Disclaimer: Do I own Inuyasha? Hell no.

A/N: Sorry about the delay in updating. I had a paper for Peace Studies that I had to write…I really hate that class.

Chapter 8

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to go back there again, Kagome. Not after what's happened. I forbid it." Mrs. Higurashi said, a tear sliding down her face.

Inuyasha looked at Mrs. Higurashi. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Normally, Mrs. Higurashi was a very reasonable woman; he figured that she would realize that since Naraku got through the well once, he could very well do so again.

Kagome cleared her throat and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

"Mama, please," Kagome's voice cracked painfully. Staring at her hands that were folded on the table, she continued.

"Mama, don't you understand? Na-Naraku can get through the well now. I'm no safer here than back there—"

"I don't care!" Mrs. Higurashi interrupted angrily, waving her hand. "At least here I can watch over you."

Inuyasha had had enough.

"What exactly are you going to do, anyway? You can't stop Naraku." Inuyasha stood up and began to pace in the small kitchen back and forth angrily. "You're not strong enough!"

Mrs. Higurashi stood as well. They were now standing face to face in the kitchen, staring each other down as Kagome sat and watched from her spot at the end of the kitchen table.

"Well, apparently neither are you, or none of this would've happened." Mrs. Higurashi said vehemently.

Inuyasha's anger began to fall away, only to be replaced by guilt.

Mrs. Higurashi was right. He had no right to be angry with her, she was only angry because her baby girl had gotten hurt. She had every right to be angry with him. She had been hurt when he was supposed to be her protector, for kami-sama's sake!

Inuyasha tore his eyes from Mrs. Higurashi's angry face, turning to Kagome. Her face had paled considerably, and she was trembling.

"N-Naraku ca-can get me here…he knows ex-exactly wh-where I'll b-be…" Her voice trailed off, and the smell of salt and fear hit Inuyasha's nose.

Mrs. Higurashi stepped forward, intending on comforting her only daughter, but the sound of Kagome's voice stopped her.

"I-I-Inuyasha wo-won't be h-here…" Kagome looked up at that moment, tears making their way down her pale face.

The sight of her daughter in so much suffering broke Mrs. Higurashi out of her trance. She went around the table and touched Kagome's shoulder gently, intending on comforting her.

Kagome jerked viciously out of her mother's grasp, so viciously that she launched herself out of the chair to fall painfully on the floor, the chair hitting the floor with a resounding crack. She began to crawl backwards away from Mrs. Higurashi, only stopping when her back hit the wall of the kitchen behind the table.

Inuyasha watched the scene unfold before him with a sickening feeling in his stomach. Kagome was acting like she had when he had first found her, afraid of everyone and everything.

Mrs. Higurashi turned towards Inuyasha, helplessness written clearly on her face.

Inuyasha shook his head, as if saying, 'Let me handle this.'

He crept slowly towards the hysterical miko, who was currently trying to burrow herself further into the unforgiving kitchen wall.

He knelt before her, and reached a hand slowly out to touch the side of her face.

Kagome looked up, and the sight broke Inuyasha's heart. Her face was wet with tears, her eyes were full of terror, and he could clearly smell fear radiating off of her small form.

Inuyasha quickly backed away from the hysterical miko, not wanting to scare or startle her. He had no idea what to do.

"Kagome, it's just us. You don't have to be afraid…" Mrs. Higurashi crept closer, extending her hand.

"No! Don't!" Inuyasha said quickly, holding his hand out to stop her. The smell of fear was getting stronger.

Mrs. Higurashi sent Inuyasha a glare that clearly said, 'Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what I can and cannot do?'

"She's afraid of you," Inuyasha quietly explained. "I can smell it; whenever you get close it gets worse."

Mrs. Higurashi looked at Inuyasha, then at her daughter, then back to Inuyasha. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then quickly closed it.

"What do you mean, she's afraid of me? She's never been afraid of me before. She's my daughter, for kami-sama's sake! She can't be afraid of me!"

Before Inuyasha could stop her, Mrs. Higurashi had closed the distance separating her from her daughter. She knelt down and grabbed ahold of one of Kagome's hands, intent on pulling her up from her position on the floor.

Kagome stiffened. Mrs. Higurashi quickly let go of her hand and looked at Inuyasha questioningly. Inuyasha nodded sadly, his eyes still trained on the miko's face.

Mrs. Higurashi slowly got up and backed away. When she reached Inuyasha, she said, "How are we supposed to fix this? It's like she doesn't recognize us…" her voice trailed off sadly.

"Let me try." Inuyasha took a step forward, but was stopped when Mrs. Higurashi grabbed the sleeve of his fire rat gi.

"Don't—you saw how she just reacted!" She whispered angrily.

"That was to you, not me." Inuyasha whispered back just as angry. "I know what I'm doing."

He wrenched his arm out of her grasp, and made his way over to Kagome's side. He reached down and picked her up bridal style. She stiffened immediately.

"It's just me, wench. No one is going to hurt you." Inuyasha held his breath, hoping this worked.

Kagome looked up, her eyes boring into Inuyasha's golden ones. It was as if the whole world had shrunk until it only included the space in between them. The moment seemed to last forever.

