AN: Hmm, well this might be a bit OOC since the situation calls for a
nudge out of the realm of wordless silence that our mystery rescuer usually
dwells in. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter as
well!
-
-
CHAPTER 2: Wake to Darkness
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Someone was watching her.
Kagome didn't know how she knew but, as she struggled past the veils of unconsciousness, she just had a feeling of someone's gaze weighing down on her. But through the heavy lassitude of sleep that blanketed her, she didn't feel alarmed over whoever her silent watcher might be as she concentrated on struggling back to the land of the conscious. Her next awareness was of the sensation of fur that tickled her nose, the warmth of being enveloped in something, and the crackling sounds of a fire. Not just a fire, but a nearby one as she feel the warmth of flickering flames and the stirring of the air they caused wafting across her face.
Suddenly memories surged through her in a distorted mix of the night, the youkai, screaming, large snapping teeth, and her belief that she was going to die. Trembling in remembered fear, her fists clenched, closing around silky fur that felt very real to the touch and was a wonderful assurance that she was alive. Relieved, she relaxed a little as she struggled to open eyes that felt much like the rest of her body did, sluggish and exhausted and very heavy. Her body just didn't want to obey her commands but still she widened her eyes as much as she could to take in surroundings.
All she saw was darkness.
Panicked, she wondered if she hadn't managed to open her eyes after all. But, bringing up a hand to touch her face, feeling the fluttering of eyelashes against her fingers, hearing the crackling of the nearby fire that was just too close for her to not be able to see the bright flames of, there was only one conclusion that Kagome could possibly find to explain this.
She was blind.
Horrified by the realization, she felt her face pale as she recalled being under the youkai that had attacked her and something hot and wet dripping into her eyes which was no doubt the cause of her current sightless state. Then she became confused again, remembering how certain she was that she was going to die and wondering about her current circumstances. She didn't understand what had happened. Fear prickled along her skin as she wondered if the youkai that had attacked her had meant to blind her and was holding her captive even now. But that didn't make any sense since she'd been certain that it had been trying to kill her, no doubt attracted by the Shikon shards.
The Shikon Shards!
Desperately, she felt around, worming her hand under the fur that she was bundled in to feel around her skirt pocket. She wilted in relief when she felt the familiar tiny glass bottle she used to store the tiny fragments. The shards were safe which was a great load off her mind and, relaxing a little, she peered into the darkness, turning her head in the direction that she felt her silent watcher was.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome questioned. When she received no reply, uneasiness grew. "Inuyasha, stop playing around. It's not funny."
Time passed in silence and she still received no response other than the crackling of the fire. Fear returned and grew within her at the realization that, whoever it was that was watching her, he or she was definitely not Inuyasha. After all, as obnoxious as the hanyou was, he wasn't the type to play these kinds of tricks nor the kind of person to keep silent this long. No, Inuyasha would argue and insult, telling her that she had been stupid to get attacked again and risk the shards, the complete opposite it seemed of whoever her endlessly silent mystery watcher was.
"Who are you?" She strained her eyes even though she knew it was useless, trying to make out the mystery figure to no avail. "What do you want with me?"
Silence.
Fearful, but also getting irritated, she asked, "Where are we?"
Silence.
It was wearing on her already taut nerves so, as usual in most instances when things got too irritating, she became angry. "Look, are you going to answer sometime in this century or not? I don't have time for a game of twenty questions, especially when they're not being answered. So if you're not going to eat me, kill me, or talk to me, then I'll just leave."
"And where, human, do you intend to go?"
She startled at the surprise of suddenly hearing her watcher speak up, the voice low and mellow without expression but obviously masculine, it was somehow familiar though, for the life of her, she just couldn't place it. Frowning, she peered with sightless eyes in the direction the voice had come from.
"Do I know you?" she asked hesitantly.
Silence.
"Oh, God, not this again!" She rolled her eyes in exasperation. Despite her vulnerable situation with an unknown youkai, she weighed her options, which were most definitely very few, considering that she couldn't do much without her sight. Practical nature kicking into gear, she became determined. "Look," she said. "Right now, I don't have many choices but that doesn't mean I don't have questions. Since you obviously don't want to divulge your identity, that's fine with me as long as you're not going to eat me or kill me." She frowned. "You're not, are you?"
