Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from either anime!

***

Substitution



"Watch out!" yelled Sango, running as fast as she could. She shoved Kagome out of the

way just as the truck came to an abrupt stop. Yes the truck did stop, but Sango was far from well.

"Are you okay?!?" asked the frantic truck driver. "I'll call an ambulance!" yelled the

driver after noticing the horrible condition Sango was in.

"What's going on?" muttered Kagome as the truck driver lifted Sango off of her.

"She freezing cold!" gasped the driver. "At least one of you are fine." Kagome clenched

her hands and stood up.

"How is she?" demanded Kagome.

"She's still alive." replied the driver. "But..."

"Stupid girl." whispered Kagome. "You didn't have to do that. It was my fault for not

paying more attention to my surrounding. Like he taught me, 'those who do not pay attention

deserve to die.'"



***

~End Flashback~ (In case any of you forgot, we were in flashback mode. ^_^)

"To think that the injury of that girl had caused us more trouble than we bargained for."

murmured the red-haired man.

"Kurama." called out a blue-haired girl.

"Botan." replied the red-haired man, no trace of cheerfulness.

"Come on, we're going to be late for our date." murmured Botan.

"Botan, we can't keep on kidding ourselves." stated Kurama in a deadpan voice. "This

isn't working."

"But, Kurama." whispered Botan, holding back tears.

"I don't love you." informed Kurama. "I tried to love you, but I can't bring myself to do

it."

"Why?" asked Botan. "Why?! You still can't forget her, isn't it? She's DEAD! She isn't

coming back!"

"I know, but I can't move on." replied Kurama, glancing at the ice sculpture once again.

"How could I?"

"She never truly loved you!" argued Botan. "You were just a replacement!"

"Just as it is now." added Kurama, turning to look at Botan. "I never truly loved you

either, I couldn't forget her. All the dates we have been on, it was never really you who I had

seen. I had seen her in you."

"Oh." replied Botan, eyes downcast. "I see, so I mean nothing to you?"

"Not in the sense you want it to be, I'm sorry." replied Kurama, walking out of the cave

where the sculpture was located. Botan fell to the ground as a soft sob escaped her lips. A black

blur zipped out of the cave as soon as Kurama had left. It stopped in a tree to reveal a short,

black-haired man.

"It would seem the fox is destined to lead a lonely life." snorted the man. "Though he

deserved it. Both he, Koenma, and Botan deserve the pain, for this was their doing. They caused

her death because of some stupid case!" he growled, anger increasing with each word.

~Flashback~ (Once, again, back in flashback mode!)

"How are you doing?" asked Kagome, when she heard Sango's breathing increase,

indicating that she was awakening.

"Kagome, how long have I been out?" asked Sango, in full cast.

"That was stupid of you." stated Kagome. "You could have died."

"If I didn't, then you could have died." replied Sango.

"As if." muttered Kagome.

"Hm?" asked Sango, trying to focus her eyes.

"Nothing." replied Kagome coldly. "Is there anything you need to do? I'll do it for you,

since you are in no condition to do it yourself."

"Well." started Sango. "The upcoming competition for the three schools, I don't think I'll

make it and our school must win this time!"

"Of course you won't make it." snorted Kagome. "I'll take up all the things you signed up

for and I'll try to win."

"Thanks." replied Sango, wincing in pain. "I'm going to get some more sleep." Kagome

got up and found her way out of the room.

***

"Are you ready for the competition, guys?" asked Yusuke, cracking his knuckles. "Hey,

Kuwabara, have you seen Kurama today?"

"I don't know." replied Kuwabara. "He left after reading the newspaper today."

"You mean this?" asked Yusuke, picking up the newspaper. "Two Kasen Junior High

students almost run over by a truck?"

"Yea, I heard one of them was in really bad shape." added Kuwabara.

"Heh." snorted Yusuke, popping onto the couch and began to surf the tv.



***

"You again?" asked Kagome, stopping right in front of Kurama.

"I'm honored you still remember me." smiled Kurama.

"Don't let it get to your head." replied Kagome in an icy tone. "Now, if I'm correct in my

assumption, you are looking for me?"

"Yes, the news indicated that two students from your class was in an accident and I..."

started Kurama.

