CURES OF THE DRAGON
CHAPTER 9 revelations.
'Well, at least Miroku wasn't kidding about the teacher not being present,' InuYasha thought mildly from his chair in the back of the large room. It had been over twenty minutes into the forty-minute class and the teacher had yet to show up. 'In college, you can just leave,' InuYasha noted. He glared about the room again and involuntarily shivered. Just being near the chorus room always gave him the willies…he had respect for those who could sing, but singing was not his forte…. not anywhere near it. Now…now he was stuck in this class that he was sure would bring about his death. Sighing, InuYasha glared at the side of Miroku's head going over a hundred different ways he could kill the boy without moving from his chair. Not that it was Miroku's fault that he was trapped in this hell, but he was the closest thing to take it out on. He grinned as he watched Miroku shift nervously in his seat, stealing a few glances in the glaring hanyou's direction. Noticing a few people staring at him, InuYasha realized that he had been unconsciously growling for over ten minutes straight. He scoffed and stared at a freshman that was sitting closest to him. They boy was an easy target, InuYasha deducted in a few seconds. He sat by himself and had his head buried in some manga comic from the beginning of the 'class'. No one had bothered to greet the child when he arrived late and not a soul had moved to speak to him. With a defined glare, InuYasha yelled at the boy who was peeking at him from the top of the comic. "What the fuck are you staring at?"
The kid seemed to nearly pass out when the hanyou barked at him. "Uhh…" the kid with the chestnut eyes scooted his chair back from the angry boy in front of him. "Nothing, honest…. you were just…uhh…" the young boy desperately stared about the room for someone to save him from the unrelenting stare of the hanyou. The kid grimaced then whispered, "it's just that you've been growling…"
InuYasha inwardly grinned as he moved his chair closer to the petrified freshmen. His stoic expression remained unchanged on his face as he inched closer to the boy. "And you feel it is your place to stare at me?" he tried to control his emotions, tried to make his voice flat but anger still flared off every word. 'So is the story of my life,' he thought as he closed in the distance. 'just how does Sesshoumaru manage to keep so…emotionless?' he wondered in amazement. Here he was trying to bully a small kid for kicks and couldn't control his rage when his brother had remained impassive at the threats of criminal gangsters. 'Keh, I don't want to be like that fucker anyway,' he thought angrily as he crossed his arms crossly. He returned his attention to the situation at hand, glaring at the small boy.
"No…no…not at all…I just thought…" The boy was shaking now and was backed against the wall. He looked over the approaching boy's shoulder to see another junior who he knew…he didn't fear that boy like he did the one in front of him but Miroku was no one that he would normally hang out with. There was not a single soul in the classroom that would save him, he realized miserably.
"That's your problem, chump…" InuYasha was now on his feet and was standing over the boy, a scowl plastered onto his face. He leaned down and placed a hand on the boy's bright orange hair. Holding the kid in place by his head, InuYasha continued to edge him on. "…You think…your thinking right now about how I'm going to kill you…." A grin played its way onto the hanyou's face…a grin that one would expect to see Lucifer mimicking, "and you're right…and see, if you weren't thinking that, you wouldn't be scared." He grabbed the front of the boy's shirt and laughed mercilessly as the boy cried out in terror. He yanked the boy from his chair, amazed at the fear that this boy was radiating, and brought him an inch away from his face, "its amazing you've lasted two months into school…there are worse scumbags out there then me who would kill you rather then take the time of day…" his gloating was cut short by a very determined angry voice that boomed out from behind InuYasha.
"Put him down, now!"
InuYasha smirked as he shrugged his shoulders and dropped the cub onto the floor. He felt the grin widen as he turned on his heels to come face to face with a infuriated Kagome. Her nose was wrinkled and her face resembled a tomato, InuYasha noted as he tilted his head to his right shoulder to stare at her for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders again. "As you say, princess…but I would be to think that you wouldn't waste your precious time on such a low life!" He grinned a toothy grin at the girl in front of him evilly. His eyes laughed at her as he continued to stare. "Could it be that the mighty Kagome can feel for something beneath her golden throne?"
