InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Syndrome ❯ A Unique Bond ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6 - A Unique Bond

 

 

 

 

@@ 9 Years Ago @@

 

 

 

She hadn't shown up to school for a week and no one would tell him why. He'd called her house at least three times a day but she never answered. She usually was the first one to the phone when it rang, but not this week. Sometimes her mother answered and sometimes it was her grandfather but they always told him that now wasn't a good time, that Kagome couldn't come to the phone, but they wouldn't tell him why. It was the longest time since they met that they hadn't seen each other or at least spoken, and it was the hardest week of his life to date. He had never been more afraid than he was that Friday afternoon when he finally convinced his mother to call her mother and find out what was going on.

 

“Hello, Takara? This is Mariko. Bankotsu asked me to call. He's been very worried about Kagome, and…”

 

He was watching his mother's face while she spoke with his best friend's mother, his heart clenching in his chest as her expression shifted. He couldn't hear what Mrs. Higurashi was saying but he knew it couldn't be good.

 

“Oh, Takara! I'm so sorry. We didn't know. Is there anything I can do for you?”

 

`What is she apologizing for? What happened? What's wrong?' he thought, wanting to scream the questions at her. `What happened to Kagome?' He was ready to rip the phone from her ear to see what it was that Kagome's mother was saying that made his mother look like she was going to cry.

 

“That's terrible. I would be worried too. Would you like me to…?”

 

`What's terrible? Who's worried about who? All I care about is Kagome! Is Kagome okay?' It felt like his heart had stopped completely. `Why will no one tell me? What's the big secret?'

 

“Yes, of course I will. I understand. You're probably right. I'm sure that it will help.”

 

`What is she going to do? What will it help?' Not being able to take the strain anymore he walked out of the kitchen and sat down on the couch in the living room, burying his face in his hands and trying to hear her voice singing softly in his head. He needed to hear it. He couldn't handle this. He couldn't survive stress like this without her, and with her as the root of the issue he felt like he was going to explode or fall apart or pass out or maybe just flat out die. Finally he heard the sound of the phone being set in the cradle and his mother approaching.

 

“Get ready to go. Mrs. Higurashi has invited you over. Kagome needs you.”

 

“Needs me? What's the matter? What happened? Is she alright?”

 

His mother sucked in a deep breath, trying to find a way to tell her son what had happened. “Bankotsu honey, Kagome needs you because her father died last Sunday. Her mother was hoping that she would talk about it with her but she hasn't spoken a word since she was told. She hasn't cried, she won't eat, and they don't know what to do.”

 

“Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't Mrs. Higurashi tell me when I called? Why didn't she ask me to come? Kagome needed me five whole days ago!” He was yelling at his mother but it didn't matter. He didn't care. “She won't talk to anyone about her father. She never has, except to me! She won't cry in front of anyone except me! She won't let anyone see her feelings but me and she made her wait five days? Why? Why didn't she just tell me so I could have been there for her? Why did she make Kagome go through this alone? Why, Mom? Why?”

 

His mother pulled him into her arms, feeling his entire body shaking with anger and frustration. He felt like he'd let her down. Kagome needed him and he wasn't there. “Sweetheart, Mrs. Higurashi lost her husband. She's had a hard week too. She has to deal with not only her own grieving but that of both her children too. She wasn't thinking clearly and she didn't know how to tell you anyway. She realized when I asked if there was something we could do that you were who Kagome needed right now. I know you're angry but it wasn't Takara's fault. I know you don't remember when your father died, but I wasn't able to think clearly for a while either, and you and your brother were both still babies. I can't imagine how hard it was for her to tell them. You can't blame her. It's going to be alright. Kagome is going to be alright. I promise you. Now, you want to leave as soon as possible right?” She felt him nod against her. “Well then you need to get ready so we can go.”

 

In an instant he was out of her arms and in his room, changing his clothes and grabbing his shoes. His mother had never seen him move so fast, and couldn't help but smile at his devotion to the girl. She knew they would be together for a long time to come. She dropped him off at the bottom of the shrine steps and told him to call when he wanted to be picked up. He almost didn't hear her because he was already out of the car and on his way up the huge flight of stairs. As soon as he reached the top he saw her. She was standing under the large tree that provided shade for most of the shrine, the one she'd called the god tree. It was where she went whenever she was sad and when he finally saw her eyes he knew that she was more than sad. She was devastated.

