A/N: It's just another high school fic. But I had a lot of fun writing it.

Disclaimer: Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But one day I'll buy out Rumiko Takahashi and take Inuyasha from her!

"words words" - Talking

'words words' - thinking

REVIEW:

Since a lot of you just simply asked me to update, I won't be replying to those.

Del_Kaiden - Thank you for your words of encouragement. I won't make any more grammar mistakes!!! (Yeah, like that's gonna happen.)

Okami-Sedai - Have I told you that you're my favorite reviewer? This chapter is dedicated to you!

XxDevils-AngelxX - Hehe, I call him Hobo. Either way, Hojo should die. He's just way too dense.

Inuluver- As you requested, I'm updating the day after my birthday.

Lady Hawke - I wouldn't stop writing this for the world. I'm actually taking a time-out from watching Kenshin just to update. Hehe, happy?

Starfruit7 - yup, they're all staying at Kagome's house. Miroku wouldn't dare try anything in front of Kagome's mother though. He's perverted, but he's still a monk.

Sorry, but that's all the reviews I found in my account. I know there's a lot more, but I delete all my emails as soon as I read them. And FF.net takes a long time to update reviews. If I missed you, I apologize.

^_~

Chapter 3: Preparations

"Mama, Souta, look who I brought!" Kagome opened the door of the shrine house. Her mother and little brother were sitting on the couch watching late night television.

Miroku and the rest of the gang followed Inuyasha inside. Their eyes trailed to the direction of the living room.

Mrs. Higurashi and Souta looked up and were dazed. The clothing of the gang was enough to reveal their identities.

"Oneechan," Souta tugged on Kagome's sleeve and pointed to Miroku, "is he that perverted monk with the black hole in his palm."

Kagome looked at Miroku with a smile. Miroku walked closer to Souta and showed him the hand. "Nice to meet you, little guy, you must be Kagome's little brother."

Souta nodded with wide eyes. His glance drifted to Sango and to Kirara. "Whoa, that cat's got two tails!"

Sango smiled sweetly at Souta and let Kirara down on the floor. "Her name is Kirara, she's a fire cat youkai."

Souta gasped. "Does she really transform?"

Sango nodded and Kirara changed into her giant form on cue. Souta gave a squeal as Kagome's mother went over to pat Kirara on the head. Sango looked at Mrs. Higurashi with respect.

Souta had just noticed Inuyasha's new look. He gasped. "Inu-oniichan, what happened to your dog ears?!"

Inuyasha ignored him and went to the kitchen to look for ramen.

"We're sorry to invade your house so suddenly, Kagome's okaasan." Sango said while bowing. Miroku and Shippo followed suit. "We're here to protect Kagome-chan from her attackers."

Mrs. Higurashi smiled at them appreciatively. "Call me Ai. (A/N: I'll start calling her Ai too, Mrs. Higurashi takes too long to type.) And thank you all for being here." Her eyes fell upon Shippo. "Hello, young man, who might you be?"

"My name is Shippo." Shippo answered cheerfully.

Ai looked over to Kagome. "I thought Shippo was a kitsune youkai."

Kagome simply smiled. Shippo took the cue and changed back to his youkai form right away.

"Kawaii!" Ai gave Shippo a big hug as Souta came closer to play with Shippo's tail as well.

"Mama, Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha are going to attend my school." Kagome cut in after she poured everyone some tea. "But mama, can you help Shippo sign up to go to Souta's school? We need Shippo here to put the disguise on Inuyasha. And we also need you to look over Kirara while we're in school."

"Well, certainly. I'll do whatever I can to help out." The group had some more small talk in the kitchen. They discussed the names they were going to use and all other sorts of excuses. After an entire hour of chatting, they were just about fully prepared. Souta and Shippo already fell asleep on the couch.

"Hey, Kagome-sama, what's that?" Miroku suddenly pointed at the television, which was shut off at the moment.

"Explain tomorrow, honey." Ai patted the sleeping boys' heads. "You must all be tired. Sango-chan and Shippo-chan can sleep in Kagome's room. Miroku- kun and Inuyasha-kun, I'll set up futons in Souta's room for the two of you. The schools are still open for Saturday school. We'll get you guys signed up right away."

Inuyasha growled when he heard that he couldn't sleep in Kagome's room. But something in Ai's tone made him shut up and helped Miroku carry Souta and Shippo to their individual rooms.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Kagome suddenly cried out. She went over to each of her friends and removed their rosaries.

Inuyasha jumped in front of Miroku as Kagome was approaching the monk. But Kagome didn't fall for it. "Move, Inuyasha, your rosary stays."

Inuyasha growled once more and left the living room. It was one in the morning, and everyone was tired. With the exception of Inuyasha, they all fell asleep instantly.

The hanyou rolled around in his futon. The image of Kagome from earlier still haunted his mind. 'She was bleeding, and she cried so much. I wasn't there to help her, but she'll be dreaming if she thinks I'll ever let her out of my sight again.'

*****Saturday morning*****

"Inuyasha, Miroku, Souta, wake up!" Kagome knocked on Souta's bedroom door and shouted. The groans and mumbles from inside told her that they were awake now.

Kagome ran back downstairs and placed the guys' breakfast on the table. Sango was in the living room watching television with the human looking Shippo. The girls and Shippo woke up much earlier. After they've washed up and ate, Kagome had explained the concept of television to them.

"No, Inu-oniichan, Miroku-niichan, we have to brush our teeth first." Kagome can hear Souta's excited voice upstairs. 'Souta must be having a blast. Now he has one more hero to admire.'

After ten minutes, a grumpy hanyou came down with a very clean looking Miroku. Souta followed behind them, beaming.

"Hey guys, here's your breakfast." Kagome shifted over and left the guys eat. Miroku's eyes fell on her. She was wearing a yellow sundress instead of her usual school uniform.

"Waa, Kagome-sama, you look absolutely, what's that word, ah, yes, absolutely gorgeous!" Miroku made a comment which made Kagome smile. Inuyasha growled over-protectively.

"Then you should see Sango-chan." Kagome giggled. "I gave her one of my dresses to wear today."

Miroku seemed to have forgotten about the food in front of him. "Really? And where is my dear Sango?"

Kagome laughed. "Oh, Sango-chan!" She yelled to the direction of the living room. Seconds later, Sango and Shippo appeared.

Miroku didn't waste a second to rush over and grab Sango's hands. "Sango, you look beautiful!" He said with passion. And somehow, it sounded so real, like he actually meant it for once.

Sango really did look good. She was in a dress as well. It was a v-neck, short-sleeved one piece that went just below her knees. It had curves at just the right places. And the lime green color with pink designs looked just perfect on her.

Sango blushed at the comment and made no effort to withdraw her hand. And to everyone's surprise, Miroku made no effort to grope her. Instead, his eyes were on her in the duration of breakfast. Shippo and Souta were making gagging sounds. Kagome and her mother were giggling at Sango's blushes. And Inuyasha, well, he just swallowed his fourth bowl of ramen.

"This won't do at all." Kagome's mother suddenly spoke up. Her eyes were on the boys' clothing. "You can't go out dressing like that. Until you get all your school uniforms, you'll have to wear modern clothes." Ai left the dining room and came back with some old clothes that haven't been worn for a long time.

"Shippo-chan can wear Souta's clothes. Miroku-kun and Inuyasha-kun," Ai threw them each a pair of jeans and t-shirts, "these are some of Kagome's father's old clothes. They should be perfect for you two. They're a little old-fashioned though, but we'll go shopping after registration, and I'll buy you some stylish ones."

Inuyasha studied the jeans and t-shirt while Miroku thanked Ai for her hospitality. Souta dragged the two guys upstairs to show them how to put on those clothes, while the girls waited downstairs with eager anticipation.

"I ain't going out looking like this!" Inuyasha can be heard screaming on top of lungs.

"But Inuyasha, they're rather comfortable." Miroku was trying to convince his hanyou friend to go downstairs.

"They look weird!" Inuyasha whined.

Miroku said something to Inuyasha, something that wasn't audible to the girls in the kitchen. But whatever he said, it made Inuyasha shut up right away.

"Should we go?" Miroku appeared suddenly with a grumpy Inuyasha followed behind. Shippo was tugging on his shirt and Souta was grinning like an idiot.

Kagome pulled Souta aside as soon as he entered the kitchen. "Hey, Souta, what did Miroku say to Inuyasha to make him shut up?"

Souta grinned. "What do I get for telling you, oneechan?"

Kagome growled slightly. "Nothing. But I'll tell you this: if you don't tell me, you can kiss your Ultra-man action figure good-bye!"

Souta frowned. "Fine." He beckoned his sister to lean in and whispered, making sure that Inuyasha wouldn't hear. "Miroku told Inu-oniichan that if he doesn't wear the clothes, he can't protect you."

Kagome was dazed, a little touched about how far Inuyasha was willing to go for her. But her mind snapped back as soon as Miroku asked her for something to drink.

