InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A New Dream, A New Destiny ❯ Chapter 3

A New Dream, A New Destiny

 

Disclaimer: YYH belongs to Yoshihiro Tagashi; IY belongs to Rumiko Takahashi; I'm neither, pity me!

 

Chapter Three:

 

~*Last Time*~

 

Hiei was the first to ask, “So, did any of you find that girl?”

 

“Iie,” said Yuusuke.

 

“Iie,” Kuwabara repeated.

 

The three of them looked at Kurama when he stayed silent.

*~~~~~*~~~~~*

 

Kurama put up a mask of indifference. “Iie, I didn't find her, either.”

 

Yuusuke and Kuwabara nodded and shrugged. They both put their hands in their pockets and started walking away. Kurama stared after them a second before following them, pleased they had accepted his answer.

 

“Ne, Kurama,” Yuusuke called over his shoulder, grinning, “isn't that the same uniform you had for Junior High?” Yuusuke chuckled when he said this.

 

Then Kuwabara started laughing, “Ah, but Urameshi, Kurama-chan is so kawaii in his pink uniform.” After a short pause, Kurama heard Hiei snicker a few times as well.

 

Kurama merely rolled his eyes and kept walking, causing the other boys to laugh a bit more.

 

“Ah, anyway,” Yuusuke said finally, once he'd composed himself, “I heard Meiou is another one of the school systems implementing that Western class schedule.”

 

“Hai,” Kurama replied. “Are your schools doing that as well?”

 

Yuusuke nodded, “Well, mine is at least. Kuwabara still has the old system at his school.”

 

“From what I understand about this new schedule for you two, Kurama and Yuusuke will have a better chance of being able to find this miko than Kuwabara. Let's hope she's in one of your schools.” Hiei stated.

 

A small drop of sweat trailed its way from Kurama's hairline, down the side of his face. Only Hiei noticed, however, and he decided to say nothing. Kurama was even blocking his Jagan, preventing a mental conversation about what was going on. To Hiei, this clearly meant Kurama wouldn't be telling him anything anytime soon. The Jaganshi narrowed his eyes at the kitsune's back. If Kurama wasn't going to tell him willingly, he would find out for himself.

 

Kurama turned to his friends, “Well, I really need to get home and help kaa-san with dinner.” He started walking away, then turned back to smile and wave. “Ja.” The kitsune-boy then ran off ahead of them, in the direction of his home.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

Mama Higurashi looked up at the sound of the kitchen shoji sliding open. “Oh, Kagome. We weren't expecting you so quickly. Souta said you wouldn't be down for awhile.” The aforementioned boy sat at the kitchen table playing a handheld video game.

 

Kagome glared at her little brother when he grinned at her. `Sooooouuuta… so you got a kick out of that, huh?' As if he could hear her thoughts, Souta suddenly stuck his tongue out at her. Kagome rolled her eyes at him. “Well, I don't know why Souta said that 'cause I'm here now.” The girl smiled brightly and joined her mother in preparing the meal.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

“Kagome-chan! Ne, Kagome-chan!”

 

The raven-haired girl leaned against a building as she waited for Eri and Ayumi to catch up to her on the sidewalk.

 

“Ohayo!” Kagome greeted her friends when they finally reached her.

 

“Ohayo, Kagome-chan,” they greeted together.

 

“So, what did you do at the health shop?”

 

Ayumi looked confused, “Hmm? Health shop?”

 

“Yeah, you know, the reason you left me alone with Ku—Shuuichi-kun yesterday?” Kagome crossed her arms and looked at her friends.

 

Eri elbowed Ayumi and said, “Yeah, you remember, Ayumi-chan. We met Houjou-kun at his family's shop and helped him out?”

 

Ayumi's confused expression became even more confused, then slowly a look of realization dawned on the girl's face, “Hai, hai, I remember now.”

 

Kagome rolled her eyes and shook her head at her friends. `Do they really think that'll convince me?'

 

Just then, Yuka joined the three girls as they walked to school. “Ohayo, minna!”

 

“Ohayo, Yuka-chan,” Kagome said, “I'm so glad you finally got here. I wanted to ask you about your night.”

 

“My night?” the girl questioned.

 

“Hai,” Kagome nodded, “I'd like to know what happened to you after you abandoned me yesterday.”

 

“Abandoned you? What do you mean? I told you we went to meet Houjou-kun.”

 

Kagome laughed a little. “That might have worked if it hadn't been so obvious that you wanted us alone. Not to mention the fact that Ayumi doesn't remember going to the health shop.” Ayumi blushed at these words and smiled sheepishly at Yuka.

 

Yuka let out a long sigh. “Okay, I guess I might as well tell you now. Eri-chan and Ayumi-chan didn't go to the health shop, but I did.”

 

Kagome tried to interrupt, letting Yuka know with a look that that excuse wasn't gonna fly either. Yuka continued talking, however, not letting Kagome interrupt. “I'm not just using this as a lame excuse, Kagome-chan. I really did meet Houjou-kun at his parents' health shop yesterday. I helped him out at the store and then we went out.” Yuka looked at Kagome, tears glistening in her eyes. She hated having to hurt her friend like this, but it couldn't be avoided anymore. The truth had to come out, she couldn't keep hiding it. “K—Kagome-chan, g—gomen nasai. I don't want to hurt you, but I need to tell you that Houjou and I have been going out together for awhile now. That's why I was hoping you and Shuuichi-kun would hit it off.”

 

Kagome stopped walking suddenly, and when her friends looked back at her, she had her head bent to the ground. Her shoulders were shaking. Eri and Ayumi looked from Kagome, to Yuka, and back to Kagome with worried expressions on their faces. They went to console their sobbing friend, only to be utterly bewildered when she suddenly raised her head, showing them she wasn't crying but was laughing hysterically. “Th—That's what… you were so… worried about?!” Kagome gasped out between laughs. Their triplet looks of confusion just spurred her laughter on even more.

 

“Well…” Yuka began, “He was kinda your boyfriend and I stole him from you.”

 

“Oh, please, he was not my boyfriend. I had no interest in him whatsoever. You guys were the ones that pushed him on me.” Kagome disagreed, shaking her head.

 

“Really?” Yuka asked hopefully.

 

Kagome nodded and smiled, “Hai, really. If you like him, I'm happy for you two.”

 

Yuka breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, well let's get going to school now. We'll be late soon.” All four girls quickly made their way towards their school.

 

“So,” Eri began as they walked, “How did things go with Shuuichi-kun, anyway?”

 

Kagome groaned. “Don't ask.”

 

“Why? What happened? He didn't do anything indecent, did he?”

 

Kagome thought back to their last encounter, remembering the quick passionate kiss he'd surprised her with and the sultry tone his voice and eyes had taken. She felt herself begin to blush and cursed to herself. “Just… don't ask.”

 

“Well, did he ask you out?” Ayumi asked.

 

“Not really,” Kagome replied, sounding unconcerned.

 

“He's probably the cutest guy in our grade! In the whole school, for that matter, really!” Ayumi exclaimed. “Plus, he really looked like he liked you. Don't you want him to ask you out?”

 

“Nope.” Kagome answered.

 

“Aww, Kagome-chan, you two make such a cute couple! I know you like him, so why won't you give him a chance?” Yuka insisted. The girl then thought of something and frowned at her friend. “You're not still hung up on that two-timer, are you? I know you were hurt when he went back with his old girlfriend, but—”

 

Kagome cut her off before she could stir up too many old memories, “It's not that, okay, Yuka-chan?”

 

“But—”

 

“Let's just drop it, okay? We need to get to class anyway.” Sure enough, the girls had made it to the front steps of their school without noticing. As a light rain started, Kagome quickly walked ahead of them, hurrying to get her school slippers on and make it to class before she was late… and before her friends could catch up to her.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

“Did you hear? Some of those outsider girls walked home with Shuuichi-kun yesterday.”

 

“What? Are you serious? Which girls?”

 

“I heard they were from Takahashi Junior High.”

