Chapter 23
"How to be a Failure 101"

His head was pounding, but the only thing that he could really smell was Kagome. Which wasn't really a problem—in fact it was the opposite of a problem—but it was a little strange.

Something draped over his chest, and he could tell that it definitely wasn't a blanket.

Inuyasha dragged his eyes open, turning his head slightly to look around.

A mass of black hair was sprawled across his chest.

So that's where the Kagome smell was coming from.

"He's awake," Miroku's voice came from his left, and he turned towards it, feeling the joints in his neck and jaw pop and crackle.

"Inuyasha?" Sango asked. "How do you feel?"

"Fan-fucking-tastic," he grumbled. "Why the fuck do I feel like shit?"

"Probably because something tried to snap your neck," Miroku answered.

He could remember the feeling of fingers gripping his neck and face, and the sudden snap as everything dis-aligned.

"Kagome was quite distraught when I found her last night. We were lucky that Kirara heard her shouting for help."

He looked down at the sleeping girl who was firmly wrapped around him.

"She insisted on staying awake until we were certain that you were fine and not dying," Miroku explained. "It took quite some convincing this morning to get her to rest while you were still unconscious. This," Miroku motioned to the girl sprawled across him, "was the compromise."

Kagome's hands were twisted into his haori, and she was laying in a position that couldn't have been comfortable. Not to mention that she'd already been so tired, and then to stay up all night?

She had to be beyond exhausted, and despite the low throbbing ache in his muscles, he couldn't bring himself to disturb her any.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Sango asked. "Do you remember?"

Inuyasha winced.

"Fucker wasn't dead." He cleared his throat of the bullshit that decided to lodge itself in his throat.

Kagome made a whimpering noise and rubbed her head against his chest slightly. He gently wrapped his arm across her back trying to settle her a bit before he continued talking.

She stilled, hands loosening their death grip on his clothes.

"It showed up last night," he continued. "Tried to fucking kill me and her."

"It hasn't really tried to kill Kagome in the past though," Sango said with a frown. "Why would it start now?"

"Fuck if I know," he grumbled. "It's all just too fucking weird."

"So you managed to get the both of you through the well before you passed out?"

"Yeah, guess so, shit gets a bit fuzzy towards the end." He tried to lift his head and winced as bones creaked, loudly protesting the movement, and Miroku gently pressed his shoulder back down onto the cushion.

"Kaede suggested remaining still for the rest of the day."

"She should be back soon with Shippo," Sango added.

"Wasn't exactly looking for her," Inuyasha grumbled.

"So what were you looking for, hmm?" Miroku asked, resting his chin in his palm as he sat cross-legged next to Inuyasha.

"Don't antagonize him, monk," Sango warned. "Kaede said that he needed to rest to make sure everything healed."

"Perhaps if I misbehaved, you'd punish me?" Miroku waggled his eyebrows.

"Fucking hell, just leave, would you?" Inuyasha groaned.

"Ah, but then who would offer you such tremendous care like what I've given you and Sango? Let me tell you, friend, about the time I bandaged her leg. The flesh was supple and—!" A cushion smacked Miroku hard enough to send him crashing backwards with flailing arms.

Inuyasha brought a hand up to cover Kagome's head and turned to look at Sango, who held another cushion at the ready and was so red faced that he could practically feel the heat of her embarrassment from where he lay.

"You lecher!" She seethed, and Miroku laughed from where he was sprawled out across the floor.

"I don't know how you made a cushion sting like that, but I am impressed."

"I'll hit you again if you keep talking like an idiot."

Kagome let out a low groan, shifting her head slightly under Inuyasha's hands. He lightly stroked her hair, hoping that she would go back to sleep and rest, but she was already stirring against him. Her fingers clenched into his clothes as her head shifted.

"Hey Sango," she mumbled, before twisting herself to look at him.

Tired eyes swept over him before she seemed to realize that he was actually awake.

"You're awake!" She shouted, rising to her knees with her hands still firmly fisted in his haori.

Tears drifted over her face, and she let loose a sob before collapsing back against him.

"I'm so sorry!" She wept into his chest, and he stared wide eyed at her, before darting a glance towards Miroku and Sango.

"The fuck are you sorry for?" He asked, trying to sit up to console her, but the sharp pain in his neck and head made him reconsider that as an option.

For all her blubbering, Kagome seemed to hone in on that sound, immediately recoiling from him.

"I'm so sorry!" She skittered away from him, and before Inuyasha could stop her, Miroku had stopped her retreat. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean—I didn't think—!"

"Kagome," Miroku chided, holding onto her arms. She gripped him back in return, but didn't stop staring at Inuyasha as she mumbled unnecessary apologies. Miroku tried to calm her down, but Kagome wasn't having it.

"None of this is your fault, Kagome," he stated, but Kagome shook her head defiantly.

"It is my fault!"

Well, this was going to shit all quickly.

