DISCLAIMER: I am merely a fan, and this is only fiction (and an AU, at that). Suffice to say, Inu-Yasha doesn't belong me. (But, if he did? Oh, boy…..)
A/N: Rehauling...again. *sigh* After nearly coming to the conclusion of abandoning this fic, entirely, I've recently been struck with inspiration and have decided to break hiatus and breathe new life into my story. I have edited, re-edited and then done it again to get the story straight, as I was leaving some seriously gaping plot holes in regards to the story when I first wrote it. I've tweaked the writing style so it doesn't read as if a 10 year old wrote it, but please be advised that I tend to write in passive tense and so it looks like my tenses may not match during an action sequence. I assure you that in that tense, it is grammatically correct.
Also be advised that this obviously a highschool fic, and while I strive to stay true to most of the Japanese school structure, I have modified this little Alternate Universe so that there is no test placement for schools in a ward. In my world, all students are zoned for a particular school, unless they chose to test into another, private school. As long as you can suspend your disbelief for that, we should be grand.
Lesson for the day: the genkan is the entryway to any Japanese home. This is where the street shoes are left, so that dirt is not tracked all over the rest of the household. The tekkou is the cloth wrapping around Miroku's hand and mala are traditional Buddhist prayer beads.
This work was originally beta-ed by the most fantastic readers: Phoenix Cubed and Sailor Silver Moon.
Higurashi Kagome stood in front of her bedroom mirror, twisting and turning to make sure her new school uniform was perfect. Her white, long-sleeved blouse was capped with pea green cuffs and a coverlet with a red scarf that tied at the bottom of the coverlet. The matching green sailor skirt, her lucky baggy socks and brown loafers completed the outfit. She prayed that she would not stand out. Attention was something that she'd had far too much of recently, and she was beginning to get sick of it.
"Kagome, if you don't hurry, you'll be late!" Mrs. Higurashi warned from downstairs.
After casting one more critical glance at herself and her new room—her outfit was impeccable but her room was another story, with boxes stacked everywhere—Kagome swept out the door with her school bag in hand. "I'm coming!"
Her family stood waiting for her at the genkan. Mama was smiling fondly as she held out Kagome's lunch while Grandfather was muttering incantations against some sort of "evil spirits" at her little brother, Souta.
Souta, however, mostly ignored him and just stood in front of the door, holding Buyo, the obese family cat, on his head (his favoured position). He shifted his weight impatiently from one foot to the other and back again, waiting for this whole silly celebration to be over so that Kagome could walk him to his new school for the first day.
Grandfather cleared his throat and held up a key chain with a glass ball attached to it that sparkled in the light. "Now, Kagome….this is the Shikon no Tama, it will bring you good luck," he began. "Its history is-"
Kagome took the key chain before he really wound up and kissed him on the cheek. "I've got to go now, Jii-chan. I'll see you this afternoon! Bye Mama!" With that, Kagome rushed out the door with Souta trailing after her.
Souta released Buyo before they reached the shrine steps, after saying farewell to the cat. Ignoring the cat's indignant meow, Souta turned to Kagome and said, "You're lucky Sis, I got a water Kappa's foot for luck." He pulled the object out of his bag: the webbed thing was a disgusting grayish-green and shriveled. Souta and Kagome both wrinkled their noses.
"Gross," Kagome stated.
Souta looked at the object assessingly, before eyeing the family pet. "I should give it to Buyo." He bent down and waved it in front of the cat's face "Eat it, Buyo."
Buyo sniffed at him for a moment before taking the foot and trotting across the shrine with it.
Kagome wasn't sure which was worse: Buyo thinking the Kappa's foot was a new plaything or Buyo making the disgusting object his next meal. After all, Buyo hadn't turned down anything edible yet. Shaking that particularly disturbing thought out of her head, she started down the steps. "Come on, Souta. You don't want to be late for your first day."
"I wonder what school is like in Tokyo," Souta pondered aloud during their trek. "Do you think it'll be harder than home?"
"Probably not," Kagome commented. "I don't think you'll be very far behind at all."
