A/N: I see you all love Inuyasha's point of view.
TW: Abuse. Gore
Also - I might be looking for a beta.

Never Look Back

Kagome woke with a gasp, the nightmare lingering in her mind. The corpse of the smith chasing her, the villagers throwing rotting meat and waste at her, calling her a murderer, a failure, a waste of space. Inuyasha roaring in madness under the full moon, Tessaiga not in his grasp anymore as his blood red eyes zeroed in on her. Grabby, sweaty hands carrying her, dragging her across the uneven forest floor and bumpy roots, struggling and trying to call for help. Men laughing in a circle around her, one of them slapping her across the face. The corpse crow cawing and opening his hungry beak, aiming it for her face.

The room was dark and a bit stuffy. She looked frantically around, not recognizing this place, it was too big to be the room she shared with her mother in the village.

A bitter taste in her mouth made her wince when she thought about the village. She had been sold, she had been mistreated so greatly - and by people she wanted to serve and help for so many years, despite all their distrust and coldness, their feigned acceptance. But now - now she knew it had been just an act, no one would believe her no one would accept her.

And she didn't want their acceptance anymore.

Not when she wasn't sure anymore if it was real or faked. She had fooled herself, thinking she could fit in the community, that she could prove her worth by diligent work and kindness. There was no place where she could belong, not in the village she knew for almost her entire life.

Her body ached, her throat was sore. The bruise on her forearm and at least a dozen more in other places, pulsed with dull pain. She remembered the laughter, the thuds of heavy fists hitting her, herself unable to defend herself more than to shield her head with her bound hands.

'The nightmare wasn't a dream, at least most of it wasn't,' she realized and with a choked sob she curled up in a ball of misery. It all had happened, the previous night was the full moon, the festival, the fight with the crow youkai, the...

A low hum behind her made her tense. An arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her against a definitely masculine body. She shivered when a warm breath tickled her neck.

"You will never go back," she heard whispered in her ear. "Now you belong here. Forever."

She tried to stop her sobs, wipe away the tears that started to fall down her cheeks when she remembered more and more from this terrible night. Her captors laughing at her, mocking her, taunting her.

There was no place for her in the Sunset Village. She could just stay where she was. She closed her eyes and relaxed, letting her tears flow.

"No one will reach you here," the voice promised.

'Oh, Inuyasha...'

.

There were four men. She knew their names and faces, despite the fact that they were sitting in the shadows in the forest, made deeper by the light of the full moon high in the sky and its pale light filtering through
the trees every time the clouds parted. They'd carried her there and threw her on the uneven ground, tying her bound wrists to a tree and putting a piece of cloth around her head so she couldn't scream. A whimper was all she could manage.

The oldest was a bit older than her and his name was Ash, he was sitting on a tree root. Haro stood next to him. Haru crouched nearest to her, as if to make sure she couldn't run away. Natsu, the youngest, ran somewhere as soon as they'd stopped at this point. All of them were broad-chested men with big muscles from their apprenticeship in their father's smithy. Among them Ash was the stupid one, Haro was the smartest, Natsu the ugliest and Haru the one with the shortest temper. Oh, how many times Kaede had patched them after one of the fights the liked to start, join in to or end by overwhelming other fighters with their brute strength.

People used to say, that it was normal thing for young men to be... wild, loud and bossy. To Kagome, and many others. they were dangerous bullies who should be punished. And they often were, but it didn't seem to help any. As the boys reached adulthood their attitude towards the meek and females seemed to just grow worse, the result being that no villager wanted to give their daughter to one of them as a wife, despite all of them being at least decent with a hammer and an anvil, and therefore being able to could support a family.

And now she was on their mercy, tied up and unable to call for help. They weren't sober either, so gods only knew what they could do, not caring for the consequences even more than usual

Kagome curled in a ball, watching the three males with wide, frightened eyes. It was nothing like the fear from before - with the youkai crow she'd know what it wanted. It wanted to kill her. But they - they were a mystery. And against them even a strong reiki user was as defenseless as a regular person.

From her dark musings brought her the sound of their voices, a bit slurred, but clear enough.

