Houken-Jidai
The Big Bang
A/N: I'm not even gonna try to apologize for this taking so long, but I am sorry. I also won't make excuses, 'cause there are none. But this is kinda the explosive chapter, where the REAL story kicks in. Yeesh, only took ten chapters. . . oh! Theme music for this chapter! Remember the cliché high school music I mentioned in chapter 1? This is it. "The Kids Aren't Alright" by Offspring.
Disclaimer: See chapter 9.
*~*~*
Sango sighed and let her backpack hit her bedroom floor with a heavy thud. It had been a tiring day, as Thursdays always were, and the trouble with Miroku and Sesshoumaru in the morning hadn't helped. The whole ordeal made her feel entirely uncomfortable- she felt guilty because she knew that she DID have a semi-crush on Sesshoumaru, and even guiltier because she had yelled at Miroku. Miroku, who had taken her in to protect her. . .
"Sango." Sango spun to find Miroku peeking his head into her room.
"Yes?" she asked, trying not to act surprised.
"I've got an Honors Society meeting. I'll be back in 2 hours." Sango searched his unreadable face to see if he was angry with her, but couldn't find a hint. She lowered her eyes and nodded.
"Ok." When she looked up again, Miroku was gone. Sango scowled, her heart heavy, and let herself out of her room. When she walked into the kitchen, she was shocked to see a short, stout, balding monk stirring sauce in a pan.
"Oh!" she gasped softly, and the man turned around.
"Ah! You must be Sango!" the man set the bottle of wine down and held his hand out to Sango. "Welcome to our home. How do you like it so far?"
"It's. . . wonderful. Thank you." Sango shook his hand and then folded them nervously behind her back. Mushin chuckled.
"Yes, you are indeed the young girl Miroku won't shut up about. Beautiful, polite. . ." Sango blushed. Not another charmer. One like Miroku in a house was enough. Mushin didn't seem to notice her being uncomfortable, and he continued. "Well, I'm sure you have some homework to do or some tv to watch, so I'll let you go." He turned back to his sauce, and Sango turned to leave.
"Its nice to meet you," she said, and Mushin waved a hand at her in response. She grinned and returned to her room to start her geometry.
~*~*~
Friday morning, everyone got up and went to school as usual, with no hitches. Principal Naraku announced the big game that night against Hiroshima High, and urged in his creepy voice that always seemed to be backed by even creepier music the students to attend. Which was odd, because he never made announcements about games like that, but Kagome guessed it was because this game determined if Houken-Jidai went to state championships for basketball. She was excited.
Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku had all promised Kagome they would come after school.
"You have to cheer with us, ok?" Kagome asked, with a pep ribbon in her hair. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.
"You're not seriously asking ME to cheer, are you?" he asked. Kagome smiled.
"Well, why not? You want Houken-Jidai to win, don't you?"
"Not particularly."
"Well, I guess just GETTING you to a game is a big accomplishment." She turned to Miroku and Sango. "You guys are coming too, right?" Sango smiled.
"Of course, Kagome. Wouldn't miss it." Kagome squealed and hugged her friend in response.
"Great! You have to dress in school colors though, 'k?" she asked with so much enthusiasm that Sango didn't want to say no.
"Well. . . I don't know if I own anything with the school colors. . ."
"We'll go shopping!" Miroku interjected, and Sango sent him a look. Kagome, on the other hand, smiled excitedly.
"Yeah! Perfect! Ok, well I'm getting a ride to my house with Yuki so we can get ready. See you guys here around 6?" her friends nodded in response, and she nearly jumped in happiness. "Ok! Bye!" with a wave, she was gone. Inuyasha leaned against the wall.
"Is she always this exhausting?" he demanded. Miroku barely glanced at Inuyasha before responding.
"No, but she gets this way on game days." He took Sango's elbow and pulled her in the direction of the parking lot. "Let's go, we need to get you some clothes!" with a disgusted sigh, Sango relented.
"See you tonight, Inuyasha," she called over her shoulder as Miroku dragged her down the hall. Inuyasha feh'd at her and headed home alone.
*~*~*
Kagome and the other squad members sat in an exited huddle in a closed off hallway, applying cheer makeup and checking to make sure they all had every piece of their red and white and green uniform.
"Poms?" Kagome called loudly over the noise.
"Check!" voices rang out at different times, with a few sides of "No check. . . oh, wait, here they are."
"Alright. Signs?" she asked. Two girls who had been put in charge of the signs held them up. One said "GO!" another "HJH" and the last "RED, WHITE, GREEN". "Perfect." Kagome tied the red and white ribbons into a freshman's curled brown hair stood, and clapped her hands together.
