Days pass in a bit of a blur for Andy after they leave Master Mushin's temple. The group travels a bit more in search of jewel shards, but after coming up empty handed enough times that it began to get frustrating Kagome had somehow convinced Inuyasha to let them go back to the modern era to take their tests and see family. Inuyasha, likely fearing Kagome's ability to put him in the ground, hadn't put up much of a fight and had taken them all back to Kaede's village. It's good going home. Her aunt is a welcome change, fussing and worried as she may be, it's nice being able to fall into the other woman's comfort despite the instinctual urge to change their roles. It's getting harder and harder to differentiate what feelings are her own and which ones came with the meld. It doesn't matter really. Andy's just not sure how to cope with the changes the meld has instilled in her, or how to manage it with her social and daily life. Being called by her shortened name is beginning to annoy her a bit, but what's she going to do about it? Tell Kagome and everyone else in her life to stop calling her something she clearly enjoyed before? Right, that wouldn't cause confusion or tension. Besides, it's not too bad. Her classmates and Kagome all mean well and there's other stuff going on to distract her. So she settles into the patterns she'd had before her trip down the well and things are great. Then it's time to leave and Andy finds herself packing up her bags. A lengthy talk with Iphegenia about her education leads to Andromeda exchanging her textbooks for an Ocarina and her violin, a bit of an impulse grab but not one she finds herself regretting as she leaves for the Higurashi shrine the next morning.
After they return things get both better and worse for the group.
Better because they've finally found Naraku, worse because in being able to do so they were first forced to reveal the horrible truth of what Naraku did to Kohaku - who died and was brought back by a tainted jewel shard Naraky had embedded in his body. The pain the revelation of her brother's not-death causes Sango is enough to make Andy - Andromeda - promise Naraku a slow death, but it's what he did to Kohaku specifically that has her promising a pain the likes of which the sadistic half-demon has never experienced before. Because children are sacred. To do what Naraku did is unspeakably evil. Which is saying something for the man. Before, Andromeda would have been perfectly fine just killing Naraku and being done with it. Dead is dead, after all. She might have acted like she was going to rip him to shreds but she would have been just as happy killing him and ending everything quickly... but by turning Kohaku into a pawn? A piece on the board that's easily discarded and moved on a whim? A piece on the board that while not the most powerful still has the capability of destroying lives? This is how Andromeda truly cements the decision to turn Naraku into a sniveling, drooling pile of mean begging for the end of his life after she's done with him.
And the longer she's forced to watch Sango suffer over it the more she boils with a type of anger she's never experienced before. Not in this shortened, watered down version of her life anyway. It's a painful sort of rage that settles in the hollow spaces between her ribs and her lungs. Poking and jabbing and rubbing her insides raw.
Then Sango steals Inuyasha's sword in a desperate attempt at saving her brother's life, forcing them into a confrontation with Naraku that none of them are ready for. But seeing Sango lying there in the middle of the yard as her blood seeps from her body? Her brother forced into awareness, forced to contend with the fact that he's the reason his sister is dying at his feet? It only makes Andy want to confront Naraku more. But she doesn't have that luxury. Not when Sango is bleeding and weakly grasping at a boy who trembles and cries in her grasp. Settling behind Sango, who barely gives her a glance, Andy forces her power into the other girl and begins pulling her wounds together. She'll focus on Kohaku when she's certain Sango won't die in the next few seconds. Andromeda never gets the chance, because Kagome's arrows are dangerous and Naraku's cruelty matches his cowardice and in a show of strength that forces Andy to curl around Sango to anchor them to the ground, he disappears. He takes his castle with him. And Kohaku, too, most devastatingly of all.
Andy hates him all the more for it.
With nothing left to do but lick their wounds the group remains where Naraku's illusions had disappeared, a shed the only thing left for their disposal.
Andy's treats Sango's wounds to the best of her abilities but emotional ailments are a whole different monster Andy can't do anything about. Miroku's better and helping Sango deal with that hurt anyway, so she leaves the two of them to themselves for the time. Opting instead to find Kagome and Inuyasha, both of whom are discussing an herbal antidote to Naraku's poison with Myoga.
"It wouldn't be a bad idea to have it on hand." Andy tells them, slipping into their conversation with ease.
"Yeah, can't expect Andy to play savior all the time." Inuyasha comments, not a jab but not entirely in jest.
