Disclaimer: InuYasha, you say? Why, I've never owned such a thing in my life!
Full Summary: Kagome Higurashi is content with her life attending the famous East Tokyo High, her close friends and boyfriend of nine months, Kouga Ookami by her side. But soon after hearing hushed talk of a secret organization called the DIO, she is drawn to the heart of a terrible struggle-a struggle born of missing humans and rebel gangs, a power-hungry demon and a world wide conspiracy. Amongst the chaos that ensues, she finds herself all alone in a world that's out to get her. That is, until she runs into Inuyasha Takahashi; half dog-demon and full-time rebel gang leader with a bad attitude. On an epic journey to find her friends and save all of humanity from a modern day holocaust, Kagome must rely on the help of Inuyasha and the other rebels. Alternate Universe (modern day Japan) InuyashaKagome MirokuSango SesshoumaruRin ((And others!))
A.N.: I present to you Chapter 1 of The Difference Between which was originally titled How the World Works. I've viciously edited the chapters that already exist, and I have already written a full ten more chapters that will be published in due time. (I'll probably post one a week.) Until then, enjoy!
Chapter 1
Late
"There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them." ~Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar.
Kagome Higurashi awoke with a deep yawn and a heavenly stretch, friendly rays of the morning sun warm on her face. Half-conscious, she listened to the combination of robins chirping and the wind rustling the branches of nearby trees outside of her bedroom window. She sleepily enjoyed the morning sounds as she stretched her muscles once more and finally opened her eyes to greet the day.
And what a beautiful day it was! Though one eye was blocked by her overstuffed pillow, through the other she could see the sun pouring into the open blinds of her window in horizontal streaks, illuminating every speck of dust and strand of cat hair that floated lazily in its path. Light breeze from the ceiling fan above moved the hair around her face about so that it gently tickled her cheek and neck. It was nothing short of a perfect morning.
Her body lay in complete comfort as her brain lightly planned out the rest of her day. She would start her morning off with a warm cup of herbal tea, and then an hour bath with her favorite book. Oh, and she could finally use the lavender bath oil that her mom had gotten her for her birthday last week- she was smiling just thinking about it! After that, what could be more refreshing than a quiet bike ride through the park? When she got in, she could spend the rest of the day curled up on the couch with Buyo, watching her dramas and painting her toenails for the first day of school…
"SCHOOL!"
Kagome nearly fell off of her bed as she violently swiped the alarm clock from her nightstand.
"Eight Fifteen! Oh noooo!" She groaned and cursed the world as she turned the clock around to see that the tiny switch with the picture of the vibrating clock above it was on the 'off' side. "Ohhh, I set the alarm for seven but forgot to turn the dumb thing on. Class started at eight! How could I be so stupid?" Today was the first day of sophomore year, and Kagome Higuarashi was already fifteen minutes late.
Kagome, when she wasn't in bed daydreaming, attended the famous East Tokyo High along with forty-three hundred other students. There was nothing particularly special or extraordinary about her and she knew it. Of the two and a half thousand other girls that attend East Tokyo, probably more than half of them were prettier than her and even more than that were smarter than her. She could barely pass her math classes, and her GPA was hovering just over a 3.0. Being a human, she was nowhere near competitive in the athletic department either. She had a bland personality, not being especially funny, outgoing, or clever. She wasn't popular, but she was happy with the friends that she had: Sango Taijaya, her best friend since elementary school; Miroku Houshi, Sango's boyfriend of two years; Rin Taisho, who she met in junior high; and her own boyfriend of nine months, Kouga Ookami. As she grabbed her cell phone off of her dresser to throw in her backpack, she noticed that three out of four of those people had texted her today, probably wondering where in the heck she was. No time for that though; she had to get ready and fast.
In a hurry, Kagome fell once trying to get her legs through a fresh pair of undies and then again in an attempt to put on the skirt of her uniform. Once she was back on her feet, she grabbed a pair of white stockings that were hanging over the back of her desk chair and the brown, leather penny loafers in the bottom of her closet. As she was rolling a sock over her knee, she looked up and caught a terrifying glimpse of her herself in the full length mirror that hung on the back of her bedroom door.
