September 18
Having forsaken my futile experiment, I decided to pursue Kagura of the Wind. I've never been one to actually fight a man for a woman, so it wasn't easy catching her eye with her hulking boyfriend in my line of sight all the time. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I do so love a challenge.
"Dude...you're insane." Miroku mumbled that day at lunch, watching as Inuyasha stared indifferently at Kagura, trying to make eye contact with her. Shouyou sat beside her in a semi-protective fashion, chatting her up. "Shouyou's gonna slaughter you if he sees you ogling his girlfriend."
"I'd love to see that." Gingitsune snickered. Miroku looked at her.
"Don't you see the problem in this?"
"...No, not really." She shrugged. "Truthfully, I find it amusing. I'd like to see what Kagura will do." Miroku sighed wearily, anime-sweatdropping, and turned to Kirara, who sat quietly, reading a book.
"What about you, Kirara?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. "I don't doubt she'll flock to Inuyasha once Shouyou annoys or bores her. Then I suppose he'll kill her." There was a silence, and she looked up innocently from her book to see all of them, even Inuyasha, staring at her, mouths agape. "What? I have a gothic side." Inuyasha shivered a little and shook his head.
Kirara scares me sometimes...
When the others' attention was diverted, Gingitsune quietly asked Inuyasha, "But seriously, though...would you do that?" He rolled his eyes discreetly.
"Of course not. Under previous circumstances, I wouldn't particularly care, but my brother's made it abundantly clear that I'm supposed to watch my tracks around here." He replied softly.
"Oh..." Gingitsune nodded slowly, then asked, more reluctantly, "Have you...you know...before?"
"Do you want me to lie to you?" He looked her straight in the eye as he said this, and it sent a chill down her spine.
"...Kinda, but I think you just answered my question." She mumbled. Inuyasha chuckled, turning back to look at Kagura.
"Sometimes when I feed, I can get a little...rambunctious. Especially when Sesshoumaru isn't around to regulate my intake. If it does happen, it's usually accidental."
"Oh." She cleared her throat nervously, clasping her shaky hands on her lap. Inuyasha, though he heard the girl's heartbeat going a hundred miles a minute, made no move to comfort her, for the bell had just rung, and Shouyou was forced to leave Kagura, providing Inuyasha the opportunity he needed. He ignored the gargantuan jock who passed by their table, "accidentally" shoving him.
Kagura slung her bag onto her shoulder, her cell phone falling out of her pocket. It would have clattered to the none-too-forgiving floor, had Inuyasha not been there to catch it first. Straightening up and holding the cell phone out to her with a dazzling smile, he asked politely, "I'm sorry, but did you drop this?" She returned his smile with one of her own.
"I did? Oh, I'm so hopelessly clumsy." She accepted it from him, brushing his fingers with her softer ones in a subtle gesture. Inwardly, Inuyasha smirked.
"What class do you have to go to? I could walk you there if you want."
"That's nice, but you don't have to do that." Inuyasha's expression fell slightly.
What the hell?
"Ahem...I insist."
"No, that's fine. Besides, I wouldn't want you to be late for your class." Kagura walked around him, calling over her shoulder, "Thanks for catching my cell phone!" Inuyasha stared after her, dumbfounded, and Gingitsune advanced to his side, snickering.
"...What just happened here?"
"Who could really say? C'mon, stud, let's get to class."
"But...she just..." He mumbled, unable to believe it. Gingitsune rolled her eyes, dragging him along. "I had her, though! I know I did!"
"I'm sure you did." Gingitsune nodded patiently, and Inuyasha glared at her.
"I'm serious, Gingitsune, I did!"
"Maybe you did...then maybe she realized she's got a huge boyfriend who could possibly rip you to tiny shreds." Inuyasha snorted at this.
"I sorely doubt—" He abruptly halted in his tracks and looked down at his hands, seeing nothing but palm palms. Gingitsune stared strangely at him.
"You okay?" He absently patted his pockets, then dumped out the contents of his backpack, his expression becoming increasingly more worried. "What are you looking for?"
"My journal...I thought I had it with me." He mumbled, biting his lip.
"Maybe you left it in the—" Inuyasha's eyes widened and he dashed back into the cafeteria. Gingitsune sighed, gathering Inuyasha's things back into his abandoned bag. "...cafeteria...jeez. That guy and that book." Once things were uncluttered again, she went after Inuyasha, a little startled to see him looking all over the place for the small journal, growling in annoyance when he turned up with nothing.
"This is not fucking funny." He turned a suspicious eye onto her. "Tsune-chan, if you have my journal, don't play with me."
"I don't! When the hell would I have taken it?! And for that matter, why the hell would I have taken it?!"
