***A/n : Eiya, gomen nasai, gomen nasai! *bows profusely* Okay, as some of my fans may have noticed I stopped writing this fanfic at the beginning of this year, and I really owe you guys an apology; I'm genuinely sorry. I won't make an excuse for my tardy response, but since some of you wanted to know what happened, I'll tell...In all honesty, I really don't know what happened. It started with my end of the year finals, but during the last month of school I really wasn't myself. I was constantly fatigued and rather depressed for reasons unknown to myself even, and after the time passed, I couldn't continue writing this; I don't know whether or not it was out of embarrassment or otherwise...I've spent countless hours staring at an empty page with my cursor flashing...Even now I try writing my original stories, I can't do it; my plot is solid, but it's not alive. It's like all the emotion is wiped away from it; it's an odd sensation...I'm no longer the same person I was last year when I began this story. Gomen! I am truly sorry to those of you who looked forward to this, and I didn't pull through with you guys. This time around I'll try to keep things steady (no more excuses!), and I thank those of you who will continue along...Even though...yeah.
To those who have no clue what the hell I'm talking about, well this might make more sense. I go by Mitzuki, and this is my second take of this fanfic that made me happy despite all the crap I deal with on a daily basis. I stopped for a bizarre reason even I'm trying to figure out, and I hope starting anew will help my mind go back to before. I'm just a really busy freshman in high school. :P Sorry to have jabbered so long, but I sincerely thank those of you who continue on to read. :)
On a final note, this is a re-write of the original One Day in Social Studies Class, and I hope it serves to your liking!
*Disclaimer : I really don't own much of anything! Much less the mind who created Inuyasha! Not mine! Nope! :3
One Day in Social Studies Class...
Chapter 1 : That Day in Social Studies
The day was wearing on, and Ms. Ito, the history teacher, stared blankly at the class trying to grasp onto a vague detail that told her what class she was teaching. Gazing at the clock, it took her a few brief moments to realize when she was: the end of her work day! Oh, how the hours of teaching accumulate and bear semblance to the others! What is this class learning again? "I'm sorry class! I'm a little scatter-brained today," Ito laughed nervously as she saw that all of her students seemed to shoot back glares of 'aren't you always?'. "Anyways...Take out your 'Tales of the Feudal Era' book and turn to page seventy-three," she continued as she opened her copy to the corresponding page.
Lowering her glasses to the tip of her nose, she sat on her disk, and began to read.
Meanwhile, Miss Kagome Higurashi, who was supposedly inflicted with many ailments and illnesses, showed up today looking perfectly healthy, and wasn't paying any attention what-so-ever. Why should she? All they were covering was the Feudal Era of Japan. No big deal, to her anyway. After all, Miss Higurashi wasn't ill in the slightest, but instead she spent her time in the Feudal Era. Traveling with a half-demon, a lecherous monk, a demon slayer, a fire-cat, and an eccentric, young kitsune was all a part of her life. However, I'm sure you know all about that.
The words droned on in her mind though her teacher's voice wasn't that of an aged man, who barely did more than mumble. She twiddled her fingers under the sanctuary of her desk as she pretended to pay attention to the voice that she blocked out in the background, but it was a fruitless effort when one name caught her attention: Inuyasha.
Wait, what? Inuyasha...Kagome focused in on the page she had absent-mindedly been staring at, and sure enough, it was titled "The Tales of Inuyasha."
Inuyasha's in here? Well it does make sense, considering I've seen the majority of what this class taught first-hand...We really did affect what happened back then. Wait! If this tells what we're doing now, does it tell us how our adventures will end? Or if we'll defeat Naraku? Will Miroku outlive his Wind Tunnel? Will Sango and Miroku get married...What about...What about me and Inuyasha? I shouldn't ask about such things, and besides, maybe whoever wrote it lied so I wouldn't have an advantage...Or maybe they did it so I could? I'm confused...I'll just read it when I get home.
In its ever-so-familiar tone, the bell rang, and all the students rushed to shove everything into their bags and leave the room as quickly as possible.
