Note:: I know that in my fic 2bwu2morrow "Ayumi" is the name of Kagome's mom. At the time I didnt know that the name Ayumi was taken (Ayumi is the curly haired friend of Kagome's) so in 2bwu2morrow her three friends are Eri, Yuka and Arisa, but in this one its accurate with the manga/anime, okie? (Is that confusing? I hope not~)
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or anything, so there :p mmmmmh!
____________________________
Inuki
Chapter One :: The New Transfer Student
Old friends squealed and hugged each other as they remet on the schoolyard after the short break between the school years. The former juniors, now seniors, prowled around looking like queen bees and the big dogs of the campus, and the new juniors looking proud to be where they were.
The new freshmen, including Kagome's class, bounced around like young fresh out of the cave, squealing their pleasure at having finally made past the horrid entrance exams to the much more liberated high school. Liberated even to point of no school uniforms; the administration allowed students to wear what they chose, with regards to the dress code.
Ayumi looked very stylish, her glasses perched on the end of her nose, wearing a sweater and skirt setup. She stood on the tiptoes of her new platform Mary Janes, trying to peer over the heads of the taller boys. Her dark gray eyes caught the sight of the faces she searched for and squealed. "Eri-chan! Yuka-chan!"
The pair saw her and worked their way through the throng to her. Eri, as usual, has her shoulder length hair in a hairband, and Yuka's was styled slightly different, but still just as short as ever. Ayumi hugged them. "Hisashiburi yo ne!"
"Yeah," Eri agreed, "It was a long break!"
"What did you do over the vacation?" Yuka asked and Ayumi smiled knowingly. "I worried about the exams!"
Eri and Yuka looked irked. "What for? You breezed through everything."
Ayumi blushed, laughing nervously. "Aha ha ha, really? Hm."
"Ne," Yuka broke in, looking around, "Where's Kagome-chan?" Ayumi shrugged. "I was here first, and I haven't seen her come in yet, so I'm not sure. I was hoping she was with you."
Eri shrugged, straightening out her shirt. "Haven't seen Kagome... well, considering how severely ill she was last year I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't passed... But she was sick for three straight months before the end of the year."
"Wow..." Ayumi mused, "I studied so hard I barely had time to notice! I hope she-- HEY! Kagome-chan!!!!"
The three girls rushed over. Kagome was standing at the gate, looking up at the school with a sorrowful expression. She looked pale, her eyes empty of the former life and youthful mirth she had going into ninth grade last year. She looked the same, but even to the girls' eyes, they could see there was something wrong.
Her brown eyes fell on them and she smiled an all too adult smile. She looked a little older, a little more weary than her sixteen years should have shown. Even dense Ayumi realized this was not the same Higurashi Kagome they had known. "Hisashiburi da ne," she said softly, and Ayumi impulsively launched herself at her. "Kagome-chaaaaan!!!!"
Kagome gawped, haphazardly catching the smaller girl. "Eh, nani~?!!"
"We were so worried!" Eri cried, "You were absent for three months, not to mention the fact that over the two month school vacation we never heard from you!! What happened?"
"Just sick," Kagome replied, "But it gave me time to catch up on all the schoolwork I missed and here I am." She grinned, and this time it was more genuine. "Let's go get our class schedules."
The girls all headed into the gym, where tables were set up with particular kana listed. They seperated, each looking for her last name. As Kagome headed towards "H" she brushed heavily past a young man, and ended up on her ass for it. Muttering yelps to herself, she looked up at the instantaneous response from the young man. "Higurashi?!"
She looked up in surprise, recognizing his voice. "Houjou-kun!"
He grinned, straightening his clothes and then reaching down at her. "I can't believe you're here! I thought for sure with all your illnesses you wouldn't have made it!" Kagome smiled as he helped her up and she dusted herself off. "Thank you Houjou-kun."
"Did you get your schedule yet?" the young man asked and as Kagome thumbed through the stack of "Hi" she murmured, "Getting it right now..." Houjou grinned. "It would be neat if you and I had the same class!"
