InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Highschool Hanyous and Miko Memories ❯ Fears and Recollection ( Chapter 4 )

“I need to pick up Miroku and Sango before we head to school.” Inuyasha slapped down his napkin onto his clean plate and gave a yawn and shake of his head. “Rin's clothes fit ok?”

“Yeah, is she still here? I'd like to thank her.” I looked down at my own plate. I couldn't finish all the food that Inuyasha had insisted putting on my plate, but all of it was delicious. I wish I had the money to hire cooks to make all this nice food.

“Nah, she and my brother head into work early, around five normally.” Inuyasha darted his eyes from my plate and back to my eyes. Giving him a nod, I watched in fascination as the hanyou plowed into the food like he hadn't just finished his own.

“Where do they work?” Inuyasha knew so much about me already, turnabout was fair play.

“Rin's a doctor at the hospital and do you know the Takashi Towers?” I nodded, and he gave a grunt. “Brother owns the company. Dad founded it. Takashi Towers is just the official headquarters. Takashi Technologies now owns a bunch of smaller companies, and Sess is fixated on expanding his empire. Expects me to learn a little of the trade. Waste of time.”

“How can it be a waste of time if it pays for your house? The cars? Your food?” I couldn't grasp the concept. If I had this much money, I could help my family, my mother. I wouldn't have to live with my cousin or only see my brother and grandfather once a month. If I had this much money, my life would be so much better.

“So? I'd give it back to see my parents again. To have a real big brother. Money ain't everything Kagome.” He shoved the plate away from him and finished off his juice. Swiping the back of one hand across his mouth, he motioned with the other to follow him. “And it took me awhile to realize people are more interested in my wallet size then in me.” His gold eyes turned to me, and studied me hard. “I really hope you aren't one of

`em.”

The insinuation that I was just after his friendship for his money hurt, but from the look in his eyes it didn't surprise me. He was used to so many people trying to garner favors from him that he didn't know an honest face when he came across it. Could Inuyasha learn to trust anybody?

Ignoring the barb, I grabbed my stuff off the kitchen table and waited patiently in the garage as Inuyasha went to a key shelf beside the door. I missed it yesterday, and I can't figure out how. A couple hundred keys easy crowded on the shelf, each labeled and hanging from individual hooks. He took one by habit and headed away from the car I had rode in before. This one was a canary yellow, but I couldn't name the type. Some fast sport car, and expensive.

This one was a four-door, but didn't have a trunk.

“It'll be a little crowded, but if you stick your stuff down at your feet, you'll fit.” Inuyasha slammed his door as he appeared next to me. “About last night…” Jerking the key into the steering column, he went through motions of adjusting the mirrors and heater vents. “I—it…”

“You don't have to say anything Inuyasha.”

Silver dog ears flickered to me, and his hesitant gold eyes came up to meet mine. “Kagome, I'll make sure you're never alone again. I'll protect you.” The words were rushed; he was making an effort to get the words out.

His eyes had lost their hesitance, and now shown out with an inner fire. “I swear.” He pressed, raising a clawed hand to brush a strand of hair from my cheek. “I'll make sure your safe Kagome.”

I think I stopped breathing when he touched my skin. I had never had someone this close to me, not by choice. Never had someone look at me like that since my father passed away. The look he gave me made everything fall away. I leaned towards him, lightheaded from the loss of air. The heat from the vents became cold as I burned under his gaze, and I wondered if this was smart.

I believed him, down in the depths of my soul. Back where the light didn't reach and the evil of Naraku hadn't touch, my soul recognized him. It sounded weird, that my heart knew him even when my head screamed at me to run from him. But, he would die for me. Kill to keep me safe.

Inuyasha kept his eyes trained on my nose. In limbo between my eyes and my lips, he couldn't seem to make up his mind whither to kiss me or not.

. . .

“I'm sorry.”

“I told you already, its fine!” Inuyasha growled, holding an ice pack to his eye. “I've had worse from Sess.”

“I'm still sorry.” I said, moving his hand away to look at his bloodshot eye.

“Keh, I just can't believe you hit that hard.” He smirked at me, looking devilish with the black eye that was fast fading due to his healing.

