Mending Takes Time
The woman ran through the double doors of the building and entered an extremely clean lobby. She raised her head and saw on the sign that the ICU was on the fifth floor. She wrapped her coat around her tightly to conceal the weapon that she hid within. She speed-walked to the elevator and pressed the up button at least twenty times before she noticed a weird stare from a nurse and stopped. The elevator finally came down and she hurried inside and pressed five.

Mrs. Higurashi wrapped her coat even tighter, and this time, not only to conceal the sword that she’s carrying, but also to comfort herself. Nothing made sense. First she got a call from Kagome’s friend Ayumi, saying that Kagome was hit by a car and is in the ICU, then Inuyasha grabbed the speaker and told her to bring over the Tessaiga. She rushed over as soon as possible, but the traffic had made her extremely late.

The elevator finally “dinged”, Mrs. Higurashi walked out and looked all over. In the center was a round area for nurses, and around the circular room were extremely comfortable looking couches. The floor was carpeted with a light pink color, the high ceilings had at least fifty florescent lights hung from it. The shaking woman walked over to the nurses and said in a small voice, “I’m here to see my daughter, Higurashi Kagome.”

“She’s currently in the E.R.” The nurse replied in a polite, yet distant tone, “She will be brought here after surgery. Please put this sterilized robe and wait on the couches.”

“Where is the boy? The one that came with my daughter? I know he’s here.”

“I told the boy and the other girl who came later to wait in from 507. That will be your daughter’s room once she comes out of surgery.”

“So that means my daughter will be safe? She’ll come out of surgery safely?”

“Do not worry, Higurashi-san, we deal with car accident injuries every day. Your daughter only suffered from minor bone injuries and blood loss. But bones can be mended and thankfully she’s an AB type, she was able to receive all kind of blood. She’ll be out of the ICU in no time, and will be home in three weeks at most.”

Kagome’s mother finally sighed and let the subject go. The nurse pointed her to a nearby bathroom, for she knew she can’t take off her jacket and change while she’s carrying a sword on the inside. After she came out she saw a man in his forties, kneeling on the floor in the reception area, he was quietly weeping into his hands, and attracted a lot of attention form the bored nurses. And soon as he noticed Mrs. Higurashi’s entrance, he started to brawl.

“Gomenasai! Hontoo gomenasai!!!” After seeing Mrs. Higurashi’s confused look, the man went on explaining, “It was me that ran over your daughter, I am so sorry!!! I will pay for all expenses. I’ve already handed my license to the police, I’ll never drive ever again!!! I really am sorry!!! I will not give any excuse, for I have none. I only ask for your forgiveness!”

Startled by the driver’s sincerity, Mrs. Higurashi rushed over and helped the man up. “It’s alright. Car accidents happen everyday. My daughter will be fine. I know how clumsy she is, you mustn’t blame yourself.”

But her kind words only made the man weep harder. After a good five minutes, he finally stopped himself and went to sit on the couches.

Mrs. Higurashi still hid the sword inside her new robes, now trying to find the boy that it belonged to. Carrying a sword all over a hospital isn’t the best idea. The nurse had said that she sent Inuyasha and Ayumi to room 507.

Mrs. Higurashi entered room 507 and saw two terrified children sitting back to back on the hospital bed, wearing the same sterilized robe that she was. As soon as the hanyou saw her enter, he rushed over with mixed emotions.

“Inuyasha-kun, where is your cap?” Mrs. Higurashi stared in shock at Inuyasha’s cap-less head. His dog ears wiggled like usual. Behind him, Ayumi sat on the bed, partially grinning. But Mrs. Higurashi could see the sadness and worry behind that smile.

“Took it off,” Inuyasha pointed at Ayumi absentmindedly, “told her everything, figured it’s easier that way. Where’s Tessaiga?”

Mrs. Higurashi hastily took out the sword, Inuyasha grabbed it with yearning. The woman could’ve swore that she heard him growl. “Are you alright, Inuyasha-kun?”

“I’m… fine.” Inuyasha sighed deeply, “Just needed Tessaiga to calm down my youkai blood.”

