InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Emergence ❯ Defining Moments ( Chapter 8 )

Monday came and with it came Kagome’s new therapist. She was a very pretty woman of about 25 with short brown hair and warm chocolate eyes. She had a kind aura and it relaxed Kagome.

When she spoke her voice was smooth and her tone serious. “My name is Kimi and I want to say how sorry I am about what was done to you and I’ll understand if you’re are uncomfortable during your sessions. I want you to tell me at once if I do something that makes you the least bit uncomfortable. I won’t be offended in the least. I do hope with time that you will come to trust that my top priority is your full recovery. Now I was told that someone you trust will be accompanying you during each session.”

Kagome nodded. “InuYasha.”

“InuYasha, you look like a strong enough young man. Please come over here and help Kagome into the chair.” Kimi said.

InuYasha like this woman already. He offered Kagome support as she moved for the bed into the chair.

They entered the therapy room and InuYasha sat in a chair by the door. Kimi looked at him. “What are you doing?” she asked. He just stared at her. “You’re here to support Kagome right?” He nodded. “Then get over here and do it. You’ll find that I take a very different approach to physical therapy than most. In fact that is the reason I was assigned to help you. Now watch closely InuYasha because this afternoon you are going to be the one helping Kagome through her exercises.”

“What?” InuYasha questioned.

“You heard me. I will be there to assist you and to supervise, but you will be doing most of the work, so pay attention.” Kimi ordered.

Kimi went through Kagome’s stretches. They also did some weight training and fine muscle coordination exercises. The session finished with a three minute walk on the treadmill.

“That was very good Kagome.” Kimi offered as they headed back to her room. “I can tell that you are giving me your best effort all the time and that will make your recovery that much faster. It won’t be easy, but we’ll get you there.”

InuYasha helped Kagome into bed and then ran out into the hall to catch Kimi. “Oi, wait up.” he called. Kimi turned. “Why do you want me to do all that stuff with her?”

“Many reasons.” The woman explained. “She trusts you. She will work harder for you than for me. I have also read her file and you are the only person she has any recollection of and the two of you have a remarkable understanding of each other. You will be more attuned to her moods and able to tell me if she’s really reached her limit or if she’s slacking off on me. I know you probably don’t have a lot of faith in this hospital or its employees. I wouldn’t expect you to after what happened, but I am serious about my job. I will use any method available to me to insure that she succeeds in becoming every bit as strong and capable as she was before. So, are you willing to do what’s best for her even if it seems strange to you?”

“I’ll do anything I can to help her.” InuYasha replied. “She’s my best friend, the only one I’ve ever had.”

Kimi smiled. “That’s exactly the kind of attitude that is going to help speed her recovery. Too few people who have had a serious accident like hers have someone like you to help them through the hard times, and it is going to be hard. I won’t lie. Sometimes she’s going to cry and want to quit, but in the end it will be worth it. I’ll be back this afternoon.”

InuYasha went back and sat on Kagome’s bed beside her. “What do you think?” he asked.

Kagome smiled. “Good.”

“I think so too.” he agreed.

~ * ~

That afternoon Kimi returned and they went to her second session of the day. Kimi stood right beside InuYasha and guided him through Kagome’s exercises. She adjusted his hand position and technique when necessary and encouraged him to encourage Kagome. InuYasha found that the woman had been right about one thing. Kagome worked harder for him.

A single word from him was enough to help her find the strength do one more rep or take another step. There was also the way she smiled at him when she was able to do as he asked. That was something he wouldn’t give up for anything and he knew he would be looking forward to her physical therapy from now on.

That evening her mother working with a program devised by a hospital speech therapist began Kagome’s mental rehabilitation, which included reading lessons for both Kagome and InuYasha. They also started working on basic math.

It was to become a daily routine. Kimi handling the morning session and InuYasha the one in the afternoon followed by lessons with her mother in the evening. Kagome worked hard and it showed. She was getting stronger everyday. Of course she got frustrated, but that was mostly when she wasn’t able to do as well as thought she should be able to, never at being asked to do more.

~ * ~

InuYasha and Kagome set their cards aside as her mother joined them. She took several bowls out of a brown paper bag.

