Pure Anger 37

A/N: This fic is definitely not discontinued! Updates have just been really spaced out due to school. But it's grade 12, so whatever. I just wanna get it done and overwith. Anyway, here's the next chapter. As always, please review, and let me know what you think.

InuYasha easily side-stepped Kohaku's attack, and countered bare-handed. He couldn't use his sword; he promised Sango that he wouldn't hurt her brother. As he pushed aside Kohaku's punch, and threw an easy left at him, he wondered if the boy had developed any skills since they last met.

As always, the faint stench of Naraku lingered on Kohaku, but for some reason, it seemed stronger today...InuYasha was kicked out of his thoughts as Kohaku threw his chain sickle. InuYasha deflected the weapon bare-handed, punching it aside. Almost immediately, Kohaku resumed attacking with his fists, and InuYasha almost laughed at his attempt; too late he realized the bare-handed attack was a ruse. Swiftly, Kohaku whipped the counter-weight attached to the opposite end of his chain-sickle across InuYasha's face. InuYasha squeezed his eyes closed and gritted his teeth as he took the hit on the side of the head, dangerously close to his temple. The impact knocked him back a few steps, as a sharp pain erupted in his head. He glared at Kohaku, who stood before him expressionless, spinning the sickle in his right hand, and the weight in his left, the chain drooping toward the ground in front of him.

"Fuck, I wanna hit this kid so badly..." He mumbled, watching Kohaku closely. He sniffed the air, trying to catch a warning of what Kohaku's next move might be, but instead caught a shift in the scent of Sango. Her natural scent was laced with anger, and a slight trace of fear, and he knew that she had heard him. He would have to apologize for that later, he decided.

Suddenly, two more scents reached his nose, and he realized that Sei and Kiko had joined the scene. Sei came into his vision, standing on his left, and he assumed that Sei had told Kiko to go wait under the protection of Sango.

The standoff was interrupted as Kohaku's eyes slid from InuYasha, to Sei, then to Kiko, a few feet behind them.

"Got yourself a new priestess, huh InuYasha?" He asked, his voice muffled by his mask. "I wonder how long it'll be until she's killed too? Tell me InuYasha, will you finish her off too? Just like the last one?"

InuYasha took a second to look behind him at Kiko, and as he laid eyes upon her he swore that for a second he was staring at Kikyo. He blinked, and suddenly Kagome stood in her place, looking at him nervously. He shook his head, and Kiko stared back at him. InuYasha felt his heart racing, and he felt a jolt run through him.

No. They aren't the same. Kiko doesn't even look similar to either Kikyo or Kagome...

He looked back to Kohaku, staring into his lifeless eyes.

"Well, in any case, she's under the protection of a human and a half-demon," Kohaku said, still spinning his chain-sickle around. "So it's only a matter of time before she's killed. WIll it be a slow death, I wonder, like Kikyo, or a swift death like Ka-"

"SHUT UP!" InuYasha screamed, his deep voice climbing to a feral scream laced with the anger of past painful memories. He ripped the sword from his side and tossed it away before lunging at Kohaku. Kohaku showed no emotion as he blocked and evaded Inu-Yasha's closed-fisted attacks, the exact opposite of InuYasha, who was alive with emotion. Sango's screams didn't reach his ears, and he paid no heed to what she said. He had even left Sei behind, as she hesitated, wondering if she should attack the boy, or defend him from InuYasha's claws.

Blinded by anger, it wasn't long before Kohaku saw a hole in InuYasha's wild attack. Swiftly, he thrust his chain-sickle through the gap presented, slicing it across InuYasha's cheek. InuYasha growled, but barely felt it. Instead, he pressed the attack, not letting up. Kohaku deflected most of InuYasha's punches off the side of his sickle, using the weighted end as a deterrent and dodging whatever other punches InuYasha managed to throw.

Finally, just as InuYasha realized his angered punches were getting nowhere, something changed in Kohaku, and he stopped playing defensively. He aimed the tip of his sickle at InuYasha's next punch, forcing InuYasha to drop his hand lest he be impaled. Kohaku took the opportunity to raise his leg and kick InuYasha in the chest, pushing him back a few steps. Kohaku didn't press the attack, and he seemed to be gauging InuYasha's reaction to his earlier words.

InuYasha wiped his cheek off, breathing heavily. Then Kohaku spoke.

"Well, what does it matter. The bitch will die, if not by your hand then by mine." He said.

Relapse happened so fast there was no way he could resist it. Right now though, he figured it wasn't something he wanted to resist. He welcomed the full demon transformation as a release, and didn't try to stop it. Kohaku's words, combined with the loss of contact with his sword meant there was very little sub-conscious resistance, and it was only a half second before the power and anger of the full demon enveloped him completely. The transformation wasn't resisted, and because of that, there was almost no sign that he had transformed. Only Kohaku, who could see his blood-red eyes, knew that the full demon had come out.

InuYasha lunged at Kohaku, and ignored the sickle thrown at his face. The blade scraped by his neck, but he didn't feel it. What he did feel was his hand wrap around Kohaku's neck, his claws digging into the weak, soft flesh of his throat. His other hand ripped the chain out of Kohaku's hand, tossing it away before throwing the boy to the ground.

