InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Dark Past ❯ The Dead will Walk ( Chapter 41 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Sayo124
Yeah. I wasn't feeling much of anything while I wrote this--in fact, I felt stoned. So ignore the, um, weirdness of this. I'm not feeling like myself right now, though, so deal with it, okay? If nothing else, blame it on the concussion (Kagome's, not mine).

Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Psychological | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 06.04.2008 | Updated On: 11.22.2008 | Pages: 12 | Words: 10.4K | Visits: 835 | Status: Work In Progress

Disclaimer: Dude, I was begging for some scraps from my friends the other day at school so I could eat lunch, which means I can't even afford the three-fifty for a decent meal. Do you honestly think I would own it?
 
A/N: Fuck, life can really suck.
 
 
AGE:
InuYasha: 19
Kagome: 18
Kouga: 19
Naraku: 19
Miroku: 19
Sango: 18
Kaede: 65
A Dark Past
 
 
Chapter Forty-One: The Dead will Walk
 
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It was the heart monitor that was attached to Kikyou in the room behind them, screeching its never-exhausting mechanical lungs out to alert the world that Kikyou's heart had stopped beating.
 
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The average temperature of a human body was 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, 37 degrees Celsius, or 310.15 Kelvin. The warmth of blood kept human flesh warm and stabilized that body temperature.
 
As Kagome's hand clutched desperately onto the ice-cold fingers of a dead woman, she felt a queasy, unpleasant sensation flood her senses. Inuyasha had been just about flown down the hall to kidnap a doctor and drag him back - whether he be kicking and screaming or not. While Kagome had never really known Kikyou in person, or had the chance to get to know her, Kagome felt the hot prickle of angry tears at her eyes. She was mostly angry at MenouMaru for forcing Kikyou into the predicament, but she was also angry at herself.
 
She knew that if she had been in Kikyou's predicament, she probably would've done the same thing.
 
That epiphany-of-a-sort both scared her and left her breathless with exhilaration. Kagome had always daydreamed about falling in love - finding a Prince Charming, falling desperately in love, marrying that Prince Charming complete with a stereotypical wedding. . . But she had never actually ever fallen in love before. Small crushes, there were plenty. Attractions, there were countless instances of those.
 
But what she felt with Inuyasha was so different in so many ways, it almost seemed wrong.
 
Was it wrong?
 
Kagome's grip on Kikyou's hand tightened both at her thoughts and due to impatience. At least three minutes had passed since Kikyou's heart had given out and still there was no sign of a doctor. She scowled at the doorway thinking, `Some service they have here,' before standing up, releasing Kikyou's hand in the process. She was just about to do a routine assessment - check Kikyou's eyes, pulse (ignoring the fact that the heart monitor was screaming at her - quite literally - that the woman was dead), throat glands, etc. - when a small parade of medics jogged into the room.
 
Almost feeling like a child caught with their hand in a cookie jar to snitch a delicious treat before dinner, Kagome slowly backed away from the bedside table. The medics went straight to work without even sparing her a glance. Several moments passed in silence and Kagome couldn't help but feel that she was being almost. . . ignored.
 
She watched as the medic team busied themselves with random tasks around the room. However, soon enough her eyes were drawn back to Kikyou's face like a moth to a flame. Kikyou's pallid face was lax with death and for some reason, the realization that the woman was dead slammed into Kagome with more force than she would've expected. She stumbled forward a step and stopped herself from advancing any further towards the bed.
 
One of the medics started fiddling with the wires and needles in the underside of Kikyou's wrist and, startled, Kagome cried out and hurried over to stop the nurse. “Wait, no, stop! You don't know if she's really dead!”
 
Kagome snatched Kikyou's arm away from the nurse who raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked over at the heart monitor that no one had bothered to turn off. Kagome shook her head stubbornly, idly noticing the way the skin of Kikyou's arm almost seemed to burn and tingle under her fingers. “She hasn't been dead that long. It's possible to revive her!”
 
The nurse sighed. “In a case like this one, there is no hope for restoration. She's gone. Her body gave out and her heart stopped. There's absolutely nothing we can do.”
 
Kagome tightened her hold on Kikyou and the tingling sensation under her finger tips grew stronger with each passing second. “Why can't you try?” she demanded hotly. “Is there anything wrong with trying?”
 
The nurse looked helplessly over at her co-workers for help but they just shrugged before turning their attention back to their work. The woman set her lips grimly and focused on Kagome.
 
“Ma'am, the young Miss Kikyou has died. Due to the circumstances, there is a zero percent chance of reviving her. It would be a waste of equipment and time to- - -”
 
Kagome's fingers jerked when a small electrifying jolt of current passed between her and Kikyou. “There has to be something you can do,” she persisted. “There's always something you can try.”
 
The nurse looked like she was going out of her way for patience at this point. “I don't think you understand. In cases like this, the soul is. No. Longer. Present. If there's no soul to animate the body- - -”
 
“What's your name?”
 
The brunette woman paused her explanation to eye Kagome. “It's Kagura,” she said almost reluctantly.
 
“Do you have a sister? Or an aunt?” the miko continued softly.
 
Kagura's eyes narrowed. “I have a sister named Kanna,” she replied suspiciously.
 
“And how far would you go for Kanna?”
 
Kagura sighed, lifting a hand to massage her forehead. “I see where you're coming from, but I'm telling you- - -”
 
“Would you try?” Kagome persisted. “Even if it was zero percent chance of success?”
 
The brunette woman looked at her for a long second and then heaved an exasperated and long-suffering sigh. “Fine,” she relented. “Fine, fine, fine. I'll see what I can do.”
 
Kagome smiled brightly. “Thank you so much.”
 
Kagura waved away the thanks in annoyance and snatched the printed heart rate sheet and briefly examined it. “Her heart beating pattern was completely normal until the exact second of her death,” the brunette nurse noted aloud. She then pushed open one of Kikyou's closed eyelids. “Her pupils are still dilated,” Kagura continued. Kagome took several steps back as to be out of the way as Kagura worked.
 
After rattling off a few more random notes, Kagura leaned over Kikyou to examine her throat. “I really think it's hopeless,” she muttered as she ran her fingers along the skin above Kikyou's trachea. Kagome set her jaw stubbornly and prepared another defensive comment and jerked when the screaming heart monitor abruptly stopped and a new noise came from the machine.
 
Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep.
 
And so abruptly that Kagome didn't see the motion, Kikyou whipped up into a sitting position on her bed. Her forehead connected with Kagura's and the nurse yelped and stumbled backward, holding her head. Kagome froze, too shocked to do much of anything. Kikyou continued to sit on the bed, eyes incredibly wide.
 
And then she fell back on the mattress and the frantically jumping green line fell flat as the heart machine started to scream again.
 
Kagome's breath came out shallowly as she stared at the - dead?? - body of Kikyou. It had been a extremely freaky, she had to admit, to see what had been believed to be a corpse rise up in bed like that. Almost like a vampire from a novel- - -Kagome shook her head at herself. There were demons in this world, not vampires. She had to get her facts straight.
 
Kagura raced over to Kikyou's side once her head stopped throbbing to check over her vitals and such. Kagome watched, still frozen. Kagura's hands felt three different places for any sign of a pulse before she frowned and started to re-do the routine she had done before.
 
Kagura had just pushed up Kikyou's eyelid when the heart monitor stopped screaming again- - -
 
Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep.
 
- - -and Kikyou whipped up in her bed again, her forehead once again connecting with Kagura's with a crack! that had Kagome wincing. Kagura cried out and once again took a step back. Kikyou didn't show any reaction to any sort of pain, though. Kagura groped around for a few seconds to find the `call help' button and pressed it.
 
