ALL OF YOUR PIECES
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"I love you, I love you
And all of your pieces"
Pieces | Andrew Belle
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Protective
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"Here."
Kagome startled when a bundle of bright red cloth was abruptly shoved under her nose. She blinked at it for a moment, before her gaze traveled up an extended white-clad arm, across broad shoulders, up to intent grey eyes surrounded by hair so black it nearly blended into the night.
"For... me?" she asked.
A corner of Inuyasha's mouth curved down in a half-scowl. "No, for the rock behind you. Of course you! Who the hell else would I be talking to? "
Too bemused to be offended by his sarcasm, she hesitantly reached up and grasped the suikan he held out to her, noticing as she did his blunted human nails against the fabric. "But," she said tentatively, "won't you be cold?"
He'd already retracted his arm and dropped down to sit on the ground a few feet away from her. He'd just finished building up the fire, which guttered weakly in front of them, already on the verge of going out. It had been raining steadily for most of the day, and though the rain had stopped some hours ago, the ground was still damp. It had taken them ages to find wood that looked dry enough to burn, and even longer to get a flame started. The prospects did not look good for their little campfire, which meant they were in for a long, uncomfortable vigil. The moonless night was dark and chill, and had only just begun.
At her question, Inuyasha merely scoffed. "I'll be fine. Just 'cause I'm human for the night don't mean I'm a complete weakling." His tone was all gruff nonchalance, but the set of his jaw was stiff, and his shoulders looked tense.
Afraid to offend him by refusing it, and much too embarrassed to suggest they share it, Kagome frowned as she slipped the suikan around her shoulders, gripping the edges closed under her chin. "I wasn't suggesting that you were. But even strong humans can get sick in the cold."
"Just shut up and keep it on, will you?" he barked out, sharp and irritated. "The last thing I need tonight is your ass getting sick." His voice trailed off with what sounded like a muttered, "Pathetic woman."
For a moment, she felt a lick of anger, a smarting sort of offense. Her frown deepened, and she opened her mouth to snipe right back—until she noticed the way his eyes kept glancing between her and the quickly-dying fire, between her and its narrowing radius of light, the dark night beginning to hem them in. She saw his jaw clench, watched his hand grip his sword and the minutest movement of his legs as he shifted ever so slightly closer to her.
And she realized all at once that his roughness was not the pompous contempt he pretended it was—it was concern. Deep concern. For her.
He should have been fearing for himself: should have been afraid for his own human body's susceptibility to the elements, worried for his own security against unseen enemies through the long night of his vulnerability.
But perhaps, in his eyes, it was no longer just his night of vulnerability. It was hers, too, and that's what bothered him the most. And for the first time, she began to understand just how deeply her safety mattered to him. How protecting her had gone from a practicality to an instinct, a need.
Just as suddenly as it had come, her anger faded. Closing her lips with a soft sigh, she looked back towards what was left of their campfire. Its smoking embers glowed feebly, and neither she nor Inuyasha made any move to stoke it. She glanced back to the man beside her. He fairly radiated tension, face tight with it, posture utterly rigid as his eyes kept darting between her and their surroundings.
Wordlessly, Kagome scooted across the remaining few feet between them, until her right side was pressed against his left. He startled a little, muscles twitching, but didn't otherwise move. Knowing it was the only comfort she could offer him—wishing she could do more—she slowly leaned her weight against him, resting her head on his shoulder and hooking her elbow through his, her hand sliding down his forearm until it found his larger hand where it rested on his thigh. Not quite brave enough to hold it the way she wanted to, she settled for looping her pinky finger around his. She felt his gaze—warm as a flame—on her face, but she just kept watching the fading embers of the campfire.
When the fire went out and the dark of night rushed over them, she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder and squeezed his arm. A moment later, she felt his finger rub against hers in the barest caress.
They stayed that way until dawn.
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Wild
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The first time Kagome heard him laugh, all she could do was stare.
She rode on his back, knees clamped on either side of his waist, arms looped around his shoulders. His hair streamed out behind him as he ran, tickling her face when it wasn't dwarfing her completely.
