@ I think the story is going to be a lot longer than I originally thought, and may merit a change of title… I just came up with a lethal twist, and well… Its really, REALLY, good! (I think) We see how it goes… @
Kagome was stunned, and truly she could not fathom what to do… Inuyasha on the tree again… Inuyasha, halfway human, on the tree again… His hair was black in patches, and though he was peaceful looking, his breathing grew labored. She could think of only person who would understand this, and she was long dead and would never help. Oh how I wish this soul of mine knew what to do… She saw before her a man dying of the arrow he placed in his own chest… and that man was the one she loved. Kagome kissed him lightly, then crossed the yard with inhuman speed, the priestess in her taking over. Climbing back up to her room because going inside would take too long; she grabbed a small jar from under her desk.
She hurriedly gave Inuyasha the only remedy that came to mind, the Shikon shards, to hold him human while she took him to the hospital, hold him alive as his heart blood spilled upon the ground. One small shard she took and embedded in her own chest, to link his life to hers, draw life from her in time of need. She didn't know why she knew to do all this; perhaps she WAS like Kikyou after all. Kikyou he said he loved.
In the hospital they asked no questions and she offered no answers. If he seemed to take a wound well, she shrugged if they commented. The questions would come, she knew, but later, when she would be able to think again, because Inuyasha would be all right. She knew he would, because she could feel the faint pull on her energy. Inuyasha would be fine…
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Inuyasha did not expect to awake, nor be aware of anything the happened once he pierced his heart. Yet somehow, something happened, and inexplicably he could feel the tear that dropped upon his hand, the kiss laid lightly upon his cheek. He remembered the first time he left the tree, with the centipede demon, as, painlessly; the arrow was removed from his chest. He sought a way to understand what was happening, but could find none. Things darkened for a while, and then he awoke.
Instinctively he tried to smell if there were any youkai near, but he couldn't smell anything except the sterile smell that accompanied Kagome's antiseptics. He opened his eyes, hoping to see her, but only saw a man, dressed in a white coat. The man's back was to him, so he said nothing. He was in Kagome's time, being treated in their fashion. As soon as he swallowed, he coughed hard; he ached all throughout his torso. Then it occurred to him that he was human at the moment. Was it still nighttime? He'd been found so soon? Kagome…
The doctor turned around. "Ah, you're up I see. You shouldn't try to move or anything. That girl who came in with you was finished being treated a while ago for a shoulder wound, but she lost some blood. She wants to see you. Should I let her in?" Kagome here…
"Yes…" He meant to say, Yes, let her in!, but a spasm of coughs prevented him from completing the sentence. Inuyasha hated being human. He could control his body, couldn't even take an arrow without help from doctors.
Kagome came in, and she looked pale. The gold was gone from her hair, the make-up gone from her face. She also looked so much more serious, and unhappy… like Kikyou. Would she feel that this arrow had been hers, and blame herself?
"I…. Inuyasha…. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone off, and it's my fault, what happened, not yours." Kagome looked down as she spoke.
"Kagome… Don't say that. It's as much my fault as yours… and I'm sorry… for saying Kikyou, and for everything else." Inuyasha didn't know what it was, but saying this made him feel a lot better. Kagome sat down next to him in silence. Maybe it wasn't so bad being human when he was with her. Inuyasha wondered… If he could've stayed as a human, could he stay with her in her time… not have to put her through such danger?
He fell asleep after a while, something he didn't normally do in a completely new environment such as the hospital.
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After a while Inuyasha fell asleep, and Kagome sat, wondering what would happen next. She didn't really know what affect the shards would have on Inuyasha… or herself. She was really relying purely on instinct. Her shoulder was sore, but for some reason didn't seem to be as bad a wound as it should have been. However it also did seem to have soaked through quite some bit of the bandage. The real mind boggler was how she kept noticing things… like she'd hear what people were saying down the hall and around the corner. Was she getting a more acute ear from training or from the shard? She could tell that she had been right with the instinct that Inuyasha would be able to draw on her for energy if she had a shard as well. She could practically feel his pulse, in synch with her own, where she'd placed the shard.