“Ramen for InuYasha and oden for Kagome as requested.” Asami said. “I’m sorry it isn’t homemade dear, but the place I got it from is very good.”

Kagome didn’t care she was just happy to be having something that wasn’t hospital food. Her lack of dexterity still didn’t allow her to eat on her own effectively and InuYasha didn’t hesitate before helping her, alternating between taking a bite for himself and them offering her one.

Asami watched what had become routine with a smile. It was easy to see how much InuYasha cared for her daughter. She would have offered to help Kagome, but they were doing fine on their own. “I thought if you’d like that now would be a good time to start trying to help you remember. I could tell some stories from when you were a child.”

“You got any embarrassing ones?” InuYasha asked with a smirk.

Asami laughed. “I have all kinds. What do you think Kagome?”

“Okay.” She replied.

“Let’s see, I guess I could start with how we ended up with Buyo since you are so fond of him InuYasha.” The hanyou snorted and Asami continued. “Kagome was not quite eight and I had just told her that I was going to have Souta. She wasn’t too thrilled about the new baby and insisted that a cat would be a much better addition to the family. I didn’t know if I wanted to have both a new cat and a baby at the same time so I told her she would have to wait. She spent the next week answering only in mews and acting quite like a cat. Nothing we did or said could get her to stop and we finally gave in.”

InuYasha could just see a little Kagome running around making noises like a cat and rubbing against people’s legs. He chuckled softly. He marveled at Kagome as she laughed as well, that she could laugh and be happy astounded him. She truly had and indomitable spirit and never had it showed more then now, when she had every right to be depressed or to feel despair, but instead chose to be determined, accepting all that had happened and refusing to be beaten, or to give up.

“I never could tell what you were going to come up with next.” Asami told them as the laughter quieted. “I remember six months, when Kagome was two years old, where she absolutely refused to wear anything at all. I couldn’t even take her to the store. One minute she would be sitting in the basket dressed and I would turn to pick something off the shelf only to look back and find her completely naked. I was so relieved when she decided to start wearing clothes again.”

Kagome blushed but smiled. “No more me. InuYasha tell.”

InuYasha looked at the two women. He held the few good memories from his childhood close to his heart and had never shared them with anyone, not even Kikyou. He knew he could trust them both and so he decided that he would finally share that part of himself with someone.

“My mother didn’t smile very often, but the first time I remember seeing her do so was after I picked a handful of flowers and gave them to her. After that I did it as often as I could just to see her smile.” InuYasha offered quietly.

Asami knew that it must have been hard for InuYasha to share something so personal and so she spoke up. “Kagome often made rings of flowers. Buyo received many of them, but she never brought me flowers. I always got the bugs and whatever else she could catch. I never knew why I couldn’t simply have the flowers, but I think it was because she liked the way her grandfather laughed every time I would jump when she would place another spider on the counter beside me or in my lap.

“When she wasn’t trying to scare me to death she was usually under the Goshinboku singing songs. Of course the songs didn’t quite sound the same after she knocked both her front teeth out trying to climb the Goshinboku when she was six. I’ll have to show you both her school pictures from those two years.”

“Keh, I bet she still sounded better than me.” InuYasha snorted. “I used to make up songs for my mother. She always laughed and said it was because they were so good, but I knew it was because of how terrible they were. I wanted her to laugh. That’s when she started trying to teach me to dance. I wasn’t any good at that either.”

InuYasha was surprised to find that it didn’t hurt to talk about her as much as he thought it would. He figured it probably had to do with the fact that talking about her didn’t make him feel so alone anymore since he had Kagome and his other friends on the other side of the well.

~ * ~

Over the next week InuYasha found himself laughing more than he had in his entire life and he knew that he had finally found a place where he truly belonged. Kagome’s family accepted him and her mother never pressured him to talk to her, but when he did, she listened. It was nice to be part of a family.

InuYasha walked down the hall to get a soda he happened upon Kagome's mother and grandfather talking. "Daughter, I have found someone who will make Kagome a wig, but to have it done we would need to provide the hair." he said. "I know you were hoping to have it for her birthday, but it will take time to find someone who would be willing to donate their hair."