By now Sango knew that there was something wrong, and yelled InuYasha's name. InuYasha showed no indication that he had heard her, not even an ear-twitch, which had become customary whenever Sango said his name. Sango grew fearful that he had turned all-demon, and took a few hesitant steps toward him. Sei stopped her, and shook her head, not knowing what was going on, but knowing that InuYasha had become too angry, and had taken a lethal offensive with Kohaku.

"Sei, I nee-"

"No. I don't know what's up with him, but I don't think it's safe to go near him." She said.

Sango shook her head. "I think he's gone all-demon again." She said.

"What?"

"Being half-demon, sometimes the demon blood in him takes control and makes him utterly unstoppable, and completely violent." She said.

"All the more reason to stay away from him, then." Sei said. "Let's wait and see what happens."

"But-" She was silenced as they both noticed Kiko beside them. They turned to see what she was doing outside, instead of in the relative safety of the hut. They noticed her tears right away, and saw the way her whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

"K-Kiko, what's wrong?" Sei asked, rushing to her side. Kiko shook her head, and stared at InuYasha.

"I don't know what's wrong with InuYasha, but he's scaring me..."

A quick glance to InuYasha showed him picking Kohaku up off the ground by his throat, and raising him into the air. InuYasha had turned toward them partially, and they could all see that his fangs had grown out over his bottom lip, giving him a terrifying look. It affirmed their suspicion that he was full-demon, and made Sango realize that Kohaku's life was in danger.

"I...I have this feeling...right here..." She touched her chest, never taking her eyes off of him. "He's not himself. He feels different somehow..."

Sango wondered what she was talking about, and wondered how she could "feel" InuYasha. She hurriedly put it out of her mind as Kiko spoke again.

"InuYasha needs to be saved...or he won't be himself...ever again." Her eyes were wide with fear, and Sango felt herself becoming worried. How could Kiko say all of this? What did she know about InuYasha being full-demon?

A soft thump drew their attention back to InuYasha, and they saw that he had slammed Kohaku back down into the ground. They watched as he picked him back up, then threw him down again.

"Stop..." It came out as a whisper, but InuYasha's ears twitched as Kiko spoke.

"Stop InuYasha..." InuYasha hesitated, Kohaku back in the air, ready to be slammed into the ground again.

The gaze of both Sango and Sei slipped back and forth between Kiko, and InuYasha, staring in amazement as InuYasha obviously responded to her words.

Kiko took a step toward InuYasha, and InuYasha whirled around to face her fully, growling at her as Sei stepped in front of Kiko protectively.

"Sei, leave me. If I have these priestly powers as everyone suspects I do, then I might be able to calm him down."

Sango felt a sharp pain at her words, realizing that she didn't have the...the what? Bond? Connection? Ability, maybe, to reach InuYasha? Whatever it was, she didn't have it, and this girl did. She could possibly help InuYasha in his demonic state, while herself would remain useless. Her thoughts turned to Kagome, who also had that power over him.

Why? She thought, watching Kiko take slow steps toward InuYasha, Sei following and watching InuYasha closely for signs of attack.

Kiko quickly traversed the ten or so feet that had separated them, and now stood directly in front of InuYasha. His right arm was in the air, his right hand clutching Kohaku by the throat, but his left arm was by his side, and more than he needed to finish off both Kiko and Sei in his current state.

"Put the boy down." She said. "Please InuYasha...please..."

InuYasha hesitated only a second before obeying her, dropping the boy to the ground. Kohaku hit the ground and coughed, grasping at his throat. As InuYasha stared at Kiko, Kohaku took the opportunity to scurry away, crawling on his hands and knees until he was a safe distance from InuYasha.

Sango came up to Kiko's side, and stared at InuYasha, wondering if he would revert back to his hanyou form. He seemed frozen now, confused, as his red-tinted gaze slid from Kiko, to Sango, to Sei and back again. Nobody said anything, and the only sound was of InuYasha's heavy breathing. Sango stared at InuYasha, wondering what to do, when out of the corner of her vision she saw Kiko reach out.

Kiko placed her hand on InuYasha's chest, and InuYasha jerked away from her touch, growling slightly. Kiko stared at him, seemingly unafraid.

"Now now, don't be like that." She said sternly. "Just relax, InuYasha."

Her voice seemed to reach him again, and he didn't move as she reached out and touched him again. At first it appeared that nothing was happening, but then a few seconds later, the red faded from his eyes, leaving the beautiful gold that Sango longed to see.

"A-are you okay?" Kiko asked. InuYasha nodded slowly, staring down at her. "I'm okay." He looked around to everyone else. Sango seemed relieved to have him back, but Sei seemed pissed off.

That was when he realized that Kiko's hand was still on his chest. Before he could say anything, she bowed her head, resting her forehead on his chest and sliding her hand down to his stomach.

"I'm glad." She whispered. "I'm glad you didn't kill that boy."

InuYasha opened his mouth to respond, but a whiff of Sei's scent laced with anger made him think better of it. Instead, he pulled gently away from her and turned around, just in time to see Naraku appear next to the injured Kohaku.

InuYasha flexed his claws, and snarled at Naraku.

"What do you want?" He asked. "You want me to kill you?" He asked. Beside him, Sei was trembling at the sight of Naraku, but InuYasha could smell her fear dissipating, and feel her anticipation growing. All thoughts of their previous situation were forgotten, if only for the moment.

Naraku laughed his low, scheming laugh, and held up a hand. As always, his face was covered by his baboon fur, and he kept his head bowed to eliminate any chance of catching a glimpse of his face.