He pushed himself up, purposefully ignoring the sharp, stinging pain in his head as he moved.

"How is any of this your fault?" Miroku asked her, now kneeling up on one knee as Kagome tried to pull away.

"Inuyasha!" Sango said, reaching towards him to shove him back down into the cushion. He batted her hands away as he pushed himself up fully.

"I swear, woman," he muttered, reaching a hand back to feel along his neck.

Inuyasha grimaced as he felt bones snap back into place, particularly along his spine. That was always a weird feeling.

He'd gotten damn fucking lucky that thing hadn't severed his spine. He didn't actually know if he'd be able to recover from that sort of injury.

"Why are you up?" Kagome shouted, nearly hysterical.

Well, that idea backfired gloriously. It was supposed to show her that he was fine, and not on death's door, but clearly his act wasn't having the intended effects.

"Kagome, stop. I'm fine."

"You're not fine! You're not! I knew it wasn't gone! I knew it, and it almost—" She broke out into a long, full sob. "It almost—It's my fault!"

Covering her face with her hands, she slumped against Miroku, who drew her into a hug.

"She was like this last night," Sango said lowly, gaze shifting to him and then back to Kagome. "I was hoping that some sleep might help the hysterics."

Inuyasha sighed. He really was out of his element here. She'd been doing better—maybe not physically, but she seemed to be handling things better. For a moment there, he'd thought that they'd crested the hill of recovery, but last night seemed to put them right back to before they'd left.

"Kagome," he said, and she lifted her head enough to look at him. He held his arm slightly out to the side in offering. "C'mere."

She sniffled, and he watched her fingers tighten in her grip on Miroku's sleeve.

"I'll hurt you," she whispered. "I always hurt you."

He snorted at that.

"You ain't done shit. Now, c'mere and quit snotting up Miroku's robes."

"I am not, you jerk!" But even he caught her quick glance down just to be sure.

The sniffling continued, but she let go of Miroku and slid the few steps back to him, moving between his legs and wrapping her arms around his middle and burying her face into his chest.

"Sango," Miroku said in an unfamiliar authoritative tone, "come here and let me ease your sorrows." A pillow caught him across the face again.

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her in return.

"I only have sorrows because you're an idiot!"

"But I could be your idiot," he remarked from where he was on the floor. Another pillow whacked him in the gut, and he laughed.

"Kaede's gonna be pissed at you using her cushions as weapons," he told her. The glare Sango sent him wasn't unexpected.

"Don't think that I won't hit you too!"

A small half-hearted giggle escaped the girl wrapped around him, and he felt like there might be a small thread of hope after all.

It took a lot of convincing, but Inuyasha finally stretched back out on the floor. She kept hold of his hand, as she sat against his side. He didn't seem to mind either, since he didn't comment when she would play with his claws against the pads of her fingers.

Instead, he just laid there as Miroku and Sango sat with them both. No one talked and that was nice, even though she was going to have to tell them what happened eventually. She didn't want to talk about it.

That last little visit had been a doozie.

Seeing her father—and like that no less—felt somehow more traumatizing than the burning effigy of her friend in the bathroom.

It wanted her, and it was willing to murder Inuyasha to do it.

They'd just abandoned her home, fleeing to safety here, but she'd left her mother unaware of the dangers lurking around her home.

It had left them alone before, maybe it would continue to do so?

It wasn't like she could get to the well and much less get herself out of it, and she couldn't ask Inuyasha to carry her through.

And what if the thing was just there and waiting for her? And she shows up in the well and it's just there to eat her or whatever it's going to do with her?

And if she brought Inuyasha? It would just attack him, and he wasn't up for a fight like that again. Not so soon.

He might actually die this time and it would all be her fault.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, and her head popped up to look at him, eyes burning. His fingers tapped the back of her hand, and she realized that her knuckles were changing colors with the strength of her grip.

"Sorry," she mumbled, moving to drop his hand, but he held onto hers instead, and the small gesture felt more reassuring than he could possibly know.

The mat shifted, and she looked up to see Kaede.

"Oh! Ye are awake already," Kaede said as her eye traveled down to look at Inuyasha. "I am surprised that ye are still resting, Inuyasha."

"Oi," he grumbled. "Ain't like I need it. You were the one worried."

"Ah, yes, because ye's unconsciousness for hours was entirely normal."

Inuyasha pushed himself up to a sitting position, wincing slightly, and Kagome let go of his hand to steady him.

"I'm fine, Kagome," he said, glaring at Kaede.

"You're not!" She cried, hands fisting in his shirt to force him back down onto the bed. "You're still hurt."

"Barely," he said with a roll of his head from side to side. There were a few soft cracks, and he made a face for a second before rolling his shoulders. "Fucking finally!" His hand came up to rub the back of his neck. "Took fucking forever for the bones to set."

Kagome just stared as he rolled his head side to side.

