I apologize. A thousand million billion gazillion apologies for those of you insane and amazing enough to wait for this story. I give you my heart felt thanks for sticking by me, or at least checking occasionally to see if I've updated.

Anyway, you guys are the reason I am updating. I'm sorry, I've had this written but not typed for a while. –guilt-

Well, this Chapter is Dedicated to Fly High.reach the sky because if I hadn't checked my email tonight and seen her review this would not be going up. Anyway, to go on with my usual ramblings…

Hello everyone! I realized that I've been taking up way too much space with A/Ns, so I'm going to try not to talk as much. If you know me at all, you know this is really hard for me. Which is why I sound so frigging formal.

Ah, I thought I'd better clarify: when I say 'old life' referring to Kagome, it does NOT mean when she was Kikyo. Kikyo is not in this story as of now, and probably never will be. (it's complicated enough as it is -sweatdrop-) 'Old life' refers to the time before her mother's death.

I'm really sorry for taking so long to update. School not only sucked, but it ate all my time. (-chomp-) Now I'm at a new school that eats even more of my time, but I will try and update more often.

Ok, reviews. They added a reply thing! Exciting! Believe me, if you review you will hear from me. I may have no time, but I also have no life. Except not for the old chapters because I want to got to sleep.

Me: I didn't get as many reviews this time…it's sad.

Inuyasha: Idiot! What do you expect when you don't update for so long! -rolls eyes-

Me: -glares, then face lights up- Heh, baka, Baka, BAAAKKKKAAAA!!!!! –screams: BEST BAKA EVER!!!- -falls on floor laughing-

Inuyasha: what the hell?

Only Jessie and Beeka will get that. (and perhaps other visitors of ear-tweak)

Oh yeah, and the orphanage is called 'Shikon Orphanage' in case I failed to mention that in the story…

-still took up a whole page with the author's note-

Disclaimer: No, okay? NO! Don't make me get my spork.

Healings of a Broken Heart

You Follow Me Everywhere

(A/N: ooooh, stalker title….but…no…stalkers? -tear-)

Thursday dawned bright and beautiful. It passed much the same way as Wednesday had, Kagome blushing bright red and stumbling all over herself around Hojo when he showed her where her first class was. Saki had laughed when she saw Kagome's cheeks flaming as she walked along with Hojo. At lunch she had dragged out a confession of Kagome's feelings for him, and didn't insult her for falling into a crush shared by most of the female student body, or say it was weird that Kagome liked her twin brother. Kagome liked Saki all the more, and felt like she had known her much longer than two days when Saki said jokingly that she'd have to invite Kagome over sometime when he would be home. She didn't notice the glares boring into her back from a very pissed of hanyou.

Friday was not as nice a day in terms of weather. Rain fell in torrents, causing the residents of Shikon Orphanage to carry umbrellas out to the bus stop. Kagome smiled a little to herself as she watched the elementary students waiting in pairs, each with a hand on the umbrella the couple shared. This morning she didn't wish Souta an extensive good-bye, but managed a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek when he wasn't paying enough attention to dodge it. Inuyasha rolled his eyes when she rejoined Sango, who was standing next to him and Miroku.

She and Sango chatted contentedly while Inuyasha and Miroku stood near them, quiet for once, as the rain had somehow subdued them. Miroku only once attempted to sling his arm around Sango's shoulder, and today only gave the excuse of being cold, rather than his usual, more elaborate explanations. Just as the bus was pulling up, Sango suddenly cried, "Oh, damn!"

"What?" Inuyasha asked irritably.

"My math homework!" Sango cried, "I left it inside!"

"Sango, I'll come get it with you!" Miroku cried, glad to have an opportunity to be out of the rain for a moment before getting on the badly heated bus.

The pair dashed off towards the house, and Kagome headed towards the bus to board it. Suddenly a strong hand gripped her arm right above the elbow. Kagome jumped, the paranoid part of her kicking in to assume terrible things, until she turned to see that it was only Inuyasha. She glared hotly at him, and he met her gaze with a similar one.

"What did I tell you about spending time with those people?" he whispered dangerously.

