InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Love Will Have Its Way ❯ Love WIll Have Its Way ( Chapter 13 )

Sango sat unhappily with her `savior' from earlier, Shizu, and all of Shizu's friends. They had introduced her to the food court that was a prime teen hang out, and she swore she would rather have been at the nut house with that crazy girl than sitting here, watching Rika bat her eyelashes at Miroku. Who was, of course, giving her suggestive looks right back. If she watched this much longer, she was going to be sick! She slurped on her soda noisily in an attempt to distract her new `friend' from Miroku.

`Why do I care anyways? If that stupid Miroku wants to have every girl in every school, then that's his problem.' And besides, the girls seemed to like being groped and such, but Sango did not. *sigh* Then why did she get so jealous when he flirted with other girls? `Because he doesn't look at you the same way…'

This was true. In all her run-ins with Miroku at their old school, although he had groped her occasionally and said things, the look in his eyes was different - like she reminded him of someone else. Of course, he seemed very familiar to her too - like they'd known each other before. Maybe they'd spent time together as children… probably not. Miroku came from a rich, powerful family, and Sango, well… didn't. She loved her family, but sometimes the money ran thin.

Sango was jerked from her thoughts by a loud, twittery giggle from Rika. She had apparently missed something big, because soon the other girls were giggling to, and Miroku was wearing a big (rather perverted) grin on the other side of the large room.

`Damn, this is going to be a looonnnng day…'

As soon as the thought entered her head, she felt something - something strange. It felt like a pulse, right on her spine. Then another, stronger, that sent shivers up her spine. Then an even stronger one, that she actually heard in her head, and caused her spine to tingle so much that she sat straight up, nearly spilling soda on herself, and could not relax from the awkward upright position. Her breaths came in short gasps, and she started shivering. Everyone near her was staring at her odd behavior, but her eyes were locked on one other's: Miroku's. Unnoticed by his new friends, who were staring at Sango, he too had gone rigid, and was staring in fear at Sango. He too had felt the pulses, and knew that something strange was happening.

Suddenly, one giant pulse came, and the tingle on their spines seemed to explode like fireworks, exploding outwards all over their bodies, and they shuddered at the strange sensations. Then, Sango slumped slightly, panting. Her friends were asking her if she was ok, and someone was yelling to call for an ambulance. Sango looked up and met Miroku's eyes again, then averted her gaze, telling her friends she had to go, and ran off. Miroku made a similar excuse and followed her at a run. As soon as they left, the area filled with the murmuring of the confused and shocked people.

Sango just ran and ran. What was happening to her?!? Strange images were filling her mind, absorbing the person she was, and feeding her memories of someone else - someone from long ago. Another flash of images, and realization hit: her past life. Images passed through her mind of horrifying demons, of her body covered in scars and terrible wounds, of a little boy killing everyone she held dear, and dying himself… Kohaku… of her friends, of Kagome and Shippo and Inu-yasha and… and Miroku!

With that final image of Miroku's smiling face, she stopped running out of shock, for her full memory and person had returned to her. She turned around, and saw him running up to her. Saw him calling to her. Saw him registering the same remembrance of their past. Suddenly, she was in his arms, crying for all she was worth while nearly squeezing the life out of him in a monstrous embrace. He swirled her round, unable to find words to express his joy at seeing her again. Yes, again, for he had not seen her in this consciousness for hundreds of years.

"I can't believe this!" he cried. "Sango! My Sango! I remember you! Oh, I remember…"

Sango just cried in joy as she jugged him closer still.

Suddenly, Miroku pulled away, holding her at arm's length so he could look her in the face. His face, however, wore a question.

"Why… How do we suddenly remember? We're not supposed to remember…. So how….?"

With the tiniest of splashes, something wet landed on Miroku's arm. Then another landed on Sango's shoulder, then again on her head. Miroku looked past Sango's shoulder at the obviously blue sky.

"And another, milder mystery - where is this water coming from?" he looked straight up. "Kami! It's them! Hurry!"

Miroku ran into the building they were in front of, which happened to be a parking structure, and tore up the stairs. Sango looked up and saw them too - two people, hanging from the roof by a single arm. There wasn't a doubt in her mind as to who they were, and she followed Miroku's desperate dash up the stairs.

Moments later, Inu-yasha and Kagome were leaning against the slight wall on the roof, both trying to relax their shaking, stressed-to-the-max bodies. Miroku was staring at them both in shock. Sango was using her cell phone ("Oh the joys of modern technology!") to call an ambulance, because both of Kagome's arms were swelling and bruising in an ugly black and blue pattern, and the right arm was obviously broken, judging by the limp way that it hung and the fact that she couldn't move it. None of them had a car, so they had no way to get her to the hospital. Everyone had tears in their eyes. Even Inu-yasha.

Miroku put a hand on Kagome's shoulder, as touching her arms was out of the question, and tried to comfort and offer apologies at the same time.

"Kagome… How can I even ask for your forgiveness? I should have worked harder to rise above the modern consciousness during the drama class! But everything will be alright now… But what on earth happened? And why do we all… remember?"

Inu-yasha, still in shock, managed to raise his hand, showing Miroku the Shikon no tama (still glowing) that he held. But even as they watched, it seemed to be fading into it's own light. Everyone stared, even Sango, who was in the middle of her call, as the small orb gave one long, bright flash of white light, then disappeared. Kagome shivered.

"It's pure… it's gone for good…" she whispered.

Miroku looked down at his scarred hand, then up at Kagome. "Then… is this `happily ever after'?"

"Yeah…" Inu-yasha said, putting an arm around Kagome. "I guess so."

But Kagome struggled away, crying out in pain as she did so. Inu-yasha, fearing he'd hurt her, moved away quickly, looking at her with concern showing in his amber eyes.

"Sit!"

WHAM

"What the hell?!? What was that for, bitch! I just saved your goddamned life and purified the damn jewel, and you sit me?!?"

"How could you?" she hissed.

Her words hung in the air, which had grown strangely silent. Sango had been watching for the ambulance from the edge of the roof, her phone call over, but now she looked over at the two. The only thing breaking the silence was the ever-present whiz of cars below.

"Kagome-sama…?" Miroku asked cautiously, reverting back to his old habits under the tension in the air.

"How could you?" she repeated, glaring at them all in turn, although focusing mainly on Inu-yasha, as hot tears poured from her eyes. "Do you have any idea what HELLS you've put me through? First, I gave up everything to help you, to get the jewel, to save the world, and all that other crap. I lost friends, my family became distant, I was so behind in school, and everyone thought I was so sick and contagious that they wouldn't come near me! Then, I left and let you have Kikyo, even though it meant that I lost my remaining friends and my practically adopted son, just to come home and cry for years! Now, you all come back, push me to suicide, insult me, tell me that you still have dreams about Kikyo, then stop me from even having peace in death! When you held me just now, I thought I'd died! I thought I'd died and found you at last! And then, everyone suddenly remembers, and I'm just supposed to say `welcome fucking back!'?!?"

Everyone stared at the sobbing, outraged girl in shock. Suddenly, it donned on them that she had lived for years before they came back in these new bodies - it wasn't just yesterday that the quest had been finished. Sango ran over and grabbed the girl into her arms.

"Oh, kami-sama Kagome! I can't believe this! I'm so sorry!" she cried, rocking the girl back and forth. "We're all sorry that this happened…"

"Kagome…" she looked up at Inu-yasha, who had the saddest look on his face that she had ever seen him wear, and his intense internal pain showed through his teary golden eyes. "Kagome… I chose Kikyo because you had another life you needed to live, in another time that I could never possibly understand… I let you go, so you could be happy. I never meant for it to hurt you so much… And my dream of Kikyo! It was the one memory that I had of my past, that nothing could ever make me forget, even that spell - the day she shot me. Your death isn't something you easily forget, nor is the loss of the only friend you ever had. Kagome, I didn't mean to hurt you… not ever."

Kagome burst into fresh sobs, and Sango returned to rocking her small body back and forth, mindful of her shattered arms. The roof fell silent but for Kagome's sobs, and remained so until the sirens of the ambulance arrived below. Miroku suddenly yelled at Inu-yasha to cover his ears (the hanyou ones), and Sango dug into her bag for the bandana that she use for a hanky ("I only used it once! I swear, it's nearly clean!"). Inu-yasha had it tied on his head just in time. The paramedics came running up, but slowed seeing that no one was seriously injured.

Unfortunately, these happened to be the same paramedics that had been searching for Kagome until just recently.

"You!" cried one of the men, who looked very tired, like one who had done a great deal of running.

Kagome just looked at him. He took on a more guarded stance, and moved slowly towards them, whispering to his partner to radio for some police reinforcements.

"I heard that!" griped the hanyou, whose ears (even when smushed, poor puppy!) had caught the words. The paramedic gave him a funny look while his partner ran back down the stairs. Everyone stood or sat in tense silence, the two groups staring at each other. Then, Kagome closed her eyes and shivered. Sango didn't stop staring at the man, but hovered over Kagome like a protective mother.

"Please… can I get some pain killers or something?" Kagome said quietly, breaking the tense silence. "My arms hurt… they hurt a lot."

The paramedic took that as his cue that she wasn't going to bolt or try and cause him harm, though he watched her companions (especially that silver haired boy…) warily.

"I know I made quite a scene earlier," she continued, "and I probably caused you a lot of trouble. I'm very sorry, but I'm okay now. I'm not crazy like I thought I was. Everything's ok again - everybody's back, and it's going to be ok now. I just need to get my arms taken care of. Please…"

Finally, the paramedic led them down to the ambulance and began to treat her arms and the minor scrapes and such that she and Inu-yasha had collected. However, he demanded that she come to the hospital, and radioed that someone should call the counselor, Takuya.

A few hours, x-rays, drugs, and bandages later, Kagome sat in a small hospital room, waiting for the doctor to come give her some last instructions. Or so she had been told. Her friends sat in the room with her, refusing to leave her side during any of it. Especially Inu-yasha, who had been hovering nearby since she had indirectly forgiven him. He would watch Kagome like a hawk, always holding her hand and growling if they made Kagome's arms hurt too much. Kagome was very glad. It would be ok now, even though she needed explanations. Inu-yasha was here, and he would take care of her.

Now that the doctors had left, and it was just the four of them, he sat next to her with a comforting arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him, and she just leaned in and accepted the comfort. He was truly hers now, and really, always had been. It was so much for her tired mind to take in that she just lay there, and let the world pass over her.

As a matter of fact, Kagome was only aware of a few things. First, her whole body seemed to ache, despite the painkillers. Second, it was nearly midnight, and she had never been more exhausted in her life. As an amendment to this second awareness, she was also aware that she wouldn't be able to sleep, due to the information overload she had gotten. Thirdly, she was aware that Inu-yasha was holding her in a protective yet comforting arm while talking to Sango and Miroku about everything that had happened. She heard Shippo's name several times, for they had been very interested in hearing about him. After all, they hadn't seen him since he was practically a preteen.

And so, aware of those three things, Kagome lay awake but resting against Inu-yasha's shoulder. But even those things were starting to get hazy, as the rumble that Inu-yasha's chest made in her ear every time he spoke was lulling her towards sleep. However, the rest of them were aware of something else - a man, who had just come into the room. Kagome lay still, and didn't notice him at all. Not until the voices floating overhead mentioned her name.

"I see you three found Kagome," said the man's voice, which she now recognized as Takuya's. "And unless I'm much mistaken, you're all the transfer students, are you not? Can I get your names, please?"

Kagome looked up at the man as her friends answered. His eyes bugged wider with each name, and a sudden recognition seemed to hit when Inu-yasha introduced himself.

"Ah, I see. I like your new hair color, Inu-yasha. I assume you got that done this afternoon?"

Inu-yasha used his fall back reply of "feh!" as her remembered the earlier encounter (had that been just that morning?), when he had been a human.

"Mmm, I see," Takuya said with a practically transparent smile, for it was easy to see his fear. "Could I have a word with the three of you in the hall?"

Sango and Miroku looked wary, but proceeded out the door. Inu-yasha, however, refused to budge.

"Inu-yasha, I would just like a word with you regarding your, er, current situation."

"Kagome needs me here right now. She's scared, tired, cold, and she's hurting inside and out. I won't leave her alone right now. Are you a fool? You're supposed to be smart when it comes to people."

Kagome closed her eyes and smiled the tiniest of smiles, which didn't go unnoticed by Takuya, as she snuggled a little closer to Inu-yasha.

"I'm very sorry. You're right!" he said in a very unconvinced and nervous voice. "I'll just go speak with those two…"

A few moments later, Sango and Miroku returned, both wearing looks of worry and confusion on their faces. Inu-yasha raised his eyebrow in question, and Sango answered.

"He thinks Kagome's insane, and that we're just playing along. He said that we should stop and just leave her alone, or we'd just hurt her more." Kagome tensed at this, but Inu-yasha stroked her hair comfortingly.

"Well, that's a load of crap," he said in true Inu-yasha fashion.

"I must agree…" commented Miroku. "But then again, how do you say that she's right without being called crazy yourself? And how can we prove it? But I guess the most important thing now is to come up with a plan of action. He said he was coming back again tomorrow to discuss treatments, and that we should get in contact with her mother. I guess that explains why they put you in a room with a bed," he continued, turning to Kagome. "They plan on keeping you over night - the doctor came and told us while we were out there. He says it's just for extra observance, but…"

Kagome merely nodded, but Inu-yasha looked very upset. It was obvious they were keeping her here for safety reasons, having nothing to do with her injuries.

"How can you all be so calm?!? They're going to try and put her away as a nutcase, and she's not! We have to protect her!" he yelled at them.

Sango snapped.

"Do you think we don't know this?!?" she hissed in barely contained anger. "We know she needs to be protected, and somehow we will protect her. We just don't have a plan yet. But we will get one, and we won't let her be locked away."

Kagome, who had been leaning on Inu-yasha's shoulder, seemingly in her own world, spoke without moving from her position.

