It was early morning, but before I knew it, I was at the well. It was a temporary solution, but it would buy me time to think about how to handle myself. The fact he wouldn't be able to follow me there was a plus. I thought I wanted to be away from Sesshomaru, but being in the village wasn't doing me any good. I guess what I actually wanted was to be alone, wrapped in my beds blankets, with nothing buzzing in my ear: no thoughts of consequences for my actions and naivety, no worries of hearing venomous words, no need to reflect on how defenseless I am. I held onto the damp wood of the well as I peered at its muddy bottom. I remember, distinctly, the days when I wished for there to be somewhere I could go and be able to come to the world of InuYasha, to be different. I waited, hoping that something would show up to stir up my life and make it more exciting. I now see that I was only jinxing myself.

I sat on the edge of the well and took a deep breath. Maybe I am just overreacting; after all, Sesshomaru didn't do anything more than he usually does to me, though I'm pretty sure that wasn't intended. Maybe I'm too desensitized to it. How was I supposed to know? I'm just a 15 year old brat. I'm not supposed to deal with this stuff yet. Of course I'd be confused. Of course I want to go home. I don't know what to do. There aren't exactly any police to turn to, or laws to defend me. Any demon could do what they want to me, and can get away with it if I'm not embedded in a stronger crowd. I understood as much, but forgot that that same crowd I hide in can turn on me just as quickly as anyone else. So I guess I'll say it was more of a blow to my sense of trust than to my mental or emotional state, though those two haven't escaped abuse entirely.

"Kazumi?" Kagome called, drawing my attention to her and the group behind her.

"I think I'll go home." I told them.

"Why?" Kagome asked me.

"The same reason you do," I stated before standing up.

She seemed to understand, nodding her head slightly. "When will you come back?"

"That's a good question." I sighed

I was watching InuYasha step up to question my answer, and I was prepared to ignore him. But the scene I was staring at quickly changed to the forest that was once behind me, all while I found myself being slung over a shoulder.

"Your leave was not approved." Sesshomaru told me, making my skin crawl as the color drained from my face.

I was shocked silent. I'd lost my chance.

"Leave her alone Sesshomaru!" InuYasha yelled. "If she doesn't-"

"This is none of your concern, half-breed." He scolded, chilling me to the bone.

"Whatever you did, she sure as hell didn't like it! Last I checked, she left you!" he snapped back.

"Half-breed, know your place." Sesshomaru commanded.

I heard InuYasha unsheathed his sword and assume he pointed it at Sesshomaru.

"I'm tired of you doing whatever you want!"

Sesshomaru said nothing, not even willing to note his brother's offensive stance. Instead he began to walk away with me.

Even as a human, I felt the atmosphere bend to Sesshomaru's will, turning much more ominous, and volatile. I had to catch myself from fainting. My skin flared with heat, and my lungs refused to take air. Every hair on my body stood as his claws tightened against my clothes, piercing through the cloth, but refraining from making direct contact with my skin.

Needless to say, things were getting intense between the two. This wasn't the usual brotherly conflict they always had. It felt like a battle right now would leave someone on the brink of death. The two had dealt each other horrible blows before, but this one would leave damage that scarred beyond physical wounds and pride, the latter of the two having a significant meaning to the both of them. I wasn't the only one who felt the mood change from nerve chilling to murderous. Someone collapsed because of it.

"Kagome!" InuYasha belted.

It made sense. I felt like fainting, and she's a powerful priestess: sensitive to demonic auras though she may not know it yet. Having that amount of pressure on her shoulders and the bitter taste of hatred on her tongue, she must have felt like she was going to suffocate.

My focus quickly shifted away from the downed priestess after realizing that Sesshomaru was planning to walk away with me, and that he was succeeding. My skin squirmed, threatening to pry itself off my body. A cold sweat dampened my back as a shiver wreaked havoc on my nerves. Electricity seemed to spark from his eyes and the heavy atmosphere lingering overhead scared me still. If I wasn't careful, the place was going to explode. My complaints and quarrels lodged in my throat, frozen by his employment of intimidation, as he carried me away. My words didn't thaw until we'd stepped out of the two-mile radius of that awful aura.

