Time Enough (Chapter 3)
by Iron Raven
editorial assistance by Lachesis-chan

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and company aren't mine. They are the property of Rumiko Takahashi-sama. I've got no idea what Mama does, or did, nor what Kagome's Otou-san did. Or even if he is dead. Hopefully we find out some day.

---

Souta opened the door, allowing his father's friend to enter the Higashuri home. "Good evening, Doctor Kitsumori-san."

"'Kistumori-san'? Souta, what happened to Hoono?" Shrugging off a large, black pack, he started to hand his coat to the smiling boy, his questions were cut off by a shout from upstairs.

"Souta, NO!" A thump from the stair landing went with that cry, then a dark haired youth, dressed in red, and brandishing a battered katana tumbled into the hallway. "Hold it, you!"

Dropping his coat and pack to the floor, the short, stocky man pushed Souta behind him. Barely as tall as Kagome, the wild haired man was in his late thirties, and dressed in western style clothes. "I see the problem, Souta, but why not call the police?"

"What? No! Inuyasha, he's a friend. He's a doctor, a healer."

"He's a youkai, Souta! Stay out of the way."

The accused demon sniffed the air. "This hanyou is a friend of your's, Souta?"

Kagome squirmed her way through the narrow hallway, putting herself in front of Inuyasha. "Hoono? You're a demon?"

"One quarter kitsune, Kagome. And before you ask, for my entire life. Now, I was told there was an emergency."

"Wait a minute, who are you?"

"I am Doctor Kitsumori Hoono. I was a friend of Kagome and Souta's father, and have served as this family's healer for many years. And just who are you to be running around my friend's home with a bared blade?"

"Inuyasha. I'm-"

"Your parents have a mean sense of humor, boy. Are you my patient?"

"No, but-"

"Fine, I'll talk to you later. Kagome, do you want to explain this to me?"

"It's Kaede, she's upstairs. She's running a fever, and I can't wake her up."

Picking up his bag, the doctor followed Kagome past the baffled hanyou, who was pressed up against the wall. As they went upstairs, Inuyasha turned to Souta.

"Who was that again?" Scowling, the demon boy slumped against the wall, his arms crossed. I haven't been treated like that since I was a pup.

"That was Hoono-san, our doctor. Only Jii-chan doesn't go to him, says he's a demon." Pausing, the boy seemed to think for a second, before giggling. " Jii-chan was right. Don't worry about his it, Inuyasha, he's always like this when he has a patient. When he isn't working, he's not as brisk."

---

Mama met them at the door, a look of concern on her face. "Is everything OK?"

"Of course, Kagome's boyfriend is just awfully protective. Is this the patient?"

"Her name is Kaede. And Inuyasha isn't my boyfriend!"

"Nauseous? Vomiting?" Setting his pack on the floor, the doctor knelt beside the bed, examining his patient.

"No. She held everything down last night, she's just been sleeping through the day."

"Hmmm...." Selecting a thermometer from his back, he slipped it into the old woman's ear, holding it there until it beeped. "39.1. A little warmer than I'd like to see her."

"She's cooled down some since noon, actually, about a half a degree." Leaning over his shoulder, Kagome watched closely.

Mama's hand pulled the girl back some. "Hon, you're in his light."

"How did you get her here? Has she been here the whole time?"

"No, she was... at her home." He might be an old friend, but he doesn't need to know about the well. "Inuyasha carried her here."

"Really? Why not to the hospital?"

Mother and daughter exchanged glances as they tried to find an answer to that one.

"Because she's scared of them." Unable to meet his eye, Kagome ran a hand over her mentor's forehead. "She doesn't trust them."

Looking form mother to daughter and back again, Hoono simply raised a doubting eyebrow. "I don't like them and I work in one. Try again."

"Inuyasha came here because he knows he will always be safe here, Hoono." Resting her hand her daughter's shoulder, Kagome's mother continued. "That is why he came here with Kaede."

Mama? "She's my mentor. She would want me to be there, or Inuyasha. She's nervous around machines and everything, and she would need someone there who she knew."

Sighing, the hanyou healer's shoulder's slumped. "And if you can't be there, it has to be Inuyasha, and he won't go someplace he isn't safe. And at first light tomorrow, that won't be any place where he can be seen."

"Exactly."

Shaking his head, looking from mother to daughter, Kitsumori smiled softly. "On a couple of conditions. One, when I listen to her breathing, I'm happy with it. Two, she wakes up by noon tomorrow, or I'm taking her to a hospital." Watching Kagome's happy expression, he ticked off his fingers. "Three, I'll be back tomorrow to check on her, before I go on duty. Four, I can take some blood for testing. And five, your mother has to show me still remembers how to place an IV."

"I may not have worked the floor as a nurse since Kagome was born, but I haven't forgotten. Simple saline?"

"Yes, to keep her hydrated. But first, I want to listen to her breath." Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a stethoscope.

---

"I've really done all I can do here. I wish you'd let me put her in a hospital." Standing at the doorway, Kitsumori pulled on his coat. "Call me if there is any change. Call me in the morning, change or no change."

"Hoono, don't worry, we will." Mrs. Higashuri hugged her friend gently. She released him, he turned to face Kagome.

"Kagome, if those ribs bother you at all, let me look at them. Your friend might not look like much, but he knows about taping ribs."

"Inuyasha really is a good guy. He's never failed me when I needed him." Unless Kikyou is around. "People just need to get off his back long enough to see it."

"Maybe. In that case, I'm sorry. People swinging around toad stickers in my friends' homes just make me nervous, that's all. Speaking of dog boy, where is he, I wanted to talk to him."

"He's outside, why?"

"Just demon stuff." Grinning playfully, he ruffled Kagome's hair. "Don't worry, I'm not going to yell at him, I just want to ask a few questions, make sure he's ok. There aren't a lot of us left, you know. I've never seen him, and I thought I knew most of the demons in the Tokyo area."

As he stepped out into the chilly night, the demon doctor pulled his jacket around himself for warmth. "Inuyasha? Where are you?"

"What do you want, Kitsumori?" The voice came from the ancient tree by the well house. Old and powerful, Hoono could feel it's strength as he approached. Curled in a ball at it's base, the black haired youth shivered.

"Nothing, really. Just to talk." Crouching down, he ran an practiced eye over Inuyasha. Eyes clear. Breathing fine. Good colour. Nails clean. Good physical build, no signs of malnutrition or addiction. "Your okaa-san should be fine."

"What? Oh, you mean the old bag!" Laughing loudly, Inuyasha temporarily forgot the cold. "Kaede-babaa ain't my mother."

"Oh. I just assumed, since you brought her here, that she was." Pausing to flick a dark lock of errant hair out of his way, Hoono tried to think of something to say. "It must be hard going through life named after that mad dog."

"What do you mean?"

Blinking in surprise, Kitsumori-san looked over the youth. "I thought every demon kid learned the Legend of Inuyasha from their parents."

"I'm an orphan."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Let's see, the basics.... Inuyasha was a dog demon who died about 500 years ago. A powerful warrior, he carried a sword named Tensaiga in battle, capable of taking a thousand lives with a single slash. His greatest weakness was the women he loved. Two sisters, both miko. The older one was dignified, quiet and reserved, but very powerful in her magics. The younger one was more passionate, more open with her heart, and a gifted peacemaker, but not quiet as powerful a miko as her sister. They both were stubborn and filled with pride, and both loved Inuyasha. They would quarrel with each other over him, and pull him away on this quest or that one, trying to woo him. He never did decide.

One day, after seeing Inuyasha and her older sister kissing, the younger one ran into the forest, grief-stricken. Inuyasha ran after her, with the elder sister slowly falling behind him as he ran. His calls spurred the girl to run faster, her heart broken. When he caught up with her, she stood on the edge of a cliff, contemplating the jump.

"Inuyasha talked with her, slowly, gently. He coaxed her back from the edge, and held her in his arms. He knew then which one he truly loved more. As he told her, the elder sister left the trees. She demanded that the younger sister go back to their village, and leave her to take care of Inuyasha. Outraged, the younger sister screamed back that the elder was nothing but a shallow, greedy woman who only wanted Inuyasha as a prize. The elder screamed back, calling her sister a silly girl, a mere child, who could never love a great leader such as Inuyasha.