"No," he said after a moment's pause.
"Good." Kagome relaxed a little. "Do you mean me harm?"
"Not at the moment."
She frowned again. It wasn't the answer she was hoping for but there was little she could do at this point. She decided to get her other questions answered first and worry later. So she continued, asking, "Did you save me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Silence.
"Geez." Kagome huffed in annoyance. "Fine, moving on. Next question: what happened? All I remember is that big youkai on top of me about to tear me to shreds. Nothing else. So could you at least help me fill in the blanks a little?"
There was a pause. "Fill in the blanks?"
"Oh." She forgot to avoid using modern speech. "I meant, tell me about the events that happened when you rescued me. Do you think you could do that, please?"
There was another long pause but, just when she thought he wasn't going to speak up, he did to say, "You were attacked by a low-level youkai."
"I knew that!" she snapped in irritation. Then she frowned. "Well, the youkai part anyway. I couldn't really tell if it was low-level or not."
She heard a small sound, almost disgusted.
It made her scowl, saying, "Well, excuse me if I'm only human!" She huffed. "So what if my senses aren't on the same level? I'm sure if I were a youkai like you then I wouldn't have any problems telling different classes apart either."
"And how," the voice was intent, "do you know that I am youkai?"
"What?" She bit her lip, confused as she thought. "Well, I just do." She shrugged. "I can't really explain it since I don't understand it myself."
"A normal human stricken blind would likely not be able to tell." There was something almost searching in his tone. "How is it that you can?"
"I don't know." Kagome shifted uncomfortably. "Look, until a little while ago, I never even thought youkai were real. They were only figments of the imagination and I was just a regular girl." She frowned. "I still think I am for the most part but the things that keep happening, well, they're confusing and I'm not used to any of it yet so I can't really explain anything that's going on since I just don't know. So whatever you're trying to find out, you're better off going somewhere else than asking me. I don't know what is it that you want from me, but I don't think I can really help you with whatever it is."
"And what," there was a wary note to his voice, "makes you think I want something from you?"
"It's just a feeling." Her lips twisted wryly. "Also, you're a youkai and I don't think your type usually helps out a human just for the sake of goodwill." She smiled faintly. "Am I wrong?"
"No." Then he asked, a bit of irritation in his voice, "You do not speak as if you are afraid, human."
"Oh, but I am." She shrugged. "But everything that's happen recently takes some time to process so I'm just not thinking about it too much for the moment. Also, with the way I am right now, there's nothing I can do about it anyway so I'm better off just figuring things out slowly." She sighed. "Besides, whatever it is you want from me, you did save me so I owe you my thanks." She gave a slight nod. "So thank you."
Silence.
"Back to this again, are we?" she muttered to herself. A little louder, she said, "Could you tell me the rest about what happened, please? The conversation seems to have gotten off track. What happened after I was attacked?"
"I saved you."
"I know that." Her gaze narrowed in annoyance. "Details. Can you give me more of them or not?"
"I killed the youkai, pulled your unconscious form out from under it before you were crushed, and carried you away."
"Better," she said. The explanation was still lacking but Kagome had the feeling that trying to get more out of him would be futile so she gave it up and moved onto something else. "What kind of youkai was it? I know you said it was low-level but is there anything else you know?" She reached up to touch her eye, a hint of fear creeping into her voice. "Like why I can't see or if it's permanent or not?"
"It's not."
"It's not?" She straightened hopefully. "Really? There's a cure? What is it?"
"Time."
"Time?" She frowned. "You need to elaborate on that a little more."
"It will fade with the full cycle of one moon."
"A month?" She was flabbergasted. Though grateful that the blindness wasn't permanent, a month's time was a lot. "Oh, God," she said, as it all hit her. "That's too long. What am I going to do? I can't do any homework like this!" She shuddered at how much schoolwork and tests she'd have to make up. "And how can I go back to my family like this?" Her mother would never let her out of the house again if she knew about this. She grimaced. "I can't go home until I get over this but then where else am I supposed to go?"
"Come with me."
She froze. "What did you say?" She shook her head. "Never mind, I heard you the first time but why?"
Silence.
"Okay, obviously that's one thing that's off limits." She took a deep breath. "But just answer me one thing. Does whatever it is that you want from me have to do with inflicting pain on me?"
There was hesitation before he answered, "I do not believe so."
She tilted her head, considering. Then she nodded. "Okay. So let me get this straight. There is something you want from me, correct?"
"Perhaps."
She puzzled over his answer. "Then, you need time to see if there's something you want from me?"
"Yes."
"Are you strong?"
There was a long pause this time and she got the feeling she'd insulted him with the question. Nevertheless he did answer though she felt that there was a hint of a growl lying beneath the low voiced "Yes."
"Then," she barreled ahead, "I want to propose a bargain." When he was silent, she took that as a sign to go on to say, "For the time it takes me to get over my blindness, I want you to be my protector. That is, if you think you can handle it." She paused, feeling that she'd somehow insulted him again but continued, "And in that time, you can try and find out whatever it is that you want from me." She cocked her head. "Is that agreeable or do you need some time to think about it?"
"Agreed."
"Okay, then it's a deal," she said, relieved. She didn't know why she was so relieved since she'd just asked a virtual stranger to take care of her but she pushed the issue away to be tackled at a later date when she wasn't feeling quite so drained. Then she stiffened, realizing something that she'd forgotten all about and gasped, "Inuyasha! Oh, my God! What's he going to think when I don't come back?" She turned to her mystery rescuer with a worried expression. "You didn't by any chance happen to see a hanyou with long white hair and a pair of ears did you?"
"No," he said shortly.
"Oh." She was a bit disappointed, sure that Inuyasha would have come for her. "Maybe I didn't scream loud enough," she muttered under her breath. She shook her head. "Anyway, he'll be worried. Do you think you can take me back?"
"No." It was very definite.
"What? Why not?" She came up with a brilliant idea, wondering why she'd been so slow to come up with it. "That's it! I can stay at the village." She looked at him eagerly. "If you take me back, I won't be a burden to you anymore. I doubt you really want to take care of a blind human girl anyway."
"I don't."
"Well, then," she said, a bit irked.
"But," he said coldly, "we have a bargain, you and I. Or are you the type of lowly human to break your word?"
She stiffened. "I'm not! I always try to keep my word but this is the best deal all around. Blind, I'm only more of a hindrance than I usually am." She winced, remembering Inuyasha's words. "It's wrong of me to burden you after you saved me, after all."
"So you would rather burden that tiny village?"
"What?" She blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"A village that small and poor. What good is a blind girl who is just another mouth to feed and can't do anything in return."
"I didn't think of that," she said softly, deflated. Uncertainty crossed her features. "But aren't I just burdening you the same way?"
"No."
"Really? Why not?"
Silence.
"Another no-no, huh?" She sighed. "Fine, then. If it's okay with you, I'll stay but I really do need to see Inuyasha and tell him that I'm alright." She bit her lip, worried. "He's the only one who knows where my home is and, since I don't want to go myself and let my family see me like this, I need him to go and tell them that I'll be gone for a month but that I'll be okay." Her expression grew darker. "If I just don't show up for that long, they'll worry about what's happened to me and I don't want that." She shook her head. "I don't want that at all." She looked up, determined. "If you don't take me back, I swear I'll make the next month painfully difficult to find out what it is that you want from me." She frowned. "Even though I don't know what it is."
"I will not take you back." The tone was definite.
"What?" Angry, she tried to stand on shaky legs. "Then, I'll just go myself."
Suddenly, she felt herself being pushed back down, a presence in front of her radiating temper as he held her down easily despite her weak struggles that were no match for youkai strength. When she finally stilled her futile attempts, he let her go and she sat there, glaring up angrily.
"This isn't over," she said heatedly. "I'll just keep trying again until I can tell Inuyasha that I'm alright."
"He will be told."
"He will?" She blinked. "But you just said you wouldn't take me back there."
"I will not." She felt him moving away from her as he said, "You will stay here and not move. It is safer. I will go myself."
"But you can't go by yourself!" she exclaimed. "How will you find him?"
