Disclaimers: I DO own Inu-Yasha . . . not.

Chapter Six: Oh, the People You See

"Let's go," Inu-Yasha commanded, tugging Kagome forward as he began to walk away.

"Yasha . . . wait!" The girl called out; Kagome heard the sound of clicking heels hurrying after them.

"Keep walking," he growled, noticing Kagome's pace slowing down.

'I wonder why he won't stop.' Kagome thought, trying to keep up with Inu-Yasha's brisk pace.

"That's it! Stop right there!" The girl yelled very agitatedly. The two came to a halt as a snake suddenly appeared before them. The clicking heels were coming closer until a girl suddenly appeared next to the snake, petting its silverish head. The girl was Kagome's height wearing a black skirt that went down to mid-thigh, a white tank top with the words 'Priestess' printed in pale pink across the front. She had waist-length hair that was black with gray streaks. She had a cherubic like face; except in Kagome's opinion, she was wearing a little too much make-up, and she had on black heeled sandals that strapped up until mid-calf. "Inu-Yasha, why were you running away?"

"I don't run from anything," Inu-Yasha spat. "I just didn't want to see you."

"Why? Is it because you've got a new girlfriend?" She asked, eyeing Kagome with distaste.

"She ain't my girlfriend," Inu-Yasha growled, pushing Kagome behind him somewhat; eyeing the silver snake that held a predatory gleam in its eyes.

"Then why are you so protective of her?" The girl sounded highly amused.

"Why are you so interested Tsubaki?" Inu-Yasha shot back, watching as her smile fell.

"Sheik," she said with a foreboding tone. Suddenly the snake at her side shot forward, mouth open, fangs seeming to extend.

Inu-Yasha jumped away from Kagome as the snake began to wrap itself around him. He held the head back with a clawed hand as he tried to un-wrap it from himself with his other.

"Tsubaki, call your damn snake off," he shouted. Kagome watched in horror as the snake kept trying to bite him, and Tsubaki just stood with an amused smile gracing her lips.

"Now, now Inu-Yasha, no need to get so riled up. I'm just trying to ask you some questions about the new student and you were biting my head off. So I decided to return the favor," Tsubaki said smoothly before cackling, in what Kagome thought to be like a witch.

"Bite this," Inu-Yasha spat viscously, flipping Tsubaki the bird.

"Really Inu-Yasha," Tsubaki started with a warning tone. "Just stay . . ." In which the snake began to tighten his grip. "And be a good dog." She gave him a flirtatious smile before turning to Kagome.

"You must be the new girl . . . Kagome I believe it was . . . mute aren't you? Hello, I'm Tsubaki Kantanoki, a miko at Shishimoto. Also, just to let you know, Inu-Yasha, he's mine," Tsubaki warned, ignoring Inu-Yasha's shouts of not being stupid or desperate enough to go out with her. She then stepped closer to Kagome so that their faces were barely apart. "So stay away from him . . . besides, the only reason he would hang around you is probably because you look like her . . . yup, just a replacement for Kik-"

"Shut-up!"

"Tsubaki!"

Two voices shouted, stopping Tsubaki from finishing her sentence. Kagome was staring at Inu-Yasha's pale face as he finally yanked the snake off. Tsubaki, however, was staring un-amusedly at Sango's seething form, with Miroku panting next to her.

"Hello Sango!" Tsubaki greeted, faking cheerfulness. "Just talking to Inu-Yasha's little girlfriend here."

"Tsubaki . . ." Sango began, quirking up an eyebrow in interest. "Inu-Yasha isn't going out with Kagome . . ."

"Yeah, last I heard, we were!" Miroku exclaimed, finally regaining his breath. Kagome just gave him a weird look as Sango backhanded him.

"Quit spreading lies," Sango snapped before turning her attention to Tsubaki. She placed on a sickly smile before speaking. "Listen Tsubaki, Kagome is just a new student, and has no boyfriends . . . well, at least none that I know of," she explained before shooting Kagome a look that said she better tell her the answer later.

"Oh . . ." Tsubaki spoke with an enlightened tone. "Well then, you can forget everything I said . . . except my name . . . that is of course until you change your mind and try to take a chance with Inu-Yasha. Then I'll just have to remind you that he's mine," Tsubaki rambled on to Kagome.