Kagome sneered at the hanyou and inhaled sharply. 'I'm so sick of this,' she thought angrily. 'All he has done since he arrived at this school is mock me and insult me. Its like we're back in third grade!' she looked into his eyes and felt her scowl darken. 'He has to feel something, the bastard asked me out. I mean…what is his angle?' shaking her head, she concluded in thought, 'I don't care what he thinks; he is such an arrogant jerk! I really want nothing to do with this boy.' Placing her balled fists on her hips, she leaned in to meet him head on. "You don't know me…I don't know you. Stop pretending like we do…"
In an instant the hanyou had her enveloped in his arms, his hands resting on the lower part of her hips right below her own fists. He stared down into her eyes in mischief as a sly smile played across his lips. He leaned in and spoke in her ear soft enough for only them to hear. The warmth of his breath against the flesh of her ear sent shivers up the girl's spine. "But we do, Kagome. Are you forgetting the club and my entrance into your life as the gold eyed god?" he had whispered the last part, making sure that he left her with enough dignity to make it home with. Pulling back, he grinned at her. "Or was I mistaken when I heard that title, cause if your talking about my brother; he's gay and it would be a waste of your time." He winked at the girl and pulled her closer into his chest. "But I'm sure we can get to know each other a little better, Princess. What do you say, back of my car after school?" he didn't care that he have a car, what she didn't know couldn't hurt him. He could almost feel the heat from her fury that blazed through her body like a wild fire. He didn't see her raise her hand, but he sure as hell felt the sting of her palm smacking his face. InuYasha growled as he turned his head with the blow, and snapped his attention back to the angry girl in front of him. His eyes blazed into hers as he growled out, "Bitch, what have I told you about doing that?"
Kagome stared hatefully into the boy's eyes. Though her heart was racing as she felt his hands plant themselves on her body, her mind was screaming for her to retaliate. 'Who does he think he is?' she kept thinking over and over. This boy was going to be her undoing. She couldn't believe he had insinuated her to be some sort of slut. She shook her head angrily at the mere accusation. 'I'm not Kikyo,' she thought over and over again. She let out two angry puffs of air before she smacked him. As soon as her hand landed on his face, she knew there was going to be trouble. He growled…he actually growled at her. Her eyes widened as he stared into hers after the blow…she watched him get angry…watched the rage boil in his blood. 'Crap,' she thought miserably. She had so far evoked a nasty wrath from this boy in one day without so much as hurting him, now…what would he do with anger as his motive? 'I don't care,' she argued with herself, 'he can't argue with me more then he already has. He's been a jerk since I first met him and an asshole!' She gulped as she felt his hand tighten on her shoulder. His gaze never wandered from her eyes. In an instant Sango was by her side with one hand planted on Kagome's shoulder and another on Inuyasha's. She pushed the two apart, working her way between them. Sango's eyes never strayed from the amber pools that she stared menacingly into. "Let. Her. Go. Now."
The hanyou met Sango's glare and agreed to the challenge of the staring war. Letting go of Kagome, he backed out of the range of Sango's foot, not wishing to experience the pain that he had before. "What do you plan on doing about it?"
Sango snorted and crossed her arms. "You really want to ask me that here?" she balled her hands into fists and stared at the hanyou. "…Cause if your looking for a fight, I'll gladly consent!" The boy turned his head from the girl and scoffed angrily. Sango narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "You really are a self conceded asshole, you know that?"
InuYasha raised an eyebrow and countered back angrily, "I'm a conceded asshole? Look at you and your bitchy friends! You won't even fuckin talk to people below you!" Throwing a glare over his shoulder at the freshman that was staring at the event before him, InuYasha pointed to him and moved from blocking his view. The entire class watched the fight unfold on the edge of their seats. "Do you even know this boys fuckin name?"
Kagome laid a hand on Sango's shoulder nearly pushing her out of her way to get to InuYasha. She got into Inuyasha's face and answered for her, "his name is Shippo…he's a freshman this year. He's an alto and has a very good voice." The boy behind InuYasha smiled happily yet looked like he was nearly in shock. She put her hands on her hips and snapped back, "You shouldn't listen to everything you hear. Most civilized people understand that much, jerk. Yet you insist on categorizing me like I'm some sort of book. Well guess what asshole; Me, Sango and Rin are not the selfish bitches most people make us out to be. You would know that if you could get your head dislodged from your ass for two seconds!" she narrowed her brow and crossed her arms to mimic his stance. "Since you showed up here, all you've wanted to do was make my life a living hell…and then you have the audacity to ask me out? I should have told you this outside but you couldn't keep your paws off of me." she grinned as his smirk fell. She gave him a weak smile. "Here's my answer, no way in hell."
