Chapter 14
Difficilius est sarcire concordiam quam rumpere
"It is more difficult to restore harmony than sow dissension"
"My tongue will tell the anger of my heart,
Or else my heart, concealing it, will break."
—The Taming of the Shrew
He stalked out of the small room, fists clenched so tightly he might have been drawing blood. He'd made the excuse about the herbs, but there were other reasons that he didn't want to stay.
"Inuyasha!" Miroku hissed.
She didn't want him there, what else was he supposed to do?
"What?" He hissed back, ears flat against his skull.
"What are you doing?" Miroku gestured wildly to the room he'd practically stormed out of. "Kagome is in there! You've been a panicked mess for over a week, and you're just going to leave her? Alone?"
"She has Sango. What does she need me for?" He spat and kept moving further away from the building. They were nearing the tree line.
"You're an idiot if you think—"
But he didn't stop to listen, leaping off into the trees.
Miroku called after him, but he kept moving, jumping branch to branch trying to put some distance between himself and the hurt.
He wanted to hurt something as much as he was, but there was just nothing.
Well, there was one thing. Two things, actually.
He leapt into the trees, moving towards the direction of the other villages they'd seen on the horizon.
It didn't take long to reach the edge of the nearest village, barely an hour. He leapt down, anger clouding his better judgment of being wary of unknown villages, and he stepped onto the edge of the farming lands.
A man saw his approach but made no move to act on it. He stood stock still, grip on his hoe white-knuckled and trembling from the effort.
"I just have a question," Inuyasha started, keeping his distance from the man. "I'm looking for someone."
"Who?"
"Two men, might've come through here four days ago? One of them woulda had a bruise on his face."
The man's eyes narrowed for a moment, and then he shook his head.
"No one's come through here looking like that. You should look somewhere else."
He could see the lie radiating off the man, who'd spoken just loud enough to attract the attention of those working nearby, and who were now approaching. He should have known it wouldn't be easy. He'd gotten soft, used to traveling with the others, used to the casual acceptance because she was there. Leaping off the ground and back into the trees, he outran the conversations that were bound to happen and headed for the next village in tow.
But that too was a bust, perhaps even a bigger one as they ran him out with pitchforks and arrows, driving him back into the forest with their cries of demon and half-breed following in his wake.
The next village just flat out refused to answer any questions, and he knew that they knew something, but no one would talk to the half-breed mutt. The almost youkai, but not quite. The almost human, but again, not quite.
He disappeared back into the woods, swiping at anything that his claws could reach, which meant that someone was going to have plenty of firewood, because he wasn't leaving anything intact. Not in large enough pieces anyway.
Those bastards used her like some common whore and then left her to die in the woods, alone. They'd hunted her, shot her while she was running away. Beat her until she was almost dead; she should be dead, even he wasn't that fucking stupid. Something happened. He didn't know what, but he was fucking glad it did, whatever it was kept her here, with him.
Like she fucking should be.
And not a single fucking villager wanted to get rid of them? Didn't they get it? It could be one of them just as easily! But no! He was part youkai! What good could he do?
Fuck!
He snarled as the tree fell, not finding satisfaction in its destruction like he wanted. He just wanted—needed—to figure this out—get rid of the constriction in his chest.
How could she blame him?
How could she not blame him? He let his claws dig into the bark of the tree, gouging out deep lines as he tried to keep the stinging out of his eyes.
He needed to kill something. Darting back out into the trees, he tracked something that would give him a chase or put up some sort of fight. She would need real food, something besides broth and small spoonfuls of rice that the asshole kept insisting she eat. She wasn't getting stronger on scraps of food.
The smell of pig, boar to be specific, drifted across his path, and he skidded to a stop. That was something at least, and it would be big enough to feed all of them.
Tracking the beast, he moved through the underbrush until he could hear the snorts of it rooting in the earth for something to eat, back turned towards him.
