A/N: hey, thanks for the reviews (answers at the bottom), favorites, alerts, and pretty much reading, I really appreciate it :D
So enjoy… and remember, this is just fiction =J
Disclaimer: not mine.
Sengoku Gakuen
*.*-*.*-*
"Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask,
'Where have I gone wrong?'
Then a voice says to me,
'This is going to take more than one night.'"
- Charles M. Schulz
*.*-*.*-*
Chapter IV – Male-bonding…?
"So, Sango… she works here?" Kagome asked Miroku as she saw the brunette girl walking from table to table picking orders. Rin and their demon friend were sitting in a table close to the kitchen, so that every once in a while she would stop by and chat a little. Probably; Kagome wasn't really sure her assumptions were correct.
Miroku nodded eagerly "She's a part time worker here. From five to nine every day, she spends two hours studying, and then -" he stopped abruptly at Kagome's look "What? I've got my sources." He said shrugging. Kagome just nodded, she didn't really want to know.
There was a minute of awkward silence as she coughed and got more comfortable, sitting against the arm of the couch. She idly heard the beep of her watch, announcing it was already five o' clock. Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome noticed that girl sitting with Rin stood up and made her way to the piano, nodding to the woman who seemed to be in charge of the place before taking a seat. She cracked her fingers and turn to smile at Rin before she gracefully started playing the piano. Ah, there was the live music then. She immediately recognized the soft melody as 'Beethoven's Silence' by Ernesto Cortazar, one of her favorites. For a second she wondered why the song choice, because well… it was somewhat melancholic, she looked up to the girl and found her too engrossed with the song. What wouldn't I give just to play like that…
"You know… I've always wanted to learn how to play the piano." She commented, smiling wistfully. There was an odd look on Miroku's face, and he slowly set the teacup on the table. "Yeah, so full of emotion." He then laughed softly, his eyes clouded.
"What?" she asked tilting her head to the side. What had caused the sudden mood swing?
"Nothing, I just remembered someone who used to play. He could really-" he suddenly caught himself "Ah, never mind, this song is getting to me." Miroku told her smiling politely, and Kagome lowered her eyes, slightly wondering who the person Miroku was talking about was.
"I see…" There was a little silence, and Kagome decided to change the subject. "Is she from another school?" she asked nodding her head slightly towards the girl playing the piano. Her uniform was vaguely different from Rin's uniform; instead of the black blazer she had a black sailor-style long sleeve shirt.
"Souten?" he asked, watching her play the piano with a content expression. Not waiting for her to nod back, he continued "Yeah, she's still in middle school. This is her last year actually. As you can see she's friends with my dear Sango-chan but, I see her hang out more with Shippo, those two are nearly glued at the hip."
"Are those two-?"
"Nah, they met when Shippo won the Tensai Scholarship" Kagome's eyes widened considerably. That was one of the most distinguished scholarships in the country. He must be really smart to have earned it, and from what I know he skipped a year too "and was transferred to Musashi Junior High two years ago. She was assigned to show him around and, well, they have been best friends ever since."
"How come you all know each other?"
"I met them through Inuyasha, who knows Sango-chan because of their fathers. They were in the same middle school, too. In fact, if I had stayed here I would have met the sooner." Miroku interrupted her as soon as she frowned and opened her mouth. "Well, we all come from the same school, I used to live here when I was a kid, but I moved to Osaka for a few years and then came back three years ago. The only one I remember from my childhood days is Inuyasha… maybe because his mom and mine were gossip buddies."
"You knew Inuyasha as a kid?" she asked as Souten –as she now knew the girl was named- stopped briefly, changing to a happier playful melody she didn't recognize.
"Yeah, but he was a bit of a loner back then" Kagome sweat-dropped …Back then? How about now?
"Now that I think of it," Miroku stopped, looking a little past her shoulder. Kagome turned her head and was greeted by the grinning face of her cousin.
