ONCE AND AGAIN
By Jodie-chan
Chapter 11 A Mother's Heart
Continuation…
"I'm an 'O'…"
Every heads shot on his direction. All eyes fixed on Inuyasha; no one even tried to say a single word, their faces filled with anticipation to what would be the next thing he would say.
"I … I can donate the blood." Inuyasha said calmly with a dead serious look; guilt and shame combined.
Sensing the tension, Miroku decided to break the silence first. He ran a few glances between Kagome and Sango for their approval. Sango just nodded while Kagome kept her silence.
"Well… I guess we solved the problem? Are you sure Inuyasha?" He turned and looked at his silent friend who just nodded his reply.
"Kagome-chan, is that ok with you?" Sango asked her friend expectantly.
"As long as he could help my son's condition… it's fine with me. I'll tell the nurse, just wait here." Kagome looked at Sango and stood to enter her son's room where the kid was confined.
"Congratulations Inuyasha! You just decided to do a noble thing!" Miroku slapped Inuyasha's shoulder, teasing his friend. He just shot him a don't-start-look.
"Mr. Takagi… thank you … but…why?" Sango faced him with a curious look.
"Keh! That's nothing. We just happened to have the same blood type, anybody would do the same thing." He said smugly.
Sango lifted a brow, thoughts of annoyance crossed over her mind. 'Still as jerk as ever!'
"Don't worry Sango, Inuyasha's just like that, he recovers easily outside…" Miroku gave a teasing grin to Inuyasha. He just snorted.
Kagome came out from the room with a nurse behind her and her mother following at the same time.
Miroku saw the pretty nurse and edged over the unsuspecting lady to 'introduce' himself. But before he could take a single step, Sango put her left foot on his direction and he stumbled making the nurse to dodge his fall.
Sango smiled at him and whistled innocently. The little scene didn't escape the view of the rest and they couldn't help but smiled. The tension lightened a bit.
"So who's going to be the blood donor?" Kagome's mother asked curiously. Everyone looked at Inuyasha once again.
In a split second, Inuyasha found himself in the arms of Kagome's mother, in a bone-crashing hug. He was shocked to death, eyes wide open, mouth gaping.
"Oh thank you! Thank you so much young man! You just don't know what a great thing you'll do! Thank you for saving my grand son! Kami will bless you!" Kagome's mother kept on rambling as Inuyasha felt the lack of oxygen on his lungs.
"Can't breathe." Inuyasha tried to pry Kagome's mother.
"Mom, you're killing him!" Kagome tugged her mother's arms away from Inuyasha.
"Oh I'm sorry, I just got carried away!" Kagome's mom said while bowing her head continuously.
"Uhm, its ok Ma'am." Inuyasha said out of breath.
"Excuse me Sir. If you're the one to donate the blood, please follow me to the laboratory for blood testing." The nurse interrupted.
"Miroku, can you come with Mr. Takagi?" Sango requested Miroku in a sweet voice.
Miroku grinned lecherously and nodded eyeing the pretty nurse beside Inuyasha.
Sango saw the perverted look on his eyes and whispered on his ear a little louder to be considered a whisper.
"And stop bugging the nurse! For Kami's sake be serious Miroku!"
"He'll never change." Inuyasha smirked.
"Look who's talking?" Miroku rolled his eyes.
"Please Sir follow me in this direction." The nurse said once again.
Inuyasha dragged Miroku to the laboratory leaving Sango, Kagome and her mother.
"Dear, I'm going back inside so stay here and wait for the result. I think the transfusion wouldn't take much time." Kagome's mom excused herself.
"So Sango-chan, what's with the long story you're telling me about just a while ago?" Kagome turned to Sango and looked at her with curiosity and confusion.
"Well, actually it's really a long story so we better sit down and talk." Sango said and motioned for Kagome to sit down beside her.
Kagome obliged and begun to listen to Sango's story; after almost 20 minutes of story telling, Sango reached the end.
"So that's what happened…" Sango finished expecting a violent reaction from Kagome.
"So he felt guilty… that's why he's here?" Kagome said shaking her head.
"Probably, he even cancelled the presentation today and asked the client to reschedule it." Sango shrugged her shoulders.
