/.\./.\./.\./.\

Chapter Five

-The Preparations-

/.\./.\./.\./.\

"That was really wonderful, Kagome!" Sango said enthusiastically as we made our way towards Chemistry. "The way you shot Miroku down really surprised everyone!"

"Miroku's face was priceless," Annie said, satisfied.

"Ehe," I said. Truth be told, I was having mixed feelings at the moment. Sure, I had stood up to Miroku—sort of—and he had been driven speechless, as was everyone else in the cafeteria. It had actually fallen silent, before Inuyasha cleared his throat loudly, and the normal chatter had resumed. People had thrown me looks as we'd left, but, surprisingly, they weren't looks of derision. Several girls had whispered scornfully, and I hastily shoved the thought aside.

"I'm just worried that Miroku and Kouga might end up fighting because of this," I went on. True—what if they did fight, all because of this election? At the moment, Kouga was currently with Miroku and Inuyasha, but there had been a noticeable tension in the air as they had eaten their lunch.

Ayame shook her head. "The Elite are as thick as thieves, you know," she pointed out. "They've been together ever since Inuyasha and Kouga first babysat Miroku."

My eyebrows rose. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that demons had such long lifespans. "I suppose that's why Miroku acts like the baby of the group," Annie mused.

"He's certainly the most immature," Sango said, scoffing. She turned to me, and smiled. "I'm really glad you decided to run against him, Kagome."

"We need a motto!" Ayame suddenly said. "You know, a kind of slogan about Kagome's campaign."

"Yeah, we have a lot of planning to do," Sango agreed. "We'll start tonight, after class."

Annie nodded in agreement. "We have to make your résumé, by the way," she said. "And submit it to the Student Affairs Office before the fourteenth." It was currently the twelfth.

"I thought the fourteenth was the deadline?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Annika shrugged. "You've got to pass it earlier, if you want to make an impression," she pointed out.

Oh, boy…

As we entered Chemistry, I couldn't help but notice several of the students throw me looks of curiosity, before they began muttering to one another. My earlier confrontation with Miroku must have taken them completely by surprise (I take it, not a lot of people probably challenged the Elite).

The Elite had yet to arrive. The one exception happened to be Sesshoumaru Taisho, who was already seated at his desk, absorbed in a book. Several girls were giggling and staring at him. I was surprised they hadn't attacked him yet. He looked up as we approached.

I dumped my backpack on the desk I shared with Inuyasha. To my surprise, Annie sat down beside me, arms folded on the desk.

"Er…what are you doing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Sesshoumaru was her lab partner, after all.

"Inuyasha isn't here yet," she pointed out, her mouth set in a thin line. "I thought we could talk about your upcoming campaign."

"I have a lot of ideas!" Ayame was suddenly in front of us, leaning her arms on the table as she grinned down at me. "For instance, Kagome's campaign color could be magenta!"

I stared at her. Beside me, Annie looked as though someone was cutting up meat with a butter knife. "Er…magenta?" I asked hesitantly.

Ayame nodded enthusiastically. "It's a really eye-catching color!" she said.

"It's too garish!" Annie said bluntly.

"I think it's nice!" Ayame said.

"It's a horrible color!" Annie countered. "It's like red that wants to be bloody pink!"

"Break it up, you two," Sango said, as she came over. "We'll decide everything later, tonight."

Ayame huffed and crossed her arms. She looked as though she wanted to argue, but, at that moment, several girls suddenly wended their way towards us—or rather, towards Sesshoumaru's table behind us. They were pushing a very pretty girl towards him. She had a main of thick, brown hair tied into a ponytail with a red ribbon. Her dark blue eyes were both anxious and excited.

"Go on, Sara!" one of the girls pushing her said.

"Oh, boy," Sango muttered. "Watch, and observe, Kagome."

We watched as the girl named Sara stopped beside Sesshoumaru's desk. Sesshoumaru must know that she was standing right beside him, but he didn't even bother looking up. Yeesh.

"Um," Sara said timidly. She was holding something behind her. Oh, no…she wasn't going to…was she? I think she was. "Lord Sesshoumaru?" She even used the honorific!

