The heart that sleeps
_________________
Inu stood so quickly that his chair tipped backward. "Forgive me, Mrs. Higurashi." "Mom!
don't yell at Inu Yasha. He's a friend." Kagome's mother's gaze was frosty and swept
over Inu Yasha from head to toe. "So I can see."
Inu dropped Kagome's hand as if he's been burned. "I work here, and I visit Kagome
when I can. Please don't be angry."
"I'll be whatever I want to be." Kagome's mom cut him off. "I think you better leave
now. Who's your supervisor?"
"Mom, stop it!" Kagome exclaimed.
"It's all right," Inu said. "I will leave."
He exited quickly, and Kagome turned on her mother. "Well thank you very much! I can't
believe how rude you were to him."
"And I can't believe I walked into your room, a bedroom, I might add, and found you
holding hands with some man who's part of the hired help. What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking Inu is one of the nicest people I've ever met and you just ran him off."
"Nice?" How can he be nice if you didn't mention him to me or grandpa for that matter?
Has he been meeting with you for long? I won't allow it Kagome. I won't!"
Kagome felt ill. Her heart began to thud, sending spikes along the screen of the monitor.
Within moments, Yura ran in. "Are you all right?" she asked. "Your monitor is going
crazy." Kagome couldn't catch her breath.
"I'll call Kaede."
"No........,"she managed to say. "She was just here. I need to....get in bed."
Yura helped her while her mother stood aside, looking scared.
"I- it's my fault," her mother explained. "I got her agitated.
Yura settled Kagome, slipped the oxygen tubes in her nose and took her pulse. "She is
calming down. I will call Dr. Kaede."
"Yes, please." Kagome's mother said. "This is all my fault, Kagome. I am so sorry." Her
mother told her after Yura left.
"Yes it is." Kagome said angrily. "You had no right to be so mean to Inu. He is very nice
and sweet. He has made my stay this time bearable for me. Don't you understand what
it's like to be completelt cut off from the normal world? I can't go to school. I can't do
anything. It's my junior year mom, and I can't even sit in a classroom."
"We've tried to make it better for you. Your grandpa and I were going to tell you this
together, but I think you need to hear it now. He's gotten permission from the school to
set up minicams in your classrooms. You can attend class from your own room. You can
participate in the class, even ask questions and be called on. Isn't that great? You'll be
there, but still safe at home."
Kagome was horrified. Now she had one more thing that set her apart from the real
world. She was going to be a freak. "No, it's creepy."
Her mother looked confused. "But why? We thought you would be pleased. You're
always talking about attending classes."
"That's right. Attending classes. Not watching life pass me by."
"Kagome, I just don't understand you."
"I know," she said. The discussion had tired her. So she relaxed more.
Yura came back and gave her a medicine cup. "Kaede wants you to take it, she says you
will feel better."
Kagome was too tired to argue so she just took it. She closed her eyes and concentrated
on Inu. Not the one he showed when her mother frightened him but the smiling one. She
drifted to sleep with thoughts of his golden eyes gazing at her.
Kagome awoke in the dark and saw Inu sitting beside her. "You came back!" She
whispered. "I'm so glad."
"Dont speak," he said taking her hand tenderly.
"What.....time?" Her tongue felt thick, her brain was foggy.
"It's after midnight. I am done with work, but I could not leave without seeing you."
"I am sorry... about my mother."
"She is a mother. My presence upset her. Don't worry, just rest."
"She had ...... no right."
"I am a stranger. She walked in and I am holding your hand. I understand her feelings. I
don't judge. She loves you."
"She's......smothering me. Ever since I've been sick, my mom and grandpa are all over me.
It makes me crazy."
"You are lucky to have people who care so much for you.
They way he said it made her wonder about him. How did he grow up?
Kagome wished to speak more but the pill was dragging her back into slumber.
"Please say you will come again." she managed to say.
He laced his fingers with hers. "Dont you know? Nothing can keep me from you, Kagome.
Not even angry mothers."
