Chapter 20
"So Maybe I'm Not Okay"

Kagome let out a low groan.

He'd gotten her to eat half of the plate, and she'd managed to keep it all down, even with another dose of medicine.

The only reason that he'd conceded was because she'd threatened to sit him through the floor if he tried to make her eat anything else.

She'd refused to sleep, despite his assurances that she was perfectly safe. She'd just laid there, head buried in her pillow as he let his hand rest on her back, thumb lightly tracing her shoulder blade, as her hand fisted itself into his pant leg.

Her mother had come up a while later, frowning at the half-eaten plate. She gave a concerned look at Kagome, meeting his gaze for a moment, before picking it up from where it sat on the nightstand. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder before disappearing out of the room and down the stairs.

That had been a while ago though, and Kagome hadn't made any move to rise up or move, and so he hadn't either.

But he knew that she still wasn't feeling great either.

Her fatigue practically radiated off of her, and the fact that she wasn't eating—and that she couldn't keep it down—worried him.

Maybe he could slip away and go see if the hag had anything for her to settle her stomach.

She shifted again, clearly looking for some sort of comfortable position that she wasn't finding, before groaning again and shifting so that she was sitting on the bed, looking at him.

Dark circles ran under her eyes, and she looked so tired of everything. Sighing heavily, she looked at him.

"Can you take me to the bathroom?" Kagome asked, quietly.

"Do you feel sick?" He asked, already climbing off the bed. She shook her head, sliding over to the edge. He picked her up easily, trying not to think about how much lighter she seemed to feel already.

He set her on the toilet, waiting for a moment before he walked back out shutting the door behind him.

Why wasn't she getting better?

It didn't make any sense.

The fucker was dead!

What did she need to know in order to believe him?

He was positive the thing was dead, and he wasn't going to let her starve herself to death in the meantime.

He heard the faucet turn on and off, waiting patiently at the door for her to open it.

She opened it slowly, and he eased into her space, half expecting her to shy away from him, but she never did. She never moved away from him.

They'd already defeated the monster, but she seemed to think that it was waiting just around a corner for her.

"Hey," she whispered after a long moment. He carefully swept his arm under her legs, sweeping her up into the hallway before heading back to her room. He set her back on the bed, shoving some pillows up behind her to help prop her up a little. She looked so—defeated. It wasn't a look that he liked on her.

Maybe some time outside would do her some good? It was still a little chilly, but he could remedy that with a sweater or a blanket.

The more he thought on it, the more the notion sounded like a good idea. He'd take her outside, let her get a little sun and maybe that would perk her up a little bit. Kagome always reminded him of flowers, something bright and cheerful. Something that needed care and sunlight.

"Come on," he said.

Besides, if he took her outside, then he wouldn't have to look at the atrocities that her mother had placed in the special vase sitting on her dresser.

Fucking weeds is all those were.

She looked up at him, a slight head tilt revealing her question. He ignored it, opting to go digging through her backpack to find the blanket that he needed. He draped it over his shoulder, before leaning over to pick her up from her bed before she could object.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

Good, no real opposition here.

"Outside."

She didn't answer right away as he went down the stairs, heading for the back door.

"Why?"

"Seems like a good idea," he said with a slight shrug.

Her mother wasn't in the kitchen or the living room, so he pushed the door open with his foot, stepping out into the crisp air, and heading for the Goshinboku.

That was his safe place, and somewhere that always made him feel better, so it should do the same for her, right?

He looked for a semi sunny patch of ground, and quickly set her feet down before wrapping her in the blanket, and lowering her to rest against the tree. He took a seat beside her, and then waited patiently for her to perk up like a fresh cut flower set in water.

Kagome curled up on her blanket, clutching the sides closed in front of her.

The sunlight drifted over her legs, and she let out a low sigh as she tilted her head back to look up in the branches.

She stared out at the grounds in complete silence, and he wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not. Kagome had always liked to sit out in the sun, but maybe that had changed?

He opened his mouth to speak, but found the silence more oppressive than he'd initially thought.

Maybe he should just take her back inside—this was a bad idea. At least in her bedroom she was willing to talk to him. Out here, it was just quiet. She'd been quiet enough already.

But before he could move, she shifted a little closer, resting her head on his shoulder.

Alright, maybe he wasn't such a dumbass and did have the occasional good idea.

"It's a pretty day," she commented quietly, and he nodded.

"Seemed like a good idea," he said, sliding his hands into his sleeves. "You're okay? Comfortable, I mean."

"Yeah, for now at least."

"Yeah, well, pipe up if it isn't."

She hummed a retort, but he got the message. She was okay for right now, and that was all he could ask for.

