I looked from Mother Kaede to the demon girl, and back again. Finally, I
managed to blurt out, "You can see her?"
She nodded. "Yes. I suspected when I first heard your mother speak about you- and your... problems at your old school- that you might be one of us, Kagome. But I couldn't be sure of course, so I didn't say anything. Although the name Higurashi, I'm sure you're aware, if from an ancient Japanese word meaning, "intent listener," which, as a fellow miko, you of course would be..."
"I barely heard her. I couldn't get over the fact that finally, after all these years; I'd met another miko.
"So that's why there aren't any demons around here!" I practically yelled. "You took care of them. Jeez, I was wondering what happened to them all. I expected to find hundreds-"
Mother Kaede bowed her head modestly, and said, "well, there weren't hundreds, exactly, but when I first arrived, there were quite a few. But it was nothing really. I was only doing my duty, after all, making use of the heavenly gift I received from Buddha.
I made a face. "Is that who's responsible for it?"
"But of course ours is a gift from Buddha." Mother Kaede looked down at me with that special kind of pity the faithful always bestow upon us poor, pathetic creatures who have doubts. "Where else do you think it could come from?"
"I don't know. I've always kind of wanted to have a word with the guy in charge, you know? Because, given a choice, I'd much rather not have been blessed with this particular gift.
Mother Kaede looked surprised. "But why ever not, Kagome?"
"All it does is get me into trouble. Do you have any idea how many hours I've spent in psychiatrists' offices? My mom's convinced I'm a complete psycho."
"Yes." Mother Kaede nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I could see how a miraculous gift like ours might be considered by a layperson as- well, unusual."
"Unusual? Are you kidding me?"
"I suppose I have been rather sheltered here," Mother Kaede admitted. "It never occurred to me that it must be extremely difficult for those of you out in the, er, trenches, so to speak, with no real ecclesiastical support-"
"Those of us?" I raised my eyebrows. "You mean there's more than just you and me?"
She looked surprised. "Well, I just assumed... surely there must be. We can't be the last of our kind. No, no, surely there are others."
"Excuse me." The demon looked at us very sarcastically. "But would you mind telling me what's going on here? Who is this bitch? Is she the one taking my place?"
"Hey! Watch your mouth." I shot her a dirty look. "This lady's a priestess you know."
She sneered at me. "Uh, duh. I know she's a priestess. She'd only been trying to get rid of me all week."
I glanced at Mother Kaede in surprise, and she said, looking embarrassed, "well, you see, Ayame's being a little obstinate-"
"If you think," Ayame said, in her snotty little voice, "that I'm going to stand back and let you assign my locker to this bitch-"
"Call me a bitch one more time missy," I said, "and I'll make sure you spend the rest of eternity inside this locker of yours."
Ayame looked at me without the slightest trace of fear. "Bitch," she said, stretching the word out so it contained multiple syllables.
I hit her so fast she never saw it coming. I hit her hard, hard enough to send her reeling into the line of lockers and leave a long, body- shaped dent in them. She landed hard, too, on the stone floor, but was on her feet again a second later. I expected her to strike back at me, but instead, Ayame got up and, with a whimper, ran for all she was worth down the corridor.
"Huh," I said mostly to myself. "Chicken."
She'd be back, of course. I'd only startled her. She'd be back. But hopefully when I saw her again, she'd have a slightly improved attitude.
Ayame gone, I blew my knuckles lightly. Demons have very bony jaws.
"So," I said. "What were you saying, Mother?"
Mother Kaede, still staring where Ayame had been standing, remarked, pretty dryly for a priestess, "interesting miko techniques they're teaching out east these days."
"Hey," I said. "Nobody calls me names and gets away with it. I don't care how tortured her was in his past life. Or hers."
"I think," Mother Kaede said, thoughtfully, "there are some things we need to discuss, you and I."
Then she brought a finger to her lips. To one side of us a door opened and a large man, his face heavily bearded, looked out into the breezeway, having heard the crash of Ayame's astral body- funny how much demons can weigh- hitting the row of lockers.
"Everything all right, Mother?" he asked, when he saw Mother Kaede.