She watched the moon for a while, then turned her chair so that he could lay half on the chair, half on the bed, and she liked being closer to Inuyasha like that. Curled up tight, with her head leaning on Inuyasha's shoulder, she fell asleep.
When she awoke, Inuyasha was sitting up, looking nervous. He stared at his hands, as if they were still stained with blood.
"What is it?" She asked quietly.
"I'm… It's morning… I'm still human… I'm not even… turning back…" He said it in pieces, like it was too hard to say as a whole. Kagome was silent for a moment… then she spoke slowly…
"Inuyasha… I gave you Shikon shards, all we had but one… You would've died otherwise, as a human, with an arrow through your heart, an arrow that didn't have a spell to hold you as a demon! I had to…" She spoke at different volumes, blurting all of it, and then ending in a whisper.
"Kagome…"
"Look, we'll just go and we'll see Kaede and…" She was cut off as the doctor entered the room.
"I'm afraid neither of you will be going to this miss Kaede or anywhere else for a week. Miss Higurashi, your tests came back a bit strange, we need to hold you, and see if your collarbone is broken near your shoulder. You sir, have yet to give a real name, and will need at least a week before you can even get out of bed." The doctor said with a note of finality.
Kagome looked at Inuyasha, then punched the doctor in the face, knocking him out. Then she wondered why she did it, and realized the link was more than life energy, it seemed to be personality too. She shrugged at Inuyasha when he gave her a quizzical look, then asked.
"Are you up to leaving this antiseptic he11 hole?" She wasn't sure why she was getting his personality at the moment; perhaps as he drew more energy, she drew more personality… Meanwhile Inuyasha just stared at her.
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A little dubious of the change in Kagome, Inuyasha thought it wise to say nothing. He couldn't really understand what the shards had done, but suddenly he found himself with a choice… He could try and stay human like this, maybe stay in Kagome's world. At the moment that really appealed to him… He could not only fulfill his promise to Kikyou with Kagome, but he could also live in a time that Naraku didn't… But there was his revenge… But there was Kagome… Torn, Inuyasha conflicted in more than one way.
They left the hospital; all the while he grew weaker. Kagome, too, showed signs of stress. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and he was able to see her pallor even with his weak human eyes… She slowed down as they reached her house.
"How're you feeling?" She seemed to be back to her ordinary self.
"Fine. Stop looking at me like I'm about to collapse, you look worse than I do."
"Well, then I won't worry about you." Nope, not normal, still very temperamental.
They went into the well, and on the other side were met by a very worried Miroku, Sango, and Shippou.
"Where've you been? Shippou talked of Inuyasha going all… you know… and Kagome being buried alive, and all he found when he awoke was Tetsusaiga, and angry wolf tribesmen." Sango was VERY to the point. Explanations took a while, and were generally very embarrassing. After they'd been sitting for a while, Kagome began to return to her normal self. Since they had also explained to Kaede, they all looked to her at the end.
"So what do we do old hag?" Inuyasha asked.
"If you call me that I won't tell you anything, but besides that this is your descision. I can't hazard a guess as to how to reverse the effects of the Shikon shards, or what will happen if we remove them, since Kagome's celestial power is involved."
All eyes were on Kagome now, and flustered, she tried to explain…
"Well… uhm… I just did what instinctively came to me, because you know… I thought he might die… so now, I really just don't know what to do… But I don't think he should try to fight now, he at least has to heal first."
The outcome of the discussion amounted to the idea that while healing, Kagome and Inuyasha should go to her world, but they should also take Tetsusaiga with them.
As the party left the cottage to head for the well, Shippou announced something rather disturbing…
"Uhm… I smell Youkai… lots of Youkai…"
A Saimyoushou flew overhead. As they cleared the lines of the trees, they came upon the Youkai, clustered about the well. There were hundreds of them.
@ I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this chapter, it may change drastically depending upon what people think, so please review even if you don't normally review, and let me know changes I should make, and how well you liked it. For longer responses, please email me at Caiista@netscape.net @