Chapter 1
Do You See What I See?
"Holy crap! I'm late for school!" screamed Kagome as she yanked her shirt on over her head. The school was having an assembly for the Domino kids, since they'd volunteered to let them go to their school ever since the storm totaled Domino High last Wednesday. Everyone from her school was required to attend the assembly, as a show of friendship. But, lucky her, she was exhausted from having to deal with a certain, grumpy han-you. Ever since she'd gotten back from the Feudal Era, Inu-yasha hadn't let up. That, and the fact that she never replaced the alarm clock Inu-yasha had broken.
She hopped down the stairs on one foot as she tried to get her left shoe on, and dashed past the dining room, saying, "No time for breakfast, Mom! Love you. Bye!" She ran past the well house, and the sacred tree, down the steps that lead to the shrine she lived in, and just as she got to the first crosswalk, she was stopped by a red light. 'Great', she thought. 'Now what?'
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"Come on Joey!" yelled Tristan, as he, Tea, and Yugi waited in his car for their friend. He did this practically every morning. They all shared the opinion that Joey, though he was a good gamer and a great friend, still needed to grow up.
Joey ran out the door, still trying to get his uniform jacket on, and said as he headed for his apartment's shared garage, "I'm coming. I'll take the hog, you go on."
"Fine, speed demon, but you'll still be late," said Tristan as he hit the gas, and Joey's three best friends sped away. Joey unlocked the chain he had on his new used motorcycle, got on, and after putting on his helmet (which he got simply cause it had a hawk in flight painted on it) he too sped off. He loved this bike. It used to be Tristan's, but he'd gotten the new car, and gave his old hog to Joey, who'd always admired it. Every time Joey rode it, he felt like he was flying. It took an hour to commute to Tokyo, but he didn't care, it meant he could soar even longer than usual. He zoomed through every light, miraculously getting nothing but green lights. 'This is my day!' thought Joey. As he came to a stop at the only red light, he groaned from disappointment.
"So much of my day" he said to himself. He waited impatiently for the light to turn, and took the time to look around. He realized he'd past an old shrine a minute ago, and he noticed the odd, yet beautiful, contrast of the old style home in the area next to the gleaming new skyscrapers. Then, he looked to his right, and saw that one person was coming from the cross walk. A girl in a school uniform. It looked like the uniforms that had been described to him from the school he was going to today. In the few minutes he'd seen the girl, he'd been entranced. His breath caught in his throat, his palms were starting to sweat on the handles of his motorcycle. She was pretty. No, beyond pretty. She was beautiful. Joey felt a sense a deja-vou, but before he could think of where he could have seen her before, the light turned, and she was running ahead, in the direction he was going. He punched the gas and followed her, hoping she really was from the new school. He had to talk to her.
He followed her for ten minutes, twisting down side roads, swerving between cars and mac-trucks. Then, she took a turn, and was caught in the crowd of people. He'd lost her. But, Joey heard a familiar voice call him, and saw a familiar car stopping next to him. It was Tristan and the gang!
"Hey guys," Joey shouted over the roar of his bike, "Do the girls from the new school wear white shirts and green skirts?"
"Yeah, Joey," Yugi said from the back seat of the car, "Why do you ask?"
"Cause I thought I saw this really pretty girl from that school. I tried to follow her, to find the school, but I lost her "
"Joey," scolded Tea, "We're not even there yet, and you're thinking about the girls already?! You pig!"
"Light's green!" said Tristan, "Let's go. Maybe Joey can find his mystery girl," he said just before the car and motorcycle raced off, side by side. They made it to the school in plenty of time. In fact, they were the last ones through the doors to the huge auditorium. They took their seats in the last row, and watched as others from both schools made conversation amongst themselves.
Joey looked around, seeking that face; that unforgettable face, he'd seen that morning. Where was she? She had to be a student here, her uniform was the same as all the other girls here. But he couldn't find her. His heart sank, so he also sank into his seat, in regret.
"What's wrong, Joey?" asked Yugi, who was sitting on his right.
"She ain't here," he mumbled, "The girl I saw before. She's not here."
"Well, maybe she's not a student," said Yugi. "She might be from the junior high."
"Yeah, maybe you're right," Joey said, dejectedly. 'But', he thought, 'she sure was pretty for a ninth grader'.
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Kagome arrived just as the bell was ringing. She made a sigh of relief as she made one last mad dash for the auditorium. She vowed to go to the store this very afternoon and buy that new clock. She couldn't afford another morning like this. Especially since she had that scare from that weirdo on the motorcycle. How could any sane person just start following someone they hadn't met?!
She stopped in front of the doors to the auditorium and caught her breath. No good going in quietly when you're wheezing from running too hard, too fast, for too long. When she felt totally composed, she slipped through the doors, and closed them as quietly as possible. She spotted her school friends in the last row at the left, and sat down just as the Principal began his long and boring welcome speech to the Domino kids.
"Kagome, you cut it awfully close." said her friend Yuka. "What happened to you this morning?"
"I overslept this morning," Kagome said, truthfully. After hundreds of excuses for her absences, an honest answer once in a while felt good. She hated having to lie, especially to girls she'd known since she was a pre-school, but no one could find out about her adventures, or the well. She'd thought about the possibilities that would happen if someone in this time, from outside her family, knew about that well. And each one was worse than the other.
