Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

Keep holding on

By: Shizuko-chan13

Chapter 14

The next morning, despite knowing it would be a long day, Kagome woke up bright and early. She got ready for the day before making her way to Inuyasha's bedroom. The sooner she figured out how he was poisoned again, the better.

She sat down in the middle of the room cross legged and began doing her daily breathing exercises and her meditation. Before long she began searching for any trace of miasma in the room using her reiki. This process took a little while because she did it carefully, not wanting to miss anything.

And it wasn't until she was almost done that she found the source and she could hardly believe her senses. They had poisoned his medicine! Every single one of his pills was poisoned.

She immediately went back to her room, erecting the barrier once again around his room, and called to police. This was getting out of hand, now she was positive they wanted him dead and she was briefly wondered if it was Kikyou's doing this time again or perhaps someone else entirely.

After calling the cops she woke the hanyou up. He was very reluctant at first but when she told him the police were on their way he was wide awake. She told him what she found and told him to go get ready for the day. He didn't like being ordered around but he knew that now was not the time for being difficult. He did realize, though, that he'd never seen Kagome so angry before.

The bell rang just as he was getting downstairs. Kagome didn't hesitate to open the door and led the cops to the living room.

Inuyasha was angry, he still couldn't understand why they wanted him dead. Sure, his entire life people have treated him horribly. He's been both physically and emotionally abused for years but seeing him suffer had always been enough to satisfy his tormentors. That, he understood (somewhat), but why would someone want to kill him? What would they gain? It's not like he was so important.

The detectives that were now in his living room were the same ones handling his accident and the other incident with Kikyou and Kagura. Detectives Bankotsu and Renkotsu interviewed them both when they were at the hospital and charges were filed against both women, however, nothing came of it yet because they seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet. And they still haven't got a clue as to who the driver was who drove his car into the limo.

Just as they settled in the living room the bell rang once again. The physical therapist asked Inuyasha to get the door while she quickly excused herself to go get them some much needed coffee. She knew exactly who it was at the other side of the door because she could sense him and there was no mistaking who this person was. Well, that and the fact that she called him right after calling the police.

"Sesshomaru? What are you doing here?" the hanyou asked after answering the door.

"Kagome called," he said before stepping inside.

"Why the hell would she call you?"

"Because I told her to call me next time something happened to you," he shrugged.

"And how did you know something was going to happen again?"

Sesshomaru sighed silently, "because let's face it Inuyasha, Kikyou was clever enough to fool you but not everyone. We all knew she was bad news from the start yet you didn't listen, though, admittedly we didn't know how bad her intentions really were. However, she is not smart enough to come up with that scheme to get all your money. She definitely had help, we just have to figure out who that person is. And since you didn't die the last couple times there are probably more attempts coming your way."

"Fan-fucking-tastic!" he muttered.

His brother just ignored him and walked away leaving him behind to follow him.

When they arrived in the living room the detectives stood up and greeted the newcomer.

Kagome reentered the room just as they all took a seat and set the tray on the coffee table.

"So, can you tell us why we're here this early in the morning?" detective Bankotsu asked.

"I called you because last night Inuyasha was poisoned once again. It was the same miasma but this time it was a much more lethal dose. I was able to purify it entirely, though, so Inuyasha's just fine now."

"Were you coincidentally or conveniently there both times his life was in danger because of the same poison, Miss Higurashi?" detective Renkotsu asked, raising one eyebrow.

"I was luckily there both times, detective," she answered through gritted teeth. "Besides, that night at the restaurant we were having dinner before leaving for the clinic to perform the purification. We knew that waiting a few more hours wouldn't have any consequences. Kikyou and Kagura's attack just screwed that up when he was injured and he was losing a lot of blood so I had to do the purification sooner and a lot faster than planned."

"Okay, so when exactly did you realize Mr. Takahashi had been poisoned last night?" Bankotsu asked.

"I was woken up around three in the morning when he screamed," she lied, very few people knew she was an empath and she was sure if she wasn't Inuyasha would have started screaming eventually and woken her up anyway. "I had to break down his door to get to him and when I got to him I noticed he was in a lot of pain," she glanced at him and her eyes softened.

"I thought he was having back spasms so I carefully put him on the ground with an icepack under his back and a pillow under his knees. It's standard procedure to relieve back spasms," she explained when they looked at her quizzically.