"Eeek! I can't show up at school looking like this!"
Her long black hair fell down her back in matted, greasy sections that were knotted and sticking out in places. Her bangs lay flat with grease against her forehead, and her nose was shiny with oils that must have snuck out from deep within her pores during the night and had a party on her face as she slept. Her eyebrows, that she had neatly plucked just the other day, had apparently decided that they weren't going to let her face slime have all the fun, and several coarse, black hairs had crept out of their follicles to join the midnight party. She was in dire need of a shower and tweezers, but the clock on her nightstand reminded her that she was officially twenty minutes late for the first day of school.
So Kagome took a deep breath, she brushed her hair out the best she could, and tied it up with her favorite green scrunchie. She slipped on her shoes, grabbed her back pack and snuck out the front door while being careful not to wake her grandfather who was sleeping in the recliner. Despite the fact that she was peddling as fast as humanly possible, receiving countless odd looks from passerby, the ride to East Tokyo High still took a valuable ten minutes and she spent another five trying to find an unoccupied place to chain up her bicycle.
"Sorrry!" she yelled back to a group of boys in track uniforms, one of whose foot she had ran over when she spotted a telephone pole to secure her bike to.
Even though she was in a hurry, Kagome couldn't help but find the time to get that fluttery 'first day of school' feeling when she reached the long marble steps that led to the entrance of the five-story-high, one-hundred-sixty-five-thousand square foot building. She remembered how frightened she was a year ago as she walked up these same steps on the first day of her freshman year. Her grandfather had insisted that she go to a smaller, private school but her mother wouldn't have that. Ms. Higurashi herself had been forced to go to a small, private, all-human school when she was her daughter's age because Kagome's grandmother and grandfather were frightened of the idea of human and demon togetherness as were many people following the Anti-Separation Movement.
Before Kagome's mother was born, a thing existed called "Separation". The idea was to separate human and demons who, to say the least, were constantly going at it. From the moment humans and demons evolved into what they are, demons were aware that they were much stronger than their human counter parts, and they used their power and knowledge in horrific ways. Humans were slaughtered, raped and devoured on a daily basis in Japan's Feudal Era. This all changed however when man invented the gun. Humans found that with mechanical weaponry they could easily kill the majority of demons who plagued them, but, unfortunately, they let their desire for vengeance over power their moral principles. Demons were more or less being exterminated.
For many, many years there was nothing but constant strife between the two species. That is, up until the 1600's; when most governments of the world were becoming more organized and civil. They realized that they couldn't be effective under such chaos, and acted almost as frustrated parents would by separating the humans and demons from each other. The movement was aptly named "Separation". Humans lived in certain districts while demons lived in others, and it was forbidden to cross into the other's territory. Things still weren't completely fair, however. Politics were humanly dominated, and it would be a very long time before demons were represented in government. This issue wouldn't be addressed for hundreds of years, however.
Separation worked fairly well and kept things peaceful for the most part, but it wasn't long before open-minded youths of the human and demon species began questioning the division. They snuck past the metaphorical walls that divided them and made both friends and lovers of different species. This was how the Anti-Separation movement came about. The Anti-Separation chapters of Kagome's history books had always been her favorite, and she had even picked up a few autobiographies at the library about the first-hand experiences of individual humans and demons who fell in love during this period of segregation and were forced to see each other in secrecy. Sango would roll her eyes in disgust as Kagome flipped through the pages of such stories, giggling and 'awwing'.
After a lot of debate and political pish-posh all over the world, several countries decided to do away with Separation altogether, and many people, humans and demons alike, spread out all over the country. Before you knew it, humans and demons were living in the same neighborhoods, going to the same schools, and even getting married and having children together. Unfortunately, even after all of this, many members of the human species were skeptical of the change and still greatly feared the demons that were now allowed to live with them. Kagome's grandmother and grandfather were a good example of such people. But over the years her grandpa had lightened up a bit and even said that his granddaughter's full-blooded, wolf demon boyfriend was a "very nice young man".
