A/N: I had this story ready to on Saturday but wouldn't let me sign in so it's not completely my fault that his story is late. Still, sorry it's a week late, that is my fault. I haven't been feeling well lately. I may end having surgery inside of a few weeks so I'll try my best to update each weekend but I don't know how well it will work. Also, finals are coming up in two weeks so things are a little crazy.
I posted the first chapter to another story so if you have the time to read and review it I would appreciate it.
Chapter 6
"How go the preparations?"
"Well, my lord. The target will appear in Marion Park just past sundown. Hiten and Manten have been dispatched to the area. They should be arriving as we speak."
"Very well, make sure everything goes smoothly. You know how important the target is to us."
"Yes sir." The wind sorceress bowed and went to oversee the rest of the night's plans, leaving her master by himself.
-:-:-:-:-
Everyone kept staring at her. She knew they were talking about her as well. Every time she entered a room it would get deathly quiet. Was she really all the school had to talk about?
The day had begun normally enough. Sango had stopped by to see if Kagome was up to going to school and Kagome had said that she was. Her mother had tried to get her to stay home, insisting that she should take the day to rest and not push it. Kagome had disagreed. Besides, she still needed to grill Miroku about what had happened at the movies a few nights ago.
Math had been uneventful, as had the rest of Kagome's morning classes, excluding the weird stares and the whispers behind her back. She had spent most of the morning dreading her upcoming chemistry class. It was scheduled to be a work day for each lab group to write up the lab report, which was due at the end of the class. This meant that she would have to spend the entire class period trying to get InuYasha to cooperate or she would have do the lab report herself, neither of which sounded appealing.
Kagome stabbed at her cafeteria macaroni and cheese with her fork. The food only succeeded in making her mood plummet even more. There's nothing worse than mac and cheese from a cafeteria.
"Are you feeling all right?" Sango asked. Kagome had continued to sink deeper and deeper into her funk over the course of lunch.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You've seemed kind of depressed lately." Ayame stated as she leaned across the table towards Kagome.
"I'm sure. I guess I'm just a little tired. I was up late last night doing the English Lit. homework." Truthfully, she hadn't been able to sleep at all. Any time she tried to go to sleep she would end up seeing the vision all over again.
"Yeah, me too. There's nothing like leaving a five page paper until the last minute."
"No kidding." Sango and Ayame continued to discuss their English papers while Kagome returned to her macaroni.
Several moments later, Ayame began to choke on her lunch.
"Are you all right?" Sango said, a confused look on her face.
"Don' look now, but he's coming over."
"Who's coming over?"
"That Kouga guy!" Ayame exclaimed as she swept her fingers through her hair, making sure nothing was out of place. For some reason, Kagome didn't share Ayame's enthusiasm. She did her best to keep her attention on her food as Kouga proceeded to her side of the table.
"Hi Kouga, how are you?" Ayame asked, stars in her eyes. Kouga ignored her and sat down next to Kagome.
"Can I help you?" She asked, finally acknowledging his presence.
"I was just making sure that you remembered what tonight is."
"How could I forget?" Kagome muttered.
"What's tonight?" Ayame chirped, completely undeterred by Kouga's previous behavior towards her.
"None of your business."
"Yes Kouga, I remember. Was there anything else?"
"No, but I'm sure I could think of something."
"Goodbye Kouga." Kagome said, her tone threatening bodily harm if he dared to disobey.
Kouga raised his hands in defense. "Okay, I'm going. I'll see you at your house around six. We can walk from there."
"Fine," Kagome replied a bit curtly. Taking the hint, Kouga stood and turned to leave.
"Bye Kouga!" Ayame waved enthusiastically, only to be ignored once again.
Sango let out a disgusted sigh. "Why are you being so nice to him?"
"Don't you have eyes? He's completely and utterly gorgeous." Kagome had to resist the urge to vomit.
"So?" Sango continued. "He's arrogant and rude. Not to mention the fact that he completely ignored you."
"That's not the point. Who knows? Maybe it's an act. He could be a really sweet guy underneath."
"Don't hold your breath."
