The Lucky Ones
Chapter Twenty-Eight
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
The Lucky Ones
By Terri Botta
Disclaimer: I don’t own
Inuyasha. Sole copyright belongs to Viz aumikumiko Takashi. I’m poor so don’t
sue.
Rating: R for later chapters.
Pairing: Inuyasha/Kagome,
Miroku/Sango
Summary: Sometimes Fate hands
you a gift you never thought you’d ever get, and it’s up to you to accept it
for what it is.
tci100@psu.edu
Website: http://www.wordsmiths.net/Botta
A/N: Some of you have been
saying that you can’t read the manga. There are two
excellent sites where you can read translations of the manga
on-line. Due to FF.net stripping URLs out of the stories, I’ve dropped the www from
the addresses. Just add them in and you’ll be taken right to the pages:
wot-.org.org.uk/Inuyasha
ear-tweak.com/iy_manga/main.htm
has IMAGES and translations of the last ten chapters.
Enjoy!
Conversations
with the undead up next. ;)
*******
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Autumn
progressed into winter and all the predictions of a harsh season came true. If
there was any evidence supporting global warming, Kagome had to admit that winters
in the Sengoku Jidai were
era and there was a lot more snow. The bad weather halted any shard hunts, and
Kagome contented herself with studying for her mid-term exams and doing nothing
more dangerous than teaching Yukio how to make snowballs. The toddler loved the
snow and seemed immune to the cold. Unlike his mother, who would break out in
shivers from just seeing him running around in the snow with bare
Inuyasha,
aside from being bored and grumpy, was learning that cold winter mornings were
nice for cuddling in the warm den, and that spending the day curled around your
loved ones wasn’t so bad every now and then. He was also learning that snow
could be fun when played in with a hanyou pup and a kitsune kit
snowball fight where she wasn’t sure who she was saving: the youngsters or
Inuyasha.
They
celebrated Yukio’s first birthday in the Sengoku Jidai,
approximating the date based on what his dying mother had told them of his age
when she brought him to them. It snowed heavily that day and part of his
present was a snow slide Inuyasha carved into the hillside by the village and
stomped smooth. Kagome poured water on it to make it freeze and create a layer
of slick ice, then they used coarse woven rucksacks as sleds and sent Yukio
sliding down it. All of the village children got a turn going down, as well as
a few of the adults, and the fun was a welcome break from the winter drudgery.
Kagome brought back tons of food from her time and they had a feast, complete
with a modern day red bean cake for Yukio and a birthday candle.
Two days
after the big birthday bash, Kagome had to go back to her time to take two
major exams before the major winter break. Inuyasha was supposed to go with
her, but then word came from a neighboring village asking for help with a
collapsed bridge. Kagome convinced Inuyasha to go with the men who had
volunteered to help repair the bridge, saying that his strength and immunity to
the cold would prove invaluable, not to mention that his help would sow the
seeds of good wietweetween hanyous and humans. He
took Yukio with him because he knew she had to study, and without him there to
watch the toddler he wouldn’t leave Kagome alone. When the job was done,
probably in as little as two days with Inuyasha’s help, he and Yukio would come
to her time to join her, and they would all return together after her exams.
They would also have a little birthday party in her era for Yukio during that
time as well, since she would never dream of robbing her mother of an
opportunity to continue spoiling the boy rotten.
Kagome put
her pencil down as the teacher called a halt to the examination period, and
sighed with relief.
And I think I passed.’
Looking
over to Ayumi, she saw that her friend had put her
head down on her desk and was looking the worse for wear. She knew the girl
hadn’t been feeling well, but now Ayumi’s skin was
flushed and sweaty, and her eyes looked glazed. Kagome’s own throat tickled
with the beginnings of a scratch and she frowned.
both getting sick. Damn.’
“
“
I don’t feel so well.”
“Sensei,”
Kagome called. “Ayumi isn’t feeling well. May I take
her to the nurse?”
The teacher
came over, took one look at Ayumi’s flushed face and
nodded. “Yes, Higurashi.
