The Shimotos Boarding School

Disclaimer: As much as I hate to admit it, I only own the story line... Inu-Yasha and his almighty sexiness doesn't belong to me. I'm merely a rabid fangirl.

Chapter Eleven: Cloud Watching

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Rin stared at Kagome and felt worry grow within her.

Kagome was sitting on the grass looking like she hadn't slept in day. Large bags were under her eyes and her hair wasn't giving its usual radiance shine. Though the day was warmer than usual, Kagome sported a long sleeve black shirt with her usual Tripp plaid mini-skirt.

She was staring off to space with cold, distant eyes.

Not able to rid herself of the knot in her throat, Rin looked away and diverted her attention to the boys. They were all playing basketball in the courts next to the lunch grounds. Kikyo, Sango, Kagome, and Rin were sitting on the grass under an old tree. Sango and Kikyo were both eating small lunches, but Rin had not felt hungry and for some reason Kagome wasn't eating either.

Back on the basketball courts, Miroku, Sesshoumaru, and Inuyasha were playing against some local punks. One's name was Kouga who was in the boarding school for stealing cars. He had had a crush on Kagome since he first met her, and used his 'manliness' to get at her. Sort of. Getting at her meant belittling Inuyasha at every possible chance.

Kouga's friends, Jaken and Yuki were all standing there, each wearing white shirts and blue jeans. Sango had joked that they were probably trying to turn black or at least be like Eminem. Kagome had a pretty bad name for people like them. Wiggers. White Niggers. She never said it out loud though, cause she knew if any African's came around she'd feel really shitty.

Rin sighed as she watched Sesshoumaru take his shirt off. She felt her cheeks grow hotter and saw Kagome's attention had come to her. Kagome gave the small smirk that she was known for.

"Is it too hot out, Rin-Chan? You're cheeks are burning!" She taunted in a friendly way. Sango giggled and soon joined in, making all of them laugh. Kikyo seemed to enjoy the conversation as well, because she put in some neutral comments.

"C'mon Rin! Go ask him for a make-out session! We all know he will do it!" Sango called. Kagome smiled a little brighter. Though she felt her smile was fake, she was grateful for the distraction that was given.

All through the day and night Kagome had been getting nightmares. She had barely even slept and when she was laying on her bed, awake, she would just cut herself and OD on painkillers. She had also stopped eating.

Her smile turned a little as she felt the irony inside. She had used painkillers to get rid of her mental pain, not physical. Sighing, she turned her attention over to the boys. They were running around and every so often Kouga would turn to her and wink, so Inuyasha would have to punch him.

She watched Inuyasha quietly for a while.

He was really sexy... Kagome had noticed how modest he was about it too. Most guys, if they were hot enough, flounced it off and made themselves really stuck up. But Inuyasha, he was a down-to-earth kind of guy. She felt herself warm up inside a little and felt a heat rise in her own cheeks when he removed his shirt.

His chest was perfectly toned, and didn't have any of that nasty hair. His muscles, though sweaty, were at their peaks and Kagome felt herself wished that he would just wrap his arms around her with those arms, and hold her till everything got better. She watched as he carelessly pushed his longer hair out of his face and put it in a hair-band.

Her little fantasy was quickly interrupted by the sounds of Rin laughing. Getting out of her reverie, she saw Rin, Sango, and Kikyo were laughing at her.

"You're blushin' Kag!" Sango called her face red from laughing.

Kagome gave them a mock glare but smiled nonetheless. "You people are so cold!" She shouted.

"Aw shucks, Kagome. We're hurt!" Kikyo said in her light-toned voice. Kagome gave a true smile. Even after Kikyo had gone through all that shit with Naraku, she was still able to smile and have a good time.

Kagome actually envied Kikyo.

Kikyo seemed to be able to forgive and forget a lot better than Kagome could. The bruises on her face, arms, and pride were still very evident, and the cut along her flesh still stung to the touch, but the evil had ended for Kikyo in many ways. Naraku was still at large and probably plotting ways to get back at them, but Kikyo could still smile.

Kagome's felt her face lose the smile and turn emotionless once more. She knew in her heart that she would never be able to forget. Though the actions with Akira had long since passed, the raw pain was still fresh in her mind.

Rin stopped laughing and looked worried again. Kagome was glad that no pity was held in her eyes though- Pity was the last thing Kagome wanted from anybody.

"You OK, Kag?" She asked.

"I think I'm developing a crush on Inuyasha." Kagome told them truthfully. She looked at them for their reactions. Sango was just smiling like she had known that for forever, Rin was giggling like a child, and Kikyo looked just plain confused.

"I thought you and Inuyasha were dating though..." Kikyo told her making both Sango and Kagome laugh.

"We told you that to get YOU off of Inuyasha's case!" Sango told her, but it was a friendly comment. Kikyo didn't seem to mind. She just got a 'oh' expression on her face and gave an award winning grin.

The rest smiled back.