He wasn't entirely sure when it happened, but Kagome had fallen asleep, which was one of the things that he'd hoped for.

When she'd shifted, she'd nearly slid right off his shoulder, and it was only by sheer luck and youkai reflexes that he'd managed to catch her quickly enough so she didn't wake up. So now, Kagome was using him as a pillow instead.

Not that he overly minded, of course, especially since it gave him the excuse to twirl a piece of hair between his fingers.

It also gave him time to think and process.

Kagome still thought that the thing was alive, so how could he prove to her that it had been destroyed once and for all?

But he didn't have any real clear proof that either thing was a reality.

And after a long time thinking in the shifting sun, he could only come up with the idea that her arm hadn't hurt her in a while. Not since the exorcism.

Though that hardly counted as a hard piece of evidence. But it was something.

At least she was sleeping. That was an improvement.

Something shifted beyond her closed eyes, and it made the sun feel like it was blinding her. Whining in the back of her throat, she turned her head, burying it into her overly firm pillow.

"Sorry," Inuyasha said softly, and she felt something rest on her shoulder, blocking out the warmth from the sunlight.

Cracking an eye open, she saw his leg extended out in front of her, and it took much longer than she was proud of to realize that she was indeed laying on his thigh. The tips of his claws were in her sight blocking the sun from blinding her.

Pushing herself up, she shivered as the blanket slid away revealing her to the crisp autumn air.

"You okay?" He asked, hand sliding off her shoulder and back towards himself.

She looked out at the courtyard, empty and nearly motionless, with the exception of the small breezes shuffling leaves and the like across the concrete walkway.

It felt strange.

Which made her suspicious.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked again, and her head turned towards him.

This wasn't real. She could feel it.

"Not real," she whispered. "Not real!"

She pushed away, before twisting in her blanket to climb to her feet. She had to get away before the—the thing decided to do something to her with his face.

Again.

She knew it wasn't him, but it still hurt.

Literally and figuratively.

"Kagome!" He ordered, but she was already getting to her feet, foot stinging with the pain of stressing her stitches.

His hand clasped around her ankle, dragging it up so she wasn't standing on it, but also tripping her up in the process. She fell towards the hard earth, but an arm caught her around her ribcage before she struck completely.

"Are you trying to bust your stitches or something?" Inuyasha snapped beside her.

"Let me go!" She shouted, trying to free herself from his grasp, but his grip was firm and unyielding.

"Would you stop already?!" He dragged her back against him, pinning her with his arm, his other hand dropping her foot back on the ground, satisfied that she couldn't escape him.

Shoving at his arm did nothing but make him growl back at her.

His arms tightened around her as he dragged her back to where she'd woken up.

"Let me go!" She whined, pushing at his arm, but it didn't matter, because she'd never be able to overpower the real Inuyasha, and she'd never been able to overpower whatever this thing was. It had always just played with her, letting her think that she was capable of winning, and then usurping victory all the same.

"Kagome, stop! Whatever you think this is, it's not!"

"No, it's not real. It's not," she whined, still pushing at his arms, trying to free herself in a pathetic last minute attempt.

"It's me," he said, voice low and even. "It's just me." He settled back against the tree, pulling her into his lap. "Nothing bad is going to happen."

Kagome felt her eyes water as she continued to push against his arm.

He let her push his arms away, but she fisted her hands in his sleeves, and he took a deep breath.

After a moment, she twisted in his grip, turning towards him, because she could no longer tell what was real and what was wrong and if any of this, any of it had really happened.

Curling up on herself, Inuyasha drew her into him and didn't say a word as she sobbed into his shoulder.

After she'd spent enough time crying about her current form of insanity, she sniffled herself into quiet and then took a deep, shuddering breath. Her fingers were still clenched into his sleeve, and she was just so tired.

She was so tired and hungry and nauseated all at the same time.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Keh," he scoffed quietly. "Ain't like you hurt me any."

She nodded slowly, still feeling guilty. If this was all over, shouldn't she be better? She should, right? She shouldn't be afraid like this, and she shouldn't be so ill.

A yawn escaped her, and Inuyasha silently picked her and the blanket up, heading back inside the house. Sniffling as he carried her, they managed to avoid everyone else in the house as he brought her back upstairs to her room.

Or maybe that was on purpose.

Inuyasha was good at avoiding people.

But there had been no one on the shrine grounds.

While they weren't a large shrine, they still had visitors drifting in and out at all times of day.

That was weird, right?

She looked over at the vase where Hojo's flowers sat.

And that feeling of anxiousness returned. She didn't want to look at them or see them anymore.

They were pretty, but they were also a reminder, and she couldn't take it anymore.

