InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ This Year Might Just Be A Little Bit Different ❯ New Secrets To Be Told ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4: New Secrets To Be Told

 

Yami 396

 

This chapter will be good, I promise!

 

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I don't own nothin'. Any characters that you may recognize from other manga belong to their respective authors, not me. InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

 

 

………………………&# 8230;………………………… …………………

 

Needless to say, Kagome did not sleep very well that night. Every time she came close to sleep, the little voice in her head taunted her.

 

“You like InuYasha. You like InuYasha,” it said, in a singsong voice. Kagome groaned, and rolled over. “Shut up,” she mumbled.

 

“Never,” it replied. “You can't make me shut up.”

 

 

“Go away! Stop talking to me!” Kagome said, putting a pillow over her head, trying to block out the voice. It didn't work.

 

“I'll talk to you whenever I want. I own you…” the voice said ominously. Kagome groaned into the pillow and tried to sleep, at least for a little while.

 

Her alarm clock went off sooner than she would have liked, and Kagome dragged herself out of bed. Forcing herself not to fall dead asleep on the floor, which to her looked very inviting, she got dressed. A snail would have looked as if it were speeding compared to the way Kagome made her way down the stairs.

 

“Oh, Kagome dear, I was wondering when you were going to get up,” her mother greeted her cheerfully. Kagome forced herself to smile. “Your friend is waiting for you in the kitchen.”

 

“My friend?” Kagome thought. “Sango-chan's usually doing her morning exercises, and Miroku-kun takes a ride with InuYasha…Oh, no, he didn't!” Kagome looked into the kitchen, and her worst fears were realized.

 

“InuYasha! What are you doing here?!” Kagome shrieked, forgetting to call him by his last name. InuYasha smirked at her.

 

“Your mother saw me waiting outside and she invited me in…Kagome,” he said, calling her by first name to make her mad. Actually, he liked it better when she called him by his first name and he used that as an excuse to call her by her first name.

 

“Why were you waiting outside?”

 

“I was waiting for you to come running out like you always do in a panic so I could make fun of you.”

 

“Oh, really?” Kagome said, sarcastically.

 

“Yeah. Hurry up, I gotta pick up Miroku soon,” InuYasha said, lying, looking at the clock on the wall.

 

“I want to eat my breakfast first,” Kagome said, crossing her arms. It wasn't that she was angry; she was more disappointed than anything else. She knew she shouldn't have expected him to actually wait for her, but it was a nice thought to entertain. And, in reality, InuYasha was lying. He had been loitering outside, trying to gain enough courage to knock on the door to ask Kagome if she would like to have had a ride. He was about to knock when her mother had opened the door and asked him if he would have liked to come in and wait for Kagome. But he wasn't about to tell her that.

 

“Well, just hurry up. I'll be waiting in the car,” he said, leaving. Kagome sighed.

 

“Sis, why did you let him leave? You should've told him to stay!” Sota said, causing Kagome to jump. She hadn't realized he had been behind her for a while.

 

“Sota,” Kagome began sweetly. “Just how long were you spying on me?!” she yelled, flames dancing about her. Sota backed off.

 

“Okay, okay! You don't have to get so touchy,” he said, grabbing some cereal. Fifteen minutes later, Kagome was ready to leave, and she headed out the door.

 

“Was that fast enough for you?” she asked InuYasha through the car window.

 

“No. I've been waiting here forever. You're lucky I didn't leave without you,” he said, grinning mischievously. Kagome made a face at him and went to open the back door. InuYasha locked it.

 

“InuYasha,” Kagome said, glaring at him.

 

“Kagome,” he answered back, the grin growing wider.

 

“Unlock the door.”

 

“You didn't say please.”

 

“Please unlock the door.”

 

“Hmmm…No.”

 

“InuYasha!” Kagome yelled. She was becoming annoyed. “You were just saying that you were waiting forever for me to come out, and now you won't even let me in the car!”

