Inuyasha came to alone under a shady tree. He sat up against its trunk, wincing as his still healing stomach muscles protested the abuse. I'm all bandaged. Did Kagome do this? He looked up hopefully as he saw someone coming towards him, blinking his eyes against the bright morning sun. "Kagome?"
"Sorry, Inuyasha. It's just me." Sango knelt by his side with a slightly steaming bowl of water and a clean cloth. "I came to change your bandages. You were really hurt in that battle with Naraku's puppet."
"Feh. I don't need none of your help." He lied down on his stomach anyway and let her tend to him. "So, where is Kagome, anyway? She was pretty hurt too. She can't be all healed by now."
"She's in that hut over there." Sango gently unwrapped the bandages off his back and began cleaning up the wound. "We thought it best if she stayed alone for a little while, after the way she reacted to you yesterday afternoon. Kirara's watching over her in case anything changes." She put an ointment from Kagome's bag that she'd explained was good for cuts on a bandage and wrapped up that side. "Roll over, please."
Inuyasha complied. "Feh. Has she been up at all yet? Say anything about what happened to her or why? I'm going to kill Naraku the next time I see him, that fucking bastard!"
"She's been awake enough for me to give her some water a few times during the night, but that's about it. She hasn't spoken a word and falls right back asleep after she drinks." She finished wrapping the bandage around him and looked up into his big golden eyes. She felt her heart break at the worry and sadness she saw reflected in them. Poor Inuyasha... "Don't worry. She'll be alright soon." He just nodded, staring off at the hut. She knew that in Inuyashaese that translated to a "thanks" so she just smiled and left him alone with his thoughts. She went to go sit by Miroku and Shippou around the campfire and get more water boiling.
He waited until Sango left. Using Tetsusaiga to pull him up, Inuyasha slowly made his way to Kagome's hut. He pushed the reed mat door aside and gasped at what he saw, falling to his knees beside her. Kagome was lying on top of her sleeping bag with Sango's kimono draped lightly over her. She fidgeted a bit and it slid off her side a little bit, revealing that most of her body was covered in bandages. Inuyasha readjusted it and stroked her hair gently. Both her legs were in splints and her wrists and ankles were giant bruises from the chains she'd had on. She made a slight whimpering noise, which Kirara and the others had come to recognize as her "I'm thirsty" signal, and the neko nosed a bucket of water toward him. He nodded and pulled Kagome up gently and moved his body closer to support her weight so she could sit up without moving too much. He ladled some water and held it up to her mouth, which she opened when she felt the metal pressing against it. The whole while she never opened her eyes, still mostly asleep. He pushed the bucket aside when she stopped drinking and just sat there holding her against him, crying silently inside alternately with rage and sorrow for what had been done to her.
A short while later Sango entered with another steaming bowl of water and a large pile of bandages. "She should get cleaned up some again, Inuyasha."
"Leave it. I'll do it this time." He didn't turn around from where he was sitting with Kagome.
"Are you sure? Some of the wounds are pretty bad..."
What, she thinks I'm gonna peak at a time like this? She's been hanging around Miroku too long. "I'm just as good at this as you are. She was the healer one of us... You should probably have Miroku put up some barriers around this place. We're not leaving till she's better and I don't need demons attacking us all the time."
"Alright. I'll see about some lunch for us too." She put the water and bandages down next to them and walked out.
Inuyasha lay her down gently on her sleeping bag and starting from her shoulders began washing and rebandaging her innumerable wounds. He vowed for every cut on her skin there would be 100 gashes from his sword on Naraku. He worked in grim silence until he came to the bandages on her thighs. They smelled faintly of Naraku. Oh, no, he didn't! But he had to be sure. Silently apologizing for what he was about to do, he stuck his nose between her legs and took a good whiff. Just as he'd feared, Naraku's scent was still strong inside her along with the scent of her being in season. God fucking damn. Could things get any worse? With shaking hands, he finished bandaging her up. He reached to replace Sango's kimono over her, deciding that the slayer might like to change out of her armour eventually. He took off his fire-rat robe and placed it over her gently before walking out to the others with the dirty bandages.