"A hanyou bearing white hair and ears will not be difficult to find."
"Well," she said doubtfully, "I suppose that's true." She became worried again. "Wait! It's not a good idea. Inuyasha might attack you first before you say anything. You might get hurt."
"I will not get hurt."
He definitely sounded insulted to her ears, insulted and angry which was never a good combination in her experience when it came to dealing with anyone bearing youkai blood. She looked at her mystery rescuer warily.
"You have to promise me you won't hurt him. He's got a lot of faults including a hot-temper but I don't want him injured in a fight about me. I wouldn't forgive myself." She scowled. "Promise me or else I won't let you go."
"And just how," she detected a thread of amusement in the voice, "do you intend to stop me?"
She flushed, embarrassed. "Well, I don't know." She tilted a chin up defiantly. "But I will definitely make you regret it one day if you don't promise."
She felt silly, still, she didn't let up. She didn't know what made her make a pact with this stranger in the first place but she had and she had every intention of following through with it. But that didn't mean she was going to throw everything else away and she was determined to stick to her resolution to have Inuyasha know that she was alright and to see that he remained uninjured as well, at least on her account, the best that she could. So she kept up her defiant expression though the silence dragged on so long that she thought he'd never answer. But he did.
"Very well." The tone was devoid of emotion. "You have my word. I will not bring injury to your friend."
"Thank you." Kagome relaxed though she wondered briefly why it was that she trusted him. That, too, she pushed to the back of her mind as she fiddled around with the red tie on her uniform. She pulled it free and held it out. "Could you take this and give it to Inuyasha when you see him? It's something he'll recognize as mine so, if you show it to him, then hopefully he won't attack you at first sight."
She felt the material sliding out of her hand as he accepted it wordlessly. Then, thinking, she tilted her head, peering up at the towering figure as best she could in her seated position without her sight.
"I never told you my name, did I?" A slight smile of amusement tipped the corners of her lips. "It might come in handy considering that you're going to talk to Inuyasha about me, huh?" She shrugged. "Well, it's a little late for introductions but my name is Kagome." A curious expression crossed her features. "I don't suppose you'd care to tell me yours?"
But there was only silence that met her as she felt the absence of his presence.
-
-
CHAPTER 2: Wake to Darkness
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Someone was watching her.
Kagome didn't know how she knew but, as she struggled past the veils of unconsciousness, she just had a feeling of someone's gaze weighing down on her. But through the heavy lassitude of sleep that blanketed her, she didn't feel alarmed over whoever her silent watcher might be as she concentrated on struggling back to the land of the conscious. Her next awareness was of the sensation of fur that tickled her nose, the warmth of being enveloped in something, and the crackling sounds of a fire. Not just a fire, but a nearby one as she feel the warmth of flickering flames and the stirring of the air they caused wafting across her face.
Suddenly memories surged through her in a distorted mix of the night, the youkai, screaming, large snapping teeth, and her belief that she was going to die. Trembling in remembered fear, her fists clenched, closing around silky fur that felt very real to the touch and was a wonderful assurance that she was alive. Relieved, she relaxed a little as she struggled to open eyes that felt much like the rest of her body did, sluggish and exhausted and very heavy. Her body just didn't want to obey her commands but still she widened her eyes as much as she could to take in surroundings.
All she saw was darkness.
Panicked, she wondered if she hadn't managed to open her eyes after all. But, bringing up a hand to touch her face, feeling the fluttering of eyelashes against her fingers, hearing the crackling of the nearby fire that was just too close for her to not be able to see the bright flames of, there was only one conclusion that Kagome could possibly find to explain this.
She was blind.
Horrified by the realization, she felt her face pale as she recalled being under the youkai that had attacked her and something hot and wet dripping into her eyes which was no doubt the cause of her current sightless state. Then she became confused again, remembering how certain she was that she was going to die and wondering about her current circumstances. She didn't understand what had happened. Fear prickled along her skin as she wondered if the youkai that had attacked her had meant to blind her and was holding her captive even now. But that didn't make any sense since she'd been certain that it had been trying to kill her, no doubt attracted by the Shikon shards.
The Shikon Shards!
