InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pill Poppers Anonymous ❯ Down the E-Wing ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha

chihiro-san: HOWDY!!!!! Hello all you happy people! How are you today? Well, I just gotta say that I'm EXCITED!! This fic is gonna be so…much…fun! I won't have as much fun as I did with writing `That's Show Business', but oh well! This is another real-life ficcy, so if you don't like them, then I'm not your author! Buh-bye!

~*~*~*~

"Mother! Mother!" screamed Sota Higurashi. The young teen dashed into a kitchen that seemed appropriately designed if one desired the "ancient shrine" touch to their home. Lucky for the Higurashis that their home was an ancient shrine, or else the décor would be completely off. Either way, Dr. Higurashi was bent double over an open oven. She swept the backing contents with her eyes before raising them to her son.

"What is it, dear?" she asked. Worry etched her glistening brow, but her son's was twice as laden with concern.

"It's Kagome!" he whimpered. His mother almost leapt upright she was so shocked.

"What symptom and for how long?" she curtly gulped. Sota recognized the tone of voice that his mother had chosen. It was her "no-nonsense, let-me-see-the-patient" voice.

"When I went to check on her yesterday she was in bed, staring at a wall. I just went back in and she was still there, staring." His mother's breath caught in her chest. She shook her head in disbelief before sighing reluctantly. It was time for her to face the facts. She couldn't help her daughter anymore.

"Hand me the phone, please, dear," Dr. Higurashi murmured as she flopped resignedly down onto one of the dining room cushions. The weight of the world was in her voice, and Sota could tell that Kagome would be leaving. He felt the same sorrow escape his mother's lips the last time his sister had to leave for Nice Intentions. It was the sorrow of a woman without any other option except the one she'd avoided forever. He hung his head, slowly lifted the phone from its cradle, and handed it to his mom. Dr. Higurashi dialed with one hand and clutched her forehead with the other.

"Hello?" she finally rasped. Her gaze was distant as she massaged her lined brow. "Yes, hello Sango, it's me. Listen, I…This is very hard for us, but…my daughter's slipping again. Yes, I know. I know. No, you don't have to do th-When did he quit? Why did no one inform me of this? Well, who will take his place?" Her voice became angrier and more business-like as the conversation picked up. It was always that way. His mother was the frail, sweet, kind type until someone got her riled up in a debate. Sota pitied the fool who argued with his mother; she fought with a verbal hellfire that could singe the hair off a Harvard graduate.

"I don't care. Sango, listen to me: I-DON'T-CARE. You come to ME if someone quits… No, I'm not going to fire you, just tell me: who will be taking Doctor Hashu's place? No, no, not him… Sango…don't test me today… Because I don't want that thing taking care of my daughter! Yes, Kagome's checking in again... Sango, what part of `no' don't you understand? He will not be taking charge of the E wing. WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S ALREADY WORKING THERE!? I'M COMING OVER!!!" Dr. Higurashi slammed the phone down on the receiver with such force that the whole thing toppled off of the counter and landed with a fierce crash in the bin. Sota stared at the busted machine and tutted. That was their third phone this month. He sighed heavily, snatched his coat off of the easy chair in the den and chased after his mother, only to be stopped abruptly by her at the door.

"You cannot come with me to Nice Intentions today, sweetie," she sighed in a voice that was rapidly morphing back to normal.

"Why?" asked Sota.

"Because who will take care of Kagome while I'm away?" He thought about his mother's question, and even stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Grandpa can," he supplied pointedly.

"You know that Grandpa's in no condition to look after himself let alone a nine-teen year old girl," his mother sighed. "Just do this, honey, and you can come when I take Kagome in."

"Fine…" mumbled Sota in a putout way. His mother kissed the top of his young head and waved as she waltzed out the door. He chucked his jacket across the room and flopped down onto the couch. `I still don't see why I had to stay home,' he thought in a usual, rebellious teen way. `Grandpa's improving a lot since last time. I mean, he's saner than you, ya old bat! You had better take me to Nice Intentions next time or else I'll hide your glasses again as revenge. Crazy people are so much fun to talk with.'

~*~

The Nice Intentions Mental Hospital has always lived up to its pristine reputation. No one has ever challenged its medical findings or its capability to treat others. That is why Dr. Higurashi was hesitant to hire one who was not a human. She had always thought that humans were superior to demons in all aspects, but mainly in their ability to feel. She thought that humans had the emotional spectrum to love, pity, hope, hate, and to desire, as well as many others. Anything that was not a human, she believed, had no heart and therefore could only feel for itself. Dr. Higurashi could never have been more wrong.