 

He'd asked her fairly early on in their friendship about her father since during all his trips to her home he'd never met him. She'd said that he had an important job that meant he had to travel a lot. He'd eventually met the man that she called Daddy, but he'd seen him just a sparse few times in their nearly four year friendship. She'd confessed that while she missed him, she'd actually gotten used to him being gone. She'd felt guilty about it, sure that she was being a bad daughter by not being more upset by his absence. He'd soothed her then and he knew that she needed him to do so again.

 

He walked up to her in silence, simply pulling her into his arms. He was taller now, making her head fit perfectly into the curve of his neck. Kagome buried her face in his shoulder and cried. She sobbed so hard she shook and he found himself lifting her from the ground and sitting with her in his lap, her arms around his neck. At that moment he was actually glad that he was abnormally strong, remembering that she was the only one he'd ever trusted with his secret. And she trusted him as well.

 

He'd been told that she hadn't spoken a word since she'd been told the news and that she hadn't cried at all as if she were in shock, but he wasn't surprised when she cried so easily in his arms. He knew that he was the only one that was allowed to see her weaknesses. He was the only one she allowed to see her cry. Over the years she always kept up a strong front but inside she'd been upset over one thing or another and he was always the one that she talked to, that she shared her feelings with, and that she allowed to see her cry. So he held her tightly, making sure that she felt safe and secure and knew that he was there for her.

 

Eventually she'd finally cried herself out and then she told him what had happened. Her father was away on business again, like always. He was being driven to his hotel from the airport when the roadway was suddenly covered in smoke. A forest fire had started along the side of the highway due to the extremely dry conditions in the area, and the smoke made it impossible to see anything. There'd been a huge accident as car after car realized too late that they needed to stop. Only five people had died in the pileup, but her father had been one of them. He'd left home to go on his business trip like always but this time he wasn't coming back.

 

He held her for hours and when night fell he stayed with her. He stayed at her house that Friday and Saturday night as well, not going home until late Sunday. That was the first time either of them stayed the night at the other's house. It was the first time she'd ever spent the night in his arms, but definitely not the last. She'd gone to school on Monday and as time passed she managed to move on and stop mourning. Eventually things returned to normal again and Kagome was her happy and rather hyper self once more, their bond strengthened through the shared experience. Bankotsu had been her rock, her strength during the hardest time of her life, and she never forgot it.

 

 

@@@@@The Syndrome@@@@@

 

It was in forth grade that their classmates had started to talk. The first time one of the girls asked Kagome about her `boyfriend' she'd laughed in her face, thinking it was a joke. But it was no joke. Everyone believed that because they spent so much time together that they were dating, because surely if everyone else was starting to date then they would be as well. It wasn't quite the same for them, however. Their time together had given them a great deal of insight into the opposite sex and neither was interested in dating, at least not yet and definitely not each other. Instead they watched the other kids and their relationships. It was nothing but drama; who kissed who, who left who for someone else, who didn't call even after he'd `pinkie promised'. They couldn't help but laugh at it all.

 

They'd only laughed when the rumors started circling the halls. Why, yes, he did carry her books for her between classes, and yes, they passed notes like crazy, always having something to tell each other. Yes, they hung out together outside of school. They went to the movies together. They hung out at each other's homes. They always thought of the other first, always knew where the other was. Every project that they had the option to choose who they paired up together with, they chose each other. And when they weren't partners they still worked together, their actual partners always ending up feeling out of place, like they were interfering in something private which of course only fueled more rumors. It was obvious they cared about each other, but no, they weren't dating. No matter how many times they were asked they were still not dating.

 

 

@@@@@The Syndrome@@@@@

 

 

It had gotten a tad more interesting when their first school dance had come around. Since they'd made it as clear as possible to everyone who kept bugging them that they weren't `together' some of their classmates decided it was the perfect opportunity to ask one or the other out.

 

The first time it happened they were sitting at their usual table during lunch and one of the more popular girls in their class helped her self to one of the empty seats, not bothering to ask if they minded. Bankotsu and Kagome had glanced at her for a moment before continuing their conversation as if she wasn't even there. Of course, being a popular girl, she did not like being ignored.

 

When there was a pause in their conversation she took it as her chance and spoke. “So, Bankotsu, what did you think about that math test yesterday? I thought it was so hard, like why did she have to make it so hard?”

 

The two friends looked at her again, not sure what the hell was wrong with her to think that she could just butt into their conversation, before once again returning their attention to each other. Kagome was the first to talk. “So mom told Souta that he's going to be starting kindergarten next year and he…” She didn't get to finish her sentence however because she was cut off by what had to be the snottiest tone either had ever heard.

