InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shikon High ❯ Like an Old-Fashioned Movie Done in Color with Contemporary Clothes ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Ok, for the second time (damned pc…) Inu-Yasha does not belong to me because he has a better lawyer. ^^; Yes, Moonlight-san has finally updated! Please, read and enjoy! (And don't forget to review! Reviews make the writer write. Yes, that they do! ^.~)

Chapter 2: Like an Old-Fashioned Movie Done in Color with Contemporary Clothes

Kagome had walked with Shippo back to his house from the ice cream parlor, unusually mute during the rest of their outing and on their return; her heart had been pounding somewhere in the vicinity of her throat causing the rest of her body to tremble dreadfully. The hours passing till seven o'clock went fleetingly by; any recollection was nonexistent in her mind. Sooner than expected, the girl found herself bidding farewell to the boy's parents, the fox-child already sound asleep in bed.

Receiving payment, Kagome sauntered home, walking in a dream-like haze. What was up with that girl? Something about her wasn't right. I mean, I KNOW she was alive; I sensed it on her. I just don't know why she gave this sense of foreboding. Those strange girl's eyes, they were like ominous vortexes of deathly dejection, the kind that could penetrate the soul. Kagome shuddered at the thought that maybe the girl's goal was to try and peer at her spirit; or worse yet, grasp tightly on to it until it broke. It sure had felt like that when her chest grew frigid, her breathing scarce, and her heartbeat frantic.

A typical October zephyr blew, rustling her onyx hair untidily, yet she did not notice it. Her concentration remained firmly on her thoughts and the mental replay of that whole sequence of events. The way that girl had looked at her…it was untainted detestation. But, Kagome had never seen her before in her life! Never! Surely, she hadn't done something to the girl to make her have that glint in her steely orbs. What an odd person…. She waggled her head. "Ok," she whispered to herself determinedly, smacking her hands in front of her when she stopped, "case closed. I'm going to forget about Mistress Death and focus on getting home. I doubt I'll see her again. I mean," she continued to try and persuade herself, gaping at the seemingly starless sky, "Tokyo IS huge after all. I'm sure it was just a fluke." She nodded, trekking ahead again. "Yeah, just a fluke," she feebly repeated.

Climbing the steps of the Higurashi Shrine, the Sunset Shrine, Kagome meandered automatically to the summit and past under the arch. Her loafers tapped solitarily against the stone slab, the sky already grown dark due to the fast approaching winter months. She shifted the position of her black school bag on her back for no real purpose as she slid open the door to her shrine-turned-home.

A jubilant cry of 'surprise!' greeted her ears as she stepped into the warm lights of the living room; her brother Sota, Mama, and Gramps were all seated around a chocolate cake with yellow rosettes decorating the words 'Happy 15th Birthday, Kagome!" done in beautiful characters.

Hastily plastering a grin to her face, Kagome walked into the room, sliding the door behind her as she sat down with the rest of her cheerful family, not willing to tell them what had transpired earlier on her special day as she blew out the flickering candles.

~*~*~*~*

"Hey, did you get in a fight?" Kagome asked, surveying Inu-Yasha's face, and he knew she'd seen the blood dripping off his lip and the splatters on his shirt, even though they weren't entirely his. The look in her eyes reflected deep concern, shifted from previous aggravation, while edging her hand the lightest bit towards him, not necessarily consciously doing it, but it was something he noticed.

"What?" He recoiled a little, still ticked off that Kouga had even managed to land punches and kicks on him. The asshole had managed to get him once, smack on the kisser by a lucky kick so that his bottom lip ended up getting grazed by his fangs "Maybe. It doesn't matter." He instinctively ran his tongue swiftly over the slit.

She sighed, rolling her eyes, making it totally obvious that she didn't believe what he was saying.

Why had Kagome cared if he'd gotten roughed up?

Yet, somehow, it touched him that this girl he'd only known a day would be concerned about his personal welfare, and honestly show it as well…what she felt….

Inu-Yasha splashed some cool tap water on his tepid face, the lacerations having stopped oozing crimson. He scoured dry blood off his left cheek and his chin.

"Unless you'd like to come that is?" the girl questioned, smiling invitingly, her eyebrows arced in welcome, making her large, stunning, blue-grey eyes even wider. Afternoon sunshine made highlights of deepest burgundy in her raven-black hair.

"Uh, well, uh, no. No." He cleared his throat nervously, still watching her quietly cheerful visage. It IS rather hard for one to converse with one's heart pulsating in one's esophagus. "I've got stuff to do. Got a big Calc. test coming up soon and I have to study…." Walking away from Kagome and the brat, he was completely aware of how absolutely lame his cover story was. He hoped it hadn't sounded that way. When he reached the base of the first porch step, Inu-Yasha spun around and yelled, "I don't need pity, if that's what you think I need!"

Gods…he'd pegged himself as a loser the instant when his eyes darted to the stretch of sidewalk fore the house and found that no one was there…. He'd been in such a daze for some reason that he hadn't noticed their leaving. He felt a pinch depressed; he would've liked to have at least hollered a farewell of some sort….

Inu-Yasha took a small, white Terri towel and patted his face dry with it; little rust-colored smears appeared on the soft fabric. Catching a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror, he inspected his features. In addition to his lip, he had a scuff mark on his lower jaw-Kouga's fist--, and beneath a silvery forelock, a dark contusion-wolf boy's foot.

