A/N: Wheeeee!! New story, new story. I was so high when I saw all those reviews you guys gave me for that one leetle prologue. Talk about blown away! Well, here's the next chapter, poems and all. Of course the only reason why these poem's are actually good are because they're my older sister's. All the credit goes to her; my poems are the typical paper or plastic overly-angst ridden ones you find on everybody's livejournals these days. Was any one else aware that they're making an originalfiction.net? Yeah, it should be coming out in the middle of September of sumptin. But n e wayz, to the story!
Only Words Can Say
Chapter 1: The Wonders of Poetry
Running is such a strange verb to perform. It's faster than a walk or a jog, but slower than a sprint and was something Kagome wasn't particularly fond of; the achey feeling she got in her legs and the constant side-stitches just didn't sit well with her. But under the circumstances, running was utterly necessary. Most would run when being chased by a tanuki armed with a lasso.
"Come now," it called in a distinctly Irish accent, "be a good girl and attend your chicken-riding lessons!" It swung its lasso threateningly.
His request had struck mind-numbing fear into Kagome's heart, the beads of sweat rolling down her face becoming even more intense at the visualization of the massive, wild chickens she was supposed to be riding. Whimpering, she pumped her arms harder and moved her legs faster, attempting to avoid the lasso hovering menacingly above her head…
"Kagome? Kagome, get up!"
"Gah, no chicken-riding lessons!" Kagome's head shot up from her desk as she looked around, wild-eyed.
"Chill out Kag," her best friend Sango hissed, her own dark eyes darting back and forth between the disoriented Kagome and Ms. Kaede. "Ms. Kaede's gonna announce the winner of the poetry contest."
"Oh, is that all?" Kagome muttered sleepily, rubbing her eyes, "I thought I got in trouble."
Sango rolled her eyes, "Like you ever get in to trouble."
"You're right," Kagome smiled, "nice, bubbly Kagome never gets in trouble."
"Let's try to keep it that way Higurashi," Ms. Kaede looked sternly at them from the front of the classroom, "Now, are you ladies quite finished?" (A/N: Ugh, I hate when teachers say that)
"Yes Ms. Kaede," the red-faced girls said in unison.
"Good, because I'm going to give the results of the poetry contest now." So saying, the ancient-looking teacher waddled over to her equally ancient desk and retrieved two pieces of paper, one of which was a familiar shade of pink.
If Kagome had taken the time to, she would have noticed the brutally crumpled state of the other piece of paper, but she was too busy staring at the pink paper in Ms. Kaede's right hand. Why did she have to pick such a conspicuous colored paper to write on? If she knew she even had a chance of winning, she would've written her poem on a plain, boring piece of binder paper like everyone else had!
"Ehem," Ms. Kaede cleared her throat loudly, silencing the whispers that had rippled throughout the room at the sight of the two papers. Her gaze momentarily rested on Kagome, her eyes crinkling in amusement at the girl's expression of barely stifled mortification. Clearing her throat again, she began,
"Well, I've read all your poems, and some were quite good, while others…" she trailed off, eyes straying to Hojo, "were not that good. To be honest, some plain sucked. But out of the poems of my two classes combined, only two stood out,a nd it's these two poems that have kept me up all night." She stopped, her sharps eyes sweeping over the room to make sure she had everyone's attention,
"This is where you come in. perhaps you call assist me in determining which of the two poems deserve to be the winner."
Someone's hand shot up.
"Yes Nekoni?"
"Well, if both poems are from our class, then it doesn't matter since we win any way."
"I'm aware of that."
"Then what's the problem," the boy named Hojo spoke up.
"One's from this class the other one's from my fourth period class," Ms. Kaede explained patiently. "I will read them each to you and you will vote on which one you think is the best."
Sango raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"Will you be telling us which class each poem comes from?"
"No. Not only would that be unfair, but the poets have chosen to have pen names…quite familiar ones actually," she added, looking down at the papers thoughtfully. "Any way, any more questions?" Her gaze snapped back up to the class challengingly, as if daring them to ask her a question.
