InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Fateful Encounter ❯ Chapter 1

After a very long time, I have something new to post. Updates might not be as frequent as I would like, but I'll try to post them as soon as I can. ~Akihana

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha (or Kagome), I just borrow them periodically for my own mischievous reasons.

 

Chapter 1

 

Smoke poured from a little village in a valley surrounded by tall, steep mountains. It didn't look like smoke from a catastrophe, or from some natural source. It looked like the kind of smoke that came from man made sources. Smoke was an interesting thing. To most creatures it meant danger, in the form of a forest fire that was about to consume their homes and make them migrate to new areas. For humans, however, it took on a new value. It meant that someone was making something, or that they were cooking. Both were things that belonged with towns, with groups of humans.

 

However, smoke could still signify danger to humans. Because man had befriended fire and brought it into his home, sometimes fire could burst free and consume everything. The smoke smelled different then. For one thing, there was always too much of it. And it was darker, a darkness that covered the sky and broadcasted doom.

 

For years Kagome had come home along a mountain trail from gathering herbs for food and medicine, and the sight of the plume of grey smoke meant that her mother had started dinner and that she was almost home. However, on that fateful day, the smoke had been darker. It had filled the sky, and seemed to roar rather than float in wisps into the heavens. There had been no animals in the woods, and not a bird or a woodland critter could be heard, especially not over the roar of the fire. Kagome had been walking home, as normal, with a bucket full of plants. The smoke and the smell of disaster halted her in her tracks, but she soon broke from her stupor and ran in horror for her home, dropping the bucket and letting its contents fall down the slope. She had tried to cut through the trees to get to her house faster, and in the end the attempted shortcut saved her. She had tripped over a fallen log and fallen to the ground right underneath a brambly bush. When she tried to rise she got her hair and kimono caught in the thorns and was unable to move quickly unless she wanted to lose most of her skin.

 

Over the roar of the fire she heard cackling.

 

“It went ri' up, dinnit? Like a torch.”

 

“Wood `n thatch and oil `r all yeh need.”

 

More laughter followed, the kind of laughter belonging to burly ruffians. Kagome froze. It was a miracle that they hadn't heard her, though it was probably difficult to do so over the roar of the fire and their own laughter.

 

“No man to defend the house, eh? The broad didn't have no husband?”

 

“Just a jiijii and a broad and a brat. Piece o'cake.”

 

“Huh. No sport neither.”

 

“Not all of us get sport out o' `em. Ah, I wish there had been a sweet young thing to try out.”

 

More jeering laughter followed.

 

“Can't we just go down t' the village and get ourselves some wenches?”

 

A harder voice answered this. Something told Kagome that this was the leader. “No, swine. That village supplies rice for the Emperor himself! The record keepers and samurai of this area are definitely going to notice us raiding a town. Content yourself with bespoiling the outcasts.”

 

There was disconcerted grumbling.

 

The harsh voice spoke again. “The villagers will notice the smoke. We should not be here when they come. Maybe next time there will be a wench. Just hold your dicks until then.”

 

The rest of the comments were lost as the bandits walked away from where Kagome lay trapped, until she could not hear them over the roar of the fire.

 

Kagome felt herself trembling on the ground.

 

Okaa, Jii-chan, Souta…

 

She pushed herself forward, not caring that the brambles were tearing her kimono and her flesh. She broke free, bringing several branches with her. Her house was beginning to fall in on itself as the walls disintegrated and the roof fell in. The bandits had obviously looted the house first, as some knick-knacks lay scattered on the ground. Suddenly realizing that she was crying, Kagome knelt to retrieve that last of her family's belongings.

 

A thin white cloth lay upon the ground, and she saw that it was shorter that it should have been. One end was stained with blood. The bandits must have cut her mother down while she was wearing it to tie back her sleeves, and the cloth dropped loose as they dragged her body into the hut to burn. Shaking, she picked it up. She took her knife that she used to cut herbs, and severed the end that was stained red. Not too far away lay a few scattered papers. She felt a sob rip out of her throat when she saw them.

