InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Soul Therapy ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

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Author's Notes: None for this chapter.

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Title: Soul Therapy

Author: dolphingirl0113

Chapter: Three

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

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"So Kagome, I hear you have a new project?" Kagome groaned, recalling her encounter with the temperamental Inuyasha Takahashi.

"Yeah, you could say that." Sango laughed at the expression on her friend's face.

"That bad, huh?" Kagome smiled in spite of herself as she took another swig of her coke.

"I've got to admit, this one's got me baffled."

"Really? That's saying a lot. Usually you're not fazed by anything." Kagome grunted in reply and reached for a french fry.

She, Sango, Miroku, Kouga, and Ayame had gone out to their usual restaurant for dinner, and were doing the usual interrogating about each other's patients, new and old.

Miroku playfully slung an arm across Kagome's shoulder with a grin. "Well, if anyone can fix this man, it's you Kagome."

"Here, here," Kouga added, lifting his glass of beer. Kagome blushed.

"Thanks, I guess."

"But seriously Kagome," Ayame started up, "He looked really grouchy when he was with his wife. Was he that way with you too?"

"Worse," Kagome replied, recalling the glares he had shot at her. Man, if looks could kill she would have died in that examine room ten times over.

"Really?" Ayame whistled. "And he was nasty to me at the desk, just for making sure he was the Inuyasha who was in the car accident. So what was he like?"

"Well, he wasn't abnormal as far as the typical attitude that I'm used to, but with him it was like magnified about ten times." She drank again. "I can tell already that he is going to push my limits."

If only Kagome had known how right she was, she probably would have refused to see him as a patient. In fact, if she had been able to see then all the wonderful problems taking on this new `project' would entail, she would have high-tailed it clear out of Tokyo without a second thought. But since it wasn't possible to see into the future, she was waiting for him the next day at precisely 3:00.

When they arrived Kagome was still working with a young girl with a spinal injury, helping her do exercises on the therapy ball to strengthen her abdomen muscles, thus relieving the stress on her back.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the couple settle into the waiting area, Kikyou seeming to talk about something while Inuyasha busied himself looking around. She was pleased to see he had done what she asked and was now wearing black shorts and a light blue tank top.

"Okay, I think that's it for today Michelle," Kagome said kindly to the sweating girl on the ball. She nodded, pushing short brown hair out of her eyes, and Kagome helped pull her to her feet. "You did really well today. I wouldn't be surprised if you can be discharged in another month or so."

The girl beamed, and Kagome felt her face brighten. She loved giving news like that to patients who had worked so hard.

"Do you think I can stop wearing this thing eventually?" Michelle said excitedly as Kagome strapped the back support around her waist. Kagome looked up and smiled confidently.

"I think you just might, if you keep up the hard work and do your exercises at home as well as here with me."

"I will," the girl replied happily. "I'll see you next Thursday Kagome."

"Okay, take care and have a good week at school," Kagome called out before turning to clean up, putting the ball back and placing the soiled towels in the dirty hamper. She then smoothed her shirt, flipped her hair back, and walked toward the waiting room, picking up a chart as she did so.

"Good afternoon you two," she said happily, and Kikyou smiled in return, but Inuyasha just huffed, trying not to look at the woman standing in the doorway. Kagome sighed and walked forward, taking the wheelchair and smiling at her cousin. "We'll be done in about an hour."

"Okay," Kikyou replied checking her watch, "I'm just going to run some errands." She leaned down and pecked Inuyasha on the cheek. "I'll be back."

Inuyasha frowned as his wife disappeared through the doors, and Kagome rolled her eyes with a grin. "Don't worry, she'll be back."

"That's not what I'm worried about." Kagome cocked an eyebrow, even though in his wheelchair he was facing away from her.

"Oh really? Then what exactly is the problem?"

"That without her around you'll be just as nasty as you were yesterday."

Kagome laughed outright. "I was nasty? Excuse me, but I'm not the one who whined like a baby about how therapy was pointless, and that you just wanted to get it over with. If anyone was nasty and embarrassed themselves yesterday, it was you my friend."

Inuyasha folded his arms and frowned, as though he were merely a child pouting after being scolded by a parent. "Keh, you can think what you want."

But rather then taking the bait and fighting with him any more, Kagome just pulled Inuyasha out of the waiting room and into the main area of the clinic. It was made up of several weight machines, open floor for exercises, two parallel bars to help with walking, and four tables meant for doing small exercises as well as massages and ultrasound treatments.