Please escort Yabumotou to the infirmary.”
Kagome
stood and bowed. “Thank you, sensei.” Then she urged
let’s go to the nurse.”
walked down to the infirmary.
“Does your
head hurt,
“I hurt all
over,” the other girl admitted.
They
arrived at the nurse’s office and the kindly woman took Ayumi’s
temperature and other vitals, then felt her glands and let out a deep sigh.
“Is someone
home who can come pick you up?” the nurse asked.
bad, senpai?” Ayumi
replied.
“You have a
high fever and the tell-tale signs of the flu. Besides you’re my fourth case
today. Go home before you infect anyone else and I have an even bigger epidemic
on my hands.”
Oh shit.’
The nurse
turned to her. “You too. Are you feeling well?”
“Umm, I’ve
got a sore throat. It started this morning.”
“Go home
too. Even if you aren’t showing signs, you’ve been exposed and you’re probably
highly contagious.”
gave it to Souta. Mama’s gonna kill me.’
my mom. She can come get me.”
“Good. Go
home. Take some flu medication and get lots of fluids and rest. It’s the best
thing for you right now.”
She gave
both of them surgical masks. “Here, put these on before you spread it and the
whole school gets sick.”
They put
the masks on and Ayumi made a weak joke. “But if the
whole school gets sick, won’t you get a day off?”
“Ha
days the flu’s just an inconvenience. A hundred years ago an outbreak like this
could kill one out of every three people that got it, so I guess we should
consider ourselves lucky,” the nurse replied and her words made Kagome turn
cold.
can’t go back to the Sengoku Jidai. I could bring
this with me and infect the villagers…’ She grew even colder.
bringing Yukio. I could infect my baby…’
“Yes, you
get out of here too. You’re looking even paler than a few minutes ago. Do
either of you need me to call your mothers?”
“I’ll call
my mom on my mobile,” Ayumi said. “Kagome, do you
need a ride?”
“I… I need
to call Mama.”<
<
“You can
use my mobile.”
“Okay,
thanks.”
“I’ll get
you both a dose of flu medication,” the nurse offered, and went to the back
room.
“Do you
want to call your mom first and see if she can come get you?”
“Yes,
please.”
“Kagome are
you feeling as bad as I am because you look really white.”
“Inuyasha
is coming for me today with Yukio,” she whispered. “I… I can’t expose my baby
to this illness, and I can’t go back to the other time because I could spread
it there and people could die.”
saying. “Is there any way to tell him not to come for you?”
“Only if
Mama or Jii-chan are home and can catch him before he
leaves the shrine. But knowing him, he’ll come through the well and come straight
here.”
hands…”
She nodded,
and accepted the phone, dialing her home number.
As it
turned out, Mama was home and more than willing to come pick her up. She also
had the welcome news that she, Jii-chan and
be a very bad flu season due to major antigenic shifts in the virus that year.
Unfortunately, Mama had seen Inuyasha but he’d already left for her school,
carrying Yukio, so there was no way to tell him not to come.
me on the roof…’
Mama said
she would disinfect her bedroom then come get her. Kagome gave the phone back
to Ayumi just as the nurse was returning with two
doses of liquid flu medication. She took off her mask long enough to drink the
medicine, then put it back on and washed her hands thoroughly.
“My mom is
on her way,” Ayumi said as she put away her phone.
“Well, at
least the exams are over,” she joked weakly.
“The two of
you should stay here until your mothers come for you,” the nurse suggested.
“I have to
go to my locker,” she replied. ‘And to
the roof to tell my hanyou lover that he can’t touch me or come anywhere near
me and he needs to get our baby away from here.’
“Alright,
but come back here once you have your things.”
“Thank
you,” she answered and hurried out, sneaking up to the roof.
Sure
enough, Inuyasha was sitting with his back to the machine room wall with Yukio
playing on his lap. The toddler smelled her before she even turned the corner,
and she could hear his happy babblings in spoken words and inu-youkai.
him go so he can come running to me.’
