One Week
Author's Note:
Inuyasha fic idea where the rosary breaks off him in battle but this time Kagome couldn't find all the pieces to repair it, Kaede doesn't know nor have the power to make one just activate it, Kikyo's dollself is already completely destroyed so of no help, and Kagome damn sure doesn't know how to make one. So inuyasha is free. The level of control Kagome has over his being/soul slowly leaves. It's a gradual realization for him that things he ignored or didn't fully mind are actual problems, that he actually kinda doesn't like his traveling group all that much(his fav is Kilala). And at the end of the week he's ready to leave and be on his own again pretty much. Set a bit earlier in the series I guess? But after the 3rd movie. Kinda drabble, pretty au as I couldn't decide just where to place this in series to make it veer from canon and Kikyo doesn't die again until Final Act. Soooooo...pffft I'm kinda winging it. Was inspired by this old theory that the necklace actually lowkey was meant to brainwash demons and it does affect Inuyasha. Came across a post on tumblr(I think) where someone talked about that idea or similar and it reminded me that that was kinda a theory back in the day. And then this happened!
I'm gonna be honest...I might write different variations focused on this concept. Maybe.
Warning! slight-Character bashing for...almost everyone kinda lol.
And this one is also a oneshot. Enjoy!
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It starts
"Inuyashaaaa!" Kagome screamed in terror as she watched Inuyasha go flying into the far off trees from a lethal looking strike from their current enemy's claws. She thought there might've been blood flying out of him from that hit.
"Lady Kagome! We need to end this! Where are the other jewel shards?" Miroku shouts as he runs around the demon throwing sutras at it.
"Right. Let's see...The two shards Inuyasha got from its chest and belly are with him, hopefully. There's two on it's head and one other is in the arm that struck Inuyasha!" She yelled the last sentence loudly before she fumbled with her bow slightly to get it ready. She had to wait to shoot when her hair blocked her vision from the wind Sango's hiraikotsu picked up as it flew past her into the demon's arm, severing it. Ready again, she whispered a quiet demand for her arrow to hit the mark before releasing it. It glowed brightly with a purification's light ready to smite any demon it contacts, unfortunately it dodged the arrow with barely a singe.
Seeing Miroku picking through the demon's severed arm for the jewel while Sango and Kilala distracted it away from him she almost didn't notice the red and silver blur that was headed right for their adversary as she was knocking another bow.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out happily, her friends echoing her sentiments.
Instead of responding, he focused on killing his opponent. Faking an uppercut, he veered to the side using Iron Weaver Soul Stealer to remove it's head, "Not so great without your head now are ya?", he mocked. "Insolent welp! You cannot hope to defeat me for long with the Shikon jewel shards in my possession!" The demon growled. "That a fact?", Inuyasha remarked before barking, "Kagome! Where exactly are the shards in this bastard's head?"
"Ah, in the back of his head!", was Kagome's immediate reply. Sango edged closer with her weapon ready, to back up Inuyasha just in case.
Inuyasha plunged his other hand into the demon's skull, ignoring it's screams of agony, then yanked his blood covered fist out to see if he managed to grab the jewel shards instead of bone shards.
"Is it over?", Shippo asked somewhat shakily.
"Yup", Inuyasha replied casually letting the other demon's now silenced head fall to the ground.
"Everyone ok?", he asked even as golden eyes quickly scanned the members of his party for obvious injury. Getting a positive answer he turned away from the others to flick as much of the blood he could off the shards before he handed them to Kagome.
"Good work, everybody", Miroku smiled as he passed the shard he acquired over to Kagome. Kagome absently put the jewel shards handed to her away as she glanced repeatedly at Inuyasha. 'There's something odd...about Inuyasha. I can't quite put my finger on it', she mused.
It wasn't until they had started walking from the cooling corpse on the ground to get to the nearest stream that it hit her. "Inuyasha! You're necklace is gone!", Kagone shouted in alarm.
"Ow, what the hell Kagome? There was no need to shout, I'm right here! And so what?", Inuyasha flinched at her shout but was otherwise unbothered to realize Kagome was right. 'Huh. No wonder I feel lighter', he thought as he patted around his clavicle where those cursed beads usually sat.
"'So what?' 'So what?'! You need those on you, you dolt!" Kagome shouted.
"No, I don't!", Inuyasha argued vehemently, "You haven't needed protection from me in a good long while you idiot! Or did you forget?"
