InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Special delivery ❯ Worth Fighting For ( Chapter 85 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: saphira404 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.02.2011 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 219 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.02.2011 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 219 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 85: Worth Fighting For
A/N: I know this is a much shorter filler chapter, which isn’t really fair since I made you guys wait for a while.
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Sesshy and Kagura would be happily mated and working on silver haired baby number three by now…
“Talking”
‘Thinking& #8217;
‘I can’t believe it’s already been five days.’ Kagura sat back down on the seat which had been hers for the past four days and nights. The day after his surgery, Sesshoumaru had been moved to Suikotsu’s small clinic, which had worked in Kagura’s favor. Thanks to her mother’s new friendship with Asuka, she had been granted complete and full access to Sesshoumaru’s recovery room. She was there when Suikotsu and his nurses dressed his bandages, she was there when they changed his IV’s and tubes, and she had even insisted on being the one to give him his sponge baths. On Suikotsu’s orders, no one had dared refuse her.
For the past days she had only left the small room for small periods of time, and usually in the afternoon when Asuka came to look in on her son. Not wanting to be in the dog demoness’s presence longer than was necessary, Kagura went back to the Fujibayashis’ mansion in order to check in on Kanna and Rin, and to get changed and cleaned up. Her two daughters were staying with her mother as she did not allow them to see Sesshoumaru. It was hard enough for her to stand guard over his slumbering body, but the idea of Rin and Kanna experiencing this unending wait was just unbearable to her.
Five days had gone by and Sesshoumaru had not moved one bit. Kagura did her best not to think that soon it would be a week since she had last seen the beloved golden eyes of her fiancé. He was so still that she liked pretending he was merely sleeping, and often times spoke aloud to him. This morning was no different.
“Kanna is extremely excited of course. She’s been driving my mother crazy with all the preparations. To think that her birthday party is only a week and a half away. Our little girl is growing so fast…” She felt tears rising again in her throat, but pushed them away. She had found out after the first night that tears would resolve nothing. At that time she had spent hours at Sesshoumaru’s bedside, bathing his bedcovers with her salty tears, and despite all that he had yet to open his eyes.
“I’m sure you remember how eager she was about handcrafting and delivering the invites, well she’s turned into a real little monster now when it comes to putting together a menu. She wants everything from Chinese dumplings from that restaurant you always take us to, to little apple tarts like the ones we baked for you a few weeks ago. ” She briefly paused, remembering how much fun it had been to not only bake, but eat the pastries with her daughter and fiancé.
“I can only hope you’ll be awake by then. Her party won’t be the same without you, and Kanna won’t let me buy her a present if you’re not here to help me pick it. She wants a new mirror to replace the one Naraku shattered… she won’t really talk about what happened when he took her, but I decided not to force her… I thought that maybe in time she’d open up.” The wind sorceress looked up from her fine crocheting work to look back up to Sesshoumaru’s still form. “I’d love to get your advice on it, but you can’t talk to me... I don’t even know if you can fucking hear me!” In a fit of anger she threw on the ground the pullover she had been knitting for Rin, and shot to her feet.
She took a deep breath to help calm herself down. “I’m sorry I didn’t really mean that.” She walked closer to him, and mindful of his bandaged arm, sat on the side of his bed.
“It’s just so hard seeing you like this.” She gently ran a hand through his long silver bangs. One of the nurses had wanted to cut his long locks in order to make them more manageable, but Kagura had completely refused. She was the one who carefully and painstakingly washed and combed his hair. Even if he pretended not to be a vain man, she knew how much he paid great attention to his appearance, and this included his hair.
‘When he wakes up, he certainly will not appreciate it if his beautiful hair was all chopped off.’ She bent down to give him one last kiss before settling back on her seat, and resuming her knitting.
Little did she know someone had just been witnessed to the little scene.
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‘I’ve failed not only Sesshoumaru, but Kagura and their children as well.’ Suikotsu walked away from the door Sesshoumaru’s hospital room. He had come to check in on his most important patient, but had heard Kagura’s words of despair by accident. Too ashamed to go face her, he staggered back in the hall.
‘I have done everything I could think of to treat Sesshoumaru, but his condition is stable yet unchanging…’ He once again ran through his mind the different procedures he had employed. First he had wanted to evaluate how deep Sesshoumaru’s coma was, so made him go through a CAT scan, MRI and different pain responsiveness tests. While the tests showed Sesshoumaru was absolutely not responsive to pain or other stimuli, to his relief he had not noticed any kind of brain trauma or damage, but this had not been that helpful in treating his patient. Then following through on his earlier hunch about the mixing of Asuka’s blood to Sesshoumaru’s being the reason for his continuous coma, he had had the dog demon be put on an IV filled with some of Izayoi’s recreated herbal tea. To the young doctor’s disappointment, it had not yielded any results. He had hoped that the medicinal herbs would have helped dispel the buildup of toxins in Sesshoumaru’s body, and therefore end his comatose state, but things had not worked out as he had planned.
