Chapter 122
Ibidem
"In the same place"

"let ruin end here
let him find honey
where there was once a slaughter "
—"Little Prayer"

Kagome had been working on her stuff for ages. He'd helped dig out all her books and papers, setting them at her desk as she sat there with that soft smile on her face.

The one that made him melt and agree with everything that she wanted to do.

But she was sitting there and just scribbling as she flipped through page after page.

Finally, she leaned her head back and rubbed her eyes, and he took his opening.

"How's it going?" He asked, and she twisted around to look at him.

"I have so much to do," she whined, slumping down in her chair. "I'll never catch up at this rate."

Inuyasha rose up off her bed, and stood behind her, gently resting his hands on her shoulders.

"You're gonna figure it out. You always do."

"Yeah, but I've never been this far behind before!" She gestured broadly to the stacks of books and papers on her desk, and he could see the panic spiral already starting. If he let it get fully underway, then she'd just wind up a crying mess that got nothing done.

"Oi," he said, gently tugging on a piece of hair, forcing her to look at him. There were tears in the corners of her eyes already. "What's the most important thing you gotta do? Outta all of this, what do you need to do first?"

"All these assignments are due tomorrow when I go to school!"

"You're not going to school tomorrow," he told her.

"But—"

"Your ankle is fucked up, and you're gonna fucking rest. Work on your school shit before you fuck it up more."

"But I can't miss school!"

"What's one more day?" He asked, and she started to answer and then seemed to think it through a bit more.

"I guess," she answered glumly.

He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her head.

"You'll get a whole day to do all this with no distractions."

Kagome sighed, staring at her desk.

"Okay," she said, starting to shuffle through the papers and put them into stacks. "Okay," she repeated, tucking the papers into neat little stacks. Once everything was in it's place—whatever that was—she started going through them and working on it piece by piece.

Without crying and looking like she was going to snap if he uttered another word, which was good.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," she said, and he squeezed her shoulders gently before going to stretch out on her bed.

He closed his eyes breathing in every bit of her scent and how it surrounded him. This was probably his favorite place, but he enjoyed it more when Kagome was here.

Rolling onto his stomach, he grabbed a pillow and shoved his nose into it, stifling the groan that almost broke loose.

This was his favorite place because it smelled like her all over. Everywhere he went, everything reminded him that she was here.

If her warm body was curled up beside him—another groan just barely shuttered before it escaped—that would be—he probably shouldn't think about it too much at this point.

He huffed her pillow for a bit, snuffling his nose into her scent.

A door shut, and he heard the chattering of her family coming inside.

So much for peace and quiet with Kagome.

"Your family is home," he said, and she whipped her head around to look at him.

"You're sure?" She asked, and he leaned up to stare at her. She didn't look excited that they were here.

If anything, she looked afraid that they were back.

What reason did she have to be afraid?

"Yeah," he sat on the edge of her bed, watching her intently. No one was coming up the stairs, they were just milling about the kitchen. There was a soft scent of food that rolled up to her room. "They have dinner too."

Kagome looked around, like she was seeking an escape. Inuyasha watched her, waiting for her to say something.

He stood, moving to kneel in front of her. She looked at him in a panic, and he held his hand out to her.

"I'm here," he reminded her, and she took a shuddering breath, grabbing his hand and squeezing his fingers.

"How do I explain—it?"

He stared up at her, waiting for her to elaborate.

But she didn't, instead she just looked more panicked.

"Us?" He asked, tilting his head as he reached up and held onto her hands. He didn't understand why it would be such a big issue, but this was Kagome.

Sometimes, she just didn't make sense.

"No, everything else! Kikyo and my ankle and my shoulder and—" Her breath quickened. "What do I do if they start asking questions? This was a bad idea. We should go back. We should—"

"Would you fucking breathe?" He snapped, watching her blink out tears and take a shallow and shuddering breath. "It ain't any different from when you've come back before. Pretty sure your mother doesn't know all the shit we get into, does she?"

Kagome flinched but shook her head nonetheless.

"Then you fucked up your ankle, and Kikyo is finally at rest. That's all we have to say about it."

Kagome took another breath.

"It's not that simple!"

"Why are you making it fucking complicated?"

"I'm not!" She started to say something else, but her mouth just moved as tried to figure out what to say, and he just raised a brow as he watched her expectantly fail. "I'm not," she answered in a quiet voice. "It doesn't feel like it's that simple."

"It's as complicated as you make it, dummy. So don't make it complicated."

"You make it sound so easy," she whined as he squeezed her hands.

"It is easy. You're the one freaking out about it."

"I'm not freaking out!" She argued, but even he could see that she was just arguing to argue for whatever reason her little brain seemed to think she should.

She was avoiding something, and he watched her face to try and figure out what it was.

"Why don't you want to go see your mother?" He asked, and her face flickered through every probable emotion that he could think of.

But the one that stuck out the most to him was fear.

Kagome was afraid of something.

"I want to see her!" She insisted.

"Then why don't you want to go downstairs?"

There was a long bout of silence, and Inuyasha knew that he had to be patient and wait, even though he didn't want to. He wasn't patient. Kagome was patient—right up until she wasn't—and he didn't like being the patient one between the two of them.

