InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Mind's Eye ❯ Sight ( Chapter 1 )

AN: I am a bad, bad person. I promised myself that I'd do things one at a time. I said that I'd finish Haunted before I started anything new. I am a liar. I lied. (What happened to my sense of morality?) I'm a truly terrible person. Again, I apologize more my deceitful and underhanded ways.

 

Anyway…

 

This is one of those weird stories that you can't get out of your head, and when you put it to paper it looks wrong… But it did turn out better than the other ones that I started, and then deleted, so this is the one I'm postin' and continuing.

 

Now, I know that this sounds incredibly depressing and such, but hope is not lost! Or at least, if it is, it'll be back. (I don't like tragedies, thus, this won't be one.) Everything will turn out all right in the end. I think. (Actually, I haven't decided yet.)

 

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Inuyasha. No way, no how, no when. (That's grammatically incorrect in so many ways…)

 

X

 

The Mind's Eye

 

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Chapter One: Sight

 

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Typical of Kagome. Inuyasha huffed to himself as he glared at the well. "She's late. Again." The wind blew gently and the trees rustled quietly in reply. White ears twitched on a snowy-haired head as a twig snapped in the forest. The hanyou turned as Miroku sauntered into the clearing, a red mark on his face a testimony to his activities.

 

"Sango?" The demi-demon inquired, already knowing the answer. Miroku sighed and nodded as the handprint began to fade. "Why don't you just give up?" Inuyasha glanced back at the well as the sun sank slowly over the horizon.

 

"Perseverance is a virtue that should be valued," Miroku replied solemnly as he reclined against the trunk of a nearby tree. There was a moment's silence between them. The monk sighed and looked at the half-demon with lazy purple eyes. "Are you just going to sit out here all night and wait?" He goaded Inuyasha.

 

Falling eagerly for the bait, he stood up and stomped over to the well. "Hah. We don't have that much time to waste. I'm gonna go get her." In a flash, he was gone. The black-haired man smiled to himself as he closed his eyes and plucked at a blade of grass.

 

"Hey, Kagome!" On the other side of the well, Inuyasha slid the black-haired girl's bedroom window open with a squeak. "You're late!" Amber eyes roved the room as irritation melted away into bemusement. Where was she? He glanced at the large yellow back that she always took with her and frowned. It was unpacked. Completely. By now, she should at least be preparing! Indignation flared up in him again.

 

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's voice came from downstairs. "Are you there?" He growled and stepped through the window. In a moment he was across the room and at the staircase as he left a trail of muddy footprints in his wake.

 

"Yeah, it's me. Or did you forget?" He made his way down the stairs and stopped at the bottom to stare fixedly at the black-haired girl. "You aren't even packed yet!" He pointed up at the doorway to her room. Strangely, Kagome's eyes didn't follow his hand. He frowned. "And what do you have on your head?"

 

Her strange, fixed smile slipped and wavered as her mouth turned down at the corners. Forcefully, Kagome made herself smile as she turned her head towards where Inuyasha's voice was coming from. "Oh, these?" She pointed at the sunglasses she was wearing. Inuyasha didn't respond. Maybe he'd nodded instead. "These are sunglasses," she continued, blatantly avoiding his question.

 

"Why are you wearing them?" Inuyasha's voice held exasperation in it. And this time, it came from another side of the room. Kagome turned her head towards where she thought he was.

 

"Well, I…" She paused and forced another smile. "I…" She couldn't tell him. She couldn't do it. Kagome could barely handle it herself. She needed more time, not only a day. And when the rest of her family was gone, too. Typical Inuyasha timing.

 

"What?" His voice came softly from directly behind her. Kagome flinched and stumbled forward, out of the chair she was sitting in. Familiar hands caught her as she fell, but she was unprepared and surprised as they did so. She flinched again. "What the hell's wrong with you?" There was a note of urgency in his voice- and probably his expression- as he helped her back into the chair. "And what are these supposed to do?" She felt him lift the sunglasses away from her face and she shut her eyes tightly.

 

There was a moment's pause in which she could hear Inuyasha's claws click softly against the sunglasses. "…What are you hiding, Kagome?" His voice came from in front of her. She opened her mouth to reply, but Inuyasha cut her off. "Open your eyes," he said harshly, his voice coming from the side this time. She flinched and turned blindly towards where she thought he was.

 

Slowly, she allowed her eyes to open and stared ahead. There was a pause. Kagome could feel the tears spill over her sightless eyes and down her face. Turning her head away -at least she thought she was turning away- she closed her eyes and cried. Sobbed.

 

A hand rested on her shoulder gently. "Kagome…" Inuyasha's voice was soft. "…How-? When-?" A warm arm went around her shoulders as Inuyasha tried futilely to comfort her.

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

He knew that something was wrong the moment he saw her sitting alone in the chair, in the middle of the living room.

 

Maybe it was that fake smile that she'd fixed on her face. Perhaps it was the sunglasses. It could've been the fact that she was completely unready to return with him. But what made him certain was the way that she was slumped over, and the exhaustion in her voice that she'd tried to hide.

