Kagome loved her friends dearly, she really did. The only people who'd known her longer were related to her, and it was always such a blessed relief to come home from the terror and danger to the feudal era to the comfort and familiarity of Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi. Their company reminded Kagome of a simpler, safer time.

But those girls absolutely refused to mind their own business.

Of course, if they did, they wouldn't be them, Kagome reminded herself, and they wouldn't be the girls that Kagome knew and loved.

The copier beneath her hands whirred musically, its old mechanisms loud enough that her friends would have trouble speaking over it. Yuka waited patiently as Kagome finished copying the last of her Literature notes, the last subject she needed, before opening her mouth.

"Do you think you'll be coming to school tomorrow?" she asked, receiving the notebook Kagome handed her and placing it in her bag. "You look pretty healthy right now. I hope it lasts."

"Ah, me too," Kagome laughed nervously. Though the words that next came out of her mouth were "I really do hate being sick," she was emphatically promising herself, I'm going to school tomorrow if I have to Sit him into next Tuesday. I have too many make up tests scheduled to let him convince me to leave early!

The three ninth graders nodded together in pity for their poor, frail, friend. Outside the convenience store, they hugged her goodbye and prepared to go their separate ways.

"Oh, you poor thing," Eri moaned as she hugged Kagome goodbye. "I really wish you could stay healthy this time. I mean..." she leaned back and looked Kagome up and down, while still holding her by the shoulders. "Look at you! You look more fit than me! What do you do in the hospital all day, climb mountains? It's hard to believe you'll probably be puking your intestines out within a few days." She released her classmate and sighed, looking down at the sidewalk. Kagome realized with a twinge of remorse that, though her friends spoke jokingly, they really did worry for her. It was only because Kagome insisted that they treat her normally that they were even as cheerful as they were; they really believed that she was sick and in pain whenever she didn't show up to class. Kagome's guilt muscle throbbed, and she surprised her friends by gathering them in one last, tight, group hug.

"Guys, you know I'll be okay," she assured them. She wanted to tell them the truth, stranger than fiction though it was, but it probably wouldn't assuage their worry any more than believing she was stuck in the hospital. So, the lie would have to go on. "Modern medicine is amazing. No matter how sick I get, I'll definitely always come back. So relax, no need to be so down!"

...Well, probably. Hopefully.

Ayumi wrapped her arms around Kagome's waist and squeezed tightly. "We know, Kagome. But just in case, I'm working on those one thousand cranes. I've got about five hundred already, made entirely by yours truly, and only out of washi paper for extra luck." With a smile and wink, she released her arms and backed off, and after some more goodbyes, began heading down the street with Eri. As they walked away, Kagome heard Eri saying,

"Wow, five hundred all by yourself? That must have taken so much time. And wouldn't making it out of washi paper be expensive?..."

The guilt muscle pulsed some more before Kagome calmed it down. Just because the sickness itself wasn't true didn't mean Ayumi was spending her money and time on a complete lie. Hey, I'm risking my life every day to prevent Naraku from becoming powerful and making the world a horrible place five hundred years ago.

Yeah, and you're also doing it to collect the Shikon Jewel shards, because you're as greedy as the rest of them, and it's not like you're making life any better for all the peasants whose lives are made miserable by human lords.

Kagome sighed, but was interrupted from her internal debate at the sight of Yuka still standing, apparently waiting for her. Oh yeah; Ayumi and Eri lived in the opposite direction, but she could still walk with Yuka for a few blocks before they had to part ways.

They walked for a few blocks, talking about simple, asinine subjects, which miraculously did not include Kagome's romantic affairs. Either Yuka had been sated by the half hour she'd extorted, (Ha!) or she was respecting her friend's wishes by not talking about it any more. Nope, it was just talking about class, and Hasegawa-sensei's ridiculously voluminous nose hairs, and the latest song on the radio that Yuka knew Kagome would just love. Simple, easy, and safe- just the way Kagome liked the modern era.

When they passed the corner where Yuka would normally peel off, she surprised Kagome by continuing to walk straight.

