Welcome to ! This is my first story I've written in a while, so I hope it's a hit:) This chapter is a little short, but I've got to keep some of the action for later, right? I'll be updating randomly, since I have really no plan for this story. But, I think I like it, so I might pop out a few ideas and chapters soon. Anyway, keep reading and please, PLEASE review! That is the fuel for getting me to write the next chapter!
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She was getting a headache.
The silence in the room was practically deafening; only the steady ticking of the clock was keeping her sane. Or insane. She couldn't tell the difference anymore.
She refused to glance at it, knowing that it had probably only been about thirty seconds since she last checked. For the past hour and a half, Kagome had been struggling with each and every answer on her math test. After the first half-hour, she had accomplished little, with three quarters of the test still unanswered. Her lip quivered at the thought of having to re-take the test.
Eri sat next to her, bent over her test with determination, her pencil scraping against the paper with hard strokes. Eri looked like she knew what she was doing. Eri looked like she would ace the test, earning her a future as a math teacher, the one she always wanted and all her friends knew she would get. Eri wasn't skipping class seventy-five percent of the time, pretending to be sick when she was actually risking her life in Feudal Japan.
Kagome felt her eyes drift guiltily towards Eri's paper. She really didn't want to re-take the test.
But the thought of cheating made her stomach drop. She didn't want to be unfair to Eri, and she also didn't like the idea of getting caught.
But she really, really didn't want to re-take the test.
Inuyasha's voice sounded in her mind. Oh, don't be a chicken and just do it. Kids do it all the time, it's not a big deal. And if ya have to re-take the damn test, that's less time shard hunting and more doing pointless things like this. She could even see the way his eyes would narrow, his fangs bared in the way she always thought looked incredibly cute in an intimidating way.
I spend way too much time with that jerk. I'm not a rule-breaker like him. She insisted, even as she felt her eyes being drawn to her friends' paper against her will. Technically, I'm doing this for the good of the people. If I do well on this test, I'll have more time in the feudal era, which means more time to look for shards, which means more chance of getting shards, which means one step closer to defeating Naraku. Yep, this is definitely a selfless thing to do.
Twenty minutes later, Kagome had just enough time to scribble her name down and hand her test to her teacher before the bell rang, making her sigh in relief. Although the guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach hadn't disappeared, she felt much better knowing she probably wouldn't have to re-take the stupid test.
She couldn't get out of class fast enough, but she slowed down considerably after hearing her name being called by her friends. I've been avoiding them so much lately… She scolded herself for being so distant from the people in the future. The present time. My time.
"Hey Yuka, Eri, Ayumi," She nodded at each girl.
"Hey Kagome! What did you think of that test?" Eri asked. Kagome twitched.
Thankfully, Ayumi interrupted before she could answer. "It probably would have been harder on Kagome, considering she's missed so much school lately she's hardly had the time to catch up on her school work!" Kagome nodded sadly in agreement. No time at all.
"I thought it was easy," Eri mumbled.
"Not all of us are math geniuses like you, Eri!" Yuka teased affectionately.
The teasing and bickering continued and Kagome tuned them out, musing on her friends in the past and what they were up to.
I wonder what Inuyasha's doing?
Ayumi, Yuka and Eri half-heartedly tried to include Kagome in their conversation, eventually moving on to more interesting topics than school. She didn't even notice how far they had all walked until her family shrine came into view.
She stopped at the steps leading up to the shrine, turning around to face her friends. Kagome fumbled nervously with her hair, thinking of ways to politely decline what she knew was coming.
"Well, thanks for walking me home girls! I'll see you tomorrow at school!" She waved, knowing fully well that she wouldn't. Inuyasha wanted her back on his side of the well tonight, if he wasn't here to drag her back already. She didn't want to take any chances inviting her friends in in case the impatient hanyou had showed up.
"Oh, but we'll walk you up to your house! Besides, it's been a while since I've said hello to your mom and Sota." Yuka smiled, oblivious to Kagome's nervousness.
"Oh, it's okay, I'll say hi to them for you!" She said, too quickly. Yuka looked surprised and a little hurt before Ayumi cut in.
"Okay, see ya later Kagome!" Her friend waved, linking arms with the other two girls and walking away rather quickly.
Kagome stood at the steps to her shrine for a few more seconds, staring at the spot where her friends had just been. Shaking her head, she dismissed Ayumi's strange actions and mounted the stairs, looking forward to see her family after the long day at school.
…
"There's something going on with Kagome." Ayumi said in a hushed whisper, giving her friends meaningful looks under the protection of the shrub they were currently hiding in.
Yuka picked a leaf out of her jet black hair, annoyed. "You had to drag us into a bush to say that?"
"Oh, common, Ayumi. Obviously there's nothing going on; the poor girl just has a weak immune system! She must be having a rough time after missing so much school and being sick so often." Eri responded.
"No guys, I think something's really going on. I mean, Kagome's been really distant lately. Every time we try to visit her when she's sick, there's always an excuse-"
"Maybe because she's contagious-"
"And whenever we try to hang out with her, she's always busy, or sick, and I don't know about you guys but I've heard a lot about that boyfriend of hers that we've never even met before."
