Chapter 13
"What the hell? I'm in hell"
if you're squeamish, there's a brief depiction of violence in this chapter. Without giving anything away, when the knives come out (literally-you'll know when this is), that's your cue that it's not going to get better.
The rain was utterly and completely relentless. It didn't stop, didn't let up, and it was so thick that Kirara could've flown overhead, and he probably wouldn't have noticed. Kagome had passed clear out, still wrapped in his haori, which concerned him after her near drowning, but it also wasn't the worst thing that she could do either.
He slowed down at the edge of a river, swollen and muddy, gauging his jump carefully. He landed on the edge, preparing to make the leap across to the other side.
But as he landed, the ground crumbled underneath his feet, sending the both of them plunging into the water.
His hand shot out to grab onto the bank, but it crumbled away under his claws, the current sending him tumbling head over heels in the water, threatening to pull her away from him. He tightened his grip on her, keeping her close and safe against him, while he tried vainly to find purchase, somewhere, anywhere as the river rushed them farther and farther from where they'd been.
"Inu—!" Kagome's cry was cut off as a wave of water crested over her face.
He had to get her out of the river.
The water was rushing too quickly for him to get his footing well enough to leap out, and it was just deep enough that he could remain completely submerged, still tumbling in the impossible current, even as his feet and toes dragged the bottom.
He was so focused on getting them out of the water that he neglected to consider the dangers in the water itself, and he only caught sight of the rapids a half second before they struck—each one a practical battering ram, and he only just managed to twist himself each time to take the brunt of the blow.
"Kago—ugh!" She started to slip as he struck another rock, but wrenched himself around to grab at it with his one free hand. He managed to snag a weak grip, fingers struggling against their weight and the push and pull of the current. He could get a better hold, but that would require letting go of her, and he couldn't. He just needed—straining, he managed to get his feet against the rock, ready to push off and out of the water, as something solid and heavy struck the back of his head, sending the both of them tumbling back under the surface of the water as she let out a small cry.
Kagome's form slid out of his arms, fingernails scratching thin lines across his forearm as fear and water swept over her features, and he panicked, reaching out to catch any part that he could, but the water was swift and unforgiving. He caught another rock, halting his movements just before he could grab his haori again, watching in horror as it disappeared in the murkiness of the water. He quickly clambered on the rock, slipping for only just a moment, before leaping off to find her, calling out her name as he moved.
"I"m sorry, what?" Kagome asked, for the moment, the fight seeping out of her.
"You heard me," Hina laughed, her face turning to glance outside the doorway from where she sat blocking it.
"That's not even possible." Kagome stared at her trying to figure out what the plan or reasoning was behind this latest charade.
"Is it though?" Hina titled her head with a smile on her face. "Is it really?
Kagome shook her head in response.
"I'm not dead."
"I thought that too, at first. But here we are."
"But—that's not—when?"
Hina let out a soft sign of exasperation at the entire conversation.
"Think about it, Kagome. Use that brain you bragged about so much when we—well, when you were younger."
Kagome opened her mouth to retort, before hesitating. Hina's eyes darkened as she leaned forward, a grin seeping its way onto her face.
Was she?
Was that possible?
Shouldn't the place of the dead be—nicer than a ramshackle hut that looked about ready to fall down?
Her eyes darted around the hut, trying to find some flaw some sort of mistake that would let her poke holes in this lie that Hina was telling her. But it looked solid and felt as real as anything she'd ever touched.
"The place is what you make of it. I thought that something that would seem plausible and somewhat familiar would make the transition easier."
Kagome turned her gaze back onto the form of her friend.
"No, that's impossible," she shook her head again. "I saw him. We were there. Inuyasha—"
"Didn't make it in time." Hina shifted towards her, slightly, waiting to see Kagome's reaction. "Your mind filled in the blanks it wanted to see. What it hoped for most. You wanted to live, Kagome. Everyone does."
The dream licked at the fringes of her mind. Her body felt heavier now.
"The man and the woman?"
"You were drowning. Everyone struggles to find their peace. It's a way of coping."
"No," Kagome whispered, hands covering her face.
"You drowned Kagome," Hina explained. "It's a simple fact."
"No." She shook her head at the thought.
"I don't want it to be true any more than you."
"No."
"Inuyasha came for you, but he was too late." This time a hand rested on top of her head. "He tried—He tried, if that makes a difference."
Kagome shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I promise it gets easier."
"Can I see him?"
Hina sighed.
"It will only make the letting go worse."
"I need to see him, please. I need to tell him—" Kagome's statement drifted off as she realized that she'd never really get to see him again. "Is he okay? How long has it been?"
"Long enough, Kagome. He knows that you're gone. He knows that he can't save you."
"Do—does everyone else know?"
"He brought your body back to your mother." Hina tilted her head; it was a question that didn't need speaking. "She was—distraught."
Kagome narrowed her eyes at the statement; something felt wrong—off.
"And Inuyasha?"
Hina gave her a sad smile.
"I've never seen a man weep harder than he did."
Kagome shifted down the wall slightly.
She hadn't mentioned Sango or Miroku. Inuyasha would tell them, if she was, in fact, dead.
"Why you?"
Hina stared at her for a moment, head tilting in question again. It was an inhuman reaction.
"What do you mean?"
"Why you?"
"I'm here to help you accept it. I came because I am your friend."
"No, why you?"
Hina stared at her blankly, still not comprehending the conversation or the question asked.
"Why not someone from my family? Why not my father? My grandmother? Why you?"
"A friendly face is often the easiest to accept."
The excuse was palpably lame.
"So why you? Out of everyone that I've lost, why your face? What makes you so special to me?"
"We were friends, Kagome."
"We were," she agreed. "But you are not the most important person that I've lost." Kagome shifted again so that she was crouched next to the wall.
"There's no where to go, Kagome. You can't stop being dead."
"You keep saying that," she argued, eying the doorway with a sneaking suspicion that it was the key to all of this. "But I know a demon with a sword and a priestess that would beg to differ."
"Regardless," Hina said, standing to her feet and dusting off her skirt. "You are dead. You should accept it."
Kagome rose with her, both of them staring at each other from across the hut. It didn't take long to realize that Hina would attempt to keep her here.
"Why not my father?"
"I really don't see what this has to do with anything at the moment."
"You chose her face. You chose Hina's face for a reason. And I want to know why!"
"I didn't choose anything. This is my face, you absolute idiot."
Hina's eyes narrowed, darkening in the anger and probably frustration at this point; Kagome had never been the perfect or ideal hostage, and she wasn't starting now.
Kagome stared at her, waiting, watching her reaction, before it started to click into place.
She always thought that it was Hina. That she—it—knew what Hina did.
"You didn't know my dad was dead, did you?" Because Hina would've known. Hina had been there when Kagome's life fell apart all those years ago. Hina had helped her pick up the pieces and glue everything back together, which is why when she died, it was such a devastating blow.
Hina didn't respond immediately, fueling Kagome's theories and suspicions.
"You were just guessing. This entire time—it was all just a wild guess, wasn't it?"
"It was really nothing personal."
"Fuck. You."
Hina let out a low laugh.
"Watch it or I'll have to wash your mouth out with soap. That dog has been a poor influence for you."
"I'm leaving," Kagome said, fists clenched, and taking a broad step towards the door.
"That is—ill-advised." Hina moved to stand in the doorway, hands on the jambs.
"You really think I'm going to just stay here without a fight?"
"If you would just give it a little bit more time, we wouldn't have to worry about any of this."
