If the Roles Were Reversed

by Glon Morski

I: Until he fell down the well and 500 years into the past, Inuyasha didn't believe in legends. His beliefs were challenged when he found himself in a world in which said legends are reality. Problem? He wants to leave that world behind, while it is unwilling to let him go. And so he begins a search for a substitute for a duty, aided by Kagome, his slef-proclaimed hanyo protector.

48. Interference

And here we are, another update. Sorry for the delay, but I was on some well deserved vacation for the last three weeks and so writing and editing haven't been very easy, since a computer was hard to come by. But hey, I still managed to update in the correct month, right? That counts for something, doesn't it?

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ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS:

That-Other-One: Inuyasha falling hard is true. Kagome drowning in an ocean of self-imposed guilt is true to an extent. The Jewel corrupting Miroku, on the other hand, is you seeing things ;) But yeah, I agree, having the Jewel decide, rather than react, is VERY interesting, isn't it. Hence why I made it that way. The Jewel just had so much potential for evilness and calling trouble in canon that I found it a shame Takahashi-san never exploited it… and so I took it upon myself to do it :) And you're also right in your assumptions about Inuyasha having it easy, it's going to be anything but. Both where his feelings for Kagome and his reiki are concerned.
Well, on another note, I realize this slightly longer than normal wait did probably nothing for your already dubious patience, but I do hope the chapter is worth waiting for ;) Happy reading.

Guest: I know what you mean, I often have the same problem with good fics and books. But please, don't lose sleep over this story, it won't go anywhere if you rest before reading ;) But I AM flattered to hear that you 'had to finish the chapter' ;) Thanks for the review.

TamaraTheWolf: No, you're not the only one wondering what would happen if Inuyasha and Kagome switched backgrounds. And I'm not the only one who decided to write and see what'd happen, either. There are tons of other stories with the same general idea out there. I just detested all of them and never thought any of them were worth my time. And since I couldn't do anything except complaining, I dared myself to do a better job… and thus, this story was born. Well, I'm glad you enjoy it so far, I hope you'll keep reading and enjoying it :D

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Tracks for this chapter:

SID:Natsukoi

Standard disclaimer and reader's key apply

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What happened last time: Determined to learn to control his power in order to ensure he'd never harm Kagome again, Inuyasha throws himself into training with little thought to consequences of overdoing it. With his powers out of control and thus not focused on the Jewel, the gem acts and puts a veil on Inuyasha's consciousness, making him unable to correctly assess his own physical condition until Kagome's youki somehow reverts the process, at which point Inuyasha collapses. Realizing the Jewel's influence not only on Inuyasha's training, but also condition, the group decides to entrust the gem to Miroku until Inuyasha has completed his training…

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Chapter 48 –Interference

The wind blew softly between the trees, hardly doing anything to the barks and playing jokes with the leaves, causing them to rustle in a calming manner. That sound was the only one disturbing the peace of the woods and the small performance several different birds decided to give nature, their song being carried by the wind to the ears of any who would wish to listen to it. Other than that, there was very little disturbance, especially when one considered the forest in question was not only inhabited by animals, but also yōkai. All in all, it was just another peaceful, summer morning. But the peace was never meant to last long in these turbulent times that were the Warring States and this time was no different. Only the thing that disturbed the peace was not a marching army, nor was it a demon that decided it was time for a snack or for some fun. No, what attempted to disturb the peace (and succeeded only where demons were concerned, to be quite honest, as most animals and nature in general simply ignored the occurrence) and quiet was a sudden surge of ethereal, blue light that appeared seemingly out of nowhere and flooded the forest floor like an uncontrolled stream that just broke through a dam obscuring the path it wanted to take. The light vanished soon enough, leaving no trace it had even been there to begin with except a terrorized demon or two that was lucky enough to just barely miss being hit. But nature showed no signs that anything happened at all, not one leaf had moved on the trees and not one corn of sand had moved from its original position. They hadn't the countless numerous times when the same occurred before and they wouldn't any other time it happened again. Which it did mere minutes after the first time.

Had there been a human in the forest at that very moment, he probably would have wondered what the source of that stream of light could be. After all, in these times, things like electric light didn't exist, and even they would have had trouble producing quite this amount of light, and a light so dazzlingly bright as well. The only thing that anyone would suspect to be capable of producing such a light would have to be nothing other than a star. But there was no way a start existed on the earth's surface. So if there had been a human in the forest at that very moment, he probably would have walked against the current of the stream whenever it appeared in an attempt to find its source. And he would have eventually found it, although he would have been very surprised at what he'd find. Because the source of that light… was a mere teenager.

"Damn it. Not again. Why does it keep doing that?" Inuyasha cursed under his breath as he huffed in an attempt to regain his breath after sending another stream of light into the woods. The first time he'd done it, he had been stunned at the amount of light that had exploded from his sword. As things stood now, however, he was quickly getting bored of seeing it and annoyed that he couldn't do what he was actually attempting to do.

"My guess would be you put way too much energy into it. Just like last time. And the time before the time before that. And the time before…"

"Alright, I get it. Shut up already, hanyō-wench," the black haired priest snapped irritably at his hanyō companion, the girl in question half-sitting half-lying on a low branch of one of the nearby trees.

"If you want me to be quiet then stop asking pointless questions," Kagome replied with a yawn as she closed her eyes, not even attempting to hide her boredom. On the up side, though, she wasn't complaining either. She knew, after all, that she could leave whenever she wanted as far as Inuyasha was concerned. It was her decision to stay and keep an eye on him, especially since it was completely unnecessary in his opinion.

It had been nearly two weeks since Inuyasha collapsed because of the Jewel's influence on his body. The priest had recovered from the ordeal easily enough and had convinced Kaede to continue training him. The old miko had agreed without protesting much, although she had warned Inuyasha that if everyone's suspicions were wrong and it wasn't, in fact, the Jewel that posed the real problem, but rather Inuyasha's powers themselves, she would seal his powers away and he would have to go home for good. Needless to say, the black haired teen didn't like the idea of that very much, as he had gotten too used to spending most of his time in the Feudal Era already. So while he used the fact that they were momentarily stuck near the well to go home every few days for a little bit, he focused most of the time of day on training in an attempt to learn to control his powers like any priest should.

It quickly turned out he didn't have to worry much about Kaede sealing his powers, though, much to the miko's (and everyone else's) astonishment. With the Shikon temporarily entrusted to Miroku and no longer hindering Inuyasha's training, the future-born teen's progress took a massive turn for the better. In mere days, Inuyasha had managed to learn how to channel his powers through his body and into something else, like Seiryuu, without any problems and could even make that energy move from whatever he was channeling it through to the surrounding air. It took only a little more time for him to learn to control his reiki even while it was in the air surrounding him, allowing him to form barriers that wouldn't be scattered by a mere breeze, though it took a considerate amount of time before the barrier was actually formed. Still, Kaede insisted that if he kept practicing, he would eventually be able to make barriers in seconds instead of minutes, an ability that was sure to prove useful in a fight.

The only real problem was the fact that even once Inuyasha managed to form a barrier, it was shattered by the tiniest touch on Kagome's part, or anyone else's for that matter. Either that, or he created a bubble of light that would protect him and blind his enemies and allies alike in the process, himself not being spared from it. Which was how he came to the part of training he was trying to deal with now, a part he'd been stuck on for the last four days and one he just couldn't manage to figure out. And that was controlling the amount of energy he put into anything, be it attacking or making barriers.

With another irritated huff, Inuyasha tightened his grip on Seiryuu, which had slackened after his last swing, and started to channel his reiki once again. In a matter of seconds, the sword was glowing almost blindingly and the teen's eyes snapped open as he swung with deadly precision, a fact Kagome didn't fail to notice. The way he was training now, Inuyasha wasn't just polishing his reiki control anymore. His swordsmanship was profiting as well.

A small line of light betrayed the blade's trajectory, but it remained that way only for a split second before that suspended in mid air line seemingly exploded and a gigantic wave of reiki shot out of it, even bigger than the previous one. Inuyasha cursed again and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He'd been going at it since sunrise (kami, would he ever be able to not wake up with the sun's first rays anymore?) and he was starting to feel the fatigue of several hours of training. But he was far from done. He still couldn't do it, so he had to keep trying.

