Day 2: Reflection / Purple

Inuyasha carefully slid the window of Kagome's room open and crawled over the windowsill. He scented the air just to make sure the room was empty. He wasn't scared or anything, he just really wanted to be alone. Away from the gang, from their looks of concern and pity, from their awkward attempts of approaching and consoling him.

As if they could understand him. They weren't changing into a monster capable of - and enjoying - killing countless people.

Luckily Kagome was still in school, wasting time on not important subjects like how a capital of a far-away land which had been gone for hundreds of years had been called. It made her room the best place to hide. That is to enjoy some peace and quiet. If he remained silent no one would suspect he was in this place, no one from Higurashi family could sense his youki.

The hanyou sat down on the chair in front of the desk, refusing to take a seat on the more comfortable bed. It would be too easy to fall asleep, with the pillow smelling like Kagome.

And with the sleep the dreams were bound to come. Dreams of blood, malice and destruction. Dreams where he was always laughing with a voice much rougher than his own while killing helpless humans with his claws.

He shook himself to forget about the dreams and focus on exploring the room - which was as good a distraction as any other. His gaze swept over backs of the books neatly placed on bookshelves, some pictures hanging on the walls, a few small items left on the desk.

That was how his sight landed on the mirror. Kagome used it to brush her hair and fix her clothing in front of while being in this time. Inuyasha approached it slowly, like a wary wild animal, half expecting it to launch an attack at him. The ordeal with Kanna was still too fresh in his mind - the pale girl had been way too close to taking Kagome's soul away and had managed to deflect his Wind Scar at him. Yet another proof how weak he really was.

But this mirror was an ordinary one. Its only purpose was to reflect the world, not cause harm to those standing in front of it. Inuyasha looked into it almost shyly, as if afraid someone could see him inspecting his reflection. But there was no one else to witness this, so he tried to relax. It was hard to relax lately.

He took in the image reflected by the mirror - a tall youth with his body covered by red robe. It was a good color on him, it was hard to see stains on the fabric, which would clean itself in matter of hours, leaving no trace of gore. His precious sword was sticking out from between layers of his obi, his weapon and shield at the same time. Only Tessaiga could revert his transformation in a monster. The longer he couldn't wield it, the more dangerous it was for those he loved to be near him.

He had always known that being alone was his fate. It would be for the best if he only turned on his heel and ran, ran so far no one of them could find him. This way they wouldn't be endangered by his beast. But he was such a selfish bastard, he craved their attention and friendship, just like a worthless stray dog. He didn't want to say it aloud, but he couldn't live without them anymore.

So he had to master the sword. He had to rely on his own strength.

And pray it was enough.

He could see the tired, sad expression on the face in the mirror changing to one of determination, resolve and hope. He stared at himself as if to say "Just try to fail and you're screwed."

Then he remembered Kagome telling him how he had looked in his full youkai form. He could imagine his eyes bleeding red, his pale yellow irises turning eerily blue. He bit his lip and immediately thought about his canines - already a bit longer than human's - growing even more prominent. His claws were in this form much longer too. They weren't sharp, but the force he could put behind any slash was enough to make them deadly. But both his fangs and claws were already there and eye color was a minor change, even if most noticeable for a human.

The most striking change for him were the markings. The two jagged purple stripes underlining his eyes. For some reason no one from his team seemed to realize what they were. They were branding him as an actual youkai, one of higher power. No weakling would sport such marks. Yet he, a mere half-breed, had them. He was that much more dangerous to his friends. To Kagome. He was too weak to control himself and at the same time too strong for his friends to handle if he transformed.

Without thinking Inuyasha reached a hand and stroked the spot where the mark would be, traced the invisible line. He glared at this place, as if daring the mark to show up, but of course it didn't.

He had wanted to become a full youkai for so long, since the day of his first meeting with Sesshomaru all those years ago. Sesshomaru had marks, even his name meant that e was perfect. Inuyasha wasn't. He wasn't strong enough to control his beast, he would become its slave the next time. He already slew humans, who would warrant the next time he wouldn't attack his friends? His dream finally came true, but it turned out to be a nightmare - a nightmare of waking up with blood on his claws and wondering if his friends were still alive. He was like a broken weapon, which instead of protecting others could cause pain to those he cared for the most.

Would he always bring misery and pain to those he loved?

It was true, hanyou were misfortune incarnated.

Suddenly he felt a pair of thin arms wrapping around his waist, a warm body pressed against his back. He realized he bad been careless, he bad let himself be distracted. And now... She tightened her grip.

"Stop that!" she demanded.

"Keh?"

"Stop hating yourself!" Kagome's voice was firm, the tone usually indication that the subduing command was going to be used in the next minute or two. He instinctively tensed, which prompted her to tug on his forelock.

"Feh, you shouldn't assume shit, wench," he glared. He couldn't actually glare at the miko, so he glared at his reflection. "I'm not hating myself," he added with his voice steady.

"We won't leave you. We'll help you control it. We will do everything we can. So don't worry and don't blame yourself for things you had no control of," the schoolgirl assured him in a fierce, but calming voice.

"K-Kagome..." he breathed out. 'I swear, Kagome. I will do everything to protect you. Even if it means killing myself.'

Slowly a clawed hand moved to cover the lithe hand pressed against his chest.

(Epilogue for those who prefer happier ending)

He could feel Kagome's fingers flex under his hand and he squeezed them gently. Kagome's other hand came up to grasp his own. This was the moment when he saw a movement in the mirror, something moved behind him - it was Souta who stopped in the open door to Kagome's room. The boy's curious expression morphed into a gleeful grin.

"Mom!" the boy exclaimed happily. "Kagome and Big Dog Brother are doing improper things!"

"Souta!" Kagome lifted her head from where it rested against Inuyasha's back and glared at her brother. Souta giggled and ran away. "Shut up!"

"Ka-go-me and Inu-ya-sha are sitting in a tree...!" Inuyasha found himself dragged by an irate miko out of the room and down the stairs. He was pretty sure Souta was safe from his sister's wrath.

There was no chance she could chase him down while still holding Inuyasha's hand.

A/N: Oh, goodness, look at this drama. Was it good? Was it bad? Do you want to know my address to come and flame me in person?