InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Another Time, Another Life ❯ Chapter 5

Bad news guys! My (or rather my parent's since I'm at home for the summer) hard drive crashed! Luckily I'm not as stupid as my parents and I saved all my work to a disk instead of just to the hard drive so I haven't lost any of my fics. This does mean I'm going to be even later on my updates because now I only can write and post while I'm at work and since I'm supposed to be working while I'm at work I don't have a lot of time. I apologize but I'm not going to quit until I have these stories done so just bear with me. Hopefully we'll have the hard drive fixed soon but there is no telling if my parent's will allow me back onto the computer since they are blaming my sister and I for crashing it (even though it wasn't our fault…my whole family…like extended and everything on my mother's side is actually so angry at my sister and I for this but I have a feeling its more for pissing my mom off b/c she is a real bitch and no one likes to deal with her when she is pissed off…). So I give you this chapter and hopefully I'll have more soon. My next updates will be for my Sesshomaru fic A Heart Once Not Broken.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha and Company.

Another Time, Another Life

Chapter Five:

Kagome reluctantly awoke the next day. It wasn't until Souta came into her room and poured water on her that she actually got out of bed. She was tired from working late and then her visit from the guys. Kagome was very happy she hadn't been caught but she had a feeling that Souta knew that someone was here last night from the way he was peeking around her room.

Having gotten up later than she should she only had time to quickly dress in her uniform, after drying off, and shoving her books in her backpack. Because her hair was wet she had to pull it up in a high ponytail to keep it from soaking her shirt. Kagome messed with her bangs as she called out goodbye. Souta followed suit obviously wanting to ask her something.

He walked right beside her in silence as they walked away from the house and towards the stairs. Kagome really began to worry. He didn't usually walk with her and he wouldn't stay this quiet unless he knew something.

Reaching the stairs Kagome looked down and sighed. There was a familiar two-door coup waiting with three guys leaning against the side facing the shrine. Kagome waved to the guys and quickly ran down the stairs. Souta didn't give up and followed her.

"Hey beautiful. Thought you'd want a lift again." Miroku said wrapping an arm around Kagome and giving her a quick kiss on her forehead.

"Whoa! Kagome you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend." Souta said. Both teenagers blushed and Uyeda and Gregor, who were standing next to Miroku on either side, began laughing. The truth was neither knew what their relationship was; it was just there, having a connection that went back over 500 years.

"Um, Souta, Mir-Takai isn't my boyfriend." Kagome said, stopping herself before she said `Miroku'. Souta would recognize the name from her stories, if he hadn't recognized him from the pictures she drew.

"Hey Kiddo. I'm Tensei Takai. You must be Kagome's little brother. I've heard a lot about you." Miroku said sticking out his hand to the kid. Souta took it and shook his hand. Souta was squinting at him trying to figure out where he had seen that face.

"So…how about a lift to school?" Souta exclaimed.

"Sorry kid, you're too little to ride with us." Uyeda said around his cigarette.

"You know those things give you cancer." Souta said as he choked on the smoke.

"Yeah, thanks kid." Uyeda said and took another long drag.

"Let's go before we're late." Miroku spoke up, moving so that Uyeda and Gregor could climb into the back.

"Hey, what about me?" Souta said as Gregor was climbing into the car.

"I already told you brat, no!" Uyeda shouted back.

"Fine!" Souta shouted and then looked at Kagome. "This will be the last time you'll ride with them then. Mom will ground you once I tell her your new friends climbed into your room last night."

Kagome slumped her shoulders. She knew this was going to happen. Uyeda looked at the kid and shrugged. He climbed into the car, moving the seat back into place and waited for Kagome and Miroku to enter the car.

"Souta you wouldn't." Kagome whined.

"Yes I would. I just want a ride…from now on. I hate walking to that school." Souta said looking at his sister. He had hit his growth spurt recently and he was almost the same height as Kagome.

"Can you double buckle with Kagome in the front seat?" Miroku stepped in seeing that if he didn't intervene there was going to be a fight and quite possibly Kagome getting in trouble…for his actions no less.

"Yeah I can do that." Souta said. Kagome climbed into the car and made room for Souta to climb in next to her. They buckled the safety buckle over the two of them and put their school stuff on the floorboard. Miroku started up the car and raced down the road.

"Just great, now we're babysitting." Uyeda said in the back of the car.

"Hey kid, what do you do for fun?" Gregor asked. Souta went into a long explanation of everything he enjoyed, most of it being videogames.