"Why so defensive?!" Inuyasha snapped, and Gingitsune calmed herself down, knowing that nothing would get solved if both of them were squawking at each other.
"Yash, I don't have the journal. Look, the bell's going to ring soon, and you know Harada-sensei's not going to let us in the classroom if we're late. Can't we look for the journal la—"
"No!" He protested, then took a deep breath. "Look, you go to class. I'll risk the tardy, okay?"
"I'm not going in there without you." Gingitsune huffed, crossing her arms. "Please, Inuyasha, just come on!"
"Fuck that. I'm developing suspicions now."
"Ugh—I told you, I don't have your—"
"Not about you." He waved her off. "About that big idiot, Shouyou..."
"You think Shouyou took your journal?" Gingitsune blinked, scratching her head. "Inuyasha, I can't even read your dainty handwriting. Shouyou can't read period. Why would he have taken it?" Inuyasha scowled.
"There's nothing dainty about good penmanship, Gingitsune." He grumbled. "Where did the lummox go?" Gingitsune shrugged.
"Heck if I know. He skips class so often, nobody knows where he should be, let alone where he actually is." Inuyasha clenched his fists.
"I'm going to give you one more chance, Gingitsune. Go to class."
"Are you going?"
"No! I have to find my goddamn journal!"
"Then screw class. I'm with you all the way." Inuyasha gave her a half-smile.
"You'd make a good nyoubou." He chuckled.
"A good what?"
"Never mind. Just come on and help me find Shouyou."
"Alright, alright..." Gingitsune groaned, glowering sleepily at him. "You're lucky I'm your friend, or I'd have abandoned you long before now."
"Sure, sure." The two began sniffing the air, sifting through all the different smells for Shouyou's distinctive odor of sweat, grease and rubber.
"Ooh—this way!" Gingitsune grimaced, leading Inuyasha out of the cafeteria and all the way to the gym. The bell rang and she sighed. "Damn...there goes my perfect attendance record."
"Well, you should've stayed back in class instead of wanting to be around me twenty-four seven." Inuyasha smirked.
"Shut up and listen." Gingitsune shushed him, and the sound of distant laughter drifted into their ears. "Hear that?"
"Yeah. Think it could be Shouyou?"
"I'm pretty sure. Sounds like it's coming from outside." The two rushed through the back door leading to the football field, and the laughter got louder and louder, until Inuyasha and Gingitsune were standing beside the bleachers, where Shouyou and a bunch of his jock friends sat.
"What's going on?" Inuyasha asked, and Gingitsune peeked over the bleacher seats. Her face went white when she saw Inuyasha's leather-bound journal in Shouyou's grubby hands.
"Um...promise you won't rampage."
"I promise nothing." He hissed. "He's got my fucking journal, doesn't he?"
"...Maybe..." Gingitsune grabbed Inuyasha's arm to keep him from smashing the bleachers themselves.
"Hehe—oh, and listen to this!" Shouyou guffawed. "After feeding from a very delectable morsel in the elevator, I come to my brother's room, where he says he is not only allowing me my own place to stay, but he's letting me go to school as well! Of course, I'm overjoyed, but he's got a few rules. It doesn't matter; they shouldn't be too hard to follow. School is supposed to start September the eighth...when is September again?" The jocks laughed uproariously, even though Shouyou had several difficulties pronouncing the words Inuyasha used. "What kind of dumb nerd likes school but doesn't even know when September is?!" Inuyasha wrenched his arm out of Gingitsune and leapt onto the bleachers, glaring at the group.
"Hey, look, it's the nerd himself." One of them smirked.
"Give me the fucking book or I'm going to snap your—" A panicked look on Gingitsune's face made him rethink this and with a slightly annoyed sigh, he corrected, "I'm going to hurt you." They looked at each other, before laughing again.
"Yeah? And what if we...don't?" Shouyou mocked, flicking a lighter beneath Inuyasha's journal, its small flame nicking the pages, but only slightly. Inuyasha's eyes flashed with anger and he grabbed Shouyou by the scruff of his shirt, snarling in his face. Both the journal and lighter fell from Shouyou's hands and Gingitsune caught them, giving Inuyasha a smiling thumbs-up. Seeing that his book was in good hands now, Inuyasha threw Shouyou back into the bleachers, denting them.
"Do it again and I'll really fuck you up." He jumped off the seats and onto the ground, about to walk away, but two of the jocks jumped in front of him, the remaining jock snatching the journal from Gingitsune's hands and holding her wrists behind her back. Inuyasha massaged his throbbing temples, wondering whether he should just kill them and hide the bodies or something.
