Author's note:
Hey, guys! Just want to tell you this is a fanfic inspired in Tales from the House of the Moon. It's not the same story or something, but it'll have some similarities. I had this idea when Kagome asked Sesshoumaru if she could hug him, so… this is it xD I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Sad, but I don't.
CAN I HUG YOU?
(Garota Inu)
Who was really in need of help.
Seriously, what else she could say to her friends as an excuse for tiptoeing out of their campsite in the middle of the night? They knew better; they knew what probably had happened… Then, she didn't bother searching for the perfect excuse and said the first thing that came to her troubled mind.
"I just remembered I have a test tomorrow morning." Kagome said; her excitement as great as of a sloth. And it was clear – even for her – that Miroku and Sango, not even Shippou weren't buying it.
After all, the fact Inuyasha was nowhere to be seen when they woke up helped a lot.
Now, here she was, alone and depressing. With no one else besides her faithful yellow bag, her bow and arrows, wandering alone without path in Edo atthree a.m.… Kagome looked at the crescent moon in the sky and let herself drawn in its serenity, hoping that it'd less her pain. She smiled sadly. Would be THIS story she was going to tell to Souta's children? – yeah, she just couldn't imagine herself being with another man besides Inuyasha, really – Would be THIS poor love story she was going to see when she looked back at her life when she get gray and old?
I fell in deep love for this man I had saved, but he was already in love with the woman who put him in trouble. I captivated him too, but he got really torn apartbetween her and me. And during all that mess, I went out in the wildness in the middle o—
A twig snapped a few meters ahead from her. And an arrow was already flaming in the aim of her bow.
Gradually, a shadow was appearing among the trees and Kagome immediately relaxed when she saw who was there, but still surprised for the sudden visit… or accidental meeting, she thought, 'cause it was very unlikely he was there to see her. "What are you doing here?", she asked softly, not wanting to break the calmness the crescent moon was lending her so caringly.
Silence and cold stare was all she got as an answer and Kagome secretly wondered if he was there to mock her further, but she discarded it shaking her head gently. She was sure he had more important things to do than waste his time with her.
And so did her. "If it's of no importance for you I stay here, I'll go back to my camp." She smiled, nodding at the direction where her friends were. "Just wanted to stretch out a little. See you." Sending him one last glance, she turned around to go away…
Just to bump straight on a silk-covered chest. Kagome looked up at him shocked, massaging her sore nose and resisting the urge of looking back and check if wasn't two Sesshoumarus there in the clearing. She sniffed. "If you came to kill me, I have to say to come back tomorrow when I'll be a prey less ridiculous. I'm very pathetic tonight.", she murmured.
"Of that I hold no doubts." Sesshoumaru said.
Suddenly, Kagome went from Depressive to Angry. Very angry. "Then, if you came to insult me, I–"
"Rin—" He cut her off, not wanting to waste time with trivial discussion with the messed miko. "—Is ill."
Now, from Angry to Worried. "What happened?", she asked. Lucky him for she was going to Medical School.
He didn't answer, just turned his back on her and walked away in a calm, steady pass. Kagome followed him, trying to think of something to start a conversation, since the silence was killing her.
Be blessed the moment this small task showed up to her. It was good to occupy her mind to not think of… of…
'Will you keep your promise, Inuyasha?'
Silence. And then… 'When did I do different?'
Kagome shook her head to stop that masochist line of thought and realized she was already crying. Terrified for crying in front of the Western Lord, she wiped her tears and opened her mouth to definitely start some talking, but Sesshoumaru was faster.
"Some healers and mikos were solicited to aid Rin, however none of them succeeded in even discover what she suffers of." He explained, not bothering in hide the disdain in his voice.
"What happens to her?" Kagome asked, looking at the back of his head. He eyed her over his shoulders for a second and said nothing. "I mean the symptoms. What've been happening to her?" She explained, but nothing. "You don't know, do you?" Seriously, what else she would think with his silence?
