Chapter 2: Hurt Feelings
They were walking to school, Kagome lagging behind. She seemed to be tired still. Of course Sunako was behind them. They were gleaming and the girls were squealing for them, excitement going through them. Ranmaru greeted them as usual as Noi approached from the back.
"Sunako, it's so good to see you again," she greeted, passing Kagome by, who had stopped some distance behind them.
"Hello, Noi," Sunako greeted.
"Takenaga!" She hugged him. "Sunako seems a bit more depressed than usual."
"She's been that way since her cousin arrived. She's staying with us." He hugged Noi.
"Cousin?" She looked around and spotted a girl whose face was completely covered by hair. "Oh. Hello. I didn't see you there."
"It wouldn't be the first time I was overlooked," she whispered as she walked past. "I'm not worth your time anyways." She continued walking until she disappeared into the building.
"Is she always like that?" Noi asked.
"I don't know," Takenaga asked honestly. "We only met her briefly last night. Sunako would know more about here."
"Sunako?" She looked at the creepy girl.
"Something happened in her family. I'm not really sure what, but as a child she was always so radiant. She was always so cheerful and carefree. But that was roughly ten years ago. When she turned fifteen she started to get sick a lot and missed a lot of school. I'm not really sure what she is really like," Sunako said. "I'm going to class." She walked inside the building.
"I wonder what happened?" Noi asked to no one in particular.
"Who cares?" Kyohei asked loudly.
"Kyohei, we have to find out what happened. How else are we supposed to find a way to cheer her up?" Yukinoji asked.
"Or have you forgotten what Auntie said," Takenaga added.
"Fine. We cheer her up." He shoved his hands inside his pockets and started to walk into the building. "We'll work on it later." He was gone.
...2
She sat in the farthest, darkest corner. It wasn't like anyone was going to notice her anyways. She walked down the halls, but no one ever looked her way, the secretary didn't even notice her until she actually said something, and even then she wasn't noticed. She was expecting that. She was expecting to go through this school unnoticed. It was happening so far. He was fine with that. Just meant less people to put her down. Her self-confidence was already shot from the past and she doubted there would be anyone that could cheer her up.
"Oh, I didn't know you were in this class," a voice said. She recognized him as one of the guys from the house. "I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Ranmaru. You must be Kagome, Sunako's cousins." He noticed the bob of her head. "Why do you hide your face?"
"Why does it matter?" She asked.
"I was just wondering. You must be a complete cutie underneath that hair." He moved closer. "Let me see, please?"
"No. I would greatly appreciate it if you just left me alone," she whispered.
"Oh come on. Just one little look." He continued to move towards her a hand stretched out.
"I said no." And the next thing he knew, he was face first in the floor, the arm he had stretched out twisted behind his back and her knee was digging into his lower back.
"Kuso. You move fast." He tried to get free.
"I can easily break your arm in three places," she whispered darkly. "Even more if you continue to move around like that." He instantly stilled. "I am not showing you or anyone else my face. You can tell them that. If you try again I will break your arm. Understood?"
"Yes." He felt his arm drop to the floor and the pressure on his back leave. "Damn, my arm hurts." He rubbed at it and looked back at her. She really could be scary when she wanted to be. "You're so mean," he mumbled.
"You made me," she whispered. "I just want to be left alone."
"What's wrong with you anyways? You live in a house with four beautiful boys."
"None of you are beautiful," she commented and he fell backwards.
"Not beautiful," he mumbled from the ground. "Something must really be wrong with you."
"Nothing is wrong with me," she snapped. He could faintly make out glowing blue eyes. And moved away quickly. He settled down when the rest of the class came in. Kagome's eyes had stopped glowing and she was back in her corner. She slumped down, but was glad that not even the teacher seemed to notice her.
...2
"She said we weren't beautiful," Ranmaru told the others. They seemed shocked. School was over for the day and they were at home. They hadn't seen Kagome at all in the house.
"You aren't beautiful," a voice said from behind them. They jumped whirled around, their hearts beating a mile a minute. "You don't know what true beauty is."
"An ugly girl like you doesn't know what true beauty is," Kyohei said.
"Ugly girl?" They others looked like they didn't know what to do. "I may not be pretty but I know what true beauty is," she whispered. "None of you are beautiful." She turned and walked away.
"You just made her more depressed," Yukinoji said as he watched her leave. "We're supposed to cheer her up, not make her feel worse. Auntie is going to raise our rent for sure." He seemed to be close to tears.
"Kyohei, you really need to pick your words wisely," Takenaga said.
"She's the one that said…"
"She didn't call us ugly, Kyohei," Ranmaru pointed out. "She just said we didn't know what true beauty was."
"Same thing," Kyohei scoffed.
"You know, if Sunako finds out what you said, she might not cook for us tonight," Takenaga said and Kyohei paled.
"But then we would starve." He looked horrified.
"It would be your fault," Yukinoji said. "You hurt Kagome's feelings."
"I'm going to go make sure she's okay," Ranmaru said as he stood. Kyohei could be really hurtful.
