Okay, the last post was really short, and I forgot that it was that short, so to make up for it I'm posting this too along with it. (Okay, so it took about three days… shut up!) It's actually a pretty long chapter… but a lot needed to happen. Not that much happens… Except for you get to meet a new character. Go new character! It's sorta Ravyn's character though, not mine… but wait, I just remembered you get to meet another character… which was mine… Though he reminds me so much of Sirius (a character in Harry Potter) that I have to worry. Actually, he's worse than Sirius, even worse than Miroku!
Now hopefully you understand how worried I am.
NOTE: Tora means tiger in Japanese. And I'm mentioning this because it's actually somewhat important to the fan fic (well, not the fact that tora means tiger, but the word tora). I mean, I know sometimes I'm random, but not that random!
DISCLAIMERHmm… if you haven't seen any of this on the TV show or manga chances are we own it! Wow, that was so freakin' hard to figure out! Aren't you so glad I explained that difficult-to-figure-out-information to you? Oh, and if anything like anime or something was mentioned you should know that we don't own that either! Now read the fan fic!
Chapter Twenty: The Fragrance of That Orange Flower
The village was small and Yoshiko wasn't sure if she had ever seen it before. But it was in such a close proximity to her old village and the Earth Shrine it wouldn't make sense not to have been there before… She shrugged it off and followed Sango down the hill toward it. As they were walking down the road toward the inn this young women with wavy black hair walked up to Yoshiko. She seemed timid and shy, not looking at her but down at her feet. For a while she just stood there without saying anything. Just when Yoshiko was about to leave she looked up.
"Your name wouldn't be, by chance, Yoshiko…" muttered the girl.
"Uh…" said Yoshiko, completely bewildered. "I think so…"
"How would you know her name?" asked Sango kindly.
At this moment the girl's cheeks went pink and she put her hands on them to try and cover them. Her eyes became glassy as she remembered something that happened long ago. She sighed before saying anything.
"A young healer by the name of Godric told me about this sister who was a tiger demon and I thought when I saw you that maybe you were this sister," said the girl airily.
"You're kidding, right?" said Yoshiko monotonously.
Suddenly the girl's eyes became serious and her face angry. She put her hands on her hips and leaned in toward Yoshiko.
"Why would I kid about something like this?" she snapped.
"What's your name?" asked Yoshiko, avoiding the question.
"Utako…" muttered the girl.
"Well Utako, Godric isn't your type," said Yoshiko, turning away and walking toward the inn.
"Wh—what? Hey! Wait up!" cried Utako.
"Go home!" called Yoshiko over her shoulder.
"But… but… I don't have a home!" shouted Utako, having trouble keeping up with Yoshiko since she was a pretty poor runner. "Not since Godric died anyways…"
Sighing, Yoshiko stopped and turned around. Utako had to stop suddenly and almost fell over. But Yoshiko was kind enough to grab her arm to steady her.
"Godric has been dead for an entire year. Don't tell me you've been homeless for that long!" said Yoshiko.
"Well… um…" stammered Utako. "I've been looking for you for this last year…"
"That's a good waste of time," said Yoshiko. "One, I'm half demon so you would have a hard time tracking me down. Two, I didn't want to be found. And finally what would be the point of finding me?"
"I would have a home again?" shrugged Utako. "I don't know, I just heard so much about you from Godric I guess I just wanted to meet you…"
"I think that's fair enough," said Sango. "Now I'm starting to get hungry, so can we move this inside?"
Yoshiko shrugged and started walking inside the Inn. Upon entering Utako ran passed her eagerly and started reserving and paying for their room. Without complaining Sango followed Utako to their room, but Yoshiko staid in the doorway of the Inn shaking her head. This girl was trying way too hard to impress her! Only Godric would have been patient enough to deal with her. And yet he wouldn't have even dealt with her if there hadn't been a good reason. Also he would have had to really trust Utako to tell her anything about Yoshiko. But the last thought encouraged Yoshiko to give the girl a chance.
Hanging out at Tamika and Keitaro's house for the weekend had been fun and all but Sueko couldn't live there. She'd have to go home sometime… besides, she had left most of her clean clothes and her uniform there and come Monday she'd have nothing to wear to school.
So after "borrowing" Keitaro's Rurouni Kenshin DVD's (She'd give them back! The bummer about being in Feudal Japan was that Sueko missed out on TV…) and saying good-bye to Tamika a million times Sueko headed home, only to be licked to death by her cat and hugged to death by her mom.
"I didn't know you were coming home!" cried her mom cheerfully. "If I did I'd clean the house more…"
"Mom, you clean too much," said Sueko, running upstairs to drop her book bag in her room. Upon entering it she realized that all the furniture had been rearranged…
"It bugged me that it was so empty so I, um… redecorated a bit," said her mom behind her when Sueko hesitated at the door.
"Oh. That's okay… now I can call it my room, and not Kagome's," said Sueko, dropping the book bag at the foot of her bed and sitting down on it. Seeing her mother's reprimand look Sueko added, "Oh, you know what I mean, mom! I'm not speaking ill of the dead or anything… it's just more me, that's all."
"That's okay… Dinner will be ready in an hour, okay?" said her mom.
"Okay," answered Sueko back as her mom closed the door and went back downstairs. Being alone, the small conversation she had just had with her mother echoed through her head…
"Oh. That's okay… now I can call it my room, and not Kagome's."
'Kagome… it's her fault I'm back in my time and not with the others…' Sueko thought bitterly to herself. 'Or maybe it wasn't quite Kagome… maybe it was the same demon that tried to impersonate Sesshomaru and Yoshiko…'
Looking around the room, Sueko noticed that her desk was right up against the window, just the way she liked it. It was always nice to be able to look up from whatever you were working on, whether it was homework or drawing, on her desk and see the beautiful scenery outside. Well, the scenery wasn't always pleasant, but just outside her window was this really big, pretty tree and the shrine…
The shrine… with the desk right against the window like that it'd be pretty difficult for InuYasha to come through via the window.
'Like he'd ever want to do that,' thought Sueko moodily, turning away from the window.
Sueko sighed. She couldn't help thinking that she would sort of like him to show up right now at her window… but would she truly appreciate it when it happened or would she just make him go away?
'Why should I? He choose Kagome over me! And I'm actually alive!'
'Yeah, but does he even like you in that way? And does he even know you like him in that way?' another part of Sueko asked.
