InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Treading Water ❯ 3- Enter Kouga ( Chapter 3 )

I wish I had been paying more attention to her face that evening as I dropped her off at her parents house. If I had I might have seen it coming.

 

I got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach as Koharu and I got out of my car Monday morning. The sun was shining happily down on the beige buildings and concrete of the school. It was June and on this unusually cold day it was cold enough to bite at seven in the morning. I hate mornings, I am not a morning person, I am especially not a cold morning person. Grumble, grumble, grumble. I snorted at my own attitude and sighed.

 

Sango had a bright-eyed smile for us as we walked up to her. She said she had something to show us, so we headed toward the classroom she pointed at. I lead the way, Sango brought up the rear as we walked up the handful of stairs in front of the door. I stepped in the classroom and whirled around as the door was slammed shut from the outside. I heard Sango and Koharu tell me they would be waiting out there. Waiting for what?

 

I turned, slowly scanning the room for reason I was trapped in here. There against the back wall, leaning against a stool with his arms gripping each other tightly, was Miroku. His head was down, I couldn't see his face, I think he was afraid to see what mine might show.

 

“Konoama.” I muttered as I spared a dark glance at the door. In my peripheral vision I saw movement from Miroku so I turned back towards him. As he raised his head to look at me my heart almost broke. His hands were gripping his arms tightly, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. His face was pale and drawn, he looked tired and worried. The traitorous part of my brain acknowledged that he looked good in his black corduroy pants, black muscle shirt and purple over shirt. It still struck me as funny that he owned so much purple clothing.

 

“Onegai, don't leave Kagome.” Even his voice sounded tired. I wanted to cry, I hate seeing my friends in pain, but the icy fear that wrapped around my spine refused to be ignored.

 

“Temee.” I hissed, “Why should I?” I crossed my arms under my breasts to hide my shaking hands.

 

“Because I know how badly I fucked up and knowing I hurt one of my best friends is killing me.” His violet eyes pleaded silently as he got up and walked toward me. “I'll beg. I'll play Hercules to your Hera, set me impossible tasks. Please, give me the chance to earn your forgiveness. I've got two friends in this world I don't wanna lose and you're one of them.” He bowed his head as he stopped in front of me and reached for my sleeve, tugging my arm free so he could hold my hand. It was such an adorable gesture I wanted to box his ears.

 

“You hurt me, Roku.” I hated myself at that moment, I couldn't keep the pain out of my voice. In a swift move he caught me up in a hug and held me tight.

 

“Onegai, don't cry because of me Kags, I'm really not worth your tears.”

 

I heard the click of a door catch and saw the morning sun stream in through the open crack. I turned my head and rested my forehead against Roku's chest.

 

“I forgive you, that's the easy part. I love ya, ya big idiot. Earning my trust back is going to be the hard part.”

 

He pulled back far enough to look into my eyes.

 

“You serious, Kags? You're not going to throw me out of your life?” I shook my head and hugged him again before turning to glare at Sango and Koharu.

 

“You shall pay.” At least they had the grace to look uncomfortable under my scrutiny.

 

“I couldn't help it Kags, after you this weekend…I called him and told him almost everything…and then I let him know what I thought of his behavior.” Sango grinned and Miroku made a pained face. Somehow I doubt he enjoyed that conversation. Good, he deserved it.

 

And once again life was good.

 

Apparently Roku had given up on getting Yuka back. He filled me in on all I had missed. Once I left all his attentions were on her and Eri and Eri didn't like him invading her personal space so she got very hostile very quickly. And Yuka couldn't stand having all his attention on her so she decided to find a boyfriend.

 

The falling out happened on Easter and now the school year was two weeks from ending, and since I had left that group Yuka had been through eleven boyfriends. When she turned into a slut Roku lost what respect he still had for her and he drifted to some other friends of ours. I hadn't noticed but it seemed he had been trying very hard to become friends with my friends in an effort to get close to me.

 

So Roku settled happily and quickly into our little group. I loved the fact that he was once again part of my life but finals were approaching and we all knew this year they would be hell.

 

During the yearly standardized testing our high school did they found out that eighty percent of those I call my friends are `gifted.' As in: not genius but definitely above normal intelligence. So instead of taking normal high school classes in 10th grade we were taking A.P. courses, or Advanced Placement courses. A.P. classes are a college equivalent to the high school material, therefore the classes are harder, the workload much worse and the material covered would take twice as long if taught like a normal high school class.

