Chapter 6
The Game of Dodgeball

"Are you SERIOUS?"
"Dead serious."
"Uh...Kagome?" Sango looked to her right at her friend for confirmation if what Miroku just said was for real. Kagome just stared at Miroku wide eyed, mouth slightly hanging open.
"This is news to me too, Sango," Kagome said as she sipped at her soda. The three of them sat in a booth by the window in the fast food joint, WacDonald's. Kagome and Sango sat by each other across from Miroku, the mostly eaten food of burgers and fries in front of them.
"Where did you hear this?" Kagome asked as she and Sango shared their fries.
"Yoki told me in Geometry. Obviously, Koga asked Kagura out on a date..."
"I got that part but I'm trying to understand it," Kagome said as she shook her head slightly before looking around at the area. It was considerably busy, mostly of students from high school that Kagome would recognize from passing by in the hallway or were in her classes. Music played from the entertainment system across from them and Kagome instantly recognized the song as one of her favorites; it was "Grip!" by Every Little Thing.

Wake up right now
Soon we seem to be surrounded
By the REAL world choking us
Your important person...is who?
In the luxury world, shards of eternity are appearing and disappearing
Touch and seize it, now let's precisely walk this way

"Without regret" we advanced to our detination
Will we laugh? Will we cry? Will we be happy? Will we be unhappy?
Afterall now, yet I still don't understand
In the future you start to change; don't falter
That's life's essence

"Such an odd couple," Sango added and Kagome had to agree. Kagura, a junior just like them, was a straight A student, training to be a geisha, the middle child of one of the richest men in Tokyo, and the sister to senior Naraku...
Koga was a D average student, a jerk/bully, heartbreaker to any girl he dated, a slacker, and almost always in trouble with the Headmaster. The two of them were such an unlikely couple and the thought of them ever dating made Kagome laugh.
"Well, maybe if you think about it, maybe it's possible," Miroku started that Kagome and Sango stared incredulously at him. "I mean, b-both of them do sorta run in the same crowd and...that's about it."
"Well, all I can tell Kagura is good luck," Kagome said as she took a bite out of her burger and swallowing, continued. "I mean, how long can they possibly last if they do become a couple, a day?"
"And don't forget that Naraku is her older brother," Sango pointed and hearing this, Kagome just shuddered. Naraku made her glad that she didn't have any older brothers, especially ones like him. Sometimes, from the way she saw him treat Kagura, Kagome felt sympathy for Kagura and couldn't understand how Kagura ever dealt with it.
"Really, I'll be amazed if Naraku doesn't kill Koga when he finds out that he asked out his little sister without consulting it with him first," Kagome said.
"Hmm..." Miroku nodded in agreement when his attention was brought to three girls standing in front of their table. Kagome looked up and felt her spirit drop a bit.
"Hello, Ayumi. Yuka and Eri," She said quietly and looked away upon seeing their faces, knowing they were most likely still upset from her outburst at them.
"Kagome," The girls said in trio, casting knowing glances at Miroku and Sango before looking back at Kagome.
"We just wanted to say that we heard about you defending that new boy, Inuyasha from Koga this afternoon," Eri started and Kagome put a hand over her face, away from her friends. Was that all they ever cared about, gossip? It seemed that way. "And...well, honestly, we don't get why. If he was foolish enough to try and fight somebody like Koga, he's apparently no good."
"Why waste your time? He'll probably turn out to be exactly like Koga," Yuka commented, folding her arms across her chest. Kagome shook her head and looking back at her friends, glared angrily.
"And why do you care if I did stand up for Inuyasha? I mean, what business is it yours what I do?" The three girls were taken aback by this remark.
"Cause we're your friends, Kagome," Ayumi said, sounding almost hurt that Kagome would say otherwise.
"If you're my friends, why weren't you nice enough to say hi to my new friend Sango and give her a chance? Or-or that you think it's a life or death situation if I don't date Houjo when I've told you a million times that I don't like him and never will?" Kagome felt her face burn as the girls stared at her as though she were an alien. This couldn't be the Kagome they knew.