 

“Yeah, two of them are in my homeroom. They didn't even know who he was yesterday, and suddenly they're walking home with him?!”

 

The hallways of Meiou High School were a-buzz with gossip of its star freshman student's sudden interest in the `outsiders', as many of the students that attended Meiou their whole school career called students from other schools. The reactions ranged from shock, to jealousy, and even anger; nowhere on the reaction scale was there room for friendly feelings. Many of the girls had pined for the beautiful, polite, genius redhead their entire school life, receiving no reward other than the occasional polite smile and perhaps a soft-spoken greeting; yet, in one day, four girls from Takahashi Junior High had caught his interest. Girls that, until yesterday, apparently didn't even know he existed!

 

As Nori and her followers walked through the halls, parting the sea of gossiping students, she took in every whispered rumor with sharp ears and narrowed eyes. She and her girls made their way to the freshman washroom for their morning ritual of checking their hair and makeup, herding out any remaining bathroom occupants quickly before locking the door to their chosen `office.' Once they were sure the room was secure, they could talk freely. Sure, they gossiped as much as anyone else, maybe even more so, but Nori's girls weren't your average, everyday school rumor mill. They had a purpose and their information was highly coveted and privileged.

 

“Is it true what they're saying, Nori-chan?” one of the cluster asked once it was safe.

 

“Yeah, did Shuuichi-kun really walk those girls home yesterday?” another piped up.

 

“No way, he wouldn't go for outsiders, would he? They're below him!” yet another added.

 

“He's a genius, there's no way he'd be interested in outsiders that can barely read and write!”

 

The girls continued on in this manner, asking to know and voicing their own opinions and speculations instead of waiting for the answer. Their busty blonde leader let all their questions wash over her as she stood there steaming, mouth twisted into a scowl and eyes practically slits. She already knew what had happened, and she was not happy. Not one little bit.

 

“A-ano… minna…” the pink-haired Katsuki suddenly squeaked shyly. Her hesitant voice was lost in the rest of the chatter though. She looked to Nori, who looked like she could kill, back to the crowd, and then to her feet.

 

Then another girl, the only other girl that wasn't chattering away, came up behind Katsuki and put her hand on her shoulder. “Did you have something you wanted to tell us, Katsuki-chan?”

 

Katsuki turned her head to see Shizuka, Nori's best friend, cousin and Vice President of their chapter of the Minamino Shuuichi fanclub. The tall, grayish-purple-haired girl was normally very quiet, in fact she rarely spoke unless it was important, and always wore a smile on her face. Yet, the few times she ever bothered to say anything, everyone stopped to listen. Not only because she was Nori's best friend and cousin, but because they knew what was hidden behind her ever-present smile. When Shizuka meant business, her eyes opened and became serious, her expression turned from warm to determined, and whatever she wanted to happen did. Currently, her eyes were still closed in their usual manner as her smile was still plastered to her face; the room was quiet; mission accomplished.

 

Katsuki smiled meekly, her eyes filled with appreciation as she answered, “H-hai, Shizuka-senpai.”

 

Shizuka smiled a little broader, if that was even possible, and squeezed Katsuki's shoulder gently in reassurance. “Katsuki-chan, how many times have I told you, you do not need to call me `senpai'. We are in the same grade, even if I am a few months older than you, and we are friends. Ne, just call me Shizuka-chan. After all, you call Nori-nee-chan `Nori-chan'.”

 

“Sh-Shizuka-senpai, I could never—”

 

Shizuka held up her index finger and shook her head; the only action needed to cut off Katsuki's words.

 

“Okay… Shizuka…chan…”

 

“Arigatou, Katsuki-chan,” The purple-haired girl said appreciatively with a nod of her head. “Now, please, tell us what you were going to say.”

 

Katsuki blushed shyly under the older girl's attention, but obediently continued, “H-hai, well… I think I can answer some of the questions you all have about Shuuichi-senpai and those girls.”

 

The remaining group of about eight girls let out a collective gasp and resumed their barrage of questions, this time directed to the short, pink-haired girl instead of their still-brooding blonde leader.

 

“Eeto… ano… that is…” Katsuki tried.

 

“Just spit it out, Hino!” one of the girls hissed.

 

“H-hai… well… I followed Shuuichi-senpai yesterday. Nori-chan asked me to, since Shuuichi-senpai and I live near each other anyway. He didn't go straight to his house, though, but I decided to keep following anyway.”

 

“So, it's true he walked those girls home yesterday then?” the same girl asked.

 

Katsuki shook her head, then stopped and nodded slowly, “It's true he walked with them, but he didn't take them home. They went to lunch and three of the girls left without him. Shuuichi-senpai stayed there awhile longer with the fourth girl, though. When they finally left, they didn't go home then either…” Katsuki glanced over at Nori to see how her friend was dealing with hearing this all over again. She'd already called her the night before to tell her what happened, and the fact that Nori looked like she could literally have steam coming out of her ears did not encourage Katsuki's continuation.

 

Once again, however, Shizuka encouraged the shy girl to go on, with another reassuring shoulder squeeze and nod.

 

“I… I tried following them after they left, but they were walking all over the city and eventually I lost them in a crowd. I tried to look for them and figure out where they were going, but it was getting late and I had to get home before my parents worried. So, I don't know what they did exactly after their lunch, but they were holding hands the entire time.” Katsuki nervously clutched her hands together against her chest, and held her head up to see the reaction to her news. As she expected, everyone in front of her had looks similar to Nori's.

 

Finally, their blonde leader spoke up, “And…? Katsuki-chan, don't leave out the most important part. Who was the girl Shuuichi-kun was with?” Nori already knew from their phone call the previous night, but she preferred Katsuki give all the information herself.

 

Katsuki nodded, understanding this, and faced her fellow club members again, “Sheis one of the girls from Takahashi Junior High. She's in Nori-chan's and my homeroom. Higurashi Kagome.”

 

“Okay girls, now you know,” Nori announced, finally coming out of her silence, “So it is your sworn duty to keep an eye on these outsider girls, especially Higurashi. Katsuki-chan and I know what she looks like since she's in our homeroom. In fact, just yesterday Katsuki-chan introduced herself in friendly fashion…” Nori glared at the smaller girl as she spoke this, who in turn blushed hotly. “However since most of you probably have no clue who she is, you'll have to pay extra attention to the new people in your classes today and tomorrow. There's really nothing special about her. She has long black hair with bangs, light complexion, and some of the ugliest brown loafers I've seen outside of school. Katsuki-chan did notice that she has blue eyes, which is a bit odd, so that might help you spot her. I have no information on her yet, so anything worthwhile you can dig up will be rewarded. Remember, until we have all the information, we make no obvious moves against her.”

 

Most everyone nodded, though Shizuka merely kept smiling from behind Katsuki. “Ne, minna, thank you all and have a great day.” Shizuka said in her smooth purr as she moved to unlock the door for them. She gave one more reassuring squeeze to Katsuki's shoulder as the younger girl left, then closed the door once more and turned back to Nori.

 

“Ne, Nori-nee-chan, this really has you upset. You've never been so quiet for a morning meeting before,” Shizuka purred in concern.

 

“I know… it's just… how can he do this, Shizu? How can he go with some dumb outsider girl when I'm right here? His female genius counterpart, who can complete him! I've worked so hard to be ahead in everything that matters to him. I've been second only to him for the past three years, and I intend to keep it that way through high school. I'm the most sought-after girl in our grade. I'm always having to turn down dates from most of the other boys. Yet, not once has he taken any recognition of me! What's so special about this dumb Higurashi?”

 

Shizuka wrapped her arms around her cousin from behind, setting her head on Nori's shoulder as they both stared into a mirror. Her eyes opened slightly to reveal soft teal irises as she became serious to reassure her cousin, “Ah, nee-chan, do not fret. As you said, we have no information yet. Perhaps their relationship is completely different from what it seems.” Once again, Shizuka's eyes closed as her smile returned, “Ne, maybe they are cousins.”

