DISCLAIMER: I CLAIM NO RIGHTS WHAT-SO-EVER! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FOR RUMIKO TAKAHASHI!
Chapter Two
"Oi, Aniki!" called a feminine voice. Strangely enough, however, the speaker was not at all female. He was tall and had a feminine body and was covered in woman's clothing, make-up, and hair products. The womanly male wore dark blue booty-shorts that showed off his trim thighs and a tiny bit of his butt. His shirt was a crimson spaghetti-strap that just covered the top of his shorts. His dark brown hair was tied up in a knot on the back of his head.
The guy addressed was a shorter, younger looking man. Compared to the girlish man, he was the essence of manliness and his looks could get the attention of even the most hard-to-get women. He wore his raven-colored hair in a long braid that reached his lower back. His attire was a pair of baggy black pants and a black muscle shirt that showed all of his muscles. Covering his feet were black steel-toed boots.
"What is it now, Jakotsu?" he asked in a bored tone. He directed his startling azure eyes in Jakotsu's direction from his spot on the leather couch.
"Aniki, do you have to spoil the mood?" Jakotsu asked.
Bankotsu looked thoroughly confused. "What mood?"
"Tomorrow school is beginning," replied Jakotsu. This added to Bankotsu's confusion.
"Yeah, and?" he asked.
Now it was Jakotsu's turn to look bewildered. "We get to see all of those hot guys that go!"
Bankotsu sighed. Why was he cursed with a homosexual for a best friend? "Jakotsu, if you have forgotten after all these years of being friends, then you've got major problems, man. Let me refresh your memory. You are the gay one, not me. I like women, remember?"
"Eeeewwww! How can you stand those lousy sacks of garbage!" Jakotsu plopped down on the couch beside Bankotsu. "I mean really! Women are even uglier than cockroaches! (A/N: HEY!) All they are good at are-" He stopped to think for a couple seconds, then continued, "Actually now that I think of it, they don't have any purpose. They don't look attractive, so there goes that eye-candy factor; their not very intelligent, they are liars beyond belief, and we don't even need them for pleasure, because," he turned a lustful glance at Bankotsu. Bankotsu shuddered at the look. "we can surely pleasure each other without them," he said in a husky voice.
Bankotsu was now officially disgusted and freaked out. These feelings then turned into a blinding fury. Within a second, Bankotsu had pinned Jakotsu down by the throat. "Jakotsu," he spat, "you forget your place." He dug the said man further into the cushions of the sofa before releasing him.
Jakotsu coughed. His throat felt like a thousand bees stung him. "Forgive me, aniki. I swear, it will not happen again."
"See to it that it doesn't." Bankotsu snarled. As leader of his group, Bankotsu demanded respect from the other members of the Shichinintai and those that surrounded him, be it an adult or a mere child. The Shichinintai leader would have nothing less. After a couple minutes of utter silence, Bankotsu spoke up once again. "Jakotsu," he said, "where are the others? I haven't seen them all day."
Jakotsu snapped out of the silent trance that he had found himself in after his lustful suggestion. He blinked at Bankotsu then answered slowly. "I… don't know. Your guess is as good as mine."
Bankotsu scoffed. He lifted himself off of the cushions and headed towards the next room. In it, there was a pool table, a ping-pong table, and a few arcade games.
"Yo, Jak, you up for a game of pool?" asked Bankotsu.
Always up for a challenge, Jakotsu gladly accepted and picked up one of the pool sticks. Bankotsu did the same and set up the table.
"Do you want to break, or should I?" he asked.
"You do it. I've never been good at it."
And so, Bankotsu hunched over the table and pushed the stick at a slight angle at the group of balls in the shape of a triangle. The balls scattered around the table and Bankotsu moved around, trying to get a good angle for the type of ball that he wanted. He hit it at a calculated angle and the ball went strait into the pocket while knocking a few more out of the way and coincidentally hitting more of his into two of the other six pockets.
"Yeah!" he cheered himself on. He aimed at another solid colored ball and it went through. Since there were no more easy shots, he settled for getting some of the balls to get out of their little cluster. "Your turn Jak."
