A/N: ok, so chapter 2 is finally up! Thank you very much for the reviews, I never thought I'd get so many just for the first chapter. I hope I can keep you guys interested throughout the story. :D
Awsomness182 - You read my mind, XD although what I have planned is a bit different. Thanks for the review :)
Once again, thanks to Kilala, angel, MidnightFlame325, Light of Polaris, MoiraeReborn, Awsomness182 and everyone else who reads and/or added this story to their Story Alert/ Favorite Stories list. ^-^
"Life is part positive and part negative. Suppose you went to
hear a symphony orchestra and all they played were the little
happy high notes. Would you leave soon? Let me hear the rumble
of the bass, the crash of the cymbals and the minor keys."
- Jim Rohn
Chapter 2 – Is this normal?
"Wh-what are you ta-?"
"Oh please, I can recognize a girl's body with just one look."
There was a moment of awkward silence, in which Kagome was left gaping at him, trying to form a coherent thought, while Miroku stared at her smugly. This was his forte anyway.
Kagome glanced around nervously; there were still a few students here and there, but thankfully none within ear shot distance. Nevertheless, a little privacy wouldn't hurt. "Can we please discuss this somewhere else?" she asked, a little tentatively.
"Oh, right. Let's go to my office, shall we?" Miroku said, turning around and walking past her. Kagome simply followed him silently until the word 'office' registered in her distracted mind.
"Wait, you actually have an office?"
"Sure, where did you think we discuss dorm-related issues?" He commented casually, turning right and entering an isolated hallway. Dorm-related issues…? What the hell… She thought while giving him a skeptic look. Kagome glanced around and realized they were at a deserted corridor with only an old, battered door at the end of it, and a vaguely older vending machine nearby.
"Couldn't the other two chiefs come at any time?"
"No need to worry, both of them are out there probably terrorizing first year students; Hiten with his megalomaniac tendencies and Onigumo with his creepy looks, besides, they never come here during lunch." He said grinning slightly as he opened the door for her. Once they stepped inside, Kagome examined the room in all its splendor –or lack of it. There were three medium sized desks full of books and a few papers; a map of the dorm buildings, with red, blue or purple dots in most of the rooms was hanging from one of the walls, there was a window in other wall, the third one had a whiteboard full of chicken scratches here and there, most of them not even legible to the one who wrote them; and the last wall had bookshelves full of old yearbooks and tattered books. She frowned unconsciously at the thought of having to work in a place so cramped, but then seemed to remember the reason she was brought here.
"I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?" Kagome said uncomfortably, fidgeting nervously with the hem of her jacket.
"Yes, I believe so. I have a few questions you need to answer." He said, moving comfortably around the small room. How can he move so freely? I can barely move!
"First of all," he said, pausing dramatically "how did you hide your breasts?" he stopped and gasped dramatically "Please don't tell me you're flat as a board!" Kagome started to roll her eyes, but her peripheral vision caught something sitting innocently on the closest desk. "The method I use to conceal my humble B sized" – a drop of blood was slowing making its way out of Miroku's nose- "is none of your business, and… is that porn?" she asked him while discreetly glancing around, her eyebrow raised in amusement, his desk easily identifiable. Figures… had to be caught by the biggest pervert. Oh god, I hope he's not some sexually deprived boy who would blackmail me into doing horrible, dishonorable, and shameful things just to keep his mouth shut. Please, let it be a harmless pervert.
"Hm? Oh, no. That's merely research material." He told her cheerfully, not the least bit ashamed, still wiping blood out of his face.
"Right…" A harmless pervert, a harmless pervert, a harmless pervert. "Look, I can't tell you why I'm here, but I can assure you it's not for fun, or a bet whatsoever, so please don't tell anyone." She bowed deeply, almost creating a ninety degrees angle with her body, her hands tightly clenching her knees. Miroku seemed to scrutinize her deeply for a few seconds before speaking.
"You expect me to trust you, yet you don't give me any kind of explanation. Do you have any idea in what kinda position you leave me?" He looked at her intently until the corner of his mouth twitched.
