Jumping up from the bottom of the well, Kagome latched onto the vines that grew up the side, and braced her feet.
Overhead she could see blue sky.
Had the weather finally improved? And did that mean the Gods were no longer arguing in the heavens?
She felt a twinge in her shoulder, and winced.
"InuYasha? Are you up there?" she called out. If she was lucky, he had hung around the well a little, waiting for her to come back. He often did, and while sometimes she felt guilty, today it would be nice.
No answer.
Drat. Oh well. I just have to go slow, and take most of the weight on my other arm.
It had been three weeks since she had been shot with that arrow. She had gone home after two weeks to visit her mother and brother, making sure she showed no sign whatsoever of her injury. Souta already had noticed her scars. The last thing she needed was for him to see a newer one.
It ached from time to time, and she worried. Often, an injury near a joint caused arthritis to set in over time, and she needed her arms when she used her bow.
Well...I'm only 16 yet, I suppose. By the time I'm 30 or more, if I'm lucky, I won't need to be shooting any more arrows!
It would be nice if she could get a hand up right now, though!
Grunting with exertion, she managed to haul herself up, grabbing the lip of the well and dragging herself up over. For a moment she hung, belly resting on the edge of the well, legs danging down, catching her breath.
That'll teach me to bring so much back with me.
She crawled over the edge of the well, and stood, looking around.
Kagome paused to adjust the cord of the Shikon around her neck, making sure it wasn't tangled up with the chain her sword pendant was on. She stopped, thinking.
Shikon around my neck, sword pendant around my neck, Bloodstone around my neck...I'm worse than poor InuYasha!
I probably don't need the Bloodstone anymore, she thought, Master Akira gave it to me so I couldn't be tricked by Xanter. But he's gone now. Him and Xether both.
Maybe I should keep it on, though. There are still at least 2 Shadelings out there...Gemu, and Phobia...and whatever that thing was that sent us to that frozen world...there may be more...

The only problem with the Bloodstone was that it also blocked DarkWind from hearing her.
Sometimes, that was good too, though. It gave her some privacy.
She turned, and started back towards Kaede's.
DarkWind has been acting different since I was shot, she thought, And so has InuYasha. DarkWind is angry at InuYasha. I can feel that. I don't know what InuYasha said to him to make him feel that way...he's always liked InuYasha up till now. But I guess that's none of my business. And poor InuYasha. He hangs around even more, like he's scared to let me out of his sight now. He wants to keep me safe. He acts like my getting shot is his fault.
As she walked, Kagome's mind turned to the hanyou.
He's having a really hard time right now. Being hunted in my world, having Izumi die...I wish there were something I could do it make it easier for him. But how? I can't bring Izumi back, or get rid of those people.
She remembered running her fingers through his hair as he looked at her. Of gently pulling him to her, holding him, as he sorrowed for Izumi. He had looked shocked for a second, but had gone to her so easily, relaxing against her.
She had to be so careful. She was falling back into her old ways.
It would be so easy to just fall back in love with him.
But what was she supposed to do? He needed her.
It wasn't arrogance or pride. Kagome understood by now what importance she was to InuYasha. Because InuYasha was the kind of person who needed to protect, but also needed someone to let him be weak. Someone who would literally look at him and say, "Go ahead, be upset."
That was why she kept trying to explain to him, that even though she no longer loved him, she would always be there for him. If he needed to talk, or just needed someone to let his guard down with, she was there. But she couldn't help but wonder if actions like the one that night were just making it harder for him to make that final break.
And it didn't help that she acted without thinking, either.
Kagome cringed when she thought about that night in her world, when they had been hunted. She had used the sacred bell to turn InuYasha human, and had practically jumped him to try and make it look like they were just normal teens making out in the bushes.
She put a hand over her face, Oh God, his face. That look on his face...
Kagome sighed.
She walked into the clearing, the field that lay between her well and Kaede's village, and stopped.
The first thing she saw was the remains of a large demon, splattered all over the ground. It looked like it had been some sort of insect, but she couldn't be sure, it was literally tore up so badly.
The second thing she saw was InuYasha, standing, back-on to her, looking down into the village below. The wind was pulling at his clothing, his hair.
What happened? Was that thing attacking the village?!
Kagome started to run towards him, dropping her backpack on the ground. As she ran, she looked down towards the village. She couldn't see any damage there, so perhaps it hadn't gone there yet. It must have just been on it's way.
Thank goodness. Maybe InuYasha had been at the well, and had seen it, and...
Kagome ran down onto the level ground, "InuYasha? What happened? Is anyone hurt?"
He didn't answer, and she ran the last few steps towards him, "InuYasha? Are you ok? Were you hurt?"
She reached out, and grabbed his sleeve, and he turned.
Kagome staggered to a stop, her heart rising up into her throat.
