Summary: Tourists just can't seem to follow the rules. It's not that hard: don't stay in the mountain at night. But they always do, and Inuyasha is always there to go save them.

Word count: 3,335

Keep Holding On

Inuyasha couldn't stand tourists. He didn't like them walking around in his town like they owned it, didn't like them taking pictures, didn't like them buying stuff and getting overexcited about "how good these people were at crafting!". Yeah, they were, of fucking course. They'd been doing that for centuries, if not more. Hadn't needed them for that either — except that now, tourism was their main income, and they didn't have a fucking choice.

He didn't like the competition it had started between villagers, didn't like the people who had started settling down in town for the money and who certainly were not traditional craftsmen, and most of all, he despised the two enormous hotels that had opened at the bottom of the mountain, allowing the tourists to come up in those ridiculous, hideous white buses.

There was nothing good about any of that, if you asked him. Good for the economy? Lie. They were doing just fine before, and they'd be doing just fine if they were still able to take care of animals, as they had for as long as anyone could remember, instead of being forced to abandon their crops and farming.

Good for the culture? Lie —and stupid. Those people didn't care about their culture, they cared about the exoticism. They cared about taking pictures with an old man dressed in colorful clothing, and they cared about being able to tell all their friends, back in the big city, how "this trip has changed my life" and "the people there really live with nothing, it's so inspiring!".

Ha. And then when they came down of the mountain to study, they were treated like shit. Like peasants who didn't know anything, and their culture, their way of dressing, of speaking, of thinking, as some weird abnormality that could be made fun of, but was just cool when someone who'd been there walked in with one of their necklaces, without any idea of what it was supposed to mean.

Sure, that wasn't the only thing Inuyasha had had to deal with, but what he got from being a half-demon only added to that blatant hypocrisy. And he wasn't even talking about the way they had insinuated that only indigenous women would fuck a demon, the insult on his mother barely hidden.

Most of them had never even met a fucking demon, of course, since they had abandoned most urbanized areas, remaining in some of the last havens, such as his mountain.

And, to be honest, making sure it remained like that. For now, at least, no one had dared trying to build new, modern houses on the mountain. Or, well, they'd tried, but there had been gruesome murders, or said places had been destroyed, and the people in the village hadn't let anyone know of the secrets to be accepted here.

Yet, because Inuyasha had no idea how long that would last.

But they did come to visit. Demons didn't do anything about that, unless you did some stupid shit that really pissed them off.

Well, unless you were in the mountain during the night.

They warned tourists about that continually. Don't throw your trash in the mountain. Don't stray from the path. And, whatever you do, don't, under any circumstances, stay there after the sun has set.

Still, he couldn't say he was surprised when a travel courier bursted into the only inn in the village, followed by a group of distressed college students, only a couple of years younger than him, minutes before the sunset.

Of course, Sango was the one to walk up to them. Better off that way. He'd been told he scared people. Which was good, actually. Maybe that way they'd respect the fucking rules. Not that Sango was one to joke with said rules, but she at least managed to stay calm.

From where he was, he could only hear bits and pieces about the conversation.

"Students… Lost… Fall… Tried to get them…"

Until he couldn't take it anymore. The sun was setting already. Every second was vital now, they couldn't wait for the end of that story.

"How many of them?" he asked, standing up, making the woman start then cower.

"F-four," she replied while Sango glared at him.

He cursed. Fucking four? What the— had they thought it'd be a fun experience?

"You mentioned a cliff, right?" Sango asked, her voice still calm, but he could tell there was urgency running under it, and he hissed. He had quite a precise idea of the place the woman was talking about, and that was— That was bad.

"Right," she replied. "Eri slipped, and then—"

Again, they didn't have time for that.

"Sango. Leaving."

She nodded, turning back to glance at her husband. "Miroku, can you take it from there?"

He gave her a reassuring smile. In other circumstances, a more dangerous night for example, or if they had a real chance of bringing them back alive, he would be joining them, but tonight he'd probably be better here, calming down the panicked group.