Inuyasha set her on the bed, letting her rest back against the pillows.

There hadn't been anyone in the house that she'd seen. She'd heard noises, but she hadn't seen anyone.

Inuyasha pulled the blanket at the end of her bed up and over her shoulders.

"Can we make the flowers go away?" She asked him, and he turned towards the vase sitting on her desk.

Maybe none of this was real. Maybe all of it was just in her head, a dream, a nightmare.

It made her want to cry all over again.

"You wanna throw them away?" He asked, and she nodded. Anything to get him out and away from her.

It was painful to see his face, and know that there was a slim chance it was actually Inuyasha.

He carefully lifted the vase and started out of her room, leaving her to weep in isolation.

It was all pretend. All of it.

Glee was the only word that described his mood currently.

He was gleefully taking the fucking weeds down to the trash to throw them away.

Because Kagome didn't want them anymore.

Kagome didn't want to look at them.

And he was happy to get rid of them, and if he had the capability, he'd burn them with fire.

Maybe it was worth a two minute trip into the past for Shippo to light these fuckers up.

He marched through the kitchen, clutching the vase between his hands, towards the back door.

"Inuyasha?" Her mother asked. "Where are you going with those?" She asked, looking up from where she was wiping a counter with a rag.

"Kagome wanted to throw them away," he answered.

"But they're still good," she said with a frown.

He shrugged.

"Kagome doesn't want them."

"Here, let me have them," she said, setting the vase of flowers on the counter where she'd been cleaning. "How has she been feeling?"

"I took her outside. She took a short nap."

Her eyes drifted towards the stairs.

"It's a step in the right direction, I suppose," her mother said. "I don't like that she's so ill though. Antibiotics haven't affected her like this before." Her fingers tapped at her chin. "You'll keep an eye on her though?" He nodded. "Good. I'll come up later and check on you both."

He gave her a nod, starting back up the stairs.

Her mother was worried, which made him a little worried too. It wasn't like her to be worried over nothing, and Kagome had been acting oddly to say the least.

It really didn't make him feel better.

Pushing her door open, she was in nearly the same position that she'd been in when he left. He reclaimed his spot beside her.

"They're gone?" She asked.

"Yeah," he answered, and she nodded, relaxing into her mattress and pillows.

Kagome couldn't avoid it anymore. She stared at herself dressed in her school uniform. She had to go take a couple of exams and then her mother said that she could leave and come right back home.

Her hands shook as she wrung them together in her lap. She carefully tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking at her door as a soft knock came from it.

"It's okay," she said softly, and Inuyasha stepped inside her room, moving to sit beside her. She tugged her sleeves down to cover the bandages. The tests had all come back normal anyway for the weird mark on her arm. They'd just said that it was some weird mark leftover for the dog scar or a reaction to the cream they'd put on it. It wasn't like someone had carved a sigil into her skin, and it didn't look like it was infected, so what did she know after all?

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," he said, and she shook her head. She needed to go. She needed to work on school. She'd been studying and working on her assignments while she was here, but also because it kept her mind from focusing on the fact that Inuyasha might not be the Inuyasha she wanted him to be.

"I need to go," she repeated. He'd been trying to talk her out of it for the past day. Reassuring her that school wasn't necessary, and that she wasn't well enough to go in the first place.

It was something that Inuyasha would tell her, but maybe that was the ploy. Make her believe that it was all real and then yank the rug out from under her at the last minute like always.

Maybe if she got some distance, she could think straight, figure out where the thing had made mistakes and find her way out of this place that didn't involve a painful demise.

He sighed though his nose, and she turned to look at him. His face was full of concern and worry, and for a moment, she thought that maybe all of this was real after all, and this was Inuyasha-Inuyasha, but she mentally shook herself, strengthening her resolves.

"Kagome!" Her mother called, and Inuyasha rose.

"I'll take you down," he said, picking her up from the bed and carrying her down the stairs with ease. He set her down at the table, where her mother had made some buttered toast. She wasn't entirely sure why since she'd barely been able to keep anything worthwhile down as it was.

She ate one slice as Inuyasha went back up to grab her school bag. She connected the strap to it so she could carry it and still use her crutches.

"Kagome," her mother started, holding out an envelope. "I've written a note to take to the office. It tells them that you're allowed to leave early if you want." Inuyasha held the bag out for her, and Mama slid the note into the front pocket. "I know you want to take your exams, but if you feel bad, you need to come home."

"I know, and I'll call if it gets really bad," she agreed.

She just needed some space that was all. Enough space that she could think things through and focus on something else for the moment.

She finished a piece of toast, pushing the plate back and away from herself so that she didn't make herself ill looking at it any longer.

