Two and a half hours and a whole lot of shopping later, the girls' group, and the two naughty little brothers had finally managed to reach their usual spot at the ever treasured and much beloved court of ever lasting food—well, at least until 8pm on Saturdays.
After having to apologize to the store manager and their security staff, repeatedly—Kagome, Sango, and even poor Ayame, were able to save the two little twerps' fresh young baby skins with so much as a sharp warning, a bit of some finger wagging…and of course, a few extra charged fees.
Two very important and valuable lessons were learned on this day.
The first—never, ever run out of a store without first paying for your merchandise, EVER.
No matter how much in a hurry you are.
The second—never, by any means necessary, agree to a favor your mother asks.
So with all that settled, both Kagome and Sango were more than ready to put it all behind them.
"I said I was sorry already!", Sōta snapped at his older sister, who's ever scorching glare continued to draw a hole on the back of his head.
Kagome resisted the urge to pull him by the ear right then and there.
"Oh you'll be sorry alright, Sōta", she hissed back, "when you don't get single new game—not today, and not for a month!"
Her brother gaped in shock, letting out a loud and miserable gasp.
She might as well have told him he had three days to live.
"Why!", the little boy practically sobbed, throwing himself on the ground with the practiced agony of a seasoned thespian, "that's so unfair!"
Kagome sighed, trying to ignore the group of adults a few feet away who kept pointing at her as if she were some kind of evil, heartless child torturer.
"We have no money left, Sōta. That's why!", she gritted, offering him her hand despite wanting to throttle him for making a scene, "get up—people are lookin, Sōta—get up."
"C-can I at least h-have o-one g-game, s-sis?", he begged, refusing to be pulled up, despite the visibly throbbing vein on his older sister's forehead.
"Just be grateful that I'm at least not telling mama—get up!—grandpa would probably disown you if he ever found out."
At that the little boy did pull himself off the the ground, quick as whistle.
Negotiations, it seemed, were effectively done for the day.
"Aren't you guys being a little too hard on them?", Ayame asked, wincing as she helplessly watched Sango pull on her little brother's cheeks to the point that it had to be painful for the poor boy.
"I mean, it's not like they were actively trying to steal…"
"We can't condone this kind of behavior, Ayame!", Sango huffed, pulling her right hand away from one of Kohaku's bruised cheeks long enough to place it at her hip.
"Kagome and I had to use up all of our extra savings because of these little runts" she hissed, pulling her still attached hand even harder, "when they knew I was planning on buying those cute boots we saw earlier—Didn't you? Kohaku!"
The twelve year old complained with a small whimper, despite the uncomfortable stretch of his taut cheek.
"Well, I might as well kiss that dream goodbye", Sango grumbled, refusing to relent, "now won't I, Kohaku?"
Her reluctant brother had no choice but to nod guiltily.
"Kiss what goodbye?", Miroku cooed, just as he and the rest of the boys made their approach, seemingly out of nowhere.
Unsurprisingly, all of them carried nothing other than bags from their precious video game store.
"Nothing that my cute little brother's paper route money can't solve, I'm sure", the supposed once proclaimed 'girl of his dreams', replied.
Sango's smile grew a little too smug, and much too expectant as she stared down at what most might call a defenseless middle schooler.
Kohaku sighed, his childlike face crumbling at last as he nodded once more.
"Yeah", Miroku deadpanned, sending Sango a surprisingly hard look as he smacked her hand away and pulled the younger boy into a brotherly embrace, patting him on the head in an effort to sooth him, "that explains everything."
"Hey! Don't you comfort him when you don't know what he's done!", Sango snapped, visibly seething as dark violet eyes rolled up sarcastically at the hand that came up to smack back in retaliation.
"Yeah, okay—Whatever!" Inuyasha grunted, pulling the two of them apart, with his usual little to no effort freakish strength, "do we have time to buy something to eat or not? I'm starving!"
"You're always starving", the brown haired girl he held by the back scruff of her shirt gritted, pushing the silver haired boy's grip off her with a quick yet dangerous flash of her dark eyes.
Inuyasha sniffed nonchalantly. What was it to her anyway? He grumbled. She didn't pay his food bill.
"I mean she does have point…", Miroku volunteered in Sango's defense, despite their little tiff, and then proceeded to shrug back when Inuyasha glared at him, "What?…it's like you have a tape worm living in your stomach or something…"
"I've never noticed", Kōga, at the other side of them, offered with a shrug of his own.
"Yeah, probably because he caught it from you", Miroku muttered, sharing a high five with a snorting Sango.
He did gulp however, when the two brunt of his joke simultaneously cracked their fingers in a rare show of united hostility, which effectively cut his bravado off in one quick go.
One idiot, Miroku might be able take on a good day, but two?…yeah, he thought it best not to test those odds any time soon.
"You guys can go on ahead and eat", Kagome spoke, ignoring all of them as she counted the few measly coins she had left, and handed them over to Sōta with a scornful glare.
It was hardly anything, but at very least there was still enough for a measly bag of chips or two he could buy himself.
