Ch 7 The Power of Suggestion…


"Ohayou, onee-chan…" Akiko mumbled as she slumped into a chair at the kitchen table. She really had to figure out how to sleep in one of these days…

"Ohayou Akiko-chan. How are you feeling? You look exhausted." Mrs. Higurashi responded, looking back at her sister from her position at the stove where she was cooking breakfast. The two women were alone in the kitchen, given the early hour, and felt free to speak frankly.

"That's because I am exhausted. Do you realize I went to sleep after 2 last night?"

"Why did you do that? And why didn't you at least sleep in afterwards?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, confused.

"Argh…I've gotten so used to my work schedule, always getting up at a certain time despite how late I've gone to bed, that I can't seem to break it. Kami knows how I wish I could…As for why I did it, that should be obvious. I was busy helping those screwed up teenagers of yours of course!"

Mrs. Higurashi smiled ruefully to herself. Same old Akiko, always complaining about work no matter how much she enjoyed it and how important it was to her. And always grumpy in the morning.

"You do know that you could've waited to finish till today, right? One more day wouldn't have made that much difference."

"Shut up. How do you know it wouldn't have made a difference? Who's the one with the psychology degree here again?" Akiko growled, quite put out at that realization. Why on earth had she tried to finish it all in one night? Because she was a perfectionist and couldn't go to sleep if she felt like she'd hadn't finished something properly. Oh yeah…

Mrs. Higurashi merely chuckled. She'd asked for it, teasing her sister like that, when she obviously wasn't in the mood. She relented, putting aside the sisterly entertainment she got from their banter, and switched back into mom mode.

"So, did you manage to help them?"

"Of course I 'managed to help them'. Are you in doubt of my abilities?" Akiko huffed, offended.

Mrs. Higurashi stifled her good-natured laughter yet again. Akiko would take it the wrong way for sure, with the state she was in. Funny how she was so good at getting into other people's heads while on the job, but was always misinterpreting things otherwise.

"No, no, I'm not. Let me rephrase my question: how did it go?"

That wording was acceptable to her ego, and so Akiko deigned to answer somewhat civilly.

"It took a bit of convincing with Kagome, but wasn't too difficult. All her issues connected with him, so I didn't need to do much deep analysis to figure them out-they were pretty plain to see once I got her talking. I finished in a fairly reasonable amount of time-3 hours or so I believe. As for Inuyasha-kun…"

"Yes, how did it go with him? He's not very open to talking about himself, so I was worried he might refuse to let you help him at all. He can be very stubborn at times from what Kagome's told me."

"I'll say. You have no idea of how hard he tried to get out of it-even subconsciously, before he knew why I was talking to him in the first place. Not to mention how many inner demons he really had…You know I can't give you details, but suffice to say that it took me from five to six hours with him. I think I reached him in the end though."

"That's wonderful! So are you done?"

"Well that all depends on them doesn't it? They can't get over these issues unless they really want to. I've gotten them to the point where they're on the edge of a resolution, they just have to take the last step. It's a bit delicate though, so I'd appreciate it if you and Dad and Souta just let them be for the next few days, until it's clear that they've gotten past that point-Why are you looking at me like that?"

Akiko broke suddenly from her long-winded explanation to stare suspiciously at her sister's guilty face.

"Well, the thing is Akiko-chan, Dad already-"

"Ji-chan did what already?" Kagome asked innocently as she entered the kitchen. Mrs. Higurashi scrambled for something else to tell her. If Kagome didn't know about the sutra yet, she'd better keep it from her as long as possible. From Akiko's description, it seemed it wasn't as harmless as she'd thought, with her daughter so 'delicate' psychologically.

"D-dad already swept the shrine yesterday, before Akiko-chan came, so I was just telling her how she can't do it after all. I guess we'll have to find something else for you to help us out with!" Mrs. Higurashi smiled big, hoping her cheerfulness would help make up for the abysmal nature of her lie.

Akiko silently groaned behind Kagome's back. Could her onee-chan be any more obvious? And now she had to go on with the absurd thing too. Double groan.

"Oh well," Akiko began with false melancholy. "And I was so hoping to be able to help out like I used to. Sweeping always was my favorite chore."