'Haven't I been through this already? He—doesn't—like—me!' Sueko thought, growing frustrated with herself.
Sighing, Sueko got up from her bed and started digging around in her book bag. 'If anything's going to get my mind of InuYasha it's going to be Kenshin with his shirt off! Okay, what episode was that in…'
It seemed so hard to get to sleep that night. In fact Yoshiko doubted that she ever even closed her eyes. She just sat there, unaware of her surrounding and unconsciously watching Utako. The girl was a live wire, running around the room cleaning this here, moving this to look better and never stopping to breathe. Finally Sango was able to get her to sit still long enough that exhaustion took over the girl and she fell asleep. Not too long after that Sango went to sleep herself, leaving Yoshiko alone with her thoughts. And as it had been until recently her thoughts wandered to her brother.
"Hey sis," said Godric, straightening up and turning toward Yoshiko.
When she had been younger she had kept her hair at a shorter length to keep it out of her eyes. Back then it was said her eyes sparkled like emeralds and were wide, untouched by any hurt. Though Godric was only six years old he still looked and acted older than his ten-year-old sister. His hair was short and a dark brown and his eyes a nice gray that he had gotten from their father.
When he walked over to Yoshiko, he held out a small orange flower that looked out of place. Gingerly the half tiger demon took it and smiled at her brother. When she kept it Godric smiled, turned around and started running off. Yoshiko shook her head at her brother's strange antics but followed after him. As they got closer to the village she started to notice that they weren't alone.
Suddenly, out in front, Godric tripped and cried out in surprise. Yoshiko hurried forward and found her little brother sitting holding his scraped knee. She started to kneel down to look at it but Godric shook his head. He was obviously close to tears and didn't want his sister to know this. But she wouldn't have had time to help him anyways because suddenly some of the villagers started throwing rocks. Most of them were aimed at Yoshiko but villager boys were never good aims and some hit Godric as well.
"Let me guess, freak! You pushed him down!" cried one of the boys, most likely their leader since he was the smallest and had the richest father.
"She did not!" snapped Godric, getting to his feet and putting his arms over his head to protect it from rocks.
Yoshiko didn't waste her time with fighting or blocking the rocks. Instead she took Godric's hand and started on home. For a while the boys followed behind but when they figured out that it wasn't irritating her, they gave up. But Yoshiko didn't relent her fast pace or let go of her brother's hand. It was one of the few times where Godric was able to see her eyes hardened, how they would be for the other half of her life. Trying to comfort her, Godric hugged her arm the best he could. Subconsciously Yoshiko patted him on the head with her other hand.
When they had reached their house the sun was starting to set. Inside they both heard somebody collapse. Godric unattached himself from Yoshiko's arm and ran inside. Slowly Yoshiko followed, standing in the doorway watching as her little brother knelt down beside his fallen mother. She found it strange watching him as he shook and shook the woman, crying out her name over and over. Not only did it seem unrealistic for her brother to be so desperate she felt like she watching it from another's eyes. Finally her brother seemed to calm down and he stood up, wiping away a few stray tears.
"Go get a doctor!" he said to Yoshiko, who almost jumped in the doorway.
Yoshiko nodded slightly, turned around and started running back into the heart of the village. At the moment their father was off with Takeno and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Hopefully by then his wife would be back on her feet and they would have no need to worry him. In the meantime she needed to find the village healer. He wasn't really the best in the world and Yoshiko knew he was way too old. But if she so much as moved wrong in his presence someone would beat her. Maybe for once he would listen to her… and actually help someone. Just as she was about to give up hope she heard his voice coming from a nearby hut and burst in.
"Child!" said the old man, getting to his feet. "It's awfully rude of you to just come into someone's house!"
"I heard your voice… and…" panted Yoshiko.
Suddenly somebody hit her over the head with a club. She fell to the ground in surprise. Quickly she jerked up onto her knees to look at the shocked healer. Again somebody hit her with the club, and she could see them lift it up, ready to hit her again. When it came down, she grabbed the club and turned back to the old man. She could feel blood welling out of a bump on her head but had too many of them to really care.
"Please, help!" she croaked.
She felt the person try to wrench the club out of her grip. In retaliation she clenched tighter, breaking the club in half. Everybody gasped and she heard the man cry out in fear and fall backwards. She turned to him to make him see she was okay, but he whimpered and started crawling away backwards.
"Please, don't hurt me!" he cried, finding himself in a corner. Yoshiko blinked in confusion, but knew she didn't have time to waste on him.
"Godric's mother! She fell down and isn't getting up," gasped Yoshiko.
Without a word, the healer grabbed his stuff and strode out of the house. Though Yoshiko was not in good favor with the rest of the town, her father, stepmother and brother were well respected. She gingerly got to her feet and started after the old man. But suddenly an arm reached out and blocked her way. Turning her head slightly she recognized the man as the town leader. Though he didn't look old at this moment in time she knew that soon his years would catch up with him.
"My son says that you chased him down in the forest," he growled.
Yoshiko's mind went back to when the boys had thrown rocks at her and Godric. But if she said this to the leader he would deny it and tell her she was making up lies. So instead she quickly ducked under his arm and started running to a place where nobody but her father would be able to find her. She headed straight toward the Earth Shrine. Apparently in the past it use to have a shield that protected it from demons. Now she and her father protected it, leaving up a barrier when they were not anywhere near it.
Inside she sat in a corner and pulled her knees to her body. She thought that maybe if she sat there long enough she would disappear. Or maybe the village would completely disappear. Just leave her and her family all alone. Godric's mother would be all better and she wouldn't have to deal with rocks being thrown at her or people beating her just because her hair was orange. Just because a mother she never met was a demon.
"Tora?"
She didn't look up, but continued to keep her head on her knees. She wasn't crying, in fact she had given up crying a long time ago. It didn't give you anything or get you anywhere. What was the point of tears anyways? It wasn't like anybody cared anyways.
"Tora?"
Yoshiko could see somebody's feet through the gap in her knees and felt their shadow fall over her. She knew right away who it was but she wanted them to go away. Didn't they realize she didn't want to be found? This was all a game of hide 'n' seek and she wasn't to hide forever. They would have to seek forever. And she didn't really care if they gave up half way through the game.
"You know your brother needs you right now," said her father kindly.
"But I'm not wanted," muttered Yoshiko, looking away from any part of her father.