 

At first, he didn't understand. Why was she just sitting there, unmoving? And when he pointed to the door, she just sat there. She didn't even turn to look at what he was pointing to. When he moved about the room, she didn't follow his movement. Alarm bells went off in his head. When he spoke, she whirled around and looked to where he was, but not before then. With a feeling of dread, Inuyasha decided to test his theory.

 

She didn't even notice when he walked causally behind her. When he spoke, she jumped as if someone had poked her with a pin. And she couldn't find the chair afterward. His mind went blank, refusing, denying the truth that screamed the obvious in his hear. So he asked, voice rough with anxiety. "Open your eyes."

 

And when she did, tears sliding out of the corners of sightless eyes, he felt reality shatter around him, leaving in its place a great disbelief, incredulity. Shock, even though he knew before hand. Kagome's eyes had lost their brilliance, their emotion. They were dull, muddy brown, the irises clouded.

 

And she was sobbing. Whenever Kagome had cried before, it was simply tears, sniffing. And she was hunched up in this chair now, face averted, shuddering as sobs wracked her body. And all he could do was say her name.

 

_|__|_

(•.•)

--( • )--

(____)

 

"Inuyasha's not back yet…" Shippo peered down into the dark depths of the well with curiosity. It was night, the sky a velvety blanket and the stars bright, like the mysterious flashlight object that Kagome brought from her time. With a sigh, the little kitsune scrambled off the edge of the well and trudged back to Kaede's hut, the long grass swishing about his ankles as he went.

 

The ginger-haired fix-demon looked at the ground dejectedly as he grumbled to himself. "…if they ever get back. How long does it take to fetch one human girl? Well, Kagome can 'sit' him, so maybe a bit longer than most-" He stopped abruptly and stared. A long shadow blocked the light ahead. With a feeling of dread, Shippo looked up at the towering giant that barred the path. "WAAAAH!" Foxfire flickered into life on the tips of his fingers and he hurled it at the shape. "Take that, demon!"

 

Miroku stumbled back, blinking as he placed his arm over his eyes. "Shippo! Stop!" The little lights dimmed and died on his hands. The kitsune looked at the monk crossly.

 

"Gods, Miroku! Don't sneak up on my like that!" Green eyes glared into purple as small arms crossed over his chest, bushy tail flicking in agitation. Miroku looked at him pointedly.

 

"I didn't sneak up on you. You just weren't paying attention." Shippo grumbled something in return and hopped onto the monk's purple-clad shoulder. "Is Inuyasha still fetching Kagome?" The kitsune nodded.

 

"But I don't get why he's taking so long," he complained to Miroku. "I mean, how long can it take to get her? It's been hours already!" Well, more like forty-five minutes. Shippo didn't bother with a correction.

 

"Hm." Miroku smiled knowingly, and the kitsune perched on his shoulder sighed. Miroku was a hopeless case. Twigs crunched underfoot as the two emerged from the forest and into the village. The air was crisp, on the verge of cold, and Shippo shivered slightly. Everything had settled down for the night and the only light was one from the village priestesses hut, a square patch of brightness upon the dark earth.

 

Pushing the reed mat aside, Miroku entered to see that the priestess was dosing as Sango polished a shining Hiraikotsu on her lap. Kirara mewed, bright pomegranate eyes staring with an intelligent gaze, and the demon exterminator looked up, smiled, then went back to her work.

 

The ragged cloth rubbed against the formidable weapon with a soft squeaking sound. Dipping the fabric into a tiny container that sat next to her, Sango continued her polishing until the bone boomerang gleamed in the dying firelight. "They're not back yet?" Her voice was quiet, barely reaching his ears above the muted cackling and popping noises issuing from the small fire.

 

"No." Miroku shook his head. He stopped to think for a moment, purple eyes staring contemplatively into the dancing flames. "I wonder if something happened…" Sango looked at him in surprise.

 

"I'm sure they're fine," she said, only a hind of doubt entering her voice. After all, Kagome was always saying how much safer her time was, how there were professionals who could snatch people from the brink of death and cut open your heart without killing you. In her time, people left the earth and went to the moon and demons were a thing of the past. Of course everything was fine. Right?

 

She and Miroku exchanged an uncertain glance. No, everything would be all right. The demon exterminator set her weapon aside and laid down on the floor, eyes fixed upon the ceiling. On the other side of the room, Shippo was murmuring softly in his sleep as the fire cackled and popped, the flames shrinking as they ran out of fuel.

 

(\ /)

(0.0)

(><)

 

"What happened?" Inuyasha's voice was soft as he guided her to the sofa in the living room. Kagome's tears had finally stopped flowing and her desperate sobs had subsided into little infrequent hiccups.

 

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she began, Inuyasha listening intently, eyes burning with a forlorn intensity that Kagome would never see. There were so many things that she would never see again. The sun, the moon, her mother's face, her brother's face, her grandfather. She would never see the sunset, never see the grass, green and wet with dew. She'd never see the sky again.

