Chapter 33: Testing
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"Pencil's down."
Kagome took a ragged breath, staring at the near-blank page, and feeling the last strands of hope slip away.
At least she had finished the essay, and the third page was mostly filled out, she hoped it would be enough to graduate.
"Please turn your booklets over, this has concluded the second portion of your final exams. Results will be posted at 5 sharp tomorrow morning. It has been a pleasure teaching you all, Arigato."
Facing the class, the administrator for the second exam bowed, her pencil skirt making the bow shallow, but sincere none the less. This time, Kagome got with the program, she turned to receive the test from her peers behind her, almost in sync with the rest of the row she occupied.
"Did you do better this time around, Higurashi-san?"
Turning back around, Kagome met the kind smile from Fujimoto, she allowed her new friend's smile to bring out her own.
"Let's not talk about it, I tensed so much my bones are hurting; how did you do?"
Fujimoto took the papers from her, and passed them onward, "I had some trouble during the history portion, I should have studied harder."
"Well, nothing we can do about it now." She said that more to herself, than the bright-eyed, capable woman in front of her.
Kagome took her time in getting ready to leave, this could by all means be the last time she would be among these wooden tables and stacked chairs. All the other students were chatting amongst themselves, secure in their future, they showed it by making plans to hang out.
In the meantime, here she was, staring out the window into the courtyard.
"Everything okay, Higurash-san?"
Fujimoto had stayed behind to help clear the room, dusting off the board from the last message for their class, being just as perfect as the other girls accused her of being. Kagome had expected her to leave with the last group of active, happy, soon-to-be graduates.
Instead, she stood by bag in hand, waiting for her.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Just got a little nostalgic, these were supposed to be the best years of my life, or so they say."
"Well, were they?"
Looking away from the window, Kagome heaved a huge sigh, letting the tension around her shoulders go with exhalation. "You know what, something tells me, my best years are still ahead of me."
Fujimoto matched her smile, and together, the two girls exited their classroom.
"Kagome!" "Hey, Kagome!" "Kagome-chan!"
With a skip to her step, Kagome collided with the trio as they met outside by the gates, each girl exchanging quick congratulatory hugs. Even Fujimoto, who hadn't spent any lengthy amount of time with the girls, got swept away in one of Ayumi's bear hugs.
"Alright girls, take it in!" Eri inhaled loudly, sweeping her hands out in that dramatic way of hers.
"What exactly are we supposed to take in?" Yuka asked, having to duck to avoid an elbow to the face, with Eri's eccentric displays.
"We are no longer junior school students, after this, it's adulthood all the way Baby!"
"Who's going to tell her, she's got no shot of growing out of the weird faze?" Yuka leaned over, whispering to Fujimoto, who covered her chuckles behind fake coughs.
"We gotta go to WacDnalds! Come on, guys. Everyone bailed yesterday, and today, we actually have something worth celebrating. Please, oh, please can we go?"
Kagome chewed on her bottom lip, chancing a glance at the front gates, where there was no outstretch of limo waiting for her. Inuyasha had said he would be her handler, whatever that meant she was still unsure of, but almost immediately after that he had disappeared.
Shippo was making arrangements for her own place, and as she left for the final exams, the young lad had been the one to drive her to school.
There still were a few hours of school left, being Seniors, those who completed their testing got to go home early.
Maybe Inuyasha would be here at the time the rest of the school got off.
She knew this too, was wishful thinking.
"Well? You can't back out on us again, Kagome."
"Eri is right, you totally left us hanging, although that Stud was defiantly worth it."
"Come on, Kagome. It's been forever since we all hung out last."
Feeling the sweat sliding down her temple, Kagome groaned inwardly at the eager faces from her friends. As a last push, Fujimoto had leaned over, adding her own encouragement.
"I'll go, if you go?"
The smile that broke through Kagome's face agreed before she did, the moment the grin took form, the girls had swarmed on her. It was hard to say no, especially with the promise of bacon burgers, from their nearest WacDnalds shop.
Kagome allowed herself to be dragged around, laughing freely with the other girls, as they retold their favorite school anecdote.
