"Goddam it!" A certain white haired dog demon snarled as he dragged himself up from the ground once more. He had so many fucking cuts he had lost track somewhere along the line. This wind bitch was tearing him up.

It was that reincarnation of Naraku, the Wind Witch, whatever her name was. He had forgotten it. And he didn't need to know her name to kill her, so he didn't bother trying to remember it.

"Hey you! You say you like wind right? Well how about I punch your gut full of air? I'll be nice enough to rip your head off so you can see it too!" Inuyasha yelled, his threats typical in their level of confidence and utter lack of sensibility.

Somewhere off to the side he heard Sango groan and Miroku sigh as the monk wondered out loud, "How can he say that when she's the one mopping the floor with him?"

"I heard that…." Inuyasha snarled, sending a dirty look towards the dark haired man hovering protectively near Kagome.

The monk just winced and rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic grin.

Sometimes Miroku irritated Inuyasha to the point of wanting to give him a good beating, but at the moment he was just a little bit too busy to do that. He had to stay focused on his opponent in front of him. Normally he was relatively easily distracted, even during a battle, but right now he was feeling too threatened to really be able to allow himself that luxury – and for him, that was saying a lot.

KAGOME POV

Kagome just gripped her bow and kept the arrow notched and the string taut, waiting for an opening through which she could hit the woman and end this. Her hand shook ever so slightly as her fingers gripped the string tight, the thin band cutting into her skin from the constant tension. It was all she could do to ignore the painful worry gnawing at her stomach, making her ever so slightly nauseous. She couldn't entirely keep herself from glancing away from the enemy and towards Inuyasha on occasion, her eyes darting across his form and counting the number of red wounds on his body, panicking more and more each time, because at every quick glance there was a new one. This woman was thrashing Inuyasha, quite literally, and at every pained grunt Kagome's hand tightened spastically on the smooth wooden grip of her drawn bow.

Inuyasha was in no state to be fighting this battle in the first place. He had already been beaten up by a pack of demons earlier today, and though those wounds had been fairly mild they had slowed him down and exhausted him. And if that wasn't bad enough, Kagome had insisted that he take pain killers earlier when he refused to let her treat the scrapes and bruises; and those pain killers were making his movements extra sluggish.

Shit…how could I have been so stupid!? If he dies it's going to be my fault for shoving those pills down his throat! She thought to herself in agonizing torment, her mind whirling. The guilt over that was chewing her up inside, and she couldn't help but wince every time she thought about it.

He really wasn't doing well. He had already taken several severe blows to his chest which would have done less damage if the enemy hadn't managed to somehow blow off his robe of the fire rat earlier in the fight. It was probably because he had been in the middle of putting it on after having taken a bath. Once again, that was Kagome's fault because she had insisted that he should go and at least clean his own damn wounds in the river if he wouldn't let her disinfect them.

She still didn't know what his problem was. She had treated his wounds before, though perhaps not on his chest per say. She had never bandaged his chest or stomach, but it wasn't as if she didn't know how. After all, she had watched Kaede bandage his torso many times and she had personally bandaged many cuts on his arms, so she didn't know why he was being so finicky about taking off his shirt now. But her insistence on his scrapes being cleaned had ended up exposing him to much greater danger, and once again she felt a surge of guilt prick at her as another gash was laid upon his shoulder, easily cutting through his white kosode. The white was already stained with so much of his blood, it was amazing he was still standing.

Her attention was drawn away from the ever so slightly wobbly Inuyasha, back to the enemy as an evil cackle cracked through the air.

"Ahahaha! And here I was hoping for a challenge, Inuyasha! How disappointing." The black haired, wind wielding, evil woman exclaimed. "How shall I make this more entertaining for me?" She wondered aloud, casting her eyes around before landing on Kagome.

Kagome sucked in a sharp breath at the look full of dark mirth and bad thoughts. She knew good and well that nothing pleasant could come from that look, and she had to literally force herself to not shrink under the red eyes of the woman. She would not show weakness dammit! She was determined to be strong. I cannot let her see that I'm afraid of her; it'll only make things worse. I can't be the weak link anymore, I just can't! I have to hold my own.

At the new direction the enemy's line of sight had taken, Miroku instinctively started taking the protective beads off his wind tunnel hand, but was stayed by a firm grip coming from Sango. "You can't! Your wind tunnel still hasn't fully healed from the wounds inflicted by that praying mantis demon!" She urgently whispered.

"She's right Miroku, you can't risk it!" Kagome seconded, without ever taking her eyes off Kagura's red ones. She somehow just knew that if she broke that stare, bad things would happen.

She vaguely saw out of the corner of her eye that Miroku grimaced but reluctantly re-wrapped his hand in the beads, taking up his staff instead. Sango took up her weapon as well, despite them all knowing it probably would be useless against this particular demon. She used a giant boomerang, what good would it be against a demon who could control the wind and knock it right out of the sky?