"Hey" Rin said happily, standing close to their table. Kagome waved weakly, a little worried because her cousin had a big mouth."Hey Miroku, how have you been?" she asked amiably "I see you've met my cousin, fine guy, reall-"
"No need for that Rin, I know his little secret" Rin's eyes widened considerably as she turned to look at her in disbelief. Miroku happily sipping his tea in the background, thinking maybe this would turn out to be interesting.
"Seriously! Not even 48 hours?" she said still amazed, but then frowned, staring at the table and lowering her voice "Damn, I owe Souta 3000 yen… how much is that in Euros anyway?"
How cruel! They even bet on that too?
Kagome, not commenting on that last statement just shrugged uninterested "He actually found out the second he saw me."
"Figures, nothing less from a pervert like him." She said, smiling as she took a seat next to Kagome, but her smile fell as her eyes connected with her injured lip. "What happened, got into a fight already?" Rin asked with an ironic tone in her voice.
"Sort of." Kagome simply said as she played with the straw of her drink, while grimacing. I was hoping Rin wouldn't see that; with her big mouth I will get a call from my dad soon. "It won't leave a scar, don't worry." She said dryly while Rin laughed disbelievingly.
"With who?" Kagome just shrugged, not saying anything else. Rin gave her an understanding smile, patting her shoulder lightly.
"Relax, I won't tell uncle… yet. He's calling on Saturday, by the way, so you're invited for dinner."
"Thanks Rin" she said smiling at the idea of finally knowing something about her family. The only thing her dad had told her before she left was that they would leave the country. Her mom and Souta had left right after the funeral while her dad stayed behind to efficiently kill her old identity and create a new one from scratch –how had he managed to do that was still a mystery to her, they were fairly wealthy but she never suspected he had the influential means to do that-, enroll her in her new school, and she even heard he was planning on calling a few old friends, 'pull some strings', he said.
Well, she hoped those were friends with power and the willingness to help, perhaps?
That would be good. The more, the merrier.
She first noticed the awkward silence that had been reigning while she idly contemplated her dad's behavior –along with the hope for extra help, and then she became aware of Miroku regarding them with a dead-pan expression. Had she been thinking for too long? I really need to work on my attention.
"I'm still here, you know" Miroku said, feeling slightly left out "and you" he pointed at Kagome with a tiny spoon "focus."
She simply returned the dead-pan expression, slowly slurping her frozen coffee. Ha, as if she hadn't tried that before.
Miroku grimaced and turned to Rin "Anyway, how have you been Rin?"
Rin grinned, resting her elbows on the table and her face on her open palms "Don't you mean, how's Sango doing?"
"You know me too well." he said smiling guilty.
Rin waved her hand dismissively "Same old, same old. Kuranosuke has been showing some interest on her, tho-"
"Wait, what! You mean… you mean third year Takeda Kuranosuke? The one completely arrogant, captain of the basketball team, with royal blood in his veins, and millions in his pockets?"
"Yup, that's the one. Incredibly handsome, rich and charismatic Takeda Kuranosuke, seems like quite the competition, huh?"
"He's NOT charismatic!" Miroku all but whined.
"Calm down, you interrupted me before I got to the good part. Sango, even though she had a crush on the guy during junior high- … oh come on, everybody knew that, Miroku!- she got pretty pissed off when last week Kuranosuke called her babe and attempted to embrace her. She left him unconscious for a few seconds, but that didn't seem to dampen his persistence. The guy simply stood up and said he'd be back soon."
That's it? Just for a hug and a pet name? Damn, I really need to be careful then… I hope Miroku knows what he's doing. She then cocked her head thoughtfully, her eyes slowly widening in sudden realization. Maybe this is much more than a simple crush to Miroku, he must really like her…
"Oh, he learned his lesson. Never upset a PMSing girl." Rin stated, nodding sagely while Miroku smirked. "But maybe this time she overdid herself, I mean, I've seen Miroku simply getting a slap for much worse things."
"At least she did more than just slap the guy." He said ostentatiously as he took a long sip of his almost finished tea.