 

Tears began to well up in her already-sore and puffy eyes again behind the sunglasses she was wearing. She'd never see Sango or Miroku again, or Shippo grow up. She'd never see Inuyasha… the tears spilled over and followed a frequently-traveled path down her face and she blinked. Pulling a worn handkerchief that her mother had given her out of the pocket of the pants she was wearing- she hadn't even bothered to change in the morning, or the day before- she wiped her face clean and tried to calm down a bit.

 

"Are… you alright now?" Inuyasha's voice came from next to her, gentle and quiet as a hand found her own and squeezed reassuringly. With another shuddering sigh, she nodded and cleared her throat. She could do this- she'd have to live with it for the rest of her life, wouldn't she?

 

Kagome bit her lip. The rest of her life… But the presence of a warm hand in hers brought her back to the present and away from a future that looked bleak. Eyes tightly shut- she might never open them again- she opened her mouth to began again.

 

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

The city streets thronged with people, laughing, smiling, absorbed in their newspapers. Schoolgirls like herself, children, parents, old men and businesswomen. Kagome smiled as she walked. Whenever she got back from Sengoku Jidai, she loved to immerse herself in the people of Tokyo. She was one of many. There was so much less responsibility on her to succeed, to win, to stay ahead of Naraku and their other enemies. Here in Tokyo, she was just another person wrapped up in their life, not the reincarnation of a powerful priestess that was trying to keep the flow of time as it was.

 

She was on her way to an eye check-up. Recently, she'd noticed that she was having problems seeing things far away that Sango and Miroku could see perfectly, Inuyasha too. While it wasn't too bothersome, why live with it when she didn't have to? She stepped carefully around a small boy and continued up the street, the rumble of cars engines and people's voices acting as a pleasant background to her thoughts. "Oh, excuse me!" She apologized as she bumped into a middle-aged man. He looked at her oddly, interest flickering in his eyes as they stared into hers, and didn't reply as he stepped to the side and continued on his way. But then the Shikon Shard around her neck did attract strange looks. She tucked it back into her shirt.

 

Kagome hurried away and shuddered as an inexplicable chill settled over her, tucking the shard safely inside her shirt. There was an English expression -speaking of which, she was waaay behind in that class and hadn't practiced the foreign language in a good few months- that expressed it perfectly. "Someone walking over your grave"? She frowned. That sounded right.

 

With a weary sigh, she continued down the street. She was so behind in her subjects, not only math. And this was the time that most kids got really stressed; summer had just ended -Kagome hadn't finished much of the homework that her teachers had given, she'd been so loaded with makeup work- and it was the final semester before high school. Overall, things didn't look too good for her. She'd be lucky if she got into any high school at all! She hadn't gotten any notices yet…

 

She glanced up at the street signs. The eye place was somewhere around here… "Ah, there." A bold sign exclaimed in bright blue lettering, "Eye Site". A clever, though cheesy pun. A small bell tinkled quietly as she stepped into the "Site". The glass door swung closed behind her and the outside noises were cut off. The only sounds in the office were the beeping of something electronic and the voice of a receptionist. Kagome's sandals flopped quietly as she tread across the blue carpet to the reception area.

 

The secretary smiled quickly at her and continued to take notes as she listened to someone over the phone. "Uh huh." The pen scratched against the pad of paper that she was writing on. "Yes. Any itchiness? Pressure around the eyes?" She nodded, black bangs falling into her eyes as she jotted more down on the register. "Headaches? Well, I think that you should come in soon. Would you like to schedule an appointment? Sometime this week would be ideal…" she nodded again and the ballpoint raced across the note. "Thursday. We have an opening at… two in the afternoon. Does that work?" She paused and motioned at Kagome to sit in one of the chairs. "Okay, we'll be seeing you then. And one more thing. At night, I'd recommend putting a warm compress over your eyes. That should help temporarily. Goodbye."

 

She hung up the phone and closed the ledger away with a neat snap. "Your name?" She looked to Kagome and pushed her bangs out of her face as she searched through some files.

 

"Higurashi Kagome," Kagome said. The receptionist nodded and pulled out a file. "Here to see Doctor Nakasako?" The black-haired girl nodded and looked back into the depths of the office. "He'll be right with you. Five minutes, maybe?"

 

Kagome nodded and grabbed a magazine from a nearby stack and began to idly leaf through it. Pages turned, each filled with brightly colored "shocking news" about the lives of celebrities. To Kagome, it all seemed so distant. While it was interesting to read about, gossip didn't have the same captivating power as it once did over her. She suspected that it had to do with her lifestyle.

 

"Excuse me, Dr. Nakasako is ready to see you now." The dark-haired receptionist indicted Kagome and looked back at the files she was organizing. As Kagome passed her desk, she heard the receptionist mutter, "… files are so disorganized I'm surprised that he gets anything done. Every time I come back here, they're completely…"

 

Kagome smiled slightly to herself. Dr. Nakasako had been a friend of her father's, before he died. Naturally, the whole family went to him for their eyes. "Ah, Kagome! It's been ages." Nakasako Kanaye was a tall man with black hair and a habit of losing important things. However, he was a great doctor and the Higurashis wouldn't come to him if he wasn't. "The last time I saw you, you were only this tall!" He held his hand up in demonstration with a smile.