Kagome, wasn't overly paying attention to them however, she was focused on the fact that Inuyasha was now clear of Kagura, and she had a clean shot. This was her chance! She could hit her right between the eyes if she wanted to. She could shoot her and finish this right now…only…she would have to actually shoot her for that to work. Her fingers quavered just a smidge. She had shot a human-shaped demon only once before, and it had been Naraku, in the heat of the moment. She hadn't thought twice about it at the time, but it had been in her dreams often enough since then.

Many nights she dreamed of pulling her bow back and letting fly an arrow, only for someone to end up pierced on the other end, and it was always someone she loved that had been slain. More often than not, it was Inuyasha who starred in those dreams. His history of getting shot with arrows probably hadn't helped her overactive subconscious. Or rather, it had helped … helped to make terrible, horrifying nightmares that made her wish she had never taken up a bow to start with. She didn't think it was her fear of accidentally hitting a loved one that made the nightmares; so much as it was the fact that she had shot an arrow at someone, with the sole purpose of killing that person. It didn't matter that he had been the evil demon that wanted to kill them all and destroy the world, it still pricked at her conscience.

She was afraid of herself, afraid that she was turning into a killer. Was turning into a monster herself.

So this time she hesitated. Even though she knew this woman was a demon, and was threatening all of their lives, she still hesitated, and she hated herself for it. A cold sweat made her skin clammy and her fingers all the more slippery as she held her bow at the ready position. "Damn it…." She whispered under her breath, gritting her teeth and trying to force herself to uncurl her fingers from the string to release the arrow.

She hesitated too long.

A wicked gleam lit Kagura's blood red eyes and she lifted the hand that grasped her fan, flicking it towards Kagome. A spiral of wind sliced down from the sky and landed on her, the air currents tightening around her arms until the bow was forced from her hands. Miroku tried to slash at the wind and break its hold on her, as did Sango, but neither of their weapons were any use against the bands of wind wrapping ever more tightly around her, feeling like they were crushing her bones.

She cried out weakly, in a wheezy sort of way, as a particularly hard squeeze forced all the breath from her body.

"Kagome!" Miroku and Shippō both shouted, their voices meshing with Sango's as she yelled, "Hang in there Kagome!"

But one voice was louder than the others, if a bit strained with pain. Inuyasha yelled her name desperately as she was picked up and brought over to the witch.

Of course Kagome could barely hear any of them, the wind whipping around her was so loud it was making her ears ache. That was a mild discomfort in comparison to the way she could feel the wind beginning to crush her, and she couldn't help a small choked groan that escaped her as the winds tightened even more. It felt as though the winds were compressing her flesh, pulverizing it, and she knew that if she escaped this, she'd be lucky if she didn't have any broken bones. She sure as heck would have a bunch of nasty bruises at the very least. It felt like her whole frame was creaking almost, which didn't seem like it should be humanly possible.

INUYASHA POV

"LET HER GO!" Inuyasha roared, his white ears slicked back tight against his head and his fangs bared.

The fear of seeing Kagome being crushed like that was enough to send his heart into a panic, and it felt as though someone had punched through his ribcage, grabbed his living heart in their fist, and then squeezed mercilessly. The stark terror was swiftly followed by rage, and the rush of intense emotion left his mind utterly blank. He was no longer aware of his injuries, or the pain, all he was aware of was getting Kagome free of that evil woman's clutches.

With a burst of speed that he had previously been unable to achieve he dashed across the wind-scarred field, raising Tessaiga and roaring an incomprehensible battle cry. The bitch's eyes widened a bit in shock for a moment, but then she leered and blocked his downward slash with her wind, forcing him back.

"It's hopeless you stupid mutt. I control the wind. You cannot defeat me!" She yelled triumphantly, sending another barrage at Inuyasha.

Suddenly, a quiet voice caught the attention of both the wind bitch and Inuyasha, and his ears twitched at the soft tones that he knew so well, making his head jerk towards the black haired girl currently trapped in a wind funnel.

"You wanna bet?" She choked out, and suddenly a pinkish light blossomed under the wind wrapped around her, and she fell to the ground, coughing spastically and clutching a glowing arrow tightly in her fist.

The winds died around them as they were purified by the presence of Kagome's sacred arrow, and Inuyasha crouched, ready and waiting for his chance. The bitch's face turned white as she realized that she was about to be on the receiving end of the Wind Scar and she swiftly turned to flee. Kagome tossed the arrow away and Kagura's winds resurged, not completely under her control this time, and collided with Inuyasha's to create a wind scar he could use. She wasn't quite fast enough and Inuyasha slashed his sword through the swirling rift, sending rays of golden light scorching out at her.

He wasn't entirely sure he had even gotten the witch, and suspected the ashes left floating in the breeze were only from a bit of her kimono he had caught as she flew away on that weird feather thing she always escaped on. As always he found himself growling and cursing as Naraku's incarnation managed to get away from him while still alive.

But he was somewhat distracted by Kagome. As the sparse ashes fluttered to the ground he realized just how fucking close he had come to annihilating his friend as well.

Somehow he had felt her as he created the sword strike, and had been able to route the blades of destruction that radiated out of his sword around her. As everything settled down, everyone could see how the typical deep gashes had been formed slightly wonky. Kagome sat in between two deep trenches, but it seemed the marks were much denser on either side, and that the space she sat in was significantly wider than any of the other gaps. It was pretty obvious that he had somehow been able to prevent the sword from causing her any damage, and even he was shocked by it. He had done it instinctively, the same way he did just about everything, and so he hadn't even really realized he had done it until confronted by the evidence.

KAGOME POV

She screamed as the blades of light descended, fully anticipating the piercing pain of those shafts cutting her. When it didn't come, she gingerly opened her eyes, never realizing that she had closed them in the first place, and took in the destruction on either side of her with a slight feeling of sudden lightheadedness. She was utterly shocked by the fact that she wasn't dead. How did Inuyasha…he…did he somehow control the way the Tessaiga cut through the wind scar? I should be dead…how am I not dead right now?

Her shocked dumbness came to a swift end as she saw Inuyasha keel over and fall flat on his face, thankfully not skewering himself with his own sword in the process.

She got up onto her still shaking legs and staggered her way as expediently as she could to the fallen half-demon's side, falling to her knees as soon as she reached him. She winced as the ground collided painfully with her full body bruise, but ignored it at the moment so she could dig her fingers through the soft mane of silvery white hair that had splayed out every which way from the face plant Inuyasha had performed. She also ignored the way her heart started thumping stupidly fast just from having her hand in his hair, and focused instead on hunting out his throat and checking for a pulse.

A breath of relief escaped her as soon as her fingers met his warm skin and she was reassured by the steady beating of his heartbeat, but even so, she could feel moisture, and when she pulled her hand back it was coated in red. He was grievously injured, and thankfully Miroku and Sango had made it down the slight hill and were also there now to help lift him and carry him back inside the small hut they had been taking shelter in prior to all this mess.

It wasn't ideal to stay in the same place, but really, Naraku could probably find and assault them whenever he chose, so staying put wasn't exactly going to increase their odds of getting attacked too much. The only problem was probably simply the amount of Inuyasha's demon blood spattering the ground near the hut. That might very well lure more demons, and so as soon as Inuyasha had been laid on the mat of bamboo reeds inside the hut, Miroku set off at a brisk pace to purify the area and to set up a protective barrier that would help keep anything unwanted out.

Sango and Shippō meanwhile ran to get some water and set about starting a fire outside, preparing some supplies for Kagome to treat Inuyasha with. So, the dark haired teen from another century was left alone in the small hut with her half-demon companion. Her fingers were still shaking, and she couldn't help but feel all the left-over anxiety from the battle rush through her. Adrenaline still pumped through her veins, and she felt pretty darn unstable at the moment. Watching Inuyasha being so thoroughly beaten, one of the few such times, was exceptionally difficult for Kagome to deal with. As usual, the more times he was hit, the harsher and more painful were the echoing sympathy twinges she felt on her own flesh. The pain was merely a phantom, not real, but it still made her flinch whenever he was stabbed through the gut, or slashed, or beaten to a pulp even though she knew he wouldn't die as a normal human would.

And still, she refused to really think about why. Her deep affections for the dog-demon were unreturned, and she typically preferred to keep her intense crush to herself. Friendship was fine, and she would treat these wounds, as any friend would. She would certainly not get all flustered by having to remove his once white kosode, or at least that was what she firmly told herself, and then proceeded to ignore the blush heating her cheeks.

The heat died away, to be replaced with cold horror at the sheer amount of damage he had sustained across his torso. Deep gashes carved him up and down his muscular frame, and some long ribbons of flesh were hanging loosely, exposing the tendons, muscles, and raw tissues underneath and oozing copious amounts of thick blood. She could even see white strips which she had to assume were in fact his ribs. Kagome hustled now, her thoughts focused solely on stopping the bleeding, which even for a strong half-demon such as him could prove deadly if left unattended.

She carefully, and gingerly, gripped the hanging pieces of skin and tissues, and laid them back into the grooves where they belonged, piecing him back together like a puzzle. But first, she used the water that Sango had sanitized by boiling. She dipped similarly sanitized cloths into the water, waiting until it was warm and wouldn't burn her, and then carefully cleaned all the dirt, twigs, grass, and other stuff that had found its way into his wounds. As soon as he was cleaned up, though the blood continued to flow and make everything just as messy as before, she set about trying to close his wounds somehow.

With how fast he would heal, she couldn't really use sutures, so instead she dug in her med kit she had brought from home and took some tape meant to be used on wounds and cut thin strips to hold everything where it was supposed to be. After everything was taped in place, she took gauze and packed it tightly against his heavily bleeding injuries, before taping it on as well.

She worked quickly, not even fazed by the warm skin that her fingers brushed up against, though it normally would have flustered her. She was much too focused on getting him bandaged, and much too disturbed by the wounds. She didn't even notice Sango or Shippō, although she thanked them absentmindedly whenever they handed her a cloth or a strip of tape. After a little while they left, not wanting to get in her way. She didn't even notice.

Even after he was bandaged, she sat next to him and continued to apply pressure to his deepest and bloodiest wounds, alternating to try and get them to all stop bleeding. Eventually they did, and she breathed a sigh of relief, the bandages already soaked through. She didn't remove them right away, frightened she would reopen the wounds if she did, and instead she set about sorting through some of the herbs she had brought with her, beginning to prepare a poultice for when he awoke. She did have some arnica gel with her to help with pain, but it would do little to help prevent infection.

As she worked, she hardly noticed her own pain, although every now and then she would wince as she put her knee down on a stone, which would have been uncomfortable enough without the bruises. Eventually, once she had done all she could, Sango lightly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Kagome, he's going to be fine. You know how fast he heals. Just let him rest, you have injuries that need to be tended to as well you know."

Kagome blinked, almost having forgotten about that. "I'm fine Sango. Besides, I should probably change his bandages now…"

"I can do that!" Shippō said from beside her, and she jumped, not even having noticed him reappearing. Kagome grimaced, realizing she must have been really out of it when she was tending to Inuyasha, to have been so oblivious.

"Come on." Sango said, using a little force on Kagome's shoulder to make a point, and Kagome cringed, the pressure on her bruise making her realize that, yes, she was indeed in a lot of pain.

She nodded, for fear that Sango would continue squeezing her very tender shoulder, and stood. She followed Sango and they went to a secluded spot near the river. Kagome removed her school shirt, only just now realizing that it had quite a few gashes in it from where some sharp rocks had been caught up in the tight wind she had been restricted by.

"Darn it! I just replaced this uniform only two weeks ago…" She groaned, taking in the little blood stains and holes in her uniform.

"Um…well, maybe you shouldn't wear it? You always complain when it's torn after all." Sango reasonably pointed out.

Kagome sighed, a bit depressed but realizing that Sango was actually probably right. She had been wearing it as a reminder of her "real" life, but maybe it was time to start wearing more appropriate clothes for her adventures. For example, her thighs and legs would have probably been a lot less cut up if she had been wearing pants….

But wearing pants was such a pain! Kagome had always preferred skirts, thinking they were both prettier and more comfortable, but maybe it was time to reconsider.

"Yeah…I guess you're right Sango."

"Well, just let me clean up these cuts and then we can put some of the ointment you brought from home on your bruises okay?" Sango said simply, already gently swiping a cloth across Kagome's shallow cuts.

Kagome winced and said "ow" pathetically a few times, but she received the treatment more stoically than she once would have. When she first came she would have complained and been a real pain, not used to the bumps and bruises this sort of adventuring required. But she had slowly gotten more used to the physical demands, and now it was a little easier for her to sit through this without squealing and struggling like a little kid.

Once she was all patched up, Sango brought her the giant yellow pack she had taken to bringing with her, and she dug around in it until she found a simple, pretty blue long sleeved shirt, still deciding to stubbornly wear her dark green skirt. She slipped on the new shirt and packed away her uniform shirt.

Once done, she went back into the hut to check on Inuyasha, and found that he was still passed out and was bleeding through his bandages again, forcing her to repeat the whole process and get the bleeding under control again. His blood stained the bandages she had put on her own fingers where they had been cut by the bow string.

He didn't wake for another full day, during which time Kagome tended to him tirelessly, first fighting his persistent blood loss, and then sitting beside him once his wounds finally started healing. Naturally he waited until she was fiddling with his bandages again to open his eyes.

She was just checking to make sure everything was healing up properly, and was in the process of reapplying the salve to the rabidly closing wounds, when the muscles under her hands first twitched and then heaved forwards, knocking her back with a startled squeak. The high pitched sound was mostly due to the fact that he had sat up so abruptly, and with so little warning.

"Inuyasha! You're awake!"

"What the…What are you doin' Kagome?" He sputtered, his golden eyes wide instead of rolled back in his head like they had been for the past 24 hours.

"I'm just reapplying a poultice to your wounds. They're mostly all closed now, but a few of the deeper ones still need treatment."

He glanced down at his chest, which was partially bandaged and partially in the process of being rebandaged. He huffed and made a tsking noise that sounded like "teh" and then gruffly said, "I'm just fine."

Before Kagome could really protest, he had brushed off the poultice and was already pulling his stained kosode back on. She did try, even going so far as to grab onto the hem of his shirt and growl threateningly, "If you don't let me treat those wounds I'll tell Kaede not to feed you!" But to no avail, he simply brushed her off.

"Stop hovering Kagome! I'm fine I tell ya!" And so saying, left the hut entirely, leaving a very frustrated and hurt Kagome behind.

"I can't believe him!" She said under her breath, though rather loudly, and smacked the ground, wincing regretfully as a shot of pain went up her bruised and hurt hand. Tilting back off her knees, she plopped onto her behind, ignoring the fact that she even had bruising there, and grunted in a dejected manner, trying not to sniffle. "That stupid Inuyasha, he didn't even say thank you…."

A wave of irritation and sadness washed through her. She hated this, the distance Inuyasha forced between them tearing her apart. Sure, he still carried her on his back, but ever since Kikyo had come back to life, using her soul she might point out, he had been a lot more standoffish. Of course, she had only really known him a few months before the whole soul-transfer-Kikyo-being-reborn-in-an-oven thing, but it had seemed like he might actually like her before that. He had been more touchy feely, he had gotten in her personal space more, he had even kissed her on the cheek! Now, even though he touched her, it was with a certain aloofness, if you could really ever use that word in reference to Inuyasha. But it was as if his bright golden eyes held a lot less warmth when he looked at her, almost as if they were shuttered or guarded.

She knew he loved Kikyo, and they had a huge history and past to them. There was no way she could compete; she wasn't even from the same time period as the other priestess. Plus, Kikyo was prettier, stronger, more sure of herself. Kagome doubted that Kikyo ever would have hesitated to let fly the arrow earlier that would have killed Kagura. In fact, she probably could have put a stop to it much sooner and prevented Inuyasha from getting so injured in the first place.

Kagome heaved a sigh, putting her head on her raised knees, feeling so pathetic for moping like this. She had decided to stay, even though she knew Inuyasha would never feel the same sort of feelings for her. Heck, she didn't even know what exactly she herself felt for the half-demon. She knew she had a crush on him for a while now, but lately she couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was more than that. Naturally, it would probably be best if she didn't think too long and hard about it, because it would only make her more depressed.

For a long moment she sat there, moping while her chest ached with the dejection she was feeling, but after a while she felt a familiar irritation taking over, the heated emotion easier to deal with. Anger was always her safety net. If something was frightening or saddening she would prefer to be angry, especially when it came to Inuyasha. That dog demon somehow always knew how to push her buttons in just the wrong way. Embracing the frustration, she roughly wiped away the few tears that had made her eyes red and her nose stuffy and stood abruptly. She stomped out of the hut, letting the anger mount as she went.

As she came outside, Kagome spotted Inuyasha and the others a short distance away and stalked over, piping hot by the time she got there.

"Fine Inuyasha, if you're feeling so fantastic then we should get going. I'm going home." She spat and stalked back to gather her backpack and bicycle.

OTHERS POV

The others were left blinking and rather surprised, before they all looked at Inuyasha and almost in unison said, "Inuyasha, what did you do this time?"

He scoffed. "What?! I didn't do anything, I just told her I was fine and not to fuss over me."

Everyone groaned in unison, knowing exactly how Kagome would react to being essentially given the cold shoulder after having spent the last day and a half tirelessly treating his wounds.

"You are not incredibly smart when it comes to women Inuyasha." Miroku observed, just shaking his head and sighing in defeat.

"What?!" He protested once again, as always, seemingly oblivious to most things when it came to women and feelings.

"Kagome was the one who treated your wounds the whole time you were passed out. She might have even saved your life this time. You were bleeding a lot, too much even for a half-demon with your constitution to have been able to recover from if left untreated. She changed your bandages about six or seven times whenever they bled through and applied pressure to the wounds to stop the reoccurring bleeding." Sango said sternly.

"She was really worried about you too. She never left your side, except when Sango forced her to go and treat her own wounds. She just sat next to you the whole time." Shippō added with a frown.

"Wait…Kagome was hurt?" Inuyasha latched onto that information, intentionally ignoring the rest and the way it made him feel.

"Yes, of course. She's basically a walking bruise after being constricted in Kagura's wind funnel." Miroku said, still not looking at Inuyasha since he was so exasperated with the white haired man.

Inuyasha winced, feeling even worse now.

KAGOME

Kagome meanwhile was packing up her belongings, and once packed loaded her backpack on her bicycle and pushed it to the little dirt road that led to the hut. They were pretty close to the village, maybe only a day away or so, and she didn't feel like she needed to wait for the others to set off. Some alone time would do her good.

