Perfect Distraction by Cerise Lupin

The picture of the Ice Prince

Kagome groaned as she watched her three friends giggle like idiots and squeal like banshees as they looked through a magazine. It wasn't like the diner was empty, there were indeed many people there, but for some reason or another the loudest sounds came from her three friends, who in her opinion seemed slightly crazed at the moment as they gazed at some unknown picture. Knowing them, she was certain that it was some hot guy that they were looking at. The dark haired girl pursed her lips at the thought.

Girls...she thought sadly, while contemplating why exactly she even bothered to try to engage them in a decent conversation if they only had eyes for some dumb pretty boy with the IQ of a peanut and that was only good at posing for the camera. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and opted instead to pick up the glass of her favorite drink.

She tentatively took a sip from her cherry coke, the sweet liquid pleasing to her tastebud. The young woman closed her eyes in bliss and just enjoyed that one moment for a few seconds.

Another shriek caused her eyes to snap open, even though she knew already who that infernal sound had belonged to. Sure enough she watched as Yuka grabbed the magazine away from Ayumi.

Kagome couldn't stop herself from mentally questioning if the people in the diner would think that she was as crazy...uh better yet as demented as her friends sitting across from her. Maybe she could pretend that she didn't know them. Yes, that could work. She would just pretend that they decided to crash at her table.

"KAGOME, you need to see this!" Yuka yelled excitedly, pushing a strand of her short hair behind her ear.

Well, so much for that plan, Kagome thought wryly as she reluctantly put down her beverage. She winced as Ayumi yelled something about sex god, her face flushing in embarrassment at her friend's obvious lack of inconspicuousness.

"Kami, I would love to tie him to the bed and have my way with him." Yuka admonished, while grinning mischievously.

Kagome felt her cheeks grow even hotter at that proclamation. Sure, she wasn't a prune or anything, but still hearing her friend openly declare something like that made her embarrassed. She raised her face, ready to tell Yuka to shut up, but stopped as she noticed the lady sitting at a table across from them.

The woman covered her little son's ears and glared heatedly at them, making Kagome blush even more. She smiled weakly, but only received an even nastier glare from the woman. In the she settled on just picking her drink, hoping that it would hopefully alleviate things.

'Someone shoot me now. I wonder if anyone would do me the honor and put me out of my misery.'

Putting down her cherry coke, something that was extremely difficult, due that she was addicted to the stuff, she lowered her gaze on the hamburger sitting on the plate in front of her. It was all you could expect from a greasy, meaty heart attack on a plate.

As she stared at her burger, she could still recall that one time when she was about eight and she had decided to become a vegetarian. She loved animals and hated having to eat them and therefore had proudly announced to her family that she would not eat meat any longer. Her mother had approved, even though she saw that she wasn't really expecting her to keep her promise.

Oh, how right she had been.

As anticipated she only lasted a few hours. She was unable to resist the temptation of junk food. So to make up for eating meat, she decided not to wear anything made out of the fur or skin of animals. It wasn't the same, but at least it was a start.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she once again rested her gaze on the burger. She blinked owlishly, she could have sworn that she heard it moo, but quickly brushed the thought aside and blamed it on her overactive imagination. Scrunching her nose, she tentatively picked up the 'vegetarian nightmare'. Her blue eyes followed the little bit of ketchup that slipped from the hamburger and fell on the otherwise clean table.

She shrugged her shoulders, before returning her gaze to the meaty goodness in her hands. Steeling herself she took a small bite of the greasy and heavy burger.

Sapphire blue eyes widened, as she was shocked at how good it tasted. It tasted like heaven, only if heaven was made of meat.

Grinning almost maniacally she proceeded on devouring the burger, which didn't stand a chance against a very hungry Kagome.

Yuka, Eri and Ayumi that had just looked up from the magazine, slowly tried to back away in fright as pieces of meat, vegetables and bread flew everywhere. It was like looking at a wild animal, devouring her prey.

Finally satisfied Kagome let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair, while patting her full stomach and gazing almost sadly at the now empty plate that was sitting in front of her. That had been good and delicious.

