Crying? Impossible. I hadn't cried since I was a little whelp. No tears since my mother died. That was the promise I made to myself. So I couldn't be crying. Could I?
"I'm not crying." I mumbled, but I could hear my voice. I rubbed away the wetness on my face. I was crying. How mortifying.
In a strange move of kindness, Satoshi pulled me into a warm hug. "It's okay. Here, you can cry into my shirt, okay? And no one will even see you crying. And they won't even know it's you. They'll just think you're…my…girlfriend, okay? Not the, um, manly Inuyasha. Okay? All right. Everything's going to be fine."
He was rambling, and I wanted to pull away. But it felt nice being in his arms. When was the last time I'd touched someone? I never even shook the hands of the people I talked to. It was just a habit. Could it have been when I held Miroku's hand as he died? Was it really that long ago?
"I haven't hugged anyone since Kagome." I sniffled. "I never did. I haven't had a friend in five hundred years."
"Shh. Shh. What about your school? Don't you have friends there?"
Why was I breaking down in front of this stranger? I was so lame. Seven hundred years of crushing the pain don to the depths of my heart, and I break down in the arms of a complete stranger. Lame.
"No…I listen to people, but I never t-t-talk. I always keep them at a distance. C-Cause, I know they're going to die! Humans a-a-always die and leave me alone!" I wailed. "Always! Just like Miroku, and Sango, and—and even Kagome! A-and my kids! They're dead, too. Everybody gets so old, but not me. I just am the same. I don't even age right for a demon."
"My lords—" I heard a guard cough. I looked up, blushing. "There has been an emergency messenger. Your presence will not be required until dinner."
"Thank you." Satoshi picked me up, so my face was on his shoulder, and my feet were a few feet off the ground. Then, he carried me up a flight of stairs, and to a large room.
"There. No one can see us now." He was trying to be comforting, telling me I didn't have to be embarrassed or something, but it came off as vaguely creepy.
"Actually, I should be going back. I have a class today, and it wouldn't look good if the teacher skipped."
"No, stay. You're not calmed down yet."
"I'm fine. Also, I should be there if Draco or Harry had questions on their project."
"So, what? Are you going to cry at them, too?" Oh. Yeah. Somehow, I had forgotten that he was a jerk.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize comforting me was so abhorrent to you."
"That's not—"
"If I recall, you were the one who embraced me. Gaylord." I sneered. I was not going to be defeated this time.
"Says the person who was crying in my 'gay embrace'. Maybe I just mistook you for a girl again. You look enough like one."
"At least I don't hug random men."
"Um, if I recall, you didn't exactly pull away. Actually, you nuzzled my chest. Talk about gay—maybe you should look in the mirror."
"Maybe I mistook it for a woman's. It's certainly fat enough."
"Please. If one of us was womanly in that situation, it was you. You still have tears glistening in your eyelashes."
"Loser!" I yelled, stomping out of the room.
"Girl!" He followed me.
"Stupid pervert!"
"Twisted Transvestite!"
"Ugly!"
"Old Geezer!"
This continued until I finally got to the portal. "Well, this is where I say goodbye, you son of a four legged baboon."
"As if, human scum, I'm going to see the human world. Why else would I be in your company one second more than I have to?"
"Because you have no life?" I offered, stepping through the portal. He followed, surveying the chaos of my office, which had only been partly repaired since Kagura's attack.
"What sort of a pigsty is this? Are you some sort of animal?"
"I had a fight with a youkai, just yesterday. Sorry if it isn't spick and span." I checked the grandfather clock in the corner. "Crap. Look, now I'm a full fifteen minutes late, thanks to you!"
"Oh, sorry you were crying on my arm." He retorted sarcastically.
"Shut up." I hurriedly put on my robes, walking out into my classroom, where my sixth years were waiting.
"Hello class." I said, briskly walking down the stairs. "I apologize for my tardiness. I had some things to sort out after yesterday's disturbance."
"Is it true you killed someone?" This was from the piping, annoying voice of Hermione Granger.
"No I did not. A freaking monster attacked my class, and I defended them, and sent them back to the pit where they came from."
"I heard it was a person—a girl!" Neville Longbottom.
"So what?" Satoshi said, waltzing out of my office. "Shouldn't you be proud you have such a powerful teacher?"
"Pertundaminfacie." I said in Latin. Punch in the face. I enjoyed his curses.
"What the heck?! I was trying to defend you!" He was obviously angry.
"Shut up you stupid barbarian! You have no idea how things work around here!" I didn't care if he was angry. This was my classroom.
