Author's Note: I think I actually figured out most of the ending for this fic. My original guess was 30 chapters, but that's not going to happen, so maybe 45 to 50? Something like that? We'll see. :) Enjoy!

Did you review my previous chapter without signing into the site? You can find my replies to your reviews on my tumblr page! Just search for SugarRosFanfiction. You'll find me.

Beta: Penthesileia

Disclaimer: I wrote my first Inuyasha fanfiction fifteen years ago. And still, I own none of the Inuyasha series or its characters. So sad.

.

.

Chapter 28: Almost Like the Sun

.

.

Inuyasha

He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, cautious of the stray beams of light that splayed patterns on the floor. His jaw clenched as he flattened his back against the wall and slid down the hallway.

If he was smart he would have stayed in that dark, suffocating room, nothing but him and the almost-corpses. But he wasn't smart. And now that they were breathing on their own, he couldn't handle it anymore. It wasn't much different than being in his mirror.

The healing had worn him out. He'd been in that room for days, and they blended together behind his eyes and caused him to lose track of time. He'd been worried at first that Kagome would take off while he was in there healing her stupid friends, but Kaede had assured him each time she came in to take over that she had not run off, and that it seemed like she was determined to stick around.

And yeah, Kaede could have been lying, but Inuyasha wasn't about to exit the room to see for himself until he was ready to leave on the hunt for the jewel, which was going to be tonight, dammit. He didn't want to be around her more than he had to.

Plus, he didn't want to be forced to kiss her.

He didn't want to see her face.

Not that avoiding her was helping him any. Every damn time he closed his eyes to try and sleep Kagome materialized behind his lids. He had wet dreams. Consistently. Every night. It drove him fucking crazy. He had never been so obsessed before. He had been in love with Kikyou all those years ago, he really had. But even then, his urges and dreams and needs had been nothing compared to how Kagome made him feel.

...It had to be due to lack of intimacy over all those years he'd been trapped like an animal. It had to be. Because how else could he explain the fucking need he felt every time he was near her?

He had to stay strong while he was around her. He had to. Because he was going to have to deal with her one-on-one for a long-ass time. And as much as he fucking hated to admit it, she was the only thing that allowed him his freedom. He could not trust her, but he needed her.

...Dammit.

Slowly, side-stepping stray beams of light, he tiptoed through the house. He didn't want to let the women know he'd emerged yet. He just wanted some food.

Ears twitching, moving like a goddamn cat, he made his way to the fridge. Opened it up, served himself some rice and stir-fry. Like a greedy child, he ate his way through the bowl right where he stood, fridge open, cold air billowing around his bare feet. Then he helped himself to another bowl. Poured himself some tea.

His lethargy started to fade after filling his stomach, and he shut the fridge and took in his surroundings. Something he hadn't been able to do when he and the wench first arrived.

The kitchen was old but well used. Dishes clean, counters wiped, floors sparkling. The pictures hanging on the wall were dusty though. He made his way back into the living room. An eclectic mix of furniture was scattered around, different pieces from different time periods. It reminded him of the museum.

He fucking hated it.

The TV was dusty. The books were dusty. Kaede didn't spend a lot of time in here. Where is that old hag anyway? He thought, purposely not thinking about her name. She couldn't have gone far, and the sun was setting soon. He made his way back towards the hallway when he heard it: a creaking. He swiveled his ear around to get a better listen. It was coming from right outside.

He peeked out the window next to the front door. The sun was setting on the side of the house, which meant most of the porch was dark enough for him to step outside.

He cracked the door open.

Kaede sat in a rocking chair, long, dry leaves piled next to her. She was weaving them into a basket. How stupid. Inuyasha cracked the door open a bit more and stepped out into the encroaching night. "Oi," he said.

She turned to look at him out of her good eye before she continued her rocking. "You've come out." She said. "They must be done."

She talked about the two like they were a steak dinner. Didn't bother him any. "Keh," He said, leaning up against the railing and folding his arms across his chest. "Wasn't easy. But they'll live."

"Any idea when they'll wake up?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't know, don't care. Not my problem."

"Kagome will be asking."

He turned to gaze out towards the meadow, eyes sweeping everything in. "Fucking let her ask. I don't owe the bitch nothin'. Not after she pulled that shit. Not after I saved her friends."

