-Chapter 6-

Walking through those whitewashed halls of the Phasmatis medical ward had almost every nerve in Yasha's body twitching with uneasiness. His pulse still felt noticeably fast, bruises and scabs forming on his face, telling a wordless story of where he had been. Both physical and emotional exhaustion were seen clearly in how he carried himself and his unconscious cargo.

In his battered arms was the girl Kagome he'd rescued only a few short hours before, who looked no better herself after being held hostage for so long by Deceiver agents. For at the risk that had been taken to get her out of that Deceivers' Headquarters, Yasha had lost his partner and friend, Sango Takaoki. He couldn't be sure she'd survived, but he could only pray she had. Even then experience told him she wouldn't last long.

The fact remained that he could do nothing for her now, as badly as the desire burned within him. In that moment, he'd never felt more lost and defeated, though his intimidating scowl was all anyone saw. The only thing keeping Yasha sane was his job, his set task of getting Kagome back to base as soon as possible. He still had a purpose to keep moving.

Staff eyed him curiously as he made his way to the information desk, but Yasha ignored them. For every step that echoed around him, he could feel the agitation grow; the need to either shout or shoot something till the sense of feeling went away. The irrational anger building there was almost overwhelming.

"Name and registration number." A bland looking Japanese woman spoke in flawless English, not even bothering to glance up from her computer screen.

Yasha glared at the woman. "Do I LOOK like I have time for that shit?

The unexpectedly loud boom of his voice got her attention and she snapped her head up to see the woman in his arms. "O-Oh Agent Eiyuu, I didn't know it was you!"

Yasha ignored her frantic expression, his frown deepening. "A room. NOW?"

The nurse nodded nervously, making the necessary arrangements through phone calls.

Several more minutes passed before medical staff escorted both Kagome and Yasha to a secluded room on the second floor in the very back section reserved for high ranking agents only. Yasha stubbornly refused treatment, stating that after a good night's rest he would be fine. He redirected almost every doctor and nurse that came to Kagome, who was out cold the entire time. He was told she was merely suffering from major dehydration and fatigue and would make a full recovery in time, though her mental state would be determined once she awakened. It wasn't very comforting.

Lying on that hard uncomfortable mattress made Yasha realize he wouldn't be getting any sleep, despite his tiredness. He was restless and antsy, tossing and turning under the thin cotton sheets with a growl every few minutes. His brows furrowed and a permanent scowl was etched on his features. He was frustrated, borderline furious. Whether it was with himself or the day's events Yasha was too caught up in the moment to know, but it was easy to see the real cause for his lashing out.

Yasha had known the mission would get he and Sango into trouble, but not like this. Not to the point he would lose his closest friend and put her life on the line for some stupid cause. He could only assume she had known all along such an outcome was possible. She was too smart not to, and such a thought was infuriating. She hadn't told him because she knew he wouldn't have said yes if she explained all the outcomes. Every mission came with risk of capture, but up till then Yasha never believed it could happen to someone like Sango. The highest ranking female agent in their division, one of the most brilliant minds there was. Not her. Not now, not ever. Yet it had, and such a thought seemed so unreal it was still a challenge to grasp. He couldn't call her up and ask how she was doing, because she was a prisoner at some Deceiver hide out. In a way, it was like she had died.

A groggy moan about four hours later brought Yasha out of his thoughts, and he realized with unexpected nervousness he still had yet to speak with Kagome and debrief her about everything. It would have been his task had he met her at base instead of through a rescue mission. This was the person from his dream that now felt so long ago. This girl who could be no older than eighteen, this gray-blue eyed raven haired girl in a hospital bed right across the room from him, now watching him. It was a while before he got up the motivation to call her out on it.

"It's rude to stare." He remarked, shoving away any detectable depression he had been feeling.

A surprised gasp sounded, and he was sure Kagome was blushing from embarrassment. She cleared her throat quietly. "Sorry. I was trying to figure out how to thank you for saving me." So she remembered.

Yasha scoffed bitterly. "It wasn't for you."

There was a pause as Kagome processed what was implied. His partner had to be left behind. 'She must have meant a lot to him..' She wanted to apologize for not being able to do anything about it, but realized after the initial thought it was a rather naïve idea. She didn't really know this man after all; which reminded her of something else.

She cleared her throat nervously first, to show she was changing the subject. "Can I still ask you your name?"

A few seconds past before Kagome got her answer. "Yasha."

She was actually surprised he'd answered her. "Yasha-that's unusual. It means forest spirit or something right? You're Japanese?"

"Yeah." Kagome's enthusiasm faded at his laziness in speaking to her. Perhaps he was just worn out after everything they had both been through.

Been through...

Kagome sucked in a panicked breath, realization coming out of nowhere. How could she have forgotten? Her right hand flew to that space just above her chest, searching frantically for something that clearly wasn't there.

