Kagome was on the back of Zuki's bike, on the way to the hospital. After lunch Kagome just needed to see her cousin, thankfully Zuki understood and was fine with skipping the rest of school. Kagome was lost in thought and didn't notice when they had reached the hospital.
"Hey, Kags, come on," Zuki said looking back to her. Kagome quickly jumped off the bike and took the helmet off. Her hair was s mess, Zuki handed her a hair tie with a smile.
"You're hair is too thick for helmets, it gets messed up easily." Kagome took the hair tie with a smile and tamed her unruly mane. They walked into the sterile cold environment.
"Kagome Higurashi and Suzuki Tanaka to see Kikyou Higurashi," Zuki said before Kagome could get to the counter.
"Please take these, visiting hours are over at nine, Ms Higurashi is on the fifth floor room 538," the nurse said handing them visitors badges. Zuki pinned her badge on the grey vest she had on over her black quarter sleeve shirt. She handed Kagome hers then pulled her to the elevator and hit five. When the doors opened, Kagome hesitated for a minute.
"Come on Kags, it's okay,: Zuki said holding out her hand for her friend. Kagome nodded then walked out not taking Zuki's hand. Kagome walked quickly to the room, stopping outside the window, the blinds were closed, but she could see the dark outline of her cousin through them. Zuki walked up next to her and looked through.
"You go on in, I'll come in later," Zuki said turning and leaning against the wall. Kagome looked at her and almost asked to leave, but then walked in. Kagome hated visiting Kikyou in the hospital, all the machines and wire scared her. Her cousin look so pale and sick, the tube taped to her mouth looked scary. Kagome pulled a chair up to the side of the bed and sat down.
"Hey Kikyou, I know you wouldn't want me ditching school to see you but, I just had to talk to you," Kagome said looking up at the ceiling trying to stop the tears. "InuYasha really misses you, he even missed Zuki's band to see you, I would have stayed longer when they told me you were getting better, but I didn't want to let Zuki down. Her band has been getting gigs at the club in Roppongi, they are also going to be playing at homecoming." Kagome glanced up at her cousin and let out a sigh.
"Please Kikyou, please wake up, I need you here, InuYasha needs you, he hides it but everyday you don't get better his heart just breaks even more. He still blames himself, for the accident, we know it wasn't his fault but he still blames himself." Kagome grabbed her cousins hand. "Please Kikyou, wake up, just for a little while, just to tell him the truth, tell him it wasn't his fault, that you don't blame him, he's killing himself with guilt." Kagome let the tears fall freely, unaware that the door wasn't totally closed and her friend and a hanyou heard every word.
Zuki was surmised when InuYasha showed up. She had been listening to music while sitting on the floor, when a familiar pair of sneakers came into her line of vision.
"Hey," she said pulling her headphones off. "What are you doing here?" InuYasha opened his mouth to answer when he heard Kagome talking to Kikyou.
"When did you two get here?" He whispered sitting down next to Zuki. Zuki glanced at the clock on the wall.
"About ten minutes ago," she was going to say more but she could hear the tears in Kagome's voice. Zuki stood to go comfort her friend, but when she saw InuYasha's face she stopped. He could hear Kagome better then Zuki because of his dog ears, his face was full of pain. InuYasha looked up to Zuki as if to ask why Kagome was saying all those things about him.
"What? Did you think she hated Kikyou? Kikyou is like her big sister, she cares about her. More importantly she cares about you, she is willing to be pushed aside so you can be happy with Kikyou," Zuki said putting her hand on her hip.
"I just, I didn't know that she was in this much pain," InuYasha said softly looking at his hands. Zuki snorted and he shot a glare at her.
"Like I said last night, total baka." InuYasha glared at the insult but didn't retort. Kagome has stopped talking and was just crying now. InuYasha made to go comfort her but Zuki's hand stopped him.
"Seeing you will just upset her more, I'll go," Zuki said. InuYasha tried to stop her but Zuki got inside before he could say or do anything. Kagome looked up at Zuki her face streaked with tears, clutching Kikyou's hand. Kagome closed her eyes and let a small sob escape her mouth. Zuki rushed to her friends side and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Shh, It's okay, Kikyou is going to wake up," Zuki said. She was facing the door and glanced up to see InuYasha looking at them. Zuki shot him a glare but he didn't leave. Zuki closed her eyes, she could feel her eyes prickle with tears, she wouldn't let herself cry, not when her friend needed her so badly. Kagome clutched at Zuki's vest and cried freely. Zuki just held her friend gently rocking her while whispering comforts to her. The door creaked and Kagome's head shot up and spun around. Zuki glared at InuYasha for letting his presence known.
"InuYasha?" Kagome whispered. InuYasha gave her a pained look, in a blink he had wrapped his arms around her holding tight. Zuki was surprised at the compassion InuYasha had, but decided to let the moment last. Zuki looked over at Kikyou and felt her throat clench. She hadn't been as close to Kikyou as Kagome was, but she was still a friend. She still remembered the night she had gotten the call from Kagome.