Kagome almost burst out laughing when she saw Miroku. 'Mama was right, those clothes are a tad out of date.' She glanced over the monk. 'Wow, I never seen Miroku out of those robes before, he doesn't look half bad.' Kagome blushed at the thought. But her red steaks were nothing compared to Sango's.

Kagome would've teased Sango about it. But she was too busy looking at Inuyasha. How Inuyasha was able to carry off her father's old clothes was a mystery. Miroku looked good. But Inuyasha was simply on fire. The short sleeves revealed his usually hidden biceps. And the slightly tight t-shirt wasn't doing a very good job hiding his chest muscles.

Ai suddenly cleared her throat. "If the drooling fest is over," She whispered to Sango and Kagome, "I think we should get going."

That snapped the two girls out of their daze.

"Souta, why don't you stay here and watch over Kirara and Bouyo. Grandpa's coming back today, make sure he doesn't chase Kirara, and explain to him the situation." Souta whined at his mother's request. But staying home with a cat youkai wasn't bad either. So he finally agreed after he made Kagome promise to bring home ice-cream.

Once out of the shrine, everything turned wild. They agreed to walk to Souta's school first and register Shippo. The walk was not a long one. The group has already been introduced to cement when they first arrive last night, so that wasn't a big surprise. But next came the cars, lamp posts, traffic lights, tall buildings, lack of trees, and finally, planes flying up in the sky.

"Kagome, look, it's chocolate!" Shippo shouted in delight as he noticed a picture of a chocolate ice-cream cone on the window of a store.

"Do you want some, Shippo-chan?" Kagome's mother asked. Shippo nodded vigorously. So the group took a short stop as everyone got ice-cream.

"Ah, it's cold!" Shippo yelled after taking a bite.

"Yea, brat, it's called ice-cream, baka." Inuyasha licked his cone. He knew more about this time than others, and this is the perfect opportunity to show off.

"Wow, it's snow that tastes like chocolate!" Shippo squealed happily.

"Oi, where's Miroku?" Inuyasha suddenly ask. Everyone looked around and Miroku was nowhere in sight.

"Oh, jeez, did we lose one already?" Kagome began to panic. But loud giggling sounds attracted their attention. Not far away from them, Miroku was surrounded by a bunch of waitresses. And Sango looked as though she was about to pop a vein.

"Hey, Miroku-kun, why is your hand wrapped around in cloths? And what's with the bead?" One of the girls asked.

"Because he's a perverted idiot who tends to touch women more than needed." Inuyasha answered as he started to drag Miroku away despite the monk's protest.

But the girls only giggled more as they noticed Inuyasha's presence. Kagome joined Sango in the "popping-a-vein" club.

"I think we should leave before those two get killed." Shippo suggested to Kagome's mother, who nodded in agreement.

The registration at Souta's school went without a glitch. Ai filled out a form. Shippo's full name was Kitsune Shippo. She put down 10 as age so he could be in the same grade as Souta. As for last school's transcripts, Shippo put on a very convincing act.

"My house was burned to the ground, and my parents died in the fire. I had my papers but they were burned as well." Shippo put on his puppy face, and the lady in the registration office was on the verge of tears. She didn't even bother ask what Shippo's relations with Ai was, and accepted him without any further questions.

"I can't believe how smoothly that went." Kagome exclaimed as they left the elementary school. "She even put Shippo in all of Souta's classes."

Shippo grinned proudly. 'The puppy face never fails!"

On the way to Kagome's high school they worked over the plan they formed from the night before.

"Okay, Miroku and Inuyasha, you two will be 18 years old, since that's how old Mikagi Toji is." Kagome said nervously as they were slowly approaching her school's front gate. "Sango-chan will be my age, 16, and hopefully, you'll be put into all my classes."

"But, Kagome-sama, we only know what you know." Miroku's face became serious. "How will Inuyasha and I survive in a higher grade?"

Kagome shrugged. "Let's just hope that everything will work out."

The registration in the high school was a bit more tedious. Inuyasha became Taisho Inuyasha, Miroku was Houshi Miroku, and Sango was Kirara Sango. It was somewhat uncreative, but they wouldn't have it any other way. Their excuse for not having papers was that they came from Hokkaido, and on the trip here, they lost them on the train. The registration lady was a little suspicious, but didn't press for more.

"Alright, the three of you have to take an entrance exam. And your classes will be decided on the scores you get." The lady said in a monotonous voice.

"What does that mean?" Ai asked just in case.