"Trust me, Ayame. He's not worth the trouble." Kagome said, joining the conversation.
"Oh really?" Ayame didn't sound convinced. "This coming from the girl who just happens to have a date with him this very evening."
"It's not a date!"
"What is it then?" Sango teased.
"He's just…helping me out with my math homework." Kagome lied quickly.
"I thought that Miroku was helping you with your math during study hall." Sango pointed out.
"He is. It's just that I need more help than study hall allows and, well, Miroku doesn't have time after school so Kouga offered to help."
"But, Kouga's not in our class." Ayame frowned.
"He's in a different hour."
"But…" It was then that the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and cut Ayame off. Kagome sent a silent thanks to whatever god was watching over her as she gathered her things and went to put her tray away. After depositing their trays in the appropriate window, the girls said their goodbyes and walked off to their respective classes. From the table behind them, Miroku and InuYasha did the same.
Upon entering the chemistry room Kagome scanned the class for InuYasha, who was no where to be seen. Typical, she thought, he'll probably be late, as usual. She sat down at her table and pulled out her lab data.
After a few minutes, the bell rang and the teacher got up to explain what they would be doing for the period. Not one to miss his entrance, InuYasha sauntered into the room. By this point in the semester the teacher had given up trying to get InuYasha to show up on time for class. InuYasha took his seat and the teacher told the class what he expected from the lab reports. After putting the requirements on the board, he set the class lose to do their work.
Kagome sighed and opened her lab notebook.
"So, to come up with the percent yield we need to calculate the theoretical yield first. Right?" Kagome was stunned. Was InuYasha actually trying to work with her on the lab report? "Anyone home?"
Kagome shook her head and looked back at the lab data. "Yeah, I think that's right. We'll need to take the actual yield and divide it by what the equation says we should have come up with." InuYasha nodded and pulled a calculator from his back pack.
Kagome couldn't believe it. Ten minutes until the end of class and InuYasha was still being civil towards her. He had been an active participant in writing the report and he hadn't yelled at her once. Kagome was beginning to think that she was dreaming. He had practically written the discussion section on his own. Something had to be going on. She watched him as he went to turn in the lab report, trying to figure out what could have prompted this sudden change in attitude.
"Is something wrong?" InuYasha asked as he returned to his seat.
"No." She replied as she realized she had been staring at him.
"You know something?" he asked as he eyed her suspiciously. "You're weird."
"I'm weird?"
"Yep." With that, he turned to a boy sitting at the table across the row signaling the end of the conversation. Shaking her head, Kagome decided she would try to get a head start on her math homework.
-:-:-:-:-
An hour or so later, Kagome was on her way to her study hall in the library. English Lit. had been interesting. As usual, the teacher hadn't spent as much time teaching as she should have. She spent most of the period rambling on about random topics, which was fine by the students. Today hadn't been any different. The first part of the period she had produced a cell phone and recruited the class to sing "Happy Birthday" to her son, who was away at college. The rest of the class was spent talking about people's best and worst birthday parties. However, she still remembered to assign homework for the night. Go figure.
Kagome entered the library, signed in, and then scanned the tables for Miroku. She still had to decide if she wanted him to help her with the math homework first or if she wanted to get him to tell her what was going on between him and Sango first. Getting help with the math first ensured that he would be in an agreeable mood and, most likely, wouldn't refuse. However, the math may take a considerable amount of time and then there wouldn't be time to discuss other things. Decisions, decisions.
Not seeing him, she walked over to a table that was situated off to the side. She figured she might as well attempt the homework on her own, so she pulled out her text book and looked over the problems. Surprisingly, they didn't seem all that difficult to her anymore. Well, that settled it then. She wouldn't waste any time on stupid math problems.
She glanced back at the door just in time to see her prey enter the library. He glanced around the room with nervous look on his face. The instant he spotted her he turned and took off through the stacks. Oh no you don't, Kagome thought as she got up to follow him. She walked over to the aisle down which he had disappeared. She walked down the row and tried to figure out which way he would have gone.
