Last Chapter on Isn't Life Juicy: Kagome Higurashi and Sango Taijiya are facing money problems – what a better solution than to work at a new smoothie shop that is about to open? Miroku Houshi, Shikon no Tama High School's pervert and playboy, has fallen in love with Sango during his Tai Kwon Do class! Due to his failed attempt to charm her – because of his bad habit of groping and lechery – he has decided to apply for the same smoothie job that Sango is applying for (he found her application when he woke up from his unconscious state because of Sango's smack). The love struck lecher has even convinced the hanyou, InuYasha Takahashi, to apply for the job as well, just in case the monk has trouble with this girl that he's fallen for. Oh, fate is definitely going to have fun bringing these teenagers together when working in the same smoothie shop!


Author's Note: Updated Feburary 19th, 2006 --- Okay, so I've decided to split this chapter into two parts. This chapter was way too long for a person to read in one sitting, especially since there was so much information about each character to take in! Hopefully this makes it a lot easy for the readers! Now I present to you the improved first chapter of Isn't Life Juicy!

Disclaimers: I do not own InuYasha or any of these characters.

A n I n u Y a s h a F a n f i c t i o n

Isn't Life Juicy?

An Alternate Universe Pairing Fanfiction

Kagome & InuYasha – Sango & Miroku

By Aienkien-Jitsuni

Isn't Life Juicy
CHAPTER ONE
When Life Gives You Lemons
--P A R T I --

'I'm going to be late, I'm going to be late! I cannot believe I'm going to be late for my first history class presentation!' Kagome raced down the halls, carrying a huge stack of papers. The stack was so tall, that it was practically blocking her vision – but that didn't matter to her as long as she got to her class in time. She expertly dodged the other tardy kids who were rushing off to their classes – trying to avoid being late for their next class, just like Kagome was.

The young girl finally slowed down her pace and took a deep breath, relief washing over her. She had made it to the room on time, with only a few seconds to spare. She took another breather and put a cheery smile on her face. This was the only thing that Kagome couldn't afford to go wrong this morning.

But she was getting ahead of herself. With her face still plastered with that bright smile, she didn't even notice the silver-haired guy that had bumped into her and had ran right into the classroom before her. The oblivious girl didn't even realize that the rude guy was screaming at her ("HEY WENCH, WATCH IT!"). But what she did notice was her stack of papers falling out of her hands and slowly drifting in the air towards the ground – her hard work ending up scattered all over the tiled high school floor right outside her history classroom.

Her cheerful smile was replaced with a scowl and her brown eyes were filled with disbelief and anger. She could only think of two words that could form in her mind, which was still trying to comprehend what had happened.

"T-THAT JERK! THAT JERK!" Kagome muttered angrily under her breath as she tried to put the once organized report back together. It was hopeless though. Not only was she going to be late but now her report was all disorganized – and worse of all she had to pick up all of the papers herself. All because of that jerk.

She quickly scrambled to get all of the papers off of the ground, not even bothering to put the papers back into their original order, knowing fully well that it was useless to try. She had been working forever on that report and it took her half of the night to finish it. Not to mention that she only got a couple hours of sleep since she had finally finished putting the report together at 2am in the morning.

'Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be the last one to present my project! Yeah, if I just explain myself to the history teacher and tell her why I was late, she will definitely understand and might even let me present my project next history class. That will definitely be enough time for me to be prepared and ready with my report!'

Kagome's optimism replaced her doubts and worries as her smile returned once again. She opened the door to the classroom and walked in filled with confidence and assurance. What she failed to realize what that she was yet again getting ahead of herself.

As she walked into the classroom with her messy pile of papers she heard shouts coming from the front of the room. She quickly went to her seat, trying her best to go unnoticed to avoid being late. As she fumbled with her papers, trying her best to organize it as best as she could, she couldn't help but overhear the argument her teacher was having with a student.

-----

"You are late once again. Takahashi, this is the third time this week!"

"Are you serious? You've got to be kidding me! I already told you the reason why I was late!"

"But that is not an excuse. You cannot be late for my class three times in a row. And no, I am not kidding because as you can see, I'm not laughing and this is a very serious matter."

"I'm not fucking laughing either and I know that this is serious! I'm telling you that my reason for being late is a pretty damn good one! Look, my car broke down so I had to –'

"Yes, yes. I've heard it already. But this time I won't tolerate excuses."

"What did I tell you! I am NOT making up excuses!"

"Fine. Then show me your report."