"Damn it," he cursed again between two deep breaths as he attempted to calm his breathing and try again. But unfortunately for him, Kagome would have none of it.

"Take a break," the silver haired girl said calmly as she glanced at him lazily through one, half-lidded eye. Inuyasha huffed and repositioned his sword in front of him again.

"No way, hanyō-wench. Not now. I feel like I almost got it, I just need to…"

"Inuyasha," Kagome interrupted, her voice now an octave lower and her eye narrowing in a warning glare. The young priest froze at her tone. "Take a break," she repeated, slower this time, her tone daring him to say no again. He didn't.

"Fine, fine," he relented, or at least pretended to relent as if he had any choice in the matter, and sheathed his sword before sitting at the base of the tree Kagome was sitting in. He had already learned not to cross the half-demon when she used that tone of voice. He had refused to listen to her once, and that had been enough to know that it was not a good thing to do because Kagome wouldn't just sigh and leave him be. No, if she told him to take a break while using that tone, it meant that if he didn't listen, she would make him listen. Using a method he would rather avoid experiencing again, thank you very much.

Kagome sighed and turned her head up to stare at the sky once she was sure Inuyasha would indeed listen to her. That had been another warning Kaede had given to him when agreeing to let him continue his training: he would always be supervised by either Kaede or, if the priestess had other duties to attend to and knew she didn't have to be with Inuyasha all the time to guide him as he tried to learn, by Kagome. And if the person playing supervisor told him to rest, he was to obey without complaint. Of course, he had tried to argue every now and then, saying he didn't need to rest when Kagome told him to, but she had swiftly taught him to listen to her whether he wanted to or not. He might not like her method but she didn't care. Anything was better than having to experience the same thing as almost two weeks before again, as they could not be sure if it wouldn't happen if Inuyasha pushed himself too far like he had the tendency to do.

Still, even though the hanyō never showed it, much less admitted it aloud, the longer she observed Inuyasha's training, the more astonished she was. She had been there when Kaede explained what Inuyasha had to do. Apparently, priest swords were much closer to demonic ones than the hanyō had ever expected. Just like Tessaiga was able to cut through the line where demonic winds clashed and thus unleash the Wound of the Wind, Seiryuu had an ability as well, though that was due to a spell that had been put on it, rather than the sword's own energy like it was with Tessaiga. Be that as it may, the sword could do more than just channel spiritual energy to cut down yōkai easier and that was the core of Inuyasha's exercise – he had to learn to use that ability correctly.

Now, knowing that the ability in question was to shoot off reiki in a specific direction, or more accurately using the surrounding air like an extension of the actual blade to allow the wielder to attack demons beyond the reach of the sword itself by channeling his reiki through the air (a thing usually impossible for any spiritualist, a physical object was always needed to focus one'sreiki in, be it sword, arrow, or something else), Kagome would have thought Inuyasha had actually already done it. After all, there was a river of reiki exploding forward whenever Inuyasha swung his blade now – unlike in the beginning when it happened once out of at least five attempts. And given the form it took, it even seemed to fit Seiryuu's name. When the reiki exploded, it looked like a stream, just as the sword's name – clear stream – told one to expect.

Thing was, that wasn't how it was supposed to look, or at least that's what Kaedehad told Inuyasha. The old miko had said that when controlled properly, the resulting attack should look a bit like a stream of light, yes, but it should in actuality be a stream of several projectiles that could take different forms depending on the spiritualist. That, and Seiryuu's wielder should be able to control where the 'stream' flowed, which Inuyasha was obviously unable to do as of yet.

Inuyasha, of course, had been skeptical at first, prompting Kaede to demonstrate. The elderly miko was, of course, too old to swing the blade as Inuyasha now did while training, but it turned out she didn't need to. On her request, Inuyasha had simply stuck the sword into the ground and had stepped aside. Kaede had then reached out and merely brushed her fingers against the hilt. That had been enough. The blade had flared pink instantly and in the next second, a stream of pink reiki shot out of it… straight into the sky. From there, it had coiled like a snake and then made a bee-line for a stunned Inuyasha before splitting in half mere inches away from his body and coming back together mere inches behind him, like water did around a stone that obscured its path. Once together, the energy had shot vertically into the sky where it disappeared. Having thought to have perceived movement within the stream, Kagome had narrowed her eyes and was stunned to realize that the stream in question had been actually made of thousands upon thousands of tiny butterflies, although the unreal insects were moving so fast even the hanyō-girl had had trouble discerning them instead of seeing a flawless river. The stream had continued to flow for at least a minute before Kaede had released the blade and calmly regarded Inuyasha, obviously not tired at all despite the length of the display.

Of course, that was because the elderly miko had actually barely put any energy into it – if the stream were to hit a demon, all it would do was probably burn it a little, nothing more. The attack could be more powerful if needed, however. It all depended on the spiritualist and how much energy he put into it. In the end, it was all about control.

And that was Inuyasha's problem. While the priest could finally command his power enough to control when he used it and could channel it, he had absolutely no control over the amount of energy he put into anything. Hence why instead of a beautiful, mesmerizing and potentially flying stream, all he could create was a chaotic mass of reiki that flooded everything in its path and was barely able to lift off the ground.

Still, despite that, there was one fact Kagome couldn't deny – and it was that fact that astonished her again and again. And that was the fact that it took Inuyasha a very long time to get tired despite the amount of energy he was using.

Each time the priest attempted to create the same kind of stream as Kaede had, he would put too much energy into it, which was the reason for the way it manifested. It was just too much energy for anyone to control properly without an actual physical focus, whether the sword had the ability to make air act like a physical focus or not. The very first time he had tried and the stream manifested, the moment it sped into the woods Kagome had heard what were possibly all the lesser demons in the area cry out in alarm and flee. There were a few demonic screams of agony coming from those who hadn't come out unscathed and a few so short there was no doubt as to what happened to the demon in question. There had even been one small yōkai at the edge of the clearing, just close enough to see clearly. It had barely touched the stream of reiki with the tip of its tail when it attempted to flee. And it had been incinerated on the spot.

So Kagome had no doubt that the stream Inuyasha created, though chaotic, was extremely powerful. She also had enough experience with spiritualists already to know that when their supply of spiritual energy was starting to run low, they got tired and needed to rest, just as she needed to rest to recuperate her youki after a long fight. And yet Inuyasha could fire these things one after another, could train for hours on end and it barely affected him at all. Heck, just today, it had taken him a good five hours before Kagome had to tell him to rest.

The obvious conclusion of that observation was, of course, that the black haired teen was powerful – insanely so. That was something the young half-demon had known already. But she was just now realizing just how powerful the future-born kannushi actually was and it both amazed and scared her. She was amazed because she was fairly certain that there were extremely few, if any at all, other spiritualists quite as powerful. And she was scared because she knew that this kind of power could only call for trouble of an according caliber. That kind of trouble hadn't reached Inuyasha yet, but it would eventually. And when it did, the future-born teen would have to pay the price for his strength and would probably have to bid his former life, the life Kagome suspected he still wanted in some way (at the very least, she was positive he didn't want to leave it behind for good, as his more frequent as of late visits back home indicated), goodbye.

Unfortunately, ensuring that kind of trouble never reached Inuyasha was beyond Kagome's power. No matter how much she wanted to make sure that he'd remain as untouched as possible by whatever life in her era throws at him so that he could one day return to his former life without feeling out of the loop, making sure that being in possession of the Shikon wouldn't attract according problems just wasn't possible. All Kagome could do was hope they'd manage the impossible and find someone to take the Jewel off Inuyasha's hands before that kind of trouble reached the black haired boy, before something happened that would tie him to this time period and the Sacred Jewel for good.

"Damn it. Why won't it work?" Inuyasha spoke up suddenly, his voice effectively bringing Kagome out of her musings. The half-demon sighed.