The lack of noise drew her attention and she raised her face to look at her friends.

She couldn't help, but raise an eyebrow questioningly at them. They were looking warily at her, almost as if she would attack them at any moment.

The blue eyed woman felt her right eye twitch when they still didn't say anything and just kept staring at her like she had grown another head.

Rolling her eyes, she once again asked herself why she had them as friends. She was certain that chickens would be just as amusing and entertaining as them. Besides those three were just as noisy as chickens and not to mention they were just as smart as well.

The last part made her mentally wince.

Okay, maybe she was exaggerating, they might get on her nerves, but they were good friends. Their only flaw was that their world revolved around hot guys...hot guys and surprise...hot guys, something that she, personally, didn't quite understand. She seriously didn't comprehend how someone could waste their lives with such a frivolous thing as hot guys.

There was so much more to think about, their studies for example. Yuka and Ayumi were both failing some classes as it was already, still neither seemed to care too much about it; both of them preferring to spend their time on boys. Seriously maybe it was better if they did indeed get a boyfriend. Maybe then they would finally pay attention to something else than chasing for guys for a moment.

"What!" she yelled finally annoyed of the looks that she was getting.

Yuka seemed to first to recover as she leaned forward and poked Kagome's stomach, making her giggle. The blue eyed young woman quickly swatted away her friend's hand and proceeded on glaring at her. Yuka quickly retracted her hand, knowing and understanding the look on Kagome's face. In simple terms it meant FUCK OFF or face the painful consequences.

Kagome satisfied with having won this round, grumbled something under her breath and pointedly looked away. Okay, so she was ticklish, so sue her.

"Didn't you eat anything today or what?" Yuka asked curiously, making Kagome turn to gaze at her.

Kagome instantly tensed as she heard her question. She racked her brain for something believable to say, but only ended up with the lamest thing she could think at the moment.

"Umm...I forgot." She said with a weak smile on her face, while mentally kicking herself. Kicking herself mentally and wondering why she never truly used her brain when it was really necessary, she prayed that her friends wouldn't ask her any more questions. Fortunately for her, her prayer were answered.

She was relieved when Yuka shook her head -of course that was after berating her for being so stupid and careless- and busied herself with the magazine once again. Kagome thanked whatever God up there that had heard her, while she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, not wanting her friends to see through her lie. She hated lying to them, but she didn't want to bother them with her problems or get them involved for that matter.

Her blue eyes saddened a bit as she thought about what was going on. She just had to hold on for the time being. Things would get better. She uncrossed her arms and her right hand absentminded rubbed her left wrist.

Nevertheless the purple bruise on her wrist that was fortunately hidden from her friends below the long sleeved shirt, reminded her that things weren't getting better, they were in fact getting worse.

Much worse.

Drowning out her friends for the moment she turned to gaze out of the window at her right. The diner was situated just across a small market place, which at the moment was bustling with people. A soft smile appeared on her lips as she observed the people there.

The place looked so alive and full of color, from the small potteries to the fresh fruits and vegetables that the vendors were trying to sell.

Her sketchbook that had lain momentarily forgotten on the table, was picked up and opened, just as she reached for a simple pencil. Of course she paid careful notice not to get any grease or ketchup on he precious sketchbook.

She wasn't certain for how long she has had the sketchbook, but to her it was too valuable to throw away. It was basically her personal diary, only she didn't write in, she only drew in it. Each picture, each sketch, each doodle and even each painting in there symbolized a piece or a experience in her life.

Using some paper napkins she made sure to clean the table, where some ketchup had fallen earlier.

Satisfied that there was nothing that would damage, stain or dirty the book, she leaved through the pages until she found a blank paper. The urge to draw was by now too strong and without even noticing or paying attention, her pencil began flying across the blank paper in front of her.

She loved sketching, to her this was the purest essence of a picture or painting. Blue eyes moved continuously from the paper to the small market and vice versa as her pencil gently scraped along the paper. The world around seemed to melt away; the only thing that existed for her was that sketch that she was creating.