"It means that if these two," she pointed at Inuyasha and Miroku, "pass the test, they'll be in the 3rd year, no exception. And the girl will be in the 1st year. But depending on the scores they get on the different subjects, they might not be in the same class as their fellow students. Say if Houshi- san gets a high score in history, but a low one in math, he'll probably get into a 1st grade math class and a 3rd grade history class."

Kagome and her mother nodded in unison. "So when do they take their tests?"

"They can take them today if they want. It'll take a while though. We must test them on 5 different subjects. One hour each, that's five hours."

Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku looked at each other and made up the same decision. They said together, "we'll take them right now!"

Kagome looked at them, especially Inuyasha, in surprise. But she said nothing.

"Alright, there you go." The lady handed them each a pencil and five sheets of paper. "You can take them here, in my office." Then she turned to Kagome's mother, "will you be waiting for them here?"

Ai shook her head. "No, we'll come back in five hours to pick them up." Ai turned to Kagome and Shippo. "Let's take the time to shop for Miroku-kun and Inuyasha-kun."

Kagome nodded. After she whispered a "good luck" to her friends, the three left the building.

Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango started as once.

'First question, give a short summary of Lady Murasaki's Tales of Genji.' Inuyasha sighed in relief as he read the question on the Asian literature sheet. 'That's an easy one. Ofuku read it to me when I was little.'

On his right, Miroku sat there chewing on his pencil. 'Sango looks so beautiful today. No, focus. Okay, first question, describe the green house effect on the earth's ozone layer.' Miroku almost laughed as he began writing. 'I read over this section in Kagome-sama's book almost a hundred times. I know it by heart!'

Sango was having little trouble with the math sheet. 'Hmm, it's a simple trigonometry problem. Too easy!'

Time went on fast for the rest of the afternoon. Kagome, Ai, and Shippo shopped around for clothes while the three buried themselves in their tests. Kagome was nervous the entire afternoon. She wasn't worried about Miroku or Sango. But when Inuyasha didn't even open one of her books, it seemed unlikely that he'll be accepted.

'I hope he doesn't get frustrated and kill the lady at registration.' Kagome sighed. She usually loved shopping, but she wasn't having any fun at the moment.

*****5 hours later*****

"Hey, you guys, how did you do?!" Kagome practically ran as she saw her friends waiting for her in the hallway. 'Okay, no scorch marks from Kaze no Kizu, that's a good sign.'

"Not bad." Miroku answered. Sango gave Kagome a reassuring smile. And Inuyasha was smirking in his usually arrogant manner.

The lady from earlier stepped out of her office. "I finished grading them. Not bad."

Kagome and Ai shouted in surprised. "What?! You finished grading them already?"

The lady blinked. "They finished 3 hours early. And I had a little help from some teachers." Kagome and Ai kept on looking surprised, and the lady rolled her eyes at them. "Well, all three of you did okay. But I'm sorry to say, Houshi-kun and Taisho-kun are still only at 1st grade level for most subjects."

Miroku didn't look that disappointed. But Inuyasha growled a little.

"Okay, here are your schedules, and you can go pick up your uniforms in the student store."

Kagome glanced over their schedules and yelled happily. "Hey, Sango-chan, you are in all my classes!" She looked at the registration lady with some surprise.

The lady smiled for the very first time. "I'm not heartless. Welcome to Ryonan high school!" And with that, she turned and left.

The group of six walked toward the student store to pick up their uniforms.

"Hey, Sango, Kagome-sama, it seems like Inuyasha and I are in your math, history, and English class together." Miroku announced happily after they compared their schedules.

"Huh?" Kagome raised an eyebrow. "What about Asian Literature, Art, P.E., and Science?"

"Well, I'm still in Asian literature with the two of you, but Inuyasha's in the third grade level." Miroku answered. "And I'm in the third grade science level while Inuyasha's in the first grade level. And I guess we're separate for art and gym classes."

"Wow, that's very impressive that the both of you are in at least one of the senior classes for a major subject." Ai remarked.

Kagome was silent. 'Miroku I can understand. He was so fascinated with Science. But how did Inuyasha get into such high level Asian Literature? And how did he pass all the other subjects?'

"Hey, Inuyasha......" Kagome was just about to ask when Inuyasha seemed to have read her mind and answered for her.

"Ofuku read a lot of stories to me when I was little." Inuyasha looked straight ahead. "And it's not like I don't hear when you guys read so loud."

Sango and Miroku smiled understandingly. But Kagome was still very surprised at her new find. 'Wow, body and brains, I never noticed.'

"So school starts on Monday?" Sango asked eagerly as she looked over her uniform.

Kagome nodded, happy that she was finally going to be safe.

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