DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha and, unless I magically win the lottery, I doubt I'll ever will.

A/N: Beta: Little R

If there is one thing we can be certain of in life, it's that eventually we will die

DEATH

By: Anne 79

Chapter 3

Death is not the end
Death can never be the end.

Death is the road.
Life is the traveler.
The Soul is the Guide

Our mind thinks of death.
Our heart thinks of life
Our soul thinks of Immortality.

- Sri Chinmoy

He went inside of the playroom, following the beautiful sounds of a piano he had heard from outside. He had been doing his rounds in the Pediatric ward. Music was such a foreign sound in the hallways of the hospital; the playroom had several instruments for the children, but they hardly used them, yet the piano was being played so flawlessly. He could not believe it could be a child behind the instrument. Inuyasha's eyes widened as he recognized the scent of the pianist.

"What is she doing?" He wondered out loud. Kagome sat behind the piano, wearing her lavender robe over the hospital's gown. Her back was turned to him; her hair, no longer tight in a bun, was waving slightly with the movement of her thorax.

Sango was standing by the door. Her gaze lost while she admired the sounds and the joyful expressions of the children near the vertical piano. She leaned toward Inuyasha, not taking her eyes away from the scene.

"She's been coming here every day since she was admitted."

"Why?"

"Her words were: 'I need to see this from a child's eyes.' My opinion is that finally she understood what you told her," she said with a sad smile. "Shippo showed her the piano after she told him she used to play."

"She didn't tell me she did," Inuyasha muttered, annoyed.

"I believe she's not used to talking about herself," Sango conceded.

Kagome's fingers moved with grace over the keyboard while Shippo sat besides her amazed by his companion's skills. She stopped suddenly and the room was filled with cheerful applauses and petitions of another song. Inuyasha finally saw the sick woman's big smile. She stood up with certain difficulty and Sango rushed in her aid.

Kagome's eyes widened when she noticed her doctor's presence. She muttered a short greeting.

"You found Inu! He's your doctor too!?" Shippo squealed excitedly as he grabbed her free hand. She nodded while she smiled. "You're gonna fix her like me, aren't you Inu?" Shippo stared at Inuyasha with his big green eyes filled with hope and anticipation. Inuyasha turned to see Kagome's azure eyes –not so bright as they used to be- drenched in acceptation.

"I'm going to try, kid," he said with a smile. "Now, I have to take Kagome with me. She must be tired," he said as he offered his hand to her. Shippo hesitantly gave Kagome's hand to Inuyasha. Inuyasha took it while he gave Shippo a grin. "Don't worry, kid; I'll giver her back to you." Shippo grinned and left after giving Kagome a brief hug.

Inuyasha then noticed he still held her hand and she was giving him a small smile.

"Inu?" She questioned as she walked outside the playroom, her hand still in his. He blushed.

"My name's Inuyasha. They have problems pronouncing 'Takahashi'," he explained as they walked hand in hand through the corridors. Some nurses gave them knowing glances and others whispered between each other.

"It's for the kids."

Kagome chuckled. "I like it," she decided after they got together in the elevator.

"I thought you were a lawyer," he began. She giggled. He could get used to her giggles, and how her eyes twinkled with child-like innocence…

"You tend to misunderstand everything I say," she added with a grin. Her eyes twinkled, giving him butterflies. He knew he was blushing again. He wasn't supposed to blush. He was a well-known doctor and it was unprofessional. "I went to law school in a way," she continued giving him a glance, hesitating. "I went there to visit the campus," she grinned anticipating his response. He turned quickly, his eyes wide in shock. "Dad always said they had a beautiful botanic collection".

"You, You little-"

"Oh, Inuyasha! You were lying then too! It was only fair for me to return the favor." She giggled again as he recovered from his shock. "I was a pianist."

"You were?"

"I just discovered the playroom's piano. I haven't been playing for at least two months."

"So when you said you couldn't focus on your work because of the headaches you talked about concerts," he concluded. She nodded.

