The beginning of an end
Summary: She never wanted to hurt them, but it looked as though there would be no avoiding it. IY/PoT Crossover AU
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She gently clasped his hand in hers and gave it a slight squeeze.
He immediately searched her face for an answer.
"Ryoma, the reason I called you, the reason I wanted to see you so suddenly is to tell you something really important."
He tilted his head to the side in question.
"Well, I called you because I'm transferring to your school."
His eyes held mild astonishment. He never thought they would be attending the same school again. He briefly entertained the idea before her soft voice filled his ears once again.
"But what I really wanted to tell you…" She suddenly stopped, seeing five pairs of eyes directed at their table.
She leaned in closer. "There are five very suspicious people looking at us." She tilted her head to the right.
Ryoma turned and glared seeing his senpais in a booth diagonally from them.
Before he could tell them to get out, Kagome stood abruptly. "I guess I will just have to tell you later."
His turned his hazel eyes toward her.
"I'll see you soon."
He looked as if he were about to follow when Eiji glomped him.
"Ochibi has a girlfriend, nya?" He said slyly, squeezing him tighter.
"Yadda." He scowled.
"Echizen, we all saw how the two of you were interacting." Momoshiro commented with a hard slap of the back.
Ryoma wiggled out of their reach.
"Idiots." He muttered before grabbing his belongings.
"Echizen," He didn't stop. "Where are you going?" Fuji asked, smiling slightly seeing his kohai so irritated.
"Practice." He then left the five of them wondering who the mystery girl was and what she meant to him.
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Tezuka looked around the corridor in confusion. One nurse had told him to go left, another told him to go right, and the last one had said to keep on going straight, but he was nowhere near finding Ryuzaki-sensei's room.
"Hello," Tezuka turned on his heel. "Are you lost?"
"Yes," He murmured, letting his eyes rake over the girl. Her cheery disposition startled him, but the alarm did not register on his face.
"I'm looking for Ryuzaki Sumire." His voice was soft but firm.
The girl's smile seemed to widen with his words.
Kagome recognized him the moment she had seen him.
He fit Ryuzaki-sensei's description to a tee.
"Oh, yes, Ryuzaki-sensei mentioned that one of her students was coming to visit her." She giggled. Tezuka just raised a single eyebrow in question.
He was not amused.
"You're in the oncology ward," She explained as if that would clear up the confusion. "You should have gone right instead of continuing forward when you came through the doors."
"Un, thank you."
"No problem." She smiled and skipped down the hallway leaving a very confused boy behind.
Not thinking about the girl twice, he retraced his steps and finally made it to Ryuzaki-sensei's room.
"I was beginning to think you weren't coming." She half-joked upon seeing her stern student enter.
"The nurses gave me incorrect information."
"Oh," She feigned surprise. "Yes, I did tell them to give you a hard time if you showed." She laughed conspiratorially as if the nurses were in the room.
"How is the club holding up?" She asked, shifting a bit to ease the pain from her side.
"They haven't gotten careless."
"I suppose Inui's concoctions have something to do with that." She smirked when he nodded.
"The regulars are preparing for the National Tournament just as planned."
Ryuzaki-sensei smiled lightly.
"You and Oishi have led them well. You all will give your opponents a run for their money."
"Oishi and I have been waiting for this moment. We're going to take Seigaku to Nationals and win." His eyes burned with such passion that it was Ryuzaki-sensei's turn to nod and smile.
"Sensei, I have to return but feel better."
He rose from his seated position and went to the door. "Oh, Tezuka," He turned. "Nevermind." She waved her hand dismissively.
He didn't question her actions. Ryuzaki-sensei would have told him if it was important.
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"Class open your textbooks and turn to chapter seven," The teacher instructed. "Kikumaru please read the first paragraph."
Just as Eiji was about to read, the door slid open to reveal a very petite girl.
After a moment, realization kicked in and Eiji realized it was the girl who had been with Ryoma the other day.
'Ochibi is dating an older woman!'
"Yes," Sano-sensei barked, irritated that the waif-like girl was going to interrupt his class.
"I've just transferred." She explained, handing him a slip of paper.
"Then you can read this passage and then introduce yourself." He smirked, hoping to embarrass her in front of the class. She simply nodded, taking the book from his outstretched hand.
"It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night—and, as obscurely as it had begun, his career as Trimalchio was over. Only gradually did I become aware that the automobiles which turned expectantly into his drive stayed for just a minute and then drove sulkily away. Wondering if he were sick I went over to find out—an unfamiliar butler with a villainous face squinted at me suspiciously from the door."
A majority of the class stared at her, amazed at her perfect pronunciation. Then without missing a beat, she handed Sano-sensei the book and smiled.
"I'm Higurashi Kagome. I've transferred here from Shinjuku. I hope that we'll all be friends." She rose from her bowed position and smiled.
She heard a pencil drop in the back of the room as neither the students nor the teacher moved or said a word.
Kagome blushed a pretty pink. "Um, where would you like me to sit?"
Sano-sensei snapped out of his shocked disposition and directed her to a seat in the front row.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Kagome quickly took her seat and opened her notebook.
It was going to be a long day.
A very, very long day.
A/N: I know it jumps around a bit, but I hope it made sense.