Disclaimer: sigh. I own nothing, except for maybe this plot. Does that count? Lol.
Title: Underneath Her Mask
Chapter 14: Giving Up For the Last Time
Last time
"Hello Sesshoumaru," she said turning around to face him. He surprised her when he crushed her body to his own.
"I'm sorry," he whispered in her fragrant hair. "I'm so sorry I left you alone with him."
"It's okay. I'm use to being alone."
As Sesshoumaru stood there, on the stoop of the Ramen café with Kagome tucked neatly in his arms and her head buried in his chest, he came upon a revelation. One that opened his eyes and allowed him to finally realize how he felt.
'They're right Kagome. I don't deserve you. I should have stayed here by your side, even when you protested. I...I should have kept you safe.' His face twisted into a sad, yet disgusted sneer. 'Even Shippo sees that I don't deserve someone like you. Both Shippo and Hiten were right in telling me that I wasn't good enough.' He pulled her closer and his grip tightened. 'But that won't stop me from trying. Not now,'
They stayed their in each others arms till not even their touch could scare away the chill of night. Slowly Sesshoumaru unwrapped his arms and grabbed her hand. 'Not when i realize that I could love a woman like you Kagome, and I have no intention of give you up after I finally realize how ignorant I've been.'
"I'll walk you home," he said starting to walk with Kagome's surprised self being dragged along. He never did let go of her hand.
Kagome closed the door to her apartment, biting her lip in thought. 'Something's changed. I just know it... Something's changed in him. After he left me with Naraku....Sesshoumaru was acting so much more affectionate.' Locking the door, Kagome walked slowly to her bedroom where she knelt on her beige carpet and grabbed her mother's box from underneath her bed. 'I wonder has gotten into him...' was the last thought she had about Sesshoumaru's mysterious behavior.
Carefully she counted and recounted each dollar bill and every coin she had left. It came to almost 15 hundred dollars. Kagome sighed, 'I better make it last. Before I know it, Christmas will be righ around the corner.' Putting her cash neatly away, she reread her mother's letter till her eyes began to hurt.
That's when she felt her stomach contract. She dropped her mother's precious letter unceremoniously on the floor. Her head felt light as her hand immediately went to abdominan, feeling the muscles tingle, and bunch beneath her touch. Her other hand shot to her mouth when she felt her dinner lurch. Standing up so quickly, that she almost fell in the process, she stumbled her way to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before emptying the contents of her stomach.
Kagome's arms were draped around her toilet bowl and her face was unnaturally pale as the bitter after taste of vomit traumatized her mouth.
'This is just great,' she thought miserably.'I had to go forget my jacket tonight...and now I've gone and gotten myself sick.'
Next day
Classes were hell. Plain and simple. Not only had Kagome spent the whole night tossing and turning in between vomit fests, but her nose was runny, her head hurt, and she still had to go to work.
"Why don't you call in sick?" Sango suggested as she helplessly watched Kagome struggle to get out of her car. 'Because I refuse to listen to my father gloat about how I can't even handle a simple cold.' She was absolutely certain he would find out if she missed a day of work, even without Naraku spying on her.
"Thanks Sango, but really, I'm achew fine. I just have a little head cold." She said blowing her nosed on a kleenex. "Thanks for the ride."
"Your welcome, but are you sure you won't reconsider?You look aweful. I can't imagine how you must feel." 'like shit,' Kagome quiped inside her head.
"I'm achew positive."
Numbly tripping her way to her office, Kagome collapsed on her chair in a heap of exhaustion. Her breath was shallow as she leaned against her desk for support. 'I've got to greet Sesshoumaru or else he'll wheeze think something is wrong.' Shakily, Kagome got up and slowly made her way to his office door. She dragged her hand up and let it fall against the smooth oak of the door.
"Come in." Kagome entered and walked till she stood in front of his desk, just like she had done every day before.
