The girl looked dubiously into the water and smelled it delicately, smiling slightly at the clean, crisp smell of the clear running water. She looked at InuYasha and a small frown flashed across her face as she looked at his ears sitting atop his head. He noted the staring and turned them forward to her before dropping one in a confused manner silently asking What's wrong?

The girl in his arms looked down and reached up to what was left of her ears with one hand as she gripped the Fire Rat robe with the other and whimpered, Why..?

InuYasha's ears dropped at the sound and the question was left open, but he understood completely and held the girl tighter, cradling her head against his chest. He had to take a breath to try squash the memories down again before they manifested themselves in the forefront of his mind and he noticed a low rumbling sound, it was new, alien to him but it served to soothe both himself and the girl, after a few moments of listening to it he realised it was coming from him. His growled reply was slow, calculated, he knew why but had never had to really explain it to anyone. Others just... don't understand.. he sighed, lowering his head to hers and listening to the rumble from his chest.

Kagome and Miroku had sat down under the trees near the stream and looked out to their Hanyou friend and his interactions between he and the girl. "He looks... kinda sad" Kagome said quietly as she watched his ears drop.

"Indeed he does.." Miroku said in a low tone, folding is arms thoughtfully, "It may be because he sees a lot of himself in her.." he sighed when she gave him a confused expression and realized that Kagome had not seen the girl properly. "She is also a Hanyou.. earlier today we came across a group of demons who were attacking a small girl.. the girl ran away and apparently went to hide in the well which is where you found her.. She had turned full demon in the fight with the demons which would explain the demonic aura you felt in the well.. It appears that InuYasha has been able to calm her down."

"Ironic that he's the one calming someone else down for a change.." Shippo quipped earning a small smile from Kagome and Miroku because they knew how odd it was for InuYasha to be trying to calm someone else down when he often let his own aggrivation show.

Kagome watched a little longer before she spoke again, "maybe we should head back to the village, he seems to have things under control here and he said that he didn't want us too close.." Miroku nodded before standing up, the jingling of his staff catching the attention of the two Hanyous.

"InuYasha, We're going to head back to the village, perhaps we can find some clean clothes for her to wear when you get back." Miroku called out and got a small nod from InuYasha.

"We shouldn't be too long.. Be careful." he said looking pointedly at Kagome who seemed not to notice the slight at her expense as she walked away toward the village with Shippo in her arms, Miroku nodded his aknowledgement before turning to follow them, leaving InuYasha and the child alone.

Where they go? the girl yipped quietly looking over her shoulder.

Back to village. More friends there. InuYasha smiled slightly as he looked at the girl in his arms. Come, get clean. he said, walking over to a nearby rock and setting the girl down gently before he removed his Fire rat robe and the underlying kimono, leaving him in just his pants and rosary. he waited for the girl to strip what was left of her clothing before leading her back to the water's edge and stepping in, smiling to himself when the girl squealed as her feet entered the cool water.

Feels good! she yipped excitedly, the smile back on her face as she let go of InuYasha's hand to wade out further, letting the water move about her and feeling her weight lift with it. She was allowed to splash around a bit before InuYasha gathered her up again before he sat in the shallow water with her in his lap and began to wash her.

InuYasha frowned slightly at the extent of the injuries the girl had sustained, noting many cuts and bruises over her body from various violent encounters, he rubbed over a particularly tender spot on her rib causing her to yelp in pain. Quickly whimpering an apology he took even more care over the area until he was happy that all the dirt and grime had been washed off her before moving onto her hair.

He got her to dip her head under the water to get her hair wet before he started massaging around her ears gently to loosen the dry blood and dirt that had collected there. He felt her tense up slightly and found himself rumbling in his chest again, he really must figure out conciously how to do that.. the rumbling worked and the girl relaxed again as he managed to get all of the offending substances out of her hair with another quick dipping. His shoulders slumped slightly as he looked over her ears, It hurts? he asked with a gentle stroke of the stub on the right, making her shiver with a slight whimper, all the answer he needed. I need to clean, will hurt but then will start to get better. he waited for her nod before wetting his hands and rubbing the ear stubs gently with his forefingers and thumbs, careful of his claws as he worked off the scabbing. Every now and again he would dip his hands again into the water to rinse off what he had dislodged and eventually he was left with pink flesh, free of dirt. he smiled when he saw that the skin was healing itself and held hope that the ears woud grow back completely.

Thankyou... the girl yipped quietly, fighting off a yawn but failing miserably. the pain had indeed subsided and InuYasha's gentle massaging had made her sleepy.

InuYasha smiled and growled a gentle response, Sleep, pup.. regain your strength.. he stood with her cradled in his arms and carried her back to the rock before swathing her in the robe of the fire rat before he pulled on the white kimono he wore under it and tucked it into his pants as a thought occured to him, neither of them knew the other's name.

My name InuYasha..What yours?

Name? the girl's quizzical look set InuYasha on edge Surely someone would have named her... right?

What you called? He held his breath though something in his heart new the answer that was coming.

She looked down seemingly in deep thought on the matter, she had heard the others calling InuYasha by his name but struggled to understand what it was.. now she knew it was his name she looked back up and answered easily. They call me Hanyou.