Every fibre of his being was tense, his muscles rigid, because he couldn't help but be ready to fight at a moment's notice. His youki was bristling and frazzled and it took more effort than Inuyasha would care to admit to reign it in. The events that happened in the span of the afternoon were too much to process—actually he couldn't think about it right now. They weren't safe yet.
Truly, he was fucking awful, a prime of example of a selfish bastard.
The right thing to do would've been to let Kagome go. Only ill fortune would come from sticking around someone like him. Case in point, that was exactly what's happening. She was just starting to weave herself into the fabric of village life. Her powers were developing. She had great prospects for a future, just like Kikyou said. She shouldn't be forfeiting all of that for him. But here he was, shameless and a hundred percent dragging her down with him.
Even though he knew all of this and hated himself for going along, he couldn't let her go. What Kagome meant to him was…. a lot. And it wasn't in his ability to voluntarily choose to let go of her.
She believed in him. Period. Just like that. There wasn't even time to speak privately, for him to lay out all his explanations. And it blew his mind that she didn't need it.
She looked just as bewildered as he was when she'd stumbled into the circle, and they were cornered by the mob. It wasn't the time and place, and it certainly wasn't what should be a reasonable wary response, but her fingertips reached to graze his temple. Instead of asking who he'd drawn blood from, she was confirming if he was unharmed.
She was too good for him.
Yet here was, waiting on the far side of the bridge, for Kagome to return from gathering her belongings before she was kicked out.
At least they allowed her that.
Tucked between the trunks of the trees down the path from the on the end of bridge that led away beyond, Inuyasha tried to wait patiently. He didn't want to stand right in the middle of the path because it would be too much like facing off the loose ring of humans guarding the village side of the bridge.
He couldn't risk igniting conflict again when Kagome had sacrificed all she built here for this uneasy ceasefire.
Inuyasha kept his eyes trained on the group of humans, tracking their movements unblinkingly. Until Kagome returned, there was no way he could breathe easy.
His youki spiked in an exaggerated response when a loud rustle in the bush startled him. He dropped into a low stance, silently slipping into the forest behind him to investigate the disturbance. Whoever made the noise had the advantage of being downwind.
A small figure trampled their way out of the understory and his nose finally came within range of recognition. Kaede was loaded up with a massive burden on her narrow shoulders—the haphazardly tied bundle was almost as big as she was.
"Oi, runt." He called out gruffly, not wanting to startle her, since her gaze was glued to the ground, weighed down as she was and probably intent on avoiding a stumble.
The girl startled anyways and looked up sharply. He exhaled, secretly glad that her expression was no longer the one of heartbreak earlier. He had been surprised and was still utterly useless to deal with it. Kagome was the one that usually handled the touchy-feely shit. As an isolated loner and a hanyou, he was not used to children, let alone human ones.
Even so, it was obvious that the events of the day took a toll on Kaede. Though all traces of tears were now absent, her eyes were still angrily red and puffy. Her expression though was oddly defiant.
"Inuyasha."
He shuffled awkwardly, not sure what to do or say. Instead, he reached out and plucked the giant pack off her shoulders.
"Give that 'ere." He grumbled instead, still avoiding the searching gaze of Kaede's eyes.
In silence, they walked back closer to the path. He'd assumed Kaede—if she were to come—would be coming with Kagome. But judging from the direction, she must've decided to take the roundabout way, opting to cross the big log further down the river than the sturdy bridge. It was obvious she was avoiding the other villagers, but he couldn't puzzle out why. They were her people, right?
A small hand latching onto his sleeve and the subsequent tug stilled his steps.
"Hey, Inuyasha," Kaede started. From his vantage point, all he saw was the crown of her lowered head, hair a tangle she had no time to fix. "Do you have enemies?"
The question knocked him right off guard.
"W-what?"
"I know I saw whoever attacked the village." Kaede's voice was surprisingly hard. "The colours were off but the clothing and the hair looked a lot like you. So, unless there's a bunch of hanyou who look like you, I don't think it was coincidence."
"Uh, right." He managed to utter, sounding like a total idiot.
"You guys need to be careful."
"Dun need you to tell me. I'll watch out for Kagome. It's more like you guys do, until you figure out what they're tryn'a get from attacking the village. Or if they're comin' back."
Kaede only nodded to this. After a stretch of silence, she spoke up again.
"I… I believe you, okay?"
When he glanced to the side, she raised her head.
Inuyasha opened his mouth and closed it again stupidly. The words he wanted to respond with caught in his throat, suddenly gone bone dry.
"Y-yeah," Finally, working it a few more times, he managed to choke out. "Thanks… Kaede."
The kid nodded, a [film] of moisture flooded her eyes abruptly and he heard her gulp. Not wanting to let him witness her moment of weakness—this he empathized with deeply—Kaede ducked her head again and sped up in front of him.
"I-I'm sorry for what the villagers said to you." came the garbled sentence she mumbled over her shoulder, knowing his superhuman hearing would catch it without issue.
"Keh. Forget it. You dun gotta be responsible for those assholes."
He also resumed walking, slowing to match her speed when they were side to side.
When they arrived back to the path, he noted that Kagome had finally reappeared.
