Well hello everyone! I am happy to bring you this chappie! Wheee!! Although, I have some sad news. I'm going to have to put this fic on hiatus until I can finish another story of mine. (Which will more than likely be The Sea God.) So, this will be the last chapter for a while.

Oh, and for you who asked, yes, I am in band and I play percussion. ::big smile:: Sango plays French Horn to whomever asked. I was rather surprised when you asked me that, though!

Cd for today? My Titanic soundtrack!

Disclaimer: I own Yoshi, Mr. Officer, Old Teacher, the local hippie, the 37 year-old ballerina, and Domoru. You shall see later on, and no, I'm not smoking anything.

Into the Fray

Chapter 5

Postponed

"Arigotou," I said. I bowed to the resale man as I took my bag, which contained my future home -a ragged, light blue tent. I had already figured everything out anything that had to do with the future funds. I would take back my last month's rent, sell little things and unwanted cd's of mine, and then, while living in my tent, would look for a job. After that I would reclaim all that I had lost.

I went back to my car and put on my hat and sunglasses, taking my abnormal amount of black hair through the hole and making a makeshift ponytail. I looked at my watch, calculated how much time I had left until practice, and then hauled my arse back to the school.

When I arrived at the school, the band and drumline had already set up outside. I cursed and ran my car over the curb to the band hall so I could get a head start on my way to get my drum. The next few seconds involved nothing but me running to get my drum and praying to whatever deity would listen that I would not be late.

I reached the band as a panting mess with a twenty-pound drum strapped to my chest. I took my place beside Domoru, the "second chair" snare. (I say "second chair" in quotations because percussion has no "chair" system.) Domoru, a tall 18-year old with short, missheveled, black hair and a speech impediment is my replacement, the drum captain if I am not present. He scooted over for me and smiled.

"Late again, Inu-Ya-h-sa?" he asked, to which I replied by panting and glaring at him. He snickered and looked back up to the front of the field where no one but the great Takegawa was standing. I mentally groaned, for arriving late to band practice -no matter what your position may be- is certain death by laps around our large school.

Takegawa is the sort of man who is unknowingly intimidating. He's tall, slightly bald, plump and has a hard face. His eyes are a focused, cold blue and he has a loud, booming voice. Not one person in their right mind would ever want to cross this man, and, because of that and many other things is why he is the only teacher that I have come to respect.

Which was probably why I was near to shaking with nervousness as he approached me with that look on his face. That "You-have-disappointed-me-now-you-shall-pay" look. I straightened myself to a presentable posture and took a deep breath to try and steady my breathing.

"Do you know that you're late?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." My, this was sounding familiar…

"Can you tell me why you -the drum captain- are late?"

"Yes, I can sir," I replied intelligently. I heard a voice that sounded like Miroku's snicker behind me.

Takegawa sighed and said, "Tell me after practice. I won't make you run this time, but you will make it up to me. Understood?"

I nodded, amazed that I had escaped the wrath of Takegawa. "Yes, sir."

Practice went well… For the most part. Miroku "accidentally" bumped into the flute player in front of him, his trombone slide going up her butt crack. He claimed he had tripped, but how one can trip on a flat parking lot while walking forward is a mystery to me. Miroku almost got thrown out of the band right then, but then the hallrunner, a thirty-seven year old man in a barrel ran out, proclaiming at the top of his lungs that he was the prettiest butterfly. After a while, practice was dismissed because he wouldn't leave.

As I was helping a girl named Yoshi, Sango's blonde-headed Goth friend move her marimba into the doorway of the band hall, I heard malicious-sounding laughter behind me, where the parking lot was. I turned and looked out, and it was a bunch of jock punks loitering around the cars. My eyes narrowed, and I bellowed out to them to get the hell out of there lest they find my size 10 ½ shoes up their asses. They scattered quickly, but not without me becoming suspicious. After all, football practice had been over and done with for an hour, so what did they want with band people's cars?