"Seriously, dude, you have to come over to Seiichi's and play some with us. You can even be on my team for some of these games. He has this monster TV that practically lines the wall and it's just awesome to play on." Gregor said getting excited about the games they were discussing.

Miroku was smiling and adding his two cents every once in a while. Kagome leaned back and tried to drown out the jabbering. She was getting a headache and she didn't want to deal with the mindless videogame discussions.

They pulled up at Souta's school and he jumped out.

"Hey Souta." Miroku yelled at the retreating kid. Souta walked back up to the window and looked in. "We'll pick you up here after school, ok?" Souta smiled and nodded his head frantically.

Kagome looked at Miroku and smiled. She said goodbye to Souta and they took off towards their own school.

"Why'd you agree to pick the brat up?" Uyeda asked.

"He's not that bad Uyeda and this way we don't have to worry about him blackmailing us. We don't want Kagome to get in trouble." Miroku answered him.

"Oh yes, no, we don't want her to get in trouble." Uyeda said under his breath. Kagome heard it and crossed her arms.

"Aw what's wrong princess? Upset? It's not my fault your bratty brother can't keep his mouth shut. I don't do well with blackmail. Maybe I should offer to shut his mouth for him."

Kagome turned around and faced the teen that was insulting her and her brother. "He's not a brat you jackass."

"Hey you two stop it." Gregor said seeing the fiery expression within Kagome's eyes. Uyeda saw it too and was encouraged and intrigued.

"So you like brats do you?" Uyeda asked when Kagome turned around and face front. Uyeda snuck his hand around and grabbed at her. Miroku saw this and reach around to punch the offending boy. He swerved when he turned around and Kagome reached to grab the wheel.

"Keep your hands to yourself Uyeda." Miroku said in an angry growl.

"What? She likes brats, I figured I could help her out some and give her some of her own. It would be a great honor, you know, carrying my children." Uyeda said beginning to address Kagome who was panting from the several near-crashes they almost had.

"I would never-" Kagome exclaimed turning around to meet his stare

"Never is a long time." He said reaching his hand up to trace her face. Kagome shot away like she was burned and Gregor went and slugged the boy. This caused a fight between the two in the backseat.

Miroku sped up and reached the school. He jumped out of the car and waited for Uyeda and Gregor to do the same. When the two boys stepped out Miroku instantly ran for Uyeda. Gregor jumped and pulled Kagome out of the way.

"Just stay out of this, there isn't anything you can do." Gregor whispered to Kagome as he continued to hold her arm.

Kagome watched as the two boys to swings at each other. Both were landing their fair share of punches and Kagome eventually had to look away from the fight. Others were joining the circle as the two boys continued to duke it out.

Finally she heard a body hit the hard cement and she looked to see Miroku standing above Uyeda.

"Stop this, it's so stupid!" Kagome yelled. Miroku reached down and grabbed his friend and readied to punch him once again. "Sit boy!" Kagome yelled out, effectively stopping the punch. Miroku looked over to Kagome who was beginning to cry. He cringed.

Dropping Uyeda he went and grabbed his own school supplies. He wiped the blood off his face as went.

Uyeda was laughing crazy now. "She's mental Takai. I told you there was something wrong with her, there was a reason she was sick all those days before. You just never listen to me."

Kagome's tears began to run down harder. Miroku refused to meet her gaze and wouldn't answer her calling him. Gregor pulled her arm to follow him. He kicked Uyeda in the ribs as he went by but for the most part he just guided Kagome through the crowd.

"Don't listen to Uyeda. He and Miroku have been friends since they were little. He always gets jealous when Miroku is even thinking about getting into any kind of relationship with somebody…including Seiichi and I."

Kagome nodded but her tears didn't stop. That didn't explain why he wasn't talking or even looking at her currently. She realized that Gregor had once again called him `Miroku' but she wasn't in the state to question it.

"Kagome!" Ayumi cried running up to her friend. "What happened?"

"Takai got into a fight with Uyeda. Something real silly actually but Takai's acting like a jerk currently. Will you take her to your class? I need to go and run and talk to Takai."

Ayumi nodded and took her friend in a hug. She led Kagome into the hall and then stopped. "Kagome wait for me here, I need to run and grab something from the main office." Ayumi said running to the office with a last promise that she would be only a second.

Kagome didn't want to wait and continued walking once Ayumi entered the office. She was near her locker when several girls stopped her.

"Higurashi Kagome." A tall girl with short black hair said. "We warned you yesterday to stay away from Takai and you didn't listen. Now our beautiful hunk is damaged because of you."