"Everything's fine, Lark," Mother Kaede said. "Just fine. And look what I've brought you." Mother Kaede placed a hand on my shoulder. "Your newest pupil, Kagome Higurashi. Kagome, meet your new homeroom teacher, Lark Walden."
I stuck out the hand I'd just knocked Ayame senseless with. "How do you do, Mr. Walden?"
"Just fine, Miss Higurashi. Just fine." Mr. Walden's hand engulfed mine. He didn't look much like a teacher to me. He looked more like a lumberjack. In fact, he practically had to flatten himself against the wall to give me room to slip past him into his classroom. "Nice to have you with us," he said in his big, booming voice.
"Thanks, Mother, for bringing her over."
"Not a problem," mother Kaede said. "We were just having a little difficulty with her locker. You probably heard it. Didn't mean to disturb you. I'll have the custodian look into it. In the meantime, Kagome, I'll expect you back in my office at three, to, um, fill out the rest of those forms."
I smiled at her sweetly. "Oh, no can do, Mother. My ride leaves at three."
Mother Kaede scowled at me. "Then I'll send you a pass. Expect one around two."
"Okay," I said, and waggled my fingers to her. "Buh-bye."
I guess here you aren't supposed to say buh-bye to the principal, or waggle your fingers at her, since when I turned around to face my new classmates; they were all staring at me with their mouths hanging open.
Maybe it was my outfit. I had worn a little bit more black that usual, due to nerves. When I doubt, I always say, wear black. You can never go wrong with black.
Or maybe you can. Because as I looked around at the gaping faces, I didn't see a single black garment in the lot. A lot of white. A few browns, and a heck of a lot of khaki, but no black.
Oops.
Mr. Walden didn't seem to notice my discomfort. He introduced me to the class, and made me tell them where I came from. I told them, and they all stared at me blankly. I began to feel sweat pricking the back of my neck. I have to tell you; sometimes I prefer the company of demons to the company of my peers. Sixteen-year-olds can be really scary.
But Mr. Walden was a good guy. He only made me stand there a minute, under all those stares, and then he told me to take a seat.
This sounds like a simple thing, right? Just go and take a seat. But you see, there were two seats. One was next to this really pretty tanned girl, with thick, curly honey-blonde hair. The other was way in the back, behind a girl with hair so long, and kept in an ancient Japanese traditional hairstyle, she had to be obsessed with the feudal era.
No, i am not kidding. A girl who was obsessed with the feudal era.
Two things influenced my decision. One was that when I saw the seat in the back, I also happened to se that the windows, directly behind that seat, looked out across the school parking lot.
Okay, not such an inspiring view, you might say.
The second reason I sat there was simple: I didn't want to take the seat by the tan girl, and have the feudal era girl think I'd done it because I didn't want to near anyone as weird looking as she was. Stupid, right? Like she'd even care what I did. But I didn't even hesitate. I saw the feudal era girl and went for it.
As soon as I sat down, of course, this girl a few seats away snickered and went, under her breath, but perfectly audibly, "god, sit by the freak, why don't you."
I looked at her. She had perfectly curled hair and perfectly made-up eyes. I said, not talking under my breath at all, "excuse me, do you have Tourette's?
Mr. Walden had turned around to write something on the board, but the sound of my voice stopped him. Everybody turned around to look at me, including the girl who'd spoken. She blinked at me, startled. "What?"
"Tourett's Syndrome," I said. "It's a neurological disorder that causes people to say things they don't really mean. Do you have it?"
The girl's cheeks had slowly started turning scarlet. "No."
"Oh," I said. "So you were being purposefully rude."
"I wasn't calling you a freak," the girl said, quickly.
"I'm aware of that," I said. "That's why I'm only going to break one of your fingers after school, instead of all of them."
She spun around real fast to face the front of the classroom. I settled back into my chair. I don't know what everybody started buzzing about after that/ Mr. Walden had to call everyone to order, and when the people ignored him, he slammed his fist down on his desk and told us if we had so damned much to say, we could say it in a thousand word essay on the Pearl Harbor Attack during World War II, double-spaced, and due on his desk first thing tomorrow morning.
Oh well. Good thing I wasn't in school to make friends.
A/N:
The girl obsessed with the feudal era is.... Sango!
Next chapter, Kagome, Miroku, And Sango eat lunch, and then there's a short introduction to Kouga, Ayame's ex-boyfriend....
