Wish I Were You

Sakura's Note: This took forever. I really want to ditch school and write a nice set of updates for all of you. Instead, I'm writing this story's chapters all simultaneously. This way, whenever an idea strikes I can just plug it in and sooner rather than three months later, chapters will come flowing out. Until the next update, happy end-of-summer everyone!

.-..-.

Chapter 12: Battle Scars

.-..-.

Rubbing her tired eyes, Midoriko scanned the hallway for any witnesses that could destroy her reputation as a tireless workaholic. Nothing she did distracted her from the morning's events…

Naraku had yet to return to Urashi after his bizarrely protective behavior. Despite their years of working together, Midoriko had yet to figure Naraku out. Was he capable of committing murder or was he just out there…drinking tea?

Luckily, Higurashi had been out at business meetings all day, so she didn't need to invent an excuse for why Naraku was MIA.

Leaning against a wall, Midoriko took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves.

At that moment, Naraku turned the corner, looking all business as usual. Noticing Midoriko, he frowned vaguely and asked, "What are you doing?"

Midoriko jumped, taking in the sight of him. There were no signs of him being involved in the killing of a man… "Where have you been!" She demanded angrily.

"I thought you knew." He said calmly.

The two stared at one another in silence. Midoriko sighed, briefly holding the bridge of her nose. "Don't tell me…do not tell me that you killed him."

Naraku looked at her oddly, possibly trying to choose his words. "Then I won't." Maybe he wasn't trying to choose; maybe he just wanted to give her a heart attack. He pushed for the elevator and waited calmly.

"I won't cover up for you!" Midoriko informed sharply. "You will have to deal with what you did on your own."

Naraku gave her an odd look as the elevator doors opened. "Alright."

.-..-.

Kouga glared daggers. "What the hell was that for!" The entire area around his right eye was red and nearly swollen shut.

Ayame's head whipped around. "What was that for? Did you suffer short term memory loss since lunch?"

"What are you talking about?" Kouga barked back. "Don't tell me you think I should know what made you turn into some kind of Amazon!"

Inuyasha watched the two with only slight amusement as the four trekked down the hall. Their bickering wasn't helping his head at all… The fight was pointless anyway.

It was easy to see why Kouga was mad at Ayame; she'd thrown a ball at his face.

But, Kouga was an idiot. It wasn't a big surprise that he had no idea that he'd done something stupid. After hanging around him since fifth grade, it was hard for Inuyasha to believe Ayame hadn't realized that by now.

A tissue appeared in front of his face, courtesy of his own Amazonian psychopath.

"Keh!" Inuyasha would have snorted except for the fear of his nose exploding. "Little good this'll do!" Grabbing it anyway, Inuyasha glowered at her. "You could have broken my nose!"

"It was just a game, Inuyasha. You two were just trying to see who was better-"

"I'm better!" Both guys interjected.

"-and ended up playing dirty. Just because I decided to return the favor didn't mean I meant to make your nose erupt."

"I bet you didn't." He threw open the door of the nurse's office, stomping on in without holding it open.

.-..-.

"I told you I was sorry!" Kagome's eyes followed him around the kitchen as he pulled out a slab of defrosting meat, slapping it on his eye. Making a feeble attempt at forgiveness, Kagome offered, "Look at the bright side: your nose isn't broken."

Inuyasha glowered, stabbing a finger at her. "I'm not talking to you!" He stomped into the living room with the frozen lamb chop plastered to his face, collapsed onto the couch, and muttered under his breath. "So this is what it feels like to be cursed…Who'dve thunk it?"

Readjusting her backpack over her shoulder, Kagome trudged up the stairs. There was no point staying downstairs if all Inuyasha would do is pout. It would only bring her mood down.

Yet, when she reached her bedroom, what was left of her happy first-day-of-school high was already gone.

Kagome blew the hair out of her face and dragged her backpack back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"America's government is one of democracy…and…paper pushers? No, no…" Somebody on the television screamed, sending her thoughts helter-skelter. Kagome erased the last few words in her notebook and started over.

The television chased her thoughts out, pushing its subliminal product messages in. "Inuyasha, could you please turn down the volume?"

