Author's Note: Here is my next chapter. Sorry it took so long but with the holiday season and bad snow storms. I have not had anytime to write this one. I hope you guys like it and I am trying to give Kagome some of her own story. Okay, I loved this episode of this anime, one of my favorites. Thanks for the reviews, favorites and alerts!
Chapter 7: The Cultural Festival
It was just a few days after Hana and Uo's visit, that it was time for a big celebration at school. Tohru said it was the annual cultural festival. There was only a little time left to get ready so things were pretty hectic at school. Everyone was helping to get ready for the day of fun. Of course, that went for their class too: 1st Year, D-Block. Our assignment: Refreshments and food.
"I'm pleased to announce that the health inspections have been completed and we've been given permission to open our rice ball stand. All that's left to decide is what flavor of rice balls we'd like to sell. Any suggestions you may have on the matter would be more than welcome." Yuki announced from his place at the front of the class,
'Rice balls?' Kagome thought, 'Kinda of interesting.'
Tohru raised her hand and stood. "What if we tried making three-flavor rice balls? We can use three different ingredients and it'll be like getting three rice balls in one! It could be fun!"
Yuki smiled. "How nice. A fine idea."
Tohru smiled back.
"Eww!" one of the fan club girls, Minami, cried. "I think you mean, 'How disgusting!' No way!"
"Like if you had salmon, and miso, and pickled plums all mixed together?" another fan girl (her name slipped my mind) said.
Minami made a disgusted sound. "That'd be the sickest thing in the world."
Uo moved to the fangirl's desk and produced a lead pipe, and smashed it down on Minami's desk, between the girls. "It couldn't be any more sickening then your crappy attitudes...could it?" she asked, leaning down between them.
"Don't they have rules against bringing lead pipes to school?" Minami asked nervously.
Kagome stood up next to them with her eyes flaring, "And we all know that jealously is just a selfish love." The girls almost fainted with fear. "They are just mad because Yuki praised our little Tohru besides them." Kagome said erringly at the other side of the table. Both of the Club just shook with fear as both of the scariest people in the school threatened them.
Hana stood right behind them, "I have been working on a new technique on having my electric shocks hurting ten times more. Should I try it?"
The Fan Club girls paled.
Tohru sweat-dropped.
Yuki groaned.
"I say we make it a rice ball battle," Kyo declared.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"A battle?" a boy asked.
"One-on-one," Kyo continued, clenching his fist and grinning. "One round. No holds barred. And even if they get bloody noses, or pull each other's arms off, they have to fight for the prize- rice balls!"
Even Kagome was looking at him wide-eyed.
"No way," everyone laughed.
"Hmm..." Yuki mused, ignoring Kyo like he always did. "What about...a 'Hit-or-Miss'?"
"Interesting," a girl at the front of the class.
"We'll have a special offer," Yuki explained, "Anyone who buys three rice balls can choose a fourth for free. Only we'll have some 'misses' mixed in that we can make with some strange ingredient or something."
The class wholeheartedly agreed that it was a good idea.
Kyo looked around at the agreeing students from his place, standing half on his desk. "Oh, sure!" he yelled, pointing at Yuki. "So you're all just gonna follow whatever dumb idea he says?"
"You can't call us followers for knowing a good idea when we hear it."
"Yeah, your idea was too weird!"
"How so?" Kyo asked angrily.
"Who wants to get all bloody over a couple rice balls?"
Kyo sat back down in his seat with a thud.
"Aw, don't get mad, Kyo-Kyo," a boy said, ruffling his hair.
Kyo slapped his hands away. "Hey! Don't call me Kyo-Kyo!"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Don't worry," Kagome said walking next to Kyo's desk. "Kyo-Kyo is better than orange top."
"Okay that does it!" Kyo pushed his chair out of the way and started yelling at Kagome. Tohru and everyone were watching them fight with wide-eyes. It was getting interesting.
"I have a student council meeting to attend, so if you wouldn't mind handling the arrangements for building the stand?" Yuki asked the girl.
"Sure!" she said happily. "Just leave it to me!"
Yuki turned to walk away.