 

Kagome grinned cheerfully back. "It hasn't been that long, Doctor." He led her down the hallway and they entered his office. With familiarity, she settled into the big grey chair as Dr. Nakasako readied whatever tools he was going to be using.

 

"So, what are you here for, Kagome?" And now to business. He sat at in his own chair and watched his old friend's daughter as she prepared an answer, brown eyes thoughtful.

 

"I've been seeing spots in my vision lately. And I don't think I can see as far as I'm supposed to be able to." The last time she'd been to Sengoku Jidai, a demon with a Shikon Shard had taken flight. It was purely luck that she'd hit it, as she was unable to see it clearly.

 

"Nearsighted," the doctor murmured and jotted something down on her file with a black pen. He looked back up at his patient. "Well, we'll just do some tests. This is pretty normal," he said in a conversational tone as he turned on the projector, the standard symbols lighting up on the opposite wall. "During this age, most teens start to get deteriorating eyesight." He adjusted the projector as it hummed behind her. "Can you read that?"

 

The test went on as was usual. She looked at the board and discovered that her vision was indeed slightly impaired. Then came the different lenses that she looked through. That went on as was expected as well.

 

"Which looks better, one or two?" The lenses switched back and forth between the two. "One, or two?" Dr. Nakasako watched as Kagome frowned and squinted through the two.

 

"They're pretty similar, but I think that two's better," she said finally. The doctor nodded and his pen scratched across her file. He put the papers down and flicked through another series of lenses.

 

"Three, or four?" The characters on the other side of the lenses that she was looking at blurred slightly, the cleared. "Three, or four?" the doctor repeated.

 

"Definitely three," Kagome said firmly. The pen came down upon the paper again. Dr. Nakasako sighed and straightened in his seat as he pushed the file to the side.

 

"Okay, now I'm going to dilate your eyes." Kagome nodded. Standard routine. "And it'll sting a bit, but that's all." He grabbed a bottle and dropper after checking the label on it. "Oh, and you'll want a tissue to dry your eyes." He handed her a tissue and opened the bottle. Kagome opened her eyes wider and let him put the drops in.

 

And that's where everything went wrong.

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

It was morning. And they still weren't back yet.

 

Shippo paced back and forth in agitation, his paws rustling softly in the long grass around the well. With a frustrated sigh, the kitsune stuck his head down the well and glared down into its dark depths. Maybe if he yelled loud enough, they could hear him… Shippo took a deep breath, then thought better of it. He'd also attract demons if he yelled.

 

The irate ginger-haired demon settled for grumbling. "Inuyasha's the one who's always telling us that we can't waste time! And it's been a whole night! How long does it take to grab Kagome and go?" He started to pace through the grass again. "Inuyasha's an idiot!" he exclaimed loudly.

 

Bonk! A familiar fist came crashing down on his head. "Ouch!" Shippo glared resentfully at the half-demon in question. "Well, you took long enough!" Green eyes shimmered with indignation, then confusion. "Wait, where's Kagome? And what's that?" He poked at the scroll in Inuyasha's hand, and the hanyou pulled away.

 

There was something wrong with Inuyasha. He didn't look too happy, Shippo noted. Usually when he and Kagome fought, he'd be mad, belligerent. But this time, he didn't look even remotely mad. Amber eyes were dull and a frown was constantly creasing his forehead. And when Inuyasha was like that, it usually meant that Kikyo had been by, or something bad had happened… "Where's Kagome!?!" Shippo's voice rang out louder, slightly shrill.

 

"At home." The hanyou stalked by him, leaving a very confused Shippo behind him. After a moment's pause, the kitusne scampered after him. Something was very, very wrong if Inuyasha was so thoroughly depressed and Kagome was at home.

 

"Wait, why?" Green eyes stared up at Inuyasha's brooding expression. "What happened?" The hanyou glanced down distractedly at the little fox-demon, then looked back up at the dusty blue sky. Kagome wouldn't see the sky again…

 

"I'll tell you later, with the others." Shippo paused as Inuyasha kept walking and frowned. The hanyou's red-clad back disappeared around a turn in the path, and Shippo's frown deepened.

 

"What a pompous jerk. Does he really have to give this big announcement? He could just tell me." The kitsune kicked bad-temperedly at an acorn, his anxiety hidden under his irritability. The thing bounced away and hit a tree with a dull "thunk". Inuyasha certainly could be mysterious when he wanted to be.

 

Pieces to a puzzle that Shippo didn't really want to fit together began to fall in place. Kagome was at home. Inuyasha was upset. Very, very upset. He'd been gone all night, and the hanyou wouldn't tell him what was wrong. Blood pounded in Shippo's ears and he stopped abruptly, green eyes wide. It was Kagome. Something was wrong with Kagome.