Shooting him a look that conveys her annoyance, Andy turns back to Kagome to say, "It wouldn't surprise me if Naraku separated us and got one or two of you. It's always best to have a Plan B lined up."
"So where is this antidote anyway?" Inuyasha demands, causing the flea demon on his arm to hmm thoughtfully.
"Supposedly, not far from here, is a village with an herb farm... but this herb farm is protected by a demon." Myoga tells them. "I wonder if you can take the herb easily or not."
"This is where Inuyasha comes in!" Shippo exclaims, "Beat up the demon and get some of those herbs!"
"Or we could try asking for them instead." Andy offers, diplomacy does a lot more for a person than violence anyway.
"We should tell the others we're going." Kagome says.
"I'd let Sango have a few days to herself," Andy says, tone soft, "with everything that's happened it's the least she deserves. We'll leave Kirara here with Miroku and Sango as well... Ok?"
"Doesn't matter to me whether they stay or not." Inuyasha replies, to which Andy nods.
"Alright, I'll grab my bag and let Miroky know what's going on. I'll be right back!"
"Will you grab mine too?" Kagome asks, big blue eyes shining.
Andromeda snorts a soft laugh, "Yeah, I'll grab it."
Then she's trotting up the hill to the little shed-like building they'd turned into a make-shift house for their little group to linger in while they regroup. Sango's napping when she slips into the building, curled up around her demonic kitty sporting puffy eyes and blotchy cheeks. Miroku doesn't fuss when Andy tells him where they're going, only asking that they be safe and to return quickly, or contact them at the very least should things get bad. Andy isn't entirely sure how she's going to do that - maybe investing in a decent walkie-talkie would be a good idea at this point - but she promises to do so anyway before she snags both her and Kagome's bags and leaves the little not-a-shed-house. Shippo isn't with Inuyasha or Kagome when she reaches them, because apparently the two of them decided that it'd be best if Shippo didn't go. In case things went really south really fast. Andy doesn't know if it's because they're worried for Shippo's safety with so few of them going, or if they're worried Andy's going to loose control and burn the entire village to the ground. She doubts it's the latter because neither said anything but she's only vaguely aware of what she must have looked like at Naraku's palace so she doesn't push.
They end up taking Kagome's bike. Andromeda perched on the back like some sort of weird bird while Kagome pedals away. Inuyasha keeps pace easily, occasionally taunting them for their lack of natural speed. Kagome ignores him for the most part. Andy thinks he's a horrible flirt, if that's even flirting, and thinks he should probably try a different approach if he wants to talk to Kagome about... anything, really.
Inuyasha, bless him, is sweet but totally inept when it comes to socializing.
Andy blames that on a lot of shit that isn't his fault.
"I still think it would be faster if I went alone." Inuyasha comments at one point.
"Kaede taught me how to pick the right herbs," is Kagome's chipper reply, "I may hold you back a bit, but that's ok, isn't it, if I came to see this herb garden."
"Oh, well then," Inuyasha glances away, "I'm counting on you."
Again: Socially inept.
And if not socially inept, socially awkward.
Sighing, Andy moves to rest her chin on Kagome's uniform clad shoulder.
There's something to be said about Kagome's clothing choice. Only having to tote around underwear and one extra uniform makes it a whole lot easier to stuff her yellow bag full of supplies, medicine, and toys for Shippo. Andy might have to start doing that. Throw in an extra pair of jeans along with a few tank tops and a sweater? It'd leave room for other things but then she'd have to do laundry, like, every time they stop and Andy's... Frankly, Andy's lazy. The last thing she thinks she'd want to do after a fight with Naraku is wash her jeans. Underwear is one thing. But jeans and shirts? She can already feel the headache coming on.
After a while the three of them come to a part of a forest that's truly ominous. The whispering Andy's grown used to is all but silent, the voices pitched to a quiet murmur that sends chills up Andy's spine. The feeling doesn't abate. Not after the three of them watch a group of men carry a dead woman out of the trees wondering among themselves it the death is Jinenji's work. They all seem to think it is. Andy doesn't know whether or not to agree with their assessment but they seem awfully angry. Inuyasha, however, seems to think it's pretty legit because he steps in front of the group and begins asking them questions. Who is Jinenji? Is he a demon? It doesn't reassure the men. Andy and Kagome are forced to step in. The three of them aren't exactly trustworthy looking individuals but the men seem to take Kagome's reassurances to heart, or at least decide that Inuyasha's the least dangerous of their problems.