Kagome rolled her eyes, mentally torturing the bird-brained student with all sorts of interesting objects-- fire ants, a kitchen cleaver with a fair amount of rust on it and the Chinese water torture amongst her thoughts. Houjou was a sweet guy, but sometimes he just wasn't all there. As she found her class schedule Houjou said, "I'm in 1-B, Akihito!"
Kagome deflated when she saw the name of her homeroom teacher.
Akihito.
What did Life have against her?
~*~
"It sucks that we got split up," Ayumi said, "But we got the same class as HOUJOU-KUN! The smartest, most talented, most amazing guy in ALL. OF. SCHOOL~~!" She squealed and Kagome forced a smile, following the class door numbers with her eyes. She was looking for the class she, Houjou and Ayumi had been divided into, 1-B. Eri and Yuka were in 1-C.
She wasn't particularly happy she was stuck with the Birdbrain from Hell; while she had never intended to be rude to him --not that the thought hadn't crossed her mind-- his lack of intuition when it came to her was enough to make her snap at his overconfidence and tenacity. That and the fact that she was still very much in love with a dead man. She was afraid of what she might say, to Houjou or to anyone else.
Kagome walked into the assigned room and looked upon the view blandly. It was almost already full, kids sitting on desks and crowding around each other, noisy incessant chatter filling the air. You could almost see the social classes they had been unintentionally divided into. You could see the jocks and the preps, the outcasts and the nerds. In junior high all you saw was kids all wearing the same thing; now, clothes divided them.
Kagome chose a seat in the middle of the row, near the window. Ayumi picked a seat a little further ahead of her, and Houjou took the seat in front of Kagome. The teacher, a small, older man, walked in and settled down the class with a single holler, and then began to take attendance.
Now that it had settled down a bit, Kagome buzzed through it, raising her hand when she heard the man's very clipped voice call her last name out. The excitement had disappeared, and fragments of thoughts were now running around, hardly forming complete sentences. Just realizing that she was here, in Tokyo, in the 4th district high school, reminded her of her painful adventure to the past.
She didn't have Inuyasha.
No, she didn't have him. If she did, she wouldn't be in school. She wouldn't be in the 20th century. She had decided to stay with him. To forget school and forget this rushed, monotonous routine of a life and stay safe by his side, where things were always as wild and crazy as he was. To be able to stay curled against his warm chest, where she was safe.
Even in a world where demons lurked everywhere and the danger was probably 100 times higher than in Tokyo, she had Inuyasha, and he would always protect her.
When had she decided it? She couldn't remember. Had it been just before they battled Naraku? Or even before that?
Yes, it had been before that. Just after another fight. About Kikyou, always Kikyou. Nothing new, except that, as much as she loved him, Kagome decided to leave... She couldn't bear it anymore... He understood the moment she'd handed the Shikon shards to him...
~*~
Kagome tugged on her arm, trying to free herself of the impatient hanyou attached to the other end and struggling to fight tears at the same time. She would not let him see her cry. "Let go of me Inuyasha!!"
He shook his head. "You're NOT going back until you answer my question! Why did you give these to me?! If you don't take these with you, you can't come back!"
Kagome shook her head, preparing a good sit. "Let go of me, you stupid jerk! Maybe I don't WANT to come back!" His grip loosened instantly and Kagome yanked free of him when it did, half-running a few steps forward, and stopping. She sniffled, forcing down the feelings. Don't cry don't cry don't cry...
"You.. want to leave?" He sounded so hurt. So betrayed. How dare he sound that way. "Why would you... want... to leave me?"
Please don't sound that way... Kagome reached for her first excuse, as lame as it now sounded. After all, she had just told him she wasn't coming back anyway. "I have school! After we beat Naraku and gather the rest of the Jewel, I have to still have a life there! I need to be able to go back!! I already told you that I don't have a future there unless I study!"
"Who cares? You don't need one there, you have one here." Frustrated, Kagome cursed under her breath his obstinacy, straightening the straps of her backpack. "But see, that's the problem! I DON'T have a future here! I can't stay here forever, Inuyasha~ This isn't where I'm supposed to be!"
The tears were close, please, just let him let her go, please. Let him understand.
Once more she felt his hands on her arms and he spun her to face him, his face crinkled in pain. "You're supposed to be wherever I am because your place is with ME!"
