InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Little Red ❯ Why I Hate You ( Chapter 2 )

Kouga lay, trying to relax in the thick scratchy grass. How could people fall asleep here? He couldn't find a comfortable position that didn't allow the short green spikes to stick into him. Sitting up with a groan he gazed irritably at the dark sky. The stars were supposed to be out tonight; and would be most beautiful with the moon and its silvery glow absent from the sky, but he soon realized the steady glow from the city surrounding him obstructed his view of the blazing lights far worse than the moon could ever do.

 

After an hour of futile attempts he gave up trying to locate the constellations and headed back home. He wondered how Inuyasha could stand living in such a terrible place.

 

Inuyasha….It wasn't the first time his thoughts turned towards his favorite victim.

 

Kouga had always been a proud schoolyard bully, getting what he wanted with threats and fists. No one ever questioned him, that was, no one but that useless mutt. He still remembered that first day of school, actually it was the third day but Kouga never showed up the first few days. Actually, he shouldn't have been there for another week. He wasn't sure why he decided to come, maybe it was to see the shocked looks on everyone's faces when he showed up, most likely interrupting the malicious conversations he was sure were about him.

 

He had sat down in the seat nearest the board, scowling at the nerd who sat beside him. The kid with broken glasses quickly got up and retreated to the back of the room. With a smile Kouga shifted to get comfortable, idly tapping his pencil on the desk. That's when he walked in.

 

At first Kouga had thought he was a small girl because of his long silver hair and frail figure. What was a little girl doing in his third grade class? Putting on his polite smile, because he never picked on girls, he told her the kindergarten classes were at the front of the school and asked if she needed someone to show her where it was.

 

She looked at him with narrowed eyes, a kind of scowl settling on her lips as though he had said something wrong. Some kids snickered behind him. Kouga didn't know what to say, didn't know that he had done anything wrong. He just watched her sit down in the now unoccupied seat beside him. Swinging her feet beneath her she pulled out a thick book, almost an inch wide, and opened it where a small red string protruded from the pages.

 

Kouga was still staring at her when the teacher stood up to address the class, calling out the names on the roll. Kouga tried to pay attention, noting familiar names when they were read but otherwise occupied with staring stupidly at the small girl. Suddenly the girl looked up, raising her hand with a smile.

 

“Here.” she said and Kouga realized that her name had been called. He though back, trying to catch what it had been but was at a loss, she really did belong in this class with him, this baby?!

 

Lowering her hand she turned to look at him and he sat up straight, realizing that, indeed, he had been openly staring at this child prodigy. He expected some snide, intelligent comment about how staring was rude or that she wasn't some lost kindergartener. Instead she did what he never thought anyone would ever have the guts to do.

 

She stuck her tongue out at him, just a short challenge before darting back into her book. He stared in astonishment at her, barely registering the laughter of the children in the classroom.

 

Class went on as usual, or what was probably usual. Kouga wouldn't know, it being his first day, but how he wished he had been here from the beginning. He wanted to know more abut this strange, audacious young girl. When the teacher, some large deep voiced lady who kept looking at him like he was supposed to listen to her, announced that they would be reading in the pairs they divided into yesterday he swore, earning a startled gasp from the small girl.

 

He waited, watching for whoever the girl's partner would be. A few minutes passed, but the girl just kept reading, and no one approached her. Finally the teacher stepped up beside him, handing him a small children's book. “Since you are here today, you will be paired with Inuyasha.” He stared at her in confusion for a moment; he was actually supposed to read this?

 

The girl looked over at him with an amused smile. She was enjoying this!

“I'm not reading with no stupid kid.” He said harshly.

 

“It's alright Miss Hall, I can read just fine on my own, but if you insist on pairing me up I suppose it should be to someone of such low intelligence. After all, we would balance things out now wouldn't we?” She smiled too sweetly at him…spoke too gently. SHE WAS INUYAHSA?!

 

Miss Hall chuckled, covering her mouth and turning away. “You boys behave yourselves, and Inuyasha, no more teasing.”

