InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Finding Kagome ❯ Chapter Fourteen ( Chapter 14 )

A/N: I don't own them, but I love them. I get no recompense for my imaginings, beyond the fun of playing with them. Please do Review, I would like to know if anyone else is enjoying this besides me!

 

ALSO: I am no artist, but oh I wish I could see some fan art of some of the earlier scenes... any takers?

 

 

 

 

 

FINDING KAGOME

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Fourteen

 

 

 

Michael and Ouna sat in a small waiting area that was nothing more than a group of bench-chairs placed in a wide hallway. Michael picked at the lint on the sleeve of his turtleneck, occasionally glancing up and down the hallway. Ouna sat serenely two seats away with her purse and sweater on the chair between them, as she watched the young counselor fidget. Having all faith in her old friend, she knew her daughter was in good hands. She sat debating on just what she should tell this young man, about what she suspected.

 

“This is just so strange...” Michael broke the silence.

 

“What do you mean?” she inquired.

 

“Kagome was just fine yesterday, everything was normal...” he attempted to explain. “She said that she had never noticed anything amiss, not until today. And it came with all those strange symptoms.” He looked to Ouna, who though was attentive to what he was saying, still seemed to be in thought.

 

“Sometimes it's like that,” she responded. “One day, a person wakes up to find a lump under their arm, or on their neck. We don't listen to our bodies enough these days... everyone is always in such a hurry to go here... do that... and it sneaks up on us.”

 

“Hm... true,” and he stretched his arms up, relieving some of the tension. “What about those demons though. Ouna-sama, that encounter really frightened Kagome. She told me about last night, putting sutra on her door and windows, then that limousine.” He shook his head looking back in his mind. “That limo just gave me the creeps, but to suggest that there were... demons....”and he looked at the woman, who was nodding.

 

“There is much that you don't know, Michael. Much that we all don't know. However, if what I suspect is true, there could be an explanation for at least some of it,” and she looked at him, considering.

 

“What is it that you aren't telling me, Ouna?” He demanded, sitting forward in his seat with his arms on his knees, hands clasped.

 

“Kagome has been fascinated with the stories of the adventures of the Miko and the Hanyou all of her life. To her it was like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty would be for most other little girls. But in all the telling, some important points were... omitted.” Ouna watched his eyes very closely as she continued. “For instance... you know the basic story, right?” And he nodded. “Where did that Sacred Jewel come from to begin with? Do you know?” He shook his head slowly, a look of confusion on his face.

 

“Has this got something to do with Feudal Era Demons?” he asked as he rubbed his chin.

 

“Very much so...” and her eyes began to sparkle, as she adjusted her seat to begin a story.

 

“This is very ancient, mind you...” she prefaced. “There once was very powerful miko, who's calling it was, was to stop the senseless destruction and chaos brought on by the great number of ruthlessly violent youkai of the world. At first she attempted reason, and when that failed, she began a holy war to cease their destruction of mankind.” The expression on her face was gravely serious.

 

“Ouna, the expression on your face suggests that you don't see this as any fairy tale...” he observed.

 

“Michael, to my family none of these... stories... are fairy tales. Not to the elders generations. The stories have been lightened up for telling to children, but all of it has a basis in... fact.”

 

Michael raised a brow, sitting back in his chair. There certainly was... something... wrong with that limo. But demons??

 

“The priestess fought long and hard for many years, trying to subdue the youkai, then finally one day she found herself cornered, and alone, and surrounded by an evil horde which wanted only her destruction.” Being the great story teller, she looked around with a frantic expression, playing out the part. She then put her hands together as in prayer, “She pulled upon all of her powers of purification, and she had great power! But she knew that she alone could not stop them. She called out to her Kami for intercession, and as the power grew in her, she called for the youkai to STOP!” She held out her hands fingers spread. “She released more energy than the world had ever been seen from any one human being. It was her last act in this world.” She had become very animated in the telling of the story. At the last words she stilled and drew back to her original serene pose.