 

"INUYASHA!" The kitsune sprinted down the path at speeds previously unattainable. "WHAT HAPPENED TO KAGOME!?"

 

_|__|_

(•.•)

--( • )--

(____)

 

Instead of a bit of stinging, the dilating fluid was burning into her eyes. She winced and blinked, gasping as she dabbed frantically at her eyes. Behind her, Dr. Nakasako was frantic.

 

"Kagome!? Kagome, are you all right? Kagome!" A hand grabbed her shoulder and a blurred face was peering anxiously into her own. "Gods damn! Sachiko, get the hospital! NOW!" The blurry face dimmed as it turned back towards her and spoke in a low, urgent tone. "Kagome, I need you to cry. Cry as hard as you can."

 

That's when his face disappeared completely, sank into grey with everything else. Her mind filled with a blank white terror. She couldn't see. Where was everything? It was all gone, everything, and in the distance, she could hear a familiar voice telling her to cry. She didn't need to be told. Her eyes were burning, a searing pain that pounded into the back of her head. Something had gone very, very wrong. She couldn't see, but she could feel the salt water stinging as it overflowed from her eyes.

 

"Good, good. Just keep crying. The ambulance should be here any moment…" Dr. Nakasako's voice drifted through her panic. To the secretary, Sashiko, he said, "I don't understand it. It's just the dilation solution."

 

Then everything went blank.

 

(\ /)

(o.o)

(><)

 

When Kagome awoke, everything was black. At first, she thought that perhaps all the lights were off. But it was too dark for that to be the case, or was it too light? There was no color to it, really. It was as if she didn't even have eyes. However, she was quite sure that she did, as they were burning and sore. "Oh, Kagome…"

 

Her mother's voice came from next to her and a warm hand squeezed her own. The time spent in the past kept her from panicking, but her voice held a bit of a waver when she asked, "Mom? Where am I? Why can't I see?" Something lurked in her memory, far away but there, just out of her grasp.

 

There was a quiet sniff in response and Kagome knew that something was definitely wrong. "Mom!? What happened?" Her voice was stronger now, calmer. She could deal with it, whatever it was. She was safe at home, in her own time. There were no demons, no murderous bandits. She was safe. She could deal with it. "Just tell me what happened." It was funny, but she sounded more like the adult and her mother the child as Mrs. Higurashi answered.

 

"You don't remember?" She didn't give her daughter a chance to respond as she continued. "I guess you don't. You- you were at Nakasako-kun's office, an eye checkup. They don't know what happened. The dilating solution… did something. The doctors aren't sure what yet. They need to do tests." There was a pause. "Kagome…" Her mother's voice was heavy. "Can you… see me?" There was a waver in her voice.

 

Kagome took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She would probably never need to open them again. "No…" Her voice was barely a whisper as salty tears stung her raw eyes and dropped onto the soft hospital pillow.

 

Next to her, Mrs. Higurashi squeezed her hand tightly and cried softly. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. Kagome nodded wordlessly in response. She didn't trust her voice quite yet, and her throat was tight with misery. She was blind, like the people that she sometimes saw on the streets with their red and white sticks and guide dogs. She was one of them, now.

 

"I want to go home," she whispered softly, and another tear fell and dropped with a soft plop onto the crisp white pillow.

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

Inuyasha sat in silence for a moment, unable to look at Kagome. Not that she'd notice in the first place, now that she was blind. "So, they don't know what happened, do they?"

 

Kagome shook her head. "And I'm not completely blind. After the first day, I could see things, almost. Grey shapes, but they're almost indistinguishable. But who knows? Maybe it'll get better." Her voice held an aching, desperate hope.

 

"I hope so," Inuyasha replied sincerely, heavily. It was dark. "Where is your family?" He'd noticed that the house was unusually quiet, which was odd because of Kagome's… condition. He swallowed hard.

 

"They said shopping," Kagome replied heavily. "But I think that they're praying for me." Kagome's smile was forced. "They should be back soon." Inuyasha nodded, then realized that Kagome couldn't see him.

 

"Yeah." A long silence stretched between them broken only by the quiet ticking of a clock somewhere in the depths of the shrine. Inuyasha cleared his throat. "…Look, Kagome. I think that maybe…" This was going to kill him. "... you should stay here. It's safer, and you won't be in as much danger than if you're with us."

 

Kagome shook her head fervently. "No, I want to be there! Just give me some time." She paused and sighed heavily. "But if I'm a burden, then I understand. I can stay here. I'm not much use as a shard detector, am I?"

 

"No! That's not it," he said back forcefully. The last thing she needed at the moment was to feel useless. Besides, she was Kagome. She'd find something to do to help. "You just can't defend yourself any more." He paused. "I don't want you to get killed over some weak demon just because you can't see it."

 

Kagome nodded slowly, then yawned. To be honest, she hadn't slept really well in quite a while. She'd stayed awake almost all of last night, thinking and worrying about the day to follow, knowing that Inuyasha would come after her, thinking about all the things she would miss and memorizing faces, imprinting them in her memory. She wasn't likely to ever see anyone again, after all. Somewhere in another room, a door opened and creaked shut again. "Kagome, we're home?" Mrs. Higurashi's voice was forcefully cheerful.

