Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
Beware of potty mouth…
"talking", "thinking"
Beautiful freak
The gang was on its way to a village not too far from Kaede's, as they yet again heard a rumour about a suspiciously-acting demon, which threatened the villagers on daily basis.
As they neared the edge of the forest they were walking through since morning, Miroku started to form a plan that would help them to get a free meal and, if they were lucky, a good night's rest in one of the cosy rooms…
"If you'll all be so kind as to let me do the talking, I'm sure they will all be more than hospitable. There's no reason to expect hostility towards us. After all, we'll be the ones to exterminate the demon. Ah, yes. We shall become heroes…"
"Keh. Right. I'd like to see you save the whole village with that mouth of yours, monk."
"Whatever do you mean by that, Inuyasha?"
"It is your strongest weapon, ain't it?"
"I have the feeling that I should feel insulted, considering my curse. But as I heard those words come from none other than you, my dear friend, I shall translate them as an encouragement to the upcoming battle," said Miroku with a nod of his head in Inuyasha's direction, as a sign of gratitude.
Kagome and Sango, both walking behind the guys, giggled at this. It was generally known that Miroku was able to talk his way out of anything, except a fight with a less intelligent demon. After all, he had the brains. Inuyasha had the muscles… and the sword.
If only they knew that some humans are as cruel and stubborn as some demons can be…
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
"It seems we have reached our destination," said Miroku, stopping along with the rest of the group. They were standing on a path that led to the small village, surveying their surroundings.
Sango looked up at the sky: "I thought Kaede said this village wasn't too far off. And it's already mid afternoon."
"So the hag had it all mixed up in her head again, eh? Let's get this over with and burry that bastard. I'm hungry," said Inuyasha, cracking his knuckles as he began to walk along the path again.
They entered the village without a problem, but walking down the dirt path lined by wooden huts, they saw people looking at them strangely and whispering to each other. Mothers hurrying their children back into the huts and elderly people peeking from behind the bamboo flaps.
Inuyasha suddenly sighed: "Great, the welcoming committee. Miroku, they're yours to handle."
Miroku looked up and saw about eight men running their way, some of them carrying spears. He went to stand in front of Inuyasha and lifted his hand in a polite greeting. "Good day to you all. We are travelling demon exterminators and we heard a rumour about your village being-"
"Get the hell out of here!" suddenly shouted one of the men angrily, pointing his spear in Miroku's direction.
Miroku lifted both of his hands and calmly said: "Please, we mean no harm. We simply wanted to help-"
"We need nobody's help! Especially his!" shouted the man again, this time pointing the spear at Inuyasha.
At this, Inuyasha only lifted an eyebrow.
"I assure you, there's no other man better for the job than him. If you could-" but Miroku's sentence got cut short yet again.
"He's no man! He's a demon, that's what! And we had enough of his type around here!"
"Let me correct your statement," said Miroku fiercely, leaving no space for yet another interruption by the man in front of him. "He is not a demon, but a half-demon."
"Well that makes it even worse, doesn't it? A half-breed brat. An unwanted child. A freak. He's not welcomed in our village. And the rest of you either. You're as bad as him, befriending such a creature. And keeping demons as pets!" shouted the man, jerking his head this time in Sango's direction.
Sango looked taken aback, but Kirara, who was comfortably resting in Sango's arms until then, jumped down and transformed into her bigger and much scarier self, growling at those men before her. They all took a step back, keeping their eyes on her. Shippou just watched, confusion evident in his eyes.
"I will not let you decry my friends in such a hideous way," said Miroku with a slight edge to his voice. "We came with good intentions. We wanted to help you. Save your village. But if you're always this aggressive and fearless, there's no reason for us to meddle in. We'll take our leave. Good luck with the demon." With that said he turned away from the villager and walked back, past Inuyasha.
Inuyasha stayed in place though. He locked his heated golden gaze on the arrogant man, who by then had lowered his spear.
Inuyasha's blood was boiling. Through out the years, he got used to not being welcomed. He didn't mind that much; he couldn't care less what this man thought of him. Although it always stung a little to have harsh words thrown in the face. But insulting his friends, the only people he could truly trust, to see them being looked down at because of being with him, that got him so furious that he was literally shaking with anger.