"He did that!" Kagome was stunned; she couldn't believe what she heard from her friend.
"Yeah, he must be really guilty when you resigned because he's too idiot and a real jerk to understand your situation." Sango snorted.
"But now I think I should be the one thanking him. I owe him this time…" Kagome said quietly.
"Let him apologize, he screwed first, remember!" Sango said irritated, remembering how their boss humiliated Kagome a couple of times.
"No Sango-chan, Inari is more important to me than my pride. I would exchange everything for his welfare…" Kagome said with a faint smile.
"I know that, that's why I always admires you. You're maybe a single parent but you're better than any other complete parents would be." Sango patronized her friend.
"Jeeez, you always say that." She said while shaking her head.
"Can I see Inari-chan now? I haven't seen him for quite some time." Sango changed the topic.
"Oh, ok let's go inside, but he's still sleeping. When I arrived here, he was whining and crying. He's calling my name; he must be in a lot pain, that's why they had to put him into sleep so the nurses could take his blood samples for testing…" Kagome's expression changed into a very sad and worried one.
"Don't worry Kagome, he'll be fine now." Sango patted her shoulder and they entered Inari's room.
After a few minutes of testing Inuyasha's blood and getting the result the med tech started his blood letting.
Inuyasha was lying down on a white bed with a needle pinned on his arm that's connected to a tube that collected his blood into a bag while he continuously opened and closed his hands to make the blood flows easily. Miroku sat in a stool beside Inuyasha while reading a medical magazine.
"Inuyasha… do you think Kagome's married?" Miroku just asked out of the blue.
Inuyasha jerked his head to his direction.
"If she has a son then she's probably married. Are you stupid or what?" He said annoyed with his friend's nonsensical question.
"I'm just curious, but if she's already married then why don't they just ask the father to be the blood donor. If I'm not mistaken, I know that if a child doesn't match with the mother's blood type it should be matched with the father's. The child's blood type should at least be matched with either of the parents. Come to think of it?" Miroku looked thoughtful while massaging his chin.
"What are you trying to imply?" Inuyasha gave him an accusing look.
"What if the child has no father?" Miroku looked at him with a silly face.
"Miroku, you're too nosey for a guy. Will you stop thinking of those craps?" Inuyasha snorted.
"No Inuyasha I'm serious! Haven't you noticed? They did not talk about the child's father even once." Miroku said accusingly.
"What if he's already dead, just plain dead!" Inuyasha reasoned foolishly.
"Well if that's true Kagome should at least say 'If only his father's alive, this wouldn't be a problem." Miroku said trying to sound like Kagome.
"You sound like a whore Miroku." Inuyasha laughed at his friend.
Miroku rolled his eyes when the nurse came back to check on Inuyasha.
"Sir, it's ok now but please don't stand yet, stay down for 15 minutes at least, till your blood circulation goes back to normal." The nurse said while the med tech was taking the needle off from his arm.
"Are you taking that bag of blood from my friend to the kid?" Miroku asked the nurse smiling.
"Yes Sir, the kid needs it badly." The nurse replied with a shy smile.
"Uhm, can I come with you, Ms. Gorgeous?" Miroku flirted. The nurse only giggled and headed out the door.
Miroku followed the nurse when Inuyasha called out for him.
"Hey Miroku! You stupid pervert! What are you doing leaving me here!" He shouted to his friend while trying to stand from the bed.
"Inuyasha, the nurse said you shouldn't be standing yet!" Miroku tried to stop him but he already stood on his feet but he swayed and banged his head on the wall and fell on the floor clutching his bleeding forehead.
"Ahh! Shit! Shit!"
"Gah! I told you! Stupid fool!" Miroku ran to his friend and helped him in the bed. He called another staff nurse to tend for Inuyasha's bleeding forehead.
"All done, its just a little cut." An elderly nurse said after aiding Inuyasha.
"Let's go Inuyasha! I think you're rested enough just don't bang your head again." Miroku teased while Inuyasha shot him a death glare.
They headed to the pedia ward straight to Kagome's son's room. Miroku knocked on the door and Sango opened it.
