InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pill Poppers Anonymous ❯ Getting Settled ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha

chihiro-san: Goooooooooooooooood evening everyone. How is everyone? I'd like to thank A_New_Fan for giving this fic its first review! You're a doll. I'd also like to thank my (few) readers! I love you all. Finally, I'd like to promote a few fics if you like this one:

"That's Show Business!" by me

"28 Days" by Rozefire

"Dead Famous" by Rozefire

"Hanyou Vs Evil Grandma" by Queen Klu

These are all REALLY funny and are quite original. Hope you like!

~*~*~*~

Hot, bitter liquid dribbled down Inu Yasha's throat, restoring his train of thought and his sense of emotion. He glanced meaningfully at the notes on the back of his hand before deciding that they should be placed on paper. A small amount of shuffling and coat adjusting proved successful when he produced a notepad out of the farthest reaches of his lab coat. `All I need is a pen,' he mused. He stood, wandered over to a fellow doctor, and meandered back to his seat with a fresh ballpoint in his hand. He was about to jot down the note when-

"Where's my notepad?" he wondered aloud as he set down his new pen. "It was right here." He bent to glance under the table. Maybe it had fallen when he stood. It was a fruitless attempt, though, for when he straightened up he found that his pen was missing as well. He scanned the miniscule cafeteria accusingly. Who was taking his stuff? He sighed and accepted that he'd soon be mental as well. But cross stares and pleas of insanity didn't solve the fact that his pen, notepad, and now his coffee were missing.

"What the-? WHERE'S MY COFFEE?!" he roared. The doctor that he'd borrowed the pen from emitted a small yelp and dashed out of the cafeteria. That was one person he could tic off on the guilty column. `If someone steals the shirt off my back and the belt off my trousers, then I'll be impressed,' he grumbled. Suddenly, a hunched figure caught his eye as it made a beeline for the double doors. Inu Yasha waltzed over to the figure and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Walt…" Inu Yasha grumbled. The figure whipped around in surprise and dropped a pen, pad, and cup of coffee with a loud clatter. The few people in the tiny room contained their laughter. Everyone had trouble with Walt.

"Oh, um, Hello D-Dr. Yasha," quaked the aged man.

"How many times, Walt?"

"Uh, right, right. Hello, Inu Yasha." Walt attempted. The hanyou rubbed his temples in annoyance.

"I meant, how many times must I tell you NOT to leave your room without a nurse?"

"Well, I-I-I can't really recall. O-one more f-for good measure, sir."

"Just go back to Kikyo," Inu Yasha barked. Walt scurried away as fast as anything. That young doctor wasn't the one to perturb. Darn straight, because Inu Yasha was already bordering on the ledge of `upset' this morning and now he didn't have any coffee. He was, without a doubt, teetering on the cliff of `pissed'. He ground his teeth together agitatedly and stormed back to the E-wing. There, he found Rin leaning against the wall and filing her nails. She deceased when she saw the doctor approach and bounded up to him.

"Back so soon, doctor?" she chirped.

"My, my," he snorted. "Someone sure put a heaping helping of perky on their Cheerios this morning."

"Ha ha. Very funny. So what about your coffee?"

"I ran into Walt," he stated bluntly.

"The kleptomaniac in C-Block?" Rin bubbled questioningly. "Isn't he under Kikyo's care?"

"Nothing is under Kikyo's care. They're either unnoticed or feeling her wrath. Who's next?" he muttered.

"Todachi."

"Chicken-boy can take care of himself," he snorted.

"But he's suffering from a severe identity crisis!" Rin gasped.

"Severe? He thinks he's a bloody chicken! What, is he going to escape and run around the streets of Tokyo, pecking anyone who dares to offend him? He's fine for today. Who else is on my agenda?" Rin grumbled at his callousness and checked Todachi off their patient list.

"Well," she mumbled as she turned the page of her list. "You're free until Mini Higurashi arrives. Then you gotta help her unpack, get her situated, you know. Basic stuff." Inu Yasha half-shrugged.

"Good. Maybe I can actually finish a cup of coffee while I wait for her to get here."

