Hey guys, got the inspiration for this story while writing my other one, A New Act. Not sure how the two are related at all, but that's how it happened. I promise that this one begins better than my last one. Also everyone in this story is human. Demons and other supernatural stuff just kinda made the plot a little tricky, but I have tried my best to keep personalities mostly the same. The story takes place in modern day Tokyo, though the school is based off of the US school system since I have no experience with Japanese schools. Hope you guys like it! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! I want your input!

Disclaimer for the entire story: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.

ENJOY!

Prologue:

"Shit Miroku!" Inuyasha screamed at the man in question took a turn in the van they driving in at a speed that was far from safe. The wheels screamed loudly and Inuyasha was suddenly glad that the city streets were empty at this time of night. "What the fuck?! If you haven't noticed, we have something that we need to take care of in the back of this van! Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Shut up Inuyasha. I know exactly what I'm doing." Miroku insisted, "And I told you to wear a seatbelt." Inuyasha grumbled a complaint, but Miroku didn't hear it and kept driving like a maniac. Instead of pursuing the argument further, Inuyasha decided to finish screwing the silencer onto his pistol and look to the back of the windowless van to check on the "package" that they were supposed to deliver. Luckily for them, it hadn't taken any damage from Miroku's crazy driving.

It wasn't long before Miroku pulled up to the building that they were looking for. He chose the dark alley to the right of the building to leave the van it, just as they had planned. On the outside, it looked just like an abandoned warehouse, but Inuyasha and Miroku knew better than that. In reality, it housed the headquarters of one of the most evil men in the world, Naraku Jigoku. Their mission was to get in, plant the package, and get out without being detected. They were going to have to be quick. The job would have been easy if it weren't for the fact that Naraku had almost an unlimited amount of resources from his tight control over the city's drug trade, but unfortunately, in their line of work, no job was ever easy.

Inuyasha tucked his pistol into the waistband of the jeans he was wearing and hopped out of the van. Miroku did the same. It was almost pitch black outside, with the only light coming from a tiny sliver of the moon and the stars. Both of the men were glad that they had chosen to wear all black for this mission. They ran around to the back of the van and opened the double doors to reveal the thing they had to get into the warehouse. Two briefcase sized boxes that, when triggered, would release enough poison gas into the building to kill everyone inside before they had any idea what was going on. Miroku grabbed one while Inuyasha grabbed the other. They shut the doors, approached the side entrance that was in the alleyway, stacked up to the right of the door. Inuyasha took point.

"You ready?" He whispered. Miroku simply nodded. "Alright. On three. One... Two... Three." As the last word left his mouth, Inuyasha quietly turned the handle of the door. It was unlocked, just as they had hoped. He pushed the door open and entered into the building, gun first. Miroku followed and shut the door behind them without a sound. Both of them scanned the area in front of them. It was almost too dark to see, but they had been trained for these kinds of situations and had developed very good night vision. The inside of building was obviously not a warehouse. There were boxes and machines everywhere. It was clear that this was where the drugs and illegal weapons were made and processed before being shipped out onto the streets. Inuyasha knew from the intelligence they had that all business was conducted on the second floor.

Once they had established that the coast was clear, they separated to place the packages in the locations where they would best be able to release the gas. Inuyasha broke right while Miroku went left. It didn't take them long to find good places to stash the boxes. Miroku left his hidden below an industrial sized fan that was meant to keep the floor cool while people worked, while Inuyasha stored his in the opening to one of the air ducts. With that kind of positioning, it would only take minutes for the colorless, odorless gas to spread. Then, after inhaling the poison, each person would only have twenty minutes to live before going into cardiac arrest. It was indiscriminate and, according to Inuyasha, a bit cruel, but it was the only way to insure that they took out all of their targets that would be there the next morning. The two met back up immediately after placing the boxes and turned to head back out the way they came. They were almost to the door when they heard the unmistakable sound of someone cocking an assault rifle. Then came the cold, familiar female voice that chilled Inuyasha's blood.

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up. Ha! What luck. He even brought his little friend along. Hey there, Inuyasha." Inuyasha let out a string of quiet curses as he turned to see the woman pointing a gun at his head. He desperately wished that it wasn't the person who owned the voice, but these hopes were shattered as his eyes came to rest on her face.

"Hey there... Kikyo..."