----

"See ya, Miroku!" I called to the trombonist, who had made up with the flute player. She had kept a wary eye out for him the rest of the night, and after I discussed it a little with Miroku, Takegawa had approached us and said that if Miroku didn't have anymore stray trombone slides, then she wouldn't press charges. (To which Miroku silently replied, "The restraining order says 'No, no.' But her eyes say 'Yes, yes.' ")

I chuckled to myself as I went past all of the vanishing cars to my own vehicle. (Which I had moved to the parking lot). I put my stuff in, when Takegawa came up to me. I immediately bowed, incidentally knocking my head against the car, and said, "Yes, sir?" I absently rubbed the new bump on my already wounded head.

Takegawa chortled at my stupid injury, but then set a straight face. "So what happened? Was there trouble at work?"

He already knew my financial situation, so telling him the whole truth would hurt. "I… I was fired, sir."

His light-colored eyebrows rose. "Really? Whatever for…?"

I snarled at myself. "Koga, sir."

He nodded in understanding. "So you got into another fight, and then got fired. Which is why you have a black eye and busted lip. Correct?"

"Yes, sir."

He sighed and leaned against my car. "Shirosenshi-kun, you know what will happen if you can't maintain a constant flow of income. You're still only seventeen, so you're still a minor. If the authorities found out, you know what they'd do, correct?"

I shuddered at the thought. "Yes, I do sir."

He stopped leaning on my car, to which the vehicle almost sighed in relief. "Now, I'm not a parent of yours, so I can't tell you what to do, but still, I would hate to lose you. I'll recommend you for whatever job you apply for, but just make sure Koga doesn't find you. Alright?"

I nodded, eager to get back to my apartment and eat some Cheetos. "Yes, sir."

He nodded back to me and went to his car and drove off. I was about to get into my car when another figure came up to me. I mentally sighed and wondered if everyone was against me going back to my apartment. I looked up to see the Higurashi girl and remembered my revenge for that time in the band hall.

Still, it was dark and she should have headed home by now. "What do you want?" I asked with a little sarcasm. Apparently, she didn't take heed to it and came up closer to my car.

"Can I not walk around?" she asked in the same tone I had. "Besides," she added, "I don't have my license yet. My mom's coming to pick me up."

I rolled my eyes. She had looked rather young to be driving. "Well, it would be nice to stay out here with you, but I have a nice big bag of Cheetos with my name on it back in my apartment, so… ja." I was about to put my key into the ignition when I heard her yell for me to stop.

"Wait!" she shouted, her hand reaching towards me. My eyebrow cocked and my hand with the key lowered. What could she possibly want? "Um… It's really dark outside…"

My eyebrow remained up. "Yeah? So?"

She fidgeted nervously and rubbed her left arm with her right. "And… well… um…"

My eyes rolled again and I said, "Look, I'm not going to make out with you, okay? You're not my type."

My response from her was a shoe in my face. "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!" she screamed at me, while I rubbed to spot on my cheek where her shoe had hit me. For a measly clarinet player, she could throw pretty hard… "I…" she mumbled again, "I meant that…that…"

I frowned at her and threw the shoe back at her, purposefully missing. "Then tell me what you meant so I can get the hell away from you," I mumbled back, putting the key in the ignition. The engine turned, but it was a pitiful sound, not the regular whine I was used to.

As I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my car, she talked. I don't really know what about, because I didn't listen. My car was more important. After a moment, another shoe landed on my face. "WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME?!" she shrieked, ignoring my moans of pain. Shoes in the face hurt.

I threw her shoe back at her. "FINE! Just tell me what you want!!" I roared back, irritated that she threw shoes in my face and that my car wouldn't start. I got out of the car, and to my surprise, she withdrew from me. I stopped in my tracks, confused. Why had she jumped away from me…?

"D-Don't you try anything!" she stuttered while reaching into her shirt pocket to withdraw a mouthpiece. "I… I can scream pretty loud!"

I stared at her as if she had named herself Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile. "What are you talking about?" I asked, to which she relaxed a bit at.

She seemed confused as well. "You're… You're not going to rape me?"

My eyes grew wide instantly, and I was the one who jumped back. "Dear God NO!!" I walked my way around to the back of the car while shaking my head. "What gave you THAT bright idea?" I asked while bending down on the cooling concrete to view the underside of my car. Nothing had been stolen… Was my gas bad…?

The Higurashi girl began to ramble again, but I paid no attention to it. Of course, I kept on saying non-committal "Uh-huh's" and "Yeah's" to keep her thinking I was paying attention, lest I find another shoe in my face.

