As Kagome followed Sango down to breakfast, she caught es of conversations that were rife with the newest gossip.
"Did you hear?" His fiancée was murdered," one was whispering. Kagome's heart went out the poor soul, whoever he was.
"They said he went crazy," a boy dressed all in blue was muttering.
"I heard he killed someone," the first boy's friend said. Kagome's head snapped up from it's careful observation of the floor. Her brown eyes grew wide. 'Who is this man?' she wondered, and her mind racing, she didn't notice that Sango had turned a corner and she walked right into a warm, solid bulk. A low rumbling noise met her ears and Kagome stepped back. She looked up and saw that she'd walked into a man, his long white hair falling to his waist and his amber eyes completely devoid of any emotion. Kagome stammered and apology and turned to continue following Sango.
A hush fell over the hall when Kagome realised that she couldn't move. A clawed hand was clamped around her wrist and the empty amber eyes from before were filled with a tragic hope that Kagome couldn't look away from. The dog ears on his head twitched and he opened his mouth to speak.
"Ki-Kikyo?" he asked, his voice incredulous. Kagome took a minute to process the statement and then shook her head.
"No, I'm Kagome," she said firmly. The hand that had her wrist in a grip let go as if it was burned and the amber eyes seemed to almost glaze over. Kagome snatched her wrist back to herself and lowered her eyes. If he'd seen the scars, he hadn't acknowledged them, but Kagome was still wary. He brushed past her without sparing her a glance and Kagome stood stock still as the hall around her returned to life and began whispering and gossiping about this recent development. Her eyes followed his retreating form as he made his way through the hall. When she could no longer see him, Kagome made her way to the cafeteria.
"D'you know that guy?" Sango asked when Kagome arrived, "everyone's saying he called you by another name," Sango said, looking at Kagome intently.
"That's right, he did," Kagome said slowly, her mind was still reeling from the encounter. She shook her head to clear it and said, "he called me Kikyo."
"Who's she?" Sango wondered aloud. Kagome shrugged and picked up her fork.
"Great," she muttered, "porridge again, but today they give us forks." Kagome sighed. Sango smiled and tears began to form in her eyes. Kagome was immediately contrite, although unsur of what she'd done.
"It's okay Kagome, it's just," Sango sighed, "that's something my brother would have said." Kagome nodded and placed a reassuring hand on Sango's shoulder. Sango wiped a tear off her cheek and nodded her head in thanks. The two girls settled into breakfast, a silence dropping over them. The silence wasn't companionable, and it wasn't awkward, it was simply silence.