Disclaimer: Inuyasha and all associated entities are copyright Rumiko Takahashi. The plot of the following story, however, is the creation of pinkduck. I take a lot of time and effort in writing my stories, as do all of the other authors on this site. Please respect my work and the work of others.

Author's Note: I'm still recovering from how well my last story, "Feeling Just a Little Bit Horny," did in terms of you guys liking it. I hope I can keep up with the quality, though, in this story. I can't promise much since it's 3 am right now, and I'm cramming for exams. But I've decided to give my brain a rest. Enjoy! Important Note: Inuyasha has human ears in this story!!!

Summary: AU. Kagome's crush on him turns into love, but he is incapable of loving her back because of something in his past. Can Kagome break through his burdens? Rated M for a reason.

Title: The Power of Love

Chapter 1: Wheelchair

She didn't know what to do. There were a lot of things that she didn't know what to about. Namely, her slipping grades, her constant eating, her spacey dazes. She was going to get kicked out of school soon. Her mother, who was paying for her tuition, would not be happy about that…not one bit. She really was in near danger of getting kicked out. They put her on academic probation. She'd failed two courses already. And now? She was on the verge of failing another two. She had tried. She really did. But her brain…it wouldn't think right. It was always short-circuiting, crossing paths—confusing her, basically.

And suddenly, she couldn't stop herself from eating. She was watching all the money she had saved up from her summer job as a cashier at some crappy place a few blocks away go towards junk food. Her mother never bought enough sweet stuff and never baked. There were only so many tuna sandwiches and frozen pizzas she could eat (though, they were her high in her list of favourites) before she got sick of them. So she turned to bags of gummy worms and chocolate kisses. Food had always made her feel better…somewhat. Her jeans were getting tighter, and she grimaced and the thought of getting fat. And so she never bothered to weigh herself, even though her scale was right in front of her bathtub. Depress herself further? No way.

And Kami…there was nothing she could do about her spacing out. She knew it was creeping everyone out beyond belief. Sango, her BFF, had gotten to the point where waving her hand in front of Kagome's face was commonplace. She told Sango that her spacing out was nothing. Muttered something about not feeling well, or just thinking about some hot actor on a new show on TV, or something. Hey, it worked—it just wasn't very truthful.

But she knew the truth behind it all.

It was stupid, really. Some stupid crush on some boy…

No…

She shook her head. What was she saying? He wasn't just "some" boy. He was very special.

Balancing her pencil on her index finger, she began to stare out her window, thinking about the first time she had met him…her memory bringing her back to last Thursday…

0o0o0o0o0

She tugged on the hem of her blue volunteer pinnie and noticed that the ties on the left of the polyester garment were looser. She pulled the end of one tie and meticulously tied it to the same tightness as the one on her right. As she was doing up the knot, a loud voice called behind her and she looked up to see her volunteer supervisor run up to her.

"Kagome! You're almost late! It's like 2:59!"

Kagome rolled her eyes inwardly. She was early, as always, but Yura—an overachiever-wannabe hopeful, who hadn't quite made this year's cut to med school—was always so anal about time that it didn't matter. Her comments were ever-present and they never failed to get on Kagome's nerves.

"What is it, Yura?" Kagome said, faking friendliness. No point in pissing her supervisor off.

"Kags, there's this new patient…" Yura's voice trailed off as she skimmed the papers she was holding. "His name is Inuyasha Takahashi. He's a difficult one."

"Aww, but you know I always can win over the kids."

Yura lifted the corner of her mouth ruefully. "Afraid he's not a kid, Kags. He's twenty."

Kagome furrowed her brow, confused. "Then why's he in the paediatric ward?"

"Doc told me that the ICU's full and that he needs a room to himself…something about them wanting to keep a close eye on him because of what put him in the hospital in the first place…" shrugged Yura. She glanced at the papers in her hand, once again. "Damn, I'm missing the sheet with the history on it. But I popped into his room…he don't look so good…"

"So why am I assigned to him? I was hoping I'd get to see Shippo and Rin and all the other kids…" Kagome said, apprehensive. She didn't really know what to expect.

"Remember Ayame?"

Kagome squinted one eye. "Oh yeah…the new girl, right?"

"Yeah, I figured it'd be better for her to get the kids instead of this new guy."

Kagome nodded. She was kind of scared of having to be around some guy she didn't know who seemed to have a lot of mystery surrounding him and a lot of trauma happen to him before he was admitted to Tokyo General.

"So where's his room?"

"It's 795." Yura said, pointing down the hall with the papers.

And with that, Kagome turned around and made her way down to room 795.