Sesshoumaru closed his book with a snap, and looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. Sara trembled, as she bowed her head. "I…I…" she began. She suddenly showed him what she had been hiding behind her back—a small basket of…cookies? The kind that you wrapped in cellophane.

"I was wondering if you would accept these, my lord!" Sara said hastily, looking up at him. The room suddenly went dead silent, and everyone stared at Sara. Several girls were glaring daggers at her. The tension in the air was almost palpable. I realized I was holding my breath, and I quickly exhaled.

"As a token of my feelings for you!" Sara went on, her hopeful eyes meeting Sesshoumaru's impassive ones. "I made them myself. They're chocolate chip."

Annie sighed quietly beside me. "He hates chocolate," she muttered under her breath. I stared at her, surprised, and she shrugged nonchalantly as she opened her chemistry book.

Sesshoumaru stared at Sara for a moment. "No, thanks," he said abruptly, returning to his book.

Sara blinked, taken aback. "But, my lord—"

"I said, no thanks."

Sara looked crestfallen as the bevy of girls surrounding her gently led her off, murmuring words of comfort. The tension slowly started to dissipate as people resumed their normal chatter. Several girls sighed in relief. I think they were relieved that Sesshoumaru turned Sara down. Speaking of which…

I opened my notebook, and turned to Annie. I hastily scribbled, How did you know he hates chocolate? Sango and Ayame both leaned in to read what I'd written.

Annie raised both her eyebrows as she read. Clicking her tongue in disapproval, she wrote: It should be obvious—he's a bloody dog, after all.

We stared at her. "Typical Annie," Sango muttered, shaking her head.

Frowning, I wrote again: Poor Sara. You'd have thought he could have turned her down gently.

Sango took the pen from my hand. You won't believe the number of girls who confess to him. He always rejects them—and yes, Kagome, he isn't very gentle about it.

"Of course he isn't gentle about it, he's a mutt," Annie said flatly.

We froze, staring at her. Very stiffly, Sango, Ayame, and I glanced behind us. Sesshoumaru Taisho had looked up from his book, golden eyes locked on the back of Annie's head. Whether he was thinking of mauling her or not, we couldn't tell.

We hastily looked away as his gaze shifted to us—scary!

That mouth of yours will get you into trouble one of these days! Ayame wrote, shoving the notebook underneath the duchess's nose. She scoffed and pushed it away.

At that moment, several girls let out squeals of delight as the doors to the room swung open, and in walked the rest of the Elite.

"Miroku for president!" a girl screeched. Miroku winked at her, and several girls giggled.

"We have to beat him," Sango said venomously. She turned to me. "Show them that it takes more than a fan club to be a good leader, Kagome." I gave her a weak smile.

"Hey!" Kouga said, as he made his way towards us. Several girls glared daggers at me, and I halfheartedly returned Kouga's smile. Truth be told, since he had stood up for me and Ayame in the cafeteria, I couldn't bring myself to be annoyed with him that much.

"H-hey, Kouga," Ayame stuttered, cheeks immediately brightening. I smiled encouragingly at her.

"Hey, Ayame," Kouga said, almost carelessly, as he stopped beside our desk. He grinned at me. "So, what's the game plan?"

"About the elections?" Sango asked. "We're discussing that later, actually."

"Er," I began. "Kouga…maybe you and Ayame could think of a 'political color'? You guys are seatmates, anyway." Commence phase one of my 'Bring-Ayame-and-Kouga-Together' plan.

Ayame blinked, cheeks as red as her hair, as she turned hesitantly to the wolf demon. "Sounds like a plan," Kouga said, nodding, still smiling at me. "You always have the best ideas, Kagome." He gave me a roguish grin, and I quickly squashed the urge to roll my eyes. "C'mon, Ayame, let's get thinking."

Ayame gave us nervous looks as she followed Kouga back to their desk. Sango and I gave her a thumbs-up.

"I hope they don't settle on magenta," Annie said flatly.

Sango and I rolled our eyes, as Inuyasha made his way towards us. "See you later, guys," Sango said, as she reluctantly bustled off to join Miroku at their table.

"Hey," Inuyasha said, as he stopped beside our table. He raised a thick eyebrow at Annie. "That's my seat."

She turned to him. "Really?" she said sarcastically. "I had no idea!"

