Well, I'm back!^_^ Nothing much to say on this chapter except that it's longer than I thought it would be... as usual.^_^; I've been waiting to write a certain chapter or two for the last couple chapters, mentioning that it will be coming soon or next, but I've given up on saying that. It'll come within the next five chapters for sure, but depending on how long my next ones are going to be, I don't know when. Sorry.^_^;
Oh, I have Microsoft Word here now. Yay!!!!^-^ *does a little jig* Come on everyone, paaartaayy!!! *jig jig jig*
Um, I guess a few review responses are all that's left. So yeah, enjoy!^_^
The Spider- Thanks so much for your review!^_^Agreed about the angst thing. Sango is a main character, but not one of *the* two main characters, so her history is going to be cut a little short whereas Inu Yasha and Kagome's history spans the entire fic. *giggles* As for the prank, I can't promise it won't get him into trouble, but I suppose you'll see for yourself, ne?^_~
Mai- Lol yeah, he's so cute when he's vulnerable.^-^
Goku's Daughter- *giggles* And you are sweet as usual.^_~ Oh how you flatter me! It makes the writing all the more worth it, you know that?^_^ Thanks for sticking with me for so long. You know I love ya!^_^ *hugs* Oh, and about the whole hate/love thing, yeah, Inu Yasha in general is pretty much based on that isn't it?^_^ lol Oh, and you can call me pretty much anything.^_^ If Cheryl is too long, you can call me caj, caj_trixie, trixie, C., cher, cheese goddess (or wench), heck, I even have a friend that calls me Natallie! 6-6;
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters in it. If I did I'd be rich, but I'm not... and if I had lots of money I'd probably spend it on anime anyway so pleeaasseee, don't sue me.^_^ lol
Oh, and as always,
_= thoughts *_* = sound/ italicized "_" = speech
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And now, as her life finally returns to some degree of normal, she finds a homeless little girl who had been put into the same spot she had been in, and she was being forced to let it happen? As long as Sango had breath, that little girl wouldn't leave her sight; when dead set on something, she did *not* change her mind.
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Do the Math
Chapter 10: Home is Where the Hurt is
Where is it; where is it?!
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"Kagome-sama, wait!" The sound echoed off of the nearby walls, reverberating every word, very syllable, and every note of worry in the calling voice. People ran blindly through the hallway, trying their hardest to get to their next class without the unwanted detention that awaited some of them, and now, halfway down the hall and still running for her next class, Kagome turned to find a bobbing black ponytail coming straight toward her.
"What's wrong Miroku? Are you okay?" Panting, Houshi nodded quickly and wiped his brow. His usually cheerful face had turned towards the sour, but not so much mad as upset. He then began spurting out a thousand words per minute, eventually settling on two sentences.
"Kagome, do you know where Sango is? I can't find her, and she'll be late for class." Kagome's shoulders slumped slightly as she sighed, shaking her head and allowing her raven hair to fly gracefully around her form.
"I don't think she's here Miroku." The weight of those words on Miroku's heart made him feel as if he were Atlas, wearing the weight of the Earth on his shoulders. Since finding Kirara, both boys had been told, but none took it as hard as Houshi did, other than Sango of course. Mrs. Higurashi had told Sango that she would help in her fight any way she could, but that she couldn't afford to take care of another child. She would help Sango if they let her keep Kirara, but she couldn't raise Kirara for her. Miroku had been hoping that he could do something, help her in some way, but if she wasn't there...
Crestfallen, Miroku looked calmly toward the floor, violet globes drawn to its reflective surface as a bug to a bug zapper. As he looked on, he completely forgot about the bell, the students, and focused on what he could see, Kagome's shoes and his reflection. There was something there that he did not like, and it wasn't her shoes. Standing up straight, Miroku couldn't believe what he was doing, was thinking. How was he supposed to help anyone like he was? "Maybe I'll just go see her after school then." At Kagome's nod, his spirits seemed reborn as he raised his eyes to her own and smiled. As she watched Miroku run off to class, Kagome let loose a small grin. It was a relief to see Miroku feeling a little better; Out of the four of them, he showed happiness above all else, and to see him sad was really wearing on Kagome's own mood. Well, he'd be okay as long as he made it to class before the bell. Now having Sango there would probably make him want to visit her more, and it wouldn't be good if he got a detention for being late. At the speed he was going, he'd probably make it. Realizing that she, too, only had a few minutes left, Kagome high-tailed it down the hall, reaching her classroom with a serenade of squeaky shoes and panting, only to sit down just as the bell rang.