Her mother sighed quietly as she took the plate, shifting her eyes to look at Inuyasha for a moment.

"Are you ready to go?" Her mother asked, and Kagome nodded. "Souta put your crutches in the car when he headed off to school earlier. Inuyasha, would you be so kind?"

Inuyasha picked her up from the chair, following her mother out the doorway.

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Mama said I could call if I wanted."

"You better," he grumbled, gently squeezing her leg as he carried her down the steps to the waiting car. Her mother opened the car door for him, and he set her inside, a hand resting on her knee as he knelt down beside the car as her mother walked around to the other side.

"Don't worry, Inuyasha," she said, giving him a small smile. He stared at her for a long moment, and she wished that this was real more than ever. He stood, withdrawing his hand, and shutting the door.

"Ready?" Her mother asked, and Kagome nodded, clutching her hands together as she pulled away from the sidewalk and headed towards school.

Kagome leaned heavily on the crutches as she made her way to the building. Her mother had helped her loop her bag across her shoulders, and then making sure that she was balanced on her crutches before taking a step back and letting her go.

Who knew that stepping on a twig would be so bothersome?

She took a deep breath as she hauled herself up to the school and then made her way to the front office.

Kagome handed the office lady the note, and the older woman sighed heavily as she read it.

"Ill again, Higurashi? Well, make sure you come down if you need to call your mother to go home," she sighed as if she were the one inconvenienced by crutches and crushing nausea as she began typing into the computer.

"Yes, thank you," Kagome said as she started towards her classroom.

She noted that people watched her go, staring at her as she passed or whispering to their friends just low enough that she couldn't hear them.

Kagome made it to her classroom and made her way inside to her desk, lowering her down into the seat and sliding her crutches next to her desk and hanging her bag on the hook as she dug out her homework and notes to review before the test.

After a few moments, a shadow fell over her desk as someone cleared their throat.

Hojo stood next to her, looking embarrassed and nervous.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," he said. "Your—uh—your friend was a little—" His voice drifted off, not stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I know," she said quietly, giving him a half smile, and that was probably a very generous description of the emotion crossing her face at the moment.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," she answered quietly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"I'm really sorry if I upset you," he continued.

"It's fine," Kagome said. It really wasn't, but she wasn't going to give him any more fodder to continue talking to her.

Because Kagome wasn't entirely sure that anyone was really who they said that were or who they pretended to be.

There was no reason that Hojo wasn't Hojo. She didn't know if she could trust him. He'd attacked her before, even though he seemed so normal right now.

But she'd been fooled before, and she was not going to let her guard down. Not yet.

Other students started filtering into the classroom the closer it came to starting, and when Hojo eventually took the cue and left her alone, she returned to her notes.

"Kagome?" Ayumi asked.

She turned to look up at her friend.

"Did the notes help?"

"Oh, yeah, thanks so much."

Ayumi's eyes wandered over her for a moment.

"You don't look well," she mused, waiting for Kagome to offer up more information, which Kagome wasn't going to do anytime soon.

"Yeah, I know," she mumbled. "It's a long story. I'm just here to take my tests and then I'm going home."

Ayumi nodded slowly.

"I'll bring copies of my notes by later if you'd like," she offered.

Kagome gave her a weak smile.

"Yeah, that would be great."

Ayumi smiled back at her, resting her hand on her shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Yuka and Eri called her over to the other side of the room, away from her.

Apparently, they still weren't on speaking terms.

Letting out a sigh, she returned to studying her notes as the last few students filtered in behind her. She could use all the time her tired brain would let her have.

The bell rang overhead, making her jump, and when everyone else stood, she struggled to her foot to stand with her classmates.

"Take a seat," her history teacher told them, and Kagome collapsed back into her chair, watching him pick up a stack of exams from his desk.

She was ready. She could do this. She'd studied, and she'd be fine. She only had to make it through this test and math and then she could go home and sleep.

The test landed on her desk, and she took a deep breath and exhaled.

She could do this.

Kagome raised her hand to turn in her exam. She was by no means the first one done, but also not the last.

"Higurashi, bring your paper to me," her teacher said, barely glancing up from his desk.

"Sir, I—" Kagome let out a long sigh before leaning over to grab her crutches from the ground, and haul herself up and out of her desk. Standing next to her desk, she situated the crutches underneath her arms, and by now, she had all the eyes of the class on her.

"Sit down, Higurashi," her teacher said quickly, rising to his feet to come get the test himself, which is what he should've done to begin with, but she wasn't going to judge. She just didn't want to move more than was required. Lowering herself back down into her seat, her teacher walked up and collected her paper, and walking back to his desk.