"I'm sure everyone in the room can fully understand how frustrating it must've been to wait a day before your broken neck fully healed," Miroku said, sipping from a cup of water.

Inuyasha leaned to the side to glare at him around Kagome.

"Kagome, how are ye feeling?" Kaede asked. She'd half expected a hand on her shoulder, but Kaede remained standing beside her.

Right.

She'd had a dream of Kaede slicing her arm open.

Why did that seem like so long ago?

It had barely been a couple of weeks since.

Clawed fingers reached out to her, touching her hand, and making her jump.

"Kagome?" Kaede repeated.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm okay." She gave a smile for just a fraction of a second before it trembled, and she let it go.

"Of course," Kaede said with a smile, and she moved towards the fire pit. "How about some dinner then? Miroku, if you will please fetch our young fox from his games?"

"Of course, Lady Kaede," he said, standing and giving a gracious bow before walking out of the hut, letting the flap fall behind him.

"I can help," Kagome offered, sliding towards Kaede, but a firm hand on her arm stopped her.

"You don't need to be doing shit," Inuyasha grumbled.

"I can help make dinner!"

"No, Kagome," he said firmly and with a glare in her general direction. "You're going to sit here."

"But—"

"Inuyasha makes a fair point though he makes it crassly," a small scoff from the hanyou beside her, "ye have been gravely ill from what Inuyasha has told us. It would do for ye to rest."

"Not gravely," she mumbled, but sat back in her pajamas and stared at her foot.

She could at least move around on her own if she wasn't injured. But this way made it near impossible for her to not feel useless.

A warm hand lightly ran up and down her back, soothing her distress.

She looked over at Inuyasha as the door flap shifted, and Shippo came bounding in.

"Kagome!" He shouted, darting over to her.

"Hey Shippo," she said as his tail swished behind him in his eagerness as he leaned onto her thigh.

"You're awake! Are you feeling better?" He asked, glancing at Inuyasha. "You were sleeping, and they said that I had to go outside and play."

"Shippo," Sango called, motioning the kit to come over to her. "Come over here and help make dinner."

"But—" Shippo started.

"Shippo," Kaede warned, and she heard a soft whine as his tail twitched but meandered over to the fire slowly and looking completely dejected about the whole ordeal.

Miroku came in a few moments later, and quietly moved to sit down near the fire and began peeling the vegetables.

"I could do that," Kagome mumbled quietly feeling almost completely useless just sitting there. There was a gentle tug on her hair, and she turned to look at Inuyasha who just scowled at her.

Kaede walked over, handing her a cup of tea.

"Drink that before dinner," Kaede said, walking back towards the fire.

Kagome took a small sip, feeling her stomach recoil at the taste and presence of anything being in it.

She shifted her legs to sit a bit more comfortably, wincing when her knee protested.

"What hurts?" Inuyasha asked, hands already patting down her legs.

"It's nothing, Inuyasha," she said, and it wasn't like she could walk as it was. What's a bum knee to a bum foot?

"Not if you're making that face it isn't," he grumbled, and his hands lightly squeezed the tender joint.

She jerked her leg away from him, but he was already working the pajama leg up to reveal a large purplish bruise forming where she'd fallen the night before.

"The fuck did you do, Kagome?"

"I slipped! And it's not that bad. It'll be gone in a few days anyway."

"You're not supposed to be on your foot!"

"What was I supposed to do? You were unconscious and needed help!"

"You weren't supposed to leave!"

"Uh, Lady Kaede?" Miroku spoke softly.

"And I was just supposed to leave you there when you were hurt?!"

"Yes! Because I fucking heal! You—" He jabbed a clawed finger in her direction, "don't!"

A cushion straight to his face sent Inuyasha sprawling.

"Fucking hell, Sango!"

"Is that why my cushions have been so lumpy as of late?" Kaede asked, and Sango gave her a sheepish look, face flushing as she returned to her chore in preparing dinner.

Inuyasha sat up, glaring at Sango before turning to Kaede.

"Where do you keep that stuff for bruises?"

Kaede pointed to the shelves to her left.

"Second shelf over there."

Inuyasha rose to his feet with ease and no sign of discomfort.

"There's like thirty jars on this shelf."

"Sniff it out then. Ye knows what it smells like."

Inuyasha glared at her, grumbling under his breath as he sniffed along the shelf and then grabbing one jar in particular, sniffing it lightly and then returning to her side. He pushed the pant leg up a bit more, exposing part of her thigh and the rest of the bruise.

Opening the small pot, he dug his fingers in before lightly spreading the cream over her skin.

He was careful that he didn't press too hard, but still worked the cream gently into her skin.

"Well, now that ye are both awake, I think that it would be prudent to discuss last night," Kaede said as she dumped cut vegetables into the pot. "Ye caused quite the ruckus among the villagers."

Inuyasha recapped the small pot, setting it to the floor and tugging her pant leg back down to her ankle.