He'd do it, but he'd complain the entire fucking time.

"I'm scared," she whispered finally, and he sighed.

"Because of me? Us?"

"No, dummy," she snapped back. "You should know by now that I don't care what anyone else thinks about us."

"Well, you've been real quiet about it to Sango and Miroku."

"I thought you didn't want to tell anyone!"

"Why the fuck would I care?"

"Because—I don't know! You acted like it was supposed to be a secret!"

"That's because I thought you wanted it to be a secret!"

"Why would I care if anyone knew? You're the one who sits there and broods and has secrets."

"I'm not a fucking chicken!"

"I didn't call you one!"

He huffed.

"I do not brood," was all he said and she sighed heavily.

"I didn't mean that you were a chicken," she said, rubbing her eyebrows. "I just meant that you tend to like be moody when you think about stuff."

He gave her another look of annoyance, and she smiled at him.

"So we don't have to be a secret?" Kagome asked him, watching his face.

"Not if you don't want to be," he told her, meaning every word. "We can be whatever you want us to be."

Kagome stared at him, eyes searching his for a long moment before her shoulders slumped, and she smiled at him.

He felt the tension slide out of his frame as she beamed down at him.

"Ready to go downstairs?" He asked her, and she looked past him at her bedroom door.

"Not really, but you're right. I should go downstairs," she sighed. "You'll stay with me?"

"The whole time." The look she gave him was one of relief and reassurance, and he rose to his feet. She raised her arms to him, and he leaned into her embrace. There was no part of him that wouldn't go where she led.

He slipped his arms under her knees and wrapped the other around her back, picking her up and holding her against him.

She buried her face into his neck, and he pressed a gentle kiss to her temple.

"We can run away if it gets too hard, right?" She muttered into her shoulder.

"It's just your mom, not Naraku," he said, shifting her just a bit to open the door.

He pushed it open, stepping out as the sound of voices grew louder. He watched Kagome's face as he stepped down the stairs slowly before reaching the narrow hallway that led to the kitchen.

When he stepped through into the kitchen, the talking didn't stop right away and he continued into the kitchen.

Whereupon the voices stopped completely and there was a wave of unsettling silence as three sets of eyes—four if you count the fat cat in the corner—stared at them.

He wasn't sure what to say to break the tension, and usually whatever he did say would be wrong.

"Kagome!" Her mother shouted, rising up out of her seat. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Mama. I just twisted my ankle, and Inuyasha said that he'd bring me back here to rest."

"Oh dear!" She said, dragging the chair out for him. "Souta, grab a couple extra plates!"

Souta got up and went to the cupboard.

"Will you be staying for long?"

"Kaede said I just needed to rest for a few days. We were thinking maybe a week?" Kagome shrugged as Souta set the plate and bowl in front of her with a pair of chopsticks. Inuyasha took the setting for himself and put it on the table. He could be useful while he was here. He could help. He could earn his weight.

"I think there are some crutches in the storage shed from a few years ago. I'll see if we can find them for you to use at school."

"I was going to work on some of my assignments tomorrow and then go to school, if that's okay?" She glanced at him before returned her gaze to her mother as he spooned a mass of rice into her bowl and then his own.

"I don't see why not. It would be good to look at some of the work that your friends have brought by recently. I'll notify the school that you're absent due to an injury."

Her mother put food on her plate as he scooped up a spoonful of vegetable to lay on top as Souta brought her a glass of water.

"I'm not going to be able to eat all this, Inuyasha!" She said, motioning to the pile of food on her plate.

"I just put the rice on there!"

"And the vegetables!"

"Those are good for you!"

"You should eat your food while it's warm, Kagome," her mother chided, taking a bite of her own food.

"It'll be good to have you around, my boy," her grandfather said as he took a sip of tea. "I could use the help with lifting some of those larger boxes in the shed. My back is not as young as it used to be."

"It ain't been young for a while, old man," Inuyasha said with a grin on his face.

"I'll have you know, ruffian, that I could move everything in that shed on my own."

"That's why your back hurts, Grandpa," Souta added, and the old man stared aghast at him.

"My own grandson betrays me."

"I'm not betraying you, Grandpa," Souta grumbled as he ate, and Inuyasha glanced over at Kagome, who was eating slowly, but she was eating and didn't seem to be disturbed or bothered, and he tried to let his body relax.

She was safe here.

There were plenty of people who would make sure that she was well taken care of.

Not that she wasn't safe in the village, but it was different. He didn't have to worry about bears or random youkai or Naraku. He did have to worry about the other humans, and those could be just as bad, but it wasn't the same sort of threat. He could fend off a sword or a knife easily or take the blow if necessary. It was just the threat of the attack that kept him wired.

She was injured, and she needed protecting.

"So how did you twist your ankle?" Her mother asked as the brat and the old man continued to bicker.

"I bet she fell down!" Souta chimed in.

"Shut it, twerp," Kagome snapped out. "I slipped." She said it with enough of a haughtiness that it sounded almost different.

Except that it wasn't.