They end up taking the group to Jinenji and his herb farm.
Andromeda decides that these men are bigoted, racist, assholes when they start throwing rocks and taunting the large demon ambling about in the field. He, the demon, Jinenji, doesn't even fight back. He simply turns and runs toward the house at the edge of the herb field, crying for his mother - who Andy falls in absolute love with when she comes rushing out of her home brandishing a log, which she promptly breaks over Inuyasha's head. Clearly, it didn't hurt him but it's the thought that counts. Andy giggles a bit as she makes her way toward the house with Kagome.
Turns out Jinenji's a half-demon.
Andy should have seen that one coming.
They get invited into the house to discuss things with Jinenji and his mother. Which really means Jinenji's mother talks while her son prepares herbs.
"You there... Inuyasha?" The older woman says once they've all settled, "You are a dalf-demon, are't you?"
"Can you tell, crone?" is Inuyasha's terse reply.
"You're good looking for a half-demon. But no matter what, you are just half of one." Says the older woman.
"Half? I guess that's around here, huh?" Kagome jokes as she gently tugs at Inuyasha's ears.
"You can understand what it's like. Just because my Jinenji is a half-demon how much we have suffered at the hand of those villagers."
Kaogme makes a noise and asks, "You mean he's bullied?"
Worse than bullied, Andromeda would recon, but it's not her place to say. The mother does a fine enough job anyway, telling Kagome all about her son's torment at the hands of the villagers. She then goes on to talk about Jinenji's father - which is great because she blushes through the entire thing and isn't that amazing? - which prompts Inuyasha to change the subject. Andy takes a moment to study Jinenji. He's not handsome by conventional means, looking more awkward than monstrous, but he doesn't look human either. Jinjenji is huge, his arms and legs about as thick around as a tree trunk and peppered in scars. Andy doesn't see why everyone's so freaked out by him, honestly. He's far from the scariest thing she's ever seen and even if he weren't it's not like he's violent. Jinenji is probably the softest spoken person Andy has ever met in her life. The short one. She can't really be bothered to pick through all her memories to compare people to the half-demon at the moment. She makes sure to smile at Jinenji when he passes Kagome a bag of herbs. He seems sweet anyway, hardly murderous.
Once they've got the mix in their hands Jinenji's mother ushers them out, telling them to leave before they're dragged into everything wrong with the village and the people living there.
Andy watches with the others from the top of the hill near the house and wonders if leaving is a good idea.
"Is it ok to leave them?" Kagome asks, eyes drifting to Inuyasha.
"Whatddya mean?" Inuyasha asks, never looking to meet the girl's eye.
Andy shoves her hands into her pockets as Kagome begins speaking, "The villagers believe Jinenji eats people. Jinenji's big in size but he seems very gentle."
"That's why he's picked on." Inuyasha tells her, "When you're born a half-demon you need to be prepared and you need to be tough."
Inuyasha then turns and begins walking away, forcing Kagome and Anddromeda to walk after him. Leaving doesn't sit right with her but the villagers haven't exactly done anything to warrant Andy pummeling them into the ground for their feelings toward Jinenji. Andy doesn't want to make things worse for the family and laying into someone for their hate when they haven't done anything to justify it might make things a hell of a lot worse for those two. So she keeps her eyes forward and tries to stomp down the guilt eating away at her as she follows Inuyasha and Kagome into the village. It's the sight of the men gathering sharpened bamboo sticks and spears and swords into a pike that has Andy wanting to vomit. Not the sudden rage that floods her system so fast it makes her head spin.
"Tonight, we'll settle it tonight!" One of the men is saying and Andy is only just aware of Kagome rushing forward to meet the group with rationality.
"Just a minute," she calls out, causing the men to whip around, "you intent to attack Jinenji?"
"Of course!"
"But you don't have any proof that he killed someone!" Kagome tries to reason.
"It has to be him!"
"That hag and her son resent us!"
"They're just getting back at us!"
Inuyasha's clearly heard enough because he steps forward and says, in a surprisingly calm fashion, "You've been awfully cruel to Jinenji, haven't you? Well, anyway, unless the real flesh-eating demon is caught this won't be resolved."
"Real flesh-eating demon?" One village man asks.
"Of course," Andy brushes red hair over her shoulder and smiles meanly at the men who look at her. "Anyone with a brain would know that Jinenji isn't capable of that kind of cruelty... though, I suppose no one ever claimed you to be intelligent enough to see past your own bigotry and hate to realize that."
