Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Wish I did, but sadly, I don't.
A Born Healer
Chapter One: The Three Higaurashis
The cloying stench of incense was the first thing that Kagome Higaurashi noticed when she sidled into her younger brother's bedchamber. It stung her nostrils and made her eyes water as she approached his bedside. The thick perfume was made all the worse by the fact that each of the four windows were latched tightly shut, not even open a crack to let in some much needed air and she was forced to hold back a sneeze.
Upon reaching her mother's side Kagome dropped down into a spindly-legged wooden chair. A small tin box, painted a fading red, was perched on her knees. A shuffling of skirts was the only sign that Lady Higaurashi had even heard her daughter enter the room.
"How does he fare?" Kagome whispered.
"As well as can be expected under the circumstances," was her mother's tired, taut reply. Glad that he hadn't worsened, Kagome nodded her acknowledgement of the statement. Diseases were never easy to predict. Nobody had expected, only three weeks ago, that young Souta, so full of life and youthful vigour, could have succumbed so quickly to the mysterious workings of an unknown illness.
Aside from the three Higaurashis the room was empty. It had once belonged to Kagome's father before his disappearance six years ago, and was the place he had slept when he'd had an argument with his bull-headed wife. He'd made sure it was the most luxurious in the Manor because he had liked his finery and slept there more often than in the bedroom he shared with Lady Higaurashi. Whether he slept in solitary confinement out of choice or not was undecided; he had certainly seemed happy enough to have a bed to himself.
Now it, along with the rest of the Manor, surrounding land and dubious title, belonged to Souta Higaurashi. The young boy, thirteen now, was Lord of the estate. It was a heavy burden to bear, not least because of the huge gambling debts the former Lord Higaurashi had incurred during his life. Souta was young; too young for the responsibilities that had been forced upon him so early in life.
The room was dark and gaudy in its opulence. Every piece, from the ornately carven four-poster to the delicate silver mirror which hung upon charcoal wallpaper was easily discernable as of the most expensive taste, though several years out of fashion. The room was a testament to the family's financial history, and present.
The two women sat in tense silence, each thankful that Souta was recuperating but wary of the other's presence. Kagome and Lady Higaurashi had never gotten on particularly well. Kagome might be the woman's only daughter, and if Souta's condition didn't improve quite possibly could soon be her only offspring still alive, but they knocked heads over everything small thing. Lady Higaurashi was a firm believer in propriety, genteelness and proper appearances. Kagome was a firm believer in everything that was the antithesis of those things.
The uncomfortable silence was suddenly broken by a hacking wheeze from the bed and its solitary, unhealthily pale occupant.
"Souta!" Kagome cried in concern, rising from her seat so suddenly that her tin fell to the floor with a loud clatter.
"Kagome?" whispered the young boy weakly, trying to sit up on his pillows to get a better look at her. It seemed like too much of a struggle for him and he tired in the middle of his efforts, flopping back into his former position.
"Yes Souta, I'm here," she replied encouragingly, leaning forward and clasping his wretchedly dry hands. The sight of new purple welts and bruises worried her greatly, but there was so little in her power that she could do to help him. She hated that fact.
"Did you bring them?" he asked. His voice was so feeble it was no more than a whisper.
"Of course," Kagome assured, pulling her hand from his frail grip. She bent and scooped the tin box from the ground and set it before him with a jangle. Souta's eyes, so dull since he had fallen to illness, lit up with the brightness of the sun.
"Thank-you, 'Gome," he breathed, reaching out for his sister's gift.
"Think nothing of it, Souta."
Souta grasped the latch holding it shut tight and attempted to wrench it open, but illness had taken a toll on his strength and he was forced to concede to defeat after several tries.
"It seems that I am too weak…" he began, but was broken off by a violent coughing fit and he doubled over, wheezing. Lady Higaurashi gave an involuntary cry. Kagome rushed from her brother's side, jerked the door open and bellowed for one of the servants to fetch the village healing woman. When the fit finally died down, Kagome could tell that those thirty seconds of agony had robbed him of any strength he might have regained over the night's restless sleep.
Wordlessly, Kagome reached over and lifted his hand away from the tin, before opening the latch with a satisfying click. She prised the lid open, and angled the box so that her reclining brother could see its contents.
"I like Captain Horsby best," he said faintly, fingering one of the toy soldiers before closing his eyes in fatigue and giving in to the sleep he so desperately needed.
Lady Higaurashi sat back down abruptly, and left her daughter to gently remove the metal figurine from Souta's limp hand and drop it back into the tin box where it belonged.
Just as Kagome had returned to her seat, ready for another sleepless night, the door crashed open once again to reveal a hunching, elderly woman with a patch over her right eye and as many wrinkles as a pauper's tunic.
