AN: Everything will be explained (or will it? Wahahaha…) in this chapter. Don't worry, I'm not rushing anything, and let's just say Kagome jumps to conclusions very easily. ^_^ Enjoy the next chapter.

The Truth

            "Inu-Yasha's a vampire!"

            Miroku didn't look the least bit shocked. They had, after all, concluded that yesterday. He was sitting at his desk, with Kagome leaning over him. Homeroom hadn't yet started, and he was busy trying to finish some last minute homework. Kagome looked irritated at his lack of interest. "Didn't you hear me? I've got proof he's a vampire!"

            He sighed and went to work on another problem. If a cannon ball is shot at a speed of 20mph and at a 60 degree angle with the force of gravity being the sum of two consecutive prime even integers…After five minutes of staring at it blankly he began doodling a pirate ship around the cannon, and a big ugly pirate with a big hat ordering his minions to fire…'Ar, ar, give us yer treasure!'

            There was a sound of ripping paper as Kagome tore up his 'homework'. Miroku's jaw dropped as his work fell around him in a shower. "Kagome! I put a lot of hard work into that!"

            "You weren't doing homework anyway," she replied snippily. "Besides, how can you think of doing homework while a vampire is around this school? A vampire, which, by the way, attacked me last night?"

            "Come on, Kagome, it's not like you're a weakling," Miroku said. "You could have just pulled a Buffy or something."

            She started to argue, then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Miroku, where were you between six and six-thirty last night?"

            "Kissing the floor while begging my landlady to let me stay and promising to stay ten meters away from her daughter," Miroku replied in a hearbeat. "Why? Was it something I said?"

            With impatience Kagome pounded her fist on his desk. "Geez, don't you get it? Your new best friend is a vampire! I saw him last night while his 'gang' or whatever attacked me. You can listen to me now or go and get yourself killed."

            "I suggest getting yourself killed. It's the lesser of the two evils," a voice from behind them interrupted. Kagome jumped a foot in the air and found Inu-Yasha smirking. He looked at Kagome casually. "Hi. Fun night last night?"

            Her jaw dropped. Just come right out and say it, why don't you…She felt her hand inching towards Miroku's pencil. Miroku didn't notice, because he was now staring at Inu-Yasha warily. His gold eyes were still lit in a smirk, and his arms were crossed calmly over his chest. "Maybe that should teach you not to walk in dark alleys at night."

            She felt her temper flare. "Then what were you doing there?" she hissed out. "Taking a nighttime stroll?"

            Inu-Yasha raised his eyebrow. "I was…It's none of your business."

            Kagome glared at him. "You don't need to fake it anymore. I know what you are. You think I'm stupid? I've known forever. You're a—"

            "Class is starting!" Twitchy-Eye Homeroom Teacher boomed, bursting into the classroom. "Higurashi! Place your behind on a chair before I glue you into one!" Kagome did, but before sitting she stole a peek at Inu-Yasha's face. He looked absolutely stunned. White as a vampire.

            Satisfied that he'd finally gotten it, Kagome stared straight ahead as he sat woodenly in his chair. Then he turned to her and whispered, "How did you find out?"

            When you tried to kill me last night, of course, Kagome thought, turning her face away in self satisfaction. She couldn't stand to look at him. Now all she had to do was ask Myouga how to deal with vampires once you found out they actually were vampires.

*          *          *

            It was easy as pie to skip school in the middle of the day. Kagome didn't do it often, since she was slightly obsessed with keeping her grades at a high level. But all she had to do was jump the wall. It was low enough so that Kagome could just climb the trees next to it, which is what she did.

            Once out of school, she headed for Myouga's dojo. She wasn't sure whether killing Inu-Yasha in school was such a good idea. Besides, she'd never killed a vampire she'd actually known for more than five minutes. As much as Kagome didn't want to admit it, killing Inu-Yasha wasn't going to be easy.

