AN: Sudden inspiration bursts are a beautiful thing. I highly recommend them.
Nothing much to report, team. All my teachers think big projects and reports are the best things ever, so I'm blaming that for my lack-of-updating. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
No music this time, just the sounds of my bird-filled house/rehearsal, which is where I finished this chapter. In Microsoft Word, this is eight pages. So I hope you all are properly excited.
DISCLAIMER: You know what's awesome? OWNING CHARACTERS. Too bad I'm not awesome :(
CHAPTER 2
(warning: there is a tiny yet not so much tiny amount of blood and fighting in this chapter. Only at the end, but still.)
Kagome froze. There was her pencil. Right there. On the floor. Next to a desk. It should be so easy to just lean down, pick it up, and move on with life. But for whatever reason, someone clearly had it in for Kagome because her pencil was right there, on the floor, next to Inuyasha's desk. A boy she had been madly in love with for Kami knows how long (though heaven forbid anyone-let alone Inuyasha-should find out) was, without knowing it, in possession of her pencil.
After many plans to retrieve the utensil inconspicuously were disposed of, Kagome turned to her left where, conveniently enough, Sango was sitting. Sango was paying attention, like the good student she was, so when Kagome tapped her shoulder she was greeted with a death glare that carried a message similar to "what the hell do you want Kagome, it better be flipping fantastic". Kagome swallowed hard before she pointed to Sango's pencil.
Sango mouthed "what?"
Kagome sighed and mouthed "do you have an extra pencil?"
Sango read it as " " In response, Sango shook her head before re-mouthing "what?"
Kagome sighed again and whispered "Pencil!"
Sango, who thought Kagome had just asked for a stencil, replied by whispering "a what?"
"A pencil!" Kagome whispered as loudly as she could without actually speaking.
"Utensil? You want a fork or something?" Sango spoke-whispered back.
"What? No, I want a pen-"
"Higurashi-san, do you have something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?"
Kagome froze mid-whisper and glanced at the teacher, who was standing at the front of the room with a mildly annoyed eyebrow raised. Kagome gulped and shook her head.
"What was that?" the teacher asked.
"No, ma'am." Kagome murmured, slowly slumping back in her seat.
"Now, would you like to apologize to your fellow students who are trying to learn, unlike you?"
"I...I'm sorry." Kagome whispered.
The teacher nodded and turned back around to face the chalkboard and the rest of the class quietly returned to pretending to pay attention.
Kagome closed her eyes, folded her arms across her desk, and fell face-down into them with a quiet groan. Now, for the rest of forever, she would be known as that one obnoxious trouble-maker girl who wasn't able to shut up and who got to sit next to the great Inuyasha-sama. Kagome clenched her fists around the fabric of her uniform sleeves at the thought of what Inuyasha thought of her then. If she had ever had any chance with him, it had just exploded. Shattered. It was now scattered around the room in a zillion tiny pieces. He would never take her seriously now. She would never get to be held in those strong arms or taste those full lips or gaze forever into those perfect eyes or squish those furry ears in her hands or-
Something poking her shoulder tore Kagome out of her fantasies. She thought for a moment it was Sango, about to tell her Kami only knew what, but then she realized the poking was coming from her right shoulder. Carefully, she lifted her head and glanced toward the hanyou seated at her right. His silhouette framed perfectly by the sun directly behind him in the window, he was nonchalantly holding her pencil out to her and, yes, had been poking her with it. Kagome gulped and cautiously reached out to take it. He surrendered the pencil to her without a word. She placed it beside her notebook and slyly pretended to be messing with something in the pages in order to hide the grin that had spread across her face and the warmth that had surged through her.
.o0o.
Much later, the bell sounded and the classroom filled with noise as students raced to gather their things and leave the room. As Kagome grabbed her notebook and the blessed pencil, she noticed Inuyasha breeze past her.
"Thank you!" she called after him a little too loudly, stopping him. The hanyou turned around, and Kagome gripped the edge of her desk to keep herself from melting in those eyes.
