Boarding School Blues
Mashed Potatoes and Bedtime Stories
A/N: Ok, so here is the second chapter. Criticism is highly appreciated. Also I noticed that there were some errors – formatting and spelling from the first chapter (I blame most on the site). So I've edited what I could and posted the newer version up. Other then that things you should note are:
Disclaimer: I do not own either Inuyasha or Escaflowne. I don't own the name of the boarding school or any other university/school I've mentioned or will mention. And also I don't own the poem. You can thank F. Scott Fitzgerald for that one.
And without further ado..
Kagome sifted through the books.
'Anatomy Today'
'A Nucliec Acid's View of DNA'
'Mendelian Revised: DNA Mutations'
Kagome wrinkled her nose in disgust at the detailed sketches of the human body inside and out.
"Wow this person really did some heavy reading," she muttered to herself, "What kind of maniac lived here before me?"
The young girl continued to read the spine of each text book before putting them on the floor beside her. Not all of them were grotesque science textbooks. She also found some books of poetry and literature. One of them even had a leaflet marking the page. She opened to it and scanned the contents.
Over her gray and velvet dress,
Under her molten, beaten hair,
Color of rose in mock distress
Flushes and fades and makes her fair;
Fills the air from her to him
With light and languor and little sighs,
Just so subtly he scarcely knows…
Laughing lightning, colour of rose
The only thing Kagome got from that was that it had something to do with love. Who ever roomed here three years before her obviously had a serious case of bipolar disease. Kagome picked up another book up off the bed. This one was leather bound and didn't have any title. Flipping it open, Kagome realized that it was a journal.
"The last tenant's journal!" Kagome gasped.
The wind howled. A tapping noise came from the window. Kagome spun around to see an old tree outside her window tap on the glass. An eerie feeling took over the room. It was like an unpleasant person entered the room and was watching Kagome intently. That was when Kagome heard a shuffling noise behind her. Her skin prickled. She froze as she heard the shuffling come closer. Then suddenly she heard a thump and Kagome's reflex caused her to drop the journal and whip around.
"Whoah this room's a disaster!"
Kagome almost wet herself with relief at Miroku's voice. His hand remained mid-air where he had just knocked. Inuyasha stood beside him, hands in his pocket, a scowl on his face, but his eyes roamed with curiosity.
"Holy herd of elephants," Kagome gasped, "you guys just scared the crap out of me."
"Sorry. I guess it's understandable to be scared of two gorgeous guys when you're stuck up in this dreary hell hole," Miroku smiled amused.
"We thought we'd come get you for dinner," Inuyasha said, "And see what was left of this room." He walked in examining the room. "Find anything interesting?" he asked her.
"No," Kagome replied as she stood up and dusted her self off, "Just a bunch of creepy science text books. That's as far as I've gotten."
"Well, we'll have to save this private investigation for after, cause I'm starving. And like Inuyasha I really don't want get stuck sitting at The Unattractive Women Table," Miroku told them, "Shall we?"
Kagome grabbed her khaki side bag and swung it around her neck, "Yeah let's go. I'm starved." The three of them walked out of the room, but not without Kagome slipping the leather bound journal into her bag. She would read this somewhere less creepy for further inspection. She shut the door on her way out, making sure she hadn't forgotten her key and then followed the boys down the stairs.
"So," she asked them, "Is there an Unattractive Male Table I should be warned about?"
The three of them entered the mess hall only to be confronted with a mass of students dressed in matching uniforms. Girls had the light blue paid skirts, blue plaid ties, white shirts, white socks and navy blue cardigans with the school crest. Boys had grey pants, white shirt, blue plaid ties and navy blue cardigans with the school crest/
Kagome could tell they had reached the mess hall minutes before. One reason was because of the all the students milling about – some with food in their hands – and the other was because of the sign in gold letters reading 'Mess Hall' in front of two large double doors.
When Kagome walked in, she saw a giant room that held rows upon rows of tables. On the tables sat students eating, talking, laughing, and some were even playing cards. On both ends of the room, students stood in line to get their food – like at a buffet. A hanging sign read that this was Mess Hall A. Kagome also noticed that at the end of the room there were more doors leading to the patio. So on the warm nights, or breezy afternoons the students could enjoy their meals outside in the gardens, and on picnic benches.
"Whoah, does the Mess Hall feed all of the students at school?" Kagome asked awed.
"No," Miroku told her as they lined up, "We have a couple other Mess Hall's strategically placed around all the dorms, and a few restaurants, pubs, and cafes all around campus."
"Pubs?"
"Yeah, cause every snot nosed brat here has a fake ID and a fat allowance. So the dean thinks its better that the snot nosed brat bribes the pub keeper on campus, instead of the ones where older people are, who don't go to this school and who can also create a lot of problems," Miroku answered.
"It also beats having a designated driver," Inuyasha added.
Kagome nodded understandingly. They got their food, which consisted of a very rich dinner in Kagome's opinion. She figured she'd probably get indigestion trying to get used to meals like this, but she didn't really care as she piled mashed potatoes and loads of gravy onto her plate.
The three of them plonked down at the end of a crowded table. Immediately Inuyasha heaped all of his food into his mouth. Kagome and Miroku stared at his slightly disturbed.
"Doesn't get much to eat, this one?" Kagome asked Miroku, her eye twitched.
