And now for the cast party! Will all finally be revealed? Or will more confusing tidbits be introduced at random just because Teresa enjoys making things incomprehensible? Does she really like doing that? Why is she so cruel? Will Kohaku ever get over his shunted love for Rin, or will Sesshoumaru be forced to regulate his freshman ass? Speaking of shunted feelings, what about Ayame? Will she ever be allowed to work the curtains again, or will Kohaku be pushed too far and end up pushing her off the catwalk to die in a spectacular splattering mess on the surface of the stage below? And what about Naraku, Kikyo, Kagura, Kagome, and Inuyasha? Will that twist of plot ever be resolved, or will it simply die out like the rotten bit of undesirable mush that Naraku's soul is? And will Miroku stop pissing off Sango, even though we all know she likes it? All this and more can be discerned whilst peering into the murky depths of…
*****
Center Stage
Part 24
*****
"You seem quiet tonight." Kagura narrowed her eyes at Kikyo, who was waiting patiently as Kagura put on her jacket properly so that both girls could ride Kaze to the cast party. "Not up to anything, are you?" Kikyo didn't answer this question, only shrugging innocently as she pushed her hands into the depths of a large black trench coat she was wearing to keep out the nipping cold of the early February air. "You promised me, you know."
"I know." Kikyo assured her, gray eyes meeting Kagura's scarlet gaze in an unwavering fashion. "I didn't forget."
"Good." Kagura nodded once at the other girl and then climbed onto her bike. "Okay then, let's get going. I'll be pissed if all the pizza's gone by the time we get there." Kikyo nodded, climbing on behind Kagura easily, and it struck her at once that Kikyo had probably only ridden Kaze with her maybe twice before what had happened with Naraku had ended up distancing them from each other. It was strange to have someone on the bike with her who wasn't Kouga, and even having her boyfriend on the bike had seemed odd for quite some time. More often than not, she simply rode in Kouga's car with him, as it was easier in a way and more convenient to only have one vehicle, but she enjoyed Kaze too much to simply stop riding her bike places.
She knew the way to Miroku's house easily enough, as he was her cousin and she had been there on more than a few occasions before. Also, it was hard to get lost with the stream of crew and cast members driving toward the same spot in a long line. Kagura had noticed that Rin and Sesshoumaru seemed to be going straight home instead of coming to the party, but as they would likely spend the entirety of the party making out in a closet anyway, it seemed like they were simply saving themselves having to drive around more to achieve the same ends that would occur if they just went home instead.
"Here we are then, ready to go in?" Kagura turned back to see how Kikyo had fared through the ride, since her arms had been sharply clasped around Kagura's waist the entire time as though she feared falling off. Kouga rarely held on so tight unless she deliberately took fast turns and such in an effort to unnerve him.
"Yes." Kikyo answered, her eyes mournfully taking in the people moving out of their vehicles and into the comfortably sized house that Miroku lived in. It was no secret that his parents were well off, but they were nowhere near as powerful as Naraku's. Kagura sighed to see that Kikyo's eyes were lingering on Naraku and Kagome who had just arrived together. Souta had not been allowed to come to the cast party, as his mother had deemed it far too late for him to be going out, and Shippo had gone home with his parents as well. Kagura thought it made the group seem a bit more somber without the two younger boys to keep things light.
"Hey, babe." Kouga appeared then, having just arrived with a couple of crew members who needed a ride to the party. "Find the place alright?" he swung an arm around her shoulders and planted a kiss on her temple.
"Of course I did." Kagura rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the swell of simple joy that rose in her chest just being near Kouga. "Miroku's my cousin, remember?"
"Want to trade?" Kikyo's voice was still soft and sad, but there was the hint of a smile in her eyes, and Kagura's jaw nearly dropped open in shock. Had Kikyo just made a joke?
"No thanks." She responded, trying to stop worrying about the other girl as they reached the door and entered Miroku's house. "Nice place, huh?" she gestured around to the high ceilings in the spacious entryway.
"Ah, my dear cousin has arrived with her friends." Miroku was just passing by with a bottle of soda in either hand. "Kagura, could you please help Sango in the kitchen? She's trying to dole out the pizza, but things are becoming rather disorganized."