Well, that statement was terrifying. That meant time was limited, and there was something outside of all this that was happening, and she didn't realize it or even know what it was.
Kagome took another step forward, reaching Hina.
"What are you going to do, Higurashi?" Hina urged, standing up straighter and meeting her height, something the real Hina wouldn't have been able to do.
And in that moment, Kagome did something that proved Inuyasha was a royally bad influence on her.
She punched a ghost in the face.
Inuyasha caught a flash of red as he ran. It was just ahead of him in the water.
"Kagome!" He shouted, running ahead to the log that had wedged itself into the flow of the stream. If he made it, he'd be able to snatch her out of the water. He leapt onto it, feeling it shift under his sudden weight.
It just had to hold for another few moments. His eyes strained, looking for the red again.
The log shifted, sliding down against the embankment.
Just another second.
She was almost here.
It just needed to hold for another second.
He caught the flutter of his sleeve, the pale hand that rolled in the water.
With a shout, he plunged his hand into the water, catching a fistful of his fire rat in his hand, hauling her up one-handed, only to watch in horror as she started to slip out of his haori and back into the waters below. Scrabbling, he grabbed her wrist with his other hand as the log beneath them jolted almost dislodging him. Clutching her against him, he leapt as the wood beneath his feet was swept away in the torrent. He landed, slipping in the mud, feeling the water trying to pull him back under, sucking at his ankles and calves.
He practically rolled them away from the water, panting from the exertion and the fear, clutching her limp body tightly against his.
"Shit," he muttered to the rain and roaring water. His heart was pounding in his chest as he cradled the girl closer. "Kagome?" He asked, but she didn't respond, laying limply across him. He shifted again, laying her on the ground, and watching wide-eyed at her stillness.
She was still again.
"Kagome?"
He shook her almost violently, and her head bounced in the mud.
"Kagome!"
The rain pounded around them.
"You can't do this!"
He pressed down across her ribs in sharp jabs, trying to dislodge the water in her chest with enough force that he was afraid he'd wind up breaking them. It had worked before though.
"Come on, Kagome!" He gave her another solid thrust, pressing his ear to her chest. There was a gurgle just underneath her skin. "That's it!" He leaned over her face, blocking the rain as he cupped her cheek. "Spit it out, Kagome!"
But nothing came. Nothing at all.
He shook her, slamming her shoulders down into the muddy earth. It worked before. It had saved her before, so why not now?
"No! No, you don't get to do this to me! Not again!"
He stared at her face, at her, trying to figure out something to help.
"What am I supposed to do?" He shouted—at her, at the wind and the rain, whatever and whomever was listening. "What the fuck am I supposed to do!"
He cradled her against him, burying his face into her hair. It smelled of rain and river water, but he didn't care.
"Please breathe," he whispered. "Please. Please, breathe." He took a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry." His hand cradled the back of her head, holding her against his shoulder.
This wasn't happening. It wasn't. It couldn't. He'd just found her. He'd just gotten her back, and then this bullshit—no, no, he wasn't losing her to some stupid river because he wasn't strong enough or fast enough or nimble enough to avoid it.
"You can have whatever you want," he begged whatever deity was listening, "whatever you want from me, just not her. Okay? Just not her." His eyes burned as he rocked the both of them. "You can't take her away."
He pressed her tightly against him, as tight as he could manage, claws gripping onto her clothes so tightly he knew that she'd complain about the holes later.
She convulsed against him, so suddenly that he nearly dropped her.
But then she coughed so hard, it looked like a convulsion as water projectile vomited out of her mouth and nose.
A couple more racking coughs, and she took a deep gasping breath as he encouraged her quietly, holding her upright.
"Shit," she muttered, holding tightly—albeit it weakly compared to normal—to his arm, grounding herself here with him.
"Kagome?" His free hand, pushed the hair back from her face, and she looked up at him. Eyes bloodshot and body trembling against him. But she gave him a tremulous smile, one that beamed pride.
"I knew it," she whispered, quaking fingers sliding up against his cheek. "She tried—" She coughed weakly, still spitting up water, "I got away."
"What?" He asked, searching her face as she stared at him, almost awe-struck. He smoothed one hand over her head, pushing the hair away from where it stuck to her skin.
She sputtered a bit, shaking her head, blinking the water out of her face.
"What?" He repeated, still trying to grasp that she was here and safe. Well, safe-ish.
She frowned, shivering as she looked up at him. Her cold fingers trembled against his skin.
He mentally shook himself as she touched his face.
"Was I—?" She looked down at herself, letting out small little coughs as she did. "She said—" Her eyes turned back up to him. "I'm alive?"
The fact that she phrased it like a question sent him into action. He gathered her up against him an arm around her back and the other cradling her head as he ducked his face into her shoulder.
"You're okay," he told her and himself. "You're okay. I promise."
She clutched at him weakly as she let out a sob against his shoulder, so soft that he barely heard it over the rain. He felt the sharp fall of her chest as she cried against him.
He couldn't blame her; he needed a minute too.
Kagome was not ashamed of how she'd acted afterwards. She'd clung to him like a small child, refusing to let go of his neck for any reason.
In all fairness, the last time she'd nearly drowned. Did drown? Almost drowned?
She buried her face against his neck searching out the warmth of his skin against her own.
It was okay, because he didn't seem to inclined to let her go either, and he was running much slower than before.
Her body ached with exhaustion, and her chest felt like it was on fire, even though she was freezing. She knew it had to be gross feeling her cough on him, but he said nothing about it otherwise.
The only words he'd actually spoken was that he was taking her back to Kaede's and that they weren't stopping.
She was fine with that. She'd much rather be wrapped up in blankets around the fire at Kaede's anyway.
He paused at the edge of another river. She felt Inuyasha swallow, shift his grip slightly so she was tucked up tighter against him before he leapt across the water. Her grip had tightened as he leapt, and she was sure that she left nail marks in his flesh afterwards.
Landing in a crouch on the opposite bank, he paused as she exhaled slowly, not realizing she'd held her breath as he'd leaped across. Releasing her death grip, he stood, shifting his grip on her legs slightly, more hoisting her back up to where she should've been, and then took off running again.
He definitely moved slower now.
"Are you okay?" She asked, and he grunted out an affirmative answer.
Sensing that was as close to an actual response that she was going to get at the moment, she returned her head to his shoulder as he ran through the rain and lightning back towards the village.
When he landed in the village proper, the rain had not lightened up at all, and she was pretty sure that she'd never feel all of her fingers ever again.
Lightning flashed overhead and she braced herself for the roar of thunder that came a second later, still making her jump even though she expected it.
"We're almost there," he said, moving towards Kaede's hut. A few more bounds and he came to a complete stop underneath the awning, though that did little to ward off the rain when it blew almost sideways.
She could see a fire through the mat, which meant that someone was home at least.
"Oi! Kaede!" Inuyasha shouted, pushing at the mat that had been secured at the floor with his foot. "Undo the fucking mat and let me in!"
"Inuyasha!" Sango shouted from behind the screen as the it moved.
"We've been worried about you. We barely made it back before—" Miroku paused as he pulled the mat aside, staring at Inuyasha and then at Kagome. "Kagome?!"
"Kagome!" came Shippo's cry from inside.
"You found her!" Sango shouted.
"Of course I did. Can we all fucking move now?"
Both Miroku and Sango moved so that he could step inside, soaked and dripping as he stepped up onto the wooden floor.
"Kagome!" Shippo called again, preparing to leap.
