Two days later, found me sick on the couch watching day time talk shows. I had gone to work yesterday feeling a little under the weather and it steadily increased during the day. By the time Shippo came home, I had a fever, was coughing my lungs out, and dehydrated.
Dragging me to the couch, Shippo proceeded to take care of me for the afternoon, giving me medicine, checking on my fever, and making sure that I drank enough fluids. It was rather sweet, considering, I probably caught it from him and that germ breading ground they call a school.
When his mother came home, she sent me straight home, and told me to take the day off. So that's where I found myself, sitting in the living room, watching Maury tell some gangster impersonator that he is the father of the child.
Sango had left me earlier, telling me to call her if I needed anything, and after that the house was left quiet. No one called, no one came to the door, it was just me and the TV, and I naively thought that maybe I would be able to recover in peace before someone would barge into my life.
Around lunchtime, I still found myself watching daytime TV, totally zoned out to the world. I had been drinking juice and water all day long, but not eating. I just hadn't the appetite.
When the knock came on the door, I was surprised. Wrapping my blanket around me, I made my way to the door. Unlocking the door, I opened it, and there was a woman standing there; a woman I immediately recognized. The long, flowing, brown hair, the shining, brown eyes, the slim figure and pale skin; I knew it all.
It was her; the 'other woman'.
Blinking a couple of times, I waited for her to say something, my mouth drawn in a frown. What was she doing here?
She fidgeted, her hands planning with the end of her jacket, almost as if she was nervous. Did she possibly know who I was, who I was still married to?
"I'm looking for Kagome Taisho. Is she in?" She asked, her tone polite. It was at that moment that I decided to have a coughing fit. Gasping for air as I tried to regain control, her eyes widened, and she quickly entered the apartment, helping me to the couch, handing me the glass of water on the floor to drink when I had calmed down.
Taking a hesitant sip, I looked over at her.
"Thank you." I muttered, and I hunted for the remote to turn the ridiculous show. With a sigh, I clicked it off and turned to her.
"What can I do for you?"
"Oh, um, are you Kagome?" I sigh.
"Yes, I'm Kagome. Now is there a reason you've bothered me Miss…" I trail off, realizing I don't know her name.
"Oh, I'm Rin; Rin Kobayashi. I'm, um, here to talk to you." She stated.
"So I've gathered. Look, Kobayashi-san, I'm really not feeling well, so if this isn't important, can you please come back later?"
"No, no, this is important. I'm here to talk to you about Sesshomaru." I raised my eyebrows.
"What about him? I saw him the other day, he seemed fine." Not entirely the truth, but she didn't need to know that. Next to me, she gave a heaving sigh.
"I want you to stay away from him." Her voice didn't waver like before. I honestly wasn't surprised. She probably thought I was stealing her man. My eyes narrowed into a glare.
"Staking your claim?" Bitch, I added in my mind.
"On the contrary; I've been trying to get to the bottom of this for quite a while, and it was only until yesterday that I even got any information on him. It seems that you two have a huge misunderstanding. And although he would kill me now if he knew I was here, I'm here to clear it up."
"And what kind of misunderstanding is that?"
"You seem to think that he's been cheating on you; with me. I'll have you know, he's not."
"I don't believe you. He's never indicated that he wasn't cheating on me. So why should I take your word for it." Her eyes narrowed at me.
"You and I both know that Sesshomaru would never lower himself with the cliché of 'it's not what you look like'. He'll let you think what you want. I'll have you know, that Sesshomaru and I are friends; just friends."
"I was married to him for years. How come I've never seen you before now?" I don't know why I was questioning everything she said; maybe a part of me just wanted an easy out.
"We are childhood friends. We grew up together. Our families are close. We haven't seen each other in a very long time. I came to him, because I needed help."
"And you couldn't get that from your family?"
"They disowned me when I decided to become a photographer, going against their wishes. They wanted me to be the 'trophy-wife-to-be' and I wanted a life of my own. That's part of the reason Sesshomaru and I fell out of touch for a while. We didn't see each other at family gatherings or social functions anymore. But recently, I've been sick. I've got breast cancer. And while they caught it early, I needed more help and support than I was willing to admit. I knew that Sesshomaru would help me. And while he's given me so much, I've had to watch him waste away as you've mistreated him and taken for granted what he has done. He loves you, although he may not express it all that often, and I for one will not stand around while you abuse the relationship you have with him. Either let him go with a nice clean break or make up; one or the other. This way both of you can move on with your lives." We sat in silence after she finished. I wasn't sure what to say to her; I had never seen the way she looked at my crumbling marriage.
Had it really been that bad for him? Had I really been abusing the love he felt for me?
"Um…that's all I had to say. I think I'll go now." She stood up, but I grabbed her arm.
"Wait. Please." She stopped, sitting down again. "How is he?" I asked, my voice worried and rushed.
"He's definitely been better. This whole thing has been hard on him. He's been trying to forget you, but it hasn't really been working. In his mind, he is doing what you want, by staying away. I think the stress is finally getting to him."
"I needed to get out. I needed to become myself again." I don't know why I feel I need to justify my actions to her, but I did. "And when I saw the other day, I realized that…that I still love him; that I've always been in love with him. Just, some things had to change before we could go back to our life together. And no matter how much I've tried to fight it, I think…I will be going back." I had short coughing attack at this point. After it had passed and I had taken a drink of water I continued. "I was going to call him yesterday, but I got sick, and I figured I should wait until I could think straight to figure out what I wanted to say to him." She smiled at me.
"I wish you the best of luck." She stood up and left the apartment. I sat in silence for a bit longer, and then turned the TV back on. Nothing could change my mind. I would call him tonight.
Dialing the number I knew too well, I paused a moment before I hit 'send'. The faint ringing on the other side alerted me that my call had gone through. I held my breath as I waited for him to pick up.
"Sesshomaru Taisho." He answered. I let out my breath and smiled.
"Hi Sesshomaru…um, this is Kagome. I was wondering if we could talk…"
A/N: Kind of an open ending. Not what I originally had planned, but I think I like it better. Yes next chapter will get all you people your happy, sappy ending, although it will be kinda short; only about half of a normal sized chapter. I for one am a little shocked with myself at the level of sap in it, but it fits. After all the angst and drama in this fic, both Sesshomaru and Kagome deserve a little happiness.
Well…I think that's it.
Leave a review if you want to.
I'll have the last little snippet up soon. I won't make you all wait.
Emily
Notes-and-Photographs
P.S.-If you're bored, like I normally am, go back through my chapter titles, and see if you can figure out what song I used for each. If you get really frustrated, as I have used some rather obscure bands in some cases, google the lyrics. And totally check out the bands/songs used.
