InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Double Life ❯ Just Peachy ( Chapter 10 )

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

AN: It's winter break now. And I'm writing instead of doing my homework. I rock.

Double Life

Chapter 10

Just Peachy

"During the early Heian Era..." Blah, blah, blah.

That was all that was registering through her head. Blah. Kagome's eyelids drooped dangerously before snapping back open violently, nearly making her jump in her seat. She wanted to stay awake. Really! She wanted to listen to Mr. Shindo's lecture on how war was flourishing during those Heian days. She wanted to correct Mr. Shindo that it was actually literature that was flourishing in the Heian Era. She wanted to stay awake in her Japan History AP (Advanced Placement), her favorite class. But she was too dead exhausted and the teacher's monotone voice was not helping at all.

Last night was her first track meet. It was nothing unusual. It was even similar to the ones in the U.S. But all the practices before the meet were a bit more stressing and well, tiring. Most of the weariness she was feeling was of the slow adaptation for running so much in a long time. But it was probably the most fun she had in such a long time. The excitement, the adrenaline, the rush. She loved it all. She just didn't love the staying-up-late-doing-homework part.

Soon, Kagome found herself in La La Land with puffy clouds and white bunnies. She was going to go fly with the floating unicorns when she felt someone poke her forearm and calling her name. She groggily lifted her head from her folded arms. She snapped upright when she realized that Mr. Shindo was standing in front of her, arms folded and eyebrow cocked. She felt her cheeks reddened.

"Ummm..." That was the most intelligible thing she could say.

"Higurashi, do you understand what you had just done?" Mr. Shindo asked with a menacing stare.

"...I'm sorry?"

His fingers rapped against his opposite arm. "You had a track meet last night, am I correct?"

"Yes..."

"Hm, alright then. I'll let you off this once, Higurashi. Don't let it happen again. Now, go to the Health Room and get some sleep or something. You're no good here." Mr. Shindo turned on his heel and headed towards the blackboard.

As Kagome stuffed her books back into her bag (blushing, embarrassed still), Daisuke, who sat behind her, said in a low voice. "Bad time to take a snore, Kagome." He gave her a toothy grin. "You know missing out on one of his lectures will doom you for his tests."

Suddenly, Mr. Shindo piped up. "Fukumoto, go see Higurashi out. Make sure he doesn't fall asleep on his way to the Health Room."

Daisuke gaped in protest before immediately closing his mouth. "Yes, sir." He turned to glower at Kagome.

Once they exited out to the hallway, Kagome immediately apologized. Daisuke grinned. "Ah, it's no big deal. If Miroku isn't drawing obscene pictures and is actually taking notes (highly doubt it though), I think we can snag some off of him."

"I'm kinda surprised Mr. Shindo let me off though," Kagome said.

"Well, you're lucky he's a fan of the track team." Daisuke stuffed his hands into his pockets. "And considering that you won the competition, it's no surprise that he let you off. Oh, and I forgot, congratulations on your victory."

Kagome blushed and smiled coyly. "It's no big deal. Anyone could've done it."

He smiled and shrugged, choosing not to pursue the subject.

"Oh, by the way, do you, by any chance, know how to get to the Temple? The Akoroshi Temple," she asked. The training that had taken place this past week had distracted her but her weekend seemed free so far. So checking out Kikyou's grave again would be a good idea.

He looked at her curiously. "Why you ask?"

"Uh..." Kagome averted her gaze in front of her as she thought quickly. "I wanted to go visit my grandmother's grave and um, the last time I went I was following someone, so I don't really know the way there." Well, that last part was true, at least.

"Oh." Daisuke shrugged. "Well, I don't know 'cos I don't really go there a lot. But I'm pretty sure Izumi knows. He goes...well, a lot."

"Really?" Kagome rose an inquiring eyebrow. "Doctor Izumi never really struck me as a religious person."

"Yeah, I know. He probably thinks it gives him a good image by going a lot though. I think he goes because he likes the incense there."

Kagome smiled. She stopped when they reached the front of the Health Room. "Well, I didn't fall asleep on the way here."

"Yeah, well, even if you did, I'd probably just leave you there on the floor," Daisuke said jokingly.

Once Daisuke left, Kagome turned the knob. She went inside and immediately plopped herself onto the first bed she saw.