 

Nori stared at her smiling cousin in the mirror, thinking it over. Yes, perhaps she was right. After all, Nori may be the top in her class through all her hard work, but Shizuka was the true genius of the family. Not only in academics, but in anything she tried she had a natural ability; and especially in reading people. A true tensai, she was. Hell, hadn't she just known exactly what to say to placate Nori?

 

Shizuka must have read Nori's agreement on her face. Or, perhaps she felt the tension leave Nori's body, since Nori wasn't sure how she ever saw anything with her eyes closed like that. Either way, Shizuka then said, “Ne, Nori-nee-chan, I am glad you agree. We will take our time and learn all we can. We will not give up on getting Shuuichi-kun for you just yet.” She gave her slightly shorter cousin another good squeeze in her embrace and let her go so they could both make it to their first class on time.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

The school day for Kagome was rather uneventful. Other than the odd whispering that seemed to stop whenever she entered a room, and the weird way everyone seemed to be watching her, that is. She'd tried to hear what they were saying, knowing it surely must have been about her, but the most she could catch before they noticed her was a word here and there. Still, considering the words she did hear were things such as `Shuuichi-kun,' `Minamino-san,' `Takahashi girl,' and `couple,' she could guess what they were talking about and found herself repeatedly rolling her eyes discreetly. She was relieved that she seemed to have no classes with Kurama at all so far, and hoped it would remain that way the rest of the day and all of tomorrow as well. Perhaps, if no one saw them together in school, and if she could figure out how to avoid him outside of school as well, the rumor mill would die down and she could once again have the peace she so craved.

 

The way the new system was set up, Kagome's classes were split between two days. The alternating days were classified as either blue or red days, since those were the school colors (which made Kagome laugh, realizing the boys' pink uniforms were actually supposed to be red, but somehow through the years the uniform tailor the school went through had started using a sort of magenta red, which really was more pink than anything). On blue days, like today, Kagome had Math, Geography, Science, lunch, Study Hall in her homeroom, English, and Art. On red days, she had Japanese Language, Home Ec., Japanese History, lunch, Study Hall, Japanese Literature, and Health & P.E.

 

Currently, Kagome was finishing up lunch with her friends in the cafeteria. She had spent most of the time keeping an eye out for Kurama, hoping he wouldn't approach her during lunch, and had missed most of what her friends had been talking about. So far, she hadn't seen any sign of Kurama, and as there were only a few minutes left of lunch, she figured he must've taken his lunch somewhere else. She finally let herself relax and tuned back in to her friends' idle chatter.

 

“…I said no, that we were already friends so I didn't need to be in his fanclub. I thought they would probably not want to talk to me after that, especially when the one girl gave me this mean look, but then they started asking me questions about our old school.” Kagome caught the tail end of whatever Eri had been saying, and figured she knew what they were talking about, though she had no idea how the subject had turned from the rain outside to the ridiculous fanclub that seemed to practically stalk Kurama.

 

“Hmm, yeah, that happened to me too,” Yuka was saying, “but did you notice anything weird about their questions?”

 

“Other than the fact that they seemed so interested in our old school, when their expressions showed they could care less?” Eri asked in a mildly sarcastic tone.

 

Yuka rolled her eyes, “Well, obviously. But, didn't it seem like they were trying to steer their questions towards Kagome-chan? They specifically asked if I knew her, if we were friends, what her grades were like in Junior High… it was really weird.”

 

Finally, Kagome was interested in the conversation. “They were asking about me?! What did you tell them?”

 

Yuka shrugged, “I said, yes I was your friend, your best friend, and if they wanted to know more about you, they could ask you themselves.”

 

Eri nodded emphatically, “I basically said the same thing, and when they couldn't get any more out of me, they quit talking to me.”

 

Kagome turned to her quieter friend, “What about you, Ayumi-chan?”

 

Ayumi was wearing an embarrassed, slightly guilty expression that had Kagome worried. The naïve girl most likely answered whatever questions they asked, and Kagome was sure the questions at their core weren't as innocent as they seemed. She didn't have much to base that judgment on, of course, but this sudden interest in her, combined with the weird looks and whispering all morning, just gave her that feeling. It was a feeling that made her feel slightly queasy and she found she couldn't finish her food.

 

Ayumi looked down at the remains of her meal, looking a bit nauseous herself, and pushed it away before answering Kagome. “I-I thought the questions were harmless. She said she was in your homeroom and thought you seemed nice, and she just wanted to know a bit about you so she could talk to you more comfortably. I told her how the four of us have been friends since we were little, told her our favorite subjects, how happy we all were to get into Meiou together, especially after Kagome having a tough time in school last year, what with all your illnesses. She was really interested in your illness and wanted to hear all about it. I couldn't remember everything you'd had, so I just told her that it had been really bad for you and how happy I was that you're all better now. She seemed like she had more questions, but that's when the sensei finally started class, so we didn't really talk anymore after that.”

 

At the mention of her `illnesses' Kagome felt even more sick, and almost laughed out loud at the idea that her running to the bathroom right now would not only worry her friends, but cause the ever-present whispering to not only continue, but grow worse. She wasn't sure what would be worse; everyone being jealous, thinking she and `Shuuichi-kun' were a couple, or everyone thinking he just felt sorry for the poor, sick Higurashi girl.

 

Kagome took a deep breath and tried to relax. She tried to smile at Ayumi to ease the girl's own distress at possibly doing something wrong. “Do you know who it was that was asking all that, Ayumi-chan?”

 

“I think it was… Hino. Hino Katsuki.”

 

“Oh, I know her,” Kagome realized. “She seems like a nice girl. Maybe it's not too bad, Ayumi-chan.”

 

Ayumi looked relieved and ate a bit more of her food, though she still didn't finish all of it.

 

As the girls cleared their table and wiped it clean, Yuka asked, “Kagome-chan, have you had any classes with Shuuichi-kun yet?”

 

“Iie,” the girl answered simply.

 

“No? I hope you have at least one class with him. It would be sad if you didn't get to see him at all during school. He and Ayumi-chan are in Advanced Math together.”

 

Kagome groaned audibly, both at the mention of the boy she was hoping to avoid, and her most-hated subject, math.

 

“What's wrong, Kagome-chan?”

 

Kagome sighed, “Nothing, Yuka-chan, just… can we change the subject?”

 

“Oh… sure, Kagome-chan,” Yuka obliged her friend. “Well, anyway, he and I had Lit together this morning, too. He's so well-spoken and well-read, Kagome-chan, no wonder everyone loves him! Even the sensei was ecstatic to have him in the class!”

 

“Yuka-chan!” Kagome exclaimed, gaining quite a few extra stares as she and her three friends were exiting the cafeteria among the other students. She lowered her voice to just above a whisper and spoke heatedly, “I thought you were going to change the subject!”

 

Yuka looked at her confused for a moment, then replied, “I thought you meant you didn't want to talk about math. You don't want to talk about Shuuichi-kun? Why not?”

 

Kagome once again groaned. It was beginning to be her standard reply to her friends lately. “Yuka-chan… can we not get into this right now? I have to get to my homeroom.” Kagome waved to her friends and quickly lost herself in the surrounding crowd, making it safely to her homeroom before the three girls were able to catch up to her.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

When Katsuki entered her homeroom, Higurashi Kagome was already at her desk with her math book open. Katsuki once again took the seat to Kagome's left and quietly got out a book she planned to read during their study time. Instead of reading right away, however, Katsuki was supposed to ask Kagome a few questions.

 

Katsuki had found out from the Ayumi girl quite a bit about Kagome, at least much more than any of Nori's girls had known that morning. But there were still quite a few pieces missing from the information. Kagome's best subject was history, her worst and least favorite was math. She'd missed a lot of school, and her friends were not only surprised by her passing the entrance exam to Meiou, but they hadn't even expected her to graduate junior high with them. These circumstances alone surrounding the girl were highly suspicious.