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Phew, made it. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down into her seat just as the shrill ringing of the bell filled all of the classrooms. At first, nothing seemed anywhere out of the ordinary, but upon second glance, she noticed that everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Now, that wouldn't normally be that odd right? The only problem with that was that this was a math class... in high school. It was as if the night had blanketed the world only to bring with it a new day for all, sending the sun to chase away all worries, shadows, and doubts from the students' hearts. Of course, it was more rainy than sunny right then, but a girl can day dream right? The fact of the matter was that either way, it was *WAY* too much like a cheesy play or storybook for Kagome's liking; something was up. Despite the down casting conditions, the students were radiating excitement for some reason, and everyone seemed so incredibly laid back that no one even had their textbooks out. Homework hadn't even been collected! Wait, homework hadn't been collected, and she hadn't been asked to bring it out? No one was doing anything whatsoever, and no one was telling them to? Now, a math class without work, that Kagome could go for. Relaxing slightly, Kagome slouched toward the front where Mrs. Miko stood, writing on the blackboard. Turning suddenly, Mrs. Miko smiled excitedly at the class, and no, it wasn't an "I'm going to give you a pop quiz and you don't know it yet" type of smile either. Whatever they had in store for them was going to be interesting, to say the least.
"Everyone, all of thou will be glad to hear that ye will be given a special presentation today." Kagome, along with the rest of the class, felt like jumping for joy. A presentation means no work, no taking notes, no actual thinking needed! It was a student's dream come true! It meant that... wait a minute, a dream come true... in school? Kagome stiffened. Something wasn't right about that; it was too easy. Closing her eyes tightly, Kagome began a silent prayer that the class would turn out as it should, and that there were no catches, no flukes, and no disasters heading her way. With the rest of the class still rejoicing, she felt sort of out of place with such dire thoughts, but she had learned from experience that nothing was ever *that* easy, and by the looks of the class, she needed to do a *lot* of praying.
"Inu Yasha, are ye ready boy?"
WHAT?!!! Oh yeah, she knew it. Why did she have to open her big metaphorical mouth and say something great was about to happen, why?! Okay, okay, she had to calm down; there wasn't a problem yet. Maybe he was just making a presentation to the class... about math. They had been fighting less lately and he was the best student in that class, so why wouldn't he be chosen to do this? Wait a minute, Inu Yasha, presenting, the world's gone mad! As if one presentation from him hadn't brought Earth-shattering screams of agony and betrayal! Well, okay, but still, it's impossible that he'd present twice, even in a year's time! Unfortunately, none of the rest of the class seemed to realize the true value or meaning of this, blinded to the obvious by a laziness that far surpassed man and went down into the very depths of human evolution. Where they panicked at the ying yang presentation, they almost praised him for getting them out of work, maybe even for half the period. Well, it might not be so bad; what could he do with Mrs. Miko around? Relaxing slightly, yet still on her guard, Kagome sat up and watched the scene unfold, ready for anything that might come her way. There was no reason to panic, yet, so why get all worked up about it?
Inu Yasha rose from his seat with a grin more deserving of fear than she had yet to see in another human being. "Oh, yeah." She was dead. He walked haughtily down to the front of his isle, smirking to himself the entire time. That coy look of his, oh how it welled up a mixture of fear, defiance, and excitement in Kagome's heart. To see that look meant that a fight had begun, but when? If they were battling and she didn't even know it, she was in trouble. To everyone else, Inu Yasha was a savior, but to Kagome, he was a past-time. Never mind the fact that the world had once again shifted, and he was presenting again, they had a free day, and Kagome a challenge, so what was there not to rejoice about? After setting up PowerPoint on Mrs. Miko's borrowed laptop and hooking it to work with her borrowed projector, both more reason to praise him due to the massive waste of time acquiring those items, Inu began his presentation and Kagome bolted upright, watching, waiting, and as alert as ever.
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It had been over an hour, an entire hour of actually paying attention to a geometry history report. Kagome slid further down in her seat, finally glad that Mrs. Miko had gone out for a bathroom break and had yet to return. Head now lying on her desk, Kagome decided that maybe she wasn't screwed. Maybe her punishment was being tricked into paying attention to this. By the smug grin still etched into his face, he must've known that it was working. How could she have been so blind? Well, it didn't matter. Now that she knew the game, she could just ignore the presentation and sleep. It seemed that most of the class had had the same idea, as there was not even one eye open at that point in time, other than Inu Yasha's of course. She guessed that their idol wasn't so precious anymore, and it brought a smug grin to her face. She couldn't decide whether the class would let this pass because of the free day, or torture him for the rest of the year because it was boring. Oh well, back to the sleep topic. She could definitely go for some...