"I come not to fight, InuYasha, but to offer your companions a peaceful solution to their problems."

InuYasha could hear the malice and sarcasm in his voice, but something made him stop and listen. Naraku came up with something peaceful?

"I know why each and every one of you hunt me." He said.

InuYasha raised an eyebrow. "So? Why's that matter?"

Naraku laughed again, a low chuckle. "Because. If I may make some offering to appease you, then you'll have no reason to spend the rest of your life hunting me down." He said. "You could go about your normal lives."

InuYasha laughed. "There's always some scheme behind all your deals and plans, Naraku. I'm not gonna fall for this one."

"You won't. But who says your friends won't?"

InuYasha growled nervously. "What's your scheme?" He asked.

Naraku smiled.

"Well. You've all got reasons to kill me. So if I were to take away those reasons to kill me, then there would be no problem, right?"

InuYasha felt his muscles tense up. "What are you...?"

"Let's see. Sango here, she hunts me, no doubt, to reclaim her lost brother and to avenge her family." He said. "If I were to give her Kohaku back, would that be enough to satisfy her, I wonder?"

Sango said nothing; hearing that there was a chance to get Kohaku back was playing on her mind, something Naraku knew would happen.

"As for Sei...well, why don't you tell us why you hunt me, hmm?"

Sei gritted her teeth and growled, tightening her grip on her sword. "Shut the hell up you evil bastard!"

Naraku laughed once more, not a pleasant sound. "Well...She seeks to kill me-"

"SHUT UP!" Sei yelled, her voice frantic.

"-Because she thinks it will cure the nagging guilt that plagues her mi-"

"Shut up! Shut up shut up!"

"-nd over the slaughter of her en-"

Sei lunged forward, but was knocked to the ground as Kohaku leapt to his feet, shoving her to the ground and preventing her from reaching Naraku.

"-tire village...and of Kiko's parents." He finished softly. "She thinks that she can blame that one on me, but I had nothing to do with that...that was all you Sei."

From beside Sango, Kiko slid her gaze from Naraku to Sei, disbelieving.

"S-Sei...? He isn't telling the truth...is he? You said that he was responsible for the killings...and..."

Sei said nothing; denial was futile, and irrelevent. Kiko took Sei's silence as a confirmation of Naraku's words, and a chill flowed through her body as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

"Please tell me it isn't true Sei..." Kiko whispered softly.

Sei said nothing, and didn't meet Kiko's gaze from where she sat on the ground.

"I can fix all your problems. Sei, I can rid you of the guilt that I know drives you every day, and Sango, I can give you your brother back. And if you want, Miroku and Kagome as well." He said. He was silent for a second, watching them contemplate the offer.

"All you have to do is-"

"Hah! I knew it!" InuYasha said. "You want something, you bastard, and chances are its-"

"It's your death, InuYasha." He said. He turned to the girls. "Your problems can be solved. Just kill the hanyou."

InuYasha felt Sango's eyes on his back, as well as Sei's. For a split second, he could feel them both actually considering his offer, before they both turned him down.

"No." Was all Sango said. Sei merely shook her head.

"Very well. It's obvious that you refuse now, but consider the offer. It will be open to you both for a few days. Just remember, as long as InuYasha dies, whether by both of you, one of you, or by some accident, you each get your lives back. Remember that. Temptation will lead you astray. But the rewards will be great."

Sango gritted her teeth, wondering how InuYasha must feel, and lunged forward, drawing her katana. Before she could even strike, Kohaku blocked the downward swung swordstroke, and countered, kicking her in the stomach and knocking her back.

"I must take my leave now." Naraku said. "Think carefully about what I said. The tricks and games are over. I want InuYasha dead, and I will reward you both generously if it happens."

With that, Naraku took off, moving quicker than they would have thought possible. Within seconds, he was gone from sight, Kohaku disappearing along with him.

"InuYasha?" Sango asked, getting up off the ground and walking up to her hanyou. She wondered why he didn't attack when she did, or even before.

"You okay?" She stepped in front of him, and looked up into his face. "Hello?"

InuYasha looked down at her, and Sango blinked, taking a step back as she realized that InuYasha was glaring angrily at her.

"Back off." He said. "I know how much Miroku, Kagome and Kohaku mean to you, and I ain't taking a chance letting my guard down near you." He said. "So ju-"

Sango stepped closer to him, feeling anger coursing through her. She reached up and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him closer to her.

"Fuck off!" She yelled. "I didn't say that I love you, I didn't say that my whole heart is yours, and MEAN IT, just to throw it all away on some fake promise that we both know he has no intention of keeping!"

Sango stared into InuYasha's eyes, and realized that the unknown emotion staring back at her was fear. The boy was scared. Happiness had just been promised to two people who had known nothing but suffering their whole lives, and his life was the only cost.

As Sango relaxed her fist, she could feel InuYasha trembling beneath her fingers. Immediately, the anger faded from her voice, and she tried to put herself in InuYasha's situation. She could understand why he was terrified, especially when faced with the terrible powers of manipulation that Naraku possessed.

"Oh InuYasha..." She sighed, and slipped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. "I'm not going to do anything like that, love." She said. "I promise."

Beneath her hands, InuYasha's muscles were tense and taut, and his hug lacked the warmth that it usually held. She knew though, that it would take a bit of time before InuYasha realized he had no reason not to trust her.