‘There must be a way to get him out of that damn coma! I cannot be this useless!’ He felt strong scorching rage and hopelessness billowing inside him, wanting to take him over. He did his best to push his strong emotions down. Years earlier, when he was still a street thug, anger had been a powerful ally when dealing with other criminals, but now he had to be a cool collected doctor helping his patient and friend fight. Giving in to the dark feelings lurking in his mind and his blind rage would therefore not be helpful in any ways.
“Doctor Suikotsu?” A timid feminine voice asked behind him. It took him a while to shake off his dark demons, but when he had managed to get a complete handle back on his feelings, he turned around and was greeted by a pretty young woman. He watched her intently for a long time, completely taken over by her beauty.
“We haven’t met before… but… you saved my mother, and I wanted to thank you.” She blushed pure red and stammered her words. She suddenly grew very self-conscious. She did not know why the large imposing man was looking at her like this, but she was not sure she disliked it.
Noticing how much like a fool he must have looked staring at her silently for such a long period of time, he cleared his throat, and averted his dark gaze from her expressive eyes. “My apologies, I do not believe I caught you name.”
“I am sorry, I didn’t even introduce myself!” She blushed once again before bowing lowly in front of him. “My name is Mayumi Kaga. I am a… friend of Jakotsu and Bankotsu. You’ve saved my mother’s life.”
Suddenly he managed to place the young woman in front of him. “Yes of course Mrs. Kaga’s daughter. I hope your mother did not have a relapse.”
Sensing the genuine concern in his voice, she straightened and shaking her head dispelled his fears. “No not at all. She is doing much better. She believes she should be able to resume her job search soon enough.”
“Good. Just remind her to take it easy.” He smiled at her, causing her heart to flutter in an unusual fashion, then nodded in her direction. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a patient to attend to.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you, I just wanted to thank you, and maybe… ask if there’s any way I could repay you. Jakotsu and Bankotsu wouldn’t let me pay you, they’re even paying for my mom’s medication and now I’m working at their center too… They won’t let me do anything else for them, but I figured maybe you wouldn’t mind… I mean I just want a way to repay… so if there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
“There is no need for you to trouble yourself, helping your mother was my pleasure. Besides I owe a lot of favors to Jakotsu and Bankotsu, so it’s all good.”
“I’m not so useless. There must be something I could help you with! I really hate the feeling of being indebted to someone. I mean you just never know when they’ll want to cash in a debt…” As she thought back to how her words sounded, Mayumi realized she may have inadvertently offended him, and quickly tried to backtrack. “Not that I think you would do that! You seem to be an honorable man.”
What she did not know was that with a few innocent words, she had offered him with a possible solution, and Suikotsu had stopped paying attention to her.
‘This could work! He of all people should figure out something. How come I never thought about it?!’ The young doctor was so mad at himself, he could have kicked himself, not that it would have done any good.
“Thank you Mayumi, you’ve possibly just saved my patient’s life.” He chuckled before sending her a warm smile, which reduced her insides to goo. “Tell you what. Let’s forget about this debt nonsense. You don’t need to thank me, I’m the grateful one. I’ll take you out to lunch.”
“No really you shouldn’t…” She tried protesting, but he stopped her by raising his hand.
“Wait don’t move. Just stay right here.” He fished his cell phone out of his pocket, and quickly browsed through his list of contacts before pressing the dial button. After a few rings he was relieved when the person on the other line picked up.
“I want to cash in your debt, how soon can you be in town?” The young doctor said quickly, the other man was after all not famous for his patience.
After a quick pause a croaking voice came out of the cell phone. “Debt or not, I don’t come cheap…” He reminded his friend.
Suikotsu repressed an impatient groan, and answered the question. “Yes don’t worry, you’ll be paid handsomely.”
“Alright then, expect me in two days. Should I bring all my stuff?” He asked, even as he suspected the answer. No one knew better than him that if Suikotsu had called him in, then things had to be pretty bad.
“Yes.”
“See you in two days then.” Without any kind of parting words, the other man hung up the phone.
“Dr. Suikotsu?” Mayumi called for his attention.
“Please just Suikotsu.” He smiled at her then before she had time to protest, happily linked his arm with hers, and headed towards the exit. “Now about this lunch date, do you have any food preferences?”
Mayumi thought about refusing, but the sweet and comforting heat of his body against hers killed every word of protest she could have ever uttered.
‘When was the last time a man touched me without hurting me, or paying for me?’ She wondered feeling old and jaded beyond her years. ‘I believe I deserve some fun, and this doctor is so handsome!’
Having resolved her inner turmoil, she smiled back at him and answered easily “I love Korean food.”
“Me too!” He exclaimed. “A match made in heaven.” He chuckled, and despite her previous reluctance she did as well.
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Kagura briefly allowed her eyes to close. She burrowed her back deeper into the hard cushion of the armchair, and hiked the soft bed sheet she used as a blanket higher on her shoulders. She waited for sleep to come, and hoped it would come soon. She figured she was entitled to a little rest since she had just had to share Sesshoumaru’s bedroom with his mother. During her thirty minutes visit the older demoness had done her best to berate and mock Kagura as covertly as possible. Insulting her outright was not an option anymore simply because of the identity of her mother. At least Kagura knew she would not be coming back that evening since her mother was taking Asuka to a fancy dinner party.
