Chapter 21

The cacophony of massive trunks crashing into the ground was deafening, but this time he relished in the loud noises that assaulted his ears. All around him, splintered wood, snapped branches and shredded leaves rained. Birds, small mammals and lowly youkai alike fled in all directions in hopes of avoiding his path of destruction.

Inuyasha slashed, curves of youki flying out along the arc of his arms and trees fell.

Fuck!

Inuyasha slashed again, and another tree falls in his wake.

It figured this would happen. Sunshine and rainbows can only last so fucking long, and then reality comes rushing back to kick him in the face. Only a goddamn idiot like himself would even believe for a second that a human village would actually treat him as an equal, given enough time. But he did. And now he's paying for it. Fucking embarrassment, he is.

The shittiest thing was that he'd actually wanted it. It felt... good... to be part of something for once instead of looking in from the outside. This village, with its more open minded miko, Kikyou… felt like somewhere he could stay. Kagome and the kid Kaede was here. And… apparently it'd been too good to be true.

Inuyasha was slowing down, his swings less devastating as he blew off the worst of his volatile emotions.

Just when he'd calmed enough to plan out his next move, he felt the flare of reiki.

Without a doubt, it was Kikyou's aura. The flare was not menacing but prominent enough to announce her presence. Which was probably smart of her to be honest... he was pissed.

Usually, he felt the need to go to her. Today though, fuck her— not after that shitshow in the village. If she wanted to talk to him, then she can work for it. The most he was willing to do was stay put, relatively.

It took some time, but she did eventually close in on him. He'd taken a perch in one of the high branches, the better strategic location placating his frazzled instincts to an extent.

The luminous folds of her red hakama was first to come into view as she stepped around the particularly splintered remains of a tree.

"What do you want, Kikyou?" He grounded out by way of greeting

Inuyasha was normally very careful with his words around the priestess to satisfy some sort of disgusting, inferior desire to appear 'presentable'. But today in his current state and agitated youki, it was the best he could do not to snarl.

"Inuyasha." She greeted him, tilting her head to locate him amidst the leaves.

He noted that she had her bow and arrows, which of course she carried with her at all times away from the village. But he couldn't help but feel personally offended by it, the slight twist of her wrist that hung deceptively causally by the lower limb of the long bow.

"I said, what do you want, Kikyou?"

"I merely wished to hear your side of the story."

"What is there to say- I didn't do it!"

"Inuyasha," Kikyou exhaled, deliberately slowing down her words, likely sensing the turmoil in his youki as well. "I am certain there would be not logical reason for you to harm the livestock. As Kagome mentioned, your hunting grounds are vast in this forest."

"Oh right, but you couldn't just say that in front of humans could you?"This time, he couldn't resist the taunt in his voice.

"I am simply trying to remain neutral. It is my duty to not take sides until I have thoroughly looked into the matter."

He scoffed.

"Inuyasha you must understand," Her tone changed to something purposefully patient, something he'd heard her use with others before and it was fucking annoying. "You are coexisting with a human village and human villages have its rules and ways of doing things."

Oh ok, so now it's somehow his fault?

Without notice, he leapt straight down and landed deliberately well within Kikyou's personal space. Her reiki spiked for just half a second and to her credit, she did not so much as flinch. But her scent betrayed her.

"See? You're not as sure I'm innocent as you say you are, huh?"

"You've lived near us for close to three moons now. And you have yet to give me reason to regret my initial decision to allow you to remain." Kikyou's dark eyes meet his squarely. "Nor has there been reason for you to be uncivil."

Her words were true to an extent but he could smell her discomfort and that she was lying to him. Between her sentences he could hear that she did not think he would harm anyway if there was no precipitant.

All the indignant anger within seemed to desert him all of a sudden, leaving him strangely empty and deflated.

"Go check out what you have to, Kikyou." He turned away from her, tossing out the first thing he could think of as a way to end the conversation he no longer wanted a part of.

Whenever he didn't know what to do with his thoughts, he would resort to a run.

So Inuyasha took to the treetops, and ran.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A/N: Phew. This InuKik scene wasn't as bad to write as the others! I swear I'm catching up on comment replies. I am always so grateful for your support :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. However, this plot, the exact sequence of words and any original characters described therein, I reserve all rights to.