"Then while using reiki and I sensed the miasma in his system. This time I noticed it was a more powerful dose and was in his entire bloodstream, though a lot of it was concentrated in his spine, especially around his injury. That means the miasma was attacking his nervous system, he was basically in pain from head to toe but most of the pain was around the concentrated area. I purified it but was too exhausted to figure out how he'd been poisoned. So I took him to a guest room and sealed his room with sacred sutras and went to bed. I woke up early because I couldn't really sleep but I slept enough to recharge my energy and then called you after I figured out how he was poisoned."

"Why didn't you call us before you went to bed?" Renkotsu asked a little ticked off.

"Because the poison could've been on any surface in that room or in anything he'd use or wear daily. It would take your forensic technicians too long to find where it came from, whereas I figured out the source of the miasma in less than an hour. Besides, if I had to wait for your team to finish taking samples to take to your lab it would make getting a good reading on all the items very difficult. So I took a shortcut but I needed to recharge first," she shrugged.

"And why should we take your word for it?" asked Renkotsu.

Kagome looked at them incredulously. "You're kidding me, right? I'm one of the best spiritualists in the United States and I have an outstanding record. There really isn't a reason to doubt me at all and it's really insulting, might I add."

"Okay, fine. So where did you find the miasma?" asked Bankotsu.

Her face turned serious again. "His medicine have been coated in miasma. And they're all new, I think they were delivered just yesterday because someone was having a temper tantrum the day before and threw the others away," she said looking pointedly at Inuyasha. His eyes widened in disbelief.

She turned her attention back to the detectives and sighed, "every single pill has been poisoned. I didn't touch any of it, though, I didn't want to taint any kind of evidence."

"Who took the pills when they were delivered?" asked Bankotsu.

"I don't know, I think it was Shiori, 'cause I got here a little after noon and I saw his medicine on his night table. They must've delivered them in the morning before Shiori left the house."

Renkotsu made some notes before asking if it was possible that Shiori would have something to do with the poisoning. This elicited a growl from both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru and a glare from the physical therapist.

"How dare you suggest my sister had something to do with it, you son of a bitch!" snarled Inuyasha.

Kagome held his arm, trying to calm both him and his older brother down with her reiki at the same time. He glared at the detectives for a few more moments before looking at Kagome, her eyes somehow able to calm him down a little.

"I've come to know Shiori very well these last couple of weeks," she told the detectives, "she's a sweet and very caring person. She loves her family, especially Inuyasha. They have this bond that they have with no other person. Someone like that would not try to kill her own brother. Besides there's no reason for her to kill him anyway."

"Well, I guess we can take that into consideration but we'll still have to question Miss Takahashi."

"I understand," she nodded and looked at the brothers in the corner of her eye. She could still feel their rage and doubled her effort using her reiki to try to calm them down. It helped but only a little.

"How do we know it wasn't you who poisoned the pills?" asked Renkotsu all of a sudden.

"How the fuck can you say that?" Inuyasha growled, "she would never do that! Hell, Shiori would never do that either!"

"It's okay, Inuyasha. I can handle it," she told him with a warm look before she looked back at the detectives with a cold one. "Firstly, I understand it's your job to ask these questions but I have to say I'm getting tired of your insults. It is my job to help those in need, not hurt them and if you don't want to take my word for it you can go to the Board of Spiritualists. They have a record of every time I used or misused my spiritual powers. So in case you don't believe anything I'm saying, feel free to check with them. Their records don't lie.

"Secondly, I never touched that bottle, the only place that'll have my finger prints are the mini fridge, the bed, the icepack and the cabinet in the bathroom where I took out a towel.

"Thirdly, I have only limited knowledge about miasma. Everything I learned was because and through Inuyasha's case. Before that I have only heard about it once and that was almost ten years ago when my grandfather mentioned it in passing. What I learned the last couple of weeks I learned through Dr. Suikotsu's findings when testing the poison at the clinic, my own research in ancient texts and through purification. Even so, I still know very little about it.

"From what we know so far, creating such a powerful and deadly poison is very complex but also dangerous and I have never even tried to create any poison, let alone miasma. I've only made antidotes to those poisons that have one. This one doesn't have an antidote yet but now that I know it can be manipulated I'm not sure there ever will be one.

"The person you're looking for has very extensive knowledge about this poison but more importantly they have access to miasma in its purest form which they then manipulate through science and magic.

"So I hope, detectives, that what I just told you is enough to make a basic profile of whoever is doing this because pointing fingers blindly at everyone will get you nowhere. And if you don't do your jobs accordingly I'm sure the Takahashi's and myself can get you off this case easily."