"No? Good. The first poem is entitled 'girl friday,' and the poet wishes to be referred to as Ilsa."
Kgome resisted the urge to squeak, duck under her desk and cover her ears. Now that she thought of it, everyone would probably laugh at her poem…
"girl friday
She'll be a good girl today. She'll study her music
and make dresses. No sweets or shortbread for her
tonight. No skipping class or shaking legs no more
homespun nicotine starshine. Instead she will sit and
comb out the hot red knot that is she, fury and
curled-up toes and tie them up nicely, in two neat
plaits. She will close her eyes. She will erase the
pulse in her wrists.
Mother told her once, that she had beautiful hands,
but only when they were folded in her lap."
Kagome looked down at her desk, her hair falling around her forming a curtain of soft, black hair.
"Hey," Sango gently touched her shoulder, "You okay?"
"Yeah. Just trying not to fall asleep," she forced out, head still bent low, eyes still fixed on the characters some bored student with a sharp object had carved into her desk. IY + K = 4EVA Maybe if she kept on staring at those aged scratches the embarrassed blush painting her cheeks would go away.
"The next poem," Ms. Kaede announced, once again quieting the whispers that had erupted, "is entitled, 'chew and swallow' by Rick."
Kagome's jaw dropped. No way. There was no way in bloody heck that the guy in the other class picked his pen name from Casablanca as well. There was no way his pen name was the lover of her pen name in her favorite movie. She blinked; wow, she wasn't making sense any more.
Sango elbowed her, shooting her a worried glance, "What's up with you? You're acting really weird today."
Kagome didn't have a chance to reply.
"'chew and swallow'
unsure of whether
i should down your
space cake and
keep the chocolate
bits in a corner
for tuesday
lick my plate clean
tried every fashion
of slice and dice
there was
but i'm afraid i can't
stomach this," Ms. Kaede finished, placing the papers back on the desk. Turning back to the class, she grabbed a marker and strode over to the whiteboard writing the names Ilsa and Rick in bold letters.
"Now, to vote. All for Ilsa, raise your hand."
Kagome slid down in her seat, hands fisted firmly at her side. After hearing that Rick guy's poem, hers paled so much in comparison.
"Okay, all those for Rick?"
Kagome raised her hand, looking at Sango out of the corner of her eye. To her surprise, both of her friend's hands were down on her desk. Catching Kagome's surprised expression, Sango just smiled kindly.
"Well this certainly is an interesting turn of events, not to mention quite unhelpful," Ms. Kaede mused aloud, drawing Kagome's attention to the 15's scribbled under each of the names on the board.
"It looks like Rich and Ilsa will just have to write another poem. It'll be due Wednesday along with the rest of the classes evaluations on 'Taming of the Shrew!'" She practically shouted, the bell and sudden rush to leave the classroom drowning out her voice.
Kagome shouldered her yellow backpack, her binder hugged to her chest as she and Sango joined the throng of students cramming through the narrow doorway.
"Hey Higurashi, those were some pretty good poems huh? I wonder who the writers really are, don't you?" Hojo asked conversationally, the current of moving bodies pressing a nervously smiling Kagome to his side.
"Heh heh, yeah, I wonder," she replied weakly, throwing Sango a helpless look.
"I bet it's probably one of those depressed people, you know, the ones who wear black all the time. My favorite one was the one by Rick," the boy continued, oblivious to the uncomfortable, if not painful feelings he was inducing in Kagome.
"Yeah, the poets probably do wear black all the time," she agreed stiffly, looking down at her own pastel colored clothing, "and Rick's poem was a lot better than Ilsa's."
"Really? I think Ilsa's was the best," Sango argued, squeezing herself between Kagome and Hojo.
"Yeah, I liked hers too," a girl named Yuka piped up, the inescapable motion of the crowded doorway pushing her towards the group, "I bet Kikyo wrote it, she looks so thoughtful and mysterious."