Him and Sango were walking out, after she had just taken the time to grab her giant boomerang, when they were stopped by a young man, who looked exceptionally common. Brown hair, brown eyes…

"Is there any way I can come with you?"

…and a hero complex, apparently.

"Certainly not," Inuyasha growled before Sango could even open her mouth. "We don't need someone else out there."

He paled. "But Higurashi…"

"We'll bring her back," Sango promised, setting a calming hand on his shoulder. "For now though, the best thing you can do is stay here, okay?"

He nodded, but didn't move out of the way.

"Her?" Inuyasha asked.

"Four girls," Sango replied, glancing at him briefly.

"Keh." That was unusual, to say the least. People who wanted to prove themselves or whatever other shit went through their stupid minds were usually boys. "We'll get your girlfriend, boy. Now move."

"Oh, Higurashi isn't my—"

Inuyasha took a threatening step forward. No fucking time for that. Sango gave the young man one last smile, and then they were out in the night.

The air was cold. It was spring already, but they were pretty high up, and demonic energy somehow tended to cool the air. Scientists would probably have had quite a lot to say about it, had they dared to stay around to study it. But they last team had met an unfortunate ending, and no one had come around since then.

"We'll have to be quick," Inuyasha said as they started running towards the forest.

Sango didn't say anything, simply bringing to her lips the whistle made of wood she carried around her neck. Only seconds later, a fire-cat demon was out of the woods, and Sango easily jumped on her back, in a movement made swift by practice.

He was used to that by now, but still, it was quite impressive.

The sun was setting just as they ventured in the mountain.

They ran, unnoticed, silent, for what felt like hours. It had to be shorter than that, but the sound of the forest and the mountain awakening around them was a worrying weight on their shoulders.

They both knew there was probably no point in doing that. Demons weren't known for their patience. They'd be lucky if they even left bones behind. Yet, neither of them considered abandoning them. Maybe, by some miracle, they had managed to hide somewhere. Maybe they'd been able to push the demons away.

Well, it turned out it was a night for a miracle.

"Smell 'em," Inuyasha simply said, directing Sango and Kirara in the right direction.

He didn't say he also smelled countless demons. There was no point, and they'd find it out soon enough. Plus, Sango was rather sensitive to the energy, so she was probably aware of it already. Both of them braced themselves for what they would find. They knew they were nearing the bottom of the cliff. It wasn't a nice fall, but it wasn't high enough for them to worry all that much about it. There was however a slope at the bottom, so the girls had probably rolled from there. They were more than likely injured, but they would have survived it.

The encounter with the demons, however…

Sango's heart seemed to stop beating when they arrived. She didn't recall ever seeing such a swarm of demons, ever. At least they were all minor demons, looking like shapeless, flying snakes. All gathered around one spot in a disgusting nest, a sight that made her sick, even though she couldn't yet see what they were focusing on. She grabbed the Hiraikotsu in her back, throwing it with a scream.

It didn't make that much damage, though it definitely killed quite a few, but it made the demons pull back for a second, revealing the most surprising sight.

The four girls. Alive, with three of them crouched on the ground. One of them, on her knees, hands above her, creating a blue light that seemed to keep the demons away— Barrier.

During that split second, Inuyasha met the girl's blue eyes.

The world stopped.

Then, the demons were back, cutting him from the view, and he was thrown back into reality. What had he seen in there? Strength, determination, power, but… But what the hell was that?

A priestess? He'd only met three persons with spiritual powers in his life. Kaede, Miroku, and Kikyo — his ex, who had left the village years ago, claiming to want "a normal life". A life he couldn't be a part of, apparently.

Sango caught the Hiraikotsu again, then glanced at him. He could always use his Tetsusaiga, sure, but then he couldn't be sure he wouldn't injure the girls. The barrier was probably already under a strong assault, he doubted it could take much more. Which meant they'd have to finish the demons by hand.

It took quite some time, mostly because they just fucking kept coming, driven to the blue light like moths to a flame.

