Chapter 2: The Lottery!
-
Kagome's face paled as her hands, shaking badly, dropped the phone. Her heart pounded. The world seemed to be spinning rapidly. Her worst nightmare was coming true.
And her mother couldn't even get better health care. They had no money to spare.
She couldn't feel her body; it seemed as if someone else had possessed her. Souta! How would he take this? Maybe it would be better to shield him from this. Yet she couldn't stand to pretend forever.
"Souta?" she called.
He came to her, worried. "Is there something wrong?"
Putting on her cheerful façade, she replied. "No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to ask if you wanted to spend a few days at a friend's house. I know you've been working hard lately."
Souta's eyes shone. "Can I really?"
Kagome tried to smile. "I'll call you when you should come back."
Souta packed up a few things quickly. "Thank you, Kagome!" he shouted, as he skipped out the door. Kagome smiled and waved.
As soon as the door shut, the flood of emotions couldn't be contained. She broke down, sobbing. "No," she told herself. "This can't be happening! Mom...
She closed her eyes. Memories of her childhood came back to her. Her mom kissing her good night...her mom in the hospital holding Souta...how they had cooked together...family trips...Kagome wiped a tear from her eye roughly.
Cancer. A tiny six-letter word that could tear her family apart. With just one word, her whole life could shatter into pieces.
And she couldn't pick the pieces up and put them together again.
-
Inuyasha slouched out of the school and headed towards the nearest pay phone. Flicking in some coins, he began to dial Miroku's phone number.
Surely, he would be home. Yep, he was. Oh well, it figured. He didn't have a life.
"What do you want?"
"Geez, Miroku," Inuyasha said.
"Oh, it's you."
"Who were you expecting?"
"Prank calls!" Miroku replied, exasperated. There was silence on the other line. "What? They keep calling me..."
"Right. So can I come to your house?"
"Like you even needed to ask! It's a tradition!"
And it was. Ever since they began high school, they had gone to his house and procrastinated.
-
Miroku and Inuyasha lazily lounged in Miroku's room, eating the snacks they were provided with.
"So," Inuyasha muttered, his mouth full from a peanut butter sandwich. "What should we do?"
"Prank calls!" Miroku yelled. They should pay for annoying me to death.
-
Sango stared blankly at the flashing cursor on her computer. She was supposed to have typed her report, but she couldn't think. She typed a few sentences, re-read them, then backspaced it all.
Her mind drifted.
I hope Kagome's okay. She's always been a little sensitive. And she was even moody at lunch. Kagome's never like this, Sango thought.
Then the phone rang, interrupting her thoughts.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hello," a voice said. It was familiar, yet she couldn't place it. Then there was a fit of laughter.
It said cheerfully, "This is Miroku; is your refrigerator running?"
Wait, wasn't this a prank call thing?
"Um, yes...Miroku? What do YOU want?" she said, her eyebrows wrinkling in confusion.
"Then you'd better go catch it!" the voice said gleefully.
She was about to say, "Lame, Miroku, really lame," when he hung up.
Stupid Miroku! she thought. I think I need a break.
She trotted down the stairs hoping to sneak in a snack or two before her mom caught her. Or before her brother, Kohaku, told on her. Whichever came first.
She walked casually over to the kitchen.
"Hey, Mom," she said innocently. She leaned on the counter, in front of where the snacks were kept.
"Hi, Sango, How was your day?" her mom asked cheerfully.
"Oh, it was okay..." Slowly, behind her back, she fingered the doughnut box, and slipped one into a napkin in her hand.
Her mother turned to the stove as she bounded up the stairs, holding her prize. But there was a knot in her stomach. She couldn't eat anything, not even a doughnut, until she made sure Kagome was okay.
She dialed her best friend's number. "Hey, Kagome?"
Kagome answered the phone. Her voice was stuffy and she kept sniffling.
"Hello?"
Sango gasped. "My god, Kagome, you sound horrible! Are you okay? Was detention that bad?"
All her thoughts were concentrated on her friend. Kagome had helped Sango through rough times, and now it was Sango's turn to return the favor.
"I—I'm okay," Kagome said shakily.
"No, you're not," Sango insisted. Her heart beat a little faster. "Please, Kagome, tell me what's wrong."
"Well," Kagome said. "it's ju—just that detention really shook me up..."
Sango breathed a sigh of relief. The way Kagome made it sound freaked her out. At least nothing was wrong with her friend. She could rest easy for the night and enjoy that doughnut.
-
Miroku and Inuyasha laughed loudly.
"That—that was classic!" Inuyasha panted between peals of laughter.
"Who next?" Miroku asked, in an equally choked, crazy voice.
Inuyasha racked his brain. Who was gullible enough to—?
"Higurashi." Inuyasha smiled. "It's my turn."
They flipped through elementary school yearbooks. You'd think that they'd look through the phone book, but whatever. Little kids always signed their names and phone numbers.
"Hello, is this Kagome Higurashi?" Inuyasha asked.
"Uh-huh, who is this?" Kagome said, in a quiet voice.
"Um, Inuyasha."
"What do you want?"
"Geez, someone's cranky today. Oh. Well, you know how I'm rich, right? We were having a little sweepstake." Inuyasha held back a laugh. Miroku, who already knew what was coming, clapped his hands over his mouth.
"And I just wanted to tell you that you won the lottery! A million dollars!"
-
Kagome gasped. Of all the luck...Inuyasha's family was incredibly rich. And now she could pay for her mother's health care!
"Oh my god!" she screamed. "Thank you! You have no idea what you just did!"
She hung up. She required herself to think that just because there was more money, it didn't mean that her mom was getting better.
But a smile forced its way to her lips and she couldn't help but grin. Soon she was jumping up and down shrieking.
Online, she bought groceries (to be delivered to her house, that is) and made an appointment to have her mother moved to a different hospital.
Tick. The clock struck ten. She took an especially long shower, brushed her teeth and fell asleep smiling. I won the lottery, she sing- songed in her head.
-
At school...
The next morning, she was not late. Kagome spotted Inuyasha lurking near his locker. She skipped towards it.
"Inuyasha!" she cried. "I just want to thank you! Because of you, my mother can be cured of cancer and we can pay our bills!"
Laughing, she twirled down the hallway, calling over her shoulder, "You're a lifesaver! Literally!"
Inuyasha's mouth dropped open.
Uh-oh, he thought. I think I made a mistake.