"And who do you think fits this so called profile of yours?" asked Renkotsu irritated.

"I don't know, it's your job to find out, not mine. What I do know is that this person is really intelligent but also powerful, because this miasma is so complex to make and so difficult to purify, not to mention it will take years to make an antidote to only one of its variants. Besides, I don't think they're dumb enough to try to kill Inuyasha personally. Instead they use other people as his pawns, like Inuyasha's first physical therapists and Kikyou. My bet is that his latest pawn is someone with access to patients medicine, probably one of the pharmacists working at the clinic."

"That's a very… well thought theory, Miss Higurashi. We'll take it into consideration."

"Good, because my job is demanding enough, I wouldn't want to do yours as well."

They interviewed them a while longer, asking Inuyasha more questions this time since Kagome really had nothing else to say about the case. They also called crime scene technicians to comb through the entire room.

They decided not to take Kagome's advice and did everything by the book. She could understand they did it in order to create an airtight case, but it wasn't like she didn't have the credentials. She was a licensed spiritualist and she was one of the strongest ones alive today so they had no reason to doubt her.

On top of that they took Shiori to headquarters when she arrived home around 10.30 in the morning instead of interviewing her at home. No one had the chance to tell her what was going on and she was a little freaked out when they took her.

Later on in the afternoon she was finally let go after Sesshomaru got her a lawyer. They didn't have any evidence against her, not that there was any anyway so they had to let her go. Unfortunately she was still a person of interest but Kagome reassured her they would find the son of a bitch who wanted Inuyasha dead even if they had to do it themselves.

Needless to say that day sucked, everyone was in a bad mood, especially Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Mrs. Takahashi was worried while Mr. Takahashi only told Sesshomaru to make sure everything was done correctly. He even requested to talk to Kagome. Inuyasha was against the idea and was angry when Kagome told him she would talk to him only if Mr. Takahashi came to Inuyasha's house because she didn't want to leave his patient alone.

It took a while to convince both father and son but in the end she got what she wanted.

Kagome had just finished cooking dinner when his parents arrived that night at seven. It had been a long time since the whole Takahashi family sat at dinner together without it being a formal event.

Even though the tension in the room was almost suffocating Kagome ignored it and acted like it wasn't affecting her. Inuyasha couldn't help feeling his stomach flutter everytime she laughed when talking to her mother and sister, they got along very well. Hell, even his father cracked a smile when Kagome told them about a very embarrassing experience when she was a child.

They talked about her parents, which was when Mr. Takahashi and even Sesshomaru joined the conversation. Apparently his older brother remembered meeting them a month after Kagome was born and went to visit with Izayoi, InuTaisho and Inuyasha, who was too young to remember any of it. And they all (except for Inuyasha) laughed when his parents said he became jealous that she got everyone's attention.

More stories were exchanged all throughout dinner and by dessert the tension was considerably less.

After dinner InuTaisho, Izayoi and Kagome went to the study to have that long awaited chat.

"So Kagome, would you like to tell us what you told the detectives this morning?" asked InuTaisho.

Kagome nodded and proceeded to tell them everything, she had nothing to hide. She even told them about her other lesser known ability.

"Why did you tell them Shiori was the one who got the medicine?" he asked immediately after she finished.

"Because it's the truth," she said as if it was obvious.

"But because of that my daughter is now a suspect."

"No, she's a person of interest. I'm sure they'll find enough evidence to find the real suspect. I know she didn't poison the medicine but if I lie and they find out it would ruin my credibility. As a miko I'm not allowed do that."

"You're telling me you didn't lie because you're not allowed to lie?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but also because I don't want them to catch us in a lie. We have nothing to hide so why lie? The more they know, the better the picture they get, the sooner they can find the bastard who wants your son dead. All I care about is finding that son of a bitch so he can stop hurting Inuyasha."

"Why do you care so much about Inuyasha?" he looked intently at her.

"Because he's my patient but more importantly because he's my friend. And I won't ever tolerate anyone hurting my friends or my family," she told him with conviction.

"But you've only known him for a couple of weeks," said Izayoi after staying silent until now.

"That's true but we have this connection we don't have with other people," InuTaisho and Izayoi shared a knowing look but didn't say anything. "We understand each other in a way others don't."

"Are you sure there's nothing more than friendship between the two of you?" the older woman asked with knowing smile.