Jakotsu aimed for a striped ball that was conveniently positioned at one of the corner pockets. He hit and, of course, it went strait through. Taking aim once again, Jakotsu hit another ball; this time though, he hit one of Bankotsu's due to the angle in which he hit the white ball used to hit the other balls, which, on accident, went into a side pocket.
"Dammit!" he exclaimed. Bankotsu smirked and picked up the white ball and placed it where he could pocket a bunch of solids. Hitting it with much skill, Bankotsu managed to pocket most of his solid balls in one hit.
'The master of pool strikes again!' he thought.
'Dammit, whenever I play against him, I always loose miserably!' Jakotsu was seething.
"Ah lighten up man! You look like you are gonna blow a gasket. How about we go have some fun around town before school starts?" Bankotsu asked.
Jakotsu lightened up instantly. A wide smile spread across his womanized face. "I say let's! Where to?"
"Anywhere I guess. If only you knew where the others were though. They would make it more fun." Bankotsu sighed, closing his eyes, palm placed over them and shaking his head.
"Well too bad for them. They don't let anyone know where they are going, we don't include them in the fun," Jakotsu's girlish voice commented. He moved over to Bankotsu from his position by the side of the pool table. When he was at the other teen's side, he wrapped his arms around one of Bankotsu's. "Let's go, Ban-kun."
"What the fu-!" Bankotsu cut himself off and opted instead for trying to pry Jakotsu off of him. "Get the fuck off of me you sick bastard!" When shouting at him and trying to pry didn't work, he punched the other teen in the face.
Shocked, Jakotsu instantly let go as if scorched with a burning flame instead of Bankotsu's fist. Bankotsu had never hit him that hard before. It was not like him at all.
"Dammit Jakotsu, you know I'm not gay! Next time you pull a stunt like that I'll fucking castrate your ass." Bankotsu's cold cobalt orbs bore into Jakotsu's skull.
"I'm sorry Aniki, I don't know what came over me." Jakotsu looked off to the floor beside his feet.
Bankotsu sighed. "No, I should be the one apologizing. I didn't mean to punch you that hard. See, if you did that in public, people might get the wrong idea and think I'm gay. That wouldn't really bode well for, my reputation as Lady-killer, now would it?" He smirked.
"I still don't see what you like in them. I can't even understand them at times; well, most of the time that is."
"Then why do you walk, talk, dress, and act like them?" Bankotsu countered. When no words were directed at him, he continued, "Aha! You're speechless! We'll see what happens."
"What will happen my dear aniki?"
"Don't play stupid, Jak. Let's go, I'm bored." With that said, Bankotsu walked out of the game room and to the front door. Jakotsu soon followed him.
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With Kagome
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Kagome looked closely at her mother, trying to get a hint of what she was about to be told. "What is it, Okaasan?" Kagome asked.
"Kagome, please don't judge anything until you've heard the whole story," Jezza pleaded.
"Wha-"
"Please," she cut Kagome off. After getting a nod of consent, she continued, "Kagome, a long time ago while your dear Otousan was alive, one of his business rivals made a deal with him. It was an absurd deal, yes, but it was existent nonetheless."
"Where are you getting at, Okaasan?" Kagome wasn't even sure she wanted to know what was on her mother's mind. Jezza had a look on her face that reminded Kagome that of a wounded puppy.
"Kagome dear, this deal was that if your Otousan gave his first daughter's hand to his eldest son, he would combine his company with your Otousan."
"Are you trying to tell me that I have an arranged marriage? Over a stupid company?" Kagome was downright outraged.
"Kagome, you must understand he had to comply! The other company was the leading competitor and if he didn't combine, we all would be homeless."
"I would've rathered living on the streets than to be engaged to someone I don't even know."
Jezza signed. Pinching the bridge of her hose as if to warrant off a migraine. "Kago-"
"Who is he?" Kagome asked abruptly.
"Who's who?" Jezza asked back confusedly.
"My Kon'yakusha. Who is he?"
"I'm not sure. We were told that we would be informed on the day of his eighteenth birthday."
"Which is…?" Kagome prompted.
