Chapter XIII: Lies and Truth

Time stopped, and the sun's rays seemed to pale. A light breeze blew through Enomoto's square, ruffling the clothes of three people staring stunned at one another.

The wind broke Kouga's paralysis, and he dropped Kagome's hands, pulling her tight to him. She didn't notice; her eyes never left the stranger.

Inu-Yasha watched Kouga's fingers dig into Kagome's waist, making their bodies seamless as he tucked her up against him, and felt white-hot fury claw up his throat. "Those should be my hands," his voice went low.

"You?" Kouga growled. "Like hell."

Inu-Yasha returned the growl and fought the urge to rush forward. Every nerve screamed to take the girl up in his arms and weep. She was alive.

He tried to wrap himself in anger and wear it as armor. It knotted hard in his stomach and mingled with painful longing as he drank in the contours of Kagome's face, sharper now from a hard winter. Her hair was a year longer, falling far down her back, and she wore a coarse skirt and frayed shirt, in the manner of any village woman. But she wasn't. She didn't belong here. She belonged with him.

Inu-Yasha looked back to Kouga, who held Kagome with a boldness lacking the bluster of his clasps of long ago. He clutched as if by right, and she leaned into him, accepting his embrace without any of her former reservations. Inu-Yasha stared at her chest rising and falling, and felt the strength ebb from his arms, defeat crashing deep into his core. "You're… alive," the words broke in his throat.

Kagome flinched at the hurt she saw on this armed man, taking in the travel dust coating his legs, and the heave of his chest and shoulders as he fought for air. "You've come a great distance," she said softly.

He nodded.

"Why?"

Amber eyes studied hers, and Kagome dropped her gaze at their intensity.

Inu-Yasha gulped for breath – the air around him seemed sucked of oxygen. "It's been a year," Tessaiga went heavy in his hands. "And you're still angry?"

Kagome snapped her head up. "What?"

Inu-Yasha searched blue-gray eyes he thought he'd never see again and saw no unspoken warmth or recognition. It was as if he was a stranger.

"I'm sorry," he began. "I never meant to hurt you. I didn't know you would run away. I thought you understood—."

"What…?" She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Confusion filled his face.

Kagome stepped from Kouga's arms, eyeing the giant sword raised high. "Who are you?"

Hiro woke from his trance as a snarled threat reverberated against the hut's walls. Opening his eyes, he instinctively palmed the cold chair beside him and found Kagome gone. Looking toward the sound, he saw her silhouetted past the open doorway, wrapped up against Kouga. Over their shoulders, a demon fang of unbelievable breadth stood poised.

An unfamiliar voice spoke. "Those should be my hands."

Kouga growled a response, and Hiro pushed back from the table, snatching a crumpled curse spell from his robe. The first of many enemies had found Enomoto. He stood, just as a new voice responded.

"You've come a great distance."

It was Kagome, in a tone he'd never heard, and Hiro hesitated, holding the paper strip aloft.

"Why?"

"It's been a year… and you're still angry?"

The enemy spoke as if he knew her. Hiro moved to the door and braced himself against the side of its frame, too tall to listen behind the tense couple. Lifting the curse with two fingers, he waited.

"…I didn't know you would run away. I thought you understood."

Run away?

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

Kagome was lying. The healer heard the highness that always gave her away.

"Who are you?" Her voice hiked higher.

A pause, pregnant with disbelief, echoed the question. The stranger managed a choked sound, as if he'd been struck in the chest, and Hiro's eyes found Kouga's back. The youkai's shoulders were drawn together, tense with anger, knowing she lied too.

The sword shook, and a snarl cut through the air. "What have you done to her Wolf?"

Kouga's claws flexed down into fists. "Nothing."

Another snarl. "Liar! You've hid her this ENTIRE time!"

"No!"

"Did you think I wouldn't find her? Wouldn't take her back?" Accusation made the stranger's voice grow ugly.

"She's not yours to take."

"She is!"

"You didn't save Kagome from the waterfall. I did."

"And then you HID her!"

"We DIDN'T hide!"