            She stopped by Kaede's before going to the dojo. "Kaede-baasan!" she called out, poking her head into the front door. There was a pot of tea steaming on the kitchen table. Kagome went over to it, lifted the lid, and took a sniff. Her face soured and she quickly closed the pot. Kaede made the strongest tea in the world—no normal human could drink it without having some sort of violent attack, not even Myouga.

            Sounds of someone walking quickly grew louder, and Kaede entered the kitchen. "Hello, Kagome. Skipping school again?" Her tone sounded slightly disapproving.

            "Sorry. I have an important question for Myouga-sensei. Is he in the dojo?"

            "Yes, but he has another student with him. Coincidentally enough he also had a question for Myouga as well. This tea is for them. Actually, would you mind taking it to them? I have some arrows that I need to work on." She gestured at the pot. "You know where the cups and things are."

            "Another student?" Kagome knew that Myouga and Kikyo weren't the only vampire hunters—but she'd never met any of the others. She wondered if they were training to reach high levels as well. She didn't know if they were trying to reach Kikyo's level, like her.

            Kagome found a tray and some cups and brought the tea towards the dojo. As she neared the door, she caught snippets of conversation.

            "—She saw me in the alle—"

            "—Who is 'she'?—"

            "—What do you do—if she knows—vampire hunter?"

            She slid the door open. And nearly dropped the tea.

            Myouga's and Inu-Yasha's heads swiveled at the sound of the door opening. Inu-Yasha looked shocked for the second time that day—it must have been a record for him. "Kagome?" he sputtered. "What are you doing here?"

            He was asking her? "What about you?! You aren't supposed to be here!" Kagome shouted. There had never been a time in her life when she'd been more confused. Inu-Yasha was a vampire, right? So why was he sitting there, talking to Myouga?

            "Kagome, did you skip school again?" Myouga asked in a reproving tone.

            "Er, yes, but let's not get into that," Kagome said grimly. "Sensei, Inu-Yasha's a vampire! What the hell is he doing here?"

            Stunned silence followed her. Then Myouga burst into laughter, great guffaws that threatened to give him a heart attack. Inu-Yasha's face was disbelieving, then he got it. "I'm a what?" he yelled, standing up. "You thought I was a vampire?" He turned to Myouga and pointed a finger at Kagome. "And how does she know about this stuff anyway? What's she doing here?"

            "…P-p-priceless," Myouga stuttered, then howled with laughter again.

            He shook his head. "Useless is what he is," he muttered to himself. He looked at Kagome. "Seriously. What are you doing here?"

            Kagome wanted to ask the same question, but she realized it would get done quicker if she answered. "I train here," she said. "I've been training here since I was ten. Now what are you doing here?"

            "Same thing," he replied. "I train here. Now hang on—you thought I was a vampire?"

            She fidgeted. "Uhm, you mean you're not?"

            Realization suddenly dawned on Inu-Yasha's face. "The gross rash initiation thing! You had enough silver on your neck to finance a small country! …Were you testing me?"

            Cringe, cringe. "Sort of." Before Inu-Yasha could fix an evil glare on her, she broke quickly into an explanation. "What was I to expect? On your first day of school, you glare at me like you hate me yet I did nothing wrong! Then you ate mystery meat—and dropped all these hints about being a vampire. Before, uhm, deciding to impale you with a stake, I wanted to test you. The silver, the reflection in the mirror of the girls' locker…" Her voice faded as Inu-Yasha's gaze became more withering. She finished in a small voice, "Why did you glare at me on the first day of school?"

            He scowled. "I didn't know glaring at people made you a vampire." His words made Kagome flush with embarrassment, so that she forgot he hadn't answered her question.

            Myouga wiped the tears away from his eyes and finally reduced his laughter to little chuckles. "This is just too much for me," he chortled. After both Inu-Yasha and Kagome looked at him hard, he cleared his throat. "I suppose you both want to know what's going on."

            "Yes please," Kagome said flatly. "And have some tea while you're at it." Noticing Myouga's dubious expression as he glanced at the tray she'd set down, she added, "I made it myself."