I scooted further under my car, finding the gas tank. There was a patch that I had made myself when a guy decided to take my gas one day by poking a hole in the gas tank and letting it all drain out. The patch itself was made of many layers of duct tape since I didn't want to remove the previous layer, thinking it might lead to the destruction of my beloved car. I pulled all of the layers off, and to my horror, pure, clean water came dribbling out.

My first reaction was screaming in agony. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" I shouted, pounding my fist on the warm concrete. My second was my memory automatically going back to the jocks that hung around the parking lot after practice. It had to be them! No one else had been there besides band kids, and they know better than to mess with my car.

"Um… Are you okay?" I heard the Higurashi girl ask tentatively from a safe distance. Her voice scared me, (I had forgotten she was there) so, naturally, my arms locked underneath me, making my back and head clash violently with the underside of the car. The rather sharp underside of the car. Cursing even more, I got out from underneath and dusted myself off. She was still standing there, a little scared, but also concerned. That was funny… Why is she worried…?

"What's wrong…?" she asked softly as I struggled to my feet. I mumbled something that was supposed to be "nothing" but she didn't quite catch it from what I could tell. She shifted from one foot to the other, and asked again, "What's wrong?"

I sighed. I didn't want to blow up at her again, that would make me feel guilty, (I hate yelling at girls. They cry if you do.) so I decided that telling her what I figured happened would work. Besides, it would kill time before I had to get my tent out and camp out beside my car. "There's water in my gas tank, so now I get to let it drain and walk the twenty miles back home. So…" I then got my stuff back out of my car, "Ja."

She didn't seem to want me to leave. "Wait!" she cried, earning an irritated growl from me. "Don't leave yet," she said softly. At my raised eyebrow, she scrambled for an excuse. "My mom can give you a ride back, if you want."

I considered it. Not having to walk twenty miles on a Friday night through the streets seemed very appealing. But then I would have to ride it with the Higurashi girl and her mother, and that made me want to retch. After a moment of consideration, I shook my head. "No, thanks, I'll walk. I could use the exercise anyway," I grumbled, and began to walk out of the parking lot.

But that was when the SUV from Hell came swerving into the parking lot at a faster speed than I had ever pulled. I gasped and flung myself to the ground, hoping to escape the driver. I then felt something hard collide with the side of my head, and then the rest of my body caught up and landed roughly against the concrete. My head was throbbing, and I saw black dots swirl around in my vision. I heard the Higurashi girl scream something, but my mind was too dazed to figure it out.

I then heard the SUV door open and close (which felt more like a bullet being drilled into my head) and then another woman's voice began to speak to me, and I figured it was the Higurashi girl's mother.

To my amazement, I understood her. "Oh my goodness," she cried while running over to me. "Are you alright?" she asked, grabbing a hold of my shoulders and shaking violently. "Are you okay??"

At this point, I was on the verge of either punching her for making my growing migraine worse, or just passing out to relieve myself from the misery for a while. The Higurashi girl must have realized this because she then took her mother by the shoulders and began to talk softly to her.

I opened my eyes a little and found that I had been holding my head. (Through all the madness, I couldn't tell) I put both scraped hands on the cool concrete and tried to get myself up, but apparently, my legs wouldn't function and down I went. The Higurashi girl's mother saw this and went back to my aide.

The woman got a hold of my head and then pressed slightly on where I hit my head on the bumper. "Oh dear, what a nasty knot! You're not bleeding are you?" She checked my scalp for any signs of blood. At the sight of a little, she began to wail again. "I am so sorry, young man! I just didn't see you there, oh dear…!" She then began to try and stop what bleeding was going on my scalp. It was then that she tried to lead me to her car.

"Come on dear, we'll take care of that knot for you," she said while forcing me near the SUV from Hell. I put my feet on the ground and resisted her, but she was a strong woman and kept pushing me. Then the Higurashi girl came to my aide.

"Mom, it's okay, he's fine." She then took a look at me, one of genuine concern. "You are, aren't you? My mom didn't hurt you, did she?"

To the dismay of my migraine, I shook my head vigorously. I thought that if I did, her mother would let me go. Instead, she held onto me even tighter than before, and I wondered about the circulation to my upper torso.

