InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ First Class Dog ❯ Kampo ( Chapter 14 )

Hey, guys, sorry about the delay in posting a new chapter but I had thoughts for my “Cats and Dogs” story itching to get written. The only way for me to get out of my writer's block for this chapter was to get that one hashed out. Regardless, I apologize for the delay. Enjoy!

Note: Before anyone asks there are 7-11's in Asia. I remember frequenting one when I lived in Taiwan over the summer a few years back and I vaguely recall there being 7-11's when we stayed in Japan for a couple of weeks, too. As a side note KFC's are all over the place in Kaohsiung. I thought that was pretty funny. Kentucky fried Chinese food, anyone?

Note: Kampo is a tradition of using combinations of herbs to cure various maladies. It's a practice that originated in China and supposedly moved to Japan in the fourth or fifth centuries so I'm assuming that Kampo might have been in practice during the warring states period. Hence, why I'm guessing Inu Yasha might be knowledgeable of it.

Last Note: I know this chapter is short but they'll have a very good morning in the next chapter; I promise. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge; say no more.

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Kagome had regained consciousness with a brutal headache. She sported an ugly lump on her forehead from the previous night where she had smashed heads with the hard-headed hanyou. Unfortunately, the miko had also run out of Tylenol for her headache.

The half-demon insisted that he go out and retrieve the substance on her behalf. Initially, Kagome refused. However, her tune changed when she tried to don a baseball cap to cover the welt and found that her bruised skin would not tolerate such pressure. She knew she could not step out in public with a big bruise on her head because people would ask questions and the gods only knew how troublesome those could be for a half-demon and his girlfriend.

In quick succession she imagined the police assuming she was a battered woman, then arresting Inu Yasha, then finding his dog-demon signature ears—oh gods—that would be awful! With that terrifying thought she finally allowed him to brave the modern world alone. What trouble could he possibly get into anyway?

Thankful that he was able to convince her to rest, the dog-demon quickly made his way down to the lobby and then out into the street. Kagome had given him instructions to purchase the medication at a near by 7-11. The two had gone there several times before for various snacks and beverages when they did not feel like dining out so he had no trouble locating the shop again. Locating the medication turned out to be a more difficult problem.

The miko had made two mistakes when describing the Tylenol container. First she had told him to look for a bottle with a red label but failed to specify what the label might look like. In the medicine aisle (which he had to be directed to with help from the kindly clerk) there were dozens of bottles with red labels. Her second mistake was assuming the stubborn half-demon would ask for help twice. He would not. Feeling that he had already used up more of the clerk's time than necessary for such a stupid assignment, Inu Yasha decided to give up looking when he could not decide which bottle meant what.

That still left him with a problem. Where would he get headache medicine for Kagome? He stroked his chin for a moment in contemplation; then snapped his fingers. A Kampo herbal tea would do the trick and he knew exactly where to get the ingredients. On their way back from shopping district a few days ago Inu Yasha had noticed an outdoor herb vendor. He thanked the gods for his excellent memory and quickly made his way there.

The vendor carried plenty of Kampo ingredients and had even recommended a special herbal tea for headaches. He was an elderly gentleman who was impressed with Inu Yasha's knowledge of Kampo. The old man went on to complain that most youngsters in his days had no knowledge of natural remedies and then prattled on about how the world just wasn't the same anymore, et cetera, et cetera… The demon was in no mood for long-winded stories but still managed to thank and pay the man with the cash originally intended for the Tylenol.

As he walked away several men brushed past him. They wore ridiculously colored suits and had dyed their hair strange colors. The dog-demon found it odd but kept walking until his sensitive ears picked up the sounds of the men, young by the pitch of their voices, harassing the old vendor.

“Come on, buddy. We're only askin' for some change for a ride back home.”

“You are not. I saw what you did with my money last time, you young hooligans!” The old codger shouted.

“I said `a ride' I didn't say what it meant.”

“You meant `riding high' I'm not giving you a red cent, you got that?”

“Fine then, we'll just take it by force.”

That was enough for the hanyou. Using his demonic strength he jumped clear over the young punks to land neatly between them and the old man.

