Now I think that all of the kinks are out. I rewrote it, so the whole weirdness with Takegawa should be out now.

Disclaimer: same as last chapters.

Into the Fray

Chapter 6

News

The ride to school was as terrifying as the night before. We almost hit two busses, a parked car, three kids and a dog. However, I was rather surprised that the two Higurashi children could take the drama so well -perhaps their nerves had been so worn down by their mother's driving, that they found this to be normal. Whether or not this was the case, I was still surprised by the fact that Mrs. Higurashi was pulling moves that even I thought to be pure suicidal.

The school day went by rather dully: in English I made fun of Bekki, I beat the crap out of a candy machine that gypped me out of a dollar, and I skipped until lunch and my math class. (I had a dire need to poke fun at my math teacher, so I went. He's bald, fat and is in the middle of a mid-life crisis, so I feel that it is my job to make it worse.)

Mr. Jorah, the fat bald man standing in front of me trying to teach a bunch of ADD-ridden upperclassmen math, turned to the dry-erase board and began writing an equation while droning on about graphs. "Now," he said in his timid, frail voice, "if we look at this particular equation, then we can figure out the kind of problems with imaginary numbers for answers…"

I raised my hand and he pointed at me, signaling to me that it was all right for me to ask my question. "Mr. Jorah," I began in a professional tone, "these equations… you're basing your whole life on them?"

Mr. Jorah looked at me anxiously. "Wh-what?"

I folded my hands on my desk. "These equations you're trying to teach us… What are they, really? These cold numbers… what do they do for you? Do they comfort you when you're lonely? Do they tell you 'welcome home' after a long day of work? How can you stand to settle your life on such cruel things?"

Mr. Jorah's hands started to shake. "Sh-shirosenshi-kun, please, d-d-do you have a q-question on the equations?"

I nodded. "Yes. Mr. Jorah, how old are you?"

The math teacher blinked and said, "F-forty-seven… but what does that have to do with-"

I tsked and shook my head. "A forty-seven year old man who tries so desperately to shape his life from the cold stone of math… Pity, really. You know, you are almost fifty -a half a century years old. What woman would want you now? How could you start to make a living now that you've already been through your prime and are dwindling down into the retirement age? If you have a child right at this moment, by the time he's our age, you'll be sixty-four. Sixty-four, Mr. Jorah! You'll be sucking the life out of your retirement funds by then, considering you already have one. Do you have a retirement plan, Mr. Jorah?"

Said teacher was now shaking so violently, I thought he was having some sort of seizure. He fell to his knees and began to bawl, crying about how he could never have a life. He could never rear a family like he'd always wanted to. He would never have a beautiful wife, no children, nothing but his crap apartment in a crowded city. I leaned back in my chair and sighed -that felt good. My work was now done.

Miroku, who had been sitting behind me, leaned up to my ear and said, "You know Inu-Yasha, that was just cruel. But funny as hell. What made you do that to him, though?"

I looked back at him and smiled. "I didn't want any math homework."

……………………

"You did WHAT to the math teacher?" the Higurashi girl exclaimed in Chemistry -a class I wasn't even aware that we had together. Probably because I was usually hanging around a manga store or practicing at this time of day. The reason I came today was that we were doing a lab with dangerous chemicals. Naturally because of the testosterone flowing through my veins, I had to have the chance of playing around with things that could kill me or disfigure me, etc. I looked up at her and nodded.

"It was pretty funny, too. After crying for half and hour on the floor, one of the teachers next door heard the noise and told him to shut up and get on with his class. She called him a pansy and a failure at life. It was great."

The Higurashi girl shook her head as she poured a tiny bit of hydrochloric acid into a test tube via eyedrop. "I don't see how you haven't been expelled yet. Or how you're passing all of your classes. With flying colors, especially."

I shrugged. "Miroku or Sango always gives me the work I missed, and notes if I need them. Besides, you're making playing hooky and reminding teachers of where they stand in life like they're bad. Have you no sense of humor?"

She gave me a glare through her oversized goggles -which were bordering on novelty. "Apparently not. Now put the water under the test tube -I don't want to get any acid anywhere."

I complied and scanned the science lab for Miroku, who was supposed to be coming with some lead shavings. I spotted him not too far away, flirting with some prep girl. I shook my head and sighed at his weak mind.

Then, the PA system came on, surprising most of us. "Attention students," the woman said, "All band students are being called into the band hall after school for a meeting. Repeat: all band students are being called into the band hall after school for a meeting."

The Higurashi girl stared up at the speaker for a moment, and then looked at me. "What's the meeting for, I wonder?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. Takegawa's probably wanting to regale us of all his stories about Las Vegas. He does that sometimes -when they're fresh in his mind."

The Higurashi girl looked shocked. "Las Vegas? I thought he was sick!"

I snorted. "Gullible woodwind. Takegawa's incapable of getting sick. He goes on his little ventures to Las Vegas with the other directors when he has a little spending money, and gets back after four or five days. He just tells the office he's sick in order to not cause a disruption among the staff members."

She looked simply astounded. "Our band director… is a gambler?"