"O-Of course not," the miko stuttered. "We're just friends. Besides even if I did feel anything more than friendship for him I wouldn't act upon them."

"Why? Because he's a hanyou?"

"What?! No! Why would you think that?" she asked aghast. "It's because I can't date a patient."

"So when you're done rehabilitating him you won't even consider dating him then?" Izayoi asked hopefully.

Kagome tried so hard not to blush but failed miserably and knowing this she sighed and shook her head. "No. I'm not what your son is looking for. I can't give him what he wants."

"Well, how do you know? You've only known each other for a couple of weeks."

"Izayoi dear, you're making her uncomfortable," InuTaisho sighed. "What is it with women wanting to set up their children together?" he asked no one in particular.

"Oh no, Mom's at it again?" she asked the older woman. "She always does this," Kagome complained.

"Well, all we want is for our children to be happy. Can you blame us for trying?"

"I guess not," the miko laughed.

Mr. Takahashi apologized to Kagome about the way he treated her just then, he just wanted to protect his family but he understood her reasoning for not lying and protecting her new friends. She told them if they had nothing to hide then it was better to tell the truth, lying will only get them in trouble.

Not much later they found themselves in the living room with the rest of the family. Luckily there was less tension than when the older couple arrived.

"So Inuyasha, how have you been?" asked his father tentatively.

He frowned and was about to answer him rudely when he felt someone flick his ear. He turned and glared at Kagome, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a look that told him to be nice. He sighed before turning back to his father.

"Well, I've been better, I can tell you that. But I've been okay lately," he told his father, his usual scowl in place.

InuTaishou nodded, "how's everything going with the band?"

"I'm sure you know already, you talk to Sesshomaru every day… But we're working as hard as we can considering everything that happened. We're still behind schedule though so we're trying to work as fast as we can to meet the deadline."

"Forget the deadline," he told his youngest son before turning to his eldest, "you should've pushed back the deadline ages ago Sesshomaru. You know I really don't care if they meet the original date or not, as long as they produce a good quality album."

Sesshomaru shrugged, "I thought it might motivate them more if they thought they had to meet the original deadline."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, "don't worry Dad, Sessh likes being an ass, we're actually used to it by now. Besides, I know we can meet the deadline, there's no need to push it back," he looked at his older brother confidently.

Their father sighed, his children will never change. But then again they've learned to work well together despite not getting along and they're both successful so who was he to complain. Why wish for something he knew was never going to happen?

The rest of the night went fairly well, considering Sesshomaru actually made conversation with everyone, even Inuyasha but it mostly entailed work. When he talked to Shiori everyone in the room could see he had a soft spot for his sister, which came as a surprise to Kagome. She thought Sesshomaryu didn't like the fact he had hanyou half-siblings but apparently he didn't. He just didn't get along with Inuyasha. The miko even felt how much he cared about his step-mother, which was a lot more than she had expected, though, Kagome wisely decided to keep everything to herself for now.

She got along great with Izayoi and Shiori, the young hanyou even told her she did the right thing by not lying. They police would've found her fingerprints on the bottle anyway, she was just worried that someone was trying to frame them. Hell, even the police suspected Kagome but that didn't faze her in the least.

Inuyasha had a hard time keeping his feelings bottled up but he somehow pulled it off. Nobody but Kagome noticed how uncomfortable he felt around his father but she knew he had to face the music sooner or later and start mending the broken relationship with him. And even though tonight was difficult for him, she had a feeling things would turn out okay eventually.

Sesshomaru, Izayoi and InuTaishou left just before 9 PM. Inuyasha, needing to relax himself went to the studio, while Kagome and Shiori cleaned up the kitchen. They talked about what they did the day before. She learned the girls went shopping, got manicures and pedicures and went out at night. Kagome informed her about Sunday brunch with the gang and her parents. Shiori even volunteered to help her and her mother to cook. She even said she'd ask the girls to come help as well.

The rest of the night was more relaxed than before, Kagome even managed to convince Inuyasha to let her heal him again to compensate for not having taken his meds and skipping physical therapy today. She would go get his new meds tomorrow personally to see if he would get contaminated medication again. Maybe she could catch them red-handed but she had a feeling that wasn't going to happen. Whoever wanted Inuyasha dead wasn't stupid and had made sure to cover their tracks very well.

The days passed with nothing much out of the ordinary going on. In the morning (much to Inuyasha's annoyance) they would work on his rehab. The guys came around lunchtime (they discovered Kagome's cooking) and worked on their album until dinnertime. After dinner they would either hang out or the guys would leave and do their own thing.

