InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Good Advice ❯ Not as Planned ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
I do not own Inuyasha and I make no money from these stories.

Chapter 2 - Not as Planned - (Approach with Caution - 2078)

Sesshoumaru's morning had been fairly normal, the first change being the last class before lunch. The room was in an area of the school he’d never ventured to before and like the idiot he suddenly felt like, he ended up being late. Walking into the room when everyone was already seated and the teacher talking was embarrassing but, little did he know, it was only going to get worse.

“Ah, you must be our transfer,” the effeminate male said loudly. “I need to see your new schedule.”

Sesshoumaru handed the paper over, his eyes scanning the room trying to spot her, his reason for being there. He ignored all the surprised whispers of everyone else in the room as he found Kagome, noticing that she was fully engrossed in what she was doing, once more oblivious to his presence.

“And do you have any pottery experience at all?”

“No,” Sesshoumaru answered in a bored tone.

“Won’t this be interesting then. Alright, I’m going to pair you with one of my more advanced students, who can help you with the basics and get you started on our current project.” Both males watched as every single female students’ hands shot up to volunteer, well, almost every. The teacher raised an amused eyebrow at his newest student before stepping over to his cluttered desk and running a finger down the class roster. “Kagome?” he called out.

“Yes, sir?” she answered, finally taking her attention off her clay.

“Would you mind helping your newest classmate get caught up on pottery basics so he can start working on the current assignment?”

“Of course,” she said with a polite smile, only then noticing who the new student she was to work with actually was.

The room was filled with whines, groans, and muttered complaints, making the teacher grin, even more amused. “You can take the seat beside Kagome,” he instructed, handing Sesshoumaru back his schedule.

As the taiyoukai made his way across the room to join her at her table, Kagome rolled her eyes at her noisy and jealous classmates before letting out a little sigh. “Won’t this be fun?” she muttered sarcastically.

-

A frustrated taiyoukai plopped into his seat at his regular table and everyone looked at him in concern.

"How was pottery?" Miroku asked nervously. If his plan didn't work, he was going to be in some serious shit.

"I have learned several things this morning," he started, his tone revealing just how upset he was, even if his face didn't show it. "Kagome does not like me one bit. She has no patience when it comes to teaching me about pottery. Clay is not claw friendly. Most importantly, monk, you need to die."

Inuyasha snickered. "It couldn't have been that bad. Kagome's one of the best artists in this school. Why was she the one teaching you? Isn't that what teachers are paid for?"

"She was chosen to catch me up on the basics so that I could begin the current class project. She was not pleased."

"So what's the problem with claws and clay? I know other demons have taken pottery," Kouga chimed in.

"Perhaps, but every time I went to smooth down the clay that I had added to my bowl, my claws sliced right through it. Not only that, but the clay seems to have sucked all the moisture right out of my hands. The worst, however, is that the horrid substance is stuck under my claws and I cannot get it out. It is drying under there and it is extremely uncomfortable."

"Wow," Inuyasha said with a laugh. "I never thought I'd hear you whining."

Sesshoumaru snarled. "I am not whining. Pottery is simply not for me. It is a bit late for that discovery, however, because I doubt I will be allowed to change classes again. I am stuck in that Kami-forsaken class until the end of the semester."

"I think you'll live. Just think about it this way," Miroku spoke up in the hopes of saving his ass. "She's going to be spending a lot of time with you if she's supposed to be helping you. All you have to do is make a good impression. Put forward a real effort to learn pottery, show an interest, especially in her project. Try and talk to her and most importantly, try not to come off as an arrogant, self-obsessed ass." The monk ducked just in time to avoid the bowl of peach gelatin that had just come sailing in his direction. "Temper, my friend. You must control yourself."

"I cannot believe I allowed you to talk me into this."

-

Sesshoumaru's next schedule change was the class right after lunch, Drama. If he'd been dreading pottery, then this was ten times worse. He was certain to be humiliated somehow while taking this course. He could imagine hundreds of ways for it to happen.

The taiyoukai managed to make it to the auditorium on time and showed his new schedule to the teacher to confirm he was in the right place. He was directed to sit anywhere and he had to fight down a frown when he found there were no open seats near the object of his attention. With a barely smothered growl, Sesshoumaru sat down as close to her as he could get. A book was tossed in his lap and he picked it up with great distain. 'Shakespeare,' he thought to himself. 'Delightful.'

"Alright, kids, we're going to pick up where we left off with our reading, page 46. Does everyone remember their parts?" A chorus of 'yes' filled the room and Sesshoumaru was forced to raise his hand.

"And me?" he asked, trying his best not to sound irritated or conceited, a very difficult task indeed.

"Ah, well, why don't you read Romeo for today and give Hojo a break."