Desperately, she felt around, worming her hand under the fur that she was bundled in to feel around her skirt pocket. She wilted in relief when she felt the familiar tiny glass bottle she used to store the tiny fragments. The shards were safe which was a great load off her mind and, relaxing a little, she peered into the darkness, turning her head in the direction that she felt her silent watcher was.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome questioned. When she received no reply, uneasiness grew. "Inuyasha, stop playing around. It's not funny."
Time passed in silence and she still received no response other than the crackling of the fire. Fear returned and grew within her at the realization that, whoever it was that was watching her, he or she was definitely not Inuyasha. After all, as obnoxious as the hanyou was, he wasn't the type to play these kinds of tricks nor the kind of person to keep silent this long. No, Inuyasha would argue and insult, telling her that she had been stupid to get attacked again and risk the shards, the complete opposite it seemed of whoever her endlessly silent mystery watcher was.
"Who are you?" She strained her eyes even though she knew it was useless, trying to make out the mystery figure to no avail. "What do you want with me?"
Silence.
Fearful, but also getting irritated, she asked, "Where are we?"
Silence.
It was wearing on her already taut nerves so, as usual in most instances when things got too irritating, she became angry. "Look, are you going to answer sometime in this century or not? I don't have time for a game of twenty questions, especially when they're not being answered. So if you're not going to eat me, kill me, or talk to me, then I'll just leave."
"And where, human, do you intend to go?"
She startled at the surprise of suddenly hearing her watcher speak up, the voice low and mellow without expression but obviously masculine, it was somehow familiar though, for the life of her, she just couldn't place it. Frowning, she peered with sightless eyes in the direction the voice had come from.
"Do I know you?" she asked hesitantly.
Silence.
"Oh, God, not this again!" She rolled her eyes in exasperation. Despite her vulnerable situation with an unknown youkai, she weighed her options, which were most definitely very few, considering that she couldn't do much without her sight. Practical nature kicking into gear, she became determined. "Look," she said. "Right now, I don't have many choices but that doesn't mean I don't have questions. Since you obviously don't want to divulge your identity, that's fine with me as long as you're not going to eat me or kill me." She frowned. "You're not, are you?"
"No," he said after a moment's pause.
"Good." Kagome relaxed a little. "Do you mean me harm?"
"Not at the moment."
She frowned again. It wasn't the answer she was hoping for but there was little she could do at this point. She decided to get her other questions answered first and worry later. So she continued, asking, "Did you save me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Silence.
"Geez." Kagome huffed in annoyance. "Fine, moving on. Next question: what happened? All I remember is that big youkai on top of me about to tear me to shreds. Nothing else. So could you at least help me fill in the blanks a little?"
There was a pause. "Fill in the blanks?"
"Oh." She forgot to avoid using modern speech. "I meant, tell me about the events that happened when you rescued me. Do you think you could do that, please?"
There was another long pause but, just when she thought he wasn't going to speak up, he did to say, "You were attacked by a low-level youkai."
"I knew that!" she snapped in irritation. Then she frowned. "Well, the youkai part anyway. I couldn't really tell if it was low-level or not."
She heard a small sound, almost disgusted.
It made her scowl, saying, "Well, excuse me if I'm only human!" She huffed. "So what if my senses aren't on the same level? I'm sure if I were a youkai like you then I wouldn't have any problems telling different classes apart either."
"And how," the voice was intent, "do you know that I am youkai?"
"What?" She bit her lip, confused as she thought. "Well, I just do." She shrugged. "I can't really explain it since I don't understand it myself."
"A normal human stricken blind would likely not be able to tell." There was something almost searching in his tone. "How is it that you can?"
"I don't know." Kagome shifted uncomfortably. "Look, until a little while ago, I never even thought youkai were real. They were only figments of the imagination and I was just a regular girl." She frowned. "I still think I am for the most part but the things that keep happening, well, they're confusing and I'm not used to any of it yet so I can't really explain anything that's going on since I just don't know. So whatever you're trying to find out, you're better off going somewhere else than asking me. I don't know what is it that you want from me, but I don't think I can really help you with whatever it is."
"And what," there was a wary note to his voice, "makes you think I want something from you?"
