Head note: Just wanted to let everyone know that I got this idea from a chain e-mail, so while the original plot doesn't belong to me, the story sure does.

On the other hand, I won't be paying for your therapy if you get stuck in an ocean of corny-ness. You've been warned!

Baby Blues

-

Kagome Higurashi twirled her fingers idly as she waited, perched carefully atop the brick border that surrounded the main garden just infront of the university, having been dismissed just fifteen minutes ago.

Today had not been unlike any other school day. Shrouded in darkness, she crept through the crowded hallways during breaks, a hand trailing along the walls so that she wouldn't get side-tracked, and sat with her friends at lunch.

'Watch it, bitch.'

It was her first week of her first year at Tokyo Medical School, and she had hoped by then that the people would have grown up. She was sadly mistaken.

'Oh, Kagome, please don't cry.'

People were still just as biased and judgmental as they'd always been, she thought to herself as her hands automatically brushed the wind blown strands of long ebony hair out of her face.

But her bitter thoughts ended abruptly and a striking smile replaced the frown on her delicate features as a pair of warm lips emitted a whisper of sweet nothingness into her ear.

"Ohayo, beautiful."

Kagome twisted in her spot to redirect that dazzling smile on her boyfriend, not unlike one would do with a spotlight. "Ohayo," She returned, voice murky with amusement.

Bankotsu offered her a hand up and Kagome accepted, placing her palm in his and reveled in the feeling of his strong fingers closing around hers.

When Kagome was with him, she was safe from the world.

And even if she couldn't see Bankotsu, she had grown accustomed to her black world and traveled along beside his taller form with ease. Deprived of sight, Kagome had a knack for hearing and sensing what was going on around her. It came in handy, but didn't lighten the load…

She was fortunate enough not to hear the murmurs dripping with envy that came from a group of bypassing senior girls, all disgusted by the fact that their eye-candy was taken by someone, in their opinions, was not up to par.

'Did you know she's two years younger than him? The slut.'

'How can she appreciate his body when she can't even see it?'

'He obviously isn't dating her because she's hot. She's got nothing going for her.'

Kagome did not hear (thankfully, because he didn't know how much more she could take), but Bankotsu, however, did. His cerulean eyes which usually shone with amusement were now cold with hate when he shifted his gaze in their direction and gave them a departing gift in the form of his middle finger. They squawked amongst themselves and scurried away like the chickens they were.

In all honesty, Bankotsu had always been attracted to Kagome, before he even knew that she was blind. When he was told, he had been surprised, but not revolted. In truth, he had been shocked at how normal and unaffected she acted on the outside. It was the inside that was falling apart, though.

'No one is going to accept me,' she said. It wasn't her calm voice that betrayed her, but the silent tears that made their way down her porcelain face.

'I accept you,' the raven haired man whispered, for she had taken his breath away.

Bankotsu had been around girls all his life and knew well enough to suspect that the reason why Kagome was having a hard time fitting in was because of the rest of the female population's childish jealousy issues.

To say Kagome was pretty was a hefty understatement. Girls swarmed Bankotsu like bumble bees to honey, and he wasn't distracted enough by all the low-cut shirts and short, revealing skirts not to hear the real motivation behind their hatred.

'God, she's gorgeous, isn't she?'

'For a blind chick, I guess.'

-

"Bankotsu," Kagome began, trying her hardest to sober up enough to talk straight so that he could understand her. Her laugh was infectious and she just couldn't seem to stop.

Bankotsu cast her a sideways glance and a smile, knowing that she would never see the gesture. He reached out to interlock their fingers and she complied willingly.

The moonlight lit their concrete path as he walked her home that night, both content after eating out at a favorable sushi bar. Kagome stopped in her tracks abruptly and reached out for her boyfriend's other hand and began to swing them back and forth while being unable to tame her wide grin.

"Bankotsu," She tried for her second attempt. "If I could only see the world, I'd marry you."

The older teen suddenly found it very hard to swallow. He chewed his bottom lip almost warily before giving her hands a quick squeeze and replying, "I'd like that."

-

It had been a month since the operation and Bankotsu was relieved to see that not even wearing the bandages on her face could bring down Kagome's elated mood. He was sure people looked at the both of them now if they hadn't before, but he found himself unable to care.

Kagome was happy.

She approached him at lunch time one day, bounding over gleefully to sit in his lap. He ate, surrounded by friends, in the same place everyday so that she could find him easily, and he welcomed her into arms that snaked around her waist to hold her near and kissed her cheek gently from behind.

'He's probably only wearing those to make her feel better.'

"One more day," she announced, wiggling slightly in her excitement. "Then I get to take my bandages off."

Bankotsu nodded solemnly against her hair, breathing in her scent.

"One more day," she echoed to more to herself than anyone, tasting the words. "And then I'll finally get to see you."

She had been ecstatic for the moment to see through her new eyes ever since the day the doctor phoned her to tell her about a donated pair that had come in, and that she was next in line to receive.

She couldn't wait for Bankotsu to be the first thing that she saw.

-

"Are you nervous?"

"What's there to be nervous about?" Kagome asked, smiling. Her hands reached to the back of her head to untie the bandages until a pair of hands stopped her and resumed the job themselves.

"No reason," He assured her airily, continuing to unravel the gauze and being careful not to rip out any of her hair.

When the bandages fell away, Kagome's eyelids were still resting closed. She stood positioned in front of the mirror in her bedroom, hands clutching the edges of her dresser in which the mirror sat atop.

Even though he couldn't see her, he coaxed her gently. "Open them."

Slowly, with fluttering lashes, Kagome came to stare at herself for the first time since she was fourteen years old. She blinked a few times, attempting to clear the blur, and winced slightly.

Then a gasp escaped her lips.

Her reflection looked back at her through big azure eyes. For the longest time she just stared at herself, drinking in the image. She looked different, but only because her new eyes did not match her original colour. It was strange, and yet, intriguing…

"Well?" His light quip brought her to pivot so that she could face him at last, but she wasn't looking at what she had expected. He was definitely easy on the eyes, with a long braid the same colour as her own hair, but she couldn't bring herself to smile this time.

"You're blind," She noted dully, in regards to the bandages on his face.

The tips of his lips were brought up in an attempt to lighten the mood, but Bankotsu felt that it was half hearted. He felt his heart sink down to his stomach.

"That a problem?" He asked cheekily.

"Bankotsu," She began reproachfully. "I, god…"

Frowning, he asked, "What?" He couldn't see her expression but he could tell by her voice that she wasn't as happy as she was supposed to be.

"You weren't supposed to be blind!"

The words from her sudden outburst stung like a slap to the face. "I don't recall caring that you were unable to see once, too."

"Kami," She muttered under her breath, fingers massaging her temples from the strain of finally being able to see again. "I can't do this."

Before she could be stopped, Bankotsu heard her slam her bedroom door behind her as she stormed out.

-

Kagome Higurashi dropped her book bag on the fuzzy white carpet of her bedroom after just arriving home from school and sank down onto her bed with her legs crossed. Eagerly she tore the bit of parchment from the cream envelope addressed to her that she had found in the mail box and flattened out its folded form.

Kagome,

Just take care of my eyes, beautiful

I still love you.

-B