 

“BOYS?! You mean all this time he was a-and he had been..,” Slamming his head down on the desk he mentally berated himself for his softness for girls. Why did the little brat have to look so damn cute? No boy, not even so young, should look that cute.

 

He looked over at Inuyasha, with his pinked cheeks and wide, golden eyes, staring at him with an amused smile. He slumped down, resting his head on his hand while propping his thick book up to he could read again, letting his soft silver hair fall around his shoulder.

 

Kouga stared at him, the brat had actually called him stupid, insulted him in front of the entire class. And Kouga had just let him do it. Settling back in his chair he picked up the book the teacher had set before him, looking it over. It was something stupid; he knew it probably had some really important moral too. Like he cared. What use would this do him? Some stupid story of a stupid boy and his stupid dog. The cover was hard though, really thick cardboard rapped in shiny yellow paper with a large picture of a dog and a boy on the cover. He held it a while, thinking…than threw it at the brat next to him, smiling when it hit Inuyasha in the head.

 

Inuyasha let out a small cry, dropping his thick book on the floor and rubbing the back of his head. He turned to stare at Kouga, tears forming in his eyes, but then looked away, looking down at the book now resting facedown on the floor. Inuyasha reached down to pick up his book, but Kouga got there first.

 

“Sorry `bout that; didn't see where I was throwing it.” He sneered, flipping through the pages of the thick paperback. It had a pretty thin cover with a picture of two people together on a boat in the middle of a large body of water, maybe a lake, but it could be a wide river too. A volcano was erupting in the background. There were no pictures inside, just lots of small, unreadable words. Like in a different language or something.

 

“It's Japanese.” Inuyasha said, his voice stern and his lips pressed firmly closed in irritation. He read the title out loud but Kouga didn't understand.

 

With an obnoxious grunt he carelessly tossed the book back onto Inuyasha's desk, smirking in satisfaction when the little red string fell out.

 

During lunch and recess Kouga followed Inuyasha, knocking his tray out of his hands, tripping him in the hallway, and just being an annoying jackass. A few times he could have sworn the kid was crying, but when he got back up his eyes were dry and his lips were pressed in that cute firm line, his cheeks rosy with embarrassment and suppressed anger.

 

Kouga didn't know why, but it was far more fun to pick on Inuyasha than to threaten the other kids. He continued on, answering questions when Inuyasha raised his hand, copying Inuyasha's quizzes. He stopped demanding homework from others and started doing it himself, just so he could frustrate Inuyasha when he knew something the other didn't. In the next few years his pranks got a bit more violent, his remarks a little more hurtful, and his knowledge of Inuyasha a bit wider. He learned that strange language, and that Inuyasha wasn't from Italy, but a place called Japan.

 

That's when things changed…

 

Kouga looked up at the street signs, forgetting for a moment what they said. He remembered how Inuyasha had grown, his face still as cute as ever no matter how many bruises Kouga placed there. Inuyasha had tried several times to skip grades again, but Kouga just complained to his father about how the school wanted to put his friend in a higher class and split them up. Of course his father believed him, using his connections to keep Inuyasha in his place.

 

He was just as surprised as everybody else when he decided to learn the language; his father was very wealthy and was able to get him excellent tutors, saying that learning a foreign language increased intelligence and job opportunities. Kouga didn't care; he just wanted to see the look on Inuyasha's face. At first Inuyasha looked surprised. It was the third day in fourth grade; as usual Kouga sat next to him, always greeting him that same way, asking if he was lost and if he needed someone to help him. Except this time, he said it to him in Japanese.

 

When Kouga started speaking to him in that strange language he was stunned, gazing at him looking shocked…and… a bit happy. Kouga couldn't stand that look. He wanted the shock, the fear that Kouga knew just as much as he did, that now not even those little books he threw himself into would protect him, because Kouga knew them too. Kouga transferred his taunts to that special language; none of the teachers knew when his teasing became threats.

 

But Inuyasha knew, that's when he began to see the first signs of fear in the boy. When He found out just who and what Inuyasha was…

 

He stepped out into the street with a crowd of people, keeping his head down and his hands in his pockets. He felt his fingers caress the small palm sized journal, old and worn, but still intact.