AN: I guess the reason why I can even contemplate writing Inuyasha as a nutt job is because there are one or two people in my family who have been mad, are mad, or are going to go mad (when they found out I said this). @_@ Seriously. However worrying it may be, I'm holding out hopes it won't be me next, (though don't count your chickens, I'm still young ^_^)

Oh – and I know I said that this chapter would be 'casualties of war' but I'm gonna push that back a bit, sorry!

And I was going to push up the rating to R, since this is an unusually dark story, but then I though 'nah' I've seen ten year olds handle worse stuff than this. Thirteen year olds aren't little babies.

But be warned – the ending of this chapter could be considered slightly limey. But only if you have great imaginations.

Life Exchange

Chapter 6

Tricky

It was amazing how quickly Kagome's steady image of a happy, quiet little life could be shattered… well… more like crumble, or erode one bold step at a time. It seemed only like yesterday that she'd been living her perfect, quaint little way of life. Good friends, nice view from the bedroom window… an amazing, heroic, steady love interest. No bad guys within ten miles and her only pet peeve was the fact her love interest didn't seem interested. But now that same love interest didn't seem to steady… more like unstable.

It was only until a time like this that Kagome realised her rock had been Inuyasha… he was the one who held it all together for her, and when he failed to be able to hold even himself all together… it started to go wrong for Kagome too.

It was getting to the point where she couldn't even sleep in the room next to him anymore.

The continuous banging sounds against the flimsy walls, the crash of smashing furniture and objects on the wooden floors carried surprisingly well through the rooms. It had woken Kagome one night, and she'd sat for a few moments wondering what on earth was going on… until she'd located a large bang sound from the room beside hers – Inuyasha's room.

At once she was out of bed, her natural concern and good-will overriding her common sense. She had padded with haste out of her room and down the hall a short way to his door, acutely aware that perhaps what she was doing wasn't incredibly smart. The whole situation had reminded her strongly of a time three years ago when she'd heard strange noises and crashes coming from this same room… and she'd gone in to see the matter only to nearly loose her head to a full demon Inuyasha.

That memory made her hesitate from reaching out and pushing the door aside. He didn't turn full demon anymore… not unless he somehow left Tessaiga elsewhere and it was the full moon. But it wasn't the full moon… and she prayed to god that he hadn't thrown Tessaiga away.

Something shattered against the door, making it shutter violently in its frame. Right then Kagome's courage had failed her and she'd run like her life had depended on it. Somehow she'd ended up in Sango and Miroku's room, crying so hard she couldn't speak.

Sango – naturally worried for her friend, had wanted to know the problem straight away. But Miroku, being all the two years more wiser than her, knew when to just let Kagome rest and sleep until she felt better. It wasn't until morning that Sango managed to get her talking.

"It's Inuyasha, isn't it?" she watched Kagome's bleak face with narrowed eyes. "God – I'll kill that bastard – what has he done this time to upset you?"

"Apart from gone insane?"

Sango sighed deeply and got to her feet carefully, supporting her back. "The palace is talking again… the rumours are flying that Inuyasha isn't in his right mind any more. I suppose he really has… gone… you know…"

"Well he's definitely not acting normal." Kagome pressed her fists against her forehead. "It's all gone wrong… why is he like this? Saying all that stuff… acting like a thug…?"

Sango just sighed helplessly as Miroku entered the room with a bowl of breakfast in his hands and a toddler in his wake. "It's not like he can help it, Lady Kagome. If he really has gone insane it's unlikely that what he thinks he's doing is upsetting to others."

"Then how do we help him?" Kagome looked up at the couple, praying they had their answer.

"We don't know… we can't make him do anything… he's the King." Sango said quietly. "We can just hope he gets better?"

"But when?" Kagome gasped in dismay. "He's dangerous like this – to himself, not just the people around him!"

"We can only wait it out." Miroku said with a light sigh, heading towards the adjoining room with his breakfast.

"What are you doing?" Fushi tottered after him.

"Having breakfast."

"Why?"

"Because I'm hungry."

"Why?"

"Because I just woke up."

"Why…"

Their voices faded as they left the room, leaving Sango to turn back to Kagome with an encouraging sort of smile. Though it wasn't a very inspiring one. "I suggest you try not to let this bother you… stay away from Inuyasha. You can move rooms if you like, get one down this corridor if you like so we can keep an eye on you."

"We have to help him." Kagome shook her head. "We can't just ignore this."