"Stay down, runt," he snapped. "She's hurt."
Shippo skidded to a halt, wide green eyes taking in the disheveled state of her.
"Stay there, Inuyasha, I will get ye a towel," Kaede said as she went to a small chest and dragged out some towels for the both of them. "Miroku, get Kagome by the fire before she catches cold."
"She hurt her foot, and she's got a big ass bruise across her back, so—" Inuyasha started as he shifted to hand her off to Miroku, which meant letting go of Inuyasha.
"No!" She shouted, practically climbing her way up his chest and shoulders as she tried to get leverage to hold herself against him.
"Shit!" Inuyasha cursed, almost fumbling in his attempt to keep her from tumbling to the ground. She had her arms firmly wrapped around his neck, having almost thrown herself from her semi-reclined position, hands clutching fistfuls of fabric against his shoulder blades. She'd curled her legs up, despite the angry protests of her muscles at the action and should've been surprised that she hadn't managed to topple the both of them over in the process. "Fuck, Kagome. It's just Miroku."
She shook her head when he shifted his grip, scrabbling to keep hold of his shirt. She couldn't let go of him. She couldn't risk it. She couldn't.
"Kagome," Sango's voice was calm as she spoke. "Inuyasha isn't going anywhere. He's just going to dry off a bit. We're just going to warm you up, that's all."
But that wasn't the issue. The issue was letting go, because letting go meant that she would relinquish the only thing that she was sure meant everything happening was real and good and honest. She was so tired of dreaming.
"I swear, my cursed hand will behave itself," Miroku added as Sango let out a snort, "but let Sango and Kaede help you change into dry clothes."
"No," she whispered, knowing that Inuyasha could hear her. "Please."
"Kagome, it'll be fine. Let go and let Sango and the hag get you warmed up." There was a pause. "Nothing bad is going to happen."
"You don't know that," she whispered.
"Kagome, Kaede and I have sealed the hut against every type of spirit we could think of. This is the safest place that you can be. Nothing will get in and harm you. You have my word on it."
Maybe, maybe he was right. Maybe this was safe. If both he and Kaede worked on it, then maybe Hina or whatever wouldn't be able to get in. Easing up on her death grip on his kosode, she felt her weight slip a little bit off his shoulders.
"It's okay," Inuyasha told her, shifting his grip slightly as she let her trembling fingers release the final vestiges of his clothing.
Miroku's arm snaked around her back and under her arms, pulling her away as she inhaled sharply at the sudden pressure his arm put on her abused back.
"Lower your arm, idiot. She's bruised there!" He jostled her a bit as he lowered his arm to alleviate her pain. She was also becoming increasingly aware of the cold, shivering despite the sharp pain it erupted in her already stiff and sore muscles.
"Set her behind the screen, Miroku," Kaede told him. "I put an old yukata there for her." She handed Inuyasha a couple towels to dry himself off with.
Miroku carried her to the small screened off area, setting her down on the floor with Sango just a step behind him.
"Check her foot. Her arm's got a scratch on it that doesn't look good either."
"Aye, Inuyasha, now dry off before you flood the rest of my home."
Sango shooed Miroku out and started pulling the remnants of Kagome's pajamas off of her, peeling the wet fabric off and revealing the extent of the damage she'd accrued. Her shivering only increased as her skin was exposed to the air.
"Kagome!" Sango said, staring at the dark bruises covering her body, the towel still in her hand. "Inuyasha wasn't kidding. Where did you get these?"
A hard shiver made Kagome wince and Sango nimbly began drying her with a towel.
Thankfully, she wasn't entirely distracted as she draped the yukata over her naked form, allowing Kagome to slip her hands into the sleeves and begin to tie the robe shut.
"Let me see your arm, child."
"You can do that by the fire," Inuyasha called from the other side of the screen. Kaede narrowed her eye at the half-demon through the screen. Kagome felt like she was on the verge of her teeth chattering, and after a quick glance, Kaede agreed, stepping aside to allow Sango to slip an arm around her neck and haul her up to her feet.
Stifling a whimper, she barely took a limping step before Inuyasha darted in front of her devoid of his kosode and lifted her off her feet with relative ease.
"Pretty sure I told you she's got a bad foot."
"Aye, and I'm sure I told ye not to drip all over my floors."
"Wood dries, you nag."
"Aye, but ye are not the one who cleans it."
"Sorry, Kaede," Kagome told her, and the old woman waved it off behind Inuyasha's back.
He set her down in front of the fire that Miroku had built up slightly in the chill of the rain.
"Now that our hanyou friend is satisfied, let me see the arm." Kaede held her hands out expectantly, and Kagome put her quivering limb in her hands, watching as she turned it over to inspect the scratch as Sango sat behind her, gently toweling her hair dry.
Shippo crawled into her lap, the weight of his little body making her wince at the pressure it put on her already sore muscles. Everything hurt, and she was simultaneously cold and hot all at the same time.
"Inuyasha is right. This does not look well at all." In the light of the fire, her arm looked inflamed—infected was the word that came to mind, but she opted to not think in that direction. It just needed a good cleaning and to not be exposed to the wind and rain and dirt. And river water.
"Where have you been, Kagome?" Shippo asked, and she realized that they were all waiting to hear the story too. "We were worried."
"I—" she started, swallowing. "I don't know." She looked at the expectant faces around the fire. "Honest, I don't know how I got through the well or where I was. I woke up in the forest—I didn't even know if I was in my time or here. I swear it."
"We believe you," Sango assured her as she began to drag a comb through her hair.
"How long have I been here?"
"You went missing five days ago," Miroku started. He kept talking, but she never heard any of it.
Five days. Five days! How had she been missing for that long and never—how did she get here? Oh God, her mother must be losing her mind, and how did she get five days from the well without someone seeing her? What did not-Hina do to her?
She looked at her hand, trying to rationalize everything that had happened in what she thought had been a couple days, but five? Five days? She'd been missing for almost a week and had little to no recollection of it at all.
The bandage around her right arm was almost brown with dirt and sweat.
Her chest burned, and it was Sango that wrapped her arms around her, dragging her back against her.
"Calm down. It's okay," she whispered. "Breathe, Kagome."
"Here," came Inuyasha's voice from behind, and Sango shifted away for just a moment before a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
"None of us will let anything happen to you," Sango reassured her as she wrapped her arms around her from behind.
Inuyasha sat down beside her, and she flinched as Kaede scrubbed the scratch on her arm. Shippo shifted, and Kagome jerked at the pressure of his body on her leg.
"Off, runt," Inuyasha commanded, literally tossing Shippo by his tail into Miroku's chest.
"Inu—" Her voice was cut off with a deep wet cough.
Kaede paused, watching and listening.
"Sango, set the kettle for tea."
Sango stood slowly, making sure that Kagome would stay upright when she left.
Another cough and Inuyasha lightly patted her back once before he remembered the giant bruise and retracted his hand.
Sitting upright was quickly becoming painful though, and she shifted to alleviate the pull and pressure on her back.
Kaede was wrapping her arm, and her shivering hadn't abated at all. Not to mention her chest still throbbed and burned with each cough that broke through, no matter how hard she tried to suppress it.
Sango hung the kettle over the fire as Kagome shifted yet again, trying to edge in closer to the fire, hoping it would relieve the tension in her muscles and her back.
"Kagome, can ye tell us what happened, at least until Inuyasha found ye?"
"There's not a lot to tell," she paused to let out a very wet cough, wet enough that she was pretty sure she was tasting river water as her lungs forced it out. "I woke up, and I realized that I was lost."