"Thank you…" A gentle whisper, addressed to no one and everyone at the same time. Thank you to them for caring. Thank you to Fate for returning them. Thank you for her sanity. Thank you for her Inu-yasha…

Sango looked at the girl and gave her a tired smile while Miroku nodded as he leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. Inu-yasha, who had been tense from yelling, relaxed again and pulled her closer. Then he suddenly stood up, carrying Kagome with him, and moved from the end of the bed up to the pillows and made the bed move into a sitting position (gotta love the cool hospital beds).

Then, he pulled Kagome up next to him so he, on his side, could watch over her as she lay on her back, cuddled up to him for warmth. Sango and Miroku were rather surprised at how Inu-yasha was acting almost… affectionate. Then, Sango remembered that they still needed to contact Kagome's mother and whipped out her cell phone. After Kagome recited her phone number, Sango stepped into the hall, accompanied by Miroku, who was on a quest for the cafeteria. It had been a long day, and he was hungry! Sango accompanied him in his search as she talked on the phone.

When Mrs. Higurashi arrived half an hour later, she walked into the room to find four sleeping teens. The two that she didn't know (though she could guess that the girl was the `Sango' that had called) were sitting on the floor. Sango had her head on the boy's shoulder, and a cup of cold-looking coffee in her hands. The male had his arm around her, and they both seemed very happy and wore faint smiles in their sleep.

But Mrs. Higurashi was stunned to see who was lying on the bed with her daughter. It was Inu-yasha. Inu-yasha, who her daughter had wept for. Inu-yasha, who her daughter was called insane for. Inu-yasha, who had Kagome pulled close to him from behind, their bodies spooning together, with Kagome's heavily bandaged arms lying on the small space remaining on the bed. Mrs. Higurashi let out a cry of joy, but stifled it before any of the teens awoke. Then, she pulled up the chair next to her daughter's bed and fell asleep herself, with tears of joy in her eyes.

The next morning, Kagome awoke in Inu-yasha's arms. She held still, fearing that he would wake and the warm embrace would break, but he was already awake and thinking the same thing. When he realized that she was awake, he hugged her closer. His acute hearing told him that they were the only ones in the room, and when he opened a single, golden eye, he saw a note written and put on the pillow just above their heads. He lifted his head and read that Sango and Miroku had taken Mrs. Higurashi for a cup of coffee and a long explanation, as well as to intercept Takuya and talk with him, saying they had a plan.

Kagome sighed when she felt his head move. He was awake, which meant an end to the embrace. She went limp, and waited for it to come.

But it didn't. He merely hugged her tighter.

"Kagome… do you know how much I missed you?" He whispered in her ear. "You were gone, and there was no point in living…"

Kagome lowered her head a little.

"What about Kikyo?"

"She was gone the same night as you. But Kagome, if anything, she reminded me more of you, and the differences between you, than the other way around. She never smiled like you, never had that joy…. It would never have been the same. I wanted you, Kagome."

"So you killed yourself? Inu-yasha, I left so you could be happy… not so you could kill yourself!"

"But I didn't…. I wandered around a bit, but I was bored and I missed you. So then, I found this old witch with a ton of power. She cast a spell on me that would send me to where my love was, so we would be together forever."

"But you didn't remember… and I almost killed myself because of it."

"She told me there was that risk. That I would have to fight to remember. I was fighting, Kagome - fighting the past that this world gave me, fighting to make this mind and body remember. But the Shikon no tama gave me the last burst of power I needed to remember. As we were hanging there, I wished that our friends would come and help us, help you. I went to school with them, so the inner me - the one that was trying to get out - knew that they had been reborn, but didn't remember either. I wished they would come and remember. And they did."

There was silence then, but Kagome's body was shaking, and Inu-yasha could smell the oncoming tears.

"Kami-sama, Inu-yasha…." She turned her head so she could almost see him. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too, Kagome-chan," he whispered back, kissing the back of her neck (since turning her over might hurt her).

Kagome sighed in contentment and leaned her head back against Inu-yasha. Then, they drifted off to sleep, and were found in the same position, both smiling, an hour later when the triumphant friends and family returned.

Kagome and Inu-yasha both had a dream. It was so similar to that last night in Sengoku Jidai, and the words were ringing in their minds. They were under the Goshinboku, and it was a gorgeous night. They were standing and facing each other, but this time, there was no Kikyo, and no one was fading. Kagome was crying tears of joy, and Inu-yasha was smiling and wiping her tears away. And all around them, those three lines were sounding…

~Fate has found itself~

~Destiny righted itself~

~And Love has had its way~

~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

There will be an epilogue! I still have a lot of explaining to do, I know! But I will! And look, I even wrote fluff! See that fluff?!? I'm not a very good fluff writer, sorry… but it's there!!!! And look how long this chapter is! I think it makes up for the long wait, don't you? Btw, sorry about that… lol. I wanted this chapter to be perfect! And I still don't think it is, but it's good enough!

Until next time!

~~Koneko-chan~~