A.N.: So this is how I've officially decided to update—I have chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 completely finished and ready to publish. Chapters 7-13 are more or less written but need to be edited. As soon as I am completely finished with chapter 7, I will publish chapter 3, then when I am finished with chapter 8, I will publish chapter 4, and so on. The goal is to never make my readers wait more than a week for an update. For now, please enjoy the latest installment—chapter 2. :]
Chapter 2
Jealousy
"It is not love that is blind, but jealousy." ~Lawrence Durrell
In a matter of five seconds, the entire class was dead silent.
The first thing Kagome noticed was the man's height. He was so tall that he had to stoop down a bit as he walked through the doorframe, but his stature, rather than making him appear lanky or awkward, made him look all the more powerful and daunting. The second thing she noticed was his hair; long, shimmering, silver locks that ended well past his mid-back and flowed behind him as he walked to the board in the front of the classroom. He wore formal, black pants and a corresponding black blazer over an untucked, collared, white shirt. With pale, clawed, slender fingers he took a marker from the metal tray attached to the board and wrote 'Mr. Takahashi' across it in the most elegant cursive that Kagome had ever seen.
Wait! I-is that the teacher?
He turned to the class and she almost gasped aloud when she saw his face. Most demons were beautiful, but this was taking it to a whole new level. All of his facial features were perfectly sculpted, making him look unreal, like a glass doll almost. He had a violet crescent moon on his forehead, half-hidden behind his silver bangs, and two red stripes on each cheek. And those eyes! Blazing gold, they held a look of wisdom and indifference. They seemed to peer into the depths of her very soul, making her feel small and exposed.
The clicking sound of his polished black Oxfords echoed throughout the still classroom as he walked to a podium that stood beside his desk. He opened up a red notebook, flipped through a few pages, and stopped. "Aruka, Hana."
The entire class was shocked to suddenly hear this magnificent creature speak, but Hana Aruka was caught off guard more than anyone, considering that the most heavenly voice on the planet had just said her name.
"H-h-here."
Now that the students were aware that roll was being called, they inwardly prepared themselves for when their name came around.
"Higurashi, Kagome."
She was ready for this. "Here."
"Ito, Riku…"
Kagome relaxed a little. At least that's over…
"Ramaru, Shoogo."
"H-here."
"Saji, Hitaru."
"Here!"
"Suromi, Saiko."
"Here."
"Taisho, Rin."
...
Silence.
Kagome blinked and turned to her friend. "Rin?" She was looking down and trembling, not saying a word. She nudged her with her elbow. "Rin, say 'here'," she whispered, but still nothing. She just looked at the floor, remaining silent and shaking all over. He began to mark something in his attendance book, but Kagome mustered up every single ounce of courage within her and interfered.
"M-Mr. Takahashi. R-Rin is here."
The pencil in his fingers stopped moving, and he raised his head from the attendance book to look at Kagome,making her heart skip a beat, then directly at the frightened girl beside her. "Are you Rin Taisho?"
A small yelp escaped Rin's lips but still no answer. The entire class was staring at her now.
"Little girl, can you not speak?" Poor Rin. Kagome herself would be scared if Mr. Takahashi had confronted her in such a way. "…or are you just stupid?"
Kagome stiffened, and a wave of pity for the small, frightened girl could be physically felt throughout the room. Everyone was inwardly urging her to say something, but still she remained silent, trembling more than ever.
"Very well." He picked up his pencil again and pressed it to the page in the attendance book.
Was he really going to count her absent! How mean! Kagome felt helpless. What could she do to stop him? Poor, poor Rin. Thoughts of somehow rescuing her best friend rattled her head until, suddenly, Rin spoke.
"H-h-here," she said in just above a whisper, though it was probably the loudest voice she could muster.
He pulled the pencil away once again and gazed up at her. His expression was still apathetic yet, somehow, slightly amused.
"Tsukami, Saiko."
"Here!"
Kagome sighed in relief and patted Rin's back gently. "It's okay," she whispered. Rin wiped tears away from her eyes.
After the attendance was finally taken, everyone got a text book and Mr. Takahashi instructed what chapter to go to. He didn't go over rules or tell students what they'd need in his class (not that it was necessary, since everyone was too afraid to misbehave or come unprepared), but started right off with teaching. He lectured for thirty minutes or more, and then assigned an essay over the material that would be due tomorrow. An essay on the first day?
When he had stopped talking the only noise in the room was the scratching sound of pen on paper. Kagome felt extremely uncomfortable. Even though Mr. Takahashi was sitting at his desk, she felt as if he were standing right behind her, breathing down her neck. She even glanced up to make sure that he was sitting at his desk, but she quickly looked back down to her paper.
He is staring right at me!
She counted off ten seconds in her head before she glanced up again. He was still looking in her direction, but upon closer inspection she realized that it wasn't her he was staring at but at Rin, who hadn't taken notice and was working hard on her paper. Why is he staring at Rin?
