InuYasha carried the sleepy Hanyou girl back to the village in silence. To say that he was shocked about the girls violent past would be a lie, he had expected as much when he realised that she was a 'half-breed' and assumed that her life would be much the same as his own was before meeting Kikyo all those years ago. No, what surprised him was that there was no one who had seemed to care about the child throughout her entire life! Not even a mother! His heart sank thinking back to all the times where he had sought the comfort of his mother's arms and how this child had missed out on that much needed comfort.

He held her closer,causing her to stir slightly in the sleep she had fallen into whilst he was lost in his musings. Her small fist gripped tighter to his haori and she brought her head to lay over his heart, the steady beat assuring her of her safety in this person's care, he'd protect her. InuYasha took a deep breath to clear his head and noted the scent of citrus fruits and vanilla. It was an unusual mix and he hadn't noticed it before but son realised that it was the girl's unique scent, which had been masked by the scent of old blood and dirt. He smiled to himself as he commited the unusually pleasant scent to memory.

As InuYasha crested the last hill to Kaede's hut where they often stayed between trips, he noticed that the rumbling in his chest had begun again. It annoyed him slightly because he didn't know where exactly it was coming from because he had certainly not done it before, however it contented him at the same time knowing that it calmed the girl down as well.

It was late when he finally pushed aside the mat that acted as a door to Kaede's hut only to assaulted by the curious gazes from everyone around the fire and the smell of a stew Kaede had been preparing for dinner. Ignoring the gazes for now he went to his usual corner by the door and sat down, the girl securely held in his lap.

Kagome looked over at the hanyou pair with a questioning glance and while she didn't know the silent language Inu 'spoke' with, InuYasha had learned to read Kagome's body language fairly well and decided to answer her question. "She'll heal.." he said in a low voice, "The injuries have all started to heal a little faster now that she's resting.. I don't think she's ever had a decent amount of sleep unless she had passed out.."

Kagome covered her mouth in horror at the news but was glad that the girl was healing only time would tell if the girl would be alright mentally. "Does she have any family?" she found herself asking, instantly regretting it at the look of hurt on her hanyou friend's face.

"No.." it was almost a growl but he contained it, "No one's ever been there for her from what she's told me.." he made a fist at his side to try and stop the trembling that was taking over his body as he fought to keep calm. "I asked if she had a name.." he growled this time as he bit the statement out.

Kagome waited for the rest and scooted closer when he didn't finish what his statement was. "What did she say?"

it took some moments for InuYasha to calm himself enough to answer without waking the child up, "She didn't know what a name was.. So I asked what se was called.."

Kagome had that same daunting feeling InuYasha had had when he asked, in her relatively short experience in this era, there apparently was nothing worse than a half breed.

"'They call me Hanyou' were her exact words." InuYasha growled a little too loudly and the girl stirred from her sleep, looking around the unfamiliar surroundings and faces and starting to panic.

Where? It was a threatening growl and she bared her fangs and lay what was left of her ears against her skull as she looked at all the shocked faces staring back at her, why did they have to stare like that?.

InuYasha gently pushed Kagome back slightly, "Stay back she feels threatened.." he warned before looking down Relax, safe he yipped quickly, reaching up with one hand to rest on the girl's head lightly as he gently scratched along the base of one of her ears. Pack, safe.. he assured at her unsure expression. He noticed that a pink tinge was leaving her eyes, 'that was close..'

Safe? she whimpered shooting glances over her shoulder at InuYasha, not willing to leave her back exposed for fear of being attacked by the others.

They no hurt remember? InuYasha pressed, slinking his arm around the girl's waist to secure her and leaned down so his head was nearly resting on her shoulder and used his free hand to point to each of them in turn, "Kagome, Kaede, Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara.."

Each of the other people caught on to what was going on and waved with a smile as each of their names were said, serving to only slightly ease the girl's tension.

Sango watched the girl warily, she didn't miss the change in her eyes and was not about to let her guard down just yet, even though it seemed that InuYasha had her under control. "It seems that she is not used to this sort of contact with humans.." she stated with a level voice.

"Of course not!" Came InuYasha's harsh reply, "She's a half demon like me, you've seen how people in other villages react when I walk around.."

"This is true.." Miroku cut in to try and diffuse any situation that may have been building, he had been watching the girl as well and saw that she was getting anxious again, "InuYasha perhaps you should calm yourself.. she seems to be getting upset again.."

"If you'd all quit staring at her she'd be fine.. I know I don't particularly like it when someone is staring at me.." InuYasha huffed, turning his head away from the others as he did so.

A silence washed through the hut at his words but was cut by a small bark, yip and growl combo from the girl, which caused InuYasha to look down at her surprised as she buried her face in his haori. Don't be angry. I leave if they want.

"We ain't gonna make you leave.." came his soft reply and the rumble started again in his chest 'dammit what the hell is happening to me?'

"She thought we were going to make her leave?" Shippo asked from beside Kagome.

"She was going to leave if you guys wanted her to..." he said looking up at them, a gasp was heard around the hut which certainly didn't help his mood terribly.

"InuYasha your face!" Kagome said in a hushed voice as she dove into her bag and grabbed out a small mirror for him to see.

Taking the mirror InuYasha couldn't help the sharp intake of breath he made when he saw the two jagged magenta streaks adorning his face. They hadn't completely shown through yet and he could now nderstand the other's nervousness. "But I feel fine! I don't get it!" he said checking the mirror again as he said so. To everyone's surprise, the Rumbling became louder, allowing everyone in the hut to hear it, and as the sound grew, so did the prominance of the markings. The only one who didn't seem alarmed by this was the hanyou girl on on the other hand was smiling contentedly.