Inuyasha managed to catch a few more glances at the girl with the blue eyes. There was nothing special about her. Dark long hair, and sure, rather pretty, but nothing incredible. There was just something about her though. Maybe he was just like the other demons, feeling fascinated by her, but even that didn't seem quite right.

Once they had managed to scare the demons away, Sango ran towards the girls, only to be harshly pushed back a couple of feet when she touched the barrier.

"Don't lower it, Kagome!" a girl begged.

"Yeah— They look like they're just the same!"

Inuyasha winced at that, just a little. It was obvious they were looking at him, at his golden eyes, his white hair, his ears, and probably also his claws, which were now dripping with blood.

He met the girl's eyes, again. He noted the absence of disgust or of fear there, like she thought he couldn't possibly be a danger, and then the curiosity.

Her arms fell to her side, and the barrier disappeared.

In only seconds, Sango was next to them, helping them onto Kirara's back despite the protests.

"Inuyasha, you need to take two of them. Kirara can't lift them all."

He nodded. Who did she think he was? He knew how they did it.

Easily, without a word, he lifted the girl with the blue eyes with only one arm, then grabbed one of her friend — short black hair cut in a bob, looking terrified. At least, neither of them tried to push him away. He should have given them so explanation, actually, but he was bad at that, and they needed to be quiet. If the girl's power worked like a magnet for demons, they didn't want to get any more attention on themselves.

Which was why the ride home was quiet, behind the fire of Kirara's steps, until they finally found the village's reassuring shapes. Kirara then disappeared back into the woods, with a friendly mewl at Sango, and Inuyasha unceremoniously dropped the girl on the ground, only for the blue eyed girl to grab onto him almost desperately, and he realized she was balanced on only one foot.

"Sango!" he called. "Twisted ankle here, I think!"

She nodded. "A broken arm over there. Let's get them inside."

"So let me get this straight," Inuyasha said, anger growing in his voice. "You followed them to help them?"

The blue-eyed-girl — whose name was apparently Kagome Higurashi — fidgeted in front of him while Miroku took care of her ankle, having the intelligence not to cross him at the moment.

"Well, I couldn't just leave them alone, could I?" she mumbled, avoiding his eyes.

His amazement at her power was long gone, and his interest had been somehow dampened since they had walked in. He could hear Sango's reprimands at the other girls, who had already been taken care of, but too bad for her, they'd have to talk to her about her powers, and he was the only one available for that now.

Which was the nice way of saying that Sango had decided it'd be better if he yelled at one person instead of three.

"That's so fucking stupid," he spat. "You could all have died."

Her head snapped up. "Well we didn't, alright? But they would have if I hadn't joined, am I correct?" Her eyes fell on her hands again. "Though I have no idea how I did that…"

"About that," Miroku started calmly, "you have…"

"You didn't fucking know about that though, right?" Inuyasha growled. "You put yourself in danger for no reasons! That's stupid as shit!"

Her eyes started shining with anger. "I get that. But we were fine." There was a pause. "Thanks to you." That seemed like a very painful thing to say just then. "It's not like Eri tripped on purpose, though, okay? We didn't want this to happen!"

There was tears in her voice on that last sentence, and Inuyasha felt his entire body tense. Shit. Tears. He couldn't deal with tears. He reached out clumsily.

"Nah— Don't— Just don't do that again, 'kay?"

She stared at him in disbelief. "Why would I do that again? I told you, we didn't mean to do that!"

"Miss Higurashi," Miroku finally managed to intervene, "were you aware of your powers?"

She seemed taken aback by the question, and she looked down at her hands again, opening then closing them a few times. There was nothing particular about them. Her skin was rather pale, and it looked smooth, nice to the touch — where the fuck was his mind going right now?

"No," she ended up saying, slowly. "I mean, my family has a shrine, but I always thought these were… You know… Just stories."

Inuyasha scoffed loudly, and she glared daggers at him once more.

