Chapter 8: Friends with... Himself
“Just breathe... It’ll be fine...” Inuyasha told himself over and over again. “Nothing to worry about... It’s just-”
“Just that you basically told the guy that’s given you hell at school for the last month or so that you were
friends... with yourself. Seriously, inukoro, what the hell is wrong with you? Were you BORN with your foot in your mouth or what?” Kouga Mikuni laughed over the phone.
Screw you, asshole! Inuyasha thought as he crossed a street full of pedestrians, not having the ignorant balls to start cursing the ookami out for fear of looking INSANE.
“I mean, I almost didn’t believe it when you told us you knew the guy with the tat. No wonder you were so weird around him the whole time,” Kouga hummed, oddly thoughtful. “Would make sense then of that look...”
“Huh? What the fu-... What are you talking about?” Inuyasha said distractedly as he approached the block his school was on. “Look, I’ve gotta get off soon; almost to school.”
“Mmk. Just remember, inukoro: You need to man up- or in this instance, ‘girl up’- and go to school acting like nothing’s changed. Things will be fine. Trust me,” the ookami said in a strangely knowing voice.
“What the hell does that mean?!”
“
Trust me. He won’t realize it. His focus is probably lasered in on... something else right now if what you told him matches my assumption.”
“Kouga!” the hanyou complained.
“Have fun at school, inu-
chan!” the wolf cackled before hanging up.
Inuyasha grumbled fiercely as he put the thing on Silent and shoved his “use this pink piece of shit to feel utterly emasculated” phone into his bag, trudging to school as if walking to his own death.
Today, he decided, would probably be the last day he walked through these doors if Sesshoumaru figured out who he really was...
~ * ~
Sesshoumaru tapped a claw against his desk in agitation. What was going on? Aiko Inuzumi hadn’t been in school for the past two days (three if he counted the day the students offhandedly mentioned she’d been gone as well; the day of the interview with Hollywood Whore).
He wondered idly if she had been spending time with the band then... especially if she was in acquaintance with Takahashi Inuyasha-sama... Though with the rumors that were going around about Hollywood Whore filming their next single’s music video here in Edopolis he wouldn’t be surprised, especially since one of those rumors involved a mysterious, dark-haired female having been photographed coming outside of Takahashi-sama’s private dressing room trailer.
Apparently Mikuni Kouga had later shooed off all paparazzi after the incident, refusing to answer any questions about the girl, or if she was the half-demon’s girlfriend or what not. Sesshoumaru would bet almost anything though that Aiko Inuzumi was the girl the photographer’s had caught on camera despite the picture’s graininess in the papers.
Though he wondered, if she’d been gone the day of the interview why hadn’t he seen her? He resolved to ask her that himself. That is if he could work up how to even approach the subject of how she fell into cahoots with a famous rock star.
When he thought about it more, it did make a bit more sense than he’d originally surmised: How Aiko Inuzumi wasn’t obsessed with the band like all of the other girls were since she was friends with the band. Or was it only Takahashi Inuyasha-sama she was friends with?
Or had they... had more than a friendship?
Sesshoumaru gulped hard at the thought. What if they were in a relationship? What if-
The room quieted down as their sensei came in, followed by one Aiko Inuzumi. She had her head down- which, for her, was rather odd and uncharacteristic from what Sesshoumaru had determined about the girl’s personality thus far. She walked like one condemned to her chair and took a seat, studiously avoiding eye contact with all in the room.
The class resumed as usual, students murmuring as the teacher started an educational film, during which time Sesshoumaru tried to inconspicuously stare over at Aiko Inuzumi wondering how he’d start a conversation with her after all the things he’d said to and put her through already.
~ * ~
Inuyasha had HAD it. He’d fucking HAD IT.
For the past three fucking classes, Sesshoumaru Musashi had done nothing but STARE at him. He didn’t approach him in any fashion. He didn’t try to start up a conversation. He didn’t even bump into him accidentally.
He had either just given him a wide berth in the hallways and classrooms like he had an STD that was caught by BREATHING the same goddamn air, or had eye raped him from afar. Either way, the half-demon had had e-fucking-nough of it!
So he’d devised a plan of how he’d get the bastard to come to him whether he liked it or not. At least then something would be said and the tension he could probably cut with a wet piece of paper would subside a bit... Or so he hoped.
His grand master scheme? He would either give in to his peer’s usual provocations during lunch or provoke some of them himself. Hopefully then Sesshoumaru would see it or get wind of it and come rushing in like he had before. He kind of felt like the demon had been keeping tabs on him ever since the incident a few days ago during lunch when he’d come out of nowhere and basically told everyone to get the fuck out and leave him, or rather “her”, alone.
Granted, he hadn’t been to school for the past few days but… if the way the kids were giving him grumbly looks before shooting fearful ones over toward the youkai and then going about whatever business they had wasn’t a dead giveaway... Well, he wasn’t sure what was.
Hmm, so how to confront the demon without having to go up to him and instigate the conversation he was sure was going to make him more uncomfortable than the time he was caught with tampons up his nose (it was to stifle a bloody nose, alright!)?
Inuyasha’s eyes widened as an idea sprang to mind the moment he spotted two of his adversaries walking his way to dump their trays (well, one was his adversary for sure, the other... not so much; she was more just a bitch). Hmm, if he played this right, maybe he could make it look like an accident... Not only that but he was more than sure the male of the pair would cause a huge commotion of the slight. That’d be sure to get Sesshoumaru’s attention.
Inuyasha nodded to himself and stood up, tray in hand as the pair passed him-
-and in a feat that would one day be known as the greatest acting he’d ever done in his life, he accidentally-on-purpose tripped, his tray free flying all over Kagura Onigumo and Ueda Takehiro.
The result was instantaneous, and just how Inuyasha had predicted; Kagura shrieked, dropping her own tray, while Takehiro merely looked confused for a moment before his eyes rounded on the half-kneeling, half on the ground hanyou, eyes going wide very briefly before narrowing to slits.
“What’s the meaning of this, half-breed,” he grounded out, kicking the food off his shoes and into the students nearby carelessly before rounding back on “her”.
Inuyasha put on his most baffled face before standing up and bowing, biting his lip to keep from laughing the entire time.
“Gomen, I slipped,” he said in the softer voice he used when in this guise. He stayed in his position- partially so he didn’t crack a smile and partially because he really didn’t wanna stand there in a glare down with the arrogant asshat.
He was thankful when Kagura refrained from saying a word to him, and instead leveled “Aiko Inuzumi” with a nasty glare that he caught between his dark bangs, before she stormed off with as much dignity as she could covered in food from the top of her short skirt to the tips of her toes. Takehiro, on the other hand, stayed in place, staring her down still.
Ugh, this asshole is the creepiest out of all of these kids. Even with Sesshoumaru in the room today I could still feel his angry eyes on me, glaring holes in my head and hoping my head would explode. Inuyasha sighed as he righted himself. Yep. That was one angry glare directed- and especially- for him. He bit his lip again to keep from laughing out loud.
“Well, what do you have to say for yourself, half-breed,” the male demanded, taking a step closer to her.
“I just apologized, so not much more than that,” came Inuyasha’s best irritated Aiko Inuzumi voice. The hanyou then moved to pick up his tray and scoop up what he could of the mess on the ground before he got a face full of smooshed food in
his face.
Inuyasha’s eyes were wide with surprise.
That asshole did not
just- Takehiro laughed, some people around them joining in nervously.
Jackass! Inuyasha growled to himself as he threw his tray down onto the ground and glared hard at his opponent, ready to fight-
Before deciding the boy wasn’t worth it.
Inuyasha took a breath as he counted to ten to steady his nerves before he could lose it and freaked out and go all Chuck Norris on the guy’s ass!
“You know what? Fuck it, you’re not worth it, asshole,” Inuyasha said before rolling his eyes and turning around to leave.
A strong arm shot out and a threatening voice whispered close to one of his furry black ears. “I’ve never hit a girl before for being so disrespectful, but I’m-”
“Not about to hit one now unless you’d like me to break my own rule of school violence as well... Takehiro-san,” came an even deadlier voice from behind Ueda Takehiro.
The crowd around them went utterly still.
~ * ~
The air seemed to chill with the newcomer’s voice and the onlookers all around them began to slowly and carefully disperse, as if making any sudden move might refocus the class president’s wrath on them instead.