Nah...then Sesshoumaru would have me relocated. I'm just getting used to this place; I don't feel like leaving just yet.
"Get the hell off me, you muscle-bound freak!" Gingitsune yowled, struggling in the jock's grasp. Shoujou came from out of nowhere and grabbed the journal from his idiotic friend, then, with a manic grin, chucked the journal far off into the distance. Gingitsune gasped in disbelief. Inuyasha's vision misted red and the next hour of his actions were a complete blur...
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"You know what? This really isn't necessary." Inuyasha sighed, crossing his arms. "And I mean really."
"Stop talking!" The policeman barked through the megaphone, the volume piercing Inuyasha's ears. He was right beside Inuyasha because the vampire was considered extremely dangerous. The fact that he had, not too long ago, effortlessly broken out of his handcuffs didn't help refute their notions much.
"Stop yelling." He grumbled.
"You're going to jail. You know that, right?" The other policeman smirked.
"Jail?" Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow.
"Yeah...you know, prison. The slammer. The penitentiary—the correctional institution for criminals like yourself."
"Excuse me? Did you just call me a criminal? You know, don't even answer! Where the hell is Gingitsune?!"
"Look, kid, don't annoy me right now, alright?" The man waved him off, and Inuyasha was peeved more than anything.
Is he fucking kidding me? Did he just call me a kid?
"Fuck off, asshole." Inuyasha flipped him the bird, astonishing himself by even remembering the gesture.
"Real mature."
"Move out of the goddamned way!" Inuyasha's ears automatically perked up upon hearing his best friend's voice.
"Tsune-chan!" He beamed, but was dismayed when Gingitsune appeared with Kagome. "What the hell? What's up with this?! I thought you were coming to help me!"
"I am, crazy!" Gingitsune huffed, still annoyed by the swarm of policemen blockading her.
"What's the problem, guys?" Kagome asked them with a smile, that ambiguous smile Inuyasha seemed to be so familiar with. The police, apparently fearful all of a sudden, bowed deeply to her.
"Higurashi-sama...we..."
"Okay, whatever. What happened to you, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha stared at her.
What pull does she have?! What makes her so goddamned invincible against everyone?!
"I, uh...I beat up some guys." He mumbled roughly.
"He rightfully kicked Shouyou's ass because he stole his journal, then had the nerve to chuck it into the woods!" Gingitsune defended. "Shouyou and all his stupid friends deserved the ass-kicking, no matter how severe!" Kagome watched mirthfully as the four jocks were rolled past in gurneys, unable to even groan their pain due to the unconsciousness.
"Okay. Akira, Kenichirou, I think it would be in your best interests to just...let this one go. I believe Inuyasha's actions were purely in self-defense; he doesn't go around beating people up for nothing. I mean...would you just let a bunch of idiots get away with making a fool of you?"
"No, Higurashi-sama...you're right...we'll let him go." The two policemen, sweating bullets, nodded profusely, and gave orders for the rest of them to move out.
"Impressive, Kagome." Gingitsune grinned gratefully.
"Thanks. Your guardian will still have to come here, though." Inuyasha snorted; the last time he heard from Sesshoumaru, he was in Switzerland.
"That's not happening anytime soon. He's in Deutschland."
"Oh. Then I guess you can be pardoned this time, but please, do try not to be so aggressive when you're beating people up, hmm?" She smirked, and walked off.
"Man, that was a lucky break, wasn't it?" Gingitsune whistled, but Inuyasha barely heard her, staring after Kagome. When she was gone, he shook his head and looked at her.
"How did you know to go get her?"
"My father and hers are in the same business together." The neko shrugged vaguely. "Well, anyway—I'm going to the mall with Kicchan. Wanna come?"
"And end up holding purses? No, thanks." He declined.
Besides, I want to talk to the wench.
"Okay, then. See ya!" Gingitsune ran off and Inuyasha set his jaw.
"I'm gonna need all the strength I've got to do this..." He grabbed a flask from his bag and began drinking ravenously as he began heading in the direction he saw Kagome go. Inuyasha came to the football field, where Kagome, as well as several other females, were dressed in short pleated skirts and sleeveless shirts, decorated in the school's colors. He sat atop the bleachers, well away from the bloodstains, and watched, unsurprised when Shippou appeared beside him.
"What's up?"
"Hey." Inuyasha grunted.
"Whatcha doin' here?"
"I could ask the same of you."
"I'm here to wait for Kagome. I always walk with her home after school. What about you?"
"I...need to talk to her."
"Oh?" Shippou quirked an eyebrow, mildly suspicious. "About what?"