Kagome jerked forward- - -
 
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeee
 
- - -and stopped when she heard the low, droning note. Kikyou flumped back lifelessly onto the mattress and Kagome turned to look at Kagura in confusion.
 
Kagura shook her head. “I have no idea what's going on, myself. I called for other medics. Maybe they'll know what's happening.”
 
“Is she alive?” Kagome whispered, inching towards the hospital bed one step at a time.
 
“I told you already, I don't know,” the brunette woman replied snippily.
 
Kagome took a hold of Kikyou's arm again, feeling the still-warm skin start to tingle and feel almost hot beneath her fingers. She closed her eyes in exhaustion and found that the tingling sensation grew more prominent. It didn't necessarily hurt and so Kagome decided there was no harm in not stopping it. Absently, she heard Kagura murmuring to someone but she didn't pay attention to what was said.
 
Kikyou's skin was growing warmer.
 
Kagome swallowed as skin in her grip continued to heat up. She wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen or what she was doing - if she was doing anything, at all - but she still felt like she was being beneficial.
 
Until a powerful jolt of something shocked her like electricity.
 
She yelped, her eyes snapping open, and jerked her hand away. She cradled her hand to her chest, staring in awe at Kikyou's arm where she had touched it. It was glowing. Or rather, it looked like it was glowing, that was for sure. But lately it seemed that Kagome might be going a little “woo hoo” and maybe hallucinating.
 
“Kagura, what's the commotion about?”
 
Kagome turned and saw a young man talking with Kagura. Automatically, her eyes focused on his long black hair - was that some sort of hot new fashion? Every guy she had met lately had incredibly long hair - that was pulled back in a thick braid.
 
Kagura looked incredibly relieved. “Hiten, it's the patient. She's. . . well, she's rising from the dead.”
 
The doctor stood completely still and just stared at Kagura for a few moments before calmly flipping the long braid of his hair over his shoulder. His gaze flicked over to Kagome and then back to Kagura. “I'm sorry, ladies,” he finally spoke, “but I'm not an idiot. What the hell do you mean `she's rising from the dead'?”
 
“Her heart stopped for at least four minutes and suddenly it started beating again and she sat up. She had been up barely five seconds before her heart failed again,” Kagura explained not-so patiently.
 
“It's normal for the heart to take several moments to fully stop in a circumstance like this- - -”
 
“It happened twice,” Kagome cut in.
 
Hiten looked over at her and smiled apologetically. “Like I said, miss, it might take a little while for the heart to- - -”
 
“Would you at least just check to see what's going on?” Kagome hotly asked. “You're a doctor for sanity's sake! You should at least pretend to care about your patients.”
 
Hiten's eyes narrowed. “Perhaps you would like to mind your words. I do care about all of my patients and I do my best to help them in any way possible. But in a case like this- - -”
 
“I'm just asking that you try,” Kagome said. “There's nothing wrong with trying, is there?”
 
Hiten rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Kagura. “She's quite the persuasive talker, isn't she?”
 
Kagura's right brow rose in a delicate arch. “Yes, she suckered me in with a speech just like that one.”
 
Hiten grumbled something to himself to fast for Kagome to pick up but he started towards the bed. A bright grin played with her lips as she waited for him to do the exact same routine check that Kagura had been doing earlier. She sighed and reached out to take Kikyou's hand again - while idly wondering if she was perhaps obsessed with touching dying people - but the exact moment that her skin brushed the cool, pallid arm on the mattress- - -
 
Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep.
 
- - -the heart monitor started up again. Kagome jerked away like she had been burned. Kikyou whipped up again. And this time, her forehead connected with the surprised doctor Hiten's, who yipped in surprise and barely kept himself from jumping back.
 
“Nurse!” Hiten called once he had come out of his shock. “Or anyone, get over here!”
 