He let out a exasperate sigh. "Yes, I do – But what makes you think that this Sesshoumaru telling you would be more effective than you examining her personally?"
She shrugged. "Well, if you tell me I'd already have some possibilities for what she suffers of and it'd make things faster."
"Do you think of yourself that high?"
Kagome rolled her eyes. Of course she was qualified – she was from the future, for heaven's sake! "Try me.", she smirked.
Sesshoumaru kept his eyes on hers for a second or two and then returned his glance to the forest. "It rained. Rin likes to jump in puddles. And then she was coughing and burning; she says her chest aches when she breaths and other things."
"Pneumonia."
"Hn?"
"Rin has pneumonia." Kagome said, silently praising herself for her own efficiency. "She was exposed to many bacterias – Good thing she had a fever early."
"Pardon…?" Sesshoumaru hissed dangerously.
Kagome, who liked her head in its place, hurried to explain. "Yeah – Fever, in fact, is a sign that your body gives to warn you that something's wrong with it. That's why it was good she had a fever early. If it came too late, well… it could be too late."
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and then began to walk again. "Hn."
The silence fell above them again and Kagome panicked. Silence – in nights like that night – was the worst hell she could live. She was in urgent need fordistractions. And it was because of this need that relief washed over her when they arrived in the camp. She sighed, as relieved as angry. Angry for being so pathetic…
Kagome expected the insults, curses from Jaken, but nothing came, just the soft growl from Ah-Un. "Where's Jaken?", she asked, throwing her things near the two-headed horse.
Sesshoumaru walked – glided – towards Rin, took his pelt off his shoulder and wrapped it around her petite form.
Kagome gaped at him.'The pelt was detachable the whole time?'
He sat on the ground and leaned against a tree – cross-legged and his only arm on his leg – and focused his near-full attention on the sick child. "Researching.", he said.
Kagome nodded and went to examine her first child as a patient, just to make sure if it was really pneumonia. After all, she was only in the second year on College. For a while, to examine Rin let Kagome happily busy – she even cursed herself for taking her stethoscope out of her pack last week – but after a while, it started to lose its effect and she found herself fighting to keep seeing Rin lying on the ground instead of Inuyasha.
'Are you willing to die with me?'
'Are you willing to accept me as a Hanyou?'
Silence.
Kagome cleared her throat, wiping the few tears she had in her eyes and looked at Sesshoumaru with a false smile. "Ah, I'm going to my…" Oh, He wouldn't understand anyway... "My village and get some medicines for you to give to Rin, ok? I won't take long.", she said. "I promise."
Then, she ran.
x-•°•°•-x
'Sixty-one – Sixty – Fifty-nine – Fifty-eight – Fifty-seven…'
A sudden and loud sneeze from his ward interrupted him and in a blink of an eye he was by her side; his cold eyes free of any emotion examining each pore of Rin's body, looking for any sign of something strange. A low and short growl threatened to vibrate in his chest. Where is that woman, after all? She had told she would not take long, then why she was not here?
Sitting back on the base of a tree, Sesshoumaru cursed himself for trusting the weird miko. But what else could he have done? He searched many healers, mikos; monks and doctors… none of them were useful. And then – he admitted – in some despair, he remembered that woman could cure the monk of the poison from the Naraku's insects with a mere liquid and decided to go to her. And even expecting she would know what to do, he was surprised when she discovered Rin's illness just hearing the story. He admitted – at least to himself – that he got calm and sure of his ward's recovery when the miko said to not worry. But this… this was when she left… Now, Sesshoumaru just wanted to break that slim neck of hers.
A click snapped in his mind and remember of her made him remember that she was crying while examining Rin. Probably because of his half-brother, he concluded, not giving this matter a second thought. He wasn't interested in mundane gossips about triangular relationships.
