Sota was scared. Kagome was bloody and crying and clutching her side like something was broken. He'd never seen her like this.

Inuyasha came through the well and for a moment, for one beautiful moment, Sota thought it would all be okay. He'd always known that Inuyasha and Kagome loved one another and Inuyasha would never hurt her. That's what he spent the last few years thinking.

But this wasn't the Inuyasha that played video games with him or hid his ears under a baseball cap to go find Kagome. This was the Inuyasha that had been willing to destroy a village to get the sacred jewel

His eyes were icy, unfeeling.

"Run!" Kagome ordered her younger brother as Inuyasha made his appearance. The hanyo attacked her again.

Sota hesitated but Kagome's pleading eyes, worrying only about his safety convinced him. He ran for the house.

Mama wasn't home. She and Gramps had gone to another town to attend the funeral of one of Gramps' old friends. Sota didn't know what to do. Call the police? Call his mother? Normally, he would turn to Inuyasha if Kagome was in danger, but now…

Sota could hear Inuyasha snarling something about the sacred jewel, about Kagome being a slut; all kinds of horrible things. And he could hear his sister's grunts of pain, her pleas for him to stop. This wasn't the normal Inuyasha.

Then he remembered the boys that Kagome had met a few months ago. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei. Yusuke had written their phone numbers somewhere.

Sota scrambled through the papers on the counter. It had to be somewhere. He remembered his mother picking it up… On the fridge! She'd pinned it to the fridge!

With shaking hands, he dialed the first number on the list.

"Who is this?" a brusque voice answered. Yusuke.

"Urameshi-san! This is Kagome's little brother! She's in trouble! Please, get here quickly!"

"On my way, kid."

Yusuke hung up and found Kurama's number in his phone. "Yo, get to the Sunset Shrine, ASAP. Kagome's in trouble."

"Hiei will be there momentarily. He felt yoki in the area."

"Meet you there." Yusuke shoved the cell phone in his pocket and ran out the door, telling Keiko to stay put. She'd just been bringing their popcorn out of the kitchen.

The little miko had become a good friend. He only hoped Hiei would get there in time to help her.

Hiei

He could taste the miko's blood in the air. It made his own blood boil. He was quite fond of her, with her casual acceptance of him, her bright smiles and her subtle power. He respected her. She was one of the few females he could say that of.

So the sight of the half-demon hurting her made Hiei enraged.

The tree that Inuyasha was thrown into shook, but remained standing. Hiei stood in front of Kagome with his sword drawn.

"Hanyo, you will not touch the miko again if you value your life," the koorime said casually. "I would enjoy killing you though, if you decide not to take the wiser choice."

He felt a hand on his boot. Kagome had pulled herself to her knees. "Please, don't," she whispered. Her face was already bruised.

"The hanyo must suffer for what he has done, Kagome."

"He's not in his right mind," she told her friend. "He doesn't know what he's doing."

Hiei looked back at the half-demon. His eyes were clear and gold and he was looking at Kagome in a way that Hiei recognized all too well. A predator looking at his prey. "He knows exactly what he is doing."

Kurama and Yusuke arrived then and Kurama took over the fight. Hiei gathered Kagome into his arms while Yusuke went to get her brother. Botan arrived just in time and opened a portal to Spirit World. The boys and Kagome slipped through, leaving Inuyasha at the shrine with Kurama. Kuwabara was due to arrive at any second.

The portal took them to a guest room in the Spirit World palace, rather than Koenma's office. Botan got to work patching Kagome up. "What in the world just happened?" the reaper asking, healing the cracked rib Sota had noticed earlier.

"He got mad," Kagome muttered, trying not to cry. "I told him that I couldn't stay with him when we completed the jewel and he just got mad."

"Because you were trying to break up with him?" Botan asked, incredulous.

"We weren't even really together," Kagome said. "But yes. Because I told him I had to leave him after our quest is done."

"He can finish the quest on his own," Hiei stated.

Yusuke cracked his knuckles. "Or you can and we can take care of him."

"He didn't mean it, he was just angry."

"Sis, he just beat the crap out of you!"

Kagome was crying again. "I know, but he's my best friend."

"No best friend would do that to you," Botan stated. "No decent man would ever do that to any woman."

"He won't do it again. I know him," Kagome murmured, "He's not like that!"

"Men like that with always do it again, Kagome. You need to stay away from him."

"But I can't…" They all knew she was thinking of Naraku and the jewel.

"I will go with you and ensure that he does not touch you again," Hiei said. "And then, when your quest is complete, we will return here and he will not be near you ever again."

Hiei was as good as his word. For the first few months, Sota worried that Hiei would turn out wo be like Inuyasha or that Inuyasha would manage to get close to Kagome again. He knew that his sister would forgive the hanyo if given the chance. Sota hoped Hiei never let him have that chance.

Inuyasha was no longer the group's protector. He was only there for extra muscle when they encountered Naraku. Hiei was more powerful than the silver-haired boy and did a good job of keeping him far away from the miko that the Reikai Tantei had grown fond of.

After a year of Hiei traveling with Kagome, Naraku was defeated.

It was bitter-sweet as Shippo, Sango, Miroku and Kirara bid their friend goodbye. They knew she would not be able to come back after wishing the jewel into non-existence. But after what Inuyasha had done… well, she would be safer in her own era.

But back in modern times, Hiei and Kagome stared at one another awkwardly under the Goshinboku.

"I guess you don't have a reason to be around me anymore," Kagome told him. She gave him a tight smile. "Thanks for protecting me. And thanks for not letting me forgive him."

"Hn. There are dangers here, too."

Kagome studied the demon. "I suppose."

"And you need to be protected from your own stupidity."

A true smile tugged at her lips. "Not stupidity; bad taste in men," she corrected.

"Yes. You need to be protected from your bad taste in men."

Kagome nodded her head. "Yeah. There's really only one way to do that though."

Hiei quirked an eyebrow. "What way is that?"

"A good man has to find me and keep me with him to make sure I don't go off with any bad men." She stepped closer to him.

"A good man is not a killer or a thief," Hiei stated.

"That's okay. I'll settle for a decent man. You know, one that protects his girl, rather than hurting her." She was leaning closer, her blue eyes locked with his red ones.

"Hn. You deserve better than decent."

"Maybe. But that's what I want." Kagome leaned in and finally kissed Hiei.

His protests died. He knew she was too good for him. He knew she was perfect and sweet and soft where he was flawed and coarse and hard. But he also knew that he treasured her more than anything, would do anything to keep her from ever getting so much as a bruise. And so, when she kissed him, he kissed back.

He would never let anyone – even himself – hurt her.

"Today my boyfriend got violent with me, my little sister got scared and called my best friend.

He drove over straight away, said nothing, but walked into the house, grabbed my sister and I and took us back to his, as I sobbed, he just held me without saying a word.

His strength GMH."

I wrote this because I want EVERYONE to know that it is never okay for your significant other to get violent with you. It is NEVER okay for him (or her) to trap you, control you or abuse you. There is always hope and you don't have to put up with it.