The wind sorceress was jolted awake when someone knocked loudly at the door. She groaned as she really needed a nap, but still stood up to answer. Since her mother, Inuyasha and Asuka had already stopped by earlier, she really had no idea who else could be visiting Sesshoumaru.
“Byakuya?” Kagura gasped upon spying her younger half brother. He grinned broadly at her in response.
“I’m not here for long. I just wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing, and mom also asked me to bring these over.” He hoisted a huge bag in front of her eyes. Before she could ask aloud the question he could see in her eyes, he answered. “It’s pillows and bed stuff. She told me that since you’re set on sleeping in an armchair, the least you could do is be comfy… She meant to bring them earlier today, but didn’t get a chance to.”
Before Kagura could gently refuse her mother’s gift, Byakuya walked forward. Since she did not want to get run down by him, she had no choice but to step aside. He seized the opportunity and entered Sesshoumaru’s recovery room. As soon as he saw the dog demon’s still comatose body, he felt his heart clench.
“How did you stand being here the whole day for an entire week? Don’t you want to at least come to the mansion to sleep at night?”
“Mom suggested it, but my place is here. Sesshoumaru needs me, and that’s that.” She walked towards the bed, and briefly looked at her beloved before turning once again towards her brother.
Byakuya fixed his crimson eyes on his sister. She looked completely exhausted to him. While Naraku had kidnapped Kanna, he had seen a tired Kagura, but now she looked drained enough to collapse. Her eyes were red rimmed, and had heavy purplish-black circles under them.
‘How can someone waste away so fast in just a week?’ He thought grimly. ‘She even looks like she lost weight. This is surprising because I know she’s been eating.’ He felt his cheeks slightly warm up at the discovery he had made two days ago.
“You really do love him… I wonder if I’d be as devoted as you are.” The young man handed his large bag over to Kagura. She took it gratefully, and started going through its contents.
“You’ve never been in love before I take it.” She commented before replacing the sheet she had been using as a blanket for a soft woolen cover her mother had packed for her. She also placed the small fluffy pillows against the back of the armchair, knowing it would make the piece of furniture much more comfortable.
“I’ve always been more of a one night stand kind of guy… Guess I’m just waiting for the right person to come along.” He shrugged as he watched his sister improve her seat.
“Love is a funny thing. I thought I loved a man once, but he betrayed me…” Her heart still burned in anger when she thought back to Shinichi and the pain he had inflicted on Kagura and Kanna. “Falling in love with Sesshoumaru was completely unexpected; I never even anticipated meeting someone like him, but fate… or rather Inuyasha and Miroku threw us together by accident. Don’t lose faith Byakuya, you might find yourself saddled up with the love of your life before you know it.” A slight smile danced on her lips when she recalled her first meeting with Sesshoumaru when she had been employed by his half brother and friend as an escort.
‘We’ve certainly come a long way.’ She gently rubbed her tired eyes, hoping it would help her chase away some of her fatigue.
“Well I can tell you’re tired, so I’ll leave for now. Although I do have a little favor to ask of you…”
Kagura could not help but chuckle slightly. “I knew there had to be a reason why you volunteered to bring this stuff for me. Go ahead and ask.” She sank down in her usual seat, and was amazed to see how much the feathery pillows and soft covers her mother had sent to her were making a huge improvement to her comfort.
“Yesterday when I came to pick up mom, on my way over I ran into a young woman… I didn’t catch her name, but I believe she was a tiger demoness. We had a little conversation, but she was late so we did not get a chance to exchange contact information…so I was wondering if maybe you could, you know…”
Kagura knew exactly who her brother was referring to, but seeing him squirm was a great source of amusement and distraction, which she could really use at the moment.
“I’m not sure I know who you’re talking about…” She lied effortlessly even as she thought. ‘Now that is an interesting development I had never imagined could happen.’
“She’s just a little bit shorter than you, and she’s got an amazing body…” Seeing Kagura raise an eyebrow, he quickly added “and the cutest smile ever.”
“Maybe if you told me what other than her ‘amazing body’ interested you in her, my memory might get jogged or something…”
Byakuya frowned slightly, he knew his sister was toying with him, but he had no other choice, but to take it for now. His plan had miserably failed. He had hoped his mention of the young woman would be casual enough, and that Kagura would not suspect his true feelings.
“Well it’s a funny story actually. She must have met that boss of yours, Jakotsu because she thought I was his boyfriend. Can you believe she thought I was gay?!” Not wanting to offend her brother, Kagura did not say anything. She did however briefly glance down at the skin tight jeans he was wearing, and the light shade of red lipstick adorning his mouth.
