A/N: Sooooo sorry for the hideously long wait! My dad's comp broke so he's been using this one, along with my mom, whom I already have to compete with for it, and then I have a cold and felt like shit all weekend and on Monday, and then there's school...school. Rather self-explanatory, that one.
Anyway. Oh, and there's my own personal laziness (mixed with a liking of sleep).
Chapter 9
One week. That's it. That's all it took. One week. It only took one week for Kagome to nearly screech at someone for talking about Kikyo again. Again, again, again.
She stood abruptly, and the teacher shot her a questioning look. "Bathroom," she said quickly, and then getting a nod from the teacher.
She rushed out of the room and into the hallway as quickly as she possibly could. She thought about just leaving. As in leaving the school. She shook that idea off and settled for a few quick breaths of calming, fresh air.
She wanted to sprint down the hallway. She didn't. She didn't do anything she wanted, because everything she wanted to do would get her in trouble.
She pushed the door open and sucked in a much-needed gulp of air. She breathed out slowly. It calmed her mind. A little.
And then—
"What, did you have a panic attack or something?"
Her eyelid twitched ever-so-slightly. Oh, why today?
"No," she said harshly. So much for the fresh air. It felt tainted now. Like the stuff inside. "What do you want?"
He actually thought about it. Or pretended to. "A lot of things," he decided.
She raised an annoyed eyebrow. "Rhetorical," she said through clenched teeth.
"Ah," he replied, unfazed by her rude attitude. "You skipping?"
"No, of course not!" she snapped. "I just needed some fresh air."
"It doesn't seem to be helping you," he commented.
"Well, Inuyasha," she began in a fake-sounding polite tone, "it was helping me, and then I heard this extremely irritating noise and it brought be back to my previous mood."
"What was it?" Inuyasha asked, clueless. Moron.
She looked at him for a short second. He didn't catch on. "You're voice!" she screamed at him. He took an inadvertent step back.
And then he blinked once. "Okay, then," he said slowly. "Good to know."
His ear twitched. He whispered, "Teacher's coming!"
She froze and then did the only thing she could think of: She ducked. She crouched down and put her hands over her head, as if it were a tornado drill. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and kneeled down next to her.
The doors were set a couple yards apart, the ones to the left leading outside and the right leading to the hallway. Luckily, they only had a window on the top, and the rest was solid and opaque. They would not be seen unless the teacher peered into the small window or opened a door.
Again they were lucky. Most teachers didn't care enough to really look for a student who could be skipping classes. Inuyasha slowly stood and then looked down at Kagome. "He's gone, you know. You can stand up."
"How do you know?" she whispered frantically. He raised an eyebrow and twitched one of his ears. "Oh…right."
She stretched out of her crouch and looked through the little window. Then she looked to the door that led outside. Then back again. "You know, you could skip."
She stared at him in horror. "Are you serious?"
"Sure." He paused. "I'll go with you."
"Um, I think I'll just go back to class," she said quietly. She hated how, for a second, the idea sounded really inviting. Then she remembered Kikyo. She couldn't suppress the light groan.
"What?" asked Inuyasha curiously.
"Nothing," she said. She glanced at him. He was still watching her, confused. "I'm just so sick of hearing about Kikyo."
He smirked. She ignored him and continued, in a mock-awed voice. "Oh my gosh! Did you see her take that breath of air?"
Inuyasha laughed. She tried to fight her grin, and failed. They were both laughing when a voice asked, "What's the joke?"
They both froze, too. Kagome looked over her shoulder, a couple doors down, to see Kikyo's head peering through the door she held cracked open six inches. She turned her head back and flinched.
Inuyasha had the ghost of a smile still on his face. He didn't flinch, since…well, Kagome thought of several reasons why he wouldn't. She didn't really like many of them. "Nothing," he said in an even voice.
"It must have been funny; I could hear you laughing all the way down the hall." She looked between the two curiously, but mostly looked at Inuyasha. Kagome wanted to grind her teeth together for a short moment.