Sighing, as he slipped his red outer shirt off, the white t-shirt soon following, Inu-Yasha inspected his chest. At least nothing's bleeding, he thought. Not bleeding, but he'd come off with a few bruises on his lean torso. An extra purplish one, with the a few speckles of yellow round the edges, stuck out from the others, located right below his solar plexus. "What the fuck was he trying to do?! Give me heart palpitations?! Bastard…" he mumbled, figuring that was exactly what the wimpy wolf had been hoping. The fight hadn't been all that serious. Only semi-serious. Sort of.

"What's the matter, mutt-face?" Kouga smirked as Inu-Yasha approached, slamming the other guy's locker door.

"You…fucker…. Leave that girl Kagome alone. She doesn't need your flashy attention, you litter runt." He growled, cracking the knuckles on both of his hands, claws flexing and ready for action.

Unfazed, the wolf-demon shifted his weight from the locker he'd been leaning on to both feet. "Oh, is that so? And why should I? I don't know why you're suddenly so defensive." Two members of the Wolf-Demon Gang approached their leader, standing at the rear of him. The pair cringed as they heard Inu-Yasha's snarl deepening and descend a few pitches. "Ah, Ginta," Kouga greeted the first wolf-demon with multicolored hair, "and Hagguku!"

Hagguku, the one with spiky hair, nodded. "Yeah, we're here." Edgily, he peered at the irate dog-demon who shot him a dirty glare. "W-well, Kouga, we were just passing through and were wondering what was going, but as seeing it's Inu-Yasha…we'll leave it up to you." He gulped nervously.

"A-absolutely," Ginta concurred, holding up a finger. "No need to interfere…."

Inu-Yasha's typical smirk revived on his countenance; it brought him a peck of pleasure that those two wolves were scared shitless of him. "I'm keeping an eye on that girl, so back off."

Getting into a hunched fighting stance, both boys using more street fighting styles at the moment, Kouga retorted, unnoticing that his two pals are gradually placing distance between them and the dueling duo, "You piss me off! And the least you could do when you challenge me, is stand downwind; that putrid smell of yours makes me want to keel over!" He snorted for emphasis as he waved a hand in the air, removing the offending scent.

Inu-Yasha merely leered more, leaning forward more in his stance. "Keel over, huh?" The hanyou crackled his knuckles threateningly again. "I could only wish. I smell putrid too, eh? Quite a word for a guy's who's blind, deaf, and dumb."

They circled around each the other, both growling, and a crowd ringing around them, though at least a good twenty feet back.

"You shit sucker, I am not blind and deaf!" Kouga charged at Inu-Yasha.

"At least you finally admitted you're dumb!" He dodged the attack and counterstriked with his own.

The brawl began; fellow students egged the boys on. Several minutes passed, and blows were exchanged, strikes were evaded and parried. Insults flew crazily, probably faster than the males themselves. Inu-Yasha and Kouga went soaring into the dent-proof, hunter lockers at a minimum of a dozen times.

"Tanaka! Sawamura!" a squeaky voice bellowed in scolding. A young man came elbowing amongst the throng of students, bumping a buxom cat-demon on the forearm as he made it to the front; she glared at him reproachfully. "You two are in a lot of trouble!" The boy stood there, his black hair tied up in a ponytail, clad in blue from head to toe with the exception of the green sash over his chest. "Do you realize how horrible fighting is? It gets you no where!"

"Aw, shit," mumbled Inu-Yasha as he habitually mopped his face with his fist, his tongue wiping over his fangs, "it's that idealistic Hall Monitor Amari Nobunaga."

"Scatter!" Kouga shouted as he and the hanyou leapt in different directions. Calling over his shoulder, he hollered, "This isn't over yet, dog-turd! I'll get you yet!"

"Fuck off!" Inu-Yasha countered. "I think you're tail is wrapped too tightly in between your legs!"

Nonetheless, they zipped off in opposite directions, as did their spectators.

Dumping some hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball, the boy dabbed at the scrapes on his body-from waist up anyway. Kagome…she was worried about me…. She wondered if I was hurt; I could see it in her gaze, he mused dreamily, moving the cold antiseptic over a smooth pectoral.

He blinked his golden eyes for a moment.

The hanyou boy waggled his head furiously. "WHY THE FUCK CAN'T I GET HER OUT OF MY HEAD?!" He bellowed his inquiry at the top of his lungs to the gods.

A soft tap on the door, then Kaede's voice followed his outburst. "Inu-Yasha," she said outside the sealed bathroom, her tone undaunted by his behavior, "dinner's ready."

Inu-Yasha heard her shuffled away down the carpeted hall. Putting his shirts back on, quietly smirking to himself, he thought, Kouga got a lot more damage than I did. That should teach him to mess with my Kagome…. His palm brushed the doorknob when his contemplation registered. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" he cried, exasperated, as he banged his forehead on the very light blue door, shifting a bath towel. It toppled off the hook and onto his dog ears. He growled as he whipped it off his noggin, tossed it to the floor, and thundered down the stairs.

Kaede said nothing as she surveyed him booming towards the table, and flop into his spot across from her on the floor. The old woman merely smiled as she passed him the rice bowl.

"Stupid wench," he kept muttering during dinner after each bite, his face scrunched up in irritation.