InuYasha seemed angry, enraged even. His eyes darkened as he stared into Kagome's determined glare. He then scoffed and shrugged his shoulders. "Don't worry princess, you'll change your mind before tomorrow."
Her eyes darkened, as did Sangos. "Like hell…"
Before he could get his retort out, a man walked into the classroom and glared about at the students. He was younger, probably in his mid thirties. He had short black hair and was considerably dressed casually for a teacher. The only distinguishable characteristic of this man as a teacher was the black briefcase that he carried in his hand. "Well…what do we have going on here?"
Kagome turned quickly to the teacher and smiled a fake innocent grin. "We have a new student, Kenchi-sama." The smile slipped from her face as she heard him scoff behind her. She then sneered, "oh yeah, and his name is asshole…"
InuYasha had begun to simmer from the infuriating argument that he was having Kagome but listening to her denounce him in front of the teacher pissed him off to no end. He turned to stare in Kagome's direction, which was trying once again not to look at him and raised his index and middle fingers to point at the girl. His tone was void of any of his playful antics. The pure rage that glistened in his words sent chills up Kagome's spine. "Listen wench…"
Kenchi-sama clicked his tongue against his teeth as he approached the bickering pair. Inwardly he winched at Kagome's choice in words. He had been her chorus teacher for three years now and had not once ever heard Kagome take a derogative tone with anyone. Now she was cursing? He shook his head and chose to retort quietly, "Children, this is not the place to be having these kinds of arguments. If you wish to carry them out, please do so in your bedrooms, not my chorus room." The class giggled at the teacher's statement and both InuYasha and Kagome felt red surge across their cheeks. The teacher, Kenchi, then turned his attention to InuYasha. "So…tell me….I'll be to guess your name is not truly asshole…so what is it?"
InuYasha turned to glare at the teacher. He sighed and muttered, "Tashio InuYasha."
The teacher, Kenchi, smiled and nodded, 'so far so good,' he thought to himself as he placed his briefcase on the ground. He gave the boy a friendly smile. "Okay, and tell me InuYasha, why are you in chorus?"
InuYasha sat in the parking lot with Miroku after the last bell rang for the day, staring off into the blue sky. He had a half lit cigarette hanging from his mouth relaxing in the toxins as they entered his lungs. Miroku was still laughing, and had been for over twenty minutes. InuYasha grumbled at the boy, "let it die, already!"
Miroku smiled widely at his friend and shook his head no. "Yo, you so nearly got detention on your first day of class! Come on, that's some sort of accomplishment, isn't it?" he threw his hand around and patted the hanyou roughly on the back with another hysterical outburst of laughter.
InuYasha shook his head angrily and shook his shoulders trying to loose his friend's hand. "No, its not. Look, the fucker wanted to know why I wouldn't fuckin sing for him." InuYasha grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "He got his answer!"
Miroku shook his head and began to laugh once again. "You dropped the F-Bomb nearly twenty times in three sentences. Do you understand that? If Kenchi-sama wasn't cool, you would so be expelled!"
InuYasha growled a warning at the boy who then quickly shut his mouth. They continued to stare into the parking lot as the students piled out of the building and into their ridiculously expensive cars. His eyes intensely watched Kagome, Sango and Rin walk from the chorus room, where they had stayed after to practice for the holiday concert (which was still three months away). He growled under his breath at the thought of that chorus teacher staring at Kagome from the door. 'is he staring at her ass?' he shook his head and realized that the teacher was merely waving to the girls as they left. InuYasha caught himself before his jealous got the better side of him. 'Damn,' he thought, kicked at the dirt in the street prying his eyes away from the girls. 'This isn't good…I cannot be that jealous over Kagome already. Shit…no girl is worth this…' sighing he thought back to the other girls that he had been with once so long ago in his past. 'It feels like years have passed,' he thought painfully as he sighed deeply. 'Its only been two months since I cut the relationship off with…'he paused and scrunched up his forehead in thought. 'Kara…yeah, Kara.' He shook his head and sighed. 'But this girl…Kagome…she's different. She's a challenge….the others…they always flung themselves at me, they took the fun out of the chase. Keh, they were all whores, they wanted to be used then tossed to the side. But Kagome…' He grabbed the cigarette from his mouth and threw it to the ground. He blinked the thought away from his eyes and glared out at the parking lot. InuYasha scowled as he watched the three girls part ways and pick the more expensive cars out of the lot to load themselves into. Turning to look at Miroku, he sighed, "is it like a club or something? To go to this school one needs money and a really expensive car?" Miroku only nodded as his eyes trailed Sango's every move.