 

Her Jii-chan had written protective sutras even though he had no spiritual powers, to protect their home and family. Rage boiled in her that the bandits had touched them. She carefully took the papers and wrapped the stack in the white cloth of her mother's. She searched around the building, but she found nothing of her brother's.

 

“Kagome-chan.” A gentle hand rested on her shoulder. She started and looked up into the sorrowful eyes of her mother's closest friend in the village. Behind her were several others, who had obviously seen the smoke. Their eyes were harder, and they did not look at her.

 

The woman took hold of her shoulders. “We'll come in the morning, when things have cooled down, to give them a burial and search for anything that remains.”

 

“I wish to remain here.”

 

The woman frowned. “Kagome, it is not safe here, especially not for a young girl.”

 

Kagome responded to her, feeling strangely detached. “It was safe for all of my life here, and before when my mother and father lived here. I will stay.”

 

The woman clucked her tongue disapprovingly, and walked away towards the group of villagers.

 

Kagome's family had rarely gone into the village, as her father had desired to maintain a mountain abode rather than reside in the village proper. Kagome used to go down to the village almost every day, but when her father decided to pass on his knowledge of plants to her, she went less and less, until her chores that involved going there were allocated to her brother and her mother. Souta had been far too young to learn from her father when he died, and he expressed no desire to learn anything from her. Then again, he was only eight. Most boys were only concerned with playing and tormenting the little girls in the village at that age. It wasn't until they got older that they settled down and learned life tasks.

 

Kagome's grandfather had tried his best to start forming Souta into a man, but now she would never see how he would have turned out. Kagome sighed chokingly, feeling her breath hitch with every intake of air. Her chest hurt from trying not to fall to the ground and weep.

 

She turned teary eyes towards the villagers, who were discussing something in a circle, sending furtive glances at her and at the burning hut. She hadn't seen many of them in weeks.

 

Finally the same woman broke away and came towards her.

 

“Fine,” she said stiffly, “you may remain here for tonight. But after that you need to come to the village where we can decide what is to be done with you.”

 

With that she walked back to her group, who had already started edging away from the ruined home, and from the ruined girl. They hurried away, having left their village and their families for too long.

 

Kagome sat, numbly, watching the fire begin to wind down. Her hut had been too far away from any trees to set the forest on fire. That, in fact, was probably why the villagers had come. If the forest were burning, then they would need to evacuate their homes. But there was little danger of this fire spreading unless the wind picked up.

 

After a while Kagome went back along the mountain trail and tracked down her bucket, which she used to ferry water from a nearby stream and dump on the fading fire. Close to dawn it was only dying embers, and she could safely walk among them. Using some unburned wood, she pushed aside the thatch and wood that had fallen in from the roof, to uncover blackened forms. They still steamed, and it was obvious that something like oil was poured on their bodies, which were stacked, to make them burn. Crying the whole way, Kagome dragged each of them out of the ruin and laid them out in the green space a little ways away. She thought that their bodies deserved to lie among something peaceful before being committed to the earth. She searched among the ruins, but everything, the clothes, the money, even the food, had been taken by the raiders. Even the few toys that her brother used to play with had been taken.

 

Her numbness consumed her. She touched the paper wrapped in the cloth, and it brought her a little comfort. She would give them proper burials, and not let them lay in the destruction.

 

To her relief, the bandits had not found their spade. She unearthed it and used it to dig three holes. It was hard work, and the sun rose steadily as she tore through roots and rocks to make space. Finally she pushed the blackened, damaged bodies in. Then she carefully jumped in and made sure they were arranged properly. She knew she should have something of theirs to accompany them to the grave. However, nothing of her brother's remained, and she desperately wanted to keep the reminders of her mother and her grandfather. So she went and found flowers and laid them around the corpses' heads and on their hands and chests. Then she covered them and placed stones to mark the place where they lay.