"I keep telling you, it's because you put too much power into it. The more power you put into it, the harder it is to control, both in its form and its trajectory. Just be patient and keep trying, you'll get it eventually," she said calmly, trying both to reassure him and to help him in any way she could, even if there wasn't much she could actually do. She had, after all, learnt what he was currently learning, too, at one point in her life, and knew that controlling the amount of power put into anything wasn't exactly something someone else could explain to you how to get done.

"That something your father told you when you were learning the same thing?" Inuyasha asked in a half-annoyed, half-curious tone. Whenever the hanyō-girl 'supervised' his training, she didn't talk much, probably in order not to disturb him. And whenever she did talk, it was to tell him something like what she just said, so he heard it a lot of times already. Still wasn't helpful, though.

If he had looked up, Inuyasha would have noticed Kagome wincing as her ears drooped.

"What gave you that idea?" she asked, trying to keep her tone neutral and, in her own opinion, failing miserably at it. Inuyashadidn't fail to notice the slight sad note in her tone, either, and he chose his next words carefully, wondering what upset her.

"Well, I just figured, since your father was the demon of the family, he would have been the one to teach you the techniques you use. And swordplay, too, probably," he said slowly as he turned his body so he could glance at the half-demon above him. Kagome merely sighed, then leaned her back against the bark of the tree she was sitting in and glanced up at the sky in an attempt to look relaxed so that it wouldn't be too obvious just how much the truth of the matter affected her.

"Otou-sama didn't teach me a thing," she finally said quietly. "Most of what I know, I had to learn by myself unless I wanted to become demon fodder."

"Eh? How come?" the black haired teen couldn't help but ask, even though a part of him knew that it was a touchy subject and better left alone. He just couldn't stop himself from prodding, however, he was simply too curious. "Wouldn't your father want you to know how to defend yourself? Wouldn't he want to protect you?"

"He would and he did want it. He just didn't get the chance to. He was killed around the same time that I was born. I never knew him. Not outside of Myouga's and kaa-san's stories, anyway."

Why he hadn't thought of the possibility of Kagome's father being dead before he got the chance to teach her anything, Inuyasha didn't know. And while he knew that her father was dead already, since they had visited his grave and all, he had never expected that he died so soon that he never got the chance to even know his daughter, or the other way around.

"I'm sorry," he said as he turned away, suddenly feeling guilty for pushing her for answers. He should have just kept his nose out of what wasn't his business.

"What the heck are you sorry for? It's not like you had anything to do with it."

"Yeah, but…"

"Look, if you're sorry for asking, don't be. It was my decision to tell you, wasn't it? I could have just as well told you to back off," the hanyō-girl huffed, now starting to get slightly irritated. She hadn't told him the truth so that he'd feel sorry for her, far from it. She just… wanted to tell him. But she didn't want his pity. Or anyone else's for that matter. "Besides, it's in the past and no one can do anything to change it. I'm better off accepting it and I already have centuries ago. Dwelling on what could never be has never done anyone any good, anyway."

Inuyasha didn't answer her at first. Instead, he turned his head so he could glance up at her again and gauge her actual reaction. Her voice sounded like she really didn't mind talking about it, but the black haired priest couldn't help but recall the last time her parents had been brought up – and the way she snapped. Was she really… okay with it, with the fact that she didn't even get to know her own father? Inuyasha seriously doubted it. What normal person would accept it so easily?

"Still," Kagome spoke up again before Inuyasha could question her acceptance, "from what Myouga told me… and from what I remember from kaa-san's stories… I think otou-sama was a man... or rather daiyōkai I would have been very glad to know. And even gladder to have the honor to call 'father'." She had stumbled a bit as she spoke, as if she wasn't certain if she should continue talking or not. And yet, now that she had presented him with the offer to ask, Inuyasha found his curiosity peaked. He knew very little of yōkai, after all, save from personal experience, and that experience wasn't exactly something that could teach him that yōkai could be friendly or anything of the sort. In fact, Kagome was pretty much the only demon, or half as it were, who wasn't out for his blood, except for Shippō and Kirara. Any other yōkai wanted him dead because they wanted the Jewel he carried. With the exception of Kagome's half-brother, of course – he wanted his sister dead, so that he could take her sword.

So it was really no wonder that, despite knowing that there were peaceful yōkai who weren't bloodthirsty, Inuyasha believed those to be simply exceptions to the general rule. And it made him wonder: in a race that valued bloodshed and killing over anything else, or seemed to as far as he was concerned, what kind of person would one think would be a good father figure, someone you'd be happy and proud to call your sire?

Of course, he had no way of knowing unless he asked someone who could provide an answer. And since Kagome seemed willing enough to talk about it, the black haired priest decided to take this chance.

"What… What was he like? In those stories you heard," he asked softly, hesitantly, though a note of curiosity was also unmistakable in his voice. Kagome didn't miss it and she couldn't help but chuckle softly, although the sound seemed kind of sad to Inuyasha's ears.

"He was powerful and threatening. He inspired fear in all of his foes, and in the humans that knew of him, too. But beneath all that, he wasn't any different than any other father would be I , caring, ready to do anything it took to protect those he held dear. He was a man who loved his family, both his families, and was willing to go to any length to protect them, simply because he cared. He was as much capable of hating and killing as he was of loving and creating life – life he deemed more important than his own," she said, tilting her head back to get a better view of the skies above. "At least, that's the image I have of him from what I heard," she added in a mere whisper, unable to fully hide her regret. She wished she could have known her father, she really did. But alas, that had not been her fate.

"Doesn't sound any different from what one would expect from any other father, really," Inuyasha couldn't help but comment, unaware of how sensitive a chord his words had struck in his companion. Kagome tensed at the comment and slowly turned her head to glance down at the priest, a faint glint of betrayal hidden deep within her eye had Inuyasha but looked up and seen it.

"Does that surprise you?" she asked softly, trying not to sound irritated or, even worse, afraid, despite the fact that she was starting to feel both emotions. She had thought Inuyasha accepted her, that he didn't see her as a hanyō or anything else but plain Kagome – a privilege she longed for more than she cared to admit, for people who treated her as 'just Kagome' were even scarcer than the people who could possibly look past her blood and attempt to get to know her. In fact, there were only three people like that, and two of them were already dead. She had thought Inuyasha would be a fourth… but it seemed she had been wrong. And she couldn't deny that the thought didn't sit well with her. At all.

"Were you expecting something… out of the ordinary?"

He didn't really know why, but Inuyasha flinched at the question. Or maybe at the difficult-to-place tone Kagome had asked it with. Either way, he was suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, as well as well aware that he needed to choose his next words with extreme care – although if anyone had asked him why, he wouldn't have been able to tell the reason. It was just a feeling he had.

Silence fell in the small clearing as the black haired priest attempted to gather his thoughts. Had he been expecting something out of the ordinary in Kagome's answer, something that he wouldn't think to be normal when one described a father? In all honestly, he had. But as he stopped to think about it, he realized he shouldn't have. After all, it shouldn't matter if one was demon or human, or even hanyō, all three of the races had thoughts and feelings and a heart capable of loving and caring for others. Kagome was the best proof of that. It was that caring heart that, despite all other differences, ultimately made the two races, and the one in between them, exactly the same – so why would their views on anything be all that different except for things defined by their culture? Why would there be any more differences between demons, hanyō and humans than there were, for instance, between Japanese, Americans and Europeans, who were all humans and yet still had very different opinions on certain matters? The answer was painfully obvious: and that was the fact that there was no answer, because in reality, demons and humans weren't all that different, even if most people of both races failed, or maybe simply refused, to see that.

"You did, didn't you," Kagome finally broke the silence when Inuyasha failed to respond, effectively bringing the kannushi out of his thoughts and causing him to look up at her, startled at the lack of emotion in her voice. Never had he heard her talk like this, as if she didn't give a damn, as if she was either totally indifferent or completely void of all emotion… although admittedly, Kagome had never before felt the need to hide her emotions so completely from him, either. "Guess I should have expected as much."

"What… what are you talking about, Kagome?" why should she have expected it? What did she mean? Inuyasha had an answer to neither of the two questions, and to be completely honest, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know, despite having asked. But fortunately (or was it unfortunately?), Kagome merely sighed and shook her head in a silent refusal to answer. She didn't give Inuyasha a chance to prod any more, either.

