InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Stealing Heaven ❯ Acceptance of the Inevitable ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine

Acceptance of the Inevitable

"Stockholm Syndrome!" Sango blurted, startling a still-sleepy Kagome back into the world of the unfortunately awake.

Hissing as her own sudden movement sloshed some hot coffee out of her travel mug and unto her fingers, Kagome scowled at her instantly apologetic friend as she switched the cup to her other hand and shook the liquid from her lightly burning skin. ". . . Run that by me again?"

When they'd first dragged themselves out of their sleeping bags that morning, Kagome had shot Sango a look that had been long understood between them to mean I need to talk to you. The reply had been a subtle nod and they'd taken their time getting ready, making what cross-culture chit-chat they could with Dominique as she dressed and bid them goodbye to begin her day. Never one to trust that people would always be gone when you really needed them to be- a forgotten this or that which had the person dashing back in and hearing things they shouldn't- Sango rushed to the entrance and parted the flaps of the tent just enough to peer out and confirm that the girl was already headed to fetch her breakfast.

Nodding again, she hurried back and dropped herself to sit cross-legged on Kagome's mattress and propped her chin on her fists, staring up at her friend as Kagome rushed through pouring bottled water and fresh- if still acrid- grounds into their trusty, battery operated coffee maker. Turning her face away- both to hide the hideous blush that would be flaring in her cheeks and because she felt certain she'd never be able to get through what she had to say with someone, anyone, staring at her- Kagome told Sango what had happened only a few short hours ago.

By the time she looked forward again, Sango was leaned back on an elbow and fanning herself lightly with one hand. "Oh . . . my gods . . . " was all she said after a long moment.

Giving a nod and chewing furiously on her lower lip, Kagome replied, "I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I said at . . . some point. It's really this fuzzy," she paused to let out a yawn, "unfortunately hot jumbled memory of limbs and touching and-"

"And Professor Taisho's water-glistened nude body?" Sango offered in a tone that mocked helpfulness as she tried, unsuccessfully, to hide a grin.

Kagome uttered a short, strangled cry as she buried her face in her hands. She'd slept relatively peacefully after she'd managed to put her troubled thoughts and self-hatred aside, but she still felt tired. Thankfully she was aware that this time it was due only to how little sleep she'd gotten and not to The Thief over-feeding.

"Sango, please," she finally said, snatching up her mug and filling it nearly to the brim, "this is serious. What's wrong with me?"

"Oh . . . oh, honey, nothing's wrong with you." Sango stood and came around to the folding table to begin fixing her own cup. "Maybe . . . I don't know, but maybe in a way . . . that . . Thief thing is right."

Kagome's eyebrows shot half-way up her forehead. "Excuse me?"

Sango set her mug down and made a placating gesture with her hands. "Alright, alright, let me explain before you get all nutty on me."

Managing a tired nod, Kagome sat on the edge of her mattress, not sipping her coffee, but holding clasped in both hands beneath her nose, hoping the horrifying aroma alone would be enough to jolt her awake and she wouldn't have to actually ingest it.

"Okay. Now, we can't do anything about him yet, right?"

Expression souring, Kagome nodded again. "Right."

"So until we figure out how to get rid of him you're stuck doing . . . crazy-hot shower porn scenes with Prof-"

"Sango!"

"I'm sorry, okay, I mean . . . I wasn't even there and I thought it was . . . never mind, you don't want to hear that." Kagome could only give an aggravated nod in agreement with Sango's words as she fought to keep her bleary eyes open. "My point is that you have no real options right now as for how to deal with him. He might be right in that since you don't have a choice, you might as well enjoy it. You're a little like Professor Taisho, if you think about it. You don't like wasting time on non-necessities, hence why, like you said, you think it's stupid to bother being angry with that thing 'cause he's a demon and they're supposed to be all mean and evilly and selfish."

Kagome managed another grudging nod as she allowed her eyes to drift closed. Shrugging, Sango went on, "That being said, maybe part of you understood that The Thief was kind of right about that and your mind just sort of said 'to hell with it' and gave in."

As she let out another yawn Kagome shook her head, not even bothering to open her eyes. "Okay, what I didn't tell you was that I started enjoying it before he said that."

"Maybe you kind of knew he was going to point that out?"

Kagome managed a sleepy, self-deprecating laugh. "Yeah, 'cause I've always been such the mind reader."

"Okay then . . ." Sango allowed her words to trail off as she thought it over, sipping from her mug and dutifully refraining from blanching at the taste for the thousandth time.

