"Out of the question," said Mother Kaede.
Look," I said. "I don't see any other way. She won't go willingly, we both know that. And she's too dangerous to let hang around indefinitely. I think we're going to have to give her a push."
Mother Kaede looked away from me, and stared bleakly at a spot on the ceiling above our heads. "That isn't what we're here for, people like you and me, Kagome," she said in the saddest voice I had ever heard. "We are the sentries who guard the gates of the afterlife. We are the ones who help guide lost souls to their final destinations. And every single one of the demons I've helped have passed my gate quite willingly..."
Yeah. And if you clap hard enough, Tinker bell wont die. It must, I thought, have been nice to see the world through Mother Kaede's eyes. It seemed like a nice place. A lot better than the world I'd lived in for the past sixteen years.
"Yes," I said. "Well, I don't see any other way."
"An exorcism," Mother Kaede murmured. She said the word like it was distasteful, like mucus or something.
"Look," I said, beginning to regret I'd said anything. "Believe me, it's not a method I recommend. But I don't see that we have much choice. Ayame's not just a danger to Kouga anymore." I didn't want to tell her what Ayame had said about Shippo. I could just see her jumping out of bed and hollering for a pair of crutches. But since I had already let spill what I was planning, I had to let her know why I felt such an extreme was necessary. "She's a danger to the whole school," I said. "She's got to be stopped."
She nodded. "Yes. Yes, of course, you're right. But Kagome, you've got to promise me you wont try it until I've been released. I was talking to the doctor, and she says she might let me go as early as Friday. That will give us plenty of time to research the proper methodology..." she glanced at her bedside table. "Hand me that pen and tablet there. If we san get the wording right..."
I handed her the pen and paper. "I'm pretty sure," I said, "that I've got it down pat."
She lifted her gaze, pinning me with those piercing eyes of hers. "How could you possibly," she wondered, "have gotten anything as complicated as a Buddhist exorcism down pat?"
I fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, I wasn't really planning on doing the Buddhist version."
"Is they're another?"
"Oh, sure. Most religions have one. Personally, I prefer Mecumba. It's pretty much to the point. No long incantations or anything."
She looked pained. "Mecumba?"
"Sure. Brazilian voodoo. I got it off the Net. All you need is some chicken blood and a..."
"Kami-sama," Mother Kaede interrupted. Then, when she'd recovered herself, she said, "out of the question. Ayame was a Buddhist and despite the cause of her death, she deserves a Buddhist exorcism, if not burial."
"Mother Kaede," I said. "I really don't think it mattes whether she gets a Buddhist exorcism or not. The fact is Ayame needs to be GONE."
Mother Kaede made a tut-tutting noise. "Kagome, how can you say such a thing? There is good in everyone. Surely even you can se that?"
"Even me? What do you mean, even me?"
"Well, I mean, even Kagome Higurashi, who can be very heard on others, must see that even in the cruelest human being there can exist a flower of good. Maybe just the tiniest blossom, in need of water and sunlight, but a flower just the same."
I wondered what kind of painkillers mother Kaede was on.
I said, 'well, okay, Mother. All I know is, Ayame needs to move her butt outa this world and into the next."
She smiled at me sadly. "I wish," she said, "you would listen to me. You MUST NOT attempt to stop Ayame on your own. It is extremely clear that she very nearly killed you last night. I could not believe my eyes when I walked out and saw the damage that she caused. You were lucky to escape with your life. And it is clear from what happened this morning that, like you say, she is only growing stronger. It would be stupid- criminally stupid- of you to try to do anything on your own again."
I knew she as right. What's more, if I really go through with the exorcism thing, I couldn't let Inuyasha help me... the exorcism might send him back to his maker, right along with Ayame.
"Besides," Mother Kaede said. "There isn't any reason to hurry, is there? Now that she's managed to hospitalize Kouga, she wont be up to any more mischief- at least not until he comes back to school. He seemed to be the only person she entertains murderous feelings for."
I didn't say anything. How could I? I mean, the poor woman looked so pathetic lying there. I didn't want to give her more to worry about. But the truth was, I couldn't possible wait for Mother Kaede to get out of the hospital. Ayame meant business. With every day that passes, she will only get stronger and nastier, and more filled with hate. I had to get rid of her, and I had to get rid of her soon.
So I lied.
"Don't worry mother Kaede," I said, "I'll wait till you're feeling better."
Mother Kaede was no dummy though. She went, "Promise me Susannah."
I said, "I promise."
I had my fingers crossed of course.
She went to muttering over her exorcism grocery list, as Miroku and Sango came into the room.
