Author's Note: Just a little one-shot I did a few months ago. Though I adore the series InuYasha, I didn't have any fan fictions to prove it. So, here it is. Everyone that knows me knows that I love Kikyo and InuYasha pairings, so, naturally, my first InuYasha fan fiction pairs them. Hope you like it. Comments are appreciated, as always. Enjoy.

Demons. I've learned that many of them can be clumsy. Especially those half demons. You'll go into a place that a half demon had camped out the night before, it's always full of accidental scratches. Scratches everywhere. You are either there to purify it, or you could just be the next demon to occupy it. Depending on who you are, and what your intentions are. But no matter what, it was always scratched up, not even on purpose. I, of course, was always there to purify a place that an evil demon left it's presence. It can be a nasty job, but someone has to do it. Like I had to. There was always work, since I was one of the very few priestesses around. There were hardly even monks around where I was situated, which always said something, because normally monks are all over the place, building temples, passing down their ways to the locals. Monks got annoying sometimes, so I was grateful that there weren't a lot around. It made my job easier, but harder at the same time. People calling me everywhere, doing every silly little job that they thought needed a priestess to handle it. And there was never any help. All these silly little jobs, all those silly people, got in the way of my true post, my true job. Protecting the Shikon Jewel.

Protecting the sacred jewel wasn't as hard as you would think. Sure, there were many things after it. Man and demon alike. Any power hungry soul would long for it. But who could blame them, the jewel could grant you any power you wanted; all the power you wanted. My job was to stop them. Ever since those demon slayers had placed the jewel in my possession. I had taken it in on my own free will. I was flattered that they thought I could do it. But who else did they have to turn to? It was a lot to expect from an average woman. But I wasn't so average, not after that day, though that was all I wished to be. That's where demons come in. And it's almost funny, how such an abnormal event can end up making you feel so normal.

InuYasha. He was one of those clumsy half demons. He, too, desired the Shikon Jewel above all. To make him a full fledged demon. I came across a lot of stories like that. So, to me, he was just another foolish half demon. At first, anyway. He was one of the more reckless demons, but a sorry fool as well. He was very careless, so blunt about getting the jewel. He was one of the easier ones to catch. I'd always be among the villagers, aiding the sick, purifying some cursed object someone had. And then I would always hear that same noise. The noise that told me that InuYasha was making another entrance. I caught him every time, but never once wounded him. I knew he was just another young troublemaker that wanted to bite off more than he could chew. So I let him go.

All those days he attempted to steal the jewel and I caught him, he'd yell, "What's wrong, Kikyo? Why not just finish it? Kill me here?" But every time he said it, I just smiled, put away my bow, and walked back to my business. And every new day, he would smile a little more when he said it. And when those same noises reached my ears, my heart fluttered, and I knew I'd be seeing that silver haired boy again.

I knew that he was learning my moves, but he still tried to steal the jewel in the very same way, every single day. It became somewhat of a daily ritual for me. But one day, he didn't come back. That was the laziest day of my life. The grass swayed gently, forming small waves from the wind. Like a rich green ocean. I sat there, on the hill that overlooked the village. I waited, but none of InuYasha's normal dramatic entrance noises ever rose. It was such a wonderful day around me, but I felt dreadful. I knew that InuYasha and I were nowhere near to being close friends, we weren't even friends. To each other, we were just someone we had to deal with. But we chose to deal with each other. Like some strange bond. InuYasha didn't have anyone to go to, I knew that. And he definitely knew that I didn't have anyone to go to. We were both loners in this world. But, for the first time in my life, I had felt truly lonely on that day, at that moment. It was a depressing feeling. Knowing that I couldn't even look forward to seeing that silver haired half demon. As I sighed, the wind sighed. I felt that feeling like I was being watched. Who could possibly want to watch me? I had asked myself... but inside, I just knew it was him.

"InuYasha..." I had called out. "I know you are there. Come sit with me." As I expected, he came out from the trees and sat by me. He gave me an odd, lingering look with those deep golden eyes. From that day forward, he never attempted to steal the Shikon Jewel. With each day that passed, I could feel myself growing fonder of him. I didn't know how he felt, but he must have felt something, because he never left my side. He helped me with many of my duties. And something happened that had never happened before. I was actually falling in love. It felt so nice. It felt like, for once, I was a normal woman. An average woman, living her average life. One day, I told InuYasha this. He didn't laugh, but he looked at me and spoke very clearly. He said, "There is nothing average about you, Kikyo." When he told me this, he touched my forearm lightly. I smiled at him. He pulled his hand away, and I felt a strange sensation where he had touched me. I looked down and saw five little scratches, small amounts of blood dripped down the sides on my white skin. It looked so bizarre. He saw it too, and glanced at his claws. As I've said... demons are so clumsy... with those claws.

Every time InuYasha would hold me, he'd leave those scratches. And every time, he would apologize again and again. He never meant to scratch me, and I realized that. It just happened. After so long, I got used to them. I actually started to smile down at those scratch marks, after I would carefully wash the blood away. And I would think about it. For every scratch, I could prove that InuYasha cared. For every little accidental scratch, I could point it out, and say, "That's from when InuYasha held me." I could prove to people, and more importantly, myself, that someone cared for me. That I was beginning to have a normal thing in my life. Who knew, that something that was so normal, could end up to be so abnormal?

I'll tell you who knew. InuYasha and I both knew, that he had changed me. He had scratched my heart.