Disclaimer: We don't own any of these characters. All the characters
who ever appear in this whole fic were likely in one of Rumiko
Takahashi's manga's at some point.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
"At least now I've got history first hour." Thought Kagome glumly as
she walked through the door and into the classroom. For once she was
early, but her arrival was hardly noticed by the few other students
present in the room, who were all staring out the window at whatever
was happening in the courtyard. She didn't particularly care what was
happening outside, though: her life was already too much of a mess
without worrying about what was going on at school.
She had spent most of her all-too-short summer break running around
the Kanto region with Inuyasha, chasing after rumours of Naraku and
of Shikon Shards. It had been completely exhausting, and she still
wasn't sure just what the point of it all had been. They still
seemed no closer to puting an end to it all thanwhen she finally had
to come back than when they had started on the quest so long ago now.
To make matters worse, that morning she had woken up a full hour
before her alarm clock had gone off and hadn't gotten nearly as much
sleep as she had intended. Though, after some thought on the matter,
she decided that it really shouldn't have been a surprise that she
had woken up with the sun... That was what she had been doing for the
past three months, after all.
Several more of her classmates walked throught the door of the room,
cheerfully discussing Kagome. She couldn't quite make out what was
being said, but she felt a chill run down her spine.
She shrugged it off and looked at the clock. Just three minutes till
eight now. She started to pull books out of her bag and smiled a
little as her eyes fell on the title of the text book, "A History of
Japan: From Sengoku to Meiji."
Kagome smiled and put the book back down, giggling at the absurdity
of her taking a class that focused on a period of time that she
visited quite frequently. "At least this will be one class that I
shouldn't have any trouble passing."
Her face fell as she spotted the small jar in which she kept the
Shikon Shards they had collected. Even after all of what had
happened, she still couldn't let them out of her sight. It was
almost sad, that even now, when her backpack was being used for its
original purpose for the first time in months, it still carried with
it all of the problems of the past.
She turned her eyes back to the clock. Only one minute now before
the bell was going to go off. It was really odd for the teacher to
not be in the roomyet by this time. She tapped the girl sitting in
the chair in front of her to draw her attention.
"Why isn't Tanaka-sensei here yet?" The other girl looked at her
blankly for a second, before replying.
"You haven't heard?"
Kagome shook her head. She had just gotten back last evening and had
barely had time to find out all of the news that had happened at
home, read her acceptance letter to Furinkan High School, and go out
to buy the books listed for the classes on her schedule.
"The old man had a heart attack just three days ago and the
principal used it as another excuse to bring in some kind of special
disciplinarian teacher again... I hear he wants to cut down on all of
the people skipping school."
Kagome's face fell. Just what she needed: some new policy about
absenses. She had been hoping that here, at least, no one would pay
much attention to her disappearing for weeks at a time. The girl in
front of her leaned a little bit closer.
"The weirdest thing is that the new guy they got to replace him came
in and applied for the job the very next day after the position was
advertised. Usually teachers have to be dragged kicking and screaming
to work here. I've heard that he's one of the most sought-after
teachers in the country, too! He won some kind of teaching award last
year. He could have his pick of any school in Japan, so why come
teach here? Furinkan has the highest employment turnover rate in the
nation!"
The bell rang, and still there was no teacher in the class.
Kagome smirked and whispered to herself, "Well if he's big on
punishing tardies, looks like he'll be the one to have to go stand
out in the hall with buckets."
She picked up her textbook and began to flip through it, seeing if
she could find anyone she knew in it. She eventually found a small
illustation that she almost swore looked like Miroku and Sango. She
became so wrapped up in trying to find more information on the image
that she didn't hear the teacher walk throught the door.
She didn't hear the reaction of most of the other girls in the
class... or introduce himself... or call out names for roll call..
until he reached her name, that is.
"Higurashi, Kagome!"
Kagome immediately snapped out of her reverie. Not wanting to make a
bad first impression, she raised her hand and looked up to say
"here", only to find herself completely incapable of speech.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Great Teacher Sesshoumaru
Note: This fic has nothing to do with GTO, blame Megatokyo for
introducing us to this whole concept.
Original concept and written by The Silver Chocobo.
Cowritten, and Edited for the sane by The Beige Chocobo.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
The teacher paused in the roll call long enough to make look out
over the room, commenting briefly when he spotted Kagome's hand in
the air.
"How fascinating... Higurashi seems to be here today. They had told
me not to expect her in for at least a week."
Her expression of abject fear, on the other hand, drew no comment
whatsoever.
Kagome stared in silent shock at the front of the classroom: her
history teacher, the one who was supposedly one of the most sought-
after teachers in Japan, the one who was rumoured to be an extremely
strict disciplinarian, was none other than Sesshoumaru! He may not
have been wearing his armor and was missing the markings on his face,
but there was no mistaking his appearence! Did the universe hate her?
Was she doomed to be plagued by the constant prescence of Youkai
until she died? *Was* she going to die soon?
As Kagome contemplated her apparent status as the universe's
favorite punching bag, Sesshoumaru continued on with the roll call
and prepared to began class, completely ignoring the fact that one
of his students was sitting at her desk, frozen in terror.
Kagome's state, however had not escaped the notice of her
classmates.
"What's wrong with Higurashi?" Whispered one girl.
"Probably has a crush on Kagemori-sensei." Responded the girl
sitting in front of Kagome, winking.
The first girl shook her head slightly. "I don't know... She looks
more like she's frightened than anything else."
The girl in front of Kagome clasped her hands dramatically and her
eyes seemed to sparkle. "Love can be a terrifying thing sometimes!"
Her friend prepared to answer again, and probably would have, except
the sound of a throat clearing at the front of the classroom caught
her attention.
"If you two are quite done," said Sesshoumaru, his expression not
changing from the calm, almost bored, expression that had been on his
face the entire time, "I would like to begin class now."
The girls blushed and shrank back into their seats, not wanting to
incur the wrath of their new teacher, especially since they both had
decided that he was good looking enough that they didn't want to get
on his bad side. The rumours about what a strict teacher he was had
completely slipped their minds, and those of most of the female
population of the class, as soon as he had walked in the door.
Through all of this, Kagome just remained in her seat, frozen, and
stared at the front of the room.