Sango owned a carefully finished baby blue BMW Z4 roadster that InuYasha was sure that her parents had paid for. She shouted her goodbyes to the other girls as she reached her car and yelled for Kagome to call her. InuYasha mentally noted to make sure to steal Sango's cell phone the next day to get Kagome's number from her. Rin hugged Kagome and made a few emphatic hand gestures that InuYasha was sure was in regards to his heckling of the poor girl. Rin then hugged Kagome one more time and began striding towards the back of the parking lot and InuYasha felt his breath catch in his throat. Rin's ride that was parked at the very back of the parking lot nearly made InuYasha drool. When the bus had entered the school, that car was how he knew the student body of the school was rich beyond belief. Rin had herself a beautiful red Porsche Carrera GT, a car that could easily be worth half a million dollars. 'Damn,' he thought with a low whistle. 'I need to find out what her parents do for a living.' Shaking his head, he watched Kagome as she sprinted off towards her car, signaling for Rin to call her. 'Lucky bitches,' he thought jealously, 'they have all this fuckin money and these great cars. I'm lucky if I can get five dollars of my inheritance to get myself some clothes for school.' He shook his head and sighed in envy as Kagome reached her silver 2005 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL65 AMG Roadster. He then grinned as her gaze drifted to where he was sitting and could nearly feel the electric spark of hatred ignite in her eyes as she locked onto his stare. He sapped it up as best as he could and gave the girl a small wave of the fingers with a 'bite me' grin plastered onto his face. She scowled and mouthed something to him then got into her car and joined the mass rush to get out of the schools parking lot.
Sighing, InuYasha turned his head to stare at Miroku. "Roku…. my mom wants me to take the bus…please tell me you have another way to get me home then that yellow hell bound demon!"
Miroku smiled and nodded. "Your no one unless you have a car in this school. I would really suggest getting yourself some type of vehicle and soon." He stood and took his keys from his pocket. "I'll show you around the city if you want me to. I have nothing else going on."
InuYasha nodded as they approached Miroku's 2005 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti and his mouth dropped. Shaking his head almost angrily, he asked the boy, "tell me, just how did you convince your parents to buy you a car that's easily worth two hundred thousand dollars?"Miroku paused as he reached the door of his car. He winched in what almost seemed like pain and placed a hand on the roof of the silver car. He rested his forehead against his arm suddenly and InuYasha began to understand. "My parents…" Miroku looked up at his friend with a deep sadness in his eyes. "My parents were rather wealthy…as I'm sure you can tell." He made a gesture with his free right hand at the car. "But…well…. they died." He sighed heavily and opened the door to the car. Sitting on the black leather seat he put his head against the headrest. It was a sore subject that he hardly talked to anyone about. 'Its caused me to be an outcast,' he thought sadly. After a moment, InuYasha got into the car as well and sat quietly next to the boy in silence. A moment of understanding passed between the two before InuYasha finally spoke up, "my father and mother are dead as well. My mother died when I was nine, my father when I was eight. I never really knew my dad…my mom was kind of his business trip whore. He would tell Sesshoumaru's mother, Launia, that he was going away for business and would make a side trip in to see my mother. He stopped visiting after he found out she was pregnant for a long time. Things got worse when people learned the truth…he was a big time youkai lord, and my mother…well…she was human." InuYasha frowned and shook his head. "I never really go to know my dad…he would stop by very seldom, bringing gifts of toys for me and money for my mother. Then I learned that he was sick…and so was my mom. I still don't know what it was that finally killed them both but they died within a year of each other. When my dad died, my mother's family shunned us out of the house and we had to live basically off of nothing. They feared my father's retribution to lay a hand on their daughter but with his death, their vengeance was swift. With my mother sick…I had to basically steal all the essentials that we needed to survive. One night I went to give my mother some soup I had heated up outside and she was…" InuYasha turned and looked out the window of the car, hiding his mask of pain. "No one discovered her body for three days…. for three days I had sat by her side begging for her to wake up. For three days I dealt with that nauseating stench of death…a smell I still can't seem to rid myself of." He blinked back tears and sighed once more. "That's when the police sent me to that fuckin' wench's house. I think I would have been better off on the street."