Sesshoumaru lifted his head and rested it against the trunk of the tree, looking but not really seeing the stars and was nearly counting backward again when a cocktail of smells hit him right in the face, making him wrinkle his nose in disgust.
"Agh! Stupid root!" He heard her growl as she entered the clearing. "I'm already here!" She greeted.
"It is an outrage you saying 'already'." Sesshoumaru scolded her.
Kagome checked her watch and her eyes widened. "I took just fifteen minutes!"
"Is needed less than fifteen seconds for a human to die."
"Not of pneumonia."
A threatening growl echoed around them both from the Inu lord's chest and Kagome silently feared for her life, feeling her fear vibrate along with Sesshoumaru's growl. "I do not deposit my trust in what I have no knowledge of.", he said through his teeth.
"But I do and you need to trust me at least in 30% to…" Kagome trailed off. If she'd say'ask for my help'she would die; and if she'd say'hire my services'it would imply that she was collecting a payment, which shewasn't. "To call me." Yeah. At least that was good enough to keep her alive.
She saw Sesshoumaru narrowing his eyes dangerously and suddenly Kagome could feel the environment losing around 30 degrees. She could even imagine the Taiyoukai's claws starting to drip venom on her frail human neck. She swallowed hard. Kagome should've believed her aunt when she said that Kagome's sharp tongue would be her downfall one day… but she couldn't help it. It didn't matter if she was sweating because of fear; didn't matter if she was dying in Naraku's hand, she would never die like a coward pussy. And it was because of this same sharp tongue of hers – which she cursed – that she said "You better stop acting like this: all grumpy and all or you'll start to look like Inuyasha not just in appearance."
And she didn't even have time to giggle to try to make it better…
Faster than Kagome could see she was pinned in a tree; a hand tightening her throat, making it very hard to breath and Kagome toyed with the idea of doing nothing to stop him. Not that it'd work even if shedidsomething, but… what would Inuyasha do when he found out? When he see her body without movement, when he listen to her beatless heart and her scent all over Sesshoumaru's hand; what would he do? Would he cry? Would he realize it was her the one he loved and would spend his life with their friends mourning silently?
She liked to think so…
Sesshoumaru saw her sucking a great amount of air to her lungs and then shechuckled. What was it with this woman? Did she forget who she was dealing with? Who he was? He mentally snorted. 'Of course not'. No one has ever forgotten who he was and no one ever would. But the chuckling really made him curious. "I fail to see what is so amusing to you in a moment like this.", he said.
He saw her move her hand towards his head and though he should stop her he smelled no threat in her scent, so he didn't. He felt her fingers in his bangs and when he was able to see her hand again, there was a sakura petal between her fingers and a smile in her lips. "Don't worry, it looked stunning on you.", she fought to say. "Look, I just realized I don't mind, uh, much if you kill me or not, but let me at least take care of Rin first." Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes even more and Kagome wondered if he still could see her. "I'm the only one in this world who can help her."
And then, that was it. In a moment she was about to die and four or five seconds later she was on the ground coughing her ass off and alone in the clearing, excepting her patience. Kagome sighed, not surprised in nearly getting killed. It was Sesshoumaru she was dealing with, after all.
Kagome went for her bag and started her chores with the sleeping Rin. She checked her pressure; checked her breathing in search of any catarrh, and she found plenty; she checked her temperature: 95,5; and at last, she pinched Rin's skin lightly to see if she was hydrated and she wasn't. Already predicting this, Kagome took the physiologic saline from her bag along with the caterer. She liked to think she had a good hand for working with injections and wished Rin was awake to give her opinion. When she was done, Kagome grabbed her portable tripod and hanged the saline on it. Taking the bottle with medicine for Rin's illness, she took a little dose with the syringe and injected it into the saline container.
'God, thank you for keeping me busy.', she whispered in her mind while listing the next things she had to do.
