InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Standing Down ❯ in the beginning... ( Chapter 1 )

So…this was my first fic, and I'm used to writing novels so don't attack me if it's bad!

Disclaimer:: I OWN DIDDLY. (that translates to: I own nothing except a couple of mangas and a six-pack of cream soda. So unless you really like IBC, don't sue me.)

Kagome ran a brush through her hair one last time before rushing out the door of her room and into an empty elevator. She tapped her heel impatiently while the elevator slid silently down through the tens of stories in her mother's building. She listened to the slightly annoying click-clop of her boots on polished Japanese wood as she slipped gracefully through a set of glass revolving doors and escaped to the sidewalk. Kagome's 600cc Honda waited patiently for her in a ten-story parking lot next to the casino.

The bike was custom painted silver on the upper front, gas tank and around the seats, with metallic purple streaking up the side panels. It was the perfect machine for Kagome - built for comfortable riding, it hid under its aluminum cover an ideal racing engine. Six hundred cubic centimeters of liquid cooled, in-line cylinders with digital ignition.

Kagome smiled to her self, pushing her face into her helmet and then bringing the helmet over her head until it adjusted properly. She tightened the straps just enough to keep the headgear in place, flipped the fuel switch on, and straddled the bike. The girl grasped the clutch while she turned the ignition, her heart racing along with the revving engine. Kagome pushed down slightly with her left foot to make sure she was still in neutral before backing out of the parking place. She flicked her left toe up to switch into first gear, and then let the clutch out slowly. Her right hand turned the handle for more gas while her right leg, which had previously been acting as a kickstand, lifted to settle on the footbrake. Kagome felt like she was floating, the ride was so smooth.

The parking structure was a mindless maze for Kagome, who had been rolling out of the building since she was fifteen. She was now seventeen and in her junior year of High School in Nevada. She and her mother lived on the outskirts of `The Strip' in beautiful Las Vegas, and resided in jointed rooms at her mother's hotel and casino, Daikoku's Hammer. They lived on the sixty-ninth floor in jointed suites; her mother liked living in luxury and style. Kagome had other preferences - she could have lived just as well in an apartment above a garage.

The Honda carried her smoothly out into the open air of the desert. Kagome waved at the ticket man and turned onto Flamingo Road. People watched her as she weaved through traffic. Their eyes were drawn by the flashes of sunlight that leapt off the flanks of her bike, but their attraction never kept long. This was because Kagome preferred to keep to the background, forever the wallflower; people wanted something showy to look at, so she made sure to be duller than expected. Her clothes were simple and modest, yet attractive. Today she wore jeans patched with different denims, a red tank top, and a black vintage jacket.

Kagome hit green lights all the way to school. She cruised through the left turn lane to Las Vegas Boulevard, rode for two miles and turned right, then sped up on Sahara and rode for several miles until she found a neighborhood back road that led to her school. She went to Rising Sun High, a private school in a classy part of the city - if such a thing truly existed in Vegas. She flicked her toe down a few times to gear down before pulling into her designated parking spot and pulling her helmet off. She clicked the straps together and draped it on her left handlebar, making sure not to let it slide onto the clutch.

The walk up the front steps was a simple task for Kagome; when she had lived in Japan, she had climbed twice as many steps at least twice a day. There was nothing different about the school, and that was why Kagome hated it. Everyone wore the same thing, everyone had the same texts, and everyone did exactly as they were told. The dullness of the situation had just about put Kagome to death. She had started to wear what she wanted, take classes that her teachers disapproved of, and do what she pleased when she felt like it. As a result, the assistant principal had warned her of expulsion several times. Today was no different from any other day.

Kagome walked into first period, fifteen minutes early, and found Sango waiting for her as expected. "Hey, Sango."

Sango nodded and handed Kagome several sheets of music as Kagome leaned on her desk. Sango played oboe in the varsity orchestra. "Contest music?"

"Mhmm…I can't play it."

"You will," Kagome looked it over and flopped it on Sango's desk.

"I know," she sighed and crossed her legs, which dangled from her desk carelessly. She pulled on her collar and glanced at Kagome. "You know you'll get called to the office as soon as you walk out that door."

Kagome nodded back and out her Calculus homework. As it was still in the second week of school, the class was still reviewing Algebra 2. It was child's play for Kagome, who scored outrageously well on every standardized test she took. School was a bore for her. She grasped every new concept the first time her teachers shoved it down her throat, while other students were still trying to understand the previous lesson. Sango tended to be a harder worker, but not quite as quick with understanding things. She had occasional flashes of extreme genius, but would go back to her manga soon after. Working together, they both made straight A's.