 

“Did it work? Did it stop them??” He was getting into this.

 

“Indeed she did,” and she smiled, “but it was at the cost of her own life.”

 

Michael pondered on this for few moments.

 

“Ouna, what has this to do with Kagome?”

 

“Well...” and she paused, considering. She then looked at him with an almost blank expression. Looking away, explained. “The result of Midoriko's sacrifice, was... interesting. It froze the entirety of the battle into stone, all those demons frozen in place, and in the midst of them her own figure like a statue. But... inside... her heart was compressed, and then sealed with a measure of that great energy which she had called upon...” and she turned to him again. “That, dear Michael, was the birth of the Shikon no Tama.”

 

“So it was really the heart of a warrior priestess?” he was fascinated. “So the miko and the dog boy were seeking the pieces of someone's heart...” his analytical mind going into full gear, he could see how this was a parable about love, but not just the love of two people. It was love for all of mankind.

 

“In a sense, yes... however,” she continued, “the Jewel was a power unto itself, and needed protection. Each individual shard contained some of that power. And leads us into the rest of the story.”

 

“Is that where Kagome's namesake comes in?”and he watched her smile.

 

“You could say that...” and curiously she went quiet.

 

“What has that got to do with all of ... this??” His face sported an incredulous look, as he motioned generally around himself.

 

“Maybe nothing...” she replied. “Maybe... everything...”

 

“There's more that you aren't telling me, I can see that,” and he knew when he was outclassed. She wasn't going to tell him any more until she was good and ready. So they again sat in silence, waiting, as he began picking the lint on his other sleeve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

It was a windowless room, smelling slightly of antiseptic, and Kagome did not like it... not at all. She had weighed her alternatives, and this was the least of the evils she had to choose from. The doctor was an old family friend, more a colleague of her mother's, and trusted. So what did she have to worry about?

 

He's going to cut on me with a KNIFE!!

 

She started to panic, her eyes darting around, as she tried to think of a way to get around this. But there was no other alternative. There was something stuck in her, how she had not an inkling of an idea. But that... something... had to be removed.

 

“Well, better now than when we are all in the middle of the production, or interrupting school,” she vocalized with a sigh. But there wasn't anyone there to listen to it.

 

She lay back on the table, feeling self-conscious about not having anything on under the paper sheet spread over her from the waist down. Tentatively, she reached down to touch the lump with her fingers. The feel of the thing gave her the creeps, and not knowing how it got there scared her. She thought of the stories she had heard about alien implants, and shuddered.

 

Her mother seemed incredibly calm about the whole thing. Like she knew something that no one else did... maybe she does. There was so much that her mother had not told her, because she refused to listen when it came down to it. Like demons. She never thought that she would actually encounter youkai. Or feel the need to use those sutras that her mother had made for her. She was going to have to ask her to make more, if for nothing more than the sense of trying to protect herself, somehow. How does one really protect themselves against demons??

 

This is taking too long, I wish they would hurry the heck up.

 

Right on cue, the door opened and entered the good Dr. Feldman. He had a number of articles with him, which he set out on a stainless steel tray, on top of a thin sheet of paper. Four of those articles were hypodermic needles, rather large. He glanced up and smiled at Kagome.

 

“This shouldn't take long. Just lay back, while I examine you.” and his fingers were cold, as he touched her abdomen, feeling for the precise location of the... lump. “Ok, Kagome... you are going to feel a little pinch,” as he grabbed one of the hypos, which had grown in size to monstrous proportions, at least to Kagome's perception. She gritted her teeth, and a nurse came in the door, with more supplies.

She felt the injection, but only briefly, and a sigh of relief escaped her as she tried to relax on the too hard examination table.