“Don’t let
him go!” she cried as she hurried to come into their view. “Don’t let him come
to me!”
“Eh?
are you so early?” He stared at her when he saw her with the mask on her face.
“What are you wearing that thing for?”
He stood up
and took a step forward.
“STOP!” she
yelled, putting her hands out. “You… you can’t come any closer.”
“Huh?”
in Inuyasha’s arms.
“Listen to
me, Inuyasha. You have to go back. You have to stay away from me.”
“What are
you babbling about, wench?”
“I’m sick.
I’ve been exposed to an illness you can get and spread to others. You can’t
come anywhere near me until I’m better.”
He snorted
and Yukio mimicked him. “I’m a hanyou, wench. I don’t get sick.”
“You might
not, but Yukio’s at risk,” she countered. “You have to keep him away from me.”
She saw him
pause and think about what she was saying.
“For how
long?” he finally asked and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I… I don’t
know. A week at least.”
making this up just so you can have more time here?”
such a thing, you baka!” she yelled, but was cut off
by a coughing fit.
Inuyasha
immediately capitulated. “Alright! Alright! I believe
you. Just please stop coughing.”
“I’m
trying,” she said between coughs.
small voice, reaching out towards her.
“I’m sorry,
baby, but I can’t hug you. Okaa-san’s sick.”
“Sick?” the
toddler repeated.
“Yes. It
means Okaa-san must stay in bed and rest and not
play. Like when J wasn’t able to play with you
that one time, remember?
“Soon baby,
but Otou-san is going to take you back to
“NO!” Yukio
cried.
mean ‘no?’ You’ll do as you’re told,” Inuyasha scolded.
Yukio
sniffled. “Otou… want Okaa-san…”
“I’m sorry,
baby,” she apologized. “Mama-baachan is coming to get
me and I’m going to go home with her. She’ll make medicine for me and I’ll rest
and get better.”
Yukio would
not be swayed. “Want Okaa-san,” he whined.
“I know,
baby. I know. But you can’t. Okaa-san will make you
sick. Inuyasha take him back to Kaede’s, please. You
should stay there too. I’ll come back when I’m better.”
“You’ll be
alright here?” he asked, his eyes showing a hint of concern.
She nodded.
“Yes. Mama is coming and I’ll go home with her. I have to get back downstairs.
There are people who will come looking for me if I’m gone too long. You go back
and I’ll come as soon as I can. I promise.”
He looked
reluctant to leave, a torn look on his face.
That did
it. He steeled his face and gave her a quick nod. “I’ll come back to check on
you once I have him settled.”
Asking him
not to do that was a lost cause so she just nodded.
“I love you
both and I’m sorry, but I can’t risk making either of you sick or bringing it
with me to your time. What I have could decimate the whole village if they got
it.”
Inuyasha
reacted to her last statement with alarm, but he did not say anything. Instead
an odd look came to his face and he pulled a still protesting Yukio closer to
his chest.
“I will be
back,” he assured her and leaped off.
She sighed,
already beginning to feel worse but glad that she was able to keep her family
safe, and headed back down to the nurse’s office.
By the time
Mama came to get her and she was sequestered in her room, her temperature had
risen and she was burning up. Within two hours of coming home, her fever
climbed to 40° C and her mother put her in a cool bath to try to bring her
temperature down. The cool water gave her the chills and she began to shake
uncontrollably, even as the fever made her head spin.
The bath
brought her temperature down slightly to 39° C, and Mama put her back in bed
and piled blankets on her. Even with five blankets and a comforter, she still
shivered and shook with chills despite her fever, making her hot and cold at
the same time. Mama gave her another dose of liquid flu medication and tried to
get her to drink some fluids, but it was all she could do just to lift her
head. She finally fell into a restless sleep sometime after nightfall only to
be awakened by a thump on her window and a muffled curse.
found the seals…’ she thought.