"No problem, Miroku." Kagura easily extricated herself from Kouga and entered the kitchen where several people were milling around Sango as she tried to serve them all with slices of pizza. "Hey, Sango, just do this." Kagura edged in, spreading out the boxes and lifting the lids on all of them. "Everyone, just help yourself." Kagura shook her head as everyone easily formed a line and the chaotic jumble was sorted out.
"Oh…I should have thought of that." Sango flushed, looking embarrassed for having missed such an obvious solution. "Thanks a lot Kagura…oh, is that Kikyo? I wanted to congratulate her on the performance. She did such a good job as Rei, I was really proud of how brightly she shone."
"Yeah…she was really good." Kagura bit her lip as she watched the writer wander over to speak to the silent actress. Kikyo had done an amazing job that night, and it was almost as if she was trying to put on some great display to make sure that she was remembered by all those who saw the performance. And again, Kagura couldn't help but wonder what Kikyo was up to. She might claim near innocence, but Kagura knew that she had found some sort of loophole in the promise she'd made. The fact that it had taken some time to get the promise out of the other girl had more than convinced Kagura that she had correctly guessed what Kikyo was planning to do with Naraku. And then, something had caused her to acquiesce and make the promise that Kagura had demanded. What could her new plan be? It must be something dangerous, of that Kagura was sure, but she simply could not figure out what it might be.
"Hey, come on, don't be mopey. It's a party, babe." Warm arms encircled her waist and a pair of lips found her ear, making her giggle slightly. "Come on, we're gonna watch a movie in the living room once they figure out how to use the DVD player."
"Alright." Kagura nodded, moving past the few people still getting their food to grab a piece of pizza before joining Kouga in the living room where Kohaku and Inuyasha were arguing about how to work the DVD player while Miroku, who obviously knew how it worked perfectly well, sat back and enjoyed the entertainment.
"No…see, you have to make sure it's hooked up through the VCR." Kohaku was behind the television, tangled up in cords with Inuyasha right beside him.
"No way, what the hell for? It's gotta go into the TV, that's it." Inuyasha explained with precious little patience. "You don't need the fucking VCR to watch DVD's, dumbass."
"Miroku, just help them." Sango spoke halfheartedly from the main sofa, as she was obviously enjoying the argument just as much as her boyfriend. "I thought that it was already hooked up right?"
"It is." Miroku nodded from where he sat beside her. "I think I'll wait until they ask for help."
"Oh god, we'll be here all night if we wait for that." Kagome was sitting on a loveseat next to Naraku, who had just sent Kikyo into the kitchen to bring him a glass of coke. Kagura pursed her lips to see how Kikyo's plight could go unnoticed by everyone else, especially Kagome, but she didn't have long to mull over it before Kouga pulled her down on the sofa next to Sango and Miroku.
"Actually…you know, I have a DVD player kinda like this one." Ayame spoke up, edging toward the two boys behind the television. "I think that if you hook it through the VCR and leave the VCR hooked up to the TV, it should work right."
"Yeah, see? Ayame knows." Kohaku seemed confused by the fact that he'd just spoken about Ayame as though she was an authority on anything, but he shrugged it off soon enough. "Gimme those…no, the red one has to go here."
"Let me see." Ayame worked her way back with the two boys, which caused Inuyasha to throw up his hands and go to the kitchen for more pizza, muttering various curses under his breath the whole way. "Oh, see, you need this one here." Ayame seemed to actually know what she was doing for once, and Kouga and Kagura exchanged puzzled looks. "Uh…yeah, and then like this…"
"Oh…yeah, okay, that makes sense." Kohaku was agreeing with her, which was all the more amazing than the rest of the scene they were witnessing. "Hey, turn on the TV and see if it's right now."
"Can do." Miroku was still supremely amused from his seat next to Sango as he clicked the remote and after a few seconds, the DVD began playing exactly as it should. "Good job you two."
