Once at the palace, he leaped to her balcony and sat her gently on the floor to grab a towel and a sleep shirt for her. Kneeling in front of her, he took his soaked jacket off her shoulders and hated himself more as the bruises formed on her body. She was still too beautiful for her own good, banged up or not.

Wrapping the warm towel around her, he lightly rubbed her arms and legs before dressing her in a white sleep shirt. When he picked her up a second time to place her in bed, Kagome came to.

"I-InuYasha?"

Nodding his head, he was surprised by the hug she gave him. He closed his eyes and held onto her as sobs wracked her body.

"I knew you would come for me, but I didn't want you too either. I didn't want you to have to protect me."

Well that was very confusing to him, but he didn't want to interrupt her.

"I finally understand why you hate me so much, why being around me is a burden. It's because you can't stand knowing that you're bound to me for the rest of our lives. You can't stand to be around me, because I'm the reason you can't live a normal life."

Setting her down on the bed, he noticed she wouldn't let go of him, so he laid down with her.

"Kagome, you are right. I don't want to feel obligated to do any of this, but the reason why I've acted so cold is because I used to think that we were destined to meet and that fate set it up that way, but then I found out that it wasn't fate, but a centuries old promise passed down to all Takahashi men. It seemed like the friendship wasn't real anymore, and I felt betrayed. I loved being around you, but I hated having no choice in it."

Kagome was playing with the damp tendrils of his silver hair as she nuzzled into his chest.

"Don't you understand, InuYasha? The promise is fate. You could have been born in any other family, and so could I, but you were specifically born into the Takahashi's and I, the Higurashi's. That, in and of itself is fate bringing us together…that is destiny."

It took ten hard years for InuYasha to finally understand why his brothers acted the way they did around Kagome's sisters. This epiphany for him was a natural common sense for them. Looking down, InuYasha unwound himself and stood up.

"InuYasha! Please…don't leave me."

"I just need to get on some dry clothes, and then I'll be back."

He left for just a minute, but Kagome didn't want any time away from him.

She worried her lip, realizing after, that it was a bad idea as the bruising made it tender to the touch. Doing her best, she tried to move the covers, but winced as every part of her was in pain.

Running back into the room, InuYasha smirked at her and shook his head.

"Couldn't wait for me to come back, huh?"

Kagome smiled and let him maneuver the covers over her, thrilled beyond belief to see that smirk she loved so much when they were younger.

"Wait, will you lay with me?"

Glancing down and back up, InuYasha nodded his head and crawled in beside her. She scooted in and curled up into his bare chest. He hid the moan that wanted to escape as he wrapped a protective arm around her.

"InuYasha, can things be the way they were before with us? When you would smile a lot, laugh a lot, and hold me like this?"

Leaning his head down, he gazed into her deep blue eyes, brushing her bangs out of her face.

"I'll do my best, now get some rest."

Kagome nestled in and sighed as a smile played on her lips before sleep overcame her. He worked his hands through her damp hair and understood how precious she was to him. The scene he came upon that night, those demons were lucky he didn't kill them. His sweet charge, Kagome, on her hands and knees, naked, humiliated, and beaten while the demons laughed at her expense. That was something he never wanted to see again.

Pulling her even closer, he kissed the top of her head, letting his lips linger longer than need be.

"I promise you, Kagome. You will never suffer, like you did tonight, ever again. I will protect you, my sweet beautiful Kagome."

It was raining, the sidewalk was hard beneath her. Why did she leave the safety of her palace?! Hands touched her, dirty uncivilized hands were groping and pulling at her skin. The pain was too much! The truth of her situation was too horrible and damaging to think about. All she wanted to do was scream.

"Kagome! Kagome! Wake up!"

Her eyes shot open and InuYasha could see the memories of her attack reflected in their blue depths. Caressing the side of her face with his thumb, he watched her relax and lean into him. He was her sanctuary.

"InuYasha, tell me it never happened."

Holding her still, he closed his eyes as the onslaught of guilt tightened his throat.

"I wish I could, Kagome. At least he didn't succeed in taking what he wanted."

Tilting her head up with his fingers, InuYasha stared into her eyes filled with a fragileness and vulnerability he never saw there before.

"I understand now that me caring for you isn't an annoyance or a pain, it's what will keep you safe. My feelings will make me strong, it'll make me a great Guardian for you, and the events of last night will not be repeated. I won't let anyone hurt you again."

She smiled through her sorrow and felt tears brimming.

"You care about me?"

Chuckling he kissed her forehead, something Kagome was completely not ready for.

"Silly girl, I've cared about you since we were little. I just didn't think I could watch over you correctly and be your friend. Now I know differently and I never want to be away from you again."

That did it. Whether her body was still roaring with pain or not, she didn't care as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. This was what she always wanted! If she was entirely honest with herself, she wanted more than friendship but she was willing to let that go for now.

"Oh, InuYasha! My best friend, I'm so glad to have you back."

"I'm glad to be back."

Why did her close proximity make his body hum with excitement? Did he just feel his heart speed up too? InuYasha rested his head on her shoulder, inhaling her scent and resisting the urge to nuzzle the tender spot.

Smirking, he lifted his face to whisper in her ear, "I think today you should stay in bed and rest. Don't worry about studying."

Shivers erupted from her body, but not of disgust like with Kouga, no, these were shivers of desire. The way his breath felt hot on her skin, his lips so close to touching her sensitive neck. Kagome closed her eyes and bit her lip to keep from moaning.

"Mm kay."