So in the end Kagome's mother got her way, and her daughter was enrolled into East Tokyo High-one of the largest, most diverse and well known high schools in all of Japan. Every kind of sport, activity, and club imaginable existed at East Tokyo. The school had its own basketball team, swim team, baseball team, football team, golf team, volleyball team, bat mitten team, soccer team, lacrosse team, chess team, and countless others. Some of which, like the extreme Frisbee or rock-skipping team, was a bit over-doing-it in Kagome's opinion.
East Tokyo, however, wasn't just known for its competitive sports, its diversity, or even its academic success, but also for its sheer physical beauty. While many other schools in the area looked like large brick cubes with windows, East Tokyo was made up of many shapes and colors; a mixture of marble, stone, and glass that created a breathtaking architectural masterpiece.
The school consisted of five levels, the last four of which were the domain of a particular class. The bottom level belonged to the lobby, gymnasium, auditorium, library, cafeteria, and the offices of the principal, assistant principle, and guidance counselor. Because Kagome was now a sophomore, all of her classes would be in the third story; last year they were in the second and next year they would be in the fourth. A long spiral staircase led from the fifth story, where the senior classrooms were, to the top of the school's famous astronomy tower, more than one hundred feet above the ground. East Tokyo's astronomy tower, where only teachers and A.P. Astronomy students were allowed, was one of the things that made the school special, and although Kagome had signed up for Astronomy in hopes that next year she could see the inside of the tower for herself, right now she would probably give the whole experience up if she could just make it to first period before the bell rang for second.
She sprinted up two flights of stairs with her class schedule in hand, rounded a hallway, and quickly read off the engraved numbers above the doors as they blurred past.
"Room #204, 205... 210... 217, 219… There! Room #221!"
She looked down at the piece of crinkled paper in her hand to confirm that she was in the right place. The last thing she needed was to burst into the wrong classroom like an idiot.
Higurashi, Kagome/ Grade 10/ Student No. 131188631
1st Period-Biology I-Classroom #221
2nd Period-Algebra II-Classroom #245
3rd Period-Health and P.E. II-Gymnasium
4th Period-World History-Classroom #207
5th Period-Japanese Literature-Classroom #291
6th Period-Astronomy I-Classroom #233
Yep, this was it. A sickening, nervous feeling formed in her stomach as she hesitantly knocked twice on the wooden door in front of her only to realize that she didn't know how she was going to explain her forty-five minute tardy to the teacher once he or she opened the door.
What am I going to say? I overslept? What kind of first impression is that? She's going to think I'm a complete slacker. Or what if it's a he? A strict, insensitive, 'no nonsense', scary man teacher who'll call me out in front of the entire class for being late? Ohhhh, I should have just stayed home! I could have said I was sick and my teacher wouldn't have hated me for the rest of the year. It's still not to late…
And Kagome may have run away if the door hadn't opened before she had time to consider the idea any further.
However, the person standing at the door wasn't an angry-faced man at all, but a beautiful, young, female fox demon.
"Hello young lady, can I help you?"
She was a little taller than Kagome and her red hair fell in long, wavy locks in front of her shoulders and down her back. On top of her head was a pair of furry, red fox ears, and a bushy red, white-tipped tail peaked out from behind her. Her countenance appeared friendly, and her lips held a warm smile that made Kagome feel a little less frightened.
"Hi. Um, this is my class." She grinned nervously. "S-sorry for being late."
Kagome half expected the smile to disappear from her face altogether when she realized that the girl at her door was a tardy student, but no such thing happened.
"Oh, well come on in." The teacher stepped aside so that Kagome could enter the classroom. "What's your name?"
"Kagome… Um, Higurashi, Kagome. Sorry."
As the teacher scribbled something in the attendance book, Kagome scanned the classroom for familiar faces. Her heart jumped for joy when she saw her best friend Sango, her head propped up by her hand and her eyes closed, fast asleep at a desk in the second row.