"That's the same thing!"

"No, it isn't! The grass was wet! It was dark!" Kagome sent a sharp glare at her brother, who merely grinned during the entire exchange.

At least she wasn't mad at him.

Kagome stared at her brother with a look that only promised hurt later, but it felt overly normal, and it made him happy to see her so frustrated.

Especially when it wasn't directed at him directly.

He sat quietly and ate as everyone asked her questions, and he enjoyed watching her smile and laugh and slowly the tension in her body eased into nothingness.

He watched her as he ate out of his peripheral vision. She smiled at the teasing, and when dinner was over, Inuyasha offered to help clean off the table and put things away. He'd promised to be useful while he was here.

"I can help," he said, gathering up his dishes and Kagome's and bringing them to the counter.

"Thank you so much," her mother said as he stacked up the plates and bowls on the counter.

"It's nothing," he muttered, and it really wasn't. It was the absolute least that he could do to help after eating their food.

"Now that I think about it, there are some things that need to be moved around out in the storage shed. I could use some of those muscles."

"Now?" Inuyasha asked, and the old man let out a laugh.

"Tomorrow morning. We'll do it right after breakfast."

"You mean Inuyasha will do all the work after breakfast?" Souta asked, and the old man shot him a half-hearted glare.

"It takes a sharp mind to organize such a wide array of artifacts!"

Souta snorted, and the man slapped the back of his head with the newspaper, and Souta just laughed at it.

"The disrespect I receive in this family!"

Inuyasha watched Kagome and her brother joke and tease, and there was a sharp twinge of longing that he hadn't expected.

"You don't have to help," her mother said as a hand rested on his shoulder.

"I don't mind," he replied, quickly picking up a towel to dry the dishes and set them down on the counter. Her mother said nothing else, and it wasn't too much longer and the task was done.

He moved back to Kagome, and she tilted her head back to look up at him.

"Ready to go upstairs?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Are you?"

"Yeah," she said, raising her arms up. "I've got so much work to do."

"Don't stay up too late," her mother warned.

"I won't," Kagome answered as he picked her up from the chair and carried her back up the stairs to her room.

He set her down at her desk.

"Would you be mad if I asked for a bath?" Kagome asked him, and honestly, what did he care?

She loved baths, and they made her happy, which as long as she was happy, then so was he.

"Why would I be mad?"

Kagome opened her mouth and then shut it before shrugging her shoulders.

"What do you want me to do?" It wasn't an antagonistic question, but he wasn't sure what she was asking him for.

"Can you help me to the dresser?" He leaned down and picked her up, setting her in front of the drawers as she pulled out clothes from inside. "Okay, now, to the bathroom."

He set her down on the lid of the toilet, and she smiled at him.

He couldn't resist, leaning down to gently press his lips to hers. She smiled as he pulled away, and there was a part of him that didn't think he would ever tire of it.

Leaving the bathroom, he closed the door until it latched before leaning back against it for a moment.

"Big brother!" Souta chirped as he came up the stairs. "Are you waiting for sis to get out of the bath?"

"Uh, she just went in," Inuyasha said, jabbing a thumb back at the doorway.

"Okay! We can share the bath together then! I'll go see if there's some clothes for you!"

Before Inuyasha could say anything in opposition, the brat was gone and the water had turned on in the room behind him.

He continued leaning back against the door and hearing the happy little hums come from her.

She was so happy being clean, and he wanted to bask in the warmth of her happiness. He'd endure the boiling water torture if it meant that Kagome would be happy.

He remained leaning against the door as she bathed just on the other side of it.

It took Kagome far less time to bathe than he thought it would. Honestly, he expected her to soak for hours in that thing. But shortly after letting her alone in the bathroom, she called his name.

"You done?" He asked, cracking the door open.

"Yeah, you can come in," she said, and he looked over at her as she sat on the toilet, gently toweling her hair dry.

She grinned as he walked towards her, holding her arms up and reaching for him. Scooping her up, he turned as she tugged herself up a bit more to place a firm kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you for helping me," she whispered, and he stammered out a noise that was supposed to be a word but failed on the execution.

"Big brother!" Souta called, and he stood stock straight. "Come on! It's our turn!"

He looked to Kagome with wide eyes, pleading for help to not be boiled alive.

"Souta, make sure the water isn't too hot like last time."

"Inuyasha is so sensitive," Souta said in a drawl as he walked into the bathroom.

"I am not!" He barked back as he strode towards the little shit who was already stripping off his shirt and grinning.

"I'll make sure it's not too hot this time," Souta said with a grin that felt a lot like a trap.

Inuyasha growled in irritation as he pulled off his own clothes, leaving them by the door.

A/N: Hey, sorry about the wait. I've been trying to let the brain work through it's nonsense, and it's not wanting to do it nicely.

If you don't love this chapter, it's fine. I've been sitting on the next few chapters trying to figure out why I don't love them, but I can't put my finger on it. They're important for the story, but I just don't like them. But I'm not going to hold them back even longer, so you getting them, even though I dislike them.

So I'm sorry if the next few aren't *amazing*, but I hope you enjoy them a little nonetheless.