"…."

"Well?"

"I-I don't have it. I left it in my car."

"Just as I thought. As I have said before I will not tolerate tardiness or excuses for that matter. I will be sending you to the principal's office and you will have detention today after school. Do you hear me?"

"Nani! But I'm your best history student and you know it!"

"I do not favor my students and although you have quite a lot of potential, I still will not tolerate your behavior. So do you hear me, Takahashi?"

"Feh! I'm not fucking deaf."

-----

Finally, the argument and shouts had ended and the guy (that Kagome had concluded was the one that bumped into her) walked out of the classroom and slammed the door shut. Her history teacher rubbed his temples and popped a couple of pills in his mouth, while taking a sip of water from his water bottle.

Kagome lowered her head so that her bangs covered up her eyes, trying her best to not draw any attention to herself while at the same time trying to fix her report. She figured that if she just kept quiet maybe her history teacher wouldn't notice that she came in late.

After her teacher had a couple minutes to himself he sat down at his desk. A couple of minutes into the class the history teacher apologized to the class for the inconvenience and gave them a lecture on how excuses and tardiness will not be tolerated.

Kagome half-listened to the teacher because in the inside she was relieved that the teacher didn't notice right away that she was late. She couldn't believe it – she was off the hook!

'All thanks to the rude egotistical jerk that delayed the class and helped me sneak into class unnoticed! I have to forgive him though since he did after all mess up my report and for bumping into me earlier, of course. I was a little mad before, but I can deal with it. I guess I should find him to thank him for–'

"Kagome Higurashi."

Kagome snapped back into reality as her history teacher said her voice.

"Don't think that you got off so easy. Although I was a little preoccupied with Takahashi's excuses, I did get a glimpse of you sneaking into class – so don't think that you got in here without me noticing. But, instead of giving you detention since I'm really not a fan of detention myself, although Mr. Takahashi did deserve it, I think I will make you the first victim. Please come up to the front of the class and present your history report."

The history teacher's eyes rested upon her, along with the whole class.

Kagome sat frozen in her assigned seat.
Her big brown eyes were wide and fearful.
'W-What am I going to do?'

"Higurashi, we're waiting."

The girl quickly got out of her frozen state and hurriedly grabbed all the papers off of her desk. As she was carrying the pile of papers she almost tripped – she felt sick to her stomach and her legs seemed to be made out of jello. Kagome then shakily set the papers down on the teacher's desk, grabbed the papers that were on top, and stood nervously in front of the class.

She looked down at the few papers that she had and realized that there was no way she could do this. Her history report was all disorganized. The few report pages that she was holding were information on completely different eras, times, and years from each other. Even if she tried to find the beginning of her presentation in the mess of papers she doubted that she could ever put the whole report back together. There was definitely no hope in making up a report. This was history class, so that meant everything that came out of her mouth had to be a fact – and all the times that Kagome memorized information, dates, years, and events it eventually poured out of her brain and onto a test and was forgotten in a couple of days.

Kagome Higurashi, who was standing in front of her history class and teacher, was screwed.

'All thanks to that rude egotistical jerk! I will never forgive him for bumping into me earlier and messing up my report – which I had worked on until two in the morning! I was a little mad before? Okay forget that I was really pissed off before and I'm still pissed off now! How the heck am I going to deal with this! I AM GOING TO HUNT HIM DOWN!'

Sango was already half way finished with her lunch before her raven-haired friend finally reached their usual lunch table. The young girl had carried a whole lunch tray of things but she didn't even touch any of it, and yet her brown eyes were staring right at the tray. Sango worried for her and was pretty sure that studying the meatloaf surprise was definitely the farthest thing from her mind.

"Hey Kagome, are you alright?" asked Sango, her pink eye-lined brown eyes filled with worry. She still received no answer from her friend, who usually was so full of life was now quiet and still at the moment.

Sango got frustrated and threw her muffin at Kagome's head. The spaced out girl came right back to earth and snapped her head toward Sango's direction.

"What was that for, Sango?" shouted Kagome as she picked up the muffin and threw it back at Sango. But the dark brown haired girl just smiled. Now there was the good old Kagome – who Sango knew all too well.

"I just thought that someone had abducted my best friend Kagome. So tell me who are you and what have you done with her!" Sango said teasingly, as she crossed her arms while waiting for an explanation.