"If you don't mind me asking… since you actually knew your otou-sama, could you maybe tell me… what… he was like?" the half-demon asked slowly, the way she hesitated speaking volumes about what she was actually asking. The hidden question didn't go unnoticed by the priest, either, nor did its implications.

Kagome wasn't asking about his father's character, that much was certain. From what she had said before, she didn't expect an answer much different than her own in that regard – that the man was someone who cared deeply for his family and would do what he could to protect them should it be needed. No, the silver haired girl was asking something else and Inuyasha froze as the realization struck him.

She was basically asking what it felt like to have a father… maybe even a full family.

The black haired teen felt a shiver run down his spine as certain quite morbid thoughts started to form in his mind. Of course, he had learned quite quickly that Kagome's parents had both died, as well as that mentioning them was a bad idea. Talking about parents and family was just an extremely sore subject for the half-demon and so Inuyasha had never pushed it. But he had never stopped to think why it was such a painful subject, either. He never paid attention to the fact that while he lost his father, too, and thus disliked talking about him because it brought up painful memories (although he wouldn't ever want to forget the man, either), his reaction when the subject was brought up was nowhere near as extreme as Kagome's had been. Nor had he ever tried to understand why that might be. And as such, it had never occurred to him that it was quite possible that Kagome… no longer even remembered what it felt like to have parents.

Another shudder ran through Inuyasha's body before he could stop it. The possibility of forgetting what it felt like to have a family, someone who loved you unconditionally no matter what, someone who would protect you from anything and everything… it scared him. The lone thought that something like this could move into the realm of the unknown was terrifying.

And yet it seemed that for Kagome, something that should be obvious knowledge was in the realm of the unknown.

"Well," Inuyasha hesitated before answering, wanting to give the right answer, yet not knowing where to start at all. How did you explain what it felt like to have a father? It was a feeling, damn it, you couldn't just explain feelings like you could scientific occurrences! "It's… He was…" the teen started, though he was unable to form even one full sentence, too much at a loss for words to even start thinking about how to go about answering. What had his father been like? What had it felt like to have the man as a father?

Inuyasha had but a few lingering memories of the man, but the few he had always left him longing for that man to come back even though he knew he never would. Though he would never admit it aloud, especially not to his mother, Inuyasha missed his father. In fact, he missed him terribly whenever he thought of him – which was the exact reason he tried to push the memories away most of the time. He couldn't force himself to push them away this time, though.

In mere seconds, his surroundings no longer mattered, Inuyasha simply stopped seeing the forest around him. Instead, he saw the back of a tall man with broad shoulders, dressed in a black business suit, with black hair that reached the base of his neck and was just an inch or two too short to be tied back.

Slowly, the man before him turned and glanced down over his shoulder, showing his face to the young teen. His eyes were deep violet, the exact same color as the eyes of his son, and his expression was a scowl that Inuyasha had definitely inherited from him. From what Inuyasha remembered, the man had rarely smiled, preferring to wear an almost angry or indifferent expression most of the time. There was one big difference between his scowl and the one Inuyasha had worn almost all the time before he met Kagome, though, and that difference was in his eyes. Though they were the same color as his son's, Inuyasha's father's eyes were several degrees colder and emptier of emotion. While Inuyasha could glare and look pretty intimidating if he wanted to thanks to the angry glint in his eyes, his father's look was even fiercer without him seeming to try and without him having to put any kind of emotion into his gaze. In fact, it was even more effective when the look he was giving came from seemingly emotionless eyes. And it was even worse when he did try to be intimidating. Truly, it seemed as if the man had close to no emotions besides indifference and annoyance inside of him, which tended to intimidate most.

The only reason Inuyasha himself wasn't affected by the frosty, intimidating expression was because he didn't have the time to before it disappeared, replaced by a small, but serene smile. One of the very rare expressions that betrayed contentment that his father had ever shown. In fact, Inuyasha was quite certain that he and his mother were two out of extremely few people who ever saw that kind of expression on his father's face, if not the only two on the face of the planet.

All in all, from what he could recall, his father always seemed a bit cold and distant, almost as if he was attempting to keep his own family away from him. And yet, underneath it all, there was no doubt that that wasn't it at all. In fact, now that Inuyasha was older and thought back to those moments when his father outright showed that he cared, Inuyasha realized that it went beyond simple love or care. It was almost as of his father couldn't bear to lose neither his son, nor his wife, to anything. He cared for them more than he did for his own life. And in the end, it hadn't been him who lost his family, but the other way around.

"Never mind, I shouldn't have asked," Kagome said finally with a sigh when Inuyasha remained silent. "I'm sorry for bringing it up," she added when she saw the teen flinch back to reality, mistaking his surprise when his thoughts were interrupted for a proof of being uncomfortable.

"You don't have to…" Inuyasha started to say while turning to glance at the hanyō-girl, but she interrupted him before he could finish.

"I think you've had enough of a break. Get back to training."

Inuyasha didn't move at the soft spoken order. He stayed where he was and simply stared, unwilling to believe this was happening. In all the time he had trained, Kagome hadn't shooed him off to train once, it had always been him who kept telling her he was fine to continue, while she pinned him down with a glare and told him to rest again and again. Yet now, it was the opposite, he wanted to talk with her more, to find out why she was suddenly so… on edge, for lack of a better way to describe it, while she was telling him to continue training.

Actually, it felt like she was simply trying to get him to leave her alone, or as alone as she could get at this particular moment, because both of them knew she wouldn't just up and leave Inuyasha by his lonesome. Someone had to supervise him while he trained, after all.

Sighing, the black haired priest stood, though his eyes never left the half-demon in the tree. She was tense, he could tell that much, but anything beyond that was a mystery. She was facing away from him, so to attempt to read her from her expression (be it in her eyes or on her face) was impossible. But he didn't need to read her this time to know something was wrong. He wasn't blind, he saw that her demeanor changed right after his comment once she said what she believed her father was like. What he didn't know was why that comment had bothered her so. Because it obviously had, even if the hanyō was trying to hide it.

"I'm always trying to make sure you're not hurt, but hurting you seems to be the only thing I'm good at."

His own words came back to haunt him. Kagome had denied them, had tried to tell him they weren't true… but they were. Even now, even when he was training, doing the one thing that could ensure he could protect her in the future, he was still hurting her. And the worst of it was, he didn't even realize it until it was already done.

Kagome, for her part, wasn't overly focused on the priest below her anymore, though, too focused on the wind and the scents it carried. Her body tensed as she straightened without realizing it, her body already preparing to leap off even though her mind had yet to catch up and give the information.

"On second thought, I don't think you'll have time for that. Come on!" she called as she leapt off, barely sparing a glance to make sure Inuyasha followed. The priest in question stared after her for a split second before springing into motion and following her. He caught up quickly enough, allowing the half-demon to speed up as she jumped from branch to branch, much like they had done back at the very beginning of their journey.

"What's up all of a sudden?" Inuyasha asked as he looked up at the hanyō, his violet eyes wide. He had been caught off guard and had yet to make heads or tails of the situation. If Kagome had given him a minute or so to figure it out on his own, he probably would have, but the hanyō decided to spare the time.

"Yōkai," she said simply as her nose twitched in order to confirm what she knew to be the truth. Yes, there were yōkai, alright. Yōkai who would soon meet their end, as they always did in a situation such as this. Kagome still growled in annoyance, however. This was a very unfortunate moment for the yōkai to strike, for various reasons. One of them being the fact that she was still a bit out of it due to Inuyasha's words earlier. So it was only to be expected that she wasn't looking forward to the battle at hand. And while killing lesser yōkai could sometimes help her vent her frustrations and other feelings, the hanyō knew this time wouldn't be like that. If anything, she had a feeling the bloodshed would only make her madder. Still, she couldn't just turn her back on the yōkai. Not when they were heading straight for the village.

They got close enough to see the source of the smell soon enough. It turned out to be a rather big horde of lesser demons, much like those that attacked the village when Kagome and Kikyo had protected the Jewel together. What neither the hanyō nor the kannushi accompanying her expected, however, was for a non negligible number of them to split from the main group and head in a different direction: the direction of the well.