"Well, then you need a better way of getting up each morning. Do realize how much trouble you could have been in if you'd skipped this?" said her friend Ayumi.
"Yeah," Kagome replied, "I know. But I didn't miss much, right?"
"No," said Eri, "He just started. But you missed an opportunity to scope out the new guys," she said giggling, along with the other girls.
"So? What's the big deal?" Kagome said, "just more dumb boys who have either girls or cars on the brain."
"Well, after you blew things with Hojo, what else would you're answer have been?" Eri said, crossing her arms.
"Kagome!" said Yuka, "Some of these kids are pretty big celebrities. "
"Yea," said Ayumi, as she pointed to the right, "Like over there, on the row across from us. The kid with the spiky hair is Yugi Mutou: King Of Games!"
"So?" said Kagome, not bothering to look.
"SO!!!" The girls shouted together, getting a resounding "SSHHH!!!" from everyone else.
"So," Eri said quietly, "Card games, video games, and other stuff like that are super popular now, and Yugi's the King when it comes to that stuff. He's won evey tournament for the last year and a half."
"Besides," said Ayumi, "The blond guy he hangs with is pretty cute. Oh my gosh, he's looking this way!"
Kagome turned and looked over this time. Just as she turned her head, the boy's light brown eyes grabbed her immediately. They were so bright! His hair was a light golden color, and he had a strange look on his face. It looked like recognition, mixed with, could it be, joy and hope? Then, the boy smiled. Kagome's heart melted with that smile. She was so embarrassed at staring at him, she smiled and blushed too. She thought, 'Oh my gosh, he's so handsome! I have to get his name before I leave this afternoon to get that clock.'
With the memory of the alarm clock, came Inu-Yasha. How could she forget Inu-Yasha?! She'd just seen this guy, and he already made her, briefly, forget about Inu-Yasha, her first love; the boy she'd shared her first kiss with! But as she looked back up at this new, blond haired dream, she started to forget again, until the booming words of the principal brought her out of her imaginings..
"And now, let's all begin this exciting adventure in learning together!" And she was swept away from those eyes. And that smile.
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After hearing those girls shout, Joey had looked over briefly, but it was enough time for his eyes to catch a glimpse of her. Could it be? He looked over again, and this time, he saw her and knew it was the girl he'd seen in the street that morning. It couldn't be anyone else. Then she looked over, and looked right at him! His first impulse was to turn away, but he couldn't. Not from those eyes, not from her. She looked surprised, then for what felt like both an eternity and an instant they just stared at each other. Joey smiled, overjoyed that he'd finally found that girl, and then she suddenly blushed and smiled back at him. His heart somersaults in his chest! Could it be that she actually liked him too? But, then her expression changed, like she'd swallowed a fly or something, and she looked down. 'What happened', Joey thought. 'Oh no', he thought, please, 'Please, don't let her have a boyfriend, that'd kill me!' Then the girl looked up again, and smiled once more. Before Joey could blink, The principal ended his speech, and Joey saw, with heartache, the girl of his dreams get swept away by a gaggle of giggling girls, and a sea of teens.
"Yuge," Joey said, grabbing his buddy's arm, "Did you see that girl?"
"Uh, what girl?" Yugi asked.
"That girl I saw this morning! She was sittin' over there! She was totally smiling at me. I think she likes me? I like her too! I gotta go find her!" he turned to chase after the mystery girl and her friends, but Yugi grabbed him by the legs.
"Whoa! Joey you can't go gallivanting after some girl you don't know! We have classes!"
"I don't care!" Joey yelled, "She's the girl of my dreams, I know it!" (he didn't know how literal he was being).
"Tea! Tristan! Grab him!" Yugi cried, being dragged on the floor. Tea grabbed Joey's right arm, and Tristan grabbed the left, and together they dragged, kicking and screaming, to class.
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"So, what did you think?" Ayumi asked Kagome as they walked to class together.
"Um? About what?" Kagome asked, still in a daze.
"About the Domino kids. Hello? Earth to Kagome?" Yuka said.
"Oh no," Eri said, smiling, "I know that look. It same one she gets when she's thinking about her bad boy."
"You're not thinking about HIM again, are you?" Yuka asked.
"What!? No! I wasn't! I-" she was embarrassed, but this time she really wasn't thinking about Inu-yasha. He'd slipped her mind.
"Then who are you thinking about?" Ayumi asked, coyly.
"I knw, it must be one of the Domino kids. Which one? It'd better not be Yugi!" Eri said, grabbing Kagome's shirt, "He's mine to go after!"
"It wasn't the spiky haired shrimp!" Kagome stated, jerking away. "It was? him," Kagome sighed. "The American kid, with blond hair."
"Kagome has a new crush!" Yuka cheered. "There's hope!"
"Crush?" Kagome said, "No! I just... Just..."
"You already said it," Ayumi said, "You can't take it back!"
"Can we drop this" Kagome asked. "We're late for class!" she ran from her three friends, taking a turn into her next class. "I don't have a crush on him," Kagome reaffirmed to herself. "But if it's not a crush... then why can't I stop thinking about him?"