"Gomen nesai." Kagome said apologetically as she smiled at her friend – who knew she was just worried about her. But after she thought of an explanation of why she was acting so weird, she couldn't help but think of all that had happened that morning. Kagome's smiled was replaced with a scowl land her bright brown eyes were filled with anger and annoyance. Sango quickly caught this.

"Kagome…?" asked Sango questioningly as her eyebrows rose up in surprise.

"AUGH!" Kagome groaned out loud as she clenched her fists. Sango quickly inched away as far as she could from her. "Kagome is not here right now, Sango! You know why? Because of everyone trying to ruin her life! I swear, everyone is trying to make her life as miserable as possible!"

"Uh, I don't think it's healthy to refer to yourself in the third person." Sango cut in, worried for her health. Kagome continued on with her ranting though, completely ignoring Sango's comment.

"So I had just finished typing up my report yesterday night, my history report that I had been working on all weekend by the way, and then my computer decided to crash! So I had to stay up until 2am to finish the stupid report! Imagine trying to type up a weekend's worth of research in a matter of hours! And then I finally finished it and only got a couple hours of sleep. Of course, I forgot that I set up my alarm clock before an hour earlier then I usually wake up. When it woke me up I thought I was late for school! I was so tired that I just got into my car and drove to school in my pajamas! When I reached the school I looked at my clock and finally realized that I got there two hours earlier before school even opened!"

Kagome took a breather here while Sango searched her bag for something. 'I could tell this is going to be a good story. Now where is my bag of popcorn…'

"Then I had to drive all the way back to my house and take a shower and get dressed. After making sure that everything was okay I left the house – and I was so sure I was going to be early this time too because I had plenty of time left before my first class. So then as I'm about to drive away in my car I look up at the Goshinbuku Tree and I find Buyo stuck up there in the branches! That cat, I don't even know how it got up there in the first place! So after saving the cat –Kami-sama only knows how I did it in the matter of minutes that I did– I sped back to school without getting any tickets!"

Sango was about to protest to this. She had a reputation of not being afraid of a lot of things, but what Sango Taijiya was really afraid of was Kagome's driving. Every time she got into her car she always saw her life flashing before her eyes – and even though they usually made it out alive she always felt sick after the ride, and Sango Taijiya never gets motion sickness. That was how bad Kagome's driving was.

"Oh don't worry Sango, I was wearing my seatbelt. Though, I sure hope that those kids walking across the street will be okay. That will teach them a thing or two about jay walking!"

Sango had horrible images start to form inside her head. 'Tonight on Tokyo News at 11, deaths of children crossing the street. Some witnesses say that it was a young girl who was driving recklessly. They say that they believe the suspect is the age of…'

"Anyway so I arrive at homeroom with just a couple of minutes to spare and then just when I get to my seat that guy Hojou asked me out on a date! But before I could even say anything, the three girls that I usually talk to in the morning – you know Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi – they answered yes for me! They kept lecturing me on how I should date him since I'd be the envy of all of the girls of Shikon no Tama High but I had to keep telling them that he's not my type! They just won't listen. I was so stressed that I couldn't even concentrate on my chemistry exam! I'm pretty sure that I failed that. Then right before third period, Kouga started talking about how he wanted to tell me something important and before I replied he just grabbed my hand and took me out on the school roof for some strange reason. And then he started talking about something, reciting some poem or some sort – he did seem kind of nervous, but I wasn't really paying attention because I started freaking out! I was going to be late for history class and I had to present my history report so I just told him I had to go. I felt kind of bad though since he did say he had to tell me something important, but why did he have to choose such a hectic time for me?"

Sango stared at her friend in disbelief. How could Kagome not notice that Kouga was in love with her? Ever since they were childhood friends Sango could tell right then that the wolf boy had some feelings for her friend. Sango surely knew that Kagome probably thought of him as a good friend and only a good friend – but she probably didn't even think that Kouga could possibly be in love with her, which is why she didn't notice.

'Poor, poor Kouga. He was probably going to tell Kagome how he felt about her.'

Even though the three of them didn't talk or hang out as much as they used to, Sango figured that Kouga still had feelings for her. After all he tried to get every chance he could to talk to Kagome.

But before Sango could get into a deep analysis of their friendship and if they did start going together if it would last or not, Kagome's cries of anguish and rambling complaints made Sango pay more attention to her friend's story.