She’d used
the last of her strength that afternoon to put wards on her window and door in
order to prevent Inuyasha from coming into her room. Knowing her hanyou the way
that she did, she knew that the seals would be the only thing that would keep
him out. She didn’t like doing it, but she knew he would think himself immune
and just come barging in.
carry it and infect others. Inuyasha, I’m sorry.’
There was
another thump at her door, followed by another curse.
She wanted “Woman, “Kagome is “I’d let “And she’s “But I’m “You might There was “Why don’t “Okay,” he She felt His The rustle He was as “I left him “I had to. “Bah, they “He won’t “Pup’s “Your “It kills “But she “I He sighed “I know.” “I’ll get She heard “The tea She gave “Your She gave a “I’m here. “Then get She closed The next Her fever “Inuyasha?” “I’m here,” “Thank you She heard “Where were “Have you “Yes. He’s “Does “Yes, but She heard “What was “I… I lost “You did? “It was “I don’t He “I’m sure “His bottom “I “I guess. “I’m sure “Yeah,” he “I miss “I miss you “Then you “I “One day “Five days? “It’ll be “You should “Okay.” She huddled “Inuyasha!” “Your “Why did He looked She managed “You still She nodded. “I have to He nodded. Mama helped “He was “ Her mother She saw She woke She stayed He got her Her fever Her illness The It struck “What am I It had been A tender “You humans He sighed “And you For a “But I can’t She made a “ She roused “I wish She looked “Could you He smiled In the end Although There was Almost
to answer him, to explain why she’d locked him out, but she couldn’t find her
voice. Thankfully, she didn’t have to because she heard Mama gently telling him
what was going on.
what’s with the seals?”
very sick, Inuyasha. She needs her rest.”
her sleep!” he countered indignantly.
very worried about spreading her sickness to you or the others in your time.
She put the wards on her room to make sure you stayed away from her and
couldn’t be infected.”
fine. I never get sick!”
not show any signs, but you could carry the sickness to your time and give it
to others who would get sick. If that happened, it could be very bad. The
sickness Kagome has used to kill a lot of people before we had medicines for
it, and it still kills people today if they are weak and can’t fight off the
infection. She didn’t want toe the the risk,” she heard her mother explain
patiently.
silence, then Inuyasha asked softly, “How sick is she?
What does she have?”
you come with me? Kagome won’t rest if she can hear your voice and I have some
medical books downstairs. I’ll make some ramen and you can read about her
sickness, alright?”
finally said after a long pause.
the familiar tingle of his jyaki fade as he followed
her mother, and she was very proud of him for not banging on the door and
making a scene.
as sleep claimed her again.
hyper-aware of him and she woke feeling worse than she had before. Her head was
pounding and her whole body hurt all over. Not to mention the fact that she was
drenched with sweat and
of his clothes and the sound of his body sliding against the door told her that
he’d taken up the ‘guard’ position outside her room, but this confused her
because she didn’t know where Yukio was and she was worried about him. She
tried to speak, but found that she couldn’t form words. Thankfully
speak it.
hyper-aware of her as she was of him, and she knew he would be listening for
the slightest sound from her. Sure enough, she heard him move immediately.
with Kaede, and… don’t sit me, but the old woman and
the houshi sealed him in the hut.”
He would have tried to follow me if I hadn’t. Shippou went in with him so he’s
not alone in there.
she was concerned that Yukio would tear Kaede’s hut
apart.
can handle it. I told them to do what they had to do to subdue him and keep him
safe.”
hurt them. He knows what will happen if he does.”
terrified and screaming his head off. My poor baby.’
fine. It’s you who aren’t. Kagome, how are you feeling?”
mother let me read her books. This inn-flooo-enzaaa
is very bad.”
humans all the time.”
said you weren’t in any danger.”
understand now why you were so worried about others getting it.”
loud enough for her to hear. “That’s my Kagome, always thinking of others
before herself.”
leader-male. Mother-female keeps pack safe.:
mom to bring her more medicine.
her.”
him move and a few minutes later her mother came in with a cup of hot medicine
and a mug of hot herbal tea.
will help you sleep,” she said.