"I searched this valley – you put some kind of spell over it."

Kouga snorted. "Or perhaps your weak hanyou senses failed you."

Hiro's eyes widened. Hanyou?

"I was able to enter the village and approach without you noticing," Inu-Yasha countered.

"Because I was preoccupied."

"With groping my woman!"

"She's not yours!"

"She is!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Hiro listened to their back-and-forth arguing as it reduced to unintelligible barking and watched Kagome cover her ears against the growls and snarls ripping through the air.

Perhaps now was the time to intervene.

He inhaled deeply and eased into the doorway.

Umi and Teru lay on their stomachs, clay spreading out in a forgotten pile behind them. Neither spoke as Kouga and the hanyou's exchange became more and more canine. Peering from the roof, they saw Kagome wince and cover her ears.

Teru elbowed his friend, and they shared a look. Nodding, both got to their feet.

Inu-Yasha's anger raged. He hefted the sword above his head as two men appeared from the roof, and one stepped out from behind Kouga.

"Careful stranger," said the man in the doorway, sun glinting off a gold armband around his bicep. He clamped a hand on Kouga's shoulder, showing a curse spell between his fingers.

Inu-Yasha frowned. "What's this?" He turned to Kagome. "Who are these humans?"

"Friends," she craned her neck to see Teru and Umi. "Members of our village."

"Your… village?"

"Enomoto."

Inu-Yasha studied her a second time in disbelief. Dark circles lay heavy under her eyes, and clay smudged her cheek. Dressed in brown and gray, instead of bright green and white, perfected the illusion that she was one of them – like this time was really hers, and that she had never lived in a world with speeding metal animals and smooth paths of hard, black rock and yellow lines.

The man with the curse spell moved from Kouga's side toward her, and asked, "Are you alright Kagome?"

Inu-Yasha heard loyalty in the question and realized he waited on her answer.

She shook her head mutely.

The men on the roof parted at once and ran to opposite sides, sitting and kicking their feet out. Jumping down, they cornered Inu-Yasha in moments.

Kouga came up and circled Kagome's waist once more, and she turned and lifted her arms to his neck.

"Kagome," Inu-Yasha whispered her name in a way he'd almost forgotten. "This isn't your home," he saw her begin to tremble. It seemed more from his voice, than his words.

His eyes burned into her back, and Kagome shook her head a second time, willing away the painfully-familiar stare.

Inu-Yasha tried again. "I had to tell your mother you died."

Tears sprang to her eyes. "What?"

"She lives on the other side of the well outside Kaede's village," he waited for a reaction. "With your brother and grandfather?"

Kagome ground her teeth together. "Too much. You're too much," she pressed her face into Kouga.

"Kagome… please," Inu-Yasha stepped forward, extending an arm out to her.

"Stop saying my name!" Kouga's shoulder couldn't muffle the anger in her voice. "You break into my world and speak of grief with a sword aimed at me?"

Inu-Yasha's ears flattened, and he lowered the fang instantly.

"Please…," Kagome felt long trails of wet spill down her cheeks. "Please leave. I beg you."

He shook his head. "I can't," he spoke as if she was the only person there. "I tried living without you. Tried for a year."

"My sister wants you gone," Umi reached for his elbow, and Inu-Yasha backed up, easily avoiding him.

"Don't do this Kagome," he pleaded.

"She doesn't remember you," Kouga palmed the back of her head, glaring daggers. "Her life is here now. With me."

Inu-Yasha's eyes widened. "Doesn't remember?" Dawning filled him. "The fall affected her memory?"

"No," Kouga's hand became lost in his wife's hair. "She chose to forget."

Umi and Teru surged forward and grabbed Inu-Yasha's arms; Tessaiga thudded to the ground, forgotten.

"NO!" Inu-Yasha broke out of their hold and rushed for Kagome. With a roar, he ripped her from Kouga, slashing claws deep into the youkai's chest. Blood bloomed across his front, and Kouga grunted, dropping to a knee

Chose.

She chose.

