InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Double Life ❯ Returning ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AN: I know these chapters have been overflowing with grammar and spelling mistakes and I'm sorry for that. But I don't have the patience to go through each one and edit them. I just stick 'em in Word and let it do the correcting for me, but unfortunately it doesn't catch everything. Pfft.

Why did her hardcore life suck?

Kagome sunk into her desk chair and flicked the letter onto her desk. Her father wasn't an idiot so it wouldn't be too long until he found out about her little secret. Well, there was Aki's letter. If she didn't have any good news, she'd eat her socks.

Kagome gloomily ripped open the envelope.

Kagome!

I have bad, bad, BAD news!

Oh, gosh darn.

Your dad's going to Japan for a business trip! You'd better cook up something quickly 'cause if he finds out, who knows what he'll do! I swear to god, if you didn't make friends with anyone who could help you in this kind of situation and if I was any richer, I'll come right over there and stuff Souta's dirty underwear down your throat.

Well, sorry I don't have any good news to give you. Good luck!

Aki.

Kagome buried her head in her arms. What to do, what to do, what to do?! Where in the world was she going to get girl clothes? She was practically broke and she didn't want to eat her socks. And did she have any friends who could help? Of course not! Except for...

Her head shot up from her arms. Of course! Why didn't she come up with it earlier? She'll eat her socks later.

Kagome stumbled out of her chair and shot towards the door. She wretched it open and nearly collided into Inuyasha, headlong.

"Oh, Inuyasha! Sorry, I was just --" She stopped short when he looked away and started grumbling. "What?"

Inuyasha clicked his tongue irritably. "I said, sorry."

A long awkward silence followed. She never expected an apology to come out from his mouth. "For what?"

Inuyasha's eyes stayed on the carpet. "You got caught up in something that you shouldn't have been. You got yelled by Sanka--"

"Sana."

"--for something that wasn't your fault. You were a bystander and she got you involved, for some damn reason I'm not aware of."

Kagome gave a small smile as Inuyasha avoided her eyes uncomfortably.

"Look," she said, choosing her words carefully. She didn't want to sound girly. "I really don't mind. I mean she was really just worried about you, and so are all your friends. I mean, it's okay to have problems, but you shouldn't make the people around you worry about you too. You have all these people around you, so...you don't have to carry the burden alone."

Inuyasha looked up at her. It felt a bit touching to hear those words from her. His lip quirked. Just like a girl.

Kagome responded with a smile of her own. "Miroku made you come up here, huh?"

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "The damn bastard wouldn't leave me alone if I didn't."

Kagome laughed. "Right." She waved her hand and walked out past the door. Inuyasha walked inside before becoming hesitant.

"I'm thinking--"

Kagome stopped when she realized he was talking to her. "I'm sorry?"

He didn't turn around.

"I think I'll go back to high jumping."

There was no response from Kagome.

"I thought you should be the first to know. I mean, considering that you're always bothering me about," he added hastily.

Kagome stayed silent.

"I guess after today, I realized that I've been running away. Well, I won't run away anymore."

Still, no response.

Inuyasha snapped around. "Hey! I'm practically bearing out my soul here! The least you could do is say something--" He stopped short when he saw her face. She was in utter shock. Her eyes were wide as saucers and her mouth was slightly hung opened.

Inuyasha waved a hand in front of her face. Nothing. He smirked.

"Hey, you're drooling."

Kagome snapped and her hand flew to the corner of her mouth. "There's nothing--"

She glared at him as her hand dropped. He responded with a wider smirk.

"If you stayed like that a bit longer, you would've started drooling one way or another."

"You're wasting my time."

Kagome stalked away. When she turned the corner, she broke into a big smile.

He was going back! Inuyasha was going back!

"Hey, have any of you guys seen Kagome?"

Six set of eyes looked up from textbooks and essays to eye their disturber.

"Oh, it's just you, Hojou," said Shun and immediately returned to burying his head into his math book.

Chiaki looked at Hojou from head to toe. "Why aren't you wearing your uniform?"

"I'm going back to America."

Now that got all of their attention.

"Really?" they chorused.

"Yeah," Hojou said sadly. "My dad's getting transferred back to the U.S."

"Oh..."