The gang left early on Friday so they could go out at night, although sans Kagome and Inuyasha because he didn't want to go out in a wheelchair and she didn't want to leave him alone. He insisted on her going but she didn't relent. He finally gave up after half an hour and went to his room without having dinner, telling her to leave him alone for the rest of the night.

She thought his behavior was a little strange but decided not to dwell on it and proceeded to make dinner. She sharpened her senses when she happened to check on him and realized his energy was a little off. It was almost insignificant but with all the murder attempts on him she didn't want to risk letting her guard down.

The house was quiet, a little too quiet for her taste so she decided to go get her guitar upstairs. While going up the stairs she got a nice view of the sun that was currently setting from the large windows. Smiling to herself, she took the time to appreciate something so simple yet so beautiful.

She stood there at the top of the stairs until she couldn't see the sun anymore, though the sun hadn't finished setting yet. She sighed and walked the few steps remaining to her room. She had just entered when she sensed Inuyasha's energy pulse and then disappear.

Or at least that's what she thought until she went to his door and checked again before realizing he was still there but his energy felt off, like it was missing something. It didn't take her long to notice his energy didn't contain demonic energy anymore. She sighed in relief, he just gave her the fright of her life and this thought made her angry.

She banged on the door, she didn't even try to see if it was open, knowing that it probably wasn't. She got no answer but she continued banging and yelling that she was not leaving until he opened the door.

Finally after ten minutes of banging Inuyasha swung the door open, a deep scowl on his face.

"What do you want wench? Can't you understand I want to be alone?" a dark haired, violet eyed Inuyasha yelled.

"You should've told me you would turn human tonight!" she yelled back. "You scared the shit out of me, you know? I thought something bad had happened to you when your energy disappeared."

They both stood there, Kagome panting because she was overwhelmed and she had just finished yelling. Inuyasha's scowl softened just a bit, but it was more than enough for even her to notice.

"Do the guys know?" she asked a few moments later.

"Of course they know, I've known them for more than a decade."

"Even the girls?"

"Yeah, though they found out eventually."

"So this is how you normally spend your human nights? … Alone?"

"Yeah, so what?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Go put your shoes on, we're going out."

"I'm not going anywhere, wench, least of all in this weak, crippled human body," he glared.

Narrowing her eyes, she crossed her arms and stepped as close to him as she could get. He had to look up at her when she came so close but his glare was held in place.

"We're going out even if I have to drag you out of the house. Now. Get. Your. Shoes. On. We leave in five minutes."

With that she turned around and entered her room.

Inuyasha sat there looking at her disappear into her room. He took a deep breath trying to dispel his current thoughts about his physical therapist. It was sad to say he found her display of dominance a complete turn on.

This made him feel both confused and ashamed, they had agreed that nothing was going to happen between them and here he was going back on his word. That's why he hated being human, the feelings he could easily suppress in his hanyou form were now even more intense than before.

Knowing he had no other choice he put on his shoes and went downstairs where Kagome was waiting for him. In no time they were on the road. Inuyasha didn't ask where they were going, he was still trying to suppress those blasted feelings that just didn't want to go away.

He didn't know how long they had been driving when she suddenly turned off the engine. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts and looked out the window.

Although it was starting to get really dark he could see they were at a park. He frowned, wondering what the hell she was thinking by bringing him to a public place.

He turned to her, raising an eyebrow, silently asking what they were doing there. She shrugged.

"I just had a feeling to get out of the house and then I just went wherever the universe was telling me to go."

"Riiiight…"

Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes. "How about we just go take a walk… well you know what I mean," she said when he looked at her pointedly. "We might as well since we're already here."

"Keh, whatever," he replied and made a move to get his wheelchair.

The park was nice, there were still some people hanging out here and there but not a lot, it was getting late after all.

They walked in a comfortable silence, neither feeling the need to talk. Kagome suddenly felt someone in pain but it was a little far so she took off in the direction she felt it coming from.

Inuyasha noticed immediately something was up when she suddenly took off, he called out to her, asking where she was going but she either didn't hear him or was ignoring him. Whatever the cause he took off after her as well, only at a slower pace because the softer ground caused more drag than the hard surface of the concrete path they had been walking on.

He lost sight of her after she turned behind a patch of trees. When he rounded the same patch she was nowhere to be found. He looked between the trees, trying to see in the semi-darkness if she went in there.

Kagome was a caring person by nature so the moment she sensed someone in pain she went to see what she could do. The closer she got, though, the more she realized it wasn't a person she was looking for but an animal, probably someone's pet.

She picked up her speed, knowing that the poor animal must be scared, being all alone and hurt. She made her way into the trees, relying completely on her senses to get her to the poor animal.

When she reached it she realized it was a dog, a pup actually, but it looked worse for wear. It was all bruised and bloody. The many cuts she knew it had were almost invisible by all the blood dirtying it's fur.

She approached the pup carefully, sensing that the dog was still conscious and that it didn't trust her. She took one careful step after the other, calming her energy so that the dog would let her close to it. The pup growled softly at her in warning and she stopped approaching for a moment before taking a deep breath to calm herself once again. She sensed the dog was too tired and hurt to do something to her but you never know. Moving forward once again, she could see more clearly how injured it was but most importantly she sensed how much the pup was hurting. She was upset at whoever did this but right now it was not helping her getting close to the dog.

She took another step when she felt the pup's anxiety lessen. She kneeled in front of it before putting her hand in front of its snout so the dog could smell her. She saw the dog physically relax before licking her hand and she took it as a sign that it trusted her. So she immediately set out to figure out what was wrong with it.

The first thing she noticed was that the dog was female. She had many cuts but had more bruises, some fractured bones, a few ribs and her front left leg. On top of that the dog was malnourished. Kagome knew the dog could make it but she had to act fast and take her to a vet. She didn't want to heal the cuts just yet, they were too dirty to heal properly at the moment without her getting an infection later on. What she did instead was use her reiki to take away the pain and until the dog fell asleep.

She took off her cardigan and wrapped the dog carefully before lifting her up and making her way back to the car. She was so focused in finding the dog and then taking care of her that she had completely forgotten about the hanyou (turned human for the night) until she was startled by his voice.

"Oi, wench! Where the hell did you go?" he yelled when he finally saw her coming back with something wrapped in her cardigan.

"Uh, I sensed someone in pain and I followed it until I found her. She's been badly beaten and we have to take her to a vet right now if she's going to make it," she replied, walking faster the closer she came to the edge of the patch of trees.

"Is that a dog?" he asked when she finally reached him, though she didn't stop for a second and he followed her as best as he could.

"Yes, it's very young though, practically still a pup."

Inuyasha didn't say anything in return. He was pissed off, he hated animal cruelty but when it came to dogs it was like hurting his own family.

Kagome waited until he was in his seat before carefully placing the pup in his lap. She then put his wheelchair in the back for him and quickly made her way behind the wheel and raced to the nearest vet.

However, finding a vet nearby proved to be harder than they thought. So Kagome called a colleague whose sister was a vet and after getting the address she drove as fast as she could to get there.

She parked crookedly in front of the building, but then again that was the last thing on her mind. She retrieved the pup from Inuyasha and made her way to the door. But before she reached the door it flew open revealing a pretty blonde woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties.

"Are you Kagome?" she asked.

"Yes, you must be Melissa, it's nice to meet you," she smiled politely before looking at Inuyasha who was getting into his wheelchair. "That's Inuyasha and this is your patient," she said looking at the pup in her arms.

"Okay, let's take him inside." She held the door open for them both to enter and then led them to a room. "Put him on the table."

"She's a girl," Kagome told her.

"Okay. When did she pass out?" she asked while putting on gloves and getting the instruments she'd need.

"I'm a spiritualist, I used enough reiki to take away the pain and make her fall asleep. I don't really know how long she's been in the park, hurt like this and I didn't want her to feel any more pain while bringing her here."

"Okay, let's see what we've got here then."

Melissa ordered them both outside but Kagome asked to stay to help in case she needed it. She was about to refuse but when she saw how badly the pup looked she accepted. She knew another pair of hands would be very helpful, especially because it was nighttime and her assistants had already left for the day.

"It seems she's a half Labrador, half Golden Retriever but I'll take a blood sample to make sure. It's important to know if she was bred by a reputable breeder or not. She could be from a puppy mill and my gut is leaning towards that because no reputable breeder would let a puppy come to harm like this."

"If she comes from a puppy mill and escaped then it mustn't be far from the park where we found her, she couldn't have walked far with her injuries. We'll go check it out tomorrow and let you know if we find something."

"Good, I don't like irresponsible breeders. Their crossbreds tend to have unstable temperaments including behavioral issues, aggression and genetic faults and I've put down too many dogs because of that. But let's hope this one is fine."