“Musashi-senpai,” the boy said tightly, slowly letting go of Aiko Inuzumi’s arm. He turned around then and bowed.
“Class will start soon; go change out of those soiled clothes,” Sesshoumaru ordered before looking pointedly over at Aiko Inuzumi and motioning for her to follow him out of the cafeteria.
The girl, surprisingly, obeyed and followed him.
As they walked down the hallway and rounded a corner he directed her toward the washrooms. When she looked at him quizzically, he sighed and raised a brow at her attire.
She looked down and blinked at herself before returning his gaze evenly, still apparently confused. That or she didn’t particularly mind wearing her own lunch.
“I don’t really care what my clothes look like,” she said slowly, as if talking to a child.
Well, there he had it. Sesshoumaru grit his teeth.
“Half-” Sesshoumaru shut his eyes and took a breath to correct himself. This was definitely going to be a challenge. “Aiko Inuzumi. While you may not care that your clothes are soiled, the school will.”
She frowned at him for a moment.
“Oh... fine, fine,” the hanyou sighed, her tone somewhat aggravated. She turned to enter the washroom, hesitating going in for a moment before continuing on.
Sesshoumaru turned and started walking down the empty corridor to his- their- next class.
“Oh, Se- Err,... Musashi-senpai?” Aiko Inuzumi called to him.
Sesshoumaru paused, eyes closing as he counted to ten once more. She apparently didn’t realize one didn’t just
shout down the hallway like they were outside... or in America... where unrefined things like that probably happened on a daily basis.
“Hai?” he said regardless, not bothering with turning around.
“Thanks. Ya know, for earlier. It was... nice. Of you. So, yeah. Thanks for that,” she said awkwardly. Sesshoumaru heard a curse further away and assumed the girl had rushed into the bathroom after thanking him.
Sesshoumaru shook his head at how strange the girl could be before continuing on to class.
As he took his preferred seat in the classroom his ears twitched as he caught Takehiro’s voice from down the hallway, automatically on alert the second her heard him mention Aiko Inuzumi.
“Just meet me across the street after school alright?” he mumbled.
His friend, Sesshoumaru assumed, sounded uneasy as he replied. “What good is scaring her going to do? She’ll probably just go running to Musashi-senpai.”
Takehiro stifled a laugh. “Please, she may have him as a ‘protector’ here at school for whatever reason, but she’s not the type to run to someone for help if she’s put on the spot.”
An odd pause passed then before his friend replied. “Look, I don’t want to do this. I have nothing against her, and I really don’t want to be killed by Musashi-senpai, so why don’t you just-”
“Like hell!” Takehiro hissed. “Fine, if you won’t help me, I’ll do it myself.”
“Following her to her home is called stalking, Takehiro. It’s illegal,” his friend replied hastily. Apparently he was the wiser of the two, Sesshoumaru deduced.
“Only if I’m caught,” came a low reply. “Com’on, let’s go to class before we get in trouble.”
Sesshoumaru turned his attention to his book, feigning reading as they entered the room.
Just before the bell rang, Aiko Inuzumi came in the room, taking the only seat left; right behind Sesshoumaru. And that’s when the demon’s mind started working.
Takehiro was planning... what? To ambush the girl and scare her somehow?
Sesshoumaru thought on that for no more than a second before his eyes narrowed sightlessly at his book.
Like hell I’ll let that happen. Especially not when I’ve already made it clear to everyone that she’s not to be bothered. The hardbook in his hands gave way a bit as his grip tightened. He glanced over at the back of Takehiro’s head.
He needs to learn his place. As class begun, Sesshoumaru scribbled something down on a piece of paper and then discreetly passed the note to the desk behind him.
He heard a confused “Eh?” from Aiko Inuzumi before she opened it.
It read:
I’ll be walking you home today. And then-
“
EEHHHHHH?!” she yelled out, standing up, her chair scraping against the floor with the burst of her upheaval.
“Aiko-san, is everything alright?” the teacher asked, looking none too pleased.
Aiko Inuzumi was beet red, eyes wide and mouth flapping like a fish. “I-... I’m... Yes, I’m sorry for interrupting, sensei,” she bowed before taking her seat again.
Class resumed then.
Moments ticked by before Sesshoumaru heard the low whirl of Aiko Inuzumi’s voice whispering harshly to him.
“Why are you-!”
