Chapter 2

Almost like an instant reaction, as his claws dug deep into the girl's arms, his body pulsed. Hoping she wouldn't notice, he retracted his claws. Again. His body shook as the girl screamed bloody murder in front of him, tears streaming down her face. He quickly clamped his hands over his ears and his eyes clenched shut, hoping to block out some of the noise and prevent himself from seeing someone in such pain. Then came a wave of weakness. It was faint at first, hardly worth acknowledgement but it grew. His demonic blood was shrinking away, making him feel more frail and drained. Suddenly the girl's screeching stopped and a gentle 'thump' sounded in front of him.

Shit. She passed out.

In front of him lay the girl, eyes shut and face contorted in pain. Now that his demonic side wasn't running rampant with blood lust and trying to kill the young girl, he could get a look at her. Her black hair was plastered to her face from the raging storm outside. Her clothing was soaked and clung to her body, showing off her figure a little more than she probably would have appreciated. He flushed. But what really struck him was the blood dripping down her head, getting dangerously close to her lips. The shirt she wore clearly had been white at one point but was now caked in mud, blood and torn in several places, not from his claws, he noted. She was also still breathing. Well, no sense in letting her rot in here.

Inuyasha had spent a considerable amount of time getting enough colloidal silver* and chlorella to help the girl's wounds, leaving it to dry so he could scrape it off later once it was no longer helpful. He gently and carefully moved her over to the strange looking futon she had been spreading out before he had.. attacked her. He watched her sleep, making sure that none of his 'medication' had come off as she slept. She didn't make much movement in her sleep though she did curl into herself, calling out in her sleep to someone he didn't know.

Looking out towards the entrance of the cave, Inuyasha could see the first glimmers of sunrise start to creep in. She'd probably be awake soon. What the hell was he going to tell her? No way he could tell her the truth. She'd be torn to pieces the moment she walked out of here without some sort of defense. (Not that he cared about her or anything.) He was surprised she'd made it even this far. But a bigger question was on his mind. When he had.. stabbed her with his claws, why did that of all things trigger the surrender of his demon blood? Why her? Of all the people he must have killed over hundreds of years, why her? He didn't have much time to ponder, as the girl sat up rather quickly. She audibly hissed in pain but she quickly went into hysterics. She was screaming and thrashing around from the inside of her odd futon.

"Get away! GET AWAY FROM ME!" she continued to scream over and over again. Didn't the damn girl know that he wouldn't hurt her now?! And better yet to stop screaming! She was going to break his eardrums!

Growling, he quickly hurried over to her side and pulled her out of her weird futon and held her close to him, keeping her from thrashing too much.

"Let me go! Let me GO!" her arms would randomly throw punches or try to push him away but he held her down.

After a while, the girl began to calm down to just sobbing quietly. Her arms wrapped around him slowly and he just held her awkwardly, not knowing what do. This girl was clearly very special, being able to make his inner demon subside and to make it so far into the forest without being gutted, but there was no way to make it this far without having seen something horribly gruesome. This forest was swarming with death, whether human or demonic.

Hearing the crying come to a stop and a few mere sniffles echo through the cave, he stared down at the girl in his arms, backing away some to give her space now that she had calmed down. She looked up at him completely shocked.

"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to…" she rubbed the back of her head awkwardly and he merely grunted in response. After so many years of not talking, his throat was in no condition for him to start speaking in full conversations again. She gave him a quizzical look, having expected more of a response but ignored the man's strange behavior and she began focusing more on his features. She certainly must've noticed he wasn't human. Long silver hair flowed down his back. A pair of matching silver dog ears perched atop his head, twitching and listening intently to her. His eyes a bright, piercing yellow flecked with gold, seemed to steal a look into her soul. Where normal human nails and teeth would normally be, claws and a pair of fangs were noticeable whenever he flexed his hand or opened his mouth(before quickly shutting it that is). If he wasn't human, then what was he? He certainly was quite a handsome man, human or not. His skin was significantly darker than hers, nicely blending with the ever growing light seeping from the cave entrance. Even in the rather baggy red outfit he was wearing, (which reminded her of the feudal era. She'd have to ask about that) his chest was still slightly strained against it, allowing some the outline of his rather muscular chest through. And that was with his clothes on. She was snapped out of her thoughts when the man growled softly at her and blushed. Was there something wrong with her?

"W-What is it? Is something wrong?" She asked tentatively. He gestured to her chest. She gave him an odd look before down at herself. She didn't have a shirt on. Just a bra. No shirt. In front of a man.

Crap! She let out a small yelp and backtracked over to her sleeping bag and pulled it up to cover herself and try and preserve what was left of her modesty.

"Uh..What happened to my sweater?" She asked softly, her face red. He again, gestured over to the far corner of the cave, closest to the entrance. Her shirt was drying in the light. However, she could no longer wear it. Her sweater was full of holes and practically torn to shreds, clearly not suitable for wearing. Still blushing, he moved closer to her and frowned, growling again. Gently he brushed her bangs out of the way of her forehead. His self medicating was going to need another application. She tilted her head, showing her confusion. The mixture of herbs he had used to move along the healing process was now too dry to help any. He held her head still with one hand while he picked at the dry medicinal substance.