"Hey, Mother Kaede," Miroku said. "Boy do you look terrible." Sango elbowed him. "Miroku," she hissed. Then, to mother, she said brightly. "Don't listen to him, Mother Kaede. I think you look great. Well, for having a bunch of broken bones, I mean."
"Children." Mother Kaede looked really happy to see them. "What a delight! But why are you wasting a beautiful afternoon like this one visiting an old woman in a hospital? You ought to be down at the park enjoying the nice weather."
"We're actually here doing an article for the school paper about the accident," Sango said. "We just got gone interviewing the teachers at school. It's really unfortunate about the Buddha's head..."
"Yeah," Miroku said. "A real bummer."
"Well," mother Kaede said. "Never mind that."
A nurse came in and told Sango and I that we had to leave because she had to give Mother Kaede her sponge bath.
"Sponge bath," Miroku grumbled as we made our way back to the car. "Mother Kaede gets a sponge bath, but me, a guy who can actually appreciate something like that, what do I get?"
"A chance to play chauffer to the two most beautiful girls in town? Sango offered helpfully.
"Yeah," Miroku said. "Right." Then he glanced at me. "Not that you aren't the most beautiful girl in town, Kagome... I just meant... well, you know..."
"I know," I said, with a smile.
"I mean, a sponge bath. And did you get a look at that nurse? If it were me all battered in that hospital, I'd never want to leave." Miroku held the passenger seat forward so Sango could crawl into the backseat. "There must be something to this priest thing. Maybe I should enroll."
From the backseat Sango said. "You don't enroll, you receive a calling. And believe me, Miroku, you wouldn't like it. They don't let priests get married."
Miroku digested this. "Maybe I could form a new order," he said thoughtfully. "We'd be the Dating, marrying, womanizing, 'Asking Women to Bear Our Children' order."
We were on Tokyo Main Road. Just beyond the low stonewall to our right was the enormous yellow ball of the sun hovering. I guess I must have been looking a it a little longingly- I still hadn't gotten used to seeing it all the time- because Miroku went, "aw, hell," and zipped into a parking space that a BMW had just vacated. I looked at him questioningly as he threw the car into park and he said, "what? You don't have time to sit and watch the sunset?"
I was out of the car in a flash.
I wondered a little while later, had I ad I ever not looked forward to moving here? Sitting on a blanket Miroku had extricated from the trunk of his car, watching the joggers and the evening walkers, and the tourists with cameras, I felt better than I had in a long time. It might have been the fact that I was still operating on about four hours of sleep. I might have been the heavy odor of brine was clouding my senses. But I really felt, for the first time in what seemed like forever, at peace.
Which was weird, considering the fact that in a few hours, I was going to be doing battle with the forces of evil.
But until then, I decided to enjoy myself. I turned my faced toward the setting sun, feeling its warming rays on my cheeks, and listened to the roaring of the waves, the shrieking of the gulls, and the chatter of Sango and Miroku.
"So I said to her, Akira, you're nearly forty. If you and dad want to have another kid, you had better hurry. Time is not on your side." Miroku sipped a latte he'd picked up from a coffee shop near where we parked. "And she was all, 'But your father and I don't want you to feel threatened by the new baby,' and I was like, 'Akira, babies don't threaten me.' You know what makes me feel threatened? Steroid-pooping Neanderthals like Kouga Prince. They threaten me."
Sango shot Miroku a warning look, and then looked at me. "How are you getting along with your new stepbrothers, Kagome?"
I tore my eyes away from the setting sun. "All right, I guess."
The great orange ball seemed to sink into the sky as it began its slow descent below the horizon.
"There goes the sun," Sango sang softly.
"Da da da da da," Miroku said.
"There goes the sun." I joined in.
Okay I have to admit; it was kind of childish, sitting there singing, watching the sun go down. But it was also kind of fun. Back home, we used to sit in the park and watch the undercover cops arrest drug dealers. But that wasn't any where near as nice as this, singing happily on a clearing as the sun went down.
Something strange was happening. I wasn't sure what it was.
"And I say," the three of us sang, "It's all right!"
And strangely enough, at that moment, I actually believed it would be. All right, I mean.
And that's when I realized what was happening:
I was fitting in. me, Kagome Higurashi, miko. I was fitting it somewhere for the first time in my life.
And I was happy about it. Really happy. I actually believed, just then, that everything was going to be all right.
Boy, was I ever in denial.
A/N:
Another long wait for an update. I'm SORRY!!!
Busy week, really, and even a busy weekend. I had to go to a track meet yesterday, for like 7 hours, and got REALLY sunburned... and... just OUCH! Then I had to go out to eat with my family because of Mother's day and all... so...
Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!!!
Look," I said. "I don't see any other way. She won't go willingly, we both know that. And she's too dangerous to let hang around indefinitely. I think we're going to have to give her a push."
Mother Kaede looked away from me, and stared bleakly at a spot on the ceiling above our heads. "That isn't what we're here for, people like you and me, Kagome," she said in the saddest voice I had ever heard. "We are the sentries who guard the gates of the afterlife. We are the ones who help guide lost souls to their final destinations. And every single one of the demons I've helped have passed my gate quite willingly..."
Yeah. And if you clap hard enough, Tinker bell wont die. It must, I thought, have been nice to see the world through Mother Kaede's eyes. It seemed like a nice place. A lot better than the world I'd lived in for the past sixteen years.
"Yes," I said. "Well, I don't see any other way."
"An exorcism," Mother Kaede murmured. She said the word like it was distasteful, like mucus or something.
"Look," I said, beginning to regret I'd said anything. "Believe me, it's not a method I recommend. But I don't see that we have much choice. Ayame's not just a danger to Kouga anymore." I didn't want to tell her what Ayame had said about Shippo. I could just see her jumping out of bed and hollering for a pair of crutches. But since I had already let spill what I was planning, I had to let her know why I felt such an extreme was necessary. "She's a danger to the whole school," I said. "She's got to be stopped."
She nodded. "Yes. Yes, of course, you're right. But Kagome, you've got to promise me you wont try it until I've been released. I was talking to the doctor, and she says she might let me go as early as Friday. That will give us plenty of time to research the proper methodology..." she glanced at her bedside table. "Hand me that pen and tablet there. If we san get the wording right..."
I handed her the pen and paper. "I'm pretty sure," I said, "that I've got it down pat."
She lifted her gaze, pinning me with those piercing eyes of hers. "How could you possibly," she wondered, "have gotten anything as complicated as a Buddhist exorcism down pat?"
I fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, I wasn't really planning on doing the Buddhist version."
"Is they're another?"
"Oh, sure. Most religions have one. Personally, I prefer Mecumba. It's pretty much to the point. No long incantations or anything."
She looked pained. "Mecumba?"
"Sure. Brazilian voodoo. I got it off the Net. All you need is some chicken blood and a..."
"Kami-sama," Mother Kaede interrupted. Then, when she'd recovered herself, she said, "out of the question. Ayame was a Buddhist and despite the cause of her death, she deserves a Buddhist exorcism, if not burial."
"Mother Kaede," I said. "I really don't think it mattes whether she gets a Buddhist exorcism or not. The fact is Ayame needs to be GONE."
Mother Kaede made a tut-tutting noise. "Kagome, how can you say such a thing? There is good in everyone. Surely even you can se that?"
"Even me? What do you mean, even me?"
"Well, I mean, even Kagome Higurashi, who can be very heard on others, must see that even in the cruelest human being there can exist a flower of good. Maybe just the tiniest blossom, in need of water and sunlight, but a flower just the same."
I wondered what kind of painkillers mother Kaede was on.
I said, 'well, okay, Mother. All I know is, Ayame needs to move her butt outa this world and into the next."
She smiled at me sadly. "I wish," she said, "you would listen to me. You MUST NOT attempt to stop Ayame on your own. It is extremely clear that she very nearly killed you last night. I could not believe my eyes when I walked out and saw the damage that she caused. You were lucky to escape with your life. And it is clear from what happened this morning that, like you say, she is only growing stronger. It would be stupid- criminally stupid- of you to try to do anything on your own again."
I knew she as right. What's more, if I really go through with the exorcism thing, I couldn't let Inuyasha help me... the exorcism might send him back to his maker, right along with Ayame.
"Besides," Mother Kaede said. "There isn't any reason to hurry, is there? Now that she's managed to hospitalize Kouga, she wont be up to any more mischief- at least not until he comes back to school. He seemed to be the only person she entertains murderous feelings for."
I didn't say anything. How could I? I mean, the poor woman looked so pathetic lying there. I didn't want to give her more to worry about. But the truth was, I couldn't possible wait for Mother Kaede to get out of the hospital. Ayame meant business. With every day that passes, she will only get stronger and nastier, and more filled with hate. I had to get rid of her, and I had to get rid of her soon.
So I lied.
"Don't worry mother Kaede," I said, "I'll wait till you're feeling better."
Mother Kaede was no dummy though. She went, "Promise me Susannah."
I said, "I promise."
I had my fingers crossed of course.
She went to muttering over her exorcism grocery list, as Miroku and Sango came into the room.
