InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Student Teacher Relations ❯ Chapter 6

A/N: *looks around guiltily* I'd like to start with an apology. I've had this chapter written since last year, but between finals and the shift to my new computer, I thought I had posted it. …please don't hurt me.

 

Student Teacher Relations

Chapter 6

 

 

Inuyasha carefully checked the equipment a final time. It would not do to have an accident, administration tended to frown on that. The experiment was far from the most exciting one they would do all year, but it was an important one. Each of the students would have to identify a substance based solely on its physical properties.

 

Labs were always held in a different room than the lectures. Here, the student desks were black-topped counters with stools for two people on each side. Each side had two drawers filled with all the supplies they would need for the day. Inuyasha had spent two hours finding enough supplies and cleaning all of them - thanks to someone who had skimped out on their job at the end of last semester.

 

In the center of the room was a long table, with the same black top as the counters and a few more extra stools. On it Inuyasha had placed the only three scales the lab had, and vials of different substances. Each of the substances was contained in a glass bottle with a screw-on lid and a small numbered label. The key for what number coincided with which substance was carefully tucked away in Inuyasha's briefcase. Charts for properties of the available substances were also set out on the table.

 

Checking his watch, Inuyasha realized class was about to start. He checked the leather thong holding his hair out of his face and rolled up his sleeves. Out of his briefcase he took a small plastic bag with an assortment of hair ties - in case some of the students with longer hair forgot their own.

 

The students began to filter in about five minutes before the start of class. They chatted among themselves as they chose seats. Backpacks were stored under the tables, safe from being tripped over as their teacher walked among them. A few of the hair ties were liberated from the bag by students.

 

As the clock struck the hour, Ookami and his `gang' slipped into class. Inuyasha ran down the roll, and frowned to find Kagome had not shown up.

 

&&&

 

Kagome slammed her car door shut as she ran towards the lab. She could not believe her rotten luck. Of all the times for her alarm to not go off, this was possibly the worst. Inuyasha's lab class was already ten minutes in when she woke up, plus she had to drive fifteen minutes to get to the school. To top it off, unlike herself, Sango had a class directly before chemistry and had been out of the house at the time.

 

She skidded around the final corner and pushed the door open. Inuyasha was leaning over a chubby girl who usually sat in the back of the room. The other students were in various stages of their experiment. At her abrupt entrance, everyone looked up.

 

“W-West-sensei… I'm sorry… my alarm…” Kagome panted.

 

“Please wait outside, Higurashi,” Inuyasha cut her off.

 

“But… I…”

 

“Outside, Higurashi,” Inuyasha repeated. Kagome looked around; Sango and Shippou looked back with sympathy, but offered no other help. Inuyasha was not looking at her at all, pointedly returning to help the other girl. Kagome bit her lip and stepped out of the room.

 

Kagome stood obediently next to the door. She expected Inuyasha to come out any second and yell at her for being late and worrying him. But the minutes ticked by and he did not come out. Slowly, she slid down the wall to sit on the floor, read all the signs on the opposite wall (twice), and counted all the floor tiles she could see. With every passing moment, her stomach slipped farther and farther down.

 

After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened. Kagome looked up to see the students filing out of the room. Her heart sank, the class was over and she had missed it. She gathered her things and climbed to her feet just as Sango came out.

 

“West-sensei wants to see you.” Her friend thumbed over her shoulder. Kagome nodded. She dusted off her skirt and double checked that she had all her books, before walking in. Inuyasha was carefully packing away his things into a briefcase. She noted that the lab had been cleaned and all the instruments put away.

 

“Follow me, please,” Inuyasha instructed as he snapped his briefcase closed. He picked up his things and walked to a door in the back of the room. Kagome hurried to catch up as he opened the door and turned down a small hallway.

 

Inuyasha's mind raced as he made his way back to his room. He knew what he had to do, but that did not mean he liked it in the least. Really, he was just buying himself time by returning to his room. In his first week as Kagome's teacher he had figured out that her studies were very important to her; this was going to crush her.

 

Entering his room through the back door, he held it for Kagome. Steeling himself for what was to come; he closed the door and set his briefcase on a nearby desk.