Fuck them.
Andy may not be able to rip all their heads off but she refuses to be kind to a group of men who would kill an innocent person because he isn't human.
A hand wraps around her wrist and then Kagome is pulling her back while saying, "Inuyasha, Andy and I are going to head back to the farm."
Smart of her, really.
"Until Inuyasha returns please don't attack Jinenji," Kagome is saying, tone pleading, "if I should get caught up and hurt..." fire erupts along Andy's free arm. It burns red and gold and orange and blue and the faintest bit of purple where they mix. Villagers gasp and move back, away from the fire, away from the demon girl with the glowing, flaky-looking skin, away from the danger. Andy smiles as Kagome finishes off with a shaky, "...Andy will wreak havoc on your village."
They leave pretty quickly after that. Kagome tugging Andy along until they reach the farm where Jinenji and his mother are working in the field. The older woman takes everything well enough, she doesn't seem entirely pleased but she offers them a kind enough look when they settle in to work on picking out weeds. It's easy work for the most part. Andy's particularly fond of the aggression she can put into ripping out the bad plants, but she also likes the feeling she gets from the others. Something about the sun and living things being connected to it allowing Andromeda a sense of awareness. Like with with seeds she pulled out of the pear when she and Kagome had been eating under Inuyasha's tree. She'd been aware that the seeds would grow into healthy, strong trees. It's weird. Like, really weird. But she's never really been bothered by it so obviously it isn't dangerous... Yeah. She's going with not dangerous.
Night descends upon them slowly, leaving the four of them with not much else to do but eat their dinner and see to their own needs. Andy manages a few minutes of silence before she pulls out her ocarina, having left her violin behind with Sango and the others for temporary safekeeping the ocarina is both a perfectly suitable instrument and the one least likely to get destroyed should the villagers come looking for a fight. Besides, Andy likes her ocarina. It's a little instrument that she's been in love with since she was eleven. The ceramic is smooth under her fingers as she adjusts her grip, the light from their fire allowing for a blurry look at the carefully painted flowers and vines that decorate the smooth surface. Kagome's seen the instrument before so it doesn't really faze her when Andy slips the mouthpiece into place at her lips and begins playing. Hours seem to pass before a soft snore breaks Andy's daze. Andy looks over to Kagome and finds her, and the older woman, sleeping, only Jinenji's awake to hear Andy's playing. She pulls the instrument away from her mouth.
"It's pretty." Jinenji offers, clearly unsure of himself.
Andy smiles kindly to ease his discomfort and says, "It's called an ocarina, they're a type of vessel flute."
"Oh."
"This one's a mono-chamber 12-hole that my," she pauses, "aunt got me for my birthday years back."
"That's nice."
"Want to try it?" Andy asks, to which Jinenji startles.
"Oh, no, I-I couldn't."
"It's really easy, see? Air enters through the windway here," she points to what she's talking about, "then it strike the labium to produce sound. You cover holes to lower the pitch and uncovering the holes raises it, how hard you breath into it can do the same thing."
She holds the piece to her mouth, to demonstrate how best to manage the windway, and then passes the instrument to Jinenji. He takes it hesitantly, like if he actually grabbed it the ceramic would break. Andy's not all that worried about it really. Jinenji doesn't seem like the type to just damage other people's things for the fun of it. Slowly, Andy reaches out to place Jinenji's fingers where they should go and then lifts a few of them up to uncover specific holes.
"Ok, blow."
Jinenji raises the ocarina to his mouth and does just that, jumping slightly when a low trill leaves the instrument.
Andy smiles brightly and nods.
"That was really good! I'll show you another note if you want."
So she does. And their night proceeds like this until Jinenji can play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. She makes sure to clap when Jinenji gets through the whole thing on his own. The clapping turns into a sharp gasp when a rock breaks through the wood slats making up the window and crack her in the back of the head. Voices from outside call for Jinenji, ordering him to come out so they can kill him, Andy snarls as she rises to her feet and addresses Kagome - who must have woken to the commotion.
"Stay with Jinenji." she orders before she turn on her heel and stomps out of the house.
There's a crowd of men holding torches and weapons outside the house. A typical mob. Andy growls as she marches away from the house to where the group is standing.
"I thought it was made clear that you weren't to come near these people." Andy snarls, flame already dancing around her wrists.
"She's in cahoots with the half-demon boy!" One man yells.