Mama a thankful nod and drank both cups. After she was finished, her mother
helped her into some clean pajamas and back into bed. The medicine started
working and she didn’t hurt so badly.
fever’s still high. If it’s still this high in the morning, I’m calling the
doctor.”
grunt of agreement and tucked her head under the covers. It had gotten to the
point where even her
a reassuring pat and left. A moment later, she heard Inuyasha settle his back
against her door again.
I won’t leave you,” came his soft voice through the
door.
some rest. You won’t get better if you don’t rest.”
her eyes, feeling safe because he was there and succumbed to sleep.
day, after sleeping almost fourteen hours straight, Mama brought her a mug of
thick liquid she knew too well. Sometime during her rest, Inuyasha had gathered
the ingredients and made his famous medicine for colds. Now that she knew what
was in it, she curled up her nose, but she also remembered how well it had
worked. She didn’t know what, if any, effect it would have on her flu, but she
was feeling so poorly that she was willing to give it a try. Besides, if she
didn’t drink it, Inuyasha would be offended and she didn’t want him to think
she was ungrateful.
had come down some but it was still hovering around 38° C. She took another
bath, this one a little warmer and changed into clean pajamas while her mother
stripped her bed, changed her sheets, and aired out and disinfected her room.
She didn’t see Inuyasha, but she could feel his jyaki
so she knew he was nearby. She heard him at the door just as soon as she was
settled back in bed.
she whispered.
came his immediate answer.
for the medicine.”
him snort and could almost visualize his blush. “I’ve told you before that it’s
nothing.”
you just now?”
it was safer for me to be down there.”
seen Yukio?”
fine. Hates me right now, but he’s fine.”
he smashed some of her buckets and almost burned it down by throwing stuff in
the fire pit.”
him sigh. “Yeah, but…”
don’t like the sound of his voice…’
it?”
my temper with him.”
What did you do?”
after I found out that he’d almost burned the hut down. He or Shippou or both
of them could have been seriously hurt before anyone got to them if someone
hadn’t been there.”
temper over something like that too.’
blame you for being upset. What did you do to him?”
hesitated, then replied slowly, “I… I spanked him.”
raised his hand to Yukio…’
you didn’t hurt him,” she assured him.
was all red. I gave him five good swats.”
just to humiliate me with a human punishment.”
five swats; probably a lot more…’
understand, but I think you did the right thing. If pinning him or
else. What he did was very dangerous and, you’re right, they could have been
badly hurt and Kaede could have lost her hut.”
He screamed and the villagers thought I was killing him. Kaede
was the one who had to tell them he was just being punished.”
than anything.’
it was hard for you.”
admitted.
you,” she told him suddenly.
too. Are you feeling any better?”
not as bad as it was. I’m tired though.”
should sleep.”
shouldn’t be contagious for much longer, then you can bring Yukio back here.”
before symptoms start and 5 days after is what the book said.”
Oh…” she answered sadly. ‘Five
more days until I can see Inuyasha and Yukio again.’
alright. What’s important is that you get better.”
get some sleep. I’ll still be here when you wake.”
under the covers and snuggled into her pillow, imagining that it was Inuyasha
she was holding, and fell asleep. When she woke twelve hours later, it was to a
pair of concerned golden eyes looking down at her.
she gasped hoarsely, alarmed to see him in her room, then
realized he was wearing a surgical mask. He was also dressed in his sweat pants
and, to her dismay, a red Big Dog shirt she had bought for him and planned to
surprise him with. She had taken black fabric paint and written “I’m the” in
kanji on the shirt so it said “I’m the Big Dog” half in Japanese and half in
English.
mother said it would be okay for me to come in if I wore these clothes and put
this thing on my face. I’m supposed to wash my hands if I touch you too,” he
explained.
she let you in?” she whispered, her throat dry and scratchy.
away. “The old man kept tripping over me on the way to the bathroom.”
a small smile as he put his hand on her forehead.
have a fever,” he said with a frown.