Ayumi got off the bed and walked over. Mrs. Higurashi regarded her with some guilt. “Ayumi-chan, about this… I’m sorry that we didn’t tell you earlier, you can understand, the magnitude of something like this…”

“I’m surprised that Kagome-chan didn’t trust me enough to tell me, but the whole demon thing doesn’t scare me. After all, unlike Emi-chan and Yuka-chan, I practically grew up at the shrine, listening to Kagome’s Ojiisan’s stories.”

Kagome’s mother smiled appreciatively. “I’m so glad you’re not upset about this.”

Ayumi glanced at Inuyasha for a millisecond. “Well, I do regret it a little.”

“Well, back to the problem at hand,” Mrs. Higurashi moved toward the bed and sat down shakily. “How did this happen? I know Kagome’s clumsy, but she’s always so careful in traffic. I didn’t even have to teach her to look both ways. She was so smart that she learned herself.”

The woman was on the edge of tears. Ayumi looked desperately at Inuyasha, only to find him unfocused. During the whole time that he was telling her about he and Kagome’s story, he had blanked out several times, wearing that same empty look on his face. Ayumi’s heart twanged. It was a hard blow to find that Inuyasha wasn’t human, and another to find that he perhaps was the “boyfriend” Kagome was talking about. The whole cousin thing was just a lie. It’s clear that Inuyasha cares about Kagome more than anything else in the world.

Mrs. Higurashi continued to ramble about Kagome. Ayumi stayed at the woman’s side and clutched onto her arm. But Ayumi also noticed that every time Kagome’s name was mentioned, Inuyasha’s grip on his sword tightened, and his head lowers to another degree.

Time passed too slowly. It was nearly 4 in the afternoon when Kagome’s mother came in. And when Ayumi had to leave at 5, Kagome was still not back from surgery yet. Mrs. Higurashi sat still on the bed, somewhat sniffling. Inuyasha stood motionless.

“Do you… blame me?” Inuyasha finally spoke. His voice was cracking up, probably from the lack of water. It seemed as though he’s been thinking about that question the whole afternoon. He didn’t dare looking at Kagome’s mother.

Mrs. Higurashi finally looked up, her expression was full of surprise. She stood up and walked over to Inuyasha. To Inuyasha’s surprise, the woman took him into her arms and held him like a mother would hold her son. She still said nothing, but her answer was clear. The weight on Inuyasha’s heart lightened a bit.

It was another 20 minutes when three nurses came into the room, with an unconscious Kagome on a bed with wheels. Kagome’s mother rushed over at once, only to be gently pushed back by one of the male nurse. The nurses lifted Kagome gently onto the bed inside her own hospital room. Another one fussed over a thin stand. A bag of blood hangs from the top of the stand. Even though it was contained in a bag, Inuyasha could still smell the stench of it. His cap was back on before the hospital people came in, and Tessaiga was hidden promptly inside his robe.

The nurses left after a long time of fussing over some equipments, and then an older man dressed in a white robe with shiny black shoes came in. “Mrs. Higurashi, I presume.” He said in a cold and uncaring tone, “Your daughter had minor cuts all over her body, 4 broken ribs, a broken left arm, and her knee tendons were ripped. Also she lost quite an amount of blood. But after her tests, we were sure that her blood type was AB, and all throughout surgery we’ve been giving her the appropriate type of blood, that you needn’t worry about.” He continued talking, not noticing the terrified look on the mother’s face, and a strange looking boy who’s currently shaking at the mentioning of all the injuries he’s naming.

“We repaired her broken bones and ripped tendons. But as you can see, your daughter is still out from the drug. Let her sleep for now, she’ll wake up tomorrow. I suggest you stay here overnight and when she wakes up, tell her not to struggle. The nurse will come in three times during the night and change the blood bag. She’ll be in here for at least 2 weeks, and it’ll take a while for her to make a full recovery. Your daughter’s kimono and other belongings are with the nurses, you may retrieve them later. That’ll be all.” The doctor left without giving his name or even looking at Inuyasha. His black shoes tapped on the floor with rhythmic beats.