Fortunately Kagome didn't catch the sarcasm, bored enough by the conversation to stop paying attention altogether. Akiko and Mrs. Higurashi sighed in relief as the girl absentmindedly began to dig into her breakfast.

But before they could properly relax, Inuyasha entered as well. Akiko and Mrs. Higurashi went tense, abruptly cutting off their attempts to mime a conversation around Kagome's oblivious head.

Inuyasha glanced once at Kagome, blushed, then looked away, and busied himself getting food, trying to hide his embarrassment. He'd spent the rest of the night before mulling over what Akiko had said, what it all meant, teasing out every nook and cranny of her argument. He'd found it sound, to his surprise, but still felt very tentative about testing the psychologist's theories regarding Kagome's feelings. Sure, he finally accepted that it was all right to care for her as much as he did, that he might not be cursed after all, that he might be able to stay with her without hurting her, but that didn't mean he was positive of Kagome's affections. That bit just seemed too good to be true; so he wasn't going to kill her by association, so what-he still wouldn't deserve her.

Kagome, for her part, tried to hide her own blush as he entered. She gazed intently at her breakfast as if she hadn't even noticed his arrival, and so missed his own shy glances in her direction. She had spent a similar night, considering and evaluating her aunt's words, not daring to hope that it could be true. Could it be that he thought of her as more than a shard-detector? Could it be that he didn't stay with her because she reminded him of Kikyou? Could he really see her for who she was, and prefer her to the other miko? After spending so much time convincing herself of her inferiority to her incarnation in his eyes, of him going off to see her, it was hard to believe it all, no matter what her aunt said.

Akiko, gave up on finding out Ji-chan's latest antics with two others in the room, and so settled down to observe her patients critically. The tension was thick, just as it had been at dinner the night before, but also not like that dinner at all. The stress hanging in the air here was of a different kind, and it was obvious that their silence stemmed from very different reasons. This was not the presence of two people furious with one another; it was more that of hesitancy, of not knowing what to say, not daring to try anything for the moment, for fear of ruining what might be. She noted the change with approval. Fine, so they still weren't talking to each other, and to many it would seem that her interference hadn't the slightest effect. But the atmosphere was as far from the last meal as could be, and she felt hopeful for their relationship. Now if only she could get them to actually look at one another, maybe even try saying something-even a good morning would be a welcome sign.

As if reading her mind, Inuyasha grunted, finally breaking the tension. He stared at Kagome for a moment, then looked down again as her face finally rose, unable to meet her gaze.

"Kagome…We need to talk."

Kagome stared openly at him for a moment in surprise, then glanced in Akiko's direction as if to say: 'What?! I thought you said he liked me!'

Akiko rolled her eyes and mouthed: 'Do you really think he knows that's the stereotypical breakup line in the modern era? He's from the Sengoku Jidai, he doesn't have a clue what that means beyond the literal!'

Kagome mouthed a small o, looked down sheepishly, then looked up again; this time, instead of anger, her gaze radiated hope. 'Then does that mean…'

Akiko smiled and nodded in encouragement, mouthing 'go for it', all grouchiness forgotten. Kagome took a deep breath, and turned back to the nervous hanyou sitting across from her.

"All right Inuyasha. I just finished eating anyway, let's go." She got up from the table, but missed the relieved expression that crossed over his face, distracted by her brother's appearance.

"Go where?" Souta asked, wary. He still hadn't found a way to get that sutra off, and until he did he had to make sure no one else knew about it.

"Well, Inuyasha and I were just going to talk, in my room I guess…" Kagome answered, a little shyly at first, but forgot it in a moment at her brother's terrified expression. "What's wrong Souta?"

"You can't talk in there," he answered bluntly.

"Why not? It's my room after all." Kagome got a bit defensive; she was the elder after all, who was Souta to tell her what she could or couldn't do?

"Well…Because…You just can't ok!" Souta was flustered, his eyes darting back and forth, searching for some proverbial escape from her scrutiny.

"Souta…If you don't give me a reason for all of this soon…" Kagome started, a threatening tone to her voice.

"There is a reason! I swear there is!"

"Then tell me it, baka." Kagome answered, exasperated beyond belief. Here she was on the verge of maybe possibly finally fixing things between her and Inuyasha, and she couldn't because her brother of all people was being a complete and utter idiot.

He looked imploringly at his mother for help, but received none. Mrs. Higurashi, thinking that Kagome was acting like her old self again, and that there was no way for Inuyasha to recognize the sutra, decided that her daughter had gotten past the 'delicate stage' Akiko had mentioned, and so it wouldn't matter.

Not hearing an adequate excuse, Kagome shoved past her brother and left the kitchen, a confused Inuyasha in her wake. The whole way up the stairs Souta was pulling at her, tugging at her, practically begging her to turn back, all to no avail. In fact, Kagome only got more determined the longer he tried, almost dragging him along as she came closer and closer to her bedroom door.

The hanyou watched it all, trying to figure out why the runt was so desperate to keep them from talking. It was odd, usually the kid was on his side, but he was acting totally against his suggestion this time. He grew nervous-was it that Souta didn't want him to get along with his sister better? Did he know that he wasn't good enough for her? But the kid had been calling him his older brother for almost as long as he'd known him, had been hero-worshipping him for just as long. It just didn't make any sense...

Then Inuyasha caught sight of the small piece of paper stuck to the door, and everything clicked. Miroku had shown him the same exact sutra only the other day, explaining it as an attempt to get Sango to be more 'friendly' towards him. He'd scoffed, and called the monk a hopeless hentai as usual, but seeing it now, pasted on Kagome's bedroom door of all places-he began to sweat. Kagome was sure to think he'd put it there, that he was the hentai she always accused him of being if she recognized it-and how could she not, she lived in a shrine after all, her grandfather was a priest-his thoughts dissolved in a mess of disconnected ploys to escape the situation, the image of an Inuyasha-shaped crater in the ground foremost in his mind. She would sit him to hell and back for this one, he was sure.

Seeing his sister stiffen, Souta made himself scarce, an apologetic glance at Inuyasha his way of parting. It was cruel to leave his hero to hang and dry like this, but his own life had to come first. Besides, Inuyasha was tough, he'd survive. Probably.

For her part, Kagome had been too angry with Souta to think much of why he was trying to keep her away after his initial failures to explain himself. She regretted that the moment she got to her door, noticing the white rectangle for the first time. She groaned inwardly. Why oh why couldn't she have just trusted her brother? Why couldn't she have just asked to talk to Inuyasha outside instead? Things were finally making sense to her, and now this had to come. It just wasn't fair! When she found Ji-chan (there was no doubt in her mind that he was the guilty party) she would burn all of his millions of sutras in a glorious bonfire of vengeance. But until that happy time could come, she had to do damage control. Hopefully Inuyasha wouldn't know what it was, but she couldn't take the chance of giving it away, so she focused on behaving as normally as possible.

Too bad she was more transparent than polished crystal.

"So, er, shall we?" She walked up to the door a bit hesitantly, sending a fake smile in Inuyasha's direction to try and hide her inner turmoil as she turned the knob.

Gulping, Inuyasha nodded. So far, it didn't seem like she'd noticed…She didn't seem angry, although she was acting strangely. Suddenly he got ten times more nervous. No…It couldn't be…Not, not, not that. It just couldn't!

As he warily entered the room, Inuyasha's worst suspicions and fears were confirmed. Kagome shut the door behind him, took his hand, and led him to the bed.

But it was. Utter terror filled him. How was he ever going to get out of this one?

Kagome sighed in exasperation as he froze beside her. Honestly, what was so wrong about her holding his hand? Especially if he did like her the way Akiko said he did. This wasn't another one of those things that fell under the category of 'expressing feelings,' was it? Or was it that Akiko had been wrong to begin with, and he felt awkward right now because he didn't think of her that way at all? Doubt filled her, and she looked up at him with a hurt expression.

"Inuyasha?" She didn't know what else to say; he'd said they needed to talk, but it seemed now that all he wanted was to get as far from her as possible. She involuntarily squeezed his hand, trying to make him stay.

Inuyasha groaned inwardly. What the hell was he going to do!? Here she was, so sweet, so beautiful, so vulnerable, so innocent…It was all he could do to resist his own hormones, which had decided to launch an attack at this most inopportune of moments. This wasn't right at all, she wasn't herself, he couldn't, he couldn't do a thing, this was the completely wrong time and place! Terror gripped him, both of what she might do then and later when she was normal, and what he might not be able to keep himself from doing in the here and now.

