He walks to you and wraps you up in his arms. "How long have you been watching me?" You ask him. He kisses your neck. "A while." He holds you for a while, looking over the rocks and the flowers. You had been outside, enjoying the sunshine. It seemed to never be too sunny wherever his castle was. You had picked flowers, explored the area a little. "Would you like to see more?" He asks you casually. Without looking at him, you say, "Yes!"

You're led down a steep path between the rocks. There's a small entrance to a cave just below a cliff. Naraku takes you by the hand as you enter the dark cave and continues to lead you further and further in. You can hardly see anything, but Naraku doesn't seem to have that problem. Suddenly light floods your vision, almost blinding you. There's a hole in the ground above you, which allows sunlight to fill the large cavern.

The cavern is breathtaking. It's full of moss and beautiful plants and flowers. There are even a few trees growing from the mud and rocks. Just before the ground opens up into sunlight, there is a jutting waterfall. The sunlight casts rainbows over the pool in the center of the cavern.

"Naraku!" You gasp. "It's gorgeous!" You turn to him, eyes wide. "Can I get in? Is it safe?" He nods and you giggle as you run to the water. Without much thought, you jump in. It's like ice! So cold you can barely move at first. A whimper escapes your lips. You manage to stutter out, "Why didn't you warn me it's so cold?" You ask him.

"You didn't ask." He says plainly, but not unkindly. You realize this is probably the closest to a joke that Naraku has ever made in his whole life. He helps you out of the pool of water and tries to take your clothes off. Though you shouldn't be, you're surprised by his sex drive. How can he be thinking of sex right now? You slap playfully at his hands. He gives you a look of warning, but still utters a small laugh.
"You'll freeze to death if you don't take your clothes off." He smiles, and you know instantly that he's exaggerating. "I'll bring you some fresh clothes." Without another word, he disappears from view. In only a few moments, he returns with some warm, dry clothes. You change. As you do, you talk.

"I have things I need to do. Things I can't tell you about. Dangerous things." You stop fiddling with your kimono and stare at him. "Why?" You ask. He looks away from you and doesn't answer. You know it must be something important, but it doesn't make you feel any better. He pulls you close to him. "Do you have to right now? I just got back." You feel childish for saying so, but you can't help but to selfishly ask.

Naraku buries his face in your hair and breathes deeply. "Yes." He says. He picks you up without further conversation and carries you back to the castle. "Stay here." He commands. "Wait for me." You agree. He tells you that he loves you again, then dashes away.

You consider chasing after him, but between the promise you made and the fact that you stand absolutely no chance of catching up to him, you decide to stay. You lay in the grass and admire the sky. It's so beautiful here. You think. I really could spend the rest of my life here.

The sun is so warm and the breeze so pleasant that you decide to nap outside. You feel tired, probably from all of the stress lately. When you wake up, you're hungry. Hungrier than usual, it's nearly painful. You go back into the castle and into the kitchen. You easily find the dried and fresh fruits, the herbs, the vegetables, but no meat. Just a couple of pitiful strips of dried meat. You eat it greedily, but your stomach still clenches painfully. Just the thought of eating some fruit makes you sick to your stomach. Briefly, you wonder how you might come across some meat. You picture yourself trying to hunt or fish. You've never been particularly good at either, nor do you really have the stomach for it.

It doesn't take long for you to realize that you'll have to go to a village. You sigh. You aren't exactly interested in making your way back to civilization, nor are you looking forward to dealing with the villagers, but it's a necessity.

Donning your sandals and kimono, you decide to get it said and done with sooner rather than later. You vaguely remember the way to the village Naraku had dropped you off at. You hadn't noticed if there was a butcher or not – your chores and errands had mostly consisted of hailing down customers and cleaning – but you figure it's your best bet. There has to be someone there who sells meat, even if they don't own a business. You make sure to grab your bag and the satchel of coins. You break twigs along your wait to be doubly sure that you can find your way back home.

Home. You think, and smile. How sweet it is to have this feeling, even this far from your family.

It takes you a couple of hours, but you finally arrive at the village. No one seems to pay too much attention to you, although you do notice the owner of the hostel glare at you as you pass by. You consider stopping to ask someone where a butcher might be, but you still have a kind of bad taste in your mouth from your last visit.

A man a few buildings away from you walks out of the door with a huge chunk of meat slung over his shoulder. Your heart skips and your stomach growls. Suddenly, the lack of food and the strenuous walk through the forest catch up to you and your head starts to swim. Still you make your way to the shop happily and quickly.

As soon as you enter the shop, you know it's a mistake.