~*~

Dawn's golden fingers caressed the peeling wallpaper as it entered swiftly through an open window. The buttery light was quickly followed by a gentle breeze. These two combined and together created such a force as to wake a sleeping doctor from one of his favourite dreams. He shuddered and cracked an eye.

"Great…" he croaked. A steely black clock flashed 6:02 across his brow, screaming that it was time to wake up. He slid reluctantly out of bed, stretching in the process, and made his way to the bathroom. A flat, slapping sound filled the tiny tiled room as he padded over to the shower. The rusty knobs squealed and complained under his fingers while he twisted them. He pushed miscellaneous toiletries to one side in a futile attempt to clean the bathroom counter. The only thing without muck on it was the mirror that hung before him. It was too bad that his disheveled reflection was soiling that as well. He sneered at himself, scritched his head, and returned to the squeaking taps. He fought with the middle one before it gave way. A few thick jets of liquid that resembled water shot out of the grimy shower head above him. He yawned and shrugged off his pajama bottoms before stepping into the liquid jets.

"HOLY SHIT, THAT'S COLD!" he yelped as he leapt like a salmon and toppled back out of the bath/shower. He hissed at the icy water bands that shot innocently downward at the stained tub. He despised taking cold showers, but it was now or never. He grit his teeth and dove back into the frigid stream. His fingers raked at his silvery head as he attempted a quick washing. But he just had so much hair! A quick anything with that stuff was impossible, especially with it being so thick. It seemed like he'd only been in the arctic shower for a few seconds when the phone hollered at him from the front room.

`Its always when you're in the shower, isn't it?' he bitterly thought as he re-washed the shampoo from his lengthy locks. The familiar beep of the answering machine sounded through the tiny apartment as his gruff voice came on.

"Hey, this is me. Leave a message, and I warn you: all kids, prank callers, and telemarketers will be hunted down and hung from my ceiling with a telephone chord." *beep* He could never understand why no one ever sounded happy to leave a message. Either way, he balked when he heard an icy, familiar voice bark at him from the box on his kitchen counter.

"Inu Yasha, you are late! Get yourself over here, NOW. Do you understand me?! If you are not in my office in fifteen minutes, you are fired." *click* He rolled his eyes and fumbled for the taps. Doctor Higurashi was such a royal pain in the pincushion. Why did she hate him so much? It's not like he asked to be a hanyou, it just happened that way. He threw on some clothes, grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl in the kitchen, snatched up his keys, and bounded out of his front door.

Inu Yasha ignored his archaic landlady's pleasant `good morning' as he bolted down the stairs. She attempted to engage him in a conversation, but he merely sped past, leaving her puzzled and indignant. The nice young man in room 127 always stopped and chatted with her. Sometimes he even had a spot of tea. Why was he in such a hurry today? The wrinkled woman shrugged and, with a flick of her molding shawl, returned to sweeping the main hall.

This morning was going all wrong for Inu Yasha. He couldn't believe it! He had about five minutes to be in Higurashi-san's office, still had sopping wet hair, and didn't even get to speak with Ms. Tamonichi, his landlady. To top that off, he may be fired. Life just wasn't fair.

The sound of his footfalls pounded harder in his head than on the cement they trod. It was a miracle, he later reflected, that he had managed to slip into his uniform before dashing half-hazardly out of his apartment. Although, it must be quite odd for those around him to see a doctor, with the block letters NIMH stamped on his chest, scrambling up the street. For all they knew, he could be chasing someone down. Unfortunately, chasing down a nutter was much more interesting than trying to get to work on time.

He slowed to a trot as he neared the double doors of Nice Intentions. They gave way under his sweaty palms, easily giving him a noiseless entrance. Only the soft rustling of air was heard as he raced down the sterile halls. Just as quietly, he slipped into Dr. Higurashi's office.

It certainly was a formidable room. Everything, from the walls to the carpet were beige. The only things that had some scrap of life to them were her diplomas that hung behind her, the awards that Nice Intentions had received in a trophy case to her right, her charcoal leather chair, and the over-polished mahogany desk that she was stationed behind. Inu Yasha bowed his soggy head and flopped down into one of the three beige armchairs that were placed before Dr. Higurashi's desk. He would have spoken to her, but at the moment she was jotting something down on a scrap of notepaper. At the moment, he was safe. But when her eyes flicked up at him, that moment was shattered into a thousand minuscule splinters.

"You are thirty-seven minutes late, boy," she fumed. "Why were you delayed?"

`What? You didn't count the seconds?' he thought bitterly, but said, "I'm sorry Doctor. I had to run to work."

