InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Soul Therapy ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Notes: Thanks as always for the reviews everyone, I really appreciate it. Juggling this with my other stories is tough, so please be patient as far as updates are concerned.

I'm glad you all like the direction the story is taking so far. I'll admit, I'm having a somewhat hard time balancing all the characters right now, but I think it's all coming out okay. I want it to seem realistic (meaning all you Kikyou-haters out there Inuyasha can't just fall out of love with her over night) but at the same time not drag. So we'll just have to see how it goes, and keep letting me know what you think! Enjoy!

MitsukiKikistar: That's not a personal question at all! I first started having shoulder problems when I was pitching for a softball team in sixth grade. The motion caused me to develop rotator cuff tendonitis, which later developed into an inflamed biceps tendon, and now, the current problem is an elevated rib that pinches the muscles in my shoulder. I could just stop swimming and the problem would go away, but I love it too much. Thus, I have been seeing a physical therapist for the past four years, and we've become very good friends. lol Thanks for your review!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~

Title: Soul Therapy

Author: dolphingirl0113

Chapter: Nine

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~

For a man on crutches Inuyasha moved surprisingly fast, launching himself forward so that Kagome landed against his chest, supporting himself with one crutch while putting his free arm around her waist. "Take care Kagome," he whispered.

She looked up and caught his gaze, full of concern for her wellbeing, and wanted to cry. He was so devoted, so loving, when he wanted to be. Why couldn't she be the love of his life?

"Are you alright Kagome?" Miroku asked worriedly, breaking her trance, and Kagome blushed profusely.

"Yeah, I guess I should have eaten some food today though," she said with a careless laugh, though she was avoiding Inuyasha's penetrating eyes. "Thank you Inuyasha."

"Hey, at least this time I got to be the rescuer, not the other way around," he replied playfully, and Kagome smiled in spite of herself. She unwittingly met his eyes, and was lost once more.

"I'd better get to dinner," she finally said, breaking away and handing him the fallen crutch. He nodded and grunted, taking it under his shoulder and moving away. She noticed how he was standing all alone, and frowned. "Are you alone? You can come join us if you want."

"No, Kikyou's here," Inuyasha replied, though a part of him wanted to accept. Frankly, his wife had pretty much abandoned him on the sidelines to enjoy herself, not that he could blame her, and now he had nothing better to do.

Kagome frowned. "Well, she's not here right now at this minute. Are you sure you don't want to come up?"

"I'm alright, really," he insisted, and Kagome sighed before shaking her head.

"Fine, I'll see you later then."

"Alright." They paused, looking at each other once more, before turning in opposite directions and walking away.

Her dinner was wonderful, and the warm food in her belly relaxed Kagome's nerves at seeing Inuyasha. She had to admit though, as she chanced several glances at his figure down below, that he looked great in a tux.

"I don't think I've had a meal that good in a long time," Sango said after taking the last bite of lobster and rubbing her stomach. "At least, not that was free."

"I can't believe you ate all that," Kagome replied, staring at her own unfinished filet.

"Kagome, are you going to finish that?" Kouga indicated her plate, holding his fork, and Kagome grinned before shaking her head.

"Go for it." He didn't need any other encouragement, and pulled the plate before him.

"Fancy seeing Inuyasha here," Sango said after several minutes of silence, in which time Kouga successfully ate the rest of the filet. Kagome blushed.

"Yeah, who would have thought he was Sesshoumaru's brother?"

"Small world indeed," Miroku commented before taking a sip of his wine and smiling as he looked at the dance floor before glancing at Sango. "I do believe you still owe me a dance."

Sango snapped her fingers in mock disappointment. "Darn, and I thought you forgot about that."

"I forget nothing when it comes to you," he replied seriously, and Sango blushed before taking his hand.

"You seem to be feeling a lot better, do you want to come with us Kag? I'll bet Elijah's looking for you." Kagome grew red.

"Um, I think I'll just stay up here for a while." Sango frowned.

"I think you should go down, Inuyasha looks pretty lonely," she said simply, but walked away before Kagome could respond.

What was up with her friend lately? One minute she was telling Kagome to steer clear of the married man, and the next she was acting like he was free and available!

But the comment intrigued her, and without thinking Kagome glanced over the railing for the hundredth time, noticing that he was indeed still standing by himself on the sidelines of the dance floor, Kikyou's stunning red dress twirling around amongst several men on the dance floor. Frowning, she rose to her feet, heading toward the stairs.

Inuyasha was scowling as he watched the dancers move to and fro, not sure why he felt so damn lousy at that moment. He couldn't decide if it was because his wife had dumped him to be the center of attention, or if it was because just up the stairs (which he couldn't climb without help) was the young woman whose attention he so ardently wished for.