~*~

"Kagome? Kag-oooooooooo-me!" Sota called. No answer came to him. He sighed and bounded up the stairs to his sister's room. The door creaked slightly as he gently pushed it open. He crept over to her bedside. She was still there, facing the wall, unmoving.

"Sis?" he whispered, reaching out a shaking finger and poking her lightly. He was swiftly done in by a well-aimed pillow to the face. `At least she's acting somewhat normal,' he grumbled to himself.

"Go away," she gasped. Was she crying? Sota poked her again, harder, and in the ribs this time.

"Get up! Mom's taking us to the beach!" he bleated in fake happiness. Kagome rolled over to face him. Her features were grotesque enough, but her breath! `She hasn't been out of bed in three days, moron. Of course she's got bad morning breath.' he thought.

"You're lying. Mom never takes me anywhere anymore," she yawned.

"Okay, yeah, the beach was a lie. But mom did just call and asked Grandpa and me to take you on a trip. Would you like to get out of the house? See the sun?" he chirped half-heartedly. His sister groaned and toppled out of bed.

"I don't wanna move," she moaned from her uncomfortable position on the floor.

"Well, it's a little too late for that. Get dressed and washed up. We're leaving in five," he snipped. When he was almost out the door, another pillow soared through the air and smacked him deftly in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground.

"Brat," his sister spat as she passed him to use the restroom. Sota stood and resisted the urge to slap the stupid out of her. She was sick, after all, and couldn't help it. It's not like she wasn't already a touch of a bully to him before, but hey, what big sister isn't? He tossed the pillow back onto her bed and began to pack for her. They had to get to Nice Intentions as quickly as possible.

Five minutes came and went, and it wasn't until thirty minutes had passed that the Higurashis were finally underway. The only bad thing was that they had a nutcase at the wheel. Sota, being fifteen, didn't have his license yet. The only other "capable" adult there was Grandpa. Needless to say that Sota was gripping the seat with white knuckles. In the end, Grandpa drove them all to Nice Intentions without any large incident. They stepped out of the car (some relived, some nervous) and entered the cold, gray building. The trio was immediately greeted by two very familiar figures at the front desk.

"Why, hello Sota! Is your grandfather checking in as well?" Sango smiled, happy to be distracted by something other than Miroku's wandering fingers.

"Naw. He's somewhat normal now. Kagome's coming back in again, though."

"Yes, I know. I'll ring your mother. You can take a seat over there," she pointed to a group of chairs that posed as a waiting room.

"I know the drill, Sango, thanks," he grinned and took his relatives over to the rock-hard seats. It seemed like they had just planted themselves onto the chairs when Dr. Higurashi bustled in with another young man in a lab coat.

"Hi honey," she mumbled distractedly as she ruffled Sota's hair. He hated that, but made no objection. It was obvious, even to Grandpa, that his mom was under a sack-load of stress.

"Hello, my dear!" Grandpa chuckled. "I'm in quite a good mood! My grandson let me drive today. Wasn't that nice of him?" Dr. Higurashi's eyes shot to her son and burnt him to a cinder.

"Did he now? No matter. I'll just speak with him later. Everyone, this is Doctor Yasha. He'll be-Kagome? Kagome, pay attention!" The space cadet turned her head sharply to glare at her mother. Her obsidian hair swished after her and fell about her shoulders. Dr. Inu Yasha couldn't help but wonder: There wasn't anything wrong with her, was there? There couldn't be.

"What Mom?" she breathed sleepily.

"Kagome, meet Dr. Yasha," her mother sighed. Kagome reluctantly stood to meet her doctor. He raised a hand, but before she could shake with him her mother slapped her wrist away. Kagome's eyes darted to meet her mother's in a fierce glare.

"Mother!" she hissed.

"Doctor Yasha, why don't you show my daughter to her room?" Dr. Higurashi voiced. He paused, acknowledged the `touch her and I'll chop you into sashimi' look in his employer's eyes, and turned stiffly on his heels.

"Follow me," he growled. And Kagome did, no matter how much she wished that she could just bolt home.

They silently plodded down the empty halls of the E-block. It was an intense quiet that held them. It tortured Kagome and compelled her to say something. Anything. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, they reached her room.