"You had to run?" she asked, skeptically raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Doctor. See, Miroku was-"

"I don't want to hear excuses!" she barked. She was on her feet now with her hands planted firmly on the surface of her desk. Inu Yasha withdrew a bit as she leaned in. Her smoky blue eyes narrowed into slits of ice. "And another thing: Why were you given E-wing without my consent?"

"Well, I-"

"You snuck in and wrote your name on the assignment sheet after Dr. Hashu quit, didn't you?"

"No! I wou-"

"Don`t you lie to me."

"I'M NOT LYING, DAMMIT!" he exploded. That sure put Dr. Higurashi in a momentary stupor. She blinked at him, slack-jawed. He allowed a long, calm breath of air to fill him with peace before he made his point. "I was late because Miroku was going to pick me up for work. However, he didn't swing by and I lost track of time."

"So you-" she began in a squeaky voice, but he held up his hands.

"Please, let me finish. I had to run to work, not only because of Miroku forgetting to drive me, but because my pay here is so low that I can't afford a car. Which brings me to another point: Why is it that I'm paid half as much as the other doctors here?" He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. Dr. Higurashi composed herself rather quickly.

"That still doesn't explain why you're on E-block."

"Don't avoid my question! Why am I paid less?"

"You tell me why you're on E-block, and I'll tell you why you're paycheck is smaller." Inu Yasha considered her offer and nodded.

"Okay. I'm on E-block because Kikyo signed me up for it. She can take care of D-block on her own; she even said so. And since Dr. Hashu left, there was an open space. I merely filled it." She glared frostily at him. Kikyo was the head nurse here, and Dr. Higurashi respected her very much. If she thought that Inu Yasha could handle a block on his own, then he probably could. Either way, the Intensive Care wing was not something that Higurashi had hoped her young recruit would be working in. Especially since her daughter would be arriving there soon.

"So?" Inu Yasha continued.

"So what?" Dr. Higurashi snapped.

"So why am I paid less?" he pressed. A bitter smile played about his employer's lips.

"You get paid less because you are a filthy half-breed." Inu Yasha blanched at her response before leaping up out of his chair.

"You pay me less because of my blood?!" he raged. "But I do almost twice as much work as any other doctor and nurse here!"

"This is my hospital, child. I can do what I wish with those who work here."

"You mean those like me, don't you?!" he retorted.

"Yes." Her simple, one-word answer knocked the wind out of him with as much force as any session of swearing could. Many strings of sentences and ideas flashed though his mind at once, most of them outrageous, but one was quite sensible: he should quit. Quickly, though, he shook off the idea. Higurashi-san might be a biased, evil witch, but at least she had hired him. No other place had. Their rival hospital, New Blood Mental Hospital, would only accept demon doctors, whereas every other nuthouse within a five-hundred mile radius was the opposite. Inu Yasha sighed and turned towards the office door.

"I'm going to begin work now, Doctor," he spat in a dejected tone. Doctor Higurashi sat back down and shuffled some papers on her desk.

"Fine. By the way, a new patient will be arriving in your wing very soon," she added.

"Really. What's the ailment?"

"Schizophrenia."

"Ah," he gulped. This would be a hard one if they were being sent immediately to Intensive Care. He was half-way out of Dr. Higurashi's office before she stopped him.

"Oh, and Inu Yasha?" she called. He halted in the doorframe and glanced back in at her.

"Yes?"

"Be careful with this one. She's my daughter."

~*~

Inu Yasha swore his way to the E-block. `Why am I always getting picked on? Why did the schizoid have to be Higurashi's daughter?! DO THE FATES HATE ME!? WHY AM I SO DAMN-` his mental ranting was brought to a screeching halt when a certain doctor in a certain B-block happened to wander past. Inu Yasha grabbed the doctor by the back of his lab coat and yanked him around. The young, dark, and somewhat handsome man stared at him before a sheepish grin plastered itself on his face. He put up his hands in a mild defense.

"Oh…heh heh heh…Hi, Inu Yasha," he laughed, nervously.

"Why didn't you pick me up this morning, Miroku?!" Inu Yasha yelled.

"Um…I k-kinda…forg-got…" stammered the young doctor.

"YOU KINDA FORGOT?!"

"W-well, you see, I was really tired, so I thought that I'd stop and get some coffee to help wake me up, y'know? But when it was my turn to order, I noticed that the girl behind the counter was really hot and-"

"Don`t say another word," hissed the hanyou dangerously. He let go of Miroku's uniform with an angry sigh and they began to meander down the hallway aimlessly. Many of their patients were asleep, and those that weren't were in the care of very capable nurses. In other words, they had nothing to do.

