Greetings everybody! Here's the next chapter! All of your reviews telling me to continue were wonderful!!! Thank you!!!!!!

O, btw, my other fics are gonna be on hold, cuz I wanna get this one done. Then it will be Typos, then Speak My Soul (aka My Soul's Desire @ mediaminer)

Oh, a quick explanation: I don't know exactly how the school system works in Japan, so when I say Junior year, that is going to be 11th grade, the year before she graduates, etc., k? Everybody got it? Yes, a lot of time has passed, I know. Oh well. I'm also taking into account that she was about halfway through 9th grade when this story began, ok minna?

Also, here's something that I guess I didn't make clear enough: THIS IS NOT A KIK/INU FIC. Kikyo is gone, in a similar fashion to Kagome's disappearance. She's not coming back! Inu chose her cuz he knew he couldn't make Kagome stay in the past, it wouldn't work, etc., but he loved them both. No, I will never, never, never write a fic where Inu actually chooses Kikyo, and I don't like the way I wrote this, just cuz he did. But for the sake of the fic, it had to happen!!

A/N: (almost to the story…) Ok, y'know what? I would like to say that I am not stealing this from a Nickelodian (sp?) show. I walked downstairs one night, & my bro had the tv on. It was 'As Told by Ginger' or whatever, and they used a similar idea to the one I'll use. I just wanted to say that this was my own original idea! (Isn't that sad that this is all that I could come up with?)

Disclaimer: If I owned them, would I a) bother with a disclaimer? b) bother with a fanfiction? c) let anyone else use them?

Whew! Now, on with the fic!

Love Will Have Its Way

Chapter 4

So Kagome moved on. But in her Junior year, she got quite a surprise…

BRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All the students in Kagome's class practically leapt out of their seats. Monday was finally over! The teacher could barely make herself heard over all the commotion in the room.

"Higurashi! Higurashi, may I speak to you for a minute please!"

Kagome looked at the teacher in near panic as students began leaving the room. A talk with the teacher meant her grades were slipping. That couldn't be! She'd focused her life around school, making her work the best in the school! She constantly amazed all her teachers. Her mind was always focused on school, or chores, or - anything! Anything to keep her mind off of- 'No! I won't even finish that thought!' She quickly turned back to her teacher, collected and … almost calm.

"There must be some mistake; I don't know how my grade could have dropped! I mean, I've been working hard, and you had my essay on the overhead as an example today, and…" Her teacher raised her hand to shush the babbling Kagome.

"Higurashi, it's not your grades I'm worried about; well, at least, not directly. I'm very concerned about you! I know that you were very sick last year, and that this has been hard on you. What worries me is that, you don't seem to have any friends! You never talk with anyone when you come into class, and when I see you in the hall, you're always alone; everyday at lunch you sit by yourself, not even in sight of your other classmates! Don't give me that look, I'm not stalking you; that window that you sit near is the window of the teachers lounge. They tinted it because the students kept making faces at their hated teachers. If they don't know who's in there, they won't do it. Why they had to tint the ones at the back of the room is beyond me, but… Gomen, I'm digressing."

"So I don't hang out with people; there are other loners out there! That doesn't mean I'm in trouble…"

"But you always scratch in that notebook of yours. You should really keep those writings separate from your school work, because the other day, you handed me something that wasn't your 'Favorite Food Poem.'"

The color drained from Kagome's face. What had she given the teacher? She was glad to know that she always faced away from the window, so they couldn't see her crying. But those were her private things! She only unlocked her soul when she was alone at lunchtime, and those poems were her only friends. When she had gotten quiet in 9th grade, after being 'ill' for so long, and focused so much on schoolwork, all her friends drifted away. Hojo, too, had left her. Well, she left him. She told him that she couldn't sustain a relationship at the time; dim as he seemed (ok, was), he finally did seem to get the message that she didn't want to date him. He was now going out with one of her old friends, and they were very happy.

"Here's the poem you gave me. Well, poems. This is why I'm concerned!"

She handed Kagome a paper that had been quickly torn out of a notebook. Kagome remembered this; there had been a line in the bathroom right before she had this class, and she had almost been late. She thought her food poem was on top, and quickly handed that in. Unfortunately, the haikus that she had worked on at lunch that day had been on top:

(A/N: Forgive me minna-san! I'm not a poet, so I chose haiku, and I even suck at that! Pretend it's better, ok? O, btw, a description {for those who don't know} of how haiku works is at the bottom of the story!)

