"The Meteor Garden Story"

An Inu Yasha A/U Fanfic by Nozomi

[A/N: I recently discovered Meteor Garden.  As I watched the series, I have to agree with Sorena (please read her fic, "The Red Card", which is the inspiration for this fic ^_^) that the characters in the Taiwanese TV series really are similar to the personalities of the Inu Yasha cast.  As I am experiencing writer's block with my current, non-AU fic, "What Could Be", I decided to toy with the idea of fitting in the Inu Yasha cast to the story of Meteor Garden.  This is my offering.

P.S. I have not yet watched Hana Yori Dango (the anime that Meteor Garden is based on), so I will do the events here as I have seen it in MG.  ^_^ Hope you enjoy it! ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha and company, Meteor Garden, Hana Yori Dango, or any of the brands I mention here.

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Chapter 1: D4

Kagome got off her bike and parked it beside the car at the end of the vast parking lot.  She always took this spot, because it was the only end-parking slot that was beside a post where she could chain her bike to.  She tied the chain around the post and secured her bike, then stood up and began to walk towards the campus entrance, sighing.

Only two more years to go, she reminded herself, glancing at the beautifully manicured lawns and immaculate marble pavement towards the building, and I will be free from this stupid school.

Higurashi Kagome was starting her third year of college at the most prestigious university in all of Japan.  It was also the most ridiculously expensive, because all of its students were from rich, wealthy families.  In fact, the school consistently held the world record in the Guinness Book for being the only school in the world where all of the students drove cars to school from the year it was incorporated, until two years ago.

Because two years ago, Kagome enrolled into Shikon Academy.

Kagome is from a middle-class family.  She knew from the day she started school here that she didn't belong.  She had wanted to go to an ordinary college and be with her ordinary friends and hang out in ordinary places that common folk went to.  She had no ambition to mingle with the upper-class and the haughty rich.

But her grandfather had insisted she get her degree here.  And it wasn't because the school was an excellent institution, but because of the people she would have as classmates.  Her grandfather had gotten it into his head during her high school graduation that she was the last hope for her family.  He wanted her to hook some rich guy at school and marry into his family, so that wealth would come to the Higurashi clan, and they would finally be part of the upper crust.

Her father died when she was still young, leaving her and her mother to live with Grandfather.  He sold glass replicas of religious artifacts for a living, while her mom did housekeeping chores for their neighbors.  It wasn't much, but they got by.  Kagome also took part-time jobs where she could when she got older, to help out around the house.

So when her mother and grandfather told her she was going to Shikon, she balked, protested and made one hell of a racket, trying to make them understand that going to that school was impractical.  She ranted, raved and rebelled for the whole summer that year to make them change their minds.  But her grandfather had gone ahead and borrowed money from people to pay her tuition.  She had no choice in the matter.

The summer after her first year, she tried to convince them to send her to a local college, so they wouldn't have so many debts to pay when she graduated, but they would hear none of it.  They told her that the one year they had to scrimp and save so she could stay in Shikon was going to be wasted if she didn't stay on, and her mother had burst into tears, while her grandfather begged her to stay on and try to make their life better.

She never asked to leave Shikon Academy again after that, shamed into silence.

But I never really liked it here, Kagome thought as she reached her locker.  The people here were incredible snobs!

"Hey Kagome!"

Kagome turned and smiled at Yura, one of the few people who had befriended her here.  "Hi!" she returned brightly.

"How was your summer vacation?"  Yura asked, getting her own things from the locker near Kagome's.

"It was okay, I was able to earn some extra cash.  How about you?"

Yura rolled her eyes.  "I went to the Swiss Alps for the second time this year, it was pretty boring.  Hey, did you hear about Kagura?  She got another Jaguar for her birthday."

It was Kagome's turn to roll her eyes as she closed her locker, and went along with Yura's usually animated gossip about the students at Shikon.  Nothing new.

~*~*~*~

Students were standing outside their classroom, talking with hushed tones while peering into the classroom windows.

"What's going on?" Kagome asked Eri as they got closer.

"It's Jinenji, he's dropping out.  He's inside the classroom now, getting his things."

"What?!" Kagome was shocked.  Jinenji was also one of the few people she had become friends with.  "Why?!"

"Haven't you heard?" Ayume hissed beside her.  Kagome shook her head.  Yura answered for her.

"Jinenji got a red card early this morning."

"What?  But it's the first day of school!"

"He offended D4 over the summer break.  The red card has been taped to his locker all summer."

Kagome fell silent and they all watched as Jinenji finally got up from his desk, and made to leave the classroom.  Everyone outside quieted down at once and gave him wide berth.  She looked at her friend and was saddened by what she saw.

Jinenji had definitely lost weight, and the circles under his eyes were dark.  A telltale sign he had not been sleeping well.  As Kagome watched, Jinenji sullenly shuffled away from the classroom.  Then somebody stuck their foot out.

He tripped.  His books and thing went flying and clattered every which way in the corridor.  Jinenji simply got up quietly, and started gathering his things.

