Author's Note: Not much to say this time. Thank you to Aia Chan, who gave me information about the stylus! I didn't know any of the things that you told me. Thanks so much for your input!

Aside from that, I love you guys! Thanks SO MUCH for all the reviews! We hit 200! We surpassed it! You're all the best. :D

Chapter 10: The Vengeance

"Hey, wait up!" Miroku called after Sango, who had ran ahead ofhim after seeing Inuyasha and Kagome sitting under the tree, waiting for them. It was Tuesday morning; the 'big day', as they were calling it, when Kikyou would receive the silent treatment from each and every person in the school. At least, that was the plan; but they thought that Arik would know what he was doing. The only thing that they could do was sit and wait for Kikyou to arrive, and observe the school's reaction.

"Good morning," Miroku said to Inuyasha and Kagome, who had been chatting about whatever. They both smiled up at him.

"Morning, Miroku," Kagome replied.

"Is she here yet?" Sango asked, obviously referring to Kikyou. Both Inuyasha and Kagome shook their heads in response. "Aww...I was hoping to have some fun before school started."

"It'll probably be better at lunchtime," Inuyasha noted. "When she's frustrated with being ignored all through the morning. We might want to eat in the cafeteria, just to see what she does."

"That's a good idea," Kagome agreed. "I wonder what she'll do by the end of the day; how far she'll go to get her revenge on Arik."

"It would be funny if she tried to get revenge on the entire school," Sango said, smiling. "I mean, what would she do, hire a hitman to take Arik hostage?"

"That would be hilarious," Miroku agreed, "but it would be more convenient to blackmail someone for an embarrassing baby picture of him and put it up on all the lockers."

"Nah, it's been done too many times," Inuyasha mused. "She's more the person to make someone afraid for their physical health. I'd say she's more likely to start a fire somewhere. Or maybe set off a minor explosive in the cafeteria."

"Cherry bombs down the toilets?" Kagome suggested.

"Nope, too common," Inuyasha said. "She likes doing stuff that's original. Maybe finding out where everybody in the school lives and writing threats on their bedroom walls?"

"That -does- sound like something she'd do," Sango said. She flopped over onto her back to stare up at the clouds and Miroku poked her stomach. She glared at him before saying, "Maybe she could hire professional jet flyers to do a flyby of the school and write out something threatening. Her father has money, I've heard."

"Yeah, her whole family's rich," Inuyasha nodded. "I've been to her house."

"Ah, of course, Mr. Popular," Kagome teased, poking his ears.

"You're never going to get tired of my dog ears, are you, Kagome?" he asked. She grinned widely and shook her head. He groaned and leaned against the bark of the tree. "Well, whatever Kikyou does, it's going to be big."

"That's for sure," Miroku agreed.

Apparently, Arik had done his job perfectly. When Kikyou walked into Cameron Drake High School 5 minutes before class was scheduled to start, nobody took any notice. When she tried to talk with Rhia, her closest 'friend', the other girl ignored her completely. Throughout first period her face grew progressively redder, and by lunchtime she looked as if she was going to explode. Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku sat together in one of the more secluded cafeteria tables so that they could watch the action without looking suspicious.

Kikyou was late for lunch; she was probably planning to make an entrance. When she finally stormed into the cafeteria, it was impossible -not- to notice her; she opened the metal doors with such force that they slammed against the walls extremely loudly, and bore an expression on her face that could cause a rhinoceros to drop dead if looks could kill. Fortunately, the whole cafeteria did a spectacular job of covering up their surprise, placing over their faces an impenetrable mask of ignorance. The four friends had to try their hardest to conceal their laughter; Kikyou looked like a large tomato.

"I can't believe the expression on her face," Miroku whispered. "I guess this punishment is really getting to her."

"Great idea, Inuyasha," Sango congratulated. "I could never have thought of this. And who would have thought that it would work so well?"

"She's so used to having people fall head over heels to help her," Kagome said. "To have everybody ignoring her must hurt so much."

They had more difficulty controlling their laughter when Kikyou mechanically picked up a tray and loaded it with cafeteria food, moving over to the table that was characteristically hers.

"Hey, Rhia," Kikyou said. Inuyasha, with his dog ears, could hear everything that was being said, and repeated it for his friends, who couldn't. "What's going on?"

"Rhia's ignoring her, continuing to talk about nail polish and complimentary colours," Inuyasha explained. "Kikyou's muttering something under her breath...it sounded like a curse or a threat or something."

"I wonder if she'll throw something..." Miroku mused. At that moment, Kikyou threw a piece of her salad at Rhia. Sango giggled, explaining what had just transpired to Kagome. She, too, giggled.

"Rhia, why aren't you listening to me?" Inuyasha said, mockingly repeating Kikyou in a whining voice. "Aren't you my friend?"

"She's still talking about nail polish?" Sango asked. Inuyasha shook his head.

"No, the topic of discussion somehow moved from nail polish to television shows," Inuyasha said. "I think they're talking about some reality show. Pathetic."