Souta slowed his pace when he began seeing other students walking in the direction of the school. The 'new-school-new-kid' fears were written all over his face. "Kagome...what if the kids at school don't like me? What if they're mean?" He stopped walking and looked up at his older sister. "Kagome, let me go to school with you instead!"
'NO WAY!' Kagome thought, mentally cringing. Outwardly, she put on a gentle expression and knelt in front of Souta. "Come on Souta, you're a big boy now, you can do this. You'll make lots of new friends; you won't even have time to miss your old school." Smiling at her brother, Kagome took his hand and walked him all the way to his classroom with a big fake smile on her face the entire time.
When they walked in, the teacher looked up and welcomed them. The teacher scanned the room and then turned back to Souta. "Why don't you take that desk next to Sotaru-kun?" she said pointing to a sickly looking little boy with freckles who was staring out the window.
Souta gave Kagome an uncertain look; she nudged him in the direction of the other boy. "I'll be back this afternoon," she promised, ruffling his hair affectionately before she left.
The walk to her own school was long and boring with no one there to make the trip with. The streets were unfamiliar, but half a block ahead of her, she caught sight of students wearing the same uniform. At least, it looked like the same uniform—the colours appeared to be the same, but Kagome was sure that the skirts were not meant to be worn that high. She was also positive that students shouldn't be smoking in public, if at all. However, the kids were going in the same direction she was, so she kept them in her sight so as not to get lost on her new route.
Sure enough, they lead her to the school gates and Kagome arrived at Sengoku Jidai High School to see hundreds of other students milling about in the schoolyard. All around her were other teens hanging out with their friends, talking, laughing, and a few more were still smoking. A group of boys were kicking a soccer ball around in a corner of the yard. Not knowing a soul, Kagome wandered aimlessly around the schoolyard, simply observing other groups. Upon closer inspection, she realized that not all of the students were strictly adhering to dress code or traditional student behavior. Many of the girls wore more make-up than Kagome could imagine being allowed in school. Several boys' jackets were unbuttoned or simply not present. There also appeared to be a group of delinquents in another corner, if their wrinkled uniforms and suspicious expressions were anything to go by.
Kagome'd not given much thought about the transfer beyond leaving all her friends behind after the move from Osaka to Tokyo. So many more things had been on her mind, recently. But now that she was here, she wondered if there was a place for her to fit in here. She wasn't oblivious to the looks she could feel at her back, nor did she miss the whispers of a group of girls who weren't very subtle in their perusal of her.
"LOOK OUT!"
Kagome turned her head in time to see the wayward soccer ball coming right at her. "Eeep!" Out of instinct, she put her arms in front of her head and waited for the ball to make contact, even while praying that it wouldn't hit her.
Miraculously, it didn't. After hearing the spanking sound of the ball being caught, Kagome cautiously lowered her arms a bit and looked around for the ball, which by all logical standards should have hit her. Instead, she found herself facing the back of a white—almost silver—haired student who held the soccer ball in his hands.
"Walkin' around on the field? Kyoto make ya lose yer common sense, Kikyou?" the boy asked without turning around.
"Eh?" Confused, Kagome lowered her arms completely and blinked.
The boy continued. "Thought ya weren't back for another month, I guess you missed m..." he trailed off, by now having turned around and realizing that he wasn't talking to Kikyou. The look on his face was priceless, amber eyes showing confusion under dark raised eyebrows. "You're not Kikyou…"
Kagome shook her head. "No, my name's Higurashi Kagome. Ummm thanks for 'saving' me... I guess." She offered a smile.
The boy snorted and frowned. "'Course you couldn't possibly be Kikyou, she wasn't retarded enough t' stand and wait for a ball t' hit her. Look where you're going next time, girl." He walked off, soccer ball in hand.
"How rude!" Kagome muttered to herself. He hadn't even told her his name! 'Not like I care anyway,' she assured herself. 'Who wants to know a jerk like him?'
The school bell pulled her from her thoughts and Kagome gathered her wits and joined the crowd indoors.
