Inuyasha was barely aware as the next few weeks went by in a blur. He
attended gym class, art class, literature/ current events, calculus,
physics, European history, and foreign language classes without really
saying anything to anybody or doing much of anything. It was interesting
to him that he could fall back into is old ways of being cold and aloof to
people so easily in a place that, he was so sure, was going to be
different. Right.
The whole situation was different actually. He was no longer under the supervision of incompetent, money-lusting foster parents, but rather he was virtually alone. Every now and then he would receive a phone call saying the usual garbage "stay in school, do your homework, don't wreck the apartment it was expensive" and of course his all time favorite, "don't disgrace the Tukusho name." Unfortunately for Inuyasha, Sessho', Mr. Money bags himself, never made these delightful calls. His unusual domestic situation paled in comparison to what was going on in school.
Never before, not in any one of his twenty or so other schools, did the occupants have the gual, or in some extremely rare situations courtesy, to talk about his past with such open frankness. In his other schools he merely had to wait for his foster parents to tell one of the professors, who of course told other professors, who intern would entrust this knowledge to certain students. But of course, the students who these professors confided in were ass-kissing preppies or jocks; for the time being we'll just say these certain individuals operated their day to day lives with less morale ethics then the average human being. To put it plainly they had no qualms about ferociously twisting this information for their own amusement. In a matter of days vicious rumors would be circulating around him, rumors so ridiculously far fetched from the truth that he could only ignore them.
But here, at this place, with these people, it was a whole new game where the rules were yet to be conveyed to him. On his very first day, the very first class no less, all the disturbing experiences and manipulation he received as a child were vividly narrated to a room of thirty or so of his peers. And what a delightful occasion that was.
With the hardships of the world not having succeeded in beating what little childish hope he had left out of him, he believed that by meeting people like Miroku, Sango, and Kaede (a teacher who seemed to actually care if he ended up making 200k a year or having to utter the phrase "would you like fries with that sir?" everyday) this town, school, the people would be different.
But here he was leaning non-chalantly against the bleachers during gym class. He was wearing basketball shorts that barely brushed the bottom of his knees and a shirt that was made to fit tight, but due to his slim (yet still well muscled) frame, fit loosely over his shoulders, down his chest, back, and around his waist, all in black, a color fit to match his mood. Black was the absence of color after all, and at the moment he was absent of any complex emotions. Yes, somber and indifferent was his style, show no emotion meant show no weakness, which meant he was immune to pain, any real pain anyway.
Sure he had his share of black eyes and bloodied lips, few and far between as they might have been, but compared to the proverbial backlash he was getting for his anonymous sins, physical pain was a far cry from unendurable.
The sound of years old leather smacking the polished wooden floor slowly brought him from the lethargic thought sequence. Gym class, fifty minutes of pure bliss; sweaty, hairy teenage guys running, panting and groping for the ball; basketball that is. Don't get him wrong though, he was by no means out of shape, rather, he enjoyed a good run or some other form of activity. But when he worked out it was usually an outlet for some agitation err anger that had built up that day, and at those times he'd rather not be anywhere near the human race for a couple of days.
It wouldn't have even been that bad really, pass the ball, take a few shots, actually block the ball every once and a while, nothing strenuous.....well that is if Hiten, his brother Maten, and the rest of his cronies weren't making it their religious mission in life to break Inuyasha's bones.
"Shit!" that had been the third ball to collide with Inuyasha's skull in the past thirty minutes. Whenever Inuyasha made a feeble attempt to block one if Hiten's shots, Hiten would throw the ball as hard as he could at the back of Inuyasha's head. Maten, not wanting to be shown up by his big brother, would drive down Inuyasha every time he tried to make a lay-up. Geninji, one of the bigger guys on the court, seemed to be the only member of Inuyasha's team to take notice to the beating he was getting. Unfortunately, Geninji was also a very shy, soft spoken out-caste, and not one of the prettiest guys one could meet in their lifetime. He tended to stay at the free-throw line, well away from the blood splatter, with a pained expression of guilt smacked onto his pimply face. It was a wonder that Inuyasha's brains weren't splattered over the gym floor. Yeah, Inuyasha could have retaliated, knocked out a few teeth and administered some black eyes. Heck, he'd damn sure get a kick out of pimp slapping Maten, but there was just too much at stake. Inuyasha was pretty sure the coach was oblivious to the whole situation because he kept muttering something about plays for the next football season under his breath at a small table squeezed in the far corner to the gym, but he couldn't take that chance.