"Kill her!" Another screams.
Then some of the group begins throwing their torches. They don't reach the house, swallowed before they can even get halfway by Andy's barrier. The men startle, some even leap away from the fire that separates them from Jinenji's home. She delights in their fear for a moment but pushes the feeling away because, well, she's trying to make them back off. She's not necessarily trying to terrorize anyone yet. Not that it matters much in the long run. Not when a large demon appears behind the group and snatches up one of the villagers. Apparently his name was Tago. Andy lets her barrier drop as the terrified villagers break into a terrified sprint. She doesn't want one of them accidentally falling into her barrier and getting burned alive because they're idiots.
The littler demons - probably the big one's kids - scramble after the scattering humans, all of whom are screaming and making enough noise to distract the group of baby demons from Andy.
An arrow whips by her, the wind caused by it's flight rustling Andy's hair. Kagome's aim is getting better and better but it doesn't change the fact that the demon's a wriggling target and Kagome's arrow rips through it's side but doesn't kill the thing. Andromeda turns to Kagome with the intent on telling her that she'll distract it. She never gets the chance. Something meaty and thick slams into her side, sending both her and Kagome flying off to the side, and it happens so fast that Andy barely has time to register what's happening because she's landed - and there's a sharp pain in her neck and the world goes black, black, black around her.
Here in the darkness something shifts, moves beyond her line of sight, a figment. Andy can't find her voice to call out for the thing in the shadows. It's not an issue. Here in the darkness Andromeda feels more herself than she ever has. She blinks, and when she opens her eyes she's greeted by fire and light and color. There's no need to squint to make out the creature now. She knows herself too well for that.
Because the creature is her, or she is it rather.
There is no golden-red hair, no big hazel eyes, no olive-toned skin stretched over human bones. Nothing about this creature resembles her, but that's fine. It doesn't change the fact that she recognizes the peacock like head with all its angularity and blue-gold made-of-fire-feathers, she recognizes the crown of sunlight framing its head, she recognizes the molten gold made-of-fire feathers covering the creature's body - right down to the tail that fans out behind the creature in a plume of reds, oranges, blues, and whites -, she even recognizes the rose colored feet with their ebony talons.
Trembling fingers brush along an ebony, starlight reflecting back at her through the dark surface, and anyone else would burn, burn, burn away to nothing but not her. Never her. Because they are one and the same and the creature is turning its head into her palm.
Then she is surrounded by golden wings and music and something soft is threading through her hair.
Slowly, voices filter in.
"How could... shouldn't have... are...Gome!"
"Don't... Andy... fine!"
She recognizes those voices! She knows who they belong to! A girl with dark hair and kind blue eyes and a boy half-of-one with silver hair and gentle hands. Her people. Her chosen family. There should be others though. Right? She knows there should be others. Where are the others? A noise startles her. Fingers tighten around the ones holding her.
"Andy? Are you... open... eyes?"
Eyes.
Right.
Eyes.
She needs to open her eyes.
It takes several moments for her to work it out, to shake off the fog and remember how to work the muscles in her face. Eyes. She gets one open after a moment, just a crack, enough to let a flood of light and sensation in before she clamps them shut again. Too much. It's almost too much. But why? Andromeda - that's her name, Andromeda, Andy sometimes, but always Andromeda - groans as the smell of herbs and smoke burns the back of her nose. Then it floods back. Naraku's attack, deciding to get herbs, Jinenji and the villagers, the demon, Kagome, pain. This time the light doesn't hurt as much when she pries her eyes open. The first thing she sees is Kagome smiling at her, Jinenji hovering over her shoulder looking worried beyond belief - there's something white and shiny clutched in his fingers, it takes her a moment to realize he kept her ocarina safe and then the warmth floods her because he didn't have to but he did and it was so kind of him.
"How are you feeling?" Kagome asks her, fingers dancing over her forehead and threading through her hair.
"Like I got hit by a bus." Andy chokes out around a sandpaper tongue.
"Or snapped your neck?"
Turning to face Inuyasha turns out to be a bad idea, a very bad idea, as sharp pain lances through her skull and down her spine. Andy grunts softly at the pain and allows Kagome to settle her back against her makeshift pillow.
"Is that what happened?" Andy asks after the spots have cleared from her vision.
Inuyasha looks concerned. Andy doesn't like it.
"You landed funny when that demon hit us... I didn't realize until after." Kagome's fingers move to rub at the back of Andy's neck, easing some of the pain, "I was really worried."