I raised my eyebrows as Annie gathered her books, stood, and unceremoniously dropped them on the desk she shared with Sesshoumaru. He closed his book, and regarded with her with cold, wary eyes as she sat beside him, a heavy frown on her face. It took me a moment to remember that she hated the Elite. I sincerely hoped she'd still be alive by the end of the class.

"So, running for president, eh?" I nearly jumped when Inuyasha spoke. He slid into his seat beside me.

"It was their idea, really," I said, shrugging. "I just got caught in the crossfire."

His ears twitched. "From the way you were yapping in the cafeteria, I'd have to say you got caught pretty good." Boy, did he sound rough.

I shrugged. "Miroku got on my nerves," I admitted.

"Keh!" he said, turning his eyes towards Miroku, who was busy flirting with several girls at once. Beside him, Sango threw him looks of deepest loathing. "Y'know, between you and me, that guy is too much of a flirt to run for president."

I stared at him, somewhat surprised. "But you're supporting him, aren't you?"

Inuyasha shrugged, and tapped a pen against his desk. "I'm his friend, Kagome," he said. "Been with him since he was in diapers. Besides, you've roped Kouga—Miroku needs someone to keep him out of trouble."

At the mention of Kouga, I immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry," I said. "I mean, you guys are supposed to be friends, and I'm sort of…getting in between." I cringed as I remembered what the girls in the cafeteria had said as we'd left.

"Don't be," Inuyasha said gruffly. He folded his arms on the desk, and turned to me. "Kouga's really smitten with you, you know."

I flinched. I had to get Kouga together with Ayame soon!

"At least you guys still have—" I made a tiny gesture with my thumb towards the table behind us. Well, at least they still had the ability to induce a fangirl tsunami.

Inuyasha raised his eyebrows. "Sesshoumaru?" he said, not bothering to keep his voice down. "That jerk isn't interested in school affairs."

I felt a pair of cold eyes boring holes into our backs—I was pretty sure Inuyasha could feel it, too. For all his looks, Sesshoumaru really was scary.

Thankfully, Ms. Blanche came in before Inuyasha and I could have our heads ripped off. "Settle down!" she barked as she strode into the room, heels making a rhythmic clacking on the tiles. "I've told you all—treat this lab with respect! And that means no horseplay! Houshi! Get back to your desk!" she added, glaring daggers at Miroku.

Miroku, who had been sitting at a table with a group of girls, hastily scrambled back to his seat, but not before he gave the girls a Casanova grin. Yeesh…Sango was right! That guy wouldn't make a good president at all.

"We begin with our first topic for the semester," Blanche said, turning to the board to write. "Biochemistry!"

"So," Blanche went on. "Who can tell me exactly what the study of biochemistry entails, hm?"

My hand shot up, and Blanche nodded. I stood, suddenly aware of everyone's eyes on me. I took a breath. "It's the study of the chemical components of living organisms, as well as their reactions and processes," I said promptly.

Blanche smiled, and I quickly sat back down, aware that several people were still staring. "Good," she said, turning back to the board.

"Take ten points, Gryffindor," Annie muttered from behind. I glanced at her, and she shrugged innocently at me. Beside her, Sesshoumaru was staring at the board. His cold eyes suddenly slid to me, and I hastily looked back to the front.

Scary, indeed.

/.\./.\./.\./.\

"And so, Hermione Granger strikes again," Annie said, as we left the classroom an hour later.

"Ha, ha, very funny," I said dryly.

"You know, you're really smart, Kagome," Sango said as we walked down the hallway. "The way you answered all of Blanche's questions. I think several people were pretty impressed."

Ayame nodded in agreement, and I felt my cheeks reddening. "Anyway," I said, clearing my throat. I turned to Ayame. "How'd your brainstorming with Kouga go?"

She gave me a small smile. "We thought, and we debated," she admitted. "Blanche told us off twice, remember?"

I beamed at her, glad to hear that she was at least talking to Kouga. "And what did you come up with?"

"Please don't say bloody magenta," Annie interjected.

"Don't worry," Ayame said, rolling her eyes at her. "Kouga and I decided to go with purple!"

Annie looked as though she wanted to argue, but I cut her off. "I think purple is fantastic!" I said, and Ayame grinned.

