Chapter Three

The sun had risen high in to the sky. They had slept too long, they had to get moving. At this rate, Sayuri wouldn't be there by nightfall. Inuyasha looked down at her from his treetop perch. The way things were going, she may not last that long.

Inuyasha made a soundless jump from his branch and crouched beside the sleeping girl. While the fresh air had helped her breathing settle a bit, Sayuri was only getting warmer. The hot summer sun was only adding to his worries. This would slow them down even more.

He poked the side of her face, "Hey, girl." He poked her again, a little harder. "Hey girl, wake up." For some reason this frustrated him, "If you don't wake up I swear I will kick you."

Slowly one of her eyes opened and she peered at him through her eyelashes. "What do you want?" The end of her sentence came out as a grunt as she tried to shift in to a more comfortable position. The wound in her side clearly had not healed overnight.

He scoffed and kneeled down ready to lift her again. "Come on, we haven't got all day." There was a little shuffling, some coughs, followed by a few whimpers as she got on to his back again.

Inuyasha ran off knowing exactly where he was going. He could probably find his way back from anywhere in all of Japan if he had to. The trip had become a routine he thought he would never have to make.

The trees in the forest became more and more familiar, less and less thick, until he could see light glimmering up ahead. Inuyasha stepped in to the open evening air and looked at the familiar surroundings. The rows of shabby huts with steps leading up to a shrine, the crops that surrounded the village where townsfolk grew the food he used to eat. He could see the ancient tree and smell the river that held so many memories. And then he heard familiar voices.

"It is the demon Inuyasha! He has come back to kill us all!"

And then another.

"Go get the demon slayer! He must be killed!"

He could smell the torches being lit and hear the clatter of sharp objects being gathered. This was not looking good.

However, Sayuri seemed to be laughing. "I thought you said you had friends." His growl silenced her jeers.

By this time, the male villagers had formed a circle around Inuyasha and seemed to be cowering and glaring at the same time. Inuyasha wasn't sure if he should be afraid or simply laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

Inuyasha could smell her as the demon slayer pushed through the crowd. She was dressed in her battle gear as if she intended to fight him.

"Lady Sango, we have cornered the demon."

Sango's intense gaze was matched by Inuyasha's. Silence seemed to fall over the group as they sized each other up.

He whispered, too low for Sango to hear, "If things get messy here I want you to run away as far as you can, okay?" Sayuri tensed, "Just go to the nearest source of water and I'll come and find you."

"Inuyasha, I don't know if I can…"

"Well you don't have much of a choice."

"Are you about done over there?" Sango was determined not to be ignored. "Why did you come back?"

"Why did you leave?" Sayuri whispered.

"It would be better for everyone if you could just disappear."

"Shut up." He growled. Her response was to cough in to the back of his shirt.

Sango grew more impatient and motioned for the circle to close in a little more. Inuyasha held on to Sayuri more tightly. "Why are you back?"

He looked in to her eyes and tried to find the girl who he had saved and been saved by countless times over. All he could find was distrust. Inuyasha found the cold hatred that existed when they first met. She grabbed on to her boomerang, poised to throw. He had to say something. "I need your help."

She loosened her grip on the boomerang, more in a state of shock than anything else. Inuyasha didn't ask for help. "What are you talking about?"

Sayuri coughed and began to slip from Inuyasha's back. He repositioned her and repeated himself impatiently, "I need you to fix her, okay?"

His attitude sent her on to the defensive again. "Why should I do that? I thought I told you to –"

Soft jingling could be heard as another familiar face pushed through the crowd. "Now, now Sango, this is no way to treat an old friend." Sayuri looked at him hesitantly and Inuyasha smiled. At least someone was on his side here.

"Old friend? After all he's done? Miroku, are you serious?"

Miroku held up a hand to stop her before she could protest further. "Everyone is not without fault. Look, he even brought a beautiful woman with him. How gracious."

Inuyasha glared at him causing Miroku's smirk to fade slightly. Sango pulled him away from the circle and proceeded to have a heated argument. All he could think was how hard it must have been to live with someone like her for all these years. He almost felt bad for leaving…almost. Seeing that the 'demon' was not to be killed, the mob lost interest and returned to their huts, almost relieved. Sayuri continued to eye the monk suspiciously.

"Why are you friends with these people?"

He shook his head, "I really have no clue." Inuyasha fell silent to listen to their conversation.

"I can't let him back in here, not after all the trouble he caused."

Miroku let out a heavy sigh. Clearly this was a repeated conversation. "Look at him Sango. Do you really think he would have come back here without reason?"

She wasn't about to back down, even if her argument was flawed. "Why wouldn't he come back?"

"Think about it Sango. This is where they met. This is where Kagome -"

"Who's Kagome?"

Inuyasha felt a wave of inexplicable anger come over him, "She's not important, okay? Just shut up." The words came out far harsher than he intended them to be and Sayuri seemed to flinch.

