"The Meteor Garden Story"
An Inu Yasha A/U Fanfic by Nozomi
A/N: I miss writing… never could seem to manage my sked well enough to get around to it…
kohmaru: Well, back here (I live in SouthEast Asia), most of the colleges have locker rooms. Just like the Meteor Garden story. We don't have student housing or dorms that are provided by the school like in the West, so I guess they give us the lockers to compensate, hehehe.
YuniX-2: Chapter 9 is the only chapter like that, don't worry. The incident really happened in the Meteor Garden series, although my version was a bit more intense, since I was going for Inu Yasha's demon side...
gurlhushere13: If I told you about Kagome, that would spoil the fun! Haha! Although yes, Kikyo will show up later.
kagomefan595: No, Kagome wasn't nude. And yup, Sango and Miroku will coming up soon. I'm just following the Meteor Garden timeline... (big grin)
bubblez4ya: Meteor Garden has been around for the last... 3 or 4 years? I know it's already in the US, because one of the US reviewers (can't remember the name anymore, it's somewhere in the last pages worth of reviews) mentioned that she's seen it on TV. Hmmm...
YoukaiBaka: Oh come on... please read the A/Ns for all 9 chapters, please please!
JL: Singed as in singe-d; burned (grins). I expected someone to comment on that… it looked wrong to me too.
Mikishi: Boys over Flowers… yes, I know it. It's the English translation of Hana Yori Dango. (big grin)
Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha and company, Meteor Garden, Hana Yori Dango, Boys Over Flowers or any of the brands I mention here.
Chapter 10: Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Kagome didn't know how long the two of them stood there out on the rooftop. All she knew that by the time her weeping had subsided, the rain had soaked them both through. They were both wet all over, but her eyes felt strangely dry. She wasn't feeling cold though, how could she? Inu Yasha was still holding her in his embrace, his grip keeping her body firmly pressed against him. She was aware that her hands were still wrapped around his neck. Ironic, wasn't it? That she was holding—no, clinging to the very person who was causing the numbing pain in her chest.
What had happened?
She had always regarded him as being a childish, temperamental bully. But the violence he had displayed earlier… the rage he had shown her. God, was that what he was really like? Would he really hurt her physically if she had given him the chance?
And what were those claws? Those demon eyes? The whites of his eyes were scarlet when he confronted her! And his hands had been rippling with powerful, sinewy muscles and sharp claws. Claws! Such things could not be. Was it fear that caused her mind to play tricks on her?
Taking a deep breath, she released her hold on his neck and leaned back so that she could look into his eyes.
Inu Yasha felt her hands slide down to his shoulders and felt her body tentatively pulling away from him. He tightened his hold and leaned onto her, keeping his body pressed to hers and preventing her face from looking at him. He did not want her to see his face.
What was it about her that made him lose control like that? What was it about her that could spark such rage in him, and then kill it in an instant with just her touch? What was it about her that brought them to this?
The last time he had let the demon loose, neither his friends, his brother nor father had been able to help him. He had unleashed himself on them all, his mind wild in the carefree abandon of destruction he was wrecking on them. The only person who had been able to tame the demon inside him was his mother, which had been many hours after he had changed—it took her that long to convince his father to finally let her near him. And even then, it took his mother a long while to tame the beast inside.
Kagome had done it with a single look.
What in the world was she? What was she to him? He had chanced upon her only recently, and yet inside he felt as though she would kindle a familiarity between them.
He was in awe of this girl who stayed in his arms, soothing him even though he had just done her wrong.
Biting his lip, he finally let her push him slowly away.
When Kagome looked into his eyes, amber-gold ones looked back at her. Still locked in his gaze, she trailed her hands down from his shoulders to his arms, then his hands. They felt normal. The sinewy muscles weren't there, and his nails weren't sharp at all. Had she imagined the whole thing?
Their fingers wove together, grasping each other tightly… and held.
She started shivering.