The eight year old shivered at her animosity, but graciously accepted the charity nonetheless.
"I'm not really hungry", she added, ignoring the loud growl of her empty stomach just as the rest of the group stared her down in concern.
"Aww", Kōga gave her a soft yet predatory smile, "I'll buy you something if you're low on cash, Kagome", he readily volunteered, before anyone else had time to speak up.
Kagome shook her head, heat coating her face at the blunt insinuation of her broke-ness—however true it was—but as expected, Kōga would not relent.
It wouldn't be the first time she'd tried going without, and he'd be damned if the girl of his dreams starved when his dad had so generously given him twice his allowance in advanced only yesterday.
—as a low ball effort to keep him from snitching to his mom about the "business trip" his old man took to not Cancun with the boys this summer.
The boys being Kōgas bachelor uncles, who aren't allowed at the apartment anymore ever since they got drunk and burned down the new, now old hot tub…
As it stood, massive renovations were still being made on the new, new hot tub.
With a leery smirk, the hormonal teen found himself wondered if Kagome would want to check it out once it was done.
Then—naturally—briefly pictured what she'd look like in a bikini…
—but wait.
His blue eyes shifted as he frowned, 'Did Kagome even own a Bikini?'
Kōga scrunched up his mouth in contemplation—his mom had a bunch of them, it was the main reason why his dad got her a hot tub in the first place…
'Heh', he secretly plotted, rubbing his palms together, maybe his mom could lend her a pair and…'ooh yeah, that's what I'm talking—Aw shit! Shit! Damn it!'
Great, just great! The boy groaned, bile rising up his throat, he just had to picturing Kagome's face on his mom's body—'Hurk!'
Abort!
ABORT!
'Anyway'—Kōga gagged, shaking that cursed image out of his head—'what were they talking about again..?'
"Can you buy me something too?", Ayame, taking full advantage of the situation, and ignoring his weird, awkward space-out, questioned him with a hopeful pout.
The dark haired boy made a face.
"No…", he snorted.
"Don't worry about it, Kōga", Kagome assured her very wolf-like friend, trying hard not laugh when the hot-headed redhead punched him in the arm.
"Are you sure, Kagome?", Sango urged, already going through Miroku's rather thick wallet, "you don't have to hold back for anyone's sake"
Kagome shook her head, though before she even had the chance to respond, Inuyasha was already pulling on her arm, "keh—since when have you been so bashful?", he grumbled, and unceremoniously lead her away from the group.
"Come on", he supplemented when she gave him a bewildered look, "I'll buy us some ramen", he then turned to Sōta and gestured him forward—"you too, shrim—
"What's wrong?", Kagome questioned, lifting her dark brows in wonder at why he had stopped on his tracks so abruptly.
Normally, nothing came between Inuyasha and ramen.
"J-Jakotsu!", he stammered.
"Ugh!", Kōga complained, following a few feet behind them and feeling woozy all over again, "are you actually trying to make me lose my appetite or something?—not cool, man!"
"No…No I see what he means", Miroku groaned, "Jakotsu—he's over there! Look at the takoyaki stand!"
The entire group swiftly turned to stare at where he pointed, all with varying degrees of concern marring their faces.
"Oh great. If he's here then that means they're all here", Ayame sighed, scrunching up her small pert nose in distaste.
Jakotsu and his companions were known to only exclusively travel in a pack of no less than three—kind of like the three musketeers, only entirely deranged.
"I—I gotta hide!", Inuyasha muttered, finally dropping Kagome's hand in favor of scanning with excessive desperation for a some kind of safe heaven to take cover in.
"Ya think he'd notice if I went under one of those tables?", he nudged his best friend, gesturing at a large cluster of food court seating a few feet away from them.
Kagome shook her head and shrugged helplessly, tentatively observing the small tightly-knit group of friends laughing loudly amongst themselves as they steadily made their way towards the sitting area.
Any minute.
Any minute now, Kagome knew, and one of them would surely notice her, or her friends.
They always did—not matter what, when, or where.
Because it'd be a cold, cold day in hell, before they'd willingly pass up any kind of opportunity to make her life a living nightmare.
Not once.
And not ever.
Any minute now—the Higurashi girl found herself counting every passing second with the slow, agonizing pulse of her heartbeat, conveniently thrumming thought her ears.
Any…
Moment…
And almost as if manifesting it—one might say it was—thin, dark, and deadly eyes scanned about the room with their usual bored gaze, until finally landing across an unexpected surprise.
Their owner perked up at the sight of her favorite little target—humbly presented to her out of nowhere, in all her good fortune—and proceeded to showcase her usual, classical, yet bitter tinged, smirk.
Bingo!
The beautiful and immaculately dressed girl's rosebud lips mouthed a few choice words to her companions, who immediately stood at attention, when she gestured in the direction that had captured her attention.
And just as quickly, two other annoyingly familiar faces, and one Kagome couldn't quite recall ever seeing, also caught sight of her almost simultaneously.