Pain dampened Inu-Yasha's senses. Without thinking, he hoisted the girl to his back, as he had done countless times before, and turned, shoving past Teru and Umi. Breaking into a sprint, he ran through the village common. Angry shouts sounded behind him, and Inu-Yasha pushed his legs harder. They had to escape.

"Put me down!" All traces of frailness vanished – Kagome smelled of fury.

Inu-Yasha hitched her thighs tight around him. "I'm rescuing you."

"From what?!"

He cleared Enomoto and headed for the forest. "Yourself."

Inu-Yasha ran until his lungs burned, and then he ran more. Kouga's blood coated his claws and left smears across Kagome's skin where his fingers dug. She didn't hold his hair like she used to, pounding her fists against his back and screaming oaths of every kind instead. Her swears, whether from volume or variety, startled birds around them into flight.

Still he ran.

Kouga didn't follow. His scent had become smothered by humans, as if the whole village surrounded him and held him back, preventing pursuit.

For now.

A cave appeared in the distance, and it wasn't until they'd reached its dark mouth that Inu-Yasha realized Tessaiga wasn't at his side.

Kagome shouted louder as they entered. He moved deep inside and crouched to let her get down, keeping hold of a forearm. Though he wasn't versed in the tactics of abduction, he knew she would break into flight if he gave her the slightest opportunity. Still protesting, Kagome hopped off and spun for the opening, greeted by a bloody hand clamping over her mouth.

"Quiet," he hissed, swiveling his ears back and forth, checking that the cave was abandoned.

Kagome grabbed his wrist, trying to pry it away, and Inu-Yasha cursed, shoving her against a rock wall.

"Stop," he leaned in with a serious look. "I'm not going to hurt you," his chest heaved against hers, and she stilled as it took over the space between them, pushing her back until every jutting bit of the wall poked her spine. His breath fell by her ear, warm and close, and made shivers she didn't consciously conjure run down her frame. Their noses almost touched, and a lock of dark hair brushed his cheek.

Inu-Yasha removed his hand. Red covered her mouth, and Kagome wiped at it angrily. Staring at her bloody palm, she drew it back and slapped him in the jaw. "You've already hurt me," her fingers left wet streaks across his cheek. "Take me back."

"No."

"Monster!" She hit him again and again, each clap ringing throughout the cave, echoing off the one before. "You attacked Kouga! Take me BACK."

Inu-Yasha didn't blink, letting the blows come, knowing they were deserved for more than his recent display of violence. Now, they both wore blood.

Kagome cried out and struck him once more, putting all her strength into the swing. It connected with a jarring smack, filling the small space with rage and sound, and she shook against him as it ebbed.

"Feel better?"

She had cut his lip, and a line of red ran from his mouth.

"Why did you have to come?" Kagome hiccupped the words, fighting back tears, and Inu-Yasha leaned in, pressing his forehead into her hair.

"Because I needed you."

She shook harder. "You let me fall."

His heart sped up. "You remember?"

She pushed against his chest, trying to put space between them. "Only in dreams."

Inu-Yasha felt the pressure of her hands and momentarily resisted, wanting to lay as much claim as Kouga had and remind her that he had been the one to hold her first. "Dreams?" She pushed with more fervor, straining her arms, and he reluctantly obliged, moving back.

"You're the boy," Kagome rubbed the blood from her face. "The boy trapped against Goshinboku."

"I was once," Inu-Yasha gave her a hard look. "But that was long ago."

"Was it?"

He nodded. "Before these," he touched the beads of a prayer necklace half-hidden in the collar of his haori.

Kagome watched the beads clink together. "A subduing spell."

"You were there when Kaede forced it over my head."

"I was?"

"How else would you recognize them?"

Kagome lifted her chin. "Hiro believes I'm a miko. He's taught me about enchantments."

Inu-Yasha managed a half-smile. "He believes? You don't?"

She started. "I-I'm not sure."

"If someone has to spend a year convincing you," his look turned knowing. "You're no miko."

Kagome's eyes widened. "I'm not?"

