Inuyasha glanced to his right at the sleeping priestess, not quite sure what to do. Once she had fallen asleep, Inuyasha had felt more at peace. He didn't really like his first impression of her, but he didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone while she was lost like this. Quite frankly, Inuyasha was surprised that he even cared about her at all. This strange girl meant nothing to him, and he should be wary because of her powers. He knew that she was untrained, which worked in his favor, for now.
With all of that in mind, he settled on simply keeping watch. Inuyasha reached over, and was about to tuck away a strand of her hair that was blowing in the breeze, but he immediately stopped himself. He gave himself a mental slap, and tried to regain focus, which had never been his forte. He scooted away a little, and frowned. Despite her seemingly friendly demeanor, he couldn't forget his previous experience with Kikyo, the priestess who had tried to lodge a sacred arrow in his chest. He had been passing through, and they had even been on friendly terms. Unfortunately, their fleeting friendship ended, and she had decided that he was an abomination who needed to be put to sleep.
It truly was a shame, he had been enjoying the village, and as far as he knew, the townspeople didn't seem to mind him too much. Honestly, this was a regular occurrence for him. At first when he was rejected from different places, he had been deeply hurt, but he had learned to move on fairly quickly. Now, he just dropped in for a few days, picked up some supplies, and went on his way. The incident with Kikyo had been about five years ago. This girl reminded him of her, which immediately angered him. His aggression was coming out to her in insults, and even reminding himself that she wasn't Kikyo didn't help.
Inuyasha decided that she wasn't his problem, and that she would find wherever she needed to go. Feh. The wench would be fine. As he got up, and was about to walk away, he heard her softly say Miroku's name. Inuyasha paused, and briefly wondered how she knew about his only friend. He then remembered that he had introduced himself as Miroku, and rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.
"Miroku," he heard her say again, confusion in her tone.
"You're up, you stupid girl, took you long enough," Inuyasha snapped.
"Oh, you're going to leave," she said softly. He could still hear fatigue in her voice, but he felt no sympathy.
"You told me to leave, remember wench?" He reminded her, none too gently.
"I know," she said, sounding weak, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Oy, what's the big idea, why are you crying?" He demanded.
Inuyasha immediately got nervous. He had faced hundreds of demons, and jeers and taunts from humans, but he became incredibly anxious when he was in front of a crying woman. Fortunately for him, it wasn't a very common occurrence in his life, but when it happened, it made him want to run away.
Suddenly, her expression changed, and it was no longer weepy, but she looked furious. How could one person change so much in such a short period of time?
"Because!" She snapped at him. "The head of my village tried to force himself on me, my little brother is on his own, and I almost died. That's why!"
"How is that my problem?" Inuyasha responded, sounding obnoxious, even to himself. Inuyasha, however, much preferred this. Anger was not a foreign feeling to him, so he was feeling much more comfortable now.
"It's not," she agreed, calming down. "It's a little late, but I wanted to thank you for stopping that demon over there."
"Keh. He was being too noisy," Inuyasha replied, trying to sound disinterested.
"Even so, I'm grateful," she said.
They simply sat there for a few more minutes, occasionally trading glances. Inuyasha wasn't quite sure what to say, and she didn't really seem to have anything to share either. For some reason, Inuyasha still felt like he should stay with her, for some unknown reason. If she was a priestess, she shouldn't be defenseless, trained or not. Kikyo had certainly been quite capable of killing him, but he had been fast enough to avoid her blow.
"Take your gratitude somewhere else, it's wasted on me," he said rudely.
"You don't have to stay with me," she finally pointed out.
"I'm still resting," he replied, ending that conversation.
"Say, Miroku," the priestess said, trying to reengage in conversation. Inuyasha had to remind himself that he was Miroku. "Before you leave, do you know anything about Inuyasha?"
Inuyasha widened his eyes at hearing his name, and stared at her. Was she able to read minds somehow? Perhaps she had simply been playing dumb this entire time. Inuyasha had no idea how to respond to this, and decided to wait it out. After a moment, she continued.
"My parents told me about a half-demon named Inuyasha, and said that he's violent and kills. Apparently, he's rumored to be in these woods, so I was just wondering if it's true. I wonder if he even exists."
Inuyasha was sill at a loss as to what to say in response to her. How could he talk about himself without revealing anything? He'd lied about his name because he was tired of receiving fearful looks from others. It seemed like his reputation had reached whatever village she was from.
"I wouldn't know," he replied to her, sullenly.
"My dad told me that he's a half demon, and that others think he looks deformed."
"Figures a fool like you would judge someone by their looks," Inuyasha said, snapping again at her.
"You are so bloody unpleasant! How would I know? I've never met him!" She exclaimed, apparently tiring of his insults. "All I did was ask you about Inuyasha, and it's like you're taking offense on his behalf."
"Feh."
"Do you know if he's real?" She tried again. "I've only ever heard stories."
"Yes, he is," Inuyasha said, not wanting to deny his own existence, at least. "And a bastard half-demon like him is feared by humans, and he is attacked by demons."
"You're awfully judgmental, maybe he's misunderstood," she offered. "By the way, my name's Kagome, in case you wanted to call me something other than 'wench' or 'fool.'"
"Wench is just fine," Inuyasha retorted, but he stopped after he said that.
Kagome. It was a very nice name, and he liked how it sounded, when he repeated it in his head anyway. While Inuyasha was left to his thoughts, he didn't notice Kagome starting to leave.
"I'm going to keep heading east," Kagome informed him, and proceeded to step around him. "Good bye Miroku."
