Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Martina McBride's "Concrete Angel".  Though I do own the plot, and I thought it was very creative.  So, yeah, I can be proud of that.  ^_^

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"Inuyasha?" Kagome tried for the millionth time and was, again, unsuccessful in capturing the half-demon's attention.  She sighed and fell back to walking next to Sango.  She silently observed her surroundings.  They definitely weren't in what you'd call the 'friendliest' village, and the townspeople had been giving them suspicious glances since they entered the area.

Kagome turned to her friend.  "Why do you think Inuyasha wanted to stop here?" she asked.  Sango simply shrugged.  Inuyasha had insisted on stopping in this particular village, and had hardly spoken a word to anyone since they got there.  It was as if he was off in his own little world.

And indeed he was.

Flashback:

A younger Inuyasha and another girl who looked a lot like him (with the exception, of course, being she was female and was a bit older) walked along the road to the temple which they were sent to train in.  It wasn't a daily thing, but since they were only half-demon, they had to keep their strength up somehow.

She walks to school with the lunch she packed

Nobody knows what she's holding back

Inuyasha glanced her up and down.  His eyes gazed her wrists and forearm, and a slight bruise on her cheek.  He knew where they were from.  Full-breed demons who thought they were so much better than them, just because they were only half-demons.

Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday

She hides the bruises with linen and lace

The teacher at the temple noticed.  Of course she noticed.  It was impossible not too.  New bruises appeared almost every day on the poor girl.

The teacher wonders

But she doesn't ask

Inuyasha knew why they always picked on her the most.  It was because she was confident that she was just as good as them.  She never backed down and accepted defeat as a 'worthless' half-breed.  "So what if we're only half-demons," she would always say to Inuyasha with a dauntless smile.  "We're just as good as any full-breed.  Maybe we have to try a little harder, but so what?"

It's hard to see the pain

Behind the mask

But she was always suffering - he knew.  He could see it in her eyes whenever she returned home.  She tried to smile and be the brave elder but it was hard.  He could see her distressed and heard frustrated crying or muffled yelling at night coming from her room.

Bearin' the burden of a secret storm

Sometimes she wishes she was never born

But she would never falter around other demons.  Not once.  No matter what they called her or what they did to her, she would never give them the satisfaction of knowing how much they hurt her.

Through the wind and the rain

She stands hard as a stone

In a world where she can't rise above

But her dreams give her wings

And she flies to a place where she's loved

Concrete Angel

Inuyasha would never forget that one fateful night.  The night when the dirty full-breeds around town finally decided to do her in for good.  Inuyasha could hear the screams and cries from his bedroom.  But what could he do?  He was only a little half-demon.  He hardly knew anything about powers and such yet.

Maybe one of the neighbors would hear the commotion and rush to help.  No.  Of course not.  They just pretended that they didn't exist and blew out their candles and fires to climb into bed... and not do a thing to stop the horrendous crime going on outside.

Somebody cries in the middle of the night

The neighbors hear but they turn off the lights

A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate

When morning comes it'll be too late

Inuyasha knew that she was fighting with all she had.  She never believed in half-demon, half power.

But even her faith couldn't pull her through that night.

Through the wind and the rain

She stands hard as a stone

In a world where she can't rise above

But her dreams give her wings

And she flies to place where she's loved

Concrete Angel

End Flashback

Inuyasha finally stopped and turned to face the curious group.  "You all stay here.  There's something I need to do... alone."  With those few words, he turned and started walking, confident that the rest would not follow.

He walked to a single tree atop a lonesome hill.  The solitary rose he had picked on the way there was clutched tightly in his hand.  He approached the little headstone and tiny statue.

A statue stands in a shaded place

An angel girl with an upturned face

Mika: Loving Sister and Daughter

Inuyasha sighed and knelt beside the grave.  He said a silent prayer and placed the rose by the foot of the headstone.

A name is written on a polished rock

A broken heart that the world forgot

"So what if I'm only a half-demon," he said to himself, repeating her favorite line.  "I'm just as good as any full-breed.  Maybe I have to try a little harder, but so what?"  He gave a sad smile, and stood quietly.  "I'll never forget you... sister."

Through the wind and the rain

She stands hard as a stone

In a world where she can't rise above

But her dreams give her wings

And she flies to place where she's loved

Concrete Angel

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Yeah - I know - sad.  Not my usual writing style, but I had the idea and I thought that if I wrote a short little one-shot it might help break through my writer's block on my other story.  Hope it was ok.  R&R please!