"Was there anything strange that you noticed?" Sango asked, settling down behind her to brush out her hair.
"Not really strange," she mused, clearing her throat. "It looked like someone had run around a lot, there were broken branches and footsteps everywhere."
"Sounds like someone trying to hide their tracks."
Kagome coughed again, shaking her head.
"I think they were trying to hide my tracks." She cleared her throat. "I tried to see what direction I'd come, but it was impossible."
"What else Kagome?" Kaede asked as she stood to go pull herbs for the tea, as well as looking at varying medicines in her store.
"That cough doesn't sound good," Sango mentioned, taking a look at the dirty bandage around her other arm and beginning to unwrap it.
Kagome glanced at Inuyasha, who stared at her intently.
"Aye, I fear ye have been out in the rain for too long."
"It wasn't all the rain," Kagome murmured, fingering the border of the blanket around her, shifting again because her back ached terribly. "I was out when it started raining, but then lightning struck a tree, and I got stuck underneath it."
"Is that where the bruises came from?"
Kagome coughed and shook her head.
"That was from the fucking bear youkai that tried to drown her."
"Pretty sure he didn't just try," her point was enunciated with another hacking cough.
"What does that mean?" Miroku asked, leaning forward slightly.
"Ah, well," Kagome started, but Kaede interrupted with a small cup of liquid and then poured hot water into pot to let the tea steep. "I actually don't really know what happened on that point." She looked to Inuyasha, who definitely wasn't happy about having to regale the group with that particular story.
"I was on my way back, when I felt her reiki flare." He paused, turning to look at her, tilting his head slightly. "Why did it do that?"
She shrugged, stifling another pathetic round of coughs.
"Anyway, saw the bear youkai, took it down, and went looking for her. Idiot was trapped underneath."
"It wasn't like I had a choice!" She started, but her chest twinged, and she devolved into a series of deep, hacking coughs that left her almost wheezing for air.
"Drink the medicine, and then the tea. All of it, Kagome." Kaede handed her a cup of tea as she took the tincture like a shot almost. The bitter taste was quick, and she was grateful for the tea.
"So you almost—" Sango's eyes widened as she came the same conclusion that Miroku began to voice.
"I'm okay though!" She reassured them. "Inuyasha saved me!"
"Kagome, that's terrible!" Sango shouted.
"That Inuyasha saved me?"
"No, that you almost drowned!"
"Oh, yeah, but the river was way worse."
"The river?" Miroku asked.
Inuyasha sighed beside her, and she looked over at him.
"What happened at the river?" He repeated.
Her head felt—disjointed. Floaty. And everything that had started to hurt to a point of unbearable-ness was suddenly not quite the same issue as before. All that was fading. She smiled at him as he watched her, eyes narrowed as he studied whatever it was that he was looking at.
"Yeah," she mumbled as her head lolled back on her shoulder slightly, "what happened at the river, Inuyasha?"
"What the fuck did you give her?" Inuyasha asked someone over her shoulder, sniffing at the cup that she was holding.
"Something for the cough and the pain," Kaede said, and Kagome turned her head to look at her as the floor tipped slightly underneath her making her wobble a little or a lot. "I did not think it would be this potent. It should not be."
Inuyasha let out a small growl of frustration. He was always frustrated. He should really relax.
"She hasn't fucking eaten in at least two days," he growled. "And you gave her fucking sake?"
"It is sake-based, Inuyasha. It is the nature of the medicine to make it work quickly."
"Great, she's fucking drunk on a cup of sake."
"Mmm, not drunk," Kagome argued feeling the tingling stretching out from the pit of her stomach to her fingers. She splayed her hand open, staring at the tendons in her fingers as they moved.
"The fuck you aren't."
"Ye still need to drink some tea," Kaede said, pouring a cup.
"She needs some fucking food."
"The tea will help with the cough, especially if she had water in her lungs. We will get her food when we know she will keep it down."
Kagome reached out to take the cup from Kaede, when the ground tried valiantly to smack her in the face. Not that she caught herself or anything; in fact, it was very much the complete opposite. Her face was spared the indignity by clawed fingertips poking into her cheek and jaw.
"Wow," Kagome murmured, shifting her head to stare at the inhumanly gorgeous man next to her. "You're really fast."
Someone snorted a laugh behind him, and she started to push herself up to see, but Inuyasha was faster than she was, twisting her around and wrapping the blanket solidly around her, trapping her arms inside.
"You hold onto her," he ordered, grabbing the tea cup from Kaede and holding it out for her to take. Sango shifted so that Kagome was leaning back against her, but allowing her hands free enough to hold onto the cup.
"So Inuyasha," Miroku started, an obvious smile on his face.
"You say one fucking word, and I will cut your throat in your sleep, monk."
"Inuyasha," Kagome chided, and he turned towards her, eyes narrowed. "That is not how we make friends."
Sango sputtered out a laugh behind her, and Miroku covered the lower half of his face even though his shoulders shook.
"That explains a lot, doesn't it?" Shippo added with a grin on his face too.
Kagome nodded sagely at his observation.
"Please just drink the fucking tea," he moaned, head in his hand, as his other motioned for her to continue drinking.
She took a few more sips, not her favorite flavor of tea, but it was palatable enough, but when her cup was empty, she had nowhere to set it.
They were talking, but quite frankly, she was bored. And tired. She really just wanted to go to sleep. Sleep sounded good. But she needed something to lay on.
Looking at Inuyasha, who was currently glaring across the room, she leaned away from Sango, tugging on his pant leg. He stopped mid-sentence and looked at her.
"Leg," she ordered, and he raised an eyebrow at her.
"What?"
"Leg," she repeated, tugging at the fabric again, "fix it."
He shifted his leg so that it was straight out in front of him and flatter against the ground.
"Kagome, what—?"
She quickly curled up, tucking the blanket around her as she rested her head on his thigh.
The room was quiet, and she sighed, content to sleep there.
"I swear, any of you fuckers says a word," Inuyasha warned, but she was too tired and worn out to chastise him further.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow, they would work on making friends.
Kagome stilled, wrapped up securely in the blanket, passed out completely on his thigh. One of her hands clutched his hakama firmly between her fingers as she let out a half-sigh.
He stared at the sleeping girl for just a moment, just a singular moment.
Absolutely.
Fucking.
Adorable.
"So, Inuyasha," Miroku began clearly staring at him, a smile slowly spreading across his face.
"Shut it, Miroku," he snapped, already feeling the fatigue of the past week catching up to him, and he wasn't in the mood to deal with Miroku and all the bullshit that followed his opinions.
"All I was going to ask was—"
"Miroku," Sango's tone was firm, but it was enough to make him stop, gaze turning towards Sango.
Inuyasha snatched Shippo from where he was about to paw at the blankets Kagome had wrapped herself in.
"Don't you dare wake her up," he growled, tossing the little kitsune back at Miroku. "Sit over there."
"But I wanna sleep with Kagome!"
"You can sleep over there. She doesn't need you trying to nest."
Kagome stirred slightly, shifting against him, and he waited for just a moment before she settled.
"Inuyasha, perhaps ye can fill in some of the story that we are missing," Kaede suggested, pouring herself a cup of tea.
"What do you want to know?" He sighed with a huff, hand moving to rest on her shoulder. He just—he needed to—there had been so much almost loss, that he needed to physically feel her under his fingertips and make sure that she was still here and still alive.