She watched the scowl deepen on his face as he rose up to put the jar back where he'd found it.

"What do you want to know exactly? Bastard attacked us. We came here."

"How is it that ye can be so frustrating?"

Inuyasha shrugged as he took his seat next to her again with a soft sigh of exasperation from Kaede.

"Kagome," Kaede asked, and she looked up. "Perhaps ye can shed some light on what happened."

"I don't know. Like what?"

"Details would be most helpful," Kaede stated.

"Oh, uh, of course," Kagome said, swallowing thickly as Sango and Miroku both worked on dinner. She reached out and wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's, who said nothing about it when she reached down to grab his hand in hers. "What do you want to know?"

"Start from the beginning," Kaede said. "What made you realize that the creature was not dead?"

"I saw a man in the courtyard. I thought it was a visitor who got lost. He looked normal."

"And I assume that he was not?" Miroku asked.

"No, I realized that it was my dad."

"Ye have not said much about ye's father," Kaede said, and Kagome turned towards Inuyasha, who was glowering at the floor in front of him, even though his hand had tightened its grip around hers.

"Yeah, he died a while ago," Kagome mumbled.

Sango cleared her throat.

"And then what happened?"

"Fucker tried to attack her. It was fucking strong too. Almost made it through the door."

"And then the kitchen was all messed up."

Inuyasha tucked her arm closer against him.

"Yeah, the cooking area was normal a second before and then it looked like something had gone through and ripped it apart. And when we tried to leave, that's when everything went to shit."

She tucked her legs up a bit more, her knees touching Inuyasha's leg.

"We made it up to my room, and then—"

The vision and sound of Inuyasha's neck snapping, that look of fear on his face—even though she was actively touching him, almost pressing herself as close as she could, she couldn't get the sight out of her head.

She buried her face completely into his shoulder, shaking her head.

She didn't want to keep talking about it. She never wanted to relive that ever again.

"I assume that is when Inuyasha was injured?" Kaede asked, and Kagome nodded into his shoulder, trying to suppress the tears that were already past stopping.

It was so quiet in the small space, and she could feel everyone watching her, waiting for her to pull herself together and explain what had happened. They just wanted to help, and they needed information to do that, but it was all too fresh and too raw.

Inuyasha tugged his arm away, and before she could lament the loss of him, he dragged her into his lap, and she twisted into him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"She's done," Inuyasha stated, arms coming around her. "Say one word, monk," Inuyasha growled out his warning, and Kagome just pressed herself against him.

She'd ignored everything that was telling her that something was wrong, and it had almost killed Inuyasha.

"Of course, is there anything else that ye would like to add?"

There was a long pause as Inuyasha clearly thought about what had happened.

"There was a message on the window," he said after a moment.

"What did it say?" Sango asked.

"She's mine, dog."

All sounds stopped in the hut, and Kagome wanted to hide herself under a blanket.

"The creature addressed you directly?" Miroku asked, and she felt Inuyasha nod.

"It's always addressed Kagome before, hasn't it?"

"It wants Kagome," Inuyasha growled. Kagome shuddered, and he hugged her close, "and it's not getting anywhere fucking near her again."

A loud crash outside had Inuyasha on his feet in an instant, with Kagome held against him as he backed away from the doorway. Kagome turned towards the door, still clutching onto his haori.

"I'll go," Miroku said, darting outside the doorway, staff in hand. Sango grabbed onto Kaede's arm, pulling herself to her feet, trying to keep her weight off her leg.

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered.

He didn't respond, but he kept his grip tight around her.

The flap shifted as Miroku stepped back inside.

"The wheel on a cart broke. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Sango let out a breath, lowering herself back into the small step next to the fire pit.

Inuyasha sat them both back down, this time allowing himself to lean back against the wall.

She let go of her death grip on his clothes, hands shaking from the effort and stress. But Inuyasha didn't let her go even as he settled her back into his lap.

"I think that may be enough talk for now," Kaede said after a bit, and Inuyasha scoffed at that. "Kagome, are ye alright?"

She nodded.

"Does she look fucking alright, hag?"

"It is merely a question, Inuyasha."

"It's a fucking stupid question is what it is," he grumbled.

Kagome couldn't help herself and felt a small smile break out across her face.

Inuyasha felt like his nerves were the verge of snapping from being wound so tight.

Kaede was dumping stew into a bowl, and she brought one over to Kagome and another for himself. He took it from her, carefully situating the both of them so that he could eat, because he was starving. Moving Kagome to sit beside him, she curled up against him, cradling the bowl of food close when he handed it over to her.

Probably from healing himself. He was always hungry when he'd had a massive injury.

And he'd consider a broken—well, almost broken probably—neck a severe injury.

Kagome took small bites with her spoon before pausing.

"We brought your spoon back," she said absentmindedly as she stared at the bowl of food in front of her. "It's in my bag."