They all grinned, and like one big creepy machine, stopped, changed their plans, and eagerly proceeded to make a beeline towards her direction.
There they were at last:
Our Lady of The Sacred Jewel's most infamous tag team of psycho cheerleaders.
How long now had it been since Kagome had the misfortune to come across them?
Not that it really mattered.
She didn't think there ever would come a time that would be considered long enough.
And anyway…whether she liked it or not, they were here now, their steady steps bringing each one closer and closer by the second.
—Not dissimilarly a la much more cringe version of a scene only found in the likes of 'Mean Girls' the movie.
Naturally always the very first to be spotted within their creepy synchronized formation, mainly because he simply towered over the rest, was the aforementioned Jakotsu Nojima—third year.
Flamboyant cross dresser, or a severely butch woman? This guy lets you decide.
—Gender's a construct, Miss Ma'am, and he tears it apart.
Hermaphrodite queen—though he is—in truth, anyone who's known him since elementary school have it on good authority that he does indeed come from a family of all sons.
And although Kagome, and not to mention the rest of the female student body, admire him for his flawless makeup skills—and enviously silky locks—none of that made up for his ugly, nasty personality and cruel demeanor.
Right besides him—as usual—was the hateful Kagura Onigumo, strutting about in her red, killer mile high heels, and confidently feeding into the illusion that the whole world was her catwalk.
Now a second year, and Kikyō's first friend since moving to town—this chick was an even bigger piece of work than Nojima.
Immensely cold and heartlessly sarcastic, she's not coined the school's resident bitch for nothing.
Which in hindsight, says a lot about someone who's crotch's was rumored to be open for business three-hundred and sixty-five days a year, twenty-four hours a day—and yes, that included weekends, holidays, and labor day.
And of course, right smack in the middle, yet always somehow leading the pack at least three steps ahead of the rest, was their lovable captain—in, and out, of cheer practice.
Pretty, rich, and with hair longer than the average person's aspirations and dreams, Kikyō Saitō was well known for her abundant charm, and ample spiteful nature.
Together, they all formed a strong tight-knit dream team made solely out of the stuff of waking nightmares.
Kagome's shoulders visibly tensed the closer they approached despite Sango's insistent tug on her arm, and the affect was not lost on her bully.
"My, my…", Kikyō spoke, her permanent smirk biting as usual, and her cold eyes tracing down the younger girl's form tauntingly, "if it isn't our favorite little orphan."
"Inuyasha~", Jakotsu squealed despite himself at the sight of the wary faced first year, though he did make sure to stop right behind his overload, for fear she might lash out at him for it, in front of everyone—again.
"I've missed your cute little puppy dog face~"
The feminine boy made a pinching gesture with his immaculate, freshly manicured nails, which only made Inuyasha retreat several steps back, despite the painfully blazing urge burning in his chest telling him to place himself in front of his best friend, if not as a shield, then at least in the admittedly high hopes of stealing Kikyō's attention for once.
Kagome scoffed, ignoring the two boys.
"You're lucky everyone passes to the next grade wether with merit or not, Kikyō", she remarked with a hearty glare of her own, "your vocabulary skills suck, if you actually think someone with a living mother qualifies as an orphan."
"Heh," despite the dig, the older girl's smirk only widened as she lifted a hand to let her thin fingers smoothly glide down her long midnight tresses, "that's cute, Kagome."
She then turned to a smug faced Kagura, "Well, I suppose anything qualifies as a mother these days. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I could say the same exact thing about people", her fried replied, making a show of leveling her scarlet eyes over the rest of the group.
"What brings the scum of the earth to a mall anyway?" She added, "I wasn't aware this place carried secondhand shops"
Before Kagome had any chance to reply, Sango stepped up and pulled her behind her, giving the two girls the nastiest look she could muster, keeping an especially harsh one on Kagura as she prepared to retaliate.
Enough was enough, already.
"Oh that's clever", she mocked, rolling her eyes, "but maybe if you came down from that stupid cloud your dick rotted brain likes to dream up every once in a while, you'd realize that we're all going to the same private school as you—and yeah, you and Saitō's daddies might be loaded, but so are most of our parents, idiot", she gritted.
"Oh my god, Sango!", Ayame gaped, giving the taller girl a quick thumbs up.
The two shared a grin.
Sure, everyone was aware at exactly who Kagura's insult was targeted at, but Sango was not about to let the school slut, of all people, look down on her closest friend.
"Your dad only owns a few dojos, calm your tits", Kagura drawled, checking her nails, and not the least bit chastised, "and from what I can see, all it gets you is Treasure Factory…"
As Sango seethed, Ayame's grip tightened on the bags she carried.
"What's wrong with Treasure Factory, when you can get a good deal every once in a while?", the redhead countered, ego bruised, "my grandfather owns half the stocks—and if it's good enough for his investments, then it's good enough for me."
The boys, who didn't know or care about the differences in most brands, nodded in agreement.