"Thanks, Kagome," she said. "For getting Kouga to work with me, that is."

"I did promise you," I pointed out.

Sango nodded as we entered Literature. "Now that we've got our political color, we can decide on a slogan later," she said, as we took our seats. Several people stared at me, but, thankfully, they didn't mutter.

I sighed as I leaned back in my seat. All this talk about planning was actually making this presidency thing more real. Truth was, I really did want to beat Miroku at this, but…I knew not everyone in GARA liked me, and some—okay, maybe the majority—thought of me as a charity case. Was I really going to win this thing?

"Hey, Charity Case!"

I looked up, surprised to find Charlene Williams, Fancy Thorn, and Angelique Dugrand glaring down at me. Their arms were crossed, and their eyes were narrowed. The chatter in the room immediately died down as people turned to stare at us. I felt myself grow cold when I remembered that they got sent out yesterday, along with Annie.

"What do you guys want?" Sango asked, as she, Ayame, and Annie appeared beside me.

"Is it true?" Fancy said, her baby blue eyes flashing.

"Are you actually going to run against Miroku Houshi for president?" Angelique asked with mirth.

"Don't tell me you're stupid enough to do that!" Charlene said, smirking. "Do you actually think anyone would vote for you?" Several people snickered.

I blushed in embarrassment. "Back off, you dimwits!" Annie snapped, glaring. Remembering that she got sent out of class yesterday because me, I shook my head at her.

"Or, what, Westerholme?" Fancy said haughtily. "Are you going to throw your glasses at me?"

"Enough!" Sango said. "Leave Kagome alone, she hasn't done anything to you."

"It has more to do with the fact that they let trash like her into GARA!" Angelique huffed.

"Hey, Dugrand, enough," a boy said.

I clenched my fists as I stood. "I am not trash!" I snapped.

The trio stared at me. I take it, they were somewhat surprised that I was talking. The whole room had gone quiet as all eyes turned towards us.

"And yes!" I said, suddenly feeling very bold. "I am going to run for president. And, yes! I will beat Miroku Houshi, so sit back and watch me!"

For a moment, Alicia, Fancy, and Charlene looked stunned. And then—simultaneously—they broke out in identical smirks. "Really, Higurashi?" Fancy said snidely. "You're going to win against Miroku Houshi? Y'know, you should be a comedian—you're a pretty good joker."

I blushed, mortified, as several people began to laugh. "Just you wait, Francine!" Ayame snapped, clenching her fists. "When Kagome wins, you're going to kiss her shoes!"

Fancy raised an eyebrow as her eyes fell on my feet. She laughed. "Oh, you mean those tattered things? Those are shoes?" she said, laughing.

"What is going on here—again?"

Everyone turned to the open door. Professor Saunders stood in the doorway, arms folded across his chest. He was frowning at us. He strode into the room, and shook his head in exasperation. "Why is it," he began, pointing a finger at us, "that you guys over there keep fighting during my class?"

"We weren't fighting, Professor," Sango spoke up. "We were just discussing things."

Professor Saunders sighed. "Well, discuss it later, or might send you guys off to detention," he warned.

As Fancy and her friends returned to their seats, she shot me a look of immense contempt, her plump lips curling up in a sneer. I bit my lip as I sat back down.

"Are you all right, Kagome?" Ayame whispered gently.

I nodded, not meeting her eyes. I pretended to listen to Professor Saunders as he began to discuss the Trojan War. The truth was…I was getting really tired of people laughing, and calling me names. It just didn't seem fair to judge others based on what they didn't have.

I clenched my fists on my desk. I was going to win that election!

/.\./.\./.\./.\

"How about…Vote for Higurashi—she cares?" Ayame suggested.

Ayame, Sango, Annie, and I were in the changing rooms for PE. Like yesterday, we were the first ones to arrive. Sango had figured I would prefer changing without the other girls breathing down my neck. I felt touched at her consideration, especially with what happened in Literature earlier.

As we changed, Annie had broached the topic of a slogan for my campaign. She turned to Ayame who grinned at us, waiting expectantly for our reactions. "That has got to be worse than magenta!" Annie said, appalled.

Ayame glared. "I don't hear you giving out any suggestions!" she huffed.