"We could have fun with her while we wait for Natsu and the others?" said Ash, a question more than anything else, as he looked up to his younger brother. Kagome felt sick in the stomach and just curled in on herself tighter, a bile forming in her throat and making it hard to breathe.

She whimpered when a memory came to her mind - a cold grim day, her heavy mantle wrapped around her as a man held her down, promising her a terrible fate and that he was going to blame Inuyasha for it. She struggled against the bonds, just like she'd done back then, but it was useless. Her heart was pounding in her chest, that felt as if someone was squeezing her. Her wide eyes looked frantically from one face to another as she tried to figure out what to do now.

"Stupid," Haro snorted. "Her already weak reiki might go to shit if you do that to her. Then we won't get any coins."

"Besides, do you really want leftovers after a youkai?" added Haru, glaring at Kagome from where he crouched down like a wild animal.

A wave of relief washed over her when she heard Ash grunt in agreement. At least for now she was safe from this fate. A part of her was shocked that they thought she was Inuyasha's lover, but she found herself more thankful for their wrong assumption than anything else, if it was going to save her. Stupid men, so arrogant and thinking that if they weren't a girl's first one the girl was below them. How dared those men assume she was Inuyasha's lover - a youkai's lover - and for his inhuman blood thought worse of her - of them!

"Yeah, you have a point. no one wants chewed scraps that weren't good in the first place," Ash laughed. "Just look at her, she's ugly like a cheap whore!"

'How dare you!' Kagome glared at the man. She was a miko, even if a weak one, and she should be treated with respect for her service to the deity and the community. The next moment Haru's hand met her face, causing her to whimper and tumble to the ground.

"Stay in the dirt, you disgrace! Know your place!" Haru hissed. When she tried to lift her head, he leaped to her and pushed her face against the twigs and roots under the tree she was bound to like an animal. She grunted in pain, but when she tried to struggle to get free, the man over her just punched her in her side. With a painful whine she curled in a ball yet again. Tears she so bravely tried to hold back now flowed freely, blurring her vision.

"How dare you look like this at a man, and one much better than you." Haro leered. "You are a worthless, useless piece of trash. You never were good for anything, you watered down copy.

"Too ugly to shag even before you got close and comfy with the mutt," Ash piped in from behind Haro's back.

"Cursed wretch," Haru cackled and hit her back as if to make sure she stayed on the ground. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry, but it was too hard to keep her tears from falling. Her body hurt and her heart hurt too. A muffled sob left her, but no one paid any attention to it.

"Everyone pretends to like you now, because the youkai would gut them if they didn't. And the old miko is too weak from age to deal with him like her sister had done," Haro declared coldly from somewhere over her head. "You've brought enough plagues upon our peaceful village."

That cut deep. She thought back to all those times the villagers were nice to her, to how over time they slowly started to trust her, accept her. Was it all just an act? She remembered the night council after the bandit attack so many months ago. Ken the hunter had warned the others back then that Inuyasha could be violent in case of someone mistreating her.

Before that she had been the ignored outcast. After that the village had been more inclined to accept her. Today for the first time she danced the traditional dance, among other girls and was praised for her performance.

Was it all just a lie?

Were the villagers secretly hating her like those three? Were they afraid she'd unleash Inuyasha at them if she wanted to?

Was she a fool, believing that she could ft in? That by diligent work and kindness she could win them over, show them she was not cursed and not worthless?

She sobbed, trying to remember Sakura and her sisters teaching her how to cook better, but now in her imagination they were laughing at her poor attempts. calling her pathetic and useless, mocking her.

"And today," Haro continued. "Today you outdone yourself. You reached the peak of worthless. Miko are supposed to save humans from youkai. And what did you do? You plunged a blade into our poor father, you killed him! Murderer! Kuro miko!"

"Yeah, kuro miko," cackled Ash. "That's what you are."

Kagome shook her head. They had it all wrong! She didn't kill Akira, he had been dead for days! He had been possessed and she had to defend herself against that crow! She couldn't do anything - heck, no miko could, at that point! Why were they so cruel? Why couldn't they see this?

"Nothing like Kikyou," Haru hit her again, this time on the ribs. She grunted in pain, but couldn't even roll away from him, since he grabbed the cord tying her bound hands to the tree and pulled her roughly back to where she had been before. She whined, but she couldn't spit the cloth in her mouth, she couldn't defend herself from the blows and from the cruel words. Somewhere behind Haro she could hear Ash chuckling and chanting that she was a dark priestess. It made her feel even worse.