 

She closed her eyes, and brought up the image of Goshinboku, finding that the tree was not alone in her minds eye, as warm amber eyes seemed to cross fade with it. Breathing deeply, she practiced her tension relief technique deep cleansing breaths. Soon it would be over, and she could just enjoy her stay at the retreat with her mother, perhaps get her to explain more about those demons, and how to avoid them. And what about this doctor? Maybe she would inquire as to her mother's love life... or not. Maybe that was just something that was none of her business.

 

She felt pressure against her groin, and short tug.

 

“Forceps please,” from the doctor, and she opened her eyes to a nod from the nurse, as she handed them to him. Kagome would not look, she didn't want to see a hole in her middle. “Sponge,” from the doctor, and the nurse complied.

 

“WOW!!” the nurse exclaimed.

 

“Huh?” Kagome looked around with shock and worry as she heard something clink into a small porcelain basin. The nurse was gazing into the basin with wide eyed wonder.

 

“Ok Kagome, all that's left is the sutures,” she heard the doctor say. “Please lay back, hon.”

 

She hadn't realized that she was pulling up, trying to see what it was that had the nurse so mesmerized. She laid back and again brought up her Tree... and those eyes... which seem to have become a permanent fixture in her visualization.

 

“I'm going to clean this up. This is the prettiest damn tumor I have ever seen!!” Exclaimed the nurse.

 

“After you do, show it to Ouna,” he instructed her. “She's got her finger on some interesting theories, she might have an idea as to how it got there.”

 

“Hey... I'm here, you know,” Kagome muttered as she felt the alternate push and tug of the needle in her groin.

 

“Oh sorry, Kagome,” apologized the doctor. “We are just so used to people being under at this point, and you had your eyes closed...” he trailed off.

 

“What was it?? What was that lump??” she demanded.

 

“Well...” and he thought about how to word his description. Looking into the young woman's eyes, he stopped sewing for a moment. “It was like.... like an iridescent marble... only shooter sized.”

 

“Huh??” Kagome responded stupidly.

 

“That's what showed up on the MRI, it's like... it glows...” he turned back to finish his work on her abdomen. “I've never seen anything like it...” wonder in his voice. “The strange thing is your mom didn't seem surprised at seeing it, was just anxious to get it taken care of ASAP.” He dabbed at the small incision, and then picked up an over sized band aid, placing it over the sutures. “I think she knows something that she isn't talking about, personally. But that's not surprising. You can sit up now.”

 

Kagome looked down to see the band aid patch on her lower left abdomen, then carefully sat up, not feeling anything at all in that area.

 

“Oooo, it's still numb,” she observed.

 

“It will be for a while yet, when you get home use this on it twice a day for the next four days or so.” He handed her a small tube. “There should be minimal scarring, just take it easy, no tight clothes for a few days, and no exposure to the sun. Not for six months.”

 

Kagome looked at him incredulously. “That's not an area that sees the sun to begin with,” she informed him.

 

“Well, you never know,” and he shrugged. “I have seen bathing suits that wouldn't cover that spot. You can get dressed now, I'm sure your mom wants to see that you are still in one piece,” and he grinned as he left the room.

 

“Hn,” was her only response.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

“Ouna!! Take a look at this!!” Came the excited voice of a nurse as she approached the waiting area. She stopped and eyed Micheal, unsure as whether to continue, holding something behind her back.

 

“Oh good grief, Renee`,” Ouna responded as she rose from her seat. “He's practically family. What have you got there?”

 

The nurse brought around the specimen jar that she had held away from view, holding it up for them like a hand model, eyes still wide with wonder.

 

“Have you ever seen anything like this??” She asked in awe.

 

Ouna's eyes grew wide, and a smile played on her lips as she examined the radiant sphere within the specimen jar. She muttered, “not in this lifetime, I haven't.”

 

“My Gods... This came out of our little Kagome??” Michael was beside himself, as he got up to peer into the jar.

 

“Michael,” Ouna turned to him. “I present to you, the Shikon no Tama.”

 

And his eyes went wide.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *