Well, since I didn't end up posting this last night, maybe I'll update this now and see if I can manage another one later today.^_^ *giggles* yay! Okay, so from here it'll be another couple of serious, dramatic, angsty chapters, then maybe a few fun ones, and then the cycle will continue.^_~ Muahahaha! I like to break things up a bit.^_~ Anyway, hope you like!^_^ Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. If I did I'd be rich, but I'm not... and if I had lots of money I'd probably spend it on anime anyway so pleeaasseee, don't sue me.^_^ lol

Oh, and as always,

_= thoughts *_* = sound/ italicized "_" = speech //_// = narration

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Memories of the Present

Chapter 9: A Forgotten Lunch and the Long Lost Appetite

"It... it... it..."

"... was pregnant?!" Kagome stared, dumbfounded, as tiny ball shot out from in between the boy's fingers. It hit the wall next to the window and landed only an inch away from Eri's nose. She looked at the small, pulsing glob, and immediately fainted. The girls all rushed over to Eri's side and managed to rouse the unconscious girl while the rest of the students were cowering on the other side of the room.

"Eri, are you okay?"

"Come on, I'll help you sit up."

"How are you feeling?"

"It... it... it..." Eri was pointing randomly at the wall

"It's okay Eri, it's gone," Kagome soothed, but Eri kept pointing and stuttering. She looked to the other girls, but they were staring as well; she looked to the class, and they were all doing the same.

I just *KNOW* I'm going to regret this later... And with a sigh, Kagome shot a quick glance towards the wall that everyone was staring at. The little green blob was now missing from the lab table, apparently making its way to the fish tank on the opposite side of the room with its... legs?! Since when did the blob have legs?!

She looked around frantically, "Oh no... why me?" She could see no Shikon shard in the... blob... but in the frog, that was an entirely different matter. Kagome rushed to the boy who was still holding the frog, as panicked expression fluttered across his face. The frog tried to flee. It hopped swiftly towards the blob, but before it could get there, the boy reached out and grabbed frantically at it. It slipped and squirmed and broke free, bounding quickly towards the blob that was no longer a blob. Mr. Blobby, as Kagome had so lovingly dubbed it, now had legs, fore and back legs actually. It had a head; it had eyes, and it had... a *smirk*?!

Front of the room to back, side to side, table to table it hopped, scaring the living daylights out of anyone who came near it. Mr. Blobby was seriously scary. He was blood red, but had an immaculate pattern of black markings, greatly resembling that of an ornate rose painting. His pupils were bright blue, but had no eyes to rest on. They just hovered in their sockets, gleaming mischievously as Mr. Blobby caused havoc all around it.

The push and shove battle was continuing outside. Everyone wanted to get in and see what was going on. All they could hear were shrieks and screams and, considering that they were coming from a science classroom, it sounded pretty interesting. Inside, with all of the students abandoning their posts at the door to avoid the rabid, reanimated frog and Mr. Blobby, the door was easily swung open and just happened to have struck a very excited red frog on the head. Purple sprayed everywhere, coating everything with a thick goo. The musk from this creature was so strong that when the windows refused to open, students threw things at it attempting to either get it unstuck or break it. Either way the smell could escape. Meanwhile, the frog was in mourning over the loss of its baby. A shrill cry was heard and all of the doors locked. The windows, glass now full of holes where the students had thrown things, was still covered in that purple goo which was now spreading to cover the entire window. It glowed red as the frog leapt into a student's hair, the girl screaming and tearing desperately at her flesh. Suddenly, the frog was in a container, the windows uncovered, and the door unlocked. Well, actually, it was broken down, but you get the idea.

The following silence was almost more terrifying than Mr. Blobby had been. Each student looked from one to another, and then to the teacher. The professor was lost. He slid out from the safety of the hiding place beneath his desk and raised a weary finger. Trembling, he said the first thing they had heard in the last five minutes, "You are all excused for the rest of the day." And with that, he collapsed into an unconscious heap on the black and white checkered tile floor.

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"Great," Inu Yasha mumbled, "she forgot her lunch again."