With a sigh--the first hundred times or so was enough for her to get the point-Kaede rapped him on the head with her soup spoon, startling him so that when he looked at her, his eyes were huge. "Inu-Yasha, will you calm down? Besides, I was asking you how your first day with Kagome went."
"Keh, it could've been worse. The bitch could've been stupider." The boy shoved a moderately large yam into his mouth, chewing soundly. Ok, so, he hadn't been exactly looking forward to this punishment, but something else about that girl bugged him. She seemed so familiar, smelled it, too…. She had a really sweet scent…. Ack! What was wrong with him! Inu-Yasha choked on his food, his chopsticks clattering onto his plate.

"Are you all right?"

Nodding his head as he slugged down his glass of water, by some miracle not dribbling on his shirt, he returned to his musings after wiping off his mouth with the back of his hand. I see this girl once, ONE day,and already I can't get out of my head! This is absurd! Gripping his chopsticks once more, Inu-Yasha hurriedly devoured his remaining yams and dumplings. "I'm going to my room." He bounded to his feet. Guess it doesn't help any that she looks like Kikyo.

"Did you finish your schoolwork and chores?" Kaede asked, watching his retreating back.

He whirled around. "Hell yeah. I've been done with it for hours now. Geez, Granny," he sarcastically stressed the word, "you're getting slow on uptake these days."

She shook her head, a small smile crossing her lips. "I suppose you're right on part of that, Inu-Yasha, but you are still vulgar and are a bit lacking with your people skills at times." Her eyes twinkled as he gave a 'feh' and stomped out of the room, his long, light hair fluttering behind him.

Kaede waited, counting to three on her fingers until she heard the familiar, "Night, Kaede!"

"Good-night, Inu-Yasha," she said standing up as she picked up the plates. Their typical dinner concluded, the old woman went to quietly rinsing off the dishes and setting them in the dishwasher; she hadn't even needed to ask him about any of his bumps and bruises. I hope that young girl Kagome helps to heal your wounded heart….

Up in his room, the hanyou had shut the door and was sifting through his CD collection. "Now, where'd that stupid V6 CD go…?" he muttered to himself. Shrugging, and deciding to find it at a later date, the boy flopped onto his rolling computer chair. He positioned himself before the window facing the street.

Resting his elbows on the sill, a breeze wafting in through the open gap, he pondered, talking aloud to himself. "I saw Kagome walking back with the brat. What was her problem? She seemed really out of it. Still looked that way when she left later, too. Keh, stupid women, always too fucking sentimental." He sighed, his gaze drifting to the darkening sky above, his keen eyes making out the remnants of stars, forgetting about the stray cars and people passing below…

"Look, Inu-Yasha, do you see the stars?" A beautiful young woman asked, holding her son at her jean clad hip. Her long, slender finger pointing to the heavens, fireflies blinking at random intervals around them.

"Yeah, Momma, I do!" cried a young Inu-Yasha, his clawed finger joining hers. "See? It's…it's way up there! I can never see them in Tokyo!" The golden eyes grew in even more jubilation as he spotted another body of the heavens. "Mother, Mother! I can see the moon!" He giggled happily, nuzzling his cheek against her chest.

She kissed the top of his head, and the backs of his dog ears. "I love you, Inu-Yasha."

The boy beckoned at her with his hand, childishly whispering, "Momma, bring your head down, I have a secret."

Smiling, already knowing the routine, his mother lowered her head. "Ok, what is it?" she inquisitively queried.

Leaning up, he kissed her, smiling. "I love you, too!" Young Inu-Yasha pivoted his head to get a better view when he saw two figures racing amongst the grass against each other out of his peripheral vision. It was obvious the bigger of the two was greatly reducing his speed, while the smaller one was straining as much as he could. "Come on, Sesshomaru!" he cheered.

Sesshomaru, skidding to a halt before Inu-Yasha and his mother, grinned. "I beat Father," he stated proudly, before their father scooped him up and tickled him.

"Oh, just you wait, Sess! Next time, I'll beat you! Or maybe Inu-Yasha will." He winked at his other son, who smiled, his right front fang missing.

The woman tsked, shaking her head, black hair swaying back and forth. "Inutaisho! Don't pit the boys against each other. That's not nice."

Inutaisho chuckled, setting the panting Sesshomaru, who only reached up to his waist, down. "Setsi, Setsi, they are my sons, and Tanakas are, by nature, competitive. Just you two remember to always keep it fair and make sure it never means anything. Now then," he wrapped an arm round his wife's shoulders, "those stars really are something tonight, aren't they?"

BEEP! BEEP!

Inu-Yasha's cheek jolted off of the window sill, thwacking his noggin on the pane, which led to a long string of curses at the offending window and infuriating car horn. His dog ears were freezing, all the way down into the caverns, and so was the top of his head-now it ached to boot. "I must have fallen asleep," he mumbled, raising a hand to rub his sore spot, his arms, which had been cradling his head, were still warm. He slammed the window shut extra hard and furiously fumbled with the lock…why did have to dream about that?

Gingerly laying his throbbing cranium on the headrest of the high-backed, rolling chair, he used his foot to propel himself over to his computer, having crossly fastened the window. Clicking on the CD drive icon, he started up his Winamp player; simple, traditional Japanese songs floated out of the speakers. Catching a glimpse of the computer clock, he realized it was ten o'clock at night; so he'd taken about a two hour nap…dreams sure did move slowly…even if they were already memories….