Sango wanted to continue hugging him, to let him know that she would never do anything to hurt him, but Kiko's situation nagged at her mind. She pulled away; InuYasha wasn't responding to her affection anyway.

As Sango looked toward the two girls, her surprise must have been obvious, for InuYasha followed her gaze after seeing the expression on her face.

Kiko was slowly taking small steps backward, staring in disbelief at Sei. Sei held her hand out, trying to calm down Kiko.

"P-please, listen to me Kiko. It was-"

"Shut up..." Kiko whispered, staring at Sei with a mixture of anger and disgust. "To think that I loved you..." Kiko shuddered, and the hurt was plainly visible on Sei's face.

Sei took another few steps toward her friend. "Kiko..."

"Back off!" Kiko yelled, lunging forward and throwing a punch at Sei. Too surprised to react, Sei took the punch on her cheek, and it knocked her to the ground. Stunned, that was where she remained, staring at Kiko.

Eyes narrowed, Kiko glared at Sei.

"Don't EVER come near me again. I fucking hate you."

With that, the tears finally came, and Kiko took off running, heading toward the forest on the outskirts of the village.

InuYasha, not wanting to be near Sango, nor Sei right now, slid his gaze back and forth between them. Neither of them made a move to chase the girl, so he shrugged.

"Feh. I'll go make sure she's okay." He said to no one in particular, before taking off after her.

Sei watched InuYasha run after Kiko, and knew that InuYasha was chasing after her heart.

Sango watched InuYasha disappear after Kiko.

"Bring her back safe babe..." She whispered. She looked to Sei, and what she saw nearly made her heart break. Sei was still on the ground, looking as if her whole world had fallen apart. Sango kneeled down next to her and looked at her sympathetically.

What do you say to someone in this kind of situation? She wondered.

A few quiet voices reached Sango's ears, and she looked over her shoulder to see a few of the villagers gathering, staring at them questioningly.

Sango sighed, and stood up.

"Come on," She said, taking Sei's hand. "Let's get into one of our cabins before we draw a bigger crowd."

Sei slowly stood. Sango slipped her arm around her shoulders, and guided her toward the cabin that herself and InuYasha had shared last night. She figured that the last thing Sei wanted was to be surrounded by all the things Kiko owned.

As they entered, Sango sat down on the bed, and pulled Sei down beside her.

"She hates me." Sei whispered, looking up at Sango with tears in her eyes. As the tears slid down her cheeks, her hands began to shake. Sango shook her head. "You know she doesn't." Sango said, rubbing Sei's shoulder.

Sei shook her head. "She told me. She told me she hates me." Sei wiped tears from her eyes, but more quickly replaced them. "And it's not like she doesn't have good reason to, either." She said.

"You mind telling me what happened?" Sango asked. "I don't wanna pry though, so it's okay if you don't wanna."

Sei was silent for a minute. When she spoke, her voice was low, and shaky. "I'll explain it in more detail later, when InuYasha and Kiko get back, but it's enough to say that I made a mistake. I killed a village's worth of people, including Kiko's parents, some years ago. I've been taking care of her ever since, and she wasn't there when the killing took place, so she never knew it was me, until now."

Sango nodded slowly. "Okay. If you feel like it, you can share when they get back." She said. Sei nodded. "I will. You guys should know anyway."

--

InuYasha chased after Kiko, and was surprised to find that she was quite the little runner, for a human. Whether or not she knew he was following her, he didn't know, but he sure wasn't trying to be stealthy about it. He stayed about twenty feet behind her, and watched her tear through the forest, uncaring as branches whipped at her skin.

She ran for about ten minutes before slowing to a stop. Her crying had stopped, but InuYasha still heard the occasional sob and hiccup from her. He walked slowly toward her, careful to make some noise so she knew he was approaching. He sat down beside her, and said nothing. It was enough for her to know he was here.

They were both silent for what must have been half an hour, before Kiko spoke.

"I can't believe she did that." She whispered. "I can't believe it."

InuYasha, sitting on her right, looked over at her.

"I don't know her too well, but it seems to me that it isn't something she would do so lightly." He said. "Once you're calmed down, you should come back and hear her out, see what really happened." InuYasha said. He looked away from her, and stared at the ground at his feet.

Kiko nodded, seeming to have calmed down a bit already. "Yes, that would be the most logical thing to do." She said, regaining some of her more formal speech.

InuYasha shifted his gaze from the ground to her face, and felt his heart ache for the poor girl. Unshed tears glistened in her eyes, and there were five or six small scratches on her face, and countless more all over her body.

She was silent for a few minutes, before speaking again.

"I can't believe that I actually said what I said to her." She said softly. "What if she hates me forever for saying that? I never meant it, I was just so..."

InuYasha risked sliding his arm around her shoulder, and she didn't pull away. "She knows, Kiko, don't worry about something like that." He said. "After what you heard, something like that is to be expected."

Kiko nodded slowly, but didn't say anything. Instead, she leaned into InuYasha, and he turned toward her, wrapping her in a hug.

"In a bit we should go back, and sort things out." He said. He hugged her tight, and she returned the squeeze, nuzzling him softly, her face in the crook of his neck.

"It's just...I don't know where to go from here." She said. "I mean, part of me feels like I overreacted, because it happened when I was really young. I barely remembered my parents, so...But part of me feels like my anger was justified, you know?"