For a second, Kagome stopped in her tracks and hesitated, unsure of what to do. On one hand, her protector instincts were telling her to go to the village. That was where she would be needed, that was where there were people she had to protect, that was where she could save lives. She needn't worry about the well, the yōkai wouldn't be able to go through it since the Jewel was on this side of it, anyway (or at least, they shouldn't be able to go through). But on the other hand, she couldn't help but wonder: why would demons be heading for the Bone Eaters Well, anyway? It wasn't a place that was usually targeted unless the Jewel called the yōkai to it, nor was it a place that one would expect to be targeted. So why would the demons be heading there?

The answer to that question came in the form of a peculiar sound, namely the distinct buzz of a wasp's beating wings. Kagome's ears twitched at the irritating sound and she looked up, her eye easily finding the insect creating it and she growled low in her throat as soon as she saw it. It wasn't a normal insect, it was a demon. One the likes of which she had seen only once before, but recognized easily. With a snarl, she jumped up and took a swipe at it, but the wasp managed to avoid her and flew off in the direction opposite of the village and the well. Kagome growled even louder, but didn't pursue the demonic insect and instead raced to the well. If Naraku's insects were nearby, it could only mean this whole thing was another one of his plans. Still, Kagome could hardly do anything other than play straight into his hands. If these demons were sent by Naraku (or simply tricked by him to come here), then there was no doubt they were headed for the well with the intention of destroying it, and Kagome couldn't, in good conscience, let Inuyasha's only way home be destroyed and leave him stranded in her time.

Of course, there was no doubt in her mind that it was exactly with the hopes that she'd go to the well that Naraku sent demons there. It was a trap, or maybe just a distraction. Where she truly needed to be was the village. But even though she knew that, she just couldn'tlet the well be destroyed. She'd just have to hope that Naraku wouldn't succeed in whatever it was he was planning. She'd just have to trust Sango and Miroku to hold their own while she protected the well. There was no other option.

Then again, there was one thing she could do. But the question was, what was Naraku hoping for? Did he want to separate her from the others or did he simply want her away from the village? There was no way to tell. Which was why, like it or hate it, she had to take a chance. Inuyasha was getting stronger, he could look after himself now. He wouldn't be defeated by mere low level yōkai like these guys. Plus, Sango, Miroku and Kaede were in the village, too. Inuyasha wouldn't be alone, so it should be safe enough for the two of them to separate.

"Oi, Kagome, where the heck are you going? This isn't the way to the village, is it?" Inuyasha called as he caught up once again. Kagome hadn't realized when she had sped up and thus kind of left Inuyasha behind, but there was no time to apologize for that now.

"No, it's not," she agreed as she jumped down to land in front of the black haired priest and stopped him, then pointed to the left. "The village is that way. Go," she said shortly and turned in order to leap off, but Inuyasha caught her sleeve before she could.

"And where the hell are you going?" Inuyasha asked incredulously. There was no way in Hell Kagome would just leave the village to fend for itself, he knew that, but he just didn't understand why she'd be heading another way if the village needed her. Kagome gave him an irritated look. They didn't have time for this, damn it!

"I'm going to the well. Some of the yōkai broke off from the main horde and headed there. Now get going already," she said quickly, but the black haired priest was far from allowing her to leave, even if he didn't do it by physically holding her back.

"The… the well?" he repeated in a mere whisper as the color drained from his face and his eyes widened with fear at the implication. Before Kagome could placate him that the demons weren't actually heading there in order to go through, however, as that was what had first come to Inuyasha's mind, the kannushi was already sprinting past her. Cursing, Kagome gave chase and grabbed the distressed teen by the arm.

"Inuyasha, stop! Go to the village, you'll be of more help there!"

"You expect me to just ignore that demons are heading straight for the portal that leads to my home?!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. What the Hell was she saying? As if he could simply ignore that! What if somehow one of these demons got through, what then? What if…

"Don't you trust me at all?!" Kagome yelled back, effectively snapping Inuyasha out of his panic-induced thoughts. He stared at her for a second before opening his mouth to respond (of course he trusted her! Why would she even question it?), but Kagome didn't let him. "I'm telling you to go to the village. I will go to the well. Don't you trust me to protect it, damn it? Don't you trust me to know what I'm doing?"

"That's not what I…"

"Look, we don't have time," Kagome interrupted him again and shoved him lightly in the direction of the village. "I can't explain now. So I need you to goddamn trust me and go to the village. Help out there. Leave the well to me, I swear I'll protect it," and with those words, no longer waiting for Inuyasha's response, Kagome leapt off in the direction of the well. The wind blew her hair back and the trees were passing her in a blur as she ran as fast as she was capable. She reached the well within seconds. And not a second too soon.

"Sankon Tessō!" she yelled as she skidded to a stop, the golden arcs of energy flying the rest of the way and striking her target, the first yōkai who dared approach the wooden structure. Surprised at the sudden attack, the rest of the demons recoiled slightly while Kagome, with one last leap, covered the rest of the distance separating her from the time portal and landed lightly on its rim.

[T]

"That's as far as you go. Back off while you still live and maybe you won't have to die," she growled in warning, although her words merely caused the demons above her to laugh.

"Look, look, a half-demon. A lone hanyō who thinks she can take us at once! That spider was actually right," one laughed openly, the rest following suit. Kagome narrowed her eyes. While she wasn't sure if Naraku was a spider demon, she know no other yōkai that would send other vermin to do their dirty work. Plus, she saw the wasp. So these demons really were sent by Naraku, who she now knew to be a spider (and she had to admit, considering his tactics, she was amazed she hadn't drawn the conclusion sooner). Or at least tricked into coming here. But how did the spider manage to convince them to do what he wanted?

"Then the priest holding the Shikon shouldn't be long in coming either. I say we play with the half-breed until he does," another demon added.

"Oh we can play. But that'll be the last game you'll play in your life. There's no way vermin like you could defeat me, no matter how many of you there are," Kagome spat back as her anger grew exponentially with every second. No one, and she truly meant no one called her a half-breed and got away with it.

"Who's the vermin, hanyō!" the very yōkai she insulted (although the insult had been direct at all of them, really) yelled and flew at her in an attempt to bite her head off. As soon as it was two feet away from her, however, it suddenly fell to the ground, its head cleanly split in half. Kagome shook her hand in the manner akin to an attempt to shake off an annoying insect and wiped nonexistent dust from one of the sleeves of her haori before directing a frigid, angry glare at the yōkai hovering above her.

"Next," she said calmly, as if inviting them to try one by one. Her calm, yet frosty and obviously furious demeanor seemed to do the trick and in the next moment, a wave of yōkai flew at her as if someone had commanded them to do so. Kagome jumped to meet them half-way and spun around in the air, effectively sending another wave of Sankon Tessō in every direction, easily securing a larger safety-area around the well. She landed lightly, paying little mind to the blood, guts, and demon parts that fell around her. She didn't remain on the ground for long, either, and instead launched straight back into the air, her claws making quick work of another few would-be enemies. More followed suit quickly enough and the grass in the clearing around the well was quickly turning brown as the green mixed with the scarlet of the blood that stained it.

XxX

"Hiraikotsu!" the large boomerang flew through the air, slicing through anything and everything that got into its path, before making a graceful arc and returning back to the hand of the one who had thrown it. Sango didn't wait to launch her weapon again, watching as it sliced through dozens of demons at a time before returning to her hand, only to be thrown again. And yet, the number of demons only seemed to increase. "Damn, how many of them are there?!" the demon slayer cursed as Kirara lunged forward to kill another one that dared to come close to them while Sango held out her hand to catch the returning Hiraikotsu again.

"There's no end," Miroku agreed calmly as he fought, having heard Sango's yell above the sounds of battle and slaughter only because she had yelled as loud as she had.

"I can't even sense anything beyond that horde, not even Kagome, and I know she isn't far away," Inuyasha huffed after cutting through demon after demon. He could probably get rid of several at a time if he used the move he'd been practicing before, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be a wise idea. In the long run, it would only exhaust him.

