Hearts Burst Into Fire

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

I do not own the song Hearts Burst into Fire

When I see your face,

My hearts burst into fire,

Hearts burst into fire…

"No, stop it, please! Leave him alone! You're going to kill him!" A young, probably 5 year old girl cried out in desperation. Her hair was a dark raven color, falling gently down her back in soft waves. Her eyes were large, chocolate-y brown orbs that were filled with terror and helplessness. The girl pushed through the crowd of sneering humans, getting to the front unscathed, aside from a few lone scratches and possibly a bruise or two. But those would be gone by tomorrow, seeing as being a youkai had its perks.

"Get away from him," The girl growled, though the growl sounded anything but threatening, as she spread her arms out at her side, seemingly trying to protect him. But everyone knew that she would probably go down faster than the boy behind her did, seeing as she had no past in fighting. "It's not his fault he was born a hanyou," She whispered brokenly. "He can't help what he is." The only reason that the girl knew he was hanyou was because of his scent. She was an inu-youkai, or a dog demon. She couldn't help her enhanced sense of smell.

Her normally gentle gaze hardened in determination as she glared at the mob of people in front of her. "Go away and leave us alone. You're only doing this because you have nothing better to do than to pick on kids," She growled.

"Go back to your mother, Kagome, and let us be. You don't have anything at all to do with this," One of the men from the village sneered threateningly at her. "Just because Lady Kana is your mother doesn't mean we accept you. You're still part youkai and everyone knows it."

"Go…away!" She gritted out, her deep eyes flashing red for a moment before returning to the chocolate-y hue they normally were. Like all, or rather most, youkai, she hated when her pack, or family, was talked badly about. And like those youkai, she did what she could to protect her pack.

The village men snickered and sneered at the Inuyoukai and Inu-hanyou before slowly sauntering away, calling out insults at the young, yet so fiercely determined girl, "Lady Kana won't always be around to protect you, youkai," The leader of the group howled. "She'll grow old and weak while you stay young and helpless. When she dies, you'll be alone. No one to protect you then once she's dead; you'll be killed shortly after she's gone, no worries. At least you won't be apart from the youkai lover too long, will you?" Although she should be used the horrid taunts and sneers, she wasn't and she never would be.

While Kagome was said to be a full demon, no one could prove it—not even herself. Her mother, Lady Kana, was only a hanyou because as a young girl, she had run into the forest after her village was attacked and everyone was slain by a rabid Inuyoukai pack. There, she was found by a dark priestess who was set on making her mother her apprentice. When Lady Kana refused over and over, the dark priestess got frustrated, and to make Kana miserable, she cast a spell and made her a hanyou, using Kagome's mother as a test experiment. Well, not exactly—while Lady Kana didn't look anything like a hanyou or act as a hanyou, every full moon she would change into a full blood-thirsty youkai. Lady Kana also didn't have an extended life, and there was no perks to being a hanyou for her, only disappointment over and over. No one knew what exactly Lady Kana was and she was attentively accepted her into the village. Whenever the night before the full moon came along, she would run into the forest beside the village, doing her best to keep the villagers safe. It was during one of those times that Lady Kana met Kagome's father, a full Inuyoukai. Her father was killed shortly after Kagome was born, protecting his family against a pack of wolf youkai. Lady Kana and Kagome escaped, thinking he would come after them when he was finished with the pack, but to Lady Kana's horror, she found him dead the next morning. After burying him, she went back to the village, taking Kagome with her.

That being said, no one knew what she was, besides perhaps her mother, if she could ever find out what she herself was. Another thing that made the villagers doubt she was a full youkai was the fact that Kagome had never changed into her true demon form, the form of an Inuyoukai. More than that, Kagome had puppy ears, and every Inuyoukai she or any of the villagers had met, did not. Most believed that Kagome was 2/3 Inuyoukai, 1/3 human, and only 1/3 human because she never changed into her human form… though there were some nights that she seemed weaker than usual, she always looked the same.

Pulling herself from her thoughts, Kagome sent the last villagers death glares as the last of them ran off into the trees. She turned her gaze, now broken and understanding, on the hanyou that was crouched and tensed in front of her. She had never dealt with a tense human, much less a hanyou. She had been taught by her mother some herbs and cures so far, and within the next few weeks, she'd be learning to fight. Kagome wondered if she should go get her mother, let her deal with the hanyou, while she watched, but decided against it. 'I've got to make Mother proud of me.' She decided. She reached out a delicately clawed hand slowly, and the agonized hanyou flinched away from her touch.

She had been expecting that, but decided to make sure she wouldn't be waiting around for nothing. Like all hanyou and youkai, he'd of course become defensive. He, like all demons, wouldn't want to show any weakness to another demon, especially if the demon was injured.