“Oh come on, not you too!” He groaned truly annoyed. “Just because I love fashion, and I have an edgy style doesn’t mean I love men as well! I do love gay people though, they make for great business. Ever since I revamped my style, I’ve been attracting younger customers for my real estate company, and many of them happen to be gay. The gay scene in this city has been booming, and more and more people are coming over here looking for a more accepting place to live.” He knew he was pouting, but Byakuya did his best not to let Kagura’s words truly get to him. She was not the first nor the last person making that mistake. Plus getting mad at his new found sister at such a hard time for her would be awful.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make fun of you. I’ve just been tired lately.” She let out a sigh before answering his question. “Her name is Ai Yamamoto. I work part time at her parents’ restaurant. She brings food over to me every day at noon for lunch. She’s a nice girl, and before you ask, yes she’s single, and is looking for love. I’d be careful not to hurt her feelings though, her dad Kenji is one mean tiger… so unless you want to get past your one night stand days, let her be.”
“Not to worry, I know what I’m doing. Well I’ve got to go for now, but I’ll stop by tomorrow.” The young man walked over to Kagura then pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Stay strong, he’s bound to get better soon.” With a final wink, Byakuya left the room. On his way out he only briefly gave Sesshoumaru, and felt a shiver of unease run down his spine. ‘I don’t know how she can really stand to be alone in here with him for hours. I guess people are really willing to do anything for love…’
After her brother’s lithe form had disappeared behind the white door, Kagura went towards the window sill. It was adorned with two potted plants. The first one had been a get well present from Tanuki and Sondai. Kagura was not sure how exactly the raccoon demon and his boisterous girlfriend had found out that Sesshoumaru was in the hospital, but she had been very touched by their warm wishes. The second flower pot had been brought over by Sesshoumaru’s secretary Kiriko the day the dog demon had been moved to Suikotsu’s clinic. The young inu youkai had assured Kagura that she, Miroku and Inuyasha were taking care of everything at the Takahashi agency, which had truly relieved her. No one knew better than Kagura how much his business meant to Sesshoumaru, and the last thing she wanted to happen was for his agency to suffer while he was hospitalized.
She watered the two plants with the small water bottle she had placed next to them for that use before going back to her seat. She settled back against the pillows, and pulled the blanket over herself. This time around she really intended to get her much deserved rest. Even as she tried to fall asleep, she could not help smile faintly at the apparently budding relationship between her half brother Byakuya and friend Ai.
“Who would have ever thought we’d play matchmakers in such a way. Next thing you know Byakuya and Ai will be getting married. Sesshoumaru, you and I better be in the wedding party, or I’ll be greatly offended.” Still smiling, she closed her eyes and tried her best to fall asleep. When another knock was heard at the door, she groaned, but nonetheless went to answer the door.
“Maybe thanks to all this ruckus you’ll wake up.” She muttered under her breath in the direction of her unresponsive fiancé.
When the wind sorceress opened the door, she was surprised to see Suikotsu; he had come in earlier to check in on Sesshoumaru’s arm, which he had declared as being fully healed, and she therefore had not expected to see him that afternoon. However what surprised her the most was that he had a small unknown man dressed in all white standing next to him. The most distinctive and startling feature on the stranger were his big bulging and sagging eyes. The rest of his face was covered by a piece of white cloth, which surprised her even more.
“Good evening Kagura, I just came in to introduce you to a good friend of Bankotsu, Jakotsu and I. This is Mukotsu, a former… associate of ours.” The tall dark haired and handsome doctor then turned towards the much shorter man. “Mukotsu, this is Kagura, the fiancée of the patient I mentioned earlier.”
“Hello… nice to meet you.” An uncertain Kagura blurted. She trusted Suikotsu implicitly even if she had no idea what he was planning.
“Yeah yeah, I have no time for pleasantries.” Mukotsu’s words came out muffled as he did not bother with removing the cloth from his face. Before Kagura could protest, he stepped past her inside the room, and headed straight for Sesshoumaru’s bedside. He flicked out a small blade from inside his robe and lifted the blanket to prickle Sesshoumaru’s uninjured arm with it. Before the wound had a chance to close up, he brought the bloody tip of the metal under the veil to his lips.
“What is he doing?!” The wind sorceress gasped in utter shock. She was not sure what to say or do, and was too stunned to do anything anyways.
“So Mukotsu, what is your verdict?” A nonplused Suikotsu asked.
After a loud lip smacking sound, the shorter man removed the cloth from his face and revealed what Kagura mentally thought to be the most hideous and swollen face she had ever seen. When she had met Jaken, Sesshoumaru’s small green servant, she had been sure that she had met the ugliest being alive, but in her eyes Mukotsu had just won the contest.
“He definitely has too much toxin in his blood.” The short ugly man spat on the carpeted floor, not even caring that he was behaving disgustingly.
“I don’t understand what just happened, or what the hell he is doing here.” Even if she was talking about Mukotsu, it was towards Suikotsu that Kagura turned in search for an answer.
“My friend Mukotsu is a poison master. If he is unable to save Sesshoumaru’s life, then no one will.” Suikotsu’s words resonated ominously around the small hospital room.
To be continued…
A/N: A lightly abrupt ending, sorry. Love is in the air (at least for secondary characters) and Mukotsu has come to save our Sesshoumaru? Will he succeed? We shall see next time in Elixir of Life. The story is almost over, but there’s still a little bit of drama ahead, so until next time!