Something also told him that this new living situation with his loving big brother as slum lord was more serious then his previous foster homes, he couldn't just screw around. So, he endured it, Hiten's smirk, Maten's manic laughing, and the blood that was filling his mouth from where he had bit his tongue on the last strike to the back of the head.
() (UU) (o-) (-) (UU)
"Yo 'Yash' buddy, didja enjoy the game, sorry if we were a little harsh on ya," Hiten sneered, Maten snickered, self-consciously running a pudgy hand through the sparse tuff of hair on the top of his head. Inuyasha's face screwed up, it was hard for him to believe they were brothers.
Inuyasha swallowed all the crimson liquid in one silent gulp, swiped his tongue across his teeth a couple of times, and ran the back of his hand over his mouth before speaking. "Anytime," the corners of this mouth quirked into a smile that didn't really reach his eyes. He pocketed his hands, "it's so hard to entertain myself these days," he put his feet a foot and a half apart to steady himself as he allowed his vision to focus on Hiten's frowning face. "It's nice to be entertained."
"Dude," Hiten said, it was his turn to scowl, "we completely annihilated you out there, what the fuck are you talking about." This sentence came out in a constrained snarl as he tried to get his barrings. He had expected a verbal on slaught of curses, or ever for Inuyasha to throw himself at him. He hadn't expected this calm, indifferent Inuyasha. "Man I must have scrambled your brains good for you to be spouting this bullshit at me!"
Inuyasha stared at the ceiling while Hiten was talking, letting his eyes drift over to the bleachers where the rest of the class was recovering from the violent basketball game, then back to Hiten. "There's a difference between killing a soldier and kicking a broken man, what's victory when your enemy can't retaliate," Inuyasha said in a deadpan voice. His amber eyes were now a flat yellow as a stared at Hiten for about two seconds before turning around slowly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Miroku rising off the bleachers, not before waving to a couple of girls who decided to spend their study period watching the boys play. Trying to keep his eyes focused Inuyasha headed toward the boys' locker rooms. Miroku dodged a group of talking guys and walked hurriedly toward Inuyasha's direction, his intention clearly to head him off.
(OO) (UU) () (o-) (o) ()
If Inuyasha was at speaking terms with God he would have thanked him for the rare occurrences that he could control his temper. Like today, it seemed he was on a roll; he got through his entire physical education period without grinding Hiten's face into the pavement, or suggesting burn- fat-fast diets to Maten; and now he was enduring Sesshoumaru's regaling one- sided conversation on how proud he was of Inuyasha surviving his childhood and growing up into the accomplished young man he is today. Okay, not really it went more like this:
Inuyasha had just walked up to his apartment door to notice that it was unlocked. (And he was so sure that he had locked it this morning). He silently walked into his apartment and locked the door behind him. No he wasn't afraid of whoever broke into his apartment, they should be afraid of him. With stealth that could have rivaled cat-woman's (yes he knew the character, he had some comics stashed away under his bed, coughs but that's off the subject) he dropped his book bag by the door, picked up the bat that he had laid there (ok, so he was a little paranoid) and proceeded to the living-room.
But really, he had been expecting a guy dressed in black unhooking his stereo system or pocketing his CD collection; but of all the fucking things that his more then just plain bad karma could have dragged into his apartment why his brother! And yes, there was his brother sitting on his couch in a gray/black suit that looked suspiciously like Armani.
Sesshoumaru: "I'm glad you went to school today Inuyasha, I would hate to
have an uneducated thug as a brother."
Inuyasha: "half-brother"
Sesshoumaru: "Right, right, but aren't I supposed to be the one ashamed, I
have more to my name and a better reputation to keep."
Inuyasha: "............"
Sesshoumaru: "Yes that is what I thought, but beside the point, I wanted to
see if the apartment that I so graciously bought for you is still
intact. You see I hardly invest in things that aren't worth
while."
Inuayasha: ".............."
Sesshomaru: "Wow Inuyasha, you have changed quite greatly since I last
saw you. What was that ... ten years ago? Oh yes, now I
remember, they had just dragged Myouga away and you were
crying and begging me to take you in, poor little Inuyasha
couldn't bare to face the real world without precious mom and
dad to hold your hand."