Eri shook her head. "Maybe she doesn't want us to meet him?"
Things just weren't adding up. "But the way she talks about him sounds like they spend an awful lot of time together, and with her being sick all the time, how is that possible!"
"Are you saying you think she never comes to school because she's with that bad-boy Inuyasha?" Yuka almost laughed. "She's not the type that would skip just to spend time with her boyfriend. It's not like she has the grades to be able to do that… And we've never met him! If Kagome spent that much time with him, surely she would have introduced him to us."
All three girls paused to mull over the fact that their best friend might be skipping school to be with her boyfriend that she won't even introduce to them.
"It just doesn't make any sense." Yuka said finally.
"I don't understand it either," Ayumi mumbled. "But we know this for sure; there's something Kagome's not telling us, and a reason she didn't invite us in earlier. I want to find out!" The teenager closed her fist, determined.
The two other girls weren't entirely convinced, but they needed answers also. Nodding, they huddled inside the bush discussing in hushed whispers how they were going to find out what Kagome was up to.
…
She was late. Again.
Inuyasha's claws were slowly making their way into the old wood. His hands curled into the side of the well, eager to break something. She always made him restless when she was late.
Okay, maybe she wasn't late. Maybe she wasn't due back for another hour. Or two. But who's counting?
And couldn't she have the courtesy to be early for once?
He growled, unsettled by the way his mind was constantly consumed with thoughts of the young miko. Was she safe? Yes, according to Kagome, she was safe in her time.
Then why was he so damn restless?
Did he miss her? Not because he wanted to resume their search for the shards, not because he didn't think she was safe…
He missed her. Her laugh, her fiery temper, her presence. When she wasn't with him, he felt strangely empty.
He needed her. To breath in her scent, to see her smile at him.
After a quick scan of the landscape to make sure no one was watching, the hanyou threw himself down the Bone Eaters Well in anticipation.
So he missed her. So what? He would keep everyone in the dark, including her. Shoving the strange feelings inside a drawer deep in his mind, Inuyasha felt the familiar tingle of magic as he was transported five hundred years into the future.
…
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Yuka complained, scanning the grounds of the Higurashi shrine. She couldn't imagine what she would say if they got caught sneaking around like this.
Ayumi shushed her suddenly as a figure immerged from the back of Kagome's house. The trio scrambled behind a giant tree that towered above Kagome's two story house. The girls' held their breaths and peered around the huge trunk of the tree just in time to see Kagome wave to her mother, who was standing in the door way, wiping her hands with a dish towel.
"Bye mom! I don't know when I'll be back, but if we find a jewel shard or two, I'm sure I can convince Inuyasha to let me stay for at least a couple days next time!"
The girls looked at each other, and they could tell they were all thinking the same thing. Jewel shards? Inuyasha? Wasn't that her phsyco boyfriend? Let her stay? What kind of abusive relationship was this?
"Oh babe, there's no rush!" Kagome's mother smiled. "I know that you have important things to accomplish with Inuyasha and the others. Take as much time as you need, just promise me you'll be safe!"
So Kagome's mother is in on it too? Stay safe? What's going on? The girls gaped at the exchange that was happening not five feet away from them.
Kagome nodded, and, hoisting her yellow bag onto her shoulder, she made her way in the direction of the shrine at the back of the property.
Ayumi shot the other two girls a triumphant grin, but there was no time for the 'I-told-you-so's'. As soon as Kagome's mother had shut the door and disappeared into the confines of her home, the girls stepped out from the Goshinboku tree and watched, open mouthed, as Kagome stepped into the shrine.
What the…
The three girls hesitated only a moment before launching themselves towards the old well house. Ayumi threw open the door to the shrine, fully expecting a confrontation with Kagome and her mysterious boyfriend in the darkness of the hut.
But what she found, none of them were expecting.
Kagome had mounted herself on the edge of the old well and looked as if she was about to throw herself down it.
"Kagome, NO!" The schoolgirls cried out simultaneously, darting forward to aid their friend. Kagome swivelled around, somehow keeping her balance on the lip of the thin wooden well.
"What are you guys doing-oof!" Kagome wheezed as Yuka slammed into her, sending both of them tumbling into the dirt next to the well.
"No! Kagome, you have so much to live for! You have friends, a family who love you-"
"Guys! It's not what it looks like-"
Yuka already had Kagome pinned to the ground when Ayumi and Eri rushed over, shrieking into the poor girls ear. Therefore, nobody heard or saw when a red-clad figure jumped out of the well.
Inuyasha snarled at the sight of Kagome pinned under the weight of the three girls, and, remembering his promise not to hurt the humans in her time, gently plucked them off and delicately tossed them on the ground.
After removing them from Kagome, he placed himself protectively in the middle of his miko and the oncoming danger, baring his fangs at the seemingly normal girls. Placing a clawed hand on the hilt of his sword, he flicked the sword out an inch with his thumb…
And ploughed face-first into the dirt of the old well house.