The teacher turned back toward Kagome, a warm smile on her face and fox ears erect. "You weren't here during roll call so I counted you absent, but now everything is all fixed Miss Kagome." Kagome was distracted by the woman's ears and didn't reply until she realized that she was holding out a very thick text book titled The World of Biology. She took it, feeling a little embarrassed and hoping the teacher hadn't noticed her staring at the top of her head. There had always been something about ears like her new teacher's that made Kagome almost giddy. As a little girl she had deeply longed for furry, demon ears of her own and wore a pair of faux neko-ears on her head, refusing to take them off for nearly four months straight.
"Oh, wow, thanks!" She wasn't going to be counted tardy after all. There was no way that she was completely off the hook, was there? She almost felt guilty.
"No, it's fine dear. First days are always a little hectic." She waved it off like it was no big deal. "Wait, you don't know my name do you? Silly me… It's Akito, Yumi. You can call me Mrs. Akito or sensei, but if you see me outside of school…" She leaned toward Kagome and cupped her hand around her mouth like she was getting ready to tell a secret. "… feel free to call me Yumi." She gave a little wink.
Kagome bowed her head politely. "Thank you very much Mrs. Akito. I promise not to be late tomorrow."
Since Sango was asleep, and the low hum of conversation filled the room, Kagome assumed that Mrs. Akito had decided not to give them an assignment on the first day.
Not only is the teacher nice, but it looks like the class is going to be easy too!
She took her new text book and sit at the nearest empty desk from her snoozing friend, feeling very relieved and a little hopeful that maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Pssst… Sango!"
When her friend didn't budge, Kagome pulled a notebook from her backpack, tore out a sheet of paper, crinkled it into a wad, and threw it at the back of Sango's head.
"Who the hell?"
When Sango looked around the classroom for the person who had dared disturb her nap, she saw her best friend sitting a few desks away, waving and smiling, and her anger faded completely. Her murderous scowl transformed into an excited grin.
"Kagome! What are you doing here?"
"This is my class. Can you believe it?"
"Oh, that's great! Way to be…" She looked toward the clock above the board. "…almost an hour late though. Where exactly were you this morning? I texted you a least twenty times. And why do you look like you haven't showered in three days?"
She ignored Sango's last comment and scooted her chair up to her best friend, explaining her frantic morning and her lack of time to take a shower.
"I'm guessing you didn't have time to brush your teeth or wash your stockings either? You're breath smells horrible."
Kagome sighed at the unnecessary remark about her breath, but blinked when she heard the mention of her stockings.
"Clean stockings?"
"Oh you didn't know?" Sango blinked. "Your stockings have big brown blotches all over them."
"What?"
She looked down to see that her should-be-white socks were indeed covered in brown stains from her ankles all the way to her knees.
"Noo! I was in a hurry and must've grabbed the pair I wore yesterday by mistake." The same pair that she was wearing when she had accidently drove her bike into a huge mud puddle. "Ohh…"
Just then the bell rang for second period and all of Kagome's pervious hopes for a good first day of school vanished. She said goodbye to her best friend and headed off in the direction of her next class, already wishing for the day to be over.
Second period, if possible, was even worse. A short, plump, woman named Ms. Natsuya was the teacher. She appeared to be human, but she must've been some sort of evil witch in disguise.
"Miss Higurashi, why did you fail to bring a pencil to my class? Are you aware that Algebra II is a math class? Most of the work done in here involves trial and error; that means a lot of erasing. A pen just won't do, especially when someone of your previous math record is holding it. Now, take a seat and please wear clean stockings the next time you enter my classroom."
Needless to say, Kagome knew right off the bat that this would be her least favorite class and not just because her teacher hated her or for the fact that she was horrible at math, but also because she didn't know any of the other classmates which meant that it was going to be awkward asking for help with the assigments. Well technically she did know Ayame Wind, her boyfriend Kouga's crazy ex-girlfriend who he happened to break up with for Kagome, but she highly doubted that Ayame had anything nice to say to her.
To prove this thought, Ayame yelled "What happened to your socks, Higurashi? On your knees in the mud?" This made the group of equally nasty girls that sat around her giggle. Kagome clenched her fists and blushed a little at the implication that she not only did such things, but did them in the mud, though decided it was probably best not to counter insult the full-blooded wolf demon who could probably rip her head off of her shoulders without much effort. Even if she had a fighting chance, Kagome was pretty sure that this particular teacher would punish her as severely as the principal, school board, and prime minister would allow. She took a seat near the window, farthest away from the group and sat alone fuming, bothered not only by Ayame's comment but more so by the little smirk on Ms. Natsuya's face after it had been said.