Converting /tmp/php4GdOka to /dev/stdout
A/N: I know this is a much shorter filler chapter, which isn’t really fair since I made you guys wait for a while.
Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, Sesshy and Kagura would be happily mated and working on silver haired baby number three by now…
“Talking”
‘Thinking& #8217;
‘I can’t believe it’s already been five days.’ Kagura sat back down on the seat which had been hers for the past four days and nights. The day after his surgery, Sesshoumaru had been moved to Suikotsu’s small clinic, which had worked in Kagura’s favor. Thanks to her mother’s new friendship with Asuka, she had been granted complete and full access to Sesshoumaru’s recovery room. She was there when Suikotsu and his nurses dressed his bandages, she was there when they changed his IV’s and tubes, and she had even insisted on being the one to give him his sponge baths. On Suikotsu’s orders, no one had dared refuse her.
For the past days she had only left the small room for small periods of time, and usually in the afternoon when Asuka came to look in on her son. Not wanting to be in the dog demoness’s presence longer than was necessary, Kagura went back to the Fujibayashis’ mansion in order to check in on Kanna and Rin, and to get changed and cleaned up. Her two daughters were staying with her mother as she did not allow them to see Sesshoumaru. It was hard enough for her to stand guard over his slumbering body, but the idea of Rin and Kanna experiencing this unending wait was just unbearable to her.
Five days had gone by and Sesshoumaru had not moved one bit. Kagura did her best not to think that soon it would be a week since she had last seen the beloved golden eyes of her fiancé. He was so still that she liked pretending he was merely sleeping, and often times spoke aloud to him. This morning was no different.
“Kanna is extremely excited of course. She’s been driving my mother crazy with all the preparations. To think that her birthday party is only a week and a half away. Our little girl is growing so fast…” She felt tears rising again in her throat, but pushed them away. She had found out after the first night that tears would resolve nothing. At that time she had spent hours at Sesshoumaru’s bedside, bathing his bedcovers with her salty tears, and despite all that he had yet to open his eyes.
“I’m sure you remember how eager she was about handcrafting and delivering the invites, well she’s turned into a real little monster now when it comes to putting together a menu. She wants everything from Chinese dumplings from that restaurant you always take us to, to little apple tarts like the ones we baked for you a few weeks ago. ” She briefly paused, remembering how much fun it had been to not only bake, but eat the pastries with her daughter and fiancé.
“I can only hope you’ll be awake by then. Her party won’t be the same without you, and Kanna won’t let me buy her a present if you’re not here to help me pick it. She wants a new mirror to replace the one Naraku shattered… she won’t really talk about what happened when he took her, but I decided not to force her… I thought that maybe in time she’d open up.” The wind sorceress looked up from her fine crocheting work to look back up to Sesshoumaru’s still form. “I’d love to get your advice on it, but you can’t talk to me... I don’t even know if you can fucking hear me!” In a fit of anger she threw on the ground the pullover she had been knitting for Rin, and shot to her feet.
She took a deep breath to help calm herself down. “I’m sorry I didn’t really mean that.” She walked closer to him, and mindful of his bandaged arm, sat on the side of his bed.
“It’s just so hard seeing you like this.” She gently ran a hand through his long silver bangs. One of the nurses had wanted to cut his long locks in order to make them more manageable, but Kagura had completely refused. She was the one who carefully and painstakingly washed and combed his hair. Even if he pretended not to be a vain man, she knew how much he paid great attention to his appearance, and this included his hair.
‘When he wakes up, he certainly will not appreciate it if his beautiful hair was all chopped off.’ She bent down to give him one last kiss before settling back on her seat, and resuming her knitting.
Little did she know someone had just been witnessed to the little scene.
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‘I’ve failed not only Sesshoumaru, but Kagura and their children as well.’ Suikotsu walked away from the door Sesshoumaru’s hospital room. He had come to check in on his most important patient, but had heard Kagura’s words of despair by accident. Too ashamed to go face her, he staggered back in the hall.
‘I have done everything I could think of to treat Sesshoumaru, but his condition is stable yet unchanging…’ He once again ran through his mind the different procedures he had employed. First he had wanted to evaluate how deep Sesshoumaru’s coma was, so made him go through a CAT scan, MRI and different pain responsiveness tests. While the tests showed Sesshoumaru was absolutely not responsive to pain or other stimuli, to his relief he had not noticed any kind of brain trauma or damage, but this had not been that helpful in treating his patient. Then following through on his earlier hunch about the mixing of Asuka’s blood to Sesshoumaru’s being the reason for his continuous coma, he had had the dog demon be put on an IV filled with some of Izayoi’s recreated herbal tea. To the young doctor’s disappointment, it had not yielded any results. He had hoped that the medicinal herbs would have helped dispel the buildup of toxins in Sesshoumaru’s body, and therefore end his comatose state, but things had not worked out as he had planned.
