InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Wake Me Up Inside ❯ Chapter 11
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 10.23.2004 | Updated On: 11.07.2004 | Pages: 11 | Words: 11.5K | Visits: 1.8K | Status: Completed
Wake Me Up Inside
Chapter 11
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Beth had accompanied Kagome and Sherry on the journey to the young girl's house. There, the nurse lent support in the attempt to convince Sherry's uncle to let her go to a slumber party at Beth's house. The man shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head before telling Sherry to hurry up and pack.
An hour later, the three arrived at Beth's farm house in the spacious middle Tennessee countryside. Beth had led the way in her large silver F-150 pick-up truck while Kagome and Sherry followed in Kagome's little blue Corolla. They both had looks of awe upon their faces as they stepped out of the car and looked around at the place Beth called home.
There was a large aging three-story farm house with wood siding of fading white. The shutters were a crackled hunter green color. There was a wrap-around covered front porch with most of the furniture being handmade out of branches. A bench swing hung from the ceiling on the right end. The house itself had four first story windows, five on the second story with the middle being made of stained glass, and two poking out of the roof hinting at a third floor attic.
Surrounding the house were three white fenced pastures. A cute red stable barn sat to the left of the house. It's shutters, roof, and copula were a charcoal gray. Tree clusters dotted the property providing spots of shade. A few boulders lay here and there to add flavor.
"I've been working the past few years on sprucing the place up a bit. I got around to painting the fences and barn over the summer. And a friend of my cousin made the stained glass window for me. I plan on getting the house repainted next year when the weather gets warm enough," Beth commented as she watched them drink in the sight of the place.
"It's gorgeous, Beth!" Kagome exclaimed with a wide smile.
"I agree! So big. So old. So pretty!" Sherry cried out gleefully.
At that moment, the sounds of barking were heard. Seconds later, two large dogs, one gold and one black, came scampering out to greet their owner. Seeing the visitors, they sped right past Beth and over to the guests to check them out. Sherry instantly shied behind Kagome.
"Shadow, Midas, calm down. Don't be so pushy," Beth scolded, shoving them back. "They won't hurt you, Sherry. I promise. They're nice doggies."
"They're big," Sherry commented, staying put. "W-we never had any doggies in the house. Only kitties."
"Ohhhh, I get it," Beth nodded.
"Hey, don't forget that I'm here. I've handled the sons of the demon `Leader of Dogs', so these two are easy," Kagome said to Sherry with a wink. Beth grinned, picking up on the tactic.
"Uhhhh…" Sherry looked at her feet. Kagome reached her hands out to let the dogs check out her scent. Both sniffed and snuffled at the offered hands. A moment later, they yipped and bumped the hands with their noses and heads, begging for petting as wagging tails became a blur. Kagome giggled.
"These two are friendly. You've got nothing to worry about. If they didn't like you, they would have let you know it by now. Which they haven't, so they think you're cool," the miko said. Sherry thought over Kagome's words then shyly offered out a hand. The two dogs sniffed at it then began squabbling with each other over who got attention from the little girl. Sherry made a face and put out both hands. This seemed to make the dogs happy. She finally smiled if only a little bit.
"See? Nothing to worry about," Beth smiled.
"I guess so. It'll just take me some getting use to I suppose," the girl said softly.
"Okay. We can cal truce on that one," the nurse grinned. "Grab your bags and come on in. The sooner we get you two settled, the sooner you can see the horses."
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about you saying you got horsies!" Sherry blurted, reverting to her former cheer as she grabbed her bags. Kagome laughed and grabbed hers as well before locking up the car. The dogs took to chasing each other wildly around the yard while Beth lead the way into the house.
Inside the house, one could immediately feel the age lingering. It had that old house smell and was full of antiques that gave the place an abundance of charm and flavor. Beth first lead her guests up the staircase to the second floor. Sherry chose a room decorated in pink and purple floral motifs. Kagome chose a room of blue and gold with a celestial theme. After dropping their bags in their rooms, Beth gave them a tour of the house starting with the second floor.
