August 30th, three weeks later…

"Hey, Higurashi!"

Kagome whirled around. "Oh, hey Hojo," she said unenthusiastically.

Hojo jogged up next to Kagome and fell in step with her. She smiled at him, but the smile was somewhat forced. Hojo was a tall boy with dirty blonde hair and dark eyes and a nice smile. Kagome liked Hojo, but not in the same way that he liked her. (She considered him to be a friend because he was polite, always willing to help her.) Most girls loved to have boys pay such attention to them, but Kagome found it somewhat annoying at times. She never had the heart to completely reject Hojo. The thought seemed a bit unkind.

They walked for a while in an easy silence. Kagome concentrated on not doing anything stupid. Although she normally had an air of poise about her, Kagome felt her heart skipping. She tripped on the curb of the sidewalk. Hojo caught her (somewhat ungracefully), and she instantly felt stupid when he asked if she was okay. Kagome answered that she was perfectly fine.

"Thanks for the save," she said. She smiled to fight down the blush of embarrassment. They walked up the sidewalk and toward the hospital.

"No problem. So, I heard you work here," Hojo started in a somewhat lame attempt at a conversation.

"Yeah, I volunteer on weekdays."

Kagome could tell that he still had a helplessly large crush on her by the blatant look on his face. She had hoped that he would have given up after she had politely turned him down countless times.

Hojo smiled and turned to leave. "I'll see you around, Higurashi." Kagome waved to him and walked into the hospital.

"I must say that girl is a blessing on us…" one man said as Kagome rounded the corner out of sight.

"Yes," agreed another, "she surely is something."

September…

She brought flowers. They were every color imaginable and she had trouble holding the giant bouquet.

"Good afternoon, Miss Higurashi. Such pretty flowers! Are they from your sweetheart?"

"Hello, Miss Kaede," Kagome greeted the lady seated at the front desk. "No ma'am, these are for my section."

"How kind of you to buy flowers for the patients." She waved as Kagome staggered by.

Yellow carnations for old Mrs. Hinata… lotus for Mr. Yamamoto and Mr. Tanaka…white roses for Endou…

She took them to his room and set them in a vase. The vase was an old, translucent green. She wondered if anyone had sent him flowers before. Did he have any family, any friends? It didn't matter, she concluded.

"It's not like you remember," she murmured while positioning the flowers. She knew for sure he was some sort of criminal. After nosing about and reading all of his injuries, she determined that he was some sort of delinquent. Who could possibly acquire a bullet wound to the head?

Then, she supposed that he could not have possibly walked away. A bullet wound to the head? she mused. Finally, she figured that she was plainly being senseless and that perhaps he was a police officer or an innocent civilian caught in a crossfire. Or perhaps he really is a criminal.

Kagome didn't notice as his eyelids began to flutter and his fists clinched the white sheets tightly.

"I mean," she continued, "what would you care if anyone brought you flowers? They would probably only make you sneeze…"

His fists relaxed and his eyelashes settled as Kagome continued to talk, mostly to herself.

"You don't have to worry about calculus or boys or anyone, for that matter," She rambled, pulling out a chair. She sat down and stared out the window. "You can just… sleep."

She smiled a bit sadly and turned to look at him.

"Oh... my-"

His eyes shot wide open, and he sat up abruptly. Breathing erratically, he ripped the tubes from his nose and mouth and tore the wires from his wrists.

"Oh man, oh man," Kagome repeated frantically. She stood up slowly, edging for the door.

The man on the bed shakily swung his legs over the side and stood to face her. His black hair was wild and his dark eyes glanced over her face with an odd recognition. Kagome, almost to the door, foolishly looked into his eyes. She was afraid. His eyes were hard and his expression stony.

"Kikyo," he acknowledged Kagome, as though he knew her.

"What?" Kagome said, stupidly. She had a feeling, a gut feeling that she should have turned and ran.

"You bitch," he spat. His brow knotted in obvious anger and he was before her within seconds. Kagome was too afraid to scream as his hands gripped her elbows in an eerily strong hold. His face was close to hers, his eyes searching hers as if looking for an emotion that she couldn't name.

He pushed her backward, slamming her back into the wall. The gesture was clearly meant to scare, not hurt her; it worked.

"You know I love you- how could you? I have never harmed you- never hurt you, and you just, just…"

He was talking to someone else, Kagome determined. This woman, Kikyo, someone he loved. She had obviously hurt him, and he thought that she, Kagome, was that woman. She was even more afraid. She wondered where everyone was and why no one was coming to save her. Would he kill her with his bare hands?

No. His eyes frowned as he looked over her face. His fingers found their way to the collar of her button-down shirt and tore it down her left shoulder. She whimpered fearing what he was about to do. He scanned shoulder and collar bone as though she were looking for something. After releasing her, he turned around slowly, looking away from her.

"You're just a little girl."

She frowned at that, obviouly not liking to be called little. He stared into her wide, innocent eyes; they were so unlike his own. She pulled her shirt back to cover her shoulder.

"You are not her," he spoke, glancing over her face again.

"No," she agreed, "I'm Kagome."

"Does it look like I give a damn about who the hell you are?" he growled, turning his head to narrow his eyes at her.

"No," she squeaked, wanting to take a tiny step toward the door, but she was too afraid to move.

He ignored her and took time to scan his surroundings. He looked at the open window, the nearly closed door, the sink, the television.

"I'm in a hospital. What the hell?" He said softly to himself.

Kagome was nearly touching the door handle when he turned to glare at her. She turned the handle anyway, and made to sprint around the corner when he caught her with nearly inhuman speed.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Away," Kagome answered. She struggled to pry his hands from her waist.

"Right," he said in a voice so sarcastic that she almost expected him to roll his eyes. "You're going to help me get out of here," he commanded threateningly.

"What if I don't want to?" Kagome said defiantly. She instantly regretted it, though.

"Well, little girl..." he began, looking her dead in the eye.

Eight minutes later, 4:27 PM...

They strode toward the front office quickly, Kagome's lower lip trembling. Endou was wearing her gym uniform, believing it to be a convincing get-up. The sweat pants that were so large on her fit him snugly and on the t-shirt, a proud 'Sakura High' beamed up from his chest. "You are going to lead me through those doors," he had said, "and then you are going to go home and forget you ever saw me." Soon, I'll wake up, Kagome yearned, and this will all be a dream. Endou will go back to sleep and I'll go back to distributing the flowers. After a few minutes, though, Kagome determined that she was just being stupid and that things like that never happened in real life. She couldn't simply wish herself away. She was screwed and she knew it.

Old Kaede looked up from her magazine to greet them.

"Hello again, Kagome. I see you have a new friend. Is this your sweetheart?"

"No!" Not wanting to be rude, she added, "Uh, I mean, no ma'am," as she nervously attempted to pry her arm from Endou's frighteningly strong hold. Help, she thoought desperately, I'm being kidnapped! Can't anyone see this? She glimpsed around, hoping to meet the eyes of a nurse. His fingers tightened around her wrist. No one even thought to look twice at the young couple sauntering past the front desk.

"Actually, ma'am, yes, I am. She's just a bit embarrassed by it; though, I can't imagine why," Endou lied though his teeth. He wore a forced, incredibly false smile, and Kagome hoped old Kaede would see through it as he ushered her toward the exit.

"Oh, well, you two have a nice day," Kaede waved while Kagome stared at her pleadingly.

No... There is no way this could be happening!