"Kagome."

"Kagome!"

She was snapped put of her musings by Yuka. Growling lowly, while internally cursing she raised her face to gaze at Yuka who was smiling too sweetly at her. If there was one thing she hated, it was being interrupted when she was in her artistic moods.

Still by the looks on her friends' faces, there was no way she would be able to draw. Letting out a sigh, she resigned herself to her fate. Closing her sketchbook, she put it in her back.

Kagome almost jump though when Ayumi slammed the magazine on the table in front of her. She blinked owlishly for a moment as she tried to gather her thoughts, something that was easier said than done.

"Look at them and tell me that they're not hot." Ayumi pointed to the people on the page.

Kagome furrowed her brows as she looked at the pictures. There were three persons on the page. The first one she noticed was a girl. She had wavy midnight black hair that reached just above her waist.

She was short, Kagome noted, probably a little bit shorter than herself. She was petite in every sense of the word and reminded Kagome of the porcelain dolls that Eri collected; she looked that fragile to her. Her pale skin glowed healthily while it contrasted beautifully with her dark hair.

Yet what caught Kagome's attention were her beautiful golden colored eyes. She was surprised to see someone with such color eyes. At first she would have assumed that they were probably contacts, but the more she stared at her eyes, the more certain she became that those were indeed her own eyes.

'Beautiful.'

She shook her head and continued studying the rest of the girl. Her features were almost elf-like in quality, soft and innocent and still elegant in a certain way. It was like looking at a good painting, you didn't know all the reasons why it was beautiful, but you just knew that it was.

The picture was rather simple with a white background with the girl was smiling amiable at Kagome. Her smile even though bright and innocent, still held a certain mischievousness that was hard to miss.

She wore a simple strapless red dress that hugged her torso and waist and then flared out and came just below her knees. High-strapped heels complimented her look. A simple diamond necklace adorned her neck; small diamond earrings adorned her ears as a simple silver bracelet hung around her left wrist, complementing the whole look.

All in all, the girl was a stunning beauty and from the looks of it, she was still quite young and Kagome was almost certain, she would only grow even more beautiful with age.

"Ayumi, I didn't know you were into girls." Kagome said raising her eyes and grinning cheekily at her friend.

Ayumi blushed embarrassed and seemed unable to say anything back for the moment. She had obviously been caught off guard by that statement. Kagome snickered, all the while enjoying her friend's embarrassment. Yuka was laughing hysterically, while Eri tried to hide her laughter.

All of them were reminded of that one time at school when Ayumi had been head over heels for a girl, who she had thought to be guy. True, the girl had been kind of tomboyish and flat in certain areas, but still it was hard to miss that she was indeed a girl.

Of course Ayumi had been mortified when she found out that her dream guy was actually a girl.

"What!" Ayumi managed to stutter, her cheeks flushed.

"NO, I don't swing that way! Just look at the guys next to the girl for Kami's sake!" she yelled pointing at the guy that stood next to the girl.

Kagome grinned for a moment, before returning her gaze to the magazine. She carefully studied the guy. The first words that came to Kagome's mind as she looked at him were 'bad boy'. He seemed to radiate an 'I don't give a rat's ass attitude' and kind of 'mess with me and I'll kick your ass' personality.

He had a long thick midnight black hair that he held in a low ponytail at the base of his neck. Cornflower blue eyes, a few shades darker than hers looked back at her. Those smoky eyes belonged to a very boyish face and the owner smirked in an almost arrogant way at her.

He wore a simple black suit, with a red button up shirt with the two upper-buttons open, showing off golden tanned skin. By the looks of it, he wasn't a fan of dressing up. She could just picture him in a simple pair of jeans and a shirt or something; he looked like that kind of guy. He was casual, not dressy.

"That's Inuyasha Nakamura, isn't he handsome?" Eri asked dreamily.

Yuka rolled her eyes, knowing very well that although Eri was the quietest of the group, the girl had an extreme liking to bad boys and Inuyasha Nakamura fitted that description just perfectly. Not only has the young man gotten himself in one too many fights; he liked to drink, party and curse. Basically he was the man that mothers hid their daughters from.