Miroku sat at the end of the table, as far away from Inuyasha as he could get. With Inuyasha, Sango and I on one side, and Eliza, Dakota, and Miroku on the other, Miroku was out of reach for the moody hanyou.

Our near kiss, which I think would have melted into my first real kiss, had been interrupted by Sir Mix Alot's `Big Butts' ring tone at head-splitting volume. Startled, I lashed out and punched him in the eye, causing him to yowl and curse. The phone had not survived as he annihilated the threat.

Miroku had faired better than the phone, able to dodge the fists that moved in his direction. He had pleaded his innocents and for Inuyasha's mercy after he had first interrupted us, and then the comment on the black eye I had given him.

Sango had found him huddled in the black seat, nursing his own bruises and lumps. Inuyasha gave her a glare from his swollen eye and she said not a word about the black eye or the massacred monk.

Eliza was talking to Dakota in English, something I could only pick words out from the flow of sentences. Apparently, she had talked with James about something or other, and was upset about it. “Kagome, do you have a nice dress for the dinner party or can you go shopping with me?” Sango asked, keeping an eye on Miroku, who was grinning into his lunch. Apparently the thrashing he had received from Inuyasha fell in part with the daily abuse he was gifted with, and he was working on earning the rest. After the second grope, I figured out it wasn't personnel, but that didn't stop Inuyasha from coming to my rescue.

Dress. Did I have a dress? “No, but I haven't got much to spend.” I said, turning a light shade of pink in embarrassment.

“Nonsense wench. Haven't you figured out that I buy the stuff around here?” Inuyasha lifted the icepack up to his eye, giving Sango a card from his wallet. “Especially when I drag the lot of you around for parties I don't even want to go to.”

“Will it really be that bad?”

“Hell yeah! My stuck up older brother is throwing a little hurrah for some client or something; celebrating the fact that the prick spent a million on pencils or what not for schools. Boring as hell. Bad music, little tiny portions of rabbit food, no ramen in sight, and boorish brats that seem to be obsessed with my bank account and the fact that I am still single.” Inuyasha ranted, waving the ice pack around and splashing water onto the arguing couple across from him.

Sango and Eliza, startled from her own rant, giggled madly. “You should have been here for the last one! I think he got drunk to make his brother kick him out!” Sango exclaimed. “The poor guy danced with at least five girls in one song. Forget the food and ramen; the girls wouldn't let him be long enough to hide out in the bathroom.”

“I guess with you there it might discourage a few of the suitors.” Eliza put in, and then put her hand up to her mouth to stage whisper to me, making eyes at the fuming hanyou. “And I warn you, watch out for Jakotsu.”

“Oi!” The hanyou slammed his hands down on the table, shattering the bag. It erupted, landing onto to his lap. “What the fuck!” He yelped, pushing himself away from the table to stand up. However, the bench did not move from the table it was attached to, and he ended up on his back.

Amid the laughter, Miroku chanced the opportunity to lean over to look at the overly humiliated heap, grinning madly. “Having a bad day Inuyasha?”

“Shut it monk, or I'll find a trash can to stick you in.” Inuyasha snarled, accepting mine and Sango's help in sitting back up. His lower lip stuck out in a pout, and his ears were sulking into his mane.

Before the boys could throw more insults or threats, the bell screamed into the air. “Chemistry's next isn't it?” I asked the downed Inuyasha. “Care to show me where that is?”

“Chemistry, shit.” He scrambled up, knocking water off his crotch. “Iz! Wait a second.”

Eliza pulled a ring from her pocket, offering it to him. “I remembered. I knew you'd want it back soon. Aren't you doing some type of dissection today?”

“Yeah, she had some extra eyeballs from A&P and decided that it'd be a nice lab for us to do.” He placed the ring onto his middle finger, adjusting it to the bottom of his knuckle. “Thanks.”

“See ya around!” She chirped, running to catch up with her boyfriend, who was standing at the east double doors, talking with Kouga and Ayame.

Inuyasha grabbed his bag, waiting for me to do the same. After that, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, making my blush darken even more, and steered me towards the doors opposite the one Eliza had left through.

“What's the ring for?” It was a heavy, thick ring, with almost no decorations but the few symbols twisting across the surface. Dull silver in color, it seemed out of place on Inuyasha's hand.

