InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Complexities of Fate ❯ The Proposition ( Chapter 5 )

CHAPTER 5:THE PROPOSITION

 

 

“We're going, Mama!” Kagome called as she ushered her brother towards the door.

 

“Okay, take care.” Mrs. Higurashi called from the kitchen.

 

“Bye, Ji-chan!” Kagome and Souta called to their grandfather who was sweeping the shrine yards.

 

“Bye, kids!”

 

“Hey, nee-chan, what time did you come back last night? I was already asleep, wasn't I?” Souta asked his sister.

 

“Yes you were.”

 

“What took you so long?” Souta asked again.

 

“Something happened.” Kagome answered. Inuyasha happened.

 

“But you're okay, now?”

 

“Yes, I was never `not okay' to start with but thanks baby brother for asking.” Kagome smiled as the siblings watched the school bus approach.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Kagome sighed as the teacher collected their papers. Arggh… I am so going to fail Chemistry. I hate Chemistry. I hate Chemistry!

 

“Kagome…” Kagome turned to see Inuyasha watching her.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Thanks for last night.” Inuyasha said blushing.

 

“No problem.” Kagome smiled and Inuyasha was startled at how much that smile changed the girl beside him. She lightened the whole room. He thought.

 

Kagome sighed and she arranged her notebook, she was a little startled when a crumpled paper landed on her lap. She looked around the classroom and spotted Sango who signaled her to read the crumpled paper. She opened it gingerly and frowned.

 

Hey, getting cozy with your seatmate, ne?

 

Kagome turned and rolled her eyes at Sango. She took her pen out and wrote something on the paper.

 

It's not what you think! Stay away from Miroku, he's rubbing his pervert-ness on you

 

Sango laughed silently when she read the crumpled paper which Kagome threw back at her.

 

Getting protective of Inuyasha?

 

Kagome turned at Sango and made a face. She wrote something down and threw the paper back to her friend.

 

 

So what if I am? Nah! ^_^

 

“Ms. Higurashi, Ms. Omata!” Their chemistry teacher, Mrs. Kurobota called and both Kagome and Sango swallowed hard.

 

“I would really appreciate it if you listen to my lecture, girls, especially you Ms. Higurashi since you're not doing well!

 

“Our apologies, Ma'am.” Kagome stood up and bowed before her teacher and Sango followed suit.

 

“Now, I want you all to prepare for our first Chemistry Achievement Exam. I am warning you that if you fail that exam, there's a fifty-fifty chance that you'll fail my subject. So please prepare, you have two weeks for preparation and after that you can go back to your favorite pastime - ogling the opposite sex. But till then, you are to study until your brain cells burst. Is everything clear?” Mrs. Kurobota slammed her thick teacher's manual on the table and they all jumped in their seats.

 

 

 

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

 

 

“Ahhhhhhhh! I'm so going to fail the achievement exam!” Kagome wailed as they sat on their favorite cafeteria table.

 

“Come on, lighten up, didn't you tell me that Ms. Kaede, the principal, partnered you with Inuyasha for chemistry? Sango said as she stared at the gooey, yellow concoction before her that was supposed to be chicken curry.

 

“Yes, she did but did you notice that Inuyasha and I are not really buddy material?” Kagome replied and stuck her tongue out in disgust when Sango started to prod the gooey viand.

 

“Are you sure that's edible?” Miroku asked as he leaned closer towards Sango's food.

 

“It looks toxic nee-chan.” Kohaku wrinkled his nose and looked wryly at Sango's plate.

 

“Cool, your sister can eat it and let's see if she turns into someone mutant like that big, rocky guy in Fantastic 4!” Souta excitedly told Kohaku.

 

“Yeah, eat it nee-chan!” Kohaku urged his sister.

 

“Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!” The boys - Miroku included, cheered at Sango.

 

“Kagome will you blast these pests away from me?” Sango asked her friend as she glared at the boys.

 

“Sorry friend, but I can't. You know, detention.” Kagome replied at Sango smiling.

 

“Oh, I'm going to skip lunch. I think I just lost my appetite.” Sango moaned as she pushed her tray away.

 

“Here, I'm sharing my lunch with you. Mama packed me the leftover yakitori this morning.” Kagome volunteered and Sango smiled at her friend gratefully.

 

“Kagome, can we talk?” Inuyasha said as he stood beside their table.

 

“Sure,” Kagome said as she scooted closer to Sango to make room for Inuyasha.

 

“I mean alone…?”

 

“Later, may be.” Kagome frowned at the weird request.

 

“Can we talk now?” Inuyasha asked again.

