Finally! Another new chapter! Gomen nasai for the wait! I've been soooo incredibly busy over the past week! You wouldn't believe it! Oh, well, onto the story!

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"Hey! Kagome! Wait up!" They stopped and turned as Sota came running up behind them.

"Yes?"

"Hey, uh...sis? What about his tail?"

Kagome looked over warily, wondering why she hadn't noticed it earlier, and hoping that maybe, just maybe, Sota was joking. Sure enough, though, the tail was there. She laughed nervously, not knowing how Sesshoumaru would react. "Um..." she pointed at the fluff that rode on his shoulder. "Do you think...you could maybe...oh, I don't know...do something about that? Kudasai?" he didn't respond. "Sesshoumaru?"

She received an icy stare from Sesshoumaru, who, nevertheless, somehow got rid of the tail. (A/n: I dunno how he did, but he did. Lol. Amazing, isn't it?) Realizing that they would be late if they didn't leave immediately, she turned on her heel and continued on her way out of the temple grounds, Sesshoumaru following behind. "What exactly is this...school you speak of?" the taiyoukai asked warily.

Kagome shrugged her shoulders. "I go there to learn, although I haven't been there for quite a while."

"Hey! Kagome!" the sound of someone running came nearer and a teenage girl with short, brown hair appeared, followed by two others. "How are o? Your grandfather said that you had gotten the measles again, and that you were in a private hospital! We were all really worried! He wouldn't tell us where you were!"

'The measles?' Kagome groaned inwardly. 'Geez, it's only the sixth time I've gotten the 'measles'.' She shook her head. "No, I'm fine now," she assured them.

"Really Kagome?" a second asked, looking at Kagome suspiciously, eyes narrowed as she scrutinized her friends. She sighed, "If you say so..."

"So um..." the third looked the third looked up at Sesshoumaru curiously, smiling sweetly, "who might you be? My name is Sakura."

Sesshoumaru didn't even look at her, but instead kept on walking. Kagome pursed her lips at his aloof behavior. "That's Sesshoumaru Ikari," she said. 'What is the world IS his last name anyway?' "He's a friend of mine."

"Oh, Kagome, a friend?" The first girl asked, nudging her in the side with an elbow, giggling at the thought. She looked over her shoulder at Sesshoumaru. "The name's Maiko."

"And I'm Kamiya!"

Sesshoumaru's face remain stoic, showing no out ward sign of having even noticed that there was anyone near him.

"Higurashi!" Hojo called, coming up beside them on his bike. The group stopped to face his. "How's it going? I see you're better already! That's great news!" he pulled a frilly box filled with aromatherapy items. "Here, they're for you. I heard that it was good for you. Oh, and I was hoping that maybe we could go to the movies tonight. There are supposed to be some really good ones showing," he smiled naïvely at her. "Well, I will see you later. Meet me at the theater at 6:30, okay?" Waving, he continued on his way.

"Oh," Kamiya sighed dreamily, "Kagome, you're soooo lucky! I wish Hojo would ask ME out!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You want him? Go ahead, take him," she said bluntly. "Now, if we don't start moving, we're gonna be late."

They slowly closed the distance between themselves and the school, Sesshoumaru, icily silent, the four teenage girls around him prattling about the latest gossip, filling Kagome in on what had happened while she was away.

~*~*~*~

"Now class, we have a guest student today," Sensei Akagi announced. "Kagome, would you please introduce you friend?"

"Hai!" Kagome rose from her seat and made her way to the front of the classroom where Sesshoumaru stood. "This is Sesshoumaru Ikari. He's from Shoikan private school in western Okinawa and he's here to observe our class," she bluffed, hoping that it would sound convincing.

"Very well," Sensei Akagi said. "Please show him to the empty seat beside yours."

"Yes, sir," she waked down the middle aisle of the classroom and sat back down in her seat, Sesshoumaru finding a place next to her. Class proceeded quietly through history, science, and math before the lunchbell rang. Everyone rose, grateful for the reprieve. Kagome led Sesshoumaru to the school courtyard and sat on a bench underneath an oak tree. It's vivid red leaves swaying lightly in the wind.

Kagome handed a bento to Sesshoumaru, who took it, along with a pair of chopsticks and began to eat.

"So...what do you think of school so far?"

Sesshoumaru looked at her, debating over whether or not to even answer. "I found that it was dull and pointless. This...science that they spoke of, it made no sense. Your sensei seemed to find it imperative to call on me to answer his questions."