When the bell finally rang, she almost ran out of the classroom, eager to escape her math class and all who were in it. Third period was P.E. which wasn't exactly her favorite subject, but nothing could get much worse than Algebra. When she entered the gymnasium she was delighted to see a person just as dear to her as Sango standing on the sidelines, watching a volleyball game and already in uniform.
"Rin!" Kagome yelled from across the gym.
Rin suddenly became alert-kind of like a puppy does when it hears a whistle from someone they can't see. Her curious eyes scanned the room and a huge smile parted her lips when she saw that Kagome was in the same P.E. class with her.
"Kagome-channn!" Rin ran toward Kagome with open arms like she hadn't seen her in years. As she darted past the volleyball net, a volleyball came out of nowhere, hitting Rin square in the face and knocking her to the ground.
Rin was the clumsiest, most scatterbrained and accident prone person Kagome had ever known. Though it was a little harsh to say, she was literally bad at everything she did, except of course at being a friend. Anyone who was lucky enough to know Rin knew that if a friendship class existed at East Tokyo High, Rin would definitely pass with an "A+". Rin had never known her biological parents and lived at Cherry Blossom Children's Home with twenty other kids who she all claimed as her brothers and sisters. But to her, no one was more like family than Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and lately, even Kouga.
Kagome changed into her uniform while Rin made a visit to the nurse (The nurse was very familiar with Rin). When she came out of the locker room Rin was already sitting on the bottom row of seats in the bleachers, holding an ice pack to her head.
"Does it hurt?" Kagome asked, taking a seat beside her.
"Just a little, but I'm okay. That time I jumped off the diving board and hit my head on the bottom of the pool was much worse than this." She giggled.
Kagome sighed. This girl could probably get her legs chopped off and laugh about it the next day. She couldn't recall a time when Rin had ever been pessimistic or even unhappy. She was extremely kind and trusted everyone, and if it wasn't for Kagome, Sango, and even the proclaimed pervert Miroku, Rin would probably go off alone with any creep guy who asked, their real intentions not even crossing her mind.
"Um… Kagome," Rin said quietly, suddenly looking a bit nervous.
"Yes?"
"Well, I couldn't help but notice your socks..."
Not the sock thing again. "Yeah, you're not the first to point them out. I grabbed the wrong pair by mis-…"
"No," Rin said, interrupting her explanation. "I was just going to say th-that you can wear my socks! I mean, we can trade for today. "
Sometimes Rin's kindness was enough to make Kagome feel guilty even when she hadn't done anything wrong. "Forget it Rin, you're not walking around school for the rest of the day wearing my dirty socks."
"No, no, I really don't mind!" Rin shook her head vigorously so that her light brown pig-tails swung from side to side. "They're actually kind of pretty! Like brown polka dots or something!"
Kagome sighed. It was just like her to compare muddy blotches to brown polka dots, but there was no way that she would accept Rin's sickeningly selfless offer. However, she knew that the small girl in front of her with the ice pack on her head wouldn't be satisfied until she was wearing her friend's mud-stained stockings, so she quickly changed the subject to their class schedules. She was happy to learn that she would also see Rin in her fifth period Japanese literature class.
The P.E. teacher, an overweight male Neko (who she noticed had orange, furry ears), was kind enough to allow Kagome to sit on the bleachers with her injured friend today, but she was sure that tomorrow she would be forced to do stretches and play volleyball with the other girls. For today the two friends conversed until the lunch bell rang and then walked to the cafeteria together.
East Tokyo's cafeteria was as extravagant and over elaborate as everything else in the school. Most schools had several different lunch periods but East Tokyo only had one. With the vast amount of students, one would think that this would be a problem. That is, of course, until they saw East Tokyo High's lunchroom.