“Your voices give me a damn headache, so shut the hell up.”

The men laughed. Five against one seemed too easy a fight, especially against a man who, while sporting some nasty-looking fingernails, seemed otherwise weak. Two of the men revealed switchblades, to which the dog-demon rolled his eyes. The other three pulled out strange, stumpy oblong objects painted black. They were not sharp at all and he had to wonder what kind of moron brought some tiny clubs and a couple of dinner knives to a fight against a demon.

The old man had taken to hiding behind his cart while the two knife fighters closed in. They were quickly laid out with some swift swats to the head—he had been `gentle' so that the injuries would not be fatal—since he knew Kagome would sit him forever if he killed anyone in her world.

The half-demon had not even broken a sweat when a loud popping sound issued. Three more pops followed in quick succession as projectiles tore through his torso. They burned like liquid fire on the way in and he cursed loudly from the searing pain. Two more shots issued from the gang bangers until, to their horror, Inu Yasha reacted in a way they had never anticipated. The hanyou was hurt, to be sure, he was bleeding all over the place—yet he still stood! As they looked on dumbstruck he cursed again while looking down at his clothes.

“Damn it! My woman is going to KILL me for ruining these clothes! Look what you did! Do you know how many sits I'm going to get for this, do you?”

Fury boiled in his golden eyes as he staggered towards them, cracking his knuckles. He was certain all the blood wouldn't wash out of a white shirt; not to mention it would be hell to try and sew up all the holes from the projectile weapon. The entire time he agonized over his clothing the punks were slowly backing away.

“H-Hey man… you're uh… you shouldn't be talking man. What the hell are you?” One of the punks stuttered.

“Your worst nightmare, that's what damn it!” He shouted back.

That was enough to send them running. To them Inu Yasha must have looked like some sort of terrifyingly bloody monster. Anything that could stand with so many bullet holes inside them had to be either crazy or inhuman. Sputtering apologies as they scrambled away the men vanished from the scene. In the distance Inu Yasha could hear sirens. Kagome had told him that those meant that the authorities that she did not want involved would be coming to investigate the noises; someone near by must have reported it, too. Without a sound the dog-demon took off. He had to get out of there before those other men arrived. Bleeding badly and knowing it would scare other humans; the hanyou took to the rooftops of buildings and hid among the trees, slowly and painfully making his way back to the hotel.

At the entrance to the hotel he faced another dilemma. He sat in a tree across the street from the building and watched it while he tried to get his mind, dizzy from blood loss, to keep thinking. If he went in through the lobby in his current condition he would certainly freak out everyone else. That would be bad. Instead Inu Yasha decided that he ought to just stay in his perch and heal up. It irritated him that Kagome would not get her tea but scaring the public was a larger threat to them than a mild headache. With a grunt he leaned back against the tree where the branch he was perched on met the main split.

He had not been sitting there long when he saw Shiro emerge with two young girls on each arm, fawning over him. He stopped in mid-stride and turned his head this way and that. The half-demon had caught the scent of Inu Yasha's blood. He gave the girls some money and quickly made up an excuse about business to excuse his departure. As soon as they had boarded the limo intended for the three of them Shiro stalked across the street to the tree and leaned nonchalantly against it. He whispered softly, knowing that the demon's sensitive ears would easily pick up their discussion.

“It seems like you've been in a little fight. I know you don't trust me but dad never allowed us to turn down a demon in distress.”

Inu Yasha made no reply so Shiro continued, “I'm going to throw my jacket up to you. Take it and put it over yourself. That way you'll be covered so you can walk in through the lobby. Can you make it that far?”

There was a quite grunt of affirmation from the hanyou and the Baines boy threw his jacket up into the tree. As quietly as he could the half demon painfully shrugged on the coat and zipped it up to his throat, temporarily covering up all the blood. It would only be a matter of time before it seeped right through. Still, he couldn't ignore a chance to get inside. Besides, it was not in Shiro's best interest to out a demon in the middle of his father's hotel—especially with his father actually there.