"Plus why are you ragging on our purchases, anyway?", Kōga added with a scoff, "it's more than what any of you've bought"
Fed up at last with the sudden, unrelenting onslaught, and knowing perfectly well that she was unable to get the purse she coveted until her mom decided to stop being a raging asshole long enough to unfreeze all her credit cards, Kagura growled.
"I don't remember asking you!", she snapped, her cold fingers indenting the forgotten iced coffee she held in her left hand.
She would have thrown her drink over his annoyingly stupid ponytail head too, had Kikyō not sent her a warning look.
The cheer captain fought the urge to roll her eyes—briefly wondering how she ended up with a pack of morons as henchmen.
Speaking of.
The older girl smirked again.
"So anyway", she spoke ,once again commanding all the attention—her own firmly fixated on Higurashi and her ever amounting animosity.
'Good', Kikyō's grin widened.
Kagome had never been particularly skilled at hiding it, and the more she made the younger girl squirm, the more the older girl enjoyed it.
"I'm not sure if you've met our school's newest and youngest cheerleader", she spoke casually, as if addressing old friends, while gesturing to the small figure at the back of her group.
"Her name is Kanna Goda", she added, "She'll be starting in your year, and is the first of her age to make the team."
A short, pale girl, with equally pale white hair, stepped forward, and Kagome recognized her as the unfamiliar face she had scouted amongst the sea of nightmares the other three gave her.
This new girl's seemingly lifeless blackhole eyes stared up at her blankly.
—Kanna looked to have equally as much spirit and liveliness as that of a turnip.
"…Um…", Kōga raised his hand, much like he would have done in a classroom.
Kikyō's somewhat equally cold stare seemed to look right through him, but she acknowledged him nonetheless.
"What?", she gritted.
"…are ya…are ya sure she's alive?"
"Wait, new cheerleader? Since when?", Sango waved the stupid question away, much to Kōga's chagrin, "I thought all the spots were taken during summer tryouts. Yura-chan was picked last, I remember it like it was yesterday!", she complained.
"Actually, She-Male. She was, but I took her out", the cheer captain replied, shrugging her thin shoulders nonchalantly, "as head of the squad I felt she simply didn't have enough spirit."
—That and the fact that Kikyō's ex-boyfriend dumped her for the older girl, did not plead well for poor Yura's case at all.
"…And she does?", Inuyasha snorted, nodding his head towards Kanna.
Kikyō shrugged again, this time sparing the silver haired boy one single look at last—one that clearly expressed how much she couldn't care less.
That one simple gaze, however cruel though, was enough to bring out the blush in Inuyasha's pale cheeks.
And if her worst enemy hadn't bothered to notice it, Kagome for one had.
It only served to make her even angrier still.
She could understand being attracted to someone despite your better judgment…
—but to allow it to hold any power over you, when such a despicable person made the ones you actually cared for miserable? That was something thing else all together.
Something inherently wrong.
Her blue eyes hardened as they met Inuyasha's guilt ridden amber ones, and it didn't help her mood at all when he quickly looked away, either.
Wasn't he supposed to be on her side no matter what? Hadn't they promised to stick together forever?
Out of all the people in the whole wide world, Inuyasha was the one and only person who knew her completely—understood her completely.
Though inherently different in their own special way, weren't they still one and the same?
How many times now had he used her shoulder to cry on, and she his?
When her father had perished on that horrible car crash so many years ago, hadn't it been him who had held her hand throughout the funeral, and then all through the months of agony?
When his mother had succumbed to her illness, hadn't she been by his side, shielding his face from view with her hugs when he cried in public, and letting those bitter tears stain her dress in the hopes that it would soak some of his misery away.
Hadn't it been easy for her to protect him then?
He above anyone else, knew exactly what it felt like when the deep, festering wound from the memory of a dead parent was heartlessly pried open in the name of cruelty and entertainment.
Why then?
Why then could he see someone like Kikyō—who had everything Kagome could not, yet was never satisfied—who was mean spirited and cruel—and yet still allow himself to look upon her with such undeniable longing and romanticized desperation?
What exactly did that say about him?
And what did it say about Kagome, for accepting it?
The enraged girl bit her lip to quell her frustrations, but it did little to help.
Well it didn't—she answered her own question, and in that moment it resonated deep within her chest and through her very soul—because Kagome vowed to never accept it.
Even if Kikyō would bother to ever give him the time of day someday—even if it was fifty years in the future—she, Kagome, would never accept it!
And, she was absolutely done with this farce of a conversation.
"Well it's very nice to meet you and all, Kanna", she swallowed her pride, and playing to Kikyō's game for the sake of ending it, waved at the tiny stone faced, childlike teen, "but if you excuse us, we'd like to return to the rest of our day."
Yes, she was biting the dust before it even had a chance to gather, but at this point Kagome really didn't want to put up with Kikyō and her cronies any longer than her patience could extend—which concerning them, wasn't very much at all.
So what if she took the cowards way out? An out was an out, after all.
"Aww, already?", the mean girl pouted, turning to her cackling friends, "I wonder who taught our little Kagome to leave without being dismissed?"