*** *** ***
"Get out of my way Miroku!" Screamed Inuyasha as he walked towards the
'bone eaters well.' He still couldn't get over the dream he had
last night, or the feeling that there was something absolutely
horrible happening to Kagome right that instant.
Miroku held his ground in the face of the white-haired Hanyou's
advance. He frowned slightly and shifted his stance slightly, so as
to be able to move quickly to block any attempts to rush past him and
jump into the well should his barrier fall.
"Inuyasha, why do you want to go after Kagome-sama? She just left last
night, and asked that we at least let her get through her first day of class
without incident."
Inuyasha dashed a short distance and jumped into the air, hoping to
get by the annoying monk and go through the well. He just couldn't
get over the feeling that Kagome was in grave danger. But there was
also something else, almost a inkling of *why* she was in danger. His
thoughts on the matter were cut off as he was shocked, quite
literally, into awareness.
Smoke rose from the fringes of his hakama and small arcs of
electricity ran over his body as his pulled himself back to his feet.
"Dammit, Miroku, drop that barrier and let me by! This is SERIOUS!!!"
He put one hand on the hilt of the Tessaiga and prepared to draw it.
If he couldn't get by the monk at least semi-peacefully...
Miroku's frown deepened as he witnessed the display of extreme
stubbornness in front of him. He would *not* break his promise to
Kagome: Inuyasha would just have to wait on this side of the well for
her to return!... He just had to convince his companion that he
should wait. Miroku's face brightened as he hit upon a possible way
to convince Inuasha that there was no immediate danger. When he
spoke, it was in a calm tone, as if he were explaining matters to a
small child.
"Kagome-san is probably facing one of the challenges she spoke of:
pop-quizes, performance evaluations, trigonometry, or even one of the
other tortures she spoke of that were inflicted on her if she
misbehaved. There is nothing that you can do to help her though with
any of these! She is not really in danger, and anything you might do
would be likely only to make her predicament even worse!"
Inuyasha fumed at Miroku, and tightened his grip on the Tessaiga. If
only humans weren't so fragile, he would just cut his way through the
barrier and be done with it! But *no*, if he dealt even the smallest
bit of harm to Miroku, even a light impailing, the monk would die
and Kagome would never let him hear the end of it. He just *had* to
think of a way to break through the barrier and incapacitate Miroku
in a non-permanent manner!
So deep was Inuyasha in thought about how best to make it to the
well without leaving only a red smear where there once was a monk,
that he failed to notice Miroku jerk his head in a signal to someone
behind him. In fact, it was only when the second assailant was
almost upon him that he realized what was happening and, by that
time, it was too late.
From his position under an oversized, and overly heavy, statue of
Jizou, Inuyasha stared out in fury as his captors consulted amongst
themselves. If he could just manage to throw off the statue and break
free of the wards Miroku had slapped on him while he was distracted
by the extra weight, the fox-brat would pay!
Shippo just leaned lazily back against the statue of Jizou from his
seat on top of Inuyasha's head, sucking on a lollipop that Kagome had
given to him before she left. "That should hold the idiot for a
while, right Miroku?"
Miroku thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes, Shippo, your
spell and my wards should be enough to incapacitate at least long
enough for you to get Kaede-sama from the village to help. If she and
I combine our powers, we should be able to hold out until Sango-sama
arrives. After that, it should be fairly easy to keep Inuyasha from
getting to the well and disturbing Kagome-sama."
Shippo nodded his head in confirmation and bounded off into the
woods, pushing Inuyasha's head down into the dirt in the process.
The slightly muffled curses of the trapped Hanyou followed after him
for quite some time.
*** *** ***
For Kagome the school day passed quickly. There was no question that
the man who had been at the front of her first class, talking about
the past in quite a bit of detail and rather easily, was none other
than the same Youkai she had known. He was missing the armor, and
the red markings, but there was no doubt that it was indeed
Inuyasha's older brother.
Furious pondering over why he was there and what he intended to do
occupied her thoughts throughout the rest of the class periods. In
fact, she didn't even notice the teachers changing or when the lunch
period came and went, she was so deep in thought.
At first her classmates regarded her lack of movement and blank
stare with warieness, but soon shrugged it off as a manifestation of
the rumoured weirdness inherant in their new school and left Kagome
to her thoughts.
Thus, Kagome remained where she was, undisturbed, even after the
final bell rang and all the other students rushed out of the room, in
a hurry to both leave the room and its manifestation of weirdness
(namely Kagome), and to leave the school grounds so they could hang
out with their friends.
Once again, it was Sesshoumaru's voice that interrupted her thoughts.
"If I could have a word with you, Higurashi..."
Kagome jerked back to her senses, finally noticing that the rest of
the students were gone and that she was alone in the room with
Sesshoumaru.
"Err... Not now!"
Sesshoumaru just raised an eyebrow at her.
"Ahhh... What I meant to say, sensei, was that my grandfather's sick
and I have to get right back home to help take care of him!" Kagome
mentally patted herself on the back for both coming up with an excuse
and getting back at her grandfather for inventing all those weird
sicknesses last year.
Her valiant effort was completely wasted, as Sesshoumaru had
apparently prepared for such an eventuality. "Your grandfather
sounded just fine when I talked to him not one hour ago. In fact, he
commented on how taking care of a shrine was so much work that he
might have to ask for you to be excused from classes from time to
time if too many more days were as busy as today."
"Err.... That is... What I meant to say was..."
Kagome's attempts to speak were cut off when Sesshoumaru smiled
slightly and waved a hand at her in dismissal (his left hand, she
noted with not a small bit of shock). "I'm sure that your classmates
have already informed you of who I am and why I am here, have they
not?"
Kagome could only nod weakly in response. The sight of Sesshoumaru
smiling was just too frightening to allow her to do anything else.
"Good. Then you know that, in addition to my responsibilities as
History teacher here, I am also in charge of reducing truancy at this
school and cutting down on the number of disturbances throughout the
day. As you were reported to have been absent quite often during the
year last year, you fall directly into my area of responsibility."
Kagome broke out into a cold sweat. She *really* didn't want
Sesshoumaru to be paying close attention to her. It was just
something that she considered to be a surefire way to shorten her
life expectancy considerably.