"Ah, thank ye, child," Kaede said, giving her a smile. "That was kind of you to think of this old woman."

Kagome gave her a small nod, taking another small bite of mostly vegetables. She needed to eat something other than soup and measly little bits of carrots, but at least she was eating.

He supposed he should be thankful for that much, but this whole thing was putting him on edge.

Scarfing down what was in his bowl, he looked at her as she sat, pressed close beside him.

She was taking small bites, looking up at him as she ate as if he was just going to disappear. He patted her leg lightly before starting to rise to his feet. There was a small squeak, and her hand fisted in the fabric of his pants to keep him in place.

"What?" He asked, looking at her.

"Don't," she whispered, eyes pleading with him.

"I'll be right back," he said, resting a hand over hers, and she tightened her grip on his pant leg.

"Inuyasha," Miroku said, rising to his feet, holding his hand out towards the bowl. "I assume that you'd like some more?"

Inuyasha gave him a nod, settling back against the wall next to Kagome. He watched as she pressed herself closer to him than before.

Miroku handed him another full bowl, and Inuyasha set back about to eating his fill of dinner.

He glanced over to the others who were staring at Kagome with similar looks of concern and worry.

Kagome finished most of her bowl, but then set it down in front of her before curling herself against his side.

He finished, and Miroku picked up their dishes as Kagome reached out and wrapped her arms around his. Inuyasha sighed as he watched her bury her face into his shoulder and hide away from the world.

It felt like everything they'd gained, every single piece of forward progress was lost, and she'd backtracked completely to before she'd gone home.

Tugging his arm free, he wrapped it around her back, drawing her close as she shifted her hold to his torso.

Everyone's gaze was on him, or her rather, but the looks they were all passing around the room were full of melancholy and definitely not helpful.

Kaede was already pouring her a cup of tea, and Inuyasha was glad that someone had kept a level head about all this mess and was remembering the important things.

Kagome shifted so that her leg wasn't so curled up—because that had to be painful from the way that her leg looked earlier.

She sniffled, and he took another deep breath, letting his hand rub gently up and down her back to attempt to reassure her that he was fine.

He wasn't sure if it helped or not.

"Kagome," Kaede said, holding a cup out to her. She shifted up a bit more so that she wasn't practically sprawled across Inuyasha's lap. His arm stayed around her, even as she remained clutching onto him like a frightened child.

Inuyasha took the cup from Kaede, waiting for her to get situated so that she could drink her medicinal tea.

"Do ye feel up for talking a bit more?" Kaede asked, and Kagome shrugged, reaching out to take the cup.

"We're only asking to try and figure out what this thing is so we can stop it."

At that, Kagome winced, shifting her eyes to the cup now in her hand.

She'd abandoned everyone and fled through the well, leaving her family alone with that thing.

"I should go back," she said.

"The fuck you will!" Inuyasha snarled down at her. "You ain't going back until that fucker is dead. I'll go back and—"

"It almost killed you!" She snapped back at him.

"Almost," he pointed out, "and I'm fine now. You're still eight kinds of fucked up from a couple weeks ago!"

Kagome winced at that declaration, because she was.

She was so messed up that she was almost beyond comprehension from the person she used to be. She thought that having people know and recognize that there was something out there haunting her, making her life a living nightmare, would absolve some of those fears and concerns, but it clearly hadn't. Instead, it almost seemed to make things worse, because now people knew and she was still falling apart at the seams.

And everyone could see it happen piece by piece.

It didn't matter that she'd been right the whole time, and it wasn't dead. It didn't matter at all.

"Kagome—" Inuyasha started, but she shook her head.

"It's fine," she said quietly, not looking up at him or at anyone. She couldn't even look at her own hands. "You're right."

Her hands shook so badly, that the tea threatened to slosh out of her cup.

"Kagome," he sighed, reaching over to pull the cup from her hands before she spilled the hot liquid on herself. God, she was such a mess, "Stop."

But she couldn't, because she was already too far gone. There was no turning back as she clamped her eyes shut, even as the tears welled over and a sob escaped her.

Ah, well, fuck him and his mouth.

Why couldn't the fucking thing just shut up?

He always said the wrong shit at the worst time, and now it really felt like he'd taken three steps back from where they'd been before.

Setting the cup down beside him, he glanced up at Sango, hoping that she would have some sort of guidance. Wasn't she supposed to be good at handling this shit?

"Kagome," Sango said from across the room.

Oh right, she's fucked up too.

Why was everyone so fucking fragile all the damn time?

"I'm sure that Inuyasha didn't mean to make you cry—"

"But he's right!" She sobbed even louder. "I am a mess!" She took a shuddering breath as she almost seemed to try and calm herself. "I can't even purify the stupid youkai! My reiki doesn't work! I can't even walk right now!" Her breathing was turning shallow and quick, and in his infinite wisdom, Inuyasha did the only thing that he could think of.