He yawned as he stretched his neck, popping it a bit. "I'm too tired to log on and chat with Miroku and Sango, let alone Role Play…. I'm going to get some rest. The tournament's coming up real fast." On that note, Inu-Yasha changed into his sleep attire-black boxers and a white muscle shirt-and clambered into bed. He clapped his hands, and the lights of his den automatically dimmed off.

The next day at school, Inu-Yasha arrived early at his charge's locker; she was standing there, bungling with the lock. Approaching her from the side, he could see her chewing her bottom lip in frustration as her foot tapped furiously against the fake marble flooring.

"Stupid thing," he heard her mumble. "I already put in the combination six times…."

Only finding this mildly humorous as she licked her lips, and pounded on the door, he came up behind her and yanked on the combination lock. Like always, it unfastened with a tiny 'click' as the door swung obediently open.

Giving a petite jump, Kagome turned from her locker with a slight smile, seemingly very relieved that it was only him. "Uh, thank you."

He backed up a little, turning up his nose, books tucked under an arm. "Keh! Whatever. Morning, girl."

"Good morning to you, too, dog boy," she replied, her grin widening a tad, having found a suitable nickname for him…well, voiced anyway…. It was better than her original analysis of "stupid, idiot, dog-breathed jerk!"

Inu-Yasha swiveled his head and looked at her. She was…good with her sarcasm skills…. The girl had scored a point.

The score stood at: Kagome: 1. Inu-Yasha: 0.

If she was this versed in the ways of satire, this was going to be a back and forth game, sort of like tennis.

She continued to smile at him. He noticed today that she was wearing a moderately short, black skirt with a white, sleeveless blouse which flattered her figure well. She was wearing the loafers with long white socks again, and her hair was brushed straight down. Kagome went back to her task of gathering her things and her schedule. She grabbed a periwinkle, zip up, hooded sweatshirt before shutting the locker. "Could you hold my books for a second?"

"Uh, sure." Inu-Yasha took the books from her hands as she slipped the sweatshirt over her arms and up on her slim shoulders. He gently passed her things back to her in silent awe.

"All right, so, you ready to take me to my first class, Inu-Yasha?" Kagome queried, standing there cutely, her arms wrapped around her supplies as her pretty, pink lips continued to curl into a smile.

He nodded, still wondering what had bothered her the night before, though she seemed absolutely fine now; he'd seen her out his bedroom window…not like he'd been waiting for her to come back or anything! He just so happened to like gazing out into the abyss for no apparent reason. And, the brat's voice had a certain way of breaking his concentration, and when he noticed the lack of the wench's, who could blame him for being curious? It was his neighborhood as much as the fox-brat's so he had every right to notice every detail occurring. Feh, that reasoning suited him perfectly well as he grunted his response to her. "Yeah, come on. You have Home Economics first," he recited, having memorized her schedule the previous day.

"All right." A brief silence passed as they began strolling along. "Say, Inu-Yasha?"

"What?" he asked flatly, not looking at her.

Kagome stepped in front of him, scrutinizing his face. He really is handsome… she thought before blushing a tad; thankfully, it wasn't noticeable. The golden pools for eyes and the fall of silver for hair…it made her question herself again about the adjectives chosen for her serendipitous poem. "That cut you got yesterday…is it gone already?" she asked, promptly recalling what she was inquiring about. She raised her finger to his bottom lip and ran her fingertip over it. She blinked her eyes in slight confusion at the absence of the abrasion from latter day as she languorously withdrew her hand.

He sensed the quickening of his heartbeat and the lack of guts inside his body as he gave a petite, involuntary shudder of delight at her light caress. She's got really soft hands…. "Tch, of course it is, wench," he answered, fighting down a stutter. And she still smells really nice…and she washed her hair again with…sage and lemongrass. "It wasn't exactly as major as an internal injury or a wide and deep injury." Inu-Yasha shook his head like she was stupid, but was secretly pleased that she was once again concerned for his safety. "I still recover quickly, unlike a pureblooded human." He had completed his mission of not tripping over his tongue like a fool.

She nodded her head, having already grown accustomed to his speech pattern. "Ok, well, I was just curious." She smiled at him. "I'm glad you're all right."

"Feh."

They walked along quietly for a moment, falling in step with each other. A few, stray students bumped pass them in the wee hours of the school day. Posters were taped on the walls by some of the student council, proclaiming promotions of officers, upcoming events, and other such information. More brightly colored ones were adhered to the wall; wearing their green sashes proudly, the Hall Monitor Squad, shortened to H.M.S., was attempting to dissolve the bonding agent so they could remove the posters.

Thinking in unison, Kagome and Inu-Yasha ceased walking to take a look at what it said. Though it was hard to read, the boy had no trouble.

"A school festival, huh?" He chuckled, shaking his head, having caught sight of everything on the notice.

Kagome cocked her head curiously. "A festival? Is that all?" Wanting to investigate, she tapped one of the H.M.S. members on the shoulder. "Um, excuse me?" she tentatively asked.

A human boy turned around, a frown crossing his lips. "Yeah? What?" he snapped.

She jumped back into Inu-Yasha's chest; she felt something vibrating against her back…. She realized he was growling, low and deep; it rumbled up from his chest.

"Is that any way to talk to someone?" barked Inu-Yasha at the guy, disregarding the fact that was how he answered people a lot of times.