A cloven foot clawed at the earth for a moment before the snout and tusks rooted, dust billowing out from its snorts. It was over before it knew it even needed a fighting chance. He hauled it back to the skirts of the village, dumping the organs and entrails into a pit for the scavengers. Skinning the thing took longer, mostly because of his own impatience. In his hurry, he wound up having to go back over to the portions where it had not separated as cleanly as he would have liked.
He could still do this. Even if she refused him, he could still provide for her. That was something, right? Letting out a soft huff in his irritation with his own self, he hauled the creature back to the hut to be cooked.
He was about to call when he saw the healer walking towards the hospice. His jaw snapped shut with an audible click.
"It seems you take your position seriously," he commented with an approving nod, and Inuyasha physically felt his blood begin to boil at the sneering comment. "Good to see you haven't neglected your duties completely."
He didn't answer, but Miroku appeared in the doorway and noted the two men standing several feet apart from each other. Inuyasha looked away from his gaze, diverting it to the ground ahead of him.
"Sir," Miroku said with a nod as he passed.
"I commend the lady on sending her inugami to hunt for her. Providing for his master is one way to ensure her command over him remains."
"Inuyasha is not—" Miroku started.
"Let it go, Miroku."
Miroku let out his own sigh of frustration, though it wasn't as obvious to the casual observer.
"Is the lady awake?" The asshole asked.
"Yes, Sango is with her." Miroku stepped aside just enough to let him enter the hospice.
"You should go. Make sure he doesn't make her cry." He dug his claws into the rump of the boar he was holding.
"Shouldn't you—" Miroku started, but Inuyasha quickly shook his head.
"I gotta cook this." Inuyasha made a general motion to the carcass in his hand.
"You're being foolish."
"Go inside, monk."
With another sigh and a scathing look, Miroku disappeared back inside the hut. There was a cooking spot just outside the hut, currently being unused and so he speared the now decapitated pig carcass and began rousing a fire from the dead coals. He kept listening for any sounds of distress, but it was fairly quiet. Only the sounds of murmuring, but no signs of upset on either side.
The healer stepped out, giving a slight nod to the hanyou and then continuing on his way into the village.
Miroku appeared only a few moments later, squatting next to him as he worked on cooking the meat evenly.
"She's getting better," he commented and Inuyasha gave a grunt of acknowledgment. That was good; it was the direction they wanted at least. "She's skittish though." At the lack of response, Miroku sat back on his haunches. "You should really talk to her."
"This is almost done. Make sure she eats enough."
Before Miroku could respond, Inuyasha leapt away into the trees and out of range.
He moved to the edge of the woods, watching as the people milled about, moving from one place to another. It was larger than Kaede's village, but not one of the bigger ones that they'd been to. There were definitely more people; the inn itself was impressive. There was a small market on the far side of town. Maybe he could trade and get something for Kagome? Edge his way back into her good graces?
A gaggle of women approached, passing underneath the branches he perched on.
One thing he learned about humans was that they rarely, rarely ever looked up.
"Have you seen that monster staying at the healer's place?"
"They said it belongs to the priestess he's treating."
"Oh, I heard about her! Poor thing!"
He followed them along the branches as they carried their laundry from the river.
"Poor thing? She deserves whatever she got for consorting with that sort of monster. Even keeping one as a pet makes the gods frown on you."
"You don't mean that!"
"Course I do! What sort of priestess is she?"
"Well, from what I hear, it isn't like she can be one anymore."
"That dog probably did it to her."
"Probably rutted her in the woods like an animal!" One laughed at the notion.
"Shh! What if it hears you?"
"Oh, would you stop? There's a monk keeping it in line for the time being."
"Have you seen its eyes? Makes my skin crawl just seeing it walk around." She visibly shivered just thinking about him.
"You think? It would explain why no game has been coming close to the village recently. Hiro had to go almost a day's travel before he found anything worth hunting."
"He's bringing bad luck to our village. We were fine before he got here."
"You'd think the monk would take care of him."
"We should all pray for her recovery. The sooner she's well, the sooner they're gone."
"And the sooner our luck changes for the better."
