Disclaimer: I do not own Rumiko Takahashi's InuYasha, nor do I own the awesome glove thing from Bleach.
Chapter 9 – Confusion
"So, purifier." His baritone voice stated in a serious tone.
"What?" Said purifier angrily retorted.
"Is there anything else that you are hiding from this Sesshoumaru?"
"If you call not knowing anything about anything that just happened hiding, then yes. Plenty." Kagome replied sarcastically.
"Hn." He said, effectively ending the conversation. They were walking back towards Kagome's room after her spontaneous desire to be close to her comatose body, as if that were the answer to all of her questions.
Sesshoumaru and Kagome halted in front of the room as they realized that there were already two occupants in the room.
"Sango!" Kagome cried aloud in cheerfulness as she ran towards Sango with her arms wide, passing through her body with an uncomfortable tingle.
"..." Kagome was rendered speechless as she realized that her spirit is still invisible to her and apparently, her newfound powers of possessing someone's body has failed. Sesshoumaru just stared on as he inwardly sighed. So many unknowns where this woman is concerned... It is as though she is chaos incarnate, disrupting the delicate balance of life with her presence.
Sango turned mutely as Dr. Miroku shifted his gaze from Kagome's comatose body to their new visitor.
"Ohayou gozaimasu..." She said in a fairly weak voice.
"Were you a friend of the patient's?" Dr. Miroku asked, straight to the point.
Sesshoumaru just stared as Kagome's spirit lingered over her body, her sadness causing the atmosphere of the room to become suffocating.
He was shaken out of his stupor as Sango spoke, "Please leave. I don't know who you are or who you were to Kagome, but if you're just here to mope around, there's someone here doing that already."
"Your friend..." Sesshoumaru began as his eyes widened, registering the actions of the spirit of a certain woman.
"What do you think you're doing..." Sesshoumaru began as he looked on in horror. Kagome was in the process of sticking her arm in Dr. Miroku's back. Her eyes widened as she realized that after the initial tingling feeling has passed, her arm was stuck inside.
"SHOOT! Sesshoumaru, DO SOMETHING!" Kagome yelled in surprise. Dr. Miroku felt a sudden tingling in his back as he heard a very sharp noise in his ears. He placed his hands over his ears to block the shrill noise from injuring his eardrums.
"This Sesshoumaru knows not of how to remedy this situation." He blatantly stated, calmly taking in the scene in front of him. Sango was baffled as she watched the handsome man speak to a portion of air that appeared to be by Dr. Miroku.
"Uh.. excuse me, but are you... you know..." She made a swirly motion with her index finger beside her temple.
"Crazy?" Sesshoumaru filled in for her. Sango nodded.
"Hn... with the woman, every second is crazy." He admitted, returning his gaze to the comedic sight in front of him. Dr. Miroku, whose torso is feeling increasingly uncomfortable, felt as though someone crashed into him from behind. His head hurt for a split second before he heard it.
"Uh... hello. How do I get out of here?" A feminine voice said in his mind.
Well hell-ooooo, ojou-sama. Would you do me the great honor of bearing my children? He thought in his mind.
On the day of the 'boring adult tea party', as he had so dubbed it, he found himself arise to a window whose curtains were parted, and a very bright and sunny day waiting ahead of him.
"What perfect weather for a tea party!" He heard a certain female voice chirp in happiness as she went on to shake her son to wakefulness. Touga felt himself being shaken back and forth before he felt a headache arise.
"Mother, stop it." He said in an irritated manner.
"Be down in no more than 10 minutes darling, everyone's waiting in the parlour." She said before leaving the room, firmly closely the door behind her.
Touga yawned. He looked at the clock before getting up from the bed. It read 7:30am. He groaned as he got into the bathroom, took care of his daily rituals and was dressed in a comfortable polo shirt and a pair of jeans within the allotted time frame. He closed the door behind him as he left for the parlour.
Walking down the stairs, he gapped at the sight of the strangers sitting on the sofas. One was a lithe, young female with long silver hair pulled into what looked like really long pigtails dressed in a blouse and a dress, who was nodding politely at the conversation. Another was a stern male with a similar hue of hair cropped short, dressed in a clean tuxedo.
"Touga, you are late!" He heard his mother fuss as she stood up from her place beside Touga's father on the sofa. Touga shook himself mentally out of his stupor as he gingerly nodded.
