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Chapter Two

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Kagome couldn't concentrate on her speech class. She could only stare into space while her teacher lectured on time frames, scripts, and sound recording for their commercials, and she thought of InuYasha. Even though everyone else seemed to shy away from him, except Miroku, she found him oddly…compelling, and it both alarmed and excited her. Maybe it was because he was so unpopular and maybe it was because her friends were scared to death of him. Yet still, she wanted to get close to him, as if there were some strange force that compelled her to be with him.

How could she, after all, not be drawn to those eyes, that face, the attitude? Everything in him screamed primal, as if he were a wolf, or maybe a little more domesticated, like a dog. Yes, he definitely reminded her of a dog, a large, beautiful, grumpy dog that wouldn't let anyone who he didn't like right away near him. She wanted to get near him, to be the one allowed to pet him, to say, "Good boy!" and-

"Kagome! What did I just say?" Ms. Conway, an older but energetic woman, asked loudly.

Kagome's thoughts rushed back to the situation at hand and she realized her error. Blushing, she looked around at her classmates; their desks had been arranged in a large circle that encompassed the entire room so no one had to turn when the teacher paced around the room. All eyes were able to stare at her without having to make any movements, which was worse, because the teacher didn't say anything for them to avert their gaze. Nothing would make anyone turn completely around and get in trouble. It was a terrific way of enjoying other people's misery, just like they were enjoying hers now.

"I'm sorry Ms. Conway, but I didn't hear you." Her whole face felt as if it was on fire and she couldn't help but sink lower in her chair. "What was the question?" She asked, her voice squeaking. The class broke into laughter at her lapse in her normal voice. The teacher was forced to quiet them down before turning back to her.

Ms. Conway sighed. "I asked for three examples of misconceptions about public speaking."

Kagome wished that either she could sink into the floor or that maybe a certain dog-like boy would come in and rescue her from this torture (was he the knight in shining armor type?). Of course, that was silly fantasizing, and was thus wrong. Of course…She just couldn't seem to learn.

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He sat on the top row of the bleachers in the gym. The cheerleaders were practicing this hour. Since it was basketball season, they needed to stay in top form and condition, and boy oh boy, they were in top form.

"Okay, let's go through the cheers for the pep rally today!" Sango shouted. Miroku held a special interest for her, because she seemed so out of place with this group, even if she was in sync with the actions and even if her movements were perfect. Just her attitude alone was different, as if she were always on the point of boredom with what she was doing. It was as if she didn't want to be a cheerleader. "Cheer one!"

She was beautiful, tall and strong, the impression of the strength rippling underneath her skin. Her body spoke to him. Every muscle, every curve, told him what she was thinking, what she would do next. Others may not have noticed, but her emotions were played out through every fiber of her being, and he could easily guess what her thoughts were, often infuriating her. Her long brown hair was tied back into a ponytail, her chocolate eyes full of concentration. Her poise wasn't a bit out of place. She didn't even break a sweat, while several others were already red in the face. She was graceful, amazing, athletic, an embodiment of energetic youthfulness.

He liked her, and he loved her reactions whenever she caught him groping her at the basketball games. The slaps may have been painful, but her embarrassment was well worth the torture; it was like he was able to show that she was just another girl, nothing extraordinary. Her eyes met his, brown to blue, and for a split second, he thought she blushed under his gaze, but then her eyes averted his and she was back to practicing, back to cheering, back to ignoring him again, ignoring him just like everybody else would do. Of course, he knew that wasn't always true, for he caught her gaze several more times.

He gave a small grin.

Sango was certainly an interesting subject.

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She stood at her locker, everyone else running past her, trying to flee from school so they could start their after school activities. She had to wait for Souta to come to her the school on the shuttle bus. The two rural towns in North Dakota had to consolidate, due to lack of students (less people were coming in than out, and now it was starting to show with the younger population), and elementary kids were shipped over to the other town so that the school wouldn't have to be shut down. The shuttle bus carried the kids back and forth, and was usually twenty minutes later at the high school after the final bell had rung.

Mechanically, she slipped some homework in her bag: trig, her informative speech on cults, and some very interesting news articles she had found on the Internet. The last one wasn't homework, but for some reason, she had looked up InuYasha's name and had found out more information on him then she expected, and so was taking it upon herself to investigate further into the matter. She hated it when she didn't know a secret. She was nosy by nature and she couldn't help but be so; and either someone was with her or they got out of the way when she was in a snooping mood.

"Hey, Kagome." She didn't turn around. She knew who it was and she wished he would go away, go away and never bother her again. Maybe she should take a restraining order. She had better things to do then to be harassed by him. He never waited for her to answer, and went straight onto talking. "We have a game Saturday night, the Snowball is after, and I know you don't have a date, so I was thinking you need to go with me."

Oh, he was subtle, so subtle that she couldn't have seen that coming anytime soon. He was as subtle as a fucking bus crashing into a school. God he was a dumbass.

