Patients is a Virtue
Summary: He came at me so fast, I didn't even have time to flinch. His long clawed fingers gripped my neck and slammed me against the wall. "What d-do you want?" I choked out. His hostile stare made it hard for me to look at him. He whispered, "You're flesh."
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Note: This story is first-person, told from Kagome's point of view.
-x-
I woke up in the morning to the sound of my alarm clock at 5:45 and groaned. It was earlier than usual and I wasn't in the mood for work. I usually wasn't this groggy in the morning. I desperately needed coffee. I walked downstairs slowly—the pain in my foot barely noticeable, but still sore with the way my body reacted to getting up so early.
I was thankful to finally have some coffee—I felt like I hadn't had any in about a month now. I fried up some sausage and peppers for breakfast, feeling empty as well. I made the whole pack on high and was done by six. I devoured half the sausage and peppers and placed the rest on a glass plate in the stove. I chugged a glass of orange juice along with my coffee and headed back upstairs to get dressed.
My usual white button-up shirt and sweat pants were hanging neatly and wrinkled-free on a hanger in my closet. I dressed slowly, trying to calm myself down. I slipped my shoes on and grabbed my purse, heading to Inuyasha's room to wake him up. I knocked softly on his door.
"Inuyasha? We gotta go in an hour so I need you to get ready." that was all I said. I was sure he'd hear me with his demon abilities. I walked downstairs and jumped when I saw Inuyasha, smiling hugely at me at the kitchen table. He was fully dressed already. His hair was even brushed out and lay on the back of his neck, draping down to his butt from there.
"Morning, sunshine." he winked. I couldn't breathe. "I got up about 20 minutes ago before you ask. I heard your closet door creaking. Of course, it wasn't quite as loud as your alarm clock. I wanted to smash it to pieces but I'm resisting now. I'm going to be good for you."
I still couldn't speak. He tilted his head to the side, still smiling at me. "So, what's for breakfast?"
I snapped back to reality and took the last of the sausages out of the stove and placed it on the table in front of him. As I went back to the counter to get a fork, he already swallowed most of the peppers so I put it back and stared at him while he filled himself. He was done about a minute and a half later and I washed the dishes.
"Inuyasha, can you turn on the news for me? It's channel 16." I asked sweetly. He stood and walked into the living room.
The story about Inuyasha wasn't much different. They mentioned the number again and they announced my non-absence and that myself and the other employees were going back to work. They talked about how now one else in town has gone missing or killed but the search for Inuyasha continued. No one had reports about seeing him.
Inuyasha was surprisingly calm as we pulled out of the garage. I began to wonder if it was because he didn't care about the reports and felt safe around me. Either that, or he was very, very angry and was was trying to hold back the fuse he wanted to blow off because he didn't want to hurt anyone I cared about, meaning he didn't want to hurt me.
I was betting on the second option.
He was still calm as we pulled into the parking lot at the mental hospital. But his eyebrows pulled together and his hands were clenched into fists. I understood why he would be so uncomfortable here. I gently put my hand over his and he relaxed his face, as if I were the cure for his uneasiness. Apparently I was right.
"Just stay close to me so I don't lose my mind." he said through gritted teeth.
I tried to smile. "It's gonna be okay. I promise. Just stick with the story."
"Right. The story." he said, his hand started to shake. I sighed and opened the car door. I jumped when I saw him suddenly standing right next to me.
"Gah!" I covered my mouth. He looked amused but suddenly in control. "All right, let's do this." I said. It sounded like the breath was knocked out of me.
We walked up the large staircase and through the doors. Inuyasha looked still looked like he was uncomfortable but still well in control of himself. After I punched in, I went to the office and just as I thought, Hojo was there to greet me. He look relieved when he saw me but as soon as he saw Inuyasha's hand in mine, his expression became troubled.
"Kagome it's so good to see you're okay." he said. I knew he was uncomfortable but he was at disguising his voice. His eyebrows pulled together but sounded calm, almost cheerful.
"Hey, Hojo." I said in a voice that I hoped sounded casual. "Good to see you again. This is my friend, Juno." I said. I felt Inuyasha stiffen up beside me. I knew we were thinking the same thing. We'd been so busy on planning how to explain to Hojo why Inuyasha was with me, we haven't even thought of a name for him. I remembered seeing a movie called Juno, about a teenage girl experiencing pregnancy hormones while trying to look for a family for her baby. It was an enjoyable movie for me and it was the first name that came to my mind.
"Juno?" Hojo said incredulously. I gave him a dirty look.
"He's half Mongolian." I snapped. Inuyasha squeezed my hand and I knew he was having a hard time controlling his temper.
"Why the fuck is your name Hojo? Gay-ass, fagot-ass, bitch-ass, punk bitch. Shut the fuck up. You have no right to make fun of my name when you don't even know me. I will slap the shit out of you." he said. I clamped my teeth together to keep from laughing.
Hojo's whole face turned white as he stared angrily up at Inuyasha—who was taller than Hojo by about four inches. He turned back to me. "Kagome, why is this guy with you?"
