He he he. That last chapter was fun to write... Well, not the beginning. The ending was fun.

Save Me From Myself

Chapter Four: Awakening

Having that happen to me... That probably had to be one of the worst experiences in my life. Well, at the time. After the Jewel was put into my body... I felt like nothing would be the same again.

- - -

"She's still got a fever," the tall healer said, putting a cloth dripping with cold water on Kagome's forehead.

It had been two days, and Kagome hadn't woken up once since they found the Bachiatari Jewel in Kagome's back. The wound that she had received had healed quite a bit, but the Jewel was still stuck.

InuYasha hadn't left Kagome's side once since he had been allowed inside the hut. He would turn around every time the healers had to change her bandages, though... But when no one was around, InuYasha had tried to take out the jewel. He could touch it, but it tried to repel him. Though, he couldn't pull it out. Shippo also tried to pull out the jewel, and even though the jewel didn't repel him, Shippo couldn't pull it out either.

Another time that InuYasha was left alone in the hut with Kagome's unconscious body, he started to talk to her.

"You're really starting to worry me, you know. I need you to wake up... Please?" InuYasha said, his eyes closed and voice filled with worry.

Kagome's eyes seemed to tighten and she spoke, her voice weak. "Inu... Yasha...?"

"Kagome?" The hanyou sat up and leaned towards Kagome, his eyes wide.

But he got no answer. She was asleep once more.

- - -

"InuYasha's really worried, isn't he?" Sango asked the monk. They were outside, sitting on a hill overlooking the village.

"Huh?" Miroku said, being pulled out of his thoughts. He looked at Sango and blinked his eyes a couple times.

"InuYasha's worried about Kagome, right?" Sango said again.

"Oh. Yeah, he is..." Miroku said sadly.

Sango looked at Miroku sadly and said to him, "What's the matter? What are you thinking about, Houshi-sama?"

Miroku straightened up and looked at Sango carefully. "Well, I was thinking about what I would do if that was you unconscious in that hut," Miroku said, smiling a little bit. "I guess I would be acting a lot like InuYasha is right now."

"Oh, Houshi-sama..." Sango said, her voice sad and her eyes strangely happy. But, as quickly as it came, her expression left to be replaced with an angry one. "OOohh! You pervert!" Sango yelled out, standing and slapping Miroku's cheek.

Miroku sighed and said, "Your slaps pain me, Sango."

"Not as much as your antics pain me!" Sango yelled out, walking towards the village.

Shippo popped up next to Miroku and glared at him. "You're pretty stupid," Shippo said angrily.

"No, I'm just predictable," Miroku replied to the kitsune.

"I still say you're stupid."

- - -

Sango walked into the hut that Kagome was staying in and looked over to InuYasha. "How's she doing?" Sango asked.

"She's not doing worse than before," InuYasha said. He didn't want to tell Sango about how she had woken up for a few seconds and had said his name. Though, InuYasha figured that when Kagome did really wake up, she wouldn't remember that.

"Well, I guess no news is good news," Sango said, taking a seat next to InuYasha.

"I guess," InuYasha muttered.

Sango looked over to Kagome, who was breathing evenly now. "What's her temperature?"

"Her fever has gone down a bit, but not much."

Sango sighed. "This isn't good... But, you never told us how you knew about the jewel in Kagome-chan's back," Sango said, glancing over to InuYasha. It just so happened that Miroku and Shippo just happened to walk in at that exact moment.

"Are you talking about that jewel?" Miroku asked, taking a seat near the foot of Kagome's bed.

Sango nodded and said, "InuYasha was just going to tell me how he knew about it, right?"

InuYasha raised an eyebrow and glared. "I never said any such thing."

"Just tell us," Shippo said, obviously not wanting to deal with the hanyou.

InuYasha growled. "Fine..."