Slowly he sat down next to her. Not once did she wonder why he was back to soon. It was obvious. His wife was sick and they had called him in. Surely he could make it back in a couple of hours, especially if he hadn't been too far away. But still she didn't want him there. She didn't want to leave. All she wanted was for all of this to end. It would probably solve everybody's problems.
"You're wanted by your brother. Doesn't that count for anything?" asked her father, trying to sound like her was reprimanding her.
"What about the villagers? His mom? The healer?" said Yoshiko icily.
"But you shouldn't care what they think!" said her father. "They're not your family."
"No, but…" started Yoshiko, looking up.
"But nothing! You've been doing well in your situation. Now, we're only asking you one more thing. I'm only asking for one more thing. Just be there for your brother," said her father, putting his arm around her shoulders.
"Godric never asks for anything," said Yoshiko bitterly. "He just expects us to forget that he needs things."
"And you do the same, for the most part," said her father. "I have really great children! Now, come on! It can't be that bad."
"The village leader thinks I was pushing his son around…" muttered Yoshiko. "But I didn't! He was throwing rocks at Godric and me! Really!"
"I believe you," said her father, standing up and offering her his hand. "I'll take care of it. Don't worry."
Yoshiko took his hand and slowly got to her feet. She stopped to brush of some dust that had landed on her skirt.
'I've depended on my father to solve everything that I can't seem to do anything for myself anymore,' sighed Yoshiko, looking around the room hoping to see her father.
When she saw nothing she headed out of the shrine and down the hill toward Godric's grave. She tried not to remember that her old village wasn't too far away. But a part of her wanted to go back. See how much had changed. Maybe it wasn't even there anymore. Since it was so close to the Earth Shrine it was possible. And that was the reason for the small village she had never been to before.
But when she saw Utako standing over Godric's grave she forgot all about her village. Instead she stood there gazing upon the girl's solemn expressions. Suddenly the girl looked up grinning and any forgiving thoughts in Yoshiko's head quickly vanished. The girl ran forward and grabbed a hold of Yoshiko's arm, squeezing it tight in a hug, and then dragging her down to the tree.
"Did you leave the orange flower?" asked Utako.
"I left it there a long time ago," muttered Yoshiko, not looking at anything particular, unless you counted a slow moving cloud in the sky.
"I thought so!" said Utako, letting go of Yoshiko and bending down. When she straightened up, she handed the flower to Yoshiko. "Godric gave it to you so you could keep it! Not give it back!"
"But… but… but…" stammered Yoshiko, taking a step back.
"No buts! Just take it!" snapped Utako, shoving it into Yoshiko's hand.
As Yoshiko stood there, feeling numb, Sango came striding up the hill toward them. Utako sighed and waved a hand in front of the half-demon's eyes. In annoyance Yoshiko grabbed the girl's wrist and scowled at her. Sango bowed respectfully at the shrine then turned to the others. Utako was trying hard to pull out of Yoshiko's grip but the half-demon wasn't even trying. This caused Sango to giggle slightly as she pried open Yoshiko's hand and Utako feel over backwards.
"Where to now?" asked Sango.
"I don't know," shrugged Yoshiko. "I don't even remember why we're out here in the first place!"
"You didn't want to talk about Sesshomaru," said Sango.
"I know why we're in this very spot right now!" cried Yoshiko. Then she sighed. "But I don't know why we're not with the others…"
"InuYasha was depressed…" said Sango.
"I guess…" muttered Yoshiko. "But that just doesn't seem right."
"Well, when you figure it out you can tell me!" said Sango. "But in the mean time I'm sure we would all prefer not standing here all day."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," murmured Yoshiko, subconsciously putting the flower in her pocket.
Still on the ground she heard Utako mumble then slowly get to her feet. When she had, she locked arms with Yoshiko then continued to lock arms with Sango. Yoshiko moaned and hung her head as Sango smiled.
"So, where are we off to?" cried Utako.
"We?" said Yoshiko. "No you wait just one minute!" she said, pulling away. "You're not part of the 'we' and never will be! You belong in your village not chasing me around!"
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" asked Utako, eyes wide.
"Yes! Quite plainly, yes!" snapped Yoshiko.
"Now I don't think that's very fair!" said Sango.
"I think it's quite fair. If she wants to follow us around she's going to get hurt. Or worse, killed!" cried Yoshiko.
"Godric told me the same thing but I still followed him around…" muttered Utako, looking at the ground.
"Good for you. You happened to not get killed then. But you aren't always going to be that lucky!" shouted Yoshiko. "Trust me, its for your own good. If I could have my way Sueko wouldn't be traveling with us!"
"You can't protect every stray girl you run across just so they don't turn out like you!" cried Sango. "Stop avoiding your problems by trying to get involved with someone else's!"
"If you haven't noticed, I'm not getting involved in anybody's problems this time," hissed Yoshiko. "In fact, I don't want to be responsible for anybody's problems anymore!"
For a minute Yoshiko and Sango stood there, glaring at each other. Utako glanced from on angry face to another. Just when it seemed she was going to be able to smooth is all over, Yoshiko turned around suddenly. There stood a young boy who was shaking in fear. When the half tiger demon's eyes locked on to his, he cried out in fear. Suddenly a young man, who appeared to be the boy's father, rushed over with an arrowed ready in his bow.
"What in the seven hells…" he started. When he saw Yoshiko he smiled slightly. "Speak of the devil! It's been a while."
"I'm sure you're just as unpleasant as usual," growled Yoshiko.
"Now I'm afraid that's not very nice! Especially since you're talking to the new village leader!" said the man, with a smirk, and putting out his chest proudly. "I could have you killed."
"And enjoy doing it, I'm sure," replied Yoshiko, grinning. "But, of course, you never did anything for yourself."
"At least I didn't go running to Daddy."
"Oh, no, of course you didn't!" said Yoshiko, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "And that's why your daddy thought I was pushing you around!"
The grin disappeared from the guy's face. For a minute Yoshiko was sure he was going to shoot the arrow. But she knew the man to be a coward. If he wasn't sure he could kill her in one shot he wouldn't even try. So instead he put away his arrow.
"You've made quite a reputation for yourself," said the man. "How many villages did you attack?"
"One," said Yoshiko shortly.
"Not from what I hear. The rumor is eleven. But that was a year ago."
"Oh yes, I attack a village each year," said Yoshiko, rolling her eyes. "Now I've attacked people and demons in villages, but I only attacked one village as a whole."
"Not counting ours, of course," laughed the man. Yoshiko's eyes narrowed.