Annie looked thoughtful as she sat on the bench to tie her shoelaces. "Higurashi, she won't let you down," she suggested, smirking at Ayame.

"That's for deodorant!" Ayame huffed.

"Well, it's loads better than yours!" Annie snapped, standing up.

"Er...we'll think of something," I said, conciliatorily as Ayame glared.

We left just as the other girls started to come in. As we walked out the door, I couldn't help but notice that some of the girls threw me mixed looks of curiosity and contempt. Some of them whispered, and I felt my cheeks flushing.

"Just ignore them," Sango said. "They're probably just surprised with the way you handled Miroku during lunch—no one's ever stood up to one of the Elite the way you did."

"Yeah, I can imagine," I mumbled.

"Hey, Kagome!"

I looked up. Kouga, Inuyasha, and Miroku had just left the boys' changing rooms. Kouga grinned as he came over. Beside me, Ayame fidgeted nervously, but there was a determined look in her eyes.

"Hey, Kouga," Ayame greeted, somewhat shyly, as Kouga approached.

"Hey," Kouga said, in that same careless tone he sometimes used. He didn't even bother looking at Ayame.

I inwardly growled, annoyed, but forced myself to smile. "So, how's the campaign going?" Kouga asked.

"Er…Ayame and I were thinking of campaign slogans," I said. I tugged on Ayame's arm, and grinned pointedly at him.

"Really?" the wolf demon asked. "So, you guys came up with something?"

"Well, I was thinking—" Ayame began.

"'Cause maybe we could go with, 'With great power comes great responsibility'," Kouga interrupted, grinning at me.

"Planning on ignoring the copyright issues, aren't you?" Annie said snidely, raising her eyebrows.

"Hey, it's a good one!" Kouga snapped.

"Besides," Ayame piped up, not easily discouraged (good job, Ayame!). "I think it's better than your deodorant slogan, Annie."

Annie blushed as Kouga roared with laughter. She glared at Ayame, and Sango let out a long sigh beside me. "Shall I restrain her?" Sango asked me. Annie looked as though she wanted to strangle both Kouga and Ayame.

I laughed as Annie rounded on us. At that moment, Inuyasha and Miroku came over. Miroku looked smug about something, but Inuyasha looked somewhat thoughtful, his eyes fixed on Annie.

"What do we have here?" Miroku said jovially, slinging an arm casually around Kouga's shoulders. "Campaign preparations in full swing, I see!"

Sango growled. "It's none of your business, Miroku," she snapped. Sango was usually a calm and reasonable person—it boggled me as to why Miroku got under her skin so easily.

"My dear Sango!" Miroku said, as though seeing her for the first time. He seized both her hands in his, and she glared. "I'm merely concerned about your friend! Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, after all." He winked at her.

It looked as though Sango wanted to hit him. "Get your hands off me!" she snapped.

"Quite the lively bunch, don't you agree?" Inuyasha suddenly asked me.

With Ayame, Kouga, and Annie fighting on one side, and Miroku and Sango arguing on the other, Inuyasha was pretty much spot on. I laughed. "Not what I was really expecting when I won that scholarship," I said, shrugging.

"I bet you were thinking we were a couple of rich snobs," Inuyasha said. I blushed, and he scoffed (I didn't bother pointing out that he was right). "Well, there are a few of those," he went on. "But everyone here's okay—even Miroku, when he isn't being a pain in the ass."

I giggled. He stared at me for a moment, before clearing his throat. "Anyway," he said, turning to Annie. "Anne, we need to talk, before Sharpe arrives."

Annie pulled away from her argument with Kouga and Ayame, and turned to Inuyasha with a sigh. We watched as she and Inuyasha walked off towards the far side of the gym. "Did he get back to you?" we heard Annie say as they left.

We exchanged glances. I was pretty certain I wasn't the only one wondering what they could possibly be talking about. They'd talked yesterday, and now they were talking today…And they did know each other. Judging by the sounds of it, I think they knew each other before they enrolled at GARA.

A loud slap! suddenly pulled me from my thoughts. I turned, surprised, to find Sango glaring daggers at Miroku, her hand raised menacingly. There was a fresh red handprint on Miroku's cheek.