Kagome’s mother rushed over to her daughter immediately and clutched her right hand, which was heavily bandaged. The monitor beeped at a regular rate. Inuyasha soon discovered that the beep matched Kagome’s heartbeat. The hanyou walked over slowly, taking in all the bandages and the smell of blood, Kagome’s and a mixture of some other people. There were other people’s blood flowing inside of her now, and he didn’t like it. Her scent was still faint, and he especially didn’t like that.

After a long silence, Mrs. Higurashi turned to him and made a request that he couldn’t refuse. “Inuyasha-kun, I know how hard it is for you to leave Kagome at a time like this. But I need you to go back to the shrine and tell Souta and Jii-san about Kagome, they weren’t home when I left. And I think it would be best if you go back and tell yours friends that Kagome wouldn’t be able to go back for a while.”

Inuyasha looked at the woman in shock for a while. It was hard to refuse, and harder for his feet to move. The older woman seemed to understand. “Do you want to tell her something, Inuyasha-kun?”

Inuyasha nodded weakly. He walked over to Kagome’s side and put one of his clawed hands on top of her left hand. He stroked her hand weakly with his thumb. Ignoring the fact that Kagome’s mother was also in the room, he bent down to put his mouth next to Kagome’s ear, and whispered with the deepest sorrow, “Gomen. I should’ve told you this earlier… Kimi dake ga sukida.”

He left the room without another word, leaving the hospital robe he was wearing on one of the chairs. He opened the window and leaped onto the roof of a lower building in a single swift move.

Kagome’s mother went to the window to close it, the autumn wind tried to seep into the room. In the distance she saw a silver figure jumping from building to building. She smiled understandingly. Mrs. Higurashi walked over to Kagome and stroked her hair. “You’re luckier than you think, dear. I trust him, don’t you?”

Kagome’s body stayed still, giving no sign that she has heard anything.

*****~~~~~*****

Inuyasha rubbed his ear. The shrine became very loud after he told the rest of Kagome’s family what happened to the girl. Kagome’s grandpa and Souta were arguing back and forth about what to do. Souta said to buy some healthy food, and his grandpa insisted on them going to pray to the gods. Inuyasha left them with their argument and changed back into his haori, and darted for the well. He knew that before him lies more trouble. Shippo’s complains alone can send him halfway to hell. And he doesn’t even want to start thinking about the lectures that the monk has for him.

Inuyasha exited the well, dreading what he was about to do. He was merely a few leaps from Kaede’s hut when he realized that he couldn’t face his friends. Fuck this, I need some time to clear my head. And with that, he leapt away, spending the night hunting down whichever unfortunate youkai that came his way.

*****~~~~~*****

“Where are Inuyasha and Kagome!!!” Shippo finally reached his limit. Everyone, including Rin and Kaede had taken turns trying to divert his attention somewhere else. But tonight, no one is going to stop this kitsune from crying his heart out.

Kaede was still recovering from her injuries, her arm was still heavily bandaged. And now, with Shippo’s cries and complains, she’s got a headache on top of everything. “I’m too old for this.” She put down her bowl and went back into her hut, leaving everyone else outside.

Shippo went on crying, but everyone is ignoring him except for Rin. The little girl kindly patted his back.

“Hope they solved whatever problem they had.” Sango mumbled absent-mindedly.

“Are they always like this?” Haruko cut in, chomping on her food at the same time. Her mind was on something else though. “Do they always fight without any apparent reason?”

“Oh, they have their reasons,” Miroku had finished his dinner, “they just never tell us.”

“And how do these fights usually end up?” Haruko seemed interested. Why wouldn’t she be? Inuyasha’s gang is like nothing she’s ever seen before.

“Well, first Kagome-chan ends up in tears.” Sango began.

“Then Inuyasha panic and says whatever necessary to stop her from crying.” Miroku continued.

“Finally Kagome-chan yells at Inuyasha and the fight would officially be over.” Sango finished up.

“And Kagome-sama always forgives Inuyasha?” Haruko asked while poking at the fire. Fall was here and it was getting chilly. If only Kaede’s hut was a bit bigger, then they could sit inside to eat.