Kaede sighed, heavy and long. "She's just a child, Inuyasha."

"She's grown enough." He snapped, his attention returning to her. "I wasn't much older than she is when this whole fucking mess started for me."

"It was a different time then. You know that."

He narrowed his eyes. Kaede was pissing him off. He wasn't going to be lectured after doing a favor for the bitch. "Keh. Doesn't matter," he said. "We're leaving in the morning." He paused, eyes raking across the meadow once more. It was peaceful, lit up by the last rays of the sun. "Where is she, anyway?"

"She's running. Building stamina. I can't have her traveling with you without a bit of protection." The corner of her mouth twitched into a smile. It looked wrong, pressing up against the permanent frown lines etched into her face.

"She doesn't need protection. She just needs to detect the shards."

"You can't be everywhere at once, Inuyasha. There will come a time where your defenses will fall, and at that time Kagome must know how to protect herself."

"What's she going to do, run away?" He asked dryly.

"Aye, if it saves her life."

"Wench, I keep telling you, I-"

His ears perked atop his head, his focus suddenly shifted elsewhere. His eyes followed, peering across the meadow and deep into the forest line. He heard it again. A crack. Clicking. The rustling of leaves. His brows scrunched together, concentrating on the sound. It was familiar. A noise he'd heard a long time ago, he just couldn't…

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Kaede asked, pausing her basket weaving.

"Something's coming." He growled, then whipped his head around. "Where's Kagome?"

"I told you, she's running. She-"

The noise grew louder. Impossibly loud. Kaede jumped from her seat and moved to the railing alongside Inuyasha, searching out into the line of trees with him.

More noises mixed in, and Inuyasha fought to separate them. Footsteps, hard and fast. Breathing, panicked and gasping. A heart pounding. He heard it all. His eyes widened when it fell into place.

Kagome had gone for a run, and the noises were coming from the trail leading off into the woods.

"What-" Kaede asked.

She burst from the treeline first, hair wild and tangled with twigs and leaves, body scraped and bruised, running out of the darkened forest and into the sunlight. She headed straight for the other side of the meadow. And it came behind her, the spider youkai. Trees crashed and crunched around its large body, splintering out of the way as it tore from the trees. Its legs reached out for her.

"Shit!" Inuyasha cried, crouching down to leap out and tear the bastard's head off.

"Wait, Inuyasha the sun!" Kaede gripped onto his arm just before he jumped. "You'll be sucked back in!"

Fuck! Fuckfuckfuckfuck! he screamed in his head. The old hag was right. He wouldn't be able to do shit if he was sucked back into the mirror. His eyes darted to the sinking sun. It wasn't sinking fast enough, dammit, and the youkai would kill Kagome as soon as it caught her.

And it would catch her, especially now that they were free of the trees.

"KAGOME!" He shouted, fighting the urge to jump out anyway. "OVER HERE!" Why the hell was she running across the meadow? Fucking idiot, was she trying to get herself killed? She should have headed straight to the house, he couldn't do a damn thing while she kept to the sunlight. She was going to die, and he was fucking stuck here, watching. His freedom slowly slipping from his grasp.

What are you doing, fool, get her! Protect what is yours.

Shut up! he growled inwardly at his youkai. He fucking knew he needed to protect her, but he couldn't! He opened his mouth to scream at her again, desperate to get her attention, but then his mouth snapped shut.

He watched as Kagome dove forward into an incredibly graceful roll for a human. She plucked up a discarded bow and arrow, and by the time she had spun to face her attacker, she had it nocked and drawn.

Where the fuck did she learn that?! he thought, dumbfounded. Her face was set with grim determination. He watched, waiting as the sun slowly, slowly lowered over the treeline, the darkness creeping towards where she stood. She looked like she knew how to use that thing, which meant she actually had a chance to survive. As long as she could hold the bastard off until the sunset. Just as he started to believe she might make it, he saw her falter. Saw her eyes squint into little slits, as if sweat had gotten into them. She swayed on her feet, as if the earth were water beneath them, and then promptly fell onto her butt.

He snapped. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, STUPID?" he roared across the clearing. "SHOOT HIM!"

