InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Emergence ❯ Clearing The Air ( Chapter 6 )

A/N: Whew this chapter sucks and is late and a little short, so in light of these things I am posting CH 7 on Thursday and Ch 8 on Monday, and believe me they are much better than this one. I don’t know what the deal is but this chapter simply would not let me write it and I am still not satisfied, but I ready to call it a lost cause. I haven’t even sent it to a beta yet but I am that sick of it.

Please forgive me! And don’t give up I really do promise Ch7 and Ch8 are up to my usual standard.

~ * ~

Kagome had been awake just over three hours and though she didn’t want to be rude to people who so obviously cared about her and had been worried for her, she was growing weary as they talked around her and to her. Thankfully, the kind woman who she now knew to be her mother, seemed to notice.

“I think Kagome might be a little overwhelmed.” Asami said. “Souta, jii-chan let’s leave her for a bit and go have dinner. InuYasha, would you like to come with us?”

InuYasha glanced at Kagome. “You want to be alone?”

Kagome shook her head quickly. “Stay.”

“Then it’s settled. InuYasha you’ll stay with Kagome. I’ll be sure and bring you by something to eat later on.” Asami announced. She brushed her hand across Kagome’s cheek and then led the way out of the room.

Kagome sighed with relief once she was alone with InuYasha. Her eyes darted to his to see if he had noticed and she found him watching her.

“There ain’t nothing wrong with wanting to be alone.” InuYasha offered. “They care about you but that don’t mean you can’t need some time to yourself, especially since you don’t remember them. You sure you don’t want me to leave too.”

Kagome shook her head again. “Alone.” She tried. “Dark. No more.”

“You ain’t in the dark anymore and you ain’t alone anymore either.” InuYasha said. “I promise I won’t leave you unless you ask me to.”

Kagome smiled.

~ * ~

Kagome jumped with a frightened squeak as the door flew open and a nurse with a tray entered the room. InuYasha chuckled lightly and she glared at him.

With no preamble and not so much as a word the nurse pulled a table across the bed and set the tray upon it. She took the lid off to reveal some sort of broth and a glass of juice. InuYasha didn’t like the manner of this woman at all and he watched her closely.

“I guess it’s too much to hope for that you can feed yourself.” The woman said thrusting the spoon into Kagome’s hand only to have it fall from her uncooperative fingers. The nurse heaved a heavy sigh and snatched up the spoon. She dipped it in the bowl and shoved it into Kagome’s mouth.

Kagome was hard pressed not to choke, as she was totally unprepared, as yet another spoonful was shoved into her mouth. She winced as the spoon hit her teeth and on the third bite she coughed sending broth down her chin. She closed her eyes, humiliated, that InuYasha was there as a witness to how pathetic she was.

“Give me that.” InuYasha growled, snatching the spoon from the woman’s hand.

Kagome opened her eyes.

“You trying to kill her or something?” InuYasha demanded. “Just get the fuck out of here already.”

The nurse huffed and stormed out of the room.

“Stupid bitch.” He mumbled, dipping the unfamiliar utensil in the liquid. He brought the spoon to his nose and sniffed it. “Well it ain’t ramen, but it won’t kill you as long that stupid wench ain’t the one feeding it to you, so open up.”

Kagome was still in shock but complied and would come to find that being fed by InuYasha was not an unpleasant experience at all. He took his time and waited for her to signal that she was ready for more, pausing every so often to offer her a drink and a chance to breathe.

InuYasha looked up as the door opened to admit Kagome’s mother. He blushed at being caught in such an intimate situation with Kagome as he held her cup to her lips, but Asami just smiled and crossed the room to set brown bag, filled with something that smelled amazing, on the table.

“Visiting hours end soon.” Asami said taking in a chair on the side of the bed opposite InuYasha. She looked to Kagome. “Who do you want to stay with you?”

Kagome frowned. She wanted InuYasha to stay, not because she didn’t like the woman, her mother, but because he was the only one she could remember and he made her feel safe, even though she didn’t know why. She knew that her mother had spent countless hours by her side and it seemed wrong to ask her to be the one to leave.

“Kagome dear, don’t worry about hurting my feelings. I want what’s best for you and only you can tell me what that is.” Asami offered. “I won’t be upset if you’d rather it was InuYasha who stayed with you. You know him and it makes sense that you would be more comfortable having him with you. Is that what you want?”

Kagome chewed her lower lip and nodded.

Asami rose with a smile. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” She looked to InuYasha. “I know you’ll take good care of her. Goodnight both of you.”