"Sorry, Izumi," Kagome said, her voice muffled against the pillow. "But I feel so dead right now."

"That's quite all right."

Kagome stilled. That wasn't Izumi's voice. She lifted her head from the pillow and saw Aki sorting through a filing cabinet. Aki lifted a hand in greeting. "Yo."

Kagome shifted to an upright sitting position. "Where's Izumi? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in class? Isn't -"

Aki laughed. "Whoa, hey. Slow down. Izumi went to Kyoto to drop off that LSD thing at the lab. Someone has to watch the clinic here while he's gone and usually, the assistant replaces the doctor until he returns, which is me. So, I am excused from all classes until our dear doctor returns." Aki grinned widely. "Aside from the disorganized cabinets and grumpy-ass doctor, being a doctor assistant rocks."

Kagome smiled wryly. "Mr. Shindo had a lecture today."

"What?!" Aki squawked. "B-but you're not in class so w-who am I suppose to take notes from?" she stuttered. She stopped at Kagome's wide grin. "Well then, you must be taking them off someone else too since you're not in class and not freaking out. I know, I'll take them from Daisuke."

"He walked me here."

She gave her a blank look. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Only too much."

"Hmph." Aki resumed to her file sorting. "So it's been a week now so I figured that you visited the grave by now. Any luck on a complete vision?"

Kagome bit her lip, almost guiltily. "Um, actually...this whole week I was put under a lot of pressure with track practice and there's studying to boot...so I didn't exactly have the time to," she added quickly when Aki opened her mouth (most likely to scowl at her). "And I also realized that I didn't know how to get there. The last time I went I was following Inuyasha so..." She looked up to see Aki's reaction.

Aki had abandoned the file cabinet and was leaning on the desk, her cheek resting on her palm. "Sometimes you can be really sad, you know?" She rolled her chair back to another cabinet and pull out a small brochure. "I was organizing this cabinet the other day and I found this brochure of the Akoroshi Temple. You're lucky Izumi goes there a lot."

Kagome took the brochure and yawned. "Thanks a bunch."

"Happy exploring."

But Kagome didn't hear that last comment because she had slumped back onto the bed, fast asleep.

* * *

It must have been, of what Kagome could determine, hours later when she found herself in her own bed. That and almost everyone in her room.

Shun grinned. "You know you talk in your sleep."

Kagome's heart raced. She forced herself to chuckle. "What did I say?"

"'Don't put whip cream in my burger, please.' Seriously, do they actually do that in America?"

She inwardly let out a sigh of relief. "What are you all doing here?" she asked curiously.

Miroku feigned a hurt look. "Why, we merely came to provide you our company. We all love you so we wouldn't be able to bear it if we found out that you were lonely. Besides, Inuyasha barely qualifies as company."

Inuyasha glared at Miroku. "Why, Miroku? Why? Why do you act as if I'm not even here?" He turned away from him. "Daisuke locked his room so these dorks here couldn't get access to his TV and gaming console, so they decided to crash here." He said to Kagome.

Miroku continued his hurt expression. "Inuyasha, when you're saying it, everything sounds bad. You know, sometimes, your words? They hurt, man." His face immediately burst into a huge grin as Inuyasha sent him crashing into the ground with a shove to the head.

Kagome pushed herself upright. "So why didn't you ask Aki for the key?"

"Well, for one, he won't give us the key because he doesn't trust us alone with it," Toji explained, chewing on a sweet.

"Gee, I wonder why," Inuyasha grumbled.

Toji ignored him and carried on. "And second, he's too scared to leave his post at the office."

Kagome frowned. "What? Why is he- ?" She thought for a moment. "Ahh. Izumi?"

"Yup. Won't leave the office until Izumi returns. Ever since he found out about the little LSD incident, ticking that doctor off with even the littlest things would be like setting off a bomb."

"And now you guys are stuck here," She said in matter-of-fact voice.

"Not that we don't like it," Shun said hastily.

"So please don't kick us out," Miroku begged, his tone sounding soft and vulnerable. "Because we don't really have any where else to go -"

Inuyasha snorted. "Do you know how sad that sounds?- OW!" He jerked away when Miroku elbowed him in the gut.

Kagome looked at Toji strangely. "You know, almost every time - no, every time I see you, you're always eating something."

He looked at her defensively. "What? It's Daisuke's homemade sweets! They're really good!"

Kagome slowly climbed out of her bunk. Inuyasha rose an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?"

"Huh?" She looked surprised for a moment. "Oh, nothing really. I haven't ran that much as I did this past week in a really long time. I guess I'm a bit sore. Oh, by the way," She turned to everyone else. "Where's Daisuke? And Chiaki, too?"

"Oh, next week's the Festival of Seasons," Miroku said, suddenly his smile turned sly. "But as we like to call it, the Impetuous War of Rivals." His eyes gleamed as the others nodded with suspicious glee.

Kagome, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. "I'm sorry, the impetuous what?"

"The Impetuous War of Rivals," Miroku started to explain. "You see, next week is also when our rivaling school- "

"- Senbaku High School, also an all-boys'," Shun cut in.

Miroku continued,"- comes to visit and we have a 'friendly' competition of brains and brawn -"

"- we basically have an all-out war in which we basically kick their asses."

"Sounds...fun," Kagome managed to drawl out.

"Well, it really is," Toji managed to say through a mouthful of sweets. "And Otasku students also visit and watch the competitions."

"Ah, yes, that's the best part of all." Miroku shone with glee.

Shun nodded in agreement. "The chicks."

"And Daisuke...?" Kagome asked.

"He's dorm head, right?" Inuyasha said. "All the dorm heads help organized the competitions and such. And Daisuke probably forced Chiaki to come help him out."

"So then why are you all here?"

"We managed to run away in time," He replied. "Poor Chiaki was less fortunate and got caught."

Kagome snorted. "You lazy bums."

"Damn straight." Inuyasha's expression then became irritated. "Miroku," he called.

"Yeah," Miroku automatically responded.

"I'm trying to plug in my lamp but the socket's not working. I know it's the socket because this lamp is brand new."

Miroku leaned back to see what Inuyasha was talking about. "Oh, yeah. I tried to plug in my battery charger earlier. Sorry about that."

Inuyasha gave him a blank stare. "Your battery charger."

"Yeah."

"You mean the battery charger that will short-circuit any power socket it's plugged into."

Miroku thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think so."

Inuyasha stood up and headed towards the door, smacking Miroku's head and muttering, "idiot," in the process.

Miroku rubbed his offended head. "Ow...Wait! Where are you going?"

"To find the caretaker. I'm going to try to get him to fix the power socket. I'm telling him it's your fault this time," Inuyasha called over his shoulder as he passed through the open door.

Miroku scrambled to his feet. "Wait a minute! No! Hold on! Let's reconsider this. You know what he'll do to me if he finds out it's me again." He chased after Inuyasha. "Wait! Last time he set Jirou on me! And I swear to Buddha, that dog is the incarnation of the Devil! He does NOT like me! No! Inuyasha!"

Shun stretched his arms and trudged to the door. "Yeah, well, I'm going to go hit the sack. See you guys in the morning."

Kagome climbed back up to her bunk, careful not to stress her sore limbs too much. Toji was about to go too when he stopped and turned to face her.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." He searched the pockets of his pants. "I was told to give this to you," he murmured. "Ah ha!" He pulled out a wrinkly used ointment tube. He held it out to her. He smiled sheepishly. "I was sneaking into Daisuke's room the other day to get some of his food (that's why he locks it all the time now) and uh, he caught me. Well, afterwards, we noticed how sore you've been getting and he told me to give you this ointment that he had lend to me earlier. It's suppose to relieve sores." Kagome took it from him. "Just rub it on where it hurts."

"Thanks," she said, pleasantly surprised.

Toji grinned. "No problem. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah," she replied softly as he turned and left. She watched him close the door behind him before dropping her eyes to the tube in her hand. Hm. Well, this would definitely prove useful. She dropped in on her headboard and turned off her light. Tomorrow was the start of the weekend so homework could be worried about later. She closed her curtain, and pulled the covers over her head, and went soundlessly asleep.

* * *

Droopy-eyed, Kagome sat up in her bed. She couldn't sleep. Of all things she lacked, it was sleep. And now, the one time where she could regained it, she couldn't do it. Did this suck? Oh...just a lot.