I nodded slowly. Why was this so hard for her to grasp? "Yes. Now pour the acid into the water. I want to see if it blows up."

………………………..

After school, all of the band people shuffled into the band hall as they were told. I myself took my place with Miroku, Domoru and Sango near the front. Takegawa, in all his pudgy, near-bald glory, sat upon a chair on the podium. He was waiting for us to all settle down so he could talk. I smirked when I saw his leg bouncing up and down a mile a minute. He never could sit still.

"Is everyone here?" he asked in a bored tone. When the majority of the band replied with a monotonous "yes", he continued. "All right. I would have gotten you here after practice when I got back, but I forgot. I brought you all here to give you some news about things. First of all, I hope none of you put the subs through too much hell." He then gave a not-so-discreet look at me, to which I smiled. He turned his gaze back to the bulk of the band.

"Secondly, and the main cause, is that I wish to talk about a trip that we're going to be taking. A few actually. This is not the only experimental school, as most of you know. There are four others, one in Osaka, two in Kyoto, and finally, another right here in Tokyo. Because of this, the Board of Education and Fine Arts has decided to put a little competition between the five of us. This competition will be held in two weeks and in Kyoto."

All of us looked to each other in surprise. We had figured we were only the half-time show for the football drunkards and to give the cheerleaders a break. I smiled to myself. I had read that American bands did this as well -have marching competitions. I didn't think we would get to participate in one as well!

Takegawa pounded a nearby stick on his stand, which shut everyone up pretty quickly. "Two weeks and we have our first competition. This means we'll have to work hard in order to not embarrass ourselves in front of half of Japan. We'll have to buck down and practice more. And also, there's another trip scheduled for a month from now. Since America found out that we have bands over here, they've decided that a little global competition would be fun. Their finest against the five of us. That includes the bands we've been studying -the Colony, L.D. Bell, Westfield, Winston Churchill -all of them. They're titans in marching band. And I'll be damned before I let them embarrass us."

A flute girl raised her hand. "Um… so where will this competition be taking place?"

Takegawa gave her a look and then replied, "San Antonio, Texas. We'll be performing in the Alamodome. I really don't mind, though. I hear they have a Sea World there." He leaned back further in his chair. "Now, because we'll have to be flying, this trip will cost quite a bit. I'll be sending out bill to each of your families. You also need to have a room list consisting of four people since you'll be staying in a hotel room. Get them done before next week. You're dismissed."

Miroku smiled. "Great! I didn't think we'd be going to a marching festival this soon!" he proclaimed. "I can't wait to whoop on all of those American bands! Oh, this'll be great!"

Sango fingered her little black purse. "Yes… I'm sure it will. Though I don't think we have very much reason to be so cocky, Miroku. These Americans have been doing this far longer than we have. We're probably getting ourselves into a setup for failure."

Miroku waved that idea away with his hand. "Sango, you're much too pessimistic. Even though a mouse lives in a house for many years dodging cats doesn't mean he still can't be caught. Even if we do poorly, we'll at least get to go to Sea World and Six Flags. That's good, right?"

I rolled my eyes. "I hardly think you'll be looking forward to that, Miroku. The chance to see pretty girls walking around in their slutty clothes… That's the show you want to see."

Miroku nodded. "Oh yes…"

"Shirosenshi!" I heard. I turned to see Takegawa standing at his door, looking at me. "I need to see you for a moment."

……………………..

"Yes sir?" I asked as I shut the black door to his office. He was sitting in his chair, facing his computer to his right. He turned to me and gave me a bill, which had my balance on it. The number for my balance was $2479. My heart stuttered.

"Will you be able to pay?" he asked in a serious tone. "You know I would be more than happy to help."

I grimaced. How embarrassing. "No…It's all right."

He cocked his head. "I heard from your landowner that you had moved out. He said it quite gleefully, actually. Where are you staying? You have a home, right? You're not out in the streets…"

I laughed nervously and shook my head. "God, no. I'm… staying with the Higurashi family. They took me in."

Takegawa's eyebrow inclined. "The Higurashi's? You mean… Kagome… Higurashi? You're staying with her family?"

My eyes wandered the room. "Yes…" I replied in an unsure manner.

Both of his eyebrows went up, and I suddenly knew what he was thinking. "No!" I shouted as I felt my face turn red, "It's not like that! I don't like her like that! Hell, I don't even like her at all!"

The eyebrows remained up, and he started laughing. "Uh-huh. Sure you don't."

By this time, I knew my face was beet red. I tried to scrape up some kind of comeback, but looking at Takegawa's laughing eyes and face, I couldn't. All the sound that came out of my mouth was a few mangled, incomplete words and sentences. Takegawa laughed again at my miserable attempt at a barb and then said, "All right, lover-boy. You can go ahead and go, and take your bill to Mrs. Higurashi. Good day."

I snatched my bill and then stormed out of his office. How dare he even think that I could be attracted to a girl like Kagome. Bleh! Talk about a nag fest. And she has no sense of humor! I told myself. No, she wasn't my type.

Thank God for that.

……………………………..

Woo! ANOTHER chapter! Wow, this is simply amazing! I think I may be getting into a roll! Woo!

Ja!