The youkai was on her then, legs poised and ready to strike. Inuyasha's eyes widened as Kagome's purification powers, the same he'd seen her use twice before, poured from her chest and into her arms, flowing with a grace he hadn't yet seen her posses. She pushed it into the arrow, lighting it up, and released.

Bright light. Inuyasha threw his arms up to protect his eyes. The youkai screamed, causing him to flatten his sensitive ears to his head. Then the light faded, and the meadow was covered in darkness.

Darkness.

Inuyasha leapt.

He flew out into the meadow, faster than he'd ever moved before. The arrow had done some damage, there was a big gaping wound in the youkai's chest, but it was recovering and moving towards her again. He had only seconds.

Stay away from Kagome, you bastard! he drew his arm back, claws extended, and swung. The force of his strike hit the youkai full-on. Its body ripped apart into shreds and fell sloppily against the ground, blood spurting out across his chest and into his hair. "Fuck," he said, picking a bit of gore off his neck.

He turned to Kagome, who was clutching her bow against her chest, eyes wide and darting around, trying to see through the darkness. She was trembling, arms and legs tucked in. It had been too close, the youkai almost had her. Didn't matter though. He wasn't letting that shit happen again.

"Goddammit Kagome, are you okay?" He knelt down beside her and cupped her head in his hands so she'd look at him. But something was wrong. Even in the darkness, she should have been able to see him up close. But her eyes continued to dart around, as if she still couldn't make him out.

He didn't fucking like it.

He growled, pushing her bangs back, hands roaming over her shoulders, looking desperately for a bite. If she couldn't see, it meant it poisoned her somehow, and spider-youkai poison was deadly.

But there was no bite. He cursed again. He couldn't smell where it was coming from, the stench of youkai blood clogged his senses. "What did he do to you?" He growled. "Did he bite you? Where is it? Where did he bite you?" He could feel his desperation rise with each question. He wasn't going to let her die. No fucking way. He needed her. He needed her. He gripped the hem of her shirt and lifted it up, unsatisfied with her slow answers. Nothing. She was clean.

"My- my ankle. It stabbed my ankle." He saw her jaw clench, saw the perspiration on her forehead. She was in a fuckton of pain. His eyes darted down to her foot, widening at the small puncture wound right above the end of her fibula. It oozed and bubbled around the edge.

He moved to take a closer look at it, gently turning her leg back and forth. The puncture wound was deep, and there was definitely poison injected into it. Which meant any small movement would push the poison to spread more through her bloodstream until it reached her heart.

Dammit, he thought, glancing up at her face. Her eyes were still wide. He could see the tears welling up inside of them. She was scared, and she should be, because youkai poison was no joke.

But he wasn't going to give in that easy. Not when he was so close to his freedom. Not when he'd finally found the one person that could help him put Kikyou to rest.

And you haven't even claimed her yet, his youkai chuckled darkly.

He pushed it back. Just because he needed her alive didn't mean he trusted her. He would not let himself succumb to his lust again, despite his youkai instincts. He would save Kagome here and she would gain him his freedom. No more, no less.

He would not let her die.

"Fuck," he cursed, watching the red blisters eat away at the naturally clear skin of her calf. If he waited much longer he'd just have to cut it off.

He didn't want to fucking cut off her leg.

Kaede appeared behind him then, he only noticed when she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, peeking over to see the damage with her own eyes. She shook her head. Not good, she was conveying silently. Not any fucking good.

Kagome deserved to know what was going on. She was terrified, but Inuyasha would have wanted to know himself. He cupped her face in his hands again, tilting her up so she was looking in the right direction. The poison had blinded her. Hopefully not permanently. "Kagome," he said, "it poisoned you. I need to get it out of you fast, but it's going to hurt. Where has the burning reached to?"

Her arm moved, pointed to her hip.

Shit. That was pretty high.

He'd have to move fast. "Okay. Kaede, hold her head," he ordered as he followed the poison trail up, up, up her leg. He reached out and gripped onto her running shorts. Glanced up to check that Kaede had a good grip on her. Ripped the fabric up the hem, careful not to nick her. His ears twitched as she gasped, and he bit his tongue against the youkai urge that rose up inside him.

"It's okay, it's okay," Kaede soothed. "He needs to find the end of the poison trail."