There were five bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second floor of the house. Beth's room was mauve and crème colored with horses and dogs ruling the theme. Of the two remaining bedrooms, one was blue and crème with a sea theme, the other was full of greens and dark woods giving an earthy look. In Beth's room, the girls were shown a small walk-in closet with a secret door in the back panel leading to a secret room in the middle of the house. The room was wallpapered in newspaper and it held documents, pictures, and other objects that were from the days when the house was built or from the house itself.
After leaving the secret room, Beth lead them to the attic door. The attic, they found, was similar to old attics shown in movies. Though Beth had made and effort to keep the dust minimal. Trunks and boxes sat everywhere. One corner held an old stand alone mirror that had no place currently. The windows gave picturesque views of the property. Upon heading back down to the second floor, the guests found a pair of large photographs on the wall that were taken out of those attic windows.
"Wow, you're really talented, Beth," Kagome commented.
"Thanks. Remind me later to pull out the stash of shots I've done with Romeo as my model," Beth giggled back.
"So noted. You've peaked my interest," Kagome grinned.
On the first floor, they were shown the formal living room, the dining room, the kitchen, the den, and the library. The living room was mostly decorated with antiques. Old paintings decorated the walls. The dining room had an expandable table made of cherry. The china cabinet, also made of cherry, displayed a china set that was an obvious inheritance worth a pretty penny. Pictures on the walls were photos of orchards, foods, and charming gardens. The kitchen was a mix of old and new. The cabinets were new yet made to look old. The appliances were all black to match the old cooking hearth that still existed in functioning order. The den was a cozy sitting place filled with plushy sofas and recliners circling a large coffee table made out of half an old wine barrel and a circular piece of beveled glass. In one corner sat a large TV with a DVD player, VCR, and an already out-dated yet still much loved Super Nintendo console. Another corner held the stereo system along with drawers of CDs, cassettes, DVDs, VHS tapes, and SNES cartridges. Finally, there was the library which had built in bookshelves and a secretary desk sitting beneath a large window looking out at a horse pasture.
Moving on, Beth escorted them down another set of stairs to the cellar. The basement was divided into five sections. There was a fully stocked wine cellar. Beth seemed to keep a little bit of everything. A few bottles were even antiques like many other things in the house. Another section was made into a storage area for things needing to always be in a cool place. One wall of the storage area held a built in shelving unit storing food stuffs like jellies, onions, potatoes, and other pantry items. One area was made into a sitting nook that looked like it belonged on a boat. There was a small bookshelf on one wall. Another wall held old maps and a ship's wheel. Then a third wall held a built in unit of drawers and cupboards with a comfy set of two bunk beds built in the center. It was a perfect place to spend a stormy night. Then, finally, there was a completely closed off room that turned out to be a full fledged dark room for Beth's photography.
"How on earth did you come to own such a cool place?" Kagome asked.
"About eight years ago, my uncle had bought it from the family that had originally owned it. Apparently the sons had sold the place for cash. Lord knows why. Anyway, he saw the place up for sale and jumped at the chance to own such an old house. He did a lot of the restoration work himself. He fixed the chimneys and got the fire places to working. The one in the kitchen had been a mess. He did a lot of other stuff too. Then about three years ago, his health started to fail rapidly after a bad heart attack. He knew he was going and made me promise to take care of the place for him. Then about seven months after the first attack, a second one took him to be with his wife," Beth explained.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Kagome said.
"I'm sure he's happy. He's with his wife, and you're doing a really good job of taking care of the house for him," Sherry grinned. Beth smiled.
"Yes, I agree, Sherry. I keep fixing this place up in his memory. He loved old things, that's why there's so many antiques around here," Beth said.