After another tense fifteen minutes the bell finally rang. Thank goodness that class is over.
The rest of the school day was a breeze. Astronomy was by far her favorite class. The teacher was an eccentric, male ermine-demon who was over-enthusiastic and wore large, terribly smudged glasses that magnified his eyes. She was so interested in the material being taught that before she knew it, the final bell had rang and it was time to go home.
She put her things in her locker, excluding her literature book, and went outside where she was surprised to see her mother's mini van parked near the post where her bicycle was chained. She unchained her bike and rolled it over to the side of the van. The passenger seat's window was rolled down to reveal her mother's smiling face from the driver's side. "Hello Kagome. Have a good first day?"
"Some parts better than others. What are you doing here?"
"I didn't want you riding home all by yourself. Two teenage girls from Tokyo went missing yesterday, and they still haven't found that Osakan woman. Better to be safe than sorry. Souta, will you help your sister put her bike in the back?"
"Sure!" Her ten-year-old brother Souta, always eager to lend a hand, jumped out of the backseat and helped Kagome lift her bike into the back.
"Kagome dear," her mother said as she got into the passenger seat and shut the door.
"Yeah, mom?"
"If you had asked, I would have washed your socks, honey."
Kagome sighed.
The first thing Kagome did when she got home was brush her teeth so hard that her gums bled. Then she took a two-hour-long, steamy, bubbly, lavender-scented bath. Goodbye grease. After that she changed into her favorite pink Hamtaro pajamas and finished her literature paper before lying down in her bed and snuggling her head into the pillow. She sighed with content.
This feels amazing. I think I may just go to sleep early. She almost felt as comfortable as she did when she woke up that morning. Her room was dark and almost silent, except for the occasional hum of a car passing by. Her warm bed caressed her tired muscles, and her mind slowly began to shut down as her eyelids drooped almost to a close.
"KAGOMEEEE!" her mother yelled from downstairs.
Her eyes flew open.
"KOUGA-KUN'S HEREEEE!"
"Ughhh!" She groaned into her pillow.
Kagome grudgingly walked downstairs and into the kitchen where she saw Kouga giving Souta a noogie and her mother laughing and cheering him on. She cleared her throat to interrupt. He dropped Souta, who had been struggling with his head trapped under Kouga's arm, to the ground and smiled at Kagome. "Oh, hey Kagome."
"Hi, um, what are you doing here?"
Kouga blinked. "Yeah, nice to see you too. Miroku and Sango suggested that we all go to the movies tonight. They're going to pick up Rin, and I told them I would bring you. I mean, if that's okay with you, Ms. Higurashi." Kagome looked to her mother, eyes pleading for a little help.
Her mother smiled sweetly. "Oh, that's fine dear! Just have her back by eleven."
Thanks mom…
"The movies? Can't you guys just count me out on this one? I've had a rough day today." The last thing she wanted to do was take her pajamas off.
"You should go Kagome," said her grandfather who was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a newspaper with the heading "Two More Missing in Tokyo". "You're only young once."
"It's true, Kagome." Her mother looked away, longingly. "I wish I had been allowed to go to the movies with handsome demon boys when I was younger."
"What!" Her grandpa's head snapped up from his newspaper.
Kagome sighed. There was no way she was going to win this battle.
"What time are we leaving exactly?"
"Eight."
"Eight? It's just six thirty. We have nearly three hours until…"
"I thought that I'd hang out here a while." His lips formed a smirk across his tan face that only she could see, making her blood rush to her cheeks. While Ms. Higurashi and Kagome's grandfather were bickering, Kouga took Kagome's hand and led her upstairs to her bedroom.
As soon as her body was fully in the room, the door was closed and she was forced onto the bed in a rough, open-mouthed kiss in a matter of seconds. When they were alone, Kouga's kisses were rarely soft and often hard to keep up with; sometimes her lips were sore for days.
It's hard to tell how much times passes by when you're making out, but after a while, Kagome knew that her mouth was getting very exhausted trying to keep pace with Kouga's hungry lips. He seemed to sense this and pulled away from her throbbing lips to kiss her along her neck and collar bone. His thick black hair, tied back into a pony tail, was lightly touching her ear, tickling the sensitive area and sending shivers down her spine. By this time she could really start to feel those out-of-control teenage hormones that health teachers always talk about.
"K-Kouga… Kouga… I-I think we should stop."
He let out a small grunt noise but continued. A wondering hand made its way up her shirt and rested on her bare waist.
"Kouga, stop," she commanded with a serious tone.
"Ughhh!" He pulled back and collapsed backward onto the bed. "Why do you always say that?"
Kagome blushed as she ran her fingers through her now-messy hair. "Kouga, we've had this conversation before. I-I'm just not ready."