Wordlessly, Inu Yasha rolled down the sleeves of his jacket, pulled it off, and draped it around Kagome's waist, covering the damage that had been done to her clothes. He pulled her to his side, breathing a sigh of relief when the silent girl allowed him to guide her towards the stairway.
ooOoOoOoo
"That pompous, incorrigible, horrid, arrogant…!" Sango sputtered, aghast at what she had just learned.
Kagome was adding a new cake to the display. There were not many customers today, which was a good thing, considering Sango's reaction to her plight.
"You should have beaten that jerk to a bloody pulp!" Sango exclaimed vehemently, shaking her fist in the air.
Kagome chuckled at her friend's enthusiastic, albeit bloodthirsty defense about her dignity. "I know I should have, and I don't know why I didn't."
Her friend snorted in disgust. "You shouldn't have let him get away with it! What if he tries it again? Even if you say he wasn't himself when he…raged at you, what if he thinks your indifference to what he's done gives him freedom to try more! Call the police, if you won't take matters into your own hands!"
Kagome bit her lip. The thought had never crossed her mind, or rather it had, but she simply pushed the thought away. First of all, Inu Yasha's family was one of the most influential in Japan. The police might hear her story and dismiss it as an attempt to extract money from the Inu Youkai family (something which happened often), or rule it out as an attempt by competitors to discredit their name (something which also happened often). She had not told anyone about the incident save for Sango, and even then, she had left out the details of the transformation she thought she witnessed that day.
What was it anyway?
Was that the real Inu Yasha? Was the Inu Yasha with the golden eyes and childish temperament just a mask? But then, that would mean that the real Inu Yasha was a monster! And that couldn't be true, could it?
She sighed.
The incident happened three days ago. Inu Yasha had taken her home, neither of them saying a word about what happened. She had slept poorly that night, thinking about whether she had imagined Inu Yasha's red eyes.
The next day, she had come to school to find a large notice taped to their classroom blackboard. It had read:
I take back the red card given to Higurashi Kagome. Leave her alone!
Signed, Inu Yasha
While she was thankful to finally have a day in school without people chasing after her, the stares and whispers had been really annoying to put up with. Even the teachers didn't call on her in class or make her stand outside the classroom anymore. Never in the history of Shikon Academy had a red card been rescinded.
Most especially, it was also unheard of for the almighty Inu Yasha to have been the one to rescind it.
Again, Inu Yasha had singled her out of the crowd.
"Hello? Earth to Kagome!"
"Eh?"
"Snap out of it! You're looking so serious that I'm beginning to think you're really contemplating murdering someone," Sango waved her hands in front of Kagome's face. "Anyway, you should be thankful that you're no longer marked by your entire campus."
"I guess. I haven't seen him since that day, you know."
"That's probably a good thing," Sango nodded sagely. "Maybe now everyone will leave you alone and you can finish your studies in peace."
Kagome laughed at Sango's look. "Oh I don't know… school's bound to be boring now," she teased. "I won't have anyone to pick on anymore."
Sango joined her merriment, nodding assent.
DING DONG!
"Customers!" Sango exclaimed, rubbing a rag behind the counter. "You take it Kagome, I'll just finish up here."
"Uh…"
"What?" Sango asked her, not looking up. "I'm not done here yet."
"Sango, I think you should take this," Kagome said weakly.
"Why?"
"Hey Kagome, how have you been doing?" came a cheerful greeting from the door.
Sango looked up to see two handsome guys walking towards the counter. Usually, she would have given both men an equal look-over, but she couldn't take her eye off the one wearing the purple shirt... mainly because he seemed to be ogling her chest.
Noticing the glaring look she was giving him, the guy in the purple shirt sauntered over to her, oozing charm.
"I don't believe we've met. You must be Kagome's friend…"
Sango continued to glare at him.
"Okay, I'll introduce myself first. My name's Miroku."
Kagome rubbed her temples. This was going to be a long shift.