"Let me help you stand up, dear," she said while clutching to me. My knees were still weak from the impact of me crashing my head into the bumper of my car, so, when she let go of me, I fell. I landed on my stomach, which knocked the wind out of me. The Higurashi girl's mother tried to help me up, but I rolled away from her, trying to convince her that I was fine.

The Higurashi girl then helped me up, more gently than her mother. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked me softly, and I took myself from her grip.

"I'm fine," I replied callously. I began to walk to my car, about to drive off. "I think I'll leave now…"

But the Higurashi girl didn't hear me. "Mom, can he have a ride home?"

Red alerts began to go off in my head. I was sincerely afraid of riding in the same car as the elder Higurashi, so I refused. "I don't need it!" I shouted loudly, to which the girl scoffed.

"You said you have water in your tank," she replied in a confused manner.

"You have water in your tank?" the girl's mother asked me, completely befuddled of how I would have water in my tank.

I was getting caught in a trap. I had to get out. "Yes I do, but-"

"We need to take you home!" the woman declared and went back to her still running car.

"I don't need it!" I yelled. "I'll walk!"

The Higurashi girl turned back to me still confused. "You said it was twenty miles to your house," she stated, which sent off her mother.

"Walk twenty miles home this late at night? No siree, you are coming with us!" the woman declared again, getting into the driver's seat. She looked to me expectantly, but I didn't budge.

I knew she wasn't going to let off, (curse those maternal instincts) so I tried a last ditch effort to get her off my back. "Ma'am, I appreciate your offer, but I really-"

"Get in the car," she growled, giving me a stern look.

I quickly broke my stubbornness. "Yes, Ma'am," I replied softly. I went to my car and grabbed all of my stuff and put it in the SUV, and then climbed into the backseat, where another child was sitting, sleeping.

At my confused expression, the Higurashi girl looked at me through the rear-view mirror. "That's Sota, my little brother," she stated, to which I nodded and put my seat belt on. I had a queer feeling that I would be seeing him more often, so I stored the name in my mental filing cabinet.

----

For the next half-hour, I directed Higurashi-san to my apartment complex. She kept on trying to ask me if I needed a ride from her back to school in the morning, but I kept changing the subject. Frankly, I hadn't thought about it. Only when she had brought it up had I deducted that I would need a ride back to school as well.

As we were going down a street about four city blocks away from my apartment, I thought about the ride issue. I hated the whole idea of it, since I had been taking care of my transportation ever since I really needed any. I couldn't ask Miroku, he had a small firebird and already had a passenger every morning. He had to take his younger sister, Koharu, an eleven-year old to school every morning. I couldn't ask Sango, she also had a small vehicle and a younger sibling in elementary school. Domoru lives way out in the country, and I couldn't ask Takegawa-san. Other than those four, however, there was no one to turn to.

I frowned and then directed Higurashi-san to the final street, where my apartment was. I looked through the windshield and saw a rather disturbing sight.

The landowner was out on the curb, singing. He had something on the ground near him, which turned out to be cardboard boxes. I squinted, and saw my table, my Lazy Boy chair, and all of my other stuff out with him as well. Higurashi-san parked the car, and the moment she stopped, I ran out to my landowner.

"What… What's going on?!" I cried, pointing to all of my stuff out on the curb. He turned to me with the biggest smile I had ever seen on him.

"HAHA!!" he cried, pushing his open sake bottle into the air triumphantly, "Your old manager called and said you were FIRED!! So now I can kick you out, 'cause you have no income!!!" He laughed again, and realization slowly dawned on me.

I was now homeless.

I almost sank to my knees when the doors to the SUV behind me opened and closed. I heard Higurashi-san ask, "What's going on?"

My landlord, or should I say the drunken bum next to me, replied her before I opened my mouth. It seemed to me that he rather liked my leaving.

"HAHA!!" he cried. "I don't have to put up with him anymore!! HAHA!! HE'S LEAVING!!! GONE!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" With that, he took another gulp of his sake, and Higurashi-san approached him with an angry look.

"You shouldn't be drinking in front of them, sir." When she saw that all she would get for a response was drunken laughter, she turned to me, concern written all over her face. "Where are your parents? Maybe I can drop you off at their house?"