‘There must be a way to get him out of that damn coma! I cannot be this useless!’ He felt strong scorching rage and hopelessness billowing inside him, wanting to take him over. He did his best to push his strong emotions down. Years earlier, when he was still a street thug, anger had been a powerful ally when dealing with other criminals, but now he had to be a cool collected doctor helping his patient and friend fight. Giving in to the dark feelings lurking in his mind and his blind rage would therefore not be helpful in any ways.
“Doctor Suikotsu?” A timid feminine voice asked behind him. It took him a while to shake off his dark demons, but when he had managed to get a complete handle back on his feelings, he turned around and was greeted by a pretty young woman. He watched her intently for a long time, completely taken over by her beauty.
“We haven’t met before… but… you saved my mother, and I wanted to thank you.” She blushed pure red and stammered her words. She suddenly grew very self-conscious. She did not know why the large imposing man was looking at her like this, but she was not sure she disliked it.
Noticing how much like a fool he must have looked staring at her silently for such a long period of time, he cleared his throat, and averted his dark gaze from her expressive eyes. “My apologies, I do not believe I caught you name.”
“I am sorry, I didn’t even introduce myself!” She blushed once again before bowing lowly in front of him. “My name is Mayumi Kaga. I am a… friend of Jakotsu and Bankotsu. You’ve saved my mother’s life.”
Suddenly he managed to place the young woman in front of him. “Yes of course Mrs. Kaga’s daughter. I hope your mother did not have a relapse.”
Sensing the genuine concern in his voice, she straightened and shaking her head dispelled his fears. “No not at all. She is doing much better. She believes she should be able to resume her job search soon enough.”
“Good. Just remind her to take it easy.” He smiled at her, causing her heart to flutter in an unusual fashion, then nodded in her direction. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a patient to attend to.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you, I just wanted to thank you, and maybe… ask if there’s any way I could repay you. Jakotsu and Bankotsu wouldn’t let me pay you, they’re even paying for my mom’s medication and now I’m working at their center too… They won’t let me do anything else for them, but I figured maybe you wouldn’t mind… I mean I just want a way to repay… so if there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
“There is no need for you to trouble yourself, helping your mother was my pleasure. Besides I owe a lot of favors to Jakotsu and Bankotsu, so it’s all good.”
“I’m not so useless. There must be something I could help you with! I really hate the feeling of being indebted to someone. I mean you just never know when they’ll want to cash in a debt…” As she thought back to how her words sounded, Mayumi realized she may have inadvertently offended him, and quickly tried to backtrack. “Not that I think you would do that! You seem to be an honorable man.”
What she did not know was that with a few innocent words, she had offered him with a possible solution, and Suikotsu had stopped paying attention to her.
‘This could work! He of all people should figure out something. How come I never thought about it?!’ The young doctor was so mad at himself, he could have kicked himself, not that it would have done any good.
“Thank you Mayumi, you’ve possibly just saved my patient’s life.” He chuckled before sending her a warm smile, which reduced her insides to goo. “Tell you what. Let’s forget about this debt nonsense. You don’t need to thank me, I’m the grateful one. I’ll take you out to lunch.”
“No really you shouldn’t…” She tried protesting, but he stopped her by raising his hand.
“Wait don’t move. Just stay right here.” He fished his cell phone out of his pocket, and quickly browsed through his list of contacts before pressing the dial button. After a few rings he was relieved when the person on the other line picked up.
“I want to cash in your debt, how soon can you be in town?” The young doctor said quickly, the other man was after all not famous for his patience.
After a quick pause a croaking voice came out of the cell phone. “Debt or not, I don’t come cheap…” He reminded his friend.
Suikotsu repressed an impatient groan, and answered the question. “Yes don’t worry, you’ll be paid handsomely.”
“Alright then, expect me in two days. Should I bring all my stuff?” He asked, even as he suspected the answer. No one knew better than him that if Suikotsu had called him in, then things had to be pretty bad.
“Yes.”
“See you in two days then.” Without any kind of parting words, the other man hung up the phone.
“Dr. Suikotsu?” Mayumi called for his attention.
“Please just Suikotsu.” He smiled at her then before she had time to protest, happily linked his arm with hers, and headed towards the exit. “Now about this lunch date, do you have any food preferences?”
Mayumi thought about refusing, but the sweet and comforting heat of his body against hers killed every word of protest she could have ever uttered.
‘When was the last time a man touched me without hurting me, or paying for me?’ She wondered feeling old and jaded beyond her years. ‘I believe I deserve some fun, and this doctor is so handsome!’
Having resolved her inner turmoil, she smiled back at him and answered easily “I love Korean food.”
“Me too!” He exclaimed. “A match made in heaven.” He chuckled, and despite her previous reluctance she did as well.
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Kagura briefly allowed her eyes to close. She burrowed her back deeper into the hard cushion of the armchair, and hiked the soft bed sheet she used as a blanket higher on her shoulders. She waited for sleep to come, and hoped it would come soon. She figured she was entitled to a little rest since she had just had to share Sesshoumaru’s bedroom with his mother. During her thirty minutes visit the older demoness had done her best to berate and mock Kagura as covertly as possible. Insulting her outright was not an option anymore simply because of the identity of her mother. At least Kagura knew she would not be coming back that evening since her mother was taking Asuka to a fancy dinner party.