Getting up from the bed, he chuckled at the whine and pout from her.

"I'll be right back. Oh, did you want me to get some movies to watch?"

"Yes, please!"

Stepping out of the room, he shut the door and ran his hand through his hair. He needed to stay strong for her, so if he was going to break down then now was the time to do it. Running to his room, he let himself cry and let out all the shame and regret for the way he'd been treating her. It was because of him that she was even in that situation, and no matter how strong their relationship might get, it won't change last night's events.

Wiping his eyes, he grabbed some movies she might like and made his way back.

"InuYasha!"

He turned around to see Rin and Sessomaru staring intently at him.

"Hey guys, is everything alright?"

Tilting his head to the side, Sesshomaru questioned whether or not his brother was dropped on his head too much as a child.

"We should be asking you that, so is Kagome alright? Did you finally make up with her?"

Of course! The last time he spoke to everyone was when he was taking dinner to her. They didn't even know what happened.

"She's fine, and we did make up. Things are going to be different from now on."

He dashed into the room and was thankful he didn't run into Sango and Miroku as well.

Kagome moaned a little from the bed.

"InuYasha, would you see if there's any Advil in the bathroom?"

"Sure."

He opened the door next to her closet and rummaged through the drawers, until he found it. Using a disposable cup, he got some cold water from the sink and made his way back to the bed.

"You need some help sitting up?"

Trying to move her body, she let out a small yell as her body protested. InuYasha rolled his eyes and lifted her up, careful to miss the bruises on her sides. No doubt those were made by the wolf demon's hands. Being so forceful with such a gentle girl…maybe InuYasha should have killed him.

"Thanks, InuYasha."

He watched her lift the cup to her mouth and he could easily see the hand-shaped bruise on her wrist. What the hell happened before he got there!? Even her usually pink lips were a tinge of blue and slightly swollen.

Sitting down next to her, he grabbed the empty cup and place it on her nightstand. He reached his hand out to brush her hair away from her face, and saw another bruise along her jaw.

"Kagome, I don't want you to relive this nightmare, but I need to know. What happened before I got there? What did they do to cause so many bruises?"

Suddenly finding the comforter interesting, Kagome recalled the key moments for him.

"I was on my way to the train station. I had decided to release you from your duty by disappearing, so you could be free to live a life you want. Not far from the station, Kouga and the other wolf demons came up to me. I wish I could say it was a blur, but I remember every detail as one big wolf demon held my wrists above my head, dangling me in the air while Kouga opened my jacket. He liked what he saw and I knew this was going to be bad if I didn't escape, so I started kicking. That was a big mistake; he grabbed me and positioned himself between my legs. When he started moving his hands higher and higher, walking closer to me, grabbing my ass and ripping my panties off, I panicked and screamed your name as loud as I could."

He saw tears fall and dampen the comforter, but she continued through them.

"Kouga didn't like me screaming another man's name, and slapped me hard across the face. Then he told the demon holding me up in the air to drop me. I hit the sidewalk hard, and if the pain wasn't enough, he ripped my dress off! All I wanted to do was curl up and hide myself from them, but Kouga wasn't finished. He slammed his lips onto mine; I'm very thankful my first kiss was you and not him. So, after that, he picked me up, flipped me over, and forced my hands and knees into the concrete. Then he said something that made my blood run cold."

Settling into the bed with her, InuYasha gently cradled her bruised body.

"What did he say?"

She wrapped her arms around his naked torso and took a deep breath.

"He said, 'it would be the best rutting he's ever had and it would be a privilege to take my maidenhood, after all, how many demons could say they've had a Higurashi woman?'"

Well that was interesting. How did Kouga know she was of the Higurashi bloodline when they never left the palace, and if they ever did, it was discreetly.

"So, next was when I arrived."

"Yeah. I-I lost all hope. I really thought, this is it, my innocence was going to be taken by a monster, instead of someone I love. There was no coming back from it. Then…you saved me. I could never repay you, but maybe you'll let me do one thing when I'm better."

Tilting her head up, he smirked at her.

"And what might that be?"

Smiling, she summed up the courage and lifted her aching arm to cup his cheek.

"You'll find out when I'm better."

He gazed into her eyes and saw so much trust in them. He would earn that trust again one day, but for now he would show her all he could offer, a life of fun, laughter, and joy.

Setting her hand down, he jumped up to quickly put the movie in and lay back on the bed with her. She scooted her upper body on top of him, resting her head on his chest as she watched the movie. He wrapped his arm around her tiny waist and lightly rubbed her back, more aware than ever of how dear his charge…how dear Kagome was to him. Said girl was lazily grazing his stomach with her fingers, making small invisible designs.

"Kagome?"

She looked up at him and smiled, "yes, InuYasha?"

"As nice as that feels, you may be involuntarily causing certain things to happen."

"Certain things?"

"Come on, don't make me spell it out. You're a pretty girl, I'm a boy, and you are running your soft fingers up and down my abs."

Putting two and two together, Kagome peaked down and felt the blush rise to her cheeks. She was pretty happy to elicit that reaction from him, but it was a bit shocking.

"I'm sorry, InuYasha. Do you want me to stop?"

Chuckling, he turned his head back to the movie.

"You can keep on if you want. I just didn't want my 'situation' to freak you out, if you happened to look down."

Smiling wide, Kagome started watching the movie again and moved her fingers, tracing the outline of each ab. Of course, it was hard to pay attention to the movie when he was rubbing her back. She wouldn't say anything though, it felt too good for him to stop.