"Ah, hold on!" a boy called raising his hand, "There was still something I needed to ask you."
"Yeah, right," another boy said, "me too, Yuki. I have a question about the stand."
"Yuki, I have a question!"
Kagome was about to yell at Kyo when she blinked. There were a bunch of cats hanging all over Kyo. "Uh, Kyo?"
"Ah, look!" a girl squealed. The cats mewed happily blissfully unaware of Kyo's burning rage.
"Whoa, how did they get in here?"
"And so many!" a girl said. "How cute!"
"Kyo?" Kagome asked..
He yelled and jumped up out of his seat, the cats still hanging from him. "Damn it all!" He kicked the classroom door out of his way and ran down the hall.
Yuki glared after him then sighed.
I heard one girl comment that he was the complete opposite of Yuki, and it was hard to believe they were related.
"Kagome?" Tohru whimpered worriedly.
Kagome stroke her head, "Don't worry. I'll go talk to him. You fill me in on what I missed, okay?"
Tohru nodded, "Get him to come back if you can…it'll be a lot of fun if Kyo could be part of this too."
Sure enough, Kagome found Kyo laying on the roof staring angrily at the sky with all the cats laying all around him and on him. Kagome just thought that since he can't make the leave he waits for them to leave on their own.
"Found you!" Kagome giggled poking her head above the ladder.
He cried out in surprise.
"I had a feeling you'd be up here. Always look in the highest place." Kagome mused climbing the rest of the ladder. "Good thing I'm not too scared of heights." Kagome said sitting on her legs near him.
"What is it with you! You always gotta sneak up on me like that?" He asked angrily, sitting cross legged.
"Sorry." Kagome laughed picking up the cat nearest her and smiled a little at him. "Hello, Mister Cat! You're so cute!" Kagome cooed rubbing her nose against its pink one.
He mewed and rubbed his head against her cheek.
Kagome laughed a little. "These cats really like you, huh?"
He sighed and looked away. "Yeah, yeah. Don't ask me why. They just show up on their own. Same with rats for Yuki and dogs for Shigure."
"Wow, that's cool."
"How the hell is it cool? This one time, I was walking in the mountains with Kagura and we got surrounded by a whole pack of boars! I thought they were gonna eat us!"
"Pft."
"It is not funny!"
"I'm sorry," Kagome said, calming my laughter.
Kyo sighed and looked away again. "Well? What did you want?"
"Nothing, really," Kagome said, shaking her head and holding the cat closer. "I was just worried about you... That's all. You seemed really upset when you left."
He looked back at her.
"Don't you want to help out the festival preparations?" Kagome asked.
He looked away again then grunted. "What do they need me for? They've got Yuki, don't they?" he asked dryly. "I doubt anyone's gonna miss me."
Kagome looked down at the ground as I let the cat go. He ran back over to Kyo. 'That's not true…"
"They're all too busy looking to him. That's the way it always is…ever since we were kids. He's always been the smart one and he knows how to get stuff done and he's good with people…" He was completely faced away from me now. "And everybody around him always tells him how talented he is and stuff. He doesn't even have to try and they all look up to him. Anyway..." His tone was solemn. "It's just like with martial arts. I've been training way longer than he has, but he's still better than me. It makes me sick!" His voice was low, disgusted. "I mean, what do I gotta do to be someone like that, you know?" He was...frustrated. "Why can't I be more like...like him?"
'Kyo…he doesn't have much people skills, but after he gets to know them a little, he can open up and be himself. He doesn't need to be like Yuki or like anyone else to be accepted. He's fine just the way he is…Yuki wants to be like Kyo and Kyo wishes he could be more like Yuki. So why is it, that even though they both secretly admire each other, it just pushes them farther apart?'
"I guess it's not really any of my business, but I like you the way you are. You can only be you and Yuki can only be Yuki…you don't need to be smart or give great advice to be accepted."
Kyo only grunted. Kagome assumed he didn't believe her or didn't want to.