"Yeah, good job Ayame." Kohaku patted the girl on the back as they worked their way out from behind the television to watch the movie. Ayame seemed confused to be receiving praise from any members of the crew, so she simply flushed bright red as she sat down next to Kohaku on the floor, as all the other chairs and seats were filled by other people. Kagura noted with some disdain that Kikyo was sitting on the floor at Naraku's feet, her coat still on, just as though she was some sort of servant. It made her want to get up and kick the disturbing young man, but she knew that this was all likely part of some plan Kikyo had. Subdued though she might seem, Kikyo was always wickedly brilliant when it came to such things, and Kagura figured it was best not to interfere lest she ruin Kikyo's plans. Instead, she leaned back into Kouga's nearby warmth and watched the movie as innocently as though she suspected nothing.
----------
Kikyo's hands were shaking slightly, so she stuck them into the pockets of her trench coat to avoid notice. Not many people in the room had spared her so much as a glance since the movie had begun, but she knew that Naraku was always on the alert for any sort of weakness, any sort of odd behavior. He was notoriously suspicious and clever, which was what made her lifelong ambition of escaping him so incredibly difficult. Holding her breath slightly, she allowed her hands to ghost over the contents of the trench coat's deep pockets. In one, she had procured a bottle of her mother's own favorite prescription sedative, and in the other, she had taken great care in finding something a little more…difficult to come by. She couldn't have planned the night better, what with Naraku having her bring him drinks and allowing her to sit right where she could slip the other pill to Kagome. So far, Naraku had taken three sedatives worth of drinks, and Kikyo could tell he was starting to feel more than a little drowsy, so she figured that two more ought to do the trick.
Kagome seemed to have an annoying habit of cradling her drink close to her, but Kikyo trusted that soon enough, she'd have to put it down. And anyway, it wasn't entirely integral to the plan that Kagome be drugged, but she had personally thought it was a nice touch as well as a great way to avoid confusion later on about who was to blame. Only Naraku would slip Kagome date rape drugs, and all of this would only serve to teach the girl a lesson she wouldn't forget soon. Naraku was not to be trusted.
Neither am I, it seems, Kikyo thought as Kagome set down her soda to go to the bathroom. Reaching over the exposed cup with the pretense of grabbing her half-finished slice of pizza, Kikyo dropped the pill and let the fizzing bit sink down to the bottom before pulling the pizza back to her mouth. But this is different. This is important.
"Kikyo, I'm out." Naraku seemed a bit woozy when he shoved his empty cup at her, and she spared him a smile.
"Of course." She replied, running to get him a refill. Everything was going according to plan.
----------
Kagome was feeling rather odd and more than a little bit confused. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Kikyo was being so nice to her. There was something about that that was wrong, but she couldn't hold onto the thought long enough to decide what it was. And for some reason, she couldn't seem to sit up right, and it was garnering attention from all of her friends.
"What's wrong with her?" Inuyasha had gotten up from his chair and come over to see how Kikyo was faring with her attempts to keep Kagome sitting upright, all of which seemed to be failing.
"She's fine…go 'way," Naraku's voice was heavy and tired, and as he waved one dismissive arm at Inuyasha, he accidentally hit Kagome on top of the head. "Oops…"
"I think these two have had enough fun for one night." Kikyo finally hoisted Kagome's arm around her shoulder, lifting the other girl up. "Naraku, why don't you go wait out in your car?"
"Uh…oh yeah." Naraku thought about this and seemed to think it was a good idea. "I wanna take Kagome home."
"She'll be out in a minute, just go to your car." Kikyo assured him in a hushed voice.
"Do you need help over there?" Kagura was worried about whatever was happening near Kikyo and Naraku, so of course she had been one of the first to notice how odd Kagome and Naraku were suddenly behaving.
"Her face is hot, I think I'll just take her to the bathroom and see if I can freshen her up a bit." Kikyo explained before dragging the other girl out of the room.
"Yeah…face is hot." Kagome immediately agreed. "I'm going home…with Naraku?"
"No," Kikyo informed her as she closed the bathroom door to keep a barrier between herself and the worried Inuyasha. "You're going to trade clothes with me and then let Inuyasha take care of you. How does that sound?"