"You can stop being so wary. I've decided fully not to reveal her existence to anyone. I just...wanted to ask her some things. Nothing to do with her being a halfling."
"Well...if you say so."
"We are the Ohtani Snow Leopards, and we're here to win! There's no way for you to get out of the mess you're in! You should've thought twice before you came! To play the Snow Leopards in this football game! Whoo!" The cheerleaders chirped spiritedly, accompanying their jingle with a synchronized dance.
"They're good." Inuyasha commented idly, his attention mostly on the bouncing body parts. Shippou chuckled, following his line of sight.
"You're a mess, dude. Think you could concentrate on a guy's face for long enough to tell me how your day went?"
"It was pretty fucking crappy." Inuyasha scoffed. "Some imbecilic jockstrap stole my goddamn book." Shippou gaped.
"...Wow...honestly...the nerve of some people."
"You're telling me. Then I'm the one who gets in trouble for defending my fucking self."
"That sucks." Shippou shook his head. "Well, you won't have to worry about him anymore, right?"
"Not for at least a few months." Inuyasha smirked.
A couple hours later, the practice was over, and Kagome, after having returned from the showers, came up the bleachers, redressed.
"Hi, S—" She looked at Inuyasha, blinking. "Inuyasha? What are you doing here? Are you still in trouble?"
"Ahem...no. Shippou, would you excuse us, please?" Shippou shrugged and with a snap of his fingers, he was gone again. Kagome stared at Inuyasha, sitting beside him.
"How do you know about Shippou?"
"Honestly, don't play stupid. You know what I am. But I only know that you're a halfling. There's got to be something else to you that I'm not seeing. So I'm here to find out what that is." Inuyasha was sure Kagome would've gone pale, had she not been so completely composed, as well as already pale.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said evenly. "Sure, my mother's a vampire, but my father is as well. I'm certainly no halfling."
"Why must you be so far in denial, girl? I already know what you are, so you can admit it to me. I'm not going to tell anyone."
"I repeat: I don't know what you're talking about."
"Alright, fine." Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Deny it. I don't care. At least tell me how you're able to be feared so easily, in spite of what you are."
"I'm not "easily feared". I'm really not feared at all." She got up, signaling that she wanted to terminate the conclusion.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute!" Inuyasha spluttered, standing as well and following her as she headed down the bleachers and into the streets. "That doesn't make sense. You say you're not half-human; you say you have no position of power—that's completely impossible. There's got to be something about you!" Kagome's sudden stop and 180 turn made him bump into her.
"There's nothing." She said, softly yet sharply. "If you want to continue analyzing my entire life, as I know you've been doing, then by all means, proceed, but you won't find anything worthy of noting. So I sorely suggest you quit while you're ahead, lest you stumble upon something you'll wish you hadn't." Her words shocked Inuyasha.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? If she wanted to say "leave me alone," that's all she had to say, not spout all that equivocal bullshit...
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Black Ice: I don't want to say that these chapters are rolling out like crappy assembly-line toys, because it might jinx the flow, but...gosh, these things are moving.
Blood Rain: (glares) Dude, shut up. I bet you just jinxed the goddamn flow!
Black Ice: Ignoring Rain! Um, we're currently at a loss for ideas, so we want y'all to help us out.
Blood Rain: That's right! Give us your most unique idea, but nothing cliche, like...rich/poor romance or anything centrally high school based. We want the crazy and strange, like...Kagome's soul has been forced to live in the body of a cat or something, a cat that Inuyasha finds!
Black Ice: ...Actually, that idea doesn't sound half bad, dude.
Blood Rain: sighs Gee, thanks.
Black Ice: You may have noticed the lack of parentheses there. Yes, it's true. We've gotten lazy.
Blood Rain: Yeah, but you'll be able to tell what's going on anyway.
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Today's Rant: STOP SHOWING INUYASHA SO DAMN MUCH!
Black Ice: Man...Adult Swim is fucking up. For real. I'm sure everybody remembers how Lupin the Third, Case Closed, Super Milk Chan, and Cartoon Planet used to come on real early in the morning...'bout five, right? Well, lately, there's been an overabundance of Inuyasha airing. I know, I know, everybody's all, "I would think you'd love that, seeing as Inuyasha is the only fanfiction you write." Correction, people: Inuyasha is the only fanfiction I know so well. Okay? It was my first anime. I can't stand watching it now, and I wish I knew why, but I don't, and worse yet, I don't care. Point is: goddamn it, AS, either get some different anime or bring back the oldies! I'm sick of seeing Inuyasha so fucking much on the TV guide, when I wanna see some Milk Chan or Cartoon Planet! God!
And Frisky Dingo sucks shit, too!