Disclaimer:    Inuyasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.  Other characters are property of Dark Star.

Rating:         PG-13; possible language

Summary:    AU.  Kagome is transferred to a new high school in the middle of freshman year.  There, she meets Inu and Sess.  They each pursue her in their own ways, but does Sess truly have feelings for her?

Genre:            Romance/Drama

A/N:            Is it just me?  Or is this story starting to lose touch?

An Inuyasha High School Fic

Chapter Twelve

December 2002

School again.  Kagome sighed.  It wasn't so bad after a while.  After all, she had Inuyasha, Sango, and (as much as she hated to admit it) Miroku to look forward to.  Her friends offered a lot more support, seemed much more congenial, than those back at her old school.

She trudged along the drab gray sidewalk, crossing her arms in front of her chest for warmth.  Winter was starting to lose its bite, and the ominous feeling of cold and darkness was beginning to ebb away.  For that, Kagome was glad.  But…she was also suspicious.  Sesshoumaru's "visits" were becoming rare.  In fact, she hadn't seen him in a month or so at all.  Perhaps it was a good sign?  The time to ponder on the subject was stolen; Sango bounced up to her.

          "Morning!" she greeted with her unfathomable energetic nature.

Kagome turned, smiling, and responded with a 'good morning' of her own before Sango launched into the subject of spring's coming.

~*~*~*~*~

He leaned nonchalantly against the over-large windows, gazing out sideways to the crowds of students below.  Currently, he was on the second floor of their school, watching the students mill in from below.  Sesshoumaru watched one pupil in particular: Kagome.  On his part, he seemed to give the impression to have lost interest in the non-committal girl.  Of course, it was only a delusion, a trick if you will, to, perhaps, catch her off guard the next time he paid her a visit.  He was still playing the game with her, his goal for her to 'like' him.

With what he saw, she was chatting amiably with her friend Sango.  Soon, they were joined by their boyfriends, Miroku and Inuyasha.  Brisk greetings were exchanged, and then, they continued on their way into the school building.  Nothing interesting to see.  Sesshoumaru pushed away from the glass and strolled down to the garden; it was starting to get noisy up here.

~*~*~*~*~

Kagome caught a glimpse of silver as she entered the building.  She cast a sideways glance in its direction and found a tall figure striding toward the direction of the garden.  Sesshoumaru…  Dismissing stray thoughts, she turned back to Miroku, conversing with Sango about something or other.

          "Your house?"  Sango questioned suspiciously.  "You think I would trust you enough to visit you, alone, at your house?!"

          "I'm hurt, Sango," Miroku said sadly, placing a hand over his heart.  "You wound me with your harsh words.  I would never try anything."

          "Feh!" was Inuyasha's input.  "Like anyone would believe a pervert like you!"

Kagome smiled.  Thus was the usual conversation in their little group of friends.  It was, to her disappointment, a bit monotonous as well as just plain boring.  Sesshoumaru's a lot more fun than this, she thought unconsciously.  An arm draped around her shoulder interrupted her random thoughts.

          "Free this afternoon?" came Inuyasha's voice.

          It took Kagome awhile to register his question.  "Depending on what it is you want me for," she answered sweetly with a smirk.

          Inuyasha's face was the picture of innocence.  "Tour my house?"

          He was answered with a warm smile.  "Meet you after school, in the garden," Kagome replied.

Inuyasha responded with his own winning smile and dropped his arm away from her shoulders, taking half a second to caress her cheek with the back of his hand before pulling a gaping Miroku away from Sango.  Kagome could only faintly hear Miroku's astonishment.

          "How did you do that?!" he demanded of Inuyasha.

The silver-haired boy only half-turned back to Kagome, winking conspiratorially, before he continued on his way to his locker.  As for Sango and Kagome, they also parted ways to gather books.

It had become increasingly lonely for Kagome.  She walked down the hallway alone, alone as in with no one else to talk to.  Sure, the halls were swarming with students, but none of them were really her friends.  Despite the crowds of mulling students, it felt empty.  Don't be silly, Kagome, she told herself.  It's always been like this.  Not always, a different voice argued, not a month ago…when Sesshoumaru was visiting.  Sesshoumaru's games were silly and inane, she shot back.  The strange voices stopped.  Good riddance.

Looking around, she found she had passed her locker, so turned around, and re-traced her steps.  Kagome turned her thoughts to a different subject.  Inuyasha wanted to show her his house.  Now, wasn't that sweet?  Hopefully, he wasn't going for meeting his parents quite yet.  She vaguely wondered whether his parents were aware he had a girlfriend.  She brushed the thought away.  What did it matter?  She was just touring his house is all.  Just after school, she would meet him…in…the garden.  Kagome blanched.  Oooo, good job, Kagome.  In the garden.  Where Sesshoumaru is.  An exasperated sigh was released.  Had she done that on purpose?  Deciding to fix the problem later, she gathered her books for class and stalked off.

~*~*~*~*~

Freshman year was drawing to an end, Naraku mused.  The beginnings of a plan were already sketched in his head.  He would be seeing Sesshoumaru, or rather, Sesshoumaru's father, this afternoon for another meeting; at the beginning and end of the conference, he would probably catch a glimpse of Sesshoumaru.  As his personal tutor excused herself, Naraku flashed a polite smile at her and stood to let her from the room.  As was custom, he exited the office in which he resided to change outfits.  The meeting, after all, was at five, and at present, he had an hour.