"I told you to keep your hands off me!" Sango snapped.

/.\./.\./.\./.\

"Well, that was exhausting," Annie complained as we walked back to our quarters. Ayame still had Trig, and she had urged us to go on ahead.

I nodded in agreement as we walked up the porch steps. "My muscles have all seized up." Ms. Sharpe had been relentless—she had asked us to warm up before ordering us to go wall climbing. She had given the humans five minutes to scale the wall, while she gave the demons two. To no one's surprise, only Inuyasha, Miroku, and Kouga came out on top. Sharpe hadn't been pleased.

"Well, if you two had warmed up properly…" Sango trailed off, a grin on her face. Admittedly, PE was never my strong point.

"Whatever," Annie said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, we've got to make Kagome's résumé quick. With any luck, we can hand it in to the Students' Affairs Office, before they close at five."

We entered through the doors to find a small crowd of girls clustered at the center of the lobby. They were making loud noises of admiration—some of them giggled, some of them cooed.

"Now, what?" Sango said.

We made our way through the crowd to find Yuki standing at the center. She was smiling as the girls surrounding her let out a flurry of compliments. And no wonder. There, perched on Yuki's shoulder, was an angel. An actual chibi angel, half a foot tall, with silvery white wings, and flowing white robes. The little angel's hair fell in a violet cascade down her back, and her violet eyes were wide with surprise as she stared at the crowd of girls that surrounded her.

"Isn't she adorable?" a girl cooed.

"I wish I had one!"

"You're so lucky, Yuki!"

"Wait a minute," I said, turning to Sango, who was looking at the tiny angel with adoring eyes. "Does this mean—"

"Yup," Annie said (I wasn't surprised that she seemed immune to the little angel's charm—that was saying something). "Yuki is half-god."

I looked at Yuki, surprised. Though not exactly rare, most half-gods could usually be found in the celebrity business—they're quite popular and coveted, what with having gods for parents and all. The only downside to being a half-god was that their parent god usually left them with their mortal parent to return to the heavens. The god in question actually had no choice in the matter. Once they returned, they usually left a part of themselves with their offspring, in the form of an angel. A half-god's angel was said to be a manifestation of the god's love, and a representation of the half-god's emotions and soul.

"I couldn't leave Ai home this year," Yuki was saying, as her angel flew above her. "She became really miserable last year, and wanted to come this year."

"Isn't that sweet?" one girl said, giggling, as the little angel swooped in front of her and kissed her on the forehead.

"I want to hold her!"

"Er…I'm curious," I said to Yuki. She turned to me and smiled, as the other girls began fussing over Ai, who reveled in the attention. "If you don't mind my asking, who is your parent?"

"I don't mind at all," she said, tucking a short strand of hair behind her ear. "Ama-no-Uzume—she left when I was about eight."

"Oh," I said, suddenly feeling awkward. "I'm…er…sorry."

Yuki shook her head. "Don't be," she said. "I can understand—she had to. Susanoo was pestering her about returning. She had duties to return to, but that didn't mean she didn't care about me." She gestured to her angel, who was currently hovering out of the giggling girls' reach. "As you can see."

Ai suddenly turned to Yuki, and flew into her arms. Yuki giggled as she held her angel close. "Let's go," Annie said, tugging on my arm.

"See you later, Yuki!" Sango called as we headed towards the elevators.

"That was the first time I've actually seen an angel up close," I admitted as the elevator doors closed behind us.

Sango smiled. "There are several half-gods in GARA," she said. "Yuki's the only one in this building. Ares has a son in college—he's quite cocky."

I stared. The thing of it was, all gods were quite real (their existence had actually caused a worldwide pandemonium centuries ago), but they answered to only one god. I was still surprised that there were half-gods in school. Like I said, they usually went where the limelight shone brightest.

"I think it's really sad, that their parents have to leave them," I said.

"Most half-gods I know aren't bothered by it," Sango said. "They're just like Yuki—they understand. Besides…their angels are a mirror of their parents' feelings, as well as their own." Seeing the way Yuki had held Ai close, it wasn't hard to see that their parents did love them.

Annie scoffed. "Yes, yes, wonderful," she said as the elevator doors opened and we stepped out onto our floor. "Now, can we focus on Kagome's résumé?"

