That was what had been so frightening about him when he was a baby – the fact that he could /speak/ was naturally a disturbing tidbit of information – but the unassuming intelligence and disdain that was more habit then true loathing made him simply, undiluted, and entirely creepy.

Kagome had hidden enough things – they'd gotten through the main ones – although nearly being a puppet of his old arch-nemesis /did/ count as another large...not really a /lie/. Things like that didn't regularly show up in everyday conversation. Thank Kami.

She let go of a small noise, the surprise that always accompanied the miko whenever she witnessed Inuyasha's largest attack. It was good that it /was/ so widely spread – the toxins had been swept away just as neatly as Nakago. The urchin was nowhere to be seen..that was easy enough to tell. Whether he was dead or not was an entirely separate issue.

'You'll never hurt her again'.

It – he didn't even know what he was talking about. And now that the child was gone, Kagome would have to explain. She coughed, the poison abrasive on her throat as her holy powers tried to soothe the area.

"..." The girl was silent. She sure as hell wasn't going to push this ... she didn't want to have to admit that she was so pathetic. Kagome began to chew her lip softly, forcing her eyes away from the hanyou who had saved her life more then once.

The hanyou panted lightly - it wasn't easy to pull that off - sliding the Tetsusaiga back into its sheath. The blade glowed with a clean twang, transforming in a halo of golden light. The place where the "child" had once stood was a scorch on the ground. Grass would never grow there again, that was for sure. A trace of the empty, guilty feeling still lingered. He tried to shrug it away, but it stuck there. Like spider webs that could be brushed away, but leave wisps of silky strands hanging in their wake.

It was over. The worst was over. Sort of. Secrets had come out, that thing that had been bothering him for weeks was finally gone, both were alive. What to do now, though...

Maybe the worst wasn't over. But only time would tell, truly.

Inuyasha looked around to Kagome, turning to face the miko. Her gaze no longer rested on him, instead turned away as if she was ashamed. And maybe...

"Kagome, what was that thing? Why did he know you?" He paused. "What's wrong?"

What to do now.

They'd been sent back to square one, surely. The awkward silence had only been made ever so much more suffocating by the fact their secrets were out. She didn't feel as comforted as she might've liked ... perhaps that was why her gaze remained lowered no matter how much of her begged to let go of her blanket-like cowardice.

"He isn't worth remembering -- don't worry about it."

She was quick as she spoke, chocolate orbs only flicking upward for a millisecond to squirm quickly away. He shouldn't be worried about it -- he'd /saved/ her from Nakago once before. Just when she was about to accept her fate.

Her arms crossed over her soaked chest, a rattled breath escaping through a closed mouth. Only now did she remember her hair was dripping ... she probably looked all the more pitiful, caught red-handed, /ashamed/ and so very /uncomfortable/.

"I'm fine."

Kagome finally added the futile statement in after a good three minutes.

When did this sinking feeling just settle into daily life -- when did this worry suddenly become a constant? It didn't seem unfamiliar to be so on guard; a coiled spring; a readied trap. Maybe it would be like a tumor -- merely another appendage. Hello, this is I, and these are my arms and legs, which are useful, and this is my fear, which is less than useful, but I have learned to drag it around, so pay it no mind.

The sakura blossoms were tattered -- ripped paper airplanes -- as they drifted by, sticking to her damp hair like odd decorations.

The problem was that he /did/ worry, whether Nakago was worth remembering or not. He worried about what had happened that he didn't know about. He was the kind who wanted to know anything and everything, no matter how painful. One little bit of knowledge can make a whole world of difference, in his mind.

The three minute silence gave him time to mentally check himself. He was still soaking, though a little bit dry from moving around. His long hair felt like a weight, now doubt with sakura petals and twigs and leaves mingled with the silvery-white locks. He felt /heavy/, now that the need to move was no longer as big an issue that it had been.

The hanyou might have accepted that - might, mind you - had she not said she was fine. The lie was evident in the feigned insistence. The shield that hid the pain and shame crumbling, or dissolving, or whatever the mental shields did. He'd set up enough of them for himself; he should know. But after all this...why did she still think she needed to lie?

Inuyasha took the few heavy steps until he was close enough, reaching out to tilt Kagome's chin up with a loose fist. Looking down at her with clear worry, his already tired face displaying a slight disappointment. Not so much the fact that she had lied, but /why/, really. Why /now/?

"Don't lie...please....You aren't good at it today."

Leave room for error, ne?