I took a deep breath, memorizing the story as I went, "Juno lived in Tokyo till he was twenty-one, and he had to move to Mongolia with his family because of a job location. But his parents died a month ago so he's staying with me at my place until he can get a job and move into his own apartment."
"And how long have you two been friends?" he raised a brow in accusation. Inuyasha squeezed my hand again.
"None of your business. And what—I suppose you wanna know if we're fucking too?" he yelled. The woman at the desk stared at him in shock. I knew by now that him squeezing my hand meant that he wasn't gonna keep his mouth shut. Hojo looked angrier than I'd ever seen. He took a deep breath and turned to me.
"Kagome, I want you to do your usual job today, but only on the top floor, where the safe patients are."
"Can Juno accompany me? He's really down, you know, about losing his parents. That's why he's been flipping out on you." I looked at Inuyasha but his face was blank, "Can you forgive him? He didn't mean any of it. I'm the only thing he has." At least that part was true. Hojo nodded.
"Fine, Juno. I forgive you but try not to get too angry around the patients."
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and pulled my hand to go upstairs. We didn't take the elevator—it was closed for cleaning purposes. Apparently the was a lot of blood on it or something...
I first visited Aiki, the bulimic woman I had so much talking to. As Inuyasha an I walked in, she was smiling to herself, brushing her hair. When she turned and saw me, her smile widened somehow, as wide as it already was.
"Kagome, hi! I'm so glad you're back." she ran up to me and kissed my cheek. She took my hands and kissed my other cheek. "I missed you so much. Who's your friend."
"It's good to see you, Aiki. This is my buddy, Juno. He's half Mongolian." I smiled back at her. I was too easy to be happy around her. Even Inuyasha was smiling a bit.
"I'm Aiki," she held out he hand and he let go of mine for a minute to shake hers then grabbed mine again. "Pleasure meeting you. Are you two dating?" she asked, taking in our entwined fingers.
"No," Inuyasha said. "I'm just staying with her till I find a job and get my own place."
"That's good to know. But why are you staying with her?" Aiki asked, still staring at our hands.
"My parents died and I had no one to stay with so I moved here and moved in with Kagome." he said simply. Aiki nodded and turned to me, the wide smiled covering her face again.
"Kagome, they're letting me out next month! I haven't been throwing up for a while so they said they'd release me due to my improving attitude. Yay!" she hugged me again. I smiled and rubbed her back.
"That's so great, Aiki." I rubbed her back.
"And that's not all—I'm in such good shape and it's not from throwing up!" she lifted her shirt to show me her small, petite form. I always thought she was skinny.
"You looked great." I smiled.
"What's been going on here for the past two days?" Inuyasha suddenly asked. Aiki looked serious.
"They've been cleaning up dead bodies and searching for as much evidence as possible. They were even interrogating the patients here! I have no good patience with answering questions when I don't even know what's going on! The police were asking me who this Inuyasha dude was. I knew who he was—after the police told me he was the guy who triggered the alarm."
"Wait—who's they?" Inuyasha asked.
"The police and investigating people thingies. It was so awkward talking to them when I was thinking the whole time at least me and the others are safe.I'm not crazy—I'm bulimic but I'm still here so I think of all the other patients as my brothers and sisters. No one deserves to be locked up. Hojo doesn't understand that putting away a crazyperson will make the even more deranged. I almost cried when I heard them mentioning killing this Inuyasha."
"You think if we find this Inuyasha before the police do, we could keep him safe?" I asked.
"That would be nice but I don't even know what he looks like. Plus, I won't be much of a good help since I'm gonna be here for two more weeks. Then I have to be interrogated by Hojo so he's sure I'm okay before I go back out into the world on my own again."
"I'm sure you'd be a big help, as long as all three of us keeps our mouths shut." Inuyasha said. Aiki stared at him for a moment.
"Don't take this question the wrong way but why do youcare so much about Inuyasha?"
"Because after losing my folks, I know what it's like to be out in the world alone. Kagome is all I have, but he has nothing so he has it worse." he said. "We can only imagine how he feels, right?" he looked at me. I looked down and nodded.
"I feel you." Aiki said quietly. "So what does Inuyasha looked like?"
She was looking at me so she obviously expected me to answer. "Well, he's very tall and has long, silver hair. He's skinny but muscular and very pale."
"Oh." was all she said. Me and Inuyasha looked at each other awkwardly. "So if we find him, do you honestly think he's gonna let us live? I mean he is dangerous after all. What if slashes us the way he did all those other people."
"Well if we're quick enough to convince him that we're trying to help him beforehand, he won't kill anyone." Inuyasha said.
"How could you be so sure?" Aiki asked, clearly confused.
"Can we let you in on a little secret?" he said, staring at her in frustration. My heart beat sped up.
Aiki stared at him for a long moment before whispering. "Inuyasha, is that you?"
Inuyasha smirked and nodded.
I'm in a hurry to get this up so I'm sorry for any mistakes you find! Enjoy!
-Lexy4KagInu