Chapter 1: Welcome to Rumiko High

A few months earlier

"BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEP!" The familiar and decidedly unwelcome sound of an alarm clock pierced Kagome's dream and forced her rudely awake. She reached out her hand, slammed it down on the snooze button, and promptly went back to sleep. It wasn't long, however, before she heard her mother's footsteps outside her door.

"Kagome dear, it's time to get up for school. You don't want to be late on the first day." She called through the door. Kagome's only response was to groan loudly at her mother. In her mind, the first day was the perfect day to sleep late. However, to appease her mother and avoid her wrath, she managed to drag herself out of bed and into the shower. The hot water felt great on her skin and did wonders for waking her up.

It wasn't long before she was out of the shower, dressed in her school uniform, and down stairs for breakfast. Her mom was just sitting out a plate of pancakes for her when she entered the dining room.

"Morning Kagome." Her mother said happily as she put the food on the table, "Trouble waking up sweetie?"

"Morning mom. And yeah, just a little bit." Kagome admitted, "Thanks for making breakfast." Her mother smiled warmly just like she always did.

"Oh no problem dear. It's the least I could do for my little girl before her first day of senior year, especially in a new school." She told her. Kagome nodded and smiled back before sitting down at the table to eat. It was true. The company that her mother worked for, Shikon Industries, had changed locations, forcing them to move and Kagome to change schools. Luckily for her, though, she wasn't the only one affected by the change. Her three best friends in the world, Sango, Rin, and Ayame, also had parents that worked for the company and were forced to move. Now the four of them would be the new girls together at Rumiko High School. Sango Taijiya was a feisty girl with long black hair. Rin Noto also had long black hair. She was an outgoing, energetic girl that was always fun to talk to. Ayame Kakazu was a crazy little redhead that was active all the time and was a great soccer player. It was going to be nice having those three with her. Kagome pushed these thoughts from her mind and finished breakfast as her grandfather and little brother Souta staggered tiredly into the dining room. This made her mother laugh.

"Well it looks like Kagome wasn't the only one that had trouble getting up this morning." She joked. The two men, however, did not find it funny and instead yawned and found a seat at the table.

At that moment, Kagome's iPhone vibrated. She pulled it out of her bag and checked to see who had tried to contact her. There was a text message from Sango showing on the screen.

"Kagome! I'm parked outside your house. Get your ass out here so we can get to school." Kagome laughed and got from the table. Sango and Kagome both had cars and, since they only lived a few houses away from each other, they had decided to carpool to school each day.

"Well, as much as I would love to stay and chat," Kagome said as she grabbed her school bag, "My ride is here."

"Alright sweetie." Her mother said, coming over to give her a hug, "Have a nice day at school."

"I'll do my best mom. See ya later." Kagome said as she rushed out the door.

Outside the sun was bright and the air was warm. Sango was waiting on the street in her black Audi R8. It was an expensive car, but given the company that their parents worked for, they could afford it. Kagome herself had a red Corvette ZR1. She loved the car, especially the 638 horsepower V8 engine. That was her favorite part. Sango's car was good too, but Kagome had always thought that it wasn't exciting enough. That didn't stop her from hopping in. Their carpool was necessary since neither of their cars had the best gas mileage. As soon as Sango saw Kagome close the door to her house, she started up the car. Kagome got in and was immediately assaulted by the sound of Breaking Benjamin's I Will Not Bow. It wasn't her favorite kind of music, but she could deal with it and understand why Sango enjoyed it. She was a mixed martial arts fighter in addition to a student and took it pretty seriously too. Kagome had seen her deck a few guys that had tried something she didn't like.

"Hey Kagome, you ready?" Sango asked once she had thrown her bag in the back and gotten in the passenger seat.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Kagome said sarcastically, "Let's go. Don't want to be late, right?" Sango laughed.

"Guess not." She said as she put the car in gear and peeled out of the neighborhood.

The two girls pulled into the school parking lot about ten minutes later at about 8:30, which meant that they had ten minutes before school started officially. They saw Rin and Ayame waiting for them and waving excitedly near the entrance to the school. Kagome smiled and waved back as she got her bag from the back seat of the car. There was another girl with short black hair standing with Rin and Ayame who they assumed was going to be their guide to their first class, which AP Comparative Government with Mr. Arihiro.

"Hey there!" The other girl said as Kagome and Sango approached them, "My name is Yuka. I'm going to be your guide to your first class since you all have the same one."

"Thanks." Kagome said, "I'm Kagome and this is Sango. I'm glad the school gave us guide. I'd probably get lost otherwise."