Inuyasha: "Good for you Sesshou, you managed to make a seven year old
cry. No wonder they made you head of daddy's company."
Sesshoumaru: "Is that a snide tone I detect Inuyasha, because if it is I
suggest you remember whose money it is that pays for the
food that keeps you alive. It escapes me why I bother."
Inuyasha: "Is that all you have to say Sesshou, because if it is I suggest you
get the hell out of my apartment, before I forget the consequences
of murder."
Sesshoumaru: "Tsk, tsk, Inuayasha personally I don't know where you
learned your lack of tact, maybe from your wretch of a
mother."
And with that he turned gracefully on his heel walked out the door, closely followed by the bat that Inuyasha had carried into the living room. It was hurled at the door with enough force to cause it to splinter.
(OO) () (--) (o) () (==) ()
Oh yes, if him and God were on speaking terms they would have a nice long conversation.
That delightful conversation with Sesshoumaru had taken a toll on his brain and physical health. With the force that he threw that bat at the door caused the muscles in his arm to hurt ever so slightly. So there he was sprawled out on the couch brain dead as a comatose patient.
And then the doorbell rang.
Weird how life seemed to always do the pimp slapping and there he was with the soar cheek.
He really shouldn't have opened the door.
'There they were, Miroku, Sango, and that girl who looked a hell of a lot like Kikyo, Kagome I think it was.'
"Hiya there Inuyasha me and these lovely ladies wanted to take on a night on the town." Don't need eyes to tell who that was.
"Um you know what guys I'm really tired so I'll just see you at school tomorrow ok?" This was wishful thinking for Inuyasha.
"Uh, Inuyasha tomorrow's Saturday," that Kagome girl said.
"Look I'm really tired and I need to unpack some more."
"Inuyasha, you've been here for three weeks now," Sango said.
"I'm lazy."
"Oh come on 'Yash' we were planning on getting a bite to eat, maybe swing by the arcade. But if you don't feel up to it we could just come in," Miroku took a step towards Inuyasha, but Inuyasha pushed him out into the hall grabbed his keys and made sure he still had his wallet before locking the door behind him and double checking it (the earlier experience with Sesshoumaru kind of freaked him out).
He turned to his three new "friends," who were currently looking at him like he grew a second head. "Well shall we go?"
"Um..."
"Sure..."
"Hey bring your car maybe we could attract some more luscious ladies..."
SSSSSSSSMMMMAAAACCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!
The whole situation was different actually. He was no longer under the supervision of incompetent, money-lusting foster parents, but rather he was virtually alone. Every now and then he would receive a phone call saying the usual garbage "stay in school, do your homework, don't wreck the apartment it was expensive" and of course his all time favorite, "don't disgrace the Tukusho name." Unfortunately for Inuyasha, Sessho', Mr. Money bags himself, never made these delightful calls. His unusual domestic situation paled in comparison to what was going on in school.
Never before, not in any one of his twenty or so other schools, did the occupants have the gual, or in some extremely rare situations courtesy, to talk about his past with such open frankness. In his other schools he merely had to wait for his foster parents to tell one of the professors, who of course told other professors, who intern would entrust this knowledge to certain students. But of course, the students who these professors confided in were ass-kissing preppies or jocks; for the time being we'll just say these certain individuals operated their day to day lives with less morale ethics then the average human being. To put it plainly they had no qualms about ferociously twisting this information for their own amusement. In a matter of days vicious rumors would be circulating around him, rumors so ridiculously far fetched from the truth that he could only ignore them.
But here, at this place, with these people, it was a whole new game where the rules were yet to be conveyed to him. On his very first day, the very first class no less, all the disturbing experiences and manipulation he received as a child were vividly narrated to a room of thirty or so of his peers. And what a delightful occasion that was.
With the hardships of the world not having succeeded in beating what little childish hope he had left out of him, he believed that by meeting people like Miroku, Sango, and Kaede (a teacher who seemed to actually care if he ended up making 200k a year or having to utter the phrase "would you like fries with that sir?" everyday) this town, school, the people would be different.
But here he was leaning non-chalantly against the bleachers during gym class. He was wearing basketball shorts that barely brushed the bottom of his knees and a shirt that was made to fit tight, but due to his slim (yet still well muscled) frame, fit loosely over his shoulders, down his chest, back, and around his waist, all in black, a color fit to match his mood. Black was the absence of color after all, and at the moment he was absent of any complex emotions. Yes, somber and indifferent was his style, show no emotion meant show no weakness, which meant he was immune to pain, any real pain anyway.
