InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time After Time ❯ The Gakugei History Club ( Chapter 4 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Time After Time
 
By RosieBird
 
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. WHY! Why is the world so cruel!
 
Author's Note: Thanks for all the great reviews! After a long hiatus, chapter 4 is up! YAY!!! (ducks to avoid angry pelts and curses) Yes, I'm so very sorry that it took so long. My job isn't easy and it doesn't leave me a lot of time to write. But I sneak in a paragraph where I can and when I can. I can't promise that I'll update more often, but I'm glad you are all so patient. And now, the next chapter!
 
Chapter 4 - The Gakugei History Club
 
Kagome walked down the street towards Gakugei High School, her new uniform pressed and cleaned. She felt her heart hammer in her chest and against the Sacred Jewel. She wore it all the time now, under her clothes to hide it and still protect it. When she first returned from the Feudal Era, she hadn't been able to look at it without thinking of her friends. Miroku had once said that the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls was made of the four spiritual elements: courage, wisdom, friendship and love. Knowing that, Kagome would be reminded over and over of her lost friends. But she realized that she couldn't let their memories fade and she took up her duty as guardian.
 
“Kagome! Wait up!” Kagome looked around to see Hojo coming up to her.
 
“Oh, hi Hojo.” she said cheerfully. She hadn't realized Hojo had been accepted into Gakugei as well. She'd always known of Hojo's affection for her and had tried to ignore it, but now, she couldn't anymore. Now, she had to tell him that she couldn't share his feelings. She fiddled with her sapphire earrings, a birthday gift from Inuyasha. They somehow made her feel stronger.
 
“I was wondering if I could walk to school with you.” Hojo asked. Kagome was hesitant. Inuyasha would be meeting her at school, but she couldn't just flat out tell him no.
 
“I guess.” Kagome said. “It would be nice to have a familiar face to walk with on the first day.”
 
“Great!” Hojo said and joined her. The two walked in silence most of the way. Kagome felt nervous and wished Hojo wouldn't walk so close.
 
“Kagome?” Hojo asked. “I was wondering if you'd like to see a movie with me Friday.”
 
“Oh, no, I can't, but thank you for asking.” Kagome said quickly. Then she stopped.
 
“Hojo, I need to tell you something.” Kagome said. “I'm sorry, but I've been seeing someone.”
 
Hojo stared at her in surprise.
 
“I met him before graduation and we've been going out all summer.” Kagome didn't know if she dared to look at Hojo. Silence. She dared a peek and saw that Hojo was staring at her, his face expressionless.
 
“I see.” he finally said. “Who is he? Did he attend school with us?”
 
Kagome continued walking, not wanting to be late. “No, he's attended Gakugei for 2 years.”
 
The rest of the walk was silent. Kagome rounded the corner to see the marble cream walls of Gakugei High School. She took a deep breath and walked towards the gates. She saw Yuka and Eri standing by the gate wall, waving to her, their uniforms equally crisp and clean. Ayumi had been accepted into a foreign exchange student program and had gone to England.
 
“Hey Kagome, you look great. Blue is definitely your color.” Yuka said. Eri nodded her approval, her mouth full of a breakfast roll. Hojo remained silent.
 
“Morning ladies.” All eyes turned to see Chiko Tekeshi striding toward them. He was dressed in blue pants and a clean white shirt with a blue striped tie. The jacket that completed the uniform was swung over his shoulder in the late summer heat. Kagome smiled at him and was reminded of a large sword that had once been swung so casually over that same shoulder.
 
“Good morning, Kagome.” Inuyasha said. His eyes fell upon Hojo and narrowed slightly. Hojo's eyes suddenly darkened and he sneered. Kagome was surprised. She'd never seen Hojo seem so dangerous or…wolfish?!
 
“I don't know who you think you are, but some punk like you shouldn't be dating Kagome.” Hojo growled. “She's too good for you.” Hojo turned to Kagome and smiled. Kagome thought for a moment she saw fangs.
 