"Well I will tell you something. My old boyfriend still loved his ex a lot." Kagome confessed, as Kyo stared at her. "I always wondered at the time, how I can be like her, so he would love me more. Until I realized that he loved me being myself and not someone else."
Why is it that we feel they have to be like somebody else? Why do we have to feel jealous? If they can see the admirable qualities in someone else, why can't they see the admirable qualities in themselves? I know that I have trouble believing that I have them myself, but I strongly believe in being happy with who you are.
"What the hell is this?"
Kagome looked up from her work the next morning s she made some rice balls for the day's events. Kyo was just standing there with an annoyed expression on his face. "You tryin' to turn this place into a rice ball shop?"
"Good morning to you, too," Kagome greeted, molding another rice ball in her hands. "You're up early, aren't you?"
"No, this is when I always get up," he said reaching passed her shoulder to grab one of the rice balls she recently made.
"Kyo! That's a-" Kagome's voice died when he bit into it.
"-a leek rice ball." She finished lamely.
He gagged and ran to the sink to spitting it out. "Why would you even make this crap?"
"We're doing a 'Hit or Miss' stand, remember? So that's one's a miss." Kagome smiled. "I can make something else for you if you have any ideas,"
Kyo took the glass from me and drank the entire glass in a few gulps before responding, "I dunno salmon or cod's okay, I guess. Ah, forget it. I'll just make some myself." He opened up the rice cooker. "Geez..." He scooped out some rice and started molding it in his hands.
"Wow, Kyo," Kagome said smiling. "That's really good."
His face turned slightly red as he looked away. "Well, when I was out training, I had to make all my own meals and stuff," he said almost bragging "I just make the plain kind, nothin' fancy."
"That's good. Mom always loved making rice balls for our lunches."
Kyo stopped, looking at Kagome. "You miss her huh?'
Kagome stopped for a second. "Oh course I do. She's my mother after all. I actually talked to her today. Since I moved here, my grandfather has become sick and she can't afford to keep the shrine. However, she did find a job as a nurse's assistant but she could only afford an apartment for my grandfather and her." Kagome wiped a tear from her eye. "She talked to Shigure this morning about Souta possible staying here for a while."
Kyo groaned. They all they needed in this house were another person!
"I have missed Souta a lot and Shigure said it was fine. He says that he could have his study as a room. We just have to clean it out this weekend. Souta is actually going to be at the festival today while my mom transfers him to the middle school."
Kyo nodded. "I sure everything will be fine Kagome."
"I was actually wondering….Souta has always loved martial arts but never had a teacher, perhaps you could teach him some moves?"
He shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
"Thank you so much!"
"It's not for you though!" Kyo said, blushing from embarrassment! "I only said yes because I have nothing better to do!"
"Okay whatever you say Kyo."
The day of the festival had finally arrived and everyone was all making last minute preparations to the stands and costumes in honor of the third year students.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Kyo asked the guys who were helping him put up the rice ball stand, "It's still crooked."
"No one's gonna notice something so small, Cat-Lover," a guy hanging the sign on the stand said.
"Yeah, you're just being picky."
"That's right, Cat-Lover. It's only going last one day."
Kyo grunted and jumped up waving his hammer at them. "What's the deal with all this 'Cat-Lover' crap? You trying to make fun of me or something?"
"Ah, we got you figured out. You talk tough, but, deep down, you're just a gentle guy who loves animals," a guy said mockingly.
"Awww..." they cooed together.
"Hey! Knock it off, will ya!"
'I guess it's a good thing they don't really have him figured out,' Kagome thought.
"Why is it every time he's around, I get a headache?" Uo wondered aloud.
"Well, at least this time he's trying to help, which, for him, is pretty rare," Yuki said writing something down on his clipboard.
"I don't know," Tohru said smiling at Yuki, "You have your way, Yuki...and Kyo has his, that's all."
Yuki looked back to his clipboard, no saying anything.
"Oh, Yu-ki!" two girls sang as they came in.
He looked up nervously at them.
They giggled.
"Hello."
"Guess what?" the first girl said excitedly. "We have a surprise for you, Yuki. It's a present."
