All's Fair in Love and War

Chapter Two

Kagome

The child continued walking down the path to his school until finally the roof of the building poked through the tips of trees that blocked his view. He got a running start and bounded down straight through the thick feild of plant growth, jumping through the trees using the bouncy and rubber like quality of the branches to propell himself forward.

He walked through the doors and took his seat, apart from the rest of the class. It didn't matter to him. If he had sit next to anyone they would have moved away anyways. He took out some paper and drew little anime characters as he waited for the class to start. He tried to make them as small as possible because shopping for school supplies was a task that revolted him. He and his father would go to the crafts store. He would be able to ride in the car because it was too far away to walk.

His father would smile awkwardly, though as convincing as he could, and politely ask strangers where a packet of paper was, or if they carried multi colored sharpies. And the people would smile and nod and point in all directions speaking the aisle that he had asked for. But not once, not one single time did the man pass a smile at his son, nor did any of the seemingly kind people at the store pass a look at him, or a smile. Not one single man woman or child noticed the bruises, or the scars, or the gloomy and suffocated sadness that choked the boys ever-dulling eyes. Not a single one.

He knew why this was. His ears, his horrible mutations of fuzzyskin that twitched about on his head. The one feature that seperated him from his classmates, from his father, from the rest of the human world. Their innocent and cute likeness to a dog was his blessing of a curse. If not for them, he might have grown up to live a near normal childhood, and the secret of his demon heritage may have been a secret easily kept if it were not for the ears.

A voice from up front called to the class. "Class, your attention!" said a short old man. "You have a new student arriving today from another part of Japan. Her name is-" but he was cut off.

"Kagome." said a girl at the door to the class. "I'm new here. I just moved from America. Not Japan sir. But my parents are both Japanese so I guess you would get confused there." she said and she smiled lightly at the man.

"O-oh." he said feeling quite awkward and stupid in front of everybody as he stood there gawking over his mistake. "Well Kagome, it's nice meeting you."he said, regaining his former poise and offering the pretty girl in the front of the classroom his hand. "This is the first time I've met you in person believe." he went over to her and shook her hand. "My, girl, what pretty eyes you have. They are blue. Isn't that rare for Japanese children to have?" The girl named Kagome thanked him for the compliment and gathered her things to take her seat. "Well, you can pick any seat you like." She walked over and took a seat. The seat next to the the child.

'What the! She sat next to me? Why me? Doesn't she want to make fun of me? or tease me about my ears? or scream and run away? Okay, this is probably some kind of joke. Yes. Any second now she'll get her things and walk away! I know it!' The boy's ears twitched in confusion as he watched the girl, instead of laugh at him, send him a friendly smile.

'Eh?' was his only thought. 'Well, she probably hasn't realized I'm half blooded. Not yet at least'

"Hello, My names Kagome. What's yours?" she asked, the big smile still spread wide across her face.

"Uh." he responded dumbly. Hedidn't really like his name.Correction: He did like his name. It was the name his mother had given him and the only name he had come to stand or build respect for over the years, with the exception of his mother's. He just didn't like what it meant. "Inu Yasha."

"Inu Yasha? Doesn't that translate into dog demon? I'm sorry, my Japanese is a little rusty, after living in America for a few years."

"Yes." He muttered shamefully and lowered his head twitching his ears again in submission to her.

The girl gigled softly "Well I guess that would explain the ears then." she reached over and softly rubbed his ear with the end of two of her fingers.

The touch was soft, like a down feather rubbing against one's skin. But, the touch sent shivers down his spine. No one had ever touched his ears before.Other than his fathers beatings, no one had touched him at ALL before. Not that it felt bad, in fact, that was probably the first decent physical contact he had had with anyone for a long time. But it was enough shock to send him reeling backwards. Physical instinct had taught him one thing: Hands are bad. Any hands or body part raised above him, is a body part that will hurt him. She looked at him strangely then shrugged and turned to face the teacher.

"Well, children, once you're done talking, I might have a chance to teach you something." said a woman at the front of the classroom. She looked no older than thirty and had long black hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was a pretty thing, and the class all agreed unanimously."Well, thank you for quieting. My name is Kikyo, I will be yourEnglishteacher this year."

The rest of the day went by smoothly, seeing as all they did until lunch was tell about themselves, and talk, that kind of first day stuff. Then it was lunch time, Inu Yasha's favorite period. He stalked stealthily along the lunch line ready to stuff food items into his coat pocket. Good, they had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today. That was an easy steal. He grabbed it and stuffed into his pocket. He had almost got away with it too. He was nearing the end of the lunch line when-

"You do intend on paying for that don't you Inu Yasha?" The girl, Kagome, stood blocking his only possible exit.