“Dampening spell. Formaldehyde gives me a head ache, so Eliza fixed me up a ring to give my nose a break.” He shoved his way through the hallways, packed to the brim with teenage bodies and backpacks. “I use it for a bunch of classes actually, but I needed it renewed.”

“I guess super enhanced senses can be more trouble then their worth.” I replied, moving closer to Inuyasha to keep from being separated.

The classroom he guided me into gleamed silver and black, the desks arranged in double rows of two across four. The teacher's desk was towards the front, heaped over with papers and books, the spare odds and ends sitting on top. A few students were already pulling out aprons and latex gloves, goofing around with the bag of eyeballs on the counter.

A few other silver and gold rings adorned the youkai of the class, each holding back the sensitive noses. Even I could smell the thick stench of chemicals and wished for my own dampening spell. “Where's the teacher?” Sure enough, no older person lounged at the desk or scampered around the students to keep order.

“Keh, she doesn't show up for most of the class period. It's more of a work on your own class.” He pushed me into a chair next to his, snarling at a rabbit youkai when she tried to slid into it before me. “Sit here, I'll get our stuff.”

He walked off without waiting for a response, leaving me working my mouth in anger. I was not some sissy girl that needed a man to do the work. In fact, I had taken Anatomy and Physiology in advanced placement back home, and had already cut up my fair share of body parts. I liked doing it actually, much to the disgust of my younger brother. I was working towards my medical school, and this school didn't offer many science classes that I already hadn't taken.

Being second semester, I couldn't take any of the vo-tech classes for nursing or medical education. He had better not expect me to just sit back and let him do all the work.

He came back, hands full of scalpels, a tray containing an eyeball, and two sets of goggles. I had already pulled the aprons and gloves out, one set of human and the heavy duty feel of youkai strength latex. I contained my temper, making sure that I didn't explode over nothing. It wouldn't be very nice if I yelled at Inuyasha if he was just being a gentleman.

“Feh, stinks like road kill.” He dropped the tray to the table, arranging the tools to the side of the tray. He then turned and grabbed two packets from the table behind him. “Ok, dissection of cow's eyeball. First step…wash eyeball with cool water—done—and-”

“It's bigger then the one's I've done before, but it's no different. How about I handle the cutting and you write the answers? You're handwriting is better than mine.” I pulled one of the packets from him, ignoring him completely to flip to step fifteen, where the dissection actually started.

Picking up the scalpel, I tried not to gawk at the hair splitting blade. The ones at my old school couldn't cut paper. “Ok, first incision, right behind the cornea.” I smiled serenely at him as I lifted the eye to hold it still while I cut. “Observations are part of the questions right?”

Inuyasha seemed a little shaken by my head plunge into the dissection, but only nodded as he began jotting down as I described what I was doing.

“You do this often?”

“Yeah, I'm going to load down my transcripts with classes that'll help with me getting a scholarship for medical school.” I managed to cut all the way around the eye to pull the cornea, lens and outer tunic away to revel the posterior chamber. Dumping the vitreous humor onto the tray, I began cutting away the retina and walls to get the optic nerve.

“That is disgusting.” Inuyasha pointed at the tray. He crinkled his nose, and gave a snort. “I applaud you Kagome.”

Giggling, I slowly took the eye apart, naming each part and lining them up to give a semblance of order. Holding the lens up, I sighed when I saw how cloudy it was. “The ones we used in my last medical class were so clear we could see each other through. What gives?”

After watching my dog-eared friend turn an interesting shade of green, I finished up the lab. The bell rang once again after they had finished cleaning up, Inuyasha down right refusing to get to close the `stinking piece of flesh'. The teacher, an old eccentric woman who seemed a little pissed at everything, had only warned her not to miss any more classes for `whatever' reason that might come up. At this point she glared angrily at the hanyou, who glared right back, and walked off, nearly knocking a stack of papers from a table.

Without a word, he grabbed my arm and stalked from the room, sending murderous looks to the people in front of us, causing them to scatter like leaves to the wind. No one wanted to mess with a youkai in a bad day.

I didn't understand his mood swing. One second he had been laughing and goofing off with me, but the next he had shut down and was now literally dragging towards my next class. Had I said something? No, that wasn't it. The teacher hadn't said anything directly to him, but had been pretty nasty to him none the less. Had that sparked his temper?