"But I'll trust you, even though I'll have to keep an eye on you for a while, sooner or later you'll tell me everything. In the mean time, you can come to me if you need help anytime." He told her, smiling brightly at Kagome's own puzzled look. "Don't worry; your secret is safe with me. Now, on to business; you came looking for a room right? I'll pair you up with a friend of mine, he's a little temperamental, but you'll get along just fine…. Eventually." He told her as he opened a drawer and took a document. "Here, fill it and return it tomorrow, I'll show you where your room is after school." He said, giving her the paper.
"Don't think this is free, you'll have to do a little something for me." he said grinning deviously. I knew it. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I'll be forced into doing those horrible, dishonorable, and shameful things after all! Alarm bells were starting to ring in her head. "What will I have to do?" She finally asked apprehension evident in her tone. She even had the childish urge to shut her eyes tightly, grimace and cross her fingers, as if the mere action would prevent those dreadful events from taking place.
"Oh, wouldn't you love to know." Miroku smiled at her, eyes dancing with amusement "Don't worry about that tiny meaningless detail. We'll discuss it over coffee tomorrow." he told her cheerfully, arm casually snaking its way over her shoulders to rest there amiably. "Now, did anybody give you a tour yet? No? Well, it my pleasure to show you around! Lunch is almost over so I'll be brief."
This guy is so weird, he can be so nice and gregarious, and yet so cunning at the same time... She thought, still being led by Miroku. "Oh by the way," he suddenly started, a pondering tone in his voice "you never did tell me your name" Kagome laugh awkwardly, how stupid, she never did introduced herself.
"You can call me Kai Higurashi, Miroku-sempai."
"Kai? That's a nice name, did you choose it?" he asked, while they left his office, walking past the decrepit vending machine from which Kagome acquired her humble lunch.
"Nope, my dad actually." She answered munching on a curry flavored chip how disgusting she thought grimacing slightly at the after taste, while opening the green tea bottle and taking a big gulp should've gone with the lime flavored ones…
The two lessons after lunch had quickly come and gone without much change. Everyone pretty much still ignored her, with the exception of that Hojo guy. She glanced sideways to Inuyasha; the guy hadn't stopped scowling all. Day. Long. It was a few minutes before the last class ended and most of the students seemed to be chatting amiably, soon the bell rang and most of the guys stormed out of the classroom. Inuyasha glanced briefly at her through the corner of his eye and left while Kagome unhurriedly made her way out of the room.
When she got to the door, she noticed Miroku already –impatiently- waiting for her. "You're late."
Kagome simply grumbled an unintelligent response as she walked past him. It had been a long day and she wasn't in the mood for chit-chat.
As they were nearing the school's entrance hall, a first year student intercepted them and turned to the dorm chief "Miroku-sempai, can I have a word with you? – in private." He added after glancing at Kagome.
"Sure, wait for me outside Kai, this will only take a minute or two." He said, turning to the boy after seeing Kagome's nod.
Just as she was walking out of the school she heard a commotion around the corner. Being her curious self, she couldn't help but find out what it was all about. As she got there, she found the dog-eared guy continuously hitting the head of a red haired boy, who tried –unsuccessfully- to break away from him.
"Ouch! Inuyasha 'stopit', I get it, I get it! I won't do it again." She heard the young boy cry. "What are you doing?" she exclaimed, making Inuyasha loose his hold on the guy's shirt. As soon as Inuyasha drop him, he skyrocketed out of the place not even looking back.
"I'm not done with you Shippo!" he yelled at the boy's back.
Kagome frowned, one thing she had always hated were bullies. "Why did you do that?" she asked, getting closer to him.
Inuyasha merely stare back at her defiantly. "Do what?"
"Hit that boy" She stated simply.
"I was just teaching him a lesson, evidently." He said rolling his eyes and glaring at her dryly.
"How? Using fear as a source of power?" she taunted, somehow knowing it would get to him.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he said in a deadly tone, already growing irritated by this flimsy guy. What the hell was his problem?
"I'm saying you're just a coward, hiding behind violence. You just want to show everyone how powerful you are by picking on someone weaker." Kagome spoke to the hanyou boldly, not caring if she was about to get beaten to a bloody pulp. Inuyasha simply stared at her in disbelief, the vein on his forehead pulsing dangerously. He heard a few mutters here and there, lost in the small crowd of people that had by now started gathering around them.
