"Let me walk you home."
Kagome Higurashi managed to keep herself from rolling her eyes, though it was a close call. Covering it by plastering on a smile, she turned to the group. "I'll be fine. I'm heading straight home." She ignored the disapproving looks from her friends.
"Come on, Kagome! You never come out with us!" Ayumi complained, hands on her hips.
"Yeah," Eri joined in. "We're supposed to be celebrating!"
This time, she did roll her eyes. "Barely passing your midterm isn't means for a celebration, Eri," she chastised.
"A pass is a pass!"
Kagome counted to ten in her head, running a hand through her hair. "You should aim higher."
The three other women stared at her, Yuka eventually groaning and wrapping her arm around Kagome's neck. "Are you seriously going to bail on us to go home and study? Our next test isn't for weeks!" The sensation was familiar—Yuka had done it a million times during high school—but paired with the expectant grin on her face, Kagome wondered how she'd let herself be talked into shirking her responsibilities so often.
"Yuka, we're in med school now. We can't just go drinking after every test. You need to take this seriously—"
"You're allowed to let loose once in a while, Higurashi." Toguro Hojo's smile was innocent, considering the tension surrounding them.
Complacent.
Her friends had been trying to set them up since graduation, spinning tales of secret crushes and feminine embarrassment every time she blew him off. He'd never even been on her radar, his gentle demeanour only serving to grate on her nerves whenever they invited him to their study sessions.
Once a wienie, always a wienie.
"I'll 'let loose' once I have my diploma in my hand, and I'm on my way to opening my own practice," she said, crossing her arms, resolute in her plan. They could fool around all they liked, celebrating every minor accomplishment with sake or beer, but Kagome had work to do.
She would be a doctor like her father.
Granted, he'd been a general practitioner focusing more on families, but Kagome had always been an overachiever. She loved the family dynamic and had helped out around the office whenever she could, but she'd realized very early on that she had a strong stomach and was much better suited for the trauma ward or an emergency room.
Hell, she'd been the one in all her high school biology classes that the other girls wanted to pair up with because she never balked at dissecting animals. It was how she'd met Yuka.
Kagome snorted at the memory. Yuka had been almost in tears at the thought of even pinning the frog's legs in place, and Kagome eventually took pity on her, giving her a play-by-play without Yuka having to touch so much as a scalpel. The fact that she wanted to be a nurse was highly ironic, but she'd eventually overcome the squeamishness of bodily fluids. However, it had taken until their senior year before she'd actively participated in a dissection.
"Whatya say, Kags? Come celebrate with us!"
She was torn out of her musings by three pairs of wide, pleading eyes but firmly shook her head. "Maybe next time."
There was a collective groan. "You always say that!" whined Eri.
"You think you'd be used to it by now," Kagome replied, waving over her shoulder. She could feel Hojo's eyes on her but refused to turn around, not wanting to give him anything he could mistake as hope or longing.
Quickening her step, she did exactly as she said, heading straight back to the dorms. She needed to review the parts of the midterm that she'd missed, knowing full well that it would end up on the—
A sudden crash had her jumping a foot in the air, whirling around to the garbage cans lined up across from her front door. Her hand immediately went to her keys—and the knife her father had given her for her thirteenth birthday. The shrine was in a safe neighbourhood, separated from most at the top of a hill and a long staircase, but there had been a spike in yakuza attacks in the few years prior, and he wasn't taking any chances.
They'd somehow managed to avoid any of the blackmail—Mama had assumed that a shrine wasn't prime real estate—never encountering any leans on their house or even fights on their doorstep, but it had caught up with them eventually.
The last six months before her father's untimely death had turned him into a different person. Her parents had fought almost every day, Mama complaining about all the things he was keeping from her, though he denied it. She'd even gone as far as to accuse him of cheating, and the room had gone so eerily quiet that she'd immediately taken it back.
After that, they went on a long walk, returning with their hands intertwined, and both Kagome and her younger brother Souta breathed a sigh of relief, the thought of divorce leaving their adolescent minds.
But he'd also refused to take Kagome into his clinic anymore, claiming he was too busy to keep an eye on her. She'd argued that fact herself, especially since she was in her second year of middle school at the time, but it was the one thing he'd put his foot down on.