"I haven't", she insisted, "Well will you at least help me find them?"
"Why the hell would I ever do something like that? I hate those damn beads and you know it!", he scoffed.
"Nevermind that! Just help me look!"
"No! If you want to waste time looking all over the ground for some useless beads then count me out. I'll be at the nearest river washing the stench of that demon off", he declared in his tone that meant the discussion was over and started to walk away. Kagome fummed silently, the sit command on her tongue and on it's way out until she remembered that he was no longer wearing the subjugation beads so it wouldn't work.
The others had watched the argument curiously, wondering how this new development would turn out. Glancing at each other briefly it was somehow silently decided that Miroku and Shippo would help Kagome in her likely futile search, the beads could've flown and bounced and rolled in any direction after the last hit Inuyasha took that sent him flying, while Sango and Kilala would join Inuyasha since they were more bloodied up from the battle.
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Day 1
It was morning and Inuyasha, as usual, was awake and waiting for the others to wake. This time though he was taking the chance to bathe in the hot spring they'd camp near to. "Kilala", Inuyasha said softly. Kilala's ears twitched and she lifted her head with an inquiring mew towards the dog demon. "Keep watch, I'll be back in a bit", he informed her before jumping off onto the other branches without so much as shaking a leaf with his stealth.
While Inuyasha was in the middle of grooming, Sango was the next to rise. She noticed Kilala was awake with her ears alert and twitching, a quick glance into the tree tops informed her that Inuyasha had left. Past experiences told her that whatever he was doing, he'd likely would return with breakfast so she settled into doing some light stretches and katas to awaken herself further and pass some of the time. She was unable to get very far in her routine however due to Kagome startling awake with a gasp.
"Are you ok? Was it a nightmare?" Sango asked in concern as she straightened her posture.
"No, I...just...", looking around somewhat frantically despite the drowsiness Kagome suddenly demanded, "Where's Inuyasha?"
Sango looked behind her as if Inuyasha would suddenly appear before returning her gaze to Kagome, "I'm not sure, he was gone when I awoke".
"What do you mean gone? It isn't safe! He shouldn't just wander off on his own like that", she slowly panicked unmindful of the odd look she was being given.
"I'm sure he's fine. Kilala would have alerted us if he wasn't", Sango soothed.
"But-"
"I think you're confused about what night it is, Kagome. Just go back to sleep", she said reassuringly with a gentle smile hinting at amusement at Kagome's care for the half demon. But Kagome, being stubborn, did not immediately go to sleep opting to remain awake so that she could scold Inuyasha for worrying her. Fortunately, she ended up falling back asleep anyway despite her seething.
When Inuyasha returned the others were all just waking up and he came with food just as Sango assumed he would. A treat even! Instead of the typical rabbit, the occasional bird, or the far more frequent fish he instead brought a dead deer for them to eat. Sango was quick to offer assistance in preparing it with Shippo joining to watch the process. Kagome tried not to feel guilty and sickened about the cute animal's slaughter, it was easier to deal with than the first few times they ate bunny rabbits at least. Miroku, having returned from nature's call, smiled at the meat being roasted.
"My what a meal we'll have this morning! What made you decide to forgo the usual fair this fine morning?", Miroku asked as he settled near the fire. Inuyasha glanced up from the skinned deer fur he was inspecting as he answered with a nonchalant, "I'm in a good mood". Miroku simply nodded in acknowledgement, feeling pretty sure that Inuyasha's lingering good mood had to do with the fact that so few of the beads of the subjugation necklace were found that they wouldn't even make a good bracelet.
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Kagome and Inuyasha were yelling. Nothing new there. And they were arguing about Kagome using the 'sit' command on him. Still nothing new. What was new was how the sit command didn't work. Oh sure, Inuyasha froze a moment in fearful anticipation but when nothing happened he let out a laugh full of relief and nerves in equal mixture. It was this laugh that alerted Kagome that he wasn't implanted into the ground as she hadn't stopped walking after giving the command. In a moment of confusion, she said it again but was reminded that word no longer held such power over him when Inuyasha called her an idiot and began to berate her for trying to 'sit' him. And of course, Kagome wasn't going to take such an attitude and began to argue with him. The rest of the gang watched from a bit ahead on the path they'd been walking on. Wondering just how the argument would end if Kagome was no longer able to make it end with one word.
And why had Kagome tried to use that command in the first place? It was because Inuyasha had gently tossed Shippo from off the top of his head for one of the others to catch when his snarky prejudiced comments about half demons, Inuyasha in particular, mixed with random babbling about his own future greatness right in his ear along with the fox kit's position was starting to give him a headache along with irritating him. Shippo had managed to angle himself so that he'd land on Kagome and promptly faked some tears for sympathy, this along with being startled had caused Kagome to say it immediately.
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It was odd, for the rest of the group, to see a smugly content Inuyasha after an argument, an argument he won no less! For the rest of the day's traveling. But why wouldn't he be? He'd just gotten confirmation that he could win arguments against Kagome when her unfair advantage was taken away. He did find it weird though, in the far back of his mind, that he even noted that Miroku was thanked by everyone else for getting them free food in the village they passed through earlier but he himself never seemed to be thanked for the food he hunted.
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Day2
The group had stopped early in the day at a split path. The village they had just passed wasn't being plagued by any demons, much less one with a jewel shard, so they had continued on their way until now. Inuyasha didn't care which path they picked so long as they continued forward. Shippo wanted to take a break. Sango wanted to take the left path. Kilala was watching Shippo play. Miroku wanted to take the right. And Kagome...had decided to announce that she wanted to return home for a bit just before Miroku was going to drop his staff in the hopes of Buddha guiding them to the path they seek. Miroku and Sango just silently agreed to Kagome's wishes, Inuyasha on the other hand…
"What on earth do you wanna go back home for now?", he demanded with a confused scowl on his face.
"Well, we made good progress on collecting shards from that last demon and it's been two days since then so I figured-", Kagome started explaining only to be interrupted.
"The fact that we finally made some progress is reason enough to continue! We were just about to pick a direction to go in and now you wanna backtrack? What if we're getting closer to some shards? What if we find out where Naraku is if we just keep going?!"
"I'd have sensed the shards if they were near! There aren't any! And it's good to take a break every so often" She exclaimed.
"Not true. Half the time you don't seem to sense the damn things til they're practically in front of you! And besides we've plenty of breaks already!", Inuyasha argued.
"A lack of battle is not a proper break! And I really need to catch up on some school work too!", Kagome yelled back.
"The hell it isn't! And that's your real reason for wanting a so called 'break'! You just want to go home to fight those weak test demons! How are they more important than this again?!"
"I keep telling you! They just are! It's important to me and my future!" Kagome yelled getting red in the face.
"They aren't more important than the lives at stake here! And what about everyone else's future or lack of one with that murderous bastard Naraku skulking about, huh?" Inuyasha hollered just as loud back. Kagome fumbled with her words a brief moment over the truth of his statement before letting out a noise of anger.
"You just don't get it! Sit! Sitsitsitsit! I'm going home and that's that!" Kagome raged at him with her eyes closed making her unable to see that he had flinched horribly away from her but was still upright.
"Sango, let me borrow Kilala please?" Kagome asked tersely as she turned to the demon slayer. Sango gave a hesitant yes. Before Kagome could get on the huge fire cat demon Inuyasha grabbed her wrist making Kagome gasp in surprise, she was usually long gone before he'd even be able to move.
"So you're really just gonna try and leave just like that?" He asked gruffly.
"Yes! I told you. I want to go home! I have things I have to do there and I'm sure Momma's worried about me", Kagome listed her excuses in an irritable manner.
"So nothing I said mattered? The fact that we need to find these jewel shards at all and quickly being cuz of you, doesn't matter? How about the fact that more people are dying because you keep dawdling?" Inuyasha stated angrily as Kagome kept trying to tug her wrist free to no avail, his grip didn't hurt but it wasn't budging a centimeter.
"I didn't say any of that!" Kagome spat out then asked accusingly, "Are you just gonna make me stay then?!" Only to be surprised when he abruptly let her go with a hissed, "It's not like I kidnapped you Kagome. But fine, go back home! See if I care".
Kagome hesitated a moment at his tone but then ignored it to ride Kilala to the well in righteous anger.
"Why'd you have to go and make her angry?! Stupid Inuyasha", Shippo grumbled.
"It's not like I said anything wrong! And she's the one who started it by trying to put yet another pause in our mission!"
"Well to be fair, it probably would be a good idea for her to check in with her family and see to her other duties when able", Sango spoke up.
