Tomodachi
by
Nana
Chapter 2
The Cause
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Author's Notes: Here's the second chapter! It contains spoilers for Episode 78 of the IY Anime. The character of Takeda Kuranosuke appeared in that episode as Sango's…umm, erm, heeheehee…^^ You'll get the drift when you read on.
Sakurakan, the name of their high school in this fic, is the name of a doujinshi circle that does IY doujin. I can't think of any other name right now that will fit.^^
Thanks very much for all your reviews, mina-san! I do hope you will read and review this chap!
Disclaimer: You guys know this by now!
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For a moment Sango stood under the shadow of the newcomer, feeling as though her legs had turned to wood. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his face. Or his smile.
"S-sumimasen," she said, mentally giving herself a shake as she finally recovered enough to take a step back.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't see you. I'm supposed to be on my way to my new school, and I guess I took a wrong turn and ended up here."
He had dark hair that turned a shade of light brown where the sun kissed it, as well as smiling brown eyes.
"Which school are you attending?" Sango asked him.
"Sakurakan High School," he said.
Her eyes widening, Sango said, "that's my high school."
"Really?" He asked, sounding surprised and delighted.
"And you're not really lost. In fact, this is the way to a short cut," she said. "C'mon, I'll show you."
"Thanks," he said as he fell into step beside her.
It turned out his name was Takeda Kuranosuke and by the time they got to the front gates of the school, he had filled her with his basic info, as well as random stuff about his old school and why he had to move to a new one so late into the semester.
"Anyway, Otousan had thought it best for my chances to get accepted into a university this way, so here I am," he said.
Heads turned as they walked into the main building, and people--girls, mostly--stood agape at the sight of the new boy, but he seemed completely oblivious as he continued chatting with Sango.
For her part, Sango was not aware that anything was amiss until her gaze landed on a girl who was staring at them as though she could not believe her eyes. Correction: a bunch of girls.
Sango looked around uncomfortably and turned back to Takeda. She cleared her throat, saying, "well. It was great knowing you. You'll need to get you registration papers. The administration offices are straight on down the corridor."
"Umm, wait," he called after her as she started to walk away, "I never got your name."
Sango stared at him before it occurred to her that she had not even introduced herself to him. "Hinomori Sango," she said simply.
"Hinomori-kun, " he said, bowing his head slightly. "Arigatou."
Sango gave him a rare, polite smile.
"I guess I'll be seeing you around then." With that, Sango left for her classroom.
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"Oooh…Sango-chan, guess who I saw while I was out in the girls' bathroom a few minutes ago," said Higurashi Kagome as she sat herself on the chair in front of Sango. As usual, she made sure her voice was loud enough to carry across to the boy seated a few chairs behind Sango.
Sango stiffened in her seat as she watched a grin slowly spreading across her friend's face.
"Why, it's this really cute guy who's walking with Sango-chan," Kagome continued to sing.
"Save it, Kagome-chan," advised Sango as she took out her Math notebook. "I don't think he heard."
Behind them, the intended audience was, at that very moment, busy chatting with his girl fanclub, as usual.
Kagome shot Terada Miroku a frustrated look and muttered under her breath, "drat."
Higurashi Kagome was Sango's official best friend in high school, and an acknowledged matchmaker. She had not known Miroku as long as Sango had, but that didn't stop her from thinking that the two basketball buddies were made for each other. Thus, while they were still freshmen, she had immediately started her aggressive campaign to bring them together. Although it had taken her two years and counting, she had not lost her energy in bringing her plan to fruition.
Sango had passed the stage where Kagome's schemes had been the cause of a great deal of irritation, and was now resigned to the fact that her friend was apt to try a new trick if the opportunity presented itself.
"You'd think that after all these years, he would at least skip his clueless act," sighed Kagome.
"It's not an act, Kagome-chan," said Sango. Surely, that must be clear to Kagome by now.
"It is," insisted Kagome. "I know it is. You just wait and see. Anyway, who is he?"
"Who?"
"That new guy who was walking with you in the corridor," Kagome said. "I tried to call you but he kept on talking, so I guess you didn't hear me."
"Well, some guy named Takeda Kuranosuke," said Sango, shrugging. "It's his first day here, and he thought he got lost along the way to school, so I offered to show him the shortcut."
"And…?"
"And what?"
"Well, what's he like?"
"I really don't know. Talkative, I guess," Sango said.
"He's really cute," said Kagome with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"Yeah, well, I suppose he is," said Sango after she gave it a bit of thought. She opened her Math notes and began to go through the answers to their assignment.
Kagome suppressed a sigh. It was bad enough that Miroku-kun was clueless, but Sango-chan was not helpful to the Cause either.