The squeeze to his hand was too much to take. He had to do something, dammit!

"Maybe we should talk somewhere else…" He tried to pull his hand away, but her hold only tightened.

"But you can't leave!" If he left, he might catch sight of the sutra! She couldn't let that happen. She scrambled for some excuse, some explanation of her behavior, which even she realized seemed odd at this point.

"We're not going to get privacy in the Feudal Era with Miroku and Sango and the others, and this is the only place my family won't try to spy on us-don't you see, if we're going to do this, it has to be here." She knew she couldn't lie to him, so answered with the truth. Part of it anyway, although she didn't explain her vehemence. Unfortunately, he had his own explanation for that, one that was currently terrifying him.

Inuyasha's mind went into overdrive. There was no denying it any longer, the sutra really was acting on her. It probably didn't have such an effect on him because of his demon heritage, but just having her act in such a way was enough to get his blood to boil despite it-

"Unless of course you don't want to…" Kagome murmured, her expression altogether a study of dejection.

"Kagome-Well-It's not that, that I don't want to, it's just that this is, well…"

He stammered, desperate for a solution. If he left now, she'd think he was rejecting her. But if he stayed, it would only be a matter of time until the sutra had its way with the both of them, and the consequences of that were too dire for him to really comprehend. Shit…he thought, completely at a loss.

"Look Inuyasha, don't feel like you have to do this out of pity for me. That's the last thing I want. Just go."

She pulled her hand away, looked away, turned her whole body away. Sutra or not, she couldn't bear to keep him with her, when he so obviously wanted nothing more than to get away.

"Whaa?" What was she saying? Was this some new ploy of Kagome's poor sutra-controlled mind, trying to make him feel guilty for her confusion? He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. "What the hell are you talking about, wench?"

She turned back to him, eyes aflame with fury, for all that they also leaked tears. Didn't he get the hint, the baka? Why was he staying, reminding her even more that he just wanted to leave? At least when he wasn't around, she could pretend it wasn't because that was the way he preferred it.

"I'm telling you to leave! I'm telling you that I'm not interested in talking to you! It's obvious you meant it yesterday, you still don't want to be anywhere near me, you're only here because my aunt made you, out of pity or something like that. Don't you get it, I'm not interested in that, Inuyasha. So go. Now. I can't take you forcing yourself to stay near me any longer."

Her words were like a cold bath to his raging blood, and so he could finally get some actual thinking done, and some necessary decisions made. Item number one: Inuyasha silently vowed to destroy on sight all such sutras in the future. Apparently they had the power to cause their victims pain, not to mention serious lapses of sanity. How else could she believe such lies? Item number 2: seeing that it was impossible to reason with her at this point, he decided to take action, as he should have done from the very beginning.

He stood up and started purposefully towards the door, so innocent-looking from the back. Enough is enough…he growled to himself. This ends now.

Kagome, seeing his reaction, just watched him, her expression frozen in the same angry pain as before. She couldn't believe it-she might have been insisting it, practically ordering him to do it, and angry when he didn't comply at once, but now that he really was leaving, she was in shock. I guess some bit of me still thought he would stay…she mused cynically to herself.

Still frozen, she watched as he swiftly strode out of the room, closing the door firmly behind him. Her consciousness, detached as she watched him go, suddenly slammed back into her body as the door shut. Sobs shook her form, and still sitting on the bed she curled into a tight ball, hugging her knees to her chest, her face buried in her arms, her eyes screwed shut, trying to hold back the tears. He really had been there only out of pity…He really didn't care for her the way she had always hoped he did…

He really hadn't wanted to talk.