"Keh," he grunted, "Who cares."

"Talking to yourself again?" He stiffened at the comforting, familiar female voice that, in the past five weeks, had become such a saving grace for his mind and soul. He turned around to find Kagome smiling at him, still looking absolutely beautiful.

"I wouldn't be too quick to talk," he replied with a smirk, "Considering I walked in on you talking to an empty therapy room once." Kagome blushed at the memory, but moved to his side.

"You look bored," she finally stated simply. He frowned.

"So? I'm not all that into dancing is that so wrong? These parties bother me, with all the arrogant rich people and their arrogant attitudes." Kagome looked at him, and he felt like she was reading his mind.

"Is that your real reason? Or is it because your wife is out there, where you, at the moment, cannot go?"

She had done it again. She had successfully interpreted his thoughts. But then, she hadn't seen everything he was thinking, and he chose not to mention the part that included her. "Who asked you anyway wench?"

"So I'm right then," she replied without even flinching at the insult. He just shook his head and looked away, not wanting to fight at the moment.

They stood like that, side by side, for about ten minutes, watching the dancers. Inuyasha glanced over at Kagome several times, trying to figure out why she was staying with him when she could go be the center of attention of any man in the building.

Finally, she turned to him with a smile. "You want to get some fresh air?" He stared at her stupidly for a second, but then shrugged his shoulders and followed her toward one of the open balcony doors.

The first thing he noticed was that Kagome didn't try to beat him to the door, or make him feel like he was moving slow, like Kikyou had that evening. She stayed even with his pace, never a step behind or ahead, and what was more, it seemed natural for her to move that slowly. She made him feel at ease, like he was, well, normal.

He excused Kikyou from her behavior by convincing himself she just wasn't a physical therapist, though inwardly he had the sense it was more then that.

The balcony was high enough that Tokyo could be admired without being so high as to give someone vertigo. The air was pleasantly cool and calm, a warm breeze rustling the curtains of the open doors every now and then, and the scent of the roses hanging from the pillars surrounded the pair.

Kagome walked to the edge of the balcony and leaned her elbows against the stone railing, sighing contentedly as she took in the stars and the lights of the city. Inuyasha hesitated only a moment before joining her.

"Isn't there someone you would rather be spending time with?" he finally asked after several minutes of silence. Kagome looked over with surprise on her face.

"Do you not want me here?"

"No! That's not it at all!" Inuyasha felt the panic in his chest at the thought that she believed he would rather be rid of her company. Nothing could be further from the truth. "I just figured that, well, after watching you dance earlier, you would rather be doing that."

Kagome relaxed and smiled again, returning her gaze to the view before them with a sigh. "I love to dance, it's true, but at the same time I'm not one for these kinds of parties. I always feel like everyone is looking down on me from above with their regal faces and looks, because they're wealthy and I'm not."

"Keh," Inuyasha couldn't have agreed more. "I know the feeling."

"You do?"

"Sure, growing up with a brother like Sesshoumaru, I learned very early on what it meant to live in the world of the wealthy."

"How so?" She leaned her head against her fist, her hair falling over parts of her face. She looked extremely cute, and Inuyasha had to force himself to focus on her question.

"Both my parents were dead by the time I was sixteen, and Sesshoumaru took me in out of a sense of responsibility. He was very rich, having made it big with some company, and all I ever felt like was his charity project."

"But he's helping you go to school, right?"

"He was, I don't know if he will now." There was obvious disappointment in his voice, and it was the first time Kagome had heard Inuyasha come even close to admitting he might want to go back and finish medical school after all.

"Why wouldn't he?"

"Because of the cost of all the therapy I'm going to need, plus the huge hospital bills. I had two surgeries right after the accident, plus two months of hospital care. That's not exactly what you would call cheap."

Kagome winced at the thought of him on the operating table, and for an instant she wondered what he had looked like right after the car accident. But she pushed the thought away, intending to ask that question some day when he no longer had the burden of crutches to help him walk.

"But Sesshoumaru is certainly wealthy enough to pay for at least ten trips to medical school, somehow I doubt he would give up on you that easily."

"He would, trust me." Inuyasha's voice turned bitter. "He's never really liked me, I've just been the stupid little half-brother who was dumped on him when my mother died."

"I don't believe that for a minute," Kagome inserted forcefully, turning to look at him. "No brother abandons his siblings."

Inuyasha looked away from her penetrating eyes, his lips pursed in a deep frown that reached his eyes. Realizing that was probably all he wanted to say at the moment, Kagome decided to try and change the subject.

"So, how are the crutches working for you?"

It was such an obvious change of pace Inuyasha couldn't help but smile. She was trying, after all, to make him happy, and he had to give Kagome credit for realizing he didn't want to talk any more about his brother. Most girls would always be too pushy about it, even Kikyou at times.

"Other then moving slower then a snail, fine," he replied sarcastically. "And, it does feel good to be on my feet again, rather then looking up at others all the time." What he wanted to say was looking up at you, but stopped himself.

"See, I told you it wouldn't be so bad," she replied playfully, touching his arm. The jolt that went through his body at the contact was enough to freeze him in place.

A soft waltz drifted out on the breeze, and the pair stared into one another's eyes for several long seconds without moving, caught up in the beauty of the moment. Caught up in the beauty of each other.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, and Kagome blinked.

"For what?"

"I'm sorry I can't dance, because if I could I would ask you right now." Kagome smiled, her cheeks flushed with pleasure.

"It's enough that you would if you could," she whispered softly, turning away. Then an idea occurred to her, and she looked back. "Unless you really want to?"

He raised an eyebrow. "What are you getting at?"

"Just trust me." She seemed to be saying that a lot lately. He just nodded and allowed her to take his crutches from under his arms, the instant loss of support causing him to stumble forward. But Kagome was there, ready for the impact, and rather then hitting the ground Inuyasha found himself against her surprisingly solid frame.

"Now," she said evenly, "Put your hands around my waist." He did as she told, and found that, with a little bit of effort, he could stand. But what then?

"Um, I guess I won't be leading," he said, trying to make light of what he found to be a rather embarrassing situation. But Kagome just smiled again.

"Take little steps, like this," and she began to sway from side to side, her feet barely leaving the ground, and Inuyasha slowly fell into step with her, though at first he was rather clumsy.

After a while, with the continuing music, Inuyasha found himself relaxing and, to his surprise, enjoying himself, truly, for the first time in many months. And he owed it all to this woman. This woman who, in reality he knew very little about.

"Is it appropriate to talk while we dance?" he asked after some time, and Kagome smiled and nodded.

"If that's what you want to do."

"Alright, I think you owe me a question." Kagome laughed, the sound dancing in his ears.

"What would that be?" He smiled, but then his face turned serious.

"Please tell me why you are so sad sometimes when I mention Kikyou." He felt Kagome tense instantly, but only tightened his grip around her waist. "Please Kagome, I want to know."

She looked away in silence for several minutes, and Inuyasha began to wonder if she was just going to ignore him for the rest of the evening. But finally she sighed and turned to meet his gaze, that old image of raw pain in her eyes.

"Kikyou and I were the best of friends growing up. No, better then that, we were more like twins. Our families lived close enough that she would come over almost every day after school, or I would go to her house, and we would play and talk and dream together." She went silent, and Inuyasha prodded her on.

"And?"

"And, slowly that started to change. I guess it's just human nature to make comparisons between people, and our parents and family members were no different. Kikyou and I still liked each other, but as we grew older we slowly developed different personalities, and it showed. Kikyou got the good grades, while I passed as average. It wasn't so much that I was stupid, I just, for whatever reason, didn't care all that much. But either way, by the time we entered junior high my mother and father would make little comments, asking me why I couldn't be more like Kikyou in school, or in sports, or anything really. Kikyou always managed to be perfect at everything, and it started being that rather then getting equal attention out in public, she would seem to draw the spotlight onto her without realizing it, so that no one really cared about what was happening with me anymore." Kagome sighed, squeezing her eyes shut against the memory.

"I know my father didn't mean it, but one night when I came home late from a party, a little later then I promised, he exploded. He screamed that I would never be as responsible as Kikyou, and that he wished sometimes that Kikyou was his daughter, and not I." She felt herself holding back tears. "After that, our relationship was never the same. Kikyou heard soon enough about what had happened, and ever more we were uncomfortable with one another, wondering who was saying what about us, and who liked whom better. We became bitter rivals, and I hated every minute of it because, deep down, I still loved her like a sister." She went silent and looked away.

"Kagome." He didn't really know what to say. Her father's words, as well as the words of others, obviously still stung, and he wondered if they were wounds that would ever go away.

"Frankly I was relieved when she finally moved away to the suburbs," Kagome said at last. "It gave us the excuse to fall out of touch. Up until you showed up at the clinic, I hadn't actually seen her for over five years."

Inuyasha nodded and looked away, concentrating on keeping his feet while at the same time pondering what she was saying. "You know," he said finally, "I do remember sending out an invitation to a Kagome Higurashi, and the fact that Kikyou was really disappointed when you didn't come."

