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Just A Little Bit
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PiiPii, PiiPii, PiiPii
Grumbling, Kagome opened one eye sleepily. What was that noi--oh... alarm clock. Eyes drifting closed again, she groped around for said object. Finally, after knocking off a few unknown items from her bedside table, her fingers curled around the chirping item. Pulling it close to her, Kagome's unfocused blue eyes attempted to read what time it was.
"OH MY GOOOOD!" She shot up in bed, both hands clutching the alarm clock in horror. "I OVERSLEPT!" Superman leaping from her bed, blankets and pillow flying haphazardly as she went, Kagome hastily grabbed a clean uniform and other necessities before bolting into the bathroom and hurriedly taking a shower.
Roughly 15 minutes later the miko emerged from the steam-filled bathroom with clean, dried hair, brushed teeth, washed face, and clad in her usual school attire. She partially jogged down the stairs and grabbed an apple from the fruit basket.
"Sorry Mama!" she cried hastily over her shoulder, quickly putting on her shoes and checking herself once in a mirror. "I'm late! I love you!" Snatching up her bookbag she tore out of the door, nearly forgetting to close it behind her, shouting a quick "Goodbye!" as she went.
Her mother shook her head and continued washing the breakfast dishes. "That girl is something else."
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"Kagome-chan!"
Kagome, spotting her friends waving at her, slowed to a brisk walk from her previous Mad Sprint From Home (c) herself.
Said girls rushed over to their often absent friend and instantly began chattering away.
"Where have you been!"
"We thought you died!"
"Did you recover from that toenail infection already?"
"TOENAIL INFECTION!" Kagome cried, shocked.
"That's what your grandpa said you had," Yuka replied, frowning.
"Oh... oh... um..." Kagome had to think fast. "It was a false alarm... they made a mistake, but kept me for observation, anyway."
"Oh," her friends chorused, thoughtful looks on their faces.
"Ah!" Ayumi cried, pointing excitedly, "There's Hane-san!"
"Hane-san?" Kagome repeated quizzically. "Who's that?"
"He's a new transfer student," Eri replied officially. "His full name is Kaijin Hane. He's one year ahead of us, 16, and all the girls are going crazy over him."
"Oh," Kagome replied quietly, looking at the boy. Had she really been gone that long?
"Hane-san!" Ayumi cried, waving him over.
"What are you DOING, Ayumi!" Yuka hissed, slapping her hand down. "Have you totally gone off your rocker!"
"Well I nev-- Hi, Hane-san," Ayumi's voice changed from offended to cavity-inducing sweet in a matter of milliseconds. "I don't believe you've met Higurashi Kagome...?"
Kagome felt her face heat slightly. Why was she acting like this! She didn't even know the boy!
Kaijin smiled warmly and took her hand, turning it palm up and kissing her wrist with a small bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Higurashi-san." His sparkling green eyes studied her, and Kagome was sure she saw flecks of blue in their depths.
"Ah... um..." Kagome's face flushed a little more, and she returned the bow carefully. "You can call me Kagome, Higurashi-san sounds so... formal." Once she uprighted herself, she realized that Kaijin was a good 4-5 inches taller than her. Impressive.
Kaijin smiled, his eyes never leaving hers. "Alright then. In that case, you can call me Kaijin-kun."
Kagome averted her eyes, shuffling her feet slightly. "O-Okay Kaijin-kun."
The bell rang, signaling the students to go to their classes.
"Well, that sound means I'm off," Kaijin sighed, but cast one last smile at Kagome. "See you later, Kagome-san." With that, he left the girls.
Silence.
"Oh my God, Kagome!"
"I can't believe that!"
"You two have such a connection!"
Kagome could only stare after his retreating back, a strange feeling settling itself in her abdomen.
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"Lunch time, finally!" Kagome sighed heavily, stomach growling. "That apple didn't hold me over as long as I had hoped."