"So what's with you this morning?" Miroku finally asked.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You were pissier than normal. What's eating you?"

"Ah…that," mumbled Inu Yasha. "Let's just say that this was the morning from a hot spot."

"Doctor Higurashi had a `talk' with you again, didn't she?" Miroku concluded.

"Oh, how did you know?" Inu squealed with high-pitched sarcasm. He clasped his hands and a sickly sweet smile fell on his face. As soon as Miroku clucked his tongue in annoyance, he reverted to his normal countenance and octave. "Plus I'm getting the spawn of Nazi Doctor as a patient."

"You don't mean…"Miroku blurted, but couldn't finish his thought.

"Yup. She's got a daughter."

"Is she suffering from Nazibitchtitis disease like her mother?"

"No," snorted Inu Yasha, "she's a schizophrenic."

"Isheewawa," Miroku muttered. "This one should be fun."

"Yeah, as fun as a double-date with Carrie and her best friend Lizzie Borden."

"Are you implying something about our last outing?" Miroku snapped.

"Hey, I didn't ask to leave with those girls at the club."

"But you didn't complain, either! I-Sango?" he yelped. The two men turned the hall to find that the receptionist of Nice Intentions was eyeing a refill cart. The nurse that had been pushing it around was now in room something or another, filling up things like bathroom tissue and the like. Sango leapt away from the cart and stared at them in a guilty way.

"Oh, konichiwa," she exclaimed as she straightened up.

"Konichiwa, Sango-san. Why were you bent over that cart?" Miroku asked. She flushed a light shade of rose.

"I was checking to see if they had enough supplies," she muttered, before hastily adding, "By the way, did you know that Doctor Higurashi's daughter is checking in?"

"Yes. She's my newest patient," Inu Yasha growled through gritted teeth. Sango made a noise in the back of her throat to express her condolences.

"Ah. Well, good luck with that. I have to be getting back to the front office," she announced.

"I'll go with you!" Miroku chirped. Sango's eyes flickered from mistrust to worry and back to mistrust faster than anyone could have imagined.

"Uh…why?" she asked.

"Because I've got nothing else to do."

"Uh-huh. Well, I-"

"Good, let's go." He gripped her arm lightly and dragged her off down the hall. Sango pleaded silently with Inu Yasha to have him save her, but he merely chuckled and waved as they turned a corner. Well, he waved until a squeaky cough stole his attention. `And now for something completely different,' he grimaced and turned around.

"Oh…Hi Rin," he sputtered nervously.

"Hello Doctor Inu Yasha!" she bubbled. "It's time for your morning update!" Inwardly, he groaned. This girl was so unpredictable. One second she was happy and perky, but if anything set her off she was hell on wheels. She scared him more than a thousand suicidal patients.

"Fine. Get on with it," he grumbled, folding his arms.

"Kimi is showing signs of having seven personalities now," Rin began.

"Great. Just great. Like that girl needs another voice in her head."

"Todachi had a fit when he ate breakfast," Rin continued.

"Let me guess: he had eggs over easy?"

"How did you know?"

"Then he's still in chicken mode."

"Yup. And to finish off this beautiful mess, Jinni tried to drink her mouthwash."

"She's still trying to kill herself?!" Inu Yasha exclaimed.

"She suffers from acute depression, doctor. If she didn't try to kill herself, she wouldn't be here."

"Good point."

"Uh-huh. And that's it. No, wait! We have a new guest checking in!"

"You make it sound like a hotel, Rin."

"Yeah, `welcome to the Loony Bin Inn'-Once you check in, you never check out."

"Ha ha. Again, let me guess: is the guest named Higurashi?"

"Yes, she is! How do you know these things?" By now, Inu Yasha was furiously rubbing his temples. Sleep deprivation and lack of proper nutrition were starting to get to him.

"Never mind. Who's up first for today?"

"Kimi."

"Right. Let's go pay Kimi a visit."

~*~

A soft tapping echoed in Kimi Mashitaka's mind. Her eyes shot to the door on her right. He was back, but this time part of her was ready. Distractedly, she hauled herself up onto her plain bed and placed her hands in her lap.

"Enter," she called. Doctor Inu Yasha slipped into her room quietly and gently shut the door. He wandered over to her bedside.

"Hey, kid," he muttered. Kimi's face contorted in anger.

"Who you callin' a kid?!" she screamed.

"You."

"Oh, that's always the way with you stuffy doctors! `Just treat the kid', `don't try to reason with her', blah, blah, BLAH!" she howled. `Personality number two…' Inu Yasha noted.