"Good morning Mr. Takamada," Kagome greeted, trying to sound as normal as possible. "Is there anything you'd like me to do for you?" When he heard her voice, he internally cringed. 'What am I going to do? How am I supposed to court Kagome, when I can't even look her in the eye?'
"No thank you." Sesshoumaru said, never taking his eyes off his computer. He glanced over at her. Kagome's head was bowed and her long, untied hair hid her face. "You may leave," he spoke curtly. Before turning towards his computer once more, brushing off the nagging feeling that something was not right.
Soundlessly Kagome left and as soon as she closed the adjoining door, she took off running toward the nearest bathroom. Trying desperately not to trip, Kagome ignored the strange looks she was getting from passers by and sprinted to the nearest stall where she heaved. 'Oh God,' she thought retching, 'I think I'm gonna die,"
It was 9 o'clock at night when Sesshoumaru threw his blue blazer over his arm and loosened his tie. Turning off his own lights, he sighed when he realized Kagome's own lights shown brightly through the crack underneath the door separating their offices. 'She must be working late...again.' He opened her door and his eyes immediately fixed on her desk. His eyes narrowed. Her monitor was on showing a half finished report and the buzz from her computer was almost deafening in the entirely too silent office. He walked forward, nearly tripping over a mound on the floor. 'What the...?" His eyes widened as he saw a mane of coal black hair connected to an eerily still body.
'K...kagome?'
Sesshoumaru kicked open the front door to his mansion with a bang, while Kagome lay lifeless in his arms.
"Call for Toutousai!" he shouted to a startled maid that just happened to be passing by.
"Yes sir," she said bowing, before rapidly heading toward the nearest phone.
"Hurry!" She quickened her pace as instructed. Sesshoumaru rushed up the stairs, passing his father and brother as he steadily made his way to his bedroom.
"What the hell is going..." Inuyasha trailed off as he saw Kagome's limp body. Inu Tashio said nothing but was extremely quiet as both him and his son followed behind an irate Sesshoumaru, who ignored them both.
As gently as he could, Sesshoumaru laid her on his bed. He brought his hand up to feel his burning forehead and nearly flinched as its scorching heat licked at his hand. His eyebrows furrowed even further as he noted beads of sweat dripping down her face leaving a wet trial in their wake. He looked across to the other side of the bed where Inuyasha now stood.
"What happened to her? How did she get that sick?" his half brother aced fearfully never taking his eyes off Kagome.
"I don't know. She seemed fine last night." He replied softly, watching as Kagome jerked in her unconscious state. 'How could you do this to yourself Kagome?! Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling good!?' he thought angrily. As he continued to stare at her unmoving body, all the anger he felt dissipated. 'I'm sorry Kagome. I shouldn't be blaming you. It's not your fault. It's mine.'
"Toutousai is here," Inu Tashio announced as an old looking man entered, carrying a black doctor's bag with the Red Cross sewn into the leather.
"Leave us." He said swiftly, quickly making a bee line to her bedside. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha reluctantly left Kagome's side and headed toward the door.
"Sesshoumaru, come with me," Inu Tashio ordered, already walking towards his study. Sesshoumaru followed silently behind, too busy worrying about Kagome to dread what his father was going to say. Inu Tashio sat at his mahogany desk and put his head in his hands as he asked forbiddingly, "What the hell happened?"
"I don't know." Sesshoumaru's voice sound bleak, even to himself.
"How could you not know?!" his father shouted, his thin control shattering. "She is your assistant for God's sake! Are you telling me that you haven't seen her once all day?! That you didn't know something was wrong just by looking at her?!" Tell me. What is your excuse?" he shouted.
"I have no excuse. It is entirely my fault. I should have been paying more attention. I had left the office and went down to the lounge so I could get some work done." Inu Tashio's gaze was questioning.
"Why?"
"I couldn't think around her, knowing that she was right there." 'just out of reach.' He was no longer talking about work. This was personal. Inu Tashio sighed, reining his anger. At first he was silent.