"So after I reached my locker, I just grabbed my report and rushed to my history class! AND THEN WHEN I'M RIGHT OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM, THAT JERK BUMPED INTO ME! He was rude, inconsiderate, and arrogant! I think he was even shouting something at me and what's worse is that he didn't even bother to help me pick up my report, WHICH WAS NOW RUINED ALL THANKS TO HIM -- NOT TO MENTION I WAS WORKING ON IT TILL 2 IN THE MORNING! I think I made him late as well, which serves him right because he deserved it! He ended up arguing with the history teacher and he was even sent to the principal's office and got a detention! But still, my moment of triumph and victory was short. To top off the rest of my fabulous morning, the teacher noticed that I was late as well and the teacher picked ME to present my history report first. THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS THAT JERK MESSED UP MY WHOLE REPORT AND I LOOKED LIKE A FOOL UP INFRONT OF THE WHOLE CLASS. So right after class I was practically begging the teacher to give me an extension on the report or at least a chance to pick up my grade since I ended up getting a D- on it for being unprepared and for being late. Argh, he wants me to write a 12-page report on the Feudal Era and its due by the end of this semester. MY LIFE SUCKS!"

Kagome finally finished her rant by shouting at the top of her lungs – which received a lot of strange glances from everyone who heard her. But she didn't care, her life was too miserable right now for her to deal with.

Sango put a comforting hand on her stressful friend. It was amazing how Kagome hadn't beaten the crap out of everybody who had made her life miserable – that's what Sango would have done. Actually come to think of it, Sango's life hadn't been so great for the past week.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better Kagome, my life is just as wonderful as yours." Sango said sarcastically. Kagome looked at her friend curiously with her brown eyes. At the moment anyone's life was way better than hers, so how could Sango's life be just as bad?

"Ever since Tai Kwon Do classes started this semester, there's this guy there – Miroku Houshi – and he is disgusting. He's a hentai, a pervert, and a lecher and for some reason I can't seem to get his hands off of me! Dear Kami-sama, you'd think that at least he'd stop after I smacked him about oh say a hundred times but he has this creepy weird grin that he just does to me and it's giving me nightmares! And I keep asking sensei to stop pairing me up with him when we practice but he just smiles and gives me a lecture on how I shouldn't be afraid! Hah, like I'm afraid. I can handle myself but it would be more convenient if he just stopped pairing me up with that pervert. And then right after Tai Kwon Do class he keeps following me and groping me! I can't stand him!

Not to mention that I'm practically failing most of my classes. I think I failed my English Literature test and I swear the art teacher hates me – everything that I do in that class she criticizes me, not to mention I could really care less about art since I hate that subject. I don't even see the point in a class that teaches you how to draw!

I'm also broke – out of cash more than usual if that's even possible. We have to start working today after school at the smoothie shop and the last thing I want to do is work. Did I even tell you that my application almost didn't get accepted? It's been missing ever since last week and with my luck and grace I probably dropped it somewhere. So as you can see, you are not alone."

After Sango finished her long rant, Kagome stared at her with wide expressionless brown eyes. Then after a couple of minutes she started to burst out laughing. She was laughing so hard that tears started coming out of her eyes. Sango looked at her friend and pitied her.

'My dear friend was so hopelessly miserable that she simply went crazy, and at such a young age too!'

While Sango in her mind was thinking up ways to tell people how the young girl became crazy and hysterical with laughter, Kagome said something in between her giggles that had caught Sango's attention.

"Oh Sango, how did our lives become so miserable?" asked Kagome as she started to laugh so hard that she had to hold her sides, while at the same time tears were streaming down her face. Sango thought about it and then started laughing as well. Their lives were so ridiculously miserable that it was almost funny! Sango was laughing so hard that her pink eye make up was starting to run from the fresh tears that were coming out of her eyes as well – not because she was laughing but because her life was so miserable.

"OUR LIVES SUCK!"

The two of them shouted at the same time, unaware of the stares that they received.
They tried their best to stop their hysterical laughter and their miserable tears.
But they were so miserable that they didn't calm down until lunch period ended.

Focus on the target. Draw your arm back. Line up your arrow. Don't Blink. Hit the mark'

The arrow was close but it had just missed the target. Her aim was way off today. She didn't care though. Kagome was at the last place that she wanted to be – which was archery practice. After the rants, tears, and laughter during lunch period she had felt a little better but now she was exhausted. It didn't help at all that her head was throbbing and she was so tired because she stayed up so late last night.

"Higurashi! Focus! You're off today!" shouted her sensei, who was strict and vigilant – especially on her.