"It's possible that they'd never awoken before, since you had never met demons," Miroku explained calmly. "But now, you will need to train to get them under control. From what Sango told me, they're strong enough to have an effect on humans, which can be dangerous. Do you know anyone who could do that?"

Her lower lip started trembling, and she bit it, the movement attracting Inuyasha's attention in a way he wasn't sure he liked.

"No," she whispered, and she sounded so defeated it made him wince uncomfortably.

"Then you will have to come back here," Miroku said, almost making Inuyasha jump. "I'm sure Kaede won't mind helping you out."

"Hey, wait now, Miroku—"

"I'll probably do that," Kagome cut him off. When he turned to look at her, incredulous, she was looking at him, furious. "I get it, you think I'm an idiot, but I still need to do that! I can't risk hurting people— Is that really so hard to understand?"

That took him off guard. He hadn't meant it like that, though if he was honest, he didn't really want someone from outside the village to be around and to learn their secrets. Still, the hurt in her voice got to him more than he would have liked to. He knew he could be kind of a dick, but he didn't want to make people feel bad.

Didn't want to make her feel bad.

"Well," he mumbled, admitting defeat unusually quickly, pushing his hands deep in his pockets, "then if it's all settled, I guess we can let your boyfriend in."

She blinked. "My boyfriend?"

"A kid called Hojo," Sango said from the entrance as she leaned against the doorframe. "He's been really insistant about seeing you."

"Oh… Hojo's not my boyfriend."

Does that mean she's free?— Hell, damn his mind and damn his hormones and damn whatever it was about that girl that fascinated him so.

"Well, can he come in?" Sango asked tilting her head. "You don't have to see him if you're too tired."

She let out a long sigh, then smiled. "No, it will be fine. Let him in."

Inuyasha shrugged. Why should he care? It was none of his business. The second Hojo came in, crying out the girl's name, he walked out.

Oblivious to her eyes on his back.

They left the next morning. It was a bit complicated, fitting all the students in the already full inn, but they managed to do it. Well, Sango and Miroku managed to do it, anyway. Inuyasha went to his spot in the tree at the center of the village, where he spent most of his nights as long as the temperatures weren't too low.

He watched the group boarding the bus from afar, and couldn't help but notice the girl, standing aside, looking around as though she was looking for someone. It wasn't until Sango's Hiraikotsu hit him, making him fall from the tree, and she ran up to him — well, limped with the help of her crutches — that he understood what, or rather who, exactly she was searching for.

"What d'ya want?" he growled as he stood up, particularly annoyed. It certainly hadn't hurt, but Sango needed to fucking stop doing that. He knew she thought it was hilarious, but it wasn't a reason, dammit.

She set her clutches against a bench, then hopped to him on one foot, and he caught her by the waist when she lost her balance, because of fucking course she would have, why had she had that stupid idea, did she really have such low survival instincts, what even went through her—

Then, she pushed herself on her tiptoes, and, resting a hand on his cheek, she kissed him gently on the other one.

It was soft and… And kind. He didn't know quite how to explain what he'd felt, and before he knew it, she was pulling away already.

"Thank you, Inuyasha," she said, his name used in a surprisingly gentle way. "For saving me."

For the next moment, he was just staring at her, staring in her eyes, mouth open, unable to just— you know— words. But then, she grinned.

"You'd better have worked on that temper of yours by the time I come back, or we'll have a problem."

And again, the moment was gone.

"Like hell I will," he growled, but he was pretty sure he was smirking.

She gave him a bright, honest smile and winked at him, before grabbing her clutches again and walking away quickly, hopping in the bus, which left almost immediately.

Miroku walked up to him, resting his arm on Inuyasha's shoulder while the half-demon watched it take her away.

"This Kagome is a really sweet girl, isn't she my friend?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and ignored him. He knew Miroku wanted him to be with a girl, but was there any way for him not to be so obvious about it.

Still, for maybe the first time in his life, he'd be waiting for one of those dumb buses to come back.

Hope you have enjoyed! This was requested on my Tumblr ^-^ Please leave a review! (: