Alt Title: Ogres and Little Girls and Sacred Tree Limbs

Genre: Tragedy/Hurt/Comfort

Characters: Kaede, Inuyasha, OC, Kagome

Summary: What's a guy to do when a little girl's life is at stake? Save it, of course... Right? A prequel to "G is for Grandfather"

A/N So here it is: the much awaited, terribly written, and strangely formatted prequel to "G is for Grandfather" XD I apologize in advance. It ended up being very time-skippy (is that a word now?), but this is why Inuyasha was upset in the previous story. The end's kind of similar to "Q is for Quiet", but no one needs to know that. Also, the ogre's name... Figure it out XD

Also, totally off topic, but I JUST got back from seeing The Greatest Showman, and I LOVED it, hOLY SHIZNICK. Guess what my next AU's gonna be XD

As ever, have fun, don't die, don't do drugs, love yourselves, and please enjoy and leave a review XD

...

U

Undone

"Kaede?

"Yes, Inuyasha?"

"You got any idea what's with Kagome lately?"

Kaede paused in her herb gathering to glance at the half demon. He was lounging across the ground off to her left, looking perfectly at his ease with his eyes closed. Of course, she wasn't fooled into thinking that he was totally relaxed, as she could see his ears pricked up as though in alert, and his hand rested lax against the hilt of his sword. She did, of course, know what was wrong with the girl, if one could call the course of nature "wrong", but it was improper for men - even if they were half demon men - to know too much about women. "Is there something wrong with young Kagome?" asked the old miko vaguely, avoiding the question.

"I dunno. She just seems more emotional than usual, if you can imagine that. Acts kind of funny."

"It must be ye imagination, boy."

"Keh."

They were silent, Kaede continuing to sort her herbs. Inuyasha suddenly tensed, sitting up straight with his hand clenched tight on his hilt. "Someone's coming," he said tersely. "Two, maybe three people."

"And why is that something to be worried about?" asked the old woman in a mildly uninterested tone, but taking notice of the half demon's reaction.

"Because one of them's covered in blood."

He was right. Within a few moments, the two were approached by three people; a young woman, a man who was obviously her husband, and a young girl who must have been their daughter. The girl could have been no older than four or five years old, with long, jet black hair and a gaping wound in her side, bleeding freely. They came to a gasping stop in front of Kaede, barely giving the half demon any notice as they stared pleadingly at the old miko.

"With me," said Kaede without preamble, simply glancing at the child and beginning to shuffle her way back to the village. Deadly wounds were no new thing to her, and she knew that if they wanted to save the child, time was of the essence. She took several steps, but only made it a couple feet, slow with age. Without a word, Inuyasha stepped in front of her and kneeled on the ground with his back to her; an obvious invitation to climb on, which she did. "To my house," she said. "Follow quickly."

Within a few minutes, the group was in the miko's hut. The child was laid on a few pelts and the wounds were cleaned. With each touch near the swollen flesh, she let out a little cry or whimper. The mother was sobbing, her husband holding her and looking shaken.

"Do ye know what happened to her?" asked Kaede, looking up from her work and bloody rags.

"It was bandits," said the father, his voice shaky. "We… We don't know where she got it from though. My wife and I were working in the garden and she came stumbling up to us with the wound and a… A knife in her side… We pulled it out, but… but..."

Kaede mumbled something under her breath. "The girl is so young, and I'm missing… I am not sure if I can do much to..."

She fell silent for a few long moments, obviously thinking hard. She turned suddenly to Inuyasha, her gaze stern as ever as it fell on the half demon waiting motionlessly in the dark corner. The man and woman looked to him with a little start when they noticed him and his strange appearance, only now comprehending the claws, white hair, and dog ears. "Inuyasha, there is something I require of ye, and it is of great importance to this girl's life."

"And why should I do it?" he asked dryly. Kaede's one-eyed gaze hardened.

"You would let this innocent child die when ye can so easily save her life?" she asked coldly. Inuyasha blinked.

"I'm not that big a jerk that I'd kill a kid," he said, sounding somewhat offended and fidgeting uncomfortably. "I thought you knew I'm better than that."

"Good," said the old miko, looking at the child, her parents, then at the half demon. "There is a mushroom several miles west of here called the bukuryo. It looks like a large brown rock. I need ye to bring me if I am to make the remedy for this child and save her life."

"Bukuryo mushroom, looks like a rock, bring it back as soon as possible," Inuyasha recited lazily, shifting his Tetsusaiga and making to leave. "Great. I'll be back in-"

"Wait, Inuyasha," rasped Kaede. The hanyou stopped, looking at the woman over his shoulder with a single golden eye. "The mushroom is very difficult to find normally. However, in the west as I have said, there is an ogre who hoards many an herb and cure. If ye can get the ingredient from him, it would be the most efficient and timely course."

