Hello my dears, it´s a new month and we have a new chapter. I hope you don´t find this one too boring cause it contains some scientific nonsense. I expect the details are not too bothersome, I just felt that some background was necessary. Hopefully, it will be the last bit of science, if it´s not essential to the story I´ll leave it out. I tried to be accurate, but I left some details that didn´t fit my plans out. If you want to know more you can do some research, I did my homework but most of it was omitted.
On a side note, some comments mentioned that I wrote Kouga too selfish and uncaring. I promise I have no hate for the wolf prince, I just needed an antagonist, that´s all. I´d like to mention I don´t hate Kikyo either, I used to when I first watched the anime but as I grew up I understood her a little better. However, I don´t like her getting between Inukag, but we need the conflict, or the story would be too boring.
DISCLAIMER: All the characters from Inuyasha belong to the talented Rumiko Takahashi.
7- Doctor Ikeda
"Welcome! Inuyasha, it takes some serious programming to get you to see me? How are you, my boy?"
Inuyasha couldn´t answer right away as he was trying to dodge the older man with a huge smile who was currently intent on hugging him.
"I´m fine Onigumo. This is Higurashi Kagome, the person that Miroku and I selected to help us with the project."
Kagome respectfully vowed her head.
"It´s an honor to meet you, Doctor Ikeda."
The doctor finally settled for a few pats on Inuyasha´s back and turned his attention to her.
"Well, look at this! You finally found someone. Likewise." He gave a small nod in return and Kagome was able to relax for the first time since she and Inuyasha left the department store.
"Don´t go back there, pay attention to the situation at hand!" The girl had to keep avoiding thinking about what had happened, at least until she got home and was alone.
"Yeah, she was highly recommended by Miroku and some associates of him." Inuyasha didn´t mention Sango, Miroku´s approval was enough for him and Onigumo would just have to trust him.
"Good! She seems very capable." The doctor seemed to be surveying the young girl while he kept nodding his head. For once, Kagome was glad she was wearing something elegant, she had donned one of the recently acquired suits. Inuyasha had insisted and she hadn´t been in a state of mind to deny him back at the store. She had chosen a navy-blue pencil skirt and a matching jacket with a cream-colored silk blouse underneath and nude shoes. Even when the heels weren´t that high, she looked every bit the sophisticated business woman she was supposed to be. And she was glad that the good doctor didn´t look at her the way Miss Sakasagama had.
"Inuyasha, would you mind leaving us alone for a few minutes? I´d like to have a conversation with Miss Higurashi and get to know her a bit." The doctor had gone back behind his desk and was already on the phone. "Kagura, please, tell my daughter to meet Inuyasha at the conference room, he´ll be waiting for her."
"Oh, that´s not necessary." Inuyasha´s voice suddenly faltered, Kagome noticed immediately. "I mean, there´s no need to bother Kikyo, I´m sure she´s very busy."
"Kikyo? Where did I hear that name?" Kagome was intrigued. She could see how uncomfortable Inuyasha was getting, sure this woman had something to do with it.
"Nonsense! You two had spent a long time apart, I´m sure she will be happy to see you." The doctor was once again on Kagome´s side of the desk pulling a chair for her. "This way, I can talk to this lovely lady and not worry about you waiting for us to finish."
"So, they hadn´t seen each other for a while, could it be that this Kikyo person and Inuyasha have bad blood between them?" Kagome couldn´t help but wonder what had happened that had Inuyasha so stressed. "Inuyasha doesn´t date since Kikyo." Suddenly, her conversation with Shippo came to mind. Inuyasha and Kikyo were a couple or had been in the past and he was avoiding her.
"Go ahead, Kikyo will see you in the conference room."
The hanyo just let out a defeated sigh and turned for the door without a single glance her way. Kagome felt bad for him, facing an alienated ex after a long time was tough, especially after making out with somebody else. Her thoughts were back to Hojo now. "Focus!" She wanted to shake her head to clear it from all the thoughts that appeared uninvited. "You´ll deal with all of it after you finish this interview."
"Alright dear, now that we are alone, why don´t you tell me all about yourself?"
The doctor sat down on his side of the desk and faced Kagome. Now that her attention was focused on him, Kagome could notice the fatigue lines that surrounded his small beady eyes. Doctor Ikeda was wearing thick round glasses set on a black frame that seemed to wrap its temples around his small ears. He was older than she had expected, still not as old as her grandfather. His receding hairline and wrinkled face would mean he was around 65, she inferred. And by the tired look in his eyes and his hunched back she could tell he was dedicated to his profession. His choice of wardrobe only served to reinforce her theory, plain light blue shirt, red tie and khaki trousers. She could also see a lab coat hanging from a peg to the left of the window, next to a beige jacket. The walls to her right and left were covered by numerous diplomas pictures, prices, and even medals.