He knocked on the door before entering. He looked around. This was not something he was expecting. There were weapons upon stands along the walls with different types of swords, staffs and bows. They all looked like they were taken care of. The bed was made in silks and what looked to be furs. And in the center of the bed, face in a pillow was Kagome. She had changed from the school uniform and was instead in what looked to be a silk nightgown.
"Hey, you shouldn't worry about what Kyohei said. You aren't ugly." He sat on the edge of the bed and just about sunk in, the material forming around him.
"Why do you care?" She asked, face never leaving the pillow.
"I can never see a pretty girl be so upset." He smiled at her, but of course she never looked at him. "Come on, cheer up."
"You don't care. You just want to see my face." She turned away from him. "You're just wasting your time."
"I'm just trying to help you cheer up," he reasoned.
"If I show you my face, will you just go and leave me alone?"
"Why would you want to be left alone?" He didn't understand. He would have thought she was feeling lonely. But his thoughts stopped when he saw her face. She had brushed her hair out of her face and now he was looking at pale, flawless skin, big blue eyes that were glistening with tears, pouty pink lips and a heart shaped face. He flat out fainted.
"I knew I shouldn't have showed him my face." She allowed her hair to fall into her face. "I'm hungry." She stood from the bed and headed out the door, leaving Ranmaru face down on her bed. He'd wake up eventually.
...2
He woke up and looked around, noticing that he was still in Kagome's room. He sat up and started for the door. He was hungry and he had to go ask Sunako if she was going to cook dinner. If not, he hoped he could get Kagome to cook. She was bound to be good at it. He left her room only for a delightful scent to meet his nose. He turned and started to follow the smell only to come to the kitchen. There were dishes with food in them, all of which smelled amazing, but it wasn't Sunako that was cooking. His mouth was watering and he just wanted to dig in.
"Go wait in the dinning room with everyone else," she whispered as she continued to cook. "It'll be done soon." He nodded and made his way to the dinning room to see everyone sitting there, including Sunako. He took a seat to see the table set. He was really hungry.
"Where have you been for the past hour?" Takenaga asked.
"I was in Kagome's room." Sunako glared at him. "It wasn't like that. I went to see if she was alright and I ended up fainting."
"Fainting?" The other three said, confused.
"I saw her face," he said in a low voice. "She's absolutely gorgeous." He seemed to have stars in his eyes.
I'll believe you when I see it," Kyohei said, but everyone became silent when Kagome walked in with several plates, all balanced on her arms. She skillfully placed everything on the table before going back into the kitchen and returning shortly with a pot of tea and tea cups. She placed all of it down and then sat down. She signaled for everyone to eat before helping herself. She had poured the tea for everyone and started eating.
They noticed how she ate. She ate with such manners befitting a lady. Her chopsticks didn't clink together, she wasn't eating ravenously like they would, but she didn't eat like Sunako either. They even watched as she turned her tea cup before drinking and setting it down without a sound. They shook themselves from their shock and started to eat like they were deprived of food. She seemed to ignore them as she continued to eat, finishing everything she took. She stood gracefully and picked up the dishes she used before heading back to the kitchen.
"She has the manners of a lady," Takenaga said, amazed.
"And she moves so gracefully," Yukinoji said. He was absolutely amazed.
"Now we just need to see her face," Kyohei said.
"That won't happen," Ranmaru said. "She just wants to be left alone."
"But we have to cheer her up," Yukinoji said.
"Easier said than done," Ranmaru said. He picked up his dishes and placed them in the sink, the dinner dishes and Kagome's dishes already washed and put away. He sighed and turned to go to his room. She really was beautiful but it seemed her confidence was shot. He figured the first step to cheering her up was to increase her self-confidence. In order to do so he would have to make her appealing to the eye. When he did that then she was sure to get noticed and compliments, making her have some self worth, and feel better about herself. It might take him a while to convince her though.
...2
She sat in her room and pulled out a photo album. She flipped it open and looked at the photos inside. There were pictures of her family from this time and pictures of her friends from the past, even a few of the lord of the west. She wanted to remember everything about the past, so there were photos, several photos, and even some of Shippo and Rin's drawings. There was even one by Souten. She smiled, even with tears in her eyes. She missed them very much and often wished that she could find at least one of her demon friends from the past. Hell, even Sesshomaru would do.
"I miss you all very much," she whispered to the photo album. "I wish at least one of you were here, then I wouldn't feel so lonely or out of place." She rubbed at her tears. "What I would give to have a semblance of my old life," she mumbled. She flipped the page and almost cried out, not sure how this picture got here. It was a picture of Kikyo and Inuyasha kissing, Kikyo's soul stealers floating around them with their eerie light. It was a rude reminder that no matter what she did, Inuyasha was never going to be hers.
"Maybe I should just forget," she whispered, but the thought broke her heart. "No. I could never do that. They mean too much to me to be forgotten." She had a different idea. She pulled out a notebook and started to write. She wouldn't forget, but she would tell the story. It would be told from her point of view, but names would have to be changed. There was no way she was going to use her family names. People would think she were crazy. That was the last thing she needed.
Author's Note: Sesshomaru will enter in the future, I am just not sure when. Here is the finished product of this chapter. Please read and review. Don't forget to ENJOY!