"Hold still," Her calm, bell-like voice rang out, retreating a bit so her back was leaning against a tree, her legs at her chest, as she watched him. He was doing nothing but irritating the wounds. "You're just going to open your wounds even more." She explained as he sent her a cautious look.

At that time, the hanyou took the time to see what his savior looked like, while thinking. 'She can't be too harmful to me right?' He asked himself as he took in her long waving hair, rolling down her back like a waterfall. She was beautiful, really. Her deep, liquid brown eyes shown out against her pale skin, and he grudgingly relaxed a bit at his next thought. 'More so, she doesn't seem to want to hurt me.'

At the same time that the boy was evaluating her, she was evaluating him. His long silver locks hung down his back and his large golden eyes were thoughtfulness and fierce determination. The silver-haired boy relaxed against the tree he had hauled himself over to and relaxed completely. "Fine," His voice grated out coldly. "You can help me."

"Good. I was hoping you would let me." She said just as quietly as she walked over and began examining his wounds. None of them were life threatening, thankfully, but he had to be in intense pain. "What's your name? I'm Kagome." She breathed out as she began to tend to his wounds, starting with the most serious then gradually moving to the already healing scratches.

"Feh," The hanyou muttered, not exactly wanting to tell her, but he figured he owed her that much. "Inuyasha," He growled gruffly. Kagome didn't mind his brief, unsocial responses. She was too thrilled to have some talking to her, other than her mother, and not attempting to insult her.

"Kagome…!" A voice cried somewhere in the forest. The two pairs of puppy ears both flicked at the sound and Kagome jumped to her feet, turning to grab Inuyasha's hand to go greet her mother, and introduce them, but her hand only met thin air. 'Inuyasha..? Where did you go?' Kagome had been intent on introducing her mother to her new friend, but now, she could not. 'Inuyasha… why did you run off?'

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A girl, probably about the age of 15 shot up in her make-shift bed, a lone, miserable tear sliding down her cheek. She was struggling to control her ragged breaths and fast pumping heart. Taking a deep breath, she reprimanded herself. 'I need to calm down. This is nothing to cry over. He's nothing to cry over,' she told herself mentally. The girl hadn't seen her friend in years. Too many years to count, really, and she hadn't thought about him this much counting all the time put together than she was now. With a slight growl of annoyance, she caught the scent of frustration, determination, and excitement on the wind. That meant she had to get moving soon, or she'd be caught and killed by the hands of humans.

Everything that went wrong in villages was always blamed on youkai or hanyou. It was always the same, 'Oh, someone stole all my valuables! It must be that youkai that's just passing through!' or 'That's the hanyou that burnt the village down last time! Get it!' And the second example is exactly what was happening with her this time. Of course, she didn't massacre and burn down the village; she was passing by, smelled the blood, and went to investigate. There, she was seen by the last survivor, a young man, eyes filled with greed rather than fear or disgust. He had gone to a neighboring village, and now the man and the second village were trailing her, intent on killing her for something she had no part in.

With a yawn, she judged by their scent how close they were to her. She had enough time to get something to eat and take a quick bath before she would have to run again. She wasn't going to go kill innocent people because of a mere misunderstanding. Soon enough, they would give up and go home, and then she'd be free to relax for a while until she came upon another misfortune and was framed as the villain once more.

Once she finished her bath and ate her food, she was on the move, clutching her bow tightly in her hand and hiking the arrows on her shoulder, she closed her eyes and judged how close the human men were to her. Her eyes snapped open in surprise and she looked behind her, mouth gaping open slightly, before a growl escaped her throat. How had she not noticed that they were right behind her, charging on their horses right towards her, spears aimed and guns ready to be fired?

Instantly, she took off at a sprint, adrenaline rushing through her veins, urging her on. Of course, she could easily take them all on, and win... probably, but she didn't want to kill innocent beings.

She clutched the bow closer to her, willing herself not to crush it. After all, it had been her mothers, Lady Kana's, last gift to her before she died in the fire. Kagome had honestly did everything in her power to help the people escape, and thankfully she had gotten most of the children who were stuck in burning homes safely out of the village before the huts collapsed, killing the children. She had also gone back for women and men who were stuck inside, along with desperately searching for her mother's scent. Alas, the scent of smoke and burning wood and blood over clouded any scent of a certain person, and all she could do was hope that her mother had gotten out of the village safely. Kagome had been gone the past few days traveling, searching for a new place to live, seeing as she was certainly old enough to look after herself, and she didn't want to risk hurting anyone. When she went back to look through the village remains, she found nothing, not even a scent of her mother lingering in the air. When she found her, she appeared to have dragged herself into the forest in a futile attempt to save herself. Lady Kana handed her the first bow she had ever owned and passed after a few sweet, cooing words.