She nodded. "Yes. I suspected when I first heard your mother speak about you- and your... problems at your old school- that you might be one of us, Kagome. But I couldn't be sure of course, so I didn't say anything. Although the name Higurashi, I'm sure you're aware, if from an ancient Japanese word meaning, "intent listener," which, as a fellow miko, you of course would be..."
"I barely heard her. I couldn't get over the fact that finally, after all these years; I'd met another miko.
"So that's why there aren't any demons around here!" I practically yelled. "You took care of them. Jeez, I was wondering what happened to them all. I expected to find hundreds-"
Mother Kaede bowed her head modestly, and said, "well, there weren't hundreds, exactly, but when I first arrived, there were quite a few. But it was nothing really. I was only doing my duty, after all, making use of the heavenly gift I received from Buddha.
I made a face. "Is that who's responsible for it?"
"But of course ours is a gift from Buddha." Mother Kaede looked down at me with that special kind of pity the faithful always bestow upon us poor, pathetic creatures who have doubts. "Where else do you think it could come from?"
"I don't know. I've always kind of wanted to have a word with the guy in charge, you know? Because, given a choice, I'd much rather not have been blessed with this particular gift.
Mother Kaede looked surprised. "But why ever not, Kagome?"
"All it does is get me into trouble. Do you have any idea how many hours I've spent in psychiatrists' offices? My mom's convinced I'm a complete psycho."
"Yes." Mother Kaede nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I could see how a miraculous gift like ours might be considered by a layperson as- well, unusual."
"Unusual? Are you kidding me?"
"I suppose I have been rather sheltered here," Mother Kaede admitted. "It never occurred to me that it must be extremely difficult for those of you out in the, er, trenches, so to speak, with no real ecclesiastical support-"
"Those of us?" I raised my eyebrows. "You mean there's more than just you and me?"
She looked surprised. "Well, I just assumed... surely there must be. We can't be the last of our kind. No, no, surely there are others."
"Excuse me." The demon looked at us very sarcastically. "But would you mind telling me what's going on here? Who is this bitch? Is she the one taking my place?"
"Hey! Watch your mouth." I shot her a dirty look. "This lady's a priestess you know."
She sneered at me. "Uh, duh. I know she's a priestess. She'd only been trying to get rid of me all week."
I glanced at Mother Kaede in surprise, and she said, looking embarrassed, "well, you see, Ayame's being a little obstinate-"
"If you think," Ayame said, in her snotty little voice, "that I'm going to stand back and let you assign my locker to this bitch-"
"Call me a bitch one more time missy," I said, "and I'll make sure you spend the rest of eternity inside this locker of yours."
Ayame looked at me without the slightest trace of fear. "Bitch," she said, stretching the word out so it contained multiple syllables.
I hit her so fast she never saw it coming. I hit her hard, hard enough to send her reeling into the line of lockers and leave a long, body- shaped dent in them. She landed hard, too, on the stone floor, but was on her feet again a second later. I expected her to strike back at me, but instead, Ayame got up and, with a whimper, ran for all she was worth down the corridor.
"Huh," I said mostly to myself. "Chicken."
She'd be back, of course. I'd only startled her. She'd be back. But hopefully when I saw her again, she'd have a slightly improved attitude.
Ayame gone, I blew my knuckles lightly. Demons have very bony jaws.
"So," I said. "What were you saying, Mother?"
Mother Kaede, still staring where Ayame had been standing, remarked, pretty dryly for a priestess, "interesting miko techniques they're teaching out east these days."
"Hey," I said. "Nobody calls me names and gets away with it. I don't care how tortured her was in his past life. Or hers."
"I think," Mother Kaede said, thoughtfully, "there are some things we need to discuss, you and I."
Then she brought a finger to her lips. To one side of us a door opened and a large man, his face heavily bearded, looked out into the breezeway, having heard the crash of Ayame's astral body- funny how much demons can weigh- hitting the row of lockers.
"Everything all right, Mother?" he asked, when he saw Mother Kaede.
"Everything's fine, Lark," Mother Kaede said. "Just fine. And look what I've brought you." Mother Kaede placed a hand on my shoulder. "Your newest pupil, Kagome Higurashi. Kagome, meet your new homeroom teacher, Lark Walden."