"'Other duties'? Come off it! I've told you how all she really does is sit around reading in that fancy era of hers! You really wanna look me in the eye and tell me that anything in her era, even her family who isn't concerned at all because they know I protect her, is more important than you getting your only family back or the monk having his curse lifted or even all three of us getting our justified revenge?" The two stared at each other silently, Sango unable to answer and Inuyasha waiting for an answer that wasn't about to come until Miroku stepped in.
"Now now. I'm sure Lady Kagome has her reasons, regardless of our own opinions on the matter. I suggest we focus on now. I propose we keep traveling then head back to Kaede's tomorrow on a different route so we still cover more ground. What say you?" Miroku smiled pleasantly. Sango nodded her agreement solemnly.
"Keh, whatever. Let's just go", Inuyasha scoffed.
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Settling down for the night on his chosen branch, Inuyasha couldn't help but feel disgruntled. And surprisingly the lack of a new jewel shard was not the reason. And neither was Kagome's absence for once. No what had him feeling...mildly irritated was the unease the others seemed to have around him. But he decided it was likely just that they were still affected by the argument he and Kagome had since, weirdly, they hardly brought it up. Didn't explain why Sango seemed to relax when Kilala made it back and treated him no different than usual.
Down below Sango and Miroku were laying down for a restless sleep, both still on edge for any changes that Inuyasha might display in personality with his subjugation necklace gone. Shippo, sensing the nervousness from the two humans, opted to sleep against Kilala for the night.
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Day 3
The sun had barely peeked over the horizon when the group had awakened to an unusual occurrence. A demon had come upon their campsite, perhaps to snoop for supplies or in hopes of killing them. Whichever the case, everyone had awoken easily and quickly in time to see Inuyasha swoop down and bash the other demon's head into the ground faster than they could blink when the demon set foot within their immediate perimeter. Frozen in shock, the adults could only watch in tense ready stances as Inuyasha growled threateningly at this threat he held by the throat firmly against the dirt; uncaring of the blood sluggishly gushing from the intruders skull.
"State your purpose!" Sango demanded ready to unsheath her sword quickly followed by Miroku's stern question, "Did Naraku send you?"
"W-what? No! I was, I was just-", the demon stuttered out.
"Just what?" Inuyasha demanded in a growl.
Avoiding looking at any of them the demon continued nervously, "Just looking for some food".
"You mean you were looking to take a bite out of the humans here", Inuyasha asserted, tightening his hold on the demon's neck.
"Wait-t mercy, mERcy! I dint kno were yoursch", the demon stammered through the pain of Inuyasha's vice grip.
When Inuyasha didn't speak up after a moment, Miroku called out his name in askance.
"I don't trust him", Inuyasha stated.
"If we let him go he could attack us later. It might be best to kill him to avoid trouble later", Sango suggested.
The captured demon's eyes widened in panic, "N-no please! Trade! Trade! I has a piece of the shikon jewel, I'll give it to you if you spare me!" His throat already healing from the damage received as Inuyasha barely loosened his grip enough for the other to talk.
"Or I could just kill you and take the jewel anyway", Inuyasha countered.
Miroku and Sango shared a glance.
"You c-could yeah. But I promise. No tricks. I just wanted to eat, I'll look elsewhere and give you the shard if you let me live sir", he pleaded, adding an address of respect in desperate hopes it'd appeal to the half demon.
Inuyasha was silent as he focused on the scents coming off this demon that was actually younger than him by some years. He smelled scared, nervous, a bit hopeful, and like an owl demon. Despite his natural disposition to not trust others he figured he'd give the guy a chance. Glancing up pointedly to the others so they'd be ready to move, just in case.
"I'll spare you after you cough up the jewel shard. Don't try anything funny either", Inuyasha bit out.
"I won't, I won't! I-it", the demon paused when his voice cracked to clear his throat as best he could, "I stuffed it under my arm guard". Miroku came forward at that, doing a quick but thorough check of the mentioned accessory, "Got it. It appears he wasn't lying", he stated calmly as he held the shard up for the others to see.
"S-see? My word was good! So you'll let me go now...right?", the demon fretted despite his attempt at a brave face. There was a pause. A pause that felt as if it stretched for hours, leaving everyone feeling nervous as Inuyasha stared this demon in the eye. Miroku and Sango exchanged quick glances, unsure if they should do something but recognizing that this moment was important. Important, for some reason, in how they'd view their comrade depending on the outcome.
