I realized that my attempts to free myself would be in vain and quickly gave up my fight with the hope that Sesshomaru would spare my wrist of his yanking and let me follow at my own pace. Unfortunately, Sesshomaru didn't think of rewarding me for my cooperative behavior until we were at the outskirts of the village. The moment he released my wrist, I let out a sigh of relief as I ran my hand over the indents his grip had left in my skin. I'd managed to arrive with all my limbs intact. My sighs were cut short by the pungent, metallic scent of death. The carcasses of the bandits and moth demon were strewed throughout the village, some proving themselves to be wonderful environments for flies to populate with maggots while others slowly festered and boiled away in pools of acid. Rancid blood and seared flesh filled the air, making it so much easier to throw up the little content in my stomach. The smell was as atrocious as the sight of it all. The blooded claw marks that ran across some men's chest were filled with their fleshy insides, pushing to break free of its compressed confines. I cringed further from the gashes that ran down the backs of bodies. A raging shiver ran down my back, enflaming it as the image of my own back being the victim floated to mind. Fighting my body's urge to gag proved to be a valiant battle that was unnervingly hard to fight. I didn't want to puke because of my disdain toward the action, but I felt the need to do so in order to assure myself that I recognized the bloody scene as perturbing. I wanted to make sure that I was still consciously humane.

As I foiled my stomach's plan on screwing me over, I heard Kagome yelling at InuYasha, pleading for him to stop, telling him that everything was okay. It wasn't until we walked further toward the scuffle that I saw her clenching his sword as she tried to get closer to him only to be pushed away by his growl and blood-red eyes. For the first time, I was glad to have Sesshomaru by my side; not because I'm his fangirl at heart, but because I knew he wouldn't let anyone, besides himself, hurt me. I was his experiment, and any damage to me would skew the result of said experiment. I spoke too soon though.

Sesshomaru stepped out from our cover in the foliage. Without thinking, I reached out to hold onto his kimono and stop him from leaving me. I reacted what seemed like a second to late and ended up following him out of our cover, instantly grabbing InuYasha's attention. I stared at those crimson eyes that seemed to scream at me in some incoherent language. I just understood that he wouldn't be kind if I got to close to him. Knowing that I'd already goofed enough, I didn't hesitate to make my way over to where Miroku, Sango, and Shippo were watching Kagome attempt to defuse the situation. I didn't want to put myself in the middle of the battle I knew was about to occur. There was usually safety in numbers. They welcomed me back and apologized for abandoning me when they did. I waved it off as no big deal as I tried to make myself less green with nausea. I ended up having to cover my nose and mouth with my sleeve in a futile attempt to keep the scent from wafting into my nose. Though I felt sick to my stomach the entire time, I watched episode 52 again. InuYasha repeatedly threw himself at Sesshomaru, only to be knocked back by Tokijin as many times as he flung his body around. After Sesshomaru decided to take offensive, InuYasha's condition progressively worsened. His arms were almost indistinguishable from his clothes. His hair was mingled with dirt and his blood along with the blood of the victims that succumbed to his claws. His fingernails were cake with the dried blood of those same victims, and the dead skin of his fingers that peeled off as the moth's acid had burned him.

The battle eventually came to a standstill: InuYasha catching his breath and sending vexed snarls at Sesshomaru, while Sesshomaru stood, not lacking a single note of grace. Sesshomaru's silence pierced through the air as easily as InuYasha's growls curdled my blood. It was as if he was telling InuYasha that he wasn't worthy of a reply. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. His huge ego as pissing me off, yet I can't say that his confidence wasn't a turn on. You'd think that the atrocity of manslaughter that surrounded me would keep my mind sharply focused on not ending up like the corpses littered around the village, but no.

My wavering mind was brought back to attention by an unsettling squeezing in my stomach. My back flared with heat as my feet itched to move. I shouldn't have questioned my gut. I should have simply listened to its yell for me to move and not sit and watch what was happening as though I was at a cinema. I should have just done what I felt like I needed to do instead of looking for the cause of my body's panic. I watched with unexpressed terror as InuYasha smirked and lunged into action. One moment, I was watching InuYasha from afar, the next; his claws and fangs were bared toward me with less than three seconds of distance between us. I was staring into feral eyes that wanted someone dead, and that someone was now me. I tried to step back, but found that there was too little time for the message to get from my head to my feet, and the brutality in his eyes glued me further to the spot.