After all she had done. all the training and helping others. Being called a dark miko, a vile woman with no heart was like a punch to the gut. She knew if, she got both in a short span of time, thanks to the smith's sons.

Was it what the villagers thought of her? Was it what they were going to call her behind her back? Were they going to call her the murderer of the smith?

Would her mother and her friends turn against her too?

"You don't belong among good people, cursed girl," Haru pulled her hair and glared at her face. 'You deserve to rot in hell."

"Luckily those fools form Border Village want to use you," Haro continued. "So we will get some compensation for all of this."

Kagome looked up at him through the mes of her tangled hair that had once been neatly braided. He seemed pleased with himself and was looking towards the village.

"Hey!" Natsu ran out from the trees that separated them from the edge of the forest. "They are right behind me. Oh, shit, you did that to her face? You stupid or what? You should hit where no one can see bruises!

"Got to put the woman in her place," Haru's balled fist hit Kagome on the back a few times. It wasn't that hard as before, but it still hurt.

"We will tell them that it's from the battle with the youkai that possessed our father," Haro decided. "Ash, you keep your trap shut."

"Yeah, Haro," Ash obediently stood back. Haru and Natsu pulled Kagome to her feet, roughly tugging at her hands and yanking at her hair. She tried to blink away tears, so she could see the newcomers and pretend that she had at least a bit of the dignity a miko should have.

Bu... Was there any use pretending she was not hurting? She was weak, she had no awesome power. She failed on so many occasions... People she lived among never would trust her as their miko after her mother's retirement.

Five men emerged from the direction Natsu had come from. They were blurred shadows between the trees, wrapped in dark clothes.

"Is it she?" one asked in a voice that was familiar. Kagome's head spun, so she didn't try to think too hard. Her cheek was pulsating with hot pain where Haru had hit her.

She was a burden on her mother anyway. And the villagers despised her. Kagome lowered her head, all that kept her from collapsing to the ground were the rough hands holding her upright.

"Yes. The Inu no Miko," Haro said with more than a hint of disdain. "Didn't you see her sitting beside the youkai earlier?"

"I saw her rub his ear after the dance," said a new voice. "It's her. He didn't ever growl at her."

"Alright then, let's take her home," decided the first speaker, obviously the leader. Part of Kagome wondered what was going to happen to her now.

"Gold first," Haro said. His brothers stood close by, but remained silent. Natsu and Haru were standing on both sides of Kagome, as if to support her when two of the newcomers approached.

"She looks kinda roughed up," one pointed out. "Hey, girl, they didn't do anything to you, didn't they?"

Before Kagome could gesture with her head and whine, Haro stepped in..It wasn't like she could say anything, with the cloth over her mouth.

"She just fought a youkai, that's all," he said and outstretched his hand.

"She's weak, so it laid in a couple of hits before she did it in," Haru grinned.

"She's weak? Then how come she holds power over the forest spirit?" asked another of the newcomers.

"She just does," Ash shrugged, lowering his head as if readying himself to fight. Haro glanced at him and then nodded.

"It's a miko thing, we normal people can't understand. She is pretty useless against youkai, but she controls the forest spirit. Now, give us money and take her away," he demanded.

The leader nodded and handed him a small bag. Kagome watched as Haro loosened the ties around it and counted the coins shining in the moonlight. He grinned up at the leader.

"Alright, boys, give them the girl and let's go back. All that business made me thirsty," he said, redoing the knot of the bag.

'And just like that,' Kagome thought numbly. 'I am now a slave to those men and from what they say they think that as long as they have me in their hands they can control Inuyasha. What will they do when they learn I can't do that either?'

Haru and Natsu all but threw her at the two men that approached them. One grabbed her shoulder and the other went to undo the rope from around the tree.

That was when they all heard the howl.

.

It was the full moon, the night that he had once feared so much, the youkai side almost surfacing. But now Tessaiga's seal was holding his bloodlust sealed away, for the first time in many, many years. He couldn't draw on his youkai side's power with the sword in his hand, but he didn't mind much. He was plenty strong without it and now he wasn't afraid he would hurt Kagome or the others.