Leading back out of the basement, Beth took them back outside and over to the barn. Inside the charming barn, they found four horse stalls. In the back was a tack room and a storage area for the feed. The tabby cat mewed and abandoned it's perch on a hey bail to hide as Beth lead through a door next to the tack room. Kagome and Sherry found themselves coming outside to stand next to a corral. In the corral was a misty ash gray mare and her slightly darker colt. The moment he saw them, the colt was bee-lining to check them out.
"He's so cute! His name is Spectre, right?" Sherry asked happily. The colt's ears twitched in response to his name.
"Yep, it is," Beth nodded. "Hey there, monster," she chuckled as she reached out to pet the foal. Spook snorted as she lazily wandered over to greet her owner and visitors. Sherry let out a fit of giggles when the mare nuzzled her cheek in a motherly manor.
"Wow. They're really friendly," Kagome said as she reached out to pet the mare's forehead.
"Well, Spook can be picky over who she likes and doesn't like. Normally, she doesn't care too much for the repair guys that I have come over to do handy man stuff. But females, she's okay with and she loves children. I knew she'd make a good mother because she's always so good with the neighbor's kids who come here from time to time," Beth told them.
"Ahh, I see. Well, you know what, Spook? There are many gross, smelly, rude, nasty guys out there that I don't much care for either. So I totally agree with you," Kagome told the mare with a nod. Spook swished her tail and gave a soft whinny. Beth and Sherry laughed as well.
"Here, Spectre doesn't eat any people food but Spook's a sucker for green apples," Beth said as she took out a granny apple she'd grabbed from the kitchen and handed it to the child. "Hold your hand out flat then offer the apple in the center of your palm. That way you won't get accidentally bit."
"K. Here Spook. Yummy apple," Sherry grinned as she took the apple and offered it to the mare the way she was told. Spook greedily took the apple and lost herself in the joy of messily chomping on the delicious fruit. "Ewwww… Messy!" Sherry giggled while watching the horse eat the apple. Kagome and Beth both grinned, a similar humorous `eww' face appearing on Kagome.
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`God, I hate that song,' Inuyasha thought as he listened to "I Can See Clearly Now" by Jimmy Cliff play on the radio. `Makes me wanna put my head through a brick wall. What's worse is the fact that I can't put my head through a brick wall. Literally. Neither can I turn that damned song off!' he grumbled irritably.
The time was approaching six in the evening. Mark had groan tired of carrying a one person conversation and left fifteen minutes ago. Beth's night time replacement, Brad, had already come to put the coma patient through the routine hourly `torture session' and left. Unfortunately, he also left the radio playing. How a male nurse could like such insanely irritating music as this station played, Inuyasha hadn't the faintest clue.
`Damn Pansy,' the hanyou huffed in a now thoroughly sour and surly mood. Then, his ears picked up sounds of chatter in familiar voices coming from the hall.
"Hey, hey, hey, Yue!" came a familiar male voice. "Dude, that rhymed. Kickass!"
"Dude! You're not funny! Lameass!" came another male voice.
"Guys, let's at least try to get along for a little while. For Yue's sake? It's not fair that he can't get up and smack the both of you like he use to!" a third male voice scolded.
Three young men, all around the same age as Yue entered the room. The first one who had spoke was around 5'7 with dark chocolate hair, caramel eyes, and Japanese features. He was dressed in a black shirt with a green dragon on the front, khaki cargo pants, and green converse shoes with black laces. Though he was moderately built, the baggy clothing hid his figure well. The second one who spoke was 6'2 with a basketball player's build. His hair was done in a two inch spiky style and dyed bleach blond with streaks of cobalt blue, lime green, and black. His eyes sparkled a piercing green. As for clothing, the tall rude boy was dressed in a white Southpark t-shirt and navy blue jeans with black Nikes on his feet. The third boy stood at 5'10 with dirty blond hair and eyes of teal. He wore a gray button-up shirt with black jeans and well-worn black cheapo sneakers.
