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Kagome stifled a sigh as she tried to finish her homework. Needless to say, she couldn't concentrate . . .
She gnawed her lower lip as she looked out the window.
'Go back.'
'I can't.'
'Why?'
'I . . .'
'Stubborn wench.'
A hint of a smile tugged at her lips before she sighed and her former frown deepened. 'Inuyasha . . . always told me that. . .'
'You hurt him.'
'I . . . what?'
'He was merely stating the facts and you denied him then shoved him out.'
Kagome snorted. 'I did not, he left on his own!'
'Because you hurt him! Listen to me just once in your life! You told Inuyasha you didn't belong to him. But did you think for a second that maybe Inuyasha considers you as 'his'? Not literally, but as a friend? And if so, he was merely protecting you by asking where you were and why. For once, you need to think about his heritage.'
'Heritage?'
'He's hanyou.'
Kagome's eyes widened as she remembered that. He was hanyou, wasn't he? He was different from humans, wasn't he?
"Then I realized I had a place, but I was the only one in it."
Inuyasha's words hit her hard. He told her that after they left Jenenji's village . . .
Inuyasha was hanyou—half human . . . and half demon—half inu youkai. And weren't dogs protective of what they considered theirs? Kagome could remember her neighbors' dog from when she was little. Every time she passed the house, the dog would bark ferociously at her—warning her to keep away from what was in his mind 'his'—his owners. Kagome remembered how many times Inuyasha had protected her, Miroku, and Sango from danger. Did he consider them 'his', too?
'Go back,' her mind whispered.
Another tear slipped out as Kagome's heart clenched. Always she had loved him—always. 'I will,' she answered softly. 'I will.'
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Inuyasha leapt from the well and stormed around it for awhile.
'Fine then!' he mentally snapped to Kagome. 'See if I care! I won't go back and apologize—I won't!'
But he knew as he fumed, that he couldn't go more than a day before seriously starting to miss the miko.
'Why did she yell at me? I didn't do anything! Stupid wench . . . stupid, stupid wench . . .'
He knew he was already starting to miss her.
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Kagome bit her bottom lip as she tried to revise what she'd translated with Tohru. But a certain hanyou wouldn't leave her mind.
'I'll go back tomorrow, when it's light out.'
No matter how much she tried to tell herself that she was going to go back, the gnawing feeling of guilt wouldn't let her have peace.
'Tomorrow!' she cried to the person her guilt had formed into.
After a few more minutes, Kagome shoved her French paper back into her book bag along with the copy of the French book.
Deciding that she had to get up early tomorrow to apologize to Inuyasha, Kagome set her alarm for seven.
Finally, Kagome put on some pajamas, jumped into bed, and allowed sleep to cover her like a blanket covers a child.
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The first thing that registered in Kagome's brain was the smell of a warm breakfast. The second was the warm sun that heated her face with its early-in-the-morning light.
The third . . . that it was late . . . very late.
Jumping up, Kagome glanced at the clock before suppressing a scream with her hand. 8:15.
Rolling out of bed, Kagome scrambled into her school uniform, brushed her hair, and put on her socks in record timing.
She grabbed her backpack and ran down the stairs, almost slipping on the polished floor in her socks.
"Mom!" she screeched as she narrowly missed running into the wall as she tried to turn the corner into the kitchen; "Why didn't—?" Everything she was going to say died on her tongue. "A . . . Ak—I mean, Sohma-san . . . what are you doing in the kitchen?"
Akito beamed over his shoulder—Kagome's stomach knotted at his weird smile—and simply said, "You mother wanted to get your grandfather some more arthritis medicine and I agreed to make breakfast. It seemed the best thing to do, considering . . ." he drifted off, allowing the obvious to fill up the rest of his sentence.
"Oh, right," Kagome said, smiling easily. One thought went through her head: 'Suck-up!'
Akito put two eggs and toast on a plate before placing it on the table. "My specialty," he murmured to her, his dark eyes showing no emotions when he looked at her through his lashes.
"Oh . . . um, Sohma-san, why didn't Mom wake me up before she left?" Kagome asked as she stared down at her breakfast, deciding whether to eat it or throw it away when he wasn't looking.
