These Trying Times
Hey guys! I thought I'd try my hand at this fanfic business and so here we go! My first fic. Nothing too original, a nice slice-of-life high school story. It's a good formula that I've seen a lot and I wanted to try my hand at it. Please enjoy, and tell me what you think.
Summary: Kagome is finally starting high school with all of her friends. In a very wealthy society where appearances are everything, how do the less fortunate fare?
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Inuyasha or any of the affiliated characters. All rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi and the proper, affiliated companies. This is not for any profit, etc, etc.
A lone figure sprinted through the freshly fallen snow. His silvery white hair is nearly invisible against the background. The boy, a mere five years old, ran through the back alleys with a meager meal in his hands. His senses,smothered by the smells of smog and filth. He couldn't remember how long he had been running, only that it had been some time, since the angry shouts had finally faded. Finally, he reaches the dark corner where he had left his sickly mother in search of food. She remained as he had left her, slumped against the wall. Yet something was different...he couldn't quite place it.
"Mama, I brought back the food." His only response is the nighttime sounds that fill the city streets. "Mama, wake up. You'll never get better if you don't eat."
"Mama?..."
_10 years later_
BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...BE- *SLAM!*
"Kagome! You're going to be late for your first day of school!"
Fifteen year old Kagome Higurashi was never one for early mornings, yet she couldn't help but feel excited.
"I'm starting high school!"
"I haven't seen Sango-chan all summer. I wonder if she and Miroku have finally settled their differences..."
While Kagome had never been the most popular girl, she had her fair share of admirers. A natural beauty, with quite generous developments, both she and Sango had their fair share of awkward confessions. Being a nice girl, Kagome gave almost everyone a fair shot, but nothing ever seemed to click...
Quickly grabbing a slice of toast, she ran past the kitchen
"Bye mama! Bye Souta!"
As she made her way down the long flight of stairs a purple Bentley convertible pulled up along the sidewalk.
"Need a ride?"
Miroku had his signature, mischievous smile on his face and Sango looked like she was ready to burst at the sight of her "long-lost" friend.
"Nice ride Miroku," she said as she hopped in the back. "You're dad take over another company or something?"
"Being partners to one of the largest tech firms in Japan sure has its perks, and I was never one to argue with a good thing."
Given her earlier tardiness, Kagome was surprised to find that they were actually quite early.
"So San-chan, how was America?"
"Oh gosh Kagome, it was so much fun! Even though I spent most of the time with my family, it was so different. And the boys! Oh my god the boys were sooooo cute!" Miroku looked a bit disconcerted at this bit of her story.
Kagome could only pout at her friend's good fortune. "No fair Sango, you have to take me with you, next time you go."
As they finished up their conversation, a black Hummer and a silver Mercedes pulled up next to them. Kouga hopped out of his metallic monster while Sesshomaru and Rin stepped out of the Mercedes.
"Rin! How have you been?! I haven't seen you in forever!" The girls immediately swarmed her, catching up on the whatever.
There was a lull in the conversation when Miroku spoke up. "Sesshomaru, didn't you say that your brother would be joining us this year?" Sesshomaru only gave a slight nod in reply.
"Oh no guys class is starting soon. We can't be late on our first day!" Kagome said as she ran off with the rest of the gang trailing behind...
"Welcome to your first year at Tokyo Academy! You represent the finest that this city has to offer, and when you leave these grand halls, you will become the leaders and innovators of the next generations! We hope you enjoy your time here with us!"
Kagome noted that her homeroom teacher was an elderly woman who seemed very kind, but was by no means a pushover. Still, she seemed to have a certain dislike for formalities, and did not even give them a last name, saying they could simply address her a Kaede-sensei. As she finished up, everyone's attention was drawn to the classroom door, which slowly slid open.
"Young man, you've only been here one day and you're already late."
"Sorry sensei, it won't happen again," he mumbled.
"Well come in and have a seat. I won't be so lenient next time..."
As he walked to take the empty seat next to Miroku, Kagome realized, this must have been the brother that Miroku mentioned earlier. The likeness was uncanny. He was very tall; almost as tall as Sesshomaru. Probably around 6'5". He also had that distinct silvery mane that cascaded down his back. His eyes though...his eyes seemed so different. While they were indeed the same molten amber color, his eyes seemed to smother everything with a fiery intensity, while Sesshomaru regarded everyone with a hard iciness...except for Rin.
