The Fighter's Heart (Inuyasha fan-fiction)

Chapter 16

Another day passed by in Tokyo. Kagome still heard nothing about Kari attending school. She sat in her seat as the bell rang for the school day to start. The students stood and bowed as their teacher walked, greeting the students then telling them they could sit.

"Alright class," He began. "Today we have a new student." Kagome sighed as a boy with black hair and blue eyes walked in. He was rather short, his hair was a bit messy and had two longer bangs that covered his ears. He had a slightly muscular build yet looked pretty weak.

"Hello, I'm Ryuu Scarlet. Nice to meet you." He bowed with a small smile. Everyone bickered loudly about his last name, since it was a bit unusual.

"Settle down class." The teacher called.

Ryuu chuckled. "It must be my last name. Well, you see, my..." Ryuu gulped. "My, uh, f-father's not from japan. He's from america. That's why my last name's Scarlet. Mother says I've got his eyes..." Ryuu chuckled nervously and shuffled his feet. Everyone stopped talking and nodded.

"Alright, you can sit... Hmm." The teacher scanned the room for an open seat. He then spotted an open seat behind Kagome. "There, right behind Kagome Higurashi. Uh, miss Higurashi, would you mind raising your hand please?" Kagome raised her hand and Ryuu nodded then took his seat.

As class began, Kagome thought about how Kari was doing. "She must be working with Grandpa. Or maybe reading that book somewhere in the park. Something like that I guess." Kagome thought while writing down notes from the lecture. "Honestly, she should at least attend school... Oh, wait." Kagome grumbled at her thought. "Geez, I'm being too much of a hypocrite. But at least I TRY and attend school. Between school, hunting down Naraku, fixing the shikon jewel, AND surviving demon attacks, I guess I'm doing pretty well." She hummed in contentment at her thoughts.

As the lunch began Kagome opened her bento box her mom packed to eat. She was quickly tapped on the shoulder as she began to take her first bite. It was the new boy, Ryuu. "Uh, excuse me, Kagome."

"Yeah?" Kagome asked.

"You mind if I talk with you on the roof? Please." Kagome tilted her head at the odd request but nodded and followed the boy to the roof, putting her bento on her desk and closing it before leaving. Kagome's friends, who had seen the exchange in words, watched the two leave.

"You think that Ryuu guy is hitting on Kagome?"

"No way, he just got here! Besides, she has that one guy. Inu-somethin'-er-other."

"Yeah, yeah. But that doesn't mean he can't confess. Let's go watch and give our support." The three nod and snuck behind the two. As the two, with three secretly following, arrived to the rooftop, Ryuu looked up at Kagome and sighed.

"Can, you keep a secret?" He asked. Kagome tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. She slowly nodded. "I knew that. I mean, you do know me."

"Uh, no I don--" Ryuu began to glow a bright silver and began to shift. Once the glowing stopped, Kari was in his place in her usual clothing. The girl waved and Kagome gasped. "Kari?!"

"Yeh." The girl nodded with a small giggle.

"But how, and why and... You know what, I don't care." Kagome sighed and hugged the girl.

Kari smiled then looked over her shoulder and blinked. "You can come out. I can smell you."

"Okay, that's not creepy at all!" A voice echoed. Kari shrugged. Kagome's friends came out of hiding and waved skittishly. "Uh, hi."

Kagome grumbled at them while Kari stepped out of the way. "You guys! Why're you here?!"

"We thought that Ryuu was gonna confess or something and we wanted to show our support."

"Turns out that the new guy was a new girl." Kari blinked while waving, messing with her scarf to hide her nose and mouth. Kagome sighed and looked at her friends.

"Guys, this is a friend of mine I met her over a year ago. Her name is Kari Himura." Kari waved. The three introduced themselves and asked Kari about how she changed her appearance the way she did. Kari did not answer them, because she did not really know how to explain it. The three then made a promise to keep this quiet then everyone went back down stairs, Kari changed back to Ryuu before going back inside. After lunch class continued like usual.

A while later school ended and Kagome and Kari walked home with Kagome's friends, joined by Chase who was waiting for Kari outside of the building in disguise. Not too long after leaving school, it was just Kari, Chase, and Kagome.

"So, how'd you like school? And why are you in my grade?" Kagome asked.

Kari shrugged. "Well, I'm supposed to be in your grade, I studied in the library while training over the past year. I was kinda shocked that they had those books, though Satoru said it had something to do with the temple being in the center of spacetime, I dunno, the way he put it was confusing. Oh, and school was alright." She stated then looked at Chase. "I wish Chase could come with us into school, but he can't." Kari sighed. "Guess you're on you're own while I'm in class, buddy." She stated to the dragon in disguise. Chase only huffed with an upset tone. "Oh, I got ya somethin'." Kari smiled and took out a string collar with a fang that had his name carved into it. "I made it myself. I made sure it could change with your form as well." She informed happily. Chase wagged his tail. "This way you won't be taken to a shelter." Kari informed with a small smile.

The three then went to Higurashi shrine and studied while eating dinner then Kari helped Kagome's grandpa for a while and got some money. After that she began to get her things from Kagome's room.

"Kari, wait a minute!" Kagome's mom called as the child was about to leave for the day. The woman walked up to the white haired girl and smiled kindly. She was holding a large stack of bento boxes. "Take these. You'll need them I'm sure." Kari hesitated. She had already taken so much, she could not take more. "Please, go on. There's shrimp and some of your favorites. I made sure to add some things Chase likes as well." Kari gulped and slowly took the bento boxes.

"Th-thank you." She stammered then swiftly hugged the woman and rushed out. Kagome's mom was a bit shocked then sighed and waved Kari and Chase good-bye.

"Come visit anytime! You're always welcome! And let me know if you need anything!" She called. Kari only waved back. The girl made her way into an old warehouse and leaned against the wall with a sigh.

"Why is she so nice?" She whispered out loud. Chase grumbled. "Yeh, maybe cuz she's a mom." Kari hummed in thought as Chase fell asleep with his head in her lap. The girl stroked his head and watched the night sky from the window in the roof. "Wish I knew what that was like." She stated. The girl did not fall asleep that night, like every other night ever since she left the temple. For good reason too.