"That test in math was murder!" Yuka whined, lower lip trembling pitifully. "I know I flunked it."
"I think I may've gotten a C..." Eri mused quietly.
"I thought it was easy!" Ayumi beamed, humming. She was oblivious to her friends' disgusted looks.
"Oh no," Kagome paled, fingers searching her skirt pockets. "Oh no, oh no!"
"What's wrong?" Yuka asked, casting a confused glance at her friend.
"I can't find my lunch money! I must've left it at home when I ran out, I overslept..." she groaned, envisioning a large black cloud raining above her head.
"Oh no, Kagome-chan," Ayumi murmured. "That's not good!"
"I'll see you guys later, I gotta get started on my homework." Kagome grimaced at the thought, but waved as her friends went off to get in line. She slowly made her way under a tree and flopped down, stomach giving off a growl in complaint. "Oh, shut up," she muttered. After a moment of looking up into the branches she took out of math book and proceeded to attempt to do her math homework.
Concentration was hard, considering her conscience decided to kick in and scold her for overreacting on Inuyasha. She always got very touchy when it became that "time of month", and he had just pushed the wrong buttons. Kagome sighed, guilt clouding her ability to focus on her homework.
"I shouldn't have yelled at him," she said aloud, closing her eyes and resting her chin in her palm.
"Yelled at who?"
Kagome jumped, startled by the sudden voice. She glanced around her, then finally looked up to see Kaijin smiling down at her.
"Wh-What?"
"Who did you yell at?"
"Oh... um... a friend of mine." And nothing more, she noted grimly.
"What did he do, if you don't mind my asking...?"
"Oh," Kagome averted her eyes and shifted a bit, "I kinda... overreacted on him... he's very protective of me and gets very jealous whenever someone shows any interest in me, even though he doesn't like me. Sometimes I think he does, but he's still hung up over his ex-girlfriend." Kagome's eyes became unfocused as she thought about the undead priestess, Kikyou.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts, in fact, that she didn't register the feeling of someone sitting down next to her. She was shaken out of her thoughts by a tuna sushi being prodded into her mouth. Bewilderedly, she turned and stared at Kaijin... or rather, his profile since he wasn't looking at her. Instead he was chewing thoughtfully on part of his lunch that was layed out infront of him. Remembering that she had food in her mouth, Kagome chewed and swallowed, then opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Kaijin.
"You know, it's not wise to skip lunch." He didn't look at her.
Kagome licked her lips absentmindedly. "I didn't mean to... I forgot my money at home." She went quiet for a moment. "Thank you for--" Another sushi had made its way into her mouth, and this time she had enough decency to blush as she looked into Kaijin's eyes, chopsticks resting against her lower lip.
"Eat." He nudged his lunchbox closer to her and handed her a chopstick.
Kagome swallowed the sushi and studied Kaijin for a moment before breaking into a smile. "Thank you," she said gratefully, accepting the chopstick and stabbing at another piece of food. She popped it into her mouth and chewed happily.
"No, thank YOU for sharing lunch with me." Kaijin grinned at the confused look on Kagome's face as she paused mid-chew to glance at him, eyebrow raised. "My mom always packs way too much for just me to eat," he explained.
Kagome swallowed and nodded. "I see. She just doesn't want you to go hungry or anything. I think it's sweet."
He smiled. "Yeah, she's something else." He scooted a bit closer to Kagome, and neither of them seemed to mind that their shoulders were touching as they shared his lunch.
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Kagome smiled to herself as she walked home. Kaijin was very nice to share his lunch with her, and not only that, but he explained her math homework to her, too! Now she had no homework, and the promise that tomorrow he would help her in her other subjects during lunch.
"I want to pay him back for his kindness," Kagome mused aloud, "but what can I do?" After a moment of thought, it came to her. Grinning, she climbed the shrine steps and walked into the kitchen.
"Mama! Can you help me with something?"
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review?