Jewels of Our Hearts
Chapter Three
Tomorrow wasn't better.
Shuichi stared at her non-stop for the whole first class. Which earned her numerous death glares, though it never went further than that. Most likely because none of them wanted Shuichi angry with them. She honestly wished he could find someone else to eye-stalk. His attention was causing nothing but grief and frankly she was a little cranky after her terrible sleep last night. Not to mention her creep radar was cranking high; who the heck had the balls to openly stare at someone like that?
Kagome turned to glare at him. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't back down. She faced the front again with a low growl. 'Arrogant demon! Or...part demon...whatever!' His constant attention was making her feel very insecure. She had to physically restrain herself from self-consciously touching the jewel tucked under her school blouse. 'Surely he doesn't know I have it...?'
The bell rang, and she felt him start to approach her. She had been prepared for the possibility though, and had her books packed in advance. Without turning to even acknowledge him she slung her bag onto her shoulder and practically ran from the classroom. Shuichi had changed from someone to be wary of to full-out stalker. She didn't know why he was so interested, and was not about to give him the chance to enlighten her. What kind of creep stared at someone for an hour and a half straight?
Her next class wasn't any easier to get through.
Once again the students felt the need to harass her. She was really getting tired of spit balls sticking to her face. Also getting those buggers out of her hair had been a real pain last night. If they thought they could break her they were wrong though. This was nothing compared to the hardships she had already endured.
Finally lunch time arrived.
She decided it would be safer to enjoy her meal outside, away from everyone else. She didn't want anyone to feel tempted to 'accidently' spill something on her again. The only problem with the plan is that a group of girls had followed her regardless. She could feel them and their malicious intentions a mile away.
With a loud sigh she abruptly stopped walking and set her food down on the cement below. "Alright, let's just get this over with."
Five girls rounded the corner she just came from with slightly surprised looks. Apparently they hadn't expected her to notice them, and perhaps if she wasn't who she was she wouldn't have. At least not so soon. The girls exchanged glances before the self-proclaimed leader stepped forward and pointed an accusing finger at her. "We've about had it with you and your siren calls to our Shuichi!"
She raised an eyebrow at them. "Your Shuichi? Does he know that you've claimed him like a piece of flight baggage? Do you have a collar with his name on it somewhere?"
The lead girl growled angrily. "Shut-up! Someone like you could never understand the treasure of Shuichi that must be protected at all costs! His sweet innocent nature has to be cherished and admired - not tainted by some would-be new slut who thinks she can just show up and do whatever."
"Trust me when I say I have zero interest in Shuichi. In fact I'm trying to avoid him altogether so don't worry about it alright? Let's just say we got off on the wrong foot and try this all again?" She smiled at them and waved. "Hi, I'm Kagome Higurashi. I just transferred here and it would be great if we could all get along!"
The group of girls seemed baffled. They whispered amongst themselves in silent outrage. "She said she has zero interest in our perfect Shuichi!" Another girl shook her head in complete denial. "No way! It's not possible! She's trying to trick us!" A small blonde nibbled on her lower lip anxiously. "Who could say such things about our precious Shuichi? She should be punished just for that!" A tall brunette nodded sagely at the suggestion. "Yes, that cannot be allowed. No one can speak of him in such a way."
Kagome was completely mortified. Were they actually possessed? 'It's like they didn't hear me at all!'
Finally the leader spoke. "Your transgressions are too great Higurashi. Face your punishment gracefully and then all shall be forgiven." She eyed her groupies with fiendish delight. "Show her what happens to those who get to close to heaven!"
Then they all began advancing on her.
'Is this some sort of alternate universe?' Was she actually about to get into a fight with five of Shuichi's fangirls? A scowl cracked her face and her eyes hardened. 'If they want to fight, then so be it.'
One girl charged her, and she quickly dodged to the side before grabbing the attacking girl's arm and throwing her forward. The girl cried out in surprise, completely off balance, before she fell face first into the concrete floor. Another girl screamed in outrage and swung at her with a closed fist. She blocked the strike with her arm before grabbing the front of the girl's blouse and pulling the girl forward into her knee. The girl grunted as she hit the ground, winded.
The remaining three eyed her warily. Clearly they hadn't expected a real challenge, or for her to even fight back. Two even looked uncertain. The leader was in the middle, and she looked at her two remaining 'soldiers' in slight aggravation. It was the little blonde and the brunette. "Don't just stand there! You two, grab her arms or something! Keep her still!"
With obvious hesitation the two girls looked at one another before nodding. Then they charged her at the same time, arms outstretched. She ducked, swinging her left leg to trip one before grabbing the skirt of the other and tugging it down hard. The blonde cried out as her chin smashed into pavement, while the brunette wailed in embarrassment as she wind-milled her arms to keep from falling over when her legs got tangled in the skirt at her feet. Despite the effort, the brunette also fell to the ground and grumbled miserably at her scraped hands.
Kagome then stood and faced the leader, who flinched away from her when she took one step forward.
"S-Stay away from me demon!"