Crap, he could be anywhere. Kagome stood at the end of the row, trying to figure out what to do next. Then she got an idea. She looked around her to see if anyone was watching. After confirming she was alone, she closed her eyes and concentrated. She sifted through the auras of the students in the library, trying to lock on to a specific one. Finally zeroing in on Miroku's signature, she took off down the row to her left. Her aunt would have her head if she ever found out how Kagome had used her training just find a boy hiding in a library. Shaking the thought from her head, Kagome took another left.
She smirked to herself as she came to the end of the row in which he was hiding. Leave it to Miroku to be crouched behind the shelves of the romance section.
"Looking for something interesting to read?" Kagome asked, tilting her head to the side. Miroku jumped out of surprise, which caused him to lose his balance and fall into the self, knocking several books off along the way. Kagome couldn't help it, she started laughing.
"Oh can it, would you?" Mirkou asked, rather irritated that he had been caught hiding from a girl, especially in the romance section of a library.
"You just made things worse by running." Kagome said as she bent down to pick up the books he had knocked off the shelf. "Now I'll have to let everyone know where you get all your inspiration when it comes to girls." Miroku paled.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, I just might dare. That is, if you don't tell me what I want to know." Miroku sighed. He knew he was defeated.
"All right. Lead the way." Miroku stood and Kagome walked passed him to return to her table. Kagome sat in the same seat she had occupied earlier while Miroku sat across from her.
"What do you want to know?"
"What's going on between you and Sango?"
"Nothing."
"Uh huh, right. So she just slapped you at the movie theater for fun."
"What I meant was, there's nothing going on now. She's made it perfectly clear that she wants nothing to do with me."
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?"
"What did you do to make her so angry?" Honestly, boys could be so dense sometimes. Miroku began to fidget in his seat.
"She thinks I cheated on her." He finally admitted.
"What?" Kagome had to restrain herself from hitting him. Chances were, if she knocked him out she wouldn't be able to get his full side of the story.
Miroku sighed. This could take a while. "We started going out about five months ago. I guess she never told you when she wrote those letters." Kagome shook her head, confirming his speculation. "Well, after about four months, she saw me out with another girl."
"And how does that not count as 'cheating?' "
"It wasn't like that."
"Then what were you doing with this… other girl?"
"I…I can't tell you why I was with her. Just believe me when I say that there was nothing romantic about it."
"Why should I believe you?"
"I suppose you shouldn't. I wouldn't if I was you, or Sango for that matter." Kagome didn't know why, but she felt that he was sincere. Maybe it was the fact that he looked so sad during the whole discussion.
"Have you tried explaining things to her?"
"Sango won't listen, and I don't blame her. I haven't given her a reason to believe me."
"Well, just a thought but, it might help if you stopped flirting with every female in the school. You don't exactly paint a picture of fidelity about you."
"What do you mean?" He had to be kidding.
"Miroku, you don't lend much credibility to yourself when you chase after anything that moves."
"Why not? It's not as if I'm serious or anything."
Kagome shook her head. "That's not the point. The point is make yourself out to be a lech who can't keep his hands to himself." Miroku looked extremely confused.
"Women are weird." Kagome chuckled.
"Perhaps, but that's the way things are."
"I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore. She'll never give me a second chance."
"Never say never!" Kagome quipped. Miroku gave her a steely glare. "Okay, okay. I'll try and talk to her."
"You will?" Miroku was astonished. "So, you actually believe me?"
"Yeah, but I'm not sure why. I'm not going to promise anything, though."
"Understood."
"Okay, on to a more depressing subject, math."
Miroku laughed, "Still having trouble are we?"
"Of course, it's math."
"Point taken. Show me what you need help with." Miroku pulled her math book over so he could see it while Kagome moved to sit next to him.
-:-:-:-:-
Kagome sat down at her desk to try and get the rest of her homework done before Kouga came to do "the rounds" as she had begun to call it. She really didn't expect much to happen tonight. The day had been a long and exhausting one and all she wanted to do was take a long, hot bath and crawl into bed.
