Author's Notes: I'm sorry this took forever to update, I had a sever case of writer's block with this chapter.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"I'm going for a walk," Shippo sniffled, pushing the curtain that served as a door to the hut out of the way.Knowing he was going to wallow near the well, Sango and Miroku nodded, feeling equally upset about Inuyasha's orders the previous evening. He was out in the forest somewhere, working out his anger on some poor defenseless trees no doubt. What he'd seen to make him so mad the night before, none of them had any idea, but it must have been bad, very, very bad.
"What did he mean she's a betraying bitch? Kagome's the most loyal person in the group, especially to him," Shippo hiccupped, wandering slowly to the well. Finally reaching it, he sniffled again, grimacing when the scent of blood reached his nose.
(- Great, he's killed something! -)
Leaning against the side, a soft, whimpering sound interrupted his musings. Looking around expecting to see some half-dead animal, he frowned, listening for it to be repeated. The sound came again, and it seemed, from inside the well. Hopping onto the edge, he looked down, eyes widening at the sight.
"KAGOME!"
Quickly jumping in, he landed beside her and grimaced, poking her on her back to try and waken her, managing only to make her whimper again. Terrified that she would die, he clambered out and started shouting while he ran.
"HEEEELLLPPP!"
"MIROKUUU! SANGOO! INUYAASHAAA!"
"Oi! Calm down runt!"
Catching him up by the tail as he exited the forest near Kaede's hut, Inuyasha frowned, pulling the kitsune closer to get a better whiff. "Why do you smell like...?"
Shippo reached out and grabbed him by the hair, interrupting him mid-sentence. "Inuyasha you have to hurry! Kagome's at the bottom of the well!"
Inuyasha heard the others coming and turned to glare at the monk, "I thought I told you to seal her away?!"
"We did!" Miroku stopped by his side, "But not completely, Kaede-sama used a special incantation that would allow her to pass only under the direst of circumstances."
"So what's she doing here now?" Inuyasha snapped, following the monk and taijiya's gazes. Kaede stood beside them with a worried expression, a sense of dread falling over the older miko.
"Someone's hurt her!" Shippo began to cry, "She... she almost looks... well... dead!"
"What?!" Dropping the kitsune, Inuyasha rushed towards the well, the scent of blood reaching him as he entered the clearing. "Shit!"
Sailing over the edge, he landed at the bottom and shrank away when he saw her, his back hitting the wall with a hard thud and making him slide down along its surface. Lying on her side, she was partially covered from his view, but the scent of blood was nearly overwhelming and she was obviously soaked in it. Crawling forward and carefully taking her arm, he turned her onto her back and felt his heart plummet to his toes. All thoughts of her betraying him were immediately erased from his mind; to be replaced by shock and disbelief, followed by sheer rage.
(- What the hell happened?! -)
He realized his hands were fisted when he heard the other's voices and felt the sting of his clawed nails biting into his palms. When she suddenly whimpered, he watched her hands flutter up to her chest, lying there weakly after a moment. He noticed then, the way her shirt was torn and the bruising that had already begun on her wrists. Carefully lowering her hands to her sides, he heard a gasp and turned to see Sango coming down, followed by Miroku.
"Inuyasha who would do this to her?" Sango's eyes were wide and horrified as she looked over her friend.
Shaking his head, Inuyasha focused on her shirt, carefully ripping off the pieces that were left to get a look at her body. The scent of blood in the well was making his nose scrunch up and his stomach lurch, but he needed to see how badly she was hurt to get her out without causing more damage. Sango drew in a sharp breath at the sight of her bruises, from her belly to her ribs, her body was a jumble of blues and purples beneath the crimson stains.
"Whoever did it showed no mercy." Miroku whispered, his normally controlled voice cracking a bit. In anger or sadness, they couldn't tell, but the truth to his words was obvious.
Shippo joined them, "And her leg's not right."
Pointing, he brought their attention to her left leg, which was lying rather oddly. Seeing the way her pants were barely on, Inuyasha's chest rumbled with a suppressed growl as he ripped the leg free of the pants. Her knee was out of place, bruising terribly; they'd have to put it back again. She'd be lucky if the bone wasn't broken.
Hearing her moan, they looked up to her battered face, wincing a little at the darkening bruises. When Inuyasha touched the worst of them, one on her ribs beneath her right breast, she gasped and raised a hand, only to drop it at her side again.
"She came here to hide," Inuyasha muttered, removing his haori and draping it around her, "Like some fucking wounded animal or something!"
Sango reached out to touch his wrist, "She came here for help Inuyasha, no matter what happened last night, she needed us."
"What she needs is to be taken to Kaede-sama and given something for the pain," Miroku interrupted. "I can't even imagine how horrible she'll feel when she wakes up."