Her struggles stopped and she stared up at him, eye full of surprise and wonder. His eyes were intense, focused on her face, and for the first time she saw nothing else in him, only his desire to be with her. He didn't want the Shikon no Tama, he didn't want to be a real youkai, he didn't want Kikyou.
He just wanted ...Kagome.
She swallowed. "Wh... what?" He shook his head. "You can't go, I don't want you to! If you leave me, I'll have to beat Naraku all by myself. And what am I supposed to do after that?! I'll be alone again!"
"You won't be alone, you'll... you'll have her..." she mumbled stupidly, not understanding why he was doing this.
"Kagome you're so stupid...!" His response simply angered her. She struggled against him again, but he held firm, closing the distance between them swiftly and embracing her. Kagome caught her breath.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, and Inuyasha swallowed. After a moment he breathed against her ear, "Kikyou doesn't make me feel the way you make me. Don't leave me alone. I need you."
At the declaration, Kagome drew up against him, the tears breaking through, and she finally relaxed, burying her face in his shoulder and weeping.
I hate this about myself. Why do I let this jerk walk over me? Why do I let him get away with trampling on me... making me cry... tearing me apart...
Because I want to see him again. Because I need to hear his voice and see his smile and look in his eyes just one more time. Because I never know when it will be the last day, the last fight, and my last chance to see--
"Inuyasha......"
"Yeah?"
"..........I'll stay..."
~*~
"Higurashi. Tsk tsk. Sleeping on the first day?"
Kagome snapped awake with a yelp and looked up at the teacher. Akihito looked very bored with her behavior and the other kids were sniggering a bit. On the spot she babbled out an excuse. "Ah, I'm sorry sir!! I must still be a bit weak from my sickness."
"Sickness?" the teacher repeated and Kagome nodded. "I missed a good deal of my ninth grade year sir, because of a freak epidemic at my home. I was sick 95% of the year, including the last three months." Mentally, Kagome rolled her eyes. *I'm getting as bad as Jiichan.*
"I see," he replied, buying every bit of it, "If you feel weak again, I'll have one of the other students take you down to the infirmary." Kagome nodded. As he headed back he glanced at his wristwatch. "Hn. That new student, Yashagawa... he's late."
Even as Akihito said this, Kagome heard the door slide open. As a natural reaction she turned her head toward the sound, and as the door slid aside she gasped at the figure of the young man who stood there.
He was tall, about 5'11 or so, his long black hair braided down his back, and coal-black eyes searching the room. He was wearing a pair of beat-up jeans, the right knee sporting a hole in them, and a pair of sneakers long overworn. The loose fit shirt he wore which showed off his moderately ripped torso and arms was the only thing even relatively brand-new, and even it was a few months old.
This registered, but only in the back of her mind. She was staring at his face. The features which she knew inch by inch, the deepness of his oddly cat-slitted eyes, and the width of his smile, even though he wasn't presently smiling.
She had a picture of this boy at her home. It was her favorite.
Her hand went up to her mouth, and she might've squeaked, she wasn't sure. Her mouth formed the name, "Inuyasha" but all she heard was a breath of air. Her hands trembled as she lowered them to the desk, clenching them.
He was panting, as if he had run from the front of the school to this classroom. The girls oohed over his form and his youthful face as he wandered in, looking a bit like a lost puppy. The teacher snorted. "Yashagawa! Class began nearly twenty minutes ago! You are late!"
"Sorry sensei, I missed the bus," he replied smoothly, standing at the teacher's side and looming over the tiny man, who was at least a foot and a half shorter than him. Regardless of his height, the teacher attempted to be intimidating and he mumbled some sort of nonsense at him, a reprimand of some sort but much like Kaede calling Inuyasha on something, the new kid was glaring off into space, not really paying any attention.
Kagome couldn't take her eyes off him. His body movements, his form of speech, even his voice, was all like Inuyasha. Even if he seemed a bit more blockheaded than Inuyasha was. Had been.
"Take that seat next to Higurashi, Yashagawa, and don't cause any more trouble." The kid nodded once or twice before heading down the aisle, sliding past Kagome, and he slouched into the seat with a thud.