Kagome tucked her crutches back against her desk before resting her head on her arms.

The bell jolted her out of her nap.

Crap.

She pushed herself up to a sitting position, taking a deep breath to ward off a yawn. She was supposed to study for her math exam after the test, and she'd just passed right out. She was so tired.

One more exam. She could do it.

Just one more.

She dug her notes out, attempting to study in the few minutes between classes.

"Are you sure that you're feeling alright?" Ayumi asked her, kneeling by her desk, and Kagome gave her a smile.

"I'll be fine. I'm going home after the math test."

"Okay," she said. "Do you want me to walk you to the office? I can carry your bag."

Kagome glanced around her to see Eri and Yuka staring at the two of them and whispering.

"I don't think that Eri and Yuka will like that much," she said. "I don't want you on their bad side too, and I don't want you to have to pick sides either. That's not fair to you."

Ayumi sighed, looking over her shoulder.

"It'll be fine. I can be friends with whomever I choose," she turned back to face Kagome's desk. "And right now, you look like you could use a friend."

Kagome gave her a weak smile, and tried her best not to cry.

"Thanks Ayumi," she said, and Ayumi returned to her seat to study as well.

Student chatter filled the room, creating a white noise for Kagome to study against. It was enough to help her focus and review some of the formulas that she definitely didn't remember well from the night before.

When the bell rang, the teacher walked in, setting a stack of papers on the desk, and instructing everyone to put their notes away for the exam.

Kagome tucked her notes away and pulled out her calculator. Her brain felt like it was barely functional, but she could go home after this. She was done after another hour. She could leave once the test was over.

Repeating her mantra internally, she watched the teacher hand out the exams, mentally cheering herself to do well.

The test landed on her desk, and she quickly wrote her name up at the top. At the very least, she could do that.

The first two problems were easy enough, and she solved them quickly. The third one gave her some trouble, but so far so good.

Kagome worked through the rest of the exam feeling pretty confident that she had at the very least a passing score, which was more than she could say for most days in math. And here her brain was only firing half the cylinders!

She raised her hand for the professor to come collect her exam, and once the teacher had taken it, she put her head back down on her desk. She was done for the day, she could go home and nap for as long as she wanted in her pajamas and in her own bed.

And Ayumi was actually talking to her, which was a nice change from the way things had been.

A hand rested on her shoulder, and Kagome lifted her head, blinking as she looked up to see Hina's face grinning devilishly back at her. She jolted, and Ayumi stared at her, brows furrowed.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah," Kagome said with a nod. "You just startled me. That's all."

"I told the teacher that I was going to walk you down to the office." Ayumi took her bag off her desk, placing her calculator inside and slipping her pencil and eraser back into the case. Holding the bag in her hand, she stepped back to allow Kagome to climb to her feet with her crutches.

Student eyes were on her, conversations whispering about her as Ayumi led the way out and down to the office. The voices were too soft and muddled for her to make out the conversations, but it was clear she was the current topic. The soft click of her crutches were loud in the quiet hallways as she moved, and she noted that there were almost no students milling about in the halls, which was odd.

"Did the bell ring?" Kagome asked, and Ayumi looked at her.

"Not yet. I was the last one to finish the exam, and she said that I could take you down since all the tests were in."

That made her feel a little better at least.

Kagome moved slowly but surely towards the office with Ayumi walking quietly beside her.

Stepping into the office, the older lady sitting behind the desk glanced up at her.

"I brought a note from my mother this morning. I need to call her to go home."

"Ah, yes. Miss Higurashi," the woman said, "I'll call your mother."

"Do you need the number?" Kagome offered, trying to be helpful.

"No, we call it often enough."

Her cheeks flushed, and Ayumi stared at the ground. She shouldn't feel embarrassed but the way that she'd said it, it just made her sound like she was skipping and everyone thought she as just off being an irresponsible teenager. But clearly people did think that, or else she wouldn't be on the outs with her friends because of it.

Kagome looked over at her friend.

"I can take my bag," she said as the lady dialed the number to the shrine. "That way that you can go back to class."

"I can wait if you want. It's okay. I don't mind," she offered. "It's okay, really."

"You need to go back to class. I can wait for my mother."

She leaned on her crutches, smiling at her friend, who seemed reluctant to set her bag down.

"Your mother will be here shortly. You can wait out front for her." The elderly lady looked to Ayumi. "You can go back to class."

"I'll carry it out for you, okay?" Ayumi said, holding onto the straps as Kagome nodded, glancing at the lady behind the front desk before holding the door open for Kagome and her crutches. Kagome moved as quickly as she could, but Ayumi didn't saying anything or make a face. Instead, she merely waited for Kagome to make it through, and then walked in quiet towards the front of the school.