"Ladies!" she said loudly through her megaphone. The team turned to listen to her. "Get ready, because in five I want everyone to get in formation and mark our cheers and dances. Got it? Five minutes!" she set her megaphone down and made sure her own ribbons were entirely secure. She pulled a mirror out of her cheer bag and checked her make-up – shiny white eye shadow, green eyeliner, black mascara, concealer, blush, and sheer lip gloss. Smudging her eye shadow, she smiled at herself and set the mirror back in her bag. Checking each part of her outfit, she stood and gathered her poms. She stepped away from the cheerleaders and began practicing, going over the cheers in her head while she marked the movements with her arms. Slowly, the team trickled towards her until they were all practicing in formation behind her. After a few moments of this, Kagome deemed it time to stretch.
"Kay, guys, lets stretch!" she stood with hands on her hips as each girl began various stretches, and was about to join them when something caught her eye. Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha had snuck into the hallway and were watching the team. She waved and jogged over to them excitedly.
"Hey!" she said softly. Sango, to her elation, wore a tight green and white ¾ sleeved shirt and a red skirt (which she tugged on self consciously every few minutes or so; however Miroku seemed entirely pleased with the whole ordeal). Inuyasha had rebelled and was wearing all black, but Kagome was only glad he was there. "Thanks for coming!"
"Like I had anything better to do." He snorted, but she grinned at him anyway. Miroku was overly interested in watching the cheerleaders stretch, and Sango noticed. She whacked him.
"Hey, pervert!" she said. "That's rude!" Miroku rubbed the top of his head but didn't look the least bit guilty.
"Why do you think I COME to these games?" he asked. Kagome and Sango glared at him in unison. Yuki and Rei, Kagome's cheerleader friends, approached the small group.
"Hello," they said, giggling slightly because of Miroku. Sango scowled and Kagome rolled her eyes. Rei noticed Inuyasha and put her hands on her hips.
"What's with the color scheme? You need some school colors!"
"Yeah!" Yuki agreed. Their excitement attracted the rest of the cheerleaders, who quickly decided to mob Inuyasha. When they stepped back, he was covered in various ribbons of red, white, and green in his hair and around his arms and neck, and someone had tied a red bandana around his head. He looked absolutely livid.
"That's better." Yuki determined, and in agreement, the girls headed back to stretching. Inuyasha's arms were crossed, his fingers clenched, and he sent a very dangerous glare at anyone willing to even crack a smile at him. Sango and Miroku managed to keep semi-straight faces, and Kagome smiled sympathetically as she stepped towards him.
"It might be a little overdone," she said softly, pulling at the excess ribbons from his arms, hair, and neck. When she was done, the only things left were the red bandana (which Kagome would never admit looked amazingly. . . good on him) and a green and a white ribbon tied to his upper right arm.
"Kagome!!!" a few of the cheerleaders whined when they saw what she had done to their makeover victim. She turned back to them.
"WHAT?! He looked like a bon-bon!" at this, Sango could no longer control her laughter and Miroku began chuckling. Inuyasha, if possible, looked MORE annoyed and stalked off down the hall a ways to stand alone.
"I did NOT look like a BON-BON!" he yelled over his shoulder. "Cheerleaders." He muttered in disgust.
~*~*~
As the game began, Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha sat down in the stands on the side that said "HJH Fans" and watched. The basketball game was mildly interesting, Inuyasha had to admit, though the lack of violence and the ribbons tied to his arm didn't contribute to that. He actually liked the bandana, but he was annoyed that he was dressed to show school spirit. He HAD no school spirit.
He noticed that every one of the school's faculty was at the game, including Naraku and Sesshoumaru. He knew what a big game this was, however he could never imagine either of those two going to a high school basketball game. Something was up.
On the sidelines, he could watch Kagome get up and cheer every time the team scored a point or as they were headed towards the basket. This gave his mixed feelings. She WAS a cheerleader, after all, but it was Kagome. . . but the cheers were annoying. He swore that they were made to get stuck in your head, and he hated having cheerful things stuck in his head.
He turned his attention back to the game. It was close, and neither team was continuously in the lead. He actually found himself getting caught up in the building tension of it, but felt better when he realized that Miroku was as well. Sango looked sort of bored, like she was there only because she had said she would be. The Houken-Jidai players were heading towards their basket and Miroku in the seat next to Sango actually levitated out of his seat to see what happened. Pretty soon everyone else was, Inuyasha included. The center got the ball and crouched to jump and score, as the clock counted down. . .
"Three!" the announcer yelled. The ball soared through the air.
"Two!" it neared the basket, closer, closer. . .
"ONE!" the ball hit the rim, and--! Everyone held their breath. It bounced off the rim towards the opposing stands, and the disappointed "Awwww!" from Inuyasha's side was undeniable. The other side cheered happily, and half time was called.
"Well," Miroku said, sitting back down. "They're only four points ahead. We can still catch them."
*~*~*
The cheerleaders had gone out in the hallway again to practice their performance full out, toe touches and all. They heard the half-time bell ring and jumped.
"You know what that means, guys!" Kagome called. "Line up! And remember! Energy! Poms! And most important- SMILE!!!!" the girls lined up behind her, each girl with her poms behind her back and a smile on her face. "Five, six, seven, eight." Kagome called, and the girls began walking out to the gym floor. Just as they began to get on the floor, Kagome was pulled by some unknown hand out of the line. "Keep going! Tell them to wait for me!" Kagome yelled at Yuki, who walked right behind her. Yuki nodded and lead the team out. Kagome looked to find Kaede gripping her arm and looking pale and scared. Kagome's stomach dropped.
"What's wrong, Miss Kaede?" she asked. Kaede shook her head and shoved a small bow, arrow, and a beaded necklace at Kagome.
"There's no time, you've got to perform. But keep these things with you, and if anything happens. . . well, you'll know what to do when the time comes. Now go, child, go!" she pushed Kagome towards the gym as Kagome blanched in fear.
"What? I mean, I. . ." but she had no time. She tucked the bow and arrow into the back of her tight skirt, sure they wouldn't fall out, and through the necklace over her head, tucking it under her cheer top. Kaede was acting weird, but there was a performance to give. Kagome jogged out, poms behind her back and grinning, to head the formation. The girls beside her gave her an odd look, and Kagome shrugged in response. "Ready?" she called loudly enough for each cheerleader to hear.
"Ready!" they yelled back.
"Five, six, seven, eight." Kagome called, and the entire team turned to face the crowd for Hiroshima High. Kagome took a deep breath, and nodded at the coach at the music player. The coach pushed play, and they were ready.
The dance was flawless, energetic, and perfect. The cheers were clear and concise and the crowds responded well.
All except Inuyasha, who had been tracking Naraku for the past minute. Something was up and he could just FEEL it in his bones. He had left his seat with Miroku and Sango and was following the mysterious principal as he pushed through the crowds. Naraku's hand shifted for a moment and Inuyasha caught a glint of translucent violet—
The shikon no tama.
Inuyasha felt a change come over him that made his blood boil and his muscles expand with energy. He didn't know it, but his eyes had literally turned red, his nails had grown long, sharp, and dangerous, and marks similar to Sesshoumaru's appeared on his face. He let out a yell that could even be heard over the sounds of the fans and the cheerleaders, and charged after Naraku. Naraku turned, grinning, and somehow levitated into the air, big coat billowing around him. There were shrieks of terror from students and – rage? Yes, it was rage—from most of the school staff as the object in Naraku's right hand exploded with blinding purple light. Inuyasha leapt into the light, claws extended, and seemed to disappear.
~*~*~
Despite being completely blinded, the cheerleaders held their pyramid. Kagome stood on top, squinting at the explosive purple light, when something appeared through it—odd, she knew, because she couldn't see anything. It was a small purple ball, sailing upwards. . .
Automatically, her hand reached for the bow and arrow. She was unaware of what it was doing—or anything, actually. She set the bow, pulled the string back to her ear, and aimed—
The arrow flew in a speeding arc and hit the tiny ball. The light that came this time made the first light pale in comparison. In fact, the moment the tip of the arrow hit the ball, a large explosion mid-air happened—a very large section of the gym roof was destroyed. The pyramid crumbled, and Kagome was aware now that her arm muscles burned, her irises felt as if they were on fire, and she had an odd sensation that she was falling from a very large height. . .
Around them was mass hysteria. People screamed and fled the crumbling roof and cheerleaders, ran from Naraku and Inuyasha. . . people just flat out ran, the majority of them having absolutely no clue what was going on.
In the stands, Miroku was standing and helping Sango, who he had purposefully knocked down earlier, up. The two stood tensely as they tried to assess the situation.
"Any idea what just happened?" Miroku's voice was dead serious. Sango looked at the pandemonium around her.
"It was very, very bad." She said in a low voice, and Miroku nodded.
"Let's get Kagome and Inuyasha and get out while we still can."
"Agreed."
The two sprinted down the stairs, pushing past chaotic groups of students and parents.
"You get Kagome, I'll get Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled to Sango, who was in the lead.
"Got it!" She yelled over her shoulder, and sped up, dodging
people like a fighter plane as she headed toward the gym floor. Both
only knew the general direction of their goals, and Miroku's was not
hard to find. Inuyasha and Naraku were causing quite a scene and if
possible more madness than there already was, because they were
battling. Miroku had never quite seen anyone fight with that much
power, but he was glad he was not in that battle at the time.
"Inuyasha!" he yelled. Inuyasha had landed from an attack and
was clenching his clawed fists as he circled Naraku.
"WHERE IS IT??????" he demanded. He hadn't heard Miroku. Naraku
was watching him coldly.
"I don't know what you're talking about, half-breed."
"Like HELL you don't, you bastard!!!!" Inuyasha howled. For the
first time, Miroku took in the change in Inuyasha's appearance—the red
eyes, the claws, the facial marks—
"He's full demon," Miroku whispered in awe. Full demon or not,
it was time to get them out. He stepped forward and grabbed his
friend's arm.
"Inuyasha, we've got to get out of here." He said, sounding
stressed. Inuyasha wrenched his arm out of Miroku's grip and glared at
him.
"I don't suggest you interfere!" he growled, and Miroku merely
blinked. Naraku chuckled.
"Listen to your friend, Inuyasha. Leave."
"Not before I kill YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha
charged again, and Miroku cursed. He'd never get Inuyasha out of there
at this rate. . .
*~*~*
Finding Kagome was easy for Sango. She was dazed on the floor
with all the other unconscious cheerleaders, and in her hands—a bow?
No time to worry about that now. Sango grabbed Kagome under the arms
and slung her easily over her shoulder. Kagome was not much smaller
than Sango, but due to Hiraikotsu, she was used to weights much
heavier than Kagome. With her dizzy friend over her shoulder, she
sprinted towards the exit that led to the soccer field, and breathed a
sigh of relief. The two of them, at least, were safe.
Inuyasha and Miroku, however, were still inside.
~*~*~
"I'll ask you once more, bastard, WHERE is the JEWEL??????"
Inuyasha wanted only to remove Naraku's head with his bare hands, and
he had tried, several times, but had not yet succeeded.
"I'll answer once more, hanyou. I don't know what you're talking
about." Naraku replied with a smirk that hid his fear—where WAS the
jewel? One minute in his hand, the next. . .
Inuyasha was about to attack when something clinked lightly
beside him. The sound to his sensitive ears was plain—he turned to
pick up. . . a shard of. . . purple glass? His ears twitched in
confusion and dread.
"What," he asked in a very dangerous voice. "Is this?" A new
voice answered, one he liked about as much as he liked Naraku's. . .
"Ask your little cheerleader friend." Sesshoumaru had come up
behind Miroku and was surveying with icily angry eyes. "She is the one
who shattered the jewel."
Miroku felt his blood run cold at the look on Inuyasha's face.
"KAGOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
*~*~*
A/N: WHEW. Tough chapter. Tense. I hate writing tense stuff. I get all
tense. Since I know I suck at action writing, I'm going to give you a
brief overview of what just happened: Inuyasha saw the jewel in
Naraku's hand, freaked, and attacked. To protect the jewel and make
sure all the other teachers knew he had it, Naraku did the whole "I'm
floating!" thing. Stupid move, because Inuyasha went demon and
attacked again with better aim, and knocked the jewel into the air.
Kagome, at the top of the cheerleader pyramid, lost consciousness and
shot the jewel with the bow Kaede gave her. Jewel explodes, pyramid
collapses, chaos ensues. . . but the only person who saw that Kagome
took out the jewel was Sesshy.
Once again, I apologize for sucking at writing.
Les Merci's:
PeachesDani- yeah, wonder what the little boa-wearing dude's up to. .
. we'll see ( Thanks for reading.
Randomunit02- I like how long it took me to figure out your name. Me:
"Rando? Munit? What're those?" Thanks, that's a nice compliment. I
hope you enjoyed this.
dEeYaN- haha, I love long reviews. Sure I'll check out your story, I'd
love to. It sounds interesting. Its not that I don't like high school
fics, its just that usually, when they're written, authors tend to
lose the character's identities. . . and that bothers me a bit. But
that happens in all types of fics, so I shouldn't stereotype. Thanks
so much for reading.
KaGoMe39- Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are half brothers in this, but both
of them deny it. They kind of hate each other a whole lot in this,
lol. Thanks for reviewing (.
Red Dragon9- Aw, thanks! I love Sesshoumaru too, but I find him
humorous for some reason. . . I actually am not sure what's going to
happen with him in this story. He may turn out to be completely evil,
or he may be like he is in the series. I dunno yet. Thanks for
stickin' with me on this one.
Khepri- You're KIDDING me, I LOVE the Faculty. This is * sorta * based
off of it. Loosely. I'm really glad that you think I stick to the
characters well, because that's something I work really hard on in all
my stories. Don't ask me where the idea of Sesshoumaru hitting on
Sango came from, but a lot of people are intrigued. And I'm glad the
songs gave you an idea for a fanart! Thanks for reading.
Simpleminded_Kitty-Girl- That's really sweet of you to say! Thank you
so much!