The half demon smirked, the pointed snicker only just hiding the gentle smile underneath as he looked once to the two anxious parents. "Don't worry," he said after a moment, still looking into their worried gazes. "I'll be back real quick. How long do you think I have, Kaede?"

"I am not sure," the old woman admitted. "Maybe an hour. Maybe until sunset. There is no telling with the amount of blood she's lost. There is the possibility that the wound has become infected."

The hanyou's gaze darkened slightly. "Then I'll be going. Later."

And with that, he sped away.

The trees blurred past at dizzying speeds as he zipped down the path. He smiled, glad that none of the others were with him to see it. He couldn't help but feel happier in the forest. He may have at a few points in his life laughed at the fact that his name effectively meant "nature spirit", as he was no nature spirit, but it wasn't exactly wrong either. He truly was in his element while in the forest. This was his "home", so to speak, among the fragrant dirt and the wild winds and the towering green trees. It had been for most of his life. Of course, he'd never admit that to anyone, but that was how he felt secretly.

It wasn't exactly just a chance to run through the woods that made him happy. He wasn't happy. In fact, he was quite nervous. He was grateful to be running the nervous energy out of himself, but it didn't exactly stop the thoughts running through his head. That little girl… With that jet black hair, and those bright brown eyes, she looked just like...

He came to a screeching stop all of a sudden, his eyes going wide and smelling the breeze blowing into his face from the south. His lip began to curl into an unconscious sneer; something disgusting was close by. And it smelled like an ogre. I must be close. He sprinted off the path he had been following for the past hour, into the trees.

Another few minutes and he found the source of the disgusting odor. It was a cave, and there was indeed an ogre. He did see the thing, but judging from the smell and the heaps of bones - were those human skeletons he saw among the ivory masses? - there was no other explanation. Licking his lips with mild nerves, he drew Tetsusaiga. The demon blade grew to its true size, glinting in the light that filtered through the leaves.

"Oi!" he called out, raising the sword. "Whoever you are, I want to talk to you!"

He flinched as a huge breath of foul smelling wind hit him in the face. "You dare disturb me, half breed?" The ogre shot the barb at the half demon, making his gaze narrow. But he didn't say anything to address it.

"Yeah, I did," he answered cooly, lowering his stance closer to the ground. "You've got some sort of mushroom that I'm supposed to be looking for to save this little girl's life. Are you going to give it to me real easy, or are we gonna have to do this the hard way?"

The voice laughed as something huge started to move out of the blackness of the cave. "You think you can take my herbs by force, half breed?" laughed a huge ogre, with brick red skin and yellowed teeth jutting out from his bottom lip. Inuyasha unintentionally pulled a face at the smell of sweat, blood, and rotten meat. "I am Shibo-sei Shibo, boy! I have killed demons who could crush you and your pathetic blade underfoot. Do you still seek to fight me, to your inevitable death?"

"Keh! Looks like you're opting for the hard way, huh? Lucky for me, I've had plenty of experience killing idiots like you before," scoffed Inuyasha, grinning and raising his sword again. "I'm gonna kill you if you don't move outta my way, already!"

"Try me!" roared the oni, straightening up to its full and considerable height. With another little keh, Inuyasha swung the sword.

The blade struck firm and true right down the ogre's chest and down his belly, a strike which would have surely cut him in half. However, it hardly made a scratch. What the?

With a derisive laugh, the oni swung his arm, catching Inuyasha firmly in the chest. Gasping as the air was knocked from his lungs, Inuyasha went flying, crashing through tree branches and falling to the earth, fifty feet away. "You are an even greater fool than you look, half breed!" shrieked the oni, raising his arms in triumph as Inuyasha struggled, still gasping to his feet with his sword. A branch had pierced his arm, and blood was running freely down to his hand.

"Oh, shaddap," groaned the half demon, wrenching the branch out of his arm and frowning petulantly at the ogre, raising the sword. "Kaze no Kizu!"

The effect was nearly instantaneous. The oni was torn to shreds as the attack hit him with a shriek. Nasty bits of ogre rained down as Inuyasha sheathed his sword, still with that sour expression, and continued into the cave.

Kaede dabbed the sweat off the little girl's face. Her little chest was rising in a slow, shallow rhythm, eyes fluttering and breath shaky and painful. Kaede suspected that there was internal bleeding and perhaps even broken ribs. She sighed and looked up to the two parents.

They were sitting huddled against the wall beneath the window holding one another with tears running silently down the woman's cheeks. The man's face was blanched white like he had just seen a ghost, his dark eyes staring.

Kaede suddenly stiffened. The little girl's eyes had flown open, and she was gasping something incoherent, save for one word; "Okaa-chan! Okaa-chan!"

The girl's mother scrambled over to her daughter, blubbering and sobbing and just as unintelligible as her daughter.

Kaede knew what was happening. It had happened many a time before. Standing and allowing the father her place, the old miko shuffled outside the hut, struck oddly by the cheery chirping of birds, the warm sunlight, the colorful, bobbing heads of flowers by the road side.

"Kaede!" She looked, and saw a snowy white and red blur racing in her direction

"Kaede," panted the half demon, coming to a halt in front of the old miko and clutching a strange, twisted looking mushroom to his chest. "I… Got… The…" He held out a bloody hand, offering her the fungus. With shaking hands, Kaede, pushed the bukuryo back to his chest. His amber eyes widened in shock, both from the action and from Kaede's expression. It was… Sad. Kind. Pitying. His heart stuttered, his stomach dropped, his ears pressed flat against his skull, all while the worst thoughts ran suddenly through his mind, freezing it in its wake. "What are you..."

The old woman opened her mouth to speak, when an agonized, despairing wail cut the air, coming from inside the hut.

It was silent in the boughs of the Goshinboku. Kagome didn't dare break it. She had been sitting there with Inuyasha for a full five minutes by now, just sitting there, side by side.

It was a little strange, and a little unsettling. There were only a couple instances before when he had been like this, and that was when he couldn't prevent his demon blood from taking control of his mind and consuming his heart. Both instances had led to him silently seeking her comfort, which she gave him gladly. But it was still unnerving to watch him only blink and breathe, especially when she didn't know what had happened. Whatever it was, it was hurting him, bad.

"So… Today," he said in a faint little voice after a long while more, still looking at his hands. "There was… A little girl."

He paused again, but Kagome waited patiently for him to continue.

"Her parents brought her to Kaede with a huge sword wound 'cause she'd been attacked by bandits. She sent me out to find this… Mushroom… To help her, but it was protected by this ogre, and… I…" His voice cracked, and he looked straight up, through the boughs of the Goshinboku and to the smoggy blue sky. "I wasn't… I wasn't… Fast enough, Kagome. I couldn't… Save this little girl, a-and gods, she looked exactly like you Kagome. She looked exactly like you, and I… I… I couldn't… I didn't…"

Kagome let him talk himself into silence, her heart breaking as she watched his fragile expression, still staring through the Sacred Tree's tangled limbs. His lip had started trembling.

"Then the father came out sobbing, and the mother was screaming, and the death scent on the kid was just so strong and she… Dammit Kagome, she looked exactly like you… I just… I couldn't stand it… I'm a damn coward and I ran away. I ran away from a dead child. Because I was weak. I wasn't fast enough…"

He slumped forward, his hair falling into his face. Kagome stared, her jaw hanging open a little as he raised a shaky hand to cover his eyes. "Inuyasha…" she said faintly, lost for words. This was what was upsetting him? This was… This was not a good thing. If she knew anything about Inuyasha - and she knew more about him than even she knew - this was going to be killing him. The simple fact that he was sitting here beside her, talking and trying not to cry, told her that he was dying inside. It was part of his nature to try to protect, to be strong. And even through his best efforts, he couldn't save a little girl from dying.

So instead of words, Kagome raised an arm and gave him a desperately needed hug. She knew he didn't like being hugged. He said it was the sort of stuff demons didn't so, and from what she knew about dogs, being hugged was like being trapped. So she wasn't surprised when he stiffened as she reached around his back and chest in an awkward, sidelong embrace. But much to her astonishment, Inuyasha clung suddenly to her arm, then turned and buried his face in her shoulder with a dry sob. His own clawed hands wrapped around her back as they shifted on the branch into a more comfortable position, mindful to not fall off. Kagome timidly ran her hand along his back, over his hair, brushing his ears now and then, but mostly just holding him.

Sometimes, she thought quietly several minutes later, still stroking his hair, even if he was too strong to cry, Inuyasha needed to be held. Because sometimes, even tough-as-nails, childish, violent, protective, scared, dog-eared boys came undone once in a while.

Glossary:

Miko - a Shinto shrine maiden; "priestess"

Tetsusaiga - Inuyasha's sword; "iron crushing fang"

Hanyou - a half demon/youkai

Oni - an ogre/youkai

Kaze no Kizu - "Wind Scar"

Okaa-chan - a term for mother; "mommy"

Goshinboku - the Sacred Tree; the Tree of Ages

Currently listening to: Never Enough - Loren Allred (The Greatest Showman)