"Yeah, Ka-go-me-chan!", Jakotsu admonished, jumping in front of the younger girl's retreating form to pull her back, while wagging his finger down at her in the manner a parent might do to their misbehaving child, "that wasn't very nice~"
He didn't have a chance to do much more though, when Inuyasha nudged Miroku out of his path to push the older boy away from her.
"Hey! Don't touch her, freak!", he hissed, pulling Kagome's arm free from Jakotsu's hold.
"Don't call him a freak, you failed abortion!", Kagura immediately gritted, pushing Inuyasha right back.
"What'd ya call me?", he barked, shoving his game store bag back at a giggling Kōga who missed and let it fall on the floor with a loud plastic clang.
"You. Heard. Me", Kikyō's second in command hissed back, her smug red eyes looking down her nose at him as she nonchalantly played with the feather charm in her necklace.
Inuyasha scoffed, unable to believe her gall, "I guess you'd know all about those, wouldn't you, skank?"
That certainly got a reaction from her.
"Will you stop laughing already and stop him before he hits a girl", Ayame whispered, shoving Kōga when he cackled even louder.
"It's fine, Jakotsu can take him", the blue eyed boy giggled back, much to the very annoyed redhead's disappointment, just as Kagura's yells of 'say that to my face!' rang throughout the food court.
"Okay this is getting out of hand", Miroku, who giggled as well, at least made an effort to try and pull his incensed buddy back.
"No—Wait.", Sango nudged him in complaint, "at least let him sock her in that ugly face of hers one time. Come on!"
"And let my man Chris Brown himself? No go, babe", her not boyfriend nudged her back, even as he struggled with containing the flinging Inuysha.
"Fine", Sango sighed, cracking her own knuckles, "I'll do it then—
"No you won't", Ayame hissed, just as she and Kagome managed to hold her back.
"No one's hitting anyone!", Kagome snapped, more than reasonably feed up by now—why couldn't Kikyō and her stupid friends just leave them alone?
She turned to the main instigator, who merely observed her handiwork with a self serving smile from behind the safety of the flesh wall of her stupid henchmen, that always managed to do all her dirty work for her.
It made Kagome's blood boil all the more.
"What is it that you actually want, Kikyō?", she questioned, making her way to the older girl who met her hard look with one just as hateful, for once, "because whatever it is, I doubt you actually want to spend what little free time we have left doing this. So if you'd just call back your rabies infested guard dogs, we can all just go our separate ways in peace."
The older girl let out a small snort and crossed her ams, "and what makes you think you can suddenly call the shots, little Kagome?", she replied, "we're done here, when I say we're done here."
"Well then that's too bad", Kagome bit back, turning to gesture at her little brother, who had in the midst of all this madness, gingerly hidden behind an equally concerned Kohaku, "we really don't have time for this."
Those two had seen more than enough ridiculousness from both parties to last them a lifetime.
Holding out her hands so the little boys would take them, Kagome made sure to give her sibling's palm a quick and gentle squeeze to reassure him, before leading them away.
She did pointedly ignore however, when Sōta, much assured now with his big sisters presence, wasted no time in asking her what the word 'skank' meant.
The blue eyed girl let out an exhausted breath, and merely picked up her speed.
"Kagome's right, you guys", Ayame agreed, also grabbing onto Kōga and Sango's arm to pull them away with her, "lets just go"
Most of the group begrudgingly accepted, as even their hunger was already spoiled and long forgotten.
And faced with such an unexpected outcome, the four cheerleaders left behind were left with no choice but to look at each other with equally astounded raised brows.
Both Jakotsu and Kagura shared a particularly baffled look between themselves and shrugged, before happily making a show of returning to their long abandoned table, and now undoubtedly cold food.
What was the point in staying, when the fun seemed to have ended?
However the calm, yet coldly spoken voice of their leader made them abruptly stop in their tracks.
"My, am I that intimidating, Kagome?", she wondered aloud, not quite arrogantly, yet somehow just as confidently, "always hiding behind your little friends and running away at the very first chance you get—never having the guts to come and face me once and for all.", her dark eyes grew harder and harder with each harsh, callous word, "You're so pathetic."
Her cronies, loyal as ever, laughed at the insult, obnoxious and high pitched—well except for Kanna, who in her defense probably didn't even have the capacity for such emotional range anyway.
While the other group chose to ignore them and keep walking, Kagome, who's treacherous left eye twitched, abruptly stopped.
She turned and faced Kikyō once more, "…and what would that make you?", she jeered, her limit for the day officially topped, "aren't you more pathetic than me? Obsessing over someone who doesn't even want to bother with you? It's almost as bad as some poor loser pining after their unrequited love—is that it?"
Kagome chuckled darkly at the thought, as if coming across an epiphany, "do you want me that bad, Kikyō?"
The older girl gritted her teeth, ignoring how the boys from the other group 'oooh'-ed and snickered.
Miroku and Kōga, for one, were doing a perfect imitation of Kagura and Jakotsu's annoying laugh.
