Kagome woke slowly, and for one blissful moment, she didn't remember why she had fainted in the first place. But when she saw the silver hair and dog ears, it all came flooding back.

Her sister was truly dead. Killed by that monster. No longer could Kagome doubt the stranger's words, she felt it in her very soul. She knew that only Naraku could have taken down Kikyo. He had tried so many times before and this time he had finally succeeded in his hellish goal.

Kagome felt like she couldn't breath. The only reason she wasn't crying, was that she didn't wish to do it in front of the jerk hovering over her.

She swatted her hand at him, trying to shoo him away so she could sit up. He scowled at her, but wasted no time moving back.

"Why are you still here?"

"Did you forget what I said? Your dumb sister cursed me and you have to undo it," the demon growled.

"I don't have to do anything for you. And did you forget what I said? Even if I wanted to -and I don't, I can't undo curses. That was Kikyo's thing," Kagome snapped back. "And what the hell did you say to my dying sister to get her to use her last strengths on casting a curse?"

"Well you'd better learn how, because if you don't I will make you regret it."

They stared at each other for a moment, Kagome wondering where she had dropped her arrow. She wanted to stab him.

"And like I said: I. Didn't. Do. A. Thing," the demon went on. "Saw her bleeding on the ground, went to go past her and after Naraku, she called me over, I didn't know what a fucking lunatic she was so I went, she cursed me and now her sister is going to undo it or I swear to the gods, I will tear your village apart," he ended with a show of his teeth.

Oh, he was definitely well on his way to earning himself a stabbing.

With trembling feet, Kagome stood up, eyes never leaving the demon. "Leave. Now. I have better things to do than fight you." Like tell the villagers their most skilled priestess and best hope for protection was dead. Fun times ahead.

"No. I hate to repeat myself, but I ain't going nowhere until you release me from the shit Kikyo did."

"You do know I'm a priestess too, right? I could very easily kill you," Kagome growled as she collected her bow and arrows off the ground.

"So why haven't you?" He sounded so smug and sure of himself. She really, really, really wanted to stab him.

The reason she didn't was the same as why she hadn't already used her powers to drive him off -her feelings were too unstable at the moment, her body weak from the shock of the news. Hands shaking too badly to even aim her bow.

A priestess needed to be calm and in control to use the divine powers. Things that Kagome sure as hell wasn't right now. She couldn't even remember the simplest of protection spells with the way her thoughts were running around. And while Kagomw wasn't as powerful as Kikyo, on a normal day she could have created a protective aura strong enough to spook this intruder off for the rest of the day. She could have shot him with a purifying arrow on any other day. But not today, because today her sister was dead and Kagome didn't remember how to breath.

"You all right?" Her eyes snapped up to the blurry red figure.

Why couldn't she see? Were these tears? Or was she going to faint again? Why did her chest hurt? She didn't find her voice in order to answer him, to tell him that she was fine.

"Don't go fainting on me again. If you do, I'll dump you in the river," his words were harsh, but there was a gentleness to his voice. And then he was next to her, his hand holding her arm and making sure she didn't fall. "You gotta breath, you idiot."

And she tried, she really did, she just couldn't feel any air in her lungs. Kikyo didn't have any air in her lungs ether.

Where was her body? Had she been left where she died to be eaten by animals and demons? Had humans found her and dumped the body in some nameless grave from where Kagome would never find her in order to pay her respects? Gods, the thought pained her. One of the greatest priestesses, her sister, rotting away in a demon's gut or a shallow grave.

"In. You got to breath in." Sharp claws took a hold of her jaw and tilted her head up. All she could see clearly was the golden glow of his eyes. He shook her head gently and took a loud breath to get her to follow his lead. It took a few tries, but eventually she managed to get a shaky breath in and then out. He kept his hold on her for a long time, until she seemed to have calmed down a bit and recovered her ability to breath without assistance.

"Thank you," she whispered, voice cracking as he took a step back and let go of her. He didn't answer, just looked at her with keen eyes.

Kagome swallowed and tried to decided if she wanted her next question answered. But she had to know. "Was she in pain?"

"It was a very bad shoulder wound. She seemed calm, wasn't crying or begging to be saved or anything." Kagome kept her eyes in the direction of the village, not wanting to show her reaction. The relieved breath she released might have given her away, though.

Bleeding out wasn't the most pleasant way to go, but there were also worse. Kikyo had gone with dignity. Naraku, no doubt, would have loved to take his time taunting, tormenting and humiliating Kikyo. He couldn't because he was interrupted. Kagome would have thanked the dog-eared demon, had she not been so sure he would be smug about it.

"What was the curse?" she asked and started to walk towards the village, trusting that he would follow. Kagome didn't like the idea of of undoing her sister's last act, but this demon didn't seem all that evil. Maybe Kikyo had just been confused on her last moments and thought that she was cursing Naraku? Blood loss could do a number on a person.

"She- uh- she tied my life to yours," he said hesitantly.

Kagome stopped dead on her tracks, bow nearly slipping from her fingers. "She did what?" disbelief colored her voice.

"Yeah. She said my life was locked with yours. If you die, I go too. You'll be fine if I die, so congrats; you didn't get the shitty end of this stick" he did not sound happy about that. Not that Kagome could blame him. "If I get too far from where you are, I'll get sick and weaken."

"Why on earth would she do that?!" Kagome's head was spinning again. Why would Kikyo do that? They hadn't been close in years. In fact, Kagome was pretty sure Kikyo hated her a little.

"She said something about Naraku going after you. Apparently, she didn't think you'd survive that, so instead she is forcing me into keeping your ass safe," he sounded very irritated about being made to be part of this. Again, she couldn't really blame him.

And now Kagome was growing annoyed too. At her dead sister, no less. Sure, she wasn't as skilled as Kikyo, but a little trust in her abilities would have been nice. Instead, Kikyo made an innocent bystander to be Kagome's meat shield. Kagome was becoming certain that this hadn't been an act of sisterly love. It was more likely that Kikyo wanted to be sure that the village wasn't completely defenseless, and a demon protecting the village priestess would be a great protection. Or forcing a demon to protect her was just one last insult from the dead priestess.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Kagome started to walk again. "What's your name?"

"What does it matter?"

"It doesn't, I suppose." Kagome shrugged. "But it might take some time for me to figure out how to break the spell, so I'd like to know who I'm talking to. Assuming you don't want to be referred to just as 'demon'."

It took a moment to realize that the other footsteps had stopped. When she turned around, she saw the demon gaping at her.

"You mean you're going to undo it?" She was a little offended at how shocked he sounded.

"Well, yeah. I don't want anyone dying just because they are forced to protect me," Kagome tried to keep her voice light as she, once again, started to head towards the village.

They walked some distance in silence before his voice startled her. "Inuyasha."

"What?" She glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

"My name is Inuyasha," he was quiet for a moment, hesitating. "And I'm a half-demon, not a full one."

Kagome felt like slapping herself. Of course. There had been something odd about his aura, but she hadn't looked deeper into it. Some priestess she was. Maybe Kikyo was right and she really was useless.

No more words were exchanged until they reached the village edge where Inuyasha froze in place, his ears flickering atop his head. He looked ready to run off.

"I'm going to go visit Kaede -she's the former head priestess. I have to tell her about... -about Kikyo. Kaede might also know about the spell and help me with breaking it." Kagome took in Inuyasha's guarded look. "Unless you cause trouble, she won't drive you off. You are welcome to wait here, though, if you would prefer."

His ear flicked one more time before he nodded. "I'll come to keep an eye on you. Can't have you plotting against me with that old bat of yours."