"Oh well it was worth a try." Asami said. "I will just have to give her something else for her birthday."

InuYasha kept walking. He knew Kagome would feel more confident if she had her hair back. He wondered just how much they would need. His hair was long and thick, surely it would be enough and it would take just over a week to grow back. The only problem was that as soon as it was cut off it would turn silver. Kagome might like his hair on him, but she doubted she would want her hair to be that color. Then it came to him when the sun set his hair really would be black. If he cut if off then it would stay that way. He headed back to the room where Kagome's mother and grandfather were talking. They looked up as he came in.

He gathered his hair in his hand and pulled it over his shoulder. "Will this be enough?" he asked. "We'd have to wait until it was dark though so it will really be black."

"You are giving Kagome your hair?" Her mother asked.

"Kagome needs it more than me." he informed her. "It’ll only take a week or so to grow back anyway. It ain’t that big a deal."

Asami got up and hugged him. "You really are a wonderful boy." she said softly. "Thank you. Kagome will be so happy."

~ * ~

Kagome was waiting for him and when he came in the room she gasped. “What? Why?”

“I wanted to see what it would look like.” InuYasha replied. That was kind of the truth. He had been a little curious to see what he could look like with short hair, not enough to cut it just to see, but a little bit.

Kagome frowned. “I like it long.”

“Don’t get mad. It’ll grow back in about a week.” He told her. “I like it better long too.”

~ * ~

Two weeks later Kagome celebrated her birthday in her hospital room. She was doing much better. Her coordination and fine motor skills were still lacking and her speech was not perfect, but she had made much progress. All the doctors were impressed with her recovery. InuYasha was first to give her the present Kagome’s mother had helped him pick out. It was something called a charm bracelet and he had found a charm to represent each of the members of their group. Kagome held it up and fingered each of the charm.

There was a fox, a dog, an arrow, a tiny statue of Buddha, a cat, and a boomerang. “Each of those represents one of our friends.” he told her. “And us.”

Kagome studied them. The dog she knew was InuYasha. She held the little Buddha. “Miroku...” she mumbled.

The room grew silent. “What did you say wench?” InuYasha asked.

“Nothing....Looking at this...I hear Miroku.” Kagome replied. She was surprised when everyone around her smiled. “What?”

“Kagome, Miroku is one of our friends.” InuYasha explained. “He’s a Buddhist monk.”

“Really?” She asked. Everyone nodded.

“The rest, do they remind you of anything?” her mother prompted.

“This...” Kagome pointed to the boomerang. “Hands off hentai...That’s wrong.” Kagome frowned.

“No it’s not.” InuYasha assured her. “The boomerang is Sango and she is always having to tell that perverted bouzo to keep his hands off of her. Keep going...”

Kagome chewed her lip as she looked at the cat. “Two tails....” then the fox. “Pocky...” She looked at InuYasha for confirmation.

“Kirara the cat has two tails and that runt Shippou eats his weight in pocky.” InuYasha explained. “If you ask me you spoil the brat.”

“The arrow is... Kikyou...” Kagome said. The name, that name made her heart ache and she didn’t know why. She noticed InuYasha had paled and everyone had stopped smiling. “Why does it hurt?”

InuYasha sighed. “The arrow is you.” he told her. “I will tell you about Kikyou but not now.”

“That’s right. Today we are celebrating your birthday and now also that you have begun to remember something.” Her mother interjected. “Beside you still have more presents to open.”

Kagome spared one last glance at InuYasha’s stricken face and returned to opening her gifts. Souta gave her a new movie to watch and her grandfather had given he a new CD to listen to during her physical therapy. Then came her mother’s gift. “This is really from all of us.” she said. “I hope it will help you feel more confident.”

Kagome opened it and inside was hair, long and black. She lifted it. It was a wig. She looked at InuYasha. “You lied.”

“Keh, I couldn’t tell you why I cut my hair.” he told her. “Your mom wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Let’s try it on.” her mother suggested. “Then we can style it.”

InuYasha and Asami helped Kagome over to the mirror. She touched the hair as it fell down over her shoulders. Her mother pulled up a chair and Kagome sat. With a pair of scissors she cut bangs and a few long layers. It looked almost the same as it had before the accident. Usually wigs tended to look fake but this one was of a high quality, hand made, and if you didn’t know already that it wasn’t her own hair you would have never suspected.

“Keh, it ain’t fair.” InuYasha snorted. “My hair looks better on her than me.”

Asami smiled at him and Kagome blushed. “Thank you.” she said.

When Kagome’s family went out to dinner as usual InuYasha stayed with her. He very rarely left her side. His constant presence encouraged her. He never gave any sign that he didn’t believe she would be exactly as she was before.

“What are we?” she questioned softly.

InuYasha looked at her. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“You know.” she replied.

He sighed and came to sit beside her on the bed. “It’s complicated.” he said at last. “We were friends, before this happened. You said I was your best friend and you’re my best friend too.”

“Just friends?” she asked.

“That’s the hard part.” he admitted. “There is a long story that goes with that question, one I will tell you once you’re out of this place. I haven’t always been nice to you. In fact I‘ve hurt you plenty, something I’m not proud of. I’ve been confused and taken it out on you. Just know that if after I tell you everything, if you can forgive me, then I’d like to be more than just your friend.”

“I forgive you.” she said.

“Keh, you don’t know what you’re saying.” he told her.

“How do you know...that you like me?” she asked. “I am not the same.”

“Trust me wench. You might not remember anything, but you are still the same Kagome I remember.” he assured her.

“Then I... would forgive you.” she countered.

InuYasha’s mouth opened and closed twice. Damn it all if that wench hadn’t just got him good. “Now I know you’re the same.” he laughed. “You always were a sneaky wench.” Kagome slid her hand across the blanket and placed it over his. She let out the breath she had been holding, when his fingers spread allowing hers to entwine with his.

“Will you finish now?” she asked.

He looked at her. “Finish?” he questioned. She ran a hand across the side of her face. “You’re look fine.”

“You said you would.” she replied.

“I don’t want to hurt you. I hated doing it last time.” he admitted.

“Please.” she pleaded. “I hate... looking this way... It isn’t me.”

“All right.” he agreed, reluctantly.

She closed her eyes as he tucked her hair behind her ear . She winced as her cheek began to sting, but didn’t cry. She shivered as his tongue ran along the cut and took her pain away. She opened her eyes as he lapped gently at the side of her face. His eyes were closed and one hand cupped the other side of her face. He stopped to examine his work and she turned causing their lips to meet.

InuYasha felt like he was on fire as Kagome’s warm moist lips met his own. He couldn’t have pulled away if he had wanted to. Her lips were so soft, so sweet. He ached to taste more of her. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and she parted them. The hand on her cheek moved behind her neck and held her to him tightly. He deepened the kiss and briefly he wondered why he had waited so long to taste the lips of his beloved, to indulge in the sweet essence of his Kagome’s tender kiss.

Kagome thought she might never breathe again but somehow that didn’t seem to matter as InuYasha kissed her with such a fierce passion that she knew her lips would be bruised. That didn’t matter either though because in that moment everything felt right. She knew she belonged with him, to him, and that the past didn’t matter. He was her future. Her heart told her that she could forgive him anything as long as she never had to be without him. She didn’t need to remember anything to know that she loved him.

He pulled back and kissed her gently several times. “I love you.” she murmured softly, still lost in the sensations his kiss had caused.

InuYasha pulled completely away from her and looked into her eyes. She had said the words, that same ones he was sure he had stopped her from saying that day, the day she was hurt. “You can’t mean that.” he said softly.

Kagome blushed when she realized what she had said, but wouldn’t take it back. “I do...I can’t explain it.” she said. “I know I lo...”

He put his hand over her mouth. “Don’t say it.” he told her. “I don’t deserve to hear you say it, not yet. After I tell you everything, then if you still feel the same I’ll never again stop you from saying it, but not yet.”

“Again...” she said. “You stopped me before...” Kagome looked at him. “Why?”