"I have told you I've been having problems too feeling cramps in my hands, they tremble sometimes. It's not fair! I try performing at concerts and I'm not able to give people what they came to hear."

"You didn't sound imprecise back there," he confessed. They entered to her room. He helped her get comfortable in bed. He connected some of the machines. He checked her chart and scribbled something.

"I have good days and bad days. I'm lucky the kids aren't judgmental. All it takes is to do the farmer's song and they think I beat Beethoven," she muttered. She felt uncomfortable when he didn't meet her eyes. He was hidden behind the charts. "Good news?" She asked after some minutes of awkward silence.

"I got some of the results," he mumbled without meeting her eyes.

"And?" he noticed the anxious tone. He met her eyes and gave her an encouraging smile.

"You are going to have to put up with me for a bit longer," he said without really announcing the bad omen in the charts. He wasn't ready to give up just yet. He didn't want to give up on her.

"I'm starting to believe I'm not sick at all. And this is your attempt of kidnapping me until you get the courage to ask me on a date…" She announced with a sly grin. He blushed again. She giggled.

"So you were in a band?" He asked after making sure he was no longer blushing. She raised an eyebrow, confused. He was momentarily distraught, wondering how she could raise both of her eyebrows independently yet both equally graceful. He shook his thoughts away. "Where did you play?"

"You had an invitation on your mail a month ago for the Clair Foundation's, didn't you?" She asked out of the blue. Now it was his time to be confused.

"How did you know?"

"Just a lucky guess."

He didn't dare to ask further about her job because he knew she wouldn't tell him anything less cryptic than her previous question. They stayed in each others company until a nurse came looking for Inuyasha. Kagome let him go after he promised to come back soon. She stayed alone in the room, meditating.

"That was quite a show," Sango told her as she went inside of the room. Kagome smiled gratefully.

"It's easy with the kids," she complied.

"I think all nurses would agree with me that keeping them that entertained for so much time is almost a miracle," both women giggled. Sango approached to one of the machines to change the drugs. "Has Dr. Takahashi told you about the procedure yet?"

"No," Kagome said with a hesitant smile. "I didn't let him."

"You're a very peculiar person," Sango said as she checked the dose. Kagome looked at her, confused. "You came here on a hunch, you got the best doctor in the city to do lab work, yet you don't want to hear the results nor accept the treatments."

"It's not that I don't want the treatments," Kagome started slowly as she figured out how to explain herself. "I just don't want to be a lab-rat". At Sango's incredulous stare, she continued. "I told Inuya- err, Dr. Takahashi that I wanted him to give me a final diagnosis, something definitive. I don't want to receive medicine just in case."

Sango didn't understand.

"Are you sure it was only a hunch?" Sango asked after some minutes of silence. "Are you sure you don't know your own diagnosis?" She wondered. "I mean maybe you came here to see if Inuyasha could find something different from a previous doctor?"

Kagome shook her head.

"This is the first time I've been to a hospital in a long time," Kagome muttered. Sango bit her tongue. She knew it wasn't her place to pester patients with curious questions.

Finally after finishing his rounds and visiting Kagome shortly –she had been sleeping-, Inuyasha went to his office to pick some files he needed to revise. When he sat behind his desk he remembered the odd conversation with the pianist.

He looked trough his drawers and found the Clair Foundation's invitation. It was one of the most important events of the year. Something nagged him in the back of the head. Normally the whole event based in a grand concert in the City's Music Hall. Usually they brought foreign talents, prodigies, musical genius, normally they were old and experienced… unless their talent was unearthly.

It couldn't be…

He read the invitation quickly. It was always the same for these things. Dr. Takahashi we are pleased to … yadda yadda yadda. Where was the program? He passed the first golden page and found nothing. He looked again into the envelope and found a small triptych. He read through the foreign names and found what he had been looking for… the only pianist in the whole orchestra.

Miss Kagome Higurashi.