It was only about ten thirty, or at least that's what Kagome's mother had said. The confused hanyou still hadn't figured out what that time keeping thing was, much less how it worked. Mrs. Higurashi had sent him out in hopes that he'd bring Kagome her lunch. She even packed a little extra in case he got hungry, so that he wouldn't eat half of Kagome's like he did the last time he had delivered her lunch. He was just thankful that he still remembered the way to her school. Sure, he had been there only this morning, but the city was so big! Besides, he didn't want to have to go sniffing around on the street again. There were too many people and too many scents in this time period, not to mention the horrible smog.

Inu Yasha's ears began to quiver. What was that noise? It was getting closer, but it still wasn't close enough for him to hear it. His heart began to flutter in his chest and he silently cursed himself, thinking it was because he was about to see Kagome again, but this time something was different. He felt stiff, ready for something, but what? Screams came, echoing through his mind. One scream filtered through the others, through the deafening noise, Kagome's.

"KAGOME!"

He had gotten there just in time. The windows had been broken as he ran past them, glass shattered by various hard scrolls and brushes. A strange odor was escaping through the holes and it would've knocked the hanyou out if he hadn't had another thing to smell instead. Quickly, he grabbed Kagome's lunch and stuffed it under his nose. He tried to get around to the windows, but by that time an odd, viscous goo had covered them and was slowly engulfing them in its midst. He needed two hands for this. He took the lunch from his nose and hurriedly began to manipulate the covering of the box. He tied the cloth so that it wrapped around his head, holding firmly behind his ears. The food beneath his nose and both hands free, he rushed to the windows. He broke through them quite easily and found what was causing the trouble; a frog demon was emitting a high pitched shriek that caused the goo to react as it willed. He grabbed at the menace, losing his grip at first, but then squeezing it tightly. He shoved it into one of the open glass containers on the table, but not before ripping off its head. That sat in another container. Realizing what would happen if Kagome's friends saw him, Inu Yasha hastily retreated to the roof.

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She didn't know what happened, and she didn't want to know. Students were filing out of the classroom slowly, no one saying a word. Her friends had waited for her, but she had to get her things and they were too frightened to wait any longer. With the teacher still passed out behind his desk, it was probably safe enough to get the shard back. She reached into the jar, mildly noting that the frog's head had been torn off, and stuck her hand into the formaldehyde. She grabbed the shard and her heart leapt into her throat. Her head spun and she began to feel nauseous. The world was spinning, but that's not what was important right now; the shard took top priority. She stumbled over to her backpack and reached for the container when she felt a sickening snap. Everything went black; she was out.

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All of the students seemed to be leaving the building. They were probably let out because of the frog youkai. Inu Yasha thought sourly, "But where's Kagome?"

It had been almost twenty minutes and the miko still hadn't exited the building. Worry began to build in the dog demon's chest as he thought of that stupid demon hurting her. Why hadn't he been there? She needed him!

He leaped off of the roof and onto the tree outside of the classroom. He had left the lunch behind, but it didn't matter now; he was worried about Kagome. After checking to see if it was safe, Inu Yasha cautiously stepped into the room and saw the teacher on the ground.

This can't be good.

Scanning the room, he couldn't see anything out of place, well, considering what had happened anyway. What *really* bothered him was that he couldn't smell anything either, the goo had seen to that. Damn it! I have to find her! He would've left to search elsewhere if not for the hand that had wearily found its way to the leg of his hakama.

"I... Inu...InuYashaa..." He whirled around. Kagome was at his feet. She was clutching onto the Shikon container with one hand and a shard with the other. He could hear her heart racing and her slight moans as pain swept throughout her body. She shivered, convulsed slightly, and collapsed, all before he could even reach out to her.

"KAGOME!" Pulling her into his arms, she seemed clammy. She was cold and looked to be deathly ill, but had no real temperature. Her skin was pale, but there was no sign of struggle, injection, nothing. How could this have happened so quickly?! He reached down, grabbed the shard and added it to the collection. Next, he grabbed her bag and, stuffing the glass jar into it, positioned her comfortably in his arms. All thoughts were stripped from his mind as he bolted out the window and began his mad dash for Kagome's shrine. She needed help and she needed it now! He didn't know where anything was in this world so he'd have to take her home and pray that they could do something.

"Kagome," he whispered, "please be okay..."