 

That work done, she sat and prayed for them. She sat for a long time, and the sun was on its way down when she finally rose. She wasn't crying anymore. She could smell the smoke from the village, which meant that the villagers were cooking dinner. Her mother's friend would undoubtedly be angry with her for not coming immediately that morning. She hid the spade among the trees, and then picked up her bucket, carefully feeling the soft package tucked into her underwear. She didn't want to leave it somewhere that people could steal it. The bucket was hard to hide, and would undoubtedly be taken from her, but she was going to fight tooth and nail to hold on to her family's keepsakes.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

Kagome peered out past the straw mat to her humble dwelling. She had only lasted a week in her mother's friend's hut. The hut was really too small for another full-grown occupant, and her rebelliousness was soundly criticized. When it was decided that she be moved to the small shack watching over the fishpond, it brought relief on all sides. Now she lived in a little shanty that leaned into the small bluff it was built against, and it looked like it might come down with the next storm. She was supposed to guard the fishpond and throw stones at anything that came to steal the fish.

 

Since nothing really wanted to come right into the village just for measly fish, she'd had very little to do. She was incredibly lucky, however, that this was the only job the village wanted her for. Her plant knowledge would be utilized to an extent, but otherwise they only expected her to help with the farming. For the past generation girls had outnumbered boys in the population of children, so finding decent marriages became a desperate struggle among the more well to do families in the village. Because of this, no one bothered to try and arrange a husband for the orphan, eccentric girl who guarded the fishpond. Kagome was pleased about this. She found most of the boys fairly uninteresting, and none of them showed her any interest whatsoever. Also, she knew she would never find a man who would be open with her like her father had, and she had no desire to become a silent housewife. Her husband would undoubtedly have problems with her plant skills, and would not let her roam the forest at will.

 

She sprawled out on her straw mat on the dirt floor, shifting so that the root from one of the trees overhead did not dig into her back. She did not curse the root. In fact, if it were not for the trees above her home, she was sure that every time it rained she would be soaked. Because of the presence of the canopy above her, very few droplets of water came down, and she was able to remain dry. She could put up with an odd lump in her bed if it meant she didn't get wet every time that it rained.

 

Tonight was quiet, with only the buzzing of insects and calls of the occasional owl. The wind blew through the grasses at the border of the forest. Kagome had not eaten yet, but she did not have very much rice left, so she would wait until morning to make porridge. She was not very hungry right now. When she had gone out she found the plants to make a strong tea, which she drank regularly to help offset her very meager rice ration. She also regularly added flavorful herbs to her rice porridge, so she probably ate better than most of the village.

 

A few of the children of the village would occasionally come to her hut, when their parents and older siblings were not watching, of course, and learn a bit about plants from her. She showed them how to make tea, and which plants to use. As a reward for listening so well, she usually gave them a cup of tea, which they eagerly drank. She was sure that their parents would not be happy about this, so she never mentioned it around anyone, and she would come out first to make sure no one was watching when they left her hut. She was relatively certain that they said that they were visiting the fishpond. It was a common enough thing for children to do, and a way for them to be out of the way of the adults without being off by themselves, as the fishpond was inside the village perimeter.

 

Lying on her mat, she almost missed the shuffling along the ground. Suddenly very alert, she quietly sat up. It was clear now that she listened for it; soft shuffling that was coming from a little past the pond. She rose and slunk to the doorway. Instead of moving the straw mat she lay down and stuck her head out the door in the gap between the end of the hanging mat and the ground.

 

She was sure that they weren't trying to hide. There was no way. Two people were walking out of the forest and into the village, but not by the road. They were coming out of the woods, and not bothering to be quiet.

 

“Damn, what a hamlet!”

 

“Inuyasha, these people obviously are using what resources they have to live the best life they can.”

 

“Don't get so philosophical, monk. It makes my head hurt.”

 

“You should learn about human culture, Inuyasha, and not by sneaking around at night.”

 

The other person snorted.

 

“I just come here to get out of the castle. The air here is clearer, even though humans smell.”