"All of us senior girls chipped in and bought it," the second girl added. "We thought it would be the greatest thing if you could wear it today!"
"Uh...wear?" he asked.
"Ta-da! A one-of-a-kind festival day costume, just for you, Yuki!" They flashed him a peach dress with a white coat with a flower in the pocket.
Least to say the two girls were the only ones smiling when they showed the dress; everyone else was uncomfortable on Yuki's behalf.
'Poor Yuki…'
Kagome couldn't stop laughing.
The festival started and thier rice balls were selling like crazy!
"We're on track for first in the food category!" the girl from the planning meeting cried happily.
"I think we have the delicious stuff Tohru and Kagome made to thank for that!" a guy said.
Both girls blushed.
"Oh, don't be silly," Tohru said waving off the compliment.
"I just love these cat-shaped ones," a girl said, holding one up.
"Thanks," Tohru said. "But I don't think they're really what's attracting everyone to our booth, you know?"
They all looked over at Yuki, surrounded by students with cameras. Yes, he had agreed to wear the dress.
"That's it! Stop! No more pictures!" Minami and her clones yelled. "Yuki doesn't like it! Yeah, that goes for you too, sister!"
"Good point," a guy agreed, He's definitely an attraction."
"Mm-hmm," everyone said, nodding.
"I suppose we couldn't ask for better advertising, huh?"
They nodded again.
Yuki looked over at us. When he made eye contact with Tohru he looked away. That brief look was more than enough to tell us that he was not happy.
"Oh...I hope I haven't done anything to make Yuki mad at me..." Tohru frowned sadly, "He looks upset."
"Ah, don't worry about it," Kyo said. He was sitting in the corner with a book in one hand, and a cat-shaped rice ball in the other. "My guess is, it's more embarrassment than he can stand, having to dress up like that. I mean, he's already got a big enough complex over that girly face of his," he laughed.
Kagome walked over to Kyo as he was about to bite into the cat-shaped rice ball. "Kyo?"
He froze and looked up at her.
"If you eat that rice ball does that make you cannibal?" Kagome asked curiously.
He looked at the rice ball with a raised eyebrow, and then looked back at her. He sighed and handed the rice ball to her, "Finish this for me, will ya?"
"Yukiii!"
A bunny….
They all looked up to see a little blonde-haired kid run over to Yuki and jump up on his shoulders. Yuki bent under the boy's weight, but then straightened up again.
"Yuki, you look like a girl!"
The little boy wore a red hat on his head, a pink shirt with a white collar, green shorts, and red shoes, and had small, round red earrings in his ears.
"What the hell?" Kyo muttered. "What is that little brat doin' here?"
"You know him?" Kagome asked.
"Momiji."
They looked up. Kagome groaned. It was Hatori. "You're not to go running off by yourself."
The boy on Yuki's shoulders looked apologetic, but was silent.
The man looked at Yuki and Kyo. "Yuki. Kyo. I see you're both looking well."
"Hatori!" Yuki gasped in surprise.
"Kagome!" The miko suddenly found herself eloped in the arms of her little brother! "I have been looking everywhere for you."
"Hi Souta," Kagome hugged her brother back. "How did you get here?"
"Hatori agreed to give me a ride here for mom." He smiled. "Mom started working for him last week."
Kagome groaned. How could she not have known? "Hello Hatori, how have you been?"
"Alright, thank you for your concern."
Their entrances did not go unnoticed by the other students.
"Who is that?"
"He's so cool!"
"Hi, there!" the boy greeted, taking off his hat. "I'm Momiji Sohma, and this guy here with me is Hatori Sohma. And, yeah, we're two of Yuki, Kagome and Kyo's relatives!"
"How cool!" a girl cried.
"Is that right?" Tohru asked Kyo.
"Yeah, that's right," Kyo muttered. "But never mind Momiji, what's that bastard Hatori doing here?"
Hatori pull out a stethoscope and press it to Yuki's chest. "Alright...now take a deep breath."
"Hatori's a doctor," Kyo said, answering their silent questions.
"So why is he here?" Tohru asked, sounding slightly worried.
"Couldn't we have found a better time for this?" Yuki muttered to Hatori.