It was then that she'd had the minor, liquid-burn-inducing outburst. Kagome finally gave in and took a long, painfully horrid swig of her coffee, knowing for certain now that she did, in fact, need to drink the stuff for it to be of even marginal use to her.

"I said Stockholm Syndrome."

Kagome gave a thoughtful, if slightly dark, frown at this. "Stockholm affects kidnapping victims. How is this supposed to apply to me?"

"Okay, okay," Sango grinned sagely and set her coffee down, coming around the table again to sit on her heels before her friend. "I got this one. It's a person's self-preservation instinct deciding that the in order to survive they have to sympathize with their captor, in essence, their subconscious tricks them into believing they're friends or even in more severe cases in love with them, right?"

Kagome shuddered at the idea of her mind trying to make her fall in love with a creature like The Thief, regardless of factuality or circumstance. "Still not getting it, Sans."

"Okay then," Sango's thought processes did a little hiccup. "Wait, what did you just call me?"

Offering a lazy shrug, Kagome replied, "You know I hate being called 'Kags', so I'm going to do the same to you until you stop."

Sango gave this a moment's consideration before giving a shrug of her own with a slip of a grin gracing her lips. "Suits me just fine. I kind of think 'Sans' is cute." Kagome's face fell. "Back to what I was saying . . . . In the case of Stockholm Syndrome, the kidnap victims are people who've had their free will restricted or taken away entirely, either by being held captive physically, or by being put into a situation where they can't do anything against the perpetrator."

"So you're saying he's basically holding me captive and so I'm responding out of self-preservation?"

Sango cringed inwardly- this part of the conversation was likely to hem on a subject she hadn't really wanted to broach until Kagome had gotten there herself, but she was slowly and reluctantly coming to realize she might not have a choice. "Yes and no. He is, in a sense, holding you captive, because he's got you in a situation where your back's against a wall . . ." she gave a half-nod and averted her eyes, "at some point, that may even be literal-"

"Sans!" Kagome burst out, feeling a blush threatening in her cheeks, "Stay on point, for the love of the gods!"

"Sorry, sorry . . . thinking it made me say it and saying made me picture things. Damn, it's not my fault that Professor Taisho is just kinda, sorta really hot, okay?"

"I'm going to get a migraine before we even finish this discussion," Kagome muttered to herself with a shake of her head as she forced back another swig of coffee.

"So, anyway, that's what I think. You're responding to the situation the way you are not necessarily out of self-preservation, but the need of preservation nonetheless."

Kagome nodded, instantly sniffling and feeling her eyes dampen just a little. She hadn't wanted to think on this, but she couldn't escape it. She wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for how strongly she felt the need to protect the professor. "I, uh . . ." her voice shook a little suddenly and she paused, drawing in a breath. She wasn't going to let herself dwell on all the things that little voice kept nagging her with- like that even if she found a way to get rid of The Thief, her heart was still moving steadily towards a dead-end. "I just wish things didn't have to be this way." Maybe it would be easier if she was only protecting him out of that now so far-away platonic respect she'd once held so dear. Maybe it wouldn't hurt as much if she didn't know that the man who truly owned the body that had made her feel all those amazing sensations last night would never do such things to her on his own.

Maybe never see her in that light, at all.

"Kags?" Sango said, biting her lip and standing to retrieve her coffee.

"Hmm?" She sniffled again.

"I'm going to ask you something, but . . . don't get all weird or offended, okay?"

Wiping at her eyes, despite her dry cheeks, Kagome nodded.

"Do you think that . . . you might be falling for Prof-" Kagome held up a hand, cutting Sango off.

"Yeah," she murmured after a long moment, raising blue eyes that were lightly rimmed with red to Sango's. "I'm just not sure if I'm only falling . . . or if I already am."

Sango gave a slow, knowing nod and gave Kagome a few seconds to collect herself before deciding that a good, gear-shifting change of the conversation's direction was in order. "Okay!" She set down her mug again and stuffed her feet into her hiking boots, talking as she bent down to tie the laces snuggly. "We still need to figure out who's out there."

"Huh?" Kagome's voice was coming back to life, but still a bit numb as she followed Sango's lead and finished getting ready.

"Well, I see it like this. We need to stop pondering on things that we can't do anything about. The Thief issue- our hands are tied- the professor issue- unfortunately I don't see that changing anytime soon." Kagome grumbled something not particularly nice about herself under her breath, but Sango ignored it, continuing. "Sorry, hun, the heart wants what it wants, that's just how people work. Moving on. We need to figure out what was watching you last night."