 

Not only that, though. Nori and Katsuki and most of the fangirls from their group had just witnessed the strange little scene between Kagome and that Yuka girl in the cafeteria. Yuka had been talking about Shuuichi, evidently, and Kagome got really mad at her. She told her to change the subject and that she didn't want to get into it. `Get into what, I wonder?' Katsuki wondered, genuinely curious. `What exactly would you be getting into if you talked about Shuuichi-senpai, Kagome-chan? Is there history there?' Nori had wondered the same thing, specifically telling Katsuki to see if, perhaps, Shuuichi-senpai and Kagome-chan were related at all.

 

Instead of questioning Kagome like she was supposed to, though, Katsuki found herself watching the raven-haired girl next to her work on some homework she must've already been assigned that morning.

 

She watched Kagome's brow crease with a frown as she tried to figure out the formula required for a problem. Kagome would write something, tap her pencil a few times as she stared at what she had written, erase what she wrote, and stick the eraser end of her pencil against her bottom lip as she read the problem in the book again. Then her eyes would light up as she seemed to realize the solution, and a look of determination would cross her face as she would finally write down her complete answer and move to the next problem.

 

Katsuki was so enthralled watching her strange homework habits, `I wonder if she realizes she has so many nervous ticks, or if it's simply because it's math she's working on,' that she completely forgot about her `assignment' from Nori. She remembered, only too late, when the blonde girl once again took a seat behind her and shoved her fingertips into the back of Katsuki's shoulder to get her attention and let her know she wasn't happy with her inattention. Katsuki looked back at her with a look of apology in her eyes, turned back to face the front again, and began reading her book. The questioning she'd planned for Kagome would have to wait, since Nori did not seem to be able to stand even the idea of having to listen to Kagome talk about herself. In fact, Katsuki was sure if it wasn't for Nori's insistence on sitting with her anytime they were in a class together, Nori would've been nowhere near the raven-haired girl right now.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

Kurama couldn't believe his bad luck today. First, he'd almost been late to school since he'd noticed Hiei was trailing him. He tried to lose the fire youkai, knowing full well why his small friend was following him and not wanting him to find out about Kagome yet. However, Hiei was the fastest person he knew in all of the three worlds besides himself, and Kurama knew the only reason he'd been able to lose him was because Hiei had decided to let him go. Of course, not before it started to rain. Luckily, the rain wasn't heavy and Kurama managed to only have wet hair and shoulders by the time he reached Meiou High.

 

Second, Kurama had no classes whatsoever with Kagome today. He had hoped he could at least see her during lunch, but then the Principal, Yoshida-sensei, had approached him and asked if he would mind eating his lunch in his office so they could discuss a few things for the coming school year.

 

Apparently, Minamino Shuuichi's genius reputation had preceded him and Yoshida-sensei was excited at the prospect of adding his name to their prestigious list of private tutors for the school. Kurama had tried to get out of it, saying he didn't think he'd have time, but Yoshida-sensei just wouldn't let him say no. He insisted Shuuichi could make his own schedule, and that he would be paid by the students' families. Finally, Kurama agreed just to get out of the enthusiastic man's office. However, that was just the beginning of what he'd intended to discuss with his new star student.

 

Yoshida-sensei was also looking forward to seeing Shuuichi participate in a few of the academic clubs and discussed the possibilities of him running for an office in the student government as well. After all was said and done, Kurama barely had twenty minutes left of Study Hall when he finally left Yoshida-sensei's office.

 

He saw Yuka in homeroom, and had had classes with her and Ayumi that morning, but neither of those girls was the one he really wanted to see and talk to. He knew Kagome was still wary of him from Yuka's initial reaction to him when he'd asked her about Kagome that morning. Yuka had practically given him the inquisition about what exactly happened between him and her friend, and what his true intentions were. He'd decided to play it safe, skipping over anything the girl might consider indecent for just meeting someone, hoping Kagome hadn't told them everything, and simply told her he was honestly interested in Kagome.

 

In fact, Kurama for a second even considered asking the girl for help in getting Kagome, but thought better of it when he realized how involved Yuka would probably want to be. Yuka was definitely one that loved to meddle, and he knew she would probably do enough of that on her own, without him giving her free reign to butt into his and Kagome's personal life.

 

After school ended, and Kurama still hadn't had any classes with Kagome, he held hope that he would at least be able to walk with her and her friends. Yet, even that idea was shot when he realized he had Sougi duty that day, and Kagome did not. Yuka offered to wait for him, but Kurama politely refused. He was sure that, no matter how much Yuka and the other girls pleaded, Kagome would refuse to wait to walk with him, anyway. Yuka still insisted she would try to get Kagome to wait, but Kurama found his assumption had been correct when he went to change out of his school slippers and found Yuka had left him a simple note on the cubby his shoes were in: “Sorry, Shuuichi-kun, we tried. ~ Yuka-chan.” Once he traded shoes and went to leave, he was met with, not the girl he'd hoped to see all day, but yet another group of his personal stalkers.

 

This time it wasn't Mika's gang of annoying, yet usually polite girls; it was a few of the more obnoxious fangirls from Nori's group. Kurama had come to recognize the animosity between the two `fanclubs,' especially in the past year, and knew he would almost always trade any of Nori's girls for Mika's simply because of their attitudes and straightforwardness. Granted, Mika had practically glued her body to him the previous day on the school steps, but for the most part that was more something Nori's girls would do than Mika's followers. Around Nori's girls, the boy occasionally had the feeling they wouldn't be above trying to corner and molest him if they got the urge. Though Kurama had the utmost confidence in his ability to get out of any such situation if need be, the thought of it still made him wary around them.

 

Kurama excused himself from the girls quickly, luckily before any of them really realized he was escaping, and left the school grounds immediately to meet up with the guys at Yuusuke's home as they had planned. He realized after a few minutes that at least one of the girls had caught up to him and was following him, but he was able to lose her easily before he reached Yuusuke's.

 

Everything added up to put Kurama in a bit of a sour mood by the time he reached the human boy's apartment. And to top it all off, it started to rain again when he was halfway there. Kurama normally didn't mind the rain, in fact he usually quite enjoyed it, but today it just seemed to be mocking him. Plus, this time, it was a downpour. Kurama was soaked by the time he reached the end of the block he was on.

 

“Damn, Kurama, did you just get dragged outta the river?” Yuusuke laughed at the redheaded kitsune when he entered his apartment. Kurama didn't bother replying to the boy, but glared at him through dripping, blood-red bangs. Yuusuke did have the courtesy to bring him a towel, and even lent Kurama some dry clothes, though the youkai was sure it was mostly due to the fact that Yuusuke didn't want to hear it from his mom later about their carpet and furniture being wet.

 

Kurama had to suppress Youko's reactions to their miserable day as he tried to deal with a few more jokes at his expense from the two human boys in the house. Hiei, as usual, pretended to be indifferent, though Kurama could tell Hiei was also amused at Kurama's current condition. It didn't help that the clothes Yuusuke had lent him were ill-fitting, with the pants leaving a bit of his leg above his ankles exposed while the t-shirt he wore seemed two sizes too big, at least.

 

Kurama treated his friends to a rare scowl as they continued in their amusement. Finally, Yuusuke seemed to realize Kurama would need at least some dignity for them to actually conduct any serious business as they needed to. The black-haired boy found a yukata for his kitsune friend and let him trade the street clothes for what he knew would be more comfortable to the youkai. Then the four boys finally settled in for their meeting of sorts.

 

Their conversation went much as it had the previous night, though this time Yuusuke contacted Botan to give Reikai an update on their progress. Botan had cheerily thanked them and informed them Koenma was unavailable for their report, but that she would give him the update personally when he was back in the office. When their business was done, and they'd been given no other alerts or assignments, the tantei once more headed in their separate directions. Kuwabara went to meet his `gang' at the arcade, Yuusuke went to `study' with Keiko, Kurama changed back into Yuusuke's street clothes, carrying his wet uniform in a plastic bag as he went home to meet his mother when she came home from work, and Hiei, well…

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

Hiei had left Kurama in peace the night before, out of rare courtesy he showed only the kitsune. However, in the morning he decided Kurama had had enough time keeping whatever it was to himself. He waited for Kurama to leave for school and followed the redhead, hoping something in his daily activities would tip him off to what the big secret was.