Kagome only glared more darkly at him. "And what did I tell you?!" she retorted. She broke out of his hold, which had loosened slightly and stalked away. Kagome climbed the steps of the bus, informed the bus driver of what Sango and Miroku were doing and sat in the seat she and Sango usually shared. She didn't know that Inuyasha was completely amazed by her behavior. She didn't know that he was confused and stunned as he went and found his seat in the back of the bus. She didn't know that she was beginning to scare him just a little. Kagome caused a burning feeling within Inuyasha that he could only interpret as hate, and because of this, he could never tell her of the admiration he had for her. Never. She would reject any form of friendship with him now, a part of his mind warned, while the other half lashed out and asked himself why he'd want to be friends with such a stupid, stuck-up bitch.

Sango joined Kagome a few minutes later and the two of them talked happily, unaware of the hanyou's inner turmoil, and very aware of the activity of Miroku…or, to be exact, inactivity. As they got off the bus Sango walked over to Miroku, with Kagome following. "Hey, Miroku," she said, "are you ok? I didn't hear any girls screaming during the bus ride." Sango thought a moment and then added, "And there is no way in hell I'll believe you if you tell me that you've reformed."

Miroku looked up with mock sadness in his eyes, today one could tell it was fake, rather than his normally flawless act, and said, "Sango, my darling, do you really think so lowly of me?"

Sango glowered at him. "That would be a yes," she told him curtly. "The rain's probably just subdued your perverted impulses."

By now Inuyasha had joined them, and he scoffed at the last of Sango's comments. "Like hell the rain has any effect on him." He rolled his eyes, "I would say the fact that he was watching porn until 3am is more likely to be why he's so tired." Inuyasha checked his watch, "I gotta go," he said, and walked away towards the school, the wind tugging at his umbrella.

"You were watching porn!!" Sango cried, her voice filled with horror and disgust. "You sick bastard!" She slapped Miroku across the face…hard.

Kagome's eyebrow twitched, but she was too polite to do the same as Sango had. "I'm going to class," she told Sango, and left the two carrying her own umbrella. As she walked through the hallways she saw Hojo, and waved to him as she passed.

"Hey," he called, grinning. She had become more comfortable with him lately, and he and his friends often joined Kagome and her newfound friends at lunch.

Kagome continued down the hall to her Language Arts class. The teacher had told them that they were going to begin a poetry unit today, which she was excited about. Kagome's mother had possessed a deep love of poetry, which Kagome had inherited. She always looked forward to poetry units in school because she could learn of new poems to love. (A/N: this is true of me, too…I'm such a loser -sob-) She soon reached the classroom and found her seat. The teacher had just started taking attendance when an out-of-breath Hojo ran in. Kagome looked up, surprised. He hadn't been in class for the past two days.

The teacher smiled, "Ahh, Hojo, I'm so glad your meetings are over!"

Hojo grinned, "Me, too! I was starting to get pretty stressed."

"Well, there's an empty seat next to Miss Higurashi, so why don't you sit down and I'll start class!"

Hojo nodded and went to sit down next to Kagome. He flashed her a smile, which she returned, blushing slightly.

"Alright class," the teacher, Miss Umeda, continued after she finished taking attendance, "As you all know, today we will be starting our poetry unit. There are many different types of poems. Can anyone tell me some kinds?"

Hands were raised and kids called on; various answers rang through the air.

"Ballads!"

"Haiku."

"Pantoums?"

The lesson continued on for about ten minutes until Miss Umeda finally seemed to be reaching her main point. She had been describing types of poetry and their characteristics, and had begun to compare poetry to prose. "So class," she asked, "can anyone tell me what makes a poem different from prose?" She looked around the room, her eyes finally resting on the raised hand of Inuyasha. He and most of the other seniors from Shikon Orphanage were all in the same classes. Kagome had thought it was just a coincidence, but now that Inuyasah had told her about how the orphans and other students didn't mix, she was starting to wonder…

"Yes, Inuyasha?"

"Poems don't make sense. The words are in the wrong order, or sometimes they're even just a random string of words. Either that, or it's basically someone bitching about how crap their life is. Poems are stupid and pointless."

Kagome fumed. 'How can that bastard say something like that?!' she thought. 'That's so like him. He has such awful taste.'