"Tsubaki . . . shut . . . UP!" Inu-Yasha shouted before throwing her snake at her.

"Sheik," Tsubaki snapped, holding up her hand. A white glow suddenly flashed and when it was gone, so was the snake. "Really Yasha . . . what were you thinking? Here I am, trying to be nice, and you're throwing my Sheiky at me."

"Tsubaki . . . just get the he . . . just leave." Inu-Yasha re-worded as Tsubaki started to settle her-self into the group.

"Well . . . since you asked so nicely . . . besides, I have a class meeting to get to," Tsubaki explained, starting to walk away. "Bye! Lave ya Yasha!" She blew an air kiss before hurrying away.

"God, she gives me the creeps," Inu-Yasha muttered, shuddering at her receding form.

"You know, for someone who loves you . . . she sure does love to hurt you," Miroku commented.

"Shut-up!" Inu-Yasha snapped getting more irritated.

"Don't get so worked up Inu-Yasha," Sango commented, putting a calming hand on his shoulder. "Kagome, what are you thinking about?" She asked suddenly, looking curiously at Kagome's still form.

Kagome shook her head to clear it, then gave Sango a puzzled look before pulling out her notebook and writing a question down. When she was done, she handed Sango her notebook.

"Yeah, her hair is weird isn't it? She said that it was a miko spell gone wrong," Sango explained, handing Kagome back her notebook.

"Feh, it's natural," Inu-Yasha threw in his two cents.

"And how do you know that?" Sango snapped.

"Simple . . . she's not a powerful enough miko to know any spells,' Inu-Yasha explained in an 'it-doesn't-matter' kind of way.

"Inu-Yasha . . . " Sango started off, her hand twitching to hit her dear cousin. "What do you know?!"

"I know a lot, thank you very much!" Inu-Yasha retorted, getting up into Sango's face. The two looked ready to kill each other. Sango raised a threatening fist as Inu-Yasha flexed his clawed hands at her; making sure to crack each finger in her eye level.

"Do you really want to try my temper?" Sango asked; sounding somewhat humorous.

"Of course hot head," Inu-Yasha smirked. Both were ready to go at each other when they were interrupted with a resounding smack of flesh against flesh. The cousins snapped their heads in unison in the direction and came to meet a jumpy Kagome and injured Miroku.

"Miroku . . . just keep your damn hands to yourself," Sango sighed.

"Looks like he's found a new obsession," Inu-Yasha commented.

"Shut-up!" Sango commanded before turning her attention to Kagome. "Come on Kagome, let's go eat . . . I'm famished," Sango spoke, grabbing onto Kagome's hand. "That's where the pervert and I were heading . . . to the Food Court. But on the way I was looking out this window . . ." Sango began to ramble on about how she found out Tsubaki was bugging them.

x.x

"Ayame!" Sango called out when the small group reached the Food Court. Kagome looked around and saw a tall redhead answer, by a table under a palm tree.

"Took you long enough," Ayame grumbled as they neared her.

Kagome took in her figure, declaring her a tomboy right away. She was wearing black slacks and a bright orange shirt that said Slap Happy's Food For You! Her long red hair was pulled back to make pigtails on either side of her head. She also had a white visor that bore the same logo as her shirt.

"Yeah . . . well I told you I was going towards trouble," Sango indicated by nodding her head at Inu-Yasha's brooding form.

"Why am I not surprised," Ayame droned, a hint of amusement in her tone. "You're always at the center of trouble, aren't you Inu-Yasha?"

"You're one to talk Miyabi," Inu-Yasha snapped before taking a seat in one of the chairs at the table.

"Touché aren't we . . . who'd you make cry today?"

"He didn't make anyone cry . . . except maybe himself. We just had a run in with Tsubaki," Miroku explained, placing himself across from Inu-Yasha; pointedly ignoring the glare Inu-Yasha was sending his way.

"Tsubaki?" Ayame spat the name out with distaste. "I hate that ch-. . . who are you?" She finally noticed Kagome.