Akito merely gave her another of his freaky grins. "I told her I would," he answered simply.
"Um . . . right. So . . . then—" 'Why didn't you wake me up, you sonuvabitch!' "—why didn't you wake me up? I should've been up when my alarm went off."
"A growing girl needs her sleep and I wanted to give you all the sleep I could," he assured her, giving a friendly squeeze to her shoulder---squeezing a bit tighter than necessary.
Kagome's shoulder burned where he touched it. "But . . . I wanted up that early. I had things to do."
Akito looked at her as though she had suddenly sprouted demonic wings. "Why would you need up that early?" His voice was curious, but there was a menace behind it.
"Uh . . ."
Akito gave her an easy smile as his bottomless eyes narrowed slightly. "That's what I thought," he said, sniffing before turning and making another batch of eggs—presumably for Souta or himself.
Kagome just had to take a peek over her shoulder to see her bare shoulder blades just to make sure she hadn't sprouted any wings . . . the look Akito had given her really made her contemplate the possibility of it . . .
Almost without thinking, Kagome had started eating her breakfast, and by the time she realized what she was doing, she choked on it. She was going to throw it away when Akito had gone back to cooking.
She growled before reluctantly swallowing the last bite.
'It's actually pretty good,' she mentally mumbled darkly.
She heard Souta come down the stairs and looked over to see him walk in the kitchen---undressed.
"Brat?" Kagome asked, using one of the many nicknames her little brother had accumulated over the years. "Why aren't you dressed?"
Souta rubbed his eye. "I dun' feel so good . . ." he mumbled sleepily.
"Maybe you're hungry," she suggested.
"I don't think so . . ." he yawned before assuring her, "I threw up in the bathroom."
Kagome made a face. "Eww! Why are you telling me this?"
Souta shrugged before slumping in his chair, head dropping on the table. "You were doubtful."
Kagome was about to retort when Akito turned around, plate of eggs in tow. "Ah, good, you're awake. Now what do you want—?" he abruptly cut himself off as Souta smelled the aroma from the food and went racing away—most likely to the nearest bathroom.
Akito gave Kagome a questioning glance. "What's wrong with him?"
"Sick," Kagome answered before standing, putting her plate in the sink and trailing her brother up the stairs.
She found—actually, heard—Souta in the bathroom. It didn't sound good.
Kagome gently nodded on the door. "Hey," she called softly. "You okay?"
She heard him give another heave before he answered. "Mm-mm-hmm-mmn," he grumbled.
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Sorry, what was that?"
He didn't answer again, so Kagome slowly opened the door. She peaked in to see a clean toilet . . . unoccupied. Frowning, Kagome pushed the door open, looked around and gave a sharp breath.
Souta was lying sprawled on the ground, unconscious.
"Souta!" she urgently whispered. She shook him to see if he'd wake up, and when he didn't, she picked him up and started towards his room. She was half-way across the hall when she heard foot steps on the staircase. She picked up her speed and kicked open the door to Souta's room when she reached it. Racing over to his bed, she gingerly placed him on the bed before making her way back over top the door and closing it, making sure to press in the lock.
Kagome went back over and kneeled by her brother's bed. "Souta . . ." she murmured.
He groaned and rolled over.
Hesitantly, Kagome reached out and placed her hand to his forehead. She winced when she realized that he was burning up.
'Souta . . .'
There was a knock on the door. "Kagome-chan? Something wrong?"
Kagome's head snapped in the direction of the door. "Uh . . . no."
"Then can I come in?"
Kagome looked around for a thermometer. After a few seconds of searching, she found thee was none and her gaze returned to the door. "Um . . . no."
"And why not?"
"Uh . . ." Kagome blurted the first thing that popped into her head. "Lice."
". . . Lice?" Akito echoed dubiously.
"Yeah . . . very contagious; wouldn't want you to catch 'em."
There was a short pause before Akito registered this excuse as bogus. "Kagome-chan, you need to open this door now. You have to get ready for school and it's almost time to go."
Kagome glared at the door, knowing she did have to go to school. "Hang on," she grumbled, wrapping her right arm over her brother and resting her cheek on the mattress beside his face. "I'll be down in a minute."
