Our Gang
Candy Coated Chocolates
Froggeh12
A/N: Thank you to everyone who's read, and especially to those who have reviewed. :D Please note that I have changed a couple of things in the first few chapters - you can re-read them if you like, but it probably won't make too much of a difference. I just thought of a few new things to make the story make more sense. This chapter is named for its ending.
…Anyone read chapter 464 of Inuyasha manga? ;; If you haven't, you really should. It's so sad, but in a way, it's good.
And, of course, don't forget to review.
First period on the next day of school was awkward.
No, I mean, it was really awkward.
Of course, the human girls who swooned hopelessly over the demon guys were making every attempt to make me feel miserable about going over to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's place. Most of them knew that it was because of a science fair but chose they'd rather believe something else.
As soon as I walked into first period, math this time, I was caught in an ambush.
"Oh look, it's the little rebellious slut!"
"I thought you and your friends hated demons?"
"Yeah Kagome, what happened to that?"
"What? I don't hate demons!" I sputtered, trying to find a way through the crowd to my desk.
By then Kikyou had gotten up and walked over. "She doesn't hate demons; she hates girls like you who grovel over them like they're gods. Now screw off, all of you."
"I bet you're pretty jealous of Kagome, Kikyou."
Inuyasha chose that moment to walk into class. Everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and look at him. He blinked. "What?"
Kikyou whipped around to face him. "Tell your little drones to lay off Kagome!" she said furiously.
"She was at your house last night?" a girl demanded to Inuyasha, grabbing onto my hair angrily. I recognized her as… oh no… Inuyasha's girlfriend. It was absolutely shocking to hear her speak and act so loud and animatedly. Usually she was a bit on the quiet and boring side.
Shippo came up behind the girl. He grabbed her shoulders and yanked her back away from me. "Grow up, Kanna!" he scoffed.
"Get off me!" she snapped, elbowing him in the chest. He yelped and staggered backwards.
"Shippo!" Sango exclaimed, going over to his side like he was a fallen soldier in a war.
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Oh, that? All of this over the damn science project? Kanna, I wouldn't cheat on you with HER." He winked at Kikyou. "Maybe her."
Kagome, Kikyou, and Kanna all turned a crimson shade of red, each for their own reasons.
"Fuck you and your gargantuan-sized ego Inuyasha, it's over!" Kanna spat, scowling. "I'm so sick of you treating me like this, like I'm your little plaything!"
Inuyasha frowned slightly before shrugging it off and walking over to his desk.
Shippo grinned. "Hey Kanna, you learned a new word today!"
Kanna gave him a shove in the chest and sat in the back next to the other demon girl, Kagura, who looked over disdainfully at her friend. Apparently Kagura was embarrassed at the huge scene Kanna had caused.
"Was that…hurt I just saw on Inuyasha's face?" I muttered to Shippo as I returned to my seat.
"Possibly," Shippo replied. "It took him years to get Kanna… I would know, I'm her brother." He rolled his eyes.
"What?" I demanded. "Shippo, I never knew that! You're twins, then? Wait…but then doesn't that make you..."
"A demon? Hah, yeah! But do I act like them, Kagome?" he said scornfully. "Don't forget how they act. It's not all about being a demon… you have to be like them. Humans could act the same way, and you know it as much as I do. They're manipulative… they ignore you completely if you don't seem valuable at first… and as soon as they think you could be worth something, they draw you in by acting nice and letting you in on the jokes. The way they treat each other… they talk about each other all the time."
He looked directly at me, as if to say 'I know everything'. "Don't fall for it Kagome, I don't want you to get your heart broken. They're not nice people."
"Aww, Shippo," I said, giving him a quick hug and feeling almost guilty about staying for dinner. "It's ok; I can take care of myself! Thank you, though."
Shippo blushed and nodded. "You'd better sit down now," he said quietly as the door opened. I looked around, realizing that I had been kneeling beside Shippo's desk the entire time.
"Damn, could you possibly be any later?" a girl in the back said - presumably Kanna's friend who seemed too big to comfort her.