 

Now why would anyone subject themselves to that? Simple. A.P. courses allow you to kill two birds with one proverbial stone. You pay a fee, take a test encompassing all of the material the course covered and if you pass with moderate to high marks you get college credit as well as high school credit. The idea of graduating from college early was a thought that had my friends and I drooling, so we were all taking advanced language, math and history, while some of us were actually taking a full set of A.P courses.

 

Finals plus A.P. tests that were less than two weeks away had many of us more than a little stressed.

 

I was taking not only the advanced math, language, and history, but advanced science, and art history. Sango and I were taking practically all the same courses except that where I took two history classes she took two math classes.

 

I can barely remember talking with anyone before the end of the school year.

 

Our school's girl's varsity and junior varsity teams had finished second and third for the year in their divisions and we started working for next year during finals. One of my teachers brought me a book from his library at home to read. And my grandfather had a small stroke right before my A.P. exams.

 

By the time summer came I was ready to collapse.

 

On one hand, though, I was glad to be so tired. Summer was going to be utterly boring. Sango was spending almost the whole summer in New Zealand as part of a biological science course she had applied to take. It was a college course and a vacation all in one and only five students every year were selected to go from the hundreds of applications they received.

 

With my grandfather's health and the courses I planned to take during summer I hadn't even bothered applying. And I couldn't even say I was jealous, I had too much going on in my life, but I was going to miss her.

 

And Roku was going to be spending at least part of the summer with his uncle. They had planned a little road trip into Canada.

 

I drove out to Las Vegas to take care of my grandfather for a few days, begging him once again to come live with my mother, brother and I. Old coot is too independent though, he just doesn't want to admit he might need help.

 

I don't know why but I always meet the weirdest people in Vegas. Both my aunt and grandpa live there so I end up in the city of sin at least once or twice a year. I always find the fifty year old men who think I'm an angel and they are soap stars, or the ninety year old women who think I'm the slut their husbands left them for.

 

For cryin' out loud! I'm a sixteen year old virgin who's never had much of a romantic life to speak of. Sometimes it gets annoying, or embarrassing, or downright creepy. But for the most part I like Vegas, but I guess that's because I like cities. I'm no small town country gal. I've always felt at home in places like L.A. and New York. I love having most of my family still in New York, it gives me an excuse to go visit…but I digress…

 

It was Thursday evening. The sunset was painting the desert landscape shades of neon orange and pink that rivaled the electric glow from the downtown casinos. I liked staying near the strip but my grandfather absolutely loved the older, more historical casinos downtown. I had just left my grandfather playing a penny keno machine and went outside for some less smoky air. I took a deep breath and coughed as the smoke from the casino reached me from the open door.

 

“Yeah, the air in there kinda clings to ya, don't it?”

 

I turned and saw something I never thought I'd see in downtown Vegas. A young demon. Younger families and people never wandered this far downtown, the strip had flashier lights, better shows, most people came to Vegas for the strip. And demons of any kind are a rarity in this city. The lights, noise and pollution which grate on most people's nerves is amplified by demonic senses.

 

In all my years I've never seen anyone downtown even remotely close to my age. And the only demons I've ever seen here are reptilian in nature, they love the sun and have similar hearing to humans, and as long as they keep their tongues in their mouths they don't suffer from sensory overload.

 

Yet there in front of me stood a male demon with inky black hair and the most startling blue eyes I had ever seen. His hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and despite his modern clothing his feet were bare. I was tempted to stare, he was the most ruggedly handsome man I've ever met. Yes, Roku is good looking but Roku and this demon didn't fit into the same category of men, Roku is more aristocratic whereas this youkai looked like a wild, feral creature who chose to be civilized.

 

“Hello. Name's Kouga.”

 

 

 

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Hai - yes

Nani - what?

Onegai - please

Konoama - bitch

Temee - bastard

 

A/N: Yes, A.P. courses are a real thing. Though usually the teachers give the final exams for their classes early(like in march) so you can spend from march until june cramming for college level tests. And thanks elvin, not only do you seem to jump on new chapters when they get updated but you're a nice human being. Yeah, she's doing well. The surgery was a success, but I am her only nurse so her recovery is proving to be quite a test for me(my mum is a workaholic and can't stand sitting/laying down for long so getting her to rest is harder than fitting centipedes for orthopedic shoes.) Sorry it's kind of a short chapter but being my mother's nurse, physical therapist, chef and hair stylist is a demanding job and I figured something short is better than making y'all wait till she's fully recovered.

 

 

 

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