"No one wants you.", Kikyō promised, and this time it was she who took a few steps towards Kagome, getting close enough to where her cold eyes seared the younger girl, allowing her to finally see the small, unhinged cracks in the older's normally calm and sterile demeanor.
"I can guarantee it. You're worthless.", she hissed bitterly, yet so softly it might as well have been a whisper.
And for one slight moment, as she looked up at the pure disgust in the other girl's eyes, actual fear penetrated Kagome's heart.
No one, no one had ever looked at her with so much contempt and hatred before.
It was the very first time she was left considering that this chick before her might actually be clinically insane.
Her own blue eyes blazing, Kagome breathed ire into her lungs and took a step forward, letting out a small sarcastic laugh—well, she knew how to be crazy too.
"Because you're so much better, right?", she countered, her smile just as deranged.
Though no one, not even Kagome only inches away from her face, might have clocked it, those words were the last straw for Kikyō's pride.
In her head, she was the one who was supposed to make that little bug Kagome boil in rage, not the other way around!
Ever since coming across her, the little helpless thing was beneath her in every single way—nothing but a bastard nobody.
In her eyes, Kagome's whole entire existence was a mistake, and Kikyō promised very dearly to make her pay for it one way or the other.
"Sis?", the little boy at Kagome's side whimpered, effectively cutting the tension, his big brown eyes staring up at the older of the two girls with innocent apprehension, just as he tugged on his sisters hand.
Kikyō smiled, turning her attention to him long enough to make Kagome take a couple of steps back, if only to keep Sōta away from her, but to no avail.
"Aren't you sweet?", the older girl cooed, ignoring the flash of warning in the boy's sister's eyes as she bent down to pat him on the head.
Sōta tried to smile, but Kikyō's hands were so cold even over his hair that it made him shiver instead.
"Such a pity", she tutted, gently pulling on a few of his dark strands almost fondly, "that you'll grow up to be just like your bitch sister."
In that moment, several people saw red, but none more than Kagome.
"Get away from him!", she snarled, pulling her brother out of Kikyō's grasp one moment, and shoving her back the next.
"Don't you ever talk to my little brother like that again!", she warned, spitting her words with as much disbelief as she felt in that moment, "he's just a child. What is wrong with you?"
"Oh please", Kikyō chuckled, dusting herself off as she pulled herself up to face Kagome once more, "So what? I doubt your whore of a mother raised you with such high morals anyway."
Gasp!
Suddenly this one little corner of the food court grew so silent, they might have heard a pin drop all the way from across the other side.
Several things happened all at once in that moment, one of which, involved a growling fifteen year old screaming "that's it!", and flinging herself at an almost seventeen year old.
"Shit! Kagome, don't!", Inuyasha yelled, flinging himself at his friend but only to hold her back from hitting the other girl—and failing miserably.
"It's not worth it! You'll get in trouble!", he grunted, just barely dodging the elbow threatening to shove itself into one of his eye sockets, "damn it!"
"Let her go, Inuyasha!", Sango snapped, smacking him over the head with one of her flip-flops, "you'll only making it easier for Kikyō—Kagome, tag me in! TAG ME IN!"
"You're not helping!", the silver haired boy yelped, now finding himself in-between the two fighting girls, and receiving his fair share of slaps and hair pulls.
—And an especially impressive choke hold from Kikyō, which he wasn't going to lie, was suddenly making him reevaluate his already questionable list of kinks.
"Maybe we should…help?", Kōga offered, watching as both Kagome and the crazy one took a moment to briefly tag team themselves in order to take down Inuyasha's meddling ass.
"Oi!", he heard Ayame screech, and turned to find her threateningly swinging Kohaku's new backpack out of nowhere at the steadily approaching Kagura and Jokatsu, "don't you even think about it!"
"What are you doing?", Inuyasha cried from the other side once more, clawing at the floor as Sango dragged him away by a leg.
"They were killing you out there!", she yelled back, unable to fight the urge to smack him hard on the head again for good measure.
"And what the hell was that for!", he snarled, too busy rubbing his head to notice the sudden glint of revenge sparkling in her eyes.
"Don't worry about it!"
"Nah…", Miroku grinned, finally answering Kōga's question as he pulled a wailing Sōta to the safety of his side, never once taking his eyes off the two battling female forms writhing on the floor before him, "this is way too hot to pass up—plus, everyone needs to let off some steam anyway…"
'What?' Kōga mouthed at him in disbelief, wincing in shock as Kagome slapped Kikyō so hard the other girl's head smacked against the shiny mall tile.
"There's something seriously wrong with you, my dude…", he muttered, making a pointed show of pulling young Sōta out of the lecherous boy's grasp, before any of his questionable morals somehow managed to rub off on the poor kid.
….
Sesshõmaru appraised his new purchases with what most might call a concerning amount of apprehension.
Hiten had sworn he'd given him the friends and family discount, but looking at the receipt now, he could have sworn the overly inflated total did not match the price tags he'd seen on display at the store.
Sesshōmaru clenched his jaw—if he finds out that little shit scammed him into paying more for all this crap, he was going to turn him inside out.