"So, you're a nurse at the clinic too?" Melissa asked after working for a while in silence.

"No, I'm a physical therapist but I'm working together with Dr. Suikotsu on a new program using spiritualists as healers."

"Oh, really? It's not really common anymore for spiritualists to be healers, is it?"

"Well, we're basically trained to help anyone in any way we can. But because of an increase in the demon population these last few decades more and more spiritualists use their powers to fight those who go against the law. However, I felt the need to care for people, whether they're human, demon or hanyou…even pets like this little one."

"I can see you're a very caring person," she told Kagome with a smile. "I feel the same, but I chose this profession because animals don't get the attention they deserve…So who's your friend out there?"

"Uh…that's Inuyasha. I'm actually his physical therapist, but I guess we're friends now too."

"Inuyasha? As in Inuyasha Takahashi?" she asked wide eyed. Kagome nodded. "I thought he was a half-demon but he looks human."

This caught Kagome off guard. She had forgotten that he was human and that nobody was supposed to know when he turns human, namely tonight, so she said the first thing that came to mind. "He's using a concealment spell I created for him. He didn't want to leave the house tonight but I managed to convince him after I concealed his most prominent features, that way no one really recognizes him."

What she said wasn't a complete lie, though, she could've done that if he was a hanyou tonight.

"Wow, what can't you do?"

'Find the person who's trying to kill Inuyasha,' she thought to herself. She knew it was a rhetorical question but she offered for a smile and a shrug in response. Besides, the answer to that question wasn't any of her business anyway.

They worked quietly after that, only talking when Melissa gave her instructions.

"Well, now we just have to wait and see if she makes it through the night," Melissa said after finishing up.

"Can I try to heal her? At least partially, I don't like to mess with the healing system unless it's necessary. I don't want the body to become dependent on the fast healing of reiki. I just want to heal her bones, those take a long time to heal and I want her to be healthy as soon as possible."

"Sure, I have to say I was hoping you'd show me the moment you said you are a spiritualist."

Kagome smiled and closed her eyes. Taking a deep cleansing breath she put her hands on the bandaged body of the pup and channeled the energy around her into the pet and started the healing process.

She had a lot of fractured bones but Kagome didn't really need to see the x-rays Melissa had taken to know where they were, however, they did help because she spared a little energy in trying to find them one by one.

Because she was so little it took her only twenty minutes to heal her bones. They would still feel tender but she wouldn't have much trouble moving around now. Melissa took new x-rays to see how well she healed them. She was astounded at how nicely they healed, it was as if the pup had week's worth of healing instead of the twenty minutes it took.

"Can we take him home? She doesn't have a collar so we don't know for sure if she's just missing yet. I'd feel better if I was near her in case anything happens," Kagome asked when she was finished.

"I guess that would be okay, but you'd have to bring her in tomorrow morning for a check-up. Be careful when she wakes up, she could be aggressive but I'll give you my number just in case anything happens tonight."

"Great, thanks," Kagome smiled brightly.

With that said they went to get the bills sorted out. Melissa had really enjoyed having Kagome help her and she wanted to give her a discount. Kagome, however, refused saying she was working overtime and not everyone would've been as helpful as she had been.

After bidding the vet a good night they went home. Inuyasha held the pup protectively, something Kagome had not seen him do in the little time they knew each other. She decided not to comment yet, from the little she had noticed tonight he seemed to show more emotions than usual, not that he was more emotional altogether.

After setting up the dog on her bed, which was big enough for both of them, she went with Inuyasha downstairs. She needed to keep busy and decided a snack would be good, besides Inuyasha hadn't had dinner tonight yet and knowing his appetite he must be starving.

"Are you okay, Inuyasha?" she asked while looking in the fridge for something to eat or to cook.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, you seem more emotional tonight. Is it because of the pup or because of something else?"

"You're imagining things."

"I know I'm not and you know I respect your privacy so I won't ask anymore. I just thought you trusted me enough to tell me."

Inuyasha sighed, "you like making me feel guilty, don't you?"

Kagome shrugged, knowing if she lied he'd know.

"Fine, I'm more emotional when I turn human. There! You happy now? I just hate it. Thank God it's only once a month and only lasts from sunset to sunrise. And even that is too much already."

"What's wrong with being human? I'm human."

"Yes, but you're a gifted human. You can defend yourself, I'm weak when I'm human. I already feel weak enough as it is being a hanyou, being human feels a lot worse."