"I'll show you who the coward is" he growled as he kept his usual scowl imprinted in his face. He didn't appreciate being embarrassed, especially in front of other demons. Inuyasha launched himself at her, throwing a punch but Kagome quickly ducked out of the way. Once again the hanyou send a round hose kick at her, Kagome barely blocking the blow with her right forearm. Even more irritated, he started throwing punches which she miraculously avoided. "Will you stop moving!" he snarled. Ha! And letting you kill me? No way... Already panting she tried punching him a few times, but to no avail; having close to zero experience fighting left her basically avoiding as many hits as she could. Kagome gritted her teeth anxiously, there is no way I'll get out of this mess in one piece! I just HAD to open my mouth.
Soon her adrenaline began to fade and it was at that moment that she let her guard down stopping to regain her breath, thus, giving Inuyasha the chance to punch her right on the face making her hit the floor with a loud thud. As Kagome hastily moved to a sitting position, she noticed her lip was bleeding, but she didn't even flinch, she just kept staring at him defiantly, getting hit didn't mean she was going to back down. Inuyasha merely scowled at the boy sprawled on the floor, the guy was down with just a punch – and he hadn't even punched hit that hard. "Worthless human" he muttered angrily as the guy kept glaring back at him defiantly, a determined gleam in his eyes that Inuyasha did not missed. He hastily broke the eye contact and left.
Damn, that hurt... stupid jerk, I'll prove him wrong. She thought, frowning while distractedly trying to clean off the blood in her face. Miroku quickly ran to her side and crouched next to her. "Are you OK?" He asked anxiously, extending a hand to –carefully- help her up. "Yeah, he didn't really hit me that hard" She replied, rubbing the back of her neck while Miroku simply stared at her in disbelief. "Really, Higurashi. Not even five minutes and you got yourself in trouble. I can't leave you alone!"
Kagome just laughed "He, sorry, I didn't actually think that through…" she heard Miroku snort besides her "afraid so. You got lucky; he usually won't stop after just one punch." He commented chuckling lightly "Let's see if Taisho-sensei can treat that for you, his office is just around the corner."
"Please wait a few minutes, Sesshomaru-sama is finishing some paperwork." She heard the tiny green demon say irritably. Both teens entered the office and sat in two empty chairs by the door. Kagome looked at the silver haired man and frowned slightly. Where have I seen him before? Suddenly the man raised his head to stare at them and Kagome flinched.
It was the same man that had bumped into her this morning, he was wearing a black dress shirt and dark grey slacks under his lab coat. "Is he related to dog-ears?" Kagome asked Miroku quietly while she idly watched the silver haired man impassively fill some papers.
"Dog-ears?" Miroku repeated, barely suppressing a grin.
"Yeah… uhh, I kinda forgot his name." she said smiling uncomfortably, flinching at the painful feeling of her aching lip.
"You two already know each other?" Miroku asked her surprised.
"Yeah, we're in the same class. Ironically he seats beside me, but we haven't really talked yet. He kept either grunting every time I tried to start a conversation or fighting with that Koga guy, he's not really that sociable, is-?"
"If you would stop your meaningless chit-chat" Sesshomaru said coldly as he examined her lip and then turned to the green demon that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "Jaken, go get me some bacitration ointment and some gauze to clean that wound."
"Right away, Sesshomaru-sama." The green demon said as he scurried out of sight once again, leaving the two teen blinking after him. A few seconds later he came back with the requested material and, after bowing politely to Sesshomaru, left. As soon as Jaken closed the door, Sesshomaru turned to her again, ointment in hand.
"What are you doing here? This is an all-boys school." He said while cleaning the wound and rubbing the ointment on it.
Well… History certainly has an odd way to repeat itself. Somehow this time Kagome wasn't as taken aback as the first time. She merely sighed and bowed her head slightly. "What gave it away?"
"I knew it from the moment I bumped into you this morning. The tone of your voice, the shape of your face, and the way you walk were useful indicators too." He said not even looking back at her. "Now, why have you come here? Tell me the truth, if there is any useful truth worth having that is. Don't make me call the principal."