"Can I come in now?" Akito's tone was gentle, nut there was something in it that seemed to give a threat if she didn't comply.
"Um . . . no. I . . . uh, well, you see . . ." she thought of something to say, but her mind came up blank.
Akito sighed. Suddenly, his voice was oozing with a thick, sweet, purr-like maliciousness. "Kagome-chan, why don't you open up this door, hm? If you don't—"
"I'm home!" came the voice of Kagome's mother.
Kagome held her breath when she heard a light shuffling of feet outside the door, desperately hoping Akito would leave.
She was in luck. Soon after, she heard the gentle creak of the stair third from the top and knew he was headed down to greet her mother.
Taking advantage of that, Kagome slipped across the hall, into the bathroom and grabbed a thermometer before quietly making her way back, making sure to relock the bedroom door. Kagome didn't know why, but the thought of Akito being around someone sick—especially someone she cared about didn't suit well with her.
She put the tip of the electronic device under her brother's tongue and hit the power button. In only a few seconds, it beeped and Kagome took it out. She grimaced at the temperature it displayed before placing her hand on his forehead and grimacing again.
'40 degrees . . . what does he have?'
Souta groaned before fluttering his eyes open. "Sis?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"Wh—What's wrong with me?"
Kagome looked away, a little ashamed of not knowing after so long of taking care of sick villagers from the feudal era. "Not sure," she mumbled, her cheeks pinkening.
Souta merely groaned again before rolling over. "I want Mama," he mumbled back.
Kagome nodded. "Okay, I'll go and get her." She had just stood up and hadn't even taken a step before there was a gentle knock at the door.
Kagome tensed, ready to start arguing with Akito, if need be.
"Kagome?"
Kagome's shoulders slumped with relief when she heard her mother's voice.
"Will you let me in, dear?"
Kagome blinked with confusion as to why her mother would be asking that before she remembered she had locked the door. "Oh . . . yeah, sorry," she muttered, embarrassed, as she walked over to the door and unlocked it, opening it and coming face-to-face with her mother.
"Kagome, dear, why did you lock the door in the first place?" Mrs. Higurashi asked as soon as the door was open.
"Oh . . . well . . . Souta's sick . . ."
Mrs. Higurashi's eyes widened slightly. "Oh," she murmured as she walked around Kagome and made her way over to her son's bed, kneeling by him, Kagome taking her place by her mother.
Souta looked over his shoulder at his mother. His pace was a light pink color and he didn't look good.
"Mama . . ." he quietly rasped. "I'm thirsty."
"Of course," she assured him before turning to talk to Kagome. 'Did you take his temp?"
Kagome nodded. "Yeah, it was 40."
Mrs. Higurashi winced before feeling Souta's forehead and sharply gasping. "High temp . . . high temp. Kagome, help me get him to the tub."
Kagome nodded again before gently picking up her brother—who was pretty heavy—and—with some help from her mother—got him into the empty bath tub, clothes and all.
"Run the water, I'll get the ice," her mother instructed.
Kagome didn't reply, but turned the tap on, feeling the temperature of the water and adjusting it until it was icy cold.
Souta flinched away from it, groaning.
"C'mon, Souta, it's for your own good," she told him, slowing the water a bit.
Her mother came up with a small bag of ice and dumped it in. Needless to say, Souta didn't like that, either.
Kagome turned off the water, seeing how his flailing would flood the bathroom floors if she didn't.
"Souta, dunk your head," Mrs. Higurashi instructed gently.
"No," he moaned.
"Souta, if you don't, I'll have to."
He rolled over, grumbling darkly.
Mrs. Higurashi sighed. "Kagome, please hold his legs down."
"No!" Souta wailed, kicking his legs desperately, trying to avoid Kagome's hands.
"Souta, Souta, shhh, shhh . . . it's okay." Their mother stroked his cheek. "You need to clam down and before you know it, you'll feel all better."
Souta stopped struggling and opened his eyes to look at his mother. ". . . You promise?"
She smiled. "Yes, Souta, I promise."
Souta hesitated, still managing to keep Kagome from grabbing his legs. ". . . Fine . . . but only if I get to have some pocky later."