 

"Hi, Mom!" Kagome called back. "Inuyasha's here, by the way." The hanyou fidgeted slightly. The black-haired girl turned towards him. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

 

"Fine," he replied. He should probably tell the others what was going on sometime soon. But that could wait, couldn't it? Kagome stood up and he automatically took her elbow and guided her through the room towards the kitchen.

 

"Oh, hello!" Mrs. Higurashi smiled at him, but it was a tired, wan smile. "I was thinking that we'd just order out. You don't mind, do you?" She was really not up to cooking at the moment…

 

Inuyasha shrugged and helped Kagome sit down at the table. "Fine with me." The black-haired woman nodded brusquely and picked up the phone. White ears twitched at the beeping emitted by the machine as she dialed.

 

"Hello?" Mrs. Higurashi leaned against the wall, a hand to her forehead as she rubbed her temples. "I'd like to order out. Yes. Um… yeah, delivery would be great, thanks. The Sunset Shrine." Inuyasha watched as Kagome's hand felt across the table as she checked to see if anything was on it. After making sure, she propped her elbows upon the wooden surface and sighed heavily. Neither of them spoke.

 

"Yes. Kagome, is there anything that you or Inuyasha would like?" The older woman put her hand over the phone's mouthpiece and turned towards the pair. Kagome shrugged and Inuyasha frowned.

 

"Do they have the… um… the shrimp with the soup?" Inuyasha hazarded. He couldn't quite remember what it was, only that it was very good. Mrs. Higurashi shook her head.

 

"That's a different restaurant, sorry." The hanyou shrugged. She turned back to the phone. "No, that's good. Thanks. Bye." She put the phone down with a quiet click. Mrs. Higurashi walked wearily to the foot of the stairs. "Souta! Dinner!"

 

"Coming!" the boy replied absently from his room. Ever since Kagome's accident, he'd buried himself in video games, fantasy worlds where he could control the outcomes of everything that happened.

 

"Kagome-" Mr. Higurashi stopped abruptly upon noticing Inuyasha. "Hello," he said absently, then turned back to his granddaughter. "Kagome, I found a spell!" Unlike the other two, his delighted smile was genuine.

 

"…great," Kagome replied wearily. "What's it do?" If he was any younger, the senior would probably be bouncing up and down excitedly. His grin widened and he clutched the scroll to him as if it was a lifeline.

 

"It will help you see!" He waved the scroll in the air. "I've been looking for it ever since the accident, and I finally found it!" Inuyasha looked at him with interest and glanced at the expressionless girl sitting next to him. "Kagome?" the old man queried. "You don't look too happy."

 

"Your spells never work," Inuyasha stated flatly. The old man bristled at the accusation. Was it just his imagination, or did the corners of Kagome's mouth turn up slightly in a small smile? His own spirits lifted slightly, and the hanyou stood up and reached for the scroll. "Let me see it."

 

"No!" The senior clutched the precious roll of paper to his chest defensively. "This is a priceless family heirloom! Legend says that-" Deftly, Inuyasha grabbed the scroll from Mr. Higurashi.

 

"Shut up," he said absently to the senior's outraged protests. He turned to Kagome. "I'm going to go give it to Kaede, and see if she can do anything with it." There was a knock at the door, and Mrs. Higurashi went to answer it.

 

"What about after dinner?" She turned to the deliveryman and handed him the charge. "Thank you." She closed the door, then looked back at the hanyou. "We should eat while it's still hot."

 

Inuyasha nodded reluctantly and sat down again. Mr. Higurashi snatched the scroll away and put it away carefully in the other room. What was a half an hour going to change?

 

(\ /)

(•.•)

(><)

 

Inuyasha scooted away from the table and leaded against the wall behind him. He was stuffed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten so much… Next to him, Kagome moved back as well. "Watch it!" He put up his hand to keep her from falling over. "You're sitting with your back to the door," he reminded her.

 

"Whoops." Kagome seemed much more cheerful. Amber eyes roved the table. But then, so did everyone else. With the knowledge that the answer to Kagome's blindness could be written down on the scroll on the mantelpiece, there was hope. The scroll…

 

Inuyasha glanced at it, sitting on the bureau in the other room. He should probably give it to Kaede now. Kagome yawned widely and stretched. "I'm exhausted…" Wordlessly, Inuyasha got to his feet and helped the black-haired girl up. "Thanks."

 

"Mm," Inuyasha mumbled in response. "You wanna go to your room?" Kagome nodded, and Mrs. Higurashi watched with a knowing look in her brown eyes as the two of them walked slowly towards the staircase.

 

The three remaining sat in silence for a moment as the other two's footsteps echoed slightly on the stairs. "He's a nice boy, isn't he?" Mrs. Higurashi commented thoughtfully.

 

"Inuyasha's cool," Souta replied enthusiastically. He stretched and scooted away from the table. "'Night." He stood up slowly and wandered towards his room with a yawn. He hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in a while; he'd stayed up until late at night immersed in false realities.