- - - -
Kagome woke up reluctantly. She couldn't remember exactly where she was, but she did remember it was bad and her nap had been her only respite. As her senses started coming back, she realized that she was lying down and she could move her arms. She tried to bring her wrists together to rub the soreness away when she noticed the bright red fabric that kept getting in the way. Inuyasha's...? Then he's here? Where is here? She tried to sit up, but that brought back the full force of her pain. All other thoughts of how and why were driven out of her head, all she could do was cry for the pain to go away.
Sango and Shippou were in the hut in a flash, kneeling next to Kagome. Inuyasha and Miroku followed right behind but they didn't get very far into the room. As soon as Kagome saw them, she wrapped her arms close around her herself and started crying even more. "NO! Stay away from me! Don't touch me!"
Shippou took a tentative step towards her. "Kagome? Don't you remember us?"
"Shh...Kagome, it's ok. It's just us, your friends. We're not going to hurt you." Sango put her hands on her arms, trying to comfort the terrified girl. Kagome threw the arms off trying to curl more into herself. "Don't touch me! Please!" She kept throwing fearful glances towards the two men and finally Sango got the hint.
"Alright, you two. Out!" She glared at them for emphasis. Inuyasha glared back before drooping his ears a bit and following the monk out. "It's ok, Kagome. I'm here for you." She offered a rag for her to wipe her eyes and blow her nose and just sat with her, murmuring reassurances. Kagome clutched Shippou in a tight bear hug as the girl cried herself into an exhausted oblivion.
- - - -
"Well?" Miroku passed Sango a bowl of soup as she joined the men by the campfire.
"Well what? She's terrified. I would be too after that."
"Yes, but one would think one would like all of ones friends there to protect one after such an ordeal."
"I'm not sure, she wasn't really up for talking much, but I think...I think he...raped...her. That could explain why she's uncomfortable around you two." Sango just stared into her soup sadly. Poor Kagome. If only we could have found her faster!
Inuyasha put down his bowl of ramen that he hadn't even touched yet. Now was as good a time as any, he supposed. "He did. And she's in heat."
"How did you find out, Inuyasha? Are you sure?"
"What, you think I would make up something like this? Of course I'm sure! I could smell it on her."
"Oh, no! What if she's...there's a baby? What'll we do?"
"She'll have to get rid of it, of course. As soon as possible."
"You can't make that decision for Kagome! We don't even know if she is yet."
Inuyasha just looked at Sango with a no-nonsense look on his face. "When youkai mate and the female becomes with child, the father gains a kind of empathic control over his mate. It grows stronger the longer the pregnancy lasts. Kagome's human. There's no way to know how dangerous such a bond could be to her." He leaped into a tree to sulk with his feelings by himself.
Sango made another bowl of soup and took it back to the hut to see if her friend was awake enough to eat. When she walked in, Kagome was sitting up against the wall, staring into space. "Kagome? Are you alright?"
"Oh, hi Sango! Yeah, I'm ok. Everything hurts still, but I'm ok." She smiled brightly at her friend.
"I brought you some soup. Are you hungry?" She knelt down next to Kagome so she could feed it to her easier.
"Oh, thanks Sango. Here, gimme, I can feed myself..." She reached out to take the bowl, but Sango saw the winces of protesting muscles.
"No you don't. You're still healing. No one's watching us in here for you to feel embarrassed by, so I'm gonna do it." She moved the bowl out of her reach. Kagome pouted but sighed also in relief. She really wasn't feeling up to moving very much. Sango helped her to lie back down when she was done eating and Shippou curled up next to her head.
"Sango? Will you tell Inuyasha that I want to go home soon?"
"Of course, Kagome. We'll take you back as soon as you're well enough to travel again. You know, he's been very worried about you. We had to fight through Kagura and a puppet. Inuyasha finished both of them in record time to get to you faster."
"I know. It's not anyone's fault this happened. I... Please don't leave me alone, Sango. I don't want to be alone..." Her eyes started to droop closed.
"Shh...I'm here with you. Go to sleep now and get some rest." She motioned for Shippou to go out and tell the others that she'd be spending the night with her friend and to not come in looking for her. She watched as Kagome snuggled into Inuyasha's shirt and fell asleep before she lay out a sleeping mat for herself and drifted off.