"Yeah…", Inuyasha agreed while removing his claws at long last from the demon and stood back a bit, "You can go." As soon as the last syllable left his mouth the demon was on his feet and running away as fast as possible, leaving only a trail of dust and leaves.
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He was starting to feel annoyed again. They were making good time heading back to Kaede's village, he'd been right about them lucking out with another shard, but no one was talking. Well...that wasn't true. Shippo would occasionally jabber on about girls or something with Miroku or cheer out games with Kilala but other than that...it was silent within their group. If Kagome were here there'd be almost nonstop chatter! Most if pointless true. But that's what friends do right? Talk? Then how come they weren't talking while Kagome wasn't here? He knew why he wasn't talking. He had no clue how to start a conversation, let alone what exactly to talk about that wasn't completely asinine or something he already knew about them.
...Maybe they just didn't feel like talking right now? He often felt like that so it was something he could understand.
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Due to the speed they were able to keep, without Kagome to slow them down wanting to take in the scenery, they managed to cut down the time to only being about a half days walk from the village. Which was more like two long jumps and a skip for demons like himself...and Kilala. Ok, so Kilala had helped by carrying everyone else when Sango mentioned it'd be prudent to move quicker. Doesn't change the fact they made damn good time without all the stops.
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Day 4
Inuyasha was lounging on top the roof of Kaede's hut enjoying the sun as he waited for Kaede to return home. Kilala was resting on his chest, purring of all things. He didn't mind, it just wasn't often she chose to rest on him, what with her being an old lady and all.
Sango hand gone to the village's blacksmith to do maintenance on her weapons and Miroku was likely off trying to be a bad influence to Shippo again. Not that it mattered. From what he could tell Shippo was being smart in what actions to replicate and which to never do. Something that will serve him well when he's old enough to seek out a mate of his own if those practice trials he's had are anything to go by.
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Inuyasha hopped off the roof to land in front of Kaede when he sensed her approach, leaving Kilala largely unbothered.
"Oh!" Kaede startled, "There ye be Inuyasha! Kagome was quite concerned before she left. Let me get a good look at ye", the aged priestess demand as she grabbed his chin to peer closely into his eyes with her one good eye.
"Whaddaya mean? There ain't nothing wrong with me!" He declared.
"Aye, well...that remains to be seen. You are no longer bound by the beads of subjugation. Kagome wondered if you might need a new one since the last was unsalvageable", Kaede stated as Inuyasha allowed her to maneuver his limbs as she pleased for inspection.
"She WHAT?!" He roared, angered at the fact she tried to have another collar made to bind him again, he removed his body from Kaede's probing hands.
"Cease yer howling Inuyasha. I shall tell ye as I told her: another necklace cannot be made. Besides it is no longer needed in order to keep her safe from ye", Kaede noted. Inuyasha's ears twitched repeatedly in agitation as his anger eased, lessening the tension in his shoulders. Little old Kaede had faith in him...
"You mean...you can't make another one? I don't have to worry about being weighed down by another of those blasted things?"
"Nay, I never made the first if ye'd recall".
"...Right. Kikyo made it...originally", Inuyasha grimaced.
Patting him on the arm, she declared, " It gladdens me to see ye are still trustworthy without them", there was a pause as a silent look of understanding passed between them, "I shall see ye later in the day, I still have work to tend to", Kaede continued as she made her way into her hut with nothing more than a nod of acknowledgement and softened gaze in response to her claim.
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It was the middle of dinner and the small talk of what everyone had done today had, of course, changed to the topic of the latest fight between him and Kagome. He was not amused. Especially when it seemed like they were implying that he was the one being insensitive and overly aggressive. He, at least, never tried to physically hurt Kagome in an argument! When Miroku brought up that he had insulted Kagome's ability to sense the shards he just couldn't remain silent anymore.
"Not true! I never said she was bad at it, just inconsistent! I can't be the only one to noticed she doesn't seem to have a set range for how close or far it has to be for her to sense it? Or that she sometimes don't realize that a demon has one until the damn things practically on top of us?!" Inuyasha asserted.
Miroku frowned, "Be that as it may you didn't have to demean her like that. She's very necessary for locating the jewels being the only one of use who can locate them and the power to purify them easily".
"Tch! If that were true Naraku wouldn't have as many as he does! And other demons wouldn't always know what area to find the jewel in order to steal it. The only thing Kagome can do better is sense it a bit faster and pinpoint its location a lot better. Which means Monk that Kagome's ability only makes it easier to dig the shard out of the corpses of demons so we ain't wastin more time searching the bodies", he protested even as he finished his food.