. . .

"Now is not the time to be shy about your achievements!" Annie huffed.

We were sitting cross-legged on the floor, around the living room table. We were staring at the screen of Annie's laptop, at the partially completed résumé we'd managed to create in the span of an hour.

Sango was staring thoughtfully at the screen, her eyes intent. "Annie's right, you know," she said. "I'm sure Miroku doesn't have much in the achievement category. The best he probably put was 'Winner of the Playboy Casanova of the Year Award'." She rolled her eyes.

"But," I began. Truth was, I was shy when it came to my achievements. "I don't want to boast."

They stared at me as though I'd gone crazy. "This is politics," Annie said. "You're practically selling yourself. Why not go full out?"

Sango nodded in agreement. "If other people see all your achievements, they might change their minds about you," she said. "You're a logical choice for president, after all."

I hesitated. My mother had always told me to be humble—it was a habit I had since I was a child. I bit my lower lip as Annie pushed the laptop towards me. "Go on," she said.

I sighed as I eased the laptop in front of me. Beside me, I could feel Annie and Sango's eyes widening as I typed.

"Whoa," Sango said, blinking at the screen. "You won the Junior Einstein of the Year award?"

I blushed. "As well as the Aspiring Young Chemist Award?" Annie said, her eyes wide as she stared.

"Ha!" Sango said triumphantly, her finger hovering close the screen. "An award for excellent leadership! That will definitely be nice to use against Miroku."

"Okay, you've reached the second page now," Annie said as I typed on.

"This should be enough, I think," I said as I saved the file.

"Wait," Sango said, raising her eyebrows. Admittedly, I felt a bit flattered at the flabbergasted expression she wore. "You mean...you had more?"

I smiled sheepishly at them. "Right," Annie said. "Now that we've got that out of the way, we need to print this!" She excused herself and took the laptop with her upstairs, where her printer was.

"You know, I really think you'll do well, Kagome," Sango said as we both settled on the sofa. She smiled. "And I'm not just saying it, because we practically forced you to run."

I grinned at her—she had read my mind. "Thanks," I said. "But…well…to be honest, I'm really nervous about the whole thing. I mean—not many people like me. I don't think they'd vote for me."

Sango sighed, her expression thoughtful. "Admittedly, Miroku is tough to beat, just because he's one of the Elite," she said. "But that's the only thing to commend him! You, on the other hand, have got the brains and the attitude. We'll just have to play the campaign right, and people will see you're a better choice. Besides, it helps that we've got Kouga on our side."

I smiled weakly at her. "Thanks," I said. You gotta hand it to her—Sango knew just what to say.

At that moment, a loud riiiing! suddenly screeched through the air. Sango and I turned, surprised, to the iPhone that Annie had left on the table.

I picked it up. It was an unregistered number. "Annie, phone!" I called.

"Answer it, please!" she called out. She sounded extremely annoyed. "Bloody printer ate the bloody paper, and now it's bloody jammed up!"

Stifling a giggle, I answered the phone. "Hello?" I said.

There was a pause. "Ka…gome?" an all too familiar gruff, yet cultured voice said.

I blinked, surprised. "Inu…yasha?" I said. Sango raised her eyebrows, just as taken aback as I was.

"Yeah, hi," Inuyasha said. He sounded a bit awkward…or maybe I was just imagining things. "Listen," he went on. "Er…is Annie there?"

"Annie?" I repeated, and Sango looked even more puzzled.

"Yup," he said. "Good old, Four Eyes Annie."

"Just a moment," I said. Lowering the phone, I looked up towards Annie's room. It sounded as though she was waging a war against the printer, a war that was rife with the sounds of furious British curses (which was surprising—I never took her to be the type to curse). Judging from the sounds, I think the printer was winning.

"Annie!" I called. "It's Inuyasha!"

The British curses abruptly stopped and, a second later, I felt Annie's iPhone wiggling out of my grasp. Startled, I watched as it darted out of my hand and shot towards Annie's room.

"Thank you!" Annie called out as I heard her door close.

"She's telekinetic," Sango said nonchalantly as she reached for the remote on the table. "A common skill, but very useful."

"It's not that," I said, referring to Inuyasha.