"Maybe she likes him and that's how she flirts" Kagome pondered loud enough for Miroku to hear and he choked, earning a light chuckle from her. "Miroku-sempai, is there a possibility that you might be jealous?" Kagome mocked him, tipped her head thoughtfully. "After all, this Kuranosuke seems to really like Sango."
Miroku snorted "That guy? No, I bet he would piss himself if he knew just who her father was." He said stubbornly crossing his arms, while the two girls laughed at his jealousy display.
"Just admit it, already. You're afraid Sango might like him back." Kagome said playfully, not expecting the older boy to take it seriously.
Miroku frowned, not at all liking the fact that this cross-dressing girl was so carelessly laughing at his poor misfortune –he was NOT jealous, at all. Well, he was getting tired of this conversation, anyway. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." he grunted, a slow smirk curled into his face as the frown deepened, his brain quickly machinating. Maybe there was a way to turn the tables, oh right… Rin was a bit of a chatterbox.
"I've been wondering" he started, scratching his chin absently. "Just how are you gonna do when… that time of the month comes? I'm sure Inuyasha would smell that…that thing. Heck, any other demon in the school would." Well, that would do. He saw Rin, and instantly knew she had fallen in his trap.
What the hell? Kagome frowned, feeling awkward "That's none of-" she was interrupted by Rin's chirping voice. "Oh that was fairly easy to work out! My uncle got her norethisterone tablets." At Miroku's inquisitive look she clarified "uhh, they rise the levels of progestogen hormones in the body" Miroku kept staring at her blankly "…they basically prevent it until you want to have a period –and by that I mean when you stop taking them-, which might be during the holidays?" she said turning to Kagome, who gave her an 'I don't know' shrug and sank into her seat slightly flustered. Miroku smiled, watching Kai mortified beyond belief. "-or she can fake a sickness and stay with my family when she needs to take a break –living surrounded by guys must me really stressful, huh?-. Summer vacations are in two months, anyway." She explained, Miroku nodding understandingly, his brain quickly processing the –virtually inaccessible in other circumstances- information.
"Now I get it, it's quite simple if you see it that way besides, Taisho-sensei already knows so, he might help… or, just help by not saying anything, I suppose." He mused while Kagome ignored him, just clenching her teeth and staring heatedly at her cousin. She always had a big mouth, but this is- … this is-! She scratched her head in a flustered-slash-exasperated gesture.
"Rin! You don't go telling people my personal life!" she 'whispered' huffing in indignation. The nerve of that girl!
"Oh you keep too much to yourself, Kag-… Kai" she slipped again "these things are normal." She finished patting her shoulder lightly while Kagome whispered angrily 'can you please get my name right!', Rin smiling apologetically. Thankfully Miroku hadn't notice.
"You know… I heard cinnamon tea is great too." Miroku said staring at the ceiling. Rin was openly gawking, forgetting for a moment just who she was talking to, while Kagome simply raised an eyebrow amused. The guy was a pervert; she had that clear since yesterday. "How do you even know something like that?"
"Oh, things I hear here and there" he said cheerfully.
"Uh, who's your roommate?" Rin asked, turning to Kagome again, more than ready to change the subject.
"An idiotic passive-aggressive, anal retentive mongrel dog with a brobdingnagian ego." Kagome grunted, resting her chin on her open palm. These conversation topics were going from bad to worst. Kagome sulked, looking a little upset as she started playing with the straw of her frozen cappuccino, while Rin and Miroku stared at her; Miroku with amusement whereas Rin was blatantly confused.
"What?"
"Inuyasha's being an ass to her." Miroku translated automatically.
"Oh" she said nodding "so, I'm assuming you share the room with him?" Rin asked tentatively. Kagome just stared at her dryly.
Rin pouted, pushing her lightly "You don't have to be so mean. I got it, I got it."
"Good, because I don't really wanna talk about it." She said smiling apologetically at her, good thing her cousin never took her tactlessness seriously.
At that moment Shippo came running though the front door, which earned him a bewildered look from everyone in the restaurant. He bowed his head muttering apologies to anyone who cared and speed walked to their table.
"What's wrong? I got your text!" he exclaimed –silently- the moment he was close enough to Miroku.