Kagome just stared at him. *What... what does it mean...??*
And then it hit her.
Kikyou had died once. She was reborn as Higurashi Kagome.
Inuyasha had died. Was it possible he had reborn as this hulking teenager next to her? Could demons even be reborn?
He looked up then, and his eyes caught hers for a moment. His eyes were unique: long slits, dark brown with specks of yellow-gold. And for the one moment they gazed at each other, his blockheaded anti-hero facade dropped, and she saw Inuyasha in him. The defenseless, mistreated and sweet hanyou soul that inevitably she realized Inuyasha had.
Her eyes teared up. He came back to me. He found me, and came to me.
~*~
As "liberated" as high school was, it was also infinitely more studious. There was history, literature, biology, English, grammar, algebra, civics, economics, Japanese*, and every single one of the corresponding books was at least five pounds. And every single one of the one-thousand seven hundred thirty-two students who enrolled HAD one of each of these, ranking up around 45 pounds per student.
With homework in nearly every subject and only seven minutes to get out to the bus so she could make it home, Kagome was understandably having some trouble. With every other kid doing the same thing, it made her wonder again how people actually GRADUATED.
In the midst of the afterschool rush, Kagome spun around the corner, down the stairs, and before she knew it, her foot had slipped out from under her on the slick metal stairs. She managed to avoid falling on her ass for the second time in the day, but she DID drop four of her books.
SLAM! SLAM SLAM SLAM!!!
The resounding thuds echoed in the stairwell, and Kagome blushed, feeling the stabbing gawps of the other students' eyes. Some of them were looking at her like she was a clumsy moron, some were laughing. Some were shooting pitying expressions her way and she wondered what she had done that warranted being pitied. But not a single one bent to help her, and Kagome cursed under her breath, bent to pick them up--
--and clonked painfully into the skull of another student.
"Ow~~~!!" she cried, falling back and clutching at her forehead, certain a lump was already visible. "What is your head MADE of?!"
"Shit! I could say the same about you! You have bricks in there instead of brains, or what?!"
Kagome stopped, perking a bit, and lifted her eyes to meet the deep brown orbs of the new student, Yashagawa whatever-his-first-name-was. He locked glares with her, looking irked, rubbing his own head, his ebony hair falling in shocks over his face. Kagome stared slightly. He was cute. Really cute. REALLY cute, like Inuyasha was cute on the first night. Insecure and dark.
She couldn't help it. She blushed.
Yashagawa snorted as he stood up, straightening his shirt. "Oh jeez, you're a typical female as well. You gonna gush now, you stupid girl?"
Almost instantaneously she went from admiring to angry. She jumped up as well, trying to lean into his face. No good; he was too tall, like Inuyasha. She settled for poking her forefinger hard into his chest with every syllable. "Well you moron why don't you mind your own business next time!! I didn't ASK for your help!!!"
Yashagawa laughed aloud. "This what I get for being nice!! Figures." He picked up his own backpack and stomped down the stairs, stopping at the base to throw one last insult her way. "Stupid girl!! You should accept people's help when they offer it!"
"Moron! You should mind your own business!" She screeched back, not at all surprised when the other teenager snorted and stalked away, his nose in the air. Kagome fumed, kneeling to pick up her books. "Stupid!"
Almost as if they were cued, Ayumi, Eri and Yuka appeared from the head of the stairs. Ayumi bent down to help, and Eri blinked. "Anou, who was that?"
"That was Yashagawa-kun!! Sutekki yo ne?" Ayumi gushed, "He's SO cute!"
Yuka smiled. "He WAS nice to look at."
"He's a moron!" Kagome replied, "An insensitive, stupid, selfish jerk!"
"You talk like you know him," Eri observed and Kagome caught herself then. *I..I was...! It was like I was around Inuyasha again.* She bit her lip. *I wonder if.. if it's possible?*
*Could he be Inuyasha, reborn?*
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: Yaya~ I set everything up! Dunno how, but I did!
Btw the * after Japanese was because of this (I'm not sure if many people know) I KNOW they're in Japan, so they're obviously not studying how to speak their own native language. What I mean is the study of the 4000+ kanji characters the Japanese use, which they study pretty much from the moment they enter school. Just to clear that up.