InuYasha said nothing. Instead, he pulled away from her just enough to look her in the eye, their noses almost touching.

"Whether or not it was justified is up to you." He said. "I mean, like I said, I don't know too much about you two, but it seems that she took pretty damn good care of you so far." InuYasha said. "That's gotta be worth something, at least."

Kiko nodded, the tip of her nose brushing against InuYasha's nose. Her eyes never left InuYasha's golden orbs.

"But what worries me the most is the thought that she's just taking care of me as some way to ease her guilt. What if, in some small part of her heart, she absolutely hates me, and doesn't like the time we spend together? What if the time we spend together isn't because she enjoys it, but because she feels obligated to do so? I don't want our relationship to be like that."

InuYasha had no answer to that. Instead, he closed his eyes, and licked her cheek, swiping his tongue along a two inch long scratch that adorned her left cheek. Kiko jumped as his tongue licked her cheek, but quickly found that she liked the feeling; she settled back down and motioned for him to continue.

InuYasha slowly licked her again, earning a giggle from the girl. As InuYasha licked her again, he could taste the salt on her face from her tears.

After a few more licks, Kiko spoke.

"Heh, you fight pretty tough, but underneath you're nothing more than a big puppy dog." She giggled. InuYasha stopped, and pulled back so their noses were touching again. He opened his eyes, and pretended to glare at her.

"What was that?" He asked softly, his hands coming up to grip her shoulders. "I believe you called me a...puppy dog, was it?"

Kiko laughed again at his expression, and nodded. "Yup, that's what I said."

InuYasha growled, and stood up. "I'll fix you!" He said gruffly, gently pulling her to her feet. Before she could react, he slipped an arm around her waist, and easily hefted her off her feet. He slung her over his shoulder and started walking.

"Teach you to call me a puppy." He grumbled, sniffing the air. Kiko's laughing shrieks and protests, he ignored, until her fingers started probing his hips. He tried not to squirm, and almost succeeded, until she found the spot on his lower back. Involuntarily, his back arched as her fingers caressed his lower back, almost throwing her face-first to the ground.

Kiko yelled again, then it turned to laughter when she realized InuYasha had a tight grip on her and wouldn't let her fall.

"Hmmm so you've got a ticklish spot, huh?" She asked.

InuYasha shook his head, and tightened his grip on her waist lest she touch there again. "It's not exactly a ticklish spot." He mumbled.

"Mm really? What is it then?" InuYasha felt her fingers exploring his lower back again through the fabric of his haori, and he exercised all his available willpower to not fall to his knees.

"It does different things, that's all you need to know." He said, not believing the kind of things he was telling her.

"What do you mean?" She asked. "Does it-" She stopped for a second. "Ooh...Ooh, I get it..." She said. "Oops."

InuYasha laughed, and hauled her off his shoulder. He slipped his hands underneath her knees, and carried her bridal style. "Enough exploring fingers, before you find anything else you shouldn't know about." He said.

Kiko leaned her head against his chest, and hummed. "What kinds of things would they be, InuYasha?" She asked.

InuYasha raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

Kiko hummed. "Well, I may look innocent, but..."

InuYasha blushed. "S-so? I DO have a girl, you know." He said.

Kiko nodded. "I know that. But I like to tease." She said. "I won't actually do anything to you, that wouldn't be right, but teasing, I'm fine with." She said.

InuYasha groaned. "That's even worse, somehow." He said. "You can't tease people, and not give them anything."

In his mind, InuYasha knew he was crossing into dangerous territory with this conversation, but another part of him didn't care. As long as it was taking her mind off Sei, he figured, then it was okay.

"Oh, but I can tease, and not do anything. It's sooo much more fun." She said. She paused for a second, then spoke again. "Sometimes."

InuYasha shivered. Something about the way she said "sometimes" sent shivers down his spine.

"Plus I got good control over myself." She bragged.

InuYasha laughed. "If I wasn't in a relationship, I would definitely test that." He said.

A second after he said it, he mentally slapped himself. Until now, their conversation was all hypothetical, but now, he just had to say something like that. Dammit!

Sure enough, Kiko was silent.

InuYasha kept his mouth shut, waiting for her response. He figured he had messed up bad, so he wasn't expecting her next words.

"The way I'm feeling now," She whispered, "That's something I sure wouldn't mind. But you being in a relationship, it isn't something I can exactly ask you to do with a clear conscience."

InuYasha almost tripped. In his mind, he replayed her words.

"R-really?" He managed to choke out.

Kiko then blushed, and nodded. "I don't like to lie, so I'd have to say yes." She said.

InuYasha was quiet for a minute, thinking. A few minutes passed in total silence, before he spoke.

"You do realize that you're talking about sex, right?" He asked. "Or else my mind is in the gutter, and I'm waaaayy off."

Kiko smiled. "I realize that. Innocence is an appearance, InuYasha, and appearances can be decieving."

InuYasha groaned.

"Ugh...damn I hate you right now." He said jokingly. "You know I can't do anything with you, but still you insist on placing interesting images in my head."

Kiko laughed. "Didn't I tell you I like to tease?" She asked.

InuYasha glared at her, and set her down. They had arrived at the hot spring that he had sniffed out a few minutes before.

"Teasing me and leading me on, pretending to be interested in me is not fun." He said sternly.

Kiko slipped her arms around his neck, and stared at the pouting hanyou.