 

Kagome finally got a clear view of them. One looked normal, like an ordinary human monk. But the other made her eyes pop. He had bright silver hair that fell clear down his back, but it was healthy and full, not like old people's hair. He wore a bright red costume that looked expensive, and a slightly beaten up sword hung at his waist. He was obviously young, and well formed. He strutted confidently forward, unlike the common farmers she saw normally. The other man followed behind him, with more respect for the fact that he was intruding on a village in the night.

 

The silver man kicked at the ground at the edge of the pond, knocking rocks into the water.

 

“Keh! What a dump.”

 

Kagome bristled. The arrogance of the man annoyed her, especially when encroaching on others' boundaries. This was her village, and he was kicking rocks into her pond.

 

Her heart nearly stopped when he abruptly looked up and stared straight at her. She froze, and couldn't bring herself to move back into the hut.

 

The man scoffed.

 

“Miroku, look, we have a stalker.”

 

She flushed in anger. Before she could stop herself she jumped to her feet and stepped completely out of the hut. The man looked somewhat shocked, but he recovered his smugness enough to scoff at her. She strode down to the edge of the fishpond, which separated them.

 

“What are you doing here?” She demanded, squaring off against him.

 

He smirked at her, turning away to look at the other man. “What do you make of this?”

 

The other man looked more disconcerted. “Inuyasha, can we try to not disturb the residents of this village?”

 

“You are too chivalrous, monk.”

 

“Hey!” She insisted, making him turn to focus back on her. “You're being disrespectful to this village. You should leave, now!”

 

She could tell he was barely holding in his laughter. He crouched down, and she took a nervous step back as he seemed to vanish, and then hard arms locked around her shoulders and she was lifted into the air. She barely held in her scream as he suddenly let go and she fell on her rear in front of him. She looked around, and realized she was now on the other side of the pond.

 

“That's…” she stuttered, “that's not possible. How did you move so fast?”

 

He smirked again, rolling his shoulders back cockily.

 

“What do you expect from a youkai, girl? We're much more powerful that a puny human!”

 

For the first time she noticed that he had tufts of silver perched on his head. Upon closer inspection, she realized that they were different from the surrounding hair.

 

“What are those?” she stood and went up on tiptoes to grab at them. He didn't notice in time and she managed to latch on for a few moments.

 

“They're ears!” she exclaimed, rubbing gently. He looked shocked, and she was pleased to see that he was actually perturbed.

 

“Oi!” he swatted at her hands, dislodging them. He backed away, obviously trying to keep her away from the appendages.

 

“You have ears on top of your head,” she said. “Is that because you're a youkai?”

 

He looked uncomfortable. “Keh! Nosy bitch. Keep to yourself.”

 

She pressed on, knowing she'd made this infuriatingly confident man uncomfortable.

 

“Is he a youkai? Why doesn't he have ears?”

 

The other man chuckled. “Dear maiden, I am in fact a simple human monk.”

 

They all turned when they heard someone moving deeper into the center of the village.

 

“We should leave, Inuyasha. We should not bother the villagers any further.”

 

“Keh!”

 

Inuyasha and Miroku began to walk away, Miroku bowing to her before following after the youkai.

 

“Hey!” she hissed, following after them. “You're not even going to apologize for bothering me? You can't just leave like that.”

 

Inuyasha looked at her oddly, and then smirked again. “I'll come back again tomorrow.” With that he turned his shoulder and then he and the other man vanished into the darkness.

 

Kagome sank to her knees, still utterly confused by the past five minutes. Who were they? Why on earth did they come here?

 

She nervously realized that someone might come to investigate the noise and would be mad at her for disturbing them. Hurriedly she rushed through the pond and up the opposite bank to her hut, slipping inside.

 

Quietly lying on her mat, she laid a hand on her shoulders, where he had firmly grasped her and then flew them both over the pond. Who were they?

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

Kagome was distracted all day. She tried to pour water from the well bucket without having ever filled it with water, causing several women around the well to titter loudly as she dropped the bucket down into the water, cheeks red. She then tripped over a root on the way into her hut, losing the water that she had gotten. Pride hurt, she waited until later to refill the water bucket.