Red eyes looked back at her, demonic markings on his face.
No!
She started to turn, instinctively looking for the Tetsusaiga, but he was faster. He grabbed her arm, yanking her towards him, and grabbed her injured shoulder with his other hand.
Kagome gave a pained yelp, and tried to pull away.
His hands tightened, claws scoring along her arm, puncturing her shirt over her shoulder. It was like trying to break free of a brick wall, and she was suddenly shoved to the ground, hard, one leg twisted awkwardly under her, stealing her breath for a second.
Another hard shove, and she was pushed over, onto her back, and he was glaring down at her.
Kagome looked up, terrified. The change that came over him was always terrifying. His golden eyes, always so expressive, now red and looking like something belonging to some wild animal. Even his fangs somehow grew, longer and sharper.
If I 'sit' him now, he'll kill me, she thought, panicked, He'll crush me.
Where is Tetsusaiga!?
Remembering some things he himself had taught her, she rolled back, freeing one aching leg, and brought it up, planting her foot against his hip, preparing to shove, to try and give herself some room. If she could get free, she could 'sit' him, and he'd return to normal.
InuYasha's reflexes were always fast, but now they just seemed faster. His left hand dropped, grabbing her ankle, and twisted, digging his claws in.
Kagome shrieked, instinctively trying to batter his face.
He grabbed her by both shoulders, claws sinking into flesh, and gave her one, hard, shake, "Stop!"
Kagome froze, going still, panting, staring up, wide-eyed, "Inu...Inu...Yasha?"
Red eyes travelled over her face, his hands still cruelly tight on her shoulders, and spoke, his voice deeper, harder, gravelly.
"Why is there a guard around you?"
Kagome just stared at him, her heart pounding so hard it hurt, her shoulders aching, her ankle aching, unable to move much, staring into the face of the monster.
"W-what?" she asked quietly, almost afraid to talk. Those fangs were so long...and so close to her face...
"There is a guard around you. Why? Who are you?"
"It...it's me. Kagome," she spoke carefully. Was InuYasha aware in there, somewhere?, "It's your Kagome, remember?"
Red eyes continued looking her over, hands still painfully tight, "Not mine. No. His. He has guards around you. You are untouchable to him."
Kagome swallowed, "His? His who?"
Red eyes narrowed, "Him."
"You...you mean InuYasha." Somewhere in the distance, Kagome heard children playing. It sounded so very far away, and she suddenly felt so very alone, "You mean InuYasha, don't you?"
There was no answer, just a growl.
He's a separate entity, Kagome thought, He doesn't consider himself a part of InuYasha. Like with split personalities.
"Where...where is the sword? You should get the sword."
InuYasha grinned, revealing long fangs, "I don't need a sword. I have my own swords."
He let go of one of her shoulders, revealing his long claws, coated with her own blood. Before her horrified eyes, he licked her blood from them, and then smiled at her, "Maybe he would share you."
"No, no, he doesn't like to share," she found herself babbling.
He leaned forward, and for a second, Kagome thought he was going to try and kiss her, but instead his face slipped past hers, hovering just beside her left ear.
She suddenly realized he was smelling her.
"You smell good."
"Where did the sword go!?" she suddenly asked, terrified. She had to try to distract him somehow, at least long enough to 'sit' him, "I'd really like to have that sword!"
He brought his face back to hers, looking at her, looking her over, his eyes starting to move down over her throat, her chest. One hand left it's tight grip on her shoulder, but he suddenly grabbed up the material in his hand, and pulled.
Kagome heard the fabric tear, felt the front of her shirt let go. She felt claws on her naked shoulder, felt him pulling at the strap of her bra.
Fear made her desperate, and she suddenly turned, pointing to the left, "Look!"
Unbelievably, InuYasha turned, startled.
She rolled to the right, hearing her shirt let go with a rip, and screamed, "SIT!"
She felt, more than heard, the impact.
Kagome kept rolling, making sure she was clear, before kneeling, and then lunging to her feet. Spinning, she stood, staring, panting, at InuYasha's back, where he was lying prone.
Her heart was pounding painfully, Oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God...what do I do? What do I do? Ok, calm down. Think. Think. He's ok now. He'll come out of it. What do you need to do?
Hide any evidence.

Kagome looked down at herself.
Her shirt was in tatters, hanging from herself, and there was blood.
A fair bit.
She turned, lunging back towards the backpack, I can't let him see, he'll die, I have to change. Quick, quick, a new shirt, hurry!
Behind her, she heard him groan, coming to.
Kagome attacked her backpack like a savage thing, tearing open the straps, plunging her hands down inside, searching for a shirt, any shirt. Clothes went flying.
Out came a green blouse, and she tore free what was left of her tattered T with one hand, dragging on the other one.