It was early morning, the sun still low in the sky as the half-demon leapt through the trees of an expansive forest. They had just spent the better part of two days holed up in an abandoned hut while a storm raged outside. The entire two days, Inuyasha had prowled around the confines of the hut, apparently unable to sit still and wait it out. He'd paced and grumbled and cursed. The few times she'd managed to coax him into sitting down, or stretching out in his usual careless sprawl, he'd tapped his foot, jiggled his legs, strummed his claws against the ground, flicked his ears—some part of his body in constant motion—the whole time scowling at the wall across the room as though the sheer force of his frustration could end the storm.
Kagome had been about ready to strangle him when the storm finally broke early that morning. Inuyasha had taken one sniff of the air, muttered a relieved "Finally!" and wasted no time slinging her onto his back and taking off through the door.
He ran with extra energy and speed that day, his leaps farther and higher than usual. As a result, his landings were few between and a touch on the reckless side, his feet finding purchase on thin branches, steep ledges, and precarious boulders. The whole time Kagome's stomach felt like it had climbed up into her throat. All she could do was grip his shoulders and keep her eyes fixed on the back of his neck.
Then he'd taken a particularly tall leap, up into the branches of a towering tree near the crest of a hill. He'd paused for a moment on one of its highest branches, foot braced against the bark—then with one powerful push of his legs, he'd launched them both into the air, soaring through the sky. Wind tugged at their hair and clothes, creating the feeling of complete weightlessness. At the peak of the jump there came a moment of breathless exhilaration, when Kagome felt like she was simply floating in midair, the world spread out below her like a pastoral painting, beautiful and remote.
But then the inevitable descent began, and she realized what Inuyasha probably hadn't cared to notice: he'd jumped off the highest peak in the vicinity, and there was nothing of equal height to land on. They were going to have to drop nearly straight to the ground.
The realization took a split second, and then they were falling. Kagome's stomach dropped, her heart stuttered in her chest, and burying her face against Inuyasha's neck, she let out a shrill squeak—there was no other word for it—and gripped his shoulders with all her strength, knees squeezing his waist for dear life. He tightened his grip on her legs, and she felt rather than heard his voice, rumbling through his back, reverberating into her body.
They fell with a speed Kagome would remember in her nightmares. Her heart thudded so hard she thought she'd have a heart attack. Their hair whipped around their heads, silver and black mixing in a waving mass, and wind howled in Kagome's ears. It was all cold slicing wind and the sensation of plummeting, her stomach shriveling with fear, and—
—suddenly the air was punched out of her lungs, Inuyasha's shoulder slamming right into her diaphragm (when had she slid up so high?); a hard jolt shuddered all the way through her body, and she would have flown forward over Inuyasha's shoulder if he hadn't wrapped a strong arm around her waist, keeping her draped over him. They were still in motion, skidding fast down the slope of a hill. A quick succession of images—tree branches, rock-studded dirt, Inuyasha's feet, the red of his robes—blurred together, disorienting her. She closed her eyes and struggled to inhale. After a few heaving breaths, she was able to get her breathing somewhat back under control.
They finally slid to a halt, Inuyasha's torso lurching forward, then snapping back from the momentum. Kagome opened her eyes and was met with the sight of Inuyasha's waist and legs; his feet were planted firmly apart, toes spread wide in the dirt. She tried to lift herself up, bracing her elbows against the line of his shoulder, and turned her head to look at him.
He was smiling, wide and exhilarated. Adrenaline had brought color to his face and a gleaming spark to his eyes. The sight of him had Kagome sucking in a quiet breath. Any irritation she may have felt, any residual fear from the reckless freefall, melted away in a single moment.
Then he closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and let out a whoop of laughter that echoed through the forest.
And Kagome could only stare, her heart fluttering.
She'd never heard him laugh. Not like that.
She'd heard him jeer at enemies. She'd heard him snicker in contempt or dismissal. Sometimes she'd even heard him snigger at her expense when he thought she'd done something stupid. But never a laugh like that. So carefree. Wild. Completely unguarded.
Then he looked at her, still with that broad boyish smile, the hint of a fang poking out from beneath his lip, and said, "Ready to go again?"
She twisted her fingers into the material of his suikan. She opened her mouth to say "Hell no!" but instead heard herself whispering, "Okay."
She wanted to keep that smile on his face.
He rapidly moved her to her previous position against his back, and then he was off, leaping high into the air.
And though her stomach roiled, and her limbs quivered, she just pressed her face into his neck and smiled, listening to him laugh.
