Chapter Two: The Healer
It's past midnight, and Kikyo knows she has to finish these budget sheets soon if she's going to get any sleep before her five a.m. shift.
Ever since her parents died and passed ownership of the Midoriko Medical Center to her, she has had to shoulder the entire responsibility of keeping the area's only hospital running. Things are really starting to pile up lately, and sleepless nights are becoming necessary to keep up. She longs now more than ever to be free of it all.
Kikyo fights to stay awake, but she is too exhausted. Resting her head on her desk, she is about to allow herself to succumb to sleep, when she is jolted awake by a loud noise. Someone is beating on the window, trying to get it open. Kikyo bolts up and goes to see what's happening, and what she sees makes her feel as if her heart has stopped beating.
That face! Something's different, but even in the dark she would know that face anywhere. And here it is, staring back at her through her bedroom window. She feels as if those desperate and determined eyes are starting right through her soul. Kikyo feels like she might faint, but it's him that falls.
'Something is wrong with him', she realizes. Without hesitating, Kikyo rushes out the back door. The severity of the situation doesn't hit her as she goes into doctor mode.
Even after all she's seen in the ER, what she sees when she gets to him is a heartbreaking sight. His body is covered with blisters and charred skin from second degree and even some third degree burns. Kikyo knows she needs to get him inside and call an ambulance right away.
Naraku is already starting to get up, so Kikyo helps him stand and walk inside, careful to avoid touching the worst of his wounds. She gets him to the bed and tells him to lay down while she calls for an ambulance. She turns around to make a dash for the phone, but before she makes it two steps, he grabs hold of her long pony tail and yanks her backwards.
Using one hand to hold her by her hair, Naraku wraps the other hand around her neck and slams her against the wall. He thinks about how even in his weakened state, he has enough strength to kill this madden with his bare hands. He is still strong enough to handle her struggle as he strangles the life out of her. Only, she isn't struggling.
Kikyo doesn't fight him, she doesn't even allow herself to show any fear. She is much too strong for that. Instead, she stares him down and doesn't look away, even as her face turns red and her head begins to spin.
Naraku looks into those eyes, so full of contempt for him. He finds it all so amusing. It's as if she's above it all. 'Or does she simply have no will to live?' Naraku wonders, and this thought actually saddens him. He can't do it, he can't bring himself to kill her. He lets go and Kikyo falls to the floor, nearly unconscious.
As Kikyo catches her breath, Naraku sits down on the bed, trying to figure out what has come over him. How can he let this woman live, knowing it will mean his demise? Is it just that he can't take any pleasure in killing a woman who doesn't care if she dies? He shouldn't care, but he does.
Kikyo stands and looks down at him. "So this is the notorious Naraku," she says. "How pathetic."
Naraku laughs at her boldness; she really is quite amusing. "Be careful now," he warns in his deep voice. "I only stopped because there's no fun in taking a life as sorry as yours. But I can easily be provoked to take it anyway."
"Don't kid yourself. You and I both know you won't kill me," she challenges. 'He can threaten her all he wants, he's only fooling himself,' she thinks.
Naraku smiles at her. And to his surprise, Kikyo gives him a devious smile in return.
"Now that that's settled," she says, "we need to get those wounds taken care of if you want any hope of avoiding infection."
"You know if you send me to the hospital, the police will come for me. I'll be a goner."
"I know."
Kikyo turned and went to make the call, and Naraku didn't stop her. 'So this is how it ends' he thinks to himself, 'I really am pathetic'. Then he hears Kikyo talking to the hospital from the other room.
"It's Kikyo. Something urgent has come up. Let everyone know that I won't be coming in today."