His arms wrapped around her, drawing her into his lap.

Because Sango was right, he didn't mean it.

Not in the way that would upset her like this.

Never like this.

He curled her against him, pressing her closely against his chest as he buried his face into her hair. Her fingers scrabbled for grip on his clothes as she cried, digging in and holding him tightly to her.

"Kagome," he started, trying to comfort her enough that she would stop crying at least.

His brain ceased functioning whenever he saw her chin tremble or the tears welling up in her eyes.

It was one thing when something else made her cry, that he could handle. Beat the fucker up, and make sure it didn't hurt her. Done and done.

But when it was him? He didn't know how to fix it. The problem was him, so how could he even start to address it?

So this was the only way that he knew how to fix the problem.

Hold her close and hope that whatever message she needed to hear, he could say through touch, because he didn't seem to fuck that up as bad as his mouth did. And Kagome seemed to respond to it better than him attempting to say the right thing, which was never the right thing no matter how hard he actually tried.

"You got hurt," she whimpered into his chest.

"Keh, not like it slowed me down any. Still managed to clock that bastard a couple times, didn't I?"

Okay, yeah, that fight might've fucked him up for a bit, but he was fine now. And he'd be even better tomorrow.

She sniffled, still breathing heavily.

A step in the right direction at least.

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly against him, and the heat of it soaked through his shirt and into his skin, making the fine hairs on his neck twitch.

It wasn't that he didn't like it—it felt an awful lot like the complete opposite in fact.

"Don't go," she mumbled into him. "Please."

Her arms shifted to wrap around him, and he rubbed his cheek along the side of her hair. He wouldn't promise that, because he should go and check on her family at least.

"Inuyasha," Kaede said after a long lull in the conversation. He cut a glare over at her, hoping she got the gist of his displeasure with her interruptions. "She still needs to drink her tea."

He scowled at the old woman for interrupting the quiet moment they were clearly having, snatching the almost full cup from the ground.

"Hey," he mumbled, nudging her with his shoulder, encouraging her to look up at him.

She sniffled a bit before raising her head, and he held the tea cup up for her to see. She took it, sipping the cooled liquid and he could feel her scrunching her nose up at the taste of it.

Everyone seemed to be attempting to mind their own business, but he watched their eyes drift over to the two of them, and for once, he wished that they were back alone in her room again. He missed the subtle privacy, and how her mother just allowed him to take care of her.

Ah, fuck him, internalizing his groan—he liked it way too much.

But here there were too many eyes watching, ready to comment on something that he was fucking up in the process.

He didn't like it.

He could take care of her just fine on his own.

Kagome tipped the cup back, finishing off the medicine, scrunching up her nose again.

How the fuck was that adorable? Why did his brain immediately categorize that into cute?

She'd literally been sobbing her eyes out a few minutes ago and now his head decided that this was a great time to remind him how fucking adorable she was.

Maybe he did rattle something loose up there after all.

It didn't take long before Kagome started to nod off against him, head resting against his chest and shoulder, and her fingers slowly released his haori as she drifted away into sleep that she clearly desperately needed.

Kagome wasn't this easily rattled. He'd seen her in tougher spots, and she'd always managed to keep her head on straight and focused, but this felt more like a descent into madness.

"Miroku," he hissed, trying to catch the monk's attention, who quickly turned to see what he needed, obviously noting the sleeping Kagome. He rose, grabbing her sleeping bag, unrolling and setting it up for Inuyasha to lay her down.

Rising carefully to his feet, he carried her to the bedding, stretching her out inside the sleeping bag that Miroku held open for him.

It took a bit of maneuvering, but he managed to get her tucked in with little trouble and no surprise wake ups.

Miroku breathed a sigh of relief, moving away from the sleeping Kagome.

Inuyasha waited for just a moment before rising to his own feet and heading for the door.

"Inuyasha!" Sango whispered angrily, and he turned to regard her with a hand on the doorway. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to check on her family," he said with a nod of his head towards the well and exiting through the door mat.

"Inuyasha!" Sango called after him, but he didn't stop walking. "Inuya—Miroku!"

The door flap rattled a bit, and he could hear the monk's sandals and chiming staff as he jogged after him.

"Inuyasha, friend," Miroku started. "Please tell me that you're not planning on going through the well."

"'Kay." He shrugged, continuing his walk towards the familiar clearing.

"Honestly, I think you try to be infuriating some days."

"Only some?"

"Fine," the monk huffed, irritated with him. "We do not think that it is wise for you to go back especially when you are just freshly healed."

"I'm fine. It's just a quick check. Kagome will appreciate it later."

"Kagome is precisely who we're worried about." Inuyasha gave him a look at that statement. "If she wakes up and you're gone, she will be—distraught is probably too tame a term for her reaction."

"I won't be gone long. Just a quick perimeter check. Make sure that thing is leaving them alone."

