I promised I'd update, and I did! Hopefully you still remember the fic; I'm so stupid I haven't updated in forever. Anyway, have fun. Please review! I likes my reviews, even if I was a bad girl and didn't update… .

My e-mail has changed, and I'm not listing it anymore b/c I'd prefer to just get reviews instead of e-mails. It's a safety thing…I had a minor stalker incident, you see. (Said he loved me; kinda freaked me out since I don't know who he really was. Now he can't e-mail me, can't IM me, and I've blocked him from reviewing my stories—just in case.) Anyways, let's just say I'm being more careful now.

In this chapter, we find Inuyasha dealing with Kagome's attempted suicide in his own little way. But trust me, it won't be what you expect. - The angst…I LOVE THE ANGST!

Please enjoy!

--Kathryn Denson

Chapter Eight

Brutus Iscariot

Inuyasha watched Kagome sleep, holding her limp hand in his own. He gently stroked over the injured wrist. Though it had been bandaged by Kaede, there was blood rising up through the white wrappings.

Kaede came through again, hauling a bucket of hot water and fresh bandages. "Inuyasha, how did this happen?" Kaede asked, kneeling down and unwrapping the old bandage.

Inuyasha swallowed hard. "She, uh, must have been attacked," he muttered. "Or possessed. Yeah. It attacked her and possessed her, then did this to her."

Kaede looked up sharply. "This is not a wound from an attack. Ye must not lie to yourself, Inuyasha. The wound was self-inflicted."

"If you know, why did you bother asking?" Inuyasha snapped.

"I was merely inquiring what ye did to upset her so."

He growled. "What makes you think it was me who did this to her?"

Kaede dipped a rag into the steaming water, wrung it out, and washed off the wound. Kagome moaned softly in her sleep, but didn't fight the priestess's attempts to clean it. "Kagome cares more about ye than she does Sango or Miroku, or even Shippo. One of them could not make her do this to herself. Only ye could make her feel so deeply." She turned to him, and the look was not friendly. "Only ye would hurt her so."

Inuyasha flinched, obviously hurt. He looked down and didn't say anything. Kaede raised her eyebrows at this reaction, then turned her attention back to Kagome's wrists. "She meant to die, Inuyasha. What did ye do?"

At first, Inuyasha was silent. Kaede thought he wouldn't answer. Then, so softly she almost didn't hear him, he muttered, "I—she saw me kissing Kikyo."

"Kikyo?" Kaede sat up, a frown on her face.

"Yeah. She…joined us for a short while." Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably. "I kissed her."

"And where is Kikyo now?" Kaede demanded.

"I…don't know." He lowered his voice. "She didn't come back with the others."

"Hmm." Kaede tied the bandage wound around Kagome's left wrist. "It would seem ye are short two women, Inuyasha."

"Two?" He shook his head. "No. I love Kikyo. Kagome is just—" He stopped.

"Ye made her into your slave. What Kagome yearned for most of all was for ye to love her as much as ye loved Kikyo. Perhaps she gave up on it, settled upon having ye as a friend." She looked at him again. "Ye threw away her friendship, Inuyasha. Ye betrayed her."

"I didn't know," he said numbly.

She gave him a cold look. "She made me change my mind about ye, Inuyasha. I thought ye cared for her." Lifting up the bucket and the bloody bandages, she started out the door. "But now I see ye truly are the brute I thought of ye as."

Inuyasha buried his face into his hands, his claws digging into his skin. Lines of blood trailed down his face, but he didn't care anymore. Kagome had loved him, had trusted him, despite whatever she'd been told about him, and he had tossed her friendship aside. He'd made her want to die.

Kagome whimpered in her sleep. He looked down at her, saw her eyes open. "I-Inuyasha?" Her voice was weak, far-away.

"It's me, Kagome!" He knelt by her side. "It's—"

"No." She held up a finger to his lips to silence him. "Die…Inuyasha…" Her eyes closed again, drifting off into a sleep that still seemed anything but peaceful.

His eyes burned. There was no denying the old woman's words now. Kagome loved him, and he'd done this to her. And the killing stroke…those words…

"Die, Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha turned to face Kikyo, and her arrow went straight through his heart. The Shikon no Tama slipped from between his fingers…

"K-Kikyo…"

He placed his hand over his heart, feeling that sharp pain again. Not because he'd been shot. Not because anyone had ever hurt him. But because the woman he loved had told him to die.

Inuyasha rose to his feet, his left hand over his heart, which he almost swore was bleeding, his right hand clenched into a fist. Kagome had no right to betray him, not with Kikyo's words and Kikyo's face. She hit him where it hurt, and it hurt badly. "I love you," he almost growled out. "I realized I loved you, and those are the words you give me?"

He stormed out, the cool air of the night on his skin, but he was fuming inside. Kagome was supposed to wake up, let him apologize, throw her arms around his neck, and say she loved him. Then they could be happy and forget this whole ordeal! But instead she had to use those words—those hateful words—

He stopped in front of the tree in question. The hole from the priestess's arrow was still visible. Kagome had cut her finger once, touching the tip of the arrow still embedded in it. But that arrow was gone now. He couldn't even drive it through his still-beating heart now, because Kagome had taken it away!

"KAGOME!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Disturbed birds flapped their wings and flew out of the trees as quickly as they could. He drew another deep breath and shouted, "I…HATE…YOU! YOU TRAITOR!"

He drew "traitor" out to the last syllable, let it echo through the trees. He half-expected Kagome to hear his voice and come running to him, but the only sound was the chirping of the crickets. He shook his head, the mane of silver hair swishing. "It's no good," he whispered. "No matter what I do, it's no good…" He grabbed a handful of his gi, felt his heart pounding against his hand, his claws drawing warm blood to trickle downwards. His other hand gripped the Tetsusaiga. He'd slaughtered more demons than he could count with it, and he wanted to strike off his own head…make the pain stop…

"No matter what, I'm still going to hurt," he said, and he could hear a hoarseness creeping into his voice that hadn't been there before. His legs gave out and he fell to his knees, collapsing onto the forest floor.

Hi! I told you I'd update, didn't I! glares at people who didn't believe her I have a new muse now! Except it's my new kitten, so it tends to crawl on and off my lap, and that's why this chapter is so short. KEEP REVIEWING! I love my fans! Almost as much as I love strawberries! -

How's the angst looking? Are you not OUTRAGED by Inuyasha's reaction? Do you like my drama? REVIEW AND TELL ME THEN!

Kat