It was with another self-insulting laugh that Kagome finally pushed up to her feet and set her mug on the table. "I haven't got the first clue, this sensitivity stuff is all new to me."

Throwing her arm out in front of Kagome, Sango halted them both in their walk toward the tent's entrance. "Maybe we do have the first clue."

Gingerly pushing Sango's arm back down with two fingers, Kagome quirked a brow. "Which would be?"

"Well, I could be wrong, but it seems like maybe there's a pattern to what's going on. Think about it. In the text lining the chamber where The Thief's ashes were kept, the first mention is of The Thief, right? And the next person actually mentioned- not glossed over like his sacrifices, ya know, written about, but as a whole not really identified- is his high priest. There's only one other person that receives their own mention, that was part of the story of his final days."

For some reason, Kagome's heart dropped into her stomach as it hit her. It was so simple, if it was correct. "The daughter."

"Exactly."

"Okay, but what would she want from me?"

Sango shrugged. "I don't know, but maybe it's like this. You let The Thief out-"

"Hey, I wasn't alone in that!"

Brown eyes rolled for a second. "No one's blaming you, Academia-nut. Just hear me out. The Thief was released, her father's remains have been found and he's being put to rest . . . but what about her? Nobody knows what happened to her remains, what if she wants you to find her, too?"

Kagome blinked rapidly a few times as that clicked in her mind. "You're right. And please don't ever call me 'Academia-nut' again. She was his last sacrifice. If his people really honored him as much as the texts say, than they might have wanted to protect her ashes, somehow, too and maybe hid them somewhere."

Sango nodded as she finally stepped forward and pulled back the tent's flap. "Let's just hope this discovery doesn't have you stumbling down into another trap door, okay."

"Oh my gods- that was so not my fault."

* * *

Somehow Kagome made it through the morning and afternoon without so much as seeing Professor Taisho. She was more grateful than anything else about this as she wasn't sure if she'd be able to lay eyes upon the man without having treacherous memories of what had happened in the shower pop into her head. Oddly, it was proving to be a productive day in another sense entirely.

Through subtle, but meaningful looks and brief whispered conversation, she and Sango were putting a plan into place. Her lack of experience with the supernatural made their plan dubious at best in her opinion, but by now, she figured anything was worth a try, even if it would mean another night in which her sleep would be shot to hell. Until they had a chance to really have brain-storming time and the ability to access research materials on demons, they felt it was best to leave The Thief Situation alone and not waste time.

Against her own better judgment, it was decided that Kagome would have to approach the professor and use the favoritism he showed her- though she denied vehemently that there was any such thing occuring- to their advantage. Sango, who slept like the dead, might make it through a night of hunting for areas of the cavern that gave Kagome particularly spooky vibes, but after so much sleep deprivation on her part, they both realized that Kagome might need to be a tad better rested before they put their plan into action.

It was as the team was preparing to take dinner that she finally worked up the nerve to speak to Professor Taisho. People were drifting from the various work stations and research areas to file into the mess-tent and, as she saw the back of his sleek, silvery head, she almost turned on heel and ran. A wish that she most likely would have followed through on, if not for Sango standing at her back and nudging her forward.

"P-" she cleared her throat and tried again. "Professor Taisho?"

"Higurashi," he said in a tone that she knew was his best approximation of brightness just before turning to face her. She ignored the hammering of her heart- and the annoyingly delicious warmth she felt in other parts- as she pushed away the memory of seeing, and feeling, so very much of him last night. "How are you after yesterday?"

She almost blanched at the question until she remembered what he had to be talking about. "What? Oh, oh, right the uh . . . skeleton." Kagome barely refrained from fidgeting nervously with her hands- why did she have to be such a terrible liar? She reminded herself she knew what to say and began playing it over and over in her head to help her voice through this. "I'm okay, but I um . . . I really did try to get some sleep last night, but I just couldn't rest. I'm really exhausted, do you think it would be alright if I turned in early? Just . . . just for tonight? I know I can catch up on my researching duties in the morning."

He folded an arm across his chest, raising a hand to drum his fingers against his chin as he looked down at her for a long moment. He didn't want to cave to this, but after how stern and possibly unreasonable he'd been with her yesterday over how little she seemed to get rest, it didn't appear right to deny her this. It had nothing to do with the pair of vibrant blue eyes staring up at him so pleadingly.

"Well," he said at last, "I will allow it, but only on the condition that you do, in fact, make up for any work you miss." He shot a brief look in Sango's direction. "No one is going to cover your work for you, am I clear."

Breathing a sigh of relief, she gave Sango a cheesy-feeling thumbs up behind her back. "Thank you, professor. See you in the morning." She turned on her heel and was about to step away when he called her name again.

