Complete the Circle
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Arrows of Love
Kagome wracked her brains for the formula to solve the problem. She really wished that she had spent the afternoon studying instead of getting Inuyasha to try and remember his past life. She was on her last problem, but she just couldn't seem to remember the stupid formula! Suddenly, the horrible bell rang, and the teacher told the students to turn their test in now, or get a zero on their test.
Kagome was tempted to try the last problem still, but she saw that everyone else had already gotten up and were in the process of turning their test in, so she did the same. She saw the expressions on their faces, and knew that a lot of them were worried about the scores they were going to get on the test. Everyone had a dismal expression on, except for Inuyasha.
"Why are you smiling like that?" asked Miroku, pissed at his friend's happy expression
"No reason," Inuyasha said, still smiling.
"You didn't study, did you?" asked Miroku.
"Nope."
"Ah," Miroku replied, understanding now. If Inuyasha had not told him yesterday that he tried to act happy whenever he was worried, he would never have figured it out for himself. In a way, this Inuyasha was a lot like the old one. They both tried to hide their emotions; they just approached the issue differently.
"You're worried, aren't you?" asked Kagome, reaching the same conclusion as Miroku.
"Yup," replied Inuyasha, still acting incredibly happy.
"You must really be worried if you're acting that happy," Sango grumbled, worrying about her own test.
"Why didn't you study yesterday?" asked Kagome.
"I had to take care of Rin," Inuyasha said, his mask slipping for a second, revealing how concerned he was for his sister.
"Kagome!" one of her friends called out, gesturing for her to go to them. She walked there, wondering what they wanted.
"Kagome, I heard rumors that you're going camping with Musashino," her friend said excitedly. "Is it true?"
"Well, yeah, but…" Kagome started, but her friend cut her off.
"You're so lucky!" her friend sighed. "I've been trying to get him to notice me since fifth grade, but he hasn't even looked at me once!"
"It's not like that between us," Kagome said, trying to get her friends to listen.
"Sure, Kagome," another one of them said. "You didn't admit you liked that old boyfriend of yours back then when in reality you did. You may not realize you like Musashino now, but you soon will, and I'm going to be there to say 'I told you so.'"
"You don't understand—" Kagome started again.
"Oi, Kagome!" Inuyasha called to her. Her friends started giggling. "I need to talk to you."
"Go on, Kagome," her friend said, giving her a nudge. Kagome walked to Inuyasha, her face red with embarrassment.
"What?" she asked, sharper than she intended.
"Uh, nothing," Inuyasha said, grinning foolishly. "Miroku just told me to call you for some reason."
"Miroku, eh?" Kagome said, giving Miroku an evil eye.
"It was Sango's idea," Miroku said quickly, pointing to Sango. Kagome looked at Sango in surprise, which quickly turned to irritation.
"Why did you do that?" Kagome asked, annoyed.
"I thought you needed help getting away from your friends' assumptions," Sango said innocently. She was hanging around Miroku way too much.
"Oh yeah? Well now they think that I'm with Musashino!" Kagome said loudly, blushing when she realized that Inuyasha had heard it, too. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Well, we better not disappoint them, then," Inuyasha said. He took her hand, much to her surprise, and led her outside, to their PE class. Kagome felt herself turn red as she heard her friends cheering her on. She had to admit that Inuyasha's grip was warm and reassuring, making her feel safe. As soon as they were outside, though, she quickly took her hand out of his grasp.
"What—Why were you doing that?" she asked nervously, hoping she hadn't offended him.
"Because the public demands it of us," he joked, winking at her before going off to join Miroku and the other boys. She felt relieved, yet frustrated at the same time.
She sat down on the bench to rest, Sango sitting next to her. They watched the girls play tennis, but soon their sight drifted to a certain pair that were playing tennis on another court.
Inuyasha and Miroku were in one team, and they were defeating any team that they met on their way to the top court. They were one court away from the top, and it looked like they were winning. Kagome watched in awe as Inuyasha and Miroku flowed through each other like water, hitting every ball that came their way, never losing their footing. She watched Inuyasha deliver a particularly powerful hit to the ball, causing the ball to bounce in the court once before bouncing out quickly towards the wire mesh. Inuyasha and Miroku gave each other high fives. She heard Sango sigh beside her.
"Sango-chan, what's wrong?" she asked, although she already knew what her friend was sighing for.
"Nothing," she replied, still looking at the pair of boys that had now ascended to the top court. Or rather, she was looking at a particular boy who used to be a monk.
"Miroku looks great out there, doesn't he?" asked Kagome in a normal, conversational tone.