Noticing that they weren't going into an exam room, Inuyasha turned to give Kagome a puzzled look. "Where are we going?"

"Today you're going to officially start your rehab, and as such you don't need to be in a room. Everything we need is out here." She gestured to the space around them with one of her arms.

He didn't like the idea of being out in the open, for all to see, but just grunted in reply, crossing his arms in what, again, Kagome thought was a very child-like gesture.

Inuyasha felt her lean closer and the shiver from the day before passed through his body at her nearness and her breath. Why did he react to her this way?

"You know, I saw an eleven-year old boy this morning who lost a leg and is having to learn to walk with a prosthesis with a better attitude then you," she said simply, and he growled.

"Shut up, wench, I don't need a lecture from you as though you were my mother." Kagome sighed and stood back up.

"No indeed, your mother would have probably been disgusted with this sort of attitude from a grown man."

"Wench, what do you know about me, anyway? What gives you the right to talk to me like that? You don't know everything!"

Kagome stopped wheeling him and walked around so that she was kneeling at his eye-level. He couldn't help but notice, despite his anger, that her doe-like, dark eyes were very attractive. He quickly shook the thought away.

"Like I said yesterday, my name is Kagome, and until you get that through your thick skull I won't help you." He looked away, but she pulled his chin back to face her once more. "I am in your corner, don't you forget that. All I want is to see you succeed, so stop treating me like the enemy. I'm not the one who put you in this position in the first place, and you can't change the fact that someone else did. So get over it, grow up, or get out of my sight."

He hadn't been expecting such a forward response to his outburst, and it made Inuyasha realize with a slight blush that he had been acting like a child. This woman was just trying to help him. He knew that. But at the same time it felt good to yell at someone.

He couldn't yell at the man who did this to him, because the stupid bastard died in the accident. He couldn't yell at Kikyou because she wouldn't yell back, and he needed a good fight. So that left this young woman who was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that made him feel guilty. But it also made him feel something else, something he couldn't quite place.

"Look, lets just do this and get it over with, okay?" he said finally, not sounding quite as gruff as he had before.

Understanding as she was, Kagome knew that was the closest she would ever get to an apology in this case, and smiled, walking back around to wheel him over to one of the tables. "Do you remember how we did this yesterday?"

"Yes, let's just do it," he snapped, and she blew out of her mouth sharply.

"Okay, okay, no need to get defensive."

"I'm not defensive."

"Whatever," Kagome replied, and as she helped him onto the table Inuyasha was vaguely aware of the fact that she had just sounded like him. The thought made him want to smile. Well, almost.

"So is this your new patient, Kag?" A woman with long dark hair and eyes highlighted by pink eye shadow called as she walked by carrying a stack of clean towels in her arms.

"Yeah, but I don't know if he's gonna make it," Kagome replied, winking playfully at Inuyasha. Her quick change in attitude caught him off guard, and as such he couldn't formulate a response.

The woman came back from where she set the towels down on a nearby shelf and smiled at Inuyasha, clucking slightly with her tongue. "That's a real shame. Well, if he doesn't make it, you know what to do."

"Yeah, though I hate throwing him out back with all the other useless people of the world."

They were teasing him, he knew it, and yet the sight of the two women smiling, especially Kagome, prevented him from falling into his usual state of anger. Instead he just watched them curiously. This work environment certainly was a lot different then the one at the medical school, where he saw doctors running back and forth, all stressed out.

"I'm Sango," the woman with the long hair finally said, extending her hand. He took it, and was amazed by her strong grip. These two women were no weaklings, that was for sure.

"Inuyasha," he grunted in reply. Kagome raised an eyebrow.

"Does that mean I can call you by your first name now too?"

He looked at her steadily for a minute before looking away. "Whatever we-" he paused, "Er, I mean Kagome."

She beamed hearing her name, and Kagome found herself even blushing slightly. For whatever reason, she liked hearing this man say her name, and the feeling was foreign to her.

"Now this is no fair," a male voice announced, and all three people turned to see Miroku walking over with a fake pout. "Sango gets to meet Kagome's new patient, but I don't."

"Well, he's a man Miroku, so we figured you wouldn't be interested," Kagome replied with a playful grin. Sango just giggled.