Biting his lip uncertainly, Inuyasha finally moved to lift her bridal style, holding her tight when she moaned. Jumping out of the well, he climbed onto Kirara's back, knowing the cat would be able to carry her smoothly to the hut without jarring her.
While the others hurried back on foot, he kept his hold tight, Shippo clinging to his shoulder quietly. Inuyasha felt his belly knot when tears slipped from her eyes and she began to cry with low deep sobs. Despite being unconscious, she was still aware enough of the pain to cry, just that fact made the knot in his belly lurch. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Inuyasha cringed with each sound she made, guilt and anger both warring within him.
Reaching the miko's hut, he thanked Kirara, nodding grimly at the old woman holding the curtain open for him. Sucking in her breath, Kaede had him set her down in the back room where they always slept while recovering. Shooing him out, she welcomed Sango's help as she set out to clean the girl up.
"So much blood... " Kaede whispered.
Inuyasha paced across the doorway, itching to rush through the well and kill whoever dared touch Kagome, but he needed answers first. Most importantly, would she be all right? When asked to bring more water, both he and Miroku went to get some. It took nearly four buckets to remove the blood, not including her hair, which still had a bit caked in.
Sango quietly cried as she helped clean up the girl, but the scent that truly haunted him was the scent of Kagome's tears, accompanied by a mewl or sob when they touched a particularly bad spot. Unable to wait after they'd brought out the last of the water, he moved back into the room, only to wince again when he saw her, clean now, save for the bruises and bandages being wrapped around her ribs and arm.
Shippo stood by his leg, speaking quietly in a mournful voice, "I told you she looked dead."
"She's not dead," Inuyasha snapped, shuddering at the very thought.
(- Kami but she easily could have been with all those wounds. Who the hell would do this to her? -)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Aaaaaagh!"
The scream reverberated in the small room as Kagome shot up on the bed, gasping and moaning at the excruciating pain. When a pair of arms came around her body to steady her, she shook her head blindly, unaware of where she was or who held her.
"Calm down! Please Kagome listen to me!"
Inuyasha held her tight, keeping her arms from moving and causing her more pain. He'd placed himself beside her when Kaede had decided to move the dislocated knee into place again. Feeling her deep shudders and gasps, he cringed but kept a firm hold on her upper body.
"It's ok, Kagome you're gonna get better now! You're safe!"
Focusing on the voice calling to her in the pain-induced fog, Kagome fought against the arms around her, trembling violently. Through the agony and shock pulling at her mind, she managed to focus a little and shook her head. She began to sob brokenly again, falling limp in his hold at last, her voice weak and terrified as she whispered.
"Please don't... hurt me... anymore...""
Sango turned into Miroku's chest, wondering how someone like Kagome could be put in such a horrible situation. Miroku held her while she cried, feeling his own heart aching at the broken girl's words. Shippo sat beside Kagome's good leg, hugging her knee and crying into her thigh. Kaede stayed out of the way, but had tears in her eye as well.
"No one's going to hurt you anymore Kagome," Inuyasha promised, "No one."
Crying quietly while he rocked her slowly on his lap, Kagome eventually fell asleep again, remaining unconscious during the rest of the day and it seemed as if she'd sleep through the rest of the night. A good while after he'd set her down on the futon, the others slipped outside to try and get some sleep too.
(- Kami, who could have done this to her? Why? -)
Millions of questions haunted him over and over as he sat and watched over her, holding her limp hand in his own.
How could he have missed something like this? Hadn't he thought he'd seen a bruise on her cheek the other night? He should have paid more attention! He shouldn't have let her talk him into leaving, especially when he sensed how scared and worried she was! What kind of protector was he?
A sudden moan and movement of her eyelashes snapped his attention back as he waited to see if she'd awaken.
But Kagome didn't want to wake up, knowing she wouldn't like it when she did, and she was right. As her mind re-gained consciousness, the pain tore through her in spiteful waves, making her gasp at the force of it. She heard a soft voice nearby and struggled to concentrate on it.
"Shh... it's ok now Kagome, you're safe here," the voice broke through the haze in her mind and brought her a little closer to awareness.
"Safe?"
The hope she laced in that one word forced Inuyasha to gulp down the knot in his throat, "Hai Kagome, you'll be ok now, just rest."
Biting her lip till it nearly bled, she gave an involuntary sob and clenched her eyes shut, speaking almost too softly for even his ears to pick up on. "Hurts so bad."
"Kaede made you tea," she felt him carefully cup the back of her neck in one hand and lift her head up.
Moaning from the shocks the simple movement caused her, she managed to open her parched lips and sip a bit of the tea from the cup he placed against them. She drank half of it before the effort of staying awake became too much, with a deep shudder; she gave a small moan and fell back into the blessed state of unconsciousness.