Mrs. Higurashi chuckled. "Of course, nothing but."
Souta beamed before closing his eyes, wrinkling his nose, and plummeting his head down so hard, it whacked the bottom.
Kagome's little brother surfaced with a mess of bubbles and a lot of sputtering. "Ow," he whined rubbing the back of his head.
Kagome stuck out her tongue. "Brat, you're the one that did it."
Souta pouted, crossing his arms. "Meany . . . Mama, I want my pocky now."
Mrs. Higurashi chuckled. "Kagome, will you get me a few towels?"
Kagome stood and turned, pulling several towels off the door and handed them to her mother with a, "Here."
Mrs. Higurashi nodded, taking the towels, pulling the plug to the tub to let the water drain out, and told Souta to stand up so she could wrap him in towels.
Souta did so obediently, happy now that his body was cooler.
Mrs. Higurashi was toweling Souta down when she turned to look at Kagome for a few seconds before returning her full attention to Souta. "You're still going to school," she informed the miko. "And you're going to be on time, so I suggest you get on your way."
Kagome opened her mouth to protest, but her mother gave her a stern look. "No arguments. You're going to go to school as many days as you can since you're on the other side so often and for so long."
Kagome bit her tongue, swallowing the retort that wanted to escape. "Fine," she sighed, knowing her mother was right on this one. "I'll see you this afternoon."
Her mother nodded her good-bye as Kagome left the bathroom and went to her room to get her book bag and quickly raced down the stairs and to the front door to get her shoes on.
Kagome took a deep breath before opening the door and calling over her shoulder, "I'm leaving!" She didn't think anyone was going to reply, but she did so anyway.
She was surprised when someone did reply.
"Wait a second!" Akito's voice drifted to her.
Kagome froze, holding her breath, as she rapidly thought. 'Wait, what does he want? Oh, he probably wants to yell at me, or something.'
Kagome looked over at the clock to see that she only had a couple minutes to get to school.
She had no intention of staying here, listening to Akito—who she wasn't happy with at the moment—scold and rant at her for who knew how long.
Kagome did the one thing almost any teen would have done.
She ran.
She started to run to school, planning to pretend not to have heard Akito tell her to wait if he mentioned it to her that afternoon.
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"Kagome-chan, you don't look so good," Tohru commented as Kagome dragged herself into the class room.
Kagome smiled easily. 'I'm okay, it's just that my brother's sick."
Tohru gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. It's scary, isn't it?"
Kagome nodded. "Yeah, especially since he's really sick."
The brunette gave a reassuring smile. "He'll be fine, I'm sure."
The miko sighed and looked down at her textbooks glumly. "Maybe . . ."
Kagome was surprised when she felt a warm hand grab hers and pulled her up to make her stand.
"Tohru—?"
The girl smiled. "You shouldn't be so down. Everything turns out all right in the end. No matter what. Silver lining."
Kagome stared at the girl who had no doubt forgotten her mind and sanity somewhere in her sock drawer that morning.
'Silver lining? What good could possibly come from this?'
"Um . . . sure," Kagome agreed, prying Tohru's hand off hers. "If you say so."
The other girl nodding, beaming. "Everything always turns out okay, even if it goes to hell first."
Kagome gave Tohru a look. "You don't say?"
She nodded. "Yep."
The bell rang and the teacher looked up from her desk. "All right, class. Take a seat. Now then, Bonjour!"
"Bonjour," the class answered, dead to the world.
The teacher gave them a calculating look. "I know you can do better than that. Come on now. Bonjour! Come on, now. You don't want to be piled with homework, do you?"
There were a few gasps before the class all exclaimed, "Bonjour!"
The teacher smiled. "Much better."
Kagome mentally snorted. 'Silver lining? Yeah, ri-i-i-i-i-i-i-ight.'
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40 degrees Celsius: Approx. 104 degrees Fahrenheit
Votes for Kagome:
Kyo: 17
Inuyasha: 14
Haru: 2 (Sorry, but this won't be, no matter what.)
Reminder: No matter how many votes one character may receive, my word is final. (So, Kyo may have well over a hundred votes while Inuyasha has ten, but I may pick Inuyasha, anyway. I don't know yet.)