"I'm curious, too, Kagome," Sango said, flipping through the channels. "The thing of it is, no matter how many times you ask, if she doesn't want to, Anne won't tell you."

I sighed as I leaned back against the couch. I knew it was none of my business, but I couldn't help but feel a bit…nosy about what they were up to.

"Er…" I said hesitantly as a thought suddenly struck me. "I was wondering…Annie and Inuyasha aren't together, are they?" Wait, why was I even asking that?

Sango stared at me, and then she laughed. "That's a good one, Kagome," she said, giggling. "But, no, I don't think they are. I think Annie's committed to being a spinster." She smiled before she turned back to the flat screen.

I glanced back up towards Annie's room. I shook my head, and forced my attention back to the screen, reminding myself that Pandora got into a hell lot of trouble all because she was too inquisitive.

. . .

Annie's attempts to subdue the printer had been in vain. Scowling heavily, she conceded defeat, and said that we would have to hand in my résumé tomorrow, after we printed it at the library. She didn't mention anything about Inuyasha, and Snago and I had agreed that we wouldn't pester her (being on the receiving end of her infamous temper didn't sound at all appealing).

As Annie, Sango, and I settled on the sofa to watch Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Ayame suddenly strode through the door. Her face was glowing, and she practically glided into the room, obviously high up on cloud nine.

"Someone seems happy," Sango remarked as Ayame closed the door behind her. She was carrying a thick Trigonometry textbook in her arms.

"Kouga walked me back here!" she said, beaming. It was obvious that she had been bursting to say it.

"WHAT?!" we exclaimed. We leaned over the back of the couch. Ayame looked pretty smug, and there was a sparkle in her eyes.

She grinned as she settled herself on the couch, Trig book on her lap. Sango quickly put the volume on mute. "Tell us what happened!" I said excitedly. I couldn't help but cheer—progress!

"Well, he actually did it, because he was hoping to see you, Kagome," she said, and I inwardly flinched. She didn't sound the least bit bitter about it, though.

"Anyway, I just came out of Trig," she went on. "Kouga, Inuyasha and Miroku were just leaving the building. Kouga came over and asked why I was alone, and I told him about my Trig"—her eyes suddenly widened in realization—"Oh, god, I shouldn't have told him about my Trig! Now, he must think I'm stupid, taking it up again because I flunked it!"

"I don't think he really cares about that," Sango said soothingly.

"But what if he thinks dumb girls are such a turn-off?" Ayame wailed, wringing her hands.

"I'm sure he doesn't!" Annie said. Uh...somehow, it sounded a bit wrong to my ears. "Tell us what happened next!"

It took Ayame ten minutes to calm down. "Anyway," she continued, somewhat reluctantly. "So, Kouga asked why I was alone, and I told him about the Trig. He offered to walk me back, because he wanted to ask Kagome something, and because he said he wanted to talk about slogans for the campaign."

"We talked about a lot of possible slogans. He told me Miroku's," she said, suddenly giggling. "His slogan is, 'The best you'll ever have.'"

Sango's eyebrow twitched. "The double meaning is so Miroku," she said, annoyed.

"And what did you guys come up with?" I asked Ayame.

She smiled, and her eyes twinkled. "Your concern is her priority," she said in a formal voice, a finger raised. Her smile widened as she waited for our reactions.

Annie opened her mouth to protest, but I immediately cut her off. "I think it's great!" I said earnestly.

"Really?" Ayame said, practically beaming with pleasure.

Sango nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it shows that you're willing to put them above yourself," she told me. "And it's way better than Miroku's."

"So, we've got a campaign color, we've got a résumé, and we've got ourselves a slogan," Annie said. She turned to me and grinned. "Question is, have we got a president?"

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. "You know I'm in," I pointed out.

Ayame clapped her hands together, her expression excited. "Well, then, full steam ahead!"

/.\./.\./.\./.\

End of chapter.

Sorry it took a while, guys. I've been focusing on my The Reincarnation of Miko Midoriko fic, so I can get it done, and shift my full attention to my other stories. I had a bit of a Writer's block when I wrote the beginning of this fic—still, I hope it turned out swell! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed this story, put it on their favorites, alerts, et cetera. Much appreciated! :D

Review please!