"No," the smile tightened in pain. "Part of your soul belongs to a priestess, but it's the part separated from your body."

"What?"

"Never mind," Inu-Yasha pulled her chin down. "You have other powers."

Kagome jerked away from his touch. "Soul?" She was surprised by the irritation rising in her stomach. "You speak like you have one."

He smiled again. "Have you taken back up your bow?"

"Back up? I started practicing last winter."

"Didn't you wonder why you held it with such ease? Why the lessons came as second nature?"

Kagome gritted her teeth. "You think you can just dismiss me and change the subject?"

"Afraid to answer my question?"

She ignored his bait. "What did you mean, 'part of my soul belonged to a priestess'?"

Inu-Yasha sighed. "It's a long story."

"Well, why else kidnap me?" Kagome leaned back and looked over expectantly. "You have the floor."

"You're the same," he ran fingers through his hair, sighing again. "Exactly the same."

"A few things have changed."

"Oh?" A fang poked from his mouth. "Like what?"

Kagome's hand rose to her collar, knowing now was the time to show him Kouga's mark – show this man how much he didn't know her. She touched the neck of her shirt and hesitated, feeling Inu-Yasha watch her, brows arching in curiosity. She clenched the fabric, but didn't pull it down. "A lot can change in a year," she said lamely, shame filling her face.

"Yeah," he said dryly, oblivious to her turmoil. "When you run away and pretend to be someone new."

"I wasn't left with much choice," Kagome shot back.

"Were you shackled to Enomoto?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Better to ask how I ended up here at all," the truth came like another slap. "Why did I fall from that waterfall?"

Inu-Yasha went silent.

"No quick response?" Kagome left the cold rock, palming the sides of his face. "You claim to know everything about me," she felt his jaw tighten under her fingers. "What did my mind choose to protect me from?"

Guilt darkened his eyes, making them almost brown. "You know what," he mumbled, looking away.

She clutched harder. "Tell me."

Inu-Yasha's temper ignited to match hers, and he grabbed her hands, yanking them off. "Why do you care?"

"It's important!"

"Important?" He threw her arms to the side. "I've spent every day of the last year thinking about you Kagome! How many have you spent thinking of me?"

"Did you think of me because you felt my absence, or your own guilt?" She countered.

His answer stayed just inside his mouth in a rare show of self-restraint, but Kagome knew it anyway.

"Don't come to me with accusations," she muttered. "You're here to make yourself feel better."

Inu-Yasha snatched her shoulders, as if to shake in sense. "How can you say that?"

"Because we both know I never should've fallen in the first place."

"I'm fine!" Kouga brushed Hiro away and finished tying the bandage around his chest himself. Rising, he saw Eichiro and Sen, spears in hand, hurrying to join the group around him.

Akina hovered at his side, looking pale, and Toushi and Umi stood with hands in pockets, waiting for Teru to return with his bow and extra spears.

Kouga palmed Hiro back and cleared his throat loudly. "Thank you for the concern, but there's nothing to worry about," he addressed the crowd huddled close. "I can smell them and know exactly where he's taken her."

"What about you?" Someone called behind Akina. The headwoman moved aside, and her daughter set wide eyes on Kouga.

"That demon took Kagome," she said. "Your Kagome."

Kouga forced a half-smile. "I know Mika, and I'm going to get her back."

Her eyes grew bigger. "What if he hurts you again?"

It took all of his strength to keep his rage in check, knowing it wasn't for Mika to see. "He attacked in a disgraceful manner, using surprise," Kouga sought an even tone. "I won't give him the same chance again," hatred clawed his insides as he imagined the hanyou impaled by his arm, coughing blood and going slack.

Eichiro came panting to a halt in front of them. "And we'll be there to make sure," the headman patted a large axe strapped to his back and stamped the butt of his spear.

"No," Kouga fixed him with a resolute look. "I'll make sure."

The man gave an uncharacteristic frown. "She may be your wife, but she's my sister. No one threatens this family."

"Kagome would like that you said so," Kouga mustered another smile. "But I need to go alone. This is something I should have done a long time ago."

