CH30Thief

Grabbing his goods, the girl shocked him.

"KAGOME?" His eyes went wide, mouth dropped and two well-hidden fuzzy triangles popped out from his short white hair standing at attention.

…………………………………………………………………………

At site of the ears, a brief scream echoed through the tavern. She stared at the fuzzy things for a while before deterring her wide chocolate eyes to his wide melted gold.

"Inu-Yasha?" She exhaled with the last of her breath. The air was still and the silence grew.

He watched as her eyes rolled back in her head. Her weight and position forced her to collapse backward. He heard her start to breathe again; however, her breath was ever so weak that her chest didn't even raise and fall.

A loud thump echoed through the building as her limp body hit the floor. He stared down at her. He couldn't even begin to image what had caused such a change in her. Even with her innocence gone she still appeared the same. Her raven hair had barely grown over the long years apart. Now down to her butt, it crept out from under her fragile form framing the color of the komono and her pale face. He pushed himself off the couch. She needed him now more than ever. He had been drawn to this place and now he knew why. As he slowly bent over her still form, he heard footsteps on the stairs. He carefully brushed her bangs from her face. In staring at her face, he noticed a small string that encircled her neck. Carefully pulling on the string he noticed it was connected to a small bottle. His eyes softened with sadness. The bottle she used to carry fragments of the jewel in now contained a single silver white strand of hair. He recognized it instantly as his own, but had no idea where she'd gotten it from since he never shed.

The door to the room flew open. Surprised Inu-Yasha stood up so fast that he forgot that he'd been holding the bottle and ripped it from her neck.

"Thief!" The woman yelled out.

The old man held up a baseball bat and took a few brave steps inside the room.

Inu-Yasha stared at the man cautiously. The last time he'd underestimated a regular human from Kagome's time he was seriously surprised. By being caught off guard, he'd lost that fight. He knew then that his life wasn't at stake; it was a simple love rivalry, but now he was unsure. The old man had anger in his eyes.

"Get away from her!" The old man commanded.

They stared at each other. He didn't want to leave her side, not after finding her; but he knew the old man was just protecting her. His eyes softened from their shocked state. This scene must have looked really bad. Clutching the bottle to his chest, he stepped aside. The old woman raced past him to the lifeless girl on the floor.

"I didn't…"

"Save it!" The old man commanded the white haired man to shut-up.

"She just…"

The old man clutched the baseball so hard that his knuckles turned white. Reading his face, if Inu-Yasha spoke another word the man would swing.

…passed out, was all Inu-Yasha wanted to say.