After school had let out, Kagome had walked home alone. Sango had been taken out of school for another family event. Kagome wondered what sort of family events could get someone out of school. She hoped it wasn't anything bad, such as a dying family member. She supposed it was all for the best since she would have, undoubtedly, mentioned her earlier conversation with Miroku. Kagome couldn't envision that going over well, seeing as Sango had refused to tell Kagome anything herself. Why had she promised Miroku that she would talk to Sango? It really wasn't any of her business, but Kagome couldn't stand to see the hurt look on Miroku's face. She was thoroughly convinced that he was telling the truth but she still felt that there was something else going on.
The doorbell drew Kagome back to the present. Kagome glanced at the clock and found the time to be six' o'clock. Sighing, she got up from her desk and headed downstairs. When she reached the bottom, she met her mother.
"Oh, honey. I was just coming up to get you. Your friend Kouga is here."
"Thanks Mom. We'll be back later." Kagome replied as she retrieved her jacket out of the closet.
"Okay, be careful you two."
"Always. See you later. C'mon Kouga, let's get going." Kagome said as she opened the door. "Where did you want to start?"
"I was thinking we'd start at the school."
"Why the school?"
"Do you really think that only adults can be members of the Order when you yourself are a guardian?"
"No"
"Fine, the school it is. We can get there faster by cutting through the park." Kagome shrugged and let Kouga lead the way. Somehow, she figured he was used to having things his way.
They walked the couple blocks down the street to where the park began. They crossed the street and began walking down one of the paved paths through the trees.
"So, what exactly are we looking for anyway?"
"Anything suspicious."
Well there's a surprise, Kagome thought. He could've elaborated. She decided to keep her mouth shut,figuring it was probably best just to let him decide when they found what they were looking for. Kagome continued to get lost in her thoughts until she ran into something solid.
"What the…" She said when she realized that the thing she had run into was Kouga. He had stopped suddenly.
"What's wrong?" She asked, coming up beside him.
"Someone's here."
"Where?" Kagome asked, looking around frantically. All she saw was a bunch of trees and shrubs.
"Farther up the path." Kouga said as he started forward cautiously. Crouching low to the ground, Kouga moved off the path to seek cover under the trees. He motioned for Kagome to follow. Checking that no one saw, she moved to join him in the shrubs.
"You stay here, I'll go and check it out." Kagome nodded and Kouga disappeared to her left.
A moment or two later, Kagome heard a loud "oof" come from farther down the path. She surmised that it was probably Kouga taking out whoever had been walking towards them. The sounds of a struggle continued until Kagome heard Kouga yell.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"I was walking, you got a problem with that?" Oh no, Kagome recognized that voice. Deciding that she'd better go and run damage control, Kagome left her hiding spot to go find Kouga.
She hadn't gone far when she saw Kouga, pinning someone to a tree. That someone had long, white hair and looked extremely pissed off.
"Would you let me go you mangy wolf?" InuYasha growled.
"I don't know. I'm rather fond of the current situation. Now tell me, what are you doing out here?"
"I told you already, I was talking a walk. If you don't let me go now I promise you, you'll regret it."
"Kouga, let him go!" Kagome yelled. "He hasn't done anything." Kouga looked over his shoulder at Kagome's words. InuYasha saw his opening and slugged Kouga right in the jaw. Kouga let out a howl and stumbled backwards.
"You'll pay for that, dog turd!" Kouga said as he raised his arm to retaliate. Kagome immediately placed herself between the warring teens.
"Stop it! There's no reason for you two to fight!"
"Get out of the way, Kagome." Kouga warned.
"No! You…" But Kagome's attention was drawn to the trees above. Something flashed in the brances. The movement caught Kouga's eye as well. Suddenly, two large demons landed on either side of InuYasha.
"Well, well Manten, it looks like we'll get to have a little fun after all."
-:-:-:-:-
End of Chapter 6.
CSJ: Does everyone know what time it is?
Audience: REVIEW TIME!
(Home Improvement anyone?) Anyway, hope you all enjoyed it. Now give the little button a work out and hopefully I'll be back with another update next week. Have a good week everyone! Ja ne!
CSJ