AN: This is my first fic, so I would really apreciate any advice you have. Please tell me what I did right or wrong by reviewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha or his friends.
Please enjoy
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My Protector
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Chapter 1: Helplessness
Sesshoumaru slammed Inu Yasha into the ground. "Even with Tetsusaiga, you are no match for me--" His insult was cut off as he narrowly dodged an arrow that went past his head. It was that human bitch Inu Yasha went around with--How dare she attack him with that stupid arrow?! He flung Inu Yasha several yards away, where he lay stunned. Sesshoumaru then strode over to the girl who was hastily trying to ready another arrow. He grabbed her bow, and snapped it in half as if it were a twig, then grabbed her by the front of her blouse.
"Inu Yasha!" The cry escaped her lips, and he shook her.
"This is the last time you interfere with one of our fights!" As he said this, he extended his claws through her blouse, and into the skin of her chest. He watched coldly as she gasped, first as his claws broke her skin, and then when she felt the poison burn through her body. The look of horror on her face was satisfying. She knew she would be dead soon.
"Inu-Inu Yasha..." She said his name one last time as she lost consciousness. The stupid girl. Inu Yasha couldn't help her now.
He heard a strangled squeal behind him, and turned to see Rin in Inu Yasha's hands, his claws at her throat.
"Hand over Kagome, or I swear, I will tear her throat out!"
Sesshoumaru looked down at the now limp girl he held in his hands, and threw her to the monk who was just recovering from being knocked out earlier in the fight. He reacted quickly, and managed to catch her, though he fell down again from the impact. The demon exterminator ran towards the monk, to assist him. These stupid humans. They should know better than to turn their back in a fight. As he prepared to attack the group of three on the ground, Inu Yasha yelled, "Don't even think about it, Sesshoumaru! Don't think I won't kill this girl if you so much as bat an eye in their direction!"
"It doesn't really matter either way. I have already killed the girl while you were off in your own little world. If you think your threats in any way affect me, you are sadly mistaken." He turned to walk away. Inu Yasha dropped Rin, who quickly ran to him, fighting her tears of fear. This was no place for a young girl to be. He needed to find a safe place for her to stay before he continued this fight against Inu Yasha. He would leave for now, and let his brother suffer for his dead woman.
He disappeared with Rin scampering after him, as Inu Yasha ran over to Kagome, fearing the worst.
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As Inu Yasha approached Miroku, he noticed the scent of Kagome's blood. But looking at the amount, it couldn't be a killing wound; she had lived through worse before. When he saw her take a breath, he breathed a sigh of relief. Sesshoumaru had been bluffing, to get an opening to retreat, the coward. "Well, that went well! I'm hungry, let's eat!" His smile faltered as Sango directed an angry glare towards him. "What? Is there something wrong with being hungry after a big fight? Get Kagome up and let's go."
Sango's answer chilled his bones, "If you haven't noticed, Inu Yasha, Kagome isn't getting up. Sesshoumaru did something to her before he threw her away, and she isn't reacting to anything we do."
At this moment, Shippou came pelting towards Kagome, throwing himself on her. "Kagome! No! Get up Kagome!" As the Kitsune dissolved into tears, Inu Yasha took a closer look at Kagome. She was breathing, yes, but it was shallow, and her face was very pale. He felt her pulse, and it was very faint. Inspecting her wound, he saw the claw marks that his brother must have left, and knew at once that his brother's poison must be racing through her body.
He stood up abruptly, picking her up in his arms, and started walking away. "Let's go. We have to set up camp before nightfall, and keep her warm." As the others hurried to follow him, they wondered what it was he had seen, and why he had such a grim look on his face.
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As they reached the clearing where they had made camp the night before, Sango went up to Inu Yasha. "We have to dress her wounds."
He replied angrily, "It won't help any. He has injected his poison into her." His response was not at all what Sango had expected. Then he continued in a softer voice, "There is nothing we can do, but make her comfortable for her final night."
She was outraged at his words. How could he say there was no way to save her? "We have to try! Maybe you are ready to give up on her, but I'm not. If you want to just leave her to die, then hand her over, and we will fight to save her life." The look he gave her made her feel like a child talking about things that were beyond her comprehension, but she couldn't just give up.