 

“Hmmm…am I getting paid for this?” Kagome asked and laughed when Inuyasha frowned.

 

“Huh?”

 

“It's a joke, Inuyasha.” Kagome rolled her eyes.

 

“Oh, okay.” Inuyasha replied.

 

“Is it important?”

 

“Yes,”

 

“I don't do exorcisms, okay if that's what you need from me.”

 

“No, nothing to do with exorcisms.”

 

“I'm not good at matters of the heart either.” Kagome's frown deepened and Inuyasha laughed.

 

“It has something to do with chemistry, Kagome.”

 

“Oh, why talk in private then? It's no secret I'm doing badly in chemistry.”

 

“Believe me, you don't want anybody else to hear.” Inuyasha said solemnly and Kagome stood up.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

“Okay, what do you want to talk about?” Kagome asked Inuyasha as they sat on the bench near the Math Building.

 

“I have a proposition,” Inuyasha started.

 

“Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to like it,” Kagome looked sideways at a now nervous Inuyasha.

 

“I'm not going to force you into it but hear me out first.”

 

“Now, you're making me nervous.” Kagome said as she fidgeted with her tie.

 

“How do you feel about Kikyo, Kagome?” Inuyasha asked suddenly and Kagome's brows shoot up.

 

“Inuyasha, I was kidding when I told Kouga that I was gay, and even if I am, your girl's not my type so she's safe from me.” Kagome said and Inuyasha smiled.

 

“I know you're not gay, baka.”

 

“So what's with the question?”

 

“I really like Kikyo even when we were younger. I thought that if I follow her around long enough she'd like me back but it didn't happen, she never threw me a glance.

 

“I don't think I should be hearing this….” Kagome squirmed in her seat.

 

“No, please listen. Kikyo never threw me a glance until you came.”

 

“What?! What has your lovelife got to do with me? Believe me, I did not ask her to look at you so….” Kagome blabbered, too embarrassed and confused about Inuyasha's confessions.

 

“You're funny, you know…” Inuyasha laughed again as he looked at the blushing girl beside him.

 

“Your point?” Kagome asked, mildly irritated.

 

“My point is Kikyo is somehow jealous of you…”

 

“Newsflash, I don't care even if she withers because I exist.” Kagome replied.

 

“Are you in love with me Kagome?” Inuyasha asked without looking at her.

 

“Hope and pray that chemistry will pop out soon in this conversation, Inuyasha or your family will find you burned and disemboweled before the day ends.” Kagome bit out.

 

“No, you're not getting my point!” Inuyasha retorted.

 

“Yes, I'm not and for the record, I'm not in love with you, I don't harbor romantic notions for you, I don't find you sexually stimulating and I don't think we're talking about the same kind of `chemistry.'

 

“Kagome, please let me finish…”

 

“Fine!”

 

“Thank you. What I'm saying is you're failing chemistry and you need a tutor whereas I'm failing in my lovelife and I need someone to make Kikyo jealous….”

 

“And….”

 

“And you're perfect for the part since as you told me yourself you don't like me or find me sexually stimulating and stuff…”

 

“And…?” Kagome asked again growing uneasy by the moment.

 

“And I am a perfect tutor since I excel in Chemistry, Physic and Math and you'll be my perfect `girlfriend' since only you can make Kikyo jea -“ Inuyasha's eyes widened when he saw the big energy ball that was growing bigger by the second in Kagome's hand.

 

“I wonder if she'll miss you when you die Hirohito.” Kagome threatened, her head throbbing.

 

“Kagome…”

 

“How dare you think I'd accept anything as lowly as what you proposed.”

 

“Look, Kagome…” Inuyasha said as he sat still looking into Kagome's eyes.

 

“You only need to pose as my girlfriend, it's not real and I'll be your tutor for the rest of our lives…”

 

“You're pathetic, you know that?” Kagome said as she slowly clench her fist and the ball slowly disappeared.

 

“I'm desperate…”

 

“Same thing.”

 

“Will you help me?”

 

“Do I look like an idiot?”

 

“Please, you'll only need to endure being my `girlfriend' until Kikyo and I are together but I will tutor you with anything until your grandchild finishes college.” Inuyasha said.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because as I've told you, you're the only female I know whom Kikyo is jealous of…”

 

“That's not the question.”

 

“What is the question then?”

 

“Why are you losing your mind over someone who's obviously not worth you?” Kagome said as she stood up.

 

“Will you help me?”

 

“No, you're on your own. But I pity you…”

 

“Kagome, please…”

 

“Look Inuyasha, I'm sorry that she does not feel that way towards you but I can't be an accomplice in making other people's lives miserable. It's just not right.”