"We only think about what's best for you and we know for a fact that Houjo cares about you more than you'll ever know. We do care about you and are willing to forget about this morning if you just come with us to the mall. Houjo's there, waiting for you" Eri said simply, hoping that would be the end of it. No, it wasn't. They just don't get it and never will, Kagome thought furiously as she looked up at Eri with a frown.
"No..."
"NO?" The simple word was like a blow to the stomach to the girls, all three looking floored. Eri felt tears begin filling her eyes.
"I'm not going to the mall with you because I'm sitting here, enjoying a meal with my new friends Miroku and Sango and I'm not going to leave just because you want me to meet Houjo. You can go and tell him yourself," Kagome stated quietly and looked back down at the table. Miroku and Sango looked stunned at this as they stared at Kagome, both silent.
"AND YOU'RE WILLING TO JUST END OUR FRIENDSHIP BECAUSE OF THEM!" Eri said a trembling voice as she glared furiously at Sango and Miroku. Everything in her mind screamed that the two of them must've put Kagome up to it.
"Yes...Yes, I am..." Eri couldn't take anymore of this, and in tears, she covered her face with her hands and raced out of WacDonald's.
"GOD! You...You've changed Kagome!" Ayumi said tearfully and with Yuka, the two raced after their friend. Kagome didn't say anything as she looked down at the table, suddenly feeling somewhat sick. She just ended a friendship that she had, had with the three girls since 2nd grade. They always told each other that'd they stay friends forever and like that, it was over. As Kagome slowly finished her burger, Sango and Miroku sharing looks of worry for their friend, watching as tears fell from Kagome's eyes but she didn't cry, Kagome thought. She told herself that she wanted things to change. To be different than the years before. Like that, she let Eri, Ayumi and Yuka go but it felt right. They didn't seem to understand that what Kagome felt wasn't what they thought. They didn't want to believe that Kagome didn't like Houjo. They only cared about what they thought, never what Kagome thought, and that's not what friends should do. Kagome knew that if changes were to come, she had to make it happen... Even if it did meaning letting go of friends. No matter how much it hurt to do so...

Lightning flashed and thunder rolled as rain poured down onto Tokyo. The entire town was darkened by the black clouds overhead and to Kagome, as she sat in Geometry a week later (the week after she let her old friends go) it reflected how she felt. The night before, Kagome barely got any sleep, the feeling of guilt so strong that she couldn't help but cry. She could only imagine how her old friends felt but though it was wrong what Kagome did, she felt it was right at the same time. Strangely, it was like the pressure was gone and a great weight was lifted off her shoulders. Still, that didn't soothe her and that morning, waking up to pouring rain and thunder didn't make it any better. She almost considered faking being ill but decided not and was unbelievably slow getting ready. So slow that she was almost late even though she ran through the rain and was considerably wet arriving in school, even though she wore her khaki-colored rain slicker. Glancing outside the classroom windows, it was so dark that looked like night, the rain pouring down and pounding against the ground and loudly on the school roof overhead and windows. Rubbing her eyes, Kagome was exhausted as she slowly copied the notes her teacher wrote on the chalkboard, talking about the importance of congruent angles...like that mattered. All she wanted was to go home, curl up in a ball in her warm, comfy bed and go to sleep.
In the next desk over, Inuyasha copied the notes as well but as he tried to ignore the pounding of rain against the window beside him and trying to hear the teacher, his attention was to Kagome, which he thought was bizarre as he looked over at her. Normally, Kagome was the one who stared at him all period (trying not to look so obvious) but today, she wasn't. In fact, she wasn't her cheery self. Inuyasha immediately noticed this when she came up to him that morning to walk with him to history. Her face was a lot paler than normal with dark circles under her teary eyes, moping along with him rather than leading, not chattering at all but being very quiet. She looked very sickly and Inuyasha had asked her this when they went to chemistry but she merely shrugged and went on. Even though Inuyasha had only known her for a week and not that much for all he really knew was that she lived with her mom, little brother, grandfather and pet cat, it bothered Inuyasha a lot to see Kagome like this. It always seemed to bother him when any girl he knew was in a dreary mood for some reason and it was like instinct to try and make them feel better. But what could he say to make Kagome feel better? First off, he didn't know what it was that was bothering her so what good would it do to try and make her feel better if he didn't know? Plus, Inuyasha still didn't know that much of Kagome like what she was into so and didn't want to seem like a pain. All this did was make Inuyasha feel frustrated. The bell rang and it was off to last period — Gym.
Getting up, Inuyasha started to put his papers away when his attention was again brought back to Kagome. She was, like all day, slow at getting up and slowly began putting her papers away. It was becoming too much for Inuyasha and he wanted nothing more but to see her smiling or laughing or both. Anything for her to be in a good mood.
"Kagome..." Kagome looked up as Inuyasha shuffled over, holding his books. "You feeling okay?"
"I'm fine," Kagome lied, knowing perfectly well that she wasn't fine but she didn't want Inuyasha to worry. Inuyasha didn't look convinced but still, he didn't want to push her into telling him if she didn't want to. "We better get going to gym or we're going to be late." She just started to pick up her folders and book when,
"H-here." Kagome was taken aback, and a bit flattered as Inuyasha took her books and put them atop of his. "Let's go." Kagome slowly smiled as she put her purse over her shoulder and let Inuyasha lead the way.

Standing in the inside gym, the rain and thunder sounded louder than ever here as Kagome stood in-between Sango and Inuyasha as Sango chatted with Miroku. Changed into their gym clothes, Kagome leaned back into the wall as she idly tapped her foot against the ground, both her and Inuyasha looking bored, not much to talk about, the two occasionally bringing up a topic but it ended very quickly. All the students were gathered around, all talking amongst their own cliques. Within these crowds, Koga talked with his buddies, Ginta and Hakkaku who agreed with their leader. Standing a few feet away from them, against the wall across from where Kagome and Inuyasha stood, senior Kikyo and her girlfriends talked. Kikyo was one of the most popular seniors in her class. She was Class President and noted mostly for her looks by the guys. As she fixed her hair into a ponytail, her eyes focused on Inuyasha standing there. He was definitely a different one, new and one of the only guys next to Naraku and Koga who had such long hair. As Kikyo stared at him, she seemed to be drawn to him when it occurred to her. Why do I care about him? He's a junior and I'm a senior. Kikyo couldn't help but admit that she was drawn to him, and she wasn't sure why. Why? Was it the fact that she heard all about his encounter with Koga on his first day and that he was an idiot to do such a thing but at the same time, he had to have some bravery? Was it the fact that he was SO gorgeous and that his long jet-black made him stand out compared to every other guy she ever met? Kikyo wasn't sure. The students were brought to reality as the gym teacher Mr. Kado blew his whistle, a large red ball tucked under his arm. The class turned to him, half of the class on one side of the line he stood at and the other half on the other side.
"Alright, it's raining," He started as the class listened in. "All regular gym classes have been postponed, so you know what that means: DODGE BALL!" He held up the red ball and at this, Kagome and Sango shared glances of exasperation while Inuyasha and Miroku, and most of the guys looked excited. "The rules, as you all should know, are simple. You dodge." Tossing the ball to Inuyasha, Inuyasha stared at it with a grin before glancing back at Kagome who just shrugged, not even interested, like most of the girls. Koga moved his way to the front of the crowd, definitely wanting to be apart of this game even if the last time he played the game was in grammar school. Upon seeing Inuyasha, the two shared heated stares but said nothing, neither daring to start something in front of a teacher. This could be Koga's way to get back at the guy who dared to try and start something with him. Standing back from the court, Mr. Kado blew his whistle and both groups stepped back from the center line, getting ready to commence. The whistle rang again.