"This is the roomie I told you about. Isn't she just great!?" Sango exclaimed, nudging Kagome between the shoulder blades to make her go forward.

"Are you Kagome?"

Kagome just nodded her head in response.

"You're mute, right?" Again she nodded. "You're also the girl Miroku was yelling at, at six in the morning?" AT this, she added a dark stare to Miroku's cowering form.

'Note to self . . . never make two youkais mad at you.' Miroku thought, giving both Ayame and Inu-Yasha nervous glances.

"Miroku . . . I know that I told you to watch Kagome . . . but never to harass her and the rest of the dorm at six," Sango began, taking slow warning steps.

"Sango . . . I'm sorry . . . it's not like I hurt anyone," Miroku panicked, waving his hands in the air.

"You hurt my ears," Ayame commented slyly, winking at Kagome who was nodding in agreement. "So yes, we haven't been properly introduced, I'm Ayame Miyabi, a wolf youkai and fellow Shishimoto Boarder," Ayame greeted, holding a hand towards Kagome.

Kagome was a little hesitant to take Ayame's hand. But after looking at her warm smile, Kagome took ti with no worry. Though the two youkais didn't say anything, they both had sensed Kagome's weariness.

"Well, I've got to go, my shift is starting again. I'll talk to ou guys later!' Ayame exclaimed, starting to walk off. "Oh, and Kagome, if Miroku starts giving you a hard time; just whack him on the head and then find me, I'll take care of him for you!" She shouted before fully disappearing behind the counter of a nearby restaurant.

"Did Ayame leave?" Sango asked, looking up form her position on the floor.

"Yeah, had to get back to work," Inu-Yasha replied, before starting to peer through some bags on the floor. "What is this?" Inu-Yasha asked with distaste, pulling out a short, black, leather skirt.

"That is for me," Sango snapped, snatching it out of Inu-Yasha's hands.

"I don't think so! No way in hell is a cousin of mine going to wear something like that!" Inu-Yasha declared, pulling the skirt back.

"Now, now Inu-Yasha, Sango is old enough to make her own choices. If she wants to wear skirts like that, then she can get that skirt," Miroku said calmly, eyeing the skirt with glee.

"Were you not listening to me? I just damn well said that no cousin of mine will dress like a hussy!" Inu-Yasha proclaimed angrily, slamming his fist onto the tabletop.

"HUSSY!" Sango screeched, a vain starting to pulse in her forehead and her left eye beginning to twitch. "Who the hell you calling a hussy!?" Sango spat the word out like it was poison.

Before Kagome knew it, right before her an altercation between the three friends broke out. Protests and yells of embarrassing childhood moments were being shouted and shared back and forth. Of course, the occasional slap was heard too.

'Yup . . . if I didn't believe it before, I sure believe it now. Those two have got to be cousins.' Kagome thought wryly. She was about to intervene the fight when she was interrupted herself by the feel of a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see a brown-haired, blue-eyed boy standing in front of her. He was fairly tall, and very thing; no muscles to make him look less weak than he was.

"Hi, I'm Hojo Uatani. You're Kagome, right?" He smiled brightly as he introduced himself. His smile seemed to have grown wider when she nodded her head yes. "I thought so, I couldn't quite remember what you looked like. I'm in some of your classes . . ." Hojo began to ramble on about how glad he was to meet her and telling her about life at Shishimoto's.

"Hey Kagome, who's your little friend?" Inu-Yasha asked with mild interest as he slung an arm around Kagome's shoulders. It looked as if their fight was over as they all suddenly noticed Hojo's quick appearance.

"I know you!' Miroku exclaimed, making Hojo close his moth when he was about to respond. Hojo beamed, becoming ecstatic that one of the 'beautiful' people knew him. "You're Jojo Shitaki!"

Kagome resisted the urge to slap Miroku because of his stupidity. Hojo himself wanted to go throw himself off the nearest bridge it looked like as his smile became a little strained.

"No . . . I think his name was Hobo . . . or something like that," Inu-Yasha spoke.

'Well . . . at least he was closer.' Kagome thought in her mind.

"No . . . the name is Hojo, Hojo Uatani," Hojo corrected, holding his hand out. Inu-Yasha glanced at his hand, then his face before giving him a look that asked if he was crazy. "Okay then," Hojo spoke, withdrawing his hand. "Well I need to go, it was nice meeting you guys. OH, and Higurashi here," Hojo said as he pushed a package into Kagome's hands.

'What is this?' She thought, looking at the package curiously.

"That's some herbal green tea, it's suppose to soothe the throat and clam it. I thought you might like some," Hojo said. He gave her a bright smile and began to walk off after Kagome's appreciative nod.

"Finally!" Inu-Yasha sighed in relief before pushing himself away from Kagome. "God wench, what is it about ou that attracts all these weirdoes. First Tsubaki, then Ayame, and now Hojo! I don't see all these people all in one day and I've been living with them longer!"

"Wait . . . you knew his real name?" Miroku asked, completely ignoring all of Inu-Yasha's rant.

"Yeah . . . he's one of those specials. I had to show him around a few years back," Inu-Yasha said off-handily, shrugging his shoulders in an 'I-don't-care' fashion. "Wait, that's all you heard?!"

"Forget that Inu-Yasha!" Sango snapped. "You're telling me that Hojo is a special?"

"I said that, didn't I?"

Kagome was starting to get confused as Sango and Inu-Yasha started getting into another quarrel. She wanted answers and she figured the best way, and safest, would be to just turn to Miroku. She was about to do just that when she felt something rubbing itself against er bottom. Kagome, on reflex, shot her hand out, but stopped as her wrist was in-cased in a warm bigger hand. She turned curiously to face Miroku.

"I'm guessing you want to know what specials are, right?" He asked her seriously, all playfulness gone from his face. Kagome nodded numbly, somewhat surprised and disturbed by this new Miroku. "The specials are kids that don't belong in Shishimoto. They don't' have anything to do with demons . . . but they're there for special reasons, hence the name specials. They're mostly there for police services. The school's a safe house. I mean, what is the best protection other than demons?"

'Police protection . . . don't belong.' Kagome was more confused than enlightened.

"Higurashi!" A voice called out.

'Why are all these people bugging me! Especially when I'm trying to figure things out!' Kagome whined in her mind. She turned around to see the scariest person in her life. It was a tall girl, with black hair pulled into a tight bun with feathers sticking out. She had Chinese beads on a string going from big to small as earrings. Wearing a white shirt, and long red skirt. The irises of her eyes seeming red, which scared Kagome more.

"I've heard of you . . . yes, you are definitely Higurashi. Saw you in the newspaper. Lived in a shrine didn't you? Lived with a cop for a while also? But what really happened?" The strange girl asked.

All the sudden questions had Kagome's mind spinning. But only one question was ringing out more than the rest.

'How did she know?'

"Kagura . . . what are you talking about?" Miroku asked worriedly, placing a soothing hand on the slightly shaking Kagome.

"Why don't you ask her?" Kagura suggested before backing away, blending into the crowds of people in the food court.

"What is she talking about?" Sango questioned curiously, seeming to have ended the little fight between her and Inu-Yasha.

"That's what I as asking," Miroku responded, not taking his questioning eyes off Kagome since Kagura had left.

Kagome just held a baffled expression, not knowing herself what to think of what was going on.

"You're a special, aren't you?" Inu-Yasha suddenly asked with an awed tone, a look of enlightenment coming across his features.

x.x

"Kagewaki," a lone figure spoke into a small phone. The darkness of the room was making it impossible for anyone to make out who the figure was.

"Kagewaki speaking," a low cool tone spoke back through.

"I've found her . . . Yes, Kagome Higurashi. With the group you predicted. Those idiot cops, do they honestly think those kids will be able to protect her when they couldn't protect Ki-" The figure was cut off.

"Do not speak her name!" The love voice boomed. "Now, did she speak of anything about the shrine?"

"No, she seemed clueless . . . or is a very good actor. I think she's hiding more than she's letting on."

" . . . okay," the voice said after a long pause. The harshness tone ringing in the phone. "I'm sending Kouga."

A/N: That's all for now! I hope you guys enjoyed and hope you review and come back with the next chapter. Thank you reviewers, I hope to hear from you again! Bye for now!

.x.HugeAnimefan1.x.