Kagome's heart leapt in her throat. She held her breath as she listened to the chaos around her. She bit her lip and looked over at the screen for the heart monitor. The green line jumped up and down frantically on it. Mentally, she counted the seconds off. Kikyou hadn't seemed to stay “alive” for more than ten seconds at a time.
 
So she started counting. `One, two. . .'
 
“Someone get the respirator going- - -”
 
`Three, four. . .'
 
“No, no! We can't shock her, it'll stop her heart again- - -”
 
`Five, six. . .'
 
“Get me hot water! We need to get her blood circulating properly or- - -”
 
`Seven, eight. . .'
 
“Shit! What the hell is wrong? Motherfu- - -”
 
`Nine, ten. . .'
 
“She's not breathing! Why isn't she breathing, dammit?”
 
Kagome grimly stepped over to the now-busy hospital bed, mentally preparing herself for when Kikyou would fall back again, lifeless. She gripped the bed rail hard enough that her knuckles turned white. Something warm and wet spilled down her face but she wasn't even aware she was crying.
 
Hiten's hands were fervently working on injecting some liquid into one of Kikyou's veins. His eyes flicked up to Kagome for a brief moment before he spoke. “Miss, you either need to help with something or back away. She's very unstable and if you want her to make it- - -”
 
Kagome tuned out the rest of what he was saying and indifferently asked, “What can I do?”
 
“Hold her hand.”
 
She turned only to see Kagura standing next to her, looking at her sternly.
 
“Whah?”
 
“Hold her hand,” the brunette repeated. “It'll be a huge comfort for when she comes around. I also read the people who are unconscious can feel stuff like that and the fact that someone cares helps them wake up. So hold her hand.”
 
At this point in time, she wasn't sure if something like that would even work anymore, but Kagome looked down at Kikyou's hand and sighed. Then she reached out and took it between her own.
 
Kikyou's mouth opened and she loudly sucked in as much air as she could before choking on it and having a coughing fit. Kagome held her breath, momentarily pausing to merely listen and take everything in. Hiten ordered someone to get whoever else was there for Kikyou and then refilled the IV. Nurses mumbled to one another and bustled around. And- - -
 
Beep. . . beep. . . beep. . . beep. . .
 
- - -Kikyou's heart beat steadied.
 
“Is she going to be okay?” Kagome asked breathlessly to no one in particular. For some reason, she was getting light-headed and it was almost getting hard to breathe.
 
At first, Kagome wasn't sure if the voice that had answered had said “yes,” or “rest.” (However, since she knew from experience that the proper response when asked a medical question was not to whip around and bark “rest,” she gave an educated guess and assumed that the nurse had said “yes.”)
 
“That's good,” she breathed so quietly that she wasn't sure if anyone had heard. She wasn't even sure if anyone was around to hear her anymore, even. Little fuzzy black specks were starting to flood her vision. Her muscles felt incredibly light-weight and yet hard to move all at the same time, almost like she had no reflexes.
 
`I wonder if this is what it's like to die,' she wondered to herself, almost amused at the prospect of it. She had barely enough time to think that before her muscles started weakening. Her knees wobbled and she swayed for a second before her legs gave. The floor suddenly came rushing up at her face at an alarming rate.
 
And then she saw black.
 
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At first she thought he was an angel of some sort. He sure looked like an angel, anyway. His golden eyes seemed almost unearthly as the light from the lamp next to her head caused them to almost glow.
 
“Whuh happ'm'd?” Kagome mumbled as she pushed herself up with her arms.
 
“Lay back down,” her person-mistaken-for-an-angel commanded, gently forcing her on her back again.
 
“Whuh happ'm'd?” Kagome repeated, voice still slurring as her brain reawakened after her - long? - nap. Her mind jumbled into a huge tangle and she tried to sew all of her thoughts together to figure out what had transpired after she had oh-so gracefully passed out.
 
“Shh,” Inuyasha hushed. “You hit your head when you fell. You don't have a concussion, but if you irritate your head, you could get one. So please just be still for the moment?”
 