~ * ~

Kagome was sleeping and InuYasha was bored out of his mind. He enjoyed watching her sleep of course but he was full of pent up energy. For a hanyou used to spending hours everyday running through the forest and fighting youkai, the inactivity of the last week had been difficult to cope with.

He left Kagome’s room intent on simply walking around for a few minutes or maybe going outside while it was dark and he was unlikely to be discovered and going for a short run. The woman behind the nurse’s station raised her head when he stepped out into the dimly lit corridor.

“Can I help you?” She asked politely.

“Yeah, if the girl in there wakes up while I’m gone tell her I’ll be right back.” InuYasha said.

The woman nodded. “I haven’t seen you here before today. You’re the one who woke her up right?”

InuYasha shrugged. “I guess, but I couldn’t have made Kagome do nothing she didn’t want to. She’s one stubborn wench.”

“There wouldn’t be anything that could keep me from waking up if I had a guy that looked like you waiting for me.” The nurse said with a smile. “I guess there’s no chance that you’re her brother or cousin or something, is there?”

InuYasha felt his face heat. It was unfamiliar to him that a woman would say something so bold and even more unfamiliar that it be directed at him. He might be clueless sometimes but he knew that she was hitting on him. He’d been hanging around the bouzo too long not to. “Keh, nope.”

She sighed. “I knew it. The good ones are always taken. She’s lucky girl. I’ll keep a close eye on her for you.”

“Uh, thanks.” He muttered and headed off down the hall.

As he walked he wondered if the woman would have felt the same way if she saw what he really looked like and knew that he was a hanyou, not that it really mattered. Kagome was the only one for him and every other woman simply paled in comparison.

Outside he took a deep breath. The fresh air was a nice change even if it didn’t smell as clean as the air in his own time. He walked around the building thankful that it backed up to a line of trees. He closed his eyes and then snapped them open setting off at a dead run.

InuYasha didn’t go too far since he didn’t want to leave Kagome for too long, but decided that tomorrow when her family came to see her, he would return and spend sometime outside, most likely in the upper branches of one of the surrounding trees.

~ * ~

Asami along with Souta and Jii-chan came in shortly after Kagome finished her breakfast. InuYasha didn’t know if it was because he looked human or the fact that he was just so glad that Kagome was awake, but her jii-chan no longer seemed compelled to throw his powerless sutras. He reasoned that it could also be that they were in the hospital and that once they returned to the shrine the old man would resume his attempts to purify him, but InuYasha didn’t think that was the case.

InuYasha came to his feet. “I’m going to get some fresh air.” He looked at Kagome and a faint blush marked his cheeks. “I’ll be back before lunch time.”

Kagome smiled at him.

He stepped out into the hall and noticed that the door didn’t close behind him. InuYasha turned to find that Kagome’s little brother had followed him and clearly wanted something.

“InuYasha, can I come with you? I want to talk to you about something man to man.” Souta said seriously.

If his tone hadn’t been an indication InuYasha would have realized that the kid was serious since he had never before called him by his full name, instead preferring to call him his dog brother, which InuYasha actually liked even if he did pretend it annoyed him.

“Sure.” InuYasha replied. He had wanted some time alone but surely whatever the kid had to say wouldn’t take too long.

Souta seemed to be deep in thought the entire time as they made their way outside and around the building. InuYasha stopped under a large tree that would be a suitable place to relax and think once Kagome’s brother went back inside.

He took a seat in the grass and sat back against the tree in his usual position, missing the weight of the Tetsusaiga against his shoulder. He had hated leaving it behind, to be guarded by Sango and Miroku, but there was no need for it here and Kagome’s mother explained to him that it would have to be left at the shrine or in the hotel since it would not be permitted in the hospital. It was too much of a risk to leave it totally unprotected, so it remained on the other side of the well.

Souta sat down and looked to be gathering his courage. “Why did you come here, really?”

InuYasha remained silent for a moment trying to come up with a suitable answer that didn’t require him to tell the boy things that he hadn’t yet told Kagome. “The bouzo, Miroku thought I might be able to wake Kagome like she woke me and then your mother told me the doctor thought I could help too, so I came because I wanted to help her get better.”

Souta nodded. “Is that the only reason? I mean I know you need sis to help you get the last shard, but is that all?”

“We’re friends and I know she’d have done the same for me.” InuYasha offered.