"What's the matter half-breed? Said something you didn't want to hear?" said the villager in a mocking voice. "The truth, perhaps?"
They all stopped and turned around to see Inuyasha's rigid back and the villager who was now wearing an unpleasant smirk on his face.
"Don't act so surprised, you must hear this all the time. Weren't those the first words you heard when your mother gave birth to you?"
Kagome took a step closer, keeping her eyes on the man. "Don't talk about his mother."
"I guess you don't remember that, huh? Poor woman. She must have gone through Hell and back."
"Don't…"
"Inuyasha." Miroku tried catching his attention but to no avail.
"What happened anyway? I doubt it was on purpose. Did your father rape her? I heard about that happening among the demons quite often."
"Leave him alone…"
"Inuyasha!"
"Do you plan on producing offspring? 'Will have a hard time finding a mate that would actually want you, eh? Or maybe you take after your father…"
"No…"
Inuyasha knew. He knew he should have just turned around and walked away. That this bastard wasn't worth even a second glance. He heard Miroku calling his name. He knew what he was thinking. But at that very moment, he wanted to, no, needed to rip that guy apart.
"Leave him alone!"
But before Inuyasha could even move his leg, he saw a blur of green, white and black shoot past him, collide with the man in front of him and he heard a surprised masculine yelp of pain. And it all took a few seconds to click in…
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Kagome watched with inner joy how the confident smirk on that man's face got replaced by blood and grimace of pain. She loved the way he lost balance and came tumbling to the ground, bruising himself even more. But it just wasn't enough. She needed to make sure he suffered. Not caring for the pain in her right hand, she pulled back her fist again, getting ready for another strike.
But she never got to finish her fight, as one strong clawed hand gripped her raised wrist and an arm snaked around her waist from behind, pulling her back away from the scene a little.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Inuyasha was beyond shocked. When his brain finally registered what actually happened, Kagome was already prepared for another strike. He moved as fast as he could to protect her from, well, herself.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE! WHAT HAS HE DONE TO YOU?" Kagome was shouting at the top of her voice, very close to hysterics.
Inuyasha flattened his ears to his skull. He had a hard time holding her in place. She was trying to escape his vice like grip with incredible force. He let go of Kagome's wrist and held her to his front around her shoulders and her waist in order to make her immobile.
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR HIM! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT!"
"Kagome, quiet down. It's ok," said Inuyasha into Kagome's ear. But it was like talking to the wind.
"WHAT MAKES YOU SO DIFFERENT FROM DEMONS WHO HURT HUMANS? YOU'RE JUST LIKE THEM! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO CALL YOURSELVES HUMAN BEINGS!"
The man sat on the ground, holding his bleeding nose, looking as if he was in some kind of trance, but the rest of the men were very much aware of what Kagome was shouting. Two of them helped the injured one up and led him away. But the rest stayed and didn't look at all pleased. Trouble was coming…
"Miroku! Sango! A little help here?" yelled Inuyasha, never tearing his eyes of the angry mob before them.
Both Miroku and Sango stood idly in the back the whole time, their mouths agape. But when they heard their names, they shook out of their stupor and came forward to stand on both sides of Inuyasha, still holding a struggling Kagome, simultaneously reaching for their weapons.
"NO! COME BACK, YOU COWARD! COME BACK AND APOLOGIZE!"
"Why don't you tame your bitch, half-breed? Teach her some obedience or we'll shut her up for good!" said one of the younger men, gesturing with his weapon.
"So why don't you come closer and try?" shouted back Inuyasha, baring his fangs over Kagome's head.
"Inuyasha, please!" said Miroku, wanting this quarrel to be over. He turned back to the villagers and said angrily: "We'll take our leave now. You can rest assured that you shall never see us again." For a while, Miroku and that young man were staring at each other. After a moment of silence, broken only by the sounds of Kagome's struggle and whimpers, with a last look in Inuyasha's and Kagome's direction, the young man snorted, turned around and waved his hand for his comrades to follow him.
"No! Come back! Come back and apologize," said Kagome in a weaker voice now. "Come back."
"Kagome, stop. It's ok. They're gone," said Inuyasha gently, still holding her firmly, in case she wanted to follow them.