"The girl next to him is his sister, Kioko Nakamura and the other guy is his brother." Ayumi said.

"He's not bad looking." Kagome answered quietly, before fixing her gaze on the next person on the page.

She felt her breath catch in her throat. He was...to put it simply gorgeous. While some would call his features feminine, there was still that undeniable maleness that he exuded that made any red-blooded woman and Kagome suspected even some guys drool and swoon.

He stood there, seeming to be not intimidated at all. Long silky silver hair cascaded along his back as his bangs carelessly hung in his eyes. His eyes were the same gold as the girl's, but his were far more intense, drawing you in and burning you at the same time. The feeling that you got when looking in his eyes was that of a moth trapped by the beautiful and yet dangerous flames of a candle.

He was tall, about 6 feet something, she calculated, with broad shoulders, with a lean and well-build body by the way the suit hugged his form just perfectly. His features were sharp, chiseled and fine, almost resembling those of the Greek Gods that you found in the mythology books. His skin just was as pale as his sister's giving him an almost ethereal look. She was almost sure that he was way too young to have such pale hair, but for some reason it fitted him.

The black suit that he wore fitted him perfectly, accentuating each delicate dip of his body. And Kagome had to reluctantly admit that he would put any model to shame. A white button up shirt complimented his look with a red tie. Summarized in one word, he was perfect.

"Oh, I see you've seen Sesshoumaru Nakamura, he's quite a catch." Yuka said with a smile on her face as she noticed Kagome gaping at the picture.

The blue eyed young woman quickly composed herself, all the while berating herself for letting a simple picture affect her so much.

"Nakamura?" She asked in a bored tone, feigning slight indifference, while hoping to save some of her dignity.

Kagome Higurashi did not drool over guys, not even how handsome and sexy they were. Absentmindedly she made sure to run her thumb along her lip, silently making sure that there was indeed no drool present.

Yuka on the other hand slapped her forehead and gave her a look that clearly stated like she was the stupidest person in the world causing Kagome to bristle, but before she could say anything, she was cut off by her friend.

"Haven't you heard their name? They're one of the wealthiest families in the city, better said the world. Their dad owns one of the most luxurious and prestigious hotel chains in the world, not to mention that InuTaisho Nakamura is also a very accomplished businessman. Kagome, the Nakamuras are practically celebrities here." Yuka said quite excitedly, making Kagome doubt her sanity.

"Of course Sesshy is following into his father's footsteps." Ayumi quipped.

"Sesshy?" Kagome asked confused, furrowing her brows.

"Oh yeah, that's what we, his fan-club, call Sesshoumaru." Ayumi said scratching her head and smiling weakly, making Kagome sweat drop.

"He has a fan-club?" Kagome asked disbelievingly as her eye twitched, this was just going too far.

"Of course, look!" Ayume said taking out a small book from her bag and shoving it towards Kagome.

"See, those are the names of all the members of the club, I'm of course the head of the fan-club." She said motioning to the list of names.

Kagome's jaw dropped as she noticed all of the names. There were even some guy names in there. Apparently Sesshoumaru Nakamura had fans all over the world by the looks of it. And here she thought that only Ayumi, Yuka and Eri would be crazy enough to worship a guy. Apparently stupidity was contagious.

"So do you want to join?" Ayumi asked eagerly, making Kagome almost fall from her chair.

"NO!" Kagome snapped as she readjusted herself in her seat.

She wondered if for a moment the world had tipped in the wrong direction, cause it certainly seemed like it.

"Oh. I guess I'll have to recruit some other members for the Ice Prince fan-club." Ayumi said dejectedly, reminding Kagome of the look on a kicked puppy's face.

"Ice Price?" Kagome asked, noticing that things were getting weirder and weirder by the moment. Was she perhaps trapped in the twilight zone.

"Yes, that's what Sesshy is often referred to in the tabloids, seeing that he barely shows emotion and he often doesn't pay attention to us." Yuka said smiling as she recalled all the times she actually saw her 'God' in person.