It all happened so fast. By the end of it, I only realized that I was clenching onto Sesshomaru's back for dear life. I just barely understood that I wasn't in immediate danger anymore. A distressed breath escaped me as my mind tried to understand what the hell happened. Everyone other than Sesshomaru and I were still frozen in place, in complete shock. Why would he suddenly attack me? I felt myself tense up as my grip on Sesshomaru's kimono tightened. I always tensed up whenever I was scared, but this stiffness was strange to me. It was a new variant of stiffness, one I concluded to be the fear of being betrayed. The thought furrowed my brows. It wasn't until I took another breath that I could come up with a coherent thought. Betrayal? This was not InuYasha; it was a blood thirsty beast. Betrayal is not this simple. I've been around Sesshomaru, and even have his armor on my person. I must smell like him, or at least have some of his scent on me. It would only make sense that I am connected to him somehow since I smell like him. Attacking me would be like attacking Sesshomaru's weakest spot, seeing that he is my only line of defense.

I thought my far-fetched assumption would settle my nerves, but it only made them worse. It intimidated me. Someone would have to think in order to come to that conclusion and then act upon it. Yes, I may smell like him, but I emit my own scent. He should have kept attacking the threat before him like he did in the anime, like he did less than five minutes ago. He shouldn't have thought about attacking the weaker link, not in a battle like this. Did he know that he couldn't win by attacking Sesshomaru? Could it be that there is a mind behind his demonic side? Could the simpleton be more complex than I expected?

I heard a soft grumble come from Sesshomaru. I watched with dazed eyes as my hands let go of his kimono. My eyes followed him as he went over to the downed InuYasha before my arms reached for his distant clothing once more. Kagome threw herself between him and InuYasha. He pushed her out of the way, and gave me a queasy feeling that sent my hand further out. Something was wrong, completely, and utterly wrong. Even when Kagome threw herself on the downed hanyou, Sesshomaru made no sign of stopping his progression.

"Sesshomaru." I called out in a worried tone as I moved to get a better view of what was happening. The situation was becoming unbelievably grayer by the second.

He ignored me as he stood above Kagome's shivering form and InuYasha.

"You're not going to…" I said as my feet started to understand what my arms were reaching out for.

The glare Sesshomaru sent me was a new one. It warned me that I wouldn't leave unharmed if I interfered. I'd end up being bruised, knocked out cold, or having something broken. The one Sango and Miroku received warned of something much worse. I took a step back out of impulse, but Sango and Miroku did the opposite. They braced themselves for the worst, and Sesshomaru was quick to deliver.

"What are you doing?" I asked with a cringe as Miroku was thrown through the wall of one of the village huts. "That's enough."

He ignored me as he plunged the hilt of his blade into Sango's side before sweeping her off of her feet. I winced again as my side ached from seeing the attack.

"It's fine now. I'm fine. We should go. Rin… I'm sure she's wondering where we are." I had to force myself to finish my sentence.

Sesshomaru refused to listen to me. He continued on his trek toward InuYasha and Kagome as Shippo and Kirara tried to wake Sango. Bile was creeping back up my throat.

"Sesshomaru, don't do it." I said. "Sesshomaru?"

He made it obvious that he had no intention of stopping. I needed to dissuade him, and fast. I gave a disturbed laugh as I realized how I ended up in Kagome's position when we first arrived at the scene. But if Sango and Miroku could face the beast, so could I. It takes fortitude to face Sesshomaru when he's angry, but I've done it once. Though it was a foolish thing to do, I decided that being foolish was a better attempt that doing nothing.

"Where's the justice in killing a mindless demon? He's below you." I said, trying to appeal to that ego of his as I resumed my pace toward him. "Seriously, everything's fine now. There's no need to waste your time. Come on, I'll even go back with you without any quarrel."

His glare toward me was murderous now, but I wouldn't let it stop my advance or mouth. If he was going to kill InuYasha and Kagome, he might as well kill me here as well.

"We should really head back." I said trying to coax him away from Kagome's trembling body. "I'll even stop talking back. It'll be a one way street!" I didn't have much to offer to begin with, so when he didn't buy what I offered, I gave up on my attempts to appeal to what I knew he cared about. My disparity threw all of my thoughts out of my mouth.

"I'll never tell you anything ever again." I said, breaking the silence again. When he didn't even turn to face me, I was overwhelmed by frustration and by the sudden gravity the situation placed on my shoulders. It CAN'T be InuYasha without the two main protagonists. It's like trying to watch Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood without Ed or Al. That won't work, no matter how hard we try, not without changing the entire story. "Sesshomaru, I swear, if you make the mistake of killing anyone here today, I'll make your life a living hell! I'll argue with everything, fight with everyone! I'll rebel against everything, including you! I don't care if you rip my arm off, or if you threaten me with death! I'll tell Rin about whose blood you'll have on your hands! All of our blood will stain your hands if you dare to lay a hand on them!"

He raised Tokijin in a fluid motion.