"What are you going to do if she doesn't recover from this?" he wondered aloud. Sesshoumaru's jaw dropped. It had never occurred to him that she wouldn't get better. That she wouldn't be smiling at him tomorrow, her eyes sparkling the way they do whenever she truly happy.
"She will," he said feining confidence and closing his mouth, before heading out of the door. 'She has to.' By the sound of his voice, Inu Tashio wasn't sure who exactly it was that Sesshoumaru was trying so hard to convince.
He rubbed his temples after his son dissapeared. 'I suppose I should call Onigumo. He would want to know about his daughter's condition.' He picked up the phone and warily pressed seven digits. It rang once before his colleague picked up.
"Inu Tashio, what can I do for you, my friend?" Onigumo said, sounding completely sincere.
"I have some bad news Onigumo. It's your daughter...she isn't well." When he heard nothing on the line he continued. "I have my doctor looking at her now, but in all my days I have never seen someone looking quite that ill...I'm not sure if this is going to have ever-lasting effects or not."
On the other end of the line, Kagome's father was silent, not saying a single word for a long time. "You're having your doctor look after her?" he asked at last, his voice indefinable.
"Yes, I've made sure of it. And do not worry, if there is anyone who can help her, it's him."
"I will be sending our family doctor over right away, he should be there in the next couple of hours."
"Onigumo, I know how you must feel, but I assure you, Toutousai is very good at what he..."
"This has nothing to do with how good your own doctor is Inu Tashio. Dr. Bennett has been taking care of Kagome since she was born. He knows every single detail there is to know about her, including a couple of particular medications that she will have a violent reaction to. I would just feel better if he were there looking after her."
Inu Tashio swallowed his objection. "Alright then, I expect that you will be accompanying him?"
"No. Kagome can take care of herself. No daughter of mine will be bested by a minor cold. She will be better in no time."
Sesshoumaru knocked quietly on the door. "You can come in Sesshoumaru," Toutousai said, gazing intently at a syringe in his hand, a clear liquid swirling around on the inside.
"How did you know it was me?" he had to ask. The old man didn't answer, but his bulging eyes swiveled over to look at him.
"I take it you are here to see how Kagome is, are you not?" He nodded, and Toutousai looked back at the slumbering girl. "From the looks of things, she was pushing herself too hard and now her body is too weak to fight the infection off." He sighed. "How is it you find her?"
"She was lying motionless on the floor of her office." Toutousai's eye's narrowed.
"She went to work?" he asked skeptically, before sighing knowingly. "So I was right. Well, hopefully this antibiotic will help a bit." He said rolling up her sleeve and jabbing syringe into a vein. Sesshoumaru winced.
"'Hopefully'?" he echoed. Toutousai grew even more somber.
"Yes. With luck she will be back to normal within a week or so...but you never know." Sesshoumaru grew pale.
"What do you mean by that, old man?" He didn't answer directly.
"If she can last the next 72 hours without getting much worse than she should be fine," he said, packing up most of his medical supplies. "They're isn't much more I can do for her...but I would like to give her a full evaluation and I will have to stay here for the time being to make sure that her condition doesn't significantly decrease."
"A full evaluation?" Sesshoumaru asked numbly.
"Yes," the normally offensive old man said gently. "I'll need you to leave." As Sesshoumaru realized what all that implied he desperately wanted to protest...to yell and scream out all of his anguish at Toutousai...but he knew that he wouldn't. Toutousai was just trying to help...no matter how much Sesshoumaru disliked the manner for which it was given. Trying to swallow the lump in his throat he nodded and walked out of his bedroom.
Toutousai's face wrinkled even more than normally as he gazed upon her near nakad flesh, only her undergarments coving up her more private of parts. Bruises covered her stomach and thighs and Toutousai's mouth was set in a grim line. 'You and I are going to have a long chat when you wake up Ms. Higurashi.' He closed his eyes. 'That is if you wake up...'