'Oh the irony...' She sighed and placed her hands on her hips before shaking her head. "You shouldn't just randomly attack people like that. It's not very nice and you might not know what you're getting into." She eyed the girl a bit sadly. "I just...wanted to make new friends here and have a normal school life. Why couldn't you let me have that?"
The leader looked at her angrily, then tears suddenly sprang in the corners of her eyes. "What does he see in you anyway? Why you and not any of his loyal fans? Why are you so special!?" She began opening crying into her hands. "I just don't understand! I've tried everything...everything to get his attention and he only stares through me. I love him so much...and he doesn't even see me."
Kagome felt her heart ache. She understood that type of pain all too well. "Like you're a ghost, right? Like your feelings are just the whispers on the wind that blow right past him. He'll talk to you, smile at you, but never truly see you."
The girls all looked at her, each sniffling in misery.
"It's not fair to hate him for it though."
The leader snarled. "I could never hate him!"
She smiled in sympathy. "Really? Then why are you punishing him?" She turned to the address the four on the ground. "Why are you all trying to make him unhappy?"
They blinked in confusion. The leader shook her head in denial. "You don't know what you're saying! We haven't done anything of the sort!"
"You claim him like an object. You keep him distant from anyone he might even have the slightest interest in. Your mentality is 'if I can't have him, then no one will'. How is that fair? How is that not cruel? Do you really love him?"
They were all silent.
"It's not fair to make him suffer as punishment for your rejection. If you truly did love him, you'd be happy that he finally did see someone...even if it wasn't you. Love is sacrifice, even at the expense of your own heart. True love is anyway, but I don't think any of you truly love him." She laughed bitterly. "No, all you five love is yourself. You can't get past your pride. Get over it and live your life already. Stop pining after someone who has no time for you. Aren't you worth more than that?"
They all looked at each other, before one of them rose from the ground and dusted her skirt off. "Whatever. I'm so over this already." She eyed Kagome briefly, before turning in a huff and walking away. The remaining three followed suit, until it was just the lead girl left standing there in misery. Tears trailed silently down her cheeks. She blinked, before sniffling loudly. "I wanted it to be me so badly."
Kagome walked over to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "If it hurts, then you know it was real. Find someone who'll return those strong feelings. Don't waste your time on someone who can't see how special you are."
The girl stared into her eyes before a loud sob erupted. She suddenly thrust herself at her chest and started crying uncontrollably. Kagome gently held her, softly stroking her back while making soothing sounds of comfort. She knew all too well what it felt like to be rejected. In her mind, golden eyes were crinkled in a bright smile. A smile that would never be for her. A smile she would never see again. 'You live in the present.'
/.../
Kurama watched the scene unfold from a safe distance. He was trying very hard to mask his energy to avoid detection. He hoped his fanclub would prove distracting enough to keep him unnoticed. Admittedly his fist instinct had been to stop the confrontation. He forgot sometimes how truly crazy his groupies were. After the first attack though, he decided it would be more beneficial to observe. She seemed capable of handling herself and he was curious to see what she would do next.
He didn't quite expect the dramatic scene that followed all the action. With his enhanced hearing he could catch every world they spoke without difficulty. It was strange hearing them talk about him like that. He knew a lot of the females had crushes, but he never realized the depth of their emotion. Really, he should have, but they were so easy to ignore that he didn't notice the damage he was causing with his cool indifference. Guilt ate at him. He never meant to hurt them in such a way, but he simply had no time or interest to cater to them all efficiently.
What stung the most though, was Kagome's apparent disinterest. 'So this is how it feels, to want someone and not be wanted back. It serves me right I suppose. Karma for the pain I've caused so many without knowing.'
'Do not despair. We've only just begun the hunt. She does not know us yet, so she can't truly reject us.'
'Do we...want her to know us though? Are we really that interested?'
A pause. 'I am.'
He inwardly scoffed at that. Yoko wanted anything with a nice pair of legs. He however, wanted something that meant more. Whether or not that would come from Kagome, he wasn't too sure. There was mystery to her, and that caught his attention but it also made him wary. What secrets did she hold? Was she dangerous? He hardly knew her, and it was hard to be infatuated with someone you hardly knew. Intrigued yes, but for now that was as far as it went. The pain of her apparent disinterest came more from pride than from any true feelings he harbored. 'Live in denial all you want. I know there's more to it than that.' He pointedly ignored the fox. Arguing with him would only give him a headache.
Hiei suddenly appeared beside him.
Kurama nodded in the direction of Kagome. "Seems she knows how to fight, or at the very least has seen some combat."
"Hn. She's sloppy."
He turned to the hybrid. "Well, do you think I'm right now? What kind of high school girl knows how to fight like that?"
Hiei crossed his arms. "She could be taking a class. It proves nothing."
He laughed. "If that makes you feel better."
"We need to observe her more. It wouldn't bode well to introduce an innocent into the world of demons so callously."
"Since when do you care?"
Ruby eyes studied him. "When did you not?"