"Ah! Mr. Takahashi is it? I forgot. You aren't allowed to wear hats of bandanas at this school. We adhere to a very strict dress code. Please remove your bandana."
Though he seemed hesitant at first, slowly, he removed his bandana. Kagome's attention was drawn by a few of her classmates who gasped at this new development. This exotic looking man was no youkai, he has two pointed dog ears perched atop his silvery head. This boy was a hanyou. Even with the growing acceptance and integration of the youkai populace, hanyou were still incredibly rare by modern standards. Whispers started flying across the room.
"Quiet! This is your first day and I'm not going to make you do anything serious...however, you will still respect this classroom and its procedures...You may chat among yourselves quietly for the rest of class." And with that, Kaede took a seat at her desk.
Kagome immediately turned to Sango. "What do you think of Takahashi?"
"He's definitely Sesshomaru's brother...He's actually pretty cute." She said with a giggle.
"Oh don't I know it. But...something's kind of off with him, don't ya think?"
"What do you mean?"
"Never mind, it's probably just my imagination or something."
People began to file out as class ended and head off to wherever their next class was.
_at lunch_
"Hey Sango. Ready for lunch?"
"Oh my god yes! I'm so hungry...I can't believe we even got through that last period. Who lectures on the first day?"
"It's ok, let's go find Miroku and grab some food."
"Yea I guess...hey, what's going on over there?"
As they walked over to the crows that had form, a few voices were barely audible over the dull roar of the halls.
"Hey half-breed, what the fuck do you think you're doing here huh?"
"Yea man, didn't anyone teach you anything? You don't belong here. Matter of fact, you don't belong anywhere."
A loud thunk was heard as the assailant landed a right hook and Inuyasha collided with the steel door. Seeing Inuyasha slumped on the ground seemed to egg the crowd on.
"Get up half-breed!"
"Fight back!"
"Look he's scared!"
"How Pathetic!"
Kagome sent Sango a worried look.
"Should we do something?"
"These guys have always been assholes. Remember middle school Kagome? How many times did they start stupid stuff like this? They're never gonna change..."
"We can't just leave him here.."
"Alright, let's go get someone."
As they fled the scene to find help, they found one of the PE coaches who was also on his lunch break.
"Daraku-sensei! Come quick! The upperclassmen have started a fight in the halls!"
"What? On the first day? What's the matter with these people?!"
As the reptilian youkai approached the crowd, he realized the situation at hand. It has gotten much worse than when Kagome and Sango had found him. Inuyasha was sprawled across the floor in a pool of his own blood. There was even blood smeared on parts of the wall were he made contact. "All right, everyone clear out! Now! Unless you all want to get kicked out after you first day back." As everyone went back to get lunch, Daraku-sensei walked up to Inuyasha and gave him a less than gentle kick in the gut. "Get up punk. Haven't you gotten enough attention for one day?" Kagome gasped out loud. What was going on? "I know you're tougher than that. Or are hanyou really so weak? Go get yourself cleaned up..." And with that he turned to leave.
Sango nervously approached Inuyasha who was still slumped on the floor. "Hey, are you alright? Do you need any help?" Without saying anything, Inuyasha pulled himself off the ground and limped off down the hallway. Not sure whether to follow, they decided to go find Miroku. When they found him at a lunch table with Kouga and Rin, they settled down with their own trays.
"Hey Miroku, did you see the fight out in the hallways?"
"Fight? You call that a fight? That was just some plain old beating. Inuyasha wouldn't even fight back...It looked brutal."
"Inuyasha?"
"Yea, Sesshomaru told me his name, when I asked earlier today."
Kagome had been quiet this whole time, but decided to speak up.
"Sango, are you sure we shouldn't have gone after him? He looked so bad when we left..."
Kouga decided to interject. "It wouldn't have made a difference. He's already fucked. This isn't going to be the end of it. Not by a long shot. Hey, who knows. Maybe it'll toughen him up."