Sango and Miroku turned to watch their exchange. A look of pity seemed to be plastered on their faces. This only made Inuyasha angrier.

"Look, are you going to fix her or not?" He looked Sango straight in the eyes, deciding to use her frail human heart to his advantage. He arranged his face in to the most hurt and dejected look he could muster. "Because I'd rather not be here much longer."

Tears filled the slayer's eyes as she turned away. "Bring her to my hut." Sango began to walk away with Miroku hurrying behind her. Inuyasha smiled slightly. The villagers still glared from their windows, but Inuyasha relaxed knowing that no one was going to be coming after Sayuri, at least for a little while.

"Are we going to follow her," Sayuri coughed a little, "or are you just going to stand there smiling to yourself?"

Inuyasha grumbled some curses that he knew she'd hear and walked to the largest hut in the village. He had built it with Miroku's help for Sango and her ever increasing clan, at least, that's what he'd told the lazy monk to get him to do anything. As it began to appear over the horizon, all the memories he had buried rose up to haunt him once more. He remembered her smiling face as she watched him place every board.

Kagome sat on a nearby rock, holding Shippo in her lap while he slept. "Hurry up already! I want a room to myself, just like the one…"

Inuyasha turned to face her, narrowly missing Miroku's head with the planks of wood he'd been holding. "What?"

Kagome shook her head back and forth and gazed up at the clouds, shielding her eyes from the sun, "I was just…thinking aloud."

Miroku lost interest in the conversation and began to continue building the base, but Inuyasha wasn't about to let this one go. "What do you mean? The room where?"

"Don't worry, it's nothing."

"Kagome," he took a step towards her, "It's not nothing."

She let out a sigh. "I was just thinking about home…" She turned away, but he could smell the salt in her tears.

He was silent for a few minutes and began to help the monk who had become sloppy without his watchful eye. Finally, Inuyasha scoffed, "I thought you knew this by now," Inuyasha met her gaze, "You're home is here."

After a long moment she blinked the tears away and let her lips curl a little at the edges.

"You can put her down in the back room."

Inuyasha shook his head. How could he have let himself fall back in to the same old habits? That part of his life was over. He moved from one room to another, trying not to look too closely at one particular spot. He laid Sayuri on the floor and she shivered and wheezed as another bout of coughs shook her.

Inuyasha kneeled down beside Sayuri, "Are you alright?"

"Move." Sango walked in to the room behind him and laid out an assortment of first aid supplies. Some of them seemed to be from Kagome's time, and others from theirs. She sat down beside the dying girl. "I'm going to need to see that wound." Without looking and Inuyasha she said, "And unless you're going to watch her undress, I'd advise you to leave."

"Let him stay." Sayuri said softly, but with an authority only gained by the abuse of her demon blood. Her eyes met Sango's and even Inuyasha could sense her distrust between the two girls.

Inuyasha grumbled and turned around, "Happy now?"

He waited and waited. Occasionally, a grunt of displeasure could be heard from the other side of the room as Sango poked and prodded none too gently at her cut. He could smell the blood and puss that leaked from it as she did so. After what seemed like hours Sango finally said, "She's decent. I'm going to bed."

Inuyasha stood and grabbed her arm before she could leave, "What was wrong?"

She sighed and turned to face him. "Nothing much," She looked down at the now sleeping half demon and lowered her voice "Her wound was not cleaned, it probably happened a while ago, maybe a few weeks I'd guess. Her body was trying to fix the dirty cut and didn't have time for the cold. She'll be a little weak for a bit but otherwise fine by morning."

Sango left the room and Inuyasha was finally able to get some sleep knowing that he had one less person to worry about tonight.

"Inuyasha…Inuyasha, can you hear me?"

Someone seemed to be calling out to him but everything was dark. He could barely see his own hand. "Is anyone there?"

After a few minutes of silence and anxiety the voice returned, and this time he recognized it. "Inuyasha, I can't get back. Inuyasha…"

"Kagome!" he panicked. She sounded so close, but he couldn't see her. Inuyasha wandered through the darkness. Why couldn't he find her?

"Say something, if you can hear me." Kagome's voice seemed to be fading.

A lump began to build in his throat. He was going to lose her. "Kagome! I'm right here!"

The voice was almost a whisper, "I can't get back…"

"Don't go!"

"Inuyasha?" Sayuri looked up at him in the dark, her green eyes seemed to glow like a cat's. "I'm right here." She laughed lightly. "I didn't go anywhere. It still kind of hurts to move."

He blinked quickly and rubbed his sleeve against his face, "Shut up. Go back to sleep." Inuyasha instantly regretted his ruthless tone as she fell silent once more.

Author's Note:

Yay! I have one reviewer :) Always nice to know I have at least one person reading. I haven't had much time to write with the new semester, but I'll try to post more as time goes on. Hope everyone enjoyed the new character development. It's not as clean as I would like, but like I said... not much time.

Thanks for reading :D 3

Caroline Winters