The cluster of people previously holding various laughable excuses for weapons had lowered them. It would seem Kikyou had also accompanied Kagome.
The messy sound of crying stung his ears—the source being the old woman Kagome lived with. She was wailing into her husband's shoulder, while Kagome had her arms around her, clearly trying to provide some consolidation.
"Baa-san, I'm gonna be ok, really!" He heard her say. "You and Oji-san stay nice and healthy for when I come back to visit, hmm? I will, I promise!"
It was a straight up lie. Kikyou had clearly banned them from the village from the moment they stepped foot out. But the old couple probably wasn't present during the confrontation earlier and Kagome was soft-hearted enough to tell white lies.
"Kagome, you take these things with you, alright?" The old man straightened up what was an allowable amount, limited as he was by the severe hump, to pat her fringe lightly. "Don't be shy if you ever want to move back in. Though I still don't understand why you would…"
As he trailed off, Inuyasha completed the sentence in his head —'why you would leave with a hanyou.'
He gritted his teeth.
Kagome gave the two of them a fierce hug one more time before shouldering yet another massive cloth bundle. On the opposite side was slung the bow and quiver she'd been practicing with. She walked backwards a few steps before deciding it was too precarious to keep her balance. Giving the semblance of a lighthearted wave, she crossed the bridge over to his side.
Kikyou stepped up beside the still distraught pair of elders and watched stoically. Her expression softened briefly when they landed on Kaede standing beside him. Then for a moment, her dark eyes shifted to hold his.
"Inuyasha!"
Kagome's greeting jolted him away, breaking eye contact. She was smiling, but it was clearly forced. Red rimmed her usually carefree eyes and that crease above her brow told clearly of the stress she was under. It was all an effort to not cause people she cared about any more emotional damage.
"Oh, and Kaede too!" She chirped; the extra high pitch of her voice was strained. "You gonna walk us like last time too?"
Like last time. As if this was yet another excursion away from home, as if they were due to return.
Kaede nodded, spinning on her heel to lead the way. It seemed she was just as desperate as Kagome to keep up with the show.
The two girls began walking away, but Inuyasha hesitated, not really knowing why. His eyes met Kikyou's again and he felt his face harden. The priestess made no hint of a desire to say goodbye. But just as he broke eye contact and moved to follow Kagome, he swore he might've seen a minuscule nod of her chin in his direction.
They stopped again when they reached somewhere out of ear shot of the humans but still within sight. Since he'd taken away her pack as well, Kagome was free to drop to an easy squat beside Kaede. The smell of salt in the air intensified.
"This is far enough, don't you think?"
Surprising everyone, Kaede threw her hands around Kagome's neck without warning. Kagome, of course, responded immediately, holding the younger girl tight in her arms.
Kagome immediately broke into a long speech, cautioning about taking precautions while the culprit was still at large, possibly lurking around the village. When Kaede showed no signs of calming, her approach softened into reassurances instead.
"Kaede, I'll be sure to send you letters when I can, so it'll be okay!" Kagome murmured into the kid's hair.
The chances of that were pretty slim. Letters were not a luxury afforded to commoners.
"And next time I see you, my spiritual power will be so awesome you won't even believe it!"
That got a wet laugh from Kaede.
Untangling herself from Kagome's embrace, Kaede rubbed her sleeves furiously across her face.
Kagome, still squatted at ground level, was making eyes at him, brows raised and looking pointedly from him to Kaede.
He coughed. Reaching out, he placed a hand awkwardly on Kaede's thin shoulder. Just from the slight contact, he could feel how much she was shaking.
"Thanks for everything, kid."
Kaede bit her lip hard, face screwing up in repressed emotion. Then blinking rapidly, she straightened up, then bowed stiffly to the two of them.
"I'll find the truth, I promise. Thank me later."
Kagome struggled helplessly to properly respond to that declaration. Instead, her bottom lip trembled, and she returned a bow.
"Bye, Kaede! Take good care of yourself!" She managed to call out to the girl's retreating back as Kaede took steady steps to return.
Beside him, he heard Kagome smother a half-sob on the back of hand.
After a few more moments, Kagome also succeeded in composing herself. Meeting his eye briefly, she gave him a faint, quivering smile and started walking in the opposite direction.
He followed.
Her fingers found his and entwined their hands firmly together.
They were far enough now for the figures in the distance to blur to the human eye. But not his.
In red and white as always, Kikyou stood in front of the remaining handful of villagers. She stood tall and proud, silhouette rigid and unmoving, bow at her side. It was just like the image she always assumed when he thought of her.
She would wait there until Kaede's steps took her across the bridge again and back into the village.
Before turning away, Inuyasha took one last look at the outline of the buildings in the distance, the rice paddies in the flood plain of the river and the shadows of the people. He allowed himself a moment to remember it, like a dream too good to be true.
He did not look back again.
.
.
.
.
.
A/N: I noticed IWFA broke the 1000 kudos milestone :OO It blows me away! Thank you for the love 3 Join me as we transition onwards to the next arc :)
Update schedule will be back to sporadic, as is my MO of late. I will attempt every 2-3 weeks but no guarantees. My apologies!
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.