Chapter 15: What now?
a³+b²-c… add the coefficients… Huh? Kagome reread the next question again.
Find the standard equation of the hyperbole. Sketch the graph.
The numbers swam before her eyes. She shook her head and glanced around the classroom. Some people scribbled. One girl slept. Others were doodling. She glanced at the blank bottom half of the page, made a face and turned the sheet over. She stifled a groan. Another word problem… She skimmed it. Eh. Simple enough. She scribbled some numbers and chewed on her pencil thoughtfully. She grabbed the test and flipped through the next two pages. Almost done… She turned back to the word problem, erased a number, and wrote down something else.
The bell rang. Ack! "Please pass the tests forward." The rustle of papers floated around Kagome as she scribbled randomly on the test.
*Bonk!* Ow! What the— She turned to the guy behind her, who had smacked her on the head with the tests. He thrust the tests at her. They glowered at each other until Kagome yanked them out of his hand and turned to pass them forward.
Her math teacher stood before her, hand outstretched. She stuck her test at the bottom of the pile and handed over the lot. "Thank you, Kagome. And by the way, I'm glad you've been feeling well enough to come to class."
Kagome smiled slightly. She groaned inwardly. Grandpa… She watched the teacher pack up and head out. She groaned and dropped her head loudly on the desk. "What else can go wrong today?"
Someone cleared their throat. She banged her head on the desk a couple of times. "I just had to ask…"
"Sorry?"
Kagome looked up. It was the guy that sat behind her. She mustered up a smile. "Yes?"
He bowed to her. "I'm deeply sorry. I didn't know who you were. Otherwise I'd have controlled my temper." He looked at her head. "Did I hurt you?"
She blushed. "Eh. I've been told I have a hard head…" He raised his eyebrows. She coughed. "I'm fine. Really."
Houjo raced by the classroom door, ran backwards and stopped at the door. "Thomas, we have to—oh, hello, Kagome. How are you feeling today?"
Kagome blushed harder. "Better, thank you Houjo." She turned to Thomas. "Excuse me." She grabbed her lunch and went outside.
She missed Thomas' thoughtful expression as she flew out the door.
*****
Kagome marched down to the quad. She met her squealing friends next to their favorite bench. "Kagome! Welcome back! How are you?"
"I hate math." She dug into her lunch. Snatches of conversation floated around her.
"And then she—"
"But he's—"
"The teacher—"
"It blew up?"
"Hey, did you all notice the exchange student?" Kagome's hand froze. Ah, that explains it.
"He's the cute one, right?"
"And he's single! Isn't that great?"
"He's only been here a few days. Hey, Kagome, why'd he hit you?"
All eyes turned to her. "Who, Thomas?" Eyebrows shot up. She shrugged. "Guess I didn't take his test fast enough."
Everyone stared at Kagome, then whispered amongst themselves. The words "Houjo," "Thomas," and "Kagome" kept getting louder and louder.
Kagome smothered a grin. Here we go… "Hey, Kagome!" She turned to the voice and stared, wide-eyed, at her friends.
"What about Houjo?"
She almost burst out laughing. "I don't like Houjo that way, remember?"
The bell rang. The girls whispered and turned their heads to watch Kagome every so often while walking back to the building. Kagome shook her head and followed.
*****
From her perch atop the stands, a lone Kagome watched the soccer team practice. Houjo passed the ball, turned to her, waved, and raced after his teammates. Hiding a smile, she turned back to her notebook. Let's see… The science fair project's due next month, my spelling journal's due tomorrow—better have Souta bring it in for me—a family tree? Kagome reread her last entry. She rolled her eyes. Stupid sub… Why'd Mrs. K have to get pregnant?
"Hello again. Staying late?" She turned to find Thomas taking a seat next to her. She looked back at her notebook, checked off a few things, nodded to herself, and closed it. She laid it aside. "Oh, sorry about that. I hadn't realized you were doing homework. I'll leave you alone." Thomas had jumped up and was bowing to her.
Kagome shook her head. "Just making sure I have everything ready for tomorrow." She waved at him to sit down again. He dropped his bag next to hers and plopped down. He smiled and extended his hand. "We haven't been formally introduced. My name is Thomas Robertson. And you are…?"
"Kagome Higurashi. Nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand too.
"Nice to meet you too." He grasped her hand and kissed it. Kagome stared at her hand, bewildered.
Thomas saw the look on her face and laughed. "Sorry. Old family custom."
Old family—Kagome bolted upright. "Wh-what did you say?"
"Kagome, you don't look good. Want me to call Houjo?"
"No!" The soccer team stopped and stared at them. She blushed and hastily waved at Houjo, who grinned, waved back and motioned to the others to move. "I-I mean, I'm fine. My lunch must have been spoiled." She finished lamely.
Thomas nodded sympathetically. Both sat in a comfortable silence for some time.
"Well I—"
"It's late—"
Both broke off, laughing. "Ladies first."
"It's getting late. I have to head home."
Thomas nodded. "Want me to walk you home? I promise to be a gentleman." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.