 

“Care to tell me why you were late to my class?”

 

“I'm sorry.” Kagome blushed and looked at her feet. “I just meant to take a short nap, but my alarm didn't go off. I'll make up the lab at your convenience, of course.” Inuyasha took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

 

“I can't let you do that, Higurashi.”

 

“What?” Her eyes widened, “I don't understand.”

 

“At the beginning of the year I gave you, and everyone else, a copy of the syllabus. On it you will see that labs can not be made up unless under very special circumstances. If your mother had died, that would be one thing; but simply sleeping in isn't going to cut it. I'm going to have to give you a zero for this assignment.” Inuyasha watched as the information sank in.

 

“B-b-but… Inuyasha, please. You can't do this to me!” She pleaded.

 

“I have no choice. I'm sorry, Higurashi.” He did his best to keep his voice calm, even as tears welled in her eyes.

 

“But… can't you make an exception? Just this once? I don't have anymore classes today. I'll make it up right now.” Kagome reasoned, her voice pleading - hoping he would see just how desperate she was. A zero now would kill her already fragile grade.

 

“No.” Inuyasha answered flatly.

 

“Why not?!”

 

“If I make the exception for you,” Inuyasha tried very hard to remain calm. They had already agreed that he would not, could not, treat her with favoritism. “Then I have to do the same for any other student who wants to sleep an extra ten minutes. Labs take time, Kagome, more than you think. The law requires that I be present to keep students from hurting themselves. I have tests to write, lectures to give, notes to write up, and grades to report. Not to mention that I'm working on a research paper for publication next fall. I don't have time. My decision is final.” Kagome's lower lip trembled in a way he would have found cute under different circumstances.

 

“If you had just let me start when I got there I could have finished.”

 

“No, you couldn't have. This particular experiment takes an entire period. These are chemicals you are working with are not particularly dangerous, but if combined incorrectly the result could be unpredictable.” He did not realize how tightly he was gripping the desk's edge until his fingers began to ache.

 

Kagome clutched her books tightly to her chest, tears slowly beginning to roll down her cheeks.

 

“Fine.” She turned sharply on her heels and headed for the door.

 

“Kagome, don't be like this. You know I don't have a choice,” Inuyasha took a step towards her, but Kagome did not stop.

 

“There is always a choice… West-sensei,” Kagome opened the door and stormed out, ducking around Miroku as she headed down the hall. Miroku stood in the doorway, looking between the quickly retreating girl and his best friend. When Kagome disappeared through the double doors (that she pointedly slammed, making Inuyasha wince), Miroku focused on the chemistry teacher.

 

“This is becoming a habit with you, my friend.”

 

“Shut the fuck up, Miroku.”

 

&&&

 

“So you gave her a zero,” Miroku summarized. He took a bite of his hamburger and chewed thoughtfully. “Well, I can see why she's upset. A zero can put a real dent in a grade, especially if it isn't that good to begin with.”

 

“You're not helping, Miroku,” Inuyasha grumbled. He pushed a fry around his tray without interest.

 

“I'm not saying you were wrong; quite the contrary. I can just see why she was so upset.”

 

“Still not helping,” Inuyasha snorted, before eating the fry.

 

“What do you want me to say?” Miroku asked, looking over the top of his meal at his friend.

 

“Hell, I don't know. I feel like an ass for making her cry, but if I let her make up the lab she could be expelled.” Inuyasha looked down at the test he was grading. He had folded the upper right corner down and held it in place with a paperclip, effectively hiding the name. Carefully checking the answers against his master copy, he made a red X next to the number three, changed his mind, and only took half off.

 

“Look at it like this,” Miroku offered, “If you can make it through this, then you'll probably have a very long, happy relationship ahead of you.”

 

“And if we don't?” Inuyasha asked, looking up from his grading.

 

“At least you got a good lay out of it.” Inuyasha's eyebrow ticked up at his friend's comment, before smacking him upside the head.

 

&&&

 

Kagome lay on her bed, her English book open in front of her. She had been staring at the same page for the last hour… and she had read that sentence for the five hundredth time. She closed the book with a harsh snap and dumped it off the bed. Sinking into the bed, she let the thoughts she had been holding back flood her mind.