The wind sorceress was jolted awake when someone knocked loudly at the door. She groaned as she really needed a nap, but still stood up to answer. Since her mother, Inuyasha and Asuka had already stopped by earlier, she really had no idea who else could be visiting Sesshoumaru.
“Byakuya?” Kagura gasped upon spying her younger half brother. He grinned broadly at her in response.
“I’m not here for long. I just wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing, and mom also asked me to bring these over.” He hoisted a huge bag in front of her eyes. Before she could ask aloud the question he could see in her eyes, he answered. “It’s pillows and bed stuff. She told me that since you’re set on sleeping in an armchair, the least you could do is be comfy… She meant to bring them earlier today, but didn’t get a chance to.”
Before Kagura could gently refuse her mother’s gift, Byakuya walked forward. Since she did not want to get run down by him, she had no choice but to step aside. He seized the opportunity and entered Sesshoumaru’s recovery room. As soon as he saw the dog demon’s still comatose body, he felt his heart clench.
“How did you stand being here the whole day for an entire week? Don’t you want to at least come to the mansion to sleep at night?”
“Mom suggested it, but my place is here. Sesshoumaru needs me, and that’s that.” She walked towards the bed, and briefly looked at her beloved before turning once again towards her brother.
Byakuya fixed his crimson eyes on his sister. She looked completely exhausted to him. While Naraku had kidnapped Kanna, he had seen a tired Kagura, but now she looked drained enough to collapse. Her eyes were red rimmed, and had heavy purplish-black circles under them.
‘How can someone waste away so fast in just a week?’ He thought grimly. ‘She even looks like she lost weight. This is surprising because I know she’s been eating.’ He felt his cheeks slightly warm up at the discovery he had made two days ago.
“You really do love him… I wonder if I’d be as devoted as you are.” The young man handed his large bag over to Kagura. She took it gratefully, and started going through its contents.
“You’ve never been in love before I take it.” She commented before replacing the sheet she had been using as a blanket for a soft woolen cover her mother had packed for her. She also placed the small fluffy pillows against the back of the armchair, knowing it would make the piece of furniture much more comfortable.
“I’ve always been more of a one night stand kind of guy… Guess I’m just waiting for the right person to come along.” He shrugged as he watched his sister improve her seat.
“Love is a funny thing. I thought I loved a man once, but he betrayed me…” Her heart still burned in anger when she thought back to Shinichi and the pain he had inflicted on Kagura and Kanna. “Falling in love with Sesshoumaru was completely unexpected; I never even anticipated meeting someone like him, but fate… or rather Inuyasha and Miroku threw us together by accident. Don’t lose faith Byakuya, you might find yourself saddled up with the love of your life before you know it.” A slight smile danced on her lips when she recalled her first meeting with Sesshoumaru when she had been employed by his half brother and friend as an escort.
‘We’ve certainly come a long way.’ She gently rubbed her tired eyes, hoping it would help her chase away some of her fatigue.
“Well I can tell you’re tired, so I’ll leave for now. Although I do have a little favor to ask of you…”
Kagura could not help but chuckle slightly. “I knew there had to be a reason why you volunteered to bring this stuff for me. Go ahead and ask.” She sank down in her usual seat, and was amazed to see how much the feathery pillows and soft covers her mother had sent to her were making a huge improvement to her comfort.
“Yesterday when I came to pick up mom, on my way over I ran into a young woman… I didn’t catch her name, but I believe she was a tiger demoness. We had a little conversation, but she was late so we did not get a chance to exchange contact information…so I was wondering if maybe you could, you know…”
Kagura knew exactly who her brother was referring to, but seeing him squirm was a great source of amusement and distraction, which she could really use at the moment.
“I’m not sure I know who you’re talking about…” She lied effortlessly even as she thought. ‘Now that is an interesting development I had never imagined could happen.’
“She’s just a little bit shorter than you, and she’s got an amazing body…” Seeing Kagura raise an eyebrow, he quickly added “and the cutest smile ever.”
“Maybe if you told me what other than her ‘amazing body’ interested you in her, my memory might get jogged or something…”
Byakuya frowned slightly, he knew his sister was toying with him, but he had no other choice, but to take it for now. His plan had miserably failed. He had hoped his mention of the young woman would be casual enough, and that Kagura would not suspect his true feelings.
“Well it’s a funny story actually. She must have met that boss of yours, Jakotsu because she thought I was his boyfriend. Can you believe she thought I was gay?!” Not wanting to offend her brother, Kagura did not say anything. She did however briefly glance down at the skin tight jeans he was wearing, and the light shade of red lipstick adorning his mouth.