Eichiro heard the anger his friend didn't voice. "I understand your worry Kouga, but fear for another can blind a man."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not merely a man."

Kagome kept looking over her shoulder, but the path remained empty. Her feet crunched on leaves and twigs, and she sped to a jog. The river was ahead.

She wished again for her bicycle, cursing that the treads were so conspicuous in Sengoku Jidai. If only it wasn't so far.

She reached the river and waded into its shallow depths. Water soaked her shoes, and she let the current swirl around her ankles until its cold had seeped through her socks. With a last glance back, Kagome stepped onto the far bank.

Thick forest lay beyond, and she plowed onward. Her legs knew the way as she nimbly avoided roots and hidden animal niches. Branches caught on her school uniform, and she ducked to avoid contact with her skin, lest they grab her scent.

She should make it before nightfall. Kagome smiled, knowing who was waiting.

"Hey."

Kagome felt a poke in her side.

"Wake up."

The poke came again, aiming for rib.

"I'm awake," she cracked open an eye.

The hanyou crouched in front of her, wearing an unreadable expression. "Where'd you go?"

Kagome rubbed her neck where the cave wall had dug. "What happened?"

"I asked first."

She stroked her sore rib. "You'll answer first."

Inu-Yasha's ears flattened at the tone. "We were arguing, and then your head snapped back. You closed your eyes like I wasn't here and collapsed."

"Did I say anything?"

"No," his gaze roamed her length, checking that she was alright. "But you smiled just before I prodded you."

Kagome stretched her arms to either side and pushed off from the ground until her back was flush with the cave

"So… where'd you go?"

"How about 'are you okay'?" She felt waspish after her unexpected memory, the first to have come while conscious. Besides a name or phrase she could pull with conversation, Kagome had never seen such a vivid flash of her old life during the day – certainly not one that could drop her to her knees.

"Fine," Inu-Yasha groped for patience. "Are you okay?"

"Why do you care? You attacked Kouga and stole me from my home!"

His left eye twitched. "Woman!"

"You're right," Kagome crossed her arms. "You're the one who should be annoyed."

A vein popped from his forehead and joined the twitch. "What did you see?"

"None of your business."

"That means you don't know."

"I do."

"What then?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Are you five? That doesn't work."

"Then would you rather talk about that mark on your collar?" Inu-Yasha pointed to her chest, still covered in shirt.

Kagome paled. "How do you—?"

"None of your business."

"It's my body," she grabbed the fabric, bunching it under her chin. "Of course it's my business!"

"It slipped down when your head went back," Inu-Yasha scowled. "Why does it stink of Kouga?"

A dozen answers came to mind, but only the one she should have said earlier came out. "Kouga and I…," she faltered. "We're…."

His scowl darkened. "What?"

"I'm… Kouga's mate."

Inu-Yasha stiffened, and Kagome watched every kind of emotion flicker in his face. Fury beat out denial and shock, coloring his cheeks an ugly red. A clawed hand reached for the shirt, but her fingers were faster, yanking it down so hard the cloth ripped.

Kouga's mark stood out against her light skin, louder than any previous shouting.

"You didn't…," his words crumpled in on themselves, and despair swallowed his anger.

"Yes."

Bending low, Inu-Yasha sniffed the scar. His hands covered hers and pulled more of her shirt away, exposing the shadow of her breasts to cool air. Kagome gasped as goosebumps raced across her skin. She tried tugging the fabric up, but Inu-Yasha's fingers sank between hers, keeping it in place.

His eyes flicked to her face. "You owe me this much."

She blushed as he dragged it further down.

His breath was warm against her as his nose started in the line of her chest, and Kagome blushed harder. Inhaling deeply, he roamed for a moment in an area he had never been privy to, brushing his lips against the swell of her breasts, making her jump and rear back against the wall.

Inu-Yasha's gaze returned to hers. There was no apology there, despite the audacity.