And find it he did. He could see it right underneath the line of her panty strap, right at the widest part of her hip. "There it is, the fucker," he grunted. He'd have to make the cut right above it and get it moving out of her. He couldn't let any of the poison seep up into her heart. With the pad of his thumb he pushed the fabric of her panties up, clearing the way for him to work. His ears flicked again as he caught the way her breath quickened. He bit back a throaty growl. Now wasn't the fucking time to let his instincts take over.

Instead, he apologized. "Sorry, Kagome. This is going to hurt." And he dragged his claw across her hip, tightening his hold on her legs as she thrashed against the pain. He locked eyes with Kaede. The more she moved, the faster the poison would spread. If he was going to do it, he had to do it quick. He pressed his mouth down onto the wound, ignoring the pool of blood that collected and ran down her hip. He sucked as hard as he could, relying on Kaede's help to keep her still. He kept the suction going until he tasted it.

It stung his mouth.

He pulled back quickly and spit, wiping his mouth against the bottom of his shirt, dragging it across his tongue to get rid of any lingering poison. "Okay, it shouldn't move up her side any higher, I got it oozing out of her hip," He said to Kaede. She glanced down at Kagome, then back up to Inuyasha, her eyes wide. She shook her head, meaning they were losing her. She was losing consciousness.

Shit. "Kagome, can you hear me?" He said, raising his voice while moving back down to her ankle. "Kagome!" He paused, waiting for her to reply. Nothing came.

"Shit. Get ready, Kaede. I have to open up and drain her ankle too." He reached down, tearing his claw across the puncture wound, opening it up further. He winced at the blood oozing out from the incision. "Goddammit, it's turning black!" It made his stomach churn. He didn't want to put his mouth on it. But he had seconds. Seconds to do it or she'd lose her foot. Once the skin itself started turning black, her leg was done for.

He took in a deep breath and placed his mouth against the wound.

He gagged. Pushed through it. Sucked enough out to fill his mouth before spitting it out. Then he did it again. Three times he gagged and spit. He tried not to vomit as he watched the poison ooze out and bubble as it dripped onto the grass. Kagome wasn't moving

Shit. He reached out and pushed Kaede's hands away. Kagome's head lolled to the side and the leather bit dropped from her slackened mouth. He couldn't let her pass out. He gripped onto the collar of her shirt and slapped her across the face.

Not that hard, but hard enough. "Wake up." He growled, slapping her again. Her lids fluttered open, and he lifted her head up enough to look at him.

Her eyes focused in on him. "Inu...yasha," she said.

"Can you see again?" He asked. She nodded. Relief spread through him. "Good, means it's working. What the fuck happened? Where did he come from?" He noticed halfway through that her eyes had slid past him, and for a moment he worried that she was going blind again. But her arm lifted, pointing weakly behind him.

"There…"

He turned to look over his shoulder, eyes widening when he saw the pieces, the bits of the youkai slowly moving, each individually pushing themselves towards a larger piece. It was fucking gluing itself together.

"What the fuck?" Inuyasha placed Kagome back into Kaede's lap and moved towards the youkai, watching with fascination as it grew larger and larger. It wasn't possible. He'd never seen anything like it before. Regeneration, sure, in certain youkai… But dead bits of flesh that moved on its own to re-create the form…?

Inuyasha charged at the gathering mess, his claws ripping through once again. It didn't take much force this time, it wasn't even half-formed, and the youkai splattered out into tiny pieces once again. He stood in the middle of the gore, watching intently. Waiting.

He took in a sharp breath as the pieces began to move again. What the fuck was going on? He growled deep in his throat and tightened his fists at his sides. Maybe if he tore everything up and burned it? Then would the damn thing stay dead?

"Inuyasha…" Kaede called to him at the edge of the gore. He whipped his head around to see Kagome leaning against her, one arm draped heavily over her shoulders, poisoned leg limp and useless still. "She sees it."

Sees what? He frowned, looking around for what the old hag could be talking about. Found nothing.

"There," Kagome said, pointing again with her finger. Inuyasha traced an invisible line to a larger piece of flesh off to his right and moved in to take a closer look. He frowned. The only thing different was this piece was not moving like the others. In fact, the other pieces were moving towards this particular glob. Was this the piece he had to burn? He looked back at Kagome, threw her a so what? look.