The Big Bang
A/N: I'm not even gonna try to apologize for this taking so long, but I am sorry. I also won't make excuses, 'cause there are none. But this is kinda the explosive chapter, where the REAL story kicks in. Yeesh, only took ten chapters. . . oh! Theme music for this chapter! Remember the cliché high school music I mentioned in chapter 1? This is it. "The Kids Aren't Alright" by Offspring.
Disclaimer: See chapter 9.
*~*~*
Sango sighed and let her backpack hit her bedroom floor with a heavy thud. It had been a tiring day, as Thursdays always were, and the trouble with Miroku and Sesshoumaru in the morning hadn't helped. The whole ordeal made her feel entirely uncomfortable- she felt guilty because she knew that she DID have a semi-crush on Sesshoumaru, and even guiltier because she had yelled at Miroku. Miroku, who had taken her in to protect her. . .
"Sango." Sango spun to find Miroku peeking his head into her room.
"Yes?" she asked, trying not to act surprised.
"I've got an Honors Society meeting. I'll be back in 2 hours." Sango searched his unreadable face to see if he was angry with her, but couldn't find a hint. She lowered her eyes and nodded.
"Ok." When she looked up again, Miroku was gone. Sango scowled, her heart heavy, and let herself out of her room. When she walked into the kitchen, she was shocked to see a short, stout, balding monk stirring sauce in a pan.
"Oh!" she gasped softly, and the man turned around.
"Ah! You must be Sango!" the man set the bottle of wine down and held his hand out to Sango. "Welcome to our home. How do you like it so far?"
"It's. . . wonderful. Thank you." Sango shook his hand and then folded them nervously behind her back. Mushin chuckled.
"Yes, you are indeed the young girl Miroku won't shut up about. Beautiful, polite. . ." Sango blushed. Not another charmer. One like Miroku in a house was enough. Mushin didn't seem to notice her being uncomfortable, and he continued. "Well, I'm sure you have some homework to do or some tv to watch, so I'll let you go." He turned back to his sauce, and Sango turned to leave.
"Its nice to meet you," she said, and Mushin waved a hand at her in response. She grinned and returned to her room to start her geometry.
~*~*~
Friday morning, everyone got up and went to school as usual, with no hitches. Principal Naraku announced the big game that night against Hiroshima High, and urged in his creepy voice that always seemed to be backed by even creepier music the students to attend. Which was odd, because he never made announcements about games like that, but Kagome guessed it was because this game determined if Houken-Jidai went to state championships for basketball. She was excited.
Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku had all promised Kagome they would come after school.
"You have to cheer with us, ok?" Kagome asked, with a pep ribbon in her hair. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.
"You're not seriously asking ME to cheer, are you?" he asked. Kagome smiled.
"Well, why not? You want Houken-Jidai to win, don't you?"
"Not particularly."
"Well, I guess just GETTING you to a game is a big accomplishment." She turned to Miroku and Sango. "You guys are coming too, right?" Sango smiled.
"Of course, Kagome. Wouldn't miss it." Kagome squealed and hugged her friend in response.
"Great! You have to dress in school colors though, 'k?" she asked with so much enthusiasm that Sango didn't want to say no.
"Well. . . I don't know if I own anything with the school colors. . ."
"We'll go shopping!" Miroku interjected, and Sango sent him a look. Kagome, on the other hand, smiled excitedly.
"Yeah! Perfect! Ok, well I'm getting a ride to my house with Yuki so we can get ready. See you guys here around 6?" her friends nodded in response, and she nearly jumped in happiness. "Ok! Bye!" with a wave, she was gone. Inuyasha leaned against the wall.
"Is she always this exhausting?" he demanded. Miroku barely glanced at Inuyasha before responding.
"No, but she gets this way on game days." He took Sango's elbow and pulled her in the direction of the parking lot. "Let's go, we need to get you some clothes!" with a disgusted sigh, Sango relented.
"See you tonight, Inuyasha," she called over her shoulder as Miroku dragged her down the hall. Inuyasha feh'd at her and headed home alone.
*~*~*
Kagome and the other squad members sat in an exited huddle in a closed off hallway, applying cheer makeup and checking to make sure they all had every piece of their red and white and green uniform.
"Poms?" Kagome called loudly over the noise.
"Check!" voices rang out at different times, with a few sides of "No check. . . oh, wait, here they are."
"Alright. Signs?" she asked. Two girls who had been put in charge of the signs held them up. One said "GO!" another "HJH" and the last "RED, WHITE, GREEN". "Perfect." Kagome tied the red and white ribbons into a freshman's curled brown hair stood, and clapped her hands together.