Well, that pelt will have to go. Although Rin might be feeling cold, she was hot and a bath would be good to her. Suddenly, Kagome face palmed. She'd already put the saline in Rin… The bath should bebeforeall this.'Argh…', she sighed.
When she started Rin's treatment, Kagome wished Sesshoumaru was there to see her capacity, so she could prove herself to someone – anyone –, and show to everybody She. Was. Useful. But now she was grateful he wasn't there to see her stupidity. Kagome turned her head to look the fire. But then again, maybe he already knew she wasn't useless… otherwise he wouldn't have asked for her help, right…?
Wrong.
First of all, Sesshoumaru didn't ask her help. He solicited her services. Secondly, he didn't solicit her services because he acknowledged her skills; he did it because she was his last option. Kagome smiled sadly. What was the big deal about it, after all? He was not the first or the only one to underestimate her and probably wouldn't be the last.
Kagome gently stroked the girl's hair and whispered "Rin? Rin, wake up, sweetie."
Rin groaned and stirred. "… Okaa-san…?"
She smiled. "Close. – Come on, we need to get this fever to subside."
The child rubbed the sleepiness away from her eyes to see well. "Kagome-sama? What are you doing here?", she asked.
"Taking care of you. – Sesshoumaru called me to help you with your illness." She smiled. "Now come, you have to take a bath."
Rin grimaced. "But! It's so cold, Kagome-sama!", she cried, shrinking further in her lord's pelt.
"Exactly. It's because of just that you got to take a bath so the cold will pass. I promise to get in the spring with you, okay?" Kagome stood and stretched her hand to the younger. Rin took Kagome's hand with hers that was free from whatever was that thing in her arm and slowly stood. "I just want to apologize for one thing: I should put you in salineafterthe bath but I forgot. So, in aid of keeping our heads where they are and don't get killed, I'll ask you to carry this, uh… staff? So I can be armed if anything happen – Is this okay with you?"
"Yes!", Rin smiled.
Kagome went all gooey. The girl wassosweet! "Then, let's go."
She grabbed her bow and her quiver and just to be safe, she put a barrier around them both. Kagome knew Edo; she knew where to find a hot spring if she needed one.
Kagome helped Rin to undress and placed the tripod firmly on the bank of the spring. She tried to bath Rin the best she could without getting the caterer and the sticking plaster wet, but it was very hard being out of the water. Giving a pained sigh and entered in the water, clothed and all, and smiled when Rin apologized.
"What for? It was my fault for forgetting to bathe you before the saline." Kagome said while cupping her hands full of water and washing the girl's face. "Besides, I promised I'd get in with you, didn't I? And I'm happy to help, really – It keeps me busy."
Busy enough to not think…
"But–" Rin yawned. "If I didn't persuade Sesshoumaru-sama to let me jump in puddles, I wouldn't be sick now and Sesshoumaru-sama wouldn't need to travel all the way from West to come here to find you, Kagome-sama." Rin sniffed.
Kagome bit her bottom lip. Indeed, it must be utterly bothersome to have to travel all this distance after wasting time and money with useless doctors.
"Now Sesshoumaru-sama hates me!" The girl sobbed.
"Hey, Rin, don't you dare say such things, dear!" Kagome cupped her rosy cheeks and looked sweetly determined at the Taiyoukai's ward. "Don't you remember that time when Naraku kidnapped you and said Sesshoumaru wouldn't come to save you and said that he didn't really care about you 'cause he was a cold-hearted Taiyoukai?" Rin nodded, her eyes still watering. "Very well, then look at my fists." Kagome raised both her fists in front of her face and said "Let's say my right fist is made of ice and my left one is made of fire. – They're different, right?"
Rin sniffed. "Yes…"
Kagome smiled brightly. "But aren't they still fists all the same?", she asked, loving the way Rin's eyes shone and ran her fingers through the girl's raven locks. "Sesshoumaru's heart might be cold, Rin, but it is still a heart. He stillhasa heart."