            The old man reached over and poured himself a cup. "Well, Inu-Yasha isn't a vampire, as you might have known already. He's one of the finest vampire killers in training—an old friend of mine was his former sensei. But he's gone off to fight another clan of elite vampires—the one where Kikyo had died in—and entrusted Inu-Yasha to me."

            Kagome took the information slowly. "What about last night? I saw him running with the vampires that attacked me."

            Inu-Yasha snorted. "I wasn't running with the vampires, stupid. I was running after them. I thought they were going to tear you to pieces." 

            Myouga held up a hand. "And to answer your question, Inu-Yasha, Kagome isn't just a normal girl."

            "I sort of knew that when she started acting freaky—" Inu-Yasha began.

            His master shot him a warning look. "You thought she had seen you fighting the vampires last night. But did you see her fighting them?"

            A pause. "Well, I sort of saw her moving around," he admitted. "But I thought she didn't know what she was doing. I thought she was trying to pull a Buffy or something."

            "Why is everyone saying that?" Kagome wondered out loud.

            "Well now you know," Myouga cut in. "Kagome is training to take revenge on the Inu-kai vampires for what they did to Kikyo. Doesn't she sort of look the part as well?" Kagome felt Inu-Yasha's cool gaze on her and looked down.

            "So you're saying Kagome is trying to take Kikyo's place?" The tone in Inu-Yasha's voice sounded almost disbelieving. "Do you really think someone could be good enough?"

            That made Kagome speak. "Hey, I'm trying!" she said. "Besides, why do you care so much? It's not as if you actually knew her."

            "I have my own business with the Inu-kai clan, okay?" he snapped. The two locked glares, and the tension that sparkled between them was hot enough to fry eggs.

            Myouga cleared his throat again. "Kagome, I really didn't want to tell you this, but Inu-Yasha would anyway, and probably with his choice of words he'd be drowned and dead before the sun sets. Some vampire killers were doubtful of your skills. After all, Kikyo was a legacy. She had skills at age thirteen that normal slayers had at twenty-three. She was the only one who could purify silver, before you. Some people thought I was hoping for too much, training you. So that's why they took Inu-Yasha and started to train him."

            His words slowly sank into Kagome's brain. "Are you saying they thought I wasn't good enough?" She felt anger flowing into a well inside of her, so much that she needed to bring it out. "You said that my skills nearly surpassed Kikyo's. Were you lying?"

            "Kagome, that's not it. You had already displayed signs of great talent before you started training. Your skills do reach Kikyo's level. In the words of my old friend…Inu-Yasha was a just-in-case."

             A just-in-case…just in case I didn't make it. Her anger was growing larger. Kagome's eyes traveled around the room, passing Inu-Yasha's stony gaze, and fell on a line of silver arrows against the wall. She walked over to them and picked one up. She closed her eyes for a second. The arrow flared once, and a slight sheen covered it. That usually happened when silver was being purified. Kagome drove its tip into the wall. "You're right," she said quietly. "Kikyo was a legend. How could I ever compare?"  

            She disappeared out the door, the two men still staring after her.

            "She can purify arrows?" Inu-Yasha muttered. "My third shock of the day…it feels unsettling."

            "They're as strong as your Tetsusaiga," Myouga said with a trace of pride, finally sipping his cup of tea. His eyes popped open and his mouth puckered up—he swayed violently until crashing down on his side, twitching. From his paralyzed lips he muttered, "She didn't make this tea…it's Kaede's…don't drink it if you wanna live…"

            Inu-Yasha turned his head and looked down on the man, apparently not caring that he was in the middle of a violent seizure. "So I'm a just-in-case?"

*          *          *

            Kagome headed back towards school, but she didn't feel like returning to class. Instead she sat on the hill that overlooked the field and watched the gym classes jog around the track. She hugged her knees with her chin resting on them. So what if I'm not as good as Kikyo? I'm trying. I could have said no, only I want Souta's death avenged. And I want to find the black haired vampire. She closed her eyes, the wind swirling around her almost lulling her into drowsy sleep.

