I Stole Your Soul
By: Patche
Disclaimer: I, Patche, do not own Inuyasha, any of its characters or the lyrics to "This Is Twice Now" by Lydia (which will never be used in the story, but were great inspiration for the story)
Chapter Ten: The Only Cure
--
Seven years had passed since her father's death. Kagome had only just transferred to her new school a few months before. She hated nothing more than leaving that shrine. The shrine she was raised in. Where he would watching her children's movies with her and pretend they were as enjoyable as she found them, where he would pull her up into his lap whenever he had something important to say to her, where they would play catch in the yard and try to avoid hitting the well house.
"We're renting it out for a while. Plus, Jii-chan is very sick and he needs us to go stay with him until he gets better. I promise you'll love it there. The house is much bigger than the shrine was and the school in the district is nicer. You might even see some people from your old elementary school. This school is affiliated with the elementary school you attended."
"But I don't want to move! I love the shrine. I don't want to abandon it!"
"Kagome… we have to go. We don't have a choice. Ken's already found a job nearby…"
Kagome hated her mother that day… she still hadn't completely forgiven her. Though the high school was nice and she managed to make friends quickly, she still missed her old life every minute of every day…
"Kagome-chan?"
Kagome lifted her head at the sound of her name and noticed Kikyou smiling beside her.
"Are you okay? You looked like something was bothering you."
Kagome shook her head and flashed Kikyou a weak smile of her own in reassurance. "No. I'm fine, Kikyou-chan. Thanks, though." She sighed and glanced at Kikyou's bedroom wall, losing herself to her thoughts once more.
Kagome clenched her eyes shut. 'Isn't it about time I stopped thinking about him? I hardly even knew him!'
"Okay, Kagome-chan… tell me what's wrong!" Kikyou demanded of her friend.
Kagome didn't bother to turn herself around this time before she spoke. "It's seven years today…" Her voice was almost inaudible as she whispered her response. Kikyou heard, however, and understood without any further explanation.
She had known Kagome almost a year now. They had bonded the instant she transferred to Kikyou's high school and were practically inseparable since. Kikyou loved how much Kagome would make her laugh and how quirky Kagome could be.
But Kikyou knew that even someone as fun and loving as Kagome had her darker secrets.
The first time Kagome ever spoke of her father was one night when Kikyou called her and found her crying on the other end of the phone. Though Kagome didn't say much at first, Kikyou eventually got the whole story out of her.
Kikyou sighed and scooted closer to her friend, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Kagome-chan…"
Kagome sniffled and let out a soft sigh. "It's fine. I just don't know how to feel. I feel like the fact that it happened so long ago indicates I should have moved on by now… But I haven't and I can't. I know the rest of my family has. My mom never even talks about him anymore… And Souta didn't even know him… To him, he's Ken's son."
"Kagome-chan, there's no set amount of time a person can grieve. If you miss him, then that just can't be helped."
Kagome nodded, feeling her bottom lip begin to tremble. "I just… I need him here now!" She sobbed as Kikyou embraced the trembling girl beside her.
They sat like that for what seemed to be hours. Kikyou just held her, running a hand through her hair and shushing her loud sobs.
--
"The list is up! I can't wait to see!"
Kagome and Kikyou exchanged curious looks as the sound of screaming girls filled the hallways.
"The list?" Kagome asked.
"AHH! I made the archery team!" They heard a girl shout from down the hall.
Kikyou's eyes widened. "The list is up!" She shouted excited, grabbing at Kagome. Kikyou rushed to the wall, holding Kagome's hand.
They stood on the outskirts of the giant mob that had formed in front of the small piece of paper hanging from the wall outside the girls' locker rooms.
"Let's make a pact…" Kikyou said.
Kagome turned to her. "A pact?" She asked.
Kikyou nodded. "Yes… if one of us makes the team and the other doesn't, then whoever made the team will decline the offer…"
Kagome tilted her head. "Why would you say that, Kikyou? You know we're both going to make it in!"
Kikyou sighed. "I know, but just in case…" She said, her eyes pleading.
Kagome smiled and held out her hand for Kikyou to shake. "Of course I wouldn't join, Kikyou. The archery team wouldn't be the same without you!"