 

“Sit up front,” he said, opening the passenger side door. Kagome stared at him. “What?” he asked, trying to read her expression. She shook her head.

 

“Never mind,” she said, climbing in. “Isn't this Miroku-kun's seat though? He'll have to sit in the back.”

 

“And that's…bad?” InuYasha said, making an illegal u-turn. “He can sit in the back. It's better than having him up here bothering me the whole time.”

 

“He won't be upset?” Kagome was still unsure.

 

“Nothing upsets him. Besides, he knows that if he complains, I won't give him a ride anymore,” InuYasha said, in a matter-of-fact way.

 

“That's horrible!” Kagome said, trying not to smile.

 

“Yeah, horrible for him. He'd never make it to school. He'd be walking in circles around his block and he wouldn't even notice it,” InuYasha said, causing Kagome to laugh.

 

“He can't drive himself? I'm sure he can use On-Star, or something.”

 

“His father won't let him drive. The idiot crashed the last two cars they had.” InuYasha was having a hard time trying not to laugh himself. When Kagome laughed, it was infectious. It made him want to laugh too. InuYasha stopped and pressed his hand on the horn.

 

“What are you doing?” Kagome asked him, her hands over her ears.

 

“I'm getting the pervert, what does it look like I'm doing?” InuYasha said.

 

“What?! I can't hear you!” Kagome yelled. This was partly because the horn was very loud and she had her hands over her ears. Kagome saw Miroku run out and InuYasha stopped pressing the horn.

 

“Get in the back, Miroku,” InuYasha said, as Miroku went for the front door.

 

“You know,” Miroku started as he sat in the back. “You don't have to blast the horn every morning for me to come out. You can knock.”

 

“Feh, whatever,” InuYasha answered.

 

“Hello, Miroku-kun,” Kagome said.

 

“Ah, Kagome-san! I was wondering who took my seat,” Miroku said, smiling. Kagome looked down.

 

“I'm sorry,” she said. Miroku laughed.

 

“It's okay. I'm just wondering why InuYasha is having a change of heart, that's all.”

 

“What do you mean?” Kagome asked.

 

“InuYasha has never given a girl a ride before. I think he likes you,” Miroku teased. Kagome and InuYasha blushed.

 

“One more comment out of you, and I'll throw you out of the car,” InuYasha threatened.

 

“Hey! It's Sango-chan!” Kagome said, seeing her friend out the window. “Can we give her a ride?” InuYasha said no at the same time Miroku said yes.

 

“Well, majority rules, so let's pick her up,” Miroku said.

 

“What do I look like, a cab driver?!” InuYasha complained. “Why do I have to drive everyone around?”

 

“Because you're the one with the car,” Miroku stated.

 

“Shut up,” InuYasha said, as he pulled over in front of Sango. “You want a ride?” he asked her.

 

“Uh, sure,” Sango answered, surprised to see her best friend in the front seat with InuYasha. She got in the back. “Don't touch me,” she said to Miroku, pointing a finger at him.

 

“Why Sango! What do you think I am?” Miroku said, in fake anger.

 

“You're a pervert, that's what you are,” Sango answered in real sulkiness about having to sit next to a pervert. She was, in a sense, happy that she was sitting with him, but she would never admit, to anyone or to herself. Miroku edged closer and Sango looked out the window, strangely giddy all of a sudden. InuYasha, who had been watching through the mirror, smirked. Who said he couldn't have a little fun? He turned the car sharply and accelerated, causing everyone in the car to fall over to the left, except for InuYasha and Kagome, who had seen InuYasha's face and had anticipated something to this affect. Miroku, however, had not, and due to the fact that he was wearing no seatbelt, fell over hard. Right onto Sango.

 

“PERVERT!” she yelled, throwing him off of her. Miroku hit the other side of the car.

 

“Hey! Hey! No fighting! I don't want blood on the carpet!” InuYasha yelled.

“You're the one who caused it!” Sango yelled, her face the color of an over ripe tomato. “Learn how to drive, will you!”