"It was when I went to Kagome's time. She dragged me to this stupid festival, where they told the story of the Bachiatari Jewel... The old man telling the story said that the jewel made a horrible youkai, and that it killed a bunch of people... And then some warrior killed it," InuYasha said sadly. It was obvious that he had been thinking about that story for a while. "But I'm not gonna let anyone kill Kagome."

"We wouldn't want to either, InuYasha, but what if she does kill people? What if we have to take her life to stop her from destroying lives?" Miroku said, his usually cheerful voice traded for a serious one.

Shippo's eyes welled up with tears. "B-but... I don't want Kagome-chan to die..."

InuYasha growled and glared at Miroku. "Listen, monk, no one is going to kill Kagome, and she's not going to kill anyone either. I'll see to that," InuYasha spat, his fists clenched at his side.

Miroku sighed. "I know that you want to protect Kagome, and I want the same... But we must be realistic here. This may be out of our abilities. We might not be able to stop this without going to drastic measures. But we will try everything that we can before we try that."

"Besides, InuYasha, that story may have been spiced up to make it sound scarier than it really is. Maybe we have nothing to worry about," Sango suggested, trying to make InuYasha feel better.

"Keh," InuYasha said, looking back to Kagome. If that jewel did nothing, though... Why would Naraku go to so much trouble to put it in Kagome's body?

- - -

InuYasha watched over Kagome later that night, like he had every night that they had been there. He hadn't gone to sleep once.

The hanyou's eyes started to feel heavy, but he managed to keep them open. He was obviously tired, but he wouldn't let himself fall asleep, or even look tired.

"Man, Kagome... You sure do sleep a long time," InuYasha whispered, an ironic smile on his lips.

"And you sleep like a dog..." A voice suddenly said, startling InuYasha. He looked down to see Kagome with her eyes half open and a pained smile on her face.

"Kagome?" InuYasha shouted, waking up the whole hut.

"How long was I asleep?" Kagome asked, noticing her strange surroundings.

"Two and a half days," InuYasha said, noticing how she was taking in her surroundings. "I brought you to a healer's hut."

Kagome giggled softly and asked, "Did you kill anyone to bring me here?"

The question surprised InuYasha and he answered, "No... But there was one awfully annoying woman who wouldn't let me in here at first... She thought I was the one who hurt you!"

"Kagome-chan!" Shippo shouted, bouncing over to her futon. He hugged her arm, as the others walked over and started to talk to her. They voiced how afraid they were for Kagome, and Kirara curled herself up next to Kagome's side.

Remembering Kagome's injury, InuYasha interrupted everyone else by saying, "Kagome, there's something important I have to tell you."

"What is it, InuYasha?" Kagome said, her expression changing to one of worry when seeing the hanyou's face.

InuYasha looked at the floor. "It seems that Naraku's real intention wasn't to just hurt you... He wanted to put the Bachiatari Jewel in your body," InuYasha explained.

Kagome's eyes widened and she asked him, "You mean the one from the legend?" InuYasha nodded. "Oh... Well, I suppose he managed to do that... Could you get it out?"

InuYasha sighed. "No. But Miroku was sensing an evil aura from it."

"You know what?" Sango said, holding up her finger. "Since InuYasha and Shippo couldn't get it out, I'm wondering if only someone with great spiritual powers can get the jewel out?"

"Then why doesn't Kagome-chan just pull it out?" Shippo asked.

Miroku shook his head. "I'm sure Naraku has all ready thought of that. He probably made sure that the jewel could not be taken out by the one who it was put into. We should probably go and find someone who has great spiritual powers," Miroku explained.

"Why don't you try, Miroku-sama?" Kagome suggested.

"No... I can't even get close enough without feeling extremely weak," Miroku said, sighing. "I already tried."

Kagome's face went to one of sadness to one of determination. "Well... Once I'm better, we'll leave."

"To where?" Shippo asked.

"To find a spiritually powerful human, stupid," InuYasha huffed, glaring at the kitsune.

"Shut up, idiot!"

End Chapter

Well, you can guess what's gonna happen next chapter! I best take a break before writing it, though. It's almost midnight.