As suddenly as it started, it stopped. Kagome buried her face into Inuyasha's shoulder, crying hysterically. He could feel her whole body trembling against his as he gently and silently carried her up the stairs to her room, leaving Mrs. Higurashi speechless in the kitchen.

Inuyasha kicked in the door and then kicked it shut behind him, not caring who heard him. He strode over to Kagome's pink bed and sat down, leaning against the wall with Kagome still in his arms.

"Shh…it's alright..." Inuyasha said, resting his chin on the top of her head.

It was like Kagome couldn't even hear him. She was lost, lost in a nightmare that she couldn't seem to escape. Inuyasha vowed, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, to make Naraku pay for every fucking second she was afraid and miserable.

'Fucking bastard, he will pay for what he's done. I swear on my life, he will pay.'

No matter how hard he tried, however, he couldn't get Mrs. Higurashi's words out of his mind.

"Well, apparently neither are you, or none of this would've happened."

'She's right…I wasn't there to save her. She was gone for days….why the fuck didn't I realize that she was gone? I should have paid more attention. If I had, she would still be happy, not suffering like she is now. It's all my fault…'

Slowly, her cries subsided and her breathing evened out, telling Inuyasha that she had fallen asleep. Inuyasha sat there for who-knows how long, just holding her.

The sound of the door opening greeted his ears sometime later, and he turned his head. Mrs. Higurashi was standing there, a look on her face that Inuyasha couldn't read.

She stepped closer, but stopped a few feet away from Kagome's bedside.

"How is she?" She whispered, not wanting to wake her daughter up and frighten her like she had earlier.

"She's sleeping—for now. She needs to rest." Inuyasha whispered back, not taking his eyes off of the still form in his lap. She appeared to be so exhausted that she didn't notice their conversation.

"I-I'm sorry…for the way I acted earlier. I was just-just afraid for her. I don't want this to happen again—"

"Do you think I wanted this to happen in the first place?" Inuyasha turned to face her, anger and guilt clearly written all over his face.

"Do you think I enjoy seeing her like this? I don't! This…is the last thing I ever wanted." Inuyasha's voice grew softer, until Mrs. Higurashi had to strain to hear what the young half-demon was saying.

"It's like she's so-so broken. I don't know what to do. It's tearing all of us apart. Hell, it's tearing me apart." He hung his head low.

Mrs. Higurashi appeared to consider his words for a moment. "Take her back."

Inuyasha's head snapped up so fast it was a miracle he didn't get whiplash. "What?"

"You heard me. Take her back. It'll be easier for you to protect her there, and clearly she can't stay here…she's a basket case. I don't want to keep her here if it frightens her so much…"

Inuyasha's heart swelled. Even after all that had just happened, Mrs. Higurashi trusted him to protect her daughter. He'd never had that kind of unyielding trust before.

"I'll take her back as soon as she wakes up."

Mrs. Higurashi gave Inuyasha's shoulder a quick squeeze, then quietly left the room, leaving the young half-demon to care for her daughter.

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Kagome opened her eyes slowly, slowly adjusting to the darkness.

She slowly realized that she was not lying on her bed, nor was she in the kitchen. She shifted, and her 'bed' suddenly talked.

"Are you awake?" Kagome recognized Inuyasha's voice immediately.

"Y-yeah…" Kagome whispered back.

"Are you ready to go back?"

"Back where? My mom said…"

"No, she said you could go back. I told her we were leaving as soon as you woke up."

Kagome sat up, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "How long have I been asleep? Last thing I remember is being in the kitchen, and it was daytime."

Inuyasha whispered back, "You mean you don't remember leaving the kitchen?"

Kagome shook her head. "No…I remember sitting at the table, then nothing."

Inuyasha's brow furrowed. 'What?'

Kagome stretched, then stood up.

"Can we leave now, then? I really don't want to be here any longer than I have too." Kagome whispered.

They quietly made their way down the stairs and out the back door. They walked in silence until they made it to the old wellhouse. As Inuyasha opened the door, he heard Kagome's voice.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered quietly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Inuyasha turned to stare at his companion, shutting the wellhouse door behind them.

"For putting you through all of this. I'm really sorry." Kagome hung her head low, and Inuyasha could smell the sudden aroma of salt.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. She looked up to see Inuyasha staring down at her through his amber orbs.

"This is not your fault, wench! Don't blame yourself…It wasn't your fault. Please," his voice uncharacteristically hitched at this point. "If anything, it was my fault."

It was Kagome's turn to get angry. She wrenched herself out of Inuyasha's arms. She backed a couple of steps away from her hanyou protector, anger clearly showing on her features.

"How can you blame yourself? There was nothing you could have done! How dare you blame yourself…this was my fault! I was the one who couldn't stop him from hurting my family! I was the one who couldn't stop him from hurting me! I was the one who couldn't stop him from…from…"

Kagome couldn't finish her sentence. She fell to her knees in the dirt, sobbing hysterically.

Inuyasha stood there dumbfounded. Not since he had found her had she been so angry. There had to be something that he could do to take away her pain…to make her forget what had happened.

So he did the only thing he could do. He sat next to her and pulled her into his lap, comforting her.

'I will make Naraku pay for what he has done…and I will help Kagome…'

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