Yin Yang Souls
Chapter 11: Knowledge
Kagome sighed. It was going to be a long week. It was the end of the school year and they were drowning in finals. In front of her was a paper labeled:
End of Year Comprehension Test
Course: Algebra II
Algebra was not her forte. All she could remember was the quadratic formula and the stupid song that the teacher had taught the class.
"Negative 'b', negative 'b', plus or minus, plus or minus. Square root of 'b' squared, minus four 'ac', all over two 'a', all over two 'a'," she quietly hummed to herself. It was to the tune of "Frere Juaque" and it was extremely annoying.
The teacher looked over to her with a disapproving look. She blushed and returned to her paper of numbers and squiggles. She had already finished the graphing portion of the test. Last was stuck with parabolas. She never could remember much about which they pointed. Twenty minutes later, she turned her paper over and took a few deep breaths. She was satisfied with her work and was pretty sure she scraped by with at least a B+. Many other students were finished with the exam as well. When the bell ran, she placed the exam on her teacher's desk and marched out the door and to her locker. She needed to retrieve her German II book for studying. She had a free period in her next class. She passed Sango on her way. The fellow slayer was digging through the mess in her locker searching for something.
"Something… here… and open," Kagome muttered as she clicked the numbers in her combination lock. She didn't know the exact numbers, just the area they were around. Kagome withdrew her German book, sliding it in her mesh book bag, and closed the locker door as she headed downstairs to her next class.
She walked two flights of stairs down to the first floor and finally plopped down on the floor against the bleachers. Sango walked into the gym a few seconds after and sat next to her fellow slayer and propped up her Spanish book for studying.
"Ugh, I hate Spanish. Why we need two foreign language credits is beyond me," Sango made a face at the textbook.
"German isn't any better. I hate Mrs. Madison… she so… bleh!"
"This is the only part of school I hate and despise… besides the Barbies," Sango fisted her hand and rapidly punched her palm.
Kagome had to laugh at Sango's antics. She was right about the Barbies, AKA the preppy girls and cheerleaders. "Well, shall we?"
"Might as well," Sango replied.
They both buried their noses in their textbooks and notes, desperately trying to cram a year's worth of knowledge in their brains in one measly little hour. It wasn't happening.
-- Other side of the School --
"In the American History classroom, Kouga, InuYasha, and Zephyr were studying as well, some more than others. Zephyr, being the wiseass neko/inu youkai she was, was reading her latest novel: Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat. Kouga and InuYasha were cramming. There was five minutes till the end of the hour and neither hadn't bothered studying the nights before. Kouga's next exam was in Language Arts 10 and their final was over Julius Caesar. InuYasha was suffering with Biology.
"I told you guys night after night when Sesshomaru and I studied, that you should sit and cram with us, but no. You had to lay around and stare at the ceiling, daydreaming about who knows what. This is your own damn fault. I'd personally become your house slave for a week if you actually pas your exams!"
InuYasha and Kouga growled deep in their throats at the demon. She smugly grinned at the two and returned to her novel. The bell rang mere moments later. The cat snapped her book shut and dashed out the door to the German II room on the third floor. Sesshomaru was already seated, no surprise there, and the teacher was nowhere to be seen. Sesshomaru said a brief "hello" as he caught his half-sister's scent. Kagome tripped into the room and walked to her seat.
"Morning Zeph, Sesshomaru!" She replied sheepishly.
"Graceful this morning, aren't we?" Zephyr joked.
"Shut it, neko. Ready for the gawd-awful-final?" she gasped.
"I take it you didn't study much?" Zephyr asked.
"Shut it neko…" Kagome warned.
"We should start a flipping study group. InuYasha and Kouga didn't bother studying either. The ceiling was much more entertaining to them," The neko spazzed.
Kagome gave a weak chuckle. 'Zeph is right,' she thought, 'We should get a study group so I won't fail the rest of my finals. Plus it'd be kinda fun being all together.'
"Okay then, study group at my house! Spread the word Zephyr, but only to close friends." Kagome clapped the kitten hard on the back, knocking her on all fours.
Mrs. Madison chose that moment as her cue to walk in. "Guten Morgen, klasse. Huete haben wir Arbeiten. Sie brauchen Papier und einen Bleistift."
The class groaned, minus Sesshomaru (who doesn't groan) and Zephyr (Who was oddly excited). Mrs. Madison seemed oblivious to their complaining. She handed out their finals and went back to her desk to finish up some work. Kagome took a look through the three-page exam and groaned. This hour was going to be hell.
