This is a onetime shot fanfic, I'm not too big on 'em, but sometimes inspiration hits you hard. This came after sitting at the park for an hour and people watching. I set it as sort of a onetime thing, happening a few weeks after Kagome first hops down the well, but before they met Sango or Miroku. Hope ya'll enjoy.
DISCLAIMER: I do not, and most likely will never own INUYASHA
It had been three weeks since Kagome had first fallen down that well, and So much had happened already in the feudal era that she hadn't really given much thought to going home, as she imagined this world to be a dream, but reality soon set in as her and Inuyasha began their travels.
All the fighting, and running, and traveling was quickly beginning to take its toll on Kagome's young body; her skirt had slowly frayed, and her shirt had began tearing that at one point Kagome gave the appearance of a low end prostitute, or perhaps a homeless child. She and Inuyasha were running on nerves at this point with each other, and neither knew how much longer their patience could be drawn.
They had been traveling since sun up, and had faced two different demons that appeared to be hunting the jewel shards. Inuyasha was the first to notice them as they immerged from the bushes off the trail. One was a rat demon, coming to maybe a little shorter than Kagome. He was covered in a short, dirty fur and had the demeanor of a starving New York rat. His head remained cocked at the side, as if broken, and his rodent face seemed to peer straight through Kagome. He was dressed in rotted pants, and the remains of a tattered vest.
His owner or companion, one could never be certain, was a demon resembling that of a wild boar. He had the stocky build of a football player, yet the face of a human. His tusks were on the outside of his cheeks in a disgusting manner, as if they had been forced through unnaturally from the inside. His hair was short and straw like and he wore the same manner of clothes that the rat demon did. He smiled as if he knew who they were.
"Well, look who we have here!" Laughed the boar, grabbing the rat by the shoulder and pointing a thick finger towards Kagome, "I believe it's a little girl walking her dog!" The rat laughed nervously, as if afraid of the boar.
Inuyasha took a defensive stance, and spoke, "Who the hell you calling a dog, you pig!" The boars smile quickly faded as he reached to his side, grabbing a thick sword. "Niphf, you grab the girl, I'll take dog." "Yes master Tima." Before Kagome had truly realized what had happened, the rat scurried her way, while Inuyasha ran head first towards Tima. "Run Woman!" He shouted just as the swords came in contact. A loud clash could be heard as the metal erupted in the boars hands, shattering the weak object. Kagome had seemed to be stuck in time as she watched the boar's blade break, sending pieces of the metal flying. She was only brought out of it by the stab in her leg as a pain erupted through her body. A piece of Tima's sword had been thrown into her by mistake. She fell to the ground, grabbing the large object instinctively and wanting to pull. The only thing that stopped her was the thought that maybe, just maybe, she hit an artery. She tried to stand, only to fall. Her bottom hit ground and she couldn't help but let out a small scream as the blade cut deeper and part of her arm as she fell slightly forward. The pain from the wounds were intense, and she was had forgotten for just a moment that she was still actually fighting for her life, and the shard.
Inuyasha had rushed to the boar, easily destroying the sword. He knew that the sword was a weak metal, but he didn't expect it to shatter as much as it did. He honestly expected it to break in half and then planned on following up with an "iron reaver soul stealer" straight to Tima's face, but when the sword shattered it caused him to jump back in surprise. He smirked, however, as he saw the look of surprise, worry, and confusion on the boars face. The boar quickly tried to charge Inuyasha, but he was far too slow, and Inuyasha had him smashed through a tree within a second of his feeble attempt. Inuyasha was prepared to kill the boar, but felt that perhaps this was going to be unnecessary. A simple knockout would suffice. He was running toward the boar when he heard Kagome scream.
It wasn't a loud scream by any means, but it was enough to catch his attention. He turned slowly, as if afraid of what the consequences could be. He reacted and moved towards her before either he or Kagome realized. He pulled her to a sitting position and quickly looked down at her bleeding leg, then her arm. It wasn't necessarily a deep cut in either wound, but it would definitely mess up their plans for the next few days. She would not be able to walk, much less defend herself or the shards. "I told you to run you idiot!" Inuyasha found himself hollering. Kagome was quickly pulled out of her dream like state. "Excuse me? You told me to run when you shatter a sword, hit me with a piece because you have no self control, and then you call me an idiot?" Her patience was already wearing thin, and then he had to pull this? A groan removed them from this quickly escalating violence between them. The boar had stood, wobbly, and had begun walking away. "Come along Niphf. We don't need this. All the blood she's spilt, someone else can have her." "Hey come back here!" Inuyasha screamed, jumping to his feet.
"You might want to get all that blood out…" The rat said as he scurried behind his master. Inuyasha was about to run towards them before Kagome hollered for him. "Stop, they're done. We don't need to fight them."
"Hn, wasn't worth my time anyway. Come on Kagome." Inuyasha said as he started to walk away. He didn't stop again when he reached her, or attempt to help her up. She wasn't truly his responsibility, so he truly didn't care. All he knew was that she was responsible for the shards, and she needed to fix this problem. Kagome started to say something, but she knew deep down, that even though his instinct was to protect her, it only came because he saw blood. He was a demon, and a jerk, she couldn't expect him to just walk over, gently pick her up, kiss her tenderly, and tell her how sorry he was he didn't save her.
Her face blushed slightly as she realized what exactly she was imagining. She didn't see Inuyasha as ever becoming her boyfriend, so it surprised her that she even imagined this scenario. She looked behind her and sighed, "What's the point of walking so fast? I'm still gonna be back here, limping my way slowly." She emphasized the slowly part. Inuyasha never turned around and never stopped to look back. "Than you better get your ass off that ground if you expect to keep up with me little girl!" "What an ignorant ass…" Kagome thought. "Too bad for him… SIT BOY!"
Inuyasha instantly slammed to the ground, actually forgetting about the damned necklace he wore. She wasn't supposed to get hurt, but he wasn't the one to blame. He told her to run, and he thought she did, but she wanted to stand there and play stupid, so he felt that she got was she deserved. He wasn't going to go gingerly assess the wounds, give her some medical attention, or even offer her a lift. If she had moved when he said, she wouldn't have been hurt. He's not one to be an ass just for the sake of it, but he's not going to reward stupid either. When his head slammed into the ground, he knew where this was heading with her. He was going to either slow down, or have to carry her. Neither option held any water for him; however it was important that they leave the area that they were in rather quickly.
She had lost so much blood already, and he was certain other demons were closing in on it. Her scent mixed with blood would be the perfect beacon for others, and unless he got them out of there soon, he wasn't sure how well they would survive multiple attacks.
Kagome stood over him heaving rather heavily. "You are such…. huff huff… an ass… huff huff… and a jerk." Inuyasha stood, brushing his clothes off rather roughly. "Hhn, well this ass and this jerk didn't get his leg fucked up did he?" Kagome started to say something but closed her eyes. She had to maintain some self control if she was going to ask him to do something she knew he wouldn't want to do. "Yea, well, stuff happens." She looked at him discontentedly, how did they ever agree to help each other? This was simply ludicrous. Kagome licked her lips as she looked down, not wanting him to realize that she needed his help so they could get moving. "Do you think you could… you know?" She motioned towards her leg. "Could I what?" Inuyasha grumbled angrily. She was going to ask him to carry her, he was sure. Kagome paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Could you… look at my leg? I'd really like to walk." He eyed her for a moment, unsure for once. True, he could look at it, but he doubt there'd be much he could do, and besides, they really needed to be on the way. He sighed angrily, "Just get on my back okay? I'll look at it once we stop for the night."
Kagome actually smiled at this. She didn't want him to have to carry her, but she's glad he offered. "Okay. Thanks Inuyasha."
They had traveled until nightfall, choosing a campsite near a secluded pond. He landed gracefully, dropping the bag and arrows Kagome usually carried with her. He could tell by her breathing that she had fallen asleep almost an hour ago, but could not find himself to wake her. He laid her beside the pond and stared at her for a moment or two, before deciding that it would be best to tend to the wounds himself than risk her moving around too much.
He sighed heavily as he looked at her leg; it wasn't truly bad, but the blood was a problem. It had stopped bleeding heavily a few hours after they started moving again, but it was still bleeding a bit. Her arm had stopped also, and appeared only to need a good cleaning. Inuyasha spent most of their time traveling today thinking. He wasn't exactly mad at her, because honestly it was neither of their faults for her injuries; he was upset that she ended up becoming hurt. He had no medical history besides his own minor cuts and falls, but now he had to make do. She was becoming a little bit too much for him.