"I see ye point, but it does not hurt to use kinder words when speaking to a maiden", Kaede responded. Inuyasha scoffed, kinder words indeed. Nobody seemed interested in telling Kagome that using that command on him wasn't a 'kind word' so why should he avoid telling the truth?
"Regardless of all of that, you still upset Kagome enough to make her leave!", Shippo sniped.
"She was gonna leave anyways you brat! You heard her", Inuyasha challenged.
"Doesn't matter! You made her mad so now you have to apologize", Shippo criticized.
Inuyasha slammed his now empty bowl on the floor in a huff, not hard enough to break it or damage the floor but loud enough to make Shippo, Kaede, and Kilala jump a bit from the sudden noise, and left Kaede's hut to go find some peaceful silence.
"Do you think he's going to go do it?" Sango asked.
"One can always hope", Miroku answered.
Inuyasha snorted aloud to himself, having heard them despite the distance. As if he'd go running after her so soon now that he no longer felt an irritating pull deep inside to prompt him. Pretty odd, now that he's noticed that.
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Day 5
Inuyasha had spent most of the morning doing a perimeter check of his forest and re-marking his territory, something he's been a bit lax on since being awakened by Kagome. Then he decided to do the same for the village next to his land. He hadn't since the whole...thinking he was betrayed by his future wife thing but...now? Well the humans in it were all pretty decent to him all things considered. That was probably Kaede's doing. So why not offer them some blanket protection? It's not like it'd be a hassle.
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Inuyasha shoved a wrapped bundle of dead crabs and wild fruit into Sango's torso, her arms came up to grab it instinctively.
"Inuyasha?" Sango blinked repeatedly in surprise, unsure of what to make of this...gift?
"Get this to the old woman. Better yet, cook this for lunch for her would ya. She didn't eat this morning so you might need to cram it down her throat", he directed. Sango raised a skeptical brow.
"And what about Kagome?"
"What about her?"
"You didn't go to see her last night?"
"No."
"Really? Well…why not? I kind of thought you missed her too much to go very long without seeing her?" She asked looking very curious and a bit bashful.
Inuyasha remained quiet for a moment and frowned thoughtfully, "She...she was never gone long enough for me to actually miss her. It was more like-like a burn or something that pulled at me to get closer to ease the strain…"
Sango blushed, "Doesn't that mean you...yearned for her?"
"I...I don't...look never mind all that! Will you cook the food or not?!" Inuyasha exclaimed, a light blush dusting his cheeks as he fought off the confusion.
Giving him an amused look, Sango agreed and went on her way to Kaede's.
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Finally giving in to his curiosity Inuyasha made for the Bone Eater's Well. Not entirely sure about what he was looking for he sniffed around it and peered inside it, anticipating that feeling he'd come to associate with Kagome being gone on the other side. Only...he felt nothing. Or at least no different than any other time, he'd gotten used to that lightened feeling the lack of beads gave him.
He tried leaning against the well and thinking of Kagome for a while. Still no change. Still no pull. Still no feeling of fidgety agitation. No, wait...no that was just left over indignation at Kagome accusing him of attempting to kidnap her the other day.
Standing up, he decided that she'd come back when she had enough of her other 'responsibilities'. But if she wasn't back by tomorrow he'd see if the others were ready to head out without her.
. . . .
He'd had to remove himself from the others again. They'd been annoying with their attempts to cajole and persuade him into getting Kagome. They wouldn't take no for an answer. So Miroku and Shippo had somehow thought they could goad him into going by insulting him, calling him a coward. Sango didn't join in with insults but she didn't do anything to make them stop either. Which is just as bad in his books. Reminded him a bit too much of his childhood even though that wasn't the first time they'd done something like this.
But that was part of the problem wasn't it?
He'd need to think about a lot of things tonight.
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Day 6
Kagome came back sometime after breakfast, in the middle of the day.
Which he supposed was for the best. He could at least stop feeling aggravated that the others had been willing to wait a few more days for Kagome to come back but were impatiently trying to push him into going to get her far sooner.
Approaching the others as they were giving greetings to the girl as if she'd been gone a month stead of a few days, he offered his own greeting to Kagome as well.
"Inuyasha?!" Kagome exclaimed in shock at seeing him.