She peddled past the group that were still doddling next to the path and yelled, "I'm going ahead."

She heard a few protests, the loudest being from Inuyasha ironically, but she just ignored them and peddled faster. She couldn't stand being around Inuyasha at this particular moment, and she couldn't bring herself to really care about just how immature she was acting. She was just a teenager dammit! She was supposed to be worried about finishing her senior year and graduating from high school, not saving the world from some super demon who wanted to get ahold of a crazy powerful jewel. She was under enough stress as it was, adding in relationship issues was just too much for her.

Peddling as hard as she could was good for her, it let her get some of the frustration out and as her muscles began to burn and her skin started to sweat, she felt her mind go blissfully numb while her emotions continued to rage in her chest. Eventually even those died away somewhat, calming slowly from the high intensity.

After an hour she slowed down, getting off her bike and walking beside it at a sluggish pace, waiting for the others to catch up. It took a while, but eventually she heard the swift padding footsteps that were normally much more rapid. Inuyasha must have really still been in a bit of pain for him to not be running at top speed, although that was entirely out of character for him. In fact it sounded like he wasn't really exerting himself very much at all, and when she glance back she noted how he was trotting ahead of the others who were riding on Kilala. They must have somehow convinced him to slow down his normally superhuman pace, or else he just didn't care too much about catching up with her. She didn't really blame him if that was the case, after all she had lashed out and made her anger known. Not that her being cranky with him had ever really seemed to discourage him before from coming after her.

Once they caught up with her she noted that Inuyasha was once again wearing his fire rat robe and so it was impossible for her to tell if he was bleeding again. He probably was. But he would just have to deal with it and she would just have to worry about him in silence, because she sure as heck wasn't going to beg him to let her take care of him. He had made it abundantly clear that he didn't want her helping him with his injuries. Maybe he'd let Kaede once they got back to the village, though she didn't know if that would make her feel better or worse about it all. She would worry less at least, but it would hurt to know that it was her touch that he was avoiding.

Shippō immediately began asking why she ran off like that, and Kagome played it off as her being eager to get home, continuing to ignore Inuyasha. Nobody believed her, that much she could tell, but thankfully they didn't press her. It was an uncomfortable and awkward atmosphere as they made their way back.

As soon as they were in view Kagome took off for the well, and unlike usual, Inuyasha just let her go, only sending a single look after her before sighing and walking off to find a tree to sit in somewhere. The others watched this with varying amounts of frustration, confusion, and sadness on their faces. It was blatantly obvious that Inuyasha had been putting a wall between himself and Kagome ever since Kikyo had returned. She had been popping up at the oddest moments, more and more frequently lately, particularly when Inuyasha was weak or injured. In fact, they were all half-expecting her to make another appearance soon, given his current state.

They were all beginning to wonder if she was stalking him or something.

Meanwhile Kagome had made it to the other side of the well, and was now making her way to her house. She spoke little to her family though they greeted her and she was sure she said something in passing as she made her way up to her room. Once there, she began the process of emptying out her yellow pack, methodically, and almost numbly putting all the dirty clothes in the hamper and going on a hunt for more suitable fresh clothes to wear. She settled on simple shirts, none of her prettier blouses, and picked out a few solid colored t-shirts and long-sleeved shirts. She dug deeply through her dresser to find an old pair of pretty cherry red gloves. The backs closed with black straps on her wrists that had a single white flower the button. She had used to wear these when riding her bike in winter, but now they would help with riding her bike and also with her archery. She cut all the fingers off them except for the two on the hand she used to draw back her bow strong. That would allow for more ease of movement and would still pad her hands when riding her bike.

She had made up her mind to become stronger, to really practice with her bow and arrows. Maybe it was because she had frozen up this last battle, or maybe it was because she had to be rescued too often, or maybe it was because Kikyo was so much stronger than her and she felt jealous and inadequate. Whatever the case, it was a good thing for her to do if she planned on continuing on with this adventure. So with that in mind she also dug into the very back of her closet and retrieved the plain black kneepads, elbow pads, and wrist guards that she had used for the short time she had played with rollerblades and skates. It had been a very short phase, but she could still use these pads now.

She packed a few extra skirts, and then, with much grimacing, she packed the only pair of pants she owned, a pretty green pair that were loose and had pockets on the sides. She used these sometimes on camping trips with lots of hiking. Those trips were far and few between, but she could still fit into them comfortably. She also packed some thick tights for when they ended up in colder climates so she could still wear skirts.

Spending so much time on actually considering what might be useful was acting as a good exercise to keep her mind busy and off Inuyasha. So she took her time, methodically placing everything into her bag, resupplying her medkit, trying to ignore the smears of blood on the kit that were from Inuyasha's wounds. She also packed more snacks, and any other supplies she was running low on. Then she collapsed onto her bed, deciding to take a quick nap.