"As I recall, you attacked me!" snapped Yoshiko.
"Obviously Godric didn't see it that way, or he wouldn't have told you to leave. He always was a selfish boy."
Before Yoshiko could make a move, a rock flew past her head and hit the man square on the forehead. Look over her shoulder, Yoshiko saw Utako readying another rock. Her face was serious, her eyes narrowed.
"You wench!" cried the man, touching the bleeding cut on his forehead.
"You're the one that's selfish! Or just plain mean!" cried Utako, throwing another rock. This one missed.
"What?"
"Godric was not selfish!" screamed Utako.
"You're as crazy as the demon!"
"Half-demon!" cried Utako, throwing the rock in her hand and hitting the guy on the side of the head.
"I'm getting out of here," muttered the man and motioning his son to follow him.
"Who was he?" asked Sango.
Without glancing away from Utako, Yoshiko replied, "One of my biggest tormentors when I was younger. We lived in the same village."
There was a long silence as Utako continued to glare at the place the villager use to be. For some reason Yoshiko felt herself feeling sorry for the girl. When the girl burst into tears, Yoshiko was completely surprised. And when Utako started hugging her, she was taken a back. She looked at Sango in bewilderment.
"Comfort her!" mouthed Sango.
'I've only had to do this once before. 12 years ago!' thought Yoshiko, looking down at the sobbing girl. 'I'm no good at this…'
'I'm no good at this…' thought Yoshiko as she sat in the living room with her family and a few people that liked Godric's mother.
Her little brother had been completely quiet ever since she had walked into the room. She had tried starting a light conversation but Godric just wasn't interested. It wasn't like him. Normally he would be all about talking so everybody could feel better. Instead he let everybody's fear and depression swept over everybody in the room. Every once and a while Yoshiko would look up at her father. But it almost seemed like he had forgotten all about her. His eyes were fixed on the doorway to his wife's room.
'Damn! She's going to die and I'm the only one that isn't going to cry,' thought Yoshiko guiltily. 'Nobody would be able to stand being around me then.'
"Sis?" said Godric suddenly, his voice sounding so small. "Do you still have that flower I gave you?"
"Yeah…" muttered Yoshiko.
"Okay," said Godric, turning away again.
'That was just weird,' thought Yoshiko. 'This is probably effecting his brain or something. Why would I get rid of anything he gave me?'
Time passed and still nobody said anything. Finally the healer came out of the room and right away Yoshiko knew it was bad news. She wanted to slip out of the room so she didn't have to hear it. But she knew that Godric would definitely need her. She didn't really hear what the healer had to say. His words seemed to pass over her like she wasn't there. But when her father got to his feet, this sort of lost expression on his face, she knew.
There was nothing he could do and she was going to die.
Instantly she turned to Godric who just stared at the healer in utter belief. Then, fumbling, he got to his feet and ran past the old man to his mother's bed. Tears welled up in Yoshiko's eyes as she tried not to imagine the look of pain on her brother's face. After a few quick words with her father, the healer left. Wanting an excuse not to see her brother, Yoshiko started asking the guests to leave. Kindly enough, they gave their sympathies and left quietly. Soon the room was completely empty leaving room for Yoshiko to think.
But she soon found herself wandering into the other room. Her stepmother's pale face caused her to pause. Kane, her father, whispered a few words before his wife's eyes closed and her hand went limp. Yoshiko gasped and took a step back. This was not what she wanted to walk into.
"Mom…" whispered Godric, getting to his feet slowly.
She wanted to leave but her feet were glued to the ground. She wanted to say something but the words were stuck in her throat. The look on Godric's face horrified her. Suddenly, for the first time in a long time, tears welled up in her brother's eyes.
"It's not fair!" he cried, running forward and hugging Yoshiko.
Almost without thinking Yoshiko hugged her brother back. She stroked his head, not noticing the silent tears sliding down her cheeks. As she and her brother cried, her father slipped out of the room silently.
The next morning at school Tamika looked very excited and energetic—well, more then usual.
"What's up with you?" Sueko asked.
"You're at school for once! School is so boring when you aren't around!" complained Tamika, crossing her arms and putting on a frown. But you could tell she wasn't really upset so the frown just looked cute.
"Really? Uh… okay," said Sueko, blinking a few times.
"What's up with you? You look upset…" said Tamika, uncrossing her arms and putting her hands on her hips instead, still frowning and narrowing her eyebrows as she leaned in closer to Sueko so their noses were almost touching.
"It's nothing…" said Sueko, stepping back a few paces. "I just didn't sleep well last night…"
"Well, there's only one thing that solves that!" cried Tamika, putting on a big grin on her face.
"And what's that?" asked Sueko tiredly, sighing.
"CAFFINEE!" screamed Tamika. Before Sueko could react (or cover her ears for that matter in case Tamika did it again) Tamika had put her hands on Sueko's shoulders and started steering her to the nearest vending machine. Tamika, too cheerful about her idea, ignored Sueko's complaints as people moved out of the way without one complaint.
They passed Keitaro on the way there. He seemed to be having locker troubles again.
"You stupid thing! Why won't you—for once—just plain ol' open!"
Tamika suddenly stopped her marching and Sueko would have probably tripped in surprise if Tamika didn't have such a strong grip on her.
"Hello, brother!" said Tamika cheerfully, keeping her hands on Sueko's shoulders but looking down at her brother with the grin still plated on her face.
"Yo," muttered Keitaro, re-doing the combination.
"Want some help?" asked Sueko, who peeled Tamika's hands off her shoulders and kneeled down beside Keitaro.
"Oh… uh… sure…" mumbled Keitaro, who stood up and backed away a bit so Sueko would have some room.
"What's the combo?" Sueko asked, looking up at him. She noticed he had his contacts back in because there was no sign of the glasses.
"Um… 14… 16… and then 30…"
"'K!" said Sueko, hurriedly spinning the dial to the correct numbers. In about twenty seconds the locker was open and Sueko stood up with a smile on her face as she waved her hands half-heartedly and went, "Tada!"
"You're the greatest!" cried Keitaro, who suddenly wrapped his arms around Sueko's neck in joy. Sueko felt her heart go to her throat, she was so surprised, and stood there in shock as he let go a few seconds later and started cramming his book bag with books. She probably would have continued to stand there and blink all day if Tamika hadn't grabbed her arm to drag her to the vending machine, crying, "Okay, caffeine time!"