"And if something is wrong?"

"Then I'll take it out."

"You saw what it took the last time we fought it, and I can't travel with you to the other side. You can't defeat this on your own."

"Yeah, well, I can't exactly leave them to that thing either."

"All we know is that it's a youkai. That's it."

"Good. Youkai can be defeated. Ain't like the thing's a god or whatever."

"You'd probably still try to defeat it even if it was."

Inuyasha scoffed, flashing his claws in the last dying dredges of sunlight.

"If it can bleed, I can take it down. And that thing can fucking bleed."

Miroku sighed heavily as they approached the well.

"Fine, I will wait for you here then," Miroku said, moving to settle down beside a tree. "Please come back uninjured. I have no desire to deal with the repercussions of you injuring yourself."

"It'll be fine, monk."

And then Inuyasha slipped through the well, landing in the darkened well house on the other side. He looked up, waiting for something, anything, but it was just quiet.

Leaping out, he kept his hand on the hilt of his sword as he looked around, waiting to see the bright white teeth reveal themselves in the dark. But the dark was just the dark, and the shadows seemed to be merely that.

Inuyasha crouched low to the earth, pushing the door open slowly, prepared to dodge or flee at a moment's notice.

But again, the grounds were quiet and still, except for the occasional breeze.

Which was good, right? It was a good thing, but then it still felt ominous. Like something was waiting just around the corner to leap out and attack.

Fuck, was this how she felt all the fucking time?

He moved to the house, hearing her family talking in another room. He almost went inside, but opted to check out Kagome's room instead. Quickly leaping up to the overhang, he climbed inside her room, looking around.

The petals were gone, so was the message and the bird heads.

Perhaps her mother had cleaned that up?

There was still the slightly sweet smell of blood and flowers, and it reassured him that it had in fact been real and a thing that had happened.

Kagome didn't have those sense to rely on, all she had was what she could feel and touch, and those senses were failing her in judging fact from fiction.

His hands curled into fists, and he wanted nothing more than to land a punch square in the fucker's face until he was nothing more than a puddle of goo that couldn't pull itself together.

"She's mine," he mocked. "Like fucking hell she is."

Turning away from the vanity, he opened her bedroom door, coming face to face with her mother.

"Inuyasha!" She cried, dragging him into a—not entirely unwanted—hug. "We were so worried when we got home and neither of you were here! Did something happen? Is Kagome alright?" She held him at arm's length, waiting for him to respond.

The guilt he felt at seeing the worry on her face.

He should've come back sooner.

"She's—fine," he answered, hoping that she didn't note his hesitation in the answer. "She's with Kaede."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I think the tea is working?"

"Oh, that's great news. Is there a reason she's not with you?"

"She was sleeping, and—"

"Oh, you didn't want to disturb her?" He gave a pitiful nod, and she dragged him into a hug again. "What would we do without you?" He said nothing in response, because he was quite sure that he brought nothing to their family.

It wasn't like they needed him to provide for them. Though he supposed that he could bring them some cuts of meat in the future. Maybe catch a deer and bring it through the well?

Would that even be helpful or would he just be making a mess of things like he usually did?

Her mother held him at arm's length again.

"Was there a reason you came to visit?" She asked.

"Uh, Kagome left something behind, and I thought I'd get it."

"Her first aid kit?" She suggested, already turning towards the bathroom at his feeble nod. It wasn't a lie, but it hadn't been the full truth of him coming here either.

"Here," She held the kit out to him, and he took it gently from her. "I'd repacked it for her earlier." She frowned a little as she stared at him, and he felt his ears go back against his hair without his permission. "Is everything alright? You look upset."

"Uh, yeah, but everything is okay?" He tried to bite back the wince.

"Everything is fine, dear. Why do you ask?"

"Uh, no reason."

There was a long—and awkward—pause between them as he struggled to come up with something to say that would let him leave and go back to Kagome, but his brain didn't want to work that way.

Instead, it just kept circling around the idea that if they found out they would never let him back in.

"You know, dear," her mother said, finally breaking the awkward quiet, "You're always welcome to come visit whenever you'd like."

He nodded, and she rested her hand on his shoulder before moving out of the way.

"Here, I'll pack something for you to take back," she offered, moving into the kitchen, and he was entirely unable to tell her no or refuse.

A shrill ringing sounded, one that he recognized from the telephone thing—which he only just understood the basic functions of—and her mother hurried to answer it, leaving him standing there in the middle of the kitchen, holding on to the first aid kit.

Did he leave?

Was he allowed to leave?

Did he wait?

Why was everything in this house so fucking complicated?

"Hello?"

"Hello. This is Ichika Nakamura." It took him a moment to realize that he could hear what the other people were saying. For a moment, he felt bad for eavesdropping, but no matter how hard he ignored it, he couldn't.