The cafeteria as a whole was extremely large, bigger than any other room in the entire school, including the gymnasium. It was split up into four different sections, one for each class, and each one having four available lunch bars so that line size was minimized. The sections of the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes were separated by thick, glass walls so that one class could see a neighboring class eating. As a student grew from a freshman to a senior at East Tokyo High, they would notice that the cafeteria gradually improved as they moved up. The freshman section, for example, was nicer than any other school's cafeteria but still the dullest and least attractive one at East Tokyo. The floor was made of ordinary white tiles with subtle specks of blue and pink. The white walls were covered in friendly posters that reminded students that "Milk Makes Bones Strong!", "Carrots Give You Fiber!", and "Don't Drink After Your Friends!" The students sat at round, wooden tables on plastic blue chairs.
The sophomore's cafeteria, where Kagome would now eat, was a bit better. The floor tiles were a light blue and the walls half yellow and half stone. It also offered smaller tables for couples as well as booths like in a restaurant.
"Do you think Miroku and Kouga-san will still eat lunch with us this year, Kagome?" Rin asked as they sat at a table near the back.
Kagome knew why she had asked. This year Kouga and Miroku were both seniors, and everyone knew that the senior lunchroom was the place to be at East Tokyo High. A student wasn't allowed to go into a lunchroom of a higher class, so Kagome had never really seen it of course, though she had heard rumors that involved flat-screen televisions, laptops, an ice-cream dispenser, and karaoke on Fridays. The wall between the junior and senior cafeteria was the only one that wasn't glass so not even juniors could get a glimpse of it.
"I don't know Rin, maybe."
"Oh, I hope so. Kouga and Miroku make you and Sango-chan so happy."
Kagome smiled. She couldn't deny that what Rin said was true. No one would suspect it from how much they argued, but sometimes Kouga Ookami was the only person in the world who could make her happy. Maybe he was just what she needed on a day like today-that is if he wasn't too fascinated at the wonders of the senior cafeteria.
Kagome and Rin's class was one of the first to go to lunch so the cafeteria was nearly empty when they got there, but in a period of five minutes it was completely packed with hungry students, the sound of laughter and conversation filling the air. It wasn't long until Sango and, to Kagome's dismay, Hojo had joined their table.
The previous year Kagome and Hojo had every class together. In the beginning she had enjoyed his company and in her naivety she thought he was just an extremely friendly, nice guy, but as time passed Hojo made it clear that he wanted more than just friendship. The first time he asked her out Kagome had politely refused. The second and third time she remained flattered, but, nevertheless, could not return his feelings. The twenty-fourth time, she began to get a little annoyed. Even when she and Kouga had started dating he didn't hesitate to call or text her ten times a day until Kouga happily confronted him about it. The ordeal left Hojo with a broken nose, Kouga with a mark on his permanent record, and Kagome with nothing to say to Kouga for almost two weeks.
"Sango!"
Rin jumped up and embraced Sango in a tackling hug before she could sit down but suddenly became embarrassed at the sight of Hojo and pulled away.
"Um, hi Hojo-kun," she said bashfully, looking downward.
"Hello Rin," he replied, not taking his eyes off Kagome. "Nice to see you Kagome, how was your summer?"
Ugh! Don't care about me, care about her! Kagome inwardly groaned. Rin had had a crush on Hojo since last year, which made her feel terrible even though Rin continuously reminded her that it wasn't her fault. Why couldn't Hojo be interested in a girl that was actually interested in him? "It's been fine Hojo, yours?"
"Nice, but kind of disappointing. I mean, I didn't see you all summer. I tried calling but I couldn't get you."
That's because I blocked your number. "Oh really? Something must be wrong with my phone." Kagome laughed nervously.
"Oh. Do you want me to take it to my uncle? He's a cell phone repairman, you know. I'm sure he'd take a look at yours for free." Hojo smiled eagerly, as if he was thinking: "Yes! I knew my cell phone-fixing uncle was going to come in handy one day! She's bound to like me now!" Kagome frowned. Who'd ever heard of a "cell phone repairman" anyway?
"No Hojo, its fine really, I mean…"
"She means that she doesn't want talk to you anyway. Now scamper away little boy," came a voice from behind him.