Without a moment's hesitation he slipped down out of the tree and onto the ground. Immediately the kitsune hanyou placed a leaf on top of his head and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again the man threw his arm around the dog-demon and murmured to him.

“Lean on me. To everyone else you and I will just look very drunk. No one can see the blood with my magic working, got it?”

He nodded, barely conscious. Shiro Baines found that he was mostly carrying Inu Yasha most of the way across the street and through the lobby, singing raucous Irish drinking songs to keep up the idea that they were drunk and he had merely passed out.

“C'mon… you got `ta hold `yer beer better!” He hollered while the staff purposely ignored them. The hotel workers knew better than to bother any Baines relative who was having a good time. When he got into the elevator he indicated to the attendant that the two should be taken up to his apartment and Kagome should be summoned, along with his father, there as well.

By the time Shiro was safely inside his apartment Inu Yasha was completely unconscious. Ikume was already there, holding a silver briefcase, and she informed him that Shippo was on his way to get Kagome. Her brother set the demon down on one of his couches. The pretty blonde descended on the hanyou, several metallic instruments in hand. Shippo had tried to teach both of his children how to treat injuries but only Ikume had taken a strong enough interest to continue learning more than basic medicine. Shippo had wanted his children to learn these things specifically to treat demons. He had lived through several demonic witch hunts and the injured demons left in its' wake had taught him that demons had to know how to treat their own, kill or be killed was no longer an option.

Ikume quickly went to work on the demon. Her pointed fox ears appeared as she allowed her claws to form on her fingers, using them to cut through Inu Yasha's shirt. She then turned him from side to side, checking to see which bullets had gone completely through and which ones had not. Ikume ignored the through-and-through wounds; those would heal on their own. However, demonic healing did not do so well with foreign bodies. The tiny metal fragments would be slowly pushed out as the wounds around it closed up, forcing old wounds to re-open and bleed fresh. As the bullet was slowly pushed out it caused fresh internal bleeding which often led to a demon's demise from blood loss.

Ikume had extracted one of the three lodged bullets from the hanyou when Shippo and Kagome burst in. Upon seeing the female kitsune with a holding a bullet with one of her tools the miko decided that she was about to do something terrible to him and attempted to launch herself at the woman. Shippo grabbed her around the waist before she could get that far.

“No, Kagome, she's saving him.” He murmured soothingly, his grip was firm, yet gentle.

“Please, let me go!” She cried.

The desperation in her voice caused Shippo to immediately release her. She stumbled over to him where Shiro motioned her to kneel by his head; out of Ikume's way. She fell to her knees and placed her shaking hands on his forehead. His skin felt strangely cool and clammy. With her gentle contact Inu Yasha's golden pools slowly opened, grimacing immediately as Ikume pulled out a second bullet which had lodged against one of his ribs. He opened his mouth to speak but was silenced with a finger to his lips from the miko.

“Shh… I don't want you talking right now, okay? Just let Ikume do her thing.”

He nodded and closed his eyes again, seeing Kagome's face had greatly relieved the dog demon. Meanwhile Ikume grunted with exertion as she struggled with the last bullet which had gone in through one of his sides and then had become lodged when it tried to exit near where the second bullet had become stuck in his ribs. After some finagling the kitsune hanyou was able to yank it free. After a few minutes of carefully monitoring the wounds Ikume announced that Inu Yasha would be fine. Shippo then stepped in to bandage his wounds. The wounds were already beginning to heal as he worked but he wanted to stop any more blood from flowing while he carried the demon back down to their room. Shiro dismissed all the staff from the halls and had them blocked off beforehand so that their journey to their room was uneventful.

Once Inu Yasha was deposited safely on their bed in their room Shippo sat down next to her on the couch in the living area. He ran his fingers through his hair for a moment, and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully before he began.

“I want you to keep an eye on him tonight. I'll talk to Shiro tonight and find out what happened. Ikume said Shiro thinks he got mugged and I think he's right—but obviously, we won't know for sure until otou—er…Inu Yasha—wakes up.”

He paused until Kagome nodded mutely, and then continued, “My people will be keeping an eye on you guys tonight. You won't see anyone, but they'll be there. Get some rest tonight. Call me when he wakes up, okay?”