Sesshoumaru either didn't notice her discomfort, or, as was more
likely the case, didn't care, and kept on speaking. "Your Grandfather
seemed rather insistant about having you present back home to meet an
old acquaintence of his later... His history teacher, if I remember
correctly, so I won't keep you any longer. Just remember, the
principal has granted me rather broad powers with which to perform my
duties, so it would not be in your best interests to get on my bad
side. Do *try* to pay attention in class tomorrow, would you? Your
behavior was rather disruptive today."
With that, he turned around and walked out the door, leaving Kagome
back at her desk, once again having slipped into a state of shock.
"He... smiled?"
*** *** ***
Kagome peddled as fast as she possibly could as she weaved between the
cars that were clogging the street. In her mind she kept seeing all of
the times that Sesshoumaru had fought inuyasha. She kept seeing the
hand going through inuyasha's chest. She couldn't help but think that
any moment Sesshoumaru was going to leap up from behind her, his glowing
green hand outstretched, ready to run her through.
She closed her eyes for a moment to scream, only to open them up a split
second later and really scream, as she barely avoided hitting another
girl riding a bike even faster than she was in the opposite direction.
Without even thinking about it she turned around to watch the other
biker for a split second. All she could see of the other bike now was a
purpleish blur as it sped away, but here out of the corner of her eye she for
a split second she thought she caught a glimpse of a man with silvery-white
hair.
Her worst fears realized she gripped the handlebars and began peddling even
faster, if that was even possible. There was no chance that Sesshoumaru
would attack her here, on the street, was there?
She shook her head, not wanting to think of anything reassuring other than
being back on the other side of the well. Of being back in the protection
of Inuyasha.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts and her terror that she almost passed
right by the shrine. She ran up the steps towards the concealed well, and
nearly ran into her Grandfather.
"Kagome? You're back early. I didn't expect you for at least another half
hour or so. Weren't you going to go and meet your friends today at the
ice-cream shop?"
Kagome paled as she remembered that she was supposed to go meet them
today. Though she sighed a little bit as she remembered that they would
probably try to encourage her to go chase after Hojo.
"Something came up Grandpa... I have to go and talk to Inuyasha about
something..."
Her grandfather dropped the broom he was holding and spread his arms out
as far as he could as she said this.
"Oh no! I'm not going to let you jump down the well tonight! We have a guest
coming for dinner tonight!"
"Grandpa! I have to go!"
"I won't allow it!"
Kagome sighed, she really hated to do this to her grandfather, considering
what he was likely to do, but this was the best payback for all of the
legends that he had force fed her over the years.
"Look! Its the legendary three headed monkey youkai!"
"Where! It has plagued us for too long!" Kagome watched nerviously for a
second as her grandfather ran off in the opposite direction, pulling wards
from somewhere. Once he had rounded the corner of the house Kagome bolted
as fast as she could towards the well. She ran through the open door,
pulling it shut behind her. She looked into the well, the bottom was
concealed in darkness.
Without looking back, Kagome jumped into the well.
*** *** ***
"Are you sure this is a good idea Inuyasha-sama?" Myouga asked as he worked
at peeling off a ward that had been hastily slapped onto the statue by Miroku.
"Of course! and stop complaining so loudly!" whispered Inuyasha as he eyed
the bored monk, without trying to draw attention to the fact that he was
still trying to get free of the wards. In the last hour he had managed to
pull most of himself out from under the heavy statue, and had also managed
to creep a few more feet towards the well. Unfortunately for him, at random
intervals in these escape attempts Miroku would whack him on the head and
place more wards on the statue, which by now didn't increase the apparent
weight of the statue as much as they just annoyed the hell out of the hanyou.
"Kagome did seem quite insistant that you were not to interupt her today."
mused the flea youkai as he continued the slow work of peeling the ward off
of the statue.
"Feh, Kagome still doesn't realize that all of that stuff in her school is
worthless! I looked through that book of hers once and there wasn't anything
on youkai, healing, or even astrology! She should know by now that all that
matters is us getting the Shikon no Tama back in one piece!" Inuyasha
realized too late that he had once again screamed at the flea. He glanced
quickly to see if Miroku had noticed. Inuyasha growled slightly as he saw
the ammused look on Miroku's face.
"Do you really think that Myouga can pull all of those wards off before
Kaede arrives to help me reinforce the barrier? If that flea is over there
pulling on those wards again, I'm going to make sure that my next blow
squishes him." Inuyasha frowned briefly for a moment before putting up the
best facade he could manage given the circumstances.
"No of course Myouga isn't here!" Inuyasha quickly stole a glance at the
ward that Myouga was working on, only to find it once more sealed down nicely
and the old man no where to be seen. It only took a moment for the increased
weight to once again crush Inuyasha back down flat against the ground.
"Damnit!!!" Inuyasha shouted as he once more struggled to get any leverage he
could on the heavy weight of the statue, only to find that once again it had
become too much for him to life by himself, his face getting firmly planted
back in the grass.
Miroku chuckled as he watched Inuyasha trying in vain to escape. He was just
about to turn away to concentrate on the small campfire he had started up to
cook dinner again when he saw Inuyasha's ears twitch involuntarily. Miroku
stood up and glanced in the direction of the village. As he suspected, Sango
and Shippo were walking up the path. He bent down to poke at the growing
campfire briefly, then stood up fully again and walked over to the
incapacitated hanyou.
"Inuyasha, if I pull the wards off now so it will be easier for you to talk
to Sango and myself, will you promise not to jump down the well to retrieve
Kagome?" Miroku waited for Inuyashas response briefly. It was clear that
it was taking him a long time to decide.
When he finally did respond, the answer came out as a muffled and nearly
inaudible "mmph!"
"I'll have to take that as a yes." Miroku said as he began to peel off the
wards that were on the statue weighting Inuyasha down.
By the time he had reached the last ward, Sango and Shippo had arrived at
the clearing. Inuyasha had managed to pull himself up far enough that he
was able to hold his head up with one hand, as he impatiently drummed on the
ground with the fingers of his other hand.
"Come on Miroku! Hurry up and pull this ward off!" Miroku paused as he
reached for the ward, obviously reconsidering allowing the hanyou to run free.
"It would seem that you're able to discuss the matter just fine now." Sango
said dryly as she knelt down in front him.
"Damnit Miroku! You said that you'd free me from this before we 'talked'
about this!" Miroku sighed and pulled the last ward off. Catching the now
quite small and nearly insubstantial statue in his hand.
In the blink of an eye Inuyasha had jumped up, bowling over Sango and was
clearly on his way to the well.
"Wait! I thought we were going to talk about whats going on!" Miroku shouted
as he stopped to help Sango back to her feet.
"Theres nothing to talk about! I'm going to get Kagome!" And with that,
Inuyasha jumped into the well.
Miroku cursed, as he and Sango both ran towards the edge of the well and
looked in. They fell backwards as Kagome pulled herself up over the edge.
"That was much faster than I expected." Miroku explained as he stood back up,
and watched as Kagome nearly jumped out of the well.
"You have to save me... from Sesshoumaru!"
*** *** ***
"What do you mean Sesshoumaru is at your school?" Asked Inuyasha
lazily. He was laying on his side facing away from her as he stared
off into the distance somewhere. "I just fought him a few days
ago... heh, he's probably still recovering somewhere."
"But weren't you the one who was wounded Inuyasha?" asked Shipo
playfully as he poked Inuyasha's side.
"Gaaah! Thats not funny!" he yelled, pounding Shippo into the ground.
"Is it possible that he managed to slip by you by becoming just a sphere
of light? Or by becoming totally invisible? I've fought some youkai
before who could do those sort of things, and with how powerful Sesshoumaru
is I suspect he would be capable of such things" Sango said thoughtfully
as she sat down next to Miroku at the campfire.
"I think you are all overlooking the obvious conclusion." Miroku
said, as he sipped some of the tea that he had found in Kagome's bag.
"Oh? You think you know whats going on?" Sango eyed Miroku cautiously.
"Just how old are you Inuyasha?" Asked Miroku as he took a sip of tea.
"Uh..." Inuyasha paused nerviously, the truth was that anymore he wasn't
quite sure of the answer to that himself. "Whats that got to do with it!"
Shouted Inuyasha.
Miroku hit Inuyasha across the head with his staff, leaving a bruise.
"Baka" he whispered under his breath. Miroku paused for a moment, and
collected his thoughts. When he looked up again his facee had a much
more serious look to it than it had a moment ago.
"Have you forgotten that Naraku did not place the curse upon me. He
placed it on my grandfather. We know Naraku is fifty, despite his
youthful appearance. Have you forgotten that Sesshoumaru is older
than that. We know that Inuyasha's father was very old indeed...
Youkai can live for a very long time. I think that its clear, from
Kagome's description that this is not the same Sesshoumaru that you
fought three days ago. After all, this one had two arms."
"Are you saying that there are still Youkai in my time?" Kagome
asked, she was a little bit freaked out. As if she wasn't already.
Returning to her own time was begining to seem like a really bad
idea.
"pheh, he probably is just using some humans arm again. He probably
thinks that he can attack you in the future and get me to hand over
the Tessaiga, or the shikon shards that you carry."
"Why would Sesshoumaru want the Tessaiga Inuyasha?"
"And Sesshoumaru has never shown any interest in the Shards of the Shikon
no Tama." Sango added quickly.
"Well, uh..." Inuyasha paused, he hated to admit it, but they had
a point.
"I guess that means you don't kill him, doesn't it." Stated Shippo,
still not really seeming to take much interest in the conversation.
"So what do you think Sesshoumaru is after Miroku-dono?" Kagome asked.
"I have no idea." He quickly responded. "What I do know is that we
need to figure out what Sesshoumaru wants with you..."
He paused. for a moment and sighed.
"It is a pity that Inuyasha and I cannot accompany you, as we would
be all too visible at your school."
Kagome looked away for a second, a pained expression coming over her
face. "actually, I don't think that would be a problem at my new
school."
"Didn't you make it in to the elite school you tried out for. I'm
sure Kagome-san that with your intelligence and beauty that..."
"I didn't make it in!"
Miroku stopped talking and looked at her with a rather forced grin.
"Oh, what school did you end up at then? Was it one of the other fine
educational establishments you spoke of?"
Kagome sighed and looked embarrassed.
"No, I wound up at the worst highschool in all of Tokyo... Furinkan."
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
-End of Part one of Great Teacher Sesshoumaru
This fic, and many more can be found at:
Authors Notes:
Finally after months and months of having no new fanfiction of any real
quality to show, we have managed to rush this out of the door in, what is
for us, hardly and time at all. Originally we were talking about this
being a one shot, but by the time we realized that we barely had any
of the events of the fic really plotted out it was painfully apparent to us
that it would take us far too long to complete anything approaching a one
shot based on this idea before the next ice-age. So we've decided to split
it up into at least three parts, with this, being the introduction part
will probably be the shortest.
Releasing this comes as a major relief, as it was begining to look like a whole
year might go by without us getting anything done. Between all of the things
that distract us from working, and all of the things that we do when we should
be working on fanfics it sometimes feels like we're never going to
get anything done at all. Then one of us manages to sit down and practically
churns out all of a whole chapter. I guess thats just the way that it works
out.
The idea for this whole mess came during a trip I made to visit Beige over
the summer when he was staying at his sisters. During which, I was subjected
to a very large quantity of new anime series, Excel Saga, Gasaraki, but mainly
Inuyasha.
I'm not sure how my brain made the connections that led to Sesshoumaru having
employment opportunities in Education, but the connections were made, and I
began formulating some rough ideas, which finally coalesced into a rough idea
around the next time Beige was in town.
As was usual, we made the best work on fic plotting while wandering around,
or while driving around between our hometown and the cities. It seems weird
that we can't sit down and plot stuff out, but I suppose that when we're
near a computer, or a tv we get too distracted by shiney things and can't
think creatively enough.
Eventually I managed to sit down and started work on this. It actually got
along rather quickly (for us at least) once I managed to get working on it.
By this point I hope you're all silently cursing us for leaving the fic at
this point, and are preparing to fire off email beggin us to continue.