"What do you mean?"
"Wha-! But you wrote 'S.O.S', you said that was only for emergencies!"
"Oh, right. Well, this is an emergency… of sorts." Miroku added reluctantly. "And I texted you an hour and a half ago, what took you so long? No wait, I don't care, the point is I need a drummer for the talent show."
"What talent show?" he said dumbly, still standing.
"The one at the cultural festival in three weeks, gee Shippo, even I know that!" she said as Miroku patted the seat next to him, motioning for Shippo to take it. The young fox demon turned to Miroku as he sat.
"Oh, hey Rin, hey Kai" he greeted slightly sheepish, he had been so focused on Miroku that he hadn't notice them. Both girls –well, the girl and the cross-dresser – waved back at him.
"So, you're gonna perform?" Miroku urged him.
"Well, I suppose I could… that's before the bon fire right?"
"Yeah" Miroku and Rin said at the same time.
"Ok, so… are you gonna sing?"
Miroku shook his head, waving his hand dismissively "Nah, Kai is going to take care of that-"
"You don't even know if I can sing!" she interrupted him, rolling her eyes.
"Details. The point," he said, turning back to Shippo "is that I'm gonna write a song for my dear Sango-chan that expresses my feelings for her." He said dramatically while Kagome send him an annoyed sideways glance.
Shippo snorted, trying not to laugh "Poor Sango."
"Poor Sango? I'm the one who's going to be singing whatever comes to his head in front of everyone!"
"Don't be such a pessimist, maybe this will be a great opportunity to climb the social food change –for you I mean, I'm already nearly at the top." He said smirking playfully, Shippo nodding energetically beside him.
"My friend Kohaku sais guys are already calling you nerd. You're official at the bottom, next to Jinenji and me"
"Like I care." She grumbled, sinking in her seat as Rin gave her a reproachful look. "Oh come on Rin, I'm not going to stop being who I am just because people don't like it." She finished, glaring at Rin quite determined. If she was going to be labeled as a geek, then so be it. That was nothing new.
"Fine, fine, you win." Rin said, shaking her head. "I just… sometimes I worry about you." She said, sending her a meaningful look that made her heart clench tightly. Somehow, ever since grandpa died I've been getting those looks more often.
"Rin, I'm fine, really. You don't need to worry so much." She said softly, forcing a smile. Miroku and Shippo had been staring silently, and it was Miroku who decided to lighten the mood.
"Now that I think of it, we need to start rehearsing soon if we want to impress Sango" speak for yourself "so we'll start on Monday, I'll have the song ready by then, ok?"
"Fine by me. Not like I have anything better to do anyway." Shippo said shrugging.
At least I'm not the only one unexcited about this.
"Agh, it can't be help, I guess" Kagome smiled ruefully as subtly looked at her watch.
"Listen, I gotta go, it's already quarter to six and I still need to unpack a few things. See you later guys, bye Rin." She got a wave back from the boys and she was about to get up when Rin stopped her.
"Wait, Ka- Kai. Meet me here on Saturday, I still need to talk to you" she told her cheerfully "I'll introduce you to some of my friends, including Sango."
"Ok, thanks Rin" she told her smiling weakly. She really loved her cousin, but Rin was a lot more sociable than she could ever be. Rin gave her a quick hug and as she was leaving she turned to Miroku "You're paying for my coffee."
*-*.*-*.*
Once she arrived to her room, she immediately started with the 'arduous' task of unpacking the three boxes lying in the corner, her suitcase already unpacked and under her bed –along with her hidden underwear, couldn't have that on the closet she was sharing with Inuyasha. Kagome sigh, opening the first box, finding most of her book collection, a few dictionaries and empty notebooks. She started to move them up from the box to her desk in little groups. She smiled when she found her dad had packed most of her favorite books. I'll organize them by subject later she thought happily.
When she was done with the books she opened the other to boxes, finding desk utensils, toiletries, more books –dad really did packed half my book collection- her small laptop, a thin TV screen and her travelling size amplifier, along with a few other things she used on a daily basis no wonder why those boxes were so heavy. I'll have to call Rin later to see if he send my guitar too.
