A/N: IM SORRY! I've been slacking. I admit it. I haven't been a dedicated writer, yet I must thank all of my dedicated readers and ask for forgiveness on abandoning this story. Well, here I go again...
Inuyasha is a merciless assassin who can never satisfy his lust for blood. His life is full of lies, cheating, drugs, sex, and killing. And then he is hired to kill a girl who is different from all the others, and his bitterness is put to the test. Can she change him from the monster he is?
Chapter 11
Darkness. Crickets chirping. A soft breeze rustling the leaves of the trees. Night. How long had it been, Inuyasha asked himself as he propped himself up on his elbows. Looking around, he suddenly remembered; the attack, Kagome dying, him helping her best he could and knowing he had to keep an eye on her at all times. Paying too much attention to her so that by the time he realized that he, too, was injured he was already falling to the floor towards unconsciousness. Yet now he wasn't just on the floor. He had been laid on a pile of blankets and covered with more blankets. His head had been resting on a pillow.
He jumped up quickly. Too quickly. He felt suddenly dizzy and stumbled, tripping and falling to the floor again. He looked down at his wound. It was bandaged and was already scabbing from the portion of the blade's slash that he could see out of the top of the bandage. He could see that it wasn't deep, but it was long and he must have lost a lot of blood. That must have been why he had fainted.
But who had cared for him. Who had dressed his wound and who had laid him on the blanket. And then he glanced quickly at the bed. Kagome was there, sitting up. One shoulder was heavily bandaged and her arm hung limply to her side. The other arm was holding her wounded shoulder. Inuyasha jumped up again, but slower this time, and walked to her. Then he sat down beside her on the old bed.
"Hey," he said stupidly.
"Hey," she answered. "How are you feeling?"
Inuyasha snickered and then grimaced, looking at her shoulder. "I should be asking you that. I'm fine. You... Were in pretty bad condition." He kept eyeing her limp shoulder nervously.
"It hurts... I cant really move that arm much or I nearly faint from the pain. It hurts so much..." her voice faded of and her eyes glazed over as she looked at the cement floor. Then she jerked her eyes up and met his. "Thank you for saving me," she said.
"Thank you for... Thank you for saving me..." he repeated to himself. He looked down, then quickly back at her. "How long..?" he began.
"I woke up yesterday afternoon. I suppose I had been out for one whole day, and then I woke up the next day. It's late now. Two A.M. We should both try to sleep the rest of the night. In the morning we'll figure everything out."
Inuyasha shook his head. "No. Well... so it's been two days. You were out for one and a half, and I've been out for the past two days. How... how could you have gotten up with the pain."
"I got scared when I saw you. I sorta tried to jump up and run to you, but when I tried I felt off of the bed and to the floor. I think I passed out for an hour or so because I hit my head on the cement. Anyway, when I came to, I just kinda shimmied over to you. And after trying a bit I stood up and walking didn't hurt too much, as long as I made sure not to move this side of my upper body," Kagome explained, motioning toward her injured shoulder. "I cleaned you up and then bandaged the slash, but I could see that it wasn't too deep. It took a long time because I kept having to rest for long periods after moving too much. It took about fifteen minutes to get to the bathroom," she said, motioning towards the small bathroom only about ten feet away. "But I kept at it. I've slept a lot, and I'm starting to feel less weak around the rest of my body, but I haven't been able to help myself much. It... hurts to touch it or move it at all. It hurts a lot." She winced, imagining the pain. Her fingers fluttered over the bloody bandage on her shoulder. Then she let her arm fell limply to her side.
Inuyasha took her hand gently in his and held it to his chest. Then he brought it to his lips and kissed it. Then he kissed each finger once, just pressing them lightly to his lips while Kagome giggled softly. Then she was laughing, her shoulders shaking with each laugh, but then suddenly she wrenched her hand away and gripped her injured shoulder in pain. She winced and a tear slid down her cheek. Inuyasha jumped off of the bed and knelt in front of her, a hand on her other shoulder, soothing her, whispering softly and repeated "I'm sorry" over and over again. Kagome removed her hand slowly and lay back onto the bed carefully. Inuyasha then said one last "I'm sorry" and walked over to the bathroom to get alcohol and a fresh shirt to bandage Kagome with.
He slowly and carefully unwrapped the bandage from around her, biting his lower lip until he could taste the blood pouring into his mouth. The cloth was stiff with dried blood, and it stuck to her skin and to the wound. After ten minutes of carefully picking and pulling and prodding and biting the soft skin on the inside of his mouth, he finally removed the crusty, stiff bandage from Kagome's shoulder. When he finally looked up from his grueling and intense job, he saw tears streaming down Kagome's face. A small rivulet of blood was slithering out of her mouth until he reached up and wiped it away. Kagome shook her head slowly, hesitantly, then spoke.
"No, I'm fine," she answered him, without him even questioning. "It hurts but I'll be fine..." she said, then she looked down at her shoulder and winced. The wound was bleeding again, the crusted blood removed. Inuyasha unfolded the fresh shirt and laid it on the bed next to Kagome, kneeling at her feet. He uncapped the alcohol and poured it into the wound until it filled it and the alcohol leveled across her skin. Instantly Kagome started shrieking and flinching, nearly screaming, with pain as the alcohol stung her wound. Inuyasha gripped her good shoulder in his firm grip to stop her jerks and placed the other hand softly against her cheek, soothing her until the stinging wore off and Kagome relaxed.
"I'm sorry, baby," Inuyasha said softly. Kagome nodded and smiled as best she could through her pained tears.
"It's okay," she said quietly. The after a pause, "Thank you."
Inuyasha looked at her, tilting his head to the side slightly in question.
"Thank you for being here with me. For saving me." Inuyasha stood up, then, and began to back away from her as she repeated her words. And then he realized that he was the one repeating the words. It was his mouth moving slowly, repeating her words over and over.
"No...No... God how could I let this happen to you! You shouldn't have needed to be saved! It was all my fault..."
"What are you talking about Inuyasha?" Kagome tried to reach for him, but then drew back and gently gripped her shoulder.
"It's was my job to kill you. If I would have just done it, they would not have attacked you. And they won't stop until you're dead. They won't stop until I do my job."
And with that he took a step towards her.