"Dear diary, last night I wet the bed and tried to clean it up with my jammies." Kagome's eyes shot to the projection screen. "It was icky and my kitten rolled around in it." By now every eye in the vicinity, once sleeping, was watching as page after page of sloppy children's writing went on and on, moving faster with each word that passed through Inu Yasha's mouth. Though she hadn't seen him open a new file in his presentation, she couldn't miss when the entire room erupted into laughter and Kagome, now wide awake, was having great difficulty staying upright in her desk. She was laughing so hard, out of both relief and humor, that tears were streaming down her face, only to land on the desktop below. Oh, how she felt sorry for who's ever diary this was! As long as it wasn't hers, she was happy and, though she knew it was mean, she couldn't help herself. She had thought for sure that he was going to play some kind of prank on her! Maybe the boredom was meant to be her punishment after all. Thank Kami that wasn't hers! She, along with everyone else, watched as the pages scrolled on and on. Though her laughter began to die down after the first ten pages or so, the feeling of relief never left her system. Instead, it circulated through, becoming her blood, her life-force, the reason she lived. Things were good; all was right with the world. Smiling, she turned to watch Inu Yasha as he flipped to another page. He turned back to her and smiled. Her smile softened slightly as she gazed upon those golden eyes filled with mirth and gayety, that flowing hair, rustling softly from some unknown wind source, slight as it was, and that innocently shadowed face. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. For a second, Inu flashed her another smile, and then, standing, waved his arms in front of the projector light to get everyone's attention.
"Okay guys, I know you want to see something more recent than age ten right?" At this, the class began laughing all over again. Peeing the bed at age ten? That poor thing. Actually, Kagome could sympathize. Don't tell anyone, but when she was ten... Kagome looked up at Inu Yasha and couldn't help but feel a chill roll down her spine. A wave of foreboding swept through her as she saw his once sweet and innocent smile turn to a mischievous, utterly triumphant grin before her very eyes, and the realization of it all hit her like a ton of bricks. He wasn't laughing with her, he was smirking at her. Kagome's eyes widened, the chocolate pools growing wide within the darkness of the room as her jaw dropped to the floor. It couldn't have been... no, that was ridiculous. Her diary was in her room at that very moment. But then... why was he looking at her like that?
Come on Kagome, where is it, where is it exactly? A flashback of her searching desperately through her room that morning flashed through her mind. Clothes had been everywhere, no shelf, carpet, drawer, sheet left unturned. Her mother had told her not to worry, that she'd probably find it the next day or so, when she wasn't looking for it. Kagome's face dropped ten shades of tone as she realized that she didn't know where it was. "...when you're not looking for it..." She couldn't find her diary last night, but this couldn't be it. It was lost at home somewhere... right?
"Dear diary, nothing much happened today. I didn't get to eat lunch because I was too busy finishing my ying yang for class. My stupid brother stole my compass last night when he suddenly decided to be annoying. It was okay though; I ended up finishing it on time anyway. Mrs. Miko really seemed to like it too. Of course..."
Sweat began to form on Kagome's brow and she began to fidget in her seat.
Oh Kami, oh good Kami and all that is holy no.
"... Inu Yasha had to try and one up me, as always. Who does he think he is, the..." Oh no...no... The laughing, the scribbles, the drawings of a kitten Buyo licking a stick figure girl, all warped and wrapped tightly around Kagome's mind, cutting off all tangible thought. Panic and fear raced through her system, clouding her mind and blinding her to all but the most obvious solution; if only she could have pretended that it wasn't hers! The world she knew began to spin, morphing before her eyes into something you'd see in your very worst of nightmares. Her throat was suddenly parched, and her face pale and gaunt as the grim truth thrust itself into her face, laughing at her with all of its might and painting the dreary image of her life to come. If they found out that it was her diary... Face burning and mind tearing itself apart, Kagome slid down in her desk as far as she could go, listening to the "oooooohhh"s, "teacher's pet"s, and most embarrassing of all, the "who is it?"s.
This couldn't be happening to her. What had she done? What had she done to deserve this? No matter how horrible or bad this was, Kagome had foresight kicking her in the head, filling her with this sinking feeling that it was only going to get worse. Oh, where was Mrs. Miko when you wanted her around?! How long can someone take to go to the bathroom?! Standing and bowing, Inu Yasha coyly announced that the teacher should be returning shortly, and that he would return to the history report. With all of the saddened groans and "awww"s, he couldn't help but add one more thing, something that would make the humiliation so much worse. It was already a two person knowledge, and what was more humiliating than having someone else know that it was hers?