"What'd you get for… twelve?" Kagome looked up from her paper.

"I dunno, somethin'"

Kagome narrowed her eyes. "You are so helpful."

"Don't mention it."

The five-minute warning bell rang, flushing students out of the hallways and into classrooms. The remaining twelve seats filled almost instantaneously and Sango slipped down into her chair. Kagome reworked number twelve and put her pencil away, retrieving a red pen in the process. She looked around the room and tried her hardest not to puke. Boys wore white buttoned-up shirts with blue blazers and slacks, some wore ties and others chose not to despite the uniform requirements. Girls sported navy plaid skirts and tailored button-up shirts, most hanging out though they were intended to be tucked-in. Kagome wore her jeans and bright shirt in defiance of the Board of Education. She would rather be in public school, anyway.

Mr. Sanders stood from his swivel chair and opened his teacher's edition textbook to begin the discussion. The class reluctantly began expressing their ideas about Algebra, and for the most part, they were not complimentary. Grading and a lesson followed the discussion, and then came the homework. With twenty minutes left in the hour, Sango and Kagome began to work problems separately as well as together until the bell signaled freedom. Sango was right. Kagome managed to get to her locker and halfway to English class before being hunted down by a particularly strict teacher.

"Young lady, where is your uniform?"

"It's in my locker."

"Why is it not on your body?"

"I felt like wearing jeans."

"I think your smart mouth needs to be taken to the office."

Kagome huffed, sending a stray tuft of hair off her face, and followed the woman to an all too familiar place. The secretary smiled and waved at Kagome, who waved back with a sarcastic look on her face. The woman shrugged from her desk and went back to printing something for a student. The assistant principal knew Kagome by name, just as Kagome knew his. She sat across from him in an uncomfortable chair and sighed.

"So, Charles, what shall you have me do this time?" She smiled sweetly.

"Kagome, you are giving me a headache and you can not keep doing this just because you are something of a friend. I am going to call your mother to the school and the two of us will decide what to do with you."

"What to do with me? When did you start making decisions for me?"

"When the school gave me this job. You deserve to be in this school, Kagome, you keep up your grades and score exceptionally well on your tests, but we have rules. Some are pointless, I agree with you, but I must enforce them nonetheless." He walked into the main office to get the number from the secretary and called Kagome's mother.

*~^~*

"Kagome, you can come in now," Charles called from his office.

She rolled her eyes, "how gracious of you."

"Your mother and I have reached a decision. You are going to spend some time with your father, and go to the public school in his neighborhood. Your mother will accompany you home and you can pack some things, but I have already called the school's administration and they are expecting you day after tomorrow."

"How long?"

"Until your eighteenth birthday."

"Seven months?"

"I know it's a while, Kagome, but look on the bright side; after your birthday you can live in the Gobi dessert and we won't be able to do a thing about it."

Kagome stood against the door and stared at him with dark, hateful eyes. "But you can't admit me back into the school for my senior year."

"I'm afraid not."

"So basically you are forcing me to live with my father and go to public school with people I don't know in a part of town I've only been to twice." He only nodded. Kagome huffed and whispered, "I might as well go back to Tokyo."

"What was that?" It was the first thing her mother had said.

"Nothing." Kagome sulked the rest of the day, and the only thing that gave her an ounce of pleasure was the ride she took after packing. She let the wind whip past her face - she had left her helmet at home and had her hair up - and got on the highway. She followed I15 north, in the direction of her Dad's house. She exited on a random street and pulled into a grocery store parking lot to look at the scenery. The surrounding area was typical Suburbia: grocery store, movie store, fast food every few blocks, and tons of one-story stucco houses. They all looked the same to Kagome, who was accustomed to skyscrapers and flashing neon signs. Behind the housing editions lay beautiful, snow-capped mountains with rumbling masses of clouds hovering above. Kagome decided she should at least try to like it here. She stayed and admired the clouds for some time before starting up her Honda and riding home.

*~^~*

Well that was it. Good for me, there's going to be about two people that actually read this… oh well. I am so optimistic! Hehe…right. Anyway, if some poor unfortunate soul actually does read it, please review. I want to know if I should bother writing anything else. [running in circles] Yay, my green tea kicked in! That stuff has WAY too much caffeine in it… Muh ha ha. Sugar, sugar! [more running in circles]

[Smack]

Ow. There's a wall there…