“But what about Kikyou?” the miko inquired persistently.
 
Inuyasha sighed and kneeled so that his face was level with hers. “She's fine. Now please, Kagome, I'm begging you - lie down and rest some more?”
 
Kagome huffed indignantly at him, puffing her cheeks out childishly, causing Inuyasha to chuckle. (She would later deny doing anything of the sort.)
 
“I want to know what happened with MenouMaru.” She puffed out her bottom lip to give herself an innocent I'm-an-innocent-lamb-so-help-me-out-here-you-doofus look.
 
Inuyasha's hand wandered under the thin, pristine white blanket to search out her hand and interlace their fingers. “Nothing much,” he murmured. “He. . . was definitely dead when he came in. For a while, I stayed near the doctor that had examined him. His death certificate was signed.”
 
For some reason, that irked Kagome. “Did you see it being signed?” she asked gently, her eyes wandered around for some sort of blemish in the perfectly painted ceiling (or even a small crack for all she cared). It bugged her to no end that she couldn't find any. A place for death wasn't supposed to be perfect like that.
 
“Mm,” he hummed, fingers momentarily tightening around her own.
 
Kagome had to admit that she was completely disgusted at how things had turned up. She was out-and-out extremely displeased with how the whole mate-for-life thing worked (despite the first-impression glamour that the idea held). She was starting to curl her nose at the whole concept of demon rituals and customs. And, most of all, she absolutely loathed the ceiling for being so perfect in their time of absolute and utter chaos and distress.
 
She pulled their tangled hands up to her face and pressed the warm flesh of his knuckles to her cheek. “Sleep with me?” she whispered.
 
Inuyasha very well almost fell over backwards when he jerked in surprise and let out a startled yelp. “Kagome,” he said (nearly squeaked) sternly, “as much as I would love to do something like. . . like that with you, I hardly think that now it appropriate.”
 
“I meant literally, you idiot.”
 
It took a moment for Inuyasha to realize what she was saying. To help him along with the thought process, Kagome lifted her blanket and patted the flat mattress in front of her.
 
“Um, oh?” A fine pink dust settled on his cheeks but he complied with her wishes and laid down on the bed next to her. “I don't think there's enough room, wench,” he complained as he continually shifted to try and make it that he wasn't half-dangling off the side of the mattress.
 
“Then I'll make room,” she mumbled, suddenly realized just how tired she was. Kagome rolled over and moved to the edge of the bed on the other side. Inuyasha scooted over and Kagome felt his chest press flush up against her back. His arm wrapped around her and pushed her even closer to her.
 
Her heart skipped a beat and a red flush warmed her neck and cheeks. Inuyasha chuckled, laying his cool cheek against her hot one. “Your cheeks - so rosy!” he teased lightly.
 
Had her eyes been open, Kagome would've glared at the wall. “Shu'mup. I'm try'na s'eep, you id'it.”
 
Inuyasha merely chuckled again - much to Kagome's chagrin - and murmured in her ear, “Well, guess what?”
 
“S'eep!” Kagome whined, trying to ignore him. “Wanna s'eep, In'yasha - s'eep!”
 
Inuyasha huffed in mock contempt. “Then I guess you don't want to hear what I was going to say. . .” he murmured, lips brushing against her sensitive cheeks.
 
She whined, sounding much like a kicked puppy. “Tell later - s'eep now.”
 
“I just wanted to tell you that- - -”
 
“S'eep!!”
 
“- - -this `id'it' sure loves the hell out of you.”
 
“S'EE- - -!!”
 
Kagome mentally cursed, falling silent, when her heart skipped another two beats.
 
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She had never had anything against the color maroon. Seriously, it was a nice color and she had even had a nice knitted top that was maroon and looked absolutely fabulous with a pair of dark blue jeans. Her best friend from High School had even debated getting maroon highlights in her hair in their junior year.
 