"Kouga," she began, "I know all about the dance, but you shouldn't assume that I don't have a date." She faced the cocky youth. He was tall and muscular, and an amazing point guard for the Wildfire team. But, there was a wolfish appearance about him, with somewhat pointed ears, jet black hair, and piercing blue eyes. He made ladies swoon whenever he gave a dazzling smile, and for some reason, that smile almost appalled Kagome. He made her uneasy. "I'm so sorry to disappoint you, but I am going with somebody." She had to say something, anything to get him off her back. Hell, she'd even take Miroku. He was a safe choice and he'd probably be pissing Sango off the whole night anyways, but at least he'd protect her.

His cockiness left him almost immediately, and it was replaced with disbelief and anger. He grabbed her wrist and began to squeeze it. "What?"

She tried to squirm out of his grip and found that it was useless. "Kouga…my hand. You're hurting my hand." He didn't let go and she struggled, desperately whishing someone would save her from this unpleasantness. This was another reason why he appalled her. He had a wickedly fierce temper that sprang up at any moment, something that was not to trust in the least bit. The skin he had a hold of would most likely blossom into a nice, purple and blue bruise, a testimony of how abusive he could become.

"Hey, wolfy!" They turned their heads to see InuYasha standing in the hallway, violet eyes flaring, a horrible pissed off look on his face. Her stomach did flip-flops as he approached them. Why was it doing that? Kouga let go of Kagome's hand and shoved her behind him. "I don't think that she appreciates your actions." Her heart began to beat faster as his gaze penetrated hers and a blush rose to her face. She tried to bite down her smile. "Instead of being such a prick, you could have asked nicely." His knuckles cracked in the empty hallway ominously. "I have a feeling you don't have the mental capacity to know any better."

Kouga's eyes narrowed. "What did you just call me?"

Kagome sidled away from Kouga and slowly made her way to InuYasha's side. He arched an eyebrow at her actions, but never said anything, only narrowed his gaze towards this Kouga person. He hated jocks and it was his lucky day that he was in a horrible mood. "You heard me. I called you a prick. Now, why don't you walk the other way and we forget this whole thing ever happened?"

"You!" Kouga instantly lost his temper and leapt for InuYasha. The jock's hand balled into a fist, right onto a collision course with the violet eyed youth's face. However, the fist never connected with solidity, only swung wildly through the air. InuYasha was by his side in the blink of an eye and Kouga turned his head just in time to receive an elbow square in the face. A crunch could be heard, bones not breaking, but close. He fell to the ground, the back of his head smashing against the tiled floor and bringing stars into his vision. "Shit!"

He jumped up and charged for InuYasha again, but came to a screeching halt as Kagome put herself between the two young men, anger and disgust for Kouga written on her face. She shook her head defiantly, holding her ground, surprising the other two. She wagged her finger at him menacingly.

"How dare you try to hurt somebody like that!" she scolded Kouga. InuYasha nodded in agreement, a smirk on his face.

Kouga instantly tried to defend himself. "Hurt somebody?" he shrieked loudly. He pointed to his nose. "Look at what the cocky little bastard did to me. He almost broke my fucking nose!"

Desperation entered her. The two youths were near to ripping each other's throats out. She could easily see a primal fight between the two: dog versus wolf, the clever versus the moron, and dashing versus wicked. If the tension wasn't so thick, she would have started up some sort of creepy song to fit the mood, like the Jaws theme song. Yes! That would have been perfect, but wait! There was no time for such silly thoughts and she had to take action…now. If not, she might have to deal with the police or the principal and that was the last thing she wanted. She and the principal were on bad terms. The police were never much better, and when it came down to it, sports were always the most important thing in a small town.

"Don't hurt my date!" she practically screamed, flinging herself onto an astonished InuYasha. She realized she had made a mistake, a terrible mistake, but there was no going back now. Hopefully the boy was smart enough to play along. A blush covered her face. "Kouga! Have you no shame?" Oh, she was in deep shit now.

All thoughts stopped. If there had been people in the hallway, they would have stopped too, and would have faced her, but luckily enough, she was spared from the horrible embarrassment of it all. Then again, with the way Kouga was staring and with the astonished look on InuYasha's face, she felt she was far away from safety.

Dead silence reigned.

And then, InuYasha whispered so only she could hear, "Can I talk to you for a moment?" He didn't wait for an answer and unceremoniously picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She pounded her surprisingly strong fists against his backside, demanding he put her down, and he walked briskly down the hallway. He took a right turn, the sounds of the band room hitting them, a girl practicing with the music teacher, her voice hitting a high A, just a little too high. They both winced at the assault on their ears, but he continued to walk, straight past the band room so he didn't have to hear the singer. Then, he turned down another hallway, this one leading backstage where the drama department usually had their practices. When it was too dark for her to see, he set her down, her back sliding up against the uneven wall, her t-shirt's fibers unraveling just a little at the harshness of the backdrop. His hand slammed up beside her head against the wall, causing her heart to beat unnervingly fast. Would he hit her, insult her, kiss her? Wait, why in all the world would he do the last one? "Why did you say something like that? There is no way in hell I'm going to that dance! I hate those fucking jocks."