My tears fly free

In an eternal river

Why did you choose her?

Those bright golden eyes

A mouth with fanged teeth

Are you with her now?

A better archer,

A better miko and love

She is much better

Why am I trapped?

Why can not I flee my pain?

Why did you hurt me?

The pieces shatter

They are lost upon the wind

My heart breaks forever

How do I stop pain?

I know the pain will vanish

When I vanish too

"Higurashi, all your teachers know you're hiding something. I think that your good grades are the proof! I never see you with anybody! You don't seem to have any friends, or a boyfriend. You're always alone, and yet your schoolwork is beautiful. Are you afraid of people? Don't feel to alone, you just need to open up a little! Please, don't do anything rash! What is this pain you feel? Well, I guess it's not my place to pry, but I would like you to see a counselor." The teacher bent down to her desk to write Kagome a note to remind her to see the counselor. "Tomorrow at lunch, ok? Higurashi…?"

But Kagome, even though she didn't realize it, was already gone; she had left after reading the poems. She never read these poems except when she was alone, because they had this kind of effect.

"I do have friends," Kagome replied in a voice that seemed as though it was commanded from afar. Her eyes had glazed over, and it was as though she was in another world, far away. "My friends are 500 years ago. My friends are in the past, and they will never return. My heart is 500 years ago, lost with him, lost with them; they won't come back. But they're there." At this point Kagome turned to look at her teacher, with her eyes reflecting the light, which shimmered off of now dark grey that seemed to capture them when she was sad or upset, but her face showed no emotion. She was entering her own reality, behind the mask that she wore. Tears filled her blank eyes, and then ran races down her face, across her cheeks, off her chin, to fall with a barely audible plop! on the floor.

"Higurashi? Higurashi! Are you ok?" Her teacher was starting to panic. What was wrong with this girl! Sure, she hadn't been too nice about the 'you don't have friends' thing, but she hadn't expected a reaction like this! She had expected to find out what was wrong, not to hear random babblings! This girl was crazy!

Suddenly, Kagome was back in her mask. "I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me!"

"…that's ok…Just be at the counselor's office tomorrow, ok?"

Kagome walked out of the room, devastated. They thought she was crazy! Well, considering what she had just said, that was fair enough. She mentally hit herself on the head. "Baka! Now they're gonna try and lock you up!" Some girls in the hall started edging away from Kagome, who was mumbling to herself, yet plenty loud enough for them to hear. "I'm not crazy!" she declared to her locker, which she had just reached, and was removing books from for her homework that night. 'But how do I prove it?' "Kami knows I can't lie… How am I supposed to cover this up? They're sure to ask what's making me depressed. What should I say? 'Oh, it's nothing really, the man I loved chose another over me," she paused, as she realized what she was saying, "and now…even if he did want to change his mind, he's 500 years… gone and…I'll n- never…see him…again…" And with that, she fell to her knees, tears claiming her eyes. The girls, who had been watching her suspiciously, became rather afraid and quickly fled the hall, leaving the weeping Kagome all alone. Her teacher was right; she had no friends. She had no one to comfort her shaking form. That's what Sango would have done; no one to try and cheer her up, like Shippo would have done; no one offering wise words, like Miroku; no one silently watching, with pain in his eyes if you looked up quick enough, protecting from anything that might hurt her in any way, and …

'No!' She yelled at herself, slamming her hand against the lower locker. 'I won't think of those things! They're in the past, and it's high time I got over them!' She tried to stop her tears and sit up straight, and to put those things behind her. But she knew that it was no use. She dropped her posture, curling over her knees, a small heap on the floor. Her body shook with sobs, and tears were running freely down her face. She leaned forward, resting her head on the locker, and simply cried.

(A/N: I was gonna leave it here, but I decided that wasn't enough story, especially since someone (well, many someones…) counseled me to make longer chapters, so here ya go, minna-san!)

At least, she would have, had her teacher not chosen that moment to go make some copies. Of course, Kagome's locker was right next to the room with the copying machine.

"Higurashi? Higurashi, what's wrong?! I didn't mean to upset you! I'm just worried about you! There's nothing to be upset about!" Her teacher quickly knelt beside her, touching her shoulder lightly, worry etched on her face.