"You hurt me, Kagome," Miroku whined, putting a hand over his heart. But then he looked at Inuyasha and smiled. "The name's Miroku, and I would just like to say in my defense that whatever these two women have said about me is absolutely untrue."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "They have said nothing, but is there something I should know about you?"

Miroku laughed at that, and Inuyasha was surprised at the careless joy in the sound. As a medical student, everyone around him was always serious, and their jokes were strained since they were all paranoid about graduating. Once again he found himself noting how relaxed and at ease everyone seemed here.

"No, not at all. Like I said, I'm perfectly innocent of anything they might say."

Kagome shrugged her shoulders. "Only because he's a man." She leaned in and whispered, "He's a bit of a lecher, if you know what I mean."

"Hey, that's not nice to say something like that about your old friend Miroku," the man replied, and Kagome just giggled.

"Well, she's right, after all you were raised by a bunch of monks. How could you possibly think it's okay to act the way you do?" Sango asked seriously, but her eyes twinkled. Miroku seemed to deflate at the sound of her voice, and smiled.

"Sango, my love, you know I only act this way to make you jealous." Sango rolled her eyes, and Kagome laughed out loud.

"And this coming from the man who just yesterday denied any and all accusations of being in love with Sango."

The woman turned and looked steadily at Miroku, surprise and, deep down, hurt, written on her face. "Is that true?"

"I-I, um, well that is to say," For the first time Miroku was at a loss for words, and turned away. "I think my patient is done with the ice. I'll see you guys later."

Sango looked down for an instant, but perked up quickly, smiling once more. "Well, I should probably get back to work too. It was very nice to meet you Inuyasha."

She smiled and walked away, leaving the pair alone once more. Inuyasha exhaled, and Kagome grinned. "Sorry about that, I have very friendly colleagues. They're harmless though, I assure you."

Inuyasha couldn't help but smirk at the comment. He liked it here, he realized, despite what he was there for. He liked the atmosphere. It was so refreshing from what he was used to.

"So tell me Inuyasha," Kagome began as she leaned him back against a headrest and stretched his legs out the full length of the table. He blushed slightly at the contact. "Are you a doctor? Kikyou said you were on your way back from the medical school when you had your accident."

"No, I'm a med student. Or, at least I was." Kagome was now standing over him, a bottle of Vaseline in her hands.

"Decided it wasn't for you?"

"No," Inuyasha sucked in a deep breath, trying to control his anger. Couldn't this woman just take a hint? He couldn't be that hard to read. "How do you expect me to go to school like this? I wouldn't be able to finish one intern rotation."

Kagome ignored his tone, like always, and began rubbing his legs. He could feel the contact, although it was only a slight pressure. He blushed as he realized a part of him wished he could feel more of Kagome's touch.

"That doesn't mean you can't go back later," she replied after several minutes of silence, in which time he thought he had won the argument, or rather, the conversation. Why did it feel like everything between them was a heated debate?

"Keh, you have no idea. I'd be so far behind it's beyond scary. And besides, there is no way I could handle the stress of making everything up and still graduating on time." Kagome raised her eyebrows, showing she was thinking, and pushed harder on his quads. The pressure began to feel more like normal touch, and it surprised him.

"Who says you have to graduate at the exact time you planned before? You could just wait an extra year or something."

Distracted as he was by the sudden feeling of her fingers against his legs, and the blush creeping into his face at the contact, Inuyasha only half-heard what she said. "Why do you care so much anyway?

Kagome looked over and met his gaze. Maybe it was because of the close contact, or the fact that her fingers were very close to something other then his thigh, but Inuyasha felt his mouth go dry.

"Because I know what it means to chose a fulfilling career. And I don't want to see anyone, even you who I barely know," She slapped his arm playfully, "Give up that chance."

She went back to what she had been doing, and Inuyasha found himself curious about what she had said. It was a strange feeling, not being angry for once.

"Are you speaking from experience then?" Kagome didn't even falter.

"Not in the sense I can tell you think I am. I didn't give up my dream career, but rather, I sacrificed a lot to achieve it."

Inuyasha couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised, both because she was opening up to him when this was only the first day since they'd met, and because he couldn't believe she had chosen a career such as this. It didn't seem to be a very profitable career to give up as much as she claimed she had sacrificed.

"So this is that dream career of yours?"

"Yes, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," He blushed slightly, suddenly not wanting to offend her, "I just haven't ever met anyone before who chose to do something like this instead of well, um," he searched for the right words.