Kagome sat down on the bench, and Ayumi placed her bag next to her.

"Do you want me to wait? I don't mind," she offered. "I feel like I haven't been a good friend to you lately."

"It's okay," Kagome said with a smile. "Really."

Ayumi looked at her for a long minute, hearing the bell chime outside.

"You should get back to class. I'm sure that my mom will be here soon anyway. Thanks for helping me though."

Ayumi stepped forward, leaning down to give her a strong hug before letting go and heading back inside with a wave.

"I'll bring you my notes later!"

"Thanks!" She called back, giving her a smile until she turned her back and headed inside.

Kagome stared at the ground at her feet, looking at her socked foot.

Who knew that stepping on a stick would cause so many problems? She sighed, feeling her exhaustion catch up with her, and she wanted nothing more than to lay down on the bench and just sleep until the world felt right again. However long that actually took.

But her mother was on her way, and if she found her asleep on the bench, there would be hell to pay. Not to mention, if Inuyasha found out—she groaned to herself.

Part of her brain kept saying that none of this was real, and she was waiting for the shoe to drop and for reality to reveal itself.

But then, everything had been normal. Well, as normal as her life could be.

Maybe—maybe Inuyasha was right.

Maybe it was over.

She looked over her shoulder at the school, trying to figure out what the issue was. Why was she having such a hard time now? Why was it so hard for her to realize what was real and what wasn't? She'd never had this much trouble before. She'd always been able to tell eventually that it was fake or that something was wrong, but all this just felt off. Not wrong, just off.

She shivered as the wind blew, ducking her head slightly to ward it off. She probably should've worn a jacket.

Maybe she really just needed to stay home for a little bit. She probably did need sleep and some rest. Maybe that would help everything make some sense after all.

Her mother's car drove up, parking just in front of her.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked, climbing out to help Kagome gather her things. "Why didn't you wait inside?"

"They told me to wait out here," she said, putting the crutches under her arms as her mother grabbed her bag and made sure that she was steady.

"They couldn't let you wait inside where it was warm?" Her mother glared at the school building, and Kagome could already sense that something was about to go down. Her mother had that look of a mother bear about to unleash her fury on an unsuspecting school.

"Mama, please, I just want to go home," Kagome said, moving towards the car.

"I'm sorry, dear. I'll give them a piece of mind when we get home." She moved to open the door, helping Kagome sit down in the seat before setting her things in the backseat. Leaning her head back, she heard her mother climb into the seat beside her, patting her leg before taking off.

The car barely stopped moving before her door was opened, and she found herself staring at a scowling Inuyasha. However, instead of fighting him on it, she just raised her arms and let him pick her up like a cat.

Not to mention that she curled into him like one when she felt how warm he was.

She hadn't realized that her hands had gotten so chilled, and she tucked them in between them.

"Why are you so cold?" He asked, shifting her weight slightly.

"They sent her to sit outside to wait on me to get there. I'm going to call them once we're inside." Her mother said. "Will you make sure that she gets changed and under some blankets? I don't want her to catch a cold on top of everything else."

"I'm not going to catch a cold," she muttered as Inuyasha started off towards the house.

"You've been eating jack shit," he pointed out, "and you've been puking up what you did eat."

"I didn't throw up today," she protested, and he grunted an acknowledgment of her statement, but she knew that it was a drop in the bucket compared to everything else.

He carried her into the house, up the stairs, setting her on her bed before digging through her pajama drawer and pulling out her thickest pair of winter pajamas.

"Inuyasha, no," she started.

"Your mother said to warm you up." He thrust the pajamas towards her.

"I'm going to sweat myself to death with those. Here, just let me—" She's started to push herself up, but Inuyasha growled, spun on his heel, and began rooting through her clothes.

She was going to have to fold all those later.

He held up a more reasonable pair, giving them up when she nodded her approval. Though she wasn't entirely sure why he was insistent on pajamas, but it would facilitate the 'straight to napping' vision she'd had earlier.

"I'll be outside," he said, stepping just past the door and edging it almost closed. No doubt to eavesdrop if she attempted to stand on her own with his assistance.

Dressing herself was always a challenge when it came to bottoms, and she'd be infinitely glad when she could stand on her own two feet.

Metaphorically and literally in this case.

She stood, turning to pick up her school uniform to hang back up in the closet, when the door pushed open slowly to reveal a scowling Inuyasha.

"I'm just hanging this up. Not doing something rigorous."

Holding his hand out, she sighed, placing the clothes in his hand and sitting back on the bed. He threw the blanket at her.

"Go get in bed. Your mother said so."