“Friends...” Souta said quietly looking at his hands. When he lifted his head however, gone was the look of uncertainly and hesitance from his eyes, having been replaced by a strange determined gleam, which reminded InuYasha of Kagome. “I know it isn’t really any of my business... I take that back. It is my business because Kagome is my sister and a really good one, too and maybe you’ll hate me after this, but I love my sister and I want her to be happy.

“Our father died and I wouldn’t even know what he looked like if it wasn’t for pictures. I know we have jii-chan, but I’m her brother and I have to look out for her. I... I don’t know anything about being grown up, not like you, or sis, and I don’t know much about the stupid reasons grown-ups hide behind to keep from admitting the truth to each other, but I do know my sister.

“It doesn’t matter that I don’t see her that often, or that I’m just a kid, we’re family and I can tell that she loves you. I mean she remembers you and no one else, not even mom. She didn’t even know her own name but she did yours. That has to mean something.

“I need to know that sis is safe with you, and not just from youkai. Be mad or call me a nosy brat, whatever you want, but first tell me... Why did you come?”

InuYasha stared at Souta and struck by a slight pain in his chest. He knew he would be damn lucky to be part of a family like this one. He knew her brother looked up to him and still out of concern for his sister he was willing risk making him angry.

“I came because Kagome is my best friend and the first person beside my mother to accept me as a hanyou.” InuYasha told him. “I would do anything for her, and even though in the past I’ve been a stupid asshole, it ain’t going to be like that anymore. Kagome is safe with me.”

Slowly Souta nodded. “All right then.” He got up and started to walk toward the building, but turned back. “Just no making out with my sister in front me. I don’t want to end up scarred for life.”

InuYasha sputtered as a blush rose to his cheeks and he could hear Souta’s laughter as he continued back to the hospital. He had to admit that Kagome’s little brother was pretty great, as far as annoying nosy brats went, that is. He laughed at himself.

Keh, you know you like the kid, might as well just leave it at that. In fact you like her whole family even that crazy old man and you want them to like you too, to accept you, and to be okay with you wanting to be with Kagome. You have to admit it would be nice to have a family, to belong to a family.

Yeah, it would.

~ * ~

True to his word InuYasha returned before the nurse arrived with Kagome’s lunch tray. He loved the way she smiled at him when he entered the room, as if he had made her day by simply being there. Her family left them to get some lunch for them selves and her mother promised to bring him something to eat when she returned.

InuYasha was surprised when it wasn’t Kagome’s mother that returned but her grandfather. Kagome was taking a nap and the old man smiled briefly at her sleeping form.

“Come speak with me.” He said quietly, setting the bag of food in one of the chairs.

Inwardly InuYasha sighed, but he stood and followed the old man out. They went down the hall to one of the vacant waiting rooms and her grandfather sat, motioning for InuYasha to do so as well.

“I won’t keep you from my granddaughter for too long.” Jii-chan started. “I know you would much rather be with her than listening to the ramblings of and old man who has on many occasions tried to purify you, but there are some things that must be said.

“Thank you for coming and for bringing our Kagome back to us. I know it is possible that she would have returned to us eventually had you not, but it is also equally as likely that she would have remained as she was.

“I admit that I was not thrilled to have a strange young hanyou come into my home and take my granddaughter to the past to fight youkai, but I also realize that even at my age I still have many things to learn. One being that you cannot judge a person based on what they are. To think that Kagome learned that lesson so long before I; Even Souta was able to realize this.”

"That is the problem with being as old as I am, you are sometimes far too set in your ways, to see past old beliefs, even when they are incorrect. I should have thanked you long ago for keeping Kagome from harm as she fulfills her destiny. You after all are not the one who sent her through the well but have been the one to see that she returns to us.

“I know how Kagome feels about you and must admit at first I wanted to seal the well, but I have come to realize that my wishes for Kagome’s life are not what is important, instead it is her wishes for herself that matter most, and above all else I wish for her happiness. As long as she is happy then I will support her decisions even if they are not always what I would have chosen for her.”

InuYasha was beyond words. The old man had basically given him his blessing to be with Kagome. He didn’t know what he had been expecting but that certainly wasn’t it. “We wish for the same thing Ojii-san.”

The old man smiled at InuYasha’s new, more respectful address of him. “You should return to my granddaughter. She’ll expect you to be there when she wakes and your meal is probably cold by now.”

InuYasha left and went back to Kagome’s room, grabbing the bag and setting it in his lap as he slung his legs over the side of the chair and leaned against the armrest.

Here with Kagome’s family... I couldn’t think of a better place to belong.