"Probably? More like definitely Kagome." Ayame joked. This made everyone laugh.

"I wouldn't worry about it. You'll figure out the layout of the school soon enough. It's pretty simple." Yuka assured her. With that Yuka turned around and walked into the school, motioning for the four girls to follow her.

Their first class was on the second floor of the three floor school. It was in room 232 and had about 19 students in it. All five girls walked in and found their seats. Predictably, they all sat together. Yuka found a seat close to them, but that was still next to her friends as well. Mr. Arihiro hadn't gotten to the class yet, so they had some time to talk.

"Hey guys!" Sango said in an excited voice.

"What is it Sango?" Kagome asked, curious about what had her like this.

"Take a look at the back of the class." She told them. All four girls turned around. Kagome's breath caught in her throat when she saw what Sango was talking about. There were two guys sitting in the back of the room. One had short black hair with beautiful brown eyes while the other had slightly shaggy dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes to match. They seemed to be keeping mainly to themselves, but were obviously friends. Both looked incredibly attractive in their school issued khakis and black button down shirts. The four girls quickly turned back around to avoid being caught staring.

"Those guys were SO hot!" Rin said.

"Yeah no kidding." Ayame agreed.

"You guys think the black haired guy is taken?" Sango asked.

"Maybe, but I call the blonde guy." Kagome joked. She then turned to her guide and tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey Yuka, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah sure Kagome. What is it?" Yuka asked.

"Who are those two guys in the back of the room?" Kagome asked, pointing out who she meant. A smile appeared on Yuka's face.

"Noticed them already did you?" Yuka asked, chuckling, "I guess it was only a matter of time. The blonde guy is named Inuyasha and the black haired one is Miroku. They are the captains of all of the running teams. In the fall, they captain cross country, in winter it's indoor track, and in spring it's outdoor track. Those two are crazy fast and really well liked on the team. Problem is, though, that they're kinda reclusive the rest of the time. They spread that trait to a bunch of the other guys on the running teams as well. No one is really sure why. Inuyasha, gorgeous as he is, has only gone out with one girl during high school and that was in sophomore year. She became reclusive just like they are and eventually just disappeared from school. Nobody knows what happened to her. Miroku, on the other hand, has had several girlfriends. None of his relationships have lasted more than a month and none of the girls that have gone out with him will talk about it. It's really strange."

"Sounds like it." Ayame agreed.

"Inuyasha has really only had one girlfriend?" Kagome asked incredulously.

"Yeah." Yuka affirmed, "He could get any girl he wanted, but he just doesn't. I guess none of us are good enough for him." Kagome could tell that there was a little bit of bitterness in her voice. She guessed that Yuka had tried to win his affections at one point.

"What was the name of the girl he did go out with?" Kagome asked, curious as to the identity of the lucky girl.

"Oh her? Her name was Kikyo. Looked kinda like you actually." Yuka told her.

At that moment, they heard the door to the classroom open. An middle-aged man walked in. He looked to be in great shape, especially for his age. In his right hand, he held a cup of coffee and in his left he carried a laptop.

"Morning class." He said as he shut the door with his foot, "Sorry I'm late. Great example on the first day of school, I know." This got a laugh out of the class. Kagome already liked the man. She could tell that he had a good sense of humor and would be a good guy to talk to. He set his computer and his coffee on his desk at the front of the class and turned to face everyone.

"Ok guys, I'm terrible with names, so if it takes me a few weeks to learn your names, don't be offended. That being said, I think our first order of business should be to go around the room and introduce ourselves. I know that you're all seniors, so tell the class your name, academic interest, extracurricular interest, and... what type of deodorant you wear. Sound good?" This drew a great deal of laughter from the class. "I'll go first. My name is Kenji Arihiro. Obviously, my academic interest is government and politics. My extracurricular interest would be running, since I'm the long distance coach. And I use Old Spice Swagger and I'm not ashamed to say it." The rest of the class followed suit, including the reclusive Inuyasha and Miroku. They seemed to loosen up a bit around their coach.

The rest of class seemed to pass fairly quickly. It wasn't long before the hour and half long class was over and the bell rang to signal the class change. Mr. Arihiro dismissed everyone and Yuka and three other girls immediately went to Kagome and her friends.

