InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pill Poppers Anonymous ❯ I don't see a bag... ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha or anyone else from that show. HOWEVER, I do copyright this story via me. © -see this mark? That means that this is mine. Steal anything from here without my permission and I'll hunt you down like the dog you are.

ch-san: HELLO!!!!!!! Welcome to the new edition of PPA. I know how much you missed me given how many threatened me to write... no, `threatened' is a harsh word. `Persuaded?' No…'Urged'. Yes. People have `urged' me to write with very `persuasive' reasons as to why. Hahaha. No, seriously. Speaking of urges, I haven't had the urge to write, y'know? It's not really writer's block, but anyways, you don't care to hear my boring blather.

Oh, one quick thing though: THANK YOU QUEEN KLU!!!!!!! This girl, who selflessly plugged me, is an angel and a FANTASTIC writer! Seriously, how many out there have read "Hanyou vs. Evil Grandma"? C'mon, I wanna see a show of hands. What, you think I'm kidding? Raise `um! Uh-huh…yeah…wow, that many? Hey. Hey you. You're not raising your hand. Why aren't you-that does it. I'm gonna put you on my `people to hunt' list.

(*on with the show!*)

~*~*~*~

Kagome regarded the soft clickety-clack sound hazily. Someone with nails was knocking at her door. She propped herself up with her elbows, allowing her fuzzy quilt to fall a bit off of her. A faint smile lifted the corners of her lips. It sounded like Rin was checking up on her, and Kagome could really use some companionship. None of her friends had rung or come around to call. They seemed to be doing that less and less nowadays, or maybe she was just checking into Nice Intentions more often. A painful stone of bitterness plopped into her stomach. She loved Yuki and the others, but her friends never seemed to be her friends. They were never there for her. They were ashamed of stepping into NIMH to see her. They weren't really friends at all, but they were all Kagome had. She sighed to herself and fell back on her pillow with a soft fhupf. `Why is it that no one cares about me?' she wondered as her eyes began to shine. She would have gone into a full pity party, but another, more urgent, rapping sound came from the grey door. Kagome jolted upright with surprise. She had forgotten the person at the door.

"Come in!" she called, hastily buttoning up her pink pj top. She never used to sleep in pjs, preferring the freedom of a sports bra and short boxers much more, but she had to be discreet in a place like NIMH. God only knew how that one doctor in B wing would react to her sleeping almost naked, and if she ever slept-walked she may traumatize the patients even more than they already were. Just as she did up the last button, the door opened and her doctor slid into the room. The breath caught in Kagome's chest. `What's he doing here at this hour?' she thought, but said-

"You're not Rin!" He lifted an eyebrow at the odd question.

"Gawd, I hope I'm not. What kind of a greeting is that?"

"Oh," blushed Kagome, "I'm sorry. Hello, Dr. Ya-I mean-Inu Yasha. I was expecting Rin to do her nightly check-up, so…"

"Nightly? Kagome, it's one in the afternoon."

"Is it? Ah. Well, time flies when you're having fun, I guess," she mumbled. The young doctor's eyebrows knitted in confusion. Why was she so down? `Maybe her friends haven't written her back yet,' he concluded lamely.

"So why are you here?" she asked. `Good question. Why am I here? Do I really think that she'll comfort me? Can anyone comfort me? She's a loon. A raving, flaming loon and I'm coming to her for help. I should've gone to Kimi. At least one of her personalities would have felt sorry for me.' He glanced up at Kagome quickly, then back down at his hands. It's truly amazing that little things like shoelaces and fingers can become so fascinating when one is nervous or shy. At the present he was neither. He was ashamed. What could he say? What would Kagome think of him? What-

"Are you okay?" she asked. His train of thought suddenly toppled off the tracks and crashed in a ditch. Was he okay? After several minutes of finger examination and thinking the three words over, he answered:

"N-no." `There, was that so hard?' a little voice said. He would have laughed at the irony of a doctor seeking help from his patient if he weren't so distraught right now. `I'll laugh later' he smirked bitterly.

