She inhaled deeply, memorizing the distinct scent of the busiest city in the U.S. Hot dogs sizzling, tempting her ready appetite, car and bus exhaust choking her unaccustomed nose, and an underlying whiff of garbage making her gag and snort to get rid of the offensive smell.
She finally did it. Four years of excruciatingly hard work and sacrifice finally brought her here: New York, New York, the busy, bustling city and center of the world in business and the arts. Sighing contently, she looked back at her extremely busy yet lonely high school years.
"Kagome!" she heard someone call her name, and turned, only to find it was someone else who was wanted. She sighed again but this time a wave of nostalgia pushed her to a shimmering memory.
"Can you… me... I mean, can we still be together? I know I'm not that great, or popular, but I really … um… like you."
Kagome sighed and looked away to a more pleasant sight. Children laughing and playing in the park, sliding down graffiti-infested slides without a care in the world. She didn't want to refuse him, nor did she want him to get the wrong idea. He was full of a guarded and hidden pride, but so did she, and there were too many circumstances that prevented them from being anything more than friends.
Her silence was more than her answer, although she didn't realize it until the poor boy gave up and walked away from her life.
She shook her head and realized all this daydreaming was getting her nowhere. The streets of New York were busy, and she could get lost. Hojou was a nice boy. True, not very popular or interesting but a hard-working, steady, shy person. He was a year older than her, and they met in the library, both looking in the reference section for an article about Beethoven, and found they had a mutual interest in classical music. Tenth grade, she thought, a lifetime ago, and very disappointing. Her first "boyfriend," if she could call it that, was a dull and directionless little boy. She had to help him in all of his life's troubles and often resented that she was more of his therapist than anything else in his life. True, his family hardships were pitiful, and the presents and flowers he gave her were sweet, but a whole year wasted on another made her angry, to say the least.
She bumped into a stoplight pole and saw she was daydreaming again. Embarrassed, she looked around to see if anyone noticed, but apparently everyone had places to go and people to see, most of them with their eyes to the ground or straight ahead, not noticing her or caring.
"Someone could be murdered right in front of them and they still wouldn't notice," she thought resentfully, but walked on, wondering where her school would be.
When she finally found the university, she got lost again looking for her dorm, then had to ask around to find her room. It was dark when she sat heavily on her tiny and lumpy bed, and wondered where her roommate was. Oh well, she thought, I'll meet her soon enough. Giving up on unpacking, she found a blanket and slept. Food, cleaning, and other secondary necessities could be done the next day. She needed her sleep.
"Get out of here, I hate you- you thing!" Unceasing pain, she could not feel, or think. A big fist hit her face, arms raised to helplessly block the blows, hateful legs kicking her stomach and everywhere else. "Why aren't you crying you bitch? Huh?! Not hard enough for you, you freak?!" the last word was emphasized with a hard blow to the side of her head, then she blacked out.
Someone was shaking her. Someone was crying, yelling at her to wake up.
Kagome guardedly opened her eyes, as if fearing that monster in her dreams would come all the way here to torture her again. Instead, she saw kind, brown eyes that reminded her of a peaceful cow in a quite meadow. She slowly rose and noticed her breathing was rapid and the girl in front of her was nervously wringing her hands.
"Hi…" She began awkwardly. "You were crying out in your sleep. Are you okay?"
"Yeah… I'm fine." Kagome said.
"I'm Sango, by the way. I'm your room mate."
"Kagome."
"I guess I'll leave you alone then. Good night. Wanna go to orientation together tomorrow morning?"
She agreed, and went out to get a glass of water.
The nightmare was her reality. And her reality was a nightmare. No. No, she changed that when she came her. The past was the past, and she promised herself to forget about it, and live a full life, her own life, not like back then. The reason for her sacrifice, her not having any friends, going out to the movies or a coffee shop like any other normal teenager, but studying until she couldn't open her eyes, working in various stores and at the youth center for community service, and practicing piano until her fingers were sore. All of it was to come here, and destroy the last seventeen years of her life. Not even a life.
Still in the same clothes as before, but sweaty and less tired, she looked around and realized yet again, that she was lost. With an empty water bottle in her hand and no idea where her dorm or a water fountain was, she gave up and put her back to the wall and slid down. No one was in sight; apparently everyone was asleep or at a party like normal collegiate. "Will I ever be normal?" was the last thought she had before she drifted off to sleep in the hallway.
Someone shook her awake, giving her a feeling of deja vu. Sleep still claimed her and grasped her, silently begging her to stay, but the chill raised goosebumps on her arms and forced her to open her eyes.
"Ahhh!!!" Kagome screamed, surprised another pair of eyes were the only thing she saw. The other pair of eyes backed off and looked down, but not before she noticed the stab of pain her scream had brought on. That's when she also noticed the light, and other people moving around, some of them looking at her and the eyeball intruder curiously, and others laughing at them.
"Hey, you little dwarf, I guess you really scare everyone, don't you, you freak?" The deresive voice came from a corner but she couldn't see who it was as he was out of her line of vision.
Kagome turned and glared at this bully. She hated bullies! "Hey, you, what's your problem? Do you have to pick on someone smaller than you just because it makes you feel better? You've got less balls than a girl, you blundering idiot!"
The Idiot looked shocked and turned away, but stared intently as if wondering whether this one was good enough to try and catch.
Kagome ignored him and went to the little guy who woke her up. "Hey, I'm sorry, you just startled me while I was sleeping. I'm Kagome, what's your name?"
The little dwarf really was very short and she wondered how in the world this little child came to a university. But her ponderings were soon disrupted as a big ball of fur jumped up to her face and hugged her. Shocked at first, she slowly put her arms around the kid and asked, "Hey, want me to buy you ice cream?" The even tighter hug was an obvious consent.
While the idiot was making up his mind, Kagome looked for the famous central park, gave up, and let this strange child lead her wherever he wanted to go. In a few minutes she noticed he was making a beeline for an ice cream shop.
Two ice cream cones and a slice of cake later, the little boy was willing to talk.
"I'm Shane Emmanuel Kingston the Third. But my friends call me Shippou!"
Kagome's eyes bulged at the important-sounding name, but just said, "Hi Shippou, I'm Kagome, again. So, what are you doing here?"
"You mean what is a third grader doing in one of the most prestigious universities in New York?"
"Uh…"
"It's okay. I get that a lot. I'm studying psychology and was admitted last year because apparently, elementary school was too boring, I always caused trouble, and my I.Q. was too high."
"Oh…"
"My stunted growth is because my DNA became mixed up and gave me excessive intellect hidden within a child's body. Don't be intimidated. I'm still only eight."
"Oh…"
The awkward silence continued until Shippou rose up on the bench, tiptoed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for the ice cream." And siding me against the bully, he thought as he ran off, leaving her with a rather large bill for ten ice cream cones.
"When did he eat so much ice cream?" She wondered, as she slowly made her way back to her dorm until she collided with a familiar face from last night. "Sango!"
"Sorry, Kag, I gotta go! Come back here you pervert! I'm going to seriously mutilate you this time!" She ran off faster than Kagome had ever seen anyone run, chasing a guy in a tux.
"Tux? Hmm. Forget about the peaceful cow eyes. Those eyes were dangerous," Kagome murmured and wandered off into her own room, deciding to take a shower before she went to orientation.
Orientation was a joke. Hairless professors and presidents of this and that babbled on about responsibility, the rites to adulthood, and other useless junk. But, Kagome had to back straight, feigned interest and attention while her peers took out video games or just chatted with neighbors.