As their reward, the five girls made their way to their favorite ice cream parlor afterward, any reason to keep the day going. Ayumi had taken a liking to Fujimoto, and the two walked ahead of the others, linked in arms, chatting openly. In the meantime, Eri had gotten into one of her rants, talking Ayumi's and her own ears off.
Whenever one of them got too loud, they drew attention from those who walked by, usually just a glance before they moved on. They painted a picture of friendship, and care-free minds, just a group of unsuspecting schoolgirls.
That was the whole point.
Kagome glanced around the high points of the buildings around them, tried to look casual as she surveillance the crowd they were in. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking for, or feeling for, but if what Shippo had said to her this morning, they were expecting something to happen.
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Shippo had sat next to her in the suit out SUV he had piled her into. His hair done in the same, long, unbrushed style she was used to seeing him wear. With the same black suit, no tie, casual but still fancy enough to be equated with the prestige that was working for Sesshomaru.
While they traveled to her neck of the woods, he had given her an odd set of instructions.
"You want me to just... walk?"
"Yep. It doesn't matter where you go, but as soon as you are able, we need you to pick a direction, and just walk."
Swallowing hard, Kagome had peeked at the young man, gauging his calm expression. He looked confident, assured of himself and his plan, but the gun he kept clipped to his side, spoke otherwise.
"Am I... Do I need to get a gun too?"
Shippo cleared his throat, adjusting his suit jacket to fall over his weapon.
"Ehm, no. We don't think anything is going to happen, Naraku is notorious for taking his time plotting, he won't try anything again any time soon."
"So, why am I taking a stroll down Tokyo Lane?"
"Well; we're not omnipotent, and there's always a chance we could be wrong."
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A chance. That's what he had left it at, maybe he had thought it was comforting to hear that, that she would think of it as a one in a million chance and feel secure with it.
However, Kagome hadn't been worried she might get kidnapped again, she was worried that she wouldn't be. If Naraku was still out there, alive, there could be no inner peace for the young woman.
'Maybe... because of them?'
Looking at her friends, both new and old, she wondered if they kept her safe within their number. One girl walking alone is an easy target, five girls is a hassle, maybe too much of a hassle for your modern-day demon.
If that was the case, she needed to separate from them, make herself an enticing target.
"Hey guys, I'll be right back."
"What, no way, where are you going?" Yuka complained, latching onto her arm like her kid brother often did.
"Geez! Calm down, I was just going to do some window shopping."
"We can go with you" Offered Ayumi, joining the bandwagon, by hanging on her other arm.
Her laugh had been unavoidable, Kagome knew she had a soft spot for the three girls, making their antics downright endearing. Any other time she might have given in to their request, dragged their lunch to a dinner celebration, and would have enjoyed herself in the process.
Despite that, she felt as if this was her first mission.
Whether that was true or not, Kagome wanted to do well, more than just well. She wanted to be the one to put the final nail, in Naraku's overdue coffin.
"You know I love you girls; you also know, I can't shop for your Graduation gifts if you guys are glued to my hip like that."
Immediately the girls let go, excited chatter traveling among them, as they speculated on what she would buy, and if they should buy something as well.
Giving quick farewells, Kagome left the four girls to it, while she took the next left turn available.
Walking around, she didn't have a pointed direction to follow, Kagome simply kept taking turn after turn. Delving into back alleys, much like the one she had found Inuyasha in, the sketchier the better. No longer looking at street signs, rather, looking for areas with large vacant spots.
There was no guarantee that those areas had any demon activity, but with no real direction, Kagome kept up her blind searching until the sun began its descent. That was when the first prickle of something began to press against Kagome's senses.
It tickled its way up her spine, like her very own Spidey senses, if Peter Parker needed only twenty seconds to react. The sensation brushed against her side, and just as Kagome turned around, she was face to face with a familiar smile.
"Awck! SHIPPO!" Jumping back, Kagome patted her chest, urging her heart to calm down.
"Did you have fun, Kagome?"