“Oh come on, not you too!” He groaned truly annoyed. “Just because I love fashion, and I have an edgy style doesn’t mean I love men as well! I do love gay people though, they make for great business. Ever since I revamped my style, I’ve been attracting younger customers for my real estate company, and many of them happen to be gay. The gay scene in this city has been booming, and more and more people are coming over here looking for a more accepting place to live.” He knew he was pouting, but Byakuya did his best not to let Kagura’s words truly get to him. She was not the first nor the last person making that mistake. Plus getting mad at his new found sister at such a hard time for her would be awful.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make fun of you. I’ve just been tired lately.” She let out a sigh before answering his question. “Her name is Ai Yamamoto. I work part time at her parents’ restaurant. She brings food over to me every day at noon for lunch. She’s a nice girl, and before you ask, yes she’s single, and is looking for love. I’d be careful not to hurt her feelings though, her dad Kenji is one mean tiger… so unless you want to get past your one night stand days, let her be.”
“Not to worry, I know what I’m doing. Well I’ve got to go for now, but I’ll stop by tomorrow.” The young man walked over to Kagura then pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Stay strong, he’s bound to get better soon.” With a final wink, Byakuya left the room. On his way out he only briefly gave Sesshoumaru, and felt a shiver of unease run down his spine. ‘I don’t know how she can really stand to be alone in here with him for hours. I guess people are really willing to do anything for love…’
After her brother’s lithe form had disappeared behind the white door, Kagura went towards the window sill. It was adorned with two potted plants. The first one had been a get well present from Tanuki and Sondai. Kagura was not sure how exactly the raccoon demon and his boisterous girlfriend had found out that Sesshoumaru was in the hospital, but she had been very touched by their warm wishes. The second flower pot had been brought over by Sesshoumaru’s secretary Kiriko the day the dog demon had been moved to Suikotsu’s clinic. The young inu youkai had assured Kagura that she, Miroku and Inuyasha were taking care of everything at the Takahashi agency, which had truly relieved her. No one knew better than Kagura how much his business meant to Sesshoumaru, and the last thing she wanted to happen was for his agency to suffer while he was hospitalized.
She watered the two plants with the small water bottle she had placed next to them for that use before going back to her seat. She settled back against the pillows, and pulled the blanket over herself. This time around she really intended to get her much deserved rest. Even as she tried to fall asleep, she could not help smile faintly at the apparently budding relationship between her half brother Byakuya and friend Ai.
“Who would have ever thought we’d play matchmakers in such a way. Next thing you know Byakuya and Ai will be getting married. Sesshoumaru, you and I better be in the wedding party, or I’ll be greatly offended.” Still smiling, she closed her eyes and tried her best to fall asleep. When another knock was heard at the door, she groaned, but nonetheless went to answer the door.
“Maybe thanks to all this ruckus you’ll wake up.” She muttered under her breath in the direction of her unresponsive fiancé.
When the wind sorceress opened the door, she was surprised to see Suikotsu; he had come in earlier to check in on Sesshoumaru’s arm, which he had declared as being fully healed, and she therefore had not expected to see him that afternoon. However what surprised her the most was that he had a small unknown man dressed in all white standing next to him. The most distinctive and startling feature on the stranger were his big bulging and sagging eyes. The rest of his face was covered by a piece of white cloth, which surprised her even more.
“Good evening Kagura, I just came in to introduce you to a good friend of Bankotsu, Jakotsu and I. This is Mukotsu, a former… associate of ours.” The tall dark haired and handsome doctor then turned towards the much shorter man. “Mukotsu, this is Kagura, the fiancée of the patient I mentioned earlier.”
“Hello… nice to meet you.” An uncertain Kagura blurted. She trusted Suikotsu implicitly even if she had no idea what he was planning.
“Yeah yeah, I have no time for pleasantries.” Mukotsu’s words came out muffled as he did not bother with removing the cloth from his face. Before Kagura could protest, he stepped past her inside the room, and headed straight for Sesshoumaru’s bedside. He flicked out a small blade from inside his robe and lifted the blanket to prickle Sesshoumaru’s uninjured arm with it. Before the wound had a chance to close up, he brought the bloody tip of the metal under the veil to his lips.
“What is he doing?!” The wind sorceress gasped in utter shock. She was not sure what to say or do, and was too stunned to do anything anyways.
“So Mukotsu, what is your verdict?” A nonplused Suikotsu asked.
After a loud lip smacking sound, the shorter man removed the cloth from his face and revealed what Kagura mentally thought to be the most hideous and swollen face she had ever seen. When she had met Jaken, Sesshoumaru’s small green servant, she had been sure that she had met the ugliest being alive, but in her eyes Mukotsu had just won the contest.
“He definitely has too much toxin in his blood.” The short ugly man spat on the carpeted floor, not even caring that he was behaving disgustingly.
“I don’t understand what just happened, or what the hell he is doing here.” Even if she was talking about Mukotsu, it was towards Suikotsu that Kagura turned in search for an answer.
“My friend Mukotsu is a poison master. If he is unable to save Sesshoumaru’s life, then no one will.” Suikotsu’s words resonated ominously around the small hospital room.
To be continued…
A/N: A lightly abrupt ending, sorry. Love is in the air (at least for secondary characters) and Mukotsu has come to save our Sesshoumaru? Will he succeed? We shall see next time in Elixir of Life. The story is almost over, but there’s still a little bit of drama ahead, so until next time!
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