Kikyou smiled and grabbed Kagome's hand shaking it just as a clearing was carved in the hoard of girls surrounding the list.
"Ready?" Kikyou asked Kagome. Kagome nodded and they walked through the girls to the list.
Kikyou scanned the list for her name. "Kumiko, Kagome… Hey! Kagome, you made the list!" Kikyou shouted to her friend and received a smile in response before she turned her attention to the list once more. "Asagi, Yuka, Abi, Sara, Sakura…" Her eyes widened in horror. She'd reached the end. Her name was nowhere to be found.
Kagome came around behind her and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, come on! You have to be on the list, Kikyou-chan!" She shouted, scanning over the list herself. "There's no way…"
Kikyou sighed and hung her head.
"Kikyou-chan…" Kagome started. She placed a hand on her shoulder. "It doesn't matter. You know I'm not joining without you! The stupid archery team can just get over it. I refuse to join!"
"No, Kagome-chan. You should go… It was stupid of me to want to keep you from this."
Kagome furrowed her brow. "Are you crazy? I told you I'm not joining. It won't be any fun without you. I don't even like archery all that much. I only tried out so we could do something together…"
Kikyou turned to face her friend, her expression unreadable.
"Thank you, Kagome-chan…" She murmured sounding unappreciative as she stepped away from the crowd and leaving Kagome behind her.
--
"Do you want to watch a romantic movie or an action movie?" Kagome asked a few nights later, holding two dvd cases in her hands. "I've got Aishiteru." Kagome smiled, hopeful that Kikyou would choose the romance film.
Kikyou turned away, uninterested in the movies Kagome held out to her. "I'd rather watch Akira…" She mumbled.
"We've already watched Akira like twenty billion times!" Kagome threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Fine, then Aishiteru! Gosh, why do you even ask my opinion?" Kikyou asked dryly.
Kagome huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "What's wrong with you? You're all… pissy…" Kagome said, struggling to find a word to appropriately describe how her best friend was acting.
Kikyou sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just…" She couldn't lie to Kagome. No matter how hard she tried. The girl's pleading eyes always ripped the truth right from Kikyou's vocal chords. "There's this guy…" She started, glancing up to see Kagome smiling eagerly.
"A guy?!" She asked, excitedly. "Oh my gosh! Tell me about him!" Kagome sat down beside her friend.
"It's Inuyasha…"
"Who?"
"You know… the guy with the long white hair? The half demon…" Kikyou attempted to explain but found herself staring into Kagome's clueless eyes. She sighed. "Anyway, he's in our first class… and I just… I don't know…" She felt herself blushing. "The other day, I bumped into him and dropped my books everywhere. Totally cliché was to meet someone, I know… But he muttered something about me watching where I walked kind of bitterly. Then, before he walked off… he looked almost guilty and flattened those dog ears on top of his head and bent down to help me pick them up."
Kagome was smiling the biggest smile she could stretch her mouth into. "Kikyou-chan! That's so cute!" She shouted. "Oh my goodness! You should ask him on a date! I want to meet him!"
Kikyou waved off her friend's overly-eager behavior.
"Yeah, but Ichiro told me he's already in love with someone else…" She sighed. "So, it's useless.."
Kagome frowned. "Well, maybe he'll get over her?"
Kikyou shrugged. "Maybe… What about you? I know you have to have a crush on someone…"
Kagome pursed her lips. "Well, kind of… I guess…"
"Who?" Kikyou asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
Kagome smiled sheepishly. "It's so silly…"
"Kagome-chan… everything about you is silly…"
Kagome huffed. "That's not true! I can be taken seriously." Kikyou nodded, smiling.
"Anyway…" Kikyou said for Kagome.
"Right, anyway… when I was six years old… there was this little boy who rescued me one night when I ran away from home to get some ice cream. There was some weird guy I found in an alley that was creeping me out and this boy showed up…" Kagome smiled. "Any he took me home…"
"That's not silly…" Kikyou said, bringing Kagome back from her story.