"So I wanted to say good-bye to Kagome. Have you seen him?"

"I saw--" Miroku started but was cut short by Inuyasha.

"He's in the Library."

Hojou nodded gratefully. "Thanks. Well, see you guys."

Once Hojou was out of earshot, Toji held his hand out to Shun. "That'll be 200 yen."

Shun snarled as he pulled out his wallet. Chiaki shook his head. "You guys shouldn't be betting on things like that."

Toji looked up innocently. "What? It's not my fault my dad's the head of his company."

Miroku turned to Inuyasha, puzzled. "I thought you said you saw Kagome going to the Health Room."

Inuyasha shrugged indifferently and stretched his arms behind him. "He doesn't know that."

He ignored the five sets of eyes that stared at him. Suddenly, they broke in rounds of laughter. Inuyasha looked around, confused.

Daisuke pulled himself up from the picnic table and clapped Inuyasha on the shoulder.

It's nice to have you back, Inuyasha."

"Doctor Izumi!"

Izumi turned around just as the door slammed open, making the shelves next to it rattle violently and the contents on it move dangerously to the edge.

"I need girl clothes!" Kagome slammed the door behind her, causing one of the glass jars to tip over the edge and fall. Izumi dove to catch it; the jar landed cleanly into his outstretched hand.

The doctor placed the jar back onto the shelf and pushed back the rest of the other containers to the back of the shelf. "You know," he said irritably. "I could have other patients in here."

Kagome looked around the empty room. "But you don't."

"That's not the point."

Kagome waved her hand indifferently. "Never mind that. The important thing now is that I need girl clothes."

Izumi sunk into his chair with annoying calmness and pulled a cup of tea towards him. "And what makes you think I have girl clothes?"

"Um, 'cause you're gay?"

"That's really gonna help you, Kagome." He sipped his tea. "Why do you need them anyways?"

Kagome threw her arms up impatiently. "My dad's visiting and he can't know I'm attending an all boys' school!"

Izumi looked up impertinently. "You put yourself into this, you know."

Kagome started to pace the room. "Yeah, I know, I know. and I have no one to blame but myself - blah, blah, blah. Well, I got it so right now I need your help. I figured you would have some outside resources --"

She stopped short when she realized he seemed to have stopped paying attention to her. After a moment of staring at her, he had picked up his phone, dialed, and started mumbling into the speaker.

He was ignoring her!

Kagome scrunched up her face irritably. Going here was a mistake from the beginning. She whirled around and stalked towards the door. Izumi stopped her by pulling the back of her collar.

"I called my niece. She's about your size so I asked her to lend me some clothes."

Kagome blinked before gripped his shoulders tightly. She bowed her head low. "Thank you so much!"

"Just one question."

Kagome looked up. "Yes?"

"Is your dad cute?"

Kagome strode down the corridor with fists in her pockets. Gods, that doctor! What kind of question was that? Well, despite the outrageously random question, he did help her out a lot. She sighed.

I told my niece to leave a bag of her clothes in front of your dorm so just wait for about fifteen minutes.

So now she was wandering aimlessly for fifteen minutes. Fun, fun, fun.

Kagome walked outside when she saw Miroku and Daisuke tossing a hackey-sack towards one another.

"Yo," she said when she reached them.

Miroku nearly yelped in surprise and kicked the sack too high, onto one of the tall walls that surrounded the building. He looked regretfully up at the wall. "Aw, damn."

Kagome cringed. "Sorry."

"It's nothing," Daisuke assured as he squinted, trying to locate the sack. "I think it's up there on the left, Miroku."

Miroku shuffled over. "Okay, give me a lift."

Kagome looked around. "Where's Inuyasha?" She usually saw him hanging around with these two if not in his room.

Daisuke bend down on one knee and lifted his hands up as a foothold for Miroku. "Well, you know Inuyasha's going back to high jumping, right? Which, by the way, is a very good thing. It seems like he's returning to his own self."

Kagome beamed. "Yeah."

"Yeah, so he's practicing out on the track field right now. He told me he was going to lay off kendo for a while. Take things one at a time."