Hojo turned around to see that the source of the voice was none other than Kouga Ookami, Kagome's boyfriend and his arch rival. He looked a little uneasy at the sight of the wolf demon.
"Oh, hi Kouga." He smiled warily and scratched the back of his head. "I was just seeing how everyone's summer was, but I'll be off now." He apparently remembered how painful a broken nose was.
After Hojo had made his cowardly departure, Kouga took a seat between Kagome and Rin. Miroku, who had accompanied him, sit on the far end of the table beside Sango.
"Took you awhile," Sango said, raising an eyebrow accusingly at Miroku . "For a minute I thought you two were going to abandon us for the senior cafeteria."
"Oh, the senior cafeteria is wonderful! There are six flat-screen televisions. Six! They have a place where you can make your own smoothies too. There were a bunch of computers, but they were all full. Kouga and I were lucky enough to find an empty Lazy Boy in the reading section though. Did you know that it has a reading section?" Miroku rambled on until he noticed Sango glaring at him. "…But, you know, none of it was really fun if you guys weren't there. Heh, heh…" Sango smacked him on the back of his head.
Kagome smiled at the couple's familiar bickering before looking at Kouga. "Really, you could have stayed. I don't want to ruin your senior experience."
"My senior experience?" He raised an eyebrow. "Kagome, you're the best part of my senior experience. I actually didn't see what was so great about it. I don't even like smoothies. I prefer eating with you any day."
But when they looked toward the front of the lunch room they realized that actually eating wasn't really an option. All four lines were completely full with students standing far from where the line should end. First days were always like this. Kagome's stomach growled.
"It's okay!" Rin pulled five sealed plastic containers from her bulging, pink backpack. "I made lunch for everyone." This was one of those times that made Kagome really grateful that she had a friend as thoughtful as Rin.
After a quick bathroom break Kagome hurried to fourth period. Though there would be no Sango or Rin in this class, there was Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri-three girls who had been very kind and helpful to her when she struggled in her math class the previous year. She took a seat amongst them and pretended to be interested in their conversations about boys and how lame school uniforms were.
"Quiet everyone," came an adult male voice from seemingly nowhere. "Please take a seat young man."
An auburn-haired boy, who had been standing beside a desk and flirting with a girl, looked terribly confused at the bodiless command but hesitantly sat down in the nearest empty seat.
"Good afternoon class. My name is Myoga sensei, and I will be your history teacher for this year. We'll start off with roll call, then you can come get your new text books, and we'll go over the class rules."
A tiny speck hopped from the desk to the top of a nearby podium where the attendance book was.
"A flea demon!" Yuka whispered in excitement. "My older brother told me that a flea demon taught here, but I didn't believe him."
"A flea demon? How cute!" exclaimed Ayumi. "Don't you think so Kagome?"
"Well, it's certainly different. I've never seen one before…"
But whether the instructor was a flea demon or a flying mermaid, history class was still history class-dreadfully long and boring. She had nearly fallen asleep when the high-pitched ring of the bell interrupted the flea demon's please-always-be-prepared-for-my-class lecture. Great, just two more classes left- Japanese literature, then Astronomy, then home.
Her literature class was on the opposite side of the building, and when the sound of the warning bell echoed throughout the hallway, she was only halfway there.
Oh no! There's no way I'm going to be late for another class today!
She raced down three hallways at full speed and entered the room just as the bell rang. The class was nearly full, but Rin had saved a seat beside her and waved Kagome over. She collapsed in the chair, breathing heavily and heart pounding in her chest. I think I just ran faster than I did at the endurance run last year…
"Thanks for saving me a seat Rin. My fourth period is really fa-…"
But she didn't get to say what her fourth period really was because, at that moment, the most beautiful man she had ever seen entered the room.
Beautiful… and scary.
A.N.: That's it for chapter one! Chapter two is already written and will be posted in a couple of days. It is difficult for me to judge whether or not my work is any good, so feel free to leave some constructive criticism if you think I need it. I know that I can be a little wordy sometimes so don't be afraid to call me out on it! I like this story, and I want my audience to like it too. :)