"Three weeks from now."
"Just peachy! I have three weeks of happiness left."
"Oh stop this childishness, Kagome. Many other people are involved in arranged marriages. Not just you. Besides, he might be very handsome. If I remember accurately, his Otousan was very handsome himself."
"Okaasan, I don't want to marry for looks. In my book, it's his personality that counts."
"I know that dear, but try to accept this. We have no choice than to accept it."
"But why marriage? Why make a deal like that with Otousan?"
"I don't know why dear. It's just the way things happen." Jezza sighed for what felt the millionth time that day. "Why don't you go to bed so you can get up in the morning for school? You don't want to be late for the first day."
"Alright. I need time to think anyway. Night Okaasan." Kagome replied in a dreary tone.
"Good night, Kagome."
With that, Kagome trudged over to her room. She slipped under the warm blanket and promptly fell asleep, dreaming of a familiar-feeling man that she was certain she had never met.
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With Bankotsu and Jakotsu
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Bankotsu and Jakotsu walked around the city having what they would call 'fun'. They would go around, doing whatever they wanted. They soon spotted a friend of theirs: a boy around their age with platinum blond hair and golden hazel eyes.
"Haven't I seen you around before?" asked Bankotsu with fake innocence.
"Lay off Bankotsu. I'm not in the mood for your shit," said the person in question as he neared the mischievous duo.
"You have me shaking in my boots Inu-kouro," sneered Bankotsu.
"Ooh Inu-baby; it's good to see you, hot stuff." Jakotsu winked at him.
The boy looked as if he were going to barf. "Don't talk to me like that. I'm most definitely not gay, Jakotsu. In fact, I'm off to see my girlfriend. So get that look off your face!"
"What is up with all of you guys fawning over disgusting women? I don't even want to imagine a woman's body let alone see it or touch it. That's just plain grody! Now if it was a man-"
"Shut the fuck up! You're damaging my poor ears!" both Bankotsu and the other boy exclaimed while covering their ears in an attempt to protect them.
Jakotsu pouted at this. "Mou…Inuyasha, don't be so mean. The same goes for you too, Bankotsu."
"Who's being mean?" asked Inuyasha. "I was just expressing my distaste."
Jakotsu sniffed. "You'll come around. I just know it."
"I beg to differ, Jakotsu. I think you'll be the one to switch over," said Inuyasha.
"As if!" Jakotsu crossed his arms and looked away.
"Actually, Jak, I honestly think Inu-kouro here is right. I am willing to bet he is."
"Hmfh!" snorted Jakotsu. As if he would turn straight! He couldn't even stand to look at those parasitic creatures called women.
Inuyasha looked at his silver Gucci wristwatch. "Oh Crap! I need to get going. Kikyo is waiting for me at her place. We're going to the new 5-star restaurant."
"Good for you, Inuyasha. Now get out of our faces before we do it for you." Bankotsu laughed and pushed the platinum blond teen away.
"I'm goin', I'm goin'!" Inuyasha laughed back and left in a hurried walk towards his destination.
"Com'mon Jak. We should go too," said Bankotsu.
Jakotsu followed the younger teen back to Bankotsu's place. It was now late noon and the sun was setting. In the sky were colors of pink, orange, and (if you looked closely enough) a soft shade of purple. Bankotsu looked up at it and sighed.
He had a feeling in his gut. It was a feeling that good things were in store for him. But there was an underlying feeling inside that shouted at him of a bleak future as well. He didn't like that feeling. Deciding to investigate this later, he turned his head towards Jakotsu, his long, braded raven hair swinging over his black-clad shoulder. "So Jak, are you staying over tonight?"
"Why not? It's nothing new. I stay over almost every night anyways," replied Jakotsu.
"Okay. So what classes do you have this year?"
"I've got—hmm, let's see here—I've got Business for first, Biology II for second, Chorus for third, then I have Japanese, Phys Ed, Calculus, and…that's it. Since I didn't need anymore classes than that, I didn't take any."
"Awesome! I have second, third, fifth, and sixth period with you!"
"Cool. This is going to be fun. What's your first and fourth period?" asked a smiling Jakotsu.