"It's not you, ma'am. I, uh…" Kagome thought frantically to herself, searching for any reason that her teacher might buy. "I, ummm… hit my head! Yeah, on my locker, and it really hurt! I'm ok, though…"

"Higurashi, you're a terrible liar. Did someone hurt you? Is that what's wrong? Has someone been harming you? You can get help, Kagome!"

And with that well intended statement, Kagome snapped from depression to anger. She stood up, and yelled down at her still crouching teacher. "And just how do you plan to help me?!?" Kagome yelled at her teacher, forgetting what the consequences could be. She didn't care. She didn't care at all; not anymore. "How dare you! How dare you try and offer me help! You have no idea what hells I've seen! There is no help in all the world for me! There's no help in the entire universe! Don't you get it? All my friends, my love, my happiness, everything I worked for… It's all lost to the past! It's not coming back!"

With that, she slammed her locker door shut, and ran as fast as she could away from her teacher and away from her school, leaving all her books in her locker, not to mention a very shocked teacher staring after her. Her teacher slowly rose, worrying very much about Kagome, and quickly went to call her mother, rather afraid that Kagome might try suicide.

Kagome continued racing home, where she could cry unhindered, as long as she wanted. It would take her awhile just to get out of school, and then all the way home, so she ran faster. Her mother understood what had happened, and knew that there wasn't much she could do except let Kagome cry. She was starting to worry, though; she had been hoping that Kagome wasn't as in love as she knew she really was. She had hoped with all her might that it might have been a big crush, that Kagome would get over soon. Now, nearing a year later, it showed no sign of letting up.

But Kagome knew that this was how her mother felt. As Kagome continued to run, she passed many of her classmates, but not one of them called out to her to see if she was ok. They all pulled away from the sobbing girl. She had almost made it out of school when she tripped over something in the very front of the school, and let out a small cry as she landed on the pavement, scraping up her hands and bloodying her knees. She started to get, half hoping that someone might help her. She rose to her hands and knees, but no one came to assist her. There were people all around, but they all just stared at her; they all knew that she was a strange one, having transformed into a quiet weirdo after being such a sweet, popular girl. Kagome couldn't quite find the strength to get up and continue home just yet, drained from her sobbing, and just remained there on the ground with everyone staring at her. There was complete and utter silence, except for Kagome's choking sobs. Then the whispering began:

"It's Higurashi! I wonder what happened…"

"Looks like that weirdo finally cracked!"

"What a loser! I hope she isn't looking for sympathy; it's not like she has any friends!"

"Ya, I know! She could have been the most popular girl in school! I mean, she almost was one time! Even I envied her once…"

Kagome could hear everything they were saying, whether they thought she could or not. Now she knew she was truly alone. No one even cared to help her up off the ground! This thought sent Kagome sobbing again, and she managed to rise, ready to run the rest of the way home.

She ran faster than before, in a way that she hadn't run since she had been in Sengoku Jidai. Tears blurred her eyes, but she knew the way home. Her hands stung where she had landed on them, and her knees were oozing blood down her legs. But she didn't care. Her own words came back to her as she ran…

'There is no help in all the world for me! There's no help in the entire universe! Don't you get it? All my friends, my love, my happiness, everything I worked for… It's all lost to the past! It's not coming back!'

Over and over it played in her mind. There was no escape for her; her past, her heart, and her soul were all locked away in the past, leaving her with only remnants of what she used to have. That statement seemed to sum up everything she had in her!

If only she knew how wrong her statement was…

YAY!!!!!!!!!! Once again, thank you all for your wonderful reviews!!! I felt so inspired! I know it's still not a very long chapter, but I have a ton of hw, and I wasn't even supposed to be writing this. So ya, hope you enjoyed! If you did, let me know! If you didn't, I don't care! Let me know anyways! I'll accept flames! Though I would prefer if they would tell me how to improve if ur gonna send 'em, k?

O, & I guess she does still have the Shikon no tama, but when I say everything she worked for, I mean like when she set things right with people, saved peoples' lives, including her friends', etc.

BAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haiku: A form of poetry in which the first and 3rd/last line have 5 syllables (& s at the end of a word counts as a syllable), and the middle line has 7 syllables.

Next time: a visit to the counselor, a mini play in drama, and rumours run wild!