 

“Excuse me, but I asked Bankotsu a question. Do you think maybe you could, oh I don't know, go sit somewhere else so we can talk?”

 

Kagome stared at the girl in shock. `Did she just tell me to leave? So she could talk to Bank? What a bitch,' she thought.

 

Bankotsu however did his thinking out loud. “I'm sorry, what's your name again?”

 

Thinking she'd won, she answered. “I'm Fumiko,” she said, her voice filled with smugness as she glanced at Kagome as if she was the intruder.

 

“Ok, see, I didn't even know your name until you just told me, and I've been friends with Kagome for four and a half years now, since the very first day of school. What makes you think that you can come and sit here without being invited and then tell her to leave?” Kagome covered her mouth with her hand to stop the laughter.

 

Fumiko didn't know what to say. She didn't think she'd done anything wrong. It was Kagome who'd been rude and interrupted her conversation with him. “Well I wanted to talk to you. That's why I came and sat here. It's not my fault she didn't give you a chance to answer my question. It was her who was rude,” she said while glaring openly at Kagome who was still fighting not to laugh. “And I don't know what you think is so funny.”

 

That did it for Kagome. Her temper was easily triggered and this girl had just done it. Her voice was loud, drawing the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. “I'm being rude? Me? You come and sit at our table without asking. You butt into our conversation. You have the nerve to tell me to leave our table so you can talk to him, and you think he's going to answer you? God, you're just dumb. I don't think I've ever met somebody quite so stupid.”

 

“Who do you think you are, calling me stupid? Really, I'm the popular one here. You only have one friend.”

 

“And yet it is my one friend that you think is going to drop me for you? Why, because you're pretty and popular?”

 

“Um, yeah,” Fumiko said, as if Kagome had just asked her if two plus two equaled four.

 

Bankotsu and Kagome both burst out laughing at the same instant, which only made the girl angrier. As her face turned red he decided they'd had enough and it was time to end it. “I don't care if you're pretty or popular. First of all, I think Kagome is much prettier than you are. No, I take that back. She's not pretty. She's beautiful and she doesn't dress like a tramp. And popular means nothing to me. The only person in this entire school that I care about besides my brother is Kagome. Whatever it was that gave you the idea that you could just waltz over here and say and do what you wanted was wrong. So if you don't mind, do you think maybe you could go sit somewhere else? Because we're trying to have a conversation.”

 

Everyone who had been watching the interaction in silence, waiting to see what would happen, broke into laughter. They'd never seen Fumiko treated like that and almost everyone, meaning everyone who wasn't in the small popular group, thought she deserved to be told off. She thought way too highly of herself.

 

The angry and now embarrassed girl stood, her breathing hard and her face so red she looked like steam was about to shoot from her ears. “You'll regret this, Bankotsu. I was going to let you take me to the dance, but I've changed my mind.”

 

Kagome turned and hid her head in her friend's shoulder as tears streamed down her face from laughing so hard. As his arm wrapped around her waist he looked straight into Fumiko's eyes. “You were going to let me take you? I wouldn't want to take you to the dance if you were the only girl in the world. You're nothing but a spoiled, stuck-up little bitch. Now please, go away so we can get back to what we were doing before you so rudely interrupted.”

 

The laughter echoed in the large room as she turned and started to walk away. She was so angry that she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking and slipped in a puddle of chocolate milk someone had spilled next to the garbage, falling on her ass quite eloquently in front of everyone. Needless to say, Fumiko never approached Bankotsu again. She was too angry at him, blaming him for the humiliation of her fall, something her classmates would never let her forget, as well as for talking to her in such a way. But she wasn't the only girl interested in the rather attractive ten year old…

 

 

@@@@@The Syndrome@@@@@

 

 

It was only two days later while Kagome and Bankotsu were standing outside after school waiting for their ride that it happened again, only this time it was a boy interested in Kagome. They were leaning against the brick wall minding their own business when a boy Bankotsu recognized from gym class walked up and leaned against the wall next to her.

 

“Hey,” was all he said at first.

 

Kagome turned and looked at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Finally she replied simply, “Hey.”

 

Encouraged somehow by her monosyllabic reply he spoke again. “So, I was wondering if you're going to the… dance… on…” His question started out confident but when he saw Bankotsu glaring at him over Kagome's shoulder he started to get nervous. The look he was giving him made it feel like he had ice water in his veins, like Bankotsu could make him disappear in an instant and would if he even thought about continuing with his thought. He looked from Kagome to Bankotsu and back several times before making his decision. “Never mind,” he said quickly before turning and walking away.

 

Kagome leaned back against her best friend and sighed. “You know he was going to ask me to the dance.”

 

“Yeah, I know. But he's not going to now,” he said smugly.

 

“And why is that?”

 

“Because I don't trust him. I've heard him talking in the locker room before and after gym class. He is definitely not the kind of guy you want.”

 

Kagome smiled as his arms came around her waist. “And how are you so sure? What kind of guy do I want then?”

 

“You want a guy that I know will treat you right. Cuz if you pick anyone else and they hurt you in any way I might just have to kill them, and you wouldn't want me to be sent to jail cuz you picked a jerk, right?” he asked, his voice full of amusement.

 

“Yeah, I suppose you're right,” she said before giggling. “You're never gonna let me have a boyfriend, are you?”

 

“That depends on if we ever meet anyone who's good enough for you.”

 

“And how are we going to know if they're good enough if you scare them all away?”

 

“Alright, let's make a deal. Before a guy can ask you out he has to talk to me. I'll ask a few questions and then let him know.”

 

“You want to interview potential dates? Oh yeah, that's gonna go over well.”

 

 

@@@@@The Syndrome@@@@@

 

 

The next day they were in the library doing research for a project when a girl approached them. She leaned against the edge of the table at Bankotsu's side and smiled down at him. “Hi,” she said in as sultry a voice as a ten year old girl could manage. “I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go to a movie or something this weekend.” Kagome looked up from her book and locked eyes with her friend before lifting a brow in question.

 

He looked up at the girl, actually recognizing this one. “Sorry Mari, but I've got plans with Kagome this weekend.”

 

“But wouldn't you rather go on a date with me than hang out with her? She might as well be another guy.” She batted her eyelashes and tilted herself in an attempt to make her tiny boob-lets look bigger. Kagome wanted to yell as she heard her words, but one look at her odd posture made her hold her tongue. She had to see how this one played out.

 

“Is there something wrong with your back?”

 

“No, why?” she asked in a confused tone.

 

“You're standing really funny. Are you sure your back is alright?” He hid his smirk as she immediately straightened. “That's better,” he said with a bright smile.

 

“Well, do you want to do something? If we can't get together this weekend you could always take me to the dance.”

 

He looked like he was thinking about it, which made her smile at him before running her tongue over her lips in what he guessed was supposed to be an attempt at sexy. “You see, the thing is, I wouldn't be caught dead spending time with anyone who insulted Kagome. She's nothing like `another guy'. And, just in case you were wondering, her boobs are visible without contorting her back like a circus performer, so wouldn't that make you more like a guy than her?” Kagome giggled softly as Mari whirled and stomped away in a very impressive imitation of a five year old.

 

“They're just never gonna learn, are they?” she asked him across the table.

 

“Doesn't look like it,” he said while shaking his head before they both returned to their reading, once again like they had never been interrupted.

 

 

@@@@@The Syndrome@@@@@

 

 

Several more girls had tried and failed, each making a fatal mistake regarding Kagome. Really, if one had managed to be nice to her and not insult her or their friendship they might have had a chance, but each girl felt threatened by their close relationship, even if they didn't quite understand it. The boys had been surprised when they approached Kagome. The only thing she would say was “Go talk to Bankotsu. He'll tell you.” And he had. He asked them each several questions, intent on making sure that their intentions towards his Kagome were 100% pure. Not a single boy had been approved.

 

Since neither had a date they went together, though each was sure they would have gone together anyways rather than go with others that they hardly knew if at all. They arrived together, sat and talked together, and even danced together. Bankotsu had managed to control himself enough to allow one other guy to dance with her, something that he immediately regretted, especially since the idiot had tried to kiss her. If only he had known that one dance would lead to an obsession that survived over eight years and was still going strong. No matter what he did after that day he just couldn't shake the wolf. He was like a tick. Once it grabs on it digs itself in and isn't easy to yank back out. Kouga was a big tick, or maybe a leech. Well, whatever he was, he was holding on tight to his illusions.

 

After the dance, which had ended poorly when Bankotsu broke the wolf's jaw for the first time, it was even harder to make their classmates believe that they weren't together… so they stopped trying. They loved each other in a way that no one else could grasp, but it wasn't a boyfriend/girlfriend thing. It was unique, the bond that they'd created. And it was just the two of them… at least until the beginning of fifth grade when someone else came waltzing into their lives.

 

 

@@@@@The Syndrome@@@@@

 

 

Author's Notes:

 

Takara - treasure

 

Mariko - true reason child

 

Fumiko - child of treasured beauty