"They're just switched. I have Japanese for first then Business for fourth."
They continued talking and soon found themselves back at Bankotsu's place.
"So where's your chichi?" asked Jakotsu. Usually he was here at this time, but there was no sign of him.
"Hm? He's still at the office. He said he wouldn't be back 'till midnight."
"Oh good. I'm sorry, Ban-chan, but your pops gives me the creeps."
"It's not just you, Jak. He creeps many people out. Even me sometimes."
"I guess our right." Jakotsu sighed. "Let's go up to your room. I wanna play your new game."
"Sure," replied Bankotsu. They both went up a flight of stairs that led to the second floor of Bankotsu's mansion. Once they ascended the stairs, they then took another flight of winding stairs that led to the third floor of the mansion. They went to a room at the back of the hallway: his room. Inside, Jakotsu ran towards the television where Bankotsu kept his games. With a sigh, Bankotsu turned away feeling as if he desperately needed more air. For some reason, the underlying dark feelings he's been having lately led him onto the balcony right outside of his room. Obliging his instincts, he stared at the full moon and sighed in wonder. A flash of a girl of royal heritage jumped in front of his minds eye. Before he could fully identify it, she vanished.
'Weird,' he thought.
"Hey Ban-chan, come here quick! I beat your high score!" called Jakotsu.
"Impossible! It took me days to finally beat yours!" Bankotsu blurted incredulously.
TWO HOURS LATER"I'm beat, Jak. Let's go to bed. I don't think I can last any longer," said Bankotsu as he yawned.
"Oh come on, Ban-chan. I'm not even tired yet!"
"Too bad for you then Jak, 'cause I'm goin' to sleep. I'll pull out the couch-bed for whenever you want to sleep, 'kay?" Asked Bankotsu.
"Fine with me. See ya in the morning Ban-chan."
"Night," Bankotsu yawned out the words and promptly took out the other bed and went towards his bed that had a dark blue cover with silver cross-like markings (AN: think Bankotsu's forehead) and halberds stitched onto it. Before he went to bed, he took off is shirt and put on almost-black-blue pajama pants. Setting aside the covers, Bankotsu climbed into the bed and covered himself and snuggled into the covers. A couple of minutes later, Bankotsu was fast asleep.
Jakotsu looked at the sleeping teen once and with a whispered goodnight, went to bed.
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With Kagome (Morning)
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BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"Ungh…" moaned Kagome, swatting at her insufferable alarm clock.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! CRASH!
Finally fed up with the damned thing, Kagome had grabbed hold of the noise-making device and threw it across the room, ending up with a broken alarm clock with its pieces strewn across the side of the wall. Sitting on the bed, Kagome reflected on the strange dream she had the previous night. It was about a boy with long hair and gorgeous armor. She had not been able to get a good look at the dream boy's face for it was blurred out whenever he had faced her. Not remembering even half of the dream anymore, Kagome untangled herself from the covers and headed towards the shower.
Once she got there, she turned on the hot water and a bit of cold to make it a relaxing temperature, Kagome allowed herself to take a long soak before shaving her legs and armpits and then applying a body wash that smelled of vanilla and brown sugar onto her body-poof and scrubbing her milky colored skin. After she finished rinsing herself off, Kagome took a bottle of kiwi-melon shampoo and lathered her hair with it and rinsed it out before putting its twin conditioner into her hair. Doing another scrub with her body wash and rinsing it off, she turned off the water and wrapped a towel around herself and another twisted around her hair to help dry it.
Kagome stepped out of the tub and walked over to her clothes and deposited them in the dirty laundry hamper and walked back to her room. Turning on her radio, she gave a squeeze to the towel covering her head before unwrapping it and rubbing it around her hair. After her hair was mostly dry, Kagome picked up her brush and ran it through her silky tresses.
Kagome walked over to her closet and picket out one of her many school uniforms and laid it upon her bed before she went to her dresser and pulled out a fresh pair of underwear and a matching bra. Kagome hummed to the song that was playing on the radio station and put on her clothes. She looked in the mirror and smiled to herself before grabbing her yellow backpack and running down the stairs with twenty minutes to spare before she had to leave for school.