"I know that you're so pathetic, you're getting talked back to by a brat. If It were me, he'd already be dead."
"Well, I'm not you! Now, you've seen what you wanted to see, so leave!"
"No way. I mean, is this really the school you work at? It's freaking depressing! The entire place is grey! Is the rest of the world like this?"
"No! Now, I have a class, so if you could at the very least shut up, I will do my job!"
"Fine."
"Good. Now class."
"Who is that?"
"A stupid, stupid ugly little snot who is going to shut up."
"I am Satoshi! The second Prince of the Western Lands!"
"Third prince, arrogant bastard"
"I assure you I am not. My father was the King of the Northern Lands. How about you? Somehow I doubt a half blood like you was legitimate."
"Turn to page sixteen in your books, class." They did obediently, obviously freaked out by the heated argument in front of the class, but too scared to ask any further questions.
"Oh, so you weren't. That's gotta suck, knowing your mom was nothing more than a cheap whore."
"You will not say a WORD about my mother! Do you understand?!" I shouted, spinning around. "Silencio!"
"Now that that pest is taken care of, class. We will continue. What is in the picture on this page?"
"A Vampire." Pansy Parkinson answered.
"Now, this is what attacked your class yesterday." I lied. "A vampire that just happens to work for: guess who?"
"Voldemort." Harry Potter answered in a whoosh of breath.
"That is correct. Recently, he's been opening portals within the school. "He has yet to send a human through, but he's testing it with vampires and other non-humans. Now, do vampires look very non-human?"
"No."
"And are some of them female?"
"Yes."
"So now, please, before you go believing the first rumor you hear, please have a little more faith in your teachers."
"Now, can anyone tell me the ten spells we learned yesterday?"
After that, class continued as usual. At the conclusion of the class, Draco Malfoy walked up to me.
"I've decided to do my research by species." He announced. "It seems to be the most logical."
"Okay. Have you found anything yet?"
"Well, I found some information on a demon known as an Ogre, Onii in Japanese. It would seem they are rather large, with large, protruding teeth. They seem to be rather dumb. They often eat rabbits and goats, and carry clubs around as their weapons. They are easily outwitted."
Satoshi erupted in silent laughter. I sighed. "Well, you're on the right track. But, did you get most of your information from fables?"
"Yes."
"Okay. I thought so. Ogres only eat humans. It is the only thing that is compatible with their digestive systems. Also, only certain clans carry clubs. Some are too stupid for any weapons, others are so advanced they're sword masters, and can use some basic magic. No matter what, they aren't outwitted. If they're dumb, they won't understand you to be outwitted. They will just break your legs and eat you. Smarter ones will similarly just kill you quickly, many times without even bothering to confront you. Either way, Ogres don't play with their kill. If you see one, Avada Kedavra it before it can grab you."
"That's unlikely." Satoshi said.
"How can you talk?" I asked, surprised.
"I found a way to circumvent your spell. But anyways, Ogres are extinct. They were some of the first to go after the Divide."
"Divide?"
"Look it up, Draco. I've given you enough help for the day." With that dismissal, he left.
"You can go." I said to Satoshi angrily.
"Why should I?"
"You aren't welcome here." I growled. "I can't believe you humiliated me in front of my class! Why did you have to do that?!"
"I can't believe you snapped at me when I tried to defend you! Here I am, thinking I'm doing you a favor, and all of a sudden—Bam! You punch me in the face with that spell! And then you start yelling at me! What the heck?"
"You told my whole class I was a killer! That isn't something that's okay here! And when I tried to explain that to you, you just plow on, not caring that the wrong rumor can completely destroy my career!"
"Why do you want to teach a bunch of brats, anyways? It seems like the most boring job in the world."
"I happen to like it. It's nice being able to guide people on to the right course in life." I hadn't been a teacher long, but I liked it so far. "Plus, I like the kids. It's cool to be able to teach people that are going to be great."
"Then you should teach in the demon world. You're a demon, basically. You should be with your own kind."
"Argh. Not now, okay? I have another class coming in."
"Fine, I'll leave. But I'll be coming back, okay? And I'm going to get you fired."
"What?!" Where did that come from?
"That way, you'll have no excuses to stay here. And you can leave this dismal, stinky place." What on earth was going through his head? This was coming out of nowhere.
"Why do you want me there?"
"You're really pathetic, wasting away in this school. It's an eyesore."
With that, he was gone.
Sorry. I just was reading over this for a second, and I realized how awfully, terribly, evilly long my chapters were. So, no legit update tonight, but I'm halfway done with my next chapter, so expect an update (or two) tommorrow or later today.