A/N Okay, you know how I said re-reading was something that was optional. Yeah, revise that, it's not. I didn't think that the story would end up really different, but it kind of has. So please re-read this okay? There is a lot of new stuff here, so re-read this, its nothing like the old version except for the basic rough outline.
Thank you!
The
Beginning
(Because every story needs a beginning)
Kagome Hiragashi was rich.
Actually, screw modesty. Kagome Hiragashi was filthy rich.
To her name was a mansion that would shame JLo and all of her new 'fly' things. She had (Kagome, that is, not JLo, since JLo could not possibly have left Jenny from the block that far) an Olympic sized swimming pool where she could train every day, and she did train ever one out of the ten said days. Oh screw it, she didn't train at all, but it really did look so pretty. Kagome also had an amazing view, a 'porch swing' that was roughly the size of a normal swimming pool (for what, she didn't know) and loads of other gadgets and gizmo's that were built into the house, and she had no idea how to use.
Now, you would think that Kagome was either the Paris Hilton of the Japanese world, or maybe she had own the lottery fifty consecutive times, or even perhaps that she had worked her whole life and was ninety years of age, and nearly dead. You would think so, but then, as usual, you would be wrong.
It wasn't that she didn't work hard…or at least she wasn't lazy, I mean she enjoyed afternoons in her bunny slippers watching McDreamy profess his love to that stupid duck-lipped Meredith for the 1679th time. It wasn't that her father wasn't some rich guy that was on his 67th wife, well, okay his father had one wife…but that was just 66 more to go! Which…okay, couldn't happen since he was dead, but you get the point. It wasn't that Kagome was lacking the things that the Hilton sisters had, or a good working habit…it wasn't that… It was, very simply, that Kagome's father had died when she was fourteen and had left this house for her, along with a reasonably large fortune. Then a couple years later her mother and her brother had died, and Kagome's piece of the reasonably large fortune became bigger, swelling until it would have to classified as an unreasonably large fortune.
However, she wasn't spoilt, oh no…not Kagome. See, she hadn't even been aware of her zillions of billions of yen until she was fourteen. And when her mother came to her room and told her that she had a billion yen to her disposal when she turned 25, Kagome had simply shrugged and said 'cool'. Then when her mother and brother had died a greasy lawyer had approached her and notified her that her zillions of billions of yen had turned into zillions and billions of dollars. Of course, she had been a little preoccupied at the time, what with her dead family members.
So you see, her money really hadn't affected her at all. She was really just a very nice girl who was mourning her family's death, who also happened to be an heiress of some sort.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
A shoe flew across the room at lightning speed, and missed its target by two inches.
"AAAAiya!" Kagome ducked, and covered her head with both hands.
"I. CAN. NOT. BE. LEE. VV. YOU!" With each growled syllable another shoe was hurled at Kagome's head.
Whiz…There went Coco Chanel
"What? What's the big deal?" Kagome yelled, while running about her room, darting the flying shoes.
"WHATS THE BIG DEAL?"
BAM! Anna Sui slammed into the wall, and fell limp onto the floor.
"YES! What's the big deal? I really don't see-…"
Kagome may not see what the big deal was, but she sure could see Jimmy (her beloved Jimmy!) get pounded on with each forced syllable that came sputtering out of Sango's mouth.
"PLEASE! Sango! NO!!" Kagome watched Jimmy take another beating.
Then finally…Sango stopped.
"The big deal, Kagome, is that you borrowed my one-of-a-kind Miu Miu dress, then you ripped it, and splattered spaghetti sauce all over it."
"But Sango…I…I…I…I'll buy you another one…"
"Really?" Up went the eyebrow.
"Yeah…when I'm twenty-five."
POW! There went Jimmy, may he rest in peace.