(A/N: italics means Flashback, for future reference :D)
Zuki was at her desk, her faceless muse had blessed her with boundless creative energy when her cell went off.
"Moshi mos – wait, Kagome? Slow down what? Kikyou and InuYasha? The hospital? No, no I'll be right there." Zuki threw her phone in her purse, grabbing her jacket and helmet. It was the one night that Yasu was out working late, she wrote a quick note telling him where she was then ran to her bike.
The drive to Tokyo University Hospital seemed to take forever, when it only took twenty minutes. She flew through the front doors, she turned to the waiting area and was almost knocked over by Ayame.
"Kagome? Mrs. Higurashi, what happened?" Zuki looked between the two Higurashi's over Ayame's head, Kagome was crying too hard to tell her.
"InuYasha and Kikyou were on their way to the beach, I don't know the details but InuYasha lost control of the car and they drove off the side of a cliff, they both looked pretty bad when they came in, InuYasha seemed to be better of, he's a half-demon, so that helped him. He came out of surgery about ten minutes ago, we don't know what's going on with Kikyou," She said, Before Zuki could ask anything else, Sesshomaru stormed into the hospital his normal blank façade filled with rage.
"Where if my brother?" He nearly yelled at the receptionist.
"Sesshomaru, don't kill the receptionist, InuYasha came out of surgery ten minutes ago," Miroku said standing to go to the aid of the receptionist. Sesshomaru did leave the front desk woman alone, but turned his rage onto Miroku.
"What the hell happened?" He demanded, now yelling.
"Maybe if you stopped trying to bite our heads of we would tell you!" Zuki yelled right back. Sesshomaru glared at her then went and collapsed into a chair, his head in his hands. Rin ran in holding the keys to Sesshomaru's car. Zuki gave her a look to ask what was going on.
"He was too upset to drive, it took all I had to keep him from transforming," she said breathlessly. "Have we heard anything?"
"InuYasha came out of surgery about well twelve minutes ago now, there was an accident, InuYasha lost control of the car and drove off a cliff, Kikyou is still in surgery," when Zuki mentioned Kikyou's name Sesshomaru let out a low growl. Zuki glanced at him but didn't say anything because a doctor walked over to them.
"Has the family of InuYasha Takahashi arrived?" He asked looked around. Sesshomaru shot too his feet and glared down at the doctor.
"Where is my brother?" he growled. The doctor seemed unfazed.
"You may see your brother now, he is stable and will make a full recovery." The doctor responded. Sesshomaru glanced back at Rin, fear flashing in his eyes for only a moment. Rin nodded then stood at his side and took his hand. The doctor led them away as a nurse walked up to the group.
"Are you the family of Kikyou Higurashi?" She asked, her voice held a bit of sadness. Kagome and her mother stood up and nodded, too scared to speak.
"Kikyou is almost done with surgery, we are just closing her up now, she had severe internal damage as well as many broken bones. Her physical damage is fixed and should heal with time."
"What do you mean physical?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, her voice small. Her son Souta and her father were sitting looking at the doctor with an intense gaze.
"We worry she won't wake up, while her body will heal, her CAT scans show she is in a deep coma, we couldn't find a cause and hope that it is just her bodies reaction to heal itself faster." The woman replied. Kagome let out a small whimper and her mother held her tighter. Zuki hadn't noticed that Ayame was squeezing her tightly, Zuki was gripping her small friend arm as well.
"When can we see her?" Kagome asked softly. The doctor gave her a sympathetic look.
"She should be in her room now, she is sharing with the Takahashi boy she came in with, I'll take you to her now, but she is only allowed two visitors at a time. They all nodded and followed the doctor, intending to wait outside while Kagome and her mother visited first. Kikyou's parents lived in Kyoto, Zuki assumed they were either flying or driving to Tokyo as fast as they could. Zuki glanced into the room, Mrs. Higurashi was leaning over Kikyou her back to the window, Zuki could see her shoulders shaking. Kagome had her hand to her mouth, tears streamed down her face, Zuki knew the expression on her friends face, she was terrified. Kagome looked at her cousin fear keeping her from going to the bedside. Zuki took a moment too look at the boy sleeping a few beds over, his brother and Rin at his bedside. InuYasha was still unconscious but he didn't have as many machines and tubes. Zuki had never met InuYasha, Kagome hadn't even met him very often, Kikyou had been very guarded about her relationship with the hanyou. Zuki looked back at her friend, the same look on her face. Zuki stood, feeling that her friend needed her but before she got to the room Kagome had run to Kikyou's beside screaming at her.
"Wake up! Please Kikyou please wake up!" Kagome had gripped the girls shoulders and was shaking her slightly, hoping that her voice and the movement would wake her. Kagome continued to yell at her cousin, Zuki rushed into the room to keep Kagome from hurting herself or Kikyou.