But that was before Kagome knew that it was possible to have so much maroon in one room. Everything was the ruddy red color from the floor to the ceiling. Every. Thing - the carpets, the paint on the walls, the upholstery, the bed clothes, the knick-knacks - hell, the window was tinted maroon.
 
Kagome blinked slowly and rubbed her eyes, thinking that maybe something had just gone wrong with her corneas for a moment - the light hit her eyes wrong and everything had changed colors. But when she looked around again, she found that nothing had changed. So, apparently, whoever owned the room had a minor obsession with maroon.
 
“It's kinda creepy,” she murmured as she sat up slowly.
 
“What is?”
 
Kagome `eep'ed and whirled. “Inuyasha,” she breathed, “don't do that!” Inuyasha merely gave her an amused look and she harrumphed and rolled over so she wasn't looking at him.
 
“What's creepy?” he asked. When she didn't move to reply, he persisted, “Kagome, what's creepy?”
 
“What happened to Kikyou?” Kagome asked.
 
Inuyasha sighed quietly at her abrupt (and obvious) change of subject but decided that it wasn't worth fighting over and humored her. “She's alive and in steady condition. But the doctors are definitely baffled as to why she's alive so she's under constant supervision.” His golden eyes drifted away from her when he stopped speaking. His tone suggested that there was more he wanted to say and so Kagome looked over her shoulder at him.
 
“What?” she cautiously questioned. He didn't turn his attention back to her and she frowned at him. “What?” she asked again, her tone more demanding.
 
Inuyasha cleared his throat a little too loudly. “Well. . . the doctors don't know why she's alive right now.”
 
It took a while for that one to click in Kagome's mind. “But you do,” she finally said slowly, unsure.
 
He nodded and sighed again before settling down beside her on the mattress. “Yeah,” he admitted softly.
 
“Tell me?”
 
Inuyasha stared up at the ceiling for a while. Kagome rolled over so she was once again facing him, probing him with her eyes in the hopes that he would take her hint and blurt it out or something. Moments ticked by and Kagome felt her patience running thin. However, right before she was about to snap at him to get on with it- - -
 
“Do you know what a miko is?”
 
Kagome blinked slowly. “Miko?” she repeated. “As in a priestess? As in the women who used to take care of their villages in feudal times and all that jazz? That type of miko?”
 
Golden eyes flicked in her direction for a moment in a show of exasperation. “That's the only `type' of miko that there is, wench,” he pointed out.
 
“Just wanted to make sure we're on the same page,” she grumbled defensively.
 
“Anyway, yes. That `type' of miko.” He placed a great deal of emphasis on the word type and pointedly looked at Kagome. She stuck her tongue out to show how much his comment was appreciated.
 
He snorted before looking back up at the ceiling, tucking his arms under his head. “Well, miko still exist today. They don't just disappear since we developed modern medicine and all that. But instead. . .” He drifted off and frowned thoughtfully. “Sometimes miko never know what they are since their powers and abilities aren't necessary in this day and age. Their unique skills just lie dormant and aren't discovered. Sorta like a fossil buried deep into the ground under the ocean.”
 
Kagome looked honestly surprised. “Dude, when did you get to be so good at making speeches?”
 
This time it was Inuyasha's turn to show how much he appreciated the comment - only he didn't stick his tongue out (`How immature is that?' his youkai inquired, sounding downright appalled), he just gave her a dry look. Kagome sighed theatrically and said, “Oh, fine. Continue on. I won't interrupt you anymore.”
 
“Oh, gee, thanks,” he muttered sarcastically but continued: “So, as I was. Some priestesses never know what they are. Some find out accidentally. Usually, more powerful and older demons can sense that type of thing, though.”
 
“ `Kay,” Kagome replied slowly in a `where-the-hell­-are-you-going-with-this?' tone. “And that has to do with me because. . .?”
 