The game began! Inuyasha threw the ball hard and nailed his first victim and quickly moved back, dodging and getting another. The girls, Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka mostly shrieked and ducked as the balls came their way, Sango and Kagome one of the few girls involved but it seemed the guys were always so more interested than the girls. Koga caught the ball after one of the nerdy kids tried to get him out but failed. He threw it hard and nailed a kid hard in the back. He laughed as he pointed at the kid who gave him a look before walking off. Ginta and Hakkaku were involved, laughing as they got two more kids out. Miroku ran and barely missed being hit from the one jock seniors. He snatched a stray ball off the ground and pitching it hard, he cringed and stared in horror as the ball hit a girl hard in the face. The girl shrieked, clutching her nose, immediately checking her hands to see if she was bleeding. Relieved to see she wasn't, she looked around for the guy who had the nerve to do that. Spotting Miroku who was obviously the one, as his face was bright red, she glared fiercely at him and stomping over, ignoring his loud apologies, slapped him hard across the face. Miroku had a look as though he expected that and could only rub his red cheek while the girl stomped away. Inuyasha was really into this game as he literally did a somersault across the mat and bouncing up with a ball in hand, got a freshman in the stomach. The freshman let out a cry of despair and stomped off, downtrodden at being out. The miserable feeling that Kagome was feeling before seemed to slip away as she laughed at the sight of Inuyasha jumping up and down, avoiding being hit and just seeing him roll across the mat like that was HILARIOUS. Glancing back at Kagome and seeing her smile like that, Inuyasha couldn't help but smile himself before he quickly turned back to the game. Elsewhere, against the wall away from the game, Kikyo stood and watched as the freshmen, sophomore and juniors enjoyed their game when a figure approached her from the game. Upon seeing the face of the figure, Kikyo let out an exasperated sigh and looked away.
"My dear Kikyo, what are you doing her by yourself?"
"Go away, Naraku," Kikyo said, not looking at the figure in front of her. Naraku, a senior like Kikyo, was a tall, thin but built young man with straggly black hair.
"Not that's not very nice, Kikyo," Naraku said coolly, towering over Kikyo as he rested an arm against the wall, leaning in towards her but that as Kikyo slowly started inching away from him, he suddenly grabbed her wrist, hard. Real hard, that it made Kikyo gasp. "Going somewhere, Kikyo?"
"Stop it," Kikyo whispered as she tried to turn away but that only made him grasp her wrist even harder.
"We haven't talked in a long time since...well, since that party where you seemed to say we were made for each other and now you won't even look at me," Naraku said darkly, the memory obviously bitter in his mind.
"I wasn't myself that night," Kikyo said as she tried to look around Naraku but because he was so tall, there was no seeing past him.
"Say it, you were drunk," Naraku said with a smile. Before Kikyo could reply, Naraku had quite an interruption. Snatching a ball of the ground, Inuyasha declared his next target Koga. As he arched back, Koga realized it and just as Inuyasha pitched the ball at Koga, Koga ducked. The ball soared for the back of the gym...and nailed Naraku HARD in the back of the head. Naraku's head lurched forward from the impact and his face changed to anger as it sunk in that somebody just hit him. Kikyo covered her mouth, stiffling a giggle as she saw the look on his face. He sharply turned back to see what bastard had the nerve to do that and all he saw was that damn junior, Inuyasha was it? Staring guiltily back at him. Naraku gave Inuyasha the nastiest look and in his mind, he didn't care if the kid apologized — Naraku didn't like him. Luckily, class was nearly over and the kids needed time to get changed into the clothes so they could leave. Mr. Kado blew his whistle and Inuyasha quickly strode over to the boy's locker room door, avoiding a confrontation with Naraku. Naraku looked back at Kikyo who stared unemotionally at him before ducking under his arm and walked with the rest of girls. Okay, Naraku REALLY hated that kid for interrupting his talk with Kikyo. For Kikyo, she was grateful that Inuyasha distracted him.

