Chapter 8: Back to Tokyo…or is it?
Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha.
A/N: Ok, even though I didn't get many reviews, I'm still going to continue this story until it's finished. There's not much to say but to wish you all a happy reading!
It took a moment for Kagome's words to register in her friends' minds. Then Koga said, "Dang! And I've come here, all for nothing!"
"Oh well, it wouldn't have worked even if Kagome weren't going back to Tokyo," Kikyo sighed tonelessly, and Kagome and Koga glared at their friend/peer, knowing what she was talking about.
"So where's InuYasha?" Sango asked, desperately trying to change the subject, still in denial that Kagome was going home. The subject of InuYasha, however, struck Kagome like lightning, and with a grunt, Kagome turned away and headed back to the hotel to get packed. She really did mean her words.
With InuYasha
The hanyou sighed and took another swig of his beer. The only thing he could do now after that wench Kagome had decided to fly back home was to go off and get himself sober, try not to think about the way mom and dad would treat him when he returned home earlier than usual. Gritting his teeth in anger and frustration, InuYasha punched the air as if Kagome were floating right where his fist was, and a few people stared. Bringing his fist back down onto the table, the almost drunk hanyou finished his beer, gave some money to the bartender and staggered out of the pub.
InuYasha's P.O.V
I was still furious at Kagome for losing her temper and deciding to go home, 'cos what she's doing at the same time is dragging me back. And even if she decides to not bring me along, somebody from my household will probably see her, question her, and tell me to haul my fat butt back to Tokyo. These are the thoughts that I want to get out of my head as I stumble across the road, the very same one I peed on when that wench humiliated me.
Feeling another wave of anger wash through me, I stopped in the middle for a moment and smiled dreamily yet evilly as I imagined the girl getting punched over and over again by me, then roasted on a barbecue and quartered like in those old days. Sometimes I get a little side-tracked, and this was another of those times.
As I suddenly blacked out, however, my last thoughts were Oh shitaki mushrooms.
Nobody's P.O.V
Believe it or not, Kikyo's perfect arguing skills persuaded Kagome to stay until the rest of the day was over. But the energy that the high-school girl had used to dissuade Kagome from going back to Tokyo at least for a while was exhausting, and Kikyo had gone straight to bed once she had forced her best friend to stay until the day was over. Oblivious to the silent cheering that her supporters (a.k.a. Sango and Koga) had given her, Kikyo simply collapsed on the bed and gave out. After putting a blanket on her friend, Kagome strode out of the building over to the pub that InuYasha had recently been in. She had never drunk an alcoholic drink before, but she just enjoyed the songs that were occasionally played in pubs. Those songs usually calmed her down, and she liked it.
As the high-school girl was just about to enter the pub, loud wailing sirens caught her attention. Frowning in confusion, Kagome walked over to a big crowd that she'd just noticed and tried to push her way into the middle. Eventually, after a few cusses and curses from people who were pushed aside, the high-school girl gasped, for what she saw was unbelievable: a bloody InuYasha on the pavement, a few ambulances around and a beautiful yet 'sinful' Porsche. Kagome also spotted a man with long, black hair and a white coat protesting against something, Kagome couldn't figure out what. The only thing she knew was that InuYasha had been injured by a car and, judging by the pub close to the 'scene of crime', he had just recently been sober.
"People, get away!" a deep voice called out, and Kagome immediately recognized Trowa Barton keeping the crowd away from InuYasha's injured body. Feeling rather desperate to see him, the high-school girl rushed forward and clung onto the policeman's arm as if he were life itself.
"Please let me see my…my…brother!" Kagome put on her fake tears and let them roll down her cheeks. "Ever since last year, he's been missing in Tokyo and I've only found him now! Please let me stay by his side!" Of course, the inner Kagome was retching. If she'd been Kikyo, she would've been able to do better 'fake tears', but the tears she produced were enough to make the cold officer oblige.
"As you wish," the officer replied monotonously as he stepped aside just long enough to allow the girl to pass through the air barrier the other officers were making. "Get into the ambulance. We're taking him right to hospital."
"Oh thank you, it's so kind of you!" Kagome cried, but her tone just seemed more triumphant than grateful. The busy officer, shaking his head in what seemed like disgust, pushed Kagome away gently and continued pushing the mob of people crowding around to see away.
Getting into the huge vehicle, Kagome looked uncomfortably around her. The only time she'd been in an ambulance was when she'd been in a car-crash. Her dad had died in it, and she'd been badly injured, but she'd somehow stayed alive. Now, it was kind of awkward being somewhere where she wasn't supposed to be. Why was she not allowed to ride along in a police car? It would've made her look a lot cooler, that was for sure.