Sango and Miroku nodded in unison.

After more small talk about how Inuyasha should stop pissing Kagome off, everyone cleaned up their bowls and turned in.

It was another starry night, a bright crescent moon shone over the forest and the village. Sango and Rin snuggled in one corner of the hut along with Kaede. Shippo placed himself on top of Miroku’s chest in the other corner of the room. The monk was snoring lightly, Shippo’s curled up body went up and down along with Miroku’s chest (cute!!!).

Almost noiseless, the bamboo curtain of the hut was raised and a figure stepped out. It was Haruko. With one hand clutching tightly at her sewing kit, the girl crept silently across the grass field and darted to the direction of the stream.

After doing the same thing for five nights straight, she has become quite good at sneaking out. Even when Inuyasha was there she had managed to get past without any problem. Of course, Inuyasha wasn’t in his right mind back then. He hadn’t noticed Haruko’s nightly ventures.

For five nights she has gotten up and sneaked out in the middle of the night. For five nights she had been waiting near the stream in vain. For five nights she had been waiting effortlessly on that big rock. And for five nights she has fallen asleep while waiting on that rock.

She prayed that he would show tonight.

(I thought I’d try something different here. I’m going to tell the rest from Haruko’s point of view. (inspired by Subaruu))

As each day progresses, the night air gets chillier. Once again I found myself sitting on that big rock, hugging my legs, and shivering uncontrollably. The sewing kit mother packed for me was right next to my body. I felt drowsy, I knew that I was going to fall asleep again, and I didn’t want to.

Then just when I thought I was going fall asleep on that cold rock again, a gust of wind came. Along with it, the cold, stern voice that I’ve been waiting for.

“You’re awake.”

I jumped up in surprise, and when I looked to my right I saw him looking at me with the same emotionless face. But there was something different about him, something different about the way he looked at me. Under his only arm he carried a small roll of fabrics. So he remembered.

“Of course I’m awake,” I couldn’t begin to express how happy I was. But I wasn’t going to let him know how I’ve waited for him for five straight nights, and how I fell asleep on that cold rock every night. I was actually surprised that I haven’t caught a cold yet. “I promised you that I’d sew your sleeve back on for you, why wouldn’t I be awake?”

“You were asleep the last five nights.”

I could swear that my heart stopped beating when I heard that. So he was here all those nights. Only I didn’t know because I was asleep. I wonder why he didn’t wake me up. But another question shot out instead. “How did you know I was going to be here? We didn’t exactly set up a time to meet.”

But to my disappointment, he did not reply. After a moment of awkward silence, he tossed the fabric to me. “Hurry” was all he said to me. And what surprised me was that I didn’t feel angry that he was bossing around. I guess that’s because I was the one that ripped his sleeve in the first place. I was overwhelmed by anger at the time and wasn’t thinking clearly.

I grabbed my sewing kit and started to walk over to him, not sure why my heart was beating so fast. The lack of oxygen in my lungs almost made me faint. But before I could move, he came over instead. After fidgeting with that white and fluffy thing on his shoulder, he sat down on that big rock and waited for me to start.

I took a good look at his right sleeve and got a good estimate on the measurements. I wasn’t going to measure his sleeve; it would be too awkward, and perhaps too dangerous. Then I took out my pair of scissors and started to cut up the right size out of the fabrics he tossed to me. The pattern was exactly the same.

After I was done cutting I took out the needles and some white string and sewed the two ends together, the next step was to sew it directly onto the rest of his kimono. I turned around with a needle in one hand and the fabric in another.

Sesshomaru’s eyes were on me. And from the look of it, they were on me the entire time. I was so nervous that I almost dropped my needle. I forced myself to focus on the task at hand, only it was too hard.

I eyed his missing left arm. The shoulder part was slightly covered by his armor, it would be very difficult for me to do any sewing while his armor was covering it. But before I could say anything, he seemed to have noticed the same problem. So without a word, he removed his outer armor in one swift movement. His long, silvery hair went up as he slipped the armor over his head, and back down when his armor was fully off. And that was when I noticed how his hair flowed perfectly with the wind.