Before Inuyasha could reply again, Kagome interjected. "I should get back to class."
As she turned to pull open the door, Kikyo asked, "You're Kagome, right?"
Kagome paused, not really processing the words at first. "Yes," she said slowly.
"I remember. My first day, you were the first person I met," Kikyo said in a gentle tone—not that her voice was ever really harsh, as far as Kagome had heard.
"Uh, yeah." She glanced at the door again. "I really need to get back to class."
"Sure," Kikyo replied. "I'll see you around? I'd love it if we could be friends."
"Um…yeah, sure." Kagome shot a quick glance at Inuyasha, who seemed like he had no intention of getting back to his class. "See you."
As she hurried down the hall, she heard a tinkling laugh. Of course. Of course he's making her laugh. That's what he does. That's how his strategy starts.
--
"Natsumi, I won't be home right away," Kikyo said into her phone.
"But, Kikyo, you have an appointment at four," Natsumi replied, exasperated.
"Cancel it. Reschedule it. Whatever. I've got more important plans." Kikyo hung up then.
She began walking down the sidewalk. If she walked home, it would be a long walk. She had no intention of doing so. She saw her target, and she sped up, her long legs carrying her swiftly towards the person she was catching up with.
She tapped the person on the shoulder, causing said person to swing around. "Oh, Kikyo," breathed Kagome. "You scared me."
Kagome wondered if it was true what Inuyasha had said, about her having her own little world and not paying attention to important things like cars, and street signs, and dogs in yards…
"I was wondering if we could hang out," Kikyo said right away.
"Oh, um…" Kagome hesitated. Kikyo got the impression she'd already made plans.
"Or another time, if it works better for you," she added. "I can clear my schedule for practically whenever."
"Could I…call you?" Kagome asked. She didn't really want to, but what else could she say? No? That's just rude. Not that she was against that, but this was a person she had no desire to be on the bad side of.
"Sure," Kikyo said as she pulled a slip of paper from her purse, and it seemed to be a business card. She pulled out a pen and flipped the card over, jotting down two phone numbers. "This one's my cell, and the other is my home phone."
Kagome took the card and stuffed it in a pocket. "I'll…call you, then. Bye."
Kagome hurried to get home now. Kikyo quickly called her limo driver, who was there in minutes. She stared after Kagome with a smirk. She would have fun with this one. Definitely.
--
"Mama, I'm going out," Kagome called towards the kitchen. "I'll be back in a few hours."
She hefted her backpack strap further up on her shoulder and walked out the door. As she headed up the street, she thought about her strange day.
She walked up the drive of a house and up to the front door. She was about to knock when she noticed the door bell. As she reached for it, the door swung open, nearly making her jump out of her skin. Inuyasha stood in the doorway, grinning.
"Miss me?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes. "You wish."
He stepped aside and she walked in, his eyes following her every movement. "You're right," he told her.
"So, what am I helping you with today?" she asked, ignoring his previous statement.
"Um…" He turned and grabbed his backpack, rummaging through it and pulling out…a textbook? What a shocker! He actually brought it home.
Kagome read the subject in large bold letters across the book. "Biology?"
"Yep," he said, popping his lips on the "P".
She sighed lightly. "Let's get started then. Kitchen?"
"No. My mom decided to make a big dinner today. We'd be in her way."
"So…"
"My room." Kagome didn't want to say it, especially if that hadn't been what he had been going to say. So she hadn't. And she also was trying to avoid it, after the black-out incident. But the weather was great. Sunny and not a cloud in sight.
They headed up the stairs after grabbing sodas from the fridge and greeting Izayoi, who had been ecstatic about seeing Kagome again.
She didn't stop outside the door this time, but she still stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, not sure whether to pull a chair up to the small desk or sit on his bed. She would rather like to avoid getting anywhere near that bed again…
