Summary: Looking at Kagome Higurashi, you'd never know that she carried a secret storm. Her therapist suddenly quits on her, and she must go to find someone else to help her. She struggles to keep her new therapist out of her life. She tells him the best of her is gone. Why won't he believe it? Kagome's POV.

"Talking"
"Sign Language"
Flashbacks
(Diary Entry)Beginning/End of diary entires

Did you all know both Chapter One and Chapter Eleven have 1,950 words? Exactly that number for both of 'em. Funny, huh?

I know ya'll want to know what happened to Kagome. I promise that things will be okay... Well, maybe they won't. Depends on if I'm in a good mood or a bad one.

Best of You
Chapter 12: Exposed

"Kagome, please... You have to live. I don't want you to die. I can't let you go. I'm too selfish to let you go. Please... Please make it, Kagome." I hear him say. It sounds like he's crying, but I can't be too sure. Before long, I feel myself slipping away from the rest of things. I feel the sense of reality being altered.

I don't know if I want to live...

- - -

I open my eyes wearily, feeling like I'm about to die. I've felt this way for the last week. I can wake up now, which is a good thing. My left arm is broken. I can't communicate, since a lot of signals require two hands. So, I've been keeping silent the past week. That's fine, because I wasn't going to start talking anyway.

I have a green cast on it. Miroku and Sango have signed it. Inuyasha put his initials and the words "Love you" on it. He makes me want to cry. Of course, I hardly have energy to do that.

Slowly, I'm being able to piece together what happened. I don't know if this is really what happened, but it's all I can piece together with my new-found memories.

I think that Naraku did kidnap me. I'm pretty sure that he almost had his way with me again, but he didn't. Inuyasha says that he found Naraku about two seconds before he would've raped me again. Naraku beat me up before that. I'm pretty sure his friends did too, but I don't know for sure.

I'm black and blue now. I don't think there's a single patch of tanned skin left. My stomach has a foot-shaped bruise on it. It's got red in the bruise too. I'm sure whoever stepped on me broke some blood vessels in the process. Either that or it's something else.

I'm doing good, considering how badly I came in. The nurse tells me that I had gone into a coma. My body was hardly even able to function when I came in. She said that my digestive track was misplaced from when he stepped on me. But, it got better, I assume. I can eat fine, and I couldn't in the beginning.

Inuyashasaid that I have a damn good excuse not to be in therapy. Miroku says that he's putting together a video for me to watch in here. I don't know what he's thinking of doing, though. Sango told me that they're going to have a bunch of things dedicated to me and he's going to get help with paying for the bills.

Despite the fact that I have a lot of money, it's not enough. It gets very expensive to get all these things treated. So, he's going to raise the money with the club-goers. Sango said that was his plan. And that he'd only be spinning songs that I liked. Since I have a lot of favorites, I doubt he'll run out.

Sango also started to do the paychecks for me. I think it's kind of her, since she's not getting paid for it. I'll make sure to give her a gift once I get enough money for it.

Inuyasha comes in, snapping me from my thoughts. He has something in his hand, and he's smiling.

"Hey, how you feeling?" He asks. He's asked that every day for the past week, and I don't feel any better. Well, except for today. I just found out about Miroku's heart-warming plans thirty minutes ago. That put me in a really good mood.

I give him a thumbs up in response. I need my other hand to do sign language. It's driving me nuts not to be able to communicate at all. It'll be like this for a while, which is an even worse idea. Inuaysha sits at my bedside, stroking my non-casted hand.

"I'm glad. I'll pay as much of your medical bills as I can." He says. I stare at him then start shaking my head. He can't do that! This is going to get really expensive!

"Please... I also have a question to ask you. Be honest, okay?" He warns. I nod my head, watching as he takes a deep breath. He has a piece of licorice in his teeth. At least that tells me that he's not smoking. Of course, if he was, I'd smell it.

"Kagome... There's no easy way to break this to you." He starts. My heart slowly stops as I imagine what he could be ready to say. It almost sounds like he's going to tell me that he's giving up on me for therapy.

"Kagome, I would like you to be my wife." He says. I smile widely as he opens a small box. In it is a small diamond ring. I nod my head rapidly, feeling tears come out of my eyes. He slips it over my right finger (since my left is hidden by a cast), then kisses my hand. He kisses my lips, smiling like there's nothing wrong in the world.

"I love you, Kagome." He says. I take a deep breath, gathering myself.

"I... I love you... too." I manage to squeak. I haven't spoken in so long, my voice is cracking. My throat feels like I have a sore throat, just from that much of words. I think that this was the perfect time to speak. Inuaysha's eyes fill with tears as he hugs me.

"You're safe now. I'll keep Naraku and anyone else who wants to hurt you away." He says. I hug him with my mobile arm before resting once again.