“Kagome, I'll wait for you to come to your senses and drop this guy.” He then took off at a run towards the gate.
 
Kagome was confused. As were the other girls.
 
“Never seen him act like that before.” Eri said, having finally swallowed her roll. “He almost sounded possessive.”
 
Eri and Yuka walked off, leaving Inuyasha and Kagome alone.
 
“Mangy wolf.” Inuyasha muttered. Kagome stared at him in surprise.
 
“Koga!” she squeaked. “Are you telling me that Hojo is Koga?”
 
“Of course he is.” Inuyasha said. “Why else would he have been working so hard to date you all this time?”
 
It made sense, once Kagome thought for awhile. Hojo never seemed daunted by her unexplained absences and broken dates. He was always helpful and never held a grudge against her.
 
“But why the sudden change?” she asked.
 
“It's kind of a long story.” Inuyasha said. “And we don't really have time to go into right now. Are you planning on joining any clubs?”
 
“I was thinking about some, but wasn't sure what.” Kagome answered. She realized that she hadn't the slightest idea what to do. She and the girls had talked about joining one or two clubs, like drama or reading.
 
“I would suggest you join the Gakugei History Club.” Inuyasha said. “It's definitely worth your while. Especially if you want to study history like you say you do. I'm part of it too.”
 
Kagome smiled and nodded just as the first bell rang. The couple went inside and Inuyasha saw her to her homeroom. Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, Inuyasha hurried off to his homeroom. Taking a deep breath, Kagome stepped inside.
 
She recognized some faces from middle school and some were new. All of them looked as uneasy as she felt. She took a seat behind a girl with long dark hair. The girl turned and Kagome was struck with a sense of déjà vu.
 
“Hi, I'm Seiko.” the girl said. She was the spitting image of Sango, the demon slayer.
“I'm Kagome.” Kagome whispered and smiled, despite her sudden sorrow at seeing such a familiar face.
 
“I'm sure you'll love Gakugei.” Seiko whispered and turned her attention forward, her long hair swinging over her shoulder and Kagome gasped silently at the sight of the barest hint of a jagged scar starting at the back of her neck and down her back.
 
Kagome was in a daze most of the homeroom. Her first class took her and Seiko to physical education. Kagome picked a bow and arrow, while Seiko went to try her hand at the discus. Kagome took aim and fired the arrow, imagining it glowing with her spiritual power as it might when striking down a demon. She heard arrow hit center and caught Seiko throwing the discus expertly. Had it been a boomerang…Kagome finished her class and hurried onto history. Then math. Then philosophy. In philosophy, Kagome came in contact with a boy named Anil. Or, more specifically, came in contact with his hand.
 
“Hey!” Kagome turned around, hand prepared to smack out. But she froze at the smiling face of…
 
“Miroku?” Kagome gasped. The likeness was just too similar to ignore.
 
“My name, miss, is Anil.” the boy said. “And I'm sorry to startle you, but you had a small bit of grass on your skirt hem. I apologize for my forwadness.” He bowed respectfully and sat down. Kagome was too thrown. Miroku never would have apologized outright for trying to fondle a woman's butt.
 
“I'm just being silly.” she thought. “I'm seeing my friends everywhere because I'm wearing the jewel. I never should have taken it out.”
 
She sat quietly through the class, listening to the other students debating with the old woman who sat mildly in front of her desk, nodding sagely at their responses.
 
Kagome joined Yuka and Eri at lunch, followed by Inuyasha a few moments later. The four talked and laughed about their day. Kagome thought it better to bring up her encounters to Inuyasha later on.
 
“Hey, Tekeshi!” The lunch area was silenced by the sudden shout of Hojo. Hojo had apparently come from physical education because he was dressed in gym shorts and a tank top. More than ever, Kagome thought of Koga. Even the two boys flanking him in similar dress were all too familiar.
 
“I told you to stay away from Kagome!” Hojo snarled.
 
“Get real.” Inuyasha snapped. “I don't have to do anything you say. And it's not your choice. It's Kagome's.”
 