"We can't help him – not yet at least." She added quickly when she saw Kagome's eyes brimming with tears again. "Kagome stop it or you're gonna make me cry too."

"He seemed fine…" Kagome began choking up again. "Only last week – then all of a sudden… he's gone crazy – just like my dreams. What if they are premonitions? What if he really is going to kill me – not deliberately – but through some insane action he'd normally regret?!"

Sango swallowed hard and glanced up as Fushi came toddling back into the room with Miroku's breakfast in his hands, looking mighty pleased with himself. She turned back to Kagome who was fighting back the tears valiantly. "Like we said – stay away from Inuyasha and don't go looking for trouble, ok? I'll talk to Bankotsu… maybe he can help in some way."

Miroku stalked back into the room, looking despairingly at his son and his breakfast before glancing at Sango. "I don't trust that guy. We're not involving him."

"Oh come on!" Sango growled, rolling her eyes. "We can trust him – he's captain of the guard! Inuyasha wouldn't have let him get that position if he wasn't worth it!"

"Yeah – well we all know how valid Inuyasha's views are these days." Kagome remarked bitterly. Her friends regarded her silently before she suddenly stood up and headed for the door. "I need to go see Lady Inu, excuse me."

She shut the door after her and Sango traded dark looks with Miroku, expressing their anxiety without actually speaking. It was something they were used to these days. It wasn't like they could talk openly about madness, or war in front of little children.

Sango forced herself to relax and headed off to give Reiko her breakfast while Miroku went to sit beside Fushi at the table. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Eating a carrot." Fushi replied.

Miroku folded his arms with a cocky sort of smile. "Why?"

"Because it isn't a turnip." Fushi said whilst chewing nonchalantly.

Miroku opened his mouth to speak but frowned. "Um… Why?"

Fushi looked at him with a raised eyebrow (worthy to make his father proud). "Why isn't the carrot a turnip? Don't ask dumb questions, Pa."

Sango walked past, voicing the score so far. "Fushi: six. Miroku: still nothing yet." He glared at her.

^_^

Kagome made sure that Inuyasha was no where near the royal bedroom suits as she edged her way down the corridor, heading for Lady Inu's room. But she didn't sense any of Inuyasha's familiar aura… meaning he was probably up and about elsewhere.

Well… seeing as he wasn't in his rooms, she took the opportunity to take a peak, and see what on earth had been making the noise last night. She expected to find a few smashed vases, a few holes in the walls, a smashed window or book case maybe. That's why she was staggered upon pushing the door aside and saw the room for what it was.

She was too shocked the even register the door slipping out of its frame as she pushed it, causing it to crash against the floor, too mangled to be useful as a door again. Almost in mild horror she stepped into the room, picking her way through shards of glass and splinters of wood…

There had been a bed against that wall there… now there was nothing. It had been reduced to splinters, each the size of the nail on her thumb. The bedding of soft goose feathers now lay in an almost even layer across the floor, on top of the wreck beneath. The light sweet smelling breeze tickled across the feathers, stirring them in an almost tranquil like action.

Nothing remained in piece… nothing…

With a start she realised that the walls had their fair share of damage as well… the rooms on either side of Inuyasha's were now visible through gaping holes. She could look right through into her room…to her bed… saw her crumpled bedding that gave evidence of her hasty escape last night… what if she hadn't run away though? Would the dreams have come true sooner rather than later?

That last startling thought made her snap back to reality, and she stumbled quickly out of the room, as if scared of what might happen if she were caught there amongst the rubble that had once been one of the most impressive and magnificent rooms in the palace.

Outside she had to lean against the wall to catch her breath, too frightened to look back into the room and see the evidence that Inuyasha was insane… After a moment she recovered enough to head for Lady Inu's door. She knocked rapidly, looking up and down the corridor… paranoid that she was being watched by unseen eyes.

"Go away!" Lady Inu yelled back hoarsely. "If you give me any more of that foul brew that I will drop dead just to spite you!"

"Lady Inu – it's me." Kagome called urgently through the door. "Can I come in?"

"Oh – of course!" Lady Inu was sitting up in her bed as Kagome entered. "Thank heavens, I thought you were the healer again with his 'miracle' cure for the fever."

It wasn't until then that Kagome realised how ill the Queen appeared to be. How long had she been like this? "Are you ok? You look short of death."

"Charming. But you don't look the epitome of health yourself." Lady Inu beckoned her forward, and when Kagome complied she pressed a hand to the girl's forehead and then to her own. "Still too hot… do you mind if I open a window?"