"You know, you could have just asked." Inuyasha responded, nodding to the pencil in Kagome's other hand. Too dizzy from the fact he had just spoken to her, Kagome only smiled in response. Inuyasha reciprocated the gesture with a trademark smirk before joining his two friends and sauntering out of the room to be swarmed again by fangirls.
Kagome stood frozen in place, enjoying the speed of her heartbeat and the flushed feeling in her face because they were proof that he had spoken to her, and she hadn't been dreaming it.
.o0o.
"Okay guys, last class of the day. We can do this. We got this. One last grueling experience and then we can go home!" Sango explained as she, Ayame, and Kagome maneuvered their way through the halls.
Ayame groaned. "I can't do it. I refuse to sit through ANOTHER lecture. Can't we just go home now?"
Sango shot her friend a look. "Ayame. What did I just say? It's just one more class. Then, um, we can go get crepes or something."
The red-haired youkai perked up immediately. "Really? You mean it? Crepes?"
Sango raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yeah. Crepes."
An evil grin spread across Ayame's face. "Then...I don't suppose you wouldn't mind...buying?"
Sango stopped and glared at her friend. "Ayame? Seriously? Why should I buy?"
"Because if you don't, I'll give up right now and jump from this window. Right here."
Sango rolled her eyes. "Always one for the dramatics, aren't you?" she said flatly.
Ayame slowly stepped towards the window with an exaggerated expression of pain upon her face. "I can't do it any more! I'm giving up now! Oh the pain!" she wailed. Sango stifled a chuckle and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, I'm buying. Good grief."
"Yay!" Ayame squealed and tackled Kagome, who had barely been paying attention. "You hear that, Kag? We're getting free crepes after school! Woohoo!"
Kagome, shaken from being deep in thought, laughed nervously. "Oh, um, yeah. Yay!"
"All right, all right, in the classroom you two. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can have a strawberry crepe." Sango laughed as she shoved her two friends into the classroom.
"My, my, strawberry is your favorite as well?" the syrupy voice had come out of nowhere. All three girls froze and turned to look at none other than the endearing Miroku-sama.
Kagome noticed the slightest blush creep across Sango's face, but said nothing about it later.
"Y-yeah, so?" Sango hissed at the monk.
"Oh my gosh, Sango actually stuttered!" Ayame whispered to Kagome, who simply nodded in bewilderment.
"Oh nothing, it just happens to be my favorite too." Miroku replied, a little sensually. His eyes never moved from Sango's.
"What of it?" Sango demanded, her confidence returning by the moment.
Ayame was full-out grinning as she watched the encounter, and even Kagome was finding it hard not to giggle a little.
"Nothing really, but don't you think it could be considered, I don't know," Miroku was ever-so-slowly inching closer and closer to Sango's face. The blush was re-appearing tenfold, Kagome noticed, "a sign?" the monk finished with flourish. He was inches from Sango's face, and the slightest shove would send them easily into a kiss. Ayame, in fact, looked like she was about to push them to do just that, but then she noticed that the monk's hand had found Sango's behind and was stroking it carefully. Ayame turned away and desperately tried to keep from laughing. Kagome slapped a hand to her own mouth and giggled quietly. Sango had shut her eyes and was growling, and seconds later had slapped Miroku across his face so hard, the searing red hand mark remained in place for the rest of the day.
"You ignorant little swine!" Sango growled. "How dare you! Next time, I pound you into the ground!"
"Is that an invitation to try again so there is a next time?" Miroku called after the taijiya as she began storming away. Sango whirled around and shot Miroku a glare that could slice through metal. The monk only smiled and waved.
Sango hissed back some nasty insults in return as her two friends dragged her away to her seat.
"That was hilarious!" Ayame laughed.
"It was pretty funny..." Kagome admitted.
Sango glared at both of them. "You guys suck." she growled before slumping down in her desk. Kagome could see the flames of anger wafting off of her friend.
"All right class, settle down. Take your seats. Welcome to Lit class." The teacher, a rather handsome young man with unmistakable silver hair, strode across the room and stood behind his desk, placing both hands palms down across it. He scanned the room with glittering gold eyes.