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Thoughtless
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"Could you be any more useless?"
Kagome couldn't get it out of her head. His voice raised, harsh, dismissive.
She pressed her face into her raised knees, hugging her legs against her chest. The tree branches above her swayed in the breeze, leaves fluttering against each other. The sound should have been soothing, but she couldn't hear anything beyond his voice in her head.
"Are you even trying?"
Her breath hitched. Her throat felt tight.
Of course she was trying. She'd been trying since the day she was thrown into the past. Trying to learn to fight, trying to use miko powers she hadn't even known she had. Trying to befriend a prickly half-demon who wanted nothing to do with her.
"Could you be any more useless?"
Her arms squeezed more tightly around her body. Sighing against her legs, she turned her head to rest her cheek against her knees.
They'd been fighting, of course. And she'd certainly been just as insulting to him, giving back as good as she got. Even egging him on a bit. Part of Kagome knew he probably didn't mean it, just as she hadn't meant half the things she'd said. But remembering that sharp edge in his voice, part of her had to wonder…
She sat under the tree, trying to listen to the wind, watching the light slowly fade in the evening sky. She felt wretchedly alone.
There was a quiet rustle behind her. Lifting her head, she glanced to her right—and there he was. Sitting cross-legged beside her, a few feet away.
He wasn't looking at her. He stared out into the woods around them, taking as much notice of her as he would a pebble on the ground.
She frowned, opened her mouth to say something. But then she stopped. Maybe it was the tenseness around his eyes. Or the grim line of his lips. Or the way his shoulders were a little hunched, as though waiting for some anticipated blow. Or maybe it was the way his ears were turned in her direction. Trained on her.
Closing her mouth, she lowered her head back down to her legs, watching him next to her in the twilit gloom.
A long stretch of silence passed. Kagome kept watching him—his pale hair almost glowing in the dusk—when finally his gaze cut to her, gold glinting in the starlight. She sucked in a breath. Waited.
He kept his eyes on hers, steady and resolute. Too caught to look away, Kagome lifted her head again. Parted her lips. "Inuyasha… I'm…"
She trailed off, unsure how to continue.
A beat passed. And then he nodded at her. Just a short jerk of his chin. She might have thought she'd imagined it if she hadn't been paying such close attention.
She hesitated for a moment, then nodded back.
He glanced away, back towards the trees. Kagome couldn't help but notice that the line of his shoulders looked less strained.
He sat there with her in silence, and she no longer felt alone.
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Jealous
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"You smell terrible."
Kagome paused in the middle of her dismount from the edge of the Bone Eater's Well, and glared at the hanyō standing nearby. "Excuse me?!"
It looked like Inuyasha had been lounging against a nearby tree before she arrived. Now he stood a few paces from its trunk, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. "You heard me."
Kagome stepped away from the Well and approached him, clenching the straps of her backpack hard. She frowned and snapped, "What's gotten into you?"
The hanyō leaned forward, took a loud exaggerated sniff, and growled, "What's gotten on you? Your time ain't exactly fragrant, but this downright reeks."
"I do not reek!"
"You do."
"Do not!"
"Yeah? And which one of us has the yōkai nose?"
Kagome's face heated, and an unwelcome twinge of self-consciousness leached away some of her ire. She hadn't exactly taken the time to bathe before she came back…. resisting the urge to sniff at herself, Kagome opened her mouth, closed it, and finally huffed out in a blustery sigh, "You are completely insufferable sometimes!"
She turned on her heel, heading towards the direction of the village, but stopped when he called out, "And here I thought you went back home for your tests. Tch! Lying bitch."
Spine going completely rigid, Kagome slowly turned back around. Her blistering glare would've sent anyone else scurrying for cover. "What did you say?"
But Inuyasha had never had the good sense to back away from a fight, and had never had any sense when it came to the girl in front of him. "I said," he repeated slowly, punctuating each word with a step towards her, "That you're a lying bitch."
Kagome walked forward to meet him, getting right up in his space and jabbing a finger into his chest. "I don't know what your problem is, Inuyasha, but let's make one thing clear." Reaching up and grabbing a lock of his hair, Kagome tugged on it hard, making him snarl. "I've never lied to you! Not ever! What exactly are you suggesting that I do at home, huh? It's not like I'm running away to goof off! I have serious things to do there too, you know!"