But then again, as big as the river of reiki was, he could probably get rid of quite a number of demons. So maybe it would be worth a try… if the damn river wasn't earth-bound, since he had yet to learn to control its trajectory, while most of the yōkai were flying.

"This will definitely be a drawn out battle. Conserve your strength. It would not do to exhaust yourselves prematurely," Kaede said calmly from behind Inuyasha, who had unofficially become the priestess's shield while the old woman notched, aimed and released arrow after arrow with practiced ease. Out of the four of them, she seemed to be the calmest one, a fact Inuyasha didn't fail to notice, nor comment on.

"You're pretty damn calm given the situation," he grumbled, partially annoyed and partially envious. He himself was far from calm despite knowing that the number of yōkai that went to the well was probably smaller than those that came to the village and that Kagome would die before letting even one of them pass through to his time. In fact, he wanted nothing more than just leave the village behind and run straight to the portal. The only reason he didn't were the words Kagome had yelled at him before they separated. She had asked him to trust her and he'd be damned if he did anything that could prove that he didn't. Kagome was strong. And she knew what she was doing. She wouldn't ask him to come to the village if she thought she couldn't protect the well by herself. She wouldn't ask him to come here if she didn't think the village was where he would be needed most. He knew that. But he still worried. Especially since one part of him wondered why the Hell they couldn't have switched. Inuyasha could have protected the well just as well, after all, couldn't he? And Kagome could have certainly helped out here and no one would be complaining.

"You would be as well after witnessing as many attacks not unlike this one as I have, child," Kaede replied without an ounce of irritation in her voice as she let another arrow fly, the projectile striking and killing yet another demon while the light coming off of it burned several others around it. As the arrow fell to the ground, now without the target that it had impaled seconds ago, Hiraikotsu flew through the air to replace it, easily finishing off the yōkai that had been stunned by Kaede's arrow, and seriously wounding, if not killing, several others.

"So this village has suffered attacks of such hordes before?" Sango asked as she jumped off of Kirara, the neko immediately jumping off to the side to get to a demon that was trying to sneak up on Miroku while the demon slayer threw her boomerang again to try and make the sky visible again, but to no avail.

"Indeed, it was quite close to an everyday occurrence when Kikyo-onee-sama guarded the Jewel," Kaede replied sadly.

"That is not surprising. The Jewel is something the demons want above everything else. I believe that is the very reason they have come this time, as well," Miroku interjected as he positioned himself in front of the three others. Now that the villagers have all scurried to safety and there was no immediate danger of sucking someone who shouldn't be sucked into his curse, the monk planted his shakujō in the ground and reached for the beads around his arm, the beads that kept his curse sealed. "But just like every other time, they will ultimately fail at obtaining what they want."

Seeing a sudden lack of resistance from a foe, any being with intelligence would have stopped its assault and frowned at the obvious trap. But low level yōkai were hardly known for their intelligence, and so it was only to be expected that when no arrows or boomerang came flying at them anymore, they all lunged in the stupid belief that they would easily kill the 'weak humans' below them. Needless to say, that did not happen. Far from it. Instead, it were the demons that were easily vanquished.

"KAZAANA!" Miroku called as he unleashed the Air Rip on the unsuspecting demons, and the group proceeded to watch calmly as their enemies slowly started to disappear within the monk's hand with naught but screams proving they were being killed.

XxX

Her claws were covered in blood. So was her haori, her hair, pretty much her whole body from head to toe. But none of that blood was hers. No, that was the blood of all the foolish beings who thought they could defeat her simply because she was 'just a hanyō'. The fools had paid with their lives. Or most of them had. A few still remained, but Kagome wasn't planning on letting it stay that way for long. They had made the mistake of looking down on her because of her blood. Worse still, they had made the mistake of threatening someone she had sworn to protect, even if indirectly. There was no way she was going to let them walk away after that. Not that they would have wanted to, anyway. These demons were just too stupid to realize when they were out of their league.

Jumping into the air once again, Kagome swung with her claws, then spun in the air and struck again, only to repeat the process several times more. When gravity finally won and she was forced to land, she closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath. It was over. It had lasted longer than she had expected, as there had been more demons that she had thought at first, but it was over. She had destroyed them all, just as she had known she would. Not one had gotten even near the well. Just as she promised.

[/T]

'I hope the village is alright,' she thought as she shook her hands to get at least some of the blood off her claws. Scenting the air one more time to make absolutely certain that there were no more demons nearby, Kagome nodded to herself and leapt off, heading straight for the small human settlement. Despite knowing that there were capable people there, the half-demon couldn't help but worry. Especially since she knew that it was another one of Naraku's plans. She just didn't know what it was he had tried to achieve, exactly.

From the little bits of information that the yōkai at the well had let slip, it seemed that Naraku had hoped for Inuyasha to be at the well with her. But then again, he could have also just said that attacking the well would bring Inuyasha to the demons in order to have them dance to his tune. The spider was pretty good at manipulating others, after all, Kagome even had firsthand experience in that regard, so she knew it to be the truth. Be that as it may, one thing was certain: Naraku had wanted her away from the village. The question remaining, and one she didn't have an answer to, was, of course, why.

Part of her was hoping that question would be answered when she reached the village. Another part of her hoped she'd remain in the dark for now, simply because finding out would mean Naraku succeeded. As she reached the village, however, she found nothing amiss except the usual chaos after a demon attack. There were only few victims, and surprisingly few destroyed huts, a thing Kagome had been a bit stunned, but nonetheless happy to discover.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked when she reached the small crowd that had formed near Kaede's village. The villagers ignored her for the most part, although some gave her irate looks. Her ears twitched on her head as she caught a few whispers here and there on how she should have arrived sooner and how they had been fools to believe she could be different from other demons. One or two even suggested getting rid of her, as she had obviously proven that she wouldn't lift a finger to help the village when it truly counted. Kagome ignored them, however, as her question hadn't been aimed at them, anyway. Even if she did worry for the villagers' safety as well.

"We're fine," Inuyasha replied immediately as his eyes roamed over her in a quick scan for injuries. "What about…"

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?!" a sudden yell interrupted the kannushi, and everyone whispering around for that matter, as everyone turned to the source of the scream. Kagome's eyes widened when she realized it was her cousin causing the ruckus. What surprised her more were the angry tears flowing from his eyes. Just what the heck was going on?

Souta didn't need to be asked to let everyone know.

"Just look at her!" he yelled at one of the village men while pointing at Kagome. "She's covered in blood, too! So what if she wasn't here, she's obviously been fighting, too! Just because you couldn't see her doing it doesn't mean she left us to fend for ourselves! There were probably even more demons elsewhere! And she took care of them! By herself! While you were cowering in your hut begging for someone to come and save you! You didn't even try to fight them and you have the gall to blame Kagome for not being here?!"

"What in the world is Souta going on about? Why would anyone blame you?" Inuyasha asked, but Kagome didn't answer him. In fact, she barely heard him, too focused on the developing fight to even register the future-born teen's cluelessness. Of course, unlike him, she understood very well what this was all about, she could hear what the villagers were whispering perfectly well, after all – though it was laughable how they underestimated her hearing, really – but her mind seemed to have problems wrapping around the idea that someone had actually risen to her defense.

The man who was being yelled at obviously didn't like it, either. It was visible in his face, which had gotten red from anger. And it was also obvious he didn't even realize that pretty much the whole village was watching the exchange.

"As if you weren't hiding, either!" he spat in a weak defense, not failing to rile Souta up even more.

"At least I wanted to fight! If it wasn't for Kohaku keeping me in check I would have, too. I'm not a coward like you who looks for others to blame when he can't face his own cowardice!"

"Shut up! What do you know, you little brat!" the man, positively livid by that point, yelled back and raised a hand in an obvious attempt to strike the boy. And that was when Kagome broke out of her stupor and moved faster than the human eye could follow. One second she was still beside her traveling companions, and the next by the bickering duo.

She could have just raised a hand and caught the man's arm. She could have also delivered a punch to his stomach, although a light one, for daring to raise a hand to her family. With her speed, everyone watching knew she could have done practically anything at that moment. So it was no wonder a tense silence fell over everyone as people even stopped breathing when the half-demon simply stood between the child and the man… and willingly took the blow.