Ayame, in front of Kagome, gasped. "Inuyasha-sama's brother is a teacher now?"
Minako, a quiet girl who was sitting next to Ayame, nodded. "It does make sense, I mean, their family owns the school."
Kagome stole a glance at the aforementioned hanyou, who looked like he was trying really hard to not murder something.
"I realize it is the last class of the first day of school. And, it is a half-day at that, so I'm sure all of you have viewed this day as useless. Well, no longer. We're going to get some actual work done in this class, starting today." The teacher explained fiercely, and the entire class groaned.
"We will start off with a group project. Our first unit takes place in the Heian period, and centers around the novel The Tale of Genji. Has anyone heard of this story?" The teacher asked. About three hands were raised. The teacher narrowed his eyes. "Very well. I will go through the attendance sheet and place you all into groups of three. Further instructions will follow after that. Oh, yes. And you all may call me Sesshomaru-sensei."
Kagome could feel the anger rising off of Inuyasha beside her. She glanced over at him and immediately wished she hadn't. He shot her a fierce glare. Kagome gulped and turned back around. Inuyasha sighed. Great, he thought, now she's scared.
Sesshomaru-sensei, meanwhile, was writing names on the board in groups of three. Kagome scanned the board desperately for hers, but it was nowhere to be seen. The classroom was dead silent save for the scratching of chalk. No one dared to say a word. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, everyone had been sorted.
"Now," Sesshomaru-sensei began, "all I want from you today is brain-storming. Each person will receive a copy of The Tale of Genji, and start reading together in your groups. By the end of class today, each group should have written down at least a few themes that occur in the story. I'll tell you all right now, love is not one of the themes. If any of you write that down, you will fail automatically for not understanding the material or the assignment. Everyone understand?"
No one said a word.
Sesshomaru-sensei nodded. "Good. Get in your groups, get a copy of the book, and begin."
Kagome gulped and scanned the board for her name. Her heart nearly leapt out of her throat when she found it. She was grouped with, of course, Inuyasha, and some girl named Miko. Kagome inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She was torn between excitement, happiness, dread, and fear.
Her eyes shot open as a copy of The Tale of Genji landed on her desk. She squeaked and jumped in her seat a little.
"Sorry." Inuyasha muttered and plunked down in his own seat.
Kagome, realizing he had gotten it for her, shook her head. "No, um, thanks. For the book. And, um, stuff." She stuttered, then mentally slapped herself. She sounded like a complete idiot.
At that moment, a girl that Kagome could only assume was the alleged "Miko" dragged her desk over to her two group-mates. Kagome inspected her closely. She had silky black hair that was all stuffed into a low bun, black bangs that hid her eyes if she adjusted her face just right, and silver glasses. Nope, Kagome thought, I have definitely never seen her before.
"Well..." Kagome began, "I guess we should get started?"
Inuyasha and Miko only nodded before silently flipping their books open. Kagome joined them and sighed. She could tell this was not going to be as fun as she had hoped.
.o0o.
When the bell finally rang to release everyone, Sango and Ayame were immediately by Kagome's side.
"What is it like?" Ayame asked dreamily, winking coyly at Kagome.
"What is what like?" Kagome asked, exhausted from a day that had been more exciting than she would have liked.
"To be in the same group as one of...them?" Ayame explained, gesturing dramatically to the classroom door where Inuyasha, Miroku, and Kouga stood surrounded by fangirls.
Kagome sighed and Sango rolled her eyes. "Look, how about I tell you all about it once we have our crepes?" Kagome suggested. Ayame's eyes lit up at the mention of the previously promised crepes.
"Why did you remind her, Kagome? Now I actually do have to pay for you guys!" Sango groaned, and Kagome laughed.
"Attention, students." The strangely silky voice of a female teacher over the school's intercom stopped the girls before they could leave. Kagome recognized the voice as the teacher who had gotten mad at her for talking to Sango in her previous class.