Kagome sighed to herself. He was trying to be nice and take care of her, but in true Inuyasha fashion, he was struggling with one of those.

"The skirt hanger is a little weird, if you need help," she offered, shifting back into her bed and curling up under the blanket he'd tossed at her. She watched him fumble a bit with the shirt before hanging it up on the rod.

And then she waited for him to try the skirt.

She watched him fiddle with the hanger for a moment, look at the other hangers, stare at the strange thing before him and clearly surrender never crossed his mind as an option, even though she'd given him the out.

"The skirt one took me a while to figure out. I'll show you," she offered, holding out a hand for the pieces.

He huffed but moved to sit down beside her, watching her fingers intently.

"See? The little metal piece slides up, and then you put the clothes inside the parts here, and then push it back into place."

She left the other side for him to do, and she watched his ears prick forward as his fingers worked carefully on the small pieces.

It was always fun to watch him work and learn things, because he wasn't an idiot—most of the time—just uneducated. Inuyasha would probably be smarter than her in this time if he'd had the opportunity.

A yawn escaped her, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

"Get some rest," he said, and she scooted over to give him some space. He hung the skirt up next to her others and closed the door.

She watched him turn and look at his spot on the bed and then at her as if trying to make up his mind on something.

"Please?"

He was her one true friend on this side of the well in all this and hadn't abandoned her, even when she'd tried to run away from him. He'd made sure that she was taken care of and warm and fed, and she'd only doubted him.

He deserved so much more than her, but he moved to sit beside her on the bed, and she exhaled the breath she'd been holding in wait.

A clawed hand stroked through her hair, and she sighed, nestling down into her pillow as her blanket was tugged up to her shoulders.

It had been a week—a fucking week!—of this bullshit.

He stared at the girl who was sleeping on the bed, and found himself more worried than when he'd initially brought her back after the not-so-failed exorcism.

She'd had some nightmares, but then she'd seemed to get better—at least a little—but now they were back to right where they had been sans the panic and paranoia about everything being real.

That seemed to have slipped away, and she believed him when he said that she was awake. Or at least she seemed to. When she'd woken up last night in a near frenzy, she'd calmed down when he told her that it was only a dream and pulled her into a hug. She'd relaxed after a long while, and it took a lot of coaxing in the form of touching and promises to get her to go back to sleep.

But she was so tired all the time, and she couldn't even manage to keep food down in regular intervals.

For instance, she'd managed to keep down a sandwich at lunch but threw up half an orange at breakfast. Then she'd kept down some soup, but thrown up the chicken and vegetables that her mother made.

She shivered like she was cold, but there was no fever.

The only thing that had gotten better were the burns on her arms. Those had healed fully and completely, and they'd pulled the wraps off to see fresh and healed skin. But

Kagome insisted that she was fine and getting better, but this—his hand rested on her hip as she shivered under a couple blankets and her regular bedding—this wasn't getting better. This was stagnation at best.

He had to face facts. Kagome wasn't getting better, and he'd waited long enough with her doctor visits that her mother had insisted on, but they hadn't been able to figure out what was wrong.

They'd given her some weird smelling shit to take, but that didn't help her. In fact, nothing seemed to help her.

He should take her back. Maybe Kaede would know something. Maybe she could do something that the healers here couldn't even see, but her mother worried and wanted her here.

Every time he convinced himself that she was well enough that he could stand to sneak away for a little bit, she'd relapse and vomit or shiver so badly it felt like convulsions.

Kagome shuddered underneath the blankets, and he sighed. She'd passed out almost the exact moment that he'd put her on the bed. She was already slipping off when he pulled the bedding over her shoulders and tucked it in around her form. When she'd continued shivering, he'd pulled up all the blankets that he could find, pulling them over her, and then settling down next to her.

She really wasn't getting better. Physically at least.

He should slip away while she was sleeping soundly.

He wouldn't be gone long, just enough to see Kaede and see if she could come up with anything.

Standing, he watched her for a moment before he started down the stairs to tell her mother that he was leaving for just a little bit. Just a few minutes. He didn't want her to worry, and he didn't want Kagome to panic if she woke up and found him missing.

He found her leaning on her elbows with a cup of tea in front of her. She looked worried, and he didn't blame her.

When he stepped into the kitchen, she looked up at him, giving him a quick smile.

"I just made some tea, would you like some?"

"No—uh, I was going to check in with Kaede. See if she had anything that might help."

Her mother sighed and nodded.

"That would be great," she said, "since everyone else doesn't seem to have a clue. I don't think the medication is helping her either."

"I won't be gone long," he said, and she nodded.

