Title: Mom was Right

Chapter 4: Knowing

Rating: T

Status: In progress

Disclaimer: I claim the plot. Nothing more.

Summary: She realized with her mother's advice that the love she deserved could only be found in a man who wasn't ashamed to say "I love you". KagomexKouga

Inspiration: Recently realizing there's a growing trend in the fanfic world to accept and promote that it's ok for significant others to not say "I love you". I find that to be a boatload of malarkey.

A/N: Ugh sorry about the lack of updates. I had jaw surgery. Now I need knee surgery. OTL … life…

Whether by demon or human, being kidnapped was always horrible.

The threats, harm, and verbal abuse were constants. Let's not even mention the mortifying bathroom breaks she was subjected to either.

But if she had to chose, she would rather get kidnapped by a demon. It may sound ridiculous, especially coming from a human, but she found that demons were more honorable in their means of detainment. For example, Hiten and Manten were bat shit crazy, scary, and wanted to make her into a hair potion but they didn't want to rape her.

She being a human female wasn't desirable to male demons.

Well, most of the time she wasn't.

She liked those odds a hell of a lot better than her odds with the human race.

And of course, karma just loves her. So gosh darn much that it actually decided to throw her in the arms of human kidnappers.

At least if a demon was thrown her way she could use her ability as a priestess to give her some leverage. Hell! These days she could even purify most demons that even attempted to spirit her away.

But tie her up with common everyday rope and she was sunk.

So, sooo sunk

The look of vicious depravity in their eyes, the way they grinned salaciously at her, licked their lips, and gestured towards her -Oh Kami…

She felt the acidic burn of bile in the back of her throat as her stomach clenched.

Why?

Why couldn't they have been demons?

Seeing two men advance upon her bound and seated position, she remembered briefly her mother telling her "If you want to make it, sometimes you got to fake it."

"H-hey!" she bolstered as best she could, "I'm a priestess you know! You'll be cursed and damned for eternity if you came any closer!"

Hungry eyes turned menacing.

She also remembered as her breathing became tight and painful, that her mother always did yell at her for digging herself deeper into holes at the worse times…

Violently her hair was yanked and she was forced to look at the face of the leader. And what made this experience all the worse was that he wasn't even ugly. It was always, always, always, the pretty ones that worried her out the most. This guy with his soft green eyes especially made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand up on edge.

"You're a mighty pretty little thing." he said as he leered down at her. Cupping her tear stained face he whispered "I just might keep you for myself."

After he took hold of her arms and bodily dragged her up onto her bound feet, a katana was thrust up to its' red hilt through his neck.

Blood splattered.

Kagome stared bewildered.

There was a rush of wind, a scream, and another splatter of blood. Thank Kami! It had to be Sango. Only she could wield a weapon like that. Quickly her eyes darted around the camp to find the rest of her friends but instead she found… Kouga?

He did that?

And when she finally got a good look at him between his appearances and disappearances as he went from one kidnapper to the next she was rooted to her spot.

Not because of the blood.

And neither was it because of the screams of terror surrounding her.

But because of Kouga, and the way he was ferociously tearing the men apart, limb from limb.

He struck one man down from behind with a slash of his claws and then flickered with his speed to another to tear into his neck with his hands and wrench effectively. Blood leeched down to his elbows as he flicked over to another man running for his life.

This-

This was so UN-him like.

And yet, the sharp glint in his eye was… was so similar to the way he looked when they first met….

No.

No! He wasn't like that, this, anymore. He'd changed.

And yet… there was blood everywhere.

Body parts everywhere.

Who was this?

This wasn't the Kouga she knew.

The Kouga she knew blushed when he gave her a handful of wildflowers.

The Kouga she knew would have just whisked her up and ran away from this area fast. Real fast. Thereby he'd avoid this all together.

That was who he was.

She stilled when she saw him survey the area with cold eyes. Making sure every single one of them was dead. And then she faltered when their eyes came in contact. Her surprise caused her still tightly bound feet to pitch her to the side.

A swift breeze and set of hands steadied her.

Suddenly she shook. She relived it all, men stealing her. Grabbing her. Reaching for her. Men wishing to brutalize her. Men desiring to desecrate her. It swirled violently to Kouga ripping the head off of one of the men. Biting into the neck of another and bursting an artery. Blood. Arms. Legs. Heads. Blood. Everywhere.

"Kagome?"

She jumped startled and looked up at his blood splattered face. She saw and felt the blood on his hands as one held her steady while the other ripped the rope off her wrists.

"I got here I in time right?"

Wide, and bleary eyed she shuddered again.

"… Y-yes."

The intense look of relief on his face brought back the Kouga she knew.

And while he hugged her tenderly she felt uncomfortably aware of his hands slicked with blood radiating warmth on her back.

This…

This was not the Kouga she knew.

And she felt another piece of her heart shatter and plummet.

Kami, why couldn't things be the way they were supposed to be?

And why, why did she feel like she had just lost something?

… … … …