"Trade clothes…okay then." Kagome shrugged, not sure why everything Kikyo said sounded like such a good idea and why she felt so dizzy. She almost fell over as she tried to pull off her pants, but Kikyo assisted her helpfully, doing most of the work as Kagome sat down and let herself be dressed in Kikyo's own outfit. She watched with childlike interest as Kikyo pulled her hair out of its ponytail and let it fall around her shoulders. "You look…kinda like me, ya know?"
"I know." Kikyo smiled down at Kagome in an indulgent fashion. The other girl was still having a hard time sitting up straight, and Kikyo was privately glad she'd only given Kagome one pill, as it was obviously more than enough. "Now let's go see Inuyasha." Kagome nodded so eagerly she almost fell off her seat on the toilet before Kikyo hitched her arm back up around her and opened the door to a worried Inuyasha, who looked momentarily confused at the switch.
"Kag…Kikyo? You look a lot…hey, why are you wearing Kagome's clothes?" Inuyasha demanded. Kikyo shifted Kagome and pushed her over to Inuyasha.
"Hey…Inuyasha!" Kagome seemed more than a little silly; she didn't even seem drunk. She was acting as though she'd been drugged, and all of Inuyasha's warning bells were going off at once. "You…are pretty cute."
"Sorry, she's going to be a little…interesting until she falls asleep." Kikyo assured Inuyasha. "Naraku must have slipped her something while I wasn't looking. I'm sorry…I'd meant to try and protect her, but I think it's not too late for that. He seems like he might have been drinking or…something, so I'll just go home with him. He's too far gone to notice that I'm not really Kagome, so everything will work out. You take care of her, alright?"
"Will you be okay with him? He's…drugging people. I don't want you going anywhere with him." Inuyasha realized the effect of his assertion was slightly lessened by the fact that he was trying to keep Kagome's hands away from his pants.
"He's too wasted to be able to do anything to me, okay?" Kikyo smiled slightly at Inuyasha's concern. "Just…promise me you'll take care of her, alright? She needs looking after."
"Of course." Inuyasha agreed as Kikyo pulled on her discarded trench coat and wrapped it around herself. He looked down at Kagome, who was giggling wildly.
"You talk too much." She informed him, trying to lace her wobbly arms around his neck and tangling her hands in his hair. "I love your hair…so long and pretty."
"Uh…thanks?" Inuyasha didn't know what to do with Kagome now that she was acting so…strange. "You…um, want to go finish the movie?"
"Sesshoumaru's is shinier though." She explained, still talking to his hair. "But I like yours. I like ta wrap my fingers in it when we're kissing…like in the play." She giggled hysterically then, and Inuyasha had to catch her to prevent her falling over. "Ya know…a secret?"
"What?" Inuyasha thought back to what Kikyo had said…something about getting Kagome to sleep. Now, did he really want to take her back to her house in this condition?
"When we're kissing…on stage…I like it." She told him. "Cause I'm in love with you." For a moment, Inuyasha felt his heart soar before he realized that after all, Kagome was drugged. She was probably in love with anyone convenient at the moment. "You kissed me…really hard tonight."
"Yeah, I was angry." He explained, remembering what Shippo had told him suddenly. "After I found out that you kissed Naraku."
"Naraku?" Kagome burst into laughter, and this time Inuyasha just caught her legs up so that he was carrying her easier. He looked around and wondered if it would be alright with Miroku if he just dropped Kagome off in one of the bedrooms. "I dunno what's his problem…trying to kiss me. Everyone knows I'm in love with you."
"Uh…yeah." Inuyasha tried to stop his face from burning, but it wasn't working out too well. He looked up and down the hall, wondering where he should take Kagome, when someone scared him out of his skin by tapping his shoulder.
"Looks like you've got a problem there?" Kagura had her arms crossed in front of her. "Naraku's doing, no doubt."
"Yeah…how'd you know?" Inuyasha hitched the giggling girl up on his chest so that she wouldn't flail around so much.
"Lucky guess." Kagura reached over, examining Kagome quickly before giving Inuyasha a measuring look. "I think I know what he gave her, but I'm not exactly a pharmaceutical catalog or anything…" Kagura paused momentarily, backing up a step from the pair. "Look, she should be fine if you just get her to bed, but she'll have a killer headache in the morning."
"What…what did she take?" Inuyasha wanted to know.
"What do you think?" Kagura asked him impatiently. Anger flashed along with recognition in Inuyasha's eyes, and Kagura felt sudden sympathy for him. He just wanted to protect Kagome, after all. "Anyway…I wouldn't take her home like that unless I wanted her mom to shoot me. Is there anywhere else you can keep her for the night without Kagome's mom getting worried?"
"Um…I guess I can take her to my place." Inuyasha felt like his brain wasn't working fast enough, though it might have something to do with the fact that Kagome suddenly found his neck to be extremely fascinating, and was trying to lick it while he tried to pull away without dropping her. "We're old friends and all that, so her mom won't get too worried, I don't think."
"Good, do that." Kagura nodded resolutely. "Now, where has Kikyo gotten off to?"
----------
"I'm…gonna show ya something." Naraku was having a hard time stringing words together and he couldn't figure out why. It was almost as though he was drunk, but he knew it couldn't be that. And besides, he felt so very, very tired. However, he had planned to take Kagome on opening night, and a little fatigue wasn't about to stop him. She had come out in a trench coat, but it was her all the same, sitting there with her hair fluffed down over her shoulders. Kagome wasn't usually so quiet, but he didn't mind at all. They had been driving for some time at that point, and he had no idea where he'd taken them. That was fine, though. After a little bit, he'd run out of gas, and the rest would be simple. He had thought of drugging her, but it was so much better when they screamed…like with Kikyo.
"Be careful." Her voice sounded odd, and he couldn't place why as he veered dangerously close to the edge of the road.
"Oops…little sleepy." He chuckled, for some reason finding this whole situation extremely funny.
Kikyo had to smile as she noticed that Naraku's motor functions were far from functional at the moment thanks to the sedatives she'd slipped him. She wondered how it would be in the end. Would he simply slump down over the wheel and pass out, letting them drive off the side and slam into a tree, or would his slow reaction time kill them before that? Technically, she wasn't killing anyone, and though this wasn't nearly as satisfying as her original plan to simply stab him and then herself, it was exciting not knowing exactly when the end would come. And he was making it even easier on her because he had been too out of it to put on his seat belt while she had at least exercised that precaution. If, by some freak chance, one of them survived, it would be her. She was almost positive. Already, she had slipped the half-empty bottle of sedatives into Naraku's coat pocket so that if they found the drugs in his system, they would be convinced he had taken them himself rather than been duped into this. All her bases were covered.
Just then, a bright flash of lights on the narrow road caused Naraku to swerve out of the way of the oncoming truck only a bit too slow. The huge vehicle smashed into the driver side, sending the whole vehicle spinning off the side of the road and into a pair of trees that held the totaled car from sliding down the hillside. Naraku didn't have time for anything more than a sharp gasp before his head hit the side window so hard that he passed out. Kikyo was allowed a short, exhilarated scream before she hit the dashboard and fell unconscious as well.
----------
"Your eyes…sooo pretty." Kagome giggled as Inuyasha attempted to ignore the way her hands continued to wander over his chest as he carried her to his front door.
"Hold on, I have to get this door open…" Inuyasha hefted her weight around a bit before reaching out and turning the doorknob. He attempted to creep through the kitchen silently, but as he reached the hallway, a light came on and a stream of curses escaped his mouth.
"Inuyasha? Is that you?" His mother's voice called, and after a moment, during which Inuyasha considered whether he'd be able to make a run for the stairs, she opened her bedroom door and took in the sight of Inuyasha with Kagome slumped giggling in his arms.
"Hiya mom!" Kagome greeted her, waving ecstatically. "How ya doin?"
"Uh…Inuyasha?" Inuyasha's mother was reasonably confused by Kagome's behavior, and Inuyasha sighed as he shifted her in his arms once again. "What's…wrong with Kagome?"
"She's a little…tired." Inuyasha replied, licking his lips nervously.