"Yeah he does," Sango said before catching herself. She blushed a deep crimson.
"You don't have to pretend, Sango-chan," Kagome said, giggling.
"I just don't want him to think I'm that easy to get," Sango said, finding her shoes very interesting. Kagome smiled in understanding.
"Yay! School's finally over!" Kagome said happily.
"You forgot we have archery club today," Sango said.
"That's right!" Kagome said, dragging her friend behind her as she went towards the place where the archery club was going to be held. There were quite a few number of people signing up, and she saw Inuyasha and Miroku among them.
"Ah, fancy meeting you here, Sango," Miroku said, smiling in that way that only he could.
"Hmph," Sango grunted in reply, wondering if Miroku had the talent to shoot an arrow and grope her at the same time. She couldn't believe that he of all people would join the archery club. Kendo club, she could understand, but Miroku had never really shown the interest for archery before.
"All right, people," a cold, familiar voice rang out. "Please assemble here quickly if you're going to join the archery club. If you're not joining, then please get out."
Kagome pulled Sango to the place where everyone was headed. She felt something brush against her arm and saw that Inuyasha and Miroku were standing next to her. Sango shifted her position so that she somehow ended up farthest away from Miroku, leaving Inuyasha and Kagome to stand right next to each other.
"I am the supervisor for this club. You may address me as Omori-sensei," Sesshoumaru said, his tone of voice leaving no room for questions. Kagome saw some people shift around nervously under the supervisor's scrutiny.
"Those of you who already know how to use a bow and arrow please raise your hand," he said, his eyes scanning the crowd. Kagome saw that Miroku, Inuyasha, and Sango were all raising their hands. It figures that Miroku and Inuyasha know how to use a bow and arrow, Kagome thought, After all, Inuyasha's grandfather trains youkai exterminators, so he should have taught them how to use it too.
"Only six people?" asked Sesshoumaru in disdain. "How pitiful. Very well, you six go over there and pick up a bow and quiver. You may start shooting the targets that have already been set up. If I should find anyone doing something that may potentially harm someone else, I will do more than just kick you out of the club." He regarded the two students that he did not know coldly. Kagome felt a little sorry for them. "The rest of you follow me. I will instruct you on how to use your bow. If there are any questions, you may ask me," Sesshoumaru said, though he didn't really sound like he welcomed questions.
Kagome followed Inuyasha and Miroku as they each picked up a bow and arrow. She, as well as the others, followed their example. Kagome walked to her target while Inuyasha and Miroku were busy checking the string of the bow, and tapping the bow to make sure that termites hadn't eaten it hollow. Kagome wasn't really sure if she should follow their example. She really didn't know how to do anything other than shoot the arrow, so she decided to put her faith in the people who purchased the bow.
She notched an arrow into her bow and let the arrow fly. It hit the ring just outside of the bull's-eye. She heard one of the people she didn't know whistle in appreciation. She blushed.
Kagome heard the sound of a very powerful arrow whistle through the air, and turned just in time to see the arrow hit dead center in the target. She turned to see who had fired it, and was slightly irritated when she found Inuyasha smirking at her.
He took up another arrow and she decided to do the same. She aimed for the center again and fired. The arrow embedded itself just below the center of the target. She saw Inuyasha's arrow hit the place just above and to the right of his previous arrow. At least he's not so good as to split the first arrow in half, Kagome thought to herself.
She turned to look at Miroku, and was not really impressed by his skills. There were arrows lying beyond the target, and the ones that had actually hit the target were so far away from the center that it would seem as if though he had fired the arrows while closing his eyes.
"Hey, you improved," Inuyasha said, grinning. "Looks like some of your arrows actually hit this time."
"Shut up," Miroku grumbled, firing another arrow. This time his arrow flew off into Sango's target, hitting the center. "See. I can hit the center, too."
"That's Sango's target, you idiot," Inuyasha said, shaking his head. "You suck."
Kagome had to agree with Inuyasha on that remark. She looked over at Sango and saw that the ex-youkai exterminator was trying to fire three arrows at the same time. She let the arrows go and all three hit very close to the center.
"Wow, Sango-chan," Kagome said. "You're pretty good at this."
"It was just a lucky shot," Sango said, blushing slightly at her praise. "I usually can't hit so accurately."
"But you did right now, and that's something to be complimented," Inuyasha said, impressed with her skills. Sango smiled in thanks and they all started to fire their arrows again.
A couple minutes later, Kagome had run out of arrows, so stopped and turned to see how Inuyasha was doing. She was shocked and slightly annoyed when she looked at his target. He had made a small heart using the arrows in the center of the target, and the heart was surrounded by a large star near the outside rim of the target.