`Well I'll be damned if it ain't the Three Stooges! Keito, Davy, and Zach. You boys seriously have no idea how glad I am that yall came!' mused the mind of the young man these three men knew as Yue.
"Good bloody GOD!! Who the hell ever thought it cool to torture him with this stupid song?!" came Keito's voice once again as he crossed the room to shut the radio off.
"Good question," Dave said with a snort and a disgusted frown.
"Maybe they were trying one of those tactics where they try to piss the patient off," Zach offered peacefully.
`Okay, then again, maybe you boys do know a thing or two,' Inuyasha, AKA Yue, retracted.
"Hey, where'd this come from?" Zach asked as he stepped over to the bedside and picked up the fuzzy black teddy bear.
"Maybe that kid gave it to him," Dave shrugged.
"Sounds like something Sherry would do," Keito nodded.
"You should be nicer to her, Dave. She's lost both her parents by now," Zach chided sternly.
"Whatever, Suga," Dave returned with a cool smile of sarcasm.
"Actually, I agree. For someone who's just a little kid, she has been here a lot for Yue. Even though she doesn't know him," Keito pointed out. "Ya gotta remember that Yue doesn't have a whole lot of people coming to visiting him very much anymore. And if the kid did finally come back to see him, the that shows she damn well has a hell of a lot more worth than the rest of the high school hobos we use to call `friends'!"
"All right, you've got a point there," Dave said sourly as he thought about all the people that had once flocked to Yue's side, only to begin deserting him after a month.
"Let's also consider Yue's feelings, guys. For all we know, he might like the kid. She does worship him after all. So, with all the time that she's spent coming here, he might think of her as a little sister," Zach told them. "I certainly wouldn't mind have'n someone like her for a little sister. My brothers are brats."
"Fine. I'll shut up about the kid!" Dave said as he through up his hands in defeat. He may be an antagonizing pain-in-the-ass by nature, but he did have morals. He knew that Yue treated his closest friends like family. If the girl did truly mean something to Yue, then for Yue's sake, he was certainly more than willing to keep his mouth shut.
Inside his dark prison, Inuyasha warmly smiled, `Yes, Sherry means a lot to me. And so do the three of you. When I'm finally free, if Kagome hasn't already, I promise I will tell you three my story. Yall deserve to know the truth about who I am, now that I can remember it myself.'
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After dinner, Kagome, Beth, and Sherry donned their pajamas before gathering in the den. Now they sat sinking into the sofa cushions telling silly stories over bowls of ice cream. Kagome finished hers and sat it aside. Glancing at the clock, she frowned.
"Hey, Beth?" the miko interjected once an opening appeared in the conversation about funny things animals do.
"Hmm?"
"Do you mind if I use your phone?"
"Not at all, go right ahead," Beth replied with a smile and a shrug.
"Okay. I'll be back," Kagome said before getting up and heading upstairs. After retrieving her phone card, Kagome returned downstairs to snatch up the phone. She dialed the numbers for the phone card then punched in the memorized number for home. As the phone rang, she stared at the pictures on the wall connecting the den to the kitchen, dining room, and library.
"Moshi, moshi," answered a youthful male voice on the other end.
"Moshi, moshi, Souta," Kagome greeted with a grin in her voice. Sherry gasped recognizing the name as the brother Kagome had talked about over dinner. But the rest of the conversation was mostly lost on the young girl and the nurse as it was spoken in the miko's native language.
"How goes college life, Sis?" Souta asked.
"It goes," Kagome answered with a nervous nibble to his lip. "How about you? How'd the last soccer game go, Champ?"
"It went great! We whooped their butts 5 to zip!" Souta cheered.
"Oh, awesome! Congratulations!" Kagome grinned.
"Thanks, Sis."
"I really don't mean to be a spoil sport, but can I talk to Mom? I have something I need to talk to her about," Kagome begged gently.
"Oh, okay. Sure, Sis. Hold on, let me go find her," the boy responded. A minute later, the phone crackled a bit as it was passed from one hand to the next.