"What?" He responded with a frown of confusion.
"Oh nothing, nothing! Well, it's just that I'm surprised to see you here since...y'know, you didn't come through the well", the unsaid 'when you didn't come for me' was heard by them all when she finished babbling.
"Why would you think I wouldn't be here just cuz of that?" He challenged her, inwardly daring her to accuse him of abandonment, of turning traitor or some other ridiculous thing.
"Uh-well. Remember last time you didn't have your necklace", she gestured to him, "you wandered off in your demon form and it took us weeks to track you down", Kagome admitted.
Inuyasha's frown changed into a foreboding scowl, "Are you talking about the time a sentient demon blade attempted to possess me and nearly succeeded, making me have to run off so I didn't end up killing all of you while under its control, is that the time you're talking about?"
"Yeahhh?" Kagome uttered a bit uncertain, unsure of where he was going with this since that's pretty much what she just said wasn't it?
"You do realize my transformation had nothing to do with that cursed necklace's removal right?" He growled out feeling indignant and insulted.
"But-"
"The only reason I lost control was because that sword, So'unga, wanted to use my body like a puppet for it's will and the reason why it didn't work is because MY will was stronger by the end of it", he interrupted her unapologetically, "You say you trust me but you seem quick to believe that I'll just turn insane on a whim without you having some kind of control over me!" He sneered.
"That's not it all!" Kagome yelled in denial.
"Hmph", he turned his back on her, done with the conversation and started walking on the path before he barked out, "She's back now so let's go".
He didn't look back once, or let on that he'd heard...but he felt hurt when he heard the others check with Kagome first before following him. And that painful ache in his chest grew when he heard them consoling her with whispered words of encouragement and kindness and...belittlement of himself.
He should probably revisit rethinking those things about friendship.
. . . .
Everyone was settling down for the night after dinner in companionable silence except for Inuyasha, who had retreated up a tree earlier without bothering to hunt for them and then snubbing what food they offered him, not that any of the others seemed to notice. They had been busy all day doing their old routine of sly comments and judgemental looks in an attempt to guilt him, to pressure him into caving and apologizing or some other nonsense, never once realizing that he was in turn giving them all the cold shoulder. He didn't owe anyone an apology. He didn't owe anyone in this group anything! And...he was coming to realize that meant he also didn't owe them his friendship. If anything it was becoming clear to him, now more than ever, that they weren't his friends. They were hers. Kagome's. She was the glue keeping them together. She was the one everyone worried most about. The one they liked the most...the one who was always sided with in any argument. While he...was the butt of jokes. The scapegoat. The annoying jerk who did the grunt work. The most any of them had ever been to him, he guessed, was an ally. Which he supposed was better than nothing especially when he found them all so annoying, except maybe Kilala...he just wished he knew how he failed to realize they were just bigger Myogas that stuck around for longer periods of time. Maybe he had and just brushed it off before?
. . . .
Inuyasha's ears twitched when he heard the sound of scurrying, either it was a curious squirrel or Shippo was off to answer nature's call. He stayed relaxed on his branch, eyes opened, waiting, until he heard it…
A moment later two quick, albeit sleepy sounding, yips were made from Shippo signalling he was safe and back. Kilala responded with 'mreow' in tandem with his soft bark, letting Shippo know they got the signal and that it was safe to go back to sleep. Listening to the sounds the brat made as he settled back down, Inuyasha waited until he heard the runt's breathing change to indicate deep sleep before resting his own eyes again.
. . . .
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Day 7
Inuyasha greeted the new day with the realization that...he felt more like his old self than he had in a long while. That is to say, he felt like a mist had disappeared within his heart and felt distant to those in his group, under his protection. He didn't...particularly care for any of them, but he didn't want them to die either. Wouldn't allow it, actually, unless it was by natural causes since otherwise would mean he was lousy at protecting.
He eyed them lazily as they prepared for the day, still not bothering to speak to or hunt for them. They had Kagome's weird food to eat anyway. When they were finally ready to continue he leapt down smoothly to his feet on the ground below and strode in the direction he wanted to walk without a word. Unaware he was acting uncannily like his half brother.
. . . .
A few hours later and he still hadn't said a word to them and they were just now starting to realize that when he didn't bother joining in to any of their conversations or didn't verbally acknowledge them when his name was mentioned or called.
He could sense their unease with his change in attitude but couldn't bring himself to care. It's not like they truly did.