 

Herb gathering was a pleasant way to get out of the village and away from the gossip of the women. She could simply sit and think without anyone yelling at her, or mocking her.

 

She reviewed everything that she remembered from the encounter, but didn't come to any new conclusions. She wondered at first if they had been young lords, but then why would they sneak around in the dead of night, in a small village? Not only that, they had put up with a dirty little village girl yelling at them and belittling them. That wasn't even mentioning how one of them had the ears of a dog, and the ability to jump unnaturally. He'd taken her with him when he'd jumped over the fishpond. She had flown far above the ground and the water, and it had stunned even her sharp tongue.

 

He said he was coming back tonight. I wonder why he promised me? I'm just some village girl.

 

All of the sudden, Kagome sat up from where she'd flopped down on the grass.

 

What if he is a kami? That would explain why he is part animal, and why he had such amazing abilities! It fits! But…she frowned…why is a holy kami-sama visiting my village? And why is he coming back for me? I'm too argumentative to make a good wife. Men want pretty, quiet women of good background who will bear sons and can run a household. I'm anything but quiet, and not very pretty, and even though I can cook, I am an orphan, and my family was nothing. I'm of no value.

 

Kagome no baka!

 

Furiously tearing plants from their roots, she stomped about, taking out her annoyance on the greenery. Baka baka baka baka baka!

 

She focused herself on her work, hanging herbs to dry in and around her hut. That took her some time, and then she set herself to making more string from strands of hemp. There was always use for string, and she always needed plenty of it. However, she found it more and more difficult to concentrate on her task as it grew increasingly dark. She gave up when the sun vanished completely, because she didn't have very reliable means of lighting her shack after dark, and thus could not really work after the sun went down.

 

She realized that she hadn't eaten all day when her stomach growled. Knowing that there was probably a little more time before he came, she lit her fire and began to prepare her dinner.

 

She ate quickly, pausing to glance out of the shack to look for him between bites. He did not come.

 

She finished her rice porridge and cleaned her pot and bowl. Everything was put away and in order in her hut. He still was not there.

 

Why would he lie about coming? He could have just ignored me and walked away, but he said he would come again. Maybe he couldn't come?

 

A sharp snap from the forest attracted her attention. A shape was coming into focus, walking out of the trees. It was Inuyasha. She scrambled out of her hut and hurried towards the edge of the fishpond. She paused there, watching him approach. As he neared the bank of the pond he took an extra hard step and leap into the air, flying forward and landing several feet from her. He crossed his arms, his face in a scowl.

 

“Whaddya want, bitch,” he snapped crossly.

 

She was very affronted, and let him know this by taking several steps back and frowning at him.

 

“I wanted to see you again,” she said, not really knowing why. “Besides, you promised to come back.” She was beginning to regret asking him to come, if he was going to be such a jerk to her.

 

She noted with triumph that he looked a little guilty, kicking at the rocks around his bare feet.

 

“You didn't bring the other man this time.”

 

Inuyasha scoffed. “Would you have preferred him instead? He's a much better conversationalist than I am.”

 

Kagome was beginning to wonder if she would. “I was simply asking a question.” She settled on, trying not to offend this creature.

 

He had the grace to look embarrassed. “Fine,” he grumbled. “We probably shouldn't talk in the middle of the fuckin' village, or we'll wake up everyone.”

 

She nodded, eager to fly again. Sadly, he turned and began to walk away, not bothering to check and see if she followed. However, when she didn't he turned and looked at her pointedly over his shoulder. She followed hurriedly, falling into pace at his side. He gave her a glance, slightly shocked at how she walked at his side. They walked in silence for a little ways until he spoke again.

 

“You're obviously not a proper woman.”

 

She stopped short, shocked at the bold statement.

 

He turned to look at her, looking triumphant. “You talk out of place, confront your superiors, and presume to walk by my side. You're obviously no proper woman. What man would want you for a wife?”

 

Her eyes were wide and her face drawn after his pronouncement.

 

“You…you…” she spluttered, too angry to form coherent sentences. She breathed in and out slowly, gathering her patience.