The guy, looking quite freaked out, stuttered, "U-uh, s-sorry, Inu-Yasha." He held up his hands as he made an overly large grin. "I didn't know she was with you." He cleared his throat, attempting to regain composure and appearing very apologetic...and fearful for his life. "How can I help you?" he inquired in a considerably nicer tone, his eyes flicking warily onto the dog-demon.

"Well, um, I was just wondering why you're taking down those signs if they're only talking about a school festival." Kagome rocked forward off Inu-Yasha's firm chest, looking very curious.

He shook his head, sighing in annoyance as he passed a lime green rectangle of paper to the pair. "It's this. They've been vandalized."

"Vandalized?" the girl asked, slightly aghast, taking the paper in hand. "How horrible!"

"I know…" the H.M.S. member sighed, waggling his head back and forth.

"Keh, I'm not surprised. It was probably just a couple of jokers who thought they'd get a few laughs." Inu-Yasha chuckled slightly. He half-smirked, showing his fangs.

Kagome stomped her foot crossly. "That's not right!" She glanced down at the lime green poster. Mouthing the words as she went along, she read the characters.

Goldfish ponds…shooting galleries…yeah, ok, the usual blah-blah-blah…. Wait a second…. She squinted at the drawing over laying a picture of a goldfish. It was terribly crude and brusque; scanning down, Kagome found more of the same. The degrees of intensity were varying, and insolent language was scribbled down in odd places.

Sickened, she handed the lime green paper back. "That's wrong. So, so wrong. That's not even remotely funny." She glared at Inu-Yasha, who looked back quite surprised.

"I never said it was funny," he mumbled.

"Then why were you laughing earlier?" she queried, a tad angrily, ignoring the fact that a few of the other H.M.S. members, along with the guy she'd been talking to, were raptly watching the couple.

"I wasn't laughing at that," he countered, his own temper rising a few degrees, leaning towards her. "I was laughing because it was done by people without a lot of pride. It's pretty fucked up to go around scribbling on a poster like a six-year-old with crayons 'cause you're trying to look cool." Inu-Yasha steadfastly nodded, sticking up his nose again, his free, clawed hand shoved in his jeans pocket. "Feh."

She sighed as she shook her head sadly. Kagome had to agree with him, as she peered over at the wastebasket filled with neon colored papers, that what those hoodlums had done was probably done on a dare. "You're right. Thanks for telling me about what was going on," she said to the H.M.S. "I can't wait to see the new posters." Kagome smiled encouragingly at the H.M.S. as she and Inu-Yasha began strolling back down the halls.

The hanyou led her to a wide room that had little islands that were like mini kitchens, all complete with their own stoves. There was some scrap fabric lying in a heap in a basket in the center of the pearly room, a bright ball of colors.

"This is your class," Inu-Yasha said, jerking a thumb towards it. He looked at her uneasy countenance, and half groaned/half smiled sympathetically. "I'll be in the business hallway. That's only three halls down and across the way. So, stop being so afraid, girl."

Kagome nodded slowly, before catching a glimpse a familiar, cheerful face coming over to her. "Sango!" she greeted happily, glad to see she'd have someone in this class that she knew.

"Good morning, Kagome. Same to you, Inu-Yasha." Sango was wearing a white apron with a pair of scissors sticking out of a pocket.

"Keh, morning," he lackadaisically replied, though his friend knew he was just joshing with her. He inclined his head as he briefly shut his eyes, trying not to grin.

"Anyways," she laughed, turning to Kagome, "we're finishing up our quilts. You can help me with mine, if you like."

"All right," the girl agreed.

"It's for Miroku isn't it?" Inu-Yasha said, his normal smirk spreading over his handsome face, eyes open again.

Sango flushed, a hand twisting the fabric of her apron as she still smiled. "Well, of course. It's our anniversary coming up in about two weeks."

The dog-demon shook his head, his free hand accompanying his noggin movements. "I'll never understand why you'd want to date some pervert whose big pick-up line was 'do you want to bear my child?' It makes no sense."

Blushing even harder, and dragging a bemused Kagome into the room, Sango gave Inu-Yasha a death glower.

"I am so dead," he muttered at the, now closed, door.

Still, it didn't dampen his spirits; Sango would recover, she just hated it when he embarrassed her. He gave a shudder at the thought that she came from a long line of demon exterminators and the fact that she was so good…she hadn't tried to exterminate him yet, so…. Besides, he and Miroku were quite helpful when she was dealing with an especially tough client. She was, in a way, a bounty hunter for the stronger, and more human-like demons-the ones that couldn't or wouldn't conform to living in peace with humans.

Continuing on down the corridor, Inu-Yasha passed Miroku. "Hey, what's up?" He stopped, glancing at his digital wristwatch and that he had ten minutes before class.

Miroku ceased walking. He smiled. "Ah, hello, Inu-Yasha. I'm doing fine, and yourself?"

"Eh, I'm ok. You and Sango get in any trouble last night with FFXI?"

"No, no. Everything went smoothly in Final Fantasy, as always. You are going to have to catch up to us; we moved on to Galbadia Garden from Timber." He drummed his fingers on the side of the water fountain he was inclined against. "I believe that's it. I've got Economics this period." The monk rolled his eyes at the thought, looking like he'd rather have his tongue ironed.

Inu-Yasha shook his head. "Business Management with Prince Stick-in-the-Ass." He frowned slightly and snorted.