"Sure it is! I haven't seen him or talked to him since that day. I don't even know his name! And yet… I can't help but kind of adore him…"
Kikyou smirked. "Well, that's just like you, Kagome-chan…"
--
"Kagome-chan!"
Kagome was walking down the hall and passing the open gym door when she heard her name being called form inside. She turned to see Yuka waving at her. Yuka was a girl in her class who she had spoken to a few times, mostly while they were trying out for the archery team.
She smiled and waved back.
"Come here! Eri needs some serious help with her form and the coach ran off to the bathroom. I'm so bad at explaining these kinds of things to her and your form is always perfect!"
Kagome nodded and walked into the gym, following behind Yuka to see her friend Eri struggling with the bow and arrow.
"I don't get it! This is how we're supposed to hold it, right? I'm so off today… I can't even shoot an arrow!" Eri complained.
Kagome smiled and reached out for the bow and arrow.
"You've really got the basics of the form down, Eri-chan. You just need to remember to hold your back straighter. That's probably why you can't draw your arm back far enough to tighten the string of the bow." She suggested. "So, just straighten your back…" She demonstrated, pulling herself into the appropriate position. "And then pull your shoulders back…" She pulled back on the arrow, preparing to let it loose. "And then…" She said releasing it. The arrow soared through the sky and landed in the middle of one of the targets the girls had set up for their training.
"Bulls eye!" She said, smiling proudly.
"Wow, Kagome-chan!" Eri exclaimed. "You're so good!"
"Yeah. You've got to be the best even out of the whole archery team! With your skill, we'd win for sure!"
Kagome smiled and handed the bow back to Eri.
"Well, I have to be off to class. If you guys need any more help, you know where to find me." She said, smiling as she left the double doors, failing to notice the scowling girl just on the other side of the hallway.
--
Kikyou turned her head hearing the sound of an arrow being driven into canvas from the gym. 'Archery team…' She thought bitterly.
"Bulls eye!" She heard a girl chime.
She felt her eyes widen in recognition. 'No…'
"Wow Kagome-chan!"
Kikyou clenched her eyes shut. This wasn't happening. Kagome wouldn't have joined the archery team…
She promised…
'She… she lied. She didn't even care about our friendship… She didn't care that I didn't make it in. She was probably just gloating about how she made it in and I didn't… like she beat me in some competition…'
"Yeah. You've got to be the best even out of the whole archery team!"
Lifting her head, Kikyou debating confronting Kagome on the matter. She sighed. 'No… You're not worth it, Kagome…' She thought, turning her back to the gym and walking down the hallway.
--
Sesshoumaru stepped into Taisho's surprising everyone as he passed through the doorway.
"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha asked defensively.
"Relax. Rin is sick still, so I've come to fill in." Sesshoumaru said calmly, raising a hand to silence his younger brother.
"Oh no. Rin is still sick?" Izayoi asked, concerned for her coworker.
"Is she going to be alright?" Kagome asked the silver-haired man.
Sesshoumaru glanced at her through the corner of his eyes briefly before turning away from his employees and disappearing into the back of the restaurant.
"Uh oh… That look couldn't have been too good…" Sango remarked dryly.
"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, looking in Sango's direction.
"Rin must be really sick. Not that Sesshoumaru would have responded to your question otherwise, but the way he looked at you was quite discomforting…"
Kagome's eyes fell to the floor. 'Does it have to do with the curse? Is it spreading to the employees now?'
"Keh! Like Sesshoumaru has a single comforting look to shoot at people…" Inuyasha muttered from against the wall.
It was a Friday afternoon and he had another doctor's appointment after work, only this time it wasn't Myoga he was going to see.
Myoga had called his house a few nights ago and given him the name of a local witch-doctor. Because whatever the disease is has been sprung upon him from a curse, Myoga felt talking to a woman that understood curses better than he might cure whatever ails Inuyasha.
He noticed Sesshoumaru coming out from the back, holding a ridiculous pizza slice-shaped costume in his one hand and a sign that read 'half price slices' in the other.
"Sales are disappointing as always… Someone needs to go advertise…" He mumbled, dropping the costume and the sign on the floor. "If I don't see anyone out there in five minutes, I'll send Inuyasha…"
Inuyasha grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he noticed the three girls staring at the costume as if it were an insect crawling around on the floor.