"Bye… Keitaro…" said Sueko in a daze, wondering how long it'd take for her heart to return to it's normal pace.
Yoshiko's first thought was to yell at the girl to get a life. But Sango was standing right there, her arms crossed, waiting for her to do something. And then Yoshiko didn't really care, and patted the Utako's back. After a few minutes she finally stopped crying, took a step back and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She smiled slightly and looked up at Yoshiko.
"You okay?" asked the half-demon. Utako nodded and then looked away.
"So, what was up with that guy?" asked Sango, trying to change the subject slightly.
"Didn't I all ready tell you!" cried Yoshiko, but in a teasing way.
"Not like it made sense or anything," said Sango. "In fact you hardly ever make sense."
"Don't I know it…" muttered Yoshiko.
Suddenly Utako hit her over the head.
"What was that for?" cried Yoshiko.
"Stop being so depressed! Its like, contagious or something!" snapped Utako.
"She's right you know," said Sango.
There was a pause in which Yoshiko moaned and hung her head. Then Utako's face look all thoughtful as her eyes sort of glazed over. Sango blinked in confusion until the girl started grinning. Yoshiko looked at the girl out of the corner of her eye.
"So, what are we doing?" asked Utako, scratching her head in confusion.
"What do you have? Short term memory loss?" cried Yoshiko, glaring at the girl.
"Huh?" said Utako, putting her hands behind her head. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"I'm going to kill you…" growled Yoshiko, holding up her fist.
"Now, now," laughed Sango, waving her hands.
Shaking her head, Yoshiko started down to the village. At first she didn't think Utako and Sango were going to follow her. But then the girl caught up with her and grabbed her hand. Finally they reached the village and Yoshiko was able to shake Utako off. When they reached their room there was a very strange visitor holding her sword.
"Takeno? What the hell are you doing here?" cried Yoshiko, putting her hands on her hips and leaning down almost to his eye level.
"I expected better out of you, Yoshiko," sighed Takeno, shaking his head.
"Did you like expect me to welcome you with open arms or something?" asked Yoshiko, raising her eyebrows.
"Of all people to abuse your sword… it shocks me…" muttered the old man as if to himself.
"Abuse… abuse my sword…" stammered Yoshiko. "IT'S A FREAKIN' INANIMATE OBJECT!"
"What now?" sighed Sango, wandering into the room. "Who's he?"
"Me?" said the old man, opening an eye and grinning. He got to his feet slowly and then struck a triumphant pose. "I am Lord Takeno, an old warrior and a great sword maker!"
"Careful, he may ask you to bow next time…" muttered Yoshiko.
Suddenly Takeno's eyes narrowed and he looked at the half-demon out of the corner of his eyes. Yoshiko's eyes opened in fear and she grabbed the nearest person to her to put between her and the old man. That person just happened to be a very dazed and confused Utako. She looked over each of her shoulders to try and look at Yoshiko. When that didn't work she looked at Takeno as if pleading him to help.
"This is just pathetic," muttered Sango. "Now may I ask why you're here, Lord Takeno?"
"Just Takeno please," said the old man, sitting down and grabbing some of the leftover bread.
"Were you invited to that bread?" snapped Yoshiko.
Takeno chose to ignore this comment as he took a couple of bites of that bread. Finally he stopped and leaned forward to look at all three girls at once. Utako had seemingly forgotten that Yoshiko was hiding behind her and wandered over to a corner. Yoshiko thought about hiding behind Sango but when the demon exterminator gave her this look that said 'don't mess with me' she decided against it. So she had to sit with Sango in front of the old man.
"I was visiting the Earth Shrine village to visit an old friend. Then the leader of the village came and said that 'the confounded tiger beast' was back," explained Takeno. "Or at least, something around those lines. So I thought I would come to visit my granddaughter."
"Since when were we related?" said Yoshiko in disbelief.
"Since you were born! What did you think, your father liked visiting me because he liked me?" laughed Takeno.
"Well… yeah…" muttered Yoshiko. "Well he never spoke about his family because it strayed too close to my mother!"
"He never was the brightest kid," sighed Takeno, shaking his head.
In anger Yoshiko hit the guy on the head. "That's your son you're talking about!"
"Forgive me," said Takeno.
"Oi…" moaned Yoshiko.
"So, what made you leave your sword lying around on the ground… without its sheath?" reprimanded Takeno.
"Let's not get into this…" muttered Yoshiko. She really didn't want to think about what she and Sango had fought about.
"I was looking at it!" cried Utako from the corner.
Everybody had seemed to forget about her so when she spoke everybody jumped—even Takeno, which surprised Yoshiko… a lot. But everybody jumping just caused Utako to get confused so she looked away. When it seemed she was back in dreamland Yoshiko and Sango turned back to Takeno. The old man, however, continued to look at Utako as if worried about her well-being.
"What did you do to her?" he asked Yoshiko.
"I didn't do anything to her!" cried Yoshiko. "Why does she have to be fault? I just met her yesterday!"
"Really? I do believe Godric might have brought her over to my place a couple of times," said Takeno thoughtfully. "But anyways, I'm supposed to be making you feel guilty about treating the sword your father had made for you poorly."
"Uh huh… and then my father went off and basically committed suicide," shrugged Yoshiko. "Why should I treat the sword nicely when I don't even respect the man that gave it to me anymore?"
"That's an excellent question!" cried Takeno, clapping his hands together. "But, you don't really mean that."
"Don't tell me what I mean and don't, old man!" said Yoshiko, crossing her arms. "Now I did love my father but after his wife died I lost my respect for him."
"Your mother died?" said Sango, blinking.
"No. He got married again!" cried Yoshiko. "I mean, that's the only way Godric could have been all human!"
"That's true…" said Sango thoughtfully. "I guess I never really thought about it before now."
"Actually he never married your mother…" said Takeno.
"Like I would know," growled Yoshiko. "He never told me anything about my mother."
"Well your sword really needs to be sharpened but I left all my stuff at home," said Takeno, getting to his feet. "Its not too far away."
"Sounds great," said Sango, also standing up.
For a minute Yoshiko thought about just sitting there. But then she realized what this meant: an excuse to leave this place and Utako! No more memories and no more annoyance. So she lazily crawled over to her sword, put it in its sheath and stood up. Suddenly in the corner the girl got to her feet and walked over to Yoshiko looking at her with very wide eyes.
"What?" snapped Yoshiko.
"You're—you're leaving…" she said in a small hurtful voice.