"Show off," Kagome grumbled. "Is there anything you can't do?"
"Nope," Inuyasha grinned cheekily.
"He can't ride a bike," Miroku said.
"What?" asked Kagome incredulously.
"Miroku!" Inuyasha said loudly.
"And he can't dance, either," Miroku snickered.
"Miroku!" Inuyasha shouted, promptly swinging his bow at Miroku. Miroku ducked. Kagome heard Sango sigh and shake her head, going back to fire her arrows.
"Stop playing around, you two," Sesshoumaru's icy voice rang out. The two boys immediately stopped. "This session is over, so please return the bows where you found them. Take the arrows out of the targets and put them next to the bows. After you have finished, then you may leave."
The six of them went and retrieved their arrows quietly, Sesshoumaru's cool glance ever watchful of their every move. Finally they finished cleaning up and dismissed themselves. Kagome saw Inuyasha converse a bit with Sesshoumaru before he ran to join them.
"I just told him about our camping trip tomorrow," Inuyasha said, walking next to them. "He's going to drive us there, so be ready to leave at 7:30."
"In the morning?" asked Miroku.
"Duh," Inuyasha replied. "Better pack your stuff tonight."
The group conversed lightly until they reached the place where they would have to split up. Sango and Miroku both walked one direction, while Inuyasha and Kagome walked the other. Kagome noticed the Sango was allowing Miroku to walk closer to her than usual. She smiled to herself.
It's so cute to see Sango-chan and Miroku-sama together, she thought. It's about time they started to somewhat admit their feelings toward each other. I just hope Miroku-sama doesn't keep ruining his chances by being a pervert. She sighed.
"What's wrong?" asked Inuyasha.
"Nothing. I was just thinking of how cute Miroku-sam-err, -san is with Sango," Kagome said. She really had to remember to start calling Miroku "Miroku" instead of "Miroku-sama" if she didn't want to start to attract attention.
"I just wish those two would stop tiptoeing around each other," Inuyasha said. Kagome looked at him in surprise. "It's so obvious that they're head over heels for each other, but nooooo. They just have to play hard to get with each other. It's annoying." Was this coming from Inuyasha? Kagome had to resist the urge to hit herself a few times to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"You mean, you've noticed?" asked Kagome, still not quite believing her ears. Inuyasha wasn't exactly the brightest in their group, but then again, that was back then.
"Do you think I'm stupid or something?" asked Inuyasha in pretend annoyance. "Miroku's my best friend. Don't you think I would know what he's feeling? Yeah, sure he remembers his past life, but I can still read him like a book."
"Really?" asked Kagome, surprised that he was so perceptive. Had Inuyasha always been this way?
"Of course," Inuyasha answered as they crossed the street. Suddenly a guy on a bike rode quickly past them, causing Kagome to stagger back and trip. Inuyasha grabbed her hand just before she fell.
"Watch where you're going, asshole!" Inuyasha shouted at the person. The person just turned around and made a rude gesture at Inuyasha. But because he wasn't watching where he was going, he crashed into a pole, causing the people around him to laugh.
"Hey, you okay?" asked Inuyasha gently.
"Y-yeah," Kagome replied, blushing. She noticed that Inuyasha was still holding her hand, but he didn't seem to notice. She decided not to mention it to him.
"Let's go then," Inuyasha said as they continued on their way. Kagome couldn't stop herself from blushing. Inuyasha of the Sengoku Jidai would never have held her hand like this. She decided that she could get to like this new Inuyasha. Or could she?
She started to frown. She felt like she was betraying Inuyasha by liking this person. Sure, they had the same soul, but they weren't really the same person, were they? She had always told herself that she was a different person from Kikyo, so didn't that mean that Inuyasha was different from Musashino? Was this what Inuyasha had felt when he had seen Kikyo and her together? Did he feel like he was betraying Kikyo by loving her? Or did he love her? Did he just see Kikyo in her and protected her because of it? Did she even love this Inuyasha, or was it just because he looked similar to the past Inuyasha when he was human?
She didn't have time to completely sort out her thoughts for they had arrived at the steps to the shrine. She felt Inuyasha slip his hand out of hers and immediately missed the presence. Baka! You don't even know if you like this Inuyasha! she berated herself.
"See you tomorrow, then," Inuyasha said, waving his hand as he walked off to his house.
"See you tomorrow…Musashino," Kagome said quietly. Then she ran up the steps to her room to pack, pushing all other thoughts away.
Author's Note: Yeah… I should be preparing for school, but oh well.