 

“I know how to drive. And I didn't cause anything. I was avoiding a pothole. Miroku should know about seatbelt safety,” InuYasha said, staring straight ahead. Only Kagome seemed to be fighting laughter.

 

“You were avoiding a pothole,” Sango repeated in disbelief. “A pothole.”

 

“Yes, a pothole. Can we move on?” InuYasha said sarcastically.

 

“Does anyone care about me?” Miroku said, holding the back of his head.

 

“Not really,” InuYasha answered. Miroku sighed.

 

“I'm always getting hit by women. Why?” he asked, looking up.

 

“Because you're disrespectful!” Sango yelled. She couldn't look at him. If she looked at him, he might be able to tell that she wasn't as angry as she had seemed. He might be able to tell that after the shock wore off, she hadn't really minded…Sango was broken out of her thoughts.

 

“Hello, earth to Sango-chan! Is anyone in there?” Kagome asked her.

 

“What!? Oh, yes Kagome-chan?” Sango said, trying to regain some composure.

 

“I was asking you if you wanted to go to the mall after school with me today,” Kagome said, smiling at her.

 

“Sorry, I have to watch Kohaku today,” Sango said, smiling apologetically.

 

“It's okay. I'll just hang out at home,” Kagome said.

 

“InuYasha can take you to the mall,” Miroku interrupted, very willing to get even with InuYasha. To his surprise, InuYasha didn't get mad. Or so he thought.

 

“I have to go straight home after school. I have sword arts to practice,” InuYasha said calmly. “Now get out.”

 

“Huh?” Miroku could sense impending danger.

 

“I said get out.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I said so.”

 

“We'll be late if you keep messing around,” Sango warned. InuYasha pulled over and got out of the car. In a matter of seconds, he pulled Miroku out and left him on the sidewalk. He got back in a drove off.

 

“InuYasha!” Kagome recovered her voice. “That was horrible! Go back and get him!”

 

“Why? We're right at the school,” InuYasha said, pointing out the window.

 

“Oh,” Kagome said. She looked back, and she saw Miroku running up the block to meet them. The bell rang.

 

During their morning classes, not much happened. In geometry, Ayame pestered everyone and gym was it's usual disaster, with Shigure being his perverted self again. In fact, nothing note worthy happened until lunch.

 

“Man, I'm hungry!” InuYasha said, digging around for his ramen. “Doing absolutely nothing does that to you.”

 

“Do you always eat ramen?” Kagome asked him, noticing that he always seemed to have ramen for lunch.

 

“It's only the best food in the world!” InuYasha answered.

 

“Ewwww…” Sango said.

 

“Um…Miroku-sama…” three girls popped up behind Miroku, who jumped.

 

“Yes, ladies?” he asked, returning to his flirtation self. Kagome didn't miss the growl that came from Sango.

 

“We just wanted to give you this pocky, that's all,” the girls said, running off to their table after giving him the candy.

 

“Well, that was nice of them,” Miroku said. “I'll save it until after I eat.” Kagome rolled her eyes.

 

“Kagome!” a voice suddenly called her. She turned around and saw an old friend.

 

“Shippo-chan!” she said, looking at the kitsune. “I guess I can't call you that anymore, huh.” Shippo had grown a lot that summer and now looked much more like an adult than a two-year old.

 

“Naw, you can still call me that. I'm still short,” he said. It was the truth. When Kagome stood up, she was still a good few inches taller than him.

 

“I haven't seen you in a while, Shippo-chan. I guess we don't have any classes together,” Kagome said.

 

“Yeah,” Shippo said, looking downcast. While he had grown, he still had the countenance of a child. “But I guess we have lunch together!” he continued brightly. Kagome quickly introduce him to her friends, though he already knew Sango.

 

“Nice to meet you, Shippo,” Miroku said politely. InuYasha acknowledged Shippo with a gruff `Feh.'

 

“And to celebrate our new friendship, lets have some pocky!” Miroku handed out pocky to everyone.