What now? What now? He's a teacher, I can't lie… What can I do?
"No, please wait! I... The truth is…" she stopped there for a few seconds. Was she willing to risk her safety? Doomed if I do, doomed if I don't… From the corner of her eye she saw Miroku standing up. She sighed audibly, dropping her shoulders in defeat. "Wait, Miroku-sempai, please stay." Miroku turned, giving her a surprised look, but sat back down nevertheless. "You're helping me after all, it's the least I can do, since you trust my words before." There was no backing down now, although she was slightly baffled for not being as scared as she should have been.
"The truth is that my grandpa was murdered last week and my dad believes they are after" the Shikon no tama she thought, unconsciously playing with the chain wrapped loosely around her neck, securely out of sight "something I have so… Maybe my dad thought that being in a closed environment and disguised would somehow keep me safe, if only for a couple of months. I'm supposed to be keeping a low profile and leaving the country like the rest of my family will give rise to suspicion."
"Why didn't you go to the police then?" Sesshomaru asked, still studying her intently. She realized at that moment that Miroku was oddly silent and his gaze was fixed on the floor, eyebrows furrowed. His frown was gone as soon as he looked up again.
"Is not that simple Taisho-sensei, what I guard is something that must not be revealed to the world, especially entities full of power like the government. This is a delicate matter that, if not treated carefully, will get out of hand. So I'm asking… I'm begging you to please help me." She finished, bowing deeply again for the third time today.
When the door finally closed before them, Miroku and Kagome gave a sigh of relief in unison and started to make their way out of the school building. "Man I can't believe you got Taisho-sensei to keep his mouth shut!" Miroku exclaimed disbelievingly, still not over the shock of witnessing Sesshomaru Taisho willingly help someone else, especially not a human. "I mean, we all know that the Taisho Brothers suffer from emotional constipation, at least Inuyasha's bit more expressive but Taisho-sensei willing to actually help – and by helping I mean the mere action of keeping quiet- you? That's a whole new level. The world as we know it is coming to an end!"
Kagome grinned slightly; he sure was an eloquent guy.
"So, now we'll finally get to meet your new roommate Kai… although, I think you already know him" he said nonchalantly as they left the school building behind, deciding to take the long way, instead of simply going through the cafeteria. Enjoy the scenery, he says. Kagome scoffed inwardly what he really wants is to get some attention from the few girls wandering close to the school gates.
"This way" he said, waving to some girls screaming 'Miroku-sama!', a content expression on his face as they neared a brick building. "That one there" he said pointing to a wooden construction nearby "is Hiten's dorm rooms, they're the south dormitories, we're the west ones, and Onigumo is in charge of the north ones. Those are on the other side of the cafeteria, which is the heart of the school complex. While we have a western style construction, they have a traditional Japanese structure." He said, entering the building and turning to the stairs. "Your room is in the second floor, by the way."
"Wait, wait" she said, suddenly remembering the morning chaos at the school gates "if the dorms are connected to the school by the cafeteria why does everyone take the long way?"
"Isn't it obvious? The girls from Jidai Gakuen are out there waiting for us, and we love the attention." He said smiling pleasantly. Figures…
She was still admiring the brick walls when she heard Miroku knock on a door she vaguely remember reading the number 210 on it. Not giving it much thought, she turned to marvel at the magnificent window at the end of the hall, just a door away from where they stood.
"What the hell Miroku! Of all the rooms you just HAD to pick mine?" at that exclamation she turned her head to the opened door and her eyes widened.
No way…
"Ara ara!" he exclaimed wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders. "There is no need for another fight. Let's get along, shall we?" he said, a wicked grin engraved on his face. At that moment she realized something, Miroku had deliberately set this up.
Kagome simply frowned at him Cunning traitor…
A/N: so, I may not be able to update until next year. My dad has me working these two weeks from 7 to 7 -every day- so, not much time to write. Besides, I haven't really planned next chapter. I'll -hopefully- update within the first 2 weeks of January.
In the mean time, comments are welcome :) I'd love to read your opinions, suggestions, critiques, etc.
Creature of the Grid