InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Broken* ❯ Damage Control ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Inuyasha felt guilty.

Really guilty.

A hell of a lot more guilty than he usually felt, anyway.

Dinner had been a silent, awkward affair in which nobody said anything and everyone spent their time alternating between eating and shooting disapproving, accusing glares at Inuyasha. Well, everyone except for Kagome. She wouldn't even look at him now. She ate quietly, barely acknowledging the hanyou's presence, although she did level reassuring (if not unconvincing) smiles to Shippou from time to time.

Her expression was serious and pensive, eyes dull and lost of their usual laughing sparkle. She didn't look at all like herself. In fact, the more Inuyasha discreetly studied her, the more he couldn't help thinking that she looked disturbingly like Kikyou, what with that permanently depressed look on her face. She wasn't crying, but she looked so miserable that he wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock and hide. She reminded him of a kicked puppy, and he'd been the one who'd done the kicking. He wasn't the kind of guy who usually made a habit of wallowing in regret, but right then, if there'd been some way to travel back in time and beat the living shit out of himself for acting like such a jackass, he would've cheerfully done it. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure the well didn't work like that.

As soon as dinner was finished, Kaede headed outside to the wash basin to fill it with heated water from the fire. Kagome excused herself, saying that she had a headache and wanted to sleep. She quietly asked Shippou to help Kaede wash up the dishes in her place. Dishwashing was not something Shippou was very fond of, but rather than complain—for which Inuyasha was thoroughly prepared to trounce the kit if he so much as muttered—he readily agreed to help, and asked if there was anything he could get for her to help the headache go away. She smiled at him kindly and reached to tweak his tail. "Thank you, Shippou, but I think a little rest is all I need. I'm sure I'll feel better in the morning."

The fact that she wasn't speaking with her usual cheerful tone wasn't lost on anyone. As soon as she was settled into her bedroll, Shippou turned to fix Inuyasha with a death-glare and bounced a large acorn roughly off the hanyou's head. "You big idiot!" he hissed, baring his tiny fangs. "It's all your fault she's so unhappy!"

Inuyasha growled at him warningly. "Watch it, brat," he snarled. "I wouldn't go pissing me off if I were you. Who's gonna save your sorry hide when I decide to tear it to shreds?"

"First, you threaten to destroy her only way to go home. Then you threaten to actually kill her!" the little fox continued to rant, oblivious to the warning growls vibrating from the hanyou's throat. "No wonder she hates you now! You don't deserve someone as nice as Kagome!"

"Shut up!" Inuyasha snarled, and swiped savagely with his claws, just barely missing the kitsune, who squealed in terror and leapt away.

"Inuyasha!"

Both hanyou and kitsune froze dead in their tracks at the furious bellow, while a faint crash from outside the house signaled Kaede's own startled reaction.

Kagome stood beside her bedroll, obviously seething, glaring at Inuyasha in a way she'd not done even when he'd threatened to destroy the well. The hanyou gulped silently, sensing that Doom had just been brought down upon his head. Silently, the pissed-off miko-in-training stalked over to him, her eyes boring into his intently. When she was mere inches away from him, she stopped abruptly, raised her hand … and delivered a resounding slap to his face that had him staggering back several paces, his own hand coming up to cradle his reddening cheek in shock. He gaped at her, openmouthed—That slap had actually hurt!—too bewildered to do anything but stare.

She stood there with her head lowered so that her long bangs shaded her eyes and most of her expression; her hand, still poised in the air, trembled, its palm bright red from the force of her blow. "You can threaten me," she began in a low, hoarse voice, which was also trembling. "You can bully me all you want, if it makes you feel better for everything you think I've done to you. Maybe I really am nothing but a weak girl if I can't defend myself against you. But understand this."

Her head snapped up suddenly, her eyes locking on him with such a look of cold fury that he had to suppress a shudder. "If you even dare to lay one finger on Shippou, no matter how long it takes or how weak my power is, I swear that I'll use every last ounce of it to seal you back into that tree in a way that nobody will ever be able to wake you up ever again!" Her voice had risen steadily word-by-word, until she was practically shouting in his face, and his sensitive ears flattened against his head in defense. He was starting to look a little nervous, realizing that the girl was deadly serious. Even Shippou was looking a little afraid, having never seen his surrogate mother act like this before.