The girl peered up at his hand to see green stuff flaking off of her head. She tried to move but he growled at her attempts to stop his picking, and sat still. He examined her forehead for a moment before pushing away from her to go sit by himself, keeping his gaze away from her. She moved from her spot on the ground over to a puddle near the opening of the cave, her arms and legs screaming in pain the whole way. Looking in the puddle like a mirror, she gasped at the sight in front of her. On her forehead was a large gash, still covered in dry blood. Her arms and legs were covered in the green stuff, which smelled oddly refreshing as she picked it off to reveal over a dozen cuts including a series of 5 jagged cuts along her upper arms which looked deep enough to leave scars. Upon further inspection, her black shorts, much like her sweater, was torn in various spots and masked in mud and blood. Clearly she'd have to dig around her bag for a clean set of clothing. Making her way back to her pack, she managed to find a white tank top, dark green shorts and a pair of hiking boots (and her medical kit). She was about to pull off her shorts when she caught the strange man staring at her again.

"Do you mind? I want to change." She muttered quietly, glancing over to him. He fixed a glare on her but turned around. She glided out of her shorts, pulled the tank top over her head, she quickly adjusted the shorts and tucked in the tank top. She muttered that he could turn around as she slipped on the hiking boots and brushed her hair up into a new ponytail.

He turned around and glared at her again, as she applied antibacterial spray and wrapped her head in gauze. She motioned for him to come sit next to her. The only response was a raspy 'keh' and his head turning away from her.

"I don't bite." She softly explained as she reflexively rubbed the spots where he had mangled her arms. The cuts he'd given her were obvious now that blood wasn't running over them. Five little slits lined up her upper arms, he noticed.

"Can I ask a few quick questions?"

He bit back a whimper as he watched her run her small hands over her upper arms. That was his fault.

Moving from the spot on the wall, he proceeded to sit in front of her. Now that she wasn't as bloody and muddy as she was before, she was quite a spectacular sight. Granted, he hadn't really met a woman in over 500 years but she was gorgeous; he could hardly focus. Her skin was light and shiny, very soft looking. Her hair, while pulled up, fluttered around her neck. How tempting…

He couldn't help but think how that skin would feel under his fingertips. Both her arms and legs, while covered in scratches at the moment, were long and thin but muscular.

Gods…

"So," As she began to speak he snapped out of his dazed state. "I was sort of curious about uh...those." She extended a small finger in the direction of his ears. He frowned at her and sighed. "Ha'f demon an' half hu'an." His voice rasped as he tried to explain to her and waited for a violent or terrified reaction. But he never got it. She merely continued to stare at his ears. She cautiously reached a hand out to touch them but quickly retracted it when he bared his fangs and snarled.

"How long have you been in here? " She tried and only received another snarl.

"Okay, have you seen anyone around here with bright red sclera and blue pupils with this, sort of, bloodthirsty look in their eyes. Claws long and sharp with possibly thin layer of blood coating the tips of the claws?" She ask him, her voice fading and an involuntary visible shiver racking her small body.

He watched her as she smiled sadly. Gods she was so innocent. How was he suppose to explain that his demonic side had tried to disembowel her less than 12 hours ago? That was the thing; he couldn't.

Shaking his head, he signaled his answer. A firm no.

The girl had decided to go just around the corner to gather some wood for a fire, insisting that it was far too cold inside the cave. Keh, weak humans. They hadn't talked much before she left. His throat burned with every word and it just made him more irritable. She was distressed and scared to say the very least. Obviously something had happened before she reached the cave, however, she made no mention of it.

He had just managed to relax when the girl reentered the cave, her arms full of wood and small stones. He tried to remain neutral about her reappearance, lounging against the cave wall, picking at his claws as she squatted in front of him, making a ring of stones on the dirt floor. He began to become all the more anxious when she put the wood in the ring and pulled out a small, shiney mechanism, making a small clicking noise when she pressed on the back of it. After a lot of irritating clicking, a flame sprouted from the front of the shiney device, causing the girl to smile slightly. The logs were quickly ignited, making Inuyasha near jump from his skin and he slowly backed away from the fire which caught the girl's attention.

"What's wrong? Is it too hot?" She asked, moving towards him, but he curled up his lip and snarled making her back away.

"Leave me be, bitch." He rasped out in a tone less than threatening but it still managed to make her crawl back to the safety of the warm flames. He almost regretted his snapping. Almost.

"By the way," she turned to him "my name is Kagome." He stared at her lips as her name rolled off of her tongue like somehow he couldn't hear it but he knew what she had said.

Kagome hm?

A strong breeze rushed by the entrance of the eroding cave, the vines making a small swishing sound like a whisper. The flames flicked as he stared at her, her eyes a brilliant blue but it was almost like a wasted effort for the light to try and make them shine. They were dull and glazed over with some sort of pain.

He turned away from her suddenly before she could realize that he was staring and continued picking at his claws.

Author's Note: Colloidal silver is used to help prevent infections and chlorella is used to speed up cell growth which is a key factor in healing wounds. I've never taken a writing class so I'm not too keen on research and stuff so... If yall have any knowledge of medicinal plants native to Japan, specifically the Tokyo region but it doesn't have to be, get tell me in PM or in the reviews bc that would be a great help.