Kagome nervously stood in front of the class of 1-C, still clutching all of her paperwork from the office.
Getting herself registered with a student ID and a locker had been a breeze. It was being introduced to a room full of students who were eyeing her like a piece of fresh meat that was the hard part. Thankfully, Kaede-sensei (a short stocky woman with grey hair, an eye patch and a firm demeanor) had made it as quick as possible.
"Class, this is Higurashi Kagome. She transferred here from Osaka. I hope you will make her feel welcome." She pointed Kagome to one of the empty desks in the back by the window and told another student—Mihara Suki—to grab some extra textbooks from the closet for Kagome.
Mihara nodded, but handed the books to Kagome with barely a smile. 'Welcome….yeah…'
Kagome didn't have much time to dwell on that though, because Kaede-sensei had barely started the lessons in 1-C when the door to the classroom slid open with a bang, halting the lecture. In the doorway stood the rude boy Kagome had met earlier in the schoolyard. On his face was the most annoying smirk... until his eyes rested on Kagome. The smirk quickly turned into a frown.
"You're late Inu-Yasha," Kaede-sensei scolded in a resigned tone. "And still lacking your school supplies...you know what to do." She pulled out two large tin buckets and handed them to Inu-Yasha.
"How long this time, old woman?"
Kaede-sensei speared him with a glare. "After another thirty minutes for your mouth? I'd say two hours seems fair."
The boy named Inu-Yasha huffed but turned and left, closing the door harshly after him but not before pinning Kagome with one more dirty look.
'What has he got against me?' Kagome wondered. Well, at least she knew his name, odd as it was. Oh well. She busied herself in her schoolwork, desperate to catch up with the class.
Inu-Yasha strolled back in the room two hours later and tossed the empty buckets in the corner with no concern how they landed. He took a seat in the empty desk next to Kagome, ignoring her glare. He seemed more interested in the manga he produced from his back pocket than in her. Kagome halfway expected to hear their teacher reprimand him again, but Kaede-sensei merely sighed and continued teaching.
Kagome settled for thinking of all the nasty things that she could do to him as she went back to her history lesson.
Lunch had the students outside again, getting healthy doses of vitamin D and a handful of UV rays. Kagome sat on a bench under one of the many trees and ate her bento thoughtfully. So far, she hadn't met anyone other than Inu-Yasha and he was too rude to talk to. And no one else from her class had bothered to introduce themselves. What an unfriendly bunch. To make it worse, Kagome could swear she could feel herself being watched, again. No one seemed to make any eye contact at all with her when she looked around, but the creeping feeling did not diminish. So she sat alone, with no friends, being spied on and wishing she were back at home with Eri, Yuka and Ayumi to take her mind off of things.
"What is such a pretty girl doing sitting by herself?"
Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand rested on her shoulder. She whirled around to see a boy older than her by a year or so. His short black hair was tied back in a dragon's tail; violet eyes reflected his easygoing smile. Kagome noticed that his ears were pierced twice in his left and once in his right. Curiously, he also wore a purple tekkou wrapped around his right hand, secured with traditional mala beads. How odd.
"I'm new," Kagome admitted.
The boy nodded and sat next to Kagome. "You must be that transfer student everyone's talking about... Higurashi, isn't it?" Great. So people were talking about her. "Your grandfather runs the Sunset Shrine," the boy continued. He grinned at her surprise. "Higurashi-san is a friend of my father's. We visit the shrine often. My name's Houshi Miroku. I'm in 2-A." He held out a hand in a very Western gesture.
Kagome couldn't help but smile at his welcoming attitude. "Mine's Kagome. I'm in 1-C." She took Miroku's hand, but instead of shaking, Miroku kissed the back of her hand. Kagome blushed. "People are talking about me?"
Miroku nodded and rubbed the hand he still held fondly. "Oh yes, a very pretty new student isn't something we see every day. Besides, with your remarkable similarity to-"
"Houshi! Who are you hitting on, now?"
Both Kagome and Miroku looked up to see a raven-haired girl with flashing brown eyes making her way across the schoolyard. She didn't look too happy.