Kagome was surprised, he just told her exactly what he felt and she didn't even have to ask him twice. It was obvious now that he expresses his emotions a lot easier when he's human.

"Don't underestimate yourself, you're probably a lot stronger than ordinary humans right now." He only snorted and rolled his eyes. "Man, those people really did a number on you, didn't they?"

He didn't need to ask who she meant, he already knew. And she was right, but he wasn't going to tell her that. However, his silence was more than any answer he could give her.

She walked from the microwave to sit next to him at the table. She took hold of his hand that was on the table and held it tightly. She waited for him to look at her before she spoke.

"You're not weak, Inuyasha. And what does it matter if you're a human or a hanyou or a youkai? That shouldn't determine whether you're weak or strong, it's what's in your heart, mind and soul. You are an amazing person, Inuyasha. You are caring –and don't even try to deny it 'cause you can't fool an empath," she added before he could say something. "You're loyal, you're trustworthy and you're selfless – I know you'd do anything for your friends and family. And those are only some of the qualities that make you strong. You probably don't believe me now, but I'll tell you everyday if I have to until you believe it yourself."

He didn't say anything, he only stared at her and she stared right back. After a long moment he squeezed her hand and she smiled before letting go and standing up.

She took the plate of leftover food that had finished reheating and set it in front of him, ordering him to eat since he didn't have dinner yet. She herself ate some cereal, it was getting too late to eat anything heavier.

They ate in a comfortable silence. When they finished Kagome put everything in the dishwasher and they made their way upstairs, or that's what she thought at least until she saw him make his way somewhere else.

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I don't sleep on the night of the New Moon. I've learned my lesson, if I'm awake I can see them coming and they can't to hurt me."

"Do you trust me?"

"You know I do."

"Then trust me when I tell you nothing's going happen tonight. I've had my barriers up since the moment we stepped inside. I'll know the moment anyone trespasses on your property and I can take care of them before you even know somebody's here."

Inuyasha sighed, "I don't doubt you can do all that but I feel better knowing I can see danger coming while I'm…vulnerable," he said this last word with obvious disdain.

Kagome looked at him for a moment before nodding. She couldn't expect him to change overnight. He's probably been doing this for years, most likely since his abuse began. But the fact that he trusted her and her abilities meant there was hope that things could someday change.

"I'll see you tomorrow then. We'll do our session in the afternoon. I'll take the dog to the vet in the morning while you sleep for a few hours."

"Thanks, though I can function pretty well without sleep while I'm a hanyou."

"Just get some rest in the morning. Good night."

"Night," he replied and watched her go upstairs.

He sighed and went to the recording studio. It was best to keep himself busy otherwise he'd fall asleep. But then again he felt inspiration hit him so that wasn't going to be a problem.

The one problem he was facing now was those feelings he got whenever he was near his physical therapist or even sometimes when just thinking about her. Especially now because he can't push them aside like he usually did. He knew it was unethical and he was probably just trying to forget his feelings for Kikyou, however, a small part of him still thought he wasn't. That his these feelings had nothing to do with his ex-girlfriend.

He'd just never met anyone like her before, she was certainly unique. She's an amazing person who doesn't pretend to be someone she's not, what you see is what you get. He never really liked people meddling in his affairs but there's just something about Kagome that he can't hate her when she does it. If he had to guess he'd say it was because unlike everyone else she really doesn't want anything in return from the people she helps, she's just a genuine caring person. And he loved that about her.

It's not like that trait made her naïve either, she knows who she can and can't trust. Not to mention she's very careful about what she says and does, making sure people feel comfortable around her. If she made his world this great knowing her only for a couple of weeks, imagine what it would be like if there were more people like her the world, it would probably be a better place.

Sighing he picked up his guitar and did what he did best, making music.

A/N: Hi guys! I'm sorry it took me so long to update. Writer's block sucks. I've been writing other stories too (none of which I've finished or published) in order to get over my writer's block but this chapter didn't come together until this past week and I spent last night editing it somewhat. I was fed up after reading it for the fourth or fifth time (I forget). I'm sure I missed a lot of things but I wanted to update so bad that I decided to post it anyway so if it sucks, I'm sorry and I'll try to do better next time. If you liked it, let me know ;).

I'm not sure when I'll update next, that's why this chapter is so long. I haven't even started the next one yet. Let's just hope I update faster next time.

Grtz, JJ