"We're here," mumbled Inu Yasha as he opened the door for her. She promptly clamped her mouth shut and slid past him. The room was blank and gray, just like every other place in the desolate building. A fresh bed with crisp white sheets was placed in one corner while a small, plastic, gray desk was pushed back against the farthest wall. She inched over to her new bed and dropped her suitcase onto it with a sigh. Sadly, she turned to face her doctor.

"The restroom's behind that door there," he pointed. "If you need me or a nurse, just press the green button by your bed. Other than that, you -"

"I'm sorry," Kagome blurted. He blinked in surprise, clearly understanding what she said and yet missing it completely.

"Pardon?"

"I'm sorry for what she did back there. It was really uncalled for, and, um…" She lifted her hand. "Hi. I'm Kagome Higurashi." He stared blankly at her hand before accepting it lightly.

"I'm Inu Yasha," he supplied.

"Nice to meet you," she smiled warmly. And he was shocked to find that he was grinning back. But the handshake was quickly over and the formalities of being a doctor and a patient resumed.

"Well, I have to be tending to my other patients," he coughed. Kagome's expression sank faster than a concrete boat on the ocean.

"Oh, I understand," she forced. "Thank you, doctor."

"Right…" he exhaled and turned to leave. But before he left her room, he gave his new patient one last glance. `Not at all like her mother,' he reasoned as he stepped out of her door.

~*~

"Miroku, why are you still up here?" Sango whined. "I have to work! Don't you?" He thought about it for approximately two seconds before shaking his head and smiling.

"Nope! I snagged a nurse who looked a little lost and directed her to my wing. She's probably dealing with my patients right now," he grinned. Sango flopped her top half down onto her desk and buried her face in her folded arms.

"The nurses are there to help those that can't be quickly reached by doctors, not to be hired as temporary physicians! If Higurashi-san wanted more doctors she'd hire them!"

"You're right, but don't you love having me keep you company?" he twittered. She lifted her eyes to the ceiling and sighed. He took that as a no.

"What are you doing here, Miroku?" came a voice from behind them. Inu Yasha waltzed over and pulled up a swivel chair from one of the three empty desks by Sango. She sat bolt upright and stared at him in agape disbelief.

"You're ditching work too? Why doesn't Higurashi just hire nurses!?" she ranted.

"Stop being such a priss, Sango. You know you love us," Inu Yasha chuckled. She raised her eyebrows at him and rested an elbow on her desk.

"Oh really? What is there to love about two lazy, incompetent, stupid, pig-headed, weirdoes?" Both Miroku and Inu Yasha flushed a few shades of rose.

"I'm not incompetent!" they objected in unison. She stared at one and then the other, face expressionless, before she busted up laughing, making them both reach a darker shade of crimson than the ones they were currently sporting. Her laughter almost made her collapse on the floor, but she regained basic control of herself when the head nurse strode briskly up.

"What are all of you doing here?" Kikyo asked plaintively.

"I-uh-well…" Miroku and Inu Yasha stumbled.

"I work here," Sango half-giggled.

"You two need to get back to your wings. Sango is not a babysitter," Kikyo stated matter-of-factly. The boys trudged past her with reluctant grumbles. They filed down the hallway and disappeared around the corner.

"Are they gone?" Sango finally whispered. Kikyo nodded and winked at her.

"Back to the old grind, then," she smiled before following the boys.

"Thank you!" called Sango. She waited a few seconds before turning back to her papers and then grinned as she lifted her elbow off of Kikyo's call button.

~*~*~*~

ch-san: Howdy-Hey! Thanks for reading everyone! You have no idea how much I appreciate all of you; especially my reviewers (all two of you ^.^). Did you like this one? I don't particularly like Kikyo, but I don't want her to have Nazibitchtitis syndrome like Higurashi-san. A bit unorthodox, no? Yeah, I know. By de way, I'm leaving for two weeks next Saturday for Easter break. D'you know what that means? NO WRITING!!!!! WWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Yes, peoples, I'm gonna be on a sunny island, on a beautiful sailboat, but I won't have a computer. It's almost inhuman. I won't survive. Okay, that's a lie. I will survive, but it'll be a struggle….hmmm….'I will survive! For as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive. I've got all my life to live, I've-` O.O *stares in shock at people reading this* oh….uh…heh heh heh….. BYE!