"Do you want to tell me why you're yelling?" he asked calmly. Kimi's features melted and were replaced with a soft, sad expression.

"Doctor…I would never yell," she whispered, "especially not at you. You're my doctor."

"Why, thank you. But you didn't answer my question: why were you yelling?"

"Pshh! I don't hafta answer to you!" she sassed. Now a coy smile like that of a Las Vegas card shark was plastered on her face.

"Really?" Again, he tried to remain calm. Calmness always won over these types of situations.

"Yeah, you wanna make somethin' of it?"

"No. I merely-"

"OH DOCTOR!" she suddenly blubbered and flung herself onto his shoulder, sobbing. `God, its number five. I hate number five,' he inwardly moaned.

"Kimi, it's all right," he consoled.

"Why? Why is it all right? Things are never `all right'. Things are never right." Her voice was a plain monotone and her eyes were dry. Inu Yasha paused, withdrew a pen from his lab coat pocket, and jotted a note down on the back of his hand. Kimi leaned over a bit and smiled sweetly as she read his hand.

"Whatcha writin'?" she squealed in a sweet, childish voice. He lifted his somewhat moist head and stared at her blankly. He'd never seen this side of her before. Was this the Kimi that she actually was, or just another personality? This was as close to an 8 year old as she has ever sounded. She seemed so happy…The poor girl. `It could just be number seven,' he thought.

"Kimi?" he asked warily. She smiled innocently and blinked a few times. "Kimi, who are you?" She opened her mouth to answer, but promptly closed it. Her brow furrowed with confusion. Who was she? She lifted a tiny hand and placed her chin in it. She searched the empty room for some sign of identity before returning her gaze to Inu Yasha. Worry, almost fear, was in her eyes.

"I…I…I'm…" she stumbled. `"Who are you?" "Who are you?"' The simple question ricocheted in her head. Who was she? It was such a small, simple, torturous question and she couldn't answer it. Her breathing quickened and her hands began to shake. "I'm…I'm…" The doctor could see what was about to come. He clasped her hands in his and spoke in a firm voice.

"Kimi. Kimi, calm down. It will be okay," he urged. With one hand he held her two, and with the other he gently pushed her back onto her bed. She closed her eyes, screwed up her face, and began to wail nonsense. She screeched words that struck Inu Yasha with a sick, heavy feeling deep, in the pit of his stomach. It was as if he had swallowed a large stone.

"Stop it! Stop it, please! Just leave me alone!" she sobbed.

"NO! Do you think I'll simply get up and leave?!" she raged.

"Please, please, stop it!"

"Why don't you just accept it?" she hissed

"Go! Please go!"

"I'll never leave you," she whispered.

"I want you to leave! Let me be in peace!"

"Peace is an unreachable ideal," she droned.

"Just go…please just go…" Kimi curled up into a ball and shuddered violently. Tear after evil tear rolled down her cheeks from behind her smudged glasses. Inu Yasha hesitated before reaching over and running a clawed finger through her soft blond hair. He wished that he could make her problem disappear, but all he could do was prescribe medication. Adults were fine to write off as crazy, for they seemed to drive themselves into insanity. Children, on the other hand, struck him where it hurt. They were innocent. They couldn't help it. And sometimes he couldn't help them.

He stood and stumbled out of her room. Her fight with herself had wiped him clean of any emotion except for pity and dread. That is why he almost jumped when he saw effervescent Rin pull out a prescription pad as he closed Kimi's door. The young nurse had been waiting for him to finish with his examination.

"Well? How is she?"

"As nuts as a squirrel pantry. Give her…point five grams more of her medication and…get her a dog." Rin looked up from her notes and raised an eyebrow.

"A dog?" she asked. He nodded and looked away.

"Yeah, get her a dog. A golden retriever, preferably. Pre-named as well. She doesn't need to get into an argument about what to call it." Inu Yasha shuffled past Rin and wandered down the hall in the direction of the cafeteria. Coffee was now his main priority. He would have made it to the corner, too, if Rin hadn't have tried to get him to go back to work.

"But doctor!" she hollered. He turned a bit to stare at her. "What about your other patients?"

"Give me a few minutes. I need a break," he called and began his coffee expedition again.

~*~*~*~*~

chihiro-san: Hey guys! So waddaya think? I tried to do something original so I thought `hmm….Mental hospital. Who else would do a mental hospital?' So here's my new ficcy! Takes a lotta research, though! You guys oughta be real proud of me for spending so much time researching a little ficcy. Or you can just enjoy reading without being proud. I'd like it if you would review, though. I dunno if this is a good idea to continue or not. Well, g'night! *zzzzzzzzzzzzz*