Remedy

Chapter One


Upon reaching home, Kagome dashed inside, kicked off her shoes and made her way upstairs. Stripping off her sweaty gear, she walked into the washroom and stepped inside the shower. Turning the water on, she sighed in contentment and began to lather her hair.

Back in her bedroom, she heard the cries of Kiki and Coco barking, along with their claws brushing against the front of the bathroom door.

Thankfully, I locked the door, she realized, rinsing the substance out of her hair. A couple minutes later, she turned off the water and exited from the washroom, wearing a fluffy white robe and matching white slippers. Immediately, Kiki and Coco made a dash for their owner, barking gleefully while circling around her.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "You two are happy." Kiki barked in agreement, and Coco yawned emitting an adorable sound. Giggling, she bent down and briefly stroked their fluffy tops before beginning to get dressed. Kagome slid on a comfortable pair of jeans and lose green shirt. Still wearing her slippers, she walked back into the bathroom and picked up her discarded clothes before tossing them in the hamper.

Miriam will wash them later, she thought to herself. Exiting her bedroom, Kagome trudged downstairs, making her way into the kitchen. Grabbing an orange and a plate, she sat down at the table and started to peel the fruit. Loyally, Coco sat by her feet, whereas Kiki jumped onto the nearest seat, and stood tall, watching as Kagome ate the fruit, her tongue sticking out.

Noticing the onlooker, Kagome grinned, bemused. "You aren't getting any," she mumbled and shoved a larger portion of the fruit inside her mouth. Kiki visibly pouted, but continued to watch her owner eat.

Kagome kept silent, her gaze downcast when suddenly the phone rang. Getting up from her seat, she walked towards the phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Kagome-chan, you've returned from your walk already?" Ayumi remarked. Along with Eri and Yuka, Ayumi was one of Kagome's closest friends from high school. However, Ayumi was much closer to Kagome than either Eri or Yuka because was much more mature and optimistic.

Kagome leaned back into her chair. "Hai, Ayumi-chan, I got back thirty minutes ago." She cringed as she recalled the reason for her sprinting the rest of the way home.

Ayumi noticed the change of tone in Kagome's voice. "Kagome-chan, is something wrong?" She asked, concerned.

Always the perceptive one, aren't you, Ayumi-can? Kagome groaned.

"Nothing's wrong." Kagome waved her hands in protest. "I'm just tired from my run. I didn't stretch properly, and I think I might have pulled something." Kagome hated lying, but felt that if she told Ayumi her story she might not believe her.

"You should ice the pulled ligament," Ayumi advised in a motherly tone. "I'm no doctor, but you should know best about these sorts of things, Kagome-chan." She chuckled at the irony of her past sentence. "I hope you feel better soon. So, how's Maddi?"

Kagome twirled the phone's cord between her fingers. "She's fine. She's been pretty busy these days practising for her upcoming recital." Maddi was an avid violinist. Kagome had purchased her a small violin two years ago when Maddi came up to her one evening and said she wanted to learn.

"I'm sure she'll do wonderful in her recital." Ayumi beamed. "You have an extra ticket, right?"

Kagome chuckled. "I have two extra tickets."

"Wonderful," Ayumi grinned. The duo continued to talk for another couple minutes before hanging up. Again, Ayumi advised that Kagome be careful and try not to place too much strain on her pulled muscle. Kagome listened to all the girl's instructions, and thanked her properly before hanging up.

With a groan, she collapsed back into the chair. "Kami!" she hissed to herself. Coco looked up the ground and blinked. Kiki scrambled towards her, and jumped onto Kagome's lap. Kagome heaved a sigh and stroked Kiki's side, looking out towards the window.

"That's a nice name, Kagome-chan."

Kagome groaned loudly and buried her face in Kiki's soft fur.

"Arigato!"

"Again, thank you for picking them up."

"That's a nice name, Kagome-chan."

"Ah! I was such a dork!" She shook her head violently causing Kiki to jump and scamper away.

"Ugg!" she leaned down and banked her head against the table. Ignoring the pain, Kagome continued to recall the encounter and couldn't stop herself from shedding tears of agony. "He must've thought that I was such an idiot!" Normally, Kagome knew how to maintain herself because of her work and past; but when it came to the famous singer, all that composure vanished into the atmosphere and left without a trace.

Looking down towards the table, Kagome banged a fist over the wood, hissing, "How could I have been so stupid?"


"K-san, might you drive me to the hospital?" Ryuichi asked innocently, poking his side. K jumped up and surveyed Ryuichi frantically.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" His hand instinctively went for his gun. If anything happened to Ryuichi, Tohma would have his head.

"No~" Ryuichi laughed, clutching Kumagoro, his stuffed rabbit, in his arms. "I just need to return something to Kagome-chan."