As she got near, Kagome felt her heart thump in her ears. This is silly, she thought to herself, he's just a patient…he's just a boy…I'm never this nervous around boys…

But somehow, she was nervous anyway. She was a volunteer—she was supposed to cheer patients up and make them feel more at ease. For some reason, she knew he was going to be a challenge. She didn't want to alienate him.

Stopping before the doorway, she smoothed the wrinkles of her pinnie, wiping her sweaty palms on the front. She tried to smooth her unruly mop of black hair and cleared her throat. Slowly, she stepped in front of the doorway and scanned the room, her eyes resting on a figure in a wheelchair, parked in front of the window, his back facing her. As her feet brought her closer, she realized that he had long, silver hair, spilling over the seat of the wheelchair. As she got closer, her heart raced.

She could see that he sensed her presence. His back tensed as soon as he heard her sneakers on the floor.

Kagome turned to grab a chair and pull it close to her assigned patient.

Before she sat down, she faced him, looking down upon his bangs that hid his eyes, but not the strong nose and cheekbones and chapped lips and the cuts and scrapes that decorated the left side of his face.

Extending a hand, she said in a soft voice, "Hi, Inuyasha…I'm Kagome. I'm a volunteer here."

A few moments passed awkwardly and Kagome felt foolish, her hand still extended. But then suddenly, he looked up at her.

Bright, honey-golden eyes blinked and stared at her. There was such intensity and for a second, the girl forgot she was in a room with machines or even in a hospital, altogether.

Then she snapped out of it, remembering her outstretched hand. "You-you don't have to shake my hand if you don't want to…" she stammered, blushing.

She took a step back and sat down in her chair, folding her hands as she listened to the only thing she could hear to the pounding of her heart and the beeps of the machines and the drip of Inuyasha's IV.

She didn't know what to say. He wasn't going to talk to her. She felt uncomfortable and out of place. It was so out of the ordinary for her. She was always a people-person. But there was something about the battered up boy in the wheelchair that made her feel uneasy. But she wasn't going to leave. Not only that, but she couldn't. Yura would be impossible to locate and she wasn't given any other instruction for the next four hours of her shift. She folded her hands on her lap, staring at her nails. Then she stole a glance at Inuyasha.

He was staring out the window, now. The right side of his face sported a bruise but nothing else, but she could see the bulge of a large wad of gauze taped to the left side of his forehead. His gleaming eyes—strange as they were—were…beautiful… She breathed. He was beautiful. Despite his injuries, she could see that. Her eyes lowered to his neck, which sported another dressing, and then to his chest. His collarbones were well-defined and she could kind of guess that he was muscular underneath the shapeless hospital gown. She also took the hint from his arms—they were godly. And his hair? She sort of wished she could touch it. It looked silky. And tame. Unlike her wild mop.

And then suddenly, his eye flicked towards her. She looked away and blushed. She shouldn't have stared like that.

"Interesting view from here," she said, breaking the silence. She had to say something. She pulled her chair closer to the window. "That lady down there, with the shopping bags? She's got a really cute puppy with her. I wish I had a puppy… but I would never be allowed to have one. My bother's allergic, too. But the lady's… it looks like one that I'd want…white, fluffy, soft…"

Kagome looked back at the boy. He was staring intently out the window. The angle of his eyes pointed downward…in the direction of the lady with the puppy. So he's listening, Kagome thought, at least I'm not talking to myself.

And so it went on for the rest of the afternoon. The four hours was filled with Kagome's voice taking turns with the quiet in the room, as she spoke of nonsense about the scenery outside of the window. She would sneak glances at him. She would feel her heart flutter a bit, sometimes. Who wouldn't? He was quite attractive.

And when it was time for her to leave, she stood up and told him that she'd be back next Thursday. And before she turned around towards the door, his golden eyes locked gazes with hers for a few moments, making her blush. She ducked her head in a shy nod and cracked a sheepish smile before she stepped away and out into the hall, her heart molten.

0o0o0o0o0

Kagome sighed. There went another hour of study time. But she didn't care. The mystery of Inuyasha…

She was going to get him to talk to her. She didn't care how many more weeks would come after that first meeting last week. Her second meeting would be tomorrow.

Unwillingly, her lips curled into a smile. She was infatuated with him, for sure.

Groggily, she closed her eyes, her chin resting on her hands and her mind drifting…

Those golden eyes…

0o0o0o0o0

End Chapter 1.

Author's Note: Holy…it's nearly 5 am now. I really need to sleep at this point. Apologies if I've made mistakes, but I'm just waaaaaaay too tired to go back and proofread. Review and tell me what you think!