There were several echoes and catcalls towards Kagome at the girl's pause. "I'm giving you a last warning to stay away from him. You're only a freshmen, he doesn't see anything in you, just something to play with and then throw out…we're helping you in the long run." The girl continued. "Leave him to the big girls."

"We should do something to make sure she remembers that Takai doesn't belong to her." Another girl said behind the first girl. The original girl smiled and nodded. This new girl, a rather boyish looking girl, but pretty nonetheless, stepped up with a small blade in her hands. Two girls from behind grabbed Kagome and pulled her up towards the boyish girl.

"Let's get rid of her pretty hair, shall we?" The girl said grabbing Kagome's ponytail and forcing her head down so she could get a good grip on it.

"No!" Kagome screamed as she struggled against the girls holding her. The girls just tightened their grips as more girls joined in holding her down.

"Don't struggle you idiot, I might miss and cut something else if you do." The girl said angling the blade so slice through her hair.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" A voice screamed from behind the group of girls. The girls turned around to see a steaming Seiichi. He pushed his way through the crowd and threw the girls away from Kagome.

She immediately clung to him when he reached her and looked at her attackers wearily. They were both still outnumbered.

"Get the fuck to your classes and leave Kagome alone. She doesn't need your bull shit." He screamed at them and the girls reluctantly began to disperse. "And I better not catch any of you trying something like this again!"

Kagome relaxed into his embrace. "Let's get you to class Kagome." He said not releasing his tight hold on her. He escorted her to his class and walked to her desk as Gregor had done the day before. Seiichi was more polite to the teacher and left for his own class but not before reassuring Kagome someone would meet up with her after this class to escort her to the next. Kagome sighed in relief.

"What was that about?" Yumi whispered across the small aisle. Kagome just shook her hand indicating she would explain later.

At the end of class Kagome stood waiting for her friends to barrage her with questions. They didn't fail her.

"What was that all about?"

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"Why didn't Gregor walk you class?"

Kagome couldn't help but smile at the last question coming from Ayumi.

"Aw, Ayumi, I'm flattered you would think of me." Gregor said walking up behind the girls. Ayumi flushed deep red and immediately took a great interest in the floor. "Sorry Kag about leaving you. I had to go talk to Takai. He's being an ass. Seiichi told me what happened and don't worry we'll take care of those girls for you."

"No don't. I don't want anyone hurt." Kagome said. Gregor smiled and nodded.

"Well girls, why don't I escort you to your next class." He said gesturing to the door. Yuki and Eri giggled and proceeded ahead of him while Kagome and Ayumi walked beside him.

Gregor walked the girls to their next class and made sure they were seated before he hastily retreated. He wasn't on such good terms with this particular teacher and didn't want to get a detention.

"So Kagome what happened?" Yuka asked again.

"Nothing. It's just been a bad day." Kagome replied putting her head down on her desk.

"You shouldn't have walked off without me Kagome. We were supposed to walk together." Ayumi said a little guilt ridden. She had heard that the Takai fan club was going to gang up on Kagome and that was when she ran off to get help. She didn't find any but was glad that Seiichi must of heard the same thing.

"It wouldn't have mattered Ayumi. They still would have cornered me and the only difference would have been something could have happened to you too." Kagome reassured her friend.

"So what did happen?" Eri asked with increasing interest. The bell rang and Kagome was saved from telling the embarrassing details.

The class passed rather quickly. It was a math class and so Kagome was able to zone out and think about other things. Unfortunately her mind kept coming back to Miroku and his sudden change of attitude.

She couldn't figure out what she had done for him to act so cruelly to her. His eyes had hidden in them hurt and pain like she had only seen once before, in the eyes of Inuyasha. Kagome sighed and allowed herself to drift back into the world of the living. The class was almost over and the teacher was talking about their latest assignment. Kagome groaned when she realized it was going to be a rather large homework load again tonight.

"Is there a problem Higurashi?" The teacher asked hearing her groan. She shook her head and turned her face so it was hidden from the class and the teacher. "Well then you won't mind me adding another couple of pages to your assignment then. Do all the problems on pages 134 and 135 while you are at it."

"What?" Kagome screamed looking at her teacher like he was insane.

"Add pages 172-175 to that. Is there anything else you would like to say because I really don't mind adding on to your assignment?"

Kagome kept her mouth shut and shook her head. There was no way she would be getting any sleep tonight. Kagome waited for the bell to ring before exiting the room.

"What's wrong with you?" Gregor asked seeing Kagome at the edge of tears.

