Part 9: Magazines

          Kagome made her way down the street, juggling her overly large purse, an extra-large cappuccino, and a stack of college books. Her calculus book clattered to the ground, and for a moment, she considered stomping on the book. "No. . ." she sighed, the book cost sixty dollars to replace if she destroyed it.
          She sat her cappuccino down on the newspaper vender's stand and gathered the book from the ground, brushing dirt and dried leaves off it's cover. As she stood up, her eyes locked onto one of the tabloids on the front of the stand. Her own face stared back at her, half out of a limousine, looking confused and irritable.
          "What the -" she gaped, grabbing the offending magazine from it's rack and perused the cover intently. "Himoda Murder Staged!" the bold yellow letters proclaimed.
          Another magazine had a similar picture staring up at her, but this time with both she and Inuyasha on it. "Kikyo's Lover Has a Replacement!"
          "Kikyo Himoda Alive!"
          "Actress Resurrected!"
          "Himoda Lives"
          "Murder a Fake?"
          On and on the ridiculous titles went until Kagome's head was spinning. "What is this?" she demanded of the vender.
          He looked at her blankly, "A magazine. . ." he told her warily.
          "I know that!" she yelped, throwing the papers down on the desk and knocking her cappuccino over. It swept down the front of the stand, and the vender's face turned an unhealthy shade of purple and he began screaming at her in some language she didn't recognize. She had never heard the words before, but somehow suspected he was swearing at her. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed and darted away from the stand, smacking into a man waiting for the bus.
          To her horror, she saw he'd been reading one of the magazines. His face lit up in surprise as he stared at her, excitedly yelping, "Kikyo!"
          "Eek!" Kagome squeaked, turning to dart away, but the man caught her wrist and stopped her.
          "I'm your biggest fan!" He exclaimed, and suddenly Kagome found herself surrounded.
          Cries of "Kikyo!" and "Ms. Himoda!" swept around her making her dizzy. Suddenly, she saw a familiar face surrounded by silver hair, and she reached out, clinging to him. In a few seconds, he had dragged her into his limo, and was shouting profane curses at the people outside the car.
          The car pulled away from the crowd of people, and Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, standing on her knees and peering out the back window of the limo. "Thanks." She said breathlessly.
          "Feh." Inuyasha grunted.
          Kagome turned and plopped down on the seat, pulling a stack of magazines out from under her. They were just like those she'd seen at the stand a few minutes before. She flipped through one idly. "Why do they think I'm Kikyo?" She questioned softly.
          "Because you look just like her."
          "But they never did this before! I mean, you'd think that at some point in my life, someone would have mentioned that I look like Kikyo Himoda." She exclaimed irritably.
          Inuyasha shrugged and stared out the window. He didn't really know what to say to Kagome. It was so strange having her with him in the limo again. It evoked uncomfortable memories, and he blushed remembering how he'd acted before, as though she was Kikyo.
          Kagome frowned at him. He was acting so oddly. He wasn't even looking at her. "Tell me something, Inuyasha. How come you're always there when I'm in trouble?"
          Inuyasha looked at her in surprise, "I -"
          "You know, before I met you, I was just an ordinary student." She told him. "I never got chased by cars. I was never hounded by fans." She informed him.
          "Yeah." He remarked, and the car slowed to a halt. "Get out."
          Kagome gaped at him in surprise, "What?"
          "Isn't this your college?" he asked peering out the window beside her.
          Kagome blinked and looked out the window. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." She opened the door and clamored out.
          Inuyasha leaned out the door and called after her, "Kagome, be careful."
          She stared at him as he slammed the door shut, and the car sped away. She watched the limo fade into the distance and found herself sighing wistfully. He was like a fairy-tale hero, always there when she needed him. Kagome shook her head, as though trying to dislodge the idea from her mind, but her contemplation was interrupted by three screaming girls who came racing out over and surrounded her.
          "You just came here in a limo!"
          "Oooooh! Who was that?"
          "Is he cute?"
          "Is he handsome?"
          "How rich is he?"
          "Whoah!" she exclaimed, holding her hands up to silence her three excited friends. "Calm down! It was just Inuyasha! He gave me a ride to school."
          "Who?"
          "You don't mean Inuyasha Kimadora! The one from the murder!" Erin yelped.
          "Murder?"
          "Look!" Erin commanded, digging through her backpack and pulling out a magazine with Inuyasha and Kagome on the front.
          "Kagome. . ." Uri said slowly, "You look a lot like that actress. Look at this picture! It could be you!" She said as she snatched it away from Erin and held it up in front of Kagome's face.
          Codie grabbed Uri's wrist and directed the magazine toward herself. "That is Kagome! Look! I gave her that necklace for Christmas!"
          "Kagome!" All three yelped at once and another barrage of questioning started.
          "Aren't you afraid of that murderer?"
          "Why were you at his house?"
          "Did you know Kikyo?"
          "Are you dating him?"
          "Gaah!" Kagome groaned, rubbing the heels of her hands on her temples. "Stop it all of you!"
          The three stared at her, eyes wide and mouths agape. For several minutes, they just stared at her until Codie broke the silence. "Sorry Kagome, didn't mean to upset you."
          "No." Kagome said, shaking her head wearily. "I'm just so sick of this. Sometimes I wonder if I'm even Kagome anymore. The whole world, Inuyasha included, wants to believe I'm some dead actress who I've never even met!"
          "Kagome, how well do you know Inuyasha?" Erin wondered. "I mean, are you sure he's not dangerous?"
          Kagome sighed and made her way to one of the benches in front of the university. "I'm sure. He saved my life. He's not a murderer, he's a hero. He's a good man." She told them.
          "Wow, you must really care about him!" Uri chirped excitedly, "You guys must be a really great couple!"
          Kagome stared at her in shock, "C-couple?"
          "Uh huh!" Uri nodded, "I mean, you are dating him aren't you?"
          "No!" Kagome protested and jumped up from her seat. "I'm not dating him! He's stubborn, irritable, and he thinks I'm Kikyo!"
          The three stared at her as she ranted. She continued naming every flaw she could think of about him until the late bell for class rang, then she ran off, leaving her three friends to ponder her angry reaction.
          "Whoah." Erin said shaking her head.
          "Dude. I've never seen her act like that. . .over a guy!" Codie agreed.
          "Wow, she's got it bad!" Uri laughed and ran after her. Codie and Erin followed, shocked expressions still gracing their faces.