"Oh, I'm sorry guys, I guess we spent too long on the last tale. This is one of my all-time favorites, so kids, wait up!" Ms. Ito regained everyone's attention, "Read through the first part over the weekend, I want your opinions Monday morning!" Turning to Kagome, she laughed, "Miss Higurashi, don't you find it funny that you might share your name with the main female protagonist? And wasn't the name of that man you brought during the festival Inuyasha if I recall?"
Kagome was taken aback, but coolly replied, "It's a strange coincidence; our parents were caught up in the tale as well it seems..." That wasn't the worst excuse I could have come up with...
"Well, I can understand why! Oh, didn't that young man have silver hair and gold eyes like the namesake? Very cute, Miss Higurashi." Ms. Ito smiled a sweet smile at visualization of the couple. "Don't forget to read it over the weekend!"
"Alright, Ms. Ito, see you Monday!"
Exiting the classroom, Kagome felt her knees shake underneath her, but she kept on walking. It was an eerie feeling: everything she had gone through these last three years and the rest to come was all written inside this book. Clutching the ragged, abused textbook to her chest, she thought, Something feels wrong...
Like all students who loiter aimlessly in the hall, Kagome realized she'd be late to her next class (in this case biology) if she didn't appear inside the room within seconds, and ran to her destination before the bell rang.
Despite her desperate need to pay attention, Kagome spaced and glared at the clock all day. Oh, how slowly it moved. Seconds seemed to pass like hours, minutes like days, and hours like entire weeks. It's not every day that you find out your fate in a school textbook.
She watched as the final second reach the 12, and her blissful savior's ding rang. Stuffing the remainder of her stuff in her bag, Kagome ran home without a second thought regarding school.
After greeting her mother, Kagome ran upstairs, shut her door, threw her things down, and plopped down on her bed with her book in her hand. "Okay, Kagome, you can do this."
She turned to page seventy-three in her book, and began reading.
The Tales of Inuyasha
By the monk, demon slayer, and kitsune.
Inuyasha, the protector, the glue that kept our mismatched group together. Somehow. I'm not sure how we made it. A monk, a demon slayer, a young kitsune, a fire cat, and most importantly, the time-traveling miko and Inuyasha, the half dog demon. An interesting combination, right? Well, this story is written in several points of view as well. We couldn't get the point across otherwise...
It all began 60 years ago with Inuyasha and Kikyou, the Sacred Jewel's protecter...
Kagome read for hours while torrents of emotion overwhelmed and consumed her. This was no lie, no hoax; and she could even tell who contributed what parts and what was pieced together, but one small fact troubled her, nothing was written by neither Inuyasha nor herself. Nothing there was theirs, and whatever had occurred before Shippo's arrival was shaky at best.
"Kagome! Dinner!" Mrs. Higurashi yelled.
Dang, it was just getting to the Band of Seven...
Being the active little brother he was, Souta rambled on and on about school and sports, and Kagome just smiled at his simplicity. When one's life wasn't constantly affected by life or death situations, it was all the more simple; a simplicity, by this point, Kagome slightly wished she possessed.
Finishing her food as quickly as she could, the young miko asked to be excused and walked up to her room to continue reading.
She had finished the first part that Ms. Ito had assigned long ago, but it didn't matter, she needed to know. Besides it was Friday, she didn't need to do all of her homework tonight, and it's not like she planned on sticking around until the next week; Inuyasha would have a fit.
Within the next two hours, Kagome managed to read up to where they were at now.
"Alright, Kagome, moment of truth..."
And so, the final battle soon came. The battle that determined everything.
Inuyasha was in his casual battle stance with Tetsusaiga drawn with one hand, but we couldn't help but notice how tensed he was: his teeth were grinding, his eyes burning, and his grip on Tetsusaiga was tightening. He also had something to protect, the miko, the one he so desperately loved. She was standing beside him with her arrow nocked, ready to go. They both had the determination to survive this, alive.
The monk and the demon slayer were, too, side by side, both ready to fight. The slayer with her large boomerang bone, and the monk with his staff and sutras. Though we knew we weren't the impetus here, we were ready to back up the pair with as much as we had.
Our other companions, the fire cat, the kitsune, and the demon slayer's younger brother, were not present; we requested them to stay with Kaede and the village. After we vanquished Naraku, demons would be rampant, someone had to protect the village.