He ignored me through Calculus, working on notes and homework as I struggled through my own. We hadn't got around to doing anything other than talk and sleep last night, and even though Mrs. Newberry, the math teacher, had allowed her until the end of next week to catch up, I would have liked to get something done. Taking a chance, I poked him in the arm, having to reach forward to do so as he was sitting in front of me.

“Inuyasha, I need some help on this problem.”

His back stiffened, and his left ear quivered with tension, but he refused to look back at me. Wordlessly he held his hand over his shoulder for my paper, but after taking it and scribbling down a few notes and suggestions, he passed it back. Unsure of what the hell was dog-boy's problem, I resisted the urge to crumple the paper into a ball and bounce it off the quivering piece of silver-furred flesh.

Instead, I crossed my arms over the desk and hunkered down. The large hoodie that I had borrowed from Inuyasha this morning dwarfed me, but it provided warmth and adequate softness for a much needed nap. Even with last night, one of the best night's of sleep I've had in a few years, I still could sleep a moment or two. And the prospect of spending the night shopping with Sango wore me out.

I didn't like to take charity, or use someone else to buy things I wouldn't normally use my own money on, but I wouldn't have any dress to wear if I didn't. But after the talk over breakfast, I felt cornered. If I didn't, I would be too embarrassed to show my face at the party, abandoning Inuyasha and my new found friends. If I did, would not I prove myself that I was just after his money?

Sighing, I stared at the back of his head. Having rich friends were fast proving themselves more troublesome then meets the eye. But somehow, I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Kikyo had only been in two of my classes, for which I was immensely grateful. After this morning, she would have smelled the confusion and happiness on me and gone after me, no holds barred. For whatever reason, Kikyo did not like me being happy. This proceeded Naraku and my mother's accident.

Naraku. Because of him I couldn't even go one day without thinking of the bastard and what he did to me. Night terrors that reenacted every vile day, rumors that made me a whore and a slew of mental and physical scars that would last until my dying day.

Kikyo only compounded on that. How she could crucify her own cousin, even after she had seen the damage that Naraku had inflicted? To her, I was always the ugly duck, the little nerd that had so desperately wanted to fit in like her older cousin. Her friends, having followed her out of the sandpits of preschool to the halls of high school glamour, had done their best to please her. Their meal ticket ended up being me.

Middle school had been a nightmare, until Kikyo and her mother had moved from my old district to here. The teachers wondered why my grades weren't as good, why I didn't have as many friends or why I didn't dress like Kikyo. Where she went to math and athletics, I went to science and history. The teachers' thought I had a morbid fascination after I had latched onto the human anatomy during the last year of middle school. No one could understand why the little `copy' just didn't measure up with the original.

“Kagome, we need to go.” Inuyasha said, piling his books into a neat stack. His features had relaxed a bit more, but he still refused to look at me. Other students in the classroom hurried out to the hallway, anxious to get the last class over with. In my thoughts I hadn't heard the shrill bell call for change.

…

The mall was crowded, bursting to the seams with holiday shoppers and teenage posses huddled around benches. Sango lead me from store to store, sure of what she was looking for and where exactly she would find it. Prices weren't an issue, as both Sango and Inuyasha had assured me.

Or he would have, if he was talking to me.

“Why isn't he talking to me?” I muttered to myself, looking at a rainbow of dresses. Sango said she would give me an area for the type of dress I hunted for, but so far she had spent the majority of her time on the phone with Miroku, trying to reason with him about some project or another for history.

Another thing I needed to catch up on.

“Did the chem teacher show up?” Sango appeared beside me, phone slapped shut in hand before sliding into her purse. “Him and her don't usually get along really well.”

“Why not? She seemed nice enough to me.” Flicking through the dress rack, I gagged at the choices. Either I went as a pink marshmallow or a baby blue slut. Neither seemed appealing.

Sango bit her lower lip, playing with one of the tags on an ugly brown dress that dipped to the waist line. “Mrs. Noboru doesn't think that a hanyou, no matter how much money or the names they carry, should be allowed to live in society, let alone go to Shikon.” Sango glowered at the dress, shoving it back. “When Sesshomaru first enrolled Inuyasha in the school, only demons and really rich humans got in. Sesshomaru said that Inuyasha fit into both categories. There weren't any rules against him going, but the school board nearly won out. If it wasn't Sesshomaru Takashi fighting them, they would have.” Shoving the dress away, she started fidgeting with another.