. . . .
Who should show up but Koga! Of course the wolf would come now that he felt mostly re-centered. A few minutes or so later Kagome calls out that she senses some shards approaching, prompting the others to tense in readiness. Inuyasha himself was smirking in anticipation, unseen by the others, he'd finally get some pay back.
A moment later everyone gasped in surprise when they were suddenly met with the sight of Koga on the ground choking and coughing after being clotheslined by Inuyasha when he made his usual run towards Kagome.
"Oh sorry", Inuyasha mocked, "I mistook you for a threat".
"Whoa!", Shippo murmured in surprise feeling a bit impressed. Everyone else just watched with a wide eyed stare.
"Luc-kky sh-ott", Koga coughed out in a snarl.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night weakling", Inuyasha retorted with a smirk.
"Inuyasha, cut that out! There's no need to be rude, Koga's our friend!", Kagome objected.
"He ain't no friend of mine", he took his eyes off Koga to look at Kagome, knowing that by doing so he was offending Koga further, "And he ain't your friend either, he's your would be suitor. At least get that much right, woman". Kagome blushed hotly and stammered, unable to voice a coherent word.
"What d'you mean 'would-be' I am her suitor", Koga chided in a superior tone.
"N-I-that can't be right! I never accepted-", Kagome managed to squeak out causing Koga to blink at her.
"Right. Because allowing him to say as he pleases to you, touch you so familiar like, calling you 'his woman' and 'mate' is a rejection", Inuyasha deadpanned, causing Kagome to fidget and the others to sweat drop.
"You're just jealous no one would seriously consider you for a suitor, never mind a mate, let alone Kagome!" Koga declared causing Inuyasha to growl threateningly.
"Wanna say that again?" Inuyasha hissed, preparing to lunge at the wolf demon.
"Ah-no fighting! Inuyasha si-I mean- stop!" Kagome fumbled out feeling a bit frazzled. Koga looked confused at why she wasn't stopping Inuyasha from getting in the way of their love like she usually did and took a quick glance at Kagome before demanding answers, "What did you do to Kagome?"
"I haven't done shit. Take a good look, I know you're slow but even you should be able to see what's missing", he taunted.
Koga paused at that, his retort dying on his lips as he observed Inuyasha more closely. His scent was different, just slightly, there was an absence of that forever cloying scent of weak purification coming from Inuyasha. Brows furrowed, Koga realized what it was he was seeing or rather what he wasn't seeing. That necklace Kagome used to control the half demon was gone. Feeling sweat start to form on the back of his neck, Koga tried to play it off, "So you managed to ditch the collar? You're still just a mutt". Edging away from Inuyasha, Koga gave his partial attention to Kagome, "I was just stopping by to say 'hi' Kagome, got things to do so I'm sad to say I can't stay longer. But I'll return soon enough to give you all the attention you deserve".
"Um-that's ok, no need. Really…", Kagome stammered out a nervous laugh feeling unsure about what was going on and what to do. Inuyasha sneered slightly at hearing her lack of a rejection, again. Why was he even hoping for something with a woman who played coy all the time? Something else to think about. Koga nodded with a cocky "Later beautiful", and swiftly ran off to get away from Inuyasha because he knew deep down that the only reason he hadn't died several times over by that mutt's hands was because of that necklace that was now gone.
Nobody said anything about the coldly satisfied look on Inuyasha's face.
Of course nobody said anything about Kagome's obvious efforts in pretending none of that had happened either.
. . . .
They had continued walking and would soon need to make camp, Inuyasha was way ahead of them instead of bothering to keep the slow pace the humans were making but still keeping them within eye distance...for a nonhuman that is.
While staying alert for any possible enemies he allowed the thoughts in the back of his mind to plan out a loose idea of what to do once Naraku was finally dead.
So far he'd thought about how to word his wish on the jewel, making sure Kikyo's restless spirit could be at peace with prayers, and maybe taking a trip to that island full of half demons Kikyo took him to once to see if he could find something of more substance there.
. . . .
Settling down in another tree while the group below prepared their dinner, Inuyasha pushed away his mild irritation that the demons they'd fought didn't have shards and instead let his mind wander to a hopeful pleasant future.
'If a child has two half demon parents...does that make them a hybrid half demon or just a new type of demon...a true half demon?', he pondered as he listened to the camaraderie happening below him.
. . . .
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End.