Kagome gave the older man a short account of the last few years of her life, including her formation and the jobs she had had up to the moment. She was getting anxious, the fear of being disqualified for the position Inuyasha had offered her was growing by the minute.
"Enough about that. Tell me more about you."
"Well, I believe I am a well-organized, responsible person…"
"Not that dear, could you tell me whether you live alone or have a roommate? A boyfriend maybe? What kind of food do you enjoy? What do you do to relax when you are not busy? That kind of stuff."
The girl was a little shocked. She had been to several interviews before, never had she been asked this kind of personal information.
After several minutes she had shared with Dr. Ikeda information about her family, her childhood, her friends, her favorite poets and painters, even her blood type and how many times she had donated blood in the past few years.
"I´m relieved to see Inuyasha has made a good choice." He finally said. "Now that I know you a little better I´m more comfortable sharing delicate information with you."
After being concentrated on "passing" Dr. Ikeda´s inspection, Kagome had almost forgotten all about the mysterious project she had joined.
"First of all, do you know anything about stem cells?" His penetrating gaze was fixed on Kagome´s waiting for her answer.
"Actually, not much. Just that some people believe they could be the key to develop the cure for many diseases."
"That is exactly what we are researching in my lab. For the last decade, or so, many scientists around the world have tried to harvest these cells and study their properties. I´ll explain it in simple terms for you. Stem cells are like the raw material used to build a body, they can divide themselves and create more similar cells. There are two kinds of stem cells, ones called adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. The first group is found in the body after development, the second come from embryos. With this first group, science has been able to develop bone marrow transplant, for instance. However, adult stem cells have limited abilities whereas embryonic stem cells have more potential for growth and development. The only problem is that up to the moment, the only way to get embryonic cells was using eggs that had been fertilized for in-vitro insemination and then discarded."
Kagome let out an audible gasp in shock, her right hand covering her mouth before she noticed what she was doing. Was this really done in the name of science? Labs discarded living embryos and offered them to be used as lab rats?
"I see you are shocked by the gruesome details child. But worry not, this is where we need your help. My lab has developed a revolutionary method to extract stem cells from embryos inside the womb without causing any harm to the embryo or the mother. We have successfully tested it in rats and sheep. The next step is to try it on humans. What we need you and your people to do first is convince the shareholders of SNT that the project is viable and that the investment will pay off. Once the company is on board with the project we can get the government´s clearance before we can take the next step."
The doctor made a pause waiting for Kagome´s reaction, which didn´t take long.
"How can you be sure it won´t harm the baby? Or the mother?" Her trembling voice sounded weak, even to her own ears, she wasn´t even sure the doctor could hear her.
"We can´t be a hundred percent sure until we try it. We have high hopes for this new harvesting method, though."
"Harvesting?" Just mentioning the word made her shudder. "But if people are aware of the risk, who would ever volunteer for such a thing?"
"You would be surprised. The number of abortions performed in our clinics keeps growing every year. Many women would be happy to allow scientists to perform a clinical trial, for a price of course."
The girl just closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. That wasn´t what she had in mind when she accepted the job. Did Inuyasha know what the doctor was proposing? Did he agree with this? She wasn´t sure she could take any part on it.
"I can see you are uncomfortable with this idea. But think for a moment on the benefits this breakthrough could bring about.
"I´m sorry doctor. I´m not sure I can do it."
"We might be able to find a cure for diseases like cancer, Parkinson´s, stroke, Alzheimer´s, even diabetes." The old man kept on speaking, disregarding her protests. "Think about it child. The benefits outweigh the risks."
At the mention of Alzheimer´s Kagome´s attention was back on the doctor. The last couple of years she had seen her grandfather deteriorate from that horrible ailment. He was still strong and quite healthy, but his mind was not what it used to be. Her family had suffered too, the cost of having an Alzheimer´s patient was far too great for them, and she wasn´t only thinking about money. It was a devastating disease.
"I can tell you are already having second thoughts. You see my dear, not everything is black and white, there are so many shades in between." Dr. Onigumo stood up from his chair and walked to her side. He put one hand on her shoulder before continuing. "Why don´t you take a couple of days to think about it before you give me an answer?"
Unable to answer the girl just nodded. There was something unsettling about this man, she couldn´t put her finger to it, but she felt in her bones the doctor was hiding something from her.
"Silly me, I almost forgot." Dr. Onigumo picked up the phone on his desk again. "Kagura, will you send Kana in please, tell her to bring the documents I had asked her to draw up." He put the phone down and addressed Kagome once again. "Before you go, I need you to sign some papers, a confidentiality agreement to be more precise."
"Why?" The girl simply asked. She knew what they had just discussed was a delicate matter, she knew better than to talk about it with anyone other than Inuyasha and Miroku.
"Oh, I´m sure you are a very discreet young woman, but for safety reasons, we need to make sure you won´t be discussing this topic with anyone outside SNT."
"Fine, I understand."
She had barely spoken the words when the doctor´s assistant came in without knocking, her ruby eyes glinting and a smug smile on her face.
"Miss Higurashi follow me, please."
Both women walked through intricate corridors until they arrived at a smaller office. The door was opened, and Kagome was introduced to a young white-haired girl all dressed in white sporting a blank expression on her face. Kagura introduced them and left Kagome there with a small pile of papers to be signed.
Kagura wasted no time, in a flash she was back in doctor Ikeda´s office. The old man only lifted his head to acknowledge her.
"That was fast. Were the cameras on the whole time?" He demanded.
"Of course, and everything was recorded, as you asked." The demoness reassured him.
"Excellent! Now, show me Inuyasha and Kikyo."
Kagura turned to stand on his side of the desk and grabbed the mouse to click on an icon on the screen. She just had to rewind it to the moment Kikyo entered the conference room where Inuyasha was pacing impatiently.
"There you go. This is what happened while you were entertaining this human girl."
Even though the conference room was larger than his office and the cameras were far from him, the doctor could sense the tension on Inuyasha´s shoulders and he was able to see his tortured expression when Kikyo entered the room.
"Kikyo… you look… I mean… I wanted to see you. It´s been a long while. When did you come back? Why didn´t you call me?"
The woman´s cool façade was turned to face Inuyasha, the camera could not capture it. However, the gelid tone of her voice was enough for them to imagine.
"Oh, dear. And tell you what? I´m back in Japan. Europe was great but I couldn´t find a place that brought me peace, so I had to come back and face my demons, or half demon maybe?"
Inuyasha just sneered before answering.
"Did it ever cross your mind that we could face our demons together?"
"No, I don´t think so." Kikyo crossed her arm in front of her, her brow furrowed and her lips forming a tight line. "If I hadn´t made it clear before, let me put it simple words so you can understand. I hate you. You ruined my life and I don´t want to spend more time than I have to in your presence."
"Kikyo!" The hurt was evident in Inuyasha´s eyes, so much so that the young woman had to turn around to avoid seeing it.
"You knew how much I wanted to be a normal woman. Thanks to you, I will never be able to have a normal life, a family of my own."
"You make it sound like I did it on purpose, I never meant to hurt you Kikyo."
A spiteful shadow covered her lovely face when Kikyo turned away from the camera and faced Inuyasha again, her long straight hair whipping around the waist of her lavender dress.
"You knew your mother withered away and died after you were born, how could you spare me that detail? A hanyo child was likely to drive me to my grave but you chose to keep that fact to yourself. Now I am half a woman, who would ever want to spend his life with me?"
"I´m still here Kikyo. I promised to be with you, the offer still stands, if you´ll have me."
Onigumo could see the figure of his stepdaughter hunching her shoulders. Even when the sobs that followed were almost imperceptible, he knew the girl was crying.
When he saw her defenses crumbled to pieces, Inuyasha stepped closer and embraced the woman he once loved so dearly, seeing her crying like a little child, he could do nothing but try to comfort her. His arms encircled her slender form, her head finding shelter in the crook of his neck, she was unable to prevent the tears running down her cheeks. Slowly and steadily her breathing came back to normal, Inuyasha could feel her body relaxing against him.
The grainy image on the monitor seemed to freeze for a few seconds, the people spying on Inuyasha and Kikyo thought something had failed. A dark figure appeared on the screen and the couple turned to face it.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha´s voice broke the silence. He pulled away from the crying girl who was now clinging to him.
"I´m sorry, I didn´t know you were busy."
The dark figure turned to leave and both Onigumo and Kagura saw Kagome´s shocked expression before she left the room.
"Is that woman! You are seeing that woman, aren't you?"
The gelid edge returned to Kikyo´s voice and to her features.
Inuyasha was going to protest that he wasn´t but he hesitated. Was he not? They had only shared a few torrid moments together, that was all. Then why did he felt he couldn´t deny her?
Another shadow crossed the camera as Kikyo stormed furiously out of the room.
"Kikyo!"
One more time the image seemed frozen, with Inuyasha gaping at the monitor. For what seemed an eternity but were only a few seconds, the hanyo remained in place, the only sign that the image was, in fact, a live stream was his sudden blinking. The two spies were left astonished with not much more to watch until the half-demon recomposed himself and finally left the room too.
"Well, at least now we know Yura was right." Kagura broke the silence while turning to the side to face the doctor, a devilish grin adorning his face.
"Yes, I think we finally found the right woman!"
"It took a while, but she´s in our hands now." Kagura´s grin almost matched the doctor´s.
"Not quite yet, I think she needs a little incentive. Tell Yura to meet us tonight. She can still be useful even when she couldn´t get Inuyasha to notice her."