"Sensei added extra pages to my assignment. It's going to take me forever to finish all of them." Kagome said allowing the older boy to guide her down the hall.

"It's been a tough day for you, huh kid?" Gregor said stopping at her locker so she could exchange books and grab her lunch.

"Yeah. I don't even understand what I did wrong…at least not for the Miroku part."

"He's just upset. I've never seen him this tangled up on someone…not even Sango…and then you go and yell something you would normally say to Inuyasha and well he gets upset. He kind of feels that you don't see him but you see Inuyasha…even though they don't look alike he just thinks you'll always be stuck on the hanyou."

"But…I'm not. Inuyasha made his choice and it hurt but I know that he wouldn't be happy unless he was with Kikyo."

"Maybe that is how Miroku feels about you…maybe he thinks that you can only be happy with Inuyasha."

"Wait a minute!" Kagome snapped her head up and stared at Gregor. "How the hell do you know all this?!" Kagome practically screamed.

"Kagome! What language!" Ayumi hissed. Gregor smiled at the girl's impeccable timing.

"Ayumi, how lovely to see you." He said bowing to her and taking her hand. He pressed a kiss onto her hand and Kagome was momentarily distracted as she saw the blush spread on both their cheeks.

"Why are you shouting? What does he know?" Eri and Yuka came up asking their friend. Seeing that she wouldn't get any answers with her friends here, Kagome just shook her head and accepted momentary defeat.

"It's nothing." Gregor assured them. "Why don't we all go out to the courtyard to eat lunch? It's a beautiful day and I'm sure Seiichi will want to eat with us…probably Takai and Uyeda too, if you three don't mind."

None of the girls minded and they all walked out to the somewhat crowded courtyard. Everyone who had that lunch period were sitting at various tables and trees to relish in the last of the warm summer ambiance while they still could. The group saw Seiichi sitting at a tree and they all walked over to join them.

"Hey Seiichi. Where are the guys?" Gregor asked sitting down next to his friend. Seiichi cast a worried glance at Kagome before he gestures with his head towards a group of freshmen girls.

The sound of giggling girls drew Kagome's attention to the group. She stopped and stared at Uyeda sitting there with two girls on his lap with their arms encircling his neck. What disturbs her more is Miroku sitting on the other side of the table in much the same way.

Kagome watched a little bit longer before she had to look away when for some odd reason Miroku began to briefly kiss each girl.

"Kagome he's just mad…he doesn't mean all this shit." Seiichi said trying to reassure her. Kagome just took out her lunch and began nibbling at her food. The others began to eat as well but there was a definite tension in the air and everyone kept weary eyes on Kagome.

Getting sick of the attention Kagome redeposit her lunch into the container she had brought it in and stood up. "Excuse me guys. I'll be right back, I have to run to the restroom real quick."

"Do you need someone to come with you?" Yuki asked but Kagome declined saying that she would only be a few minutes.

Kagome walked out of the courtyard quite aware of many eyes following her exit and not just those of her groups. Kagome had no intention of going back to the group and just wondered the halls aimlessly for a while. The day had become such a disaster, first with Miroku getting mad at her and then later with the additional math homework. Kagome sighed as she realized she had come to her locker.

Making up her mind, she quickly opened the locker and stuffed her books into her bag. She then made her way for the front entrance. Today had been a bad day and she wasn't going to stay around and wait for it to get worse.

She was actually surprised how easy it was to sneak off campus but then again she had gotten at least a little better in the stealth department over the years. She had gone from wandering around the halls of her school to wandering around the city with nothing to do. Kagome just kept walking.

She looked around and saw all the shops and restaurants overrun by the lunch hour rush. Every once in a while Kagome would stop to look into a window at the people or merchandise. At a particular shop Kagome stood looking at a painting of a beautiful forest scene done somewhere in Japan. Kagome smiled as it reminded her of past times. She could just see her group camping under the trees depicted here with the moonlight overhead. Shippo would be asleep in Kagome's sleeping bag and Sango would be polishing her weapons. Inuyasha would be above in a tree somewhere watching over the group and Miroku would be across from the girls pretending to meditate but in reality he was just using that as a guise to scope out the two girls.

"Maybe I should go back and visit soon. I've been gone for a while and I'm sure Shippo misses me." Kagome said to herself. It was then Kagome really began looking at her surroundings. She wasn't really sure where she was, she only knew she was downtown somewhere. Kagome looked around for a landmark she might recognize that would point her in the right direction to walk home.