Miroku deftly dropped Kagome's hand and hopped up to greet the girl. "Why, Sango, dear, how are you on this wonderful day? Have you reconsidered my offer?" He grinned charmingly.
Sango looked disgusted. "I am not joining you in the backseat of your car, you pervert!" She turned to Kagome, surprise evident on her face. It quickly melted into an assessing gaze as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Who's this?"
"Sango, may I introduce Higurashi Kagome, of the Sunset Shrine?" Miroku began in a placating tone. "Kagome, this is Taijin Sango. She's our resident kempo expert," he added playfully, with a wink.
"The way you say it, I think you actually like that I can knock you flat," Sango said, watching Miroku warily. Suspicion still evident on her face, she switched her attention to Kagome. "This letch hasn't asked you anything inappropriate yet, has he?"
"No. We were just talking..." Kagome muttered. The boldness and obvious anger of the girl in front of her made Kagome more than a little intimidated.
"Really Sango, I was simply welcoming the new student to our school" Miroku insisted.
Sango scowled at him. "Welcome my ass! It's a wonder you don't scare them all away!" she countered.
"He really doesn't seem that bad-!" Kagome stopped as she distinctly felt a hand caressing her hip. Turning around, Kagome caught the slightly guilty look on Miroku's face before she smacked him. "PERVERT!"
Miroku met the dirt.
The lift of a single brow relayed Sango's shocked approval. "So it's Higurahi, eh? I think you and I are going to get along just fine. Come on, let's leave this idiot. By the way, call me Sango."
Kagome grinned and offered her own given name. "Kagome."
Seconds after the girls had packed up Kagome's things and left, a shadow fell across Miroku's prone form. The owner of the shadow shook its head. "You deserved that."
"Hello, Inu-Yasha." Miroku mumbled. "I don't suppose you want to give me a hand up?"
Inu-Yasha rolled his eyes but squatted down and offered the boy on the ground one of his hands to grab. "What did you say to Sango this time?" he asked as Miroku took his hand and began to pull himself up.
"Actually, I was talking to that new student, Higurashi—damnit!" Miroku's face became reacquainted with the ground as Inu-Yasha had let go of his hand. "Perhaps a little warning next time?" he ground out in an irritated tone.
"What did you say to her?" Inu-Yasha demanded.
"Nothing!" Miroku insisted as he got up again and brushed himself off. The handprint on his face was just starting to show. "Just welcoming the new student! Poor thing was sitting alone at lunch...and after everyone's been talking about her and how she looks like Kikyou-sama."
"No she doesn't!" Inu-Yasha snapped. "Not a damn thing like her!"
Miroku turned his curious gaze to the other boy. "What's your problem?"
"Nothing! She's just a damn idiot, that's all! What's so special about her anyways?"
"She's pretty..."
Inu-Yasha just glared at him.
Miroku sighed. "Fine. If you want to continue living in denial go ahead, but please don't take it out on the rest of us just because the new student looks like-"
"No she doesn't!"
Miroku rolled his eyes and decided to let the boy sulk until the end of lunch.
Inu-Yasha debated about skipping the rest of the day. There was hardly any point in going back. He hated the class; Kaede-sensei was boring and that stupid girl (who did NOT look like Kikyou—Kikyou was classically pale with deep brown eyes and long smooth hair and an elegant air about her. This new girl had freckles and wide blue-grey eyes and little bit of a tan and shorter wavy hair and pinker cheeks and reminded him too much of a bubble headed ditz) was there just to annoy him. He could just show up late for class and hold those stupid water buckets, but the challenge had long since faded since he'd started lifting weights. Besides, standing in the hall with nothing to do but keep water buckets off the floor wasn't exactly something he would call fun. No, the only thing for it was to leave the campus and hang around Tokyo until it was time to pick up the brats. Maybe he could go visit the Nerima district. Something exciting was always happening there.
That decided; he stood up to make a break for it when the bell rang, only to be held back by a hand on his collar. He turned and glared at Miroku. "Buzz off."
