Author's Note: Hey everyone, I hope you enjoy this fanfic, please let me know what you think, thanks! And no, of course I don't own Inuyasha. Enjoy!
Side note: "Normal parenthesis" means that someone is talking; "parentheses italicized" means that it's a message- email and "parentheses italicized and underlined" is Kagome's thoughts during that moment or her reflecting back on that scene. As always, enjoy!
Part 9: Learning More About Him
"Just when our Kagome finally likes someone, this has to happen.." Eri frowned, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
"He missed out on something amazing." Ayumi said, giving me a gentle hug.
"I'm fine, really. Thank you all for coming to my 20th birthday, it means a lot." Hugging Ayumi back, I gave them a reassuring smile.
"He rode a motorcycle right? Definitely a delinquent, you guys wouldn't have been a good match. Actually, he's no match for you, who deserves better." Crossing her arms over her chest Yuka was ranting about how Naraku sounded like a delinquent and was probably bad news anyway.
The girls had come over to celebrate my birthday at the end of the summer and to talk about what had happened to them over the year that passed. Ayumi had met a great roommate Kaede, who she had planned to room with again next semester at Clark University. Yuka and Eri both doing well at their entry-level jobs as a cashier and business analyst.
"Kagome! Tell your friends to come down for cake!" As soon as those words had left Souta's mouth, we sprinted and fought to get through the door first.
When we reached the kitchen, my vanilla frosted cake with the words "Happy Birthday Kagome" sat on the kitchen table. Grabbing a knife, I began cutting pieces for everyone.
"Kagome!" Turning toward Yuka's voice, I suddenly felt something cold and wet touch my nose. She had smeared frosting on my face.
"Yuka! I'll get you for that!" Putting down the knife, I dipped my finger in some icing and ran after her.
"Kagome!" Now Ayumi had smeared frosting on my cheek. Laughing, I smeared some on Souta's face and started running away.
And like that, my summer was finally over and I was fully prepared to enter into my sophomore year. That is, I was.. Until this letter came in the mail:
Dear Ms. Kagome Higurashi,
As a courtesy warning, this letter is to let you know that your cumulative GPA has fallen below the required GPA for your scholarships. If you wish to keep your scholarships, please improve your GPA to the required 3.0 by the end of your sophomore year. You can do this by actively seeking out help after class with your professors, studying more, or by seeking out academic tutoring at Skidmore College's library free of charge. Failure to improve your grades by the end of this year will result in possible termination of your scholarships.
Wishing you well,
Dean of Academic Studies,
Izayoi Arnett
Gulping, I felt a twinge of guilt in the bottom of my stomach. How? How will I ever? In a year's time? Its impossible! Sitting down, I couldn't believe the letter tightly clutched in my hands. If I lose my scholarships.. I can't go on with college.. I might even have to drop out.. Me? A dropout? What would mom think? What would gramps think? How would Souta continue to see me as his role model? I can't drop out! But without the scholarships.. I just don't have that kind of money for college..
Bringing the letter to my mother, I watched her as she read it. After what seemed to be an hour, she finally looked up. Not at me, just up. Her eyes unfocused, it was hard for me to sort out her emotions.
"Mom.." I couldn't even bring myself to continue. Mom, what? What could I say in this situation?
"You'll do it right?"
"Huh?"
"You'll bring up your grades, right?" She finally turned her eyes to me.
"You mean, you're not mad?"
"No. It was hard for you too, right? I don't exactly know what happened to you this past year Kagome, but I could tell that you were working hard. Will you improve it?" She held up the letter.
"Yes." For the first time in my life, I couldn't love this woman in front of me more. Even without knowing much, she still believed in me to do the impossible and bring my grades up. Hugging her tightly, I whispered, "Thank you, mom."
Feeling her hand touch my head, she replied, "You can do it Kagome."
With this new motivation kicking in, I fought. I fought school like my life depended on it, which in this case, it did. I came to class, finished homework, and reviewed my notes every single day. I put my online life on hold as soon as the summer had ended. I was obsessed with grades. Doing assignments and studying hard became my main and only priorities.
Luckily, when my second year in college passed, I regained my GPA level to a 3.0. I had DONE it. I made what seemed to be impossible, possible. And it was due to this determination that fully prepared me for my third year at Skidmore College, where I could relax a bit to chat with my online friends now that my GPA was stable.