"No, he didn't apologize. He didn't-" and she collapsed in Inuyasha's arms, sending him to his knees as he didn't expect this, and she broke down in hysteric sobs.
Inuyasha had no idea what has gotten into her. He didn't know what to do. So he only did what his instincts told him to do. He held her gently in his arms, put his head on her shoulder and whispered soothing words into her ear, until she was only sobbing quietly into his sleeve.
Sango watched her dear friend with a sad expression. "Kagome-chan…"
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Kagome was sleeping peacefully on Inuyasha's back as they were walking through the forest, taking the same path as in the afternoon. After what happened earlier, Inuyasha agreed to give shard-hunting a rest for a while. He would have probably agreed to anything at that point. He didn't understand at all what happened, heck he couldn't even believe it happened in the first place.
As the sun set and they were surrounded by the type of darkness you see in the forests, they came upon a small abandoned wooden shed.
"I suggest we call it a day. Let us bless this gift sent to us by the Gods and make camp," said Miroku, pointing his staff at the little hut. "There's no point of dragging ourselves anywhere else tonight."
And so it was decided. With the help of Kirara, Sango checked if the shed really was uninhabited by humans or demons, only to find the place full of broken buckets and piles of dried old wood, great for lighting up campfire.
"It's fine. Looks like it was used as storage for drying wood but nobody was here for a long time. Shippou, will you help me tidying it up a little?" asked Sango.
"Sure!" said Shippou enthusiastically, happy to be able to get away from a very quiet hanyou, who was no fun to tease today. But he still didn't understand. "Kagome showed it to that man. He deserved it. So why did she cry afterwards? Why is she asleep now? Is this another one of those things I'll get when I grow up?" and with a last look at Kagome, still on Inuyasha's back, he hurried after Sango.
"I'll get the wood," said Miroku and he also headed into the hut.
When they were all gone, Inuyasha sighed. His head was still filled with Kagome's screams. His forearms still tingled where Kagome gripped them before, trying to get out of his grasp. "When she's angry, her strength grows, her power increases and she gets drenched in bravery," thought Inuyasha, getting down on his knees, "which usually lands her in big unnecessary trouble," and he gently pulled Kagome off of his back into his lap, slowly, not to wake her. He paused slightly when she mumbled quietly in her sleep. When he was sure she was still sleeping, he put his right arm around her, keeping her safely tucked under his chin, while he rummaged in her backpack with his left hand, looking for her sleeping bag. When he found it, he rolled it out in front of him and carefully laid Kagome down onto it.
Just as he was sitting down at the foot of her sleeping bag, Miroku came out of the hut with arms full of logs. "There's enough wood to last for twenty days. No harm in us using just a small portion, I suppose," said Miroku and he piled the logs on the ground. Then he took some larger stones and formed a circle with them, so that the fire wouldn't spread further than needed. Done with that, he put a couple of smaller twigs in the middle of it, took out some papers and matches out of Kagome's backpack, crumpled the papers and slipped them beneath the twigs. Striking a match, he chuckled: "Interesting how we got used to having Kagome-sama's devices with us. They really do make life easier." And he held the match close to the papers until they caught fire. He watched the fire grow steadily, threw the match into it and piled several logs on the top.
He sat down, opposite to Inuyasha, watching the shadows dance across his solemn face. "Why the long face, Inuyasha?" he asked suddenly.
"Why do you think?" answered Inuyasha quietly, never taking his eyes of the flames.
Miroku sighed: "What is done, is done. You can't change what happened but I think you should be proud of Kagome-sama tonight," he said, one corner of his mouth lifting up in a smirk.
"Proud?" demanded Inuyasha, lifting his head to glare at Miroku. "For putting herself in unnecessary danger yet again?" he said, his voice laced with anger.
"For standing up for ethics and moral rights."
"Moral rights, my ass," grumbled Inuyasha looking back into the fire.
"Albeit with violence," sighed Miroku again. "I couldn't believe my eyes. Our gentle ever loving Kagome-sama, striking down a grown man with her own hand. I wonder if it was done under our dear Sango's teaching and influence…"
"My teaching her what?" asked Sango icily as she emerged from the hut, glaring daggers at Miroku's head. "How to maim a guy's face?" and she sat down next to Kagome's backpack.