He reached into her yellow bag and pulled out a washcloth. He gently dipped it in the water before moving it towards her arm. Kagome groaned slightly as the cloth touched her skin, but did not wake. As Inuyasha began wiping the blood from her arm, he found himself comparing her to Kikyo. She resembled her so much, but yet she was her own person. He found himself attracted to her, but this he knew was because of her being Kikyo's reincarnation. On the same hand though, he enjoyed her personality and attitude, which clashed so much with his own. So much like Kikyo, yet so different. His eyes traveled down from her face to her chest. "So much different from Kikyo." He thought as he laughed out loud. He then brought his hand down to her leg, where most of the blood was. He began at her ankles, washing the blood away and moving up. It was as if her entire leg was covered in blood, from her waist to her toes.
He found himself loving the feeling of her skin as his hand slowly moved upward. It was so smooth, so much unlike the women of his era. Even Kikyo had a small amount of leg hair, but Kagomes was silky smooth, as if he was touching an infant. He blushed as he moved higher and touched the cut that was right above the knee. He had never truly touched a woman like this before, and even though he knew it was for a good reason, he was still slightly embarrassed.
He gently cleaned the wound, but quickly noticed it would need more. He reached into her pack, hoping to find some of her "band aids" but was disheartened when he found nothing more than an empty box. He threw it out angrily as he considered his options. What could he do? He struggled for a moment before a distant memory crept into his mind.
"Ow! Mother! Mother!" Inuyasha cried as he ran into the arms of his mother."What has happened, my son?" She gingerly answered, moving his small body away from her. He held his arm up, showing a small cut. "My, my! What have you done?" She said, grabbing the boys arm and wiping it gently. "I was running… and I… huff… huff… fell... and then… huff huff." And with that the small child started to cry. His mother smiled calmly. "All you need to do to feel better is wipe it off, and lick it gently, and it shall heal." Inuyasha looked up through tears and showed disgust, "Why would I do that? That's gross." His mother laughed lightly and then answered, "Your father was a dog demon. You are part dog demon. Being so gives you special abilities." Inuyasha smiled, "Like how I'm so fast?" She nodded gently before embracing him in a hug, "When you lick a wound, it makes it heal faster. It's one of those things that your father passed down to you." His crying dissipated as he looked down at his arm and then began to follow his mother's words.
Inuyasha shook his head. His mother did give him some crazy advice, but it worked. For as long as he could remember past that he would always lick his wounds, and sure enough, they would heal rather quickly. He looked at Kagome seriously. How would he be able to lick her leg, without her waking up, and without him getting in trouble for trying to help? "Kagome?" He asked, waiting for an answer. "Kagome?" He said after a few moments. When he finally did get her to somewhat answer him, it was a groggy, "Go away Souta." He decided at that moment that it was do or die. He was always saying how he wanted to get used to her scent, now was as good a time as any. At the worst, she would sit him into next week.
He brought his head down to her kneecap and inhaled deeply. "So much blood." He found himself saying. He gingerly stuck his tongue out and tasted the first bit of blood. It was a mix between old and new, and while he never could care for the taste of blood before, now it was as if it were giving him life. He enjoyed running his mouth up and down the wound, lapping up the blood that was dried on her leg, and the little bit that seeped from her wound. Within a few moments her wound had closed, but yet Inuyasha still smelt blood. He followed the scent further up her leg, and before he realized it, his head was under her skirt, and his face was inches from her underwear.
It was the oddest smell Inuyasha realized. It was a mix of blood, but of something else too. He found himself moving up and away from her underwear, but only so he could lift her skirt higher. Kagome didn't move as he did this. When he looked down again, this time at her underwear, he saw that her core was covered in blood. "What the hell?" He said as he moved his face down again. He was never one to respect personal boundaries, and now was not the time he planned on doing it, especially if she was bleeding like this! He brought his nose to her blood soaked underwear and inhaled deeply. It was fresh blood. He stood up this time, wiping the wet blood from his nose as he gently tried to rouse her from her slumber. "Kagome, you're bleeding! Wake up!" However, all she did was mumble, "Well, take care of it."
His face blushed as he looked down at her core again, lightly moving her skirt down to cover her. "I don't think I can." He said as the red in his cheeks darkened. She didn't move again or even acknowledge his words. "Kagome! You're bleeding… here." He said, whispering at the end. He unconsciously encircled his own waist, as if to give her an idea or where he was talking about. She lightly moved before she responded. "Sit boy." She didn't speak it loud, and he doubted very much that she meant it, but when his face hit that ground he couldn't help but become angry. He roughly shook her, trying desperately to wake her.