"Well...I wasn't teasing about my interest in you, at least." She said. InuYasha's eyes widened, and Kiko took this chance to lean up and place a light kiss on his cheek.

"You better disappear for a while, InuYasha." She said, hands starting to undo her shirt. "Sango wouldn't like to hear that you watched me undress and wash in the hot spring."

InuYasha growled lightly, before turning around and walking into the forest.

"I'll be back in a little while, you better be done by then!" He called out over his shoulder. A soft hum greeted his words, and he took it as acknowledgement. She had heard him, at least.

As he walked, his thoughts turned to Keiran. In a way, Kiko's teasing reminded him a lot of Keiran. Sometimes, she would be all over him, and then other times, she would appear to have no interest in him at all. It kept him off-balance a lot, and he guessed that was what she liked. She always had him guessing. Now Kiko was doing the same thing.

He shook his head. "No, I guess it isn't exactly the same thing." He said. To him, it seemed like she was just being over-affectionate. No real harm had been done. The worst thing that had happened was that Kiko admitted to wanting to get with him, and even that, he wasn't sure of. She claimed that it was teasing, then said that that part had been serious, but really, how well did he know her? She could be playing him like an instrument, and mean absolutely none of it.

He shrugged. He'd go along with however she acted. After all, if it helped them bond, then it wasn't so bad after all.

--

Kiko sighed. Although it was actually her who shunned Sei, it felt like Sei had somehow shunned her, and it hurt. She still wasn't clear on what had really happened with Sei and the village she used to live in when she was a kid though. She would have to face Sei sooner or later though, and find out.

Feeling herself starting to get depressed, she thought of how she felt when she was laughing and having fun with InuYasha. She wanted those kinds of feelings back.

She smiled.

"InuYasha's fun." She said. "It looks like he can take a joke or two, too."

She laughed. "He's fun to tease." She said to herself.

She looked up at the sky, and sunk down into the hot water. She wondered why InuYasha had come after her in the first place. If she asked him, he would probably say something about him being her friend, and it being what friends did.

She sighed. She had teased InuYasha a lot, made a few insinuations, and pretty much told him straight up that she wanted to have sex with him. She doubted it would ever happen, and part of her was glad. A large part of her wanted to take Sei back, and messing with InuYasha would only complicate things with Sei, not to mention what it would do to InuYasha and Sango.

"What about the part of me that doesn't want Sei? What about the part that wants InuYasha?" She wondered softly. After a few minutes of pondering, she shrugged.

"I'll wait until this thing with Sei is done and over with to think about that. It's probably just because he came after me and took care of me." She said. "I'll be back to normal in a while."

She smiled, and sunk down a bit lower. The water rose to cover her chin, and only then did she wonder what it would be like to have both Sei and InuYasha.

The thoughts made her blush. "Mmm no...I can't do that. Sei and everyone else expects me to be proper!"

She smiled to herself. "It would be nice though..."

--

InuYasha wandered back through the forest, and slowly entered the clearing where he had dropped Kiko off. He could smell the heated water, as well as the scent of Kiko.

"Ready to go back?" He asked, seeing her sitting on a large rock near the hot spring. She got up, and nodded, smoothing out her clothes.

"Yes, thanks." She said. InuYasha's ear twitched, and he could tell from the sound of her voice that she was back to her polite self.

"Alright, let's go." He said. He sniffed the air for a second, got his bearings, then took off walking.

They were silent for a minute, before InuYasha spoke.

"Say, what did you mean by all that back there?" He asked.

Kiko looked at him.

"Mean by what?" She asked.

InuYasha shrugged. "All that...that flirting, I guess." He said, feeling his face heat up just from asking.

Kiko laughed and returned the shrug. "Something to do, I guess." She said. "Like I said, I like to tease, and judging by how things went, you seem very fun to tease." She said.
InuYasha laughed. "Fun to tease, eh?"

Kiko nodded. "Yep. I mean, when people first meet me, they see the extremely polite side of me. But that isn't all that there is to me. I like to have fun just like everyone else, you know." She said.

InuYasha nodded. "That makes sense."

Kiko hummed. "And I guess a big part of it is that I like you." She said. InuYasha looked at her, eyebrow raised. To this, she held up her hands. "Don't get me wrong, I like everyone in our group, but you...you're special, you know?"

InuYasha smirked, but it was lopsided and half-hearted. "What do you mean by that?" He asked.

Kiko was silent for a minute as she thought about it. "Well, I guess I mean that I feel a bond with you, a connection, if you will." She said. "It's hard to explain, but hopefully you know what I mean."

InuYasha nodded slowly, stepping over a rotten log. "I think so..."

InuYasha reached out and took Kiko's hand, helping her over the rotten log, which was on an angle, and higher on her side.

"So when did this all start? This bond, I mean."

"Hmm...not too long ago." She said. Then she clued into to InuYasha's tone, and laughed.

"Hey, don't worry. It's not like I'm going to be fighting Sango for your affections or anything, I'm not like that." She said. "Besides, if I can get Sei to forgive me, then I might have a chance at getting her back." She said softly.

It was InuYasha's turn to laugh. "Ahh, well if you want her back, then I don't think you're going to have a problem getting her back, she seemed pretty saddened by your leave." He said.

Kiko perked up. "Really!?" She asked. A big smile graced her features. "That's good! I can get her back, hopefully!"