I frowned, knowing that hanyou had never been treated equally, despite the laws stating equal treatment, but I had never had personally encountered one treated differently. Advancements had been made in both medical and legal treatments of youkai and hanyou, but humans had always been a bit…sketchy around them. Many restaurants refused service to those of youkai heritage, police profiled them, and doctors refused to treat them. Many feared the sheer power they possessed, the alien beauty and grace they moved with. Imperfect and immortality were causes of jealousy and rage, and the resulting crimes were met with sneers and hidden applause. But to refuse someone of an education, of an equal chance of live based on their parents, which they had no control of, chilled me to the bone.

Naraku had put the fear of youkai in me, but I had gained friends that drove it away. After Kouga found me one night after a `night visit', he had taken it upon himself to make me feel like I had family. He had adopted me into his pack after the accident, made me feel safe.

“Inuyasha isn't the innocent victim, yeah, but the way they painted him at the hearing. Truly I had never wanted to be not part of the human species more then that night.”

“What do you mean; he's not an innocent victim?” Had he done something to warrant suspicion?

“Small stuff, like trespassing, vandalism, shop lifting. He wanted attention, and he wasn't getting enough at home so he went out to find it. He dragged Miroku along for the ride, but he got off with slaps on the wrist for most of it because of his name. But when he was twelve, Sesshomaru put an end to it. Got him counseling, realized that he couldn't blow of being a guardian.”

“What happened when he was twelve?”

Sango started, surprised to find she was still talking. “I'm not supposed to say, and I'm not going to. If you really want to know, you'll have to ask Inuyasha.”

Sighing, I looked down at my watch. It was getting close to 6, and Aunt Kaede wanted me home by 8. “I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon…”

“What? Because he isn't talking to you?” Sango moved me to another rack, one with more elegant dresses, a few of them approaching the league of gown. “Pft, it's just his pride. You seen a weak moment of him, he doesn't like to show it.”

Hopeful, I went back to browsing through the rack, awed and appalled by the prices. “Are you sure this is ok?”

Laughing, Sango pulled several dresses into her arms, holding them up to first herself, then me. “This green is really pretty on you, but the red is amazing. Which do you think, blue or light purple for me?”

Getting caught up in the shopping, I followed Sango around for a bit, before breaking out of my little shell to lead her myself. After the first few major buys, pressure from Sango causing my morals to buckle, I only had a small lingering echo of the voice in my head that said `NO! Don't buy that!' Really, it was just encouraging me.

We left the mall an hour later, loaded down with two dresses, shoes, and various accessories that we couldn't go without. Stuffing it into the back seat of the silver Volvo, I was taken hostage to a nearby McDonald's; again using the card that Inuyasha lent us. I had to say; Sango was a more relaxing driver than Inuyasha was. No speeding, no light skating, or a tendency to strike up conversations with the passenger who was cringing into the seat.

Ordering up some hamburgers and fries, complete with the cups with American drawings and words. Taking up a booth at the back of the restaurant, Sango plopped down her tray and motioned me to the other side. “Spill, now.”

“Eh?” I looked up over my burger; self-conscious of the large bite I had just taken.

“I have held it in long enough. Yesterday, the classes you missed, the night you spent at Inuyasha's. Details, now.” She demanded, stabbing a red-topped fry in my direction.

“I don't think it's a big deal…”

“Wrong, try again. Inuyasha doesn't just take a liking to anyone.” She said, pausing to eat a few fries, “It took him months to warm up to `Roku, and that was just because I liked him.” She scowled, and said under her breath, “Damn lecher…”

I thought about turning the conversation back on her, but figured that she would just find a way to turn it back to me, and I wasn't hiding anything. It's just, it was really embarrassing to talk to a girl I barely knew about a guy I had just met but had spent the night in the same bed.