"Kagome mentioned a river," Miroku started, and he blanched.
"The ground gave out and sent us both in." His fingers played with her hair, still damp, and she let out a small wet cough. "It was fast and deep and I had her, but a tree or something—anyway, she got knocked away," he said, swallowing. He glanced at his arm, where her nails had raked along the skin. There had been marks there earlier, but they were completely gone now.
He almost wished that they'd remained.
"I got her out, but she'd already—there was already water in her lungs again."
"Again?" Sango brought a hand to her face, covering her mouth, staring at the girl wrapped up in the blanket. "Twice?" She asked, and he nodded. "Poor Kagome, no wonder she's coughing so badly."
"Aye," Kaede mused with a frown. "Kagome will need to be watched tonight far more diligently than planned."
"Keh, I can do it. I don't need to sleep like you lot."
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Miroku asked. "Did you find anything that will show what might be behind this?"
"If there was anything, the rain washed it all away. There was nothing left by the time I got there."
His fingers were twirling around a lock of her hair, playing with the strand against his claw.
He'd almost lost her twice. Maybe even three times. He didn't exactly know what had happened to her while she'd been on her own.
But something still felt off.
"How far away was she?" Miroku asked.
"Almost two days at my speed."
"She shouldn't have been able to cover that amount of distance, especially dressed like she is," Sango mused as Kaede moved forward to look at her foot.
"No, there is something else at play here. And I do not like not knowing what it is either," Kaede added.
"Makes two of us at least," Inuyasha grumbled, shifting so that he could rest his chin on his palm.
Kagome remained asleep while Kaede cleaned her foot and bandaged it, remarking about its depth and the dirt inside of it.
"We will need to make sure she bathes when the rain stops. It would probably be best to take her home to her own healers."
Kagome tugged her foot away from Kaede's grasp as she finished wrapping it, tucking it back under the blanket. Her nose crinkled, and she let out a shiver. She was going to wind up ill at this rate. She needed something warmer.
"When the rains stop, I will return to the shrine and begin looking through the scrolls there. Perhaps I can find something that will help shed light on whatever this is haunting poor Kagome."
Kagome shivered again, drawing her legs up closer, making a small noise of displeasure.
"Are my clothes dry yet?" He asked, and Sango stood where they'd hung them on hooks from the ceiling to dry near the fire. She squeezed the fabric, taking them down and handing them over to Inuyasha. He slid on his kosode not bothering to tuck it back into his pants before draping his haori over her. He glanced up at Miroku, who wore a smirk on his face, and it just irked him. "What?"
"Absolutely nothing, my dear friend, just observing."
Kagome let out another rasping cough, and he frowned as he looked down at her, and then back at Kaede.
"There is nothing more that I can do for her aside from letting her rest." She took a sip of her tea, setting the cup on the floor. "But if ye are concerned enough, sleeping sitting upright would be beneficial for her."
Sleeping upright? Kagome had never, ever slept like that before, and he doubted that he could just shove her up against a wall and tell her to sleep like—oh.
Oh.
He'd have to—
Well, it wasn't the worst thing.
Kaede was pulling out her own bedding, and Sango and Miroku also began preparing to sleep.
"Come over here, Shippo," Sango stated, and the little kitsune looked between her and Kagome.
"You're not sleeping with her tonight," Inuyasha stated. "So don't even try it."
"Fine, then you're not sleeping with her either!"
"I could—" Miroku started, and both youkai turned towards him snarling. He recoiled with his hands up.
Inuyasha swiped at Shippo, who thought he'd sneak into Kagome's blankets while Inuyasha was distracted.
"Shippo, stop aggravating Inuyasha."
"But—!"
"Shippo, he's probably tired after running all this way with Kagome," Miroku added, eager to deflect attention away from himself in this case.
"But—!"
"You know Kagome wouldn't be happy with the way you're treating him right now."
Tail flicking, the runt seemed to be considering Sango's words, clearly pouting. Eventually, he skulked back towards Sango, curling up in her blankets with Kirara, while Miroku slept across the fire.
He waited until they were asleep. He waited until all of their breathing evened out and slowed before he moved, shifting the girl wrapped in the blankets between his legs, letting her slump against him, forehead resting against his throat. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him.
It would've been more comfortable against the wall, but she needed the warmth of the fire, judging by how tightly she'd curled herself under the blanket and his haori.
He kept both wrapped around her, and she coughed throughout the night.
After one particularly rough coughing spell, which he was genuinely surprised didn't wake her, she let out a low whine of discomfort. He pressed his cheek against her forehead, trying to feel for a fever, but thankfully found none.
Maybe they would get lucky and she would escape without having an illness on top of everything else. Though he hadn't felt quite so lucky lately. The river, the bear, Kikyo—it all felt very unlucky, and he marveled at the fact that he hadn't lost her yet.
He allowed himself the opportunity to hold her while no one else was watching or able to comment on it. Nuzzling her hair, resting his chin on her head, or allowing himself to simply stare at her; it felt like a gift that he didn't deserve.
She let out a low groan. How was it that her body hurt more today than it did yesterday? Every single muscle felt overused and overstretched, making every movement burn and ache.
"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, and she tilted her head back to look at him. She was leaning against his shoulder, curled up on her side and wrapped a blanket. He was wearing his kosode, and she wondered what had happened to his haori.
"Inuyasha?" She squinted in the brightness of the day; her head throbbed, and she groaned.
"Feel like shit, huh?" He asked, and she briefly considered punching him, but her punching hand already throbbed, she was in no mood to do anything else that would add to her misery.
She didn't even care to ask why she was sleeping on Inuyasha, well she did care, but she didn't have the energy or mental faculties to process whatever information he'd give her.
"Kaede left some breakfast for you," he said, shifting under her as he let her rest back on a cushion and stood to grab her leftover meal. "I'll get it."
"Cool. I'll stay here," she mumbled.
It was so fluid and graceful that she stared at him as he held the bowl out to her, looking at it and then back at him.
Seriously, how could anyone not love him? She put her hand out, and he gingerly placed the bowl in it, holding onto her chopsticks until he was sure that she would be able to hold it. He handed her the chopsticks, stopping her reach as he held her fingers, twisting her hand to view the dark blue bruise running across her knuckles.
"Where did you get this?"
"Huh?" She asked and he quickly raised her right hand to her eye level.
"Where," he emphasized like she was five, "did you get this?"
And this time she had to think about it.
"Oh," she said and frowned, "I think I got that when I punched her in the face?"
Inuyasha's head jerked back a little.
"Who did you punch in the face?"
"Hina."
He still looked taken aback, eyebrows raised and mouth gaping slightly.
"When did you punch her in the face?" He made a face, holding onto her fingers gently.
"In a dream, I think," she tugged her hand away from his and took a small bite, not realizing how famished she was until that first bite.
She scarfed through the entire bowl as Inuyasha watched. She paused when the bowl was empty, wishing she had the opportunity for a second helping, before realizing that they were alone in the hut.
"Where is everyone?"
"They all headed up to the shrine for research when the rain stopped this morning. They haven't been gone for too long though."
"Even Shippo?"
"Yeah, Kaede said she could use the runt to light all the candles, but mostly it was to get him out of here so he would let you sleep. Annoying little shit," he grumbled under his breath. "She said they wouldn't be up there all day, but it's going to start raining again."
"When?" She asked, looking at her knuckles as she set the bowl in her lap. She barely remembered the crack of her knuckles against Hina's cheekbone.
He sniffed the air, processing what he gathered.