When she finally awoke, somewhat, she eyed him with confusion. "What do you want Inuyasha?" Kagome didn't ask it rudely, but he could tell that she was very much sleepy, which confused him. She usually awoke easily. "You're bleeding." He said seriously. Kagomes eyes once again began to close. She yawned as she closed them again, "I'm sure you can handle it." And with those last words, she fell asleep. Inuyasha's face scrunched up in anger as he placed his hand on his head. "Well fine then! I will. Don't get mad at me for this later."
He eyed her again as he began lifting her skirt again, quickly revealing the bloodied clothing covering her core. "This doesn't make sense," He thought, "Why would she be okay with this? Why is she so damn tired?" He gently looked her over again, looking for anything that would make sense to cause this sudden drowsiness in Kagome. Finally it hit him, the fragment of the sword that hit her. Boar demons were heard of rubbing poisons on their weapons when they hunted, and this wouldn't have any different for Tima. Inuyasha was sure that this is what was causing her sickness. It would've been the only thing that made sense. However, her bleeding at her midsection was something he was most unfamiliar with. He didn't recall her getting hit, or struck there, and it just seemed such an odd place to have a wound. Inuyasha sighed, he was going to get to the bottom of this and quickly.
Looking again at her core and towards the pond, he was trying to figure out the best way to do this. He reached towards her face, in a final attempt to rouse her, when he felt her temperature. She was burning up! "Oh no." He thought. Pushing all his inhibitions aside he quickly removed her clothing, and his own as he moved into the pond with her, holding her body close. He moved into waist deep water and quickly put the majority of her body in it. "Come on Kagome, cool down." He said, knowing she most likely couldn't hear him.
He waited for a few moments before he started wiping down her body, starting with her head. He gently pushed her hair back into the water, allowing the cool water to run across the outside of her face. Kagome's eyebrows knitted at the sudden coldness, but she did not wake. He wiped her face, quickly rewetting the cloth and applying it to her face in various places. When he was satisfied he moved down towards her neck and chest.
He blushed then, as if the situation they were in finally sank in. He gulped as he looked down at her body fully. She was beautiful, even for only 15 years old. Her hips and chest were already well developed, and he was certain that only time would refine these. He found himself becoming aroused and embarrassed. There would be no way he could explain this to Kagome if she did wake, and so he tried to concentrate at cleaning her and cooling her fever.
As he wiped her left breast he noticed her nipple harden and her body fill with goose bumps. He quickly tried to shift his attention to the other, but when she slightly arched her back and moaned quietly he found himself unable to stop massaging it. After another moment she arched her back; moaning a little bit louder. As she arched her back her arm involuntarily went into the water and touched Inuyasha's core. Inuyasha, unprepared for the sudden contact, unwillingly thrust forward in the water and allowed his slip on Kagome to fail. She began to go under when he grabbed her again, promising himself he could control himself. She needed to cool down and stop bleeding. None of this was of her free will.
Inuyasha shook his head, "Of all the damn things to happen." He continued lower on Kagome until his hand was above her waist. Her bleeding was not as strong it seemed, but it still seemed to flow. Her hair around her core was not long he noticed, as if she had shaved. Inuyasha had seen many a women naked in his life; nudity wasn't something people really cared about. Kagome did care, this he knew, but the fact that she seemed to cut her core hair perplexed him. He himself never heard of anyone doing this before, but found the shorter hair to be strangely appealing. He found himself lifting her out of the water and positioning her so that she was on his shoulders, but with her core in his face. It did not appear to be bleeding, but he could still smell the blood.
He blushed again as he realized exactly what he was looking at, and what he was preparing to do. He had never had sex before, but strangely didn't feel nervous. He didn't consider this sex by any means, nor would Kagome, but he couldn't help but feel a bit turned on by this strange twist of events. Here he was, naked, in a pond, with a naked Kagome, about to lick her most private place, just to stop some unforeseen bleeding. To say that he wasn't as hard as a rock would be a lie, but to say that he wanted to do this wouldn't be telling the truth either. He didn't love Kagome, hell he didn't really like her, but he knew she was important, and that eventually, yeah, he probably would love her. For now though, she was a just some girl he had to protect, who happened to be injured, and happened to be naked. Nature simply was taking its course with his body.
