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Part IX The night was quiet. Now that Kagome was back he should have been able to sleep. But he couldn’t. His thoughts kept returning to the day’s events: the fight with the panther and Hantako, the demon’s pleasure in Kagome’s torture, seeing Kagome’s wounds.
He clenched his fists, ignoring the pain as his claws pierced his palms. He could still see the girl’s pale skin marked by the whelps, cuts, and bruises. Her whimpered cry as she tried to cover herself still echoed in his ears. He was pulled from his troubled thoughts by movement. A thin figure had slipped out of Kaede’s hut. It glanced around before leaving. “Of all the lame-brained idiots,” Inuyasha muttered under his breath. He grabbed the Tetsusaiga and dropped to the ground. He followed the figure has it headed towards the stream. He kept to the shadows as he followed. He wanted to wait before revealing his presence. The person knelt by the water. With shaky hands, it scooped up some water and splashed its face. The person didn’t do anything for a long time. It just stared out at the water. Inuyasha watched as the person disrobed. Marred pale skin glowed in the moonlight. The person took a deep breath before raising a knife. He sprang forward, grabbing the person’s arm. The person gasped. She dropped the knife as she stared at him with wide eyes. “Inuyasha?” “Bitch, what do you think you are doing?” he demanded. “None of your business!” Kagome flushed as she jerked her arm free. With flustered movements, she tried to cover herself. “None of my business? You were trying to kill yourself!” “I was not!” He picked up the knife, holding it out in front of her. “And just what were you planning on doing with this!” “It’s none of your business,” she said with tears pooling in her eyes. “Kagome,” he said quietly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, “what were you trying to do?” She sniffed once before looking at him again. With a sigh, she pulled one half of the robe off her shoulder. Inuyasha found himself staring at her wounded skin again. “Here,” she said, her quiet voice emotionless. She pointed at a wound just below her collarbone. It, unlike the other wounds, had a distinct pattern to it. “It’s her mark.” He tore his eyes from wound to her face. “What?” “She carved her name into my skin, Inuyasha. I was coming here to cut it out.” She sighed. “I didn’t want to carry her mark on me for the rest of my life.” “Oh, Kagome.” “Please give me the knife back. I promise I won’t do anything else.” He handed her the blade. With a quiet thank you, she took it. They just stared at each other. “Inuyasha, I can’t do this with you watching me.” He flinched and let go of her shoulder. He rose to his feet. He studied her for a moment before releasing a pent-up breath. “Fine. I’ll wait for you over there. Don’t argue with me,” he said when she opened her mouth. She immediately closed it. “I’ll walk you back to Kaede’s.” “Thank you.” “Whatever,” he scoffed, walking away. True to his word, he waited at the edge of the woods. He was tempted to turn his back but that would be a cowardly thing to do. He made himself watch Kagome as she set to her task. His fist clenched at her whimper as the knife pierced her already wounded flesh. Everything in his body was screaming for him to stop her, but he held back. Kagome felt she had to do this. He wouldn’t stop her again. Finally, she was done. Kagome cleaned and bandaged the new wound before rinsing the blade in the stream. With careful movements, she made sure her robe was secured before turning around. They were silent as they headed back to the hut. He kept risking glances at her but Kagome kept her eyes on the path in front of them. Almost too soon he found they were at their destination. He thought that she would simply enter the hut. He was surprised when she turned to him. She studied his face for a long moment. Then, tenderly, carefully she brushed some of his hair back from his face. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you? For what?” She smiled at him. “For rescuing me once again. For being you.” His mind was whirling. Didn’t she realize that she went through that torture because he couldn’t rescue her in time? That this was his fault? “Kagome, are you all right?” he asked, damning the worry that seeped into his voice. “Not right now, Inuyasha,” she admitted, her hair falling forward to cover her face, “but I will be.” He took her chin and tipped it up, so he could see her face. “You’d better be,” he growled. “I will,” she promised in a whisper. They stayed that way for a while. Each studied the other’s face as if all the answers they needed were there. Finally, he couldn’t take the scrutiny any longer. “Go and get some sleep, wench,” he ordered as he released her. With a nod, she stepped back away from him. “Good night, Inuyasha.” He watched her disappear into the dark hut. Assured that she was safe, he went back to his tree. He quickly settled on his branch and drifted off to sleep. The End |
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