"I want nothing to do with you!" I screamed, finally finding the courage to directly object his proximity. "I told you I never wanted to see you again!"

He stared at me as I attempted to wiggle out of his arms. I just wanted to get away from him. I never know what he's thinking, never know what he's planning, never know if what I interpret is correct, or at least in the ball park. There's too much uncertainty in everything dealing with him; and as I've stated before, uncertainty will get me killed or as someone's slave. There is no in between for me. The cost of simply letting him tote me away again had shifted, now outweighing the possible benefit. The last thing I wanted to do was watch a recording of the same scene over again. That's what desensitized me in the first place, and made me complacent. I have no way of defending myself, and he was going to drag me away again because of it. Was this how it was always going to be? Had I already fallen too deep into the cycle to pull myself away from it?

I tried to keep my voice calm as my vision blurred before letting out a soft, vexed, "shit," slip from my lips. I tried to wipe the pearls from my eyes, but found that my hands only produced more. I struggled to keep my frustration bottled, to be expressed later, but failed upon realizing that I'd fallen too deep inside the current the second I got comfortable around Sesshomaru. And, believe it or not, that moment was when he cared for that nasty fever I got the first day we met. That realization broke me. The sound of my clothes shuffling wafted through the pit of silence between us. "Sesshomaru, put me down." I said, giving up on my attempt to stop my tears.

He did the opposite, tightening his grip on me and speeding up. The flood gates yielded to the flow behind it, sending my sniffling and harsh breaths into the sky.

"Put me down!" I yelled with a quivering voice as my face was instantly drenched with heated tears. "Set me down right now! I swear to God I'll- I'll…" I trailed off as I tried to find something to threaten him with.

He let me down, but refused to let go of my wrist, knowing the first thing I would have done was make a run back toward InuYasha. Despite this, I still attempted to run. He extended his arm slightly to humor me. I tried to rip my hand or arm out of his grip, whichever came first, willing to put the entirety of my mass to the cause. With the slightest withdrawal of with his elbow, he banished my attempt and had me stumbling into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, despite my terrified reaction.

"No, no, no!"

He said nothing as I looked away from him and tried to duck out of his hold.

"Let go! Let me go! Don't touch me!" I continued to scream as he closed in on me, moving to hold my waists.

"You are mine." He spoke, watching me fidget under his hold.

"Just let me go! Please." I begged.

"It is not a matter of what you wish. I was not given a choice, therefore, neither will you."

"Of course," I wailed, "you have no choice! How could I be so insensitive? This must be so hard on you!"

His grip tightened.

"It's not like you're a daiyokai, and I'm a human. It's not like you can have any woman you want." I cried, "why must you continue to torture me? Haven't you taken enough from me?"

He held me closer, silencing my screams and cries as he spoke in my ear.

"The only woman I want drives me mad. While I hold her body in my arms, her mind and soul are misplaced. How is she so easily subdued, yet untouched? How do you sway my hand with but your voice? Why do I crave for you more than anything? I have no choice but to pursue you. I must make you mine; there is no other choice."

I froze, classifying his words and my earlier flares and chills as an indication of a fever inhabiting my body. His right hand removed itself from me and tentatively reached for my face. It slowly cupped my cheek and keeping my gaze on him. Any sudden movement would wake the catastrophe waiting to happen. I couldn't control the spontaneous twitching of my fingers and heart as tears continued to well up in my eyes.

"Do not run to that half breed." He warned, lacing his voice with a cold poison. It threatened to travel through my veins and still my heart. If I didn't stand by him living, I would be stripped of will and stand by him as a frozen bride. I felt frostbite already nipping at my nose and toes, and a layer of thin ice coating me. "Do not run from me."

They were painfully numbing, his words. As though I'd ran my hands under hot water after playing in the snow for hours. It was a shock to my nerves. I was confused and on the brink of bursting. There was no cure for the feeling either; I could only let my warm tears stream down my face. They seemed to be the only thing keeping me alive.

"InuYasha, stop and think about what you're doing!"

I didn't move, and he was quick to take advantage of it. He put his arm around my waist, making me fidget again, before ditching the slower method of travel of tree tops for the sky. He simply took what he wanted and left. I guess InuYasha does have a clue as to how his brother behaves outside of battle.