"What happened to your forehead Mr. Takagi?" Sango asked noticing the bandage in Inuyasha's forehead.
"The nurse told him to stay in bed for 15 minutes while his blood gets back to normal circulation but because it's Inuyasha, he didn't listen so he stood, almost fainted and boom! He banged his head on the wall." Miroku explained like it's always a usual thing to happen.
"As if I like to bang my head on the wall." Inuyasha grumbled.
"Where's Kagome's mom?" Miroku asked Sango noticing that Kagome was the only one talking to the doctor.
"She went to the pharmacy to buy the medication the doctor prescribed." Sango looked at her friend and the doctor. She noticed Kagome smiled a little while talking with the doctor, an indication that her son's condition must be doing well.
They stood farther from the kid's bed where Kagome and the doctor discussed quietly the kid's condition. Inuyasha was behind Miroku and haven't got the chance to glance at the sleeping kid on the bed.
"The transfusion might take a little longer but he's fighting. They put him into sleep because he never stops crying. He must be in real pain, being just a kid, his body isn't that strong to fight the virus." Sango sighed.
They saw the doctor patted Kagome's shoulder and exited the room. Kagome moved on the left side of her son's bed and stroke his pale face. The kid still has red spots all over his body, while he is in IV therapy and his blood transfusion continues.
Sango walked over and gave her a reassuring smile. Miroku followed a little closer to Sango to take a glimpse at Kagome's son.
Inuyasha didn't move from where he stood; he just looked over the three. He knew he was not too welcome to come closer.
"He really looks good. What's his name Kagome?" Miroku asked. 'Now wait, he looks kind of familiar, have I met him before? Nah…it's impossible, but he looks like someone…' His mind wondered aimlessly
"Inari." Kagome said and Miroku snapped out of his thoughts.
"Inari?" Miroku repeated a little louder.
Inuyasha's head jerked back to the three the moment he heard Miroku said aloud the name of Kagome's son.
"I… Inari? Is her son?" Inuyasha whispered to himself. He started to walk over the kid's bed to confirm if he wasn't mistaken. He quietly studied the kid's face and he couldn't believe it with his own eyes. He was stunned beyond reason. He felt a stronger fang of guilt ripped his conscience.
He couldn't believe that the kid he started to enjoy being with is the son of his employee that he almost fire. The girl he continuously picked on and humiliated at times when he lost his temper because she just looks exactly like his wife. His energy was drained. He could have almost taken the kid's chance to live a comfortable life because his mother quit her job and the reason was his own temperamental issues and arrogance.
Without realizing what he's doing, he hold the kid's hand cautiously, afraid that he could've hurt him. He looked at his features with worry, guilt and shame in his eyes.
The three gave each other a very confused look. Inuyasha's action shocked them a lot. Tons of questions crossed over their minds especially Kagome who didn't have a single clue why her boss who used to be very rude to her acted that way towards her son.
"I should have known… it was serious…. I should have taken them home earlier…" He said quietly just almost to himself.
Kagome gave him a questioning look but he was too absorbed on looking at the kid.
"What do you mean Mr. Takagi?" Kagome questioned him seriously. She forgot for a while the dispute they had in the office.
"Huh?" He shot his head up and looked at Kagome's confused expression.
"You're saying something. Do you know my son?" She asked impatiently.
Inuyasha's brain gradually registered Kagome's questions and he snapped out of his trance.
"I met him in the mall a couple of days ago… I found him, he got lost…" Kagome cut him off.
"Lost!" She began to get furious.
"Yeah, but I found him and helped him find his uncle but yesterday I went to this Amusement Park, the park we used to go to, Miroku…" He looked at his friend.
"I know that park! Is it still there? I remember when we were just kids and…" Sango nudged him to shut up.
Miroku silenced himself and Inuyasha continued with his story.
"As what I'm saying… I went to the park and I saw your brother and your son, Souta asked me to join them and I agreed. We stayed there the whole afternoon, then I noticed a little later that the kid has a fever so I took them home in the shrine…I didn't know he was your son…" Inuyasha finished a little ashamed of his own self.
Kagome was surprised to hear his story and so were the two. Sango and Kagome couldn't imagine Inuyasha hanging out with Inari because they're aware of the kid's quite different attitude.