For the first time ever he actually joined in on his own festival. And - also for the first time in his life - he enjoyed it. Well, the episode with the human sacrifice had been mostly annoying, but seeing the humans cowering in fright had been amusing.

Stupid humans, there was only one woman he wished to have as a bride.

As he'd watched her dance with the other girls, radiant and happy, he wondered if he'd ever have courage to ask her if she'd be his mate. Was it so wrong for him to hope and daydream? He knew, he was a half-breed, but she didn't care for this, she had seen him as a human and still treated him the same.

But would it be right to ask it of her, to leave the village and live with him? Especially now, when she was finally a part of the community?

Well, at least they could be friends. Maybe one day they could be something more. He could hope, right?

The land deity had told him to prove himself and he was going to. If it'd make Kagome want to be with him, he would do anything, including bowing to Sesshomaru and forgiving Kikyou's betrayal.

Shippou was playing with the village kids, rarely coming to where the adults were, running between huts, playing and tricking the children. Inuyasha wouldn't admit it, but he was glad to see the kit play so happily, at least he wasn't his target for the time being. Yet another thing he was thankful for. It was his healer who had convinced him to allow the boy come to the village.

He had come to bring her juice after the dance, concealing how stunned he was by her beauty. She had had her cheeks flushed, her eyes shining. She had teased him, his smart mouthed wench, and he wanted to show off in front of her. He wanted her to look at him with wonder and see that he was a good mate material.

So, now he stepped into the fighting circle, casting a glance where she sat far from the center of action. She could still see him, so he guessed it was fine.

His opponent was the headman's son, the same boy that had joined them on the mission to escort the noble lady through his forest. Over the last months Akiro grew taller, but was rather lanky.

And scared as hell. Inuyasha smirked.

"You can't win," he told the boy. There was no malice in his voice, it was the plain truth. "But you can still show you have balls and ain't a coward," he added, noticing the boy glancing to the pretty girl that had been often accompanying Kagome to do laundry those past months. Akiro gave a sharp nod and squared his shoulders, swallowing thickly, but not forfeiting the fight. He smirked, it looked like it wasn't only him who wanted to impress a girl.

Since Inuyasha knew how the boy felt, he allowed Akiro to try and overpower him. As futile as it was, the fight actually lasted more than a few seconds before Akiro found himself on the ground, pinned by Inuyasha's knee.

The forest spirit was more than a bit surprised how much fun this whole thing was. He hadn't been expecting to enjoy himself, but as he pulled Akiro to his feet he felt oddly happy and calm -an unusual occurrence during any other time, an impossible thing during a full moon.

And it was all thanks to Kagome, the sneaky wench not afraid to tie a bell in his hair, a girl who did all she could to goad him into coming to the village and actually care for the humans living there. Maybe he would, maybe he would try to loosen the ties of the forest spirit's mantle around them, at least some of them.

The boys taunted Akiro for losing - as if the human could actually win against Inuyasha. In the happy atmosphere, with the spectators laughing and demanding more fun, headman Kuma with other judges decided to change the rules of the competition - now it was not about winning against one's opponent, but to see who would last the longest against the forest spirit. Inuyasha approved of this change and soon he had even more fun, tackling boy after boy to the sandy ground, making sure not to harm them in the process. The audience was laughing and loudly commenting on the fights, cheering and clapping.

Of course, it was no surprise when a half of an hour later Inuyasha took the bowl of dumplings from the pretty girl's hands. She looked nervous, but he smirked at her and turned away.

"The winner gets the kiss. I get the food," he declared and started to walk towards where Kagome should be sitting behind the rows of cheering and clasping villagers.

He frowned when he didn't see her around where she had been. His ears lowered, her scent was not very fresh. So she haven't seen his fights and how good he was at not harming his opponents. 'Why did she leave?' he wondered, forgetting about his prize as he put the bowl on the edge of the bench. The humans sitting around were looking confused at him sniffing the air.

"Where is miko Kagome?" he asked them. Around other humans they tried to tamper the familiarity of their friendship. It was a bit like back with Kikyou, but not exactly. Kikyou and himself had never been at the same level of trust and friendship as Kagome and him were. Back then he had never worried he'd forget the formal way of addressing the young miko, like he almost had done on a number of occasions with Kagome.

The humans looked at each other, two of them shrugged and mumbled apologies for not knowing. But the third pointed to the far side of the village, where just a few lanterns were shining in the dark.

"Satoshi came to get her, said his father's ill," the man said and when Inuyasha cocked his head to the side, he added. "The smith's son."

Inuyasha gave a sharp nod and went towards the smithy, leaving behind his bowl of food. The bench occupants looked after him for a moment, but before they could remind him about his prize, the bowl shook, sprouted a tail from somewhere under it and walked away on a pair of foxy paws. When the bowl was far enough the villagers could see Shippou carrying it, snickering as he headed towards the play grounds.

Finding the smithy was easy, he knew the location of the vital places in the village. It was not a part of the village Kagome often visited, so her scent was easy to follow too, a straight path from the shrine to the yard of a wealthy house.

He was so focused on her pleasant scent that he ignored another odor seeping into his nose with every step taken closer towards the hut. Bu when he stepped into the property gate the stench hit him with surprising force, making hist stomach squeeze.

A corpse. And not a fresh one at that.

His gaze swept across the yard and focused on a big building in front of which stood Kaede, a middle-aged woman and her young pup. They all looked pale and ready to throw up.

Not that he couldn't understand them, the fetor was putrid and even he wanted to retch with every breath. It was almost drowning out other scents. He winced when he instinctively tried to sort through them. Sake. Adult males that didn't find pleasure in regular bathing. Those three. Kagome. A youkai - a dead one - a dead shibugarasu.

A youkai in his domain, sneaking into one of his villages. It was lucky it was already dead because otherwise he'd kill it painfully. Still, the easy mood from before was gone, Inuyasha sensed something was still amiss. As he gathered more and more information from the smells, he grew increasingly more agitated - Kagome's smell was laced with fear and he was already planning what he was going to yell at Kaede for bringing the girl to witness her dealing with the pest.

"Oi, Kaede!" he called and willed himself to approach the humans as if nothing was wrong. Kagome was nowhere in sight, but she could be close by. She was always babbling how much she wanted him to try and be polite to her mother, so he did his best to do just that..The woman and the boy huddled together, but he didn't pay them any mind. He walked towards the old miko. "What happened here?"

"In short words," Kaede replied with a sigh. "Akira was possessed by a corpse crow." She probably noticed his tilted head, because she added. "The smith."

Inuyasha gave a small nod. He didn't really care. He knew very few villagers by name and if they weren't the village leaders or Kagome didn't speak fondly of them he saw no reason to remember their names. Besides, this one was already dead.

"It's dead now. Did you kill it? Why did you call Kagome here? And where is she?" he asked. As soon as he mentioned the healer's name the remaining family of the smith paled even more and moved a bit away.

"I came here just a few minutes ago myself, Inuyasha," Kaede shook her head. "From what I gathered from my inspection of the body and their words, they summoned Kagome because they thought he was ill. It was Kagome who defeated the youkai, with a well-placed..."

The wind shifted and blew across the yard. A new scent - and not a pleasant one either - wafted towards him, catching his attention. He stalked along the side of the workshop and around its corner before he came upon a pile of vomit. Next to it on the ground was Kagome's hair tie with the bells shining in the moonlight that found a way through the clouds.

The fetor of the corpse was less prominent here, he could actually focus on the scent of the miko and define more than the fact that she was there. Kaede walked after him and gasped when she saw him picking up the ribbon, the bells chiming.

Confusion, fear, dread, panic - that was in Kagome's scent from not that long ago. Not the scent of a miko who just had had her first big victory. No, it was a smell of a caught prey. Kaede started saying something, but he ignored her as he stood up and looked back at the pair of humans peering cautiously from behind the corner of the building.

The smell was wrong. The world was wrong. And they knew why.

"What did you do to Kagome?" he growled low, his ire rising so fast that his expanding youki started to pick up the ends of his hair. He was going to learn the truth and get his Kagome back to safety, even if it meant leveling the whole village. Kaede stared at him with one good eye, obviously not knowing what he was talking about. It was not surprising, the old bat was late to the party as well.