Kagome was a great archer and had mastered it in a short amount of time. She had only started doing archery this year and she was already good! She was known at Shikon no Tama High as the youngest skilled archer – since most of them were upperclassman and she was only a sophomore. But of course, she could not measure up to Shikon no Tama High's great archer – Kikyou Midoriko, who had years of training and was undefeated. No matter how hard she tried she always seemed to be second best to her.

"Hai, sensei." Kagome nodded as she tried to focus again. She was starting to nod off but she still tried to concentrate.

Focus, Kagome! Focus on the target. Draw your arm back. Line up your arrow.

If I could only just rest my eyes, just for a couple of minutes…
Then maybe I can hit the mark…

Kagome then closed her eyes and fell asleep right there on the spot. Her arm relaxed and she released the arrow, which missed the target completely and was aimed toward the fencing practices.

The silver haired hanyou stared at his opponent through the black mesh of his protective mask. Before either one of them could strike, an arrow came out of nowhere and ended up pinning his fencing uniform to a tree that was right behind him.

"What the hell?" he shouted as he looked at the arrow that had just luckily grazed his left arm. The half demon realized it could have been a lot more deadly if the arrow was aimed just a little more to the right – because if it was, it could have pierced his heart.

As if that wasn't enough for buried memories to start to come back to him, he looked at the direction where the arrow had come from and saw a girl who resembled and was almost identical to–

"Kikyou…" he whispered. The painful memories started flooding back to him and replayed inside his mind –memories of the night when his heart was pierced by cold dark eyes.

-----

A Week Earlier – Flashback
InuYasha's heart was broken and yet his mind could not get the girl who had broken his heart out of his head. Every time he thought of reasons why she had broken up with him, it still wasn't enough to just throw what they had away. He loved her, and he thought she loved him. But she ended their relationship so abruptly that InuYasha was certain that there had to be an explanation, some kind of logic because she didn't even explain why she broke up with him.

When he met up at the mall with her earlier today, where their usual dates and plans took place, he sensed that something was wrong with her. As they were walking silently beside each other for a long time, sick of staring at the crowds of people and stores, InuYasha broke the silence and asked her what was wrong.

Kikyou looked at him sadly, her dark brown eyes filled with heartache and pain. She kissed InuYasha lightly, tears coming to her eyes. InuYasha was confused and stood there with his amber orbs filled with confusion and worry.

"InuYasha, I must never be with you again." Kikyou said, her soft quiet voice trembling. She then turned her head away, her eyes avoiding his questioning gaze. Her dark midnight hair and bangs covered most of her face and her tears. "Gomen nesai." she said hurriedly as she started walking away.

The confused hanyou who was standing there quickly became angry. He quickly followed her and caught up with the longhaired girl. He grabbed her hand and forced her to look at him. They stared at each other – golden amber eyes fixated on dark chocolate eyes – unaware that they were still at the mall. Their surroundings no longer mattered to them.

He quickly entwined her fingers with his and despite her protests she gave in – he wasn't going to let go of her so easily. He tucked a long strand of ebony hair behind her ear. Then he kissed her – he kissed her with all of his love, all of his passion, and all of his desperation that he couldn't put into words. She tried to pull away but she couldn't help it – she wanted to. A tear trickled down her face as they broke for air. InuYasha thought he had changed her mind but Kikyou had just stared at him with tear-filled eyes.

"It's over."

Their last kiss that they had shared only happened a few hours ago. With those words his whole world fell apart. InuYasha had since then been wandering around his neighborhood, walking around aimlessly with no destination. He looked up at the sky. The bright moon illuminated the night by itself – there were no stars out tonight.

His nose was intoxicated by her scent and he quickly realized that he had walked towards Kikyou's house. He noticed a light coming from her backyard and he ran towards it, her scent becoming stronger. The hanyou jumped easily over the fence and entered her backyard – where she was practicing her archery. He landed gracefully in front of her.

"K-Kikyou!" he said, his voice unsure and hesitant. They stood there, staring at each other. The cool night breeze blew each other's hair about – her dark hair and his silver hair flying wildly about their faces but still neither one of them broke their gaze. The newly blossomed cherry blossom trees swayed, some petals falling about them – their usual pink hue reflecting a pale light blue glow from the moonlight.

And then, Kikyou's dark brown eyes almost looked black and her stare became cold and emotionless. She aimed her arrow and pinned him to the tree behind him. It slightly grazed the top of his left shoulder.