No one said a word. No one even seemed to breathe, that was how complete the sudden silence was. The villager in question didn't move from his position, hand still by his head where it had moved after slapping the hanyō-girl, and he visibly blanched when the half-demon leveled him with a calm gaze. A shiver ran down his spine and he quickly took a frightened step back, the stench of his fear rolling off of him in waves. Kagome let out a deep breath, but the look she was giving the man was still nothing short of a glare

"If you have a problem with me, at least have the decency to keep it to yourself if you lack the courage to speak to me about it. But don't take your anger and frustration out on children or those weaker than yourself. That's just despicable," she told him coldly before turning her back on him in clear dismissal and kneeling down so she was eye-level with Souta. "Hey, you ok?"

Souta merely stared at her for another few seconds before nodding. Kagome smiled slightly.

"Good," she said. Then her smile was replaced by a mild scowl and next thing Souta knew, he was nursing a bump after Kagome bonked him on the head as an obvious reprimand. "But next time, don't get yourself into trouble by causing a fuss over nothing," she said, and Souta gawked at her (not that he was the only one, although others probably gawked for other reasons that Kagome's cousin).

"Make a fuss over nothing? In case you haven't noticed, nee-chan, I was defending you! You didn't hear what that guy, and everyone else… were… saying…" Souta's at first hot response trailed off in hesitation at the end when Kagome gave him a flat look and twitched her ears for emphasis. She didn't need to say anything for the boy to understand and he seemed floored as realization struck. "You did. You heard every word."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement, but Kagome still nodded in response. Before she could do much else, though, Souta exploded.

"If you heard every word, why didn't you say anything?! Why do you just pretend not to hear?! That only makes it look like…"

"Like I haven't heard what was being whispered behind my back," Kagome interrupted gently, yet firmly, her tone managing to convey both displeasure and gratitude at the same time. She was grateful that Souta would defend her like that, but that didn't mean she liked the way he went about it. "Stop getting so worked up over it. It's nothing out of the ordinary and there's little you can do about it, so getting worked up won't help. That's just the way things are," she added, this time actually having to put an effort into not allowing sadness to seep into her voice. It was true, that was the way things were, how they always have been and how they probably always would be, too. There was little, if anything at all, that anyone could do about that so long as humans refused to attempt to see reason. But even though Kagome knew it, it didn't make the truth less painful.

"But it's not how things should be! It's not fair!" Souta continued to yell, his eyes clenching shut as fresh tears flowed down his cheeks, although Kagome was no longer sure if they were tears of sadness, or tears of anger. Probably both, she figured. She sighed and put a hand on Souta's head in a comforting manner, ruffling his hair in the process.

"Life's not fair, Souta. That's something you just have to accept," she said softly before standing up and, ignoring everyone watching her in complete silence, guiding her cousin to Kaede's hut. As she walked, she looked up at Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha and indicated with her head that they should come with her. "There's something we need to talk about," she said in ways of explanation, as well as indication that the topic of what had just happened was to be dropped. Not everyone caught on to the subtle indication, however.

"What the heck was that all about? You heard every word of what?" Inuyasha asked in a low tone, somehow sensing that speaking too loudly wasn't quite appropriate in this particular moment. But if he hoped Kagome would indulge him in an explanation, he was sorely disappointed.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," she said simply, though she refused to meet his eye. Inuyasha didn't fail to notice that and easily realized that Kagome was actually hiding something – and knowing that didn't exactly please him.

"Kagome…"

"Inuyasha, just let it go already. It's not important. We have more urgent things to speak about," the hanyō-girl cut him off, her tone leaving no room for argument anymore. The black haired priest huffed in annoyance, but knew the silver haired girl well enough to know that she wouldn't say anything about more pressing matters if there weren't any. Still, he also knew her well enough to know that sometimes, she tended to brush something that wasn't unimportant off when it concerned her and no one else, and that was a habit he was going to force her to break out of.

"Fine. But you're telling me what just went on later," he relented, causing Kagome to roll her eyes in response. If he really thought she was going to say a word about it, he clearly thought he knew her better than he actually did. There was no way she was explaining this to him. He knew enough and it was not a problem he had to concern himself with, anyway. He had enough on his plate as it was and Kagome wouldn't add to his worries by showing him all the 'wonderful' sides of her life that came along with the fact of being a hanyō.

No, if Kagome had anything to say about it, Inuyasha wouldn't ever fully know just what it meant to live life as a hanyō. He knew enough, though he didn't fully understand what he knew, but still, that was enough. In fact, it was probably better if he didn't know, because no matter what his reaction to the understanding of everything would be, Kagome had a feeling she wouldn't exactly be thrilled to see it.

"The outside is safe again, you can go out to your parents," Sango's soft voice interrupted Kagome's musings as the group entered the surprisingly filled hut. Apparently, Kaede's small home had become the refuge for the children during the battle and now that they were told it was safe to come out, the group of kids was fast to pile out in a frenzy, wanting to find their parents and other family members and reassure themselves that they haven't gotten hurt. Only twopeople remained in the hut and didn't move from the spot, and that was Shippō and Kohaku, the latter having been appointed as the protector of the children, just in case. In the end, he didn't have to fight and Kagome had to agree that it was probably for the better. While she hadn't trained with him lately, she had chanced a peek when he trained with Kirara and realized that it was true that the boy was getting better, but was still far from being completely over killing his family.

When no one but the regular group of occupants (plus Souta, who refused to leave Kagome's side, and minus Kaede who remained outside) remained in the hut and seated themselves around the fire pit, Kagome proceeded to explain (as briefly as she could because there were certain truths Souta really didn't need to know about Inuyasha) what happened on her end of the battle, including her suspicion of the whole thing being staged by Naraku. The others agreed with her, but sadly, no one was really able to tell what his motive could have been. Much like in Kagome's case, the demons that attacked the village had been large in number, but weak in strength, and so it was more of a battle demanding good endurance than anything else. Just like in Kagome's case, the demons seemed to hope to be able to get the Jewel. What was slightly surprising was the fact that, unlike the yōkai who attacked the well, these demons were all aware that Inuyasha didn't, in fact, carry the Jewel right at this moment. It was that information that made Kagome frown.

"I guess that settles that, then. There's no way Naraku would know all this if he didn't keep close to constant watch on us," she said in a low tone as she pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to think. What she really couldn't figure out was what Naraku had hoped to accomplish with such an approach. What was in it for him? She just couldn't figure it out and that frustrated her. There had to be something, though, even if it seemed as though, for all intends and purposes, the attack had done them more good than it did Naraku – because now, they could be absolutely certain that he was watching them, while it looked like he hadn't achieved his goal.

Kagome knew better than to assume something so optimistic, however. If they didn't know what Naraku's goal was, they had no way of knowing if he achieved it, after all.

"You do not sound all that surprised, Kagome-sama," Miroku pointed out with a raised eyebrow, effectively bringing the half-demon out of her musings again. The silver-haired girl sighed.

"That's because I suspected he might have been watching us since he made a deal with Sesshōmaru, since my half-brother's appearance had been too well placed back then to be truly accidental," she admitted. "But quite honestly, while it doesn't surprise me, it definitely worries me."

"I'd be surprised if it didn't," Sango said, also frowning at the wooden floor by her knees. "It's never good when your opponent watches you while you have no way of knowing where he is or what he's planning."

"That's true. He could basically set up a trap for us any time," Kohaku agreed with a nod, his expression somber and making him look more mature than he usually seemed. It was in moments like this that Kagome could almost forget that he was a child and see him as nothing else but a taijiya meant to slay yōkai. Almost.

"That may be true, but there's little we can do about it besides keeping an eye out for the insects and dispatching them whenever we can," Miroku replied, ever the voice of reason. Kagome sighed again.

"Actually, I'm more worried about right now than any possible future troubles," the half-demon gave Inuyasha a worried look as she spoke, causing the black haired priest to blink in surprise. He didn't miss the unspoken hint that she was especially worried about him, and neither did anyone else, really.