"It's just a feeling." Her lips twisted wryly. "Also, you're a youkai and I don't think your type usually helps out a human just for the sake of goodwill." She smiled faintly. "Am I wrong?"
"No." Then he asked, a bit of irritation in his voice, "You do not speak as if you are afraid, human."
"Oh, but I am." She shrugged. "But everything that's happen recently takes some time to process so I'm just not thinking about it too much for the moment. Also, with the way I am right now, there's nothing I can do about it anyway so I'm better off just figuring things out slowly." She sighed. "Besides, whatever it is you want from me, you did save me so I owe you my thanks." She gave a slight nod. "So thank you."
Silence.
"Back to this again, are we?" she muttered to herself. A little louder, she said, "Could you tell me the rest about what happened, please? The conversation seems to have gotten off track. What happened after I was attacked?"
"I saved you."
"I know that." Her gaze narrowed in annoyance. "Details. Can you give me more of them or not?"
"I killed the youkai, pulled your unconscious form out from under it before you were crushed, and carried you away."
"Better," she said. The explanation was still lacking but Kagome had the feeling that trying to get more out of him would be futile so she gave it up and moved onto something else. "What kind of youkai was it? I know you said it was low-level but is there anything else you know?" She reached up to touch her eye, a hint of fear creeping into her voice. "Like why I can't see or if it's permanent or not?"
"It's not."
"It's not?" She straightened hopefully. "Really? There's a cure? What is it?"
"Time."
"Time?" She frowned. "You need to elaborate on that a little more."
"It will fade with the full cycle of one moon."
"A month?" She was flabbergasted. Though grateful that the blindness wasn't permanent, a month's time was a lot. "Oh, God," she said, as it all hit her. "That's too long. What am I going to do? I can't do any homework like this!" She shuddered at how much schoolwork and tests she'd have to make up. "And how can I go back to my family like this?" Her mother would never let her out of the house again if she knew about this. She grimaced. "I can't go home until I get over this but then where else am I supposed to go?"
"Come with me."
She froze. "What did you say?" She shook her head. "Never mind, I heard you the first time but why?"
Silence.
"Okay, obviously that's one thing that's off limits." She took a deep breath. "But just answer me one thing. Does whatever it is that you want from me have to do with inflicting pain on me?"
There was hesitation before he answered, "I do not believe so."
She tilted her head, considering. Then she nodded. "Okay. So let me get this straight. There is something you want from me, correct?"
"Perhaps."
She puzzled over his answer. "Then, you need time to see if there's something you want from me?"
"Yes."
"Are you strong?"
There was a long pause this time and she got the feeling she'd insulted him with the question. Nevertheless he did answer though she felt that there was a hint of a growl lying beneath the low voiced "Yes."
"Then," she barreled ahead, "I want to propose a bargain." When he was silent, she took that as a sign to go on to say, "For the time it takes me to get over my blindness, I want you to be my protector. That is, if you think you can handle it." She paused, feeling that she'd somehow insulted him again but continued, "And in that time, you can try and find out whatever it is that you want from me." She cocked her head. "Is that agreeable or do you need some time to think about it?"
"Agreed."
"Okay, then it's a deal," she said, relieved. She didn't know why she was so relieved since she'd just asked a virtual stranger to take care of her but she pushed the issue away to be tackled at a later date when she wasn't feeling quite so drained. Then she stiffened, realizing something that she'd forgotten all about and gasped, "Inuyasha! Oh, my God! What's he going to think when I don't come back?" She turned to her mystery rescuer with a worried expression. "You didn't by any chance happen to see a hanyou with long white hair and a pair of ears did you?"
"No," he said shortly.
"Oh." She was a bit disappointed, sure that Inuyasha would have come for her. "Maybe I didn't scream loud enough," she muttered under her breath. She shook her head. "Anyway, he'll be worried. Do you think you can take me back?"
"No." It was very definite.
"What? Why not?" She came up with a brilliant idea, wondering why she'd been so slow to come up with it. "That's it! I can stay at the village." She looked at him eagerly. "If you take me back, I won't be a burden to you anymore. I doubt you really want to take care of a blind human girl anyway."
"I don't."
"Well, then," she said, a bit irked.