She smelled something delicious and went to the kitchen to inspect it. "Okaasan, what are you making that smells so delicious?" she asked when she spotted her mother by the stove, cooking.
"Just some breakfast for you and Souta," was Jezza's reply.
"When will it be done?" Kagome asked Jezza, her mouth watering at the aroma her mother's cooking was emitting.
"In just a couple minutes. Why don't you just sit down?"
"Okay."
A few minutes later, Souta was already waiting at the table with Kagome before Jezza finally placed two plates in front of her children. Kagome and her brother ate their food with scattered "Mmm"'s and murmured "Thank Kami"'s. Jezza Laughed at her children's antics and picked up the dirty dishes and placed them in the sink to be washed.
Figuring that she should start walking to school, Kagome said good-bye to her mother and brother and went out the door.
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With Bankotsu and Jakotsu
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Bankotsu's morning began like every other morning. He woke up about one hour before he had to leave and woke Jakotsu up.
"Oh come on, Aniki, just five more minutes," whined Jakotsu.
"Get up Jakotsu before I make you get up," Bankotsu threatened the older teen. Like always, this woke Jakotsu up immediately.
"Why do you always do this to me, Aniki?" Jakotsu whined one again.
"Because, we both need showers and I can't be late today. Besides, I want to get out before Otousama wakes up. He's always grumpy when he stays up late, or have you forgotten the last time this has happened?"
Jakotsu shuddered in memory. A couple of weeks ago when he was spending the night with Bankotsu, he woke up around nine to the sound of things crashing and people yelling. He had run down the stairs to find a bleeding Bankotsu against the wall and his father a few feet away standing and yelling at him to get up, but Bankotsu was close to being unconscious because of blood-loss. Jakotsu had tried to help his best friend up but to no avail for Bankotsu's father too knocked him down also.
The rest was blurry to Jakotsu, but what he remembered was enough. "No, I haven't forgotten, Ban-chan."
"Good, then you see why I want to get out of here as soon as possible. At least when I get home after school, he would have had time to cool off," said Bankotsu. They proceeded in taking their showers in turn and eating breakfast before they headed towards the garage. Bankotsu opened it up and took out a set of keys and walked over to a black and red motorcycle. He took out two helmets and tossed one to Jakotsu.
"You know the drill," was all he said before he climbed into his vehicles seat. Jakotsu followed Bankotsu on and wrapped his arms around Bankotsu's torso. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop snuggling me? It's embarrassing!"
As soon as Bankotsu said this, Jakotsu loosened up his hold and opted instead on grabbing part of the other teen's uniform shirt.
They soon got to the school and found everyone walking around the school campus, the new freshmen asking advisors where their classes were. Bankotsu checked his schedule and he and Jakotsu headed for his Japanese class. When he got there, he dropped off his dark-blue backpack on a desk in the back and left to go talk to his other friends in their usual spot by the cafeteria.
"Suikotsu, Renkotsu! Where were you guys yesterday? (AN: In this fic, there is no Genkotsu, Mukotsu, or Kyoukotsu)" asked Bankotsu.
The one called Suikotsu was the one to respond. "We were out around town all day," he said with a shrug.
"Oh really? So were Jakotsu and I."
"That's cool. What classes do you guys have?" asked Renkotsu.
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With Kagome
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"Ka-go-me!" a familiar voice called.
Kagome turned to see the girl she had met yesterday running towards her. "Sango! Nice to see you again! I wasn't expecting to see you so soon before school," said Kagome.
"Yeah, me too. Say, what classes do you have? I want to see if we have any classes together."
"Hmm," Kagome looked at her schedule, "I have Japanese for first, then BioII, Chorus, Business, Phys Ed, Calculus, and then English."
"Really? Wow, who's your teachers for first, third, and fourth?"
"Uhh, Sukuni, Suzu, and Isuzu."
"Sugoi! Those are mine too! We have three of the same classes together," Sango said excitedly.
Kagome beamed at the other girl. "Hey, since we have home together, why don't we go and drop our things off?"
