Chapter 2

"Fancy seeing both of you here at the same time," exclaimed Kaede as Kagome and Inuyasha presented the herbs she requested.

"Yeah, old lady, did you forget you already sent me to grab your herbs? Don't think about asking again. I'm not your errand boy," Inuyasha retorted.

Kagome thought she noticed a smirk on Kaede's face. What is she thinking? Then she said, "Well I better be off to see if there's any dinner left for me." And she quickly headed out, giving Inuyasha a quick bow of the head as she passed through the door.

"Thank you for the herbs Inuyasha," said Kaede, also thinking about how Kagome rushed out so quickly she didn't even get a chance to thank her.

Inuyasha huffed in response, but she knew he really didn't mind.

A few moments passed as Inuyasha stood still as a statue staring out the doorway. As she was preparing the herbs for storage, Kaede asked, "Something on your mind, Inuyasha?"

He took a moment to think about his words before asking her, "Can you tell me about her?"

"About Kagome? What is it you want to know?"

A bit annoyed, he replied, "You know what I'm asking."

Smiling, she said, "She is single, currently living with her brother and his family."

"Oh. No suitors even?"

"Not now," she said with hesitancy in her voice.

Curious, he pressed her, "What do you mean? Did she have someone recently?"

"Well I suppose since the whole village knows the story, there's no harm in telling you, but you must promise to be sensitive toward Kagome after hearing this."

His curiosity took hold of him, and he sat down to look straight at her, eyes alert, arms folded inside the sleeves of his kimono.

She continued, "About three or four years ago now, Kagome went on a long trip with her parents in the mountains. During their expedition, she was kidnapped by a pack of wolf demons. Apparently the head of the head intended to make her his mate against her will."

"Mangy wolves," Inuyasha retorted.

"Thankfully, her parents were able to recruit the help of demon slayers from a slayer village nearby. They managed to chase off the demons and rescue Kagome before they could go through with the mating ritual."

"Hmmm…"

"However, upon returning to the village, everyone believed that the wolf had his way with Kagome. Ever since then, no one has pursued the girl."

Inuyasha sat in silence, amazed that Kagome had treated him so kindly after experiencing such a terrifying ordeal from a demon similar to him, as much as he hated being compared to those nasty wolves.

"So, Inuyasha, are you going to ask if it's true?"

"If what's true?"

"That the wolf had his way with her."

"Well that aint really any of my business…" But I would like to know so that if I were ever in an intimate situation with her, to be sure to be extra gentle and respectful. Thankful that Kaede couldn't read his thoughts, he continued, "but now that you mention it, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. Either way it doesn't change how I see her."

"I'll tell you what she told me, that he didn't lay a finger on her. She said that although she was scared and angry at him for kidnapping her and trying to force marriage on her, in some ways he was respectful."

"Keh! I think I've heard enough," he said as he stood up. Changing the subject, he asked, "Priestess, is that old abandoned hut near the sacred tree still standing?"

She nodded, "It is, and it's still in good shape. It just needs to be tidied up a bit with a few repairs here and there."

"Good." He started to walk out when Kaede stopped him.

"Treat her well Inuyasha. She's not like the others, and she's nothing like Kikyo."

He grimaced at the mention of his deceased love interest. Those were not pleasant memories. He then followed Kagome's scent back to her home and perched up in a nearby tree, twitching his ears to hear what was going on inside.