Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, nor am I making profit from this story.
"Why are you so annoying?" Inuyasha snarled down at the girl who was standing at the base of his tree, viciously smacking it with all her might and yelling up at him.
She shot him a glare, before growling back, "I'm annoying?! I'm not the one avoiding all conversations and causing trouble. I heard what you did to that man! I hear about all about it!"
Inuyasha looked away from her, ignoring the vibrations that rippled through the tree from her pounding on the base. Maybe if he ignored her long enough, she would go away.
But she continued to yell up at him.
"Inuyasha! You are such a jerk! Why did you toss that man in to the river?! What is wrong with you? Kaede might have thought it was okay, but it wasn't!" She stepped back from the tree to be able to shout up at him better, her hands on her hips and her posture showing that she was not going to back down anytime soon.
"Are you listening to me?!"
Inuyasha's ears betrayed him, twisting slightly to inform her that he had heard her. Although he kept his face pointed away and wouldn't look at her for any reason, Kagome knew she had his attention.
Pointing her finger up at him, Kagome continued her tirade. "You cannot just go around throwing people into the river! Especially if they don't know how to swim! Doing that will make people think you are mean!"
Inuyasha shifted slightly and snorted loudly. "I do what I want!"
"Inuyasha!"
Finally, he looked at her. "There was a boat there! I just scared him. I didn't try to kill him!"
"Why were you trying to scare him?!"
"He made me mad!"
Kagome dropped her hand to her sides, fists tightly clenched. "Just because you're mad doesn't mean you try to scare someone!"
Kaede made her way up the hill, listening to the shouting match between the teenagers. Inuyasha was not being very forthcoming with the true reasons he had pitched a man into the river earlier that day, and Kaede knew that it was sheer stubbornness that kept them both going. Shippo had informed her of the fight that had broken out, before scampering off to play with the village children.
She watched for a little while, watching the two of them go back and forth about whether Inuyasha was right to toss a man into the river.
Kaede knew that the man had been making vulgar comments about Kagome, which is what sparked the incident, but Inuyasha was apparently not going to share that information.
Might give to much away.
Kaede finally spoke, disrupting the fight. "Lunch is ready. Are you two going to come eat or just shout all afternoon?"
Kagome spun on her heel, surprised at Kaede's arrival. Inuyasha, at the mention of food, jumped from the tree, racing past both of the women to get to the food first.
Once they were alone, Kaede assured Kagome that Inuyasha meant no harm in his action, leaving out the part that he meant to make it known that no one should mess with Kagome.
"But," Kagome spoke softly, "I don't want people to be afraid of him. He's not such a bad guy, Kaede, but he acts out sometimes in ways that I think people might be scared of him again."
Kaede, recognizing Kagome's distress, patted the girl's shoulder softly. "Ah you sweet thing. I don't think the villagers are going to be afraid of him just because of one outburst. They know he's harmless now."
Kagome sniffled slightly, finally letting out her emotions. "Okay," she agreed with a heavy sigh.
Kaede could see, plain as day, the affection they held for each other. They just needed to give it time.