"Kagome?"
"Hi Mama. How are things at the fort? How's Grampa?"
"Oh, things are going fine. Grandfather is doing well. He just finished covering the house in new spiritual wards. He deems it once again safe from evil spirits."
"That sounds like him," Kagome mused with amusement in her voice.
"How about yourself, Dear? How are classes going?"
"Oh, classes are going fine. That's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Umm, it's something Souta will need to hear too. But you're good at handling the passing on of this kind of news with delicacy," Kagome said with a slight wince.
"Oh? What is it?" her mother replied with a tone of carefully managed worry.
"Mama, it's about Inuyasha." Kagome took a deep breath, then spit out her point, "Mama.. I've found him."
"Oh my! That's wonderful, Dear," then Mama paused. "There's more, isn't there?"
"Yes. I'm not exactly sure how best to say this-"
"Tell me, he's not…"
"No. He's not dead," Kagome let out a small laugh. "But, he's not well either. I'm not sure how best to say this, so.. I'll tell it like I learned it." She took another deep breath, though this one was far more ragged than the last. "You remember my telling you about the field trip I was suppose to take?"
"Yes."
"We went on it Wednesday to the Helping Hands Hospice. There, we were broken up into groups and assigned to a nurse to help with duties tending to one patient. To make a long story short, I wound up getting assigned to help take care of a young Japanese man about my age. They told me he's twenty three years old and named Yue. They said when he was seventeen, he was in a car crash caused by a drunk driver. Though his body recovered just fine, he slipped into a coma. He's apparently been like that ever since. But Mama…"
"Go on, Dear."
"When I stepped into the room, it was a human form Inuyasha that I saw in that bed. Though he wore modern clothing, Yue looked exactly as he did the last new moon night I spent with Inuyasha. What's more, he wears Inuyasha's rosary. They say that appeared around his neck two years ago, yet none of them know how it got there," Kagome told her mother. There was a brief moment of silence passing over the phone as Mrs. Higurashi let the information sink in.
"My guess is that since Yue has living parents, that he's Inuyasha's reincarnation. I've found the reincarnations of Sango and Miroku too. And I'm thinking that the ultimate reason for the coma is so that there would be no chance of Yue meeting Inuyasha during his many trips to modern time. It would sort of explain why the rosary appeared after the well was sealed. But what I can't figure out is why he didn't wake after that," Kagome elaborated.
"That is certainly a puzzle. But other than being in a coma, you say that he's all right?"
"Yes. His body fully recovered from the accident. His nurse, Beth O'Connor, takes really good care of him so that he'll be able to bounce back from being bedridden for so long. Ironically, I've decided that Beth is Sango's reincarnation. Miroku is a guy named Mark Aston that works as a janitor at one of the campus restaurants, though he hasn't met Yue. He will soon though. There's one other person that hangs around Yue. She's a little ten year old girl named Sherry. Her mom use to be in a room down the hall for a few years before passing away. I've been told that Yue's never met her, but she started visiting him along with her mother several years ago. She seems to have miko abilities like I do and claims to be able to feel the auras of Inuyasha and the rosary. She's become quite attached to Yue and shows a great deal of intelligence. So I told both her and Beth my story with Inuyasha this afternoon. Sherry's helping me work through this mess of a puzzle just as much as Beth is."
"Incredible," Mama replied. "With friends like that, I'm sure it will only take a little time for you to solve this problem. Inuyasha has always been a strong one, has he not? Have a little faith in him, Dear. I'm sure, wherever his spirit is, he's fighting just as hard as you are."
"Thanks, Mama. Sherry said something similar to that earlier today. Actually, she seems to think that it's a seal that holds Inuyasha back. I have to say, the idea sounds pretty good. She also seems to think that he might be quite aware of the things that go on around him. So, maybe there might be a light at the end of the tunnel that I just can't see yet," Kagome said.