In the next room Inuyasha laid on his bed, staring vacantly at his ceiling and thinking about the woman that lie in another bed only 50 feet or so away from himself.. 'What happened Kagome? Why are you suddenly so sick?' His heart ached. 'Are you... going to die? No! You can't!' He sat straight up, taking deep breaths. 'If...you died, and I didn't tell you how I felt...I would never forgive myself.'
Inuyasha's jaw clenched. 'No Kagome, you are going to live and lead a long and happy life after this. And when you wake up, I vow to find a way to tell you that...
I love you!
When Toutousai finally left Kagome's side, after redressing her of course, Sesshoumaru walked inside the room. He grabbed the wooden chair next to his desk and wheeled it over so he was in arm's length reach of her. He grabbed her hand, exactly like he had done the night before, except this time the hand in question was still and lifeless.
"I'm sorry for everything," he whispered softly, knowing that she couldn't hear him, much less understand what he was saying. "I'm sorry I didn't do anything, even when I knew that something was wrong. I should have listened to my instincts." His expression was pained, and it hurt him to go on. "I should have never even thought about having someone like you by my side. It would never have worked out anyway... we would have fought constantly. You and I both would be unhappy then."
"If you could hear me, you would obviously realize that I'm finally giving up," he told her. "I should have listened to them both...but it's too late now. I just wanted to tell you that I'm not going to bother you anymore. But I need you to do something for me.You've got to wake up." He squeezed and closed his eyes tightly when he felt nothing but a cold, unresponsive hand. "Please.If you don't, you are going to dissappoint a lot of people." 'including myself,'
He never left her side until he heard the doorbell ring. Tearing himself away, he walked down the grand stairway leading to the main entrance where an Inu Tashio was leading in a man wearing a white trench coat and thick glasses. His round face was bright red and his lips were pursed.
"Who are you?" Sesshoumaru asked, gaining each of their attentions.
"I am Dr. Bennett. I was sent here by Kagome's father."
Hey everybody. Sorry for the long wait, but I have a few pressing issues to talk to you all about. First I would like to say that as of right now, I am focusing mainly on Sesshoumaru and his feeling but don't fret! I plan to have Kagome's own point of view relatively soon. Second, in a twisted sort of way, Naraku does care about Kagome because lets face it. Evil people have feelings too, even if they are distorted. Thirdly, Sorry but I completely forgot to put in Shippo's and Rin's costumes for Halloween...lol. Only one person mentioned it. It was a fox, and a princess for those of you who are wondering. Fourthly, I would like to say THANK YOU for all of your reviews. And fifthly, I would like to thank all of you that reviewed, but Eleature in particular for boosting my confidence.
By the way, I'm sorry that this chapter kind of sucked in comparison to some of the better ones. Sesshoumaru is pretty ooc but what can I say, desperate times call for desperate measures. I was angry with myself for not getting it done and so it is kind of forced. Sorry about that. I might redo it. And that it is so short. I absolutely promise that the next one will be longer. (And I'm sorry about how it jumps around a lot) The next chapter will be better. I swear. Lol.
Guideline
Toutousai is not a perve.
Kagome pushes herself too hard.
Kagome and Sesshoumaru aren't in love, (yet)
Toutousai hasn't told anyone about Kagome's bruises.
Inuyasha is more open with his emotions. He has known since the lunch that they shared together two months ago that he had feelings for her.
Reviews: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Starting as of next chapter, I will not be answering every single review only those of which I feel primarily passionate about, or to answer questions. (the guideline is going to stay) I say this because I think that because of answering so many reviews now, I am skimping out on the story. I try to type up about 12 pages each chapter but answering so many reviews takes up about three. I would like to say thank you, because if so many people weren't reviewing than I wouldn't have this problem. Please review again, because it gives me the confidence I need to keep going with this story.
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