A strangled groan escaped from the hanyou's lips, and he jumped up, turning his back on the girls who had now recovered and were staring open mouthed at the exchange that followed.
"What the fuck was that for? I was protecting you, goddammit!" He yelled at her, starting to doubt his previous revelations of missing her.
Kagome had recovered from the brawl and was glaring at the hanyou, unaffected by his outburst. She had taken a deep breath and was moments away from snapping at Inuyasha when she noticed a small whimper from the other end of the well house.
Peering around the fuming figure, she saw that her friends Ayumi, Eri and Yuka were now curled up against one another, flinching when the attention was directed at them. Yuka was clutching her wrist. Eri was even crying.
"Oh my god," Kagome pushed the fuming hanyou out of the way, kneeling next to her friends who proceeded by frantically shuffling away from her.
"Guys, I-I'm so sorry, I-" The words tumbled out of her mouth, and she realized she didn't know what to say. She hadn't put much thought into how she would explain things to her friends, not that she thought she was going to at all. The thought that Eri, Yuka and Ayumi would ever get themselves into a situation like this had never crossed her mind, and she realized she felt extremely uncomfortable knowing that every individual in the room was waiting for her explanation.
The silence didn't last long as the four girls heard a "Feh," coming from the other end of the room. Inuyasha knew Kagome wanted to avoid telling people as much as possible, but there really was no avoiding it now. Besides, what did it matter if these girls knew? It's not like anyone would believe them anyway.
"So you guys didn't know about Kagome's life in the past. Guess you didn't know her as well as you thought you did." Inuyasha said almost smugly. If she wouldn't explain, he would. And maybe even scare them a bit in the process. A little fun wouldn't hurt.
"So you didn't know she traveled five hundred years into the past, fighting demons, and searching for the fragments of a jewel she broke," He threw in to annoy her, "A jewel that has the power that everybody in the fucking planet wants, including an evil half demon named Naraku, who's killed more innocent lives that you can imagine. So you didn't know she's a damn powerful priestess, the only one who can sense those damn shards and purify them." He threw in the compliments without hesitation, hoping they would make her go easy on him later on.
"Well now you know. And we've gotta get back, 'cause Shippo's gonna flip shit if you don't bring him back some of that candy shit soon." He sneered, hoping his little speech had shocked the strangers enough to make them leave the subject alone and go back to their little future human homes.
All he received was three shocked and confused looks, and one of complete anger coming from the miko who now stood protectively in front of her friends, shooting daggers at him. Oh shit. Wrong thing to say, I guess. I'm in for a big one…
Kagome turned suddenly and was helping her friends up, watching as they hesitantly accepted her hands, still looking dazed. Inuyasha was the only one who expected the outburst that followed, his keen ears having picked up a quick patter of footsteps coming their way…
The door to the shrine burst open with a loud bang, and Sota stumbled in as loudly as imaginably possible. Surprising Ayumi, who was the closest to the door, she shrieked, which commenced the chain of events that ultimately lead to the inevitable.
As Sota barged in yelling nonsense about hearing the commotion and coming to see if Kagome needed any help slaying some youkai, the next few moments were undetermined as the room was filled with cursing and stumbling as if the people in the room were intoxicated.
Kagome jumped back as Ayumi screamed, accidentally pulling Eri and Yuka along with her as she tripped over the yellow bag that had been abandoned next to the well. As Kagome, Eri and Yuka teetered into the well, Inuyasha reached out instinctively for Kagome, cursing as he ran smack into a screaming Ayumi. Unable to stop himself, he crashed into her, attempting to swivel himself around to absorb most of the damage. Unfortunately, that only caused him to knock Ayumi into Eri, which shattered the last hope of staying out of the well and sent the girls tumbling down in a heap of dark hair and tangled limbs.
There was a moment of silence as the two boys stared, dumbfounded, at the blue light that engulfed the four human girls and sent them to the past. Sota blinked, realizing that the commotion was not a result of youkai escaping into the present, but merely a fight between Inuyasha and Kagome, and, apparently, Kagome's friends. He sighed, disappointed.
"You idiot! Why the hell didya scare them like that? What are ya doing here anyway?" Inuyasha exploded, cursing his bad luck and the fact that he now had three more useless girls who he had to protect from the big bad youkai in the past. He suspected it was bad karma from being rude to Kagome the last time she failed to retrieve a jewel shard, but he stubbornly refused to acknowledge his fault.
When all he received from Sota was a blank stare, he growled and picked up Kagome's forgotten bag, turning towards the well.
"You were really loud. I could hear you all the way from the house. I just came to see if…" Sota mumbled, his lip quivering. Inuyasha immediately felt guilty. Damn. It must run in the family or something.
"Listen, kid," He started. "I'm going to bring those girls back. You go on home; It'll be like it never happened." He paused before grumbling, "It wasn't your fault."
He didn't miss the bright smile that had plastered itself on Sota's face at those words before he jumped into the well and into his rightful time.
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Well? Review please, and a new chapter will be on the way!