"Inuyasha, I never thought you could be soft with kids. Frustration?" Miroku teased with a grin.
Inuyasha's brows furrowed and he shot his friend with another death glare when a panting Souta entered the room without even knocking.
"Neechan! What happened to Inari?" He asked in between breaths.
Everyone's heads turned on his direction. Souta saw Inuyasha and his expression turned into horror especially when he glanced at his sister who's glaring at him from head to foot.
His brain worked like a computer.
"Ahh… I think I heard Mom called my name." He started to run away but Kagome was fast enough to catch him in his ear. She twisted her brother's left ear.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Neechan!" He wailed like a four year old and looked at Inuyasha's direction for a rescue. Inuyasha just stared back and shrugged his shoulders.
"I think we need to have a little talk, shall we?" Kagome said in a threatening voice.
"Neechan that hurts!" Souta complained trying to take off his sister's hand on his left ear.
"I'm really going to hurt you if you don't tell me the truth. Excuse us." She dragged his brother out of the room before they could wake Inari because of Souta's loud repulsion.
After a few moments of 'sibling talk', the two came back inside the room. Souta walked over Inuyasha's side.
"Inuyasha-san I never thought you're my sister's boss. She told me before that you always fight with each other." Inuyasha flinched with Souta's words.
"Yeah that was true but that would be settled in some ways, people have differences…" He explained briefly trying to sound nicer than ever.
"Yeah, I could not almost believe it, you're so nice to my nephew. By the way thank you for saving him, neechan told me what you did. I hope we can still see you more often." Souta looked hopeful, he never had a brother.
"I guess so." Inuyasha had a serious look.
"Souta-kun, have you seen my brother in school today. I hope he didn't cut class again." Sango asked him with a smile.
"Don't worry Sango-neechan, he showed in his classes today." He smiled at her.
"Ah high school days, we used to that then." Miroku had a dreamy look.
"You just dragged me, I never cut class." Inuyasha glared at him
"Yeah right! Who's always in the car race during final exams?" Miroku teased and everyone laughed. Inuyasha's face turned red as tomato.
Kagome made a shushing sound and everyone kept quiet.
Sango nudged Miroku to go out of the room and even dragged Souta with them.
"Mr. Takagi, can you stay here for a while, we'll just buy something to eat." Sango gave him a 'look'. He just nodded and the three exited the room.
Inuyasha was in the far corner of the room sitting on one of the stools against the wall. He just threw a couple of glances to Kagome and her son's direction.
Inari stirred slightly in his sleep. The boy was waking up. Kagome moved closer to her son and nudged him softly.
Inari fluttered his eyes open and searched for his mother's face. Kagome smiled faintly and pinched his nose teasingly.
"How are you feeling Inari-chan? Is something hurt?" She asked quietly while running her fingers on his hair.
The boy shook his head in agreement and yawned tiredly.
"Aww… poor Inari-chan. Don't worry Mama's just right here…" She said assuring.
"Mama, I'm hungry." The kid said in a husky, pleading voice.
Inuyasha listened intently to the mother and son talking in the room.
"I'm sorry sweetheart but the doctor said you can't eat yet, you just woke up, we have to wait for an hour before you can eat. We'll wait ok." Worries and pity plagued her heart.
The boy pouted and furrowed his brows. Kagome sensed her son's tantrums so she tried to be extra nice and understanding as much as possible.
"Inari is a good boy, right? We will wait ok, but you can drink water, while we wait. Do you want to drink?" The kid nodded and Kagome eased the glass of water in her son's mouth. The kid drunk a little and raised his arm where the dextrose was on.
"Mama, this hurt." He said weakly pointing at the tubes connected to his arm.
"That must really hurt. Don't worry sweet when you go out in here, we'll take a vacation and we'll go wherever you want to go!" Kagome said happily while looking at her son's face that had changed expression into a very cheery one when he heard her mother.
"Really Mama! Anywhere!" He squealed in happiness. He will surely bounce up and down if he wasn't so sick.
"Yeah! But you have to be a good boy first, ok?" She said smiling while wiggling a finger in the air.
"I'll be a good boy Mama!" Kagome tickled his sides and the kid started to giggle and so was she.