Kagome grew desperate as she realized where she was running towards, and looked around her. Behind her to her left and right were warriors gaining on her as she slowed down and directly behind her were even more warriors, catching up quickly. It was like she was being herded into the forest on purpose. The forest where she first met Inuyasha, and also the forest where she had last seen her mother alive—that was where she was being forced. With another growl, she forced herself to run faster again, heart beating painfully fast as memories flashed before her eyes; memories of pain, of happiness, of terror, of excitement… memories of her past. It felt like every time an image would appear, someone was electrocuting her.

Suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks, staring stupidly up at one certain tree. The tree she had met Inuyasha at. The tree her mother had died under; the tree that Inuyasha was now pinned to, hanging limply by an arrow through his chest. Realizing that she had stopped, she began to lean forward to begin her sprint once again, only to realize that she was thoroughly surrounded.

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Growling, the black haired girl's eyes flashed red before she controlled herself. She, like any other hanyou or youkai, hated being cornered, surrounded, or just over all trapped. "I suggest you step back," She snarled, crouching down a bit in a defensive position, "…unless you would like your worthless lives ended by my hands." For a moment, she was thankful that she had enough sense to put on her fighting clothes today, and not her kimono.

Suddenly a loud bang sounded behind her and before she could even think about dodging, a sharp pain stabbed her in her side, making her stumble forwards a bit, letting out a pained hiss. "That actually hurt," The young girl snarled, whirling on the person who had just shot her, pain piercing her side at every move she made.

Not even 5 minutes later, the scent of blood was nearly over-powering, though it was mostly her blood. Her breathing was shallow and ragged and she had several wounds on her body that were all oozing blood. As soon as she had turned on the man who had fired first, several archers fired their arrows at her. And when she whirled at them, men rode up next to her and slashed her with swords, opening wounds that were desperately trying to heal, causing her to howl in pain. She desperately didn't want to hurt these people, but it seemed that if she wanted to live to see the light of tomorrow, she would be forced to. Except, there was one problem: she couldn't do that in this condition.

"Kill them…" a voice inside her head growled and her eyes flashed red, and this time, they stayed red as she willingly let her demon third take over. "Die…" The demon's voice was cold and heartless and it willingly slashed at the men with her growing claws, staining her clothes and face in blood. Kagome's mind went blank and she couldn't think, didn't feel anything except joy from killing the yelling men. She felt her fangs grow and she snarled hands up, ready to strike as she snarled threateningly. "Just try to run… None of you will get away alive…" The same, emotionless voice snarled.

Unknown to Kagome, a certain hanyou was gradually gaining consciousness at the overwhelming youkai presence. His piercing golden eyes were blurry at first but slowly locked on the form of a surprisingly familiar girl. His eyes widened as he realized that it was, in fact, the girl that he had met all of those years ago as a child… only this time, she was grown, and even more beautiful than the last time he saw her, even with the blood red eyes, extended claws and long fangs and covered in blood. "Ka…gome..?" He wondered out loud, wondering if this was all an illusion.

He watched in slight interest as she killed the warriors skillfully. She had grown strong, as well as beautiful, not that he would ever admit that. The teenage-looking hanyou watched as the girl's ear flicked towards him in acknowledgment, before completely freezing. Her eyes became a pale pink before they turned normal and her fangs and claws shrunk. She winced in pain and looked back at the hanyou. "Inu…yasha…" She coughed, before barely dodging an arrow that was flying in her direction. Unknown to her, another arrow was flying the direction she had just leaped towards and it effectively hit her in her shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain. The pain hadn't nearly been as bad in her demon form.

Inuyasha stiffened at the scent of her blood on the wind and struggled to free himself from the arrow so he could help her fight them. "Kagome… get rid of the arrow." He demanded, and she stumbled toward him, off balance, nearly falling and Inuyasha steadying her, before she could pull the arrow out of his chest, using a lot of her energy. She was quite thankful that Lady Kana had been a priestess or else she wouldn't have been able to touch the arrow.

Inuyasha regarded her carefully for a moment before stepping between the warriors and Kagome, just as she collapsed against the tree, whimpering occasionally in pain. Inuyasha quickly, wasting no time, finished off the remaining warriors before turning back to Kagome. Her eyes were closed and her body was tense, in obvious pain. He thought back to all those years ago. They were in this same position, only the roles were switched. Kagome was hurt and losing blood fast, and he was unsure what to do.

Take her to the village and forget about his pride? Or leave her here to die? No… she had saved him and he would do the same for her, no matter how much it hurt his ego. He began to pace anxiously as he realized that she was now unconscious. He made up his mind, and, casting one last glance at the youkai on the verge of death, before sprinting off, leaving the girl unprotected.