InuYasha hummed. "But you still have to talk to her first. No need to rush into apologies and ignore the whole main issue." He said. He realized he was still holding her hand, and he let go. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but said nothing.

"I know." She said, her voice once again quiet. "We'll sort through it." She said.

InuYasha smiled. "I hope so."

Kiko was silent for a minute, then spoke so quietly that InuYasha nearly missed it.

"You'll be there for me, won't you InuYasha?"

InuYasha's ear twitched. "Sure I will." He said. "What made you think I wouldn't?"

Kiko said nothing, and InuYasha smiled.

"Don't worry about it. Everything will be fine."

"I hope so."

--

They entered the village, and headed for Sei's hut. The door was closed, so they knocked a few times, waiting for a response. None came, and InuYasha figured that they were in his hut. They walked next door, and knocked a few times on the door before opening it. The light was starting to fade from the sky, so there wasn't much of a difference between the light inside the cabin and outside; their eyes adjusted immediately.

Despite her earlier courage, Kiko hid behind InuYasha, holding onto his sleeve. InuYasha entered the cabin, and saw Sei and Sango on the bed. They looked up and watched him enter, knowing Kiko was directly behind him.

"Come on, you've gotta face up sooner or later." InuYasha said, moving aside and letting Sei lay eyes on Kiko.

Kiko kept her eyes on the floor, and moved over to the bed, sitting next to Sei.

Neither said a word, and InuYasha took the silent hint. He motioned to Sango, and she nodded. She got up, and walked toward the door. InuYasha took a second to kneel down next to Kiko.

"If you need me, just call." He said. "I'll be right outside the door, alright?"

Kiko nodded. InuYasha was about to get up, when Kiko surprised all three of them by wrapping her arms around InuYasha's neck and hugging him tightly.

InuYasha didn't hesitate to return the hug, not caring that Sango was watching. He had two good reasons not to care, either. Kiko was his friend, and he knew nothing was going on; Sango should trust him. Second, he wasn't too happy that Sango had even considered Naraku's offer, even for a split second.

"Good luck." InuYasha said, before pulling away and standing up. Meeting Sango's gaze full on, he walked toward her. Instead of taking her hand like he always did, he walked straight past her, and out the door, knowing she would follow him.

Sango did, and followed him a few feet away from the cabin.

"What was that, huh?" She asked.

InuYasha's ear twitched, as he tried to tell her emotions from the frozen tone of her voice.

"It was a hug." He said bluntly.

Sango sighed. "I knew that." She said tiredly. InuYasha cut in, feeling his anger rising. "Then why'd you ask?"

Standing behind him, Sango glared at his back. "You know damn well what I meant." She said.

InuYasha turned around and stared at her non-chalantly.

"It was me giving her a hug for moral and emotional support." He said.

Sango nodded. "What took so long in the forest?" She asked.

"We stopped to fuck." He said sarcastically.

"Fuck off." Sango said, her voice full of disgust, eyes narrowing.

"Well that's what you're implying, and you know it." He said. "Whats with the hug, InuYasha? What took so long in the forest, InuYasha?" He asked, mimicking her voice. Sango clenched her fists together, and resisted the urge to hit him.

"Oh, and just in case you haven't noticed, Kiko likes girls. There's no way in hell she'd get with me, even if I wanted her to." InuYasha said. "Place your distrust elsewhere, it doesn't belong with me."

"What happened earlier?" She asked, changing the subject. "Your demon blood seemed to take over with no problems." She said. "Couldn't you resist it?"

InuYasha shrugged. "At the moment, I really didn't want to." He said.

Sango nodded. "So you wanted to take it out on my brother, is that it?"

InuYasha nodded. "Yes, Sango, that's exactly it." He said, voice once again sarcastic. "I decided to say, 'Fuck the promise I made to Sango, I'll just kill the little fucker right here! And what's more, I need to be all-demon just to kill him! Because as a weak-ass half-demon, I can't kill one weak petty human!'"

Sango sighed loudly. "What's with the major attitude suddenly?" She asked. "I can barely talk to you."

InuYasha glared at her. "What's with the fucking accusations suddenly? I can barely live without you freaking out at me for something!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you, InuYasha?!" Sango yelled. "Why the fuck are you so different?"

"Because, no matter how short of a time it was, you were thinking of killing me to get your brother, Kagome, and Miroku back!" He yelled. "Thats what!"

"Inu-"
"FUCK YOU!" InuYasha growled, clenching his fists. Without waiting for a response, he turned and crouched down, gathering his strength before jumping high into the air.

Sango stared after him, realizing that it was still bothering him. She sighed. She would have to wait for him to cool off and return before she could talk to him. She wondered if he would return tonight. She didn't know. It was their first real fight since she could remember, and she knew she had Naraku, and herself, to blame.

--

Sei stared at Kiko, and waited for her to speak. Kiko stared at the floor, and said nothing. When it became obvious that Kiko wasn't going to talk first, Sei shifted uncomortably on the bed, and cleared her throat.

"Um, I apologize for what happened." She said. "I don't really have any excuse for it; at least, none that would be acceptable."

Kiko was silent for a minute, still staring at the floor. Just when Sei thought that Kiko didn't hear her, Kiko looked up and met her gaze. Her eyes were clear and sharp, and she looked almost angry.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" She asked. "I don't know any of the details."