He slowly pushed her core into his face and inhaled deeply. True, she smelled of blood, but her natural scent was wonderful. It was a sweet scent, mixed with sweat. It was intoxicating, and truly heaven. He quickly buried his tongue into her core, searching every inch and crevice within her. There had to be a cut somewhere. He quickly realized he was wrong however when no cut or even scrape could be found. The blood had seemed to go, and so he stopped. As he began moving her away he heard her utter, "more." He looked up at Kagomes eyes, to see if he heard right. She was not awake, but she was lightly biting her bottom lip and moaning quietly. Inuyasha smiled; "I might hate her, but I wouldn't mind continuing."
He then dug his face in deeper, this time focusing on her clit and inner folds. She tasted wonderful; yes there was some blood once in a minute, but she still tasted amazing. He could feel his groin getting stiffer as he continued. This was so wrong, but so right it seemed. She had begun arching her back a little, and her breathing became shallower. He could tell she was close and amazingly so was he. Never in his life had he been in this situation, but he never wanted to leave it. He dug his face then, capturing her clit in his mouth and sucked hard. Then it happened.
Kagome moaned loudly and arched her back, "Oh God!" Inuyasha looked up, scared that she had awoken, but was happy to see she was still asleep, somehow. He gently brought her back down, into the water, wrapping her legs around his waist. He was careful to make sure his dick didn't penetrate her, as he was still immensely hard. It was then that he noticed that his breathing was short and shallow, as if he had came hard or had came really close to coming. He smiled and shook his head, "This was not expected."
He again wiped her forehead with the cold rag he somehow still held onto and then moved her to the shore. Inuyasha then proceeded to dress her, leaving the soiled underwear out, and covered her with a blanket. He then washed her undergarments and started a fire so they may dry.
Inuyasha felt a surge of emotions during this whole time; shame, embarrassment, contentment, and even something similar to lust. He tried to block it out, saying that he was just trying to help, but the fact that he had willingly given her oral sex and enjoyed it wouldn't leave. Inuyasha shook his head as he grabbed her then dry underwear. He got up to her knees when he was brought out of his thoughts by the smell of more blood. He lifted her skirt again and saw it; it was a small puddle, not more than a few drops. He shook his head and wiped her again, this time using the washcloth instead of his tongue. After a few swipes he was satisfied and put her underwear on her fully. He then backed away and watched her sleep for a long time before he was finally able to fall asleep himself.
Kagome awoke the next morning, feeling groggy. Placing a hand on her head she sat up and looked around. Inuyasha was there, about five feet away, standing and walking away. "What happened last night? I remember falling asleep…" and with that Kagome closed her eyes, what did she remember? "You were injured." Inuyasha said, hoping she wouldn't ask anymore.
He had slept horribly last night. He kept remembering the whole pond fiasco and couldn't control his body. He kept getting a hard on, and try as he hard it wouldn't go. At one point it begun to hurt, and so he had to relieve himself. He allowed himself to "relive" the memory, and came rather quickly. Only after this was he finally able to get some sleep.
Kagome struggled to sit up fully. She remembered something about her leg, and something about the pond. She shook her head. "What did you do?" She asked this, wondering if he did look at her injuries, Inuyasha took it as her asking what he did to her. He was fearful she remembered and defensively answered, "Nothing!" Inuyasha quickly saw her confusion, "I mean, all I did was clean your leg." Kagome, still unsure but grateful nonetheless thanked him. "Psh, don't thank me, you're still bleeding." Inuyasha said, forgetting that she'd ask where and how he knew.
Kagome quickly glanced at her arm and leg, how deep were the cuts. Neither appeared to be bleeding, in fact, both looked nearly healed. "What do you mean? They look fine. They look almost healed." "Idiot, you're not bleeding there, you're bleeding…" And with that Inuyasha stopped. He looked unsure on how to say it without offending her or angering her. He blushed and pointed down towards his own groin and whispered, "There." Kagome looked confused for a moment before she realizes what he meant. "What?" She blushed immensely before grabbing her bag. She had to find a pad or something! In her head she had begun counting her days until she was supposed to start.