It was enough of a waste already, on account that he was sure Rin wouldn't care about any of it past a day or two.
The seventeen year old flipped through the pages of the brightly colored kid's music book, and let out a sigh.
What was so great about guitars anyway? He grumbled to himself, betting he could learn how to play one in like three days—a week, tops.
In his own humble opinion, It'd do Menōmaru much better to focus more on his actual kendo training, than spend all his free time twirling about with the useless things.
Sesshōmaru smirked—anyone could piece together a couple of brain cells long enough to strum a few notes, but not just anyone could knock their opponent off their feet with a single blow.
"Ne, Mizuki!", a young woman exclaimed just as he walked past her on his way to the food court, "what's going on over there?"
The simple question would have generally gone unnoticed by the silver haired teen, had more people not commented on a spectacle up ahead.
While most mall goers went about their day with little to no care, more than one person kept muttering about the commotion long enough to actually peak Sesshōmaru's curiosity, and so before realizing it, he too started scanning his surroundings.
It didn't take much longer until he came across exactly what was making everyone so anxious.
Sesshōmaru scoffed in aversion, just as the food court came into view—of course it had to be a group of stupid teenagers.
Who else would be reckless enough to cause such a brainlessly shameless scene in front of so many people?
Oh and look—the seventeen year old rolled his eyes at the sheer audacity—a cat fight at that!
The high pitched screeching made his ears ring even from so far away, for the two girls having a go at each other spared no discretion at the insults they hurled at one another, even as they rolled over themselves on the ground.
It must have been one hell of an argument, Sesshōmaru had to admit, somewhat entranced at how one of the girls, he assumed in the passionate midst of her fight, had long seemed to care that her ridiculously short skirt was riding rather dangerously up her hips.
Though entirely disgusted with the whole lot of them, he wasn't surprised to pass by a decently sized group of males already lined up with their phone cameras at the ready.
It wasn't everyday that two attractive girls just so happened to give the starving leeches of the world such a show, after all.
In fact, the young man made a face at the thought, it was something of a miracle that his idiot brother's friend the pervert wasn't already in the midst of them with his own camera in tow.
Sesshōmaru for one, had yet to understand why girls—like Higurashi, for one—willingly choose to wear such revealing clothing around dubious creeps like that.
Even today, he sighed at the memory of it whilst observing the fight once again, wasn't her skirt just as short—just as frilly—hell, it was even the same shade of pink—
The silver haired teen's golden eyes grew comically wide just as the sudden realization hit him like a ton of bricks, "shit!", he gritted, dropping his purchase just as his feet picked up speed.
Why the hell hadn't his stupid half-brother put a stop to this already?
Of course it had to be Inuyasha of all people who'd allow something like this to happen without any form of discretion from his part.
'When all this is over', Sesshōmaru vowed, clenching his jaw so tight he might as well pop a vein, 'I'm going to stick my foot so far up his ass—
"Move, moron!", he all but spat, pulling Kōga aside so hard the younger boy stumbled against a yelping Ayame.
Their complaints, however, fell on deaf ears.
He barely even payed Inuyasha, who was arguing with a defensive Miroku over a cellphone, any particular attention, other than to ram their heads together in one swoop as he pushed past them in his effort to reach the actual fight.
Even little Sōta, who with his crocodile tears begged and begged his older sister to stop, was effortlessly lifted by the back of his power ranger shirt and just as swiftly tossed into the arms of a gaping, albeit impressed, Sango.
"….You're—going—to—take—it—back…", Kagome hissed, oblivious to all of it as her small fist clutched a generous amount of Kikyō shiny black hair right at the scalp, "…don't you—ever—insult my—mother—again!…"
Kikyō gripped her wrist with bruising strength and only laughed through the pain, in contrast, her other hand also pulled at the hair at Kagome's nape.
Whatever she might have said in retaliation though, an annoyed Sesshōmaru Taisho would not give her the satisfaction.
—These two girls were strong enough in their own right, but he was much stronger still.
With just as much effort as he afforded lifting Sotā, he grabbed Kagome by the waist and just as easily pulled her off her opponent, though the older boy did have to extend some effort to forcibly pry both girls' grips away from each other's hair—with enough care to not leave either of them bald.
"You will stop this now", Sesshōmaru ordered, baring his teeth in anger when the girl in his arms only managed to kick and thrash with even more vigor in an attempt to break free from his ever tightening grip.
"Let. Go—OF ME!", she snarled, turning whatever enmity remained in her exhausted body on him long enough to successfully sock him once in the bicep, only to regret it immediately.
"Ow!"
The older boy sighed, entirely unaffected, "Why? So that you can continue making a spectacle of yourself?", he hissed, making a point of shielding her body with his own to discretely fix her skirt and blouse, "that's gonna be hard no."
"I don't care!", Kagome sobbed, though her body grew limp despite herself, "I'm tired—so damn tired of her!"
Harsh golden eyes followed the direction of her small pale finger, and thinned significantly at the sight of the person targeted.