"Oh yes, it's so good to hear from you. Would you like to speak to Kasuo?" Her mother glanced over her shoulder at him, opening her mouth to speak, but stopping herself from what she was hearing.

"No, I called to talk to you actually." There was a lingering pause as the woman cleared her throat. "We wanted to let you know that we had Jasmine put down this afternoon."

Judging from the way that her mother looked, the 'put down' wasn't a good thing.

"I'm so sorry. What was wrong? You said that she was fine a couple weeks ago."

"I know! She looked perfectly fine, but then earlier this week, she just started sleeping a lot, and she couldn't eat. She was so weak, and then she wouldn't even get up out of her bed because she was in so much pain. Just constant whimpering. We ran all sorts of tests, but they couldn't figure out what the issue was. She was in so much pain, so we chose to put her down."

"That's just awful."

"We just wanted you to know after everything that had happened a few weeks ago with Kagome."

His ears perked at the mention of her name. What did she have to do with Kagome? What happened a few weeks ago?

That was about the time that she'd been injured, right?

Was that the same dog that had bitten her?

He strained his mind to remember what she'd told him, but he was more concerned about the bite itself than everything else.

He did remember that she thought the dog was cute.

Her mother held the telephone with both hands, glancing over at him and smiling weakly.

"Oh, well, I'm very sorry to hear that."

"Give Kasuo our best, would you?"

"Of course," her mother answered.

"Yes, well, have a good evening," the woman said and there was a subtle click, and then her mother hung up the telephone back onto the wall.

She looked back at him, and she gave him a smile.

"That was a friend of Kasuo's. She was just letting us know that they had to put their dog down today." She must've realized his confusion at the phrase, because she continued. "Oh, that means they had to—well, they had to kill it. I suppose that's the simplest way to put it."

"Oh," he said. "Was it old?"

"No, that's the worst part I suppose. I hope they didn't do that because of what happened." At the look of his confusion again, she continued. "Jasmine was the dog that bit Kagome a few weeks ago."

He felt his stomach drop.

The dog that had bitten Kagome was sick. So sick that they had to kill it.

He'd seen that happen before. Animals that were sick lashing out and biting humans, and then the humans would fester and die weeks or even months later.

That wouldn't happen. He wouldn't let that happen to her.

Kagome wasn't allowed to die.

"I'm sure it's nothing," her mother said. "But I would like for her to come home as soon as possible."

He nodded once, before turning towards the back door.

The dog had been sick.

Sick just like Kagome.

It hadn't been that long ago, and they'd already squandered how much time walking blindly through this mess?

He wasn't going to let the same thing happen to her.

He marched out to the well house and then through the time slip.

"Inuyasha?"

The sound of Miroku's voice jarred him from his thoughts.

"Is everything alright?"

He stared at the monk trying to decipher the meaning of the question.

No everything was not fucking alright!

"Kagome's family," Miroku pointed out, "everything is okay?"

"Her family is fine," he answered after a minute.

"Then do you care to explain what is causing the look on your face?" Miroku asked, moving to block his return back to the village.

Which wasn't helping his attitude at all.

He just wanted to see Kagome.

"If something is wrong, we need to know. Did you run into the youkai while you were there?"

"No!"

"Then what is it?"

"The dog fucking died."

Miroku blinked exactly twice before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry? I thought Kagome owned a cat."

"Buyo," Inuyasha answered.

But now that Buyo was mentioned, he hadn't seen the feline in a while.

"But it was the dog that bit her. It got fucking sick and they fucking killed it to put it out of its misery."

"Ah," Miroku answered, sagely nodding his head. "And this upsets you because," he made a motion for Inuyasha to continue his explanation.

"Because the dog had whatever she has! It wasn't fucking eating, always tired, and they said that it was in so much pain it was better to just kill the damn thing."

"And you're worried that this is going to happen to Kagome," Miroku stated.

"Fuck you," Inuyasha snapped, twisting around him and walking towards the village and Kaede's hut.

"Inuyasha," Miroku chided, grabbing onto his arm.

"That shit is not happening to Kagome! I'll fucking find a cure if I have to go to Lord Asshole himself!"

"No one is suggesting that you do this alone. There are several of us concerned and willing to go. Sango's leg is almost healed, and between the three of us, we should—"

Inuyasha was done listening to reassuring speeches, and so he turned away from the monk and headed towards the familiar hut.

But another thought made him pause his steps, sending Miroku crashing into him.

Kagome's mother never said a word about anything. Not the flowers in the room, the fucking bird heads on the windowsill—none of it.

He could still smell them. They'd been there.

So why didn't she say anything?

That—that was fucking weird, right?

"Is there a reason you stopped?"

Inuyasha didn't answer, continuing his march towards the hut.

What the ever-living-fuck was happening?

A/N: Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate!)

I hope that you all are safe and warm wherever you are, and I hope that you enjoy the update.

As always, let me know what you think!