"How is he, my Lady?" she panted. The woman had obviously worked herself very hard to arrive quickly. Her long grey hair had fallen out of its sensible braid and she was heaving with the effort of every breath. "I came as soon as I was called." Her single eye took in the scene before her, especially that of a slumbering Souta, and she seemed to visibly relax.
Lady Higaurashi did not reply, but turned her disdainful glare to the wall opposite.
"Kaede," Kagome said softly, "Thank-you for coming so quickly, but Souta is fine now. He was in the middle of a frightful coughing fit before, but they're common enough and I overreacted. I feel a little silly calling for you, actually." She gave a small smile, as if to apologize for tearing the healing woman from her duties, or pleasures, in the village.
Rather than reassuring Kaede, which had been the intention of Kagome's words, the healing woman looked even more harried.
"He was awake?" she asked urgently.
Kagome cocked her head, confused.
"Yes, he was, and in fairly good spirits too, considering. Why? Is something wrong Kaede?"
"That sleeping draught I gave ought to have lasted longer than this. Much longer. He should not have reawakened for several hours yet, if not more. What kind of devilry is this illness?"
Kagome didn't like the agitated tone with which Kaede spoke.
"What are you saying Kaede? Surely you can do something?"
Kaede sighed and looked at the floor.
"I know not what it means, Lady Kagome."
Lady Higaurashi, who had until this moment remained forgotten at Souta's bedside, spoke up angrily.
"We pay you well for your services, Kaede. I expect results!"
"Of course, my lady, but this is no easy case of the cold. Excuse me, but if this all I would like to conduct a quick assessment of his condition, and then I really should return to the village."
Lady Higaurashi sniffed, unconvinced, but stayed seated.
Kaede shuffled closer to Souta's unconscious form and bent over him. Kagome couldn't see what exactly she was doing, but wished, with all her heart, that she could do it too. She felt so utterly helpless.
She hovered by the door once Kaede, declaring that Souta was no worse than before, had left. She was struck by a very arresting idea. It would displease her mother and required behaviour unbecoming of a lady but Kagome knew in the very depths of her heart that it would be worth it. She would do anything to help her brother recover, even if it meant putting propriety on the line. She spun from the room, ignoring her mother's admonishing "Kagome!" and hurried after Kaede.
"Wait!" she called once she'd left the house, forgetting her mother's rule that young ladies were better seen but not heard and certainly never ran. The manor servants, however, were too used to her brash nature to give the display any thought.
Kaede paused and turned to face the person hailing her.
"Lady Kagome, what is it?" Her eye widened and glanced at the window behind which a very sick Souta rested. "Is it Master Souta?"
"No, Kaede. I just… I have a favour to ask you."
This piqued the old lady's interest.
"Really? Pray tell, my lady."
"I want you to teach me how to heal."
"Well done, Lady Kagome," Kaede said, pleased at her young student's progress. A small basket lay before her, on the woven mat which protected her feet, and her herbs, from the dusty floor. Little bearskin pouches, the expensive kind but old and worn, were packed tightly inside the hamper. Kaede reached to the bottom and drew out a small phial of deep green liquid and inspected it with her expert eye.
"Clever girl," she said, admiring the potion with satisfaction. "As I said, this is a commendable effort, Lady Kagome. You shall soon outstrip my talents in the healing arts; you certainly have the gift."
Kagome, who had rather vainly enjoyed the praise, shook her head at this last remark.
"Don't be silly Kaede. I've got a lot to learn still and you are so wise!"
Kaede chuckled, secretly flattered.
"Nonsense; if I were so wise I would never have agreed to accept you as a student."
Kagome pouted.
"Sometimes, Kaede, I cannot tell if you are jesting or not."
Three months had passed since Kagome had made her request and she had not been surprised when Kaede had refused her at first. Kagome, however, was her mother's daughter, and skilled at arguing. All those hours rowing with Lady Higaurashi seemed to have been useful after all and, before the hour had passed, Kaede had reluctantly succumbed.
Thus Kagome found herself in almost all of her spare hours, the ones in which Souta slept, in the village of the Second South-Western Outpost, which was too small to merit its own name.
At first, Kagome's lessons had consisted of menial, painfully basic tasks, but she could concoct several antidotes now, could recognise and prepare many herbs and roots for medicines, and knew how to fix poultices. She'd learned the pressure-points of the body, and where the main veins and arteries were to be found as well as the basic functions and locations of all organs. She'd even tried her hand at directing energy flow a few times, though her attempts were weak. Kaede had tried to tell her that most novice healers couldn't manage even half of what she had achieved in energy flow in their first two years of apprenticeship, but Kagome had been disappointed when all she'd gotten was a faint glow that lasted barely half a minute.