Disgruntled, Kagome pulled open her curtain and crawled out of her bed. Her hand groped for the doorknob as she crossed the room in the darkness.

"What are you doing up?"

Kagome yelped as she whipped around in surprise. She saw Inuyasha in his bed, curtains opened, leaning on his elbow as he rested his head on his hand. From his penetrating stare, she felt like she was just caught doing something bad.

She straightened. "I couldn't sleep. So I'm going to go to the kitchens to get something to drink."

"Warm milk will help."

"...Oh, okay. Thanks."

His stare stayed on her for an awkward moment until he closed his curtains in one swift motion.

Kagome blinked. Eh. Weird. She turned around and opened the door before slipping her on her shoes. She shuffled out to the hall after closing the door silently behind her.

It was a good thing that she had memorized her way to the cafeteria since it was all dark. It was after hours so it was presumed that they would turn off the lights. With one hand stretched out to make sure she wouldn't crash into anything, Kagome slowly walked down the hall. Once she exited the dorm building, the night's cold breeze embraced her face. The crescent moon shone its soft light through the trees, illuminating the her path.

Yeah. It was quite a beautiful night. But then, it got cold and she didn't bring a coat. Kagome hurried to the cafeteria. She entered the large dark room but a soft light was illuminating from the kitchen. As she approached the kitchen, she could hear the soft rumble of the stove and the gentle clanging of pots. She curiously poked her head in and was surprised to see her dorm head. She grinned. In an apron.

"Hey, Daisuke."

Daisuke nearly jumped up two feet and dropped the wooden spoon that he was holding. It clattered nosily on the metal counter along with the other pots and pans that he stumbled into. Both he and Kagome cringed before the racket stopped. Daisuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Sorry," Kagome said with a guilty smile.

"No big deal." He picked up the fallen pots and pans. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep. So I came to get some- "

"Warm milk? Don't worry about it. I'll make some."

Kagome looked pleasantly surprised. "Oh, okay. Thanks." She pulled over a stool and sat. She around the kitchen and noted the busy stove, the kitchen utensils and bowls of mixtures that covered the counter along with the occasional spots of flour. "What are you doing?"

"I making food for the festival next week," he answered as he placed a small pot on the stove. "Our cook caught a cold so I'm making the stuff she wasn't able to get to yet."

She looked curiously around the messy kitchen. "I didn't know you cook."

Daisuke grinned. "Yeah. It was something I picked up when I was younger."

Remembering the usual homemade treats that he always had and Toji was always eating, Kagome asked. "From your mom? Were those homemade stuff you always had made by your mom."

He thought for a moment. "It'd probably be something she do if she was alive. And don't apologize," he added quickly. "It was a long time ago so I don't mind."

Kagome nodded but then frowned. "I remember around the time when I first came here, you had these dumplings that you said they were from your mom."

Daisuke's smile faded to a grim line as he turned to distract himself by checking one of the boiling pots. "My step mom."

She paused for a minute. "I guess you guys don't have the best of relationships."

Daisuke turned and the corner of his lips quirked. "Not really."

Kagome nodded, not pursuing the matter anymore. She then noticed something under a pile of pans and bags. "This that Chiaki?" She asked, almost in disbelief.

Daisuke laughed. "Yeah. The guy fell asleep when he was suppose to help me." He shook his head. After a quiet moment, he handed her a cup of warm liquid, interrupting her thoughts . "Here."

She took it with both hands, her hand brushed his slightly. She barely noticed it since half of her mind was not focused. Her mind was set on the following morning, mentally preparing herself for what she was going to partake. That vision. The more she thought of it, the more anxious she became. The rest of this vision would unlock the mystery of this accident that everyone knew except her. Absorbed in her thoughts, Kagome didn't see the strange way Daisuke was looking at her.

Finally he spoke as she brought the cup to her lips. "Kagome..."

Kagome lowered the cup. "What?"

His face was fixed in a frown and his voice was hesitant. "...You know that if there's anything you want to tell me or talk about," he looked up at her. "You know you can talk to me, right?"

Confused, it was Kagome's turn to look at him strangely. What brought this up? "...I know," she said.

"You know, there's nothing you have to hide from me."

She felt her stomach flutter nervously. Uh-oh. Just now, there was nothing that she could've done that would make herself suspicious...right?

In a more clear voice, she replied. "I know."