Kagome stared at Inuyasha. 500 years really could change someone.
 
“Besides, I can easily take you on.” Inuyasha finished.
 
Then again. Kagome sighed.
 
“Hojo, we have to get back to class.” one of his companions said. Hojo seemed to snap out of something and stared around in confusion. Without another word, he moved off with the other two boys.
 
“Was that really necessary?” Kagome said with a sigh.
 
“You like him shouting out for everyone to hear that you can't see who you want to see?” Inuyasha asked.
 
“No, but there's no need to make a bigger scene. Just ignore him. Besides, it's obvious that I'm deciding who I want to see.”
 
Kagome smiled and touched his hand. Inuyasha gave a snort but squeezed her hand back in reply.
 
The rest of the day went without incident. Only one other encounter with a face from the past waited for Kagome in her language class. It was a little boy. He was so young that Kagome was afraid she'd walked into the wrong room somehow. But there were other students there, each pouring over their books. Seiko was there, and so was Anil. The two looked like they knew each other well. Seiko was staring suspiciously at Anil as he smiled at another girl near him. The young boy looked so out of place. He also looked ready to cry. Kagome felt sorry for him and sat beside him.
 
“Is it okay to sit here?” she asked him. The boy looked at her in surprise. Kagome was struck with out much he looked like Shippo. He nodded and tried to smile.
 
“My name is Kagome,” she said. “What's yours?”
 
“Anihiko.” the boy said. “It's my first day. I'm really advanced in my language skills, so I come here once a week.”
 
“It's my first day too.” Kagome said and smiled warmly. The rest of the class passed without incident and soon, the bell rang. Kagome remembered her promise to Inuyasha to meet him in History club. He was outside the room, waiting for her.
 
“We're all here now, so just follow me.”
 
Inuyasha led Kagome down the hall.
 
“Inuyasha.” Kagome said.
 
“Chiko. Call me Chiko until we get out of earshot.” Inuyasha said.
 
“Okay, Chiko.” Kagome said. “I've had a really strange day. I've been coming across familiar faces in most of my classes. They've looked like Miroku and Sango. And just now, I was in a class with a boy who looked like Shippo.”
 
“Does that surprise you?” Inuyasha asked. He led her down the stairs toward the teacher lounge.
 
“Yes.” Kagome said. “Of course it does. My friends are all dead one minute and the next thing I know, I'm seeing their faces and Hojo, you tell me, is Kouga. That's a lot to take in.”
 
“In a moment, you'll understand everything.” Inuyasha said. He opened the door to the teacher's lounge. There was Seiko, Anil, Anihiko and even the old philosophy teacher.
 
“Hey, you're in this club too!” Anihiko exclaimed. Kagome was floored.
 
“Chiko, what's going on?” Kagome asked.
 
“Oh, you can call me Inuyasha here.” he laughed. “And I think it's about time you knew that you weren't going crazy.”
 
Kagome stared around her as each face broke into a big smile. Seiko jumped up to embrace Kagome in a sisterly hug. Anil grinned and Anihiko threw his arms around her.
 
“Oh, Kagome!” Seiko said. “It was so hard not to tell you before.”
 
Kagome felt her eyes tear up.
 
“Sango?” Kagome asked. Sango smiled at her and Kagome saw that her own eyes were teary.
 
“And Anil, you are Miroku. And Anihiko is Shippo!” Kagome cried out. “And the philosophy teacher. Miss Kaede?” The old woman smiled warmly.
 
“Welcome back, child.” she said, “But in this time, I am called Miss Michiko.”
 
“Welcome, Kagome Higurashi.” Inuyasha said. “Welcome to the Gakugei History Club. We've been waiting for you.”
 
To Be Continued….
 
There you go! Chapter 4 and it was worth it, I hope. I couldn't recall the names of Kouga's companions, but that's okay, I don't need their names yet. And yes, the story will continue on and more characters will keep coming back. In the meantime, enjoy reading and keep up with all the great reviews!
 
Stay cool minna! From here on in, this will be fun! ^_~