Miroku listened to his friend's tragic tale and nodded his head in sympathy. "I didn't have to go through that…but I know the pain and the stench of death. My parents were both killed about two and a half years ago. We were coming home from the first school play I was ever in…mind you it was also my last…. and a drunk driver t-boned us. The car was so smashed that it took firefighters and policemen over an hour to break through the metal that wound its way around the car to get us out. My father had been killed instantly...his door took the brunt force of the other cars. My mother had cracked her head open against her side window and died about ten minutes after our car stopped flipping. People who saw the accident said that they watched the car flip over at least seven times…the guy hit us doing at least fifty. No one knows how I survived but I did… I had to sit in the car staring at my father's mangled body for over an hour. I was in shock when they dragged me from the car…when I finally snapped back into reality, my parents funeral had been long over, they had been buried and I was living with my aunt. I was a walking drone for almost a month…" Miroku glared at the steering wheel of his car and cursed under his breath. "Needless to say, when I finally came to it, I got the hell out of my aunts home. With a lot of begging, I was given my own place to live…and my aunt became my trust fund guardian. Getting what I need out of her is like stealing candy from a baby. That's how I got this car…that's how I got the place I'm staying at…. its how I got everything I ever wanted…" 'Except my parents back.' Miroku sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "I'd give it all back, you know…"
InuYasha joined in his friend's exasperated sigh and nodded in agreement. "I would too." Both boys remained silent until Miroku stuck the key into the ignition and turned on the car. The engine purred then erupted with a tremendous roar as the car lurched forward. Spinning his tires, Miroku floored it out of the parking lot.
Kagome pulled up in front of her house and parked the car in the driveway. She sat in the car for a moment and laid her head against the black leather headrest. She let out a deep sigh and shook her head. 'I really don't believe that guy.' She opened her door and grabbed her book bag from the back seat. She made her way into the house, grabbing the mail from the mailbox. She sorted through the junk to see if there was anything for her before dumping the pile on the table by the door. "…Souta…. gramps, I'm home." She never really expected an answer as she made her way upstairs to her bedroom. She threw her backpack into her room and walked to Souta's door. Angry music blared from behind it and she sighed before pounding hard on it. "Souta…open up!" she screamed louder then the music then leaned back on her heels and waited for the door to open. Nothing happened after a minute and she banged again. "Souta…stop ignoring me. Open this door now!"
A muffled number of curses ensued from inside but the door never opened. Kagome jiggled the doorknob but it was locked and she stared to get mad. 'Of all days, this is not what I need… why does he has to be an ass? I'm not taking this crap.' She shook her head then walked to her mother's bedroom door. Her mom was still at work and would not be home for another hour. She reached to the top of the doorframe and pulled down the tiny key that her mother always hid. With a sly smile she shook her head. She walked to his door and banged once more. "Either open up or be decent cause one way or another, I'm coming in!" upon no answer, Kagome shrugged and unlocked the door. She opened the door to be assaulted by blaring loud music and a deep cloud of cigarette smoke. She waved her hand in front of her face and coughed once. "Souta, your in big trouble…" her eyes met the other figure in his room and she paused, nervously she added, "hey Kouga…"
The two boys turned and stared at her, Souta's face masked in anger for her invading his privacy, Kouga looked rather…happy…. to see her. Souta took the cigarette from his mouth and leaned over and turned down the music. He raised an eyebrow and stared at his sister. She returned his stare without words. After a moment, Souta sighed and asked, "what?"
Kagome bit her tongue and pointed to the small cancer stick in his hand. "Get rid of it…now!" she turned to glare at the teen on the other end of his bed. "You too. That's just disgusting to do in someone's house."
Kouga grinned and took the cigarette from Souta and stood from the foot of the boy's bed. "I'm sorry, Kagome. Point me to the bathroom and I'll get rid of these things."
Kagome gave him a warm smile and pointed to the bathroom. "Thank you Kouga." She shot a glare at her brother when the older boy left the room. "Are you going to tell me what you and Kouga are doing in here with the door locked or should I leave that to my imagination?"
Souta glared at the girl and narrowed his eyes then grabbed the remote that laid on the desk by his bed and turned off the television that was playing some sort of action move. "That's sick, Kag, really sick. We were just watching Die Hard! You know, I never hassle you when your friend are over so why don't you go away, now."
Kagome leaned back on her hips and frowned. "Because I'm not the one in the locked room with the older guy! Besides, since when were you and Kouga friends?" her eyes fell to the floor where there were two empty beer bottles. Kagome's eyes widened as she reached out and quickly slapped her brother up the back of his head. "What the hell is that, Souta?"
Souta followed her gaze then glared out the corner of his eye at the girl. "It's a bottle Kagome…never seen one before?" he scoffed and stared her down. "Oh, that's right, your Kagome…I nearly forgot how perfect you were! God forbid my perfect sister ever laid a hand on a beer! My sister would never do anything wrong!" he crossed his arms and leaned back against the headboard of his bed. "Don't give me that look, sis."
Kagome stared at the boy before her like he was a stranger in her house. 'When did I miss this? When did he gain such animosity towards me?' she shook her head slowly and sat down next to Souta. His words from earlier that day played over in her mind. Kagome stared into his troubled gray eyes in a mix of sorrow and regret. She leaned in and gently took Souta's hand in her own. "Souta…" a sob escaped her lips recalling his harsh words earlier that day. Slowly she realized that she hadn't been there like a sister should have been for her younger brother…she was so engrossed in her own life… she lurched forward and wrapped her arms around her brother. "Souta, I am so sorry." She began to cry as she pulled the startled boy against her. "I'm so sorry…. I should have been here for you! All these years…I've lived my own life without thinking of you…. without watching you…now…." she chocked back tears and placed her lips on the top of her brother's head. "I am so sorry…I didn't see it…. i didn't see your pain. I tried so hard to move on I blocked everything else out…I blocked you out." She muffled the last part into his black hair and tears continued to stream down her face.
Souta struggled at first at his sister's embrace, 'this is sooo embarrassing!' he thought as he begged to whatever gods existed to keep Kouga in the bathroom for a few more minutes. Then he felt a drop of water fall onto his cheek, followed by another. 'She's crying…my sister is crying for me.' he felt his own eyes fill with tears as he returned her hug. 'Not since dad died…I haven't cried since then…' He heard her words and shook his head to retaliate. "Kags…I could have…"
Kagome pulled away from her brother, her black mascara leaving rings under her brown eyes. "No, Souta…this is my fault. I'm your older sister; I should have been there for you when dad died. Instead I locked away everything…I left you to deal with this on your own. Souta, I will make it up to you, I promise." She hugged her brother again and her eyes traveled to the empty bottles on the floor. "I will not loose you to that stuff Souta…not you. Dad died because he couldn't keep that out of his system…he died at the wheel in a drunken stupor! Don't follow in his footsteps Souta, your better then this! There is nothing in that bottle for you…"
Souta whined and pulled back from his sister. Suddenly, he could not meet her eyes. He felt tears begin to pour over his own as he tried to control his emotions. "Kagome…I'm sorry. I won't do it again…I just wanted to…"
"Look cool?" Kagome glared down at her brother…the young boy who used to be her best friend…. the boy who she would never have turned her back on. Somewhere in the past four years though, the point where he would have needed his father, he lost his sister as well. She shook her head, her motherly instincts taking over. "Souta, I'm not going to tell mom but if I ever…and I mean ever…. see you with this stuff in your room again, heaven help you because I will kill you!" She groaned as he sighed. "Souta…this, this is not the way to go about life! It will not dull your pain! I want you to understand that this is bad…that this is not an escape!"