Miroku stepped on Daisuke's palms and Daisuke immediately lifted him up for him to placed a foot on each shoulder. Daisuke slowly stood as he held onto Miroku's ankles and Miroku quickly grasped the wall's edge.

"By the way," Daisuke said with a strained tone. "Hojou was--OW!" A small branch fell onto his head from the tree that loomed over them from behind the wall. Daisuke jumped as a reaction sending Miroku swaying dangerously from the wall. Miroku flapped his arms violently as he tried to regain his balance before leaning forward and grabbed the wall again. "What the hell are you doing, Miroku?"

"Trying to find the hackey-sack! What do you think?!" Miroku shouted from above.

"I think you're trying to poke my eyes out!"

"Well that's a thought," Miroku grumbled irritably.

"Hey," Kagome suddenly said. "Do any of you by chance know how's Inuyasha doing? I mean, with high jumping and all."

Daisuke shook his head in slight disappointment.

"What is it?" Kagome asked.

"Well, from what I'm hearing...he's not doing too well."

Kagome could feel her hopes plummet down to her stomach. "W-What's the problem?" she choked out.

"Damn, Miroku, you weigh a ton," Daisuke grumbled before turning back to Kagome. "I'm not sure, but I hear it's because he hasn't fully recovered from the accident yet--OW! Fuck, Miroku! What the hell are you doing?"

Daisuke's polite demeanor disappeared as his face fell into a snarl. Miroku had deliberately press his weight down on Daisuke's shoulders after he had made a comment on his weight. His knees buckled slightly but he fought against it and straightened again. Miroku swore when Daisuke shook him by the ankles.

"I-I hear t-that's i-i-it's because he i-isn't a-able con-concentrate th-that w-well," Miroku said as his voice shook before he grabbed onto the wall to steady himself from Daisuke's neck-killing shake.

Kagome's shoulders sagged in disappointment. Was she wrong to push him into returning to high jumping. Had she knew that he had not recovered from the accident, whatever it was, she wouldn't had bother him anymore. Was Inuyasha regretting his choice to come back?

Guilt washed over her like a tidal wave. Because of her pestering and begging, he'd probably hurt himself more now. If he hadn't recovered yet, then returning to the high jumping was a mistake from the start. If only she had known in the beginning!

"If you're thinking Inuyasha regrets coming back to high jumping, don't."

Kagome looked up in surprise. Daisuke was looking at her with a serious expression on his face.

"Inuyasha knows what he's doing. Choosing to come back to high jumping is a really big decision and he knows that. You should trust his judgment a little more, even though he does seem a bit reckless sometimes. So don't -- ACK! Dammit, Miroku! I'm in the middle of talking here! Quit dropping branches on my head!"

Miroku grinned. "You started getting serious, so I got scared for a minute. So I assumed that some evil lurking spirit inhabited your body, therefore I thought I could knock it out of you. Is it out yet, or should I drop more branches?"

Daisuke narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Miroku, you're in danger of losing your pants. So you better find that hackey-sack fast."

Kagome smiled. Those two were a good balance for Inuyasha. What was she thinking, to doubt Inuyasha? She had believed in him for so long, aside from barely knowing him, and she wasn't one who doubted people easily.

Kagome's head jerked around when she heard a dull thud. She glanced at the pair before padding towards the sound.

"OW!" Daisuke cried out when he felt something hit his head again. He looked down to see what hit him. It was a empty Cola bottle. The weight on his shoulders suddenly disappeared when Miroku jumped off and landed on the ground. He had a scowl on his scratched face.

Daisuke rubbed his head painfully. "Did you throw that at me?"

"Yes."

"...Because?"

"Because what you saw was that Cola bottle--" Miroku pointed angrily at the bottle. "--and not the hackey-sack! And now my face is scratched up from that damn tree!" Now the tree had the honor of being rudely pointed at. "What if Sango sees me?"

"Hey, is this what you're looking for?"

The two turned to see Kagome holding out a colorful sack.

Daisuke chuckled sheepishly. "Well, whadaya know?"

Miroku sent him a venomous look.

Daisuke took the ball from Kagome and placed it on top of his foot. "Well, at least Sango's not around, right? Besides, she's just one girl." He flicked the sack to Miroku to kicked it towards Kagome. "It's not like you to focus your attention on just one girl."