The taiyoukai's eyes widened for a moment before heaving an internal sigh and nodding. From that moment on until the bell finally rang, Sesshoumaru was submitted to the horrible torture of looking like a fool. He couldn't get a hang of the awkward pronunciations and everything he said came out monotone. He was corrected more times in that one hour than he could ever remember happening before in his entire life. It was utterly humiliating and he could only pray that the teacher decided not to give him such a large part tomorrow.

He couldn't help but overhear as Kagome leaned in to whisper to her best friend Sango as they left the auditorium. "I guess he's not so perfect after all. Really, who can't read Shakespeare? Isn't he supposed to be smart? Gods, I wanted to scream 'Just sound it out!' like ten times over."

"Don't be so hard on him, Kagome," the brunette replied. "He's damn near perfect. Can't expect him to be flawless. I'm just glad he joined our class. It'll be so much more fun now!"

"How do you figure it'll be more fun? Listening to him was torture!"

"Maybe, but he's fun to look at."

Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes. "I don't know what you see in him, Sango."

-

Sesshoumaru was more than ready to back out of this plan, but it wasn't meant to be. He'd skipped his next class to drop in on the guidance counselor, but she told him no. No amount of discussion or threats to call his father made any difference. He was not going to be allowed to return his schedule to its original state one day after insisting it be changed . He was summarily told that he should have thought about it more before making such drastic alterations to his classes. Just as he'd suspected, he was screwed.

-

After his usual history class, it was time for the final of his new choices. He wondered if Kagome would notice that he'd suddenly decided to join all three of her electives. Would she guess that he was interested and doing it for her, to get close to her? He doubted it. She never gave him a second thought, sometimes not even a first, so he was sure she wouldn't even consider it an option. It seemed that he was nothing more than an annoyance to her, which was the exact opposite of what he was going for!

Journalism... How hard could it be to publish a high school newspaper? He'd never really taken the time to read the whole thing, but really... what did they do? Post the cafeteria menu for the week, list the results of any sporting events, and maybe a schedule of the coming ones. He knew Kagome had an advice column, but beyond that, he had no idea.

When he entered the room, it was buzzing with activity, even before the bell rang announcing the beginning of class. It took him several moments to locate the teacher and once he did, it took everything the taiyoukai had not to sigh aloud. Kagome sat at a desk with the teacher leaning over her to see the screen of her laptop. Now was his chance to be an annoyance once more. Just perfect.

Sesshoumaru approached the teacher and, after clearing his throat several times with no effect, finally had to tap the short, bald man on his shoulder.

"Oh! You're my new student, right? I was just telling Kagome about your transfer. I was thinking, since it's too late to really get you set up with your own column, that maybe you could help her with hers. A male perspective would really balance out the advice, don't you think?"

"If that is alright with her," Sesshoumaru said as politely as possible. The last thing he wanted was for Kagome to hate him for stealing her thunder.

"Yeah, it's fine. I think he's right. We'll each respond to the same question, but from our own perspective. It'll... be...great." Kagome's voice trailed off as she finally looked up from her screen to see who she would be working closely with for the rest of the semester. "The Gods hate me," she whispered to herself "Why me?"

The teacher, completely oblivious to the shift in Kagome's mood, smiled brightly. "Alright then. Why don't you pull up a chair," he paused and looked over the schedule in his hand one more time before handing it back, "Sesshoumaru, and jump right in."

The taiyoukai nodded and located an empty chair, rolling it next to hers and sitting rather stiffly. "Where should we begin?"

"How about with why the hell you're suddenly in three of my classes. You don't do electives, never have. What did you do that they made you switch mid-semester?"

"I changed courses of my own volition."

Her eyes narrowed at him in appraisal. "Why?"

He hated to have to lie to her, but he couldn't very well confess that he did it to get closer to her, in an attempt to make her finally notice him and possibly even like him. "I wanted a change, something more creative. This is my senior year and I decided that there were many things I had not yet experienced that I should try."

He watched carefully as the anger that showed on her face cooled somewhat. "Really?"

"Is that not an acceptable reason?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, it's... it's good. Electives are fun. It's just weird that you ended up in my classes all three times. Did you change into anything else too?"

"No," he said, thrilled that her cold tone seemed to be warming slightly. "Pottery, Drama, and Journalism."

The miko rolled her eyes. "That's just my kind of luck."

The hope that had been building inside of him collapsed with her words. Why had he thought this would work out? Even if it had been at her own suggestion, he should have known better. It seemed that the Gods were conspiring against him to ensure that she continued to hate him just as much as she always had.

"Here," she said while thrusting a stack of papers towards him. "These are some of the letters we have to choose from. Why don't you look through them and pick a few that you think you could answer."

Sesshoumaru accepted the papers with a nod. It was clear she no longer wanted to be speaking to him, so he would do as she asked and give her a reprieve. He could use one as well. His pride was smarting something awful.