"Thank you... Inuyasha..." I choke out. Things are hard for me to say, since I haven't been speaking for fifteen years. I guess it's a good thing that I had these bad experiences. If I didn't, then I would have kept from talking and never met Inuyasha.

"So, when do you want to get married?" He asks me. His eyes seem to light up at the mentioning of us getting married. He must be really excited over this.

"When my cast is off. I don't want to be in a wedding dress and a cast." I tell him jokingly. He smiles then kisses my head.

"Thank you so much for talking." He says. I nod my head, then point to something.

"Can... Can you get my diary for me?" I question scratchily. My voice is going to need several cough drops before it can function normally. It's kind of funny. I haven't spoken in so long, I forgot what I sounded like. I wouldn't be able to recognize my voice if it weren't so scratchy.

Inuyasha hands me my diary, and a pen. I make a motion for him to leave, and he does. He kisses my head, then leaves. I look down at my diary, and begin to write slowly. I'm not even supposed to be doing this, since I'm still in bad condition. But, I feel like I'll never remember how I'm feeling now.

( Open Diary Entry )

I don't know what today is, so don't expect me to write it down... All I know is that today is a Sunday. If I'm lucky, I'll be discharged from the hospital before tomorrow. Then I can get back to work. Believe it or not, I'm actually anticipating writing more paychecks. Maybe it's not the most fun thing in the world, but I feel so happy, that I want to do them.

Well, I broke two rules today alone. The first one was talking. I made a rule for myself to never talk again. I'd never be happy enough to talk to anyone after the day that Souta died. So, I talked today.

The second rule is the worst of the two. I started caring for someone. After Souta's death, I made myself disconnect from people. I was afraid that, if I trusted them, that Naraku would hurt them. Or Kouga would hurt them. But, I knew I was bad luck. So, I tried not to trust people.

Not only am I trusting someone, I'm in love with him. My therapist (who acts so rude somtimes, you'd think he wasn't one at all), is now my fiance. It's so strange for me to believe that I'm going to be married to someone. We've been close for a while, but he just proposed to me today.

I feel like I should have said 'no' to him. I mean, I hardly know if my feelings for him are even true. I guess they are, since I'm still happy about it. I haven't started regretting it yet, so I think that there are no doubts about my love for him.

Now that I'm engaged, I start to think of marriage. And when I think of marriage, I start to question kids. I mean, they're cute, but I don't know if Inuyasha wants them or not. Personally, I'd love to have them. Kids are so cute, and they're funny. I don't know if Inuyasha feels the same way, though.

I guess he probably doesn't. The way he acts around people is a little short-tempered. Imagine how horrible that could go with a child. He could accidentally yell at them, and they wouldn't know what they did wrong. I guess I should just consider making a kid area in the club so I could hang out with them.

Wait. Kids don't mix with clubs and party-goers. Whoops. I guess... I don't know what to do. The idea of being a wife is making me want to be a mother as well...

I'd ask Inuyasha, but I'm too shy to do that. I don't want to hear his reaction. If he's upset, then I'll feel so horrible. That's the only reason I wouldn't ask... Well, the only reason aside from the fact that it'd just be an akward question to ask. I can imagine it now...

"Hey, Inuyasha. I have a question!" I ask him casually while he's reading the newspaper or something. He's drinking a cup of coffee, too.

"What is it?" He asks me calmly.

"Well, I want kids! Do you want them?" I ask cheerfully. I canimagine him spitting out his coffee and staring at me like I was crazy...

Maybe asking isn't a good idea.

Whoops! Gotta go. The nurse is coming in so she can see if I'm healthy enough to be let out. I think I am, but they have to run SO MANY expensive tests just to find out. (The club is about to go out of business because of how expensive these places are. I don't have insurance for myself because I never had health problems...)

- Kagome

( Close Diary Entry )

I close my book and stuff it under the covers. The pen drops somewhere to the bedside as the nurse comes in. She's cheery, and I'm confused as to why she'd be smiling like this.

"Hello, Kagome! Well, I have some good news for you!" She says. As soon as she tells me the information, my heart stops.

This is too good to be true. After years of trying to go against the grain and fight my bad luck, everything is falling into place. I don't understand why it's all working out like this, though. I mean, I don't get good luck. I've always gotten the rotten end of things. Suddenly, I'm getting all the things I want.

I hope things aren't going good before they go bad. That'd ruin my happiness...

Next time on The Best of You...
I can't believe I just did this. I've started singing in the shower, as if my life were normal. Even though my voice is scratchy from being under-used, I was singing. This is wonderful in Inuyasha's eyes, since he thinks he's helped. I don't know what's caused it. I just feel as though all my problems are gone, like the memories are something I can laugh at...

Next chapter requires... I think I need 120 reviews before you can get the next chapter!

- Bipolar Tangerine