"And exactly why would you create a fan-club for such an anti-social and arrogant ass? The guy isn't even that good looking." The young woman shot, clearly trying to grasp to her friends' line of thinking, but failing miserably.

"Blasphemy!" Both Yuka and Ayumi yelled in unison.

"How can you say such a thing? Sesshoumaru is a God amongst men!" Ayumi cried out as she quickly picked up the magazine and hugged it tightly.

Kagome shook her head disbelievingly. She still had time to reconsider those chickens. Yes, chickens could be her friends and she would even get free breakfast out of the deal. She shook her head, opting to ignore Yuka and Ayumi's rants as she finished her drink.

She slowly put down the now empty glass and stood up as she noticed the time.

"Girls, it was nice hanging out with you, but unfortunately I have to go. Duty calls." Kagome said picked up her jacket.

"Do you have to go, Kagome?" Eri asked sadly.

It was rarely that they managed to spent time together. They were all in college now. The three of them attended the same college and lived together. Kagome was the only one that still lived at home with her uncle and her brother and attended another college that was closer to her home. Eri still didn't understand why Kagome didn't move in with them. They had asked her many times to move in with them, but she always declined. Heck, they knew that she had gotten the scholarship, but had declined the offer, preferring to attend the other university.

"Yes, I have work." Kagome answered pulling on her denim jacket.

She sighed as she looked at her friends' faces; knowing very well, that it would be while before they enjoyed some time together again. With work and her studies, she barely had enough spare time. Sadly she lacked a social life.

"Guys, I promise I will try to see you guys as soon as possible again." She said hoping to cheer them up.

"You promise?" Yuka asked skeptically.

"I promise and if I don't keep my promise, you can shave me bald." Kagome said grinning.

"Believe me; I will hold you up to that." Yuka answered smiling widely.

Kagome shook her head, before approaching the girls and giving all three of them a hug, which they wholeheartedly returned.

"I'll see you guys soon." She said smiling warmly, before turning around and walking away; all the while wishing that she could stay.

Kioko Nakamura sat quietly observing her big brother work.

One word came to mind, BORING.

She knew that Sesshoumaru was dull, but not this dull. She silently observed her brother going through the papers on his desk. She pitied him, knowing that all of those stacks of paper needed to be done for tomorrow, meaning that he would need to finish the work at home. In other words, it would be a miracle if he got any sleep tonight. She wished that she could help him, but there was only so much she could do. The papers that he needed to be done, were too important to be left in her hands.

She knew that once she graduated, she would most likely spend the summer vacation working with Sesshoumaru or her father. It was clear that she would be expected (she wished it too) to join the family business.

She still wanted to attend college though. She wasn't certain what exactly she would be majoring in yet, but she was adamant of going to college, even if she really didn't need it. Since a very young age (just like her brothers)she has had a private tutor that taught her all she needed to know about the family business.

Basically she was prepared if anything were to happen and be able to help at the family business.

Luna Corporation or also known as Luna Corp. that belonged to his father dealt in many different areas of business from export to import from pharmaceutical products, to investment in different other companies abroad. There was also the large hotel chain that the family owned. So basically she had a large variety of work that she could do. That was also the main reason she was having a problem choosing a major. Sesshoumaru for example majored in law, economics and management. Basically there was little that Sesshoumaru didn't do at Luna Corp.

Shaking her head , she once again focused her golden eyes on Sesshoumaru. She slowly traced her gaze on his long hair, which she was secretly envious off. Sesshoumaru had long silver hair, yes silver and no, it wasn't dyed. Lucky bastard, she thought bitterly. Unlike him, she had inherited the dark raven-black hair of their mother, although she did inherit her father's beautiful golden eyes.

"You do know that we're supposed to meet up with mom, dad, Inu and your buddies at the restaurant right?" she asked hoping to get him to stop working.

She was hungry and Sesshoumaru didn't seem to want to leave his precious office. The guy really needed a hobby and a girlfriend or maybe both.