“You’ve no say in the matter,” he replied tersely.
“I said thank you earlier, what more do you people want from me!” she hissed.
“That’ll be explained later. After class I’ll meet you at your locker,” he said, then paused thoughtfully. “Be there or I’ll find you and drag you home myself.”
Satisfied with the indigent
hmph the girl exasperated then, he turned his full attention to the lesson at hand.
Or, rather, he tried to.
A scrape of chair against the floor was heard once more from behind him.
“Aiko-san? What is it now,” the teacher sighed, placing the book she had been referring to throughout the lesson down.
“I have to use the bathroom,” she said boldly. The girls in class gasped at how utterly brazen and fearless she was asking such a question in front of all the boys; usually they’d walk up to the desk quietly and whisper their request to the teacher before, inconspicuously as they could, walk out of the classroom to their destination.
Their sensei sighed again but nodded. “Alright, hurry up.”
And with that Aiko Inuzumi was out of there before anyone could blink.
~ * ~
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!! What the HELL... who… FUCK! Who the hell did Sesshoumaru think he was threatening him like that?! Or was it even a threat?
Okay, the last part about dragging him home probably was... but the youkai seemed really serious about actually walking him the fuck home. And if that was the case...
He was glad he’d been allowed to go to “the bathroom”, otherwise later he might be in way over his head.
“Come on, pick up, pick UP, PICK UP!” he hissed into the receiver of (what Kouga liked to call) his “manjina phone”. “Come on, you fuckers, pick the hell-”
“Ohayo!” Miroku greeted in a rather impressive accent.
“Ohayo my ass. Get to a secure location and put me on speaker! And get Kouga!” Inuyasha griped.
“Is that inukoro?” came Kouga’s voice in the background.
Miroku probably nodded before saying to Inuyasha, “Secure, captain. What’s up?”
“Listen, Sesshoumaru’s walking me home after school-”
A whistle was heard.
A very distinctive,
ookami whistle.
“Well, that was fast. I’m impressed,” Kouga said, voice smug. “You owe me a hundred, Miroku; I called it.”
“Damn it,” Miroku grumbled.
“GUYS! Can we focus here! I don’t have much time left!” Inuyasha growled them out.
“Fine, fine. What’s so important, inukoro?”
“He’s walking me home for some reason; I think it has to do with this kid Takehiro who sorta... tried hitting me today during lunch.”
“WHAT!” Kouga and Miroku yelled, outraged.
“Who the hell is he, I’ll mess his shit up-!” Kouga started going.
“Chill the fuck out, will you?” the hanyou groaned, hitting his head against the wall as he leaned against the toilet. “Look, I think Sesshoumaru’s just being all gentlemanly or whatever and making sure that jackass doesn’t mess with me or something. In any case, the important thing is he’s coming OVER.”
“Uh huh...”
“To my HOME.”
“Right...”
“Where I LIVE.”
“…and?”
“AND, you asshats, it doesn’t exactly look like a GIRL is living there!”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Look, I need you to run over there, throw some pink shit around and then get the hell out before I get home. Can you do that?” Inuyasha nearly pleaded.
There was a long, suspicious pause before his band mates agreed. While Inuyasha had his doubts that they’d do what he asked, he had no choice but to rely on them for now.
Unfortunately.
“I’ll text you when we get within a few blocks, alright? I gotta go now.”
And with that he shut his phone off, inhaling a huge breath of air. All he could do was hope those two numbskulls came through for him and that Sesshoumaru didn’t go weird on him for whatever his reason was for walking him home.
Inuyasha grumbled as he walked back to class. As he took his seat he avidly refused to acknowledge that Sesshoumaru was eyeing him via the window’s reflection like a fucking stalker.
Granted, that was his own fault to begin with... but still.
Jesus... first he outted himself about knowing... well,
himself... Now he has the guy that had given him a hard time up until recently coming over to his home?
What the fuck was next? A love confession from Takehiro?
Inuyasha groaned, letting his head fall to his desk, feigning reading his text as one thought resounded through his head.
Fuck. My. Life.
~ * ~
Chapter end. Author’s Note: If you remember, Takehiro was the guy that grabbed at Aiko in Chapter 3: Half-Breed. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!
P.S. Chuck Norris (c) Chuck Norris. xD