"K-Kikyou, Kikyou! Why?" InuYasha asked, his amber eyes desperate for an answer. The archer stared at him coldly.

"My father does not approve of our relationship. I will obey his will. Leave me be." Kikyou said simply as she turned around to walk away. InuYasha angrily unpinned himself, removing the arrow from the tree and moved toward Kikyou.

"Who gives a fuck what your damn father says! Who cares about Naraku! You shouldn't care about him or whatever the hell he says! He shouldn't control your life like this!" shouted InuYasha. Kikyou stopped and stood still, listening to his reasoning.

"Kikyou…" he said more delicately. He then started walking towards her but she fiercely turned around with her bow and arrow aimed towards him.

"DON'T MOVE!" she ordered, her eyes filled with anger and fury as she drew her arm back and aimed her arrow. InuYasha kept on walking towards her slowly. Angry tears started to spill from her cold black eyes.

"I-I'm warning you!" she screamed, her voice cracking. But the determined hanyou did not stop. Kikyou shut her eyes and let go of her arrow, which cut across the side of InuYasha's face. Both of them gasped, surprised that she had done such a thing. He put his claw up to her face and stared at his own blood, a thick crimson fluid now flowing down his face.

'Is this some kind of horrible dream?' InuYasha thought.

Kikyou stood up straight and wiped her betraying tears away from her cold dark eyes. She drew another arrow and aimed it at him – straight at his heart.

"Now leave me be. This is already hard enough for me to do." Kikyou said, her eyes burning with fresh tears. "Next time, you won't be so lucky half breed." She said, her voice threatening and tainted with anger.

InuYasha had finally understood. Her father didn't approve of him – because he was a half breed.

He then jumped the fence, running as far away as he could from the truth – not paying any attention at all to the cut on his face or the wound on the top of his left shoulder, which started to bleed as well from the arrow's grazing.

All he could pay attention to was the distant sound of sobs coming from the girl with cold piercing dark brown eyes. Before he could get out of his demon range ear-shot, the heartbroken hanyou had managed to hear her whisper her last words to him.

"I hate you, InuYasha."

He didn't think it was possible, but his world fell apart yet again on that starless night.

-----

"Takahashi-sempai, are you alright?"

His opponent quickly removed his mask and hurried over to the side of the hanyou, who seconds before looked spaced out and dazed was now alert and pretty pissed off. InuYasha merely grunted in a response. The challenger quickly brushed off his chestnut bangs out of his eyes. The freshman looked worriedly at his opponent with bright jade green eyes.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked in concern, trying to make sure that the team's best fencer was not harmed in any way. InuYasha quickly removed the arrow and unpinned himself from the tree.

"I'm fine! Now get out of my way you little runt!" The angry half demon said angrily as he pushed the short freshman away. He clenched the wooden arrow into his fist before throwing it somewhere towards the archery practices blindly – hoping that it would hit the stupid girl that looked like Kikyou.

"WORK ON YOUR AIM, WENCH!" He growled gruffly as he shook his fists at the girl. He then turned away and started muttering curses and things under his breath as he grabbed the sword off of the ground where he had dropped it.

Shippou slowly shook his head at himself as he put his black fencing protection mask back on.

"Half-breeds…" he said under his breath as he bowed to his opponent and they both stood in a stance.

"Oh yeah? Say that to my face!" the hanyou snarled as he jabbed his sword in his opponent's direction, but with the freshman's quick speed he dodged it easily.

The fight continued with neither of them knowing that a girl was glaring in their direction from a distance.

Kagome watched the fight from afar, glaring at the familiar silver-haired moron who had just thrown an arrow directly at her face. While she observed the jerk who quickly succumbed his little opponent, she couldn't help but think how she would have enjoyed the fight more if the little guy beat the crap out of that jerk. She then put her hand up to her stinging cheek and stared at her fingers, which were now spotted with blood.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't safe to fall asleep during archery practice. But at least Kagome had a good reason – the teenage girl was stressed out here and lacked sleep! What she did was a lot more safer than what that jerk had did, throwing around arrows like that! She was lucky that she only got a cut on her face instead of her eye getting pierced by the sharp point of the arrow. There was a fine point between rude awakenings and rude people awakening her by throwing arrows at her.

And this time she had heard his comment since she was awaken by his loud, obnoxious voice.

"WORK ON YOUR AIM, WENCH!"