"We did," he said. "We had an appointment. You should know you can't skip your monthly check-up."
"Check-up? Yuki, why would you need a check-up? Is something wrong?" Tohru asked walking over to them.
Yuki looked at her, "Sort of..."
"Yuki's bronchial tubes are fairly sensitive," Hatori said. "He used to suffer from frequent asthma attacks when he was a child. It's a condition he's gradually growing out of." He stood up, "But we like to be sure."
He looked at Tohru. "I'm assuming you're Tohru Honda?"
"Yes,"
"Nice to meet you," Tohru smiled.
"Indeed..." Hatori stated blandly, "I didn't expect you to be such ordinary girl."
They stared at him in surprise. "What?"
"Hatori!" Yuki said in shock.
"Oh courses, you still don't have any manners." Kagome said making the older man glare at her. She put her arm around Souta. "Tohru, Kyo I would like you to meet my younger brother Souta."
Tohru immediately went to Souta. "It is so nice to meet you."
Souta blinked at the one brown-haired girl and waved before another orange haired boy waved. "What's up?'
"That over there is our other cousin Yuki,"
Souta almost gaged when he saw the boy in a dress. "Are you sure he's not a girl?"
Everyone paused and Kyo started losing control over his laughter.
"Don't!" a girl suddenly shouted. "You can't climb on the stand!" Everyone turned their attention to the other side of the room, it was Momiji. He was sitting on the stand swinging his legs eating a rice ball.
"What do you think you're doing, you little runt?" Kyo shouted, pulling Momiji off the stands and dragged him to the changing curtain in the corner of the room. When he sat Momiji down he hit him on the head. "Now you stay here! And sit still!"
"Waahhh!" Momiji wailed. "Somebody! Kyo hit me!"
Kagome pulled back the curtain, "Is everything okay?"
Momiji suddenly stopped crying. He smiled widely at us. "Ah-h! You're Kagome! Right? Did I get it right?"
"Yep."
"Now me! Guess who I am!" He chimed pointing to himself.
"You're Momiji. My other cousin."
"Yay! You remembered who I am! I'm so happy! Let's be friends, okay?"
"Sure!"
"Hey, you and Tohru already know about the whole Zodiac thing, right? Right?" he asked.
"Uh...right."
"That's great! I can hug you!" He leapt for her with the intention of hugging Kagome but Kyo stopped him before he could wrap his arms around her waist.
"Hold it right there, lover boy!"
"But Kagome doesn't mind if I transform in front of her, do you Kagome?" Momiji whined.
"Do you even know where you are?" Kyo asked angrily.
"Kyo! You're just trying to keep Kagome all to yourself because she's so beautiful! You probably hug her every day!" Momiji accused him.
Kyo stared at Momiji incredulously. His face turned bright red and, in his state of angered embarrassment, released Momiji. "What? Hell no! Who would wanna do that?"
"Meee!" He sang when Kyo released him and hugged Kagome's waist tightly. She ended up falling onher butt when he had pushed his weight on her and when he transformed into a yellow rabbit he crawled onto her lap.
Some girl back in the classroom asked if anyone else had heard an explosion. Some students pulled back the curtains to see a yellow rabbit on her. His black-tipped ears twitched and he looked at the students with his beady red eyes.
"Hey, what's with the rabbit?"
"Where'd Momiji go?"
Kyo looked just as terrified as the rest of them.
Minami picked up Momiji's shirt. "Hold on, aren't these Momiji's clothes? They are!"
"No way! That's weird! He's not running around here naked, is he?"
"And what's with the rabbit? Where did it come from?"
"No kidding! This is weird!"
"Could it be any weirder than me?" Everyone turned away from us and the rabbit to look at Yuki who pulled a cute innocent face, "It's freakish, a boy in a dress..."
Everyone, even the guys, rushed over to him to comfort the sadden Yuki.
"Don't even say that! You're the greatest!"
"Yeah! If you were a real girl, I'd be all over you! I mean...you know..."
They took that opportunity to escape
"You little brat!" Kyo yelled at Momiji as soon as we were out in the open air. "Do you know what you almost did?"