He left, setting foot outside. The air was crisper than yesterday, a sign that winter was approaching.

Moving into the well house, he leapt inside, slipping back into the past.

The moment that he made contact with the ground, he leapt out heading straight for the village, hoping that Kaede was in her hut and not out and about where he would have to track her down.

He didn't want to be gone longer than he had to.

He stepped into the hut, hearing the old woman grinding something in her mortar.

"Inuyasha," she said, as she looked up at him. Her eye glanced behind him, frowning when she didn't see anyone entering. "Miroku and Kirara are helping Sango stretch her legs."

"I didn't come here for them," he said, and this time her frown deepened.

"Everything is alright with Kagome?"

"That's kinda why I'm here," he said, and she stopped working her paste. "Kagome's not getting better."

"Tell me everything," she said, motioning to the cushion across from her.

He took a seat and told her everything that he could think of, and when he was done, she didn't look pleased.

"The creature was destroyed. It doesn't make sense that she would be worse than before."

"That's what I thought, but she's puking up almost everything she eats."

Kaede stared at her herbs, humming under her breath.

"This will take some time, and I will need help preparing something." She stared at the mortar in front of her. "Come back and check tomorrow evening. I may have something for you then, or at least I will know when it will be complete."

Inuyasha nodded, standing to his feet.

"But do come back if anything changes or if ye remember something else useful."

"'Course."

He ducked out, heading back towards the well, feeling only slightly better than we he came here. He knew that it was a long shot, and it wasn't like Kaede's knowledge was limitless, but he trusted her more than anyone else, especially when it came to Kagome.

If Kagome's time wasn't able to help her, then maybe it wasn't a physical ailment. Maybe it was something else, and Kaede was good at figuring out the 'something else' most of the time.

"Inuyasha?" Miroku's voice echoed through the small clearing, and Inuyasha heard the familiar jingle of his staff.

"What're you doing out here?" He asked, turning to see Miroku with Sango's arm around his neck as she limped along.

"Stretching my legs," Sango answered.

"She was getting a little grumpy," Miroku stated, and Sango sucker punched him in the gut. He doubled over slightly with an 'oof.'

"You deserved that," Inuyasha commented.

"I said a little!" Miroku countered. "I was being nice!"

"Is Kagome back?" Sango asked while glowering at Miroku.

"No," he said with a shake of his head, ears flattening against his head.

"Is everything okay?" Sango asked, shifting her weight to her good leg.

He started to answer but hesitated, mouth opening and closing.

"Inuyasha," Miroku asked, "is something wrong with Kagome?"

"I don't know," he said, "she's—she's not well."

"What's wrong?" Sango asked.

"I gotta get back. Kaede knows everything. She'll fill you in," he said, leaping in the well despite their protests.

He could feel his own anxiety spiking at being gone for so long. Something was going to happen; he could feel it. He didn't know what it was, but he knew that he needed to get back sooner rather than later.

He leapt out, landing at the back door in a few leaps and heading inside the house.

"Inuyasha?" Her mother called as he stepped inside.

"How is she?" He asked, stepping into the kitchen.

"Asleep, I assume," she said, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Good. He hadn't wanted her to wake up without him here. "She hasn't made a peep since you left." She turned around to look at him, setting a towel on the counter. "Did Kaede have any suggestions?"

"She said that she'd look into it. She wants me to come by tomorrow evening to see if she's got anything."

"I hope she does. I don't know what's wrong with her." She played with the towel she'd set on the counter. "I think that I'm going to stop giving her all the medication and see if that doesn't alleviate some of her symptoms."

He didn't know what to say to that. The medicine from her time had always helped, but now it was starting to sound like the healers here weren't even as knowledgeable as Kaede.

"Inuyasha," she asked, and he looked up at her. "You're sure whatever it was, this youkai, you're sure that it's gone?"

"Yeah," he said. "Miroku got it. There was nothing left and wore him out in the process."

Her mother nodded, and he started up the stairs towards her room. Pushing the door open, Kagome was exactly as he'd left her. Asleep and breathing.

He knelt beside her bed listening to her breathe and pushing some hair away from her face, letting his hand rest on her head.

"You're gonna be okay, you hear me?" He whispered, tamping down the fear that he might be wrong after all.

A/N: This chapter didn't end where I wanted it to, but it was already so long and what I'd hoped to get to couldn't really be broken up like I'd initially planned. But I'm sorry that more stuff didn't happen here; that wasn't the plan, and I did struggle with this chapter for quite a bit in terms of transitioning the story. It did accomplish the goal that I had here, which was Kagome's acceptance of current events, and her failing health.

I hope that you all enjoyed, and I'm already working on the next chapter!

Let me know what you think!