Daisuke smiled and nodded in satisfaction, and turned away to devote his attention to his cooking. But Kagome stayed her gaze on him. What was he trying to say? He wasn't suspicious, was he? There wasn't any reason that she could think of that could explain why he should be. Maybe she was just making too big of a deal of it. It was late and her milk was gonna go cold. She took a sip and...was shocked.

"What do you think?"

Kagome looked up from her cup. "It's...not warm milk."

"Well...it is...in a way. I used to be unable to sleep too. But I'm lactose intolerant so regular milk ain't too good for me. So I made myself a special milk, which is what you're drinking right now. So...is it any good?"

"It's really good!" Kagome exclaimed. "In fact, if everything you make taste good, then I'm more than willing to taste everything you're making right now. If I drop dead of food poisoning, it'd be okay because it tasted good at least.

Daisuke chuckled. "Really now? Well, to be fair, you'll just have to wait like everyone else. Besides, my drink should've been quite filling."

Darn. It was.

"So you're planning to go to the Akoroshi Temple tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to come with you? Provide some company?"

You probably could if I actually had a grandmother who was buried there.

Kagome smiled and reluctantly said, "No, it's alright." She placed her empty cup into the sink. "Thank you for the drink though."

"No problem. Oh, and I can drop out my history notes tomorrow if you want. I already copied Miroku's so..."

"Oh, yeah, will you?" He nodded. "Thanks. You're a lifesaver. And your drink was too," Kagome added. She started towards the door but then stopped. She turned back and leaned on the counter with a goofy smile.

Daisuke looked up with a questioningly look. "What?"

"You look so pretty in that apron."

He threw a small towel at her, which she dodged. "Go to bed."

Kagome did a mock salute and turned on her heel. She went back to the dormitories and quickly went to bed with Daisuke's special milk warming her stomach.

* * *

Kagome stared at awe at the gigantic temple bell. It was. Wow. And pretty too.

After taking that brochure and reading it thoroughly, Kagome had activated her tourist mode. She had seen the big Buddha statues, the main hall, the Temple gates, and it was all very pretty. Not only that, it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining pleasantly. The skies were clear. The wind was light. Absolutely perfect.

Kagome took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh air into her lungs. It was wonderful.

She did have work to do. She didn't only come here for the tourist attractions. Resisting the temptations to go look at more, Kagome forced herself towards the direction of the cemetery. She went through the cathedral arcs of trees and down the familiar stone path. Once she left the grove and into the cemetery, she continued down the path. Then she saw something that immediately struck up her curiosity.

Further up were a large group of people crowding around something. Kagome cocked her head curiously. This dead person must've had a lot of friends. As she walked closer, she realized that a majority of those people were police officers, reporters, and photographers. What was going on?

A small frown on her face, Kagome managed to squeezed through the crowds but stopped at the caution tape that surrounded the area beyond. That was when she saw why it gathered so much attention.

A little distance more, the grave was in ruins. The tombstone was shattered into jagged rocks and the petals of white flowers were scattered everywhere. A cracked picture laid crumpled among the destroyed grave, but from the angle she was looking at, Kagome couldn't make out who it was.

Suddenly the wind picked up slightly, sweeping up some of the flowers from the ground. It gently swept towards Kagome and she reached out to take one into her fist. She opened her palm to examine the flower. She took a sharp intake of breath. It was a white carnation. She dropped her hand and the carnation fluttered to the ground.

It was Kikyou's grave.

AN: Yeah...this chapter's a bit on the short side. Sorry about that. I'll try to make the one longer. And it'll be more interesting. 'Cos Izumi's gonna be in it. And he's been gone for the last two chapters. I miss him. So we'll be seeing him. Or. I think we will. ^______^

Hm...Daisuke's suspicious? *dum dum dum*

Daisuke cooks? *squeeeee!!!*

There're also things I've been noticing. And it's weird. When I read over the past chapters I've written (or think about them), I feel that I didn't write enough. Like about the character's feelings. I feel like I didn't write enough. But when I'm actually writing, I don't think about it and then end up thinking, "Oh damn, I don't think I wrote enough." Am I writing enough? Is it detailed enough? Hmmm....

Well, review and tell me what you think. Until next time! ^___^

(I hear other fics calling my name...-___-)