"Hn."

"We were supposed to meet them about half an hour ago." She said annoyed as she looked at the clock, she hated being late...for dinner, for other things, namely school she didn't mind. In fact if it was for her she would be late every day for school.

Her golden eyes narrowed dangerously at being ignored by her older brother. What was it, ignore your little sister day, she thought angrily.

"I guess you wouldn't mind if when we arrive at the restaurant I start making out with Miroku?" she asked innocently, hoping to get a reaction out of Sesshoumaru.

"Hn."

Sesshoumaru definitely lacked in people skills. No wonder they referred to him as the Ice Prince. She almost grinned as she recalled his so called fan club. It was funny to see so many girls, women and even some guys lusting over his brother. To say Sesshoumaru was mortified would have been an understatement.

Serves him right, she thought as she glared at him. Her eyes lightened up as she came with a perfect way to get his attention.

"And I'm also carrying his brother's lovechild." She said sweetly, maybe a little too sweetly.

That seemed to get his attention as he unconsciously crumbled the papers in his hands.

"What!" He growled looking up to meet his sister's eyes.

She was laughing wholeheartedly and he was sure she would fall off the chair at any moment. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at his sister as he watched her closely.

Finally regaining her composure, she straightened up and grinned mischievously at him, her golden eyes showing her glee.

"That sure got your attention." She said amusedly.

"That wasn't funny." Sesshoumaru muttered as he turned his gaze back to the papers in front of him. He muttered something under his breath as he tried to straighten the crumpled papers, courtesy of his dear sister of course.

"Oh, I beg to differ...come on Sesshou, let's go already...I'm hungry. You don't want your favorite sister to die from starvation, do you?" She said whining.

"Only sister." He commented dryly.

She stuck her tongue out at him, even though she knew it was childish, but at the moment she didn't care. Sesshoumaru sighed as he finally gave up. Standing up he shoved the papers in his briefcase. Kioko noticing what he was doing squealed happily as she jumped out of her chair.

She quickly made her way behind the desk and hugged Sesshoumaru tightly. It was very funny, seeing that she was so small compared to him. He was at least '6, 2", while she was barely '5, 2". To put it simply she looked like a midget compared to him.

"Let's go, I'm starving!" she cried out releasing him and grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the door.

He had barely any time to reach for his briefcase as she dragged him away.

"You're always starving." Sesshoumaru mumbled as he allowed her to pull him along.

He sighed as he let his sister drag him. He knew that when it came to food, Kioko would most likely sell her soul if it were necessary. He still couldn't understand how she could eat that much and still not gain any weight. It seemed that she had a very high metabolism or at least that was what the doctor had told them the last time she had gone to do a check up.

He was roughly pulled into the elevator, getting his briefcase almost stuck between the doors as it closed.

Glaring at his sister, he was glad when she released his hand. Settling with a scowl on his face, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Don't get him wrong, he did love his sister and would probably kill anyone who dared to hurt her in any way, but she often got on his nerves. She was completely opposite from him.

She was bubbly, loud, carefree, energetic, hyper, mischievous, caring, kind, naïve and a loudmouth; all of the things that he sure he wasn't. He was often referred as the ice prince by the tabloids and they were right. He wasn't one to show emotions and he sure didn't care about others, except for his sister, his family and those that he considered worthy enough to be called friends, which were only a very few.

The ride in the elevator was spent in silence, as both siblings were lost in their own thoughts. Kioko was thinking about all that she was going to eat. She might be small and tiny, but she could out eat her brothers any day. Currently she was fantasizing about the cheesecake that the restaurant served. She almost drooled as she imagined the sweet tasting sinful sweet stuff that would hopefully go to her thighs. She really needed to get a little bit more meat on her bones, she sometimes felt like she looked like a boy.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the ding sound of the elevator. Sesshoumaru waited patiently for her to step out, before he did. As expected they were the only ones left at the building. His silver Porsche was the only one parked in the garage. Not waiting on his sister, he began walking to this vehicle.

"Hey, wait up!" she yelled running after him.