K blinked, stumped. "Kagome-chan?" he repeated, confused.

"Hai!" he dug into his pocket and withdrew a black wallet. K watched him unzip the first compartment and withdraw a plastic card. "Here!" K took the identification and briefly read over the information. "I think she needs it, na no da! Kuma-chan agrees too." Ryuichi explained.

K rubbed his chin. "How did you obtain this, Ryuichi?" He eyed the singer skeptically.

"When I went for a walk, I ran into a pretty girl," he explained. "She was running, and helped me pick up my stuff. She was also singing my song… she has a very pretty voice, na no da."

K sweat dropped. "And when you ran into her, this fell from her pocket?" Ryuichi nodded. K visibly groaned and looked towards the wall. Afterwards he said, "Ryuichi, let me see the wallet."

"Why?" The singer asked.

K explained, "I want to see if there are other pieces of identification." If this Kagome Higurashi really were a doctor, surely there would be other pieces of identification in her wallet. K didn't feel completely content with the idea of driving Ryuichi to the hospital to return the wallet to the girl—for all they knew, the girl could have planned up a scheme to meet and kidnap Ryuichi. The concept may seem farfetched, but after spending more than twelve years in the music industry, K knew the insides and outs of what fans may have planned to meet any famous individual.

Ryuichi handed him the wallet, pouting, "Fine."

K clutched the wallet and unzipped the front compartment, inside was a small amount of plastic cards. He pulled out each one and saw that they consisted of credits cards, a library card, health card and driver's license. Removing the health card and driver's license, K's eyes scanned over the cards. So far, the information matched up.

He spoke. "Ryuichi, if you want, we head to the hospital and return this—" Ryuichi tackled K to the ground, squealing with joy.

"Yay!"


Wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap and blue jacket, Ryuichi entered the hospital, his hands shoved in his pockets. K followed behind and directed the singer towards the front desk. They inquired about Kagome's department, and a secretary pointed them in the right direction.

"Third floor, east wing, room number 320," K spoke as the duo stood in the elevator. "That's where she said Higurashi's office was." The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Ryuichi was the first to run out, making a dash for the east wing. K shouted for him to stop, but Ryuichi wouldn't listen.

I need to return this to her, he thought to himself, dashing down the hallway. Noticing the sign that hung above the doorway 'Pediatric department,' he grinned and pushed open the doors. Several doctors and patients that were amidst the hallway talking and chatting looked up, startled. Ryuichi flashed them a heartfelt grin and slowly walked down the hallway, searching for Kagome's office number.

Eyeing the area slowly, he felt shivers run down his spine when he watched a nurse wheel a sickly child down the hall. The girl looked to be no more than ten, and had various tubes connected to her body. When the girl looked up and locked gazes with Ryuichi, he offered her a small smile causing her eyes to sparkle.

"Hello," the nurse greeted, wheeling her past him. Ryuichi walked them disappear down the hallway until he could no longer see the girl or the nurse. Frowning, he removed his hands from his pockets and leaned against the nearest wall in silence.

"That should be all for today, Mina-chan." A voice spoke, catching his attention. Turning around Ryuichi watched as Kagome emerged from a nearby door, clutching a clipboard. She sported a white doctor's coat and had her hair tied back in a tight bun.

Ryuichi advanced. "Kagome-chan!" he greeted happily.

Kagome looked up from her clipboard, startled. "S-Sakuma-san," she stuttered. "Is that you?"

Ryuichi nodded. "I'm so happy I found you."

Flustered, Kagome backed away. "W-what are you doing here?" Better yet, how did the singer knew she worked here? She never told him her last name, so the odds of him finding her were slim to none.

Grinning, Ryuichi withdrew a small wallet from the back of his pocket. Kagome's eyes widened immediately; she knew that wallet. "That's mine," she whispered.

"Hai," he nodded, grinning. "When we bumped into each other at the park yesterday, this fell out of your pocket." Kagome fingered the wallet. "I wanted to return it to you because it has lots of important stuff in there."

I never realized that I had dropped it, Kagome thought to herself. Marian had dropped her off this morning because Maddi had her violin lessons not too far from the hospital. If he hadn't come here and returned it to me, I may not have noticed I lost it until much later.

"Sakuma-san," Kagome sniffled. The singer was quite kind, even after Kagome treated him rudely in the park. "Thank you very much." She briefly bowed. "I truly appreciate this." She looked up and saw that Ryuichi was watching her.

"You're welcome," he replied. "It seemed very important, na no da." Kagome could not stop herself from smiling because of how endearing he sounded.

"Hai, its very important." She answered.

Ryuichi took a step closer. "Kagome-chan, can we talk for a minute in private?"

Kagome felt her knees quiver. Ryuichi wanted to have a private conversation… with her?