"Shut up," snapped Mr. Wolfe, or Kouga as he had told me to call him (humiliating!). "Now, to begin today's lesson…"
Usually I try my hardest to listen in math. After all, I suck at it, so I need to pay attention to it most. But today, I had tuned him out by the word "lesson". I was thinking about how Kagura, presumably a good friend of Kanna's, had just watched Kanna cry miserably for the rest of class. I thought of the hurt look I saw on Inuyasha's face. That wasn't just because it was hard work going to waste… maybe he had really loved Kanna. But then why would he say something like that?
Shippo had been right. They really were jerks, weren't they?
…At the same time, I felt holes burn in the back of my head as all of the swooning human girls continued to death glare at me.
---
After math and language, it was time for the dreaded science - third period today. I sighed and made my way around the walkway winding around the building. Language was completely opposite to science - which was to my advantage. The later I had to present with that air-head the better, after all. I walked a bit slower than usual as well; the building wasn't that big, after all.
I watched birds flutter around happily, darting around the dying trees. For the first time in my life, I had one of those lame "I wish I were a carefree animal" thoughts. Ugh... geez, is this what evil science class dread does to you?
"Ahh, science," I heard Sophie squeal from behind me. Her class had probably just gotten out. I slowed down to allow her to catch up. "My favorite subject! We get to present our ideas today. Kikyou and I have come up with the greatest experiment."
"Way to rub it in," I muttered.
"Ah…" Sophie said, blinking. "Sorry. You're stuck with him, right? What kind of experiment are you doing?"
"I came up with it myself," I explained. "It's about name brands and store brands. We're gonna survey people to see which they like better and then test them."
"Oh, that's pretty cool," Sophie said brightly. She walked along the dirty white pavement, skimming her fingers over the railing (ouch, splinters!) and making sure not to step on any cracks. Once again I was reminded of Rin.
"Well?"
"Well what?" she asked, halting to a stop as she looked at me, probably so she wouldn't carelessly step on any cracks.
"Well, come on, what's your and Kikyou's project on? I'm curious!"
"Oh!" she laughed. "I'm not telling you until class starts!"
"Sophie!" I whined. "That's not fair, I told you!"
She flashed a particularly wicked grin. "Yes, but I never said I'd tell you about mine! It's not my fault you're willing to give away all of your secrets! Aeheeeheahahaha…ha..!" She coughed from the strain on that last "ha". "Well, that was my try at an evil laugh."
I laughed and started walking. "C'mon, don't want to be too late… Sango skipped science yesterday and got a Saturday detention."
"Oh, god," Sophie groaned, looking down again as she started walking. "How many detentions has she had, five?"
"Er…it's been nine, actually."
She laughed and made a sort of leaping skip across a big group of cracks that came together in the middle, almost like veins connected to a heart.
I picked up the pace a bit. I had no intention of joining Sango on her Saturday detention. I frowned as I saw both Kikyou and Inuyasha standing by the door looking quite unpleasant. Inuyasha was the first to notice us, probably because of his scent. "Where the hell have you been, wench? Sato won't let us go to class without our partners!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that you couldn't get into the one class you decided not to skip," I scoffed. It was almost true. Inuyasha and his buddies Naraku and Miroku skipped so much it was a wonder they had passed middle school.
Sophie smiled apologetically at Kikyou, who simply smiled back and led the way into the classroom. I walked in after them with Inuyasha grudgingly following. He was probably mad that I was right about his skipping issue.
"Oh, good, you're here. Sophie Brown and Kikyou Mukashi will go second to last, and Kagome Higurashi and Inuyasha Hidaka will be last," Mrs. Sato said shortly.
The four of us groaned simultaneously and trudged to the back of the line that had formed. Inuyasha tried to get in line before Kikyou and Sophie but I yanked him back by the shoulder, scowling.
He turned around to me and glared. "What the fuck was that for, whose side are you on, anyhow?"
"Theirs," I answered simply. "Just because you're my partner doesn't mean I have to like you!"
"Good, because I despise you!" he said huffily, turning around to face the line. I stuck my tongue out at him behind his back.
It seemed like an eternity waiting. The projects went from boring to insane. Kaia and Mitsu were doing a project on which plant grew best in the dark… Fuuta and Ren wanted to see if it'd take longer for a bagel or a piece of white bread to grow mold… Tayama and Jena wanted to see how many marshmallows each person could stuff inside their mouths, and see if that number decreased the next day.