Miss Umeda raised an eyebrow. "Well, that wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for. Could you at least tell me the difference from prose?" As an afterthought she added, "And watch your language."

Inuyasha shrugged, "Fine, whatever. Normal writing is pretty stupid, too, but it makes sense, and sometimes it has a good purpose."

"Like what?" Miss Umeda prompted.

"Like gaming magazines and stuff," Inuyasha said, "And books on combat techniques."

"But what if someone wrote a poem about how combat or fighting made them feel? Or a poem about gaming? Would it still be stupid then?" Miss Umeda asked.

Inuyasha looked a little bit confused. "I dunno," he said, "I guess it would depend on the poem. Like if it made sense, or something."

"Yes," Miss Umeda countered, "but what do you mean by 'make sense?'" She raised a finger to stop him from answering and turned to the class. "This, my friends, is the beauty of poetry. You can combine words that normally wouldn't fit together simply for the sound, or to create a new image. Poetry is about pushing the boundaries of language. The difference between poetry and prose is that prose is written for a direct purpose that is carried over to the reader, whether it is to tell, teach or prove, while poetry is written, perhaps with a certain purpose in mind – it could be made to 'make sense' in a certain way – but when you take the poem to the reader, it can be interpreted completely differently. It can make a completely different sort of sense, which can, in turn," she gestured to Inuyasha, "lead to people to believe that it does not make any sense at all. This is the danger of writing poetry." Miss Umeda paused and smiled, "Of course, all I'm saying is my opinion. Some of you may disagree completely."

(A/N: sorry about that, I got a little carried away…she doesn't need to talk so much –sweatdrop- Anyway, "Poetry is about pushing the boundaries of language" is a quote from a teacher I had, I don't claim to have come up with that…yeah. (like a second disclaimer -sob of despair-))

She walked over to her desk, picked up a large stack of books and started passing them out. "This is the book we will be reading most of the poems we study from. As with all other books I give you there is a fee is you lose or damage it." Miss Umeda looked pointedly at Minoru, one of Inuyasha's roommates, as she said this, since he was a bit scatterbrained and tended to lose things.

Kagome's eye's widened when her own copy was plopped onto her desk. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to take a deep breath. 'Of all the books it could have been, why this one?' she thought. Kagome tried to clear her mind, but was failing miserably. She gripped the sides of her chair, and clung on so tightly that her knuckles turned white. 'What's wrong with me? Why is it so bad again?'

By now her internal struggle had become apparent externally. "Um, Kagome?" Hojo began, but he was cut off when a fist slammed down on top of Kagome's head. Inuyasha walked around to crouch in front of her desk.

"Hey, Kagome," he said sharply, "you better not flip out again, 'cause there's no way in hell that I'm gonna go all the way to the elementary school just to get that Souta-kid."

"Middle school," Kagome said weakly.

"What?!" Inuyasha looked at her like she was crazy and Kagome smiled a little, knowing that she probably was. "He's in middle school. Now go away You're disrupting class." Inuyasha gave her that same look one more time and went back to his seat.

Sango, who sat behind Kagome, tapped her on the shoulder. "You okay?" she asked with concern.

Kagome grinned, glad at her success. Her vision had barely even blurred. "Just fine!" she told Sango happily.

The commotion (aka Inuyasha) had drawn Miss Umeda, who was now free of her stack of books. "Are you alright Kagome?" She asked, shooting Inuyasha a look.

Kagome bowed her head guiltily, "I'm fine, sorry for the trouble."

"It's alright as long as you're alright. Just let me know if you don't feel well."

Kagome nodded. "I will."

"And Inuyasha, no more physically assaulting my students, understand?" Miss Umeda commanded, turning back to him.

"Keh, Whatever."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Kagome interrupted, before Inuyasha could continue. She handed the book back to miss Umeda, "I already own a copy."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A/N: Okay, so I'll see you guys next chapter, which will probably go up during my winter break. But I have no idea what happens next, so maybe not. –sweatdrop- I'll try to put something up though, so you guys don't forget about me.

Once again, sorry this took so long, I hope it wasn't too bad. Please review!

Oyasumi,

Becky-chan