Ten

Laughter. Insults. Mockery.

It felt like it was all Inuyasha could hear. It felt it was all his world was.

He hadn't expected it to be so… so easy. For him to revert back to this state — frightened, angry, willing to do anything just for it all to stop. Part of him was well aware, of course, that it had only been a few hours since they had brought him here, kicking him if he wasn't fast enough for them, forcing him to get on his hand and knees, like a dog, as they'd said. Even less since he had been locked up in this cage.

They had tried to get the man to put the Beads on him, probably because that would have been a whole lot of fun, but he turned out to be too drunk to do that, much to the other men's hilarity. The necklace had been put around his neck, but nothing had been said to have it enchanted, and although he was relieved it hadn't been done already, Inuyasha knew he didn't have much time. They'd left him there, going to sleep, still laughing, leaving only the boy who'd placed the ofuda on him behind to watch him. The place was silent now, but the young man did just as he had been told, and kept an eye on him.

Inuyasha didn't think he'd heard a sound as unpleasant as all these laughs before. He didn't think he'd smelled something as terrible as their sweat-covered bodies filled with alcohol.

His mind was spinning. He didn't remember feeling so out of control before, as his hands clawed the ground to maintain his sanity, and as he fought back the growl that was forming in his throat as strongly as he could. He didn't want to risk worsening it — and even that wasn't like him, but rather like a part of him long-buried, that he had thought to have disappeared. He was only a child when he had been truly alone for the last time, after all. Afterwards, even in the darkest moments of his interactions with the soldiers-monks, Kikyo had been there, somewhere.

But Kikyo wasn't there right now, and somehow, just the memory of her wasn't enough to keep the horror of his situation at bay. There was nothing for him to hold on to, except…

Except that Kagome was alright.

He kept himself firmly anchored to the ground as his thoughts immediately drifted towards her the second her name surfaced in his mind, giving him some sort of peace.

She was away from all that. If he was lucky, she'd be coming with support soon, though to be honest, he didn't believe it would happen. He had talked about Kaede's letter, and theoretically, that should have been enough, but he had no faith in soldiers. He wasn't even sure they'd treat her right. He hoped they'd get her back to somewhere safe, at least. It couldn't be worse than here.

Could it?

He closed his eyes shut as hard as he could, calling for the memory of her face. Of her smile that made him feel like he couldn't breathe, but in a good way. About the way she talked to him. Not like she thought he was lower than dirt, nor like he worked for her. Like he was a person.

Kagome.

He clung to her face as his grip on the ground slowly but surely relaxed.

There was no way she'd be there on time. He was sadly familiar with the place and they were really far away from any place with soldiers. He'd have been able to get them, had the situation been reversed, but…

Just the thought of her being locked here in this cage instead of him, or worse, out there with them made his teeth clench, and it suddenly became much harder to refrain his growl, to the point where it ended up escaping his throat. His jailer made his tongue click.

"Wouldn't try anything if I were you, beast. I mean, the others probably wouldn't be all that happy if you woke 'em up with your screaming."

He had a sick smile on his face, and Inuyasha understood immediately that he would absolutely make him scream, would definitely take his chance if he gave him one. Probably got off on the idea that they'd be try to kill at him if he woke them up, too.

And this was a kid. No more than twelve or thirteen, probably. What kind of training did they go through at the castle? Inuyasha didn't think he wanted to know, but to be honest it didn't change all that much in his mind. He'd gone through pretty shitty stuff — and that was the understatement of the century — and he hadn't turned into a bloodthirsty, sadistic monster. He'd fought for his life, yeah, and there had been deaths. But he had never enjoyed it like that boy was enjoying the power he had over him.

If this was what they were taught, no wonder most monks and soldiers coming out of formation were half-insane and taking pleasure in hurting people like him. Inuyasha was going to just let it be and try to get some sleep before the horror that would no doubt unfold in the morning.

That was when the kid grabbed a stick.

It vaguely looked like a monk's staff, and for a split second, Inuyasha felt cold fear spreading in his veins. The boy wasn't trained enough, there was no way…

Nah, he simply tried to hit Inuyasha through the cage's bars, and it was just as sick but Inuyasha felt relief at that. He didn't have much of a problem with physical pain, and the first blow hit him without him even blinking.

