Normally, she would be able to focus on the English words her sensei wrote up on the chalk board. She found her English class rather enjoyable, to be honest. She loved to write - she loved the feel of the pen on her paper, marking it up from corner to corner. She loved the feel of the ink as she scribbled across the page. The endless amount of words that she could scratch into that paper seemed like an adventure for her.
But not today. Today, she felt like time was ticking a bit too slow. Her mind constantly wandered to a youkai back in the past, the one with the hanyou brother. She hasn't really know him for very long, mostly because they have only been traveling together for about a month. You would think that a month was a long time, but when a demon mostly keeps to himself, it's a little hard to make a good conversation with him. She had tried several different ways of approaching him - greeting him, appealing to an interest of his, accidentally bumping into him, everything. She wasn't obsessed with talking to him, even if he was much more gorgeous up close than with him aiming his sword at her and ready to cut her head off.
With a sigh, she set down her pencil and wove her fingers together. For a moment, she focused hard on that paper, contrasting greatly with the black number two pencil before she lifted her head and stared out the window. She noticed clouds rolling in. Apparently, it would rain, if not today, then certainly by tomorrow. They rolled rather slowly to her, puffing up over the horizon ever so slowly. Everything just seemed so...
Boring. The class was boring today. They had a substitute. She had already learned these words. It didn't hurt to practice just that much more on the words, she simply didn't feel the need to.
Her thoughts took a sudden turn when the teacher told her to pay attention, and she quickly snapped her head forward to face the front of the classroom. She didn't feel embarrassed of anything for not paying attention, even when everyone around her was snickering at her. She felt completely differentiated - isolated from the rest of the class. After all, who else could say that they travel through a well on shrine grounds to around five hundred years in the past? Who else can say that they have slayed demons and evil, vile half demons in Feudal Japan? If only these people knew that there was just so much more...
"Kagome, where is your head at?" A girl behind her whispered over to her so as to not disrupt the class. "You never get in trouble for anything. What has you in LaLa Land?"
"It's nothing really," Kagome replied, "I promise you it's not. I just can't seem to focus today. I might leave a little early from school today."
"Is it that boyfriend of yours?" A girl to her right asked.
Before she could respond, a boy in front of her asked, "Kagome has a boyfriend?"
"Yes," the girl to her right said, nodding in affirmation, "she's been dating him for like forever now. He's abusive and always keeps her away from school."
"I thought it was because she was always sick..." he replied.
"Eri, stop telling Houjo nonsense," Kagome scolded, "I don't have a boyfriend, and that so-called "abusive boyfriend" happens to be my best friend," Kagome said in a defensive tone, "besides...he's not always so rude and mean. He's...got a gentle side, too."
"You always see the good in people, don't you, Kagome?" Houjo whispered, "Even when they're abusive and evil..."
"No kidding, I bet if she had an arch nemesis," Yuka, the girl behind her, whispered, "Kagome would just say, "he's confused" or "be nice to him". Isn't that right Kagome?"
"Now hold on," Kagome said, but before she could get another word out, the bell rang, signalling lunch.
"See ya' later, Kagome," Eri said, "Yuka and I are meeting up with Ayumi in the library for lunch."
Once again, before Kagome could say a word, they had all gone. Houjo, however, had remained behind to help Kagome with her books. "Higurashi," he said, addressing her by her last name, "I would like to talk with you, if only you'd let me," he began. He placed his books and journals in his book bag, making sure it was neat so none of the pages bent. "You've been so closed off these past two years...we hardly know you anymore."
"I'm sorry, Houjo," Kagome began, looking actually sorry for once. "There's just a lot of things going on at home." She gave him the most apologetic look she could muster. She knew that her friends no longer bothered to invite her to places anymore. After the first few months of her and her family turning everyone away, they sort of just stopped asking. They still chatted when they were in class and at lunch breaks, but it was clear that there was a barrier between the four girls.
"Higurashi," Houjo said, pausing for a moment, "Kagome, if there's anything you need, just ask. If you ever want to talk to someone, I'm here."
"I know you are, Houjo, and so are the girls," Kagome said, nodding her head in the direction that Eri and Yuka left in, "unfortunately, things aren't quite the same as they use to be, huh?"
"I suppose you're right," Houjo replied, "things aren't the same, but we're not that much different. You just seemed to get a little more distant with each passing day. I fear we just might end up losing you at some point."
Kagome raised her hand and placed it on his shoulder when she was done packing up her things, "Don't worry about me, Houjo. Trust me when I say things are fine. If there were anything wrong, I promise I will tell you." She paused and smiled at him, "And I'll never really be gone. But if I do decide to leave Tokyo one day, well then I suppose it was fate."
Houjo could only nod in response to her as she walked out of the classroom. She supposed now was as good of a time as any to head back home, considering it was her lunch period. She didn't really feel like sticking around anymore. She didn't even know why she bothered anymore. She did know, however, that if she had stayed, she certainly wouldn't be able to concentrate. Might as well make the best of the rest of her day.