"I swear, if she says it's not actually a half-day today, I'm slicing Miroku's throat like the demon he really is." Sango hissed. Kagome noticed that the monk had been glancing slyly over at her taijiya friend for a while now. Kagome stifled a snicker as the voice over the intercom finished.
"Would Kagome Higurashi please report to my office immediately. Thank you, and see you all bright and early tomorrow for the opening ceremony."
There was a moment of silence as the students around Kagome and her friends turned to look at her and whisper. Kagome groaned. She just couldn't get a break today.
"That woman's cheeriness is just plain creepy. What does she want with you anyway?" Sango asked, annoyed.
"She probably wants to talk to me about my inappropriate behavior in her class earlier." Kagome explained.
"Oh, you mean when you were asking me for a fork?"
"I told you, Sango! I wanted a pencil!"
"Mhm, sure. Well, have fun, troublemaker."
"Oh, thanks. You owe me a crepe next time, though."
"Since when was that a rule?"
Kagome just smiled, pushed through the crowd of whispering students, and sauntered down the hall toward her fate.
:o0o:
The sun was unusually hot that day. It beat down on Kagome's form as she sprayed water from a hose on the walk surrounding the school pool. She sighed as she paused to wipe sweat from her forehead.
Detention. The word hung over her as she cleaned the pool, her punishment for disrupting Yura-sensei's class. All she had told her mom over the phone was that she had cleaning duty that day and would be home pretty late. She didn't want to think about having to tell her mom she'd gotten detention on the first day of school. It wasn't even a full day, and she was already on the hit list of one of the teachers. Maybe even two of them, considering how unlucky her group was in Sesshomaru-sensei's class.
She sighed and stared out at the horizon, where the sun was already lowering itself in the sky. She'd been working for hours, but had seemed to make no progress. But the pool had to be "splendidly spotless" according to Yura-sensei, and it wasn't anywhere near that yet, whatever "splendidly spotless" meant anyway.
Though she hated to admit it, she was still looking forward to her classes. Being near Inuyasha like that was exciting, and thinking about how he had spoken to her that day still made her heart leap and her insides warm. She smiled at the oncoming sunset and pictured Inuyasha's flawless...well, everything. She could see him now, his beautiful silver hair washed gold in the sunlight to match his eyes, his muscular figure standing there before her, his fluffy ears perked atop his head.
It was only when her imaginary Inuyasha moved without her willing him to that she realized he wasn't a dream; the real Inuyasha was actually in the schoolyard beyond the pool, and he was really walking to the alley area near the back of the school.
Kagome straightened and watched him till he disappeared. She set the hose down and took a deep breath. If this wasn't Kami-sama sending her a message about her destiny, she didn't know what would be. So, with her mind and heart set, she ran out of the pool area and chased down her crush.
:o0o:
Kagome sighed, slowing down as she glanced around frantically. This was way too weird. She was almost positive Inuyasha had gone this way, so where was he? She bit her lip when a million possibilities, none with happy endings, filled her head.
She turned her attention to the sky, where the sun was just beginning to set, dipping its edges into a pool of deep color. She smiled a little, soaking up the last few moments of the day, a day where so much had happened, so much that she could barely believe her fortune (and her misfortune).
"You come here to fight, big boy?"
Kagome's eyes shot open at the gruff voice that sounded somewhere on her right. She gulped and slowly turned, noticing an alley she hadn't before. She carefully took a step toward it, but jumped back a bit when the gruff voice spoke again.
"Hah. I don't need your reply to know what you're here for. I don't have it."
Kagome took a deep breath and carefully took a step back. If she was really quiet, maybe she could escape without having to see let alone meet the gruff voice's owner.
"Run back to mommy, dog-boy."
There was a growl, and Kagome froze. A moment of total silence followed, and Kagome was too scared to even breathe. Her hands flew to her mouth when she heard the unmistakable sounds of a fight beginning. Every bone and muscle in her body was telling her to flee, to get away from danger, but she was frozen in place, as if her feet were glued to the pavement.
