Series: Inuyasha

Universe: Modern Highschool AU

Pairing: Eventual SessKag

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and its characters are the intellectual property of one Rumiko Takahashi. I only make bad fanfiction about it.

Author's notes: Actually wrote about 6000 words this time around, but decided it would be best to divide into separate chapters of 1,000 words to keep you guys in tension (buahaha) and also to give myself a chance to catch up with my other fics, since this one already has a few chapters in reserve.

Hope you guys are finding this enjoyable. And sorry again for the lack of actual smut, but I like to take my time ;). Think of this as foreplay lol.
Again, these little drabbles are stress-relief for me and I just write them for fun, but I ALWAYS appreciate any input/criticism and such. So don't hesitate to R&R!


Hentai High III

888

Kagome tried not to think about how weird and fun it was that Sesshoumaru was hanging out with her.

All right, technically they weren't hanging out. She was in detention and he, as her homeroom teacher and the man who caught her trying to steal the answers to the midterm test (with his baby brother, no less) was supervising her detention time. So it wasn't that he was voluntarily enjoying her company. But minor details, really.

Sly blue eyes slid to watch him from her periphery. Sesshoumaru was sitting next to her, a perfect living statue, carved from marble by artists of the Renaissance. Translation: unfairly attractive and out of her league. He was so beautiful, even in repose, that it hurt. Every now and then he would swivel slightly in his rolling chair, which he had brought from his office because he refused to endure sitting for three hours in one of those metal cubicles that the students used. When Kagome reminded him that she as a student needed to sit on those damn uncomfortable contraptions for hours on end, daily, for years and years, he sniffed at her. 'I did my time as a student. I have earned my privilege.' And with that, he had buried his nose into his book and promptly proceeded to ignore her for the rest of the hour.

Or so he pretended. Whenever Kagome would run into a particularly hilarious answer that a hapless student wrote down (in a desperate attempt to fill out Sesshoumaru's notoriously difficult quizzes), she would eagerly rouse him from his reading. And although acting disgruntled at the interruption, the man would abandon the book immediately without much prodding and move his chair closer. Leaning towards her - invading her personal space in ways that often made Kagome uncomfortable and giddy - he would then proceed to make fun of the answer alongside the raven.

Sometimes he would grab the paper from her hand and their fingers – his, long and slender; hers, small and childish – would touch and Kagome would be left feeling warm and tingling like she had touched an electric current. She attributed the exhilarating feeling to the fact that she couldn't believe Sesshoumaru actually had a personality.

When Sesshoumaru wasn't being…well, Sesshoumaru, he was a really fun guy. Whenever a grin escaped, however mocking or sarcastic it would be, the tension in his eyes would leave and he would seem all that more approachable and less distant. Kagome would forget that they had roles to fill, that he was her teacher and she his pupil. In that tiny room filled with hushed chuckles and giggles, he was just a boy, only five years older, and she a girl.

Kagome continued to examine him, lost in thought. Sesshoumaru seemed to sense her hard stare, or perhaps he had never been too engrossed in his book as he appeared to be, because quickly he looked up. Their eyes locked for one second too many.

"Yes…?" he asked, and he suddenly looked so young he could've passed for one of the senior students.

If Kagome squinted, he could even look like Inuyasha.

"You know…" she spoke up, realizing it would be odd if she continued to stare without saying anything. "I always thought you were a bastard with a stick up your-"

"Excuse me?"

"-but you're actually a pretty cool guy to hang out with."

"Oh." Sesshoumaru blinked slowly, silent for a moment. "Thank you?" he said at last, although he did not seem too thrilled.

Kagome smiled, finding the confusion endearing. "I meant it as a compliment."

"Hn. Please warn me next time you intend to compliment me, or I might take offense." He said, sniffing at her again in a manner Kagome was sure was meant to annoy her. It worked every time.

"Seriously, though! How come I never noticed before now? I mean, with how much I hung out with Inuyasha at your house, and everything."

Kagome had spent many a childhood day in the Taisho household. Mr. and Mrs. Taisho had always enjoyed hosting the little twin girls in their home, and often invited them for playdates in the vain hope that their sweet and gentle manners would rub off on their gruff and unruly sons. But after the Taisho's tragic death when Inuyasha was only twelve, she and her sister spent less time there. They needed their space to grieve, Mama Higurashi had told the twins. Kagome never understood that, thinking that during loss is when you need people that care about you the most. The little girls had respected their mother's order and kept an appropriate distance, as much as they could stand anyways. Yet, even in the face of such trying times, the group of kids had remained quite close, if not closer.

All except for Sesshoumaru.

The man had always been an enigma to her, and she didn't understand why he had intimidated her so much as a child. Now that she thought aout it, perhaps her feelings had been marred by Inuyasha's constant complaining about his 'strict older brother'. It was true that Sesshoumaru had been forced to grow up rather quickly so he could become the head of the household and raise his preteen slibling, and she now only realized how difficult that must've been for him. But why had she never extended the arm of friendship to him as well with the eagerness that she did for Inuyasha? Was it the age difference? Was Inuyasha's influence truly so great that she had completely snubbed this man with no reason? It wasn't like Sesshoumaru had ever been unkind to her.

Vaguely, Kagome recalled a distant childhood memory, too blurry and shredded to see clearly except in fragments of images and sounds. A broken toy in the carpet, hers. Inuyasha and Kikyo, apologizing behind giggles; then a shout, as they were reprimanded. And Sesshoumaru, brushing his hand through her hair, whispering soft comforting words...

Kagome blinked, and the memory dissipated, leaving only the man before her.

Sesshoumaru was staring at her through a fringe of white lashes, as he considered the pretty raven's question. He was silent for a moment, choosing his words carefully, and Kagome could almost see the letter tiles being put down judiciously like a high-stakes game of scrabble. After a while, he spoke, and Kagome thought he sounded far away.

"Perhaps…"he said slowly," your mind was too focused elsewhere... to notice that which was right in front of you."

The silence after that statement was deafening.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, and belatedly, she noticed she was whispering.

Sesshoumaru closed the book, not bothering to mark where he had left off.

"I think…"he said instead. "…that is enough grading for today." He stood up, the rolling chair swiveling behind him softly at the action. Kagome nodded, mouth full of cotton, and busied herself with organizing the paperwork.

As they cleaned up their things in preparation to leave, Kagome felt the distance lengthen. She had said the wrong thing, or perhaps he had, and now they were both reluctantly stepping into their roles again, playing their characters once more in suits that were slowly becoming too tight for their bodies. She could feel the farce of it breaking apart at the stitches with each stolen glance and wetting of lips.

Kagome shook the mental mist away, filing the tests into a folder and stealing a glance at the man when he had his back turned towards her.

She made an effort to focus on what was in front of her, and tried not to think of the words beneath the words.