Inukag week, day five: Jealousy


It was all her grandfather's fault.

Kagome didn't understand everything Hojo had told her, because she had long given up on following her grandfather's excuses, which, by the way, were getting increasingly crazier. She didn't know why he insisted on finding new ones each time. Couldn't he have found one really good one and stuck with it?

Still, apparently, it had something to do with her legs. Maybe she should have guessed at the long look Hojo had given her when she had walked into school. Her own friends hadn't even bothered asking her about her illness — or injury, apparently, grandpa's fertile imagination had probably failed him this time — but Hojo was always so… considerate.

He stopped right next to her on his bike as she was starting to walk home.

"Higurashi!" he called, managing to sound both happy to see her and mildly horrified at… Well, yeah, at what? "It's horrible what happened to your cruciate ligament!"

…Huh. Wasn't expecting that one.

"You really shouldn't be walking home," he said, sounding more concerned than angry, and she had to admit it was kind of cute, as opposed to someone else's behavior. "Let me take you!"

"Oh, that's really nice, but it won't be nec—"

"Of course, she would love to go!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. She couldn't tell who had spoken, of Yuka, Eri and Ayumi. Maybe the three of them. One of those days, she would really need to have a conversation with them about making decisions for her.

That was, if she ever stayed long enough in this era again to actually have a conversation with them, which she actually felt less and less inclined to do each time they behaved like that.

Anyway, next thing she knew, she was sitting on the carrier of Hojo's bike, and he was joyfully riding towards her house, which thankfully wasn't very far. It was very nice of him to get her home, probably, and Hojo was very nice guy in general, but… But she really could have walked. She would have to say a word to her grandfather about not inventing stuff that supposedly rendered her incapacitated.

With that and last month's "sudden myopia", it was starting to become ridiculous — she didn't even wear glasses!

Hojo hummed lightly for the entire ride, and Kagome couldn't help but smile. Hojo was a nice guy, and a really good friend. He tended to overdo things, sure, but it was because he truly cared, and she liked that.

Still, she didn't feel much when she was with him. She didn't feel angry, sure, but she also certainly didn't feel… Any of those other things that she felt when she was with Inuyasha.

She jumped of the bike the second they arrived in front of the steps of her house.

"Thank you, Hojo!" she smiled. "I guess I'll be…"

"You can't be serious, Higurashi!" he protested, quickly setting his bike aside. "There is no way I'll let you climb this! Don't worry, I'll take you, just get on!"

He immediately turned around, kneeling, offering her his back, and Kagome winced. That didn't feel right.

"No, I'll—"

"I—I know this is a bit, erm, daring, but I promise to be a gentleman."

Yeah, that really wasn't the problem— Though what was the problem then? She did that stuff with Inuyasha all the time and it had never bothered her.

Oh. That was why. Because she did that with Inuyasha.

"No, thank you Hojo, but I'd much rather climb the steps myself."

"I can't let you do that! You'll hurt your leg! I know you're not that kind of girl, Higurashi, but I still have to insist!"

Something seemed to arise inside of her. "That kind of girl?" What was that supposed to mean?

She would probably have chewed him up right this second if Inuyasha hadn't landed beside her, fortunately while Hojo wasn't looking.

"You're late, wench." He eyed Hojo darkly as the student stood up again, quickly dusting his pants. "And who's that?"

"A friend of yours, Higurashi?" Hojo asked at the same time, frowning at the sight of Inuyasha. Those white hair, those red clothes… Surely Kagome wasn't into that sort of men. And had he just insulted her? There was no way Hojo would let that go that easily.

"Yes, actually!" Kagome replied, grabbing Inuyasha's arm, feeling almost relieved by his arrival. "He's the one who gets me up there," she explained. "He was just a little late since you took me home."

"He took you home?" Inuyasha's voice was low, with a dangerous edge to it, and Kagome didn't blink as she elbowed him harshly. They could not have a Koga scenario right now, especially not with Hojo.

Poor boy wouldn't stand a chance.

Hojo seemed to study them for a few moments. The boy with the red clothes, the white hair, the golden eyes, the purple cloth on the head, and ridiculously long nails; and the lovely Kagome Higurashi with her bright smile, holding on to his arm. A sight he had a hard time making some sense of, until it finally hit him.

"Oh, he's your cousin! Sure, I'll leave you with him. Just be careful up the stairs!"

"I ain't—"

"Bye Hojo!" Kagome interrupted Inuyasha, waving at the young man, and waiting for him to disappear on his bike in the sunset.

She had no idea how he always managed to do that.

She let out a relieved sigh once he was gone.

"And who was that?" Inuyasha asked then, an unsettling tone in his voice.

"That," Kagome said, "was Hojo. My grandfather apparently said I had a problem with my knee so I wouldn't have to get to school…"

"Why did he say I was your cousin?"

She did noticed the slightly dejected way he said it, though she couldn't quite explain why to herself.

"I have no idea. The girls do know you're my, erm…"

He would have been very interested in knowing what he was to her, but apparently, she had a coughing fit right then, and she had lost her train of thought when she managed to breathe normally again.

Too bad.

"Need me to take you up there?" he asked, pointing at the temple.

Kagome shrugged and shook her head. "No, really, I'm perfectly fi— Ah!"

Without warning, he'd lifted her up in his arms, and he started jumping up the stairs at his inhuman speed.

"'m the only one who can do that," he mumbled, so low she almost missed it.

It made her smile.

Most importantly, he was the only one who she wanted to do that.