*************

Disclaimer:  I do not own any of the Rumiko Takahashi characters named here, nor do I own Charlie's Angels, YuYu Hakusho, Slayers Next, *stops to think* Did I leave anyone out?

*************

Chapter 38

The Point Where All Lines Converge

"Kagome?"

Sesshomaru's weary voice brought Kagome back from her distracted state.  She had been watching Inu-Yasha drift in and out of consciousness.  He was too weak to speak any further, but Kagome could see the relief in Inu-Yasha's eyes when he'd open them and see her sitting there.

Sesshomaru was sitting up in the chair, watching her.  She wondered how long he had been awake.  Had he overheard her earlier conversation with his brother?  "Why don't you go and get something to eat from the cafeteria downstairs?" Sesshomaru suggested.  "I'll stay here until you get back," he nodded toward the hospital bed as Kagome hesitated.  "If Inu-Yasha wakes up, I'll tell him where you've gone."

Kagome smiled gratefully.  Now that she knew Inu-Yasha was going to be all right, her normal body functions had kicked into overdrive.  At the moment, her stomach was loudly reminding her that she hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon.

"Thanks," she said simply.  "Can I get you anything?"

"Just my sanity," he replied.  "I seem to have lost it somewhere on this island."

She chuckled in response.  "Losing your mind implies you had one to begin with.  I'll be back in a few minutes," she told Sesshomaru as she left the room.

Kagome hadn't gone far down the hall when a white-coated figure rushed around the corner and slammed into her.  Gasping for breath, she doubled over and tried to keep from yelling at the unfortunate man.  A gentle pair of hands straightened her up.

"I'm so sorry, Miss.  I wasn't looking where I was going and - Kikyo?"

"It's okay, I'm not hurt.  Hey!" Kagome stopped short.  "What did you just call me?" Kagome asked as she peered into the doctor's handsome face.  The physician's badge showed his name was Dr. Suikotsu.

"The Shikon no Tama," the physician reached out to fondle the jewel around Kagome's neck.  "Kikyo, have you come back to me?  Have you really returned to me?" he gasped.

That does it!  Kagome's already thinly-stretched self control snapped entirely.  "Kikyo?  Kikyo!  I am SO SICK OF BEING CALLED KIKYO!" Kagome shouted, not caring who heard.  "My name is KAGOME, got it?  KA - GO - ME!" she raged.  "Kikyo is DEAD!  Can we leave her DEAD for just a few minutes instead of pretending some DEAD CHICK has come back to LIFE?"

Dr. Suikotsu was staring at her strangely.  The look on his face was eerily familiar, just like Naraku's face when he went off the deep end.  Shit.  This is so not my day! Kagome thought in panic as she turned and ran back towards Inu-Yasha's room.  She prayed like hell that Sesshomaru felt good enough for a fight, because it certainly looked like another one was headed their way.

********

"Mousse!  We have Shampoo!" Akane said excitedly.

"We captured her last night," Ukyo added.  "Now live up to your end of the deal and take her back to China!"

"Shampoo!" Mousse glomped onto Ukyo tightly.  "We'll never be apart again!  How could you leave me?"

Ukyo clobbered him with her okonomiyaki spatula.  "Put your glasses on, stupid!  Do I look like Shampoo?"  She held a box up to Mousse's nearsighted eyes.  "Shampoo is in here!"  An angry cat howl was coming from inside the box.  A paw reached out through the air holes and gave a random swipe, coming into contact with the corner of Mousse's eyeball, causing Mousse to scream and clutch his face.

"C'mon, Mousse, it couldn't have hurt you that bad!" Akane pulled his hand away from his eye.  "Ew!  I take that back!  She clawed your eyeball!"

"Oh, gross!" exclaimed Ukyo.  "You should have worn your glasses, Mousse!  Now you're bleeding everywhere!  Come on, Akane, we're going to have to take him to the hospital."  She grabbed the box holding the cat prisoner.  "You're coming as well, Shampoo!  They're going to want to know if you have any diseases!"

*******

"It's that cat-demon!" Yuseke shouted, pointing at the lovely woman wearing Chinese clothing.  "Get her!  We're going to get to the bottom of this!"

The woman saw the four young men running toward her and readied her bon bori.  "Foolish boys, you want to fight Shampoo?  I give you fight!" she yelled as she tore into them.  "Tell me, stupid man with red hair, why you dress like girl?  You copy Ranma?  And you, boy with Greaser hairstyle!  Why you chase Ryoga all time?  He is pig you cannot eat!"

When the dust settled, four young men lay groaning on the sidewalk.  Kuwabara tried to sit up, but collapsed back onto the ground in pain.  "Yuseke, that cat-demon broke my leg!" he moaned as the others tried to help him up.

The young woman shook her bangles at them.  "You worthless in fight against Shampoo," she said sorrowfully.  "No one give Shampoo good fight but Ranma, no even Miroku."

She approached Kuwabara and crouched beside him.  "I take you to hospital," Shampoo reassured Kuwabara as he flinched.  "You can no sit here with broken leg.  Is bad for business," she pointed to the small ramen stand she had set up.  "Grandmother, you take care of food!" she called out.  "Shampoo be back soon as she take stupid boy to get leg fixed!"

*******

"Doesn't this piece of rented shit go any faster?" Yura complained.  "We'll never make it in time!  They're probably being attacked as we speak!"