"Don't you see it?" She called. "It's so bright!"

Inuyasha shared a worried glance with Kaede. Maybe the poison had affected Kagome worse than he'd thought. "What are you talking about? There's nothing." He said.

"There is!" She argued, struggling to get the words out. "It was at the top of his head when he was chasing me. It's in there! There!" Her finger waved around as if it would make the light magically she was talking about magically appear.

Frowning, trying his damned hardest not to snap at her, he reached down and poked the wad of flesh with his claw, wincing as it was swallowed up into wet, sticky gore. It pushed in easily. Something sharp stuck the tip of his finger. Curious, he dug his thumb in as well, pinching it between the two and pulling it out.

His eyes widened, breath hitched in his throat. No way.

No fucking way.

It was a shard. A fucking Shikon shard. Thin and razor sharp, it had pierced through his skin and drawn blood. And now here it lay, in the palm of his hand. The first piece of the weapon he would need to gain his freedom.

It all made sense now, the wild bloodlust of the youkai, the way it had seemed mutated from the normal spider youkai form…. The jewel gave the youkai holding it great, impossible power. No wonder the fucker wouldn't go down.

Inuyasha peered closely at the jewel shard, shifting it in his hand. It was darker than he remembered it, not the bright, light shade of pink-purple the whole jewel had been. But it didn't matter. It fit there. It felt right in his palm. It was exciting. Exhilarating. His heart began to hammer within his chest. It was a rushing thud-thud-thud in his ears. His blood felt thick and swollen as if sludge in his veins. The shard. The shard.

Kill the others. His youkai growled. You don't need them anymore. They will take it from you. Kill them and you will have it for yourself.

Yes, the jewel was his. The shards were his. The others should not be allowed to take it. They would not be able to handle it. He should kill them and be done with it. He-

"Inuyasha."

His eyes snapped to the old crone, who had somehow moved to his side without him noticing. How dare she! She will take the jewel. Kill her. His hair stood on end. His claws not holding the jewel flexed into a fist. A growl ripped from his throat.

"Give it to me, Inuyasha." She said, her eyes searching his own.

He took a step back, crouching low, ready to attack.

Then she stepped out from behind Kaede. Her skin was pale, her dark hair wet and sticking to her cheeks. She stood in front of him, her hand held out. "The jewel came from inside of me, Inuyasha," she said, voice weak and wobbly. "Let me keep it safe for you."

He hesitated, eyes darting from Kagome to Kaede. His fingers closed around the jewel.

She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, a weak smile on her lips. "Let me keep it safe for you." She repeated.

Her hand was warm, even though his shirt, even though it was cold outside. He moved to push it away, his youkai screaming at him to kill her, but it cut off when he touched his hand to hers.

Yes, he thought. She will keep it safe for me.

Slowly Inuyasha stood to his feet, moving her hand from his shoulder and turning it palm-side up. He slowly tipped his other hand, the one holding the shard, and let it fall from his palm right into hers.

He blinked, the fog in his head clearing, his heart easing into a more regular rhythm. The sudden onset of bloodlust had been almost overwhelming, his youkai fighting to take control. He watched as the shard slowly changed back into the light, pretty color he remembered the whole jewel being. What did it the dark color mean? And why had he had such a reaction to it?

"...You okay?" Kagome asked, eyebrow raised.

...Was he okay? He frowned, checking that his youkai was in control. Yes, it was, but it was still repeating the same shit over and over again in the back of his mind. He could now just resist as he usually did. "Yeah." He growled, attempting to keep a steady voice. He watched her closely as she inspected the shard, for any signs of altered moods. But she looked the same. Tired. Worn.

"How could you not see it in there?" She continued, looking down at the shiny piece of glass in her hand. "It's so bright, almost like the sun."

Inuyasha shot Kaede another worried glance, but the old hag seemed resigned, not worried. She wrapped Kagome's arm around her shoulders again and pulled her towards the house. "Let's get you inside, child," she said. "That poison was no small matter. I'll feel better once there's some tea in you."

Inuyasha snorted. "Tea's not going to do shit," he mumbled under his breath but followed behind the two girls with one last glance at the bloody remains strewn across the meadow. The bits were no longer moving. They had been animated by the jewel.