"Please, take a seat beside Kyoko." His mother all but pushed as he sat down awkwardly beside the attractive female. She gently blushed at his proximity before turning her attention elsewhere.
"I do apologize for the stale conversation, Kyoko-san. Would you like to explore our gardens with Touga?" Touga heard his father say, in a tone far more gentle than he thought that his own father was capable of. Kyoko smiled gratefully before nodding.
"That sounds lovely, Taishou-sama. Thank you." She said formally. Before he realized what he was doing, Touga was standing up and holding out a hand for her. She smiled as she placed her dainty hand on his, and stood up.
"Please excuse us." Touga said stiffly before leading Kyoko out of the stuffy parlour and into the gardens, his hand on her back.
"Ugh, thank goodness we're out of there." Kyoko said in relief as soon as they were out of earshot. Touga smiled in surprise.
"Agreed." He said as he took in the breathtaking sight of the garden behind his home.
"These roses are lovely." Kyoko admired the blue rose in the corner.
"That one's my favourite." Touga admitted as he stepped closer to the female.
"I believe that it is now mine as well. The colour is beautiful." She continued to admire the rose, unaware of his presence behind her.
"My name is Touga Taishou, pleased to make your acquaintance." He whispered in a low voice by her ear. She gasped softly in surprise as her head turned to the source of the voice. Neither moved for a long time despite the fact that their faces were almost touching.
She was the first to break away from the moment, opting instead to observe the pavement.
"You have a beautiful... path." She said shyly, feeling her face turn warm.
"Thank you for the compliment, my lady." He responded smoothly, reveling in the reaction that his stare and presence caused her.
"Um... can I ask you something? It's quite personal, so I understand completely if you opt not to answer." She said after a brief moment's pause of consideration. He nodded tersely.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" She asked abruptly. He turned his attention to the blue rose beside them. He didn't answer for a full minute.
"Does it matter?" He whispered so softly that she nearly didn't catch it. She couldn't reply. They stood there in silence before it was broken by the voice of Touga's mother.
"We're going to take the limo to a nice restaurant for breakfast now. Come here, Kyoko dear. I have much to discuss with you." She said, completely unaware of the atmosphere that she had interrupted.
Kyoko turned to give an apologetic look at Touga before leaving the garden, arm in arm with the elder woman. Touga turned to look at the blue rose one more time, lost in his thoughts.
Izayoi...
He turned to leave the garden to join his parents. Unbeknownst to him, a petal fell gently from the flower, landing on the cold stone pavement.
"Sorry about that, he was being a pervert." Kagome in Dr. Miroku's body said, a few minutes of silence later.
Sango looked at Dr. Miroku funny.
"What the heck are you talking about, Dr. Miroku?" Sango inquired.
"Nevermind, Sango I'm just really really glad that you can hear me!" Sango didn't know how to respond to that.
"Oh, there's so much to tell you! Oh, by the way, I'm borrowing Miroku's body to talk to you. I have no clue how to get out of here afterwards though, so I guess I'm stuck here until Sesshoumaru over there discovers a solution." Kagome said.
Sango stared suspiciously at the stoic man who was now standing beside Kagome's bed, peering curiously at the comatose Kagome and showing no indication whatsoever that he just heard Kagome's tirade.
Kagome in Dr. Miroku's body coughed to get his attention.
"So I'm stuck here until SESSHOUMARU discovers a solution." Kagome repeated, trying to get across to the silver haired man who appeared to be making a point of ignoring her.
Sesshoumaru sighed in exasperation.
"I'm collecting data on this phenomenon, spirit. Please be quiet and allow this Sesshoumaru to work." He said in a monotone voice before ignoring Kagome again.
"Oh okay. Sangoooo I have so much to talk to you about!" Kagome said, forgetting that she was in Miroku's body for the time being.
Sango was in turmoil. The world no longer made sense. Either that, or Dr. Miroku was turning more and more feminine with each passing sentence.
"Miroku, are you... high on something?" She tried once more to obtain a rational reason for this situation.
"I'm not Miroku, Sango. I'm Kagome! Have you forgotten about me already?" Sango closed her eyes and covered her ears at Dr. Miroku's shrill voice. She had no idea that his voice could reach such a high pitch without cracking. Actually, she wished that she never found out.
She took a few minutes to process the information. She looked back and forth from the comatose Kagome to the suddenly turned feminine Miroku before finally putting two and two together.
"What the..." She managed to say before fainting. Kagome felt Miroku's arms reach out to prevent Sango from collapsing onto the ground.