"Going into your third year already? My daughter has grown. Good job Priestess, Mother is proud." Reading Mother's email, I was filled with joy. Not only was my birth mother happy that I had succeeded, but my mother from TM was also proud of me.
"Thank you Mother. How's it going with your jobs?"
"Tough, but its nothing I can't handle. Be strong, you're almost there to graduation."
Knowing full well that he couldn't see me, I couldn't help but nod enthusiastically. I will make you all proud.
"Priestess, I'm really happy that you're back online now. It's been so long!"
"Too long Sango. I've missed you! Has anything happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"With Miroku. Anything happen?"
"We're dating now!"
"Oh my god! Congrats! Yay! :D" I jumped out of my seat, doing a victory twirl and pumping my fists into the air. Oh yes! I'm so glad they're finally together! "So, fill me in, what happened?!"
"It was just a normal conversation, I mean I had rejected him before and all then he said he still likes me and oh, I just couldn't push him away anymore. I decided it wouldn't hurt to date him."
"Aw~! And he told you he would wait and all, right?"
"Yes! And he did, and he's now mine. All mine."
"So cute Sango! I'm so happy for you two!" Then remembering how Kagura had treated me when she started dating with Naraku, I had to ask Sango first. "You don't want me to keep in contact with him from now on, right? I mean, him being yours and all..? I can totally stop talking to him if it makes you uncomfortable."
"Priestess, are you kidding? You're a sister to us! You can't disappear from our lives! I know he feels the same way! Anyway, you can't. You have to keep in contact with us, the both of us."
Smiling, I looked around my single quiet dorm room. She's really not like Kagura.. I guess women in love are not all the same after all. "Ok, I'll stay then."
"Good! That was a stupid question anyway, we love you stupid!"
"Sango! lol I love you too :)" And true to my promise, I kept in contact with Miroku, learning of their love life from both sides. Often helping them to resolve unsaid issues and encourage them in their times of need. With school starting again, Shippo and Kirara had apologized and gone offline to focus on school once more.
Everything truly felt at peace. My life was being restored and repaired. While at the same time, I spent much more time talking to Inugami. I would spend my junior year telling him what was happening in my life, giving him details about every event I went to, what I was doing at the time I got his emails, and the list goes on and on. Our conversations would grow in length that surpassed the emails from the group; not that he knew about the group. And in turn, I would learn more about his life, what he was doing at that second, etc. He had even asked me for my phone number, which I willingly gave to him, getting his in exchange, and our conversations moved over to texts.
One day, he told me that he was in his senior year of high school and that he worked. I often felt that he seemed to have a busier schedule than I. So I was surprised when I heard that he also drove and had his own apartment. What was I doing when I was a senior in high school? Goofing off with Eri, Yuka and Ayumi? Living my life as Priestess on TM? I honestly couldn't remember what happened when I was his age. He seemed so cool, so independent and to put it bluntly, a loner. However, it seemed like although he was a loner, he wanted to spend time with me.
Besides working, skating, going to school and driving back and forth, here he was always immediately responding to my texts, no matter when I sent them. I started to think the guy was a vampire, going on no sleep, or just superhuman because it seemed like he never rested. Although he was a loner, he was friendly, so very friendly. He always cared about what I had gone through before talking about himself, no matter how long my stories of my day seemed, he always stuck around to listen to it all and give his opinions on it.
Our conversations continued well past my junior year and into summer break before my senior year at Skidmore College, where we had both grasped a pretty big picture of each other's lives, despite not knowing each other in real life. I knew about his sisters, brothers and step-siblings. I knew his skating routine, his work schedule, and how long he would take to reply to me. I knew if he was in his apartment or if he drove back to visit his parents. I even knew of his love for football, because of his story of being an athlete and playing Madden in his free time. Every detail we gave to each other became topics for our conversations. We would continue to refer to each other as Priestess and Inugami and never give names to the people or places in our real lives. Although he had hinted at wanting to know the girl behind Priestess, I had ignored his hint and gone on, as if I had not heard it. And eventually, it was dropped because he would always put me before himself. And yet, he still kept a bigger secret from me. A secret that I would learn that summer before my senior year.
Author's Note: Hey everyone, thank you very much for reading! Please leave your reviews on what you think about what you've read so far! If you have a minute, please, please, please do so! I've never written this much for a fanfiction before (this is already part 9!) so hearing from you, the readers, would truly inspire me to keep going. Would you want to see more? Please favorite the story or feel free to hit the "follow" button for me, so you'll be notified first of any new stories. As always, thank you guys!