Rin wiped the last tears from her eyes and smiled toothily to her doctor.'It seems that she knows how to cure souls too! Kagome-sama is great!'
x-•°•°•-x
"Sleep."
"But I don't want to! I want to play!"
"You can't, you need to rest."
"But I feelfinenow!"
"Rin, you can't waste so much energy for a while, okay? Please? – You're not recovered yet." Kagome said while setting up a bed for Rin with her sleeping bag and blankets and Sesshoumaru's pelt as a pillow. A very deliciously soft pillow. Kagome found it hard to let go of it. "You're far from being fine, actually. You're just feeling better than before." She said as she stood and turned to look at Rin.
Rin stopped her attempting of escaping to play and pouted. She thought that when that 'saline thing' was over she would be fine again. She really felt great; more medicines for her would be a waste! Rin sighed. But Kagome was the doctor here and knew better than she ever would, then she would be good. "Then, Kagome-sama, could you please tell me a story or sing a song to help me sleep?"
"Of course!" Anything to make the girl sleep. "What kind of story do you want to hear? I have plenty!" Because she was NOT singing!
Rin thought for a moment and beamed. "Adventure! With lots and lots of romance!", she squealed.
'I don't know why I even asked.'Kagome thought and giggled. "Well, let me think…"
The Rapunzel was nice, but had no adventure; Little Red would be too traumatic to the girl; The Sleeping Beauty…? Hmm, no – Rin'd be afraid of the freaking Maleficent and wouldn't sleep; Snow white? Yeah, that – Oh, no, Rin would never trust old women anymore.
"Oh, I got it!" Kagome clapped excited. "Aladdin!"
"Who is Aladdin?" Rin asked.
Kagome smiled. "You'll see soon enough."
She started with a clichéOnce Upon A Time…and ended with theHappily Ever Afterand, by the time the story was finished, Rin was snoring softly on her 'bed'. In fact, the child was already sleeping when Kagome was in the part that Jasmine and Aladdin were flying around the world one the magic carpet, but Kagome didn't want to stop and be alone with her thoughts… so she kept telling the fairy tale to the stars…
And to the demon lord who was hiding behind a large tree.
"I think you underestimate me too much.", she said out loud. "You're youki is too big even for you to hide completely."
Silence ruled the clearing for a moment and then Sesshoumaru came in her view and she smiled. "Enjoyed the tale?" she asked while he sat in the base of a tree across from her.
Kagome got nothing but silence… and it was then she decided she couldn't take it anymore…
She lowered her head 'til her bangs were covering her eyes and smiled sadly. "You know… sometimes I wish I was a prejudiced person… Cold, rude… Sometimes I wish I was dead." Her voice trembled. "But living, anyway." She whispered the last words, clenching her fists into tight balls, fighting with her tears, even knowing it was a lost battle. Some tears forced way through her lids and rolled down her face.
Sesshoumaru did not know nor did he care for what happened to the miko, but he would be lying if he said he was not curious by why such frightful words. So, he lifted a brow and voiced his question. "Why?"
He saw her shrugging and taking a deep breath before answering "Maybe he'd love me if I was…"
Ah… so it was his half-brother, he concluded. Sesshoumaru was caught off guard when the woman suddenly raised her head, looked at him still crying and smiling softly and asked for the very last thing that could cross his mind. "Can I hug you?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"Thought so.", she giggled without any humor and stood from her seat. She packed up her things and threw a blister pack to him. "It's for Rin. – Make her take it twice a day: one after breakfast and one before bed. Make sure she eats and drinks a lot and gets lots of rest, and then she should be fine." Kagome grabbed her bow and quiver from the ground and looked at him. "Thank you for listening."
With that, she was gone.
End Note:I won't say: "Review or I stop writing", but reviews is reeeeally helpful with my confidence.*-*I know that every writer out there as crazy as me always go jumping around the house when we got a reviewxDSo please, tell me what do you think.
All the best,
Inu.