She kept working for the next forty minutes moving from one side of the room to the other, organizing her things without disrupting Inuyasha's stuff. He might as well just mark his territory…
She then proceeded to install the TV screen on her desk. I wonder if wan-chan can see this from his bed… she absently thought while setting the TV, and adjusting it so that it could be seen from both beds. When she was finally satisfied, she took her laptop out of the case. Once she had her laptop installed on her desk, she plopped onto her bed with her history text book, might as well finish that homework early.
*.*-*.*-*
Inuyasha sighed blissfully, that had been one productive evening. Spending three hours in the training room did wonders to lower his stress levels. After that PE class –in which he had subtly started a fight with Koga, so that his clumsy roommate would have a break- he felt the need to blow some –more- steam and decided to visit the underground gym.
This evening had proved to be quite stress-relieving, after all. He was clad in a simple white tank top and red track pants, his long silver hair pulled up in a messy ponytail. If only I knew how to braid it like Bankotsu does… he sighed heavily, it would hurt to untangle it later on. Sometimes he wondered how had Bankotsu learned to braid hair… maybe Jakotsu does it for him, they seem to be close friends, after all…
With one hand in his pocket, he wiped his face with the small towel as he walked back to his room. Ah, I should have done this yesterday too.
He opened the door to his room and sighed dejectedly when he noticed Kai was already there; he had been hoping for a little peace and quiet. "Oh, you're here." He said dryly, closing the door after him. Kai hummed something that sounded suspiciously like 'hey wan-chan' from his bed, too engrossed in his history textbook, every once in a while taking a cookie from the bag laying next to him. "Are you actually doing homework?" What a nerd! The only one who ever reads is that hobo-
"Yup, I need to catch up with the six weeks I've missed here. Besides, you should read it, it's pretty interesting." She said, not lifting her eyes from the book. She took a bite from another cookie and turned the page.
"No thanks" he said with a careless wave, moving to sit on his desk, pseudo-organizing his books nonchalantly. He heard the other boy shift to a sitting position and looked up –big mistake.
He'd only looked him in the eye a few times, but every time he got the same feeling; his stomach getting cold –was that even normal?- and his heart pounding against his ribcage, in other words: making his insides squirm considerably in a way he wasn't used to. He saw the smaller boy give him a thankful smile "By the way, I wanted to thank you for distracting Koga and the others during PE –" he blinked quickly, turning to look away. Was it that obvious?
Inuyasha let out a fake laugh "Oh, no. I didn't do it for you, so don't get any ideas. I just needed to vent a little and Hibiki's always a great punching bag, especially when I haven't been to the gym for a few days. So, it was purely coincidental."
She was about to tell him that there were no such things as coincidences when she frowned "Wait, the gym?" they even have a gym?
"Yeah, we have an underground gym bellow the cafeteria," figures… I wouldn't be surprised if they had- "though is not as impressive as the recreational room."
Oh yeah, she had forgotten about that.
"Oh, by the way, have you heard something weird? Yesterday just before I went to sleep I could've sworn I heard a whining… it wasn't you, right?" she said teasingly. Inuyasha froze for a second, but regain his composure immediately.
"You're delusional. I didn't hear anything besides, these walls are soundproof, so maybe it was your imagination." He said nodding to himself.
"What?" Kagome asked, pausing in the act of idly turning the page, the book forgotten minutes ago. Maybe but… she tilted her head, remembering something she had been meaning to ask.
Kai hesitated for a second. "Hey Inuyasha," already on first name basis? They had just met yesterday and the guy was comfortable enough to call him by his first name? "I know this is weird but… can I ask you something?" The only response Inuyasha gave him was a shrug so he continued "is, uhh, is Kagewaki-sensei gay?" Inuyasha choked on his own saliva and stared at Kai with wide eyes. Sure Kagewaki had always been disturbingly creepy, but – "i-it's just that he didn't take his eyes off of me during most of the lesson, I was really freaked out… so, is he?" he heard the boy ask anxiously.
