InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Fate's Hands ❯ Revival ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and its characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Not me.

In Fate's Hands - Chapter One

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Revival

"Ayumi-chan!"

Higurashi Kagome threw open the door and burst into the ward, her right arm hugging a bouquet of flowers that was much bigger than the size of her head. There she stood in the doorway, one hand still lingering over the handle of the door, with bright eyes, flushed cheeks and tousled hair. She beamed upon the girl lying in a bed in the furthest corner of the room, who smiled and waved happily back. The joyous and relieved expression on Kagome's face fade as she realized that all eyes in the ward were now on her, most of them giving her looks of scorn and disparagement.

"Uh… sorry!" Kagome said hastily, as she skipped over to Ayumi and thrust the huge bouquet into her outstretched arms. She plopped down into the chair that was placed beside the bed and reached out a hand to poke Ayumi's leg, which was in a sling and suspended above the bed.

"Thanks, Kagome," Ayumi said, half-laughing as she bent her head slightly to sniff the fresh flowers. "You sure caused an awesome sensation, bursting in like that."

Kagome grinned.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Ayumi replied. Then she frowned, pushing her large spectacles further up her nose. "Yuka and Eri didn't come?"

"They had some additional classes after school and took off immediately," Kagome informed her.

Ayumi yawned. "I'm so glad you came to visit me, Kagome. This is the first time in my life that I've longed to go back to school. Being in this hospital ward has just shown me how boring this place is as compared to school. Well," here she quickly lowered her volume as she caught sight of one of the stern nurses glaring at her, "well, everyone here in this ward is so boring. If only I could get transferred to the kid's ward or something. Ah… fat hope."

Kagome could feel her gaze wandering to the sleeping patient whose bed lay next to Ayumi's.

"That guy… he looks like a punk. And he looks our age, too," she observed.

Ayumi sighed.

"Yes, he's only about one year older than us, so I've heard. The problem with him is that he's been in that very same state ever since I moved in."

Kagome blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. He's probably in a coma or something. Just look at all those wires connected to him. One of the nurses mentioned that he's been lying that way for months and months. A year even…"

Kagome could not help taking a closer look at this comatose boy. He did look like a punk, with that long silver hair that spread out over his pillow. Of course he had bleached it - there was no other reason for the colour of his hair. His eyes were closed; he looked peaceful, as though he were only asleep instead of fighting for his consciousness. Kagome felt a strange new sensation awaken within her as she gazed at this strange face, and she drew in a quick breath.

Who… who is this guy…?

"A penny for your thoughts, Kagome."

Kagome blinked, and turned back to Ayumi, who dusted her glasses on her clothes before putting them on again. She grinned her usual toothy grin at Kagome. "Oh, Kagome. You've fallen in love with the handsome sleeping prince. Now the enchanted kiss is needed to awaken the Sleeping Hunk."

Kagome laughed at the absurdity of this sentence.

"Nah, I'm just curious."

Ayumi hit her playfully on the arm.

"And I'm curious about what's going on at school!"

"Patience is a virtue, my dear Ayumi."

Kagome began talking to Ayumi, telling her about who-was-going-out-with-whom, as usual, and complaining about teachers, the heavy amount of schoolwork and projects piled on the students, and whining over the teachers that constantly bullied her and plagued her life. Yoriko listened intently, barely interrupting her friend. Occasionally their conversation was broken as their giggles got out of control, gaining them glares from the patients and nurses around them.

Neither of them was aware that an old nurse watched them both as they conversed.

She was dressed in plain white, and was slightly on the plump side. Wrinkles lined her large face, and her graying hair was pulled into a tight bun. The most peculiar thing about her appearance was that she wore a pirate's eye patch over her left eye. Her thin mouth now twitched at the edges as she eyed this girl called Kagome, whose cheerful disposition and general appearance bore such great resemblance to someone she knew very well.

Ayumi was sighing now. "I'm so sorry about the weekend trip, Kagome. If I hadn't broken my leg, the four of us would have been able to go there together."

"Ah… why are you apologizing to me? It was Yuka who organized this trip for us, not me. Besides, like I've said, it isn't your fault that you broke your leg."

"But I feel so guilty, especially about Yuka's uncle. He had made all the arrangements, cleaned out the rooms and drawn up so many plans for us - and then the whole thing had to be cancelled because of me. Because of me, you, Natsumi and Miyuki-chan couldn't go there to have fun."

Ayumi had always been the sweetest and purest-hearted out of them four. Her large, wide eyes framed by even her even bigger glasses further brought out her innocence. She tended to get depressed and anxious easily over the most trivial matters too, for these same reasons. She was a little paranoid as well, and was always putting others before self.

"Never mind about that, Ayumi. Right now your main priority is to get yourself well. Stop troubling yourself!"

Ayumi swallowed and took in a deep breath. "I'm actually pretty scared, Kagome-chan. What if my leg never fully recovers? Then I'd never be able to run again…?"

Kagome took Ayumi's hand.

"Don't worry, Ayumi. I think you're worrying too much; you just broke your leg, that's all. By next week you should be able to return to school, and everything will go back to normal."

Ayumi smiled.

"I hope."

"I know."

Footsteps approached. The nurse, looking rather out of place with that accessory over her left eye, stopped beside the bed of the silver-haired young man. Kagome and Ayumi immediately turned their volume down by a few more notches. The pair looked up warily at the nurse, who had one eye fixed on Kagome before she turned away. Kagome felt unnerved; the nurse's gaze had been curious and scrutinizing, as though summing her up entirely. She had a sudden feeling that the nurse had been watching her for a very, very long time.

"Kagome… we'll go on that weekend trip, won't we?" Ayumi spoke softly.

"Stop saying that like you're reaching the end of your life," Kagome responded, her voice low. "Remember that pact we made as children?"

"Of course."

"Remember. Remember what we promised…"

Silence descended on the entire ward after these words were spoken. Yoriko only smiled and nodded.

The old nurse frowned, and stepped closer to the machines connected to the comatose patient. A frown formed on her wrinkled face as she peered, squinting slightly at the readings. Something stirred in the air, and the old nurse could feel the forces that were at work, the change that had begun.

Something was different. Not necessarily something wrong, but something different.

"I miss candy," Ayumi was saying.

"I'll go down to the lobby and get some for you right now," Kagome said, grinning mischievously from ear to ear. Ayumi winked back and gave a tiny little wave as Kagome walked briskly toward the door. Her hand lay gently on the handle. She smiled to herself, knowing that Ayumi had the sweetest tooth out of all of them. She finished about six packets of sweets and candy daily. It was a wonder that she hadn't contracted diabetes yet after going through the same routine for at least ten years now.

Eyelids lifted, and bright yellow eyes gazed upwards at the ceiling.

The nurse stumbled backwards in surprise, and heads swung round to look.

"He's awake!"

A/N: Yes, this is my very first AU fic. Let us remember this date. *rolls eyes* Heh. I've had incredible fun planning and working on this story, which shall follow very closely with the events of the anime/manga itself. Please read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome; I'd like to know what you think of this.

Additional stuff: Thank you, reviewers! ^^ I've just edited this first chapter to make it more descriptive and less… lame. O_o I hope you think it's better now. And yes, I know a comatose patient lying next to a girl with a broken leg may not be the most logical thing in the world, but, oh… well.

Edit: Major revision on this chapter, in which I switched the names of Kag's friends. ^_^ I finally knew their names…!