"Probably later this afternoon, maybe tonight."
"We should go help, don't you think?" She suggested, shifting on the cushion. "It's kinda my problem, shouldn't I be—"
"It's kinda fucking everyone's problem, and you don't need to do anything except rest."
Kagome stared at him. His eyes were intensely staring, and she let out a sigh, nodding. The tenseness in his frame seemed to relax, and he took the bowl from her lap, moving to set it away.
"I can wash it," she started to sit up and hissed at the sharp pain in her back from the motion.
"You can fucking sit there," he sniped from the other side of the fire, sending her a glare.
"Are you seriously going to make me sit here the entire day and do nothing?" She asked him, and he gave her a look that implied the answer was 'yes.'
She groaned, letting her head fall back against the wall. Her chest spasmed, and she coughed violently, feeling fluid shift up into her throat only to be swallowed back down.
He gripped her shoulder, steadying her as she covered her mouth.
"Ugh, that is so gross," she murmured as he held out a cup of water for her. She drank it greedily.
She could almost taste the river water again, and it made her shiver.
"You cold?"
He was studying her, eyes darting all around as he tried to determine something.
"No," she spoke quietly. She'd almost drowned. She'd almost drowned twice. Twice. She could've died in that river. And Inuyasha would've been the only one who could've told her mother what had happened.
"Shitshitshit. Kagome don't cry! I swear whatever it is, I'll fix it, just don't cry!" She looked up at him as he was clearly panicking over something. "Sango is going to kick my ass! Stop crying!"
She reached her hand up, touching her cheeks, feeling the damp tear tracks.
"Sorry," she mumbled, wiping her face, feeling the grit on her hands. God, she must be absolutely filthy. "I think it just sunk in all at once is all." She wiped her face again, wincing as she pressed her knuckles against her face in wiping her eyes.
Inuyasha flopped against the wall next to her.
"Thank you," she mumbled, sniffling and staring at her bruised knuckles.
"For what?"
"For saving me from everything," she leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'd really be dead if it weren't for you."
"Keh, I promised, didn't I?" He held his hand out to her, palm up.
"Yeah," she sighed, "you did." She slid her hand over his, watching his fingers interlace with hers, folding down gently over the bruises, swallowing her own fingers.
She let her eyes drift closed in the quiet of the hut, belly full and completely safe.
The distant scratching against her scalp was pleasant, and she sighed at the contact. She was warm at least, but not too warm, just comfortable enough that she didn't really want to get up.
Except her bladder had other ideas.
Groaning, she pushed herself up, and the fact that it took so much effort wasn't something that she really wanted to acknowledge at the moment. Rubbing her face with one hand, she tried to bring her mind out of the fog and back into reality.
A loud clap of thunder overhead made her squeak and flinch wildly.
"It's just thunder," came Inuyasha's voice from behind her.
Another flinch as she slowly turned to look at him. She still ached, but it was manageable.
"Sorry," she apologized, giving him a smile so that he wouldn't worry. She turned and started to shove the blankets away, noting with a blush that his haori had been wrapped around her too.
She knew that he was watching her, could feel the stare at her back as he watched without speaking.
But a girl needed to pee, and she really needed to do that alone.
Getting to her feet proved a more difficult and painful task than she anticipated.
Kagome shifted her legs under herself, and started to heave herself up, already feeling the strain and ache in her muscles.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, already scooping his arms under her armpits and bodily hauling her upright. Except he kept her dangling so that her feet barely brushed the floor, enough that she could feel it, but not enough to allow her any sort of leverage.
"I just need a minute," she nodded towards the doorway, "you know, outside. Alone."
He scoffed, still holding her.
"Like I'm going to let you go out on your own. You're not going fucking anywhere alone."
She let her head fall back and groaned, before huffing and leveling a look at him. They were actually almost at eye level now, and his face looked flushed a little.
"I need to pee, Inuyasha, and you," she punctuated this word with a soft jab at his chest, "are not taking me to go pee."
"Look, it's either me or the bucket."
"I am not peeing in a bucket or with you."
"Then you ain't pissing anywhere, are you?"
"Please?" She begged. "Can you go get Sango at least? Then I won't be alone and you won't have to be all—" she waved her hands at him in a generalized gesture of vagueness.
"It's going to rain soon," he stated, as if that was reason enough for his refusal.
"All the more reason for you to hurry and go get her."
"Kagome, every time I have let you out of my sight, something has happened."
"Okay, but if you go get Sango, then I won't be out of anyone's sight when I go pee." Another peel of thunder. "Please? Pleasepleasepleaseplease Inuyasha?"
He growled, tilting his head back as he avoided her gaze; he was so close to giving in.
"I'll stay in here the whole time you're gone, I swear it. Miroku and Kaede said that nothing could get through the wards they placed, so I'm entirely safe."
"Kagome, we don't even know what's out there—"
"Inuyasha," she purposefully whined, clutching her hands in front of her, "my bladder is going to explode if I don't go pee and then I'll die from ruptured bladder. Can you please go get Sango if you won't let me go by myself?"
He groaned in frustration, and she knew that she had him. Staring at the wall for a moment, he plopped her down on the cushion, pulling his haori out, and she thought he was going to slide it back on, but instead, he wrapped her back up in it.
"You sit here in that until I get back. You don't move an inch."
"Promise. Scout's honor," she said, pulling the jacket closed in front of her.
"I don't care about a scout's honor, just don't move until I get back with Sango." Another roar of thunder overhead, and he grumbled, shoving the mat aside as he stepped through the doorway. He glanced over his shoulder at her, pausing for just a moment before leaping away.
She sat patiently, waiting to see if something would happen. Hina, or whatever she was, there was always something that happened when she was alone.
Honest to God though, she really did have to pee something fierce.
So she sat, waiting and watching the door.
The wind picked up outside, and the mat began to shift slightly, swaying in breeze.
She wanted to crawl over and secure it to the floor to stop it. It felt like it was just an open door where anything or anyone could come in. But she'd promised Inuyasha that she wouldn't move, and she wasn't to violate that trust.
But that waving door called to her, grating against her nerves. She could just secure it and then it would stop. She wouldn't even be leaving the hut. She would still be inside, just across the room.
Shaking her head, she looked away.
Something was bothering her. In everything that had happened, whatever the thing was had always known exactly how to get to her.
Inuyasha dying.
Her dead best friend.
How?
And how was it traveling back and forth?
Was it a spirit?
Could ghosts travel back in time?
Could ghosts travel forward in time?
No, that was dumb. It had to be backwards. How would a ghost know to go forwards 500 years to find her?
Then again, how would a ghost know to go backwards 500 years to find her? That actually seemed the most ludicrous situation out of all of them.
Who thought that time travel ever existed?
But the questions didn't stop revolving.
There was something bigger at play here, and Kagome couldn't fathom what it was.
Inuyasha knew that it was a shit idea to leave her with no one, but the hut had been warded significantly. And when he said significantly, he meant that there were ofuda on every single wall, ceiling and floor by both Kaede and Miroku and quite frankly, it probably was the safest place for her at the moment.
And it wouldn't take him but a minute to get to the shrine, fetch Sango, and be back. As long as she didn't leave, nothing else could get inside.
He landed in the doorway.
"Sango!" He shouted, and she leaned back from behind a shelf, an obvious scowl on her face as she realized that he was alone.
"Why aren't you with Kagome?"
"She needs to piss and won't fucking go if I'm there. So hurry it up and get down there before it rains." And with that, he darted away before Sango could protest, heading back for the small hut on the edge of the village proper.
He nearly slid in the mud slick outside the door, but quickly pushed the mat aside, finding the girl in the same spot that he'd left her.
He let out a shaky exhale through his nose, heart rate just starting to come back under control.
It was terrifying, the thought of losing her. It'd been a long time since he'd been truly afraid that she was beyond his grasp, and he didn't like it a bit. Not that he thought that she was purposefully lying to him, but something just wasn't rubbing his fur the right way. He was glad that he didn't have a tail like Kouga, because he was pretty sure that it would be swishing angrily and giving him away more than his ears already did.
"Kagome?" Inuyasha's voice sounded almost murky at first.
She blinked a couple times trying to clear her head before she looked over at him, smiling in relief that he'd returned so quickly.
"You're back! Is Sango coming?"
He frowned, watching her for a moment before responding.
"On her way," he answered, crouching down in front of her. "You sure that you're okay?"
"I'm fine!" She chirped. "Really, I'm okay though." She reached out and rested her hand on his his as it draped over his knee.
He didn't believe her. She could tell that based on his scowl as he stared at her, gaze washing over her body as she sat in front of him. It was somewhat disturbing being watched so carefully.
The sound of feet approaching the hut and Kirara's soft mew stirred him into action.
"Sango's here," he said, shifting to pick her up from the cushion.
"What are you doing?" She pulled away from him slightly, fully prepared to carry herself.
"Taking you out there. You're not walking on the foot more than necessary."
She let out a low groan, letting her head fall back against the wall with a dull thud.
"Fine," she conceded, "only because I know you won't give up."
He scoffed, easily picking her up, and at the shift of her body, every muscle protested.
Okay so maybe being carried wasn't so bad right now.
Carrying her outside, her hands clenched in his kosode, as one arm was wrapped around his shoulder and the other clutching the front. She knew that Hina or whatever it was, was out there, waiting for her. She was with Inuyasha though, but he'd already said that he'd never sensed anything, so she would just keep a sharp lookout for anything that seemed suspicious enough.
She had to be the eyes and ears now.
Another bout of thunder roared overhead, and she realized that the sky had darkened considerably. Again.
"Come on, it's going to open up any moment now."
They reached the forest, and he set her down in a place where she could lean against a tree to support herself.
"Thanks," she said, shifting her weight slightly.
"I promise, we'll be quick," Sango reassured him.
He turned, looking the opposite way, and waited.
But there was no movement from the two women behind him.
"You gonna piss or not?"
"Not with you standing right there!" Kagome shouted. "Go away!"
"For fuck's sake, it's just piss. Ain't like I hadn't heard it before."
"Go away, Inuyasha! I will use it!"
"If you use it, then I can't go anywhere," he countered, and she leaned down, awkwardly grabbing the nearest thing, which was a small pebble and threw it at him.
"Ow, the fuck?" He turned towards her, and she pointed a finger back out the way they'd come.
"I know that didn't hurt, now go! Out of hearing range!"
"Inuyasha, I'll be with her. We'll come out as soon as we're done."
He didn't like it. She could tell that by the glower on his face and the way his body seemed torn between movements.
"Fine, but you shout if there's trouble."
"You won't hear us though because you'll be out of hearing range, right?"
He growled in annoyance and leapt away, but she knew that he definitely didn't go out of hearing range, instead he was probably close enough to be able to hear anything that they were saying.
"He's so stubborn," Kagome grumbled.
"Really?" Sango asked, giving her a look, and Kagome stared.
"What?"
"Nothing. We should hurry before the rain starts again."
Looking up towards the sky, he scowled. This wasn't the rainy season and torrential downpours like these weren't really common. It was—odd. Unnatural almost. But what sort of ghost could control the weather? What sort of youkai?
Kagura could only control the wind.
The thunder brothers were lightning based.
But neither conjured storms like this, and to his knowledge, he'd never encountered or heard of anything that actually could, so it was a question without an answer at the moment. He glanced over at the stairs.
Unless the hag and the lecher had found something out in the few hours they'd been up there. He doubted it, but it was possible.
Sango helped Kagome climb onto Kirara, who carried her through the trees.
"Why didn't you call?" He asked, moving towards them.
"You were supposed to be out of earshot," Kagome retorted, and his ears flattened at the tone of her voice.
"I was, but I would've heard you yelling." He glared at her, refusing to back down.
Kagome just let it go. She didn't have the energy to argue and she really didn't want to be sitting upright like this any more than she had to. Even leaning forward on Kirara was straining the bruised muscles in her back. While she knew that Kirara was being careful, the movements were enough to cause discomfort.
"Should we find Shippo?" She asked. "I don't want him to get sick out in the rain."
"Youkai don't get sick like humans do," he countered. "He'll smell like wet fox for a while, but that's it."
"Does that smell worse or better than wet dog?"
He turned his head to glare at Sango, who merely grinned at him.
"Worse," he quipped. "Definitely worse."
When they arrived at the hut, he helped her off Kirara, making sure that her injured foot didn't touch the ground before carrying her back inside.
"If you'd let me, I can just lean on you or Sango and walk," she grumbled.
"Kaede said you need to stay off the foot for a few days."
"Still don't like it."
"Tough," he said, settling her back down on the cushion as Sango walked in behind him, Kirara riding on her shoulder.
Another roar of thunder and light tapping of rain on the roof, alerted them that it had started to rain. But it wasn't too long before the mat shifted, and the rest of their group entered, little kitsune in tow.
"You're awake!" He shouted, running full gallop towards her, and Inuyasha saw the leap before it happened, slamming his hand down on the kit's back, stopping what would have been a very painful jump into her chest. She'd flinched at the leap, and he hadn't missed it either.
Everything felt bruised and tender to the touch, and she felt worse today than she had yesterday, which she didn't think was possible, but reality was quickly proving her wrong at every possible turn.
"Oww," Shippo cried. "Kagome! Inuyasha is being mean!"
"You can let him go," Kagome told him, and he glared at her and then at Shippo, who gave him a smug look. She could only sigh at their antics, but snuggling with Shippo seemed like a good comfort at the moment.
"No jumping," he warned, releasing Shippo, who promptly climbed into her lap, perching a seat on her thighs, beaming up at her from his seat.
She ran her fingers through his hair, wincing when he shifted across her thighs. She'd never realized how small his feet were, and having what little weight he had pushing down in those very specific spots made a throbbing ache shoot up her legs. She didn't want to tell him to get down, but she really wished that he would pick a spot and lay down.
"Kagome," Kaede interrupted her thoughts, and she was aware that Inuyasha was still staring at her. "I need to check ye's arm. I did not like the way it looked last night."
Kaede took care to unwrap it slowly, and Kagome saw the deep red of her flesh and how her blood vessels seemed darker as they spread out from it.
"That doesn't look good, does it?" Kagome asked as she stared at her arm.
"Aye, move Shippo," Kaede ordered, and the kit moved quickly.
Sniffing the air, Inuyasha shifted closer, leaning over her shoulder as he saw the deep dark red spread of infection along the cut. It really didn't look good at all. Looking up, she noted the sideways slant of his ears.
"I was afraid of this," Kaede said. "I will have to reopen the wound and clean it."
"Won't that hurt?" Kagome asked, pulling her arm back towards herself.
"Aye," Kaede agreed, giving her a sad look. "Inuyasha, ye's help will be required for this." She poured something into a cup, holding it out to her. "This will help ye with the pain. It will be strong, but—" Kaede left the end off on her statement.
