Youkai Academy

Chapter 9

"Can-" Kagome started slowly, sapphire eyes peering at the daiyoukai kneeling before her. "Can you tell me about it?" She swallowed hard, despite having fought alongside the youkai. There wasn't a single time when he looked at her so gently. His amber eyes glowed with care, a level of which left her awed by its depth. "About the past?"

He nodded, his eyes closing as he pulled away, taking with it the comfort from his touch on her arms. "This one had transcended many timelines, and sadly unsure how accurate this one's mind is." He didn't look at her, instead taking his seat where he stared blankly into the fire. "What is your first question?"

"How many times?" Despite her yearning to know what happened to her friends, Kagome found herself more concerned with the one in front of her. "How many times did you go through the time loop?" Sesshomaru may seem emotionless, but from the glimpse she'd seen, he was hurting, maybe more than she was right now.

"Before realizing the time loop?" He took a moment, sipping from his tea. "Unknown. Only after realizing it, this one always awoke the day after Inuyasha awakened. It was several times later that this one realized that your existence plated heavily into the time loop. No matter how or when, if you were to die, this one would awaken to the same day, even if far away. Also long as you existed in some form, time would continue, but if the jewel were also destroyed, time would be reset.

This one lived many lives, and many of them were the same, but you were what made them different." He told her softly, his tone flat, but his eyes never wavered from the fire even as emotions flickered through them.

It came as a whisper. "Do you hate me?"

"Never."

Kagome couldn't bring herself to look at him, nor could she get herself to ask the questions she yearned to know, she didn't feel as if she deserved to know with all the pain and suffering she unknowingly caused him. In a soft whisper, she cried. "I'm sorry."

~o.O~O.o~*~o.O~O.o~

The host club was once a place for the young girls of Ouran Academy to relax, converse with the school's handsomest boys and simply enjoy being with their favorite host. Yet for a week the club had lacked its usual appeal, the hosts were lackluster in their charm and seemed distant. But that should be expected when one of the said hosts was missing.

Kagome's regulars would show up every day, and every day they would leave with a solemn hope that the host would be there tomorrow. A pile of letters was starting to add up upon Kagome's usual area.

Everyone obviously missed her, their actions alone showed how much they cared for the kindly host. The group had exhausted every avenue at their disposal before imploding in a full-blown depression.

Despite Kyoya going into the school's archives, he hadn't found anything indicating where their missing member could have gone. Her address and private information had been blacked out, and her attendance had an asterisk(*) next to it. The dragon youkai had even taken to hacking into her middle-school records; again her private information was blacked out. There was nothing to be found about the girl. He did look up her name, and the only thing to come up was a shrine; Higurashi Shrine, but there wasn't a website or any information aside from location and hours.

For the rest of the week, each member went through the motions, participating in club activities but that didn't stop them from anxiously looking to the door, hoping she'd come walking in with her charming smile, and enchanting sapphire eyes. They all could feel her absence in one way or another, and each worried for her.

But come the following Monday something changed.

Kaoru smelled her before they saw her, a whisper of her existence coming from outside the classroom. Her scent being pulled in by those who had surely passed her in the hall.

Kaoru's head whipped to the side, having paused mid-conversation to stare at the door. He could smell her, the soft fragrance of warmed berries and vanilla cream with honey. His ears strained, picking up the quiet shuffling of feet.

"Kagome!" The twins cried in unison, both males rushing across the room to greet her but froze as she looked up at them through half-lidded eyes. Raven hair looked unkempt as it was swept in a messy bun at the back of her neck, its healthy shine gone, and her skin had dulled with a sickly pale tone. But worse was the brokenness that loomed, darkening her once lively eyes into grey empty pools.

"Ka-Kagome?" Kaoru started in shock, breaking their normal unison, his long fingers cradling her cheeks as he stared down worriedly. She was cold and unflinching at his touch, lacking the pretty shade of pink that usually colored her cheeks whenever they were close.

"You look like shit!" Hikaru chimed. "Even the bags under your eyes have bags."

Kaoru snapped at him, a growl silently echoing from his chest. His ordinarily calm face was twisted for a moment, as all he felt was rage towards his brother. There was a time and place for jokes and now wasn't the time.

Her hand fell gently to his chest, bringing his attention immediately back to her. "I'm fine." Her voice came out like a whisper, hoarse and broken.

He shook his head. "You're clearly not." Kaoru insisted. "I'll take you home-"

Her eyes narrowed as she weakly smacked away his hands. "I said I'm fine, Kaoru." She hissed before pushing past him and went to her desk, where she slumped into her chair, her head supported by her arms on the desk.

Blinking, Kaoru stared after her worriedly. Haruhi smiled prettily as she spoke softly with Kagome. Kagome seemed to give short answers but didn't seem too interested in talking. And upon class starting, the teacher even avoided calling on her, passing over the teen with anxious eyes.

The girl seemed to move through the day like a ghost, her movements slow and sluggish. Even when entering the club room Kagome resigned herself to a windowsill; her back turned to everyone in the room in favor of looking out into the courtyard with her sad vacant eyes.

"Kagome?" Kaoru started worriedly. His nose twitched, and as much as he tried to scent anything wrong, Kagome's scent was healthy if not bittered by a deep sadness.

"What do you want, Kaoru?" She hissed, not bothering to even look back at the twin who'd approached her.

For a moment, Kaoru could only blink, surprised that for the second time that day, she had been able to tell him apart from his sibling. Not even his parents could tell; he was identical to Hikaru's in every way.

"No, I'm Hikaru." Kaoru found himself lying, trying to justify it as a lucky guess.

Kagome turned slowly, grey eyes brightening briefly to a soft blue. "No. You're Kaoru. I could never mistake you for your brother."