"About right now?" the future-born teen inquired. "Why would you worry about right now? We just dealt with something Naraku tried to throw at us, I don't think he'll try something right away again, do you?" Kagome only shook her head in response.

"That's not what I meant. I meant our current predicament. Right now, we're staying in the village because you're training to control your powers. But that training won't last forever and eventually, we'll set off again. You still want to find someone to take your place as the Shikon's guardian so you can return home without worries and with a clear conscience, don't you?"

Inuyasha actually winced slightly at the question. To be completely honest, he had forgotten all about looking for someone who could take the Jewel off his hands. He had gotten so used to having it that he didn't even pay attention to it, anymore. Still, if he thought about it, after that last mishap when the Jewel tried to seemingly destroy him, he would be lying if he said he was looking forward to taking the pearl back from Miroku – which he would have to do at some point, he was aware. So he supposed that yes, he did want someone to take the gem off his hands still.

The only problem with that was that the Jewel was pretty much the only reason he ever came to this side of the well. If he gave it away, he wouldn't have to come back here anymore. Actually, if he thought about it, it was also quite likely he wouldn't even be able to come through the well anymore. And that thought… didn't sit well with him, actually. Leaving the Feudal Era for good was something Inuyasha, surprisingly, wasn't looking forward to.

Still, whether he wanted to be here or not was not the question Kagome had asked and so, though he felt like he wasn't being quite truthful, Inuyasha found himself nodding. Kagome closed her eye at the mute response.

"See? So we will have to leave eventually. So long as we're here, Naraku can try all he wants, we still have a chance of foiling his plans. But once we're gone, he can send another horde of demons in this vicinity and we won't be able to do a thing about it."

"Why would he trick demons into attacking the village when we aren't here? You're making no sense, Kagome." The half-demon stifled a groan. She didn't like being the bearer of bad news. She really didn't. But it looked like Inuyasha needed to have this spelled out for him.

"Think, Inuyasha. I didn't say he'd attack the village, I said he might try to strike at the vicinity. The village isn't the only thing in this area that we need to protect, you know that. So use your brain and tell me, what else is there?"

"The well," Shippō said, forgetting completely that several people in the hut had no idea what he was talking about and that one of them wasn't even supposed to know at all. "The portal to Inuyasha's home."

"The way to Inuyasha's home… is a well?" Souta asked incredulously, unknowingly voicing the disbelief he shared with Sango and Kohaku who, up until now, had only ever heard the vague terms of 'path to Inuyasha's homeland' and the like.

"Oops," Shippō covered his mouth with both his hands and his eyes grew huge as the little fox realized his mistake. Kagome groaned and Inuyasha scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.

"Well… as crazy as it sounds… yeah. Crazier still, my home's actually some five hundred years in the future," he said with a sheepish smile, his expression reminding most of the people around him of a child with his hand caught in a cookie jar. It was the expression that screamed 'busted!' and in any other situation, the others might have laughed. As it was, Kohaku could only stare while Sango snorted.

"Five hundred years… in the future?" the younger of the taijiya siblings repeated in a mere whisper.

"You don't seriously expect us to believe that, do you?" the female slayer asked while giving Inuyasha a flat look. The priest in question scowled back, but before he could respond, Souta managed to stun everyone into silence with but a single word.

"Cool," was all he said before bounding over to Inuyasha excitedly. "So you can time travel? Man, that sounds great. I wish I could do that. So what's your world like? How do people live in the future? What…"

"Souta," Kagome interrupted the over-excited child with a mild growl and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt to pull him away from the stunned priest. "Calm down. You can ask your questions later, if Inuyasha will be willing to answer them. Right now, we have to focus on more important matters."

"But nee-chan…" Souta didn't get to say much more in terms of protest when he was met with the hanyō's warning stare, which bordered on a glare, really. Hanging his head, the boy nodded in agreement and sank back into his thoughts, where he had been before Inuyasha's 'homeland' had been mentioned. With a sigh, Kagome turned her head to Sango and replied in Inuyasha's stead.

"While I agree it probably sounds ludicrous, it is actually the truth, Sango. Inuyasha does come from the future and the portal that allows him to travel through time is the ancient well near here," she said, although whether or not Sango believed her was up in the air. Kagome wasn't planning on persuading the taijiya if she wasn't going to believe her, though. She would eventually anyway, once she witnessed Inuyasha's 'disappearing act' – because she definitely would eventually if she continued to travel with them. And even more importantly, she would see some of his futuristic equipment. "But back to the main topic. Yes, other than the village, there's the well. And it's actually what I'm worried about most."

"Why, Kagome-sama?" Kohaku asked once he finally shook off his surprise at the revelation of Inuyasha's origin. "I mean, demons might have attacked the well today, but wasn't that just a distraction to keep you away from the village? Why would anyone attack the well when we aren't here?"

"I have to agree with Kohaku. I mean, why would Naraku bother attacking a well of all things?" Inuyasha asked. Kagome could only stare at him at first before replying.

"Haven't you been listening to a word I said?" she finally asked. "Naraku is watching us, probably has been for a while already. He knew that if he attacked the well, then I, if not both you and me, would stay there to protect it. That should be more than proof enough for you to realize what he knows. And if he knows that, why wouldn't he try to destroy the well while we aren't here?"

"I think I understand what you mean, Kagome-sama, and it is indeed reason for worry," Miroku agreed, his expression somber. "After all, Naraku seems to prefer striking at one's mind than one's body, though he obviously doesn't shy away from shedding blood, either."

"I still don't get it. What does the well have to do with anyone's mind?" Really, it was surprising how dense Inuyasha could be at times. Kagome sighed.

"Are you telling me you wouldn't care if the well got destroyed and you were practically stranded on this side of it? Because if that's the case, I'm obviously worrying over nothing," the half-demon asked softly, her words causing Inuyasha to freeze. How he hadn't thought about that was beyond him, but now that the possibility of Naraku destroying the well was presented to him, he was wondering how he hadn't thought of it before. And the thought made him shiver. He might not want to leave the Sengoku Jidai for good… but that didn't mean he was willing to leave his home behind, either. And he didn't need to say it aloud for Kagome to know. The half-demon sighed. "I figured as much…"

A tense silence fell in the hut again as no one knew what to say to that. It was only a few moments later that Sango gasped as a thought occurred to her.

"Maybe that was what this was all about," she wondered aloud, earning herself a few questioning glances which silently asked her to elaborate. Clearing her throat, the taijiya did just that. "Maybe the attack on the well tugh tooday wasn't a distraction. Maybe it was the village that was the distraction?" she offered, although it was clear by her tone of voice that she didn't, in fact, want to be correct.

"Are you suggesting Naraku wanted to see if, when faced between attacks on two fronts, we would also split to protect both the village and the well, Sango-san? That he wanted to make sure that the well was actually important to at least one of us?" Miroku inquired before resting his chin between his thumb and second finger in thought. "That is actually quite likely."

"And if that's what it was, then we've played straight into the bastard's hands. Not that we could have done anything else," Kagome growled under her breath. No one replied to that. No one denied it. There was nothing to deny, the hanyō had hit the problem spot on: if that had been indeed Naraku's plan, then he had succeeded, he now knew that the well was indeed something important to at least one of them and that they would protect it. Which meant it was likely that he would attempt to destroy the well later, presumably when no one was here to stop him.

And that thought didn't put anyone in high spirits, especially not Inuyasha, mainly because they all knew that, should Naraku try to destroy the well next time, they probably wouldn't be able to do a thing about it.

All in all, there was only one phrase to describe the group's current situation: they, and Inuyasha in particular, were screwed.

---

Ah, how I love putting my characters on edge. But seriously, with how Naraku always had some demon spying on the group, I always wondered why he hadn't attacked the well sooner than the end of the manga. It's not like he really had to have the whole Jewel before attempting anything, he could have just sent Kagura or another of his incarnations to crush the structure when the group wasn't there. But I guess Takahashi-san would have a problem with making it happen without the wel being destroyed in the end and she wasn't cruel enough to strand Kagome in the Feudal Era. Now me, on the other hand… *smiles devilishly*

Well, hope you enjoyed. How about dropping me a line? ;)

Next Chapter: Storm Clouds on the Horizon

See you then