Kagome couldn't help but notice the jealous glares he was receiving. She felt flattered, but at the same time afraid. She wasn't used to dealing with something like this. It was strange.

This year was going to be…interesting.

Star-Crossed Lovers

Chapter Three.

The day progressed extremely different then the first. More people acknowledged Kagome and asked her questions about where she'd come from. It was fun knowing so many people were interested. Or were they just being polite? Either way, she enjoyed answering their questions and feeling like she fit in.

InuYasha was there that day but it seemed like he kept his distance. Apparently he was in her third period class, but as she walked in he fidgeted and ditched the desk he was already in for one farther away from her. Raising an eyebrow, Kagome took her seat and waited for the bell.

"Kagome?" a high voice asked from behind her. Turning, she saw one of the girls from yesterday, Rin, looking at her curiously. Her attire was once again orange and her long, brown hair had a cute little side ponytail sticking out from it. She was adorable.

"Oh, hi." She hoped her expression or tone wasn't too shy. Rin must have been pretty smart to be in her Algebra II class.

"Wow, I didn't know we had a class together!" Rin hopped up and into the desk on Kagome's right side. "How do you like school so far?"

"Um…I guess its okay," she said in a melancholy voice. When she shrugged, Rin rested her chin in her palm and stared with big, puppy like eyes.

"You're already so popular," she sighed enviously. "Every guy wants to date you and every girl wants to be your friend. Lucky."

Taken back, Kagome couldn't think of anything to do but nod and look down at her lap. It's not like she wanted all this attention…

"Well, anyways, do you like any of them so far?" Rin asked curtly, twirling a piece of smooth hair around her index finger.

"Like any of who?"

"The guys!" Rin half laughed, half looked at Kagome like she was dumber then a nail. "Anyone caught your interest?"

Kagome thought, and shrugged. It was obvious none of them had. She didn't find herself attracted to any of the boys yet, that was for sure. Especially not the one sitting across the room and burning a hole into her back with his intent stare.

"Nope. None yet." She smiled weakly for Rin's benefit, than willed the clock to tick faster, wanting this conversation to end ASAP. Her friend looked surprised.

"Really? How strange. Normally everyone goes for Koga or Sesshomaru or InuYasha." She studied Kagome's face for a reaction to the mentioning of any of these hotties names. None came that pleased or satisfied her, so she pressed on. "You don't think they're ugly do you?"

Kagome laughed in spite of herself. "It's not that Rin."

The bell rang and everyone hurried to their seats before the teacher called the class to order. He was a balding man with a round stomach and small, beady eyes behind shiny glasses. He began the lesson in a dull, strict manner that lost Kagome's interest almost instantly. But knowing she had to pay close attention, she took out her notebook and started scribbling down notes.

Someone slipped a piece of paper onto her desk and at first she didn't notice. When she spotted it, she looked around and saw Koga smirking at her. Picking up and unfolding the note, it read: Join me for dinner tonight?

Her mind raced as she thought about this. Throwing Koga another glance, she scribbled down: I doubt it. I have lots of homework tonight. Some other time though.

Folding it back up, she turned a little to toss it back but the teacher's thick voice snapped from the front of the room.

"Miss Higurashi, what do we have here?"

Snatching the tiny piece of paper from her petite hand, he crumpled it up and threw it in the waste basket beside the white board. "Note passing is not tolerable in this classroom. Remember that." He returned to the lesson, droning on once again.

The teenage girl sighed and gave Koga an apologetic look. He merely chuckled and whispered, "No sweat. I'll just assume it was a yes. Pick you up around 7?"

Kagome was about to respond but just then the bell rang and everyone hurried to get up and leave. Gathering up her things, she heard Rin squeal from next to her.

"He asked you on a date!" she said loudly, causing a few people to look their way in either jealousy or surprise. "Koga! The star runner!"

Nodding, Kagome smiled and began to leave the room. Rin followed closely, still going on about how hot he was or how athletic or wanted or popular. Only half listening, Kagome opened her locker and gasped as she forgot about the letters.

Rin stopped midsentence and stared. "What are those?"

Kagome shoved her books in and slammed her locker shut, facing Rin with an embarrassed smile. "Um, nothing! I really don't know or care. Let's go to lunch!"

Taking Rin's hand, Kagome pulled her off towards the cafeteria, where hopefully the table she'd sat at the day before wasn't too crowded. Her heart raced as she remembered he had joined that table yesterday. But would he today? She shook the thought out of her mind as the girls pushed through the doors into the cafeteria.

