Author's Note: Part 2 of the serial. The prompt used was 'hurt'.
He was no stranger to these feelings, but he would never have thought them real.
But real they were.
Inuyasha had already sent Kikyou to hell and back; it was taking all of his efforts from preventing Kagome – his second chance – from following. He had no right to fall in love again.
He snorted derisively; there was no way he would call those silly flutterings in his gut whenever he looked at Sango love. He respected her as a warrior; hell, maybe he was more than a little fond of her, seeing how she took so much suffering in her stride and still was able to kick ass.
Why could he not stop at hurting just two women at a time?
The hanyou was perched in his favourite spot: a branch overlooking the camp. His eyes were trained on Kagome, vigilantly watching her every move, making sure she came to no harm while he was around.
All the better to distract him from the slayer's unconscious charms as she contemplated the monk – from the angle he was slumped, it was hard to be sure – and make sure he did not make the wrong decisions all over again.
Inuyasha pushed his hands deeper into his sleeves, swallowing the traitorous emotions. He and Sango were simply not destined for one another; he had Kagome and she had Miroku.
It was obvious, he reflected bitterly, where her affections lay in any case.