"Oooh, now her face is going kind of purple," Sango explained to Kagome. "She's standing up..."

Indeed, Kikyou had risen from her cafeteria seat and looked as if she was prepared to address the whole school. She looked around at the faces of the entire population of Cameron Drake High School, expecting some glimmer of recognition; she received none. Even Arik himself was doing an excellent job of looking innocent.

"Cameron Drake High School," Kikyou announced. Inuyasha didn't need to repeat what she was saying anymore; she was speaking loud enough for everybody to hear her, even people that were wandering the hallway outside of the cafeteria. "Undoubtedly Arik has been speaking to you all, telling you to ignore me for a day. I'd like to have it known that I do -not- consider this funny." She looked around threateningly. Under normal circumstances people would have been intimidated; but there were so many people defiantly standing up to her that they gave each other strength, and in the end Kikyou was just making a fool of herself. Obviously, she realized this; her face went even more red.

"You are all acting like children," she shouted. "Ignoring me. What, do you wish for me to be cast aside like an outcast? Do you wish to throw me out of your lives?" She looked pointedly at the boys. "Do you really want me to disappear forever?"

Now, it was getting more and more difficult for people to ignore her; particularly the males, who were all secretly hoping to get Kikyou as their next girlfriend. Murmurs began to run through the crowd and Kikyou smiled wryly, knowing that her efforts were not going to waste. But then Arik cleared his throat and continued to chat with his friends; a message to everybody, that they could still win. The murmurs disintegrated instantly and Kikyou found herself standing amongst an undefeatable crowd.

"Fine, then," she declared. "But your actions won't go without consequences." And with that, she picked up her lunch and left the cafeteria, slamming the door behind her.

The whole room was silent for a few moments, but then Arik began to cheer. "We did it! Let's just hope he doesn't come back!" he shouted, and a loud 'Hoorah!' arose from the multitude of teenagers.

"Well, that was as successful as anybody could have hoped," Miroku observed. "They did a much better job than I was suspecting."

"Definitely," Kagome agreed, going back to her lunch. "That was fun."

"I wonder what she'll do?" Sango mused. "She won't just let that go. She has to be planning some kind of revenge upon the whole school."

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, it's worth seeing her face," Inuyasha grinned. "That, my friends, was a priceless moment."

They went back to their lunches, smiles on their faces as each of them made sure to store the day's events safely in their memories.

By the end of the day, Kikyou had given up on her efforts to talk to people. She walked silently among the corridors, not looking anywhere save dead ahead, occasionally shooting death-glares at passers-by, who ignored them. Sango was continually describing things to Kagome; the progression of Kikyou's facial expressions, the way that people grinned after she had passed, satisfied with a job well done. Indeed, the whole school seemed happier and more cooperative; a few people even ventured so far as to say a quick "hello" or give a small nod in the direction of Inuyasha and Kagome as they passed. It was rather shocking, actually.

After school, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku were sitting underneath their tree, enjoying the comfortable silence as each of them found themselves lost in their own thoughts. None of them had anything to do later on in the day, and were content just spending time with each other. Sango was leaning her head on Miroku's shoulder, using him as something of a human pillow. Inuyasha and Kagome were sitting close together.

'I wish I knew the revenge Kikyou's going to take,' Sango was thinking. 'I wonder if she'll go for physical or mental pain?'

'I could totally grab Sango's butt right now,' Miroku was thinking. 'But I'd better not; she looks so comfortable and she might move.' He settled for briefly patting her on the head. Sango smiled up at him.

Kagome and Inuyasha's thoughts were surprisingly similar to each other's, though neither of them knew it. They both ran long the same lines. Kagome was thinking, 'There's no way I can have a crush on Inuyasha. He obviously doesn't like me back, and besides, how could he love a blind girl?' while Inuyasha pondered, 'Oh, come on, just admit it to yourself, you have a crush on her. But you may as well get over it, because there's no way she could like you back since you used to be popular.' They both stole brief glances at each other before blushing and turning away.

Miroku and Sango noticed this odd behavior, looked at each other, grinned evilly, and nodded in unspoken agreement. Miroku stood up and walked around to Inuyasha's other side while Sango remained in her spot, next to Kagome. Now the two of them were surrounded.

"So..." Miroku began, looking over Inuyasha and Kagome at Sango, who had an evil glint in her eye.

"So..." Sango echoed. Inuyasha and Kagome looked at the couple with confused expressions.

"So what?" Inuyasha asked. "Are you guys expecting something?"

"Maybe," Miroku said enigmatically. "What are you two thinking about?"

Immediately both Inuyasha and Kagome blushed. "Nothing," Kagome said.

"Oh, come on," Sango said. "It's obviously not 'nothing'."

"What, are we supposed to be thinking about something in particular?" Inuyasha asked. "Chocolate, maybe? Or Kikyou?"

"I need to go get something," Sango said. "Miroku, I could use your help." And with that, the two of them walked over to the school, whispering to each other and occasionally bursting into laughter. Inuyasha looked at Kagome, who looked confused.