~*~*~*~*~

As usual, Sesshoumaru had taken great pains to ensure that his presence went unnoticed by Kagome.  The task was not all that difficult, considering that his imbecile fan club took every means to occupy him with their inane titter.  They managed never to forget flocking around him at a class's end, surrounding him even through the obscure routes he took to proceeding classes.  He had to hold a small, grudging admiration towards the mindless females; he had no idea that humans could be so relentless in any undertaking.  There was one girl in particular among his sycophants that he had to thank in particular.  She seemed to be more the leader of the group, being the most attractive and most levelheaded (though all of the females were lacking in that area, she seemed to have the most logic) of the group.  Only by one encounter had he realized her name: Kikyo.  It was she, Kagome's twin sister, who made absolutely certain that Kagome made close to no contact with him.  Seemingly, jealousy had sprouted in Kikyo from the last run-in, where Kagome seemed to be standing just a little too close to Sesshoumaru (without Kikyo's permission).  So, Sesshoumaru wallowed in self-pity while he drowned himself in an ocean of worshipping simpletons.

As he drew on, though, separating himself from the classrooms to the corridor of lockers, his crowd began to thin out, falling girl by girl as they drifted off to their own lockers.  After a while, there was only Kikyo left to pester him.  The girl was not very irritating, really; she did not talk so incessantly as the others of the club, so he allowed her the privilege of strolling by his side.  It seemed, though, that today Kikyo had decided to open up a little.  Sesshoumaru did not enjoy her nonsensical chatter at all.

~*~*~*~*~

After class, Kagome had made a mad dash for her locker to gather what little books and other belongings she needed.  Perhaps both she and Inuyasha would beat Sesshoumaru to his cozy corner of the school.  So, she sat patiently on a stone bench near the center of the garden and waited for her boyfriend to saunter in.  When she heard the click of the door, Kagome glanced toward the entrance expectantly, surprised when Sesshoumaru strode in with Kikyo following close behind.  She felt a small twinge of curiosity and a larger one of jealousy…for what, she did not know.  Rising swiftly and silently, she brushed past them both, not wanting to spark conversation with her twin.  Kagome only spared an inaudible "hi" as she passed.

She felt his golden eyes follow her furtively, curiously as she slipped past the pair.  There was a slight twinge of jealousy or envy—something along those lines—that made her fist twitch once compulsively; both the twinge and the twitch were ignored, or rather, left unacknowledged after she set foot on the plain forest green carpet of the science hallway.  An unrestrained sigh.  Her legs stopped while she stood, staring blankly at the shaft of light streaming through a window to her right.  The dappling shadow of foliage flashed in and out with the passing of clouds overhead.  For a full five seconds, her mind remained completely blank.  No stray thought crossed its premises.

          "Oi!  Kagome!" came a sharp bark.

Kagome swore she could recognize that voice anywhere.  A slight start sent her a step back as she blinked, breaking the dam of reflections and hurling them through and across her brain.  Even as the whining command registered, deep and roguish in its tone, she failed to feel the relief Inuyasha's presence should've brought.  Another blink focused her sun-exposed eyes on his lean figure.  Obviously, as always, he was impatient to get going.  A rueful smile lit her face.  They hadn't had to meet in the garden, after all.

          "Ready to go?" she queried, taking measured steps toward him.

          "Sure."

The brush of the door opening behind alerted Kagome to stand completely still.  Only two people could come from that door behind her, both of whom would make a quite uncomfortable scenario.  Either way, Inuyasha's countenance would morph completely, depending on who chose to step from the exit.  She looked up to catch his reaction, one of muted disregard.  It was Sesshoumaru, she sighed.  Hopefully, he wouldn't choose now to make a scene with his half-brother.  Her hand placed itself reassuringly on Inuyasha's arm, urging him silently to move.  A glance upward told her his façade had changed slightly, from contempt to seething curiosity.  Kagome turned her head halfway, glimpsing her twin in peripheral vision.

          "Kikyo," she heard from Inuyasha.  The verbal hailing seemed involuntary, merely a habit.  Underlying its exterior motive, though, his voice had altered slightly, tainted with a bitter resentment and unrelenting demand.

          The schoolgirl turned, a mask of mild surprise twisting her lips.  "Oh," said she, "I didn't see you there.  Funny meeting you here, Inuyasha."  The words were neither cold, lifeless, seductive, nor false.  For once, her statement was genuine, as if she had totally thrown away their previous experiences together and continued to treat him as a stranger, nothing more, nothing less.

Kagome felt his arm tense under her light touch.  It hurt him, obviously.  The way Kikyo had voiced, it sounded so dismissive.  She didn't care, not one whit, for him anymore.  Somehow, the fact only served to plaster a slight frown on his face.  And what was she doing with Sesshoumaru?  The frown deepened.  They weren't…were they?  He shifted ever so slightly.

She rolled her eyes, sighing helplessly at the situation in which she found herself.  Reluctantly, she bit back a sarcastic remark.  Are we gonna stand here in a staring contest all day?  Inuyasha can be so immature; I thought he was over Kikyo.  Her lip curled, and her brow furrowed.  Too late, now.  Another sigh.

          "Has the ability to move been lost to you, Inuyasha?"

Kagome started at the sudden remark.  Her blue-gray eyes wandered over to meet with metallic gold, sparking in annoyance as amusement danced in his eyes.  Haughtily, she averted her gaze and lifted her chin, tugging lightly at her companion's hand.  The teenager responded immediately, and soon they were off down the corridor.  Both turned a clandestine glimpse back at the lingering two high schoolers, hiding their ignited curiosity.

          "What do you think they were doing?"  Kagome murmured to her boyfriend.

          "Wouldn't I like to know," was Inuyasha's sardonic reply.

A/N:                Sorry, sorry, sorry for the LATE update; I finally got the chapter, though…even though it was just pretty much a "filler" chapter…

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