"Perhaps so, Dear. In any case, I'm glad you're finally finding some friends to chum with. I was worried about you there for a while."
"Thanks, Mama. Actually, I'm talking from Beth's house. She invited Sherry and I out for a slumber party and weekend shopping spree in Nashville. Mama, you should see this place! It's gorgeous! She lives out in the country on a little farm. The house is an old farmhouse from the 1800s that her uncle bought and partially restored. She took over renovating and caring for it after he died. The place is huge! It has two regular stories, a third floor attic like in movies, and a neat little storm cellar in the basement!" Kagome piped cheerfully as she passed her eyes over the walls of the house. Sherry and Beth seemed lost in a different conversation in the den.
"Wow. You'll have to send me pictures," Mama said with a smile clearly audible in her voice.
"Oh, I will! Actually, Beth could probably take them. She does photography as a hobby and even has a dark room in the basement!" Kagome said. "Oh yeah, and she has horses. She's got a gray mare named Spook and a little colt named Spectre. There's also two dogs: a black Labrador named Shadow, and a golden retriever named Midas. There's a gray tabby cat that lives in her barn, but it's not very human friendly yet. Maybe I can change that for her," she giggled.
"Oh, dear! It does sound like a wonderful place. I'm glad you're finally having some fun. You certainly need and deserve it," Mrs. Higurashi praised.
"Mama…"
"Come now. Admit it. You work yourself too hard, Dear," Mama argued gently.
"I suppose you're right," Kagome conceded.
"I know I am," her mother laughed.
"Anyway, now you know why I was reluctant to tell Souta. I'm sure you'll be able to explain the news to him in a more careful manner than I can. He idolizes Inuyasha so much, I just can't bare to let this news hurt him anymore than absolutely necessary," the miko said, returning to her base reason for the call.
"Don't worry about it, Kagome, dear. I'll handle it. I'm glad you were considerate enough to think to tell me first. You're right about this being a touchy subject for Souta. I'll be sure to use care when telling him," her mother replied.
"Thanks, Mama. I really appreciate it."
"Of course, Dear. You know I would do anything for you."
"Yes, Mama. I know," Kagome smiled.
"Would you like me to send out the pictures and things you collected?"
"Oh my! Would you please? I hadn't even thought about that yet. But-"
"Think nothing of it, Dear. I'll have them sent out to you as soon as I can."
"Oh, thank you, Mama! You're wonderful!"
"I love you too, Dear. Now, get back to your friends. I'm sure they'll be missing you already," Mama laughed.
"I love you too, Mama. Give Souta and Grampa hugs for me, please?"
"Will do. Take care, Dear."
"You too, Mama. Bye."
"Good bye, Kagome."
Kagome heaved a great sigh of relief as she felt a heavy burden suddenly vanish from her shoulders. Mama always did know just exactly what to say to cheer her up. Putting the phone away, the miko returned to the den smiling.
"I take it everything's going okay?" Beth asked.
"Thankfully yes," Kagome answered, switching back to the English language. "Mama said she would tell Souta what's happened for me. She's always been so good with things like that. She always knows what to say."
"That's great," Beth grinned.
"She sounds nice," Sherry commented with a soft smile.
"Yes, Mama's very nice. I told her about you and how you kept coming back to see Yue. She thinks you're a pretty cool little girl," Kagome chuckled.
"Really?" Sherry inquired with a gasp.
"Yep," the miko nodded. "Mama said that she's going to send me out some things I'd collected related to Inuyasha and our adventures. Beth, can I trouble you for some photos of your place to send back to her? She's really interested in seeing what it looks like here."
"Not a problem. I'd love to. Heck, sometime tomorrow, I can take some shots with you and Sherry in them too," Beth agreed.
"Hey, what about you?" the Japanese woman protested with a cute pout.
"I can jump in a few too," Beth laughed.
"You'd better," Kagome mock threatened, earning a spout of giggles.
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