The sky was billowing with black as Kagome walked out across the school courtyard for her home, not wearing her jacket. Because the rain seemed to stop, she leant the jacket to Sango who asked if she could borrow it. As Kagome walked at a somewhat quick pace, she glanced nervously at the sky, hoping to God that wouldn't start raining. Humming to the tune of an Every Little Thing song, she just got past Udo Boulevard when it began to pour by the buckets.
"OH, NO!" Kagome shrieked as she broke into a run, taken aback by the sudden down pour. Running faster, Kagome realized as she stared ahead that she couldn't even see where she was going because the rain was so heavy and it was most likely that she ran right past her street. Soaked to the bone already and her books dripping wet, Kagome looked around and feeling some relief, she ducked into the little roadside shrine. Shivering, Kagome groaned as she stared up at the sky. The rain looked like it wasn't going stop for a while. Here she stood, soaked and cold. Standing there, Kagome tapped her toe, looking up and down the sidewalk both ways when she noticed something coming through the rain. The figure was at first blurry but became clearer, the figure holding up an umbrella high over it's head. Squinting, Kagome tried to see who it was and seeing who it was, she wished it wasn't.
With his umbrella perched above his head and although it had a couple of little holes in it, it was a lot better than running, Inuyasha thought. As he neared the roadside shrine that he passed by everyday, he saw somebody standing inside it. Poor sap must've got caught in the rain, Inuyasha thought but as he came closer, he was surprised to see it was...
"Kagome?" He stopped in front of the shrine and stood in front of Kagome who stood there, soaking wet and looking embarrassed beyond belief.
"Hi, Inuyasha," She said meekly, not looking him in the eye but at the ground.
"What, you don't have a jacket?" Inuyasha asked as Kagome slowly looked up, her face cherry red.
"I...I lent it to Sango. I didn't think it was going to rain again, but obviously..." She looked down again.
"Idiot..." Inuyasha muttered, shaking his head, not thinking Kagome heard him but she did. Oh, she did. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha with hurt in her eyes and looked back down. Inuyasha immediately realized that she did hear him and a pang of guilt swept through him. Good thing to say to her, Inuyasha, you moron! Inuyasha scolded himself as he quickly tried to think of something to make up for Kagome. He couldn't leave her alone in this little shrine in the rain. As he looked around, trying to think, it became so obvious and he stared up at his umbrella. Yes, it was his mother's old umbrella and she'd be annoyed to hear he didn't have it when he needed it but...Kagome needed it more than he did. Lowering the umbrella, the rain pouring down onto his head. He then held out the umbrella to Kagome who looked taken aback.
"Inuyasha...?"
"Take it..." Inuyasha said quietly.
"I-I couldn't..."
"TAKE IT!" Inuyasha said loudly, his voice echoing, Kagome cringing but continued to stare. Not going to stand there any longer, Inuyasha dropped the umbrella in front of Kagome's feet and before the surprised Kagome could even say anything, he took off running. Kagome stared at the umbrella at her feet and then in the direction Inuyasha ran. As Kagome slowly picked up the umbrella, she suddenly had a different view of Inuyasha and she slowly smiled.
As Inuyasha ran up the sidewalk to his house, soaking wet, he suddenly didn't care but a grin spread across his face as he did an enormous jump over a large puddle, laughing hysterically. He felt much lighter and his spirits higher even though he just gave up his umbrella to a girl like that and was running in the rain. It was a start he supposed...

At home, changed into her pajama pants and a t-shirt, Sango was strewn across her bed as she wrote in her diary. Her cat, Kiara was curled up beside her, sleeping soundly. Writing more, she listened to the music of Dreams, the song "My Will" playing on her stereo when her phone suddenly rang. Before she could reach it, it was answered downstairs and a minute later,
"SANGO, PHONE! IT'S MIROKU!" Her mother yelled from the kitchen and reaching back to the night stand, Sango picked up her cordless phone and put it to her ear, holding it up with her shoulder as she continued writing.
"Hi, Miroku," she greeted.
"Hello, Sango. How are you?" He asked.
"Okay. What are you doing?"
"Nothing. I um...actually had a question to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Uh, Sango...I got two tickets to see that movie, uh..."Memoirs of a Geisha" and I thought that'd be a film you'd like so...I...uh...I...Sango, this is difficult for me to say but..."
"Miroku," Sango started as she sat up, holding the phone. "Are you asking me out on a date?"
"WHAT! NO!" Miroku sounded taken aback by the prospect of calling it a 'date'. "No. I think of it as... 'going as friends'...Are you okay with that?" Sango thought about of it for a moment.
"Of course, I am. We'll go, 'just as friends'," Sango said with a smile and smiled even more upon hearing Miroku's cry of joy on the other end.
"GREAT! Uh...Great! Fabulous! I'll...pick you up at 5 for the 5:30 viewing and then we can go get dinner."
"Great. I'll see you then, Miroku."
"GREAT...Okay..."
"Okay."
"Bye, Sango. See you tomorrow."
"Bye, Miroku."
"Bye."
"Bye." Sango hung up the phone and as she laid back into her pillows, she couldn't help but smile. The thought of going out...and with MIROKU! Sango smiled even more but then something occurred to her as she gently petted Kiara. Did Miroku really mean for it to be a date?

"I forgot 'cause I forgot!" Inuyasha said indignantly, sitting at the coffee table in the family room, doing his homework. Changed out of his wet uniform, he sat in a white wife beater and sweats, barefooted as his mother stood behind him, hands on her hips and looking very annoyed.
"How can you forget your umbrella when it's raining out? Or wear a jacket for that matter!" She asked, shaking her head disapprovingly at her son. He was so ridiculous sometimes. "You could've caught your death of cold! Oh, knowing you, you were probably messing around with the umbrella that you broke it!" As Izayoi went to leave, she gave her son a good smack upside his head for his stupidity. Inuyasha stared indignantly after his mother, hating when she treated him like he was still 9-years-old.
"I DID NOT!" He yelled after her and went back to his work when the doorbell rang. Looking up, he became horrified when through the curtains on the window by the door, he saw Kagome standing at the door. HOW THE HELL DOES SHE KNOW WHERE I LIVE! Inuyasha thought when he looked down, realizing what he was dressed in. Izayoi just came in from the kitchen going to the door when Inuyasha jumped to his feet and ran off into the kitchen out of sight. Izayoi stared after him in confusion but shaking her head, she wiped her soapy hands off her apron and opened the door to reveal Kagome standing there, wearing a bright turquoise jacket and in her hands, Inuyasha's red umbrella.
"Well, can I help you?" Izayoi asked, surprised.
"Yes, I'm Kagome. I go to school with Inuyasha...?"
"Oh, yes!" Izayoi chuckled, recognizing the name. "Inuyasha's told me all about you."
"Really?" Kagome blushed at this and smiled. "I just wanted to return him his umbrella and thank him." Izayoi was surprised as she took the ratty old umbrella that belonged to her son. From the kitchen, Inuyasha peered around the corner, watching the scene.
"Inuyasha's...? But why would he give you this old thing? It's full of holes..."
"It actually did me real good, ma'am. I didn't have my jacket and got caught in the rain and showed up at the right time fore me," Kagome explained. So, he does do good deeds, Izayoi thought with a chuckle. "I just hope I didn't cause him any trouble..."
"None at all. He seemed to enjoy running through the rain." The girls laughed at this as Kagome smiled at Inuyasha's mother. She seemed like a nice lady.
"Well, I better leave, I just wanted to return Inuyasha his umbrella, and please thank him for me," Kagome asked and Izayoi smiled. She really was a lovely girl.
"But of course. It was nice meeting you Kagome." Kagome bowed and smiling, pulled up her hood rushed down the path before Izayoi closed the door and put the wet umbrella by the door. Standing in the doorway, Inuyasha was too busy grinning at what just happened that he didn't notice his father coming up the basement stairs.
"Who was at the door?" Sesshoumaru Sr. asked as his son as he stretched his back.
"Nobody I know!" Inuyasha said with a grin before running out and up to his room, his father staring after him.