CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

x.

Over the next few days, the friends uneasily waited for Inuyasha to recover.

The half-demon was slower to heal than he usually was, and his arm showed no signs of coming back to life. Kagome determinedly tended him night and day, only occasionally letting Sango help. But it hurt her whenever Inuyasha flinched. When he was awake, they didn't say much to each other, except when she asked him if something hurt.

Miroku and Sango weren't sure what to do. There was a deep crack in the trust between Inuyasha and Kagome, and only time would tell if that trust could be repaired. It worried Shippo especially. He was used to them arguing -- usually over Kikyo or Koga -- but the silence wasn't like anything they had done before.

When he asked Sango about it, she was vague. "I'm not sure myself, Shippo. I think... I think it brought back a lot of bad memories for him," she said slowly.

"But he knows Kagome didn't do it on purpose, doesn't he?" Shippo asked.

Sango smiled sadly. "He knows, Shippo. But I don't think he can stop remembering."

On the fourth day, Inuyasha announced that he was well enough to go after the demon. And that no one was going to stop him.

x.

"Are you sure you can, Inuyasha?" Miroku said for the tenth time. "If you need more time to recover-"

"If I lie in there much longer, I'm gonna go crazy," Inuyasha growled, adjusting the sling with his working hand.

"And what about your arm?" the monk asked.

Inuyasha stiffened, as if he had been insulted. "I can fight with just one arm, no problem," he said defensively. "Sesshomaru does it too, don't he? I definitely can." But he didn't meet Miroku's eyes as he fiddled with the sling's knots.

"If you're sure," Miroku said quietly. Privately he was thinking, If he falls, I'm going to have to carry him back here -- whether he likes it or not.

Sango and Kagome were waiting for them by the mountain path, along with Shippo and Kirara. Kagome quickly looked away as Inuyasha approached, with his arm still tightly bound up in the sling Sango had made. In all those days, his arm hadn't shown the slightly response when she had pinched him, squeezed his fingers, or done anything else. But he was still determined to go.

"Come on, all of ya!" Inuyasha suddenly snapped. "Why's everyone moping?"

He stalked off into the woods, a little wobbly but more determined than ever. Kagome followed him, with a tremulous smile on her face. That was the Inuyasha she knew and cared about -- not letting others pity him. She sighed and kept close by him, though not close enough to make him uncomfortable.

The forest seemed eerie and empty -- even more so now that Kagome knew what was in there. She hoped that Miroku and Sango could deal with the demon -- she didn't want Inuyasha to strain himself. He was recovering, but he wasn't there yet. And fighting a demon that had completely levelled Miroku... while not fully recovered from his wounds.... Kagome sighed. She wished with all her heart that Inuyasha would go back to the hut and wait for them. But she knew he wouldn't.

Inuyasha was lost in thoughts of his own. He was furious -- furious that someone had twisted him and Kagome against each other. That seething anger had kept him clawing his way back through all those days.

What was worse... a rift had formed between them. Inuyasha desperately wanted to cross it, but somehow the image of Kagome firing that arrow at him always came to his mind. She had been manipulated into firing at him before. But he had dodged it. This time, he hadn't been able to. And it did make him worry -- he could still fight with only one arm, as his brother did. But it was a vulnerability. A weakness.

At least it wasn't my good hand, he thought darkly. He just hoped that he could use Tetsusaiga well enough with only one arm.

"Inuyasha!" Miroku suddenly said.

"Huh? What?" Inuyasha said.

"Do you hear that?"

Inuyasha paused. He had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't. A buzzing, faint and ominous. And one he recognized.

"One of Naraku's wasps," he growled.

"Be careful," Miroku said grimly. "Shippo was chased by a swarm of them, but it was only an illusion." He held up his staff, scanning the trees.

"Remember," Sango said, lifting her boomerang. "Don't trust your eyes and ears."

"Th-then what do we trust?" Shippo asked, clinging to Kagome's shoulder.

Inuyasha had been wondering that himself. He drew Tetsusaiga with his right hand and flipped it up, feeling it transform in his fingers. But he wasn't going to swing it unless he had to. Not after seeing Naraku vanish to reveal Kagome.

The risk was just too high.

TO BE CONTINUED