Miroku lifted both his hands in defence: "Please, do not get me wrong, dearest Sango. I was merely pointing out the possibility of you teaching Kagome-sama self defence of some sort."
Sango looked down at the still sleeping Kagome and bit her lip: "We were talking about it on several occasions. She wanted me to teach her at least the basics of face-to-face defence," she said and looked up sharply at Inuyasha, "but SOMEONE overheard and was strongly against it," she hissed in his direction.
"She ain't gonna need face-to-face defence, I won't let anyone get that close to her," Inuyasha sneered at her.
"Well it didn't work out very well today, did it."
"That was different."
"Oh really? Explain it then."
"It wasn't defence, SHE attacked HIM!"
"SHE was defending YOU!"
"I ain't asking for nobody's help!"
"Why you-"
"Enough!" hissed Miroku sharply. "You'll wake her up with your bickering."
Both Sango and Inuyasha stared each other down for a few more seconds until Sango heaved an exasperated sigh, reached for the yellow backpack and unclasped the top. "I don't want to see her getting hurt, Inuyasha.," she said quietly.
"Me neither."
"In that case, let her become stronger."
"She's strong enough. Maybe you weren't there, Sango, but she broke that asshole's nose for crying out loud!"
"I'll be surprised if her hand's ok after such a hit!"
Inuyasha blanched at that slightly.
"Yes, Inuyasha, us weak humans, we actually have to be careful and experienced when ramming someone's nose into their brain."
Inuyasha's ears drooped and he looked back into the flames.
Sango sighed, deciding to leave it be for now, and turned her attention back to the bag beside her. "I think I'll start with dinner now," she announced to no one in particular. She paused and looked at her sleeping friend. "Should we wake her up?"
"No," said Miroku in a gentle voice, "let her sleep."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Dinner was a very quiet affair. For one, they didn't want to disturb Kagome's sleep and for two, they didn't really feel like talking about the events of the day or Naraku, for that matter. When they were all done eating, they said goodnight to Inuyasha, as he insisted on staying outside, keeping the fire going and keeping an eye on Kagome, as he refused to move her into the hut and risk waking her in the process.
He had no idea how much time had passed as he sat by the fire, occasionally adding a piece of firewood into the flames or stirring it with a stick. He kept on replaying the village scene over and over again in his mind, trying to make some sense of it. Was he angry at her? No, not angry. Concerned. Was he proud of her? A smirk made its way onto his face as he recalled the expression on that idiot's face. Maybe he could let himself feel some level of pride. It was definitely a rare sight. He hoped it was rare. But then a thought occurred to him and his smirk vanished: Does she do this back in her time too? Is there a need for her to go to such measures? He sure as Hell hoped not!
His quickly down-spiraling train of thoughts was halted as he heard the rustle of the sleeping bag and Kagome's quiet groan, his ears turning towards her faster than his eyes.
Kagome turned on her back and blinked several times up at the dark trees above her and her brow furrowed.
Inuyasha watched with apprehension as she slowly sat up, the sleeping bag pooling around her waist. She looked at him briefly, then looked around the small clearing they were situated in, at the hut, the fire, down at her sleeping bag and then finally looked back at Inuyasha.
"Hey," she croaked and cleared her throat.
"Hey," replied Inuyasha gently. "How are you feeling?"
"I, um…rested?" she said sheepishly with a hint of a smile.
Inuyasha smirked, drew his knees up and rested his elbows against them, letting his hands hang limply before him, as he could finally relax, seeing her up and in a better mood.
"Um, how long was I asleep?"
"Quite long. You slept through dinner…"
"Right," she said and looked at her hands in her lap.
"Are you hungry?"
"I don't even remember falling asleep…"
"Er, you were really worn out, it wasn't such a surprise…"
"I'm sorry, you probably had to carry me, right?"
Inuyasha's brow furrowed as he watched her slumped shoulders. "Is that what you're sorry for?"
Kagome's head snapped up to look at him with a scowl of her own. "What else should I be sorry for?"
At this, Inuyasha looked at her incredulously. "Are you shitting me?" he asked with a slightly higher volume of his voice. "How about being sorry for that eruption? Or the fact that you deliberately put yourself in harm's way? Or for making me – US - worry?"
