∙ v i c t i m ∙ o f ∙ f e a r ∙
Pairing(s): InuYasha x Kagome
Summary: Just what to we have to fear but 'fear' itself? Nothing to gain, everything to fear.
Author's Note: I like being absurdly random. Learn to enjoy it. Oh, I congratulate myself on finishing it entirely before posting any of it to the public, a first for me, ne? I must say this was purely inspired by songs.
Disclaimer: Not Owned, just "re-adjusted" to fit my own personal needs; for it all is the sole property to Rumiko Takahashi.
∙ a c t ∙ o n e ∙ "He's Called."
He's called: 'delinquent.'
He's called: 'troublemaker.'
You know him just as well as I thought I did. He's that quiet, but deadly type. The one spending his summer's trapped in these walls, the miscreant always finding a way into the detention room. He was always living in his own little universe where no one dared to tread.
Meet the overly popular "Mr. Bad Boy" ; "Mr. Dare Devil" ; "Mr. Rebel"
Here at Tokyo Gakkuen (Tokyo High School), he was only called 'Takahashi.' Formally named, InuYasha Takahashi.
Heir of beyond millions of assets on a worldwide scale. Holder of a universe of influence underneath his feet…and the one guy you honestly know you would never want to mess with on any occasion.
I hadn't known him up until I began high school. Quite frankly, if it weren't for his outstanding reputation and the fact he and I were in the same class, I don't think I ever would've seen him to begin with. This all started last spring, during high school entrance exams.
I was always aspiring to get myself into an outstandingly infamous university, get the job of my dreams, and live my life happily. After about three other exams I had taken that week, I had also decided to go out for the school most of my friends were planning on attending, Tokyo's famous high school. I reasoned having one more for back-up wouldn't hurt me, right?
"Kagome-chan! You're taking this entrance exam too?" a girl with short bouncy curls said running up to me gleaming with anxiety.
"Mhm, I thought it'd be best to at least have one place where I'd see a friendly face." I clutched my bag and adjusted my scarf as we walked together to the examination center. We met up with Eri and Yuka who were already there waiting.
"Kagome-chan! Ayumi-chan!" they yelled in sync while rushing up to us. We talked for a bit before heading into the building.
"It'd be great if we all got accepted right, Kagome?"
"You bet!" I said while sitting down. I looked around and saw a lot of faces from middle school and a few others I'd never seen before. We continued on our way to our examination room and dutifully took our seats without much commotion. The room steadily filled, and the instructor came in and began handling out the tests while reviewing the conventional exam procedures.
"Attention everyone, we're about to begin-" just as the instructor was informing us, a tall man with cheerful amber eyes and sterling silver locks, jovially opened the door.
"Ahaha, would this be the entrance exam for Tokyo Gakkuen?" he asked merrily and I saw many stiffen and even the teacher nodded idly, almost in fear. "Forgive me, my son and his friend are rather late, please excuse them."
A dark-haired boy entered and took a seat, winking at a few girls. Another boy followed…his hair was similar to what I believed was his father for they shared the same tawny, golden eyes and hoary-hued hair. His expression was completely indifferent and almost like it'd shoot you down on impact.
"…That's him." I heard a few people whisper.
"So this was his last resort…huh?"
"Obviously! After being kicked out of three middle schools, you'd think he wouldn't even bother with high school entrance exams…" Everyone seemed to silence when his gaze was turned upon those who were talking. The exam began without much ado, and in a few hours, we were released. By the time I got outside, I looked around for Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi but all I caught sight of was the two boys slip into the back of a limo and drive off.
"Kagome-chan!" I turned and smiled to see my friends rushing up to me.
Naturally, with their reputations they had a few girls fawning over them at the start. They took the high school exam here by default, mainly since it was the only school that took no notice of their previous infractions as middle schoolers and because they lived close to the school as well.
It was odd since then I never spoke a word to him…ever. Of everyone in our class, I had at least had one conversation with them. Even so, I have spoken to the dark-haired boy who was the only known person to have any sort of connection with him, Shirasaka-san, but never once have I approached InuYasha himself. I didn't have anything against him, really. But by the laws of the infamous high school status quo, I, Kagome Higurashi, was not meant to mingle with the likes of InuYasha Takahashi.
I continued taking my notes patiently, being fully aware of each detail the teacher explained. I looked over and saw the familiar empty seat. He wasn't called an idiot, nor was he proclaimed a genius- Thing is, it was a rarity in itself to just see him on the school grounds, more so to even see him attend a class. Personally, it seemed like he was just always doing something to get in trouble…and out of class.
As the year passed by, the amount of girls falling for him seemed to grow by the hundreds. You would think he'd love the attention girls showered onto him. They would nearly die at the sight of him, and yet no matter how pretty, rebellious or plain out 'easy' the girls that liked him were, Takahashi never once even cared for them in the least.
The littlest interest he had was never wasted on the likes of anyone, keeping mostly only to himself, with the single exception of his sidekick, his rather perverted best friend; Miroku Shirasaka. Miroku; however, was another story. Not only did he act like any other high school boy, immature, confused, and just as 'emotional'…he never seemed to get his hands off of any of the pretty girls that liked him. But as of recently, he's been a bit neglectful of his admirers for he had his eyes firmly glued to the school's greatest female athlete, Sango Itou, but…
"Damned pervert!" a 'thwack' rang through out the classroom, the teacher halted in speech and it quieted, a 'thud' was heard afterward.
…Let's just say, Miroku was a bit down on his luck when it came to swaying Sango's heart.
The bell rung, and everyone rose from their seats, some staying in the classroom during lunch, some going onto the campus grounds, others rushing towards the cafeteria. I finished re-editing my notes from class, and placed them in my bag, taking out my lunchbox and just as I was about to head out the door.
"Higurashi-chan!"
"Hey there, Hojo-kun." I smiled brightly to the ginger haired boy that approached me.
"How've you been, Kagome-chan? Not stressing out too much over your grades, are you?" he asked politely.
"I'm great Hojo-kun, as for stressing out, I'm just planning to get in enough study time for Thursday's test." He nodded knowingly, also saying he'd make sure he'd study harder this time. We talked a while until he had to go and meet up with a few friends.
I took hold of my bag, careful not to bump into someone in the halls and made my way to the cafeteria where someone practically lunged at me.
"Higurashi-chan!" Sango's happy brown eyes smiled down at me as I turned around to face her.
"Um…Yes, do you need something Itou-san?" I asked respectfully, I always addressed her formally; we were on good ground so far as I knew, but we never talked all that much.
"Could you help me out? I mean, I don't want to seem like I'm using you just to get a good grade or anything…I just really get stuck on history, and I was wondering if you could help me study for the next test? I really need something to pull my grades up or I'm off the track team."
"I'd be happy to help you, Itou-san." I gave her a warm smile; it was hard for me to say 'No'. Much less to someone as earnest as Sango was. She laughed for a moment at my formality before replying.
"You can call me Sango, if it's okay, can I call you just Kagome? Oh! I'll promise to make it up to you too." I wasn't against meeting new people or anything, I was actually pretty glad to have made a new friend. I agreed I'd adjust to calling her Sango; she thanked me and said she'd be back soon. I went on my way towards the campus grounds where I usually sat somewhere conveniently under some shade, and started on yet another book while slowly eating my lunch.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not an anti-social, but I wasn't Miss Popularity. I was Kagome Higurashi, the girl who was top of the class since first grade, the girl that never tarnished her record in the least, not one detention, the girl who was easy to talk to, but hardly burdened with the busy party lifestyle of the average teenager. I was just another school girl really. Average, plain Jane.
"Kagome-chan!" I heard my name echo a bit in the distance, but I didn't know from where, I looked ahead and saw Sango carrying what seemed to be her lunch and her History textbook.
I felt eyes on me and it was an odd feeling… Near off hidden under the shadow of the school was a boy dressed in the all-black boy's uniform, sunglasses firmly planted on his eyes and slowly as they slipped eerily down his nose a bit, I saw the godliest shade of amber glint right at me.
He's the devil in wake, and I watched him momentarily, almost forgetting who he was. As usual, not even a fly within a mile radius of him. He seemed to have that distant 'I go alone.' aura always around him.
I turned away when I heard footsteps pound louder onto the ground only to be met with Sango's skeptical expression.
"Hi, Sango-san." I greeted her happily.
She gave a weak smile before answering, "He's pretty unusual…"
"Who? Takahashi-sama?" she nodded.
"I used to be one of his crazy, stupid little admirers."
"No way…You were?" I asked her, a little amazed that she'd confide it in me.
"Well, he was always mysterious…But, I think…his heart's too far out of reach." She said modestly. She flipped through the pages of her book looking for the current chapter we were on.
"Mm, what do you mean?" I asked her honestly, easily finding a good spot to stop reading, and helped her find the page which was kept with semi-crumbling notes stuck between the pages.
"Well, when I tried confessing to him, he just seemed to give me the cold shoulder. All he said was: 'Not interested.'…It hurt at first, but I guess, I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."
"…That's a bit mean though. He could've been more considerate of your feelings." She looked at me like I had grown another head.
"…You expect him to be considerate?" she eyed me a bit, looking me straight in the eye.
"Well, I don't think he'd want the girl he likes to treat him like that, do you?"
"Uh, Kagome-chan, do you honestly think that would ever happen? This is Takahashi, he has a heart of pure solid ice. I bet even his blood is below freezing!"
"Ice melts eventually?" I replied while giving her a new sheet of notes for her to copy.
"When hell freezes over is when I'll see InuYasha Takahashi fall in love." She said a bit bitterly. "What about you, Kagome?" I looked at her once more questioning her further.
"What about me?"
"Haha, any boys in your life? There's got to be at least one you like, right?" I shook my head and muttered a small 'No.' People used to think that Hojo and I were together or something, but really I always just saw us as close friends, I had known him since Primary school after all.
"No reason, it's just I always thought that a girl like you would have boys at her feet." She laughed, and I gave her a confused expression, which must've made me look a little funny because her laughter erupted.
"Wow! Those look great! Did you make them yourself?" she said looking at the rice balls in my lunch.
"Yep! Want to try one?" I asked, picking one up and offering it to her. She took it gratefully and savored the taste. I helped her in memorizing some more of her notes and we chatted about the current gossip going through the school. We had a lot of differences; but you know we got along pretty okay so it was just fine. By the end of lunch, I felt like we were nearly sisters. Afterwards, we went right back to class, up until the school bell rang at the end of the day.
I gathered my belongings and said my good-byes my friends, and went to the club I was in. Most, if not all kids were in clubs here, if not they either went off to study hall, their part-time jobs, or just went home. After studying a bit and watching the club practice a bit I yawned, and took a look at my watch realizing how late it was getting. This drama club was mainly surmised of individuals who sung, danced, acted; the full package. Sort of exclusive, many of which were upperclassmen. We were divided into ranks, and often performed on many occasions as well as did other special classes for electives in school.
After a long afternoon, I gathered my things and made my way through the already empty school.
'…I always thought a girl like you would have boys at her feet.'
It wasn't a complete lie, but I never believed that any boy was seriously interested in me, mainly since none had asked me out since I had entered high school. I had a few confessions in middle school, …most of which I was too dense to realize exactly what they implied, but I really didn't see myself as ready for any relationship so I turned them down politely and we usually remained good friends.
I kept thinking back to what Sango had told me about Takahashi-sama on the way home. I never thought he was all that mean, or anything…maybe my opinion didn't really count since I had never once spoken to him or interacted with him at all.
I was about to pass the last crosswalk when I saw an old woman carrying a massive load of bags into a restaurant.
"Excuse me, do you need any help miss?" I asked her nicely grabbing a few to help balance her out a bit.
"Ah, thank you so much." she thanked me, and I gave her a warm smile, opening the door to the restaurant. 'Does she own this place?'
"You there!" I eep-ed, and saw a middle-aged man get up from his seat and start yelling at the busy waiter. "Just what is this? I ordered the Korean-styled bean sprouts, not Kimchi." He spat rather venomously at the young boy.
"Eat what ya got old man, 'm busy here!" the boy snapped back. I was pretty astonished…that wasn't how people usually treated their customers…
"InuYasha, behave yourself young man. As for you, do forgive me Yoshiharu, you do realize I had to go shopping for more, this was all I could offer at the moment." The old woman said calmly, while assisting the man to sit back down.
"Feh! Forget this!" he said angrily while stomping past many astonished customers as he made his way to the back room.
"Ah, that boy is a load of trouble. You really shouldn't burden yourself with him so much Kaede-sama." The man told her, in a small reprimand. 'Kaede' laughed a bit, telling him she could handle him just fine.
"Dear, could you go into the back and take this to InuYasha? He's the boy that just pulled the little temper tantrum." She asked me nicely, handing out a bag to me and I mentally grimaced in concern. …You didn't have to tell me twice who InuYasha was. I agreed and made my way towards the back room.
I went past the doors but by the time I got there…all I saw were a few cooks whipping up some meals, and a discarded apron laying on the floor. I politely asked one of the cooks to give this bag to 'Takahashi-sama'…since I'd never really address him so causally considering I barely knew the boy. I gave them my thanks, and went to say good-bye to Kaede. She stopped me at the door apologizing to me like crazy.
"Ah! Forgive me for being so rude and imposing all this Miss…?" she half questioned me.
"Higurashi. Kagome Higurashi." I answered her, while bowing to show respect. She smiled and noticed my empty hands.
"Was he still back there…?" I shook my head and explained how I gave it to one of the workers since he seemed to have stepped out. "That boy has a way with disappearing at the oddest times. He never brings any of his schoolmates here either, except that Miroku boy." I giggled, she acted like a distressed mother.
"Does he work here?"
"Of course not, his parents are out on business trips, so I've taken care of him since he was a child. He just always seems to hang around here, not that I don't mind the extra help." Ah, did I mention InuYasha seemed to always weasel out of everything because his parents redefined 'loaded'? His mother, near royalty, a total heiress, she was in a fashion industry as a designer. What about his father, you ask? Similar really, huge business tycoon, an international financial group. That's all I'd heard from the rumors that flushed through the school anyway. Others were a bit too exaggerated to believe…who'd honestly believe that he had associates that worked for the Japanese Mafia and they could 'exterminate' you in a mere instant?
"…That's nice of him." It felt weird not knowing what more to say, and I gave her an awkward smile.
She told me to visit again, especially since she was in need of some extra assistance running a few errands these days. I promised her I'd come again and made my way for home. I needed to do some studying, help my mother with dinner, take a bath, and just sleep.
I sat at my desk highlighting some of my notes before turning to look out the window, it was really late, probably a good time to head for bed anyway…
…He's called dangerous. He's called a menace, but of all the names he's called…His name was just InuYasha Takahashi. And that's someone you don't want to be calling them any of the wrong names when you meet them face-to-face.
Tamai: I have actually thought this concept may've been overused/over-done but you never know until you try something yourself. I have to say though that I am proud of this particular story. More on the way. Happy Readings.