She just needs to rest a bit. Kagome heard Miroku's voice say wisely in the back of his mind. Kagome nodded mutely.
I need to get back to my rounds, Kagome. We'll come back to check up on Sango and your friend when I'm done, okay? Miroku asked politely.
"Okay, here you can have your body back." Kagome said out loud, before retreating to the back of Miroku's mind.
EW... MIROKU! I SO DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT! Kagome screamed in his mind, after seeing a particular disturbing fantasy tucked in a dark corner of Miroku's mind.
"Sorry sorry Kagome!" Miroku quickly suppressed the fantasy to the darkest corner of a dark corner in his mind.
I'm just going to float towards the scientific part of your mind over here. Kagome said grumpily as she tried to fend off the disturbing images in Miroku's mind.
Miroku smiled. This is turning out to be entertaining. He walked out of the room.
Sesshoumaru finished making his observations a while later. He looked around the room, suspicious of the silence that had allowed him to conduct his research so quickly.
He became irritated as he realized that he was the only conscious being in the room. He stalked out the door, leaving for his lab. The woman can do whatever she wants for all he cares. He just wants his life to get back to normal. Working 15 hour work shifts and living on 2 meals a day and 4 hours of sleep. Oh, that and 3 hours of Rin time.
When Miroku and Kagome got back from Miroku's rounds, they found Sango alone in the room, staring at Kagome emptily.
Where's Sesshoumaru? Was Kagome's first thought as they entered the room.
He probably had to go back to work. Miroku thought back to Kagome.
Oh right, I forgot that he works all the time, all day. Kagome thought grumpily.
Well he was here in the morning. Maybe something came up and he had to go back to work. Miroku reassured. Kagome grew silent, considering it.
"Sango, you're awake!" Miroku said as he walked closer to where she was sitting.
"Are you Kagome or Miroku?" She asked warily.
"Miroku." He said, thrown off by her question.
"Let me talk to Kagome please." She implored, staring into his deep violet eyes. Miroku, disgruntled, retreated to the back of his mind as he let Kagome speak.
"Hey Sango, glad to see that you're feeling better." Kagome said.
"Kagome... that should be my line. You have no idea how relieved I am that you're here talking to me!" Sango replied, a smile creeping onto her face.
"I know it's hard to believe. I just woke up like this, apart from my body. You stuck your hand through my stomach you know!" Kagome said in mock horror.
"I'm sorry about that." Sango laughed.
"Were you here every day to visit me Sango?" Kagome asked softly. Sango nodded.
"I used up all the holidays that I accumulated from work. Who knew that it was enough to let me take an indefinite leave?" She said, shaking her head.
"Thank you for looking over me Sango." Kagome said as she hugged her best friend fiercely. Sango hugged her back.
Don't you dare ruin the moment, Miroku. Kagome sent a warning thought to Miroku, causing him to retreat into a dark corner in the recesses of his mind.
"So, what's been happening lately Kagome?" Sango asked. Kagome told her all the details of how she met Sesshoumaru, how different yet similar life is as a spirit and how she got closer to finding out where Souta is.
"So this... Kouga character KNOWS Souta?" Sango asked in surprise.
"Yeah... but he left before I could ask him anymore about it." Kagome said, her voice distant.
"Don't worry, you'll see him again." Sango reassured her. Kagome smiled.
"I'm so glad that you're over your depression from InuYasha, Kagome. I knew when I first laid my eyes on that guy that he wasn't the one for you." Sango said angrily, memories of Kagome's most recent encounter with said character resurfacing in her mind.
"I... haven't seen him since. I don't think I'm ready to face him yet. I trusted him, but he threw my love for him back at me... Why, Sango? Why?" Kagome said thoughtfully, becoming lost in her thoughts.
"I'm sorry for bringing it up again Kagome... He truly didn't deserve you." Sango said, trying to comfort her torn friend.
And that was how Sesshoumaru found them upon his return from work.
"Purifier, are you quite done with your business here? There is much for us to discuss." He said, mild irritation showing in his voice. He saw the woman named Sango give him a glare, but he ignored it.
"I think I may have found out what that thing that attacked you this morning was." That got Kagome's attention.
"What? Something ATTACKED you? How can they SEE you, let alone attack?" Sango asked, instantly concerned for her troubled friend.