His nose resumed investigating, traveling up along her collarbone and lingering on Kouga's bite. He moved to her neck, and his hair fell between them, tickling her entire front. He stretched to her jaw, then mouth, sniffing at the corners and running fingers across her lower lip. "He's everywhere on you," his voice grew quiet, coming as a puff of breath she could taste. "How… could you?"

Inu-Yasha's face was so close, Kagome saw every fleck of amber in his eyes. She held his stare and fumbled for the strength to answer. "You sound betrayed," she managed.

"I am."

"Why?"

"You were mine."

"Yours?" She shivered. "If we traveled together… where was your mark a year ago?"

"I never said we traveled together."

Another shiver. "But we did."

"Yes."

Kagome snatched her collar from his grasp, jerking it up. "Then you had plenty of opportunity. I wasn't yours."

Pain creased lines around his mouth. "It was… complicated."

"Now it's not."

Inu-Yasha slid his hands behind her back, pulling her from the cave wall and drawing her into a hug that crushed the air from her lungs. "You once told me I wasn't alone anymore," he didn't bother checking his candor. "You said you'd always be by my side," the words broke by her ear as he gathered fistfuls of her shirt. "And then you left. I searched and searched, but you were gone," his lips brushed her hair. "I thought you died Kagome."

She couldn't speak. Her vision blurred, and she felt him begin to shake. His smell surrounded her – so different from Kouga's, but alarmingly familiar.

Inu-Yasha touched his face to her neck, and thick anguish seeped from the contact.

Kagome steeled herself against it – against his warmth and smell. "My life was never with you," she whispered.

Inu-Yasha scoffed, lifting his head. "Who're you trying to convince?"

"We were fine without you. I was fine."

"Then why did you dream?"

Kagome opened her mouth to answer, but he seemed to see every inch of her, knowing any lie she'd try before even birthing it. Inu-Yasha sensed her hesitation and darted to the space between them, flushing at their compromising position. He leaned on top of her, pulling her tightly to him with a need bordering on desperate.

Kagome found her voice, hiding far in her throat. "Don't do this to me."

"You don't belong here," his eyes returned to hers. "Not in this village. Not in this time."

"I don't care. I want to stay."

Inu-Yasha thumbed her jaw. "You can't."

"Why not?"

"Because hiding isn't living," the claws at her face barely grazed her skin. They moved awkwardly, as if the gesture was new to him.

Kagome cleared her throat. "I love Kouga."

"Once, you loved me."

"Not anymore."

His thumb stopped. "Then why are you blocking the past? Why haven't you moved on?"

"I have!"

"With denial and self-induced amnesia?"

"Shut up!"

"You've lost yourself Kagome."

"No! I have a new life now!"

"What about your old one?" Frustration fueled his question. "What about the people in it? Remember Miroku? Sango? Shippo?"

The names stole her air, and she blinked as they bombarded her insides. "No!" Kagome grabbed his haori and shoved. "Get away from me!"

Inu-Yasha resisted. "Not this time."

She swore, ramming her shoulder into his chest. Using the wall, she pushed with all her strength, driving him backward and standing at the first hint of freedom.

Inu-Yasha stared up in surprise and rushed to his feet. "Kagome… you can't leave."

She stretched a palm to his chest, keeping the distance between them. "Watch me."

Inu-Yasha reached for her wrist. "You don't understand."

Kagome snapped her arm back. "I understand enough."

"I left my sword in the village."

She shoved past him and headed for the cave's mouth. "Not my problem."

"It is," Inu-Yasha remained planted in place. "Look at my hands."

Kagome turned in spite of herself, seeing his claws hanging wet and dark with dried blood.

"Don't you remember what happens if I don't have it?" He asked.

The cave seemed suddenly darker.

"You have to stay; you're the only one who can control it. We have to touch… or else…."

"What?"

On cue, Inu-Yasha doubled over, bangs hiding his face.

She tried to turn and leave, but her knees locked together.

"Stay...," he labored with the word.

Kagome shook her head. "No."

"You… must…," he growled.

"Kouga needs me."

Inu-Yasha's breathing grew ragged. "Right now… I need you."

"See how it feels," her bitterness shocked her. "Being let down."