He couldn't say it felt good, but it didn't really matter. Why should he worry about pain when there could be so much worse?

"…you don't have to be in pain!"

His mouth twitched. Kagome was already invading his mind again. Was this going to become the norm? He hadn't been away from her in the past weeks, so he hadn't realized she was so present in his thoughts. He remembered her gentle fingers, massaging away the pain. Treating so much more than his physical wounds with her soft hands.

When the staff hit again, Inuyasha caught it. He had no intention to do it. He had meant to let the boy have his fill, knowing that it wouldn't do much to him. There was just a part of him, the one that wasn't feeling terrified and lonely, that had decided that he'd just had fucking enough.

With a simple pressure of his fingers, the wood practically exploded in his hand, as he revealed his fangs in a snarl. Maybe he wouldn't be fast enough to break through the cage and to rip the boy's throat out.

But maybe he would, and that was all the kid needed to think about as he stumbled back. Inuyasha's eyes widened when the boy reached inside his kimono, getting an ofuda out with trembling movements. Inuyasha clenched his teeth, hesitating. He did have a chance to escape, even though it could be dangerous.

He didn't have to make a decision. He heard the crack of wood on bone, and the boy fell forwards, caught by slender arms that stopped him from hitting the ground too hard.

Inuyasha stared at the figure who had just appeared there, refusing to believe what he was seeing. No fucking way. Didn't I tell her… He opened his mouth, ready to snarl angrily, but Kagome beat him to it, moving her arm through the bars to press her hand against his lips.

"Shh!" she hissed. "Just wait!"

She made brief eye-contact with him, but glanced away quickly, too quickly for him. He wanted more than that, just to be certain that she was truly there. The short contact of their skins should have convinced him, but the part of his mind that had gone back to how he was and felt as a child refused to believe it. Like he still couldn't believe anyone could be nice to him ever again after his mother's death.

Kagome had no way of knowing any of that though, and she quickly made her way around the cage, finding the door. He noticed her stopping to look at the boy who she had laid on the ground and the guilty expression that briefly appeared on her face, and he would have snorted in another situation. This was not the time for regrets.

Much to his surprise, as soon as she looked away; she inserted the key in the lock, opening it as silently as she could. She had to have been there for a while to have gotten hold of that, and as he realized just then, to have followed them here. Why hadn't he smelled her before? Now that she was there, her smell, that had progressively grown on him since he had met her, was practically the only thing he was really aware of. Had he let their terrible smells drown hers out? He wouldn't make that mistake again.

He was so unsure of everything right now, despite what his eyes and nose were telling him, that he almost missed Kagome's extended hand toward him, reaching inside the cage.

"Inuyasha!" she called in a distressed whisper, bringing him back to reality.

In one swift movement he was out. He had grabbed her small hand in his clawed one, and almost instantly he found himself standing close to her, towering over her, her chest pressed against his as his other hand went for her waist, trying to confirm that she was real, that she was here. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to let himself indulge in everything her.

The thought that he couldn't drove him insane, but still, he stepped back, still holding her hand.

"Let's go," he ordered, his voice a low growl.

There was a brief moment where Kagome considered commenting on how, yeah, she had no intention to stay there even before he told her about it, but she pushed the thought aside instantly. What on earth was on her mind right now? They had to get away, now.

Without making a sound, the two of them proceeded to walk across the camp to get out. Inuyasha could have just taken them through it, as that would have been faster, but he was afraid an abrupt change in the position of his demonic aura would alert the monk — even if he was asleep and drunk. After that, not only would they be back to square one, but this time, the bandits would know for sure he wasn't alone, and he couldn't have that.

They were almost out when the boy woke up.

Inuyasha sensed him as he sat up, but it was too late, too far, and though he should have fucking thought about it, because there was no way Kagome's strength could knock him out for a long time, he hadn't.

"They're trying to escape!"

His voice was high-pitched, making Inuyasha grimace and Kagome jump as she looked around, terrified. Already, the men were trying to get up, surprisingly alert considering the state they were in when they'd gone to bed, but then, given how close they lived from demons lands, they were probably used to that stuff.