Kagome was, however, broken out of her thoughts by the 'dulcet yet sharp' tones of her mobile phone ringing out the Nokia theme. Trying to ignore the glares she was receiving from the other nurses in the ambulance (it was evident that they thought she was disturbing the usual quiet of the van) Kagome flipped her flashy phone open, looked at who was calling and answered.
"Hello?...oh, hey Kikyo, I don't think you'll be able to believe this, but I'm in an ambulance right now."
"What are you talking about?" Kikyo, for once, sounded truly freaked out. "You sound perfectly fine to me, and where's InuYasha?"
Kagome let out an exasperated sigh. "In the ambulance with me. He got hit by a car, so I decided to go with him to the hospital.
"And you sound as if the moron isn't even your brother," one of the nurses in the back of the van grumbled resentfully, and Kagome pretended not to hear, but instead continued to talk on with Kikyo.
"So anyhow, which hospital are you two going to?" Kikyo asked desperately. If there was no InuYasha, the plan would be officially ruined, and some lives were going to be affected. Inwardly, Kikyo included herself.
"Erm…hold on for a moment," Kagome paused, put down the phone for a moment and looked at the startled nurses, her smile obviously a fake one. "Excuse me, but I'd like to know which hospital we're going to?" Kagome said in her best English.
"We're going to the St. George's hospital," one of the nurses said rather stiffly, and Kagome nodded her head, her fake smile slipping off as easily as if it were ice on a smooth, porcelain plate.
"St. George's hospital," Kagome whispered to Kikyo. She was whispering because she had concluded that this bunch of nurses weren't very friendly and warm-hearted.
"Oh, Koga knows that place best," Kikyo said, and Kagome heard a tone of sadness in her voice before it resumed its usual business-like expression. "We'll be there right away."
"Kikyo, you sound like a detective," Kagome laughed before remembering her supposedly sad role of being InuYasha's 'sister'. Making her laughter die away, Kagome hung up and faced the cold nurses. But before she could get settled again, one of the nurses blurted out, "Isn't Kikyo the girl who saved the famous acrobat InuYasha's life?"
"The name's Kagome, idiot!" the rest of the nurses shouted at the now cowering speaker. "We thought that you'd be able to remember that by now!"
"Erm, just in case you want to know, this injured man is InuYasha," Kagome said quietly, hoping that the nurses wouldn't suddenly attack her as fiercely as they had the first nurse.
"He is? Oh my gosh, InuYasha can't die now! And you're his sister? Oh, we're so very sorry we were cold to you all this time," one of the nurses spoke up, and Kagome could see the sincerity shining in her eyes. Even though the others still sympathised with the first nurse, Kagome could tell that they were just sympathising so that they wouldn't lose face with 'somebody extremely close to InuYasha Taisho, the famous acrobat known just about everywhere, but they shouldn't have bothered; they had lost face in Kagome's eyes anyways. Sighing wearily, Kagome smiled wearily and looked around at all the nurses gathered in the van. "It's okay…"
In the hospital
Miroku, Kikyo and Sango leapt up from their seats as they spotted Kagome and a few nurses carrying InuYasha's body in. Running up to Kagome, Kikyo whispered, "Is he okay?"
"They haven't told us yet, but I hope that he's okay," Kagome whispered back, a bad feeling suddenly springing up inside her as she said the last part.
Kikyo's look of worry abruptly turned into a mischievous grin. "So you're saying that YOU like InuYasha and worry about him?"
Kagome shrugged, but a blush came creeping onto her face. "I just care about him, don't you?"
It was Kikyo's turn to shrug. "Well, people say that caring is the first stage of a big relationship." Somehow, Kikyo thought, she was way beyond that stage when you looked at her and InuYasha.
Wondering if InuYasha really liked her or not, the high-school girl strode off to join her friends in the wing InuYasha was carried off into.
In the wing (InuYasha's P.O.V.)
Hm...I forced my weary eyelids open, and I saw myself in a strange place. That was when I remembered: the car crash, getting drunk, storming off on Kagome and the others, everything.
"Oh my god, are you alright?" a familiar and warm voice rang in the hanyou's ears. "I can't believe you got yourself drunk like that!"
"Mind your own business, wench," InuYasha sat up in his bed and glared at Kagome. "And by the way where's my cap…"
Realizing that the chance had now come, Kagome eagerly looked at the hanyou's head, and to her surprise, a hospital cap had been put over his head, covering his secret. Scowling, Kagome sat back down and glared at the nimble acrobat, who was smiling sweetly before shaking his head as if pitying the girl.