Frowning, I turned my thoughts inward, aware that Sango still awaited my story. Did that make me a whore, like my cousin was so found of calling me? We hadn't done anything, but it was a little weird. Usually the reaction I had to new people left much to be desired and I didn't make new friends often. Trust was an issue that had been broken, melted down, and turned into the thing that looked over my shoulder every minute of every day. What exactly did happen with Inuyasha? Did he think I was easy? He didn't act like it, and had blushed when I asked him to stay with me. As a matter of fact, I had spent more time in his arms yesterday then not. After my fainting spell, he had been hard pressed to leave me alone, not that I wanted him to, but…

Without him here, it felt like I was missing a big piece of me that I had just found. Cliché yeah, but true. Was it Inuyasha himself or something about his soul that made him feel so safe? Did I need him as much as I thought or was I deluding myself with false hopes?

Would he leave me again?

“Kagome, you ok?” Sango waved a hand in front of my eyes, worry on her face. “You zoned out there for a moment.”

“Yeah, I'm fine.” I straightened my mask, making sure a smile that didn't seem to fake or brittle hid my grayer emotions. Forcing myself to speak, I gave Sango the details she wanted without spilling everything. “Inuyasha took me to my locker, and I…I had a small breakdown. He was really nice about the whole thing.”

“Wait, you had a breakdown and no body said anything to me? Inuyasha was nice about it? Are we talking about the same hanyou here, because Inuyasha isn't very sensitive to the world around him.” She interrupted herself, grabbing my hand. “Why did you have a breakdown anyway? You were crying right? Why!?”

“Chill ok.” Extracting myself carefully from her grasp, I found the words that I had said to Inuyasha closer to the surface then before. Was it because I had actually talked to someone about it or something else? “You know about Kikyo and Naraku, right?”

“Who doesn't?”

“Do you know why Naraku left town?”

She did the `yes no' gesture with her left hand, causing a purple string of beads, wrapped three times around her wrist, to smack together. “Rumors mostly. He cheated on Kikyo with someone else. I heard he actually killed somebody, and another rumor is that someone's out to kill him for encroaching on some gang's territory.”

Taking a long drawn out sip from my drink to stall, I figured that the real event would have been twisted to save his and Kikyo's image. “If you call rape cheating, then yeah, he cheated on Kikyo.”

Sango, who had gone to take a bite from her chicken sandwich, chocked and dropped it onto the tray. “Wh-what the hell?!” Her magenta eyes darted to me, growing wide. “Ho-how do you know that?”

I fiddled with my straw, uneasy. It wasn't hard to talk to Sango, not as much as that stupid therapist, but it wasn't like with Inuyasha. The words didn't want to escape from me. They hovered on my tongue, just needing that final push… “Why do you think Kikyo calls me a whore?”

Shock was an understatement for what shown on Sango's face.

Continuing like Sango wasn't gapping like a fish out of water; I picked up a fry, portraying a calmness I didn't feel. “Inuyasha took me back to my locker, and I got a little freaked out by being alone with him.” Yeah, that was an understatement, I had wanted to run home and hide under the covers like I did when I was five. “He got upset, I think he thought I was afraid of him and he promised me he wouldn't hurt me, and the confession just slipped out.” That I couldn't understand. One minute I was handling the whole thing…better than traumatized, I hated the word `fine'. The next I wanted to scream and hit and cry. Something in me reached out to Inuyasha, sought to make him understand. I didn't want him to think I feared him…it was a wrong feeling. He should love me…protect me. Like he promised this morning. “He just held me and talked to me about his parents. I fell asleep at the end though.” Another mystery. I couldn't sleep in another's company I didn't know or trust, could barely stand to blink. No one understood what had been labeled an `irrational fear' of my fellow humans. Inuyasha kept stripping my layers away, tearing through my walls like tissue paper. How did he do it? “He woke me up later, in time for seventh period.” I hadn't had any nightmares. Not a one, only some far off dream of a dream. It had to do with a well I think…

Sango, who was listening with rapt attention, asked quietly. “And last night? What happened that made you spend the night? I didn't think Sesshomaru liked house guests.”

Smiling without humor, I turned my mind over the same question. “He felt guilty.”

That earned me a gasp. “He felt guilty? Did you end up in the wrong house?”