"Finally, words came to blows, Inuyasha standing there, his hands by his sides, shouting at them. The two miko rolled in the dirt, clawing at each other's faces, trying to blast each other with their magic, and cursing each other for every rotten thing they'd ever done to the other. The elder finally got her feet up, into the belly of her sister, and pushed. Horrified, Inuyasha watched the smaller miko, his true love, be thrown back, over the edge of the cliff. He ran to her, and grabbed her wrist, his fingers clenched around her arm. The elder sister joined him, taking the younger's other hand in her own. But it was not enough- they both watched, horrified as the smaller girl's hands slid through theirs. Inuyasha's last lunge to try to grab his love's hand allowed his fingers to brush her's one last time, and she fell calling his name, telling him she loved him. But in his haste, it also knocked the elder girl off balance. Inuyasha grabbed at her ankle, but he was too late.

"He leapt, landing unhurt, as he was demon. But both miko lay there, dead, their bodies broken and twisted by the fall. Sobbing, he turned from one body to the other, trying to make sense of the tragedy. If only he had could have seen who his true love really was, the younger one living in her sister's shadow, earlier, they both would be alive. Turning his rage on himself, he shattered his sword and clawed at his own body. As his anger grew, he slid into to his true form, a mighty dog with white hair and blazing red eyes, poison and fire for breath. A mindless monster, he rampaged for ten days, killing hundreds, leveling a few score of villages. In the end, he was stopped by a friend, the last of the Taijya, a warrior named Miroku. But the damage was done. Inuyasha was dead, the sisters were dead, dozens of people slaughtered.

"We tell this tale so that we remember that human lives are shorter than our own, but our hearts are just as quick to love. When dealing with mortals, don't hesitate with your feelings, because if you do, they will be gone before you can tell them."

As Dr. Kitsumori rose from his crouch, his blue eyes met the staring ones of the boy before him. "Waving that sword around, wearing old fashioned clothes, some might wonder if you think you are the original Inuyasha. I'm not telling you to stay away from Kagome; I think it would break her heart if you left. I just wanted to let you know that she is my friend's daughter, and I don't want to see her crying over one of us demons. Her heart is as strong as yours is, but it will break just as easily. If you love her, tell her; if you don't love her, tell her. Just don't hurt her."

"I... I won't." Oh, Kami, please, don't let it end like that.

"Good. I'll hold you to that, one hanyou to another."

Looking down at his hands, his sword cradled in his lap, Inuyasha swallowed hard, trying to tell himself he wasn't afraid of the question he had to ask. "Kitsumori-san, that story, is it true?"

"No one knows, it's a legend, just like those about Midoriko, or Shippou the Wanderer. Some people tell it that the elder sister was pushed, but I don't like that version very much. But any way it is told, both girls were dead, and Inuyasha's rampage was stopped by his friend, because he could see what was in his own heart." Dr. Kitsumori Hoono turned, and started walking towards the entrance to the shrine grounds, and the lit street beyond. "Go inside, Inuyasha. It's going to be cold tonight, I don't want to be called back here in the morning to deal with a hanyou who is pissed off because his feet got frostbitten again, running about in the snow with them bare."

As the kitsune hanyou walked off into the night, Inuyasha could only stare. Is that my fate? Is that my legacy? Did I kill Kagome and Kikyou? Did I fail them that badly? Standing up, the part of Inuyasha's mind that was logical guided him inside.

'Again?' "How the hell did he know about my feet?" Inuyasha whirled and ran to the gate. But when he looked out, there was no sign of the other part-demon.

---

Author's notes:
A rare gift, knowing one's future. Change the future, and risk destroying it. Or risk setting it right. Act or not act. Yes, foreknowledge is a rare, but weighty gift. Is it only a legend, spawned by rumors half heard and stories half remembered? Or an accurate telling, told perhaps by the foster son of the younger miko? But is not the Tensaiga, the sword of Lord Sesshomaru, gifted with the spirit of a healer? And Miroku is a monk, not a Taijya; but the woman he fears loving is the last of the hunters. And no mention of the Shikon no Tama. What is the truth? And do you gamble if you do not know for sure? Poor Inuyasha.

Aren't YOU glad you don't know your future?