            When she opened her eyes again, a pair of gold ones were staring at her calmly. Kagome shrieked and scuttled back on the grass. One of Inu-Yasha's eyebrows disappeared above his hairline, then a smirk appeared, showing his fangs. At the close distance she was at, Kagome could see that any normal person could have those fangs.

            Without another word she stood up and brushed her skirt down. As she started to walk away, Inu-Yasha grabbed her ankle so that she fell forward. Luckily for her, Inu-Yasha had been sitting in front of her and she fell on him.

            Once again their faces were so close their noses almost touched. Kagome narrowed her eyes. "What?" she snapped, so shortly that it barely sounded like a question.

            He let go of her ankle. "Myouga wants to let you know he's going to work you extra hard after you gave him that tea," he said. "And that we'll be training together from now on."

            "What?" Now it sounded like a question, and it was shouted so loudly Inu-Yasha winced. "Great, now I have to start training with you? My just-in-case backup vampire killer? In case Kagome can't fight the big guys you're there to clean up the mess. I've worked my butt off to reach Kikyo's level, but it turns out I don't have to because you can do it anyway!"

            "Oh yeah? I thought I was the one going to avenge Kikyo. But it turns out I'm second best because some girl who looks like her thinks she can give it a go." He ignored her enraged squeak. "And before you continue ranting, get off me. You're heavy."

            Kagome fixed a smoldering look on him. "I will not strangle the new kid, I will not strangle the new kid," she said quietly to herself as she got off him. "I don't believe this! You're smarmy…"

            "You're annoying…"

            "You're rude…"

            "You jump to conclusions…"

            "You steal my food…and my story…"

            "…Okay…"

            "You're obnoxious…"

            "You're weak…"

            "I'm what?" Kagome stood up and held up her fists challengingly. "Say that again, and I'll punch you off this hill!"

            He grinned. "Later, when Myouga's watching. Then I'll whoop your butt off this planet."

            I hate this, Kagome thought inwardly. Maybe I should quit. There's no way I can train with him. But she knew she would have to. Besides, she wanted to see how skilled Inu-Yasha was. She sighed in defeat. "Okay, okay," she said, putting up her hands. "I'd like to propose a truce." Not really, but what else can I do? I'm not stooping down to his immature level.  

            Inu-Yasha looked like he didn't know what the word meant. "A truce? You've got to be kidding. I hate you." He paused for a moment, thinking about it. "No, hate's a strong word. I really, really, really, seriously dislike you."

            "Ditto. But we can't train together if we're going to try and kill each other all the time," she said, sighing. Trust Inu-Yasha to be so unreasonable. She wondered how she'd gotten herself into this situation in the first place. Kagome stuck her hand out.

            He stared at it for awhile like it was some sort of alien creature, then finally put out his own hand and shook hers. "Fine, truce. I'm heading back to school in case Miroku puts two and two together and thinks something really nasty." He took a few steps, then looked behind him. "Coming?"

            "Yeah, yeah." For the second time Kagome stood and brushed the dust off her skirt. Then a silly smile crossed her face. She started towards him slowly, singing, "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water…"

            "What the heck?"

            Suddenly she ran towards him and gave him a hard shove. Inu-Yasha swayed against the steep slope, trying to keep his balance, but eventually the steep hill took him and he began to fall towards the bottom. Kagome sang, "Jack fell down and broke his—ack!" Inu-Yasha, in an attempt to stay balanced, had grabbed the hem of her skirt and pulled her down. They both somersaulted, rolled, and basically crashed their way down to the bottom of the hill.

            Inu-Yasha landed on flat ground first, with Kagome crashing onto his stomach. For a while they just lay there, trying to catch their breath. Then Inu-Yasha groaned, "You are so stupid, Kagome."

In a weary voice, Kagome croaked, "And Jill came tumbling after..."

…I hate nursery rhymes.