"Anyone claiming this beauty, or am I giving the full version out to each person in the class on disk?" That was it, the final straw, the ultimate humiliation. He was SO beyond dead. The entire class sat where they were, each looking at every one else, trying to figure out who had written the embarrassing entries. Thankfully it was dark enough that no one noticed Kagome's fire engine face, or the flames protruding forth from her eyes, which now more closely resembled blackened, hollow pits than the beautiful chestnut globes they once were. Perhaps, just maybe, Kagome wasn't as obvious as she felt, fore no one had even dared to accuse her, regardless of the clenched fists at her sides and the waves of venom spilling from her aura to blanket the classroom. But, in the end, it wouldn't matter. Sooner or later she had to have that CD, and before everyone else got the chance to get it. There had to be a way to get it without totally humiliating herself. When no one had gone up to claim the horrid disk, Kagome prayed that maybe Inu Yasha would just let it go before Mrs. Miko came in and he got in trouble. Instead, Inu Yasha only grinned, his eyes gleaming as if he were an animal who just caught its prey.
"Okay then, you can buy a copy of this puppy for five dollars after school in the cafeteria; the name will cost you extra." Turning back to the laptop, a slide of Chinese geometrical standards came on, just as the teacher walked through the door. The next slide was, of course, the ending slide.
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Ringing filled the air, wafting through every room, every crevice, only feeding the cold fury which had been smoldering within Kagome's soul since the seamy presentation. The kids had filed out quickly, and the ones without class filled the cafeteria, creating a long line that stretched even outside the doors, further and further down the halls. Friends passed the news to friends who, in turn, passed it along to others until the entire school was ready, willing, and able to buy these. The consensus was certain, everyone wanted a name, and Inu Yasha was bound to make a fortune. There was one thing, however, that they didn't expect, and that was the wrath of a pissed off teenage girl... or two.
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Miroku walked slowly from his classroom, not even aware of the buzz happening around him. His mind was like a barrel of rice in the way that there were too many things going on for him to pick just one, and because of that, his mind hopped about as if a frog hunting the illusive flies. His mind continually grabbed handfuls of thoughts, each one relenting into thoughts of Sango, then to her pain, and then to his, and he reached for another handful; the bell had only just rung after all, and he still had not only the next class period, but the entire walk to her house to avoid that train of thought. In fact, he hadn't even noticed that he had been walking in the wrong direction until he had bumped into someone, and someone in a rush at that.
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There he stood, walking out the door, gloating with that smug grin and self-righteous attitude. Oh, he'd pay; if she had anything to say about it, justice would be served.
Inu Yasha stopped in the doorway, turning slowly, savoring the effect he was having on her. He had, of course, noticed what had happened, and the fact that she hadn't realized it was hers immediately made it all the more sweet. Of course, the fact that she seemed to have trusted him for a moment there only added to that enjoyment. Sure, he should have felt bad, but he didn't, and that meant everything was back to normal. He'd have some more fighting with Kagome without the weird thoughts, she'd piss him off and he'd eventually be completely back to ignoring her again, once he won of course, and he would win, and, in the meantime, Inu Yasha meant to ring every bit of pleasure he could from this. Yes, that all sounded so nice in theory, but theory was not his friend.
As Inu Yasha turned, he felt a sharp stinging sensation ripple across his face. He recoiled in surprise, though discretely, and subconsciously raised his hand to meet the hot flesh where the contact had been made. Kagome stood before him, her eyes gleaming, inducing a sense of apprehension throughout his body, and causing him to take a firmer stand where he was. Why did she make him nervous, especially in times like this? Well, no matter, he would not succumb to his instincts. She was only sweet, gentle Kagome; what could she do to big, strong him? He really had no idea did he?
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Miroku found Inu Yasha standing in front of his classroom, cheek red and amber eyes empty. He realized that he was too late only then, as an uncomfortable silence settled upon them, thicker than the densest of fogs, and more deadly to the soul. Inu Yasha was completely stunned, and his demeanor slightly shaken from the tough guy image he liked to put out. If anyone had seen him like that, Inu Yasha would've gone into a frenzy when he finally snapped out of it, but everyone was in line for a CD; there was no denying that, and don't even think that Miroku hadn't noticed the mark on his cheek; he knew that mark all too well and couldn't help but be at least partially sympathetic.
Miroku had heard about Inu Yasha's business proposal for that lunch period from the guy he had happened to run into. The kid was rushing to get in line because it was already supposed to be down the halls, and half way into the next wing. With this, the boy ran off, leaving Miroku to realize what, ultimately, he had had a hand in doing. He had never suspected that even Inu Yasha would go that far.