 

“What business is it of yours? If you were the young lord of this province, then you would have cut me down the first night. Since you're not, and you aren't my father, then you have no right to tell me what to do. I am my own woman, and I will do as I please.”

 

She glared at him, willing herself not to try and lay into him. “If all you're going to do is insult me, then please leave me alone. The likes of you is not so high as to judge me!”

 

She raised her chin proudly, staring him down. He stared right back, but he looked rather shocked. “You're running at the mouth, woman!”

 

“If you only wanted to insult me then why did you come? Village boys have more respect than you do. Get out. I don't have to take this in my home.”

 

He looked highly affronted now, and close to rage. “Bitch…” he growled furiously.

 

“Why do you call me these names? My name is Kagome! Ka-go-me. You should use it!”

 

“Why should I? `Bitch' is just fine for you.”

 

“Why do you insist on provoking me?”

 

“I'm not! `Bitch' is what we call our females.”

 

This brought Kagome up short. “Who is we?”

 

He puffed himself up. “The inu youkai, of course. Our females are bitches.”

 

“But I'm human. Human women aren't called bitches.”

 

Now he looked very embarrassed. “An inu youkai's woman is his bitch.” He explained, looking rather flustered.

 

Kagome faltered. To say she was startled would be an understatement. That was far too forward a statement, especially for their second meeting.

 

“Umm, really?” she said. Her curiosity soon overcame her embarrassment.

 

“Are there many youkai with human women?”

 

That seemed to touch a nerve. His bluster came back, and so did his loudness.

 

“Of course not. Why would a youkai want a human?”

 

Kagome held her tongue, deciding not to call him out on contradicting himself. He did not seem to know fully what he was saying, and confronting him would probably just make him angry and irrational, at least, even more so than he already was. He was a very frustrating, but very interesting person. He seemed to be confused about his own personal beliefs, and that fascinated her.

 

“Why did you even come to see me then?” she said, with more bite in her voice than she actually felt.

 

“You asked me to, bitch!” he snarled back, his cheeks becoming flushed, whether with anger or embarrassment Kagome couldn't tell.

 

“Yes, I did. But now I think I'm regretting it.”

 

He shifted back at that, looking uncomfortable. “Fine, then just go home already!”

 

“I should!”

 

“Then just go! I don't wanna see your face.”

 

“Fine!”

 

Kagome turned on her heel and stomped off, feeling the headache already setting in behind her forehead. Small sticks and rocks feel prey to her furious stomping and kicking.

 

“Baka baka baka baka baka baka BAKA!” she cried, knowing that her temper was getting the best of her and that she didn't care at the moment.

 

Something loud cracked in the bushes, and she immediately turned to face it, on her guard.

 

“Inuyasha?” she queried, wondering why he was being so obvious about following her. He didn't seem like that kind of person.

 

A large spider, impossibly large, burst from the bushes and came straight for her. It was easily taller than she was, and she saw it open its great maw, flanked on either side by fangs that dripped a clear liquid that make the ground smoke. She stood frozen.

 

I should run. I should run. Run. Run… She took a trembling step backwards. Run, run…

 

A red blur blew right in front of her face, making her vision temporarily spotty and breaking her fearful paralysis. In front of her the spider had been torn to the side and was now in two pieces, and rapidly being split into more. The red flash was cutting it apart viciously, leaving it no time to retaliate. When it was no more than small, twitching pieces, Inuyasha halted and turned to her, his face a mask of rage.

 

She flinched away from him, realizing that he was about ready to explode.

 

And so he did.

 

“What the fuck were you thinking, goddamn bitch!” He screamed, his eyes gaining a wild tinge of red. “You could have been killed! A human wench all alone is the perfect target for a youkai, and you wouldn't have stood a chance. It would have eaten you, you stupid bitch!” He was shaking in rage, his hands flexing out to display their lethal long claws.

 

She cowered under his wrath, letting only a small whimper escape her lips. All her anger with him from before had vanished, and she was too shell shocked at the moment to get mad at him for yelling at her. She sank to her knees, and grabbed her arms to hug herself.