At this point, a young raven haired boy joined them by dropping a tray beside them and sitting beside Kagome.
"Baah nish phow yush hoe," Inuyasha stated through his mashed potatoes, to the raven haired boy who just joined them.
"Hi Inuyasha, yes I tend to show up for dinner, because I do eat like other human beings," the boy droned and then drilled into his food.
Kagome eyed the boy beside her with curiosity. He had unruly black hair and deep ruby red eyes. He reeked of brooding angst in Kagome's opinion. His gloomy appearance made Kagome shiver.
"Van meet our friend Kagome. She lives up on the haunted 15th floor," Miroku introduced them pleasantly.
"Hi," Kagome greeted him.
"How did you manage to get that room? The school's refused to open that room for years." Van blurted.
Kagome blanched, "Uh..well my cousin called in a special favour for me to get that room. I guess as some form of torture trying to hole me up there and stuff."
Van studied her for a moment then shrugged his shoulders with an 'oh' and continued to eat.
"Hey Van, where have you been all day. We had to move in all of your stuff without you again," Inuyasha asked.
"All three of you are roommates?" Kagome wondered.
"Keh. The second time now. I think we should talk to the school too Miroku and see if they can get us some special favours to get him some other roomates," Inuyasha replied.
"Hey," Van countered with a mild scowl – Kagome almost missed the twinkle in his eye, "I'm not that bad of a roommate. Especially since I have to pick up after your dirty ass, and Miroku how many times have I covered for you, when you smuggled woman into our dorm. Which by the way I'm not doing this year. Hidori-sensai clearly thinks I'm some sort of cowgirl fettished pervert."
'I do not want to know what that's about,' Kagome deadpanned. But she couldn't help but feel warm sitting beside these three guys. They were obviously good friends and in sync with each other.
Miroku laughed nervously, "Hehe Van, come one let's not bring up that in front of Kagome-sama. I'm sure her young mind couldn't handle it," He grabbed both of Kagome's hands and looked at her seriously, "Kagome-sama I just want you to know that despite what they say about me, I am a good wholesome boy and If you ever need any sort of comfort – especially bodily do not hesitate to come to me. Or if you change your mind about bearing my – "
Thwack
Mirokiu's speech was interrupted by a punch in the head from Inuyasha.
"Oye..none of that now."
"Inuyasha," Miroku whined, "I wasn't doing anything remotely perverted. I was just telling Kagome-sama that she has my support."
"She doesn't need that kind of support you, PERVERT!"
Kagome stifled a giggle. She spent the rest of her dinner eating and watching the three boys argue and banter. When they were done eating they insisted on showing Kagome some of the hangout spots scattered throughout the dormitory. They showed her a couple of the quiet study spots – rooms with books, couches, fireplaces and good lighting. They showed her some of the games room – which resembled arcades with pool tables and poker tables. There were also room lounge rooms with comfy couches and the occasional pool table and TV.
The boys dragged Kagome to one of their usual spot – an empty lounge room with a lot of couches and plush carpeting. They immediately dropped down on the plushiest couches in the furthest corner.
"A lot of pranks were planned here." Inuyasha told Kagome with a content sigh as he sprawled over one of the couches.
Van turned to Kagome, "So Kagome, what's your dorm room like. I'm curious to what state it's been left in. Seeing as no ones been allowed in it for the past three years."
"Well," Kagome said, "It's really just a dusty mess. It's a little bit spooky, cause of some of the stuff left over."
Van leaned closer, "What stuff? What was left over?"
Kagome's insides paused. Why was this boy so curious about this room? Whatever happened in that room couldn't have been that terrible that it roused this much curiosity.
"J-Just a bunch of stuff..books and notes and stuff. Nothing interesting really. What's the story about that room? I don't understand why no one's been up there in so many years."
Miroku nodded, "It's true that even we don't know the full story. A lot of what we know could just be what was made up by other students. The school kept the whole scandal hush-hush. So hush in fact you probably couldn't find any public records of it in newspaper archives."
"I've asked my brother a couple of times too. He was here at school when it happened. But he just told me what we already knew," Inuyasha added.
"W-what did happen?" Kagome swallowed.
"Well," Van began, "The story goes that three years ago a young girl stayed in that room. She was I think in fourth year – just about to graduate from here and join a prestigious university. They say she was as beautiful as she was smart. And she was smart. She got an early acceptance to Universite Pierre et Madame Curie's Genetic Engineering Program. (A/N: real university I googled. Don't own it. Don't know about the program I just made that up). It was mainly because of a research project she was assisting in at the university in the genetic engineering department."
"But then one night, according to my brother – he was living on our floor at the time," Inuyasha continued, "He heard a lot of screaming and yelling coming from the 15th floor. Not just one voice, but two. Because of his demon hearing he could distinguish the two voices and the scuffle. Anyways he heard a deafening bang and then silence. After that no one saw her for days."
Kagome hugged her knees.
Van picked up, "Teachers and staff banged on her door for a couple of days, but no one ever came out. Finally a week passed and still no sight or sign of her. The school contacted the university, her family. No one had seen her. So the dean ordered them to search the dorm. They found the room in a mess and her body dangling from the tree outside the window…
..She had killed her self."
A/N: Well there you have it! Now review so I can have some sort of self esteem =).