"Hey…your arms…are pretty strong." Kagome was trying to squeeze his biceps while he shifted her so that she'd stop. Inuyasha's mother's eyebrows were raised so high they looked as though they'd climb up past her hairline.
"Maybe you should put her to bed." The older woman finally decided, gesturing toward the staircase, and Inuyasha rushed past her. "Then come back down here. We need to talk." Inuyasha wanted to curse his fate, but first he needed to take care of Kagome. Moving up the stairs with a giggling, drugged girl in his arms proved to be more difficult than he had initially thought, but he managed it with some effort. However, they made so much noise on the way upstairs that Rin was peeking out of Sesshoumaru's room when he finally reached the second story landing.
"Hey Rin." Inuyasha wasn't in the mood for a conversation, and perhaps Rin guessed this, because she took one long look at Kagome trying to kiss him but not finding enough leverage to reach his face and disappeared back into his brother's room. Inuyasha moved through his own haphazardly opened door and flicked the lights on in an attempt to be able to negotiate all the clothes and papers that littered his floor while carrying Kagome to his bed.
"Ooh…that's your bed Inuyasha." Kagome actually calmed down at this. "I like your bed. Smells like you."
"Um…yeah." Inuyasha carefully deposited the girl on his bed, moving the tangle of covers around until he could tuck her in as she tried to pull him down for a kiss. "Kagome, stop that."
"Don't you like me anymore?" Kagome's eyes swirled blue, but they were out of focus, and the goofy grin on her face was enough to remind Inuyasha of the situation he was in.
"I like it when you sleep." He told her, trying to sound convincing as he sat beside her, petting her hair down lightly. "Can you go to sleep?"
"Uhh…sure." Kagome considered this for a while before agreeing and closing her eyes tight to show Inuyasha she was trying to do exactly what he'd asked her to. After some time, her breathing became even and shallow, and Inuyasha went downstairs again where his mother was waiting for him, having just hung up the phone.
"That was Kagome's mother." She told her son. "I told her that Kagome fell asleep over here so she was just going to spend the night, and she said that's alright." There was a pause as she set the cordless to one side. "Now then. What's wrong with her?"
"There's this guy in the play." Inuyasha decided the best course of action was the truth. After all, his mother would likely be able to tell if he lied, and it wasn't as though he had done anything wrong. "And he kinda…um, has this thing for Kagome. So tonight, he slipped something into her drink, and then she got all weird."
"I see." His mother was quiet for some time before she spoke again. "I think it's best if we don't tell Kagome's mother about this. She'll put the girl under house arrest. However, I trust you to watch out for her, as you've obviously done tonight. Goodnight, Inuyasha." She kissed him on the forehead before leaving the room and Inuyasha headed back to his own bedroom to watch over Kagome, who slept the whole night through without a clue of what was going on around her.
----------
Bright flashing light greeted Kikyo as she fuzzily climbed out of her stupor to find herself strapped down to a hospital bed, being pushed down a hallway surrounded by doctors and nurses. She thought that she vaguely heard someone calling her name out in the distance, but her head hurt so badly that she was having a hard time concentrating.
"She's awake!" One of the nurses exclaimed, her face immediately moving aside as a doctor peered into her eyes, flashing a light in each as they continued down the hall.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" The doctor asked.
"Uh…" Kikyo tried to nod, but it hurt terribly. "Where am I?"
"Mercy Hospital on Sixth Street." The doctor replied, apparently pleased that she was able to form coherent questions. "Do you remember your name?"
"Duh…" Kikyo found this to be an idiotic question, and she wasn't feeling up to idiocy just then. "Kikyo Furumiko."
"Do you know what day it is?" the doctor asked.
"Um…well, it was the sixth of February last I remember…but I don't know, is it past midnight?" Kikyo asked him, blinking to try and get rid of the light he kept shining in her eyes. "Can you stop with that light?"
"Just a little more, Kikyo." The doctor smiled at her apologetically. "Let's wheel her in there!" he told the other nurses and doctors. "She seems to be okay, but I still want to examine her."
