After Sesshomaru left, Inuyasha was no longer in the mood to argue with Kagome, and Kagome was burned out too. It was at that moment that they realized that the others had moved on without them.
"I really wish that they'd stop doing that," Inuyasha said bitterly as he ran back to the village, Kagome settled safely on his back. They came into the village quickly, and Inuyasha could smell exactly where the gang was.
Shippo was busy showing Miroku his drawings (that fox loved the crayons Kagome brought him!) while Sango and Kirara were watching with mild interest.
"Oh!" Sango started when she saw the two of them coming up the path, "so you've settled your argument?"
"Who had to apologize this time?" Miroku asked a hint of amusement in his voice.
"We um, were interrupted." Kagome said her cheeks deep crimson. She hated how she got when the two of them argued, and it was even more embarrassing when Miroku and Sango were there; and what about Shippo! She knew that all this yelling and fighting wasn't good for his development, he was still a kid.
Sango rested her hand on Kagome's shoulder.
"Don't worry," she said quietly, "it really was all his fault."
"Yes," Miroku joined in, "sometimes he just doesn't know when to let go."
Kagome yelped, it was at that precise moment that Miroku had decided to stroke her butt.
"Perverted monk!" Yelled Sango as she slapped him for what could easily have been the thousandth time.
It was then that Kaede stepped out. Inuyasha noticed her first, "Kaede? So, how is she?" He asked, trying without success to seem disinterested.
"I thought you didn't care about her?" Snapped Kagome.
"Yeah, well, we dragged her this far didn't we, we might as well make sure that she's ok!" He responded defiantly.
"I'm afraid that it is worse than I thought, she may be unable to walk for some time." Kaede said with concern.
"What's wrong with her," Kagome asked, more out of curiosity than worry.
"From the best that I can tell, she has broken her leg in several places, and I cannot seem to get the bones to set without her flailing about and causing more damage. She is in unbearable pain." As if on cue, a low, pitiful moan came from the hut. "She won't be able to heal properly if I don't set the bones."
Inuyasha stepped forward, "I'll hold her down, and then you can set them, right?"
"Well," Kaede hesitated, "I suppose ye can, but ye may want to wear cotton in your ears, this will be very painful for her."
"I'll help too, Kagome chimed in."
"Don't bother, I can do it," Inuyasha said plainly.
"But..." Kagome began, but decided to let it go, it wasn't as though she could be much help anyway; she couldn't possibly overpower the strength of a demon.
Inuyasha followed Kaede back into the hut.
Amaya was cloaked in a shear coat of sweat, withering in pain from Kaede's previous attempts to set the leg. Inuyasha knelt behind her, and placed his hands firmly on her shoulders, she didn't even notice. Inuyasha nodded at the old healer, and she began.
The screams were immediate, Inuyasha wished that he had put the cotton into his ears like the old woman had suggested. Amaya twisted and yelled, she reached up with her arms to try and pry loose Inuyasha's grasp, but he held tight. She moved her hands up, and began to claw at his arms. He grimaced in pain, but she released her claws, and gave another ear shattering scream. This time Inuyasha noticed the two large, pearly fangs in her mouth, larger than his.
"It's done." Kaede said, panting. Inuyasha had been so absorbed in Amaya; he hadn't noticed how hard Kaede had been working. Once more Amaya reached up Inuyasha's arms, he grimaced expectantly, but didn't feel her claws. Instead she tried to pull him towards her, grabbing at him, trying to nuzzle his arms. He was stunned; he had prepared himself for her anger, but not this. He hesitantly laid his palm across her shoulder; she nuzzled it with a sigh, and fell into a deep, painful sleep.
Inuyasha left the hut, a puzzled look on his face.
"Is she alright now?" Kagome demanded immediately.
"I, I guess so," he was still confused and unsure about what had just happened. He looked over at Shippo, who was huddled in a quivering mass; Sango was stroking his head in a vain attempt to soothe him. "What's with him?" Inuyasha asked, his normal demeanor returning.
"I don't know," Kagome answered, looking behind her. "He just kinda freaked out when he heard the screaming"
Shippo looked up and saw Inuyasha. Without warning, Shippo sprung out of his ball and sprinted into the hut.
"Shippo!" Inuyasha yelled, "What the hell is your problem?"
"Maybe he just wants to see that she's ok, he really seems to like her." Miroku theorized. But Inuyasha had already followed the small Kitsune into the hut.
"Shippo," he started in a hushed voice, "if you wake her up I swear…" He stopped. Shippo was curled contently by Amaya, and Amaya had unconsciously shifted herself around Shippo. That wasn't why Inuyasha stopped however; it was he saw that surprised him. Earlier he had thought that she was a dog demon, now that he really looked at her, he could see that there were things about her that were definitely not dog. For one, her fangs were much too long, but the biggest difference was that she had a tail. It was white and silky, like her hair. He didn't notice it before because her kimono was covering it, now she was barely covered by bandages wrapped around her breasts and cotton shorts.
He decided to let the two of them be, and walked back out to the group.
"What now?" Kagome asked.
"I think it would be wise to try and track down Naraku and see what he was up to." Miroku answered.
"Yeah," Inuyasha agreed, "this time he didn't have a trap set up for us."
"Good," said Sango, standing from where she had been sitting, "that means we should have the advantage for once, but we'll need to leave now."
"Come on Kagome," Inuyasha crouched so that she could get on. Inside her head, visions of a hot bath and comfy bed were dissolving, but she got on without a fuss, after all, they were right. With that they left, leaving Shippo and Amaya behind.
Not five miles from the village, Sesshomaru could smell them leaving. His face was set with anger at the stupidity of his hanyou half brother.
"Jaken," he called harshly, not caring how he sounded to the lesser demon.
"Ye-Yes Milord?" he answered hesitantly.
"Keep track of Rin." With that, he gracefully walked away, quickly vanishing from view. Rin was sitting on Ah-un close behind Jaken, she really hated being in his care. He never let her do anything, and was always muttering to himself about if anything should happen to Rin, it would be his death. She sighed, but her dark mood passed quickly, as she decided that she would teach Jaken some new songs and hand-clapping games, that would be fun!
The night was foggy, and Sesshomaru found it especially easy to walk into the village unnoticed. He made no attempts to cloak himself, as he would just as soon kill any mortal that got in his way. If his half-human brother was too dim-witted to see what was under his nose, then so be it, but he would be damned before he allowed another hanyou of his fathers blood to walk the earth.
He casually swept aside the canvas covering the doorway and stepped in. There was an old woman and a fox demon inside the hut with her. Their presence annoyed him, but he chose to act with digression, seeing that the demon in front of him certainly had no human in her. He stepped closer to her; she stirred slightly, but settled again. He could smell the painfully familiar scent of his father, but that didn't surprise him, what did however, was his realization of what the other half of the female demon was. He scoffed in disgust, looking at the girl with new hatred. He felt the unfamiliar twinge of anguish and furry spark inside of him, the same he had felt when he had learned that his father had chose to mate with a human. Why would such a powerful and great demon such as his father choose to roll in the dirt with the likes of these creatures? His look softened, the rage passed.
'It could be worse' he thought easily to himself, 'at least she is of a class worthy to be our father's offspring." With that he left, a new weight within himself. To share blood with not one, but two others? How close had he been to being a mutt instead of a full dog demon? Did his father even care for his mother like he did Inuyasha's or this girls? He brushed the thoughts aside, they were of no immediate importance to him now, so why dwell?