For a moment, I couldn't decide what to say. If I told her my parents were dead, I figured she'd freak out and try to console me, even though it happened in my early childhood. I also wanted to know why she was so damn concerned. It was actually beginning to bother me, but I daren't say it.

"Uh…" I said intelligently, "They're dead, miss."

I knew it. She clasped her hands over her mouth and gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry… I didn't know…!" I half-smiled and told her it was quite alright, they died a long time ago, but that set her off even more. "How in the world have you been taking care of yourself?!" she cried, to which I gulped.

Before I could say anything, she grabbed my arm and began to feel it. "I thought you were skinny for your age!" She then turned angrily to the landowner and cried, "And YOU! How dare you throw an orphan out into the street like that!!"

But the landowner paid no heed to Higurashi-san's wrath. "I'M RID OF HIM!! HE'S GONE!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!" Suddenly, he finally saw that I was there. "MAYBE NOW THEY'LL SHIP YOU BACK TO AMERICA!!"

I glared, but did not move. Sighing, I slowly took my boxed stuff and began to walk off with it. Higurashi-san took me by my shoulder and turned me around to face me. "Where are you going?" she asked, again with concern.

I sighed and replied, "Well, I'm moving. I can't live here anymore now that I have no steady income. Besides, there's a lovely dumpster over by the motel a few blocks over. I think I'll go there…"

Suddenly, my box was lifted right out of my arms by Higurashi-san and then put into her SUV. I stood there blinking, not really knowing what to do. She then began to pack all of my other boxed things into the SUV, and I ran to her.

"Wh-What are you doing?" I asked, a little angry and nervous. After all, a complete stranger was taking my stuff and putting it into her car. She kept on packing, occasionally asking her daughter to help her with the heavy things.

"I'm taking you in, dear," she said calmly, still working on packing my stuff. "There's no way I'm going to let a boy like you just go and live behind a dumpster for the rest of your life. Now get in the car. It's late and you and Kagome need your rest for tomorrow."

I stood there, my mouth agape. After a moment, the Higurashi girl came and took my arm, leading me back to the SUV. When I got to the door, I took my arm away, and began to yell.

"Stop it!" I commanded of the Higurashi girl, to which she obliged. "I'm not going with you! I'm not taking charity!! So just go away and give me back my stuff!!"

Then, of all the things that the Higurashi could have done, she did the worst. She smiled softly, and then said, "It's not charity. Mom's worried about you. You might as well give in now… She's really bull-headed about these things."

My mouth sputtered a while, but the Higurashi girl just kept smiling and pushed me back into the SUV. Her mother kept on packing my stuff into the car, and when she was done, she wiped her hands and then drove us back to the Higurashi Shrine, my new home, it would seem.

On the ride there, in between grabbing the sides of the car for my life and screaming when we almost hit a bus, I thought about my situation. Why would they care so much? It would be easier to let me go and live with the other hobos… so why were they taking me in? I was just going to be another mouth to feed… My mind just couldn't grasp the thought of actually WANTING me with them, WANTING me to be safe and happy. I narrowed my eyes and knew that something had to be going on, some kind of catch. When I looked up to the Higurashi girl to see if my suspicions were correct, all I got was a tired but happy smile.

I sighed and put my chin in my hand and thought. It seemed that my ingenious plan would have to wait…

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Vocabulary

Chair system- A ranking system in band. The best player in the section is 1st chair, the second best player 2nd chair, and so on. Percussion doesn't really have one, percussionists usually go by what one plays, like a hierarchy. For example, the snares, then the tenors, then the bases. In the pit, (where all of the keyboards are) it usually goes marimba, timpani, xylophone, vibes, and then accessories.

Drum captain- The "leader" of the whole percussion section. The drum captain usually plays snare, but it isn't always the case. I've heard of some drum captains being tenor players or even base players.

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Squishy died just now. I just buried him. I… I've been crying for about twenty minutes… He was my first pet ever… I've had him since a week after my birthday, (which was in late January) and I loved that fish. Damn, I can barely make out the letters on my computer screen. I'm going to start crying again… Squishy….

Oh… I am making a mailing thing… It's for telling you when or what I'm updating just so you know. If you want to be a part of it, then let me know…

Ja