"Ladies!" she said loudly through her megaphone. The team turned to listen to her. "Get ready, because in five I want everyone to get in formation and mark our cheers and dances. Got it? Five minutes!" she set her megaphone down and made sure her own ribbons were entirely secure. She pulled a mirror out of her cheer bag and checked her make-up – shiny white eye shadow, green eyeliner, black mascara, concealer, blush, and sheer lip gloss. Smudging her eye shadow, she smiled at herself and set the mirror back in her bag. Checking each part of her outfit, she stood and gathered her poms. She stepped away from the cheerleaders and began practicing, going over the cheers in her head while she marked the movements with her arms. Slowly, the team trickled towards her until they were all practicing in formation behind her. After a few moments of this, Kagome deemed it time to stretch.
"Kay, guys, lets stretch!" she stood with hands on her hips as each girl began various stretches, and was about to join them when something caught her eye. Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha had snuck into the hallway and were watching the team. She waved and jogged over to them excitedly.
"Hey!" she said softly. Sango, to her elation, wore a tight green and white ¾ sleeved shirt and a red skirt (which she tugged on self consciously every few minutes or so; however Miroku seemed entirely pleased with the whole ordeal). Inuyasha had rebelled and was wearing all black, but Kagome was only glad he was there. "Thanks for coming!"
"Like I had anything better to do." He snorted, but she grinned at him anyway. Miroku was overly interested in watching the cheerleaders stretch, and Sango noticed. She whacked him.
"Hey, pervert!" she said. "That's rude!" Miroku rubbed the top of his head but didn't look the least bit guilty.
"Why do you think I COME to these games?" he asked. Kagome and Sango glared at him in unison. Yuki and Rei, Kagome's cheerleader friends, approached the small group.
"Hello," they said, giggling slightly because of Miroku. Sango scowled and Kagome rolled her eyes. Rei noticed Inuyasha and put her hands on her hips.
"What's with the color scheme? You need some school colors!"
"Yeah!" Yuki agreed. Their excitement attracted the rest of the cheerleaders, who quickly decided to mob Inuyasha. When they stepped back, he was covered in various ribbons of red, white, and green in his hair and around his arms and neck, and someone had tied a red bandana around his head. He looked absolutely livid.
"That's better." Yuki determined, and in agreement, the girls headed back to stretching. Inuyasha's arms were crossed, his fingers clenched, and he sent a very dangerous glare at anyone willing to even crack a smile at him. Sango and Miroku managed to keep semi-straight faces, and Kagome smiled sympathetically as she stepped towards him.
"It might be a little overdone," she said softly, pulling at the excess ribbons from his arms, hair, and neck. When she was done, the only things left were the red bandana (which Kagome would never admit looked amazingly. . . good on him) and a green and a white ribbon tied to his upper right arm.
"Kagome!!!" a few of the cheerleaders whined when they saw what she had done to their makeover victim. She turned back to them.
"WHAT?! He looked like a bon-bon!" at this, Sango could no longer control her laughter and Miroku began chuckling. Inuyasha, if possible, looked MORE annoyed and stalked off down the hall a ways to stand alone.
"I did NOT look like a BON-BON!" he yelled over his shoulder. "Cheerleaders." He muttered in disgust.
~*~*~
As the game began, Miroku, Sango, and Inuyasha sat down in the stands on the side that said "HJH Fans" and watched. The basketball game was mildly interesting, Inuyasha had to admit, though the lack of violence and the ribbons tied to his arm didn't contribute to that. He actually liked the bandana, but he was annoyed that he was dressed to show school spirit. He HAD no school spirit.
He noticed that every one of the school's faculty was at the game, including Naraku and Sesshoumaru. He knew what a big game this was, however he could never imagine either of those two going to a high school basketball game. Something was up.
On the sidelines, he could watch Kagome get up and cheer every time the team scored a point or as they were headed towards the basket. This gave his mixed feelings. She WAS a cheerleader, after all, but it was Kagome. . . but the cheers were annoying. He swore that they were made to get stuck in your head, and he hated having cheerful things stuck in his head.
He turned his attention back to the game. It was close, and neither team was continuously in the lead. He actually found himself getting caught up in the building tension of it, but felt better when he realized that Miroku was as well. Sango looked sort of bored, like she was there only because she had said she would be. The Houken-Jidai players were heading towards their basket and Miroku in the seat next to Sango actually levitated out of his seat to see what happened. Pretty soon everyone else was, Inuyasha included. The center got the ball and crouched to jump and score, as the clock counted down. . .
"Three!" the announcer yelled. The ball soared through the air.
"Two!" it neared the basket, closer, closer. . .
"ONE!" the ball hit the rim, and--! Everyone held their breath. It bounced off the rim towards the opposing stands, and the disappointed "Awwww!" from Inuyasha's side was undeniable. The other side cheered happily, and half time was called.