Kagome was caught in surprise when she saw the ball sail towards her, but she quickly recovered and smacked it with the side of foot.

"Good one," Miroku complimented. He flicked the sack to Daisuke. "What do you mean? Have you ever thought of the possibility that I could change?"

"No," Daisuke and Kagome chorused.

Miroku held a hand on his chest with a feigned look of hurt.

Suddenly remembering her ordeal with girl clothes, Kagome asked, "Do any of you know what time it is?"

Miroku bounced the sack on his knee as he glanced at his wristwatch. "Er, it's 5:45."

"Hey, Inuyasha's practice should be over by now, right?" asked Daisuke and Miroku nodded.

Kagome swore in her head. Her bag of clothes had been waiting in front of her dorm room for ten minutes already. If Inuyasha saw it and looked inside it, she was screwed. "Er, I have to go now," she stammered. "Um, see you in at dinner."

She turned and stopped short so she wouldn't collide violently into Sango who had just came by.

"S-Sango!" she heard Miroku stammered from behind. "Hey, is my face okay?" he whispered to Daisuke.

"Never better," Daisuke said with hidden glee.

"Kagome!" Sango said with surprise. "Sorry! I didn't hurt you or anything, right?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, I'm okay," she said before she was unceremoniously shoved aside.

"Sango-chan!" said Miroku whilst smoothing out his hair. He took her slender hands into his. "What brings your pretty face here? Do you miss me so dearly that you would bring yourself here to this vile place?"

Daisuke stared incredulously at him. "You live here." Miroku ignored him.

Sango laughed. "I came here to drop something off. And you can keep on dreaming, Miroku."

"I only dream of you, my dear Sango."

"How comforting," she replied wryly. "By the way, your face is all scratched up."

There was a sudden sound of padding footsteps as Daisuke made his rapid escape. Not being to fond of seeing bloody murder, which seemed inevitable by the look in Miroku's eyes, Kagome quickly left.

She quickly broke into a run, praying that Inuyasha had not reached the dorm before she did.

Inuyasha walked sluggishly down the hall, dragging his training bad at his heels. To train for endless hours after months of never touching the high jump was hell on earth. He was going to take a long nap after this.

He trudged to the door and stopped when his foot touched something. He looked down and saw a brown paper bag at his feet. Inuyasha frowned and painfully bend over to look inside before it was abruptly snatched away. He looked up in surprise and saw Kagome breathless and holding the bag close to her chest.

Inuyasha quickly straightened but his back protested...painfully. He grunted and placed a hand on his back. He looked at Kagome. She was still standing there, looking terrified. He blinked. Was there something on his face?

"Um, so what's in that bag?" He asked, in attempt to start a conversation.

"Nothing," she stammered, her terrified look slowly disappearing. "It's just some mail I asked to be delivered here."

Inuyasha's eyes drooped. "Oh...that's a pretty big package."

"Y-Yeah."

"Right. Well, I'm pooped so I'm going to take a nap...wake me up for dinner," he yawned.

"I will."

"Right."

Inuyasha fumbled with the doorknob before finally opening it. He trudged in and dropped his bag to the ground. But he only made it half way through the room before he fell unceremoniously to the ground, fast asleep.

Kagome sighed heavily before shutting the door behind. She gripped the bag a bit tighter. Did he see anything? If he did, she was seriously screwed. But then, he would have said something. Nowadays, Inuyasha had been a bit more open than usual. It hadn't been too long ago when he sponstaneously said that she had a bad scent.

Concerned that she had bad hygiene, she asked around, causing a lot of raised eyebrows in the process, if she smelled bad. They all said she smelled fine, so she figured he was being weird. But it was bit surprising that he would say anything at all. So if he saw anything, he'd say something. She was sure.

Kagome placed the bag by her desk and walked over to Inuyasha. She prodded his body with her foot. He grunted and rolled over, but did not awaken. He was most likely going to get sick or something laying like that on the ground. Well, the bed wasn't too far.

Kagome bent down and lifted Inuyasha's limp arm over her shoulder. With great difficulty, she heaved herself along with Inuyasha.

"My god, you're heavy," she muttered.