"No" you are just a strangely pretty boy, with strangely pretty eyes, and- ... I should just stop there... "I mean, I don't think so…"
"I see…" she said frowning slightly, maybe Inuyasha was right and it was all just her imagination. She looked up and found her roommate eyeing her TV curiously, though he seemed a bit jumpy. "Can you see it from your bed?" Inuyasha's eyes widened, he had been treating the guy like crap at yet he was willing to share his things with him.
"Huh?"
"The TV, can you see it?" she repeated slowly, inwardly smiling at his dumbfounded expression.
"O-oh!" he exclaimed, hastily getting to his feet and moving to his bed. Kagome stared at him weirdly as he sat and nodded, confirming he could see it perfectly.
Kai chuckle at his weird behavior and he absently thought he had a nice laugh. And back to the disturbing thoughts again! I'm just tired, that's all. Maybe a nice –freezing- shower will clear my head…
"W-Well," Inuyasha started, now standing straight. "now that this conversation it over," he said taking off his tank top –Kagome awkwardly lowered her eyes to the book - and grabbing some clothes from his side of the closet. "I'm gonna take a shower and when I get out you" he said pointing at her, though not as annoyed as he should've been "won't be here."
"Yeah, you stink already" she half joked –still not looking at him, she heard a faint 'shut up' before he shut the bathroom door.
It wasn't until that moment that it dawn to her –the implications of rooming with a boy, a well built boy nonetheless. Kagome gulped loudly, she had not been staring, but she couldn't help but notice that he worked out and he wasn't afraid of showing off –at least not in their room-, as well as all the other guys in the school.
Well… they're all pretty good looking, I guess.
Suddenly she felt very small.
She sighed, scratching her hair what have I gotten myself into?
*.*-*.*-*
By the way, tensai means: genius, prodigy, talent/talented
Oh, right. I was playing a few days ago with one of my Japanese dictionaries and I found one of the many kanji's in which Kai can be written:
改 (Kai)
―meanings―
Reformation, change, modify, mend, renew, examine, inspect, search.
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Hi, Angel. Thanks for the reviews, and for sticking up since the first chapter, I really appreciate it . XD
Romanceadict hey I hope this chapter explained the period enigma , I too had been breaking my head with that since I started sketching this fic. I was waiting for Rin to blurt it out, even if it was until the fourth chapter. Thanks for taking the time to review. :D
BoredGir117 lol I know, I'm really not sure how I came up with this plot. Thanks for the review :D
Hi, guest. Thanks, it really means a lot, especially because English is not my first language.
You know, I kinda did that on purpose (though now I think I overdid it); it was just not Inuyasha's day. Sometimes people inexplicably wake up in a bad mood and it all goes downhill from there. So, even a simple job (beating the crap out of Kai) can turn into a burden when one is frustrated and cannot think clearly… or maybe that's just me.
Sorry that Inuyasha won't find out just yet, I just want to mess with his head for a while. Besides, I really think that when Inuyasha smells people its their scent what he notices. I'm not sure but I think the first time he meets Kagura he confuses her scent with Naraku's … or something like that.
I mean, I don't think he can tell if its male or female just sniffing around…
Anyway, I really appreciated that you took the time to review every chapter, and I hope I could answer everything (I'm pretty sure I made an idiot out of myself with that reply…)
NurNur thanks! I updated as soon as I could, hope you enjoyed it :D
Licootaku thanks for the review –and for the compliment! XD- hope you liked this chapter :D
Reader238thank you very much :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
MidnightFlame325 thank you! Your reviews always make me feel soo happy –I swear I'm not squealing in my chair!- At first I was not sure if I should add it, but there you have it! I thought it would be a nice touch XD hope you liked this one too!
Awesomely Awesome4 heheh, sorry to have kept you up so late. don't worry, I try to update as soon as I can. Thanks for the review =)
I still have that damned writer's block, any suggestions? Ideas? Thoughts you might wanna share with me?
I'll TRY to have next chapter ready by Saturday (hopefully). Sorry if it's going really slow