"Just get over it and go back to class," sighed the other boy. "We don't need to be hearing about the fire you started somewhere in the district on the news this evening."
"Fuck you."
"No thanks, I'm not into that. I hear Jakotsu in 3-C might take you up on your offer, though."
If it were scientifically possible for Miroku's head to explode due to the extreme voltage coming from Inu-Yasha's eyes as he dragged the younger boy along to class, it would have been blown to pieces smaller than microscopically seen. As it was, Miroku's head remained intact, Inu-Yasha was apparently going back to class and the only thing drowning out him grinding his teeth, was Miroku's annoying humming...
Kagome looked up from her head start on her trigonometry lesson to see Miroku practically shoving Inu-Yasha back in the classroom.
Inu-Yasha turned to glare at him and make a rude hand gesture. He was ignored in favour of Miroku making his way to Kagome's desk.
"Please forgive my actions, Higurashi. I feel this whole thing was a misunderstanding...you see...there was a bit of dirt on your skirt and I only intended to wipe it away..."
"That's what you were doing!" Inu-Yasha interrupted. "No wonder she hit ya, you damn perv! When are ya gonna learn t-" he was cut off by an elbow to his gut.
"So you see," Miroku continued calmly as Inu-Yasha struggled to catch his breath. "I was only trying to help. Surely, you can forgive me for saving you the trouble."
It was unnaturally quiet for a moment as Kagome simply stared at Miroku. "Sango's right, Houshi. You really are unbelievable." She turned her attention back to the work in front of her. "And to think I felt bad for you..."
Miroku's grin looked strained.
Behind him, Inu-Yasha was wheezing enthusiastically. "Serves ya right, bouzo ..."
"Houshi, is that you?" Kaede called as she peered at Miroku from her desk.
Miroku stood up. "Kaede-sensei!" he replied, exuding charm. "You look well, how is your health?"
He was answered with a very flat glare. "I suggest you go to your own classroom before you are late and stop causing trouble in mine. And Inu-Yasha can stop imitating a fish and take his seat."
"Oi!"
Miroku let his head hang in defeat for a moment before making his way out just as the other students of 1-C began to pour in.
Class that afternoon was relatively quiet. Kaede-sensei had written the assignments to be completed on the board and none of it was new to Kagome, who was relieved she wasn't so far behind in her learning that she couldn't catch up. She was pleased that it only took her an hour to wrestle through the rest of her trig problems before she moved on to her Japanese essay.
She had almost assumed that Inu-Yasha had been working on his essay too, the way he leaned over his desk, scribbling furiously with such an intent look. But, no...upon further inspection from the corner of her eye, it became apparent that her classmate was doing nothing even remotely resembling his work.
For all appearances, it seemed Inu-Yasha was more interested in producing a mini-manga in his notebook than his essay. Sharp, bold minimalist sketches were paired with scrawled writing. She only saw it for a second, but the whole page was striking. The boy had talent.
He also apparently had mind reading abilities, Kagome noted, as he looked up and caught her eye. Tossing her a dirty look, he hunched further over his work and turned his back on her as much as he could in his desk.
So, he was private. Fine. It wasn't as if she really cared what he was doing anyways...just interested to see if he actually did any work. Obviously not.
She let out a quiet sigh and let herself be drawn back into her essay.
With all of the work Kaede-sensei had assigned the class, Kagome found her afternoon to be completely occupied with her lessons. It had startled her then, when the bell rang to announce that class was over for the day. She'd been immersed in her studies and eager to catch up, she hadn't realized the time had passed so quickly.
While the other students said their goodbye to the teacher and left, Kagome took her time packing up her things and new books.
By the time she reached the shoe lockers, most of the students had already left.
'That was quick.'
However, not all the students were gone. She spotted an irritated Inu-Yasha hanging around the end of the particular row her locker was situated. He didn't appear to be moving anytime soon, so Kagome steeled her nerves as she walked over to change shoes and hope that he would keep his mean comments to himself.
"Oi..."
Well, so much for that idea...