I sighed and leaned into the wall as we were slowly shuffled forward. Inuyasha was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. The rest of the class looked half asleep, if not napping already. The classroom was incredibly small, so the feeling of everyone packed tightly together and sleeping lazily made it feel even more cramped.
I allowed my thoughts to drift off once again. Ah, I couldn't wait until lunch… I could finally see Sesshomaru again. He was a year older, so he had lunch at the same time we did. Maybe he'd strike up a conversation today… maybe he liked me nearly half as much as I liked him.
There was a ruffling sound of papers as the group before Kikyou and Sophie went. The group consisted of two huge nerds that seemed to have decided that the project would consist of their life's work of theories - basically they were going to test everything and anything they could think of involving magnifying glasses and ants.
"Thank you, now Mukashi and Brown."
It was time for Kikyou and Sophie to present. Kikyou whipped out a huge poster board and Sophie grabbed a yard stick to use as a pointer. Sophie cleared her throat and began. "Kikyou and I have always wondered the same thing - how many things someone lies about in a day. It'd be really difficult to actually do that, so instead we've come up with this!" She nodded at Kikyou.
Kikyou nodded in return and finished off. "We're going to ask people a bunch of different questions, like "Have you had a Saturday detention?" or "Do you think that the crap at the food stand is outrageously priced?". And then that's where our super awesome espionage skills come in! We'll question friends and teachers, and follow them around campus to see if they live up to their word! If we see them at Saturday detention or hear them complaining about the prices, we'll know they've been lying!"
"Our estimate is that a person will lie about at least 2 things we question them on," Sophie explained, pointing to a chart with various stick figures, names, questions, and numbers. "That is what we have concluded so far by spying on our own families."
"Thank you very much," Sophie and Kikyou said in unison, grabbing hands and bowing.
There was a round of very unenthusiastic clapping. Who wants to be spied on all day, after all?
"Is that even scientific in the least?" I muttered.
"Maybe a bit more than the marshmallow theory," Inuyasha mumbled in reply.
"Very nice, yes, now Higurashi and Hidaka," said Mrs. Sato in the most uninterested voice she could manage.
"Um…" I gave a nervous glance to Inuyasha, almost expecting him to whip out a poster board like Kikyou had. He shrugged. I sighed and said, "Our project is to survey people and see which they like better: name brands or store brands. Then we're going to blindfold them and test them." I nodded and quickly walked back to my seat just in time for the bell to ring.
"Well, good, we got through these miserable things today," Mrs. Sato announced. "Tomorrow we'll read the next chapter of the textbook."
"Goodie!" Kikyou grunted sarcastically. Sophie the science-lover laughed.
I glanced over at Inuyasha. "Don't forget to start working on the next part."
The "next part" was thinking of the intervals. The next time we met, which would be at my house in another week, we would compare our ideas and see which to pick and choose.
"Will you leave me the hell alone? I'm not a moron, I know."
"Well fine! Don't come crying to me when you forget and fail!" I hissed, grabbing my backpack and storming out.
Woah, what was THAT all about?
---
-Lunch interlude :D-
"So Sango, why is he sitting with us again?" I sighed, looking around to see if I could spot Sesshomaru.
Sango sighed for the umpteenth time and turned to looked at Miroku, who was lying lazily underneath the tree, eating his sandwich with a look of pure bliss spread across his face.
"Because I slapped him in class again, and the teacher decided that we were in Kindergarten and said we have to sit together for lunch," Sango groaned.
"And tell me why I have to suffer along with you?" I asked pleasantly.
"Because you're nice like that, and if you didn't suffer along with me voluntarily I'd have to handcuff you," Sango replied simply.
Miroku smirked and snickered.
"Oh, shut up with your perverted thoughts!" Sango snapped, smacking him in the head with her lunch bag, which was still pretty heavy with a container of Pringles and a can of energy drink.
Miroku shrugged lightly, rubbing the spot on his head where he was hit. "Sango, Sango, so touchy…" He sat up and stared at me.
I blinked. "What?"
"Forgive my staring, Kagome, I can't help it - you're just so beautiful."
"…Uh… thanks?" I said, not showing quite how flattered I was.
"Kagome, do you realize how many times he's told that to all of the girls in history class?" Sango asked rhetorically, rolling her eyes.