"You'll die," Inuyasha said simply, all traces of annoyance with her gone. "You're a weak priestess. You shouldn't have had to rely on a half-demon for protection."
As soon as the words left Inuyasha's mouth, he regretted them. He'd just told her he was a half demon, and if she didn't pick up on what he'd said, then she was an idiot. Kagome didn't seem to be too much of a fool, but how could he know?
"A half-demon?" She echoed, her eyes suddenly widening. He could see her visibly take a step back from him, and he could feel her fear.
"You're Inuyasha," she whispered, staring at him. "Not Miroku."
"Yeah," he admitted sadly. "I know it's a disappointment."
"You lied to me," she accused.
"Just my name," he defended. "Because I knew that this would happen."
"Inuyasha, I'm not..."
Inuyasha turned around, not in the mood to listen to her, not wanting to see her fear. He walked away, taking his shame with him. It had always been like this, he had always been alone. Honestly, Inuyasha had been an asshole to her, so he wasn't surprised, but he didn't want to see her sneer or mock him. For some reason, Kagome seemed nice, and he didn't want to be a freak in her eyes. His ears twitched, and he heard footsteps behind him.
"Inuyasha, wait."
"What?" He asked, sounding numb. Inuyasha got into a jumping position, and was about to take off, when she said something that made him freeze.
"May I travel with you?" She asked gently, nearly making Inuyasha fall over.
"Why would you want that?" He asked, incredulous. "Why would you want to be near me?"
"Why not?" Kagome asked him, a small smile on her face.
"Because I'm a bastard half-demon," he said.
"You've helped me so far, and despite your insults, I feel safer with you than if I was on my own."
Kagome sounded perfectly rational, but Inuyasha wasn't sure if this would work for him. He had been used to solitude, and it had been his safety for the past few years. He had been hunted out of villages before, and attacked by demons on his way. The only person he trusted was himself, but he couldn't bring himself to push Kagome away. She certainly hadn't run from him, despite whatever rumors she'd heard about him. He didn't even know if he was the right person to travel with her. She would be in danger from his deranged brother, who didn't think he had a right to exist. Anywhere they went, humans would shun her for being associated with him.
"You don't want that," he concluded, wrapping up all of his thoughts into that one sentence.
"You can't decide that for me," she pushed back.
"I won't kill you Kagome, but there are always people after me. I'm an abomination to the rest of the world, and your association with me will put you in danger."
"Inuyasha," she started. "I almost died today, and I would have been that hairy demon's dinner if you hadn't come along."
"I will never be accepted anywhere, and you won't be either if you're with me."
"I've never really fit in anywhere Inuyasha, I'm sure there's a place for us somewhere," Kagome said, sounding chipper.
Inuyasha enjoyed her use of the word 'us,' but remained cautious. He had never been around someone with so much optimism. He wasn't quite sure what she was referring to when she said that she didn't fit in, she seemed plenty friendly to him. Nothing about Kagome's appearance was strange. She had powers, but it wasn't like they were spilling out of her. She seemed like a genuinely good person.
"We can try," he agreed. "But once you find a place, we split off." He returned to his rude self, feeling defensive.
"Done," Kagome said, smiling. "So, where will we go?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her happiness.
"I was headed north," he said to her, annoyed. "But I suppose we can go east."
"I don't want to slow you down from wherever you were going," Kagome disagreed.
"The point of this, wench, is to get you to the nearest village that will take you, and then we can split off for good," he said gruffly. "I don't need you hanging around me."
"Why are you headed north?" She asked, not responding to his small rant.
"I'm looking for a sword," he replied, surprised at how easily they were talking. "It's supposed to be some powerful family heirloom."
"Sounds fun!" She said, all bubbly.
"I have a brother after this same sword, Kagome, he'll kill you without a thought. I can barely defend myself against him, let alone protect a useless woman like you."
"Wow," Kagome said, looking directly at him. "He must be way more powerful than you. I guess you're right, we don't stand a chance."
Inuyasha glared at her, and didn't respond to her snub. He didn't like being called a weakling, and it bothered him even more that it was coming from her. Unable to think of a clever retort, Inuyasha huffed, and starting walking. He listened for her footsteps to make sure she was following, and could hear her struggling to keep up with his quick pace. This continued for a couple of hours, and Inuyasha was suffering since they were moving so slowly. Ordinarily, he would have traveled through the trees or run. However, Kagome couldn't keep up with him, and the last thing he wanted to do was carry her on his back.
"I don't know how humans walk this slow," he muttered quietly. "We'll never reach the Tetsusaiga."
"I heard that!" Kagome said, still walking quickly.
"Listen fool, we have to find shelter by nightfall, I really don't want to have to fight anyone else today," Inuyasha said.
Inuyasha glanced back, and could see Kagome getting tired, but they had made far too little progress for his liking. It truly would be so easy to just leave her here and walk away, but he couldn't make himself do that. He knew she would die, the girl seemed to have rotten luck. After another hour of walking, Inuyasha located a cave, and peered inside. Although they hadn't made it far, he was glad to find shelter at least.
"Huh," Kagome said, peering inside the cave. "Nice lodging."
"Stay outside for all I care," Inuyasha said simply.
Inuyasha sat and leaned against the cave wall, closing his eyes, and taking his usual sleeping position. It really wasn't the most comfortable way to sleep, but he had found that it was the fastest way to be alert if there was danger. He assumed Kagome would settle herself, not offering her any help. She was the one who had decided to travel with him, so she would have to sort herself out. As Inuyasha started drifting off, he heard her speak.
"Thank you, Inuyasha," she said in a quiet voice. Inuyasha had no response, for he had never been thanked by a human so genuinely.
"Feh."
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