Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. The series rightfully belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do not claim anything, except for my original characters. That is why I have a disclaimer.
That's Life For Ya
Chapter 1: Simple Changes
I think Kyoto is more of a place to visit, rather than a place to live. It's a place for tourists, not a place to go to school! … Okay, so maybe I'm being a little biased, but really! The only people who live there are those who love tradition and are snooty. Seriously, the last time I was there, I saw a small group of teenage girls with identical hairstyles and talking as if they came from the Feudal Era.
I don't mean to be, well… mean, but my hometown is Tokyo. I belong in Tokyo, and I want to stay with Tokyo. I don't mind being with some tradition, but constantly? Too much. I just think that if Mama thought about it, she'd reconsider making us move to the Minami Prefecture of Kyoto. The animated pen used to write in a small green notebook stopped, and was placed upon a desk. Two hands clasped the notebook closed. The owner of the notebook leaned back into her chair with a deep sigh. "One… Two… Three," she mumbled. "A week left until we move."
For Kagome Higurashi, moving from Tokyo, her eternal birthplace, to Kyoto, the most traditional city of Japan, was an almost complete nightmare. It wasn't that she hated the place, nor was it the fact that it was a city that contained all of Japan's past. It was really just the thought of moving away from the home she started with. Like what most children go through when they find out they'll have to move. Never being able to see your close friends everyday. Leaving old spots where precious memories were made. Losing the choice of going into your everyday store and greet the cashier like he or she was your close relative. The little things you'd wish to never lose.
However, that was life; although, there was the fact that Kagome wished it not to be so.
"Ooh, it's not going to be the same without you, Kagome. Really it's not," moaned Yuka.
Picking at her lunch, Kagome sighed out of boredom. "You think I want to go?" she asked. Shrugs were the response of Yuka and Eri, who soon copied their friend's action toward the food in front of them. In truth, the girls did have a good guess that Kagome was rather resistant to leave Tokyo, but they barely had the energy to talk much. Which would usually be an absolute shock, but since their best friend was moving away, Kagome wasn't the only one who was completely crestfallen.
"Maybe you could talk it out with your mother," Ayumi suggested. "She might reconsider if you try and persuade her."
"I've already tried persuading her. Eleven times. By the fifth, she stopped listening to me." By this time, the piece of tofu in Kagome's bento box became little white mush pieces of bland taste. Ayumi smiled weakly and began to open her mouth, only to realize that there was nothing she could say to make the atmosphere better.
"Well… as they say, 'what's done is done and we cannot undo it.'"
"… That quote, y'know, completely sucks."
A week later, Kagome was standing in front of one of the doors of the train that was destined to take her to Kyoto. She was giving her last goodbyes to her friends, while trying to hold back the tears. With a smile on her face, Kagome waved as she stepped into the train. "I'll come back during vacation!" she said. Hopefully.
"No, we'll come visit you during vacation," responded Yuka, who pulled a small handkerchief from her pocket.
"It's too bad that he couldn't come here to say goodbye," said Eri.
Kagome looked confusingly at the girl. "'He'? 'He' who?"
Yuka winked as she said, "you know, your boyfriend."
"But he's not my-"
"All passengers please take your seats. The train will soon be leaving in less than a minute. Thank you and have a nice day," a voice from the speakers said.
"Eri, could you give him a message for me?"
"Oh, sure," replied the said girl. She leaned toward her leaving friend, pressing her hand to the back of her ear.
"Tell him that I'm sorry to leave without saying goodbye, and that I hope we could stay in contact because I really like him as a good friend. But don't exaggerate it or anything, because last time, it took me more than a week to try and get him to realize that I didn't hate him."
"Sure, okay. No problem, Kagome. You can count on us," Yuka responded. Her hand made the Peace Sign while her mouth turned into a grin.
"I mean it," Kagome said with a glower that was directed at each of her friends. "If I find out that either of you switched around my words, or exaggerated them or both… I will come after you all and make you pay."
"O-okay," stuttered Yuka, who then waved rapidly as the train began to take off. "Hope you like your new school in Kyoto!"
"Don't underestimate me, Yuka! I will come after you guys if you mess with my words!" Her fist shook outside the window, as Kagome popped her head out.
A little while later, as in about five minutes into the train ride, Kagome had forgotten completely about the threat she made to her old friends. Now, the Higurashi family was relaxed and comfortable. Kagome's grandfather was taking a convenient nap he had just gotten shortly after reading a book he had found at a thrift shop only a couple days ago. Her mother was reading a local magazine that she bought back at the station, and thoroughly enjoying from the smile on her face.
"Hey, Sis? Don'cha think you should've at least given him that message by yourself?" Souta, Kagome's little brother, looked up from his hand of cards. At the moment, he and his sister were currently playing an American classic card game, 'Go Fish', that they had learned from one of Souta's classmate who had an American pen pal.
Scanning her own cards, Kagome shook her head. "Not really, it's not like we had a really big relationship. We weren't really close, either. Got any twos?"
"No, go fish. You may have thought that, but how do you think he felt?" The younger brother then looked at his own cards as Kagome took a card from the deck. "Got any fours?"
Kagome grumbled as she handed over a card. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure he likes me, but it didn't feel serious. Got any tens?" The grin she earned from watching Souta handing over two of his cards was quickly wiped away when she realized something. "Wait a minute. Why am I talking to you about this? You're only a kid!"
Shifting his eyes up towards his sister's face, Souta shrugged. "I may be a kid, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid," he said. "And, Sis, you're about to fall off your seat. Got any kings?"
"No," Kagome mumbled while scooting back into her seat. "Go fish. You have any eights?"
"Nope, go fish." The boy slouched back as his sister once again took a card from the deck. "Do you think Kouga is crying or cursing you right now?"
"Ugh! Would you just shut up and play!?"
"Do you think we should tell him? I mean, the guy will probably be completely heartbroken if we're not careful, right?" asked Eri. The trio of gossips-as in Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi-were now sitting in their local WacDonald's™, snacking away their sorrows.
"Oh yeah. Kouga may be one-track minded sometimes, but that doesn't make him completely dense. He'll get the message if we tell him word-for-word of what Kagome said," Yuka answered, taking a sip from her milkshake.
"But, Kagome told us that if we mess around with her message, she'd come after us. Besides, what makes you think he'll be heartbroken? Maybe he'll get over it without anything dramatic happening?" Ayumi played with the straw of her soda, looking at the lid while mulling over the situation. She wasn't so sure to agree with her friends or not, in knowing that Kagome would get angry.
Eri grinned, wagging her finger at Ayumi. "Ah, but you have missed, my dear, is that Kagome said 'if she finds out.' So, as long as we don't tell her our plan, or let anyone know… we are in the clear."
"But, still-"
"Look, Ayumi. Kagome only threatens us just so we would get scared. She's done it more than once and yet she never takes the final leap of actually doing something to us. Besides, we'll be doing her a favor, as well as Kouga." After finishing her bit, Yuka took a large swig of her milkshake, creating somewhat of a silence, except for her soft gulping.
"Um… How is lying a favor for either of them?"
"Well… No one gets hurt. Kouga doesn't get hurt. Kagome doesn't get hurt. And we don't get hurt. Meaning, everybody wins!" said Eri, grinning from ear-to-ear.
Ayumi looked at her two best friends; first Yuka, then Eri. She continued doing so for a few more times before sighing and shaking her head. "I love you guys, really I do. But sometimes… I wish you didn't act as if your IQ is the same number as your shoe size."
A/N: Sorry if it's boring, but I trying to add more humor (that isn't crude, mind you). I'm trying to rewrite this because of how much of a hole it was the first time around. So, if you like it, please tell me. And if you don't like it, then please tell me! I'll accept any review, be it flame or praise (though I much prefer criticism, thanks). Anyway, CYA