"Your mother told me you are upset about the class idea, granddaughter. You know it is
not what we intended. We really thought it would be easy on you." Kagome's grandpa
was visiting her that afternoon. She sat at the table, looking out at the river. "I
overreacted. It caught me off guard, but I've had time to think it over. Not a bad idea.
Really." She decided against arguing. Inu was right- they had only meant to help her.
"Thats good." her grandpa looked relieved. "The school thought it would be a great idea,
it could help them use this as a pilot program for homebound teaching. It could make the
classroom more accessible, keeps kids more with school life."
"I guess it's okay. As long as there isn't a camera aimed back at me."
"Only if you want one. Your teachers said they'd welcome a monitor in class if you were
the star." He winked. "You could see everyone, and they could see you."
"Maybe later." She didnt like the prospects of that. She didn't want to imagine the days
when she could hardly move and having everyone see her.
"It's the next best thing to being there. State of the art. Twenty first century, cutting
edge."
He was trying so hard to make her smile. "I said it was alright to put them in the
classrooms. Besides, this way I will be able to see what Kouga and all his jock friends do
during class, and it isn't studying."
Her grandpa smiled. "That's my girl. It's temporary too, till the doc says you can go
back to class. The cameras go dark."
"Maybe it is better this way. Then I wont have to worry what to wear everyday. You
don't know how hard it can be."
His smile faded. "I don't want to upset you like your mother did, but we must talk about
this young man who comes to your room."
She took a deep breath, knowing sooner or later it would be out in the open. "What
about Inu Yasha?"
"Kagome, he is twenty-one."
"So?"
"So, you are sixteen. That is a big age gap. Even if you were healthy we wouldn't be able
to let you see him."
"He is not ancient. We are only friends grandpa. He wants to be a doctor someday."
"Is that what he told you?"
"Yes. He has goals, and he works here. I don't see what the big deal is."
Her grandpa was quite for a minute.
"Did he also tell you of his criminal background? That he has been in and out of trouble
with the law since he was a kid. That he spent four years locked away in a detention
center. That he once headed one of the most terrifying youth gangs in the city?"
_________________
Inu stood so quickly that his chair tipped backward. "Forgive me, Mrs. Higurashi." "Mom!
don't yell at Inu Yasha. He's a friend." Kagome's mother's gaze was frosty and swept
over Inu Yasha from head to toe. "So I can see."
Inu dropped Kagome's hand as if he's been burned. "I work here, and I visit Kagome
when I can. Please don't be angry."
"I'll be whatever I want to be." Kagome's mom cut him off. "I think you better leave
now. Who's your supervisor?"
"Mom, stop it!" Kagome exclaimed.
"It's all right," Inu said. "I will leave."
He exited quickly, and Kagome turned on her mother. "Well thank you very much! I can't
believe how rude you were to him."
"And I can't believe I walked into your room, a bedroom, I might add, and found you
holding hands with some man who's part of the hired help. What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking Inu is one of the nicest people I've ever met and you just ran him off."
"Nice?" How can he be nice if you didn't mention him to me or grandpa for that matter?
Has he been meeting with you for long? I won't allow it Kagome. I won't!"
Kagome felt ill. Her heart began to thud, sending spikes along the screen of the monitor.
Within moments, Yura ran in. "Are you all right?" she asked. "Your monitor is going
crazy." Kagome couldn't catch her breath.
"I'll call Kaede."
"No........,"she managed to say. "She was just here. I need to....get in bed."
Yura helped her while her mother stood aside, looking scared.
"I- it's my fault," her mother explained. "I got her agitated.
Yura settled Kagome, slipped the oxygen tubes in her nose and took her pulse. "She is
calming down. I will call Dr. Kaede."
"Yes, please." Kagome's mother said. "This is all my fault, Kagome. I am so sorry." Her
mother told her after Yura left.
"Yes it is." Kagome said angrily. "You had no right to be so mean to Inu. He is very nice
and sweet. He has made my stay this time bearable for me. Don't you understand what
it's like to be completelt cut off from the normal world? I can't go to school. I can't do
anything. It's my junior year mom, and I can't even sit in a classroom."