"Fine. Here." He handed Kagome to Miroku. "But don't get your hopes up too high. No human can survive Sesshoumaru's poison." After saying this, he stalked off into the forest, probably to brood in some tree. Sango didn't let her thoughts linger on him too long. She had more important things to occupy her mind.
"Miroku, go and gather some firewood with Shippou while I bandage her wounds."
"Why can't I help bandage her wounds? I am very good with medicine..." His voice trailed off at the look Sango was giving him. She answered, in a too calm voice, "Go gather firewood. You will be more useful doing that then bandaging a wound in an area you usually ogle."
"Oh. Right. Well, let's go Shippou."
After they had left, Sango went to Kagome's bag, dug the first aid kit out of it, and then retrieved an herb from her own pack. She removed Kagome's blouse to inspect at the wounds. There were just a few small scratches, but the skin around them was very inflamed, and hot to the touch. It was definitely a poison. She applied the herb that her father had taught her was good for slowing poisons, even those from youkai, and finished applying the bandages with shaking hands.
She was desperate for the herb to work. She had already lost her family. She couldn't lose these friends as well. She closed her eyes tightly against the pain, her hands clenching the cloth of Kagome's tattered blouse. Death comes to us all, however unreasonable that death may be. A few tears escaped, rolling quietly down her cheeks. She stood up, and worked on building a fire with the wood available. By the time Miroku returned, she had herself under control, and was starting dinner.
Coming over next to her, the monk asked in a quiet voice, "How are her wounds?"
She answered in an equally quiet voice, not wanting to scare Shippou who was busy stacking the wood they had collected. "Not good. I think Inu Yasha might be right...but I don't want to think about it." They continued their normal chores around the camp without another word.
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Inu Yasha sat in a tree with a scowl on his face, watching the others go around the camp. Sango wasn't wearing her armor anymore, and had her hair loosely pulled back as she tended the soup over the campfire. Kagome was in her sleeping bag, with every spare bit of clothing and blankets wrapped around her. Even though the sun hadn't set yet, her body temperature had dropped steadily after the poisoning. Shippou and Kirara were curled up on top of her, lending their body heat to the effort of keeping her warm. It was a mark of how concerned he was for her welfare that Miroku had not offered to do this himself. Instead, he was wiping Kagome's forehead gently with a damp cloth.
Why did this have to happen? He was supposed to protect Kagome, not let her fall into Sesshoumaru's clawed hands. How could this be happening again?
Miroku's voice broke through his thoughts. "Inu Yasha, we need more firewood. Make yourself useful and go collect some."
Inu Yasha glared at the monk for interrupting him, but he jumped down and went into the woods, as Miroku called after him, "Hurry up, I think she may be getting better!"
Inu Yasha made a derisive snort at that. She wasn't getting better. No human could survive Sesshoumaru's poison on their own. Only one had ever managed to live after that...
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"Pick the prettiest ones, Inu Yasha, or I won't be pleased!"
Inu Yasha returned to where his older half sister sat on the hill, smiling as he presented his flowers to her. "Are these pretty enough?" She grinned at him, and exclaimed, "You always manage to get the best ones!" She placed a crown of flowers she had made on his head, tweaking his ear as she did, and giggled at the look he gave her, but he didn't take them off. Inu Yasha loved to please his sister.
"I can't believe Father would let even a half-youkai like you play with human children in this manner." The cold voice sent a tingle down his spine, and the angry look on his sister's face as she looked up at the person who was behind him made his own anger rise. Who was this, that was making his big sister so upset? He turned around and got his first view of his older half-brother.
He was very tall, with long silvery hair. A crescent was on his forehead, and there were stripes on his cheeks. Inu Yasha glared at him, but he was afraid of this strange, cold man.
"How can you demean yourself to wear flowers like this?" the man sneered. His sister, only 10 years old, ran between him and the man. "I put them there, what's it to you?!"
"And what right do you have to put flowers in his hair?" He said this in a deceptively calm voice. Inu Yasha could hear the threat, but he couldn't move, or speak. His big sister went on, with no show of the fear that had frozen Inu Yasha in place.
"As his older sister, I have the right to play with him as I wish!"
Inu Yasha saw his eyes narrow dangerously, "No brother of mine will have a human as a sibling. I won't allow it." Before Inu Yasha could register that this man had just claimed to be his brother, his arm whipped out so fast he could barely see it, and struck his sister.
"NO!!!" But his shout was ignored, as his brother turned and walked off towards the cottage that was his family's home. Inu Yasha ran toward his sister, smelling the blood. She wasn't getting up. She was just laying there, blood streaming from her wounds. What was wrong with her?
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Inu Yasha picked up another piece of wood, adding it to the growing stack he had in his arms. His father had saved her that time, forcing Sesshoumaru to give something to make an antidote. She had had scars across her cheek, neck, and shoulder for the rest of her life from his claws. Even though she had made a full recovery, Inu Yasha had never forgiven Sesshoumaru for that. He wondered if she had retained the immunity to his poison as she grew older.
Inu Yasha shook his head. It didn't matter. Why was he thinking of a girl who was long dead? He needed to think of some way to save Kagome. The only person who had ever concocted an antidote was his father, and he was dead. Great. The only solutions to his problems were dead! He kicked at a branch on the ground in his frustration. He wished Kagome were awake. She was so much better at thinking....
His thoughts cut off as he caught a familiar scent. It couldn't be her! She was dead! She had to be! Even as he denied it, he dropped his bundle of wood he had collected, and ran toward the scent he hadn't encountered in over 50 years.
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She was outside in her garden, pulling weeds in the failing light of the day. Her stew inside would be ready by the time she was done working in the garden and had washed up. As she pulled a particularly stubborn weed out of the ground, she felt his presence just outside of the clearing, right behind her. He had been there for several minutes already. Well, if he wasn't going to say anything, she would just have to knock some sense into him. She hefted the weed in her hand, its roots still clinging to a large dirt clod, turned and threw it directly at Inu Yasha. "You know it's me, why don't you come out into the open!"
Unprepared for her move, he didn't dodge or catch it in time, and the clod broke open on his forehead, showering him with dirt, the weed getting tangled in his hair. "Hey, watch it!" He sneezed, and shook his head, getting most of the dirt off his face, and out of his hair. The weed in his hair made her smile at a memory; Inu Yasha crowned with flowers. She stood there waiting patiently as he finished, pulling the weed out of his hair. "How would I know it is you, when not only are you alive, but you look so damn young?" He said this as he stepped into the clearing.
She smiled, knowing those questions would have to be answered eventually. But she had a complaint with him that she wanted settled first. "Fair questions. But I have one for you." She strode up to him quickly, "Why did you have a hole in your hear for 50 years?" She emphasized every syllable with a jab at the exact spot where the hole had been. He was very taken aback; she could see it on his face. In his shock, he answered, "It wasn't my choice. Kikyou..." At saying that name, his face changed, to a sad, almost regretful, look. She was surprised; she didn't think he would ever hold feelings like that for anyone.
When he spoke again, it was in a very determined tone. "I need your help. A friend of mine has been poisoned. I don't think she will live through the night, sleeping outside."
A catch in his voice and a glance at her cheek, and she knew. "Sesshoumaru?" At his curt nod, she said, "Alright then. Bring her here quickly. I don't know if I will be able to save her, but I will do my best." As she turned to go inside, he was already gone, and she wondered if his 'friend' was this Kikyou he seemed to have such affection for.
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"Hurry up; I think she might be getting better!" Miroku's call after Inu Yasha went unanswered and he turned back to Kagome. He studied her still unconscious face, her shallow breathing, and knew what he had told Inu Yasha was a lie. Kagome wasn't getting better; she probably wasn't even maintaining her status. No, with every breath she took, and every beat of her heart that carried the poison through her body, she was getting worse. As he changed the cloth on her forehead, he noticed the angry red streaks going up her neck. Yes, she was certainly getting worse, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He looked at his right hand. He faced death everyday, knowing he would someday be killed by this curse. This was different. If he killed Naraku, the kazaana would dissipate, and he would be left with a normal, healthy, long life. Hunting down Naraku contained his fear. As long as he had that goal, he could go on. But his fear for Kagome had no container; there was nothing he could do for her. He was helpless. Useless.