"Next on Extreme Freak Accidents – a man sitting in a Sani-John is hit by lightening!"

Inuyasha looked over the back of the loveseat at her blankly, following up his eerie stare with lowering the volume down from 30 to 29.

Kagome gritted her teeth, "Thanks."

"No problem."

Looking up in surprise, Kagome gave him a peculiar stare. "Does this mean you're talking to me again?"

"It means whatever you think it means." He replied cryptically.

With a deep breath, Inuyasha reclined back into the cushions, and refocused on the program. Maybe now his conscience would let him enjoy the show…

"What's so fascinating about watching people trapped by the inescapable jaws of death?"

Inuyasha continued to stare listlessly at the moving picture box in front of him. "They're not inescapable." He countered defiantly. He slanted her a curious look when she didn't respond. "What happened to your homework?"

"This isn't going to end for another forty-five minutes, right?"

Inuyasha nodded – she obviously didn't catch his hint.

"Ok, so I'm taking a break." Kagome shrugged as she curled up on the sofa to watch a baby seal violently attack a man.

"This ain't the only room in the house, you know." Inuyasha pointed out tersely. "You have a room, use it."

Kagome didn't look at him, instead focusing abnormally hard on the television. "It's too isolated up there." She replied defensively.

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you got lonely." He mocked.

The heiress remained silent.

Inuyasha looked over at her questioningly before resuming his television-induced coma. Homework could wait thirty more minutes.

.-..-.

"I heard Naraku's back." Eri supplied, "And that him and Midoriko had a big argument when she saw him."

Sango looked over her shoulder, absent-mindedly hanging up a suede jacket. "Do you know why he disappeared in the first place?"

Eri shook her head, "No one does. It must be juicy stuff if it's this under wraps."

Nodding, Sango came to sit next to her. "Something shady is going on around here. Naraku is up to something."

Both girls looked around in unison at the sound of a telephone.

Eri tossed a few shirts around, "Who'd be calling?"

Sango searched around for the phone, uncovering it from a mountain of skirts and blouses. "Hello?"

"Hell-o, my sweet and tangy-"

"Miroku, how did you get this number?"

"Have you forgotten that the girl who owns this number lives right next door to me?"

Sango fell back into a sea of new clothes. "Silly me."

Eri eyed the temporary heiress with a cheesy grin. "Sango! Why didn't you tell me you have a boyfriend?" What a perceptive girl Eri was.

"Boyfriend?" Sango could hear the grin in his voice. "Is there a change in status that I'm not aware of?"

"No." Sango drawled sternly, giving Eri the eye. "We're still just partners in crime."

"Oh. Well now that you've thrown me off Cloud 9…" Miroku sighed and an awkward pause ensued.

"How's the good life treating you?"

"Huh? Oh! It's really different."

"How so?"

"I just went shopping…and spent over one thousand dollars."

"…you're such a girl, Sango."

"Last time I checked."

"I should make you do laps for this." Getting up and shuffling over to the elevator, Eri punched the down button. "But I won't. I expect the juicy details when I get back. I'm off to snoop, be back in an hour or so."

Giggling, Sango waved her friend goodbye. "Good luck."

"Hey, you didn't happen to stop by Victoria's Secret while out on your little shopping escapade, did you?"

Ah, he sounded so hopeful...

"Pervert."

"Sango, that's just mean. We haven't spoken in three days! You should be high on happiness right now!"

"I am." Sango admitted, biting back her smile. "So, what are the goings down there?"

She heard a long, drawn out sigh. "It's a saga."

"Cliff notes version?"

"Yash and Kagome aren't getting along as well as I hoped they would...He seems to think that she's Cruella De Ville or something. Then again, Inuyasha has a knack for bringing out the worst in people. Other than that, same old same old, for the sake of time. What about over there?"

"Um…I was temporarily rendered helpless by intoxication?"

"What! What do you mean you got drunk?"

Sango slumped. "I didn't just grab up a bottle of Vodka if that's what you're thinking." Sango huffed, "This jerk off reporter spiked my soda at the party last night."

"Someone spiked your- what's his name? I'll kill him, I swear-"

"Miroku-"

"I'll slam his head in a car door and – are you okay?"