In the time it had taken Miroku to get there, a lot had happened. Kagome had slapped Inu Yasha and taken the box of CDs, then, with one last withering look, stormed off with tears of rage seeping through her closed eyelids. Oh, how wrong could a person be? What could Kagome do to him? She could cry, she did cry, and the worst part about it was that he couldn't defend against that; he was completely helpless. If she had had a material weapon he could've taken it from her, could've hurled an insult back, but that... there was nothing he could've done besides comfort her, and he couldn't even *begin* to imagine how THAT would be done. Why did she have to cry? He only wanted things to go back to normal; what was wrong with that? It wasn't like that jerk outside of Hot Topic who was going to hit her; he hadn't even humiliated her, just in her own mind... a bit. Was that just as bad? Of course it wasn't. He didn't even have the CDs to sell anymore. If anything, he should've been mad at her for making him lose not only all of the money he would've gotten, but the trust of his, well, they weren't exactly his peers, but you get the idea. How dare she!
Miroku watched with interested eyes as the confusion slipped away from Inu Yasha's gaze, melting into anger, and then softening into pain as an image of a silently crying Kagome being led down the hall filtered through his mind. No matter the reason, he had made her cry. So much for not feeling guilty; Inu hated it when girls cried. So caught up in thought, Inu Yasha hadn't even noticed when Miroku left, shaking his head softly as he went on a search for the, undoubtedly, volatile girl.
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Kagome stood, disks in hand, staring past Inu Yasha at the wall behind him. She had already slapped him once, taking all of her will power to stop there, and didn't want to slip up. Being as calm as possible, she walked passed him, rage burning out of control within her. How could she even begin to explain how she felt? She felt betrayed, Kami only knows why, and extremely humiliated. Though no one actually pointed a finger at her, she still felt as if the world were accusing her, scrutinizing her for something she really shouldn't have been that embarrassed about in the first place. Who cares what everyone thinks? But there was always that small part that did, and it was that part that became overactive in situations like that. But hey, everyone has to be horribly embarrassed at some point in their lives right? That would just mean that she wouldn't have to suffer through anything this bad for the rest of her life, providing that she could survive through this... or that the next time would be worse. What could be worse? Did she want to know? She never wanted to feel like that again. She was furious and frustrated; she wanted to just let it all out, scream to the world and run to her room to hide in bed and cry. She had never felt like this and never wanted to go back. Her heart felt like it was tearing itself apart, and yet as if it were hardening, compressing into itself and shrinking until there was nothing left at all, impossible as it was. What had she done? How could he have been so cruel?!
Silent tears slid down Kagome's cheeks as her arm brushed against Inu Yasha's on the way through the classroom door.
"She doesn't think that those were the only copies does she? Good thing I made this backup dis..." He was interrupted as a small hand reached out and snatched the last disk in Inu Yasha's possession. Hearing the words end, Kagome turned, more furious than before, only to let her guard down at the sight she saw; it was Sango, holding the disk Inu Yasha was bragging so highly about. Kagome almost laughed at the look on Sango's face; she was positively pissed. Standing there, school uniform blowing about her like green fire, her raven hair took on a chestnut sheen as it flicked back and forth, reminding Kagome fondly of a flicking cat's tail. She looked like she could have fought a ravaged bear and won, but one look toward Kagome changed all that. Her expression softened and her shoulders slumped, both immediately returning to normal, if not stiffer than before when Sango turned to Inu Yasha and broke the CD in half. She turned and walked over to her best friend. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Sango led Kagome down the hall and away from her troubles.
"Kagome?"
"Hm?" The girl in question sniffed. Wiping her eyes on her sleeve, she followed Sango down the halls in the direction of the lunchroom. Of course, the first thing she noticed was the line up of impatient teens who wanted a copy of that disk, and it both infuriated her and relieved her at once. Inu Yasha mustn't be there, so he probably wasn't going to show. Hopefully Sango had taken the last copy of that horrible disk, so all she had to do was get her diary back. Yeah... all she had to do... Kagome looked up and found Sango watching her, a worried frown in place. What was she doing, worrying about her own problems while Sango's life was so much worse? What kind of a friend was she? Putting on a bright, cheery smile, Kagome stood up straight and walked down the halls at Sango's side, looking straight ahead, and showing nothing out of the ordinary to the common student, but to two people, one to her left, and one who had just entered from down another hall, the attempt was futile. Both had seen her tears and, though her moods were known to be able to change easily, the mask that had been brought forth held an important flaw, one that could never be fixed; it had left two watery, dark chocolate pools uncovered, shimmering like a diamond through her unshed tears, and revealing her true emotions to any willing to look. Kagome had always held her soul in her eyes, and her heart on her sleeve.