“Because I am stubborn baka.” he told her. “And because of me you got hurt. That was the day you got into the accident. You were crying because of things I said and that’s why you didn’t see it coming.” He put his head in his hands. “Fuck, Kagome I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I thought by pushing you away that I as protecting you and instead I almost got you killed.” He was surprised to feel her hand on his back.

“Protecting me from what?” she asked.

“From me, from what people would say about you for being with me. You deserve so much more than I can offer you.” he replied. “I’m nothing Kagome, and you... you’re beautiful.”

“Do... Do you love me?” she asked.

InuYasha swallowed hard. I can do this. I can tell her. She told me and she can’t even remember what we’ve been through together. I won’t waste this chance. “I...” He choked and cursed his impossibly dry throat. “I... Fuck..” he closed his eyes. BAKA, COWARD, SAY IT. “Yes.” he managed at last. Now having finally managed to admit it out loud even though he had not been able to say the words, he felt suddenly free as if something had changed inside him at the admission. “Kami, yes Kagome, that doesn’t even come close to covering it. You’re everything to me.”

Suddenly Kagome’s arms were around him holding fast to him. “Then don’t worry.” she said into his shoulder. “It will work out.”

“How do you know?” he asked.

She looked up at him. “You don’t feel it?” she questioned.

“Feel what?” he replied.

In answer Kagome pressed her lips to his. He was powerless to resist her and he didn’t really want to. Kagome really was everything to him. The beauty of her spirit was intangible, nothing could corrupt the purity of her heart. She was something that for so long had seemed wholly unattainable for one such as him. She was everything he had always wanted, thought he would never have, and was sure he didn’t deserve. To be holding her in his arm felt surreal. An impossibly perfect dream. Only once before had he known the complete acceptance he felt in her arms. If he didn’t belong with her, then he didn’t belong in this world at all.

Kagome broke their kiss. Her face was flushed and her eyes dark. “That...” she whispered. “Us... It’s right... It feels right...”

InuYasha jumped to his feet as the door opened and admitted her mother. He crossed the room quickly and stared out the window into the night. Asami wondered what she might have interrupted. She sat on the edge of her daughter’s bed.

“Kagome are you feeling all right?” she asked. “You look a little flushed.”

“I’m fine really.” Kagome assured her.

“I’m going to get a drink.” InuYasha said suddenly and he practically ran out of the room.

Asami looked at her blushing daughter. “I don’t suppose you would feel comfortable enough with me to tell me what I interrupted?” she asked.

While Kagome was handling everything remarkably well, the only one she was every truly open with was InuYasha. She felt a connection with her mother but it was hard to talk to someone you barely knew. “Have I had a kiss before?” Kagome asked.

“Not one you ever told me about.” Asami replied. “You were too busy to go out with boys and more than that you didn’t really want to. I believe you were holding out for one special boy with long silver hair and the most adorable furry ears.”

“Oh...” Kagome said. “I’m glad, I’ll get to remember it then.”

“Kagome, was that what I walked in on?” she asked.

“No you walked in on the second one.” Kagome replied blushing madly.

“Well...” her mother prompted.

Kagome couldn’t help it she had to tell someone. “It was...perfect.” She replied. “That’s not enough...No words.”

“I understand perfectly dear.” her mother offered. “Sometimes there are no words that feel like quite enough to define the moments of our lives. I myself have had several of them. When you and Souta were born. The day I married your father. When you woke up. All events so momentous that they surpass what can be expressed with the spoken word.”

“He loves me.” Kagome said quietly.

“I know.” Asami replied.

~ * ~

It was late that night when Asami had a chance to talk to InuYasha in private. They stepped out of Kagome’s room as she slept and went down to the snack machines before finding and empty waiting room.

“Kagome told me tonight that things have finally changed between the two of you.” Asami said.

InuYasha knew this talk was a long time in coming and he knew what he needed to say. “I won’t let things change between us, not really anyway until I have had a chance to tell her everything. I won’t take advantage of her in that way. She deserves better than that.”

Kagome’s mother smiled at him. “I knew you would never dishonor my daughter in such a way. I just wanted to hear you say it.”