Kagome felt her smile fade after a half-hour. The girls were talking about the recent gossip. Supposedly their math teacher was having an affair with their chemistry teacher. Something lame like that. Kagome felt herself rethinking, for the hundredth time in three days perhaps, the actions that happened on the night of Nona's party.

Putting her arms around her legs she went back to watching Inuyasha.

"Miss Higurashi!!" A voice suddenly called out though, and Kagome looked up to see Ms. Kidioshi walking towards her. She was wearing the same blue suite with librarian shoes and brown hair pulled up. She had a letter in her right hand.

"What up?" Kagome asked, trying to sound 'cool.' Both Rin and Sango laughed. Kikyo just tilted her head and rolled her eyes.

"Besides the fact that you have been skipping classes all day, I received a letter today that was addressed to you." Ms. Kidioshi told her in her 'I'm-a-stern-person' voice. Kagome sighed.

"Letter? That's always good. Who did I murder this time?"

"How amusing you are." Ms. Kidioshi told her in a bone dry tone. Kagome raised an eyebrow.

"Damn funny, actually."

"Language, Miss Higurashi. Language."

"Yah, Yah. Lemme see the letter."

Ms. Kidioshi gave her a stern look but handed her the letter. She gave her a look that told her she better stay out of trouble, then turned around and walked back in the building. Both Rin and Sango were already on top of Kagome by the time she got in the building, trying to grab the letter.

"Get off of me!!" Kagome cried, holding the letter out of their reach.

"C'mon girls. It's Kagome's privacy." Kikyo told them in her calm, reasoning voice. Kagome smiled gratefully at her as both Sango and Rin sighed, pulling their limbs from Kagome's and sitting back away from her.

"Sorry Kikyo." They both said in unison.

Kagome smiled and looked down at the envelope. It was just a white one and had her name on the front in black ink. She sighed and turned it around. Taking her fingernail, she ripped it open and looked at the letter. It was a single piece of paper.

"Kagome-" She read aloud,

"I hope you are not making a complete ass out of yourself at that boarding school. I know you are probably causing more trouble than ever, but that's what you do, ne?


Anyway, I have some very sad news for you, and I hope your sitting down when you read this. Do you remember Miyuki? That girl who was dating Akira-baba right before you cut of Hojo's finger and got sent their? She committed suicide last week. When the did the autopsy it showed she had bruises all over her body, cuts everywhere, and was addicted to every drug you can think off.

I went to the funeral yesterday, and Akira himself was there.


He actually looked happy about her death that fuck-head. I know that you were really worried about Miyuki and all, so I decided to write you about it. Please take care of yourself, and write me bitch! Just cause you made all those friends out in juvy, don't mean your best friend back home isn't important!

Always with Love, Shippo (XOXO Biyatch)"

Kagome's voice trailed away and she felt herself go numb. She was glad Shippo told her to sit down because it she had been standing, she would sure as hell collapsed. She almost started shaking and felt like crying. And she never cried.

"Who are those people?" She heard Sango say. Kagome almost didn't answer her, but decided to clue them in to her past a little bit.

"Akira was my boyfriend for a while." She whispered, her voice sounding very shaky. "He's the one who beat me just like Naraku beat Kikyo. He's the one who raped me, and tore my soul apart. He's the one that always haunting my sleep, and always telling me I'll never be good enough."

Her friends all went very ridged.

Kikyo's eyes grew dark again and both Sango and Rin had turned a pale shade. The sound of the oblivious boys screaming and the pounding of a basketball on blacktop was the only thing that was around them. An awkward silence filled the air.

Rin was trying her best to not think about it, well Sango was trying to imagine what something like that would have been like. Kikyo on the other hand was staring at Kagome.

Flashes of how she had saved her and the fear that had been in her eyes made her feel the urge to get up and hug Kagome with all her might. Knowing that pity was the last thing she needed was the thing that prevented her from doing that.

Kikyo had noticed a long time before that Kagome looked damn tired and uncomfortable. She figured that Kagome either wanted to hide her bruises or had harmed herself in some way because of the long sleeve shirt. She opted for the second option because she wore a skirt and they showed the many cuts that the rosebush had given her.

Looking away, she opted to stare at her hands.

"I don't know what its like to have something like that happen to me..." Rin whispered not crying, surprisingly enough. "But, Kagome, we want to you to know that we will always be by your side. No matter what."

"Hai." Kikyo told her, "Mamotte Ageru no Haji. I will protect you in any way that I can." Walking over, she grabbed Kagome's hand. Rin followed the suit and put her arms around Kagome's shoulders, and lastly Sango grabbed Kagome's other hand.

Looking up at the clear blue sky Kagome felt a bunch of emotions. She felt so much pain, but with that pain she felt the reassurance that she wasn't alone anymore. Things weren't like they used to be. She now had people who actually cared about her and would give a shit if she died.

With an empty smile, a tear rolled down her cheek and she sat with her friends and watched the clouds roll by.

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Next Chapter: Scars Don't Disappear