Sei nodded slowly. "Um...okay."

Sei hesitated only a second, wondering where to start.

"Okay, um, pretty much all that happened was Naraku caught me off guard." She said. "He caught me training one day, and I was angry. Like, seriously pissed off. Anyway, he comes to me, and says that he knows all of my problems. Naturally, I was a bit skeptic of him, but once he went into a detailed explanation of why I was angry and who I was angry at, details this person could never know, I became interested. He said that my sword was interesting. He said it seemed strong, but it could be a lot stronger. He told me that he could enchant it with the demons thirst for blood. He said all I needed to do was kill. For every person or demon that I killed, the sword would get stronger. What he didn't tell me was that the sword could get strong enough to control me. So I took the enchantment from him, and went demon hunting. After a few hours, the sword started getting stronger; you could feel it. Then, suddenly, after I slayed an extraordinarily strong demon, the sword took on a power that I couldn't control. It took over me, and filled me with the thirst for human blood. The closest village was...your village, and...I went crazy inside the village, slaying everyone. People I had known my whole life, people who had raised me as their own after my own parents died. People I didn't even know...and then...I killed your parents." She said.

Kiko stared at her. "Is that what happened?" She asked.

Sei nodded. "It is. I tried to resist, but I don't think you know what it's like to be possessed...taken over...controlled." She said. "It's...the most horrible feeling in the world, knowing that you aren't yourself, and that you can't control your actions."

Kiko thought about it for a minute.

"Yeah, I guess that would be pretty bad." She said.

Sei inhaled deeply, held it, then exhaled slowly. "Almost every night, I relive that nightmare, Kiko." She said. "Trust me. I DO feel guilty about what I did. I know that I can never bring back those people, but every day I train, not only to protect you, but to make sure something like that never happens again." She said. "I'm really sorry."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me that it was you?" She asked.

Sei stared at her. "When I came to my senses, with the sword sated, I couldn't believe what I had done." She said. "I threw the sword away in horror, in disgust. I felt like killing myself for what I had done. Then, I heard you. You alone had survived the carnage, and how it happened, I don't know. My guess is when I demolished your house, the rubble caved in in such a way as to shelter you from my vision, and thus, my bloodlust. When I came to my senses and heard you, my heart wept. My heart wept in joy. There was someone I didn't kill, and furthermore, that someone was a child. It didn't make up for all the people I killed, but it gave me some small measure of relief that the whole village wasn't decimated."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kiko asked. "I had no idea what had happened. All I remember was sleeping, then waking up to screaming, then having a house fall on me and pin me to my bed. I thought I was going to die. Then after what seemed like the longest time, you cleared the rubble, took me in your arms, and cried." She said. "I thought a war was waged on our village, and by some chance, you were the only survivor. Every time I asked you about it, you said nothing. With all my friends and family dead, you were the only human I knew, the only one I had left, so I eventually stopped asking about it, afraid that you would leave me if I continued to annoy you."

Sei shook her head.

"I didn't tell you because I wanted to protect you. I didn't want you to know that your family and friends, your whole village was wiped out by...a monster. I didn't want to bear the guilt, and have you hate me for what I did." She said. "So I kept it a secret. The secret grew, and festered, until it drove me every day, always pushing myself. I knew I could never make up for what I did, but...it didn't keep me from trying."

Kiko stared at Sei for a minute, and thought about the last few years. She remembered countless times when Sei put her life in danger to protect her; many times she recieved severe wounds. Sei worked hard to make sure they were both well-fed and protected, sometimes going so far as to forsake her own appetite for a week or more to make sure that she was fed.

She isn't a bad person, not by any means...Kiko thought. She's worked harder for me than anyone I've known, even when everyone in the village was alive. She isn't bad, she just made a mistake. It's okay if I forgive her...right?

Kiko was silent for a few more minutes, before speaking up.

"I'm sorry." She said.

Sei looked up from the floor in disbelief. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I said some mean and hateful things to you earlier, and I'm sorry." She said.

Sei shook her head. "It's nothing I didn't deserve." She said.

Kiko stood suddenly, and stretched. Sei looked up and stared at the beautiful girl in front of her, and her heart skipped a beat. Quickly, she uttered a prayer. She prayed that she could get Kiko back no matter what she had to give up.

Kiko yawned, then looked at Sei for a long moment, saying nothing.

Sei didn't say a word; her heart beat fearfully in her chest.

Finally Kiko spoke. "I'm sorry for the things I said." She said. "I never meant them. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, then I'd love to pick up on our relationship where we left off. Then maybe we can walk the road of healing. Together." She said.

Sei's heart leapt. She jumped up and grabbed Kiko by the shoulders.

"D-do you mean it...?"

Kiko nodded, smiling a real smile for the first time in a while. "I do, love." She whispered. Sei didn't hesitate to wrap her arms tight around Kiko.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I know it doesn't make up for it, but I really am sorry. I'll do my best to earn your forgiveness."

Kiko said nothing at first; she rubbed Sei's back. A few seconds later, she spoke.

"Promise to love me, and only me, and you're well on your way, babe."

A/N: Well...Just gotta get InuYasha to calm down, return to Sango's side, and we got our fighting force back! Naraku's last (ultimate?) ploy has failed to kill InuYasha(so far), so there's nothing left except for the gang to hunt and kill him. Thanks for reading, please review with questions, criticizm, comments, anything you want. Thanks.