Suddenly, dark liquid splattered one side wall of the alley, enough so that Kagome could clearly see it. Her eyes widened and she had to practically dig her nails into her cheeks to choke back her scream.
Now the alley was dead silent. Kagome thought she heard deep, ragged breathing coming from the alley. She carefully took a step and paused, waiting for some gangster of death to race out of the alley and jump her. The place remained undisturbed, though, so she carefully took another step.
It continued like this for a while. Step, pause. Step, pause. She finally got close enough to see the full effect of the dark liquid on the bricks, glittering in the last rays of sunlight. She turned away, not wanting to see or have to guess what she thought it was, but turning to her left only gave her a worse sight.
Without really realizing it, Kagome had walked to the entrance of the alley, and when she turned, she had the perfect front-row seat view of a grotesque scene. A battered, blood-stained figure was thrown on the ground, limbs twisted at weird angles, so contorted that Kagome couldn't even begin to guess what the figure had originally looked like. But when she turned her gaze upward, that was the biggest surprise. Her eyes widened as she took in every detail of the muscular figure standing over the body. His golden eyes, now ebbed with scarlet irises. His sharp cheekbones, now stained with bright purple streaks. His perfect smile, now interrupted by the jagged points of fangs. His wonderful fluffy ears, now flattened angrily against his head. And his snow-white hair, usually so silky and perfect, now tangled and stained with the unmistakable scarlet red of blood.
Kagome couldn't help it. She gasped. "Inu…yasha…sama?" she whimpered, though it sounded so loud in the eerie silence.
The figure's head snapped up and their eyes locked. Quickly, the red left his eyes, turning them back to the sun-kissed gold Kagome so loved. The purple streaks vanished, and the fangs sank back in to his gums. But his hair and now, Kagome noticed, his clawed hands remained covered in the body below his feet's blood.
"Ka…gome?" Inuyasha murmured.
The raven-haired girl shook her head, slowly covering her mouth with her hand, and carefully stepped backwards. No. No. This could not be happening. This wasn't right. Her Inuyasha wouldn't do something like this. Her Inuyasha would not be standing in an alley covered in some random person's blood. Her Inuyasha wouldn't…kill someone.
Inuyasha's eyes widened when he saw the unmistakable fear and disbelief in the girl's eyes. Uh-oh.
"No, Kagome, wait, this isn't what-" he took steps toward her as he spoke, but she flinched away from his touch when he reached out to her. It was then, with his hand in the light, that he saw how gruesome it looked, sticky and red from the fight. He pulled back his hand, but stayed where he was. He locked eyes with the girl again, begging her, willing her to let him explain, and for a moment, it looked like she understood. But as soon as that hope had appeared, it was gone. Kagome turned and fled, racing up the concrete steps that led away from the alley, her hand still covering her mouth, silky black hair flying behind her. "Kagome! Wait!" he cried, but she ran on. "Come…back…" he whispered.
Above the scene, the sun finally disappeared in a pool of light as red as the blood-splattered alley behind the hanyou.
Inuyasha clenched his fists and shifted his head so tangled red-white bangs covered his eyes. He replayed the scene in his head, clawing out every detail, and sighed, banging his fist against the brick wall on his right as he groaned. "Well, fuck." He muttered, turning to rest his forehead on the bricks, attempting to block out what had just happened from his mind.
:o0o:
Yup, eight pages of glory right there. Or something.
I'm hoping to update my other stories relatively soon, but we all know what happens when I make that promise.
I'm also hoping to finally update the Prologue of my Twelve Dancing Princesses with Inuyasha characters spin-off, but I wrote most of that down and I have to find the notebook first.
The good news is that I'm on a trimester schedule, and exams finished this past week, so hopefully I will have more time to do stuff I enjoy instead of studying and ginormungous projects. But, that might be asking for too much :P
Anyway, I hope some of you guys are still out there reading! I cannot apologize enough for how inconsistent my updates have been, and it might stay that way for a while, at least. But I do hope to change that and become more consistent. I love writing these stories and I hope some of you are still out there waiting for the endings :)
So, until next we meet,
~August