 

"Nice for what?" Mr. Higurashi looked at his daughter with a sneaking suspicion lurking in the corner of his mind. She shook her head with a wan smile and stood up herself, stacking dishes with the sound of clinking porcelain.

 

"Oh, nothing," Mrs. Higurashi hummed to herself. "I was just thinking…" She put the dishes by the sink and went back into the other room to get more. She paused and put the dishes in the sink. "A nice boy," she murmured to herself.

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

He really hadn't intended to spend the night in Kagome's time. The sounds at night were so foreign and loud, the smells disturbing and acrid. Despite Kagome's insistence that her world was so much safer than his, it had this harshness to it that his own thankfully lacked, a cold, uncaring characteristic. Maybe it was the towering buildings that made everything else seem so small and insignificant, or perhaps the way that everyone was so crowded, yet seemed to care about no one but themselves. Kagome seemed fine, though. It was probably just because he didn't belong….

 

Yet somehow, he ended up perched in the tree just outside her window, drowsiness making his amber eyes flicker shut, ears twitching idly to the sound of the ceaseless traffic. In a way, it was almost like the whispers of wind that rustled the leaves at night, providing an almost constant background noise.

 

In her room, Kagome sighed and turned in her bed. White ears flicked in her direction, catching the sound of rustling sheets and the shift of weight. He should probably get the scroll and give it to Kaede now… A weariness that he hadn't experienced in weeks settled over his awareness like a muffling blanket. "Shouldn't've eaten so much…" Heavy eyelids closed over golden eyes and he was asleep.

 

The door to Kagome's room opened a crack, letting in a bright light from the hallway, and Mrs. Higurashi glanced into the room. The wind blew softly through the open window and the white curtains drifted out slightly. She smiled. "Good night, you two," she whispered and shut the door quietly behind her.

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

"Kaede!"

 

The old priestess looked up with mild surprise. "Well, Inuyasha. Where have you been?" Inuyasha ignored her question and shoved a sutra beneath her nose. Kaede blinked and took it with surprise.

 

"Can you do it?" Inuyasha watched her intently, amber eyes burning. Kaede unrolled the scroll and looked it over carefully. After a few moments, she looked back up at the anxious hanyou with a perplexed frown.

 

"Inuyasha, this isn't-"

 

"INUYASHAAAAA! WHAT HAPPENED TO KAGOMEEEEEE?" A frantic Shippo sprinted after him and landed on his head, tugging at his ears. "TELL ME!!!" Inuyasha winced and grabbed at the kitsune.

 

"OW! Brat! OW!" Shippo wouldn't let go of his ear. "Let GO, Brat!" He wrestled the small youkai off of his head and hit him on the head. "The hell's your problem? I told you that I'd tell you later! I'm busy right now!" Kaede watched with interest.

 

"Where is Kagome?" the old priestess ventured as Sango jogged up, an irritated frown on her face and Hiraikotsu swung over one shoulder.

 

"Inuyasha!" Sango didn't look too happy, Kaede noted. "Where've you been? And where's Kagome?" she demanded, hands on hips. Inuyasha bopped Shippo on the head one last time and tossed him to the demon exterminator.

 

"I'm GETTING to that!" the hassled demi-demon replied harshly. "Kaede!" He turned to the old priestess. "Can you do the spell or not?" She shook her head, and his hopes plummeted.

 

"Inuyasha, this isn't a spell, it's instructions," she replied. She tapped the scroll with one finger. "But what does this mean?" She watched the hanyou carefully. Inuyasha sighed and opened his mouth to explain.

 

"Inuyasha! Where have you been?" Miroku approached the demi-demon, staff jangling in his hand. "And where's Kagome?" A frustrated growl erupted from Inuyasha's throat.

 

"I'm getting to that!" He glanced at each of them in turn. "Are you all done now?" His looked pointedly at Shippo. "Good." He took a deep breath. "Kagome is in her time right now because there was an accident." Shippo opened his mouth, but Sango clapped her hand over it. "I don't understand completely, but she was getting something for her eyes, but they did something wrong, or something happened that usually didn't, and now she… she can't see." He exhaled heavily.

 

Silence. None of them knew what to say. Then Kaede's eyes widened in comprehension, and she tapped the scroll in her hands again. "So the scroll is for Kagome's eyes, to see!" Inuyasha nodded wordlessly. Kaede looked over the thing again, more carefully this time. "I see…" she murmured, then looked back up. "But this isn't a spell at all," she said again. "This is a set of instructions for regaining lost sight."

 

"So Kagome will be able to see again!" Shippo cheered. He paused. "How long does it take?" he asked Kaede. The priestess shrugged and looked the instructions over again.

 

"Oh." She closed the scroll tightly and shook her head regretfully. "This only works for those who are blind through curses. Kagome wasn't cursed, was she?" Inuyasha bit his lip.

 

"No, she wasn't." Kaede handed the scroll back to him. "That old fool!" Inuyasha suddenly exclaimed. The others looked at him with surprise. "He didn't even look to see if it would work! Raising everyone's hopes…" He stomped back towards the well.

 

"Is Kagome going to come back…?" Shippo wondered aloud in a small voice. Sango shook her head mutely and walked away slowly, her thoughts awhirl with the news, Shippo still in her grasp.

 

"Wait a moment-" Miroku looked to Kaede, an idea burning in his purple gaze. "I wonder, can Kagome still see the Shards…?" Kaede looked at him in surprise, then comprehension dawned on her face.

 

"Yes," she murmured back, mind racing. "She can sense demons and magic." She looked up at the monk. "Miroku, have you ever heard of Nozomi, the blind woman who could see what others could not?"

 

Miroku nodded. "That is precisely who I was thinking of." He frowned in thought. "Though, I heard that she was just a made-up legend…" He ran a hand through his black hair.

 

"All legends contain some truth," Kaede replied solemnly. "And I believe that Nozomi's does in particular." Miroku's purple eyes were grim as he replied.

 

"I hope that you're right."

 

_|__|_

(•.•)

--( • )--

(____)

 

"Hey!" Inuyasha stomped into the kitchen, where Mr. Higurashi was reading the newspaper. He banged the scroll down on the table and the old man looked up with an irritated expression. "What's the big idea, huh?" Amber eyes smoldered with fury. "This isn't a spell! It's damned instructions! And it doesn't even apply to Kagome's problem!"

 

The senior blinked, then frowned at the hanyou. "Yes it does."

 

"No, it doesn't!"

 

"It does."

 

"No, it doesn't!"

 

"It doesn't?"

 

"No!"

 

The old man sighed and picked up the sutra in question. "Are you sure about that?" He looked over the yellowed parchment, the newspaper temporarily forgotten.

 

"Yes, I'm sure." The hanyou's voice was thick with sarcasm.

 

The old man sighed heavily. "I guess I was a eager to find a solution." He picked up the paper again and set the scroll aside carefully. He glanced over the top of the paper to Inuyasha. "Are you taking her back with you?"

 

"She wants to go," the demi-demon replied uncertainly. It would be dangerous… But then again, it was always dangerous and always had been. There had been narrow escapes, too. "I don't know," he admitted gruffly. "Where is she?"

 

"In her room, I think." Mr. Higurashi busied himself with the newspaper as Inuyasha trudged through the familiar hallway to the staircase and up, the steps creaking slightly under his bare feet.

 

"Hey, Kagome?" he called. "Kagome! You there?" He steeled himself, readying himself for the bad news that he was about to give her. The door was open, and he stepped into the room.

 

Kagome was sitting at her desk, pencil tapping evenly on a piece of paper. She didn't look very happy. She turned as he came in. "This is so frustrating!" she burst out. "I can't do my homework!"

 

The hanyou ignored her outburst and cleared his throat as he sat down on her bed. "Kagome, the spells not going to help at all. Kaede says that it's only for those who've been cursed blind." The pencil stopped tapping and Inuyasha shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

 

"Yeah… I heard," the black-haired girl replied, her tone falsely nonchalant. "But I didn't really think it would, anyway." She shrugged and, unbeknownst to her, the demi-demon blinked in surprise. "Grandpa's always messing up with those sorts of things, especially spells." She tossed the pencil onto the desk and it rolled off the smooth wooden surface, plummeting to the floor. "Oh, great," she muttered and moved her feet around under the table in an attempt to find it.

 

"I'll get it." Inuyasha leaned over and grabbed the writing implement, curiosity taking over as he turned the foreign object over in his hands. "How does this write?" It wasn't anything like a brush.

 

"Lemme see." Kagome extended a hand blindly. He dropped the mechanical pencil into her hand, and Kagome turned it around until she was holding it properly. "You hold it like this." She put the pencil onto the desk, tip first. "Am I on the paper?" Her voice held a poorly concealed quiver.

 

"Yeah." He shifted awkwardly on her bed again. How did you console someone whose life had just been turned upside down? He cleared his throat as Kagome made a wavering line across the paper. "Hm."

 

Kagome dropped the pencil and sighed heavily. "This is so frustrating!" She paused as she searched for words. "I can't read, I can't write! I can't watch TV, or even go out of my room!" She took a deep, steadying breath. "Sorry."

 

"Kagome, I'm sorry too." The black-haired girl sniffed and wiped her eyes. Inuyasha froze. He knew it was a stupid thing to say! Now she was upset again… Kagome rubbed her eyes fiercely and forced a smile.

 

"Let's go back, okay?" Kagome smile brightened slightly. She wasn't going to let this… this disability get in her way now. It was likely that she would live the rest of her life like this. The sooner she accepted it, the sooner she could adjust and get some sort of routine back into her life.

 

(\ /)

(•. •)

(><)

 

Well, I dunno about the rest of you, but I think it's pretty weird.

 

WARNING: I really have no idea where this is going as of now, so I might not update this for a while. (If I don't though, it'll be all the better for it!)