"Woman!" A large, sweaty man yells at you. He's standing across the little shop with a bloody sack in one hand and coins in the other. "What are you doing in here? Can't you see this is a man's shop?" For a moment, you think that you must've accidentally stepped into a whorehouse, but then you realize he means that women aren't supposed to be in here.

"Quiet now," Another man says, nudging the first. "Maybe she's here to sell us a little something, huh?" The group of men all start to laugh. It sends all sorts of red flags and warning bells off. These men are stupid, perverted, twisted... and dangerous.

"Please," You say. "I just want to buy some meat." You blush as another roar of laughter erupts. You hear jeers, mostly in the line of, 'I've got some meat for ya.' But one man, the first, stands out among the others. You've dealt with harassment before, although maybe not to this extent. But what you've not really dealt with before, is blatant and outright sexism.

"What would a woman have, that would be enough for meat? I doubt even pussy could pay for the fine cuts sold here." Another round of laughter from the loud and sweaty men. All of your fears and frustrations from the past few weeks boil up out of your mouth in one, regrettable sentence, "You fucking disgusting pig!"

All laughter is gone now. The men advance on you, you turn to run away, but it's too late. Someone hits you from behind, knocking you forward into the group of men in front of you. Big, Ugly, and Loud is there to catch you, and he isn't kind about it. He grabs you roughly and turns you around, groping your breasts. You try to fight him off, kicking and clawing, but the other men are grabbing your arms and legs. Some are even trying to pull your kimono off.

You start to yell, begging them to stop, cursing them, screaming at them, until one of them brings his foot down on your stomach. You cry out in pain and begin to wail.

Suddenly you hear men yelling. Everything is in a state of chaos. You're dropped to the ground, landing hard and biting your tongue. Men are running all around you. You hear women shouting, as well. What is going on? You wonder. You manage to stand up, feeling sore all over and more tired than ever, and you see Inuyasha and his friends.

Perfect! You think sarcastically. They'll kill me if they see me! You try to find a place to hide, but today is just not your day. Inuyasha and the rest come barging into the shop.

"Oh great." He says, looking directly at you with clear distaste on his face. "All that work just to save Naraku's wench." You blush, but remain silent and glare at him. This doesn't dissuade him, however. "What, can't you talk, or are you too stupid?" He rushes at you suddenly and grabs you. "Where is he, huh? I can smell his stench all over you. It's so thick on you, he must've just been here! Where is he!?" He shakes you roughly. The girl, Kagome, calls out his name.

When he looks back at her, you take your opportunity. You kick him hard in the stomach. It doesn't seem to have much of an affect on him, though he does let out a little grunt and drop you. "Why would I tell you where he is, even if I did know!?" You ask. Your temper is out of control today. Even you are surprised by it. Although you chuck it up to all the stress you've been having.

Still seething, you turn away from Inuyasha and his gang and walk over towards the back of the shop.

"Hey, wait!" Inuyasha calls out. "Where do you think you're going!?" You ignore him, even though he begins to follow you. You find a large knife, a huge chunk of what you think might be beef, and get to work. The cuts aren't pretty, but you're sure that they'll taste good all the same. You wrap the meat up and shove it into your bag.
The whole time, Inuyasha just watches you. "Why do you want to protect something as despicable as Naraku?" He finally asks, his voice calmer than you've ever heard it before. You stop and look at him. You weigh what you'd like to say. The truth? Something sarcastic? Nothing at all? But the girl takes away your choice.

"Because she's in love with him." She doesn't sound like she's making fun or being mean. It seems like she's genuinely trying to make Inuyasha understand that you love the man he hates so much. Your face turns red, not with embarrassment for loving Naraku, but with embarrassment for the situation. Someone Naraku hates not only has a decent understanding of you, but actually rescued you from a bad situation. The whole thing is weird and uncomfortable. You walk from the shop.

You can hear Inuyasha yelling at you, calling after you, but you ignore it and just keep going.

The sun is setting by the time you make your way home, and when you reach it, it's already getting dark. You manage to make a fire in the kitchen. You were planning on making a stew of sorts, but he meat smells so delicious sizzling by itself that you don't bother adding anything else to it. You eat it while it's still piping hot, and it's the most delicious thing you've ever tasted. You eat until you're full, but still your body craves it.

You try not to be too nervous about it, after all, it's not like you've been eating a lot lately. The hostel didn't exactly provide five star meals. When's the last time I stuffed myself? You wonder as you try and fail to stifle a yawn. Your eyelids slam shut and your head falls forward. You'd almost forgotten how tired you were, with all the excitement.

Although you miss Naraku already, you're grateful to be able to go to sleep early. You change out into your nightclothes. You lay down on Naraku's mat, enjoying his smell and the familiar comfort of his blankets. You're asleep within seconds.