Souta whined again and pulled himself backwards. "I know that Kags…I swear that I never did this before…I just wanted to…"
Kagome stood from her spot and placed a hand out in front of her face. "I don't want to know. I really don't." She shook her head and turned to walk from the room. "Open a window so that mom doesn't smell the smoke and get rid of those bottles." She closed the door on the dumbfounded boy and came face to face with Kouga.
He stared down at her as his eyes took in her beauty and smiled a toothy grin. "That was probably the nicest thing I think I've ever heard. You know, Kagome," he reached out and laid a hand gently on her shoulder, "I really wish I had a sister like you."
Kagome smiled into the boy's blue eyes and dropped her gaze to the floor. 'Kouga is a nice guy, I guess.' She glanced up at Kouga and realized that she had never in fact seen the boy without his hood on. His hair was nearly as long as hers and was tied loosely into a ponytail that lay on his back. She met the boy's eyes and froze. His eyes were boring into her and were filled with a burning hunger…Kagome licked her lips cautiously as she gently stepped around the demon. 'he might be handsome,' she thought, 'but he's dangerous. I don't need someone to tell me that.' She gave the boy a small smile and carefully said, "That's really nice, Kouga, but I'm not the best of sisters. I just realized I nearly lost my little brother." She gave him another smile and turned to walk off when his hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist. She paused in her step and turned nervously to look at the boy. 'Under his gaze, I think I would rather put up with Inuyasha's mouth.' She shivered involuntarily and gently tried to pull her hand from his grasp. He only tightened it. Her eyes widened as she bit on her lower lip. "Let me go, Kouga."
Kouga's grin widened as he stared at the frightened girl. "Kagome…don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanted…well…. was wondering if you would do me the honor of going out with me tomorrow night."
Kagome gasped at the boy's proposal and her heart fluttered. 'No guy has ever paid this much attention to me and now…now I have two dangerous guys coming on to me. Which is the lesser of the two evils?' with a sigh, Kagome's eyes softened. "I'm sorry Kouga, I have plans for tomorrow."
Kouga's eyes darkened as he glared down at the girl in front of him. He had smelt the scent of that dog shit kid on her when she walked into the kid's room and it boiled his blood. 'The only reason I'm hanging out with this runt is so that I can be close to Kagome…now she's rejecting me for that InuYasha kid?' with a low growl, Kouga tired to warn her. "Kagome…that InuYasha guy is no good. Hell, anyone can tell that from looking at him! He opens his mouth and its like opening a gate to hell!" his tone has harsh to say the least, but it was laced with Kagome picked up as jealousy, and his eyes narrowed. "He's only going to hurt you." He then gave her a cocky smile and his voice became tainted with a stunning bravado, "it you want a real man, Kagome, I'm your guy. Come on, I've always wanted you to go out with me. One night, Kagome…all I'm asking."
Kagome glared at the boy and in his moment of pride, pulled her hand away from him. She was starting to feel very uncomfortable. "Kouga…I'm flattered, honest. But I don't know what makes you think that I am going out with that rude boy, because I'm not. I'm hanging out with Sango tomorrow, not that it's any of your business." She crossed her arms as a rationalization hit her. Anger began to swirl in her eyes as she cornered the wolf with her gaze. "Hey Kouga…just where did my fifteen year old brother get that alcohol?" Her jaw tightened as everything began to make sense.
Kouga gave her a sly smile and shrugged his shoulders. "Does it mater, the punk found it. Maybe you should ask your mother."
Kagome gasped and wheeled back and smacked the wolf across the face. "Bastard, my mother would never touch that stuff! You don't know her! And don't try to say my grandfather because he can't handle beer and I sure as hell didn't buy it. So why don't you answer my question again!" she seethed with anger as she stared at the boy before her. 'This has to be like the fifth time today I've smacked a guy…never before today have I had to hit anyone but Miroku. Now…now its like their lining up.'
Kouga turned his face with her slap and growled deeply. He turned back and raised his hand to his cheek and rubbed it gently. It took every inch of patience in his body to keep from striking her back. He managed a small frown. "Wow, Kagome, you sure can pack a punch." He sighed once and rolled his eyes. 'I guess I earned that one,' he thought nodding. He felt all the anger leave his body as he stared into Kagome's chocolate colored eyes. "Look, Kagome, I'm really sorry that this all happened. I admit that I brought the beer. I never thought it would be that bad of an issue…"
Kagome shook her head and yelled over the boy's apology, "that bad of an issue? Kouga, do you understand how my father died?" she shook her head again, "did you even know my father died?"