"Calm down!" Koga ordered as he yanked the steering wheel of the car, causing it to skid sharply around the corner.  "I'm sure they're all right!  You don't really think Vicious Dragon is going to murder them in the middle of a busy hospital, do 'ya?"

"Then how come they aren't answering the phone?" Sango pointed out.

"Inu-Yasha is probably asleep, and Kagome and Sesshomaru might be getting something to eat," Miroku pointed out.  "And they had to turn off their cell phones in the hospital, so they wouldn't answer those numbers, either.  Koga's right; I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."

"If Koga isn't worried, then why is he driving like a bat out of hell?" Yura screamed at no one in particular.  She grabbed hold of the armrest as Koga dodged between three cars and a large delivery truck.  "Where the hell did you learn how to drive, anyway?"

"Uncle Koga, are we there yet?  I have to go potty!" called Rin from the backseat.  "And Mommy's throwing up again," she added, wrinkling her pert little nose at the heaving Kagura.

*******

"Why are you still here, Nazuna?  I thought you worked the night shift," Dr. Tofu smiled at the young registration clerk.

Nazuna felt her heart skip a beat, a typical reaction when the good-looking doctor appeared before her.  If Kasumi weren't such a sweetheart, I'd be soooo jealous.  "Most of the staff is out with the flu," she told the doctor.  "I agreed to work a double shift.  Are you here to see Kasumi?"

"I'm supposed to give her a ride home," Dr. Tofu said, taking the empty seat in front of her desk.  "Her bicycle was crushed when a panda sat on it."  He failed to notice Nazuna's startled look.  "Dr. Megumi told me you had quite a wild time here last night."

"Typical for this place," Nazuna snorted.  "When did you talk to Dr. Megumi?  I thought she went home already."

"That young man who was stabbed, I believe his name is Inu-Yasha?"  At her nod, he continued.  "Dr. Megumi called me early this morning with a question about his continued treatment.  She also had me talk to that woman that came in here last night with Inu-Yasha.  For some reason, Dr. Megumi seemed to think I could calm her down."

"Which woman?"

"The lovely silver-haired maiden.  You should have seen her on stage last night; her performance was amazing!  I'll never look at Swan Lake with the same eyes again," Dr. Tofu said in amazement.

Nazuna inhaled the swallow of hot chocolate she had taken and choked.  "You mean Sesshomaru?" she hooted.  "Um, Dr. Tofu, haven't you noticed anything - different - about that woman?  Perhaps when you looked at her closely?"

"Now that you mention it, I have!" Dr. Tofu said.  "She's so graceful, much more so than a lot of women.  Do you suppose she's a classically trained ballerina?"

Nazuna was spared the necessity of replying by the arrival of a young man carrying a backpack and an umbrella.  He approached Nazuna's desk, looking confused.  "Now where am I?" he asked out loud.  "This is Tokyo, isn't it?"

A curved redhead carrying a katana bounded in behind him.  "Hey, Ryoga!  What are you doing here?  Are you lost again?"

"Ranma, what are you doing back in Tokyo?" Ryoga asked.  "I thought you were still in that pageant.  Who won the talent competition?"

Nazuna pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to ward off the oncoming headache.  And here I thought the weirdos only showed up for the night shift.  I'm going to need something stronger to drink than hot chocolate by the time this day is over...

********

"Oh, quit your whining, Xellos.  You're going to live!" Lina said crossly to her companion as the taxi sped towards the hospital.

"Oh, my poor eye!  Lina, what if I'm blinded by this?  How will I survive?" Xellos cried pitifully.

"Don't worry, Xellos, I'll take care of you!" spoke Martina from the front seat, where she was driving the taxi.  "I can take a third part-time job!"

Xellos shuddered.  "Lina, this is all your fault!  If you hadn't suddenly screamed like that, I would never have jabbed my eye with the mascara wand!  You'd better hope that man you were punching doesn't file assault charges," he sniffed.

"There isn't a jury in the land who would convict me," growled Lina.  "Not after what he said!  Death would be too good for him!"

"What did he say?" asked Martina as she pulled up to the hospital entrance.

Xellos gave a tinkling laugh.  "He told our Lina that she needed to demand a refund for her breast enhancement surgery, because it was obvious by their size that the silicone had leaked out.  Ouch!  Lina, that hurts!  Stop it, Lina!"

*******

"Lum, you can't follow me in here!  You'll mess up the medical equipment and electrocute my boss!" Ataru exclaimed.  "Stay outside!"

"But Darling, I want to visit Inu-Yasha!" Lum complained.  "I won't touch anything, I promise!"

"No!  Now promise me you won't walk through those doors!" Ataru ordered.

"Okay," Lum sulked.  "I promise."

Ataru ignored her pouting and entered the hospital.  Lum watched his retreating figure, then smiled.  "I promised Darling not to go through those doors, but I didn't promise not to fly through the window!"  She used her extra-terrestrial abilities to locate Inu-Yasha's room and took off.  "Won't Darling's boss be so surprised!"

*******

A/N:  Oh my, everyone and their neighbors are headed towards the hospital.  I don't think the other patients are going to survive the oncoming assault.

aZn-DiViN3-bLeU:  Just for clarification, there are a couple of redheads mentioned here.  One is Female Ranma, the other is Kurama.  I usually try to designate Female Ranma by mentioning her curvy figure.  Takahashi drew Female Ranma with a lot of, um, assets.

Thanks for undying support, everyone!  Lavender