"Well what do we have here?" someone chuckled as his hand grabbed Kagome's ankle. She screamed, and Inuyasha cursed as he sliced the fucker's wrist with his claws, earning a shout of pain.

Kagome stepped back, in shock and terrified. She could barely feel her legs with how scared she was. She had failed. With them awake now, Inuyasha would be… Inuyasha would be—

She screamed again when hands clasped on her shoulders this time, pulling her backwards and away from Inuyasha. She felt his hand slip from between her fingers and saw his terrified expression when he turned around. The fear she read on his face was so unlike him…

"Kagome!"

He moved towards her, but found himself surrounded by the men. He felt every muscle in his body tense as he assessed the situation. He didn't want to murder them, however he would have no problem with it whatsoever if they stood between him and her. He flexed his fingers. He could tell they wanted blood. Men always looked like this when they were going in for a kill. Well, if that was what they wanted…

He caught movement at the corner of his eye, briefly distracting him from Kagome who was struggling, still fighting the men trying to immobilize her. The monk. Shit, he'd forgotten about it. And he was wearing the Beads…

The ofuda struck him in the chest and he heard Kagome's scream as he fell to his knees.

"Kagome!" he snarled as the monk, looking a bit confused — the hangover no doubt — walked towards him, grinning. "Enchant the Beads!"

She looked at him in disbelief. She'd never— She had no idea— How could she—

"Say something!"

Her mind was completely blank.

"Anything!"

The monk was opening his mouth.

"Sit!"

She didn't know anything about her powers, had never had any training, but she put all her desperation into that one word, closing her eyes as she prayed internally for it to work. She wasn't too sure where it was coming from, and maybe she could have worried about Inuyasha's reaction in other circumstances, but suddenly, she felt completely drained, and her senses dulled. She heard the sound of something hitting the ground harshly and she opened her eyes, which resulted in tears escaping and rolling on her cheeks.

Inuyasha… What had she done?

Then, the silver-haired head reappeared, standing up, and she could have cried simply at the sight of him, simply because he was there and he was alive, if the situation didn't feel that desperate.

Except, Inuyasha… He was smiling.

And then, he attacked.

The men didn't stand a chance. He took out the two people with spiritual powers first. Now that he had the certainty they wouldn't be able to use the Beads against him, they only had ofudas, and the thought was reassuring to him. Plus, in the middle of their own camp, he could be sure there would be no traps.

Which meant he didn't have anything to worry about.

The fight was short and unbalanced; the men stood no chance. As soon as the real threat was out, he took care of the men who were surrounding Kagome, showing them no mercy. He knew there may be other ofudas here and there, but he didn't think that would be enough to neutralize him in his state, and he had no reasons to worry about it.

The rest was more complicated. They had weapons, they were aware of what was going on, and it wasn't like they were untrained. Still, they were no soldiers, and though he did get some more or less serious injuries in the process, he didn't worry about it. These were not demon slayers' weapons, they'd heal fast.

Once he was done, his eyes went back to Kagome. She was standing still, frozen, looking at him, and the fear that was completely unknown to him just a month ago ran through him once more. What if she thought he was a monster? He could only imagine how he looked right now, his hands covered in blood, moans of pain coming from everywhere around him. He'd tried not to kill anyone, but she had no way to know this.

He looked at her, panting, his fangs in full view, his arms limp on either side of his body as blood dripped to the ground from his hands and slowly soaked his clothes. He could smell it, too, and he frowned, trying to get rid of the unpleasant odor, which was impossible in those circumstances.

Kagome took a step towards him, extending her hand, and he had to resist recoiling when she came in contact with his chest.

"Inuyasha," she called out. Her voice was soft, and the part of him that was still rational easily guessed that she was trying to calm him down. She was trembling though, clearly having a hard time standing up. She was fighting it, and he realized just then how much he loved how strong she was, but right now she couldn't keep doing this on her own.

"Let's go," she whispered. She'd meant it as something reassuring, to get him away from here as he clearly looked in shock after what had just happened, but it ended up ringing as though she was begging him.

He turned around, presenting her his back.

"Get on." His voice was rough, even hoarser than usual. "We're leaving."

