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As Kagome walked into school, in her mind she was preparing for whatever the teachers or her friends might ask. She dreaded to imagine what kind of disease her grandfather gave as an excuse. Her only prayer was that it wasn't leprosy or skin cancer or rheumatism again, or even worse acne or halitosis.
"Hey, Kagome, how'd you get through the malaria?" Kagome might have answered, but she hesitated, having trouble remembering the girl's name.
"It must have been terrible," another now-stranger added.
What had happened to her mind? How could she call these people her friends, how could she strike up a conversation with them when she hadn't a clue who they were.
For some strange reason they seemed more brain-dead and clueless each time she came back from a trip to the past... If she were in an insulting mood, she'd say that calling them brain-dead was an insult to the morons of the world. But then again, it was she, not they, who couldn't remember...
"Oh! Hey, Kagome. Hope this might make any sicknesses a little less severe."
She sighed with relief. This one she did remember -- Hojo, the boy-friend wanta-be, who gave her gifts every time he saw her -- what he thought of as gifts: wierd-looking leaves from his backyard, or sandals with a fancy name and impossible to wear. For some strange reason he thought those might help defend against diseases. This time he had an ice cream cone in his hand. Amazing! Perhaps he was going through a metamorphosis. Maybe in another hundred years she might deign to call him a human being. And this was the only person in the entire school ground she could remember? She really needed to trade this mind of hers in for a better model, otherwise life would be total uncreative torture.
"It might not be much, but a cousin of mine says this worked well with his best friend."
In his other hand he had a dog bone. He gave her the dog bone, and slowly licked the ice cream himself.
Sweet. She stared at the dog bone in disbelief. "Who was your cousin's friend?" she finally asked.
"Never met him, but his name is Ted. That's the name of his dog, too."
"Duh... Hojo, you never cease to amaze me."
He beamed with pride at such unexpected praise.
One of the other girls asked, "Did you hear about the transfer girl?"
Oh great, Kagome thought, now I get a full dose of mindless gossip from idiots I don't even remember about other idiots I would never want to meet. A perfect combination.
"What transfer girl?" she asked. Nobody can call her antisocial...yet.
"An American girl. She's scary..."
"Well what's scary about her?"
"She speaks Japanese with no accent ...
"So she's intelligent, and has taste enough to respect our language."
"Well, like, I heard when she went to pick up her school uniform she beat up some guys in the store, said she wouldn't wear the skirt."
"So she doesn't like skirts. She's entitled to her opinion."
"Doesn't like short skirts. Really doesn't like them. She broke two noses and five arms."
"Oh... Perhaps it's a matter of a cultural differences. They do things differently in America."
"Huh?" the other girls asked.
"Okay, so I'm inclined to have a broad perspective, to be tolerant. I've had a little experience with different cultures. Actually, she sounds interesting. Was she expelled yet? Or is she still around? I suspect the whole incident was blown all out of proportion. If it really were broken arms and noses she could probably get a gig as a martial arts instructor. You shouldn't jump to conclusions. Probably no more than a few bruises. I'd need to see the evidence myself to believe anything more. And in that case, I'd love to hear the story from the girl herself."
Kagome thought that was the end of the discussion (and not a bad discussion, considering who she was talking to). Then someone shoved a newspaper in her face. On the front page, in full color, she saw three people being put in an ambulance. The headline read: "Yankee Rebels At Uniform Skirt."
"Okay, convicted and proven guilty."
She pushed the newspaper down and saw that the people near her were running away as if they just found out she had contagious bad breath. What?
"And proud of every bit of it," new voice chimed in behind her. Unfamiliar, feminine, but deep.
Kagome heard an echo in her head from some TV game show, "I'd like to solve the puzzle."
Turning around, she found a brown-haired girl, an inch or two taller than herself, wearing the school uniform shirt, but in slacks, not a skirt -- blue jeans and sneakers.
"So why the shirt? Or would that have cost a few more broken arms and your fist was getting tired?"
"Funny. Very funny. It was all in the spirit of compromise and international good will."
"Was that why you didn't end up in jail too?"
"No. My father is the American consul in Yokohama. I'm covered under diplomatic immunity. No parking tickets. No speeding tickets. And occasionally I get to beat up shopkeepers without being expelled. It's rather fun, actually. So long as I don't overdo it."
"Are you leveling with me?"
"Yes, and no. That's for you to decide. Maybe the police checked their computer files on me and saw that I've maimed a dozen black-belts, and they didn't want to find out if that was true."
"And the name is...?"
"Enoyk. But that's my name of power, not my American name. If you tell anyone, I won't be able to let you live. Sorry about that." Kagome almost took that too seriously...until noticing a smirk on the girl.
"I'll be sure to forget that, thank you. And your American name? Is that Annie Oakley or Calamity Jane?"
"No, just good old native American 'Kyone'."
"Huh?"
"That's Navajo for 'mind your own business.'" The smirk got wider.
"...you like to joke, don't you."
"When the mood's right. And your name?"
"Kagome. Hope you aren't expecting genius teachers or brainiac friends here. Some of these guys are quite...naive."
"To what degree."
"Enough to make one wonder how they haven't been sent to a brain surgeon. Naiveté isn't limited to the popular either, it's overrun the place. Just don't start breaking bones here."
"Why, they stupid enough to come back for more after just having their bones sticking out of their skin?"
"Well...yes. Your arms will go on strike after the first wave."
"Oh alright. But if there's anyone who reminds me of Golem, then my arms will make that person reminiscent of all three of those store fools."
"You've seen 'Lord of the Rings'?"
"Only just saw Fellowship yesterday. Don't ask me why just then, I've got enough aggravations."
to be continued
Me: Long scene, good material, nice talking,
and a chance to bash Hojo. Impossible to get a chapter flowing
much better than this. And for the fools, this Kyone is the same
as the last chapter. I'll show Zack later.
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