet my daughter. Kagome Higurashi."




~*~




Author's Notes: Hope that you enjoyed.




Please review.