“Are you kidding me? You're not that dense, Kagome. I'm telling you that you're a miko. Get it now?”
 
Kagome gave him a look that suggested some sort of long, hairy (and green) tentacle had popped out of the side of his head or something. “What?”
 
Inuyasha groaned quietly. “Why can't you ever just accept something and move on?”
 
“Because I've never had anyone tell me something like that before!” She lightly smacked his forearm with the back of her hand. “Now explain yourself.”
 
“There's nothing to explain. You. Are. A miko. It's as simple as that. There aren't any hidden meanings or secrets to it. You were just born with the powers of the divine.”
 
Kagome stared unblinkingly at him. Her first thought after he said that had been: `Goody-goody gumdrops! I have the power of the divine. Bow before the awesome Kagome!' Her second thought had been: `Oh, crap. I have the power of the divine. Does that make me some sort of freak?' Her next thought was: `Holy watermelon-llamas. I've got to be high off my rocker to be thinking like this.' And then the last thing to cross her mind was: `So basically I'm the opposite of Inuyasha, then. So. . . doesn't that mean that I can, like, hurt him or something?'
 
It was that last thought that brought an expression of pure horror to her features.
 
“Kagome?” Inuyasha definitely sounded alarmed.
 
Shoving all of her thoughts - both legitimate and stupid - away, she forced herself to continue, “What does that have to do with Kikyou?”
 
And, for the record, she was not trying to ignore the thought that she could possibly hurt Inuyasha- - -
 
`Or kill him- - -NO! Not thinking about it; not thinking about it; not thinking about it; not thinking about it totally not thinkingnotthinkingnotthinking- - -'
 
- - -by changing the subject. Because, seriously, who did that?
 
“Kikyou is alive right now because you're a miko.”
 
Inuyasha's voice snapped her out of her thoughts at break-neck speed. Confused, she continued to stare at Inuyasha in a way that made it look like that long, hairy (and green) tentacle had made another appearance.
 
Inuyasha heaved a long-suffering sigh before launching into an elaboration. “You're a miko. One of the duties of a miko is to take care of the sick and dying. Somehow you're emotions triggered something inside of you and instinctively, your. . . erm - `powers' reacted on their own and did the one thing that could save Kikyou.”
 
The nurse slowly arched her eyebrow. “And, um, dare I ask: what was that?”
 
“You gave her part of your soul.”
 
“I say what?”
 
“Gave her part of your soul,” the hanyou repeated slowly like it was completely normal.
 
Kagome stared for a long time.
 
“Wench,” Inuyasha started uncertainly, “what are you doing?”
 
“Trying to figure out how you grew that tentacle,” she automatically replied. “It's hairy. And green.”
 
“What?”
 
“Never mind.”
 
Inuyasha gave her a look that said he worried for her sanity before shaking his head. “How's your head?”
 
“Fine,” Kagome easily replied. “I barely feel it at all. Who explained the whole miko thing to you?”
 
He looked like he was going to protest that for a second and then chuckled softly. “How did you guess?”
 
“You understood it way too much to have thought it all out for yourself,” she teased lightly.
 
The corner of his mouth twitched in a barely restrained grin. “My mother had to sit me down and go over it a few times. I was still in shock that Kikyou wasn't dead.”
 
“Oh, yeah. So what's happening with her?”
 
“She- - -” Inuyasha stopped to wince before beginning again. “She has amnesia.”
 
“Oh,” was all she said for a moment. “It'll fade though, right?” she continued tentatively, feeling slightly awkward at having to ask something like that. “She'll be - okay, right?”
 
Inuyasha's arms wrapped around her and tugged her to his chest in the blink of an eye. Kagome had her answer. “Oh.” She felt a little crappy that that was all she could come up with so she forced a quiet “sorry” as well.
 
“There's nothing you can do anymore,” Inuyasha murmured in her ear (making Kagome shift slightly at the pleasant feeling that his lips created).
 
