Inuyasha woke with a throbbing headache. He groaned, rolling over even as his alarm went off nonstop and rubbing the spot on his head that hurt most. Sesshoumaru had struck him the night before after everyone had left, telling him to stop mooning over a dead girl and start living. Whether it was because Sesshoumaru actually cared about Inuyasha's mental state or wanted him back to normal because it bugged Mr. Highandmighty, the hanyou had no clue.
And frankly, he didn't care.
Finally the constant buzzing got on his nerves. He flipped over, reaching one arm out of the blanket for the alarm clock. Alas, he'd forgotten that the damn thing was on his dresser.
On the other side of the room.
The hanyou dragged himself out of bed to wearily make his way to the dresser, silencing the alarm. He figured, since he was up, he might as well get dressed for school. The change between pajamas -which incedentally were just a pair of boxer shorts...what can I say, he's lazy - and uniform was slow, as if doing it deliberately would stretch out the minutes as well.
It seemed like forever before he was bounding downstairs, yelling about how he was going to be late and stealing Gramps' breakfast from him so he wouldn't have to make it himself. Of course, it was always like this, and he was never late for first period. Nothing to say of all the others, but he always got to first right on time.
Today he was really cutting it close. The school came into view as he ran, skidding to a halt in the schoolyard. As he huffed, leaning on his knees, white puffs of breath formed in the chilly air. He checked his watch; ten minutes. He had ten minutes.
Hey, hadn't he had ten minutes yesterday when he'd woken up? He was fine.
Though not entirely sure that counted, since he'd gotten to school a half an hour earlier than usual and napped.
Meanwhile, Sango approached Kagome's house, knocking on the front door. She was running a little late, as Kohaku had reminded her as he'd left the house, but she wanted to make sure Kagome was all right nonetheless.
"Kagome? Kagome, we're gonna be late!"
Kikyou? What the hell?
Her mind couldn't race. It was in stalemate, and she batted at the walls of her cage with an invisible jug.
Kagome – wait, /Kikyou/ walked downstairs briskly, grabbing a muffin from the counter and shooting a usual smile at her mother. It didn't make sense to make her mother worried, apparently. Kaede, on the other hand, gave her the slightest of inquisitive glances as the girl darted past and opened the door.
Please notice something is wrong, please ask me if there's something wrong, don't let me walk past … please, don't let me keep walking …
Who is at the door?
Sango – /Sango/, you hateful ghost…
Feisty, eh? I can make this hard on you.
She walked by. Simple as that. Kikyou brushed by her best friend as if she was nothing more then a piece of shrubbery, and continued her way down the path and onto the sidewalk.
There were easy differences in the way she moved. There was no hesitance – no fear she was going to step on a wayward ant.
Her movements were so bloody sure, and Kami, was Kikyou pleased.
Pride radiated from every pore, unlimited grace seeping from all her limbs. She could feel the changes and she was /still/ numb and able to do so, which made it all the worse.
She did not think it was real. She was dreaming. She was going to wake up, and it would be Friday morning, and nobody would have possession of her body.
She would not be possessed by a girl who had committed suicide something like four months ago.
Wait, would it be better to be possessed by anyone at /all/?
Keep thinking that. Go ahead, I won't make it stop. But just so you know, I want us to cooperate to some extent.
Kagome nearly snorted at the thought as Kikyou crossed her arms, quickening her pace, not even /thinking/ in the direction of Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi, who were giving her the same death glares from yesterday. Hoyjo was in tow, and he looked rather pale.
There, not many more minutes later, she was on campus.
The dead girl was apparently glad to be back.
Kagome, on the other hand, was terrified.
Inuyasha-kun...
Onegai, oh /please/...
Sango watched her friend brush past and walk away, dumbfounded. Kagome never ignored her, and there was something strange about her this morning. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something wrong.
The girl headed towards school, breathing a sigh of relief when she spotted Miroku walking up ahead. She ran to him, waving her hand in the air.
"Miroku! Miroku, I need to talk to you!"
Inuyasha pushed past the trio and Hoyjo, barely noticing who it was. He was just glad to see her, he supposed. His dreams the night before had been ravaged with memory, playing out every scene he knew with the deceased his brain could possibly shove at him in one night. He'd tried to forget what Kagome had said the night before...
/"Why did you betray me, Inuyasha?"/
She'd never answered his question. How did she know?
But that bastard of a brother had inturrupted, and Inuyasha wanted answers.
Best not to push it though, or she'd never tell.
"Hey Kagome!"
The hanyou's voice was cheerful as he caught up with her, walking by her side. She looked different this morning, somehow. Her movements were endlessly fluent, and there was just this /air/ around her that seemed familiar to him.
"Morning. How'd you sleep?"
Heh. Too bad. The real Kagome would have stopped right there and ask what he wanted. The only time he asked about how she slept was when he wanted a question answered. Usually a very big, very annoying, very reluctantly answered question.
His eyes widened.
"Er…alright…? What happened?"
He seems so strangely affectionate..
The tea-and-honey voice became painfully sharp, morphine and chocolate, grating what nerves she still possessed. But Kikyou, apparently, was a grand actress, and kept it all in stride when speaking in /her/ voice.
"Hey."
Kikyou said, smiling slightly. Kagome was confused. She felt … strange. A thousand conflicting emotions, anger and hurt and compassion and warmth and love, though apparently she was comforted when focusing on the first two. And then … despair. Pained and thick, and painted like the fancy exterior of china eggs.
She found herself pitying the girl, and then also wanting to give her the worst migraine on earth. And thus she was doing anything she could – thrashing, hitting aimlessly with cerebral arms. It hurt her as well, but it was enough for her to try.
I do wonder how greatly he cares for you..
Kikyou was angry, it seemed, and Kikyou was doing her best to make every part of Kagome shriek with pain.
../Crack/.
"What are you getting at, Inuyasha?"
How did she know how to say that?
Damnit. She wasn't even fazed.
She was still smiling warmly, plaintively shutting out all pleas for recognition. This was an empty battle, but Kagome didn't mind wasting her energy even if it just hurt her the slightest bit. The idea that she was in her head was scary and nauseating. As if she could panel through every feeling she had, sift through any memory as if the emotions were photo albums.
Apparently that was why she had a headache, by the rattling amusement that Kikyou so quickly settled into.
And what an amusing life you do indeed lead…enjoying the company of your best friend a bit much, I presume?
The priestess didn't wait for an answer. Her hands took his to halt his movements. Calmly, and with the easiness that came with recurrence, Kikyou pressed her lips fully to the hanyou's, not much caring if she was going to be pushed away or not.