"No? Why no? What's wrong?" Kagome implored. He attempted to make another quick glance at her, but when he looked at her face, he couldn't do it. She had such a powerful desire to help him that it oozed out of her chocolaty eyes. She honestly wanted to do anything to fix his problem. Seeing as resistance was now futile for him, he dropped to his knees by her bedside and let his head fall onto her quilt. She shivered with surprise, pausing uncertainly at what to do. Her doctor had buried his face into her quilt (ie: her lap). How was she supposed to react to that?! She looked around the empty room uncomfortably before reaching out a shaking hand. Slowly, she began to run her fingers through his gorgeous silver hair. He gripped the quilt with his claws. It was all too much.

"Kagome," he gasped. "Kagome, I killed someone." She didn't reply, but merely continued to stroke his hair. That was enough for him, though, because it allowed him to tell her what he needed in order to properly function. "I killed M-…but I didn't mean t-to…I just…It was an honest mistake. Anyone could have made it. See, I was with Todachi this morning, and when I went to get Mel's medicine, I saw Walt rifling through the fresh laundry. I went to stop him from nicking any more sheets, and when I was through with him, I was late to see Mel. Of course I had forgotten about his medicine and when I gave him his pills I hadn't a clue that they were really Todachi's. And then your mother came, and…" He clutched the fluffy pink blanket tighter in an attempt to keep the emotion out of his voice. Kagome sighed and moved her hand ever so slightly, relocating it to the position of stroking one of his silky ears. A tremor went through the hanyou's body. No one had ever played with his ears like that before. He looked up from between patches of strawberry cloth at Kagome's solemn face. She wasn't solemn because she was thinking hard. In fact, he almost wondered if she had heard a single word he said. But she soon spoke, breaking the silent spell and his doubt of her listening to him.

"I didn't hear my mother yell, so you must have really been in trouble."

"I am," he agreed. "I've got a month to get every one of my patient's healthy or else I'm fired."

"That's a tad unrealistic."

"That's your mother."

"Hmm…Yeah, yeah it is."

"She'd be a hell of an in-law."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagome snapped, accidentally tweaking his ear.

"Nothing, nothing. I was just…never mind."

"Hmm." Kagome hummed and resumed her ear massage. After ten minutes of not speaking, Kagome felt like she had to say something. She couldn't just let him lie there; face down in her blanket, without at least some words of fortune-cookie wisdom.

"You know, Inu Yasha, I…I like you. You're an amazing person, an outstanding doctor, you're really nice, and I know that you didn't mean to hurt anyone. But I want you to know that I'll do anything to help you keep your job because…well, to be honest, you're the closest thing I've ever had to a real friend. So, I…Inu Yasha?" She stopped rubbing his ear and pulled the folds of her quilt out flat. He was asleep. `Of course he is, you fool. You try to say something nice to help him out and he's bloody sleeping,' she sniffed. Oh well. What could she do? Kagome slipped out from under the dozing hanyou, and with a bit of effort, pushed him up onto her bed. When he was successfully cat napping under the wrinkled sheets, Kagome pulled on a robe and stepped out of her room. She could really use a cup of coffee right now.

~*~

Kagome clutched the front of her robe, pressing her fist to her chest as she trotted down the somewhat empty halls of NIMH. Various nurses bustled about, barely regarding her at all. She sighed, happy to be given an unnoticed exit to the cafeteria, but at the same time she wished that someone, anyone, would notice her. Her hand reached out and grasped the corner of the wall as she turned. Again, she sighed. `I just toddled past a whole herd of nurses and not one of them noticed me. How pathetic,' she groaned. Her hands wormed their way into her fluffy pink robe pockets as she continued, but she only walked two steps before stopping again. A familiar face was stealing things from one of the nurses' pushcarts. The figure was hunched, almost secretively, shoving toilette paper, soap, shampoo, and the odd towel into a big bag. As Kagome neared, the person became more and more familiar, until-

"Sango?" Kagome blurted in surprise. The receptionist stood stock-still. The poor dear was completely petrified. She turned her head a fraction of an inch so that she could see whom the person addressing her was. When she recognized Kagome, Sango relaxed and straightened up.

"Oh jaysus, Kagome! You scared me half to death! I thought you were your mother!" She said while pressing a hand to her chest.

"Far from it," Kagome chuckled. "Um, Sango? What are you doing?" The receptionist shifted her bag behind her back and blushed.