Inu-Yasha clenched fists into his sides. "Blood spilled… in anger," his knuckles went white. "Don't… you… remember?"

"What?"

White hair lifted from his back, as if by wind, and a convulsion jerked his shoulders. "I need… Tessaiga…."

The name sent a chill through her, and she shook her head, closing her eyes. The inky black of her mind lightened as battles and enemies flew before her – a giant blade blocking attacks, slicing mountains, and standing between her and death swam up beneath the darkness of her eyelids.

Tessaiga.

Her eyes fluttered open. "Your father's sword," she whispered.

Inu-Yasha staggered closer. "It's… too… late…," he threw his head back as a scream ripped up his spine.

Her hand flew to her mouth. Horrified, Kagome watched his face begin to change. The whites of his eyes grew red, and long, dark marks stretched to his jaw. Fangs cleaved far over his lower lip, and his claws followed suit, growing curved and sharp.

"Your youkai half is taking over," she gaped, knowing he could no longer understand.

The lines of Inu-Yasha's face became sharp and shadowed, and he stretched an arm out to her. "Run!" Another cry, deep and inhuman, jolted his frame. The air crackled. "GO!"

Kagome kept her ground.

The crackle intensified, and Inu-Yasha's aura glowed red. The ground sunk beneath him, and a ring of energy blasted out, knocking her against the wall. Rocks rained from the cave ceiling, and she braced an arm against them. Clouds of dust filled the air, and she blinked in the haze, trying to see.

Snarls came from the cave's far wall, and Kagome squinted through the settling dust, making out a hunched form. Inu-Yasha's haori had ripped and hung from his waist, and she stared at the corded muscles of his back, watching as he lifted an arm, examining dark claws.

He turned to face her, his features contorted and marred, all vestige of his old self gone. "My enemy's female," he leered, his words guttural.

Kagome rushed to her feet and froze, bound in place by eyes full of menace. Inu-Yasha stepped from the cracked impression his transformation had made, crossing the space between them like a hunter cornering prey.

Stopping inches from her, his gaze dropped lazily to her form. "What would hurt the wolf more?" Claws shot from his side and latched into her shoulder. "Killing you or taking you?"

Kagome yelped in pain as he dug deep.

"I think taking would be worse," Inu-Yasha leaned in. "And more fun," his fangs made every word come out a snarl.

"This isn't you," she whispered.

His other hand grabbed her hip possessively. "How would you know?" Bruising fingers slid to her backside and squeezed.

"You don't want to do this."

Inu-Yasha threw his head back, laughing, and Kagome flinched at its ugly sound.

"But I do," he moved to bite.

She raised her arms to fight back, and his hand leapt from her shoulder to her wrists, lifting them high above her head. "No, no," Inu-Yasha ran his tongue up her neck. The touch burned, and she struggled against him. He lowered his head, licking her scar. "Watch how fast you can lose everything."

Kagome felt his lips pull into a sneer on her skin. "Stop!"

Inu-Yasha ignored her, nipping the edges of her scar.

"Please… don't!"

His mouth closed over Kouga's mark.

"INU-YASHA!" His name burst out in a tearful plea, the first time she'd said it aloud, or acknowledged she had known it.

He went rigid. Inu-Yasha scrunched his nose and backed up, turning to the cave opening. Kagome's face followed his, and she gasped at a silhouette blocking the sunlight outside.

Kouga stood at the rocky lip, his hands fisted in fury. A quick bandage snaked around his bare chest and wrath seethed from every pore. "Let her go!" He barked.

Inu-Yasha leered. "Or what?"

Kagome watched her husband draw closer and noticed for the first time a tail twitching behind him.

A tail?

"Or I'll separate your head from your body."

Kagome looked to Kouga's face and saw dark streaks – the same as Inu-Yasha's – mar his jaw. She met his gaze, and her eyes widened in disbelief. The vivid blue she loved so much was red.

Inu-Yasha released Kagome's arms and shoved her behind him. She fell to the ground and cried out as gravel scraped her side.

"Go ahead and try."