"Do you have any idea what that was about?" Inuyasha asked. Kagome shook her head in reply.

"Did you?" she asked.

"Not a clue," Inuyasha answered. A sudden thought crossing his mind, he grinned evilly and asked, "What -were- you thinking about?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me what you were thinking about," she replied, smiling. Inuyasha laughed.

"I was thinking about life," Inuyasha answered. "And whether or not certain things are going to happen in my future."

"And I was thinking about probability," Kagome replied, avoiding the topic in the same way as Inuyasha, but getting the feeling that he had been thinking about the same thing she had. "I was thinking about the odds of someone's perception being altered through emotion."

Inuyasha smiled, wrapping his arm around Kagome's shoulder. "So, tell me, Ms. Probablity," he teased. "What are the odds of something interesting happening in my future?"

Kagome looked up at him, a smile on her face. "Well, I don't know, Mr. Fate," she replied. "Are you going to make something interesting happen in your future?"

"Touché," Inuyasha said. Kagome laughed, leaning into him. "I get the feeling that I know what you were thinking about."

The two of them were so wrapped up in their own thoughts that they didn't notice Miroku and Sango sneaking up behind them, buckets in their hands.

"Really?" Kagome answered. "Then what was I thinking about?"

Inuyasha grinned, leaning in a little closer to Kagome. "You were thinking-"

At that moment the two of them were interrupted by a downpour of icy water landing on their heads. Inuyasha glared upwards, seeing Sango and Miroku with upturned buckets in their hands, laughing hysterically. He growled at them. Kagome rubbed her arms with her hands, the freezing liquid chilling her to the bone.

"What on earth were you -thinking-?" Inuyasha asked menacingly, standing up and climbing to the first level of the tree: Sango and Miroku had clambered up its branches as fast as they could in order to avoid Inuyasha's wrath. As he brought himself higher and higher up the tree, Miroku and Sango pulled themselves up in order to avoid him, until the two of them had reached the top of the tree and Inuyasha was on the level just below them.

"You can't run now!" Inuyasha said, smiling. Sango and Miroku looked down at the ground; Kagome looked smaller than usual, still sitting with her back to the tree.

"Wow, we're really high up," Sango observed, all thoughts of running away forgotten. Miroku, too, noticed the fact that they were at the very top of the tree.

"Oh, crap," he said. His face blanched and Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

"Okay, just climb down," he said, forgetting temporarily that he had to kill Sango and Miroku for interrupting him. "Kagome did it, so can you." He helped Sango and Miroku down the tree, taking much more time to reach the ground than they had to reach the top. When they finally got there, Kagome glared at them, still trying to wring out her soaking hair.

"What did you do that for?" she asked, frustrated. She and Inuyasha had been so close...

"Okay, okay, we're sorry," Sango said, recovering from the shock of being so high above the ground. "But it was funny."

Kagome was still cold; she rubbed her arms with her hands again. A slight wind blew against her and she shivered. Inuyasha finally noticed and walked over to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders again and pulling her close to him. She smiled at the warmth, and surprisingly, began to laugh.

"What're you laughing at?" Inuyasha asked, still frustrated with Sango and Miroku.

"It -was- kind of funny," Kagome said, smiling a bit. "Not very original, but still funny."

Inuyasha felt all his frustration melt away. Kagome was so forgiving. It was almost completely foreign. He felt certain that one day it was going to get her into a lot of trouble, but tried not to think too much on that; for now, he was happy having Kagome so close to him. "You still cold?" he asked.

"No, but if you go away then I might be," she said, grinning. Inuyasha laughed and didn't let go of her.

Sango and Miroku smiled, seeing Inuyasha and Kagome so close. They were both forming their own plans to bring the two of them together. The party was going to be fun.

The room was dark; it was always dark. There was a window set in the wall, but the blinds covering it were drawn. They were always drawn. He liked the darkness much better than the light. He was sitting in his comfortable chair with his desk in front of him, bare save for a single phone, sitting in its cradle. He would sit in this chair and wait for it to ring; that was his job.

Work had been slow for the past couple of days; apparently people were happy with their lives. It had given him a lot of time to think of new ways to go about his business, so now he was more ready than he had been in a long time to do his job properly.

He had been sitting in his chair and staring at the phone for the past hour or so and was just about ready to go and get himself a coffee before the room was filled with the loud, unignorable sound of "BRRRRRRING!"

Smiling, he picked up the handset. "This is the Agency," he said into the receiver. "Please state your location and main target."

"Cameron Drake High School," a feminine voice from the other line said. "Arik."

Author's Note: Ooooh, ominous! Anyways, WE HIT 200 REVIEWS! In fact, we went way past it! 230 reviews! And over 80 favs! I love you guys so much.

I won't be updating as frequently, but I'll still be updating. :D Feed me reviews! Give me suggestions as to what Kikyou could do for revenge!We can hit 250 before I put up the next chapter!