'She-she called me by my name!' Had she really done it? Called him by his actual name? Not 'hey you'! or 'you kid over there'. or 'dog boy'. She had called him by his real name. He hadn't heard any one say it in a long time. Animal instinct overcame him and the feeling a wolf gets whena hundred hunters close in on himis what might have been felt by Inu Yasha at the moment. He froze and then stuttered nervously. "Wh-what are you talking about?" She reached into his pocket and grabbed the sand wich. 'BUSTED'

"Thanks!" she said and paid for it. She opened the saran wrap and took a bite out of it. "Here, have this. You're way too skinny." she handed him a cup of noodles, hence the name, Cup Noodles.

"Uh, thanks?" He was takenback some by the strange girl's behavior. First she had talked to him, (Didn't she know what that meant? She wouldn't have any friends ever if she even looked at him, but making pleasant conversation? What was she thinking?)then given him her food in exchange for the sandwhich he intended to steal. She seemed harmless enough though, so hetook a seat at a lunch table he practically OWNED. Seeing as no one else would ever sit near him, he just sat alone at that same luch table all the time.

"Hey!" came a boy's voice. "Can I sit with you?" Inu Yasha's ears twitched. Some one wanted to sit with him? He was on a roll! He could use company, but when he looked up it was just a smelly human. Sigh. "Fine, whatever." was his only response.

This boy had 'bothered' him all last year too. Inu Yasha guessed he just took a liking to him or something. But he hated humans. All humans. He just ...hated this kid a little less.

He had always supposed that when he got older he would meet a nice half breed girlgirl, they would fall in love, get married, be happy, the works. He figured that only someone like that would truly understand him. Because, who else possibly could?

"What's up?" the boy insisted on talking to him.

"Nothing." he said and continued eating the noodles. Damn those things were good! "What about you?"

"Well ... not much sadly. Sango still isn't talking to me because I tried to grab her butt last year. Sigh." He finished with a saigh andrubbed his temples.

"Women." he said and snickered at the stupid kid.

They continued eating their lunch in silence. Until that is, Kagome walked over and sat next to Inu Yasha. 'Eh?'

"Hi Inu Yasha!" she said cheerfully, her face bright and happy.

"H-hi." he said softly,still looking at the half empty cup of noodles in front of him. "What are you eating here for? It's just a pervert and a reject here. Nothing special." He had hoped that the cold and unwelcoming tone of his voice would drive this poor girl away. Maybe she would make friends with some of the loud and giddy girls in his class and would be saved from the social torture that would face those that associated with him.

"Well I was invited to sit over there." she pointed to a table full of a bunch of giddy giggly girls "But as it turns out they have a limited vocabulary. Those words being. Houjo. From. Class. B. Not very interesting if you ask me." she smiled again at him. "Besides, rejects and perverts deserve friends too don't they?" She grinned at him suspiciously and made a note of the boys awkward pink flushed face. He changed the subject.

"Well, this is Miroku." he said pointing to the kid across the table from him. "Don't pay much attention to him though, he's a bumbling pervert who thinks every woman in the world wants him." he snickered at his comment and Kagome laughed whole heartedly. She laughed so hard in fact that she fell off her chair, and then laughed some more.

Something inside Inu Yasha twitched when he realized that not only was she laughing, but she was laughing because he made her laugh. Not that he actually found any humor in what he just said, but she seemed to enjoy it.But seeing how happy she was, Inu Yasha couldn't help but crack a little laugh. Just a little laugh. It wasn't like hecared or anything. It didn't make himhappy that she found his comment amusing.

Inu Yasha extended a hand to help Kagome from the floor. Not a good idea. She grabbed his hand to help herself up. He winced in pain at the squeeze on his hand.

The boy stood by the stove. Cooking eggs were on the frying pan in front of him. The aroma was almost intoxicating. How he would kill for some food. Any food. His stomach growled louder than the sizzling eggs in the pan. He closed his eyes and thought of all the food he would have when he got older. He could live on his own, live by himself, make his own rules. He lived in his dream a little longer, biting at the air at an attempt to find some fullfillment in his empty stomach. His eyes opened slowly as he unwillingly drifted back to reality.

The delicious smell of cooking eggs disappeared and was replaced by the smell of char. Crap! He'd went and burnt the eggs. Damn those fast cooking bastards! He ran to the fridge and searched through it's half empty drawers and shelves. He could find nothing but beer, sake, some foul, rotting meat. He remembered this, father would probably try and feed it to him soon. But, he found no eggs. He knew what this meant. An extra beating probably.

The man at the table grew impatient waiting. "What are you doing boy, Im hungry!" he yelled. Grumpily he walked over to the kitchen and saw, to his dissappointment, burnt eggs sitting in the soapy waters of he sink. "You burnt them?" his fists clenched. "Can't you do ANYTHING right!" the man lounged a hand at him and slapped his face. "Those better not have been the last eggs."

The man searched the fridge to find the same result as the boy had. No eggs. "You little shit." the man walked over to him and tightly grabbed his arm. Taking his hand and unrolling his fingers he slammed the childs hand down against the burning hot flat top stove.

