Disclaimer: I dun own Inu Yasha.

Chapter 4

For a couple days after Kagome's mother had told Souta and Kagome they would be starting school next week, Kagome was having a nervous spaz attack. What happened if the kids at her school picked on her? Would she make friends? She even started picking out what she'd wear on the first day. Her closet was a mess. Clothes were all over her floor and bed, and even strewn across the top of her door.

Unlike Kagome, Souta seemed excited. He jumped around the house, outside of the house, and raided their sugar cabinet. He seemed to have forgotten their father all together, but Kagome hadn't. Every night, she would lie in her bed and listen to her mother cry herself to sleep. It wasn't a very pleasant thing to go to sleep to. Or try. In the daytime, Kagome's mother would look for a job. So far she had gotten financial support from her sister. But she really needed to find a job. Finally, the Sunday before Kagome and Souta's first day of school, she screamed "Yes!" as she came home from a job interview.

"Souta! Kagome! I got the job! I got the job! I get to be the art teacher at the college!" She seemed the happiest since their father died. That night they celebrated with ice cream. Except they made Kagome go down to the nearest grocery store and get it. Growling, Kagome grabbed her coat and purse and started out the door.

As Kagome walked down the street past all the shops and boutiques, she caught a glance at her reflection. She wasn't a princess look a like anymore. Huge bags graced the space under her eyes, and her hair was lying limply on her back and shoulders. She only had the energy to just brush it every morning. Her face was pale, and she was no longer smiling. You could tell from the frown lines in her forehead. A sigh escaped her mouth. What was her mother thinking? Bring them to a place like this. The people here so far hadn't been very friendly.

She decided the ice cream could wait. The park was very close. Kagome walked there, and found an old black bench to sit on. She watched as children played with their friends on the playground. She thought about Rin, Ayame, and Eri. She watched as a couple walked by, hand in hand, laughing as they ate their crepes and the man had gotten icing on his cheek. She thought of her and Hojo's first kiss. Her lip quivered. She watched a father pushing his daughter on the swing, her laugh echoing out, haunting Kagome in her head. Tears shielded her eyes. She blinked them away, but they came back. They started to come down her cheeks. No, the voice in her said. You have to be strong like dad. But the voice didn't work as she tried to wipe the tears away.

Just as she was going to get up and leave, a boys voice jumped at her.

"Why hello! You're cute girl!"

She jumped and turned around. A boy who looked to be her age was standing in front of her, a mischievous smile playing on his face, his black hair pulled back in a little ponytail. He was wearing dark blue baggy jeans, and a black sweatshirt. He seemed to have just pulled off his sunglasses, although it wasn't sunny out at all.

Kagome blushed from his comment. Was this dude a pervert or something? Suddenly, he came and put his arm around her.

"Would you like to hang out with me and my friends?" He asked her and he started to lead her somewhere. Finally finding her voice, she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. "Excuse me, but it's considered kidnapping if you are trying to take an innocent girl somewhere she doesn't want to." She got out of his arm and sent him a glare. "Wooh…I like 'em feisty!" He exclaimed as he laughed at her expression.

"MIROKU!" A scream came from behind him and the smile immediately turned into a frown. "Must you women follow me everywhere! I know I am a heartthrob, but please, take a numbe-

His sentence was cut short as the girl maimed him on the head with her backpack. "You pervert! There are no girls who think you are a heartthrob. And the reason why I am following you is so you don't go around hitting on girls who don't want to be hit on!"

"Awe, come on Sango! I know you really have a place for me in your heart. Just show it to me and we can maybe work something out!"

"Shut up!" The girl named Sango yelled at him, causing lots of people who were also in the park to stop whatever they were doing and watch.