She smiled brightly as she finally caught up with him and fell in stride with him. He watched out of the corner of his eyes as she fiddled with the silver bracelet around her left wrist. She probably wanted something; she always did that when she wanted to ask him something, but was afraid to.

He wore a similar bracelet around his left wrist, it was something that all of the members of the Nakamura family wore. His parents and his brother had one as well. He watched amused, as she finally seemed to muster her courage as she turned to look at him.

"So have you decided if we will rent the room?" Kioko asked as she bit her lips thoughtfully.

So that was what she wanted to ask him. He wasn't sure if he would like a stranger living with them, but on the other hand, he knew that Kioko often got lonely when she was alone at home. He often worked late, as did the other roommates. A new roommate could hopefully keep Kioko company, but there was also the fact that he didn't trust just anyone in his house.

Yet one look at Kioko's face, made him decide to compromise, if only to make her shut up about it for the time being.

"You may do as you wish, as long as you don't bring home a female." He said seriously.

The look on her face wasn't pleased and he mentally wondered if he could ever win against her.

"Oh come on, it's not fair, I'm the only girl in the house." Kioko yelled angrily, her golden eyes shooting daggers at her older sibling.

"And you've been alright so far."

"Yeah right, if you call alright having those perverts trying to grope me, spy on me or just plain annoy me the whole time." She muttered darkly, remembering two men that she wanted to strangle more than anything.

"I still don't understand why I can't have my own apartment." She muttered crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly.

"Acting like that will not get you your own apartment. And besides, you're turning eighteen in July, so basically you're still a minor for the time being." Sesshoumaru said loosening his tie.

"Life is a bitch." His little sister muttered as she stuck her chin defiantly in the air.

"Just like women." Sesshoumaru whispered with coldness in his voice.

"HEY!" Kioko protested. She was a girl after all.

"Get in." Sesshoumaru said opening the door for her, cutting off any protest that she might have.

She muttered some choice words under breath that would make a sailor blush. Sesshoumaru mentally made a note to stop Inuyasha from swearing so much in front of the girl. Apparently she was picking up all of his bad manners. Although he had to admit that she had quite an imagination to come up with such colorful words.

She quickly buckled up as soon as she sat down. Sesshoumaru was a good brother and all, but he drove like a drunken, nearsighted lunatic. Quickly doing a prayer, she asked the Gods above to protect her and if she were to die that she would at least be reincarnated in a cow and live in India where they would worship her. Done with her little prayer, she turned to look at Sesshoumaru who had just started the car.

"So is there any chance that you can drive like a normal person?" Kioko asked with a hopeful gaze.

She paled as she watched Sesshoumaru smirk at her evilly. He really enjoyed this.

Scratch that, she didn't want to be reincarnated into a cow, she would prefer to be a ghost and haunt his ass for all eternity, Kioko thought as she watched Sesshoumaru revved the engine.

"Not in this lifetime." Sesshoumaru answered calmly; he floored the pedal and skidded out of the parking lot, while Kioko's screams echoed through the night.

Kagome sighed as she finally made it home. It was well passed midnight. She smiled, as she looked at her little brother sleeping on her bed. Not wanting to disturb him she walked quietly to the bathroom. Closing the door very quietly, she turned on the lights and took off her clothes.

She frowned as she looked at her back. Blue and purple bruises marred her otherwise perfect skin. She gently traced a dark blue looking bruise on her right shoulder blade and winced at the stinging pain. She knew that unlike other people, those bruises would disappear very quickly, leaving unmarred and untouched skin behind, so that no one would know.

'Better me than Souta.'

Sighing she stepped into the tub filled with water and let out a relieved sigh. She flinched as the hot water touched her bruises. Finally she settled down, her head resting against the cold marble. Closing her eyes she tried to keep her tears at bay as she recalled how her life had changed so drastically. She could still recall the happier times, which she hated to admit weren't coming back. She didn't want to cry, but she had kept things bottled up too long. With silent sobs raking her body, she let the tears fall.

'Why did you have to leave me? Why?'

TBC...