"Um, alright," she gulped. "I-I'm scheduled to have a break soon anyway."

"Yay!" he beamed. "Let's go!" Before Kagome had the chance to deposit her clipboard, he was dragging her down the hallway towards the other set of elevators.


Ryuichi and Kagome sat outside the hospital in the small garden that surrounded the structure. Few people were outside, except for those smoking or enjoying a few quiet minutes outside before returning to work. Kagome had taken the liberty of removing her doctor's coat and kept it folded neatly in her lap.

"Was there something you wished to discuss?" She asked, trying not to let her voice crack.

Ryuichi gazed towards the building with a frown. "Is it always so sad in there?"

"Pardon?" she didn't understand what he meant.

Ryuichi looked her way. "Kagome-chan, is the hospital always so sad and gloomy?"

Her eyebrows rose. "Define gloomy." Everyone had his or her own perspective on how the hospital felt. To many, it was merely a place to come when someone was ill. For others, it was a place of work… but to Ryuichi; well, Kagome didn't know how to describe it.

"When I was looking for you, I saw a little girl being wheeled down the hallway by a nurse," he explained, his gaze downcast. "She had so many tubes attached to her body. She looked so sad." Soothingly, Kagome leaned over and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and blinked.

"Sakuma-san, there's no reason to feel sad," Kagome informed him. "That little girl along with other patients are here at the hospital to try to get better. Those tubes attached to her were most likely there to help her breathe." Based on his explanation, Kagome had a fair idea of whom the singer might be referring to. "Don't worry." She squeezed his shoulder. "She'll be fine."

"You're positive?"

Kagome clicked her tongue and sucked in a breath. "… I promise."

Feeling happier, he sat up properly and turned to the side. Kagome flushed upon noticing how close they were. "Kagome-chan, you work in the pediatric department, no?" He asked. She nodded. He continued. "Would it be okay if I came back here soon to try to cheer up the kids?" He looked so hopeful, Kagome couldn't deny him.

"What would you like to do?" She asked.

Ryuichi rubbed his chin. He hadn't thought of that yet. "Hmm…"

Giggling, Kagome reached inside her pocket. "Here, this is my card. When you've decided what you want to do for the children, you can give me a call."

He accepted the small business card. "Thank you."

She shook her head, "No, thank you, Sakuma-san."

"Eh?"

She chuckled. He was so nice and sweet. "Thank you for being so considerate," she explained, smiling widely. "Most people usually don't want to do much for the children here."

His eyes widened, "Why not?" Shouldn't these people be trying their hardest to make the children smile and laugh? Even if they were sick, if they were happy that might make the situation a bit easier to handle.

Kagome's eyes darkened. "Let's just say that most here prefer to keep the area professional." She rolled her eyes at the thought. "That's the best way to put it."

"Hmm…" he grumbled. "That's not fair."

"That's life," she retorted.

Frowning, Ryuichi heard his cell phone ring and looked down at the caller; it was Tohma. Bringing the phone to his ear, he greeted his friend pleasantly, "Tohma-kun!"

"Where are you?" Tohma inquired.

Ryuichi pouted, "At the hospital with K-san." Ryuichi was positive that K had already informed Tohma of the situation.

Tohma sighed. "I want you both to return immediately. We need to continue recording."

"I don't want to!" Ryuichi whined. He wanted to stay here and continue talking to Kagome.

"Be back in less than an hour," Tohma instructed before hanging up. Pout worsening, the vocalist shut his phone and shoved it in his pocket. Regretfully, he stood up.

"I need to get going," he informed her.

Kagome smiled and shrugged on her jacket. "That's fine. I need to get back to work anyway."

"Hold on." Ryuichi grabbed her hand. "Let me give you something."

"Hmm?" she titled her head to the side. This time, Ryuichi pulled out a small slip of paper and handed it to her. She accepted it and unfolded the note; it had a number sprawled out in pink pen.

Is this what I think it is? She thought in disbelief, her ears turning red.

"That's my personal cell phone number," he explained briefly. "I'm going to call you later-on tonight to plan out something we can do for the kids in the hospital." He started to smile. "I might not call until late though."

"That's fine," she murmured.

"Great." He beamed.

"Oii, Ryuichi, let's get going!" K called from further away, waving his hands. Ryuichi saw him and waved in response.

"Talk to you tonight, Kagome-chan," he chuckled and drew her into a hug. Turning a lovely shade of cheery red, Kagome shyly returned the hug, enjoying the feeling of her favourite singer hugging her tight. "I'm just sure we'll come up with something great." He spoke and glumly withdrew from the hug. Kagome tried her best to remain upbeat and positive, though she, too, was sad that the hug had ended so soon.

"That sounds great," she gulped.