She was still sweating and shivering, and she still hurt all over.
Unfortunately, she also had to urinate rather badly.
go to the bathroom.”
“I’ll call for your mother,” he said, getting up.
her to the bathroom and then got her into yet another set of clean pajamas
because the ones she was wearing were soaked with sweat.
fretting so much and Jii-chan banged into him twice,”
Mama explained. “I felt it was safe as long as he wore the mask and put on
clean clothes.”
nodded and said nothing.
that he’d opened the window to let in some air, but closed it to cut off the
draft when she came back in. Mama gave her another dose of medicine and
Inuyasha made her drink a glass of water, then both he and her mother tucked
her back into bed, arranging the blankets and fluffing her pillows, and she
found how they fussed over her like two mother hens highly amusing. Once she
was settled, her mother left and Inuyasha sat with his back against her bed.
She fell asleep to the feel of his hand rubbing her leg.
briefly in the middle of the night to see a black-haired human Inuyasha keeping
vigil by her bed. Mentally she wondered how she had lost track of the days and
forgotten that tonight was the new moon, but figured her illness gave her
enough of an excuse. He looked silly sitting there in modern clothes with
tied around his face, but she was smart enough not to let him know that.
awake long enough to go to the bathroom, take more medicine and drink another
glass of water. Inuyasha helped her through all of it, his touch warm and
gentle, and she wanted desperately to cuddle with him and, oddly, make love.
She didn’t know how she could possibly want him because she was feeling
terrible and exhausted, but her body tingled at his touch and for once she was
thankful that he didn’t have his hanyou nose, otherwise he would have smelled
her arousal.
back into bed and she sent him on a conjured up errand to make her some eggs
and tea which gave her enough time to quickly take care of her problem before
he got back. As soon as she was finished, lonely though it may have been to be
by herself, she realized that the release actually
made her feel somewhat better and she was glad she had given in to the urge. By
the time Inuyasha got back with the eggs and tea, she was half-asleep. She
roused herself enough to eat the food and thank him before she rolled over, tucked
herself under her blankets and conked out.
finally broke in the morning, and she spent the next three days coughing and
aching with Inuyasha fretting and worrying over her. The longer her sickness
dragged on, even though she assured him that she was getting better, the more
he fussed and hovered. But she did have to give him credit for his
understanding and patience. In all the times he helped her dress and undress,
he never once touched her intimately or even hinted at anything untoward. This of
course only meant that she would really be in for it when she was up to making
love again, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to mind too much.
also hammered the final nail into Yukio’s weaning coffin as her milk dried up
completely during her convalescence. She knew he’d be terribly upset but there
really wasn’t anything she could do. Her body had no choice but to re-route
resources towards fighting the virus raging inside of her,
and her milk was one of the functions that was sacrificed for the good of the
cause. Her son was still confined in Kaede’s hut,
although Inuyasha did go to see him every day, and they both agreed to bring
him just as soon as the danger of contagious illness was over.
aftermath of the flu wiped her out, and she spent long hours sleeping, only to
wake up coughing. Her mother had arranged pillows so that she could sleep
sitting up, and that helped a little. Her cough was more bark than bite, but
she knew every time she went into another fit it distressed Inuyasha terribly.
He hated to her her struggling to breathe, and felt helpless when nothing he
did made it any better. She remembered from the last time she had been sick how
her cough had affected him. If there was one thing that had made him fret and
blanch, it was the sound of her coughing. The fever, chills and sweating were
of obvious concern to him, but her cough always made his eyes go wide and his
face turn a little paler.
her that she didn’t know how his mother had died, but his reaction to her
illness made her wonder if Izayoi had died of a
coughing illness. If that was the case, then the fear of her cough came from
Inuyasha’s old memories of his mother and part of him still associated coughing
with death. She tried to console him, to reassure him that she was in no danger
of getting worse or dying, and while she knew he understood that she was going
to be fine, a nameless fear still lurked behind his eyes that she could not
make go away.
