DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I don not own Inuyasha. I just like playing with them.

Relinquished Destiny

Ch. 5

By: Lara Winner

The trip to school was uneventful. With her backpack secure on her slumped shoulders, Kagome peddled her way through Tokyo’s bustling city streets lost in the very thoughts she wished to purge from her mind. She paid no heed to the morning traffic or the rat race of vehicles and pedestrians, young and old alike, striving to get to their destinations on time.

Blindly, she made it to the school’s campus and after chaining her bike to the bike rack, prepared to face the life she’d left behind so long ago.

"Kagome! Oh Kagome!" Eri’s screech barely had time to register before the young girl nearly tackled her friend. "Gosh, we were so worried about you Kagome! Don’t you ever scare us like that again. I tried calling you several times last week and your Grandpa told me you couldn’t talk. We’ve all been dying to know how you are! Oh I’m so glad you’re alright!"

Pinned by the shorter girl’s glomp, Kagome sweatdropped. "Uh..I’m fine guys. Just a little bump. See, I’m as good as new." She explained with strained cheer as her loyal friends surrounded her.

"What happened Kagome?" Yuka asked with a toss of her sable hair, looking ever graceful and slightly vain.

"Yeah you just gotta tell us." Jori chimed in as she stood beside Ayumi who nodded with avid interest.

Aki’s keen blue eyes watched Kagome steadily as she agreed, "Spill it."

Commanding the groups attention Kagome related the rather dull details. But she monitored her story carefully, not daring to mention youkai, dead mikos, the Sengoku Jidai, or even a certain heartbreaking hanyou. Instead she said nothing out of the ordinary and as she looked at her friends faces she realized just how far fetched everything seemed now that she was back in her familiar reality.

Here, in the middle of the school courtyard bright and early Monday morning, Kagome kept her thoughts quiet. Instead of dwelling on a past that was beginning to seem more and more like a dream, Kagome took a good look at her friends and really appreciated them.

They were an eclectic bunch. Their personalities ranged from one end of the spectrum to the other and even in between. Kagome could only laugh to herself as she mentally compared each of them.

First there was Yuka, the ultimate prima donna. Everything from her expensive loafers to her weekly manicured nails said she was high maintenance and her demeanor was as haughty as one would expect. Yuka appeared effortlessly perfect, her hair was never out of place in gym class and her mascara always perfectly accentuated her doe-brown eyes. Their female classmates envied her and Yuka loved it. And the boys… raging hormones made them putty in her hands.

Where there was Yuka you were sure to find Eri. The petite brunette followed the other girl about like a shadow. They were the yin-yang symbol of friendship. Eri was blissfully down to earth. Perfection didn’t seem to be a word in her vocabulary but her genuine caring personality abundantly made up for her lack of flair and charisma. Eri’s easy going nature and kind blue eyes would put anyone at ease and then it would only be a matter of time before she would mother the person to death in her way to show her loyalty and affection.

Then there was Ayumi. Quiet, studious and all around good girl. 'Booky' was her nickname because she was a walking library. The shy, chubby, chestnut haired girl wasn’t much of a talker and usually she was lost in the grand story of her newest paperback or magna. But Ayumi was smart and there was intelligence in her hazel eyes. But it was good luck drawing her into conversation.

And that was where Jori took over. The vivacious red head with the sparkling green eyes could talk bout anything, anytime and would never run out things to say, no matter how redundant the topic. And it was Jori’s gift of gab and bubbly personality that made her the gossip queen of the school. However, some point over the years she began looking out for Ayumi and despite her big mouth, one couldn’t help but like her.

And the last member of their ragtag group was Aki. Only one word described the raven haired, blue eyed athlete. Together. The girl was focused, had great grades and was the star player of the girls soccer team and softball team. She was composed and collected and knew exactly where she was going and what she needed to do to get there. She was the sane one of the bunch and her cool, aloof attitude was something Kagome tried to emulate. Yet, having been friends from the second grade still didn’t help Kagome any.

That was the life Kagome had been going for. Well, not necessarily the athletics part, but she had been trying to get that focus and direction before Inuyasha came barging in on her world demanding her time and her energy and her heart…

Gods, why couldn’t she stop thinking about him. That part of her life was over and she wasn’t even sure it was real now.

Frowning, Kagome’s thoughts wandered as the group split and began heading to their first class of the morning. Having class with Jori, Kagome walked beside her friend not hearing a thing the girl said as prattled on and on about the events missed during Kagome’s week of recuperation. Another thought dominated her mind as she only now realized that her first class of the day was history. Kagome wanted to laugh at the bitter irony. History! Of all subjects… HISTORY!

She entered the classroom swallowing the lump that rose in her throat and desperately ignoring the pain that filled her heart. Kagome took her assigned seat, breathing a silent sigh of thanks that Jori was seated three tables over. Her friends were not having the desired effect she had hoped their presence would. She wasn’t feeling any better.

The bell sounded hailing the start of the class period. As the teacher’s monotone dialogue droned on, Kagome felt like she was suffocating. She couldn’t escape the past. No matter how hard she tried every thing seemed to throw her sacrifice back in her face. Her throat burned with the urge to cry. Longingly her gaze shifted to the window almost hoping she would see a certain hanyou waiting for her. Oh Gods, she wouldn’t even care if he was sitting in the window scratching his ears with his foot. Anything to be near him again. Kagome missed him so much.

Lost in her yearning daydream, Kagome didn’t realize someone had entered the class room. The punctuating sound of the door closing disturbed the silence and she jumped, jerking back to the present. Closing her eyes, she bowed her head trying to regain her composure. The hushed whisper of voices rose among her fellow classmates and looking up it was then that Kagome noticed the boy standing awkwardly next to Mr. Tuganashi’s desk in the front of the room.

The teacher spoke quietly to the new boy and motioned to the table where Kagome sat pointing out the only available seat left which was right next to her own. Then Mr. Tuganashi stood and addressed the class. "Attention everyone. We have a new student joining us. I want all of you to make him feel welcome…"

The polite speech faded into the ringing that filled Kagome’s ears. All mental functions ceased as she took a good look at the young man. He was tall, medium build and looked like any other boy in her grade. He had dark jet black hair that was unfashionably long, hanging a little below his shirt collar and pulled back in a band. His face was handsome with classic features that could appear childish or fearsome depending on his mood. Large violet eyes scanned the room and then settled on her making her breath catch. Her heart skipped a beat, she stiffened and could not tear her eyes away as the boy moved to take his seat beside her.

In truth there was no need for her to gawk at the new comer. She knew every curve of his face, every expression that would cross it, she even knew the sound of his voice. Blinking against the hot tears that welled in her wide eyes, Kagome could only stare like an idiot as she breathed…

"Inuyasha?"

tbc…   

A.N.- Hehehehehe… Poor Kagome, she just can’t catch a break. Sadly, I’m not done playing with her yet. When has the course of true love ever run smooth? And of course there’s the little problem of being a teenager and nothing seems to go right at that age. Don’t worry though, the story summary did say I/K. Yet both Kagome and Kikyo begin with a K…

Geez, don’t look so horrified! I’m an Inu/Kag fan! I swear!

However, I will warn now that things that are going to happen in later chapters may deviate slightly from the magna/anime plot. It won’t be much, just little things that I think in the series could go either way. And the characters of Jori and Aki are mine. The possibility of a red haired green eyed girl born in Japan is slim, I know, but so is a boy born half dog half human. I love fiction. It makes anything reality. Okay, enough blabbering from me. I need to finish chapter eleven. So until next week I bid you a fond adieu. *_~ *hugs* Thanks for reading! Luv you guys!