"Well," Miroku said, sitting back down. "They're only four points ahead. We can still catch them."
*~*~*
The cheerleaders had gone out in the hallway again to practice their performance full out, toe touches and all. They heard the half-time bell ring and jumped.
"You know what that means, guys!" Kagome called. "Line up! And remember! Energy! Poms! And most important- SMILE!!!!" the girls lined up behind her, each girl with her poms behind her back and a smile on her face. "Five, six, seven, eight." Kagome called, and the girls began walking out to the gym floor. Just as they began to get on the floor, Kagome was pulled by some unknown hand out of the line. "Keep going! Tell them to wait for me!" Kagome yelled at Yuki, who walked right behind her. Yuki nodded and lead the team out. Kagome looked to find Kaede gripping her arm and looking pale and scared. Kagome's stomach dropped.
"What's wrong, Miss Kaede?" she asked. Kaede shook her head and shoved a small bow, arrow, and a beaded necklace at Kagome.
"There's no time, you've got to perform. But keep these things with you, and if anything happens. . . well, you'll know what to do when the time comes. Now go, child, go!" she pushed Kagome towards the gym as Kagome blanched in fear.
"What? I mean, I. . ." but she had no time. She tucked the bow and arrow into the back of her tight skirt, sure they wouldn't fall out, and through the necklace over her head, tucking it under her cheer top. Kaede was acting weird, but there was a performance to give. Kagome jogged out, poms behind her back and grinning, to head the formation. The girls beside her gave her an odd look, and Kagome shrugged in response. "Ready?" she called loudly enough for each cheerleader to hear.
"Ready!" they yelled back.
"Five, six, seven, eight." Kagome called, and the entire team turned to face the crowd for Hiroshima High. Kagome took a deep breath, and nodded at the coach at the music player. The coach pushed play, and they were ready.
The dance was flawless, energetic, and perfect. The cheers were clear and concise and the crowds responded well.
All except Inuyasha, who had been tracking Naraku for the past minute. Something was up and he could just FEEL it in his bones. He had left his seat with Miroku and Sango and was following the mysterious principal as he pushed through the crowds. Naraku's hand shifted for a moment and Inuyasha caught a glint of translucent violet—
The shikon no tama.
Inuyasha felt a change come over him that made his blood boil and his muscles expand with energy. He didn't know it, but his eyes had literally turned red, his nails had grown long, sharp, and dangerous, and marks similar to Sesshoumaru's appeared on his face. He let out a yell that could even be heard over the sounds of the fans and the cheerleaders, and charged after Naraku. Naraku turned, grinning, and somehow levitated into the air, big coat billowing around him. There were shrieks of terror from students and – rage? Yes, it was rage—from most of the school staff as the object in Naraku's right hand exploded with blinding purple light. Inuyasha leapt into the light, claws extended, and seemed to disappear.
~*~*~
Despite being completely blinded, the cheerleaders held their pyramid. Kagome stood on top, squinting at the explosive purple light, when something appeared through it—odd, she knew, because she couldn't see anything. It was a small purple ball, sailing upwards. . .
Automatically, her hand reached for the bow and arrow. She was unaware of what it was doing—or anything, actually. She set the bow, pulled the string back to her ear, and aimed—
The arrow flew in a speeding arc and hit the tiny ball. The light that came this time made the first light pale in comparison. In fact, the moment the tip of the arrow hit the ball, a large explosion mid-air happened—a very large section of the gym roof was destroyed. The pyramid crumbled, and Kagome was aware now that her arm muscles burned, her irises felt as if they were on fire, and she had an odd sensation that she was falling from a very large height. . .
Around them was mass hysteria. People screamed and fled the crumbling roof and cheerleaders, ran from Naraku and Inuyasha. . . people just flat out ran, the majority of them having absolutely no clue what was going on.
In the stands, Miroku was standing and helping Sango, who he had purposefully knocked down earlier, up. The two stood tensely as they tried to assess the situation.
"Any idea what just happened?" Miroku's voice was dead serious. Sango looked at the pandemonium around her.
"It was very, very bad." She said in a low voice, and Miroku nodded.
"Let's get Kagome and Inuyasha and get out while we still can."
"Agreed."
The two sprinted down the stairs, pushing past chaotic groups of students and parents.
"You get Kagome, I'll get Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled to Sango, who was in the lead.
"Got it!" She yelled over her shoulder, and sped up, dodging
people like a fighter plane as she headed toward the gym floor. Both
only knew the general direction of their goals, and Miroku's was not
hard to find. Inuyasha and Naraku were causing quite a scene and if
possible more madness than there already was, because they were
battling. Miroku had never quite seen anyone fight with that much
power, but he was glad he was not in that battle at the time.
"Inuyasha!" he yelled. Inuyasha had landed from an attack and
was clenching his clawed fists as he circled Naraku.