"Keh!" the hanyou blustered, not at all willing to back down and let the girl figure out just how much her threat was working. "As if I'd waste my time maimin' a worthless brat like him!" He glared suddenly, regaining his courage. "But if you think I'm gonna let him get away with harassin' me, think again, little girl! You don't want me to touch him, then quit coddlin' the brat and keep him away!" Now it was his turn to yell, and she blinked up at him, but he didn't give her a chance to retort before turning on his heel and stalking to the door, leaping off into the night.

Kaede sighed sadly and shook her head as she stared after him.

"Go on, then! Run away, ya big chicken!" Shippou was crowing gleefully. "Just try and—"

"Shippou."

Though softly spoken, the word held an unmistakable command that brought the kitsune's tirade to a stuttering halt. "Wh-what?" he asked uneasily, noting the disapproving frown on her face.

"He's right, you know," Kagome said quietly. "I do coddle you, even though sometimes you do deserve a good beating for the things you do to him.”

“B-but he always overreacts—”

“Maybe so, but Shippou, I can't protect you like I used to, and I can't expect him to just put up with your teasing. If you anger him and he strikes out, what could I do to stop him?"

"You can pin him to that tree, like you threatened to!" the kitsune pouted.

She sighed and closed her eyes. "Would that be fair to him?" she questioned gently. Shippou's jaw dropped in shock; he hadn't expected her to take the hanyou's side on the matter. Seeing the look, Kagome smiled a little. "Shippou, if Inuyasha hurt you just because he could, I'd do everything in my power to stop him, because what's to keep him from hurting anyone else? But if he's merely reacting in self-defense, I can't blame him for lashing out. Everyone lashes out when they're angry or hurt. I-it's a natural reaction." She sighed again. "Please, Shippou, for my sake, will you refrain from teasing Inuyasha anymore? I don't want to have to worry about you on top of everything else. You don't have to be nice to him, but at least stay out of his way. Especially when he's irritated. Don't make him so angry that he wants to hurt you."

Shippou huffed and scuffed one little hind-leg on the floor. "Okay," he grudgingly agreed. "I'll be nicer to Inuyasha. But only 'cause you want me to!"

"Thanks, Shippou." Kagome smiled brightly. "I feel better already. Now, please help Kaede finish the dishes, okay?"

"Okay!" he chirped, bouncing to the wash basin where the bowls were stacked and ready for a good washing.

Kaede sidled up to Kagome as she turned away. She'd been strangely silent all evening, but now it appeared as though she had something to say. Kagome didn't really feel like talking, but out of respect for the elderly woman, she paused to hear her out.

"I must say, child, that ye have a good heart, to so readily defend Inuyasha. Have ye forgiven him for what he has done?"

"How can I forgive him if he isn't even sorry?" Kagome's tone held no small amount of bitterness, and her expression darkened. "There's a part of me that can accept why he's acting this way. I suppose if I'd been under a spell like that, I'd be gloating in my freedom, too. But the things he said to me, what he tried to do … it hurt, Kaede." Her face crumpled slightly. "When he'd worn the rosary, as much as he resented it, he'd seemed so much more … caring in the way he treated me. I know he was rude, and blunt, and downright obnoxious at times, but he'd never been so … cruel before. I'd always thought that he liked me just a little bit. But, now I think I've only been fooling myself into hoping for something that … just wasn't there."

"Inuyasha's heart is also good, although he hides it well. He does not understand how to show gentleness to others, even to those he cares about. This comes from having nobody to care for him for most of his life," Kaede stated. "But now this has changed, has it not? Ye care for him a great deal."

Kagome swallowed around the growing lump in her throat. "I cared about the Inuyasha I knew from the moment the rosary was slipped over his head," she replied bitterly. "But, now … it's like he's broken or something, just like the spell. I can't see him anymore. This Inuyasha is … a stranger. I … I remember him from before the spell." Her head lowered, long hair flowing forward to hide her profile. "This Inuyasha … he scares me, Kaede," she whispered. "Maybe it's stupid to feel that way, but I … I just can't help it. Maybe he's right in not letting me go near the well." She swallowed again, arms wrapping around her thin frame, as though against a chill. "I … I think that … if I actually went home this time, I'd never be able to make myself come back again, promises or no." She flashed a small, sad smile at the elderly miko, bowed once, and climbed into her bedroll in obvious dismissal.

Kaede sighed again, her shoulders slumping as she turned to make her way slowly to the fire. She suddenly felt twice her age. "And now ye know, Inuyasha," she murmured, knowing full well the hanyou was close by, eavesdropping from wherever he'd chosen to hide himself. "Now ye know what sort of damage words can cause in a maiden's heart. I hope ye can find thine own heart, before ye break hers completely."