Kikyō Saitō's whole frame shook as she let out a disbelieving scoff, "are you going to cry about it now, little Kagome?", she sneered, making a point of wiping the blood off her bruised lip with one single swipe of her tongue, before rejecting Kanna's helping hand with an ungrateful push.
Both Kagura and Jakotsu were given much of the same treatment when they too reached out to gingerly help their leader dust herself off.
"You really are pathetic."
"Are you deaf, you stupid girl?", Sesshōmaru gritted, even he was aghast at the cheerleader's gall, and expressed so with the coldest and harshest glare he could muster.
The ire coating his words alone, made the others stop and stare in astonishment—including the quarreling Inuyasha and Miroku who abruptly stopped nursing their sore heads long enough to finally drop the phone they wrestled over.
"…e-excuse me?", Kikyō retorted, flabbergasted for once, "the last time I checked, this has nothing to do with—
"You're done here", Sesshōmaru countered, his voice growing harder still, though it had yet to rival the ice in his golden eyes, "get lost."
All the animosity and displeasure the older boy felt at being forced to endure whatever display of teen-queen drama he'd stumbled on, was now effectively leveled at the wide eyed second year.
And Sesshōmaru wasn't just highly annoyed—no, he was beyond pissed.
It wasn't enough that he was already forced to deal with his idiot half-brother and his infuriating friends all day, but now he had to play the part of mediator.
Well, he sneered, unfortunately for all involved, he hadn't the slightest interest in peacemaking.
—A fact that was not lost to those who surrounded him.
So whether or not the seething daughter of the Saitō family had any aspirations of retaliating, neither of her two closest friends were willing to risk the carnage.
"Lets just go", Kagura muttered, wincing helplessly when the cheer captain gave her a deadly look for her interference.
Jakotsu nodded in agreement, "we should finish shopping before your father sends a car over", he added, and for once the perpetually mocking lilt in his tone was absent.
Perhaps Kikyō was still too new to realize who she was messing with, but for those who were well aquatinted, the oldest of the Taisho brothers was not someone just anyone was willing to trifle with so easily.
This, even she begrudgingly seemed to accept—for now.
The fuming girl snapped her jaw shut, and silently weighed her options: one thing was to mess with Kagome and her nobody friends, but to go against a third year—this boy, Sesshōmaru, to be exact—was nothing less than social suicide at best.
Something she was not willing to undergo just yet.
His massive boatload of fangirls alone, would certainly not hesitate in ripping her to shreds come the start of term.
'No', Kikyō's nails dug into her palms as she settled on her decision, she had to make it to the hazings with as much power behind her as she could, no matter what.
only then could she really make the worm under her boot really and truly squirm.
The last thing Kikyō needed was to let all the effort and hard work she'd put in all last year to get to this level now, come crumbling down just because some overrated coveted pretty-boy senior wanted to play the smitten knight in shinning sneakers.
"Fine", she concurred at last, sending Kagome and her handler one last piercing glare, "this was getting boring anyway."
And just like that, the cheerleader swiftly turned on her heels and walked off, leaving her goons to scurry after her.
"Let's go, Kagura!", she snapped, when the very last member of her flock hesitated for just a second longer than was allowed.
Dark crimson lips, matching dark crimson eyes, thinned significantly at the somewhat peculiar scene displayed before her.
Kagura gave the oldest boy with the bright silver hair one last crestfallen look, and reluctantly did as she was told.
"Finally", Kōga sighed as he spoke, eagerly waving farewell to the whole lot of them, "I thought it would never end!"
"Tell me about it", Ayame replied with a huff.
Their group of friends merely nodded in silent agreement, much to their reluctant chaperone's annoyance.
"The rest of you go and wait at the car", Sesshomaru snapped, more than severely done with all their shit, "now."
Inuyasha briefly opened his mouth to complain, but was immediately subdued by the terrifying look in his older brother's eyes.
That glare promised infinite amounts of pain—pain the younger of the two would rather avoid at all costs, after the day he's had.
"B-but…what a-about Kagome..?", Sōta spoke up gingerly, he had relaxed slightly once the fighting has ceased, only to tense up all over again at the glower the seventeen year old sent him.
"Just do as you are told!", Sesshōmaru barked, biting back the smirk that threatened to form on his lips, when they all proceeded to trip over themselves in order to find the nearest exit.
"So", he sighed, sending another pointed glare to the few remaining onlookers whispering around them, taking special care to take note of those who had been particularly shutter happy, before finally directing his attention to a red faced Kagome, "what to do with you, Higurashi?"
"Well", the girl shrugged bashfully in response, chewing on her entirely too dry lips, "you could start by letting me down now…"
A/N: Thank you for reading! This was such a stupid, stupid chapter. I don't really blame Kagome tho, them were fighting words. I'm really hoping this was a big improvement from the original—but man is it silly! Necessary, but silly. It took me forever to rewrite this, and I'm still way not satisfied with it at all...but...I had to post at some point. And now I can finally move on...phew.
Any thoughts, concerns, clues? Please direct them to the review tab. It'd be highly appreciated!