She had been scared, but she had fought and won. But where was she now? Was she unharmed? Was she waiting for him to come and save her? Or was she fighting on her own, alone, again? He clenched his fists, vowing to never again allow her fight alone, without his backup.

"That girl..." the woman shook her head. "We did nothing to her."

"A lie!" In a blink of an eye Inuyasha leaped towards her, his claws slashing the air, their tips just gently grazing the side of her face. The smell of blood was heavy as five dark lines ran from her temple to her chin. A split second later the woman screamed in pain and clutched at her injury, stumbling back from where he stood, claws ready to strike. "Try again. What did you do to my miko?" the woman shook her head, whining as she held her face. He lifted his hand again. "This time I'm not avoiding your eye."

"Inuyasha!" Kaede gasped, outstretching her hands, probably to calm him down and prevent more harm to the woman. But before she could reach him, the brat stood in front of his mother.

"We did nothing to her!" the boy exclaimed and grabbed Inuyasha's hand as if trying to stop him. "Haro said she's going to be just fine when he sells her to the other village! I bet she's already half-way there, so leave us alone!" he added, pointing towards the forest.

"Satoshi!" the woman breathed out.

The forest spirit's hunting call stopped her from adding anything more. It also froze the old miko where she stood. Back in the village, all the people stopped what they had been doing and turned their frightened eyes towards the dark part of the village. It was an old call, but one that they all had learned to recognize since Inuyasha's return. Ken and few others ran to fetch their weapons and follow the eerie sound.

Inuyasha didn't waste time to kill the pair, he merely pushed the brat back, not caring about the amount of strength put in his push. Before the boy hit his mother and they both tumbled to the ground, he was already gone, followed by Kaede's call. He didn't care about what the old bat had to say or about the humans' whines.

He had to find Kagome.

He wanted nothing more than to tear the traitors apart, but this was a luxury he had no time for now. Kagome's safety was his only priority, he could always come back and finish with those two later.

Guilt flooded him as he ran, the knowledge that Kagome was in danger and he hadn't been aware of it until now. She had battled a youkai and he had been playing around with village boys! It wasn't what a partner should do. And after that battle she had been caught by some bastards who sold her away!

His fists clenched.

There was no way in hell that the bastards were going to survive to the sunrise.

.

The howl echoes through the forest, making the men around her look at each other in confusion. The smith's sons stepped a few paces away, looking towards the village.

"What was that?" asked one of the men from the Border Village.

"Not our problem," Natsu snickered and waved a hand.

"You might want to remove the cloth from her mouth,"Haro smirked. at the uneasy men that surrounded her. "The forest spirit will be here soon."

"What? Fuck, girl, you hafta order the forest spirit to..." one of the men turned towards her, his face pale in the moonlight. He reached for the fabric covering her mouth and undid the knot on it. The material was soaked with her tears, that now flew freely down her cheeks to her trembling chin.

Kagome looked at him, motionless and silent. Her captors held her tightly, but it wasn't necessary. Her limbs were limp and it was painful to even stand up, both from the beating she had received and the hollow ache in her heart.

They called her dark priestess. They sold her to those men to get rid of her. They thought she was cursed and brought bad luck, that she killed a man. They said she was useless, that everyone was afraid of her, that she was never going to fit she was good for nothing, only one thing. And she wasn't even able to do that.

"I have no power over Inuyasha," she said flatly. It was better to inform them. After all, it'd be worse if they learned the truth later. Now the smith's sons would have to give their money back and maybe she'd be free to go.

But she had nowhere to go back to.

Surely she couldn't go back to the village.

Besides, there was no telling what the smith's sons were going to do to her for revealing the truth. Would even one person in the village miss her and wonder about her fate? Was she going to die here, on the edge of Inuyasha's forest?

"What?" the man gasped and looked to the four sellers.

"Shut up, bitch!" Haru leaped towards her and slapped her on the face. Kagome cried in pain and collapsed to the forest floor, a sob shaking her body.

"Hey, you told,,," called someone above her , but she didn't care to look up. She didn't know the men from the Border Village, those that now owned her. Was she going to be their slave now?

"Gods!" gasped someone else almost at the same time, the gasp followed by a painful scream.