Kurama didn't answer him. He knew when to prod Hiei and he quickly saw this conversation going nowhere. Hiei would not explain himself simply because he was curious. And he was curious. Normally the little fire demon was impatient and rather uncaring when it came to mortals. The concern over this human girl was strange. There was something more, but he couldn't see it yet.
"She's looking at us."
He blinked. Hiei was right, Kagome was staring straight at them. She looked angry too. This wasn't good.
/.../
He hated her.
There were a lot of things Hiei wasn't sure about when it came to that strange woman, but of this he was sure. He hated her a lot. He hated the way she made him curious - because the only things that made him curious were the things he didn't understand. He hated things he didn't understand, because the only things he didn't understand were the things he couldn't read. The only things he couldn't read were...well...nothing. He had psychic powers - everyone was his book to read.
Not her.
And he hated that.
He watched her walk outside and barely noticed when Kurama stood beneath his tree a moment later. Instead he was far more happy the red-head wasn't doing anything to stop the fight about to occur. While the Fox was too focused on the realization of his influence to do anything productive, he took the time to study her.
Initially he wrote her off as another piece of flesh the Fox was lusting after, but after she approached his tree the other day he knew she was something...different. More even. The air itself seemed to pulsate with some strange electrical fire around her, warning him instinctively to be wary. Of what though? Could she really be a miko? A powerful miko with a mystical jewel that managed to evade the most hungry of eyes for over five hundred years? That girl?
The fight finally began. The girl's movements were slow, graceless, and obviously done with little tactical thought. She was like a clumsy toddler, bumbling around her attackers with worry over their welfare. A real fighter would dispose of them quickly and with precise movements. She merely temporarily incapacitated them - and did a poor job at that. Give them five minutes and they would be ready for round two. All that wasted energy with no real victory to show.
That girl? 'Preposterous.'
The painful observation didn't end there. Once the girl had managed to temporarily stall the violence, she began to lecture her assailants in the wrongful ways of possessive love. What kind of idiot gave their defeated attackers a lesson on life before proceeding to comfort them? 'Mortals...I'll never understand them.'
It's still how he felt, as she stood there yelling at Kurama.
"-erk! Honestly what is wrong with you? Can't you just nicely turn them away or something?"
Yes, she was yelling at Kurama over the hurt feelings of her would-be assailants. Not the fact that it was Kurama's foolish blindness that had landed her in the situation in the first place. She apparently also forgot that she had been pointedly avoiding the Fox for some time now. Kurama looked a bit cowed, but he could tell by the mischievous gleam in the Fox's eye that he was secretly enjoying the sudden attention. 'Pathetic.'
"Then you just stand there and watch! How could you just watch a random group of girls try to attack me!"
Kurama tried to placate her. "I'm truly sorry! I didn't realize the hardships you were facing because of me. I was about to assist you, until I realized that you had it under control!"
"I don't care what your reasons are! You should have done something!" Then her angry eyes suddenly locked on him as she pointed an accusing finger at his face. "Don't think you're safe either!"
He stared at her in bewilderment.
She glared. "Yes I'm talking to you! Mr. Likes-To-Hide-Creepily-In-Trees! Don't think I didn't notice you just idly observing them following me." She suddenly veered back to Kurama. "Speaking of following, what the hell Shuichi? Why have you been practically stalking me these past two days?"
"S-Stalking!?"
"Yes! Stalking! Who just stares at someone in class like that? Are you some sorta creep? Both of you really! Ugh!" She threw her hands up in complete frustration.
He looked to Kurama angrily, but the Fox seemed speechless for a change. 'Likes to hide creepily in trees? The nerve! I don't hide from anyone!'
The bell suddenly rang, and for the first time ever he truly appreciated the stupid human saying of 'Saved by the bell.' From the look on Kurama's face, apparently the Fox was on the same wavelength.
The girl gave them each one last chilling glare. "Stay away from me? Got it?" Then with a huff she turned, hair flicking to the side like a whip, and headed back to school.
After a while Kurama turned to him. "A bit feisty hm?"
"Or hormonal."
They both watched her retreating back warily. 'Human females. Bah!'
...
And so ends another chapter! Not too much excitement this time around but it is building trust me Hey we got to see Hiei's point of view finally right? I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed hearing from you! I respond to everyone who reviews so be sure to log in so I can PM you! For those who didn't, here is your reply:
Diane: Thank you for pointing that out to me! I didn't even realize I was missing the 'n' when I type it! Ugh darn these fingers...they don't type good late at night . I will endeavor to be sure it is spelled correctly in the future. Glad you are enjoying it so far despite that blunder!
alice: Always happy to hear from you again! Thanks for your continued support. I hope this chapter met your expectations as well and I look forward to any further comments you have - no matter what language :P
erica: Hey again! Happy to hear from you as always Happy belated B-Day to you! I'm glad I had managed up-date this story in time for such a special day in your life! I still have a lot planned for this story - and I have a feeling you won't be disappointed so continue to stick with me alright? Always looking forward to hearing from you alright? I hope I keep rocking it!
That's all there is from reviewers who did not sign in. Until next time then! Thanks to everyone who continues to faithfully follow this story as well! You all rock