"I'm early!" She screamed, forgetting that Inuyasha was right there. "I'm not prepared! I have to go home!" "What are you talking about?" He said, moving closer to her. "I started my period." And at this Kagome begun to blush. She had to calm down. As she began to slow her breathing a thought occurred in her head, "How did you know I started?" She starred at Inuyasha. How did he know? Inuyasha saw the look he was giving her and slowly spoke, "When I was cleaning your leg, and I licked it so it would heal faster, I smelled it." He and Kagome blushed as he spoke the last words. It seemed like hours past between the two as silence filled the air.
And then Kagome screamed. He had been waiting for it. "You sick sick sick pervert! SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT!" As the hole he was in got deeper he figured the best thing to do was lie about the rest. "I didn't see anything! I just smelled it and tried to wake you! When you didn't wake up I just left you!"
Kagome wasn't really angry, just embarrassed. "Just shut up!"
After a few hours of Kagome searching her bag repeatedly, knowing nothing was there she gave up. "I'm sorry." She whispered. Inuyasha glanced her direction. He nodded. "Can I ask you something?" He asked, "What's a period?" Kagome blushed immensely. She couldn't really find the words…
Inuyasha saw her blush and confusion sank in. Obviously she knew what was going on. "Come on Kagome! What's a period?" She stammered on his words, "Its uh… its uh… it's when a woman is fertile, and so she bleeds for a few days, and then she can have babies… and then… well… uh… yeah…" Inuyasha still had a look of confusion, but then he also was searching his memories. Did all women do this? He hadn't necessarily spent a whole lot of time around them. And then it hit him, yes, yes they did. They had too. He remembers Kikyo doing it and her simply brushing it off, and his mother as well. Simply it was just part of their body. "Hn, just another gimmick to get out of hunting for the shards if you ask me."
Kagome saw a flash of red before she realized it, "You insensitive ass! I can't control it!" Inuyasha dismissively waved his hand, "Whatever, I'll take you back to Kaede, she'll fix it." And with that he roughly tossed her on his back and began the way back.
When Kagome got to the village Lady Kaede had greeted her and welcomed her into her home. "What is thee doing here? Thou thought thee was collecting jewel shards?" Kagome smiled nervously and nodded quickly, "Yes, yes we are, and I just ran into sort of a snag." Lady Kaede solemnly looked at Kagome, "What troubles ye child?" Kagome blushed; she wasn't really comfortable talking about this to many people to begin with. "I started my… period… today… and I'm not prepared for it." Lady Kaede looked at her confused, "Child, what is a period?" Kagome, startled at the question quickly stammered, "You know, when I bleed… down there." At this Kaede smiled warmly, "Ah, thy Gods hath blessed ye fertile this month. It is nothing for ye to be ashamed of." Kagome laughed, "Oh, I'm not ashamed; I'm just not ready for it. I don't have pads or anything to stop it from leaking through my clothes."
Lady Kaede again looked confused, "Thy doth not know ye customs in ye time, but thy doth know that women of this era simply allow it to happen. It is a sign of fertility and warmth." At this Kagome stood up, "No, No, no. I'm not letting that happen." And with that she quickly walked out of Kaede's home and towards the well. "What'd she say?" Inuyasha said as he watched her pass him from the tree. "She gave me unrealistic options. I have to go home."
And with that Kagome took one of her first trips home.
A/N: Okay, so there is my one shot. I tried to set it in-between events, but I also wanted to set it early enough so that it could explain some of Inuyasha's distance from her. I figured this minor event didn't do anything besides make Inuyasha continue battle his feelings for Kagome, and thus distance himself from her because he doesn't want her to know the full extent of the encounter they had.
I always thought that Inuyasha seemed so distant for the longest time with Kagome, so that's part of why I did this FYI.
And also, I did do some research with this. In regards to licking the wound, they always say that if you have a cut, allow your dog to lick it and it'll heal it faster. And then the thing with Kagome's menstruation, there is evidence to believe that back in the day (way way back, up until the 18th century, and is actually still practices in many parts of the world such as our 2nd and 3rd world countries) when women would get their "monthly gift", many would simply allow the blood to soak through the clothes. There were a mix of reasons, varying from poverty level, the fact that nothing commercial for anything resembling a pad or tampon was manufactured until the late 19th century, and the fact that personal hygiene wasn't a person's top priority for a long time. We take more baths in a week than most people took in a year 100 years ago. Think about that. Nasty huh?
Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think.