"Ah, very much fun for you indeed with that moron." He patted his friend on the shoulder supportively. "There's always next period." He winked.

Inu-Yasha chuckled lightly. "True, I can embarrass his ass to no end. Heh, I'm also getting a better grade than he is in Business. Stupid bastard…."

"In any case, I must be going and I'll see you in Gym. See ya."

"Yeah. Later you lech." The hanyou cracked up harder when he saw Miroku quickly flip him off and continue on down to the hall to his class, humming quietly to himself. Shaking his head again, he said, "That monk is one-of-a-kind." He went into the corridor beside the one his friend had gone and proceeded to the end of it. On his left was the room he was looking for. Upon stepping into it, he felt a glob of something whap him in the face. "The hell..?" He pulled off a lump of toilet paper, drenched in liquid hand soap. He wiped off the green soap with his palm, wiping it off on his jeans.

"Haha, dog-turd! Bet you didn't see that one coming!" Kouga was joyously chortling as he tilted back on his chair, seated in the last row.

Inu-Yasha growled as he took a spot on the far side in the middle. "Shove it, wimpy wolf. You're just pissed that you've got more nicks on your face." It was true. The Wolf-Demon Gang Leader had a nice, healing cut over the bridge of his nose, and similar marks on his cheeks. There was a shiner on one eye. "Don't pester me with lame ass tricks." He hurled the wad back to its sender, sticking in the middle of his forehead. With that, smirking, Inu-Yasha sat down beside a snoozing girl, feeling very satisfied.

The class, overall, hadn't been too horrible; the instructor was a kindhearted lady named Miss Asano. Most of the boys drooled over the buxom, youthful woman; Miroku had been slapped more than once by Sango for being a skirt-chaser. It was one of those things the hanyou would never understand about his lifelong best friend; however, he knew that his pal truly did love his girlfriend.

Inu-Yasha found his teacher very pretty, but he treated her as a person, rather than a thing.

He handed in his work at the end of class, placing it on Miss Asano's desk, and when the bell signaled the end of the period, he darted out.

Kouga noticed the half-demon's swift movements and bounded over the crowd of people and landed alongside Inu-Yasha. "What're you up to, dog-turd? Something the matter?" He sneered at him, and the other boy snorted and pushed him away.

"Beat it. I don't have time for you." I have to get to the girl and show her to her next class. Gods knows that stupid woman will find a way to run into a snag. With that, he sped ahead, his acute hearing tracking if the wolf had followed him; he hadn't.

Inu-Yasha came sliding in front of the Home Economics room just as Sango and Kagome skipped out, giggling. Sango had a blue paper shopping bag clasped firmly in her palm.

"We finished it!" she triumphantly said. "Miroku's quilt is done!"

He inclined his head a tad. "Congrats. What does it look like?"

Sango drew the coverlet out of the bag and unfurled it. The coloring was a simple dark red with gold ivy embroidered on the patches. "Well?" she asked eagerly, looking like a child begging for candy.

The hanyou whistled. "That's really good."

"Thanks!" The girl beamed, hugging the quilt to her chest, the bag dangling off her wrist. "Kagome is pretty handy with a needle and thread."

Blushing, Kagome's toe skimmed the ground. "Hehe, I'm used to patching my little brother Sota's soccer uniform. He plays for the Spiraling Flames."

"You're joking. My brother Kohaku just switched to that team." Sango laughed. "It really is a small world."

"Yeah, even in Tokyo."

Inu-Yasha cleared his throat, regaining the pair's attention. "Kagome, I've gotta get you to your Computer Tech class. You two can chat later."

"Yeah, sorry. Bye, Sango!" she called as she trotted up at the side of the already-walking Inu-Yasha, clutching her things for her next course close.

He led her to the other side of the building and dropped her off, assuring her that he would be out to pick her up like usual. He even waited for her to find a spot and sit down; the boy peeked through the square window on the door. Positive that she looked a little better, he'd ran all-out to Gym class, only stopping to switch books, snatching the one's he'd need later from his locker.

The hanyou boy tossed them into the Gym locker that he shared with Miroku, and dug out his clothes-a white t-shirt and green nylon shorts--and slipped them on, simultaneously slamming the door with his foot. Jogging out onto the polished floor of the gymnasium, he spotted his locker buddy dribbling a basketball, weaving it in and out between his legs.

Miroku grinned as his friend approached. "Ready to get your ass trounced?" he queried, still dribbling the ball with an unswerving rhythm; no one else had arrived yet, as usual.

"Keh, yeah right. You're going down."

The duo went at their impromptu basketball game; a few other boys filed in and raptly gawked at the sheer speed of the players. The skill was incredible, too, but they were so fast, it was hard to keep up with at times. They went on for about ten minutes or so before the Gym teacher, a bear-like demon, Coach Izuko, stepped in. He appeared human enough, but he was very tall and broad shouldered with thick, dark hair on his head and face. By strength alone, he could easily crush several guys at once in his embrace-not so impressive considering quite a few demons could do that. Not like he would anyway. "All right, boys, I want you to run ten laps around the Gym. Pronto," he croaked in a throaty voice.

Inu-Yasha and Miroku, dripping in sweat, were bent over, hands on their knees as they panted. Their foreheads were shining with their fringe sticking to it. The basketball had rolled over to the sidelines, tucked underneath one of the bleachers.