“No, he said some things, and Inuyasha corrected him, I think.” Frowning, I wondered what had happened while I was out. I remembered my nightmares, but not a lot else. Fire at the end, fire that burned away the image like a movie reel too long paused. Left me in the self same field. With my love… “I don't know; I passed out for awhile. Hyperventilated. He apologized later though. Inuyasha said Rin put him up to it.” I had yet to see the elusive Rin that held so much power over the Ice King. From the picture she looked like a diminutive human, but a human couldn't have that much sway over the almighty Inu no Tashio of Japan.

“He apologized? Did you get it on camera?”

Shaking my head no, I popped a cold French fry into my mouth. “Can we talk about something else?”

Nodding, a little in shock it seemed, she brightened at a thought. “Yeah, what happened this morning? Why did Inuyasha have a black eye that you put there? And why were you guys so mad Miroku?”

Groaning, I looked to the wall clock above her head.

…

“Kaede, I'm back!” I yelled, looking around for my elderly aunt. The much older sister of my mother, she was missing an eye from a childhood accident. Sweet and more grandmotherly then aunt worthy, I could never figure out how she raised Kikyo, the Queen Bitch. “Kaede?”

“In here Kagome. I am going to need your help, and your explanation for last night's disappearance. A boy's house was it?” Her aged voice carried through the house, floating from the kitchen.

I smacked myself in the head. Did I need to hold a meeting or something? `Kagome's Life: Questions encouraged.'

“Just a second, let me put these up and I'll be right there.” What to tell her? `Hey Kaede, me and Inuyasha slept in the same bed, but it's alright because even though I met him just yesterday nothing happened? Did I forget to mention the fact that I have this weird urge that makes me want to run away with him? Yeah, I'll get the cookies for you…right after I take these pills? Great!'

My life kept getting more complicated.

And it was all Inuyasha's fault.

…

Walking up the stairs, I yawned. This morning seemed so far away, and bed drew me to it like a flame. Shower, bed. Wait, shower, homework, bed.

Kaede had been really understanding, all things considered. My mom wouldn't have freaked necessarily, but she wouldn't have been as understanding as Kaede had just been. If I didn't know better, I think she was encouraging me to be with Inuyasha.

Grabbing my night clothes and a towel, I headed for the bathroom. I wanted to call him; he had entered his cell number, home number, and work number into my phone, just in case. Of course, he hadn't said anything while he did it, keeping up his silent front. But Sango had said he was just hiding from me, trying to keep up the appearance of strength.

How did I explain to him that he was already overwhelming?

The shower was past Kikyo's room to the end of the hallway on the second floor. Creeping as quietly as possible, as I didn't want to attract attention from her, I tip-toed down the hallway, avoiding all the creaky boards. I had almost made it past her door when her enraged squawk came from the room, followed by shrill echoes.

“How dare that whore? First she takes Naraku from me and then she sets her sights on Inuyasha? Is she setting out to ruin my life?!” Kikyo whined, and the sound of shredding paper accented her words.

Sounds of sympathetic murmurs came after, and I recognized the voices. Kagura, Kanna, and Yura. She was pretty adamant about the inferiority of youkai and hanyou, but she still hung out with them. I bet they didn't know of her views.

“What do you propose we do? It's not like we can get rid of her.” Yura spat, the sound of her brush going through her hair.

“Actually, that sounds like a good idea…” Kagura purred, and a slip of wind stirred the air around me. I inched farther away, trying not to get caught.

Kikyo let out a delighted laugh. “Oh, but I have a better idea. We might not be able to get rid of her, but I know someone who'd love to have her back.” She giggled, and key tones harmonized off her phone. “Close the door Kagura, I don't want Kaede to hear this, or that little brat.”

…

I wasn't surprised that Kikyo was jealous, but who was she calling? Naraku? No, if she knew where he was, wouldn't she be gone. Someone else then?

Unknown fears breed stress, and I wouldn't get any sleep if I stressed out.

I rolled my phone in my hands, wondering if I should call him. Would he answer? Why the hell did I want to call him anyway? Even if he did, why should he care?

Why did I think again earlier, when I thought of wanting him to love me again? It scared me. How did he leave me if I had never met him before? These thoughts weren't from me; they were from some past memory. Why were they here?

I wanted them. And I wanted them to go away. The torn feeling of my heart as I thought of that meadow, the one with the well. Why did it matter? Why did it appear with Inuyasha?

To call, and see if he knew the answers.

See if he saw the same things.

To see if he felt the same things.