The boy yelped and squirmed in pain and whimpered in protest but the man's grip stayed firm. He rubbed the boys hand around on the stove until the smell of burnt flesh rose into the air. A few seconds later the man pulled away after shoving the boy forcefully against the countertop. Inu Yasha fell to the floor whimpering in silent sobs. "Do it right next time, you worthless piece of shit." were his only words.

His skin had been raw for the next week and some parts of his hands recieved what he supposed werethird degree burns, those ones would probably leave scars or some kind of a mark. Inu Yasha emitted a low growl at the memory and quickly pulled Kagome up to her seat and Kagome pretended she had not felt the raw flesh in her hand from the burns.

Inu Yasha looked at his pulsing hand. It was healed in some spots but the deeper burns still had residence on his palm. He found something cold that he could hold, Miroku's soda can. The wet coolness soothed the pain a little

"Um, my soda?" the boy asked.

"I'll give it back in one sec." Inu yasha turned the can and grabbed the other side because the heat from his hand had made the other side a little warm. "Okay you can have it now." he slid the can across the table where it tripped over the crack between the two lunch tables that joined together to make one. The soda then spilled all over Miroku and Inu Yasha couldn't help but laugh at the slow realization of Miroku that soda was seeping into his clothing. Miroku was a little slow when it came to these kinds of things.

Kagome looked over at Inu Yasha and couldn't help but grin at his big laugh. She decided he should definitely laugh more often. He had such a nice smile too.

The rest of the day had gone by quite nicely for every one. Kagome usually tagged around after Inu Yasha. Miroku spent the rest of the day kissing up to Sango so that she might forgive him for grabbing her butt last year. Inu Yasha decided that he didn't really hate Kagome. She smiled a lot, and she didn't seem to mind the faces some of the more vulgar kids in his classroom would make when she talked to him or asked him where a part of the school was.

He walked around the school after classes got out. He didn't feel like going home just yet. He figured he'd recline in a nice tree and enjoy some peace before walking back to the hell hole he called home. He had found a nice tree that offered cool shade and sat in it's branches relaxing as soft wind blew gently across his face. He sighed and closed his eyes. The relaxation he found in that tree was similar to the peace he found in his shower. He was safe. In the tree branches he was too high for anyone to reach him and he could rest with ease, knowing that not even his father could reach him here.

"Oy! Inu Yasha!" The girl's shout startled him from his rest.

"Eh?" He looked down and saw Kagome standing by the tree. "What are youdoing here?" he asked.

"I came to see you." she smiled so brightly that Inu Yasha could've sworn that he felt warm just watching her.

"Oh? Well I'm all the way up in this tree and you're down there. How do you plan on doing anything now, huh?" He smirked.

"You'll come down from that tree. I'm sure" She grinned.

"And just how do you plan on making me come down?"

"Just wait. You'll see." Soon after they had stopped talking the branch under Inu Yasha shifted and snapped under his wieght. He came crashing down and landed on all fours. 'Ow. That hurts' he thought and cringed under the pain of his wounds. Kagome's smile saddened.

"Inu Yasha?" she asked "Why do you look like you hurt so much?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked. How could she tell that he was in pain? The rest of the world didn't even take not of his existance and here she comes and it's like she knows everything about him.

"Don't try and hide it Inu Yasha, something is causing you serious pain on your body and you know it. I've seen you. Watching people can tell you a lot about them, you know?" she smirked.

He stood still, a stoned gaze across his eyes. He looked like a deer in the headlights. "What ... what are you ..." He stuttered. "I'm fine." he said politely as he could.

"Fine then, if you won't tell me, I'll find out myself." She lightly patted his back and he flinched. "Ah-ha!" she exclaimed. Then she lifted his shirt to find the bloody bandages wrapped around his torso. "Thought so."

"Ah-um, I-" he tried to find a resonable excuse for his wound. "I fell! I fell a day ago into a sharp pile of ... wood!" Maybe not the best excuse but whatever, he could live with it.

"Oh, I see." She gave a sad smile and pulled his shirt back down.

"Hey, how did you know that the branch would give out?" he asked.

"It was a small branch, I saw it starting to crack." she grinned "What? You didn't think I was phsychic or something, did you?" she giggled.

"No, of course not!" he yelled.

"Well I've gotta go! My mom should be here soon." She waved and walked away.

"Bye" he mumbled back to her. Today had been a good day. He had eaten, he got away from his 'father' with just a few wounds. The stab on his back should be gone before the week ended and on top of it all, he was still alive. A good day indeed.

Author Notes

Well, theres some Kagome for you. I know you guys just want them to run into eachothers arms and confess their love, but thats sadly, not happening any time soon. Sigh. Oh well.

Well, I guess there is nothing left to do so ...(Coughs Fingertips Coughs)

Please Review! :D (If you do, I'll love you.)