'The fire! Mom and Souta! My necklace!' Tears rapidly filled her eyes and raced down her cheeks in seconds, and sobs soon escaped her. Memories flashed through her mind and the trauma, the raw emotion from everything she had experienced up until that point was very suddenly coming back to her. She remembered everything, all at once. She didn't have the mind to think it over, to deny it or accept it, but all she felt was the fear. The immeasurable fear of death when she had realized the firemen in her burning home were themselves dead, when she couldn't find her family, when she was kidnapped and forced into drugged states of consciousness for three days, when she'd seen the corpses of her captors all about the ground upon her escape-Kagome simply lost herself.

Yasha heard the unexpected noises and sat straight up in bed. His eyes widened when he realized what was happening, and he froze. Sango had never done this around him, and he wasn't close to any other women for experience in dealing with a nervous breakdown. "Hey! W-What's wrong with you? Stop crying!" But she refused to stop, she couldn't stop, and the noise grew louder. Yasha panicked.

He quickly got out of bed and fast walked over to her and shook her shoulders to force her attention on him. "Look at me!" He scolded. What he saw in her watery gray-blue depths stunned him.

Pain, terrible pain, and loss. Her eyes looked full of something, and empty of another. They shined with pouring tears, and her face was flushed. "M-My family-the f-fire!" She whimpered. There was a pleading in her voice, begging for answers, if everything was alright.

Yasha tensed, his brows furrowing in confliction. Was this girl in any state of mind to be told her home had no doubt burned to the ground? Her family dead? Even if he were to tell her, it was possible none of that was true. Yasha himself didn't know for certain what had become of those things, and he wouldn't have his words held against him later. How could he say any of this without some sort of consequence? 'I'll wait,' he reasoned. 'I have to.'

Mistaking Yasha's silence for tragic news, Kagome was consumed with another wave of sorrow and forced her way out of his grasp and buried her face in his chest, crying harder. She cried with every ounce of strength she had left, to the point her insides were shaking, her heart pounding, and her sense of sanity was gone and all that existed was the emptiness of grief and suffering.

At first Yasha went completely stiff at the contact, his eyes locked onto the top of her head and watching stunned as she slowly dampened his shirt with her tears. He didn't know what the girl had assumed from his lack of explanation, but one thing was sure; she was now alone in the world. Though normally the unsympathetic type, something in him loosened at this realization, warmth he hadn't expected to feel in such a strange chain of events. A complete stranger, and the mystery girl from his dream no less. Yet in a sort of out of body experience, Yasha watched his arms encircle the weeping girl before him gently, cautiously. A voice in the back of his head screamed how inappropriate such an action was, how invasive it must've seemed. The same voice that had gotten him into this mess.

Perhaps that was why it went on ignored. The result was an unexpected gesture of kindness to a wounded soul, whose life had no doubt been changed forever.

No words were spoken the rest of the night, Kagome eventually falling into a troubled sleep some time later. Yasha had somewhat awkwardly placed her into bed before forcing himself to shut his eyes for a while back in his own; lord knew he needed it desperately. In the end though, just when he'd started to drift off, the sun started to come up, and a nurse intruded afterward to inform him of an urgent phone call. No mystery who it was from.

So there he stood, dark circles under his eyes with a kinked back from laying on such crappy bedding, while forcing himself not to tell the boss man off while being informed of the punishment awaiting his return to base.

"What are the 'charges'?" Yasha grumbled, without the energy to even sound snarky about it.

"Disobeying direct orders from a superior ranking agent, disobeying orders from the CAPITAL BASE, the capture and possible death of your partner-"

Ignoring the feelings associated with the last charge, Yasha found the effort to act surprised. "You already know she'd been-?"

"Of course I do." Boushin bit back. "I saw the satellite footage twenty minutes ago. Takaoki never came back out, and your reaction only confirms it." Last name basis? Never a good sign. Especially considering Sango was Boushin's favorite (taking that in multiple categories).

Yasha sighed deeply, raking a hand through his hair. He just, couldn't handle this right now. It still felt so fresh. "We'll talk more when I get back, I'll call you if anything changes."

"Listen here, you-!" Yasha didn't bother to hear the no doubt colorful insult Boushin had thought to call him, and placed the old fashioned phone back in its holder. There was another matter he needed to take care of before he took Kagome anywhere else today.

Walking back into that room after such an intense night was more than a little strange for him. Especially seeing the new source of his problems now wide awake, sitting up in bed and staring out the window. With the sunlight pouring in, the white on the walls reflected everywhere, making the place seem even more open and plain. There was a curtain divider pushed against the far right wall, and a TV to the left one. It reeked of medicine and sterilization in there, drafting in from the hall no doubt. Medical machines and equipment were pushed aside, not to be needed anytime soon.

Yasha cleared his throat loudly to get attention, but oddly earned none. He raised a confused brow at that, and tried again. Nothing. Her back was to him, so maybe she was zoning? "Uh, hello?" He finally spoke, feeling stupid for some reason. Still nothing. 'What the hell?'