"Well… I-uh… Okay, okay. I can't live with the pay that your mom gives me, all right? My landlord is threatening to kick me out if I don't give him this and last month's rent and I don't have money for food, let alone a towel or the odd bar of soap." She shifted the bag once more into view while opening it for Kagome to inspect. Inside were a few mini boxes of cereal, an apple, five rolls of toilette paper, three bars of soap, three towels, and a couple of bottles of shampoo. Sango closed the bag and hung it from her shoulder nonchalantly.

"Oh Sango, I'm so sorry. Maybe if I just talked to my mom, then…" Kagome trailed off at the look on Sango's face. "…Or maybe not."

"Thank you, Kagome. It's better to not mention these things to your mother. By the way, what are you doing out of bed?"

"Ah. Well, you see, my bed is kind of `occupied' right at the moment." Sango raised an eyebrow at her.

"`Occupied'?" she repeated.

"Yeah. Inu Yasha's taking a nap," Kagome stated. Sango just about jumped out of her skin.

"He's what?!" she exclaimed. Kagome started. She hadn't been expecting this kind of reaction.

"He came into my room, started talking to me, and fell asleep."

"Uh-huh. Well, I best go in and wake him up, then."

"Why?"

"Kagome, he's sleeping on the job. Besides, he can't afford any more bad marks on his record after what your mom said to him, and I'm certain that he'd rather me wake him than someone else."

"Someone else…like who?"

"Oh, maybe your mother?"

"Ah. I see."

Well, I'm glad for that. Now why don't you run along and I'll go wake him?" Sango ended as she waltzed down the hall, her bag in hand swaying back and forth. She turned the corner into Inu Yasha's wing when suddenly Kikyo appeared. The nurse came trotting up to Sango, heels clicking against the sterile tiles.

"Oh, there you are, Sango!" Kikyo chirped. "Do you know where Inu Yasha is? There's a mother and child in the waiting room and she seems desperate to talk to the best doctor here."

"Inu Yasha? The best doctor here? Don't make me laugh," Sango snorted. Kikyo flushed a light shade of pink.

"He is so. He's the best we've got."

"Compared to Miroku, maybe."

"Leave your boyfriend out of this!" Now it was Sango's turn to blush.

"He's not my boyfriend, and why don't you just bugger off before I tell Dr. Higurashi about all of the doctors you've been with in this hospital?!" Sango spat. Kikyo made a noise in the back of her throat and clenched her fists, but she decided that Sango was a bit too big for her to take on. She just screwed up her face and stormed off. A triumphant smile fell into place on Sango's lips as she entered Kagome's room. `That'll show that little witch who's boss,' she gloated, but the inner dissing of Kikyo soon left Sango's mind. Now she just stared, blankly, at the hanyou in Kagome's bed. He seemed so peaceful under her wrinkly pink quilt that Sango almost couldn't bring herself to wake him. Almost.

"Hey, Yasha. Get up," she attempted, shaking him gently. He snorted and turned, grasping Kagome's stuffed kitty in the process. Sango frowned. `Ah well. Time for plan B,' she thought. She double-checked the door to make sure that it was closed tightly, before-

"AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!?!?!?! I'M GONNA SUE!!!!!!!!!!" she shrieked. Inu Yasha yelped and tried to run, sit up, and jump all at the same time, resulting in a painful knock on the head when he fell out of Kagome's bed in a tangle of blankets.

"WHAT?! Who's gonna-wah?!" he babbled frantically while trying to dislodge himself from the net of blankets. Sango laughed so hard that she collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"Oh man," she giggled helplessly. "Y-you should see the look on your f-f-face!" Finally realization hit him.

"Sango…" he growled through a blush.

"Sorry, but you wouldn't wake up! I had to get you up somehow. Besides, you've got a patient who need you."

"Really, who?"

"Dunno. It's someone new. I haven't even seen who it is yet. They're in the waiting room." She explained. Inu Yasha shoved the blankets back onto Kagome's bed.

"I see. Well, we better- wait. Where's Kagome?" he asked.

"Oh. Last time I checked, she was headed for the cafeteria."

"That makes sense. She did miss lunch."

"I wouldn't know."

"Huh. Okay, then. Can I ask you another question?"

"Shoot."

"What's with the bag?" Sango gulped and tried to hide the drawstring sack behind her back.

