Sukiyaki

Chapter 1

"Kagome..." Muttered a tiny boy with black hair to his sister as they walked down the street. There were clouds overhead and everything was just beginning to look dark and dreary enough for rain. He looked up at his older sister, who didn't look back at him for several minutes.

"What is it, Souta?" She replied, looking down at him. She had a slightly annoyed look on her face, but she was never able to stay angry with him for long. It wasn't his fault that any of this was happening. And she figured that he was probably stressed as much as she was in his own way. She couldn't blame him.

"It looks like it's going to rain..." He said, looking at the sky.

"So what if it does?" She asked, taking to the fact that she had always liked the rain. She just loved the water in general and had no idea why Souta was complaining about it.

"So where are we going now anyway?" He asked, also getting a little annoyed. She sighed. It wasn't like she didn't want to tell him. She just didn't want to tell him the truth, which was that she had absolutely no idea.

"It's not that far. Just a little more walking, okay?" She asked, with a smile on her face hoping it would be a bit more convincing. By the look on Souta's face it wasn't. But they would have to find a place to stay for the night soon. Souta would get sick if he was in the rain for too long, even though she wouldn't. Sometimes she wished the he had the same thing about water that she did. It sure would be a hell of a lot easier. For her that is.

"You're lying... Where are we going?" He asked again, the look of annoyance on his face changing into worry. She sighed again and stopping walking so she could kneel down to him. Now having eye contact with her little brother she continued.

"Where we're going isn't that far, okay? If you stop asking I'm sure that we'll get there a lot faster." She stood up again, and they started to walk down the road, like they did yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that.

"Kagome...?" A mocha haired beauty called out to her best friend, who was still reluctantly asleep in her bed. Her matching set of eyes were filled with worried when Kagome refused to wake up. "Kagome...? Come on already... We have to go to school in two hours..." She sighed, before taking another breath and pushing Kagome off the bed. She bounced back up a few seconds after the thud and rubbed her head. Sango's hands shot to her prefectly pink rose colored lips. "Sorry..." She murmered, not making eye contact with her friend.

"Hey... It's okay. We're friends remember?" Kagome discontinued easing the pain and the back of her head and decided that it might just be best to ignore it. "What happened last night exactly...?" She smiled, yet getting angry at herself for not being able to remember something so close to the present.

"You can't remember...?" Sango asked with a befundled look on her face. It was obvious to Kagome that she didn't want to have to tell her herself. "Just wait a little longer. I'm sure that you'll remember soon." Sango smiled a totally fake smile before stepping away from the bed and concealing herself in her walk in closet, where she wouldn't have to making any eye contact with Kagome. "Hurry and get ready! We have all new classes and stuff since fall break is over and I want to go early and make sure that I know where everything is so I don't get lost in between classes..." Sango said, more to herself towards the end than to Kagome.

"Okay..." Kagome agreed, inviting herself into the bathroom sized room that was Sango's closet. "Mind if I borrow one of your uniforms...?" She asked, trying not to impose on her hostess. "I kinda have no idea where mine are..." She smiled.

"Sure." Sango handed her a hanger that held a familar green skirt and white top that matched, which made up their school uniforms. Kagome smiled for real and thanked her friend before going into the bthroom to change. Sango herself changed right inside of the closet, considering there was room to spare. "What do you want to eat for breakfast, Kagome?" She called. Kagome emerged from the bathroom wearing the outfit that she had worn everyday until break came. She smiled. She had been worried that Sango's might not fit her.

"Whatever you want, Sango." Kagome said cheerily. "I'll meet you downstairs okay?" Sango nodded and hurried to finish getting dressed so she could follow Kagome to the kitchen. Her mother and father were at work already and all they had to do before going to school themselves was take Souta and Sango was sure that he had already said some time ago that he wanted to take the bus by himself.

"How does just muffins sound? Like I said I wanna go early and muffins are a quick breakfast." Sango asked, resting her elbows on the table once she got out there. Kagome was sitting by the couter, just waiting.

"That sounds good." Kagome said happily. She walked to the other side of the kitchen and took two muffins from a cabinet. She smiled to herself. At least she was able to remember Sango's kitchen arrangement. She tossed on to Sango and took a bite. Blueberry. She smiled again. "Where's your brother?" Kagome asked in between bites of her muffin.

"I think that he already went to school. He said a while ago that he wanted to take the bus all by himself so I think that he left without us." Sango said, grabbing her backpack from the sofa and heading for the door. "You ready?" Kagome nodded and they were out the door.

The walk to school was generally silent. Sango was apparently thinking about her new classes and the classroom numbers. Something that Kagome picked up from her constant mumbling to herself. And she was mostly trying to firgure out what exactly was going on. She expected that she should be at her own house, walking to school with Souta, or riding the bus, eating a home cooked meal with her mother. But she wasn't. And Sango hadn't wanted to tell her what had happened. That was what had really made her worry. But then again, the more she thought about she figured that that wasn't the first time she woke up at Sango's house and couldn't remember the night before. It was a common thing between them. But this time it was different. This time she was missing the security that she would be able to go home after school, and that maybe, just maybe, that was why Sango hadn't wanted to tell her. What kind of friend would want to tell her that she was not able to go home later? That made sense, but it didn't seem to lodge it's way into her head. There was no way that could happen. And even so, if she couldn't go home and her theory was correct, what on God's Earth could have ever made something like that happen to her?

And then she knew. When Sango and Kagome took their seats in the first period classroom, only about half the class was there. Among them many that they hadn't known before break. There was one boy in front of her, who she hadn't known that seemed to trigger everything., even though she could only see his shining silver hair. Right before her eyes the screaming, crying, pain, betrayal of the night before came back to her. She recollected the thoughts in her head, trying to get all the memories in the correct order. But no matter how she thought it out the last thing that she had done always seemed to lead back to sukiyaki and the boy in front of her.

Should We Continue?