"Yeah…" said Yoshiko, looking away.
"Well if you're going to leave me behind you have to promise me one thing!" said Utako.
"I'll come back, don't worry…" sighed Yoshiko.
"That would be nice. But I want you to make up with this Sesshomaru guy!" said Utako, putting her hands on her hips.
"Uh…" said Yoshiko. Then she looked up at Sango who was grinning guiltily. "Fine!"
"Yay!" cried Utako, hugging the half-demon around the waist. Then she looked up at Yoshiko, again, looking serious. "And don't you dare get rid of that flower!"
"What flower?" cried Yoshiko.
"What do you have? Short term memory loss?" cried Utako.
"I don't know what you're talking about," laughed Yoshiko, patting the girl on the head and following Takeno and Sango out of the inn.
"Sometimes I regret going to Feudal Japan all the time," sighed Sueko, sitting down next to Tamika at the lunch table.
"Why's that?" asked Tamika curiously.
"Because normally I understand nothing at school. So being gone for long periods of time really, really helps with that problem!" complained Sueko.
"Wow. Join the club," said someone in front of Sueko. She almost would have said it was Keitaro but his voice was too low.
"Who are you?" asked Sueko, looking at the guy in front of her. He had extremely messy black hair (messier then Keitaro's—if that was even possible) that was in a bad need of a trim, and he had grey eyes that looked quite stunning.
"Just some random citizen of Japan. You?" asked the guy boredly.
"Akio, get a life," muttered Keitaro, who had just showed up and sat down with his tray of food.
"So that's your name?" asked Sueko.
"Why do you care so much about my identity? Do you want my money or something?" asked the guy named Akio, crossing his arms and leaning on the table so his face was closer to Sueko's.
"No—nothing like that!" cried Sueko, sliding her chair back.
Akio laughed. "Keitaro, what's up with your girlfriend?"
Keitaro almost chocked on the soda he was drinking. He slammed his drink on the table and cried, "She's NOT my girlfriend! She's—um—Tamika's friend…"
"Hi!" said Tamika on cue.
"Whatever," said Akio, leaning back on his chair so it tipped back slightly.
"Who are you?" asked Sueko again.
"Haven't we been through this already?" asked Akio boredly—well, he seemed to always sound bored.
"No, no, not like that! I know your name, but that's it," said Sueko. "Are you Keitaro's friend or something?"
Keitaro slammed the can of soda back on the table again. "Akio's NOT my friend!"
Akio frowned. "Oh, come on, Keitaro! We've been best friends since primary school. How can you just suddenly change your mind and destroy the fine, wonderful relationship we had since our youth?" he whined.
"Shut up and get a life!" said Keitaro, hitting Akio on the back of the head. "How can I have ever been friends with you?"
"You're making me hurt… right here," said Akio, putting a hand on his chest.
"Stop that already!" cried Keitaro.
"This is all very amusing," said Tamika to Sueko. "Don't you think?"
"Um… sure…" said Sueko. "I'm just confused…"
"So, Keitaro," said Akio, giving up with his hurtful act. "Where'd you get the babe?"
Keitaro actually did choke on his soda. Akio just looked boredly at his friend as Keitaro tried to breathe again. When he was able to he hit Akio on the head again.
"When someone chokes DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!" cried Keitaro.
"Okay, okay!" said Akio, putting his hands in the air. "But you didn't answer my question."
"What do you think, Akio? Tamika's my SISTER! Must I spell it out for you?" cried Keitaro, starting to get red in the face with his anger.
"No, no, not her," said Akio, waving a hand, "though she is rather special," he added with a wink.
"Um…" said Tamika. "Uh…"
Sueko patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"What I meant was her," said Akio, pointing at Sueko. "Where'd you get her?"
"WHAT!" cried Keitaro. Sueko screamed and fell off her chair.
"Are you okay?" asked Tamika, looking down at the ground.
"No…." muttered Sueko, holding up her fist at Tamika. But Tamika just thought Sueko wanted help up so she grabbed the fist and pulled her up with both hands. All this accomplished was getting Sueko to a sitting position.
"Thanks. That was extremely helpful," said Sueko sarcastically, standing up and brushing the dirt off her butt.
"Glad to be a help!" said Tamika seriously.
"Anyways!" cried Sueko, sitting back down at the table and slamming both hands on the table to face Akio. He looked at her with one raised eyebrow as if he was expecting her to do something amusing.
"Please tell me what I heard I didn't really hear, and it was just a brief moment of insanity, or maybe I was possessed by some sort of demon or another," said Sueko, looking at Akio so seriously it was actually pretty amusing looking.
"Um… I guess it depends on what you heard, I suppose," said Akio, putting a finger to his chin to look thoughtful.
"I heard you say Sueko was a 'babe,'" said Keitaro, shoving some rice into his mouth and talking with his mouth full.
"Keitaro!" scolded Tamika, waving her pointer finger at Keitaro's face.
"Shove it, Tamika," said Keitaro, not looking away from Akio.
"Fine, everyone ignore me!" cried Tamika, crossing her arms.
"I'm not ignoring you!" said Sueko suddenly.
"Oh, me too!" said Akio.
"Now I'm worried," said Tamika.
"ANYWAYS!" cried Keitaro.
"Oh, yeah, um…" said Akio. "Yeah, I think she's a babe. So?"
Sueko just sat there with her jaw nearly touching the table and her eyes blinking so quickly they were almost closed.
"You okay?" asked Tamika, waving a hand in front of Sueko.
"I think I'm going through shock," said Sueko. "Maybe I'll be permanently traumatized for life. Or something…"
"What? You're hot! So?" said Akio, crossing his arms and shrugging.
"Me? Hot? Are you insane? What are you taking? Haven't you heard that drugs are BAD, not GOOD?" cried Sueko.
"Maybe a little," said Akio, looking thoughtful. "Insane, I mean. I don't take drugs unless the good ol' doctor says so, and then I follow the directions correctly on the bottle."
"Good to know," said Sueko tonelessly.
"So… are you busy after school? We could go to WacDonald's or something," asked Akio.
"What!" said Sueko.
"You don't even know her name yet!" cried Keitaro.
"Oh yeah. What's your name?"
"Oh my God!" cried Keitaro. "Tamika, hand me a book so I can hit my head with it!"
"Why? You could just use the table…" said Tamika. "But then again, this poor table has just been so abused! Maybe you shouldn't…"
"Uh…" said Sueko.
"I'm sure the table's thankful for your… er… kindness…" said Akio.
"Wow, that's quite a large word for you to say," said Keitaro, faking amazement.
"Why thank you, good friend," said Akio, patting Keitaro on the head.
"Uh huh…" said Keitaro, ducking from Akio's hand.
"So, what do you say—wait, I didn't get your name…" said Akio.
"That's because I never gave it to you!" cried Sueko.
"Okay. Maybe you should…" said Akio.
"How about… not!" said Sueko, suddenly standing up.
"Huh?" said Akio.
"Oh, poor thing. You've never been turned down by a pretty girl before, have you?" teased Keitaro.
Akio shrugged. "Oh well. What about you, Tamika? Tamika?"
But Tamika wasn't there. Neither was Sueko.
"Hmm…" said Akio.
"Ha-ha," said Keitaro.
Akio lifted his chin a bit and looked above Keitaro's head. "Hey, I see a fine looking table full of—"
"NO!" said Keitaro, grabbing a hold of Akio's collar as he tried to get up. "You're staying right here so I can make sure you don't break some other girl's heart!"
"Huh?" said Akio.
"You hurt Sueko's feelings!" cried Keitaro.
"Oh. So?"
"Why do I tolerate you?' muttered Keitaro, shaking his head.
"I thought you said it wasn't that far!" cried Yoshiko a couple of hours later.
Takeno chose to ignore her as they continued on their way. The sun was starting to set, Yoshiko was getting both hungry and thirsty and Sango looked tired. How the old man could keep going was a mystery to both women. Finally Sango got so annoyed she sat down and wouldn't get back up no matter what Takeno said. Hearing a river not too far away, Yoshiko snuck off, leaving the two to bicker. She wouldn't be gone too long.
As she walking through the trees toward the sound of running water, she thought she heard a familiar voice. But when she stopped Yoshiko didn't hear it, so she kept on going. Just as she was about to give up on finding water, she stumbled on a small creek. A grin spread across her face as she knelt down to take a drink. Then she heard somebody step out of the trees behind her. Quickly she spun around and saw, amazingly enough, Rin step out of the trees.
"Lady Yoshiko!" she cried, grinning.
"Uh…" said Yoshiko, standing up and expecting Sesshomaru to follow behind the girl. "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for something to eat," said Rin, glancing over her shoulder to see what Yoshiko was looking at.
"Let me rephrase that. What are you doing alone?" asked Yoshiko.
"Oh, well Lord Sesshomaru normally sends Jaken after me… but I guess I didn't go off too far this time," said Rin thoughtfully.
For some reason Yoshiko was slightly disappointed that Sesshomaru wouldn't show up. But she didn't want to face him purposefully at this time. Wandering over him accidentally… then she would have to make up with him! She sighed and turned back around to get a drink of water. When she sat back up, Rin was sitting next to her, staring at her. Yoshiko raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"Weren't you going to look for food?" asked Yoshiko.
"Well I'm not really that hungry," said Rin, putting her feet into the water.
Out of her pack, Yoshiko pulled out a little bit of bread. She handed Rin half of it and nibbled on a bit of it herself. There was a long silence broken only by the sound of the running water and Rin kicking her feet in the stream. Finally Yoshiko decided that she should probably get back or Sango and Takeno would start wondering where she disappeared to. Or maybe they wouldn't and would leave without her. But when she started to stand up, Rin grabbed her sleeve.
"Why'd you leave?" she asked looking so cute and hurt at the same time.
"Because…" said Yoshiko, thinking back. "You know what, I don't really remember!"
She sat down and stared across the creek to watch what bit of the setting sun she would through the trees. Her mind just couldn't make the connection between what she and Sesshomaru fought about to her running away. In fact, she could hardly remember why they had started fighting in the first place. Rin smiled and leaned her head on Yoshiko's arm, though not in a tired way.
"I miss you!" said Rin. "And I think Lord Sesshomaru might miss you too."
"I doubt it…" muttered Yoshiko. "But I missed you too."
At this Rin pulled away and looked at Yoshiko seriously.
"Don't you miss Lord Sesshomaru?" she asked.
"It's more complicated than that, Rin," sighed Yoshiko, looking away. "Besides, I kind of needed to get away from for a little while."
"But do you have to be gone for this long? You were only there for one day!" complained Rin. "You can't be mad at Lord Sesshomaru forever!"
"Watch me," growled Yoshiko.
"That's not very nice," pouted Rin, crossing her arms.
"Well I'm not a very nice person," said Yoshiko finally getting to her feet. She turned and started walking away.
"But I think you're a nice person…" muttered Rin.
In surprise, Yoshiko looked over her shoulder. After a while Rin got to her feet and walked over to Yoshiko. She pulled something out of her pocket and held it up to the half-demon. When Yoshiko saw it she gasped and took a step back. In Rin's hand was a small orange flower almost identical to the once Godric had given her 12 years ago.
"When I saw it I thought of you," said Rin quietly. "So I picked it just for you. Do you like it?"
"It's…" started Yoshiko. Then she took the flower and smiled slightly. "I like it. Thank you Rin."
The girl grinned and started laughing. Then not too far away, Sesshomaru's voice came calling Rin's name. Yoshiko's eyes went wide as he came striding out of the trees. As soon as he was in the clearing his eyes connected with Yoshiko's and he paused. Almost as if she knew this wasn't something she should be in the middle on, Rin ran past Sesshomaru and into the trees. This left the two all alone and Yoshiko feeling very uncomfortable. Then Sesshomaru started to turn away.
"Wait!" cried Yoshiko, taking a half step forward. When he did stop she was so surprised she forgot what she was going to say.
"Did you abandon your friends as well?" growled Sesshomaru.
"I didn't abandon anyone!" snapped Yoshiko. Then she stopped. "Look, I don't want to fight. That's what got us in this mess in the first place."
"What mess?" asked Sesshomaru, his voice and face impassive.
"You know, I was so mad at you I forgot why I was mad at you in the first place and that just made me feel even worse!" Yoshiko half shouted. "So you tell me, what mess?"
"It wasn't that long ago," snapped Sesshomaru, looking at her again. "Do you forget so easily?"
"Sorry…" muttered Yoshiko, turning away. When Sesshomaru didn't say anything, she turned back. "I'm sorry okay?"
"Yoshiko?" came a familiar voice.