He heard a muffled sob of relief, and soon he felt her hands on his shoulders. His hands grabbed her legs, making her kimono reveal her ankles and shins. She practically let herself fall on him, and he could only guess how tired she had to be.

He'd get her somewhere safe.

Kagome was half-unconscious for most of the ride. She wasn't sure whether it was the lack of sleep, or the use of her newly discovered powers, or maybe Inuyasha's comforting warmth that made her feel so safe, but she couldn't keep her eyes open.

She did really wake up when they walked into the inn. Inuyasha dropped her to the ground, but kept her pressed against him, his arm firm around her waist. She blinked when he walked in, trying to get accustomed to the light. Nothing too bright, just a few torches, but it was still much more than the moonlight.

The innkeeper jumped to his feet, glancing around, horrified.

"Back up, demon, we—"

"Shut up," Inuyasha snarled. He was in no mood for games, not after tonight. "The Princess needs a room. Now."

There was a moment of shocked silence, during which the man simply dumbly looked between Kagome and Inuyasha. Kagome had to admit, she wasn't at her best, in terms of looking regal and all, but she did her best to give the man a nod. Still, he seemed to hesitate. In another situation, she wouldn't have blamed him for that. Right now, though…

"I think he was more than clear," she hissed, hoping she didn't sound as exhausted as she felt.

This time, the man's eyes stopped on her, and he decided that angering the Princess was probably worse than letting the demon inside. Well, it would no doubt have worse consequences anyway. It wasn't like the Princess's, ahem, curiosity of a companion was a secret either. It was strange enough to be talked about, and the man with the silver hair did look close enough from whatever descriptions he'd heard before. As for the woman, she definitely looked like the Princess — but then again, he had only seen her once, when she'd visited, and he was in the middle of a crowd.

Still, he didn't want to anger them and he made his decision quickly, giving them an obsequious smile and bow. It didn't take long before he showed them to a room. He hovered around them for a moment until Inuyasha shot him a furious glare while laying Kagome on the futon as carefully as he could. It was only then that he walked away, sliding the door close behind him.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth, his mind briefly going to the man. He'd have to make sure he wouldn't try to attack them or throw them out during the night, but if he had been convinced by Kagome's act, he probably wouldn't bother her at least. Even if he hadn't been convinced — just in case. Part of him was protesting at what he was doing, how close from Kagome he'd appeared, because what would people say and think about Kikyo, but for the first time, he had no problem pushing that aside.

Right now, he was taking care of Kagome.

She grunted as he laid her down, and immediately moved to sit back up. He let her with a sigh. He could tell her mind was far from clear, and he was a bit worried about the implication, when it came to the Beads. Did that have anything to do with her tired state? Because even though it was probably the best they could have done, he couldn't forget how she had no experience with that shit.

He rose his hand to her face, softly pushing her hair behind her ear, and then his hand just stayed there, playing with the lock. She stared at him, and there was some sort of veil over her blue eyes. Maybe it was just exhaustion, but he couldn't help but worry now.

He should have thought about it before, to be honest. Should have asked her to train ever since she had first managed to use purification, to reproduce it. They had been pretty fucking lucky, though it wasn't just a lucky guess from him to assume that her powers were triggered by emotions and urgency. He couldn't let it happen again though. He had no intention of letting her having to save him ever again, but in case she had to defend herself, she'd have to be able to conjure it herself.

It wouldn't be simple — like they'd already discussed, it would be hard to get anyone to train her without putting her family in danger — but it was definitely necessary. Maybe he would ask Kikyo.

Kikyo, who had been kidnapped weeks ago, who was alone, and they were wasting even more time—

Yeah. He didn't want to think about Kikyo just now.

"Y'should sleep," he said. "We'll be leaving around noon tomorrow so ya can get some rest and won't just faint on me. No need to waste it."

Despite his words, he didn't move away. He liked how comfortable he felt around her, and he doubted he'd be in that mindset for a long time, but right now… Right now he didn't want to move away.

"Are you okay?" she finally whispered.

She had meant to ask ever since she had gotten on his back, but everything in her mind was just so tangled and none of it made sense and she couldn't tell what the hell was going on with her. Inuyasha nodded as he leaned a bit closer towards her. Their foreheads were almost touching now, and she could feel his hot, slow breath on her skin.

"Fine."

She would have to wait for the next morning to get a better answer. It was necessary, both for her mind and for his, but she didn't really want to end this with just a 'fine'. When she felt him finally moving away — she couldn't tell how long they'd stayed like that — she grabbed his wrist, or at least she tried to, and her fingers closed around the red cloth.

"Where are you going?"

She didn't mean to sound that desperate, that lost. She just really, really didn't want him to go away right now.

"Gonna get the horse," he whispered. Was it just her or was his voice really much gentler than it usually was? "That way we'll have the money and your letter for tomorrow morning. I'll be back soon, Kagome."

Her grip tightened on his sleeve. She was unable to process the way he had said her name just now, how tenderly, like he didn't want to risk wearing it out but couldn't resist using it anyway.

"You're going back there? Inuyasha, please…"

Once again, her mind and her ideas felt like they were slipping away, and she found herself only staring into his golden eyes, silently pleading. For him to stay, for him not to leave her alone, for him to be safe, for him never to scare her like that again.

And suddenly, his mouth was on hers.

It wasn't a soft nor a sweet kiss, and Kagome let out a surprised sound at the contact of his warm mouth against hers. She let him, though, instantly feeling herself melting into his arms, as the hand that was already playing with her hair pulled her closer. The movement, and his other hand grabbing her waist, was almost rough, despite being definitely careful. It was like he would have been soft and gentle, if only he had known how.

She gasped when their mouths separated briefly, going back in as soon as she'd filled her lungs with air, as her fingers found his face and gently traced his jaw, softly wandering on his cheeks, compensating every part of his harshness with how tender she was. She finally pulled away, letting her head rest against his chest. His heavy breaths filled the room. She felt as though she should have said something, done something. But it felt so right to just be here. With him.

Her eyes closed, and she was sleeping before she knew it.

"Hey, ya got enough sleep."

Kagome moaned as she opened her eyes with much difficulty and brought her hand to her forehead. She had a terrible headache.

"Get up already, enough time lost. We gotta go."

She looked up to see Inuyasha, sitting on the window. He wasn't looking at her, and the realization made her frown as the previous night's events slowly came back to her. Was there a problem…?

She stood up and was surprised to find her legs strong under her. It looked like her body had taken advantage of the rest more than her mind. Inuyasha jumped up almost immediately.

"I already paid. We're leaving, now."

This time, she grimaced. Oh, were they really back to that?

"I heard it the first time, Inuyasha," she hissed. "I just feel like my head's going to explode, okay?"

She missed the guilty expression that passed on his face. It didn't last long though, and soon it was replaced with an annoyed scowl.

"Yeah, though. But we have things to do, and it's already late."

This time, she actually glared at him. She was hesitating between shock and pure, sheer fury.

"It's not like it's my fault!" she protested.

He merely shrugged at that, and she could practically hear his comment on humans' weakness, even though it never left his mouth. He simply walked pass her, and maybe she was wrong, but it felt to her like he deliberately moved away as he did, making sure not not to touch her.

Kagome watched him leave in disbelief, feeling emotions building up inside her. Shock, confusion, hurt… And once more, anger.

She was done playing these games. She knew there was much more to him than she had first thought, and she knew she'd only scraped the surface of how much he had suffered, but it didn't make it okay for him to just keep toying with her.

She swallowed, refusing to let the tears fall out of her eyes. If this was what he wanted, this was what she would give him. She was done getting out of the way to help him, to make things nicer between them. She'd told herself that before, and she knew it, but she truly thought they had moved past this stade. She truly thought that they were sharing something now.

Obviously, she had been wrong.

She shook her head resolutely. She was done.

So she walked out of the room with her head high, and she ignored the way her heart ached with every step she took.

Heyyy, so, erm... This is late? I'm sorry? I hope you enjoyed it at least (and we finally got the kiss, even though things are not that easy coz everything's complicated in Inu's pretty little mind). We're probably coming close to a third/a half of the story now, and I hope you're enjoying it! Thank you so much for sticking around despite how irregular I can be, it all means so much to me! Please leave me a review to let me know what you thought, they're a real boost for me and they really help me to keep writing. I know I say it every time, but it's so important for a writer! I will see you soon, hopefully,

Dya.