 

“This smells funny,” Shippo said, after he gladly accepted the gift.

 

“Hmm? I don't smell anything,” Miroku said.

 

“Those girls put something on here,” Sango said, looking closely at her pocky. As part of her demon-slaying training, Sango was acutely aware of any type of powder or liquid that looked out of place.

 

“Are you sure you're not being paranoid?” Miroku asked her. Sango glared at him. “I mean, it's not like they're trying to kill me right?” he said, backing off.

 

“I don't think they'll poison you. It'll probably knock you out for a while,” Sango said. Everyone stared at her.

 

“How do you know?” Kagome asked her.

 

“I know a lot about different substances. It comes with the training,” Sango stated.

 

“Let's try it out,” InuYasha said. He scanned the lunchroom, and to his luck, he saw none other than Ayame Sohma. “Sohma-sensei!” he called.

 

“Yes?” Ayame said, waltzing over. “Do you want help with anything? Because I, the great Ayame, can help you with anything. I remember this one time, when I was the student body president…”

 

“No, no. Don't go any further,” InuYasha said quickly. “I just wanted to know if you wanted any pocky.” InuYasha held out the treat.

 

“Ah yes, pocky. This reminds me of yet another time…” Ayame began, but was quickly cut off.

 

“Just eat it,” InuYasha said.

 

“My, my. You sure are bossy.” Nevertheless, Ayame ate it. Five seconds later, he was snoring on the floor. Miroku looked green.

 

“I will never again eat pocky in my life,” Miroku stated as the bell rang.

 

“You have to admit though, it would have been funny to see you pass out,” InuYasha said.

 

“What about Sohma-sensei?” Kagome asked, looking back at Ayame, who was still on the floor.

 

“What about him? No one's going to miss him,” InuYasha said. And as much as Kagome hated to admit it, he was right.

 

The rest of the school day went by without too much trouble. That is, until the last bell rang.

 

“I'll meet you outside, Sango-chan! I just need to get my spare uniform from my locker,” Kagome called to her best friend.

 

“All right, I'll be waiting here. Don't take too long,” Sango said. Kagome had found her extra uniform buried under several books in her locker, when she was aware of some one behind her. She turned to find Yura and a few other girls she didn't know. Kasa Yura was one of the richest girls in school, and she used her connections to get anything she wanted. Most of the girls in school tried to keep away from her by all means possible, unless they were willing to become her slaves, in a sense. Kagome could sense something was wrong.

 

“Um, yes, Kasa-san?” Kagome asked her.

 

“What's the deal with you and InuYasha?” Yura said bluntly. The girls behind her coursed, “Yeah, yeah. Full and complete detail!”

 

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Kagome said, trying to edge away. Yura slammed her hand down on the locker.

 

“You know exactly what I'm talking about. What's with you getting all the attention? You're nothing special,” she snapped. Kagome felt her temper rise.

 

“And you are?” Kagome countered. Yura leaned over so that their foreheads were touching.

 

“All I'm saying is that if you know that's good for you, you'll stay away from InuYasha and Miroku. There are girls a lot higher on the food chain than you, and we get first dibs. You just get the leftovers,” she said, and then she turned a walked away, the other girls following her like lap dogs. Kagome clenched her fists.

 

“Who do they think they are!?” she fumed to herself. “They can't tell me what to do!”

 

“What's the matter, Kagome-chan?” Sango asked her as she walked down the steps.

 

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Kagome said, doing her best to smile and act like she hadn't just been threatened. Sango looked at her. She was able to tell when something was wrong, but she knew better than to pursue the subject. Kagome would tell her when she was good and ready to.

 

“Hey! Do you want a ride?” InuYasha yelled to the two girls.

 

“No, it's okay. I'll walk home,” Sango refused politely.

 

“Yeah, sure,” Kagome said. Before she and InuYasha went into the car, he said, “Maybe I'll take you to the mall tomorrow.” Kagome looked at him in shock, but he had already turned and was getting into his seat.