Grabbing some lunch, Kagome was relieved to find her table wasn't too occupied…yet. The pair quickly dodged other people to get to it, and once seated Kagome let out a steady sigh. Sango eyed her.

"Everything alright?" she asked tersely, leaning against her elbows on the table.

"Just fine," Kagome smiled, reaching for the apple she'd absentmindedly took in the hurry to get to her seat. For now, she added in her head, taking a bight.

Sango sucked on her straw, which was awkwardly sticking out of a can of grape soda. "Good. Because you sure don't look fine. Now what's wrong?" She set down the can, glaring daggers at Kagome.

Not understanding why her recent friend cared so much already, Kagome gulped and smiled uneasily. "It's nothing. Really, Sango, I just hurried over here so no one would take my seat. That's why I'm so…sweaty."

Sango seemed to buy that and shrugged it off, flipping out her cell phone to check a text message.

Miroku was chatting with a cute girl who looked like a freshman, and she giggled nervously before standing and saying good bye. He looked over at Kagome once the girl glided off, and his smile doubled. "Miss Kagome! How lovely of you to join us for lunch again."

As she giggled and Sango gave her usual eye roll, Kohaku and Hojo seated themselves at the table. Rin immediately batted her long lashes at Kohaku, who seemed oblivious as he tried to scoot closer to Kagome, and Hojo took it upon himself to make conversation among the table.

"That Chemistry assignment sure is hard," he ranted, eyes flickering to Kagome every few seconds to reassure she was listening. She wasn't. "It took me nearly all class period and I'm still not finished!"

"Yeah, very nice Hojo." Sango swapped a hand back and forth. "Anyways, is your second day going any better Kagome?" She turned with an eager look towards the newcomer, who had just finished her apple.

"Oh," Kagome blinked, surprised. "I guess so. Everyone's been more…" She searched for the right word. "…friendly." As she said this, Koga greeted them and fell into the seat beside Sango. His eyes grazed over to Kagome, and he winked. Hojo and Miroku, however, didn't miss this. Their jaws set and their teeth clenched.

The last to find himself at the table was Sesshomaru, accompanied by Ayame. The two didn't seem like a good couple, and Kagome laughed at herself when she found out they weren't. Ayame was apparently into Koga, and Sesshomaru had been single for almost a year.

Everyone seemed to stay off the subject of his last girlfriend, and merely referred to it as the Kagura Epidemic. Kagome shuddered when they described her and how clingy and needy she sounded. After Sesshomaru had dumped her, she'd moved to Europe and was never heard from again.

As she listened to these stories, Kagome couldn't shake the odd, tense feeling that was engulfing her. A shiver ran up her spine every couple minutes, and she glanced behind her to see if there was an AC blasting on her back or something.

Instead, her eyes came in contact with a pair of coal-black, heartless eyes.

The owner of these eyes was a tall, muscular senior who was staring evidently back her with a smirk curled on his lips. His long brown hair and purple clothing didn't suit him well at all, and the little bit of blue eyeliner he wore made his killer eyes stand out even more.

She quickly turned back around and sucked in a deep breath. They were the scariest eyes she'd ever seen in her life, that was for sure. At least InuYasha's eyes were warm and filled with life, but those were chilling and cold. She leaned over to Sango.

"Who's sitting behind me with the dark eyes?" she muttered, hoping no one else would hear. Lucky for her, they were all amused by a story Rin was telling about her foster parents.

Sango checked. "Oh. That's Naraku. He's an…outcast, you could say. It would be best if you stayed away from him." She sounded almost angry, yet frightened at the same time. "He's a real creep. People who end up with him always get into trouble."

Kagome soaked this information in, knowing full well she wouldn't hang with him even if her life depended on it. She had more common sense then that. She also had enough common sense to notice InuYasha staring at her from a distant table.

"Why isn't InuYasha sitting with us today?" Just saying his name was enough to send blood surging through her veins like a forest fire. Sango shrugged.

"I dunno. Normally he does, but some days he likes to keep to himself. Why?" She looked at her friend uncertainly. "Do you have the hots for him?"