"Yes, I am. I just got a hang over this morning."

"Oh, I'll kill him!"

.-..-.

When morning came, Kagome was the only one that wasn't aware of it.

"Yo, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha lazily shuffled into the room, eyes heavy and hair still tousled, coming to a stop only because otherwise he'd ram into the cat food. "Is today Friday?"

Continuing to read the newspaper, Sesshoumaru dully replied. "No."

"Damn." Falling into a seat, Inuyasha reached for the orange juice. "The world's a cruel, cruel place."

"Test today?"

Inuyasha nodded solemnly, almost falling into his semi-soggy cereal.

"You only just remembered this morning." Sesshoumaru turned the page of the newspaper.

Another nod.

Sesshoumaru sighed. "You're hopeless."

Kohaku sleepily wandered into the room a moment later wearing an equally sleepy kitty on his head. "Mornin'."

"Morning." The older Dawson's chorused.

Waking up a bit, Kohaku looked around the room. "Hey, where's Kagome?"

"Probably still drooling on her pillow." Inuyasha muttered, grimacing at the mushy cornflakes in his mouth.

Kirara jumped off Kohaku's head to her bowl and happily began munching away, happy in her own little world.

"Shouldn't we wake her up?"

Inuyasha scoffed. "No."

Rolling his eyes, Kohaku grabbed up the cereal box and poured himself a bowl. "I'll get her."

Sesshoumaru watched over the top of his newspaper as his youngest brother left the room. "I suppose you'd rather she miss school."

"I've got to get ready." Drinking the milk out of his bowl, Inuyasha grabbed a piece of toast and left before Sesshoumaru could finish reprimanding him.

.-..-.

"The wonderful thing it does. Because, because, I'm the wonderful wizard ooh's and ah's and fa la la's. Yeah the Mister A to Z…"

Inuyasha looked over at the morning person beside him. "Miroku, are you sure you should be operating heavy machinery?"

"Come on, Yash, today's a good day!" Miroku insisted, "I can feel it."

"Keh. What's so good about it?"

"You're talking to me again." Kagome supplied, leaning up between the two guys.

"Only because you had the cereal bars." Inuyasha said sourly, biting said bar.

"Whatever." Kagome sat back in her seat. "I know you're happy that you don't have to gnash your teeth all day."

Inuyasha sputtered, "What? I don't gnash my teeth!"

Miroku sucked air in through his teeth, "Well, Yash, you kinda do…"

"Shut up!"

.-..-.

Kouga raised his sunglasses above his brow and surveyed the parking lot. "She isn't here."

Hakkaku pulled up beside Kouga's black Honda, "Hey! Kouga! Whoa, that's the biggest black eye I've ever seen! Is that from Ayame?" He peered at the bruise in morbid fascination.

A growl-like sound coming from his throat, Kouga pushed Hakkaku back. "Yeah, it is."

"So, um…does it hurt?"

Kouga regarded Hakkaku with an evil eye. "What do you think?"

"Kouga, your voice is gettin' pretty low there…"

"Whatever." The junior slung his army-green bag over his shoulder, letting his sunglasses drop back over his eyes, and headed across the bus lot. "Help me find Kagome."

Hakkaku bit back a yawn. "I didn't see Miroku's car in his spot. Besides, shouldn't we look for Ayame? I mean, if you didn't bring Ayame and I didn't bring Ayame…who did?"

"Probably Ginta."

"His car's in the shop."

"Then Cain-"

"Grounded."

Kouga slanted his friend a concerned look. "Dan?"

Hakkaku shook his head.

"Then where is she? She better not have ditched without us!"

"Hey guys." Ayame popped out of nowhere. "What's up?"

Kouga raised an eyebrow. "How'd you get here?"

"I got a ride." Ayame shrugged nonchalantly, "What's that look for? Speaking of looks, why do you look like you're in the witness protection program?"

A bus drove past them, drowning out Kouga's colorful expletives. "I'm gonna find Kagome." Shooting Ayame a peeved look, Kouga turned on his heel, grabbing Hakkaku by the collar. "I've got an invite to offer."