"A career that makes a lot of money?" She finished for him. He blushed profusely.

"I didn't mean it that way," he began, but she just laughed, and he, for whatever reason, found the sound hypnotizing.

"It's alright, I get that a lot. Everyone always wants to know why, if I wanted to help people, I didn't just go to medical school and become a doctor and make lots of money." She sighed, still massaging his legs which, he noticed with surprise, were not only feeling her touch, but had begun to tingle. "But that's not what I wanted. I wanted to be a physical therapist. I don't know why, it's just always something I've wanted to do."

She looked at him, and he looked away, not wanting her to know he had been watching her the whole time. "Much like you, I expect, wanting to be a doctor. Which is why I don't believe for a minute that you would be happy just giving up your dream."

He grunted. "You don't know anything about my dreams."

Kagome shrugged. "I know that dreams are dreams, whether they are yours or mine. And I also know that disappointment will always feel horrible for anyone."

He didn't have a reply for that one, and so remained silent, letting her continue to massage all the way down to his toes before pulling back and wiping his legs off with a towel, tossing it into a hamper when she was done.

"Now," she said gently, "I'm going to move you so that your legs are off the edge of the bed like yesterday. And I want you to try and lift your legs again."

He groaned, wondering why she was doing this to him, but allowed her to shift his body, this time her hands on his shoulders. From there, he was very much aware of her presence and her touch, and tried to ignore the strange, unfamiliar feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Kagome finally had him positioned the way she wanted, and smiled. When she had been massaging his legs she had felt some muscle response, which was a wonderful sign that told her the only thing that would hold him back would be his own mental limitations.

"Alright, let's try this again," she said kindly, and he gave her a look that said she was crazy before looking at his legs. She could see the concentration on his face, and as such knew that he was at least putting some effort into this.

But the legs remained hanging off the table, and she noted his disappointed sigh. "You see, this is pointless," he began, but before he could get any further she whacked him on his left knee with her hand. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?"

Kagome simply smiled at him, making his temper even more volatile. She just smacked him, and for no good reason. He growled.

"Oh stop whining and look," Kagome said excitedly, and despite his anger Inuyasha let his curiosity get the better of him, leaning over the table to see. She whacked his knee again, and he saw it, albeit it was only a slight movement. His lower leg reacted slightly, and while in most cases a doctor would not be impressed with the display of reflex skills, which Inuyasha knew from being in medical school, in this case he felt himself soar into the clouds.

When he looked over, Kagome was beaming, and her smile was so contagious that even he couldn't stop from grinning slightly.

"You see," she said brightly, "I told you anything was possible."

Dark brown met amber-gold, and Kagome sucked in a breath as their eyes met and held. There was no anger in his eyes, though Kagome still saw the sadness, instead replaced by joy beyond measure. She smiled and blushed, finally looking away.

"Well, that's enough for today," she said softly, glancing at the clock and realizing it was almost four. "Kikyou will no doubt be back to get you."

At the mention of his wife Inuyasha stiffened, blushing and feeling embarrassed for the way he had just been so brazenly eyeing Kagome. But she seemed oblivious to it as she helped him back into his wheelchair before wiping down the table with a disinfectant and covering it with a new sheet. No doubt she was trained to be professional with her patients, he realized.

"You know," she said with a playful slap to the arm when she finally finished, "You're not so bad. So stop trying to act like a tough guy."

"Keh," was all he could say as she wheeled him out of the room.

Nearby Sango was eyeing the pair with a knowing gaze, and smirked slightly to herself. She had seen the way they were looking at each other a moment ago. Sure, it wasn't love, but there was definitely some serious attraction.

"Well who would have thought," Miroku said, coming over and standing next to Sango. "Our little Kagome is growing up."

Sango grinned and looked over at the man with the short ponytail and beaming eyes. "You saw it too?"

"Please, I'd have to be blind to not see it."

Sango nodded and smiled even more. "That's what I thought. But there's just one problem."

"What's that?" Sango stiffened.

"Her," and she pointed toward the waiting area where Kikyou had just appeared, smiling as Kagome wheeled Inuyasha up to his wife as the woman gave him a heartfelt kiss.

"Oh," Miroku frowned and crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Yes, that could be a problem."

Sango saw Kagome watch the pair leave, and felt all her earlier schoolgirl glee vanish. Kagome could get seriously hurt if she wasn't careful.

"Yeah," Sango commented, still eyeing her friend, "A big problem."