Kagome laughed at the event that had taken place earlier that morning.

"What do we call the process by which cells are able to regenerate?" Sensei Akagi asked. Many of the students' hands went up. "Sesshoumaru," he said, calling on the guest and one of the only people not to raise their hands, "would you like to answer?"

Sesshoumaru didn't respond, instead looking right past the sensei to stare blankly at the board.

"Mr. Ikari?"

There was still no response as Sesshoumaru sat there.

"Mr. Ikari, would you please enlighten us with your answer?"

"I have no answer," Sesshoumaru finally responded.

"How can you not have one? You go to one of the best schools in all of Japan, and you can't answer?"

"I have never heard of these things that you call cells."

The class laughed hysterically. No student had ever before stood up to Sensei Akagi. He was rumored to be the strictest teacher in the school, and no one wanted to be the first to prove it.

"This is NOT a laughing matter!" he yelled at the class, waiting until the laughter had died down completely before continuing. "Mr. Ikari, I suggest that you make your way to the principal's office immediately."

"I suggest that you stop trying to order me around," Sesshoumaru responded. "I think that I will stay here."

The class began to laugh once more at the scene. No one had ever before talked back to Sensei Akagi. His face became bright red in his anger. Storming out of the room, he stalked off to the principal's office. Twenty minutes later, a new teacher arrived.

"Hello, class. I am Miss Yuki. I will be taking over this class for the remainder of the day so that Sensei Akagi can have some time to cool off," She said sweetly, smiling at the class. "Now, can someone tell me where we left off?"...

Kagome again laughed at the scene Sesshoumaru had cause in the classroom.

"Oh, Sesshoumaru," Someone called. Kagome looked up and groaned. 'Damn it! What does she want?' Sesshoumaru didn't respond, but instead continued on eating. "Sesshoumaru!" she called again. "Hey, I was wondering if you would like to hang out after school."

Sesshoumaru continued to ignore her. Kagome shook her head. This was becoming a habit.

The girl growled. "Hey! Don't ignore me!" The taiyoukai continued to eat as if he was alone. "Hey, you!" she yelled, still ignored. She threw fruit punch in his face from a bottle she had been carrying. The red liquid hit his face, washing away the makeup that had been covering his demon marking, staining his hair a bright pink and dripped down to stain his white shirt in the same color.

In the blink of an eye, he was up, holding her off the ground by her hand, eyes glowing red. "How dare you," he growled. He pulled back his other hand, readying for the kill as it started to glow a sickening green color. He bared sharp teeth in a menacing grin. "Never in my life have I been faced with such insubordination. You shall pay for that insult with your life."

"Sesshoumaru! No!" Kagome yelled, grabbing his arm. "You can't do that! Please stop!"

Eyes narrowing at the girl in warning, he dropped her to the ground and turned to walk away with Kagome.

Kagome looked over her shoulder as she walked away and glared at the girl. She still sat on the ground where she had been dropped, tears in her eyes. "Come on, Sesshoumaru, let's go and get you cleaned up," Kagome said softly, leading him back up to the school.

Soon after, they had cleaned off his face, hair and shirt as best as they could. A large pink stain still prominent on the front of his white shirt, they had resorted to him wearing a school blazer. Kagome sat on the desk in front of Sesshoumaru and was finishing up reapplying the makeup to hide his markings once more. "Tsk, I don't have quite the right color, but it will have to do for the time being," she stood up and looked at his critically, shaking her head. "You'll definitely stand out more with that blazer on. None of the other guys will be wearing because of the weather, but I guess that it will have to do as well."

"Kagome!" Sakura appeared in the door, panting. "I've been looking all over for you! I just heard what happened! Tsubasa can be such a bitch! I heard she threw some fruit punch at Sesshoumaru and he taught her a lesson."

"Yeah," Kagome said lightly, looking over at Sesshoumaru again. Suddenly, she laughed. "I don't think she'll be yelling at people she doesn't know for a while," she shook her head. "She looked really scared when Sesshoumaru went after her."

Sakura laughed as well. "I can just imagine her face," she said. "But...I heard that his eyes started to glow red and he grew claws, and there were strange markings on his face. Is it true? He looks normal to me."

"I think that their imaginations got the best of them," Kagome lied.

"Yeah, I didn't think that they were telling the truth," Sakura agreed.

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What do you think so far? Tell me!!!