 

“Inuyasha,” she said softly, “t-thank you. For saving me.”

 

Her quiet words made him halt, calming his anger, bringing his boiling blood back to a calm. He worked to control his temper, so that he wouldn't yell at her again. It really wasn't her fault. He'd brought her out here late at night, and then let her leave alone to go back through the woods. He was a fucking fool to let her go off by herself.

 

“It's fine,” he said gruffly, striding over to where she sat on the forest floor. He bent down and wrapped his arm under her arms to lift her to her feet, and then shifted to allow her to climb onto his back. She hesitated, but then after a gruff command awkwardly latched onto his haori and pressed her legs firmly onto his hipbones. He reached back to grab her thighs firmly so that she wouldn't slide off of his back, ignoring the warmth of that intimate area that his hands were gripping.

 

“Hold on,” he murmured back to her, gripping her legs tightly as he pushed off of the ground. He heard her gasp behind him, and felt how she gripped him tighter across the shoulders and hips.

 

“Ahh,” she said excitedly, trying to sidle further up his back to see better.

 

He smirked, deciding to show off a little. He pushed off hard from a tree branch and thrust them both high above the treetops and into the night sky. She twisted around excitedly, enough to make him grab onto her tighter to make sure she didn't fall.

 

“We can see the village from here.” She said from somewhere above his head.

 

“Yes, yes, now get down and hang on.” He said, not able to make his voice grouchy when she was so exhilarated.

 

They dropped through the leaves again, and he pushed off hard to clear the canopy. She giggled in his ear as they soared through the air. He heard her abruptly stop, and he smelled her scent become sad. He looked up at her, and then followed her gaze to a spot in the mountains. It looked like a burned out clearing. He changed course and made his way there, ignoring her tugging at his haori to get his attention.

 

He landed in the clearing, looking at the remains of a burned out hut. It had obviously happened recently, as plants had only just started to grow in the space.

 

“What happened here?” He asked, picking his way through the ruin. She was quiet; taking in the amount that nature was taking her old home back into itself. She brought her hands together and bowed her head for a prayer. When she opened them he was staring at her, an odd look in his eyes.

 

“You knew these people?” he asked.

 

“Yes, I did,” she said simply. She didn't feel the need to add that she had known them very, very well.

 

Inuyasha continued to pick his way around, but she did not feel the need to. She was still rattled from the spider attack, and that combined with seeing her family's graves was making this a very unsettling night. On top of everything, she was tired and a little hungry and wanted to go back to her hut and go to sleep.

 

She was startled when Inuyasha strode right up to her and stuck his face right into hers, peering right at her, hardly blinking. She backed away from the intrusive attention, but before she could protest he swung her onto his back and lifted off the ground. She floundered a bit until she managed to get a fistful of his clothing and use it to pull herself fully onto his back. Jerk didn't even warn her.

 

He set down by the fishpond, practically dropping her.

 

“Go home and sleep, bitch. You need to rest.”

 

She glowered at him. “Who are you to tell me what to do?”

 

He scoffed at her. “I'm me! And I can tell you to do whatever I want.”

 

Kagome crossed her arms at him. “But that doesn't mean I will obey.”

 

“You will so!”

 

“Will not!”

 

“Fine! Stay awake all night.”

 

He strode off without a backward glance at her, leaping off after a few steps. He was gone in only a few seconds. Kagome was already regretting arguing with him. He was obviously very prideful and touchy, which did not go so well with her pride. She really did need to go to sleep, but she didn't want some man she had only met last night ordering her to go to bed.

 

Because she felt the slightest bit guilty about making him so mad that he ran off, she quickly went to her hut and curled into her mat. She regretted not being able to ask him to come again. He was obstinate and stubborn as hell, but he was much more interesting to talk to than the other villagers. Most of them didn't feel like associating with her anyway.

 

It's pretty sad that my only real company now is a mean man who openly belittles me. Actually, it's probably sadder that I want him to come back again.

 

Kagome shifted away from a bump under her mat, fidgeting uneasily.

 

What should I do?