"This is terrible," Kagome said to Yura, and she stepped forward to help him.

Yura grabbed her firmly on her arm and yanked her back into the silent crowd.  "Do you want to be given a red card too?" she asked Kagome.  "You know what happens if you help him."

"But…" Kagome started, then obediently stepped back, feeling like a coward.  After a while, Jinenji finally gathered all his things, and walked away, his head bowed down.  The students watched him turn the corner, then began to talk and file into the classroom.

"So how was your summer?"

"Did anyone read the book we're supposed to be discussing today?"

"Damn, I forgot my pen!"

Kagome was suddenly very angry.  How dare pretend nothing happened?!  She turned around, calling over her shoulder to Yura that she just had to go to the bathroom.

She ran through the hallways and up stairs, muttering to herself.  Anger was in her every stride, and by the time she burst through the door that led to the rooftop, she was raging.  Stopping at the rail, she looked over to the campus grounds below her and screamed.

"D4, I HATE YOU!  YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS AND I HOPE YOU ALL DIE OF… OF… OF A REALLY BAD TUMMYACHE!  MAY EVERYTHING YOU EAT CAUSE YOU INDIGESTION!  YOU HEAR?!"

Feeling a little exhilarated, she grinned at the sun shining down on her and stepped back into the building.

She failed to see the man standing shock still further beyond where she had stood, watching the door close behind her.

~*~*~*~

Kagome and Yura were walking together towards the cafeteria to grab some lunch, discussing the topic they had studied in class today.  They paid no heed to man who sprinted past them, chugging a can of coke as he ran.

"I can't believe the professor expects us to be ready for a quiz tomorrow!" Kagome whined.  "It's the first day of school!"

"He probably had too much idle time in his hands over the summer and he's now taking his boredom out on us…"

- CLANK -

"WHAT THE HELL…!"

"Why don't you watch… ohmigodimsosorry!"

Kagome, Yura and other heads whipped around to the commotion behind them.  The man who had sprinted past them was their gym teacher.  He was now sprawled on the floor of the mess hall, looking up at a young man who towered menacingly over him.

"Go on, you were saying 'Why don't you watch…'?" the boy said ominously.

Kagome had never seen any of the D4 up close before, and she took the opportunity to do so now.  The guy who was standing over their gym teacher had long, flowing silver hair that led down to his back, and she was close enough to see that his eyes were the color of amber.  A part of his clean, white polo had been drenched in coke.

Three other boys came up behind him and she looked at them too.  One of them also had long silver hair and amber eyes, though his eyes were more slanted, making him look older and more sophisticated than the other one.  The other two boys had jet black hair tied in a ponytail, but the violet-eyed one wore it short while the blue-eyed one wore his long.  Her eyes strayed back to the gym teacher whimpering at their feet.

"I-- I meant why don't I ever watch where I'm going?  Inu Yasha, I'm sorry for the mess, please allow me to clean it up."  He jumped up suddenly and pulled off the towel draped across his shoulder, making an attempt to wipe the coke from the boy's shirt.

The one called Inu Yasha stepped back, folded his arms across his chest, and glared at the teacher.  "If apologies worked, what do we need the police for?"

The teacher's panicked ministrations stopped immediately, and he hung his head down, defeated.  "I understand Master Inu Yasha.  You won't see me after today."

Kagome raised an eyebrow.  Even the teachers couldn't do anything about them.

Inu Yasha simply turned on his heel and stomped away, kicking at a wastebasket as he passed.

"Tsk, Yash.  Littering the halls of our beautiful school like that," chided the one with the short ponytail, but he made no attempt to pick up any of the trash that littered about.

"Shut up, Miroku.  C'mon, hurry up.  I need a change of clothes."

"Sessho, let's go!"

Kagome turned her head.  The one called Sessho had just picked up the wastebasket, and put it back in place.  As he made to follow the others, his eyes came into contact with Kagome.  She quickly averted her eyes to the floor.

"Sesshomaru!"

"Coming, Kouga."

Kouga noticed the girl Sesshomaru had glanced at, and turned his eyes to her direction as well.  Her head was still bowed to the floor, but she felt their gazes linger on her a moment before she finally heard their footsteps walk away.

Inu Yasha, Sesshomaru, Miroku and Kouga.  So they were the D4.

~*~*~*~

"Kagome!  Why haven't you gotten a rich boyfriend yet?" her grandfather demanded over dinner.

She sighed.  It was like this often during dinner.  She refrained from answering her grandfather, got up, and informed them that she had to head off to work.  As she dumped her dishes into the sink, she could hear her mom's soft voice from the kitchen.

"Father, really, you don't need to remind her of that all the time."

"Daughter, we have no time to dilly-dally!  Kagome's in third year!  She should well have found a rich boyfriend by now.  You KNOW this is the only way to get us out of this godforsaken place and into a nice, big, wealthy…"

Kagome slammed the door shut behind her, not wanting to hear another word.  She biked in stony silence over to the café where she worked with her childhood friend Sango.

[A/N: So, how did I do so far??  ^_^ ]