"I've decided that I'm headed back early, Mom," Kagome said as she stuffed her bag with some Ramen. She stopped carrying so much food to the Feudal Era a while back. Everyone began to think that although it was a luxury to have Kagome's home cooked meals, it was a big risk if they happened to accidentally leave behind something. So, with further ado, they decided to minimize the things she would bring, so the most she ever brought to the Feudal Era were little mini snacks that everyone could munch on. She still brought the Ramen of course, mostly because a certain dog-eared hanyou would wine and cry over them.
"But Dear," her mother intervened, helping her daughter fold some of her clothes and put them away in the bag, "you've only got three days left of high school. Couldn't you have waited just those three days?"
"Mama," Kagome said, "they already had their finals two weeks ago. While I was gone, I sort of missed the memo, and no one even bothered to come to the shrine to update me on anything. There are so many things that I've missed at school, I don't even think it is worth it. More than likely, they are going to say that I have summer school, but I'm thinking of going ahead and becoming a drop-out. Everyone else seems to think I already am."
"But Dear, you aren't," her mother said, "you've gone to that school off and on throughout the entire school year. You have kept up your grades, and although you've missed just one or two tests, doesn't mean-"
"Mom," Kagome interrupted, "it's fine. It's enough. I will be alright, Mama." She paused and gave her mother the biggest, brightest smile she could muster, "I know how to take care of myself. I promise that I will try and visit more often, I swear it. And if the well closes up in the middle of my travels, then I will write a letter every day for the rest of my life, and at the end, I will toss it down the well so you will know." Her smile broadened when she thought about the idea, "it will be...a new adventure."
"I just hope you're making the right decision, Kagome," her mother sighed as she folded one of Kagome's skirts. "Will you at least stay for dinner? To see your grandfather and brother off as well?"
"Of course I will, Mama," Kagome said, "I'll stay, I'm just packing up a little bit early, is all."
"Alright," her mother replied, "let's go shopping." Her mother smiled back at her daughter, and Kagome returned the favor with a smile and a nod.
She supposed being back in the Feudal Era was a good thing. She didn't have to worry about anything anymore. No summer project, no friends to keep up with, nothing at all. She could actually spend time with her friends in the Feudal Era because the last three years she had pretty much spent killing time at her own home. Granted, it wasn't exactly "killing time" per say, but it was close enough for her to feel as such.
She hauled herself out of the well with ease, having practiced so often in modern Japan that it was as natural as the grooves in her hands. In Modern Japan, the past three years - although she, of course, kept up with school and whatnot - she actually did stay pretty fit. She made sure she kept up with her gym membership and had even taken self-defense classes. She supposed she would eventually ask Sango if she'd be able to teach her a few other things so she could mix and match her fighting and defense styles, but she was pretty sure that they'd be surprised to find out that she wasn't exactly as helpless as she had been three years ago.
Ah yes, the day she left Feudal Japan in favor of finishing her school. She had been determined to at least finish her life up there in the future before returning, seeing as how the jewel was complete and everything was as it should be. The jewel was still around, kept safely hidden on her person at all times still. The group had done as much research as they possibly could, even going so far as to borrow Lord Sesshomaru's personal study and library. Nothing much was said about the jewel, just how it is created and how it is passed down through generations of priestesses. Originally, it had been believed that the jewel would grant it's holder one wish, but no one knew the extent to such a thing. No one knew if it must be a pure one, if it must be a defiled one, or if it would grant a wish at all.
Three years ago, they had tried making that wish, but nothing happened. Word eventually went around saying that the jewel was nothing but a bluff, a hoax to lure in youkai to their deaths. Others said that the jewel only made an individual that much more powerful, but not domineeringly so.
In any case, she still held onto the jewel with hopes of one day passing it to someone else other than her own family. It is in her hands, a heavy weight of the past and future that never seems to go away completely. It was because of this tiny little bauble that things had turned out as they had.
As she walked through The Forest of Inuyasha, she began to wonder exactly where her life would take her right then. The infinite possibilities, she supposed, were up to her to make the choice. She wondered if she had chosen her fate already, or if there even was such a thing. She wondered if the well would ever seize to work for her, to serve as her guide between times.
She already knew that if the well sealed itself that she would remain here. She wasn't going to be going back home for quite some time, she knew this. She also knew that she gave her family false hopes. She never wanted them to find out what her plans were, but she believed that deep down, they already knew. She would not be returning, not until she could figure out how to rid the world of the jewel's existence, not until she could figure out how to pass it to someone. She needed to tend to her responsibilities as the jewel's soul protector.
With one last look at the lone well in the small opening in the trees, she smiled wistfully at it. She almost did wish she could turn around, to be able to forget this place and just continue on her life as a normal person. She knew it was impossible to forget. She knew it was amazing that she hadn't just stayed home. Of course, what kept her coming was Inuyasha's constant nagging, of course.
She turned on her heel and smiled to herself. It was time she moved on - and what better way than to present some pocky to her favorite little fox kit.
Alright, this chapter was mostly a "fill-in" chapter, to get my readers where everything stands. From here...the real story begins. XP