Kouga raised an eyebrow and felt all emotion fall from his face. "I didn't know…I'm sorry."
Kagome sighed once again. "He died when he managed to wrap his Porsche around a telephone pole…. he was drunk." She met the boy's eyes. "So I'm sure you can understand why I'm against you letting my fifteen year old brother drink." She felt her anger flaring again as she leaned closer to him, "besides for the fact that my brother is fifteen! Kouga…" Kagome moved from the side of steps that she had been blocking and shook her head. "I think you need to go…"
Kouga growled again, but in defeat. His eyes dropped from Kagomes as he turned slowly from the angry girl. "Let me say goodbye to Souta and I'll be on my way." He turned back and stuck his head into the room. Souta was sitting on his bed staring off out the open window. His mind seemed to be where else…some time else. "I'll see you tomorrow guy." He turned towards Kagome and gave her a small smile. He threw his hands behind his head and tossed his hood up over his hair. Holding out a hand, he beckoned for Kagome to take it, which she did cautiously. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it lightly. "I really am sorry Kagome, and I want to make it up to you. We'll figure out a good time to get together," he gave her a wink and gently dropped her hand. "Bye Kagome." He turned and walked down the steps and out of her house.
For a long moment, Kagome stood motionless in the stairwell. 'Wow…he sure can be confusing.' she shook her head and turned on her heels. She stuck her head into her brother's room and cleared her throat. "Souta…I'm going to start diner, and I'm going to make pasta. Join me and mom tonight?"
The boy nodded but remained pensive staring outside.
Kagome gave a small smile and rested her head on the doorframe. "Souta…don't worry about it." with a small sigh, she asked him quietly, "do you want me to drive you to school tomorrow?"
Souta turned to look at his sister, a smile spread across his face. "That would be nice…"
Kagome's smile widened and she walked across the room and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I should have asked you sooner…I should have been your ride since I could drive."
Souta looked up at his sister and bit his lip. "Kagome, don't worry about it. But…I…. well…" The boy looked crestfallen as he shifted nervously under his sister's glare. He suddenly had an overwhelming guilt eating away at him. With an exasperated sigh, Souta grimaced and nervously confessed. "That new kid, InuYasha…" he notice Kagome cringe at the name but waved off the gesture. "…He seemed…interested in you. He asked a few questions about you to me and I kind of…" his cheeks grew red for the first time in a year. He would have smiled at the emotions that now coursed through his body that he was sure that he would never feel again but finished his testimony, "look…he really likes you Kagome. At least it really seemed like he did. I kind of said some…not so flattering things…. about you to him." he noticed her pause and quickly added, "I was angry Kagome…I was angry at the world and honestly, I was angry at you for the way you had been ignoring me." He grimaced and waited for his sister to begin her normal screaming session. Nothing happened. Souta turned and looked up at his sister who was…smiling? "Nani…?"
Kagome reached down and scuffled the boy's hair and smiled sadly. "I know what you said, Souta. I was standing a few feet behind you when it was done. I'm shocked you didn't see me."
A tension swelled in the boy's heart as he gazed up at his sister. "Kagome…I didn't mean what I said…"
Kagome smiled and nodded once. "I know that Souta, I know. Don't worry about InuYasha…he's a jerk…just like Kouga." She turned on her heels and walked from the room with a smile. 'Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all,' she thought as she walked downstairs. She reached the kitchen and leaned against the cold wall. 'InuYasha…' she could feel a tingling in her stomach and wished it away. 'No…. no, he is such a pompous jerk! There is no way…not a single chance in hell that I would ever give him the time of day. I think I made that clear.' Her hand unconsciously grazed her lips recalling his enchanting kiss. 'I don't believe…' she shook her head and closed her eyes. 'I will not have feelings for such a conniving bastard!' she tried to busy herself about the kitchen and tried harder to ignore the burning feeling that began to overwhelm her stomach…a feeling of need…a feeling of lust.