Kaede was a hard taskmistress, but had an incredible depth and breadth of knowledge. Kagome felt that she couldn't have picked a better instructor and had come to believe that such a person simply could not exist.
She, however, was impatient for the real healing to begin. It was all very well collecting herbs and mixing potions, but she had yet to put her knowledge to practise. She was well aware that three months was not nearly sufficient to learn even one tenth of what she was required to know as a healer, but she could not see how a medicine for aching jaws could possibly help Souta recover.
The Goddess had been merciful for the past three months. It seemed that the initial weeks of Souta's mystery illness had been the worst, and most rapidly degenerative, but once they had passed Souta's deterioration had apparently halted. He was awake most of the time, and though he perpetually suffered incredible discomfort, he had felt nothing that could be termed excruciating. He spent many of his waking hours with the toy soldiers Kagome had brought him, or reading. His favourite books were those on ancient wars, heroes and bravery.
"These herbs will soon become scarce, as soon as the winter settles in. You have done a great service, Lady Kagome."
Kagome, who had tried unsuccessfully many times to correct Kaede's formal way of addressing her, ignored the honorific.
"It was no problem, Kaede." She glanced outside and frowned. "It's growing late, and if I don't return home soon I'll be missed." She gave an apologetic smile and Kaede nodded her agreement.
"I shall see you tomorrow. You have done good work."
Lady Higaurashi's chosen escort for Kagome's daily forays into the village stood outside Kaede's door. He had a strangely deformed face, which he hid behind a mask of bandages. Kagome only knew of his true face because she had stumbled upon him by accident one day as he changed the dressing. Kagome had hidden behind the slightly open door that led to his rooms and watched with horrified fascination as his real features were revealed to her for the first time. They were grotesque, but strangely compelling. He had yet to know that she had been spying, and he didn't know that she had seen his true visage. At least, she hoped he didn't.
"Lady Kagome," he said politely, with the smallest hint of a bow.
"Onigumo," she replied coldly. As much as she tried, for her mother's sake, she just couldn't bring herself to like the man. In fact, she could barely tolerate him. It was only her mother's insistence that she required what Lady Higaurashi believed to be a trustworthy escort if she was to visit the village that saw her in the company of such a secretive and distasteful individual.
He detached himself from the wall which he had been leaning against and followed her, sticking to her like a fly to honey. They spoke not a word as they trudged through the dirt-paved paths that ran through the tiny village, all the way up to Higaurashi Manor at the crown of the scraggy hill. It wasn't until she was safely indoors that he left her side. Already irked by Onigumo's presence, she swept into Souta's room, skirts flying, eager to vent her frustrations by giving her brother, who was a great listener, an earful of her problems.
He still sat in bed because, although his symptoms had alleviated, he was not yet out of the woods. He was quietly amusing himself by enacting his favourite Great War with the toy soldiers from the tin with the chipped red paint. He gave her an enquiring look as she stormed in.
"Everything alright, Kagome?"
"What does Mother see in that horrible man?!" Kagome raged. Souta blinked, bemused.
"Which horrible man?"
"That- that Holy man! If indeed that's what he is!"
"You mean Onigumo?"
Kagome stared at him.
"Of course I mean Onigumo! How many holy men does Mother have whispering lies into her desperate ears? She wants a miracle. He knows she thinks that he can give one to her!"
"Despicable," Souta agreed, knowing exactly to what miracle his sister referred and choosing not to comment upon it.
Kagome sat heavily on the side of the bed, upsetting the tiny soldiers decked in brilliant blue, which Souta had carefully set upright on the soft, moveable blankets.
"She sends him to spy on me," she said spitefully.
Souta, who had quickly lost interest in Kagome's tirade, made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat which Kagome took as a sign to continue ranting.
"As if I would sell us out to the demons!" she huffed grumpily.
A timid knock on the door put an end to Kagome's diatribe, to Souta's relief.
"What?" growled Kagome, still smouldering with anger.
The rather frightened, moon-faced head of one of the servants poked out from behind the door.
"Mistress Higaurashi wishes to speak with you, Lady Kagome."
Kagome groaned. She hadn't believed that her day could possibly have gotten any worse.
"Very well," she said in a long-suffering sort of voice. "Where is she?"
"The parlour, Lady."
Kagome nodded, and dismissed the young woman, who quickly popped back out of sight.