XOXOXOXO
Sango was Kagome's friend, from the 'poor days'. She had seen Kagome through her whole family's death, and Kagome has seen Sango through her family's accident. It was as if Sango's family was her family, but then they died too. Her parents were driving Kohaku to school, but there was a bus and…well, Sango's father died at the scene, but her mother hung on for a while, before letting go two days later. Kohaku was the only surviving member of the family, but the athletic little boy became paralyzed from the waist down. Sango was lying in bed that day, sick at home with the flu, and it was Kagome that had held her, cried with her, and walked Sango through her family's death as bravely as she had walked through her own. Then, it was Kagome who has taken the two in, and housed them for no rent, claiming that she liked the company. As cheesy as it sounds, they were there for each other, and if Kagome were to die and give it all to someone, she would have given it to Sango, since they were pretty much sisters anyway.
And, a sister was a sister, Kagome decided. Sure, they were annoying, and sometimes violent, but if you wronged your sister, you would have to make up for it. And it was that thought that spurred on The Carribean.
XOXOXOX
"SANGO! Have you seen my bathing suit?" Kagome hollered, as she thundered down the stairs.
"No, but did you want to borrow my white mini skirt?" Sango yelled back; as she helped Kohaku, pack his things. They were leaving a couple of hours later. Miroku, Sango's fiancée,was going to pick them up and drop them off at the airport. Then, he was going to hang out with Kohaku for the week, and bond with him to make sure that he was okay with his only living relative marrying a lecherous 'monk' such as Miroku. It was all very ingenious.
The 'Caribbean Trip' as it was now dubbed, had taken Kagome three weeks to plan. Since Kagome wasn't actually allowed to touch her fortune until she was 25 (to teach her the value of a dollar, her mother had said), she couldn't exactly splurge on two first class tickets to an island on her teaching assistant's salary, she had to her favorite station six times before she scored these tickets. If Kagome had to hear, 'sorry, the contest isn't in procession right now, call back later, okay?' one more time in that nasal tone then Kagome would simply march over to the said station, and blow everyone away, like that crazy guy did in the Mel Gibson movie. But in the end, she had gotten them, which was barely worth it.
Kagome sighed, they were going for a week, and after that Sango was going to move to Miroku's apartment. Miroku lived in a small apartment, with only two bed rooms, a living room, and a kitchen. Miroku, had just moved out of his godfather's house, and was living on his own. He planed to marry Sango, once he had enough money for her dream wedding. They was coming very close now, and he was saving every penny they could.
Two hours and six crammed suitcases later, the doorbell rang, and they all got into Miroku's car. Then after another fourty-five minutes, they reached the airport, and Kagome watched as Sango hugged Kohaku, and kissed Miroku goodbye. Kagome watched, slightly jealous, she wanted to have someone to hold, and someone to kiss goodbye. But she wasn't greedy, just one person would do…one person who would miss her like that. Ah, fat chance, her last date was a couple months ago, with Greasy Dan, and before that there was Perfect Mark, who coughed up a hairball. Kagome really didn't know how he did it, and had been reduced to a state of shock until a little girl's scream had snapped her out of it.
"Goodbye
Kagome-chan" Miroku and Kohaku chorused. Kagome smiled, at least
she had such great friends, even though you couldn't kiss a friend,
or touch a friend, or lick a friend, or…Turning slightly pink,
Kagome shook the thoughts out of her head and beamed back at them, "Bye you guys!"
Then, they turned around and boarded the
plane, all ready for relaxation.
XOXOXOXOX
"Oh. My. FUCK!" Sango grasped at her barf bag, and started hyperventilating. Then she snaked her arm around Kagome's and grasped at her hand, nails digging into her palms.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has lighted the seatbelt sign and we ask you to please return to your seats and remain seated until the sign goes off. Thank you for your cooperation."
Bling. On went the light.
"Oh God. We're going to die today. O.M.G. To think! My parents died on the car and I'm going to join them on the plane!"
"Sango…no one's going to die, except maybe my hand." The pair looked down, to where, indeed, Kagome's hand was turning purple.
