Almost to the New Year!

Cheers!

~Yasha's Sis

Circumstance

Book 2: Land of Grass

Chapter 25:

Fear

InuYasha wakes with his face pressed against worn cloth and his head pounding.

He's being carried, is the first, fuzzy thought that comes to mind. The next is a disgruntlement of being lugged around like a sleepy toddler.

His pack mule shifts him a little higher, gentle, but doesn't stop to let him down. "How are you feeling InuYasha-sama?"

Even if he couldn't smell the brimstone of Hotaru's scent, the soft intonation of his name was enough of a clue. He grunted and moved to get down. Hotaru ignored him.

"You were bleeding from your ears, InuYasha-sama. I managed to heal some of the damage but your chakra is dangerously low. You shouldn't be walking."

The tone of voice implied that she wouldn't be letting him down anyway. InuYasha found himself huffing out a laugh despite himself.

"Fine time for you to grow a spine."

Her not youki twisted in amusement. InuYasha let her keep it, she seemed so goddamned sad all the time. A little amusement at his expense was acceptable. He was tired, oddly enough. The why escaped him. He'd been through worse fights with crappier wounds hundreds of times over.

"What happened?"

Hotaru's silence stretched long enough for InuYasha's eyes to droop unwillingly.

"The girl activated a suicide jutsu that caused the remaining chakra in her body to… combust. She attempted to kill you in her last moments."

The woman paused as if to wait out InuYasha's expected shock or horror or whatever he was meant to feel at a kid setting themselves up as a bomb to ensure success of her mission. He grunted again, impatiently this time.

Kid made her choice. No use being torn up about something he couldn't change.

Hotaru obliged, sorrow clinging to her scent as the amusement faded. "I salvaged and sealed what I could from their gear: weapons, armour, anything that could identify their origins. The- the bodies that were mostly intact I recovered as well. The rest I burned." InuYasha frowned at the odd cadence to her words, the report like quality. It was a good idea to hunt down clues to figure out who was trying to kill them. InuYasha sure as hell would like to know.

"They wanted to kill me but not you." InuYasha noticed in the way they worked to eliminate the not hanyou first until Hotaru became the bigger threat. But, even then, they didn't throw the same kind of lethal force towards the woman. It was instead focused to disable or maim.

Hotaru stiffened underneath him and InuYasha huffed again. "Guessing you know why."

It wasn't a question and Hotaru hunched her shoulders more so, which was awkward when you were slumped on the person's back, using said shoulders. Her scent soured to something near fear and InuYasha growled low in his throat.

"Inu-InuYasha-sama-"

No. This girl will not fear him. She would not reek of it in his presence.

InuYasha shoved off her back, landing to stagger on his legs. She made a noise of distress as he whirled on her with shaking legs. Why the fuck was he so weak?!

"Damn it, woman. If you're that fucking scared of me at this point, why the hell did you save me?!"

Because he would have been dead if she hadn't pulled him away. Those chains she left hovering in the air were both a threat and unasked for protection. The ache around his ribs was wide enough to be the span of one of her chakra constructs and InuYasha was too damned slow in this form to have evaded the bulk of the blast. So, almost gallingly, he owed her his life and she couldn't answer his fucking question without shaking-

A callused hand, half covered in cloth, cupped InuYasha's cheek and the former Hanyou froze.

Hotaru's gaze was soft and suspiciously shiny. InuYasha was grateful for the pale grey eyes normally hidden in the reflection of her thick bottle like glasses. If they resembled the violet of Red, InuYasha may have done something drastic.

There was a kindness in the depth of her gaze that he usually only felt in her actions. It made his hackles raise faster than Shippo sniffing round his Ramen. "I'm sorry." She whispered, kneeling and focused and practically bleeding sincerity. "I do not fear you, InuYasha-sama. I could never." InuYasha started to pull away at that look to find Hotaru's fingers sliding back to tangle in his hair, tying him in place in another inhale of breath. "My family… my blood has been hunted to near extinction. Ame took us in when I was a girl, when the war was at it's height, and promised sanctuary. In return, we would serve in any capacity they see fit. My father accepted, but my blood is considered… dangerous to any who have no hold over it."

Her second hand gently tugged at the material covering the lower half of her face and InuYasha forced his face to still at the hooking scar that curved up the line of her chin to split the left side of her lips. The scar was old and badly healed. Rage was a familiar friend in his life so he could bury it and push it aside at the flash of vulnerability in her face.

"I know they wished to kill me if capture proved too difficult. Many have tried. I believe you were a bonus, if they realized who you are before the end."

His lips hovered between a frown and a scowl, default expressions he usually had no issue letting sit on his face, but the reference to who he is rubbed a little to close to the Old Bastard and InuYasha couldn't decide what fit best.

Hotaru let the undamaged side of her lips pull in a half smile. "The Iron Bear values you, InuYasha-sama, more than he has ever cherished another swordsman, else he would not have given you this seal." Her free hand lightly taps on the pommel of Kiba.

"Fine." InuYasha says because it's not worth fighting over and just because the bastard saw value in him, doesn't mean he had to like it. "You done cringing whenever I ask you a question about what happened? I don't care where you came from."

She held his gaze for a moment, hesitating. Honeyed eyes watched her impatiently as InuYasha struggled to hold his tongue.

"You don't, do you."

It wasn't a question, so InuYasha didn't take as one. "Come on."

They needed to find shelter and standing around being-he shuddered- emotional wasn't going to set them up for the night.

Hotaru muffled a laugh when InuYasha's first step buckled and the boy's face dove for the sandy path.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

~Yasha's Sis