"You are going to be grounded for one week," Hatori stated dispassionately.
"What'd I do?" Momiji whines, "Kagome, they're scaring me." Kagome just held Momiji in her arms. Thankfully she managed to keep Souta downstairs with the others for a while.
"Leave her alone!" Kyo shouted. "It's your own damn fault!"
"I'm very disappointed in you," Hatori said. "We're only lucky Yuki was able to distract everyone."
"Yeah," Kyo chuckled. "He just had to bat those pretty eyelashes a couple times-"
He was cut off by a swift punch in the face from Yuki.
"Next time, I'll send you flying off the roof," Yuki threatened standing over Kyo.
"Damn rat," Kyo muttered nursing his bloody nose.
"Momiji, you really have to be more careful," Yuki told Momiji who was now resting on top of Kagome's head.
"Indeed," Hatori agreed from his place behind Yuki. "You'd do well to heed that advice. Now I think it's time we went home."
"Aw, come on!" Momiji whined. "I wanted to talk to Tohru and Kagome some more."
"Yes, it would be a shame if you couldn't stay a bit longer,"
"Take a moment, then. I'll give you that long to say your goodbyes."
"Hari, you're so dull," Momiji moaned.
"You heard him!" Kyo shouted. "Now go home!"
"Oh, yes," Hatori said. "I almost forgot something very important." He turned to Kyo and Yuki. "Yuki, Kyo, stand over there, please," he said, pointing to the chain fence that ran along the edge of the roof. Wordlessly they followed his orders.
"I want you both to give me a simple answer to this question. What is the last letter of the alphabet?"
"Z?" They answered confused.
While they said this, Hatori pulled out a camera and snapped a picture.
'Oh, when they said "Z" it looked like they were smiling.'
"Akito wanted me to take a picture of you while I was here," Hatori explained. "That should be a very nice shot." He picked up Momiji and headed back down the stairs. "So long."
"Bye-bye!" Momiji called waving his little paw at us.
"Hatori!" Kyo growled, "Come back here!" He ran off after him.
Kagome sighed exhausted, "I'll go make sure he doesn't cause a scene."
The one thing Kagome will never underestimate about the Sohma's is how fast they can vanish. She thought that she had lost them for sure when she wandered into the hallway and didn't see anyone. Thankfully Kyo's voice is loud enough for anyone to hear even when far away.
He was standing in the middle of the hallway with his orange cat ears atop of his head, hissing angrily as he looked left and right when he came to a slit in the hall way.
"You lost him?" Kagome asked him when she approached him.
"Don't even start!" Kyo snapped, angry that he lost Hatori, "I know that bastard is around here somewhere."
"What's the big deal? It's just a picture, right?"
"It's not just that! It's what Akito would do when he sees it." He growled giving up on trying to figure out where Hatori went.
"Who gives a damn what Akito thinks."
Kyo pushed his hands in his pocket, "You don't know Akito like some of us do…"
-0-
"Did you get the camera back?" Yuki asked when he and Tohru came down from the roof.
"Don't even start!" Kyo snapped obviously not in the mood, "It wasn't any use."
Yuki turned to the Tohru and Kagome, "Listen, ladies?"
"Yes?"
"It's about Hatori. If you ever see him again, I think it's best if none of you are alone with him."
"Huh?" Kagome asked. "Why?"
"It's just... It's not that Hatori himself is a bad person or anything. I told Miss Honda how when I was a child I transformed in front of children and their memories had to be erased. The person responsible for that...was Hatori."
"Oh…"
"That's the reason why I'm concerned."
Kyo didn't say anything, but he looked a little concerned too.
"I thought I should warn you two about it now."
Tohru was about to ask why when a message came over the intercom for Tohru to go to the teacher's lounge.
"I'll be right back," Tohru said as she left.
"Kagome!" The teenager watched as her little brother came running over. "Are we leaving soon?"
"Yes…shortly, as soon as Tohru is back."
Strange thing though, when Tohru did come back, she wasn't herself at all. What exactly happened?