Naturally, given how exhausted she was, her nap lasted longer than she had intended, and by the time she woke the light had changed to evening. With a spark of panic and surprise she leapt to her feet and grabbed up her pack, lugging it out hastily. Her family waylaid her for a few minutes, convincing her to stop and eat very quickly, after which she hustled back to the well and dropped down.

She was still uneasy, but the space had helped to clear her head and she felt a bit better, a bit more optimistic. That is, until she saw Kikyo and Inuyasha embracing against a tree on her way back to the village. She stopped dead in her tracks, only having the awareness to step behind a tree a little before they could see her. Her eyes were glued to them, despite how much she wanted to tear her gaze from the painful scene.

They were pressed closely together, and so naturally she had to assume they were embracing, though a few stunned moments later it became apparent that it was more of a headlock of some sort, Kikyo grabbing onto Inuyasha's head in an almost combative manner. Even so, Kagome could feel the pit of her stomach drop down, seeming to vacate her body entirely. Her stomach's escape left behind a gaping airy hole that ached in her abdomen; a sensation that was nicely counterbalanced by the heavy stone in her chest threatening to crush her heart. She wasn't sure if she wanted to throw up or cry, but both were entirely possible.

She had never seen them so closely pressed together.

The shock had numbed her to everything but the uncomfortable sensations and pain and emotional turmoil within her, but after a moment she picked up on their voices, made soft with distance, and she managed to make out some of the words spoken.

"You are mine Inuyasha! You will not die by any other hand than mine!" Kikyo said passionately.

With just as much passion Inuyasha also proclaimed, "And you are mine Kikyo!"

Tears blinded Kagome to the scene, which was a blessing. The words could be considered those of a lover, and that was certainly how Kagome interpreted them at this moment. Why did this hurt so much? How could it, when she knew this sort of thing was bound to happen? A crack sounded through the air, and Kagome jerked her head up to note that Kikyo had struck Inuyasha, or at least that's what seemed to have just happened, and now he was staggering back from her, and she was disappearing the way she always did.

Kagome just stood there, trembling and unsure about what to do. Her breathing, or her scent, or something else alerted Inuyasha to her presence, and he turned, his golden eyes glowing in the darkness of the twilight and latching onto hers. There was a message within those animal eyes, a message Kagome didn't want to see, and she abruptly turned and fled. She intended on going back to her own world that very second, but skidded to a halt at the rim of the well, feeling like she should at least go and drop off the supplies she had brought.

With a heavy, aching heart that felt as beaten and bruised as the rest of her body now, she turned and made her way back at a very slow pace, hoping against hope that she wouldn't run into Inuyasha again. She plodded past Miroku, and ignored his greetings, or rather didn't even register it. She missed his sour expression and the way he immediately turned to go and hunt down Inuyasha.

She finally made it through the doorway of Kaede's hut, and pasted on a fake smile, dumping out the supplies and cheerfully explaining what she had brought and that she had to go now, all without letting either Kaede, Sango, or Shippō get a word in edgewise. As she turned to leave, she was stalled by a warm and gentle grasp on her elbow and she came to a shuddering halt, her face turned away from them since her smile was gone now and she couldn't seem to summon it back.

"Sango and Shippō, will the two of ye go and find Miroku and Inuyasha." As they nodded and left, Kaede also said something very quietly to Sango, so quietly in fact that Kagome couldn't pick it up.

Once they were alone Kaede released her elbow and waited patiently for her to turn around. When she didn't, she simply started talking to Kagome's back very softly. "What is wrong child?"

"What do you mean? I'm fine Kaede." Kagome said, her voice utterly at odds with the words coming from her mouth.

"Don't take me for a fool." The words were harsh, but said gently.

Kagome flinched and said nothing.

"Is it Inuyasha?" Kaede continued to probe, getting an even stronger flinch this time in response, confirming her suspicions. "I see. What has he done this time?" When her question once again got no response, she continued her line of questioning. "Is it mayhap Kikyo?"

And that finally got a response, as Kagome's legs suddenly gave out and she harshly sat on the ground, her bruises all protesting. "…yeah…" she said weakly, sniffing as tears started leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

Kaede walked around her and sat in front of her, calmly waiting for her to tell her what had happened.

Kagome broke, and the floodgates opened. "She…she showed up again." She sobbed. "Why won't she leave him alone?! Does she still love him or something? I thought she hated him and wanted to kill him … and … and even then he still loves her!"

Kaede just remained silent and let her speak until she was done, only watching in sympathy.

"I-I saw them…embracing or something…and they said…he said…damn it! Why does this hurt so much?! I already knew he was in love with her."

"Ye truly don't know why it hurts?" Kaede asked softly.

"Well…I mean I know I have some feelings for him…but it shouldn't hurt this much." Kagome protested, at her wits end.