Sure he had his share of black eyes and bloodied lips, few and far between as they might have been, but compared to the proverbial backlash he was getting for his anonymous sins, physical pain was a far cry from unendurable.
The sound of years old leather smacking the polished wooden floor slowly brought him from the lethargic thought sequence. Gym class, fifty minutes of pure bliss; sweaty, hairy teenage guys running, panting and groping for the ball; basketball that is. Don't get him wrong though, he was by no means out of shape, rather, he enjoyed a good run or some other form of activity. But when he worked out it was usually an outlet for some agitation err anger that had built up that day, and at those times he'd rather not be anywhere near the human race for a couple of days.
It wouldn't have even been that bad really, pass the ball, take a few shots, actually block the ball every once and a while, nothing strenuous.....well that is if Hiten, his brother Maten, and the rest of his cronies weren't making it their religious mission in life to break Inuyasha's bones.
"Shit!" that had been the third ball to collide with Inuyasha's skull in the past thirty minutes. Whenever Inuyasha made a feeble attempt to block one if Hiten's shots, Hiten would throw the ball as hard as he could at the back of Inuyasha's head. Maten, not wanting to be shown up by his big brother, would drive down Inuyasha every time he tried to make a lay-up. Geninji, one of the bigger guys on the court, seemed to be the only member of Inuyasha's team to take notice to the beating he was getting. Unfortunately, Geninji was also a very shy, soft spoken out-caste, and not one of the prettiest guys one could meet in their lifetime. He tended to stay at the free-throw line, well away from the blood splatter, with a pained expression of guilt smacked onto his pimply face. It was a wonder that Inuyasha's brains weren't splattered over the gym floor. Yeah, Inuyasha could have retaliated, knocked out a few teeth and administered some black eyes. Heck, he'd damn sure get a kick out of pimp slapping Maten, but there was just too much at stake. Inuyasha was pretty sure the coach was oblivious to the whole situation because he kept muttering something about plays for the next football season under his breath at a small table squeezed in the far corner to the gym, but he couldn't take that chance.
Something also told him that this new living situation with his loving big brother as slum lord was more serious then his previous foster homes, he couldn't just screw around. So, he endured it, Hiten's smirk, Maten's manic laughing, and the blood that was filling his mouth from where he had bit his tongue on the last strike to the back of the head.
() (UU) (o-) (-) (UU)
"Yo 'Yash' buddy, didja enjoy the game, sorry if we were a little harsh on ya," Hiten sneered, Maten snickered, self-consciously running a pudgy hand through the sparse tuff of hair on the top of his head. Inuyasha's face screwed up, it was hard for him to believe they were brothers.
Inuyasha swallowed all the crimson liquid in one silent gulp, swiped his tongue across his teeth a couple of times, and ran the back of his hand over his mouth before speaking. "Anytime," the corners of this mouth quirked into a smile that didn't really reach his eyes. He pocketed his hands, "it's so hard to entertain myself these days," he put his feet a foot and a half apart to steady himself as he allowed his vision to focus on Hiten's frowning face. "It's nice to be entertained."
"Dude," Hiten said, it was his turn to scowl, "we completely annihilated you out there, what the fuck are you talking about." This sentence came out in a constrained snarl as he tried to get his barrings. He had expected a verbal on slaught of curses, or ever for Inuyasha to throw himself at him. He hadn't expected this calm, indifferent Inuyasha. "Man I must have scrambled your brains good for you to be spouting this bullshit at me!"
Inuyasha stared at the ceiling while Hiten was talking, letting his eyes drift over to the bleachers where the rest of the class was recovering from the violent basketball game, then back to Hiten. "There's a difference between killing a soldier and kicking a broken man, what's victory when your enemy can't retaliate," Inuyasha said in a deadpan voice. His amber eyes were now a flat yellow as a stared at Hiten for about two seconds before turning around slowly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Miroku rising off the bleachers, not before waving to a couple of girls who decided to spend their study period watching the boys play. Trying to keep his eyes focused Inuyasha headed toward the boys' locker rooms. Miroku dodged a group of talking guys and walked hurriedly toward Inuyasha's direction, his intention clearly to head him off.