"Saragaku! Tanaka!" Coach Izuko called. "Get moving! Not my fault you two went gallivanting around and wasted your energy! Move!"

Inu-Yasha chuckled, still hunched over as he smirked at Miroku. "Heh, heh, heh…he still doesn't get it, does he?"

Miroku waggled his head, sweat flicking off his visage. He mopped it with his palm, his expression identical to his half-demon friend. "Up for a jaunt to see if we can beat our record?"

Dog boy's smirk widened and they took off, lapping the other boys-demon and human alike-Inu-Yasha a bit ahead of Miroku. They came to an easy stop fore the coach.

The other boys glared at the duo. As usual, Inu-Yasha and Miroku had finished first; Kouga had just trotted in the gymnasium with his lackeys strolling in his wake.

"Sorry, Coach. Had to ask question after class," he lied, a cocky grin over his mouth; Inu-Yasha snorted, he knew that the moron was probably yapping outside with some of his buddies.

"Get moving then."

Collectively, the rest of the guys groaned as Kouga passed them as well. "Heh, how long did it take you, mutt-face?" the wolf-demon asked, his azure eyes flickering derisively.

"Keh, faster than you." Inu-Yasha was about to open his mouth to say something when Coach Izuko beat him to the punch, the last few boys finishing up-or pretending to at least.

"Today we are playing a little B-ball." He held up the duo's basketball from earlier in his massive hand. "Break into lines, five in each. Now!" Coach Izuko blew a large silver whistle that generally swayed from his thick neck.

Obeying quickly as he commanded, twenty sets of white t-shirts and green shorts broke into four lines-P.E. was the only class in which students had uniforms-across the honey-stained floor. In total, the gym had six b-ball hoops; the room was rectangular with one hoop on either short end and two on each long side. Two teams went to the either half of the floor, the coach tossing a ball for each court.

Kouga, Hagguku, Ginta, and a few of the lesser Wolf-Demon Gang members were on one-side; they growled at any of the others that would try and be on their team, especially humans. "They are inferior on everything," Kouga laughed with his pals, pointing at Inu-Yasha's team.

Inu-Yasha, Miroku, the H.M.S. Nobunaga, another human guy, and a rather tall demon-boy (he said he was a bird-demon) were the opposing players, and the butt end of the wolf's mockery.

"They've only got one real demon on their team," he scoffed, still chuckling.

"Yet, it seems that whenever we play this sport, you inevitably lose, Kouga," Miroku pointed out calmly, a faint smile on his lips. "Isn't that so?"

"Shut your yap!" he shot back, burning red in the cheeks a bit, his pack snarling a tad.

Pretending he hadn't heard what he'd said, the monk concluded with, "In any case, I was very curious as to hear why you have so many blemishes to your face. Surely you didn't trip and fall, unless you truly are so clumsy?" Receiving the reaction he was hoping for, Kouga spluttering, Miroku grinned as he high-fived Inu-Yasha.

P.E. cheered Inu-Yasha considerably. His team had beat Kouga, though by a narrow margin. It seemed they'd been practicing; next time his group would just have to turn up the heat…lukewarm should do it. Beating that stupid wolf always made him feel better, especially how ticked off he got and how his buddies took off for the hills in fright.

Nobunaga was good in his own right as a defender, and performed his job during the game faithfully. He ran up to the hanyou afterwards, out of breath. "I just wanted to say sorry for interrupting your fight with Kouga. But I did have to act like I was doing something." He huffed some more. "I don't believe in killing, but violence…well, that's anticipated sometimes isn't it? That Kouga is really the callous kind, huh?" The boy smiled apologetically.

"Without a doubt. That prick is an absolute nuisance." Inu-Yasha spat into the waste basket as they passed. "He should be put down for rabies."

Miroku, who was walking with them, nodded. "Indeed."

They jumped into the shower stalls-not exactly stalls, more like white shower curtains-and changed into their other clothes and gathering their things. Bidding farewell to Nobunaga, who ran into a janitor and fell headfirst into the trashcan, which they fished him out of, Inu-Yasha and Miroku proceeded to the computer hallway.

"Looks like they put up new notices," the hanyou said, gesturing towards a neon orange paper.

"Ah, yes. The festival is on Saturday night," Miroku mumbled, reading the details. His eyebrows shot up as he re-read something. "My, what an interesting thing we have here…." He furtively grinned to himself.

Inu-Yasha doubled-back to see what his friend was up to. "Hey, what's so interesting?" The boy bent over to get a better view of the characters the other was pointing to.

"This."

The hanyou scanned it over and had to read it over twice. "'A discount for couples? Even more on a couple of couples?' I don't remember this being in here before for any of the other festivals."

Miroku shrugged, his expression impassive. "Who knows? In any case, I'm planning on taking Sango." He lay silent for a moment, his impish leer returning.

"What are you thinking in that head of yours?" He knocked on his noggin, gaining an even bigger grin from his pal.

"Inu-Yasha..." he started when Kagome came bounding out of class.

"Hey, I hope you haven't been waiting too long," she said, tucking a strand of her raven hair out of her face.

"N-no…. No, not really," the dog-demon responded. Damn, one stutter made it through this day…well, one wasn't bad.

She sighed with relief, and perked up with another winning smile. "Ok, good. I hoped I didn't make you wait." Spotting the other boy, she greeted, "Hey, Miroku!"

He grinned back. "Hello, Kagome. How was class?"