"Well, don't just stare at it! Someone put it on!" Inuyasha barked.
"I think you should be the one to wear it." Sango suggested. "Seeing how he's going to pick you anyway…"
"Keh! He said that because he knew you guys didn't want to deal with the crap I'd give you if I had to stand out there thanks to your indecisiveness."
"Inuyasha…" Izayoi scolded him. "Just put it on. I'm far too old to be standing out there in this thing…"
Inuyasha scoffed and opened his mouth to shoot his mother a nasty retort, but silenced himself seeing Kagome walk up to the costume and pick it up.
"I'll do it." She volunteered, smiling at Inuyasha. "I owe you one!" She added, winking an eye in his direction and walking off to the bathroom to change.
Izayoi and Sango exchanged dumbfounded looks after the girl had disappeared.
"She… owes you… one?" Sango asked in disbelief.
"Well, yeah… I helped her out with… something…" He stammered.
'Kami… she didn't have to make it so obvious!'
The three of them whipped their heads around to find Kagome stepping out of the bathroom in the triangular slice of pepperoni pizza that she was wearing.
She smiled nervously, feeling a little ridiculous.
Inuyasha was the first to burst into uncontrollable laughter at the sight of her. "Hot damn! You look great!" He shouted in between laughs.
Izayoi smiled and giggled along with him softly and was soon joined by Sango.
Kagome sighed. "Yeah, yeah…" She muttered, picking up the sign Sesshoumaru left. "Just be thankful…" She added, walking out the door.
She couldn't tell how long she stood out on the corner of the street, holding the sign pathetically and regretting her decision to take Inuyasha's place before she saw Miroku coming out of the hair salon.
"Kagome… what are you doing out here?" He called out to the girl in the pizza slice costume.
"I have to hold his stupid sign for Sesshoumaru… all because I agreed to help Inuyasha…" She said, raising her arms in defeat. "I feel ridiculous…"
Miroku nodded. "If it's any consolation, you look ridiculous as you might feel."
Kagome let out a soft chuckle and playfully pushed him.
"Well, you know… I'm done for the day. I'd gladly stand out here with you." He reached over to the sign that was in her hands. "I'll hold your sign, how does that sound?"
Kagome beamed at him.
Miroku returned the smile. The gesture was short lived, however, as a car playing loud dance music was heading toward them. He tilted his head. "Oh my gosh… I think I love this song…" He muttered.
Kagome laughed as he began gyrating his hips along with the beat. He grabbed her hand and set the sign on the ground beside them.
Kagome was caught off guard once he grabbed her hands, but quickly fell into rhythm with him, moving to music.
--
Inuyasha wiped a hand down his tired face. The customer he helped smiled and turned to walk away, leaving him another to assist.
For some reason, the restaurant seemed so much more crowded than it had in all his time working there. Was the sign thing really all that effective?
"And you have a great day…" He heard Sango say quickly as the next person in line stepped up. "Hi, can I help you?"
"Alright, you have a good day…" Inuyasha murmured as the customer he'd helped walked out the door.
"What is going on out there?" He asked, turning to Sango.
Sango peered over the counter and took sight of the cause of commotion. Out on the corner of the restaurant was a pizza slice dancing wildly alongside two men and several young children. Somehow a boom box had made its way to the patch of grass her dancing inhabited and was obviously playing some wild dance music from the moves these people were busting out.
"Oh my gosh…" She smiled, holding a hand up to her face.
Inuyasha blinked and followed Sango's gaze to the group outside the store. He saw her, in her ridiculous pizza costume dancing around and making a complete fool of herself.
And he saw her smiling, so brightly.
Inuyasha felt a slight pang in his chest at the sight of her. 'What the hell?' He thought, looking back at Kagome who was now holding hands with a little boy and dancing to some sort of techno-fied version of a waltz with him.
'Kagome… you goof…'
He felt his mouth tug itself into a smile.
--
The old woman sat herself down in a chair across from Inuyasha and his mother. He noticed she only had one eye. The other was covered by a black patch. She had long grey hair that flowed far past her shoulders. She was old and wrinkled.