PLEASE review!! I crave reviews!! Im a reviewnut, yes? ^-^V Okie, ja~!
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
~Tessen
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or anything, so there :p mmmmmh!
____________________________
Inuki
Chapter One :: The New Transfer Student
Old friends squealed and hugged each other as they remet on the schoolyard after the short break between the school years. The former juniors, now seniors, prowled around looking like queen bees and the big dogs of the campus, and the new juniors looking proud to be where they were.
The new freshmen, including Kagome's class, bounced around like young fresh out of the cave, squealing their pleasure at having finally made past the horrid entrance exams to the much more liberated high school. Liberated even to point of no school uniforms; the administration allowed students to wear what they chose, with regards to the dress code.
Ayumi looked very stylish, her glasses perched on the end of her nose, wearing a sweater and skirt setup. She stood on the tiptoes of her new platform Mary Janes, trying to peer over the heads of the taller boys. Her dark gray eyes caught the sight of the faces she searched for and squealed. "Eri-chan! Yuka-chan!"
The pair saw her and worked their way through the throng to her. Eri, as usual, has her shoulder length hair in a hairband, and Yuka's was styled slightly different, but still just as short as ever. Ayumi hugged them. "Hisashiburi yo ne!"
"Yeah," Eri agreed, "It was a long break!"
"What did you do over the vacation?" Yuka asked and Ayumi smiled knowingly. "I worried about the exams!"
Eri and Yuka looked irked. "What for? You breezed through everything."
Ayumi blushed, laughing nervously. "Aha ha ha, really? Hm."
"Ne," Yuka broke in, looking around, "Where's Kagome-chan?" Ayumi shrugged. "I was here first, and I haven't seen her come in yet, so I'm not sure. I was hoping she was with you."
Eri shrugged, straightening out her shirt. "Haven't seen Kagome... well, considering how severely ill she was last year I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't passed... But she was sick for three straight months before the end of the year."
"Wow..." Ayumi mused, "I studied so hard I barely had time to notice! I hope she-- HEY! Kagome-chan!!!!"
The three girls rushed over. Kagome was standing at the gate, looking up at the school with a sorrowful expression. She looked pale, her eyes empty of the former life and youthful mirth she had going into ninth grade last year. She looked the same, but even to the girls' eyes, they could see there was something wrong.
Her brown eyes fell on them and she smiled an all too adult smile. She looked a little older, a little more weary than her sixteen years should have shown. Even dense Ayumi realized this was not the same Higurashi Kagome they had known. "Hisashiburi da ne," she said softly, and Ayumi impulsively launched herself at her. "Kagome-chaaaaan!!!!"
Kagome gawped, haphazardly catching the smaller girl. "Eh, nani~?!!"
"We were so worried!" Eri cried, "You were absent for three months, not to mention the fact that over the two month school vacation we never heard from you!! What happened?"
"Just sick," Kagome replied, "But it gave me time to catch up on all the schoolwork I missed and here I am." She grinned, and this time it was more genuine. "Let's go get our class schedules."
The girls all headed into the gym, where tables were set up with particular kana listed. They seperated, each looking for her last name. As Kagome headed towards "H" she brushed heavily past a young man, and ended up on her ass for it. Muttering yelps to herself, she looked up at the instantaneous response from the young man. "Higurashi?!"
She looked up in surprise, recognizing his voice. "Houjou-kun!"
He grinned, straightening his clothes and then reaching down at her. "I can't believe you're here! I thought for sure with all your illnesses you wouldn't have made it!" Kagome smiled as he helped her up and she dusted herself off. "Thank you Houjou-kun."
"Did you get your schedule yet?" the young man asked and as Kagome thumbed through the stack of "Hi" she murmured, "Getting it right now..." Houjou grinned. "It would be neat if you and I had the same class!"
Kagome rolled her eyes, mentally torturing the bird-brained student with all sorts of interesting objects-- fire ants, a kitchen cleaver with a fair amount of rust on it and the Chinese water torture amongst her thoughts. Houjou was a sweet guy, but sometimes he just wasn't all there. As she found her class schedule Houjou said, "I'm in 1-B, Akihito!"