(thats whats known as a subtle hint boys and girls)
who ever appear in this whole fic were likely in one of Rumiko
Takahashi's manga's at some point.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
"At least now I've got history first hour." Thought Kagome glumly as
she walked through the door and into the classroom. For once she was
early, but her arrival was hardly noticed by the few other students
present in the room, who were all staring out the window at whatever
was happening in the courtyard. She didn't particularly care what was
happening outside, though: her life was already too much of a mess
without worrying about what was going on at school.
She had spent most of her all-too-short summer break running around
the Kanto region with Inuyasha, chasing after rumours of Naraku and
of Shikon Shards. It had been completely exhausting, and she still
wasn't sure just what the point of it all had been. They still
seemed no closer to puting an end to it all thanwhen she finally had
to come back than when they had started on the quest so long ago now.
To make matters worse, that morning she had woken up a full hour
before her alarm clock had gone off and hadn't gotten nearly as much
sleep as she had intended. Though, after some thought on the matter,
she decided that it really shouldn't have been a surprise that she
had woken up with the sun... That was what she had been doing for the
past three months, after all.
Several more of her classmates walked throught the door of the room,
cheerfully discussing Kagome. She couldn't quite make out what was
being said, but she felt a chill run down her spine.
She shrugged it off and looked at the clock. Just three minutes till
eight now. She started to pull books out of her bag and smiled a
little as her eyes fell on the title of the text book, "A History of
Japan: From Sengoku to Meiji."
Kagome smiled and put the book back down, giggling at the absurdity
of her taking a class that focused on a period of time that she
visited quite frequently. "At least this will be one class that I
shouldn't have any trouble passing."
Her face fell as she spotted the small jar in which she kept the
Shikon Shards they had collected. Even after all of what had
happened, she still couldn't let them out of her sight. It was
almost sad, that even now, when her backpack was being used for its
original purpose for the first time in months, it still carried with
it all of the problems of the past.
She turned her eyes back to the clock. Only one minute now before
the bell was going to go off. It was really odd for the teacher to
not be in the roomyet by this time. She tapped the girl sitting in
the chair in front of her to draw her attention.
"Why isn't Tanaka-sensei here yet?" The other girl looked at her
blankly for a second, before replying.
"You haven't heard?"
Kagome shook her head. She had just gotten back last evening and had
barely had time to find out all of the news that had happened at
home, read her acceptance letter to Furinkan High School, and go out
to buy the books listed for the classes on her schedule.
"The old man had a heart attack just three days ago and the
principal used it as another excuse to bring in some kind of special
disciplinarian teacher again... I hear he wants to cut down on all of
the people skipping school."
Kagome's face fell. Just what she needed: some new policy about
absenses. She had been hoping that here, at least, no one would pay
much attention to her disappearing for weeks at a time. The girl in
front of her leaned a little bit closer.
"The weirdest thing is that the new guy they got to replace him came
in and applied for the job the very next day after the position was
advertised. Usually teachers have to be dragged kicking and screaming
to work here. I've heard that he's one of the most sought-after
teachers in the country, too! He won some kind of teaching award last
year. He could have his pick of any school in Japan, so why come
teach here? Furinkan has the highest employment turnover rate in the
nation!"
The bell rang, and still there was no teacher in the class.
Kagome smirked and whispered to herself, "Well if he's big on
punishing tardies, looks like he'll be the one to have to go stand
out in the hall with buckets."
She picked up her textbook and began to flip through it, seeing if
she could find anyone she knew in it. She eventually found a small
illustation that she almost swore looked like Miroku and Sango. She
became so wrapped up in trying to find more information on the image
that she didn't hear the teacher walk throught the door.
She didn't hear the reaction of most of the other girls in the
class... or introduce himself... or call out names for roll call..
until he reached her name, that is.
"Higurashi, Kagome!"
Kagome immediately snapped out of her reverie. Not wanting to make a
bad first impression, she raised her hand and looked up to say
"here", only to find herself completely incapable of speech.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Great Teacher Sesshoumaru
Note: This fic has nothing to do with GTO, blame Megatokyo for
introducing us to this whole concept.
Original concept and written by The Silver Chocobo.
Cowritten, and Edited for the sane by The Beige Chocobo.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
The teacher paused in the roll call long enough to make look out
over the room, commenting briefly when he spotted Kagome's hand in
the air.
"How fascinating... Higurashi seems to be here today. They had told
me not to expect her in for at least a week."
Her expression of abject fear, on the other hand, drew no comment
whatsoever.
Kagome stared in silent shock at the front of the classroom: her
history teacher, the one who was supposedly one of the most sought-
after teachers in Japan, the one who was rumoured to be an extremely
strict disciplinarian, was none other than Sesshoumaru! He may not
have been wearing his armor and was missing the markings on his face,
but there was no mistaking his appearence! Did the universe hate her?
Was she doomed to be plagued by the constant prescence of Youkai
until she died? *Was* she going to die soon?
As Kagome contemplated her apparent status as the universe's
favorite punching bag, Sesshoumaru continued on with the roll call
and prepared to began class, completely ignoring the fact that one
of his students was sitting at her desk, frozen in terror.
Kagome's state, however had not escaped the notice of her
classmates.
"What's wrong with Higurashi?" Whispered one girl.
"Probably has a crush on Kagemori-sensei." Responded the girl
sitting in front of Kagome, winking.
The first girl shook her head slightly. "I don't know... She looks
more like she's frightened than anything else."
The girl in front of Kagome clasped her hands dramatically and her
eyes seemed to sparkle. "Love can be a terrifying thing sometimes!"
Her friend prepared to answer again, and probably would have, except
the sound of a throat clearing at the front of the classroom caught
her attention.
"If you two are quite done," said Sesshoumaru, his expression not
changing from the calm, almost bored, expression that had been on his
face the entire time, "I would like to begin class now."
The girls blushed and shrank back into their seats, not wanting to
incur the wrath of their new teacher, especially since they both had
decided that he was good looking enough that they didn't want to get
on his bad side. The rumours about what a strict teacher he was had
completely slipped their minds, and those of most of the female
population of the class, as soon as he had walked in the door.
Through all of this, Kagome just remained in her seat, frozen, and
stared at the front of the room.
*** *** ***
"Get out of my way Miroku!" Screamed Inuyasha as he walked towards the
'bone eaters well.' He still couldn't get over the dream he had
last night, or the feeling that there was something absolutely
horrible happening to Kagome right that instant.
Miroku held his ground in the face of the white-haired Hanyou's
advance. He frowned slightly and shifted his stance slightly, so as
to be able to move quickly to block any attempts to rush past him and
jump into the well should his barrier fall.
"Inuyasha, why do you want to go after Kagome-sama? She just left last
night, and asked that we at least let her get through her first day of class
without incident."
Inuyasha dashed a short distance and jumped into the air, hoping to
get by the annoying monk and go through the well. He just couldn't
get over the feeling that Kagome was in grave danger. But there was
also something else, almost a inkling of *why* she was in danger. His
thoughts on the matter were cut off as he was shocked, quite
literally, into awareness.
Smoke rose from the fringes of his hakama and small arcs of
electricity ran over his body as his pulled himself back to his feet.
"Dammit, Miroku, drop that barrier and let me by! This is SERIOUS!!!"
He put one hand on the hilt of the Tessaiga and prepared to draw it.
If he couldn't get by the monk at least semi-peacefully...
Miroku's frown deepened as he witnessed the display of extreme
stubbornness in front of him. He would *not* break his promise to
Kagome: Inuyasha would just have to wait on this side of the well for
her to return!... He just had to convince his companion that he
should wait. Miroku's face brightened as he hit upon a possible way
to convince Inuasha that there was no immediate danger. When he
spoke, it was in a calm tone, as if he were explaining matters to a
small child.
"Kagome-san is probably facing one of the challenges she spoke of:
pop-quizes, performance evaluations, trigonometry, or even one of the
other tortures she spoke of that were inflicted on her if she
misbehaved. There is nothing that you can do to help her though with
any of these! She is not really in danger, and anything you might do
would be likely only to make her predicament even worse!"
Inuyasha fumed at Miroku, and tightened his grip on the Tessaiga. If
only humans weren't so fragile, he would just cut his way through the
barrier and be done with it! But *no*, if he dealt even the smallest
bit of harm to Miroku, even a light impailing, the monk would die
and Kagome would never let him hear the end of it. He just *had* to
think of a way to break through the barrier and incapacitate Miroku
in a non-permanent manner!
So deep was Inuyasha in thought about how best to make it to the
well without leaving only a red smear where there once was a monk,
that he failed to notice Miroku jerk his head in a signal to someone
behind him. In fact, it was only when the second assailant was
almost upon him that he realized what was happening and, by that
time, it was too late.
From his position under an oversized, and overly heavy, statue of
Jizou, Inuyasha stared out in fury as his captors consulted amongst
themselves. If he could just manage to throw off the statue and break
free of the wards Miroku had slapped on him while he was distracted
by the extra weight, the fox-brat would pay!
Shippo just leaned lazily back against the statue of Jizou from his
seat on top of Inuyasha's head, sucking on a lollipop that Kagome had
given to him before she left. "That should hold the idiot for a
while, right Miroku?"
Miroku thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes, Shippo, your
spell and my wards should be enough to incapacitate at least long
enough for you to get Kaede-sama from the village to help. If she and
I combine our powers, we should be able to hold out until Sango-sama
arrives. After that, it should be fairly easy to keep Inuyasha from
getting to the well and disturbing Kagome-sama."
Shippo nodded his head in confirmation and bounded off into the
woods, pushing Inuyasha's head down into the dirt in the process.
The slightly muffled curses of the trapped Hanyou followed after him
for quite some time.
*** *** ***
For Kagome the school day passed quickly. There was no question that
the man who had been at the front of her first class, talking about
the past in quite a bit of detail and rather easily, was none other
than the same Youkai she had known. He was missing the armor, and
the red markings, but there was no doubt that it was indeed
Inuyasha's older brother.
Furious pondering over why he was there and what he intended to do
occupied her thoughts throughout the rest of the class periods. In
fact, she didn't even notice the teachers changing or when the lunch
period came and went, she was so deep in thought.
At first her classmates regarded her lack of movement and blank
stare with warieness, but soon shrugged it off as a manifestation of
the rumoured weirdness inherant in their new school and left Kagome
to her thoughts.
Thus, Kagome remained where she was, undisturbed, even after the
final bell rang and all the other students rushed out of the room, in
a hurry to both leave the room and its manifestation of weirdness
(namely Kagome), and to leave the school grounds so they could hang
out with their friends.
Once again, it was Sesshoumaru's voice that interrupted her thoughts.
"If I could have a word with you, Higurashi..."
Kagome jerked back to her senses, finally noticing that the rest of
the students were gone and that she was alone in the room with
Sesshoumaru.
"Err... Not now!"
Sesshoumaru just raised an eyebrow at her.
"Ahhh... What I meant to say, sensei, was that my grandfather's sick
and I have to get right back home to help take care of him!" Kagome
mentally patted herself on the back for both coming up with an excuse
and getting back at her grandfather for inventing all those weird
sicknesses last year.
Her valiant effort was completely wasted, as Sesshoumaru had
apparently prepared for such an eventuality. "Your grandfather
sounded just fine when I talked to him not one hour ago. In fact, he
commented on how taking care of a shrine was so much work that he
might have to ask for you to be excused from classes from time to
time if too many more days were as busy as today."
"Err.... That is... What I meant to say was..."
Kagome's attempts to speak were cut off when Sesshoumaru smiled
slightly and waved a hand at her in dismissal (his left hand, she
noted with not a small bit of shock). "I'm sure that your classmates
have already informed you of who I am and why I am here, have they
not?"
Kagome could only nod weakly in response. The sight of Sesshoumaru
smiling was just too frightening to allow her to do anything else.
"Good. Then you know that, in addition to my responsibilities as
History teacher here, I am also in charge of reducing truancy at this
school and cutting down on the number of disturbances throughout the
day. As you were reported to have been absent quite often during the
year last year, you fall directly into my area of responsibility."
Kagome broke out into a cold sweat. She *really* didn't want
Sesshoumaru to be paying close attention to her. It was just
something that she considered to be a surefire way to shorten her
life expectancy considerably.
Sesshoumaru either didn't notice her discomfort, or, as was more
likely the case, didn't care, and kept on speaking. "Your Grandfather
seemed rather insistant about having you present back home to meet an
old acquaintence of his later... His history teacher, if I remember
correctly, so I won't keep you any longer. Just remember, the
principal has granted me rather broad powers with which to perform my
duties, so it would not be in your best interests to get on my bad
side. Do *try* to pay attention in class tomorrow, would you? Your
behavior was rather disruptive today."
With that, he turned around and walked out the door, leaving Kagome
back at her desk, once again having slipped into a state of shock.
"He... smiled?"
*** *** ***
Kagome peddled as fast as she possibly could as she weaved between the
cars that were clogging the street. In her mind she kept seeing all of
the times that Sesshoumaru had fought inuyasha. She kept seeing the
hand going through inuyasha's chest. She couldn't help but think that
any moment Sesshoumaru was going to leap up from behind her, his glowing
green hand outstretched, ready to run her through.
She closed her eyes for a moment to scream, only to open them up a split
second later and really scream, as she barely avoided hitting another
girl riding a bike even faster than she was in the opposite direction.
Without even thinking about it she turned around to watch the other
biker for a split second. All she could see of the other bike now was a
purpleish blur as it sped away, but here out of the corner of her eye she for
a split second she thought she caught a glimpse of a man with silvery-white
hair.
Her worst fears realized she gripped the handlebars and began peddling even
faster, if that was even possible. There was no chance that Sesshoumaru
would attack her here, on the street, was there?
She shook her head, not wanting to think of anything reassuring other than
being back on the other side of the well. Of being back in the protection
of Inuyasha.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts and her terror that she almost passed
right by the shrine. She ran up the steps towards the concealed well, and
nearly ran into her Grandfather.
"Kagome? You're back early. I didn't expect you for at least another half
hour or so. Weren't you going to go and meet your friends today at the
ice-cream shop?"
Kagome paled as she remembered that she was supposed to go meet them
today. Though she sighed a little bit as she remembered that they would
probably try to encourage her to go chase after Hojo.
"Something came up Grandpa... I have to go and talk to Inuyasha about
something..."
Her grandfather dropped the broom he was holding and spread his arms out
as far as he could as she said this.
"Oh no! I'm not going to let you jump down the well tonight! We have a guest
coming for dinner tonight!"
"Grandpa! I have to go!"
"I won't allow it!"
Kagome sighed, she really hated to do this to her grandfather, considering
what he was likely to do, but this was the best payback for all of the
legends that he had force fed her over the years.
"Look! Its the legendary three headed monkey youkai!"
"Where! It has plagued us for too long!" Kagome watched nerviously for a
second as her grandfather ran off in the opposite direction, pulling wards
from somewhere. Once he had rounded the corner of the house Kagome bolted
as fast as she could towards the well. She ran through the open door,
pulling it shut behind her. She looked into the well, the bottom was
concealed in darkness.
Without looking back, Kagome jumped into the well.
*** *** ***
"Are you sure this is a good idea Inuyasha-sama?" Myouga asked as he worked
at peeling off a ward that had been hastily slapped onto the statue by Miroku.
"Of course! and stop complaining so loudly!" whispered Inuyasha as he eyed
the bored monk, without trying to draw attention to the fact that he was
still trying to get free of the wards. In the last hour he had managed to
pull most of himself out from under the heavy statue, and had also managed
to creep a few more feet towards the well. Unfortunately for him, at random
intervals in these escape attempts Miroku would whack him on the head and
place more wards on the statue, which by now didn't increase the apparent
weight of the statue as much as they just annoyed the hell out of the hanyou.
"Kagome did seem quite insistant that you were not to interupt her today."
mused the flea youkai as he continued the slow work of peeling the ward off
of the statue.
"Feh, Kagome still doesn't realize that all of that stuff in her school is
worthless! I looked through that book of hers once and there wasn't anything
on youkai, healing, or even astrology! She should know by now that all that
matters is us getting the Shikon no Tama back in one piece!" Inuyasha
realized too late that he had once again screamed at the flea. He glanced
quickly to see if Miroku had noticed. Inuyasha growled slightly as he saw
the ammused look on Miroku's face.
"Do you really think that Myouga can pull all of those wards off before
Kaede arrives to help me reinforce the barrier? If that flea is over there
pulling on those wards again, I'm going to make sure that my next blow
squishes him." Inuyasha frowned briefly for a moment before putting up the
best facade he could manage given the circumstances.
"No of course Myouga isn't here!" Inuyasha quickly stole a glance at the
ward that Myouga was working on, only to find it once more sealed down nicely
and the old man no where to be seen. It only took a moment for the increased
weight to once again crush Inuyasha back down flat against the ground.
"Damnit!!!" Inuyasha shouted as he once more struggled to get any leverage he
could on the heavy weight of the statue, only to find that once again it had
become too much for him to life by himself, his face getting firmly planted
back in the grass.
Miroku chuckled as he watched Inuyasha trying in vain to escape. He was just
about to turn away to concentrate on the small campfire he had started up to
cook dinner again when he saw Inuyasha's ears twitch involuntarily. Miroku
stood up and glanced in the direction of the village. As he suspected, Sango
and Shippo were walking up the path. He bent down to poke at the growing
campfire briefly, then stood up fully again and walked over to the
incapacitated hanyou.
"Inuyasha, if I pull the wards off now so it will be easier for you to talk
to Sango and myself, will you promise not to jump down the well to retrieve
Kagome?" Miroku waited for Inuyashas response briefly. It was clear that
it was taking him a long time to decide.
When he finally did respond, the answer came out as a muffled and nearly
inaudible "mmph!"
"I'll have to take that as a yes." Miroku said as he began to peel off the
wards that were on the statue weighting Inuyasha down.
By the time he had reached the last ward, Sango and Shippo had arrived at
the clearing. Inuyasha had managed to pull himself up far enough that he
was able to hold his head up with one hand, as he impatiently drummed on the
ground with the fingers of his other hand.
"Come on Miroku! Hurry up and pull this ward off!" Miroku paused as he
reached for the ward, obviously reconsidering allowing the hanyou to run free.