"Excuse me? I haven't done any-"
"Anything wrong? Keep telling yourself that, Kagome."
"Now wait just a minute there, Inuyasha-"
"I think I waited long enough for you to wake up," he hissed, gesturing at her with a wave of his hand, turning his head away from her.
Kagome's jaw dropped in disbelief and her anger spiked. She wanted to brace her hands on the ground to quickly bolt to her feet but as soon as her right hand firmly touched upon the solid ground, sharp pain shot up her arm from the base of her fingers, making her flinch and whimper quietly.
Inuyasha's reaction to her discomfort was instantaneous. In a blink of an eye, he was crouching before her, his eyes fixed on her in concern, the whole argument forgotten. "Where are you hurt?" he rumbled in a deep voice, scanning her arms for an injury.
Kagome, taken aback by his sudden close proximity, bit her lip and brought her right hand up for closer examination. "I-I think some of the knuckles at the base of my fingers are bruised."
Inuyasha reached for her wrist with his left hand, gently pulling the hand closer to him. With the fingers of his other hand, he tenderly took hold of her index finger and never taking his eyes off her hand, murmured: "Tell me if you feel any pain, 'key?"
"Ok," she answered in the tiniest of voices.
He gently moved the finger up and down, very slowly, as if holding the most fragile object imaginable. His eyes flickered up to her face: "That hurt?"
"No…"
He nodded his head and moved onto her middle finger. As soon as he lifted the finger, Kagome hissed in pain and Inuyasha immediately let go of it, releasing air through his nose sharply. "That's one…"
The other two fingers were found as painful as the middle finger.
Inuyasha sat down very close to Kagome, their knees practically touching. He sighed deeply and reached behind her for the backpack. Placing it beside him, he started to rummage in its contents, looking for her medical kit. "I'll only tie your fingers together so that it doesn't hurt when you move them accidentally. It's nothing too serious."
"That's good."
"Keh, you're only lucky that you didn't close your fingers over your thumb before the punch, might have broken it in the process," he said amusedly, opening the kit and placing it on his lap.
"Oh please, I think I know how to throw a punch, Inuyasha," she said jokingly with a wave of her uninjured hand.
Inuyasha stopped unwinding a bandage and looked up at her, all traces of humour gone from his face. "Do you do that a lot?" he asked uneasily.
Kagome searched his face with wide eyes but found only genuine sincerity. "Of course not. Look at me," she said, jutting her chin in the direction of her painful hand. "Does that look like I knew what I was doing?"
"It didn't look that bad from where I was standing," he said, grinning at her.
Kagome playfully hit him on the shoulder with her left hand.
"Careful there, malice, don't hurt yourself again."
Kagome giggled at his antics. It was so rare seeing him like this, so carefree. She wanted to see him like this more often. "Fine, I'll leave the punching part to you next time."
Inuyasha's grip on her wrist tightened. "I mean it, Kagome," he said seriously again, looking deep into her eyes. "Don't stick your neck out for me like that."
"B-But the things he said-"
"Were nothing what I haven't heard before," he said evenly, gently wrapping her hand in the bandage.
Kagome scowled at the top of his head: "But that's wrong, Inuyasha. He had no right to call you and your parents names. He doesn't even know you, yet he judged you in such a horrible way. Prejudiced people like him-"
"Are everywhere," he finished before she could. "You learn to live with it."
"Oh no, you don't! Don't tell me your blood doesn't boil when you hear those things!"
"Of course it does."
"So why? Why did you just stand there, letting that lowlife insult you like that? I saw red! And I don't have a drop of demonic blood in me!"
Inuyasha looked up at her with a smirk: "Believe me, Kagome, one more word out of that asshole's mouth," he lifted a hand for emphasis, "and these claws would have been comfortably nestled in his guts." He tilted his head to one side: "But you've beat me to the punch…literally."
"Trust me, I wouldn't have tried to stop you this time…"
They both smirked at the idea. Inuyasha tied the final knot on the bandage and cut the excess ends off with his sharp claws.
He surveyed his claws after this, as if seeing them again after a long time. "They always say that I'm a freak," he said in a subdued manner. "I guess they are right."