"Shh, come on Kags, calm down, it will be okay," Zuki whispered softly to her friend. Kagome was shaking her head sobbing 'no' into her friends shirt. Zuki opened her mouth to say something else when a strangled yell broke through the quiet. Zuki glanced over and saw that InuYasha had woken up, he was looking at Kikyou with a look of disbelief, he started to get up but his brother put a hand on his shoulder to stop him
"Get off me!" he yelled pushing his brother from him.
"You were just in an accident, you have to stay in bed," Sesshomaru said with no emotion. InuYasha just growled at his brother, he continued to his girlfriends side, ignoring the IV's pulling at him. He noticed them long enough to rip them from his arms, the wounds the left bleeding freely.
"Kik..you?" he said not much louder then a whisper. Kagome's tears had slowed to look at the hanyou pity and fear mixed in her eyes. InuYasha too Kikyou's hand and just stared, tears gracing his golden eyes. He let the sobs come, ignoring the rest of the people in the room, and just cried. Kagome pulled away from Zuki to go to his side, Kagome put her hand gently on InuYasha's shoulder. He glanced up at her to glare, thinking it was his brother. Kagome flinched at the glare but didn't step back, InuYasha's demeanor softened when he looked at her. He didn't accept the comfort outright but he didn't shove her off like he had his brother. Over the months after the accident, Kagome had been InuYasha's comfort, she got him to keep eating and go back to school, Zuki saw how her friend fell for the half demon. She also saw how InuYasha was oblivious to the pain Kagome felt, guilt for her feeling towards InuYasha, and grief over her cousin.
Zuki looked back at the couple embracing, she could still hear Kagome's sobs, InuYasha had his eyes closed, half of his face buried in Kagome's black hair. Zuki smiled, if it weren't for Kagome's stifled sobs, it would look like they loved each other. Zuki knew that Kagome loved InuYasha, even if she wouldn't admit it, Zuki just wasn't sure about InuYasha. Zuki stood and walked over to the window, the only good thing about Kikyou's floor, was the view. On a clear day, you could see Tokyo Bay, today however, it rained. Most of the time Zuki liked the rain, it was different from where her uncle lived in Texas. Today, however, the rain only dampened her mood, as well as making her hair frizz. Zuki glanced back at Kagome and InuYasha, they were still holding each other. Zuki gave them a small sad smile before she broke their embrace.
"Hey, Kags," Kagome looked up at her, her eyes red. "I'm gonna head over to TU, to see my brother, can you give her a ride InuYasha?" She said looking between the two. InuYasha frowned at her, angry she interrupted, then looked down to Kagome, she was looking up at him asking if he could. His face softened and he nodded back to Zuki. Zuki went up to her friend gave her a strong hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. Zuki looked up at InuYasha a knowing look in her eyes before she left.
Kagome watched as her friend left, she felt a little bad, but her guilt was swayed by InuYasha's strong arms. Kagome blushed a little realizing that he still had an arm around her waist. She glanced up at him a small smile on her tear streaked face. She was glowering at the room door, Kagome let out a small giggle and he looked down her a curious expression on his face.
"What?" he asked, still not removing his arm.
"You were glaring at the door like it had insulted you," she said softly. InuYasha looked confused then his face lightened.
"Oh, no I was just mad that Zuki interrupted…," he stopped quickly before he finished his sentence a look of almost terror in his eyes. InuYasha blushed then realizing where his arm was yanked it back. Kagome frowned at the sudden cold that crept into the room. Kagome let out a small sad sigh then turned to her cousin, sitting back down in her chair. She heard a scarping noise as InuYasha pulled a chair next to her and plopped down with a small grunt. Kagome glanced at him, the look he gave Kikyou broke her heat. His eyes swam with love and guilt, and other emotions she couldn't name. Kagome couldn't stand the silence, the tension could have made her choke.
"She looks peaceful," Kagome said softly. InuYasha's ears twitched on the top of his head before he glanced over at her.
"Yeah," he said on the verge of saying more. Kagome sighed again then looked back at her cousin. She felt horrible for Kikyou, but what hurt her more, was the jealousy she felt towards her cousin. Kagome didn't want to be jealous of Kikyou, but she couldn't help it. Over time she realized that she had fallen for InuYasha, she also knew that he didn't return her feelings. Kagome looked down at her cousin, felt the tears start to form again, before she let that happen she stood up, and walked over to the window.
"Kagome?" InuYasha asked watching her.
"I'm going to get something to eat, you want anything?" She asked trying to keep her voice steady. She didn't hear InuYasha respond she did hear the scraping of a chair and soon his arms were around her shoulders.
"What are you-?" InuYasha cut her off with a strong hug.
"I could smell your tears. I'm so sorry Kagome, I've been so caught up in my own feelings I didn't realize how much you were hurting. Kikyou was your cousin, she told me that she felt you were her little sister, I'm sorry I haven't been there for you like you have been for me," he whispered into her hair. She heard him take a deep breath then let out a content sigh.
"It's okay," Kagome whispered hoping that the embrace was more then just friendly.