A Kludge of One Shots by tenchi no mai
A Stitch In Time...
This was written in response to Priestess Skye’s weekly challenge.
Prompt: Stitch
Due: January 03, 2010
Required Word Count: Free
Actual Word Count: 1,297
Universe: Alternate Universe – Modern Day
Rating: T
Warnings: Innuendoes
Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz Media. Only the plot to this story and my original character, Shun, are my intellectual property. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
‘Italics’ = thoughts
A Stitch In Time…
Kagome sat at the table on the patio outside the breakfast room, Sesshoumaru’s shirt in her lap and the mending basket beside her on the ground. She had stopped what she was doing to watch Sesshoumaru direct the rest of the pack and the hired carpenter. Kagome squinted; they were on the far side of the honmaru, she could barely see them through the overhanging foilage.
They were erecting the walls of the tea house that was being reconstructed in the honmaru. Sesshoumaru had found some really old scrolls that detailed the plans of the original tea house that was on the grounds many centuries ago, and had decided that it was perfect for his new master plan.
Sesshoumaru had been on a rebuilding kick lately. He had finally found a stonemason that was well versed in the old ways, and the wall of the sannomaru had been restored to its original height and appearance. Of course, the stone from the wall of the ninnomaru had been sacrificed to complete the reconstruction. He was planning on the wall of the ninnomaru being recreated using new stone that very closely matched the original.
Kagome picked up another button to stitch back onto Sesshoumaru’s shirt. She giggled out loud as she thought about her mates. They were both always so eager and impatient! She usually had a full mending basket. Buttons were ripped off shirts constantly and zippers were not immune to getting mangled.
That was where she drew the line. She could stitch a zipper into a piece of clothing as she sewed it, but to replace one in a pair of pants was a disaster. She had ruined two pairs of Shun’s trousers, then started taking them to the tailor to be repaired. Kagome often wondered what he thought about the constant flow of trousers with zippers to be replaced. You could only claim the zippers were defective so many times before someone got suspicious. It would be so much easier if they still wore hakama. ‘Of course, then the tailor would lose a steady source of income.’
Kagome was just getting up to go get something to drink and begin preparing lunch for the work crew when she heard it; an unusual creaking, squeeking sound, then a crash from the site of the tea house.
Looking up, she saw Katsumi, the carpenter, running towards the house at full speed. “Mrs. Taisho, where’s the medical kit?” He was gasping for breath as he reached the patio. “Jak sent me for it.”
Kagome pointed in the house. “It’s in the Security Office. What happened?” She was torn between getting the kit and rushing over to see who was hurt. Realizing that he didn’t know where it was, she hurried to retrieve the large box with Katsumi hot on her heels.
“I’ll carry it.” Katsumi grabbed the container and sprinted back towards the worksite.
Kagome raced after him, her heart beating rapidly as she envisioned some sort of horrible catastrophe. Darting through the trees, she stumbled into the small clearing and stopped in shock. The tea house was collapsed into a large pile of wood.
Sesshoumaru, Shun and Shippo were rapidly pulling the boards off the pile and throwing them aside. Jak was using a knife to cut Kouga’s shirt off him and gesturing for the medical kit.
‘Oh my God! Is Bank under the pile of wood?’ Kagome pressed her hand to her chest as she went to help Jak with Kouga’s injury. He had a large gash in his side from under his arm, arching around towards his chest. “Oh, Kouga, you’ll need stitches! Has anyone called Suikotsu?”
“Yeah, I called him, but it will be awhile before he gets here.” Jak was starting to clean up the messy wound and trying to figure out if Kouga actually needed stitches, or if his demon blood could heal it without them.
“Hey, Kagome, you can stitch me up. You’ve done it before.” Kouga was pinching the edges of the cut together.
“I don’t know, Kouga, it’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like that.” Kagome, however, was getting the necessary supplies out of the medical kit even as she spoke. Fortunately, it looked like everything she needed was there. “It’s going to hurt, I don’t think there is anything to numb it with.”
She was just finishing up with Kouga, when Shun and Shippo helped Bankotsu over to sit down next to Jak. He cut the sleeve off Bank’s t-shirt and started cleaning off the extensive wound. Kagome looked over and shuddered. The wound cleanly sliced open his arm from his wrist to just above his elbow. There was not as much bleeding as she expected to see from such a sizeable cut.
Memories came flooding back to her as she remembered stitching up the pack after the final battle with Naraku. ‘Inuyasha needed stitches in his back, Sango had a large wound on her leg and Miroku… his arm was laid open from the palm of his hand to his shoulder from a tentacle when he sucked Naraku into his kanaaza as the wind tunnel closed permanently. It was a good thing I had taken several first aid courses, and specifically requested to learn how to do sutures.’
“Looks like your next patient is here.” Bank tried to joke while grimacing as Jak cleaned up the wound.
“I don’t know Bank, it’s really deep, maybe you should wait for Suikotsu to get here” Kagome was suddenly nervous, Bank was a good friend but she had never done more than put bandages on cuts for him before.
“Go ahead Kagome, I can’t wait for Suikotsu, kami knows when he’ll get here. When he shows up he can take over from you if you want. I trust you.” Bank held his arm out towards her.
Kagome pulled out several more suture kits from the supplies, and began stitching up the gash. At some point in the lengthy process, she began to feel strange. She wasn’t sure if it was the heat, the midday sun beating down, or the smell of blood and sweat. Whatever it was, she didn’t like it.
Her vision suddenly narrowed down to what she was doing, and sounds became muffled except for the metallic clicking as she used the forceps to draw up the needle with the sutures and tie them off. That annoying noise seemed to become louder.
Sesshoumaru looked over her head at Shun, who was supporting Bank’s arm while Kagome stitched. They were both worried as they could sense a change in her aura. Her breathing was rapid, as she inhaled and exhaled in short puffs. The tip of her tongue was sticking out between her lips as she concentrated on the process of stitching up the long wound. He reached out to touch her shoulder and suggest she take a break for a minute or two; she was now pale, sweating and beginning to shake. Before he could make contact or even react, she pitched forward into Bank’s lap in a dead faint.
Kagome slowly swam up into the world of the concious. She was laying on the grass in the shade with a cool wet towel on her forehead. Turning her head she saw Shun sitting beside her with a worried expresson on his face. Sesshoumaru was standing beside Suikotsu, talking to him, as he finished bandaging Bank’s arm. “What happened?”
Sesshoumaru quickly appeared at her side, helping her to sit up and lean against him. “You fainted. Are you feeling better now?” He opened a bottle of water and had her slowly take a few sips. His eyes glittered with internal amusement. “Is there anything that you have failed to mention to your mates, koi?”
~*~
Fin
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