Sango nodded her head and they left to drop their things off. They set their things on desks that were side-by-side in the very back. Seeing two unoccupied desks, Sago and Kagome took them, Kagome on the left and Sango on the right. Kagome's desk was set next to one that was taken by a dark-blue backpack. They left the room with their stuff claiming their desks.
The two girls left the classroom and into the hallway to talk.
"Hey, Kagome, I was wondering: do you have a BF?" asked Sango.
"I guess you could call it that," Kagome replied in a dry tone.
"You guess? What's his name?"
"Don't know."
"WHAT?" When every one turned to give her a strange look, Sango proceeded in a lower tone, "How can you have a boyfriend and not know his name?"
"Two words."
"Uh-huh…" Sango prompted.
"Arranged marriage."
"You have an arranged marriage? My poor, poor Kagome!" Sango took Kagome's head into her arms and stroked the raven hair.
"I know and I only learned of this last night after dinner."
"Oh wow, I feel bad for you."
"Don't be. It's not like there is anything any of us can do about it."
"True."
"So do you?" Kagome asked.
"Huh?"
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Oh! Yeah, I do, he is a tremendous pervert but I love him anyways. His name is Miroku Shouka."
"Well I'm glad for you. You'll have to introduce him to me sometime."
"I'll make sure to do that."
The morning bell sounded shortly after and Kagome and Sango went back inside the room and sat in their seats.
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With Bankotsu and Gang
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BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The morning bell rang above and the four comrades broke up to go to class.
"See you later Aniki," they all called to him.
"Later!" Bankotsu then walked back to Japanese class where he found a raven-haired girl sitting next to his desk. He stopped mid-stride when something processed in his mind. She looked familiar, though he knew he had never seen her before. Her face was beautiful to him and her milky skin was very appealing to the eye and made his heart pound in his chest. He began to walk again after half a second and went to his desk. Pretending not to notice her, he turned to the front of the room while looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
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With Kagome and Sango
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Sango just happened to glance over in Kagome's direction and noticed the boy next to her friend looking at Kagome out of the corner of his eye.
"Don't look now Kagome, but I think a someone right next to you has an eye for you," Sango whispered.
"Wha-?" Kagome asked and looked to her left and saw the guy next to her quickly avert his eyes. She took the chance as he wasn't looking to inspect him and alarms went off in her mind. He looked familiar from his long braded raven hair to his nicely tanned kin and blue eyes.
"He can check me out all he likes," Kagome whispered back.
"Wha-? But you have a kon'yakusha!"
"Yeah, that's why I said that he could check me out. It's not like I'm cheating on my kon'yakusha by being looked at."
"That is true, but don't develop a crush on him,"
"Why not?"
Sango gawked at her friend, "First of all, you engaged! Second, he is a trouble maker!"
"How so?"
"Last year, he and a bunch of his friends started a fight with some of the jocks. That one had a guy hospitalized with two broken ribs, a black eye, broken nose and jaw to boot!"
Kagome's eyes grew to the size of saucers. That couldn't be right! The guy didn't look tall or strong enough to take out a jockey.
AN: Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. I'm not used to making long chapters so this was new to me. I did have fun writing it though and I hope you had fun reading it. Thank you to those who participated in the poll and hugs to all of you! I absolutely LOVE all of my faithful reviewers. Gives everyone a handful of pistachios and cookies of your choice> Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter! Ja ne 'till next time!
Japanese Translations:
Okaasan> mother (not very formal)
Otousan> father (not very formal)
Otousama> father (more formal that Otousan)
Aniki> elder brother figure
-chan> suffix for friend
-kun> an endearment suffix
Kon'yakusha> fiancé
Sugoi> amazing
(If I forgot anything, mention it via review)
Coming Up in the Next Chapter
Hey everyone! Kagome here again to tell you what's going on in the next chappie! The first school day has started and there is this guy who sits next to me in homeroom class. But of coarse, you already know that. Turns out, I have him in almost EVERY one of my classes! I can't even seem to get him out of my head without this sort of pressure going on. I mean really! I have a kon'yakusha! Sighs what am I going to do and why can't I shake this attraction?