They all murmured their ascent and continued onward.
Inuyasha stopped following them and moved onto another group. But the talk was all the same. Any time their group was mentioned, it was how he was bringing bad luck to the village or causing some disturbance or how it was his fault.
He'd been blamed for chickens going missing, a nest of snakes being found in a rice paddy, the cause of a roof leak, and many other things both serious and insignificant. By evening, he couldn't stay away anymore, and he didn't want to leave them undefended for the night. He fled back to the hospice and saw that Miroku had smothered the fire and cut off a good chunk of meat for them. Hopefully, Kagome was eating enough.
"I don't want to hear it!" Miroku hissed on the other side of the wall. "You are upsetting Kagome, and I will not have it! She has suffered enough, and I will not have you adding to it!"
"You have no power in this village to tell me what I will and will not say!" The healer shouted back. "If I think that damned dog is a problem—"
"His name is Inuyasha!" Miroku countered with a sharp snap of his staff striking the wooden floor. "And you will refrain from making any derogatory remarks about him or any of our group!"
Inuyasha stepped into the building within clear sight of the two arguing men.
"Pack your stuff. We're heading back home. Kaede can take care of her."
"You would leave your mistress?" The healer asked. "Some inugami you are."
"Like I would leave her here with you, we're all leaving." He turned to go into the room and the healer darted in front of him.
"You can't leave! I won't allow her to be moved! She's too injured to travel."
He clearly thought he was worth something as a wall, because he stood there, arms out, blocking the way into the room. A low, deep growl echoed in the small space.
"You have no say in what our group does or does not do. Now, move out of our way," Miroku stated. Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and took a deep rage-controlling breath.
"Get out of the way," Inuyasha warned.
The man staggered towards him, catching himself after a step, and turning to see Sango standing in the doorway.
"Leave. You've done enough damage today." The man opened his mouth to speak. "I swear, if you say one more word, it will be the last thing you say to anyone for weeks." Wisely, the man remained silent before he took one look around the room and left, throwing the mat to the side violently.
Sango let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes.
"I'll pack up," she said with a tired sigh, turning back into the room.
"We will have to travel slowly, you know," Miroku stated. "Sango is tired, and Kagome will need rest."
"I know that!" Inuyasha hissed in response. "We just—we can't stay here. It's not safe." It also wasn't familiar, and Kaede would've at least told him that something was wrong, really wrong with Kagome. She would've said that she was dying, not pretend like everything was fucking sunshine and rainbows.
He would carry her the whole way if that's what it took. It wouldn't be a burden, not for him. He just needed her safe and sound, and that was only when he was guarding her.
"We're going to start towards Kaede's. How do you feel?" Sango asked her. He could see her kneeling down beside her, hand resting on her shoulder. She was sitting up, hunched over slightly, arm around her midsection. Was she in pain? Was he pushing her too hard, too fast?
"Okay, I think." He could feel the monk beside him, watching him just as eagerly as he was watching her. "I don't think I can walk though. Would—" she lowered her voice slightly. "Can I ride Kirara?"
Sango smiled as Inuyasha's heart dropped into his stomach, boiling and dissolving in the acid there.
She didn't want him. She didn't want him to carry her or touch him. A quick glance from her and their eyes met for just a moment, an instant, one singular point in time, before she looked down and away at her own lap.
"Of course, Kagome. Whatever you need. I'm sure everyone else feels the same."
Kagome nodded as Sango continued to pack away their belongings, making sure that she kept Kagome as comfortable as possible in the process.
He turned away from the room before the monk could say a word at him, mumbling about how he'd be waiting outside whenever they were ready to go.
He stepped back out into the sunlight, cursing once again how nothing in his very long and miserable life ever seemed to go his way.
A/N: Sorry about the shorter chapter length here. I'm currently in the throes of an allergic reaction with my thyroid meds, and I've pretty much been unable to stomach anything except water since last Friday. It wasn't until yesterday that I was able to eat actual food without feeling like my stomach was going to flee my mortal coil.