"Hey guys." Yuka said, "The four of us are going to be your guides to the rest of your classes. Kagome, I'll be yours. Sango, you have Eri. Rin, you have Ayumi. And Ayame, you have Kagura." Each of them split off with the proper guide and headed out to the next class. Kagome followed Yuka out into the hall where everyone was milling about.

"Kagome, can I see your schedule? I just kinda want to know where I'll be taking you and where I've gotta pick you up." Kagome nodded and dug through her bag to find the paper. As soon as she found it, she handed it over to the girl who looked it over.

"Okay," Yuka began, still trying to memorize the sheet, "Looks like on Mondays and Wednesdays you've got AP Comparative Government with Mr. Arihiro for first period, British Literature with Mrs. Kyoda for third, Lunch, Art with Ms. Kaede for fifth, and study hall for seventh. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays you have AP BC Calculus with Mr. Junichi for second period, AP Physics with Mr. Myouga for fourth, Lunch, Spanish Conversation with Mr. Sadaharu for sixth, and Film Studies with Mrs. Kuwashima for eighth. Then on Fridays you have all of them for forty minutes each with Lunch after fourth. Damn Kagome, you've got a pretty tough schedule. You must be a pretty smart girl." Yuka said before handing back the schedule. Kagome blushed a bit out of embarrassment. She thought that the schedule was pretty easy, especially for senior year. Then again, she and her friends had always been seen as pretty smart.

"Yeah, I guess." Kagome responded a little sheepishly, putting the paper back in her bag.

"Well, I guess we should get going. Your Brit Lit class is in room 124 on the first floor, so follow me." Kagome did and made it to the class with plenty of time before the bell rang. She was happy to see that Sango was also in the class and took a seat by her.

Unfortunately for everyone in the class, Mrs. Kyoda happened to be one of the most boring teachers in the school. She was nice, but it was all Kagome could do to stay awake and it was only the first day of class. It was extremely relieving when the bell finally rang signalling the start of lunch which was about forty-five minutes long. Kagome and Sango got out of the class as quickly as possible to find Yuka and Eri waiting for them. They greeted each other happily. Eri, who'd had Mrs. Kyoda the year before was able to sympathize with how bored Kagome and Sango had been. Since both Kagome and Sango had brought their own lunches with them, Yuka and Eri led them to the Senior Commons where all of the Seniors ate lunch and hung out when they weren't in class. It was filled with couches, chairs, and even had a TV. They found Rin and Ayame waiting for them and quickly went to join them while Yuka and Eri went to join their friends.

"So guys how was your second class of the day?" Sango asked the other two, "Because Brit Lit was boring as hell for us."

"We just came from AP Environmental Science." Ayame told her, "Wasn't that bad. Looks like it's gonna be kind of a joke class."

"Kind of?" Rin said, laughing, "Definitely. Talked to someone who took it last year as a junior. He said it was the easiest class ever since they didn't do any work whatsoever."

"Wish I'd taken that." Kagome lamented, "Sounds so much better than AP Physics. I've heard that that class is impossible."

"Kagome, if there is anyone that can make an impossible class look easy, it's you." Sango encouraged her. Kagome blushed at the praise and was about to refute it before her friends cut her off to agree with Sango. Seeing that she wasn't going to get anywhere, she changed the subject.

"So you girls have any more classes with those two guys from Comparative this morning?" She asked.

"I heard that Inuyasha guy has Art with Ms. Kaede next." Rin told her.

"No way!" Kagome said, in complete surprise, "That is my next class!"

"You're kidding?" Ayame said. Kagome shook her head. She couldn't believe her luck. By pure luck of the draw, she had two classes in one day with the most attractive guy she had ever seen. Now she just had to work up the courage to talk to him.

The rest of lunch passed rather quickly. The four girls spent the time talking about their classes and about plans for after school. Ayame had soccer practice with her travel team and Rin had to pick up her mom from a doctor's appointment. That left Kagome and Sango to figure out something to do since Sango had worked out that morning. They decided to hang out at the track. Partly to have some time to talk, but mostly just to watch the two hot captains of the team run in the heat, hopefully without shirts. Both of them were satisfied with this plan and were finalizing it as the bell to end lunch rang out. The girls said their goodbyes and were led to their respective fifth period classes by their guide.