She spotted a sign indicating 56th Street was west of where she was. Knowing that to be close to the shrine she started walking west. Kagome began to fret as she began to go to less inhabitant parts of town and the weather started darkening. A chill ran up her spine as she entered an old industrial part of town, which had long since lost its use. Kagome sped up hoping to escape the rain that she knew was coming. Thunder was rolling faintly in her ears as she turned the corner and found yet another neighborhood like the one she had just left.

The rain started pouring after two more identical abandoned blocks. Kagome kept heading for 56th Street but she was now cold, wet and frightened. Kagome kept checking her surroundings and straining her ears for any sound that could indicate danger. She screamed when she heard an engine coming closer followed by tires skidding as a indistinguishable car turned a corner behind her way too fast.

Kagome took off running, holding her bag to her side as best she could. If needed she could use the bag to hurl at any attackers and so she refused to drop it. The car slowed down as it approached Kagome and someone jumped out of the seat. Kagome didn't see the person but she began to kick and scream as they grabbed her from behind and dragged her into the car.

She found herself in someone's car but the car wasn't moving as they two passengers waited for her to calm down. After another ten minutes Kagome finally stopped screaming seeing as neither passenger was trying to shut her up or hurt her.

She looked beside her and saw Miroku sitting there, drenched, with his hands gripping the wheel tightly. Kagome eye's widened as she turns around to see Gregor holding his ears with his eyes closed.

"Wh-what?" Kagome asks as she looks at the two boys.

"What the hell were you thinking skipping school like that?!" Miroku yelled at her turning to face her in the process. "You're going to be in so much trouble and you're grades are going to hurt! And not to mention you are just walking around in an unsafe neighborhood in the rain! You could've gotten hurt or even sick from the rain! Are you that stupid?"

"Who the hell are you to lecture me about anything! You're the one who treated me like shit all day and start flirting with my peers practically in front of me! I didn't want to put up with you anymore so I left."

"Put up with me? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Miroku yelled back. Before either could say…or rather yell…anything else Gregor interrupted them.

"Would both of you stop yelling!"

Kagome looked over to Gregor to see him still clutching his ears with a pained expression on his face.

"Oh no Gregor! Are you okay?" Kagome asked fretting over the boy.

"Yeah I'm fine." Gregor assured her as he slowly brought his hands down from his ears. Kagome gasped at what she saw.

"Your ears…" Kagome said bringing one of her hands up to trace pointy demon shaped ears.

"Gregor you mother fucker." Miroku said as he floored it and sped off towards the Higurashi shrine.

"You're a demon?" Kagome asked.

"I would suggest you stop doing that or do I need to remind you that not only are my ears, that you are paying with, an erogenous zone but you are also on my lap squirming about." Gregor said playfully winking at the girl.

Kagome `ep'ed and withdrew her hand. Her attention was brought back to Miroku who was growling at Gregor, or growling the best a human can do.

"What's going on, who are you really?" Kagome asked Gregor. Before he could answer Kagome found herself at her home and being pushed out of the car by Miroku. Kagome stood up as she watched the two boys driving away. It was still pouring and she stood out there for several more minutes before she left to begin walking up the many stairs.

She opened the door to her house and removed her sodden shoes. A sneeze interrupted her thoughts and brought her mother's presence to the front hallway where she is standing.

"Kagome are you sick?" She began as she ushered her daughter to the bathroom and telling her to take a warm bath while she retrieves warm clothes and fixes her some soup.

Kagome eased into her bath but she couldn't relax. She was too upset. Miroku and Gregor were keeping something important from her and Kagome can't help but be upset about it. She finished her bath and dressed in the pajamas her mother had brought for her. She settled in front of the TV with her soup.

The phone interrupted her thoughts. "Kagome, there is a young man named Tensei Takai on the phone wanting to talk to you."

Kagome got up and took the phone from her mother's hand. When her mother left the room Kagome placed the phone back on the hook and walked away.

"Didn't want to talk to him?" Mrs. Higurashi asked when she saw her daughter walk out of the room seconds after she had left him.

"No, I don't want to talk to him ever again."

* * * * *

There is another chapter. I'm not completely happy with this chapter though, especially not how it ended. Hopefully the little break from this fic while I write on others will do some good. I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Please read & review. I appreciate those who have taken the time to read and review A Heart Once Not Broken. It means so much to me…I can't even put it into words. Thanks.

I'm going to start working on the next update for AONB tomorrow but like I said I'm not sure how often I will update due to my computer problems.

Until Next Time…

Sfae