 

“If you move any slower, I'll leave you behind!” he yelled, reverting to his obnoxious self. He wondered why he said that. But she had looked so sad when she had come out, and for some reason, he had wanted to make her feel better. It did work. Kagome's mood brightened visibly, and she felt that she was being stupid for taking Yura's threat so seriously. She was still beaming when she went inside.

 

“Kagome dear, I'd like to talk to you,” her mother said, looking uncharacteristically serious.

 

“Sure,” Kagome said confused. Her mother rose, and beckoned Kagome to follow her. Her mother brought Kagome to a small shrine at the very edge of their property. Kagome recognized it as the shrine she had been forbidden to touch since she was a child. She wondered why her mother had brought her here.

 

“I'll bet you're wondering why I'm showing this to you,” her mother began, as if reading Kagome's mind. “This shrine is very special and important. You mustn't tell anyone about this. Do you understand?”

 

“Yes,” Kagome said, slightly agitated. She didn't know why, but she was sensing something incredibly strong coming from inside the shrine. Some thing seemed to call to her, to have a closer look. Her mother opened the shrine. On a chain, a small jewel was hanging, glowing softly. “A necklace,” Kagome realized. It was on a small pedestal, with two small incense burners on either side of it. Kagome looked at her mother.

 

“Are you familiar with the legend of the sacred jewel?” her mother asked, looking at her. Kagome shook her head. She had lost her voice from a mixture of shock and fear. “The Shikon No Tama is a very strong jewel. It gives power to demons.” Kagome's eyes widened at this. “Kept in the hand of someone with a pure soul, the jewel is pure. In the hands of a tainted soul, the jewel is tainted. Are you following me?” Kagome could only nod. “No body outside of the Higurashi family knows of its existence. Many believe that it was destroyed during the Sengoku-jidai, while others believe it never existed at all. It's been the Higurashi family secret for years, and it must stay that way,” her mother said with finality.

 

“Why are you telling me this?” Kagome asked, suddenly afraid of the answer.

 

“I know this may be hard for you, but you are the right age to become its protector.” Kagome stared at her mother. “As soon as you finish high school, you will protect it from evil,” her mother finished.

 

“Why me?” Kagome asked. “Why not Sota? Grandpa always wanted Sota to become a priest.”

 

“Only a priestess can protect it,” her mother answered. “You will start training some time this week. I'm sorry.” Kagome could only look on with shock.

 

“You mean, I can't tell anyone? Not even Sango-chan?” Kagome asked. Her mother shook her head.

 

“No one can know about it. You never know who may be listening. I'm sorry. I know it's a huge burden, but someone must,” her mother said again, closing the doors to the shrine. “This shrine has wards around it so that demons cannot sense the jewel. It must never leave the shrine.” Then she gathered Kagome into a hug, to try to ease the pain she knew her daughter was feeling. She had felt the same way when she had found out she needed to protect it. Neither one of them noticed the shadow that moved in the trees behind them.

 

Kagome walked inside feeling numb.

 

“Hey sis! Do you wanna play video games with me?” Sota asked, cheerfully. At that moment, Kagome felt a wave of resentment at the fact that Sota had no worries at the moment when her life came crashing down. Then she felt so horrible that she didn't even want to look at herself.

 

“No thanks, Sota. I'll think I'll start on my homework now,” Kagome lied, walking up the steps. She had already reached for the phone and dialed Sango's number before she even realized what she was doing.

 

“Hello?” Sango's voice came over the phone.

 

“Sango-chan…” Kagome began. Her friend could tell immediately that something was very wrong.

 

“Kagome-chan? Kagome-chan!” Sango yelled as Kagome burst into sobs, her entire body shaking all over.

 

………………………&# 8230;………………………… …………………

 

Okay! Time to end! Yeah, I know. Horrible way to end the chapter. It started out so happy, and then it ended so sadly. Oh well, that's the way my mind works. Anyway, the plot thickens. Took four chapters, but it thickened. And I broke the mold. Yay for me!