"Let me do it." Kagome moved to slide the window aside and inhaled deeply as the warm summer breeze washed into the room, cooling it and warming it at the same time.

"Too damn stifled…" Lady Inu laid back and pulled her covers up. "My throat is raw like I've swallowed a couple of knives and I feel like I'm being roasted over an open flame…"

"You spend too much time with Inuyasha. You're starting to sound like him too." Kagome smiled weakly. "Vulgar to the extreme."

"Ugh…" Lady Inu shrugged helplessly. "His father was worse on his bad days…"

A pause stretched out before Lady Inu turned to peer at Kagome who leant against her bed post. "Is something the matter? It was you who came to see me, wasn't it?"

"Yes…" Kagome slid down so she perched on the edge of the bed. Something about her whole posture reminded Lady Inu of a nervous, flighty animal… "It's Inuyasha…"

"Oh, don't worry, I've already been told." Lady let her head fall back with a flop, closing her eyes. "I suppose they were all drawing straws of who should tell me."

Kagome remained quiet.

"I'm afraid he'll be prone to that kind of thing through his life." Lady Inu sighed. "It's the human flaw in him it seems."

"Human flaw…?" Kagome glanced across at the older woman.

"His grandfather… my father… Lord Suwado, the Daimyo of a domain on the mainland, he suffered nervous breakdowns due to stress at least three times in his life. Once when I was eleven, another when I was seventeen… After I found my home on this island I went to visit and discovered he's had another breakdown." Lady Inu scowled up at the ceiling. "They claimed it was all thanks to me and my preference in species of husband."

"That sounds harsh." Kagome whispered.

Inuyasha's mother just shrugged. "Let's just say it was either leave with Inutessai or stay and become a submissive wife to an alcoholic lord no better at coping with stress than my father." She sighed loudly and shifted, as if brushing off the dark feeling. "But as you can see, it's in the family."

"But I would have thought that being half demon would make him stronger to that kind of thing."

Lady Inu snorted derisively. "Hardly. Inuyasha is a Hanyou… on the outside he appears more Inu Youkai than human… and on the inside he is more human than he will ever be Youkai… but get him to admit that. His body is more demon, but his mind and soul is that of a human. You can see as much when he turns human on the new moon. His personality doesn't change… yet when he turns full demon, his human mind and soul fly out the window to be replaced with a demon's mind and soul… just emptiness and basic instincts, I'm afraid."

Kagome bit her lip as the anxiety began bubbling up inside her again.

"And since it is the mind that goes insane, Inuyasha's human mind would be effected by the human flaw on my side of the family. I doubt Inu Youkai would normally suffer so, but Inuyasha is only a Hanyou, unfortunately."

"How do we help him?" Kagome asked hesitantly.

"We don't." Lady Inu said bluntly, as though it was obvious enough. "You can't give an insane person a drink or a cure that will make all the chaos in his head sort itself back into order. You can't tell him that he's insane – he won't believe you. He doesn't think what he's doing is strange, he probably thinks that everyone is being unnaturally sensitive to him lately."

"There must be something…"

"My father recovered from his episodes after a few months… sometimes it was a matter of weeks. He always got better, he recovered… he was shaken… but he recovered completely. But we always had to be careful that nothing would happen that would tip him off the balance again. And whilst he was in the midst of a breakdown there was nothing we could do to help other than lock him up in a room and put someone else in charge of the domain."

"We can't exactly bid Inuyasha to remain in one room. He'll break out as if it were paper." Kagome sighed, glancing to the door as if she could see right through it into the shredded room that had been Inuyasha's bedroom.

"And it's not like we can tell him he's too crazy to rule. He won't accept that. He has ultimate power as King, he can ignore us and do whatever he pleases. And I dare say that this situation with the mystery enemy in the Northern Kingdom is helping matters any." Lady Inu glanced across at Kagome's drawn face, and her expression softened a little. "Don't worry… it's not like our Inuyasha has packed his bags and walked off to leave us with this nutt. He's not evil, or a gibbering idiot… his mind has just been overwhelmed, that's all. His thoughts are all over the place and they don't make sense to him or anyone else… It takes time to sort out the mess in your head, and when he sorts it out, subconsciously, he'll regain his senses and come back to us. And he'll probably kick himself when he thinks back over all the weird things he's said and done."

Kagome smiled, a watery effort, looking forward already to that day when he would be better.