"Yeah, but I don't see why she would write such a sad poem. I mean, with a boyfriend like Inu Yasha!" Eri, Yuka's friend, gushed. Yuka looked at her quizzically,
"The poem's sad? I thought she was happy…"
Kagome finally made it out the door before, fortunately, her claustrophobic feelings overwhelmed her and she started beating people out of the way with her binder. Breathing a sigh of relief, she waited for Sango to escape the crowded doorway, then hurried down the hall.
"Hey Kag, you sure you're okay?" Sango asked after a minute of walking in silence.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sleepy," Kagome lied, smiling brightly.
"If you say so," Sango muttered, still dubious, "Any way, do you wanna do something after school today? It's Fridaaaay," she sing-songed.
"Can't, I'm visiting Colonel Pickle today."
"How about tomorrow then? They're showing old flicks at the theater."
"Casablanca?"
"Of course."
"I'm there then."
"Good." The pair stopped in front of Kagome's next class, "So, what's your next poem going to be about?"
"W-what are you talking about?" Kagome stammered, her eyes widening innocently.
"Don't try to pull that one Kagome. I gave you that pink stationary for your birthday, remember?"
"Oh yeah…"
"Plus, the pen name was Ilsa: your favorite character from your favorite movie."
"I get the point."
"…So?"
"So what?"
"So, what's your next poem going to be about?"
"Oh that. Well, I don't really know," Kagome murmured, chewing ponderously on her bottom lip, "girl friday was just an accident really."
"I'm sure you'll think of something." Sango looked down at her watch, "Oh shit, I'm gonna be late for gym! Later Kag."
"Have fun!"
"I'll run an extra lap, just for you," Sango called over her shoulder as she rushed down the hall. Kagome chuckled softly to herself and shook her head at her best friend; Kami, what would she do without Sango?
Still chuckling, she turned and walked straight into somebody's chest.
With a surprised, "Oof!" her binder flew out of her arms, binder paper and pink stationary fluttering slowly to the ground, occasionally catching in the fluorescent lights like a delirious child's demented perception of falling rose petals and snow.
The boy she had walked into watched, fascinated, as the paper fluttered lazily to the ground, then he turned abruptly to her, startling gold eyes flashing in irritation.
"Watch where you're going," he growled.
Kagome didn't respond; she found that people with attitude problems were easier to deal with if you didn't respond at all. Instead, she pursed her lips and knelt down to collect her scattered papers, mentally concocting a tirade which she could only dream of unleashing upon the snappy boy she had run into. She had managed to retrieve about half of her belongings when she heard the swift shuffle of papers, and then the other half of her binder's scattered contents were being shoved under her nose.
"Hmph, here."
Kagome looked up at the boy in surprise, taking note of the silver hair and black, doggy-eaered beanie,
"Thanks," she smiled, taking the papers from him. He stood up and shrugged embarrassedly,
"Feh, whatever."
Kagome stood up as well, still smiling, "Your name is Inu Yasha right?"
The boy visibly stiffened, his eyes rapidly hardening, "Yeah, whatsit to you?" He sneered, "You gonna ask where my parents thought up such a weird name? Gonna ask where I got my 'totally out of date' clothes? Well let me tell you something, it's none of your damn business."
Kagome could only gape at him after his little outburst before her cheeks flushed angrily and her right eyebrow began to twitch,
"Actually I was just going to say…" she hesitated, readjusting her grip on her binder.
"Well? Today wench," he snapped.
"God, don't need to be so defensive! I was just going to say I like your beanie," she scowled and swept into the classroom.
Inu Yasha stared at the spot the strange girl had occupied in bewilderment, seemingly unaware of the loud bell, echoing shrilly throughout the, now, empty hall.
Shaking his head, he swore under his breath and went to class.
A/N: Oh my. That chapter didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I apologize for the choppiness. Any way, don't forget to review…you know you want to.