going to do with you, koishii? You cough and cough,
and you tell me you’re getting better but I can hear the rattle in your lungs,”
his whispered voice filtered down into her half-conscious brain.
four days and she was still exhausted from just breathing.
hand brushed the hair from her sweaty brow and she pretended to remain asleep.<
<
are so fragile. How did you ever take over the world? You must have done it by
numbers alone because you’re no match for the strength and power of a
and she did her best to stay very still.
die so quickly. My life will have barely begun when yours is over. You will be
old and gray before I even reach full maturity, and you won’t live to see our
pups grow into full adults. What will we do without you? What will I do without
you? Every day I fall for you more deeply and more hopelessly, but I know our
time together will be so short compared to the years I will have to live alone.
I don’t know how I will stand the pain of your loss. Will I follow you in
death, or will I spend my long life searching for your reincarnation so that we
can be together again?”
these things. All this time, I have been worried about the well sealing or Kikyou
taking him away from me, but Inuyasha… I know I’ll never have to live without
him, but he… he’ll live for centuries. He’ll have to go on when I am long
dead.’
moment she felt such sorrow for him. No matter how long she lived, he was still
doomed to lose her because her lifespan would never match his. For all the
years and time they would have together, his hair would still be silver and his
face still young when her bones had disintegrated into dust. It seemed so
unfair and horribly tragic. How did he stand knowing that he would live for
hundreds of years after her death?
think about these things. You would think it so strange for me to have deep
thoughts and I would hurt you with things you have no power to change.”
not for me; hurt for my hanyou who found love with a human only to lose her to
Time. Oh my Inuyasha. My poor Inuyasha.’
show of muttering and was shocked to feel his mask-covered lips kiss her brow.
but after that… I can’t sleep anymore.’
slowly, inwardly smiling at his attempts to get her to go back to sleep. He
shushed and petted her hair, trying to soothe her, but his attempts were in
vain as another coughing fit ripped its way out of her throat. She saw his eyes
cloud and knew he was frowning under the mask, as he helped support her and
patted her back.
you’d stop coughing,” he admitted.
at him and gave him a weak smile. “Me too.”
that’s for the best. He would just get embarrassed and try to pick a fight.’
get Mama? I need more medicine.”
at her and nodded, standing immediately and going to get her mother. She
watched him go.
promise I’ll make what time we do have together memorable enough to last you a
hundred lifetimes, Inuyasha. At least until we can find each other again.’
Kagome was bed-ridden for ten days, and spent the next week recovering.
Inuyasha brought Yukio to her as soon as they were certain she was no longer
contagious, and the toddler- traumatized by his ordeal of being forced away
from her and sealed in the old miko’s hut- clung to
her so tightly that she nicknamed him her ‘Velcro baby.’ There was a new
wariness of Inuyasha in his eyes as well, a shade that came into them whenever
his father first approached. She knew Yukio’s fear of him hurt Inuyasha and she
was glad when the fear faded after a few days of things being back to ‘normal.’
she tried to listen carefully every time he thought she was asleep, nothing was
ever said about his whispered words that one morning and he didn’t repeat them.
She even thought she might have dreamed that he had called her his beloved
bee she she couldn’t imagine him letting such a thing slip, but then she
decided that it couldn’t have been a dream because she had heard everything he
had said afterwards. Knowing that he had said it, even though he thought she
couldn’t hear him, made her heart glad and she contented herself with the hope
that one day he would say them to her willingly while she was awake.
no real rush to return to the Sengoku Jidai because
the weather there still restricted travel, but concern for how her friends were
faring during the harsh winter spurred her on and gave her an incentive to get
better as soon as possible. Under Inuyasha’s watchful eye and her mother’s
tender care, she regained the weight she had lost during her illness and built
up her strength.
three weeks to the day after she had fallen ill, she, Inuyasha and Yukio
returned to the Sengoku Jidai to be with their
friends and to resume the life they had made for each other there.