Chapter Three: Transfer Student

"And so brats, that is why it is important to have a parfait a day. Everything they've been saying about sweets being bad for you is wrong. I've had a chocolate parfait every day for the past 20 years and look at how healthy and energetic I am," the young homeroom teacher with dead-fish eyes lazily lectures to his class. Then, he suddenly remembers something and scratches the back of his silver hair, announcing, "Oh yeah, I forgot. We have a new transfer student coming in. Let's welcome him in."

"Shouldn't that have come first?!" A glasses kid with short hair yells out, but he is ignored.

Kagome walks in, and stands next to the teacher's desk. She turns to the class and introduces herself, "Hello, my name is Higurashi Kagome. I transferred to Samezuka from Tokyo. I hope we get along." She bows slightly.

"Okay, any questions? No? Okay then, please take your seat, Kagome-kun," the teacher ignores all the raised hands and tells her where her assigned seat is.

Kagome walks to her seat in the back corner next to the window, and plops her bag down on the desk before taking a seat next to a delicate-looking boy with grey hair.

Time is passing too slowly for Kagome, who just wants it to be after school already so she can hurry up and swim. Between classes, she is bombarded with questions. Putting on a smile, she patiently answers her classmates, mostly telling the truth with a few altered facts of course. And all day long, people keep giving her weird looks. There is nothing wrong with a guy having long hair! Sesshomaru has long hair and he looks intimidating enough that no one dares to talk back to him. Kagome sighs. She hopes that she won't be labeled as a weird transfer student. The "sick" title she got back in her previous high school was bad enough. She doesn't need more people avoiding her because of rumors.

Finally school is over, and Kagome rushes over to the swimming pool with a skip in her step. Slowing down to a walk and stopping in front of the pool, she sees a lot of half-naked unfamiliar faces staring curiously at her. She opens the door to the pool and looks around. Then finally she spots Rin, holding a clipboard talking to another member.

"Matsuoka-senpai~" Kagome shouts his name across the pool as she runs up to him.

Rin flinches at the sudden yell before turning around to look at her with a barely noticeable smile. "Yo Kagome. I see you made it."

"Of course, Matsuoka-senpai! I'm here to join the team!" Kagome states proudly with a cheeky smile.

"Well, aren't you confident," Rin laughs and ruffles Kagome's hair. "Let's hope you have the skills to back that up."

At the affectionate contact, Kagome slightly blushes. Why is she blushing? Sesshomaru sometimes strokes her hair too, and although it feels nice, her heart doesn't beat this fast. She tries to cover up the redness with irritation. "Matsuoka-senpai! Don't mess up my hair!"

"Hai hai. Practice starts in 30 minutes, so go to the lockers over there and get changed." He waves over to the side. "Once you come back, start warm up with everyone else."

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit, Matsuoka-senpai!" Kagome says as she walks to the lockers. She excitedly opens the door only to find a group of boys undressing and quickly closes the door shut. I forgot there are only males here! W-what should I do? Kagome feels her sweat dripping down her face as she tries to find a way to get changed without exposing her identity. Calming down, she thinks through the solution. There are a bunch of guys in the locker room, and there is no corner or space she can get changed without being seen. No, wait! There are bathrooms! She can just change in the bathroom! Although most boys change in front of each other, it is not terribly uncommon to change in the bathroom.

"Oi, Kagome. Are you going to in or what?" A voice from behind her suddenly interrupts her from her thoughts, and looking behind her, she sees Rin staring curiously at her.

"O-of course!" Kagome squeaks, startled from his sudden appearance. She didn't even hear him! She swears he made no sound when he walks. Like a predator, Kagome unconsciously thinks. Then she walks in, quickly places her stuff in her lockers, grabs her essentials, and heads to the bathroom.

In a safe place away from prying eyes at last, she lets out a sigh of relief. She strips her clothes off until she is left standing in her chest bindings. Being well endowed unlike most Asian females, she had always felt pretty proud of her chest size, if not a bit conscious about it. But if they get any bigger, I'll have trouble pretending to be male. Kagome thinks absentmindedly as she puts on her swimsuit, a full-body swimsuit designed to cover up to her chest. Once done, she opens the door and checks the bathroom mirror to see if anything is out of place. Her chest binding seems to be working well; she can barely see any noticeable bump. She leaves her hair in its ponytail and finding nothing too girlish about her appearance, she nods to herself and walks back to her locker. Grabbing her swim cap and placing her goggles around her neck, she walks out, ready to face whatever awaits her.

Notes:

Hai hai – saying "yes" but not really meaning it

Author's Note:

Points to you if you know who some of the characters here are~ Also, I'm pretty sure you know but just in case: please don't take what I said about the sweets thing seriously. A parfait a day is NOT healthy for you.

And thanks for all the comments! Regarding my grammar and stuff, I've been taught writing in present tense… so I'll just stick with this for now. Maybe in the future I'll change it. And also, the story is written in an omniscient point of view, so everyone's thoughts are seen. Everyone will be referred by their first name and true gender in the narrative to avoid some confusion about who is who, but will be addressed differently depending on the speaker. But thank you for the criticisms!

Thank you for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. And as always, feel free to put any comments~