"It's been nine months Kagome! Nine months!" He let out an exasperated breath. "I mean, if we love each other, what does it matter? It's not like I'm going to leave you or anything. I feel like you don't trust me."
"Of course I trust you Kouga. And I love you, it's just that… I don't know, I just don't feel mature enough or something." Kagome sighed. They've had this conversation many times. It wasn't like she was a prude, or a conservative, or opposed to pre-marital sex, but her mother had made her swear on her life that she would wait until she was one hundred percent ready, and that's what she intended to do. She just didn't want to be one of those girls who regretted it. "Besides," she said, glancing toward her alarm clock. "It's almost seven thirty; I need to start getting ready."
A defeated Kouga left her room, mumbling under his breath. Kagome went to her closet, looked through the non-school uniform side of her closet, and finally decided on a green cami, dark-wash jeans, and a pair of flats. She brushed her hair out and lightly applied make-up before she kissed her mother goodbye and walked with Kouga to his car.
"You look nice..." His lips curled into his famous smirk, and he put an arm around her. "…but I like Hamtaro better…"
She rolled her eyes and pulled away to get into the passenger side of the car. Kouga drove an old, beat up Cadillac that he was constantly trying to improve. He could afford a much better car, but he said that it was a "classic". The white paint was chipping off and the leather seats were ripped and torn, yet the rims were rap-star-worthy and the stereo was brand new. The drive to the theater took about twenty minutes faster than it should have considering that Kouga was accustomed to driving thirty miles over the speed limit. When they entered the theater and surveyed the crowd they spotted Rin standing next to a large glass display case that held old movie posters, ticket stubs, and a golden popcorn statue. Rin waved them over excitedly.
"Hey Rin. Where are Sango and Miroku?" Kagome asked.
"Mir-san was shooting zombies in the arcade, but he took too long so Sango went after him."
"Did you already get your tickets?"
"Yes," she replied. "We were just waiting for you and Kouga-san."
"I'm sure we've kept you guys waiting long enough. We'll just go ahead and buy our tickets, and then we can all pick a place to sit."
"I'll take care of that," Kouga said, pulling money from his pocket. "You stay here with Rin. She'll get kidnapped or something."
Kouga went to the ticket booth while Rin and Kagome conversed. Suddenly, Rin's cheeks turned bright pink, and a shy smile formed on her lips. "H-hi Hojo."
Kagome blinked. "Hojo?"
"Hello Rin, Kagome." Kagome cringed at the voice behind her. What is he doing here?
She turned around with a forced look of pleasant surprise on her face. "Oh, wow, Hojo... what a surprise seeing you here!"
"Yeah, my dad dropped me and my little sister off here. We're seeing Super Panda, what movie are you guys seeing?"
Definitely not Super Panda. "Hmm, I don't know. Whatever Kouga wants to see I suppose." That should get rid of him…
Hojo frowned. "He's here?" He looked around to make certain that no one was listening before looking back to Kagome with eyes full of passion. "Kagome, I care about you, and I will no long tolerate you dating that guy!"
"What? Hojo, I don't think you really have a say-…"
"Kagome, he is dangerous! You saw what he did to my nose! Someone that strong with a bad temper isn't a good thing. What if he hurt you? If he ever laid a filthy hand on you, I'd…"
"You'd what?" Kagome didn't even recognize the voice of the words that came out in a snarling growl until Hojo quickly turned around to reveal the enraged face of her boyfriend. Kouga's icy blue eyes were intense with anger, and his lips were curled back to reveal pointed fangs. His claws were at full length, and his hands were shaking with the desire to attack. Kagome was paralyzed with fear. She had never seen him like this. The events that followed happened so quickly that it was difficult for her to recollect.
All she could remember was Kouga leaping toward Hojo in attack, Rin pushing Hojo out of the way, and hearing the loud crash of the display case as they both tumbled into it.
The only sound that her ears could pick up was a dull ringing, laced with the sound of people screaming. "Oh my God!", "Is that little girl dead?", "Someone call an ambulance!" Dizzy and nauseous, she slowly walked over and pushed her way through the people crowded around the fallen display case. The first thing she saw was Kouga who looked utterly horrified. Then she saw why. Her heart fell to her stomach, and the food from lunch threatened to come back up when she saw the unconscious Rin, the blood soaked carpet, and the large, jagged shard of glass that was lodged completely through her leg.
A.N.: I like to re-read my work once I post it to fanfiction, and I have to say-I probably shouldn't. Before publishing I feel like I've written something pretty good, but when I re-read it I get embarrassed. I have no idea what to think of my own writing, so I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope that I have created something worth reading. With that being said, if you do like my story, please review! I'm not trying to beg, but I'm an extremely pathetic human being and something as simple as a review gives me great joy. Reviews also give me a little kick in the ass to get to working on future chapters because I know that people are relying on me to do so. Anyway, thanks for reading and stay tuned for chapter 3! :]