Kagome froze. She stared at Thomas. His eyes—So familiar… Something clicked. Of all the rotten luck! She smiled slightly. "Maybe some other time. I don't want you to go out of your way. I'll see you tomorrow." Not!
She stuffed her notebook inside her bag and shot up. She waved at Houjo, grabbed her bag, and sped down the stand steps.
*****
Kagome raced home. She banged the front door open. "Mama!" Her mom stuck her head out the kitchen door. "Yes, sweetheart?"
Kagome threw down her backpack. "Since when does 'reincarnation' mean 'let's torture Kagome'?" She turned abruptly and ran upstairs muttering angrily. Her mom shook her head and went back to the kitchen.
*****
The group sat around Inuyasha's temporary home. Shippou, Hoonomei and Rin had spent the afternoon throwing sticks into the hole, and drawing lines on the ground every time Inuyasha growled, because it would cause Sango to threaten him with the boomerang. Rin had been winning, but only because she'd caused Sango to smack Inuyasha when he'd popped up after hearing Rin's "Hello, Kagome-neechan!" After that, Miroku told them to find something else to do, and they'd dragged Jaken off to play.
Sesshoumaru's voice broke the comfortable silence. "She's back." He paused. "Hmmm… She seems highly agitated." Miroku stared at the ground. Sango shook her head.
A few minutes later, Kagome came into the clearing. She glanced around, stared at the hole, and went over to Sango. She jerked her thumb towards the woods. Sango nodded and followed the distressed teenager.
Sesshoumaru glanced at the monk. He's frightened… Does he still feel responsible? The demon lord walked to the hole and knelt. He lowered his head as far as he could without tumbling in. "Talk to the monk and apologize, little brother. Now." He stood and went back to lean on his tree.
Inuyasha's head came out of the hole slowly. He glanced around and smelled the air. He bounded out of the hole and went to Miroku. He sat next to him. He mumbled something.
Miroku turned to him. "Huh?"
Inuyasha groaned. "Look, I'm sorry, ok?"
Miroku nodded slowly. He watched Inuyasha as he bounded back to the hole and jumped in. He shook his head and glanced at Sesshoumaru. The demon lord looked back at him and turned to the village once more.
The girls came back. Both sat far away from Miroku. Sango seemed amused. Kagome glared at him. "Inuyasha, you can come out now."
Inuyasha's head came out slowly from the hole again. He watched Kagome warily. "I believe you owe everyone here an apology."
Inuyasha cringed. Kagome's eyes narrowed. "I—I'm sorry."
Kagome nodded once, satisfied. She turned her attention to Sesshoumaru. "I can't protect her if I'm far away from her or if she's out of my sight, so I've been working on a long-distance anti-demon shield." She shrugged. "I thought she was in danger. I was too far away to protect her physically, so the shield went up. End of story." He quirked an eyebrow at her.
Kagome yawned and stood. "Sorry. Slept two hours last night. Need sleep. Sleep good. Someone cook the ramen." She ambled off towards Kaede's. "Oh, and Sesshoumaru? Don't take Rin yet. She has a few more basics to learn. Two more weeks as planned." She vanished off into the night.
Sesshoumaru's jaw dropped. Sango laughed. Miroku grinned. "Don't worry.
She does that all the time."
© 9/16/03, M.A.R.
Quick disclaimer part 2: Thomas Robertson is mine. Well, the one in the story is. Any other Thomas Robertsons out there are not mine. :o)
Aphiopsyduck: Hello again! I usually don't answer reader's questions in the story unless they're anonymous--I prefer to email them directly most of the time. But since this question has come up at least 3 times already, I'll answer it here. :o) This is supposed to be a Kagome/Miroku fic. They're slightly reluctant to get together, which explains why it's taking so long. I apologize to all Inu/Kag fans who might have hoped she'd end up with him in this story. Yes, I'd love the idea of them getting together, but it's been done to death by other authors already--plus it's the main theme of the manga/show.
And to those few who are wondering if it's a Sesshie/Kago fic, sorry to you guys too. But rest assured, my crossover with Harry Potter has another alternate pairing--even if our dear, sweet Kagome seems to have something up her sleeve in that one... Anyhoo. That's the Sesshie/Kago story I'm trying to write, but she just won't cooperate. :-P If I ever decide to post that story, readers of this fic already have the main pairing, so you'll be ahead of the game.
Here's the recommendation of the day. I found this site thanks to another
reader, so just in case you haven't seen it already, here it is again:
http:// geocities. com/ insolency/ mklist.html (remember to remove the
spaces!) It's all Kagome/Miroku stories from ff.net, as far as I know.
Check them out--who knows? Maybe you'll find some new favorites or reread
old forgotten ones.
(More or less) Permanent A/N: *sweatdrops…* Ehehe… First fanfic… If nothing else, it's a test run, since this will be my first real fanfic posted anywhere. I don' really know where it's going though, so please bear with me. Reviews are welcome, and flames will be used on undead mikos who refuse to leave our heroes alone. :o)