Pure Anger 12

Sango ran through the forest, breathing heavily. She wasn't tired, and could have easily run for another hour or so, which was good. She would probably need to run for a little while longer. After all, the demons were after her.

They had started appearing a few months ago, when she turned 10. They appeared in the strangest of places. In her dreams. She would have normal dreams just like any other kid, then, suddenly, her dreams would be infested by these invisible creatures. They stalked her endlessly through her dreams, always hunting her. She didn't know what would happen if they caught her, but she could feel deep down that it wasn't good. She knew that she didn't want to be caught by these things. It would not end happily if she was caught.

Now, she was being chased through the forest by a pack of the demons, and they were closing in. No matter how fast she ran, they always caught up. Always. She knew better than to play in the forest, and now she was going to pay. She knew that she should stay in the light, that she was cursed by these demons. She knew that she couldn't spend too long in a dark place before these demons showed up, yet here she was in a dark forest, all alone. If she died, she had no one to blame, no one except herself.

Sango, now ten and a half, ran as fast as she could toward the end of the forest. Where the light was. Where it was safe. She could barely see the demons, but could feel them slipping by her, the occaisional brave demon even going so far as to touch her, slide by her legs. By themselves, they weren't that dangerous, but in a pack, they could bring down anything they wanted. And now they wanted Sango. And Sango didn't know why. She risked a glance behind her, and saw a shadowy figure leap up, reaching out toward her. Sango screamed, sure that she was going to die, and felt a pair of claws dig into her back. She was knocked down into the dirt, and she immediately felt the demons swarm all over her body, their tiny claws poking and slashing at her kimono, cutting at her body. Sango screamed as the demons tore into her, and she wished that she had trained harder, learned to run faster. She felt tears running down her face, and she was sure that she was going to die. It was just a matter of time.

Suddenly, the demons vanished.

Sango sat up, sniffling, and cradled her slashed left arm. She looked around to see what was going on, who had scared them away, but saw nothing. No one was there. She got up, and ran the rest of the way out of the forest, vowing never to go into a dark forest ever again. Or anyplace dark, for that matter.

Sango looked at InuYasha as she finished telling him her encounter with the demons, and said that there were a few other instances, but they were trivial. InuYasha nodded thoughtfully. So basically all they knew was that these demons were supposed to be invisible, but for some reason both he and Sango could see them, and that they were vulnerable to light. They didn't know the origins of such demons, or what their purpose was. But they seemed fixated on Sango. They had stalked and tormented her as a child, and just now, last night. InuYasha knew that the demons weren't after him, for when he awoke, the one he had killed had been staring at Sango. It was an immediate problem, for InuYasha wouldn't have any demons stalking his demon slayer. He would solve this problem.

He wondered what could be immediately done. And the sad truth was, nothing. They couldn't do anything until the demons tried to attack again. For now, all he could do is gather information and try to put it out of his mind.

He laid back, and wondered where Kaede went. It was starting to get dark out, and she never stayed out past dusk. She must have found residence at a different cabin in the village, where she was most likely providing assistance to some of the villagers. InuYasha shrugged, and got about as comfortable as he could on the floor. He closed his eyes, and slowed his breathing. He willed sleep upon him, and was almost asleep when he heard the soft sounds of fabric rustling. He cracked open one golden eye to stare at Sango in annoyance. She was undoing the tie around her waist, and taking off her sword. Hiraikotsu, ever the faithful weapon, leaned against the cabin wall. Sango set the sword against the wall with her bone boomerang, and un-buttoned the first two clasps to her demon slayer uniform. She sighed, and took her ribbon out of her hair, shaking her head until it fell loosely around her shoulders. InuYasha couldn't help but open his other eye to stare. She was very beautiful. His breath caught in his throat when she walked over, hips swaying slightly, to lay down beside him. And she laid down a lot closer than usual.

"Do you mind if I cuddle with you tonight, InuYasha?" She asked, trying not to show her embarrassment. As much as she hated doing so, she had to provide a reason for wanting to sleep beside him so close. She decided that the truth would suffice, should he ask.