“But she'll probably never get her memory back?” Kagome whispered, feeling horrible.
 
“It's. . . unlikely,” he admitted. “She was given a new soul. She lived through the ordeal of you forcing a new soul into her, but her brain repressed all of her old memories. Well, all of her memories after her fifth birthday.”
 
“Fifth birthday?” Kagome repeated. “Isn't that a little random?”
 
Inuyasha remained silent.
 
“Oh,” she whispered again. “Her mind erased everything from the time she met you.”
 
“That about sums it up,” he told her awkwardly.
 
“Well. . . at least she sorta has a new start?” Kagome meekly said. She felt incredibly awkward suddenly and not entirely sure what she was supposed to say in the situation.
 
“New start,” Inuyasha repeated. “Yeah, sure.”
 
Kagome frowned and nibbled her bottom lip, unsure as to whether or not it was her place to say anything. After several moments of a semi-tense silence, she couldn't take it anymore. “What's going to happen to her?”
 
She was relieved when he automatically answered. “Dunno. Her parents both died so she can't exactly go and live with them. My parents are attached to her, so they're mulling it out.”
 
Kagome's fingers tangled in the fabric of his shirt. “Oh,” was all she could say. She still felt slightly awkward.
 
Inuyasha sighed and his breath ruffled her hair. “We can think about that later, though.” (Kagome did not miss how he had used the word `we' and a small bubble of giddy excitement rose in her belly for some odd reason at that.) “Right now I have to ask you something.”
 
“Ask away,” the raven-haired woman said against the material of his shirt.
 
Inuyasha cleared his throat (a little louder than necessary) and blurted, “Will you come with me to MenouMaru's funeral?”
 
Kagome blinked and peeked up at him. “Funeral?”
 
“Um, yeah. There was something about him wanting some western-styled burial. And when I say western, I mean fully western. Which. . . brings me to my next question.” Inuyasha stopped and drifted off.
 
“And that is?” Kagome prompted, slightly curious.
 
“Yeah, the funeral is kinda going to-be-in-the-States-so-I-was-hoping-that-maybe-you-wouln't-mind-coming-with -me-of-course-the-expense-of-the-trip-would-be-taken-care-of-by- - -”
 
Kagome pushed two fingers against his lips to stop the hurriedly breathed out words. She stayed quiet for a minute, grimacing against the material of his shirt, once again unsure of her place. “Are you sure that you want me to come?” she hesitantly asked.
 
“Of course! I wouldn't have asked if- - -”
 
“Just making sure,” Kagome interrupted him softly.
 
“Kagome,” Inuyasha started in a you-should-already-know-this-you-wench-so-why-don't-you-already-know -this tone, “you're my - you're special, okay? Of course I want you there. I've already gotten too used to your nagging to live a day without it.”
 
“Gee, thanks,” she grumbled.
 
Inuyasha ignored her. “So. . . you'll go?”
 
Kagome nodded (though she still felt a wee bit awkward, to be fully honest). “Yeah, I'll go with you. Of course I'll go with you.”
 
Relief flooded through him and Kagome felt him relax against her. His nose nuzzled into her dark locks and he sighed contentedly. “I love you. I hope you know that.”
 
A wave of giddy excitement rushed into her stomach again at the words. The way Inuyasha had said that warmed her straight to the bone. And for one of the first times since she woke up, she answered with absolutely no hesitation and no feeling of acute awkwardness.
 
“I love you, too.”
 
Kagome definitely felt him smile against the top of her head. She also grinned and moved her head to plant a chaste kiss against his collar bone.
 
00000000
 
(E/N: Gomenasai! I didn't mean to take this long to edit but I was so busy with preparing for my trip to Japan! Then I got home a few days before school started! If you have questions about Nippon feel free to ask!)
 
Too much going on in life right now. Boy, life really has its lows.
 
… But it also has its highs, right? XD
 
Ja ne!