"Hey, Mother Kaede," Miroku said. "Boy do you look terrible." Sango elbowed him. "Miroku," she hissed. Then, to mother, she said brightly. "Don't listen to him, Mother Kaede. I think you look great. Well, for having a bunch of broken bones, I mean."
"Children." Mother Kaede looked really happy to see them. "What a delight! But why are you wasting a beautiful afternoon like this one visiting an old woman in a hospital? You ought to be down at the park enjoying the nice weather."
"We're actually here doing an article for the school paper about the accident," Sango said. "We just got gone interviewing the teachers at school. It's really unfortunate about the Buddha's head..."
"Yeah," Miroku said. "A real bummer."
"Well," mother Kaede said. "Never mind that."
A nurse came in and told Sango and I that we had to leave because she had to give Mother Kaede her sponge bath.
"Sponge bath," Miroku grumbled as we made our way back to the car. "Mother Kaede gets a sponge bath, but me, a guy who can actually appreciate something like that, what do I get?"
"A chance to play chauffer to the two most beautiful girls in town? Sango offered helpfully.
"Yeah," Miroku said. "Right." Then he glanced at me. "Not that you aren't the most beautiful girl in town, Kagome... I just meant... well, you know..."
"I know," I said, with a smile.
"I mean, a sponge bath. And did you get a look at that nurse? If it were me all battered in that hospital, I'd never want to leave." Miroku held the passenger seat forward so Sango could crawl into the backseat. "There must be something to this priest thing. Maybe I should enroll."
From the backseat Sango said. "You don't enroll, you receive a calling. And believe me, Miroku, you wouldn't like it. They don't let priests get married."
Miroku digested this. "Maybe I could form a new order," he said thoughtfully. "We'd be the Dating, marrying, womanizing, 'Asking Women to Bear Our Children' order."
We were on Tokyo Main Road. Just beyond the low stonewall to our right was the enormous yellow ball of the sun hovering. I guess I must have been looking a it a little longingly- I still hadn't gotten used to seeing it all the time- because Miroku went, "aw, hell," and zipped into a parking space that a BMW had just vacated. I looked at him questioningly as he threw the car into park and he said, "what? You don't have time to sit and watch the sunset?"
I was out of the car in a flash.
I wondered a little while later, had I ad I ever not looked forward to moving here? Sitting on a blanket Miroku had extricated from the trunk of his car, watching the joggers and the evening walkers, and the tourists with cameras, I felt better than I had in a long time. It might have been the fact that I was still operating on about four hours of sleep. I might have been the heavy odor of brine was clouding my senses. But I really felt, for the first time in what seemed like forever, at peace.
Which was weird, considering the fact that in a few hours, I was going to be doing battle with the forces of evil.
But until then, I decided to enjoy myself. I turned my faced toward the setting sun, feeling its warming rays on my cheeks, and listened to the roaring of the waves, the shrieking of the gulls, and the chatter of Sango and Miroku.
"So I said to her, Akira, you're nearly forty. If you and dad want to have another kid, you had better hurry. Time is not on your side." Miroku sipped a latte he'd picked up from a coffee shop near where we parked. "And she was all, 'But your father and I don't want you to feel threatened by the new baby,' and I was like, 'Akira, babies don't threaten me.' You know what makes me feel threatened? Steroid-pooping Neanderthals like Kouga Prince. They threaten me."
Sango shot Miroku a warning look, and then looked at me. "How are you getting along with your new stepbrothers, Kagome?"
I tore my eyes away from the setting sun. "All right, I guess."
The great orange ball seemed to sink into the sky as it began its slow descent below the horizon.
"There goes the sun," Sango sang softly.
"Da da da da da," Miroku said.
"There goes the sun." I joined in.
Okay I have to admit; it was kind of childish, sitting there singing, watching the sun go down. But it was also kind of fun. Back home, we used to sit in the park and watch the undercover cops arrest drug dealers. But that wasn't any where near as nice as this, singing happily on a clearing as the sun went down.
Something strange was happening. I wasn't sure what it was.
"And I say," the three of us sang, "It's all right!"
And strangely enough, at that moment, I actually believed it would be. All right, I mean.
And that's when I realized what was happening:
I was fitting in. me, Kagome Higurashi, miko. I was fitting it somewhere for the first time in my life.
And I was happy about it. Really happy. I actually believed, just then, that everything was going to be all right.
Boy, was I ever in denial.
A/N:
Another long wait for an update. I'm SORRY!!!
Busy week, really, and even a busy weekend. I had to go to a track meet yesterday, for like 7 hours, and got REALLY sunburned... and... just OUCH! Then I had to go out to eat with my family because of Mother's day and all... so...
Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!!!