Seeing no other option, he strode over to her bed side and firmly tapped her shoulder while saying, "Hey, you in there?"

Kagome jumped and whipped her head around wide-eyed and tense, almost fearful. Had he startled her that bad? She planted a hand on her chest to ease her rapid heartbeat, murmuring something like 'Oh it's you' before looking directly at him, showing he had her attention.

He held back the urge to ask if she was okay, as that was a rather stupid question. A breakdown like the one she'd had was answer enough. He scratched his head in nervousness. "Sorry to uh, bother you-" He started, "but there's some things we gotta talk about."

There was a pause as Kagome struggled to comprehend what exactly he meant, but she eventually nodded. "That would be nice. I've got some questions." She sounded tired.

Yasha sat across from her on his own bed. "I'm sure you do, but just wait a second."

That seemed to get a reaction out of her. "After everything I've been through? I think I deserve some answers first."

Yasha stared at her, taking note of the anger she seemed to have suddenly taken on. He could hardly blame her. "Half of what I need to debrief you about will get you some, trust me."

"Why should I?" She snapped, folding her arms.

"What?"

"Why should I trust you? All I know is your name. Not much to go on in terms of trust."

Yasha blinked. Was she for real? He couldn't help the sarcastic edge to his tone in response. "Well let's see," He lifted his hand to count on his fingers. "One, I rescued you and probably saved your life. Two, I let you get my shirt soaking wet with tears-"

Kagome instantly pinked at that and glared dangerously at him. "You're really using that against me?! I just had my freaking life turned upside down!" She screamed in his face, shocking him briefly before he struck back.

"I wasn't 'using it against you' baka, I was giving you reasons to trust me!"

"You didn't have to sound like such a smart ass!"

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't ask stupid questions, wench!"

Kagome stared at him in shock, before she slapped the man right across the face. "Don't you ever call me that again!" She hollered. The sound of skin slapping skin reached past the door into the nearby hall, and some passing medical staff stopped their strides at hearing it, looking toward the room it had come from.

Head whipped uncomfortably to the side, cheek inflamed, Yasha sat there dumbly while hearing the person who had just assaulted him gasp in surprise. 'Oh, so she just got carried away?!' Yasha seethed, turning his head to look Kagome in the eyes, deciding between yelling her ear off or just stomping back out.

"I-I didn't mean to-"

"Yeah I can see that!" Yasha scolded, rubbing a hand on his reddened cheek. "What the fuck is your problem?!"

"You called me a-a WENCH!"

The accused huffed loudly. "I wasn't trying to insult you dumbass, that's what I call all women." Crossing his arms as the stinging began to dull, Yasha narrowed his eyes as he forced himself to get back on topic. God was he in for hell with this chick. "Can you just get over yourself while I explain things please?"

"Like I'm the one who needs to."

"ANYWAY," Yasha said with an eye roll "to re-answer your question, yes, you can trust me. The people I work with are tasking themselves with keeping you safe."

Kagome's building anger deflated somewhat at this information. "The people you work with?"

"The Phasmatis Rebellion. The only organization left standing against the government."

Kagome didn't say anything at first, the gears in her clouded mind processing such heavy information. She'd heard briefly of such a group on the news and in political debates at school. They were set in overthrowing the existing set of laws and the Presidency of the modern era, or something along those lines. It was rumored none of the members had a true identity, though for what reasons nobody knew for sure. To keep up with the government's high tech as long as they had, Phasmatis had to have some serious resources.

"So you're-like a secret agent fighting crime?" Kagome inquired dumbly.

Yasha gave the question a pointed glare. "Summarize it how you want, but yeah. I'm a high ranking weapons specialist, third in command of my division."

Question marks were clearly popping all around Kagome's head. She didn't really get any of that. "So, what does all of this have to do with me?"

"I don't really know, to tell you the truth. Though from what I've been told, you're important to the cause."

It was pointless to ask important how, so Kagome went with the next best thing. "Am I going to end up an agent too?" The way such a heavy question fell past her lips astounded her.

Yasha sighed, an expression of regret on his face. "Probably."

The answer hung in the quiet that followed. Kagome studied the man before her thoroughly, reading his facial expression, body language. He was telling the truth. Her gaze drifted down to her hands, she was speechless.

'How did everything go so wrong?' When she had lamented about how terrible the world was, she never imagined this was where it would get her; losing her family, her home, and now this. Was she just supposed to go with the crazy turn of events like she didn't care?

Yasha must have seen the look of despair on her face by the way he next spoke. "You'll be fine. You're not the only one who's gone through this."

Kagome looked up into those two toned eyes of his with strong disbelief and a little bitterness, but let the statement go. "What happens now?"

Yasha looked past her to the square framed clock hanging up on the wall by the window, then back to her, seeming none too pleased about the answer. "Now, we go meet the boss."