History was the class Sango had with Miroku, who sat in back of her and managed to grope her through the desk. She was constantly "accidentally" slapping Miroku as she passed back papers, or dropping things on his head.
Miroku ignored Sango and took my hands in his. "Kagome… this, I do not ask all other girls. Will you please bear me a child?"
"WHAT?"
"What the hell do you mean you don't ask that to every other girl you meet? You just asked me twice today!" Slap.
"I'm 15, you pervert; I'm too young to 'bear you a child'!" Slap. "…Not that I would, er, do that even if I was older than 15!"
"Yeah!"
"It's just wonderful being touched by you, Sango …" Miroku sighed.
"Shut up!"
The history teacher walked over, frowning. "Sango, I see you are still not able to get along with Mr. Houshi here. You will have to eat lunch with him for the rest of the week now."
Sango blinked at him with wide eyes. He smiled sadistically and turned around to walk back to the table where the rest of the teachers were.
"Wha…grah… goddammit!"
The worst part of all was that I couldn't find Sesshomaru!
---
Sango sighed.
"Sango…"
Sango sighed again.
"It's not so bad," I insisted.
"Yes it isss," Sango whined. "Lunch is my favorite period and it's ruined because of that… creature!"
I decided not to mention that she seemed like she was enjoying his attention. "We can still talk."
"He'll probably interrupt with gross comments."
"Then whisper."
"Ugh, you're so calm! He's ruining your lunch too!"
"Well, not necessarily…" I said truthfully.
"Yes he is!" Sango said, sending me a sharp look.
"Alright, alright, yes he is."
We were leaving the campus. School had just ended, and I was sleeping over Sango's house tonight. As it turns out, she lived just two blocks away from my house.
We had just barely got past the picnic benches when we caught Kikyou, Evana, and Sophie linking arms and skipping down the road just a small distance ahead of us.
"Hey … doesn't Kikyou act a little different around Sophie and Evana? You know, like…a lot more happy-go-lucky and giggly?" I asked curiously.
She didn't answer.
"Sango?" I asked.
"I guess…" she answered sulkily.
I sighed. "What's up with you two? Do you have this weird unspoken grudge or what?"
Sango stopped suddenly. She gave a nod. "Yeah."
"What happened?" I asked, trying to not let it show how eager I was to know.
"Kikyou used to be my best friend," she explained. "We met in Kindergarten, and we were inseparable from then on. Whatever one did, the other did as well. We went on family vacations with each other all the time. We took all sorts of weird dance classes together.
"But then… we started middle school. Kikyou got this really weird attitude all of a sudden, when she starting dating that demon Naraku. She basically told me to go screw myself; that I was annoying and she didn't need me anymore. She broke up with Naraku eventually, and that's when Sophie, Evana, and Shippo came along. Shippo became the closest friend I had and Evana and Sophie became hers. Later we realized that Naraku had said nasty things about me to Kikyou and said I was always talking about her to my other friends.
"That's when Kikyou and I decided to make a truce. But it was never the same after that. She hasn't really changed much; I can tell that by the way she acts around them. But she still hates me, for whatever reason. Maybe she meant the part about me being annoying." Sango shrugged. "Either way, it's too late to go back and change history. It's just…not fair how I had no part in it. Naraku said those things and Kikyou believed them. I think… Kikyou can be too willing to put up barriers and believe that others are betraying her. That's exactly how she lost Inuyasha as well."
"That's…awful," I said quietly. I had missed that last sentence at the time; I was busy thinking about the friends I had left behind. I was so lucky compared to Sango! My friends were still there, still my friends. Sango had lost her very best friend.
Sango nodded, frowning.
"We should include Shippo more," I said suddenly. "You know? We don't want him to feel left out or rejected like that."
Sango nodded. "You're probably right. You want to invite him over?"
I laughed. "You want to invite Shippo over for a sleepover?"
"Well, he doesn't have to stay! He can leave later," Sango replied, rolling her eyes.
"Ok! Come on, let's go!" I took off running blindly down to the street.
"Kagome, CAR!" Sango shrieked, running after me. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
I groaned as I was flung back onto the pavement. "… Thanks."
"C'mon dimwit, we're off to buy energy drink and silly string!"