Kagome didn't want to be here. They seemed to be having some kind of lovers quarrel, or something. The girl finally noticed Kagome and walked over to her. "I'm so sorry for bothering you. Miroku can be a real pervert sometimes." She had really dark brown hair up in a ponytail that looked so long that if she took it out, it'd probably be down to her butt. Her chocolate brown eyes bore into Kagome's. She was wearing a baggy off the shoulder white shirt that went down to her thighs, and black spandex type things. It also looked like she was wearing a long sleeved black shirt under it. Around her waist was a belt made with beads, lying loosely on her hips. It was pink with little flowers on it. Around her neck was a white necklace, with a pendant on it that looked like a boomerang. She was wearing regular tennis shoes.

"Hey, are you okay?" The girl asked. She had noticed the tear marks on Kagome's cheeks. Kagome noticed this and quickly wiped her cheek.

"Oh, I'm fine. It's just my allergies, and all. And it's really ok. But I better be going. I need to run a quick errand."

The girl smiled at her. "Why don't we escort you? I'm Sango, and as you know, this is Miroku. We have another jerk running around here somewhere. Miroku, where did Inu go?" Miroku averted his attention to Sango; looking surprised that Sango's mood had changed.

"I don't know. I'm not his babysitter. Probably being chased by Kikyo again."

Kagome didn't really want to be escorted, but she actually had no idea where the nearest grocery store was. "Um…ok. I'm Kagome. I just moved here." She looked down at her feet.

"How old are you?" Sango asked excitedly.

"16. I'm in 10th grade." She murmured. Sango, on the other hand, clapped her hands together.

"Awesome! We're in 10th grade too. You're still 16? We got put in school late. Hehe. So, are you going to school tomorrow?" Sango linked arms with Kagome and Miroku and dragged them across the street.

"Erm…yes. I'm attending Yawatnee High School" A squeal erupted from Sango's mouth.

"Yes! This is so awesome. So do we! We'll be honored to show you around. Hopefully we'll have some classes together. So, where were you headed?" Kagome told them she needed ice cream, still being dragged by Sango. Finally they found a grocery store.

After awhile of looking in the grocery store at the assortment of ice cream, Kagome ended up with 3 cartons of chocolate chip cookie dough. Miroku insisted that it was the best. Then they decided to walk her home.

As they got to Kagome's house, she waited for what they were going to say as they walked her to her doorstep. Would they pretend that her house was a castle? Would they just go right ahead and say her house was a dump? She blushed as she turned around to say thank you.

"Um…thank you for everything. It was really nice meeting you."

"It was nothing. And we love meeting people. So, we'll pick you up here at 8:30 tomorrow! We can go to school together! Bye!" Then Sango and Miroku walked off, while Miroku blew Kagome a kiss. Sango noticed him and hit him in the arm. Kagome waved.

"Kagome, where have you been? It took you a whole two hours. And why did you buy 3 cartons? Oh well, the more the merrier. Thanks for going, hunny." Kagome's mother had shown up in the door and ushered her in.

The next morning, Souta got up at 6 AM and ran around the house screaming that it was time to wake up. Was it normal for a child to do that? Kagome wondered as she pulled herself out of bed at 6:30. She had to dodge Souta's running figure as she tried to get to the bathroom. She imagined herself looking like a zombie.

"I GET TO START SCHOOL! I GET TO START SCHOOL! I GET TO START SCHOOL!" Souta was screaming at the top of his lungs. Kagome's mother was getting out some Advil. Kagome could hear him all the way in her shower.

"I GET TO START SCHOOL! I GET TO START SCHOOL! I GET TO START SCHOOL!" Kagome covered her ears at the breakfast table.

"I GET TO START SCHOOL! I GET TO START SCHOOL! I GE-

Kagome stuffed a muffin in his mouth, said goodbye to her mother and him, and walked out the door, her knee length blue skirt ruffling around her knees. She pulled out her hair tie and tied her hair in a low pony. She didn't feel like having her hair down. She wasn't pretty anymore anyways. She was just an average girl.