- Meanwhile -
A woman walked up to the school gates. She was a beautiful lady with lush golden locks and a full body. A Greek robe was all that covered her from other's view. She stood in a sultry way as if to seduce anything and anything that looked her way.
"There they are…" she purred, "The amulets. It's almost time to come home, my darlings."
She sauntered off, leaving the school perimeter and the slayers and vampires to finish up their exams.
--Another Part of School --
Kouga looked up at the clock again for the third time that hour. His Julius Caesar exam lay upside down on his desk finished. He had finished ten minutes ago and class had another ten to go before it released for fourth hour.
'Well… that was easier than I thought. Shouldn't have finished it so fast.' Kouga thought.
Another ten minutes passed and the bell finally released, relieving Kouga of his boredom. The wolf handed his exam in and left. Fourth hour came and went. Zephyr was now waiting for Kagome and Bairu. The two of them came together, oddly enough.
"Konnichiwa!" the kitten chirped happily.
"Hello to you too, Zephyr," Bairu politely greeted.
"How'd your exams go?" Kagome asked.
"I think I did pretty goo! I bet Kouga and InuYasha failed though. Sucks to be them!" Zephyr laughed. "What about you Kagome?"
I think I probably bombed German II and didn't do too bad on Algebra II." The three walked into the cafeteria and walked to their seats. Kouga and InuYasha were already seated, Kouga looking a bit happier than usual and for comfort.
"I don't like the look on Kouga's face. Can we sit somewhere far away from him?" Zephyr whispered as the say into their seats. Kouga was grinning from ear to ear.
"Why, good morning my dear," Kouga grinned, "How are you this morn?"
Zephyr inched away from the grinning wolf.
"What was that you were saying earlier? I coulda swore you said that you'd be my personal slave for the week? I guess you better start practicing because I'm positive that I passed every single final today."
"Can't you ever keep quiet you mangy, flea-bitten wolf?" a tired voice growled dangerously.
A tray slammed down on the table, spraying InuYasha with the already opened pint of milk. A pissed off Sesshomaru stood glaring at everything that dared to look at him. InuYasha in turn growled at his half-brother for the unwanted bath. Kagome gave Sesshomaru a sympathetic look and asked quietly, "Bad day?"
"That's an understatement," he bit out, his head throbbing with each passing second.
He sat down in the sea next to the slayer. Kagome dug around in her bag for the familiar bottle of Ibuprofen. Sango and Kikiyo finally showed up taking their respective seats. "Exams are suicide waiting to happen. I swear it!" Sango complained.
"I didn't find them too difficult," Kikiyo calmly replied. Her attention was focused on her food, mainly the chicken fried steak.
"Ah HA! Found them!" Kagome cheered. She held up a white bottle. Sesshomaru cringed at her high pitched cry, groaning as he laid his forehead to her shoulder. Kagome opened the bottle and slipped two brown tablets into his mouth. He helped himself to the rest of his milk, but didn't remove his face. He just adjusted his position so that he was merely leaning on her.
"Whoa… what'd we miss here?" Sango grinned. Kagome blushed.
"N-nothing!" she gasped. She looked like a fish out of water the way her mouth kept opening and closing in embarrassment.
"Mmm-hmm… sure thing," Sango smiled knowingly. Kagome flushed again.
The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Kagome nudged Sesshomaru alive. He groaned and blinked a couple times. He hadn't noticed that he had fallen asleep, let alone in public and leaning on Kagome's shoulder.
"Yay… time to finish up the finals," Kagome grumbled.
Each of their group had two more finals. They actually went by pretty fast. And at 2:45 the bell rang again and the students departed from school. Kagome, Sango, and Kikiyo were first to the courtyard, as usual. They were gathered together over at the parking lot under an apple tree. They talked about tomorrow's finals and exchanged answers that they thought they had gotten right. InuYasha joined them, slinging an arm around Kikiyo's shoulder. Sango put on her know-it-all smile once again while Kagome inched in away in fear of the crazed slayer. Finally Zephyr, Kouga, Bairu, Sesshomaru, and Miroku exited the building.
"Bout time you showed up," InuYasha growled.
"Hush, dear brother. Your voice annoying me…" the elder inu brother mocked.
"Brotherly love… how sweet!" Kouga sighed sarcastically as InuYasha attempted to remove his brother's head off.
"So, where're we headed now?" Miroku asked, completely ignoring the two brothers and changing the subject rather quickly.
"Where ever you want to be, but later we're going to the shrine for a last minute cram session," Kouga answered.
"Yay?" InuYasha said. He was sore that Sesshomaru had whooped his ass horribly.