I coughed to clear up my throat, it was hard to take my eyes off of his hair. I bit my lower lip to prevent myself from saying anything. Because I knew that anything I say would sound very stupid. And so, with the sound of the flowing stream and the chirping crickets, I went to work. He sat on the rock, I stood merely inches away. After a while, I found my heart has calmed down and I was able to breathe again.

(I had planned to end it here, but I just need to write a bit more, and this time, from Sesshomaru’s point of view. I think I’ll do this more often from now on, switching from views to views.)

Her heartbeat finally calmed down. It was so noisy a while ago that it hurt my ears. I watched her work from the corner of my eyes as silently as possible, making sure that I wasn’t tilting my head.

The girl’s a strange one indeed. The daughter of a powerful miko, and granddaughter of a taiyoukai. I knew about the story of her father, for it was too similar to my own tale. And so I found it strange when she’s stopped trying to hurt me. Not that she would succeed.

For the past few days I’ve came because of her promise, only to find her fast asleep, hugging herself and shivering because of the cold. The stupid girl didn’t even think of bring extra cloths. And for five nights straight I found myself covering her shivering body with my tail, and staying there until dawn came. I almost killed her the first night I did this. She made me weak, and I almost killed her for it. But after that, I stopped trying to hurt her.

She’s infatuated with me, this I can tell. Her miko powers are still too underdeveloped to cover up her scent. And besides, the red streaks on her face alone were enough to show me the truth. She’s still too young and too inexperienced; she’s at least sixty years younger than me.

I was surprised when I discovered her feelings toward me. It was clear that she hated youkai. It would make more sense if she liked my bastard of a little brother. This I still can’t figure out.

Another thing I can’t figure out is why I still came, why I have these secret rendezvous with this girl. Soon she’ll finish Rin’s kimono, and I’ll take Rin away, then these rendezvous will end. Will I come back again? I doubt it. With Rin here, I no longer can try to hurt Inuyasha or his companions, nor do I want to. Now I just wish to hunt down Naraku. Just thinking about that name angers me to no extend.

What will happen then? I will rule my land instead of wondering around. Rin and Jaken will stay with me, and I’ll never see Inuyasha or this girl ever again.

“It’s done.” I didn’t realize that I’ve been thinking for such a long time. The girl’s voice was a little shaky, probably afraid to speak with me. Or is she just shy? I can’t tell. I don’t smell fear though, which is a rare thing.

I looked over at my left shoulder, slightly clenching my teeth when I saw my missing arm. That’s one thing I’ll never forget. Then I noticed how well the sleeve fitted to the rest of my kimono. Even though she didn’t even measure my right sleeve she had done a very good job. And I wondered why she didn’t measure me. It wasn’t fear, she wasn’t afraid, that much I was sure of.

I slipped my armor back on and was about to thank her. Then I saw her looking at me. It seemed funny to me that I would even considering saying “thank you” to a human. But I’ve already said it once. And so, while grinning inside, I mumbled a small “doomo”.

She blushed again, and I can hear her heart beat speeding up. This girl is too obvious. She has a lot to learn if she wishes to be a powerful miko. Her eyes were on the ground, and I took the chance to make my exit. What she didn’t know was that I was still there, standing on top of a tree, looking down at her.

I saw her look up and her surprised expression at my “disappearance”. She stood there for a little longer before taking her sewing kit and the rest of fabric and started walking back to that old miko’s hut. I followed silently in the air. I wasn’t stupid enough to leave her alone while there might be wild youkai out.

After seeing her walking safely into the hut, I left in a flash. Why did I want to make sure that she was safe? I thought to myself that maybe it’s because of the respect I had for her grandfather. But then a small and annoying voice much like Inuyasha’s popped up in my head. It mocked me when it said “stop lying to yourself.” I shut the voice out and started back to find Jaken.

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What a long and tiresome chapter. Just dropping in to say hi. Anyone who doesn't know what Inuyasha whispered to Kagome? It meant "I love only you". Yup, a chance to show off my Japanese skillz. ^_~ Reviews!!!

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