"What bag? Do you see a bag? I don't see a bag," she wavered.

"That bag behind your-OW! See?! You just hit me with it!"

"Shut up, Inu Yasha, and meet your patient," she growled before going back to work. He felt like following her instead of meeting whomever he was supposed to meet, but he just sighed and turned his attention to the people sitting in the waiting room. A cranky, elderly woman who seemed to be the width of Texas waddled up to him. She had shiny, frizzy hair the color of dirt that a blind man could see was a wig. A small black hat topped her head. Numerous strands of fake pearls trickled down her shoulders and onto her breasts. Her dress was a royal purple and, to top it all off, she had a fox fur around her shoulders. She was the epitome of rich and snobby, or the spitting image of Buddha in violet. It was really six to one, half a dozen of the other, Inu Yasha concluded. The old bat sneered and thrust a young boy of about eight in the doctor's direction.

"My grandson," she croaked. The boy was a gangly, malnourished kid with a mop of cinnamon hair on his head and a tail of the same color sticking out of the back of his trousers. He hung his head with embarrassment, and as his hair shifted forwards Inu Yasha noticed he had a pair of pointed demon ears. There was a staring contest between the doctor and the old woman, until Dr. Higurashi herself waltzed up to them.

"What are you doing here, mutt?" she hissed into one of Inu Yasha's fuzzy ears. "I greet the new patients not you."

"Yes, ma'am," he muttered through barred teeth.

"Well now," She sighed and she turned to the old woman and the boy in front of her. "What is the matter with your son?"

"He won't speak to anyone but his `friends'," the woman huffed.

"There's nothing wrong with a boy who talks to his friends," Dr. Higurashi smiled.

"Not unless his friends are imaginary. He talks to air, doctor. He's delusional. And, on occasion, he's been known to have a fit."

"A fit? Like a convulsion?"

"It appears so."

"I see. Well, we'll see what we can… Ma'am, is your grandson a demon?" Dr. Higurashi asked coldly.

"Yes. My daughter adopted him, then ran off with her husband on a vacation, got in a car crash, and bloody died. Left him to me, she did. Humph! What mother wants more kids when they're my age, I ask? Lousy daughter of mine…"

"That's all very interesting, ma'am, but we don't allow demons in this hospital." The woman eyeballed Inu Yasha before pointing a chubby finger at his chest.

"What about him? He's a demon."

"Only half, and he will be fired soon anyway," Dr. Higurashi added in an offhand tone.

"Hm… well, I guess I can take my boy to that other demon hospital, but I've heard about NIMH's excellent reputation. I was willing to pay double what his bills were worth."

"On second thought," Higurashi chirped, "we may be able to take him."

"Fine. But I want this fella here to be treating him, not some know-it-all human like ourselves who doesn't know the mysterious ways of demons."

"Consider it done. Now, I'll leave your grandson with Inu Yasha if you'll just step into my office and sign a few things…" The two women sauntered off, leaving Inu Yasha with his new patient.

"Hey," he attempted. The boy glanced up at him through his bangs, but remained silent. `This is awkward,' Inu Yasha thought.

"What's your name?" he attempted again. More silence, until-

"Shippo," he muttered.

"So you can talk. Well Shippo, you and I are going to have a nice long talk after this night is out. But first let me introduce my nurse. Oh, wait, let me get her." He opened the door to the halls and called for Rin. She called back that she'd be there in a minute. Inu Yasha closed the door and shoved his hands into his lab coat pockets. In no time at all, Rin was by his side, beaming.

"Is this the new patient?" she bubbled.

"Yeah. He's a pseudo-mute with hallucinations," Inu Yasha informed her.

"Is that so?"

"Yup. Why don't you take his suitcase into one of our empty rooms and give him the low-down on rules and such."

"Okay." She picked up Shippo's single singular suitcase and motioned for him to follow her. When they were gone, Inu Yasha rapped on Sango's window. She looked up from her magazine at him.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Did you see that new one? How am I supposed to cure my patients in a month if more keep pouring in?" he gasped.

"Sorry pal. If I didn't have this desk job I'd help you out, but sadly I can't."

"Thanks for being such a help, Sango."

"Anytime."

~*~*~*~

^_~ Sayonara