 

“Come on, you're the smartest boy in our class. What's this? You're disappointing me.” Kagome added as she walked away and for some reason, Inuyasha felt his world crumble not because Kagome did not agree to what he asked for but somehow he felt hurt hearing how he had disappointed her.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

“What was that all about?” Sango asked as soon as Kagome sat down.

 

“Two different kinds of Chemistry,” Kagome replied

 

“What?!”

 

“Stupid things…you know how stupid that Hirohito is.” Kagome said not knowing why she does not feel comfortable telling her friends what Inuyasha and she talked about.

 

“I gather then that it has nothing to do with you failing the upcoming chemistry achievement test?” Sango prodded.

 

“Come to think of it, it has something to do with chemistry and for a while I was tempted but the heart won out.” Kagome joked as she heaved her bag unto her left shoulder.

 

“You're talking mermish Kagome and I'm not following it.” Sango complained.

 

“I'm not either.” Kagome replied as she smiled at her friend.

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

“Mama, I'm home!” Kagome called as she opened their front door.

 

“They're at the hospital to get Souta's knees stitched.” Kagome grandfather replied and Kagome walked up to him.

 

“Stitched? Did he fall?” Kagome asked feeling dizzy at the mention of the world `hospital.'

 

“No, somebody apparently bullied your brother.”

 

“What? When did this happen?”

 

“I think when he was on his way home. When he got here, he was bruised and bleeding.”

 

“Who, who did this to my brother?!” Kagome's voice raised and her aura flared. Her hair came unbound as her black tresses danced around her.

 

“Calm down, Kagome.”

 

“I can't Ji-chan!” Kagome replied panicking a little as she felt energy swirled around her.

 

“Calm down if you don't want us to sleep on the ground. Your brother will be here in a few minutes, the child will need his room.” The old man replied and Kagome watched as their chandelier rattled and blinked. Slowly she closed her eyes and breathed slowly thinking of soft-lapping waves of the ocean. Slowly, her aura receded and the energy swirling around her slowed until it stopped and went back inside her body.

 

“Very good child, you've learned how to control your power. Kaede was right.” Kagome smiled nervously as her grandfather praised her.

 

“Was Souta able to tell you who did it to him, grandfather?” Kagome asked.

 

“No, but from what I heard in between his sobs, he was walking from the bus stop when a bunch of teenagers in a car swerved and followed him shouting at him to run. Your brother ran and dove into the bushes to avoid being overrun and that's how he got his cuts and bruises.”

 

“It's a pity he was not able to tell you their names.” Kagome expressed.

 

“Don't do anything drastic, Kagome. A Miko is a bearer of peace. Don't use your power to harm anyone because it would do more destruction than good.”

 

“But, grandpa…”

 

“Promise me you're not going to hurt your brother's attackers using your Miko Powers.”

 

“But...”

 

“Promise me!”

 

“But Souta…”

 

“Souta will be saddened if he knows that he caused you to use your powers to hurt people.”

 

“Ji-chan…”

 

“A Miko saves Kagome, not injure…”

 

“I'm sorry, Ji-chan. I promise not to harm Souta's attackers using my powers.” Kagome bowed her head down shamefully.

 

“Good, your mother and Souta are here.” Kagome stood up as the door opened.

 

“Souta, are you okay?” Kagome cried as she took her brother into her arms.

 

“I'm okay, nee-chan, just three stitches.” Souta smiled toothily.

 

“Who did this to you?” Kagome asked her temper returning.

 

“Ummm…”

 

“I promise I won't use my powers to get back at them.” Kagome replied when she saw the fear in Souta's eyes.

 

“You promise you won't blow our school up, nee-chan? I like going to school.” Souta asked innocently.

 

“I promise, silly. I like going to school too. I would just like to know so I could talk to them.” Kagome said.

 

“It was your friend's girlfriend…”

 

“Who?”

 

“Your friend Inuyasha's girlfriend.” Souta said.

 

“Kikyo?” Kagome asked her head feeling hot at the mention of the older girl's name.

 

“Yes, it was her. You promised me, right nee-chan?”

 

“Yes, I promise not to use my power to get back at her.” Kagome smiled reassuringly at her brother.

 

 

 

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

 

 

“Kagome…?”

 

“Hello, Inuyasha…about that proposition you offered, is it still open?”

 

“Kagome I…”

 

“Is it?”

 

“Yes,”

 

“Good. Be here tomorrow. Higurashi Shrine. Six in the morning. We have some serious talking to do…”

 

 

 

 

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