Chapter 1: Avoid Love, Avoid Me.

They never told him that they loved him; or how much they loved him. They never did stay with him intentionally. He always felt alone, Akito Sohma did. Each and every day, whenever his family visited him to see how he was doing; they did it out of spite; well that's what he thought, anyways. Although, he had managed to fry the thought of that ridiculous treachery out of his mind with a verbal mantra that he played over and over... 'They love me... They love me... They love me... They love me...'

Nothing seemed to break through his make-shift mental armor that held him in place. It was undetectable, undefeatable, and unbeatable. It was invincible. It was… alien.

It alienated him from his family all those years ago, from the date of his birth to the day that he realized that he was really sick. He didn't care anymore when his parents had left him, and he'd had relied on clutching his family closer to him so he wouldn't have to be alone. He had no regrets of doing so, either. If the situation called for it, he'd hold them closer to him.

After all, family needs each other.

The wretch that tears us apart, Tohru Honda, you win this round…, he thought with a deep frown while leaning against the window that overlooked his family's land.

Kagome didn't understand. She wondered why she was so upset, though it wasn't much of a mystery; she seemed to have the tendency to feel bitter most of the time since she left the Sengoku Jidai.

But, don't get her wrong, she feels great in the moments that she wasn't in a crappy mood. In fact, she was practically almost herself again, mainly because it had been a little over a year since she stopped going to the Feudal Era, a year since she's known that she couldn't win the fight that she promised she'd withstand.

Actually, she had a lot more time on her hands since she'd let go of her… past. Like so, in the past year Kagome had miraculously managed to pass the 9th grade after attending studious summer school courses, and she ended up graduating during the same summer, only a month later than the rest of her class.

It was only miraculous because she'd kept missing school and her grandfather kept coming up with ridiculous illnesses. But, none the less she graduated and got promoted her middle school diploma. Directly after that, her and her friends all applied for the same high school, Kai Bara High. And what was even crazier was the fact that Hojo had somehow heard that she was going there.

Though she didn't feel completely like herself, Kagome managed to get by in the school just fine with her friends. She passed her classes fairly well, coming out with the highest grades in biology.

Which brings her to the office right now, after school hours had ended thirty minutes ago; she was asking the guidance counselor if they had any recommendations for a job that she could apply for. Though, she wasn't looking for just any job. She wanted to be able to help people. She was actually going for a voluntary nurse's job.

The job would effectively keep her busy and away from thoughts that might make her hopeful… what with couples walking around the high school completely inconsiderate of Kagome's feelings on the matter. But it was okay, because now she was getting a job to keep her mind off of those things.

"Alright, Kagome-san," the counselor turned back to her after he was done looking up hospitals that would accept student volunteers, rather than nursing homes. "We have a list of hospitals; but only one is applied for volunteers." he smiled at her.

Kagome felt her heart swell at the information she was just told. She knew paying attention in Biology and Health would pay off. Now, she could volunteer for a job as a nurse. It was brilliant, and it was a fool proof plan. She won't have any time to think about her love life…

"Thank you so much, Rai-san." she grinned at the man with her sapphire blue eyes sparkling in excitement. Who wouldn't be happy about a job opening?

"Alright, the address is here," he handed her a slip of paper with the address and the name of the Hospital on it. "And I'm just going to file in your volunteer forms as soon as you fill it out. But, you can do that now."

Kagome shook her head at him as he tried to give her the papers. "No, I already have them filled out," she reached into her black backpack and pulled out the forms that her mother helped her fill out the previous day and she handed them to him.

"Well, that was quick…"

Kagome just smiled as he turned back to his desk with a small blush and a sweat drop forming at the back of his head while he began to type in the information that was supplied on the paper.

After a few minutes the file was already sent to the hospital, via email, and surprisingly the message had already been responded to. The counselor turned back to Kagome with a surprised smile as he looked up into her anxious eyes. "You were accepted, you are to meet with the head doctor after school tomorrow."

"Who will I be asking for?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"You're going to be asking for Ai Mitarashi, though you'll be working with Hatori Sohma…" he trailed off reading the screen before hitting print.

Kagome nodded and waited for the paper to complete its printing process before he gave her the sheet and she left the room with the papers in her bag.

Finally, something to keep me busy, she thought with a smile.

AN: Sorry for the shortness of the chapter, it would have been longer, but I thought it was a great place to end the chapter. :D

Yes, Kagome's friends are Eri, Ayume, and Yuka in here, in case you were wondering. ^_^'

Also, expect an update pretty soon. (:

Later! :D