"Oh, well…." The girl flushed, self-consciously shifting her skirt. "I-it was ok."

Seeing as she was toeing the ground, spare the fact that her scent told him so, Inu-Yasha immediately knew that not everything was ok. "What happened?" he abruptly asked, trace amounts of worry piercing his voice. And if his tone hadn't wavered some inkling, the rich gold color in his eyes did.

Kagome blinked, a tad surprised at his sudden bout of wariness. "W-well…." Just then, she shrieked as some guy, who'd been walking out of the Computer Tech Lab, gave her a nice smack on the ass.

"Nice tush there, toots," the guy laughed, grinning. "It sure was nice to pet during those boring overheads!"

Miroku sighed, wistfulness washing over him. Oh the days, when a man could freely grope…ah, yes…the restraints of a relationship. He sighed longingly, but was ripped from his promenade down Memory Lane when he heard Inu-Yasha's ticked-off voice…what else was new?

"You bastard!" the hanyou spat, having grabbed the guy by the back of his shirt and whipped him around to face him.

What the guy saw was not a pleasant sight at all. Pools of ambry gold mixed with red-it resembled the color of blood a bit too closely--as fury crossed the countenance of the boy…who looked more than ready to make him die a slow, painful, agonizing death…. O the wonders of high school. "S-sorry!" the guy stumbled over his words.

"You're sorry? SORRY?!" he shouted right in the boy's face…those fangs seemed really sharp…. "You didn't seem 'sorry' a second ago when you touched her butt! Where the fuck do you get off?!" Inu-Yasha jiggled the guy within his grasp, making his head waggle back and forth. "How dare you do something like that you slime?!" He tossed the guy smack on his backside, and he landed with a 'thud'. "Beat it, dumb fuck."

Scrambling to his feet, the boy took off, leaving a notebook and planner behind.

"Feh. What a loser…." He glanced at Miroku, who was currently sighing at the reminiscent loss of being a pervert.

"I was too freaked out to really do anything, especially in the dark…. Thank you, Inu-Yasha," Kagome murmured quietly, her cobalt orbs wide in bewilderment. Why did he…?

"K-keh! Your welcome, wench. He just shouldn't be touching you like that-"

"Or you have a thing for Miss Kagome here," Miroku's knowledgeable voice spoke up, breaking the dog-demon out of mid 'keh/feh' pose.

The hanyou's eyes went huge, he blushed crimson, and his stuttering increased. "Eh, heh…" he laughed nervously, peering elsewhere, anywhere, but at the subject of the matter. "I-I d-do not! I do not! I just don't think that Kagome should be treated like that by some chauvinistic pig…." His blush, if possible, deepened.

Miroku quietly began his trek to class, giving them some space, but still within hearing range.

Stifling a giggle, the girl smiled softly at him. "Thank you, again, Inu-Yasha. That's very nice of you."

Slowly, Inu-Yasha turned to gaze at her, heart in his mouth again. That serene smile of hers…it made him calmer and at complete ease; at that moment, he could not be ruffled. The way she looked right then reminded him of the kindhearted heroine from some fairy tale or some old, black-and-white 1930's movie…. Only this was in color with high clarity and done in modern clothes…and it was real. Swallowing, he mumbled, half-hoping she wouldn't hear, "I just like you a little more…."

"I like you, too," she responded mellifluously, pink touching the bridge of her nose.

"Heh…." Inu-Yasha's thoughts were mainly on one thing: If Kagome is the heroine in this tale, who's the tragic hero?

~*~*~*~*~

A/N: AHA! I finished my chapter! ^^ I've been busy with other fics and babysitting. Please, do not throw X-amount of pots and X-amount of pans and X-many eggs at me. I do not like that. It hurts. And if I'm hurt, I cannot write, now can I? In any case, this is where the story stands, and what I have plotted in my mind, everyone's in for a long haul. Did you like Amari Nobunaga's appearance? I think I might bring him in a bit more; him and Tsuyu. (If you don't remember, read the 3rd book for reference and/or watch episode 8: The Toad Who Would be Prince.)

Originally, to tell you the truth, Inu-Yasha's flashback sequence of the day's events was not going to be there but I wrote it up in my room with my peppermint pen. This whole chapter took roughly a week or so. A big thanks to my mom for all her help with all of my fics! ^^ I love you, Mom! Without her, I think I'd be lost at times. She even likes Inu-Yasha-knows a lot about it, too-that she completely gets the whole storyline.

Inu-Yasha: And here we go again with the humiliation! Can't I get a restraining order or something against you?

Hey! I have every right! You're a celebrity. Don't you ever look at the tabloids? They're all fan fics if you think about it.

Inu-Yasha: *sighs* Why me?

Why? You're the coolest ever!

Inu-Yasha: Really?

Yeah!

Inu-Yasha: Well…obviously…ok.

Well, I'm tired, it's like 1 AM and I did this for my fans! Thanks again and please read and review!! It's been so slow…I feel unloved. *sniff, sniff* :'( Anyways, I'll write when I can and please check out my other fics: "The Mysterious Little Visitor", "On Vacation", and coming soon "Illusionary Past" and "On a Leash"! See ya soon!

Ja ne,

~Moonlight Shadow

P.S. I love fan letters and please write to: hanyou_miko_dreamer@hotmail.com Feel free to MSN IM with this e-mail and you can AIM me at hanyoumiko. ^.~