Kagome deflated when she saw the name of her homeroom teacher.
Akihito.
What did Life have against her?
~*~
"It sucks that we got split up," Ayumi said, "But we got the same class as HOUJOU-KUN! The smartest, most talented, most amazing guy in ALL. OF. SCHOOL~~!" She squealed and Kagome forced a smile, following the class door numbers with her eyes. She was looking for the class she, Houjou and Ayumi had been divided into, 1-B. Eri and Yuka were in 1-C.
She wasn't particularly happy she was stuck with the Birdbrain from Hell; while she had never intended to be rude to him --not that the thought hadn't crossed her mind-- his lack of intuition when it came to her was enough to make her snap at his overconfidence and tenacity. That and the fact that she was still very much in love with a dead man. She was afraid of what she might say, to Houjou or to anyone else.
Kagome walked into the assigned room and looked upon the view blandly. It was almost already full, kids sitting on desks and crowding around each other, noisy incessant chatter filling the air. You could almost see the social classes they had been unintentionally divided into. You could see the jocks and the preps, the outcasts and the nerds. In junior high all you saw was kids all wearing the same thing; now, clothes divided them.
Kagome chose a seat in the middle of the row, near the window. Ayumi picked a seat a little further ahead of her, and Houjou took the seat in front of Kagome. The teacher, a small, older man, walked in and settled down the class with a single holler, and then began to take attendance.
Now that it had settled down a bit, Kagome buzzed through it, raising her hand when she heard the man's very clipped voice call her last name out. The excitement had disappeared, and fragments of thoughts were now running around, hardly forming complete sentences. Just realizing that she was here, in Tokyo, in the 4th district high school, reminded her of her painful adventure to the past.
She didn't have Inuyasha.
No, she didn't have him. If she did, she wouldn't be in school. She wouldn't be in the 20th century. She had decided to stay with him. To forget school and forget this rushed, monotonous routine of a life and stay safe by his side, where things were always as wild and crazy as he was. To be able to stay curled against his warm chest, where she was safe.
Even in a world where demons lurked everywhere and the danger was probably 100 times higher than in Tokyo, she had Inuyasha, and he would always protect her.
When had she decided it? She couldn't remember. Had it been just before they battled Naraku? Or even before that?
Yes, it had been before that. Just after another fight. About Kikyou, always Kikyou. Nothing new, except that, as much as she loved him, Kagome decided to leave... She couldn't bear it anymore... He understood the moment she'd handed the Shikon shards to him...
~*~
Kagome tugged on her arm, trying to free herself of the impatient hanyou attached to the other end and struggling to fight tears at the same time. She would not let him see her cry. "Let go of me Inuyasha!!"
He shook his head. "You're NOT going back until you answer my question! Why did you give these to me?! If you don't take these with you, you can't come back!"
Kagome shook her head, preparing a good sit. "Let go of me, you stupid jerk! Maybe I don't WANT to come back!" His grip loosened instantly and Kagome yanked free of him when it did, half-running a few steps forward, and stopping. She sniffled, forcing down the feelings. Don't cry don't cry don't cry...
"You.. want to leave?" He sounded so hurt. So betrayed. How dare he sound that way. "Why would you... want... to leave me?"
Please don't sound that way... Kagome reached for her first excuse, as lame as it now sounded. After all, she had just told him she wasn't coming back anyway. "I have school! After we beat Naraku and gather the rest of the Jewel, I have to still have a life there! I need to be able to go back!! I already told you that I don't have a future there unless I study!"
"Who cares? You don't need one there, you have one here." Frustrated, Kagome cursed under her breath his obstinacy, straightening the straps of her backpack. "But see, that's the problem! I DON'T have a future here! I can't stay here forever, Inuyasha~ This isn't where I'm supposed to be!"
The tears were close, please, just let him let her go, please. Let him understand.
Once more she felt his hands on her arms and he spun her to face him, his face crinkled in pain. "You're supposed to be wherever I am because your place is with ME!"
Her struggles stopped and she stared up at him, eye full of surprise and wonder. His eyes were intense, focused on her face, and for the first time she saw nothing else in him, only his desire to be with her. He didn't want the Shikon no Tama, he didn't want to be a real youkai, he didn't want Kikyou.