The sneer that lifted his upper lip had her blood boiling. "Sure," he said, voice dripping in cynicism, "things. That's why you smell like that."
She grit her teeth, practically snarling herself. "Like what?!"
He leaned in an inch, and she was suddenly aware of how much taller he was than her, his body practically dwarfing hers. She wouldn't let herself take a step back, though, and continued glaring up at him, fingers still tight around his hair.
There was no mistaking the animalistic aggression in his tone when he bit out, "Like some bastard has been all over you."
Kagome frowned, blinked. "Huh?"
Inuyasha lifted his chin, eyes narrowed nearly to slits, and exhaled harshly through his nostrils. "You reek of some… some…" he floundered for a beat, then snarled, "some weakling boy."
It took Kagome a few seconds to process that. Then realization struck, and before she could really think better of it, she murmured a quiet, "Oh."
His face tightened, and he stared at her a moment. "Yeah," he replied, "fucking oh. I've been waiting here for days, thinking you were at your school, and instead you were," he faltered again, and flapped his hands angrily in her direction, "running around with some boy—"
Kagome's hand released its grip on his hair and dropped down to clutch gently at his sleeve.
"—and it's not like I fucking care, because I don't, but if you're leaving just to spend time with that," he bit off the next word, growled low, "then you damn well should've had the decency to say so—"
Kagome stepped a little closer into his space. He didn't seem to notice.
"—and I'll tell you right now, Kagome, I ain't gonna tolerate you running home just for him, got it? Your responsibilities here matter more than that little—"
"Inuyasha."
Her voice was calm and quiet—no trace of anger or frustration—and that more than anything made the hanyō pause, eyes still narrowed on her face. When her lips started to twitch up at the corners, he growled, "Oi, you think this is funny? Hell, Kagome, if you think for a second that I'm just gonna let—"
Her hand tugged on his sleeve. "Inuyasha," she repeated.
His mouth twisted, and he barked, "What?!"
"You have nothing to worry about. The person you're smelling is just a classmate."
Inuyasha's lip curled ever so slightly, features still tense. "A classmate?" he repeated, an echo of that cynical timbre returning to his voice. "That sure as hell doesn't explain why his scent is all over you."
Seemingly unaware of the movement, his hand reached over and gripped her forearm where she was clutching at his sleeve. As he spoke, it slowly skimmed down her arm to lightly circle her wrist, his thumb resting against the heel of her palm.
Warmth suffused her stomach at the touch. She tilted her head, her gaze steady on his. "You know my grandpa's been making up excuses for me at school, right? Everyone there thinks I've been sick. Like, really sick." She sighed with mild chagrin, thinking of the ludicrous illnesses her grandfather had been coming up with. Then shaking her head, she continued, "When Hōjō saw me after class, he was just glad to see me doing all right. He gave me a hug. That's all."
Inuyasha's eyes were still narrowed, but the longer he looked at her—her expression so open and calm—the tension began easing from his posture, his shoulders relaxing. Finally he snorted, nose wrinkling. "A hug, huh?" When she nodded, he grumbled without much heat, "Must've been one long-ass hug, then."
Kagome felt her cheeks heat again, and her smile was somewhat embarrassed. "Um, yeah. It, uh, it was pretty awkward. Hōjō isn't the best at picking up social cues."
At the hint of discomfort in her tone, Inuyasha paused, watching her. Whatever he saw, it seemed to reassure him, because his face lost all its stiffness and the scowl cleared away. But he was frowning slightly when he said, "Oi. If you didn't like it, you should've just stopped him."
Kagome shrugged. "I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Not all of us enjoy being rude, you know?"
Inuyasha's hand tugged gently on her wrist, drawing her closer. "If you don't want someone touching you, just say so. Ain't nothing wrong with that." He brought up his free hand and flexed his fingers slightly, showing off his claws. "Or I can do it for you, if you want. Just point me at the bastard."
Kagome bit her lip to keep from smiling at the gruff sincerity of the offer. "Hm, I'll let you know if I need you."
They stared at each other for a moment. Then Kagome slid her wrist from his grasp, only to replace it with her hand. She threaded her fingers through his, pressing their palms tightly together. At his bemused—and vaguely flushed—look, she smiled and said, "Let's go."
She pulled him by the hand towards the village, delighting in the feeling of his fingers curling around hers.
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Kind
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"You know, if you're not careful, your face will freeze that way."
Inuyasha's menacing glower turned Kagome's direction, followed quickly by a snarled, "The fuck are you talking about?"
Teeth gritted, eyes narrowed and furious, ears laid flat against his head, he looked on the verge of exploding. Kagome sighed. "Never mind."
With a muttered "Tch," the hanyō returned his attention to cleaning his sword, which was proving to be an exercise in futility. Thick, viscous yōkai innards of an indeterminable brown color—blood? bile? mucus? some form of stomach acid? it was impossible to tell exactly what that gunk was—coated Tetsusaiga from point to hilt. Inuyasha had spent a good ten minutes trying to clean it off, but had only managed to spread it around, smearing long sticky streaks along his hands and the sleeves of his suikan.
The consistency of the stuff reminded Kagome of superglue, which didn't bode well for Inuyasha's efforts. She wasn't going to tell him that, though.
Sighing again, she seated herself on the ground and watched him try to remove the slime from his sword by wiping it on the grass, scraping it against the bark of nearby trees, and even swinging it through the air with all his might, as though sheer brute force would propel the mess off.
"Was that stinking eel made of slime? Dammit!" Inuyasha slammed Tetsusaiga point-down into the ground and dropped to a crouch next to it. She could see a muscle in his jaw working even from where she sat.
Poor guy. It had been a rough day. They were two weeks into a shard-hunting expedition, and they hadn't found a single shard—or even the rumor of one—until that morning, when Kagome had faintly sensed the Shikon's power, like the minutest flutter in the back of her mind. But faint as it was, she'd struggled to pinpoint where it was coming from. They'd had several false starts, spending hours traveling in a direction only for Kagome to realize it wasn't quite the right way, or that they'd somehow veered off course. By that afternoon, even Kagome's frustration was getting to her. She could only imagine how Inuyasha felt doing all the leg work. He surprised her, though, and didn't say a word about it; he just silently went wherever Kagome directed him to go.
After half the day running near-aimlessly around the countryside, they'd finally hit on the right direction. The pull of the shard grew stronger and stronger, eventually leading them to sprawling swamplands swarmed by biting flies, littered with stagnant pools of water, and dotted with more than one human corpse in various stages of decay.
And the smell. Like sulfur and the mineral tang of mud mixed with rotting flesh. Inuyasha had looked downright queasy, covering his nose with his sleeve and grimly muttering, "Let's get this over with quick."
Kagome tracked the shard through the mire, shoes slipping and sliding in the sludge; she did her best to steer them around the stagnant pools whenever possible, but they'd both been forced to wade through muck up to their knees when they ran out of solid ground to walk on. The trail of the Shikon's power led them deep into the swamp, and finally ended at the largest pool of standing water they'd yet seen, the size of a small lake. The pull of the shard was coming from its center.
Kagome had only just lifted her arm to point towards the lake when a giant plume of water shot up from its depths. In the midst of that plume reared the massive, sinuous brown body of an eel. Kagome immediately saw the glow of the Shikon shard lodged in its jaw, buried behind rows of sharp teeth as long as her forearm.
Inuyasha hadn't waited for it to make a second move: he launched himself forward, Tetsusaiga raised with both arms, a hoarse shout ripping from his throat.
Under normal circumstances, Kagome doubted the eel would have presented much of a challenge; it was about the size of Mistress Centipede, an enemy Inuyasha had torn apart with nothing but his claws. But this yōkai had a distinct advantage over them: they weren't on solid ground. Inuyasha wasn't able to get traction in the swampy mud, which meant his jumps weren't as high, his landings sloppy, and his movements slower.
Which is probably why the yōkai was able to land a glancing blow on Kagome. The eel darted forward, jaws wide and ready to snap down on flesh; Inuyasha jumped out of its path, but quick as a flash it changed course, veering at an angle towards Kagome, where she'd been standing with bow at the ready. With a shriek, she leapt aside as quickly as she could, but one of those long teeth caught her arm, dragging up from her elbow all the way to her shoulder.
She'd barely registered the stinging, burning sensation in her arm when she heard Inuyasha's ragged bellow.
"Stay the fuck away from her, you piece of shit!"
She didn't see him move, but she heard his wordless yell; saw a spear of sunlight glint off Tetsusaiga's blade as it arched down; felt the spray of water on her face as the eel violently writhed, Tetsusaiga imbedded into the flesh below its head.
Even injured, the yōkai's body—pure sinuous muscle—flailed with such ferocity that it threw Inuyasha off his feet. He was able to hold onto Tetsusaiga's hilt, dragging the sword with him as he was hurled into the ground. The eel reared and darted towards him.
"No!" Kagome roared, already standing and drawing her bow. Ignoring the burning in her arm, she drew an arrow back and released. It lodged deep into the eel's left eye, her spiritual power flaring as the arrow hit, burning half its face.
Half-blinded and almost certainly mortally wounded, Kagome thought it was nearly over. But she'd forgotten: cornered animals are at their most dangerous when they're most desperate. The eel's tail lashed out from the water and shot forward with terrifying speed. Kagome tried to dodge, but wasn't fast enough: its tail caught the edge of her uninjured shoulder and sent her flying through the air. She landed on her side in the muck, skidding a few yards before the boggy ground stopped her momentum.
Dimly, through the throbbing pain she now felt pulsing through her muscles, Kagome found herself grateful for the water-saturated quagmire. If she'd landed on solid ground, she'd probably have some broken bones right about now.
"Kagome!"
She lifted her head a few inches, cracking her eyes open.
In the time it had taken her to hit the ground, Inuyasha had put himself between her and the yōkai. Half-turned towards her, he had Tetsusaiga pointed at the eel while he looked at her over his shoulder.
His expression was downright murderous.
"You okay?" he rasped through the snarl twisting his features.
When she gave a brief nod, he turned his full attention back to the eel. "What did I say about getting near her?" The lethal calm with which he asked the question nearly had a shiver going down Kagome's spine.
Inuyasha raised Tetsusaiga—then planted it point-first into the ground next to him. Lifting both his hands, he flexed his fingers, knuckles cracking. "For you, motherfucker? I'm gonna use my hands."
Then he was leaping forward with a low, guttural shout. Claws connected with flesh, biting deep. He sliced clean through the yōkai's body, at the same spot he'd injured earlier. Blood sprayed into the air.
The length of the eel's body slumped into the lake with a tremendous splash, slithering down under the foam, disappearing from view. The head fell in the other direction, towards the boggy shore. It landed in a clump of springy weeds, rolling for a few feet before coming to a halt in a patch of mud.
Inuyasha stood in swamp water up to his waist, looking at his blood-stained hand with a wrinkled nose and an almost pouting expression, as though already wondering how long it would take to get rid of the smell. Seeing it, Kagome couldn't help the (admittedly pained) giggle that broke from her lips as she sat upright.
Inuyasha's gaze went straight to her, and the rest of him quickly followed. He dropped to a crouch next to her, eyes skimming her body for injury. "You okay, Kagome?"
She took a moment to assess. She patted her abdomen, around her ribs; she slowly moved her hands and feet, arms and legs; she rolled her shoulders, especially the one that had been hit. Her muscles were definitely twinging, and the cut on her arm still stung, but... "I think I'm mostly okay. I'm just going to be really sore tomorrow." She winced as she stretched her shoulder. "And probably bruised."
Inuyasha's eyes landed on her cut arm. He scowled. "We need to clean that up." Vigorously rubbing his hands in the patchy swamp grass—wiping off as much of the eel blood as he could—he then slipped his arms beneath Kagome's knees and around her shoulders, hefting her up against his chest. Pausing to scan the area around them, he mumbled, "Where's your damn backpack?"
"Uh," Kagome swiveled her head around, then pointed over Inuyasha's shoulder. "There! I put it down when we reached the lake."
Inuyasha started moving in that direction, but Kagome smacked the back of her hand lightly against his chest and said, "Hey, wait!"
Glaring at her, Inuyasha kept moving. "No. That cut could get infected. We need to take care of it now."
"But—"
"Now wench, now."
She sighed, her breath ruffling the ends of her bangs. "Okay, so you don't want to collect the jewel shard, then?"
He stilled. Then he glanced over at the yōkai's head where it lay in the mud; glanced back at her, the oblique set of his brows almost calculating. Releasing a loud, annoyed exhale, he turned back towards the eel's head.
Kagome grinned up at him. "I can't believe you almost forgot the shard."
"Shut it."
"Aww, don't be embarrassed! It's sweet that you were so worried about me."
Color suffused the skin along the bridge of his nose. "Keh! I just need you in working order. You're useless to me otherwise."
"Of course," she agreed, nodding solemnly. "I believe you, Inuyasha."
He mumbled some curse word or other under his breath. When they reached the decapitated yōkai head, he gently set Kagome on her feet. She kneeled down, felt for the shard with her power, then pointed at a spot behind the eel's gaping jaw. "It's in there. Could you…?"
Inuyasha used one of his claws to slice open the flesh behind the rows of teeth. Then Kagome—visibly shuddering and chanting "ew, ew, ew!" to herself—probed with her fingers until she found the shard. She pulled it out, holding it up for Inuyasha to see. "We did it!"
"Uh-huh, great." He scooped her up into his arms and leapt over to where her backpack lay on the ground. "Now we clean this."
He sat her down on a large rock, then slid his hand under her elbow, lifting her injured arm up for closer inspection. "You got lucky," he said, a slight growl underpinning the words, clearly still bothered that it had happened at all. "It's not very deep. Won't need stitches." He considered her arm for a moment longer, then said, "Right, first thing's first." With his free hand, he used his claws to cut her sleeve off at the shoulder.
"Hey!" she cried as he pulled the shorn sleeve carefully down her arm and off her wrist. "These uniforms aren't cheap, you know! I'm going to have to replace this."
"It was ripped anyway."
She pursed her lips, a sullen slant to her mouth. "I could've mended it."
"Tough shit," he said. "It'll be in my way, and you don't need loose threads getting stuck in the wound."
She couldn't exactly fault his logic, but she pouted anyway, fingering the sleeve now laying in her lap. Inuyasha bent over to rummage through her backpack. He pulled out the things he remembered seeing Kagome use before—cotton dressings, antiseptic spray, alcohol wipes, gauze. He picked up the package of alcohol wipes, sniffed at it, then made a face. Still, he took out a wipe and began cleaning his hands with it, even taking the time to get under his claws.
Kagome watched him, completely fascinated.
Tossing the used wipe into her backpack, he uncapped the antiseptic spray and held it up to her arm. "Ready?"
Biting her lip, Kagome nodded.
He sprayed the length of her arm, thoroughly coating the cut and the surrounding skin. She tensed up, and released a soft hissing breath. He frowned and mumbled, "Sorry."
"Don't be," she replied. "Just stings."
He used a piece of cotton dressing to wipe off the skin around her cut. His hands were so gentle, his fingers exerting a barely-there pressure around her elbow. Each swipe of the cotton was slow and almost cautious.
And the look on his face — Kagome couldn't tear her eyes away. He was so intent, so focused, and yet there was a quiet, almost serene quality to his attention. She wondered if she'd ever seen him look so absorbed before. Certainly never so absorbed by her, anyway.
Kagome blushed a little at the thought.
Finally, Inuyasha had the wound cleaned to his satisfaction. Selecting two more strips of clean cotton dressing, he placed them carefully along the length of her arm, over the top of the cut. Then, unwinding the roll of gauze, he began wrapping her arm.
When he'd finished, he appraised his work by running a hand along the bandaged portion of her arm.
It shouldn't have felt like a caress, Kagome thought, and yet…
Face heating up, Kagome coughed. Startled out of his concentration, Inuyasha shot her a swift glance. Noting the pink in her cheeks, and the way she kept looking at his hand where it still gripped her elbow, Inuyasha flushed. Abruptly dropping her arm, he took a big step back and shoved his hands into his sleeves.
"T-there. Don't have to worry about your pathetic human body getting infected now."
She couldn't help but smile at his flustered frown, the way his ears kept twitching atop his head. "Thank you, Inuyasha," she murmured, resting her hand on her bandaged arm.
He flicked an ear back at her. She didn't expect him to respond, so was surprised when she heard a quiet "You're welcome" drift over to her.
It was, Kagome thought, a wonderful moment.
Until Inuyasha glanced over to where he'd left Tetsusaiga impaled in the ground. And finally registered the thick layer of slime oozing down its blade.
It had pretty much gone downhill from there.
Leave it to a swamp demon to totally ruin a good moment.
Now safely on the outskirts of the swamp—Inuyasha hadn't wanted to stay there a moment longer, not even to clean Tetsusaiga—the hanyō was glaring at his slimed sword as though it was flipping him the middle finger. His glower was beginning to take on a suspiciously sulky edge.
Poor guy. Sighing and casting her gaze to the side, she noticed her backpack sitting beside her. She blinked. Wait…
"Inuyasha," Kagome called.
He was still glowering at his sword, jaw tightly clenched.
"Inuyasha," she said again, injecting the word with a cheery lilt to get his attention.
He shifted his glare to her. "Not now, woman."
"But—"
"Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Doing what?"
"Thinkin'!"
"Hm," she intoned, "so you don't want help cleaning off Tetsusaiga, then?"
"What the hell are you—" His invective was cut off when Kagome tossed him the package of alcohol wipes.
He caught it easily, eyebrows lifting as he stared at it. "What…"
"The alcohol in the wipes should help break up that sticky stuff. Theoretically, anyway." When he looked at her, she shrugged. "It's gotta be better than scraping it against a tree, right?"
Inuyasha hesitated, glanced at his sword. Without looking at her, he took out a wipe and began rubbing it against the side of the blade. After several long moments, he pulled it away to reveal a small clean patch of steel.
Kagome beamed.
"Erm," Inuyasha mumbled, darting a quick look her way. He applied the alcohol wipe to the blade again, rubbing away at the slime. Without looking at her, he said quietly, "Thanks."
"You're welcome, Inuyasha."
::
::
Loyal
::
He stood at the door of Kaede's hut, his head bowed.
"I'm sorry."
He aimed his voice over his shoulder. To her, where she sat inside by the hearthfire. Her heart wrenched in her chest at the defeated ache in his voice.
"I know," she whispered.
He lingered there a moment longer, clawed hand gripping the doorframe tightly. "Kagome, I… I'm…"
"I know," she said again. "Go. You should see her."
His knuckles turned white against the wood, but he nodded.
Taking a step out past the door, he halted long enough to say, "I'll be back, Kagome. Just… trust me, all right?" Then he was gone.
She knew. And she waited for him.
::
::
Gentle
::
Kagome woke with a frightened gasp, disoriented in the dark. Panting, she stared up at the starry sky and tried to reacclimate to reality.
"Oi."
Jerking up to her elbow, she looked across the glowing embers of their earlier campfire and saw Inuyasha sitting there, holding his sheathed sword in the crook of his elbow, watching her with a frown.
"Inuyasha," she whispered. "You startled me."
"You were lookin' pretty startled already. Smelled it, too."
"Oh," she replied, plopping back down onto her sleeping bag. She took a deep breath to settle her heart rate. "Yeah. I had a nightmare."
She heard him shifting around. "About what?"
"Oh, um…" She took another, smaller breath and closed her eyes. "Nothing really important."
A beat of silence. More shifting, the soft rustle of cloth. Then his voice, much closer. "Tell me," he said.
She opened her eyes and saw him above her. He'd moved to sit right next to her, his thigh almost brushing the crown of her head. She could see his face so clearly now, the soft play of firelight warming his features. And he was looking down at her with concern, eyes nearly gilt in the dim light.
There could be no resistance to that look. "I dreamed," she said slowly, "that I was stuck somewhere dark. Enclosed. And I was… alone." She curled onto her side, drawing her knees up to her chest. "I couldn't get out. I called for help, but nobody could hear me. Nobody came. I was just…"
She swallowed thickly and tried again. "I was just alone in the dark."
She waited, listening to the soft snap of the dying embers.
Then she felt fingers slide into her hair, combing gently through the strands.
"It won't happen," rumbled his voice above her, his fingers weaving through her hair again and again. "You're safe, Kagome. I promise."
Taking another deep breath, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back into his touch. "Say… say it again."
His fingers paused in her hair. Moved to graze along her cheek, down to her jaw, until he had her face cradled in his hand.
"You're safe with me, Kagome," he said. "I'll protect you. I'm not going anywhere."
It was like he'd taken something heavy off the very center of her chest. She could breathe again.
She placed her hand over his, smiled for him. "I know. And I'll protect you too, okay?"
His mouth tugged up in answer. He ran his thumb across her lip, tracing her smile. "I know," he said.