"What's going on…is Naraku here too?" she wanted to know. Her plan had to have worked, she went to so much trouble…
"She's asking about the other one." A nurse spoke in a hushed voice before rushing off after they reached an examination room and stopped pushing her bed around.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" the doctor asked her, and Kikyo snorted at him in disgust.
"Three, now where's Naraku?" she insisted, annoyed that the doctor was apparently ignoring her to continue examining her injuries.
"Does this hurt?" he pressed a spot on her head that made stars of pain explode inside her, and she batted at his hand feebly.
"What do you think…asshole." She muttered. Usually she wouldn't call random people rude names, but she was in a lot of pain and she was really sick of his stupid questions. He continued pressing spots on her body, which were either sore or not really painful at all as the one remaining nurse bandaged her head in so much gauze that her right eye was covered. And still, no one would tell her where Naraku was. Had he somehow survived? It seemed like the questions and prods would never end, but finally, the doctor and the nurse were satisfied, and they left Kikyo alone to think over what had happened. She had been ready to die when she got in that car. No, she had been ready for nearly a month, but it hadn't become concrete until that moment. Through her mind, images of the tortures she had suffered at Naraku's hands flashed by. He couldn't have lived…he couldn't have.
"You have a visitor." Kikyo almost didn't hear the nurse's voice, but she looked up in surprise when Kagura entered the room, her face covered in splotchy, half-dried tears.
"Kikyo…thank goodness….I thought, when I heard…" Kagura rushed over, burying her face in Kikyo's shoulder, more tears spilling down onto the hospital gown as Kikyo awkwardly tried to hug the girl back.
"I'm fine." Kikyo assured her.
"You didn't…did you plan…no, I won't ask." Kagura sat up, wiping her eyes and trying to regain her composure. "I'm just so glad you're okay. You have no idea. As soon as Inuyasha told me you'd left with Naraku…well, I went all over on my bike, but I had no idea where you'd gone. I waited outside your house for you to get back, but you never came…and then your parents left…and I knew. I knew something bad had happened, and I came here."
"My parents are here?" Kikyo sounded vaguely interested, but mostly surprised.
"They're still talking to the doctor about the bill for the ambulance. They're throwing a fit about it." Kagura rolled her eyes. "Just like I remember them."
"I hate them." Kikyo sighed. "I can't wait to leave here and go…to college or something."
"Were you planning on college?" Kagura brightened immediately. "Kouga and I got into the same school, mostly because we looked at places together and…yeah." Kagura blushed heavily.
"I thought about it." Kikyo shrugged. "I never believed that Naraku would let me go."
"Oh…Naraku." Kagura pursed her lips. "Have they told you?"
"Is he alive?" Kikyo asked, unable to keep the fear out of her voice.
"Um…technically, yeah." Kagura looked extremely uncomfortable, and Kikyo could guess why. Likely, she only wished pain on Naraku, but even so, it was strange to talk about him actually being hurt. "They've got him in surgery…I guess he's in critical condition or something. Apparently, he wasn't wearing his seat belt and got pretty banged up."
"That can happen." Kikyo answered neutrally.
"So…um, anyway." Kagura licked her lips. "I called a lot of other people. Well…not Inuyasha, because I know that he's back at his place with Kagome the would-be Naraku victim, but Kouga's out there, and Sango and Miroku. I couldn't get ahold of Rin…"
"It's okay, I know I'm not the most popular girl in school." Kikyo spared Kagura the pain of continuing. "Is Sango worried she'll have to finish the play without a Rei?"
"Actually, she hasn't said anything about the play. She's just so upset that she let Naraku drive anywhere, and Miroku's trying to convince her that it's not all her fault. You know Sango." Kagura shrugged. "Kouga's worried. He was out looking for you too, but obviously…"
"It's nice to have people care." Kikyo smiled slightly, yawning as she blinked tiredly. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't be tired…"
"It's one in the morning. Everyone should be tired." Kagura kissed her forehead. "It's really good to see you're alright…well, mostly alright."
"Thanks." Kikyo smiled again, letting her lips get used to the expression as Kagura turned to leave and she let her eyes fall closed.
*****
The End (Of Part 24, That Is)