He just wanted ...Kagome.
She swallowed. "Wh... what?" He shook his head. "You can't go, I don't want you to! If you leave me, I'll have to beat Naraku all by myself. And what am I supposed to do after that?! I'll be alone again!"
"You won't be alone, you'll... you'll have her..." she mumbled stupidly, not understanding why he was doing this.
"Kagome you're so stupid...!" His response simply angered her. She struggled against him again, but he held firm, closing the distance between them swiftly and embracing her. Kagome caught her breath.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, and Inuyasha swallowed. After a moment he breathed against her ear, "Kikyou doesn't make me feel the way you make me. Don't leave me alone. I need you."
At the declaration, Kagome drew up against him, the tears breaking through, and she finally relaxed, burying her face in his shoulder and weeping.
I hate this about myself. Why do I let this jerk walk over me? Why do I let him get away with trampling on me... making me cry... tearing me apart...
Because I want to see him again. Because I need to hear his voice and see his smile and look in his eyes just one more time. Because I never know when it will be the last day, the last fight, and my last chance to see--
"Inuyasha......"
"Yeah?"
"..........I'll stay..."
~*~
"Higurashi. Tsk tsk. Sleeping on the first day?"
Kagome snapped awake with a yelp and looked up at the teacher. Akihito looked very bored with her behavior and the other kids were sniggering a bit. On the spot she babbled out an excuse. "Ah, I'm sorry sir!! I must still be a bit weak from my sickness."
"Sickness?" the teacher repeated and Kagome nodded. "I missed a good deal of my ninth grade year sir, because of a freak epidemic at my home. I was sick 95% of the year, including the last three months." Mentally, Kagome rolled her eyes. *I'm getting as bad as Jiichan.*
"I see," he replied, buying every bit of it, "If you feel weak again, I'll have one of the other students take you down to the infirmary." Kagome nodded. As he headed back he glanced at his wristwatch. "Hn. That new student, Yashagawa... he's late."
Even as Akihito said this, Kagome heard the door slide open. As a natural reaction she turned her head toward the sound, and as the door slid aside she gasped at the figure of the young man who stood there.
He was tall, about 5'11 or so, his long black hair braided down his back, and coal-black eyes searching the room. He was wearing a pair of beat-up jeans, the right knee sporting a hole in them, and a pair of sneakers long overworn. The loose fit shirt he wore which showed off his moderately ripped torso and arms was the only thing even relatively brand-new, and even it was a few months old.
This registered, but only in the back of her mind. She was staring at his face. The features which she knew inch by inch, the deepness of his oddly cat-slitted eyes, and the width of his smile, even though he wasn't presently smiling.
She had a picture of this boy at her home. It was her favorite.
Her hand went up to her mouth, and she might've squeaked, she wasn't sure. Her mouth formed the name, "Inuyasha" but all she heard was a breath of air. Her hands trembled as she lowered them to the desk, clenching them.
He was panting, as if he had run from the front of the school to this classroom. The girls oohed over his form and his youthful face as he wandered in, looking a bit like a lost puppy. The teacher snorted. "Yashagawa! Class began nearly twenty minutes ago! You are late!"
"Sorry sensei, I missed the bus," he replied smoothly, standing at the teacher's side and looming over the tiny man, who was at least a foot and a half shorter than him. Regardless of his height, the teacher attempted to be intimidating and he mumbled some sort of nonsense at him, a reprimand of some sort but much like Kaede calling Inuyasha on something, the new kid was glaring off into space, not really paying any attention.
Kagome couldn't take her eyes off him. His body movements, his form of speech, even his voice, was all like Inuyasha. Even if he seemed a bit more blockheaded than Inuyasha was. Had been.
"Take that seat next to Higurashi, Yashagawa, and don't cause any more trouble." The kid nodded once or twice before heading down the aisle, sliding past Kagome, and he slouched into the seat with a thud.
Kagome just stared at him. *What... what does it mean...??*
And then it hit her.
Kikyou had died once. She was reborn as Higurashi Kagome.
Inuyasha had died. Was it possible he had reborn as this hulking teenager next to her? Could demons even be reborn?