"Did you know that magazines about me have written down my secret…?" InuYasha looked seriously at Kagome, and opened his mouth in horror, he watched with a growing feeling as Kagome, grinning triumphantly, pulled a magazine of InuYasha Kikyo had bought for her a few days ago, before the 'stupid' trip was planned out. Once Kagome had skimmed through the pages, she frowned and looked up at InuYasha, who, unable to control his feeling anymore, burst into peals of laughter at the thought that his enemy would actually believe him.
"Moron, you think that I would actually let the public know about my secret? What made you think I would tell the press if I couldn't tell you? Idiot woman!" InuYasha laughed harder, and you could just about see the vein popping in Kagome's head.
Nobody had noticed night fall until Kagome checked her watch and nearly screamed and woke the whole wing up in the process. "Oh my gosh, it's 11:00pm, I can't believe I've already missed the whole flight! InuYasha Taisho, you will pay for getting drunk, getting hit by a car and delaying me for four hours!"
InuYasha grinned. At least he wouldn't see his father's spittle flying all over the place for a few more days. But he still didn't feel like hanging around the bit... (A/N: Oh, you know what I mean!) for what seemed like one more century.
It was then that Kagome excused herself to go to the bathroom, and Kikyo took the chance to lean into InuYasha.
"If I were you, I'd find some way to make Kagome stay," she whispered in his ear, and InuYasha numbly nodded, finding it hard to believe that this woman could make him do something she wanted him to do without even trying. And he didn't even know her well!
"And honey, I'll be there to help," Kikyo continued in a low voice. Had she just called him honey? Those names were supposed to be Kagome's when they finally got her and InuYasha together. But now Kikyo didn't really care.
"Right…" InuYasha took the girl's words in slowly. Had that woman called him 'honey'? But why didn't he feel grossed out like he usually did when fan girls called him that?
The acrobat was still pondering this as Kagome came back into the room and Kikyo moved quickly away.
Kagome then walked up to InuYasha, her eyes still reflecting fury. Prodding him in the chest, she snapped, "Did you know that I journeyed with you in a van to the hospital, waited for the better part of day for you to regain consciousness and put up with your behaviour for nothing? You even made me miss my plane flight back to Tokyo!" InuYasha shrivelled back in shock; nobody, apart from Sesshomaru and occasionally Mrs. Taisho, had ever treated him like this before. Putting all his remaining confidence together, the hanyou squared his shoulders up the best he could with difficulty and faced Kagome with a firm yet scary look.
"So why did you go to all that trouble for nothing?" the acrobat asked, almost certain that Kagome wouldn't be able to answer.
Kagome huffed and turned away from him. InuYasha was usually a short-tempered, snappy jerk: why was he acting all calm? This way, Kagome wouldn't even be able to admit that she cared for him…a little bit.
"Whatever, let's just break this up," Sango said for the first time since InuYasha had woken up. "InuYasha, go to sleep. Kagome I think that Kikyo and I need to talk with you."
Nodding (and rather happy that she wouldn't have to look at InuYasha anymore), Kagome followed Kikyo and Sango out of the door, leaving Koga wondering about what to do.
Outside the wing
"Kagome," Sango began rather sternly. "Admit it, you like InuYasha."
"What? Is this all you wanted to ask me out here?" Kagome practically exploded, if not for the fact that they were in a hospital.
"Just admit it, Kagome," Kikyo sighed impatiently, looking at her watch. "After that, we'll let you go."
Deciding that there was only one thing to do, Kagome glared at her shoulders, calmly said out an insincere sounding "I like InuYasha very much," and strode quickly to the exit of the hospital, leaving a rather surprised Kikyo and Sango behind. They didn't know that Kagome could get that sarcastic and be able to admit something at the same time. But deep down in their hearts, they knew that Kagome would one day say the words with truth.
A/N: Okay, the end was rather corny, but anyways, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please review! Oh yes and here's a preview of the next chapter…
"InuYasha, what are those things on your head?" Kagome cried out in surprise and what seemed like horror, shaking her finger at the dazed hanyou.
"Kagome, calm down, we'll tell the truth, since there's no point in hiding it anymore," Sango replied wearily. "Kagome, InuYasha's a hanyou."
"And you couldn't trust me all along?" Kagome yelled once again. "I hate this whole trip, everything about it! I want to go home!"
"Kagome, cool it! You can't worry about such things now! Don't you realize it? InuYasha's dying…" Kikyo protested desperately, shaking the hanyou feebly…