"Kouga, are you chuckling? What the hell is wrong with you?" Sango 's face was flushed with anger.
Miroku had to agree. "Yea man, that's fucked..."
"Hey dude, don't hate on me. This is how youkai work man. You gotta get you shit together. No one is gonna look out for you like that. Not at this age. The strong rise to the top and the weak disappear from sight. That's how it's been for centuries and it's not likely to change."
Kagome couldn't help but worry for the rest of the day. A few minutes into her last period of the day, Inuyasha stumbled into the classroom. While Kagome had to admit, he was looking a lot better than earlier, he was still looking pretty rough.
"Mr. Takahashi, you're late...and the other teachers tell me, this isn't the first time. This can't go on if you expect to do well here."
"I understand ma'am. It won't happen again."
"Good. Now take your seat."
Kagome discreetly passed a note to Sango under her desk.
What the hell is wrong with the staff here? He's obviously injured and there's no way that didn't hear about the fight...
I don't know Kags, but we can't do anything about it now. Lets hang out after school, we can talk about it then...
Kagome was about to was about to write back when Kaede suddenly entered the room.
"May I help you Kaede-sensei?"
"My apologies Akan-sensei, but Inuyasha left his things in the infirmary and I was asked to deliver them."
As she turned to give Inuyasha his backpack, she looked a bit startled. "My word...boy, what happened to you?"
"I wasn't watching where I was going and fell down a rather unfortunately long flight of stairs ma'am."
Kaede clearly wasn't convinced, but she seemed to let it slide. "Alright well, be more careful in the future boy. You won't be able to graduate, if you're out with injuries all the time..."
"Yes ma'am. Thank you for your concern ma'am."
The class finally ended and everyone was either leaving, or just waiting around to get picked up. The gang met up in the parking lot and were trying to decide what to do. "Well, we don't have too much to do since it's only the first day. Do you guys wanna go hang out?"
"I'm down. Who's house are we crashing?" Miroku asked, looking around.
Kouga was the first to speak up. "Dude, we all got mansions big enough for any shit we decide to do, but I'm not cleaning up again after last time..."Miroku could only chuckle.
Sango looked at him pointedly. "Kouga, that entire party was your fault and it wouldn't have been so bad if you guys didn't drinks so much..."
Kouga had a fond smile on his face. "Yea..."
Rin was getting tired of the decision, and decided to make an executive decision. "Sesshy's got the biggest house and there's hardly ever anyone home. Why don't we do there?"
Everyone's face lit up. "Oh yea dude, don't you live alone? Why do you need such a big ass house anyway?"
Sesshomaru only nodded his consent and began walking with Rin back to his Mercedes.
Kouga had an awkward look on his face. "How did a guy like him, land a girl like Rin?"
Sango laughed. "We're not quite sure, but they're so cute together. They've been together since Rin was in the 6th grade and they're adorable together."
Miroku couldn't help himself. "I don't know babe. I think we look way better together."
"Miroku, how many times do I have to tell you...We're not together!...and get your hand OFF MY ASS!" She yelled as she smacked him upside the head. "The only reason I've managed to be grope free today is because we only have 3 classes together, and you don't sit close enough!"
Miroku sighed, "I know, it's just not fair..." Kagome was used to this and began walking to Miroku's car. "Oh yea!" She realized.
"Hey Sesshomaru, is Inuyasha going to be there?" Sesshomaru gave pause before replying, "You'll hardly notice him. Sometimes I even forget he lives there. He prefers to keep to himself."
"Doesn't he need a ride?"
"He got here by himself..."
*sigh* "Fine whatever, don't be a good brother."
"Half brother," Sesshomaru corrected.
Kouga slowly passed by in his Hummer. "Alright, so everyone is meeting up as Sessh's place?"
They all nodded in affirmative and headed out of the parking lot.
DANG! That was long...(Right? I wouldn't know...) Anyway, that's the first part of my first fanfic! Huzzah!Sorry if some chars seem a bit OOC, I took a bit of artistic liberties. ;P Reviews and criticisms are always welcome. Take it easy on the first timer eh? Thanks so much. I look forward to hearing what you guys have to say and am open to suggestions for ideas as well. I'll try to update soon! Until next time then!
-nishinoryu