It was nothing short of eerie, the gore bathed in moonlight.

.

.

The living room was cozy and warm, and Inuyasha parked himself in a big, comfortable, oversized chair to watch as Kaede moved too quickly get Kagome more comfortable. He tried to keep his eyes off Kagome, but it was hard. Kaede had her curled up next to the fireplace, wrapped up in a blanket. Her leg was still red and irritated. She was still pale. But she'd stopped sweating so damn much, which was a good sign.

It had been too close. He had to be careful with her. For whatever reason, it hadn't occurred to him that other youkai might have gotten their hands on the shards, in which case they'd be running into mutant youkai all over the place. At this point, anything that threatened Kagome was a threat to his freedom.

Plus, it would be such a shame for her to die before you've had a full taste.

God dammit, would you shut up already? He snapped, pushing against his youkai. He would not give in to the lust. He didn't think straight when he succumbed. He made wrong choices. His youkai was impulsive, constantly making rash decisions based on whatever was happening at the time. That would change, however, once the jewel was complete. His youkai would be stronger and better controlled. He could rid himself of Kagome, take the whole jewel and use it to force Kikyou back into her resting place, and he would have the rest of his long life to find someone else to fulfill his more… carnal desires with.

And he'd already gotten a taste of the power the jewel possessed. The absolute strength he would have access to would be worth the long wait. It would be worth the torture of being forced to stay by the side of yet another woman he could not trust.

"How are you feeling, Kagome?" Kaede was asking, snapping Inuyasha from his thoughts. She was assisting Kagome with drinking the tea, tipping it into her mouth for her.

Kagome tried to smile. It looked more like a grimace, which meant she was still in a fair amount of pain. "I'm fine, I'm… better. Just happy to be alive." Her brows furrowed then. "I will live, right? My leg will be okay."

Kaede turned to peer at Inuyasha over her shoulder. He quickly looked away, across the room towards the bookshelf. He didn't want the wench to get the wrong idea and think that he actually cared about her or anything.

"Keh," he said. "Don't be an idiot, you'll live. I got the poison out fast enough." He kept his eyes glued straight ahead. He wouldn't look, he wouldn't look, he wouldn't look.

"Thank you," she said, her voice floating through the air to reach his ears. It took everything he had to keep them still, to not twitch them in her direction. "You saved my life."

He folded his arms. "Keh." He said again.

He heard her swallow, nervously, he thought. "My… My friends…..."

He clenched his teeth. Did she ever think of anything other than her stupid friends? The fact that he was forced to strike a deal for their life was humiliating enough. What else did she expect from him?

He would not answer her question.

Kaede sighed. "The fact that he's out at all means they've made it through the worst of it," she said kindly. "It was not an easy task, Kagome. They may not wake for a while."

"Mmm," she said. There was a long pause, the only sound soft breathing and fire crackling. She shifted, sat up to look towards him, a painful moan tumbling from her lips as she moved. "I will keep my promise, Inuyasha." Each word was punctuated with a heavy, fatigued breath. He couldn't help it. He looked.

She looked the same: sickly. But her hands were closed into fists, her jaw clenched, her eyes burning with determination.

He hated her. He did.

But damn, there was a very large possibility that he'd underestimated her nerve. And he couldn't help small unfurling of respect that spread through him. The way she had dived for her bow, the way she'd nocked it and aimed, the way she'd held her ground. Kaede's training had changed something inside of her. She was no longer the whiny schoolgirl that vomited after shifting.

Yeah. She had some nerve.

He wouldn't show his newfound respect, though. He had to stay in control.

"Yes, you will keep your promise," he said, his voice implying that that was the end of it: he would not discuss it anymore. He pushed himself back into the chair, trying to find the most comfortable position, throwing his leg over an armrest and his arm coming up over his head. He let his eyes lazily roam around the room.

He was free again to sleep where he chose for the first time in many, many years.

He chose to sleep right there.

.

.

As always, I would love to hear what you think, any comments or crits are welcome. And for those of you unaware, I keep a tumblr blog for my readers. Just about how the writing is going, updates and extras, as well as daily life stuff that keeps me from writing. Check it out if you'd like, just search for SugarRos Fanfiction. You can also follow the tags Youkai in the Mirror or YITM for updates related to this fic! :)

SugarRos