Yuka dropped Kagome off at the art room on the first floor. It was a typical art room with large art tables and a desk for the teacher at the front of the room. The desk, however, was empty. Teachers at this school seemed to have a tendency to be late. There was, however, a note on the whiteboard that directed students to find the seat that had the index card with their name written on it. That was going to be their assigned seat for the year. Kagome thought that the system was a bit childish, but didn't complain when she saw who she would be sitting immediately to her right. It was none other than Inuyasha Takahashi. He was already sitting in his seat, looking beautiful as per usual. Kagome didn't really know how to start off the conversation, so she sat down next to him without saying anything. Luckily for her and much to her surprise, he spoke to her.

"So, you're Kagome huh?" He said.

"Oh... Um... Yeah..." She stammered, "I'm Kagome. And you're Inuyasha right?" He nodded.

"Everyone treating you alright?" He asked, "I can imagine that it's hard being the new girl."

"Um... It's alright, I guess. Some of my friends came with me, so I'm not all alone. Plus the people seem nice enough." She told him. He smiled.

"That's good. I'm glad that the people around here have enough sense to not act like the asses they normally are to the new girl on the first day." He said, "Don't worry. It won't last. You'll see who people really are before the month is out." This made Kagome laugh.

"Oh joy. I am so looking forward to that." She joked.

"Just don't join 'em alright. You seem like a nice girl. Wouldn't want that to change." He told her seriously. There seemed to be a sadness in his eyes as he said that, but he quickly hid it.

"I'll do my best." Kagome assured him. This made him smile.

"Good. You know, you remind me of someone that I used to know." He said. Kagome was going to ask who, but before she could, a very old woman entered the room. She was wrinkly and used a cane to move around and slowly at that. The woman had a warm smile on her face and looked very friendly and understanding, just like an art teacher should.

"Good afternoon students. I am Ms. Kaede." She said warmly. Everyone greeted her back before she continued. "As you can see, you all have assigned seats. That is for a good reason. I want all of you to get to know each other instead of just sitting with your friends like you do in every other class. We're going to make new friends in here. In order to do that, I'm going to give you a fun little assignment to get to know the person sitting next to you." Some of the students groaned at the prospect of getting a project on the first day. However, whereas most teachers would have reprimanded this type of behavior, Ms. Kaede began to chuckle.

"I assure you that this will be fun. Plus, you'll have over a month to do it. All you have to do is spend time with your partner and figure out who they are on a deeper level. Then, create some form of art that represents them symbolically and holistically." She explained. Some students were obviously still not fond of the idea, but Kagome, however, quite liked this project. This was her opportunity to get to know Inuyasha, since she would now be working with him and trying to get to know him for over a month.

Ms. Kaede gave the class the rest of the period to spend talking with their partners for the project. Kagome asked Inuyasha about his interests with running and school and if he had any life goals. She found out that Inuyasha was the fastest runner on the team in every single running event that was longer than four hundred meters and that he ran for pure pleasure and no other reason. He also told her that he was more of a history person than anything else, but took this class because he needed an art credit to graduate. The one thing he avoided answering was what his life goals were, so Kagome decided not to push that subject. She figured that he had his reasons and that she could ask when they knew each other a bit better. Inuyasha on the other hand asked her what she liked to do for fun, what she liked to study, and about why she had moved to this school. She revealed that she was an artist that focused mainly on sketching and painting and that she also quite enjoyed history, though could only fit Comparative Government into her schedule this year. As to why she had moved, she told him that her mother's company had changed locations and that they were forced to move along with it. Kagome see him processing the information as she told him the answers that he was looking for. When she had finished, he had one more question to ask.

"What about your dad?" This was a question that Kagome hadn't anticipated. It was a simple question with a simple answer. The problem was, though, that the answer hurt.

"My dad? He's um... He died five years ago in a car crash." She struggled to get out. Inuyasha nodded in understanding.

"I see. I'm sorry to hear that. I know how much that hurts. Both my parents died when I was very young. In fact, I never even got to meet my dad. He was murdered on the night I was born." He told her. Kagome's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't anticipated that either.

"Oh..." She said lamely, "So who do you live with now?" Inuyasha smiled at this and got an almost amused look in his eyes.

"I guess you could say that I stay with some extended family members." He told her.

At that moment, the bell rang signaling the end of class. Kagome heard Yuka call her name from the doorway of the classroom. She was telling her to hurry up so she grabbed her bag, waved goodbye to Inuyasha, and started to head towards the door.

"Hey Kagome!" Inuyasha called after her. Kagome turned around to see him still sitting in his chair. "Welcome to Rumiko High."

REVIEW! PLEASE! I DESIRE YOUR THOUGHTS!