"So just avoid him for now." Lady Inu told her, like everyone seemed to like doing lately. "He's not all there right now, so he won't remember or recall his feelings for you. My father didn't remember his love for me or my mother… so be careful, ok?"

"Inuyasha doesn't love me though." Kagome told her quietly.

"What a load of…" Lady Inu rolled her eyes. "Right. Inuyasha doesn't love you the way Miroku doesn't worship Sango."

"But Inuyasha has never once shown that-"

"Of course he has." Lady Inu barked. "In his own weird ways, probably." she stopped and looked thoughtful. "What about that time you both got caught in the rain? You both looked pretty cosy to me."

Kagome ducked her head. "Not really."

"You both came in from the rain after that shower broke out whilst you were both under that willow tree. You came rushing in and went straight into his room and didn't come out until nightfall." Lady Inu recalled exactly. "And if you dare try and tell me that nothing enfolded between two wet people in a small room for three hours then you really are a prude, Kagome."

"It wasn't me who was the prude!" Kagome defended herself quickly. "We went into the room, soaking wet, I seized the moment to try and make a move on him, asking if he'd help dry me off. – Believe me my heart soared when he said 'sure'. He went and got a towel… then stuck me on the windy balcony and went to dry his hair off with the towel whilst yelling 'tell me when you're done, then I can turn you over!'. Like a bleeding spit roast…"

"Oh… don't talk about spit roasts…" Lady Inu groaned, wiping her forehead again. "I think I'm running out of water in my body to sweat with…"

"So as you can see – I am not the prude here." Kagome carried on. "Inuyasha just doesn't realise when a girl is throwing herself at him, that's all."

"Maybe he's waiting." Lady Inu shrugged. "You do realise that if he goes ahead and marries you then if he should die then the kingdom would automatically fall on your shoulders. Maybe he doesn't want to burden you yet, since you are still so young. It's hard being ruler to a kingdom, and a female ruler at that. A young female leader."

"I'm nineteen."

"Sixteen."

"Nineteen."

"Sixteen." Lady Inu said sharply. "You always argue that your sixteen, don't try changing it with me young lady."

"Waiting… waiting for what?" Kagome didn't believe it. "If he loved me but was waiting, wouldn't he at least make a slip once and give away the fact that he loved me."

"Maybe he has and maybe you have been too blind to see it." Lady Inu pointed out.

Kagome didn't like the sound of that. Her mistake? In not noticing? Unlikely… She shook her head and headed for the door. "Well… as long as he gets better then we'll all be ok…"

"It's only temporary." Lady Inu agreed.

"Good." Kagome whispered and walked out with a small wave of farewell.

^_^

Temporary madness… it ran in the family apparently… it sounded reasonable enough. The stress of being ruler to an extraordinarily powerful people had been too much for Inuyasha's simple human mind to deal with…

No… it just didn't sound right… Inuyasha wasn't weak minded in any way.

Kagome frowned in thought as she leaned back against the rocks at the side of the spring. She'd followed the warm watered brook up the hills to strike gold upon finding various warm springs towards the rising hills. Just what she needed… a good soak in a hot bath and a little relaxing session. Far away from everyone's opinions on the King… far away from Inuyasha…

"Stop it." She said aloud to herself, catching herself beginning to fret again. She didn't need to fret anymore. It would only turn her hair white and bring wrinkles to her face…

Oops… looked like her fingers were beginning to wrinkle already – though that had nothing to do with worry. She sighed and clenched her fists above the water's surface, fleetingly wondering why there were hot springs on the island?

Probably because the island had once been an active volcano… Inuyasha had taught her about geography like that. How the build up of hot lava had cooled to form rock, and ultimately the island. It would explain how the island hadn't just popped out of nowhere.

For a moment she toyed with the image that the volcano might still be active, ready to erupt beneath her at that very moment…

She shook her head at the ridiculous thought. She almost missed the sound of a twig snapping underfoot behind her… almost.

She whipped around quickly, pressing herself to the rock to hide herself. "Who's there?" But she already knew… she could feel the familiar aura… the same aura that usually accompanied evil, but she knew it too well to know that he was about as evil as rabbit. Though those could be pretty evil sometimes… especially when they scratched…

"Ya know… you really shouldn't come out here alone."