His arrogant voice echoed in her head. The nerve of him! The nerve that he had to criticize her archery skills! So maybe her aim did slip a little as she nodded off – oh, who was she kidding her aim was horrible today but it was because she was having a horrible day and it was as simple as that. But come on, she'd rather get pinned to a tree than get arrows getting chucked at her! Not to mention, he had ruined her life by bumping into her before that torturing history class!

Kagome was certain that that silver-haired jerk had ruined her life.

She finally tore her eyes away from him and started concentrating on her archery with a newly vitalized determination to hit the target. Her eyes were no longer heavy lidded and in fact she was fully wide-awake. She concentrated on the mark.

FOCUS! Focus on the mark! Draw your arm back! Line up your arrow! Don't dare blink! Fire!

For the rest of her archery practice all she got were bull's eyes. Not to mention her aim was perfect. She received an amazed applause from the rest of the admiring archers and from her proud sensei. It was strange because for some reason she no longer felt tired or exhausted at all.

'Ha! How's that for aim, jerk?' she thought silently to herself. 'Kagome Higurashi is no wench!'

"I can't believe that wench pinned me to the fucking tree during fencing practice! What kind of aim is that?" the hanyou ranted on as he leaned next to his best friend's locker.

"But the weird thing is she looked exactly like Kikyou – of course her aim was nothing at all compared to hers but it was just fucking weird, you know? I thought I was over Kikyou and then I started remembering the day she broke up with me and all of this other shit. I just don't know how to deal with this anymore. HEY! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME, MIROKU?"

His dark haired friend quickly grabbed his literature and english textbooks and stuffed them into his black book bag, quickly nodding and just barely paying attention to what his silver-haired friend had to say.

"Damn it, Miroku! I'm trying to talk to you!" InuYasha complained as he punched his distracted friend on his head. But after a week of surviving constant punches, hitting, and smacking (not only from his strong half demon friend but also by the girl he was in love with, who was tough and athletic), it seemed that Miroku was immune to pain. He ignored the punch and just smiled his goofy grin at his best friend.

"Gomen, InuYasha. But I can't wait! In a matter of minutes I'll be working with my beloved Sango!" the pervert smiled hopelessly as he closed his locker and started walking down the hall with his exasperated half demon friend following him.

"DAMN IT! The job starts today? I can't believe I forgot. Augh!" groaned InuYasha in aggravation as he started pulling out his silver strands of hair. "Kami-sama, I've been having the fucking worst week ever! Miroku can you do me a favor and just make up an excuse for me? Because I'm going to be late for the job thing."

Miroku looked at the stressed out hanyou and raised an eyebrow up at him.

"You got in trouble again? What for this time?" he said questioningly, but he wasn't at the least surprised.

InuYasha always got in trouble so it wasn't like it was a big surprise or anything – but it seemed like his half demon friend was stressing out more than usual. He didn't blame him though. InuYasha's life was hard enough to deal with. And after all, Miroku knew all of this because he was the only person InuYasha had ever trusted.

InuYasha Takahashi was born into a rich and wealthy family and his father owned one of the biggest enterprises of Japan – Taisho Corporations. And yet that was the last thing that you'd think the hanyou was because not only did he not look like it, he didn't act like it either. He never once bragged or showed off the fact that he was filthy rich. In fact, he hated how he was rich and wealthy and did everything he could to rebel against his father's wishes and embarrass his older brother, Sesshomaru. InuYasha despised his older brother and father, but he had to live with them and deal with them because they were the only family he had since he used to live with his mother, who had died when he was really young. And the most obvious of his problems was that he was a demon. Well, half, since his mother was a human and his father was demon. Basically he had to deal with all kinds of problems with full demons (like his brother) and humans (some despised his heritage) from time to time that didn't accept that he was half human and half demon.

And on top of all of that in the past week InuYasha's car had broken down 7 times, had gotten 24 detentions from 9 different teachers, failed 3 out of 5 math quizzes and tests, and his 1 and only girlfriend dumped him over some stupid reason.

It was like never ending drama seemed to terrorize InuYasha's life and all Miroku could do was just be there for his hanyou friend. And even though Miroku didn't realize how needed he really was since he was the half demon's only real friend, he couldn't help but feel helpless every time InuYasha had another problem to deal with.

The thoughtful dark-haired teenager was quickly snapped back into reality as the hanyou started to answer his question.

"I got in trouble with the history teacher for being late again and he gave me fucking detention! God damn it, why can't they see that my car is a load of shit! I can't help but be late!" InuYasha continued rambling in frustration, "You'd think they'd let me off the hook but hell no, let's make InuYasha's life miserable –it'll be a fucking blast!"