"Shut it, Inu. You need the studying. You'll end up failing before long," Zephyr snapped.
"But anyway, see you all at six tonight," Kagome interrupted before it got uglier.
The eight of them finished their trek to the parking lot, which was but ten feet away at the most. Miroku's gleaming red Mustang was shining in the sun in the fifth parking space from the exit. Kouga's car was in the shop so he bummed a ride from Zephyr. Some bastard had rear-ended him a couple days ago. Zephyr's sliver Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder was parked next to Sesshomaru's Chrysler Sebring, black in color. Both had parked two rows back, knowing how bad of a driver Miroku was. Finally, InuYasha's red Toyota was nestled in between Miroku's car and another person's green Cavalier.
"InuYasha… your truck sucks. Take it in for a paint job… it hurts my precious eyes just to glance at it," Kouga teased.
"Well at least I didn't trash mine," InuYasha retorted.
The two bickered on. Zephyr, who had already left for her car and started it, honked her horn at the wolf. She rolled down her window, allowing the techno music from Aqua to blare out, and motioned for him to get in or be left behind. The wolf flipped InuYasha off and hopped in next to the kitten.
"You know you're just egging him on, right?" Zephyr told him, "It's gonna come back and bite you in the ass if you don't watch it. Then I'm gonna laugh my ass off."
"Nah, he's got a one-track mind," Kouga waved her off and reclined back in the seat, "You need to put some rock music in. Techno sucks…"
"Watch your mouth. I like my techno shit. Diss it and find yourself on a corner at the nearest gas station.."
Kagome watched the two with interest from her own Spyder's window. Sesshomaru was leaning his head against the wheel of his Sebring.
"You okay, Sesshomaru? You look like you're about to collapse. You want a ride?" she offered.
"My car?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Kikiyo can drive and she knows where you live…" Sesshomaru looked at the archery slayer. Kikiyo gave him a vacant look. He nodded and handed her the keys. Once he was in Kagome's Spyder, he leaned the seat back and dozed off. Kagome started up her car and drove to the vampire's home.
- - Time Lapse - -
Sesshomaru's eyes opened and focused on the ceiling above him.
'Ceiling?' he mentally asked. "You awake?" Kagome hurried over to his side. "Kouga said you were tired and getting frequent headaches because you had locked yourself in your chamber to study. Here," Kagome held out a mug of red liquid.
Sesshomaru stared up at her from the couch. Slowly he reached out and took the healing blood from her gasp. Kagome smiled warmly at the silver-haired vampire. Sesshomaru drank in silence as Kagome watched in amazement as some color returned to his clammy pale face. Hesitantly, she raised her hand to hover over his face. She desperately wanted to touch the now cream-colored skin. She wanted to see if they were as smooth as the looked.
A hand covered hers, drawing it close to something warm and soft. Kagome blinking out of her stupor and saw…
His hand…
On hers…
On HIS cheek…
Which was unbelievably soft and flawless and warm to the touch. Sesshomaru had an intrigued look on his face. Her face had plainly betrayed her growing curiousity because he answered.
"Naturally our bodies are cold, because we are essentially dead. When we drink blood from living things, our bodies retain more color to the skin and are warmer to the touch."
Kagome blinked again as her brain registered the new and shocking information. She removed her hand and sat on the edge of the couch.
"Scooch over?" she asked.
Sesshomaru complied, giving her some room on the couch, unsure of what she was about ot do. The slayer laid herself next to him, scooting up close and pressing her body close to his.
"How'd you get you amulet?" Kagome change the subject.
"It was a gift from a old friend. He though it useless."
"Mine was from the shrine. It had been supposedly passed down through the generations."
They laid there for a moment in silence. Sesshomaru ran a hand subconsciously through Kagome's raven locks. Kagome sighed happily.
"It's funny… I know next to nothing about you, but I can't help but like you. A lot," Kagome confessed, "A slayer in love with what she hunts."
"Yes, it is. Almost as strange as a vampire loving his prey. Don't you agree?" Sesshomaru smiled.
"You're right… it is stranger…" Kagome laughed. "So… what's your favorite color?"
Sesshomaru thought for a few seconds. "I'd have to say red."
"You sure its not because blood is the same color?"
"Believe it or not…"
"Well… I like blue."
Zephyr Notes: Well, I finished this chapter. I've been thinking ahead on how to I plan to finish the stories. I had a couple ideas, but I finally decided on one. I hope you like it, but you'll have to wait and find out cause I don't plan on telling you. I'm not sure when I'll get Chapter 12 out but hopefully soon. See yah then!