Chapter 12
"Excuse me?"
"I said get out."
"Why?" Hojo asked.
"Because," Inuyasha said. "I am here to look after Kagome."
"I'm fine looking after her here, thank you very much." Hojo retorted.
"Listen, Hobo. You get your filthy hands off of my Kagome and leave right now." Inuyasha growled. My Kagome? Why... why am I still being so possesive? Keh, it's 'cause this guy's an idiot.
"My name is not Hobo! It's Hojo! Besides, I'm not leaving my girlfriend with you." Hojo spat. Inuyasha's eyes raged with fury, though he was rather confused.
"What is a girlfriend?" Inuyasha asked, still steaming. Hojo just looked at him with his jaw dropped.
"It's when two people are dating- you know, you date in hopes of finding a spouse; someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. You know, to start a family with." Hojo replied with a smirk. He wanted to make this guy angry off as much as possible.
"Then she is NOT your girlfriend!" Inuyasha snarled. "Kagome is not going to live with you for the rest of your life! She's gonna stay with me! And NO WAY is she having a family with you. Kagome's too good for you. She... no one is good enough for her." Inuyasha trailed off.
"How exactly do you know her, anyhow?" Hojo asked.
"We're friends. I protect her. I admit I made some mistakes that made her angry with me, but I won't ever let her leave me for good again! I have to have her in my life! She... she was the first person since my mother to like me the way I am." Hojo blinked. This guy's off his rocker! What's he even talking about?
"Listen, I don't know who you are, but I don't think Kagome would want to see you." Hojo retorted.
"Kagome and I have been through so much together, and i'm not going to leave her now! She needs me! Her mother asked me to come here! I wanted to come here! Kagome means so much to me! Do you have any idea what i've done for her, and what she's done for me?" Inuyasha cried.
"No, I don't- and frankly, I don't care." Hojo said.
"Fine! Just get out!" Inuyasha said firmly.
"No." Inuyasha shut the door and ran over to Hojo, standing inches from his face.
"Get. Out." he hissed. Hojo smirked.
"What are you going to do, hit me? Don't make me laugh. You'd be kicked out of the hospital." Hojo laughed. Inuyasha frowned. He was right. He couldn't fight with Hobo- he had to stay for Kagome. So he did the best he could think of. He raised one of his hands to Hojo's neck and extended his claws.
"Get out now, or I will slice you to pieces." Inuyasha breathed. Hojo's entire body was shaking. He threw Hojo out of his chair and scoffed. "You're pathetic." he swiped just inches from his face for another scare. Hojo jumped up and fled the room.
"I won't let you get away with this! Kagome is mine! Nurse! Nurse! This man tried to cut me with razor sharp claws!" Hojo yelled. A nurse appeared at the door around the same time as Inuyasha sat down and retracted his claws. A disheveled Hojo stood, pointing towards the boy now sitting down. "That's him!" he cried. Inuyasha shook his head. The nurse put her hands on her hips and looked towards Hojo.
"You look like you need a lot of sleep. Look at that boy's fingernails- they're not long enough or sharp enough to cut anybody!" she said.
"He retracted them! I don't know how, but they were there before!" he said frantically. The nurse nodded.
"Uh-huh. Sure! Now let's go to my office to call your parents to come pick you up and then we'll all have a nice talk about it." she said sweetly. Inside she was rolling her eyes. Not another crazy.
"No, i'm fine! I need to stay here!" he yelled.
"Listen, all this yelling won't help Higurashi when she wakes up, so let's leave." she grabbed Hojo's arm and dragged him out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Inuyasha laughed, and then turned his attention to Kagome. He sat down in the other chair so he wouldn't smell like that Hobo, and took off his haori. He draped it lightly over Kagome's fragile figure to keep her warm. Those blankets she had weren't nearly warm enough. It was around this time that he noticed the IV needle in her other hand. "Why is that thing in her?" he cried. "And why is her face covered with that thing?" A nurse popped her head inside as if right on cue.
"Oh, that's an intervenus, or an IV. It feeds nutrition directly into her bloodstream since she can't eat normally. That thing on her face gives her oxygen since she can't breath on her own. Poor girl. It always seems that bad things happen to the good people. Take care of her." the nurse left the room. Inuyasha looked at Kagome and tightened his grip on her hand. I will always take care of you... i'm not ever leaving you. Inuyasha layed his head down on her stomach and listened to her regulated 'breathing'. I... it's all my fault. If only I had ignored Kikyo and stayed with you. If only i'd put Kikyo to rest earlier. If only I hadn't realized that I didn't love her long ago. It's all my fault you're like this! If I had stopped Kikyo sooner, your soul would have returned quickly enough and you wouldn't be so sick! I'm so sorry, Kagome... I'm sorry I didn't protect you. I'm sorry I went to see Kikyo. I'm sorry for everything I said. I'm sorry I made you like this...
The next morning, Inuyasha woke up to the sight of Kagome's face with her respirator still there. Inuyasha sighed. He was still holding her hand, clutching it tightly. he reached up with his other hand and brushed her hair back with his claws. She looks so peaceful... she really is beautiful... wait... what? When did I start thinking like this? Keh! I'm just so worried about her.
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"Are you serious?" Miroku asked Kaede. They had finally arrived. Poor little Shippou and Kirara were sleeping on the cot in the corner.
"Aye, I am. Kikyo killed Naraku, and then... she tainted the jewel. She wished on it for Kagome's soul so she could live on. However, the wishes are weak if they are used on a girl 500 years in the future, so Inuyasha made it in time to stop her. He... he put my sister to rest for good. I will always be grateful for that. Inuyasha eventually found out how to get back to Kagome. The jewel unsealed the well, and he's gone to see her." Kaede repeated.
"Wow..." Sango muttered in shock. "So, does that mean Kagome will come back?"
"We cannot know until Inuyasha returns. Until then, ye can rest here." Kaede said.
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"Morning, Kagome." Inuyasha said to the seemingly lifeless girl. He felt awkward talking to someone who couldn't talk back. "It's me. It's Inuyasha. I know you probably still don't want to see me, but I came here to see how you were anyways. I said i'd always protect you... and even though this time I didn't... I vow to take care of you until you're all better, and i'll continue to protect you and care for you forever. I promise. I know my promises to Kikyo never meant much... but I swear to keep this one." he whispered, tears threatening to fall. He buried his head into his haori that laid over top of her. "I just can't seem to ever do anything right. I can't fight as well without you, I can't even make ramen properly without you. I'm... i'm hopeless without you, Kagome. Please... please wake up... I need you with me. I still may not understand why or how, but all I know is that I need you!" Inuyasha whispered, running a hand through her hair. I missed her smell... man... I really have been acting weird lately. Inuyasha sighed and squeezed her hand and laid back down on her stomach.
Mrs. Higurashi peeked into her daughter's hosptial room and found the poor hanyou asleep, still holding her hand. I'll give him more time alone with her. She smiled and returned home.
Inuyasha's eyes fluttered open. Oh... she's still asleep. Inuyasha whined. He noticed his hand had slipped off the bed, so he grabbed Kagome's hand again and gave it a tight squeeze. "I'm here, Kagome. Please... please do something." He let a single tear fall; it splashed onto her pale hand that he was holding onto. And then...
...and then he felt someone squeeze his hand in return.
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SORRY IT'S A SHORT ONE! I have a lot of homework, and I didn't want to neglect my update duties, so I wrote this in an hour. -pants- That was a workout and a half! Anywhoo! I should update at least once more this week!