A break. All she needed was a break and these two would surely be in for it. In the meantime, she had to wait some more.
But I have to do something fast, Kagome thought as she took her seat beside Sango. The prom's almost here, and nothing's happened yet.
When their sensei walked in, though, it were as if Fate had finally smiled upon Kagome's cause.
"Before we start with lessons, I would like to take this opportunity to announce that we have a new member in our class," he said. "Please come in, Takeda-kun."
And there he was, tall, dignified, walking in with a confident stride. Sango realized that she was staring at the newcomer with her mouth opened slightly in disbelief, and she quickly looked away.
"Everyone, this is Takeda Kuranosuke…" the teacher's voice droned on, and Sango shifted her gaze to Kagome. She frowned at the wide, wide grin of delight plastered onto Kagome's face.
Takeda was staring out at the awed faces in front of him when a familiar face among the crowd caught and held his attention. He smiled at Sango's direction.
"You can take a seat at the back, Takeda-kun," said the teacher when the introductions were over.
Takeda moved over to take a seat near Sango.
"Wow," he said as he leaned over to greet Sango. "Is this a stroke of luck or what? Imagine us bumping into each other like this again."
Sango could not find a word to say to that, so she gave him a weak smile.
"Of course, you know it's not luck," whispered Kagome from the other side as they prepared to start with lessons.
"What is this then?" Sango asked.
"It's a sign," said Kagome.
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From his seat, Terada Miroku watched as the new guy continued to chat with Sango as recess time drew on.
There had been something weird about the whole thing.
When the bell sounded to herald the start of the morning break, a flock of girls had instantly swooped down upon the newcomer, but he had goodnaturedly brushed them off and, standing up, made his way to Sango's side, where he had remained glued ever since.
Miroku had to admit he was surprised. That kind of thing had never happened before.
Perhaps the poor guy was new and so he didn't know what was coming. Approaching Hinomori Sango and taking her by surprise with an ambush like that was not wise. Anytime now, she would surely put him in his place.
The minutes dragged on, and Miroku found himself getting more and more surprised. Whatever was happening to Sango's razor tongue?
He watched, eyes wide, as Takeda laughed at a remark Sango just made.
Is this for real??? His mind quipped as it recovered.
"Pretty cute, aren't they?" said a voice beside him.
Miroku jumped as Kagome seated herself on a chair by his side. "Oh. It's you, Kagome-chan," he said, trying to sound casual.
"And to think they've only met for a few minutes on the way to school this morning," said Kagome.
Miroku stared at her. "Nani?' he asked.
"I can tell this is going somewhere. You know, Sango's never been that friendly with a guy," observed Kagome, pretending not to hear him.
"She's never really been the type to get too close to anyone," conceded Miroku.
Kagome shot him a calculating look. "No," she finally said. "I suppose you would know. But look at how Tekada-kun is carrying himself."
Miroku stared at him, unable to keep a slight frown from his brow.
"I think Takeda-kun is really cool, doing what he's doing right now," Kagome said lightly.
"And what exactly is that?" Miroku asked a bit sharply.
"Making friends with Sango, of course," said Kagome innocently. "After all, very few people would dare let the whole school know they're friends with somebody like Hinomori Sango."
Miroku turned and stared at Kagome tersely. Kagome stared back at him with wide, innocent eyes.
"Where are we going with this conversation?" he asked politely. "It just so happens that we--both of us--are Sango's friends, and the whole school knows it."
"My, my. So we are," said Kagome pensively.
Just what exactly is she up to now? He thought suspiciously.
He was used to her occasional suggestive comments and baiting tactics. After all, she had been doing it for two years, and he had been able to shrug her off with a mere smile. No words were needed to parry Kagome's egging. All he had to do was carry on like this and she would get tired in due time.
"Well, in that case, since we--both of us--are Sango's friends, the least we can do is feel glad she's made another one, ne?" said Kagome brightly.
Miroku stared at her as she got up to go, but his attention was instantly diverted as the sound of laughter--a rare sweet sound--came from Sango.
He stared at her back incredulously.
"See? Like I said: this is definitely going somewhere," said Kagome in a satisfied tone.
Much to his chagrin, Miroku was finding it hard to take in.
Since when did Sango ever laugh with a total stranger?
"That's impossible," he found himself telling Kagome. "That would totally be unlike Sango."
"Well, you'll never know what a girl is capable of, especially when her moment has come," said Kagome.
"I get the feeling you're trying to tell me something here," said Miroku dryly.
"Right! Don't you think you have to get going here?" Kagome said. "You're in denial right now, but you'll have to move quickly or else you're going to lose her!"
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