Miroku shook his head, pitying the poor hanyou and his sarcastic remarks as he rambled on.

"And I would have made it to class on time if a stupid wench didn't block the damn doorway – I practically bumped into her! Hell, I couldn't even see her because of the damn stack of papers she was carrying! I don't understand why the hell you would need that many papers for! Why are people so fucking stupid?" InuYasha yelled at the top of his lungs to no one in particular, as if a rhetoric question. He quickly waited for Kami-sama to give him the meaning of life or at least just answer his question -- but no one answered it for him.

Miroku just stood there patiently and quietly while listening to InuYasha's rambling. Even though he was perverted, lecherous, and had so-called 'cursed' hands that seemed to wander and grope beautiful women – he had other qualities that redeemed him. He was an excellent listener, had the patience of a saint, and the concentration of a meditating monk.

Miroku then put a comforting hand on InuYasha's shoulder.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better…" Miroku began slowly, as his eyes were closed thoughtfully. The hanyou listened intently, his dog ears twitching. InuYasha desperately wished that Miroku was about to describe his unbearable week. Hopefully his perverted friend was having a just as horrible week as he was having – because at least then he'd have someone to be miserable with.

"…I'm having a pretty great week! Groping my darling Sango, following my precious Sango, even in Tai Kwon Do classes I get to spend time with my cherished Sango since my sensei keeps pairing me up with her! She even talked to me today – my dearest Sango! Hmm, I can't remember what she was saying since her sweet voice was ringing in my ears. She was practically screaming at me to stay away from her and her bottom! She's just so cute when she's mad! She's really quite strong, my lovely Sango! She punched me right here last week and the bump hasn't stopped swelling yet! She's got to be crazy about me! And –"

Okay, this definitely was not what the half demon wanted to hear.

"Miroku. I swear say Taijiya's name one more time and I will fucking kill you!"

InuYasha threatened, flexing his claws so that his knuckles cracked.

"Why, InuYasha! I thought you would be happy for me! I thought my happiness would uplift your spirits!" said Miroku as he seemed shocked, "I am deeply hurt!"

"Not yet you ain't. But that could be arranged." InuYasha said – half of him was kidding, yet half of him really wanted to rip the lovesick pervert to shreds.

"Well would it make you feel any better if I said my week was going just as horrible as yours?" Miroku asked innocently, his eyebrows raised.

"Maybe just a little." admitted InuYasha as he stubbornly crossed his arms and turned away from his clever friend – who always seemed to know how to trick the hanyou like that.

"Well, I would pretend to be miserable along with you but I must get going – my beloved Sango (the half demon winced) is waiting for me at the smoothie shop, where our love is destined to grow between us!"

Miroku said as he made silly hand gestures, saying the last line dramatically with his hands over his heart.

"Miroku." InuYasha said threateningly, his voice dangerously quiet.

"Yes, my friend?" Miroku said turning to him, with an innocent little smile and his azure eyes sparkling.

"I am going to fucking kill you!" InuYasha screamed, his hands clenched into fists as he tried to grab his dark-haired best friend but the clever lecher anticipated his moves and dodged him as he ran away.

"Gomen, but I don't have time for being killed because my darling Sango is awaiting my arrival! I'll see you later at the smoothie shop, so good luck with detention! Ja ne!" The quick pervert tauntingly shouted goodbye over his shoulder, smirking as he ran toward the school entrance.

"Damn you, Miroku! Get your ass back here!" screamed the hanyou as he stomped his feet and threw his clenched fists in the air. But he knew his attempts were useless, since he did have detention after all.

The half demon turned away and started walking toward the principal's office for his detention – his arms crossed in frustration.

"Feh! Stupid Miroku."

InuYasha quickly made up his mind that he would rather be alone in his misery than listen to a hopelessly in love pervert talk on and on about a girl that hated his guts – no matter how much the damn lecher didn't notice it at all.

Just thinking about all of that mushy pet name love junk made the half demon shiver.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: Okay, so the name of this chapter might not make any sense right now -- but when you read the next chapter, it will all come together! I wish I could have left everything the way it was, but it was too ridiculously long so I had to do something about it. In the next chapter -- Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and InuYasha find out that they're working together…and also learn how to make lemonade smoothies? As if their lives couldn't get any more miserable!

Don't forget to review!
That's what keeps me going, after all!

Until next chapter! -- AK-J.