"WHERE IS IT??????" he demanded. He hadn't heard Miroku. Naraku
was watching him coldly.
"I don't know what you're talking about, half-breed."
"Like HELL you don't, you bastard!!!!" Inuyasha howled. For the
first time, Miroku took in the change in Inuyasha's appearance—the red
eyes, the claws, the facial marks—
"He's full demon," Miroku whispered in awe. Full demon or not,
it was time to get them out. He stepped forward and grabbed his
friend's arm.
"Inuyasha, we've got to get out of here." He said, sounding
stressed. Inuyasha wrenched his arm out of Miroku's grip and glared at
him.
"I don't suggest you interfere!" he growled, and Miroku merely
blinked. Naraku chuckled.
"Listen to your friend, Inuyasha. Leave."
"Not before I kill YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Inuyasha
charged again, and Miroku cursed. He'd never get Inuyasha out of there
at this rate. . .
*~*~*
Finding Kagome was easy for Sango. She was dazed on the floor
with all the other unconscious cheerleaders, and in her hands—a bow?
No time to worry about that now. Sango grabbed Kagome under the arms
and slung her easily over her shoulder. Kagome was not much smaller
than Sango, but due to Hiraikotsu, she was used to weights much
heavier than Kagome. With her dizzy friend over her shoulder, she
sprinted towards the exit that led to the soccer field, and breathed a
sigh of relief. The two of them, at least, were safe.
Inuyasha and Miroku, however, were still inside.
~*~*~
"I'll ask you once more, bastard, WHERE is the JEWEL??????"
Inuyasha wanted only to remove Naraku's head with his bare hands, and
he had tried, several times, but had not yet succeeded.
"I'll answer once more, hanyou. I don't know what you're talking
about." Naraku replied with a smirk that hid his fear—where WAS the
jewel? One minute in his hand, the next. . .
Inuyasha was about to attack when something clinked lightly
beside him. The sound to his sensitive ears was plain—he turned to
pick up. . . a shard of. . . purple glass? His ears twitched in
confusion and dread.
"What," he asked in a very dangerous voice. "Is this?" A new
voice answered, one he liked about as much as he liked Naraku's. . .
"Ask your little cheerleader friend." Sesshoumaru had come up
behind Miroku and was surveying with icily angry eyes. "She is the one
who shattered the jewel."
Miroku felt his blood run cold at the look on Inuyasha's face.
"KAGOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
*~*~*
A/N: WHEW. Tough chapter. Tense. I hate writing tense stuff. I get all
tense. Since I know I suck at action writing, I'm going to give you a
brief overview of what just happened: Inuyasha saw the jewel in
Naraku's hand, freaked, and attacked. To protect the jewel and make
sure all the other teachers knew he had it, Naraku did the whole "I'm
floating!" thing. Stupid move, because Inuyasha went demon and
attacked again with better aim, and knocked the jewel into the air.
Kagome, at the top of the cheerleader pyramid, lost consciousness and
shot the jewel with the bow Kaede gave her. Jewel explodes, pyramid
collapses, chaos ensues. . . but the only person who saw that Kagome
took out the jewel was Sesshy.
Once again, I apologize for sucking at writing.
Les Merci's:
PeachesDani- yeah, wonder what the little boa-wearing dude's up to. .
. we'll see ( Thanks for reading.
Randomunit02- I like how long it took me to figure out your name. Me:
"Rando? Munit? What're those?" Thanks, that's a nice compliment. I
hope you enjoyed this.
dEeYaN- haha, I love long reviews. Sure I'll check out your story, I'd
love to. It sounds interesting. Its not that I don't like high school
fics, its just that usually, when they're written, authors tend to
lose the character's identities. . . and that bothers me a bit. But
that happens in all types of fics, so I shouldn't stereotype. Thanks
so much for reading.
KaGoMe39- Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are half brothers in this, but both
of them deny it. They kind of hate each other a whole lot in this,
lol. Thanks for reviewing (.
Red Dragon9- Aw, thanks! I love Sesshoumaru too, but I find him
humorous for some reason. . . I actually am not sure what's going to
happen with him in this story. He may turn out to be completely evil,
or he may be like he is in the series. I dunno yet. Thanks for
stickin' with me on this one.
Khepri- You're KIDDING me, I LOVE the Faculty. This is * sorta * based
off of it. Loosely. I'm really glad that you think I stick to the
characters well, because that's something I work really hard on in all
my stories. Don't ask me where the idea of Sesshoumaru hitting on
Sango came from, but a lot of people are intrigued. And I'm glad the
songs gave you an idea for a fanart! Thanks for reading.
Simpleminded_Kitty-Girl- That's really sweet of you to say! Thank you
so much!