The room was filled with laughter. Inuyasha was hypnotized with the scene unfolding at him. He couldn't take away his eyes over the two person who were laughing happily even at hard times like that one.
He felt something that was missing in his life…a wife, a real one, children… a family. Emptiness was the only thing left.
"Can we go fishing Mama?" The two stopped laughing.
"Fishing? Uhm?" Kagome looked undecided.
"Please Mama?" He made a puppy eyes.
"Ok!" She smiled genuinely. The boy squealed happily once again. "But Mama doesn't know how to fish." Kagome pouted a little.
"Inari-chan will teach Mama how to fish!" The kid said proudly.
Kagome made a funny face and the boy continued to laugh once more.
Inuyasha was too mesmerized with the scene that he hasn't noticed; he's already edging towards them quietly. The kid didn't notice him earlier because he's too caught up with his mother.
He approached the two mindlessly when the kid glanced over at his direction and shouted excitedly. He's gaining back his energy a little abruptly.
"Inu-chan!" The boy's eyes twinkled with amazement.
"Hi kid. You seems to be doing well now, I see." He said with a smile that's very unusual for him.
Kagome kept her silence and wondered why did her boss manage to smile like that. That was the first time he saw him smile that kind of smile. It was genuine.
"Mama Inu-chan is here! Do you know my Mama? Do you?" He asked innocently looking back and forth to the two adults.
"Yes. He owns the place where Mama works." She tried to explain briefly.
"Inu-chan can you make Mama not work so hard, so she can always come home early?" The kid said in a pleading voice.
"Inari that is not so nice. You can't ask people like that, now say sorry." She said in a commanding voice.
The kid pouted but complied with his mother.
"I'm sorry Inu-chan." He said looking down. Inuyasha felt so small, the mother of this child whom he's fully aware of that he hurt a lot of times was asking her son to apologize to him.
"No, it's ok kid." Kagome looked at him carefully.
"Don't say that, he' going to take it seriously."
"But I'm serious Ms. Higurashi." He gave her a weak smile and looked down to chat with the kid.
Kagome's thoughts ran wildly. 'Did he just smiled at me? That was weird…' She could feel her heart beat a little faster than usual when she saw the smile he gave.
The trio who just bought something to eat burst into the room. Souta walked over his nephew to chat with him and Inuyasha. Miroku joined in and introduced himself to the kid who laughed his head off when Miroku did some funny faces he used to do when they were little. The kid was absolutely happy and he was recovering really fast.
Kagome took that moment to asked Sango to look for her son for a while and snuck outside.
She closed the door quietly and plopped on the chair outside. She was still confused a little. So many things happened in just one day. She fought with her boss, she lost her job, her son was hospitalized and now her boss was acting strangely nice, though not so nice because he still has a jerky look on his face.
Kagome sighed heavily and closed her eyes.
Inuyasha noticed Kagome's disappearance and asked Sango where she was. He followed her outside and saw her sitting on one of the chairs outside with her eyes closed.
"Uhm…Ms. Higurashi…" Inuyasha cleared his throat.
Kagome opened her eyes and stood abruptly.
"I have something to tell you Mr. Takagi…" She felt the situation as very awkward.
The same thing with Inuyasha, he doesn't know if he needs to apologize or not. He's not used to those kinds of things.
"I… I just want to thank you for helping my son… I'm really thankful. Thank you very much." She softly said while looking down.
"Keh! That was nothing." 'You idiot be nice!' He mentally kicked himself. "I mean it's really ok…" He said and glanced sideways avoiding her gaze.
"About what happened today in the office, I think…" He cut her off.
"Yeah, about that… you see, the presentation was cancelled today, I asked the client to reschedule it and they made it tomorrow, but if you can't make it tomorrow then I'll just ask Ms. Taijiya to take over for you, while you're looking after your son. Maybe when the kid's fully recovered you can come back already…" He finished with a sigh but he's still arguing with himself, 'I can't believe I'm doing this.'
Kagome was startled but kept her sanity intact. She only nodded in agreement although her boss' statement was really surprising.
"I think we really have to go, I'll just call Miroku." He glanced at his wristwatch and headed to the door when Kagome called at him.