He wasn't willing to let go until sunset came. We touched ground as he moved his arm away from me. I distanced myself from him, rubbing my arms in attempt to calm my skin and smooth away my goose bumps. My eyes were sore and bloated from crying. I put my back against a tree as I kept my gaze on the man. He returned my stare, shaking my core. I quickly turned around, not able to look him in the eye. I didn't know when I would next be able to. Motivation and hope was drained from me every second I spent peering into those cruel amber eyes. I'd be a shell of a person within a minute.

"I'll find some fire wood then." I stated as I turned to go into the forest.

"I will not let you wander off again." He informed, stepping closer to me.

I pressed against the tree, wanting to phase through it: hide in it like a nymph. Even though I knew the action would be useless if I could. He wouldn't hesitate to rip through the bark.

"I'll stay. I won't leave your sight." I ceded quickly.

He ignored my plight, reaching out and searing my hand with his warmth. A freezing shiver ran through my shoulders and down my spine. I was silent, instead trying to focus on avoiding eye contact. He guided my gaze back to him, holding my chin in place. A tremor ran down my body as I shifted my gaze to the right of him.

"Go then." He allowed.

He turned to do whatever had come to his mind. I watched, only taking a staggered breath when he was out of sight. I went out for wood, scurrying a few meters away to clear my head of its feverish qualities. I picked twigs and leaves as I'd learned to do from Rin, varying thickness, length, and dryness. My hand stopped inches away from the next twig as I thought about the little girl I had abandoned. My mind went numb as I stood, reaching for the tree branch.

I'd completely forgotten about her and fled in fear for my own safety. I knew she was safe in the manor. She would have to brave a few tough words, but she would be alright! It was fight or flight for me. I couldn't have stayed in that manor a second longer. Sesshomaru would have- he would have killed me. He's a wolf in sheep's clothing. How was I supposed to submit myself to staying in that wolf's den any longer? I couldn't, not as a lamb myself. Rin, if anything, is an adopted pup, with nothing to fear. I would have been eaten alive. Those hands of his would have devoured me. His teeth would have picked my bones clean.

Yet here I was, with nothing being different from those two nights prior. Excuses, that's what they were. Excuses. I know what abandonment feels like. I understand too well how it feels to be alone: no one to sympathize with, no one to share troubles, no one to help you realize you're letting yourself rot away. I was wrong for abandoning her. What was I to say to her? I could only lie, or coat it with the thickest glaze of sugar. I didn't want questions. Dear God, I don't want her questioning it. I'd rather jump off a cliff than to have her ask me anything.

Upon feeling a stare on my back, I snapped out of my thought and hurried up with my stick collecting. I eventually returned with the pile off wood I had, piling them in a central location and adding a bit of leaves on top and between the sticks before surrounding the entire thing with a few rocks. Sesshomaru returned to the makeshift camp, steps behind me. He watched me from afar as my hands quaked silently.

It was much harder to light the fire without Jaken's flame, and I consecutively failed to do so with the stones I wielded. I would have been doomed to fail, even if I had flint. Without my asking, Sesshomaru produced fire using Tokijin. I glanced over at him with the corner of my eye to see what he planned to do, and noticed the small, white, creature he held in his hands. I watched its rapidly shifting nose and small paws, and wide, black, eyes. I stared at it, wide eyed as it stared back at me. A ragged breath escaped me as I covered my mouth, suddenly feeling like I was taking ill.

"Will you not eat?" He asked, noting the meaning of my gesture.

"I will be fine for the night." I replied, staring into the fire.

The crackling of the fire was suddenly like fireworks, and its heat like the sun's. My goosebumps refused to take heat and my hand couldn't keep still. I couldn't help myself from looking at the rabbit every now and then, wondering if Sesshomaru planned to let the poor creature go. Its eyes were still wide, terrified. The fat of its neck was held tautly above its head by Sesshomaru's clawed hand. What would be done with it, now that I'd turn down the offering? Why hadn't he let the thing go?

My question was answered silently as he placed the rabbit on my lap before turning to sit down by a tree opposite of me. I stared at the rabbit as it sat, paralyzed. We seemed to frighten each other, daring not to move in the other's presence. Neither of us had a clue as to what the demon was playing, and wouldn't take any chances.