Refraining from scowling- why did he always seem to do that?- she plastered a polite, sleepy smile on her face as she spun back to face him. "Yes professor?"

"A word?" He nodded his head toward an empty spot at the edge of camp.

Sango averted her gaze and made a good show of following everyone else into the mess-tent. Professor Taisho watched the girl with a quirked brow before speaking to Kagome out of a corner of his mouth. "Forgive me for saying so, but your friend is a little odd."

The ease with which he was speaking to her- not to mention how platonic he was always being- helped her to differentiate between Professor Taisho and The Thief more readily than she'd been able to all day on her own. "I do hope that's not what you wanted 'a word' about. We could have that conversation right here, Sango is perfectly aware she can be a little loopy sometimes."

He gave a short, surprised chuckle at that as he stepped around her and began striding off, speaking over his shoulder. "That's not exactly what I wanted to discuss, no."

With a quick glance back toward the mess-tent, she followed the professor. There was a comfort for the moment in knowing The Thief was intelligent. It meant he wouldn't be dumb enough to pop up right now with so many potential witness so close by. She was safe with the professor for the time being. And she hoped that what had happened last night meant it would be a little longer this time before he needed another offering.

When he felt they were out of ear-shot, Professor Taisho began. "I want to know how you found that door."

Her brow furrowed as she stared up at him. "Oh, I . . . I'd like to tell you, professor, I really would, but . . ." she shrugged, the very last straw in all this, she felt, would be if he- of all people- looked at her like she was crazy, "I just don't think you'll believe it."

He shook his head, folding his arms across his chest and squaring his shoulders. "If it's about the impressions you get, than I promise to keep an open mind."

Kagome gave a start, blue eyes going wide. "How did you-"

"It's been proven that certain places, for whatever reasons, can retain energy. These energies can actually be detected as EM fields. Now, some of them are so low that your average person won't notice it, others are strong enough to affect everything from one's equilibrium to giving them nausea. Some people are- and I hate to use this term- wired a little differently from everyone else, in that they are especially sensitive to Electro-Magnetic fields that average people would not be able to detect. This is why I believe, as I hinted at the other night, spiritual sensitivity isn't a hoax or an aberration, but a valid 'gift,' if you will, that some people possess."

He allowed her a moment to let that all sink in. There seemed no point, now, in not sharing it with him. He could always harmlessly write off her perception of her own feelings as being just that- her own perception.

Hanging her head, she gave a sigh. "Okay. But I'm not being sent to a nut-house if you don't believe me."

"Beyond keeping an open mind, I'm making no promises."

She couldn't help scowling this time. "I thought I heard someone crying and it lead me to the door. I didn't even know it was there until I turned around 'cause I was beginning to think I imagined it." The memory of her fear in the moment she'd first heard that mournful wailing coming up to her from the thick, bleak darkness below came rushing back to her and she had to bite into her bottom lip for a moment to steady its sudden trembling. "It got louder when the door opened, and then when I fell in it just . . . stopped."

When she finally raised her gaze back to his, he looked awe-struck, but responded before she could feel like a fool for confiding that in him. "That's incredible, Higurashi. Have you always been sensitive?"

"No. It, uh . . ." she gave a nervous laugh, pushing her hair behind her ear. "It only started when I came here."

Another nod. "I think . . . when we return to Japan, there's someone I would like you to meet."

She didn't quite know how to take that. "I hope you're not suggesting I need a psychiatrist."

"No," he replied with a firm shake of his head. "This man is a medium. He's a bit old and crotchety, but he takes matters of spirituality very seriously. I used to be like so many others in our field and write him off as just another nut, but then he helped me by . . ." his voice trailed off, amber eyes distant for a moment before he brought himself back to the present. "Sorry, I won't bore you with such things. Just know that I think he might be able to help you understand and perhaps school your sensitivity so you can chose when and how you allow it to affect you."

Kagome couldn't shake the feeling that he'd been about to share something deeply personal with her. She put that notion aside quickly. There was no way he'd ever see her as someone he could confide in on such a level.

"Okay, if you think it could help me."

"I do. Now I've kept you long enough, please get something to eat and then go get some rest."

Nodding, she took a backward step. "I will. Um, thank you, professor." She spun on her heel and trotted off toward the mess-tent, more to find Sango and report to her than to put food in her jittery stomach.

"You're welcome, Higurashi." She heard him say. She put it out of her mind that his voice again sounded distant . . . and perhaps, if she wasn't entirely mistaken, just a little heart-wrenched.

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