"Okay, sorry…" Sango slowly let go of her hand, and Kagome felt herself exhale.
The plane went up, and Sango's claws went down.
"Aw…shit."
A little R&R.
XOXOXO
"Oh…' The rest of the words failed to make it out of her mouth, as Kagome ogled the palm trees, the sunset, the water, the boys, the… my God…
"Kags…" An equally astounded voice rang from beside her.
"Yeah?" She slowly turned her head around to face Sango.
Then they screamed.
Kagome rested her head on her towel while Sango rubbed sun block on her back. It was hot enough outside to bake a cake on Kagome's head, but after a day locked up in the hotel room, Kagome became restless. Sango had decided that they would go out before Kagome ripped her head off.
"Blergh. Sango, is it just me or is it really hot?"
"No, its just you Kags, its not really thirty nine degrees outside. It's all in your head."
"Oh good, since I thought I was sweating off my sun block."
"Ew." Sango immediately retracted her hands.
The pair fell into a sweaty silence.
"Change of plans?"
"Yeah..."
"Next time we go swimming, I get the other bathing suit!" Kagome folded her arms across her chest. Nope, that just enhanced cleavage. Perhaps she should just…nevermind.
Kagome turned around and sulkily followed Sango, cursing 'sister's' and 'corporate America that made slinky little blue bikini's with less fabric than the pockets on her jeans.
Sango just smiled, and dove into the water.
Kagome pulled her jet-black hair into a tight ponytail then muttered something about corporate America and disappeared into the water. As the cool waves thrashed her skin Kagome felt herself begin to relax. Perhaps nasty nasal voices and enormous phone bills were worth a vacation like this. Perhaps, just perhaps, she could relax here, forget about all her worries and unload her burdens – like not having enough money to purchase the newest Jimmy's or how to break up her friends so that Sango didn't have to move out. It wasn't that she didn't love her two friends, or think that they wouldn't work out...and she had nothing but respect and care for her friends well being! Really, she was a very good friend, and plotting their break-up probably wasn't a very friendly thing to do…
Oh, maybe…she could steal their money and buy the shoes with it, and blame the theft on cats! The details needed to be sorted out, but it had promise. Kagome turned around and got into the position of a lazy float.
She could buy the shoes and steal into Sango's closet and place them there! Then Miroku would automatically assume that it was Sango that bought the shoes, then later she could steal back the shoes, when Sango was sleeping and blame it on the ca-!
A pair of spindly, pale arms snaked around her waist and pulled her underwater.
What.
The.
Fu-
Kagome's thoughts were cut off by the same arms yanking her out of the water with equally little grace.
"Hi! I'm Hojo." A pale scrawny boy with dark brown hair beamed at her, then a noodle-like arm was thrust in front of her. Did he expect her to touch it? Did he expect her to be dumb enough to shake the hand of a could-be mass murderer who liked to kill his young female victims by drowning? No way.
The pale boy's eyes turned watery, his shoulders slumped downwards, even his hair seemed to deflate a bit. No, she had to remain strong. She couldn't just give in and shake the hand of a mass-murderer…but…Aw, damn it, Kagome decided, she would shake the stupid hand and worry about death later.
Two hours later Kagome had reached another set of decisions about Hojo. One, he was really not a mass-murderer. This decision came from Hojo's horrified gasp when Kagome swatted one of Satan's offspring – otherwise known as mosquitoes. Two, Hojo was really quite interesting.
Well, okay, he wasn't. But he really was a sweet, sweet, young boy.
And three, Hojo was quite clueless.
They were sitting in the hotel lobby (it turned out that Hojo was occupying the same hotel as they were) and he was explaining to the girls the wonders of indoor plumbing.
"You see, they have to add the extra pipe here at our hotel! Otherwise the sewage would go up! UP! Could you imagine? That would be horrifying! Almost as horrifying as getting stung by a wasp fifty-thousand times, which happened before, you know?"
"It did? How'd you survive?" Sango quirked and eyebrow, and Kagome gave her a little shove.
"Well, it didn't happen to me, per say, but it happened to someone that I know."
"Oh, really? Who?"
"Yeah, it happened to someone that I read about. Her name was Mary Louise, and she nearly died!"
"That's why you gotta kill those ugly little creatures!" Kagome's fist slightly tightened and she lightly smacked it against her palm. Stupid, stupid, filthy creatures. She would get it next time…
"Oh, well, yes they can tend to be quite dangerous, but I oppose to the slaughter of animals. It's just not right, just not right, that they don't get the opportunity to live as we do."
"Right, that's fascinating…but erm. Just a slight change of subject…why'd you try to kill me today at the beach?"
Hojo turned scarlet, "well, I didn't try to kill you…erm…I…well…my friend…you know…he…well…I saw you and…and you looked so lovely floating there…a real angel you know?" Hojo stammered.
Kagome smiled awkwardly, yeah…she was a real angel all right. A real angel with all her angelic thoughts.
"And…well…I…I told my friend…and…erm…well, he said I should try to introduce myself…but…I'm shy, you know? And…not so good at the social stuff…"
"Oh yeah, we didn't notice." Sango interjected. Kagome gave her a little shove, half for her rudeness, half for interrupting Hojo – if she stopped him now she wondered if he would ever get started again.
"Well, anyway…erm…my friend said to make an impression…so…I made an impression."
It was Kagome's turn to be rude, "By DROWNING ME?"
"Yeah…sorry about that…"
"No problem," Kagome waved it aside, "but Hojo…well…girls don't usually respond that well to attempts that are made on their lives."
"Oh…" Hojo seemed to consider this, "but…how am I supposed to make an impression then?"
"Well, you could stand up straight for one." Sango reached out and pushed back his shoulders.
"Maybe you should dye your hair a little lighter…streaks or something, to sexy up your look." Kagome shrugged, "It could work…"
"Sexy?" Hojo gulped.
"Yeah, and maybe get some new clothes…" Kagome turned to Sango, and sent out a silent plea with her eyes. Sango shrugged, the new boy was growing on her. Kagome turned back to Hojo, "How would you like it if we took you shopping?"
"Erm…okay…"
"Great!" With that Kagome pulled him up and started dragging him out of the hotel lobby.
"Oh, and you've got to lose that stuttering, stammering thing…be confident!"
"Sango! Handle this a little more delicately okay?"
"Sorry."
XOXOXOOXOX
"I'm going to miss you Hojo!" Kagome gave Hojo one last squeeze.
"Me t-t-too!" Hojo sputtered, then feeling the intensity of Sango's glare he corrected himself. "I mean, I'm going to miss you too."
"Not bad…each syllable a little to clipped, but by-God! I think he's got it!" Sango smiled, and gave Hojo a brief hug, before lecturing him about more important things. "Now remember the three S's and I think you'll be fine."
"Syllables," Hojo pronounced.
"Self-confidence," Sango boomed.
"And style!" Kagome barked, before collapsing in giggles.
The last few days of their trip had been spent teaching Hojo how to become more human. It really wasn't easy, but after their three hard days Hojo was no longer the same brown-haired, pale skinned, spindly little creature they had met a couple days before. He was now a light-brown streaked, fake tanned little boy who held a gift certificate to the gym closest to his house.
"Bye!" Hojo turned then, and swiveled out of the airport.
"Man," Sango said, watching his little butt go from side to side, "that boy's going make some guy really happy one day."
"Swim suits?"
"Check."
"Clothes?"
"Check."
"Camera?"
"Check."
"Toothbrush?"
"Check."
"Barf bag?"
"Check."
"Now, just stay calm, it's a nice safe flight, so just go to sleep, or watch the Johnny Depp movie, okay?"
"Oka – ARRRRRRRRRGH! We're GONNA DIE!"
Kagome sighed, took a Tylenol for the pain, and fell asleep.