Chapter 7: Don't pass notes in class
Takeshi and Kagome's mother were married the next day, just as Takeshi had promised the day before. Kagome still had to go to school that day, and for all intensive purposes, nothing changed around the house, except for the fact that Takeshi began to strengthen his hold over the daily activities of his step-children.
Kagome looked around the geometry room on the day that her mother was remarrying. Takeshi, luckily for our favorite heroine, was too busy at the courthouse getting married, and so there was another substitute teacher.
Any comments made before about Takeshi's large, often fake, smiles could not even begin to comprehend the amount of smiling the substitute teacher did. Her name was Mrs. Schuck. Though she was, technically, a science teacher (she had actually won the outstanding science teacher award in 2006), she was more than qualified to teach a high school math class, and was good friends with many of the math teachers back at her own school. She was visiting Japan for a semester to learn how teachers in other countries taught their students.
The woman, other than her forever smile, was nothing special in appearance. She stood at about 5'5", and had short dark brown curly hair. She was slightly overweight, but it was not an intrusive size unlike so many of the other larger teachers.
In that one period, Kagome learned more about geometry than she would have ever hoped to learn from Takeshi. The woman had more patience than anyone else Kagome had met, which was saying quite a bit, considering how many people and demons she had met in the past.
As the teacher went on through the lesson plan, she commented on the fact that there was a list of "troublemakers", and at the top of the list that Mrs. Schuck read aloud was Kagome, because: "She has many times missed classes because of illness, and expects all of her teachers to give her the work when she returns instead of having someone bring it home.
As a side note, don't let her cough, sneeze, talk too close to someone's face, strain herself, or do anything that may cause her some sort of problem because she is weak from all of the deadly diseases that have yet to kill her.
They include: Kuru (note that she can walk without support, nor has she been practicing any cannibalism), bird flu, smallpox, measles, skin cancer, diabetes (notice that she eats normally and does not carry anything to check her blood-sugar), ADD, ADHD, laryngitis, a stomach ulcer, mercury poisoning, lime's disease, and MS, all at the same time, in many cases.
Though I am unaware of why she would do it, I am under the suspicion that she, or whoever it is who had called the school, was lying about her diseases. I think it was her disillusioned grandfather, who has just recently been put into a nursing home because he was so superstitious that it was a detriment to the family's health. He said that he could sense and destroy demons. I would not be surprised if Kagome was under the same impression.
Whoever happens to be reading this, remind Kagome that she is NOT allowed to visit her boyfriend, because I, now her step-father, say so. Also, tell her that I know all of the details of how they met. To prove it to her, say that I am quite sure that that old tree would make excellent firewood this winter, especially if I was to find that she ran to her boyfriend's…place of residence.
After Mrs. Schuck read out the note, she smiled, and said "Well, I guess your step-father had a lot to tell you. Of course, I'm not here to judge you for your illnesses. It probably was just a big misunderstanding, right? Of course it was. Well, let's get on with the lesson."
If only it was that simple. All of her classmates looked at Kagome as the teacher began once again to teach. Yuka passed her a note discreetly. The two began passing notes back and forth.
"Is it true that you are not really sick all of the time?"
"Of course not. I get sick a lot, and have to spend my time at the hospital."
"With your boyfriend?"
"With everyone who is sick. Oh, and to answer your unsaid question, I do not have all of those diseases, but my grandfather thought that saying that I had those diseases would make the teachers more willing to let me stay out of school. A flu or laryngitis like I would normally have didn't sound bad enough for him."
"What was that part with the meeting? There is no tree at the hospital."
"We actually first met at my shrine, next to the tree. Takeshi probably wants to get rid of that tree because that was where my father proposed to my mother. That, and he doesn't like the people that I hang around with. Though, I don't see why. I have gotten along quite well in the time that I have known them, and nothing too terribly bad has happened."
"Are they gang members?"