Scary thoughts crossed over his mind, 'What if she decided to quit her job totally? Is she going to decline my offer? Will she throw back everything I told her in our fight?' He turned around carefully to face her.
"Mr. Takagi… where did you get that… did you hit your head or something?" She asked, pointing a finger on his forehead.
Inuyasha sighed and dismissed his scary thoughts but Kagome moved closer to him and touched his bandaged forehead. She ran a finger over the bandaged part.
"Did you hurt yourself? I think it bleed." She said while looking at it curiously. Her breath tickling his neck and her face was dangerously closed to his. He gulped a couple of times before replying.
"Not… not… not actually, I just banged my head a little harder on the wall." His face was beginning to turn crimson red.
"Oh, sorry about that…" She was cut off when Miroku and Sango emerged from the room. Kagome jumped away from Inuyasha, a little read on the face.
Miroku and Sango exchanged curious looks.
"I'll go inside." Kagome excused herself and hurried inside her son's room.
"Lets go Miroku, we still have jobs to do." He recovered quickly but Miroku was still grinning like an idiot.
"Mr. Takagi can I still stay here for a while?" Sango looked at her boss with pleading eyes.
"Ok, but be sure to come to work tomorrow, the presentation was rescheduled, remember?" Inuyasha said in a smug tone. He was back to his normal self.
"Thank you Sir!" Sango said smiling.
"Bye lovely Sango!" Miroku winked at her and she just snorted. The two turned and started to walk away when Inuyasha stopped and faced Sango.
"Ms. Taijiya, say goodbye to the kid… for me." He calmly said and turned to leave again.
Sango looked thoughtful, shrugged her shoulders and entered the room.
The day passed by quickly. Kagome's mother took some clean clothes for his grandson and dropped by to the hospital again. Kagome stayed there with Sango while her mother and Souta left in the afternoon.
After a day's work, Inuyasha decided to come home earlier. He was still a little dizzy with the blood loss and his body needs to sleep.
He entered the mansion's leaving room and spotted her mother on the grand piano. She was playing a Mozart piece; it was a long time ago since he last listened to her mother playing.
"Good evening Mom." He greeted her mother interrupting her playing. She stopped and smiled to her son.
"Good evening…oh dear! What happened to your forehead and to your arm? What's with the bandages for?" His mother asked in concern.
"Remember the employee Miroku told you? Well she has a son and the kid was hospitalized and needed blood transfusion, luckily we matched blood types so I donated my blood." He explained briefly to her mother whose jaw dropped when she heard what her son said.
His mother suddenly enveloped him in another bone-crashing hug just like what Kagome's mother did in the hospital.
"That was wonderful, dear! You just did a noble thing!" His mother said proudly.
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and wiggled free from his mother's arms.
"What is so noble with that?" He smirked.
"It's a good thing you lost a few drops of blood Inuyasha. You have so much of it you get annoyed so easily. Maybe you have a high blood… Why don't you have a check up?" His mother teased.
Inuyasha walked away with an annoyed look.
"What's with the mothers? Hugging me so tight just to say I did a noble thing? Its just blood, what's the big deal? As if that's the only noble thing I did in my entire life…" He kept on rambling with himself.
He entered his own room, took a warm bath, changed into boxers and plain shirt and plopped himself on his comfy bed.
He kept his eyes open and stared up on the ceiling, rewinding everything that happened that day.
'She's very lucky with her son and he's lucky as well with his mother… I wish I could be that lucky… She seems to be a very good mother… Will Kikyou be like her… if she had been a mother to my children? That's impossible… but what if she asked for a second chance… Will I ever believe her again…would she ever be true to her words… can we still have a chance?' He trailed off and fell asleep with those thoughts.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: JUST WANTED TO THANK EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS AND APOLOGIZED FOR THE DELAY, WE DO HAVE LIFE OUTSIDE FFN, AND I JUST TOOK JAPANESE LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TEST LAST DEC.4 THAT'S WHY I HAVE TO CONCENTRATE WITH MY LESSONS AND REVIEWS. "KOKORO KARA HONTO NI ARIGATO GOZAIMASHITA."