He looked up then, and his eyes caught hers for a moment. His eyes were unique: long slits, dark brown with specks of yellow-gold. And for the one moment they gazed at each other, his blockheaded anti-hero facade dropped, and she saw Inuyasha in him. The defenseless, mistreated and sweet hanyou soul that inevitably she realized Inuyasha had.
Her eyes teared up. He came back to me. He found me, and came to me.
~*~
As "liberated" as high school was, it was also infinitely more studious. There was history, literature, biology, English, grammar, algebra, civics, economics, Japanese*, and every single one of the corresponding books was at least five pounds. And every single one of the one-thousand seven hundred thirty-two students who enrolled HAD one of each of these, ranking up around 45 pounds per student.
With homework in nearly every subject and only seven minutes to get out to the bus so she could make it home, Kagome was understandably having some trouble. With every other kid doing the same thing, it made her wonder again how people actually GRADUATED.
In the midst of the afterschool rush, Kagome spun around the corner, down the stairs, and before she knew it, her foot had slipped out from under her on the slick metal stairs. She managed to avoid falling on her ass for the second time in the day, but she DID drop four of her books.
SLAM! SLAM SLAM SLAM!!!
The resounding thuds echoed in the stairwell, and Kagome blushed, feeling the stabbing gawps of the other students' eyes. Some of them were looking at her like she was a clumsy moron, some were laughing. Some were shooting pitying expressions her way and she wondered what she had done that warranted being pitied. But not a single one bent to help her, and Kagome cursed under her breath, bent to pick them up--
--and clonked painfully into the skull of another student.
"Ow~~~!!" she cried, falling back and clutching at her forehead, certain a lump was already visible. "What is your head MADE of?!"
"Shit! I could say the same about you! You have bricks in there instead of brains, or what?!"
Kagome stopped, perking a bit, and lifted her eyes to meet the deep brown orbs of the new student, Yashagawa whatever-his-first-name-was. He locked glares with her, looking irked, rubbing his own head, his ebony hair falling in shocks over his face. Kagome stared slightly. He was cute. Really cute. REALLY cute, like Inuyasha was cute on the first night. Insecure and dark.
She couldn't help it. She blushed.
Yashagawa snorted as he stood up, straightening his shirt. "Oh jeez, you're a typical female as well. You gonna gush now, you stupid girl?"
Almost instantaneously she went from admiring to angry. She jumped up as well, trying to lean into his face. No good; he was too tall, like Inuyasha. She settled for poking her forefinger hard into his chest with every syllable. "Well you moron why don't you mind your own business next time!! I didn't ASK for your help!!!"
Yashagawa laughed aloud. "This what I get for being nice!! Figures." He picked up his own backpack and stomped down the stairs, stopping at the base to throw one last insult her way. "Stupid girl!! You should accept people's help when they offer it!"
"Moron! You should mind your own business!" She screeched back, not at all surprised when the other teenager snorted and stalked away, his nose in the air. Kagome fumed, kneeling to pick up her books. "Stupid!"
Almost as if they were cued, Ayumi, Eri and Yuka appeared from the head of the stairs. Ayumi bent down to help, and Eri blinked. "Anou, who was that?"
"That was Yashagawa-kun!! Sutekki yo ne?" Ayumi gushed, "He's SO cute!"
Yuka smiled. "He WAS nice to look at."
"He's a moron!" Kagome replied, "An insensitive, stupid, selfish jerk!"
"You talk like you know him," Eri observed and Kagome caught herself then. *I..I was...! It was like I was around Inuyasha again.* She bit her lip. *I wonder if.. if it's possible?*
*Could he be Inuyasha, reborn?*
~*~ To be continued ~*~
a/n :: Yaya~ I set everything up! Dunno how, but I did!
Btw the * after Japanese was because of this (I'm not sure if many people know) I KNOW they're in Japan, so they're obviously not studying how to speak their own native language. What I mean is the study of the 4000+ kanji characters the Japanese use, which they study pretty much from the moment they enter school. Just to clear that up.
PLEASE review!! I crave reviews!! Im a reviewnut, yes? ^-^V Okie, ja~!
~*~ V^-^V ~*~
~Tessen