Nodding, Kagome continued to look away. "I couldn't go, not after everything that happened between us." She finally looked back at Inuyasha, and he was stunned to see tears in her eyes. "Did you know that we were going to be in each other's weddings? I was going to be her maid of honor, and she mine. It just didn't seem right to go to her wedding and be in the audience."

"Her name was Kagura," Inuyasha stated, and Kagome blinked.

"What?"

"Her maid of honor. Her name was Kagura." He didn't know why he felt the need to say that. Kagome's mouth just formed an `oh'. He sighed and stared into her eyes. "Can't you just forget what happened before?"

"I wish I could." Kagome looked away again, her voice lowering to a whisper full of pain. "You don't know what it's like to have people compare you so much that you would give anything to be someone else. You don't know what it's like to be so unsure of who you are and what you want, and to, at times, hate someone else so much for simply existing."

"But it wasn't Kikyou's fault your father said what he did."

"I know that!" Kagome was feeling suddenly irritated with all the obvious statements and probing questions. She wanted to just walk away, but couldn't because she, at the moment, was Inuyasha's crutch. "That's why it was so painful! I loved her, oh so much, and yet at the same time her very existence was a constant torture! I was always second best! I always fell short! And no one cared. No one realized what they said did to me!"

Inuyasha felt himself losing his balance as Kagome fell against him, sobbing, and somehow managed to fall against the stone railing so that they wouldn't hit the ground. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, something he had wanted to do for many weeks, and gently stroked her hair.

"You're not second best," he said softly into her ear. "You are you, and no one should ever say any different."

Kagome pulled away and looked at him with a sarcastic, painful smile. "But you do it too."

He opened his eyes in surprise. "What?"

"Whenever we talk about my career, you mention Kikyou. You always bring her up, as though you feel she is better then me for becoming a lawyer."

"Kagome, I don't mean it that way." But she put a hand between them, a finger to his lips.

"Yes you do," she whispered, "But it's okay. Who wouldn't compare us? She's beautiful, smart, has a wonderful husband who adores her, and is developing a prestigious career. But what am I? I'm plain, average in intelligence, I've never had a true boyfriend or been in love, and I'm content to be, as some would have it, a physical therapist rather then a doctor." She shrugged her shoulders. "Even I see the difference."

Inuyasha couldn't believe what he was hearing. She truly believed that? Kagome truly felt like she was unworthy, that she was her cousin's subordinate?

"For one thing," he began, running fingers through her hair, "You've shown me that being a physical therapist is nothing to be ashamed of. I'll bet you do more good for people then some kinds of doctors, because you give hope back to people who thought they would be crippled for life. Like me." Kagome looked away, but he forcefully pulled her chin back to face him. "I'm not finished."

"Hn," she grunted, and tried desperately to avoid his gaze.

"You're not stupid, and as I heard before you're planning to go back to school. You're doing what you love, which is something to be proud of. And you're not plain." He stopped, and their eyes met. "You're beautiful."

"Beautiful?" Her voice was suddenly shy and unsure, just like a woman unaccustomed to praise of any kind. It pained him to think so. How could such an angel believe she was unworthy?

Angel?

Why did he just call her that?

But his thoughts were hazy as he gazed into her eyes, deep pools of warmth and love, bright with a kindness he had never seen before. "Yes," he whispered, touching her cheek with his hand, "Beautiful."

Kagome felt herself melt as she instinctively leaned into his touch, the moon and stars glinting off his silver hair, his amber eyes practically glowing. If only she could kiss him, she thought, if only.

As though reading her mind, Inuyasha slowly began to close the gap between them, his eyes focused on her cherry red lips.

"Inuyasha?"

The moment shattered into a million pieces as Kagome recognized Kikyou's voice, and she leapt back as though on fire. No more was he her love framed by stars, calling her beautiful. He was once more Inuyasha, her patient, and married to Kikyou.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered frantically, grabbing his crutches and shoving them in his direction, refusing to meet his gaze. He took them, feeling equally as unnerved.

"Kagome wait," he called out, but she was already disappearing into the crowds of the ballroom. He had lost her, he realized with a sigh.

But why was that so disappointing? He was a married man, he should be grateful Kikyou interrupted when she did, right?

The image of Kagome gazing up at him with so much hope, so much trust, so much…he gasped. He had not seen that in her eyes, had he?

"Shit," he whispered, still leaning against the rail, staring at the ground with the crutches against his chest. This couldn't be happening!

Suddenly he needed air; he needed to get away, even though he was outside and away from the crowds of people. He couldn't stand it. He had, in his mind, just betrayed his wife in the worst way. And the worst part about it was he hadn't regretted it. Rather, it warmed his heart.