"Don't worry Kagome, a tumble's not gonna take me out."
But clearly it had. Andy's never really died before. Well, you know, maybe once... but she's never experienced what it's like to come back after first hand - if she did die that one time she totally doesn't count her merging as a legitimate return - and so this whole process is weird. Everything seems brighter, clearer, she doesn't understand why but it feels like she'd been looking through a cloudy window before. Andy almost thinks she can make out the thread-count of Kagome's uniform top if she concentrates hard enough. But the pain in her head is making concentrating on anything increasingly difficult so she decides against it.
"Are the villagers alright?" She finds herself able to ask.
"A couple of the men died by we managed to handle the situation before anymore could." Inuyasha tells her.
She hums her reply.
"Are you in a lot of pain? Jinenji's working on something to help with that but we weren't sure what was going to happen so it might be a minute..." Kagome's fingers are divine but her promise of painkillers is way better.
"Aspirin in my bag."
"I think it would be best to keep you away from anything too harsh right now."
Andy frowns, "Bummer."
They lapse into silence, the only sound coming from Jinenji's shuffling and then the sound of liquid being poured into a cup. She doesn't protest when Inuyasha slips an arm under her shoulders and helps lift her up enough that Jinenji can ease some sort of foul tasting liquid into her mouth. The promised painkillers. Thank fuck.
"I'm never dying again." Andy groans when she's been put back down.
It gets her a laugh from Kagome, a sort of watery thing that bubbles up from her throat but doesn't meet her eyes. Andy's quick to curl her finger's around Kagome's wrist. At least they know what the process is like now, right? She doesn't say it but she thinks they're all a little relieved to have it out of the way. Silently, she ponders how quickly she... revived. It might not be something to ask about at the moment but it hadn't felt like she'd been out for very long. A few minutes at most? But the light streaming in through the door and windows suggests a different story. She'll have to ask later. Confirmation and all that. When the pain eases along her spine Kagome allows her to get up and eat something. Keeping an eye on her, that's what Kagome's doing. Andy allows it because she honestly doesn't have the energy to stop it at the moment.
Hours pass.
By the time Kagome's been appeased enough to agree to return to their shed-house it's past midday and the sun is warm against Andy's face.
"Uh-hem, excuse me?"
Smiling, Andy turns to face the gentle giant.
"Yes?"
Jinenji holds out her ocarina, the instrument appearing so incredibly small in his double-handed grasp. Andy takes the instrument with a soft breath, thumb ghosting over the warm ceramic.
"Thank you," Jinenji says, tone whisper soft, "for being kind to me."
"You don't have to thank me for being kind to you, Jinenji... You deserves, well, you deserves kindness and I'm sorry that living here made you assume otherwise."
"It's alright."
Staring for a long minute seems to make the man before her uncomfortable but Andy does it anyway, stares and stares until she's certain the slope of his shoulders and the way he curls into himself isn't simply a matter of poor posture. Without thinking she begins to talk.
"I know your father left you and your mother this farm but if you ever want something better you're welcome to live in Kaede's village. She's a dear friend to us and we travel through their often. You and your mother would be safe there, and happy." noting the curl becoming more prominent Andy reaches out and places her hand on Jinenji's, "Think about it? You're not obligated to go but you'd be a big help to the village and the people there are really accepting."
A nod of the head is all she receives in answer and so, not wishing to cause him any more discomfort, Andy goes over to where her friends are standing next to Kagome's bike. Inuyasha nods at her when she gets close - Andy assumes he'd overheard her conversation with Jinenji and approves - but doesn't say anything as he scoops her up into his arms. A stipulation of Kagome's. if they leave today Inuyasha has to carry Andy to ensure nothing else happens to her while she's in such a delicate state of being. Figuring Inuyasha can't hurt her with her previous death-but-not Andy reaches up and scratches Inuyasha at the base of an ear, smiling widely when a full body shiver wracks his body.
"Why'd you do that?" He demands, sounding less angry and more confused than anything.
"Just practicing positive reinforcement," Andy's smile turns shark-sharp and she continues with a joking, "heard it's a great training method."
"I hate you."
But Inuyasha is smiling a bit and his muscles aren't tense and so Andy giggles as she goes to rest her head against Inuyasha's chest. The steady - if oddly irregular for a human - beating of his heart lulling her off into slumber well before they truly set out on their journey back.