Seeing that playful smile, the one that reminder her so much of her kid brother, she reacted as she would if the young man was her younger sibling. Her hand smacked down on his arm on its own accord, forgetting entirely this was a demon, and not Sota, even if they were the same level of annoyance.
"Don't jump out on me like that!"
Shippo's eyes widened, his hand coming up to rub his arm, shocked beyond belief to come up with a better response.
"You just hit me?!"
"And I'll do it again if you scare me like that!"
"Listen you-!"
"Higurashi-san?"
The concerned voice interrupted their interlude, turning, they both gazed at the schoolgirl that peeked within the mouth of the alley. Recognizing her, Kagome stepped around Shippo, moving to do what she could in terms of damage control.
"Fujimoto! What are you doing here?"
"I thought I saw you, but I wasn't sure... is everything alright, Higurashi-san?"
Seeing the situation through her eyes, Kagome could see why Fujimoto seemed apprehensive, Shippo wasn't the scariest of Sesshomaru's minions, he still created his own intimidating image. Kagome wanted to interfere, she worried over what the story would be, should Fujimoto bring this up to the other girls.
It was Shippo's quick hold on her elbow that kept her where she was. Kagome wanted to tell him that everything was alright, it was just Fujimoto, her new friend. When she saw the subtle twitching of his nose, she knew Shippo in his own way was analyzing the girl in front of him.
Before she could question her stand on the girl, Shippo let go of her arm, giving her a 'go ahead' motion by thrusting his chin out towards Fujimoto. Whether that meant she was safe to trust for now, or in general, Kagome took the fact that her initial distrust of her had indeed been unwarranted, in stride.
Looping her arm through the girls, she gave her a reassuring smile, "I'll see you later okay, Shippo, I'm going to walk my friend to the station."
"Sure thing, Miss Higurashi."
Fujimoto waited until they had turned the corner, walking out into the regular crowd, before turning wide-eyes to her.
"Who was that guy?"
"Oh, he's just a college guide."
"I did hear about that, you've been accepted to an accelerated program, you'll be starting early on your Diploma work."
"Uh, yeah. Just don't ask me anything about it, I literarily have no idea what that even means."
"You're much too modest, Higurashi-san. I'm sure it took lots of hard work, preparation, and research. Had I known there was a program for that, I would have started beginning of my Junior High years, as you surely did."
Rubbing the back of her neck, Kagome mumbled through an acknowledgement, steering them on the quickest path to the nearest station. Fujimoto kept light conversation going throughout their walk, oblivious to Kagome's parted attention, or her constant glances behind them.
When they finally reached the platform, Fujimoto turned towards her, scooping both hands of hers into her own.
"Higurashi-san, I would like to say something to you now."
"Er, sure thing, Fujimoto. What's up?"
"I would like to express my gratitude to you, I only wish I had met you, and the other girls, much earlier. But I am certain, we will be good friends from here on out."
The smile blossomed on its own, Fujimoto was a little odd, but no odder than Yuka on one of her tirades. Kagome could picture her adding a certain elegance to their little group. Fujimoto was certainly that, she was the picture of youth, but carried such a refinement, it was no wonder others shied away from her and her impressive ways.
"I feel the same way"
Fujimoto tugged at her hands, answering her grin with a picture-perfect smile, "I don't have to go home right away, we could hang out longer, if you wanted."
Folding the girl into an easy hug, she didn't take any offence when Fujimoto went rigid, figuring she wasn't a girl to show her emotions easily. It didn't bother any, and with a squeeze, Kagome let the other woman go.
"I would love to, but I left my guide back there. Besides, I'm sure your family is waiting for you to start the celebration!"
Fujimoto took a few steps back, enough to bow formally at her, before waving goodbye.
"Be safe, Higurashi-san!"
Kagome waved after her, wishing she had accepted her offer, she had a feeling Fujimoto was a little sad as she walked away. Before Kagome could think about going after the girl, the same prickling along her skin warned her, same as before, seconds before the hand landed on her.
"Eeep!" Several turned to her, furthering her embarrassment, turning towards the culprit she wasn't surprised to find the same cocky grin of her young 'guide.' "Shippo!"
"Ready to go?"