"Don't wear yourself out, Souta." Kagome said, as she stood up. Then, with mock piety, she added, "I must see what our dear Mother wants of me." She then dropped the facetious tone. "It'll be a most unbearable conversation, I imagine. We can never manage to hold our tongues when in each other's presence." Kagome sighed and left Souta to reassemble his frontlines.
Kagome wasn't pleased to discover that her mother was not alone in the parlour when she arrived. The parlour was a very feminine pink in colour, and contained only things delicate and womanly. Lady Higaurashi was perched on the edge of one of the cream-coloured wingchairs, a frighteningly stern expression on her face. Onigumo, as much of an enigma as he'd ever been, stood behind her. His bandages hid all but his glinting muddy eyes. Whatever expression he wore was more than adequately obscured. He looked too dark and bulky in the dainty, gentle room. Kagome chose to ignore him.
"You requested my presence, Mother," Kagome said tightly, fixing her attention on the small, but powerfully angry woman.
"I heard something most horrible, Kagome, from my dear Onigumo."
"Is that so?" Kagome asked irritably. Her eyes flickered to the silent man who stood at her mother's side.
"It was a rumour about you and your quite unacceptable behaviour. Do you care to explain? Or shall I enlighten you myself?"
Kagome swallowed.
"Honestly," she said, "I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about."
"Then allow me to refresh your memory. One word ought to do it; Kaede. Yes, Kagome," she added when she saw her daughter's look of dawning understanding, "I know all about your excursions to the healing woman's hut, but I would rather I heard it from you."
"Why don't you let your pet Onigumo tell you instead, since you seem so inclined to believe whatever he tells you?!" Kagome snapped. So her mother had been using Onigumo to spy on her!
"Silence! Impertinent child, how dare you speak to me in such a manner?!"
Knowing better than to argue when her mother wore her battle-face, Kagome quieted down.
"I only wanted to help Souta," she mumbled.
"You forget your place, Kagome! It is not for noblewomen such as yourself to practise arts that debase their heritage. Your desire to help your brother is commendable, but in this instance, misplaced. You are to cease all this nonsense of Kaede's at once!"
Kagome gasped as she suddenly became aware of a very unwelcome consequence of her behaviour.
"Mother, you cannot possibly intend to punish Kaede! I forced her into it!"
Lady Higaurashi gave a wry smile.
"I suspected as much. You are as stubborn as a mule! Such a trait is not acceptable in a woman of a status such as yours. You bring shame upon our family, Kagome!"
"So Kaede will go unpunished?" Kagome asked hopefully. She didn't think that she could bear it if the old woman had to suffer for her own foolhardiness.
Her mother waved an impatient hand in the air.
"Of course. We need her. But you shall not get off with a mere warning this time. All too often have you compromised our family's honour! When will you learn?!"
The last sentence was said with an air of exasperation and Kagome made no attempt to answer.
A soft voice interrupted the terse silence.
"Ladies, if I may interrupt, I have a suggestion that you may find…useful."
Kagome stared at Onigumo, shocked at his boldness. How could he assume that he had the right to interrupt a conversation of noblewomen when he himself held absolutely no status? He was overstepping the line, surely! Her mother would never allow it! Or at least, that would have been the case had it been anyone else.
"What is it Onigumo?" Even Lady Higaurashi's voice held a bite of impatience.
"Lady Kagome might show her repentance at the Shikon no Tama Shrine. The long journey will certainly give her time to reconsider her actions. To pray for the life of her brother at the feet our Goddess might assuage her feelings of helplessness and set her back on the course of respectability. Lady Higaurashi, it is only a suggestion, but this humble servant would be most honoured if you would consider it."
Lady Higaurashi frowned.
"The Shikon no Tama Shrine? Why not the shrine at the village?"
"That is the shrine of the common people. Shikon no Tama is a shrine for the holiest, most pious of men and women, where only the most worthy, the most noble can pray."
"That may have been the case in the past, Onigumo, but times have changed."
"The journey will do your daughter good and perhaps she can see what happens when reputation is lost."
The older woman considered this for a moment, and when she spoke she sounded quite pleased.
"Of course, Onigumo. Your suggestion sounds most wise. In fact, I can think of nothing better myself! If it was good enough for our illustrious ancestors, then it is certainly good enough for us. Kagome, you heard what Onigumo had to say and I agree. If you would be so kind, Onigumo, as to escort my daughter to the Shikon no Tama Shrine I shall be most grateful."
Then she turned to Kagome.
"May the Goddess forgive you for your selfishness, Kagome. Maybe you will finally see what can happen to someone, or something, that loses its status and its honour. I want you to relinquish all your foolish intents to learn the art of healing. I can only hope that you learn the lesson that the Shrine of the Shikon no Tama can teach you."
There! First chapter done. I hope you liked it!