"Wouldn't it be better if I just went back to my time? I can go to a doctor if you think it's really bad."
"No, child, I think it best if we take care of it now. Come, lay down, it will not be so bad as ye might think." She looked at the cup with her one good eye before flicking it back up to Kagome's face. "Drink the medicine. It will help."
Glancing over her shoulder at Inuyasha, she saw a grim look on his face. He was probably glad that he wasn't the one having to drink the medicine this time. She brought the cup up to her lips and downed it like a shot.
It was, well, it was the worst thing that she'd ever swallowed, or put in her mouth, or let her tongue touch in general.
She made a face, smacking her lips to try and get the taste out, shaking her head fervently to make it stop tasting.
"It's pretty awful, isn't it?" He asked and she nodded.
"I didn't think that anything could actually taste that bad."
"It would be best if ye lay down here, near the fire."
Inuyasha picked her up, shifting her bodily so that she was near the fire.
Lightning struck outside with a boom of thunder rolling over head. She swore that some of the jars rattled on the shelf.
"That was close," she murmured, and Inuyasha merely grunted in response. She stretched out on her back and waited, listening to the rain as it poured down outside. Inuyasha sat by her head as Kaede fetched her tools. She really didn't feel anything different though.
No one was talking. The only sounds were the rain and Kaede tinkering about just out of her sight. She looked up at Inuyasha, who stared, almost bored, at the opposite wall.
"Alright, Kagome," Kaede said, the firm tick of a tray being set on the floor sounded. "We will start now. Inuyasha."
He moved to pin her arm down, kneeling on her opposite shoulder to keep her in place.
"Is that really necessary?" Kagome asked, jerking herself to break free of his grasp. But there was no moving him, or dislodging him, not if he didn't want to be moved in the first place. "Inuyasha?"
She looked back to Kaede, who held a small curved blade, almost something like a pocket sickle, up to the fire, twisting it in the flames.
"Kaede, I changed my mind. I want to go home and have doctors look at it."
"It's going to be fine, my dear Kagome."
Kagome tried, valiantly, to break free, but there was no escaping.
"Inuyasha, please, just take me home. There's medicine to fix this."
"Kaede's right. It's now or never," he said, not even glancing down at her as she struggled, it was like she wasn't even trying to move at all.
"This is for ye's own good, Kagome," Kaede said, and the tip of the blade, hot and sharp, pressed into her skin.
"Stop! Sango! Miroku!" She felt the tears streaming down the side of her face. "Inuyasha, stop! Let me go!"
"Stop being such a child, Kagome. It's just a little nick."
"We have to be thorough," Kaede pointed out, and Kagome tried to kick her, but it felt like something was weighing them down, preventing her from twisting her hips. "We can't let an infection fester."
The blade slid deep down into her arm, and then Kaede pulled.
"Ye are so important to us, Kagome."
Kagome let loose a noise she wasn't aware she could make, back arching up as far as it would go, trying to thrash herself into freedom.
The medicine hadn't numbed the pain at all. She felt each and every nerve cut and sever, the muscle and sinews from her elbow to her wrist separate and splinter.
Inuyasha's ears had flattened to his head, and he used his free hand to cover her mouth as his knee pinned her shoulder.
She bit down onto whatever was closest to her mouth, and he barely flinched when it felt like she'd broken a tooth on his bones.
Kaede hit a snag in one area, opting to saw through with careless tugs and rips, until she was able to peel the skin back clear enough.
Her screams ended in long drawn out sobs.
This wasn't real.
Kaede wouldn't do this.
Inuyasha wouldn't do this.
Not real. Not real. Not real!
But she could feel this. All of it. Inuyasha's weight on her body, pinning her down into the hard, inflexible boards of Kaede's floor. She could feel the blade digging deeper and deeper into her arm, trying to dig something out.
Weren't dreams supposed to end when you realized they weren't real?
"What do you want?" She sobbed behind his bleeding hand. He pulled it away, and to her relief, Kaede stopped to look at her as well.
"What is it, child?"
"This isn't real," she started.
"That's just the medicine talking," Kaede assured her as her fingers pressed into the flayed wound, pinching and pulling at something that sent sharp jagged spikes of pain up her arm and hip simultaneously.
She clenched her teeth together so tightly, she was sure that she'd cracked one of them at least.
Kagome twisted her head around, looking for hard and undeniable proof.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, and he looked down at her. He looked the same. He looked like a perfect replica.
It was a gamble, and she knew that. If it worked, well, she supposed there were worse ways to go.
She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and just before it left her completely, she spoke the words quietly.
"Sit boy."
He made a noise, and she braced herself for the impact.
"What're you talking about? I can't sit down. You're going to hurt yourself."
But Kagome wasn't focused on him anymore.
"Hina! You bitch!"
There was a loud sigh from the doorway, and the sound of the mat shifting.
"Honestly," she droned, "you're really a buzzkill, Kagome. No fun at all."
"How did you get in here? There are wards against things like you."
Her arm throbbed and bled freely, but she tried to ignore it. It wasn't real. The pain was all in her head. She wasn't really bleeding at all.
"Oh, these pathetic things?" Hina plucked one of Miroku's ofuda off the wall, letting it fall to the floor. "Those are useless against me. The kind of wards you'd need to keep me out," a sadistic grin spread over her face as she knelt down, leaning over her prone form. "Those kind you'll never put up." She dug her finger into Kagome's forehead.
"What do you want then?"
"I needed you," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"For what?"
"An awakening." Hina stood to her feet, dusting off her knees that never touched the ground. "But that's neither here nor there at the moment. What matters is that I have you here, and there's nothing you can do about it."
"I swear, when I find you, I'm going to turn you to ash."
Hina laughed.
"It's adorable that you think that, my precious little Kagome. You can't break the bond we have so easily. We're connected you and I."
"What bond? You and I don't have a bond!"
Hina leaned over Kaede's tray, picking up another tool, seemingly ignoring her rant from where she lay on the floor, pinned beneath Inuyasha's inescapable grip.
"You should use this one next."
"Ah, a wise choice," Kaede said, pushing the sleeve of Kagome's yukata further up until it reached her shoulder.
"Please, stop," Kagome begged, stomach dropping as Kaede rolled the blade around the fire again. She knew it wasn't Kaede. She knew that her mentor and friend would not subject her to this. She knew that. But it was really hard to remember that when Kaede's kind face stared back at her. "Please."
"You should know by now that begging will get you nowhere." Hina shook her head to send her hair back over her shoulder. "How many times have you tried that already?" She brushed some invisible dirt off her shirt front, straightening it out so it lay flat.
Kaede plunged the blade into her bicep, and Kagome screamed.
The blade dragged all the way down to her elbow. Kagome felt the muscles tear and fall away from bone and ligament, her arm falling limp beside her, nerves damaged or severed completely, even though it didn't stop the pain at all.
Hina let out a low laugh as Kaede continued to work, even as Kagome screamed helplessly at each and every slice.
"Now be a good girl and break."
A/N: So I hope that you enjoyed that. Originally, I was going to have Hina's real form be revealed, but the last scene makes it so much creepier with familiar faces.
And thank you guys for voting for this story, it won second place for Best Dark, and I'm so grateful to all of you for voting for this story. I'm already so thankful to you all for reading and commenting on this story to begin with. You're all amazing and wonderful people, and I'm so glad that you're enjoying this.
I'm hoping to have at least one more chapter, maybe two, before the end of the year for you lovelies.