"I swear to God, I will never forgive you!" I screamed as I grabbed onto the back of his kimono. I hadn't grabbed onto him with enough strength to force him to move his arm. I could only hold onto him and repeatedly say that I would hate him forever. Yes, I wasn't close to Kagome and InuYasha, but they weren't bad people, and their deaths meant the death of thousands, the world, and my childhood. I didn't want to see something that would conflict with the few wonderful memories I had. I didn't want to have the good in my life eradicated, never again. I refused to have them die in front of me. I'll be damned if I let it happened. "If you want blood, have my own! I don't want to see them die again!" I yelled. This wasn't supposed to happen. Years of my life would be a lie. I didn't want to lose them. They're important to me. I'm sick of losing, and the thought of losing again brought tears to my eyes. It's always because of me. If I had never come, this wouldn't have happened, just like that night. The thought of it sent a chill through my body as I instinctively tightened every muscle I could as cold fire flashed across my eyes. I dug my head into his back as I screamed that I would hate him with all of my guts once more, this time, putting every ounce of what I felt into my voice.

I struggled to breathe as my throat itched from its sudden exertion.

"Return the hanyou to his senses." I heard him say as he turned to face me.

I couldn't even get my sigh of relief out of my throat before he grabbed my wrist and dragged me away as Kagome sat up, teary eyed. I quickly wiped the tears out of my own eyes, shoving the memory deep within the recesses of my mind. My composure was still far from my reach.

"Kazumi?" She called, now worried over my safety.

I managed to give her a small smile before being pulled out of her sight. Sesshomaru continued to pull me forward until we got to a river. When he let go of me, I rubbed my wrist in attempt to soothe them. There was a moment of silence between us as I turned to face away from him. I kept my eyes on the ground and held my arm as I realized what I had said back there. I… I didn't mean to bring that back up. I thought I had moved on, but I guess no one can really get over stuff like that. I gave an exasperated breath as I ran my hands across my face. I wanted to forget about it just like all of the other memories I stuffed in the back of my mind. I kept my back toward Sesshomaru, not wanting him to see the red that stained my face and crept into my eyes. I didn't want to acknowledge any of what I said back there as my pitiful attempt to calm the situation. As I held onto myself, he took hold of the neck of my kimono, and pulled me close before starting to take my kimono off. I stepped away from him in effort to cover myself again.

"What do you think-"

I was silenced by his red-rimmed glare. When had this happened, and why? I took another step back, ready to run even though I knew I wouldn't get far, and he responded with a growl as he tugged me closer to him again. I felt myself tense up again as he pulled my kimono down to my chest. My face broke out in an avid blush. He touched the area right above my chest before showing me his fingers.

They were covered in blood, my blood. I looked down and saw that the armor Sesshomaru gave me was shattered, and some pieces were lodged in my chest area. I went pale. Disparity and adrenaline makes the best pain killers I have yet to try.

I told him that I could take care of it myself, and pushed myself away from him. I walked a few feet away from him before taking a closer look at the wound. My blood was starting to clot around the armor pieces and weld them into their place in my skin. When I held a piece of armor and pulled, I instantly withdrew my hand, not enjoying the pain I would have to inflict upon myself. I tried to tough it out, but my aversion to hurting myself and the disquieting sight of my own blood prevented me from doing so. Sesshomaru took no time to take my hand and pull me back to him, this time, refusing to let go of me. The tightness of his grip didn't make the process any easier. I watched as his mokomoko trapped me before he freed his hand to pluck out the armor from my chest. The first pull had me pushing away from him again, but that fluff of his was no feather. It held me down as he watched me squirm with delight as he pulled out the armor, piece by piece. The sting of it was much worse now that my super pain killer had worn out. When he finally finished, I felt like my chest was on fire. He let me go, and instructed me to wash out the wounds. I made no argument as I finally got away from the sadistic daiyokai. After flushing the reopened cuts, I started to readjust my clothing, only to have Sesshomaru stop me once again. He pulled my kimono back down, much lower than needed, and inspected the wounds. I felt myself get hotter as he lowered himself.

"I'm fine." I said as I tried to push him away in attempt to stop him.

"Stay still." He instructed, not caring for what I had to say.

Shivers ran throughout my entire body as he licked my wounds. I couldn't help the blush that came back and my entire body flared. My inner fangirl squealed and squirmed with pure delight, making the part of me that felt this was indecent null and void. I- I wanted him to stop, but I also wanted to jump on the opportunity. I found myself at an impasse as I stood there with a flushed yet inflexible face as he pulled me even closer to him. I felt like I was melting under his grasp as my fangirl slowly started to win the battle. My arms twitched as they reached to embrace the source of my confusion. Thankfully, he finished before I could make any stupid mistakes. I backed away as quickly as I could and covered myself again to my fangirl's displeasure. Not soon after, I noticed that the red that once stained his eyes was gone. I turned my back to the daiyokai again. I know he did it to heal me, but he didn't have to. I would have been just fine without his act of charity. I didn't understand how it helped him. What is it that he wants from me?