"Not by most of the definitions of the word. Miroku is a priest in training, Inuyasha a sort of punk, Sango is a black-belt, and Shippou is just…a prankster.
"What about this Kikyou person?"
"For all intensive purposes, she is just a dead, walking pile of clay. She is rarely ever around, and should be dead, but Inuyasha stills loves her from when they were dating."
"What happened to them?"
Kagome was unable to answer, because the teacher took the note and began to read it aloud to the class. Kagome felt as though she could recede back into her chair and disappear, but it never happened.
Mrs. Schuck looked up at her when she got to the "Kikyou just being a walking pile of clay" part. "Clay?" she asked, "Is that just a codename for something else that I don't know about?"
Kagome just sat in her chair, and didn't even try to explain. After a few seconds, Mrs. Schuck just put the paper on her desk, requested that Kagome stayed after class, and continued to teach, without skipping a beat. Somehow, during the note passing, she had ventured off-topic, for instead of describing geometry, she was describing how a nuclear reaction occurs. The smart students in the class were writing all of it down, but most students were vaguely interested in the topic.
By the time class let out, Mrs. Schuck had turned from her "bunny path" and returned to teaching as she normally would.
"Kagome," Mrs. Schuck called after the other students had filed out of the room, "Might I ask what is the problem? I know a problem when I see one. Now, what is of these illnesses? I have never heard of anyone having them all at the same time, without showing any of the symptoms."
Kagome sat in wonder as to how to answer the question. The truth could find its way back to Takashi, and that would probably be the last day she'd see Inuyasha, for the man (she wouldn't even call him her step-father) was evil enough to burn down the well house if he wanted to.
"Ma'am, it's just that…" Kagome decided in that moment that the truth was the best thing for the situation, "Takashi, my mom's new husband, does not know the truth. I haven't been sick with anything more than a cold for years. Details would be too much for now, but what you need to know is that I have been skipping school all of this time for something much more important. Please do not tell Takashi that."
"What, might I ask, is more important than going to classes?" the teacher prodded, trying to figure out why a student would skip as many days as she had.
"It's a story longer than I have time to tell. In a nut shell, the truth is that I…well, have you heard of the Shikon no Tama?" A headshake told her all she needed to know. "The Shikon no Tama was a powerful jewel, able to increase ones power tenfold. 550 years ago, a plot was made by a demon named Naraku to get the jewel. The jewel, during th plot, disappeared off the face of the planet for 50 years, because I managed to somehow travel back in time 500 years. The jewel was in my body for a reason I'm not going to explain right now, and a demon managed to get it out.
"A while after that battle, I lost the jewel; and when I tried to shoot at the bird that had it, I broke it. It spread to the furthest reaches of the country, and each shard multiplies a demon's power. I skip class to go back in time to try to get the shards back. But, every time we get a lot of them, we somehow lose them to the enemy."
"Who's the 'we', and who's the 'enemy'?" the teacher asked, taking in all of the information at once.
"The 'we' is my group of friends: Inuyasha the hanyou, Sango the demon slayer, Miroku the priest, Shippou the fox demon and Kirara the cat demon, though we have other allies. The 'enemies' are Naraku and all of his incarnations – kids. Also, there is Kikyou and several other demons that are after the jewel."
The girl looked at the substitute teacher before adding something to the effect of "don't tell anyone this". The teacher nodded before sending Kagome on her way.
If only Kagome knew that the substitute teacher was not the only one who heard the confession. A lone figure, hiding behind the door, ran off, checking his phone to make sure that he had gotten the entire conversation recorded.
Whoever knew that Hojo could be convinced to spy on the girl of his affections? Well, it IS always the quiet ones who are led to do the evil bidding of a demon.
END CHAPTER
Wow, its been like a YEAR since I've updated this thing… Whew… well, I'm thinking it to end really soon. The thing with Hojo is the first domino to fall in the end of the plot. Its been great working on this thing, but I've just been so busy with other things that trying to write on all of my stories is a little more difficult than expected.