"It would seem that you're able to discuss the matter just fine now." Sango
said dryly as she knelt down in front him.
"Damnit Miroku! You said that you'd free me from this before we 'talked'
about this!" Miroku sighed and pulled the last ward off. Catching the now
quite small and nearly insubstantial statue in his hand.
In the blink of an eye Inuyasha had jumped up, bowling over Sango and was
clearly on his way to the well.
"Wait! I thought we were going to talk about whats going on!" Miroku shouted
as he stopped to help Sango back to her feet.
"Theres nothing to talk about! I'm going to get Kagome!" And with that,
Inuyasha jumped into the well.
Miroku cursed, as he and Sango both ran towards the edge of the well and
looked in. They fell backwards as Kagome pulled herself up over the edge.
"That was much faster than I expected." Miroku explained as he stood back up,
and watched as Kagome nearly jumped out of the well.
"You have to save me... from Sesshoumaru!"
*** *** ***
"What do you mean Sesshoumaru is at your school?" Asked Inuyasha
lazily. He was laying on his side facing away from her as he stared
off into the distance somewhere. "I just fought him a few days
ago... heh, he's probably still recovering somewhere."
"But weren't you the one who was wounded Inuyasha?" asked Shipo
playfully as he poked Inuyasha's side.
"Gaaah! Thats not funny!" he yelled, pounding Shippo into the ground.
"Is it possible that he managed to slip by you by becoming just a sphere
of light? Or by becoming totally invisible? I've fought some youkai
before who could do those sort of things, and with how powerful Sesshoumaru
is I suspect he would be capable of such things" Sango said thoughtfully
as she sat down next to Miroku at the campfire.
"I think you are all overlooking the obvious conclusion." Miroku
said, as he sipped some of the tea that he had found in Kagome's bag.
"Oh? You think you know whats going on?" Sango eyed Miroku cautiously.
"Just how old are you Inuyasha?" Asked Miroku as he took a sip of tea.
"Uh..." Inuyasha paused nerviously, the truth was that anymore he wasn't
quite sure of the answer to that himself. "Whats that got to do with it!"
Shouted Inuyasha.
Miroku hit Inuyasha across the head with his staff, leaving a bruise.
"Baka" he whispered under his breath. Miroku paused for a moment, and
collected his thoughts. When he looked up again his facee had a much
more serious look to it than it had a moment ago.
"Have you forgotten that Naraku did not place the curse upon me. He
placed it on my grandfather. We know Naraku is fifty, despite his
youthful appearance. Have you forgotten that Sesshoumaru is older
than that. We know that Inuyasha's father was very old indeed...
Youkai can live for a very long time. I think that its clear, from
Kagome's description that this is not the same Sesshoumaru that you
fought three days ago. After all, this one had two arms."
"Are you saying that there are still Youkai in my time?" Kagome
asked, she was a little bit freaked out. As if she wasn't already.
Returning to her own time was begining to seem like a really bad
idea.
"pheh, he probably is just using some humans arm again. He probably
thinks that he can attack you in the future and get me to hand over
the Tessaiga, or the shikon shards that you carry."
"Why would Sesshoumaru want the Tessaiga Inuyasha?"
"And Sesshoumaru has never shown any interest in the Shards of the Shikon
no Tama." Sango added quickly.
"Well, uh..." Inuyasha paused, he hated to admit it, but they had
a point.
"I guess that means you don't kill him, doesn't it." Stated Shippo,
still not really seeming to take much interest in the conversation.
"So what do you think Sesshoumaru is after Miroku-dono?" Kagome asked.
"I have no idea." He quickly responded. "What I do know is that we
need to figure out what Sesshoumaru wants with you..."
He paused. for a moment and sighed.
"It is a pity that Inuyasha and I cannot accompany you, as we would
be all too visible at your school."
Kagome looked away for a second, a pained expression coming over her
face. "actually, I don't think that would be a problem at my new
school."
"Didn't you make it in to the elite school you tried out for. I'm
sure Kagome-san that with your intelligence and beauty that..."
"I didn't make it in!"
Miroku stopped talking and looked at her with a rather forced grin.
"Oh, what school did you end up at then? Was it one of the other fine
educational establishments you spoke of?"
Kagome sighed and looked embarrassed.
"No, I wound up at the worst highschool in all of Tokyo... Furinkan."
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
-End of Part one of Great Teacher Sesshoumaru
This fic, and many more can be found at:
Authors Notes:
Finally after months and months of having no new fanfiction of any real
quality to show, we have managed to rush this out of the door in, what is
for us, hardly and time at all. Originally we were talking about this
being a one shot, but by the time we realized that we barely had any
of the events of the fic really plotted out it was painfully apparent to us
that it would take us far too long to complete anything approaching a one
shot based on this idea before the next ice-age. So we've decided to split
it up into at least three parts, with this, being the introduction part
will probably be the shortest.
Releasing this comes as a major relief, as it was begining to look like a whole
year might go by without us getting anything done. Between all of the things
that distract us from working, and all of the things that we do when we should
be working on fanfics it sometimes feels like we're never going to
get anything done at all. Then one of us manages to sit down and practically
churns out all of a whole chapter. I guess thats just the way that it works
out.
The idea for this whole mess came during a trip I made to visit Beige over
the summer when he was staying at his sisters. During which, I was subjected
to a very large quantity of new anime series, Excel Saga, Gasaraki, but mainly
Inuyasha.
I'm not sure how my brain made the connections that led to Sesshoumaru having
employment opportunities in Education, but the connections were made, and I
began formulating some rough ideas, which finally coalesced into a rough idea
around the next time Beige was in town.
As was usual, we made the best work on fic plotting while wandering around,
or while driving around between our hometown and the cities. It seems weird
that we can't sit down and plot stuff out, but I suppose that when we're
near a computer, or a tv we get too distracted by shiney things and can't
think creatively enough.
Eventually I managed to sit down and started work on this. It actually got
along rather quickly (for us at least) once I managed to get working on it.
By this point I hope you're all silently cursing us for leaving the fic at
this point, and are preparing to fire off email beggin us to continue.
(thats whats known as a subtle hint boys and girls)