"Kagome!" She heard someone yell. She looked up and noticed Sango waiting on the sidewalk, her long brown hair blowing in the wind. She was wearing a red sweatshirt and jean capris. "Miroku couldn't come. He caught a ride with our friend Inu Yasha."

"Inu Yasha?" Kagome could help but say his name out loud. What a strange name.

Sango giggled. "I know. It's a weird name. He's cool, though he can be a jerk sometimes. Don't be surprised if he's not entirely nice to you right away. He's really cool, though; so don't be scared of him."

Sango chattered all the way to Yawatnee High. She kept talking about Kikyo, the most popular girl in school, and to watch out for her, since she was an evil bitch who could ruin your life. As she said this, Sango gave a sad smile to Kagome and said, "I should know. She's done it to me before. But that's not important. The thing that is important is getting you to hang out with the right people, like Miroku, Inu Yasha, and me. We have a couple of other buds too. Oh yeah, there's someone else I should warn you about. Oh great, here he is." Sango frowned and tried to drag Kagome along so they would go faster, but a good looking boy with long dark brown hair in a pony on top of his head came over.

"Well, hello there Sango. You're looking absolutely ravishing today. Hm…who is this good looking girl with you?"

"This is Kouga" Sango whispered to Kagome. "Hi, Kouga. You couldn't find anyone else to annoy? Anyways, this is Kagome; she just moved here a couple of weeks ago." Then Sango tried to drag Kagome away before she could even mutter hello, but Kouga followed them.

"Well, well, Kagome. I like that name. I'm Kouga." He seemed to be looking Kagome up and down. She felt uncomfortable, until she heard someone yell. "What the hell are you doing, Kouga? Get away from them" She turned her head around and noticed Miroku, with another boy. As they got closer, Kagome observed the other boy. He had long black hair down to his waist, amber eyes, a mischievous smile, and looked to have a nice body, as Miroku and Kouga. He was wearing black baggy jeans and a dark blue shirt, and a purple and white beaded necklace around his neck. He was the most good looking guy Kagome had ever saw, even more good looking than Hojo. She blushed and looked at the ground. He switched his backpack to his other shoulder and smirked at Kouga, who growled in return.

"I wasn't doing anything, you dog. I was just talking to them. Is that a crime, dogface?" Kouga hissed at the boy.

"Well, you know, in your case it is, considering the way you talk to women. Now go away, or I'll start to get aggravated. Oh yeah, and I do have a name, you know, it's Inu Yasha." The boy named Inu Yasha said as he and Miroku pushed the girls away.

"Shut up, dog crap! We'll meet again Kagome, and hopefully the dog won't be there to bother us" Kouga yelled as he walked away.

"Don't worry, Kagome! I'll save you!" Miroku said to Kagome as he slung his arm around Kagome, causing her blush to deepen. Why were there all these good-looking guys around?

"Your worst than Kouga" Sango told Miroku as she yanked Kagome out of his grasp. "Inu Yasha, this is Kagome. Miroku might have already told you about her, but she just moved here."

"Yo" Inu Yasha finally gazed down at Kagome and shook her hand. "Just ignore Kouga. He should be the one called dog crap. He looks just like it."

Kagome let a smile play along her lips. It felt good, actually, to smile. She didn't know what Sango was talking about. Inu Yasha seemed really nice. "Let's see your schedule!" Sango told Kagome as they all yanked there's out to see if they had any classes with her. It turned out she had Algebra with Miroku and Sango, History with Inu Yasha, Gym with Sango, Miroku, and Inu Yasha, Biology with Sango, Literature with Miroku, Spanish with Sango, Computer with Inu Yasha and Sango, and Study Hall with the three of them. She seemed to have one of them in every one of her classes. Kagome let the smile stay on her face as Sango led her to Algebra with her and Miroku, and said goodbye to Inu Yasha, who looked surprised to hear he say something to him. Kagome didn't care. She actually felt a little happiness bubbling in her heart.

End of Chapter 4.

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