When she finally recognized the voice, Yoshiko moaned and put a hand on her forehead. This could not be happening! Of all people to interrupt this moment… Not that it was going anywhere though. Finally, stumbling out of the trees, came… Takeno. When he saw Sesshomaru he scratched the back on his head and turned to Yoshiko with his eyebrows raised.
"Who are you?" asked Sesshomaru, turning to the old man.
"Nobody of importance," shrugged Takeno.
"Will you make up your mind on how you introduce yourself?" cried Yoshiko. "What do you want anyways?"
"Well you were taking your sweet time!" snapped the old man. "And Sango was starting to get worried."
"But you weren't… I feel so loved," said Yoshiko, shaking her head.
"You're wasting my time," said Sesshomaru, starting to leave.
"And what exactly do you do with your time?" snapped Yoshiko, putting her hands on her hips. "As far as I know, nothing productive."
"How is that any of your business?" asked Sesshomaru not turning to look at her.
"What do you think you're doing hanging out with demons?" asked Takeno, scratching the back of his head. "Didn't living with your aunt teach you anything?"
"Will you stay out of this, old man?" cried Yoshiko. "What I do with my life is none of your concern."
"Being your grandfather, I think your protection is my main concern," said Takeno, matching Yoshiko's pose.
"Oh, please. He hasn't tried to kill me," said Yoshiko, throwing her hands up in the air. "Unlike my aunt…"
"I could kill you…" said Sesshomaru before walking away completely.
"Fine! Be that way!" cried Yoshiko, not exactly sure why she was even bothering. Then she sighed and started walking back to the path. "Are you coming or not, Takeno?"
"Aren't you just miss bossy…" muttered the old man.
"Sueko?" asked Tamika timidly, walking out of the lunchroom and looking in the hallway for her friend. She didn't have to look far—she was leaning on the wall right outside the lunchroom.
"What?" said Sueko moodily, not looking up from the ground.
"Sueko!" cried Tamika, standing in front of Sueko with her hands on her hips. "You're supposed to be happy! You can't be depressed! That's just wrong!"
"Humph!" said Sueko, crossing her arms.
"Are you even going to look at me?" asked Tamika almost sadly, putting her arms down.
Sueko raised her head. "There, I'm looking at you."
"Not like that!" said Tamika, rolling her eyes.
"How else am I supposed to look at you!" cried Sueko.
"Hmm…" said Tamika.
"Never mind," said Sueko, shaking her head and looking back down at her feet.
"What's wrong?" asked Tamika, cocking her head to the side.
"Nothing."
"Uh huh! And you're analyzing your shoes because you're merely bored?" asked Tamika.
"No!" said Sueko, sighing.
"You don't have to tell me," said Tamika. "I mean, I'd like it if you did so you'd stop looking at your shoes, but whatever… Hey, you have really small feet…"
"Tamika!" cried Sueko.
"What?" asked Tamika, grinning and putting her hands behind her back.
"Sheesh! You're kinda annoying sometimes, you know that!" cried Sueko.
"Yeah… Keitaro says that too…" said Tamika, looking thoughtful.
"Well, he does have to live with you. But living with you wouldn't be that bad, actually… you can actually cook," said Sueko.
"Hmm… weren't we talking about something else before?" asked Tamika.
"Not really…" said Sueko, sighing again.
"Oh yeah! You were upset!" said Tamika.
"Uh huh…" said Sueko. "But there's so many other topics to talk about…"
"But this ones more interesting!" said Tamika. "So what's up?"
"Nothing!" cried Sueko.
"Well, aren't you touchy," said Tamika with a frown.
"Maybe I don't want to tell you what's wrong. Ever thought of that!" complained Sueko, crossing her arms and turning her head away.
"Maybe you should!" said Tamika. "Besides, are you really going to make me go back to Akio and Keitaro!"
Sueko sighed. "I just want to forget about him, that's all!"
"Who? Keitaro?" asked Tamika.
"No…" sighed Sueko.
"You mean the guy with the weird outfit?" asked Tamika. "And the cool hair… that's white and all? Or is it grey…"
"Yeah, him…" said Sueko.
"What happened exactly?" asked Tamika. "I mean, you don't have to say if you don't want to but I kinda forgot what you said before… and I don't think you said anything anyways so… um, yeah… what happened!"
"I fell in love with the guy but he liked some other girl instead. Wow, so amazing, move on!" said Sueko.
"Don't say it like that!" cried Tamika. "Now it just sounds depressing…"
"It IS depressing!" cried Sueko.
"Well, no duh, but you could make it sound nicer… besides, they always get back together in those sappy romance movies… Then they go have sex… Don't have sex, Sueko!"
"Tamika!" cried Sueko, turning a bit pink in the face. "Life's not a sappy romance movie! And people don't have sex twenty four hours a day!"
"I heard in America they do…" said Tamika.
"No they don't," said Sueko suddenly.
"What do you mean they don't?"
"I lived there for about half a year. And actually, they're kinda boring…" said Sueko. "Except for they have cool music…"
"Um… okay… I won't go to America then," said Tamika.
"Isn't class about to start?" asked Sueko, trying to change the subject.
"Sure, but this is more important! You have to get back together with Inu… um… whatever! Silver-haired boy!" cried Tamika, grabbing a hold of Sueko's arm dramatically.
"How about not?" said Sueko, jerking her arm out of Tamika's grip. "He never liked me anyways!"
Tamika was about to say something but then the cafeteria door opened and Keitaro poked his head out.
"How are you guys doing?" asked Keitaro.
"We're girls, not guys!" cried Tamika, her hands on her hips again.
"Tamika, get a life," said Keitaro, walking completely out the door and closing it. "Akio was annoying me and I'm tired of watching over him like I'm a watchdog or something…" Then he turned a little pink and muttered, "or watchcat…"
"Oh, save it," said Sueko, waving a hand aside.
"Are you okay, then?" asked Keitaro.
"As good as I can be," said Sueko.
Keitaro paused for a moment before muttering, "I'll never understand girls…"
"Are we that confusing?" asked Tamika.
"Yes, you are. Especially you!" said Keitaro.
"Uh huh!" said Sueko.
"Is that a compliment?" asked Tamika.
"Sure," said Sueko, putting her hands on Tamika's shoulders and pushing her towards their next class. "Think what you want…"
"Are you okay?" asked Keitaro again.
"Keitaro, end it!" cried Sueko.
"Fine…" muttered Keitaro, slumping his shoulders and following Sueko and Tamika.