Ch. 9
Disclaimer: I only own the plot; the characters are all courtesy of Takahashi-sama.
"Wench?" Kagome could feel her face burning at that familiar word. Come to think of it, where had Ryu come up with a word like that?
"Oh hell no!" Midori seemed to realize it just as Kagome did. She clapped a hand to her mouth and gave Kagome a wide eyed look of confusion.
"...whatever." Ryu went back to staring at his plate; he hadn't touched even his fork. Hikaru shrugged and pulled out the chair next to Ryu and sat down heavily.
"Fujishima-san, Kagome-chan, please sit down." He said, smiling. Hikaru was completely oblivious to what was going on. Kagome obeyed and sat down next to Hikaru, but Midori remained standing, an amused grin spreading over her face.
"Heyyy, InuYasha-kun, what's up?" She asked, giving Kagome a wink.
"Don't talk to me!" Ryu yelled, causing the guard at the table next to him to look up, a nervous look on his burly face.
"Look, this guy just -and I mean just- got out of therapy. Don't blame him if he's not up to standards. Geez..." The guard went back to his meal.
"Okay, okay. Just thought I'd be friendly..." Midori snorted and took a place next to Kagome. The four ate in complete silence. Ryu opened his mouth once, but shut it abruptly when he saw Kagome looking at him.
"Ryu's a bit touchy, hm?" Midori commented upon returning to the room. The red haired boy was helping clean up the cafeteria, as punishment for the knife trick he had pulled earlier.
"He's probably still hurting a little..." Kagome said, shrugging. She was beginning to think the whole 'wench' thing was a coincidence.
"It's not... not really as bad as you'd think. I mean at first I thought I would die, but once the memories starting coming back, I could hardly feel the shocks. All I could feel was the compassion of killing Naraku, and the excitement of fighting... you know, stuff like that.." Midori arched an eyebrow. "Now that I think about it, if Ryu was just a normal guy, it'd probably hurt tons more. He wouldn't have memories to block it out." She shrugged and flopped onto her bed. "It'd be nice if he was InuYasha, though. Don't ya think?"
"...not really."
"Don't kid yourself, Kagome-chan. I may be just starting with all this feudal stuff, but some of those memories I got... oh! There was this one of me and that monk guy sitting behind a bush with this fox thing, and we were listening to you and InuYasha talk to each other." Midori grinned. "It was so cute!"
"You and Miroku used to listen to us?!" Kagome said, half incredulous, half amused.
"From what I saw, it was a normal thing. You were telling InuYasha how you wanted him to be... like, a half-demon, and he kept saying that he had to become full-demon... or something like that." Midori squinched her eyes shut in concentration. "Yeah. And then you said you liked him like he was, and he made this funny snorting sound."
"Feh?"
"That's it!" Midori yelped, laughing hysterically. Kagome cracked a smile, trying not to think of all the bittersweet memories that came with InuYasha. It was incredibly nice to have someone to joke around with that was in her own, modern time. The two girls sat in the corner, discussing random things that came into their heads, while Hikaru immersed himself in a new book: The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.
"You've got a thing for reading, don't you..." Midori asked, grinning at Hikaru. He shrugged.
"I find books a good place to get away from the real world." He said quietly. Midori cast a strange look at him, which caused him to wince and retreat back into his book. She opened her mouth, no doubt to unleash a sarcastic comment, when Ryu came strolling into the room. Hikaru's eyes snapped back up from the text. "Ryu-kun!"
"Hey.... Hikaru-kun...." Ryu made his way over to his bed and sat down onto it, shutting his eyes and sighing heavily. Kagome looked him over with a pitying expression on her face.
"Ryu... are you all right?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you seem a little..." Kagome bit her lip.
"Pissy!" Midori cut in, her eyes sparkling maliciously. Kagome grabbed her friend by the sleeve of her black shirt.
"Are you trying to piss him off?" Kagome whispered urgently. Midori nodded.
"Yep! I figure if he is InuYasha, a certain amount of taunting will make him slip again, like he did with the wench thing." Midori grinned. Kagome saw the sense in her friend's idea.
"Pissy?" Ryu snorted. "You've got an extensive vocabulary..."
Midori smirked. "This coming from the guy who's hair's longer than mine?"
Ryu's eyes flamed. "Is it your business how I decide to do my hair?"
"It is when it looks like that..."
"What is that supposed to mean??" Ryu yelled, standing up angrily. Hikaru winced and stared at Kagome nervously, who shrugged.
"What it means, Ryu-chan, is that I think you're someone else."
Ryu flinched. "What the hell do you mean by that?"
"I mean, I think you are...."
"Are who?"
"InuYasha, perhaps?" Midori said, her voice filled with sarcasm.
"...who the hell is that?"
"You should know... seeing as he's you!"
"Midori-chan... stop it... you're just making him mad..." Kagome said softly, glancing at Ryu's flushed and angry face. "Why don't we just sit down over-"
-SMACK- A harsh sound filled the room, and Kagome turned back to Ryu, who had his hand forcefully down on the hard bed. He smirked. "Looks like it's not as powerful anymore.... thank God..."
"What...?" Kagome frowned. "What do you mean 'it'?"
"I mean that damn curse with the damn prayer beads that Kaede-"
"Kaede?" Midori said triumphantly. "Now, who is Kaede, Ryu-kun?"
Ryu's eyes grew huge. Kagome bit her lip hard, tasting the blood. He was here, InuYasha. It had to be him; how else would he know about Kaede and the prayer beads? Right here in front of her, was the dog-demon she thought she had lost forever. Was it even possible? She would have never hoped for a coincidence this big, but here it was, right in front of her, with red-tipped hair and flaming eyes. Then and there, she made a strict decision: this time, she wouldn't let him go.
I'll stay with him this time.... this time, it will be a happy ending...