Inuyasha was busy trying to figure out some way to get the damn thing off without gouging the door with his claws. He didn't bother trying to peel it off; it was obviously a powerful thing by the immediate effect it had on the otherwise modest Kagome, and liable to purify him should he dare to touch it. Having undergone the experience before, Inuyasha knew it wouldn't kill him, but would be extremely unpleasant, and so he saved that as a last resort. Meanwhile he found the plastic knife Souta had been using, and set to scraping the damn thing off. Too bad it wouldn't budge…

It seemed to be laminated or covered in something, to keep the knife from marring its surface. Still he chipped and stabbed at it, nicking and scratching the surrounding wood in the process. He'd have to apologize to the Higurashi's later, for now Kagome needed to be saved from this monstrosity. He bit his lip to stifle the growl as he caught the scent of her tears, flooding from the room almost as soon as he'd left. He had to focus, he had to get rid of this thing, before something irrevocable happened. Like him getting Kagome pregnant, as this damn sutra seemed so intent on. Even now, with him outside the room itself, it seemed to mock and influence him; it refused to give in to his attacks, and sent the scent of Kagome's sadness to torture him. It seemed to say: 'Defeating me is impossible. Why not give in, comfort the girl, you know you want to.'

Inuyasha shook his head violently; such thoughts had no place there. Just focus on demolishing this damn paper, he reminded himself. That's what really matters now.

He was going to have one hell of a time doing it though.


In the kitchen the floor below, Akiko caught the sound of scritching and scratching, an occasional faint whine or growl interspersed. She looked around, confused for a moment; it sounded like some unhappy dog scratching at a door to be let in; but that was impossible, her sister didn't have any dogs, just the lazy cat, Buyo. She turned to ask her sister what stray had begun plaguing them, but was distracted by more important things (or so she thought) immediately.

Souta was leaving the room just as she looked up-finally, she had the chance to find out what absurdity her dad had pulled off this time. Never mind the tramp outside, Souta could deal with him.

"Onee-chan! What were you saying earlier about Dad?" she prompted her sister. A feeling of foreboding came over her; "Don't tell me he went and ruined all of my work from last night trying to purify Inuyasha or something ridiculous like that…"

"Oh no, not at all. In fact, he's done pretty much the opposite," Mrs.Higurashi paused to giggle for a moment.

"Huh? You can't seriously mean he's helped them somehow by his interference?"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far, but he certainly was trying to. He'll probably take all the credit for himself if they do get together in the end." At her sister's slightly offended look, she rushed to assure her: "Don't worry, everyone else knows it's entirely thanks to you. Just let him think it was him to make him happy, ne?"

"All right, all right, I know what you mean, I won't fuss over it. What did he do though? I'd still rather like to know, even if it is of no importance."

"Oh. Well," Mrs.Higurashi collapsed into chuckles once more, needing several deep breaths to calm down again. "He, he stuck a fertility sutra on Kagome's bedroom door."

"What?! When!?" What was wrong with her sister-how could that be helpful, the two of them had so much tension between them as it was, that was like throwing a keg of gun powder at them!

And all it took was one spark for all her work to be destroyed…

Mrs.Higurashi blanched, surprised at her tone. Had she done something wrong not helping Souta earlier? "Last night, while you were talking to her I think. Why, does it matter after all? You know it won't work…"

"How could it not matter! How could you not notice the physical attraction between them, and the subsequent awkwardness and absurd fights to relieve the tension! Argh! I thought you took some psychology courses in college, didn't you learn any Freud at all? It doesn't need to work-the power of suggestion-especially of that-is the worst thing possible for them right now-this is going to ruin everything I've done for them-do you not know what the word 'delicate' mea-?!"

Akiko was on a rampage, the thought of her hard work being destroyed by one little piece of paper withering her already short patience in an instant. What cut her off was the sound of desperate sobs, emanating from the floor above, and the return of the whines and growls. The curse words mixed in let both women in to the reality that it was no mutt begging at the door. Both looked upward, Mrs. Higurashi worried and guilty, Akiko frustrated and angry.

Both also held the look of sadness in their eyes. It seemed things never could go right for that couple after all.

"I'm guessing that 'delicate stage' just got broken."

"Yep. There's hell to pay now."


A/N: Hehehe…Wait, you thought Akiko's work was done? Hate to break it to you, but-no. It isn't. It would be way too easy if I just had them get together all perfect after the last chapter-besides, what would I have done with the sutra then? Why would I have bothered including it at all?

Sorry this took me so long to post, I've had a crazy couple of weeks. I'm on break right now though, so I should be posting more often in general, although I can't promise that it will always be this story. Hope you enjoyed that half as much as I did…