(OO) (UU) () (o-) (o) ()
If Inuyasha was at speaking terms with God he would have thanked him for the rare occurrences that he could control his temper. Like today, it seemed he was on a roll; he got through his entire physical education period without grinding Hiten's face into the pavement, or suggesting burn- fat-fast diets to Maten; and now he was enduring Sesshoumaru's regaling one- sided conversation on how proud he was of Inuyasha surviving his childhood and growing up into the accomplished young man he is today. Okay, not really it went more like this:
Inuyasha had just walked up to his apartment door to notice that it was unlocked. (And he was so sure that he had locked it this morning). He silently walked into his apartment and locked the door behind him. No he wasn't afraid of whoever broke into his apartment, they should be afraid of him. With stealth that could have rivaled cat-woman's (yes he knew the character, he had some comics stashed away under his bed, coughs but that's off the subject) he dropped his book bag by the door, picked up the bat that he had laid there (ok, so he was a little paranoid) and proceeded to the living-room.
But really, he had been expecting a guy dressed in black unhooking his stereo system or pocketing his CD collection; but of all the fucking things that his more then just plain bad karma could have dragged into his apartment why his brother! And yes, there was his brother sitting on his couch in a gray/black suit that looked suspiciously like Armani.
Sesshoumaru: "I'm glad you went to school today Inuyasha, I would hate to
have an uneducated thug as a brother."
Inuyasha: "half-brother"
Sesshoumaru: "Right, right, but aren't I supposed to be the one ashamed, I
have more to my name and a better reputation to keep."
Inuyasha: "............"
Sesshoumaru: "Yes that is what I thought, but beside the point, I wanted to
see if the apartment that I so graciously bought for you is still
intact. You see I hardly invest in things that aren't worth
while."
Inuayasha: ".............."
Sesshomaru: "Wow Inuyasha, you have changed quite greatly since I last
saw you. What was that ... ten years ago? Oh yes, now I
remember, they had just dragged Myouga away and you were
crying and begging me to take you in, poor little Inuyasha
couldn't bare to face the real world without precious mom and
dad to hold your hand."
Inuyasha: "Good for you Sesshou, you managed to make a seven year old
cry. No wonder they made you head of daddy's company."
Sesshoumaru: "Is that a snide tone I detect Inuyasha, because if it is I
suggest you remember whose money it is that pays for the
food that keeps you alive. It escapes me why I bother."
Inuyasha: "Is that all you have to say Sesshou, because if it is I suggest you
get the hell out of my apartment, before I forget the consequences
of murder."
Sesshoumaru: "Tsk, tsk, Inuayasha personally I don't know where you
learned your lack of tact, maybe from your wretch of a
mother."
And with that he turned gracefully on his heel walked out the door, closely followed by the bat that Inuyasha had carried into the living room. It was hurled at the door with enough force to cause it to splinter.
(OO) () (--) (o) () (==) ()
Oh yes, if him and God were on speaking terms they would have a nice long conversation.
That delightful conversation with Sesshoumaru had taken a toll on his brain and physical health. With the force that he threw that bat at the door caused the muscles in his arm to hurt ever so slightly. So there he was sprawled out on the couch brain dead as a comatose patient.
And then the doorbell rang.
Weird how life seemed to always do the pimp slapping and there he was with the soar cheek.
He really shouldn't have opened the door.
'There they were, Miroku, Sango, and that girl who looked a hell of a lot like Kikyo, Kagome I think it was.'
"Hiya there Inuyasha me and these lovely ladies wanted to take on a night on the town." Don't need eyes to tell who that was.
"Um you know what guys I'm really tired so I'll just see you at school tomorrow ok?" This was wishful thinking for Inuyasha.
"Uh, Inuyasha tomorrow's Saturday," that Kagome girl said.
"Look I'm really tired and I need to unpack some more."
"Inuyasha, you've been here for three weeks now," Sango said.
"I'm lazy."
"Oh come on 'Yash' we were planning on getting a bite to eat, maybe swing by the arcade. But if you don't feel up to it we could just come in," Miroku took a step towards Inuyasha, but Inuyasha pushed him out into the hall grabbed his keys and made sure he still had his wallet before locking the door behind him and double checking it (the earlier experience with Sesshoumaru kind of freaked him out).
He turned to his three new "friends," who were currently looking at him like he grew a second head. "Well shall we go?"
"Um..."
"Sure..."
"Hey bring your car maybe we could attract some more luscious ladies..."
SSSSSSSSMMMMAAAACCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!