She had a feeling he might say something like that, but she silently thanked him for the fact that he took her to a more private place to do so. But still, she was in a tight spot, and now she needed his help. How could one get a boy to cooperate with a silly plan like this?

"I'll give you fifty bucks," she finally said.

"Deal." That had been surprisingly easy, but after all, money did make the world go round. She just hoped it was enough to keep his temper down. She didn't have that much money. "There's just one thing I don't do, and that's kissing."

Her jaw dropped open, astonished that he would say such a thing. But then, she became angry and there was no wayin hell she would let him get by with saying something like that, even if she did find him somewhat good-looking. "Why did you think I wanted you to kiss me? Sorry, but I'm sure I could get someone much more attractive to do it, and for free. I'm not going to let a temperamental, over egocentric person like you do that to me."

"Oh, so you'd let someone like Kouga make a move on you?" Oooo! What was with this guy? "Of course, I might do it…but it'd cost you."

"Whoa, sit boy!" The mother of all blushes rose to her face. Why had she said something like that? Oh shit she was in deep and she couldn't see a damn thing, making the situation all the more intense. "I…I can't believe how perverted you are!" Her hand came up and the sound it made was a clear indicator she hit some part of his body, preferably his face. "Later, animal!"

Not waiting for an answer, she left him with the hopes that his pride was wounded. She briskly walked down the hallway and out of the school through the back door into the parking lot. Screw going back for her things. She wasn't going to chance running into Kouga or InuYasha. She'd just drive up front and wait for the shuttle bus that was carrying her little brother.

But…wait a minute.

Looking around the parking lot, she could see that Miroku had already taken the pickup, and he had probably taken Souta as well. She was stuck in town, with no way of getting to the ranch that was ten miles away.

"Miroku," she muttered, "I am going to kill you!" The words "kill you" echoed throughout the empty parking lot. Birds flew away in fear. Nothing was worse than Kagome's temper.

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"Uh…Miroku," Souta said. "Shouldn't we go back and get Kagome? She doesn't have a ride home."

Miroku shook his head and turned on the radio. While he normally hated listening to pre-packaged corporate bubble gum, Norah Jones was singing with her beautifully rusty voice. As long as it didn't change to rap or some form of preppy pop, he'd be happy, and Souta seemed to like it too. The young boy was busy pretending to drum along to the song. Miroku smiled and struck up his own beat as he drove along the road.

He knew that Kagome would probably kill him (in fact, moments ago, he got the oddest sensation that she was screaming in the back parking lot), but he didn't care. After all, she never went out anymore, and this was a perfect excuse to get with some of her friends. He and Souta would do the chores and then go over to his place to see Sweat Pea. Souta needed some of his own distractions. The boy had been traumatized ever since Gramps had died and couldn't seem to get over it. He may have acted cheery, but often times, Miroku would catch him staring into nothingness, the beginnings of tears in his eyes. As a cousin, it was his duty to take care of family. Kagome was too busy with the ranch and was near to killing herself from the effort. The girl couldn't take much more. She needed a hand that could help all the time, and while he tried to help out whenever possible, he had too much to do at his own place.

He had to do something. He couldn't just sit by and watch his dad's sister, Keiko, and her children fall apart. Keiko may have been acting like nothing was wrong, but she was always away so she didn't have to stay at home. After her husband died, she had Gramps, but when he died, she barely had anything and no matter how hard Souta tried, he couldn't help fill the voids. He was too young, and just couldn't help out at all. Until he was older, he was stuck watching his sister breaking her back, getting covered in grease, and becoming a grown up before truly getting to live life.

His fingers stopped drumming and he looked at the young boy next to him, still lost in his own world of drumming. The clink of blue opals distracted his attention from the youth and turned it to his own hand, shrouded in the ornamental glove. He frowned slightly, and as usual, felt a slight twinge, as if the pain of the original wound was still there. It was as if he could still see the blood, the metal spike sticking out of his hand. It was as if he was all alone again, abandoned in the middle of nowhere as the people who had assaulted him ran off to leave him there to rot under the burning sun. It was so vivid that he thought he could feel the crushing metal of an old vehicle on top of him. It was so vivid he thought he could feel the dirt grinding into his back.

He ran away from his personal nightmares by shaking his head briskly.

Those bastards…and yet…he never went to the police, didn't even try. Of course, he knew if he did, something much worse would have happened. He was so sure of it.

Could he do something for someone when his own life was so screwed up?

Another look at Souta…He knew the answer, but why did he question himself in the first place?

He'd do anything for them, no matter the consequences.

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End Chapter

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Author's Notes: Another day another chapter. I love reviews so I always ask for them as usual, and you all know that I reply to them, no matter what. If there are any questions I stress they be sent in the form of a PM. Well, I thank everyone for their support so far and hope you all keep reading. Until next time!