She wasn't thinking. If she had been calm, she would have realized it was pointless. She was still bleeding, and now her backpack looked like it had exploded. But her mind was telling her if she just changed her torn shirt, everything would be ok. She would save him.
She yanked the shirt on, buttoning it up, looking around.
Behind her, she saw InuYasha stagger to his feet, looking around, confused.
Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, then realize she was surrounded by the contents of her backpack.
Cursing, she started grabbing handfulls of things, stuffing them back into her backpack, clothes, a comb, food packages, everything was forced in with the savagery of blind panic.
"Kagome?"
She yanked on the straps of her backpack, closing it hard enough that one of the straps half tore, "Yeah, be right there!" She tried to make her voice sound cheery; instead it sounded shrill.
His voice, coming closer, "You're back. What...what are you doing?"
"My...my backpack tore as I came through," she chirped, her voice high and shrill, "I'm just fixing it! I'll be right there!"
"Are you alright? You sound funn- you're bleeding? I smell blood!"
Please, no.
"It's ok," she tried to laugh, "I fell while climbing out the well, and I-"
She felt him take her shoulder, and pull her up, turning her.
Kagome turned, facing him, forcing her face to look calm and relaxed.
Gold eyes were worried as he looked her over, "Your shoulder is bleeding agai-.."
He stopped, eyes widening as he looked down.
Kagome looked down at herself, suddenly realizing there were little red blooms appearing all over her green blouse, at her shoulders, one on her belly, one on her side. They weren't big, but growing, as she continued to bleed from several small abrasions, and a number of claw-holes.
"What happened!?" he asked, shocked, confused. There were no holes in her shirt, but she was suddenly bleeding through it.
"I told you, I fell. That's all. You know I'm a clutz. Come on, let's go to Kaede's!"
He looked at her, frowning. Something was very wrong.
"Come on, come on!" she smiled, and turned to walk. Kagome suddenly staggered, one leg twisting slightly.
"Kagome!"
Little red blossoms of blood were appearing on her back as well, and he ran to her, grabbing her arm, "What the hell happened to you?"
"I told you, I fell back into the well! I hurt my leg too," she laughed, oddly, "I'm so clumsy!"
Something was very wrong.
He looked around, keeping a hold on her arm.
InuYasha's gaze fell on the remains of the demon, and he blinked.
Suddenly, he remembered. He had been at the well, waiting for Kagome. She said she'd be back in a day, and he had headed out there to wait for her. She ususally brought half a store with her, and he liked helping her with the bag.
But he had suddenly seen that thing, rumbling towards the village, and he had gone off, chasing it.
They had fought, and...
And what?
The smell of Kagome's blood kept distracting him.
"Come on, InuYasha, I want to get to the village!"
He frowned at the carcass of the demon, thinking.
He had been thrown back...had hit a tree, hard. And the demon had come at him, attacking. It had...had...
What?
It's pincers. It had driven them into him, hard. And the pain...!
His sword! It had been out of reach!
InuYasha slapped a hand to his hip, reaching for the Tetsusaiga, realizing it was gone. Panicked, he looked around the area.
Kagome watched his face, fear starting to ice up her insides.
"Well I'm heading to Kaede's, with or without you!" she announced, attempting to flounce off, praying he would follow once he found Tetsusaiga. She took another step, and pain shot up her leg, and she grit her teeth.
You can't flounce while limping.
InuYasha's gaze shot around the clearing, and his hanyou eyes spotted it, lying in the shadow of a tree, the one he must have hit. It was hanging at a crazy angle, ready to fall.
He ran to it, picking it up, slipping it back into it's sheath.
But why did his head hurt?
He cursed, watching as Kagome tried to limp back down to Kaede's village. What was the matter with her? He was going to have to sit her down and find out what happened. She didn't fall in the well, no one injured themselves enough to bleed without tearing the clothing too. That made no sense.
He started to follow after her, running a few steps.
He wrinkled his nose, the smell of her blood making his stomach roll.
InuYasha frowned, and looked around. Why was he still smelling...?
His eyes fell on a small scrap of clothing, half hidden under a bush.
"Are you coming or not?!" she called back to him.
"Hang on!" he yelled back, and reaching down, snagged it, and pulled it out.
He blinked, shocked.
The cloth was covered in blood.
He stood up, staring at it. It was tattered, little more than a scrap now, and soaked with blood.
Kagome's blood.
What the hell?!
"Kagome!?" he called out her, confused, and started walking towards her, holding out the tattered T-shirt, "What the hell is this?"
He saw Kagome turn, look back at him, her eyes widening when she saw what he was holding.
"What happened?" he asked her, starting to grow angry, "This thing reeks of your blood!"
"I...InuYasha, I-"
He glared at her, waiting for an answer. Kagome faltered, searching for something, anything, but before she could come up with a single word, she saw it come to him, saw it hit home.
The headache. Not having his sword on him. No memory of killing the thing. Getting up from the ground.
Her blood.
His eyes met hers, widening, hand closing convulsively around the tattered shirt, the first words out of his mouth, "What did I do!?"
"I'm ok!" she said quickly, trying to make him understand that first, trying to drive that home right at the beginning, "Look at me, I'm ok! I'm fine-"
"You're bleeding! What did I DO!?"
"I'm ok! Really!"
He cursed, loudly, voice cracking, holding out the shirt, trying to open it with his hands. After a second, he realized there was no longer a front or a back, it was just scraps. Furious, frantic, he threw it down, reaching for her.
Kagome raised her hands, trying to batter his hands away, "Stop it, I said I'm ok!"
"You're not! I attacked you!"
He cursed again, face pale, eyes wide, shoving her hands away, and grabbed the front of her shirt. He tried to unbutton it, but in his panic the buttons just popped loose. He opened her shirt, not in the least embarassed, not even really seeing anything other than looking for signs of injury.
And he found them.
Her shoulders, her arm, her belly, all had scratches and bruises, just starting to come out. There was a nasty-looking abrasion on the side of her neck. Despite Kagome's protest, he turned, moving behind her, yanking the blouse loose from her shoulders, looking down the collar at her back.
Her back was covered with abrasions and gouges as well. And there were horrible-looking little holes in the back of her shoulders. Holes he easily identified.
None of the injuries were serious...but they were there, and they were bad.
Her shirt had been torn from her...she had been on her back, on the rough ground...
He let her go, backing away from her, shaking his head in mute horror, bumping up against a tree trunk. He hunched over slightly, both arms up, crossed over his face, as if trying to fend off an invisible attack.
"Oh Gods what did I do?"
Kagome was trying to pull her shirt closed, but gave up when he hit the tree, and hobbled towards him. She grabbed his sleeve, "You only scratched me, InuYasha! Stop it! Look at me! I'm not hurt!"
He didn't move, and she grabbed his arm, "Look at me!"
InuYasha dropped his arms, meeting her gaze, and she was literally stunned to see a faint glimmer of tears in his eyes. He grabbed her, face a mix of rage and fear, "Tell me what I did, Kagome! Tell me!"
"I'm telling you!"
"Don't lie to me, I want to know!"
"I'M NOT LYING!"

He looked at her, panting, trembling violently. He spoke again, his voice getting a little more level, "Tell me what happened."
"Will you listen to me?! I'm telling you! I came through the well, and you were there...as a..."
"Go on."
"And you...grabbed me. And we talked, and then I-"
His voice cracked, "I grabbed you and talked? I'm not stupid, you don't get your shirt torn off talking!"
"InuYasha-"
He reached out, and took her wrist, gently, but firmly. He started to talk, and suddenly realized there was blood on his hands.
He dropped her wrist as if he had been scalded, staring wide-eyed at his hands.
"In-"
"Did I get this from talking too?" his voice quavered.
"InuYasha-"
He looked at her, lowering his hands, and spoke. His voice was level, but it quivered a little, as he fought to remain calm.
"I'm going to wash...I can smell your blood on me...and you wash too...and then we're going to talk. And you're going to tell me everything that happened, from the moment you saw me to the moment I woke up. Everything. I need to know, Kagome. Don't you dare try to protect me. Not anymore. I need to know how dangerous I've become to you, and maybe to the others."
Kagome swallowed, looking at him, "InuYasha."
He pushed off from the tree, walking away from her, straight towards the river, not speaking.
Kagome brushed her hair back from her face, and mentally cursed.

He splashed water on himself wildly, the smell of her blood sickening in his nose. It must have come from the shirt he picked up, surely he would have noticed her blood on his hands as soon as he woke up?
What did I do to her? Oh Gods Above, what did I do? Her shirt was torn off...her back's abraded...all those cuts...
He saw what he thought were...teeth marks, near her shoulder. Did he bite her? Had he been...on her, and...biting her?
I'm not safe to be around. Every time I drop my damn sword I can turn into some raving animal... he knelt, and even dunked his head, not wanting the smell of her blood in his hair, when I'm that...that thing...do I still...want her? Is that what happened, did I...Oh Gods Above. How can I look at her?
Hair dripping, he continued to kneel in the water, not even caring that he was now soaked through, staring numbly at the water.
Did I rape her? Is that why her back is tore up?
But he was dressed. Or did he...and then get dressed? Why hadn't she used the sit on him? How long had he been that thing? Hadn't the 'sit' worked? Is that what happened? Had it failed somehow, and he had...had raped her, and then dressed, and then...
He put a hand to his face.
He couldn't run away, no matter what had happened. He had to know, and he had to...make this right, somehow.
If he had forced himself on her...how could he ever look her in the eye again?
Gods Above and Below...please...please don't let me have hurt her. Please.