She nodded again. The miko had been quiet ever since Inu Yasha had spoken to her. Shippo could only guess that she was still numb from the shock over the whole ordeal. Suddenly, Kagome reached out and pulled the kitsune in for a tight hug.

“Thank you, Shippo.”

He gave her a squeeze back. “There's nothing you need to thank me for. I wouldn't have survived without you two.”

With that he pulled away, as he did so he gave her a pat on her shoulder. “Go on and keep an eye on Inu Yasha. Good night, Kagome.”

As soon as Shippo had left she returned to the bedroom. Inu Yasha's brow was furrowed as he slept until he picked up Kagome's scent. Immediately, his face softened. He was naked from the waist up except for the bandages and his khaki pants were a bloody mess. The blood had dried so it would not mess up the sheets but she knew he should not be sleeping with them on. For a few minutes she argued with herself internally but finally made up her mind to change his clothes. She tried to remove his pants without getting too close to him, fearful he might awaken. The belt was easy enough to get off and she was slightly amused to find that he had been running about with his fly undone all day long. Getting the pants down turned out to be a far more difficult task. She tried to pull them down by tugging on the cuffs at his ankles; however, they seemed to be snagged on something. The miko tugged and tugged until she heard a small ripping sound and gasped, looking up to find the source of the noise. What she found was a pair of claws dug into the belt of his pants and golden eyes staring down at her.

“What the hell are you doing, woman?” He mumbled.

The tearing sound she had heard had issued from his claws as he had tried in his sleep to keep his pants up. At the time he had been dreaming that Shippo was trying to pants him for some reason. Kagome's struggling and grumbling had finally shaken him from his sleep enough to realize Shippo's prank had been just a dream. However, he wasn't sure Kagome disrobing him was not entirely a dream as well. It seemed far too good to be true.

“I… uh… er… well…” She stumbled over her words, completely surprised and utterly flabbergasted. “You were hurt.”

“Yeah, so?”

That made her angry. “Well you were out cold and I couldn't have you getting the bed all bloody, you big idiot!”

“It's dried already and you know that! I'll be fine, woman, leave me alone and let me sleep!” He retorted; the fog of sleep banished from his mind.

Kagome yanked on his pants again. “I'm not letting you sleep in those bloody things! You can't sleep like that!”

The dog-demon sat up suddenly then grimaced, though it did not stop him from arguing anyway, “I'll sleep however I damn well please!”

“Yeah and run off to gods know where, and get into fights and get hurt and I didn't even know…” She shook slightly as she said it, hot tears slid down her cheeks unchecked. Her crying floored him. The miko had obviously been worried about him.

“Shit. S-stop that. I didn't mean to. I was trying to—damn it!” With that he crawled over the bed to the foot where she stood and reached out and wrapped her up in his arms.

“What were you thinking? I was so scared!” She sniffled but remained in his grasp.

He sighed and related the whole series of unfortunate events to her. By the time the story was said and done they sat in the living area, still holding one another. Inu Yasha finally concluded his story.

“…So that was how I ended up in the tree. I hate to say it but if it wasn't for that punk Shiro I might still be stuck in that tree.”

As he finished speaking he fumbled around in his pants pocket until he produced the small package of tea leaves. It had somehow managed to stay completely blood-free.

“Now I think I've got a headache.” He grumbled, holding the bridge of his nose. The miko patted his knee, stood up, and took the package from his hand.

“I'll tell you what. You go get changed, get washed, and while you're doing that I'll brew this tea. I think we both deserve a little relief.”

The dog-demon was not about to argue with her logic and thus grabbed up a t-shirt and the shorts he wore to bed; then disappeared into the bathroom. There was a small half-kitchen within their room, complete with a sink and tea kettle. While Inu Yasha showered away all the blood the miko set about boiling the water. By the time he emerged from the bathroom Kagome had just begun to set two cups of hot tea down on the coffee table. They sat down next to each other and sipped appreciatively at their tea.

Finally, exhausted from the long and hard day; the two retired to bed.