And then he was gone.
There had been an investigation, especially since he'd kept meticulous records of all his patients, but they'd never discovered the type of poison used. The coroner wasn't even sure it was poison, but there were no other marks on him, and his heart had never given him trouble before. It had just stopped beating, leaving him to collapse at his desk between patients.
Another clang ripped her out of her memories, her fingers tightening around the hilt of her blade. Kagome wasn't stupid enough to move any closer, but she knew better than to take her eyes off any possible threat. Even the university campus wasn't immune to delinquents and vagrants—or drunken frat boys.
It seemed to be the latter. Someone eventually stumbled out of the darkness, groaning softly as they dragged their feet. Kagome was about to turn back toward her door when she noticed a dark stain on the man's shirt, one arm hanging limply at his side.
Cursing under her breath, she inched closer, eyes darting around for his attacker. "Serves you right for getting into a drunken brawl," she said. "I'll call—" His other hand darted out, claws digging into her arm.
Youkai.
Her body stilled, reiki lying close to the surface as she scanned the surrounding area. He appeared to be alone, but she wasn't taking any chances. The stripes on his wrist told her he was purebred, though she'd seen hanyou give up just as much of a fight when provoked.
"I know the number for Naosu General," she said softly. There weren't as many youkai hospitals as human ones, and they were so immersed in society that it didn't really matter where he went, but if he was full youkai and injured this badly, he probably needed a specialist.
There was another subtle shake of his head, and Kagome sighed, glancing behind her. There was a strict no-guest policy, but considering her roommate would be out until late, the likelihood of getting caught was slim.
Placing a hand over his, she slowly turned them around. "I'm going to fix you up, okay? Put your arm around my—or fall on me, that works too." She grit her teeth as she dragged him up the stairs, grateful that her dorm was not only on the first floor but one of the first rooms in the hallway.
He grunted, whisps of silver hair coming loose from the ponytail at the top of his head. All the blood seemed to be localized to his arm, his sleeve soaked around the elbow. She knew she'd have to cut it off once she got him inside, and she silently prayed that he wasn't the type to get pissy about his clothes.
She propped him up against the frame before locking the door—she didn't want whatever had injured him to follow them and do the same to her—then dragged him to the bathroom. "I don't know if it's luck or intuition that you decided to get attacked outside the medical dorms, but if it's the first, you should probably buy a lottery ticket when you wake up."
Unsure how long she had before he regained consciousness, Kagome knew she'd have to heal him as soon as possible. She quickly retrieved her first aid kit and made quick work of his shirt, slicing up the arm to inspect the damage.
He'd been cut right down to the bone.
"I don't know what kind of fight you got into, but you should try to stay away from holy weapons," she murmured. The edges of the wound were charred, signalling the use of reiki and answering her question about why his natural healing abilities hadn't kicked in.
She'd had to reveal her powers in her application to the school. Not that it would've done much good to hide them, considering who her father was, but Kagome had wanted to rely on the practical approach first. Those with medical degrees and holy power were highly sought after and revered, but she didn't want to limit her abilities to the privileged few who could afford it.
Grabbing her sutures, she propped his arm up to keep it still. "I doubt you'll need these in a few hours, but the nerves need time to heal, or there's no point in sewing you back up at all." Small tendrils of reiki wove themselves into the stitches, forcing out the dead flesh and speeding up the healing process.
There was a flare of youki, and the man's eyes fluttered open, giving her a full view of golden eyes. Under normal circumstances, she would've taken the time to admire such a unique shade, but they were dulled by blood loss and lack of consciousness, so she just gave him a reassuring smile and patted his other arm. "It'll be over soon. Then all you need to do is rest."
That seemed to appease him as his head fell back against the tiles, allowing her to finish her work in silence. He didn't so much as twitch, even with how deep the wound was, and Kagome wondered if his pain tolerance was due to his heritage or him as a whole.
She couldn't tell if the lack of fever was due to his youkai blood either. Usually, the body's natural defence system kicked in after such a vicious attack, but his breathing remained even throughout the entire procedure, sparking Kagome's curiosity.
Maybe she'd looked up some youkai-centred courses next term.
After she'd finished and cleaned up, she grabbed one of her textbooks, intent on studying while she kept watch. He was propped up enough in the bathtub that she wasn't worried about him suddenly falling over, but there were too many variables for her to leave him be.
She'd barely sat down again before he moved, his good arm shifting to push his hair out of his eyes before looking up at his surroundings. It was a typical dorm bathroom, but she figured anything would feel out of place, given the circumstances.
"Do you remember being attacked?" she asked softly, cutting to the chase.
He slowly met her gaze, amber eyes much more focused than before. "Not by you."
Kagome knelt next to the tub. "No, you decided to bleed all over me instead."
A pale eyebrow raised. "Where am I?" His voice was gravelly, like he needed to clear his throat but never did so.
"Keio University. The campus dorms, to be precise." She motioned to his arm. "I won't ask what happened, but you should probably get that looked at. I'm only a med student." He didn't bother to inspect it, eyes still glued to her face, and Kagome pulled out her phone. "Did you want me to call someone?"
"You did not before?"
She shook her head. "I offered to, but you seemed pretty against it. I figured you were running from someone. Or protecting them."
"Humans are usually more meddlesome."
Kagome bristled, eyes narrowing. "Look, I didn't have to save you. I could've just let you bleed out amongst the trash. But I didn't, so save that prejudice bullshit for someone else." She got to her feet, ready to throw him out the door, injury be damned, but his fingers wrapped around her wrist, preventing her from leaving.
"It was not a slight meant for you."
"Oh? Who was it for, then? Because from where I'm standing, you should be grateful your arm is still in one piece."
The edge of his mouth twitched. "I am."
She pursed her lips but eventually sat back down. "Yeah, well, next time, lead with that."
"I will take it under advisement."
"You do that." She pulled her hand out of his grip and inspected the wound; it was already showing signs of healing. "Give it another hour, and you should be good to go."
He eyed her for a moment but shook his head. "I cannot stay."
A chuckle escaped her lips. "I figured as much, but you should still wait a bit to recover from the blood loss." The look he gave her told her just what he thought about that, and she leaned back on her heels, arms crossed. "You wanna walk by yourself? Fine. Let's see it."
He didn't even try refuting her words by getting up, simply flexing his hands a few times before conceding. "Perhaps you are right."
"Of course I am," she huffed, grabbing her book again to stop herself from staring. He wasn't in any of her classes. She would've remembered the eyes. And the stripes.
It wasn't as if there hadn't been any other youkai or hanyou at all, but none had such startling features. He was better suited for a runway or magazine cover than knee-deep in medical jargon or setting broken bones.
"I can get you another shirt," she offered, skipping over the part where she'd filleted the previous one. And he shouldn't care either way; it was ruined by blood before she even showed up.
"Worried the neighbours will start rumours?"
Kagome gave him a skeptical look, half tempted to laugh. "Yeah, right. They'd probably tell me to stop cleaning up my roommate's messes." His blank stare had her adding, "Yuka's the one who would be the most likely to bring a half-naked guy back to the dorms."
He glanced toward the door. "But she is not here."
"Not at the moment, which is why I told you to wait before leaving. But don't try anything. Given your injury, I'd take you out no problem." Her knife was still secure in her pocket, but he didn't need to know that. "And just remember I helped when you think about tying up loose ends."
His eyes widened slightly, and Kagome raised her chin, daring him to contradict her. She wasn't sure how bad things were for him, but she wasn't about to get caught up in it. He eventually relaxed against the tub, closing his eyes. "You have nothing to fear from me."
"That remains to be seen," she said with a snort. Giving his arm another quick once over, she got to her feet again. "You probably shouldn't eat, but some water won't hurt, right?" She padded into the kitchen, staying on alert at all times. She couldn't have been gone more than a minute, but by the time she returned, the tub was empty.
Darting to the front door, she found it unlocked, quickly rectifying the situation before leaning against it. If this ended up being some weird dream brought on by post-test stress, she'd have to find another outlet.
Kagome sighed but shrugged her shoulders. It made no difference to her whether he was real or not. It wasn't as if she'd see him again.