"But," he said coldly, "we have a bargain, you and I. Or are you the type of lowly human to break your word?"
She stiffened. "I'm not! I always try to keep my word but this is the best deal all around. Blind, I'm only more of a hindrance than I usually am." She winced, remembering Inuyasha's words. "It's wrong of me to burden you after you saved me, after all."
"So you would rather burden that tiny village?"
"What?" She blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"A village that small and poor. What good is a blind girl who is just another mouth to feed and can't do anything in return."
"I didn't think of that," she said softly, deflated. Uncertainty crossed her features. "But aren't I just burdening you the same way?"
"No."
"Really? Why not?"
Silence.
"Another no-no, huh?" She sighed. "Fine, then. If it's okay with you, I'll stay but I really do need to see Inuyasha and tell him that I'm alright." She bit her lip, worried. "He's the only one who knows where my home is and, since I don't want to go myself and let my family see me like this, I need him to go and tell them that I'll be gone for a month but that I'll be okay." Her expression grew darker. "If I just don't show up for that long, they'll worry about what's happened to me and I don't want that." She shook her head. "I don't want that at all." She looked up, determined. "If you don't take me back, I swear I'll make the next month painfully difficult to find out what it is that you want from me." She frowned. "Even though I don't know what it is."
"I will not take you back." The tone was definite.
"What?" Angry, she tried to stand on shaky legs. "Then, I'll just go myself."
Suddenly, she felt herself being pushed back down, a presence in front of her radiating temper as he held her down easily despite her weak struggles that were no match for youkai strength. When she finally stilled her futile attempts, he let her go and she sat there, glaring up angrily.
"This isn't over," she said heatedly. "I'll just keep trying again until I can tell Inuyasha that I'm alright."
"He will be told."
"He will?" She blinked. "But you just said you wouldn't take me back there."
"I will not." She felt him moving away from her as he said, "You will stay here and not move. It is safer. I will go myself."
"But you can't go by yourself!" she exclaimed. "How will you find him?"
"A hanyou bearing white hair and ears will not be difficult to find."
"Well," she said doubtfully, "I suppose that's true." She became worried again. "Wait! It's not a good idea. Inuyasha might attack you first before you say anything. You might get hurt."
"I will not get hurt."
He definitely sounded insulted to her ears, insulted and angry which was never a good combination in her experience when it came to dealing with anyone bearing youkai blood. She looked at her mystery rescuer warily.
"You have to promise me you won't hurt him. He's got a lot of faults including a hot-temper but I don't want him injured in a fight about me. I wouldn't forgive myself." She scowled. "Promise me or else I won't let you go."
"And just how," she detected a thread of amusement in the voice, "do you intend to stop me?"
She flushed, embarrassed. "Well, I don't know." She tilted a chin up defiantly. "But I will definitely make you regret it one day if you don't promise."
She felt silly, still, she didn't let up. She didn't know what made her make a pact with this stranger in the first place but she had and she had every intention of following through with it. But that didn't mean she was going to throw everything else away and she was determined to stick to her resolution to have Inuyasha know that she was alright and to see that he remained uninjured as well, at least on her account, the best that she could. So she kept up her defiant expression though the silence dragged on so long that she thought he'd never answer. But he did.
"Very well." The tone was devoid of emotion. "You have my word. I will not bring injury to your friend."
"Thank you." Kagome relaxed though she wondered briefly why it was that she trusted him. That, too, she pushed to the back of her mind as she fiddled around with the red tie on her uniform. She pulled it free and held it out. "Could you take this and give it to Inuyasha when you see him? It's something he'll recognize as mine so, if you show it to him, then hopefully he won't attack you at first sight."
She felt the material sliding out of her hand as he accepted it wordlessly. Then, thinking, she tilted her head, peering up at the towering figure as best she could in her seated position without her sight.
"I never told you my name, did I?" A slight smile of amusement tipped the corners of her lips. "It might come in handy considering that you're going to talk to Inuyasha about me, huh?" She shrugged. "Well, it's a little late for introductions but my name is Kagome." A curious expression crossed her features. "I don't suppose you'd care to tell me yours?"
But there was only silence that met her as she felt the absence of his presence.