A bowl came into view in front of his nose unexpectedly. He jumped up in surprise, to see Sango there, holding out a bowl of soup. Shippou already had one, and was slowly eating it, as if out of habit. She didn't look at him as she spoke. "You need to eat, houshi-sama. Even if Kagome...dies, we still need to keep our strength up." She was forcing herself to face what seemed the inevitable. He took the bowl and started eating, knowing she was right. She sat down on the other side of the fire, with her own bowl, and started eating as well.
After they finished their dinner, Miroku looked at the pot. There was still a large portion of it left. Inu Yasha's helping. Where was he? How could he have run off at a time like this? Just as he was working up his ire at the half-youkai for truly abandoning Kagome, he entered the clearing at a run. Sango stood up at his abrupt appearance, but Miroku reacted first. "Where have you been? And why don't you have any wood? We have to keep her warm!"
Inu Yasha was already at Kagome's side, checking on her. "I know that! I have found something better than this campsite though. It might help her through the night. Let's go." And with that answer, he picked her up and returned from where he came. "Hurry up and break camp, I'll go on ahead. Shippou or Kirara will be able to follow me."
Miroku sat there stunned. Inu Yasha had actually been doing something more useful than brooding?! Sango was already busily breaking down camp, and tossed a cup at him, hitting him in the head. "You heard him! Let's get going! He said he found something that could help Kagome!"
As Miroku helped break the camp he had set up just an hour before, he wondered what it was that Inu Yasha had found. He wasn't as certain as Sango was that it would help Kagome that much, though. All he had said was that it would help her through the night. Inu Yasha still wasn't putting his hopes on her surviving.
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Next chapter: Who is this woman (as if you couldn't guess) and will Kagome survive? Please review, if only to tell me you read it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha or his friends.
Please enjoy
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My Protector
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Chapter 1: Helplessness
Sesshoumaru slammed Inu Yasha into the ground. "Even with Tetsusaiga, you are no match for me--" His insult was cut off as he narrowly dodged an arrow that went past his head. It was that human bitch Inu Yasha went around with--How dare she attack him with that stupid arrow?! He flung Inu Yasha several yards away, where he lay stunned. Sesshoumaru then strode over to the girl who was hastily trying to ready another arrow. He grabbed her bow, and snapped it in half as if it were a twig, then grabbed her by the front of her blouse.
"Inu Yasha!" The cry escaped her lips, and he shook her.
"This is the last time you interfere with one of our fights!" As he said this, he extended his claws through her blouse, and into the skin of her chest. He watched coldly as she gasped, first as his claws broke her skin, and then when she felt the poison burn through her body. The look of horror on her face was satisfying. She knew she would be dead soon.
"Inu-Inu Yasha..." She said his name one last time as she lost consciousness. The stupid girl. Inu Yasha couldn't help her now.
He heard a strangled squeal behind him, and turned to see Rin in Inu Yasha's hands, his claws at her throat.
"Hand over Kagome, or I swear, I will tear her throat out!"
Sesshoumaru looked down at the now limp girl he held in his hands, and threw her to the monk who was just recovering from being knocked out earlier in the fight. He reacted quickly, and managed to catch her, though he fell down again from the impact. The demon exterminator ran towards the monk, to assist him. These stupid humans. They should know better than to turn their back in a fight. As he prepared to attack the group of three on the ground, Inu Yasha yelled, "Don't even think about it, Sesshoumaru! Don't think I won't kill this girl if you so much as bat an eye in their direction!"
"It doesn't really matter either way. I have already killed the girl while you were off in your own little world. If you think your threats in any way affect me, you are sadly mistaken." He turned to walk away. Inu Yasha dropped Rin, who quickly ran to him, fighting her tears of fear. This was no place for a young girl to be. He needed to find a safe place for her to stay before he continued this fight against Inu Yasha. He would leave for now, and let his brother suffer for his dead woman.
He disappeared with Rin scampering after him, as Inu Yasha ran over to Kagome, fearing the worst.
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As Inu Yasha approached Miroku, he noticed the scent of Kagome's blood. But looking at the amount, it couldn't be a killing wound; she had lived through worse before. When he saw her take a breath, he breathed a sigh of relief. Sesshoumaru had been bluffing, to get an opening to retreat, the coward. "Well, that went well! I'm hungry, let's eat!" His smile faltered as Sango directed an angry glare towards him. "What? Is there something wrong with being hungry after a big fight? Get Kagome up and let's go."
Sango's answer chilled his bones, "If you haven't noticed, Inu Yasha, Kagome isn't getting up. Sesshoumaru did something to her before he threw her away, and she isn't reacting to anything we do."
At this moment, Shippou came pelting towards Kagome, throwing himself on her. "Kagome! No! Get up Kagome!" As the Kitsune dissolved into tears, Inu Yasha took a closer look at Kagome. She was breathing, yes, but it was shallow, and her face was very pale. He felt her pulse, and it was very faint. Inspecting her wound, he saw the claw marks that his brother must have left, and knew at once that his brother's poison must be racing through her body.
He stood up abruptly, picking her up in his arms, and started walking away. "Let's go. We have to set up camp before nightfall, and keep her warm." As the others hurried to follow him, they wondered what it was he had seen, and why he had such a grim look on his face.
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As they reached the clearing where they had made camp the night before, Sango went up to Inu Yasha. "We have to dress her wounds."
He replied angrily, "It won't help any. He has injected his poison into her." His response was not at all what Sango had expected. Then he continued in a softer voice, "There is nothing we can do, but make her comfortable for her final night."
She was outraged at his words. How could he say there was no way to save her? "We have to try! Maybe you are ready to give up on her, but I'm not. If you want to just leave her to die, then hand her over, and we will fight to save her life." The look he gave her made her feel like a child talking about things that were beyond her comprehension, but she couldn't just give up.
"Fine. Here." He handed Kagome to Miroku. "But don't get your hopes up too high. No human can survive Sesshoumaru's poison." After saying this, he stalked off into the forest, probably to brood in some tree. Sango didn't let her thoughts linger on him too long. She had more important things to occupy her mind.
"Miroku, go and gather some firewood with Shippou while I bandage her wounds."
"Why can't I help bandage her wounds? I am very good with medicine..." His voice trailed off at the look Sango was giving him. She answered, in a too calm voice, "Go gather firewood. You will be more useful doing that then bandaging a wound in an area you usually ogle."
"Oh. Right. Well, let's go Shippou."
After they had left, Sango went to Kagome's bag, dug the first aid kit out of it, and then retrieved an herb from her own pack. She removed Kagome's blouse to inspect at the wounds. There were just a few small scratches, but the skin around them was very inflamed, and hot to the touch. It was definitely a poison. She applied the herb that her father had taught her was good for slowing poisons, even those from youkai, and finished applying the bandages with shaking hands.
She was desperate for the herb to work. She had already lost her family. She couldn't lose these friends as well. She closed her eyes tightly against the pain, her hands clenching the cloth of Kagome's tattered blouse. Death comes to us all, however unreasonable that death may be. A few tears escaped, rolling quietly down her cheeks. She stood up, and worked on building a fire with the wood available. By the time Miroku returned, she had herself under control, and was starting dinner.
Coming over next to her, the monk asked in a quiet voice, "How are her wounds?"
She answered in an equally quiet voice, not wanting to scare Shippou who was busy stacking the wood they had collected. "Not good. I think Inu Yasha might be right...but I don't want to think about it." They continued their normal chores around the camp without another word.
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Inu Yasha sat in a tree with a scowl on his face, watching the others go around the camp. Sango wasn't wearing her armor anymore, and had her hair loosely pulled back as she tended the soup over the campfire. Kagome was in her sleeping bag, with every spare bit of clothing and blankets wrapped around her. Even though the sun hadn't set yet, her body temperature had dropped steadily after the poisoning. Shippou and Kirara were curled up on top of her, lending their body heat to the effort of keeping her warm. It was a mark of how concerned he was for her welfare that Miroku had not offered to do this himself. Instead, he was wiping Kagome's forehead gently with a damp cloth.
Why did this have to happen? He was supposed to protect Kagome, not let her fall into Sesshoumaru's clawed hands. How could this be happening again?
Miroku's voice broke through his thoughts. "Inu Yasha, we need more firewood. Make yourself useful and go collect some."
Inu Yasha glared at the monk for interrupting him, but he jumped down and went into the woods, as Miroku called after him, "Hurry up, I think she may be getting better!"
Inu Yasha made a derisive snort at that. She wasn't getting better. No human could survive Sesshoumaru's poison on their own. Only one had ever managed to live after that...
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"Pick the prettiest ones, Inu Yasha, or I won't be pleased!"
Inu Yasha returned to where his older half sister sat on the hill, smiling as he presented his flowers to her. "Are these pretty enough?" She grinned at him, and exclaimed, "You always manage to get the best ones!" She placed a crown of flowers she had made on his head, tweaking his ear as she did, and giggled at the look he gave her, but he didn't take them off. Inu Yasha loved to please his sister.
"I can't believe Father would let even a half-youkai like you play with human children in this manner." The cold voice sent a tingle down his spine, and the angry look on his sister's face as she looked up at the person who was behind him made his own anger rise. Who was this, that was making his big sister so upset? He turned around and got his first view of his older half-brother.
He was very tall, with long silvery hair. A crescent was on his forehead, and there were stripes on his cheeks. Inu Yasha glared at him, but he was afraid of this strange, cold man.
"How can you demean yourself to wear flowers like this?" the man sneered. His sister, only 10 years old, ran between him and the man. "I put them there, what's it to you?!"
"And what right do you have to put flowers in his hair?" He said this in a deceptively calm voice. Inu Yasha could hear the threat, but he couldn't move, or speak. His big sister went on, with no show of the fear that had frozen Inu Yasha in place.
"As his older sister, I have the right to play with him as I wish!"
Inu Yasha saw his eyes narrow dangerously, "No brother of mine will have a human as a sibling. I won't allow it." Before Inu Yasha could register that this man had just claimed to be his brother, his arm whipped out so fast he could barely see it, and struck his sister.
"NO!!!" But his shout was ignored, as his brother turned and walked off towards the cottage that was his family's home. Inu Yasha ran toward his sister, smelling the blood. She wasn't getting up. She was just laying there, blood streaming from her wounds. What was wrong with her?
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Inu Yasha picked up another piece of wood, adding it to the growing stack he had in his arms. His father had saved her that time, forcing Sesshoumaru to give something to make an antidote. She had had scars across her cheek, neck, and shoulder for the rest of her life from his claws. Even though she had made a full recovery, Inu Yasha had never forgiven Sesshoumaru for that. He wondered if she had retained the immunity to his poison as she grew older.
Inu Yasha shook his head. It didn't matter. Why was he thinking of a girl who was long dead? He needed to think of some way to save Kagome. The only person who had ever concocted an antidote was his father, and he was dead. Great. The only solutions to his problems were dead! He kicked at a branch on the ground in his frustration. He wished Kagome were awake. She was so much better at thinking....
His thoughts cut off as he caught a familiar scent. It couldn't be her! She was dead! She had to be! Even as he denied it, he dropped his bundle of wood he had collected, and ran toward the scent he hadn't encountered in over 50 years.
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She was outside in her garden, pulling weeds in the failing light of the day. Her stew inside would be ready by the time she was done working in the garden and had washed up. As she pulled a particularly stubborn weed out of the ground, she felt his presence just outside of the clearing, right behind her. He had been there for several minutes already. Well, if he wasn't going to say anything, she would just have to knock some sense into him. She hefted the weed in her hand, its roots still clinging to a large dirt clod, turned and threw it directly at Inu Yasha. "You know it's me, why don't you come out into the open!"
Unprepared for her move, he didn't dodge or catch it in time, and the clod broke open on his forehead, showering him with dirt, the weed getting tangled in his hair. "Hey, watch it!" He sneezed, and shook his head, getting most of the dirt off his face, and out of his hair. The weed in his hair made her smile at a memory; Inu Yasha crowned with flowers. She stood there waiting patiently as he finished, pulling the weed out of his hair. "How would I know it is you, when not only are you alive, but you look so damn young?" He said this as he stepped into the clearing.
She smiled, knowing those questions would have to be answered eventually. But she had a complaint with him that she wanted settled first. "Fair questions. But I have one for you." She strode up to him quickly, "Why did you have a hole in your hear for 50 years?" She emphasized every syllable with a jab at the exact spot where the hole had been. He was very taken aback; she could see it on his face. In his shock, he answered, "It wasn't my choice. Kikyou..." At saying that name, his face changed, to a sad, almost regretful, look. She was surprised; she didn't think he would ever hold feelings like that for anyone.
When he spoke again, it was in a very determined tone. "I need your help. A friend of mine has been poisoned. I don't think she will live through the night, sleeping outside."
A catch in his voice and a glance at her cheek, and she knew. "Sesshoumaru?" At his curt nod, she said, "Alright then. Bring her here quickly. I don't know if I will be able to save her, but I will do my best." As she turned to go inside, he was already gone, and she wondered if his 'friend' was this Kikyou he seemed to have such affection for.
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"Hurry up; I think she might be getting better!" Miroku's call after Inu Yasha went unanswered and he turned back to Kagome. He studied her still unconscious face, her shallow breathing, and knew what he had told Inu Yasha was a lie. Kagome wasn't getting better; she probably wasn't even maintaining her status. No, with every breath she took, and every beat of her heart that carried the poison through her body, she was getting worse. As he changed the cloth on her forehead, he noticed the angry red streaks going up her neck. Yes, she was certainly getting worse, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He looked at his right hand. He faced death everyday, knowing he would someday be killed by this curse. This was different. If he killed Naraku, the kazaana would dissipate, and he would be left with a normal, healthy, long life. Hunting down Naraku contained his fear. As long as he had that goal, he could go on. But his fear for Kagome had no container; there was nothing he could do for her. He was helpless. Useless.
A bowl came into view in front of his nose unexpectedly. He jumped up in surprise, to see Sango there, holding out a bowl of soup. Shippou already had one, and was slowly eating it, as if out of habit. She didn't look at him as she spoke. "You need to eat, houshi-sama. Even if Kagome...dies, we still need to keep our strength up." She was forcing herself to face what seemed the inevitable. He took the bowl and started eating, knowing she was right. She sat down on the other side of the fire, with her own bowl, and started eating as well.
After they finished their dinner, Miroku looked at the pot. There was still a large portion of it left. Inu Yasha's helping. Where was he? How could he have run off at a time like this? Just as he was working up his ire at the half-youkai for truly abandoning Kagome, he entered the clearing at a run. Sango stood up at his abrupt appearance, but Miroku reacted first. "Where have you been? And why don't you have any wood? We have to keep her warm!"
Inu Yasha was already at Kagome's side, checking on her. "I know that! I have found something better than this campsite though. It might help her through the night. Let's go." And with that answer, he picked her up and returned from where he came. "Hurry up and break camp, I'll go on ahead. Shippou or Kirara will be able to follow me."
Miroku sat there stunned. Inu Yasha had actually been doing something more useful than brooding?! Sango was already busily breaking down camp, and tossed a cup at him, hitting him in the head. "You heard him! Let's get going! He said he found something that could help Kagome!"
As Miroku helped break the camp he had set up just an hour before, he wondered what it was that Inu Yasha had found. He wasn't as certain as Sango was that it would help Kagome that much, though. All he had said was that it would help her through the night. Inu Yasha still wasn't putting his hopes on her surviving.
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Next chapter: Who is this woman (as if you couldn't guess) and will Kagome survive? Please review, if only to tell me you read it.