"And what do ye suppose those feelings are?"

"Huh?" She glanced up in surprise at the older woman's question. "What do you mean?"

"What are your feelings for Inuyasha?" Kaede patiently repeated.

"I-I like him. I mean, I have a crush on him."

Despite the strange terminology, Kaede understood the jist of what Kagome was trying to say, and she disagreed. "Are ye sure that's all?"

"W-what?" Kagome sputtered, unsure about what Kaede was trying to get at. But then she started getting an uncomfortable prickly feeling, sort of a premonition of bad things coming, and she began to see what Kaede was trying to get her to say. "You think I'm in love with him?!" She gasped, nearly keeling over in shock.

Kaede just calmly kept eye contact and nodded.

"B-but, I…that's…that's impossible! I couldn't…there's no way…why would you…how could…I…I can't be in love…not…not with him. Not when I know he's in love with someone else!"

"Ye can't control how ye feel. Even if ye know it is a fruitless emotion." Kaede wisely pointed out, watching solemnly as Kagome dissolved into a sputtering sobbing mess as she tried to make sense of it.

The tears only got worse as Kagome had the immediate and instinctive realization that Kaede was right, she had indeed fallen in love despite herself. She curled into herself, cradling her body and rocking a little, not even caring about how pathetic she must look as she cried so completely. Why had she not realized it sooner? And now what was she supposed to do? Inuyasha was in love with Kikyo!

Kaede scooted forward and gathered her up in her arms, holding her and rocking her a little as she cried. Kagome clung to her and buried her face in the old priestess's shoulder to try and muffle her sobs. After a very long crying jag, she slowly started to trickle to a halt, hiccupping along the way.

"What do I do Kaede? He's in love with Kikyo." She said miserably in a small voice.

"Ye have several options, Child. Ye can stay here and continue on as ye have been, knowing he chooses Kikyo over ye and accepting that. Or ye can attempt to fight for his affections. Or ye can go back to your own world and leave him behind."

Kagome groaned and buried her head in her knees.

"Try and judge what would give ye the most happiness and what would bring the most pain. Leaving him entirely would certainly bring great pain, but perhaps would lead to more happiness in the future. However, staying would also lend to great pain, but perhaps also happiness."

Kagome flinched, not liking to think about it, but knowing that she must come to a decision. Should she stay? It would hurt to see Inuyasha continue to love Kikyo, and there wasn't any way she would fight for his affections. She had some pride.

Maybe she should just go back to her own time. But if she left she wouldn't just be leaving him. She wouldn't ever see Kaede, Sango, Shippō, Miroku, or any of the other people she had met here. She had grown to love all of them as dear friends, and never seeing any of them would be a deep blow. And then there was Inuyasha himself, and as she contemplated the prospect of never seeing him again she abruptly felt the intensely unpleasant sensation of her guts twisting and writhing, until it seemed they crawled up her chest, strangling her heart in the process, and then tried to exit from her mouth, almost making her dry heave. That, in and of itself, almost decided it for her. She simply couldn't imagine a world without Inuyasha in it, and trying to was causing her much more pain than watching him with Kikyo ever had.

Then, that meant she was staying. And as she thought about it, she grew more and more convinced that even being able to be by his side as his friend was better than nothing at all. Plus…she didn't fully trust Kikyo's intentions. She knew Inuyasha loved Kikyo, but she still didn't know if Kikyo returned the sentiments. She had already tried to kill him when she was first brought back, and as Kagome thought back to it, those words she had overheard "No one but I can kill you," were very threatening. She wouldn't put it past her to try and kill Inuyasha again, and though it seemed that Inuyasha himself was fine and dandy with that, Kagome was most certainly not. If nothing else, she had to stay and protect Inuyasha from himself. She couldn't bring herself to respect his wishes to die with his love, and even though it was most probably selfish on her part, she resolved herself right then and there to do all she could to prevent that from ever happening.

Once decided, a lot of the pain left her, the confusion and indecision having caused a surprising amount of it.

"I'll stay." She said, her voice much calmer and even now.

Kaede met her gaze and nodded, a smile appearing on her lips. "That is good to hear. We would have sorely missed ye."

Author's Note:

I'm back! If anyone has read my stories before, you have an idea of what's coming. Adventure, anguish, love, fun, .etc.

This story's gonna follow some of the plot, deviating here and there, and sometimes taking bits and pieces and shoving them together totally out of order, which you probably already noticed. Don't worry, I know they're out of order, I made it that way on purpose.

Also, eventually there may be some...lemony sequences, which I will put up warnings for in case anyone wants to skip them.

And finally, if you like Naruto, and if you like Gaara, check out my previous story Crash and Burn. Don't be alarmed by the size, I'm going to be editing it to a more manageable length soon.

Bye for now!