 

Hiei figured it must have something to do with the miko they were searching for, since Kurama seemed so awkward when they were on the subject the night before. Had he found the girl and just not told them? But what possible reason could there be to keep her identity a secret? Perhaps it was something else then… but what, Hiei really had no idea. It was the first time in a long time that Kurama purposely left Hiei in the dark about his intentions or reasoning for anything.

 

So, irritated by the kitsune suddenly shutting him out, Hiei followed him that morning as he walked to school. However, Kurama had, of course, been able to immediately sense the fire apparition, and the two were quickly on a chase as the redhead tried in vain to lose his quick friend. Finally, Hiei grew frustrated with his friend's actions and let him go to school on his own.

 

That didn't mean Hiei would let it drop, though. After he let Kurama have a good enough lead, Hiei once again headed towards Meiou High School. All day, he kept watch on the school, occasionally catching glimpses of Kurama through the windows. He really wanted to go into the school and follow him that way, but that was one line the spiky-haired youkai still would not cross. Willingly placing himself amongst throngs of teenaged ningen simply to satisfy his frustrating curiosity would be utterly ridiculous.

 

When Kurama left school, Hiei watched as he fled from a group of girls that were calling after him in their screechy onna voices, “Shuuichi-kun!” Kurama had ignored them and probably thought he'd escaped, but Hiei saw one girl from the group, the shortest girl with pink hair, slink along behind Kurama at a good pace. The girl seemed to know what she was doing, and Hiei realized she'd probably done this before many times. He was just beginning to feel sorry for his friend for having to deal with such annoyances, when Kurama seemed to realize the girl was there and quickly lost her.

 

Smirking at his friend's actions despite himself, Hiei sped on ahead to make it to Yuusuke's well before the kitsune, and the rain.

 

When their meeting ended, Hiei decided to throw all subtlety out and straight out ask Kurama what he was hiding. So, shortly after Kurama arrived home, well before he expected Shiori home, and changed into his own clothes, Hiei tapped on Kurama's bedroom window.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

Kurama knew Hiei was following him. He'd known he was watching him all day, in fact. When Kurama stepped into his apartment, he quickly threw off his shoes and went to his room to change, knowing the fire apparition would be waiting outside his window.

 

Sure enough, as soon as Kurama had replaced Yuusuke's borrowed clothes with his own, the tap he'd been expecting came on the windowpane. Kurama opened the window for the spiky-haired youkai and allowed him entrance to his room.

 

“You know, Hiei, you're perfectly welcome to use the front door.”

 

Hiei merely glared at Kurama in answer. Kurama had a feeling the glare had nothing to do with the front door vs. bedroom window issue. He sighed and took a seat on his bed, silently offering his friend to sit wherever he'd like. Hiei chose to remain standing by the window.

 

After a few minutes of neither of them saying anything, Hiei's voice cut through the silence. “Well?!”

 

Kurama smiled confusedly, “Well, what?”

 

Hiei glared at the innocently confused expression his friend wore. “You know perfectly well what, kitsune. Don't insult me by thinking what works for the humans will work for me. I can tell you've been hiding something.”

 

Kurama's fake smile continued. “I have no idea what you're talking about. What reason would I have for hiding anything?”

 

“Only you can answer that, kitsune. You're the one blocking me out.” Hiei tapped the middle of the cloth covering the Jagan eye in his forehead, indicating his meaning to Kurama. Then he crossed his arms, waiting for Kurama to give up his charade.

 

Kurama was torn. He had promised Kagome he wouldn't tell, and he was a man of his word, but to keep it from Hiei like this didn't feel right. Right now, though, there was no getting around it. He couldn't betray Kagome's trust. Kurama looked at his glaring friend and sighed, closing his eyes with a nod of defeat. “I'm sorry, Hiei. You're right, I shouldn't have even tried to lie to you, but, I'm sorry, I can't tell you right now. I made a promise.”

 

Hiei scowled at the redhead a minute longer. He didn't like being kept in the dark by his friend, but at least he wasn't lying to him anymore. Finally, Hiei decided to accept this for now, knowing Kurama wouldn't keep things from him without having a good reason. He arched a brow at Kurama, “Hn, at least tell me, it concerns the miko we're looking for, doesn't it?”

 

Kurama merely smiled, “Why, Hiei, I've no idea what you mean.”

 

Hiei smirked at his friend, “Okay, kitsune, I trust you to tell me when you can.” Then he thought to himself, `But that doesn't mean I can't figure it out on my own.'

 

Kurama understood the meaning between the lines and accepted that Hiei would keep it to himself even if he managed to find out for himself. He nodded once as Hiei disappeared back out the window.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

“You are my goal now. I am drawn to you Kagome, and I know you are drawn to me as well. We shared a dream that was more than a dream, this mark proves it. That cannot be mere coincidence.”

 

Kagome looked at him, her mouth dropping open slightly in protest, but he cut off anything she might've said when he dropped his lips to hers. He held her face in his hands, running his fingers through her silky, though slightly damp, hair as he pressed more firmly against her. He wrapped one arm around the back of her waist, pulling her body against him as he coaxed her mouth open with his tongue. Kagome forgot about all her protesting and completely surrendered to his strong arms and delicious tongue. Almost as soon as he'd gained entrance to her mouth, however, he ended the kiss and leapt out the window.

 

Kagome woke yet again in a light sweat, breath coming in soft, yet ragged huffs, as she had the same dream for the second night in a row. Ever since that day they'd finally met, she'd tried to push all thoughts of Kurama out of her head, but it wasn't working. She'd dreamt of that first day and all that had happened two nights in a row now.

 

Even today, though she hadn't seen a glimpse of him, she hadn't been able to escape the redhead all day. He was always on her mind. Kagome tried to argue that it was only because she was making sure he wouldn't bother her, then realized she was arguing with herself, so what was the point. And she couldn't deny that, though she sighed a breath of relief when she found out from Yuka that he had sougi duty, part of why she'd been holding her breath was that she'd been expecting to finally see Kurama after all. Part of her wanted to see him.

 

`I do want to see him,' Kagome thought again as she sprinted through the rain for the last block to her family's shrine, realizing she'd just been wondering if Kurama had had to walk in the rain and if he was okay. Wait, that wasn't right, was it? No, he could take care of himself, and she was glad he wasn't there to bug her and make her feel things again. She really didn't want these constant thoughts of him, of their shared kisses, the feel of his hand on hers and his youki teasing the innermost sparks of reiki she contained. Really, she really didn't.

 

She wanted no thoughts of youkai and reincarnated priestesses and intertwined destinies. So she'd shared a dream with a complete stranger. Yes, it was strange, especially considering she'd come out of the dream with a very real reminder of it on her neck, but that didn't really mean anything, right? Sure, it was weird, and probably wouldn't happen to any `normal' people, but she'd come to terms long ago that she was nowhere near normal, however much she wished she was.

 

No, she wasn't normal, but she would live as close to it as she possibly could. `Normal. And that means, no weirdness. No reiki, no youkai, no other worlds or times that need saving. And definitely,definitely no synchronized dreams that supposedly prove my connection to anyone involved in those things, either.' Deciding to ignore the fact that the dream had already happened, and to ignore what Kurama thought of their intertwined destinies because of it, Kagome laid back down to try to sleep again.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

Kurama wore a determined look as he walked to school the next morning. He'd had a rather disheartening day yesterday, but today was a new chance. A fresh start. The rain had washed everything away last night, and he was sure today would be much better. He would see Kagome, he would convince her to give him a chance. At least, if nothing else, he would convince her to be friends, though settling for that alone did not sit well with Youko. The silver fox, however, agreed with the redhead that they should take things slowly with the young miko, in order not to scare her off further.

 

The situation was delicate after all, and they still had no idea why the girl had suddenly gone on the defensive the other night. Kurama and Youko were convinced, though, that if they gave her enough time Kagome would eventually open up to them.

 

Entering his first class of the day, Kurama frowned only slightly when he saw that, yet again, his classroom was lacking the one girl he couldn't get off his mind. `Frowned only slightly' because he still held hope for the rest of his day.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

Kagome let out the breath she was once again holding as she entered her classroom for her third period class: Japanese History. She thought it was ironic that just two days before she'd been hoping to see him, yet today she was glad she still hadn't. Just as she was settling in for class to start, she noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to see what it was, getting a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach as a mixture of excitement, surprise, and extreme unease rushed through her. She felt his youki before she saw him.

 

“Kagome,” he greeted, smiling at her shocked expression.

 

Kagome's face went from shocked to glaring immediately. “Shuuichi-kun,” she greeted through her clenched teeth, remembering to use his ningen name. She kept her eyes on him as he took a seat in the desk to her right, still not sure if she could trust him.

 

“I'm happy to see you again, Kagome. I hoped we would have a class together.”

 

“That makes one of us,” the girl remarked dryly, and quickly moved to a different desk just as the sensei walked in to begin class. As soon as her former seat was empty, Kagome heard the rush of girls trying to score a seat next to their beloved Shuuichi-kun.

 

Kagome rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to look back and see who won. After all, she'd already decided she was going to act as if nothing had happened between them. It would be better for both of them, and he'd understand that eventually. Until then, she just had to push him away and hope he'd move on quickly. It should be easy enough for him, anyway, as proven by the fight to sit beside him that Kagome was still resisting the urge to see the outcome of.

 

All morning, just like the day before, Kagome had been surrounded by whispers and strange looks. A couple girls had even straight-out asked her what exactly her relationship with Shuuichi-kun was, and Kagome had received evil looks of sheer disbelief and hatred when she answered that they were nothing to each other and she had no interest in him romantically. What more did these girls want? They wanted their precious Shuuichi-kun, and didn't want any other girls to have him, yet acted as if the world ended if every single girl alive didn't have the urge to throw themselves at his feet and worship him. Kagome couldn't even begin to wrap her brain around that reasoning.

 

She realized she'd been zoning out in her thoughts, and urgently tried to catch up to what their sensei was talking about. Only then, when she started really paying attention, did she notice the crimson locks from the corner of her eye. She turned to her right to see Kurama staring at her, his chin resting on his hand as he gazed at her and smiled. He must have traded seats with someone while she'd been trying to ignore him and the fangirls. Kagome started to blush, wondering how long he'd been looking at her, but quickly reminded herself she wasn't supposed to care anymore anyway, and, by the way, she should be mad that he got to her again. Kagome returned a glare to his smile before she again turned her attention to the sensei and her history lecture.

 

~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~

 

After history was Kagome's lunch period. She escaped her classroom quickly, aided unknowingly by the girls that immediately swarmed around Kurama asking if he'd join them for lunch, and met her friends outside the cafeteria so they could eat together. The cafeteria was already filled with students getting their lunches when they arrived.

 

Once they'd gotten their bentou, the four girls looked for a place to sit. Yuka suggested they eat outside instead, since it was such a nice day, and they all agreed. They sat in the shade of a tree and started eating, talking to each other about their different classes and some of the other students they'd met.

 

Eri and Ayumi not only had the same homeroom, they had art and science together as well. Yuka was in Japanese language with Eri. Kagome hadn't had a class with any of them yet, but their last period of the day was P.E., and they all had it together.

 

“So, have you had any classes with Shuuichi-kun today, Kagome-chan?” Yuka asked her friend, still hoping to be the matchmaker between the two teens.

 

“We have history together,” Kagome replied in a bored tone.

 

“Oh yeah?!” Eri asked enthusiastically. “That's great! It's your best subject! Shuuichi-kun's sure to be impressed with you now, since I've heard he's such a good student.”

 

Kagome sighed exasperatedly, “I don't want him to be impressed with me, Eri-chan. I want him to leave me alone!”

 

The other three girls gasped at their friend's words.

 

“Kagome-chan,” Yuka began, her voice taking on a scolding tone, “Stop being ridiculous. Shuuichi-kun is perfect for you! He's polite, studious, respected by students and teachers, and is a total cutie. Exactly the opposite of—” Kagome gave her friend a glare and Yuka changed her words, “—you-know-who… And, anyway, I know you were interested in him when you first met him the other day, so what suddenly changed?”

 

“Maybe I just don't feel like being in a relationship right now, is that so wrong? I don't know Shuuichi-kun at all, and there are plenty of other girls around here that do know him and would love to go out with him. Let them have him.” Kagome's words came out in a tone more bitter than she'd intended, and she cringed slightly when she heard herself.

 

“But they don't interest me, Kagome, you do.”

 

Kagome cursed to herself when her traitorous heart skipped a beat at the voice, and all four girls gasped as the very boy they were talking about suddenly appeared from behind the tree they'd been sitting under.

 

“Thank you for the help back there, by the way,” the boy commented sarcastically, though he sounded a little amused as well, reminding Kagome of how she'd escaped him in the classroom. Kagome felt her face heat up slightly, but said nothing while praying her friends didn't notice the pink in her cheeks. If they did, she wasn't sure how she would explain it. She wasn't even exactly sure why she was blushing in the first place!

 

“Shuuichi-kun!” Yuka exclaimed, smiling brightly at him. “Are you eating lunch as well? Please join us!”

 

“Hai, arigatou,” Kurama replied, and sat down next to Kagome. Kagome scooted away a bit, trying to gain some freedom from his overwhelming youki. Kurama looked disappointed, but let her have her space.

 

“We were just talking about what classes we have together,” Yuka offered for conversation, seeing once again that neither teen would take the initiative.

 

Ayumi picked up the topic, “Yeah, and Kagome doesn't have any classes with us until P.E. None at all, can you believe it?!”

 

“When do you have P.E.?” Kurama asked.

 

“Last period today, how about you?” Yuka answered and asked in return.

 

Kurama smiled pleasantly at the girls. “Looks like we all have a class together today.” Unable to resist teasing Kagome, he punctuated the fact by stealing a piece of egg from her lunch.

 

“Hey!” Kagome cried indignantly as she tried to rescue her stolen lunch from his chopsticks, and failed miserably as he popped the egg into his mouth and smirked. Kagome's eyebrow twitched as it tended to right before she declared war. It was something that, if he'd been there, Inuyasha would have warned Kurama about. Or… maybe he wouldn't have. Inuyasha never was one for helping out the competition. That thought barely registered to Kagome, however, as she was now intent on stealing some eel from Kurama's lunch.

 

The two teens fought chopstick over chopstick for the small piece of unagi, but Kagome won swiftly and popped her spoils into her mouth, sticking her tongue out once she'd swallowed. Kurama cocked his brow and went to steal some vegetable, but Kagome thwarted his attempt by eating it first and laughed as she smacked his hand with her chopsticks when he went for another.

 

Kagome's friends sat gaping at the scene playing out in front of them. Kagome claimed to want nothing to do with Shuuichi-kun, yet she was playing around so naturally with him. And for really the first time in almost four months, Kagome was truly smiling, carefree. Yuka sat between the two other girls, looking back and forth between Eri and Ayumi and back to Kagome and Shuuichi. Eri and Ayumi looked at each other across Yuka and also turned back to the couple. So Kagome's friends still sat gaping at them, and they weren't the only ones.

 

All across the campus there, many people were stopped to watch that Kagome girl with Shuuichi-kun. Many of those paying particular attention were, of course, Mika or Nori's girls. If either Kurama or Kagome had been paying attention, they might've recognized quite a few of them from their classes. As it was, though, neither the miko nor the kitsune noticed anyone other than each other until their battle was over, both their lunches having been utterly devastated by the other's chopstick invasion.

 

Kurama's emerald eyes shined with mischief, and he gave Kagome a fox grin once the chopsticks with her last piece of egg were free from his mouth. He was pleased to find Kagome's pools of liquid sapphire also brimming with mischief, and she smiled back at him in delight. The redhead's grin grew even wider when he licked his lips and saw Kagome's eyes focused on the action. She even mimicked it without noticing, and Kurama suddenly burned with the desire to taste that tongue again. To grab the girl and ravish her mouth soundly, so that every time she licked her lips that way she thought of him.

 

Suddenly, Kagome gasped when she realized they'd spent the whole time eating each other's lunches instead of their own. Then, she further realized that must have been Kurama's plan the whole time; get her to loosen up through play like that and behave more comfortably with him. It was rather hard to keep up the front of hating someone when you were laughing and trying to steal from their box lunch. `And now I'm staring at his lips. Oh, no, he's smiling! He noticed! Kusou!!' When this thought popped into her head, Kagome narrowed her eyes at the tricky kitsune and growled, irritated. `Okay, concentrate, think of something else… math! Yes, math, I hate math. It's useless and makes no sense and I already know I'll do terribly this year. I'm already having trouble with my homework from yesterday and it's only the second real day of school.' Thinking about her inevitable academic struggles finally cleared Kagome's mind enough to think of an appropriate reaction to the smug kitsune.

 

“Dammit, asshole, don't do that again!” Kagome partially-shouted, and, ignoring the shocked looks and gasps her friends, and quite a few other students nearby, gave at her cursing, she shoved Kurama back to give herself time to get up and walk away without him following. Kurama recovered quickly, got up, and ran after her.

 

“Kagome,” he called after her as he easily caught up. Soon he was right beside the girl, speed-walking right along with her, but she was ignoring him. She wouldn't even look at him. “Kagome, please, just stop so I can talk to you.” He grabbed her hand as she neared the door to go inside, and quickly pulled her through the doors and towards the stairs that led to the roof.

 

“Let go, Ku—Shuuichi!! Leave me alone, I just want left alone!” She twisted and pulled her arm, trying to get out of his grasp, but he held her firmly until they reached the roof door. He pulled them both onto the roof and leaned against the door once it shut. Kagome tried to move him, but it was useless. His slender build and beautiful features hid not only a brilliant mind, but great physical strength as well.

 

Kurama caught her by her upper arms while she was trying to push him off the door, and her fighting stilled. “It was just natural to play with you, didn't you think so too? Kagome, don't ignore this. Don't ignore me. I won't go away that easily.” Kagome still refused to look at him, defiantly keeping her head down as he held her. He grasped her chin gently with one hand and tilted her face up to look him in the eye. She stared back, her face schooled with a look of utter defiance and determination. “Kagome, you feel it too, don't you? This insatiable craving to be together? I can't get you out of my mind even if I try. I'm more comfortable around you than I've been with anyone. What do you think just happened down there?” He gestured down towards where they'd been eating lunch just a few short minutes before. “I have a reputation for being unapproachable. You think I play like that with any other girls?” Kagome still stared silently back, though the resolve behind her eyes was clearly crumbling.

 

Kagome tried to glare at him, but the reaction her soul was once again having to the presence of his youki was overwhelming, and the only look she managed was somewhere between annoyance and want. Her brain, her common sense, was telling her this was a bad idea. Getting involved with another youkai was a bad idea. Yet, her body and every fiber of her soul was screaming at her to surrender; to let go of her restraint and be honest about her feelings. `No! Math! Think of math!' she admonished herself, but even in her head her voice was losing its conviction.

 

Kurama saw her conflicting emotions flashing across her face, and he could feel her pulse steadily increasing as time around them seemed to move in slow motion; he could swear time almost stopped completely. “Kagome,” he said a little more gently than before, “What were you thinking when you were staring at me like that down there? What did you want to do right then?” Confident he knew the answer already, Kurama leaned in to capture her lips in her moment of indecision, and was rewarded when she immediately returned the soft kiss.

 

At least… it started as a soft kiss. Soon, it had developed into a heated kiss of passion and frustration. Everything Kagome had been trying to hold back since she'd met him went into the kiss. Her sadness; loneliness; pain; desire; Kurama felt it all, and let himself drown in it as she overwhelmed him. He hadn't expected such a reaction from her this soon, but he wasn't about to protest. Youko let out a purr of pleasure that echoed through their soul and sent a surge of youki through Kurama almost violently, making him shudder. He held Kagome tighter as he deepened their kiss further, the moist heat of their lips and mingling tongues increasing the tingly feeling he already had from mere contact with her.

 

Kagome's hands finally seemed to realize they could move, and Kurama felt her hands slowly creeping up to hold him back. Maybe she would wrap her arms around his neck, or play with his hair as she had in the dream. His mind quickly wandered to other possibilities for her hands' actions, and Youko wasted no time in providing even better images than Kurama could imagine. Both were so distracted by that time, both by their thoughts and their real actions of kissing the girl, that they didn't notice until too late what she was really doing.

 

Instead of holding onto Kurama more, or even playing with his hair, let alone any of the other actions his shared mind had thought up, Kagome suddenly put both her hands against his chest and pushed herself away from him. “No! That's not fair, I told you before! You can't use your affect on me to take advantage of me like that!” Kagome declared accusingly, pointing the index finger of one hand at the boy while the other hand wiped at her mouth, trying to dispel the lingering surreal numbness from his youki-drugged kiss. She tried to stay pissed off even as she burned to be grabbed by him again and let him kiss her senseless. `At least look mad enough to match your heavy breathing, so he can't smirk about taking your breath away.' Kagome yelled in her head.

 

Coming out of the haze the kiss had created around his mind, Kurama asked confusedly, “Take advantage of you? Wha—Kagome?!” Was he dreaming again? Wasn't she just kissing him back? Wasn't she the one that had turned his soft kiss into that… that… amazing, mind-numbing, heart-pounding, urgent, desperate kiss of passion? Thinking about it again, before his body and shared soul had time to calm down from it, caused another surge of youki to shudder through Kurama from a very turned-on Youko. He fought to contain it, and managed to barely hold the reaction in, as words she'd similarly spoken to him that first day came back to him.

 

I… can't get involved with youkai again... It's not fair for you to use your youki's effects on me to your advantage.

 

That was what she had said. It wasn't fair to use his youki against her, to take advantage of her. `Yes, she can feel my youki.' It suddenly dawned on him what that truly meant in this situation.

 

(Her senses are most likely extremely heightened by her reiki, and because of me, our youki can be a bit overwhelming to even those with underdeveloped senses.) Youko commented.

 

`And feeling our youki… has this effect on her!' Kurama was shocked… and… jealous. He remembered the other words she'd spoken that time as well. `She's been involved with youkai before, and youki has this effect on her?! Who was the youkai she was involved with? If she has history with youkai, why did Koenma need us to find her? Who made her associate youki with...' Kurama's sudden explosion of jealousy was cut off by Youko before the kitsune was forced to put the boy out of his misery.

 

(Enough, kit, let me handle it.) Youko wasn't about to let Kurama's sudden uncharacteristic behavior ruin everything with Kagome, and again took control of their body and voice. He slowly stepped towards Kagome, cupping her face in his hand as he purred soothingly to her, “Kagome, I did not mean to take advantage of you. I did not realize my youki would be so overwhelming to you, but that is what you were thinking about, was it not? You wanted to kiss me back there, just as much as I wanted to kiss you.”

 

“That—that's not—” Kagome tried to protest, to say it wasn't true, but broke off realizing she was trying to convince herself just as much as Kurama. `It is true. I did want to kiss him,' she conceded to herself. `But that was just a momentary lapse in my resolve. I'm through with this stuff. I just want to be a normal girl, living a normal life, kissingnormal guys!' Kagome steeled her resolve, wrapping it, along with all her reasons for it, around her like armor. “That's not the point!” she finally insisted to Kurama. “It was because you tricked me that I felt that way! You used your youki's influence on me to seduce me!” It wasn't true; well, not completely. His youki had affected her, but not until that moment up here on the roof when they actually were kissing. Before that, it had just been a warm spark; a reminder of Kurama's true nature. Kagome was determined not to let him know this, however.

 

“Is it possible to be seduced if you are unwilling? Even if it is true that my youki affects you in such a way, I know how powerful you are as well. You could easily defend yourself against my advances if you truly wanted to.” Youko reasoned wisely through Shuuichi's mouth. The silver kitsune still held her face in his hand, and he brought the other one to frame her face as well. Youko gazed into her eyes, searching for something, anything, that would give him an indication his instincts were correct. She was not as frigid towards him as she claimed to be; in fact he believed she too was struggling with the weight of this strange, powerful attraction. If only she would surrender to it rather than fight it, as the kitsune had decided to do.

 

Kurama's bright green eyes became ringed with gold, around both the pupil and the outside of the iris, as Youko continued to stare into the depths of Kagome's blue orbs. Her eyes held such conflict. He could see her struggling with her self-control, fighting to keep a distance from him, not physically but mentally and emotionally. (Why is it so important to her not to give in? She was not like this until she discovered I was a youkai. Is that why…?) Youko frowned, something the conceited fox rarely did, as it would wrinkle his beautiful face; and besides, he rarely had reason to frown, since he normally could fox his way into or out of any situation. Kagome, however, was different. He couldn't trick her into anything; he wouldn't.

 

“Kagome,” Youko began, still controlling Shuuichi's body, “Why are you so resistant to me? I know you are feeling this as strongly as I am, but you try to say you don't. You try to push me away and refuse my pursuits, but you fight with yourself even as you do this. Things were fine before you knew I was a youkai. You walked with me suspecting I was a youkai, and things were going well, but when I confirmed your suspicions you ran. You say my youki affects you in this way,” he ran his cool, slender thumb over her bottom lip, knowing how she would react. She leaned into the caress gently and tried to hold back a small moan. Youko grinned inwardly at the results of his small youki experiment and continued, “But a miko does not just suddenly become weak with lust from youki. There must be a reason you associate youki with such reactions. Tell me, Kagome, what was your involvement with youkai before? Does that have anything to do with what you are doing to me now?!”

 

Kagome at first looked very shocked. “Wh-what I'm… doing to you?!! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Then she looked very angry. Her hands were fisted at her sides and Youko suddenly had the feeling that if she swung, he would not want to be hit. His shrewd eyes caught sight of what looked like smoke coming from inside her fists, and his hair began to stand on end when he realized it wasn't smoke, but wisps of Kagome's reiki that was collecting. Looking even more closely he could see a small aura of smoky blue reiki around her. He took a few steps away from her in caution.

 

`Kusou, Youko, you went and got her more upset than I would have.' Kurama cursed. He once again gained control of his body to try to fix what the fox had done.

 

(I highly doubt that. If anything it would have been worse had I not taken over.) The Youko sniffed out.

 

“Kagome, gomen, that's not how I meant it.” Kurama watched Kagome cross her arms and tap her foot, as if waiting for his explanation. He let a small sigh of relief pass his lips. “It's just… I want to be close to you. I know you at least felt that way at first, as well. I just want to know, what changed?”

 

Kagome's eyes narrowed and darkened. “What changed? Nothing changed, because there was never anything between us! I just met you! That first day, when I found out you really were a youkai, I had just met you. I don't know you at all, how could our relationship have changed?”

 

“We may have just met, but something did change between us then. We were naturally drawn to each other, are drawn to each other, and shared that dream the other night. You can't honestly say you don't believe that we're connected somehow through that dream.”

 

“I don't.” Kagome replied firmly. She slowly started to walk around Kurama, positioning herself between him and the door. He still seemed to be cautious of her, turning to keep his eyes on her but not trying to stop her inevitable retreat. She kept her reiki gathered in warning, hoping it would keep him from approaching her still. “Weird things happen all the time, it's nothing special.”

 

“So, you've had a dream like that before, where you woke up with a hickey?” Kurama cocked an eyebrow at her as he gave a slow smile.

 

Kagome returned it with a slow grin of her own, “If I have, I don't believe that's any of your business. Anyway, I have Study Hall to get to, Kurama. Please don't follow me this time, or I'll have to use this.” She raised her hand and lifted a finger, the gathered reiki sending small blue sparks out at her movement. She pointed at him, “You stay!” Immediately making her escape from the rooftop, Kagome shivered from the loss of his warm youki's presence, and giggled to herself at giving a dog command to a fox, finally relaxing a little and letting her reiki disperse.

 

Just after she closed the door and started down the stairs, though, she felt the presence of another youkai. She realized with a sense of dread that the presence had been there with them on the roof the entire time.

 

`Kurama's youki must've overwhelmed my senses again. Kusou, I knew this would happen eventually, but I didn't think they'd come after it this soon… But, whoever it is, they were listening the entire time and didn't attack, so maybe that's not what they're after... Maybe they wanted to deal with just Kurama and not me? After all, I really don't know what he does for that Reikai or whatever he said he works for. Dammit, I can't just leave him there with a youkai that may be lying in wait for him, though.'

 

Kagome quickly turned around and hurried up the stairs to the door, opening it cautiously and quietly so as to surprise whoever had been waiting for Kurama up there. She barely opened it a crack, however, when she heard voices.

 

“…and you gave her a hickey in that dream? This is why you feel this need to pursue the miko? You do know this will complicate the assignment greatly, kitsune. Or have you forgotten what you're really supposed to do with the miko?” said a male voice Kagome had never heard before.

 

She heard Kurama's voice answer, “Of course I haven't forgotten Koenma's charge to us, Hiei, and I don't intend to keep her secret forever…”

 

Kagome gasped and stepped back, not wanting to hear anymore. Closing the door just as quietly as she had opened it, she ran down the stairs. Whoever that youkai was, it seemed he wasn't a threat to Kurama. Whether or not he was to Kagome was yet to be seen, but she'd prefer not to find out. Especially not right now, and after hearing Kurama's reply.

 

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she hurried down the hall to make it to class. A girl with blue hair and pinkish-red eyes suddenly came up to her and asked, “Excuse me, do you know where I can find Minamino Shuuichi? It's very important.”

 

Kagome didn't even care to wonder whether it was actually important or just another fangirl keeping tabs on him, as she'd noticed they do. Kagome immediately pointed back to the stairs she'd just come from and said, “He's on the roof.”

 

The girl smiled, “Arigatou,” and headed towards the stairs.

 

It was only after she was seated in her homeroom, and the bell had rung, that she realized she'd felt a weird aura from the girl. If she had to explain it, Kagome would've said the girl had been dead, but she knew that wasn't quite right. For lack of a better word, however, the girl had definitely not been alive in the normal sense. And perhaps… not even… human.

 

End Chapter Three

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A/N: Sorry for the long space between updates. I've been on a Prince of Tennis and Gravitation kick lately and haven't felt like writing IY/YYH. But!! My best friend, Ren, is (finally!!!) getting into Inuyasha (lol, even after she swore she never would) and we've been having IY marathons, watching my VHS, to catch her up. And, since she wants to read my fics, she's also going to be watching YYH soon. Woot!! So I've been getting back in this mood again recently, luckily, and felt like writing. However, AND2 (this fic) will most likely still be slow in updating, as I still have a whole bunch of other things to fit into my schedule (a 2-yr-old, PoT, Gravi, Naruto, my renewed drawing obsession, to name a few). Plus, UA (my other fic) is still primary, and is farther along in the story so it's what I'm more interested in lately. I won't abandon this though, so don't worry. Just please be patient with me; I'll get there eventually. ^__~

 

To All My Reviewers: Thanks for reading and reviewing! You guys are awesome and your reviews are not only encouraging, but most entertaining. ^____^ Please keep it up, heheheh. *huggles you all and hands out pocky* I hope you guys stick with me, despite my slowness.