Kagome fidgeted. "What?! No, of course not! Like I said, he's not my type. Not at all." She crossed her arms stubbornly. Sango laughed.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. I never said you did, or that he was. I was just wondering." She placed a Dorito in her mouth and bit down. "Besides, he's like Naraku in a way. He's not an outcast or anything though. But he keeps to himself and doesn't talk much. He's unpredictable and private about his life."

"I see." Kagome nodded. She wasn't very hungry anymore so she decided to toss her food and head to the library. Being surrounded by books always calmed her and she loved reading. No one followed her, she was glad to note. So she walked to the library in quiet.

The Tokyo High Library was big and full of leather bound books and high tech computers. Shelves upon shelves were stacked with every type of book you could imagine, and a little sitting area had five tables and three armchairs to curl up and read in.

Walking happily along the rows of books, Kagome found herself in the history section. She faced a shelf full of old, dusty books and saw one she was interested in. Pulling it out, another one beside it got caught and toppled to the floor. Kagome frowned.

Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy! She shouted in her head, kneeling to pick it up. The cover had such a thick layer of dust atop it that she couldn't make out anything it said.

Brushing the dust away and sneezing a couple times, she looked down at the book in her hands.

Tokyo Japan: The Feudal Era.

"Feudal Era?" Kagome murmured blankly, forgetting the other book she'd wanted to read. She leaned back on her heels and tried to remember studying that era. All that came to mind was Nobunaga and samurais. She shrugged it off and carried the book to a vacant armchair in the back of the library. It was dimly lit and she half expected there to be a cute little fireplace with a raging fire. But there wasn't.

Once she was comfortably seated, she opened to the first page and started reading.

Feudal Japan stretched from the 12th century to the 19th century. It is divided into four different periods to classify the events that took place in those periods. Each was about 200 years long and ruled by several emperors...

Kagome became bored already with the first page so she decided just to flip around. Many pictures were of wars or small villages or monks, and all were in black and white. She couldn't understand why she was even reading this book in the first place, for she had no interest whatsoever of the past.

Yet she kept turning the pages.

Somewhere around the middle of the book she came upon a large picture of a small village. There was a temple that looked exactly like hers, and she gasped as the caption below it read Higurashi Temple. Although she could have guessed it was her family's temple, reading it in clear print boggled her mind.

Now she flipped to the next page, and her mouth dropped open once more. A beautiful young woman with flowing black hair tied back was gazing sorrowfully out at her from the page, her rosy cheeks looking pale even in black and white. She wore traditional priestess robes and was clutching a bow in her hand; arrows were slung across her back. Her dark eyes were filled with hurt and Kagome could almost picture the grass blowing around her.

It took several seconds before Kagome could lift her gaze from the picture and come back to reality. She slowly looked back down, searching the caption, and read Priestess Kikyo, skilled archer and possessor of the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls.

"Jewel of Four Souls?" Kagome wondered aloud in amazement, never hearing of anything like it. Marking the page with Kikyo, she flipped to the reference section and looked it up. Nothing was there.

The glossary and index didn't have anything either, so she sighed and turned back to her page. There seemed to be only one paragraph on this gorgeous Kikyo, and Kagome couldn't help but stare at her picture each time she saw it. What was it? Something about it was so familiar. But what?

She shrugged in annoyance and read the little paragraph. Apparently Kikyo was only around 18 or 19 when she died, and the villagers had burned her body. She was famous and awed for her powers of being a gifted priestess, and always warded off negative spirits or demons. Her only family left alive when she'd passed had been her younger sister, Kaede.

The Jewel of Four Souls had been hers to protect, and she had guarded it with her life. In fact, it had been the reason why she'd lost her life. Once she had died, it mysteriously vanished and had never been seen again.

Kagome finished up the paragraph and then took another look at the picture. Finally, it clicked and she nearly dropped the book.

Kikyo had her face.

Rather, she had Kikyo's face, for the woman had lived long before Kagome was even born. But the resemblance was uncanny. Were they related? Could she have been Kagome's great-great-great something grandmother? If so, Kagome probably would have heard her mentioned at one point. She was apparently very well known.

And this Jewel of Four Souls…what was that? These questions were being piled up next to all her other ones, and she was hoping someday they would all be answered.

The book was weighing heavily down on her hands now; reminding her she still had half of it to look through. But the clock was ticking, and lunch would soon be over. She decided to look at one last page before getting up and heading to class.

Turning the page, she came face to face with a boxed picture of InuYasha, looking exactly the same, only he wore dark robes and had an evil glint in his golden eyes.