She turned slowly in the water to face back the other away… across the other side of the spring, standing on the grassy verge before the water was Inuyasha. That same disturbing smirk on his face that he usually only used whilst talking to enemies. Kagome felt her stress hit her full force, a trembling feeling curled in the pit of her stomach, making her feel sick and weak at the same time. She was too far from the palace… there was no one that she could call for help. No one to stop Inuyasha…

And he would be worse today than yesterday… she knew that much. She just couldn't deal with him right now. He was too much for her to handle.

"You followed me." Was about as much as she could manage.

"You really shouldn't come out here alone." He repeated in the same tone as he had before. "There are all kinds of scum lurking in this forest, ready to take advantage of a pretty human girl like you. A pretty naked girl I may add."

As he spoke he had begun unfastening the royal cuffs around his forearms, letting them drop carelessly to the floor, to disappear into the dense ivy that covered the ground. Kagome stared at the ivy in stiff realisation, she raised her eyes to see him beginning to loosen the sash around his waist to pull his over shirt free, shrugging out of it. "They might just see you bathing in the spring and decide that no one could hear you scream if they tried to take something of you…" he began shrugging out of his under shirt as well. "They'd only have to slip into the spring with you."

"Stop it… what are you doing?" Kagome frowned with increasing worry at the clothes that were fast heaping on the ivy. "Inuyasha-"

"Well I beat them to it." He shot her a smile with narrowed eyes. No pleasantness surrounded that smile…

"Stop it – Inuyasha just stop right now!" She edged back along the rocks, keeping her body ducked in the water and hidden from view. "Don't do this! You're not thinking straight!"

"I'm thinking fine." He shrugged and sat down for a moment to pull his boots off. "But wouldn't you like to know what I'm thinking?"

"Please don't…" Kagome shook her head slightly, a strange tingling stir of power spread through her limbs. Her faint powers… they often liked to show up when she was terrified… actually, more like petrified. She couldn't deny that she was scared beyond all reason right then.

"I'm thinking that maybe you're too loud. Too opinionated for your own good. People don't like that, Kagome." His expression turned slightly stormy as he dumped one boot over his shoulder and started on the other foot. "Men don't like that. I know guys who would beat you for opening your mouth in the presence of others."

"Not… men like you…?" she asked timidly.

"Not like me, no." he said breezily. "But I'm worried about you, you know that right? If your carry on opening your mouth in the presence of others then someone might decide to try and shut you up. I don't want to see you hurt like that, Kagome."

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said warily as he threw the second boot aside and stood up, barefoot. Her hands were creeping to grip the rocks and ivy behind her. He seemed to have stopped undressing, thank the heavens above, leaving only his three quarter length hakama on that usually tucked into his boots.

"So I've been thinking maybe I should shut you up before they do." He said somewhat harshly. She visibly froze. "Oh don't worry – I won't break your jaw or anything like that. Well… maybe a little, but that would heal in time. I was thinking more like break your spirit. A woman without her spirit doesn't speak out of terms… she does only what she's told to do, and she'll be the submissive bitch she was supposed to be."

"Oh god… don't do this… please…" she begged, not afraid to show him how much his words affected her.

"It's for your own good. I'm protecting you." He said reasonably and started forward, stepping into the shallow end of the spring. Kagome's hands fisted in the ivy and her control failed her. The fragile barriers that held her weak miko powers in check evaporated and she felt the tingling rush of power spill through her fingers, into the ivy and spread along the vines and coils like an uncontrollable gush of water from a real spillage. She didn't even realise she was doing anything impressive until she saw the ivy snake out behind Inuyasha, seizing him by the wrists and middle.

He stopped to look down at his immobile wrists with vague annoyance. The ivy retracted, forcing him to step back, out of water and into the mess of ivy beneath his feet… a bit of a mistake when new tendrils began winding around his ankles. A particularly long vine was sliding up back, over his shoulder and winding around his neck to brush against his jaw on the other side. He regarded it all with only slight interest before looking up at her.

As soon as she realised it was her that was doing it, she pulled her hands away, ceasing the flow of magic… or power… whatever it was that allowed her to manipulate nature in such a way. But even though the source of the power disappeared, the ivy still gripped Inuyasha like a vice.

"See, this is what I mean." He said patiently. "If you were a normal girl you wouldn't even think about resisting me. Can't you see I'm only trying to help."

"You're being cruel." She whispered.

"Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. Every good leader knows that sometimes your job can't all be about being nice and polite and reducing taxes and housing the homeless. Sometimes you have to let the beggars die to rid yourself of the problem."

"This isn't like you!" She cried, emboldened with the fact he was held tight by the ivy.

"No – this is the solution to the problem." He bit out.

"There is no problem."

"The problem is you!" he snapped. "Pretending to be Kikyo with your pathetic little powers! They can't stop me!" he jerked his arm forward, ripping his wrist free of the ivy and proceeded to tear the rest of the bondage away. The ivy just fell back lifeless into a heap, like it had never been alive in the first place. Kagome's mouth went dry and she swallowed hard. Her courage failed her and she lost her voice and her will to argue with him.

"You want me to tell you about Kikyo's power?" Inuyasha began wading forward, unhindered by nothing. Red marks dotted his skin here and there where the ivy's poison had rubbed off… just like her hands now were hot and red. "Kikyo could make a barrier of magic crumble with the merest touch. She could conjure forces more powerful than nature and bring anyone and anything to their knees. She could bring down a palace… she nearly brought down this one. She could pick a skull out of the ground and read it's history with only a passing gaze."

Kagome hadn't even bothered to try and escape. Where would the point be in that? But what he was saying was hurting more than anything he could do to her physically now.

"Her power surpassed nature… it was unnatural… supernatural…" He stood before her, his presence pressing in on her so much it was suffocating her. She leaned back against the rocks, once more, not caring if he saw her body or not. This wasn't the time to be shy. This was the time to freak out and cry.

"You're so like her…" he smoothed her damp fringe away from her face, examining her for her similarities with her cousin. "But you're so unlike her. She knew when to shut her mouth… but you hold a power over her that she could never reach. You shouldn't try to best your predecessors Kagome, it's rude." His hand fisted in her hair and tugged her forward despite her gasp of pain. "Someone has to teach manners to the peasant. And since I'm usually the one stuck with all the dirty work, it will have to be me."

"Inuyasha… please…" she whimpered in pain, eyes screwed tightly shut.

"Why're you scared, Kagome? You shouldn't be. I'm only helping you out of what could be a nasty situation." He told her gently. "Don't cry, I hate seeing you cry."

"You're making me cry…" she whispered, really only a rush of air than actual words.

"Don't worry, I'll always protect you." He whispered back with a smile playing on his tone. "It'll be ok from now on. It'll hurt for a while, but you'll get better. But you'll be better than before, you'll be normal."

"Don't do this to me, Inuyasha!" she cried out in full volume when she felt his hand touch her under the water in a place only she had ever been allowed. "If you want to protect me – it's from you!" She choked in the pain she received from both his hands. "God… don't…!" she tried to twist away but his hand in her hair prevented such movement. "I love you – and if you had even remotely a fraction of the feeling for me that I have for you then you wouldn't do this! Please!"

His hand froze against her, and she quickly darted a fevered look to see what he was thinking. It was as clear as crystal, the emotion in his eyes… not extreme, but she could see the confusion and slight desperation in them. He was as lost as she was helpless against him.

All of a sudden she found herself shoved back against the rocks behind her, winding her and nearly causing her to faint with relief and lack of oxygen. When her focus came back to her she looked up to see Inuyasha backing away from her, this time his expression so dark and revoking that she thought she was looking at a different person. "Inuyasha…" she whispered out.

"You're tricky… tricky…" he turned and started wading back for the grassy verge. "Tricky… tricky… tricky…"

He's still in there… somewhere in all that chaos… Kagome thought, her body moving forward despite better judgement. "Inuyasha! Wait!"

He didn't wait. He scrambled onto the bank hurriedly and skimmed down as he ran away, to pick up his under shirt. He didn't bother with anything else. He ran from the spring, all the while muttering the same word under his breath in a chant. "Tricky…"

Some part of her wanted to call him back to her, but the second, much larger part of her, was glad to see him leave, rapidly at that. She was left alone with her thoughts again, staring across at the shirt, boots and cuffs that Inuyasha had left behind.

That had been a close call… his conscience, or his ever changing madness and saved her. But it was horrifying how close he had been to… It was one thing to know that he was strong, and could overpower her at any moment… it was another to experience it, along with the helplessness of the situation. What if this happened later, when he'd descended further into madness and had felt no inclination to stop?

It was hard to contemplate how he could be this way… when he was so affectionate of her… so protective… but now who was going to protect her from him? How could he just forget her and her feelings for him…?

It was pretty pathetic, but it was all becoming a little overwhelming again, and there wasn't much else she could do. So she cried.

AN: Right next chapter will be 'Casualties of War' Sorry bout that.