"You're not going home?" Kagome asked.

Yuka shrugged. "Nah, I can go home any time. I don't get to spend as much time with you. I'll just walk with you to the base of the shrine."

Kagome "aaaaw"ed and hugged her friend around the shoulders. Yuka grinned in response, and they continued to chat until they reached the bottom of the mountains of steps that led up to Higurashi shrine.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Yuka pledged, though the statement sounded a little bit like a question.

"Yeah. I'll definitely be in school tomorrow," Kagome promised, nodding. "But I can't speak for after that."

Yuka nodded, seeming to totally accept the fact that Kagome could predict when her next mortal illness would strike.

"Do you think the three of us could come over to your house tomorrow after school?" she asked. "If you'll be feeling alright, I mean..."

"Ah..." Kagome began. She had promised Inuyasha she'd return to the feudal era tomorrow night, after just enough time to get notes and make up some tests. By the time she came home from school the next day he'd definitely be champing at the bit, (if he wasn't already,) waiting at her house to whisk her away as speedily as half-humanly possible. "...No, I don't think tomorrow night's a good time."

Yuka frowned and sighed, but didn't look too surprised. "Yeah. Okay," she said. "See you at school, then."

"See you."

As Kagome walked up the steps to the shrine, she made a wish. A little one, a wish that she would recant as soon as she thought it.

I wish I could stay here more, she thought. No; it's not that I want to leave the feudal era, because they need me and I love it. I love all my friends there, and the sound of crickets as we travel in the evening, and all the stars that you'd never be able to see with all the light-pollution of modern Tokyo. And I'd never just leave the people who need me, for as long as Naraku is alive and the Shikon Jewel exists to tempt people. I definitely don't want to stop going back to the past.

But...I just wish I could spend more time with my friends.

Yuka walked down the street until she couldn't see Kagome any more, and then kicked a rock. The stone flew off the sidewalk and hit the side of a trashcan, exactly where Yuka had aimed, making a loud clang.

Yuka was sick of it.

Yuka wasn't idealistic like Ayumi, or as trusting as Eri. She'd gone through enough crap in her life that she knew when she was being lied to, and it hadn't taken long for her to see that Kagome was doing just that.

After the first time she'd been "sick," shortly after the scare where she vanished for three days at the start of the year, Yuka had believed, along with everyone else, that Kagome had been absent from school because she was sick. But as the absences became longer and more frequent, and diseases more and more outrageous, so too grew Yuka's skepticism. It was so obvious that Kagome was in perfect health, and that her family was lying for her so she could skip school for whatever reason. Though Yuka was the sort of person who would demand the truth and always offer her opinion concerning other people's business, she let this one lie. She just had a gut feeling that demanding answers wouldn't do anyone any good, least of all Kagome.

Yuka expertly kicked another rock, and made a wish. It was a big wish, one that she meant wholeheartedly and had desired for many weeks.

I wish Kagome would trust us with the truth. I wish she would share her secrets with us, as friends do. Though admittedly, Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi hadn't gotten the chance to share so many of their own secrets. How could they, when Kagome was so rarely around, and never knew the background circumstances when she was? She had no way of knowing that Yuka was now on the soccer team, or that Ayumi had been offered a job by a music producer to write songs for a popular pop singer. She probably didn't even know that Eri had a boyfriend, and that their relationship was so steady that not even Yuka wanted to harass her about it. No. Even if Kagome shared her secrets with her friends, she had to be there enough for Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri to share their own secrets with her.

Fine. Yuka thought, and amended her wish. I wish Kagome would come back to school regularly, so that the four of us can be friends again. Real friends, who talk to each other and know each others' business inside out.

Yuka kicked another rock at a trash can, and wished that the discordant sound it produced would be like a gong, waking up some sleeping god to grant her desire.

A/N:: Still looking for a beta; thank you to everyone who offered, but I think I need someone who specializes in humor. u_u; I want to make this a funny story, but I'm not so good at that; my writing is more snarky than snickery.

Still, enjoy chapter 2!

-TKF