And a familiar growl.

"Inuyasha," she sobbed and looked up. He had howled before, but she hadn't pay attention to it. It had been like a memory, a sound from another world, from a place where she could laugh, where she was safe and where she stood beside Inuyasha under the Sacred Tree, where she belonged. Since the defeat of the corpse crow she no longer felt like a part of that world, but now...

...Now Inuyasha was there.

Somehow the forest spirit found a way to this dark place where she was hated by everyone. His voice was low and his youki was shaking the leaves of the trees in his forest as he attacked the men that had tormented her.

"You bastards thought you can take what's mine to protect? Kagome is no thing you can sell! She's Inu no Miko!"

Unable to move or call to him, too numb to reach for him and soothe his ire, Kagome stared as her beloved hanyou broke Ash's spine, a dry crack resounding oddly loud in the forest basked in the eerie light of the moon.

Seemingly effortlessly the forest spirit flung the screaming man at the group of Border Village dwellers before he leaped after the remaining three sons of the smith, that tried to flee. Ash's yells of pain silenced as he collided with two of the men and all three fell to the ground.

They could see the moonlight glint on raised claws of the youkai as he struck Natsu down his back, a bloodcurling scream following the strike as the boy stumbled to the ground.

"Help! Somebody...!" Haro tried to call for help, but Inuyasha's claws silenced him forever as they slashed across his throat. Kagome heard a gurgling noise as the man reached to where his vocal cords - and veins - were severed, collapsing first to his knees and then falling on his face.

Haru's screams of agony came to Kagome's ears a short moment later, from behind the trees. She wasn't sure what Inuyasha did to him, but the boy was screaming longer than his brothers.

"M-miko, you do something!" shrieked one of the remaining men as he pushed Ash's limp body off of himself.

"We're so screwed..." another groaned, trying to back away from the rest, towards the darkness between the trees.

"We just followed Tora's orders... Do you think he will spare us?" said the third voice.

Shut up!" yelled the one with the familiar voice. A hand hauled Kagome to her feet. Coming out of her shock she looked at a pale man with panic in his eyes. He looked similar in looks to Oda with his wide face and thick brows. "You're our miko now! Do something!"

"You humans," growled a voice that could chill to the bones, but somehow sent warmth through her body. "You are too stupid to live."

Inuyasha stepped out of the darkness into a ray of moonlight, his hair a tangled mane, his ears lowered in a sign of anger, his yellow eyes clear, cold and focused on his next prey. His youki was heavy in the air, as was the scent of death. Haru was moaning somewhere behind him as the forest spirit advanced towards the humans.

"Please, forest spirit, spare us!" pleaded one. "We just wanted to get your favor and protection!"

"We didn't mean the girl any harm!" added the one that had asked Kagome if she was alright. All of them, sans the one holding her by her shoulders, started to moved back, huddling together.

"Yeah! She was going to be our miko and get respect like she obviously didn't get here!" yet another one exclaimed. "They said that she has power over you, so where she lives you will protect!"

"You dumbasses wanted to chain her and never ask her opinion," Inuyasha lifted his hand. "You'll find out what's the punishment for breaking the forest law."

"Hey!" the man that was holding Kagome, stepped around her and held her to himself. Inuyasha's stopped walking and looked at then. "We still have the girl. And we will..."

"Kagome," the hanyou ignored him and the healer almost smiled at the softer way he spoke her name. "What do you want?"

"What?" the man pulled her against himself even tighter.

Inuyasha's question echoed in her mind. Kagome blinked a few times, feeling as if she was waking up from a terrible nightmare, as if she had been drowning and now was taking her first breath.

The amount of warmth, concern and affection behind Inuyasha's words was enough to chase away the limp coldness encasing her body. She was still aching, yes, but she was able and wanting to move, to lift her head. The villagers hated her, but there were people who didn't see her as cursed or evil, or useless. There were people who would kill to keep her safe, but also want her to choose her path. There were people she could trust, with whom she could be herself and not feel judged.

"Inuyasha," she said, her voice hoarse from her previous crying. His ears perked up. "Take me home."

"Hey, girl, we paid for your assistance in our village!" the man holding her shook her as if to remind her that he was holding her. She hit him on the stomach with her elbow, but her hit lacked strength because of an awkward angle. He cursed and wrapped both arms around her to keep her in place, despite her struggling.