She took several shaky steps towards the bed before her knees buckled. Her arm lashed out and grabbed the bedpost to steady herself. When she felt she was steadied enough, Kagome took a few more steps, this time more slowly and steady. Just as she had finally reached the bedside, Inuyasha suddenly leaned forward.

His weight dragged her down with him as he collapsed onto the bed...and on top of Kagome.

Kagome squeaked as she tried to wiggle her way out. But that seemed impossible since his whole body was covering hers. His hair blanketed her whole right arm and his right arm trapped her left. His head cradled itself on the crook of her neck and his legs tangled with hers. His heavy steady breath brushed her neck, making her heart race. His face was peace and content....and so close. Too close.

She blinked rapidly. What was she doing? It wasn't like she had any feelings or anything. This was ridiculous. She had to get out before someone came in.

With all the strength she could muster, Kagome pushed Inuyasha off, but instead he merely rolled off. But either way, it got him off her. Cold air hit her body as Inuyasha's warmth disappeared. The shock made her shiver.

Kagome slid off the bed and pulled the covers over Inuyasha. She backed away, slightly afraid of what might happened if she stayed any closer to him.

For one outrageous second, Kagome thought she felt her body crave to be under his warmth again.

Kagome fixed the ribbons in her hair and smoothed out her blouse. It felt like ages since she had last wore a skirt. She had to wake an hour earlier than usual to sneak out of the school and into a public bathroom to change. Thankfully, it was a weekend so school wasn't a problem.

Kagome peeked out of the bathroom and cautiously walked out. Strangely it seemed more like she was masquerading as a girl now. She nervously smoothed out her floral skirt and fixed her hair. Thank you, Doctor Izumi' niece!

How Izumi told her was still a mystery to Kagome but it was something she just had to trust him in, wasn't it?

Kagome glanced at the clock tower before scurrying away so she wouldn't be late.

She walked down the street, looking curiously around. It had been awhile since she went out of the school campus. Stores were opening and the streets were starting to fill with people. Kagome made her way to the park, glancing every now and then at the stores. She had to fight the temptations to walk into one of them and browse through, but she was nearly late as it already was.

At the front gates of the park, Kagome spotted a brown-haired middle-aged man, waiting patiently as he looked curiously around. Kagome broke into a big smile.

"Dad!"

The man looked up in surprise before grinning. "Kagome!"

Kagome ran into her father's outstretched arms gleefully. "Welcome, Dad."

Mr. Higurashi laughed and lifted Kagome off her feet to give her a peck on her cheek. "You little brat. When your mother told me you went to Japan, I was so shocked. I can't believe you forgot to tell me."

"Sorry..." Kagome said as he placed her down onto her feet again. She broke into a grin. "But you know now, right?"

He ruffled her hair. "Obviously--Uh!" Mr. Higurashi leaned forward and stared at Kagome. "You cut your hair!"

Kagome stroked her short hair. "Yeah. Just before I left for Japan." She laughed when her father's eyes widened even further.

"I liked your long hair!"

She laughed again and pulled him by his arm to a nearby cafe.

"So how long are you planning to stay here?" Kagome asked as they sat down.

"There's a medical convention here, so there's lots to do. I'd say four days at the least."

Kagome sipped her warm tea. Her father's work was partially the reason why her parents decided to separate. The other part of the reason being that they figured that they just didn't love each other anymore. Her father was a doctor and he went overseas a lot. So Kagome was lucky to see him at all. Four days!

She suddenly felt crestfallen. That meant for four days she had to hide from her father that she was attending an all boys' school.

"So how are you adjusting to high school?"

Kagome looked up and put an optimistic smile on her face. "I'm doing great! The bo- people are really nice."

Mr. Higurashi smiled. "That's good."

"Yeah..."

Kagome's eyes fell down to her cup as she fingered the rim. Lying to her father like this never had been so uncomfortable. How much longer could she fake a smile and act like everything was alright? But Kagome looked up determinedly. She had already enrolled into the school and had already started on the road to get into Tokyo University. Not even her father was going to be able to stop her on this one.

End of Chapter 5

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AN: This chapter probably would've gone out earlier if I wasn't drawing...

Oh, well. ^_^

I watched the movie, "Equilibrium". It is awesome beyond words.