"Shit! Kagome don't do this to me, don't scare me like this," Inuyasha mumbled, setting down the cup and leaning close to make sure she'd be ok.
"How much did she drink?" Kaede asked, startling the worried hanyou.
"Half a cup, but then she just fainted- I think." Inuyasha lay her down gently, "She was drinking and then gave a shudder and fell limp again. She said she was in a lot of pain."
"I can imagine," Kaede sighed, "You might as well get some rest Inuyasha, wounds like those will take time to heal, especially the knee and bruised ribs. The tea you gave her will help with the pain."
He nodded but stayed by her side, "I'm not the one you should worry about."
"I know, but she'll need you to be in a good mood when she wakes up, your yelling at her will do no one any good."
With that, Kaede shuffled out of the room, leaving him alone with her and his worries.
(- Hell, what right do I have to yell at her? I'm the one that let her down. -)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Kagome grit her teeth, marveling at the fact that even they were sore. The pain wouldn't stop, how long she'd been this way she couldn't tell, but it felt like forever. And the pain just kept coming, surging and swelling, tearing through her whole body, soaring higher and higher until she knew she could take no more. Then it would lessen, receding like the tide, giving her a few precious instants of relief before the cycle started over again.
She felt lost, her head constantly pounding, voices reached her but made little sense. She could feel herself being lifted and made to drink something, wanting to sigh when the cool drink slipped down her aching throat but unable to. All she seemed capable of doing was sleep, cry, and hope, and pray she'd make it out of this all right. That the pain would go down soon, it had to.
But just as she felt like it was lessening more, the pain would return, wickedly cutting down her hope. Lord but she wanted it to end, she was trapped by it, helpless, and completely alone. She'd failed Daisuke and killed Shinji, and the kami were repaying her with this, she knew it. This was her punishment for failing.
This and knowing she couldn't do anything to help anyone else, not her mom, or grandpa or Souta.
Anxious to get out and get away from her labored breathing, Inuyasha finally jumped to his feet after two days of watching her with no signs of waking. "I have to get out of here, I have to find out what happened."
"Are you going through the well?" Shippo asked from his place beside her left shoulder.
"How else am I going to find out who did this to her?" Inuyasha snapped.
Kaede and the others of course, kept their mouths shut, knowing better than to argue with him at a time like this. They all wanted to know, but from the looks of him you could tell that he not only wanted to know, he needed to.
"Go on, she's in good hands," Sango shooed him off.
Thanking them with a nod, he stepped out of the hut after one last glance at Kagome and headed towards the well. Standing on the edge of the wooden structure, he looked down almost hesitantly, for a moment thinking he might find her there, bathed in blood again. In all his years of watching both humans and youkai being killed and mangled, never had he been so horrified as he had been when he'd seen her there.
The image was not one he would likely forget - ever.
Closing his eyes and jumping, he felt the familiar weightlessness that came over them while passing through time and growled as he emerged in the well house. He could smell blood here too, a few days old, but relatively fresh. Scrunching up his nose, he climbed out and followed the crimson trail, obviously made by something being dragged across the ground. A picture of Kagome dragging herself across the yard, bloodied and broken, made his stomach churn and the grumbling in his chest increase.
Stopping when he reached the door to the well house, he heard loud voices and lots of movement outside. Looking out through the small windows in it, he saw there were a lot of men in some type of uniform checking things over, surrounding the place with yellow tape, taking pictures and shouting details to one another.
Remembering a movie he'd watched with Souta, he realized they were police and they were investigating what had happened. The well house had also been taped off and he cursed when he saw them coming towards it, following the bloody trail along the yard. He quickly turned and jumped back in to return to his own time.
(- There's not much I can do with police looking around. I shouldn't have ripped those clothes she left for me, with those I could have talked to them but I can't do that wearing my robes. -)
Heading back to the hut, he saw the other's surprised expressions and explained his early return.
"So you did not get a chance to find out anything?" Miroku said in a statement more than a question.
"No, I couldn't go out with all those humans snooping around, but there was blood leading from the house to the well. She... she obviously had to drag herself there," his tone lowered towards the end, the words making the others wince.
"I... had to get... away."
At the sound of her voice, the group turned their attention towards her again, relief filling them all as they saw she was finally awake. Awake but not smiling, or looking even remotely happy.
No, she still looked rather terrible, and they all seemed to freeze when she closed her eyes and explained. "I was so scared... I didn't... I never meant to kill him."-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I know its not the longest thing I've ever written but if I kept going it would have been too long, and that seemed like a good place to stop. I'm sorry if it was slow, just be glad I posted finally, I promise the next chapter will explain a lot more.
Thank you to everyone for the great reviews, and again, I'm sorry for the wait.