She called herself, Kaede… the witch-doctor…
"Well, it seems to me that there is a cure."
Izayoi's face lit up hopefully.
"It has its price, of course, but from the sounds of it, this disease that is eating away at your son was brought on by the curse Tsubaki set on your husband."
Inuyasha nodded.
Kaede turned behind her and grabbed a pill bottle that held a large pink orb inside. The orb almost seemed to be glowing.
"This is the answer…" Kaede spoke softly. "It has the power to cure Inuyasha." She said flatly.
"How?" Inuyasha demanded.
"Inuyasha, it would make you human… This jewel has the power to remove all the demon blood from your body and make you a full human…"
Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow. 'Me… become human?'
"And how would this cure the disease?" Izayoi asked.
Kaede sighed and adjusted herself in her seat. "Well, the virus is only affecting the bonds between the demon and human DNA in his system. Get rid of the bonds and the virus has nothing left to destroy. It's only wired to attack a hanyou. Not a human…"
Inuyasha gulped as Kaede handed the pill bottle to him.
"I think it's a splendid idea!" Izayoi said, tears springing to her eyes. "You're going to be okay, honey…" She whispered to her son.
Inuyasha looked at her through the corner of his eye. "Yeah…" He said flatly. He studied the orb in his hand carefully as he tossed his options around in his head. Sure, it would save his life. However, Inuyasha couldn't escape the feeling that this jewel wouldn't save him.
"But what about the curse?" He asked Kaede the instant the question popped into his mind.
"The curse will be broken, of course. Tsubaki said it herself. Once you can be truly accepted, the curse will be lifted. Inuyasha, you'll be accepted as a human…" Kaede spoke slowly.
--
AN: Sorry that most of this is a flashback… I figured I needed to give Kikyou a break. I already feel bad for making her out to be the antagonist of the story… which she technically isn't… it's more Tsubaki's curse. So, here'd my great explanation of what happened between the two of them. For those of you that guessed it was jealousy over Inuyasha… you were almost right. I know I didn't make anything obvious… or even apparent in the chapter that I challenged you all in. In my head, the thing was that Kikyou was already mad at Kagome when she and Inuyasha talked… So, what she told him was not for her own benefit entirely, but also just some way to get back at her friend who betrayed her. It's weird… the whole Kikyou and Kagome thing reminds me of Kikyou and Inuyasha… Hah!
Thing with the dancing pizza slice… I saw this today! Some guy was standing outside Liberty Mutual dressed in that Statue of Liberty costume they were and was break dancing! I almost had a wreck! Haha. I was laughing so hard. I had the idea to put Kagome in a pizza slice costume and have her stand outside and dance or something earlier, but I decided against adding it to the story… then after witnessing what I witnessed, I felt I had to do it!
I had a tiny thing to mention. Though this story isn't really anywhere near it's end, I have already got another story in the works. It won't be very long… maybe 7 or 8 chapters tops. And I really have the whole story planned out and I thought maybe I could just post it, but then again… I don't want to get so wrapped up in it that I completely forget about this story until it's done. So, it's not going to be up anytime soon, but be prepared ladies (and possible gents). It's going to be… nothing but pure angst. Inu-angst. I feel that there are so many AU stories about Kagome and her experience of falling in love with Inuyasha. I mean, there are plenty of stories that go the other way around and I am no exception to the abundance of writers that make stories like that. However, this one will be a more Inuyasha-centric story with Kagome falling into his life.
I don't want to reveal the plot because I need to save something for my great big AN at the end of this story. But let me just say this, if you want to at least get a feel for what brought all of this on… listen to "Flowers for a Ghost" by Thriving Ivory. Heard the song for the first time last night… cried for the next hour and then decided I needed to write an angsty, sad story… that's just as heart-wrenching as that damn song.
Not that I was crying because of Inuyasha… It's a little more personal. Haha.
Oh and I noticed I hadn't really said this yet, but it definitely needs to be said… thank you everyone for all the reviews! I can't believe I've already received so many!
Please review! I love to know what you guys think!
Love Always,
Patche