I stuck out the hand I'd just knocked Ayame senseless with. "How do you do, Mr. Walden?"
"Just fine, Miss Higurashi. Just fine." Mr. Walden's hand engulfed mine. He didn't look much like a teacher to me. He looked more like a lumberjack. In fact, he practically had to flatten himself against the wall to give me room to slip past him into his classroom. "Nice to have you with us," he said in his big, booming voice.
"Thanks, Mother, for bringing her over."
"Not a problem," mother Kaede said. "We were just having a little difficulty with her locker. You probably heard it. Didn't mean to disturb you. I'll have the custodian look into it. In the meantime, Kagome, I'll expect you back in my office at three, to, um, fill out the rest of those forms."
I smiled at her sweetly. "Oh, no can do, Mother. My ride leaves at three."
Mother Kaede scowled at me. "Then I'll send you a pass. Expect one around two."
"Okay," I said, and waggled my fingers to her. "Buh-bye."
I guess here you aren't supposed to say buh-bye to the principal, or waggle your fingers at her, since when I turned around to face my new classmates; they were all staring at me with their mouths hanging open.
Maybe it was my outfit. I had worn a little bit more black that usual, due to nerves. When I doubt, I always say, wear black. You can never go wrong with black.
Or maybe you can. Because as I looked around at the gaping faces, I didn't see a single black garment in the lot. A lot of white. A few browns, and a heck of a lot of khaki, but no black.
Oops.
Mr. Walden didn't seem to notice my discomfort. He introduced me to the class, and made me tell them where I came from. I told them, and they all stared at me blankly. I began to feel sweat pricking the back of my neck. I have to tell you; sometimes I prefer the company of demons to the company of my peers. Sixteen-year-olds can be really scary.
But Mr. Walden was a good guy. He only made me stand there a minute, under all those stares, and then he told me to take a seat.
This sounds like a simple thing, right? Just go and take a seat. But you see, there were two seats. One was next to this really pretty tanned girl, with thick, curly honey-blonde hair. The other was way in the back, behind a girl with hair so long, and kept in an ancient Japanese traditional hairstyle, she had to be obsessed with the feudal era.
No, i am not kidding. A girl who was obsessed with the feudal era.
Two things influenced my decision. One was that when I saw the seat in the back, I also happened to se that the windows, directly behind that seat, looked out across the school parking lot.
Okay, not such an inspiring view, you might say.
The second reason I sat there was simple: I didn't want to take the seat by the tan girl, and have the feudal era girl think I'd done it because I didn't want to near anyone as weird looking as she was. Stupid, right? Like she'd even care what I did. But I didn't even hesitate. I saw the feudal era girl and went for it.
As soon as I sat down, of course, this girl a few seats away snickered and went, under her breath, but perfectly audibly, "god, sit by the freak, why don't you."
I looked at her. She had perfectly curled hair and perfectly made-up eyes. I said, not talking under my breath at all, "excuse me, do you have Tourette's?
Mr. Walden had turned around to write something on the board, but the sound of my voice stopped him. Everybody turned around to look at me, including the girl who'd spoken. She blinked at me, startled. "What?"
"Tourett's Syndrome," I said. "It's a neurological disorder that causes people to say things they don't really mean. Do you have it?"
The girl's cheeks had slowly started turning scarlet. "No."
"Oh," I said. "So you were being purposefully rude."
"I wasn't calling you a freak," the girl said, quickly.
"I'm aware of that," I said. "That's why I'm only going to break one of your fingers after school, instead of all of them."
She spun around real fast to face the front of the classroom. I settled back into my chair. I don't know what everybody started buzzing about after that/ Mr. Walden had to call everyone to order, and when the people ignored him, he slammed his fist down on his desk and told us if we had so damned much to say, we could say it in a thousand word essay on the Pearl Harbor Attack during World War II, double-spaced, and due on his desk first thing tomorrow morning.
Oh well. Good thing I wasn't in school to make friends.
A/N:
The girl obsessed with the feudal era is.... Sango!
Next chapter, Kagome, Miroku, And Sango eat lunch, and then there's a short introduction to Kouga, Ayame's ex-boyfriend....