"We've tried to make it better for you. Your grandpa and I were going to tell you this
together, but I think you need to hear it now. He's gotten permission from the school to
set up minicams in your classrooms. You can attend class from your own room. You can
participate in the class, even ask questions and be called on. Isn't that great? You'll be
there, but still safe at home."
Kagome was horrified. Now she had one more thing that set her apart from the real
world. She was going to be a freak. "No, it's creepy."
Her mother looked confused. "But why? We thought you would be pleased. You're
always talking about attending classes."
"That's right. Attending classes. Not watching life pass me by."
"Kagome, I just don't understand you."
"I know," she said. The discussion had tired her. So she relaxed more.
Yura came back and gave her a medicine cup. "Kaede wants you to take it, she says you
will feel better."
Kagome was too tired to argue so she just took it. She closed her eyes and concentrated
on Inu. Not the one he showed when her mother frightened him but the smiling one. She
drifted to sleep with thoughts of his golden eyes gazing at her.
Kagome awoke in the dark and saw Inu sitting beside her. "You came back!" She
whispered. "I'm so glad."
"Dont speak," he said taking her hand tenderly.
"What.....time?" Her tongue felt thick, her brain was foggy.
"It's after midnight. I am done with work, but I could not leave without seeing you."
"I am sorry... about my mother."
"She is a mother. My presence upset her. Don't worry, just rest."
"She had ...... no right."
"I am a stranger. She walked in and I am holding your hand. I understand her feelings. I
don't judge. She loves you."
"She's......smothering me. Ever since I've been sick, my mom and grandpa are all over me.
It makes me crazy."
"You are lucky to have people who care so much for you.
They way he said it made her wonder about him. How did he grow up?
Kagome wished to speak more but the pill was dragging her back into slumber.
"Please say you will come again." she managed to say.
He laced his fingers with hers. "Dont you know? Nothing can keep me from you, Kagome.
Not even angry mothers."
"Your mother told me you are upset about the class idea, granddaughter. You know it is
not what we intended. We really thought it would be easy on you." Kagome's grandpa
was visiting her that afternoon. She sat at the table, looking out at the river. "I
overreacted. It caught me off guard, but I've had time to think it over. Not a bad idea.
Really." She decided against arguing. Inu was right- they had only meant to help her.
"Thats good." her grandpa looked relieved. "The school thought it would be a great idea,
it could help them use this as a pilot program for homebound teaching. It could make the
classroom more accessible, keeps kids more with school life."
"I guess it's okay. As long as there isn't a camera aimed back at me."
"Only if you want one. Your teachers said they'd welcome a monitor in class if you were
the star." He winked. "You could see everyone, and they could see you."
"Maybe later." She didnt like the prospects of that. She didn't want to imagine the days
when she could hardly move and having everyone see her.
"It's the next best thing to being there. State of the art. Twenty first century, cutting
edge."
He was trying so hard to make her smile. "I said it was alright to put them in the
classrooms. Besides, this way I will be able to see what Kouga and all his jock friends do
during class, and it isn't studying."
Her grandpa smiled. "That's my girl. It's temporary too, till the doc says you can go
back to class. The cameras go dark."
"Maybe it is better this way. Then I wont have to worry what to wear everyday. You
don't know how hard it can be."
His smile faded. "I don't want to upset you like your mother did, but we must talk about
this young man who comes to your room."
She took a deep breath, knowing sooner or later it would be out in the open. "What
about Inu Yasha?"
"Kagome, he is twenty-one."
"So?"
"So, you are sixteen. That is a big age gap. Even if you were healthy we wouldn't be able
to let you see him."
"He is not ancient. We are only friends grandpa. He wants to be a doctor someday."
"Is that what he told you?"
"Yes. He has goals, and he works here. I don't see what the big deal is."
Her grandpa was quite for a minute.
"Did he also tell you of his criminal background? That he has been in and out of trouble
with the law since he was a kid. That he spent four years locked away in a detention
center. That he once headed one of the most terrifying youth gangs in the city?"