"I don't know Sango, but he looked REALLY weird. Like... Frankenstein. Except without the odd hair and the nails sticking out of his head... and without the green tint to his skin..." She trailed off as she saw Sesshoumaru's irritated stare.
"Sorry..." She muttered under her breath.
"Prepare yourself." Was all the warning he gave before smacking Miroku on the back really really hard with his right hand, where a peculiar looking glove was worn. Kagome felt what seemed like a truck push against her back before she felt herself collapsing onto the floor on her knees.
Sesshoumaru smirked. The glove was a success. Kagome glared at him fiercely as she stood.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" She yelled in his ear. He winced at the shrillness of her voice.
"I found a solution. I could bore you with the scientific details of this glove..." Sesshoumaru began to drone on in his infamous monotone voice before Kagome punched him in his chest in exasperation. Or at least, tried to. Her fist and part of her arm went through Sesshoumaru's body.
"Oh." Kagome said intelligently, still processing what just happened. Sesshoumaru smirked. Sango was helping a bent Miroku in a coughing fit recover as she heard Sesshoumaru begin to talk to himself again.
"Kagome...?" She hesitantly asked Miroku. Her face flamed red instantly as she got the answer without him saying anything. Miroku felt that he was in heaven when he groped her behind. The slap that Sango gave him immediately after was totally worth it.
"Woman, the purifier wishes for me to relay a message to you, even though I have already told her that I am not a messenger." Sesshoumaru said icily. Sango gulped in fear as she felt the murderous intent he gave off.
"She wishes for you to be careful and to tell this Shippou character that she is all right." Sesshoumaru said, before turning to leave the room.
"Yooooo I told you to also tell her that I approve of Miroku, despite his shady character and the disturbing images in his mind!" Kagome yelled at the deaf Sesshoumaru.
"Hey are you even listening to me?" Kagome shouted as she trailed off after him.
"Come, there is something I must show you." He said as the elevator doors closed in front of them. Kagome stared at him with wide eyes.
"Where did you go?" She asked in a confused voice.
"Where do you think?" He replied, unnerving her again by speaking when his face was mere inches away from hers.
Kagome blushed, unable to think with his proximity. He inwardly smirked, reveling in the effect that he had on her. The elevator doors opened, and Sesshoumaru calmly walked right through her to exit the elevator.
A minute later, his sensitive ears picked up a shrill scream originating from the elevator. How he enjoyed teasing her.
"Remind me why we are dressed in really conspicuous clothing when we're supposed to be staking out and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible." An irritated Kouga asked as he fiddled the collar on his detective coat.
"Because it's fashionable. And I don't want to be here anymore than you do. I can't wait to finish the job and get back to see my sister." Kagura replied, so bored that she was using a nail file to fix her manicure.
"Well aren't you pleasant company." He said as he took out his binoculars and peered through it. After a moment of searching, he found it.
"Target locked." His fangs showed as he grinned.
"Try to not get too excited." Kagura said as she filed her nails. Kouga didn't reply as he started up the car and began to trail their target. The sunlight caught the surface of the vial on the necklace around his neck, and it glinted.
Kikyou knocked on the doors to InuYasha's office. A minute or so later, he heard a soft "Come in" from the inside. She opened the door.
A female office lady from the same floor was standing awkwardly beside InuYasha, her blouse askew and a slight blush tinting her cheeks. InuYasha was seated behind his desk, facing the doors.
"Oh hey Kikyou, what are you doing here?" He motioned the female office lady to leave before taking a sip of his now tepid coffee.
"Don't tell me you did what I think you did." Kikyou said frostily.
"Depends on what you think I did." He said, trying to be humorous.
"Did you and her..." Kikyou trailed off, the slight blush colouring his cheeks giving her the answer that she needed.
"I can't believe you. You really WILL do anyone and anything." She said, clearly upset.
"Look Kikyou, I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you. How does dinner tonight sound?" InuYasha got up from his chair and walked towards his girlfriend.
"Don't you dare touch me with your filthy hands." She glared, stopping him in his tracks, before turning and leaving through the door.
"How about tomorrow?" He asked as the door to his office slammed shut. InuYasha shook his head. He went to the phone and paged his substitute secretary.
"Find Kagura and tell her to come back to the office ASAP." InuYasha said angrily before settling back onto his chair. He hadn't gotten as much satisfaction from the female office lady as he had hoped. Perhaps Kagura would be able to remedy his situation.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! The next chapter will be up in a few weeks time.