"And you thought I was the one that was severely injured." finished Kagome. "I'm

touched by your concern, but you might as well save that concern for someone else. It's wasted

on me. I don't need it." replied Kagome emotionlessly.

"Did I do something to cause you to hate me?" asked Kurama, curiosity getting the better

of him.

"Nothing personal." was all Kagome replied. Kurama stood in the middle of the street in

silence, when Kagome asked him a question. "What street is this?"

"The street sign is right in front of you." replied Kurama.

"Well, read it then." ordered Kagome.

"Cherry Street." read Kurama.

"I'm glad you can read." snorted Kagome, before taking a left.

"Was she just testing me on my.....reading skills?" asked a confused Kurama. "She really

is different from all the average girls. I get the suspicion there's more to her than meets the eye."

"If your done analyzing the female, fox," snorted a voice from behind him, "we still have

an uncompleted mission."

"Yes, I've noticed that too Hiei. But there's no way to track down the blood-sucking

demon at the moment." replied Kurama.

"Hn." replied Hiei, before disappearing again.

***

"Read everything that Sango signed up for." ordered Kagome, thrusting the list to a

shaking girl.

"P-please, I-I d-don't want t-trouble!" cried the girl in fear.

"Read the list and nothing will happen to you." growled Kagome, as the girl took the list

from Kagome's hand.

"Hand to hand combat, Wooden sword fighting, track, cooking, racing, archery, singing,

babysitting..."

"Babysitting?" repeated Kagome. "What kind of competition in that?"

"I-I'm sorry!" cried the girl.

"She didn't happen to sign up for everything, did she?" asked Kagome.

"Yes, she did." replied the girl.

"Then why didn't you just say so? Your wasting my time." stated Kagome in a very cold

tone.

"I'm so sorry!" apologized the girl.

"Go." ordered Kagome as the girl zoomed out of the room as if her life depended on it.

***

End chapter 4. ^_^ Please read and review!

It's a very difficult pairing, but there will be Kagome/Kurama romance. Though it's not really

just Kagome/Kurama pairing....it's hard to explain. There will be some Yusuke/Kagome

interaction as well. (But then that won't go very far. Thanks to Keiko.) ^_^

Bekkablair:

* Does Kagome's "if I hadn't screwed up, you wouldn't be dead now" referring to Kikyou

succeeding in getting Inuyasha to go to hell with her?

-Actually, it doesn't. ^_^ I'm trying something else.

* Does it have something to do with Shippo?

- No, he's playing another role. ^_^

miko:

* Why does she keep running into things?

- There's a good reason for it, just wait and see.

* Is she going to stay cold-hearted?

- She'll soften a bit as time runs. Or in this case chapters run. ^_^

XxPuNKoDdEsSxX:

* Is Kagome BLIND?

-Your on the right track, she isn't *really* blind. It'll be explained later. But your half

right, it's just Kagome isn't like the average *blind* person.

Autumn Mitchell:

* Is Kagome gonna end up with someone from the Yu Yu Group?

- Sort of.

Kawaii Silver Kitsune:

* Is there a reason that we don't know why Kagome is bumping into things?

- There's some clues if you'll read the answer to XxPuNKoDdEsSxX question. ^_^

* Why is she being mean to Sango is she is her best friend?

- Sango views Kagome as her best friend. But Kagome doesn't feel the same way. She

just sees Sango as an annoying roommate who wouldn't leave her life alone. But Kagome's view

of Sango is slowly changing, as you can see. ^_^

FireLilly:

* Why is Kagome so cold/distant/MEAN?

- It will be revealed later on. ;)

Ichigo:

* Why is Kagome so clumsy?

- Actually, she isn't clumsy. It's something with her eyes. If you'll scroll up to

XxPuNKoDdEsSxX question you'll see some clues. ^_^

Angelkitty77:

* Is she blind or just not paying attention?

- If you'll scroll up to XxPuNKoDdEsSxX question you'll get some clues. :)

* Does she go back in the past or is this just a present day story?

- It's set in present day. ^_^

Mz X. Ti F F an Y:

* Is Kagome even human?

- Not really. ^_^

Thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews! They're great inspiration! ^_~