"Tora, no!" exclaimed one of his lackeys when Inuyasha's lips spread in a wicked smirk. The youkai crouched, ready to leap at the pair despite the fact that the man was using the girl as a shield.

In the silence of a moment before that a bowstring sang and a keen listener could hear an arrow cut the air.

For a second Kagome was confused. She had assumed the arrow was her mother's and worried it was meant for Inuyasha, but the hanyou was not injured, standing still and looking at her.

Past her.

The arms around her loosened and Tora grunted as he stumbled back from her. Kagome spun around to see the man falling to his side, a long shaft with white feathers sticking out of his back. She followed the path of the arrow and saw her mother, Ken and a couple more people approaching, the head huntsman lowering his bow.

In a blink of an eye Inuyasha was next to her, his body radiating warmth and youki. He was ready to fight, Kagome knew about it. She spared a glance around, at the scared or dead men and the approaching crowd armed and confused.

"Inuyasha," she repeated softly. The weight of emotions that had flown through her, the strain of fighting the crow youkai, the events that transpired in this place, all of this made her feel tired and unwilling to see anyone from the community she had tried to be a part of for so long. She turned to look at the hanyou - his eyes holding the dangerous glint of anger, but not red and feral. "Take me home."

.

'Oh, Inuyasha.'

Without thinking much Kagome rolled in the man's hug and tucked her head under his chin, sobbing and shaking in his warm embrace. The hand that had wrapped around her, lifted and started to - awkwardly at first - stroke her hair.

"Cry if you must, but you better not cry anytime soon again," he whispered.

She nodded, thankful that he was there. He hated her crying, but maybe just for tonight he didn't mind, because she needed it? It took her a while to calm down, his youki blanketing her, his touch on her hair and the knowledge that she was in the safest place possible were enough to chase away the nightmares conjured by her imagination and put some distance between her and the nightmares of reality. She could mull over them later, when she was no longer aching.

He'd come for her. He'd found her in that dark place, surrounded by hateful people. He'd take her home - to his home, to his den - to be safe. He'd remained with her, soothing her as best as he could.

"Anyway, I meant what I said. You are staying here. No shitty drunkards will sell you into slavery to greedy dumbasses," he murmured. "I promised to protect you and I don't go back on my word."

"That... That sounds good, Can... Can I stay? I mean here, in your den, at your side? Like - forever?"

"Oi, wench, that's my line!" he pulled her ear gently and she looked up at him. His cheeks flushed, but he refused to look away or back down. "Was about to ask you some time ago. I mean I wanted to ask if I could court you... I mean, I didn't ask, because you wanted to stay in the village and be a miko... and asking you to even consider being my mate didn't feel right back then, but..."

Warmth of the kind that had nothing to do with blankets and fire, grew in her heart and she reached a hand to cover his mouth before he tangled in his own words, got frustrated and fled to pout. From what she understood there was a whole complicated thing they should discuss, but for now she was happy to stay where she was and let the knowledge that her forest spirit wanted her in his life heal at least some of the wounds Haro's words cut in her heart.

"We'll talk later," she told the man when she saw his confusion, anxiety and hope shining in those yellow eyes of his. "Thank you," she added and laid her head back down, closing her eyes. Inuyasha relaxed after a moment and sighed, trying to pull away. "Stay here or I'll use the kotodama."

"Bossy wench," he tried to grumble, but it sounded more like an endearment. She hummed as she felt him lay back where he had been resting beside her before.

.

Shippou tip toed away from the closed door of Inuyasha's inner den. He had been angry and worried when he had heard Kagome cry and Inuyasha not doing shit about it, but it sounded like they were good now.

The fox meandered between the eight dogs that kept watch in various spots across the corridor.

"All will be alright," he told them and decided it was high time for him to leave his post under Inuyasha's door to find his own sleep in his room.. He had planned to barge in on the pair and snuggle with them, but he was a big, wise kitsune, he knew it could wait.

In the meantime he had some cookie stashed in his room.

A/N: Goodness, it was a long one. Hope you liked it at least a bit.
Now we can wonder what's going to happen now.