Kagome sighed and pulled out her street shoes. "My name is Higurashi Kagome if you would like to address me," she told him in an overly polite tone. She concentrated on taking her time switching her shoes and thinking about anything but the rude classmate of hers.
But said classmate wouldn't be ignored. "What are ya waitin' around here for? The bell rang, it's time t' leave." He jerked a thumb in the direction of the front doors as if to emphasize his point. "Go."
"I'm waiting for Sango."
As if on cue, Sango appeared. "Sorry I'm late, 'had to finish my Japanese lesson." She rolled her eyes as she pulled out her shoes. "Kuraseku-sensei is such a stickler for the details."
As Sango changed her shoes, Kagome used the time to study her classmate's unusual choice of footwear: leather flip-flops.
"Inu-Yasha doesn't believe in shoes," Sango explained as she noticed the other girl's interest. "I think it's against his religion or something," she added sarcastically. "You ready?"
"Hold on!" Inu-Yasha interjected. He jerked a thumb at Kagome. "She ain't comin' with us, is she?"
"Kagome's brother goes to Elementary School of Tokyo, too, 'Yasha," Sango told him. "She comes, too."
The horrified look on Inu-Yasha's face was almost comical—if it hadn't been insulting—as he turned to Kagome. "There's another one of you?" he cried. "Damn, it's bad enough that you've got the self preservation of a fuckin' goat, and you've got to look out for a little brother? I feel sorry for him."
"Inu-Yasha!" Sango scolded as she whapped him soundly in the bicep.
The white haired boy flinched and rubbed his arm. "Fuck! Whadja do that for?"
"Don't be rude. Besides, since you seem to think that Kagome can't protect herself, I'm glad you volunteered to help her out, since you think she's so helpless and all…"
"Don't count on it..."
Inu-Yasha's statement went unheard as Sango turned to Kagome as well. "'Yasha comes with to get his cousin," Sango informed her.
"Tell my whole damn story to the world, why don'tcha?" Inu-Yasha cried.
"Get over yourself already," Sango sighed as she led the trio out the gates.
When the trio reached the elementary school, shrieks and cries of "Sissy!" could be heard across the schoolyard. Four over-energetic children bounded up to them, three boys and a little girl.
Souta greeted his older sister with a hug.
While the two others hung back, one of the other boys followed suite with Sango. He had his Sango's mouth and nose, Kagome decided, a sprinkling of freckles and large coal coloured eyes. His ebony hair was long enough to be pulled back in a short ponytail towards the top of his head.
Sango smiled as she talked to the boy, then tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to Kagome. "Kagome, this is my little brother Kohaku," she introduced.
"You two know each other?" Souta exclaimed as he made the connection between his new friend's older sister and his own.
"I guess you already know Souta then," Kagome addressed Kohaku. She turned to Sango with a smile. "Small world."
"Something like that," Sango agreed.
The little girl, who had been incredibly quiet until now, tugged on Kagome's skirt in a silent request for attention. "My name's Rin," she announced with a smile. "And I think you're pretty. Are you related to Kikyou? You look like her."
"Kikyou?"Kagome echoed. Wasn't that the name Inu-Yasha had called her this morning? She looked to Sango, but the other girl was too busy talking to her brother.
The third boy squinted his aqua coloured eyes and inspected Kagome's face. After a moment, he came to his conclusion. "Yeah, you kinda do. Only, I think you're prettier." He grinned charmingly.
To this, Inu-Yasha snorted. "Ya need glasses, Shippo," he informed the boy. "Not only is Kikyou much better looking, those two don't even look remotely alike. Ow!" A second later Inu-Yasha was grabbing his ankle and glaring at Sango. "Dam-dangit!" he amended, remembering the kids. "What was that for?" he cried.
Sango looked annoyed. She'd heard his last comment. "Don't be such a jerk, 'Yash."
"Yeah 'Yasha, don't be a jerk," the boy echoed as he mimicked Sango's kick on Inu-Yasha's other ankle. Shippo squealed in protest as Inu-Yasha lifted him to eye level by the back of his shirt collar.
