This chapter I also love... Just so you know, I don't love them all, especially the ones with Sesshoumaru, because they are really bad in my opinion. The next chapter is funny too. I think...

Chapter 10: Awakening

Kyoumi's eyes felt like they were glued shut. Tears had formed in her eyes and dried there, making it almost impossible for her to open them. She took her left hand and wiped her eyes and put her hand back, still not opening her eyes. She wasn't ready. She didn't want to see anything...

But she opened her eyes and saw the roof of a building. She turned her head painfully and recognized the place as Kaede's home. She put her arms next to her side, and pushed herself up, but quickly went back down because of the immense pain in her stomach.

Kyoumi slowly tried to sit up again, ignoring the pain in her stomach and other places. She sat up and looked down at her body. She was stripped of clothing, but from her breasts to her hips were covered in bandages anyway, along with some parts of her legs and arms, so it didn't matter.

Kyoumi noticed that her fingernails were longer than normal, but thought nothing of it.

Kyoumi breathed deeply and looked at her stomach again, seeing lots of blood on the bandages, and she also saw many bandages in a pile next to a boiling pot of water.

Kyoumi slowly let herself lay down again and groaned.

What happened? I can't remember anything... Wait... Naraku

The thought of him sent a surge of pain through her body, and her head started to pound.

She brought her right hand up to her face and realized it had been clenched since she woke up. She slowly opened it to reveal a Shikon Jewel Shard in her palm. It was a little bit bloody, but otherwise perfect. She clenched her hand again and held it close to her chest and closed her eyes.

A peculiar smell wafted into the room and she smelt something nice. It smelt like flowers and soap, but it also had a hint of blood on them... There was another smell too... An older smell, sweaty and tired. And then a dog fur smell...

Just then Kagome walked in the room, followed by Kaede and InuYasha. InuYasha looked more angry than usual, and Kaede didn't look much different. But it was Kagome that bothered her. Her eyes and cheeks were red, from crying too much.

"I hope these herbs will help her wounds heal. That was horrible... And for a human to live through that," Kagome said, wiping her eyes.

InuYasha sat down next to the fire, his back towards Kyoumi.

"Lucky she transformed. Or else she wouldn't have been able to survive," said InuYasha.

"Ye have a strong-willed friend. I think she will live. Ye just need to be patient," Kaede said, changing the pots so she can boil the herbs and not get them bloody.

Another new smell came wafting the room, besides the smell of blood, and it smelt like an animal. Then Shippo said while walking the building, "I found some medicinal herbs, Kagome! I hope they help."

Kagome smiled weakly and said, "I'm sure they will. Bring them here."

Three more smells came into the room, the smell of a cat, a woman and a man.

"Miroku! How can you think about that at a time like this?" Sango said, having slapped him right outside the house.

"I was just trying to lighten the mood," said Miroku, walking into the house bearing a red mark on his face.

"For yourself!" Sango said. She was so fierce looking that she scared Kirara off of her shoulder.

"Will you two be quiet for once!" yelled InuYasha, obviously angry. He hadn't been in the best mood since Kyoumi got hurt and Naraku got away. But of course, InuYasha was never in a good mood. "Miroku, just quit groping her ass, OK? Now is not the time."

InuYasha closed his eyes and smelled the scents wafting around the room. Kagome next to him, Shippo next to Kaede at the fire, cooking herbs... Miroku next to the door with Sango, and Kirara hiding in a corner. But the scent that overpowered them all was Kyoumi's, which was all over the place. In the unwashed rags and the pot full of her blood and water. And her blood all over the bed she slept in. He sighed and hoped Kagome would be OK, he couldn't stand seeing her sad. She didn't even have the heart to sit him whenever he got on her nerves.

"When do you think Kyoumi will wake up?" asked Shippo.

"If you would have cared to notice, I've been awake since Kagome walked in," Kyoumi said in a quiet voice, still keeping her eyes closed and the Jewel Shard in her hand.

Everyone turned to look at Kyoumi, to make sure that they were not hallucinating.

"I knew something was different in here," InuYasha said, standing up and smiling for the first time since Kyoumi's injury.

Kyoumi gave a weak smile and opened her eyes to look at everyone. Kagome was smiling, and new tears were going down her face. Kaede smiled, but didn't dare interrupt the happy moment. Miroku looked pleased for a better excuse to grope Sango. Sango was happy that Kyoumi was OK, and Shippo was bouncing up and down with glee. Kirara decided that Sango was safe to be near now, so she jumped on her shoulder and meowed a couple times.

Kyoumi closed her eyes again and said, "Can I get out of here? I can't stand the smell all the blood... It's so strong..."

"You need to get some rest before you can go anywhere. You've been in a horrible condition for four days, we aren't going to let you go any time soon," Kagome said, finally deciding that the herbs were done. She put some in a cup and asked, "Can you sit up, Kyoumi?"

She nodded and painfully got up, groaning all the way. She leaned against the wall and breathed deeply, trying to catch her breath.

Kagome walked over to Kyoumi and handed her the cup of herbs to drink and eat.

Slowly she drank the gross tasting stuff, but it took a while for her to get it down.

Once she was finished, everyone was looking at her intently. She didn't even have to say 'What?' because Kagome asked what they wanted to know anyway.

"What happened, Kyoumi? Can you tell us?" Kagome asked, worry in her eyes.

InuYasha had sat down again and sat against the wall to be silent and moody again, but the others were all listening carefully.

Kyoumi looked at the ceiling, trying to remember all of it, and she soon started. "Well, when Kagura took me, I drew my sword and tried to cut her arm, but she stopped it before I could really injure her too badly. She then grabbed my sword and threw it to the ground.

"She dropped me off inside a castle and then went outside to stop you guys. Then a man in a baboon mask came from the castle and said his name was--"

"Naraku," said InuYasha, finishing her sentence for her.

"Yes," Kyoumi said. "He said he was Naraku, and that I had a Jewel Shard that he wanted. At first I thought he was joking. But then he said that someone planted it there the night before my sixteenth birthday. The night before I found Kagome in the forest.

"Naraku said that he planted the Jewel Shard there so I wouldn't gain my powers. I asked him why he would do that, and he said that there was a chance that I would travel with you, InuYasha. I asked him why I would go with you. He told me that..." Kyoumi cut off. She opened her hand to show off the Jewel Shard she got back from Naraku and everyone but Kagome, Kaede and InuYasha gasped.

She looked at the wall and felt her eyes watering.

"He told me he killed my mother," Kyoumi said, closing her eyes and letting a single tear fall down her face.

hr

Har har har! I'm so evil.