The battle proceeded so quickly; it was all a blur. Neither of us, the demon slayer nor monk, completely knew what was going on at all times. We were in charge of the small-fry stray tenticles, odd demons, and so on.
Eventually, when we were all weary and tired, the battle was over. Naraku's heart was destroyed by a combination of the miko's arrow and Tetsusaiga's backlash wave. The miko walked over, grabbed the remainder of the sacred jewel, purified it and pocketed it. She would fuse it and choose her wish later.
As if we foresaw its occurrence, our attention turned to Inuyasha, our beloved hanyou, while the moment seemed to go in slow motion. He was bleeding from all sorts of wounds; he was probably protecting his love throughout it all, but this time it was different. Falling to the ground in a pool of his own blood, his love rushed over to him with tears brimming in her eyes.
"Inuyasha? Wake up!" she knelt into the pool, and lifted his head into her lap. Begging, "Please, Inuyasha, you can't die now! We've been through too much, please, don't die on me..."
We were unable to do anything, we were frozen, all we could do is watch. Then we heard it, our hanyou spoke words that were barely audible, "I'm sorry...'Gome...I love you...Please don't cry..." That was it, he said it. The words no one thought they'd ever hear.
The miko was hysterical, "How can I not cry? I love you, too! I'm crying because I love you, Inuyasha...Please don't leave me..."
A rare sight passed our gaze, he smiled, " 'Gome, thank you...That's all...I ever wanted to hear..."
"Inuyasha, don't you dare die on me! Please, I don't know what I'll do!"
"Promise me...You'll be...happy...okay? Forget...all...about me...if you have to..." his eyes were pleading with her.
This left us silent, choke-less tears streaming down our faces. There was nothing we could do, it was their moment.
The miko couldn't respond, but our hanyou chose to say is last words, "I love you...always will...Tell the...others...my goodbyes as well...And...'Gome...I'm glad...last thing...I see...in...this...world...is...you..." Inuyasha, our hanyou, then closed his golden eyes, that were once so full of life, for the very last time.
We both slid to our knees, we hadn't just witnessed that. We won, we got the last of the Sacred Jewel, but we hadn't won without compensation.
Unveiling his right hand, the monk saw a normal hand; his life was saved, the curse was gone. At the cost of his best friend's life, and he couldn't help but choke back his heaving sobs as the sight of his friend's corpse and unscathed hand ran simultaneously and repetitively through his head.
Meanwhile, the demon slayer just stared, she had seen so much death. Now that her younger brother had finally been retrieved, she lost another instead. He had protected them all, his life for their injury; the most foolish albeit noblest act.
After what seemed hours, the remaining trio couldn't cry any longer, and they stayed in complete silence as respect for their fallen comrade.
Picking up the hanyou and carrying his cold body on his back, the monk started to walk towards the village, and the two remaining followed. Smelling blood, the monk wished to recoil at the stench, but he couldn't. The miko drew Tetsusaiga, sheathed it, and drew it into her. It was all she had left of the one she had loved since the moment she laid eyes on him. She didn't know what she was going to do, and the miko didn't want anything more than his presence. One always tends to want what one could never have or behold again...
Kaede's village, which usually consisted of noise, peace, and gaity, drew upon them. As they sluggishly ventured into their familiar domain covered in blood, the townspeople stopped and watched in a taciturn, mourning silence. Though some still regarded the half demon as a nuisance, they all drew back in shock at the death of the one figure that had remained constant in their lives, the one who protected them.
Kaede, the kitsune, and the demon slayer's little brother came out of the hut to investigate the abnormal silence, and they, too, were shaken at the thought.
"Inuyasha's dead?" the kitsune broke the pregnant pause while tears welled up in his eyes.
The monk nodded and laid the hanyou down. Soon, we decided, to prepare a resting place for our treasured fallen commrade.
Unable to accept Inuyasha's fate, the kitsune violently pounded his small hands on the inexorable earth while shouting, "You big idiot, how could you go and die on us!"
Silently gliding over to him in her seemingly placid demeanor (though we knew she was the one who hurt the most), the young miko gently brought him up into her arms. Life as we knew it recoiled against our actions and made us pay a harsh retribution. Now all we could do was cling to something and pray it gave us solace.
He had never received the opportunity to tell the hanyou that he loved him like a father, even an older brother at the very least; the miko and hanyou were his second parents. "Why'd he have to die?"
His question remained unanswered as no one could come to a resolve while everyone watching shed a few tears themselves.
Though their mourning hadn't ended, the demon slayer and monk began to dig as close as they could to the Sacred Tree without disrupting the roots as it seemed an appropriate place; the place he had spent fifty years prior to our meeting, where it all began, where he first met the miko he died to protect, and where he, though absent-minded he sometimes appeared, would spend countless hours thinking of the troubles that had befallen not only himself, but us as well.
The funeral was held shortly afterwards, and not a sound nor wail could be heard. No one could cry anymore, no matter how much they felt they needed to. Holding onto Tetsusaiga, the miko remembered the locket she had given him, he'd be buried with that, but she'd be keeping Tetsusaiga, the one item he unsparingly prided in; the one item that should be wielded solely by him.
Kaede placed a small simple marker rock with his name simply carved into it on top of his grave as she thought of his unceasing presence since her childhood. "May ye rest in peace, Inuyasha."
We all returned to Kaede's hut, and the corner where Inuyasha always sat was left vacant. Not only was the corner left vacant, but a part of us was missing as well; it had died right alongside him. Nothing would be the same; he was what brought us all together and what kept us there.
"So, what do ye plan to do now?" The elderly couldn't believe the recent events, that cocky, stubborn hanyou dying so easily at the hands of his fervent enemy.
The miko was still covered in his dried blood, it was her constant painful reminder, and requested, "I want to wish the Sacred Jewel away. Gone."
No one objected, in fact it would probably be best if that were to happen. It was what had physically brought us together; now that what had mentally done so was gone, might as well end it all there.
"Are..you going to stay?" the kitsune asked the miko, who was technically his adopted mother.
"I'm sorry, I really don't think I can...I'm sorry, I just can't..." Newly found tears cascaded down her face.
The kitsune immediately understood, if she were to stay, she'd be constantly reminded, and it would kill her inside.
"I understand, but don't forget about us? Alright? Promise me, please?" he begged while more tears fell.
"I promise, I can't forget about any of you, no matter what, I won't. I love you all, and I'll miss you guys, really. I hope you all have a happy life. Inuyasha says farewell as well..." she sighed, this was getting hard.
So we all said our painful farewells; we had, after all, let two people we cherished go in a single day. We saw her off to where we could, she left us with a 'pick-ture' of her and Inuyasha, and that was all we had left.
The years passed, and we all still visited Inuyasha's grave to talk to him, to tell him of our lives at present, just as we were sure she was.
The monk and the demon slayer eventually married and had many children, the children's uncle carried on the family trade, demon slaying, while Kaede died after a long life, and the kitsune learned more tricks and eventually found himself a wife. Their endings were peaceful, and as we write this in our old age, we have no regrets besides the fact that we couldn't protect the golden couple from their undeserving fate.
What happened to the two in the end is unknown, and we fear we never will know...
This was the end.
By now, Kagome was lamenting and uncontrollably bawling over the idea of her lost love. What if there really was a grave on shrine grounds? What if the marker had just been moved, or turned over? She didn't know, she didn't care. What she knew was that she wished for nothing but to go back to the Feudal Era, back to the hanyou she loved.
End of Chapter 1
***A/n : Mmm...This is my second time writing this, I think I like my newer style more. Stuff will be different (I'm talking plot, not wording), I swear, this was just a base I wanted to begin with again. If I had any obligations to any of you, please remind me; I swear I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Have any questions? Feel free to ask and I'll answer! Anyways, now that you've read, please review! To my newbies who read this cause it sounded like it wouldn't be the worst read you'd ever read, thank you! I'll appreciate any and all support I get (criticism is nice too...please no hard-core flames)! P.S. - I respond to all reviews personally or publicly on my fic if the same topic grows! ^_^ Thank you all for your time!
~Mitzuki-chan