Kagome's breath hitched at his admission. Her favourite ever fearless warrior looked so resigned at that point. How could anyone say such cruel things to him? How could anyone deliberately hurt this unique man sitting before her? Her heart ached for him, but she knew he didn't want pity. Her hand ached, but there was no one left to punch in the face.
Kagome leaned slightly closer to Inuyasha and placed her good hand over his clawed one. He started at her touch and looked up at her face, his careful eyes searching hers. Kagome however couldn't hold his gaze for very long and her eyes quickly landed on their joined hands. "They say that just because you're not like the others, Inuyasha," she said in the gentlest voice she could muster. "And that is why I like you," she blushed. "You're such a beautiful freak."
Kagome heard his gasp of surprise and lifted her gaze back up to his now too wide eyes. She smiled at him reassuringly and withdrew her hand. She was happy she managed to get it all out for him to hear but she needed to retreat quickly, her embarrassment getting the better of her. Either she bolts, or he does. He was bound to be as embarrassed as she felt.
She gestured to her bandaged hand and said: "Thank you," and quickly got to her feet.
At her sudden movement, Inuyasha seemed to have woken up from some sort of a trance and he stood up too, clutching the medical kit in both hands. Kagome picked up her sleeping bag and threw it over her shoulder. With a last fleeting look and a smile in his direction she said: "Goodnight, Inuyasha, and um, thanks again, I'm really grateful for your help," and quickly headed for the hut, where the rest of their companions were sleeping, leaving Inuyasha standing by the slowly dying fire, with his mouth still hanging open.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Morning came and Kagome was feeling horrible. She didn't sleep at all inside the hut, partly due to the fact that she spent nearly half of the previous day sleeping, but more importantly she felt really bad for dropping such a bomb on Inuyasha and then scurrying away like the chicken she was. They both needed space after that; that much she knew. But still…
She got up quietly, as not to wake the others, who were still sleeping soundly, and exited the small hut. There, just by the door, her yellow backpack sat on the ground, everything neatly packed back inside. She looked around the clearing but as expected, no sign of Inuyasha anywhere.
She reached into the side pocket of the bag and pulled out a bottle of water. She took several sips, savouring the cool water running down her parched throat. When she was done with drinking, she put the bottle on the ground next to the bag, ran the fingers of her good hand through her hair several times and set out to look for her hanyou.
She walked past the now cold fireplace and headed straight into the woods, deciding on trying to call his name when she was enough distance away from the hut, not to alarm the others. After she's walked between the trees for several minutes, she tried calling for him: "Inuyasha?" and she stopped to listen for any sound, but heard none.
She walked a little bit further, until she saw an opening behind some more trees and bushes and headed for that direction. When she finally got through the dense undergrowth to the other side, a magnificent view presented itself to her. She found herself in a very small clearing in the shape of a "U", surrounded by trees on most sides and overlooking the lowlands down below at the opening. To her amazement, the sun was rising at the faraway horizon, bathing her in soft pink light, and all she could do was stare at the purest beauty of nature.
Dazzled by the view, she momentarily forgot why she came all the way out there but was very soon reminded, when two strong arms, clad in red, snaked around her middle from behind and pulled her against a hard chest.
Kagome instantly relaxed in his arms, placing her hands over his on her stomach in reassurance.
Inuyasha rested his chin on the top of her raven hair and rasped into the cool morning air around them: "You're too good for this world, Kagome." He took a deep breath, letting all the surrounding scents mingle in his head. "But I hope you will stay."
Kagome smiled for herself and her hold on his hands tightened, as they watched the sunrise together. Some fights were just worth fighting…
The End
(23.1.11) A/N: This little oneshot was inspired by the song Beautiful Freak by Eels.
I've actually had a half of this done in my comp for several years, I think… Shame on me…but at last, it is finished :)
(12.10.11) A/N: I did a slight revision to the end of the chapter as I found a little note, while tidying up my room, that clearly showed I had planned the end scene a loooooong time ago but forgot all about it in the process and it kept bugging me for the past couple of days. So yes, I finally gave in and changed it to be more like the original plan. Nothing drastic…
Thank you for reading!
Take care,
Matylda