 

It's not fair! How could he be like that! I could have finished the lab if he'd let me. But noooooo! He made me wait outside until class ended, then told me I couldn't make up the lab. He's such a jerk!

 

Kagome did not realize she was crying until she felt the warm liquid soaking her comforter. Anger. Hurt. How had it come to this? She wanted to scream, to cry, to curl into a ball and never move again. Her shoulders shook and her breath came in gasps, but she could not stop the rush now that it had started. It felt good to cry, to let out the tension that had built up.

 

The sound of the front door opening and Sango announcing her return brought Kagome back to the rest of the world. Lifting her head, she studied the two large, dark spots that now adorned her comforter. Suddenly she felt very tired, her body not willing to hold her up any longer. Her head drifted back to the bed.

 

Even though the moisture had chilled and was cold against her flushed cheeks, Kagome did not have the energy or the will to move as her eyelids closed. She did not hear Sango come in, nor feel when an extra blanket was laid over her and tucked in. She did not see her books carefully collected and stacked, so she would not trip over them later, or flinch when the lights went out.

 

Sango stood in the doorway of her roommate's room. Her brown eyes softened at the sleeping girl. It did not take a genius to see she had been crying or to know why. With a sigh, she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

 

&&&

 

Inuyasha sat down on his bed. Miroku had left, the tests were graded, there was nothing on TV, and it was still too early for bed. He considered working out, but he did not want to lose track of time, as often happened in that room, and not get enough sleep. With nothing else to occupy his mind; the thing that he had been pushing aside for the last few hours leaked in.

 

Kagome, and the tears that had been running down her face kept replying over and over in his mind. He knew he was right, but the guilt had settled into his stomach and refused to move. Even with the B she had gotten on the test, the zero would bring her grade down to a low C. But it was not just the grade that bothered him. He wanted to let her make up the lab - against his policies, against the school authorities, against his better judgment - he wanted to let her make it up if it would just make her happy.

 

With a long suffered sigh, he lifted his head. A flash of green caught his eye. Looking down, he saw a satin ribbon lying carelessly on his bedside table. Picking it up, Inuyasha gently twined it around his fingers. The fabric was soft against his chalk-dried hands.

 

The door closed with a soft click behind him. He was not sure how they got to this point so fast, but for some reason it did not matter. She was here, she was beautiful, and she was normal. With his father and brother both in the public eye and his strong family resemblance, it was hard to find a girl that did not turn into an absolute groupie at the mention of his name. It was hard to get to know someone who could not stop asking about his family. But Kagome had not even mentioned that he might be related to the two kickboxing champions. Maybe she was just not into sports or magazines?

 

He let his eyes travel down the soft curve of her neck, over her shoulder, and down her back. She seemed a little nervous, her muscles tensed as if ready for a fight. Her black hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and kept in place by a green satin ribbon. It was a perfect match for her casual green dress.

 

Stepping up behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders, feeling her start slightly, and rubbed slowly up and down her arms. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled nervously. Gently he reached up and pulled the ribbon, causing her hair to fall loose in a soft curtain. The ribbon fluttered and twirled its way to the carpet, landing silently.

 

“We don't have to,” His voice was soft, afraid of frightening her. “I'm not going to force you.” A blush spread across her face and she looked down.

 

“It-it's not that. I-I've just never…” Her blush deepened and she would not meet his eyes.

 

“I'll be gentle.” His lips found the side of her neck and he gave her a soft nip. Kagome gasped. “If you want me to stop, just say so.”

 

Inuyasha clenched his fist around the ribbon, wrinkling the once pristine fabric. It had been the next evening, after Kagome had gone home, that he had found the forgotten ribbon on his floor. He had meant to return it the next time he saw her - hopefully the next weekend. But then fate had stepped in and played its cruel joke. Now he hoped she would speak to him again.

 

He grabbed the top drawer of the nightstand and yanked it open with enough force to almost pull it from the tracks. He stuffed the ribbon inside and slammed the drawer with a bang. Growling to himself, he stormed out of the room, grabbing his exercise shorts on the way out. There was no way he could sleep in his bed tonight.