"Do that again and you're walking home alone, brat," Inu-Yasha warned before he released his hold on the kid. The younger boy fell unceremoniously to the ground.
Sango calmly cuffed her best friend's head and told Inu-Yasha to quit picking on the child.
"You're not hurt, are you Shippo?" Kagome asked gently.
Shippo made eye contact and visibly straightened, trying to make himself to appear larger. "Nah, Inu-Yasha can't hurt me," he assured her. His gaze slid over to the older boy to glare in his general direction. "He's just a bully."
"You're the one startin' sh—ah...crap," Inu-Yasha retaliated, crossing his arms. He became the recipient of a rather flat stare from Sango.
"You're such a role model," she deadpanned. She turned to Kagome. "Why don't you meet us here an hour earlier tomorrow morning, and I can give you that tour of the school? We can walk together that way, too."
The Higurashi siblings consulted on the matter for a moment before agreeing to the plan. Souta informed the boys that he would be bringing his Pokémon cards to school tomorrow and encouraged the other two to do the same.
"What makes you think I'm gonna come early?" Inu-Yasha objected.
Sango shrugged calmly. "It's your loss, 'Yasha. The boys'll already be here by the time you drop off Shippo and Rin so, they'll have someone to play with. But who're you gonna walk with? Come on, Kohaku..."
Souta and Kagome arrived to an empty house with a note on the kitchen table saying that Mrs. Higurashi was at the market to purchase fresh vegetables for supper, but had left some onigiri in the refrigerator for a snack. The note also asked Kagome to keep an eye on Souta and to see that he did his homework.
Souta pulled out the plastic ware containing the rice balls and sat them on the counter before quickly grabbing the largest two, and heading to the living room.
Kagome frowned and trailed after her brother, noting that he'd plopped himself in front of the tv. She turned it off. "Your homework isn't done yet," she said in her best older sister voice.
Souta scowled. "But I didn't get any homework on my first day," he insisted.
Kagome raised a brow and stared at her brother. He really didn't think she'd believe such a bald-faced lie, did he? "If you don't get your homework done, I'll tell Mama and she won't get you that Nintendo system until your grades are really good." Kagome added what she hoped was an intimidating look to her threat.
Souta stuck his tongue out at her and ran to his room to—hopefully—get started on his homework.
Kagome shook her head and helped herself to the rice balls before heading to for her own room to study. She whiled away her time by reviewing her history notes until her mother came home with the groceries and asked for assistance with dinner preparations.
After an uneventful supper, Kagome let her mind go over the events of the day in the privacy of her own room. She had met some interesting people, made a friend and possibly an enemy.
Though, try as she might, she could not think of a single reason why her new classmate was so nasty towards her. Perhaps it had to do with her looking like this Kikyou she kept hearing about. After all, she'd been told by Shippo and Rin that she bore resemblance to the other girl, and Inu-Yasha himself had referred to her as so just this morning. Kagome mulled over this while getting ready for bed, but thinking hard right before bed had always been a taxing job and so it wasn't long after her head hit the pillow that she nodded off to sleep.
She had the strangest dream that she fell into the shrine's well to land in the real Warring States Era and went on exciting adventures with Inu-Yasha, who really WAS a dog demon.
Yeah, right…Inu-Yasha, a DOG demon? He had more the temperament of a wet cat…..
I know it doesn't look like I've done much of anything beyond putting the first two real chapters together, but this that this is a HUGE difference, if only in style.
I hope you won't mind skipping down this dusty little path of nostalgia with me for a bit. I know it may seem tedious to re-read a previously posted fic, but stick with it, and I promise your interest will be rewarded. A plot will form, characters will develop and I can't wait to take you all down 'Highschool Dramatics' Lane.
I am nearly done with the second chapter and currently and completely rewriting the third. I should have the next post within a week or so. I'm not going to foolishly ask for your patience (after you've had to wait so long), but know that I am doing this on my own right now, and it is time-consuming and very boring trying to edit my own writing with fresh perspective every time.