He did. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't feel too comfortable sleeping too far away from you in case those demons come back." She said. InuYasha considered what she said for a second, then nodded. He let her lay down beside him, and he tried to suppress his emotions. She laid down on her back, and sighed, stretching out. InuYasha caught sight of her lithe form, and knew that tonight was going to be a long, sleepless night. He was right. Sango started off by turning on her side, and facing InuYasha, who was also on his side. She snuggled right up against him, and put her face inches from his. Her body was pressed lightly against his, and it was driving InuYasha crazy.

Sango groaned, and found she couldn't sleep. The floor of the cabin wasn't at all like the soft ground of the forest, and it hurt her head, She was contemplating what to do, when InuYasha motioned for her to lift her head.

She did so, and he slipped his arm under her head, propping her up off the ground and relieving tension on her neck. It also gave her something comfortable to sleep on. She smiled at him, and whispered her thanks.

"Go to sleep." Was InuYasha's whispered, but firm reply. Sango pouted for an instant, and wondered how to get past the defenses of the uptight hanyou. She wondered if she should. She was taking it way too far, or so she thought. As she stared at InuYasha, she watched his eyebrows slowly go from an angry glare, to their relaxed position, and his breathing slowed. It was obvious that he was still awake, yet balancing on the edge of sleep. She wondered if she was right to want this hanyou. She didn't see anything wrong with him being a hanyou, that was never a problem, but just what he did and the way he lived. It bothered her a bit. She wondered if she would be strong enough to keep up with his day to day activities, if she became his mate. She blushed slightly at that, and was glad that InuYasha's eyes were closed. Her his mate. It had a comfortable feeling to it, but she still couldn't help but get the feeling that something wasn't right. There were so many things about him that she shouldn't like. His killing nature, for example. He slayed anything that got in his way. His anger was atrocious, and he could almost never control it. What he did to her friends. Her eyes hardened at that one. It was high time she forgave him for that. She would forgive InuYasha, and not disgrace Miroku and Kagome by hating him for it. Miroku was always forgiving in his nature, and Kagome would have immediately forgave him for anything he had done, if she were here. She wondered if InuYasha knew that Kagome secretly liked him. She sighed, and decided not to tell him. It would only serve to make him more guilty, and make him think about things that could have been, but never wil be. He had suffered enough. She knew that deep down, InuYasha regretted what he had done, and she didn't want to add to his pain and guilt. Sango looked at the hanyou, and knew that underneath his shirt was a body hardened by years of suffering and getting by on less than she would feed a common dog. InuYasha hadn't been the most popular kid in the village, she was finding out, and the more stories she heard about what had been done to him, the more her heart went out to him. That made her stop. Was she doing all this because she felt sorry for him, or because she liked him? She shook her head. She knew that she liked him. And felt sorry for him. She could do both, right?

She knew that deep down, she liked him more everyday, and that she would never ever try to lead him on if she didn't like him. That's what scared her the most. That she would wake up one day and realize that she only felt sorry for the half breed, and that she didn't actually like him. Besides feeling guilty about leading him on to dream about stuff he would never have, she would be losing out on the one person that might actually care about her. She sighed, and opened her eyes again, to look at the now sleeping boy. He might have done some bad things before, but no one was perfect, right? She certainly wasn't, and she wasn't about to judge him. She knew that if she had lived the life he had, then she would have done a lot worse to Kagome and Miroku a lot sooner. She had to commend him on holding his anger in so long.

But it still didn't make it right. The killing of two innocent humans. It only lessened the shock, made it to be expected. Of course, you treat someone like dirt for 17 years or so, not counting the 50 that he had been pinned to a tree, and they aren't going to be the kindest person in the world. What he had done could be forgiven, and she was determined to find forgiveness for him within her heart. It was there somewhere, she just needed to find it.

Determined to find her own way to forgive InuYasha for what had happened, she finally felt some measure of peace, and she put her arm around his neck, pulling herself closer to him.

InuYasha sighed inwardly. She was finally calming down. For the last ten minutes, he had been getting the most panicked confused, disoriented feeling from her, and apparently she had sorted out whatever she was thinking about, for she calmed down, and was asleep in a few minutes. InuYasha waited to see if she would wake up, but all seemed calm. He cast one last glance at her before closing his eyes, glad that she could find sleep. He was prepared to stay up the whole night with her, if need be. But he didn't have to. She was sleeping, so he could too. With this thought in mind, he slowly drifted off to sleep, mildly liking the feel of Sango sleeping close to him.

A/N: Please Review. Its there. Calling out to you. It wants you.